Tome of Troubled Times
Chapter 871 (2): The Trial of the Saber

Chapter 871 (2): The Trial of the Saber

Ling Ruoyu slowly drew her sword and pointed it straight at Long Haoyang. “Alright, let’s make things clear. Here and now, what exactly do you intend to do, Young Master Long?”

Long Haoyang’s gaze flicked toward the massive door-sized item on her back, swaddled in heavy cloth like. Even with the girl’s long legs and tall stature, the saber nearly matched her height. The sight was... oddly adorable. He could not help but smile. “You’re wounded, and you’re going to duel me while carrying that giant saber? Wouldn’t it be wiser to hand it over? Let it slow me down a bit, then we’d be more evenly matched.”

Before Ling Ruoyu could respond, the “plank” on her back growled in protest, “Are you calling me fat?!”

Long Haoyang laughed. “So the sacred saber has a spirit, as expected. But tell me, young lady... Do you dare to use it?”

If she did, and Dragon Bird slew another figure on the Ranking of Man, the Tome of Troubled Times would broadcast her location again across the land. After that, survival would be nearly impossible. Even without a kill, just the flare of Dragon Bird’s aura would be enough to draw swarms of foes from every direction.

Ling Ruoyu gave a brilliant, mocking smile. “You’re good-looking, I’ll give you that, but it’s too bad your mom didn’t spare some energy for your brain.”

Long Haoyang: “?”

“Whatever consequences might come from using the saber, one thing’s for sure—you’ll suffer those consequences first. Killing someone on the Ranking of Man will draw people here, but you won’t be alive to see it. And I might not die at all. So tell me, what do I have to be afraid of?”

With that, she drew the saber.

Dragon Bird cheered, “Draw me, draw me!”

Cold sweat broke across Long Haoyang’s back. He was only here to scout ahead, perhaps stall for time for the reinforcements on the way. He had no interest in dying to a half-crazed girl carrying a divine artifact. Thus, he immediately raised his hands and said, “There’s no need for that. What say you we make a wager?”

Ling Ruoyu asked, “What kind of wager?”

“Well, we have ourselves a duel, one with our own swords. If you win, our Huai Salt Gang withdraws from this contest entirely. We’ll never pursue the sacred saber again. But if I win, you hand the saber to us. From then on, it’ll have nothing to do with you. Deal?”

It was a naked attempt to take advantage of her injuries. Yet, Ling Ruoyu’s sword intent flared instead. “Deal.”

At least this was not a direct, world-broadcasting clash. If this man could be sent packing with a simple wager, it was worth the risk, even if the fight would be brutally difficult.

Her master had once said, “A true sword heart advances ever forward. It does not fear hardship.”

If she could overcome this, the path ahead would open wide.

Clang!

Long Haoyang’s sword danced like a dragon, weaving through evasive patterns to exploit Ling Ruoyu’s supposed burden. In truth, Dragon Bird weighed nothing, but she feigned effort, parrying with exaggerated heaviness, eyes cold and sharp as she waited for her chance.

Clang!

She blocked a strike and prepared her counter, only for a stabbing pain to shoot through her side. Her previous injuries flared up at the worst possible moment, causing the return slash to falter.

The opening vanished. Reeling, she stumbled back, a fresh gash tearing open along her arm.

Damn... If I weren’t injured, I would’ve probably had an eighty percent chance of winning. I could have even broken through mid-battle!

Elsewhere, Zhao Changhe was in the middle of a deeply involved moment with Piaomiao, finally having coaxed her into letting him loosen her sash, when a sharp warning jolt surged through his heart.

He never kept tabs on the world for no reason. However, this was not intuition but a call. It was a silent distress call from Dragon Bird.

His little disciple was in trouble.

Piaomiao, half-lost in a daze of heat and breathlessness, suddenly stirred, pushing away his wandering hand with a murmur, “Hongling’s disciple is in danger. She’s destined to be tightly tied to the qi veins of the mountains and rivers. I should help.”

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “Let me handle it. Someone’s been tugging at the strings of fate, trying to pit us against each other. If I don’t show my face now, it’ll never stop.”

Piaomiao’s face darkened. “Ye Wuming?”

“...Mm-hm, only she has the gall and the ability to pull strings like this,” Zhao Changhe muttered, flipping a middle finger toward the sky. “If you don’t want me kissing my wife, then come stop me yourself!”

The heavens offered no response.

By the time Piaomiao turned to look, Zhao Changhe was already gone.

Fuming, she sent a transmission across heaven and earth. “Jiuyou, where are you? Come see me. We need to talk.”

There was a pause before Ye Jiuyou’s voice echoed straight into her soul. “What could possibly provoke your temper like this? Who has the gall?”

“I’ve only ever had one nemesis in two lifetimes. It’s still her.”

“Well now, what a coincidence. Same for me. Come to me. I’ve got something good to show you.”

On the boat, Ling Ruoyu had been forced back to the very edge of the deck, cornered by Long Haoyang’s relentless flurry of sword strikes. She was silently analyzing his rhythm, waiting for a single misstep to bait a counter and maybe even use the “plank” on her back to absorb a strike and gamble on a swift reversal.

Suddenly, a voice whispered into her mind, “From your stance and angle, are you thinking of blocking his strike with Dragon Bird, then twisting your sword to catch him under the ribs on the return?”

Ling Ruoyu: “?”

She recognized the voice. It was the ancient demon god from earlier!

“The idea isn’t bad, but it’s not a guaranteed kill. You’ll end up overextending, you’ll get off balance, and he’ll push you into the water. Look behind you.”

Only then did she realize that another boat had closed in from the rear. If she fell now, even a moment’s vulnerability would mean a hail of arrows—and death.

“Listen to me,” the demon god’s voice came again. “Fake the turn, but actually slip a step to the side. Use Clouds Sweep Across Qinling.”

Clouds Sweep Across Qinling was a sword move from Luoxia Mountain Village; it was the ultimate technique Yue Hongling used during her early days in the jianghu before inheriting the Sword Emperor’s legacy.

Ling Ruoyu had no time to question how this man knew the sword arts of a long-gone sect. Her body moved faster than her mind could process it. Her pivot became a feint. She veered sideways, then raised her sword horizontally.

Long Haoyang anticipated a turn. He fully expected her to use Dragon Bird as a shield and counter with a slash to his abdomen. Seeing the pivot, he smirked and immediately altered his strike, pulling his sword back to guard his flank while sweeping forward with his left palm, aiming to knock her and the saber into the river.

But she did not turn. She sidestepped.

Her sword arced low and horizontal—that was Clouds Sweep Across Qinling—and his palm, extended mid-strike, sailed directly into its path.

It was too late for him to change course.

The sword sliced clean through the meat of his arm, severing a major artery and resulting in blood spraying out wildly.

A scream rang out a moment later.

Ling Ruoyu did not hesitate. Her sword turned in her grip and swept upward.

It pierced cleanly through his throat.

High above, the sky flared in gold.

Midnight. Ling Ruoyu, safekeeping a saber, sails southward. Encountering Long Haoyang on the Grand Canal, though she was injured and exhausted, she refrained from using Dragon Bird’s power and fought him with her sword. In the end, Long Haoyang falls to her sword.

Ranking of Man, Rank 67: Ling Ruoyu.

Ling Ruoyu: “...”

What kind of half-witted idiot writes this accursed book? Are they trying to get me killed?

From the corner of her eye, she saw more boats rapidly closing in. Her gaze shifted toward the cabin.

There, the ancient demon god was standing casually at the cabin door, grinning. “I know. You’re mad. That’s good. You should be. Everyone’s been pissed off by the Tome of Troubled Times. You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last.”

Ling Ruoyu ignored that and instead said, “Thank you for your help, senior. But how did you know Clouds Sweep Across Qinling? That’s something from Luoxia Mountain Village, and our sect has long since been destroyed.”

Zhao Changhe replied cheerfully, “I was studying the heroes of this era just now and I discovered that your master is both beautiful and valiant. I greatly admire her, so I looked into her techniques.”

Ling Ruoyu’s face didn’t move a muscle. “So you helped me because of that?”

“Exactly. That’s the reason.”

“...”

Zhao Changhe watched her expression with interest and chuckled. “The path ahead is full of thorns, little one. You’ll probably have to kill your way straight to Gusu. Are you afraid? Are you going to abandon ship, vanish into the mountains, and wait ten days or so for your master to come rescue you? Hm, actually, if you do that, then I might just get to meet her in person...”

Ling Ruoyu shook her head. “Your guidance just now made me realize something important.”

Zhao Changhe smiled and said, “Oh? Is it that it’s useful to have an ancient demon god helping you?”

“Well, no,” Ling Ruoyu said seriously. “Most of the ambushes are concentrated in the north. With this fast ship riding the current southward, only experts with advanced movement arts like Long Haoyang can catch up. They’ll have to come one at a time. And if they do... then this sacred saber’s southern journey becomes my gauntlet. It’s my chance to test myself against the elites of the dark path.”

Zhao Changhe blinked. “And if you lose?”

“If it comes to it, I’ll use the saber. I have nothing to fear. This path may not be as perilous as it seems. Perhaps... this is the very trial Han Wubing intended when he entrusted me with the saber. If the Tome of Troubled Times is simply a whip that drives me forward, how is it a trap?”

Ye Wuming: “...”

I wasn’t trying to help you.

Then, Ling Ruoyu suddenly drew in a deep breath and shouted toward the boats behind, “The sacred saber is here! If you don’t value your life, then come and claim it!”

Her voice carried down the Grand Canal, stirring wind across the waters of Jianghuai.