Chapter 459: Wudi City, Wang Laoguai

The Edo is very lively, with winds rising and clouds surging, and experts emerging in succession. There are endless tears of beauties and never-ending songs of heroes.

The Edo is very desolate; atop Wudi City stands a man in hempen clothes. He has traversed the Edo for sixty years. He seeks an opponent but cannot find one.

Wang Laoguai has been invincible for too long, yet there is still no opponent in the world who can force him to fight with all his might; even those who can make him use seven or eight tenths of his strength can be counted on one's fingers.

Just like Huang Sanjia, who is invincible in the middle game and shows even deeper skill in the endgame, there is simply no one in the world who can play a game of Go with him until the end, so no one knows exactly how strong his chess skill is.

But everyone knows that he is the Chess Jia among the Spring and Autumn Thirteen Jia, and his skill in Go is unparalleled in the world.

Recently, the news that the Old Sword God Li Chungang has re-emerged in the Edo has spread, causing quite a stir.

Although the Old Sword God had confined himself to the Tingchao Pavilion for twenty years, his reputation back then was truly too great, and he still has many supporters today.

Mixed in with this is the news that the Wu Family Sword Crown, Wu Liuding, and the First Sword of the Daoist Sect, Qi Xianxia, have appeared in the Edo.

These are undoubtedly famous and dashing figures in the Edo, but at this moment, another even more sensational piece of news has spread; compared to this, the appearances of the Old Sword God, the Wu Family Sword Crown, and the First Sword of the Daoist Sect seem to count for little.

A figure in black enters the East Sea.

Murong Tonghuang challenges Wang Xianzhi to a battle.

The "One Sword Brightens the Heavens" Murong Tonghuang has appeared out of nowhere, rising like a comet in a short period of time; the number of First-Rank Experts who have died at his hands is more than the total of the last ten years combined. His reputation is now no weaker than the long-established Cao Guanzi or the Peach Blossom Sword God, and he is fast catching up to Wang Laoguai. No one doubts that the Martial Emperor of the next ten or twenty years will be Murong Tonghuang.

Yet now, he is rushing to Wudi City to fight that Wang Laoguai, who has been invincible for sixty years, ahead of schedule.

The decennial Martial Evaluation and Rouge List should have been announced to the world some days ago, but they have been delayed, leaving countless martial artists itching with curiosity.

Some speculate that although Murong Tonghuang is a woman, she is peerless in her beauty in black, surpassing countless women in the world, and perhaps the Rouge List is hesitant about whether to rank her. As for the Martial Evaluation, perhaps it is waiting for this battle in the East Sea to determine the number one spot.

The latter theory is not widely accepted.

This is only because Wang Laoguai has been invincible for sixty years, establishing an image of being invincible in the world in everyone's hearts. No matter how talented Murong Tonghuang is, she has only been active for a year at most; how can she be compared to Wang Laoguai?

But regardless, when this news spread, it was enough to shake the world.

Therefore, upon learning this news, even martial arts heroes burdened by worldly affairs put down their work and traveled with all speed, unwilling to miss the chance to rush to Wudi City, for fear of missing this battle.

It is truly a martial arts event that is hard to encounter in a hundred years, where drinkers cast aside their cups and gamblers abandon their games.

For people in the martial arts world, mundane trifles can be done at any time. But if one misses this decisive battle that will shake the current generation and even be remembered for ages to come, one would likely regret it for a lifetime.

Within a few days, Wudi City in the East Sea was crowded with people, and heroes from all sides arrived. Someone calculated that the entire Wudi City had twice as many people as before.

Among them, ordinary martial artists were naturally the most numerous, but there were also many big names with status, such as several from the Sword Sect of Dongyue Sword Pool, and that black-clad woman from Huishan who has been quite famous in the Edo recently. Many sect leaders arrived one after another, and there were even rumors that Cao Zhangqing and Deng Taie had secretly entered the city.

And this was only shortly after the news had spread.

One can imagine that in the time to come, more martial arts experts will inevitably pour into the city like a tide.

By then, if you were to pick up a brick and throw it into the city at random, you would hit two great heroes and one sect leader.

Wudi City.

The top of the pavilion.

The burly Wang Laoguai, in hempen clothes and shoes, stood by the window, overlooking the entire city.

It is said that "under the vast heaven, there is no land that is not the King's; within the borders of the land, there is no one who is not the King's subject," but this Wudi City is Wang Xianzhi's territory, where he stands proud above all human lords.

Back when the Liyang Dynasty unified the world, that old Emperor who had achieved an unprecedented, eternal feat personally rushed to Wudi City for a secret talk with Wang Xianzhi; one was the Emperor who ruled the world, the other was a commoner who could kill Land Immortals. The world only knows that the two talked happily, with neither the wrath of a commoner nor the wrath of the Son of Heaven. And ever since then, even when Wudi City killed people from the Zhao Gou organization and sent their heads to the Edo, the Imperial Court turned a blind eye.

Wudi City became a true place beyond the law.

No, Wudi City has a law, and Wang Xianzhi is that law.

Nowadays, Wang Xianzhi rarely fights others, but everyone knows that if this commoner had been born five hundred years earlier, he would have been enough to contend for life and death with the recognized number one of the Martial Dao, Lv Zu.

"Master, Cao Guanzi has arrived." A middle-aged man appeared in the pavilion; he was Wang Xianzhi's fourth disciple, Lou Huang, who carried the famous sword "Pusamuan" and was a well-known swordsman in the Edo.

"Invite him in," the world's number one martial artist said calmly.

"Yes."

A moment later, a refined scholar dressed in green stepped into the hall; it was the "possessor of eight-tenths of the world's elegance," Cao Guanzi, Cao Zhangqing.

Behind Cao Guanzi followed a young girl; although she was not old, she already possessed a beauty that could topple a country, though her frame was a bit thin.

Wang Xianzhi seemed to sense something, turned his head, looked at the young girl, and asked, "Who is this young girl?"

His gaze was like substance; under the scrutiny of the World's Second, the young girl could not help but move behind her Chess Waiting Official uncle, and then gathered her courage to glare at Wang Xianzhi.

Cao Guanzi said calmly, "The Princess of Western Chu, and the future Empress of Western Chu."

"Why go to such lengths!" Wang Xianzhi pondered for a moment and shook his head. "With this girl's aptitude, and with your guidance, Cao Zhangqing, she might not be unable to become a Sword Immortal who is the master of all swords in the world, traversing the world, or perhaps she could sit in my current position as World's Second. And you, Cao Zhangqing, need not be confined to one nation."

Cao Guanzi smiled and changed the subject. "How much confidence do you have in this battle? The current odds among the people are one to ten. If you lose, many people will lose their fortunes."

Wang Xianzhi said calmly, "It's just a fifty-fifty chance; whether I can win or not, I'll only know after we fight."

"I saw you have a fight with Jian Jiu Huang not long ago, and now you are going to fight Murong Tonghuang; being the World's Second is not so easy either," Cao Guanzi said with a smile.

Wang Xianzhi said calmly, "To me, a hearty and vigorous duel is better than any enjoyment in the world. It's just a pity that you, Cao Zhangqing, Deng Taie, and Tuoba Pusa of Northern Mang cannot give me this enjoyment. You seem to be at a similar realm to me, but if it were a fight to the death, you would undoubtedly die."

Although Cao Zhangqing was no match for Wang Xianzhi, he was still amused by these words. "Isn't it just because you, old commoner, have thick skin and flesh, hit hard, and have a great ability to take a beating?"

The Princess of Western Chu covered her mouth and smiled.

"It's not just you few; even if all the First-Rank Experts in the world were gathered in Wudi City, I, Wang Xianzhi, would still only win and never lose." Wang Xianzhi glanced at Cao Guanzi, his tone calm, as if he were talking about eating when hungry or drinking when thirsty. It was only natural, as normal as could be.

The dashing and elegant Cao Guanzi shook his head helplessly, but he had to admit that this Wang Laoguai indeed had the capital to be this arrogant.

The top floor of the pavilion had no walls blocking the east and west sides, so one could look out over the East Sea from the east. The old commoner, who had been invincible for sixty years, turned to look at the surging sea and said calmly, "The reason I, Wang Xianzhi, call myself the World's Second is because I miss the Edo of Li Chungang's time, and I look up to that man in green robes wielding a sword, with admiration and conviction. Of course, if the Edo thinks my 'second' is a mockery of the people of the world, I will not deny it."

Cao Guanzi did not speak, waiting for what followed.

"But more importantly, the enemy in my heart, Wang Xianzhi, is the entire world."

Wang Xianzhi smiled, slowly opened his arms, and his Qi leaked out slightly, stirring up a hurricane in the entire pavilion.

Cao Guanzi frowned, a trace of astonishment appearing on his face. Even though he had fought Wang Laoguai a few times and had several conversations with him, he only now realized that he had never truly understood this old commoner. At the same time, he had to release his own Qi to shroud the Princess of Western Chu behind him.

"I do not go to the world; the world has already come to me."

Wang Xianzhi looked into the distance, his eyes flashing with a piercing sharpness, his Qi becoming increasingly violent.

Even Cao Guanzi could not help but take a step back, feeling as if he were in the middle of a storm in the East Sea.

On the main road, many martial artists were rushing toward Wudi City to participate in the grand event, each wearing sabers and carrying swords, their faces showing excitement.

A figure in black drifted along, steps calm and composed, blurring their own form as they merged into the crowd, as if a drop of water had melted into the sea, leaving no one able to detect the slightest anomaly.

Suddenly, the black-clad figure paused.

Raising their head to gaze into the distance toward Wudi City, they happened to meet the eyes of Wang Laoguai and smiled slightly.

"Why stand so high? Be careful not to fall."