Chapter Three: Chronicles of the Flying Sword Turmoil

Li Ju looked at the three available scenarios and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Judging by the names, he immediately ruled out the second scenario. In his current circumstances, becoming a top student wouldn’t help him out of his predicament, but becoming physically powerful just might.

That left two options: “Chronicles of the Flying Sword” and “Hot-Blooded High School.” The first was obviously a martial arts world, while the second left him uncertain. A school-themed scenario could range from simple fistfights between delinquents to all-out brawls between superpowered gangs.

In “Chronicles of the Flying Sword,” the level of strength was fixed, set safely within the realm of martial heroes. But “Hot-Blooded High School” could span from ordinary mortals to the fantastical, and there was no telling where it might land.

Unfortunately, there were no detailed descriptions for any of these scenarios on his panel—otherwise, he could make an informed choice rather than guessing blindly from their names.

He let out a long breath and made up his mind.

“Choose ‘Chronicles of the Flying Sword.’”

Given his situation, he couldn’t afford to gamble. If “Hot-Blooded High School” turned out to be nothing more than a street brawl between regular punks, he’d waste precious time in a world that offered him nothing.

By contrast, the rewards in “Chronicles of the Flying Sword” seemed more reliable.

“Chronicles of the Flying Sword (Difficulty: Easy) (Storyline Breakthrough Scenario) (Soul Entry)

Synopsis: The greatest martial sect in Lingnan, the Flying Sword Sect, was annihilated by the Demon Sect. Wang Lu, an inner disciple, narrowly escaped the massacre. To avenge his sect’s destruction, Wang Lu sets out to become the supreme master of the martial world...

Stages (0/10)

First Stage: Escape the Forest

Objectives: 1. Successfully escape the great forest. 2. Personally slay five Demon Sect pursuers (0/5).

Reward: One random specialty and one random skill from among the characters encountered during this stage.

Completing the first stage unlocks the next.”

“Enter.”

Li Ju’s vision blurred.

At the same time, a whole life unspooled before his eyes like a movie.

“Li Ju, Li Ju, wake up.”

Somewhere in a daze, Li Ju felt someone smacking him hard across the face.

Smack!

A burning pain flared on his left cheek—it wasn’t just a feeling, someone really was hitting him!

Li Ju hastily opened his eyes. He saw only the dim shadows of a forest, and a young man with a worried face shaking him urgently.

“Loading temporary identity template:

Name: Li Ju
Age: 16
Identity: Kitchen hand of the Flying Sword Sect
Specialties: None
Skills: None”

This panel is even worse than mine, Li Ju thought with a touch of irony. At least on his real status panel, he had a fishing skill earned from years of catching fish in the river. This kitchen hand didn’t even have a basic cooking skill—obviously, he’d never bothered to learn the art of stoking fires.

“Junior Li, you’re awake! I thought you were dead as well,” said the young man, the one who’d slapped him, his relief palpable.

“I’m fine, Senior Wang.”

From the information loaded into his mind, Li Ju knew that the young man before him was Wang Lu, the protagonist of “Chronicles of the Flying Sword,” and that the two of them were currently fleeing from Demon Sect pursuers.

“You passed out so suddenly—I thought you’d been poisoned by those Demon cultists,” Wang Lu said, patting Li Ju’s shoulder. “Can you stand? We’ve lost time, and the Demon Sect will catch up soon. We have to keep moving.”

“We must escape and avenge our fallen sect!”

Wang Lu gritted his teeth. The sect that had been his home for over a decade had been destroyed in a single night; his teachers and fellow disciples butchered by the Demon Sect. For Wang Lu, this was a hatred he would never forgive.

“I can walk.”

Li Ju braced himself against the ground and stood up. As an outsider, he didn’t feel much about the Flying Sword Sect’s destruction, but he followed Wang Lu’s lead, putting on a look of righteous fury.

“Let’s go, then.”

Li Ju and Wang Lu chose a direction and started running.

As they ran, Li Ju turned over the scenario objectives in his mind.

“Escaping the forest should be easy enough. As long as I stick with Wang Lu, his protagonist’s luck will see us through. But the second objective is the real problem.”

His current identity gave him no special skills or attributes, yet the task required him to personally kill five Demon Sect pursuers. How could he, with no martial training whatsoever, hope to slay even a single one? He’d probably be cut down the moment he faced them.

“It looks like I’ll have to rely on Wang Lu for this task as well,” Li Ju thought, glancing at the young man running ahead of him.

Suddenly, two streaks of silver light flashed toward him without warning.

Li Ju didn’t have time to react. A blur darted past him.

With a thud, Wang Lu slashed his sword at the silver lights, sending them spinning to the ground. Li Ju looked closely—they were two throwing knives.

His heart pounded wildly. If Wang Lu hadn’t acted so swiftly, he would have died right then and there.

Ordinary people truly stood no chance against martial artists.

“Run ahead! The Demon Sect is here—”

Wang Lu stood with his sword across his body, staring into the direction the knives had come from, but before he could finish...

Two figures in black leaped from the trees.

A puff of smoke exploded around Li Ju and Wang Lu.

The wind of Wang Lu’s sword sliced through the smoke—his blade danced like a sparrow, and bursts of silver light detonated within the haze.

Blood sprayed. The two black-clad figures collapsed limply to the ground.

Before Li Ju could process what had happened, the smoke cleared. The assassins lay dead, and Wang Lu had already sheathed his sword.

Li Ju sucked in a cold breath.

If he hadn’t seen it for himself, he would never have believed a human sword could move so quickly.

So this was the power of a martial artist!

Li Ju’s heart burned with longing. If he possessed Wang Lu’s skills, what would he have to fear from the Zhao family in Yangyuan City? It would be them fearing him instead.

“Come on,” Wang Lu urged, resheathing his sword.

Li Ju was about to follow when he caught sight of the two black-clad Demon Sect pursuers on the ground.

“Senior Wang, are they dead?”

“No. I struck them in the chest—they’ll be dead soon,” Wang Lu replied, puzzled by Li Ju’s question.

Without a word, Li Ju walked over, picked up one of the fallen swords, and stabbed both pursuers through the chest.

“The Demon Sect destroyed my home and killed my brothers—I swear I’ll never live under the same sky as them!” he cried out with anguish.

Wang Lu came over and patted him on the shoulder, sighing. “Come, Junior Li. I know you’re hurting, but as long as we live, our sect survives.”

Li Ju nodded heavily.

“Objective: Personally slay five Demon Sect pursuers (2/5)”