Chapter 10: The Divine Blade Tournament

Tianyu had never expected that, after revealing her identity, the young lord of Kang Fortress would turn deathly pale, his legs give way, and his body pitch sideways as he fainted.

Tianyu: “…”

Was that all the courage he had? And he had dared to take up the White family’s saber?

With that thought, she lowered her gaze to the weapon still clutched in his hand.

The Deer-Cutting Saber was crystalline throughout, its edge bright as snow, its beauty enough to seize the soul.

The White family’s ancestral saber, however, possessed a peculiar color that lent it an innate air of malignancy, making it impossible to forget once seen.

Tianyu vaguely remembered that, shortly after she had first crossed into this world, she had overheard servants in White Fortress discussing the weapon.

The gist of it was that the saber carried too much killing intent for an ordinary person to control.

There was even a saying that if the wielder was not strong enough, the saber would overcome him, ultimately leading him to his death.

Tianyu had paid little attention to it at the time. Later, when the White family had been wiped out, she had been too busy fleeing for her life with Tianyong to give the matter another thought.

But after eleven years, seeing the saber once more and examining it closely, she could not help recalling those rumors, whether true or false.

Thinking it over, she had to admit they were not entirely wrong.

Both her father and Tianyong’s, and the young lord of Kang Fortress before her, had suffered terrible misfortune after coming into possession of the saber.

Was that not proof that they had been overcome by it?

No wonder that, back then, even the people of White Fortress had privately called it an ominous blade.

At last, Tianyu looked away.

With a flick of her wrist, she sent the Deer-Cutting Saber toward the young lord’s waist.

The black scabbard fell at once. Bending down, she picked up both saber and scabbard together.

Whether it was auspicious or ominous could be left aside for now. It was her family’s possession, and she had no reason to let it remain in the outside world.

Once she had secured the ancestral saber and strapped it across her back, the young lord of Kang Fortress—whom she had frightened unconscious—finally stirred his lashes and slowly regained consciousness.

Seeing him reluctant to open his eyes fully, Tianyu could not help letting out a cold laugh.

“The dignified young lord of Kang Fortress has only this much courage?”

“Or did you think pretending to be dead would make me spare you?”

The young lord was nearly in tears. He could only open his eyes and grit his teeth.

“You… You said you would spare my life and let me return to Kang Fortress to deliver a message!”

Tianyu nodded.

“I did.”

“Then… doesn’t that mean you were willing to let me go?” he asked, utterly miserable.

“To spare your life does not mean I intend to let you off.”

As she spoke, Tianyu suddenly curved her lips into a smile.

Earlier, while the two of them had faced each other, the young lord’s attention had been fixed entirely on the Deer-Cutting Saber in her hand.

Now that he lay on the ground with all his inner power gone and no longer dared covet her weapon, he looked up again—and only then realized that the saber’s owner was breathtakingly beautiful, no less so than the blade itself.

He had already experienced the weapon’s sharpness.

But what of its owner?

He parted his lips. Amid his extreme fear and tension, for some inexplicable reason, a trace of dazed longing arose within him.

And just as that moment of daze appeared, a searing pain suddenly erupted from beneath him.

“AAAH!”

His eyes bulged, the veins on his face standing out as he rolled uncontrollably across the ground.

“AAAAAAAH!”

The unbearable agony made him scream instinctively. Yet before long, he no longer had the strength even to roll or cry out.

His vision went black, and he fainted once more.

Tianyu: “…”

Clicking her tongue, she kicked him aside.

A streak of blood now marked the ground, yet the Deer-Cutting Saber in her hand remained entirely unstained.

Tianyu paused, thinking that at least she would be spared the unpleasant task of wiping it clean.

She turned her head and met several pairs of terrified eyes.

“Relax. I had no intention of cutting off your precious manhood as well.”

Indeed, she had just swung the saber without hesitation and severed the young lord’s manhood, which was why he had let out such a ghastly scream.

The guards she had injured earlier gradually awoke amid his cries.

Most of them had not actually seen her swing the saber. They had merely heard their young lord’s shrieks and instinctively felt terror.

Then she had delivered that remark.

Although it relieved them to some extent, it also left them feeling a chill in their lower bodies.

“O-esteemed one, is there something you wish us to do?” asked one of the guards, who had only injured his leg, gathering his courage. “We… are willing to serve.”

Tianyu looked him over.

“You accompanied the young lord on a hunting trip, yet failed to protect him and let him return in anything less than perfect condition. The lord of Kang Fortress will likely show you no mercy.”

“If you want to live, serving me is indeed your only option.”

She had immediately exposed the reason behind their voluntary submission, making the guards understand that, under the circumstances, they had no right to bargain with her or pretend to negotiate.

The initiative lay entirely in her hands.

After exchanging several glances, the guard who had spoken earlier drew a deep breath.

“Please, esteemed one, point us toward a path of survival.”

Tianyu’s expression remained calm as she surveyed the surroundings.

“Ordinarily, after something like this happens, even if you defect from Kang Fortress and never return, the Kang family will still issue warrants for your arrest.”

“If the Kang family wishes to deal with a few servants, the other six families certainly will not refuse them that courtesy.”

“When that happens, you will be unable to take a single step in Guandong.”

“…Yes,” the guard admitted bitterly.

“So, if you want to survive, there is only one way.”

She looked at them.

“You must leave them too preoccupied to concern themselves with you.”

“You said it yourself—we are merely servants of the Kang family,” the guard replied with a bitter smile. “What ability could we possibly have to keep the Seven Great Houses preoccupied?”

Tianyu smiled again.

“You may not have that ability. I do.”

“From this moment onward, disguise yourselves, split up, and travel in different directions to the major cities and towns of Guandong. Spread a message for me.”

“Within one month, that message must reach every corner of Guandong.”

“Well? Can you do it?”

The guard was visibly tense.

“We can, but… what exactly is the message?”

Tianyu tightened her grip on the saber, her gaze cold and resolute.

“The message you are to spread is this—”

At that moment, all the guards held their breath.

Looking at the weapon in her hand, they instinctively sensed that they were about to hear the thunderclap before a storm.

Yet the one about to summon that thunder lowered her voice instead.

With almost gentle softness, she continued:

“The descendants of the White family have returned to the martial world. On the fifth day of the fifth month, they invite all martial artists of Guandong to gather at the ruins of White Fortress and attend the Divine Saber Assembly.”

“At that time, the descendants of the White family will wager the Divine Saber and challenge the heads of the Seven Great Houses.”

The guards were shaken to their cores. In an instant, they understood.

She intended to use the power of the entire martial world of Guandong to force the heads of the Seven Great Houses to attend the assembly.

If so, the Seven Great Houses—who had been secretly searching for the whereabouts of the White family’s descendants—would indeed have no time to concern themselves with the guards, exactly as she had said.

After all, compared with the White family’s descendants and the Divine Saber they had reclaimed, a few servants were utterly insignificant.

“…Very well.”

The guard who had taken the initiative to speak with her clenched his teeth and became the first to agree.

“Within one month, we will make certain that news of the Divine Saber Assembly reaches the ears of every commoner in Guandong.”