Eternal Evil Emperor

The Martial Artist's laughter wasn't misplaced; when the mighty Yin Family caravan passed through, every one that swarmed to it was a Martial Artist above the seventh layer of the Brute Strength Realm. Those below the seventh layer could only stand by, watching with envy.

The Hexi Corridor was a road to riches, where those traveling between the imperial capital and the southwest frontiers generally met with one of two fates: make a fortune or die violently.

Take the Yin Family of Bianliang, for example, the top merchant of the Song Kingdom. All they needed to do was buy beast pelts, bones, and other cultivation necessities at low prices in Yangshuo City, then sell them back in Bianliang City. Coming and going, they made a hundredfold profit.

Many eyes were green with envy at the Yin Family, both from other regions and from locals in Yangshuo City. Why should you buy my goods for one piece of silver and be able to sell them for a hundred after traveling a thousand miles? I can do that too!

Those who claimed they could do the same often met the second, fatal result—they didn't get rich but were robbed by bandits in Hexi, enriching the bandits instead.

Thus, at least in business terms, the Yin Family had monopolized the Hexi Corridor. Of course, this wasn't because they were in cahoots with Hexi bandits. The Yin Family's success today was all thanks to a great battle that occurred decades ago.

That brutal battle was known as the Bloodbath of the Yin Family.

In that fight with the Hexi bandits, ninety-nine percent of the Yin Family men perished. For three hundred miles along the corridor, the blood of Yin men was spilled.

In the end, not a single Yin male was left, with only thirty percent of the Hexi bandits remaining. Just as the surviving bandits thought they could breathe easy, another troop arrived not far away. It was this troop that terrified all Hexi bandits into retreating into their strongholds for over a month, daring not to venture out.

This troop was entirely composed of women, ranging from eighty-year-old ladies to young girls just able to walk.

In terms of martial power, ten Hexi bandits could have easily killed this army of women, but no one dared to act, for all of them were deterred by the ferocity of the Yin Family. After half a month, the Hexi bandits struck a deal with the Yin Family, and for many decades since, no bandit group ever harassed a Yin Family caravan.

That's why the Yin Family became the protective umbrella over those traversing the Hexi Corridor. They also knew the rules; they only recruited lone Martial Artists as guards and never let merchants join their ranks, giving plenty of face to the Hexi bandits.

And in recruiting Martial Artists, the Yin Family had their own standards—the standard was the seventh layer of the Brute Strength Realm, because all members of the Yin Family's guard were at least at this level of cultivation.

Xie Tian, not tall, tiptoed to look into the crowd. The Yin Family's guards were checking each Martial Artist's cultivation, a simple process. A Martial Artist of the seventh layer of the Brute Strength Realm inherently possessed the strength of seven hundred catties, so all one needed to do was leave a seven-part-deep fist imprint on a half-person-high force stone.

He had never been clear about how much strength he truly possessed, but he remembered that yesterday, Xie Da's palm strike was no less than seven hundred catties, and he had only spat out a mouthful of blood. By that logic, he also possessed nearly that same amount of strength, which puzzled him.

How could he possess over seven hundred catties of strength while only at the fifth layer of the Brute Strength Realm? But he soon thought of what the books said—the higher the grade of the cultivation technique, the stronger its effects and the easier it is to break through realms. Correspondingly, the difficulty of cultivation also increases.

Xie Tian understood; the cultivation technique he practiced might not have a cover and resembled pickled vegetables, but it was a high-grade cultivation technique. He just didn't know which of the four tiers—Mundane, Superior, Supreme, Ultimate—it belonged to.

Thinking of this, Xie Tian finally made up his mind and walked towards the crowd. Soon, it was his turn.

"Name."

"Xie Tian."

"Cultivation level."

"Fifth layer of the Brute Strength Realm."

The Yin Family guard looked up at Xie Tian. Still covered in blood and his clothes torn, Xie Tian was a pitiful sight. The guard wanted to laugh but patiently explained, "Little brother, we're only recruiting those above the seventh layer of the Brute Strength Realm. Better leave now."

"If I leave a seven-part-deep fist imprint on that stone, I can join, right?" Xie Tian pointed to the force stone behind the guard and asked softly.

The guard was taken aback and then laughed, "That's correct, but…"

Xie Tian circled around the guard and stood next to the force stone, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then extended his right fist, lightly touching the stone. The stone showed no reaction.

"Pfft…"

The guard burst out laughing, and the surrounding Martial Artists followed suit, seemingly mocking Xie Tian for overestimating himself.

Unaffected, Xie Tian's flesh under his clothes was trembling rapidly. When this vibration reached the air outside his clothes, making them flutter without wind, he suddenly opened his eyes and twisted his body strangely!

Bull Demon Tower Charge!

Instantly, all his strength converged on his right hand and passed into the force stone through his fist.

Boom!

Dust surged, and thunder roared in his ears.

Xie Tian's figure shrank by an inch.

The half-person-high force stone retreated three feet.

Xie Tian pulled his feet out of the ground, where they were sunk an inch deep, walked over to the force stone to take a close look, and then approached the guard, who was as still as a statue. "Exactly seven parts deep. Am I qualified now?"

The guard swallowed hard, took another look at Xie Tian, his gaunt appearance, and emaciated body, a spent force that had lost its vital essence. Yet, this person, who was supposed to live the life of an ant quietly, possessed the same level of cultivation as himself.

For some reason, the jealousy bubbled up in the guard who had just been patient with the sorry figure.

"I say no, and it's a no!" The guard's demeanor changed in an instant as he snapped coldly at Xie Tian, "Move along quickly, or don't blame me for being rude!"

Xie Tian quietly watched the guard, not saying a word, nor leaving.

The surrounding Martial Artists finally recovered from their shock, first admiring Xie Tian with glances, speculating that he must be a talented disciple taken in by some hidden expert. However, when they heard the guard's words, most Martial Artists changed their tune and began to berate Xie Tian.

"Young man, didn't you hear what the Yin Family said? Get lost!"

"Hmph, learned a trick or two from who knows where, and you dare to show off at the Yin Family's doorstep!"

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"Clearly a useless man whose vitality has been completely drained, even if he has the strength of the seventh level of the Savage Power realm, what of it?"

"That's right, if it really came to a fight, I bet even someone at the third level of the Savage Power realm could take him down!"

...

Just as everyone was verbally attacking Xie Tian, a fierce shout suddenly erupted from the crowd: "What's all this noise about!"

The guard, who had been smirking continuously, was startled and turned his head only to see a man with a broad back and a waist as thick as a bear approaching. He quickly ran over and respectfully said, "I've seen troop leader Yin."

This man was Yin Fang, the leader of the Yin family's guard troop for this merchant caravan. Seeing that the Martial Artists had quietened down, he furrowed his brow and asked, "What's going on?"

"Leader, this kid wanted to go through our Yin family guard recruitment. I didn't agree, and he started causing trouble!" The guard pointed at Xie Tian and rapidly explained.

Yin Fang glanced at Xie Tian and thick disgust flashed through his eyes. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Scram! Such a young age and you've already broken the chastity vow, you're a disgrace to our kind! Don't leave and I might just cripple you for good!"

That one look from Yin Fang made Xie Tian feel the sting of pain once again. He knew this was a more formidable expert than Chen Feng, yet he was unwilling to give up!

Without the help of the Yin family, how could he safely pass through the Hexi Corridor to reach Bianliang?

Unable to reach Bianliang, where else could he seek the means to extend his life, to find those who had left an indelible mark on his heart?

Xie Tian didn't expect that just a hundred miles out of Yangshuo City, he would hit a wall he couldn't climb over, cutting off his chances of survival and his path to revenge.

Unable to overcome the bandits of Hexi, and equally unable to stand against Yin Fang before him, Xie Tian lowered his head and slowly walked out of the crowd, his body under his tattered clothes beginning to tremble faintly.

This time, the trembling wasn't because he was exercising the Mixed World Bull Demon Power, but out of anger and unwillingness.

Walking through the crowd, with only the sound of the Martial Artists' sneering in his ears, rustling like the wind through the leaves. But what blew into Xie Tian's heart were not leaves, but small knives scraping against flesh and bone.

Xie Tian didn't need to look to know — these people, like the disciples of the Xie family, were all mocking him, laughing at him. Despite his strength of seven hundred jin, what use was it if he could defeat Xie Da and kill Xie Li but couldn't withstand the will of the people?

He was very aware that the reason for the Martial Artists' change in attitude was because they needed to rely on the Yin family to cross the Hexi Corridor. Compared to this goal, upholding justice? Ha, what a joke!

Seeing Xie Tian dejectedly weaving through the crowd towards the distance, the guard's mouth curled into a cold smirk. A genius? Without crossing the Hexi Corridor, unable to witness the true martial world, what good is a genius? He will eventually fade into obscurity like everyone else!

"Alright, the caravan will depart after half an incense stick has burned," Yin Fang withdrew his gaze and shouted loudly, "Hurry and prepare, we only have five more spots to fill. The rest of you, wait for the next caravan from my Yin family..."

"Hold on!"

A crisp female voice rang out, interrupting Yin Fang's words. Yin Fang turned to look and was taken aback. He hurried over and gave a respectful fist-and-palm salute: "Miss, why have you come down?"

The Miss mentioned by Yin Fang was about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed all in white, with beautiful facial features and a hint of fatigue between her brows that invoked pity, especially her innocent and clear eyes, which were truly the most enticing Divine Artifacts in the world.

And these eyes were fixed on Xie Tian's retreating figure.

"Take in that Martial Artist," the young lady said softly, and then, surrounded by maids, walked towards her carriage.

Yin Fang was puzzled, but he didn't dare delay and quickly caught up to Xie Tian, shouting, "Kid, you're in luck! My family's head has taken pity on you and agreed to recruit you exceptionally. Follow me!"

What the fuck? This works too? The Martial Artists looked at each other, feeling envy, jealousy, and hatred. But things didn't turn out as they had expected.

Xie Tian didn't respond. He had heard the woman's words as well, so he turned around, only to see her graceful receding figure.

Seeing Xie Tian unmoving, Yin Fang growled impatiently: "Boy, don't bite the hand that feeds you!"

The guard responsible for recruitment could not believe the turn of events, but even Yin Fang wouldn't dare ignore the Miss's words, so what could he do?

Seeing Xie Tian's indifference, he assumed the man was seizing the opportunity to put on airs and file a complaint against him, immediately becoming anxious and hastily said: "Kid, don't be ungrateful, without my Yin family, you won't be able to get out of the Hexi Corridor!"

The voice was a bit loud, causing the Miss who was about to enter the carriage to pause and turn her head.

Then, she saw Xie Tian's vitality-drained face and a trace of disgust flitted through her eyes.

And so, Xie Tian also saw the Miss's face, comparable to that of Xie Yun, and he turned and walked away.

"No need, thank you."

As his words fell, Xie Tian had already walked out a dozen steps, leaving behind a crowd of stunned and puzzled people, including the Miss standing on the carriage.

"Why, why would he..."

A thread of curiosity passed through her mind, but in the next moment, she shook her head and climbed into the carriage. For a person as insignificant as Xie Tian, she didn't mind offering a word out of pity, but to expend mental effort on such a person, she wouldn't do it.

Just as she had witnessed the entire incident and yet didn't punish the lying guard, because he too was insignificant, not worth spending energy on.

"Once preparations are complete, we can set out, no need to report."

Leaving behind those words, the Miss closed her beautiful eyes. But before pondering the great affairs of the Yin family, Xie Tian's face flashed through her mind once again. This time, there was no disgust in her heart, only pity.

Because she knew that Xie Tian, setting off on his own, had a ninety-nine percent chance of ending up buried in the Hexi Corridor.

"Do I have to fight my way through..." Staring at the towering mountains and dense forests on either side of the Hexi Corridor, Xie Tian tightened the straps on his large backpack, left the corridor, and plunged into the dense forest.

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