Chapter 158: Nicknames and Fake Blades

Dubi Yingwang's strike was meant to be a sure success.

Seeing his claw stance, Tu Xiaotian, Hai Lingzi, and the others could not help but feel a secret chill.

Although this old monster was aged, his internal energy had only grown deeper, and his moves had become even more exquisite.

If it were a one-on-one fight, it is feared that not a single person would be his match.

But the young man in black pointed a finger, and before he even touched the Eagle King's hand, Dubi Yingwang's swift and violent moves suddenly stalled.

Because Yu Liancheng's finger had pointed exactly at the critical point of his claw stance's transformation, sealing off all his variations.

Dubi Yingwang could certainly have attacked regardless of everything, but his "momentum" had been intercepted, weakening the power by at least thirty percent.

Whether this young man pointing here was a coincidence or the work of a top-tier expert, it was not yet known.

And if it were the latter, acting rashly would certainly not lead to a good end.

Dubi Yingwang's expression became grave; with a *swish*, he struck out with another claw.

This grab was as sharp as a blade, slicing the very air open.

His attack was clearly not slow, but the young man in black swayed his body in some unknown way and had already dodged the grab.

The young man in black reached out with another finger; his hand was not as long as Dubi Yingwang's and should not have been able to reach him, yet his arm suddenly surged forward by a foot, his finger landing just right on Dubi Yingwang's chest.

Dubi Yingwang suddenly felt a massive and sharp force strike him; he stumbled backward, his face turned pale, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and he hissed, "What powerful finger strength! Who... who exactly are you people?"

Not only was Sikong Shu's expression horrified, but the faces of Tu Xiaotian and the other two also changed.

To make Dubi Yingwang suffer a setback so effortlessly—even if there was a suspicion that the Eagle King had underestimated his opponent—this young man's internal energy was far too terrifying.

"The Chief of the Guanzhong Thirty-Six Gangs, Yu Liancheng." The young man smiled and sipped his wine.

The extremely beautiful woman giggled, "My surname is Feng, I rank fourth; some call me Feng Siniang, and some call me the Feng Enchantress."

Yu Liancheng had only recently become the Chief, so not many people knew him. But the martial arts he had displayed were enough to make anyone afraid to look down on him.

And Feng Siniang was even more famous; she could be considered the most well-known woman in the Edo.

—A woman who was like both the wind and an enchantress.

"Wait, since I've entered the Edo, shouldn't I have a nickname?" Yu Liancheng looked thoughtful.

Feng Siniang blinked and said, "Doesn't 'Chief of the Guanzhong Thirty-Six Gangs' count?"

"Of course it doesn't," Yu Liancheng said. "The Chief is just a position, not a nickname."

Feng Siniang smiled sweetly, "Once you make a name for yourself in the Edo, someone will naturally give you a nickname."

"I've had nicknames before, but they were all given by others; this time, I want to choose one myself."

Seeing Yu Liancheng's earnest expression, Feng Siniang couldn't help but giggle, "Nicknames are mostly derived from the weapons one uses, one's appearance, or one's personality. You are skilled in swordplay, perhaps you could choose a nickname based on the sword."

"That may be so, but I intend to cause trouble for someone. This person fancies himself as 'Heaven' and goes by the title 'Young Master Tian'. Since I want to choose a nickname, I naturally cannot lose to him, and I must even outdo him," Yu Liancheng mused.

And when he uttered the three words "Young Master Tian," the expressions of Zhao Wuji, Tu Xiaotian, and Hai Lingzi all changed slightly.

In reality, all three of them had already defected to "Young Master Tian," or rather, they all had leverage held over them by him; this time, guarding the blade was actually to deliver it to "Young Master Tian" Geshu Tian.

"Got it." Yu Liancheng suddenly clapped his hands, looking excited, "Since he calls himself Young Master Tian (Young Master Heaven), I'll just call myself Tian Setting Seeds (Heavenly Father). He can call me 'Dad', and I'll call him 'son'."

"You, sometimes you're just like an overgrown child." Feng Siniang shook her head and smiled.

Besides a child, what other person in the Edo would be so childish as to say something like "I am your father"?

"What would a woman like you know? A man remains a youth until he dies; what youth doesn't want to be someone else's father?"

Yu Liancheng snorted coldly, suddenly stood up, looked at Dubi Yingwang, and smiled, "I advise you to hand the bundle to me. Although you are old and crippled, I respect the old and cherish the young, and I truly cannot bear to hurt you."

"Heh, kid, aren't you afraid the wind will flash your tongue?" Dubi Yingwang sneered, seemingly disdainful, but he had already taken two steps back to coordinate with the three experts behind him.

The "Acupuncture Expert" Tu Xiaotian smiled, "Little brother, the Deer-Carving Blade can only be obtained by the heroes of the world. If you truly want the blade, you need only go to Shen Family Manor and fight the 'Wulin Six Gentlemen'. If your martial arts surpass theirs, the Deer-Carving Blade will naturally be yours."

"There's no need for such trouble!" As he spoke, Yu Liancheng's figure flickered, turning into a streak of light, suddenly appearing behind Dubi Yingwang, reaching out to grab the Yellow Cloth Bundle.

And in that instant, the four experts guarding the blade all moved.

"Dubi Yingwang" Sikong Shu struck back with a claw, still the Eagle Claw Technique, but this strike was unleashed with full power, and its might was naturally incomparable to before.

Zhao Wuji channeled his Hunyuan True Qi, his robes billowing, and slashed a palm toward Yu Liancheng; the palm force was rounded and infinite, like vast waves.

The pipe in Tu Xiaotian's hand struck out like lightning, turning into countless afterimages, enveloping Yu Liancheng's entire body, aiming to strike all his vital acupuncture points.

The Sword in Hai Lingzi's hand suddenly unsheathed, fast and urgent, looking just like a venomous snake.

These four were all renowned martial arts masters who had been famous in the Edo for decades; when they joined forces for a strike, the number of people in the world who could block it could be counted on one hand.

Yu Liancheng did not block.

His figure seemed to have turned into a streak of elusive flowing light; although the four people's attacks were fierce and covered almost every corner, they couldn't touch even a corner of his clothes.

Yu Liancheng grabbed back, retreated, and was already back beside Feng Siniang; and in his palm, there was unexpectedly an extra Yellow Cloth Bundle—inside the bundle was naturally the legendary Deer-Carving Blade.

"Let's go quickly." Feng Siniang was so excited she almost jumped, pulling Yu Liancheng to flee.

"No rush." Yu Liancheng, however, did not move.

"Want to leave! No way!"

And at this moment, Sikong Shu, Zhao Wuji, Tu Xiaotian, and Hai Lingzi flickered, having already blocked Yu Liancheng from four different directions.

……

En De Yuan, backyard.

Dubi Yingwang and the other three had already surrounded Yu Liancheng from different directions, not giving Yu Liancheng or Feng Siniang any chance to escape.

But because Yu Liancheng had not only injured Dubi Yingwang with one finger earlier but had also been able to take the Yellow Cloth Bundle with ease under the four people's siege, they truly did not dare to act rashly.

"Oh dear, this is bad luck, being surrounded by these four guys." Feng Siniang stomped her feet, but she didn't look too anxious.

"Here, the Deer-Carving Blade you wanted." Yu Liancheng tossed the Yellow Cloth Bundle to Feng Siniang.

Feng Siniang beamed with joy, like a little fox, "No matter what, this thing is finally in our hands."

"It's only in your hands for the moment," Hai Lingzi said coldly. "In a moment, not only will you not get the Deer-Carving Blade, but you will also lose something very important."

"What?!"

"Your life!"

"No need to mind him; the Deer-Carving Saber has already been given to you, so shouldn't the Blue Jade be given to me?" Yu Liancheng said calmly and composedly.

Feng Siniang's expression darkened, and she said, "Who do you want to give the Blue Jade to?"

Yu Liancheng said leisurely, "I haven't decided yet, but it will certainly be for a very beautiful, very adorable young girl."

"Fine, you must tell me once you find her." Feng Siniang bit her lip and fiercely threw the "Blue Jade" at Yu Liancheng.

"Fine, I will certainly tell you." Yu Liancheng nodded, caught the Blue Jade, examined it carefully for several moments, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face: "You can look at your Deer-Carving Saber now; as long as 'I, your father' am here, no one can snatch this saber from your hands."

"I was just about to take a look." Feng Siniang opened the yellow cloth bundle, revealing a saber case.

The saber case was taken out and opened; inside, there truly lay a precious saber.

Clang!

With a dragon's roar, the precious saber left its sheath.

The saber light was brilliant and dazzling, immediately attracting everyone's gaze.

Even Ma Huihui, who had been worried that the great battle between these five experts would destroy "Endeyuan," watched this saber without blinking, because he knew that he might only see a precious saber like this once in his life.

Yu Liancheng suddenly asked, "Siniang, what do you think of this saber?"

A look of satisfaction appeared in Feng Siniang's eyes: "A good saber, it is certainly a peerless good saber."

Yu Liancheng said, "But to me, it is nothing more than this—a mere facade."

Feng Siniang said with dissatisfaction, "This was forged by the hand of Master Xu Luzi; how could it be a mere facade?" In reality, she also felt that although the saber light was brilliant, it had a somewhat sinister air, just like the silver-plated fake jewelry worn on the heads of those young girls.

But Master Xu Luzi was a descendant of Lady Xu from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; legend had it that the sword Jing Ke used to assassinate the King of Qin came from the hand of Lady Xu.

And Xu Luzi had mastered the forging methods of Lady Xu, even taking them to a higher level. How could a saber he spent his life's efforts to forge be a mere facade?

"You don't believe me?"

"Of course I don't believe you."

"Fine, hold the saber steady."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just hold it steady."

Feng Siniang did not understand, but she still did as Yu Liancheng said.

Yu Liancheng drew the Blue Jade, the saber light flashed, and only a "clang" was heard; the Double Blades clashed, the Blue Jade remained perfectly fine, while the Deer-Carving Saber had already sprouted spiderweb-like cracks, and immediately turned into fragments that fell to the ground one after another.

Feng Siniang was almost stunned.

The others also seemed to be stunned.

Especially Dubi Yingwang, who could not believe at all that the Deer-Carving Saber he had guarded day and night was actually just a useless saber.

"This... how is this possible?" Feng Siniang murmured.

Many people said Feng Siniang was a "wind sprite," not only because of her personality but also because of her beautiful appearance, as if she would never age. But at this moment, she looked as if she had aged ten years.

But her eyes soon brightened again, and she bit her lip, saying, "No, this is not the Deer-Carving Saber; this is a fake saber."

Yu Liancheng nodded.

Feng Siniang asked again, "You... how did you see it?"

Yu Liancheng said, "Zhao Wuji, Tu Xiaotian, and Hai Lingzi are none of them pushovers; their martial arts are all quite good, and their tempers are also very large. Yet they actually went to great lengths to find this old monster 'Dubi Yingwang,' willingly endured his temper, and even handed the saber to him. After the deed was done, it was also Sikong Shu alone who held the prestige. Why do you think these three cunning old foxes, Zhao Wuji and the others, would do such a foolish thing?"

Feng Siniang nodded as if she had realized something: "Because the news of the Deer-Carving Saber has spread throughout the world, there will surely be many people coming to snatch the saber along this journey. And those who snatch the saber are mostly people with some skill, like us."

Yu Liancheng continued, "So they invited Dubi Yingwang to carry the fake saber as a target; even if the fake saber is snatched away, it doesn't matter. And the reason I was able to calmly snatch this fake saber just now is also because Hai Lingzi and the others didn't use their full strength at all."

These two spoke one sentence after another, as if no one else existed.

And Dubi Yingwang's expression had become very ugly; he looked at the other three coldly and said bitterly, "Good, good, good, you three little brats, you actually schemed against your grandfather."

Zhao Wuji said with a smile, "Yingwang, this matter is indeed our fault. After this is over, we will certainly apologize to Yingwang and explain it properly."

Tu Xiaotian said, "Now everyone in the world knows that Yingwang is guarding the saber with us. If the saber is snatched away during the journey, Yingwang's reputation won't sound very good either."

Hai Lingzi said coldly, "They are right."

'Dubi Yingwang' had a gloomy expression. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said, "After I deal with this brat, I will settle the score with you lot."

On the other side, Feng Siniang suddenly jumped up, her willow-leaf eyebrows standing on end: "You fellow, knowing full well the saber was fake, you still came to trick me out of my sword. You are simply a thief, a robber."

Yu Liancheng shrugged and added, "I am truly very sorry, but it is only because I met a beautiful and adorable young girl a few days ago, and I couldn't find anything suitable to give her, so I had no choice but to use such methods."

Feng Siniang widened her eyes: "That... who is that woman?"

"Her name is Feng Siniang, but I just tricked her and made her angry, and I'm worried she won't be willing to pay me any mind, so I wanted to ask you to pass this 'Blue Jade' to her." Yu Liancheng looked at her and smiled as he handed the Blue Jade out.

Feng Siniang bit her lip, all her anger vanished without a trace, her whole body went soft, and even her voice became very soft: "You, you little devil. If I had known you earlier, I fear I would have lived twenty years less."

"That is not true at all; I am proficient in medicine, so even if you wanted to die, it would be difficult." Yu Liancheng laughed: "However, you were quite right about one thing you said earlier."

Feng Siniang asked, "What thing?"

"I am indeed a robber, and also a thief."

"Oh?"

"As the Chief of the Guanzhong Thirty-Six Gangs, I am not only a robber, but a bandit chief," Yu Liancheng said. "And now that I have almost stolen the heart of the 'wind sprite,' does that not make me a thief again?"

"Pah, who is about to have their heart stolen by you? Besides, what would you do with the heart of an old woman?" Feng Siniang punched Yu Liancheng twice.

"Old woman? Where is there an old woman? Clearly, it is a female sprite."

The other four watched these two playing around coldly, their eyes filled with murderous intent.