Yuanzhou was the land of swordsmen, where all who practiced swordsmanship aspired to challenge the Xu Family swordsmen.
However, the cost of challenging them was severe, with the loser either forfeiting their famed sword or their lineage.
And those who had nothing but still wished to challenge would risk their very selves, becoming slaves upon defeat.
Sword Slaves and Sword Attendants, if they encountered a kind family, might live better than before.
But if they fell into the hands of a cruel master, they could be treated no better than beasts of burden.
One such shadow of a Sword Slave was a sword-obsessed middle-aged man who, defeated by Xu Lai, had pledged his servitude.
Decades of serving and attending to swords had made him forget the life of an ordinary man; hearing Xu Lai's words, he felt not the joy of freedom but a desolate sense of homelessness.
"Have Ran'er come over."
After waving the Sword Slave away, Xu Lai called for his eldest son, Xu Ran.
"Father!"
