The gatekeeper dared not question further, and walked briskly into the manor, heading to report to his young master.

Although Wei Yunian was only nineteen, his swordsmanship was divine, and within his realm, he was undefeated in Xianyang.

He was not pampered and raised in luxury, only skilled in private duels. Despite his young age, he had already trained in the Townfang Army.

“Townfang” was no ordinary military title.

Qin had ten armies, known as the strongest in the world.

Townfang ranked fifth.

In the past, among Qin’s ten armies, with the exception of the leading “Overlord”, almost every army’s name contained a “beast” character.

For example, the second-ranked Roaring Dragon, the third-ranked Phoenix Sparrow, and so on.

Since the emergence of the Townfang Army, replacing one of the others, the army titles containing “beast” characters were successively replaced within less than a hundred years.

Even in the extremely competitive Great Qin Empire, the replacement of powerful armies like Qin’s ten was rare.

Therefore, this army was simply named “Townfang”, meaning to suppress the fanged ones and surpass the previous armies. Another meaning is that “fang” refers to night hunting, with the implication of evil spirits devouring people. Townfang is to suppress this evil deed and behavior, so that the people in Qin territory can be free from worry at night.

While the Roaring Dragon, Phoenix Sparrow, and other army titles still existed, the fact that this army could retain its name shows its formidable power.

In the army, strength is paramount. Wei Yu, who had trained in such a powerful army, possessed genuine combat prowess. He was known as the “Number One Ascending Dragon in the World”, which even the people of Xianyang acknowledged.

However, titles like Number One Wandering Pulse, or even Zhoutian, Tongtian… Number One Ascending Dragon in the World, cannot be recognized by the world as they are not contested in events like the Yellow River Gathering…

In short, every powerful nation has one.

Even beyond the six major powers of Jing, Qin, Qi, Chu, Jing, and Mu, some regional strong nations also have their so-called “Number One”.

Naturally, countries do not acknowledge each other’s so-called Number One or the like.

There are even more than a dozen versions of the Famous Artifacts List!

What’s more, these are rankings of low and mid-level cultivators.

Only Wang Yi Wu of Qi, the number one Tongtian realm cultivator of all time, is truly authentic and universally recognized. This is because he genuinely broke historical limits and left a milestone in the history of cultivation.

But just as many powerful cultivators have always been dismissive, no matter how much the number one Tongtian realm cultivator of all time, he is still only a Tongtian realm cultivator. His persuasive power for the future is not sufficient.

After Wang Yi Wu was defeated by Jiang Wang within his realm, the title of the number one Tongtian realm cultivator of all time… became even less radiant.

Returning to Wei Yu.

He was naturally discerning. Upon seeing the piece of cloth in the gatekeeper’s hand, he could feel the sharp sword intent of the visitor.

Therefore, he stopped practicing his sword and asked in a loud voice, “Who is this person?”

“He refused to give his name, only asking me to come and report as soon as possible…” The gatekeeper wiped his sweat and said, “He said that if you are truly worthy of your reputation, you would not refuse to see him.”

Of course, he dared not repeat the words “truly worthy of your reputation” as they were said.

But even after being rephrased, these words sounded… too rude to Wei Yu.

He dared not even give his name, yet he had the audacity to speak of “reputation”?

“Interesting!”

Wei Yu sheathed his sword, and walked out unhurriedly: “This young master will meet him!”

The Earl’s manor was deep and vast.

Wei Yu walked out of the manor slowly, looked outside the gate, and couldn’t help but ask, “Where is he?”

There were people coming and going outside the Earl’s manor, but no one stopped.

To the left, there was an idle man squatting by the wall sunbathing, but other than that, there was no one blocking the gate.

The gatekeeper rushed forward, looked left and right, and pointed at the person squatting by the wall like an old farmer, saying, “Young Master, that’s the person who is looking for you!”

He stepped forward quickly and greeted the ‘peculiar person’, “Uncle, my young master is out…”

Before he could finish his sentence, and before he could get close, the person turned his head lazily and interrupted him: “What uncle? This brother, if we compare ages, I might be younger than you!”

He supported himself against the wall with one hand, and slowly stood up, not feeling at all that there was anything wrong with calling himself brothers with a gatekeeper.

But when he looked at the noble young master behind the gatekeeper, who was holding his sword and remained silent, he had no sense of being inferior: “Are you the Number One Ascending Dragon of Qin, Wei Yu?”

Wei Yu smiled very gracefully: “That is I.”

“You’re so slow.” This person complained impolitely: “Really, I’m getting sleepy waiting!”

Wei Yu was graceful, but not without temper. Hearing this, he frowned and said, “Your Excellency is hiding your head and tail, you don’t even dare to say your name, and you’re afraid of waiting for a while?”

“What are you talking about, hiding my head and tail!” This person looked inexplicable: “Didn’t I tell you my name is Xiangqian?”

The gatekeeper of Earl Yian’s manor, standing aside, just wanted to cover his face. So this person’s name was Xiangqian, not telling him to go forward!

Wei Yu was silent for a moment, and then said, “I heard that Brother Xiang came to visit to challenge me to a sword fight?”

He looked at Xiangqian carefully a few times: “May I ask where your sword is?”

Xiangqian was still standing by the wall, still looking unkempt and lazy, but he said freely, “My sword is everywhere!”

As soon as these words were spoken, in the eyes of Wei Yu and the gatekeeper, a sharp aura suddenly appeared on this person.

Especially in Wei Yu’s perception, that sharp aura was seeping out thread by thread. It was as if this person, this skin… could not hide his sword at all!

“Good!” Wei Yu couldn’t help but praise: “Please come and ask!”

He was already excited to hunt and wanted to test his sword outside the Earl’s manor and decide the victor here.

But this person named Xiangqian glanced at him with those dead fish eyes, and then said, “I traveled west just to test my sword. I have no intention of harming your reputation, nor of taking your fame. How about we go into the manor to test our swords?”

Wei Yu smiled and slowly drew his long sword, holding it to his right: “You are allowed to harm my reputation, you are allowed to take my fame, Wei will not bear a grudge. As long as you… can do it!”

Xiangqian slightly lowered his head in greeting: “In that case, Xiang will offend you.”

Only this gesture of respect at this moment made Wei Yu feel that this challenger who came to his door did indeed have an extraordinary background, not just someone with brute force.

So the hand holding the sword relaxed by three points. It was more comfortable, smoother… and also more serious!

At this moment, Xiangqian looked up.

As he looked up, he had already drawn his sword.

When he looked up, those dull, dead fish eyes had become sharp and radiant.

And from these sharp eyes, Wei Yu saw a stream of light.

That point of light in these eyes was getting further and further away, and getting closer and closer to him…

It was the art of flying sword!

This thought suddenly came to Wei Yu’s mind.

Instinctively, he swept his sword forward.

This horizontal sword sweep was like a mountain falling, majestic for a thousand miles.

Solid and solid, unbreakable.

This sound shook the street in front of Earl Yian’s manor, startling the pedestrians to turn their heads.

This point of cold light directly hit the sword that Wei Yu held in front of him.

Wei Yu, along with his sword, retreated more than five steps, hitting the wall of the gate with one foot, before finally stopping his retreat!

“Fang” has the meaning of night hunting. But the part about evil spirits devouring people is something I inferred myself to enhance the story’s persuasiveness (you could also say it’s a misinterpretation).

Anyway, students should not take it seriously, lest it fail the exam.

There is more tonight.

After this, as long as I don’t say in advance that there is not, there will be more tonight. Until the debt is paid off.