The fake sword

The morning sun was very warm. The Hero of the South rubbed his head groggily, sat up, and looked around at the luxurious room, feeling a bit disoriented.

"You're awake?"

A gentle voice rang out from beside the Hero of the South.

"Um."

The Hero of the South responded softly, glancing sideways at Li Yan, who was sitting at the white table and chair, "You must be that important person."

"A big shot? If this is the Kingdom, then I am indeed the biggest shot." Li Yan chuckled as he flipped through the Magic Tome in his hands.

"You are stronger than me. I can't see a future for you; it's as if you're shrouded in a dark fog."

As the Hero of the South spoke, he sat down on another white chair next to Li Yan.

"It's natural that I can't see through it. If a young lad could see through me at a glance, then I would have wasted the last few centuries of my life."

Li Yan picked up the white teapot with gold trim from the table and poured a cup of tea in front of the Hero of the South.

The Hero of the South looked slightly surprised, but quickly regained his composure.

"You look as young as I do, but I see a long history within you."

The Hero of the South picked up the teacup, closed his eyes, and tasted it. The tea was sweet and delicious, far superior to the coarse tea leaves found in ordinary households.

"He's just an ordinary person who's lived for hundreds of years."

Li Yan chuckled and continued to refill the tea for the Hero of the South. Looking at his composed demeanor, a hint of admiration appeared in Li Yan's eyes. Calm in the face of adversity and steady in handling matters, he truly deserved to be called the Hero of the South.

The Hero of the South shook his head, gently swirled the teacup, and then drank it all in one gulp. "The Kingdom's wealth and power are all thanks to you. You have surpassed far too many heroes in history, and are even comparable to the greatest archmage of the magical world, Flamme. No! You surpass Flamme by several points."

The Hero of the South spoke solemnly, describing the future he envisioned: a peaceful world where people lived in harmony and enjoyed the good life. All the Lionheart Kings throughout history were virtuous, and even those who were incompetent had countless talents contributing to their Kingdoms. The King of this country only needed to be virtuous.

Li Yan was slightly stunned. He hadn't expected that the Hero of the South had guessed his identity in just a few words. Moreover, he had never seen such a flatterer before. He had flattered him so well that he was overjoyed. But upon closer reflection, the Hero of the South was absolutely right.

"I just did what I was supposed to do, it's nothing, haha."

Li Yan chuckled, his smile widening. After a moment of restraint, Li Yan asked the Hero of the South, "You are now the most powerful hero in the entire Kingdom. What is your greatest desire? Lionheart King will grant your wish."

When asked what he wanted most, the Hero of the South paused for a moment before slowly saying, "Actually, I don't want anything. After witnessing the Demons cruelly killing humans, I wanted to have great strength to save them. But now that I have great strength, seeing the village destroyed by the Demons, I regret that I arrived too late."

Li Yan's heart stirred slightly. Even with the Barrier Magic set up by Flamme, and even though the entire Kingdom was already prosperous and powerful, there were always some demons who slipped through the net during the Demons invasion, and he could not prevent such things from happening.

"The cause of all this is the Demon King who rules over the Demons race. Only by killing the Demon King and eliminating those Demons who attempt to invade human territory can this situation be completely resolved."

The Hero of the South, with a resolute air, emanated an aura that rose, making him appear like a true hero.

"You alone cannot possibly defeat the entire Demons race."

Li Yan's gentle reminder was also the reason why he didn't advance into the Demons. He only had one life, and if he died in the chaos, what would happen to his Flamme?

"So, following the instructions of the future, I came to the Royal Capital to participate in the National Hero Tournament. It is here that I can find a way to defeat the Demon King."

The Hero of the South looked at Li Yan. As a Warrior, he could sense the strength of the man before him. It was a sixth sense of mutual respect between Warriors. There was no other reason than that strong people are drawn to each other.

"Become my apprentice, and I will train you to become the strongest human hero capable of defeating the Demon King."

Li Yan smiled slightly and reached out his hand to the younger version of the Southern Hero. Excellent talents always attracted the admiration of an old man like him. The passion of youth was enough to melt his heart, which had long been settling into a life of leisure. He already understood the feelings of his grandmaster, Celia, when she met a genius magician. Appreciation and liking were hidden in her heart.

"With pleasure!"

The younger version of the Hero of the South reached out and shook hands with Li Yan.

That night, the modern-day Lionheart King was dragged into a room by his father and given a severe beating...

"You actually sent a man to the ancestor's room! You've got some nerve! You've ruined our Family's reputation! If our ancestor, Grandmother Flamme, knew what you'd done, she'd be furious."

"Wasn't this what the Ancestor told me to do?" Lionheart King retorted innocently.

"Still talking back! Your ancestor is furious with you. That servant has been taken away for retraining, and all the Mechanical Spiders have been modified. The last one who angered your ancestor is now a statue. I never expected that a hidden dragon like you could emerge in this generation. You and that servant are truly the new generation of hidden dragons and phoenix chicks!"

Sunlight streamed onto the green grass as Li Yan led the group into the wilderness for training; the training of the Hero of the South needed to be expedited.

"I know you have the ability to see the future, which can give you an advantage in battle, but don't rely on this ability too much. What you need to do is fight without using your ability to see the future; this is the best way to train your physique."

Li Yan instructed, "Only by enduring hardship can you build a strong physique. The more hardship you can endure, the stronger your body will become. The training of Warrior is to endure all kinds of hardships in the world. In this way, when facing difficult environments, the tenacious spirit of enduring all hardships will enable you to move forward without hesitation."

Although Li Yan himself couldn't do it, after all, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he used the strongest Holy Sword, and his journey to learn magic was also protected by Flamme. Even when he was training his physique, he was enjoying the feeding and service of the maids while training. Hardship had no effect on him.

"Okay, Master!"

The Hero of the South slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, gripping his two-handed sword as he faced off against Macht. Macht was the only one here who could spar with him.

Of course, Solitär was capable of fighting him, but she had little interest in such sparring or honing her skills; she preferred to watch Macht's battle against the Hero of the South with Li Yan.

Despite losing the ability to see the future, the Hero of the South remains evenly matched with Macht. His powerful physique, superb two-handed swordsmanship, keen senses, and lightning-fast speed make him truly worthy of being called the strongest hero of his time.

Macht's Diagoldze had no effect on the Hero of the South. Li Yan didn't know if it was a tool he possessed or some other ability, as external factors were also very important in combat.

Aura stared in shock. Having always thought that humans were nothing special, she felt the terror of humans for the first time. In front of the Hero of the South, she might just be an elite monster, or she might be regarded as a small fry.

With a hint of guilt, Aura moved closer to Li Yan, gently nuzzling her head. She felt that being a pet wasn't so bad; at least she could live peacefully and do whatever she wanted in the human world.

Macht's servants Draht and Lugner, were astonished. No one knew Macht's strength better than them. Having served Macht for a long time, they couldn't even last three seconds in Macht presence. And that was when Macht wasn't serious. If he were serious, they would have turned into gold the moment they saw Macht.

The human before them was evenly matched with Lord Macht in his serious state, and Lord Macht was even slightly at a disadvantage.

"Very good swordsmanship. The combination of two swords is invincible, and that's no exaggeration."

Li Yan praised her in this way.

The Hero of the South was in the middle of the battle, distanced himself from Macht and wiped the sweat from his face. He had gained a lot of combat experience from this sparring session.

"I wasn't planning on using a two-handed sword, but I didn't draw the one I really liked."

"The Hero of the South said regretfully."

Which one?

"The Holy Sword of the Sword Village!"

"That's normal, it's fake, sealed by Flamme. I even reinforced it hundreds of years ago."