At present, the systems dominating the front ranks are all NPCs, and players’ cultivation levels are obviously still quite low. The strength of NPCs, however, does not refresh like that of players. Although their cultivation can also improve or regress due to injuries, and their names may also disappear from the rankings, this isn’t because the NPCs went to Xintian Tower to request it—it’s because the NPC has died. When a player dies, they can be reborn; when an NPC dies, they leave this jianghu forever. This has made players vaguely wonder: will there come a day when “In the Jianghu” has no NPCs left at all, and truly becomes a jianghu made up entirely of players?

Right now, it’s clearly too early to consider this question. Players’ cultivation is still far from being able to challenge the many NPC masters. Players mostly just look at the rankings of pure players, watching the competition among themselves.

Charles Morgan is one of the players who has performed excellently in this competition. He ranks third in Wudang’s cultivation rankings—in other words, according to the system’s data, Charles Morgan is the third strongest among Wudang players.

Of course, this excludes factors like actual combat and the possibility that some top players haven’t participated in the Xintian Tower evaluation.

To unexpectedly encounter such a master right after logging in made Edward Thompson feel quite troubled. Five seconds passed in a flash. Edward Thompson appeared, and the bored Charles Morgan, who was lounging on a huge rock, instantly reacted. His body bent and flipped up; though his sword remained sheathed, his left palm pressed down through the air, as if afraid Edward Thompson would escape and determined to pin him down.

Edward Thompson had traveled far and wide, experienced countless quests and events, and was knowledgeable and seasoned. Seeing that Charles Morgan’s palm hadn’t yet struck but the force of it was already pushing him to the verge of stumbling backward, he immediately recognized this as Wudang’s Zhenshan Palm technique. Charles Morgan’s palm could strike with force a meter away—both his internal strength and palm technique were clearly extraordinary.

No wonder he’s Wudang’s number three. Edward Thompson thought to himself, quickly stepping to the side. Though not graceful, with one big step he still managed to move out of the range of Charles Morgan’s palm force.

“Not bad!” Charles Morgan exclaimed in surprise. When he used Zhenshan Palm, anyone with weaker cultivation would have already been immobilized by the palm wind, left helpless to await the strike. Yet Edward Thompson, within less than a meter of his palm, was still able to move away, and it didn’t even seem difficult. Charles Morgan immediately realized this opponent was no ordinary player.

“Well, of course. Without some skill, who would dare steal a sword from Wudang’s Sword-Releasing Pool?” Charles Morgan said, landing and withdrawing his palm, his gaze falling on Edward Thompson.

“How long have you been waiting?” Edward Thompson asked.

“Not too long,” Charles Morgan replied with a smile.

“You’re really patient,” Edward Thompson remarked.

“Then don’t let me down. Take out the sword, and I’ll let you go,” Charles Morgan said.

“Quite confident, aren’t you?” Edward Thompson smiled.

“You can’t escape. Even if I can’t kill you, I can send out carrier pigeons with the news—you know what that means,” Charles Morgan said.

“Haha.” Edward Thompson chuckled. “Would you really do that?”

Charles Morgan was silent for a moment. “Fine. I wouldn’t. Dying heroically just to let someone else pick up an easy gain—wouldn’t that make me a real hero?” Charles Morgan admitted, self-mocking as he spoke.

“So, defeating me is the only thing you can do,” Edward Thompson said.

“Looks like you’re pretty confident too.”

“You said it yourself—without some skill, who would dare steal a sword from Wudang’s Sword-Releasing Pool?” Edward Thompson replied.

“Yeah, but when you stole the sword, you didn’t really show off your martial arts skills, did you?”

“You know quite a lot…”

“Just like you, I did thorough research,” Charles Morgan laughed again.

“Care to share?” Edward Thompson asked.

“No. Reading novels, watching TV and movies taught me one thing: at critical moments, never say too much—talk too much and things go wrong. So, I’m going to make my move now. If you want to know, wait until I kill you and get the sword back, then we can sit down and chat,” Charles Morgan said.

“Alright!” Edward Thompson actually agreed. He had a pretty good impression of this third-ranked Wudang master. It’s a game, after all! This is how it should be. I’m the sword thief, you’re the one trying to get it back—at this moment, we’re opponents, enemies. But once the event is over, we can return to being fellow players—maybe even friends. We’re all here for fun, so why create so much animosity?

Sure enough, Charles Morgan didn’t hold back. Drawing his sword, he called out, “Watch the sword!” Instantly, the sword light, filled with green energy, swept through the bottom of the valley.

“Soft Cloud Sword.” Edward Thompson called out the name of the sword technique.

“Not bad, you really do have some skill. Just one look and you know what martial art it is—such insight is rare.”

“I’ve spent some time in Wudang,” Edward Thompson said.

“Yeah, I figured. For you to set things up like that, you’d need to know Wudang inside and out.”

“So your Soft Cloud Sword… can’t trap me!”

Previously, Edward Thompson had been dodging left and right, but as he finished saying “can’t trap me,” he had already torn a gap in the sword net woven by Charles Morgan, and punched straight at Charles Morgan’s chest.