I was a mineral prospector in Chengdu, who transmigrated into the body of a mortal sword immortal.

The solid soles of the boots made a soft "plop" sound as they stepped on the soft, humus-covered soil.

This step seemed to have stepped on Li Bai's taut nerves.

Can't wait any longer!

Just as the opponent shifted their weight forward, their old strength dissipated and new strength yet to arise, a fierce glint flashed in Li Bai's eyes. His curled-up body, like a spring compressed to its limit, suddenly sprang out from the shadows of the bushes! The Azure Nether Broken Sword remained sheathed. He gripped the scabbard tightly with his right hand, channeling all his strength and the sharp spiritual energy he had just gathered into the end of the hilt, transforming it into a blurry azure shadow that thrust straight towards the unsuspecting guard's side of the neck!

The wind howled.

The sound of broad-leaved plants being suddenly parted shattered the silence of the valley.

The patrolman was clearly caught off guard by the sudden and decisive attack from the hiders, and even more so by the swiftness of the attack. His pupils behind his mask contracted sharply, his body instinctively leaned back, and his right hand reached for his waist—where a simple, dark-colored short blade hung.

But it's too late.

Li Bai's long-awaited strike not only employed the "fleeting glimpse" technique recorded in the stone tablet's footwork—a skill that concentrates all the body's strength into a single point for an instantaneous burst of speed—but also incorporated his rudimentary understanding of human anatomy from his previous life as a modern person. He wasn't aiming for a fatal blow, but rather at a crucial point on the side of the neck, densely packed with nerves and controlling upper limb movement.

The tip of the sword, shrouded in a faint, almost invisible blue light, struck precisely three inches behind the guard's neck.

"Well!"

A short, muffled groan.

The patrolman's body stiffened abruptly, his hand, which had reached for his waist, froze mid-stride. He collapsed limply to the ground as if his spine had been ripped out. The half of his face exposed beneath the mask instantly drained of color; his lips parted slightly, but no sound came out, only his eyes were filled with disbelief and a sudden, overwhelming numbness.

The entire process, from the initial outburst to the final strike, took only a moment.

"Who goes there?!"

At the entrance to the passage, another guard finally reacted and uttered a low, menacing question. The voice, transmitted through the wooden mask, carried a peculiar buzzing quality, and was spoken in a language with strange syllables and highly varied intonations, certainly not the refined language of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Bai couldn't understand it at all.

But he doesn't need to understand it.

The instant he knocked down the first person, his footwork didn't stop. Using the momentum of his forward charge, his body twisted in an unnatural arc, his left foot touched the ground, and he pounced like an arrow towards the second guard at the entrance of the passage!

A faint, grassy smell lingered in the air, along with a subtle, peculiar fragrance that seemed to emanate from the fallen guards.

The second patrolman reacted extremely quickly. Seeing his companion fall to the ground and the enemy's speed astonishing, he did not panic and retreat. Instead, he let out a low roar and advanced instead of retreating. The same type of dark short blade at his waist was already drawn. The blade cut through the air with a slight whistling sound, and went straight for Li Bai's chest and abdomen!

Even before the short blade arrived, a cold and sharp aura already swept over you.

That wasn't wind, it was spiritual energy! It was condensed, sharp, and had a metallic texture, far more solid than the warm, moist vortex in Li Bai's dantian!

"Mid-stage Qi Condensation? Or higher?"

In a flash, the thought crossed Li Bai's mind, but his body moved even faster than his thoughts. Another movement technique recorded in the stone tablet footwork—"Willow Catkins in the Wind"—was naturally executed. His forward momentum did not diminish, but his body drifted half a foot to the left like willow catkins in the wind, narrowly avoiding the straight-piercing blade tip.

The cold blade grazed his right side, the fabric making a slight tearing sound.

At the same time, Li Bai flipped his right wrist, raising the Qingming Broken Sword, which he had been holding tightly in his hand, still in its sheath. Instead of drawing it to block, he aimed at the inside of the opponent's wrist with the tip of the sheath at a tricky angle from bottom to top!

Another neural node!

The patrolman clearly hadn't anticipated Li Bai's peculiar attack method—not targeting vital points, but specifically striking joints and areas with dense nerves. His wrist went numb, the short blade nearly slipped from his grasp, and his attack faltered.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Li Bai had already closed in.

The two were less than three feet apart.

Li Bai could clearly see the painted patterns on the other person's mask—a twisted design resembling both vines and clouds, gleaming with a dull luster under the constant sunlight. He could smell the strange fragrance emanating from the other person, similar to that of his fallen companion, mixed with a hint of the salty taste of sweat. He could feel the spiritual energy emanating from the other person, significantly more solid and powerful than his own, like an invisible pressure enveloping the surroundings.

But he did not back down.

The left hand shot out like lightning, not as an attack, but as a feint to distract the opponent. At the same time, the right foot silently took a half step forward, blocking the opponent's possible retreat route.

The patrolman was indeed fooled, and with his short blade, he parried Li Bai's left hand.

It's now!

The broken sword Qingming held in Li Bai's right hand finally moved.

It wasn't just drawing the sword, it was sweeping it horizontally from its sheath!

The scabbard, enveloped in a sudden, bright blue light, swept towards the opponent's neck with a whistling sound!

If this strike lands, the spiritual power Li Bai is currently channeling would be enough to shatter an ordinary person's neck.

The look of horror finally appeared in the eyes behind the patrolman's mask. In his haste, he had no time to parry with his blade, and could only desperately tilt his head back while raising his left hand to try to protect his neck.

But Li Bai's sword suddenly changed direction halfway through.

The sweeping motion came to an abrupt halt. The scabbard drew a strange arc in the air, changing from a sweep to a downward slash, targeting the opponent's exposed and unprotected right shoulder acupoint, which was exposed due to the opponent leaning back!

"Bang!"

A dull thud.

The end of the scabbard slammed heavily onto the patrolman's right shoulder.

"Ah!" This time, the other party finally couldn't help but let out a cry of pain. His right arm instantly went numb and powerless. The short blade fell to the ground with a "clang," bounced twice on the moss-covered stone, and rolled into the grass next to him.

Li Bai pressed his advantage relentlessly, changing his footwork once more. His figure moved like a ghost, flanking his opponent from behind. With his left hand, fingers pointed like a sword, he swiftly struck another acupoint on the back of his opponent's neck.

The patrolman, with his right arm injured and his balance disrupted, had no time to react.

As the fingertips touched the skin, a subtle yet sharp spiritual energy penetrated the body.

The patrolman froze, as if frozen in place, stuck in a twisted, half-turned position, unable to move. Only his eyes behind the mask could move, filled with shock, anger, and a hint of barely concealed...confusion.

The valley fell silent once more.

The only sounds were the faint ripples on the surface of the pool caused by a gentle breeze, and the heavy breathing of the two guards—one collapsed to the ground, still numb; the other stood frozen in place, his acupoints sealed.

Li Bai slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Only now did he feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest, his temples throbbing, and his hand gripping the sword trembling slightly. Those seemingly fluid movements had actually exhausted all his mental and physical strength. Every move, every step, was a precise calculation and gamble on the edge of life and death.

He looked down at his right side—his clothes were ripped open with a three-inch-long gash, revealing the skin underneath, and a shallow line of blood was seeping out. Only now did the cold, stinging pain become clear.

It was so close.

If I had been even slightly slower in dodging, or if the spiritual energy attached to the opponent's short blade had been stronger, I might be the one falling right now.

Li Bai steadied himself and forced himself to calm down. He walked up to the frozen guard, reached out, and slowly removed the painted wooden mask from the man's face.

Beneath the mask was the face of a man around thirty years old. His skin was dark, his features were well-defined, his nose was high and straight, and his lips were tightly pressed together. At this moment, his face was filled with shock and anger, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, staring intently at Li Bai, but because his acupoints were sealed, he could not make any expression or movement.

What caught Li Bai's attention most were the other person's eyes—the color of the pupils was an extremely deep, almost dark green, which, under the constant sunlight, faintly shimmered with an inhuman glow.

These are not the eyes of an ordinary Chinese person.

Li Bai didn't look at it for long and put the mask aside. He then walked to the patrolman who was lying on the ground and removed his mask as well.

This one was younger, in his early twenties, with a somewhat youthful appearance. At this moment, his face was pale, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat. His eyes, besides fear, were filled with confusion and pain. His pupils were a lighter shade of dark brown, but upon closer inspection, there was also a very faint trace of dark green in the center of his eyes.

Both of them had short, dark black hair, but it was coarse and stiff, which was slightly different from the smooth black hair commonly seen among people in China.

Li Bai took two steps back, maintaining a relatively safe distance from the two men. He took a deep breath and began to try to communicate.

"I..." he began, speaking in broken Tang Dynasty Mandarin, or elegant language. In his previous life, as a geological engineer, he had some interest in classical Chinese, having read some Tang poems and ancient texts, but he had almost never practiced speaking it. Now, his tone was stiff, and his pronunciation was perhaps inaccurate. "No ill intent."

As he spoke, he gestured with his free left hand—first pointing to himself, shaking his head, making a "no" gesture; then pointing to the short blade on the ground, then to the subdued guard, and shaking his head again; finally, he clasped his hands together in front of his chest, making a gesture similar to "request" or "peace".

The guard's eyes flickered, but remained wary and hostile.

Li Bai thought for a moment, then added, "Asking for directions. I just want... to ask for directions." He gestured around the valley, then pointed to the dark passage, making a "get out" gesture. "How do I get out of here? Do you... know?"

The younger guards lay on the ground, seemingly understanding some of what they had heard, their eyes filled with even greater confusion. The older guards, however, remained expressionless, though deep within their eyes, their dark green pupils contracted slightly.

Poor communication.

Li Bai frowned. He walked up to the older guard, hesitated for a moment, then extended his right index finger and gently touched the area near the guard's Jianjing acupoint, injecting a trace of extremely subtle and gentle spiritual energy.

This was a rudimentary technique he had gleaned from the stone tablet's cultivation method—spiritual energy could not only be used for attacks, but under precise control, it could also subtly stimulate acupoints, relieve numbness, and even help improve local blood circulation. Of course, this was contingent on the practitioner achieving a certain level of precision in controlling the spiritual energy, and the recipient not resisting.

The older patrolman trembled slightly.

Li Bai could sense that the spiritual power within the other party, which was far more powerful than his own, instinctively wanted to resist and retaliate. However, because he had only injected a gentle stream of spiritual power with the clear intention of "relieving" it, and because the other party's acupoints were sealed and the spiritual power was not flowing smoothly, the resistance quickly dissipated.

After a few breaths, the elderly guard's stiff facial muscles were finally able to move slightly. He moved his lips and tried several times before he could make a sound.

They were still speaking that strange, syllable-heavy language.

Li Bai shook his head, pointed to his ear, and waved his hand, indicating that he did not understand.

The older patrolman remained silent for a moment. He looked at his companion, who was lying on the ground, still unable to move, and then at the broken Qingming sword in Li Bai's hand, which remained unsheathed. His eyes shifted with complex emotions.

Finally, he spoke again.

This time, the tone was stiff and the pronunciation was strange, but it was indeed Chinese, and it was elegant language.

"You...came from...outside?"

He spoke those five words with great difficulty, as if each syllable was being squeezed out from the depths of his throat, and his tone was uneven, but Li Bai understood!

"Yes!" Li Bai nodded immediately, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart. As long as they could communicate! "I come from outside. The Great Tang Dynasty, Shu." He pointed to his dark blue robe—although it was somewhat torn and stained after many days of training and the fierce battle just now, it was still clearly Tang Dynasty clothing.

The older patrolman stared at Li Bai for a long time with his dark green pupils, seemingly judging the truthfulness of his words and also sizing up his clothes and demeanor.

Then, his gaze slowly shifted to the broken Qingming sword held in Li Bai's right hand.

That gaze became extremely focused, even carrying a sense of scrutiny.

Li Bai's heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously gripped the broken sword even tighter.

The older guardian gazed at it for a long time, so long that even the breeze in the valley seemed to stand still. The younger guardian, who had collapsed to the ground, also struggled to turn his eyes to look at the broken sword, his eyes also showing a look of doubt and contemplation.

Finally, the elder guardian spoke again, his words still stiff, but slightly more fluent than before.

"This sword..." He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, "...where did you get it?"

Li Bai did not answer immediately.

His mind raced. Did the other party recognize this sword? Or at least this type of sword? He had found this sword at the bottom of the pool, along with the ancient skeleton. Could that skeleton be connected to the Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom? Were they their people? Or their enemies?

Countless questions flooded my mind.

At this moment, however, obtaining information and establishing initial trust are more important than keeping the secret. Moreover, since the other party can recognize the sword, concealing it might only arouse greater suspicion.

"At the bottom of the pool." Li Bai decided to tell the truth, but with some reservations. He pointed to the deep pool not far away, "I fell in here, and found it at the bottom. There was also a... skeleton."

He didn't mention that the bones had turned to ashes, nor did he mention the wooden plaque.

Upon hearing this, the older patrolman's dark green pupils suddenly contracted!

He looked sharply at the pool, then at Li Bai, his astonishment reaching its peak. Even the young patrolman, who had collapsed to the ground, couldn't help but let out a muffled, shocked gasp.

"Bottom of the pool... skeletons..." The elderly guardian murmured these two words repeatedly, his words stumbling, but the shock he felt was unmistakable.

He looked at Li Bai again, but his gaze was completely different now.

The previous wariness, hostility, and anger had faded considerably, replaced by an extremely complex emotion—surprise, scrutiny, disbelief, and even… a very faint, indescribable… awe?

Li Bai felt a little uneasy under his gaze, and his grip on his sword tightened.

"Whose remains... are they?" he asked tentatively. "Do you know them?"

The older patrolman did not answer immediately.

He remained silent, his gaze shifting between Li Bai's face, the broken sword, and the pool. Only the rustling of leaves in the wind and the gradually calming, slightly heavy breathing of the young patrolman could be heard in the valley.

Time passes little by little.

Finally, the older patrolman seemed to have made up his mind.

He took a deep breath, looked at Li Bai, and spoke, word by word, in stiff but clear classical Chinese:

"You...come with us."