With a reputation of 70,000, one leader travels across countless worlds with his adventure team.

Several days have passed since the duel between Bai Ze, the owner of the Swordsman's Tavern, and Jori Kaiser, the captain of the Winterfell Knights Guard, but the excitement surrounding the duel has not diminished; on the contrary, it has only grown stronger!

Ravens were constantly flying between the cities of the North, inquiring about the weapons and trying to find out if the news was true or false, making Winterfell seem much more lively.

The swordsman's tavern became even more lively as a result. The remaining Shadow Sword on the weapon rack was still there, and anyone who entered the tavern and made a purchase could see it. Those who were acquainted with Boss Bai Ze could even pick up the sword and spar with others.

The sharpness of the Shadow Sword is worlds apart from that of an ordinary greatsword;

Many ordinary swordsmen and knights, skeptical, wanted to test the waters. After only a few moves, their weapons were riddled with holes and nearly unusable. They were heartbroken and devastated. Such exquisite weapons sitting here like this—I really wanted to take them home!

"Hey, have you heard? Ser Davos Seaworth, Onion Knight, a vassal of Lord Stannis Baratheon, is already on his way north. He says he wants to experience the skills of Boss Bai Ze and take a sword back with him!" The people drinking in the tavern started to speak up when they heard this.

"Not only that, I heard that House Bear of the North, Jon Amber of House Amber, Ser Gebert Glover of Deepwood Keep, and Earl Wyman Manderle of White Harbor have all set off. It seems they are determined to get their hands on the Shadow Sword in the tavern. I wonder who can get Bai Ze to have another exhilarating duel, and who will ultimately win the Shadow Sword."

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, their eyes gleaming at the Shadow Sword, but they all knew they weren't cut out for it. They couldn't even withstand ten moves from Lord Bai Ze, let alone let him have his fill.

"Sigh! I wonder who will arrive first. If the first lords have a good fight with Lord Bai Ze and the Secret Shadow Sword is taken away, will the lords who arrive later have made a wasted trip?"

A witty person asked this question, and everyone around looked at each other in bewilderment. If such a thing really happened, no one really knew what to do.

"Hmph ╭(╯^╰)╮ Who knows how many top-grade swords Lord Bai Ze still possesses~"

A Wolfsburg swordsman, who was eating crabs and drinking black tequila for the first time in the store, said this, which made the people around him a little uncomfortable.

That's right! What if Lord Bai Ze had more than just the one on the shelf?

The crowd became even more excited. If that were the case, then Winterfell would be in for a good show.

Bai Ze listened to everyone's words and looked at the mission: to engage in 5 battles against Northern Lord-level elites (single castle lord, knight leader, or lord-level or above can be considered lord-level elites).

Quest Rewards: 3 jewelry slots unlocked (necklace, ring, bracelet), Level +1, +1 random jewelry jar

Mission progress: (2/5) Previously, White Harbor Knight Tydar was only a captain and did not meet the system requirements. Now only Ned Stark and Jory Caesar, captains of the guard, have met the system requirements.

We still have to wait. I wonder when these lords and knights they're talking about will arrive in Winterfell.

"Xiao Meng, where is Ya Lei Jia now?" Bai Ze turned to Xiao Meng, who was standing next to the bar, and asked.

Xiao Meng closed her eyes slightly, contacted Ya Leijia who was outside, and then looked up at Bai Ze and said:

"The entire area from north of Winterfell to south of the Wall has been illuminated. Aleja is currently located around the Dreadfort and is exploring southwards."

“Then let Aleja explore the Kingsroad south of Winterfell and see if there are any groups coming from the south. People from the surrounding cities in the North should arrive in the next day or two,” Bai Ze said to Xiao Meng.

“Okay, Aze!” Xiaomeng said, then closed her eyes slightly and gave Yareja the order to explore the Kingsroad south of Winterfell.

"I wonder who's coming from Bear Island. I'd like to see if Lyanna Mormont, the little bear girl, is really that cute. This time, we have to help as many of the loyal lord families in the North as we can. We can't let them die half their lives following Robert south, lose a few more in the Bastards War, and then be wiped out by the White Walkers' invasion!"

Bai Ze was thinking about how to help the lords of the North strengthen their forces when he saw Ned Stark leading a group of men on horseback quickly heading out of the city, with several young Starks following behind.

"The story has begun. I remember the Night's Watch members who saw the White Walkers were found in the hills. They were split up and picked up some wolf cubs on their way back. When they come back, we can cuddle those little furballs," Bai Ze said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"We need to prepare to strengthen the Wolf Knights, otherwise if the old wolf leaves the pack and doesn't return from King's Landing, the losses will be too great. Without a leader, the cubs won't be able to hold on!"

Bai Ze pondered how to provide that warehouse full of blue-grade armor to House Stark, and also how to inform Ned about the underground passage of the Red Keep in King's Landing in advance so that Ned could leave King's Landing smoothly;

With the help of the Mandalay family's fleet in White Harbor, Ned can return to the North by sea. If he were to return by land, the Lancelot family from the West would be unable to reach him.

"How about we bribe Tyrion Lannister beforehand?"

This intellectual lion was quite shrewd; he managed to thrive among several interest groups and survive, which shows his considerable skill!

Bai Ze rubbed his chin, thinking about what Tyrion might like. Women? I don't have any here.

Weapons? We cannot provide them to kingdoms and families outside the North at this time.

Drinks? That's an idea. If it weren't for that drink in Tyrion's hand, Joffrey wouldn't have died, even though Tyrion was framed.

On an unnamed hill north of Winterfell, Will the Night's Watch sat on the ground, his eyes glazed over. Patrolling knights stood around him, guns drawn and pointed at him.

Ned Stark rode up to him, dismounted, and walked up the high ground. Ser Jory and Viyamp followed behind Ned, and the accompanying knights and guards all dismounted and dispersed to the surrounding area to stand guard.

Robb Stark, along with Jon Snow, guarded his brother Bran. As the Wardens of the North, the Night's Watch was bound by the rule that they could not leave the Wall, so they had to witness the execution.

Ned walked up to Will, the Night's Watchman, and said:

"Do you have any last words?"

Will said, trembling:

"I saw the White Walkers... I saw them, it's real, the White Walkers... ghosts."

Will kept muttering to himself...

Ned glanced at Will, clearly not believing what Will said. The White Walkers had been gone for thousands of years, and no one had ever seen what they looked like.

Will seemed to have sobered up a bit, glanced at Ned, and said:

“I know I broke my oath, I’m a deserter, I should have gone to the Wall to warn them, but… I really saw it, I saw the White Walkers… You must warn them.”

Seeing Ned's disbelieving gaze, Will didn't open his mouth again and slowly lowered his head.

Ned nodded slightly to the guards standing on either side of Will. The two guards stepped forward and pressed Will down onto the execution platform. Ned stood behind Will, drew the greatsword of ice from Viyampour's arms, and leaned on the ground with the sword.

Ned proclaimed, "In the name of Robert I of House Baratheon, King of the Andals and the First Men, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm."

I, Ned Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, hereby sentence you to death.

Bran turned his head away, somewhat reluctantly, while his brothers Robb and Jon Snow held him down by the shoulders.

"Don't turn your head, Father will find out."

Jon Snow used his fingers to turn Bran's head so that he looked directly at the execution platform.

After Ned finished reading the verdict, he raised his Ice Sword with both hands and swung it down.

After the execution, the group packed up and began preparing to return to Winterfell. While taking a shortcut across a bridge, they discovered the carcass of a stag and, under the bridge, the enormous carcass of a direwolf. The direwolf cubs surrounding the carcass were eventually taken back to Winterfell, with each Stark child receiving one cub.

As evening fell, Ned and his companions returned to Winterfell. The guards quickly opened the city gates, cleared away the farmers and carriages blocking the road, and welcomed the Duke of the North back to the city.

Ned and the others returned to Wolfsburg, and the servants began preparing for the evening's banquet. At this moment, Ned suddenly thought of Bai Ze, who was traveling across the continent. He should know something about the White Walkers. Even if he didn't have any news about the White Walkers, he could ask about weapons and equipment.

Ned turned to Jori and said:

"Go to the Swordsman's Tavern and invite Lord Bai Ze to the banquet tonight. There are some things I need to ask him."

After listening to Ned's order, Jory nodded and turned to walk towards the tavern outside Wolfsburg.

Inside the tavern, Bai Ze and Xiao Meng were cleaning up the mess left by the customers during the day, while also thinking about how to talk to Ned about weapons and equipment.

Just then, someone pushed open the door and entered the tavern. Bai Ze and Xiao Meng both looked up at the person who came in. It was Jori, Ned and the others had returned!

“Lord Bai Ze, Duke Ned Stark has invited you to a dinner at Wolfsburg tonight. There are some things the Duke needs to ask you,” Jori said to Bai Ze.

Bai Ze thought to himself that this was like a pillow coming to his sleep. He was just thinking of finding an excuse to see Ned, and now he didn't have to rack his brains.

"Xiao Meng, go prepare 20 bottles of black tequila as a gift for the banquet I attend tonight," Bai Ze instructed Xiao Meng.

"Okay, boss." Xiaomeng packed up her things and turned to go to the warehouse to prepare drinks.

Bai Ze invited Qiao Li to sit down and wait for Xiao Meng to pack the drinks. "Qiao Li, what did you go on this trip? Why did you bring several young masters with you?"

Bai Ze pretended not to know anything and asked Jori about it. Jori didn't suspect anything, since dealing with Night's Watch deserters wasn't something that couldn't be known. So he told Bai Ze about what had happened along the way.

Xiao Meng, carrying the box of wine, walked towards Bai Ze and Qiao Li. Bai Ze stood up and said to Sir Qiao Li:

"Let's go, Sir Jory. We can't keep the people of Wolfsburg waiting for us to start the banquet."

After leaving the tavern, Bai Ze handed the wine chest to Jori's attendant and rode with Jori to Wolfsburg. Inside the banquet hall, most people were already in place.

Bai Ze approached Ned, bowed, and said:

“Lord Ned, thank you for inviting me to the dinner party. I brought 20 bottles of black tequila, which will be perfect for the drinks at the dinner party!”

Ned smiled at Bai Ze: "Thank you for your generosity, Bai Ze. After the banquet, please come to my council chamber. I have some questions for you."

Bai Ze nodded and followed the servants from Wolfsburg to his assigned seat. Ned looked up and loudly addressed the banquet crowd:

"Boss Bai Ze has generously donated some precious black agave to us. I hope everyone enjoys the banquet tonight!"

As he spoke, Ned raised the glass that the servant had filled with black tequila, and the crowd cheered and expressed their gratitude to Bai Ze. Bai Ze also raised his glass to everyone in return.

The banquet ended quickly, and Ned was the first to leave his seat and head to the council chamber. When Jori saw Ned leave his seat, he also walked towards Bai Ze and gestured for Bai Ze to follow him to the council chamber.