Golden Touch Lodge, when Le Yu first heard this name, he thought it was a small restaurant.

But after investigating, he found out that this place is actually the most mysterious club in Yanjing.

The owner of Golden Touch Lodge is just a small businessman, and the business projects are quite ordinary, barely considered high-end dining, but the frequent visitors of the lodge are not ordinary people—

Chief Minister Jiang Li!

Yanjing's Xie Chenyuan!

Hall Master Shaoge (died a year ago)!

Hall Master Tianjian (died half a year ago)!

Palace Master Wanxue (died a year ago)!

Imperial Academy's Cha Huan!

It can be said that all the conspiracies in Yanjing amount to one stone; Golden Touch Lodge holds eight bushels, the Imperial Court holds one bushel, and all other places share one bushel.

No one knows why these powerful figures enjoy meeting at Golden Touch Lodge, only that it's strictly a membership system, and won't entertain outsiders, no matter how much money they have. But that doesn't stop the common people from speculating about it.

Some say, there is an Underground Palace under Golden Touch Lodge, which is truly the place where these powerful figures enjoy themselves; some say Golden Touch Lodge is a treasury, from which the ruling powers can directly extract gold and silver when exchanging interests; some say the food at Golden Touch Lodge is even more delicious than that made by the old master of the Chrysanthemum Pavilion, which is why it attracts so many people...

In short, Golden Touch Lodge is indeed a very mysterious place.

But in Le Yu's opinion, Golden Touch Lodge is just an ordinary garden, almost without any buildings higher than two floors, with small bridges over flowing water, a pavilion at the center of the lake, a moonlit clear lake. Talking about the style of décor, not to mention the Qin Family, Golden Touch Lodge can't even compare with the Jing Family.

There's nothing special about it except almost every tree in this garden hides a strong figure.

Originally, Le Yu thought he had come early enough, but unexpectedly, others came even earlier—when he hid himself in the shadows of a rockery in the lodge, he sensed others' gaze through his Ice Blood Physique, at least three stares.

After he hid, successively more than a dozen people sneaked into Golden Touch Lodge, tonight's moon was extraordinarily bright, and Le Yu almost felt the shadows in this place were too few for everyone to squeeze into.

Seriously? Killing Qin Le Yin requires mobilizing such a large force?

This setup looks more like it's intended to storm the Imperial Court and seize the Holy Sword Glory than to assassinate a mere Imperial Academy teacher.

Le Yu instantly felt it might be difficult to even leave, so he transformed the 'Saint's Relic' into the 'Veil of Strife' to wear on his face, and if things go wrong, he'd directly trigger absolute darkness to escape.

Although everyone had a good sense of time and arrived early, Golden Touch Lodge was still quietly silent, without any commotion.

Until midnight arrived, the distant sound of a bell from Yao Bell Tower in Yanjing echoed, and ripples suddenly appeared at the center of Mirror Heart Lake at Golden Touch Lodge.

In the next second, a figure appeared above the center of the lake.

This moment, Le Yu heard many heartbeats and breaths full of restlessness and surprise. If not for the Ice Blood Physique, Le Yu would surely have embarrassed himself—he couldn't see how that person appeared at all.

Not even Le Yu could understand, everyone else here must be equally puzzled.

Moreover, how can one float on water?

Is he a ghost?

"Thank you all for coming by invitation." The figure on the lake cupped his hands, his voice rippling like water waves, eerie and strange: "Please forgive me for not being able to come in person; I can only meet you in this way."

Le Yu focused his eyes and discovered the figure on the lake was merely a mass of light and shadow, without any substance, as if it was formed by the gathered moonlight on the lake.

"I understand your curiosity, but I will explain later. Now let's get to the point—otherwise some friends might get angry." The lake figure smiled and said: "Tonight we gather only because of two people: Shuiyun Palace, Qin Le Yin."

"Currently, Shuiyun Palace is in a commanding position, gathering the minds of the academy, and with point advantages, it seems to be their celestial mandate. Although we hope to block this, with the Sword Holder present, absolutely no one can harm the Sword Master."

Suddenly, a voice echoed from all directions: "Really incapable of harming the Sword Master?"

The lake figure nodded: "I can understand your questions, is there any Curse Hunter from Canglan here? Among those who have crossed paths with the Sword Holder, only you guys are left."

After a while, a hoarse voice came openly from the shack beside the small bridge: "It can't be considered a confrontation, just a one-sided massacre. When we set foot in Imperial Academy and approached the student dormitory, everyone was attacked. If not for my curse tending towards resurrection nature, I wouldn't have survived to now, but all the other four Curse Hunters silently perished in the Imperial Academy."

The lake figure asked: "What about your curses?"

Curse Hunter: "Completely ineffective."

"Perhaps some friends may not understand, so I'll briefly introduce it." The person in the heart of the lake said, "The curse is a special technique of the Canglan District, equivalent to a Forbidden Battle Technique. The characteristic of the curse is that it not only adds the hunter a painful 'calamity', but it also allows the hunter to grasp the power of the 'calamity', which is to control one's own spirit and pollute others' spirits."

"Actually, I don't know much about Curse Hunters, but anyone who has fought them will be entangled by a 'curse' afterward, ceaselessly. The curse isn't designed to kill, but rather to make life worse than death."

"Your understanding is deep enough." The Curse Hunter said sinisterly, "The last sentence you mentioned is known only by those who've experienced the Great Jungle Trial of curse hunters... Seems you have a good friend or a prisoner with a loose tongue."

"Thank you." The person in the heart of the lake bowed and said, "So everyone understands now, right? Although it's a bit impolite to say, in the elite forces of the Eight Districts, Curse Hunters are at least in the top three, and even they can't do anything in front of the Sword Holder, so there's no need for others to keep trying."

"Since we can't deal with Shuiyun Palace, our target is naturally Qin Le Yin. As long as we don't approach the student dormitory or target the Sword Master, the Sword Holder won't bother us."

Voices echoed from all around: "But there's still Cha Huan inside the Imperial Academy."

"Yes, that's why I called so many people this time." The person in the heart of the lake said leisurely, "To boost everyone's confidence, let me briefly check the various forces attending."

"Friends of the Brotherhood, is the Imperial Court fun?"

"Curse Hunters, please allow me to pay tribute to your Great Jungle."

"Grass Cutter Agent, restrain your killing intent in Yanjing."

"Three Gun Disciples, what a delightful companion..."

Le Yu listened more and more surprised.

What makes Qin Le Yin so special!

Of the forces mentioned by the person in the heart of the lake, Le Yu knew only a portion, realizing they were likely secret forces from various districts.

Though secret forces, they're actually just secretive to civilians, but to the upper echelons they're no different from vocational training schools, except they cultivate customized warriors specifically to serve nobles as security and protect military forces. But since the cultivation methods are rather cruel, they can't openly recruit.

Actually, Chenfeng District and Dongyang District also have these forces, but before Le Yu came across, the hidden forces in Chenfeng District were wiped out by Blue Flame directly, and Silver Ancient Moon seems to be from that hidden force; Dongyang's hidden force became part of the army—Heyang Army commander, Gai Shiwen, was originally the leader of the 'Sea King'. He hooked up with the Silver Blood Association and directly brought the entire force into the military establishment.

Now, it's like special forces from various countries have gathered to discuss how to kill Qin Le Yin!

This situation, those unaware might think Qin Le Yin is about to destroy the world or rule it!

As the person in the heart of the lake spoke, he suddenly stopped. Le Yu looked over, and even though the person didn't have eyes, he felt like he was being watched.

"...even that leader is willing to lend strength to us?" The person in the heart of the lake's tone contained barely suppressed delight: "Hidden Sword Assassin, allow me to pay you the highest respect."

Though Le Yu was disguised, he was unaffected by discovery, yet it felt like wearing pants specially designed to avoid wardrobe malfunctions, only to have the skirt lifted.

He immediately realized—this place is problematic! The person in the heart of the lake seems to see through everything here!

If not for the disguise, the 'Qin Le Yin Discussion Meeting' would become the 'Qin Le Yin Extermination Battle'!

Moreover, Le Yu realized White Night hadn't arrived after the introduction.

"Now, everyone should feel there is a high chance of success in this collaboration, right?" The person in the heart of the lake smiled. "But before we officially discuss, I need you to swear not to leak tonight's secret meeting."

Someone chuckled: "An oath? Does it mean anything to us?"

"Yes."

The person in the heart of the lake asserted, "Because this is the Golden Touch Retreat."

"Why can I appear on the lake surface as a phantom?"

"Why are your traces laid bare before my eyes?"

"Why is everyone willing to come to the Golden Touch Retreat for a secret talk?"

"Because this is the Golden Touch Retreat."

"Everyone, have you heard of the Extreme Divine Weapon·Golden Touch?"

Extreme Divine Weapon!?

The person in the heart of the lake continued, "Generally, Divine Weapons are incredibly difficult to destroy, like the Absolute Divine Weapon appearing two thousand years ago, still gleaming as new, its power unfaded. But there are always special circumstances—over a decade ago, the Extreme Divine Weapon·Golden Touch was destroyed, disappearing into this lake."

"Though the weapon is shattered, its power remains. As long as we're near the lake, by giving a small cost, we can harness its power."

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