It was a cloudy evening. Yang Jing, Xiang Xuefeng and Zhuan Wen were walking on a dirt road, heading towards Wu City. The Snake Sword Clan Manor was located just a few miles outside the city while the Iron Spear Clan Manor was located in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of the city.

“We need to get your fathers to meet up so we can all talk them through about your relationship,” Yang Jing said. “There is an abandoned manor a few miles away.”

Xiang Xuefeng nodded in affirmation.

“That is the perfect place to get your fathers to meet up.”

“Brilliant plan!” Zhuan Wen humphed. “I am sure that our fathers would love to come to an abandoned manor to meet some guy they don’t know, especially if they know that they will be both coming.”

“There is no way they will agree to come to that manor,” Xiang Xuefeng added. “Even if they don’t know that they will be both there, they will still refuse to accept an invitation from a nobody. So, how exactly are you going to get them there? Are you going to abduct them?”

“I prefer non-violent methods and will try to talk to them first but since we do not have a better idea, I guess I will do just that if push comes to shove,” Yang Jing replied.

Xiang Xuefeng laughed for a brief moment. “Wait, what? You are being serious about this? Our fathers are two of the best martial artists in Jianghu and they will have the protection of their disciples and relatives too.”

Yang Jing smiled. “No need to worry. Just go to the abandoned manor and relax while I bring your fathers there.”

“You overestimate your skills. Who do you think you are?” Zhuan Wen asked. “Some sort of God? “

“You are closer than you know.”

Yang Jing winked and smiling walked away.

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After about an hour of walking, Yang Jing finally reached the Snake Sword Clan Manor. The entrance gate of the manor was painted vermilion and had copper door knockers on it. A pair of stone lions were placed outside the gate. Yang Jing knocked on the door.

A moment later a servant opened the gate and greeted Yang Jing. “Greetings, traveler. This is the manor of the Snake Sword Clan. Why have you come here?”

“My name is Yang Jing and I am a traveler of Jianghu. I seek to meet Master Xiang De. Would your Master be kind enough to accept me?”

“Wait here a moment. I’ll go speak with the Master.”

Yang Jing whistled and walked up and down, waiting for the servant to return. A few minutes later, the man returned. “I am sorry but my Master does not know you nor does he have any wish to meet you. Please leave.”

“I shall insist on talking to him. It is an urgent matter.”

“And I insist that you leave.”

“I have to very politely ask you to reconsider.”

The servant sneered. “You don’t know to listen, do you?”

As the servant was about to unsheathe a knife, he was punched in the face by Yang Jing. That one punch was enough to knock him out. “Too slow…”

Yang Jing sprinted inside the manor and ran into the courtyard. With plants, rocks, and flowers, the courtyard was like a garden. Its mesmerizing scent and colorful palette of flowers brightened the place. “Not bad!” Yang Jing remarked.

It was at that moment that twelve men, all muscular and armed with long swords, surrounded him. Leading them was an older man with long grey hair and beard, wearing a brown silk gown.

“How dare you barge into our manor!?” the older man barked.

Yang Jing simply smiled. “You must be Xiang De, right? I am sorry to disturb you. I simply wish to talk to you. I have no wish to use violence.”

“I have no wish for violence either,” Xiang De replied. “That’s why I don’t barge into other peoples’ manors. You are polite, so I shall give you a last chance: leave on your own or you shall leave crippled.”

Yang Jing sighed. “I guess I will have to use violence after all.”

The twelve disciples of Xiang De all fell upon Yang Jing with their swords. Yang Jing just closed his eyes. He took deep breaths through the nose. During the inhalation, his diaphragm moved downwards. He then exhaled, moving up his diaphragm, compressing his lung and pushing the air out. The red stone on his medallion brightened. He could feel the Qi flowing inside his body through the meridians, a network of vessels.

As the swords were approaching him, with a simple wave of his hand Yang Jing seemed to seemingly stop time itself. Everything froze, himself including. He could only move his eyes. For what seemed to him like tens of minutes but in reality just a split of a second, he carefully examined the movements of all twelve of his attackers, calculating how they would attack him and thinking of ways of defending himself. When that split of a second passed, everything went back to normal.

Yang Jing launched a powerful back kick that struck the chest of one of the attackers. That kick was so powerful that the man spouted blood and fell on the ground. At the exact same moment, Yang Jing with his left hand grabbed the hand of one of the disciples, gripping it so hard that he cried out and had to let go of his sword, while with his right hand he punched the face of another disciple, breaking his nose and knocking him out.

‘Three down, nine more to go,’ he thought as he leaned to the right to avoid an incoming blade. The blade passed just a few inches off his nose. With his knee, he kicked the groin of the attacker, who collapsed on the ground. At once, Yang Jing somersaulted, evading two other blades coming on his way and, upon landing on the ground, he rushed to one of the collapsed disciples.

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He grabbed the sword from the man’s hands and quickly turned around, using his newly acquired weapon to block an attack. Clang! The two swords collided. Yang Jing leapt backward and took a defensive position. ‘Four down, eight more to go.’ He was breathing heavily as this whole fight had tired him. There was sweat all over his face. He knew that he could easily end all of this by using his powers but did not want to kill the relatives and friends of Xiang Xuefeng.

“Impressive!” Xiang De admitted. “Most impressive. You’ve lasted longer than most swordsmen have.”

Yang Jing grinned. “Thanks but I do not deserve such compliments.”

“You know why my clan is called ‘Snake Sword’? Because we are fast and accurate like snakes! Men: take the Python Formation!”

The eight remaining disciples took up the formation: one disciple in front flanked on his left by two disciples and on his right by other two while the remaining three disciples arranged themselves on a single line behind the front disciple, thus covering his back. All of them moved forward, approaching Yang Jing, without breaking their formation.

Yang Jing somersaulted, jumping above the formation and landing behind it. As he struck out, the three disciples guarding the back of the formation at once turned around and struck back with their blades. Yang Jing had to quickly fall back. In a few seconds, the disciples had reorganized themselves into the formation and were once again slowly but steadily approaching Yang Jing.

“You may be able to beat a few of my disciples on their own,” Xiang De said, “but together they are invincible!”

Yang Jing closed his eyes, concentrating his Qi and with a wave of his hand he once more stopped time. He carefully examined the enemy formation. He saw that one of the two disciples on the left side of the formation had a bandage around his right leg. That one weakness could be exploited.

As things were back to normal in the split of a second, Yang Jing took a deep breath and sprinted to the left of the formation. The two disciples met him with their swords raised and ready to slash him. He leaned backward as blades passed right above his face; at the exact same time his leg kicked the disciple’s wounded leg. As the disciple cried out in pain, Yang Jing with a quick back kick on the chest pushed him away. The other disciple tried to slash at Yang Jing but he quickly blocked the attack with his own blade and then slashed at the man, cutting deeply into his left side; the man collapsed on the ground bleeding.

Without waiting for a single second, Yang Jing rushed at the three disciples guarding the back of the formation. He sprinted forward and crushed the pummel of his sword onto the face of the first one, dodged the blade of the second and stabbed the right knee of the third one. As the disciple on the front of the formation was about to turn around, Yang Jing kicked his spine with the ferocity of wild tiger. The man screamed in pain and fell hard onto the ground, breaking his nose in the process; dirt and blood mixed as he bled.

Only three disciples remained; the ones who were on the right side of the formation and the lone survivor of the back of the formation. The three of them at once retreated and took defensive positions.

Yang Jing was in no hurry to attack; instead he took this brief moment of peace to breathe heavily and calm down.

Impatient, one of the disciples charged at Yang Jing. The man angrily roared as he struck with the force of hurricane but Yang Jing easily parried his attack. Yang Jing leaped behind the man and slashed his back. As the man let out a cry, Yang Jing punched him on the face.

The other two disciples attacked at that exact moment. Yang Jing quickly turned around used his blade to parry the first attacker while kicking the hand of the second attacker, forcing him to let go of his sword. Without catching a breath, Yang Jing kicked the groin of the second attacker while at the same exact moment slashing his sword at the first attacker; the second attacker collapsed in pain while the first was barely able to parry Yang Jing’s strike. Yang Jing attacked again his lone remaining opponent, this time so fast that the disciple had no chance of parrying the attack; his blade cut deeply the man’s chest. Yang Jing then knocked him out with a flying kick that hit hard his face.

Xiang De clapped. “You are the first person in thirty years to have broken the Python Formation. I am really impressed. Who are you?”

Yang Jing tried to reply but he couldn’t. His rugged breath and his sweat clothes betrayed his tiredness. “Let… let… me… catch…a…a…moment…”

“Fair enough… you’ve earned a moment of peace.”

For a few seconds, Yang Jing relaxed. He then replied, “Thanks. I told you who I am; just a traveling swordsman. Will you let me speak or do you want to keep the fight going?”

Xiang De smiled. “If you were someone else, I would let you speak. But your skills have really intrigued me, so I will fight you by myself.”

Xiang De unsheathed his sword. Upon it was carved a golden snake. It was the legendary ‘Venom Snake Sword’. Yang Jing could feel its powerful aura. He could also feel that unlike the other disciples, Xiang De had cultivated his Qi.

Xiang De attacked; as he sped forward, his sword made a loud whooshing sound. Xiang De struck at Yang Jing's legs with his sword. As Yang Jing was about to parry the attack, Xiang De changed the direction of his attack; he instead slashed at Yang Jing's chest. Yang Jing was barely able to block that attack.

Yang Jing wished he could stop time once more but his use of Qi had already tired him too much. His face was pale and he felt as if he would have a heart attack at any moment. As Yang Jing contemplated his options, Xiang De swirled his sword around rapidly, causing a gust of wind, and in one swift move slashed at his opponent. Yang Jing was caught by surprise but was able to move upward his sword fast enough to meet the blade of his enemy. Clang! Both men gritted their teeth as they tried to overcome their opponent. Their swords pushed hard against each other and both men trembled.

“You! Will! Be! Defeated!” Xiang De barked.

“I! Do! Not! Think! So!” Yang Jing shouted as he put all of his physical energy onto his attempt to overcome his adversary. Unable to make much process, he decided to take the risk of using his internal energy once more. Qi flowed through his meridians to his hand and an invisible aura surrounded Yang Jing’s sword. This aura gave Yang Jing the edge; he was able to push back Xiang De.

As Xiang De gasped in surprise, Yang Jing grabbed him by the hair and brought his head crushing down onto his knee. A loud crack! sound was heard as Xiang De’s head collided with Yang Jing’s knee. His whole face was bleeding. Before the old man could react, Yang Jing locked his acupuncture points, effectively ‘freezing’ him. He could neither talk nor move.

Yang Jing lied down on the ground for a moment. “That was certainly harder than expected…”

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An hour later Yang Jing, carrying on his shoulder Xiang De, walked into the abandoned manor. The once prosperous courtyard was rotten: tree leaves were covering the floor and wild plants had overtaken the place. Xiang Xuefeng and Zhuan Wen were sitting on a stone bench.

“Father!” Xiang Xuefeng shouted as Yang Jing carefully placed Xiang De onto the bench. “Is he alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry,” Yang Jing replied. “I just locked his acupuncture points. I will unlock them later on.”

“I do not believe it!” Zhuan Wen remarked. “You really did it!”

Yang Jing laughed. “I told you I would.”

“Is everyone alright in the manor?” Xiang Xuefeng asked.

“Don’t worry. No one got killed, although a few of your father’s disciple will probably have to stay in bed for a few weeks.”

Xiang Xuefeng let out a breath of relief. “Thank Heaven!”

“I am now going to bring the lady’s father. Hopefully he will be more open to negotiating because this whole thing is tiring me. Wait for me here.”