Chapter 281: Su Wan

On the main street, amidst the rows of stalls, dozens of humanoid monsters walked back and forth, yet the whole street still oddly exuded a thick aura of deathly stillness.

At that moment, under a tea stall, a white‑clad person sat slowly sipping a bowl of tea; if not for his stiff face and unblinking stare, he would be indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

On his forehead was a cloud‑shaped mark that flickered with a pale gold light, especially conspicuous.

Heng Xian was looking at that very forehead mark.

He was very familiar with this kind of mark!

A few years ago, while being hunted by the major sects, he passed through Peach Garden Valley, met Elder Mo Qibai, entered the Sword Cave, and watched a scene from 270,000 years ago.

In the picture, besides a man who resembled his father and the girl who wielded the Evil‑Piercing Sword, there was also a group of people whose foreheads bore the cloud‑shaped mark.

The cloud‑shaped mark on the forehead of this white‑clad man before him was exactly the same as theirs!

A group of people from 270,000 years ago and the monsters in the ruins of a sect destroyed tens of thousands of years ago share the same forehead mark—what does this mean?

Are these two kinds of people from the same sect or faction?

But why did these people become humanoid monsters when they came here?

Heng Xian frowned slightly, finding it hard to understand.

Just then, three green‑clad figures passed by; seeing him, they immediately swung their swords to stab.

Heng Xian had no choice but to set aside his thoughts, flick his sword with a finger, flash his body, and sweep his blade horizontally.

Three heads rolled cleanly to the ground, and the corpses instantly rotted and shriveled.

However, dozens of gray‑ and green‑clad figures on the street ahead were startled, leaping forward to attack with great speed.

Heng Xian immediately employed the Twentyfold Creation Escape Technique, waving his sword to meet them.

The gray‑clad fighters, equivalent to Condensed Qi Realm cultivators, were no match for a single blow; the green‑clad ones, though agile in leaping and jumping, lacked adaptability and could not withstand Heng Xian's sword.

In no time, the street was littered with rotting corpses.

Heng Xian lightly shook the viscous blood from his Grey Iron Sword and looked at the white‑clad man who had not moved.

That white‑clad man set down his tea cup, looked over, his forehead's pale gold cloud mark flickering slightly, his eyes turning blood‑red, drew the long sword at his waist, and flashed forward.

His sword pointed straight ahead, unswerving.

This was completely different from the sword moves of the three white‑clad men he had encountered while rescuing Sun Bufan and the others earlier.

Those three had relied on teleportation, whereas this one focused on swordsmanship.

Given Heng Xian's understanding of swordsmanship, this white‑clad man's sword technique alone was not inferior to that of any true‑disciple of the Ninth Level of the Qi Hai Realm from any sect.

Seeing the long sword thrusting toward him, he had no choice but to raise his Grey Iron Sword and thrust back.

The tips of the two swords were about to meet when the white‑clad man feinted; his sword's afterimage lingered, but he had vanished.

Heng Xian felt a chill behind him and immediately swung his sword backward.

Clang!

The sword tips collided, emitting a piercing sword hum.

Heng Xian tapped the ground with his toes and flew back three steps.

That white‑clad man, however, flew back ten or more steps, smashing a fruit stall to pieces and shattering a pile of blood‑red, juiceless watermelons.

The outcome was decided at once.

This white‑clad man was far inferior in strength.

Heng Xian flourished his sword with a flourish, smiled, and said, "Interesting!"

Swish—

The white‑clad man lunged again, still thrusting his long sword straight ahead.

This time, without waiting for Heng Xian to react, the sword tip flickered with three afterimages; the man was already above Heng Xian's head, stabbing toward his crown as fast as lightning, like a venomous snake.

Heng Xian couldn't help shaking his head; he still used the feint‑to‑west, strike‑to‑east, flash‑instant sword move. While it might surprise others, against a sword‑obsessed man like this it seemed rather dull.

He waved his Grey Iron Sword, turning it nine times, employing the Guide Character Decision to deflect the white‑clad man's sword tip, tapped his foot, and thrust forward.

Pfft—

The sword tip pierced the white‑clad man's throat.

Thick blood dripped down; the body fell heavily and began to smoke and rot.

Heng Xian instinctively reached to touch the white‑clad man's forehead mark, but it was already too late.

In an instant, the street was littered with rotting flesh and tokens.

Heng Xian had no choice but to wipe his Grey Iron Sword, pick up each token, and stuff them all into his Storage Bag.

The tokens already numbered in the dozens, but they were still far short.

He glanced around, saw no other humanoid monsters, worried about Su Wan'er, and turned back.

Back in the room, Su Wan'er happened to wake from her meditation, her expression dazed and her eyes a little vacant.

Heng Xian waved his hand in front of her eyes a few times and said, "Wake up!"

Su Wan'er's eyes focused on him, her expression strange: "Master! Nine Heavens Love‑Seed Immortal Marvelous Technique!"

Heng Xian asked, "A cultivation method?"

Su Wan'er nodded: "It is an ancient, supremely powerful technique created a hundred thousand years ago by a person named Chi Yumiao Zu; it can be cultivated only by women, and it consists of planting love‑seeds into a male cultivator's body."

In this lifetime, the male cultivator will see only this woman; one‑third of his future cultivation will be fed back to her.

The more love‑seeds are planted, the higher his cultivation—and it can even absorb the male cultivator's talent!

Heng Xian hesitated and said, "A sea‑woman?"

Su Wan'er asked curiously, "What's a sea‑woman?"

Heng Xian sat down and explained, "It's just a slutty woman who raises a pack of sycophants, leads people on, and refuses to take responsibility!"

"Ah…" Su Wan'er wrung her hands, nervous: "This doesn't seem like a good technique; my heart belongs only to Master—how could I, how could I…"

Heng Xian glanced at her and said, "You're clearly moved—why are you pretending?"

Su Wan'er hurriedly knelt: "Young master won't let this servant cultivate; this servant would rather die than cultivate!"

Heng Xian thought: "Cultivation is fine, but you need skill, you need to know how to act, you need to get every detail right, or you'll easily bring trouble upon yourself!"

Moreover, if you give up this Fate Opportunity, once you're past the right age and aptitude, everything will be too late; in this lifetime you'll hardly achieve anything, and wanting to avenge your clan will be nearly impossible!

Su Wan'er's face changed drastically, she knocked her head to the ground, her shoulders trembled slightly, tears streaming down her face.

Heng Xian chuckled lightly, patted her head: "What's there to cry about? It's human nature; one who doesn't avenge grudges is not a gentleman; to live in this world is to settle kindness and enmity swiftly—even in death, no regrets!"

Su Wan'er lifted her head with tear-blurred eyes, voice choking: "Young master's great kindness to this servant cannot be repaid in many lifetimes; this servant will surely serve you for life!"

"All right!" Heng Xian took out some dried meat from his Storage Bag and placed it over the fire to roast.

Su Wan'er wiped her tears, silently rose and sat to the side; after a while she burst into a laugh: "Seeing you roast meat reminds me of the spirit beast meat we had at the Heng family back then—it gave all the young masters and misses, as well as the elders, upset stomachs for a day!"

Heng Xian chuckled, thinking of events from a few years ago, feeling as if an eternity had passed; I don't know what Heng Ruze and those unpromising ones are up to now.

Su Wan'er added: "When Princess Ji Yaoyue asked about us, we also said you could roast meat; Princess Ji Yaoyue was very envious, saying she hasn't yet tasted anything you've made."

Her eyes lit up as she said: "Young master, you've been engaged to the princess for several years—will you marry her? Let her be our matriarch; that wouldn't be bad!"

Heng Xian imagined it, subconsciously touching his lips; his impression of Princess Ji Yaoyue was merely that this girl is pretty, noble‑bearing, and soft‑lipped—nothing else. He said: "First, I must cultivate to a very high realm, enough to shake off the pursuit of the Fourteen Sects; then we can talk romance—if our personalities match, marriage can come later."

Su Wan'er sighed: "If only the incident at the Sang Guo capital hadn't happened..."

No sooner had the words fallen than a shout came from outside.

Heng Xian waved his palm to scatter the firewood and looked outside.

Su Wan'er cocked her ear to listen, then said: "It's the cousin misses coming to find us!"

"Go on, I have other matters; remember to collect some blue‑ and white‑clad Tokens, and quietly tell Xie Lingyu what I said!"

"All right! Take care, young master!"

Two more chapters coming up shortly.

(End of chapter)