True Solution of the Sword Dao

"So, how do you plan to redeem me?" His right hand slowly grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"Kill me?"

"A powerful stranger with unknown origins, state your purpose." A gloomy voice came from the direction of the crucifix hanging in the church.

"A normal purpose," Lin Fei said indifferently.

Priest Doug nodded, "Then please, follow me." He led the way to a small door at the back of the church.

"Your threshold is indeed quite high," Lin Fei released his grip on the sword hilt, his aura slowly dissipating. He casually glanced at Alice by the door, then followed closely behind Priest Doug. His figure disappeared into the small door.

Throughout the whole process, nobody paid any attention to Alice, as if she was just a clump of air. This absurd and unbelievable feeling spread continuously in Alice’s heart.

"What are these people up to? Shooting a movie?" she muttered, vaguely feeling that she had touched upon a side of the world unknown to most.

***************

Lin Fei followed behind the priest, walking through the small door into a narrow corridor. Paintings densely lined both sides, but they were covered with black cloth. The content was unknown. At the end was a half-open large door, from the opened side, a faint light could be seen inside, very weak.

The two of them remained silent, walking all the way to the entrance of the large door. There, Priest Doug finally stopped.

"Please enter by yourself. You might find what you need, or you might not. However, please leave on your own after fifteen minutes."

"Alright," Lin Fei nodded, acknowledging this as a rule.

Doug walked back directly, while Lin Fei pushed the door and entered.

As soon as he entered the room, the air seemed to have a layer of thin, transparent film, isolating this place from the outside world.

The room was somewhat gloomy, empty like a bar, with only a few tables and chairs and a counter. On the counter, an oil lamp was lit, its light flickering slightly, and behind it, a figure stood in the dim corner.

A figure in a black cloak with a hood, head lowered, face unclear.

"What do you need?" he asked, bending over, speaking in a strangely accented German, with a hissing noise mixed in the man’s tone.

"Detailed information on the Knight Order, detailed information on the Energy Scepter. What is the price?" Lin Fei sat at the counter, spoke indifferently.

"How detailed do you want the former to be?" the figure asked.

"Do you have specific member information and abilities?" Lin Fei continued.

"No, only incomplete. And the price is very high."

"I have already displayed my ability; do you doubt my ability to pay?" Lin Fei’s expression was calm.

"Payment needs to be made in Energy Stones," the figure said lightly.

Lin Fei’s expression changed slightly.

"How much are the specific Energy Stones priced at?"

"The former 2000 Energy Stones, the latter 100 Energy Stones."

"Can other items be used as an exchange?" Lin Fei asked, not giving up.

The figure shook his head slightly, "I’m sorry, that is not possible."

Lin Fei frowned about to speak, when footsteps were heard from outside again.

A middle-aged man with a sallow face walked in calmly, dressed like a typical tourist, wearing a shirt and jeans, and a travel hat on his head, likely provided by some tour group. He looked completely like an ordinary tourist.

The newcomer glanced at Lin Fei sitting by the counter, walked expressionlessly to a table to one side, seemingly waiting for his transaction to finish.

Lin Fei could clearly feel a faint aura of special abilities from this man; clearly, he had disguised himself using powers.

"Then, excuse me." He stood up and walked towards the door. This visit wasn’t a waste of time, at least he knew that this place was indeed an exclusive secret intelligence trading point of the Eastern Orthodox Cult, just as described in the Mage’s Eye documents. Only, the requirement for payment in Energy Stones took him by surprise.

"It seems I need to make a trip to the Inner World soon." He cast a final glance at the figure behind the counter. He left the room with large strides.

Just then, two people arrived in the corridor, two warriors clad in ornate silver full body armor that prioritized appearance over protection, striding towards the room. The two men, one ahead of the other, the man in the front appeared to be around thirty years old, while the one following behind could only be called a boy.

Both had gloomy expressions, especially the middle-aged man in front, whose eyes were nearly blazing, bloodshot, evidently agitated by something.

The corridor was narrow, only allowing passage for one party while the others had to wait and sidestep temporarily.

Seeing the posture of the two men, Lin Fei knew they were not likely to make way, so he stopped and sidestepped to let them pass.

"Hmph!" The middle-aged man glanced coldly at Lin Fei without speaking, brushing past him.

Lin Fei slightly bowed his head; this location being the headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox Cult, was teeming with hidden powerful individuals. He could sense at least dozens of B-grade or higher auras, not to mention stronger ones undetectable. These two knights, though only C-grade in strength, seemed to have deep affiliations with the Eastern Orthodox Cult, otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to act like this here. He didn’t want to trouble himself unnecessarily.

The two fully armored warriors entered the large door, talking softly to the figure behind the counter. Clearly, they too were here to buy information, bringing such emotions evidently meant they had suffered a significant loss.

Lin Fei didn’t ponder further, turned, and left the corridor.

**************

In the outskirts of Bucharest, in front of a secluded villa.

A black villa, resembling a castle, is quietly surrounded by numerous forests and encircled by a tall perimeter wall. In the afternoon, the crisp chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves stirred by the wind mixed together, complemented by the lazy sunlight after lunch. The entire villa exuded a languid air.

Outside the perimeter gate, Lin You and his companions stood on the forest path that led to the villa, gazing at the area.

"So this is the home of the Staff of the Earth Contractor?" Lin You exclaimed with some amazement. "It’s huge."

Calmly, Chris said, "Antos is the strongest of all the Scepter Contractors. Although we don’t know how strong he really is, persuading him will be difficult."

"He’s difficult to get along with, very unlikable!" Merrill decisively commented. "It was the same back in college."

"So what do we do now? Just wait here for him?" asked Lin You.

"Of course not. We’ll go in directly," Cheng Guang said nonchalantly. "Just by looking at the surveillance setup outside, I can roughly tell the level of security here. Don’t worry, leave everything to me."

"Isn’t that inappropriate?" Lin You hesitated.

"What’s there to be afraid of, the situation doesn’t allow him that luxury," Merrill laughed softly.

**************

London, England

Sis Manor in the suburbs

A faint, almost imperceptible white light completely enveloped the entire manor.

On the lawn, Spider, with a bloodied face, looked gravely at the figure opposite her, still maintaining a calm demeanor.

And on the opposite grass, Silver-armored Sea Serpent Raphael lay on his back. His armor was unnaturally twisted in several places, clearly having been struck by a tremendous force. The joints at his right hand and left leg were twisted at abnormal angles.

Spider barely managed to support herself and stand up: "You know you can’t kill me. It’s been the same for so many years."

"Heh," Sea Serpent Raphael laughed softly. "Which time is this? The fifth time? The sixth?"

"I still have many things undone, I don’t fancy dying with you." This was what Spider most dreaded about Sea Serpent. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched, leading to standoffs that could last days and nights. In terms of experience, both possessed centuries of battle expertise, making it hard to determine who was superior since both were highly skilled. Yet, this Sea Serpent had always been frenzied in his attacks, as if he had a death wish.

"Die? How can I possibly die?" Sea Serpent laughed neurotically. "Laven is already on his way here. Little Spider, don’t even think about escaping this time." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Can’t you change your tactics?" Spider said sarcastically. "Always the same old tricks." Despite saying this, Spider felt extremely helpless inside, as Sea Serpent had been pursuing her for decades; the initial cause had long been forgotten, yet Raphael seemed to relentlessly chase after Spider.

"Why don’t you pursue those other betrayers of the Knight Order? Why only pursue me?" Spider asked, voicing a long-standing question.

"Why?" Sea Serpent rose to a sitting position. "You are the disgrace that I trained myself. I must personally end the mistake I made."

"Enough," said Spider, shakily standing up. "I’m not sticking around for this." She raised one hand. "Swoosh!"

Scream!!!

A sharp eagle’s cry fell from the sky.

A giant eagle, with a wingspan of over ten meters, slowly descended. Its broad black wings completely covered the two on the ground like a small patch of dark clouds, then gently landed.

"Sorry, I’m late," the giant eagle spoke as soon as it steadied itself.

"It’s okay," Spider glanced at Sea Serpent across the way.

"Need me to kill him?" asked the giant eagle.

"No need, there’s no time. Let’s go," Spider said, mounting the eagle’s back.

Surprisingly, another person was already lying unconscious on the spacious eagle’s back—it was Sis.

The giant eagle flapped its wings, creating gusts of wind as it rose into the distant sky.

Sea Serpent lay back down, quietly watching the soaring eagle shrink to a speck in his view. He remained motionless.

"Raphael, you’ve done it again," a pair of black boots stepped onto the grass beside him.

A tall, handsome man in a black coat stood next to Sea Serpent. He had dark red long hair that reached his waist and wore a small black hat on his head, resembling the attire from London during the Industrial Revolution.

"Captain, why did you come?" Sea Serpent looked up, his eyes void as he stared at the sky.

"Spider has been rampant across Europe for so many years; she’s not so easy to kill. If I hadn’t come, you’d probably be in worse shape."

"Is that so?" Raphael chuckled carelessly.

"Of course."

A cool voice suddenly came from the side.

Raphael’s expression shifted slightly, and he turned his head to look.

Two figures slowly walked into view from the opened Barrier. (To be continued. If you like this work, I invite you to vote for it on Qidian.com—your support is my greatest motivation.)