At one o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Zhao, having eaten his fill, logged back into the game.
"Whoosh!"
The account loaded successfully, and his character appeared in a wooded area of Autumn Wind Plain. The moment his character materialized, he instinctively crouched and retreated into the bushes. His Flying Sword Haoran emerged from the Sword Concealment Lake, manifesting the Myriad Manifestations divine ability to surround him, greatly enhancing his various resistances. Simultaneously, the Fiery Demonic Wolf transformed into armor, maximizing his survivability from the moment he logged in.
He glanced at the honor board. He was still in first place, but Gu Ke Wu Ming, in second, had caught up. Gu Ke Wu Ming currently had 3425 honor points, less than 400 points behind him. It was clear that Gu Ke Wu Ming was a dedicated gamer. He likely hadn't slept since yesterday, otherwise, he wouldn't be so close to Lin Zhao's honor points. Moreover, during Lin Zhao's nearly 8-hour offline period, no one on the Chinese server had been able to suppress Gu Ke Wu Ming in one-on-one combat. This was the reason for his rapid accumulation of honor points.
"Rustle..."
Just then, footsteps could be heard ahead. Lin Zhao immediately sank his body and crouched in the bushes, planning to ambush them.
Shortly after, four players emerged from nearby. Leading them was a ghost cultivator mage wielding a staff, clad in a blood-red mage robe. It was Ling Ren Fa Zhi, who was ranked in the top 50 for honor points. Beside him were two Temple Knights who had joined the ghost faction, and a coffin-bearer player carrying a coffin. All of them belonged to the ghost race and had temporarily "formed a team."
"Damn it!"
Ling Ren Fa Zhi frowned and said, "Boss Wu Ming has been chasing since last night and still hasn't caught up to Bai Yi's honor points. The gap is a bit too large. Unless we can kill Su Xinghe, Leng Yan, Yi Shi Cang Liang, and a few others a couple of times, it's going to be difficult. That ghost artifact will likely be snatched by Bai Yi in the end."
"Is that Bai Yi really that formidable?"
The coffin-bearer scoffed, "Rumor has it that Bai Yi is the reincarnation of Lin Zhao from Xue Yu Tian Chi. They say he's the eleventh beta tester. Pfft! The official beta slots were only ten, and he really thinks highly of himself, believing that whatever he says will be believed. He's fooling ghosts! In my opinion, that Bai Yi is just someone seeking fame. His in-game strength might be there, but his character is questionable."
Ling Ren Fa Zhi looked at him and said lightly, "Don't underestimate him. When you truly meet him, with your underestimating attitude, you probably won't even know how you died."
The two Temple Knights frowned, their expressions solemn.
Lin Zhao also frowned. He slowly rose from the bushes. He decided to kill them first; there was no need to be polite with this group. In the next second, a sword energy descended from the sky, enveloping Ling Ren Fa Zhi's head.
"Not good!"
As a mage, Ling Ren Fa Zhi had too much experience being ambushed by sword heroes. The moment Lin Zhao charged out, he immediately used Spatial Teleportation to warp back 40 yards. However, he couldn't escape the pursuit. As he teleported, two sword lights chased after him. One was the flying sword Ming Yue, and the other was the flying sword Chi Xin. Both flying swords pierced Ling Ren Fa Zhi's throat almost simultaneously, instantly killing him!
Mages, when facing high-level sword cultivators, stood no chance.
"Ah?!"
The coffin-bearer player was greatly alarmed. Before he could react, Lin Zhao's sword had already struck his chest. The sword tip lightly grazed him, dealing a normal attack. While the normal attack damage wasn't significant, it caused the coffin-bearer to enter a "stagger" state due to being attacked. The next moment, Lin Zhao entered the "Confirmation Counterattack" sequence, unleashing a combo of Sweeping the Army and Throwing the Heaven and Earth, coupled with an attack from the flying sword Gu Ke, directly finishing off the coffin-bearer.
The other two Temple Knights were astonished. What kind of monstrous reaction speed was this, instant counter-attack confirmation? This ability to seize opportunities was likely on par with Su Xinghe and Shen Xingchen.
"Whoosh!"
As they were both stunned, Lin Zhao's Sword Energy Cage descended from the sky, eliminating the last hope for the two to charge and escape. He then used Rising Dragon Slash to lift one of them, spun his body, and swung his long sword at the other. The moment the other player began to descend into a defensive posture, Lin Zhao directly executed a Draw Sword Slash, attacking from behind and breaking through their defense, then immediately performed another lightning-fast confirmation counterattack.
"..."
The Temple Knight's face was about to turn green. How could anyone in the world be this fast? Grasping confirmation counterattacks like eating? He considered himself a top-10 heavy tank player in Henan, the former "Number One Deep Affection of Henan" in "Conquer," who would have legions of fangirls screaming at the sight of him. However, under the sword of this Bai Yi, he, the Number One Deep Affection of Henan, was like a novice rookie, reduced to being chopped like vegetables. His reaction and speed were no match.
In truth, the difference lay in movement technique.
Although Lin Zhao was only a second-realm martial artist, his 20 points in movement technique were genuine. Therefore, compared to ordinary players without movement technique, Lin Zhao's speed and reaction appeared to have a slight advantage. And it was precisely this advantage that could determine the outcome of a battle.
A flash of light from the醴泉 Sword erupted with Gale Sword Style and Broken Sword Style. Simultaneously, twelve Great Wilderness Ancient Swords shot out from the sky, piercing the chest of the Number One Deep Affection of Henan consecutively with a "pfft pfft pfft." While instantly killing him, Lin Zhao charged at the other Knight who had just emerged from the Rising Dragon Slash state, precisely and timely executing a Charge to the Bull. Then, several flying swords swept past, also cutting him down.
The entire combat process took less than ten seconds!
What a misfortune!
Lin Zhao grumbled, looking at the four corpses on the ground. Why did you join the ghost race? Why bother? Then, he bent down and picked up the dropped equipment and items one by one. These items were to be prioritized for the studio. If no one wanted them, they would be put into the guild vault. If someone redeemed them, he, as a hands-off boss, would gain some guild contribution. After all, as the alliance leader, his guild contribution hadn't even made it into the top ten thousand, which was rather embarrassing.
After passing through a wooded area, Lin Zhao resumed his honor-grinding progress. From then on, the Autumn Wind Plain woodlands had another ruthless killer.
...
On the east side of Autumn Wind Plain, the great battle between Prosperous World Peony and Lin Yuan Xian Yu was nearing its end. After nearly 12 hours of intense fighting, the result was a crushing defeat for Lin Yuan Xian Yu. Although Jian Huang was very unwilling to concede, even attempting tactical maneuvers such as dividing forces to ambush or using the rocky terrain to defend during the early morning and morning, all ultimately failed. Lin Yuan Xian Yu's morale was completely shattered. From an initial strength of 50,000, it dwindled to just over 10,000 players willing to log in. Most could not bear the cost of continuous death.
In contrast, on the Prosperous World Peony side, many Sword Immortal cavalry with superior levels, equipment, and magic artifacts grew stronger as they fought. These were the elites and vanguard units charging into battle, so Prosperous World Peony became stronger and stronger. Not only did they accumulate a lot of experience points, but they also acquired a considerable amount of high-quality equipment from Lin Yuan Xian Yu, and their overall strength actually improved after the battle.
"Boss!"
A level 124 Sword Cultivator cavalryman, after putting on a newly acquired top-tier ring, chuckled, "Do you want to press our advantage and kill our way directly into Autumn Wind Plain? We can sweep through guilds like Xing He, Sheng Tian, Cang Long, and the Scarlet Moon Knights. By then, everyone will be level 150, awaken the third Sword Concealment Lake, and become invincible under the heavens!"
Ghost King smiled, "Son of a bitch, are you getting carried away after just defeating Lin Yuan Xian Yu?"
Fei Long Zai Tian's expression was solemn, his sword-like eyebrows furrowed.
"Ah Long!"
Ghost King now relied heavily on Fei Long Zai Tian, almost treating him as a half-advisor. "What do you think? Should we enter the Autumn Wind Plain map next?"
"There's no need."
Fei Long Zai Tian frowned, "Firstly, the brothers have been in continuous combat for 12 hours. Everyone needs to rest. Secondly, we had a justifiable reason to fight Lin Yuan Xian Yu because they had bullied us on the Chinese server before. Even a clay Buddha has three parts of anger, let alone our Prosperous World Peony. But if we enter Autumn Wind Plain now and randomly slaughter Chinese server players, it will be without justification and will create too many enemies. We fought the eighth-ranked guild on the Chinese server, Lin Yuan Xian Yu, for a full twelve hours. What if the top-ranked guilds join forces? The situation could be dire, and then no one will be smiling."
"That's a damn unpleasant truth, but it's the truth."
Ghost King patted Fei Long Zai Tian's shoulder and smiled, "Then I'll listen to you. We'll rest first. Everyone log off to rest, eat, and sleep. We'll log back in at precisely 12:00 AM. We'll decide then whether to level up or do something else."
Everyone nodded.
...
Gu Xiao Pass.
Before the pass, the demon race had left behind densely packed corpses and retreated once more.
"Marshal."
A powerful thousand-man commander with a braided beard, holding a blood-stained spear, laughed heartily, "Those turtle eggs from the demon race have retreated again. This time they left at least ten thousand corpses. Hmph, they all say the demon race is good at fighting and Shi Jun Gang is good at strategy. It seems to be nothing more than that."
"That's right!"
Another general clad in silver armor smiled, "Marshal, from two days ago until now, the demon race has attacked the city four times, leaving at least ten thousand corpses each time. There are at least fifty to sixty thousand demon corpses before Gu Xiao Pass. The troop strength of a demon army tent has been depleted by nearly half, and most of the remaining are injured. If we were to open the city gates now and charge towards the demon camp, perhaps there would be a miraculous effect!"
Lin Ruo, clad in a white robe, stood on the battlements of the city wall, frowned, and turned to look at the thousand-man commanders. "My brothers, it's not that I, Lin Ruo, don't want to go out of the city to fight a decisive battle, but our Rock Army is inherently unsuited for open field combat outside the city. Moreover, although the demon race's offensive in the past few days has seemed fierce, their defeat in this manner is truly unusual. I implore all my brothers to be patient. Holding Gu Xiao Pass and not being defeated is already a great victory. I will have your merits recorded."
The thousand-man commanders clasped their fists, their smiles blooming.
...
White Emperor City, Spring Warm Flowers Bloom.
A general clad in green armor, holding a flying fish dispatch from the Shan Hai Division, entered the Prince Ji Nan's mansion and said with a smile, "Your Highness, Your Highness, a battle report has come from the front. Shi Jun Gang dispatched a demon army tent to attack Gu Xiao Pass. Marshal Lin Ruo, leading the Rock Army, bravely resisted, killing over ten thousand demon soldiers daily, while the Rock Army's losses were negligible! It seems the demon race is merely putting on a show."
"Oh?"
Zhao Qi Yang narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Lin Ruo is indeed a capable defensive general. What else did the people from the Shan Hai Division say? Did Lin Ruo lead his troops out of the city to attack the enemy?"
"No."
The general shook his head, "Our Shan Hai Division's accompanying cultivator said that quite a few Rock Army generals requested to go out of the city to attack the enemy, but Lin Ruo stopped them all."
"Is that so..."
Zhao Qi Yang gestured for him to withdraw, then turned to Huang Qingning, the head of the Shan Hai Division, and smiled, "If Lin Ruo continues to refuse to leave the city to fight, we can make some use of this situation here."
Huang Qingning narrowed his eyes and smiled, "If Lin Ruo doesn't leave the city, Shi Jun Gang will have no opportunity to defeat or even kill him. But if Lin Ruo were to leave the city, it would be a dead end. This subordinate knows what to do. Tomorrow morning, rumors will spread throughout the city, and then he won't be able to help but leave the city, whether he wants to or not!"