TBIP: Chapter 26 Part 1

But in a few breaths, Yang Jirong had already flown in front of Lou Xingyao.

His menacing appearance seemed like he could make blood splatter on the spot, but Wen Hanshan still didn’t move.

Seeing this, those concerned about the situation seemed to have expected what would happen next. It seemed that Yang Jirong would have two more lives in his hands today.

Many of them turned their gazes elsewhere, as if they could express their inability to bear it as long as they didn’t see the blood of the two people splashing on the spot.

The next moment, the slightly silent street heard the sound of a sharp blade entering flesh.

Then there was the slightly dull sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

The people of Xilin County were no strangers to this sound. IT was the sound of a person being seriously injured and falling to the ground.

“Is it that fast?”

“That person was quite imposing just now, but he didn’t even make a move against Yang Jirong. So was he destined to be defeated? Yang Jirong’s ability is getting more and more sophisticated.”

A person who looked away couldn’t help muttering in his heart. At the same time, he secretly raised Yang Jirong’s danger level again.

At the same time, he was waiting for the second sound to occur.

After all, he hadn’t forgotten that Yang Jirong targeted two people just now.

However, who knew that after waiting for a long time, he didn’t hear the second sound he expected.

Finally, someone couldn’t help turning his gaze back.

The scene not far away wasn’t what he imagined. A blinding blood-red color came into view. In the large bloodstain that was like stagnant water, there was a figure lying there.

Not far from the figure, there was a round object rolling slowly. Looking closely, it was a human head.

Was the method of death a beheading?

This didn’t seem to be in line with Yang Jirong’s temperament. Didn’t he always like to dismantle people in a bloody and cruel manner?

When did he become so clean?

Before people could finish their thoughts, they suddenly found that the human head on the ground had Yang Jirong’s appearance!

From the sinister look on the man’s face that contained a bit of pride and a bit of cruelty, it wasn’t difficult to see that Yang Jirong didn’t even have time to react before he took his last breath.

For a while, there was a hint of surprise in everyone’s eyes as they looked at Wen Hanshan.

How did he do it? Not only was it hard to resist someone in the middle stage of foundation building with a qi condensation cultivation, but how could he be so clean and neat that he killed Yang Jirong in one blow?

When did such a dangerous person come to Xilin County?

Not to mention those who had turned their eyes away, even those who watched without blinking couldn’t understand what was going on.

They only knew that the moment Yang Jirong’s fingers were about to touch the robe of the person who was comprehending something, a cold light flashed.

Immediately afterward, there was the sight of Yang Jirong’s head falling to the ground.

If they hadn’t happened to see the scene of the man putting his sword into the sheath, they would even suspect that Yang Jirong had died at the hands of someone else.

It wasn’t until a person with excellent strength saw the trick and exclaimed that the current silence was broken.

“Sword intent! It turns out to be a sword cultivator who has cultivated sword intent!”

Not everyone knew what sword intent was, but they could understand the unusual meaning from the words.

Among the people, many became alert and leaned toward the person who had just exclaimed, inquiring into the meaning of his words.

They immediately looked shocked after hearing the man’s answer.

It turned out that sword cultivators also had stages in their cultivation, much like ordinary cultivators progressing through the qi condensation and foundation building realms. Their paths were divided into sword shape, sword qi, and sword intent.

Among them, sword shape was a preliminary entry realm. They only needed a deep understanding of the sword in hand to be considered to have reached that realm.

Sword qi was when the sword cultivator swung the sword, causing invisible qi to burst out from the sword and damage people silently.

The realm of sword intent was the derivation and strengthening of sword qi. If sword qi could barely be regarded as a somewhat tangible force, then sword intent was more like an invisible thing. It was pervasive, unstoppable, and everywhere.

It was only after a sword cultivator comprehended the true essence of the sword—what it was and what it represented—that they could cultivate sword intent.

It was rumored that a sword cultivator who had reached the realm of sword intent was no longer limited to the form of the sword in their hand. They had a sword in their heart. Flowers, bugs, insects, fish, flying flowers, and falling leaves could all be used as leaves.

At that time, sword cultivation was no longer limited by their own cultivation. Killing people beyond their realm was just a matter of a sword.

Not to mention a mere middle stage of foundation building cultivator, even a golden core master had to be careful in front of a sword cultivator who cultivated sword intent.

In some of the books left from ancient times, there was even a saying of ‘no sword intent, no sword cultivation.’

It was just that there weren’t many sword cultivators on the Tianming Continent. Those who could cultivate to the realm of sword qi were already rare, let alone sword cultivators who could cultivate sword intent.

Now that a sword cultivator who cultivated sword intent had suddenly appeared, how could people not panic?

“In this way, isn’t this person invincible on the entire continent?” Someone asked in a low voice.

Unexpectedly, this statement was quickly denied by the person who explained that Wen Hanshan had sword intent.

“No, what type of profound realm is sword intent? Can ordinary cultivators understand it? I see that this sword intent hasn’t been fully formed, and it must be difficult to resist a golden core cultivator. The middle stage of foundation building is probably the limit he can fight at this moment.”

These words seemed to be expressing that Wen Hanshan’s realm was inferior, but it was enough to make everyone gasp.

It had to be known that this sword cultivator hadn’t even broken through to the foundation building realm. When fighting a foundation building cultivator, it was already like killing a chicken and slaughtering a sheep.

If they waited until the other person broke through to the foundation building realm, they were afraid it would be difficult for a golden core cultivator to escape unscathed. How could such a terrifying ability to cross challenge realms not make people frightened?

Soon, someone noticed that something was wrong. He asked the person who told everyone about the sword cultivation realms, “How do you know about such a secret thing?”

It had to be known that before this, they had never heard of any sword shape, sword qi, sword intent, and other realms of sword cultivation.

“Hehe, I might not be talented, but my ancestors once produced a genius who cultivated to the realm of sword intent. He left some notes that I peeked at.” This person wasn’t talented in speaking, but it was obvious that he had a self-satisfied look on his face.

Who expected that the next moment, someone would question him. “There was really such a person among your ancestors?”

They didn’t know whether things like sword shape, sword qi, and sword intent were this person’s nonsense, but they had seen with their own eyes when Wen Hanshan’s sword beheaded Yang Jirong.

For a while, they believed 70 to 80% of this man’s words.

However, they didn’t believe that there was actually such a person among this man’s ancestors.

It was because this person’s appearance… was too poor and shabby.

The casual cultivators in Xilin County might not all be wearing magic robes, but they were at least dressed in fine garments. At a glance, they all carried themselves with a dignified appearance.

But this person was dressed in coarse linen clothes without any rating. Even his messy hair was a bit dry and frizzy.

If it wasn’t for the fact that they could clearly perceive the fluctuations showing the sixth level of qi condensation from this man, everyone would wonder where this beggar came from and if he had arrived at the boundary of Xilin County by mistake.

Once someone questioned it, this man wasn’t annoyed but just smiled. “What? Whose ancestors have never been rich? Isn’t it just that his descendants weren’t strong and had no talent in the path of the sword?”

This was also true.

Don’t look at how all these casual cultivators were miserable. If they looked it up, most of their ancestors had moments of prosperity.

After all, those without a wealthy or influential ancestry had either long faded into obscurity or aspired to cultivate but struggled in vain without access to proper techniques.

Don’t look at the hot communication between these people. In fact, they were all afraid of Wen Hanshan, who was still holding a long sword in his hand at this moment. Their voices weren’t loud, and had even been suppressed to the point of being inaudible.

As they talked, there were still many people who glanced at the figure in the process of understanding something. It was inevitable that they would feel envious.

In a place like Xilin County, no matter how good the relationship, a person could be stabbed in the back for the sake of interests.

This person could feel at ease on a street where many people came and went. There was such a strong sword cultivator beside him to escort him. How could people not feel envious?’

Just as everyone was feeling complicated, Lou Xingyao’s eyes finally changed a bit.

Others might not have known due to being covered by a mask, but Wen Hanshan noticed the change in his aura immediately. He couldn’t help diverting his attention back to Lou Xingyao.

The next moment, he saw the person who had closed his eyes slowly open them. There was a flash of joy in them.

“It looks like you have obtained something?” Wen Hanshan asked in a low voice.

“Brother Wen is really the same as usual. Your eyes are as sharp as a torch.” A hint of joy appeared on Lou Xingyao’s face. He had obviously gained a lot.

The insight just now brought not only a clear mind to Lou Xingyao, but also an improvement in his cultivation.

His cultivation had already been close to the late stage of the sixth level of qi condensation. It directly jumped upward. Next, he only needed to accumulate it with care, and breaking through to the seventh level of qi condensation was only a matter of time.

“Good.” Wen Hanshan nodded slightly. He gave his own praise just like he did every time Lou Xingyao made progress in the past.

Lou Xingyao smiled slightly. He was about to continue speaking when he keenly smelled a bloody smell.

Lou Xingyao had surveyed a crime scene countless times and immediately recognized that this was the smell of fresh blood. Judging from the concentration, it was enough to reach a lethal amount for a person.

Just as he was feeling confused, he looked down and a headless corpse entered his dazed view.

Lou Xingyao saw this picture and was taken aback.

But after all, he was a forensic doctor. It wasn’t uncommon for people to die in a more tragic manner than this in his previous life. He quickly calmed down.

Even due to his professional habits, he roughly analyzed the corpse.

There was still some faint blood at the severed neck, indicating that this person had just been killed.

He was familiar with Wen Hanshan’s swordsmanship, so he could tell at a glance where the fatal wound came from. He knew that the other person wasn’t an indiscriminate murderer, so he couldn’t help looking at the person next to him in a puzzled manner. “This is?”

“It is just a man who did evil,” Wen Hanshan replied lightly. However, he showed a trace of doubt in his heart about Lou Xingyao’s reaction.

Judging from his understanding of the person in front of him after many years, this person was relatively peaceful and never liked to conflict with others.

He might’ve been contaminated with a trace of fierceness from his experience in the Endless Forest, but the aura around him gradually started to calm down after leaving the forest.

This was a trait that only people who had never experienced blood and had a relatively peaceful life would have.

It stood to reason that such a person would not be able to remain calm when seeing a corpse in such a tragic state of death.

Lou Xingyao was indeed taken aback at first, but he quickly regained his composure. He had obviously been long accustomed to such scenes.

This was very inconsistent with his usual performances.

Wen Hanshan’s eyes couldn’t help contain a hint of inquiry. However, people came and went here, and it wasn’t a place for conversation. He could only suppress the many thoughts in his heart for the time being.

Here, Lou Xingyao didn’t know he had already exposed himself and only nodded slightly. “Then let him… lie down there like this?”

“Someone will take care of it later.” With that, Wen Hanshan waved the sleeve of his robe and swept the corpse to the corner of the street along with the head.

Fights often occurred in Xilin County, among which there were many people who threw corpses on the street. In order to maintain the environment, someone would take care of this matter.

Lou Xingyao didn’t say much. From Wen Hanshan’s tone, he could know that this person should be an evil worker who collected the bodies for others. He didn’t bother to have the heart of a Virgin Mary.

At the same time, he couldn’t help feeling speechless for a while about Wen Hanshan’s bad taste. He could clearly move away this corpse first, but he wanted Lou Xingyao to see it as if wanting to scare him. This was really hateful!

The moment the thought in his mind came out, he raised his eyes, but the other person had already strode forward. He didn’t think much about it immediately and hurriedly kept up with the other person’s pace.

The passersby who had been paying attention to the interaction between the two on the side of the road also didn’t know what to say at the moment.

The atmosphere between the two people was said to be friends, but there was a tacit understanding that ordinary friends didn’t have.

But if someone wanted to say they were brothers, the way they got along didn’t seem to be quite like that.

If they had to describe it, their relationship seemed a bit crooked. Looking closely, they seemed to be very restrained and polite. This made people a bit confused.

Someone wanted to follow to take a look. Then he looked down and saw the corpse on the ground that hadn’t cooled down yet. His mind once again flashed to the earth-shattering sword that killed Yang Jirong.

The person felt a chill on the back of his neck and quickly suppressed his thoughts. He no longer looked at the two backs that were gradually moving away.

There was obviously more than one person with such concerns. In the end, everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to follow.

This made Wen Hanshan and Lou Xingyao’s journey home a lot smoother.