These words, mentioning tourist maps and such, immediately angered the middle-aged men beside the old man. Chen Xiao noticed this detail; clearly, those middle-aged men seemed to understand Chinese.
The old man stared at Chen Xiao, leaning forward slightly: "Heh... For decades! Not a single person has dared to trespass into my Spring Flow Palace. But today, an exception has been made! Very good! Very good!"
His gaze shifted to the ground, where he saw the dozen or so people Chen Xiao had knocked down. His expression turned grim, and others quickly rushed forward to drag the fallen people away.
Suddenly, the scene became empty.
"The Spring Stream Palace opens its doors wide, and guests from all directions are welcome to visit! But I have never seen a young man like you who dares to barge in with his strength. You appear to be a martial artist from the Central Plains. Don't you know any of the rules?"
The old man spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice carrying an air of authority and a subtle sense of majesty. Chen Xiao frowned, increasingly feeling that something was amiss. He frowned and said, "What rules? Your people wouldn't let me in at the door, they were verbally abusive, and they even started a fight."
“Very good.” The old man nodded, turned his head to the side, and squinted his eyes: “Who was greeting guests at the door just now?”
The middle-aged man whose teeth had been knocked out by Chen Xiao had already gotten up, his hands hanging limply as he said in a terrified voice, "It's my son..."
"Useless thing." The old man snorted and shook his head slightly. "He has disgraced my Spring Flow Palace! Take his sword and send him to the outer hall for three years of proper training!"
Upon hearing "take away the knife," the middle-aged man trembled as if it were some extremely severe punishment. He dared not utter a word of protest, but simply retreated sullenly, giving Chen Xiao a venomous look.
The old man seemed to deliberately speak Chinese in front of Chen Xiao, making sure Chen Xiao could understand him. After handling the matter, he looked at Chen Xiao and asked, "Do you think my handling of this matter is fair?"
Chen Xiao frowned: "There's no such thing as fairness or unfairness. They're your people, so you can do whatever you want with them."
"Alright, now that our people have dealt with it, shouldn't you give us an explanation? Otherwise, it would be ridiculous if word got out that my Quanliu Palace had been trespassed on."
Chen Xiao couldn't help but feel a little doubtful...
What, does it make it sound like you're challenging us?
Did I go to the wrong place?
But this is clearly the "Spring Flow Palace".
"Hachiro, why don't you have a friendly spar with this distinguished guest? Don't tarnish the prestige of my Senryu Palace in front of outsiders."
The old man seemed to say something indifferently.
A man standing next to him, who looked to be in his forties, grunted in response. This man had a square face, broad shoulders and hands, and a burly build, yet he exuded an understated air of authority.
After hearing this, he took a step forward. Although he was much older than Chen Xiao, he simply raised his hand in a gesture of respect as a peer and said, "Your Excellency, I am Heihachiro of the Izumi-ryū-gū school. I would like to ask for your guidance."
Those around him gasped when they saw the middle-aged man. One of them even frowned: "Lord Hachiro is taking action? Why would Lord Hachiro need to deal with a kid like this!"
The man named Jingu Heihachiro remained calm and composed, his face as still as water, his eyes steady. With a slight raise of his hand, someone behind him presented him with a long sword using both hands.
Chen Xiao recognized the way the man held the sword with both hands, and suddenly realized what he meant. He blurted out, "Upper Chen One-Sword Style?"
The old man said calmly, "Shangchen Itto-ryu... Hmph, since you have come to my Senryu Palace, you certainly have good taste. Hachiro's Itto-ryu swordsmanship has already reached eighty percent of its potential, which is perfect for testing against a young hero like yourself!"
Chen Xiao immediately understood.
This is a huge misunderstanding.
This Quanliu Palace is not the residence of the prince that I imagined, but the Kensai of the Kamishin Itto-ryu!
But now that things have come to this point, wouldn't it make me seem weak if I were to speak up and explain the misunderstanding?
He steeled himself: "Are we really going to compete?"
The old man said calmly, "If you can defeat him, you can come and go as you please throughout the entire Quanliu Palace!"
"Alright." Chen Xiao looked at the old man opposite him, a thought suddenly struck him, and a strange smile appeared on his face.
He turned around and walked towards the wall behind him. When he arrived at the wall, he reached out and grabbed a vine on the wall, and gently pulled it.
With a snap, he grasped a three-foot-long vine in his hand.
He turned around, took a few steps, lightly weighed the rattan cane in his hand, and said with a relaxed smile, "Then let's go."
Upon seeing that Chen Xiao was holding a rattan cane, the others were fine with it, but they felt that Chen Xiao was being far too arrogant and disrespectful to them, and couldn't help but show some anger.
The old man in the wheelchair suddenly changed his expression, his old eyes widening as he stared intently at Chen Xiao, his eyes filled with terror!
"You! You! You! Who are you?!"
The old man suddenly lost his composure, and his body began to tremble.
Chen Xiao smiled deliberately, blinked, and said softly, "It's not like it's the first time I've seen people hit you with rattan canes, what are you afraid of?"
Although he spoke lightly, the old man swayed and stumbled, almost falling off his wheelchair.
Chapter 181 [Defeating the Enemy]
Ito Taio is 104 years old this year.
He is now the only remaining elder in the Kamishin Itto-ryu school. In terms of seniority, he is a generation higher than the current soul of Kamishin Itto-ryu, the number one swordsman in Japan, and the Imperial Swordsmanship Master, Han Takeuchi Bunzan!
Back in the day, when General Tian swept through the Japanese martial arts world, he was invincible with a withered vine and defeated one renowned sword master after another, Ito Daio was in his prime. At that time, he was Takeuchi Bunzan's uncle, the current head of the Kamishin Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship, and the junior brother of Jingu Naoyu, the number one swordsman in Japan at the time!
Back then, Naoyu Jingu was the greatest swordsman in Japan. He was chosen by the crowd to fight against General Hengtian. At that time, Daisuke Ito was over thirty years old and was Naoyu Jingu's youngest junior brother.
Although he was not qualified to witness that legendary battle in the Japanese kendo world—the Japanese have always been obsessed with saving face, and in that battle, Naoyu Jingu was clearly defeated and had no chance against General Tadashi—the Japanese kendo world exaggerated the battle as being incredibly fierce and dangerous. Even though Naoyu Jingu ultimately lost, many Japanese people falsely claimed it was just a "narrow defeat."
Only the disciples of the Kamishin Ittō-ryū school knew the truth behind their main branch's utterly devastating defeat, but dared not expose the lie to save face for the entire Japanese martial arts world. However, although Ito Tai'ō hadn't witnessed the final battle, as the main branch's junior disciple at the time, he knew the truth. Moreover, he vividly remembered General Tadashi's past dominance over Japan, defeating one swordsman after another until they were utterly subdued!
Decades have passed, and now a young Chinese man has entered the gates of the Kamishin Itto-ryu Kensei school. Facing countless skilled fighters on his side, he remains calm, carrying a vine cane in his hand…
This scene evoked memories of the past for old Ito. The image of Chen Xiao carrying the rattan cane before him gradually overlapped with the image of a Chinese man carrying a rattan cane from his past memories...