Do Not Call My Name

Lu Chen was powerful and sturdily built. Whenever he fought others, he had never won through skill, but by relying on his physique to fight head-on.

All of this left Lu Chen somewhat far from the dashing swordsman of his imagination, who could kill a man every ten steps and leave no trace for a thousand miles.

Still, this did not discourage Lu Chen. Being dashing was nowhere near as important as staying alive, and he was quite satisfied with his own vigorous blood and vitality.

"A Sword Saint should build tank gear."

With that in mind, Lu Chen began competing with the Black Umbrella in endurance.

While Lu Chen was pleased, the Black Umbrella's situation was worsening by the moment. Lu Chen's blood had already stained nearly the entire canopy. The Black Umbrella had turned crimson and was on the verge of collapse.

However, Lu Chen still vividly remembered his earlier carelessness.

Therefore, even though the Black Umbrella was nearly finished, Lu Chen would not relax his guard in the slightest until the system notification sounded.

He focused his consciousness and gripped the Black Umbrella tightly. At the same time, Lu Chen controlled his own blood, making it drip continuously onto the Black Umbrella.

Because of his high constitution, the heavy blood loss did not make Lu Chen feel dizzy.

Another minute passed. More than ninety-nine percent of the Black Umbrella had been stained by Lu Chen's blood.

Even so, Lu Chen still did not dare let down his guard. The facts proved that he was right to do so—the Black Umbrella truly had one final move.

As the Black Umbrella was tainted by fresh blood, the souls it had previously controlled were also continuously dissolved by Lu Chen's blood.

Driven into a corner, the Black Umbrella suddenly snapped shut its canopy and wrapped up Lu Chen, who was crouching on the ground.

But this time, after wrapping around Lu Chen, the black mist did not appear again. It seemed to know that the mist could do nothing to Lu Chen, whose blood and vitality were so abundant.

Yet the Black Umbrella did not give up resisting. After enveloping Lu Chen, it suddenly transmitted an image to him through its handle.

This time, it was not something like a fragmentary soul or a vengeful spirit. It truly was an image—an image that appeared utterly ordinary.

But as the Black Umbrella's final struggle, how could this image possibly be ordinary?

And indeed, it was not.

Even through Lu Chen's rainbow-like blood and vitality, the final image sent by the Black Umbrella still entered his mind with perfect clarity, leaving him unable to focus on anything else for a time.

The image showed a white-robed swordsman carrying an umbrella as he walked through the night. The figure had his back to Lu Chen, and the darkness and rain obscured him, making him somewhat blurry.

Yet even so, the moment Lu Chen "saw" that figure, tears suddenly streamed from his eyes, and he felt as if sharp swords were about to pierce them.

"That isn't a puppet controlled by the Black Umbrella. It's the Black Umbrella's former master."

For some reason, that back view gave Lu Chen this thought.

But he soon had no time to think of anything else.

In the image, the white-robed swordsman holding the Black Umbrella seemed to sense someone spying on him and was about to turn around.

As he moved, a trembling sensation rose within Lu Chen's heart.

"If he turns around and sees me, I'll die!"

As soon as this thought arose, Lu Chen's heart turned cold. Then, without regard for anything else, he suddenly roared.

Amid that roar, Lu Chen violently spat a mouthful of blood onto the Black Umbrella. At the same time, a domineering ripple spread from his mind toward the image within the umbrella.

To be honest, Conqueror's Haki was very powerful, but Lu Chen himself was too weak. Even after activating Conqueror's Haki, he only felt somewhat more at ease. The feeling that he could die at any moment still filled his heart.

Fortunately, Lu Chen was not facing the white-robed swordsman himself, but merely an umbrella in his hand that might have been picked up somewhere—a rain umbrella that had been separated from its original owner for an unknown length of time.

Amid his roar, the blood Lu Chen spat out directly turned the Black Umbrella completely crimson, while the Conqueror's Haki radiating from his mind utterly annihilated the Black Umbrella's consciousness.

System Notification: The host has destroyed a Black Coffin Level Evil Soul (suppressed by the Totem Pillar) and obtained 400 Experience Points.

Worthless remnant souls, white wandering souls, Black Coffin Level Evil Souls—these were the ranks of malicious ghosts Lu Chen had learned from the memories of Chen, the barbarian youth.

"I didn't expect it to be a Black Coffin Level Evil Soul. But that makes sense. Without such power, it couldn't possibly have remained so strong after entering the Totem Pillar."

Although he was surprised that a Black Coffin Level Evil Soul had appeared nearby, it had finally died, and he had gained quite a bit of experience. Lu Chen finally let out a sigh of relief.

But before Lu Chen could toss away the black rain umbrella in his hand, a cool voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Interesting!"

The sudden voice startled Lu Chen.

"How is that possible? The Black Umbrella has already perished. Why haven't you dissipated?"

With barely any need for speculation, Lu Chen understood that the voice belonged to the white-clothed swordsman holding the umbrella in his mind.

What horrified Lu Chen was that after the Black Umbrella had perished, the influence this man had left in Lu Chen's mind had originally been about to fade away. Yet for some unknown reason, he had spoken again.

This made Lu Chen's gaze turn icy.

"Could the Black Umbrella not be dead yet?"

As if sensing Lu Chen's thoughts, the white-robed swordsman gave a derisive chuckle.

"Don't compare me to that vile beast. If you call my name, I will naturally sense it."

"Do not call my name... This is a god!"

Hearing the white-robed swordsman's words, Lu Chen inexplicably thought of some great existence.

But before Lu Chen could grow fearful, the phantom before him blurred once more.

"This time, I... made a mistake. I truly... didn't expect that even an umbrella could... become an evil entity."

"Forget it. Since you helped... [guard] the gate, I'm not... [a petty] person either. I'll give you some... reward. Whether you can... comprehend it depends on your... own..."

Before the words were finished, the phantom dispersed like smoke. Yet the scattered smoke did not vanish. Instead, it suddenly crashed into Lu Chen's mind.

With a boom, Lu Chen instantly felt as if his head were about to explode. A massive amount of information surged from that smoke and flooded into his mind.

Under the impact of that immense information, blood immediately flowed from Lu Chen's seven orifices, and he collapsed straight to the ground.

"A'Chen..."

"Are you all right, A'Chen..."

"Quick, get Witch Doctor Master!"

Draw the sword, sheathe the sword. Draw the sword, sheathe the sword. A youth stood atop a cliff, tirelessly practicing the most basic techniques.

Day or night, sunset or moonrise, no matter the hour, the youth could always be seen practicing his sword.

Then trees sprouted buds, their branches and leaves grew lush, then yellowed, until heavy snow finally filled the sky. Yet amid the changes of the world, that figure practicing the sword never paused for even a moment.

As the years passed, the figure practicing the sword gradually grew up, but the time he spent training never decreased.

The time did not change, but the number of sword swings he performed each day continued to increase.

It began at three thousand, then five thousand. By the time he was a young man, it had reached ten thousand. When he was nearly an adult, it rose to a hundred thousand.

A hundred thousand sword swings every day—the sword itself could no longer be seen, only an unbroken expanse of sword shadows.

Then, one day, those endless sword shadows suddenly decreased, from a hundred thousand to ten thousand, then five thousand, then three thousand, until they finally converged into one.

From then on, that figure stood by the cliff for an entire day, yet over that whole day, he swung his sword only once.

When he raised his hand and swung that sword, that strike...

"Ah..."

With a pained cry, Lu Chen abruptly sat up and gasped for breath.