Devour: Can you also draw entries from clone projection worlds?

When the news reached Mount Hua, you were practicing your lightness skill on the back mountain.

"Our eldest brother is being attacked at the Medicine King Temple! I heard there are dozens of men in black, but he single-handedly held you off!"

"Where is Master?"

"Our master was injured, and so was his wife. It was our eldest brother who risked his life to protect everyone."

You sheathed your sword and listened silently. You knew the outcome of the battle: Linghu Chong single-handedly held off fifteen men in black, sustaining serious injuries.

However, the Huashan Sect survived, and after this battle, Yue Buqun's suspicion of Linghu Chong will only grow stronger.

And Linghu Chong will begin to realize that your master is not as upright as you imagined.

The reason you didn't go to join the fun wasn't because you didn't want to, but because you couldn't. As an outer disciple, you had no reason to appear at the Medicine King Temple.

Moreover, you wouldn't be able to help even if you went. Each of the fifteen men in black is a top-notch expert, even if you're just the weakest among them.

But you remembered this not because Linghu Chong was so heroic, but because you saw a fact.

The Huashan Sect's strength was not even worth mentioning in the martial arts world. A few underworld experts recruited by Zuo Lengchan of the Songshan Sect could easily defeat the entire Huashan Sect. If Linghu Chong hadn't learned the Dugu Nine Swords, the Huashan Sect might not even exist anymore.

This is the world of martial arts: the strong prey on the weak, and only the fittest survive.

You returned to your room and wrote a few words on a piece of paper: "Medicine King Temple, fifteen men in black, top-tier masters."

Then you added, "The Songshan Sect is stronger than I imagined."

You need stronger entries, not just white entries, but higher quality ones.

But as you know, haste makes waste. Entry selections are only done once a year, so rushing won't help. All you can do now is to survive.

When your cheap master, Yue Buqun, announced that the entire sect would move to Fujian, you weren't surprised at all.

You know that Yue Buqun has his eye on the Lin family's Evil-Repelling Sword Manual, and you know that this sect leader is capable of anything to obtain the manual.

But what you didn't expect was that Yue Buqun would make it so obvious—the entire Huashan Sect, dozens of people from top to bottom, rushed to Fujian with their families, as if they were moving house.

You blended in with the group, your straw hat pulled low.

[You observed along the way. Yue Buqun walked at the front, glancing back at the group from time to time, with his gaze lingering on Linghu Chong the longest.]

Ning Zhongze followed behind Yue Buqun with a worried look on her face. Linghu Chong walked in the middle of the group, coughing occasionally, clearly indicating that the injuries he sustained at Yaowang Temple had not yet fully healed.

Lin Pingzhi walked beside Linghu Chong, occasionally exchanging a few words with his junior sister Yue Lingshan. Yue Lingshan's face was flushed, and she smiled beautifully.

You watched this scene with mixed feelings.

You know the ending: Yue Lingshan will marry Lin Pingzhi and then be stabbed to death by Lin Pingzhi's sword; Linghu Chong will meet Ren Yingying and become the prince consort of the Demonic Sect.

You knew when and where Yue Buqun would get the sword manual, you knew Lin Pingzhi would discover the sword manual was missing, and you knew Linghu Chong would be wrongly accused of stealing the sword manual, but you did nothing. It wasn't that you didn't want to do it, but that you couldn't.

What can you do? Take the sword manual beforehand? That would completely mess up the plot, and you wouldn't know what would happen after you changed the story.

But you know, the original storyline is your biggest advantage. As long as the storyline remains unchanged, you'll know when to dodge, when to run, and when to strike.

Once the plot changes, you'll be just like everyone else in this world, completely clueless. Yue Buqun will obtain the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual, castrate himself to practice the sword, then become the leader of the Five Mountains Sect at the Songshan Conference, and finally die by Yilin's sword.

Everyone is heading towards their own end, and you are just an observer.

No, you are not just an observer, you are a passerby in this world, but you are also a living, breathing person. You have your own path to walk, your own keywords to draw, and your own strength to improve.

You can't change the course of this world, at least not right now, but you can change yourself.

After the team settled down in Fujian, you took the opportunity to secretly go to Fuzhou.

You know where the Lin family's old house is, and you also know that the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual is hidden on the roof of the Buddhist hall, but you're not going there to get the manual; that thing is "poisonous."

It's not poison in the physical sense, but rather it has a kind of magic. You know better than anyone what happened to Yue Buqun and Lin Pingzhi after they got the sword manual.

You just wanted to take a look, but as you stood outside the Lin family's old house, you suddenly had a very strange feeling.

This house looks ordinary, no different from the surrounding houses. Who would have thought that it hides a sword manual that drives the entire martial arts world crazy?

You didn't go in; instead, you turned around and returned to the Huashan Sect's temporary headquarters in Fujian.

As the year draws to a close, you start planning where to draw the latest keyword.

Based on previous experience, the quality of entries is somewhat related to the context in which they are extracted, although they are mostly white now.

The answer drawn at the back of Mount Hua was "early to bed and early to rise," the answer drawn in front of the inscription at the Cliff of Contemplation was "photographic memory and disability," and the answer drawn at the Liu Mansion in Hengyang City was "heart of stone."

What about this time?

[You thought about it for a long time and finally decided to draw it in Fuzhou City. It's not for any other reason than that this is the location of the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual, which is a core node in the story of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.]

Even if you do nothing but stand here, the scene itself is "important" enough.

You found a quiet corner in Fuzhou, sat under an old banyan tree, and opened the keyword extraction interface.

[Host detected to be in the core plot area "Fuzhou City • Lin Family Old Residence" near the Lin Family Old Residence, triggering area keyword extraction...]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained the white-level entry: Danger Perception • Initial.]

[Effect: Provides a vague, intuitive warning of impending danger. The higher the level of danger, the more pronounced the warning. Currently, this is a basic version; it can only detect life-threatening situations directly affecting the host and cannot detect dangers to others or indirectly.]

[Note: This entry is an upgradeable entry; it will automatically evolve into a higher version after experiencing enough dangerous scenarios.]

As you looked at this word, the corners of your mouth curled up slightly.

Danger Perception, a white entry, but unlike other white entries, this entry has an "upgradeable" label, meaning that as long as you experience enough dangerous scenarios, this entry will become stronger on its own.

The initial version can only sense life-threatening threats that are directed at you and are about to happen, but after you experience danger several times, you may be able to sense dangers that are further away, more vague dangers, or even dangers to your fellow human beings.

This is much more useful than something like "+10% punching power".

In the world of Swordsman, where entire families are wiped out at the drop of a hat, the ability to sense danger in advance is more important than any martial art skill.

You put the entry away, stood up, and dusted off your clothes. The leaves of the old banyan tree rustled in the wind, and a few fell onto your shoulder. You didn't brush them off, but just looked up at the sky.

The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the wind was gentle. It was an ordinary afternoon, no different from the countless afternoons you've spent on the back of Mount Hua.

But you know, starting today, you're different. You have an extra pair of "eyes," not for seeing things, but for sensing danger.

You chose not to get involved in the matter of the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual.