“Hahaha! I won again!”
“Pay up! Pay up!”
“Damn it…”
Inside the room, a group of bandits sat crowded around a table playing cards, their boisterous shouts and curses filling every corner of the hall.
“I’ve hit the jackpot!”
The victorious bandit grinned smugly as he swept the pile of chips in front of him into his arms, completely ignoring the colorful insults being hurled at him by the others.
He had barely begun counting his winnings when, in the very next instant, a blazing fireball shot straight through the doorway.
Boom!
The fireball slammed squarely into his body, blasting him backward. He crashed into the chair behind him with tremendous force, shattering it into splinters.
Clatter!
The chips scattered across the floor.
The remaining bandits were startled. They shot to their feet in unison, drawing their blades.
“Who’s there?!”
With a deafening bang, Great White Shark smashed through the front door, shield raised and sword in hand, charging headlong into the room. Mu Yu and the others followed closely behind him.
Without wasting a single word, Fallen Leaves Matchless planted his Soul-Calming Banner firmly into the ground.
His fingers flew through a series of hand seals, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of ghostly spirits burst forth from the banner, shrieking as they surged toward the bandits before them.
“It’s people from Hundred Ghosts Night Parade Workshop!”
“Those bastards from Thousand Mechanisms City broke in!”
“Get them!”
Although the bandits usually lived in a carefree, undisciplined manner, when trouble came knocking, none of them hesitated.
Weapons were snatched up without delay as they rushed head-on toward the invading players.
“Great White Shark, hold the front! Fallen Leaves Matchless, watch the flanks! Black Shark, focus on picking off priority targets!”
Mu Yu lifted a hand, sending streaks of radiant light flying from his fingertips. One enhancement after another landed on Great White Shark, instantly layering him with buffs as Mu Yu calmly directed the battle with practiced precision.
“Thousand Mechanisms City?”
Standing in the middle of the room, the First-Rank bandit leader narrowed his eyes as he watched his subordinates charge toward the unexpected intruders. Calmly, he reached to his waist and removed a black iron horn.
It was the emergency signal horn of Blade Wind Stronghold.
The moment it was sounded, every nearby brother of the stronghold would rush over at full speed.
The horn had only just reached his lips,
Crash!
A thunderous explosion erupted from the window behind him.
Wood splinters flew in every direction as a lean figure burst through the shattered frame, carried forward by the silver glow of the moonlight.
And along with that moonlight came a dazzling flash of cold steel.
Yin Huaichen’s objective had been crystal clear from the very beginning.
Break through the window.
Drop into stance.
Draw the sword.
Slash upward.
Every movement flowed seamlessly into the next.
Before the bandit leader could even react, Yin Huaichen’s blade swept upward in one fluid motion, knocking the black iron signal horn clean out of his hand.
Nice!
Watching the scene unfold, Mu Yu couldn’t help giving Yin Huaichen an enthusiastic thumbs-up in his heart.
If that horn had been blown, every nearby bandit would have descended upon them. With only six people on their side, there was no way they could have held back that kind of siege.
Yin Huaichen’s first move had immediately prevented the enemy leader from calling for reinforcements.
It was absolutely the correct decision.
“Cangming Sword Sect?”
The black iron horn spun through the air as it flew from his grasp. Once the bandit leader recognized the sword technique and attire of the newcomer, he frowned.
Yin Huaichen casually threw an Appraisal skill at him.
Blade Wind Stronghold Branch Captain: Li Yongnan (Lv. 10).
Just as expected.
A genuine First-Rank opponent.
“So you’re the ones who captured my senior brother?” Yin Huaichen asked, his eyes shifting slightly.
“My senior brother?”
Li Yongnan froze for a moment before letting out a cold snort.
“So that Cangming disciple we captured a few days ago is your senior brother? Hmph. The Cangming Sword Sect really isn’t what it used to be. A worthless brat who hasn’t even entered the ranks dares to come charging into Blade Wind Stronghold? You’ve got quite the nerve.”
So his quest target really was still alive.
He had simply been captured by Blade Wind Stronghold.
Yin Huaichen answered with an equally cold laugh.
“And who told you I came here alone? Blade Wind Stronghold has committed countless atrocities. Today, one of our elders has personally come to wipe all of you from existence.”
As he spoke, his gaze shifted past Li Yongnan’s shoulder.
“Elder, strike now!”
An elder?!
Li Yongnan’s heart lurched.
Although the Cangming Sword Sect in Thousand Mechanisms City was merely a branch, anyone qualified to hold the title of elder was, at the very least, a Fourth-Rank expert.
The moment those words reached his ears, alarm shot through him.
He instinctively spun around.
The instant he turned,
A sharp whistle of air exploded behind him.
Yin Huaichen moved with astonishing speed.
The moment Li Yongnan’s attention slipped, he unleashed Hidden Azure Dragon without the slightest hesitation.
However, he had still underestimated the strength of a true First-Rank expert.
Realizing he had been tricked, Li Yongnan didn’t bother turning back at all.
Instead, he dropped into a low crouch, narrowly avoiding the sword thrust aimed at the back of his head.
Using the momentum of the dodge, he twisted his body and slashed his saber upward in a powerful counterattack, the heavy blade chopping straight toward Yin Huaichen’s head.
Clang!
Li Yongnan reacted with incredible speed. A nimble reverse saber technique neutralized the assassination strike of Hidden Azure Dragon, reducing the move’s completion rate to only eighty-three percent.
As the saber descended toward his face, Yin Huaichen immediately shifted into defense.
His sword tip tapped repeatedly against the incoming blade, skillfully dispersing its force before slashing diagonally toward Li Yongnan’s wrist, forcing him to alter his attack. The feint transformed midway into another strike, the blade sweeping smoothly toward the bandit’s ribs.
The hit landed.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a martial skill.
It dealt only thirty-six points of ordinary damage.
Without the amplification granted by a high-completion martial technique, a normal attack that relied solely on base attributes wasn’t much stronger than that of any ordinary martial artist player.
“You’re courting death!”
Having been toyed with repeatedly, Li Yongnan was visibly enraged.
He strode forward with large, forceful steps, his saber swinging faster and heavier with every strike as he launched an unrelenting barrage toward Yin Huaichen.
The attribute gap of a First-Rank expert was terrifying.
Naturally, Yin Huaichen had no intention of meeting that strength head-on.
Borrowing the force of his movement, he flipped backward, narrowly evading the descending blade.
The saber smashed into the ground.
Fragments of shattered stone exploded into the air.
Using the opening, Yin Huaichen slid low across the ground, his sword slicing toward Li Yongnan’s ankle.
Li Yongnan hurriedly withdrew half a step.
His saber swept upward from below, unleashing an imposing technique, Earth-Raising Dragon, its powerful arc completely sealing off Yin Huaichen’s route of escape.
“Perfect timing.”
The corners of Yin Huaichen’s lips curved upward.
Instead of retreating, he advanced.
His sword tip lightly touched the ground as his body rose gracefully into the air like a soaring wild goose.
Reversing his grip, he laid the blade flat against his forearm in an underhand hold before slicing directly toward Li Yongnan’s wrist.
The move was breathtakingly elegant.
Li Yongnan reacted a fraction too slowly.
A sharp pain erupted in the hand gripping his saber.
In the very next instant,
Three flashes of icy light were already upon him.
Flood Dragon’s Triple Probe!
Mu Yu had been keeping a close eye on Yin Huaichen from the very beginning.
Even knowing how skilled Yin Huaichen was, he couldn’t help feeling anxious. After all, the opponent was a genuine First-Rank sub-leader.
His only hope had been that Yin Huaichen could hold out long enough for the rest of them to finish clearing the lesser bandits before rushing over to support him.
Never in his wildest imagination had he expected Yin Huaichen to fight a First-Rank enemy on equal footing.
Judging by the exchange…
He even seemed to have the upper hand.
Mu Yu stared at Yin Huaichen as though he were witnessing an immortal descended to the mortal world.
The brief series of exchanges they had just traded unfolded before his eyes like an authentic wuxia film brought to life.
Sword light and saber shadows intertwined.
Steel flashed.
Blades collided.
Every move was dazzling enough to leave onlookers breathless.
Mu Yu watched with his heart pounding violently in his chest, unable to suppress the admiration rising within him.
This was the first time he had ever seen a martial artist this incredible.
Martial artists might currently occupy a weaker position among the game’s classes, but there were still a handful of truly exceptional players.
Within Thousand Mechanisms City, the publicly acknowledged strongest martial artists were Qiu Bailuo, Xiao Xiao Yu Xie, and several other top-tier professionals who had already made names for themselves in previous games.
Yet, compared with the Yin Huaichen standing before him…
Mu Yu couldn’t help feeling that they all fell noticeably short.
“Hiss…”
Li Yongnan pressed a hand against the thin line of blood that had been cut across his neck and slowly retreated a step.
His vicious gaze remained locked firmly on Yin Huaichen.
Within those eyes now lingered not only hostility,
but also unmistakable surprise…
and caution.
What exquisite swordsmanship…
This young man clearly hasn’t even entered the ranks yet. His inner qi is weak, and both his speed and strength are far inferior to mine…
Yet this refined, seasoned swordsmanship…
How could someone his age possibly possess such mastery?
Yin Huaichen thrust out three consecutive sword strikes. Instead of pressing the attack, he rode the momentum into a backward leap, landing lightly on the edge of the windowsill.
Crouching with one knee bent, his posture relaxed and unhurried, he smiled faintly.
“The flaw lies in the blade, not in the strength.”
The conversation served only one purpose, to buy time.
Yin Huaichen’s inner qi reserves were far too limited. After exchanging only a handful of moves, more than half of it had already been exhausted.
Fortunately, although Li Yongnan was a genuine First-Rank martial artist, Yin Huaichen felt that he still wasn’t as troublesome as Chi Bantu.
Even though Chi Bantu had only been Level Seven, he possessed an Elite template.
Li Yongnan, on the other hand, was merely an ordinary-template sub-leader. Aside from his overwhelming strength, superior speed, and thick defenses, he posed no other real threat.
After only a brief exchange of blows, Yin Huaichen had already seen through the foundation of Li Yongnan’s fighting style.
It was obvious that the man had learned through rough experience rather than formal training.
His combat relied heavily on instinct and brute force.
His saber techniques were straightforward and direct, lacking variation or subtlety.
Having reached that conclusion, Yin Huaichen’s confidence settled.
He could win.
Letting out a slow breath as he waited for his inner qi to recover, the sole of his boot crushed the broken stones scattered across the windowsill.
In the next instant,
His body shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.
Swimming Dragon Steps!
Li Yongnan had long since been consumed by rage.
Seeing Yin Huaichen charge once again, he neither retreated nor dodged. His massive saber tore through the air with a violent howl as it came crashing down toward Yin Huaichen’s body.
The young man’s offense resembled a venomous snake striking its prey, touching only for an instant before immediately withdrawing.
Compared to Li Yongnan’s towering frame, Yin Huaichen looked almost like a chick standing before a tiger.
Yet with his nimble footwork and seasoned swordsmanship, he forcibly turned the tide, suppressing his opponent despite the overwhelming difference in physical strength.
His longsword skimmed low before sweeping upward, its tip striking the flat of the saber with flawless precision.
It was none other than the Diagonal Flight Stance of the renowned Bai Clan Life-Taking Sword, a technique famous in his previous life.
Using a single point to break a broader surface.
Using refined force to overcome brute strength.
Soft, continuous streams of power flowed through the blade, achieving the effect of moving a thousand pounds with only four ounces.
The sensation nearly made Li Yongnan cough up blood.
The youth before him felt like an eel covered in oil.
His movements clearly weren’t especially fast.
Yet every single strike pierced directly into the weakest point of Li Yongnan’s saber technique.
“Is dodging all you know how to do?!”
Li Yongnan roared in fury.
Yin Huaichen remained silent.
Borrowing the momentum of his advance, he slipped in close.
His sword flicked lightly.
Like a living serpent, the blade wrapped itself around the saber before suddenly jerking backward with tremendous force.
At that moment, Li Yongnan’s attack had already run its full course.
There was no time to shift his center of gravity.
His body lurched helplessly forward.
Yin Huaichen immediately stepped down on the broad saber, pinning it beneath his foot and completely cutting off the leverage Li Yongnan needed to lift it again.
Then the sword flashed upward.
Its arc resembled a crescent moon reflected upon a tranquil lake.
The blade slipped with astonishing precision into the narrow gap between the handguard and the hilt.
Clang!
Li Yongnan’s saber flew from his hand.
Yin Huaichen’s right hand immediately formed into a spear-like strike with his fingers.
His hand shot forward viciously, driving straight into Zhangmen, the vital acupoint beneath Li Yongnan’s right ribs.
The sharp crack of splitting bone rang out together with a muffled groan.
Li Yongnan’s body involuntarily collapsed onto one knee.
For a brief instant,
He completely lost the ability to move.
A wave of horror surged through Li Yongnan’s heart.
Yet Yin Huaichen’s sword never stopped.
The blade glided across the side of his neck, pressing against the carotid artery.
His wrist rotated smoothly.
A thin crimson line bloomed across Li Yongnan’s throat.
Vital Point Attack!
Strike while the enemy is weakened.
Finish him before he can recover.
Yin Huaichen knew perfectly well that with Li Yongnan’s attributes, even without his saber, he could easily send Yin Huaichen back to the city using nothing but his fists.
He had no intention of giving him even the slightest chance to catch his breath.
Activating Star-Splitting Art, Yin Huaichen thrust forward with Hidden Azure Dragon, immediately chaining it into Flood Dragon’s Triple Probe.
Every last strand of his remaining inner qi erupted all at once.
He poured everything into a single explosive burst.
“Pile on the damage!”
Yin Huaichen shouted toward Fallen Leaves Matchless and the others.
“On it!”
Fallen Leaves Matchless, Never Lacking Moon, and Black Shark all stiffened in surprise.
The moment they looked up, they saw Yin Huaichen hacking relentlessly at Li Yongnan with his sword.
Their eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.
Seriously?
You pinned a First-Rank sub-leader to the ground and are beating him up?
Are you cheating?
Even though those thoughts flashed through their minds, none of them slowed their hands.
After all, they were an experienced elite team.
Target switching was second nature to them.
The three damage dealers immediately redirected all of their attacks, unleashing a torrent of skills upon the temporarily incapacitated Li Yongnan.
Although Li Yongnan was a First-Rank martial artist, he was still only an ordinary-template enemy.
After enduring Yin Huaichen’s explosive combo, his health had already dropped to less than half.
Faced with the concentrated assault of four damage dealers, the remaining portion of his health bar vanished almost instantly.
His body collapsed limply onto the floor.
“The boss is dead!”
“This is bad!”
With Li Yongnan dead, the remaining ordinary bandits became much easier to deal with.
Great White Shark hurried over and blocked the entrance, preventing any of them from escaping to raise the alarm.
Meanwhile, everyone else calmly pulled enemies together before systematically cleaning them up.
It didn’t take long before every single bandit inside the room had been eliminated.
Never Lacking Moon was genuinely convinced this time.
He raised a thumbs-up toward Yin Huaichen.
“I admit it, Brother Wuchang. I’m completely convinced.”
“If I’d known martial artists were this ridiculous,” Fallen Leaves Matchless said with an envious expression, “I would’ve picked a martial artist back then too.”
“Oh, give me a break.”
Mu Yu rolled his eyes at him.
“Even if you played a martial artist, you’d still end up living in the gutters.”
There were countless martial artist players in the game.
Yet someone at Yin Huaichen’s level…
Mu Yu had only ever seen one.
It had truly broadened his horizons today.
For the very first time, he realized that the martial artist class, so often dismissed and looked down upon by players, actually possessed such an unbelievably high ceiling.
After speaking, Mu Yu turned toward Yin Huaichen.
“Your skill assistance settings… you turned them down really low, didn’t you?”
Yin Huaichen nodded.
Low?
He had turned assisted casting off completely.
“No wonder.”
Most martial artists used their skills in a very conventional manner.
At a glance, they all looked as though they had been produced from the same mold.
Only Yin Huaichen’s swordsmanship flowed with such freedom and vitality that it seemed to belong to an entirely different game.
Mu Yu had already suspected that his control freedom must be incredibly high.
Now that the suspicion had been confirmed, everything suddenly made perfect sense.
“So high freedom really is the correct way to play a martial artist.”
A look of sudden realization spread across Mu Yu’s face.
“You practice martial arts in real life, don’t you?”
“Mmm… I suppose you could say that.”
After falling ill, he had never practiced martial arts again.
Strictly speaking, he could still be considered half a member of the ancient martial arts combat world.
However, the way Yin Huaichen fought now had very little to do with the ancient martial arts of reality.
Most of it originated from the experiences of his previous life.
Ever since transmigrating into this world, it had been a very long time since he had fought in this manner.
On the first day, everything had still felt somewhat unfamiliar.
But now…
Yin Huaichen could feel himself becoming more and more accustomed to it.
“Let’s open the treasure chest!”
Fallen Leaves Matchless rubbed his hands together eagerly, his eyes fixed expectantly on the blue-grade treasure chest sitting inside the room.
“Let Wuchang open it,” Mu Yu said.
“You’re today’s MVP.”
Yin Huaichen shrugged.
“My luck is pretty terrible… If we don’t get anything good, don’t blame me.”
Urged on by his teammates, Yin Huaichen walked over to the treasure chest and began picking the lock.
Like Appraisal, Lockpicking was one of the universal basic skills automatically granted to every player.
The only problem was that Yin Huaichen had never actually used his Lockpicking skill before.
Its level was extremely low.
As a result, the unlocking progress crawled along painfully slowly.
It took a full five minutes before the blue-grade treasure chest finally clicked open.
Looks like I’ll have to find a proper Lockpicking skill book when I get the chance…
Otherwise, if I ever come across a purple-grade or even a gold-grade treasure chest in the future…
Am I going to spend an entire day just opening the thing?
Yin Huaichen thought to himself.
He then lowered his gaze toward the contents inside the treasure chest.
His eyes suddenly froze.
“Holy shit.”
Fallen Leaves Matchless hurried over and peered inside.
The moment he saw what lay within, his mouth dropped wide open.
“Y-You… what kind of insane luck is this?”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
This chapter was powered by questionable decisions. The next one may require coffee.
☕ 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