Chapter Five: Passing the Trial
Bang!
Li Ju sprang up directly from his rickety wooden bed.
“Haa... haa...”
Clutching his chest, Li Ju gasped for breath, cold sweat pouring from every pore.
His mind was still trapped in that final moment, when a longsword had pierced straight through his chest and heart.
The pain was unforgettable, seared into his very bones.
“It really felt as if I was about to be killed for real.”
“Good thing I managed to clear the stage at the last moment.”
Li Ju secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Just as the sword had run him through, he’d thrown himself forward with all his might, tumbling out of the forest. The system acknowledged the task as complete.
“Stage One: Forest Escape (Completed)
Objectives: 1. Escape from the ancient forest (Completed)
2. Personally slay five cult pursuers (Completed)”
“Reward calculation in progress...”
“Rewards obtained: Character Wu E—Skill: Ghost Bat Technique (1); Character Cult Pursuer—Trait: Inferior Martial Arts Aptitude.”
Hearing the reward chime, Li Ju’s eyes lit up. He hurried to open his instance panel for more details.
“Skill: Ghost Bat Technique (1): One of the Demonic Sect’s secret arts from ‘Chronicles of the Flying Sword’. Renowned in the martial world, forbidden to all but direct disciples. (Source: ‘Chronicles of the Flying Sword’—Wu E, one of the Four Disciples of the Demonic Sect)
Trait: Inferior Martial Arts Aptitude: Grants only meager improvement in martial arts learning speed. (Source: ‘Chronicles of the Flying Sword’—Cult Pursuer)”
As soon as he opened the instance panel, before Li Ju could react, a torrent of information flooded directly into his mind.
Crack... crack...
At the same time, muffled pops sounded from his body. His frame, once burly and thick from years of farm labor, began to slim and lengthen.
“Ghost Bat Technique...”
After a moment, Li Ju’s eyes flashed with a dazzling light, illuminating the entire room—his very essence crackled with energy!
He turned his gaze to the thick wooden pillar in his room.
Ghost Bat Claw!
Suddenly, Li Ju’s hands turned pitch black, flesh shrinking tight around the bone.
Bang!
Like fingers slicing through tofu, the surface of the pillar was raked with ten deep grooves!
“Hiss...”
Li Ju stared in disbelief at his own hands and the ten gouges on the pillar.
Though he’d already understood the power of the Ghost Bat Technique from the information transfer, seeing it in reality was far more visceral.
“If I landed this claw on a person...”
At the very least, for ordinary folk untrained in martial arts, it would mean certain death with just a single strike!
“And this is only the first level of the Ghost Bat Technique.”
Li Ju’s eyes burned as he looked at his panel.
Name: Li Ju
Level: 0 (0/10)
Skills: Idling (1), Ghost Bat Technique (1)
Trait: Inferior Martial Arts Aptitude
From the earlier information transfer, Li Ju now knew that the numbers following each skill represented its level—the higher the level, the more formidable its power.
He might have learned the Ghost Bat Technique, but at its lowest level, he was no match for Wu E, who had mastered it to a far greater degree.
“It’s a pity I didn’t get any skills or traits from Wang Lu...”
As the initial excitement faded, Li Ju suddenly felt a pang of regret.
Among the two rewards he’d received, the trait gained from the cult pursuer was without doubt the lowest rank, while the Ghost Bat Technique from Wu E, though a high-level secret art of the Demonic Sect in ‘Chronicles of the Flying Sword’, still paled in comparison to the skills or traits possessed by Wang Lu in Li Ju’s eyes.
After all, Wang Lu was the protagonist of the ‘Chronicles of the Flying Sword’ instance!
Anything from Wang Lu—even a single hair—would be more than enough for Li Ju, who had only just stepped into the world of martial arts, to benefit from for a lifetime.
If he could have drawn a protagonist-exclusive skill or trait, it would have made him leap for joy—literally!
“Well, getting a skill from Wu E is still better than getting two lowly traits from cult pursuers.”
With these thoughts in mind, Li Ju reopened the instance panel to see what changes had occurred after clearing the first stage.
“Chronicles of the Flying Sword (Difficulty: Easy) (Story-Driven Instance)
Synopsis: The largest sect in Lingnan, the Flying Sword Sect, is annihilated by the Demonic Sect. Wang Lu, an inner disciple, narrowly survives the massacre. To avenge his sect, Wang Lu embarks on the path to become supreme in the martial world...”
“First stage cleared, conditions met. Next stage unlocked.”
“Stage Two: The Devil Sect’s Poison (2/10)
Synopsis: Gravely wounded and on the brink of death from the Demonic Sect’s assault, you are discovered by its members, who notice your unique talent. They bring you back, plotting to use your body for their own schemes...
Objective: ??? (Viewable within the instance)
Reward: Random trait or skill from characters appearing in this stage.”
“Stage cooldown: 24 hours.”
“So, after clearing a stage, there’s a day’s waiting period before the next one opens...”
Li Ju felt a bit disappointed. He had hoped to speedrun the instances, stacking skills and traits until he became invincible in Yangyuan County, and then go overturn the Zhao family.
But now, the cooldown between stages dashed his hopes.
He gazed out the window at the sky darkening into twilight, with the last remnants of sunset lingering.
“It seems not much time passed while I was inside the instance.”
“And then there’s the Zhao family...”
Recalling the day’s events, a cold gleam flashed in Li Ju’s eyes.
“I’ll pay the Zhao family a visit tonight and see what they’re really made of. If their strength is formidable, I’ll bide my time. But if they’re weak...”
“Then they can’t blame me for dealing justice.”
Li Ju snorted coldly.
Now that he had emerged from the instance transformed, a man of martial prowess, his very mindset had begun to shift—he was growing accustomed to solving problems with force.
As the saying goes: ‘With a sharp weapon in hand, the will to kill arises.’
The evening glow faded, the moon hung high in the sky, and the last pedestrians had returned home. Only a few squads of idling soldiers, accompanied by dogs, patrolled the streets enforcing curfew. Night deepened, and the undisciplined soldiers soon ended their watch early, going home to sleep. At this opportune moment, a shadowy figure melted seamlessly into the darkness, slipping away into the distance.