Chapter 57: Ye Chunsheng’s Jianghu Journey!
Ye Chunsheng was somewhat bewildered.
He lowered his head to look at the sword in his hand.
This sword that had been with him since childhood was now shattered into pieces, with only a small section of the sword body left, reduced to a piece of scrap iron.
“I lost…”
Ye Chunsheng felt a bit bitter in his heart.
Although he knew that no one could win forever.
But this day had come so quickly.
He hadn’t even made a name for himself in Jianghu yet, and he had already lost.
Even his sword was broken, a complete and utter defeat.
However, Ye Chunsheng had one more question.
“Why… didn’t I die?”
Ye Chunsheng asked.
Since he had stepped into Jianghu, he naturally understood what it meant to challenge a famous person of Jianghu.
It often meant fighting to the death!
The challenger, if defeated, would either die or be crippled.
But what about him?
Completely unharmed.
Far from dead, he didn’t even have a single injury.
Was Ji Qing soft-hearted?
How could a “demon” ranked fifth on the Villain Ranking be soft-hearted?
Back then, with Chasing Wind Blade Du Chen and Poison Demon Ouyang Bo, how had Ji Qing not been soft-hearted?
So Ye Chunsheng was puzzled; he had lost, so why hadn’t Ji Qing killed him?
“Pa.”
Ji Qing sheathed his saber.
“Because your sword had no killing intent.”
Ye Chunsheng was slightly stunned.
“We were just sparring, with no deep hatred or grudge, so why must there be killing intent?”
Ye Chunsheng asked in confusion.
In his view, no killing intent was normal.
But Ji Qing shook his head: “People in Jianghu have no control over their own bodies. The moment you drew your sword, it became a matter of life and death. A sword without killing intent won’t go far in Jianghu…”
Ye Chunsheng might not fully understand these words.
After all, Ye Chunsheng was just a novice stepping into Jianghu.
He hadn’t yet experienced the cruelty of Jianghu.
However, it was precisely because Ye Chunsheng’s sword had no killing intent that Ji Qing didn’t kill him.
If it had been someone well-versed in the rules of Jianghu who came to challenge, he would likely have been beheaded by Ji Qing with a single saber slash.
Every sip and peck has its karma.
“So, my sword couldn’t defeat you because it had no killing intent?”
Ye Chunsheng raised his head and asked.
“Right, and also wrong.”
“If your sword had killing intent, you might have had a forty percent chance of beating me.”
“But with no killing intent in your sword, you had not even a ten percent chance of winning against me.”
Ye Chunsheng understood.
Regardless of whether his sword had killing intent or not, he was no match for Ji Qing.
“How can I defeat you?”
Ye Chunsheng said seriously.
“Perhaps if you become a First-Rank Martial Artist, you could beat me.”
“First-Rank…”
Although Ye Chunsheng was a novice, he knew how difficult “First-Rank” was.
“Thank you, Mister Ji. I was presumptuous. Farewell.”
Ye Chunsheng wrapped the broken sword in cloth, bowed deeply to Ji Qing, then turned and left.
He had made up his mind.
This time, he would go back and not step into Jianghu until he became First-Rank!
“Wait.”
Ye Chunsheng stiffened, but still turned around: “Does Mister Ji have any instructions?”
“The Hanging Temple is very welcoming. Why not stay a few days? We can continue sparring and exchanging martial arts knowledge.”
“Really? Master Kongzhi, will my staying disturb your temple?”
Master Kongzhi looked at Ji Qing’s expression and had to say: “Benefactor Ye staying is the Hanging Temple’s fortune!”
“Then I’ll have to trouble your temple.”
Ye Chunsheng was also very happy.
This was the first time since wandering Jianghu that after challenging a martial artist, he could stay to continue sparring and exchanging ideas.
He was too eager for exchanges with other martial artists.
Practicing sword alone was very lonely and very hard.
“This kid… is too pure-hearted. He’ll suffer big losses wandering Jianghu in the future!”
Lei Yu said in a low voice.
She could also see Ye Chunsheng’s temperament.
A person like this wandering Jianghu would suffer losses no matter how high their martial arts.
However, such a pure-hearted person made an excellent friend.
Perhaps that was why Ji Qing kept Ye Chunsheng around.
Ye Chunsheng stayed.
Ji Qing, Ye Chunsheng, and Lei Yu exchanged and sparred with each other.
Ji Qing learned all about Ye Chunsheng’s situation.
But the more he learned, the more astonished Ji Qing felt.
Ye Chunsheng’s situation could almost be called a miracle.
“I was born in spring, and my mother said there was thunder that day, so she named me ‘Chunsheng’.”
Ye Chunsheng smiled.
But in reality, Ye Chunsheng grew up in a brothel; his mother was a brothel prostitute, and as for who his father was, his mother never said.
Ye Chunsheng said he hadn’t suffered much since childhood; his mother doted on him, and everyone in the brothel liked him.
He had been very happy since childhood.
But was that the truth?
Ji Qing didn’t need to guess; the son of a brothel prostitute—how could he not be bullied? How could he have been happy since childhood?
Yet Ye Chunsheng, raised in such an environment, still maintained optimism and longing for life.
Not a bit of resentment toward heaven or others; instead, his mindset was sunny and pure.
When he was around ten, his mother fell ill and died, and Ye Chunsheng started doing odd jobs and errands in the brothel.
One night, he encountered a wounded person of Jianghu and dragged him to his woodshed, saving his life.
That person of Jianghu called himself the Lone Swan Hermit.
“Amitabha, this old monk knows the Lone Swan Hermit. Back then in Jianghu, he was a Third-Rank Martial Artist with some reputation in the Jiangnan area. His Lone Swan Sword Technique had a bit of flair.”
Master Kongzhi spoke upon hearing this.
Actually, Master Kongzhi was being very polite.
The Lone Swan Hermit was just a Third-Rank Martial Artist, and his slight reputation wasn’t positive.
Lingering in Jianghu, neither high nor low.
“Really? It seems Master didn’t lie to me; he really had reputation in Jianghu.”
Ye Chunsheng was very happy.
Even Master Kongzhi shook his head.
Having a bit of reputation was different from “reputation in Jianghu.”
A mere Third-Rank Martial Artist like the Lone Swan Hermit—how could he have reputation in Jianghu?
But Master Kongzhi didn’t refute, letting Ye Chunsheng continue his story.
The later story was simple.
The Lone Swan Hermit was injured, his martial arts mostly gone, and he needed a disciple to take care of him in old age.
Ye Chunsheng was pure-hearted and had saved the Lone Swan Hermit, so the Lone Swan Hermit took him as a disciple and taught him martial arts.
A few years later, the Lone Swan Hermit died, Ye Chunsheng buried him, and then decided to venture into Jianghu.
At first, Ye Chunsheng challenged some people.
Supposedly some very powerful people of Jianghu.
He defeated them, but was then surrounded and attacked by their disciples.
Some even reported him to the authorities to have him arrested.
Ji Qing and Lei Yu both laughed upon hearing this.
For a hot-headed youth like Ye Chunsheng, who would accept a challenge for no reason?
Moreover, the people Ye Chunsheng challenged weren’t real people of Jianghu.
At most, they were escorts from Escort Agencies or masters from Martial Arts Schools.
“Later, I heard a storyteller mention the ‘Astonishing Swan Saber,’ saying Mister Ji is currently the most prominent in Jianghu, so I first went to Listen to the Wind Tower in Jiang City. At first they wouldn’t tell me, but after I knocked out a few, they became honest. Especially after I displayed sword momentum, Listen to the Wind Tower told me Mister Ji had gone to the Hanging Temple, so I rushed here.”
“I didn’t expect to find Mister Ji, but unfortunately, I’m no match for him…”
Hearing this, Ji Qing’s doubts were resolved.
At first, he wondered how Ye Chunsheng knew he was at the Hanging Temple.
It turned out Listen to the Wind Tower in Jiang City had told him.
Presumably, Listen to the Wind Tower in Jiang City had been “beaten into submission” by Ye Chunsheng.
Especially since Ye Chunsheng had sword momentum, Listen to the Wind Tower definitely couldn’t withstand it.
“No.”
“The Lone Swan Hermit was just a Third-Rank Martial Artist; the Lone Swan Sword Technique shouldn’t be anything profound. How did you master sword momentum?”
Ji Qing suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp as a blade.
