Misty Rain of the Old Times

Suddenly wide awake, Chen Xuan watched the person on the stage with great interest. The words the other person said seemed vaguely familiar. In his previous life, he had "heard" a poor scholar surnamed Lü and a swordsman surnamed Yan say similar things, but neither of them had a good ending.

Oh right, the last person Chen Xuan personally experienced who dared to claim invincibility was the ethereal fairy from Yuhua Kingdom.

The man who stepped onto the stage to challenge the defeated man sounded to be in his early twenties. He was dressed in black, with a black veil and bamboo hat obscuring his face. Standing there, he was as upright as a pine or bamboo. Although his words were arrogant, they did not give the impression of being overtly aggressive, just like the ancient black-sheathed longsword in his arms, which was restrained and not yet ready to be unleashed.

'At the Acquired Realm, his internal energy is pure and profound, yet extremely concealed, making it almost impossible for others to sense the deep internal energy within him. He's just one step away from the Innate Realm. It seems he's deliberately suppressing his cultivation. Once he steps into the Innate Realm, his internal energy will transform into Innate True Qi, far more profound than that of ordinary people, allowing him to leap into becoming a true master. Moreover, he has already comprehended sword intent at his current Acquired Realm cultivation level, which is even more remarkable than Gao Jingyu, who stepped into the Innate Realm at the young age of seventeen. He's exceptionally talented; no wonder he's so confident.' After a brief look at Chen Xuan, it became clear where his confidence came from.

Only with Chen Xuan's Grandmaster cultivation could he see through the other party at a glance. In addition, even several innate masters present could not see through his strength.

It must be said that this person has the right to be confident. He has one foot in the Innate Realm and has also comprehended the sword intent, which is enough to bridge the gap between the Acquired and Innate Realms. Even if he were to face some Innate Realm masters, he would probably not be at a disadvantage.

The contest on the stage was continuing when he suddenly intervened, causing the two fighters to instinctively stop and frown as they looked over. Even the innate master acting as the referee showed displeasure.

This arena was originally intended for people to exchange martial arts skills, with everyone stopping short of competition and without much ulterior motives. However, the appearance of this person has suddenly changed the harmonious atmosphere.

His words, in particular, caused many people to frown and feel displeased, but not to the point of provoking public outrage.

As soon as he finished speaking, many people around him glared angrily and began to criticize him.

"Who is this guy? Doesn't he know any rules? Can't he see they're fighting? Even if he wants to go up, he should wait until they're finished. What kind of behavior is this, just barging in like this?"

"How arrogant! Who do you think you are, claiming to be undefeated? How many masters have you even seen? You don't know your own limitations!"

"Arrogant, too arrogant! Are you just asking for a defeat? Which brother will go up and teach him a lesson?"

"Hahaha, this is hilarious! Where did this eye-catching bag come from? Everyone ignore him, let's see how embarrassed he is."

"Exactly, who does he think he is? He's looking for fame and fortune in the wrong place..."

Unmoved by the accusations and ridicule of the crowd, the man spoke calmly and clearly, his voice carrying throughout the surroundings: "Words are useless. Let's see who has the real skill. I'm right here. Who can fight me?"

These words drew another round of criticism and ridicule, but no one immediately jumped out to defend him. After all, he must have some skills to be so arrogant, and it would be better to stand up for him than to do so.

Realizing that this wasn't provocative enough, he added, "How about this: if anyone can defeat me in even a single move, I will offer them a secret technique handwritten by a grandmaster. I swear it's absolutely genuine and effective. If you don't believe me, there are many innate masters present, some of whom are knowledgeable enough to judge its authenticity. But if there's even the slightest hint of falsehood, just kill me on the spot. I implore everyone here to bear witness!"

Good heavens, being arrogant is one thing, but they even offered a stake, risking their lives and fortunes.

Believe it or not, quite a few people are tempted by this. A master-level expert's handwritten masterpiece—who wouldn't want to possess it? Once obtained, even if one doesn't become a master, one will definitely take off from the ground up. It's like having a master-level expert personally instructing you. Who wouldn't be itching to get one?
"Brother, we are at a crucial moment in our martial arts exchange. Isn't it a bit much for you to interrupt and steal the show?" A swordsman on the stage frowned and said in a deep voice. Anyone would be annoyed in this situation, let alone a martial artist who is known for his temper.

Another person sneered, "Practice martial arts before cultivating virtue. Does this brother not even understand the basic rules of the martial arts world?"

This is equivalent to pointing your finger at someone and calling them ill-mannered, just in a more subtle way.

That said, the man in black's actions were indeed a bit excessive. A duel in front of everyone is not a situation where whoever is stronger can act unreasonably.

The man in black was not angered by this. Instead, he calmly cupped his hands and said, "I was indeed wrong to begin with, and it was truly inappropriate. But the words have already been spoken, and I was eager to lose. I hope you will forgive me."

He was straightforward and directly admitted his mistakes. People in the martial arts world are like that, they are direct and don't beat around the bush. As a result, many people who were criticizing him found it difficult to speak up, and he even gained some goodwill.

However, he immediately changed the subject, shook his head and looked at the two who had been sparring, seemingly oblivious to the meaning of tact, and said: "I'm not saying this to be mean, but the duel between the two gentlemen is really not worth mentioning, it's like children playing house. Let's not waste everyone's time, how about leaving the arena to me to fulfill my wish?"

"You... are unreasonable."

"What a loud tone!"

One sentence almost made the two of them furious, especially since it was said in front of so many people that they were playing house like children. It was more painful than being slapped in the face, and they were so angry that their faces turned red and their eyes were spitting fire.

But the man in black, seemingly oblivious to human sentiment, added fuel to the fire with a smile, saying, "What I said is true. If you two are not convinced, you are welcome to attack me. If you can defeat me, I will immediately offer you the secret technique I promised and leave right away. If you are not confident, you can still practice on me."

"This is outrageous! I'd like to see what makes you so arrogant."

"You're infuriating! Take this!"

Enraged, the two men disregarded everything else and immediately attacked the man in black.

One of them wielded a knife with sweeping, powerful moves, while the other wielded a sword with agility and grace. The sounds of swords cutting through the air were incessant. They dared to compete on stage in front of everyone, which meant they must have some special skills. But that was all they had. After all, their cultivation level was mediocre, and they didn't practice any superior techniques. Neither of them could use their internal energy to create the glint of swords on their weapons.

Facing the combined attack of the two, the man in black remained calm and composed, effortlessly dodging the attacks from his small space. He said with obvious disappointment, "You're too slow. You can't even touch the hem of my clothes. You only know how to attack relentlessly, forgetting to leave yourselves some room to maneuver. If this were a life-or-death battle, you'd be dead in a single exchange. It seems that's all you've got. I apologize for the inconvenience; may I borrow this arena?"

The two men launched dozens of fierce attacks but couldn't even touch the hem of the man in black's clothes. It wasn't entirely ineffective, though, as they exhausted themselves. Listening to his seemingly effortless words almost made them furious.

As soon as the man in black finished speaking, he stepped behind them and lightly patted them on the back with lightning speed. The two men immediately lost their balance and fell off the stage like kites, but they were not injured.

They staggered to their feet off the stage, their expressions shifting between anger and resentment as they glared at the man in black on the platform, utterly helpless. Defeat was defeat; they couldn't even manage a single touch. The gap in skill was simply too vast.

But the man in black persisted, shaking his head and saying, "You're no good. You don't even deserve to make me take you seriously, let alone wield a sword. Don't be unconvinced. Practice more in the future. I'll give you a chance to challenge me; it's better than losing your lives, isn't it?"

Ignoring the two men who were nearly spitting blood in anger, he looked around and sincerely invited, "Heroes and valiant men, I keep my word. Who will come up on stage and give me a defeat?"

The perfectly good arena competition was completely ruined by this man in black. However, faced with his ability to easily defeat the two, no matter how excited the crowd was, they had to think twice.

For the moment, no one stepped forward to teach him a lesson, and the atmosphere became a little awkward. Chen Xuan hadn't expected the originally boring arena match to turn into this, but he found it amusing and was quite looking forward to someone going up on stage to make it more lively. The previous skirmishes had really not been interesting to him.

Of course, he himself had no intention of bullying anyone; the opportunity to show off and act cool was left to the six other people.

"Brother Chen, is that person very powerful? Even now, no one dares to go up and fight him," the little princess asked with great interest and curiosity. After Old Deng had been gone for a while, she recovered her composure and remembered her persona as a woman disguised as a man.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan laughed and said, "Whether he's good or not depends on who he's compared to, but he certainly has real skills. Conservatively speaking, there are no more than a handful of people here who can easily outshine him."

"Then how dare he say he's never been defeated?" the little princess said, both amused and exasperated.

Shaking his head, Chen Xuan smiled and said, "What I mean is, everyone here who can definitely outclass him, excluding the others, is on our side."

"Brother Chen, are you talking about yourself?" The little princess turned around and said with a look of disdain.

Chen Xuan nodded and said, "Of course."

"And then? Who else?" the little princess asked again.

Looking at Xia Mei, Chen Xuan frankly said, "And Aunt Mei too."

"So, the referees on the stage, as well as the seniors from various sects in the pavilion, are not necessarily his match?" the little princess asked in surprise.

Chen Xuan nodded and hummed in affirmation.

"Is that so?" the little princess asked, looking at Xia Mei and the others.

Xia Mei smiled and said, "Young Master Zhou, what the master said is correct. If I were to make a move, he wouldn't be able to withstand a single attack, but that doesn't mean that person lacks real skill."

Xia Mei was confident enough. As the personal bodyguard of the most beloved little princess of Emperor Shangxuan, her strength was, without exaggeration, comparable to that of the leaders of various sects. Recently, she had become a bit arrogant. With occasional guidance from Chen Xuan, she estimated that she could spar with some grandmasters.

As for Chen Xuan, she didn't mention him, so that's a different concept.

Yunlan shook her head, then spoke on behalf of her younger sister Yunxin, saying, "Young Master Zhou, although we haven't fought, based on our experience, even if we sisters joined forces, we probably wouldn't be a match for him. At most, we could force him to unleash his full power, but we would ultimately be the ones to lose, assuming only our own strength, not other methods."

These two sisters are no weak women; they have both reached the threshold of the Innate Realm, cultivate top-tier techniques, and know combined attack methods. Together, they are qualified to challenge those in the Innate Realm. Yet, even so, they still frankly admit that they are no match for the man in black in a normal contest.

The reason they could make such a correct judgment is, of course, because they are experienced. Before they came as part of the dowry, they had been carefully trained by many experts. They are not the kind of people who get arrogant after having a little skill.

Then Dujuan hesitated and said, "I can sense that this person is very dangerous. If we fight him head-on, I am no match for him, but if I want to kill him, I am at least 80% confident!"

It was truly heartbreaking to admit that a master of innate cultivation was no match for someone of acquired cultivation in a head-on confrontation, but Du Juan, who had experienced countless life-and-death situations, trusted her own judgment.

There are countless extraordinary people in the world, so shouldn't a few exceptional individuals be allowed to emerge?

Forget about the little girl; she's only been practicing martial arts for a short time and really can't participate in such a topic.

Hearing this, the little princess looked at the arena again in surprise and said, "It seems this person is truly skilled, but why have I never heard of him before?"

Chen Xuan was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself, "Wife, you're not a person of the martial arts world, how would you pay attention to these things?"
Still no one stepped forward to be the first to do it, leaving the man in black feeling rather awkward. He had made a high-profile entrance, but no one was cooperating. What kind of situation was this? It was like a clown performing a one-man show.

"It's him! I remember now!"

Just as people were looking at each other, wondering who would be the first to jump out, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.

This broke the silence, and soon someone chimed in, "Who is it? Tell us! We've disliked him for a long time. If we knew his background, we'd see how arrogant he would still be!"

Breaking the silence, the man didn't keep anyone in suspense and said thoughtfully, "I don't know who he is either, but I've heard of him. He's not from Jing Kingdom, but from Rong Kingdom. I heard about him when I was in Rong Kingdom on business not long ago. In the martial arts world there, he's known as the Sword God. Just as he himself said, he has never been defeated since he entered the martial arts world ten years ago. His swordsmanship is unmatched, so he gradually earned the title of Sword God, and it seems no one questions it. I never expected that he would come to our Jing Kingdom to show off his power!"

"What? It's him? I think I've heard of him too. His swordsmanship is unmatched in Rong Kingdom. He's the universally acknowledged Sword God of Rong Kingdom, and his reputation is well-deserved."

"No, that's enough! Sword God? Does he even have that ability? Or is it that the martial arts world of Rongguo has no one left, or that martial arts have regressed by a thousand years? Can some upstart really bear the title of Sword God?"

"I can't agree with you. He is indeed unparalleled in swordsmanship. It's not about cultivation level. So what if he has the title of Sword God? There are at least eight hundred or a thousand who dare to call themselves Sword God. I am the Sword God of Zhao Family Village. Have I been showing off everywhere?"

"Hey, hey, hey, let's not get off topic. Regardless of whether he's a sword god or not, people from Rong Kingdom are actually coming to Jing Kingdom to cause trouble. Can you tolerate that?"

"That's right, that's right. If we just let it go like this, people will think that our Jing Kingdom has no one left. We'll be ridiculed, and how will we be able to hold our heads high in the martial arts world of other countries in the future?"

"So who's going to go up and teach him a lesson..."

After the man in black's background was revealed, the crowd became agitated, with everyone offering their opinions, leaving the man in black on the stage largely ignored.

Hearing what people were saying, Chen Xuan couldn't help but twitch his lips. How did a "Sword God" suddenly appear? Those two words were indeed quite intimidating, but he felt a little awkward and couldn't help but want to dig his toes into the ground.

Especially since people were getting carried away with their conversation, while the man in black stood alone on the platform with no one going up to pay him any attention, even though he had already made his statement in a high-profile manner, it was like he was putting on a show for the blind. Chen Xuan felt embarrassed for him.

If no one accepts the challenge and people just watch and discuss, he'll have wasted his time. He might as well not have the limelight; he'll probably regret it afterwards... (End of Chapter)