In an ageless world with a rigid hierarchy, everyone’s lifespan is predetermined—the higher your title, the longer you live. Only by slaying the Undying and raising your rank can you truly achieve immortality.

A tenacious and exceptionally gifted boy, born at the very bottom of society and unable to even access martial arts, suddenly receives a relic and will from the dead.

"That person must have been crazy, leaving me an empty sword casket without even a sword, and actually wants me to defeat the greatest being in this world?" Edward White looked at the unremarkable sword casket with a strange expression.

PS: Written as a hot-blooded story, read as a benefit chapter.

Chapter 1: Sword Casket

In a plain white room, a young boy stared at the sword casket before him, his expression very peculiar.

The sword casket was gray, square like a wooden box, covered in arched patterns. Due to its age, it appeared somewhat dim and old.

In the world of Light and Darkness Martial Arts, this was a very ordinary weapon, but its former owner was anything but ordinary.

The world of Light and Darkness Martial Arts is divided into Twelve Ranks of Light and Twelve Ranks of Darkness—each rank a world, each rank a king, and at the twelfth rank, an emperor rules.

The former owner of the sword casket was the Dark Emperor Henry Lee, master of the Twelfth Rank of Darkness and lord of Burial Arms City. Countless challengers fell beneath his God-Burying Sword, and the weapons left behind by the defeated filled the entire city, giving rise to the name Burial Arms City. As for the city’s original name, no one remembers.

But now, Henry Lee’s God-Burying Sword hangs in the grand hall of the Light Emperor, a monument to the Light Emperor’s glory. Only this sword casket remains, which has somehow ended up in Edward White’s hands.

Heaven knows, Edward White was just a nobody living at the lowest level of the Twelve Ranks of Light, struggling daily for his remaining lifespan. He was merely a nameless nobody whom Henry Lee saved in passing on his way to duel the Light Emperor. Why, after Henry Lee’s defeat and death, was the sword casket passed on to him, along with a message to defeat the Light Emperor? Only heaven knows.

"To have me defeat the Light Emperor—am I crazy, or is Henry Lee crazy?" Edward White looked at the sword casket and softly uttered two words: "Armament."

Suddenly, the sword casket emitted an ancient, vast radiance, floated into the air, transformed into a stream of light, and shot into Edward White’s body, then appeared on his back.

For the people of the Light and Darkness Martial Arts world, armaments are essential for survival. Here, humans stop aging in appearance after the age of twenty; the only thing that changes is their remaining lifespan, which is displayed on the life mark at their heart. When the countdown of their remaining lifespan reaches zero, that is the moment of their death.

As a human of the First Rank of Light, the most direct way to gain more lifespan is to kill the Undying, who coexist with humans in the First Rank of Light. It sounds contradictory—how can the Undying be killed? In fact, the Undying can be killed, but they can be resurrected at the altar. As long as the altar remains, the Undying can revive again and again, hence their name.

Human bodies are frail. Even with longevity techniques to strengthen themselves, most are still no match for the Undying. Only with armaments can they easily slay the Undying.

Opening the combat ranking of the First Rank of Light, the top is the Light King, followed by the Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, and then the most common soldiers.

Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons all have titles, which are shown in the combat ranking. Ordinary soldiers have no title—only the word "soldier" is displayed, along with a name visible only to themselves.

Edward White scrolled down from the top of the combat ranking. No sign of his name among the Dukes or Marquises, nor among the Earls, Viscounts, or Barons. He kept scrolling, and even among the most ordinary soldiers, it was only after billions of names that Edward White finally saw his own.

"This is ridiculous. You’re the armament of the Dark Emperor, after all. Even if you’re just a sword casket, you should at least boost my combat ranking a bit. If not a Duke or Marquis, at least a Baron or something. But after all this, there’s no improvement at all." Edward White hid the sword casket, checked his life mark, and saw he had less than two years of lifespan left.

Edward White was born premature and frail, with less than twenty years of lifespan from birth. His parents died young, so he could only struggle alone, fighting for every bit of remaining life each day.

"Eddie, going to hunt little Blade Demons again?" As Edward White stepped out of his room, a neighbor boy called out loudly, his tone tinged with mockery.

Edward White lived in Daolun City, where many Undying called "little Blade Demons" roamed nearby. Although little Blade Demons are very weak—an ordinary person can kill them with a single slash—few are willing to hunt them. The main reason is that the chance of gaining lifespan from killing a little Blade Demon is only about one percent.