Chapter 496 - 239: One Sword Suppresses Jiangnan

Chapter 496: Chapter 239: One Sword Suppresses Jiangnan

The guard was visibly stunned. His expression then changed drastically as he hurriedly bowed with his hands clasped and said,

"So it is Sect Leader Li who graces us with his presence! I will go announce you at once. Please, come into the gatehouse and rest for a moment!"

It was the Sect Leader of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect!

The Yao Mansion’s main gate stood on a major street in Jinling, where people flowed like a constant stream. Every eye was fixed on the young-faced, silver-haired Swordsman, and an uproar swept through the crowd.

No Grandmaster in the top ten of the Flying Dragon List was unknown, and Li Xingtuo’s reputation had become especially thunderous in recent years. Even the people of Jiangnan had often heard his name.

’So he’s the one here to see the Yao family? For a Sect Leader to arrive in person, something extraordinary must be happening!’

The onlookers grew excited, filled with anticipation. They sensed they were about to witness a momentous event.

Li Xingtuo smiled, waved his hand, and said in an easygoing tone,

"That won’t be necessary. I’ll just let myself in."

The guard froze for a second. He instinctively put out a hand, then immediately retracted it, saying with a troubled expression,

"Sect Leader Li, but... If you would just wait a moment, I’ll go at once and ask the masters to come greet you!"

With Sect Leader Li here in person, even a gatekeeper of the Yao Mansion dared not show the slightest hint of disrespect.

After speaking respectfully with a clasped fist, the guard saw that Li Xingtuo remained unmoved and silent. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he lowered his head to say,

"Sect Leader Li, please enjoy some of Jiangnan’s famous tea. I’ll have someone announce your arrival now."

When he finished speaking, he gestured for the Sect Leader to enter. But Li Xingtuo still stood at the gate, unmoving. The atmosphere grew tense.

The gatekeeper looked utterly distressed, sweat soaking his back.

He was still trying to choose his words when, just a moment later, a gust of autumn wind blew past. The white-robed Swordsman before him suddenly distorted, faded, and then vanished.

The guard stared blankly for a moment, only then realizing it had just been an afterimage. The real Li Xingtuo was nowhere to be found. He whipped his head around, looking into the mansion.

The crowd watching from a distance all looked astonished. A moment later, everyone on the street heard a furious roar from deep within the Yao Mansion:

"Li Xingtuo! What is the meaning of this blatant trespass into the Yao family’s home!"

"Hehehe, it would be impolite not to return the favor! Patriarch Yao, I have come all the way from Yunzhou to experience the great skills of the Jinling Yao. Draw your sword."

A clear laugh rang out, accompanied by a Sword Intent that soared to the sky.

In a waterside pavilion in the Yao Mansion, Yao Yuzhi was hosting a grand banquet, and every seat was filled with honored guests.

Yet Li Xingtuo suddenly appeared, strolling to the center of the banquet as if he were taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard. The room was filled with masters, including several Grandmasters, yet none of them reacted. It was as if they were all frozen in time.

Only Yao Yuzhi’s expression changed drastically. He knew the newcomer’s intentions were hostile, but he hadn’t expected Li Xingtuo to forgo words entirely. He drew his sword and pointed it directly at the patriarch of the Jinling Yao family!

The Sword Intent rushed toward him. Yao Yuzhi tensed, shot up from his table, and retreated in a blur, shattering the screen behind him.

The hall full of guests watched as Li Xingtuo, sword pointed at Yao Yuzhi, advanced while the other retreated. In a flash, they were out of the waterside pavilion.

The very wind in the pavilion seemed to slow, and their thoughts felt sluggish. The two Grandmasters’ movements appeared merely fluid, not blindingly fast; everything registered in their eyes with perfect clarity. Yet, they found it difficult to even turn their heads. All of them slowly turned to look in the direction the two had gone.

Amidst the silence, Yao Yuzhi’s furious roar suddenly rang out:

"Li Xingtuo, you’ve gone too far! Celestial Ah Sword, arise!"

The Celestial Ah Sword!

Everyone was stunned. The Yao family’s ancestral Divine Weapon!

Weapons with all sorts of wondrous properties that only a Grandmaster can wield are called Profound Weapons.

The power of a Profound Weapon is peerless, its abilities wondrous and extraordinary. Even for a Grandmaster, wielding one is like giving wings to a tiger.

But Profound Weapons are not the ultimate form of weaponry.

Above Profound Weapons, there are Divine Weapons.

Divine Weapons can command the wind and rain. They are among the rarest and most powerful weapons in the world, and have always been wielded by Grandmasters.

It is said that a single Divine Weapon is the equivalent of a Grandmaster.

The reason the positions of the four great sects and eight major families are so stable—difficult to challenge even when they lack a presiding Grandmaster—is because of their deep foundations. They either possess an ancestral Divine Weapon or have other measures of equivalent power.

The predecessor to the Yao family’s Celestial Ah Sword was the blade of an emperor from thousands of years ago, back when the Yao family reigned supreme in Jinling. Its former name was the Celestial Emperor’s Sword, the weapon of a Human Sovereign and one of the most powerful Divine Weapons in the world.

Later, as dynasties changed, the Yao family went into seclusion and renamed it the Celestial Ah Sword. Lacking the imperial fortune and the reverence of the masses, the Celestial Ah Sword’s power was no longer at its zenith, but it was still undeniably a Divine Weapon.

’As a Grandmaster wielding this weapon, Yao Yuzhi should be unharmed...’

Just as this slow thought passed through the minds of the guests and Jinling elites in the waterside pavilion, a long laugh echoed out:

"Such a famed sword is but a pearl gathering dust in your hands."

A cry of pain rang out, and Yao Yuzhi’s defiant words ceased.

The Yao Mansion suddenly became quiet—eerily so.

Li Xingtuo’s figure reappeared in the waterside pavilion.

He glanced at the distinguished guests, nodded slightly, and said with a pleasant look on his face,

"My apologies for disturbing your elegant gathering. However, the Yao family injured my apprentice and drove away my disciple, so I simply let Patriarch Yao suffer a small injury in return. It’s quite fair."

He glanced at an unopened jar of fine wine on a table, his eyes lighting up. With a flick of his hand, he had it in his grasp. He broke the seal, tilted his head back for a long drink, and then let out a long sigh.

"The fine wine of Jiangnan. It’s been many years!"

Li Xingtuo pursed his lips and closed his eyes, tasting it for a moment before sighing again.

"It’s a bit too mellow, in the end."

With that, he slowly walked out of the waterside pavilion and vanished in a flash.

The guests subconsciously turned their heads back toward the entrance and suddenly felt time snap back to its normal pace.

Only then did the sounds from the distance finally arrive—loud exclamations, a clamor of panicked voices, the boom of clashing attacks, and the roar of collapsing buildings rising to the heavens.

It wasn’t that the Yao Mansion had been quiet; it was just that the sound had yet to arrive. By the time it did, Li Xingtuo was already gone.