With the Sword Heart condensed, Ian Song felt as if a colossal sword had appeared in the boundless void, thrusting into the sky. His entire being radiated an ancient, mysterious aura.
This sword had no physical form, was not condensed from true qi, nor was it forged from spiritual power.
It was a realm—a state of mind.
It could also be called the heart-sword.
"Nice!"
A faint, self-satisfied smile appeared at the corner of Ian Song's mouth. He was a little proud—he'd just condensed his Sword Heart, and already seemed to have reached Sword Heart perfection.
Supposedly, even the Venerable Dragon Sword's sword-dao is only at Sword Heart great accomplishment. Am I being a bit too much of a genius here?
"Huh, it's already dark? Time really flies."
Muttering to himself, Ian Song stood up from his chair, stretching his limbs. His joints crackled noisily, but if you listened closely, there was a peculiar rhythm to it.
"Time to eat."
Rubbing his stomach, Ian Song headed for the canteen.
Martial cultivators have huge appetites—unlike immortal cultivators, who, once they reach the Foundation Establishment stage, can live off spiritual energy and go ten days or half a month without food. If they reach the Golden Core stage, they can completely break free from dependence on food.
At this hour, the canteen was almost empty.
So Ian Song's arrival didn't draw much attention.
After scarfing down enough food for two people, Ian Song felt completely refreshed.
Just as he was about to get up and leave, a tall young man in black strode over, stopping right in front of him and blocking his way.
"Excuse me, could you move?" Ian Song said.
"You're Leon Huang?" the black-clothed youth asked.
"And who are you? What do you want with me?"
Ian Song shot back.
"I hold shares in Tianwu House. You tore the place down—how do you plan to compensate me?" The black-clothed man continued, sounding like he was demanding an answer, but his tone was perfectly calm.
"You could also choose not to compensate me, and instead take three palms from me." the black-clothed youth added.
Hearing this, Ian Song couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. "You say you have shares in Tianwu House—well, show me the proof. Even if you do, so what? I tore down Tianwu House for justice, not compensation. Besides, do you really think I'm the type who lets people lead me around by the nose?"
With that, Ian Song simply walked around him and strolled out of the canteen.
Watching his back, the black-clothed man's face grew sour.
After a moment, he arrived at a courtyard and, deflated, said to Easton Yan, "Easton, that kid isn't buying it at all—this trick won't work!"
Easton Yan's face was gloomy. On Wu Lingfeng's advice, he'd tried to push Lance Xuanyuan into dealing with Leon Huang, but Lance refused to be manipulated.
Left with no choice, he had to come up with another plan.
He came up with the idea of having another Tianwu House shareholder pose as a creditor and demand massive compensation from Leon Huang, giving them a legitimate excuse to act.
They would name a huge sum, one Leon Huang couldn't possibly pay, so he'd be forced to take three of Nolan Yale's palms.
Nolan Yale was a late-stage Great Grandmaster, fully capable of seriously injuring Leon Huang in three blows—at least they'd get some satisfaction out of it. But who could've guessed Leon would refuse to play along?
"That guy's sly as a fox!"
Easton Yan cursed bitterly.
"Easton, listen to me—just let this go!" Nolan Yale advised.
Easton Yan stubbornly shook his head. "I promised Xiaofeng I'd get revenge for him, so there's no way I'm letting this go."
Nolan Yale thought for a moment and said, "Leon Huang is someone the academy is determined to cultivate—a true favorite. Whether you kill him or just injure him, the academy won't let it slide. Besides, the guy's wisdom is frightening—he saw through my plan in an instant. Someone with talent but no brains isn't scary; we can scheme them to death. But someone with both talent and brains is not worth making an enemy of. You should really drop this."
Easton Yan hesitated, but in the end still shook his head. "I promised Xiaofeng—he's my only brother."
"Fine. I'm out. And I won't be involved in rebuilding Tianwu House either. Goodbye!"
Nolan Yale shook his head and walked out of the courtyard.
"Bastard!"
Easton Yan hadn't expected Nolan Yale to withdraw at this moment, and was furious.
But as Nolan Yale walked out of the courtyard, the corner of his mouth curled into a cold smile. "Easton, you've let your emotions cloud your judgment. If I stay on this sinking ship with you, we'll both go down. We only teamed up for profit—now that the profit's gone and the risks remain, of course I'm jumping ship. Don't blame me for it!"
"Someone, go fetch Wynton Wu!"
Easton Yan ordered his attendant in a low voice.
"Yes, sir."
Before long, Wynton Wu hurried over.
"Greetings, Senior." Wynton Wu said respectfully.
"Your last plan failed. Think of another way to deal with Leon Huang." Easton Yan said bluntly.
"Give me a moment to think."
Wynton Wu nodded, lowered his head in thought, and after a while said, "We could use the Grandmaster Ranking."
"Oh? How so?"
Wynton Wu said with a sinister smile, "Bribe a Grandmaster, have him poison Leon during a challenge, then finish him off."
Easton Yan nodded in satisfaction. "Good. I'll leave this to you. If Leon Huang dies, I'll reward you with a sixth-grade spirit weapon!"
The next day.
Wynton Wu came to Easton Yan with a bitter expression.
"How did it go?" Easton Yan asked anxiously.
"That plan probably won't work," Wynton Wu admitted, looking embarrassed.
"Why not?"
Wynton Wu sighed, "After Leon Huang broke through to Grandmaster, he hasn't participated in any Grandmaster Ranking challenges. Right now, he's not even on the list. If he doesn't enter the ranking, no one else can challenge him!"
Easton Yan was clearly annoyed. "So there's really no way to deal with him?"
"There is, but it's risky."
"What is it? Out with it!"
Wynton Wu lowered his voice, "According to my investigation, Leon Huang seems to have an unusually close relationship with Harriet Gu. But Harriet's now Vice Dean Melody's disciple, so we can't touch her. However, she has an older brother, Howard Gu. We can use him to pressure Harriet into doing what we want."
Easton Yan said, "Alright, go make contact with that Howard Gu first. If he's willing to cooperate, fine. If he doesn't know what's good for him, use some dirty tricks!"
"Okay, I'll take my leave now."
Since joining Sanctum Martial Academy, Howard Gu had devoted himself to cultivation, determined to break through to Great Grandmaster as soon as possible. He thought his life would just keep going like this.
But during one Grandmaster Ranking challenge, he met a senior-sister who was also an intermediate student.
He couldn't deny that his heart was moved, and started pursuing her. But she always remained rather indifferent toward him.
Maybe it was his persistence that touched her. Just when he thought she would refuse his invitation, she actually accepted.
So that evening, he dressed up and headed to the restaurant full of anticipation for their date.