Singing with a Sword

The following is the main text of the novel "{?$article_title?}" ({?$jieqi_title?}) provided by {?$jieqi_sitename?}. Please enjoy! Everyone looked over and saw a scholar standing in front of Yi Ranxiao. This person was naturally the Fourth Master.

"Thank you so much for saving me, sir!" Yi Ranxiao immediately expressed her gratitude. When Murong Cang, a Dawn Realm expert, attacked, Yi Ranxiao had Huangfu Cheng send someone to Xiaohu Town at top speed to request your assistance. The Fourth Master received the news and rushed over immediately, thus saving Yi Ranxiao in time.

Murong Cang's eyelids twitched slightly. This guy who suddenly appeared seemed to be very strong! He could actually neutralize his attacks.

"Who are you? Why are you ruining my plans?" Murong Cang asked. Although the other party was very strong, he might not necessarily lose if they really fought, especially since he had many experts on his side.

The Fourth Master laughed and said, "Who I am is not important. What is important is that you cannot easily hurt my friend." Murong Cang laughed. Judging from his tone and words, this man was actually a pedantic scholar. "Hmph, I advise you to step aside. I haven't even used my full strength yet. If you continue to block me, I will not be polite."

As he spoke, he walked forward, determined to take his son's killer with him!

The fourth gentleman remained motionless, standing in front of Yi Ranxiao, his face still bearing a polite smile.

Murong Cang's Yuan energy began to fluctuate, and his clothes billowed without wind! If he wanted to take Yi Ranxiao away today, he would have to use all his strength to fight this scholar! However, he was also really excited, after all, it had been a long time since he had a good fight with someone!

"Drink!" Murong Cang shouted, and a fierce surge of Yuan energy gathered in front of him, forming a giant sword that pierced towards the Fourth Master opposite him!

The Fourth Master smiled slightly, facing the giant sword. He merely waved his hand, and a hazy, peaceful white light emanated from it. The black giant sword plunged headfirst into the white light, and then... nothing more!

The two spells clashed without producing even the slightest fluctuation of elemental energy! Not a sound was made either! This was because one spell was far too powerful, instantly annihilating the other!

Murong Cang was shocked. That was his full-force attack; how could it have been so easily broken by this scholar? Could there really be such a terrifying cultivator in this world? Who exactly is this scholar? A scholar, a scholar? Could this person be a cultivator from the academy?

Thinking of this, the arrogance from before disappeared from Murong Cang's face, replaced by calmness, with a hint of respect. Murong Cang said, "May I ask your name?"

Mr. Si laughed and said, "A name is just a label, so let's not mention it. The reason I'm here today is simply to help my friend."

“But your friend might have killed my son, so I have to take him away.” Even though he had guessed that the Fourth Master was from the academy, and even though Murong Cang knew that the Fourth Master was much stronger than him, he would never give up taking Yi Ranxiao away because of these things. But force wouldn't work, so he could only reason with him politely.

Murong Cang continued, "If I don't take him away today, there's no guarantee he won't flee to escape punishment. If I try to catch him then, it will be much harder."

The Fourth Master was also a person who liked to reason with people. "This is a sect, and my friend is also a member of the sect. Even if you have sufficient evidence to prove that he is the one who killed your son, if you want to take him away, you must first ask Sect Master Xiang. May I ask if you have consulted Sect Master Xiang?"

Murong Cang's mind raced, and he said, "I haven't yet, but I'm afraid this kid will get wind of it and run away immediately, so I've decided to capture him first and then take him to Holy King Mountain to ask the sect leader for his opinion."

The fourth gentleman said, "But that's not what you just said." Murong Cang's old face turned red again. Damn it, he was good at fighting, but he was really not good at reasoning with others.

"This... I got a little excited and forgot to mention it," Murong Cang murmured. "Now, can I take him away?"

The fourth gentleman said, “Don’t rush, don’t rush. What I just said is all based on the premise that you have sufficient evidence to prove that my friend killed your son. Only then can you take him away. But the problem is that you don’t have sufficient evidence at all. You want to take my friend away just because you suspect him. If you suspect someone of a crime and you arrest them, wouldn’t the world be in chaos?”

The people present, as well as the disciples of Shenfeng Hall, echoed the Fourth Master's words.

The Murong family members were starting to lose their footing. They couldn't win in a fight, and they were about to be defeated in a battle of wits too! Murong Cang, the leader, held back for a long time before finally speaking to the Fourth Master: "Judging from your attire, you're not a member of the sect at all. What does it have to do with you that I'm here to take away a sect disciple? What right do you have to stop me?"

The Fourth Master laughed and said, "He is not only a disciple of the sect, but also someone's friend. How can I ignore a friend in trouble?"

Murong Cang opened his mouth, but said nothing. The Fourth Master continued, "Your Excellency, there's no need to rush. I sense that Sect Leader Xiang is already on his way. Once he arrives, you can negotiate with him."

Murong Cang looked at the Fourth Master with surprise and doubt, wondering why he hadn't sensed anything. Just as he was wondering, a streak of light flew from the distant sky and landed in front of Murong Cang. It was none other than the sect leader, Xiang Tiannan.

"Sect Leader Xiang," Murong Cang greeted respectfully, though inwardly he was quite surprised. The scholar before him was not only powerful but also possessed remarkable sensory abilities. Xiang Tiannan responded calmly and then turned to look at the Fourth Master.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Fourth Master." The words "Fourth Master" pierced everyone's ears.

The Fourth...Fourth Master? Yi Ranxiao had already guessed the master's identity, but hearing it from the sect leader still surprised her. Murong Cang was completely stunned. This scholar was actually the fourth disciple of the Hundred Schools of Thought! No wonder this guy was so strong; he was the fourth master of the academy!

The Fourth Master bowed respectfully to Xiang Tiannan and said, "Greetings, Sect Leader Xiang." Xiang Tiannan smiled slightly in return, then turned to Murong Cang, "Brother Murong, I've come here today for the matter of Murong Feng. Murong Feng is a disciple of our sect, and he was killed within our sect's territory. Therefore, our sect has an obligation to find the murderer and avenge him. So, I request that you stay with our sect for the time being and investigate this case with us."

Murong Cang nodded and said, "Alright, then we will remain in the sect and investigate this case together with your sect. However—" He looked at Yi Ranxiao, "I would like to ask the sect leader for permission to keep a close watch on certain important suspects."

Xiang Tiannan smiled slightly and said calmly, "Why would our sect trouble your Murong family with such a thankless task of watching over people? Yi Ranxiao should be kept under our sect's care." Regardless of whether Murong Cang objected or not, he directly said to Yi Ranxiao, "Yanxiao, you will come with me to the back mountain of Holy King Mountain later." The back mountain is usually used to imprison disciples.

No matter what, Yi Ranxiao is still a disciple of his sect, and even the senior brother of a branch hall. Before the matter is settled, only the sect has the right to detain him.

When Xiang Tiannan looked at her, Yi Ranxiao suddenly felt a tremor in the system in her sea of ​​consciousness. It was as if the system was a living thing that had seen Xiang Tiannan and was therefore afraid.

Xiang Tiannan's expression changed almost imperceptibly as he gave Yi Ranxiao a deep look, seemingly having discovered something. Yi Ranxiao was startled; had the sect leader discovered the system? However, Xiang Tiannan's expression returned to normal, as if he hadn't noticed anything.

Yi Ranxiao breathed a sigh of relief, but the system was still trembling, still fearful of Xiang Tiannan. Yi Ranxiao was filled with doubt. Could this system be a living being? After being defeated by a master like Xiang Tiannan, it transformed into a system and hid in her sea of ​​consciousness? Of course, this was just speculation…

Since Xiang Tiannan had spoken, Murong Cang wouldn't be so stubborn as to fall out with him. Moreover, as long as Yi Ranxiao didn't run away, he didn't voice any objections.

Yi Ranxiao didn't care; the innocent would clear themselves. However, some of the disciples of Shenfeng Hall were unhappy, believing their senior brother was absolutely innocent. Among them, only Xiaoru had some peculiar thoughts. She had indeed encountered Murong Feng that night, but she couldn't say what happened next…

That very night, Yi Ranxiao left with Xiang Tiannan. Only after they parted ways did the throbbing in Yi Ranxiao's mind disappear.

Yi Ranxiao examined the system carefully but couldn't find anything, so she stopped paying attention to it. In any case, Yi Ranxiao always maintained a cautious attitude towards the system, not relying on it too much, and always needing to have her own trump cards! But when the time was right, she would still use it.

This time, Xiao also brought Dingding along. Being locked up in the back mountain by oneself would inevitably be boring, so having a monkey for company is better than nothing. Dingding had been hanging around the various restaurants in Jianling City lately, stealing food and drinks. When its owner forcibly took it away, it was truly unwilling.

……

……

Yi Ranxiao was assigned to the back mountain of Saint King Mountain. This back mountain area is very large, and some of the sect's elders and seniors have secluded places there for closed-door cultivation, such as Xiang Tiannan's senior brother, Dayu. In addition, some places in the back mountain are sealed with ferocious beasts. Legend has it that the Red-Bottomed Macaque captured by the previous sect leader was sealed in a stream in the back mountain.

Of course, the Cliff of Repentance where Xu Jingyi was located was also on the back mountain. This shows just how vast the back mountain was. And since the Cliff of Repentance was far from where Yi Ranxiao was imprisoned, Yi Ranxiao didn't go to visit his master.

To prevent Yi Ranxiao from escaping, all the exits from the back mountain were swarmed with disciples of the sect. Yi Ranxiao's daily life consisted of cultivation: cultivating the Divine Thunder Sword Technique, cultivating the surge of sword energy, cultivating pure Yuan energy, cultivating gravity techniques…

After Yi Ranxiao was imprisoned for seven days, another person finally arrived at the back mountain. It was a woman, a beautiful woman, a woman who came for Yi Ranxiao.