Time flew by, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.
The news online was constantly changing.
The buzz surrounding the Innate Powerhouse of "One Sword Breaks the Peak" came and went quickly.
People were busy with the trivialities of daily life and had soon all but forgotten about the incident.
After all, a battle between cultivators in the Innate Realm was ultimately too far removed from the lives of ordinary people.
It was something to be admired from a distance, but never touched.
For the average person, the daily necessities were the true essence of life.
'It's good that they've forgotten. The whole thing got a little out of hand.'
In the library, as closing time approached, Qin Yang skillfully slacked off, scrolling through the trending topics on his phone.
He let out a long sigh of relief when he saw that the top-trending topic had disappeared.
Looking back on his earlier actions, he couldn't help but feel a little fortunate.
'Who would have thought that one sword strike would be so powerful?'
'I just casually went out...'
'And ended up leveling a mountaintop!'
'You can't blame me for that. The mountain was just too fragile!'
'If I'd known it was going to be that powerful, I probably would have tested it on a small hill first.'
'I wonder what the extent of my "One Sword" is now.'
Qin Yang put his phone away, casually flipped through two books on Basic Swordsmanship, and then shoved them back onto the shelf.
Boring.
Over the past few days, he had already gone through all the books on the library's first floor.
The first floor of the library was divided into six major sections.
And during this time, Qin Yang hadn't been idle. He made an excuse to volunteer for extra work, which allowed him to wander through all of these sections.
Even the Steward in charge couldn't help but sigh with admiration after seeing this.
A motivated young man like Qin Yang was a rare sight.
So, he simply opened up the other sections and let Qin Yang clean them all.
Taking advantage of these short cleaning stints,
Qin Yang read through every available book on Basic Swordsmanship.
All in all, he had consulted at least twenty-five different manuals on Basic Swordsmanship!
However,
to his dismay,
most of these Basic Swordsmanship manuals were repetitive.
Some of the authors were even more ridiculous...
It was one thing for the content to be similar, but some went so far as to copy other books word-for-word into their own "swordsmanship" manuals.
For a while, even Qin Yang couldn't tell who the original author was.
'It's a world of plagiarists. Who copied whom?'
Qin Yang was speechless.
But fortunately,
although these swordsmanship styles were similar, they still had their merits.
'Separate the wheat from the chaff.'
Thanks to the Enlightenment Space, it wasn't difficult to extract the useful parts from those books.
Having now integrated numerous swordsmanship styles, Qin Yang's comprehension of the Sword Dao had skyrocketed.
The power of his "One Sword Opens the Celestial Gate" had reached a new level.
'I wonder just how much stronger it's gotten...'
At this thought, Qin Yang's hands itched to test his sword again.
But the commotion from "One Sword Breaks the Peak" had only just died down.
'And this next sword strike would be even more terrifying than the last.'
'If I really unleashed a strike then, wouldn't I just obliterate the entire mountain?'
Slicing up mountains was out, and so was testing his sword against the sky.
It was called "One Sword Opens the Celestial Gate" for a reason.
'What if I swing my sword at the sky and... end up splitting the atmosphere, tearing a hole in the ozone layer?!'
'Now that would be a real disaster!'
"Sigh... being too powerful is its own kind of trouble,"
Qin Yang sighed, pulling out his phone to check the time.
Quitting time.
He reached up, switched off the library lights, and briskly left his post.
Not long after he walked out of the library, he came face-to-face with a squad of fully armed guards.
They brushed past him, heading toward the library.
The tense, grim atmosphere was palpable.
'They're all Martial Artists at the Late Stage of the Postnatal Realm.'
Qin Yang casually scanned their cultivation levels, remembering that they were all part of the additional security force hired by the Hall Master.
Although the uproar over "One Sword Breaks the Peak" had subsided in recent days,
the rumors of the Bloodthirsty Demon were running rampant, leaving the people of Jianghai City in a state of panic.
This Bloodthirsty Demon was causing chaos, moving through the city and committing a string of crimes.
The victims had all their blood drained before death, leaving them like desiccated corpses.
All sorts of rumors flew across the internet, stirring up a massive controversy.
'This world is just too dangerous.'
Walking down the street, Qin Yang looked up at the stars in the night sky, his sense of crisis exploding.
'Leveling a mountaintop with one sword strike still isn't quite enough.'
'I still need more power.'
Just as he was lost in thought,
Suddenly, a frantic ringing came from his pocket.
Qin Yang frowned at the sound and fumbled in his pocket for his phone.
'Who's calling so late? Don't tell me they're calling me back for overtime?!'
However, when he took out his phone, he saw it was an unknown number.
Slightly confused, Qin Yang pressed the answer key.
Immediately,
Xia He's loud voice boomed from the other end of the line:
"Old Qin, help me!"
"???"
'What's going on?'
Qin Yang froze for a second, his heart skipping a beat as he immediately thought of the Bloodthirsty Demon.
'It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?'
'Am I jinxing myself?'
"Where are you? Tell me your location!"
Qin Yang suppressed his doubts and asked calmly.
The vast Power of Stars began to brew, ready to be unleashed, and he was on the verge of using the Seven-Star Step.
Xia He was the person he knew best in this world; he certainly couldn't just stand by and let him die.
However, the next moment...
"Honglang Hotel, room 404! Old Qin, hurry up and get here!"
Xia He's sobbing voice came through again.
"Huh? What are you doing there?"
Qin Yang was bewildered.
"I'm so fucking unlucky! Some bitch set me up in a honey trap!"
Xia He said, breaking down and sobbing, "They stripped me of all my clothes! Hurry and bring me something to wear! If word of this gets out and my dad finds out, he'll kill me for sure!"
"I'm calling you from a waiter's phone right now. Thank god he's a guy, or I'd never be able to show my face again."
Qin Yang: "..."
Hearing this, Qin Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
'So it was just about this.'
'Looks like all the recent commotion in the city has made me a little tense, too.'
"Hello? You still there? Old Qin!"
When he didn't get a reply, Xia He grew anxious on the other end of the line.
"Come save me! Old Qin... ahem! Father Qin! Master Qin! Come save my life!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Wait there, I'm on my way."
Qin Yang rubbed his forehead in exasperation. His figure flashed and vanished in the direction of the Honglang Hotel.
...
「The next day.」
Last night, he had rescued a bruised and battered Xia He, who had been stripped naked and was a mess of tears and snot, and then taken him home.
After a night's rest, he went to work as usual.
However, not long after Qin Yang walked into the library,
he saw Xia He walking toward him.
His face was haggard from a sleepless night, and he scratched at his bedhead.
"Try to behave yourself from now on. Don't let your dick do the thinking for you,"
Qin Yang teased, "If I'm busy next time, there won't be anyone to rescue you."
"Hmph, I was just careless for a moment,"
Xia He grumbled, then glanced at his phone and suddenly exclaimed, "Holy shit, the Bloodthirsty Demon was caught last night!"