The world of martial arts was full of talent. It now came to a great period of prosperity during this dynasty. Clans numbered too many to be counted. The nine national clans nominated by the emperor himself were relied upon by the whole royal family, and they became the leaders of the world.

The White Horse Temple was one of the national clans.

They were different from the other eight clans, though with a great martial competence to conquer the demons, they had little desire to fight with other clans for power. Instead, they lived in the distant mountains, considered reliable by the royal family, and caring about the normal folk, so their fame was the highest.

The temple was built in the middle of the mountain with the same name. For a whole year, people arrived in crowds to offer incense, so some businessmen started to build simple wood sheds and made money by selling teas and food to the visitors at the foot of the mountain.

Today was a hot day; some thirsty visitors took seats at a tea stand and chatted while drinking the cool beverage.

The tea was inexpensive and delicate; it was taken from some common tea tree and roughly brewed. But the visitors were quite thirsty, so they were satisfied with the flavor.

Not everyone was content with it.

“You call this tea? You son of a b.i.t.c.h!” Someone broke the tea bowl and yelled rudely, “Why not use it to feed a dog?”

The tea spilled, even on some other guests. “What are you doing?” The strong guys stood up to avoid the water, looking with anger toward the guy.

The troublemaker was a young man of about twenty four or so, wearing nice clothes and had a jade hanging at his waist. His face was fierce and malicious.

“My dear guest,” the shop owner said as he came near with a flattering smile to try to fix the problem. But the next minute, he was caught by the young man and pushed to the table with his face pressed to the top with his arms twisted behind him. He scratched two trails into the owner’s face; they started bleeding.

“Hey, you are too mean, friend.” Someone stood up to stop the young man, but  more guests were still sitting to watch.

“Who are you?” The young man continued to yell, “Dare you to meddle in my business?”

The big guy who had taken part in it was irritated and he smacked the table with his palm. With a loud, clear cracking sound, the thick wood table was crushed by his strength and a wide c.h.i.n.k appeared.

“What a feat!” someone praised as they stood. The table top was more than three centimeters and he had cracked it with a palm. If he used his martial skills to hit other people, bones could be broken.

The big guy turned to the young man and tried to catch his shoulder. “Don’t be so arrogant, young man.”

Other visitors were running away to keep safe from their fighting, leaving their payments on the tea tables.

“Are you giving me advice?” The young man sneered at him. “Get away from me!”

Suddenly he bounced up with his left leg and swept the big guy’s chest speedily.

Bang!

Before everyone could see clearly how he struck, the big guy, with a weight of about 100 kilograms, flew up and crushed table after table before he reached the ground; tea was sprayed everywhere.

“Wanjun Leg!” someone recognized his art and called out.

The others who came with the big guy all became serious. “Are you from the Yu Family?”

“He is . . . Yu Long?”

One of them with a yellow belly bowed, extending his arms toward the young man. “Prince Yu, we didn’t know it was you. We are sorry to bother you. Please leave our elder brother his life.”

The elder brother was still trying to keep his feet after knocking down four or five tables. Each of his footsteps left a clear imprint on the ground.

“What’s wrong with the young man?” some visitor murmured to his companion as he pointed at a young man who did not run away with the others.

“Was he too frightened to run?” the other one wondered aloud.

The young man was still holding his tea bowl, on his chair, his head lowered, seemingly absentminded.

“Run, run!” they called to him secretly.

“Why are you bothering me?” The young man raised his head, patting the back of the elder brother with his left hand. The elder brother stopped immediately. The young man was still steadily holding his tea bowl; the water in it did not so much as ripple.

All the visitors outside the stand were stunned by this change.

The young man was handsome, with a high-bridged nose, and his whole face was like a Greek statue. He was wearing rough linen clothing, and exuded a feeling of maturity and loneliness, despite being very young. On his table, there was a sword about a palm’s width wide and one meter and twenty centimeters long, paired with a yellow scabbard.

Yu Long let go of the tea shop owner and went near to the young man, staring at his sword.

“Your sword is good! How much? I want to buy it,” Yu Long said, reaching out his hand toward the sword. He found his table was lower than the other tables when he tried to get the sword, because the table’s feet were buried in the ground by the young man’s slamming hit.

“Get way!” the young man snapped.

“You’re asking me to go away?” Yu Long didn’t dare believe it.

“Poor guy, he will lose his life. . . ” The visitors were sighing. They had all heard about this Prince Yu, who had a bad temper and had killed many in the world. Though many people came for revenge, he was still safe with his family’s protection.

“I haven’t heard this kind of order for quite a long time.” Yu Long’s face became cold, and his hand reaching for the sword changed direction to firmly pat the top of the young man’s head.

Just then, over ten horses ran toward them, making the ground shake. Like a black swarm, they rushed to the market, filling the air with dust.

“Get away, everybody!” a person on one horse yelled, raising his whip and snapping it down on a man’s back who was standing in his way.

Yu Long came out to take a careful look and another whip hit him in the face.

“Go to h.e.l.l!” he called out, and lifted up his left leg, kicking the leader of them.

A big ax was swung at him by the leader. Yu Long raised both of his hands out to defend.

Bang! Bang! With two sounds, his fists. .h.i.t the ax, but the ax was unperturbed and Yu Long’s fists were bleeding. In disbelief, he became frightened. He fell back to try to run away. But the leader would not let him go. The ax was raised up and when it struck down, the tea stand was torn open, and the ax continued to chase Yu Long.

“I am Yu Long from the Yu Family. Who dares to kill me?!” he cried out loudly.

“You are from the Yu Family?” The leader stopped for a while. Yu Long was surprised by this change, but he misunderstood. “We of the Sheya Fastness don’t take the Yu Family serious.” The leader sneered and went after him again.

“Sheya Cottage?” Yu Long’s face turned pale immediately.

“They are gangs from the Sheya Cottage. Run away quickly.” Some visitors began to run with fear.

The ax hit another table, and the table was cleaved in half.

Tick! The wide sword flew up to confront the ax.

Before the gang leader understood what was happening, the ax was flung back at a higher speed and knocked into his chest. He was thrown into the galloping horses by its strength and was trampled to death.

“Deputy leader. . . !” the gangs called with sorrow.

“Who are you?” Another gang leader stared at him from the horseback.

The young man slowly stepped out from the stand, with his big sword’s scabbard gouging deep into the earth. He used the sword as a stick to support his body; his eyebrows twisted, and he said, “Go away! I don’t want to waste my time on you.”

Yu Long was hiding in the half-collapsed stand, looking at the young man, with cold sweat dripping down.

Lucky me, or I would have been dead already, he thought in his heart.

The gangs were worked up but not stupid or rushed; instead, they were crafty. Every single one of them were staring at him with fury. But n.o.body moved.

“Do you know who you killed just now?” A leader finally came out.

“I don’t want to know.” The young man took out his sword from the scabbard; there was a mountain symbol on the sword.

The leader of the gangs became fearful when he saw the symbol.

“It’s you, Di Hongtian?” he asked, with his pupils shrinking.