Chapter 691: An Old Farmer

White and Whiter were kept just outside the ninth prince's palace, alongside Red Comet.

The food made with the peak- and superior-grade lifeform meat that Zhang Lie and the ninth prince couldn't finish all went to the three lifeforms. The food had been specially prepared by imperial chefs and was fit for a prince; White and Whiter had both grown fat.

After consuming so much high-quality meat, the three lifeforms had all grown tremendously. Their bodies boasted far more strength than before, though they had yet to fully absorb and convert that energy to strength.

Zhang Lie patted White on the stomach. "White, you've grown fat! As though you were five months pregnant."

The ninth prince sighed as he poked at Whiter. "Whiter, if you grow any fatter, you might not be able to move."

The two black leopards had gorged themselves without exercise until their bodies had swollen to the size of Persian cats.

"If you keep growing fatter, you'll become like Garfield," Zhang Lie warned.

The ninth prince asked, "What's Garfield?"

"A very fat cat."

White howled in dissatisfaction, either because Zhang Lie had called it fat or because it was announcing that it was a cat.

Zhang Lie patted him on the head. "Alright, alright. It's time to get going now."

Zhang Lie rode on White, and the ninth prince on Whiter. The two leopards howled and leapt forward. Red Comet's wings whirred as he kept pace with them.

At the same time, in the imperial palace, the crown prince was getting ready to set off.

"Are you leaving now?" the king of the realm asked, seated on the throne.

The crown prince nodded. "My preparations are ready, and it's time to leave."

The king of the realm sighed. "It's a pity that Master Hong was unwilling to accompany you. With his help, you would be sure to recover the seal."

The crown prince seemed a little shocked. "Not even you can command him, Father?"

"I'm getting old," the king of the realm sighed.

The crown prince truly was startled. His father had all but admitted that his strength was inferior to Zhang Lie's. Perhaps in his prime, he might have been able to coerce Zhang Lie into going on the expedition, but no longer.

The king of the realm tossed a chest on a table to the crown prince. He caught it, opened it a slit, and saw radiant, multicolored light so bright he was dazzled. He hurriedly shut the chest again.

The crown prince promised, "I'll recover the jade seal in its entirety!"

The king of the realm waved him away. "Go."

After he left, the king of the realm's gaze turned icy cold. "It's well past time to find these Jinghun for myself."

By then, Zhang Lie and the ninth prince had already departed from the capital.

Zhang Lie and the ninth prince encountered no trouble on their way to the land the king of the realm had bequeathed them. As they passed by a city and recalled the day they met Wang Jian, the ninth prince's eyes lost focus for a moment. He asked, "Master, do you remember this road?"

"A little, I think."

"You killed the Wang clan's bladewielder right here." The ninth prince pointed before them, only to find a farmer standing where Wang Jian had once stood. He was seated on a stool and leisurely smoking a pipe.

Zhang Lie and the ninth prince immediately tried to steer clear to prevent a collision, but the old farmer halted them with a wave of his arm, sending a streak of sword energy forward and barring their path. Zhang Lie deflected the blow with water-attuned genetic energy at his fingertips.

The old farmer asked, "The ninth prince and Master Hong, correct?"

Zhang Lie frowned. "Who sent you here?"

The old farmer raised his head and looked at the sky, as though he couldn't hear Zhang Lie's question. "It's been a few decades since I left the mountain. This time, I realized that the world has truly changed. The king of the realm has grown old, and the capital was actually attacked! Quite a few alien forces have gathered within—I can't imagine it. In my time, there was only ever the Yinlian."

Zhang Lie frowned. The farmer before him had no aura whatsoever, and he seemed to be perfectly ordinary. His hair and beard were white, and his skin bronzed. He seemed to be the quintessential image of a farmer.

However, he seemed perfectly attuned to nature, with flashes of sword energy occasionally visible from his aura.

"You're truly strong," Zhang Lie remarked. He hadn't expected to see such a master of the sword around. "Are you from the Wang clan?"

He had made many enemies in this world, but only one clan stood out for its prowess with the sword.

"I'm from the Jian clan," the old farmer clarified.

Zhang Lie contemplated his words. "Because of Jian Mo, or because of the third prince?"

Those were the only two incidents he could think of that would prompt such a response.

"It's been a long time since I participated in worldly affairs. Jian Mo died because his skills weren't up to par; it's a pity, but it was well deserved. However, as a senior member of the Jian clan, I can't simply let his death go so easily. That's why I'm here today.

"I've been on a mountain for decades, and I'm quite curious as to the world's strength at large. If you can defend against one of my blows, I'll annul whatever grudge lies between my clan and you."

Zhang Lie smirked. "Sounds like a bargain for me."

"Will you give it a try?"

"I will. I'm quite curious about your strength."

A bamboo pole appeared in the farmer's hands. It was a perfectly ordinary pole, but the moment the farmer picked it up, his aura changed. He transformed from an old farmer into a swordsman of yore. No sword energy billowed from him; all of it had already seeped into heaven and earth.

The breeze that blew by was a blade; the water vapor in the air was a blade. A leaf spun around by the wind was a blade. The earth in the ground was a blade; the cloud passing through the sky was a blade. With the old farmer at its center, a world of blades shot toward Zhang Lie.

As the blades split the air, the trees around Zhang Lie fell one by one.

Zhang Lie didn't move. He stood still, and the sword energy dissipated all around him. Zhang Lie seemed like a tall mountain, a vast sea, a starry sky, an impenetrable galaxy. Just his aura alone was able to suppress the sword energy emanating from the old farmer.

"Very interesting. It's been too long since I met an opponent of this caliber. Jian Mo didn't die in vain," the old farmer remarked.

Killing intent surrounded the old farmer, pouring into the bamboo pole he was using as a sword. The pole exploded, and the killing intent manifested in the form of a black blade.

With just one glance, Zhang Lie identified that the old farmer's sword style was exactly the same as Jian Mo's, though there was a marked difference between the old farmer's technique and Jian Mo's, or even Wang Jian's.

.

When facing the latter two swordsmen, Zhang Lie found it difficult to identify whether it was the man controlling the sword, or the sword controlling the man. Killing intent had corrupted their mind and soul; Jian Mo's corruption, in particular, had been absolute.

However, the old farmer had mastered the technique with the wisdom of age and experience. His blade killed not for the sake of slaughter, nor for the sake of worldly affairs, but by whim and whimsy alone...