Chapter 482

The steward gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "You can't say that, Second Madam. The young masters of the Eldest, Third, and Fourth households are all frail and weak; none have the physique of Young Master Xiao Yi. Moreover, the Eldest Master has spoken: if Young Master Xiao Yi goes, you, Second Madam, and the Seventh Miss will move to the main residence, and your treatment will be no worse than theirs—only better."

"Get lost! You heartless dog..." Xie Lian burst out cursing.

Gu Jing also sobbed while continually shoving the steward.

"I'll go!" Heng Xian said.

The steward stared at Heng Xian in surprise, his face lighting up with unexpected joy, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

Xie Lian suddenly went limp and collapsed to the ground.

The little maid Gu Jing also froze.

……

At three quarters past the morning hour, the Gu family gathered at the main gate.

Heng Xian, meanwhile, stood outside with his hands behind his back.

Inside the courtyard, Xie Lian and her daughter were surrounded by people, already reduced to tears.

The Gu family matriarch leaned on her cane, watching Heng Xian's retreating back, and sighed: "Just yesterday I was hoping this child would bring glory to our gate; who would have thought the recruitment order from the Gong Sun family would come so suddenly!"

"Mother, don't say that; serving the Gong Sun family is a blessing for everyone in the city!"

"Yes, Mother; Young Master Xiao Yi's willingness to go might be to fulfill his second brother's dream!"

The three Gu brothers exchanged a glance, spoke to comfort her, though their voices could not hide the relief of having escaped a disaster.

The matriarch sighed again: "I only hope he can live a little longer, to make up for our second son."

Just then, a cavalryman came galloping from a distant street corner with a group of people; upon arriving, he turned out to be a tall, sturdy man in armor.

Behind him followed thirty-odd youths of various heights and builds.

These youths, without exception, had pallid faces and furrowed brows.

The cavalryman glanced at the Gu family crowd, then looked at Heng Xian and asked: "Gu family?"

The Gu family elder hastily replied: "Reporting to the commander, this is the Gu family of the Gu Medicine Trading House!"

The cavalryman looked at the tablet in his hand: "Gu Xiao Yi, son of the Second Master of the Gu family?"

"Exactly!" the Gu elder replied.

"You Gu folks are really heartless—after the father died, you swapped in the son, leaving no incense at all!"

The cavalryman muttered something, flicked his whip, pointed at Heng Xian, and said, "Fall in, we're moving out!"

The column continued forward, and Heng Xian fell in behind.

Once again, the wails of Xie Lian and her daughter echoed from within the courtyard.

Heng Xian thought for a moment, then couldn't help turning back to comfort them: "Who says being a death warrior means you'll really die? Rest assured, I'll return alive from this, and surely my name will shake the whole city!"

He waved his hand, didn't even glance at the Gu family, and ran off with the troop.

The troop kept recruiting, taking one person from each household; if there were no men, a woman could be sent instead—no exceptions.

They ran like that for three streets and two wards, and already two hundred people followed behind.

Those two hundred quickly merged with seven other squads, forming a force of over a thousand; looking around, all were listless youths and girls.

Then the thousand-plus were driven like cattle to the edge of the middle and inner cities, to a barren mountain forest, where they were formed into a long line and waited silently.

No one knew what they were waiting for.

Heng Xian casually scanned the crowd and discovered that Bu Fan was also there, winking at him.

He just didn't know where Gou Dan had run off to.

"Brother!"

Beside him, a short-statured youth suddenly asked: "What's your cultivation level?"

Heng Xian pointed at himself: "Me?"

The youth nodded: "Yeah!"

"Very high!" Heng Xian said.

"Pfft…"

A burst of heartless laughter came from nearby.

A dark-skinned girl with big eyes on his left coldly said: "Your body clearly shows no spiritual energy fluctuations at all—you're just talking big!"

Heng Xian rubbed his nose: "That's none of your business; anyway, my cultivation is high!"

The short youth shook his head: "Boasting is useless; the Extreme Kill Warrior trial tests one's true ability—otherwise it's death!"

Before Heng Xian could speak, the dark-skinned girl sneered: "But as far as I know, this Extreme Kill Warrior trial isn't about one's cultivation level; it's about strength, reaction speed, intelligence, and swiftness!"

The short youth shook his head: "Higher cultivation means higher those attributes, right?"

The dark-skinned girl shook her head: "If the Extreme Kill Warrior were truly tied to cultivation, why would they recruit from every household, ending up with a bunch of low-cultivation oafs? They'd be better off hiring high-cultivation bandits and rogue cultivators."

"Well…" the short youth fell into thought.

The dark-skinned girl then looked toward the distant crowd: "Moreover, as I've heard, the heirs of the Li, Yang, and He families are also participating!"

The short youth gasped: "Which Li, Yang, He?"

"Who else?" the dark-skinned girl said coldly: "The three great clans second only to the Gong Sun family!"

The short youth puzzled: "Why bother? The three great clans could just send some useless branch descendants; why risk the heirs?"

The dark-skinned girl scoffed: "In this world, opportunity and danger always go hand in hand; it's said that the ultimate trial of this Extreme Kill Warrior will bring a tremendous Fate Opportunity!"

"I see!" the short youth bowed with clasped fists: "May I ask your name, miss?"

The dark-skinned girl replied calmly: "I am Li Zhu, the eldest daughter of the Li family, one of the three great clans."

The short youth chuckled: "I am He Qian, the heir of the He family, one of the three great clans—my apologies!"

Heng Xian stared for a moment, silently recited something, then glanced to the side.

Li Zhu and He Qian looked at him together: "What does 'Versailles, cripple' mean?"

Heng Xian lightly explained: "It just means awesome, overbearing, and noble!"

He Qian chuckled proudly: "It's a bit of showing off, hehe..."

Li Zhu frowned slightly: "And you? Looking at your dignified appearance, you must have an extraordinary background, right?"

Heng Xian casually said: "True transmission of the Tianyuan Sect, Prince Consort of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

Li Zhu and the other person gave a dismissive "huh", turned aside, obviously too lazy to bother with this nonsense-spouting, bullshitting guy.

Just then, dozens of white-clad youths suddenly appeared from all directions, stepping on flying swords.

The crowd instantly became restless:

"The Gongsun family has arrived!"

"All of them flying on swords, so cool! When can we do that too?"

"Let's not talk about dying yet!"

"Silence!"

Suddenly, a youth stepped forward from the opposite side, treading a blood-red long sword, his face full of killing intent.

The crowd fell silent.

That youth said coldly: "One thousand four hundred thirty-one people, enter the forest behind, within the span of an hour, only five hundred can walk out alive!"

Of these five hundred, those with no kills on their hands will be executed outright; the top fifty with the most kills will receive generous rewards, and gaining those rewards will increase their chances of survival later! Begin! Those who do not enter the forest, or dawdle, will be slain on the spot!

Having said that, he completely ignored the noise and waved his hand heavily.

Around them, a group of Gongsun family disciples flying on swords waved their magic swords, ready to kill.

Upon seeing this, over a thousand people immediately rushed forward to run into the forest.

Heng Xian also ran with the crowd, glancing around as he ran; this group of sword-fliers didn't catch his eye—he could wipe them out with a single move—but the surroundings gave him a strange formation fluctuation, very oppressive!

At that moment, Sun Bufan somehow came over: "Master Xian!"

Heng Xian glanced at him: "How did you also come here?"

Sun Bufan gave a wry smile: "I was conscripted into labor; outside the city they just grab people!"

Heng Xian nodded.

Sun Bufan looked around: "What should we do later? I feel like several people have their eyes on me, wanting to fuck me!"

Heng Xian looked around; at least a dozen people were eyeing him, including Li Zhu and He Qian.

Because he had no fluctuations of cultivation on him!

(End of chapter)