Chapter 28: Mission Accomplished, the Secret of the Azure Orchid Sword Technique
“Ah?”
Hanshan stared wide-eyed at Lu Yuan, who had suddenly appeared. How had he crossed such a great distance in the blink of an eye? What kind of lightness skill was this? Was there such a technique in the martial world? Why had he never heard of it before?
Hanshan could only helplessly watch as Lu Yuan swung his fist. With a loud bang, his abdomen churned violently, and he spat out blood mixed with shattered internal organs.
Lu Yuan pulled back his strength. Otherwise, with his power, a single punch would have beaten Hanshan into a bloody pulp. He couldn’t let Hanshan die just like that. After all, Hanshan had insulted him—did he think Lu Yuan would let him die in peace? Not a chance.
Everyone knew Lu Yuan didn’t hold grudges because he settled scores on the spot. He never let anything linger till the next day. Naturally, he never harbored grudges.
...
“Don’t scream.”
“Take deep breaths. Pain is normal.”
“It will stop hurting soon.”
Lu Yuan whispered soothingly before striking again. This punch landed on Hanshan’s left leg with a crackling sound—the bones shattered into pieces.
“Ah…”
“Bang…”
Several consecutive punches from Lu Yuan relentlessly pulverized Hanshan’s skeleton. Without the support of bones, Hanshan’s body collapsed like a puddle of mud, unable to stand.
Any ordinary man would have died long ago.
But Hanshan was different. As a disciple of the Demonic Yin Sect, he cultivated the Demonic Yin Body, which granted him incredible vitality. Even with his bones crushed, he stubbornly clung to life through sheer inner energy.
This agonizing, living death was unbearable. If he could choose, Hanshan would rather die immediately than endure this suffering.
“The game is over.”
Lu Yuan grabbed Hanshan’s limbs and tore—
Soon, in this humiliating manner, Hanshan was ripped into several pieces by Lu Yuan. Before dying, he showed a smile of relief.
He was finally dead.
[Beep. The Black Mountain Stronghold’s leader has died. The mountain bandits’ revenge mission is about to end.]
[Players who signed up, please note the period for point redemption.]
---
[Beep beep beep. The mission is about to end.]
[Clearing the remaining mountain bandits.]
The system’s voice rang out.
All the players’ eyes changed. They looked at the remaining bandits with a gleam.
“The mission’s ending, brothers, charge!”
“Enough watching. If I keep looking, my money’s gonna fly away.”
“Points are being tallied? Damn, I only have twenty.”
“Twenty points isn’t bad. I only have eleven.”
“Damn, can you two stop showing off? What about my zero points?”
“This lunatic won’t give anyone a chance.”
“Brother, why would I give you a chance? There are only about five thousand bandits in total, but we have over a hundred thousand players. There won’t even be one point per person. It’s all about skill. The fast get it; the slow miss out.”
“Sixteen points. No more talking, I’m off to the boss.”
“Hehe, eighteen hundred bucks. I can take a girl out now.”
“Bro, take me with you.”
“Uh, when you’re doing bad stuff, can I watch and learn? I’ll pay half.”
“I want video proof. May the good spirits bless you. Thanks.”
“Damn, openly doing shady stuff in world chat? I’m reporting you.”
...
“The leaders are all dead. Let’s run.”
“Black Mountain Stronghold is finished.”
“Brothers, the martial road is long. Until we meet again.”
Half the leaders of Black Mountain Stronghold died at Lu Yuan’s hands; the rest succumbed to players’ overwhelming numbers. The remaining common bandits, seeing the situation hopeless, turned and fled.
As for revenge? Forget it.
The top leaders, powerful experts, were dead.
What could these weaklings possibly do?
Besides, with the leaders gone, the stronghold would collapse.
The most urgent matter now was escape—returning to the stronghold as fast as possible to loot some valuables and flee.
If they were slow, their loot would be taken by other brothers.
“Run? You’re dreaming.”
“Die for me and become my points, to be instantly refined.”
“Kill!”
“Watch my self-created spear technique, ‘Dragon Subduing Eighteen Stabs.’ I stab, stab, stab.”
“Take my blade!”
---
“Forgot to tell you, this blade’s poisoned. Sssslurp.”
“Ah? This? I…”
*Clang clang clang...*
The battle raged for hours.
Until the last bandit was surrounded by dozens and hacked to pieces.
Thus, the mission was officially declared over.
The next morning, two players simultaneously visited the magistrate’s office and exchanged their points for the Azure Orchid Sword Technique.
On the third day, the fourth day, and all the way to the twenty-ninth day, many players came to redeem rewards.
However, most had too few points to exchange for the Azure Orchid Sword Technique. They could only redeem lesser rewards, such as pills to enhance power, medicines to heal wounds, precious herbs, and various weapons and equipment of lower grades.
On the final day of reward redemption, the third player to exchange for the Azure Orchid Sword Technique appeared.
A player shrouded entirely in black cloth stepped into Wangyou County’s magistrate’s office. Amid the envious gazes of many players, they redeemed the third copy of the Azure Orchid Sword Technique.
...
Player Forum
[Discussion: The three most worthwhile profound-level martial arts to acquire in the current version, with acquisition methods included.]
[Note: The profound-level martial arts covered here are only those with relatively low difficulty to obtain.]
[Ranking is not sequential; the poster’s opinions are highly subjective.]
[First, Profound Jade Palm, from the Tianshan Sect. Easy to obtain. Upon joining the Tianshan Sect, you can choose three martial arts; Profound Jade Palm is one. It is well-rounded and can be used as a standalone palm technique. Its power is moderate but reliable. Its advantage lies in compatibility with other skills—for example, pairing it with a sword technique achieves a synergistic effect, rated as excellent.]
[Second, Tai Chi Sword, from the Wudang Sect. Medium difficulty to obtain. Similarly learned upon joining Wudang. Wudang’s entry requirements are higher, needing over 100 order points. For those who need more, good deeds like helping an elderly lady cross the street raise order points. Some clever players, don’t try to cheat—you’ll be punished by the system.]
[Tai Chi Sword emphasizes the harmony of hardness and softness, combining offense and defense. Using softness to overcome hardness and redirecting force, it is simple to learn but hard to master, with great potential. Among profound arts, it ranks at the top. According to Wudang experts, if perfected, it can rival some Earth-level martial arts.]
[Followers of Taoist philosophy are strongly recommended to pick up Tai Chi Sword.]
[Third, Azure Orchid Sword Technique, from the Azure Orchid Sword Sect. Considered the sect’s signature martial art. Although the sect itself is small and somewhat lackluster, the technique is not weak.]
[There are three ways to obtain the Azure Orchid Sword Technique: first, from a recent side mission for 10,000 points. However, due to some malicious price gouging, its price has been inflated to over a million RMB, so be cautious.]
[Second, by joining the imperial faction and exchanging merits.]
[Third, by joining the Azure Orchid Sword Sect, though it is uncertain if the sect can still be found.]
[If not for the price gouging, the poster would recommend the first method most. It requires no faction allegiance and offers player freedom, which is very important—at least to the poster.]
[How to evaluate the Azure Orchid Sword Technique? Overall, it is quite average, unremarkable, with middling stats.]
[But why include it here?]
[Because the poster has discovered a secret about this martial art.]
...