In his past life, Yun Zhonghe had been quite the hardcore gamer.
He’d played the original game more than fifty times, and knew every storyline and route inside out.
He even studied the combat mechanics in detail.
As mentioned earlier, Yun Zhonghe was well aware of various hidden combat techniques and game bugs.
Among these, his favorite was the sword technique combo system.
As most players know, sword techniques often consist of multiple moves.
For example, “Nine Swords of Heaven” is composed of nine sword moves, while
“Swordsmanship of the Eight Desolations” contains eighteen.
Sword technique comboing works like this: if a player learns two sword techniques, say A and B, and both include the same move, then while performing that move in Technique A, the player can seamlessly switch to Technique B.
This way, the spiritual energy consumed is that of Technique A, but the damage output is from Technique B — often stronger.
So, in practice, players would choose a lower-tier technique for A (to reduce energy use), and a higher-tier one for B (to maximize damage).
When Yun Zhonghe retrieved the “Swordsmanship of the Eight Desolations” from the Scripture Pavilion, he made sure to also take the “Nine Swords of Heaven,” because both techniques shared the same first move: the Heaven-Questioning Strike — perfect for comboing.
“The ‘Nine Swords of Heaven’ has low energy cost and a quick cooldown. If I can successfully combo it with the ‘Swordsmanship of the Eight Desolations,’ I basically get a super move that’s powerful, fast, and cheap! It’s like turning an ultimate ability into a spammable skill — a total game-breaking bug!”
But pulling off such a combo wasn’t easy — it required mastering both sword techniques to perfection.
Now that Yun Zhonghe’s cultivation level was linked to Huang Ao tian’s, he couldn’t improve it further for the time being.
To complete the upcoming town investigation in ten days and win over Qin Hongye, these sword techniques would certainly make things easier.
Out in the courtyard, Yun Zhonghe was immersed in sword practice, finding it fun rather than tedious.
Practicing swordplay felt just like playing a game — way more enjoyable than studying.
The more he practiced, the more he liked it.
Relying on his own reasoning and his memories from before his past-life awakening, Yun Zhonghe practiced with considerable skill.
Soon, he had raised his proficiency with “Nine Swords of Heaven” to the Minor Mastery level.
Sword training consumed spiritual energy, and over time it would run dry.
Rest was necessary to replenish it.
But the Yun family was filthy rich — they had spirit recovery pills to spare.
Yun Zhonghe would just grab a handful and toss them into his mouth when tired, then go right back to grinding skill proficiency.
Sword proficiency levels were categorized into Minor Mastery, Major Mastery, and Perfection.
At this rate, he figured it’d take less than two days to master the “Nine Swords of Heaven.”
“Swordsmanship of the Eight Desolations” might take longer, but he’d probably still have enough time.
And if not?
He could just ask his dad for a few sword technique insights or even get a direct transfer of internal energy to max it out by brute force.
“Tsk tsk. As a villain with such a privileged background, why wouldn’t I make full use of it? Why mess with Huang Ao tian for no reason?”
Buzz—
Suddenly, a buzzing sound rang out by Yun Zhonghe’s ear.
His rapidly-moving golden sword came to a stop.
He retracted his spiritual energy and listened carefully as a distorted voice transmission reached him: “Meet me at the back mountain outside the estate…”
A voice transmission?
Who was contacting him?
Yun Zhonghe frowned.
It was late — he couldn’t just go running off because someone called him.
What if it was a trap set by Huang Ao tian to eliminate him?
He didn’t rush out of the Yun estate.
Instead, he turned and walked back into his house.
Just then, the Book of Prophecy in his mind stirred.
It didn’t give a full prophecy, but offered a single clue: (Yù) Just that one character — and Yun Zhonghe immediately thought of Lin Zhongyu.
His eyes lit up.
Could she be the one who invited him?
“Maybe… I should go check it out?”
After all, she was Huang Ao tian’s key childhood friend — a major storyline route not to be missed.
[Scene shift: Back Mountain, Outside the Yun Estate]
Halfway up the mountain, Yun Zhonghe spotted a slim figure standing on the peak.
She wore dark nightclothes, a wide hat, and a veil.
But Yun Zhonghe had seen enough game CGs to recognize her at a glance: it was Lin Zhongyu.
Those “little steamed buns” of hers had definitely fueled many of his “cloudy” dreams before.
“Tsk… the heroine and the blondie meeting outdoors? This plot’s actually pretty wild. Should be safe, right?”
Yun Zhonghe felt no guilt.
As long as he didn’t act out of line, there should be no danger.
After all, the Book of Prophecy hadn’t predicted his death.
So Yun Zhonghe confidently stepped forward.
“Was that you calling me just now?”
Under the moonlight, even with the veil, her delicate expression was faintly visible — and clearly affected by his appearance.
Such a bright, upright figure didn’t look like someone with a guilty conscience.
Anyone with the slightest hint of duplicity wouldn’t dare show up alone to such a meeting.
Yun Zhonghe’s calm and upright demeanor seemed to put her at ease.
She had come to verify something — to see if Yun Zhonghe was truly deceitful or not.
But deep down, part of her hoped he wasn’t that kind of person.
“You came without guards. Aren’t you afraid this might be a trap?”
The woman in black asked in a deliberately raspy, altered voice.
“You won’t kill me,” Yun Zhonghe said with a faint smile.
“After all, I’ve saved you twice.”
Lin Zhongyu’s eyes froze slightly.
Then she pulled down her veil, revealing her gentle features.
“So… you knew it was me all along?”
“Not really. I only realized it when I saw your silhouette.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Lin Zhongyu’s lips curled up slightly.
“Looks like my disguise wasn’t as flawless as I thought.”
Still, it didn’t really matter if Yun Zhonghe recognized her — she hadn’t planned on hiding her identity from him in the first place.
But Yun Zhonghe shook his head and replied, “I just happen to be quite familiar with you. If it were someone else, they wouldn’t have recognized you.”
That answer puzzled Lin Zhongyu — they hadn’t met that many times, had they?
Yun Zhonghe stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, “Miss Lin, haven’t you noticed? Over the past few years, your luck in certain areas has been strangely good — almost like someone in the shadows was secretly helping you?”
Lin Zhongyu’s golden eyes suddenly widened.
“Was it… you?!”
After being completely abandoned by the Lin family, she’d been treated like a lowly servant — her living conditions were miserable, far removed from the dignity of a noble daughter.
And yet, for reasons unknown, her luck always seemed exceptionally good.
Whenever she was injured, she’d coincidentally stumble upon medicine to heal herself.
When her allocated spirit stones were unfairly withheld by the family, she’d strangely discover unexpected windfalls.
If it had only happened once or twice, it could be chalked up to pure luck.
But it happened every single time — far too often to be a coincidence.
In fact, Lin Zhongyu had long suspected that some powerful figure was secretly helping her.
She had once believed it might be a friend of her late mother’s — someone silently watching over her.
But now, she realized…
It had been Yun Zhonghe all along!
In that moment, her heart trembled violently — a surge of surprise, emotion, and excitement.
She had always wanted to know who was behind those acts of quiet kindness, always wanted the chance to say thank you.
Now that she knew everything — that Yun Zhonghe had been the one silently protecting her all along, even going so far as to defy fate itself to awaken her Golden Emperor Sacred Eyes…