As Ye Wen was speaking with Zhou Ding, a sudden waft of fragrance drifted over, and the luxuriously dressed figure executed an astonishing display of Qinggong, floating swiftly to his side. She inquired, "Sect Leader Ye, would you like to know who that Lei Ying is?"

"The Young Master of the Thunder Sword Gate…" This seemed like an obvious question. Ye Wen was puzzled why Hua Yi would suddenly interject. Could the Thunder Sword Gate possess some hidden significance?

Sensing Ye Wen's confusion, Hua Yi casually remarked, "The Thunder Sword Gate is quite a renowned sect in the region of Dongzhou. This Lei Ying is the son of the Sect Leader, Lei Zhenshan—his only son..."

The implication of these words was clear: if the situation with Lei Ying was not handled delicately today, the Shu Mountain Sect might find itself at odds with the Thunder Sword Gate.

Having lost the Tiger Mountain Sect as an ally and currently in a state of hostility with the Tianle Gang, the Shu Mountain Sect seemed ill-advised to provoke another powerful enemy. If Ye Wen were truly astute, he would need to ponder this matter deeply.

However, Ye Wen’s approach was brutally simple: beat him first, discuss the consequences later.

If Lei Ying had arrived according to martial world etiquette, paying respects before any discussion, Ye Wen could have tolerated even a few ill-chosen words. But as it stood, before even meeting him, several of his disciples were already injured. Such behavior was intolerable—unbearable to the extreme.

"Elder Hua speaks of these matters, perhaps you wish to know how I intend to deal with the Thunder Sword Gate?" He let out a cold laugh. "We will teach him a lesson first. Otherwise, where lies the honor of the Shu Mountain Sect?"

As he spoke, the group arrived at the foot of the mountain, precisely where the Shu Mountain Sect had established the auxiliary estate—the former residence of the Shushan Sect.

This location was the mandatory route for ascending the mountain. Since the Shu Mountain Sect had cemented its dominant position in Shu, this estate had undergone significant expansion. Now, the towering compound was visible almost as soon as one approached Shu Mountain, and the stone tablet inscribed with the characters for Shu Mountain stood in distant alignment with the grand courtyard.

The wide-open gates bore a plaque inscribed with just two characters: "Auxiliary Estate!" As for whose estate it was, there was no need to elaborate; everyone in the surrounding territories knew this was Shu Mountain's property.

With the fame of Ye Wen and the Shu Mountain Sect growing daily, most people from the Pingzhou region who saw this estate would first pay a visit, choosing their words carefully to be as flattering as possible. Even if they held no personal connection to Ye Wen or Shu Mountain, it was an opportunity to foster a closer tie.

For months, no one had dared to stand there and speak disrespectfully of the Shu Mountain Sect. The disciples stationed at the estate were immensely proud to have been accepted into Shu Mountain, speaking to others with chests puffed out and an air of dignity.

Who could have imagined that today a group of people would arrive, and upon reaching the foot of the mountain, their first question was, "Is this the Shu Mountain Sect?" Once the disciple nodded, the newcomer unleashed a torrent of insults: "Quickly hand over that old man Huang’s girl, or don't blame this Young Master for showing no mercy with my sword and annihilating your so-called Shu Mountain Sect!"

The disciple was initially stunned—this was the first time in months he had encountered such insolence. Then came the anger. He stopped being polite, retorting sharply, "From which mad dog did you escape? Barking without checking where you are?"

This statement provoked Lei Ying to respond with a chilling sneer: "A provincial sect of no repute dares to speak so boastfully! Today, I shall show you, you ignorant boy, what true swordsmanship is!"

As he spoke, a flash of brilliance vanished instantly. Blood immediately sprayed from the disciple's arm. This was only because he had practiced diligently, and his physical body possessed a reflexive reaction, instinctively recoiling as he felt a chilling aura approach. Had he not moved, this single strike would have severed the tendons and main artery of his arm—a slow bleed could easily have resulted in death.

"Hmm? Some skill!" It seemed he hadn't expected a mere gatekeeping disciple to evade his strike. Although he hadn't used his full strength, he realized this sect might not be as weak as he had imagined.

It turned out that Lei Ying’s usual arrogance had gone unchecked. He acted without restraint in Dongzhou, and due to his status as the Young Master of the Thunder Sword Gate, martial artists in Dongzhou often turned a blind eye to some of his actions. Furthermore, while Lei Ying was arrogant and presumptuous, he knew which figures not to provoke, confining his bullying to those with little background.

He dared to attack the Huang Family Stockade because he saw they lacked powerful backing, and secondly, because no matter how good the Huang Family's reputation was among the forest bandits, they were still just mountain thieves. If he destroyed them, he could claim justification by saying he was enforcing justice and rooting out evil.

Unfortunately, the leader of the Huang Family Stockade stubbornly refused to reveal his daughter's whereabouts. Lei Ying had desired the girl for quite some time and had proposed marriage repeatedly over the last two years, but the old man Huang was obstinate and always refused.

What Lei Ying didn't realize was that his own notorious reputation in Dongzhou made the Huang Family Head terrified to betroth his daughter to such a man, fearing that any future enemy of the Lei family might target his daughter. Moreover, given Lei Ying's list of past misdeeds, the father naturally didn't want his daughter tied to him and used every excuse, claiming his own low status made him unworthy of the Lei family.

Lei Ying had retorted at the time, "It’s good you know your place is low. Let your daughter be my concubine, and be done with it!"

This single sentence caused the old man Huang's veins to bulge with anger. He coldly stated, "Time to see guests out," showing no further deference to the young master. "In our past discussions, though no agreement was reached, Old Man Huang always maintained proper etiquette. I never imagined this day's exchange would bring disaster upon myself and the entire stockade."

After returning, Lei Ying gathered a group of followers, mostly those who usually accompanied him on his rampages and had benefited from his patronage. Together, they assaulted the Huang Family Stockade, leaving no man, woman, or beast alive—not a single survivor.

Fortunately, his men found numerous letters in the stockade, all written to a man named Xu Xian of the Shu Mountain Sect in Pingzhou. They also found a final note, clearly penned by the Huang daughter, containing only one sentence: Dad, I'm going to Pingzhou to find Xu Xian!

With a wave of his hand, Lei Ying dispatched one man to inform his father and immediately headed north toward Pingzhou.

Along the way, Lei Ying was curious about the Shu Mountain Sect—what kind of sect was it that he had never heard of? Fortunately, he rarely paid attention to martial world affairs, but his subordinates often moved within those circles. One of his scouts who had been to Pingzhou informed him: "That is a newly risen sect in Pingzhou. The Sect Leader is named Ye Wen, known as the 'Gentleman Sword!'"

Although the Shu Mountain Sect’s fame had recently surged, with rumors reaching Dongzhou, they still hadn't drawn significant attention. Most people held little interest in Pingzhou sects, viewing Pingzhou as a wilderness when it came to martial arts.

"Gentleman Sword?" Lei Ying sneered. "An unknown nobody dares to take such an appellation? Truly courting death! If anyone is worthy of the title 'Gentleman Sword'… this Young Master could barely qualify!"

"Naturally, Young Master Lei's swordsmanship is also well-known in Dongzhou!"

"What? Am I not a gentleman?"

"Of course, you are..."

Thus, Lei Ying led his entourage charging toward Shu Mountain. Along the way, they heard some rumors about Ye Wen of the Shu Mountain Sect, including praise for his miraculous sword skills. But Lei Ying dismissed it all with disdain.

"A bunch of unsophisticated bumpkins who wouldn't recognize swordsmanship if it hit them! This time, I'll open their eyes!"

He said this, and he acted accordingly! After injuring the gatekeeping disciple, the group of disciples who rushed out upon noticing the disturbance were also wounded in various spots by his rapid sword strokes, leaving them all covered in blood, looking like walking meat figures.

This performance drew shouts of praise from the men behind him: "Young Master Lei truly lives up to his name! Your swordsmanship gets better and better! How is it that you wield the Thunder Sword Style so extraordinarily? We brothers could never manage it!"

A few of them glanced back at the stone tablet and laughed mockingly, "Shu Mountain? Heh, this sect must have struck gold to use a mountain name for their sect title. Who knows how much luck they relied on..." Turning back toward the tablet, one spat a mouthful of saliva that happened to land right on the character 'Mountain' ().

"Why don't we rename it for them? Looking at these fellows being toyed with by Young Master Lei, they look just like stupid pigs. How about changing it to Pig Mountain?"

"Hey? Great idea!"

Inspired, the man drew his long sword and began carving and etching on the stone tablet. However, his internal energy was shallow, and although he held the sword, after carving for a moment, he felt his strength waning.

"Damn, this job is exhausting!"

"Don't worry, I'll take over!"

One after another, they took turns attacking the tablet with their swords. In no time, the stone tablet was mangled beyond recognition, crisscrossed with sword marks, rendering the original inscription utterly unrecognizable.

Lei Ying was playing with the disciples as if they were monkeys, but he kept an eye on the side, watching his followers having their fun. Feeling relaxed and pleased with himself, he slowed his actions slightly. Being able to humiliate a sect was not an easily won opportunity. While the Pingzhou sects generally didn't register in his view, the sect belonging to that dead girl’s paramour deserved thorough humiliation, which brought him great delight.

Especially when his men were defacing the stone tablet, the furious, fire-breathing looks on the faces of the Shu Mountain disciples made him feel incredibly exhilarated.

Feeling smug, his movements naturally became a bit slower. Just this momentary slowness nearly allowed a disciple to seize an opening and land a blow on him. Although he ultimately failed, this enraged Lei Ying: "A bunch of ungrateful wretches dare to act presumptuously before this Young Master! Today, I'll send you all to see the King of Hell..."

Before the words were finished, he heard a furious snort that seemed to echo right beside his ear like a thunderclap, leaving him dizzy and forcing him to stagger back several steps, shaking his head before he regained his senses: "Who is that?"

"Such arrogance! I wonder if you possess the capability to match it!"

The voice initially sounded distant, faint, and hard to discern. Midway through, Lei Ying saw a faint blue figure rushing down from the mountain in his line of sight. By the time the final words were spoken, the person had already stopped directly in front of him.

Lei Ying came from a prestigious lineage; his father was the current Sect Leader of the Thunder Sword Gate, so he naturally recognized true mastery. The level of Qinggong Ye Wen displayed just moments ago was far beyond that of an ordinary expert. Moreover, Ye Wen had subtly revealed a hint of his internal power—that furious snort that had made Lei Ying so dizzy left him with lingering palpitations.

Initially, he thought some martial world senior was passing by and offering a warning, but looking now, it was just a young man, appearing to be around his own age, perhaps even younger.

As he sized up Ye Wen, Ye Wen was sizing him up as well. Lei Ying was, admittedly, quite handsome, but his eyes flickered constantly, and perhaps due to excessive indulgence, his complexion was slightly sallow. These few flaws significantly detracted from his otherwise noble appearance.

As for the background of the man behind him, Chen Yizhong had mentioned the Thunder Sword Gate to him, and Hua Yi had provided a few more details just now. Ye Wen now had a rough understanding of the sect.

The Thunder Sword Gate was located in Dongzhou and was once a top sect in the martial world, though it had declined in recent years. Their signature technique was the Thunder Sword Style, a form of rapid swordplay. When Ye Wen rushed down the mountain just now, he had witnessed Lei Ying using dazzling quick swordsmanship to toy with several Shu Mountain disciples. It wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, but Lei Ying's strikes were too fast; the disciples didn't have time to react before being wounded.

Besides that, the Thunder Sword Gate, in its rivalry with the Sinking Gang for the title of the number one sect in Dongzhou, had spent several years developing a technique to counter the Sinking Gang's Glimmering Sword style. This counter, also a sword technique, was eventually used to destroy the Sinking Gang and establish the Thunder Sword Gate as the dominant power in Dongzhou.

Ye Wen had never seen this technique; rumor had it only key figures in the Thunder Sword Gate could learn it. All this information came from Chen Yizhong.

Hua Yi, however, shared some details Chen Yizhong was unaware of: Back when the Thunder Sword Gate was a top-tier force, their success was built upon a superior and faster quick-sword technique called the "Sky-Seizing Sword Art." Unfortunately, this art had been lost over the past decade, and consequently, the Thunder Sword Gate had been declining year after year.

Furthermore, the founder who led the sect's rise, possessing extraordinary natural talent, further refined the Glimmering Sword Counter technique, streamlining complex moves and distilling the essence to create the "Flying Dragon Sword Art." While this art hadn't been completely lost, the complete manual was gone, leaving only a fragmented version currently used as a lesser foundational technique.

"As the son of Lei Zhenshan, Lei Ying likely knows a bit of the Flying Dragon Sword Art!" Hua Yi only got this far before stopping. Ye Wen, however, had already darted forward.

With this knowledge, Ye Wen faced Lei Ying with even greater confidence: a declining sect whose very heritage was half-lost was hardly something he needed to worry about excessively.

"I am Ye Wen of the Shu Mountain Sect!"

"You are that so-called Gentleman Sword?" Lei Ying looked him over, unable to discern anything remarkable. Moreover, since this person called himself the Gentleman Sword, why wasn't he even carrying a long sword?

"Perhaps he was so startled by the news of my arrival that he forgot it?" He mused internally, becoming more convinced. "Hmph! In that case, he can't be much of a figure. I must have been too alarmed earlier. Perhaps this person only has exceptional Qinggong!"

Just then, the Shu Mountain disciples rushed down the mountain in a wave. Hua Yi, possessing the best Qinggong, could have easily outpaced them and arrived alone, but for some reason, she drifted down leisurely.

Ning Ruxue and Xu Xian were both focused on cultivation and felt no need to join the fray, so they remained on the mountain. Huang Rongrong, however, driven by her love for excitement, hurried down, but her skills were lacking, and she barely managed to arrive.

"Oh my heavens! Why run so fast..." Her protest, though spoken casually, immediately caught Lei Ying's attention. He looked over, spotted his target amidst the crowd, and was instantly overjoyed, losing all interest in Ye Wen.

It turned out that although Lei Ying had proposed marriage multiple times, Huang Rongrong was completely unaware of it! She didn't even recognize Lei Ying. While Lei Ying instantly recognized her, she still didn't know who he was.

"Huang Rongrong, you are indeed at Shu Mountain! Come with me!" As he spoke, he reached out directly toward Huang Rongrong. However, the moment his hand extended, he heard the sharp sound of blades slicing through the air beside him, signaling a sword thrust toward him. He quickly dodged.

Sidestepping one attack, he intended to counter-thrust, but when he turned back, a bolt of purple sword energy shot past his ear. As the energy swept by, his cheek tingled as if cut by a blade. Looking up, he saw Ye Wen standing two zhang away, his right hand forming a sword-finger pointed directly at him.

"He released that sword energy using just his finger?" Realizing this, he was even more shocked. He didn't know what level of mastery was required to emit sword energy from a finger, but even his father, with his own cultivation, could only force sword energy from a physical blade, and even then, not sustainably. Yet, this man casually shot out a stream of sword energy with a mere gesture—this skill was terrifyingly profound!

Ye Wen didn't bother contemplating Lei Ying's thoughts, merely stating, "Sir, you are perhaps too contemptuous of others!" He then glanced at Huang Rongrong, having already discerned that Lei Ying's entire purpose here was for her.

Lei Ying now understood that the Shu Mountain Sect was formidable, and Ye Wen, in particular, was no empty reputation. The cultivation that allowed him to casually release sword energy was certainly not someone he could afford to provoke. While he acted tyrannically in Dongzhou, it was backed by his father and the Thunder Sword Gate, and he never provoked the truly powerful. In unfamiliar territory, the Shu Mountain Sect had no reason to defer to the Thunder Sword Gate, and his own cultivation was inferior. He immediately adopted a conciliatory tone: "It was my oversight, I have offended your esteemed sect and all fellow martial artists here! I offer my sincerest apologies to everyone! Furthermore, I will cover all costs for healing any injuries! Please forgive our transgression!"

Ye Wen was taken aback by this swift shift in attitude. The moment Lei Ying sensed the tide turning against him and realized he was outmatched, he immediately bowed and apologized. This left Ye Wen unsure of how to respond.

Unfortunately for Lei Ying, a great calamity was destined for him today. Before he could finish his apologies, a disciple called out to Ye Wen: "Sect Leader, these people defaced the stone tablet inscribed with the name of Shu Mountain!"

This exclamation startled everyone. Ye Wen had been too focused on assessing Lei Ying earlier and hadn't noticed the tablet. Upon hearing this, he saw that the stone tablet had indeed been marred by chaotic carvings, completely losing its original appearance, the inscription now indecipherable.

When the disciple relayed the full details of the Thunder Sword Gate men's actions, Ye Wen became enraged. Such behavior was no different from smashing the very signboard of the Shu Mountain Sect!

"Such audacious gall! I want to see what gives you the right to be so rampant!"