Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

But if he moved aside, Jiang Ran behind him would surely be in peril. At that thought, he finally let out a long breath and raised his left hand to meet the blow.

Just then, an angry shout came from the side.

A huge die whistled through the air toward them.

The old Daoist looked up, his brow slightly furrowed.

"You miserable fiends dare to stand in my way?"

"You’re truly courting death!!"

The palm strike originally aimed at Ruan Yuqing landed directly on the die.

The die was sent flying back.

A smear of green now stained its surface.

"Huh?"

The gambler looked down, his eyes widening in fury.

"You old Daoist, did you grab a handful of shit? Smearing it everywhere!?"

The old Daoist’s face contorted with rage, but just then, Ruan Yuqing’s palm strike reached him.

It was too late to gather his power for that misty, verdant palm strike. Instead, he swept his duster. Each of its thousands of strands stiffened like a steel needle, fanning out like a porcupine’s quills, giving Ruan Yuqing’s palm no place to land.

The gambler also pounced forward, letting out a sharp whistle. Six dice-themed freaks flew to his side.

They surrounded the Daoist from all eight directions, coordinating their attacks.

With Ruan Yuqing’s swordsmanship added to the mix, the old Daoist was completely pinned, unable to cross their Thunder Pool by even half a step.

Seeing this, the scholar sighed softly.

"He’s gotten old, after all..."

With a lurching, unsteady step, he was suddenly in front of Jiang Ran.

Luo Qingyi, who never strayed more than three paces from Jiang Ran, saw the man approach and immediately threw a whistling punch.

The scholar saw this and smiled.

"How crude..."

He shifted his body slightly and jabbed with his hand, striking what should have been empty air.

But Luo Qingyi’s expression changed drastically.

His right fist was thrown, and his left fist was swinging across. Its path just so happened to intersect with the scholar’s jab.

He had already put his full force into the move; it was too late to pull back. He felt a sharp jolt on a pressure point in his arm, and the entire limb suddenly went limp.

The scholar smiled and slapped a palm against Luo Qingyi’s chest.

Luo Qingyi was sent flying backward.

He rolled on the ground, then scrambled back to his feet.

"Stay away from my Young Master!!"

But as he said this, the scholar had already reached Jiang Ran. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small medicine bottle.

He glanced at Luo Qingyi.

"You’re not dead yet? What are you wearing under there?"

"None of your damn business!"

Luo Qingyi took a step and threw another thunderous punch.

The scholar, however, had no desire to get entangled with him. With another lurching step, his figure suddenly vanished, reappearing far away.

He was already back at Liu Xiao’e’s side.

He casually tossed the medicine bottle to her.

Liu Xiao’e gave the scholar a long, smoldering look and said with a smile:

"It always comes down to you... Compared to you, Prince Yu is truly not worth mentioning."

The scholar reached out and pinched Liu Xiao’e’s chin.

"Next time, wash your face before you say that. It’s too white... hideously so."

"You!"

Liu Xiao’e shot him a glare, then took a medicinal pill from the bottle and swallowed it.

The next moment, she let out a soft breath. Her sleeves fluttered and her hair drifted upward, clear signs that her Inner Strength had been restored.

Luo Qingyi shot a fierce glare at Li Tianxin.

Just now, when the scholar had made his move, Li Tianxin had been right next to Jiang Ran but hadn’t done a thing.

Jiang Ran also looked at Li Tianxin and said with a smile:

"Weren’t you afraid he’d hurt me?"

"Hurt you? What kind of game are you playing?"

Li Tianxin stared at Jiang Ran.

Their eyes met, and Jiang Ran finally sighed.

"Forget it, forget it. This isn’t fun at all..."

"Li Tianxin. Oh, Li Tianxin!"

"I’ll be settling the score between us, slowly, in the future."

He repeated "Li Tianxin" twice, not "Brother Li."

This made Li Tianxin’s expression turn complicated. He seemed to pale, yet at the same time, look somewhat relieved.

Finally, his gaze settled into one of defiance as he looked at Jiang Ran.

"Fine. I’ll be waiting!"

Jiang Ran actually chuckled at his words.

Looking up again, he saw that Liu Xiao’e had already taken a step forward.

Her hands hung at her sides, and something seemed to be twitching within her sleeves, tumbling restlessly.

Jiang Ran focused his vision and was finally able to see them clearly: translucent, hair-thin threads under her cuffs.

She was channeling her Inner Strength, making the threads dance lightly. There had to be several dozen of them at least.

Jiang Ran saw this and nodded.

"So you really were the one controlling that wedding procession..."

"Young Hero Jiang is indeed clever. When an ordinary person sees a ghostly wedding procession, their first reaction is probably that they’ve really encountered ghosts."

"But Young Hero Jiang observed closely and saw the signs of my little puppet show."

She glanced at Jiang Ran.

"You’re so handsome, it truly makes a girl’s heart flutter."

"But you’re so utterly clueless about romance. A woman like me... you won’t even spare me a second glance, let alone touch me. It truly breaks my heart."

"After tonight, I’m going to turn you into my ghost puppet."

"I’ll poison you with the Thousand Wood Seedlings. But to use this poison, one must grasp the perfect timing."

"Too early is no good, and too late is no good. Do you know why?"

"I’d love to hear the details."

Jiang Ran said with a light chuckle.

"Once this poison enters the body, it takes only a quarter of an hour for the person to die completely. Their body becomes like wood, frozen in the exact moment of death..."

"Fortunately, it can still be... molded. This ghost puppet can be made to move. Under the control of my puppetry, it can walk, run, turn, and blink, but it will no longer be a living person."

"Most importantly, it will be able to serve me."

Liu Xiao’e said softly, "So, you see, the timing is very important."

"What is she talking about?"

Li Tianxin glanced at Jiang Ran, confused. ’Based on her description,’ he thought, ’what’s the big deal about timing?’