Chapter 342: Stepping In to Save Someone

Duan Fengyun looked at Yuwen Tuo; he felt as if something were slipping away from Yuwen Tuo's body.

Duan Fengyun suddenly realized that Yuwen Tuo was originally the true Earth Emperor, but because he had been stained with blood since childhood, the Heavenly Dao deemed him to have slaughtered the innocent and stripped him of his Emperor Destiny.

And the Earth Emperor Destiny was also seized by the Demon Lord, who took the opportunity to switch it onto that useless prince, Chen Jingchou.

It seemed that what had just happened was the fading of Yuwen Tuo's Emperor Destiny, and all of this was, of course, the work of Yang Su beside him, as well as the Demon Lord who was secretly orchestrating things from behind the scenes.

After the two warring sides dispersed, Duan Fengyun jumped down from the high slope and arrived at this battlefield littered with corpses.

Looking at this group of Chen Kingdom soldiers who had died such miserable deaths, Duan Fengyun silently recited "Amitabha" before leaving.

Now that the plot had only just begun, Duan Fengyun could slowly make his arrangements for what was to come.

His first priority now was to find a way to make contact with Yuwen Tuo.

Duan Fengyun certainly knew that the useless prince of the Chen Kingdom, Chen Jingchou, was the true Earth Emperor, but Duan Fengyun had no fondness for Chen Jingchou.

If not for the Demon Lord casting a spell to alter the heavens and earth, modifying the destinies of Chen Jingchou and Yuwen Tuo, how could the status of Earth Emperor have fallen upon Chen Jingchou?

It was precisely because the Demon Lord saw that cowardly appearance of Chen Jingchou that he switched the Earth Emperor Destiny onto him.

Yet, he never expected that with the help of Guyue Xianren, Tuoba Yu'er, Yuwen Tuo, and others, Chen Jingchou would eventually achieve the status of Earth Emperor and seal the Demon Lord back into the Scar of the Sky.

However, Duan Fengyun had always believed that it was only the Xuanyuan Sword that defeated the Demon Lord.

After the Xuanyuan Sword and the Sword Fifteen merged back into one, the supreme sword might of the Xuanyuan Sword directly wiped out the Demon Lord single-handedly.

Therefore, Duan Fengyun's target was Yuwen Tuo, and Duan Fengyun also wanted to obtain from Yuwen Tuo the Cultivation Method he had always dreamed of: the Divine Fire Clone.

Duan Fengyun had long coveted the Divine Fire Clone, a technique that allowed one to travel anywhere at any time and was impossible to contain.

Duan Fengyun certainly had no hope with Yang Su, so he could only place his hopes on Yuwen Tuo.

As fellow masters of the Xuanyuan Sword, Duan Fengyun believed he would definitely have a way to get the Divine Fire Clone from Yuwen Tuo.

Since Emperor Wen of Sui was still alive, the capital was still in Chang'an, so Duan Fengyun sped toward Chang'an.

On the way, he encountered a man and a woman, who were hurriedly heading forward with a small child.

Looking at their panicked appearance, one could tell they were refugees.

In this era, families being torn apart and homes being destroyed was the most normal thing in the world, and there was nothing Duan Fengyun could do about it.

Just then, a group of soldiers wearing Sui Army armor rushed over.

By the looks of it, they were likely pursuing the three refugees ahead.

The Sui Army ignored Duan Fengyun in the middle of the road and passed right by him to give chase.

Looking at this group of fierce and malicious Sui soldiers, Duan Fengyun shook his head; it seemed he would have to start a massacre today.

Duan Fengyun followed the Sui Army as they charged; the man among the three refugees drew a pair of maces from his back and said to the Sui Army:

"You pack of lackeys, come on then!"

The leader of the Sui soldiers said:

"Qin An, hand over the Qin family maces and the woman and child behind you, and we can spare your life."

Seeing these golden maces, and combined with the words of the Sui soldiers just now, Duan Fengyun immediately guessed the identity of the person before him.

Qin An, the servant of Qin Yi, who shook the Yangtze River with his golden maces; the woman behind Qin An was Qin Yi's wife, and that child was the later renowned "Little Mengchang," Qin Qiong, also known as Qin Shubao.

Duan Fengyun never expected that just after arriving in the Xuanyuan Sword World, he would run into Qin Shubao and the others.

Although Qin Shubao never actually appeared in the Xuanyuan Sword plot, this did not affect the impression Qin Shubao had in Duan Fengyun's heart.

Back when *Sui Tang Hero Biography* was sweeping every television channel, Duan Fengyun would wait in front of the TV every day with a small stool, unable to bear missing a single shot.

Just as the Sui soldiers surrounded Qin An, Ning held the shivering little Shubao tightly and said:

"Shubao, don't be afraid."

"You are the son of Qin Yi; you cannot be afraid of these Sui soldiers."

Under Ning's encouragement, Qin Shubao finally gathered the courage to look at the battlefield.

But Qin Shubao immediately closed his eyes again, because as a group of Sui soldiers surrounded Qin An and it looked like Qin An was about to be hacked to death by the soldiers, a voice rang in Qin Shubao's ears.

"You Sui dogs, not even sparing women and children, you are truly devoid of conscience."

Hearing the voice, Qin Shubao opened his eyes in excitement; a savior had come.

But when he saw Duan Fengyun's incredibly delicate face and slender figure, the light in Qin Shubao's eyes dimmed again.

Because Duan Fengyun looked too delicate, Qin Shubao assumed Duan Fengyun was just a scholar who could only speak in flowery, pedantic language.

Of course, when the Sui soldiers saw Duan Fengyun, they had the same thought as Qin Shubao.

The leading Sui soldier shouted:

"You scholar, why aren't you at home studying instead of coming out here?"

"You actually dare to insult us; watch how I deal with you today."

"Men, tie this bookworm up for me; I want him to taste my methods."

Several soldiers stepped out from the ranks, rubbing their hands and walking excitedly toward Duan Fengyun.

They were all poor people who had suffered much since childhood, so when they saw Duan Fengyun's fair and tender skin, they assumed he was from a wealthy family and all wanted to thoroughly torment this bookworm.

"Bookworm, relax, we'll treat you well."

Just as their demonic claws reached toward Duan Fengyun, a series of painful groans rang out, and all of them lay on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, no one had reacted to how these men, who had been perfectly fine, were all now lying on the ground with serious injuries.

Duan Fengyun gave a cold snort; his body was not something they could touch—they were truly tired of living.

It turned out that in that very instant, these men had all been struck by Duan Fengyun's Wind God Leg.

The Wind God Leg, with its speed pushed to the limit, was naturally not noticed by anyone.

Seeing their brothers injured by Duan Fengyun, all the Sui soldiers retreated from surrounding Qin An and instead surrounded Duan Fengyun.

Qin An, having escaped the encirclement, came to Ning and Qin Shubao; Qin Shubao asked in confusion:

"Uncle An, why does this big brother look so gentle and refined, yet those men couldn't do anything to him and instead ended up seriously injured on the ground?"

"Then why did this group of Sui Army soldiers abandon their encirclement of you and turn to surround him instead? Is he that formidable?"

Qin An explained:

"Shubao, in this world, not everyone is as powerless as they appear to be.

The big brother you see before you is one such person; one look at him and you can tell he is a seasoned martial artist."

While Qin An and Qin Shubao were talking, the leader of the Sui Army spoke up:

"You brat, you actually dare to injure a member of the imperial court! Today I must bind you up and take you back to the capital for the Mountain-Reliant King to punish you. When that time comes, I will make you wish you were dead."

"Brothers, get him! Take this blind fool down for me!"

At the command of the Sui Army leader, all the soldiers raised their weapons and charged at Duan Fengyun.

Under the gaze of Qin An, Qin Shubao, and Ning, a flash of sword light erupted, and all the Sui soldiers collapsed to the ground.

Duan Fengyun smiled slightly at Qin Shubao before turning and walking away.

After Duan Fengyun left, Qin Shubao, led by Qin An, came before the group of soldiers.

Every soldier had a wound on their chest; it appeared that this single wound was their fatal injury.

Qin An remarked:

"What a fast sword, what a sharp sword. This person's swordsmanship is the fastest and most aggressive I have ever seen."

Qin Shubao watched the departing Duan Fengyun and asked:

"Then Uncle An, between this brother in white and my father, who is stronger?"

Qin An patted Qin Shubao on the head and said:

"This big brother cannot be compared to your father.

This big brother clearly does not belong to the mortal world; he is more like a legendary Cultivator."

The three of them watched Duan Fengyun's retreating figure, and a seed of the path of cultivation was deeply buried in Qin Shubao's heart.

After Duan Fengyun left, he happened to run into two groups of bandits fighting over spoils.

In this era of chaos and war, many people had turned to banditry, making a living by robbing and pillaging.

Duan Fengyun had no interest in such matters, so he ignored them and continued walking straight ahead.

But after one side of the bandits finished off the other, the leader set his sights on Duan Fengyun.

If anyone is to be blamed, it must be Duan Fengyun; his temperament was simply too outstanding.

These bandits took him for a wealthy young master and decided to rob him.

With a wave of the bandit leader's finger, all the bandits moved in with tacit understanding, surrounding Duan Fengyun completely.

At this moment, the head bandit walked over and said:

"Kid, looking at your attire, you are clearly a child of a wealthy family.

My brothers and I haven't had a full meal in several days; why don't you consider sponsoring us a little?"

The bandit had already decided that once Duan Fengyun handed over the money, he would have his men kill this pretty boy.

After all, only dead men keep secrets forever.

Duan Fengyun shook his head and gestured with his finger:

"You want money? I only have my life!

Come at me together!"

Seeing the reckless Duan Fengyun, the bandit was instantly enraged and swung his blade directly at him.

Duan Fengyun chopped off one man's wrist with a palm strike, took the blade, and then swung it lightly in front of the remaining bandits; all of them were sent to meet Yama.

Looking at the heavy money pouch on the lead bandit, Duan Fengyun smiled:

"Sure enough, just as I was getting sleepy, someone brought me a pillow.

Just when I was wondering where to get money, these bandits delivered it to my doorstep."

Duan Fengyun sorted through all the bandits' belongings and could only say the harvest was bountiful; it should be enough for him to live comfortably for a while.

After taking the money looted from the bandits, Duan Fengyun hurried toward the capital.

Yuwen Tuo is still young now; he must find a way to infiltrate Yang Su's Steward Mansion and build a good relationship with Yuwen Tuo.

Thus, Duan Fengyun mounted one of the bandits' fast horses and headed toward the market.

As for the direction of the market, it was simple enough.

Duan Fengyun only needed to see where the massive white smoke was rising to know where the market was located.

After Duan Fengyun left, another group of bandits arrived at the scene.

Seeing his brothers lying dead on the ground, the bandit leader roared:

"Cowardly rat, you killed my brothers.

I, Dan Xiongxin, will definitely not let you go."

Duan Fengyun would never have guessed that such a small, trivial matter would cause him to make an enemy of the righteous and loyal Dan Xiongxin.

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