787 The Successor

Many were already questioning the validity of Zhang Ruochen's death, and some even questioned Lin Yue's identity.

Zhang Ruochen was on thin ice at the moment, and with the slightest mistake, he would be gone forever.

For this reason, he could only kneel from afar, even though his mentor had collapsed in front of him. He wouldn't dare to step closer to his mentor's fallen body.

If his identity was exposed, he would either die at the Sword Pavilion, or be taken to the Central City.

He managed to keep his sanity and rationality at this crucial moment, suppressing his emotion by telling himself constantly not to be emotionally driven when things fell apart.

If he was being impulsive, he would disappoint his mentor's lifelong protection, and all of his effort would have been in vain.

"What's the matter, Lin Yue?"

Mu Jiji and Xun Hualiu, who were at the back, rushed to his sides, helping him to get back on his feet.

Meanwhile, Moon-Burier Sword Saint took a sideways glance at Zhang Ruochen with a strangely intent look on his face.

Zhang Ruochen kept his gaze on the ground, so the others would not notice his dilated blood vessels and the tearstains in his eyes. He placed his right palm on his wound, which now had a scab freshly forming, which he tore off. "Nothing. The sword injury caused by the Immortal Vampire was hurting again," he explained further.

Mu Jiji got more worried when he saw blood oozing out from Zhang Ruochen's thigh. "Elder brother, you shouldn't be standing when you have such a deep wound. Instead, you should focus on your recovery."

Moon-Burier Sword Saint did not notice that Zhang Ruochen actually knelt on his own, but since he was distracted by the sudden death of Sword Saint Xuanji. he thought it was the injury that had caused him to fall on his knees.

"Lin Yue, the conference should be ending soon. Since you are badly wounded, you may head back to rest," ordered Moon-Burier Sword Saint.

"Hm."

Zhang Ruochen nodded, and continued looking down.

Xun Hualiu and Mu Jiji helped support Zhang Ruochen to leave the camp.

When they were at the edge of the Square, Zhang Ruochen stopped and turned around to look toward the direction of Sword Saint Xuanji's body.

"Mentor, I vow to be a sword saint. When the day comes, I will head to Nine Serenity Sword Saint City and take down Nine Serenity Sword Saint as the apprentice of Sword Saint Xuanji," Zhang Ruochen vowed to himself.

Although he knew, the duel between Sword Saint Xuanji and Nine Serenity Sword Saint was a fair fight, the death of Sword Saint Xuanji was no one's fault.

Yet this battle had affected the reputation of Sword Saint Xuanji unfavorably, while Nine Serenity Sword Saint received the praises and compliments. This led everyone to believe that Nine Serenity Sword Saint was more powerful than Sword Saint Xuanji.

In Sword Saint Xuanji's lifetime, he upheld pride and honor the most. It would be absurd if none of his apprentices helped to claim his title back.

"Nine Serenity Sword Saint, I will hunt you down and kill you."

Second apprentice of Sword Saint Xuanji, Zhu Hongtao, held both fists tightly, his eyes turned red and he let out a loud roar. There was a beastly aura that emanated around him, causing a howling wind to form in the Square.

The saints that were present seemed to have expected this, as they cast Saint Soul Territory immediately to defend their apprentices standing behind them.

Zhu Hongtao was the descendant of Taigu – tall, strong and of fine physique. His cultivation level was equivalent to a saint, and his combat power was close to his eldest brother, Saint Qingxiao.

Zhu Hongtao was already 4.75 meters tall as his natural self. When his rage set in, his body expanded multiple times larger, and the sound of his bones cracking could be heard.

There was only anger in his eyes. He stomped his foot on the ground and dove towards Nine Serenity Sword Saint with his fist against the saint's chest, exposing a large hole in the ground.

The power the fist delivered was so powerful that six of the Half-Saints were knocked out before it impacted Nine Serenity Sword Saint.

Nine Serenity Sword Saint stood still, and without using his sword to defend himself, he lifted his finger to point at the incoming fist.

It was only a finger, yet it penetrated through Zhu Hongtao's chest as if poking through a thin layer of paper, leaving a wound the size of a wine glass in his chest.

Zhu Hongtao bounced back and fell back to the hole he created with a loud bang.

"Even your mentor couldn't survive my sword, what makes you think that you can win? How dare you lay a finger on me?" Nine Serenity Sword Saint smirked and mocked him.

"You are but an old man."

Zhu Hongtao roared, flipping himself up, preparing to challenge Nine Serenity Sword Saint again.

"You are forgiven for your impulsiveness because of Sword Saint Xuanji's unanticipated death. I understand your feelings, therefore you are still alive. But you dare continue to assault me? Do you really think I won't kill you?"

Nine Serenity Sword Saint's gaze turned cold, his two fingers extended into a sword sign, and a strong whirl of energy formed around it.

The energy was giving out a strong intent to kill, and Saint Qingxiao figured it was unwise to challenge Nine Serenity Sword Saint. Within split second, he teleported to the front of Zhu Hongtao and gave him a palm strike, stopping him from moving forward.

"Eldest brother, why are you stopping me?" yelled Zhu Hongtao.

Saint Qingxiao gritted his teeth and shouted, "Can you calm down? Our master's death was minutes ago, and I do not wish to deal with yours minutes later."

Zhu Hongtao glared at Saint Qingxiao for a moment, then knelt by the side of his master's body. He roared as he pounded his chest continuously, as if this could numb his pain.

The pain of rage and sorrow, of helplessness – watching your much respected master lay motionless in front of you, yet there was nothing you can do, not even take revenge.

Nine Serenity Sword Saint withdrew his sword sign and turned to Saint Qingxiao. He said, "I welcome you to seek revenge at Nine Serenity City. Anytime. But please bear in mind, there will be no mercy next time. I will give each of you the revenge you wanted – death. I doubt Xuanji had that many apprentices, and when I'm done killing all of you...that's when I'll get my peace."

"Don't you worry about it. One day, I will defeat you with my own strength at Nine Serenity City," replied Saint Qingxiao.

"Not in this life. Among the apprentices of Sword Saint Xuanji, only Zhang Ruochen, the Time and Space Descendant was exceptional. The achievements of the rest are nothing but mediocre. If he was alive, I would only consider him as a rival after a hundred years more of cultivation, even with his talents. The others? It would be their suicide mission to challenge me."

Nine Serenity Sword Saint laughed and shook his head, then turned around to walk away.

"What a jerk!"

The truth was, Wan Ke, Half-Saint Lingshu and Huang Yanchen would love to have a duel with Nine Serenity Sword Saint.

However, with their current levels of cultivation, fighting against a Sword Saint was like an ant wanting to challenge a well-equipped military man – not a single chance.

The aura emanating from Nine Serenity Sword Saint was enough to hold them static on the ground.

The fourth brother, Feng Han, picked up Taotian Sword laid next to Sword Saint Xuanji's body, his eyes flicked bright and fanatic at the precious sword behind everyone's view.

With a faked sneer, he said, "How arrogant! Does he really think none of us will be his enemy even in the time of another hundred years? I, Feng Han, solemnly swear to take off Nine Serenity Sword Saint's head in the time of a century to honor our master. May the lightning strike me to death if I fail."

The remaining few apprentices were moved by his action.

Zhu Hongtao patted Feng Han's on the shoulder and said, "Fourth brother, excluding the late sixth brother, you are the most talented amongst us. You stand the highest chance to get our revenge."

Feng Han nodded in reply. "To be honest, before the duel, master had gotten everything sorted out. If something did happen to him, he wanted me to take up his mantle, and head over to the Central City along with his Taotian Sword and his body."

As he finished his sentence, Feng Han broke down in tears. He exclaimed in grief, "Since I have now assumed our master's mantle, I must defeat Nine Serenity Sword Saint in this lifetime, to live up to our master's high hope."

It was a life and death duel, who would have known the ending? It was understandable that Sword Saint Xuanji would have his matters after death taken care of. Therefore, none of the brothers question Feng Han's words.

Moreover, Sword Saint Xuanji had spent his time alone with Feng Han a few days before the conference started.

Being thoughtful, Saint Qingxiao stared at Feng Han with a hint of doubtfulness. "Why would mentor ask you to bring him and his Taotian Sword to the City?" he asked.

Feng Han looked into the eyes of Saint Qingxiao and replied calmly, "There is a secret that lies beneath the Sword, and to find out what it is about I will have to go to the City."

"Fourth brother, let's go to the City together," offered Zhu Hongtao.

"I want to tag along," said Wan Ke.

Feng Han shook his head and said, "This is a serious matter. Master insisted that I go alone, to avoid unnecessary troubles and disasters."

After finishing the line, he kept the Sword, and knelt down to lift up his master's body, looking sincere with teary eyes. "Farewell brothers, the day I return from the City shall be the day of vengeance."

He then disappeared into the darkness with Sword Saint Xuanji's body in his arms, leaving Sword Pavilion behind.

Third brother Wan Ke let out a long sigh, "I really do hope fourth brother will succeed, and not disappoint master's high hopes."

Huang Yanchen was the only one that kept her gaze on Feng Han's disappearing silhouette. There was a flicker of doubt.

She knew very well that if Sword Saint Xuanji was to choose his successor, it would have been Zhang Ruochen.

How could it be Feng Han?

There must be something fishy behind all this.

Huang Yanchen turned her gaze toward the eldest brother, Saint Qingxiao, biting her lips, hesitating to spit out her thoughts.

Before she could verify this with Zhang Ruochen, she would not say anything without evidence. Feng Han did look true to himself just now, and it was possible that master might have picked him as the successor.

All of her elder brothers were either Half-Saint, or Saint, and she was a nobody. How could she defame any of them without solid proof?

Her eyes started looking frantically at all four corners, searching for Zhang Ruochen's silhouette.