A game was still a game in the end.
Yin Huaichen clearly understood that the enormous gap in body size, levels and overall attributes between them was far too large to ignore. Even that entire party earlier had failed to defeat Chi Bantu.
Fighting alone, even with the support of the Formless Impermanence cultivation method, he still had very little chance of winning in a direct confrontation.
Under the scorching desert sun, the sea of sand rippled with heat distortion.
At that moment, Chi Bantu stepped forward, his boots sinking into the burning quicksand below. Although his eyes had been blinded by the sand Yin Huaichen threw earlier, he could still lock onto Yin Huaichen’s position through sensing his qi.
With a furious roar, Chi Bantu swept his halberd horizontally like an earth dragon overturning the land itself, raising towering waves of sand that surged violently toward Yin Huaichen,
No.
It wasn’t that he had absolutely no chance of victory.
Yin Huaichen’s gaze flickered sharply.
Without hesitation, he activated the Cangming Sword Sect’s Wandering Dragon Steps. His body seemed to merge with the flowing wind itself. Enhanced by the movement speed boost, he swiftly avoided the incoming frontal attack.
His only real advantage lay in the high skill completion rate granted by the Formless Impermanence cultivation technique.
As long as he could accurately strike vital points and trigger critical hits, then even with his current attributes, he could still unleash damage far exceeding that of most players.
After all, Chi Bantu was still only a level seven elite monster. Though his health bar was thick and his defense astonishingly high,
As long as every point of Yin Huaichen’s damage landed perfectly…
Victory was not entirely impossible.
Dodging past the halberd’s blade, Yin Huaichen wasted no time. While Chi Bantu still had not reopened his eyes, he instantly closed the distance once more. His body moved low and swiftly like a green snake gliding through grass. The sword edge trembled softly as his breathing rhythm suddenly loosened,
The three foot blade slashed diagonally upward.
Within the sandstorm winds sweeping through the desert, the trembling sword tip burst forth with three flashes of icy light like a venomous serpent flicking its tongue, aimed directly at the throat!
[Flood Dragon Triple Probe Completion Rate: 90%! Dealt 260% skill damage!]
[Vital Attack!]
210, 234, 139!
Blood burst forth violently.
Clutching his throat, Chi Bantu rapidly retreated three steps backward.
The first two strikes pierced his throat.
But Chi Bantu’s reaction speed was clearly faster than Yin Huaichen had anticipated. By the time the third sword thrust arrived, Chi Bantu had barely managed to evade it, preventing the attack from landing a critical hit.
With Yin Huaichen’s current attributes, his critical hit rate was already not very high to begin with. Combined with the huge difference in level and stats between them, if the strike failed to hit a vital point, there was basically no possibility of triggering critical damage.
“Hahaha… interesting…”
Chi Bantu covered his throat and narrowed his eyes. Not only was he not angry, he actually laughed.
“I never expected the swordsmanship of the Cangming Sword Sect could be used in such shamelessly underhanded ways but honestly… I kind of like it.”
Bladewind Stronghold was a gathering place for bandits and rogue fighters. To Chi Bantu, those methods did not seem despicable at all. On the contrary, he genuinely admired them. His praise was completely sincere.
Yin Huaichen: “……”
He had been complimented.
And yet somehow, he felt absolutely no happiness whatsoever.
After thinking for a moment, Yin Huaichen responded calmly.
“Your halberd technique is decent.”
“Of course it is.”
Chi Bantu looked rather proud of himself.
“My halberd style originated from the Prison Suppression Halberd of the Coiling Dragon Sect, then I refined it through years of real combat. In the territory surrounding Thousand Mechanisms City, there aren’t many people who can match me…”
“I said it was decent. I didn’t say it was impressive.”
Yin Huaichen rolled his eyes at him, his tone faintly indifferent.
“You still need more time to mature.”
The Hall of Impermanence had collected martial arts from all across the world. What profound martial arts had Yin Huaichen not seen before?
From his perspective, Chi Bantu’s halberd technique truly only counted as “decent.”
Chi Bantu: “?”
……
“Holy shit, holy shit…”
On a distant rock wall, a player was currently holding up a recording device, enlarging the captured footage to its maximum as he focused it on the two battling figures in the desert below.
A medicinal gathering pickaxe hung from his waist, clearly identifying him as a Hermit type player specializing in life skills.
Originally, he had only come here to complete a quest before leaving.
Yet somehow he had stumbled upon such a shocking scene…
That person fighting the elite monster, that was definitely a player, right?
The rapid exchanges between the two earlier had been so dazzling that his scalp tingled just watching them.
A martial artist?
That was a martial artist player?
What the hell?
Weren’t martial artists supposed to be the universally hated bottom tier trash class? Since when were they this strong?!
An elite four man party with excellent class composition had just been completely wiped out yet this martial artist actually dared to solo the elite monster alone and judging from that elegant movement style, he clearly wasn’t ordinary at all…
The game had only just launched.
Could there really already be players this monstrous?
The player gripped the recording device tightly, not daring to miss even a single second as he recorded with absolute focus.
If this got uploaded to the forums, wouldn’t it explode instantly?
……
The roar of dragons echoed endlessly.
Chi Bantu’s halberd danced around him like a coiling pillar dragon, both incredibly fast and terrifyingly powerful.
Yin Huaichen was forced into a corner with nowhere left to retreat and could only raise his sword in reverse grip to block the incoming strike head on.
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
The enormous force pressed the sword downward so violently that the blade nearly slashed into Yin Huaichen’s own face. Fortunately, he卸力ed the force in time and coordinated it with his footwork to evade, barely surviving the dangerous attack.
Even so, the impact left the tiger’s mouth between his thumb and index finger numb from the vibration.
When he glanced at his health bar, it had already dropped past the danger threshold, leaving him with less than one fifth remaining.
If that attack had landed fully, he likely would have been instantly emptied of health and sent back to the city for a free resurrection.
“Again! Again!”
Chi Bantu grinned viciously as his halberd once again swept up torrents of yellow sand.
“Stop dodging! I hate slippery little loaches the most!”
Why don’t you try not dodging yourself then?
Yin Huaichen silently complained inwardly.
Yet despite his thoughts, he did not dare relax mentally in the slightest. Using the sword tip against the ground to rebound his body, he twisted like a snake shedding its skin, dissipating the incoming force while weaving fluidly through the storm like barrage of attacks.
The halberd possessed enormous attack range.
So Yin Huaichen deliberately closed into the inner circle, preventing Chi Bantu from fully utilizing its reach. He stuck close, leaned into angles, entangled the weapon and used soft force to neutralize the enemy’s attacks one after another.
This was the first time since entering the game that Yin Huaichen had fought a humanoid enemy.
Yet whether it was the opponent’s combat instincts, attack patterns, or defensive transitions, everything felt no different from fighting a real person.
For moments at a time, Yin Huaichen almost forgot this was merely a game.
Instead, he felt as though he had returned to his previous life.
Compared to modern ancient martial arts combat, the clash of true martial techniques was far more dangerous and exhilarating. Every move and every exchange gradually awakened the old sensations within Yin Huaichen’s body.
He even began feeling faintly excited.
Yes.
This was exactly what he had been searching for.
Though his body grew more exhilarated, Yin Huaichen’s mind remained perfectly calm.
Continuing this drawn out fight was not beneficial for him.
His inner qi reserves were limited.
Earlier, during the sneak attack, he had already used Hidden Azure Dragon from the Sleeve once. Later, while taking advantage of the blinding sandstorm, he used Flood Dragon Triple Probe and Wandering Dragon Steps again.
At this point, he only had slightly more than half of his inner qi remaining.
If he wanted to secure victory, he would need to ensure that every skill he used reached at least ninety percent completion while also triggering critical hits on every strike. Only then would he have a chance to cut down Chi Bantu, whose health pool was monstrously thick.
As this thought formed, Yin Huaichen gradually devised a plan and began searching for an opening.
Chi Bantu swept his halberd horizontally, using the shaft’s middle section to intercept the sword path.
Yin Huaichen refused to follow the flow of the attack. Instead, with a sudden change into a point style technique, his sword tip stabbed toward the seven inch weak point of the halberd shaft, forcing Chi Bantu to loosen his grip and shift his hold.
When that failed, Chi Bantu immediately transitioned into close pressure techniques.
Yin Huaichen refused to yield, spiraling his wrist naturally while his rear heel slid backward in a half circle to disperse the force.
After several exchanges of attack and defense, Yin Huaichen had not used a single skill.
He was relying purely on swordsmanship techniques.
Within the game’s system judgment, all of this merely counted as ordinary attacks rather than actual skills.
And that was precisely what made it so terrifying.
The elite monster’s attacks were so overwhelming that even Iron Guardian players of equal level would not dare withstand them head on.
Yet Yin Huaichen forcibly dissolved them one after another through techniques of redirecting force, sticking pressure and precision thrusting.
His health bar remained dangerously low at the edge of death, where even one hit would instantly kill him,
And yet it had not moved at all.
If an expert were present, they would instantly recognize the terrifying level of mastery hidden within these exchanges.
Even by the standards of modern ancient martial arts combat, Yin Huaichen’s offensive and defensive transitions were practically flawless.
The sword moved with the body.
The force left no wasted traces.
Every judgment made within fractions of a second was so precise it bordered on insanity.
The longer Chi Bantu fought, the more frustrated he became.
The young martial artist before him felt impossibly slippery, always managing to find a path to survival amidst his storm like halberd assaults.
Grinding his teeth, Chi Bantu suddenly flicked his wrist. The flexible halberd shaft trembled violently in a classic dragon spine shaking motion, attempting to knock Yin Huaichen backward.
Yin Huaichen retreated one step.
Then immediately attempted to close the distance again to limit the halberd’s effectiveness.
Naturally, Chi Bantu would not give him that opportunity.
Taking advantage of the opening, he widened the distance again, using the halberd’s range advantage to suppress the sword’s reach while intercepting and sealing off Yin Huaichen’s routes.
At the same time, he attempted to hook the sword with the halberd blade and disarm him entirely.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Yin Huaichen’s lips.
Once the heart grew anxious, force became chaotic.
Once force became chaotic, qi leaked.
And once qi leaked,
Flaws naturally appeared.
This was exactly the opening he had been waiting for.
Under Chi Bantu’s rapidly shrinking pupils, Yin Huaichen suddenly released his sword entirely.
With bare hands, he grabbed the lower portion of the halberd shaft near the handle, stepped directly onto the halberd blade mid motion, borrowed the momentum to leap straight toward Chi Bantu and unleashed a swift, vicious knee strike directly at his face!
Under the game’s assisted casting mode, system corrections made reactions like this almost impossible.
But Yin Huaichen had disabled assisted casting entirely.
And because of that, he truly possessed complete freedom.
Every movement and every technique he executed existed entirely outside the system’s interference.
As long as he could imagine it,
He could do it.
Chi Bantu instinctively bent downward, attempting to avoid the knee strike.
But the moment he lowered his head,
The opening had already appeared.
Yin Huaichen raised his hand.
The sword that had been knocked aside by the halberd returned to his grip once again. Using his waist and hips as the central axis, he completed the transfer of force within an instant.
Three consecutive sword thrusts exploded forth, icy light flashing brilliantly!
This, too, was the result of complete freedom.
With that posture and angle, there should have been almost no room at all to generate the force required for Flood Dragon Triple Probe.
Yet all techniques shared one truth,
One must never become imprisoned by form.
That was also one of the mandatory teachings within the Hall of Impermanence.
Like stripping silk threads layer by layer, Yin Huaichen peeled away every unnecessary movement, leaving behind only the pure sword intent itself.
Adjusting the body’s points of force in an instant, he perfectly fulfilled the activation conditions required for the skill.
Thus, even from such an impossible angle,
He still successfully executed it.
Flood Dragon Triple Probe!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three muffled impacts sounded in succession as the sword tip struck solidly into the back of Chi Bantu’s neck.
The burly giant let out a miserable scream while his health bar plummeted rapidly.
Wracked with pain, Chi Bantu immediately lifted the halberd shaft, intending to sweep Yin Huaichen away completely.
But in Yin Huaichen’s eyes, this was undoubtedly another terrible decision.
At that moment, he occupied the superior high ground angle while fighting at close range against a long weapon user.
How could he possibly let such an opportunity slip away?
With a leap, he avoided the incoming attack while quickly glancing at Chi Bantu’s health bar.
Only around 450 HP remained.
At this point, Yin Huaichen still had one final move left,
Hidden Azure Dragon from the Sleeve.
But even if he achieved ninety percent completion and triggered a critical hit, Chi Bantu’s defense was so high that it still would not be enough to kill him.
Yet the opportunities remaining were already running out.
He could only unleash one final strike.
Once his inner qi was exhausted, he would no longer have the strength to continue fighting.
Ninety percent completion wasn’t enough…
Then what if he pushed even higher?
Taking advantage of the moment when Chi Bantu’s move had overextended and the halberd could not recover into defense in time, Yin Huaichen’s feet landed lightly upon the ground.
The yellow sand beneath his toes sank slightly,
Then exploded outward like a storm of arrows in the very next instant!
“Good!”
Chi Bantu was already furious beyond reason. Covering his wounds, he roared in rage. Seeing that the young martial artist not only failed to retreat but actually dared charge toward him again, delight immediately appeared on his face.
At this distance.
At this angle.
There was absolutely no way to dodge!
The massive halberd swept viciously from left to right toward Yin Huaichen’s side, shrieking through the air with terrifying force,
If this strike landed solidly, forget the critically wounded Yin Huaichen.
Even at full health, he would probably be instantly wiped out by a single sweep.
Yet Yin Huaichen did not dodge.
Nor did he retreat.
There was only one sword left.
That single thought filled his mind completely.
The howling sound tearing through the air beside him seemed nonexistent.
His gaze sharpened and condensed, locking directly onto the vital point of Chi Bantu’s head.
Inner qi circulated rapidly throughout his body.
Power surged upward from the Tanzhong acupoint, flowing like a swift stream through Tianming, Lingxu, Dique…
Step forward.
Draw the sword!
The explosive power release resembled a leopard striking its prey, swift, elegant and terrifyingly beautiful.
The sword spine slid tightly along the halberd shaft, scraping upward toward the grip like a waterfall rushing in reverse. Sparks burst wildly from the friction of metal against metal, mixing together with the surrounding sandstorm until the air itself wailed like the cry of a dragon!
A terrifying sense of danger erupted.
Chi Bantu instinctively lowered his head.
All he could see was a streak of high frequency trembling cold light intertwined with the shrill scream of a sword tearing through the air,
And in the next instant,
The breathtaking, absolutely lethal Hidden Azure Dragon from the Sleeve pierced straight through his eye socket!
[Hidden Azure Dragon from the Sleeve Completion Rate: 93%! Dealt 310% skill damage!]
[Vital Attack!]
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
✦ END OF CHAPTER ✦ BEGIN COFFEE NEGOTIATIONS ✦
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Remember to keep a positive moodChapter 2 · Have fun playing the gameChapter 3 · Skill completion rateChapter 4 · Strange and malevolent creatures roam outside the cityChapter 5 · 90% complete!Chapter 6 · Serving the sect is my dutyChapter 7 · First meetingChapter 8 · Fang LecangChapter 9 · A prestigious and righteous sect!Chapter 10 · Kill Chi BantuChapter 11 · Spoils of warChapter 12 · We’ve made a fortune!Chapter 13 · Thunder and fire extinguish goldChapter 14 · You found it?Chapter 15 · The so called degree of freedomChapter 16 · The secrets of life and deathChapter 17 · A minor leader of the first rank.Chapter 18 · What kind of luck do you have?Chapter 19 · Let’s Do itChapter 20 · The BOSS escapedChapter 21 · “A wound to the heart is also a wound.”Chapter 22 · Good people are always blessed.Chapter 23 · The Old Man of the Valley of BonesChapter 24 · It’s me, young master!Chapter 25 · Take it slow and steadyChapter 26 · The older they get, the stingier they becomeChapter 27 · You know this person tooChapter 28 · I saw Wei Wanzhou againChapter 29 · You’d better keep having this kind of luckChapter 30 · “Password lock” crackedChapter 31 · We’ve come to punish you!Chapter 32 · A boorish country bumpkin who knows no manners.Chapter 33 · You have crossed the lineChapter 34 · Now that we’re here, do you think we can leave?Chapter 35 · A trivial skillChapter 36 · Actually, I was just kiddingChapter 37 · Upgrade mission complete, rating: SSS!Chapter 38 · AwardChapter 39 · I have always been law-abiding and law-abidingChapter 40 · Are you coming back for dinner tonight?Chapter 41 · Purple Lightning Square Seal.Chapter 42 · A money-grubberChapter 43 · BetChapter 44 · Four Continents Chamber of CommerceChapter 45 · This was my third meeting with Wei WanzhouChapter 46 · Oh, you want to hit on me.Chapter 47 · The angry drizzle has stoppedChapter 48 · Thunder SpearChapter 49 · “Are you a devil?”Chapter 50 · The Impermanent Lord!?Chapter 51 · Loot everywhere..Chapter 52 · His identity remains a mystery.Chapter 53 · Why not show yourself?Chapter 54 · He confronted Li Mingrui.Chapter 55 · Auction