Chapter 1 The Intricacies of the Situation

As the shout went up, a dozen or so figures leapt swiftly from both sides of the street, crisscrossing over He Yang Xinci’s head. A closer look would reveal… that a very fine silver line was left in the wake of each of them.

These people were naturally all members of the Kuanghu Gang (Mad Tiger Gang); their movements were clearly well-rehearsed and highly skilled.

In the blink of an eye, a fine “iron net” had been formed in the air.

“Close!” Seeing that the first step of the killing array was complete, Tu Ji appeared on the street, issuing the second command.

At his command, dozens of Kuanghu Gang members popped up from the surrounding streets and buildings, beginning a motion similar to “reeling in a kite string.”

“This is…”

By the time Feng Meiyu and the others realized what was happening, the “iron net” had already begun to close rapidly; dozens of iron wires, like dozens of sharp blades, sliced toward He Yang Xinci from all directions.

Tu Ji was quite confident in this surprise attack.

The material of this iron net was “King Kong Silk,” forged from rare minerals by many skilled artisans he had hired.

Using this King Kong Silk net to “cut off” the target was the Kuanghu Gang’s ultimate trump card; Tu Ji had not even been willing to use this “Kuanghu Shattering Iron Array” (Mad Tiger Iron-Shattering Array) when ambushing Duan Keyi.

However, after witnessing He Yang Xinci’s martial skills, Tu Ji decisively made the decision to deploy the array.

He couldn’t wait any longer…

Right now, there were still four experts confronting He Yang Xinci, able to distract him to a great extent; but after a while, maybe the four would become three, two… or perhaps someone might even defect out of fear of He Yang Xinci's power.

At that point, even if Tu Ji wanted to strike, the other party might not fall for it.

Moreover, there was another benefit to acting now, which was… indirectly, he was saving the lives of those four experts; after he dealt with He Yang Xinci, even if he couldn't get the *Jian Wu Cao Ji* (Sword Dance Manuscript) all to himself, he could at least get a share.

It could be said that Tu Ji's calculations were meticulous. The only thing he worried about was… that He Yang Xinci would react in time before the iron net was “woven,” escaping the “cutting-off” range.

Fortunately, that situation did not occur…

Soon, the “line spacing” of the iron net had shrunk to a size that no human could possibly pass through unharmed.

“Hmph… a mere foreign barbarian dares to oppose my Central Plains martial world; I, Tu Ji, will send you to a death without a complete corpse!” Watching as He Yang Xinci was about to be cut into pieces by the rapidly closing King Kong Silk net, Tu Ji confidently issued his declaration of assured victory.

This King Kong Silk was incomparably sharp and stronger than iron. When practicing this array in the gang, they had experimented with a carriage with a metal frame, and in the end, both the horse and the carriage were cut into pieces.

Therefore, Tu Ji firmly believed that in the face of the already closing “Kuanghu Shattering Iron Array,” even He Yang Xinci would be undoubtedly dead.

Never would he have expected…

“What an uninteresting fellow we have here…” Facing this almost irresistible attack, He Yang Xinci revealed a look of disdain and muttered this sentence.

As he spoke, he drew his sword once again!

In that flash of lightning, He Yang Xinci was seen to unleash a series of slashes with his sword.

The dull, unedged sword danced in his hands, emitting an awe-inspiring chill.

The dazzling sword light shone as brightly as a scorching sun.

“Shinden Gokken-ryū (God-taught Ultimate Sword Style) · Swift Slash · Grand Lotus.” He Yang Xinci seemed to be in the habit of announcing the name of his technique at the end of his moves.

This time, he didn't kill anyone; he merely used his miraculous sword strikes to cut the King Kong Silk net, which was already close at hand, into countless tiny pieces.

Tu Ji was stunned. He had tested it before – even with his power, using a sharp sword, he could only cut one or two King Kong Silk strands at a time. If three strands of King Kong Silk were twisted together, he wouldn't be able to cut them with a single strike; and if the King Kong Silk was arranged in a net, then with a single strike, he could only cut the one that he touched first.

But the He Yang Xinci in front of him had actually shattered the “King Kong Silk Net” around him in an instant… Even ignoring the speed and only considering the power, it was an unimaginable realm.

On the other hand… if Tu Ji was “shocked to the point of forgetting fear,” then the remaining few people, especially the swordsmen, were “terrified and horrified.”

Because they weren't very clear about the “King Kong Silk” thing, the focus of their attention was mainly on He Yang Xinci's speed…

Before seeing the sword technique just now, they all thought their swords were fast.

But now, they no longer knew what “fast” was.

Their past definition of “fast” seemed to have become meaningless. Their confidence built up over many years, as well as their understanding of the sword, was on the verge of collapse…

“Tu Ji, as a martial artist, you are uninteresting,” He Yang Xinci's words pulled his opponents back from a semi-lost state, “But I know… as a Jianghu (martial world) person, a gang leader, you are sensible.” He paused for half a second, “I don't mind what you said or did just now, as long as you…”

“This subordinate understands!” Tu Ji interrupted before the other party could finish speaking, already calling himself “this subordinate.”

No matter how deep his scheming or how high his intelligence, he was still a petty man, so he was not Wang Qiong, nor was he Feng Bujue; he could only be Tu Ji.

“You!” Before Tu Ji finished speaking, Qiu Baqi glared at him, “You shameless thing… you dare…”

“Kuanghu Gang members, listen to my orders!” Tu Ji wouldn't waste time arguing with an opponent he wasn't confident of beating. While shouting orders, he retreated to He Yang Xinci's side, “Protect Alliance Leader He Yang with all your might! As for those ungrateful bastards… don't let a single one of them go! When the Alliance Leader unifies the Jianghu, my Kuanghu Gang will be meritorious ministers who establish a sect!”

Just as he finished speaking, a man's voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

“Ah… ah… how shameless.”

Everyone was stunned and looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a young general wearing black armor and carrying a long halberd walking slowly from the town entrance… that is, from behind He Yang Xinci and the others…

“I was originally planning to observe a little longer, but you guys are just too annoying… I can’t stand it anymore.” Juan Meng Huan spoke as he gradually approached Oda Ai and Sasaki Mei, “I'll try… to see if I can take you all down together.”

…………

At the same time, on top of a building a hundred meters away from the main street.

Two figures were lurking here, watching the scene on the street from afar.

“Could this be…” The moment Juan Meng Huan appeared, Fang Jin’s expression changed; his gaze involuntarily fell on the saber at his waist.

“The [Azure Bird] is reacting again?” Xu Huai Shang's gaze remained fixed on the direction that needed to be monitored, but her thoughts quickly caught up with Fang Jin, “But… it's not surprising; those of us 'outsiders' basically have a divine weapon in hand.”

“No…” Fang Jin replied with a solemn expression, “This feeling is very special…” He also looked back at the battlefield and stared at Juan Meng Huan, who was holding the halberd, “If I'm not mistaken, what he's holding is probably… [Chonglou] (Magnificent Tower).”

…………

Back on the street.

“Huh?” Oda Ai responded to Juan Meng Huan’s statement with the eyes and tone of a delinquent girl, “Are you stupid, kid? Take us all down together? Take me down?” As she spoke, her hand rested on the hilt of her samurai sword, and she went to meet Juan Meng Huan, “Someone like you… I can take down four of you by myself, believe it or not?”

“Hold on…” At this moment, Sasaki Mei quickly stepped forward and stopped Oda Ai, “Captain… calm down…” He paused, “Don’t forget, the other party should have two people… If I remember correctly, this ‘Juan Meng Huan’ young man’s teammates in S2 were all extremely difficult characters to deal with; [Worthless Uncle] goes without saying, and [Honghu] (Swan Goose) and [Zhaoying Wang] (Shadow King) are both types with extremely strong ranged combat abilities… What if he’s deliberately provoking us to lure us in…”

After being reminded by him, Oda Ai actually stopped in her tracks; although she was brave and reckless, she wasn't completely deaf to advice. As long as her teammates made sense, she could still restrain her impulses.

“Heh… as expected of professionals, the information you have and the analysis of the situation are not bad.” Hearing this, Juan Meng Huan laughed, “But you’re all wrong… I might as well tell you, my teammate this time is [Bi Laoshi].”

From Juan Meng Huan’s perspective, this was implying “I basically don’t rely on this teammate.” As a member of the S2 “Worthless Alliance” team, Juan Meng Huan naturally knew Bi Laoshi’s true strength. Simply put… this guy was just filling a spot.

But…

The two from the Warring States era didn't know.

In fact, almost all players didn’t know.

Due to Bi Laoshi’s perennial substitute status and his splendid cameo in the Hyperdimensional Invasion, coupled with the vast amount of divine spoofs on the Internet about this “mysterious substitute with almost no performance records”… an effect similar to the “Chun Ge effect” had already been produced on Bi Laoshi.

For some reason, the majority of players had tacitly reached a consensus – if you want to ask who the strongest player in Thriller Paradise is, it should be [Devouring Ghost Brave]; if you want to ask who the most difficult player to deal with in Thriller Paradise is, it should be [Mad Not Crazy]; and if you want to ask who the most unfathomable powerhouse in Thriller Paradise is, it's [Bi Laoshi].

“Tch… of all people, the most troublesome one had to come…” After hearing those three words, Oda Ai spat unhappily and then… took two steps back.

“His tone doesn’t sound like he’s bluffing…” Sasaki Mei, on the other hand, revealed a rather troubled look, and his sickly tone seemed to have become more pronounced, “Now we have to act cautiously.”

“Hey, hey… what’s going on?” Seeing this, Juan Meng Huan secretly complained in his heart, “I finally made up my mind to fight outnumbered, and made a very imposing entrance… Why does it feel like I’m relying on Bi Laoshi’s name to come out and scare people… Get your facts straight! I’m not that kind of person! Feng Bujue would do that kind of thing!”

Faced with the reactions of the two from the Warring States, Juan Meng Huan didn't know what kind of expression to make at this moment.

A subtle atmosphere suddenly arose between these players…

…………

“Achoo!”

Let's split the scene. Just as Juan Meng Huan made his grand entrance, Feng Bujue had already "walked" Leng Yuqiu to a small forest outside the town.

While escaping, Brother Jue sneezed for some reason.

“What’s with this kid…” Leng Yuqiu, who was chasing closely behind him, was running out of internal energy, “Every time I’m about to catch up, he suddenly speeds up a bit, but once the distance widens, he looks like he’s about to run out of steam…”

Leng Yuqiu pondered, “Could it be… he’s doing it on purpose?” He quickly overturned this idea, “Impossible… In the Jianghu, the only people whose combined lightness skill and internal energy can surpass mine… are my master and ‘Yue’ (Moon); but this kid… judging by his age, even if he started practicing lightness skill from the womb, he wouldn’t be much better than me… Moreover, to control his speed to tease me like this, it’s not enough for his lightness skill to be just a little better than mine; he needs to have at least my master’s level of cultivation…”

Leng Yuqiu's thoughts were naturally wrong.

It was only because He Yang Xinci hadn't been able to tell his four disciples about the "outsiders"… that is, the players… that Leng Yuqiu was still evaluating the man in front of him using his common sense.

If Leng Yuqiu had been able to exchange a few more moves with Kuangzong Jianying when they had the conflict earlier, allowing Sword Master to show more of his strength, perhaps he would have also been able to discover the thing about "outsiders." Unfortunately… that was just a hypothetical.

“Hmm… this guy is damn fast. If it weren’t for my sufficient stamina, the ‘plan’ really might have had an accident.” Seeing that he was about to reach the “target location,” Feng Bujue gradually slowed down and scattered his attention to the surroundings.

“Let me see… Oh… there.” A few seconds later, Brother Jue used his data vision to find the “person” lying in ambush in the forest, and then he slowed down his pace.

“Hold on!” He was also very straightforward. As he was about to stop, he turned his head to say hello, “I’m not running anymore!”

Seeing that the other party really wasn't running, Leng Yuqiu also slowed down. Although he judged… that the other party should have exhausted his internal energy and couldn't use lightness skill anymore, he also kept his guard up. No matter what the kid was up to, he would put his sword to his neck first.

“Brother Leng… there’s no need for this, right?” Of course, Feng Bujue didn’t care. Even with the blade against his neck, his attitude was very relaxed.

Because he knew very well that since He Yang Xinci ordered him to be kept “alive,” Leng Yuqiu would never dare to bring back a “dead” one.

“I don’t want to do this either…” Leng Yuqiu tried his best to control his internal breath, suppressing the urge to pant heavily, and pretended to be quite calm, “But what I don’t want even more is… to run another ten miles with you after you catch your breath.”

“Don't worry, you won't.” Just then, a hoarse male voice interrupted their conversation.