He appeared tall and slender, walking steadily to stand before the stone wall. Facing the sword riddle embedded in the wall, he began to focus his mind, pondering deeply.

　　Swish!

　　A large number of eyes in the hall instantly focused on him, and everyone’s thoughts were surprisingly unified: they all hoped that Gary Reed could solve this lower-grade Profound-level sword riddle in one go—if, three years ago when the riddle was first displayed, it was seen as a stroke of fortune, now it had become a boulder weighing thousands of pounds, pressing heavily on everyone’s hearts, making it almost hard to breathe.

　　Three sessions of the Sword Lecture Hall, and not a single person had solved it. The harsh reality was like a label, stuck on every new generation disciple: incompetence.

　　Collective incompetence!

　　Whenever they thought of it, everyone’s face burned with shame.

　　Now that Gary Reed had stepped forward, all their hopes rested on him.

　　About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, sweat began to bead faintly on Gary Reed’s forehead as he fell into deep thought, his brows tightly furrowed, almost knotted together.

　　Who was Henry Clark? With a single glance, he could tell that Gary Reed was having a hard time cracking the riddle. By custom, he should have spoken up to stop him, letting Gary Reed know when to retreat. But for some reason, the words stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back, thinking to himself: Maybe, just maybe, Gary Reed will suddenly have a flash of inspiration and break through...

　　“Pfft!”

　　Gary Reed’s body suddenly trembled, and he actually spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His face turned pale, and he could barely stand.

　　“Sigh!”

　　In unison, sighs surged like a tide.

　　Gary Reed had still failed—not only failed, but suffered backlash and was injured.

　　“Elder Clark...”

　　When he spoke, his mouth was full of bitterness.

　　Henry Clark waved his hand gloomily, cutting him off, and ordered someone to help him down to rest and recover.

　　“All right, that’s enough for today. I hope everyone goes back and thinks it over carefully, and comes back tomorrow. Mm, this sword riddle will remain in its place. If any of you have an insight, you can come and try to solve it at any time.”

　　With a bitter smile, he was already considering whether to cheat a little in tomorrow’s lecture and directly point out some key tricks to solving the riddle.

　　What else could he do? If this year’s Sword Lecture Hall still couldn’t solve the riddle, the reputation of Zhongnan Sword Sect would be utterly ruined.

　　Not just reputation—their prestige would plummet, and they’d be unable to attract talented disciples. Even the elders themselves would probably be scolded as “incompetent teachers.”

　　Thinking of the dire consequences, he couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.

　　The first day of the Sword Lecture Hall ended gloomily, the disciples dispersed, each returning to their own quarters.

　　At this time, it was the turn of the attendants responsible for cleaning up to come in and tidy the place. The division of labor had been set early on, and everyone began working according to their assigned area.

　　It was already late, and in the cold winter season, night fell quickly. If they didn’t hurry, it would be hard to finish before dark.

　　Brian Carter was in charge of the lecture area. He quickly wiped the floor clean, then moved on to the stone wall.

　　This stone wall had been polished exceptionally smooth, and many words were written on it in charcoal—notes that Henry Clark had jotted down during his explanations, all about the essence of sword techniques.

　　Wherever Brian Carter looked, he found it all deeply mysterious, so he made a mental note of it.

　　“Huh, what’s this...”

　　After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he was wiping near the spot where the sword riddle was embedded, and saw something like a tortoise shell firmly set there. Curiosity got the better of him, and he paused to take a closer look.

　　Brian Carter knew this object was extraordinary and didn’t dare touch it, lest he violate the sect’s rules and taboos—he knew the consequences would be dire.

　　His gaze fell on the object. He meant to just take a look and move on, but for some reason, the moment he looked at it, it was as if he’d grown roots—he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

　　Buzz!

　　Under his gaze, the scene suddenly changed. What was embedded there was no longer a tortoise shell-like object, but had transformed into countless points of light.

　　The points of light were like awns, moving, tiny and densely packed. As they flickered, they gradually gathered and merged together. In the end, thousands upon thousands of light points fused into one, a cold gleam like lightning, condensing into a miniature sword—

　　Whoosh!

　　The sword light flashed, stabbing straight at Brian Carter’s brow.

　　“Aah!”

　　Brian Carter cried out in shock, instinctively dodging to the side. His body swayed, the vision before his eyes vanished, and the stone wall was just a stone wall again, the object embedded in it still and unmoving.

　　What just happened?

　　He felt strange.

　　“Brian Carter, what are you yelling about? You scared the hell out of me.”

　　The attendant responsible for another part of the hall heard the cry and grumbled in a muffled voice.

　　“N-nothing.”

　　Brian Carter replied, wiping away the sweat that had somehow appeared on his forehead, and hurried to clean the remaining areas.

　　A while later, the well-fed Deacon Reed came to inspect the work, face stern, and inevitably gave a round of scolding. He was especially harsh with Brian Carter, nitpicking every little thing—saying this wasn’t right, that wasn’t clean enough, and demanding it be redone.

　　Brian Carter understood perfectly well, but under someone else’s roof, he had no choice but to endure. In the end, all the other attendants had left, leaving only him still working hard.

　　When night fell, a special person from the Sword Sect arrived, having received orders from Henry Clark to guard the lower-grade Profound-level sword riddle.