Chapter 22

Huo Xiu felt it was somewhat ridiculous, and also somewhat amusing, and even vaguely felt a sense of desolation.

It was just like a person returning to their own home, only to find the house occupied by a thief from who knows where. The thief knew the master had returned, but instead of tucking their tail and fleeing, they had instead warmly invited the master to be a guest.

The idiom "the guest usurps the host" was being demonstrated to the fullest.

Huo Xiu pushed open the door and saw four people.

In this room, there were fresh flowers everywhere. A handsome man in black was sitting on a magnificent, golden throne.

Besides the man in black, there were three women.

A woman as noble as an Empress, as graceful as a fairy, and carrying an air of luxury sat on another chair, her brows slightly furrowed as if lost in deep thought.

Huo Xiu did not recognize this woman, but after looking at her long, powerful palms, he was certain she was a swordsman—a female swordsman with extremely brilliant sword skills.

There was also a young girl massaging the legs of the man in black, her figure very familiar.

The last one was a young girl of twelve or thirteen, her eyes lively and cunning, though she seemed somewhat unhappy, pouting as she warmed wine with a Red Mud Small Fire Stove.

Such fragrant wine.

The air was filled with a fragrant, mellow wine aroma that actually overpowered the scent of the flowers. The Red Mud Small Fire Stove was not large, but it was just enough to make this gloomy, cold mountain cave warm and comfortable.

Huo Xiu sighed softly and said, "It seems I have come at a very opportune time."

The man in black smiled and said, "Indeed, you have come at just the right moment. Let me introduce myself first; my name is Yu Liancheng."

Huo Xiu raised an eyebrow and said, "So it is the 'Jade-Faced Divine Sword' Yu Liancheng, who has fought across a thousand miles. My apologies, my apologies. It is just that I had assumed a swordsman like you would always be very proud, not to the point of acting like a thief. I did not expect that I had guessed wrong."

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "Oh, are you implying that I am a thief?"

Huo Xiu nodded and said, "This Qingyi First Tower was built by me, and the wine in the stove was bought by me. You are in my tower, using the wine I bought to host me—I wonder if that counts as being a thief or a robber?"

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "The skin of the wealthy is always very thick, and you are quite experienced in the art of turning black into white."

Huo Xiu said, "Are you implying that I am turning black into white?"

The girl massaging Yu Liancheng's back suddenly beamed and said, "You were a trusted minister entrusted by the Jinpeng King, yet you absconded with a quarter of the national treasury's assets. This Green Clothes Tower was also built with money from the national treasury, so it naturally belongs to the Jinpeng Dynasty. Now, the Jinpeng Dynasty is left with only my sister and me, but one of us is the Young Master's disciple, and the other is his maid..."

This woman was naturally Shangguan Feiyan; those who knew the location of the Qingyi First Tower were few and far between, and she happened to be one of them.

"So, until they possess the ability to be independent, I have the right to keep this portion of the assets for them," Yu Liancheng smiled. "Now, do you have any other questions?"

Huo Xiu was silent for a long moment, then shook his head with a sigh: "If you had gone into business ten years earlier, the title of the world's richest man would have fallen to you."

"Money is a bastard; I have no interest in money, and I have never touched money," Yu Liancheng smiled. "But I am very interested in your Virgin Skill."

Huo Xiu's gaze sharpened, and he said, "Coincidentally, I am also very interested in your sword." In the small room, a chilling murderous intent suddenly filled the air.

Yu Liancheng's expression remained unchanged, and he said indifferently, "Half-disciple, is the wine ready?"

Shangguan Xueer wrinkled her delicate nose and said crossly, "You still have to wait a while." Ever since following Yu Liancheng, she was treated like an errand runner every day, and the little girl was naturally unhappy.

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "If you are not in a hurry, it won't be too late to move after drinking a cup of wine to warm yourself up."

"Rest assured, by the time I take your life, the wine will be warmed," Huo Xiu's figure flashed, attacking Yu Liancheng like lightning. His left hand formed a fist, blasting toward Yu Liancheng's face. His right hand stood like a palm, slashing toward his chest as if it were a blade.

The moves were very simple, yet violent and fierce, whipping up howling gales that made one feel as if their face were being cut by knives.

Huo Xiu practiced the Virgin Skill; this was a clumsy skill that required great perseverance. Especially for a man like him who had money, power, and high martial arts.

But once this martial art reached great success, it was by no means inferior to any martial art of the current age.

Lu Xiaofeng believed that Huo Xiu was one of the five or six people with the highest martial arts in the world, and there was naturally a reason for that.

Although Huo Xiu rarely made a move, once he did, it was like thunder and lightning, unstoppable by anyone.

But the person he was facing at this moment was Yu Liancheng.

Yu Liancheng, who had fought across a thousand miles without a single defeat.

Even top-tier experts like Ximen Chuixue and Huo Tianqing had successively lost at the hands of Yu Liancheng, which had given him indestructible confidence. Under the blessing of this confidence, he could exert twelve percent of his ten percent power.

Yu Liancheng let out a low shout and threw a punch, like a volcanic eruption, with wind and thunder clashing. The airflow collapsed in layers, and the space in front of him seemed as if it had been punched through.

This punch was launched regardless of everything toward Huo Xiu's chest, ignoring the opponent's fist and palm strikes, as if he held the intention of letting the Jade Stone Burn Together.

But anyone could see that this punch was powerful and domineering. Once Huo Xiu was hit, he would either die or be severely injured.

Huo Xiu frowned; the older one gets, the more one fears death, and this was certainly true for him.

His fist struck downward and his palm closed upward, with extreme precision, sealing Yu Liancheng's wrist.

Originally, Yu Liancheng's fist was caught, and it would have been a bit short of hitting Huo Xiu's chest. Who would have known that at this moment, his wrist suddenly grew a section out of thin air, and the fist slammed solidly into Huo Xiu's chest.

Bang!

Huo Xiu's figure flew backward three zhang, using a Thousand-Catty Drop technique; his feet sank downward, collapsing the ground by a full foot, his bark-like old face flushed red, and he suddenly spat out five words: "Ruyi Heavenly Demon Skill!"

"Good, truly good eyesight," Yu Liancheng praised, swinging his legs out like two Hammers, whistling with wind, and smashing them toward Huo Xiu with a boom.

"Ruyi Heavenly Demon Skill?!" Gongsun Lan's brows furrowed slightly.

She knew of this skill; it was said to be an external martial art. Once mastered, one would be impervious to blades and spears, water and fire, and the entire body's muscles and bones could be driven at will. As for more, she did not know much.

A hundred years ago, there was an expert who relied on this external martial art to roam the world, defeating all experts of various sects and reigning supreme. It was just that the requirements for practicing the "Ruyi Heavenly Demon Skill" were too high, so it gradually became lost, with only vague records in some books.

Gongsun Lan had exchanged blows with Yu Liancheng and knew that the other party practiced some kind of external martial art.

Likewise, she had also investigated that Yu Liancheng was very likely the Young Cult Master of the Western Rakshasa Cult, Yu Tianbao.

After all, the martial arts Yu Liancheng used mostly originated from the "Great Brightness Precious Canon," and several of the skills were very famous and not hard to recognize, and there was no lack of knowledgeable people in the Edo.

Could it be that the Ruyi Heavenly Demon Skill had also been recorded in the "Great Brightness Precious Canon," and that Yu Liancheng was indeed practicing this external martial art?