From the beginning of Swordsman, he created a legend in the martial arts world.

The backyard, a bamboo grove.

"Brother Meng, this is the 'Seven Heart Begonia'."

Aya solemnly handed the jade bottle containing the pills to Meng Fei, carefully explaining, "Seven 'child pills' and one 'mother pill.' The mother pill needs to be refined with special internal energy and stored in the heart meridian of the user. Afterward, one can remotely sense and control the qi, blood, and meridians of the person who took the child pills, and even... decide their life or death with a single thought. Once the child pills are taken, there is no way to undo the effects unless the user of the mother pills actively cancels them or dies."

Meng Fei's gaze fell on the two jade bottles. After a moment of silence, he could sense the caution in Aya's tone and the terrifying power of this small pill.

"I see."

In the following days, besides practicing his swordsmanship, Meng Fei also pondered how to maximize the effectiveness of these pills.

Suddenly, Meng Fei thought of the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual that Yu Canghai couldn't forget, and immediately, a bold and ruthless idea gradually took shape in his mind.

If we find seven people, we will give them the seed medicine and then teach them the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique...

These seven people will rapidly improve their cultivation through the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, and with the "Seven Hearts Begonia" in his own hands, they will be the sharpest, most obedient, and only sharp blade belonging to him, Meng Fei.

However, these seven candidates need to be carefully considered. Ideally, they should be people who deserve to die, have no attachments, and are willing to bear the price of practicing the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique.

With this in mind, Meng Fei decided to select seven candidates as soon as possible.

The next morning, in the bamboo grove in the backyard.

"I need to leave for a while to take care of some old matters. You guys stay in Fuzhou, look after each other with Li Bin, and be extra careful."

Looking at the two women's reluctant eyes, Meng Fei calmly said...

Although Aya and Alu were reluctant to part with him, they knew he had his own plans, so they didn't say anything more. They simply packed his things carefully and gave him repeated instructions.

"I will definitely be back before the 15th of August!"

After leaving Fuzhou, Meng Fei immediately disguised himself and traveled incognito to various prefectures and cities. His target was very clear: death row inmates in the prisons of these prefectures and cities.

With his superb lightness skills and precise timing, he spent more than a month abducting dozens of prisoners from seven or eight different prisons.

These prisoners included notorious thieves who committed murder and robbery, and vicious bandits responsible for multiple deaths; all of them were deeply sinful and deserved to die.

When these prisoners, who had been waiting to die in the dark and hopeless prison, were brought to a dilapidated temple that had been abandoned for many years and located deep in the mountains, the unfamiliar and mysterious figure in front of them made these people waiting to die show a bewildered and fearful expression.

Before the offering table, a figure stood with his back to the broken statue, wearing a blank silver mask that revealed only a pair of cold, deep eyes.

His gaze slowly swept over the group of ragged, differently-looking prisoners below. His voice was not loud, but it could be clearly heard by everyone.

"You were all destined to die, but now I'm giving you a chance—a chance to perhaps live on and serve me! But..."

The masked man abruptly changed the subject, continuing with a chilling tone.

"I only need seven people. Whoever can walk out alive in one hour will serve me."

After saying that, the masked man threw out seven daggers, and with a flicker of his figure, he disappeared outside the dilapidated temple.

"Bang!"

The temple door was slammed shut, cutting off the last ray of light, and the temple instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Only a few rays of light seeped in through the holes in the roof, illuminating the faces that had suddenly become ferocious, fearful, and crazed.

"ah--"

The brief silence was instantly shattered by a wild howl.

A gaunt prisoner was the first to act, lunging at the dagger on the offering table, clearly intending to strike first.

"Get out of here!"

However, before he could take two steps, a middle-aged man next to him slapped him to the ground.

This completely ignited the prisoners' will to survive in the dilapidated temple.

"The dagger is mine!"

"Get out of my way, all of you! If you come any closer, I'll kill you!"

The crowd surged forward like a hornet's nest exploded, rushing madly toward the dagger on the offering table.

Fists and kicks flew, shouts and curses rang out, and bodies collided, instantly turning the dilapidated temple into chaos.

For those seven spots, these ruthless criminals, who were already indifferent to life and death, did not hesitate to point their fangs at the others around them.

However, not everyone chose to participate in this brutal melee. A few people, with shifty eyes, quietly moved towards the dilapidated windows on the side of the ruined temple amidst the chaos.

They weren't thinking about fighting for those seven spots; they were thinking about escaping. As long as they could get out of there, the world was vast, and who could catch them again?

The first prisoner who climbed to the window, a flicker of elation at escaping his fate just flashing in his eyes, hadn't even landed yet—

"laugh!"

A subtle yet incredibly sharp sword aura silently swept in from the darkness outside the temple, precisely grazing his neck.

The prisoner's body stiffened abruptly, his ecstatic expression freezing instantly. Then, his head lolled to the side, and his body slid down the windowsill.

This sudden turn of events was like a bucket of cold water poured over the hearts of all the prisoners who harbored illusions and intended to escape.

Outside the temple, a cold voice reached the ears of everyone inside.

"I said, only those who emerge after an hour will live!"

Inside the temple, the sounds of fierce fighting suddenly stopped.

Then an even more brutal melee erupted again. Everyone understood that the only way to survive was to follow the orders of the silver-masked man; otherwise, no one would survive.

Meanwhile, in Fuzhou, a thousand miles away, the scene was quite different.

In the afternoon, Li Bin walked briskly across the front yard and arrived at the herb garden in the back yard.

Aya was bending over to examine several newly transplanted medicinal seedlings, while Alu was helping to loosen the soil.

"Sister Aya."

Li Bin stopped, his face showing the excitement of a young person about to face a challenge, mixed with a hint of caution.

Aya straightened up, wiped her hands with a handkerchief, and looked at him: "Is something the matter?"

"Um."

Li Bin nodded and took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"The Black Snake Gang delivered this yesterday."

Aya took the letter and unfolded it. It was a challenge letter, inviting Li Bin to a duel the next morning in front of the local temple five miles outside the city. It also stated that if the Black Snake Gang lost, they would never set foot on the territory of the Divine Sword Gang again.

"You... you agreed?"

After reading it, Aya frowned slightly, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

Although she didn't understand the ways of the martial world, she knew that the newcomer was not friendly. Now that Meng Fei was gone and Li Bin was too young, the Black Snake Gang had been lying low for a long time. Their sudden formal challenge must have been because they had found a reliable martial arts master.

Noticing her worry, Li Bin quickly explained, "Don't worry, Sister Aya. My master said that my Thirteen Deadly Swords have already reached a certain level of mastery, and ordinary people in the martial arts world are no match for me. Moreover..."

He puffed out his chest, a confident look on his face: "My master has already taught me the Quanzhen Martial Arts. Although I haven't been practicing for long and my internal strength is still shallow, I'm confident in this battle!"

He paused, his voice lower but more resolute: "I can't always hide under Master's wing. This challenge from the Black Serpent Gang is a good opportunity to test the results of my training over the past year. If I can't even handle them, how can I... live up to Master's teachings?"