I Only Stomp on Weaklings

In the early morning, as the sunlight just began to pour into the courtyard, Gu Haochuan, who was meditating in his room, suddenly opened his eyes and said, "She has left the Chen Mansion."

A few breaths later, his nephew and disciple, Gu Zhengshan, came in from the next room, "Master, should we follow her?"

"Let’s go."

Gu Haochuan stood up and led his nephew out of the courtyard they had rented for two days.

All the way, they followed Yuan Ziyi from a distance, precisely at the edge of her Divine Sense’s perception.

After walking for half a day, Gu Zhengshan asked curiously, "Master, where is she going? Doesn’t she know Du Rusong wants to kill her?"

Gu Haochuan had already guessed her intentions and sighed, "You all, being protected by the family from a young age, have lost even the courage to face challenges head-on."

Gu Zhengshan’s eyes widened in shock as he said, "You mean, she’s using herself as bait to lure Du Rusong out? How does she dare?"

A freshly promoted Second Grade daring to challenge a First Grade?

Du Rusong is a First Grade dressed in purple from the Six Gates, a battle-hardened strongman, far from comparable to those worthless First Grades of the Blood Demon Sect.

Isn’t this courting death?

Gu Haochuan calmly replied, "Since she dares to do this, she must have something to rely on. I am indeed interested in seeing what exactly she is relying on. With her courage, if she manages to survive and break through to First Grade, she will definitely be an unparalleled swordsman."

"Master, if she can’t withstand Du Rusong, will you step in to save her?"

"Why save her?" Gu Haochuan retorted.

Gu Zhengshan said, "Master, you admire her so much, I thought you wanted to establish a favorable relationship with her."

Gu Haochuan earnestly said, "Xiaowu, do you know what has enabled our Gu Family to stand strong for hundreds of years?"

Gu Zhengshan thought for a moment and whispered, "Because of the Old Ancestor."

"Haha, you’re not too dull. Yes, as long as the Old Ancestor is around, our Gu Family will be the Duke Jingguo’s household, sharing both glory and downfalls with the nation. But you also need to understand, for us descendants, the only thing we can do for the Old Ancestor is to cause fewer troubles."

Gu Haochuan said, "Therefore, as a member of the Gu Family, remember to avoid involvement in unnecessary matters when outside. Matters that shouldn’t concern you, don’t involve yourself in them. Whether Yuan Ziyi dies at Du Rusong’s hands, what has it got to do with us?

"If you don’t possess such an extraordinary mindset and desire to seek vengeance and settle scores, then don’t act under the name of the Duke Jingguo. If so, should you die out there, the Duke’s household won’t avenge you."

Hearing his severe words, Gu Zhengshan solemnly said, "Understood, Master."

"Good."

Gu Haochuan nodded, feeling that this disciple was indeed teachable.

Every scion of nobility should understand, the Capital City is the Capital City, and the Jianghu is the Jianghu, two completely different realms.

Those noble scions who fail to understand such principles often meet bad ends. The Sea Suppression King is the best example; being of imperial blood, he also died inexplicably.

After so many years, they haven’t even identified the killer.

The one who supposedly rules the world, His Majesty the Emperor, has always avoided discussing this matter.

The Jianghu is deep and unpredictable!

...

By evening, Gu Haochuan sensed that Yuan Ziyi had stopped, and he stopped as well, maintaining a distance of about ten miles.

His eyes lit up as he said, "Du Rusong is here!"

Finally showing up, it was not in vain to follow Yuan Ziyi all the way from Xiazhou to Jiangzhou City, and from Jiangzhou City to here.

Gu Zhengshan, having Third Grade cultivation, looked ahead and vaguely saw a flash of crimson light, feeling an astonishing Gang Yuan erupt.

This indicated that the two had already engaged in combat.

He focused his gaze and saw Yuan Ziyi withstand a killing move from Du Rusong and survive! He was somewhat shocked.

Du Rusong would surely not hold back, and yet Yuan Ziyi could withstand a full-force attack from a First Grade expert; it was truly unbelievable.

Could it be that there are such monstrosities in the Jianghu whose strength far exceeds peers of the same rank?

Gu Haochuan did not rush to intervene, instead, he stood with hands behind his back, overhearing the conversation between the two, feeling puzzled as to why Du Rusong addressed Yuan Ziyi as "boy"?

This was rather bizarre.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted, and he exclaimed, "How does she know the ’Heaven and Earth Solitary Hong’ Swordsmanship?"

At a glance, he recognized that the swordsmanship Yuan Ziyi utilized was the Gu Family’s secret, ’Heaven and Earth Solitary Hong.’

How did she learn the Gu Family’s swordsmanship?

Could it be—

Linking this to Du Rusong’s earlier address, he abruptly entertained a possibility: was this woman actually his nephew, Gu Xianyu, in disguise?

With this thought, everything began to make sense.

The question was, how could this be possible?

Months ago, when Xiaoqi left the Capital City, he was merely Fourth Grade. According to Gu Haochuan’s assessment, he was still some way from reaching Third Grade, needing at least a year or two of consolidation to break through to Third Grade.

Hence, when he heard recently that Xiaoqi had advanced to Third Grade, he was quite surprised, suspecting that the lad must have encountered some fortuitous opportunity.

But no matter the opportunity, none could possibly allow Xiaoqi to leap from Fourth Grade to Second Grade within just three to four months.

Unless this lad had switched to cultivate some top-tier Demon Skill from the Longevity Sect.

Yet, being within the jurisdiction of the Six Gates, if he had indeed practiced any Demon Skill, it would be impossible to conceal from Zhong Danyang’s eyes.

Gu Haochuan’s expression turned exceedingly grave, staring fixedly at that "Yuan Ziyi" figure.

She not only wielded the ’Heaven and Earth Solitary Hong’ swordsmanship, but more impressively, her Body Technique was incomprehensible, so elusive that even Du Rusong, a First Grade, couldn’t touch her garment’s hem.

Such a Body Technique, he had never seen in his life.

Moreover, the Gang Yuan used by this person was vastly different from Xiaoqi’s.

This person is definitely not Xiaoqi!

What is his true intention by impersonating Xiaoqi?

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Gu Haochuan’s mind, and his expression became even more grave.

"It’s really ’Heavens Lonely Swan’!"

Beside him, Gu Zhengshan also recognized it and asked in shock, "How did this person learn our Gu family’s secret technique?"

Gu Haochuan sneered, "Naturally, he learned it from your useless seventh brother."

Since this "Gu Xianyu" is fake, Xiaoqi’s fate is naturally predictable.

Gu Zhengshan’s mind seemed overwhelmed, "Master, what do you mean?"

Gu Haochuan said solemnly, "The Gu Xianyu who became famous in Xiazhou was someone else in disguise. I thought Xiaoqi couldn’t have transformed like a different person after leaving the Capital City, turns out he really was someone else."

Gu Zhengshan couldn’t fathom this situation, unable to speak for a long time.

At this moment, Du Rusong finally unfolded the Sword Domain to restrict "Yuan Ziyi’s" body technique.

"Yuan Ziyi" shouted loudly, "Miss Yu, why aren’t you making your move?"

...

"He actually recruited that girl from the Yu Family as an ally."

Gu Haochuan felt a stirring in his heart and turned to look, only to see a cyan figure rise from several miles away, transforming into a huge Sword Gang, striking towards Du Rusong.

That sword possessed the might of First Grade.

He couldn’t help but be moved.

This little girl from the Yu Family is truly extraordinary. With Third Grade cultivation, she possesses such formidable power. And on this journey, he hadn’t even noticed her presence.

How did she manage to conceal herself from me?

"Hahaha—Your opponent is me."

Suddenly, a burst of wild laughter erupted, and a black-clad man charged out, intercepting Yu Haitang.

Du Rusong said, "You have an ally, do you think I don’t?"

He disregarded the consumption and expanded the Sword Domain to its limit, finally capturing "Yuan Ziyi’s" figure, firmly locking onto his aura.

"Let’s see where you can escape now!"

He shouted furiously, integrating with his sword, and slashed down towards "Yuan Ziyi’s" head.

Just then, "Yuan Ziyi" slightly raised his head, and a faint smile appeared on his face, as if saying, this is exactly what he was waiting for.

Du Rusong felt a surge of unease, but the arrow was already on the string, he had no choice but to release it. He barely managed to trap and lock him, just awaiting the full force strike to kill him.

Stop pretending!

He couldn’t believe that a Second Grade could withstand his sword!

He hesitated no longer, the longsword with red Sword Gang fiercely chopped down, "Die!"

"Taiyue Sword!"

At this critical life-and-death moment, Chen Ming used his ultimate trump card, channeling half of the yellow spiritual soil from his Sea of Qi entirely into the "Taiyue Sword."

Instantly, the "Taiyue Sword" erupted with an unparalleled brilliance, a breath that made the entire world tremble burst forth.

"This is—"

Du Rusong’s face changed dramatically.

Not far away, Gu Haochuan also showed an expression of shock, this sword equaled a strike from a Divine Treasure Realm expert. Such power that makes the heart tremble and shakes the world, he’s all too familiar with it.

"Close your eyes!"

Only the yellow sword light shone, and it seemed as if the world had lost its color. That red light compared to it, was no more than a weak glow like a firefly.

Gu Haochuan closed his eyes tightly, tears still flowed uncontrollably.

Beside him, Gu Zhengshan was worse off, cried out in pain, blood tears streaming from his eyes.

On the other side, the black-clad man tangled with Yu Haitang let out a strange cry, forcibly took a hit from her sword, and fled away.

Yu Haitang didn’t pursue, her power was precious, naturally she wouldn’t waste it on an insignificant opponent.

She shouted loudly, "Sect Leader Yuan’s sword, slashing First Grade, such power is truly awe-inspiring. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first."

Then, her figure flickered and disappeared.

[You have killed an LV99 enemy, gaining two million one hundred thousand experience points.]

Seeing the prompt before him, Chen Ming sighed in relief, finally eliminating this formidable foe.

Of course, the cost was not small.

The "Taiyue Sword" in his hand had become dim, the previous strike took a great toll on it. It’s best not to use it for the near time, otherwise the essence would be consumed.

Finally, it might end up facing a fate like the "Mingfeng Sword."

Luckily, the previous strike consumed the power of the spiritual soil, his Gang Yuan inside was not heavily used, still capable for combat.

He shouted loudly, "Enough watching the spectacle everyone, it’s time to come out."

Three figures appeared from three directions, greeting her from afar, one of them said, "I am He Rui from Gu Commandery, with Second Grade cultivation, you have slain First Grade, such swordsmanship is truly miraculous and breathtaking..."

Gu Commandery, He Family.

You are exactly who I’m looking for!

Chen Ming interrupted him, "Since you’ve seen it, then die."