Gu Long's Martial Arts World: Starting with the Invincible Demon Blade

Silence. A moment of silence.

Only the whistling of the wind through the gaps in the forest could be heard.

The Thousand-Armed Rakshasa stood with his arms crossed, watching coldly from the sidelines.

Hua Baifeng leaned against Xue Bufu's side, her eyes darting around.

Ding Baiyun stood a little further away, dressed in white, as if separated from the conversation with this mortal world by an invisible barrier.

Xue Bufeng spoke again, breaking the silence:

"So where are you going next? Are you staying here for a few days, or will you leave first thing tomorrow morning...?"

Li Xunhuan shook his head, his smile tinged with weariness.

"I'm not staying here any longer. I won't wait until tomorrow; I'll leave tonight. Even if I return to the Central Plains, I'll be nothing more than a rootless duckweed, just wandering around. The world is so vast; where can't I roam? Why should I linger in one place?"

"Oh? You're leaving now?"

Xue Bufeng raised an eyebrow and smiled:

"Don't you want to come with me and see what the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world looks like?"

Li Xunhuan shook his head with a hint of self-deprecation:

"I think it's better if I don't go."

"Wouldn't it be terrible if a womanizer like me saw a peerless beauty? It's better to leave her to you, a womanizer like me."

Xue Bufeng smiled and, as expected, did not try to stop him.

"Since that's the case, then I'll keep the title of the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world. I don't want an experienced old rogue competing with me for a woman."

Li Xunhuan smiled, his laughter carrying far through the night sky, only to be quickly dispersed by the wind.

He cupped his hands in greeting, his robes fluttering slightly in the wind: "Take care. I hope we'll meet again in the martial world someday, and that we'll still have wine to drink together."

"There will surely be a time when we meet again in the martial arts world, and there will surely be wine to drink then."

Xue Bufeng straightened up and said nothing more.

Li Xunhuan turned and walked towards his half-worn carriage.

As Tie Chuanjia raised his whip, the wheels rolled, crushing the moonlight and quickly leaving the Divine Blade Hall, disappearing at the end of the winding path through the poplar forest.

With Li Xunhuan gone, only Xue Bufu and the three women remained in the room.

The cold moonlight shone on four faces with different expressions.

Hua Baifeng was the first to move.

She hopped over lightly like a sparrow returning to its nest, took Xue Bufeng's arm again, pressed her cheek against his arm, raised her delicate chin towards Qian Shou Luo Sha and Ding Baiyun, and spoke in a sweet and crisp voice:

"What are you all still looking at? It's so late, are you going to disturb my senior brother and me from resting?"

The Thousand-Armed Rakshasa snorted coldly through her nose, her beautiful face expressionless, only muttering a low murmur:

"Little brat."

Ding Baiyun didn't even glance at Hua Baifeng. His cold gaze swept over Thousand Hands Rakshasa. Their eyes met briefly in the air, and they seemed to reach a silent understanding, quietly resolving their previous confrontation.

Ding Baiyun nodded slightly, and Thousand-Handed Rakshasa also curled his lips.

The two then turned around simultaneously, one heading east and the other west, their steps light and nimble, quickly disappearing into the depths of the building's corridors shrouded in night, neither uttering another word.

They left Hua Baifeng standing there, completely ignored.

Hua Baifeng wasn't annoyed at all; instead, she giggled and looked up at Xue Bufeng, a sly glint in her eyes.

"Senior brother, look at this! No wonder you're my senior brother, you're always surrounded by such beautiful women wherever you go. If it weren't for me, you would have been eaten alive by those two tonight!"

Xue Bufeng let her take his arm and walked towards the carriage, only smiling lazily upon hearing this:

"No matter how many beauties there are, aren't you the only one who dares to hold my arm and talk to me like this? Aren't you the only woman who dares to drive away my woman?"

Hua Baifeng laughed even harder, like a kitten that had stolen a fish.

Beside the carriage, Yuanyuan and Bingbing had been standing respectfully with their hands at their sides for quite some time. Upon seeing Xue Bufeng and Hua Baifeng approach, they quickly lifted the carriage curtain, their voices respectful yet tinged with fear:

"Sir, young lady, please get in the car."

Unexpectedly, Hua Baifeng gently pushed Xue Bufeng into the carriage, then nimbly jumped back, leaping a full two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) away. Standing in the moonlight, she made a face at Xue Bufeng and laughed:

"Senior brother, you go back by yourself! I dare not ride in the same car as you, you big pervert. I'm going back to my room to sleep with Xiao Shen."

Xue Bufeng sat inside the car, looking at her through the open door with a half-smile:

"Am I a pervert? You live in the Divine Blade Hall, so isn't Bai Tianyu a pervert too? Why aren't you afraid now, and all you do is play tricks on your senior brother?"

Hua Baifeng blinked:

"No, I'm just worried about your health, Senior Brother. Taking a night off now and then isn't a bad thing."

"As for Bai Tianyu... although he's a big lecher too, at least we're not that close, and with his wife watching over him, he has to pretend to be a gentleman. Unlike you, senior brother, you can't even be bothered to pretend!"

With that, she let out a string of silvery laughter, turned around, her pale yellow dress flashing a bright shadow in the moonlight, and lightly leaped onto the roof of a nearby building, disappearing in a few bounds.

Xue Bufeng stared in the direction she disappeared, and only slowly withdrew his gaze after a long while.

Yuanyuan and Bingbing carefully got into the car, unable to guess whether Xue Bufeng was in a good or bad mood, and dared not make any decisions on their own. They simply massaged Xue Bufeng's legs and poured him tea in silence.

The carriage rumbled towards the lodgings prepared by Shen Dao Tang for its distinguished guests.

The building is located on the side of the Divine Knife Hall. It is an exquisite little courtyard with white walls and gray tiles. Poplar trees still grow in the courtyard, rustling in the night wind.

The carriage stopped outside the courtyard gate.

Xue Bufeng got out of the car, followed closely by Yuanyuan and Bingbing.

Just as the three of them reached the front of the main house, Xue Bufeng suddenly stopped.

He didn't say anything, but simply raised his hand to signal Yuanyuan and Bingbing to stay outside the door.

The two women were taken aback.

Although they did not know martial arts, they had already developed the ability to read people's expressions and moods.

Seeing that Xue Bufeng's expression was calm but his eyes suddenly turned sharp as knives, he knew that something must be going on inside the room. He immediately held his breath and retreated to the shadow of the pillar, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Xue Bufeng pushed open the door alone.

"Squeak—"

The sound of the door hinges turning was particularly clear in the quiet night.

There were no lights on inside.

Only the cool moonlight streamed in through the wooden window, casting a pool of mercury-like light on the ground.

The room was decorated quite elegantly, with rosewood tables and chairs, and a few antique porcelain pieces on the display shelf. A faint sandalwood scent floated in the air.

In the brightest part of the moonlight, by the window, stood a large armchair.

There was a person sitting on the chair.

A person completely wrapped in a heavy black robe.

He wore a blank blue mask, revealing only his eyes.

His left hand was hidden in his black robe, but his right hand was clad in a blue iron glove.

He seemed like a ghost conjured from the darkness, silent and still, yet exuding an eerie aura.

Xue Bufeng showed no surprise whatsoever.

He didn't even speak immediately, but simply turned around and gently closed the door, keeping Yuanyuan and Bingbing out.

He then walked straight to another chair opposite the man in black and sat down comfortably.

The two were separated only by a small pear wood tea table.

The moonlight slanted across the coffee table, illuminating the only exposed eyes of the man in the black robe.

Eyes facing each other.

Xue Bufeng observed very carefully.

Those were extremely beautiful eyes.

Her almond-shaped eyes were alluring, and her pupils, illuminated by the moonlight, seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words, yet also appeared empty, possessing a captivating and enchanting charm.

Anyone who sees these eyes would find it hard not to be drawn to them.

The man in black robes was also looking at him carefully.

Silence spread through the darkness, with only the faint sound of each other's breathing.

But the other person's breathing sounded more like a seductive moan.