Chapter 47 The Proprietor

"Shopkeeper, I heard that the two people who just left today are carrying tens of thousands of taels. If we take them down, we can retire in comfort," a slightly excited voice drifted into Yu Qi's ears from outside.

"Tens of thousands of taels... If we get our hands on that, we can return to the Vulture Sect to cultivate properly," an aged voice replied, presumably belonging to the shopkeeper.

Hiding inside the room, Yu Qi frowned when he heard the words "Vulture Sect."

"I never expected this inn to have ties to some faction."

However, Yu Qi had never heard of the Vulture Sect, assuming it was just some obscure and unremarkable sect.

Hearing the voices outside gradually fade away, Yu Qi and Mu Qingnan stepped out of the room.

They quietly tailed the shopkeeper and his men until they entered a back courtyard room, at which point Yu Qi stopped.

"Qingnan, stay here for a moment. I'll go inside and finish off this old scoundrel." Looking at the shadows cast by the indoor lamplight, Yu Qi gripped the Cold Frost sword.

Mu Qingnan nodded. He had only just recovered from the psychological toll of taking a life earlier that day; if he were forced to end another person's existence right now, his mind might simply snap.

With that, Yu Qi flashed forward and kicked the room's door into splinters with a single strike.

The sudden, deafening crash made the occupants inside turn their heads in shock. When the shopkeeper saw who had arrived, his eyes widened in disbelief. "Weren't you dead?"

Yu Qi smiled chillingly, stepping into the room with the Cold Frost sword in hand. "What? Did you think I wouldn't survive? You black-hearted old thief, running a decent inn wasn't enough for you, you had to resort to such sordid crimes. Today, your journey ends right here!"

A wave of evil aura suddenly burst forth from his surroundings, casting an icy chill over everyone in the room.

The Cold Frost sword thrust forward like lightning.

At the same time, an aggressive aura erupted from the shopkeeper. He clenched his hands into fists, gathering formidable internal energy within them, and threw a devastating punch straight at Yu Qi.

Yu Qi held his sword horizontally, blocking the path of the fist wind.

The fist, laden with immense power, slammed into the Cold Frost sword, causing it to vibrate violently.

Yu Qi swiftly retracted the blade, releasing a sudden gust of wind that blew the shopkeeper and the attacking servants back against the walls of the room.

The potted plants scattered around the room crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

The razor-sharp edge of the Cold Frost sword flashed instantly, hurtling toward one of the servants with unnatural speed.

Just as the man was scrambling up from the floor, he felt a blade of sword light slash past his throat, followed by a surge of warmth and a violent spray of fresh blood.

The very next moment, Yu Qi's sword edge reappeared before another servant. The speed was so terrifying that their lives were extinguished before they could even react.

"Such a fast sword! There really is some substance to you. No wonder the men I sent couldn't kill you." Seeing his servants cut down one after another, the shopkeeper's aura grew increasingly fierce. This young man gave him an intensely dangerous feeling; if he wasn't careful, he might well perish by this youth's sword.

The technique Yu Qi had just unleashed was precisely the "Light" stance of the *Light Rain Sword* manual, but these servants were simply too weak to withstand even a single strike from him.

Feeling the shopkeeper's sudden surge in power, Yu Qi merely glanced at him coldly. His body shot forward once more, the Cold Frost sword thrusting straight and true toward the old man's throat.

The elderly man showed no fear whatsoever. As the incoming sword light approached, the clothes on his body billowed out before tearing away piece by piece, revealing his heavily muscled physique underneath.

Though advanced in age, his reactions were remarkably agile. The instant the Cold Frost sword pierced toward him, he sidestepped to evade it.

His fists gradually clenched as true qi coalesced within them, coating his knuckles in a pale-yellow glow.

A massive gale rushed toward Yu Qi, followed immediately by that yellowish fist.

Yu Qi planted his foot and instantly leaped backward to dodge the blow.

The fist swept through the empty space and smashed into the wooden floorboards, sending spiderweb-like cracks spreading outward.

Having evaded the punch, Yu Qi closed in again, his sword light slashing down toward the old man's heavily muscled frame.

The old man refused to dodge. Watching the approaching blade, he simply extended his bare hand and grabbed straight at it.

The Cold Frost sword was caught firmly in his grip!

He was actually using his physical body to hard-counter a sharp weapon!

Seeing this, Yu Qi was slightly startled. The drifting evil aura around him instantly poured into his body, turning his eyes a stark grey.

A surge of power traveled from the evil seed within his dantian straight to his limbs. He yanked hard, pulling the Cold Frost sword free from the old man's grip.

Then, he launched another attack, executing the "Light" stance as the speed of the sword in his hand increased dramatically.

Slashes of sword light continuously fell upon the old man's body—so fast that even the veteran fighter had no time to parry them.

As a flicker of secret astonishment crossed the old man's face, a smug smile soon replaced it. "I have practiced body-tempering for many years. With just your meager strength, you can't even break my defense."

Ignoring the biting edge of the sword, he threw a punch straight at Yu Qi's chest.

Caught off guard, Yu Qi hurriedly raised his sword to block.

One side was fully prepared, while the other was acting in haste.

Yu Qi was instantly sent stumbling back several paces, his internal organs churning uncomfortably.

He realized that the old man's realm had not yet reached the level of Micro-Perception; rather, the man's overall strength was simply formidable, especially his physical body. With his current cultivation level, even executing the "Light" stance failed to pierce through that defense.

Micro-Perception merely allowed one to observe things with extreme clarity, discerning the trajectory of an opponent's attacks to react a step ahead.

Yet, encountering someone with such a monstrously resilient physique rendered that advantage largely useless.

Of course, this was only relative to his current strength. If a far more powerful practitioner were to execute the "Light" stance, a single sword strike would be enough to cleave the old man clean in half.

"Since a frontal brute-force attack won't break through, let's try a different approach."

Yu Qi held his long sword horizontally and began circulating the cultivation method of the "Rain" stance. Employing this technique would undoubtedly reveal to the opponent that he was a survivor of the Yu family, but that no longer mattered.

Because once this technique was unleashed, it meant the enemy was destined to die.

The Cold Frost sword struck out once more, though this time, its pace was noticeably slower than the previous assaults.

The old man's eyes lit up with joy. Assuming Yu Qi's attack speed had dropped due to exhaustion from his earlier counterattack, he let out a hearty laugh. "Kid, those tens of thousands of taels belong to me after all. Remember to be a bit more clever in your next life."

His fist struck out again, easily deflecting Yu Qi's seemingly sluggish attacks each time.

Yet, every time he thought he was about to land a solid blow on Yu Qi's body, the youth would always manage to block it with precise, perfect timing. This anomaly finally began to arouse his suspicion.

Suddenly, he caught sight of rain droplets spontaneously materializing around them. Staring at Yu Qi in disbelief, the old man gasped, "This is the *Light Rain Sword*... You... you are from the Yu family!"

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that a scion of the utterly annihilated Yu family was still alive and walking this earth.