Chapter 1 Rain and Temple

The night was deep.

Thick clouds blanketed the sky, like a celestial sprinkler,

pouring a torrential rain that drenched the dark, ancient forest, and the temple within.

The temple had long been neglected, its bricks and tiles broken and crumbling.

A steady drip, drip, drip of rain seeped through the moss-covered tiles, falling onto the gray stone floor and forming a puddle.

"Cough...cough..."

A weak cough echoed from a corner of the temple.

A young man in brocade, leaning against a pillar, lay on the ground.

He was handsome and refined, frail and scholarly, dressed in pale yellow Shu brocade, with a jade pendant at his waist and a long sword in his hand.

Noble and elegant, with a face that could launch a thousand ships, his bearing was extraordinary.

The only flaw was the sword wound in his abdomen. Though hastily bandaged with scraps of Shu brocade, blood still seeped out,

staining the puddle of rainwater near his feet red.

How many times have I fainted and woken up?

The young man's face was filled with sorrow. He raised his head, the back of his skull gently bumping against the pillar with a soft thud.

The rain lashed at his face, mingling with his tears, indistinguishable from each other.

The young man was named Lin Yu. Just days ago, he was the young master of the Yongcheng Escort Agency in Xunzhou, immensely wealthy and privileged.

But a sudden catastrophe had led to the massacre of thirty-nine members of the Lin family.

He himself was being hunted, fleeing here for refuge.

This sudden misfortune had robbed the young man of his former elegance. Trembling, he pulled an old book called *Bi Xie Jian Pu* (Evil-Warding Sword Manual) from his chest.

His eyes were bloodshot, flashing with a multitude of emotions.

Hate, regret, sorrow, anger, despair…

He violently tore at the sword manual,

which aggravated the wound in his abdomen.

Blood soaked through the brocade, staining his palm and stealing his last bit of strength.

As expected, I'm just a useless piece of trash...

Having practiced martial arts since childhood, yet accomplishing nothing,

unable to protect his family, unable to protect himself…

Lin Yu dropped the sword manual and, no longer caring about the pursuers who could arrive at any moment, he looked up and wept bitterly, his cries drowned out by the roaring thunder outside.

"Kid, stop crying."

A hoarse, gravelly voice, like the grinding of a millstone, sounded from the other side of the temple. "I've been watching you for a while."

!!

Lin Yu was startled. Instinctively, he gripped the hilt of his sword and looked towards the direction of the voice.

In the corner of the dilapidated temple, a dazzling, multicolored light had appeared for some reason.

The light floated in mid-air, vaguely outlining several strangely shaped characters.

[Welcome to the Terminal Vending Machine]

Boom!

Thunder crashed, and lightning flashed.

Using the lightning from outside the temple, Lin Yu finally saw clearly.

The source of the voice and the light was a large iron box, taller than a man.

The surface of the iron box was as smooth as a mirror, without any rivets or nails, clearly reflecting the scene in front of it.

Under a transparent cover on its left side, there were dazzling, unheard-of and unseen treasures.

On the right side, the words [Welcome to the Terminal Vending Machine] gradually disappeared from a square, illuminated panel, replaced by a huge dragon head.

Its beautiful horns resembled those of a qilin and a deer, its body like a serpent or python, its scales like a fish, and its powerful claws like an eagle or falcon.

That's right,

appearing on the illuminated panel was a dragon head.

!!!

Lin Yu was terrified. His family had been destroyed, and he was being hunted. In a panic, he had fled into the dense forest under the cover of darkness and rain, finding refuge in this dilapidated temple.

When he had hidden himself inside, he had already been wounded in the abdomen, his strength waning.

But his remaining memories still reminded him that there had been no large iron box in the corner before.

Appearing there so abruptly,

was it human or ghost? God or demon?

Lin Yu cried out in horror.

The dragon head imprisoned in the iron box would not let him slowly calm his mind. It immediately spoke in a low voice: "I see that you have been stabbed in the abdomen, and your injury is extremely serious.

You will bleed to death in less than half an hour.

Come here."

Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. The sudden change in his life the other day had made him instinctively fear and dread everything unknown and unfamiliar. He dared not trust anyone.

But the glowing dragon head that had appeared in the dilapidated temple in the deep mountains was far beyond anything he could comprehend.

"..."

Lin Yu gripped his long sword tightly.

God? Demon? Immortal? Buddha?

No matter what the glowing dragon head was, it was beyond his understanding.

Perhaps, only such a being could save him and help him escape from his current predicament.

The young man in brocade steeled himself, struggling to put the *Bi Xie Jian Pu* into his shirt. He leaned against the pillar, held his wound, and slowly stood up,

hobbling towards the iron cabinet.

As he got closer, he became even more aware of the extraordinary nature of the iron cabinet.

The illuminated panel was exquisitely crafted, and the dragon head that appeared in it was lifelike.

Far beyond anything that folk shadow puppets, toys, or other tricks could compare to.

And the volume of the iron box did not seem large enough to fit a whole set of shadow puppets.

The dragon head in the box looked down at the young man in brocade and said in a low, hoarse voice: "Kid, tell me, what am I?"

"...Bo ri yue, fu guang jing, gan zhen dian, shen bian hua, shui xia tu, gu ling gu."

Lin Yu pursed his lips tightly and said weakly: "You are a dragon."

"Hmph hmph hahahaha,

That's right, Long Ge (Dragon Bro) is a dragon! A true dragon on earth! Ah!"

The dragon head laughed loudly. Although Lin Yu didn't know what it was laughing at, he was afraid of the unknown and forced a smile.

"Alright,"

the dragon head laughed for a while and suddenly calmed down, saying indifferently: "What's your name?"

"...Junior's surname is Lin, given name is Yu, courtesy name is Pingzhi, from Xunzhou in Fu Prefecture."

"Lin Yu?"

The dragon head blinked its eyes and said calmly: "I see you are wearing brocade clothes, holding a precious sword, and wearing a Lantian jade pendant at your waist. You must come from a wealthy family.

How did you get chased here?"

"..."

Lin Yu was silent, the hand holding the sword trembled slightly, his eyes were bloodshot, as if about to bleed.

"Don't want to talk?"

The dragon head snorted coldly, "Fine, you and I have no fate, then get lost."

"No! No! I'll talk, I'll talk."

Lin Yu raised his head sharply. He had finally encountered something miraculous in his desperate situation. This unknown true dragon was his last hope, how could he give up.

Immediately, he took a deep breath to calm his fluctuating emotions, while using one hand to press on his wound and the other to speak in a sorrowful voice.

It turned out that Lin Yu came from the Yongcheng Escort Agency, which was famous throughout Xunzhou.

His father, Lin Zhennan, was the second-generation heir and chief of the Yongcheng Escort Agency.

His mother, Madam Wang, was the daughter of Wang Yuanba of the Golden Saber Wang family in Luoyang.

Lin Yu was the eldest son of the family and had received an excellent education since childhood. He was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and his temperament was outstanding.

In addition, the Lin family was one of the richest in Xunzhou.

Lin Yu himself was also hailed as a talented young man in Xunzhou.

According to the original trajectory of his life, Lin Yu would grow up smoothly under the protection of his parents.

Whether he passed the imperial examinations and became an official, governing a region and achieving honor for his family,

or continued to practice martial arts and take over the Yongcheng Escort Agency,

he could maintain the Lin family's glory.

However, several months ago, when he was climbing a mountain with a friend, he accidentally met Yu Renyan, the son of Yu Canghai, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect.

Yu Renyan was also a talented young man, and both practiced martial arts. After several conversations, they immediately became friends.

Later, Yu Renyan heard that Lin Yu was the young master of the Yongcheng Escort Agency and asked him to hire the Yongcheng Escort Agency to escort a top-secret treasure of the Qingcheng Sect,

from the Shu Prefecture where the Qingcheng Sword Sect was located, to Hao Prefecture, where the upcoming martial arts conference would be held.

The Qingcheng Sword Sect's Pine Breeze Swordplay, Heart-Crushing Palm, and Qingcheng Heart Sutra were unique to Sichuan, with nearly a thousand disciples. It was well-known in the area, and even Lin Yu had heard of it occasionally.

So he asked why the powerful Qingcheng Sect did not escort it themselves.

Yu Renyan explained that the Qingcheng Sect was a big target and had many enemies in the martial world.

And it happened to be close to the martial arts conference,

and the Demonic Sect forces were restless.

It would be better to let the folk escort agency escort it on the surface, while the capable disciples of the Qingcheng Sword Sect secretly helped escort the goods.

After it was done, there would be a generous reward.

Although Lin Yu had doubts, he couldn't resist Yu Renyan's repeated requests, so he had to relay the request to his father, Lin Zhennan, the chief of the Yongcheng Escort Agency.

The Yongcheng Escort Agency paid attention to courtesy first and force later. When escorting goods, whether they encountered bandits blocking the road or heroes of the Green Forest, they would first display the banner of the Yongcheng Escort Agency, treat them with courtesy, and persuade them politely, trying not to break the skin.

If they really couldn't compromise, they would resort to violence and destroy the bandits blocking the road.

Over time, the name of the Yongcheng Escort Agency resounded throughout Lingnan, and the escort journey was unimpeded.

When Lin Zhennan heard Yu Renyan's request and saw the generous gifts of gold and silver offered by the Qingcheng Sword Sect, he was moved.

If he could successfully escort them and maintain the relationship, the Yongcheng Escort Agency would have a backer to rely on when traveling to Sichuan in the future.

After thinking it over, Lin Zhennan finally agreed to send his most trusted senior disciple and more than twenty escort agency guards to Sichuan.

The process of escorting the goods went very smoothly.

The senior disciple and the escort agency guards returned safely, and Yu Renyan also came to the door to deliver generous gifts.

However, three days later, Yu Renyan led a group of Qingcheng Sword Sect disciples to the door in anger, saying that Lin Zhennan's senior disciple, the senior brother of the Yongcheng Escort Agency, had embezzled their top treasure.

The senior brother naturally would not admit it.

Compared to Yu Renyan, Lin Yu obviously trusted his senior brother, whom he had been with day and night, more.

During the sword fight, Lin Yu accidentally killed Yu Renyan.

This sword caused a huge disaster.

The Qingcheng Sword Sect disciples were extremely indignant and took Yu Renyan's body away.

The next evening, more than three hundred people from the Qingcheng Sword Sect, who were originally preparing to participate in the martial arts conference in Hao Prefecture, arrived under the leadership of Yu Canghai, the leader of the Qingcheng Sword Sect.

Although Lin Zhennan was the chief of the Yongcheng Escort Agency, his martial arts talent could only be said to be mediocre. He was able to gain a foothold in Xunzhou more because of his interpersonal skills and business acumen.

Lin Zhennan originally wanted to explain the situation to Yu Canghai and apologize.

Lin Yu and Yu Renyan were close friends. The sword fight was purely an accidental mistake.

Lin Yu killed someone first, and the Qingcheng Sword Sect could cut off one of his arms or cripple his martial arts.

If that didn't work, they could report to the government and let the government decide.

But Yu Canghai did not listen to any of this. He broke Lin Zhennan's weapon with one sword and gave an order. The Qingcheng Sword Sect disciples killed anyone they saw.

Overnight, all the guards of the Yongcheng Escort Agency and nearly a hundred members of the Lin family were killed.

Only Lin Zhennan and his wife and Lin Yu were left.

It was not until this time that they finally understood the truth.

There was no such thing as the Qingcheng Sword Sect's top treasure.

Yu Renyan approached Lin Yu, hired the Yongcheng Escort Agency, and set up a trap for the senior brother of the Yongcheng Escort Agency.

It was all for a sword manual secret that had been passed down from the Lin family's ancestors, which was said to be able to dominate the martial world.

Yu Canghai, the old man with white hair and a ruddy complexion, who was well-known in the martial world, did not care about his son's death at all.

On the contrary, Yu Renyan's death provided the Qingcheng Sword Sect with a legitimate excuse to eliminate the Yongcheng Escort Agency.

Yu Canghai tortured Lin Zhennan and his wife severely, forcing them to ask for the whereabouts of the sword manual.

When Lin Zhennan didn't speak, he cut off all ten fingers of his wife, Madam Wang, in front of him, one by one.

Lin Yu, who was forced to watch, was filled with regret and cried loudly, begging on his knees.

However, Yu Canghai was gentle and refined on the surface, but in reality, he was sinister and vicious.

He tortured the Lin family for a long time.

It was not until the next morning, when the sun first rose,

that Yu Canghai ended the torture and ordered his disciples to take them to a secret room, while he went to participate in the martial arts conference held with famous and righteous sects such as Hengshan, Emei, and Shaolin.

In the secret room of the Lin family, Lin Zhennan, who had been tortured and was extremely weak, secretly opened a brick in the corner of the secret room, took out a secret manual from it, and handed it to Lin Yu,

and told him the way to open the secret room's tunnel and escape to the outside world.

Lin Yu was in tears and insisted on taking Lin Zhennan and his wife away, but the couple were seriously injured and escaping together would only burden Lin Yu.

Lin Yu had no choice but to bid farewell to his parents in tears, and took the opportunity to open the tunnel and escape while the guards were unprepared.

He fled for two days and two nights.

Lin Yu hid everywhere outside Xunzhou City, trying to report to the government and ask the government to send people to eliminate the Qingcheng Sword Sect, which was ruthless and inhumane.

But he learned that the prefect of the city was an old acquaintance of Yu Canghai's wife, and the two were talking happily in the city's restaurant.

Lin Yu was from Xunzhou and knew that the prefect of Xunzhou was corrupt and incompetent, and extremely greedy.

The tragedy of the Yongcheng Escort Agency's destruction might be covered up as a headless case of infighting among Jianghu thugs.

Unable to seek help from the government, he could only save himself.

Lin Yu learned that the martial arts conference was held in Hao Prefecture, where famous and righteous sects such as Hengshan, Emei, and Shaolin, as well as heroes from all over the world, were gathered.

Although Yu Canghai's viciousness and inferiority made Lin Yu fearful and desperate, he could only ask other martial artists for help.

And pray that those famous and righteous sects were not as hypocritical as the Qingcheng Sword Sect.

Lin Yu fled along the mountain road towards Hao Prefecture with difficulty, but was still found and chased by the Qingcheng Sword Sect disciples.

He was stabbed, fell down the hillside, and rolled into the forest.

Dragging his wounded body, he hid in a dilapidated temple and finally encountered the mysterious dragon head.

"Divine Dragon...above,"

Lin Yu's eyes were red. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily to the iron cabinet, saying with difficulty: "Have pity on the thirty-nine members of my Lin family and the one hundred and twelve guards of the Yongcheng Escort Agency,

who were brutally murdered by the evil people and cannot rest in peace.

Even my younger brother, who was only twenty months old, was brutally murdered by Yu Canghai when he was thrown to the ground.

Junior has no way to appeal to the heavens and no way to knock on the earth.

I beg the Divine Dragon...for justice."

"..."

The dragon head in the iron box breathed calmly a few times and said leisurely: "Long Ge is a dragon.

All the things in the world are passing clouds to me.

But..."

The sudden change in the dragon head's tone caused Lin Yu, who was ashen-faced, to tremble violently.

"However, I see that you, kid, are sincere and loyal. This encounter is also a predestined fate."

The dragon's whiskers moved slightly and said lightly: "Do you have anything valuable on you?"

"Ah?"

Lin Yu was stunned. Valuable things?

Isn't the Divine Dragon a divine beast of heaven and earth? How could it also like the copper stench of the human world?

"Anything, valuable things."

The dragon head picked up its chin, "Like the Lantian jade on your waist."

"This..."

Lin Yu picked up the soft jade tied with gold thread on his waist. The jade was beige in color and had a warm, oily luster on the surface. It was extremely valuable, and more importantly, it was the jade that his mother had left him.

"Okay!"

Lin Yu gritted his teeth, cut the gold thread with the blade of his sword, and raised the soft jade.

A mere piece of jade, what could it be in the face of deep-seated hatred?

"Throw it into the slot next to you."

The dragon head casually picked up its chin and ordered Lin Yu to put the expensive soft jade into the coin slot of the terminal vending machine. "Tsk, it looks valuable, but it only has one hundred spiritual power points of toll?

Forget it, I'll give you this in exchange."

The dragon head muttered to itself.

There was a rattling sound in the iron cabinet.

Thump!

A bottled object slid down from the shelf on the left side of the front of the iron cabinet and fell into the iron box's delivery port.

"This is..."

Lin Yu followed the dragon head's instructions and picked up the bottled object from the delivery port.

The shell of the bottle was neither gold nor jade, soft yet tough, and had a transparency rarely seen in the human world.

The cap was blue.

The liquid in the bottle was like water, but it seemed to have golden threads mixed in it.

Lin Yu turned the bottle over and found the words "Mai Dong" printed on the back, but he didn't know what it meant (pulse movement).

"This is the potion I concocted. It can regenerate flesh and bones, cure all diseases, and strengthen the body.

The most important thing is that the [Mai Dong] drink can bring people's pulse back,

which is what you mortals call opening up the Ren and Du meridians, and directly ascending to become a martial arts genius."

The dragon head said casually, "Of course, you can't open the bottle cap yet. You need to agree to the transaction content.

Do you agree?"

"Ah?"

Lin Yu, who was studying the bottle, came back to his senses and nodded in agreement.

"Very good, then the transaction is complete."

The dragon head nodded in satisfaction, "Now, open the bottle and drink all the water inside."

"..."

Lin Yu gritted his teeth, unscrewed the bottle cap, and drank the clear water in the bottle.

The feeling of being burned by flames or drinking fine wine and jade dew that he had imagined did not appear.

After drinking the whole bottle, Lin Yu only felt a swelling in his stomach.

He held up the empty bottle and was about to ask in confusion,

when a pain and numbness like ants gnawing at his body came from the wound in his abdomen.

"Hum hum hum ah ah ah ah!"

Lin Yu couldn't bear the pain and rolled on the ground,

but as he rolled, the pain gradually lessened,

and transformed into a strange, ethereal, comfortable feeling.

The wound on his abdomen healed as before, and black mud kept seeping out of his body. His pores contracted, and his skin was as white and clean as a baby's.

It was truly as described in stories and dramas, washing the marrow and transforming the bones.

Lin Yu jumped up in surprise, but found that his strength had greatly increased, and he almost hit the roof of the temple by accident.

"This kind of Mai Dong drink can stimulate the potential of ordinary people's physiological functions, which is equivalent to saving thirty years of hard work."

The dragon head said lazily, "Your injury has been cured.

Also, the pursuers are here."

Lin Yu's breath stopped. It was only now that he realized that the rain outside the temple had stopped for a long time, and in the vast night sky, there seemed to be a few torch lights flashing in the forest.

"Divine Dragon, wait a moment,"

Lin Yu's eyes flashed with light. He clenched the long sword in his hand, gritted his teeth, and the hatred in his words was so strong that it almost overflowed. "Junior will be right back."