True Solution of the Sword Dao

The hall was enveloped in a red firelight.

Luxurious dark gold patterns, black statues, and bizarrely twisted symbols made the entire Extinction Holy Hall seem like the Demon Hall, emanating a faint sense of ferocity and the stench of blood.

"Now that the Sword Master has returned, I shall take my leave," Yuan Yicheng said respectfully.

Lin Fei nodded without making a sound. Indeed, it was not suitable for Yuan Yicheng to be present while setting up the content and location of the trial.

"By the way, the last daughter of the Night King, Crimson Wing, have someone contact those they’ve sent. I owe the Night King a favor, and this would be a good time to repay it," Lin Fei suddenly said, recalling the softness in the Night King’s eyes when he had mentioned Crimson Wing.

Clearly, she must be the only child the Night King truly cared for. Therefore, this matter had to be handled well and beautifully. Lin Fei was calculating how to make the Night King owe him a favor in return.

Favors are about give and take, aren’t they?

With more interactions, familiarity naturally develops.

Yuan Yicheng nodded. "Understood, I will have someone make contact. My Mercenary Corps has established branches in every country across Asia; relying on the Golden Network, our information network is relatively fast. We should be able to get news of Crimson Wing rather quickly."

Lin Fei acknowledged with a sound and watched as Yuan Yicheng slowly turned into a phantasm and disappeared from his seat.

Only when the crackling of the torches on both walls of the hall was left did he slowly extend his hand and gently press on the head of the black lion-winged monster on his right.

Hiss.

A circular screen suddenly popped open in front of him. It displayed a huge circular palace complex.

It was indeed the palace complex of the Extinction Holy Hall.

"Start setting up the trial hall?" A line of text emerged at the bottom of the screen.

"Yes," Lin Feipeng answered calmly.

The screen abruptly shifted the scene to the small island decided upon last time. Amidst a field of green woods, a solitary crimson palace stood alone.

As the thought crossed Lin Fei’s mind, the crimson annex immediately began to twist and, in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a white manor.

Wooden fences encircled the entire small manor. In the center, a white two-story building stood empty, with no sign of human activity.

"Set the name as: Haunting Bird Manor," Lin Fei said softly.

"Upon full completion of the trial, the title of Shadow Swordsman will be acquired."

"Begin setting content."

Suddenly the view changed.

It quickly moved into the interior of the manor, in the living room on the first floor of the white two-story building.

A puff of red mist was suspended in the middle of the space.

Inside the mist, a semi-transparent little bird was continuously making strange cries and darting around, trying to break out of the red mist, but to no effect.

This little bird was Lin Fei’s haul from the vortex at the bottom of the Ice Island lake.

The bird was gray-white, the size of a palm, without a sharp beak. Its head bore the face of a beautiful woman, and it had only one claw foot. Every time it cried out, the human face showed an expression of agony.

"Use this creature as a template for trial content?" The inquiring text reappeared on the screen.

"Yes."

"Beginning structural and ability analysis," came the Sword Canon’s cold mechanical voice.

The gray-white human-faced bird suddenly froze in mid-air, then instantly enlarged to fill the entire screen.

"Passive abilities:

Phasing—ninety percent immune to physical attack damage.

Human-faced—unable to cry out, whenever they kill a human, they will automatically imprison the victim’s soul within their face, incessantly listening to the soul’s screams.

Active abilities:

Swift—Instantly increases movement speed by fifty percent.

Cold Erosion—Wherever these birds are, cold and low temperatures often accompany them. This coldness directly affects the soul.

Feasting—They enjoy eating humans alive, especially the face. As they feed, the human face automatically splits into left and right halves, revealing sharp teeth inside that can shred creatures several times their size.

Soul Damage—Their attacks have a chance to cause direct damage to the soul.

"

"Please name the species."

Lin Fei was secretly astonished by the terrifying strength of this creature, but reflecting on his recent experience in the vortex, he came to an understanding.

"Since it brings coldness and likes to hunt humans to hear their screams, let’s name it: Wailing Bird," Lin Fei said as he lightly touched the screen with his fingertip.

The human-faced bird in the image instantly flew out of the screen,

A sharp, piercing cry suddenly echoed throughout the hall.

The gray-white Wailing Bird, flapping its wings, gently landed on Lin Fei’s shoulder, occasionally twitching its wings.

The woman’s face on it continued to contort, revealing an expression of extreme agony.

"Projection established. The primary trial content, killing the projection of the Wailing Bird.

Please set the strength percentage of the projection."

"One percent of the original strength," Lin Fei said softly.

"Confirmation complete, all data reduced to one percent of the original body."

"Trial content, slay the projection of the Cold-Call Bird at its true strength, obtain the title of Shadow Swordsman, a title with uniqueness. Slay ten of the weakest projections of the Cold-Call Bird to pass the trial, and gain the base ability of the scene—Shadow Strengthening. Trial location, Ghost Manor. Projections automatically graded by percentage."

"Shadow Strengthening—modifies the biological structure, merges certain special genes from the Cold-Call Bird, resulting in cold-resistance, and increased speed, two talents." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The Cold-Call Bird, this bizarre creature, simply cannot be measured by specific combat power levels; its abilities are extremely peculiar, and if caught off guard, even a B-grade peak powerhouse could be injured by its sneak attack. However, if one can grasp its weakness, even a D-grade could defeat it.

Originally, in this world, the classification of combat power levels could not clearly categorize every being.

Lin Fei sat in the upper seat of the great hall, with the mournful cries of the people-faced bird ceaselessly echoing. A coldness originating from the heart gradually permeated throughout the holy hall.

Strands of demonic power constantly flowed between Lin Fei and the Cold-Call Bird.

"As the Original Master of the Ice Crystal, I have an innate advantage over all Ice System creatures," Lin Fei said with a smile, teasing the people-faced bird. "It’s a pity that there are too few ancient beasts left over from ancient times."

Suddenly, he remembered the first time he visited the Earth Dragon Den on Phosphorus Island, and that peculiar space inside. The exit that led to a fiery red space at the volcano’s mouth.

"Perhaps I should find time to visit again," he murmured to himself.

"Trial setup complete, Extinction Holy Hall’s automatic reward enhancement—trial passers may have a chance to automatically obtain a weakened version of the Cold-Call Bird’s Phasing ability—Shadow Transformation—in the process of continually hunting Cold-Call Bird projections."

"Shadow Transformation—allows oneself to toggle between Phasing and corporeal form, reducing physical damage by thirty percent, and all other types of damage except for that caused by light powers."

Lin Fei wasn’t surprised. According to the information that had been transmitted into his mind earlier, this ability could also be obtained by acquiring the title of Shadow Swordsman.

However, not everyone who passed the trial by hunting projections would gain the abilities of the Cold-Call Bird; there was only a certain chance of obtaining them.

Ghost Manor itself was merely a training location. Energy circulated internally, with minimal consumption, but it wouldn’t bestow any special powers to any outsiders unless they met the criteria for obtaining the title.

But that alone was already quite incredible.

As long as one entered Ghost Manor and passed the trial requirements, one would obtain Shadow Strengthening, inheriting some characteristics of the Cold-Call Bird. Such scenes were essentially nests for cultivating specialists with certain biological abilities and unique styles.

Lin Fei chose the Cold-Call Bird because it possessed extremely high speed and an absolutely perfect Phasing ability for assassination. A powerhouse trained with these innate talents would be perfectly suited to form an Assassination Squad.

Forming his own armed force.

Most crucially, all these abilities were gained from Ghost Manor. Hence, all trial passers’ gained abilities and enhancements originated from the contract of Sword Master and Extinction Holy Hall held by Lin Fei. Should they leave the Extinction Holy Hall, all their acquired abilities would automatically be cleansed. The person would revert to their original baseline state.

This was the fundamental control over this potential future force.

Those who came out of Ghost Manor with passing marks would carry the special talent of Shadow Strengthening from Ghost Manor, thereby forming a special force with a similar style.

This force would be the best hidden colossal power beneath the light.

"It’s a pity that the Space Evolution Degree is completely depleted," Lin Fei thought regretfully.

"Otherwise, establishing another scene might bring out other special scene abilities."

The special ability of the Extinction Holy Hall is to create projections.

Of course, other scenes would also have special abilities. Unfortunately, the Space Evolution Degree is now limited.

One should know that the projections of the Extinction Holy Hall can not only be used for trials but also for combat.

It just requires the consumption of Lin Fei’s strength.

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

The next morning,

Hua Nation, Lin’an,

Inside a coffee shop.

The morning sunlight penetrated the coffee shop’s glass windows, casting light on the off-white tabletop.

A young woman sat at the table, holding a coffee cup in one hand and a spread of documents on the table with the other.

"Regarding Crimson Wing, we will assist you fully," the woman said calmly. "However, facing a C-grade peak powerhouse who may also carry treasures makes this quite insufficient for us. The information you’ve provided isn’t detailed enough."

Sitting across from her was a man in a black suit, composed in demeanour, with brown hair and seemingly of Western descent. Upon hearing the woman’s words, the man frowned slightly.

"The detailed information, as well as follow-ups, aren’t in my hands right now. It mainly pertains to that treasure. Additionally, our Silver Bat Brigade will dispatch two members to assist you in your operations."

"Why not the Golden Bat?" the woman asked with a frown.

"We currently can’t spare the forces; the Golden Bat is tied up. We barely managed to deploy one recently, but he was repelled by Crimson Wing using a treasure, and he hasn’t fully recovered from his injuries yet," the man said with a wry smile. "That’s why your strength could prove invaluable."

"Alright then," the woman nodded. "I will report back to my superiors."

"Okay."

The woman stood up and left the coffee shop, quickly vanishing around the corner of the street.

The man glanced at his wristwatch before standing up, taking out his phone to make a call.

"Hello, the documents have been handed over to their core contact. I believe they’ll reach their higher-ups today. Now it depends on when those few from their side decide to make a move."

"Understood, you come back now," came the reply.

"Okay."

The man ended the call, then took out the SIM card from his phone and gently pinched it in his hand.

A fine dust of plastic immediately fell from his hand, sprinkling into the coffee on the table without any trace.

The man then quickly left the coffee shop, blending into the crowd and disappearing from view. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and Monthly Tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)