"What do we have here?" The loud voice of Ji Wuye rang out as he strolled leisurely beneath the dappled shade of bamboo trees in the soft morning light.
His sudden appearance startled the three 'mice' sneaking around, who had crept out of the Central Courtyard only to find themselves within Ji Wuye's secluded courtyard retreat.
The courtyard gate had been left ajar, revealing the three disciples clad in white martial robes with dark blue stripes, seemingly hurriedly preoccupied with something suspicious.
All three turned sharply at the sound of his voice, their gazes landing on the young, long-haired man with snow-white locks cascading down his back—Ji Wuye himself, his handsome features etched with faint amusement.
"What the hell? I thought we'd been caught red-handed!" sneered a skinny figure stepping out from the shadow, his eyes narrowing. His crooked rabbit-like front teeth jutted forward as his thin lips curled into a mocking sneer, harsh laughter spilling from his mouth in loud, braying bursts.
"Hehe, Brother Ji! Long time no see, huh?" Another figure emerged—a portly young man with pudgy fingers gripping the hilt of a jian at his side. He flashed a quick, nervous grin, sweat beading on his brow as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.
"Hoh? So the legendary Flower Boy finally decided to come home, huh?" The last of the trio stepped forward purposefully, his broad shoulders rolling back.
He was tall and imposing despite his youth, his jet-black hair cascading past his ears in an inky wave. He stood with his back partially turned in a stance of deliberate defiance, his free hand resting cockily on the hilt of his sword as he regarded Ji Wuye with thinly veiled disdain.
The three figures needed no introduction—they were none other than the arrogant Qin Bai and his two obsequious underlings, all garbed in Official Disciple martial robes that seemed slightly askew and ruffled.
Ji Wuye's sharp pupils, however, didn't miss the telling details. His piercing gaze settled on the rolled parchment clutched tightly in the portly disciple's pudgy hand, which he quickly tried to conceal behind his back in a furtive gesture.
The unmistakable stains of fresh blood spattered across their white martial robes and the reddish tinge clinging to the edges of their jians.
"Hmm," The crooked-toothed youth mused, a faint, sinister smirk tugging at his thin lips. He slowly licked his front teeth as his beady eyes danced with malice.
"What should I do? Should I let you off this time, Brother Ji?" He paused, savoring the mocking name as it rolled off his tongue. "Bear in mind—even your strong and reliable Senior Sisters can't protect their prized little porcelain doll now."
When Ji Wuye heard their taunting words and noted the sneering expressions twisting their faces, rather than frowning, his smile only grew wider, stretching into a lazy, disarming grin.
'So, they're busy planning some idiotic theft scheme...' he thought, his eyes narrowing into calculating slits as that infuriatingly casual grin took over his handsome features.
They were so preoccupied that they remained unaware of the rumors—or even of the fact that this so-called Flower Boy had already revealed his strength, enough to make even the Inner Disciples tremble.
"You all look just dashing in those crisp robes, Brothers!" Ji Wuye drawled, his tone thick with exaggerated admiration as he raked his gaze over their disheveled appearance.
"But..." He trailed off, one long finger pointing and gesturing toward the telling stains on their backs.
With a mischievous lilt, he asked, "What exactly are you three rascals hiding back there? And what nefarious plot are you cooking up in my private courtyard while everyone else is out risking their lives in battle?"
He paused, allowing the question to hang heavily in the air as he gave them no time to respond. Instead, Ji Wuye turned his back on them once more, tilting his head up to gaze meditatively at the brilliant azure sky peeking through the bamboo canopy.
"Hmm, let me take a wild guess..." he mused aloud, stroking his chin with exaggerated dramatic flair.
Then, as if struck with sudden realization, he spun back around, his mouth falling agape in a comically overacted expression of mock surprise. "Ah! You pilfered a precious martial art manual from the Thousand Pavilion, didn't you?"
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"You insolent bastard!" growled the portly disciple, his pudgy hands clenching tightly into fists as a faint bluish Qi began to flare around him in waves, enveloping both his big body and the blade of his jian in a flickering azure aura.
His face reddened with outrage as spittle flew from his lips. "It's so damn annoying to watch him prance around and act like such a smug, arrogant peacock! Let's just end him here and now, Brother Qian!"
"My hands are absolutely itching for it!" the skinny, crooked-toothed young man chimed in eagerly. His jian was already held in a proper striking stance, the edge glinting menacingly in the dappled light as his tongue moistened his protruding front teeth in anticipation.
But before either of the two underlings could make their move to attack, Qin Bai raised a single hand, halting them. His sharp gaze scrutinized Ji Wuye from head to toe, drinking in every detail of the his relaxed, seemingly disinterested stance.
Arms crossed over his broad chest, Qin Bai studied him briefly before shifting his focus to glance around behind Ji Wuye's shoulder, his dark eyes narrowing slightly.
"Check the surroundings first," he commanded his subordinates in a low, even tone that brooked no argument. "Make sure there are no prying eyes or hidden 'Senior Sisters' lurking about..."
The two subordinates hesitated for a brief moment, their brows furrowing in confusion at Qin Bai's command.
But as memories of their previous ill-fated encounters with Ji Wuye came flooding back—times when they had foolishly attempted to ambush and teach the him a lesson, only to end up being the ones humiliatingly taught instead—dawning comprehension spread across their dull features.
Without another unnecessary word exchanged, their legs tensed, coiling like Springs as they prepared to sprint ahead and obey Qin Bai's order to survey the surroundings for any potential witnesses or eavesdroppers.
SWOOSH!
A sudden gust of wind whipped through the courtyard, sending a flurry of bamboo leaves floating through the air in a dizzying kaleidoscope, cutting across Ji Wuye's unmoving form in crossing, erratic patterns. Qin Bai's two underlings dashed toward him at lightning speed, their smirking faces twisted with arrogant confidence born of their trained strengths.
"Look! Can't you see?! Can't you see, Flower Boy?!" one of them taunted, his voice a mocking singsong as the leaves parted behind them, almost as if nature itself was mocking the eerie stillness of Ji Wuye's stance as they blurred past him on both sides - left and right.
They thought there was absolutely no way Ji Wuye could possibly react or counter their blistering speed.
After all, both of them were martial artists who had broken through to the 4th Realm! Their reserves of Qi had essentially doubled in capacity, and their Upper Dantians had been opened, granting them insights and martial prowess far beyond Ji Wuye's abilities.
Or so they arrogantly assumed.
"There's really no need for such childish theatrics, dear Brothers," Ji Wuye remarked mildly, his deep voice calm yet cutting through their bravado effortlessly.
Their blurry motion continued in what seemed like an unstoppable force as they passed Ji Wuye on either side. But then - their eyes widened in shock as their instincts suddenly screamed danger.
Reflexively panicking, they raised their jians hurriedly in a desperate attempt to parry an incoming strike they sensed coming from Ji Wuye's direction.
But the "attack" they had tensed to block was nothing more than an illusion - a feint, a mere fleeting shadow of the threat they were braced for. Because in the next instant, the real attack came.
"Ah!" Twin choked cries of shock and agony escaped their lips as both men felt a sickening, slicing sensation burn across the vulnerable areas of their necks.
Before they could even fully process the white-hot agony, their entire worlds seemed to tilt and careen sickeningly. Their sight rolled and twisted grotesquely as they saw something so horrifying and unnatural that their brains simply could not comprehend it at first - their own decapitated bodies...
Their still-advancing forms remained frozen in that singular, suspended moment of motion - each holding their jians raised and ready to desperately block an attack that had never truly materialized. But now, their bodies were unnaturally, grotesquely headless...
SPLASH!
A forceful fountain of crimson erupted from the ragged stumps of their necks in a visceral geyser, spraying both the hard-packed ground and Ji Wuye himself indiscriminately.
The thick, warm blood soaked rapidly into his already tattered white martial robes, further staining the delicate silk as it dripped in rivulets from the razor-sharp edge of the jian gripped steadily in his hand.
SWOOSH!
Like a skilled butcher precisely carving up fresh fish, Ji Wuye's movements in those fatal instants had been blindingly swift yet somehow almost effortless - calculated and clinical, leaving countless ghostly shadows lingering in the air, a kaleidoscopic blur of blade work more akin to a hypnotic dance than an act of brutal violence.
The faint gleam of his jian whistling through the air was the only visible clue to the lethal strikes he had unleashed.
And then...silence.
Ji Wuye rose fluidly to his full height once more, standing motionless and eerily composed, his handsome features an inscrutable mask betraying nothing of the grisly scene around him.
Two newly headless bodies crumpled lifelessly to the ground at his feet, their severed necks still spasming and spraying rhythmic bursts of blood that swiftly created an ever-widening, viscous pool of red spreading across the ground.
The thick, cloying liquid quickly soaked through Ji Wuye's once-white shoes, but he remained utterly unmoved, his face carved from stone.
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/PhMmjMJ/Notif-1.webp]
The very same graceful sword form that Song Jia, had once used.
‘It’s been far too long since I last used this elegant move,’ Ji Wuye muttered to himself, marveling at the fluidity of the deceptively simple footwork and the effortless precision of the slashes.
The technique required only a minimal amount of Qi and stamina to produce convincing feints—much less than it had in the past.
Now...
"It's really quite unnecessary to bring extra people just to clean up a few pathetic rats," Ji Wuye remarked. He was still wearing that same insufferably confident smile, his eyes narrowed in faint amusement.
That flicker of amusement faded slightly, however, as he turned his piercing attention fully back to Qin Bai. Ji Wuye's expression subtly shifted, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly as he realized something seemed...off.
Qin Bai was no longer standing near the courtyard gate.
Or rather...
Shadows loomed ominously above. When Ji Wuye tilted his head back, those bright crimson pupils of his locked instantly onto the sight of Qin Bai descending in a controlled free-fall, his jian held poised to strike with lethal, precise timing.
Qin Bai twisted in mid-air, channeling his Qi into the razor-sharp blade as it shimmered with a faint but deadly bluish aura.
With a forceful grunt of exertion, he slashed that spirit-infused jian down in a relentless, sweeping arc - the sharpened edge aiming directly for the top of Ji Wuye's head in what should have been an unavoidable, decapitating strike.
But of course... Ji Wuye wasn't so easily caught off-guard or vulnerable.
He dropped sharply into a low, coiled stance - his entire lithe body compressing like a tightly-wound spring as Qin Bai's downward slash passed a mere hand's breadth away from fatally connecting. But that perilously close call wasn't close enough.
With an explosive burst of kinetic force, Ji Wuye launched himself skyward to meet his airborne opponent head-on, unleashing all the tightly coiled potential tension in his stance in a single, controlled blast.
His powerful vertical leap propelled him straight up into Qin Bai's trajectory, the jian in his own hand now glowing brilliantly with a vibrant azure Qi.
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/BcxY44n/Notif-1.webp]