Xiao Chen’s eyes narrowed as he realized he had been lured into a trap. Yet not a single trace of fear touched his mind—in fact, a wide grin spread across his face, as if he were throwing down a challenge to the dozens of men standing before him. Moments later, around fifty more uniformed soldiers emerged from the darkness of the night, joining the group that was already gathered. All of them stared daggers at the young man who seemed to possess not an ounce of fear. "You have made a terrible mistake," Xiao Chen declared, his voice ringing clear and steady. "Tonight, you have all thrown away your lives for the sake of supporting a traitor!" "Enough talk! Attack him!" one of the men shouted, giving the order. The combined force of roughly eighty soldiers and martial artists charged forward, attacking Xiao Chen with brutal ferocity. All of them shared the same ambition: to claim the huge reward Grand Minister Yao Li had promi

Grand Minister Yao Li also broke into a wide grin. The foot of Mount Kahuripan was where the Eternal Sword Sect was based—and if the warrior who had killed his personal guards dared to show up there, it would be like handing over his own life. Song Wei and Xiu Lung would surely deploy nearly two hundred sect members to gang up on him. "In that case, we shall take our leave, My Lord," Xiu Lung said. "We have a surprise prepared for that cursed warrior!" "Go, Masters," Yao Li replied. "Make sure that scum dies tomorrow. Bring me his head, and I will reward each of you with a pouch of gold coins." Song Wei and Xiu Lung bowed respectfully before exiting. Their minds were already filled with visions of the fifty gold coins each that would soon be in their hands. Meanwhile, in the palace, Emperor Cheng Ho and Grand Minister Tian Long were still waiting for word from the soldiers about the explosion they had heard. Both men were growing impatient, ea

Xiao Chen smiled faintly as he heard the man’s words. "I’ll say this one last time," he said, spinning the twig in his hand a little faster. "Where are those two cowardly old men? My business is only with them—not with the entire Eternal Sword Sect." "Just admit you’re afraid to face all of us!" the yellow-skinned man taunted. "The word ‘fear’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary! Don’t regret it when your lives are lost for the sake of those two cowards!" After responding to the taunt, Xiao Chen quickly attacked one of the four men, thrusting the end of his twig toward the man’s head. But he was forced to pull back and jump several steps backward as two other attacks threatened his ribs and stomach. "Annoying, but weak attacks like these won’t hurt me!" the handsome young man muttered before increasing his speed. He launched another series of faster, continuous attacks at the two closest enemies. The two men targeted