Chapter 1 Within the Bell

Within the Lingzhong Realm, three figures walked across the indistinct plains.

With Feng Bujue's adaptability and eloquence, he naturally gained the trust of the NPC without resorting to force. Thus, Lu Qingning joined him and Si Yu, and the three of them began to explore this space together.

During their conversation, Feng Bujue still identified himself as the master of the Broken Sword Teahouse, using the same story as in Azure Spirit Town. He recounted his encounter with Ye Hai on the path, as well as his interactions with the other members of the Six Swords of Flower Shadow, and even mentioned that Su Shang needed his help to break through the Underworld Profound Art.

His words were a mix of truth and lies. The true parts were detailed and plausible, while the false parts were mainly about his martial arts skills and identity, making it difficult for the others to discern.

In short, after Jue-ge's smooth-talking, Lu Qingning couldn't say she completely trusted the two before her, but she was reasonably certain that this Master Feng and his wife were not sent by Lin Chang to hunt her down.

With the tense situation resolved, Lu Qingning also provided Feng Bujue with some information, which, to a considerable extent, advanced and overturned the script's plot…

***

The specific dialogue between the NPC and Feng Bujue won't be detailed here. I'll just use the God's-eye view to explain the general situation…

This story begins several months ago, when Xie San received Ye Cheng's challenge letter.

That letter wasn't written by Ye Cheng at all, because Ye Cheng was already dead at the time. The person issuing the challenge was not Ye Cheng from the start, but Lin Chang.

Lin Chang was the second-highest master in the Ye Clan, the leader of the Six Swords of Flower Shadow, and the third-greatest swordsman recognized in the martial world. He was known for his chivalry, integrity, and low profile. He didn't marry until he was thirty, and he still had no children. His wife was not a member of the martial world, but just an ordinary woman.

In terms of martial arts, Lin Chang's aptitude was quite good. At nearly forty years old, he was already among the best of the top-tier masters. He ranked third among swordsmen, and definitely in the top twenty in the entire martial world, on the same level as Gongsun Qian, the Lord of Myriad Hues Tower, and Ji Tong, the Lord of Eight Directions Tower.

Of course... compared to those martial arts novel protagonists who were almost invincible in their twenties, he was far behind.

Lin Chang's achievements could only be described as the deserved result of a steady and gradual progression. He joined the Ye Clan to practice martial arts from a young age, had high talent, cultivated diligently, and had no obvious personality flaws or *chuunibyou* tendencies. So he continued to improve, receiving more profound skills. After reaching adulthood, he traveled the martial world, accumulated experience, gradually made a name for himself, and his martial arts became even more refined. Up to this point, everything could only be described as normal.

But it was this person, who seemed "right" in every way, who, under certain circumstances, became an extremely "evil" fiend.

Lu Qingning now recalled that Lin Chang's initial change should have been about a year ago…

After returning to the manor from a mission, Lin Chang behaved very strangely for two months. Sometimes he would be silent all day, and sometimes he would be moody. During that time, many disciples in the Ye Clan were inexplicably scolded or punished by him.

Two months later, Lin Chang returned to normal, as if everything before had never happened. He was still the respected and kind-hearted Great Hero Lin. So the matter was glossed over, and no one mentioned it again, after all, everyone has their bad days…

Now it seemed that things were far from as simple as they appeared on the surface…

During those two months, Lin Chang's spirit and mind had undergone a qualitative change. Afterward, when his personality returned, it was no longer his true nature, but a disguise.

After another half year or so, the grand plan that Lin Chang had been secretly preparing was almost complete, and thus, a shocking conspiracy against the entire martial world unfolded. And the first step in this plan was to kill Ye Cheng.

In terms of martial arts, Lin Chang was now almost invincible. There were people in the world who could rival him! But not Ye Cheng. So, Ye Cheng died. The Sword God of a generation died silently, and his body was still thrown into the forbidden Sword Burial Grounds of the Ye Clan, undiscovered…

Lin Chang imitated Ye Cheng's handwriting and wrote a challenge letter to Xie San. The letter was short, with no unnecessary words, and the most important part was sixteen characters: "August fifteenth, Azure Spirit Sword Debate, Number One in the World, Winner Takes All."

He also wrote a handwritten note to Ye Hai, claiming that Ye Cheng had asked him to pass it on. The content was roughly: This Sword God will remain in seclusion until the day of the duel. During this time, no one is allowed to approach the Sword Burial Grounds. Old Master Ye and the Six Swords of Flower Shadow can go to Azure Spirit Town first, and I will arrive on the day of the duel.

Afterward, Lin Chang secretly spread the news of the duel. Thus, in just ten days, with the help of the "Flying Pigeon Gang," the entire martial world, and even the imperial court, knew that the two greatest swordsmen of the era would duel in Azure Spirit Town.

Soon after, the Azure Spirit Inn opened, and martial artists flocked in from all directions.

Everything was proceeding according to plan, but one night after arriving in Azure Spirit (the night before the players entered the script), an unexpected situation occurred.

That night, Lin Chang was meeting his junior brother, Shang Fei, somewhere in the town. Shang Fei, the No Shadow Sword who ranked second among the Six Swords of Flower Shadow, was Lin Chang's most loyal confidant. He was usually eccentric, taciturn, and always arrogant. Among the six swordsmen, only Lin Chang was closest to him.

Shang Fei was Lin Chang's only accomplice. As for why he would defect to Lin Chang, it was simple… nothing more than the four words coercion and enticement. Lin Chang had enough power to make others submit, as long as he promised some benefits at the same time… it wasn't difficult to pull Shang Fei into the water.

The No Shadow Sword lived up to his name, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. Lin Chang believed that Shang Fei was the perfect collaborator, for four reasons: First, this guy's martial arts were very high, especially in reconnaissance; second, judging from their years of friendship and mutual understanding, the probability of him betraying himself was extremely small; third, Shang Fei was very good at keeping secrets, he hardly ever showed himself in public, so there was no question of leaking secrets; fourth, doing such a big thing alone always felt insecure…

Shang Fei was indeed quite dutiful. These past few days, he had been traveling between Copper Hill and Azure Spirit, gathering a lot of information. The fact that Xie San had appeared in Copper Hill was something he had informed Lin Chang of via Thousand-Mile Voice Transmission at the first moment. In fact, after Lin Chang killed someone, Shang Fei was also responsible for disposing of the body…

Of course, that was later. Let's get back to that night.

During that conversation between Lin Chang and Shang Fei, although the full picture of the conspiracy was not revealed, the death of Ye Cheng, the preparations to ambush Xie San, and Lin Chang's extraordinary martial arts… were all leaked between the lines.

As the saying goes, coincidences make a story. Their words were all overheard by Lu Qingning, who was hiding in the dark…

And the most interesting thing was that the Sword Heroine Lu hadn't intentionally followed Lin Chang or Shang Fei to get there… she had initially been following someone else.

Last night, Lu Qingning had inadvertently seen the Mistress of Myriad Hues Tower and a handsome-looking disciple sneak out of the inn one after the other. Perhaps she was a very gossipy woman, anyway, she followed out of curiosity.

Lu Qingning's Qinggong (light body skill) was also considered top-notch in the martial world. Purely in terms of Qinggong, she was only on par with Shang Fei. The two's skills were self-contained and had their own merits.

However, if Lu Qingning were to follow Lin Chang or Shang Fei, she would most likely be discovered. But at that time, she was following Shi Yanran and Wang Ao…

And it just so happened that in the process, she discovered Lin Chang's figure in the darkness. Feeling confused, Lu Qingning changed her target and wanted to see what Martial Brother Lin was up to. At this time, Lin Chang was already very close to the meeting place agreed upon with Shang Fei. He had repeatedly confirmed that no one was following him along the way, but he didn't expect that at the last moment, someone would actually catch up.

***

"Wait a minute, Sword Heroine Lu…" Feng Bujue seemed to have heard some problems. He first repeated, "According to what you said, you first saw Shi Yanran and Wang Ao going out on a secret date, then you accidentally stumbled upon Lin Chang and Shang Fei's conspiracy, and then you escaped into the mountains while being chased by Lin Chang, and finally a strange bell sound rang… and you suddenly arrived here, escaping Lin Chang's pursuit." He then recited, "You said that you've been here for about an hour…" As Feng Bujue said this, he was already converting the time ratio between here and the outside world in his mind. "But the things you experienced before entering here should have happened last night, and before we entered the town. And the moment we entered this Lingzhong Realm was at sunset on August 13th. At least seven or eight hours have passed since you entered."

Lu Qingning's expression changed slightly: "What does Young Hero Feng mean?"

"If we can't leave this Lingzhong Realm within three hours…" Feng Bujue said thoughtfully.

Si Yu continued his words: "We might not make it to that duel…"

Lu Qingning said: "But… the Clan Leader is already dead, and maybe even Xie San is dead now, what duel is there?"

"Yeah, I'm also very curious what Lin Chang is planning to show everyone in the martial world on the night of August 15th…" Feng Bujue touched his nose with his finger, "Hehe…" He suddenly thought of something and laughed, "But it's good to stay here a little longer, that collective poisoning plan can be ignored."

"Poisoning? Collective?" Lu Qingning asked in confusion.

Si Yu looked at her and said, "My husband is just joking, we from the Broken Sword Teahouse have some jokes that outsiders don't understand." She then turned to Feng Bujue and said, "What about the others?"

Feng Bujue spread his hands: "Judging from the content of the side quests, Xiao Tan and Bei Ling seem to have gone to some strange place as well… If there's really a problem, I guess it'll just be Jin Fugui holding on alone…"