Ancient Sword One was indeed a prominent figure in the Chechi Kingdom. Nobody knew who his mentor was; they only knew that he always wandered alone, treating the sword as his companion. He defeated all the heroes in the world without meeting any match. It could be said that in that era, just Ancient Sword One with his sword had subdued the entire Jianghu (Martial World).

It was not until he, atop Qing Lake, slew the Flood Dragon that everyone thought he was among the Immortals. Afterwards, he secluded himself from the world and disappeared from Jianghu.

This was definitely a legendary figure, and yet the young beggar before them, with his ragged clothes and emaciated body, clearly suffering from malnutrition, did not look like a descendant of Ancient Sword One at all.

The young beggar, seeing the doubtful looks of the crowd, naturally knew what they were thinking. He forcefully puffed out his chest, not wishing to disgrace his ancestor’s reputation. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

A warm, large hand was placed on the somewhat uneasy young beggar’s head. To everyone’s surprise, the usually stoic White Ape revealed a gentle smile and said, "He is the descendant of Ancient Sword One; I am not mistaken."

From that day on, everyone in the Martial Forest of the Chechi Kingdom knew that a master of swordsmanship had arrived, and the name of Gu Zhongtong, the descendant of Ancient Sword One, also entered into everyone’s view.

Meanwhile, Lin Fang and his companions quietly purchased a small courtyard, after all, White Ape needed to properly teach Gu Zhongtong martial arts.

It was a very small courtyard with three brick and tile houses surrounding a tiny yard, in which a peach tree was planted. The sun was setting in the west, and the tree was overgrown with withered branches and leaves.

Bashan Tiger looked at the somewhat cramped courtyard and could not help but speak, "Boss, this courtyard is too shabby!"

"It’s not easy to find a large place in the Capital city, so stop complaining. This courtyard was hard to come by as it is," Lin Fang said with a light laugh.

After all, their current identities were just ordinary people of Jianghu; most large mansions required certain statuses to reside in. With Lin Fang and the others’ status, they could only rent a house among the common people.

For ordinary people, a house is their life, and who would easily sell it?

The group walked into the courtyard to start cleaning. Only then did Gu Zhongtong realize that this group of people was actually led by Lin Fang. He was curious as to why the Sword Immortal would take orders from this handsome young man.

While the others were still vigorously cleaning, Lin Fang slowly walked over to the almost withered peach tree and stood quietly.

He could clearly feel that within this dying peach tree, there resided a resentful spirit, emitting a thick aura of grievance.

"I hate thus!" A hoarse roar clearly transmitted through the peach tree to Lin Fang’s ears.

"No wonder no one took over, so there was this thing," Lin Fang murmured.

From the moment he bought this courtyard at a low price, Lin Fang had sensed something was amiss. Although the courtyard was small and shabby, it was a complete small sparrow. It could be considered a prime property with a good clean-up. How could it possibly be unclaimed?

"Senior, what are you looking at?" Gu Zhongtong, who was cleaning the courtyard, asked curiously, still holding respect for this overly young senior.

"I saw something interesting," Lin Fang said with a gentle smile.

He discovered that this wronged spirit was firmly locked within the peach tree. Likely, it was under the guidance of some adept, as peach trees themselves possess the power to suppress evil, and this peach tree was specifically planted on top of the wronged spirit’s body, thus locking it within the tree.

Who knew this ghost harbored such towering resentment, corroding a peach tree to its current state—fusing with it until they were indistinguishable from each other?

Once the peach tree was completely eroded, the wronged spirit would emerge in an entirely new state. Perhaps it would be more fitting to call him a demon then.

However, his luck wasn’t particularly good; he encountered Lin Fang and his companions, who saw through his disguise.

Lin Fang, looking at the clawing wronged spirit, suddenly revealed a brilliant smile, which left the ghost, consumed by hatred, befuddled.

Before their eyes, a seemingly illusory fire suddenly appeared at Lin Fang’s chest and slowly drifted towards the peach tree.

The instant the wronged spirit saw the flames, it felt an old, forgotten fear and began to struggle violently, causing the entire peach tree to sway intensely.

The entire peach tree seemed to come to life, every branch flailing wildly. Sadly, it had not yet completely eroded the tree, and that was as much as it could manage.

The commotion of the peach tree quickly drew everyone’s attention, and they curiously looked over.

By now, the flame in Lin Fang’s chest had drifted above the peach tree. Oddly enough, the tree did not catch fire. Instead, the flames seemed ethereal as they entered the peach tree, beginning to burn the body of the wronged spirit.

A piercing scream echoed, a sound that even Gu Zhongtong heard. He stared blankly at Lin Fang, certain the scream came from the nearly dead peach tree.

White Ape, as a swordsman, was extremely sensitive to auras and was the first to detect the presence of the wronged spirit. He looked at Lin Fang and asked, "Is this the wronged spirit?"

Lin Fang smiled and nodded, "He’s out of luck. If it weren’t for us, in a little while he would’ve merged completely with this peach tree and shed his constraints."

"Wronged spirit!" Hearing their conversation, Gu Zhongtong’s eyes lit up. He had always known his master and the elder Lin Fang were likely immortals, but he didn’t expect to encounter the legendary wronged spirit so soon.

"You mean there’s a ghost in here?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, deeply hidden. It’s just unfortunate that he encountered Lin Fang," White Ape whispered, aware how well the ghost had concealed itself, especially since merging with the peach tree made it even harder to detect. This was the reason it had remained safe for so long, only to unfortunately meet Lin Fang.

Under Gu Zhongtong’s expectant gaze, the screams of the wronged spirit gradually weakened and soon faded away.

When the last trace of the wronged spirit was consumed by Lin Fang’s flames, a powerful vitality suddenly emerged from the peach tree, reclaiming the life it had been robbed of by the ghost and returning it to the tree.

Now, the peach tree that had been on the verge of death instantly revitalized; its withered branches turned green again, and soon, tender green leaves began to sprout.

And this was just the beginning. To the amazement of the onlookers, the new branches and leaves grew quickly, and the tree that was on the brink of death was transformed, lush and flourishing.

"Is this a miracle?" Gu Zhongtong muttered to himself as he watched the rejuvenated peach tree.