The hardships of his youth made Brian Carter mature early, independent, and not easily influenced by others.

When the last corner of the area was finally cleaned, it was already the hour of Chen. Because it was winter, the weather was cold, the north wind howled, and the sky seemed even gloomier.

“Dang, dang, dang!”

As always, three melodious and moving chimes rang out from within the inner residence. In the ears, it was like hearing the morning bell and evening drum, refreshing and uplifting the spirit.

This was the sound of the sword practice bell!

At Zhongnan Sword Manor, the sword practice bell had a long history. It was set up by the founding ancestor of the manor and hung on an old pine tree in front of the inner residence’s main gate. Every dawn, a designated person would ring the bell, signifying that the day’s plan begins in the morning, and all disciples of the Sword Manor must get up and diligently practice their swordsmanship.

The bell itself was an excellent auxiliary treasure. Its sound was gentle and melodious, able to penetrate the heart, with the special effect of invigorating and awakening the mind. Just hearing it would make one feel energized.

As soon as the bell rang, disciples from both the inner and outer residences would rush to the sword practice grounds to begin a new day of training.

Unfortunately, with Brian Carter’s status, he wasn’t even qualified to enter the sword practice grounds.

Since he couldn’t learn swordsmanship, every day at this time, he could only listen to the sound of the sword practice bell on time, as a temporary substitute for the real thing—

“Wong…”

The lingering sound of the bell echoed in his ears, swirling and not dispersing, and for some reason, it felt a bit strange.

Hiss!

Suddenly, a flash of sword light appeared in his mind—a fleeting glimpse, vaguely resonating with the rhythm of the bell, revealing an unstoppable sharpness. But it flashed by too quickly; just as he tried to grasp it, it vanished in an instant, like a drop of water into the sea, never to be found again.

Huh, strange. Why did distracting thoughts appear while listening to the bell today? Was he too absorbed, to the point of hallucinating?

He had been a menial worker for three years, three hundred sixty-five days a year, listening intently to the sword practice bell every day. All along, nothing unusual had happened, but today, while listening to the bell, a flash of unparalleled sword light appeared in his mind, which surprised him.

“Brian Carter, what are you daydreaming about again!”

A shout came from Deacon Reed. He was over sixty, his figure long since grown fat, his big belly bulging out, making him look like an oversized duck. His voice, too, was as noisy as a duck’s, extremely grating.

“Greetings, Deacon Reed.”

You fear the supervisor more than the magistrate. Brian Carter knew his temperament—he was a typical petty man, used to throwing his weight around, not someone to offend.

Deacon Reed raised his head high, hands behind his back, and sternly admonished, “Brian Carter, the big day for the Sword Manor is the day after tomorrow. You’d better be sharp for me. If anything goes wrong at such a critical time, it won’t be as simple as getting kicked out, understand?”

“Understood.”

Brian Carter answered crisply.

Only then did Deacon Reed leave, waddling away to supervise and scold other menial workers, as if he couldn’t show off his authority as the outer residence’s steward without doing so every day.

As for the “big day” he mentioned, the order had come down a few days ago, so Brian Carter knew: the day after tomorrow was the annual “Sword Lecture Hall” of Zhongnan Sword Manor. At that time, elders would personally give lectures, explaining the mysteries of swordsmanship and posing sword challenges—a rare opportunity.

But it only happened once a year, each time lasting three days.

Every time, the disciples attending would gain something. If, by chance, someone could solve the sword challenge posed by the elders and receive the transmission of its intent, it would be a stroke of fortune. Their strength could leap to a new level.

As a sword manor with a long history and former glory, Zhongnan Sword Manor had a deep foundation, with many sword challenges stored in its treasury. Among them were not only profound-level, but even earth-level inheritances. Rumor had it there was even a heaven-level sword challenge over a thousand years old.

But it was just a rumor. In fact, what this sword challenge looked like and where it was kept had always been a mystery.

Many suspected the rumor was simply false.

A hundred years ago, Zhongnan Sword Manor suffered a near-catastrophic disaster, its vitality severely damaged, and it still hadn’t recovered.

With a lack of promising successors, and the overall decline of the entire Huangzhou region, its gradual decline was only natural. The glory of being one of the top ten sword manors had long since faded, its status and reputation plummeting. Even in the nationally watched Sword Manor Competition, for several years no disciple had even qualified to participate.

Not to mention the distant past, just in the last three years, the low-grade profound-level sword challenge posed by the elders at the Sword Lecture Hall had not been understood or inherited by any of the younger disciples.

Such bleakness.

No wonder the four great elders of the Sword Manor looked at each other in dismay, lamenting that each generation was worse than the last.

Yet none of this had anything to do with Brian Carter. Even if he understood the manor’s situation, no matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t his place as a mere sweeper to worry about such things.

“Heh!”

Brian Carter gave a self-deprecating laugh. Seeing Deacon Reed walk away, he quickly closed his eyes again to meditate, hoping to see that flash of sword light in his mind once more.

Nothing.

After a long time, still nothing. He finally gave up, convinced that he must have hallucinated while listening to the bell.

Once the illusion faded, it was like a bubble bursting.