Yin Huaichen brushed aside the layer of dead leaves covering the ground and uncovered a moss covered stone slab hidden beneath.
The slab looked completely ordinary, with nothing particularly remarkable about it yet when he ran his fingers across its surface, he felt a faint depression in the center, subtle enough that most people would never notice it.
Taking the Bladewind Stronghold token from his inventory, Yin Huaichen carefully placed it into the indentation. With a slight push, the token clicked perfectly into place.
Then he pinched his fingers together, forming an ancient hand seal.
His fingertips traced lightly through the air above the token.
The next second, a soft humming vibration echoed through the surroundings.
The air began to ripple.
It was as though an invisible veil had suddenly been lifted.
The barren mountainside before them shimmered and distorted, revealing a hidden mountain path winding upward where moments before there had been nothing but naked rock.
The corner of Yin Huaichen’s lips curved upward slightly.
Looks like his foundation in mystical arts wasn’t quite as terrible as his teacher always claimed.
That damned suppression style education.
Turning around, he said,
“We can go in now.”
At that very moment, Mu Yu was still arguing heatedly with the person on the other end of his communicator.
“We really didn’t use your information!”
His face was red with frustration as he gestured wildly.
“We found the array eye ourselves! Couldn’t you at least refund half of it?”
The employee on the other side sounded equally helpless.
“I’m sorry, sir. Information purchased through Dustworld Pavilion cannot be refunded once it has been delivered.”
“You should already know that.”
After all, information was a one time commodity.
Who had ever heard of a seven day no questions asked refund policy for intelligence?
Mu Yu: “…”
Where the hell was he supposed to go to argue this?
After fighting the battle with reason, emotion and sheer stubbornness, he returned completely defeated.
Looking at the mountain path that had already been opened, he suddenly felt like a complete sucker.
Letting out a long sigh, he muttered,
“We got robbed blind.”
“Look on the bright side. It’s not entirely without benefits.”
Yin Huaichen offered consolation.
Mu Yu blinked.
“What benefits?”
“At least you bought yourself a lesson.”
“…”
Mu Yu shot him a look.
“Thank you. Somehow I feel even worse now.”
…
The money had already been spent.
At the very least, this trip to Bladewind Stronghold couldn’t end empty handed.
With that thought in mind, Mu Yu gathered the team and led everyone up the narrow mountain path.
The trail was cramped and treacherous.
Jagged cliffs rose on both sides, while skull shaped wind chimes hung from the rock walls every few paces.
A mountain breeze carrying the metallic scent of blood swept through the passage.
The skull chimes swayed gently.
Thin, mournful wails drifted through the air.
Yin Huaichen glanced at the skull chimes and frowned slightly.
Why did these things look so familiar?
The Impermanence Palace not only collected martial arts manuals from across the world but also maintained one of the most extensive intelligence networks in existence.
Even without leaving the palace, one could learn about major events happening anywhere beneath the heavens.
The problem was that Yin Huaichen had already been away from his original world for eighteen years.
Many memories had become blurred with time.
Moreover, the era depicted in the game’s setting appeared to be more than a century removed from the age he once lived in.
The world had changed.
People had changed.
Though certain details stirred vague feelings of familiarity, he simply couldn’t place them.
“Everyone stay alert.”
Mu Yu’s voice broke his thoughts.
“We’re definitely not the only team inside Bladewind Stronghold. Other guilds have probably already entered before us.”
As an experienced elite player, Mu Yu wasn’t overly worried about the others.
The one he was concerned about was Yin Huaichen, the temporary pickup player.
After a brief pause, he specifically turned toward him.
“When we get inside, follow my commands. Don’t get nervous. Martial Artists are pretty fragile. If things go wrong, hide behind Tie Yu. I’ll keep you healed.”
Although character appearances in the game didn’t necessarily reflect reality, they still influenced people’s first impressions.
Most Martial Artist players customized rugged, muscular appearances.
Yin Huaichen was different.
His appearance looked refined and delicate.
Subconsciously, Mu Yu placed him in the category of someone who needed protecting.
Yin Huaichen simply nodded.
“Okay.”
“Who goes there?!”
As they continued climbing, the entrance to Bladewind Stronghold finally came into view.
Several watchtowers stood guard around the stronghold gate.
The moment the group appeared, they were spotted.
“How dare you trespass into Bladewind Stronghold!”
Before the sentence had fully ended,
The watchtowers erupted with activity.
One bandit after another emerged, each carrying heavy iron bows.
The sounds of bowstrings being drawn echoed in rapid succession.
The next moment, Black iron feathered arrows poured down like a torrential storm.
Mu Yu’s expression sharpened instantly.
“Spread out!”
The group scattered without hesitation.
Several arrows slammed into the cliffside where they had just been standing.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Their tips buried deep into solid stone.
The power behind them was terrifying.
“Fire!”
The lead sentry raised his arm.
Dozens of bandits pulled their bows to full draw.
Then another wave descended.
The sky darkened beneath a sea of arrows.
The shrill screams of air being torn apart assaulted their ears nonstop.
“Get behind me!”
The team’s sole tank, Great White Shark, let out a low roar and charged forward.
A circular shockwave erupted beneath his feet, expanding outward and enveloping the party.
As an Iron Guardian, he served as the team’s main tank.
The transformable shield sword in his hands immediately revealed his origin.
He belonged to Ironwall City, currently one of the game’s most popular defensive sects, renowned for protection abilities, damage reduction skills and mass aggro control.
The circular aura spreading from beneath him was Ironwall City’s signature skill,
Steel Bone.
Within its radius, all allies received a thirty percent damage reduction buff.
Instantly, a barrage of metallic explosions erupted against the shield sword.
Arrow after arrow struck its surface before ricocheting away.
The impact was so violent that Great White Shark was forced backward step by step.
He nearly tumbled off the cliff entirely.
“These arrows hit ridiculously hard.”
He glanced at his health bar.
“Stay behind me!”
Iron Guardians already possessed exceptional defenses.
Great White Shark’s equipment was likewise optimized entirely around Constitution and Force Dissipation.
Even so, after enduring only a single wave of arrows, his health dropped alarmingly.
Mu Yu immediately cast a healing spell on him.
The path behind them was the route they had used to climb up.
Retreat wasn’t an option.
“We can’t stay here and tank this.”
Mu Yu’s eyes darted across the terrain.
Then he pointed left.
“Run that way!”
Bladewind Stronghold had more than one approach route.
The path Mu Yu indicated curved around the left side of the watchtowers.
Significantly fewer bandits occupied that area.
Most likely, another team had already cleared part of it.
The angle also created a natural blind spot against the towers.
An ideal safe zone.
“Move.”
Great White Shark didn’t hesitate.
The moment Mu Yu finished speaking, he charged forward with shield raised.
Unfortunately, one tank could only cover so much space.
While he attracted a large portion of the incoming fire, numerous arrows still slipped through from above and from the flanks.
He Shiyue Buque barely had time to react.
A sharp pain suddenly exploded from his shoulder.
An arrow had embedded itself deep into his flesh.
His health instantly dropped by a noticeable chunk.
“Holy shit!”
Terrified, he activated his emergency survival skill without hesitation.
Fire Lotus True Form.
The signature ability of a Blazing Heaven Institute Warlock.
Flames erupted around his body.
Physical damage received was drastically reduced while his movement speed surged.
Ignoring several additional arrows striking him, he sprinted toward the side passage.
The sheer density of incoming arrows now became a test of every player’s movement skills and survival instincts.
The others all displayed their own methods.
The Soul Contractor, Fallen Leaf Peerless, immediately summoned his contracted spirit companion.
Several translucent ghosts appeared before him, acting as living shields.
Mu Yu dodged while moving, repeatedly using Spring Breeze Sweep to knock away arrows whenever opportunities appeared.
Compared to them, however, the team’s Heavenly Fire Sect Mechanic, Black Shark, wasn’t nearly as fortunate.
Mechanics were naturally less mobile.
Heavenly Fire Sect also lacked powerful survival abilities like those possessed by Blazing Heaven warlocks.
He dodged desperately left and right.
Unfortunately, there were simply too many arrows.
Two shots landed squarely on him.
His health bar immediately plunged into dangerous territory.
“Heal! Heal! Heal!”
he shouted frantically.
Mu Yu instantly cast Clear Heart Universal Mantra.
Only then did Black Shark’s health stabilize and begin recovering.
As a Spirit Nexus healer, Mu Yu possessed considerably higher defenses than most damage dealers.
Combined with the numerous survival techniques available to Tianxiang Pavilion healers, his pressure level was second only to Great White Shark’s.
Everyone else was desperately focused on staying alive.
Mu Yu had to protect himself while simultaneously monitoring the health and positions of every teammate.
As he ran toward the safe passage, he suddenly remembered something.
There was still one Martial Artist in the team.
Even an experienced veteran like Black Shark had been screaming for his life.
Why hadn’t Yin Huaichen made a single sound?
Did he die already?
Alarmed, Mu Yu immediately looked up and searched through the dense rain of arrows for his figure.
Then,
He witnessed a scene that left him utterly stunned.
An arrow shot toward the newly recruited young Martial Artist.
Yin Huaichen merely tilted his head slightly.
The razor sharp arrow brushed past his ear and flew harmlessly by.
The eyes visible above his half mask narrowed faintly.
It seemed as though he was observing the trajectories of every arrow.
His movements were minimal.
Compared to his teammates, who were leaping and scrambling around like monkeys escaping a forest fire, he looked as though he belonged to an entirely different world.
Yet somehow,
Not a single arrow touched him.
Arrow after arrow descended.
An iron locust swarm flooding from the heavens.
Yin Huaichen spun gracefully.
One arrow missed.
The motion of his turn drew forth a flash of brilliant swordlight.
Mu Yu hadn’t even seen him draw his sword.
One moment it was sheathed.
The next, His wrist rotated.
Three cold flashes erupted simultaneously.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Three arrows shattered and fell before they could reach him.
Wait.
Wait a second…
Mu Yu wasn’t entirely sure he trusted his own eyes anymore.
Dodging arrows wasn’t impossible.
Despite how overwhelming the barrage appeared, moving targets were actually difficult to hit.
Many top players could avoid such attacks with sufficient reflexes.
But Mu Yu had never seen movement like this before.
Elegant.
Effortless.
Beautiful.
The distinction between Yin Huaichen and everyone else was impossible to miss.
Every skilled player Mu Yu had ever encountered relied on recognizable abilities when avoiding attacks.
He could usually identify which skills they had used.
Yin Huaichen was different.
Entirely different.
Those three strikes just now,
Were they skills?
Or weren’t they?
If they weren’t skills, accomplishing that purely through movement and basic attacks seemed absurd.
But if they were skills…
Then they were impossibly smooth.
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of a startup animation.
The only word Mu Yu could think of was,
Precision.
Yes.
Precision.
Every movement seemed calculated in advance.
A slight tilt.
A small sidestep.
Nothing extra.
Nothing wasted.
Even his sword strikes were direct and decisive.
Clean.
Efficient.
Perfect.
Like a swimming dragon weaving through a storm, Yin Huaichen danced among the endless rain of arrows.
He wasn’t relying solely on reflexes.
He was predicting trajectories.
With the system’s casting assistance nearly disabled, his body retained extraordinary freedom of movement.
He no longer needed to perform actions according to rigid templates.
The instant he spun,
Flood Dragon Triple Probe erupted.
Several arrows were knocked from the air.
His toes touched the ground lightly.
Then he launched himself forward.
A moment later, the path he had just vacated exploded with impact after impact.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Rows of arrows quivered in the earth.
Every single one landed precisely where he would have been.
Dragon Roving Step.
Such movements might have been difficult in reality.
Inside the game, however, enhanced attributes made them effortless.
Ever since falling ill, Yin Huaichen had never felt his body this light.
This free.
This alive.
He felt like an eagle soaring across the heavens.
A single thought arose.
His body followed instantly.
A chill accompanied the sound of something slicing through the air.
Another arrow approached.
Simultaneously,
His wrist turned.
The Cangming Sword left his hand.
His body half rotated.
His left hand seized the sword hilt midair.
His tailbone sank.
Power surged upward through his spine.
Then, as naturally as breathing, he thrust.
Clang!
The steel arrow aimed at his face was knocked aside.
His eyes narrowed.
Before the arrow could hit the ground, the Cangming Sword hooked lightly beneath its shaft.
Then,
Yin Huaichen leapt forward and kicked the arrow.
Whoosh!
That lone arrow suddenly shot backward against the torrent of incoming arrows.
In the next instant, it pierced straight through the throat of a bandit standing atop the watchtower.
What the hell?!
Mu Yu’s eyes widened instantly.
His hands even trembled for a moment.
What was that?
Was this some kind of movie scene?
Ever since its launch, Eterniverse had advertised itself as a virtual world almost indistinguishable from reality, boasting an unprecedented degree of freedom and realism.
But only at this very moment did Mu Yu truly understand what the word “freedom” actually meant.
He found himself staring blankly for a second.
The sight before him was simply too absurd.
Too unbelievable.
Too shocking.
The young Martial Artist moved through the rain of arrows as though he were strolling through a garden.
Every movement was clean.
Every step was precise.
Every sword strike seemed to arrive at exactly the right moment.
There wasn’t a trace of panic.
Not a shred of hesitation.
It felt less like a player fighting a battle and more like a martial arts master performing a perfectly choreographed scene from an ancient wuxia film.
Mu Yu couldn’t help but become mesmerized.
Only when an arrow struck him did he finally snap back to reality.
“Ouch!”
He hissed through clenched teeth and hurriedly regained his focus.
Forcing himself to look away, he immediately threw out several healing skills and continued sprinting toward the safe zone.
The group’s movement speeds varied.
Great White Shark remained at the rear of the formation, using his shield sword to block incoming arrows for his teammates.
The others were completely occupied with dodging, defending themselves and desperately trying to stay alive.
No one else had the spare attention to notice what was happening on Yin Huaichen’s side.
After what felt like an eternity, the group finally escaped the densest portion of the arrow storm and rushed into the passage on the left.
Just as everyone was beginning to breathe a sigh of relief,
A new threat appeared.
Without warning, dozens of bandits suddenly surged out from deeper within the passageway.
They carried a variety of close combat weapons.
Broadswords.
Spears.
Axes.
Iron clubs.
The narrow mountain path instantly became crowded with hostile figures.
Like a dark tide, they came charging forward, shouting and roaring as they rushed toward the players.
The murderous cries echoed through the canyon.
Weapons flashed beneath the sunlight.
A dense wave of enemies swept toward them with overwhelming momentum.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
One tiny coffee. One very happy translator. ✦
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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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