Monster Paradise

The meeting between Lin Huang and the Sword Servants lasted for less than half an hour, after which the Sword Servants dispersed.

In the square, only Swords 301 to 368 and the bodyguards Sword1 to 10 were left.

“Although the 68 of you can go to the great world with me, your combat strength will be limited by my own combat strength—it can only be one level higher than mine. I am now at grade-9 Imperial-level, so after you leave here, your combat strength will be restricted to Virtual God rank-9. Once my own combat strength achieves a breakthrough, then your combat strength will be further unlocked.

“However, it is a little better than the previous Competitive Trial in the sense that your Sword Dao will be unsealed to True Martial Level. In addition, your Rule Bending Powers are also unsealed but limited to a maximum number of nine types.

“Based on my previous understanding of your abilities, under these restrictions, you should have no problem in dealing with low-rank True Gods. Even if you encounter rank-3 True Gods, you should still be able to fight them.”

“Lord Swordmaster, I still have some concerns about your safety.” Sword1 frowned slightly and seemed to be unsatisfied with the abilities of the Sword Servants. “Can’t you make an exception and bring along one or two bodyguards? Even if it’s just Sword8 it’s better than nothing.”

“My authorization is genuinely limited.” Lin Huang shook his head and patted Sword1’s shoulder. “If it wasn’t for the matter of authorization, I would certainly bring all of you back to the great world in one go.

“I can also understand the reason why Teacher Great Heaven set this restriction. He was afraid that I would get used to relying on outside help and not pay attention to improving my own abilities. If I were him, I might set these kinds of limitations on my future heirs as well.”

Lin Huang referred to Great Heaven as his teacher because he had taken over the Great Heaven inheritance. No matter if it was in name or in essence, Lin Huang was considered Great Heaven’s apprentice. Even though Great Heaven had died, Lin Huang felt it was a necessary mark of respect to honor Great Heaven as his teacher.

Sword1, Sword2, and the few of them were wily old foxes who knew what Lin Huang was up to. Lin Huang did have authority restrictions, but the restriction was that he could not take everyone out of the Great Heaven Territory, not the Trial space of the Great Heaven Palace.

However, Sword1 and the rest of them did not expose his lie as they probably guessed the reason why Lin Huang did not want to let their group leave the Great Heaven Territory. They raised no objections as though they had not heard anything untoward.

“I am clear about my situation. I am estimating that my elevation to virtual god-level would take a month or two. If it is true god-level, the slowest it would take to break through would be around three to five years. Heavenly god-level may take a little more time, however. So for the immediate future, I must temporarily inconvenience all of you,” Lin Huang consoled them.

“Lord Swordmaster’s cultivating speed is fast enough. It’s not that easy to be elevated to heavenly god-level; we all know this,” Sword10 spoke first, “We have been waiting for more than 300,000 years, and it won’t make a big difference for us to wait for a few more years. Moreover, the ratio of the speed of time has been changed now—maybe after a good night’s sleep, Lord Swordmaster will achieve a breakthrough.”

Sword1 and the rest also nodded. “We have waited for so many years, it doesn’t matter if we wait for a few more.”

As soon as Sword1 was finished, he looked at Sword301 and the other Sword Servants.

“When you all leave this place, listen to the swordmaster’s instructions in everything. Don’t forget what your responsibilities are when you see the fascinating new world outside and don’t cause any problems for Lord Swordmaster.

“Also, we bodyguards will not be with the swordmaster, so your core responsibility is to ensure Lord Swordmaster’s safety. At least four people are required to stand guard over the swordmaster. Under special circumstances, make sure at least two of you assume guardian responsibilities…”

After Sword1’s detailed instructions, he turned around and looked at Lin Huang. “Before Lord Swordmaster leaves, I have one more thing I would like to discuss with you privately.”

Lin Huang nodded slightly and turned his head to look at the group of Sword Servants. “Please wait here for a short while.”

He then looked at Sword2 and the rest. “If all of you have nothing else in mind, you’re free to leave now.”

Nine of them, including Sword2, bowed one after the other, said their farewells, and went their separate ways.

Only then did Lin Huang walk toward the Great Heaven Palace with Sword1.

Sword1 was on his left, half a position behind his new master; he immediately followed Lin Huang.

After entering the Great Heaven Palace, Lin Huang sat down on the sofa.

Sword1 glanced around unobtrusively and found that the interior of Great Heaven Palace was still the same as before. Nostalgia flickered in his eyes.

Just when Lin Huang was about to ask Sword1 what matter it was that required a private discussion, Sword1 suddenly knelt on the ground with a solemn face.

“What are you doing?!” Lin Huang stood up.

“Lord Swordmaster, your subordinate has a presumptuous request, but it may not be something Lord Swordmaster wants to hear…”

“Please stand up and tell me.” After he heard what Sword1 had said, Lin Huang guessed that his request would be related to the Raiders.

Sword1 still refused to stand up; instead, he continued, “This humble servant hopes that after authorization has been unlocked, Lord Swordmaster will allow me to go to the great world to investigate the murderer who killed swordmaster Great Heaven, as well as look into the Raider organization.”

Lin Huang was silent for a moment and sat back on the sofa. “Please stand up.”

Seeing that Sword1 still refused to get up, he continued, “It’s not that I forbid you to investigate the murderer of Teacher Great Heaven, but if it’s related to the Raiders, it is far too dangerous.

“How about this—I will allow you to investigate this matter, but you must not act alone. When the time comes, I’ll bring others in to help. The investigation will be under my control and all of you must listen to my orders. If I perceive any danger and request that the investigation be suspended, you must also obey my order—you must not act without authorization!”

“But in this case, once the matter is exposed, Lord Swordmaster will also be a target for the Raiders,” Sword1 shook his head right away, rejecting Lin Huang’s proposal, “I don’t agree to your participation.”

“Have you ever thought that if you investigated alone, it would involve me the minute your cover is blown?” Lin Huang had actually thought this through very thoroughly already. “The methods of the Raiders are beyond your imagination. Let’s not even talk about them capturing you alive—even if they only have your corpse, or maybe even just a remnant of your soul, they would have a very high chance of tracing the matter back to me.

“Once you’re exposed, I can’t escape being involved. The other Sword Servants and bodyguards will also be implicated; no one will be able to avoid it!

“Rather than letting you act alone, it’s better that we plan this together. If we all come up with ideas, there’ll at least be more ways to proceed than if you act on your own. This will also reduce the risk of exposing the identities of the investigators.

“Besides, Great Heaven is my teacher. I took over his inheritance; from a karmic perspective, I can’t leave this matter alone.

“As for the Raiders, even if you hadn’t mentioned them today, I’m sure to be at odds with them sooner or later. It’s only a matter of time before my identity as a traveler is revealed; I’ll become their target at some point regardless. Instead of waiting for them to come knocking at our door, why not take the initiative and investigate what’s up with them?”

When Lin Huang first heard about the existence of the Raiders from Yang Ling, he already knew very well that sooner or later he would be in the Raiders’ sights. Unless he was willing to join them and plunder the Goldfingers of other travelers, his opposition to the Raiders could not be reconciled.

He had been putting aside this potential threat because, on one hand, the Raiders were still very far from him, and on the other, his own abilities were insufficient to fight against them.

Now, seizing the opportunity afforded by the issue that Sword1 had brought up, he had finally made a preliminary plan to confront the Raiders.

“All you want is to get revenge on the Raider who killed Teacher Great Heaven, but in the long run, what I want is to destroy the entire Raider organization—or at least to destroy their branch in our great world!” Lin Huang outlined his great ambition.

“Sword1 is willing to fulfill this dream with Lord Swordmaster!” Sword1’s eyes lit up like fire.