A blizzard raged, spreading a bone-chilling cold to every corner. The surface of the lake had now largely turned to ice. Yet, a man still dived and swam in the freezing water, seemingly oblivious to the cold.

  If anyone were to pass by and witness such a sight, they would surely think the man had lost his mind. But this man was not mad; he was, in fact, the man who had conquered Heaven-Equaling Peak, Han Zhaoming, who had once been the leader of the martial world.

  This man was the Merry Meanderer, Jin Tianwang.

  Throughout the day, while the sun still shone, Jin Tianwang did not stop searching for something underwater. Only when the sun was nearly setting and no light remained for searching did Jin Tianwang finally climb out of the water. He walked up to the shore before curling himself into a ball. His body shivered, his teeth chattering, but a smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth—a smile mocking his own fate.

  Jin Tianwang’s memories were filled with despair and disappointment. Those he owed a debt of gratitude to, like parents, only wished to use him to seize fame and power in the martial world. Now he had repaid that debt by completely destroying the reputation and prestige of the Chief of the Virtue Association. The debt was paid. Or so he told himself.

  However, destroying the reputation of the Virtue Association meant he had also completely severed the relationship between himself and the woman he loved. With things as they were, how should Jin Tianwang continue to live? The confusion in his heart was even more torturous than the cold he was currently facing.

  Jin Tianwang did not know when he had fallen asleep. The cold and exhaustion must have carried him into a slumber he hadn’t anticipated.

  The sun shone once again. At this moment, a woman was collecting twigs and dry leaves to pile into a bonfire. A large bonfire burned beside the pale-skinned man. The delicate woman moved nimbly; she moved tirelessly. Her fair face was now streaked with black soot from her fingers as she built the fire.

  The bonfire grew larger and larger, its heat intensifying. The warmth revived the pale-skinned man until he regained consciousness. The man opened his eyes again and turned to look at the young woman. The two were merely strangers to each other, yet their hearts felt strangely warm.

  Jin Tianwang saw the strange woman, whose appearance was disheveled and stained. The clothes she wore were made of fine quilted fabric, which surprised him. Out of propriety, he knew he shouldn't stare at her for too long. So, he turned his gaze to the large bonfire instead.

  The young woman sat leaning against the warmth of the bonfire she had built, uttering not a word. She showed no emotion whatsoever. She was like a block of ice—a block of ice that did not move, a block of ice that did not melt even when near the fire. Her eyes stared into the large bonfire before a strange sound rang out.

  Jin Tianwang knew immediately that it was the sound of the stranger’s stomach growling. A smile appeared on his seemingly numb face before he glided back into the freezing lake once again.

  The young woman frowned, looking on with doubt. Suddenly, the stranger shot up from the water, his hands grabbing fish and throwing them onto the bank, two at a time. In just a short while, he had caught eight fish. He then walked back to the fire and began roasting the fish over the large bonfire.

  Finally, the young woman got to eat fish. Of the fish she received, five in total, she ate two, while the stranger ate three. All of this passed without a sound.

  Their lives continued like this.

  When the sun rose, the stranger would enter the water, diving and swimming. If the young woman was hungry, she would eat fish, or go out to find twigs and dry leaves to fuel the bonfire that never went out. Later, the stranger spent the night building a wooden shelter to shield the young woman from the wind and snow. All of this passed without a single word exchanged between them.

  More than a month had passed since the defeat of the Virtue Association. The martial world underwent rapid and numerous changes. The Virtue Association (Virtue Association) declined in power, giving rise to the Zenith Martial Pavilion, with The Blood Hawk, Diao Zhufan as the Chief, The Eight-Slayer Fist, Wang Yu as the Deputy Chief, The Reckless Blade, Li Sibei as the Head of the Outer Pavilion, and the Nine Cats as the Nine Enforcers. The Zenith Martial Pavilion was currently supported by over sixty-eight sects. Martial artists in the Wei region played a significant role in this change, receiving special power, fortune, and respect.

  The Reckless Blade Li Sibei, who took the position of Head of the Outer Pavilion, held power second only to the Chief and Deputy Chief. His duty was to gather sects and factions that had not yet submitted to the Zenith Martial Pavilion and force them to yield. Within just a few dozen days, those who opposed were erased from the martial world, totaling fourteen sects and six factions.

  Inside the Zenith Martial Pavilion, there were actually twin buildings. One building was named The Invincible Martial Pavilion, the residence of The Blood Hawk Diao Zhufan. The other building was named All-Under-Heaven Pavilion, the residence of The Eight-Slayer Fist Wang Yu. Even so, the Virtue Association had not completely disappeared.

  The Sage of the Eight Corners, Han Xiaozhi, relying on his close relationship with Young Master of the North, Ke Daobing, used the territory further north to rebuild the Virtue Association. They established a stronghold to oppose the Zenith Martial Pavilion in the area outside the Great Wall, and still had Heaven-Equaling Peak, Han Zhaoming hold the position of Chief. Martial artists rumored that Ke Daobing poured a vast amount of wealth into this endeavor because he would become Han Zhaoming’s son-in-law, or the husband of The Frostflower Maiden Han Yuexin.

  Battles occurred between the two sides many times. However, as days passed, the Zenith Martial Pavilion grew stronger and larger. The new Virtue Association saw people defecting and distancing themselves. The battles between the two in the desert region became the bloodiest conflict in a hundred years.

  In the desert land outside the Great Wall during this winter, the climate at night was still freezing, while at noon it was scorching hot. Young Master of the North Ke Daobing, Mute Sword, Yang Songwei, and The Drunken Scholar, Ou Xiatian led their forces to ambush the people of the Zenith Martial Pavilion before dawn. The sudden attack brought a rare victory to the Virtue Association. With the three young experts joining hands, they managed to kill The Third-Eyed Cat , Xia Guche. But now, as noon approached, The Reckless Blade Li Sibei had led his forces back to reclaim the shame of the morning.

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  The Reckless Blade Li Sibei, his body huge like a demonic giant, wore luxurious black attire. At his side were Six-Eared Cat, Lei Yei and Five-Aspect Cat, Pang Mei, the three riding horses together.

  Li Sibei roared, “You are all warhorses that once stumbled before Jin Tianwang. If you still know your place, you should accept arrest obediently, and I will spare you the death penalty.”

  Mute Sword Yang Songwei, though a quiet man, possessed a hot temper. Heaven-Equaling Peak Han Zhaoming once saw that this young swordsman might have a good future, but with such a character, he feared he might not live long. Han Zhaoming had misjudged, for at just Li Sibei’s provocative words about the defeat to Jin Tianwang, Yang Songwei kicked off and drew his sword, leaping toward Li Sibei without hesitation.

  Yang Songwei’s sword qi had not yet threatened anyone when a black blade circle radiating murderous intent attacked fiercely above the young swordsman’s head. But the young swordsman was no ordinary swordsman, so he became arrogant. Seeing the blade circle slashing in, he fought like a young bull—force against force. He thrust his sword out, weaving it into a sword net, used for both defense and pursuit.

  Li Sibei enjoyed life-risking battles. The more critical the danger, the more frenzied and fierce he became. Seeing the sword net appear, he swept the saber in his hand in a circle, resisting boldly without fear.

  On the side, The Drunken Scholar Ou Xiatian, still holding wine in his hand, saw the battle between Li Sibei and Yang Songwei, which was so fierce it seemed life was merely cheap as dirt. He laughed once before throwing the wine jar over his shoulder. His two feet leaped toward the battle circle. Before the wine jar could fall and break, Ou Xiatian’s body circled behind to close in on Li Sibei, his hand moving to point the folding fan in an attack.

  Ke Daobing actually intended to join hands with the two young experts, but he himself was entangled with the two cats. He had to gather both his strength and concentration to unleash sixteen types of hidden weapons in the most unorthodox way, intending to kill Lei Yei and Pang Mei in one go.

  Li Sibei was surrounded and attacked from both front and back, but he still had an extremely arrogant attitude. Roaring once, he swept the dark saber in his hand, creating a strong wind current surrounding himself. The wind force generated by the sharp blade circle forced the ingenious and elusive Ou Xiatian to retreat. As for Yang Songwei, he gathered his strength to use the sword in his hand to resist, his body staggering and leaning back.

  It was still Ou Xiatian who possessed the ingenious and uncanny footwork. Spinning his body halfway and swaying back, he managed to slip through, changing from defense to offense in a single move. The fan in his hand pointed out again, internal energy threatening the massive body in front of him.

  Li Sibei, who had a huge body, was not slow in the slightest. When he sensed the stream of internal energy attacking, Li Sibei displayed erratic footwork as well. Just stepping back and then forward again, he changed from disadvantage back to seizing the advantage once more. The hand gripping the saber swung the dark saber up to attack, intending to split Ou Xiatian’s body in two with a single slash.

  But Li Sibei’s saber still struck air. The Drunken Scholar Ou Xiatian seemed to shrink his bones and change his physique; the blade circle still passed far from his body. This time it was Li Sibei who did not expect Ou Xiatian to be this formidable.

  Ou Xiatian entered close range to reclaim the advantage for himself, using rapid footwork. In Li Sibei’s eyes, Ou Xiatian’s silhouette shattered into five or six images, swirling around him to deliver the finishing blow to Li Sibei.

  Li Sibei moved his saber in a circle to slash and destroy four of Ou Xiatian’s silhouettes. All were illusions. While the fourth slash had not yet reached the silhouette, he slashed back towards the rear, towards Ou Xiatian’s last remaining silhouette. This blade circle was concise and concealed extreme deceptiveness. Yet, this blade circle still missed.

  The last silhouette was, in fact, not Ou Xiatian’s true position. At this point, Li Sibei had to admit that he could not follow the ghostlike and rapid footwork of this Drunken Scholar. When the saber slash missed on the return, he could only risk his life to strike his remaining palm in the opposite direction, guessing that Ou Xiatian would choose to hurt him from the most difficult angle to defend. This gamble of Li Sibei’s was considered to have saved his life; the palm struck exactly towards Ou Xiatian’s last silhouette.

  Ou Xiatian, whose footwork was more rapid and unpredictable than Li Sibei's, had anticipated this well. If the martial world were to rank the Piercing Fist used by Merry Meanderer Jin Tianwang as the most concise and violent move, then the footwork of Scholar Ou Xiatian should also be ranked as the most intricate and elusive move. In truth, it was not that Li Sibei guessed Ou Xiatian correctly, but moving with such speed while twisting and changing direction required no small amount of strength. But because the rib injury Ou Xiatian received from Jin Tianwang had not yet fully healed...

  As he twisted his body back and forth, the bones that had not yet knitted well and the wounds that had just closed tore open again. The footwork that should have been faster and more intricate suddenly stalled. It happened to be exactly where Li Sibei’s palm struck. Even so, Ou Xiatian refused to let this opportunity for victory slip away. He immediately used his left hand to strike against Li Sibei’s furious palm power.

  Li Sibei assumed Ou Xiatian lacked the courage to resist his palm power directly, so surprise arose again. But because his accurate guess could be considered to have unraveled Ou Xiatian’s elusive footwork, he suddenly turned the saber in his hand, intending to use a killing move instantly.

  As the palms of both sides were about to clash, Li Sibei had a bad premonition. For experts clashing, just having a correct premonition could determine victory.

  Li Sibei changed his mind and chose not to clash palms with Ou Xiatian, willing to be the one to retreat. He hurriedly rolled backward, which was just in time to narrowly dodge the sword thrust from Yang Songwei.

  Ou Xiatian forced his body to use continuous moves many times even though his injuries had returned. Just a moment ago, he thought to hold and clash palms with Li Sibei, taking the opportunity to hold Li Sibei down, opening a chance for Yang Songwei to thrust his sword and kill this Reckless Blade. Now that he had missed the opportunity, the pain from the movement of his ribs made him almost unable to straighten his body. He had only the ability to stare at the back of Yang Songwei, who was pursuing Li Sibei.

  Yang Songwei thrust his sword out. The sword rushed out like a dragon swooping out of a cave. The sword rushed towards the throat of Li Sibei, who was still panicked from fighting with Ou Xiatian a moment ago. And in that instant, the rushing sword suddenly halted, when his back was struck in the middle by a heavy destructive force.

  This destructive force originated from a small silhouette. That small silhouette was actually a woman. This woman did not like to be called a woman, but instead liked people to call her a cat—a cat with five aspects. Now, the middle of Yang Songwei’s back was struck and hurt by Pang Mei’s fist power.

  The Nine Cats were the primary disciples of The Eight-Slayer Fist Wang Yu. Pang Mei’s fist power was not weak at all, even though she was a woman. The said fist struck and destroyed Yang Songwei’s spine.

  Although the spine cracked and caused extreme pain to Yang Songwei, it had not yet granted him death. Even so, death was not far away. When a black blade circle appeared, Yang Songwei’s head flew high. Blood sprayed out. The body fell along with the head that dropped.

  Ke Daobing grabbed Ou Xiatian onto his horse. The people of the Virtue Association could only retreat.

  Victory belonged to the Zenith Martial Pavilion once again. The Virtue Association lost another good hand like Mute Sword Yang Songwei.

  Li Sibei looked after Ou Xiatian on the horse. At that moment, he felt he locked eyes with that Drunken Scholar.

  Li Sibei knew the truth. He should have been the one to fall. He should have been the one lying headless in the sand. If not because Ou Xiatian had been injured before, if Jin Tianwang had not hurt Ou Xiatian until he was seriously injured, the person who should have lost should have been him.