Devil Sword Awakens

Thirty thousand copper coins were a considerable amount of wealth to a commoner. However, it was nothing but allowance to spend on drinks to the incredibly wealthy disciples from Marquis Jiange's Residence.

Everyone in Marquis Jiange's Residence would be given a monthly allowance to spend. The amount of money they received depended on their status and Cultivation.

Take Ning Han for example. His talent was average but he was a direct descendant of Marquis Jiange's Residence. Hence, his monthly allowance was ten thousand copper coins.

Ning Xiner's monthly allowance was naturally higher than that, which was fifty thousand copper coins per month. However, her expenditure was huge as well and all of it was used for her Cultivation. Heart-nourishing Liquid, Blood-increasing Liquid, Qi Condensation Powder, and so on were essential to her.

These were all elixirs important for her Cultivation and the price was ridiculous as all of these were made by Heart-nourishing Masters. Although Marquis Jiange's Residence would give some of these to their disciples every month, it was never enough and they still needed to buy it themselves. 

Even so, Ning Xiner had still been able to save some money and had no problem forking out thirty thousand copper coins. What she was worried about was what her brother would spend this money on.

Ning Xiaochuan had a monthly allowance as well but, since he could not learn any martial arts, it was very low. Furthermore, the allowance he had been saving for many years had been completely spent at the brothel last time. Hence, he had no choice but to approach Ning Xiner and borrow money from her.

"I wish to head out to buy something. A man will always feel unsafe if he heads out without any money." Ning Xiaochuan had decided not to tell her about wanting to become a Heart-nourishing Master and it would not be too late to inform her when he became one.

Ning Xiner bit her lips softly as she stared at Ning Xiaochuan. "Brother, are you going to the brothel again?"

"Ah! I…" Ning Xiaochuan looked embarrassed and did not know what to tell her.

Ning Xiner's gaze was filled with a hint of disappointment but she still went in to take three hundred silver coins that were carefully packed and passed it to Ning Xiaochuan. "You're my brother. I'll never look down on you no matter what path you take."

"Thank you. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to return the money to you in a few days."

Ning Xiaochuan took the three hundred silver coins. He was relieved when he felt the weight in the package. He hastily left Marquis Jiange's Residence as he planned to purchase the elixirs that were required for him to cultivate the Heart-nourishing Cauldron.

Ning Xiner bit her lips hard as she stood in the courtyard, watching Ning Xiaochuan leave the place in a rush. Tears started streaming down her big amorphous eyes. "Father, mother, I know this is wrong, but I also know that this is the only way that brother will be happier. Everyone in Marquis Jiange's Residence looks down on him and he won't gain any pride here. However, there… He might be able to gain back some pride by spending money there!"

The Yulan Empire's currency was made out of valuable metals. The smaller currency was made out of copper and the larger currency was made out of silver. Hence, the smaller currency was also known as copper coins and the larger currency was known as silver coins.

Also, gold coins were even more valuable as they rarely appeared in the market. Only nobles of the royal descent would occasionally use them to display their status over others.

As Ning Xiaochuan carried the three hundred silver coins out of Marquis Jiange's Residence, he did not take any servant or maid along. Truthfully, only a handful of them were willing to stay beside him as not only would they not receive any money as a reward, they would be targeted by the bullies as well.

The Yulan Empire was a Grade Five Empire located in the Tianxu Continent. It was founded some eight hundred years ago and its land was boundless. The distance between its north and south was 29,204.4 miles whereas the distance between the east and west was 24,845.8 miles. The total population exceeded ten billion people, the empire was well developed, and its culture was very versatile.

The Yulan Empire was surrounded by many Grade Four Dynasties, Grade Three Kingdoms, Grade Two Federal Alliances, and Grade One Remote Tribes.

These Remote Tribes, Federal Alliances, Kingdoms, and Dynasties were managed by the Yulan Empire and would annually donate countless tributes, money, and beautiful women to the Yulan Empire.

Furthermore, these nations' powerful martial artists would choose to further cultivate their martial arts in the Yulan Empire. Some were recruited into Noble mansions whereas others were recruited into Martial Art Sects.

That was because the Yulan Empire's martial art standard far surpassed that of Grade Four Dynasties and Grade Three Kingdoms. One could only become truly strong by coming to the Yulan Empire!

One could easily spot the blue-haired beauties of the Arctic Kingdom and slaves from the South Wild Tribe when strolling around the Imperial City. One could also spot wealthy people riding their Green Deerhorse carriages in the middle of White Stone Street. There were also martial artists with their battle swords as they held along their red lions. The aura they emitted out from their bodies was so intimidating that nobody dared to look them in the eyes.

The martial artists carried their swords on their backs whereas the beautiful wealthy ladies sat inside the carriages!

"What a big city. I can't even see the border on the horizon."

Ning Xiaochuan walked down the main street as he found everything inside the Imperial City incredibly interesting. After walking for a full hour, he realized that he had only been walking along the same main street.

"Eh! That looks like the disciples of Marquis Jiange's Residence." Ning Xiaochuan looked down the alley from afar and saw two servants from Marquis Jiange's Residence dragging a beautiful lady out of a shop. The girl was struggling as she cried, but it was all for naught. The two servants were Monks who possessed Combat Qi. They were incredibly powerful and dragged her into the green-black carriage.

Ning Han stood by as a cruel and evil grin appeared on his face. He looked around and ordered. "Stuff this lowly trash into the leather bag."

Many people within the vicinity saw the incident but none of them dared to meddle. Who would even dare to mess with Marquis Jiange's Residence? It was incredibly common for these Noble's disciples to kill someone openly in the street, what more abducting a woman.

Ning Han boarded the Green Deerhorse carriage as it disappeared into the distance swiftly.

Ning Xiaochuan had a modern mindset and could not accept such a thing. Hence, he was incredibly angered at Ning Han's actions in which the latter dared to abduct someone in broad daylight. It was as if he was above the law.

If nobody dared to meddle, then he would.

Initially, he was rather disgusted by Ning Han as the latter was rather arrogant and did not know how to respect others. Now, Ning Xiaochuan felt that Ning Han was an *sshole.

Ning Xiaochuan rented a Green Deerhorse carriage. He whipped the Green Deerhorse as he chased after them. He left the inner city and arrived at a deserted region in the outskirts.

The Yulan Empire's Imperial City was divided into the inner city, outskirts, and border. The inner city was naturally the most developed region. It was where the royals, powerful martial artists, and wealthy merchants lived. Although the inner region took up only a third of the area, its population was forty percent of the Imperial City itself. The land there was incredibly valuable.

The outskirts were very well developed as well but were deserted relative to the inner city.

Ning Han's Green Deerhorse carriage stopped in a deserted region. There was a huge river flowing in this area and both banks were filled with all sorts of dense shrubbery and willow plants.

Ning Xiaochuan jumped down from his Green Deerhorse carriage and chased after them as he, from a distance, saw the two servants tying stones to the edge of the leather bag.

The bag kept moving about as whimpers could be heard within it.

"This chick is Guanyu Tower's second-rate hostess. It's a pity to just throw her into the river." One of the servants laughed sinisterly.

Ning Han stood still by the bank of the river as he grinned. "Do you guys not play with women enough? No matter what, this girl must die. Are you worried that you won't get to play with any woman if you follow me?"

"Master Han is right. As long as Master Han opens his mouth, we'll be able to get our hands on good ladies and even the ones from wealthy families, no? Hehe!"

The other servant said, "I'm done tying it up. Should I throw her into the river now?"

The girl in the leather bag kept whimpering as she continued struggling.

Ning Han smiled cunningly. "Blame yourself for knowing too much. Throw her into the river!"

Just as the two servants were about to throw the bag, someone screamed from behind. "What are you guys doing? Are you guys trying to murder someone by drowning them in broad daylight?"

Ning Xiaochuan appeared before them as the rage within him was at its limit. These people did not seem to care about lives at all. After all, they did not feel a hint of remorse for abducting someone into a leather bag and planning to drown the person at the bottom of the river. Did they even know how much fear the person in the bag was feeling?

Was this something a human would do?

The two servants were stunned as they immediately placed the leather bag back on the floor. They turned around and were dumbfounded. Why would this trash appear before them?

Ning Xiaochuan strode forward swiftly and immediately loosened the leather sack, releasing a girl around fifteen or sixteen years old from the bag.

This woman's skin was fair. Her eyes were incredibly amorphous and her eyelids were long and curvy. She was incredibly beautiful but seemed incredibly pale and out of character as her petite body kept trembling endlessly.

"Master Ning, why are you here? Ignore me and run for your life! They'll kill you!" Yu Yan saw with her own eyes two days ago that Ning Xiaochuan had been beaten to death at the brothel. Although she did not know how Ning Xiaochuan had managed to survive, she was quite worried about him as she knew that Ning Han's methods were very cruel.

Ning Han was slightly startled as well but his expression turned into mockery when he saw Ning Xiaochuan appear. "Sicken Ning, I didn't expect you to show up here. Haha! I see you've no intention of walking the safe path and insist on seeking death. Ning Hai, please take care of this man so that we can deal with the root problem immediately."

The servant named Ning Hai was rather hesitant. Although Ning Xiaochuan was a sick man, he was still a direct descendant of Marquis Jiang's Residence. He was the descendant of a Noble!

"What are you afraid of? Fourth Uncle and I will bear this responsibility," Ning Han said.

Ning Hai was a servant whose Qi Cultivation was at Stage Four. He was rather determined upon hearing Ning Han's words, his gaze filled with killing intent. He curled his lips as he smiled. "Sicken Ning, I didn't expect you to try to play the hero to save a beauty. Unfortunately, you're no hero, just a coward. I'm sure you never expected that today would be the day you die, did you? Haha!"

Ning Han stomped on the ground as his body shot forward. The fist that flew towards Ning Xiaochuan was covered with a faint layer of a red halo as the air started producing a cracking sound.

As he had cultivated his Qi to Stage Four, he was able to release his Qi out of his body to harm others. This fist of his packed a force of 2645.5 pounds. If he were to add in the Qi's destructive power, this punch was strong enough to kill a Metal-skinned Cow.

Although Ning Xiaochuan's Qi had only reached Stage Three, the difference between him and a martial artist with Stage Four Qi was simply too wide. He dared to reveal himself and call out to them because he believed that Ning Han was afraid to kill him.

That day, he finally understood what the saying 'life is nothing, comparable to grass' meant. In this world, one could only wait for death to arrive if one was not strong enough.

It seemed like Ning Han could already imagine Ning Xiaochuan's head smashing until it was disfigured as a cruel and sinister grin appeared on his face.

Yu Yan was so anxious she shut her eyes. She could not bear to watch such a cruel scene.

Ning Xiaochuan stared at the huge fist that grew closer. His body gently took a step back as he stood firmly. The blood in his body started circulating quicker as he threw out a punch as well, blocking Ning Hai's fist with it. 

"Creak!"

The shortsword in Ning Xiaochuan's heart started chirping happily. A blood-red Qi channeled out of his heart into his blood vessels as it traveled to Ning Xiaochuan's palm.

As Ning Hai's fist came in contact with Ning Xiaochuan's palm, there was a loud 'boom' but this punch did not knock out Sicken Ning.

Fear crept up on Ning Hai instantly as he realized that the blood circulation in his body was more than ten times faster than usual. He had lost control of his blood circulation. It gushed towards his fist and was absorbed into Ning Xiaochuan's body through his palm.

…

(Author's Note: The Yulan's Empire is 29,204.4 miles apart from north to south and 24,845.8 miles apart from east to west. In terms of kilometers, that's roughly 47,000 km and 40,000 km respectively. This means that it has a total surface area of 18.8 billion square kilometers. The surface area of Asia is roughly 4.4 million square kilometers. This means that the Yulan Empire is at least 40 times bigger than Asia. Hence, a population of at least ten million citizens live in the Yulan Empire, which is at least 40 times bigger than Asia and isn't overpopulated at all. In fact, there aren't enough citizens at all!