Owen took several gasps for breath, then Ah Dai hurriedly began to channel more True Qi into him. Owen glanced at him, a hint of sorrow reflecting in his blood-red eyes.

"Uncle, you should rest for a bit. Don’t speak for now," Ah Dai implored.

Owen shook his head, replying, "If I don’t speak now, I may never get the chance. Once I am done, you must quickly leave this place. I don’t expect you to remember every word I say, but you must listen carefully. It concerns your future. Apart from those four fixed mission groups in the Assassins’ Guild, there is an even more clandestine team. Those who ambushed us earlier, those with silver skull emblems on their chests, belong to this team. They are referred to as the Prime Killers within the organization. Prime Killers, or elder-level assassins, are all over sixty years old, and had retired from the role of active assassins. The organization would provide for them until their deaths. However, due to their many years of experience as assassins, and their exceptional abilities, they would still be dispatched for certain special tasks. These Prime Killers occupy a lofty status within the organization. Only their master, ah! No—the president of the Assassins’ Guild can command them. I’m not sure about their numbers, but there shouldn’t be too many of them. Having killed six today, I guess there can’t be more than six left. That one with the golden skull emblem on his chest is the vice president of the Assassins’ Guild. You’ve seen his skills. Without the Sword of Hades, I was no match for him."

"Uncle, is that vice president your enemy then?" Ah Dai asked.

Owen’s blood-red eyes widened, and he spat out, "He was just one of them. And then there’s the president of the Assassins’ Guild, whom all the assassins refer to as the master. Despite spending many years in the organization, I never found out his real identity. It was him who destroyed my once peaceful life, ruining my entire existence." His body suddenly convulsed, trembling violently as waves of intense hatred radiated from him. After a moment, Owen was finally able to continue: "Speaking of this, I must tell you my secret. Ah Dai, unbutton my shirt."

Ah Dai was taken aback but did as instructed, carefully unbuttoning Owen’s blood-stained shirt. There were several splits in the inner layer of his clothes, revealing a slight bulge— apparently, something was hidden within.

Owen took a deep breath. A flicker of white light crossed his face as he weakly reached back and pressed against his chest, causing the bulge to shift. He gingerly withdrew an object from the gap in his clothes— a long, black leather bag. A long strap was slung diagonally across it. Approximately five inches long, the slender bag ended with a black sword hilt protruding from it. The hilt was engraved with a series of complicated symbols, and at the end of it was a black gemstone that glimmered ominously, giving off a faint aura of evil.

Owen stared at the hilt protruding from the bag with a somewhat infatuated expression, sighing, "This is the Sword of Hades that I, your uncle, used to earn my reputation in the continent." He gripped the hilt, drawing out the Sword of Hades from the bag. The black sheath of the sword was carved with the image of a lifelike white dragon, but it was a dragon devoid of scales, merely skeletal. Its teeth bared fiercely, it appeared eerily unnerving, especially with two gemstones emitting a faint blue light where the eyes of the bone dragon should be. As soon as it was removed from the bag, although unsheathed, the emanation of evil spiked drastically. Despite being protected by the True Qi, Ah Dai instinctively shivered.

"I haven’t taken off this leather bag for nearly forty years. The alias I have, ’Hades’, originates from this sword itself. This is the most demonic and wicked object in the world. Although it bestowed upon me unrivaled power, it also indirectly ruined my life. That year, I was twenty-seven, already considered a skilled practitioner due to my diligence in martial arts training since childhood. Being brash and reckless in my young age, I relished adventurous endeavors. Wandering across the continent with a group of comrades, we stumbled upon the entrance to an ancient secret treasury. Although laden with traps, it piqued our interest. After nearly a month of effort, we finally made it to the heart of the treasury. However, there were no treasures as we had imagined, only a massive Sealed Demon Array. And within it hung the Sword of Hades. It wasn’t until later that I understood, the Sealed Demon Array was designed to seal away the evil aura of the Sword of Hades. Despite numerous methods attempted, we failed to crack the seal. But how could we, a group of adventure-lovers, give up easily? A month and a half later, we located the array’s key point. The instant we destroyed it, a surging tide of evil aura devoured my comrades’ lives, while I survived only because I’d been cultivating the sacred aura of the Life-Life Secrets since I was young. The Sword of Hades seemed sentient, floating in front of me. The death of my comrades touched me deeply. I initially wanted to restore the Sword of Hades to the Sealed Demon Array. Unfortunately, the original formation had been damaged beyond repair. At that time, a voice suddenly echoed within the cave— a voice I still clearly remember. It was the sound transmission spell left behind by high-level magic. The voice claimed to be from the fourth Pope, who had accidentally found the Sword of Hades but almost got consumed by its vast evil power. Despite his ability, he could not destroy the sword and thus had to collaborate with several Red Bishops to set up the Sealed Demon Array to seal the Sword of Hades. He said if anyone destroyed this Sealed Demon Array, they would be the sinner of the world. They could not let the evil of the Sword of Hades wreak havoc; they needed to become its guardian. When the Pope originally found the Sword of Hades, he also acquired two scrolls. One of them described how to use the Sword of Hades, whereas the other one— even he could not understand its content. I calculated the timeline, and realized that by the time I found the Sword of Hades, it must have been at least a few thousand years old. You must know, the current Pope is already the twenty-eighth one."