The Beginning

With a sense of reverence, Lin Sheng finished organizing his memories, put away his pen, and quickly washed up before going to sleep.

"This time, I'll practice outside again. There's actually a level twelve entity in Black Feather City. Based on my previous deductions, if that level twelve City Guard Commander also turned into a monster, then..."

Regardless, Lin Sheng had made up his mind this time: he absolutely would not enter the city.

Yet, having just obtained the map of Black Feather City, he felt an urgent desire to go inside and see if he could find any traces of transcendent power.

Lying on his bed, he closed his eyes. His consciousness grew hazy amidst his internal conflict, then began to sink, sink, and sink further.

"Ugh."

A gust of cold wind blew past, making him shiver and snap wide awake.

He opened his eyes to find himself in a patch of messy weeds, with the corpse of a slain Rotten Swordsman lying horizontally not far ahead.

Lin Sheng leaned on his sword to stand up and looked around; he was still at the corner of the city wall where he had hidden after being injured.

On both sides lay the gray, pockmarked, and dilapidated city walls, stretching out into the distant mist until they vanished from sight.

He first quickly checked the area where he had been injured.

"The wound is healed?"

The previously injured area had completely returned to normal, and even his torn clothes had been restored.

Lin Sheng slapped the area hard, feeling no pain at all.

"I can use this trick to recover my condition in the future."

Noting this down to himself, he looked up and scanned his surroundings.

To his left was the area he had already cleared; that was where he had found the Rotten Swordsman on the ground.

To his right was the direction back toward the city gate archway.

After a pause, he decided to head toward the right first.

"I won't go inside. I'll just wander around outside and take a look, that should be fine, right? Who knows, maybe Black Feather City changes at different times."

With the memories of the gate guards in his mind, Lin Sheng felt more confident. He had an accurate grasp of the entire Black Feather City and his own location.

He no longer scrambled around blindly as he had before.

He flexed his hands and checked his body.

He was still wearing the white undergarments he had arrived in—long sleeves and long pants—no wonder he was freezing.

"I need to find some clothes to wear. This dream perception is becoming increasingly realistic; it would be ridiculous if I ended up frozen to death later on."

Having decided to keep an eye out for clothing, Lin Sheng's gaze involuntarily swept over the corpse not far away.

The Rotten Swordsman was wearing tattered black clothes, though the original light gray material was still vaguely discernible.

Through the gaps in the clothing, he could see dried black blood and fluid from burst pustules.

"Forget it."

Lin Sheng decisively abandoned the idea of stealing the Rotten Swordsman's clothes.

Gripping his sword, he walked step by step, unhurriedly, toward the city gate archway.

After walking for a while, a faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from the side of the city wall ahead.

Tap, tap, tap.

The footsteps sounded like metal boots stepping on stones in the dirt, a dull thud accompanied by a crunching, cracking noise.

Lin Sheng's heart tightened, and he immediately stopped in his tracks.

To his surprise, the other party seemed to have sensed him as well and immediately froze.

Both sides stopped simultaneously.

The wind blew past his feet, causing the nearby weeds to rustle.

Lin Sheng felt himself growing colder, his hands gripping the sword hilt tighter and tighter.

He pursed his lips, licking his dry lower lip with his tongue.

Plop.

Suddenly, a small pebble fell from the city wall above.

Swish.

A faint sound rapidly approached.

Distracted by the pebble, Lin Sheng's reaction was a beat slow, and he hurriedly raised his sword vertically.

Clang!

Two swords collided fiercely.

A black sword leaped down from the black mist, slamming heavily into the center of Lin Sheng's blade.

Only then did Lin Sheng see who his opponent was.

The opponent was also dressed as a Rotten Swordsman, with white bandages wrapped around his head, revealing neither eyes, nose, nor mouth.

But unlike the other Rotten Swordsmen.

The bandages on this fellow's head had no blood seeping through, and his hands and feet were completely intact. The black clothes on his body were also without any damage.

There were no pustules on his exposed black skin either.

Aside from his clothes being a bit old, he looked just like a normal person with a head injury.

There was no time to observe further; Lin Sheng was pushed backward continuously by the opponent's immense strength.

The two of them retreated rapidly.

The Rotten Swordsman stomped his foot and came to a halt, while only Lin Sheng continued to slide backward due to momentum.

Clang!

The two swords clashed once again.

Lin Sheng felt his hands go numb, the vibration even making his shoulders feel tingly.

But before he could recover, the opponent's black sword came again.

The continuous sword strikes were deafening. Lin Sheng could only rely on the mercenary's combat instincts to parry.

He finally realized now that the most useful thing in actual combat was the killing instinct that the wandering mercenary had honed on the battlefield of life and death.

So strong. Lin Sheng struggled to hold his ground, his heart filled with shock.

This was the first time he had encountered such a formidable Rotten Swordsman.

The previous ones were mostly cripples, either missing an arm or having some other physical disability.

But this time was different.

The opponent was physically sound and possessed exquisite swordsmanship, not even weaker than his own, which had absorbed the memories of so many soldiers.

No, he's not weaker than me! If it weren't for the mercenary's instinctive reaction to danger, I would have been killed by now. Lin Sheng suddenly realized.

He wasn't remembering any sword techniques to use at all; harsh, clashing sounds exploded in front of him again and again. His body could only retreat, retreat, and retreat.

He could do nothing else.

The black sword in his hand instinctively parried toward the direction from which the chill struck.

Only at this moment did he realize how powerful that mercenary had been.

If that guy hadn't been physically disabled and lacked systematic sword skills back then, he would never have been able to kill him.

The sounds of impact rang out incessantly. Lin Sheng's whole body ached, feeling as if he were being struck by a heavy hammer again and again, his hands already completely numb.

But both his reason and his instincts told him that he had to grip the sword hilt tightly, or he would surely die!

Bang.

Suddenly, with a dull thud, Lin Sheng stumbled back two steps and realized there was no more sound in front of him, no more of the previous continuous black sword attacks.

He staggered and fell to one knee, his body limp. He barely managed to lift his gaze to look ahead.

Under the moonlight, the Rotten Swordsman stood two meters away, holding his sword in one hand, no longer pursuing.

Swish, swish.

Two consecutive sword marks flashed briefly on the ground in front of the opponent, forming a cross.

The Rotten Swordsman turned and slowly walked away, gradually disappearing into the hazy mist.

Lin Sheng gritted his teeth and stood up, using his sword to keep himself from falling.

Sweat poured down from his body and forehead in large amounts, but he didn't notice it at all.

This guy is on a completely different level from the previous Rotten Swordsmen! But why did he stop pursuing?

Lin Sheng quickly scanned his surroundings and immediately understood.

On the left side of the road where he stood, a thick wooden pillar over four meters high was erected, with a tattered black triangular flag hanging from it.

In the center of the flag, the pattern of a black eagle with wings spread, ready to take flight, could be vaguely seen.

This is the jurisdictional boundary of Black Feather City. Has it really been this far? Lin Sheng found it incredible.

From the city wall to here, it was at least a range of two hundred meters.

He had actually retreated this far under the pressure of that Rotten Swordsman just now!?