At noon on the 13th of July, on the official road about ten miles away from Feixue City, a crimson horse beast sped along, carrying a mother and daughter.

"Mom, how much longer?" Jiang Yao, sitting in her mother's arms, asked.

"Almost there, just half an hour more at most," Wei Baiyun replied.

She and her daughter had set out the previous afternoon. With Wei Baiyun's late-stage congenital cultivation, it was easy to bypass the Shentu tribe’s blockade and surveillance. The mother and daughter first reached the nearest county town to the Jiang tribe, where they switched to a better horse beast and then sped towards Feixue City.

They ran through the night, from dusk until dawn, without resting.

Ahead on the official road, a group of more than twenty people riding expensive horse beasts came toward them. They weren’t rushing, moving leisurely as if they were in no hurry.

The leader of the group was a middle-aged man in a brocade robe.

"Second Master, this time we made such a big demand from the Wei family, and they agreed. It seems the Wei family is really in trouble," said a one-armed man riding a blue horse beast.

"Trouble? It’s not really trouble," the middle-aged man in the brocade robe responded indifferently. "In recent years, the Wei family has had a hard time. Several of their tribulation-level experts have either died or are too old and won’t last much longer. It’s hard to say whether any younger tribulation-level experts will emerge in the next ten years. While they still have some strength, they must ally with all parties. The Wei family can only do this to maintain their position as one of the four great families."

"Also..." The middle-aged man suddenly darkened. "The matter of Wei Baiyun calling off our engagement years ago, all the blame lies with the Wei family. They couldn’t even manage their own daughter, getting her pregnant out of wedlock with some barbarian from a tribe. They didn’t even respect the Dong family."

The Dong family of Jinhe.

Originally a tribe, the Dong family had been elevated to noble status three hundred years ago, founding "Jinhe City."

"Our Dong family and the Wei family have been close for a hundred years; we could even call it a familial relationship. But after the engagement was called off, the two families became a laughingstock in Feixue City. Although we continued to have some exchanges, our cooperation has significantly decreased. Now that the Wei family has accepted my terms for an alliance, it’s also a compensation for that past affair."

The middle-aged man in the brocade robe spoke with some pride. "My father is now a strong competitor for the position of the City Lord of Jinhe. With power in hand, the Wei family has no choice but to curry favor with me if they want to ally with the Dong family. Even if I demand sixty-five percent of the profits from this alliance, they have no choice but to agree!"

"Yes, yes, Second Master, you are in a completely different position now. The Wei family must look to your face if they want to ally with you. You didn’t ask for too much, which is your kindness," the one-armed man flattered.

"Hahahaha!" The middle-aged man in the brocade robe laughed, full of vigor.

Wei Baiyun saw the group of more than twenty people from a distance.

Though they were all riding expensive horse beasts, they had no flag, and she couldn’t tell which family they were from. She didn’t pay much attention to them, only instinctively lowering her hood and cracking the whip, urging her mount to speed up as she hurried forward.

The official road was about ten yards wide.

The Dong family’s group moved slowly along one side of the road.

The crimson horse beast carrying Wei Baiyun and her daughter dashed past the other side, the rider wearing a hood, with a girl nestled in her arms, looking quite heroic.

As they passed each other, the middle-aged man in the brocade robe casually glanced over.

The wind blew up the white silk on the edge of the hood, and the middle-aged man saw the woman’s side profile. Her focused posture as she hurried along caught his eye. At the same time, the wind lifted the half veil on the girl’s face, and for a moment, the girl looked curiously at the group of more than twenty riders.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

The middle-aged man in the brocade robe instantly recognized that side profile. Although it had been sixteen years, he would never forget the woman who had made him lose his mind for ten years. Strangely, his gaze didn’t linger on that side profile for long. He was immediately drawn to the face of the girl, whose veil had fluttered up. He was utterly shocked!

It was as if twenty-six years ago, when he first met her in the Wei family.

She and the girl were too similar!

It was as if they were carved from the same mold!

The crimson horse beast continued toward Feixue City.

The Dong family’s group naturally moved forward for quite a distance. The middle-aged man in the brocade robe, still in shock, suddenly raised his hand, signaling the group to stop.

"Wei Baiyun... and her daughter? Wei Baiyun is returning to Feixue City?" The middle-aged man in the brocade robe pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and stopped. He stared at the retreating figures of the riders, now over a hundred yards away, gradually fading into the distance.

"I’ve heard it before. After giving birth to a son for that wild man, she then had a daughter. But I never expected them to look so alike. That girl looks almost identical to Wei Baiyun when she was in her teens..."

"Second Master?" the one-armed man called out.

"Second Master, what’s wrong?" he asked.

"Do you recognize those two?" he inquired.

The one-armed man kept calling out to him, and the middle-aged man finally came to his senses.

"Let’s go!" The middle-aged man’s gaze was intense. He waved his hand. "Back to Feixue City!"

At the back mountain of the Jiang Tribe's earthen city, the sound of "whoosh" could be heard incessantly as Jiang Xuan practiced his sword technique in front of a strange stone.

He hadn’t rested at all.

His figure was ghostly, the blade light flickering around him, as if dozens of blades surrounded him with every swing. The sword formed a defensive posture, with dozens of sword shadows interweaving, though there were still gaps in defense. With continued practice, however, these gaps were gradually reduced.

"Chasing Wind Blade only has nine styles, but each style contains many basic movements. There are at least ten or more, and up to hundreds of variations. The more movements there are, the more variations. These variations must be completed in an instant for a style to be considered mastered."

"The fourth style, Ring Blade Style, is used for defense, with thirty-six variations."

"I need to execute all thirty-six variations flawlessly in an instant. Only then will I have mastered this style. My father spent over two years perfecting it, from learning it to mastering it. As for me…"

"Faster!"

"Even faster!"

"Faster!"

"Break through!"

Suddenly, a buzzing sound reverberated. Jiang Xuan’s sword light finally merged into one, surrounding him and forming a perfect circle made up of thirty-six layers of sword shadows, completely protecting him.

"I did it!" Jiang Xuan abruptly stopped, staring blankly at his surroundings.

He looked up at the sky, noting the position of the sun.

"And I... only took ten hours." Jiang Xuan murmured, his eyes filled with excitement.