Northern Sword Valiant stayed upright. A few strands of white hair were hidden amongst his black hair. He wore a long black robe and a white shirt. He crossed his arms in front of his chest with his eyes closed. He looked stern and fierce, like an ice-cold sword.
Hundreds gathered at the training ground and commented on Northern Sword Valiant.
"How much longer does he need to wait?"
"He is Northern Sword Valiant? He feels powerful."
I've heard that he could split a mountain with one slash. I think Sword God Zhou doesn't dare to come."
Yeah, Sword God Zhou was only a greedy coward. Out of so many brigand strongholds in Gulan Forest, he only chose to deal with those that had Foundation Building head chiefs. This means that his power was only at the Foundation Building Stage."
"The Northern Sword Valiant has already realized his sword will. In the future, he might be comparable to General Zhang."
Most people revered Northern Sword Valiant, except those that Sword God Zhou had saved. Many who heard about what Sword God Zhou had done snorted with contempt.
This time, Northern Sword Valiant issued a challenge to Sword God Zhou, but the latter had yet to appear, which caused the people to despise Sword God Zhou even more.
At the same time, they really admired and respected Northern Sword Valiant.
He was indeed someone powerful, so powerful that his opponent did not dare to accept his challenge!
There were two others amidst the crowd.
They were Xiao Chengfeng and Ms. Zhishui, who were still searching for the son of Zhao Xuan.
They had searched for Zhou Xuanji for many years, but they were yet to give up.
"When do we go back?"
Ms. Zhishui asked. In her heart, she felt that Prince Xuanji was already dead. It was pointless to continue searching for him.
Xiao Chengfeng gazed at Northern Sword Valiant and said, "One more month. I want to see who this Sword God Zhou is. I heard that he has the body of a ten-year-old child."
"You think that he might be Prince Xuanji?" Ms. Zhishui asked.
Xiao Chengfeng smiled as he shook his head, "How could he? Sword God Zhou is unrivaled across the Foundation Building Stage. Even the second prince, who reached Foundation Building at nine years old, could not sweep across the entire Foundation Building Stage. Could there be anyone that's more devilish than even the second prince?"
Ms. Zhishui heard and also felt that it was impossible.
They were out for so many years already, there was no hurry to go back.
Crowds of people were passing by the training ground, but only a minority of people stayed back. Even Zhang Ruyu only came by once in a while.
On the west side of the training ground, a man stood and observed Northern Sword Valiant from a guestroom on the third floor of an inn. He was dressed in purple and wore a bamboo hat.
In the room, an elderly man sat at a table.
The rickety old man was a little plump. He was enjoying the seasoned pig trotter in his hands.
After some careful observation, one could see that he had a tail, like that of a squirrel.
Demon!
A demon that could transform into the appearance of humans had powers comparable to Inner Pellet cultivators amongst humans.
"Young master, stop looking at him. He's merely at the Enlightening Stage, is he really worth your attention?"
The elder with the squirrel tail mumbled as he chewed on his pig trotter.
The man in purple did not respond to him.
After a while, he turned around and sat on the bed.
He stared at the elderly man and said, "Old Qing, can you not be like a pig?"
The elder who was addressed as Old Qing almost choked on the pig trotter.
He felt wronged and said, "Young master, why are you scolding me?"
The man in purple snorted, "Remember our mission. Capture Princess Xuanya. My father, the king, is going to declare war against the Southern Snow Kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms soon. We must have some bargaining power to curb Great Zhou."
Old Qing licked the oil on his hand and was confused, "Princess Xuanya is not even fifteen, what use could she have?" he said.
The man in purple replied, "Let me tell you. Princess Xuanya of Great Zhou has a Dao Manifestation Physique that appears once in a millennium."
Old Qing opened his eyes wide and sucked in a breath of cold air.
Shortly after, he seemed to have thought of something and asked in astonishment, "If she had such great talent, why would she come to the Cloud Swallow City?"
The man in purple no longer replied to him, because even he was confused about this.
...
"Shopkeeper, give us a guestroom!"
Zhou Xuanji shouted as he walked to the counter and threw a silver ingot onto the table.
Little Jiang Xue followed him, but she looked outside of the inn.
Looking out from the door to the entrance of the street, one could see the training ground. She already saw the silhouette of Northern Sword Valiant.
He really knew how to put on a show.
She curled her lips and was a little indignant.
"Please follow me, young guests."
A waiter came running along and smiled charmingly.
He saw how they were dressed and knew that they were not ordinary people.
Following the waiter's guidance, the two of them came to the second floor and into a guestroom that faced the training ground.
Zhou Xuanji was generous and tipped the waiter. The waiter nodded and bowed in joy.
After sending the waiter away, he walked toward the table, poured some tea, and said, "When I go and accept the challenge, you must wait here. No matter what happens, don't come over."
Little Jiang Xue heard him and became anxious immediately. "Are you getting into danger?" she asked.
Zhou Xuanji gave her a cup of tea and said, smiling, "Nope. I just don't want to expose our identity. I will go there in a different direction."
She was relieved after hearing him.
She wasn't really worrying before seeing = Northern Sword Valiant.
But when they passed by the training ground just now, his aura convinced her that he was not to be trifled with. So, she was worried again in her heart.
"When are you going?" She asked.
"In a day or two. I will go out to arrange some things later." Zhou Xuanji muttered.
"What things?" she asked curiously.
He did not hide it either. He was preparing to spread the news that Sword God Zhou will accept the challenge in two days.
Since Northern Sword Valiant wanted to put him in a difficult situation, he shall make use of this opportunity to spread his fame!
She heard him and sighed, "Xuanji, how can you be so scheming at such a young age?"
He was scheming? He rolled his eyes.
This was just planning and preparing!
After he rested for a while, he left the inn.
He found some beggars and children, whom he enticed with some money to spread the news.
Before nightfall, the news about Sword God Zhou accepting the challenge was spread across the city.
After Zhou Xuanji returned to the inn, he did not do his usual cultivation but began eating a sumptuous meal with Little Jiang Xue.
It had to be acknowledged that the lamb hotpot was delicious. The chewy meat was fat but not greasy. When he chewed the meat, its tastiness spread throughout his mouth. Compared to roasted wild game, this was more than perfect.
After they had a satisfying meal, the two laid on their bed and began chatting.
They talked about the future.
As Little Jiang Xue grew, her ideas grew bigger as well.
Zhou Xuanji sighed in amazement at the fact that the girl had really entered into puberty.
When he almost fell asleep, she suddenly poked his waist with her hand and muttered, "Xuanji, I think I'm sick. I think it's an internal injury from cultivating energy techniques."
He heard her and became anxious at once. He flipped around and asked, "What happened? Are you hurting?"
She blushed and said softly, "Recently, when I went to pee, there was a lot of blood..."
Zhou Xuanji was stunned. His facial expression looked very awkward.
What kind of internal injury is this?
He thought about it. She had followed him since she was six years old. No adult woman taught her about her body, so it was natural that she did not know much about her own body.
He felt that it was both heart-aching and funny. So he began teaching her common knowledge about a woman's body.