Becoming a Martial Master: Starting as a Swordsmith

Li Chengwen helped Madam Hu lean against the wall, noticing her pale face, clearly quite frightened.

He then gently comforted them, saying, "It's alright, it's alright, the monster won't dare to come in, there are so many people here..."

However, before he could finish speaking,

With a loud "boom!"

The wall behind him suddenly cracked open!

Two giant claws burst through the wall and grabbed Li Chengwen and another Xu family bodyguard by the shoulder, about to drag them out of the dilapidated temple!

Say it's too late, then it's fast,

Shen Chu reacted faster than anyone else!

He stepped forward with his sword and slashed fiercely at the giant claw that was grabbing Li Chengwen!

The blade clashed with the claws, sparks flying. The monster roared in pain, but showed no sign of loosening its grip. Instead, it grabbed Shen Chu's blade with its other hand!

A tremendous force emanated from the claw, and Shen Chu felt himself being pulled by an irresistible force, crashing through the wall along with his knife.

He was dragged directly outside the temple by that monster!

"Watch out!"

Exclamations of surprise came from behind.

Seeing this, the members of the Xu Family Escort Agency also drew their swords and rushed out.

Xu Qingqing and Xu Zhibao took the lead, standing shoulder to shoulder with Shen Chu, and the three of them joined forces to fight the monster.

The remaining镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) were divided into two groups: one group was responsible for protecting the people inside the temple, while the other group harassed the monster on the outside, trying to find its weakness.

This monster is truly formidable.

Even with Shen Chu and his two companions joining forces, they only managed to fight it to a standstill.

Of course, part of the reason is that Shen Chu deliberately let them win.

The more he fought, the more convinced he became of his judgment.

The monster was indeed injured, and the injuries were quite severe. Although its movements were fierce, it was clear that it was struggling to keep up.

If it were a monster of this kind in its prime, the three of them would probably have been torn to pieces long ago!

But precisely because of this, the thought in Shen Chu's heart grew stronger and stronger.

He wanted to eat the monster!

No, it's absorbed!

He had wasted too many opportunities before, which prevented him from accumulating enough energy for the [Fragrance of All Beings] skill. If he could devour this heavily injured monster, he might be able to accumulate a large amount of energy to prepare for future breakthroughs.

With this in mind, he began to consciously adjust his playing style, no longer focusing on all-out output, but instead roaming and creating space for his opponent.

The three fought the monster for a while. When the monster realized that it could not break through its defenses and that the three humans in front of it were not easy to deal with, it began to consider retreating.

Xu Zhibao and Xu Qingqing breathed a slight sigh of relief, but their offensive did not ease, and they continued to press forward relentlessly.

Seeing the monster trying to escape, Shen Chu deliberately created an opening.

He pretended to trip over a stone, his body swaying slightly, thus widening the central gate.

The monster was indeed fooled, overjoyed, and suddenly lashed out with its claw.

He firmly grabbed Shen Chu's shoulders and dragged him into the darkness!

"Shen Chu!"

Xu Qingqing and Xu Zhibao exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

The Xu Family Escort Agency wanted to give chase, but due to the darkness and the monster's unknown speed, they ultimately retreated.

Inside the temple,

Li Chengwen had already fainted from fright, and Madam Hu was taking care of him.

Everyone else formed a circle, on high alert, fearing the monster would attack again.

Hu Bai looked extremely anxious and tried to rush out to find Shen Chu several times, but Madam Hu held his wrist tightly and shook her head to signal him not to be impulsive.

Seeing his mother's insistence, Hu Bai could only grit his teeth and give up.

A night of torment.

As the first rays of morning light streamed into the room through the cracks, the accompanying birdsong invigorated everyone.

After confirming that he was safe, Xu Zhibao was the first to go out to investigate.

A moment later, his weary voice came from outside: "It's alright, everyone come out."

As the group emerged from the dilapidated temple, they saw several pools of blood on the grass, which had been thinned by some kind of animal licking them clean.

Xu Qingqing squatted down to examine it carefully and found claw marks that were deeper and sharper than human handprints. Each mark was deeply embedded in the soil, and the fine lines, like palm prints, were clearly visible.

At this moment, Li Chengwen slowly woke up. Seeing that he was still alive, he couldn't help but laugh heartily, feeling quite fortunate to have survived a calamity.

After he finished laughing, the first thing he did was to thank Shen Chu.

But after looking around, they couldn't find Shen Chu anywhere.

Where is Shen Chu?

Seeing the somber expressions on the faces of those around him, a sense of foreboding washed over Li Chengwen.

His eyes instantly reddened, and he burst into tears, crying loudly, "Shen Chu! How could you..."

"What's wrong with me?"

A familiar voice came from behind.

Li Chengwen turned around abruptly, his face covered in tears.

Shen Chu emerged from the woods looking disheveled; her clothes were torn in several places, and her face was covered in mud and blood, but she seemed to be in relatively good spirits.

He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Li Chengwen crying his eyes out.

"You're not dead!"

Li Chengwen was both surprised and delighted. He rushed over and hugged Shen Chu tightly, almost choking him so much that he couldn't breathe.

Everyone was overjoyed and crowded around him, asking him all at once how he had survived.

Xu Qingqing was also shocked. She looked him up and down and asked:

"How did you escape from that monster?"

Shen Chu waved her hand, looking terrified, her tone tinged with relief:

"Luckily, very lucky. After that monster dragged me into the forest, another wild animal happened to pass by, and the monster's attention was drawn to it, so I took the opportunity to run back. If that wild animal hadn't suddenly appeared, I would definitely be dead."

He spoke of it so casually, as if it were really just good luck.

But only he knew that the so-called "monster" had transformed into a pure energy within the [Fragrance of All Beings] skill, lying quietly in his system panel.

He also noticed that the monster had a deep sword wound on its body, with a clean cut, clearly caused by a sharp weapon.

If the monster hadn't already been severely injured, he wouldn't have been able to absorb it, let alone return alive.

Although Shen Chu made it sound simple, Xu Qingqing and Xu Zhibao had both personally fought that monster, and they knew how terrifying it was.

Being able to survive in that situation cannot be explained simply by "good luck."

The two of them looked at Shen Chu with an unprecedented level of caution.

Although Shen Chu has returned, those people from the Xu Family Escort Agency will never come back.

Xu Zhibao remained silent for a moment, then led several bodyguards to build a makeshift cenotaph using the victims' clothing, leaving some markers.

The group silently packed their belongings and quickly left the unsettling place.

Before leaving, some people offered a few cups of water instead of wine, while others placed a few personal belongings at the grave as a final farewell.