Had his blade grown dull after only two decades? No, it couldn't be—he was Jian Mo, the sword demon! Waves of killing intent poured out of his body, condensing as demonic apparitions that surrounded him.

The sensations he had given up after his retirement came flooding back.

Most Wang bladewielders died during their tenure, like Wang Jian, or descended into madness thanks to the large quantity of killing intent they were surrounded by daily.

Only a rare few bladewielders could survive two trying decades of slaughter and still retire safe and sound. These rare bladewielders would be given the responsibility of killing any future bladewielders who had descended into madness.

In the end, these bladewielders almost uniformly went mad themselves.

When a previous...