Kneeling Before the Prince! Transmitting Power!

If not for Guo Juxia’s reputation standing above all others, the people of the Jianghu would have honored Yan Nantian with the title of the greatest hero under heaven.

And since the title of the greatest Sword God under heaven already had an owner—Ximen Chuixue, master of Wanmei Villa—everyone could only settle for calling Yan Nantian the greatest swordsman under heaven.

Yan Nantian did not care about such things. He had never upheld justice for some worthless title. It was simply the burning passion in his chest that compelled him to draw his sword.

So when he realized that Li Gexiao might have suffered an injustice, how could Yan Nantian suppress the fury in his heart?

Li Gexiao had not intended to tell anyone of his experiences, but Yan Nantian held a special place in his heart.

"My enemy is the current Grand Secretary, Yan Song, known as the ‘treacherous minister’…"

Li Gexiao slowly recounted what had happened all those years ago.

Yet before he had even finished, Yan Nantian had already clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot as though they might spew fire.

Jiang Feng was equally enraged.

When Li Gexiao finished, Yan Nantian turned and shattered the earth wall in the courtyard with a palm strike. He roared, "Such a villain, and the Emperor still employs him? He truly is a foolish ruler!"

Jiang Feng shook his head with a bitter smile. "All one can say is that Yan Song truly knows how to be an official. He may be evil, but the source of it lies with the Emperor. The Emperor cannot exactly punish an official for doing his bidding, can he?"

Yan Nantian sneered. "The Great Ancestor once said that when the Son of Heaven breaks the law, he is as guilty as a commoner. So what if he is the Emperor? Does making a mistake mean he can simply deny it?"

Li Gexiao lowered his head, his expression cold. No one knew what he was thinking upon hearing those words.

Jiang Feng said, "Big Brother, that is the Emperor. Even if he is wrong, what can you do?"

Yan Nantian immediately choked on his anger. It felt as though ants were crawling all over him, yet he could not scratch the itch. The discomfort was unbearable.

"Lord Li, pack your things. We are going to the capital. If we cannot do anything to the Emperor, then we will start with Yan Song. We will collect as much of this debt as we can. Yan will lend you a hand!"

Yan Nantian’s word was as good as gold. If he said it, he would act on it. But Li Gexiao did not wish to drag him into this and shook his head. "Hero Yan, this is my family matter. I do not wish to trouble others. One day, I will settle the score with that old thief Yan Song myself."

On second thought, Yan Nantian nodded. "Since Lord Li was able to defeat the Twelve Zodiacs and the Yihua Palace Master, your martial cultivation must have reached an extremely high level. You truly have no need for Yan’s help."

Li Gexiao froze for a moment, then slapped his thigh and laughed. "Hero Yan, you have it wrong. At my peak, I truly could have wiped out the Twelve Zodiacs, but I was absolutely no match for the Yihua Palace Master. Even if I trained for another twenty years, I still could not do it."

Jiang Feng also laughed awkwardly. "Big Brother, I was not talking about Lord Li. I meant someone else."

Yan Nantian scratched his head, utterly confused.

Li Gexiao explained, "My young master dealt with the Twelve Zodiacs, and he was also the one who defeated the Yihua Palace Master. To my shame, I am his guard, yet I failed to fulfill a guard’s duty."

"Young master?!" Yan Nantian frowned. He first cast aside the matter of who had defeated the Yihua Palace Master, then said unhappily, "A hero like Lord Li—why should he serve another as a slave or servant?"

"Yan would like to see just which hero possesses such tremendous bearing."

In his eyes, a good official like Li Gexiao, one who cared for the common people, should have been treated well even if he had lowered himself to join a wealthy household. Making him a guard was not that an insult?

"Letting him be a guard is already giving him plenty of face. This lousy drunk still owes me a mountain of wine debt. If we really settled the accounts, he would have to sell his ass to pay me back!"

Chu Yang yawned and lazily emerged from the thatched hut, glaring at Yan Nantian with an unfriendly expression.

So what if he was the greatest swordsman under heaven?

Keep yapping, and I’ll smack your mouth crooked.

"Oh? My ass is worth that much?" Li Gexiao grinned mischievously as he sidled up to Chu Yang. "Then I’ll sell it if I have to! What’s the difference between us?"

"Get lost!" Chu Yang waved him away impatiently.

"You are the young master Lord Li spoke of!" Yan Nantian stared at Chu Yang in displeasure and said heavily, "When Lord Li was an official, he benefited the people for many years. How can a foul-mouthed brat like you casually insult him?"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Two Bureaus are known as the court’s hawks and hounds. The common people avoid them like the plague. What benefit to the people are you talking about? It would be good enough if they did not harm the people!" Chu Yang said disdainfully.

During the time he and Li Gexiao had been useless men in the capital, they got drunk and traded insults every day. You cursed me, I cursed you. They had practically said every cutting thing imaginable to one another. What was there to care about?

Li Gexiao did not mind in the slightest and nodded as though it were only natural. "There is indeed such a saying. The Embroidered Uniform Guard are the hawks, while the Two Bureaus are the hounds. But after my master took command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the saying gradually faded away. Of course, the Two Bureaus are still dogs. That is an indisputable fact."

Seeing Li Gexiao fawn over Chu Yang like this, Yan Nantian felt disappointed from the bottom of his heart. Was this still the Li Gexiao of old, the man who had spoken for the people and remained upright and unyielding?

He did not hide his disappointment, and Li Gexiao knew what he was thinking when he saw it. Thus, he smiled. "Hero Yan, the greatest fortune of Li’s life has been serving at Young Master’s side. If you think my bowing and scraping is unpleasant to look at, then simply do not look!"

"Li Gexiao is still Li Gexiao. Even if I had not taken off that Flying Fish uniform, I would still bow and scrape before Young Master. Nothing would change, and that includes all of you."

Yan Nantian sneered. "After all these years of knowing each other, Lord Li still underestimates the bones in Yan Nantian’s body."

Li Gexiao burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Hero Yan, this has nothing to do with whether your bones are hard. It has quite a lot to do with your nine clans."

Yan Nantian looked at Li Gexiao in confusion.

Jiang Feng seemed to have thought of something, and his body suddenly trembled.

Li Gexiao turned to glance at Chu Yang. A teasing smile curled Chu Yang’s lips, and he nodded.

Li Gexiao dusted off his sleeve and said solemnly, "Standing before you is the Emperor’s younger brother, His Highness Prince Xian, personally invested by the Late Emperor."

"Hero Yan, failing to kneel before a prince is a capital crime in our dynasty!"

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Feng had already dropped to his knees, his forehead pressed tightly to the ground. He shouted, "This commoner, Jiang Feng, kowtows before Your Highness! May Your Highness live a thousand years, a thousand years, ten thousand times a thousand years! This commoner did not know Your Highness’s identity and has offended you many times along the way. I beg Your Highness for forgiveness!"

Yan Nantian stared at Chu Yang in disbelief. Though he was called the greatest swordsman under heaven, he was fundamentally still a commoner. Offending a prince was likewise a capital crime.

So what if one was a Jianghu master? When a million wolf riders trampled through the Jianghu, no matter how formidable one was, one would still die!

Li Gexiao shook his head and laughed. "Hero Yan, do you understand now whether Li’s bones are hard or not?"

Yan Nantian sighed bitterly. As though resigning himself to fate, he lowered his head and knelt.

"This commoner, Yan Nantian, kowtows before Your Highness!"

This painless show of dominance was the small price Yan Nantian paid for his disrespectful words.

Only when his forehead lowered did Yan Nantian understand the teasing behind Li Gexiao’s words.

"Since ancient times, there has never been a shortage of those who violate the law through martial force. If you truly break the laws of the court in the future, the title of greatest swordsman under heaven will be of no use. Take care of yourself!"

Chu Yang looked down at the kneeling Yan Nantian, his tone as languid as if he had not yet woken up.

Yet Yan Nantian heard killing intent in those words. His heart tightened, and he instinctively reached for the Black Iron Heavy Sword on his back.

If this prince refused to let the matter rest, then even if it meant falling out with Li Gexiao, he would fight with everything he had.

Yan Nantian would not submit helplessly simply because the other party was a prince high above him.

"I told you not to entertain all sorts of messy thoughts."

Chu Yang flashed forward, suddenly appearing beside Yan Nantian. He pressed down hard on the Black Iron Heavy Sword.

Yan Nantian felt as though ten thousand jin of force had suddenly landed on his back.

Just as he was about to resist, that terrifying force crushed him so thoroughly that he could not even raise his head.

Rumble!

The ground beneath their feet collapsed, forming a pit thirty meters deep.

Yan Nantian knelt within the pit, his face flushed red, his eyes bloodshot, veins bulging across his neck and temples.

He was like the Monkey beneath Five Elements Mountain, crushed so hard by Tathagata Buddha that he could barely breathe.

"This man defeated Yaoyue, the Yihua Palace Master. It truly was not luck. Such terrifying brute strength is rarely seen in this world. Even battlefield generals born with divine strength could not compare."

Yan Nantian circulated the Wedding Dress Divine Skill with all his might, true essence pouring endlessly through his limbs and body. Without that, he estimated that he would have long since been crushed into pulp.

But he had yet to comprehend the true essence of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill. He had not destroyed his cultivation and started anew. The more fiercely the divine skill circulated, the more its tyrannical true essence rampaged through his body, inflicting inhuman pain upon him.

Within only a few breaths, cold sweat had soaked Yan Nantian from head to toe, and his expression was one of extreme agony.

Chu Yang had already withdrawn his force and stood to the side, observing Yan Nantian’s current state.

"Big Brother! What is wrong with you?"

Jiang Feng anxiously held Yan Nantian, sensing the tyrannical power within him. He could not help clicking his tongue inwardly.

Big Brother’s Wedding Dress Divine Skill was so violent. How could it possibly be calmed?

"Your Highness, has Hero Yan suffered Qi Deviation?"

Li Gexiao did not know that Yan Nantian cultivated the Wedding Dress Divine Skill. He thought Yan Nantian had forced his cultivation into motion to resist Chu Yang and gone astray.

"No. The martial art he cultivates is inherently extremely domineering. He must transfer all of his cultivation to another person and begin anew in order to blunt its edge and eliminate the sharpness within the true essence. Only then can he wield and withdraw it freely, circulating it as he wishes."

Yan Nantian, who was enduring immense pain, abruptly opened his eyes. As if stimulated, his tiger eyes stared fixedly at Chu Yang.

"Why are you looking at me? I do not want your true essence." Chu Yang said irritably. "The Wedding Dress Divine Skill is known as the Zen sect of martial arts. You must attain enlightenment yourself, understand your own heart and nature, and let go of everything. It is only human to be unwilling to part with cultivation earned through decades of bitter effort. Whether you can come to terms with it depends entirely on you."

"The Wedding Dress Divine Skill means making a wedding dress for someone else."

Yan Nantian’s face had already turned as pale as gold foil, as though he could pass out at any moment. Yet he continued repeating Chu Yang’s words. "Making a wedding dress for someone else…"

Li Gexiao and Jiang Feng were both shocked after hearing this. There was actually such a martial art in the world? How could any normal person have thought of it?

To a martial artist, martial arts were intertwined with one’s very life. Destroying decades of cultivation in one stroke was more painful than being killed!

Yan Nantian was also a man of great resolve. Faced with the question of whether to abandon all his cultivation, he made his choice in an instant.

The situation was critical. He was willing to trust Chu Yang, whom he had met only once. Given Li Gexiao’s character, he should not be associating with a great villain. Besides, the other man had saved Jiang Feng.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Yan Nantian grabbed Jiang Feng’s clothes, his gaze gradually becoming firm.

Jiang Feng understood Yan Nantian’s intentions and nodded. "If Big Brother is willing, you can transfer your cultivation to me. We brothers are of one heart and one body. There is no distinction between yours and mine."

Yan Nantian smiled in relief and forced himself upright, preparing to transfer the Wedding Dress Divine Skill’s cultivation to Jiang Feng.

Chu Yang’s voice rang out again, still lazy. "The more Jiang Feng cultivates the Surprise Dragon Manual, the weaker he becomes. He must have no martial arts at all before he can attain perfect completion and reach the Surprise Dragon realm of returning to truth and origin. If you transfer your cultivation to him, you will be forcing his martial arts to run in reverse."

"Even if he survives the ordeal, he will become crippled and spend the rest of his life bedridden."

Yan Nantian hurriedly pushed Jiang Feng away. With his true essence in chaos, his blood and qi surged, and crimson blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"Big Brother, hold on! If I cannot do it, there are still others!" Jiang Feng looked at Li Gexiao in panic. "Lord Li, you are the only one here who can withstand my big brother’s cultivation. Please help him!"

Li Gexiao hesitated. He rejected the act of receiving another person’s transferred cultivation from the bottom of his heart. Martial cultivation should be built step by step on solid ground.

Chu Yang kicked Li Gexiao in the ass and said coldly, "Hurry up! If he does not transfer his cultivation soon, the true essence will burn him alive!"

The matter was urgent, and Li Gexiao could no longer afford to cling to his little ideological scruples. He hurriedly sat in front of Yan Nantian.

Yan Nantian brought two fingers together like a sword and pressed them against Li Gexiao’s Qi Sea Dantian. The Wedding Dress Divine Skill, blazing like true fire, slowly flowed into Li Gexiao’s body.

The instant the cultivation entered his body, Li Gexiao felt Yan Nantian’s pain. It was as though every meridian, every piece of flesh, and every drop of blood in his body was being forged in flames. The pain was so intense that it left him speechless.

Fortunately, Li Gexiao’s life had been filled with hardships, and he had endured every kind of suffering. Compared with the torment he had suffered in the Imperial Prison, the process of receiving the transferred cultivation was not so unbearable.

A short while later.

The scorching aura around Yan Nantian dissipated, and his complexion returned to normal. There was no longer any pain in his face. Yet when he felt the emptiness of his Qi Sea Dantian, he could not help feeling dazed.

The cultivation he had painstakingly built over decades had truly become a wedding dress for someone else today…

"Without destruction, there can be no rebirth. What is there to regret? Are you, a grown man, unable to let go of even such a small matter?"

"Weren’t you acting as though you feared neither heaven nor earth just now?"

Yan Nantian let out a long breath, nodded, and smiled. "Your Highness is right to rebuke me. Yan should not have acted so sentimentally. Today, thanks to Your Highness’s guidance, I have finally understood the true essence of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill. Yan has no way to repay this kindness. Should Your Highness have any orders in the future, Yan will not hesitate to die ten thousand deaths!"

"Enough. Recover your cultivation first before talking about dying ten thousand deaths." Chu Yang waved his hand. He felt that he kept collecting fragments of heroes—Li Gexiao was like this, and Yan Nantian was the same. Couldn’t he find an SSR with no problems at all?