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Zhou Yan felt somewhat sentimental, but his heart was indeed warmed. He knew perfectly well that it wasn't simply due to his own influence that the Palace Master was taking such care of him; it was surely because of Ning'er.
Or perhaps Ning'er felt uneasy about him and made a request to the Bixue Palace Master?
Zhou Yan sighed, feeling that this Sword Illusion Realm suddenly had many fine cracks appearing all over it. These cracks became denser and more numerous, until finally, one of them abruptly shattered, causing the entire Sword Illusion Realm to collapse and disintegrate.
Zhou Yan's consciousness suddenly returned to his body, as if he had just woken from a daydream. His eyes still gazed at the red clouds on the horizon, yet the events that had transpired were vivid in his mind.
"Whew—"
He let out a long sigh, feeling an indescribable sense of melancholy.
Ning'er and the Palace Master of Bixue Palace gave him some inexplicable pressure.
If the Palace Master had simply told him he needed to work hard to achieve certain positions, he might not have cared much. But this woman repeatedly emphasized that at sixteen, he must break into the Sword Intent Realm!
This realm was not as simple as comprehending Sword Qi; the difficulty of grasping Sword Intent was unimaginable. Even with his father's talent, he had not met such a requirement!
Understanding Sword Intent meant that out of nearly a billion people in Canglan City, no one had ever reached such a standard!
Yet, the Palace Master said, as long as one could enter this realm, by any means necessary, one must enter it... this...
Thinking of this, Zhou Yan thought of another issue—Ning'er now was still unable to even truss a chicken; she was already fifteen years old, with only one year left. How could she break through this shackle?
Zhou Yan shook his head slightly; since he couldn't think of a solution, he decided not to dwell on it.
He looked at the invisible ring in his hand again, and once more sensed it. This time, without any obstruction, his consciousness penetrated the ring and contacted the space within.
As he imagined, apart from a pile of Crystal Stones, inside the ring was a piece of ancient-looking pale yellow silk. The silk, smooth like satin, was adorned with spiritual glows, clearly not an ordinary item at first glance.
Besides this silk, there were also two rather common books, "Introduction to Sword Formation" and "Medicine Sword Master Introduction."
Judging by the quality of these books, they seemed to come from Sword Origin Realm cultivators who had died, and their Qiankun Rings were taken by this Palace Master of Bixue Palace, who put them in here without looking.
Zhou Yan meticulously organized them, finding most were useless, things not worth keeping but too pitying to discard by the deceased.
However, he was not concerned; he tossed aside some tattered combat armor and some slightly spiritual but unusable Mortal Crystals.
After tidying up, he had eaten and drunk his fill, and prepared to continue on his way.
Just then, as he tried to move, his body suddenly froze, and his ear involuntarily twitched. His gaze quickly shifted to the distance.
"Kid, such good stuff and you threw it away? You must be carrying a lot of treasures!"
A middle-aged man with a vicious look stood in the void on a pitch-black sword, looking down at Zhou Yan.
This man had a face full of pockmarks and even had a large, obvious lump on his forehead, making him look like a smaller head stacked on a larger one, appearing terrifying at first glance.
If one gave him another look, it might even induce nausea.
Having eaten his fill, suddenly seeing such a person would likely make nine out of ten people vomit.
Yet Zhou Yan didn't even furrow his brows.
Despite his current strength not being particularly extraordinary, ordinary people still could do nothing to him.
He secretly resented his own excessive focus on exploring the ring, to the extent that he hadn't noticed someone approaching him.
"So you want to kill and rob me?"
Zhou Yan asked indifferently.
"Hahaha, of course, it's to rob you. Killing or not depends on your performance."
The man laughed loudly, his voice shaking the lake and sending ripples, causing the yellowing leaves of the willows by the lake to fall 'whoosh whoosh.'
"Well then, hurry up and act. The sooner you rob me, the sooner you can go enjoy yourself with women."
Zhou Yan squinted, slightly tilted his head, and looked at the distasteful man.
The man's gaze darkened, and his once sinister and vicious eyes turned particularly sinister and venomous, like a venomous snake! His voice was hoarse and deep, becoming even more unpleasant: "Boy, do you know what this place is?"
"This is Tianji Mountain, the barren land connecting Canglan City and Tianji City."
Zhou Yan chuckled and answered casually.
As he spoke, he nonchalantly picked up the leftover rabbit leg meat from the campfire, and took a bite, baring his teeth at the distasteful man as he chewed callously on the rabbit meat.
The man shouted sternly: "Since you know where this is, how dare you come here?"
With a smile, Zhou Yan said, "I was passing through, killing a rabbit here to fill my stomach, not provoking you Evil Ghosts at all, so what's it to you?"
"So you're just a clueless pretty boy, got stupid from cultivating within your family, seeking your own death!"
The man sneered, words brimming with murderous intent, yet curiously, he didn't make a move.
Zhou Yan, unconcerned, took another bite of the rabbit meat, even crunching on a bit of bone, creating a crisp sound that left the man puzzled. He couldn't tell what background this person hailed from.
"Why roast meat here, of all places? Why discard luxurious items here?"
The man's expression grew more serious, clearly aware he wasn't dealing with a reckless fool, knowing some seemingly weak individuals might possess significant backgrounds. Hence, he remained cautious.
Especially now, this young man was truly—peculiar.
"Perhaps, Sir just enjoys eating roasted meat in front of evil sword cultivators, tossing Crystal Stones as well."
Zhou Yan said with a smile, his gaze bright yet deep, flashes of sword light seemed to dance within.
His words made the man immediately aware the other was doing this deliberately, yet he grew even more cautious.
"What are you here for, then? Provoking us intentionally, do you look down on Evil Ghosts?"
The man shouted, slashing down with his sword. A huge trench nearly two meters deep appeared in the ground in front of Zhou Yan.
But the boundless dust stirred by this trench didn't touch Zhou Yan at all, he didn't even move to defend, continuing to chew the rabbit meat indifferently.
"I am passing through here on my way to Tianji City to discuss matters with Xiao Zhan, the head of the Xiao Family in Tianji City."
Zhou Yan answered calmly. His hand, which had been tempted to reach for the sword hilt, moved back.
Despite wanting to test his combat strength, Evil Sword Cultivators, the Evil Ghosts, weren't as bad as imagined. Those people just robbed, rarely killed, and never robbed ordinary people.
As his temperament settled, he more and more avoided drawing his sword easily.
"Xiao...Xiao Zhan? You know Xiao Zhan?"
The man's face changed.
Zhou Yan casually replied, "I don't know him, but my father does."
"Who is your father?"
The wariness on the man's face intensified.
"Zhou Wangchen!"
"Sword Demon Zhou Wangchen? You're that...Zhou Yan from the Zhou Family?"
The man's face transformed dramatically, unable to believe what he heard, but he believed it because he suddenly recalled that this person, whose presence made him cautious and perplexed, indeed greatly resembled the notorious Sword Demon Zhou Wangchen.
His legs started trembling, his body retreating immediately, a shiver running down his spine.
Even if rumors labeled Zhou Wangchen's son a useless waste, he couldn't risk it; what's more, Zhou Wangchen's son couldn't possibly be useless, wasn't it said that the greatest genius of the Zhou Family was Zhou Wangchen's son?
"Stop!"
Zhou Yan shouted, his hand suddenly moving to his side to grab the hilt of his sword, a Sword Qi directly locking onto the man.
He dared not act recklessly. A name feared to such a degree, Zhou Wangchen's tyranny, even over ten years later, still made everyone tremble.
Such a person, he, an Evil Ghost, couldn't dare offend even with a hundred partners.
"What, what do you want?"
"You disrupted my meal and even had murderous intentions."
Zhou Yan said slowly, looking at the man's nearby side, frowning, and sighed lightly: "Do you think my hands are fair, soft? Like spring onions, like a woman's hand?"
Zhou Yan extended his hand, seemingly talking to himself.
At only fifteen, after undergoing two transformations, his naturally fair skin looked tender like water, truly appearing like a pretty boy.
And his fingers were slender and supple, resembling orchids; this made his smile appear even more—bewitching.
"Yes... yes..."
Gazing at Zhou Yan's hands, the man swallowed hard.
Zhou Yan continued, "But today, these hands will kill again. I didn't want to, but your companion shares feelings with you, and already wishes to put me to death."
His right hand swept towards his waist, drawing the hilt of the Broken Worry Sword lightly, the sword in his hand turned into a silvery glow, shooting out two streaks of Sword Qi with a sharp "whoosh."
Followed by two wretched cries, the man and a fellow hiding in the thorny bushes behind him fell to the ground, struggling violently. Their foreheads had blood holes pierced by Sword Qi, blood gushing from within.
Yet they clearly weren't dead yet, still able to see their foreheads oozing more blood.
Both were early-stage evil sword cultivators at the Second Level of Sword Qi, even if not as strong as ordinary Second Level Sword Qi experts, they were far stronger than the peak experts of Sword Qi First Layer Heaven.
But neither understood how they got hit by such Sword Qi without sensing it.
Filled with terror, they had no time even to beg for mercy.
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