Rain dripped steadily, sliding off Chu Qing's chin.
Chu Qing opened his eyes in confusion, finding himself under a large tree, holding a blood-stained long sword, sitting with his back against the trunk.
Not far away, there was a corpse, pierced through the heart by a long spear, hanging on a tree.
Surrounding him was dense forest, with light rain drifting from the sky, and cold winds cutting to the bone.
Everything came into view in an instant, but before he could continue observing, he felt a sudden dizziness, as though the stars were shifting.
A strong sensation of dizziness hit him, making him feel nauseous, yet he couldn't vomit.
"What's happening? Where is this? How did I end up here... and who is the dead person?"
One question after another flooded his mind, and the strong dizziness in his head suddenly ceased.
Meanwhile, scenes also appeared before his eyes.
After a while, Chu Qing reopened his eyes, the confusion in his gaze gone, and gently rubbed his forehead:
"So that's how it is..."
Chu Qing, nineteen years old.
Third son of the Chu Family in Celestial Dance City... but ran away from home at the age of twelve.
The reason was the Chu Family having twin stars, Chu Tian and Chu Fan.
The two brothers showcased remarkable talent since childhood; Chu Tian had his father's demeanor and was the best candidate for the next Patriarch, while Chu Fan had Innate Divine Power and was thus sent to Taiyi Sect, apprenticed under Angerless Divine Fist, Cui Bunu.
Among the three brothers, Chu Qing was the most mediocre, so the Patriarch, Chu Yunfei, arranged a marriage for him.
However, Chu Qing had aspirations, unwilling to accept such an arrangement.
Thus, at the age of twelve, he left a note stating he was going to pursue his chivalrous path, asking his father and brother not to look for him.
This departure lasted seven years.
During these seven years, he spent most of his time in hiding, diligently practicing the family's secret techniques.
It wasn't until a year ago that he felt his Martial Arts had made some progress, and began truly wandering the Martial World.
Then he encountered the 'Mirror of Sin.'
Mirror of Sin is an assassin organization, with the motto of 'acting for heaven, using assassination as punishment,' claiming to kill those wicked and villainous in the Martial World.
Such a motto naturally gained Chu Qing's approval.
Thus, he joined Mirror of Sin, becoming one of its assassins.
But the good times didn't last long; in less than a year, Chu Qing discovered Mirror of Sin was inconsistent in its actions.
They claimed to 'act for heaven', but in reality 'acted for personal gain.'
The task he received this time was to assassinate Zhou Changtai, the Manor Master of the Zhou Family at Red Tree Ridge.
According to the information from Mirror of Sin, Zhou Changtai was tyrannical, committing atrocities, not only letting his youngest son abduct local women but also beating to death the father of one who came to reason, leaving the corpse at his gate for three full days, a heinous crime.
But after Chu Qing's investigation, he found that these claims were utterly false.
Thus, not only did he refuse to assassinate Zhou Changtai, he secretly warned Zhou Changtai to be wary of danger.
He intended to quietly retreat, yet unexpectedly, was ambushed along the way.
The ambushers were assassins from Mirror of Sin.
This group of five seemed to already know Chu Qing's path, setting an ambush for a sneak attack.
Fortunately, ever since discovering Mirror of Sin's inconsistencies, Chu Qing had been on guard.
Thus, though the change happened swiftly, he wasn't without time to react.
As he fought and retreated along the way, narrowly escaping death several times, he was barely able to break free, but then, just when escape seemed in sight, he was blocked by the highest-skilled among the five.
This person, codenamed Blood Spear, ranked above Chu Qing in both Mirror of Sin and Martial Arts skill.
In the ensuing duel, Chu Qing fought to the death, finally taking the other down with him.
The corpse pierced by a spear hanging on the tree across was none other than the Blood Spear from Mirror of Sin.
Having roughly organized the whole sequence of events, Chu Qing felt a bit exasperated.
"A rebellious youth runs away, failing halfway in his endeavor..."
He concluded inwardly, yet couldn't help but mutter:
"But which Immortal sister did I offend to end up being transported here?"
He looked down and felt pain all over his body.
Having reached here after several intense battles, the injuries on him were imaginable.
But he still struggled to stand up.
His current situation was extremely dangerous, those assassins had three left alive, in this state, if pursued, he would surely die.
However, before addressing that, he had another matter to attend to.
This matter had been puzzling him for half a day.
He approached Blood Spear's corpse, looked over its head:
"What is this floating above its head?"
Ever since his mental dizziness cleared, he noticed a rectangular object floating above Blood Spear's corpse.
Emitting a faint glow that obscured its details.
Upon acquiring the original memories, he realized the Martial World was filled with skillful masters, like countless fish, but did not involve spirits, thinking Blood Spear hadn't trained to the extent of soul detachment, with its essence escaping post-mortem.
Making this thing exceedingly peculiar.
Chu Qing pondered briefly, then leapt upward.
Though it was his first time using Lightweight Technique, he felt entirely familiar.
As if it was ingrained in his instincts.
Reaching out, he grabbed the object into his hand.
Soon after, a line of text appeared before his eyes.
[Assassin System activated successfully!]
[Obtained 'Random Martial Arts Treasure Chest'.]
Chu Qing paused, his form naturally descending.
The object he grasped had quietly vanished.
In its place was a panel that had appeared before him.
[Assassin System]
[Host: Chu Qing]
[Current Task: None]
[One unopened Martial Arts Treasure Chest, open it?]
Chu Qing briefly examined and found the system simplistically designed.
Without much hesitation, he nodded directly:
"Open it."
[Successfully opened, acquired Secret Technique: Ah Fei's Swift Sword!]
Before Chu Qing could react, streams of information had already surged into his mind.
Simultaneously, his body experienced various sensations, feeling a tingling soreness across his waist, back, arms, and legs.
Yet this change was fleeting.
Within moments, it had subsided.
At that very moment, the sound of wind breaking suddenly arose behind him.
Chu Qing's heart stirred:
"Arriving so fast!"
Then, almost instinctively, his foot pivoted, the long sword that had never left his hand swiftly raised.
This stroke dispensed with all excess flourishes and unnecessary actions.
Simply and directly, just one move—stab.
Buzz!
A black-clad figure wearing a mask heard the sound.
Yet couldn't discern its origin.
He had a knife in hand but couldn't strike down.
Because before he could, his throat had already been pierced by the sword.
This thrust... faster than sound!