Chapter Nine: The Virtual Battle
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“Huh? Why won’t it connect?”
At Villa No. 17 in Riverside Tower Estate, a silver-haired girl in a white T-shirt and shorts sat in the lavender-filled backyard with a phone in her hands. She dialed the number listed in the records again and again, but no one ever answered. With no other choice, she reclined in a hanging rocking chair, swinging her legs as she began leaving a message.
“Lin Yin, my name is Jiang Zixun. I’m with the admissions office of Tianhe Academy’s Academic Affairs Department. I have something urgent to discuss with you. If you hear this, please call me back at this number.”
After leaving the message, Jiang Zixun removed the hair tie from her wrist and gathered her smooth, silvery-white hair into a bun at the back of her head. The unruly air she had possessed while wearing leather clothing vanished at once. She entered the living room and casually took three sticks of incense from a drawer.
She lit them and placed them into the censer, already thick with ash.
Thin wisps of incense drifted upward. Through the hazy, tranquil smoke, Jiang Zixun glanced at the photograph on the altar.
It showed a young man and woman with radiant smiles, holding an infant girl in their arms.
Even after the ritual ended, Jiang Zixun still had not received a reply from Lin Yin. She began to grow anxious. What would happen if Uncle Lao intercepted such a promising talent? She knew him all too well. He would certainly send this person to an elite academy for further training, all to enhance the reputation of the Third Martial Arts School.
After waiting a long while without receiving a response, Jiang Zixun had nothing better to do. She picked up a metal helmet, and the AI tablet beside her lit up, displaying the same image.
[Startup complete. Entering the Eight-Nation Virtual War.]
.....
Blood-and-qi value: 395!
Looking at the latest test result, Lin Yin—his face covered in sweat—breathed heavily and smiled with satisfaction.
As expected, training at home still brought the fastest progress.
From 324 at noon to 395 by evening, such speed was terrifying within the Blood-and-Qi Realm.
Everyone knew that cultivation was difficult not only in its later stages but at the beginning as well. It was practically the process of creating something from nothing. Yet rapid progress had its drawbacks, much like gaining weight. If the body grew too quickly, the skin would crack and develop stretch marks.
Lin Yin was facing the same problem now.
The density of his muscles and the number of his muscle fibers had increased too quickly, leaving stretch marks all over his body. If he continued training like this, they would only multiply and could never be erased. Thus, after swallowing a Blood-and-Qi Pill, Lin Yin decided to rest for two days before continuing.
Crack.
He swallowed the pill.
Lin Yin’s blood-and-qi value gradually approached 400.
That was also the threshold of the fourth Blood-and-Qi Realm.
At its current natural rate of growth, he would reach it that very evening.
Ding-dong! The delivery had arrived.
Inside was a completely black metal helmet with an excellent finish, along with an instruction manual.
Lin Yin adjusted the parameters according to the instructions, connected it to his laptop, and placed it over his head.
[Welcome to the Eight-Nation Virtual War!]
[Please set your nickname:]
Looking at the luminous screen before him, Lin Yin could not help marveling at the wonders of technology. In his previous life, after leaving for the Great Wall, he had spent every day sleeping beside his blade and drinking the blood of his enemies. He had never had the chance to experience such advanced technology.
In the current world, martial arts flourished. The international conglomerates of old had all changed their strategies for survival, frantically developing products compatible with martial arts—things such as alloy blades, fully enclosed battle armor, and transnational chains of martial academies. Even the Blood-and-Qi Pills, Profound Yellow-grade weapons, cultivation manuals, and other resources overseen by government departments bore the influence of these corporations.
“Nickname...”
Lin Yin had only intended to play a few casual matches, so he entered the first name that came to mind.
[The Shadow]
Confirm!
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Two enormous screens appeared before Lin Yin.
One was densely covered with names: the ranking list.
The other displayed martial battles currently in progress.
In the Virtual War, strength was not judged by blood-and-qi value, but by points.
Lin Yin’s current ranking was outside the top one hundred thousand. Each victory earned ten points, while a loss deducted nothing. The maximum was 500 points.
After familiarizing himself with the system, Lin Yin began searching for a match.
[Match found.]
[Invincible Tyrant Dragon God] VS [The Shadow]
His vision blurred slightly before clearing again. Lin Yin found himself standing on a virtual arena.
A man holding a long saber stood opposite him.
“So they synchronize physical attributes as well.”
Lin Yin briefly tested this virtual body and discovered that its strength and aura were nearly identical to those of his real body. That meant he could use his martial techniques here, too.
There were no spectators for battles ranked below the top one hundred thousand. Lin Yin wasted no words. He raised his hand, drew his blade, lowered his body, and swept it horizontally.
The strike was extraordinarily fast. Tyrant Dragon God panicked and tried to dodge, but in the next instant, he realized that all sensation had vanished from his waist. He instinctively looked down, his eyes filling with horror.
His legs had already fallen to the ground, while the rest of his body was still in the midst of dodging.
[Bisected at the waist! Fatal injury.]
[The Shadow wins!]
[Congratulations! You have earned 10 points. Current points: 10.]
[Congratulations! Your ranking has risen by 1,230 places. Current ranking: 100,000+.]
In his first virtual battle, Lin Yin demonstrated through action what it meant to wield the heavy saber with overwhelming force.
His blade never underestimated an opponent, even if Tyrant Dragon God had looked like nothing more than a training dummy.
“Let’s continue.”
After checking the time—seven-thirty in the evening—Lin Yin decided to fight until ten before resting.
He entered match after match.
Again and again, he used the attitude of a lion hunting a rabbit, while still showing his opponents the respect of giving them his full strength.
As a result, no battle lasted more than a minute.
Most of his opponents never even realized what had happened before they were killed.
The opening move.
A flash of steel.
A blur.
And I was dead.....
[Congratulations! Your ranking has risen by 1,321 places. Current ranking: 100,000+.]
[Congratulations! Your ranking has risen by 992 places. Current ranking: 100,000+.]
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[Congratulations! Your ranking has risen by 953 places. Current ranking: 100,000+.]
...
[Congratulations! Your ranking has risen by 884 places. Current ranking: 99,521.]
...
[Congratulations! Your ranking has risen by 741 places. Current ranking: 90,021.]
...
“Huh? This person is climbing incredibly fast.”
At Villa No. 17, Jiang Zixun had grown terribly bored, so she switched the ranking list to the Rapid-Rise Rankings.
She watched the account named The Shadow with curiosity. Almost every minute, its ranking shot upward once. That meant it won a match every minute. When she opened the account details, she found its record even more pleasing to the eye: an entire page of green victories.
Twenty-two consecutive wins!
Could some Bone Condensation or even Meridian Tempering expert have created a secret alternate account?
But that should not have been possible. Accounts in the Virtual War were permanently bound to their users. Alternate accounts did not exist.
Then there was only one possibility.
A newcomer—a newcomer with extraordinary martial combat ability!
“Every promising newcomer deserves attention.”
Remembering the words of that prodigious senior from the admissions office, Jiang Zixun silently followed The Shadow’s account. She then entered one of The Shadow’s ongoing battles.
But the moment she entered, she saw a tall, slender figure standing with a saber in hand, while a corpse lay behind him.
Swish!
The image vanished. The battle was over.
“That fast?”
Jiang Zixun was slightly startled. She immediately checked The Shadow’s account and saw that the ranking had risen again. Sure enough, another victory.
“I’d like to see just how far you can go today!”
The Shadow entered another battle.
Jiang Zixun promptly followed.
A minute later, the tall, slender figure surged forward with a single step and a saber thrust, then followed with a sweeping side slash, effortlessly killing his opponent. The battle ended.
“What a swift blade! What steady footwork!”
“His proficiency is incredible! He seems even more skilled than the saber instructors at the academy!”
Although the audience could not make out the contestant’s face, Jiang Zixun could not help imagining what The Shadow looked like.
A newcomer to the Virtual War, but not a newcomer to martial arts!
Weathered stubble, slightly mottled white hair, somewhere between thirty and forty years old.
There was no mistake.
He was undoubtedly a veteran saber practitioner.
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