the sword card master association.

darkness engulfed the place. the disciples of the association had long fallen asleep. only lu ming’s room had dim lights and a tiny figure was still studying inside.

outside the window.

a shadow emerged.

he looked at the silhouette by a window and the corners of his mouth curled into a sneer.

finally…

lu ming was gone!!!

haha!

he had waited for this moment.

since lu ming was not around, he could cast his abilities boldly and fearlessly! he would subdue those dumb disciples soon.

so, gradually and silently, he emerged from the shadow.

afterward…

bam.

he fell.

he got up calmly and limped back to the shadow, pretending that nothing happened. he could not help it. the injuries he had from his recent self-destruction were rather severe…

it was okay.

he just needed to wait for someone to come.

after a long while…

a figure appeared at the entrance.

“you are here,” he said in a deep voice.

“yes.”

a fairly handsome and cheerful looking teenager walked towards him.

the shadow was elated. this time, learning from his past two experiences, he was smart to inquire, “what is your name?”

“li ergou,” the teenager replied honestly.

“very good.”

the shadow was overjoyed.

finally…

he finally knew their name!

finally, it was not one of those two nameless black and white idiotic simps!!!

li ergou. he had information about this person. he knew that he was a first generation disciple and was also the head of a department!

very well.

he was qualified to be his pawn!

so…

he nodded slightly. “let’s cooperate.”

buzz—

purple lights circled them.

there was a mysterious force in his words and no one could reject him. this was his special ability.

“why should i trust you?” li ergou asked.

“come here.”

he raised and softly put his hands on li ergou.

buzz—

faint energy surged.

li ergou’s ability actually improved by a small level.

“senior…”

li ergou was astonished.

why is this senior that powerful?!

“how does it feel?”

the shadow smiled faintly.

“great. thank you, senior.”

li ergou was overjoyed.

“that’s alright.

“next… let us talk about the main topic.”

the shadow smiled faintly.

with the slight improvement in ability, his powers had already permeated li ergou and the latter was already completely convinced. in that case… he would begin.

“ergou.”

“yes.”

“do you like that lady from the snow mountain?”

“yes.”

“very good.

“now…

“take a good look,” the shadow uttered softly.

bang!

a faint shadow emerged.

an huge and realistic illusion formed in li ergou’s eyes.

in it…

there was the lady he loved most. the duo was interacting happily as usual. however, the situation suddenly took a turn… the lady gradually went closer and closer to lu ming…

li ergou suffered an emotional breakdown.

on a certain night, the lady had rejected his date and left with lu ming…

“very good.”

the shadow smiled faintly.

well…

based on his past experience, it was almost time.

as long as he could stimulate the rage in li ergou and imprint these scenes in his heart, he would be awakened completely and then longed to kill this adulterous pair!

the shadow waved his hands.

bloom!

the power of rage!

let these two bitches witness true rage!!!

bang!

purple lights burned.

the plot in the illusion had reached its climax.

afterward…

he saw li ergou crying sorrowfully in the illusion. he seemed greatly enlightened. he took his communication device and then messaged the lady, “remember to use protection.”

afterward…

there was nothing else.

the shadow was speechless.

wait a minute.

damn it! what kind of people are in your association?!

…

at this very moment…

near the burial ground.

lu ming was dumbstruck.

oh, he had already been there…

it was rather different from his imagination. it was very wet there.

“this place…”

lu ming looked grim.

he looked at the surroundings and there was a flash of astonishment in his eyes. the burial ground was different from the bumpy and rough land that he had imagined. it was actually a world full of mirrors!

the sky was as bright and clear as a mirror.

the ground was also clean, bright and even.

no, more precisely…

lu ming lifted his leg and saw ripples spreading…

yes, beneath his feet… was all water.

the ground was even and covered in a thin layer of water. they were stepping on this layer of water. it was very strange and mysterious. the bright and clear surface of the water was also shining with their reflections.

“it’s very beautiful.”

lu ming squinted his eyes.

one almost could not find any uneven areas.

all he could see looked the same.

everything was bright and clean.

what does this mean?

mirror world…

lu ming glanced around for a long time before he could adapt to this strange and mysterious environment. afterward, he retracted his gaze and looked at the communication device in his hands, which had been constantly vibrating.

there was only one message in it — “the handbook of the burial ground mission”.

the first page was a map.

it briefly described 76% of the land which had already been developed, the areas contained in that land and some interesting and unique characteristics of certain places.

for example, a certain location had a massive amount of unusual energy.

as to why, the big shots did not know either!

one of their missions was to investigate these places.

afterward, there was the remaining 24% of the land, which still needed to be explored.

those were unknown territories that the big shots had not shrouded with their sword auras. they were areas that no one had touched for countless years! naturally, they were filled with a massive amount of energy!

as such…

exploring those unknown territories would lead to true improvement!

this was a mission.

this was also an advantage.

however, before this….

they had to investigate the places with abnormalities which were within the 76% of developed land. if it was a magical environment that led to a huge energy increase, they had to bring the magical elements back or hand them to the swordsman association!

…

lu ming read the handbook briefly.

he was not a swordsman and was not interested in this. what he was truly interested in was the rich energy and resources of the burial ground.

he turned around and saw the crack he had seen when entering.

it was very light.

it was very faint.

lu ming touched it.

it was very smooth.

“what’s the matter?”

xiao-xiaojian cast him an odd look.

“i’m just curious.”

lu ming seemed to be in thoughts. “this is ultimately a small world separated from the real world. it is still a part of the real world, it has just been sealed by the bulwark.”

“i’m not sure about that.”

xiao-xiaojian shook its head. the auras that engulfed them earlier were all seven-star and above and it could not see through them at all.

“seven-star…”

lu ming squinted his eyes.

this level…

according to rumors, there was a world of difference between peak six-star and seven-star. he already had some understanding of this. but now it seemed that seven-star was much more powerful than he imagined!

he glanced around him.

the swordsmen were also observing the environment.

earlier, a sword gleam beam had absorbed the 10 of them and then shoved them inside through that little crack…

such powers…

amazing!

lu ming marveled.

xiao-xiaojian cast him a puzzled glance. “aren’t humans also born this way?”

the expression on lu ming’s face froze immediately.

after a long while…

he exhaled a deep breath and tamed his complicated emotions. “i’m going to beat you to death sooner and later if you continue to do this.”

“huh?”

xiao-xiaojian was dazed.

“what…”

“you humans…”

“shut up!

lu ming turned sullen.

“oh.”

xiao-xiaojian felt aggrieved. it was even banned from talking now! lu ming was getting more and more bossy!

…

mirrors…

lu ming analyzed the current situation.

the area was very clean and he did not see any complications. the mirror surface could be seen with one glance. it would be alright as long as they followed the specified path. according to the instructions of the mission, they needed everyone to go to a few unusual places to settle problems there and then to the unknown territories to complete the map.

it was very simple.

right then, a swordsman walked towards him.

“hello, lu ming. i’m meng shisan, the team leader of this mission. although the unknown territory has a massive amount of energy…

“i hope that you can follow the group.”

he looked at lu ming directly in the eye.

he was very serious.

the swordsmen had the same attitude. they did not have any positive feelings toward a cultivator like lu ming who was suddenly included in the mission, especially since he was not a swordsman!

although there were many conflicts between the various swordsman factions, they were ultimately swordsmen!

but him…

sword card master?!

lu ming was quite famous in tian du city and amongst the groups of people implicated by his actions. however, the swordsmen who spent most of their time cultivating everyday… sorry, they were not familiar with him.

they would occasionally hear lu ming’s name but which swordsman did not have some level of fame?

“okay.”

/

/

lu ming smiled faintly.

the purpose of this trip was to improve his ability in a low-key manner.

although he had some slight involvement in the two incidents that had gotten the swordsman association into trouble, most of these people were unaware of that.

lu ming did not intend to let them know either.

he had seen the map and understood his way around. lu ming’s objective was very simple — he would wait for them to resolve issues happening in the few unusual places on the map, then, he would explore the unknown territories and absorb energy to improve his ability!

afterward, done!

it was that simple.

based on the data he had acquired earlier, lu ming reckoned that he would be able to improve by another level and might have a chance to reach peak five-star!

that was enough!

“very good.”

meng shisan was very satisfied.

if lu ming was willing to cooperate, it would save him a lot of time and effort.

so he arranged for everyone to walk toward the first unusual place on the map.

the swordsmen were very quiet too.

however, after walking for a short while, xiao-xiaojian suddenly became wary. “lu ming…”

“yes?”

“an old man is watching you from behind.”

“oh?”

lu ming’s heart stirred. “what is he looking at?”

“your bottom half.”

lu ming’s face darkened. “be more specific.”

“***?”

lu ming’s expression was gloomy.

“anyway, he’s around there.”

xiao-xiaojian said softly, “he’s not a fool either. of course, he won’t lock onto the target directly. out of the corner of his eyes, he’s sweeping his gaze across you…”

“i understand now.”

lu ming said unhappily. what is this lousy intuition of yours!

behind him…

bottom half…

he glanced down and eventually landed on the card bag hanging from his waist. it was an accurate representation of his current most powerful combat ability.

that’s interesting.

am i being targeted by someone?

lu ming narrowed his eyes and looked indifferent.

“do you know who he is?” lu ming asked.

“oh…”

xiao-xiaojian had also read the information before. “that person is called an mingdong.”

“i understand now.”

lu ming realized something.

an mingdong, 66 years old. the upper limit of his talent was originally beginner five-star. a few years ago, he acknowledged a certain senior as his master and then reached his current stage of peak six-star. he had a surmounting ability and his combat ability was unknown. this was a rare case of having a second spring in his old age… erm… the classic case of getting a new lease of life.

as he knew that he did not have much time left, he participated in various six-star legacy sites and strove to break through to seven-star before his death.

he was very assiduous.

he was very diligent.

of course, more importantly…

he was the typical, conservative type.

his pet phrase: when we were young, we…

“don’t bother about him.”

lu ming looked calm. “perhaps he has some insider information. that’s alright. we have service at this legacy site and are generally quite safe.”

“hmm.”

xiao-xiaojian understood.

“well…”

lu ming glanced at it. “can you sense anything familiar? this is from ancient times.”

“no.”

xiao-xiaojian shook its head honestly.

“what’s the use of having you?!”

lu ming sighed.

xiao-xiaojian was silent.

it really did not sense any familiar aura…

however, xiao-xiaojian furrowed its brows tightly. it swept its sense of perception across the entire land and tried to feel the ground that was akin to a mirror. it thought deeply.

“logically…

“if this place maintained its ancient state, i should be able to sense some aura. however…”

xiao-xiaojian was puzzled but seemed to have understood something as they continued to walk deeper inside.

“i think i know why i can’t sense anything!”

“why?

“because everything has been harvested…”

“harvested? yes, it’s similar to harvesting crops… it seems that sword auras of powerful figures have swept across the ground. that’s why it’s clean, bright and even!”

the more xiao-xiaojian spoke, the more certain it felt.

“what you’re saying is that…”

lu ming looked to a distance.

“that’s right!”

xiao-xiaojian nodded. “these bastard swordsmen have already emptied the burial ground! they dug the grounds to a depth of three feet and took away everything that they could find!

“for example—

“a normal place should have some precious herbs…

“but, this place?

“there isn’t even a single stalk!

“why?

“because this group of bastards have already taken away the soil on the ground…” xiao-xiaojian said.

lu ming had a strange look on his face. inexplicably, he thought about the building which had run away…

that was right.

there were some similarities.

although the big shots were restrained by abilities and could not enter, their sword aura could. in that case, how did they ensure that they gained the most out of it?

dig each hole one by one?

that was too much work!

they simply moved the things on the ground away with the sword aura!

heavenly treasures!

even the soil of the precious herbs…

they dug the ground to a depth of three feet and simply took everything away!

what remained… was bright, clean and even land.

in fact, if one were to contemplate carefully, why would they open the ancient fallen swordsman burial ground to other people or disciples? this was because they already consumed all the meat… and what was leftover was only the soup.

76% of the area in the map had already been developed. these areas did not have anything left!

the remaining 24%…

the big shots could not find ways to enter these areas. this was the reason why they left it for the disciples.

lu ming was between laughter and tears.

this was because he remembered the uncanny smile on the face of the vice president when he gave him his place… therefore, that guy was never good from the beginning!

if the burial ground was really that precious, they would not be the only ones here. there would be super geniuses, such as lu yan and yan suya, from the swordsman association.

not to mention that lu ming was only five-star.

ultimately…

this place which had been developed by the big shots was a rather valuable legacy site but it was far from being a top-notch one.

that was all.

as for the so-called service…

lu ming initially thought that the big shots of the swordsman association were concerned about their disciples. now, it seemed that they wanted to know what was in the remaining 24%?!

for example…

an ancient sword that had been buried for a long time.

on the surface, this group of swordsmen had come to gain training and experience but they could also be described in another way — manual labor.

“alright.”

lu ming surrendered. what else could he say?

he would be calm and chill.

he would improve his ability in the unknown territory after they settled these problems.

this was what he thought.

oh.

right.

those abnormalities…

lu ming’s eyes narrowed. the seven-star and above big shots had joined forces, vanquished, and cleared the place with their sword auras. yet, they could not take away these things. he was afraid that they were not that simple!

at this very moment…

the swordsmen team arrived at the first unusual place.

it was a stretch of blood red.

…