The afternoon sun was warm and dazzling. Lingyao gently pushed open the door, lifted the beaded curtain, and slowly walked into the room.

The bed curtains were not drawn, so it was easy to see that Yin Ming was lying on his side, resting his head on one hand.

Gentle and refined, even in his sleep he remained quiet and elegant. Lingyao was reluctant to disturb his rest, so she stood quietly by the bedside, waiting for him to wake up.

"Brother Ming! Brother Ming, are you there or not?"

Long Cheng's loud voice came from the courtyard. Yin Ming frowned slightly, his long, thick eyelashes trembled, and his eyes suddenly opened.

What came into view was Lingyao's stunningly handsome face, which was only twenty centimeters away from him.

Yin Ming stared blankly at the figure that had suddenly appeared at the head of his bed, his reddened eyes filled with tears, and he blinked dazedly.

"I was just about to wake Yin Ming up."

Lingyao broke the silence first. He had been crouching down beside the bed, but now he stood up with a normal expression, walked to the tea table, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Yin Ming.

With his brain forcibly activated, Yin Ming had no time to think about why Ling Yao had to be so close to him to wake him up. He sat up, took the teacup, and took a sip.

The slightly bitter yet refreshing aroma of tea filled his mouth, and Yin Ming finally felt his dazed mind clear up a bit.

"What's Long Cheng shouting about outside?" Yin Ming took another sip of tea and asked absentmindedly.

If he is woken up in the middle of the night while he is sleeping, he will look listless like this.

A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Lingyao's eyes, but he looked up and his expression returned to normal. "He just said he had something to discuss with Yin Ming. I didn't know what it was, so I came in to wake Yin Ming."

Yin Ming nodded after hearing this, wiped his face haphazardly, lifted the quilt that had slipped down to his abdomen, and got out of bed.

Lingyao naturally took the red outer robe hanging on the horizontal wooden pole, and Yinming obediently stretched out his hands for him to help him put it on. Then he yawned leisurely before walking outside.

Before he could even step out of the room, he bumped right into Long Cheng, who barged in like a whirlwind. Yin Ming was already used to his impetuous manner and said nonchalantly:

"What's wrong?"

Long Cheng, however, leaned closer to Yin Ming, somewhat in a daze, and said with great enthusiasm:

"Brother Ming, my mother told me there are some good things in the Sharp Blade Mountain to the east. We're just killing time anyway, why don't we go check it out?"

Sharp Edge Mountain?

Yin Ming frowned in confusion. What a strange place name. He had never been there or heard of it.

“My mother said that when she passed by that mountain, she sensed a sharp sword aura. Who knows, maybe it was some kind of unparalleled treasure sword that had awakened its consciousness and developed intelligence.”

Yin Ming curled his lip, about to say what nonsense you're spouting. Clearly, only divine-grade weapons can develop sentience, and the protagonist's weapon is the only one in the entire world that does, and even that only happens later in the story…

My mind raced for a moment, and then it finally dawned on me.

Hey, who knows, it might actually be the male lead's.

Counting the time, ten months have passed since they settled in Zhulu City.

Yin Ming bought a house with a courtyard in the suburbs, and he and Ling Yao started their retirement life ahead of schedule.

The day consisted of teaching Lingyao to write, reading and cultivating, developing new dishes, and so on. When bored, he would wander around the city, enjoy the scenery, and play games. His days were quite easy and pleasant.

Although Long Cheng didn't live with them, he would come over for meals from time to time. Yin Ming didn't mind, since it was just a matter of adding an extra set of chopsticks and bowls.

No, that's not quite right. Long Cheng's appetite is beyond description; he has the appearance of a dragon and the stomach of a glutton.

However, Long Cheng knew he ate a lot, so he was actually just trying out the new dishes.

It was only because of him that Yin Ming was able to perfectly execute the "Clean Plate Campaign," and he would eat the part he wasn't full of at home himself. So it seems that it really is just a matter of adding an extra set of chopsticks and a bowl.

Well, we've gotten a bit off-topic. Let's get back to the topic we were discussing.

Although there are still four or five months until the male protagonist's Nirvana in the original work, it should be reasonable for the timeline of the alternate story to be brought forward, given the deviation in the plot.

Moreover, although the original story states that the dungeon will be entered four months later, that doesn't mean that the dungeon must open at that exact time.

Perhaps Long Cheng is getting firsthand information right now—think about it, Liu Ying is a powerful figure in the Ninth Realm.

Her sensory abilities were definitely far superior to those of a seventh-realm cultivator like Yin Ming. It's possible that the weapon had only just revealed a trace of spiritual energy when it was detected by her senses.

Who knows, they might get even more good stuff if they go now. After all, they're a few months ahead of others at the starting line, and with that much extra time, they could empty the entire mountain.

After all these speculations, there's actually a very simple way to verify whether or not you should go to this instance.

That is...

Yin Ming turned to look at Ling Yao behind him and smiled slightly, "A Yao, do you want to go?"

Ling Yao looked back at Yin Ming with a firm gaze and nodded without hesitation.

Look, the male lead wants to go.

Regardless of whether this is a dungeon exclusive to swords, there must be good stuff in the mountains, so just go.

***

When the two of them arrived at their destination after flying on Long Cheng's head for half an hour, Yin Ming felt like he only had half a life left.

Long Cheng's words are becoming increasingly unreliable. Phrases like "the distance is quite close," "the one to the east," and "we'll get there soon" make it sound like it's really not far, but every time he manages to push the limits of Yin Ming's worst expectations.

After Yin Ming rested for half an hour and recovered some of his energy, the three of them searched for the mechanism together and entered the tomb.

Whether it was because Yin Ming had switched sides to the male lead's camp, or because they were surrounded by two protagonist halos, the three of them arrived at the treasure location quite easily this time.

However, it's more accurate to call this a house of weapons than a treasure trove.

Upon entering the main burial chamber, Yin Ming immediately sensed a chilling atmosphere.

A sword pool was created in the center of the tomb chamber, and dozens of sharp swords were faintly visible amidst the swirling smoke.

The sharp sword energy emanating from it was so intense that even Yin Ming's mid-grade Saint-level sword, Crimson Flame, had to temporarily avoid its edge.

Not to mention the various strange and wonderful weapons and magical artifacts hanging on the surrounding walls.

Yin Ming raised his hand and touched the spear made of an unknown material closest to him, and sighed sincerely.

"The tomb owner is too powerful! He actually collected so many weapons." Maybe he was a stamp collector? But he didn't collect stamps, he collected weapons.

Long Cheng also approached the weapons with great interest to take a look. Both of them were just there to admire the sights.

Only Lingyao, after carefully observing the details, came to a conclusion.

"This should be the tomb of Duan Jiang, the master blacksmith."

Upon hearing this, Yin Ming stroked his chin and asked curiously, "Ah Yao, how did you know?"

Lingyao curled her lips into a smile, glanced at Long Cheng with an ambiguous expression, then looked at Yin Ming with gentle eyes, gesturing for him to look in the direction she was pointing.

Look here.