We quickly passed through the city and continued on our way. On the main road to Chang'an, there was a small town called Guo Sha. Guo Sha was a coordinate where the wind and sand passed through, and it was rare to have wind and sand south of the town, while north of the town was the true beginning of the desert. Although Guo Sha was small in scale, it had a famous wine tower with booming business, as all travelers from the west and south to Chang'an had to pass by here. The wine tower was located right next to the main road, and I and Xi Le had no intention of stopping, but we discovered that inside the tower, the lights were shining brightly, and the shouting voices were continuous, forming a stark contrast with the tense atmosphere and the soldiers everywhere on the way. I walked closer and found that the people inside looked very much like they were from the jianghu, and my curiosity was piqued, so I wanted to go up and take a look. I arranged for Xi Le and Xiao Bian to wait at the original place, and I went straight up to the wine tower. As a result, I was stopped by the boss, and I asked: "What's going on?"

  The boss said: Today is really embarrassing, it's really unlucky, the great hero upstairs has booked the whole place.

  I said: nonsense, I came down to relieve myself, how can't I go up?

  The boss apologized in a flurry and let me in.

  After I went upstairs, everyone stopped and looked me up and down. I found that there were more than 40 people here, all wearing knives and swords. The strongest one said: Kid, didn't the guys downstairs tell you that this is a private room?

  I said: I know, I know, I'm a friend of the boss. Usually like to practice martial arts, today just came to visit. He said there are many heroes upstairs, so I came up to see the world.

  This brought a burst of laughter. "Alright, alright, I think your physique is still pretty good. Although you can't practice like we do, it's still good for self-defense and physical fitness."

  I said: Right, right.

  Another one said: What basic skills have you practiced?

  I said: I haven't practiced anything, the other day I went to Shaolin and they didn't accept me, my natural talent is a bit poor. I've practiced some horse stances, planning to practice well before going to Shaolin again.

  This brought another burst of laughter: "Shaolin is gone, why go to Shaolin? In the future, come to Wudang, Jinyu, and Tianying. These three places are quick to enter, unlike Shaolin which fools people around, making you stand in a horse stance for three years."

  I said: Right, I just want to enter quickly. But where did Shaolin go?

  That man said: Haha haha haha, forty brothers, Shaolin will be settled.

  I said: "Impossible, Shaolin has many disciples who have just started practicing martial arts, but there are still many masters. Although the big hero is obviously a master at first glance, forty or more people are also outnumbered and outmatched."

  That man burst out laughing and said: We are all top-notch experts selected by various factions, and the swords we use were made by our master who is known as the number one strange person in the desert and the unparalleled heavenly soldier. They are sharp and feel good in the hand, you haven't even seen them before.

  I said: What's meant by Shaolin being gone is that they've admitted defeat?

  He said: Admit defeat? The rules of the Jianghu, until death do us part. Those several thousand people were all killed by our forty or so people. From now on, Shaolin will no longer be the number one temple in the world. And what their martial arts are like can also be seen from this. If you want to learn something, come to Wudang.

  I said: Ah? All dead? They didn't provoke anyone either.

  That person was somewhat unhappy and said: The grudges in the martial arts world, how can they be clearly explained with just a few words? Shaolin obviously lost, but still surrounded and killed our master. This is obviously not putting the rules of the martial arts world in their eyes, and should be taught a lesson. Moreover, things are not as simple as whether they should or shouldn't be done. You're young and don't understand.

  I said: Ah, okay.

  That man regained his smile: Those who know the current situation are heroes. Come, take a look, the knives and swords we use, can they compare to the Shaolin staff? When fighting, they use that broken staff and say it's made of some tree, while we use this sword, it feels like cutting sugarcane.

  Everyone burst out laughing and said: "Yes, those people, the ones with good physical strength are holding sugarcane-like sticks, what formation can they set up? Look at our swords."

  He finished speaking and drew out his sword to show me.

  I said: I also have a sword here, and it's said to be of good quality.

  That man said: "Those little things of yours are at most top-grade goods, ours are the best in the world. Don't believe me? Take out that thing of yours and see."

  I drew out my sword and suddenly found that it had become much sharper, apparently having absorbed a lot of bloody energy while I was in the temple.

  That person took a glance from afar and said: Look, on the surface your sword isn't bad, but the material is completely different.

  I said: What if everyone's sword is about the same? Mine was also made by a master swordsmith who has been doing this for many years.

  He said: Your master is different from our master. Don't believe it, you won't feel heartbroken, try it out, put your sword flat, hold on to it, right, like this. Young man, don't come looking for revenge.

  He finished with a sword. All I heard was a clang, and half of the sword fell to the ground.

  That person didn't even look at it and burst out laughing, saying: Haha, I told you it wouldn't work, redo it.

  I said: Sir, what are you doing with this dagger?

  That man looked at the sword in his hand and turned pale, saying: "Ah, what kind of master are you? What's the price for one sword? Speak quickly."

  I took two steps back, drew my sword and said: I don't want your money, I want your life.

  That man tensely raised his dagger and said: What does it mean?

  As soon as he finished speaking, his head fell to the ground. I was also startled, my intention was just to cut that person's throat, didn't expect the head to fall off.

  The old building was suddenly in great disorder.

  The three men rushed towards me first, those three men were obviously anxious, they didn't even draw their swords and pounced on me with their bare hands. I took a step back, not wanting to get blood on my clothes, raised my sword, and in an instant the three men fell to the ground simultaneously.

  Several dozen people stabilized their stances, surrounding me. One of them stuttered and asked: "You actually killed Wudang's Xiongfeng brother, don't you want to practice martial arts with us?"

  Before he could finish speaking, the man spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. A large, muscular man with a tiger's back and bear's waist had already stabbed him to death with one sword, saying: "Idiot, keeping you would be humiliating. I'm avenging Brother Xiongfeng."

  He charged at me with his sword, I dodged the blade and elbowed him hard in the stomach, but ended up getting knocked to the ground myself. The man was clearly in pain, gritting his teeth as he shouted "Tongren Gong!" Before I could get back up, he swung his sword down at me again. I thought to myself, might as well use my sword to block it, so I used my sword to deflect his attack. Naturally, the man pulled out a dagger and came at me for the third time, muttering something under his breath. Again, I parried with my sword, but this time his head rolled off, blood spraying everywhere, his hand still flailing about. I thought to myself, this might just be the fastest case of killing someone in revenge in this dynasty.

  The rest of the people were slightly stunned, and one of them shouted: "Let's go together!" After finishing, several people rushed up together. I found that having a good sword is really easy to use. I just need to dodge their slow swordsmanship, and with one stroke, one person would die, and it gets better and better, much faster than at the beginning. Even if they are one meter away from me, they can still be injured. It seems that there is indeed a saying about "sword energy" in this world. I almost turned all their swords into daggers, which were still the old man's previous works. If it were an ordinary sword, I'm afraid I wouldn't even feel a slight tremble in my hand. I didn't expect it to be so easy myself. In just a few minutes, more than 40 people died cleanly. Without any effort from me, they couldn't get close to me at all.

  I sheathed my sword, and as a result, I heard the sound of splintering wood and saw several wisps of smoke. The wooden pillars on the upper floor had all been severed. I couldn't help but exclaim in admiration at how sharp it was. If it were to see more blood and kill more people, what would it become? But I immediately dispelled this thought, thinking that old man was indeed sinister - not a bad person himself, yet he sold swords to some gangs with questionable morals, creating swords that encouraged people to keep killing, constantly wondering just how sharp the sword could get. What kind of person is this?

  As he walked out of the tavern door, the old boss hiding under the counter poked his head out and said, "Great hero, what have you done?"

  I said: Oh, you have to go and collect them, I killed forty or so people.

  As soon as I finished speaking, the boss fainted and fell to the ground.