Chapter Twenty-Two: The Suolo River

  In the luxurious private room of Yaoheng Wine House, a middle-aged man filled with the majesty of a superior, sat upright and still, his expression carrying a hint of reverence that seemed utterly out of place on him.

  If some of the local bigwigs in Daybreak City were here, they would definitely be able to recognize this middle-aged man at a glance. He was none other than Jiang Dawu, the highest ruler of Daybreak City and the master of the lives and deaths of its one million people, a peak swordsman who had half a foot into the realm of great swordsmen.

  The majestic Lord of the Sun City, who is absolutely busy with a million things and enjoys the highest honors, would not even bother to glance at the battle for the middle-level arena master, let alone the high-level arena master's fight. However, at this moment, sitting in this private room watching the battle between middle-level swordsmen on the arena, he does not feel angry, but instead feels extremely honored.

  "A young girl, yet she has a mature and steady demeanor."

  Not far from Jiang Da Wu, a woman in white clothes was leaning against the window frame, looking at Tang Zixuan walking towards this side, with a faint smile on her lips.

  "Miss, Zi Shan's swordsmanship is increasingly impressive, especially this quick sword move. Even many high-level swordsmen would be hard-pressed to defend against it."

  "Her swordsmanship, although somewhat stylish, had not yet merged with her own style to become a true master of the sword. Just like earlier, her rhythm was disrupted by that young man named Qin Tianyi, who countered her moves with ease, causing her to slow down and lose control, ultimately being suppressed by him in one move."

  "That's only temporary, Qin Tianyi's swordsmanship has reached a bottleneck at the seventh sword, otherwise he wouldn't have been caught off guard by Zi Shuang and had his sword cut off, continuing to fight on, I believe the winner will definitely be Miss Zi Shuang."

  "Not necessarily! The timing of Qin Tianyi's counterattack was perfect, with keen senses and foresight. He judged the enemy and won, a clear sign of spiritual accomplishment. Cultivation is about refining the three aspects of essence, energy, and spirit. Essence is the foundation of life, energy is the true energy of heaven, earth, and all things, and can move mountains and seas when refined. Spirit is the central controller of essence and energy, and only when the three are in harmony can one achieve the ultimate path. Among these, refining essence and energy is easy, but condensing the spirit is difficult. That's why I had Zi Shan hone her sword skills everywhere, without allowing her to break through to the highest level of swordsmanship - because I was afraid she would rely too heavily on her refined essence and energy, causing an imbalance among the three."

  "Success!"

  Jiang Dawu looked at Qin Tianyi following behind Tang Zixuan and was shocked in his heart, unexpectedly this young man who did not show off his skills had such a strong spirit.

  "This Qin Tianyi, back then was the number one prodigy of our Wanxia County, at 16 years old he cultivated to an 8th level swordman, later went to Dashu Imperial City, entered Shenvu Academy for further studies, was favored by Miss Ning's second daughter, because he refused Miss Ning's second daughter's affection, due to love turning into hate, his true energy was crippled and his meridians were severed by her orders, after returning to Yunlai Sword Sect, he became dispirited and never made a sound again, if not for today's victory in the arena, re-emerging into the world, I'm afraid there wouldn't be many people left in Wanxia County who still remember this young man."

  "At sixteen, he cultivated to the eighth level of swordsmanship. His innate talent was mediocre, but that little girl from the Ning family crippled his true energy and severed his meridians. Now it seems that this life's great ups and downs have transformed his mental state, greatly increasing his spiritual soul, and his realm far surpasses that of his peers, turning disaster into fortune."

  "Does misfortune lead to good fortune?"

  Jiang Da Wu looked at his own young lady with some surprise, never expecting that the usually high-and-mighty young lady would have such an evaluation of him.

  "Xiao Shan, come in."

  At this time, Tang Zixiang and Qin Tianyi had already arrived outside the private room. The woman's voice also came out at the right time.

  "Master."

  Upon entering the private room, Tang Zixiang respectfully bowed to the woman.

  Qin Tianyi had thought that the girl's master would be a middle-aged man named Jiang Daowu, who looked dignified and imposing, with every move exuding an aura of pressure. But after hearing the girl's words, he turned his head in surprise, directing his gaze at the woman.

  A pure white dress, elegant and refined, in this tastefully decorated private room, seems to blend perfectly with the surrounding landscape paintings.

  A face that stunned the world, with a smile, looking at Qin Tianyi, as white as snow, yet containing unparalleled beauty.

  Qin Tianyi originally thought that after being impacted by countless online beauties in the Federation era, he would never have a feeling of being amazed again.

  But at this moment, in that instant when I saw the woman, the whole world seemed to be filled with beauty, my heart racing rapidly, almost uncontrollably.

  Jiang Dawu glanced at Qin Tianyi, slightly furrowing his brow. The young lady's previous evaluation of him had made Jiang expect something from this young man, but now he saw that Qin was so arrogant as to stare directly at the young lady and become infatuated with her, which made Jiang feel extremely disrespected towards his own mistress.

  "Hey, little girl, this time you have nothing to say, right? The 16 Swords of the Fiery Clouds were defeated head-on. What's left for you to be proud of?"

  The sound is melodious and pleasant to hear, like a gentle breeze blowing by.

  It's just the tone of speaking...

  Such a stunning beauty, even if she can't speak as eloquently as Zhong, at least her words should be aesthetically pleasing and full of poetic charm.

  But what is implied in this tone is a kind of reckless abandon and disrespect for the world.

  "Master..."

  Upon hearing the girl's teasing, this young lady who had given off an air of maturity and stability from start to finish finally revealed a hint of the playfulness that was befitting of her youth.

  "What is your surname and given name, miss?"

  Qin Tianyi slightly nodded his head.

  Although he knew that asking a woman's name on the first meeting was very impolite, his heart had an irresistible urge to know everything about this woman.

  "How dare you! Is it possible for you to know Miss's name?"

  The woman had not spoken yet, but Jiang Daowu's eyebrows were already raised, and he shouted loudly!

  In an instant, even with Qin Tianyi's nine-stage spiritual power cultivator level, he still felt a severe shock in his heart. The crisis brought by this man was more than ten times stronger than that of Zhou Chong, a ninth-level swordsman. Even the tenth-level Thunder Eagle didn't pose as much threat to him as this middle-aged man did.

  "Strong Swordsman!?"

  Qin Tianji let out an astonished cry.

  This woman actually made a master of the Sword Master realm show such respect, even like a servant, with a respectful and flattering expression!

  "Hum! Qin Tianyi, don't ask what you shouldn't!"

  Jiang Daowu nodded heavily and said, "En."

  The woman looked at Qin Tianyi's slightly changed complexion, but instead of blaming Jiang Daowu for being rude, she smiled and asked: "Do you still want to know my identity now?"

  Qin Tianyi looked at the woman in front of him with an extraordinary appearance, although through the middle-aged man's few words he had already guessed that this woman must have a shocking identity, but at this moment he did not retreat!

  "I want!"

  The girl smiled slightly: "My name is Su Luohe."

  The Luo River.

  Qin Tianyi nodded slightly.

  "Where is my Huichun Dan?"

  Knowing her name was already satisfying enough for him. As for further understanding? Those things weren't something he, with his current cultivation level, had the qualifications to touch upon.

  "Don't worry, Qin Tianyi, little brother, your things won't be missing."

  Su Luo smiled lightly and a delicate jade box appeared in her hand, which she handed over. Inside it was indeed a Return to True Pill.

  Qin Tianji carefully examined the Returning Truth Pill for a moment, and compared it with his memory.

  "Don't worry, it's just a Returning to Truth Pill. I wouldn't go back on my word. To me, it's not even as valuable as the Flowing Firefly Jade Box I gave you."

  This treasure that can cause high-level swordsmen to fight to the death and risk their lives to seize, is indeed nothing for someone like her who is revered even by strong swordsmen.

  Qin Tianji hastily put the Hui Zhen Dan into a jade box and stored it away.

  "This time, I forgot to bring the token of our Tianxu Sect's outer disciple. Dawu, do you have it on you?"

  "Miss, the token of an outer disciple is hard to come by for someone like me, it's not even guaranteed that I'll get one in a year... but although I don't have the token of an outer disciple from the Shenxu Sect, I do have an admission token from the Shenxu Academy..."

  Jiang Daowu hastily responded and handed over a finely crafted token.

  "Divine Void Academy!"

  Qin Tianji's breathing tightened slightly.

  He had cultivated this body to the eighth level of Swordsmen at the age of sixteen and went to the highest institution of the Great Xia Academy, just to achieve something and obtain a place in the Divine Void Academy.

  "I see."

  Su Luo took the token, weighed it in her hand, and curled up her lip: "Originally, I wanted to use a Shenwu Sect outer disciple's token to make you call me 'Sister Luo' just once, but unexpectedly, I could only take out an admission certificate from Shenwu Academy. Hmm, this one time calling me 'Sister Luo', let's just consider it a debt for now, and when you can enter the Shenwu Sect, you can call me again to make me happy."

  As they spoke, this priceless certificate of admission to the Divine Void Academy was thrown by her to Qin Tianyi.

  "Next."

  "Bang!"

  This piece of jade pendant made neither of gold nor iron was directly grasped in Qin Tianyi's hand.

  "Alright, let's head back, Little Xiangxiang, we should go to the next city now."

  "Yes, Master."

  Jiang Daowu, this sword master-level strongman, also hastily stood up and respectfully said: "Miss, I'll go prepare a carriage for you."

  "No need, no need. If you really want to prepare something for me, I've heard that the Four-Sided Tribute Wine provided by Riyou City to the Four Symbol Fortresses is quite good. Bring a few bottles."

  "Miss needs it, even if it's a royal tribute, I will present it to you."

  "What's holding you back, let's go."

  As they spoke, Su Luo had already impatiently left the private room and disappeared from Qin Tianyi's sight.

  "Master, I'll lead the way for you!"

  Tang Zixiang shouted and was about to chase out of the private room.

  However, when she left, her footsteps paused slightly, and she looked at Qin Tianyi and said, "I hope we meet again in the future of our sect."

  He finished speaking and didn't wait for a response, already leaving the private room.

  In the blink of an eye, Qin Tianyi was left alone in the private room.

  "Shenxu Zong."

  Looking at the token of Shenxu Academy in his hand, Qin Tianyi muttered these three words.

  Shenxu Sect, he had never heard of it before, but just from the words of Su Luohe, it's not hard to guess that even the geniuses from all over the Daxia Dynasty who tried every means to enter the Shenxu Academy were only outer sect institutions of the Shenxu Sect, specializing in supplying real talents for the sect. The background of this sect can be seen at a glance.

  Compared to the vast stage where even a mere corner of the iceberg-like God Void Sect can be considered a behemoth, the 36 sects of Wanxia County fighting for the qualifications of a second-rate sect are completely trivial and cannot even take the stage.

  He wants to ascend to the starry sky...

  That's where he really needs to go now!

  "Justice will be served!"

  Qin Tianyi nodded heavily and said.

  I will go.

  Having said that, he carefully put away the Genuine Qi Returning Pill and the token of the Divine Void Academy, and headed straight out of the private room.