Chapter 3: Before the Prince's Manor, the Whole City Stunned

The great gates of the Prince of Zhenhan Manor finally opened.

The heavy vermilion-lacquered gates were pushed slowly inward, emitting a teeth-grating sound.

Behind the gates stood over a hundred armored soldiers.

They all wore Black Armor, with standard-issue long sabers of the Northern Border at their waists, and a wolf-head emblem carved on their chests.

The Black Wolf Cavalry.

Once the most elite personal army under the command of Marquis of Zhenbei, Jiang Xuan.

Three years ago, this army had followed Lu Heng in rebellion.

Jiang Che looked at those familiar armors, and in the depths of his eyes there was no anger—only a cold chill.

The one at the head was a middle-aged man.

He was burly in build, his temples faintly greying, draped in a python robe, with a golden saber hanging at his waist.

The Prince of Zhenhan, Lu Heng.

Lu Heng stepped out of the manor's gate, his gaze falling on Lu Chen's corpse.

The corner of his eye twitched once.

But only once.

Soon, he raised his head to look at Jiang Che, and a faint smile actually appeared on his face.

"Nephew, three years apart, you've grown up."

Hearing these words, Jiang Che suddenly smiled too.

"Nephew?"

He stepped forward, one pace at a time.

"Lu Heng, and you dare?"

The Black Wolf Cavalry drew their sabers in unison.

Clang!

A hundred blades left their sheaths, killing intent like a wall.

Lu Heng raised a hand, and the Black Wolf Cavalry halted.

He looked at the Wooden Sword in Jiang Che's hand and said slowly, "I had thought you would spend your whole life hiding like a stray cur."

Jiang Che said, "I had also thought you'd be afraid when you saw me."

Lu Heng smiled faintly, "Afraid? Jiang Che, have you killed a few worthless pieces of trash and now think yourself fit to stand before this prince?"

He stepped forward one pace.

Boom!

A surge of vast, surging qi erupted from within his body.

The windows on both sides of the long street exploded instantly, and countless commoners shrieked and retreated.

The Sword Spirit said lazily, "A First Grade Martial Artist, half a step from an Earthly Immortal. You can't win right now."

Jiang Che's gaze sank slightly.

Lu Heng was stronger than he had imagined.

Three years ago, Lu Heng had already been the second strongest expert in Han Zhou, second only to his father, Jiang Xuan.

Now, three years later, Lu Heng held Han Zhou's military authority, possessed countless resources, and had actually touched the threshold of that legendary realm.

Jiang Che asked, "Lend me one sword-strike?"

The Sword Spirit said, "I can. But borrowing the sword comes with a price."

"What price?"

"Pain."

Jiang Che smiled, "In these three years, the one thing I've feared least is pain."

The Sword Spirit was silent for a moment.

Then he said softly, "Then stand steady."

The next instant, the Wooden Sword trembled violently.

The meridians within Jiang Che's body seemed to be wrenched open by ten thousand strands of Sword Qi, his bones emitting a fine, crisp crackling, and beads of blood seeped through his skin.

He let out a muffled grunt, yet did not retreat a single step.

Lu Heng narrowed his eyes, "So you have a master assisting you. No wonder you dare return."

Jiang Che raised his head.

Deep within his pupils, a wisp of azure sword-light seemed to kindle.

Lu Heng's expression finally changed.

Because at this moment, Jiang Che's aura was climbing steadily higher.

Third Grade.

Second Grade.

First Grade.

In the end, it faintly overwhelmed Lu Heng!

On the long street, a white-haired old man cried out involuntarily, "Impossible! How old is he?"

Jiang Che gripped his sword, his whole person like a blade about to leave its sheath.

Lu Heng gave a cold snort and drew his golden saber.

The saber came out, and wind and clouds stirred.

He slashed down with one saber.

A hundred-zhang blade aura pressed horizontally across the long street, as if intending to cleave the entire Hanzhou City in two.

Jiang Che drew his sword as well.

The Wooden Sword met the golden blade.

The blade aura and Sword Qi collided.

Boom!

Blue stones along the entire long street flew into the air, and the plaque before the Prince's Manor exploded on the spot.

Amidst the dust and smoke, two figures touched and immediately separated.

Lu Heng retreated three steps.

Jiang Che retreated seven steps, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Lu Heng sneered: "Borrowed power is ultimately not yours."

Jiang Che wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth: "It is enough to kill you."

Lu Heng's eyes grew dark: "Arrogant!"

He gripped the blade with both hands and struck down again.

This strike was stronger than the one before.

As the blade momentum rose, the clouds above Hanzhou City were stirred.

The Sword Spirit suddenly spoke: "Boy, your father's death was not simple."

Jiang Che's heart trembled: "What do you mean?"

"There is a scent from beyond the Heavenly Gate on this Lu Heng."

Jiang Che froze.

The Heavenly Gate.

Legend says at the end of the Martial Arts lies the Gate to Heaven.

Those who pass through this Gate can shed mortality and enter immortality.

Yet many Martial Artists in this world claim that beyond the Heavenly Gate lies not a realm of immortals, but a larger cage.

Jiang Che stared fiercely at Lu Heng: "Are you connected to the Heavenly Gate?"

Lu Heng's movement paused imperceptibly.

It was precisely this pause that confirmed the answer for Jiang Che.

Lu Heng spoke coldly: "The dead do not need to know too much."

Jiang Che's eyes blazed with killing intent.

"Then I will beat you until you speak."

He raised his sword.

The Sword Spirit sighed: "This strike, you cannot withstand."

Jiang Che said: "I can withstand it."

"It will damage your foundation."

"Does not matter."

"You might die."

Jiang Che smiled.

He looked at the Prince of Zhenhan Manor, at the place that once belonged to the Jiang Family.

"I have already died once."

The Sword Spirit fell silent.

Moments later, he laughed loudly.

"Good!"

"Now that is like a Sword Cultivator!"

Upon the Wooden Sword, Green Light surged violently.

Jiang Che took a step forward, and all the rainwater on the long street hung suspended in mid-air.

Heaven and Earth fell silent.

Lu Heng's pupils contracted sharply.

He felt a fear he had not known for a long time.

Jiang Che thrust his sword forth.

There was no thunderclap.

There was no gale.

Only a sword light as fine as a hair, piercing through the raindrops filling the sky, piercing through the hundred-zhang blade aura, piercing through Lu Heng's golden blade.

Finally, it stopped one inch before Lu Heng's brow.

Lu Heng froze in place.

The golden blade in his hand split in two from the middle.

On the chest of his python robe appeared a sword wound deep enough to see the bone.

Jiang Che's voice was hoarse: "Speak."

"How exactly did my father die back then?"

Lu Heng stared at him, his face pale, yet suddenly he smiled.

"Jiang Che, do you truly think killing me will avenge you?"

"Your father did not die by my hand."

"He was pressed to death by those people in Heaven."

Jiang Che's grip on the sword tightened.

Lu Heng grinned, his smile ferocious.

"The Jiang Family has guarded the North for generations, but they were not blocking the Northern Barbarians."

"They were blocking the Heavenly Gate."

Boom!

These words struck Jiang Che's heart like a thunderclap.

Just then, a crack suddenly appeared in the clouds above Hanzhou City.

A gaze as indifferent as a god's descended from behind the clouds.

The Sword Spirit's voice turned suddenly cold.

"Boy."

"Do not look up."

Yet Jiang Che had already raised his head.

Deep within the clouds, an ancient Heavenly Gate seemed to appear and disappear.

Behind the Gate, someone spoke softly:

"Remnant scum of the Jiang clan."

"Must be executed."

In the next instant, a golden bolt of Thunder descended from Heaven, striking straight at the top of Jiang Che's head.

Covered in blood, Jiang Che held the Wooden Sword and laughed wildly at Heaven.

"Come!"

"Today, I, Jiang Che, will see just how high this Heavenly Gate truly is!"

The Wooden Sword rose against Heaven.

Sword light shot toward the sky.

The entire city of Han Zhou was shocked.

On this day, Jiang Che, with a mortal body, delivered the first sword strike to the Heavenly Gate.