"Crack!"
As he moved, the sound of gears turning rang out. The next moment, a hidden door opened in the floor, revealing a wooden staircase that led down into the darkness.
As Xu Fengnian watched in confusion, footsteps gradually sounded. Each step seemed to fall upon everyone's heart, making them tense despite themselves.
Everyone knew that the six floors of Tingchao Pavilion held either peerless cultivation methods that martial artists could only dream of obtaining, or all manner of divine weapons, treasures, and gold and silver.
But they didn't know that there were three more underground floors beneath them.
To everyone's astonishment, a one-armed old man in a tattered sheepskin coat came up from below. He picked his nose with his only hand and looked at Xu Xiao.
"Speak. What do you want with me?"
"But let me make this clear: if it's too much trouble, I'm not doing it!"
There weren't many people in the world who could speak to Xu Xiao in such a tone. Even the Emperor of Liyang had to treat him with courtesy to keep Beiliang in line.
But this old man was one of them.
His name was Li Chungang.
He was the Sword Champion among the Thirteen Spring and Autumn Champions, and one of the Four Great Grandmasters from sixty years ago.
He was said to be the only person who had ever come close to becoming a Sword Immortal!
The reason he was beneath Tingchao Pavilion was that, after accidentally killing the woman he loved, he couldn't bear to face the truth.
In the end, Xu Xiao had saved him. To punish himself, he had drawn a prison around himself and hadn't taken a single step outside for decades.
He had come out this time only because he had promised Xu Xiao