The Nameless Elder let out a sigh—
a sound filled with helplessness,
pity,
and a trace of disappointment.
He lifted his bamboo staff
and drew a line in the air.
Just a light stroke,
like a schoolchild drawing on the ground.
No earth?shaking force.
No dazzling technique.
No wind.
No sword energy.
Yet the seven killing strikes
hit an invisible wall
and dissolved three feet before him.
The Iron Fist Sect Master’s punch scattered.
The Flying Sword Sect Master’s sword energy broke apart.
The Golden Blade Leader’s saber force vanished.
All attacks faded like smoke.
The seven sect leaders paled,
stumbling back three steps,
eyes wide with disbelief.
Their inner force felt like mud sinking into the sea—
gone without a trace.
Dissolved by something deeper,
vast,
like a drop of water merging into the ocean.
“What… what kind of martial art is this?!”
the Iron Fist Sect Master trembled.
“Still not giving up?”
The Nameless Elder shook his head,
pity flickering in his eyes.
“Then—”
He didn’t finish.
A sudden change.
A nearly invisible silver glint shot out from the crowd—
silent,
lightning?fast,
aimed straight at the Nameless Elder’s back.
Not a technique of the Seven Sects.
They prided themselves on being righteous,
too noble to use hidden weapons openly.
This was the work of the assassins
they hired in secret.
Sunri had been watching the battle,
nerves taut.
The instant he saw the silver flash,
he raised the gun on instinct—
aimed,
pulled the trigger.
It wasn’t an ordinary reaction.
The fragments of memory from the stone chamber—
including firearm experience—
had already seeped into his reflexes.
In that moment,
he reached the level of a marksman.
Bang!
The bullet struck the silver needle dead?on,
sparks bursting.
The poisoned needle veered off,
burying itself in a pillar
with a sharp metallic ring.
Almost simultaneously,
three throwing darts shot from another direction—
a triangular formation,
aimed at the elder’s eyes and throat.
Faster.
More concealed.
Sunri fired again—
three shots in rapid succession.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two bullets knocked two darts aside.
The third bullet deflected the last dart’s path.
The dart grazed the Nameless Elder’s cheek,
cutting a few strands of white hair
before embedding deep into the wall.
Silence fell.
In the distance, the ancient tome suddenly blazed with golden light.
Its pages flipped like a storm wind, finally stopping on a silver sheet.
【True Page】
【Name】Sunri
【Archetype】Hunter
【Level】1 → 2
【Attributes】Perception / Empathy / Instinct
【Skills】
? Firearm Mastery
- Accuracy：Unawakened → Initiate
- Auto?Correction：Unawakened → Initiate
? Tracking
- Scent Analysis： Initiate
- Footprint Logic：Unawakened
? Silent Step
- Weight Distribution： Initiate
? Protective Instinct
- Threat Priority： Initiate
【Revelation】
？？？
With a flash of silver light, the True Page snapped shut.
Everyone stared at Sunri—
at the foreign weapon smoking in his hand.
Strange shape.
Thunderous sound.
And power enough
to strike hidden weapons mid?flight.
The Nameless Elder looked at him too,
surprise flickering in his eyes
before he smiled.
“Good shooting.
Not martial arts,
but your eyes, reflexes, and courage are first?rate.”
He turned to the Seven Sects.
The smile vanished.
His gaze turned cold.
“Now… shall we continue?”
The sect leaders’ faces turned ashen.
The Nameless Elder was already unfathomable.
Now there was a strange gunman beside him.
Even if the weapon had limited shots—
who would dare be the first to test it?
And that single stroke earlier
had shattered their will.
A difference in realm.
Absolute.
The Iron Fist Sect Master gritted his teeth.
“Nameless Elder, you may protect them today,
but not forever!
The Seven Sects stand united—
this matter will not end here!”
“Then try,”
the elder said softly.
The quietness of his voice
made everyone’s hearts freeze.
“From today onward,
Azure Edge is under my protection.
If anyone touches even a blade of grass here,
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
I’ll visit their sect for tea.
And trust me—
you won’t enjoy the way I drink tea.”
The threat was unmistakable.
He meant “destroy the sect.”
The seven leaders exchanged looks,
hesitated.
Finally, the Iron Fist Sect Master snarled,
“Withdraw!”
The horn sounded again—
this time, the retreat signal.
The Seven Sects withdrew like a receding tide,
carrying their wounded,
dragging away their dead,
leaving behind blood,
broken weapons,
and ruin.
Azure Edge…
was left with corpses
and three living people.
Ye Lingyun staggered to the body
of the young disciple who had shielded him.
He knelt,
lifted the still?warm corpse,
and didn’t move.
Aunt Mei stumbled over,
grabbing him as she wept.
“Yun’er… Yun’er…”
Sunri lowered the gun,
his arm still trembling.
Those shots had been instinct under extreme pressure.
Only now did fear catch up.
If he had missed—
if he had hit the elder—
if…
His thoughts spiraled.
The Nameless Elder walked to him,
studied him,
then looked at Pardy in his arms,
and finally at Mo?Dou.
A hint of curiosity and amusement
touched his eyes.
“This little fellow brought me here.
It appeared at my hut yesterday
and refused to leave.
I thought it was a stray cat.
Ignored it.
But it insisted on staying—”
He paused,
as if recalling something amusing.
“When I practiced, it sat on a rock watching.
When I fished, it chased butterflies.
When I ate, it stared at me from the door.
At night, when I tried to close the door,
it rushed in,
jumped onto the table,
and slapped my teapot over.”
Sunri blinked
and looked down at Mo?Dou.
The black cat sat upright,
tail swaying,
as if everything was perfectly reasonable.
“I got angry,”
the elder chuckled.
“Thought the cat had become a spirit.
Tried to throw it out.
But it was too quick—
jumping all over the hut.
I chased it for half an hour
and still couldn’t catch it.”
He shook his head.
“Finally, I sat down and asked,
‘Are you trying to take me somewhere?’
It stopped,
looked at me,
and meowed—
with an expression like it understood.
Then it walked out,
looked back,
walked a bit more,
looked back again.”
“I followed it.
Walked and stopped,
walked and stopped.
Eventually realized
it was leading me toward Azure Edge.
Something felt wrong,
so I rushed here—
and arrived just in time.”
Sunri finally understood
what Mo?Dou had been doing.
He bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Senior, for saving us.”
“No need to thank me,”
the elder said,
eyes deep.
“I owed Ye Qingshan a debt.
Twenty years ago,
I suffered a cultivation mishap.
He risked his life
to retrieve the Ice?Heart Lotus for me.
Saved my life.
Saving his son today
repays that debt.”
He looked at Ye Lingyun,
still holding the corpse,
silent tears falling.
The elder sighed—
a sound heavy as a mountain.
“This child…
such a bitter fate.
Parents gone.
Disciples dead.
A great sect,
gone in one night.”
The aftermath was long and cruel—
more despairing than the battle itself.
The Nameless Elder stayed
to help with the dead.
The Seven Sects had taken their own bodies,
but the sixty?plus disciples of Azure Edge
needed to be washed, dressed,
and placed in coffins.
Ye Lingyun moved like a ghost,
doing everything himself.
He wiped each disciple’s blood,
straightened their clothes,
never speaking,
never crying—
only his blood?bitten lips
and reddened eyes
showed anything human.
Aunt Mei cried until she nearly fainted,
but still forced herself
to arrange funerary supplies.
Sunri could do little
except care for Pardy
and bring water and food.
Pardy sensed the heaviness.
He stayed quiet,
not crying,
occasionally glancing at Ye Lingyun
kneeling before the mourning hall,
his small hand gripping Sunri’s clothes.
On the third day,
the disciples were buried behind the mountain.
Sixty?three new graves,
lined in neat rows.
Simple markers—
names and dates.
The youngest was fifteen.
The oldest twenty?nine.
Ye Lingyun knelt before the graves all night,
unmoving,
letting dew soak his clothes.
Aunt Mei stayed beside him,
weeping silently.
On the fourth morning,
Ye Lingyun returned to the main hall.
He washed his face,
changed into clean clothes,
and the deadness in his eyes
made Sunri’s heart tighten.
He walked to Sunri,
removed a token from his belt,
and held it out.
A jade token,
palm?sized,
smooth and cool.
A carved sword pattern on the front,
cloud motifs circling it,
and the ancient character for “Edge” in the center.
On the back—
“Azure Edge,”
etched with powerful strokes.
“Azure Edge… is gone,”
Ye Lingyun whispered,
voice hoarse.
“This is yours.
The Sect Master’s Token.
It commands all our resources…
though nothing remains now.
Sell it, keep it, throw it away—
do as you wish.”
The moment Sunri touched the token—
images surged into him like a tide.
Mini-theater:
The author had just finished typing
“the Seven Sects besiege Azure Edge”
and reached for a drink.
Suddenly—
BANG!
The door flew open.
Ye Lingyun stepped in,
covered in blood,
eyes dark,
sword in hand.
Author: “Aren’t you… fighting the Seven Sects?”
Ye Lingyun: “Finished.
Now it’s your turn.”
Author: “I—I just—”
“You just what?”
The Iron Fist Sect Master burst in.
“You wrote me as a villain?!”
The Flying Sword Sect Master sneered.
“And made seven grown men gang up on a twenty?year?old?!”
The Golden Blade Leader slammed the table.
“What about our martial ethics?!”
Author: “Aren’t you all villains?”
Seven Sect Leaders:
“THAT’S BECAUSE YOU WROTE US THAT WAY!!”
Author: “…”
Next second—
The author bolted.
“HELP—!!”
Ye Lingyun chased with his sword.
“Don’t run!
Fix the plot today!”
