The atmosphere in the arena was stifling; waves of terrifying auras pressed down, each master releasing their unique Martial Arts oppression, surging together like a roaring tidal wave.

Sixth Young Master Mo Beiyan’s Martial Arts talent wasn’t strong; even after piling on a mountain of resources, he barely managed to reach the Innate Realm. Facing the pressure from so many Martial Arts powerhouses, he was like a lone leaf floating in the vast sea, rootless and drifting.

Yet, he still braced himself against the pressure, standing firmly before Gu Zhan. Staring coldly at the gathered masters, he said, "Today, whoever wants to touch Gu Zhan, must step over my body first!"

Mo Beiyan’s status was quite exalted,

At the very least, so long as Beidou Bang remained the overlord of Canglan Dao, the standing of the Sixth Young Master would always transcend worldly affairs. In Canglan Dao, truly no one dared lay a hand on him. Even the various young masters in Canglan City didn’t dare make a blatant move against Mo Beiyan—let alone these people from the Five Great Sects.

"Sixth Young Master!"

Yu Fengxing leaned on his cane, limping forward a couple of steps, and said slowly: "Are you really willing to shoulder the infamy of the entire Martial World for Gu Zhan? Are you determined to throw out all rules?"

With each strike of Yu Fengxing’s cane on the ground, slabs of stone, each weighing hundreds or even thousands of jins, trembled as if they were sheets of rice paper blown by the wind.

"Gu Zhan betrayed trust and loyalty, fell into Demon Dao, and is a naked disgrace of the Martial World—a heretic and demon! Sixth Young Master, your Beidou Bang is the leader of the Righteous Martial Dao, backed by countless Renowned and Righteous Sects. By doing this, are you going to plunge Beidou Bang into disgrace?

The illustrious Sixth Young Master siding with heretical demons—if this gets out, it won’t just be your reputation destroyed. Even Beidou Bang will be affected! Sixth Young Master, you must consider this carefully!"

Mo Beiyan’s expression was icy as he stretched out his arm to shield Gu Zhan behind him. He said coldly, "I’ve said it before. What Gu Zhan is, is not for you to decide. I’ll take Gu Zhan to Canglan City and let Beidou Bang deal with him, but I’ll never hand him to you. I can give up the Embroidered Uniform Guard and return authority of inspection to your various sects. Beidou Bang will also give you a satisfactory answer regarding Gu Zhan. How about that?"

The Protector Elder from Mountain Moving Sect, Sui Qiyuan, also stepped out and said, "Heretics and demons must be killed on sight. Sixth Young Master, right now you’re defending Gu Zhan before the entire Pingyang Martial World. How can any of us trust your word? Hundreds of lives from the Lingxi Sword Sect—their blood hasn’t even dried! Sixth Young Master, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Ma Family Master also called out in a sonorous voice: "Sixth Young Master, we’ve always respected you. The joint statement was signed swiftly for your sake. Now, that one piece of paper has thrown Pingyang Martial World into such turmoil. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?"

Mo Beiyan took a deep breath and declared loudly, "I use the name of Beidou Bang as a guarantee, I will definitely..."

"Enough, Brother Mo!"

Just then, Gu Zhan, who had been silent for a long time, abruptly interrupted Mo Beiyan. He slowly stepped out from behind, gently patted Mo Beiyan’s shoulder, and laughed lightly, "Since my debut, I, Gu Zhan, have rarely been defended like this. Honestly, I’m a bit moved!"

Mo Beiyan was momentarily stunned, saying, "Brother Gu, in these more than twenty years of my life, I’ve never been so unrestrained. Today, let me be reckless for once! As long as I’m alive, I want to see who the hell dares lay a finger on you!"

"No need for that."

Gu Zhan smiled faintly, slowly stepped forward, and with a light shake of the Horizontal Saber in his hand, chuckled, "Brother Mo, though you’re a bit older than me, when it comes to surviving in the Martial World, you don’t understand things as thoroughly as I do.

In this Martial World, there really aren’t that many principles. There’s only one true rule: whoever has the bigger fist is the truth!"

Gu Zhan slowly raised his saber, pointing at the mighty crowd below, and said, "Look—there are thousands down there. Everyone puts on a righteous facade, but in reality, they’re not even worth a fart. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

They only think they’ve got me in the bag. But if you swap the name for someone with a bigger reputation, say Sword Spirit Qi Baiyu who once hounded me to the ends of the earth—if it were him who massacred Lingxi Sword Sect today, who among these people would dare utter a word? I bet every single one of them would’ve forced a smile and asked Qi Baiyu if he was tired!"

In an instant, the faces of the various sects turned incredibly ugly.

"Gu Zhan, don’t get arrogant, you..."

"Shut the fuck up!"

Gu Zhan kicked a slab of stone into the speaker, then turned to Mo Beiyan and laughed, "Brother Mo, this is the truth of the Martial World. Whenever you still run into things that make you unhappy, the only reason is your fists aren’t hard enough, and your saber not sharp enough!

So, if you want true freedom, if you want nothing to vex you, there’s only one way—make your fists harder, your blade sharper!"

With that,

Gu Zhan strode boldly toward the plaza on the mountainside. As he walked, he bellowed with laughter, "Brother Mo, here’s one last maxim for you—

Where my saber points, there is truth!"

His surging, thunderous voice echoed through the mountains, blasting in every ear.

At the summit, all the Embroidered Uniform Guard reined in their horses, ready to charge and kill; all the Gu Family disciples drew their swords and surged toward the mountainside.

Gu Zhan stood alone at the very front, facing into the wind, overlooking the vast crowd on the plaza, and declared in a booming voice, "I, Gu Zhan, am here! Who among you dares come courting death? Whether you wish for a gauntlet, single combat, or a siege, I’ll accept it! Even if all you worthless mongrels come at me at once, what do I have to fear!"