Morbas, a renowned swordsman of the Western Regions, was said to come from an ancestry blending the strengths of both the Central Plains and Persia. By his father's generation, these traditions were further refined, and every effort was poured into nurturing him. In the end, he became a master of his generation, reaching the Xiantian realm.
He had resided for generations at Liefeng Fort, situated within an oasis dozens of li outside the Cheshi royal capital. Though appearing detached from worldly affairs, he was in fact the patron behind several bands of sand bandits, taking a share of their spoils.
Because his martial arts were exceptionally high and he had taken the prince of Jushi as his disciple, the Jushi Kingdom never moved against him. Instead, they relied upon him to ward off experts from other nations. Naturally, returning favor for favor, he kept those sand bandits from touching the property of the Jushi Kingdom. It was precisely this false sense of security that led the kingdom to lower its guard, allowing Sha Lijin's horse bandits from the south to join forces with the Mount Qi bandits and overrun one of its key strongholds.
The Jushi Kingdom suffered heavy losses, and Morbas was thoroughly displeased. Yet the Mount Qi bandits were far away inside the pass, and Sha Lijin roamed deep in the southern desert without a fixed abode, leaving Morbas with no way to retaliate.
Consequently, they turned their sights toward the merchant caravans traveling between east and west. Moreover, owing to Morbas's own preferences, they directed even more of their attention toward caravans made up predominantly of people from the Central Plains.
"Why does Morbas dislike people from the Central Plains?" Li Yunxiu asked thoughtfully.
"Naturally because there is another behemoth in the Jushi Kingdom," Qianqian said with a giggle.
Rushing eastward together, they soon spotted a solitary small courtyard along the desolate Gobi path. A tavern banner fluttered in the wind, and several horses were tethered outside.
Much like the major cities of the Central Plains, cities in the Western Regions imposed curfews. Taverns and inns like this, positioned not far outside urban centers and market towns, were set up precisely for travelers who had missed the chance to find lodging before nightfall or found it inconvenient to enter the city.
Catching sight of the familiar horses outside the courtyard, Xu Qingquan immediately said, "They haven't set off yet!"
Dismounting, the group entered the small courtyard to find Fang Shaobai and Shen Zhijun conversing with two men and a woman, flanked by three others keeping them company.
Wang Yu did not recognize the principals, but he did recognize those other three companions.
"Brother Duan, Brother Xu, Brother Gongsun!"
These three accompanying figures were none other than Duan Wei of the Duan family from Pingliang Fort in Anxi Circuit, alongside Xu Hao and Gongsun Yi, whom he had met in the Central Plains.
"Prince Zhao?"
"Oh? You know each other?" Fang Shaobai looked curious at first, then dawned with realization. The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor and Pingliang Fort were both in Anxi Circuit—wasn't it only natural for Wang Yu to know Duan Wei?
And since he knew Duan Wei, knowing Duan Wei's friends was just as natural.
Fang Shaobai then introduced Wang Yu's party to the others.
Xu Qingquan of the Qingyang Sect had stayed behind in the Cheshi royal capital and ridden back with Wang Yu, so there was no need to introduce him. The other three were Liu Wuchen of the Bashan Sect, Xie Fuyun of the Yucang Sect, and Leng Jiangzhu of the Meishan Sect.
With that, the chief disciples of the Seven Great Sword Sects had all assembled!
"Bashan night rain dims the candlelight, slender willows sway as catkins take flight."
As one of the Five Renowned Swords under heaven and the foremost figure among the Seven Great Sword Sects, Sword Saint Liu Suifeng lent the Bashan Sect an extraordinary standing among the seven sects. Liu Wuchen was of Liu Suifeng's clan. Said to have received personal guidance from the Sword Saint himself, not only had his cultivation attained the Xiantian realm, but his Wind-Swirling Dancing Willow Sword was also deeply imbued with the Sword Saint's true teachings. Among the four who had come from Chuanxi Circuit, he was their leader.
The Qingyang Sect originated from Daoism, its swordplay balanced and upright, peaceful and composed. Xu Qingquan as a person was likewise mild-tempered, never vying or jostling for position; yet he was upright and steady, and whatever task was entrusted to his hands was sure to be accomplished.
The Yucang Sect was perched on Mount Yucang at the southernmost tip of Chuanxi Circuit. Generations of its swordsmen carried the air of gentlemanly refinement, and Xie Fuyun was naturally no exception. His demeanor was scholarly and detached, faintly laced with noble dignity—gentle on the outside, yet proud within.
Though the other six great sword sects also had female disciples, men generally held primacy. The Meishan Sect, however, was the only one among the Seven Great Sword Sects that accepted exclusively women, and it held its ground firmly against the other sects, standing side by side with Bashan, Taihua, and the rest.
This was not something ceded through the modesty, kindheartedness, or disinterest in fame of the other sects; it was carved out with sheer force by the heroines of Meishan. Leng Jiangzhu was eighteen years of age, yet she was already the only other Xiantian expert from Chuanxi Circuit aside from Liu Wuchen.
Seven swords for the Seven Great Sword Sects, and Leng Jiangzhu was the youngest. Though she had only recently broken through to the Xiantian realm, in terms of sheer cultivation tier she was already on par with Liu Wuchen, who trained under the Sword Saint, and Fang Shaobai, hailed as having the promise to reach the summit in the coming generation. Yet true to her surname, Leng—meaning cold—she was freezing to the extreme.
The four had left Chuanxi Circuit, entered and traversed the Xingxiu Sea, crossed into the desert of the Western Regions from the south, and headed north, where they encountered an injured Duan Wei and his companions emerging from Liefeng Fort.
Earlier, after Duan Wei and his two companions left Longshan Prefecture, they returned to stay at the Duan family estate in Pingliang Fort for a few days before venturing deep into the desert. They traveled along the Mount Tianshan range searching for a Tianshan snow lotus.
Unfortunately, the Tianshan snow lotus was a rare and precious treasure that simply could not grow anywhere near human habitation. Having found nothing along the entire journey, they turned south and headed for Dayuan.
In Dayuan, Gongsun Yi bought two hundred horses and hired a team of grooms. The three then herded the horses back, only to unexpectedly run into sand bandits within the borders of the Jushi Kingdom.
Had they been ordinary horse bandits or sand bandits, the trio's martial arts would have left nothing to fear. But this band was different: their leaders had been trained by Morbas, and fighting together, their martial arts were formidable enough to hold off the three for a short time and make off with the majority of the horses.
Naturally, the three pursued them, located the sand bandits' lair, and launched a night raid, completely wiping out this small band. Only then did they discover that several of the most precious sweat-blood horses were missing.
Interrogating the surviving bandits, they learned of their connection to Morbas of Liefeng Fort, and that those prized steeds had already been sent to Liefeng Fort.
They had no interest in exposing Morbas's so-called "inside ties" to the sand bandits; they only wanted to reclaim their most prized steeds.
The Western Regions bordered Anxi Circuit, and the Jushi Kingdom was relatively close to the Central Plains. Duan Wei had heard of Morbas's name, and he believed Morbas would also know of the Duan family of Pingliang Fort in Anxi Circuit.
To his mind, his father was also a Xiantian expert, and Liefeng Fort and Pingliang Fort shared a mutual respect across the distance. If he personally stepped forward to ask for a few horses that sand bandits had seized and sent over, Morbas surely would not refuse.
Yet Morbas did refuse.
Not only did he refuse, his attitude was exceedingly hostile, and he even spoke slanderously of Pingliang Fort and Duan Wei's father.
To insult a man's parents to his face was something even the most even-tempered person could not endure, let alone a man of the Northwest—and what man of the Northwest was truly meek?
Unfortunately, Morbas disregarded martial virtue entirely. He did not even send his disciples to spar with Duan Wei, but took the field himself, stabbing Duan Wei in the shoulder with a single sword strike before driving them out of Liefeng Fort.
It was under these circumstances that Duan Wei's trio encountered Liu Wuchen's party.
Last year, during his travels in the Central Plains, Duan Wei had met Xu Qingquan—who had likewise journeyed out of Sichuan—in Jingji Circuit, while Xie Fuyun was acquainted with Xu Hao of Huichun Valley. Thus, after meeting and catching up on old times, Liu Wuchen prepared to stand up for the three of them.
However, Morbas was an established veteran Xiantian expert after all. Worried something might go awry, Xu Qingquan volunteered to check the Cheshi royal capital to see if Fang Shaobai's party had arrived.
As it turned out, not only had Fang Shaobai arrived, but the Prince of Zhenxi and his two companions had come as well.
"Brother Gongsun, are those two hundred horses for your own use or for trade?" Wang Yu asked curiously.
Gongsun Yi chuckled. "A bit of both. Since I was already there, I figured I'd buy more; with any luck, I might earn back the expenses for the ones I keep."
Wang Yu voiced his approval. "Makes sense!"
"The Northwest trade route truly pairs risk with reward; there's good reason things cost what they do," Gongsun Yi sighed. "If I hadn't run into Hero Liu and the others, I might have lost my shirt on this trip."
He had purchased over two hundred horses, of which seven or eight died along the road. Then, between the sand bandits' ambush and their own counterattack, nearly thirty more were fatally injured, and the four most valuable sweat-blood horses were snatched away.
If he could not get them back, Gongsun Yi would lose at least half his principal.
Liu Wuchen smiled faintly. "Since everyone is here, let us set off."
Fang Shaobai laughed as well. "I too would like to see just how capable this master is, who dares disparage the heroes of our Central Plains."
It was said that Liu Suifeng was romantic and unrestrained, and taking him as a role model, Liu Wuchen was just as dashing and suave, his eyes radiating calm confidence. Compared to Fang Shaobai's languid ease, he carried more of the dignified poise of a leader.
And so, with Liu Wuchen at the lead, everyone left the courtyard, mounted their horses, and rode toward Liefeng Fort.
As a guest invited by Fang Shaobai, Wang Yu naturally would not overstep his bounds. He stayed at the rear of the group with Li Yunxiu and Qianqian, chatting with Duan Wei and the other two about what they had seen and heard in the Western Regions.
Duan Wei had merely come along for the ride, Gongsun Yi had acquired his sweat-blood horses, and Xu Hao was returning empty-handed.
"We're heading up Mount Tianshan this time. Care to join us? You might just harvest a Tianshan snow lotus," Wang Yu teased.
Xu Hao shook his head vigorously. "A Tianshan snow lotus is a rare treasure, growing only on desolate peaks thousands of zhang high. The closest is Lingxiao Peak of Mount Tianshan, but that's the forbidden ground of the Tianshan Sect—outsiders aren't allowed near it."
Riding onward, they soon spotted an oasis in the distance beneath a sheer cliff. Liefeng Fort was nestled deep within the oasis, built against the precipice with imposing grandeur.
Yet the closer they drew, the more they realized that something was amiss inside the fort. Many figures were scurrying about the oasis, rushing in and out of Liefeng Fort as though searching for or guarding against something.
Seeing the cloud of dust kicked up by the group's dozen-odd riders, Liefeng Fort promptly slammed its gates shut. Several men mounted the gate tower to peer out, only to see the riders rein in their horses outside the fort.
Before Liu Wuchen could call out to the gate, one of the men on the wall caught sight of Duan Wei among the group and barked furiously, "You people from the Central Plains! Bested in martial arts by my master, you secretly poisoned him to take his life, and now you dare return? Do you take our Liefeng Fort for an empty house?"
"What?" Everyone was stunned.
Liu Wuchen's expression hardened. "Who might you be, sir?"
His voice was not loud, yet it crossed ten zhang, ringing softly and clearly beside the ears of everyone on the wall.
"I am Shapur, and Morbas is my master!" the man shouted in reply, noticing nothing out of the ordinary.
Beside him, however, a young man was taken aback. He quickly pulled Shapur back and looked closely at Liu Wuchen. "May I ask who you are, sir, and why you have come?"
Liu Wuchen cupped his hands, following the customs of the Central Plains by showing courtesy before force. "Liu Wuchen of the Bashan Sect in the Central Plains. I have come to pay my respects to Senior Morbas, and incidentally to ask for the return of several horses mistakenly delivered to Liefeng Fort on behalf of my friends."
The young man's eyes flickered, his gaze sweeping over the company. "Are you all members of the Seven Great Sword Sects?"
Liu Wuchen raised a brow and nodded. "Indeed."
"Senior Brother Shapur, open the gates," the young man said to Shapur. "The Seven Great Sword Sects are renowned, righteous sects of the Central Plains. They do not resort to poison. Master was not poisoned by them, and perhaps they can even help us find Master's killer."
Chapter 71