Chapter 1465: Zhang Xuan's Wager

Unaware that he was being watched, Zhang Xuan reverted to his own appearance and returned to his residence.

Although he had been away for only a short time—a night and a morning—he had been so worried about Zhang Jiuxiao's cultivation that he was mentally exhausted, leaving him somewhat fatigued.

“Master Zhang, the Zhang family genius skilled in swordsmanship has been waiting for a while!”

As soon as he entered the room, Jian Qinsheng came over to greet him.

“Already here?”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

With Zhang Jiuxiao's meteoric rise, the Zhang family's grand competition had lost its meaning. Since the guests had already arrived, it was time to proceed to the next event.

Following Jian Qinsheng into the room, he saw three young men standing inside, their backs straight and their auras boiling like three long swords standing nearby, ready to cut through everything at any moment.

“Are you Zhang Xuan? You’re here to challenge the Zhang family’s swordsmanship?”

As he entered, the foremost young man looked over.

This one was slightly thin, with a red mole at the corner of his mouth that gave him a somewhat fierce appearance.

“That’s right.”

Not wanting to say much, Zhang Xuan sat down, looked over calmly, and began to observe while recovering his energy.

“I am Zhang Xu. They are Zhang Hen and Zhang Qin. The three of us have studied swordsmanship for a few years and wish to have a fair spar with you!” said the red-moled youth, Zhang Xu.

“Fine.”

Nodding in agreement, Zhang Xuan looked up and asked, “Will you come one by one, or all together?”

He had agreed to come with Jian Qinsheng not only to cause trouble for the Zhang family but also to see what level their swordsmanship had reached and what mysteries lay in the so-called “speed” true interpretation.

“Arrogant!”

Unexpectedly, this fellow treated them as if they were nothing as soon as he arrived, sitting down without a word and even suggesting they all come at once. The three were all displeased.

“You are a direct disciple of Master Yang and have inherited the Flowing Water Sword Art, so your swordsmanship shouldn’t be too weak. I, Zhang Qin, challenge you!”

Unable to hold back any longer, Zhang Qin stepped forward, shook his longsword, and let out a sobbing sound. “But before the match, do you dare to make a bet with me?”

“A bet? What are the terms?”

Zhang Xuan looked over.

“I know something of your deeds. As soon as you arrived at the Zhang family, you caused great destruction, leaving the family’s protective array and guest rooms in shambles. Although the Grand Elder and others have been lenient and not held it against you, we, as members of the Zhang family, will not allow anyone to cause trouble here. It’s simple: we compete with the Zhang family’s swordsmanship. If you lose, you swear to serve the Zhang family for life and never betray us. If you win, our lives are at your disposal, and the matter of the destruction will be dropped.”

Raising his eyebrows, Zhang Qin said.

“Serve the Zhang family?”

Zhang Xuan sneered.

As soon as the other spoke, he understood: the so-called challenge was just an excuse to keep him here and make him serve the Zhang family.

Otherwise, how could mere core disciples have the authority to decide such a major matter?

“What, afraid to agree?”

Zhang Qin sneered, showing a mocking expression.

“It’s not that I dare not agree, but your lives are of no use to me. If you lose, I have two requests.”

Looking over calmly, Zhang Xuan said.

“Speak!”

Frowning, Zhang Xu said.

Among the three, he was the leader.

“First, I want to see the secret manual of your Zhang family’s swordsmanship!”

Raising his eyelids, Zhang Xuan said.

“Our Zhang family’s swordsmanship was created by our ancestors. Those without Zhang family blood cannot learn or practice it. If you want to see it, that’s fine, but whether you can comprehend anything depends on your talent. I can agree to that.”

Zhang Xu nodded.

Without the bloodline, it was nearly impossible to master the Zhang family’s swordsmanship. Even if shown, he would likely gain nothing, so there was no need to haggle.

“Straightforward!” Zhang Xuan nodded. “Second, I want your family head, Xing Sword Saint, to suppress his cultivation and spar with me.”

Since he was here and that little genius was absent, he might as well challenge Xing Sword Saint and vent for Jian Qinsheng!

Although he didn’t know how skilled Xing Sword Saint was, as long as he read the Zhang family’s secret manual and mastered the three sword intents, he believed no one could beat him at the same level.

“Spar with the family head?”

Hearing his second request, the three exchanged glances, each frowning.

They were merely clan juniors and couldn’t make decisions for the clan leader.

“If you can’t decide, go ask the person who sent you to challenge me. If he agrees, I’ll accept the bet and fight. Otherwise, the bet is off.” Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

“Fine, Master Zhang, wait here. We’ll go ask.”

Seeing how firm he was, Zhang Xu knew further talk was useless. They exchanged glances, turned, and left the room. Once outside, they immediately took out a communication jade slip and sent a message.

“Master Zhang, you must not agree…”

Seeing them leave the room, Jian Qinsheng looked over and urgently transmitted his voice.

“Didn’t you want me to come and spar in swordsmanship? Why are you stopping me now?” Zhang Xuan smiled.

“There’s a trap in their words. They said ‘with the Zhang family’s swordsmanship, defeat you,’ not ‘personally defeat you.’ If the Grand Elder personally uses the Zhang family’s swordsmanship to defeat you, wouldn’t you still be considered losing?”

Jian Qinsheng quickly said.

That Zhang Qin seemed reckless, but his words actually contained a trap.

He said, “With the Zhang family’s swordsmanship, compete with you. If you lose, you swear to serve the Zhang family for life…” without specifying who would use the Zhang family’s swordsmanship. If they lost, it only represented themselves. They could have a stronger person come; as long as the Zhang family’s swordsmanship won, it counted as their victory!

Clearly unfair!

“It’s fine. I’m just afraid they won’t come.” Zhang Xuan curled his lips.

If Jian Qinsheng could hear it, how could he not? The reason he didn’t point it out was that he wanted to see how formidable the Zhang family’s swordsmanship really was!

Moreover, since he was making a move… he would fight until they were afraid!

While he was transmitting to Jian Qinsheng, Zhang Wuchen also received a message.

“Spar with the family head? Does he really think he can beat Zhang Xu and the others?”

Zhang Wuchen shook his head.

“Whether he can win or not, since it involves the family head, we cannot overstep. I’ll send a message to him now and let him decide whether to accept the spar with the junior.”

Having also seen the content of the message, the Grand Elder said.

Although he was the family’s Grand Elder, whether the clan leader would make a move was not his decision.

“Alright! The clan leader left less than two days ago, so he shouldn’t be too far away. A message should reach him easily…” Zhang Wuchen nodded, took out a communication jade slip, tapped it with his finger, and sent a message.

High in the sky, far from the Zhang family, a flying sacred beast sped along. A middle-aged man standing on its back seemed to sense something and took out a jade slip.

“What’s wrong?”

A beautiful woman beside him looked over.

“Nothing. The Third Elder sent a message saying that if the swordsmanship genius Jian Qinsheng brought this time can beat Zhang Xu and the others, he wants me to suppress my cultivation and spar with him…” The middle-aged man smiled and shook his head.

“Zhang Xu has received our personal instruction. At the same level, few in the world can beat him in a sword duel,”

the beautiful woman smiled and shook her head. “It’s unknown whether he can even beat him, yet he dares to challenge you at the same level… This genius Jian Qinsheng brought has quite the nerve!”

“Haha, it’s good for young people to have ambition!”

Laughing heartily, the middle-aged man didn’t mind being challenged by a junior.

“But Jian Qinsheng is not reckless. For him to let this genius say such a thing, he must have some backing. By the way… ask what this swordsmanship genius is called. We should know most of the continent’s young sword masters. When did he find someone so confident that he dares to challenge you?”

The beautiful woman looked over.

“I’ll ask.”

Nodding, he continued to send a message. After a moment, the jade slip in his hand shook, and a name appeared on it. Seeing this name, the middle-aged man stiffened.

“What’s wrong?” The beautiful woman was puzzled.

The middle-aged man’s throat went dry.

“The Third Elder says… the challenger is called… Zhang Xuan!”