"Bastard......"

Rinloran glared at the sword-wielding light silhouette before him. His hands held onto his knees for support. He was panting heavily, sweat mixed with blood dripped down from the corner of his clothes onto the black stone floor.

The words carved on the stone floor were 'Peerless Sword: Third Style'.

Rinloran only took about two days to see through and grasp the first two styles. However, after seeing the two holes left by the Thousand Storms Sword, he was stuck at the third style in the cultivation hall without being able to see through it for the past few days.

The speed of the sword was similar to the second style. However, the third style clearly had stronger slashing power. It was definitely not a simple throw, many other techniques were involved.

After examining the holes made by Thousand Storms Sword, two professors from River Bend Academy also told him more about Peerless Sword. Peerless Sword not only pursued absolute speed and sharpness, it also pursed absolute control over the materialized sword.

Absolute control over the materialized sword also meant continuous striking from start to end. It was also the advantage of close-ranged combat compared to long-range.

If such an advantage was lost, there would be no meaning.

Although he understood in his mind that even if he could not learn the Thousand Storms Sword, he must not be affected in his training. After all, before Redwin mentioned Thousand Storms Sword, even the elite teacher team in Holy Dawn Academy also believed that Peerless Sword was the strongest sword skill and most suitable for him.

In fact, if Thousand Storms Sword could no longer be passed down, Peerless Sword was certainly the most suitable for him. And there was bound to be differences between the two, he still had to learn Peerless Sword first.

However, the two holes had too much of an impact on him. He could not avoid being affected by that in his training the following days.

He would occasionally think about the two holes and imagine how it would look like when Thousand Storms Sword made the holes.

His concentration was insufficient.

Rinloran was not convinced.

He wanted to free himself from that influence, but there was not enough time. As they had to leave the next day, he probably would not be able to grasp the third style. He could only return to train Peerless Sword after the tournament.

"No, even if there's not enough time, I can't give up!"

"I must be like Ayrin, never give up!"

Suddenly, Rinloran straightened his back again and picked up his sword.

......

"Anderson, are you certain that Swordmaster Gideon stayed inside here longer than in his house?"

In a cave with water dripping down, the bunch of Brotherhood gathered many torches together. Redwin looked at the obedient-looking short-haired man suspiciously and asked.

"I'm certain."

The obedient-looking short-haired man named Anderson held a magnifying glass and carefully looked through the few scrolls in his hand. Then he confidently told Redwin, "According to records, after he lost to Thousand Storms Sword Rhodes, he secluded himself here. In his later years, he had been refining his sword skills here."

"Then how did it turn out like this?"

Redwin pointed at the water surface before them.

The cave ahead had been completely submerged in water, and it seemed to be very deep. It was dark and could not see anything inside even with a torch. It looked like a black gem.

"The records mentioned that there was one time when Swordmaster Gideon made the underground spring gush out during training. It submerged the inner half of the cave."

The obedient-looking short-haired Anderson clearly did his homework as he quickly answered, "It is the same on different records. It was said that to commemorate Swordmaster Gideon, this area has been granted to Swordmaster Gideon as his private land. There were originally some facilities inside, but after getting completely submerged, Swordmaster Gideon was very happy instead of grieving. He seemed to have stopped researching afterwards, and passed away two years later."

"Feeling happy that it was submerged, and stopped researching afterwards? If that's the case, I have to check the inside." Redwin instructed, "Get a coil of rope to tie around me. Also, get me some underwater lighting."

"Boss, are you really going? It's been submerged for so long and might have connected with underground currents. It's also very deep, who knows what might be inside."

They looked at the pitch black water surface and felt scared.

"Nonsense, I must go down and take a look. I'm actually suspecting that he might have grasped the Thousand Storms Sword. When he was experimenting, he accidentally pierced too hard and drilled through into some underground spring or current. The water gushed out and submerged this place. Not to mention, he was very happy despite this place being submerged. Then he stopped researching and died not long afterwards. That gives a strong sense of fulfilment feeling." Redwin spoke with excitement, "It sounds more and more like a secret to Thousand Storms Sword. And it's just a submerged cave, what danger can there be? This is not a demon forest."

"Umm boss, why don't we go down with you?"

"Enough blabbering. If there is danger, more going down means more sacrifices."

"Didn't you say there's no danger......"

"Enough, give me that. Luckily there are no outsiders. If other people saw us Brotherhood going for a swim like this, they are going to mock us."

"Then be careful, boss."

The group reluctantly reminded Redwin as he was determined to go down.

"I'm coming, Thousand Storms Sword!"

Redwin shouted in excitement and dove into the water with a glowing stone in his hand.

"We haven't tied the rope on boss!"

A Brotherhood member holding a coil of rope shouted with a pale face.

"What!?"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

They panicked and shouted loudly.

"What's with that panicking scream? Didn't I just forget? Just tie it now!"

With a splash of water, Redwin surfaced and scolded the group.

While they breathed a sigh of relief, Redwin shivered as they tied the rope on him, "But the water below is quite cold, prepare a campfire for me later."

Redwin disappeared into the dark water again.

The rope tied on him kept unwinding. Suddenly, Redwin seemed to have stopped advancing and stayed at a certain place.

As time ticked past, the Brotherhood members in the cave began to worry. They held their breaths in order not to miss any sign of movement.

"Not good! Let's pull boss up!"

Suddenly, that obedient-looking Anderson shouted while panting.

"What's wrong?" The rest were surprised by him and asked.

"I started holding my breath when boss dove in. I can't sustain anymore, he should be at least limit underwater as well." Anderson spoke.

"Boss doesn't seem to be coming back?"

"What to do?"

"Safety first, let's pull him back!"

"What if we randomly pull and trap him somewhere!?"

"Even if trapped, boss can snap the rope."

"But if he snapped the rope and lost his ways down there, it will be more dangerous."

"I'm going down!"

They argued with impatience, and two people were tying rope on themselves in the meantime.

Right then, the two people holding the rope tied on Anderson shouted in joy, "It's moving!"

"He seems to be coming back!"

Not long after their exclamation, there were clear signs of water stirring.

After another short wait, Redwin emerged from the water with a splash.

"Boss!"

The excited bunch pulled Redwin out immediately.

Redwin was chilled to the bones. His face looked purplish, teeth clattered in coldness. He regained warmth after sitting next to the campfire after a long time. However, the first thing he said after recovering was, "Jackpot......"

"Is Thousand Storms Sword really there?"

The Brotherhood members blanked out for a moment before screaming in disbelief.

"There are many deductions and estimation records. And the place underground current flowed out are holes similar to Thousand Storms Sword...... Very likely!" Redwin wanted to laugh, but his clattering teeth did not let him.

"The water is very cold, it might be a really deep underground river."

Anderson, the tactician of Brotherhood, frowned again, "If that's the case, how can we check those records safely...... Going down again and again, or use ice arcane skill to somehow freeze the water. Then slowly drill through?"

"Hahahaha...... Regardless, let's do it!"

At that moment, Redwin, who had warmed up, heartily laughed.

......

In the faraway Kingdom of Doa, most of the territories were covered in snow.

Doa City in the Kingdom of Doa was the human gathering with the longest history in Doraster Continent.

During the Era of the War with Dragons, although the ancient Kingdom of Doa and most of its buildings were destroyed in the war, most buildings in Doa City were immediately reconstructed after the Era ended. So most buildings had very long history.

Walking through Doa City, one could see many masterpieces made by hill dwarves, goblin crafters, and ancient artificers that were unimaginable.

Doa City was also the earliest mixed settlements of various races. In addition, it was originally a gathering place of dwarves, goblins and some rare races. So one could see various strange humanoid races in Doa City now.

Also, the Kingdom of Doa retained the ancient anarchy system unlike the Kingdom of Eiche which used parliamentary system. The king had major authority over the lords. The king's order was absolute to almost every lord, unless the lord wanted to carry out Coup d'état and become the king himself.

Jean Camus was currently walking into the Kingdom of Doa's palace with the lead of a few palace guards.

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