In contrast, every mber of the Penzes City Knight Order looked utterly transford!
Their next public appearance stunned the citizens of Penzes: ’Is this really the sa Knight Order?’
The reason was simple. Ling Wu, being a coarse man, hadn’t bothered with grand speeches. He had only one thing to say: "If you don’t listen to , I’ll slaughter you. Anyone who dares to run, I’ll wipe out their entire clan!"
That’s right. In truth, anyone who could beco a Knight was a young man from a family with so standing. The title of Knight symbolized great honor; it was arguably the highest station one could achieve outside the nobility. For those who were already nobles, becoming a Knight was an even greater symbol of prestige. Thus, when Ling Wu threatened them, they all ekly chose to obey his commands.
However, there was so resistance. The forr Commander of the Knight Order, a rather handso man, foolishly thought he could use his noble status to get the upper hand on Ling Wu. He believed this group of crude, barbaric commoners were all talk. ’They didn’t kill anyone on the day we surrendered,’ he thought, ’so why would they kill anyone now?’
As a result, after Ling Wu had laid down the rules, the commander was the first to throw down his helt, declaring that the dignity of a noble Knight like himself could not be trampled upon.
In reality, his dignity had been utterly trampled the mont he t Ling Wu. When he made his declaration, not even his own subordinates in the Knight Order spoke up in his support. ’A man who had long ago lost his knightly spirit—was he even qualified to speak of a Knight’s dignity?’
’If he’d had another choice, he never would have been the one to stir up trouble. He’d already surrendered once, so what was the harm in doing it again? In any case, as long as he could get through this period, he could simply resign from the Knight Order and go ho. He would just have to wait for that decrepit old man to die, and then he could inherit his noble title with a clear conscience and live out his days in bliss.’
Alas, the forr Commander of the Knight Order never imagined that his fate had been sealed with the very first word of defiance he spoke to Ling Wu.
And so, when his head rolled to the ground, his eyes were still wide open in shock.
The geyser of blood that gushed from his headless neck reflected in the eyes of the thousand Knights, stunning them to their very core.
’This crude, barbaric officer wasn’t just making empty threats!’
"How did he die?" Ling Wu asked, his eyes narrowing as his gaze swept over the n. The crowd of over a thousand was so silent you could hear a pin drop. People could even hear their own frantic heartbeats.
"You!" Ling Wu pointed to a Knight in the front row. "Speak."
"Sir, I saw nothing!" the Knight snapped to attention, shouting his reply.
’The commander had said to answer loudly,’ he rembered, ’not to sound like you haven’t eaten.’
Anyone who could beco a Knight in a place like this was no fool. This Knight’s quick reaction greatly pleased Ling Wu, who nevertheless said, "Wrong. A head-chopping bandit ca through here yesterday. His power... was imnse. Our forr Commander was killed by this bandit. We... must deliver this sad news to his family. As your commander, I bear responsibility for this. On behalf of the Viscount, I will offer one hundred Gold Coins to his family as a token of our condolences."
Everyone present was deathly silent. Not a single person voiced any objection, because they could all see that this officer was not a reasonable man. ’Arguing with others might earn you a beating,’ they thought, ’but arguing with this one... that’s a death sentence!’
"Commander, how could this possibly be your responsibility?" the Knight Ling Wu had just called upon said, mustering his courage. "So... please allow to provide the money instead?"
One hundred Gold Coins, equivalent to 100,000 copper coins, was a huge fortune to a commoner. But to the mbers of the Knight Order, all of whom were either wealthy or of noble birth, it was a trivial sum.
’Heh, quick on the uptake, aren’t you?’ Ling Wu thought, stroking his chin. He sized up the young Knight, who looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and asked, "You. What’s your na and what’s your rank?"
"Sir! My na is Lu Feiyang, a Tier One Great Sword Master!"
The young man struggled to conceal the excitent in his eyes. ’For the commander to ask my na, he must have a reason,’ he thought. ’And the forr commander was just killed by... ah, no, by that head-chopping bandit.’
A fire ignited in Lu Feiyang’s heart!
"Lu Feiyang? Hmm, that na has a nice ring to it. Sounds profitable. Good! From now on, you’re the Commander of this Knight Order!" Ling Wu declared with a wave of his hand. "Now, begin training!"
While there were changes within the Penzes City forces, the changes among the once high-and-mighty nobles were even more drastic. Every last one of them had beco much more subdued. Even the family mbers of the four most powerful noble houses were now on their best behavior, no longer appearing before the commoners of Penzes City to throw their weight around.
After a selection process led by Chunlan and Qiuyue, the Viscount’s Mansion purchased an additional fifty-so maids, over thirty matrons, and more than one hundred servants.
Chunlan and Qiuyue were ticulous, and with the help of the mischievous young thief, Ye Wen Ni, the spies sent from the various noble houses were rooted out one by one. Ling Xiao couldn’t be bothered with such matters, and Ye Wen Ni and the others weren’t interested in picking fights either. In any case, there would be ti to settle these scores later. After all, this was just the beginning, and they had a long road ahead of them, didn’t they?
Since bringing Feng Ling back, Ling Xiao hadn’t gone to see him in more than ten days. Instead, he had been constantly discussing with Uncle Fu the problem of how to increase their strength as quickly as possible.
Individual strength always took ti to cultivate and couldn’t be achieved overnight. In Uncle Fu’s view, however, their collective strength was far more important than any one person’s power.
If Lingzhi hadn’t given Ling Xiao those five hundred private soldiers, their current situation would be even more precarious. A leader couldn’t be expected to do everything himself, could he?
Furthermore, compared to those hidden elite families, Ling Xiao’s power—and indeed, the Ling Family’s power—was still far too weak. While the Tiger Roar Assault Team’s combat prowess was formidable, that was only when facing ordinary Martial Artists. If their opponent was a tyrannical Demon Sword Master like Uncle Fu or Feng Ling’s senior brother, the assault team would be of little use.
Therefore, expanding the power at his command was a matter of utmost urgency.
Uncle Fu believed that Ling Xiao’s miraculous ability of Refining Elixir was his greatest asset for recruiting talented individuals.
Uncle Fu even believed that if the super-sects among the hidden families learned of Ling Xiao’s ability, they would have long since co to either recruit him or abduct him by force.
Uncle Fu’s words sparked a faint worry in Ling Xiao’s heart. ’If I can’t raise my own strength quickly enough, I won’t even be able to protect my family... And if my family can’t get stronger, they’ll just beco a burden to !’
’There was only one solution: to possess a power so great that no one would dare make a rash move! Whoever dares to bully my family, I will visit upon them a disaster of utter annihilation!’
Ling Xiao strolled over to Feng Ling’s courtyard. As he reached the entrance, he heard the lodious sound of a zither. Ling Xiao didn’t understand music, but he could still perceive the resentnt in the lody, and a thread of bleak killing intent seed aid directly at him, its master. Standing at the doorway, he listened intently for a mont and ca to a realization. ’Feng Ling’s sword skill... it must be related to this music!’
He recalled how, when the sword skill was executed, it produced the enchanting, pleasant sound of wind chis. It conjured an image of a vast desert before him, with hundreds of wind chis hanging, stirred by a gentle breeze. The DING-A-LING sound seed to echo in Ling Xiao’s ears once more.
Ling Xiao turned and walked away. ’In a world that possessed such a sword skill,’ he thought, ’I certainly won’t be bored!’
From ancient tis to the present, the Shushan Sword Sect had ticulously studied Swordsmanship for hundreds of thousands of years, developing nearly every conceivable sword skill to its absolute peak. Yet, it had never produced a technique like this one. Otherwise, why would soone like Ling Xiao, with tens of thousands of sword techniques already in his mind, be so interested in Feng Ling’s skill?
A faint smile touched the corners of Ling Xiao’s lips. ’Play on, play on,’ he thought. ’Your sword skill will be mine, sooner or later!’
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