Chapter 501: Battle Invitation

Members of the Soaring Heaven Sect? Yan Liqiang knew some things were inevitable. Although the incident where he killed Shi Zhiyao wasn’t publicly known, it wasn’t all that strange for Shi Zhiyao’s sect to find out something had happened to him, given the fact that Yan Liqiang actually released the remaining cockroaches from the Transportation Office. Hence, it wasn’t surprising for the Soaring Heaven Sect to finally come knocking on his door.

“Ah, people from the Soaring Heaven Sect. It’s an honor to meet both of you at last!” Shi Changfeng’s voice came from the garden outside Yan Liqiang’s study room. Dressed in white garments with a sword hanging on his waist, he came out from the shadows through the garden’s side door. “What business do you have here in my archery academy?”

Yan Liqiang cast a glance at Shi Changfeng. He figured that Shi Changfeng must be lurking outside his courtyard because he had been worried for Yan Liqiang’s safety, knowing that there might be some uninvited guests tonight. Upon the arrival of those two men, Shi Changfeng also came out of hiding.

“Who are you?” Zong Yi, the shorter disciple from the Soaring Heaven Sect, watched as Shi Changfeng slowly approached them. He swept his glance over the sword on Shi Changfeng’s waist as his gaze turned slightly colder.

“Chief of the archery academy, Shi Changfeng!” He gave them a confident and sincere smile.

“This has nothing to do with you. You should get out of our way if you don’t want to get into trouble!” Zong Yi warned coldly.

“Whatever happens inside the archery academy is my business. Given the fact that both of you have come here uninvited, isn’t it only polite for you to inform the owner of this place?”

“Inform? Well, that will depend on whether you are qualified or not…” Zong Yi’s figure flickered before he vanished from the spot…

Two faint sword auras rose in the courtyard simultaneously before fading almost at the same time again. The sounds of swords being unsheathed and sheathed nearly synchronized with each other. Both parties moved so fast that ordinary people wouldn’t be able to keep up with their eyes…

Shi Changfeng didn’t move a step back, but there was a fine cut on his left sleeve. Fabric about the size of a palm drifted gently to the ground. Likewise, a cut of four inches was also made on Zong Yi’s belt. Both parties traded blows once and their expressions turned grim upon realizing that they were evenly matched with each other.

“I’m only giving you the chance to discuss things here, seeing that both of you knew how to restrain yourselves in Liuhe Town today.” Yan Liqiang looked at the two experts from the Soaring Heaven Sect indifferently.

“I killed Shi Zhiyao with my own hands. You better make it clear if both of you are here because of him. If the Soaring Heaven Sect wants to settle this with violence, so be it. It’s getting late and it’s cold out here. I don’t really feel like wasting my time here with you!”

“Crazy enough!” The disciple named He Tianhong sneered coldly. He reached into his clothes and took out something.

“I heard you have decent cultivation despite your youthfulness. This is a battle invitation for you from our Soaring Heaven Sect’s Elder Cai Yingwu, the best archer in Yun Province. To avoid being criticized for picking on a young child, you will duel with a bow at Lan Province’s Heavenly Lake on the first day of next year, under the witness of our peers in the northwestern region. Our purpose here today is to deliver the battle invitation. Accept it if you dare…!” He Tianhong tossed the invitation card as soon as he finished speaking. The invitation card cut through the air noisily as it flew toward Yan Liqiang. By the time it reached Yan Liqiang, he easily caught it between his two fingers.

Seeing that Yan Liqiang had accepted the card, He Tianhong and Zong Yi exchanged glances with each other. “Let’s go!” Their figures then flickered before flying out of Yan Liqiang’s courtyard, vanishing into the dark night.

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Yan Liqiang didn’t stop the two men from leaving as it was pointless to make things difficult for the errand boys. He opened the invitation card instead and read its contents expressionlessly.

Shi Changfeng came over and Yan Liqiang passed the battle invitation to him. Shi Changfeng frowned as soon as he read the invitation. “This is getting dangerous!” he said softly with a worried look on his face.

“Master Shi has heard of Cai Yingwu?” Yan Liqiang asked with a calm voice.

“Yes.” Shi Changfeng nodded gravely. “He is an elder in the Soaring Heaven Sect, also known as the best archer in Yun Province. When he attained the Fifth Heavenly Layer in the art of archery back then, he annihilated a huge mounted bandit group that plagued the Yun Province and became a sensation. He has a great reputation and is also the head of archery trainers in the Military Governor’s Office at Yun Province!”

“What is the relationship between Cai Yingwu and the Soaring Heaven Sect Lord, Guo Yifei?”

“Cai Yingwu is a friend of Guo Yifei’s. He joined the Soaring Heaven Sect by Guo Yifei’s invitation after the sect was founded, thus becoming an elder there. He may not be as powerful as Guo Yifei in martial arts, but he is definitely far superior to him when it comes to archery!”

Yan Liqiang rubbed his face and smiled coldly. “I thought Guo Yifei would take matters into his own hands. Little did I expect it to be an elder from the Soaring Heaven Sect who wants to settle this with me through archery. How interesting. Someone wanted to challenge me to an archery contest when I was in the Imperial Capital. Now that I have returned to Gan Province, there’s another challenge in archery. I guess I can’t run away this time!”

“You mustn’t be reckless, Liqiang! The other party dares to challenge you to a duel despite knowing your reputation and cultivation in the art of archery. This means that they are quite confident that they can beat you!”

Yan Liqiang took a deep breath. “I know. The Soaring Heaven Sect isn’t only after my life, but they also want to shut down my archery academy. From the sounds of it, word of this has spread. A lot of people will come to watch this and I’ll have no choice but to go. Yet, I have a question. What can the Soaring Heaven Sect possibly do if I don’t turn up?”

Shi Changfeng was silent for a moment. “The other party is doing things the proper way with you. They issued a challenge and informed many people. If you don’t show up, it’s likely that Guo Yifei will personally come for you. Even if he doesn’t kill you, he’ll completely cripple your cultivation…”

“Haha, so the Soaring Heaven Sect wants be a b*tch but they also don’t want to admit being one? How strange. If they really want to kill me, why not let Guo Yifei personally do it?”

“Maybe… Maybe he’s considering his status.” Shi Changfeng looked at Yan Liqiang. “What are you planning to do this time, Liqiang?”

Yan Liqiang looked at the dark sky as a look of determination appeared on his face. “There’s no way to escape the inevitable. I fled to Gan Province from the Imperial Capital and yet someone still wants to challenge me. Where else can I possibly escape even if I want to? It’s not like I can go back to the Imperial Capital. If I don’t stand my ground here this time, things like this will keep coming. If he wants to challenge me to a duel, then so be it!”

…

The next day, a letter from Wang Jianbei was delivered to the archery academy. Yan Liqiang finally understood through the letter why Guo Yifei didn’t take the matter into his hands. This was the outcome of the mediation by Lei Sitong and the Zhong Clan. Guo Yifei flew into a rage after knowing that Yan Liqiang had killed Shi Zhiyao. Under Lei Sitong and the Zhong Clan’s mediation, he finally agreed that he wouldn’t personally handle this matter and pick on the weak. However, the Soaring Heaven Sect must avenge their disciple’s death and settle the score, so this led to a battle invitation.

When Yan Liqiang received the battle invitation from the Soaring Heaven Sect last night, news about the best archer in Yun Province, Elder Cai Yingwu, challenging Yan Liqiang to a duel had spread to every province in the northwestern region. It immediately caused quite a stir…

Meanwhile, the letter Wang Jianbei sent also mentioned that Lei Sitong had received news about the Northwestern Transport Commissioner Jiang Tianhua sending people to Yun Province’s Soaring Heaven Sect. Jiang Tianhua had probably put some effort into making this duel happen and offered Cai Yingwu some kind of benefit…