Chapter 1

The sky was gray, with mist like silk. The east was about to dawn, with a faint glimmer showing. Hints of orange-yellow light were dissolving and spreading from the dim sky, growing ever stronger.

Ye Hai, who was adjusting his breathing and meditating in the forest, opened his eyes, his expression changing slightly on his wrinkled face.

"Is that Chief Lin Jian?" Ye Hai slowly stood up and said. He didn't need to turn around to know who had appeared behind him.

Lin Changzai had a very high position in the Ye residence. Even Ye Hai had to call him Chief Jian.

"Indeed," Lin Chang replied.

"Is there… news of the family head?" Ye Hai asked. It was already the day of the duel, and he estimated that Ye Cheng should have arrived.

"Correct," Lin Chang sneered. "The news is… Ye Cheng is already dead."

"What did you say?" Ye Hai exclaimed. He immediately turned around, only to see a ferocious and cold face.

Lin Chang's words were no joke. First of all, it wasn't funny, and secondly, he wasn't the type to joke.

"You've worked hard these past few days, Old Master Ye," Lin Chang said in a very calm tone, but his eyes revealed undisguised excitement and smugness. "You've been here, stopping all the Jianghu riffraff and the spies sent by the imperial court for me, which has saved me a lot of trouble."

"What do you mean? For you?" Ye Hai had faintly sensed the other party's killing intent, so he instinctively showed hostility.

"Heh… that handwritten warrant, do you still remember it?" Lin Chang smiled.

Ye Hai's mind buzzed, and a white light seemed to flash before his eyes. He had realized something, but he couldn't believe it was true. Such a blow would have caused an ordinary old man to faint.

"You… you put the family head…" Ye Hai's breathing was ragged, his expression a mix of shock and anger.

"Didn't I say, Ye Cheng is already dead," Lin Chang replied casually. "If you're not completely senile, you should have understood when you heard that. The duel challenge was written by me, and that handwritten warrant was also written by me. The order to keep the disciples away from Jianzhong (sword mausoleum), the order for you to guard here, etc… were all my intentions."

"You!" Ye Hai's anger flared, causing his internal energy to become chaotic. He staggered back two steps. "Impossible… how could you…"

"How could I kill Ye Cheng? Humph…" Lin Chang took over his words. "Of course, it's because my martial arts are above his." His killing intent grew stronger and stronger, but his hands remained behind his back, with no intention of touching the sword at his waist. "Compared to killing him, imitating his handwriting was more difficult." He smiled. "I followed Ye Cheng for many years, and spent months studying his calligraphy, striving to achieve both form and spirit. But… even if I was confident that I could deceive everyone, I wasn't sure that I could deceive your eyes." He slowly paced forward. "When I handed that handwritten warrant to you, I was really worried that you would see through the flaws. Fortunately, you didn't object in the end, and just followed orders."

"I did see some strangeness at the time…" Ye Hai's whole body was trembling as he gritted his teeth and said, "But I thought…"

"Hahahaha…" Lin Chang interrupted him again with a loud laugh. "You thought that killing the family head, provoking a duel, and forging a handwritten warrant… any of these things were impossible, right? Hahahaha…" He couldn't help but laugh. "And these things all came from my hand, Lin Chang, so it's even more impossible, right?"

"Lin Chang, the Ye family has shown you the greatest kindness…" Ye Hai said. "Why…"

"Bullshit!" A look of rage suddenly appeared on Lin Chang's face. "The greatest kindness? Where does that come from? This martial skill was cultivated by myself; the Jianghu status of the Azure Sky Sword was earned by myself on the edge of a blade; I have served the Ye residence wholeheartedly for many years, aren't these all what I deserve?

"The martial arts I learned in the Ye family can be learned by any disciple who joins the Ye residence. And the Ye family's ancestral skills are only passed down to their own descendants? Ye Cheng and Ye Muhan can learn 'Ye Family Swordplay' and 'Falling Snow Divine Art', why can't I? Because I'm ultimately an outsider, no… a servant!"

At this point, Lin Chang's eyes narrowed, and the killing intent around him poured out like a river towards the old man in front of him.

Ferocious sword energy burst forth from Lin Chang's fingertips. At this moment, having no sword was better than having one. The sword energy, carrying dozens of fallen leaves from the forest, attacked Ye Hai.

At the same time, Lin Chang showed a mocking expression: "How laughable, you old slave, working like an ox and a horse for the Ye family your whole life, and still thinking you've received so much kindness."

This killing move, not to mention dodging, Ye Hai had never even seen it before. He was instantly pierced by the razor-sharp leaves, spitting out blood.

Perhaps knowing that his fate had arrived, Ye Hai calmed down after being injured: "Alas… perhaps what you said makes sense, but that's always been the way of the world. I, Ye Hai, wasn't born into a wealthy family, nor am I from a famous martial arts clan. This is my fate, a bad fate, I can't blame anyone.

"I know very well how the Ye family has treated me. They have no regrets towards me, that is kindness; I am willing to repay them, that is righteousness.

"Live in what kind of world, be what kind of person. I can't change my fate, but at least I live with a clear conscience.

"And you, Lin Chang, humph… If the Ye family hadn't taught you martial arts, where would you have cultivated this martial skill? If you didn't rely on the Ye residence's reputation, how would you have made a name for yourself in the Jianghu? Even if you feel that the Ye residence has no kindness towards you, does the Ye family have any grudges against you?

"It's clearly your own wolfish ambitions, yet you have to say it as if others owe you something…"

"Shut up!" Lin Chang raised a finger, and a stream of true qi shot out from his fingertip, entering Ye Hai's chest.

"You can't change your fate, so accept it and die!" Lin Chang looked at the other party with indifferent eyes. "I'm different from people like you… My fate is up to me, not the heavens!"

A moment later, dozens of qi swords burst out from all parts of Ye Hai's body, blossoming into朵朵 blood flowers.

Ye Hai now truly understood… why Ye Cheng died.

Lin Chang's martial arts had reached a realm that Ye Hai could no longer understand. Perhaps no one in the world today could be his opponent.

"What exactly do you want to do? This duel, what exactly is…" Blood poured from Ye Hai's mouth, and the dozens of holes in his body were also bleeding profusely. He leaned against the tree, gradually sitting down on the ground, and managed to ask this last question.

"Hmph… you can go down and ask your family head," Lin Chang said before turning and leaving.

In fact, even if he was willing to answer this question, Ye Hai would no longer be able to hear the answer…

In the east, a red sun burst forth, dyeing the lavender sky sky-blue, and gilding the rolling clouds with gold.

In the mountains and forests, under an old locust tree, in a pool of blood, sat an old man. He would never wake up again, but his eyes remained open…