Chapter 240 – Wielding the Ruling Blade to Uphold Chivalry, And So the Great Battle Begins - Part 3

Three days later.

Li Yuan left Holy Tree Palace under the pretense of

traveling for inspiration.

As soon as he was out of sight, he slipped away by a roundabout route, changed clothes, and checked carefully to be sure no one was following him. Then he took out a pale-white compact of rouge and began to put on the eerie, ghostly makeup—his Yin disguise.

Moments later, a poised, gallant young man stood among the trees.

“Walk the talk,” Li Yuan muttered to himself. “I’ll start with my Ruling Blade. If I can push the Thousand-Mile Hero concept to its peak, then let’s see how far I can go.” Taking a deep breath, he murmured lines from an ancient poem, quietly hypnotizing himself, “Ten years’ toil to hone a sword, its edge has yet to taste blood. This day, I show it to you; who out there still bows to injustice?”

He drew an ordinary iron blade from his waist and slashed downward. A wave of energy churned through the air, raw and unyielding. More than that, Li Yuan’s heart surged with righteous anger. He could not tolerate any evil in the world.

Thus, he left the Yuantian Prefecture and headed into the neighboring Lingyou Prefecture. Relaxing his senses, he listened carefully to the sounds around him. After walking only a short while, he heard a child’s sobs and the angry shouts of a man.

Hurrying toward the commotion, he came upon a group of children in a line, hands bound with coarse rope, being dragged along by a ragged-looking man. Several other beggars flanked them on both sides, chattering with wicked grins.

“This kid’s just right, turning him into a snake-man would be perfect for scamming people out of money.”

“That little one’s small and dainty. If we lock her in a jar every day, she’ll never grow taller. One of those

pocket beauties

would fetch a high price.”

“Oh, I know. Lord Ji once bought one of those girls. Delicate things—new and exciting, but they never live long. A few nights of

fun

, and they get sick.”

The beggars cackled and carried on, discussing their vile trade as the children wept in despair. Some had been lost and taken, others sold by their own families—often without knowing the horrors that truly awaited them. But these children had all heard enough about the Beggars Sect in Silkfloss to know how bad it could be. The Beggars Sect was said to have more members than even the lofty Holy Tree Palace. How could anyone hope to escape?

Hearing their smug conversation, Li Yuan’s fury ignited.

“You deserve death,” he snarled, leaping forward. The flash of his blade was cold and swift; the beggars died one by one before they could even raise a cry.

The last beggar fell to the ground in terror. “H-how dare you! We’re from the Beggars Sect!”

In that moment, Li Yuan was wholly immersed in his hero persona, roaring back, “Then on what grounds do you dare kidnap children?”

“That’s just how it is,” the beggar spat. “Half the beggars in Silkfloss Province do this. You think you can stop it?”

The children shrank back, gazing at Li Yuan with hollow eyes. He stepped forward and ended the beggar with a single slash. Turning to the children, he said, “Come with me.”

Silently, they followed him. None asked questions or uttered a word.

Yet as Li Yuan led them through the streets, no one would take them in. Martial halls found them too frail, brothels found them too dirty, and no one needed servants so small. At his wits’ end, he turned to the local Windfall Group branch and met with the femme fatale Ying Me’er.

Though Li Yuan was in disguise, Ying Me’er still recognized him as her master, greeting him respectfully.

Li Yuan explained his predicament.

Ying Me’er covered her mouth with a light laugh. “Master, the Windfall Group is large. We’re always short of helpers, so we can certainly give these children a chance—let them study if they show promise in academics, or train in martial arts if that suits them better. Those who do well can become stewards, guards, maybe even lead a caravan someday.”

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“But there’s a risk,” Li Yuan said gravely. “And you’ll probably draw the ire of the Beggars Sect.”

She merely smiled. “If the local branch master of the Beggars Sect realizes who’s behind this, do you really think he’d dare make a peep? And if more children keep arriving, I can always send some on to Shadow Garden, who also train youngsters. But if it truly doesn’t work out—”

“Give them money and a way out,” Li Yuan finished.

“Understood, Master,” Ying Me’er answered with a sultry bow.

The very next day, Li Yuan brought the rescued children to the Windfall Group. Then, following his Thousand-Mile Hero vision, he roamed the land, intervening at every sign of cruelty. He cut down countless beggars who traded in stolen children, sending waves of rescued kids to the Windfall Group.

A month into his travels, Li Yuan briefly returned to Holy Tree Palace’s city stronghold to fill two more spirit artifact orders, each paying 1,500 taels of blood gold. After spending some 20 days forging them, he went back on the road.

Before long, rumors spread across the Silkfloss Province underworld about a mysterious White-Robed Blade King. In that dark world of scheming and violence, he shone like a beacon of pure resolve—asking no payment, demanding no glory, wielding a single blade in the name of justice. He saved thousands of children, sending them safely into the arms of the Windfall Group. Despite this, no one from the Beggars Sect dared launch a direct assault on the Windfall Group itself, perhaps out of fear or some murky arrangement. Instead, they sent wave after wave of thugs against the White-Robed Blade King.

Li Yuan cut them all down.

Within half a year, he single-handedly suppressed the Beggars Sect in Tombdive Prefecture. Beggars who once roamed openly in child-trafficking rings now hid in fear of his blade. Still, the Beggars Sect was vast. After a brief lull, they mounted an even larger offensive, this time hiring several sixth rank wandering martial artists.

Yet Li Yuan killed two of those sixth rank mercenaries and gravely wounded the Beggars Sect’s leader. With that, the beggars went silent. They had no one more powerful to send, so they held back, reining in their members. It certainly helped that their leader was incapacitated, and that the two vice leaders taking over had quietly come under Li Yuan’s sway.

Immersed in his role as the White-Robed Blade King, Li Yuan pushed forward on his quest to perfect the Thousand-Mile Hero intent. Progress was slow, but it was there. And slow progress was enough to give him hope for the future.

As the year drew to a close, large-scale battles finally erupted. The Holy Tree Palace’s top experts left the city to fight on distant fields. Li Yuan, as an official weaponsmith, was excused from combat. Snow fell heavily as he made his way back to the hall.

Soon, a letter arrived from Tang Nian. She had set out more than nine months ago, and now, it seemed, she had already reached Cloudpeak Province. She wrote that she’d successfully claimed the Tang Family’s legacy, avenged her family, and was perfectly fine, reassuring her godfather that no man’s smile would heal her heart.

Li Yuan smiled and tucked the letter away before burning it. But moments later, his brows drew together. There was word of his father-in-law, Zhu Ban, from the battlefield.