Silver Sword Peak

Shushan, Silver Sword Peak.

Chu Liang opened his eyes, his gaze bright.

He checked the time outside—it was still very early. The fiery red sun had just crested the mountains, morning clouds dyeing half the sky crimson.

After more than half a year in this world, he had fully grown accustomed to waking early.

That was right—he was not originally a person of this world, but a fresh high school graduate who had just finished the college entrance exams. Only the day before had he learned he scored third in the entire province, and the very next day, as he stepped out the door, a drunk driver sent him flying into the sky.

When he woke again, he found himself in this bizarre and fantastical world.

The reason he called it bizarre was because here, demons and monsters ran rampant, dragons and serpents stirred the land, ghosts and gods wielded heaven-defying power, and mortal lives were as cheap as weeds. Only thanks to the suppression of countless immortal sects, led by the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, could peace be maintained among humanity.

Human cultivators were equally formidable—martial artists could split mountains and shatter rocks with their physical bodies, scholars' righteous fury could stand against a thousand troops, Daoist heavenly masters could summon wind and rain, and Buddhist eminent monks could subdue dragons with a single finger...

Chu Liang's predecessor was an orphan whose entire family had been killed by demons and monsters. Only he had been rescued by his master, who, seeing he had the aptitude for cultivation, brought him back up the mountain.

Thus, his predecessor harbored a deep hatred for evil spirits and desperately wanted to master divine powers as quickly as possible, so he could go down the mountain and slay demons. But precisely because he was too impatient, his Dao heart was unstable, and he ended up going berserk during a breakthrough, his soul scattering.

One could only sigh—life truly was unpredictable.

After Chu Liang's soul descended into this world, his first feeling was actually fear. As a youth raised in an era of peace, this world where demons ran wild made him deeply uneasy.

Especially since the memories he carried included the gruesome scenes of his predecessor's parents and relatives being killed by demons—the impact on his mind was immense.

But soon, he figured it out. Fear came from insufficient firepower.

The weak were doomed to live in fear every day. The only way to completely shake off this unease was to become strong. And he had cultivation aptitude, had arrived in a top-tier immortal sect like the Shushan Sect—this was already a pretty good start.

Even better, after his transmigration, he discovered a change in his soul.

The appearance of that tower.

Whenever he meditated, a massive white tower would appear in his mind, and after slaying demons, it would grant him treasures as rewards. This didn't exist in his predecessor's memories—it seemed to have come with him. Could it be the legendary golden finger?

At first, Chu Liang didn't dare go after big demons. Instead, he searched for abandoned graves and cemeteries in the towns around Shushan, killing lantern ghosts.

Lantern ghosts were evil spirits formed from the resentment of the dead clinging to lanterns, turning into ghostly flames that drifted and crashed into living people at night. When they hit someone, the lantern ghost itself would instantly dissipate, while the person hit would at most fall ill for a while. To cultivators, they were essentially combat-ineffective.

So weak they were almost adorable.

Refining one lantern ghost rewarded him with a Qi-Gathering Pill to aid cultivation. Though not particularly rare on its own, with enough quantity, it greatly accelerated his training speed.

Once, he happened upon a bulky, heavily armored stone statue demon on a rampage. After a long, grueling battle, Chu Liang managed to grind it down.

Only then did the White Tower give him his first artifact reward—that golden brick which had forced the spider demon to reveal its true form.

[Demon-Exposing Brick]: Strike a person's head with this brick. If the person is a demon in disguise, they will immediately revert to their true form. If not, they will feel pain, with a certain chance of triggering a dizzying effect, instantly distinguishing truth from falsehood.

Chu Liang's assessment of this treasure was that it was quite practical.

Pills, artifacts, divine powers, cultivation techniques... these were all extremely precious things in the immortal cultivation world. Even Shushan disciples had to complete tasks for the sect to exchange for resources and treasures.

But Chu Liang only needed to slay demons to obtain them. And as the strength of the demons he killed increased, the quality of the rewards would also rise, further boosting his combat power.

So now, Chu Liang was stuck in a logical loop of "because I'm afraid of demons, I kill demons." From a certain perspective, he had actually fulfilled part of his predecessor's wish.

He slowly dressed, tied his hair, fetched water to wash his face, and only then officially started his day.

Pushing open the door, he stepped out of the small wooden cabin. Before his eyes, the sky was high and the clouds thin—it was late spring, the fourth month, with the wind carrying the scent of grass and trees. Following a path lined with birdsong and floral fragrance, he rounded half the mountainside and arrived before a pavilion at the peak.

He was here to find his master.

The pavilion's doors were wide open. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a languid, graceful figure sprawled out before the altar.

It was a woman with long hair scattered, half her face covered by strands of hair. The exposed half of her face was jade-smooth and radiant, her features like ink-wash strokes, tinged with red, and her neckline as delicate as fine porcelain.

She wore a black cross-collared robe. Even lying down, one could see her chest was extremely full, like a full moon, rising and falling with even breaths. A jade pendant glowing with red light was nestled there, catching the eye. Her waist was cinched tight with a sash, her hips gradually widening, and her two long legs were thrown out to the side, pale and plump.

By her hand hung a massive gourd of wine. As he stepped inside, he could even hear faint snoring—utterly lacking in decorum.

Though she slept soundly, as Chu Liang's footsteps sounded, the woman still grew alert and snapped her eyes open.

"Master," Chu Liang called softly from the doorway.

Indeed, this woman was Chu Liang's master, the peak lord of Silver Sword Peak, one of Shushan's thirty-six peaks—Empress Feng.

"Ah, it's already light out." Empress Feng flipped over and sat up, her robes in disarray, one shoulder half-exposed, the scene like a crime scene.

She didn't bother tidying her clothes but first scratched her hair, her eyes hazy as she looked at Chu Liang. "What are you here for?"

Still a bit dazed.

"Mm..." Chu Liang looked up and said, "Master, you sent a paper crane message telling me to come find you as soon as I returned."

"Did I?" The hungover woman scratched her head, then suddenly let out an "Oh!" "I remember now!"

She tugged at her clothes a couple of times and stood up. Lying down, she hadn't seemed too exaggerated, but standing, her tall, curvaceous figure was striking.

"Yesterday, the Sect Leader called all the peak lords for a meeting, saying we need to start preparing for the decade-old Shushan Summit, you know? The one where disciples from all peaks compete to become the Chief Disciple."

"This disciple knows."

"And then I ended up arguing with that old bastard Wang Xuanling again. I can't stand his arrogant attitude, swaggering around saying the chief position is definitely Jade Sword Peak's for the taking... Pah!" Empress Feng's chest heaved twice with anger just talking about it. "Of course I shot back at him. We argued a bit and made a bet."

"If a Jade Sword Peak disciple wins the chief position, I'll give him the Phoenix Blood Jade. If a Silver Sword Peak disciple can take the chief seat, he'll hand over the position of Chief of All Peaks to me."

With that, Empress Feng glanced at Chu Liang. "I called you here to ask—who do you think Silver Sword Peak should pick to participate in the Shushan Summit?"

"..." Chu Liang was a little speechless for a moment before quietly saying, "Master, doesn't Silver Sword Peak only have one disciple... me?"

"Great!" Empress Feng clapped her hands. "You volunteering on your own—this master is very pleased!"