Chapter 014: The One-Fingered Spirit

Hundreds of years ago, the founder of the Divine Sword Villa, Xie Tian, roamed the martial world. With his superb swordsmanship, he dominated an era and earned the reputation of the number one swordsman under heaven.

From then on, he established the Divine Sword Villa.

And thus the Divine Sword Villa stood unshakable, passed down through the martial world for centuries, becoming a sacred place in the jianghu.

It was also a forbidden ground for martial artists; no one dared to cause trouble there.

But after Xie Tian, although the Divine Sword Villa produced many talented individuals, none could match Xie Tian and be worthy of the honor of the number one swordsman under heaven.

So from then on, the plaque bearing the words 'Number One Sword Under Heaven' was covered with a black cloth.

However, in this generation, the Divine Sword Villa finally produced a swordsman no less skilled than Xie Tian, and even surpassing him.

Xie Xiaofeng.

But interestingly, although Xie Xiaofeng was not inferior to Xie Tian, he still could not match the plaque.

Because in this generation of the martial world, there were too many masters of the sword: Sword Saint Ye Gucheng, Sword God Ximen Chuixue, Sword Demon Yan Shisan, the number one divine sword Yan Nantian, and besides them, Purple Robe Hou, White-Robed Man, Xue Yiren, and so on—each was a renowned swordsman.

Xie Xiaofeng was confident that he was not inferior to any swordsman of the time, but the problem was that he was not sure he could defeat these people.

So the five characters 'Number One Sword Under Heaven' remained covered with dust, never hung openly.

Why did Lu Xiaofeng suddenly lift that black cloth now?

Just as Wang Bo was somewhat puzzled, he suddenly saw Lu Xiaofeng raise his right hand and strike toward the plaque of 'Number One Sword Under Heaven.' His hand cut through the air, carrying the force of wind and thunder, as if to shatter the plaque into pieces.

But at that moment, a sword qi flew from afar, like a swimming dragon, straight at Lu Xiaofeng.

Lu Xiaofeng lightly tapped the ground with his foot, drifted backward, and evaded the sword qi.

The sword qi did not hit Lu Xiaofeng; instead, it turned in midair and chased after the retreating Lu Xiaofeng, causing Wang Bo's eyes to jump.

This method of controlling sword qi from a distance was very un-wuxia. It even had a hint of fantasy.

Was there really such a swordsman in the world?

Wang Bo turned his head to look outside, and saw that in the square outside, another person had appeared.

It was not Xie Xiaofeng, but an elderly man. Xie Xiaofeng and Lu Xiaofeng were of the same generation, so naturally it could not be an elderly man.

The next second, Lu Xiaofeng broke through the window and leaped out. While in midair, he kicked out repeatedly, sending pieces of wood flying toward the sword qi.

The onrushing sword qi shredded piece after piece of wood, eventually being consumed completely.

Then Lu Xiaofeng landed lightly like a large bird.

When he saw the old man, he looked as if he had seen a ghost, his face changing unpredictably. "Uncle Xie, you are not dead?!"

Wang Bo finally understood who this old man was.

Xie Wangsun!

The master of the Divine Sword Villa, Xie Xiaofeng's father.

Wang Bo had some impression of this man. He remembered that in the original novel, when Yan Shisan went to the Divine Sword Villa to challenge Xie Xiaofeng, it was Xie Xiaofeng's father, Xie Wangsun, who received him.

In Yan Shisan's eyes, Xie Wangsun seemed just an ordinary man, casually walking to the edge of the green lake, seeing the autumn scenery of mountains and waters, and casually stopping there.

He was too ordinary, as ordinary as the twilight of this late autumn.

But that did not mean Xie Wangsun's skill was poor.

In fact, Xie Wangsun was very strong.

Someone had once tried to assassinate Xie Wangsun. Although Yan Shisan was present, that person was so fast that Yan Shisan could not block him in time.

Xie Wangsun himself seemed completely unaware, merely sighing as he bent down to pick up a withered leaf.

His movements were slow. He picked up the withered leaf as if moved by sentiment. His life was already like this withered leaf, faded and fallen, yet he happened to dodge that lightning-fast sword strike.

In that instant, the sword light clearly struck at his back, yet it missed by a hair. The interval was no more than a fraction. Xie Wangsun slowly picked up the withered leaf, gazing at it quietly, as if he had not yet noticed what had just happened.

It was only then that Yan Shisan realized this old man was truly a master who concealed his skill well.

His martial arts had reached the realm of perfection, completely refined, merged with the great nature. Thus, no one could perceive it. In other words, this was the state that all martial artists dreamed of.

Unity of heaven and man.

And Xie Wangsun could merge with nature, which was enough to show he was very strong. No wonder the other could unleash that sword aura like a clinging bone maggot.

But the problem was, a few years ago, the Divine Sword Villa was massacred. Except for Xie Xiaofeng, who had disappeared, everyone died.

Among them was this Xie Wangsun. But now, he stood before Lu Xiaofeng, no wonder Lu Xiaofeng looked as if he had seen a ghost.

In fact, he really had seen a ghost. In Wang Bo's eyes, this Xie Wangsun was not a living person at all.

No heartbeat, blood stagnant, except for the movement of his eyelids, there was no sign or breath of a living person anywhere on his body. Instead, he was more like a corpse.

Lu Xiaofeng soon noticed this too, his face growing even more astonished. "Uncle Xie, what is the matter with you?"

He was a good friend of Xie Xiaofeng, so it was only natural for him to address Xie Wangsun as uncle.

Xie Wangsun stiffly turned his head, looking at Lu Xiaofeng, his expression gradually turning ferocious. "Anyone who trespasses into the Divine Sword Villa shall be killed without mercy."

Then he swung his sword.

This sword strike was astonishingly fast. Almost the moment it was swung, the man was already before Lu Xiaofeng, the long sword mere centimeters from Lu Xiaofeng's forehead.

This sword strike made Lian Chengbi's scalp tingle.

He considered his own swordsmanship not bad, though inferior to Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue, he was still among the top swordsmen below them.

But seeing Xie Wangsun's sword today, he realized his own swordsmanship was far from enough.

Only when he could deliver such a sword strike could he be called a top swordsman.

Faced with such a fast sword, Lian Chengbi could do nothing but shout at Lu Xiaofeng.

"Watch out!"

Yet at this critical moment, two fingers suddenly appeared on the path of the sword, effortlessly clamping it.

Xie Wangsun's attack came to an abrupt halt.

Lian Chengbi groaned, "The Heart-to-Heart Finger!"

He knew the Heart-to-Heart Finger was Lu Xiaofeng's signature technique, and that it could catch all hidden weapons under heaven, but he did not know it could also catch a sword strike as fast as thunder.

What kind of person could create such an incredible finger technique, capable of catching such a sword?