Immortal Martial Emperor

Within a spacious courtyard.

A youth sat cross-legged on the grass, his hands resting on his knees in the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, cultivating diligently.

A gentle breeze swept by, causing the youth’s long black hair to drift in the wind, like willow branches swaying in a dance.

Beside the youth, a quiet and coolly elegant young woman stood silently, a delicate meal box held in her hands, which were crossed in front of her.

Beichen Tianshuang’s fair, delicate face held a serene smile. Her lips were pursed just so, not curving much, yet free of any feigned, rigid coldness. The expression gave her a mysterious air, a blend of gentleness and cool pride.

She stood there gracefully, gazing silently at Hong Yu.

There was a hint of contentment in her eyes.

Suddenly...

In a corner of the small courtyard, a maple tree trembled slightly. Six leaves suddenly shook loose and fluttered down, drifting erratically like mischievous sprites strolling in the wind.

VMMMM!

The seated youth’s eyes snapped open.

A light as sharp as lightning flashed through his eyes. In his left eye especially, a faint blue light swirled, as if a blue Ice Dragon was swimming and soaring within his pupil.

Six Flying Sabers rose up and floated beside the youth.

As they hovered and spun, they let out a piercing SWISH! SWISH! as they cut through the air.

The six Flying Sabers were as fast as lightning. One could only see six streaks of cold light flash by, making it difficult to even track their exact movements.

With a flicker in the youth’s eyes, the six Flying Sabers shot out in six completely different directions. They shifted and spun through the air in inscrutable arcs, and with a near-simultaneous PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! they pierced the fluttering leaves. Then they flew back, carrying the leaves, and hovered before the youth.

The Flying Sabers swayed gently, each one bearing a single leaf.

A Flying Saber that can injure someone is nothing special; perfect accuracy is nothing special either...

But if one were to look closely, they would be shocked to discover that the position where each Flying Saber had pierced its leaf was exactly the same!

The sharp, pointed tip of each Flying Saber had pierced the central vein of a leaf without going all the way through, leaving only the faintest mark.

It was enough to stop the leaf from falling, but not enough to damage any other part of it!

This was a feat of control more difficult than pricking skin with a fine needle without causing any pain.

And this was with a Flying Saber, no less!

’I finally succeeded. It’s a shame I’m still a ways off from the second level.’ The youth rose slowly, shaking his head and sighing.

As he spoke, the six hovering Flying Sabers had already flown back to him and vanished into his Storage Ring.

"Brother Yu."

A voice like silver bells rang out from behind him.

This youth was, of course, Hong Yu.

More than half a month had passed since Old Sir Tie’s birthday. For the past ten-plus days, Hong Yu had been cultivating in the Beichen Mansion.

Due to a lack of Elemental Ore, he had to set aside his training in the Primordial Gang Fighting Technique. These days, Hong Yu’s cultivation focus had been entirely on the Flying Thunder Divine Skill.

After more than half a month of study and practice, assisted by his Shadow Martial, Hong Yu had finally grasped the rudiments of the Flying Thunder Divine Skill.

He had even broken through the first level, allowing him to exquisitely control six Nine Feather Flying Knives at their full power. With his current mastery of the Flying Thunder Divine Skill, he could instantly kill a Mid-stage Celestial Soul Realm expert using the Nine Feather Flying Knives alone.

If he were to reach the second level, then even a Late-stage Celestial Soul Realm expert would be no match for him in a single exchange!

As for geniuses like Zheng Tian and Blood the First, he would need to use a few tricks.

All in all, Hong Yu’s power had once again improved, which was certainly something to celebrate.

His expression calmed. He looked at the young woman before him. For more than half a month, she had brought him his meals right on time, every single day. She had grown used to standing beside him, quietly watching him cultivate. Hong Yu’s feelings were complicated.

He was long past the age of blissful ignorance and was no stranger to matters of love between men and women.

However, with his parents and younger sister far away in the Desert North Wilderness weighing on his mind, his concern for his family forced him to suppress this budding excitement and affection.

Hong Yu reined in his complex thoughts and smiled. "I’ve kept you waiting!"

Beichen Tianshuang shook her head. "The food is still warm. I made your favorite fish today!"

"Mm, your cooking is getting better and better!"

The two sat facing each other. Hong Yu wolfed down his food while Beichen Tianshuang rested her chin in her hands, watching him quietly.

This same scene had played out every day for the past half-month, and it had long since become a habit for them both.

After the meal, the two of them sat together and chatted for a long time.

Just then, a figure arrived at the door and said in a low voice, "Young Miss, Marquis, Young Master Tie Tongtian from the Iron Soldier Pavilion is waiting outside!"

"Oh? I’ll go right over!"

Hong Yu replied.

As he was getting up, Beichen Tianshuang, behind him, pursed her rosy lips. Her clear eyes flickered with indecision. Watching the youth turn to leave, she quickly took two steps forward and wrapped her arms around Hong Yu’s waist.

They were pressed tightly together, each able to feel the other’s warmth.

Hong Yu’s whole body stiffened, unsure of what to do next. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to take the young woman’s soft hands in his.

He heard Beichen Tianshuang’s low voice from behind him, full of concern. "This time, you’ll be moving with people from the Guiyuan Sect. With how much they hate you, I’m afraid they won’t let you off easily. You have to promise me you’ll protect yourself!"

Hong Yu’s body trembled slightly.

’Since leaving Shishui City and the Cyan Nether Sword Sect, I’ve been through so many life-and-death situations and have grown used to the joys and sorrows of mortality. I’ve always faced everything alone. Now, to suddenly have someone urge me with such care... it’s like an invisible hand gently plucking a string in my heart.’

With a soft sigh, Hong Yu took Beichen Tianshuang’s soft, cool hands, turned around, and met her clear gaze. "Don’t worry, I’ll protect myself! When I get back, I want to eat your braised fish!"

"Mm!"

Beichen Tianshuang nodded earnestly.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Hong Yu turned and left.

...

"Brother Tie, sorry to keep you waiting!"

Hong Yu greeted Tie Tongtian with a smile.

Tie Tongtian’s attire was rather bizarre!

Hong Yu was in simple Martial Artist attire, but in contrast, Tie Tongtian was clad in a suit of heavy armor, as if he were leading troops into a great battle.

As Tie Tongtian turned his head, his heavy armor scraped and made CLANK CLANK sounds.

He had a helpless look on his face as if he wanted to cry but had no tears, and he looked at Hong Yu with watery eyes. "Younger Brother Hong, I don’t know what got into Old Sir Tie this time, but he’s insisting that I go with you. With my shoddy skills, I might not even make it back alive. You have to protect me!"

Hong Yu was taken aback, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Aren’t you exaggerating a little?"

"Exaggerating my ass! I’ve made some inquiries. I heard the Guiyuan Sect is going all out to clash with my Iron Soldier Pavilion this time."

Tie Tongtian said gloomily, "I heard that besides Zheng Tian and Huo Yan, the other nine True Disciples from the Guiyuan Sect will all be there."

"And what’s more, the Guiyuan Sect is being led by Xue De himself this time. That bastard is famous for seeking vengeance over the smallest slight. You made him lose so much face at my house last time, who knows how he’ll try to make things difficult for us now!"

Looking at Tie Tongtian’s distressed face, Hong Yu gave a faint smile. "The Guiyuan Sect has Xue De, but doesn’t the Iron Soldier Pavilion have its own experts to keep things in check?"

"We do!"

Tie Tongtian nodded seriously. "My old man. But our two families agreed that experts at the Primordial Core Realm and above cannot interfere with the exploration of the ore vein. So, this time, it’s all up to you!"

As they talked, they arrived outside the gates of Qin Royal City.

Outside the city gates, two groups of people, more than forty in total, had been waiting for some time. Besides the two Primordial Core Realm experts each side had sent to keep watch, each had also dispatched twenty experts below the Primordial Core Realm.

The Guiyuan Sect truly lived up to its name as the number one power in the Qin Kingdom.

Among the experts they dispatched this time, a full ten of them had a Celestial Soul Realm cultivation.

The Iron Soldier Pavilion had managed to recruit enough people to also scrape together ten Celestial Soul Realm experts, but looking at their quality, there was still a gap compared to the Guiyuan Sect’s elites!

"Fucking dawdling. Wasting our time."

When Xue De, who was standing at the very front, saw Hong Yu, his expression darkened and he snorted coldly.

Hearing this, all the Guiyuan Sect experts turned to look at Hong Yu.

A few of the quicker-witted Guiyuan Sect disciples seized the opportunity to chime in and support Xue De. "Some people just love to put on airs, acting all high and mighty, but in reality, they have no real skills. They’re just here to make a fool of themselves!"

"What’s that old saying? Dog meat can’t be served at a banquet. It probably refers to this type of person."

"Haha, well said! Look at him, he’s a real dog in man’s clothing!"

Hong Yu hadn’t even reacted to their taunts, but Tie Tongtian could no longer stand it.

Although he was a bit of a dandy and somewhat arrogant, once he accepted someone as a friend, he became an extremely protective brother-in-arms.

Tie Tongtian shot a cold glance at the men. "Younger Brother Hong, my Iron Soldier Pavilion once sold a type of animal called the ’Beak-Cutting Sparrow.’ Do you know why it’s called that?"

Hong Yu asked playfully, "Why is that?"

"I didn’t know why before, either. So I made a point to ask the merchant who supplied them. That person told me..."

Tie Tongtian deliberately drew out his words.

At this, his back-and-forth with Hong Yu caught the attention of the Guiyuan Sect members, who all craned their necks, waiting to hear the rest.

Seeing this, a glint of a smile flashed in Tie Tongtian’s eyes as he said loudly, "They’re called Beak-Cutting Sparrows because these birds are stupid. And not just stupid in an intellectually deficient way. More importantly, these birds have foul mouths—so foul that when you hear them, you can’t help but want to cut off their beaks. That’s why they’re called Beak-Cutting Sparrows!"

"Hahaha, there’s such a strange bird in this world?"

One of the Guiyuan Sect disciples suddenly burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.

As he laughed, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He realized that everyone around him was looking at him with pity.

He scratched his head and asked blankly, "Wh-why is everyone looking at me? D-did I say something wrong?"

Another man shot him a fierce glare and said angrily, "You idiot! He’s saying we have foul mouths!"

"What?"

The man froze, then realized what was happening, his furious gaze locking onto Tie Tongtian.

Without another word, the man slapped a palm strike toward him. "Dammit, you rich little punk! You dare insult me? I’ll fucking kill you!"

Tie Heng’s brow furrowed. Someone dared to attack his son right under his nose? He was naturally furious.

However...

Before he could make a move, someone else had already acted first.

SWOOSH!

A potent Fist Force shot out from behind Tie Tongtian. It easily annihilated the palm strike of the Early-stage Celestial Soul Realm Guiyuan Sect disciple and rushed toward the attacker with lightning speed.

With a BANG, the man’s fiery steed exploded, and he was sent flying.

But it wasn’t over. A hand of Elemental Power materialized from thin air, grabbed him, and viciously slammed him down in front of Tie Tongtian. Startled, Tie Tongtian’s own steed reared up and brought its front hooves down hard, breaking the man’s legs with two CRACK! CRACK! sounds.

Amidst the bloodcurdling screams, a cool and calm voice drifted from behind Tie Tongtian...

"You hurt my brother. Are you fucking looking for death?"