[He must have seen it, he must have!] Li Lianxin braced herself and walked up to the stage. Soon she reached the front of the stage and saw that everyone standing on it was looking at her. Li Lianxin smiled.

"Let me introduce you, this is my wife, Li Lianxin."

The people on the stage looked at the person slowly walking up, their eyes flashing with amazement. Madam Li's appearance was strikingly flamboyant and assertive, coupled with her graceful figure; every step she took seemed to touch the heart. Most striking of all were her magnificent, jet-black hair, which complemented...

The moon-white clothes made her look as if she had stepped out of the light.

[I'm really speechless. My face is practically frozen from smiling, why aren't you saying anything?] Li Lianxin forced a smile as she looked at the people in front of her. To be honest, she genuinely couldn't smile at all. The only reason she didn't roll her eyes or give a cold look was because she was well-mannered.

"Madam Li, please." Xiao Zijin gestured as usual, and the disciples of Baichuan Academy behind her stepped forward with a tray containing the young master's tablet. Li Lianxin reached out and pretended to carefully take the young master's tablet from the tray.

The way he performed was as if he had admired Li Xiangyi for a long time and finally touched the sword he wore in his lifetime; he was just short of bursting into tears on the spot and giving an acceptance speech.

The sword was drawn from its scabbard and gleamed in the light. Those on the ground, who couldn't see it up close, could still see it clearly from below the platform, and they stared intently at the sword's gleam.

[Sister, I'll give you an extreme reversal!] The next second, the sword and its scabbard were thrown to the ground. Before Bai Chuanyuan and his group could even get angry, Li Lianxin preemptively and completely framed them. Her words were like a resounding slap in the face.

She slapped the faces of everyone in the Hyakukawain Academy, her tone filled with disdain and anger:

"Your Baichuan Academy has gone too far! Holding a sword appreciation competition but bringing out a fake sword to impersonate the Junior Master, what are you really up to! After Li Xiangyi disappeared, have you stopped even bothering with appearances? Or do you think we who came to participate in the sword appreciation competition are blind and can't tell the difference between a real and fake sword?"

As the people of Baichuanyuan listened to her speak one sentence after another, none of them stood up to say anything. Their eyes were drawn to the sword that had been thrown on the ground, and their faces were full of doubt.

“Madam, I confirmed the authenticity of the sword when I found the young master. Why do you say the sword is fake?” Qiao Wanmian was the first to stand up. She didn’t believe that she couldn’t tell the difference between the real and fake swords after finding the young master.

Li Lianxin didn't reply immediately, but turned to look at Li Lianhua beside her, raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to indicate that something was wrong. Li Lianhua helplessly explained, "Actually, I already sensed something was wrong when the sword was pulled out."

This sword is an extremely accurate replica; even the carvings on the hilt are flawless. I've heard that Li Xiangyi acquired this sword at the age of fifteen and never parted with it for five years, yet there isn't a single scratch on the hilt. This is truly strange. Why is there not a single trace of wear on it?

"You may wish to take a look first."

Xiao Zijin quickly picked up the sword from the ground and examined it closely. Qiao Wanmian looked at the sword and realized it was indeed wrong. "Back then, when Xiang Yi fought Wuyou the swordsman, in order to save Wuyou's life, he used the hilt of his sword to block Wuyou's killing move."

The sword was completely undamaged; it was definitely a fake. This wasn't the young master's sword I had retrieved! "Dean Ji, the sword has been switched!" She remembered clearly that the young master's sword she had retrieved had wear and tear; there was no mistake!

The news that the sword in front of them was not the Young Master's Sword, but a fake, caused some unease among the people on the ground. They had all come for the Young Master, but now the sword was not his.

"Everyone, we at Baichuan Academy will definitely find the Young Master Sword after it was switched. Please be patient!" Ji Hanfo assured them and arranged for them to wait in a quiet place. After everything was settled, they went together to the place where the Young Master Sword had been found and stored.

Sword Pavilion

Ji Hanfo stood in front of the shelf and looked it over, but found nothing wrong. "Look, three days ago, Lady Qiao and Hero Xiao brought the Young Master Sword to Baichuan Academy, and we stored it here."

The sword room is always strictly managed, and no one has entered or left here in the past few days. Before the sword appreciation competition began today, Shi Shui and I took the sword out; there shouldn't have been any opportunity for anyone to switch it.” Ji Hanfo couldn't understand why the sword had been switched. Given the sword room's strict management and the upcoming sword appreciation competition…

He specifically ordered that no one be allowed to enter, and when he and Shishui came to retrieve the sword, they did not see any signs of anyone entering or leaving.

Shi Shui walked around the shelf and noticed slight signs of movement on the ground. They were so inconspicuous that you wouldn't notice them if you didn't look closely. "Look! There seems to be something wrong here."

Following Shi Shui's directions, everyone went to the problematic spot and observed it closely; indeed, it was different from the rest of the place.

"Someone! Move this shelf!" Ji Hanfo ordered. Two people came in from outside and moved the heavy shelf, immediately revealing a large hole.

Bai Jiangchun stared in disbelief at the cave entrance before him, exclaiming, "Good heavens, how come there's a tunnel here? Who dug it, and when?" They had never inspected the underground area of ​​the Sword Pavilion for anything unusual, even though they had thoroughly surveyed it during its initial construction.

It's really strange that such a hole has suddenly appeared.

"We don't know where this tunnel leads, should we go down and take a look?" Fang Duobing leaned forward and looked inside. It was pitch black and he couldn't see anything clearly, but the existence of a tunnel here meant that the person must have come in from here and switched the young master.

Everyone nodded in preparation to go down, but Xiao Zijin, worried about Qiao Wanmian's health, said, "A-Mian, the air in the tunnel must be bad. You shouldn't go down, lest you trigger your asthma. You can wait up here."

Xiao Zijin's words made sense, but Qiao Wanmian didn't think so. "No, I went through a lot of trouble to find the young master. How can I be at ease waiting here? I'll just be careful. Let's go."