Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Duel to the Death

Jiang Fan had the two young maids recount everything in meticulous detail.

New rumors surfaced almost every day.

“It’s infuriating! They say Young Master is a fame-seeking fraud, a coward, all show and no substance. Some even say they could beat him with a single finger!” Xiao Qing pouted. “When people from the manor go out to buy things, everyone points and stares.”

“Yes. Yesterday I went out for a while, and someone stopped me to say that Young Master would be defeated sooner or later, that the Jiang family would decline with him, and tried to persuade me to leave the Jiang residence as soon as possible. How kind of them!” Xiao Qian added.

“Young Master, our grain shop was smashed!”

“Young Master, the fur goods we ordered were stolen.”

“Young Master, the Treasure Pavilion was robbed yesterday. The loss was heavy!”

“Young Master, Young Master Mountain was attacked while out traveling!”

That day, when Jiang Fan heard this last piece of news, he could no longer remain calm.

He cared nothing for business or losses of money.

But his Third Brother being struck was absolutely unacceptable.

“Seeking death!” A cold glint flashed in Jiang Fan’s eyes. “Xiao Qing, go and invite Cousin here.”

“Right away!” Xiao Qing hurried off.

After a moment of thought, Jiang Fan went to find his parents, who were already at their wits’ end.

“Xiao Fan, did you come because you heard the gossip outside?” Jiang Zheng’an guessed his son’s thoughts. “Don’t worry. A little business is nothing. Even if we gave it all up, it would be no great matter for the Jiang family now.”

“Just focus on your cultivation. Leave the rest to your mother and me,” Nangong Yue said. “After the last incident, no one in the county city dares go too far. As for business, it’s only money.”

Jiang Fan smiled. “Father, Mother, a few days ago I was pondering some things and needed quiet. Now I’ve finally understood, and it’s time to settle these irritating matters. At the very least, I’m now one of the names on the Human Ranking. If I’m bullied like this and still dare not show my face, how am I supposed to get by in the future? It would also be a blow to my confidence. I’m about to make a big move, so you two should be prepared.”

“In the city, the law rules everything. Xiao Fan, remember that,” Jiang Zheng’an said sternly.

“Father, I’m not that foolish,” Jiang Fan replied with a nod. He spoke a little longer before taking his leave.

Yet Nangong Yue remained worried. “Will our son kill someone in a fit of rage?”

“Xiao Fan is steady. He probably won’t,” Jiang Zheng’an said, though he was uncertain. “Even if he does, he likely already has a way to handle the aftermath.”

“Ah, now that the child is grown, it’s hard to meddle much. I only hope everything stays safe and sound,” Nangong Yue sighed. “Zheng’an, if it really comes to it, let’s move to the prefectural city. With Father there to look after us, no one blind enough to provoke trouble will dare.”

“Ask my father-in-law for help?” Jiang Zheng’an raised his brows. “I don’t agree. Xiao Fan won’t agree either!”

“What matters more, the family or pride?”

“For men, pride is above heaven!”

As they argued back and forth, East Peace Pavilion.

Jiang Fan looked at Nangong Rou, who was eating fragrant pears, and said bluntly, “Is it settled?”

“How could it be so fast?” Nangong Rou replied. “First there must be a recommendation. Then someone will investigate your background. Once your identity is confirmed to be clean, they’ll arrange an assessment task. That process alone takes several days. Cousin, you didn’t come here for this, did you?”

“Isn’t this trouble all because of you?” Jiang Fan practically wanted to bite her. In a cold voice, he said, “I’m setting up a challenge stage—a life-and-death arena. Anyone who steps onto it will face life or death, and no one leaves until someone dies. Get the paperwork done for me. Set it up outside the manor gate, across from White Water River.”

“A life-and-death arena?” Nangong Rou’s expression changed.

“Also, prepare nine spirit swords for me. Even if they’re all low-grade, that’s fine. And one treasure pouch!” Jiang Fan leaned forward. “Don’t tell me even that much you can’t do.”

Nangong Rou looked like a cat that had been stepped on. “The life-and-death arena I can handle, fine! But spirit swords? Those are magical weapons, treasures that only a soul powerful enough can forge. And you want nine of them from me? Plus a treasure pouch? Cousin, Jiang Fan, do you take me for a sect master or an earth immortal?”

“Can you do it or not?” Jiang Fan sat down, his expression indifferent.

“You, you, you’re impossible to reason with!” She flung her sleeve and left.

Jiang Fan lifted his teacup and drank in silence, making no move to stop her.

Xiao Qing and Xiao Qian stood obediently at his side with their heads lowered like two little quails.

At the doorway, Nangong Rou paused. Without looking back, she said viciously, “After dinner, I’ll bring them to you. In three days, everything for the life-and-death arena will be ready. But Cousin, I want you to show no mercy on the stage. Kill, kill, kill. Especially those sect disciples—kill them all!”

With those words, her figure drifted away.

A faint smile touched Jiang Fan’s lips as he thought to himself: With your Purple Light Eye, how could you possibly have nothing good? Still, nine spirit swords and one treasure pouch—wasn’t that asking a bit much? Those items couldn’t be bought even with the wealth of a hundred Jiang families.

He considered it only briefly before setting it aside.

If you come to me with trouble, how could I let you keep your blood unspilled?

That very day, the news spread.

Construction also began on the opposite bank of the river.

In an instant, the clamoring voices fell silent.

A life-and-death arena—who would dare still call the Jiang family’s young master a coward after such a display?

“A life-and-death arena?” Yuan Kun sneered after hearing of it, then shook his head calmly. “Those fools who don’t know how to write the word death actually think I’m a fake? Jiang Fan only won by luck? This will be interesting. A life-and-death arena—this muddy water is about to grow even murkier.”

“Only my immobilizing mirror?”

He sighed.

“I’ve been cultivating in the sect all this time, with the best resources, the best guidance, and treasures like the immobilizing mirror. Even the elders of the school said that, aside from soul powerhouses, I could at least remain unbeaten. Those two said the same. But after fighting Jiang Fan, I finally understood my shortcomings. Those two must have been praising me to my face while secretly waiting to laugh at me.”

Yuan Kun narrowed his eyes. “Then let’s add fuel to the fire.”

Soon afterward, rumors spread through the county city that the Jiang family’s young master had been a frail weakling just a year ago, not even finished with foundation building. Yet in barely one year, he had cultivated all the way to the peak of the path, and must have obtained heaven-defying immortal fortune, or even possessed some peerless treasure—otherwise, how could he have withstood the power of a mid-grade magical artifact like the immobilizing mirror?

In one year: peak of the path, high on the Human Ranking.

Heaven-defying immortal fortune.

A peerless treasure in his possession.

The people were all stirred to agitation.

When Jiang Fan heard it, he merely said, “Understood.”

Calm as before, unmoving as a mountain.

“Take this.” After dinner, Nangong Rou threw over the treasure pouch with a dark expression. “I scraped together everything I had, and even burned a tremendous favor to get this for you. Jiang Fan, if you don’t repay me a hundredfold, I’ll bite you to death.”

“Only dogs bite people.”

“You’re the dog! Hmph. When the time comes, I’ll tell Auntie—you’re bullying me.” Nangong Rou gave a cold laugh.

Jiang Fan froze, then said through clenched teeth, “You really are ruthless.”

The treasure pouch was also a magical artifact. After acknowledging its master, he took out a sword from within. It was three feet long, its edge concealed, and looked quite ordinary.

“One sword?” Jiang Fan frowned.

“Look again,” Nangong Rou said with a snort, then turned and left.

Jiang Fan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

The manor gates opened, and Jiang Fan stepped outside.

“Don’t worry.”

With a reassuring look toward his parents, he stepped through the sky, crossed the river, and landed lightly on a stone platform on the opposite bank—three zhang high and thirty zhang across.