Chen Zui could actually have dodged that palm strike with ease.
With his mid-stage Wind-Riding Realm cultivation, the man in black's poison palm seemed as slow as an ox pulling a heavy cart in his eyes.
Yet he did not move.
He wanted to let this man experience absolute despair.
Sure enough, when the second palm strike hit with as little effect as a stone sinking into the ocean, the poison-wielding man in black froze completely in place.
Chen Zui gave him no chance to snap back to his senses.
His hand rested on the hilt of the battered sword at his waist. The moment the blade left its sheath, there were no grand phenomena—no glint of cold light, no resonant sword hum. The dull, silver-gray blade merely traced a plain, unremarkable arc under the moonlight.
Then, the poison-laced hand was severed clean at the wrist, flying far through the air before landing on the bluestone paving, where it twitched twice.
Before the man in black could even scream, he collapsed to his knees, clutching his severed wrist.
The other four men in black finally snapped out of their shock at this sight.
All four erupted at once.
A barrage of blade flashes and sword shadows enveloped Chen Zui from four directions.
Their coordination was exquisite and their attacks ruthless; having immersed themselves in this combined battle array for years, they had slaughtered countless experts.
Yet, Chen Zui merely struck four more times.
Four strikes—not one more, not one less.
The four men in black were instantly defeated.
One of them asked in a trembling voice, “Who... who on earth are you?!”
Chen Zui returned his sword to its sheath. The sheath uttered a muffled click, which rang out with utmost clarity in the pin-drop silent courtyard.
“Chen Zui.”
A brief, deathly silence descended upon the courtyard.
The name was like an invisible heavy hammer, slamming fiercely into the heart of every man in black.
Their eyes widened uncontrollably as they stared at the shabby, green-robed young man in front of them with utter disbelief.
Chen Zui.
The Chen Zui who had broken through two realms in a single day at Jinyang City a year ago, surviving the self-detonation of a Boundless Realm Grandmaster.
The young Grandmaster whose fame had sent shockwaves across the Two Realms.
The Chen Zui who had vanished without a trace for an entire year, leading everyone in the martial world to assume he had been secretly recruited by the Grand Zhao imperial court.
How could he possibly be here?
How could he be this destitute swordsman who couldn't even put together a decent outfit?
Yet the severed hand on the ground and the four bleeding wounds did not lie.
The men in black exchanged glances, reading the same realization in each other's eyes.
Today's mission was impossible to complete.
With a Wind-Riding Realm Grandmaster present, multiplying their numbers ten times over would still be useless.
And as for the consequences of failing the mission, they were all too aware.
Returning would mean certain death as well.
Then, almost simultaneously, the five men crushed the poison sacs hidden behind their teeth. Their bodies twitched a few times before falling still, the dark blood spilling from the corners of their mouths glinting dull and dark under the moonlight.
Chen Zui made no move to stop them.
He had no interest in the mastermind behind these men in black to begin with.
Besides, he didn't even need to think to know it was inevitably members of those great families.
The Jiang family and the Xiao family were forming a marriage alliance. Once this union was sealed, the Royal Court backing Xiao Chengyan could leverage the Jiang family's power to tear open a gap among the Eight Great Families.
And how could those aristocratic families who refused to watch the Royal Court grow stronger sit idly by?
Yet when it came to those convoluted political struggles, he had zero interest in any of them.
Then, he turned around and walked over to Yuanzhen.
Yuanzhen was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his complexion already turned ash-gray. The insidious force of the poison palm raged through his meridians like maggots in a corpse.
Gritting his teeth without uttering a sound, pea-sized beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks, soaking his monastic robe through with cold sweat.
Though his cultivation, having just broken through to the Abyss-Facing Realm, was enough to prevent instant death from a poison palm dealt by someone in the Mountain-Viewing Realm, he was still enduring the excruciating agony of ten thousand ants gnawing at his bones with his flesh and blood.
Chen Zui squatted down and tapped swift as the wind, lightly striking key meridian points at the back of his heart, his Jianjing point, and his Quchi point.
True qi of the Wind-Riding Realm seeped in like spring water. Wherever it passed, the insidious poison dissolved completely, the black aura receding at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In mere breaths, Yuanzhen's complexion returned to normal.
He slowly opened his eyes, feeling the warm, irresistible true qi within his body, his eyes brimming with indescribable excitement.
“Benefactor Chen... You are actually Grandmaster Chen, who broke through two realms in a single day at Jinyang City!”
He rolled over to bow in gratitude, but Chen Zui held him up with a hand.
“I have long heard your great name, long heard your great name! During the day, this poor monk actually dared to show off his meager Mountain-Viewing Realm cultivation in front of a Grandmaster... Amitabha!”
At this moment, where was there any trace left of an eminent Buddhist monk's composure?
However, he couldn't be blamed for his lack of composure.
Chen Zui was currently the person all martial artists across the Two Realms yearned to become most.
Catching a glimpse of his true face was already difficult, let alone receiving personal guidance from Chen Zui!
This was a monumental stroke of fortune!
A blessing sought by tens of thousands of martial artists, yet attainable only by fate!
Seeing this, Chen Zui smiled slightly.
“Master, calm yourself. Otherwise, the toxins inside you will disperse again.”
Yet Monk Yuanzhen still could not suppress his excitement.
Calm down? How could he possibly calm down?
This was the youngest Spear Grandmaster in existence!
Meanwhile, Jiang Lai walked over silently as well.
Blood was still bleeding from her left sleeve, her hair braid had mostly come undone, and there was not a trace of her domineering young lady demeanor from earlier today left on her face.
She walked up to Chen Zui, respectfully cupped her hands in greeting, and kept her head bowed, her voice tinged with awkward embarrassment.
“Thank you for saving my life, Grandmaster Chen!”
The moment she recalled how she had mocked the man before her during the day, she felt so humiliated she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
It wasn't that she had never seen top experts; even among the retainers of the Eight Great Families, there were several Martial Arts Grandmasters.
But which of those people didn't travel with a throng of attendants, dressed impeccably?
“This junior, Jiang Lai, thanks Grandmaster Chen for saving my life. Earlier today... my words were deeply offensive, and I am utterly ashamed. I beg Grandmaster to forgive me.”
Chen Zui waved his hand, his tone indifferent.
“There's no need to thank me. I only stepped in to save you because of that kid, Xiao Chengyan.”
Hearing this, Jiang Lai froze slightly, feeling confused.
Xiao Chengyan?
That cynical, playboy prince heir?
How could he possibly know the legendary Spear Grandmaster revered by all martial artists under heaven?
Jiang Lai hesitated for a moment before she couldn't help but ask softly:
“Grandmaster Chen... knows Xiao Chengyan?”
Chen Zui smiled faintly, his gaze landing on the withered tree in the courtyard whose branches had been shorn in half by the earlier fight, as though gazing back at an event from long ago.
“I knew him, but only when he was at his lowest.”
At his lowest.
When those words struck Jiang Lai's ears, she froze in surprise.
Of all the rumors she had heard growing up about the Xiao family's heir, not a single one was remotely associated with being "at his lowest."
He was born in the Royal Court and raised in wealth, never having stepped half a foot outside the Prince's Manor, surrounded by swarms of servants—when had he ever been at his lowest?
Even less plausible was the idea that he had an opportunity to meet Chen Zui, who was far away in Grand Zhao.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask, but seeing Chen Zui's expression, which suggested he had no intention of elaborating, she swallowed her words back down.
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