Misty Rain of the Old Times

As soon as Chen Xuan landed, before he could even stand firmly, four or five swords and knives attacked him from all directions. It looked extremely dangerous, and he was about to be cut into pieces at any moment.

The man who had spoken to him couldn't bear to look at him. He was blocked from coming to his aid and was filled with remorse. He thought to himself that he was the one who had harmed Wang Wu. If he hadn't called him down, he wouldn't have ended up like this. He would find an opportunity to avenge him later... What beautiful swordsmanship! This Wang Wu is something else.

At this moment, Chen Xuan crouched down. As the swords and blades attacked, he raised his hand and used a grappling technique to wrap his blade around his body. Amidst the clanging and sparks, he blocked and deflected all the attacks, temporarily relieving the 'crisis'.

The fact that a simple, ordinary entanglement strike could block attacks from multiple enemies truly amazed the person who spoke to Chen Xuan. After all, his own cultivation level was not high, and he would definitely not have been able to withstand it in that situation.

The few heretics who had been blocked raised their eyebrows, exchanged quick glances, indicating that this person was a bit tough, and that they should all attack and kill him together. Then, with a single word of "kill," they charged at Chen Xuan again.

Chen Xuan, looking enraged, stood up with his knife in hand and said, "Bah! What kind of skill is it to launch a sneak attack while I'm not on my feet? You're just a bunch of evil heretics, shameless indeed! I, Wang Wu, am not someone to be trifled with! Watch me sweep through the enemy ranks!"

What time is it? Brother Wang, stop talking nonsense. Wow, that slash was fierce. Although it wasn't as exaggerated as sweeping away a thousand troops, it still forced several equally matched people back.

The man who spoke to Chen Xuan widened his eyes slightly, feeling a little relieved. It seemed that Wang Wu wouldn't die on the spot for the time being.

As Chen Xuan shouted loudly, he swung his sword and swept it horizontally. With a seemingly ordinary move, he swept away several people in a flurry of clangs, forcing them back again. One of the sword-wielders even had his wrist severed. Only then did he finish speaking.

At this moment, Chen Xuan appeared to everyone as just a low-level martial artist who had practiced some martial arts but had no internal strength. With his control over himself, he could easily suppress his cultivation to the lowest level. Any ordinary move could be turned into something magical in his hands, and he didn't even take it seriously.

Just as the group besieging Chen Xuan changed their expressions and were about to attack him again, a palm print, barely visible to the naked eye and about a meter long, flew out from behind him. It landed among the group, and the terrifying force spread, causing them to cough up blood and fly backward. It seemed that they were not going to survive.

Chen Xuan pretended to be surprised and turned to look at Zhang Yu, who had lowered her arm.

Their eyes met, and Zhang Yu felt both amused and exasperated. Feigning displeasure, he said, "If you want to fight, go somewhere else. You're not welcome here. If you disturb the peace, don't blame me for being impolite."

"Thank you for your mercy, heroine. I'll be leaving now," Chen Xuan said, cupping his hands in greeting. He then decisively grabbed his knife and ran toward the person who had spoken to him.

Seeing his departing figure, Zhang Yu's lips twitched. He thought to himself, "You look better when you're real. What kind of mess are you now? Wearing the same clothes, what's the difference? You're like a monkey wearing a crown."

With Xia Mei and the other four innate masters protecting the small building, Chen Xuan wasn't worried about its safety. Besides, he wasn't going far and was keeping a close eye on things at all times.

He grabbed his knife and ran toward the people who had spoken to him. They were being attacked. Without hesitation, Chen Xuan swung his knife and slashed, launching a sneak attack. He killed one person with each slash, and with the help of several others, he eliminated seven or eight evil people and resolved the crisis.

Although the situation is chaotic, it is still easy to distinguish between friend and foe. The difference in temperament between good and evil is significant, and they can be identified at a glance. It is almost impossible to accidentally kill one of your own people.

The group met up, and Chen Xuan, carrying a blood-stained longsword, asked, "Are you all alright?"

"Thank you, Brother Wang. Your swordsmanship is truly excellent. I owe it all to you for successfully dealing with these people. Otherwise, we would have suffered some casualties. I am Zhang San. I am very grateful," said the man who had spoken to Chen Xuan earlier, bowing with his sword in hand and letting out a sigh of relief.

This person looked to be in his early twenties, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he seemed to have a strong sense of justice.

Then a slightly thinner young man with a knife next to him spoke up, "My name is Li Si. Thank you for helping me out, Brother Wang."

It's clear that martial artists with low cultivation levels prefer to use knives. After all, they're easy to learn and buy, and you don't need many fancy skills to cut people down; you just need to raise your hand and strike.

Upon hearing Zhang San and Li Si introduce themselves, Chen Xuan hesitated, thinking to himself, "Are you two targeting me?"
In fact, that's their real name. It's not like Chen Xuan's made-up name, Wang Wu. After all, they're from the lower rungs of the martial arts world. Their elders probably weren't very educated, so they just gave them names randomly according to the order of the younger generation, making it convenient and easy to remember.

The truth is that in this chaotic scene of tens of thousands of people, if someone were to shout "Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu," there would be at least sixty or a hundred people responding. It's quite common, as these are all common surnames.

Before Chen Xuan could say anything, Zhang San urged, "That female knight killed four or five evil spirits with a simple wave of her hand. She's definitely a master of the Innate Realm. We should stay away and behave ourselves, lest we cause trouble and get killed on a whim. There's no one to uphold justice for us in this situation."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Chen Xuan readily agreed.

There were four of them in total, clearly a hastily formed group. The other two hadn't even had a chance to introduce themselves yet, and seemed a little reluctant to leave.

Li Si's gaze swept around, then he pointed to an artificial hill near the open space where the conference was being held and said, "There are fewer people over there, and not many powerful individuals. Let's go over there. This isn't the time for us to stand out. Whether we survive to the end is up to fate."

"Absolutely, absolutely. From now on, let's look after each other and try to survive to the end." Zhang San nodded in deep agreement. In fact, no one had much hope of surviving to the end, since people were dying everywhere, but no one said anything discouraging.

Everyone who embarks on this path of wandering the martial world is already prepared to die far from home, especially in such circumstances.

The direction Li Si pointed out was said to be less crowded, but that was only relative. Everywhere was crowded, and there was hardly a quiet place except inside the small building. The instinct for survival made those with low cultivation levels stay away from the places where experts were fighting.

The artificial hill was more than 200 meters away from Chen Xuan and his group. The path seemed short, but given the current chaotic situation, it would not be easy to get through. The group did not linger in the fight and tried their best to force the enemy back as they made their way towards the hill.

During the process, Chen Xuan keenly noticed that Zhang San and the others were clearly holding back and were not using their full strength at all. They were obviously just slacking off. With his keen senses, how could he not see that the group actually had considerable internal strength? Although it wasn't particularly profound, it was still at the level of Geng Hong and Liang Ren.

Several guys were slacking off, clearly they were just hanging out together out of mutual respect, and I happened to be one of them.

Chen Xuan smiled to himself, but was also puzzled. If these people were good at slacking off, why did they go to the small building? It was obviously very dangerous there.

If someone were to pay close attention at this moment, they would notice that although Chen Xuan and his group seemed to be in a flustered and dangerous situation, they were actually making a relatively steady approach towards the artificial mountain. They would occasionally cut down a few people along the way, but they never pressed their advantage, which made them seem like they were not putting in any effort and were obviously not working together.

Zhang Yu was secretly keeping an eye on their movements, occasionally repelling and killing some evil cultivators who came with ill intentions. Since there were no innate masters attacking her side, she was able to handle things with ease and also keep an eye on other things.

At this moment, she was puzzled, wondering what that despicable guy was up to now, and why he was hanging out with those strangers.

Chen Xuan and his group finally made their way through the chaotic battlefield to the artificial hill. With the hill providing cover, they only needed to keep an eye out for any potential disturbances in one direction. They weren't idle, otherwise they would have been too conspicuous, either passively receiving attacks or actively provoking some heretical individuals to come and fight them off in a very convincing way.

Together they cut down several more men. Chen Xuan pretended to catch his breath, propping his knife on the ground, and said, "Brothers, help me hold them off for a bit, I need to catch my breath."

“Brother Wang, please make some adjustments. We'll take care of the rest,” Zhang San said, nodding as he stepped forward with his sword, showing great loyalty.

Chen Xuan chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself that if you were really so loyal, you should be playing in the high... mid-level games. With your back against the artificial hill, taking advantage of the moment, he asked curiously, "By the way, Brother Zhang and Brother Li, why did you two go to the small building just now?"

"Naturally, we saw many evil spirits rushing towards that direction, so we went to help them out," Li Si said righteously, seemingly struggling but actually easily forcing his opponent back with a single strike.

You're just dawdling here and yet you say things like that, do you even believe it yourself?

Zhang San pretended to be forced back, and when another companion stepped in, he went to Chen Xuan and asked, "How did Brother Wang end up over there just now, eating on the rooftop? It really gave us a fright!"

Chen Xuan feigned embarrassment and glanced away, saying, "Well, we're used to traveling the world, eating and sleeping outdoors, and haven't had much good food. Look at us, now that a fight has broken out, all the good wine and meat are being wasted. I noticed that over there was pretty safe, so I sneaked over there to eat and drink, but I got carried away and ran to the rooftop. Don't laugh at me for finding out."

Upon hearing this, Zhang San looked at Chen Xuan. Their eyes met, and they confirmed their connection. "You're a kindred spirit," Zhang San thought, feeling a surge of warmth. Slightly embarrassed, he said, "To be honest, Brother Wang, we found that the other side was quite quiet, so we quickly entered the small building—cough cough—to search for any evil spirits or heretics hiding there. But when we got there, it was even more dangerous. There was actually a powerful expert from the Innate Realm guarding it, so we had no choice but to settle for this place."

Did you let it slip that you originally planned to hide inside the small building and wait for things to calm down outside?
"Brother Zhang, please help me hold on, I need to catch my breath," said another companion, who staggered back and bumped into the artificial hill, wincing in pain.

Zhang San naturally grabbed a knife and stepped forward to take his place and start fighting.

The man winked at Chen Xuan, meaning they were all in the same boat and shouldn't expose each other. He continued Chen Xuan's earlier words: "No, Brother Wang, we go wherever we want to punish evil and uphold justice. Good and evil are not distinguished by size; it's just that the methods of contribution are different. By the way, my name is Ma Liu."

"Brother Ma is absolutely right," Chen Xuan said with that expression, thinking to himself that this name was definitely an alias.

At this moment, the last person turned around and said, "Brother Wang, my name is Liu Er. Have you rested enough? Is it my turn?"

Liu Er, Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, Ma Liu, good heavens, they're all here. Among them, Zhang San and Li Si are probably real, and the rest are definitely aliases used when they died.

Chen Xuan was inwardly both amused and exasperated. He grabbed his knife and charged forward, shouting, "Brother Liu, take a breather. Leave the rest to me!"

He immediately took over Liu Er's position and fought a black-clad man wielding an axe, going toe-to-toe with him.

Seeing that they were taking turns resting, clearly slacking off, the men who were fighting them suddenly lit up. One of them whispered, "Hey guys, don't take it so seriously. Just pretend. How much do you make a month? Why risk your life? Right?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan's lips curled into a smirk, ready to deliver the fatal blow. Unexpectedly, Li Si suddenly lunged forward, slashing Chen Xuan down with his blade, spitting out a cold laugh: "Damn it, who's talking to you two?"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Xuan shoved one of the men to the ground, then turned around and gave a thumbs-up, saying, "Brother Li, you are truly righteous."

This shows that although the guys may be slacking off, their stance is still very firm. It might be an exaggeration to say that they are irreconcilably opposed to evil forces, but they definitely don't see eye to eye.

The group then worked together to repel a wave of enemies. While searching for a target, Zhang San looked at Chen Xuan and asked, "Brother Wang, there are some innate masters over there in the small building. Why did you go there earlier, and even to the rooftop? How come they didn't deal with you?"

Nobody's a fool; there's no reason they wouldn't be suspicious. But Zhang San just asked the question. Even if they're just loafing around here, it's uncertain whether they'll survive to the end. And even if they do, it's uncertain whether they'll ever meet again.

Chen Xuan already had a plan, and said half-truthfully, "Well, I bought this invitation for heroes at a high price. I know someone who does business in that building. After arriving on the island, I went there, hoping to make connections with some important people. But soon a fight broke out, and I had nowhere to go. I didn't dare to go into the building and offend the important people, so I could only run over there in a panic."

Even though his words were full of holes, no one called him out on it. Ma Liu asked curiously, "Do you guys know who lives in that little building?"

Upon hearing this, the others glanced at Chen Xuan, seemingly unintentionally. He shook his head and said, "I only managed to buy the invitation from a servant in the small building through several connections. I don't know the specifics."

No one took it seriously, and even though they were united in their hatred, they wouldn't reveal their secrets easily. Liu Er pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Wang, you ran to someone's rooftop and weren't blamed. I don't know if it's because they're magnanimous or you're just lucky. I heard—and I only heard—that a wealthy merchant was secretly pushing this Heroes' Gathering behind the scenes. I don't know the specifics, but there are rumors that he's a big shot in the capital, the kind with connections everywhere. You know what I mean, right?"

"Hiss, no wonder they were able to gather so many major sects together in such a short time. It seems to be true. Otherwise, even the Tai Xuan Sect would have to put in a lot of effort to have such mobilization power," Ma Liu said with a breath.

So who exactly were the people in that small building? It was obvious that the experts from those prestigious sects had intentionally or unintentionally kept their fights away from that direction, while a bunch of clueless lackeys rushed in shouting. Apart from Chen Xuan, no one dared to think about it too much.

They talked a lot, but while they occasionally took cover and caught their breath, they were never idle. They were always in a state of combat readiness, just not as full-fledged as many others.

But this relaxed atmosphere didn't last long. The group was chatting and fighting when Chen Xuan noticed the unexpected attack and immediately tugged at Zhang San, warning, "Oh no, everyone get out of the way!"

As he spoke, he darted to the side, and the others, alerted by his gesture, also moved aside.

The next moment, a figure flew in like a cannonball, crashing into the artificial hill and sending rocks flying. Most of the artificial hill collapsed, and it seemed that Chen Xuan and his group could no longer hide there and dawdle.

The man who smashed the artificial hill quickly got up from the rubble, covered in blood and vomiting blood. He noticed Chen Xuan and the others who were 'scrambling' to avoid him, and his eyes turned cold as he prepared to kill them.

Zhang San, who had mastered the Sixth Master's teachings, changed his expression and said with a strong sense of righteousness, "Run! This is a master of the Innate Realm, far beyond our capabilities!"

At the same time, Li Si slyly said, "Let's head that way. The Tai Xuan Sect's expert, Heroine Gui Yao, is coming, along with her junior brother, Xu Yun. Yesterday, Xu Yun defeated the Rongguo Sword God with a single sword strike. If we can get there in time, we might be able to survive."

...(End of chapter)