Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

They all have to die anyway, don’t they?

As an experienced man of the world from his past life, Jiang Ran mulled over her words before nodding thoughtfully.

"So that’s how it is... To be toyed with by you even after death. One truly couldn’t rest in peace."

"Good. As long as you understand."

Liu Xiao’e looked up at Jiang Ran. "Then... let’s start with you!"

As she spoke, she abruptly raised a hand, and nearly invisible threads drifted toward them through the air.

But just then, a hand shot out from the side and seized Liu Xiao’e’s wrist.

Liu Xiao’e snapped her head up and saw a face identical to Jiang Ran’s.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

"He’s mine."

The imposter Jiang Ran said with a smile,

"Everything he is, including his skin, his bones, every inch of his flesh and blood, will belong to me."

"That is the first step. The second is his life."

"His past, present, and future—they will all be mine."

"From this day forward, I am Jiang Ran! And he... he will vanish completely from this world."

"Therefore, he cannot become your ghost puppet."

"Don’t you... get any foolish ideas."

Liu Xiao’e gave him a long, hard look, then suddenly sneered.

"And what if I insist?"

"Xiao’e."

The scholar’s voice cut in.

"Stop this nonsense. The Eternal Ghost King’s martial arts are profound and unfathomable. If we give him any more time, I fear tonight’s affair will not end well."

"Kill him. Quickly."

"...Fine."

Only then did Liu Xiao’e nod. She shot the imposter Jiang Ran a vicious glare before turning to walk toward the Eternal Ghost King.

The imposter Jiang Ran then walked up to Jiang Ran.

"You can rest easy and depart. The Jiaowei Zither, the Shattered Gold Saber, the zither recital and tea tasting on the eighth of the tenth month... you needn’t worry about any of it."

"You can leave it all to me. I’ll handle everything for you, perfectly."

"I’m going to have a wonderful time toying with your life..."

As he spoke, he slowly drew the saber at his waist.

The saber looked very similar to the Shattered Gold Saber, but it wasn’t the real thing.

Jiang Ran glanced at Li Tianxin.

Li Tianxin simply turned her head away, as if sulking.

"Kids..."

Jiang Ran pursed his lips, looked up at the imposter before him, and chuckled.

"If I’m not mistaken, you must be the ’Great Thief,’ Wuliang Sheng."

"Common petty thieves steal gold, silver, and treasures."

"But you, who style yourself a ’Great Thief,’ steal not kingdoms, but entire lives."

"With your masterful Disguise Technique, combined with unimaginable cleverness and patience, you once stole the life of the great northern hero, He Huan."

"You used his identity to run rampant for three years."

"As a result, Jianghu People sought revenge against He Huan’s family, hunting them down until the entire clan was nearly wiped out."

"After that, you transformed yourself again, becoming Dongfang Qianshu, the most famous socialite of her generation in the Golden Cicada Dynasty."

"You moved among the rich and powerful, wrapping them all around your little finger."

"Finally, in your madness, you even tried to steal the life of the late Emperor... but you were outmaneuvered. The masters of the Great Within discovered your plot, laid an inescapable trap, and captured you."

"The late Emperor was enraged. He had you castrated and thrown into the death-row cells, slated for execution after the autumn harvest."

"Unfortunately for you, He Huan’s family thought that was getting off too easy. They stormed the prison, determined to drag you out and subject you to death by a thousand cuts themselves."

"But they forgot that you were a master in your own right."

"Just as they were about to succeed, you escaped."

"After that, you were an outcast from both the Imperial Court and the Jianghu."

"You disappeared without a trace, and have been gone for eight years now."

"It turns out you were also taken in by the Heartless Ghost Mansion."

As the imposter listened to Jiang Ran recount his life story in exhaustive detail, his expression shifted several times. It turned thunderous, especially when Jiang Ran mentioned the castration ordered by the late Emperor.

"I’d heard Young Hero Jiang was a rather ignorant sort, yet you seem to know my story in surprising detail."

"I’ve done my homework."

Jiang Ran chuckled. "That old Daoist over there, the one with the air of misty, overlapping cyan mountains, is the villainous Master Bi Chen. He killed his own disciple to steal his wife."

"And this scholar... if I’m not mistaken, he must be Zhuge Mingyu, the Celestial Secret Scholar, who escaped from Qianjun Academy."

"I’ve heard that in his pursuit of the mathematical arts, he performed countless calculations and even mastered the *Three-Nine Calculation Classic*—a text no one at Qianjun Academy had managed to learn in hundreds of years. It’s said he can deconstruct any martial art in the world."

"I don’t know how much of that is true, but watching him in action earlier was certainly... interesting."

Zhuge Mingyu’s expression flickered. He looked at Jiang Ran and gave a slight bow.

"I am surprised my humble reputation has reached the ears of Young Hero Jiang."

"Hahaha."

Jiang Ran laughed. "Hardly a humble reputation. Years ago, a decade ago even, all of you were first-class figures in this world. I knew that such strange happenings in the dead of night would involve some big fish, but I never imagined that the ones scheming against me would be you all..."

"Hmm... and you, over there, the one striking a pose. I’d advise you not to move again."

Liu Xiao’e instantly turned her head back to glare at Jiang Ran.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Yes."

Jiang Ran nodded.

Liu Xiao’e sneered. "A fish on the chopping block dares to run its mouth? I’ll move, so what are you going to do about it?"

As she spoke, her threads had already coiled around the Eternal Ghost King’s neck and were beginning to tighten.

The Eternal Ghost King cultivates the Eternal Hundred Floating Diagrams. His Inner Energy is profoundly mysterious; contact with it will instantly sever one’s life force.

That was why Liu Xiao’e’s use of her thread puppetry was the most appropriate method of attack.

Jiang Ran chuckled lightly.

"Move again, and you will die."

"What’s that? He’s severely wounded. Does he look like he can jump up and kill me?"

Liu Xiao’e’s smile widened. She looked back at the Eternal Ghost King.

"Oh, Lord Ghost King, you’re scaring me!"

The words had barely left her lips when the Eternal Ghost King snapped his head up. His five fingers opened and made a grasping motion in the air. Stunned, Liu Xiao’e had no time to react before she was caught in his grip.

A grayish-white pallor immediately enveloped her. Her eyes bulged, and bizarre patterns spread across her skin.

In a flash, she was dead.

Zhuge Mingyu’s face fell.

"This is bad! Wuliang Sheng, fall back! He isn’t injured!"

But Wuliang Sheng’s head merely tilted to one side. THUMP. A head tumbled from his shoulders, only to be caught by a hand.

Jiang Ran held the head aloft and sighed.

"I told you. Move again, and you die. Why is it that none of you listen?"