Chapter 26: Prior Causes, Xiang Ding Launches an Attack

The hardest part of cultivating the Three-Phase Sword Finger is converting true qi into sword qi.

This conversion takes place inside the body.

Most sword qi emitted by swordsmen is produced using the sword as a medium, taking the form of the sword itself, or as a sword gleam, or transformed into detached sword qi.

There is an essential difference.

Qin Feng thought of Bai Yunrui, who nurtures a sword qi in his mouth; when facing him in combat, who could block it if it came unexpectedly? If he did not possess supernatural perception, he would probably have been blasted to death then.

The Three-Phase Sword Finger has a special method of circulation, taking the dantian as its root, the qi sea as its basis, the meridians as its path; through cyclic circulation it becomes a sword qi.

"This isn't difficult either!"

Qin Feng raised his hand and pointed; sword qi shot out, the sharp sword qi tore through the air and pierced a hole in the ground, yet he suddenly understood.

Just a moment ago, he felt his meridians as if being torn apart.

The sword qi's edge was too fierce, cutting gold and breaking jade.

"I have ten times the genes, my meridians' flexibility far exceeds that of ordinary people, and my strong physique gives me this feeling; if an ordinary martial artist cultivated this, his meridians would likely be torn when converting true qi into sword qi inside his body, let alone firing it."

This is the danger when one first begins.

The essentials of the technique also include dulling the sword qi's edge to suit one's body.

"But if one cannot even enter the door, how can one dull it?" "However, for me it poses no difficulty!" Qin Feng couldn't help but laugh.

He closed his eyes and continued to contemplate.

If he could achieve continuous firing from all ten fingers without interruption, that would be awesome.

"We must also compress the sword qi to increase its sharpness!"

After cultivating until deep into the night, Qin Feng finally went to rest.

The next morning.

Zhang Fu came over, smiling as he handed over three contracts: "These are the shop and house deeds sent by the Liu family; the locations are good. I also convey a message from Liu Kaisan, saying the Liu family is upright and honorable, will never shift blame, and that the Qin and Liu families will remain forever on good terms, without any petty quarrels."

"Liu Kaisan is truly an old fox; he knows that even though the Liu family is clearly being framed, he must still adopt this attitude." Qin Feng glanced at the three deeds and said, "Give those three properties!"

"Master, this is yours!" Zhang Fu hastily said.

"They are only three shops." Qin Feng said indifferently, "The key is to watch their future attitudes; just don't accuse me of being stingy and ungrateful."

Zhang Fu's expression turned solemn; he understood the deeper meaning.

After he left, Qin Feng continued his cultivation.

His progress in the Three-Phase Sword Finger was rapid; tangible sword qi directly reached the minor accomplishment stage, a improvement that even surprised him.

He also began to cultivate the Carefree Wind-Stepping Technique.

After dinner, Zhang Fu came again.

His expression was inscrutable, with a hint of hesitation.

"Master, there are rumors outside today; if they are true, the enemy of the late patriarch has probably been found." Zhang Fu took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

Qin Feng's teacup paused slightly as he lifted it, then he set it down and said: "Grandfather Fu, sit, speak slowly!"

Zhang Fu remained standing beside him, lowering his voice: "In the brothels and wine shops, many places are discussing how the Xiang family's third son, Xiang Ding, and the daughter of the Fan family of the city are about to marry, and the Xiang family will use the woman to rise, becoming the true hegemon of Ten Thousand Peace City."

Qin Feng poured a cup of tea for Zhang Fu and listened quietly.

"Furthermore, it is said that Xiang Ding has been cultivating in the Fan family because of his heavenly talent, which attracted their attention. Three months ago, Fan family members came to the Xiang family to discuss matters, but the Xiang family kept it secret."

"Moreover, it is said that not long ago, a ninth-rank martial artist named Fan Chi came to the Xiang family and then vanished without a trace."

Qin Feng listened, also closing his eyes.

These days, Grandfather Fu has often told him about the powers within Qing Prefecture; the Fan family of the city is one of them, with a grandmaster presiding over it, making it very strong.

Three months ago, when the Fan family sent people, it coincided with his father's death.

Not long ago, a ninth-rank invader came to the Qin family and was killed by him in retaliation, while the Xiang family received a Fan Chi who then disappeared; perhaps it was him!

"Grandfather Fu, investigate the relationship between the Xiang and Fan families; investigate who the Fan family sent three months ago; investigate the Xiang family's movements at that time; investigate Fan Chi!" Qin Feng suddenly opened his eyes and gave a calm yet extreme order: "Mobilize all the family's external forces; whoever dares to obstruct or to outwardly comply while inwardly defying, kill!"

"What about those three properties?"

"Kill!"

Qin Feng's tone was extremely icy.

"Good!" Zhang Fu agreed, but hesitated: "Once this news comes out, it will spread throughout the city in an uproar; it must be the Liu family that released it."

"Nine out of ten!" Qin Feng nodded, "The Liu family has been entangled by the mechanism poison; the best move is to leak even more explosive information. To others, this might signal the Xiang family's total rise, but to us, it is a mortal feud!"

"Sigh…" He sighed again, softly saying: "From just a few matters, one can see that our Qin family's intelligence system has basically collapsed. The Cao family knows the situation of the Lu family, the Liu family knows the secrets of the Xiang family, but we know nothing at all, and we can hardly uncover any useful leads."

"Besides the great weakening of our strength caused by the late patriarch's death, those three families…" Zhang Fu trailed off, looking grim.

"By investigating the Xiang family's affairs to see their attitude, if they are still clueless…" Qin Feng did not continue.

Zhang Fu, however, flashed a ruthless expression.

At this moment, Qin Bo hurried over, very anxious, but after performing his salute he said: "Sir, outside the manor gate, the Xiang family's third young master, Xiang Ding, accompanied by a few men, has come to cause trouble, proclaiming that he will challenge you, master; his attitude is extremely arrogant, and Zhao Hu, unable to bear it, spoke a few words before being beaten into serious injury."

"What gall!" Zhang Fu exploded in anger, his beard and hair standing on end.

"This is coming to our door to slap our face—no, to trample on our face—good, very good, excellent!" Qin Feng could not help but be amused by his anger.

Just after the news about the Xiang family was released, it could possibly be the Xiang family's doing.

Now they are bullying their way to our door.

This is an open declaration to the Qin family: I killed your father, and I will still trample your face, driving your Qin family completely into the abyss.

"Xiao Qing, fetch my sword!" Qin Feng stood up and gave the order.

Soon, Xiao Qing brought over the Flowing Cloud Sword.

Qin Feng grabbed it and walked toward the outside.

Zhang Fu showed a worried expression, wanting to stop and advise him, but he could not utter a word.

He understood that if the Qin family retreated today, their reputation would be completely ruined.

Even if the heavens collapse, we must hold them up.

"Qin Bo, pass the word down, summon all the guards to assemble!" Fu Ye Ye said, hurrying to follow.

Liu Manor!

"What, Xiang Ding brought a few young masters from the prefecture city to the Qin manor's gate to challenge Qin Feng? Haha, good news, truly good news, to openly celebrate." Liu Kaishan, upon receiving the news, couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Old Xiang, old Xiang, you may have grand ambitions, but you are steady as a dog; yet now your son has jumped out, and at this critical juncture. This is openly telling everyone in Wan'an City that our Xiang family is this arrogant, this domineering, killing your father and still bullying your son; whoever dares not submit, I will suppress them. Added to our marriage alliance with the Fan family, we have truly become overwhelmingly powerful. Zhou family, I see you can still sit still. Cao family, you still dare to lurk behind the scenes like flies and dogs. As for the Sun family, who have always stayed out of affairs, I don't believe they will just watch our Xiang family rise."

"Sir, what if Xiang Ding loses or is killed?" the old steward suddenly said.

"Defeat?" Liu Kaishan startled, frowned and said, "Impossible he would lose! Qin Feng's talent is stunning, but Xiang Ding possesses a monstrous talent, his talent so stunning it makes me tremble with fear; in many matters I dare not oppose the Xiang family, only… Xiang Ding is born with divine strength, these years he has mostly trained in the prefecture city, at least reaching eighth rank. If he further refines his body, he likely has the combat power of a ninth-rank martial artist."

"However, if he truly loses, then the good show truly begins!" Liu Kaishan laughed again, "Best would be for Qin Feng to kill Xiang Ding, no, best would be for both to perish together! No matter what, our Liu family can just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."

"Sir, what if the Fan family comes strong?"

"Old Xiao, don't keep hitting me like that! The Xiang family has the Fan family, so don't we Liu family have something too?"

Xiang family.

"Unfilial son!" Xiang family head Xiang Rong, upon learning his son had gone to the Qin manor to challenge, flew into a rage, his three corpse gods almost jumping out, "He is bullying others too much, putting our Xiang family at the forefront of controversy. I have always told him to be patient, keep a low profile, accumulate strength, to remain silent unless he must speak, and once he speaks he should establish his position; but now it's still far from enough. The Lü family scheming against the Qin family all rely on external forces, lest others think they are bullying an orphan, but he…"

"The news of our relationship with the Fan family has spread far and wide; observant people can easily guess that Old Qin might have been killed by us, and now he comes to our door again—this is not telling outsiders that our Xiang family is overbearing, arrogant, lawless, ambitious, disregarding rules, trampling unspoken conventions. Today it's the Qin family; tomorrow could it be the Cao family, the Liu family, the City Lord's Manor's Zhou family, the Black Dragon Guard's Sun family?"

"If he beats Qin Feng to death again…"

Xiang Rong thought of this, and his scalp instantly tingled.

"Sir, it's too late to try to stop now." The old man beside him chuckled, "Better to rise with the momentum."

"Uncle Liang, can you rise to the occasion? If we provoke the Zhou and Sun families, their combined forces could devour our Xiang family down to the bones." Xiang Rong said angrily.

"The Zhou and Sun families represent the authorities; they won't easily intervene!" the old steward said, "Now this situation gives us few choices. Since the Third Young Master is willing to step forward, let's take the chance to destroy the Qin family, take what we should, gamble what we should, and also intimidate the other families."

"The Qin family must not be destroyed, absolutely must not be destroyed!" Xiang Rong felt moved, but thinking of something, his face drastically changed, "Moreover, we cannot storm the Qin manor; at the very least, our people absolutely cannot enter the Qin manor. I was about to go… no, I cannot step forward. If I appear, the nature would be even different. Uncle Liang, you go to the Qin manor now and tell Ding'er, no matter how he causes trouble, he must not enter the Qin manor; otherwise, otherwise, I will expel him from the clan register!"

He gritted his teeth and uttered the final words.

It seemed as if he were resisting a mountain of gold.

Uncle Liang's expression changed drastically.

Night fell, the north wind howled.

It blew the lanterns outside the Qin manor's gate to sway incessantly, as if they might go out at any moment.

Outside, two bonfires were lit, illuminating the area brightly.

The guards separated.

Qin Feng walked out.

The killing intent instantly surged to its peak.

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(End of chapter)