Chapter 254: Oh no, he's coming for me

The Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang was an intelligence center, wide and spacious. The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis, Zhu Wushi, rose from his chair, walked slowly down the steps, and came before the kneeling Duan Tianya, reaching out to help him up.

Duan Tianya also raised his head to look at the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis.

Having returned from Japan with Gu Qing, Duan Tianya had come immediately to the Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang. When meeting this foster father, he inexplicably compared Gu Qing and the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis in his heart.

These two people were perhaps experts of the same level.

"How were your studies during this trip to Japan?"

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis asked with concern.

Duan Tianya then told the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis about the various events in Japan.

Following by Gu Qing's side, Duan Tianya's swordsmanship had greatly improved.

"Gu Qing?"

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis walked to his desk, wrote down the name with a brush, then sent it into a secret compartment, letting the Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang's intelligence network conduct a search. At the same time, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he said: "Tokugawa Ieyasu of Japan is a character, and there are the three great ninjas, Mian Kuang Silang... all actually overturned by Gu Qing... remarkable."

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis knew well that there were many experts in Japan. Gu Qing being able to snatch a bride, kill people, and usurp power there must rely on invincible strength.

"It's just a pity that although Gu Qing has the power to usurp power, he is deluded by women."

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis commented sharply: "Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami paid with two daughters, and he was coaxed back. He truly lacks ambition."

In the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis's view, Gu Qing had usurped the throne and should have flexed his muscles in Japan, but being trapped by women showed a lack of vision.

"Or perhaps, Master simply has no such thoughts."

Duan said.

He had been by Gu Qing's side for a while and knew that Gu Qing took power very lightly.

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis responded, taking the intelligence retrieved from the Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang. Most of it was a blank slate. This made the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis frown, feeling there were variables beyond his expectations.

According to Duan, Gu Qing had set out from the capital for Japan, and for such an expert to wander around the capital without the Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang having any intelligence on him was a dereliction of duty.

It also meant that Gu Qing's schemes were not shallow.

Duan Tianya was the Heaven-rank number one chosen by the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis. Now that Gu Qing had intervened and taught him martial arts, it couldn't help but make the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis suspicious.

"Where is Gu Qing going after returning to the Central Plains?"

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis asked.

"Intelligence shows that Gu Qing is going to the Heartless Shanzhuang."

A secret agent of the Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang said.

Heartless Shanzhuang?

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis was startled, feeling that Gu Qing was truly coming for him!

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis's personality was somewhat similar to Shangguan Jin Hong's; both required various intelligence and thorough consideration. Therefore, when thinking about things, he naturally let his mind wander, guessing which side Gu Qing belonged to, why he contacted Duan Tianya, and so on. In this moment of distraction, his gaze fell on Duan Tianya, and he asked: "Tianya, I see you also have the intention to compare; why not compare me with your master..."

Duan Tianya pondered deeply.

"Gu Santong leans toward sports, the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis leans toward business."

When Gu Qing was with Yagyu Yuki and Yagyu Fu, he discussed the two great experts of the current age and gave a sharp critique.

At this time, Yagyu Yuki and Yagyu Fu were both dressed as Han women, following by Gu Qing's side, looking at the scenery of the Shenzhou; it was indeed different.

"If Husband cultivates for a few more days, he will definitely be stronger than the Undefeated Urchin."

Yagyu Fu said: "Husband is more athletic than Gu Santong and more business-minded than the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis!"

Such an evaluation made Gu Qing laugh.

After returning to the Shenzhou, Gu Qing spent more time traveling with Yuki and Fu and less time fighting. As for gold and silver, as long as Gu Qing slightly applied his medical skills or performed a wave of chivalrous deeds, wealthy squires would naturally befriend him. Yuki and Fu never had to worry about money by Gu Qing's side.

Amidst this mountain and water travel, Gu Qing leisurely arrived outside the Heartless Shanzhuang.

The Heartless Shanzhuang was where the Tyrant Blade resided. In this villa, the martial arts practiced by the disciples were called the Heartless Slash. To master this martial art, one needed to continuously kill friends over seven years, thereby becoming heartless, righteous-less, pity-less, love-less, kin-less, and friend-less, and by this, becoming heaven-less, earth-less, god-less, and demon-less.

In *The World's Number One*, the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis had cultivated Duan Tianya, Shangguan Haitang, and Guihai Yidao. Among them, the Earth-rank number one secret agent, Guihai Yidao, was practicing in this Heartless Shanzhuang.

"Heartless Shanzhuang, stop right there!"

The guards of the Heartless Shanzhuang held their blades coldly, blocking Gu Qing, Yuki, and Fu's visit.

"We are here to kick down the hall."

Yagyu Fu knew Gu Qing wanted to meet the Tyrant Blade, so she spoke bluntly.

Hearing that the visitors were ill-intentioned, the guards drew their blades and moved. As the chilling blade light fell, Yagyu Fu suddenly made a move, wiping her bare hand across the blade. Only two "Clang, clang" sounds were heard, and the long blades were guided, causing the two guards to strike each other, each cutting into the other's shoulder blade.

The two of them had used lethal moves, and this redirection caused extremely heavy injuries to both.

Gu Qing looked at Yagyu Fu, watching her smile slightly after seeing blood. This gentle yet sinister smile already had a bit of the Goddess's demeanor.

"Enemy attack!"

The heavy injuries of the two men alarmed the Heartless Shanzhuang. In an instant, the guards and disciples of the Heartless Shanzhuang poured out, all holding long blades, their eyes indifferent, fearless of death, guarding the front of the Heartless Shanzhuang.

"Husband, let me!"

Yagyu Fu's heart originally harbored murderous intent, which had dissipated somewhat while following Gu Qing, and traveling the mountains and waters of the Shenzhou had cleansed it even more. But seeing blood this time, that murderous intent was ignited again.

Reaching out to grasp a blade, Yagyu Fu entered the crowd. In three moves and two styles, she actually injured several disciples, making the Heartless Shanzhuang disciples extremely angry. Various slashes poured down.

"Snow Drifting in the Human World!"

Yagyu Fu's posture was elegant, her blade merciless. As soon as *Snow Drifting in the Human World* was unleashed, seven or eight disciples were caught off guard and injured by the blade Qi. But what followed was the extreme rage of the Heartless Shanzhuang disciples, various lethal moves pouring down, almost completely drowning Yagyu Fu.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish..."

The long blades were as chaotic as hemp, completely suppressing Yagyu Fu. Such tyrannical blade styles left Fu, who was in the middle, only able to close her eyes and wait for death.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."

The long blades fell to the ground one after another.

Everyone looked around, but could no longer find Yagyu Fu's figure. Turning back, they saw Yagyu Fu standing beside Gu Qing, smiling sweetly.

At that critical moment, Yagyu Fu had been saved by Gu Qing. It was precisely because she had such an expert by her side that Yagyu Fu could be so reckless.

"Outrageous!"

The people of the Heartless Shanzhuang rushed up, intending to fight again.

"I really can't do anything with you people."

Gu Qing rushed into the crowd in an instant. Next, only wails were heard. Every single one of these disciples was knocked to the ground by Gu Qing. And when they looked at Gu Qing, they still didn't know how Gu Qing had arrived or how they had been hit. Among these disciples was Guihai Yidao. At this moment, he was lying on his back, his whole body unable to move. When he looked at Gu Qing, his gaze held a bit of fervor.

This Gu Qing was the expert Guihai Yidao wanted to pursue.

"Powerful! Powerful!"

The master of the Heartless Shanzhuang, Tyrant Blade, walked out, looked at Gu Qing, and said in a cold, hard voice: "I don't know what grudge you have against me, to come to the Heartless Shanzhuang to stir up trouble?"

"Can't I come to the Heartless Shanzhuang to stir up trouble without any grudge?"

Gu Qing asked.

Tyrant Blade sneered and shook his head, saying: "I don't care about who is who, it's just that this is a critical period for the disciples' cultivation, and I don't want to be disturbed by you."

The Heartless Shanzhuang's cultivation method was a way of becoming heartless, kinless, and love-less. At the beginning, 128 people practiced the blade, paired in groups of two. By the end of the year, in these pairs, two people had to kill each other, keeping only one, thus 64 people entered the next round, then 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1.

After several years of this, like raising *Gu* poison, the person who emerged was the one who had mastered the secret of the Heartless Slash.

This one Heartless Slash required 127 lives to pave the way, so the blade technique was naturally precious.

"Draw your blade."

Gu Qing was very interested in the Heartless Slash and wanted to see its quality.

!

Tyrant Blade held his blade coldly. At this moment, he entered the state of being kin-less and love-less, holding the blade with one hand, staring coldly at Gu Qing.

Gu Qing stepped forward, ignoring Tyrant Blade's biting murderous intent, and instead walked slowly toward Tyrant Blade.

Guihai Yidao, on the ground, desperately opened his eyes wide, wanting to record all of this firmly. In his gaze, he saw Tyrant Blade holding the blade and slashing at Gu Qing with one stroke!

It was as if a touch of white appeared in a pitch-black world.

Guihai Yidao had never imagined that the Heartless Slash would look like this. At this very moment, Guihai Yidao felt everything had been stretched out. He greedily watched everything about the Heartless Slash, watching the perfect fusion of speed and power, watching the perfect combination of internal energy and moves, watching this near-perfect blade fall on Gu Qing's head...

"Clang!"

Guihai Yidao stared at all this, as if waking up from a long, drunken dream.

That perfect strike of the Heartless Slash was easily pinched by Gu Qing with two fingers. There were no ripples, no miracles; it all even looked a bit coincidental.

But he had caught it.

Tyrant Blade looked at the long blade pinched by Gu Qing's two fingers, his face also extremely astonished. Looking at Gu Qing's two fingers, Tyrant Blade couldn't help but shed tears.

What Gu Qing had pinched off was not just Tyrant Blade's victory or defeat, but the pride of the Heartless Shanzhuang.

"How dare you..."

Tyrant Blade asked, his throat choked.

Even the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis wouldn't dare use two fingers to deal with the Heartless Slash.

"I've caught blades harder than this."

Gu Qing said lightly.

Back in the *Sentimental Swordsman* world, when Gu Qing faced Li Xunhuan, the Little Li Flying Dagger was inadvertently imbued with lightning. The pressure that blade brought to Gu Qing was much stronger than the Heartless Slash.

"Forget it, forget it!"

Tyrant Blade threw the long blade in his hand and said: "I have lost."

After saying this, Tyrant Blade walked out of the Heartless Shanzhuang. This Heartless Slash was his most proficient skill, and such a move had actually been broken by fingers when facing Gu Qing. This made Tyrant Blade lose confidence in martial arts. Now he just wanted to walk out into the *Jianghu*, marry a wife, and live a peaceful life.

Gu Qing looked at Tyrant Blade's back. In the original plot, this Tyrant Blade was defeated by Guihai Yidao's Heartless Slash and never held a blade again, setting up a small shop and doing some ordinary business, living a stable and warm life. Now that he had been defeated by Gu Qing, the direction should be about the same.

"How rude..."

Gu Qing sighed. Sending this Tyrant Blade off to a good life with a wife and children on a warm *kang* could be considered a good deed. The other party actually didn't know how to be grateful.

"Husband, your hand..."

Yagyu Yuki stepped forward, took Gu Qing's hand that had used the *Soul's Intuition Finger*, and seeing the slight scar on the palm, hurriedly took a handkerchief and medicinal water to wipe it.

"The blade Qi of this Heartless Slash is still quite condensed."

Gu Qing said with a smile.

In this *World's Number One* world, the numerical values were generally high; even some small soldiers could produce special effects and slash out blade Qi. This Heartless Slash was a *Wu Lin* supreme skill, so the condensed blade Qi was naturally extraordinary. Although Gu Qing had prepared, he was still slightly injured.

"Without the *Diamond Indestructible Divine Art*, the *Soul's Intuition Finger* is weak."

Gu Qing sighed.

Without an absolute defense technique, catching a blade edge head-on was truly inappropriate.

Yagyu Fu looked at the shallow scar, thought of the Heartless Slash just now, shook her head slightly, and asked the many disciples lying on the ground: "Do you still want to practice the Heartless Slash here?"

Guihai Yidao's Heartless Slash had been practiced for a year, and he had already killed one friend and was about to kill another. Suddenly seeing Tyrant Blade defeated, and hearing Yagyu Fu ask this, he endured the pain in his body, walked up, and said: "I must practice the Heartless Slash."

Gu Qing looked at Guihai Yidao before him.

This Guihai Yidao's life was quite pit-filled. The first half of his life was spent pursuing revenge, wanting to kill the enemy who killed his father. After going around in circles, he discovered that the one who killed his father was actually his own mother. Then he was lured into becoming a demon, was framed, and just when he finally reconciled with himself and was about to have a happy ending with Shangguan Haitang, Shangguan Haitang was killed.

"You are not suited for the Heartless Slash."

Gu Qing spoke the truth.

Guihai Yidao appeared heartless, but his heart was extremely fervent. Even if he reached the level of the Heartless Slash for a time, he wouldn't be able to unleash its power later.

"Then what martial arts am I suited for?"

Guihai Yidao asked.

Gu Qing looked at Guihai Yidao, smiled, and said: "Actually, my blade technique is also not bad."

Guihai Yidao looked at Gu Qing, understood in his heart, gritted his teeth, and bowed to Gu Qing as his master.

Gu Qing reached out to help him up and said: "As your master, I can take you to walk the *Jianghu*, and then let you identify your enemy." After witnessing the Heartless Slash, Gu Qing also wanted to take Guihai Yidao to rummage through his father's belongings.

In *The World's Number One*, there was also a Demon Blade, which was the "Dominate the World" practiced by Guihai Yidao's father, Guihai Bailian, as well as the deeper "Three Styles of the Asura Path." In the plot, these two sets of moves were both dug out by Guihai Yidao from his father's belongings. But Gu Qing thought that these two sets of moves should be the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis's handiwork. After all, Guihai Bailian's belongings had been sorted through many times, but whenever Guihai Yidao needed to become a demon, he could always dig up new things.

"You have taken another good disciple."

Yagyu Yuki assessed Guihai Yidao and said to Gu Qing.

Gu Qing smiled, quite satisfied with this.

Gu Qing was smiling, but the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis couldn't laugh.

Dragon-Protecting Shanzhuang.

The Iron-Gall Godly Marquis looked at this intelligence, his brows knitted together. Gu Qing had first taken Duan Tianya as a disciple, and now had taken Guihai Yidao as a disciple. In the Iron-Gall Godly Marquis's view, this was clearly targeting him!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 255 =====