Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The entire area was brightly illuminated, and the noise of troops broke the silence.
The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was a stronghold in the region, and its movements were frightening to behold.
Fang Yuan truly witnessed the defense of the villa this time.
Numerous torches were lit, making the villa as bright as day.
There were no governments in this world, so the Divine Armament Mountain Villa naturally had its own armor. The armor was made of extremely fine steel and covered the entire body of a soldier. Even the frantic attacks by a martial artist in the three medium grades might not break through the armor.
Furthermore, there were soldiers armed with crossbows, spreading around the Divine Armament Building to guard it.
Even a highly-skilled martial artist in the first-grade might not survive such a formation together with the attacks from the experts in the villa.
Hmph!
The man in gray sneered, looking hesitant. He seemed to be making a choice between killing Fang Yuan and leaving immediately.
Seeing the experts and armored guards approaching, the man in gray floated backward, but Fang Yuan still heard his voice.
“Nangong Wuwang… Although I don’t know how you learned martial arts, you’re bound to die miserably as a ‘saber sheath’!”
“Saber sheath? Does that mean a human that’s used to feed a saber?”
Fang Yuan was not a naive fool and immediately understood the hint.
However, the man in gray retreated elegantly like a leaf before the guards could besiege him.
“Young Master! Sorry, I’m late. I deserve to die!”
In the blink of an eye, Uncle Fu was already in front of Fang Yuan. His Qi revealed that he was an expert in the second-grade as well.
Even the villa lord of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa, Nangong Wentian, was only in the second-grade.
It was inherently incredible that a second-grade martial artist could employ another one in the same grade.
“What happened?” Fang Yuan pretended to be confused. “I was in my courtyard just now, and a strange man in a gray robe suddenly brought me here and said a lot of strange things. What did he mean by saber sheath?”
“This man must have ill intentions and was most probably lying to you. Don’t mind him!” Uncle Fu shook his head resolutely. “Young Master, you are the Villa Lord’s treasure. If anything at all happens to you, I’ll be to blame for my negligence!”
Fang Yuan felt disgusted.
This second-grade expert looked determined to be a slave.
If Nangong Wentian were a normal second-grade martial artist, how could he have tamed this person?
“I’m fine… I’ll head back and rest!”
But right now, Fang Yuan reacted like the wastrel, sweating nonstop and scared out of his wits.
“Of course!”
Uncle Fu waved his hand and signaled the armored guards to retreat. He escorted Fang Yuan back to his courtyard, seemingly prepared to stay the whole night.
It’s weird… Nangong Wentian didn’t appear after such a huge incident. Was he involved in some trouble? Fang Yuan thought doubtfully as he closed the doors.
…
During the commotion in the Divine Armament Mountain Villa.
In the underground cave.
The blood in the pool was replenished to the initial level.
The giant, black saber at the center of the pool was devouring blood greedily.
His face expressionless, Nangong Wentian clamped a hand over the neck of an expert. He cut open the expert’s blood vessels and let the blood flow into the pool.
A small heap of corpses was seen at the side. Every one of them was a martial artist that stared with their eyes wide open when they died.
“Demonic Armament! Demonic Armament!”
When Nangong Wentian expressionlessly grabbed the last old man, the old man struggled and spat out some blood foam. “Nangong Wentian… You dare feed a Demonic Armament with human blood. The entire Pugilistic World’s Orthodox Dao won’t spare you once they know of it!”
“Noisy!”
The last shriek of a pathetic ant could not make Nangong Wentian pause his action.
His long fingernail cut open the old man’s neck, and the torrent of blood made the color of the pool even brighter.
“According to the ancient record, this Demonic Armament must devour nine pools of blood before the process is complete…”
While being delighted for the fast progress, Nangong Wentian was also somewhat baffled. “The progress in the past ten years or so was very slow. Why did it suddenly speed up a month ago? Never mind. The faster, the better… It’s evident from what happened tonight that my actions have been noticed.
“Before long… Before long… my wishes will come true. Don’t you agree, Shan?”
He stared forward, as if he was gazing at his lover.
However, there was nothing in front of him.
In the pool of boiling blood, a trace of purple was stealthily mixed in with the thick crimson color and absorbed by the giant saber.
…
“Damn it… A mere first-grade martial artist dares to foretell my death!” Fang Yuan sat cross-legged in his courtyard, his aura getting increasingly enraged. “If I could use part of my origin power, even one-hundredth of it, I could’ve smashed him like smashing an ant!
“But the arrival of this person is an ominous sign. I’m afraid that a big showdown is imminent…”
Fang Yuan looked at his stats. The black rune at the end of ‘Specialization’ had reached the last stage.
It seemed that one last stroke would complete the pattern.
And Fang Yuan knew intuitively that the completion of this last step would bring him unexpected benefits.
…
Sixth day of the month.
The sun was shining pleasantly, and there was a cool breeze.
The Divine Armament Mountain Villa was decorated with colorful lanterns, and many guests and visitors had arrived at its giant gates.
Today was the villa lord’s fiftieth birthday. Every renowned martial artist from the nearby sects had received an invitation and brought precious gifts, none daring to embarrass this local tyrant.
Fang Yuan and his three sisters were dressed in silk robes and welcomed guests at the gates. The constant smiling had made their facial muscles cramp.
“Thousand Mile Divine Fist, Elder Wan, is here!”
“Sect master of the Pine Crane Sect, Venerable Pine Crane, is here!”
“The wandering hero, Song Zhili, brought a pair of golden peaches. He wishes the Villa Lord as much good fortune as the East Ocean and longevity as long as the South Mountain!”
…
In Uncle Fu’s loud and clear voice, experts of the Pugilistic World entered the Divine Armament Mountain Villa and seated themselves.
Nangong Wentian received the guests sitting at the central table on his own. These guests were famous experts in the nearby commanderies, all of whom were in the top three grades.
“Everybody…” Nangong Wentian was wearing a robe with more than a hundred golden ‘shou’ 1 characters embroidered on it. With his son and daughters by his side, he stood up with a delighted look. “Thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday! I will drink three cups of wine first to express my gratitude!”
“You’re too modest!”
The martial artists all held their cups of wine. “We’ll drink together!”
After three rounds of drinking, Nangong Wentian continued, “It happens that I have something to declare today… I intend to renounce my position and let my son, Wuwang, take over the Divine Armament Mountain Villa!”
With this news, the entire hall was shocked.
Nangong Xiu’s expression suddenly turned cold, her smile stagnating and her cup falling to the ground.
Nangong Qing clenched her teeth.
Nangong Fu appeared a bit off, and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or sad.
On the other hand, the guests started to have a heated discussion after a short silence.
While Nangong Wuwang was the only son of Nangong Wentian, everyone knew that he was an utter wastrel capable of nothing but squandering money.
Of course, most importantly, he had the Body of Hundred Emissions and could not become a martial artist.
How could such a person manage the large fortune of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa?
Fang Yuan was astonished too.
Nangong Wentian had never talked to him about it nor even hinted at it before.
“Villa Lord, you’re going to renounce?” Venerable Pine Crane and Elder Wan were sitting at the same table. They exchanged glances, both looking surprised. “You must make a careful decision!”
The rules in the Pugilistic World stipulated that once someone completed their renouncement ceremony, this person had to let go of any past grievances, and outsiders could not seek them for revenge either. Anyone breaching the rules would be detested by the entire Pugilistic World and live a hard life.
If he completed the renouncement ceremony in front of so many martial artists, he would no longer be able to change his mind.
“Of course!” Nangong Wentian clapped his hands, and Uncle Fu brought him a golden basin 2 . They had obviously prepared for the ceremony.
“Wait!”
Just as Nangong Wentian was about to put his hands into the basin in front of so many guests, a loud voice full of hatred was suddenly heard.
“Nangong Wentian, after all the evil deeds you’ve done, how can you just complete the renouncement ceremony without asking the Orthodox Dao?”
A young martial artist stood up and became red-eyed. “I heard that the villa lord of the Divine Armament Mountain Villa has obtained a Demonic Armament, concealed it in an underground cave, and fed it with human blood. Is this true? Would you dare let us take a look?”
“What? A Demonic Armament?”
Venerable Pine Crane almost jumped up, clearly aware of the power of such an armament.
“Not only that, but he liked to sacrifice martial artists. The Tong family’s Flying Spear, Second Young Master Fei, the Black and White Ghosts… All these martial artists who had mysteriously disappeared were actually killed by him!” Another swordsman stood up and disclosed the long name list. He took his sword out of the sheath. “We will enforce heaven’s will today!”
“What? Did you really kill the Tong family’s Flying Spear, Tong Guan?”
“Nangong Wentian, pay for my brother’s life!”
“Nangong Wentian, I swear I’ll kill you today!”
…
A few red-eyed martial artists stood up.
The Pugilistic World was small, and the relationships in this world were complex. Almost all the experts from the nearby commanderies were present for Nangong Wentian’s birthday celebration, and all sorts of relationships between them united them immediately.
“Hmm?”
This scene reminded Fang Yuan of the man in gray that he had met the previous night.
Without question, only that person had the ability and strategy to find evidence and convince the members of various big sects and families to create trouble in Nangong Wentian’s birthday banquet.
The harmonious birthday banquet suddenly became a dangerous trap!
Many clues against the Divine Armament Mountain Villa were revealed, exposing the darkest side of this place to the light of day.
