As a collateral branch member of the Wang Family, Wang Cheng held a status far inferior to direct descendants like Wang Renbin.
At this moment, seeing the scene unfolding before him, other thoughts began to stir in his mind.
If he could help Wang Renbin successfully seize a novice village, it would be a monumental achievement for the entire Wang Family, and he, as a collateral member, would reap immense benefits in return.
"Seize a novice village?" Wang Renbin's expression suddenly turned subtle.
Every single novice village contained a wealth of resources.
Securing a novice village was an irresistible temptation for any faction.
However, players were not allowed to actively attack NPCs within novice villages. Moreover, novice villages were populated by numerous powerful NPCs, and given the current level of players, they lacked the capability to easily conquer one.
Add to that the fact that this was merely a hypothesis among players, with no one having actually verified whether a novice village could truly be captured and incorporated into one's own sphere of influence.
Therefore, Wang Renbin had never really entertained the thought.
Now, prompted by Wang Cheng's suggestion, the realization finally dawned on him.
That was right!
Even if it was just a hypothesis, if it turned out to be true, it would be of paramount importance to the Wang Family.
Players could not attack the NPCs of a novice village.
However, if the Liangshan Stronghold Master managed to kill the novice village head, and they then stepped in to kill the Liangshan Stronghold Master, not only might they acquire a novice village, but they would also harvest the rewards for slaying a major boss.
No matter how one looked at it, it was killing two birds with one stone.
Wang Renbin was now more concerned with whether the Liangshan Stronghold Master could actually manage to kill the village head.
Out in the arena.
Qin Shujian was operating at the peak of his power, his Black Tiger Saber Technique pushed to the pinnacle of perfection. Combined with his Martial Entry Eighth Stage strength, wielding this technique made him even more formidable than the person who had originally created it.
A martial artist of this caliber possessed the situational awareness to observe his surroundings from all directions.
The sudden appearance of Wang Cheng and the other players had indeed given him a start at first.
However, players were of no consequence right now.
The most urgent matter was to eliminate the old man before him.
Ferocious Tiger Descends the Mountain!
Startling the Hundred Miles!
Ferocious Tiger Looks Back!
The muscles in Qin Shujian's arms bulged as he gripped his saber, his entire aura transforming completely. Every slash he delivered was as terrifying as a sweeping gale parting the waves.
Facing Qin Shujian's onslaught, Wei Min wore a grave expression as well. The longsword in his hand flashed with a chilling radiance, colliding heavily against Qin Shujian's blade.
Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew with every single clash.
A wave of tremendous force rebounded from the Tiger-Head Saber, sending a tingling numbness shooting up Qin Shujian's arms.
Yet—
Qin Shujian did not show the slightest intention of retreating.
Body Forging Scripture Seventh Stage!
Changchun Skill Sixth Stage!
The combined power of both cultivation methods had now been pushed to their absolute limits.
The surging blood qi within his body circulated endlessly, and a torrential wave of power welled up from deep within him, continuously pouring into his arms.
The two blades collided once more.
A fierce blast of wind rippled outward.
Wei Min's arms trembled imperceptibly, and for the very first time, he was forced to take a step back.
In his eyes, there was nothing but sheer shock.
Clearly, his opponent was only at the pseudo-Eighth Stage, which should have left a noticeable gap compared to a genuine Martial Entry Eighth Stage expert like himself.
Yet right now, Wei Min felt immense pressure bearing down on him from Qin Shujian.
It almost made him feel as though *he* were the pseudo-eighth stage, and his opponent the true Eighth Stage expert.
Without giving Wei Min time to ponder further, the moment he took that single step back, Qin Shujian seized the initiative entirely.
Slash after slash rained down with lightning speed, fierce and relentless.
The transition between each strike left virtually no gap at all.
Left with no choice, Wei Min could only raise his blade and meet the blows head-on.
Clang!
Clang! Clang!
With every collision, Wei Min's arm shook, while Qin Shujian's momentum only grew fiercer.
At this moment, Qin Shujian seemed to have completely fused with the Black Tiger Saber Technique, and the Tiger-Head Saber in his hand felt as though it had come alive. He grew utterly indifferent to everything around him, his eyes fixed solely on Wei Min.
Even so, Wei Min was, after all, a Martial Entry Eighth Stage expert.
No matter how overwhelming Qin Shujian's onslaught became, his opponent remained unyielding.
Qin Shujian checked his Life Source. Having previously stood at just a few dozen points, it had surged once more to over four hundred points after he and his mountain bandits slaughtered numerous NPCs and players.
Moreover, aside from the Body Forging Scripture, a plus sign had appeared next to all his other cultivation methods.
Without hesitation, Qin Shujian glanced briefly at the Black Tiger Saber Technique and mentally tapped the plus sign.
Roar!
A giant phantom of a black tiger abruptly materialized out of thin air, its earth-shaking roar seeming to vibrate for a hundred miles.
Anyone who heard this tiger roar felt as though they were being watched by some terrifying entity, their blood qi freezing in their veins.
As for Wei Min, who bore the full brunt of the roar, his entire body seemed to have been frozen in place.
It felt as though a single breath had passed.
Or perhaps a very long time.
By the time Wei Min snapped back to his senses, a terrifying black tiger lunged at him, instantly transforming into a sharp flash of saber light that swallowed him whole.
Boom!
The ground trembled.
A saber scar several feet long appeared, etched deep into the earth.
Wei Min stood frozen in place for a moment before his body split neatly into two halves and crashed heavily to the ground.
"You have killed Wei Min, Village Head of Novice Village No. 10021!"
"The Core Token of Novice Village No. 10021 is currently in an unclaimed state. You may proceed to the center of the village to contest ownership of the token!"
With a cold gaze, Qin Shujian looked down at Wei Min's corpse, his chest heaving heavily.
Core Token?
The center of the village?
Before he could catch his breath, the surrounding onlookers swarmed forward all at once.
Seeing that Wei Min had been killed, Wang Cheng pushed aside his shock and immediately ordered the other players to seize the opportunity to surround and attack Qin Shujian.
Wang Renbin immediately spoke up, "Wang Cheng, take a fraction of the men and come with me to the center of the village to seize the Core Token. The rest of you, stay and surround the Liangshan Stronghold Master."
The moment Wei Min died, he had received a system notification.
Or rather, at that very second, every single player had received the exact same message.
Countless people were already flooding toward the center of the village.
The Core Token!
It absolutely could not fall into anyone else's hands.
Otherwise, this entire trip would truly end up like fetching water with a bamboo basket—completely in vain.
Hearing this, Wang Cheng understood the gravity of the situation and immediately directed a portion of the men to follow Wang Renbin, while he personally led the remaining players to intercept and kill the Martial Entry Eighth Stage grand boss.
"Fighters practicing hard Qigong, step up to soak the boss's damage and create openings for the others to deal damage!"
"This boss is too high-tier, be careful not to take hits head-on. Spread out to split the damage among yourselves!"
Wang Cheng barked his orders methodically.
Though he sounded confident on the outside, inwardly he remained deeply solemn.
A Martial Entry Eighth Stage grand boss.
Even he had never faced one in actual combat.
With the entire Wang Family's resources behind them, it had taken thousands of players to grind down and exhaust a Martial Entry Sixth Stage boss.
Back then, however, most of the participating players were only around the Martial Entry First Stage, with hardly any at the Second Stage, and their equipment was crude across the board.
Compared to the force he commanded now, that previous group fell far short.
In terms of numbers, there were only sixty or seventy players here.
Yet in terms of quality, they easily left the vast majority of current players in the dust.
A Martial Entry Eighth Stage boss!
It wasn't as if they had zero chance of winning.
Especially since this boss had just engaged in a fierce battle with an NPC of the same tier, meaning his strength must have been severely depleted—this was the primary source of Wang Cheng's confidence.
Watching the players close in around him, Qin Shujian's expression turned cold.
Though he didn't know where these people had come from, he was certain they were definitely not players from Novice Village No. 10021.
After all—
The players of Novice Village No. 10021 had long since been oppressed by Liangshan Stronghold to the point where they could barely move; how could they possibly have cultivated players of such high tier?
Yet, facing the converging swarm of players, he didn't make a move right away, instead sweeping his gaze across his surroundings.
While he was fighting Wei Min, the bandits of Liangshan Stronghold had already slaughtered the village guards and NPCs.
Even so, under the relentless assault of wave after wave of players, no matter how strong the bandits were, it was difficult for them to hold out completely.
Thus, when Qin Shujian looked around, aside from a massive sea of players, he saw only a handful of remaining bandits still putting up a resistance, though they were heavily injured and on the verge of death.
He made no move to rescue these bandits.
For one, surrounded by so many players, it would be nearly impossible to escort them out safely.
For another, once killed by players, the bandits would eventually respawn.
By this time, the player squad organized by Wang Cheng had gradually formed a tight encirclement.
"Charge!"
At Wang Cheng's command, a dozen robust players stepped out from the front lines to mount a frontal assault.
Meanwhile, a larger group flanked around from the sides, attempting a sneak attack.
Before their attacks could even land, however, Qin Shujian moved abruptly.
Boom!
A terrifying aura instantly erupted, and the phantom of a black tiger abruptly materialized, its thunderous roar carrying the force to shatter the heavens and split the earth.
Following closely behind was a blinding flash of lethal saber light.
Boom!!
The blade gleamed as fast as lightning, its force tearing through the air with a succession of explosive cracks.
Before the dozen players in the front could make a single move, they were swallowed whole by the terrifying wave of saber light, turning into white pillars of light that vanished into thin air.
This sudden turn of events not even startled the other attacking players, but left even Wang Cheng staring in horror, shouting in sheer disbelief: "How is this possible?!"
Those dozen players were every single one of them Martial Entry Third Stage experts, with two of them even at the Fourth Stage, all practicing defensive hard Qigong techniques.
They were the core personnel meant to absorb the boss's attacks.
Even when fighting a Martial Entry Sixth Stage boss, those players hadn't lost more than a few members by the very end.
Yet now—
A single strike.
Just a single strike!
Over a dozen players capable of withstanding a Martial Entry Sixth Stage boss had been utterly massacred.
Such heavy losses left Wang Cheng with no time to feel the sting of regret.
Just as he was about to issue another command, it was already too late.
Swish!!
Qin Shujian stepped forward using the footwork of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, his Tiger-Head Saber acting like the scythe of the Grim Reaper as he began cutting down the players who had surged forward and failed to retreat in time.
Even Wei Min, a Martial Entry Eighth Stage expert, was no match for him.
To Qin Shujian, these players—none of whom exceeded the Fourth Stage—were no different from stray dogs and chickens.
A ninth-grade sharp weapon, paired with his current strength, made this little harder than chopping vegetables.
In mere seconds, no fewer than twenty or thirty players perished beneath his blade.
Having reaped another batch of Life Source, Qin Shujian couldn't be bothered to chase down the scattering players. Instead, he strode directly toward the center of the novice village.
Since there was a Core Token, he certainly had no intention of handing it over on a silver platter.
The novice village boss was killed by him.
For players to try and reap the rewards now was nothing short of delusional.
"Quick, stop him!"
Regaining his wits, Wang Cheng turned pale as he watched Qin Shujian walk away.
The people he brought here were all elites cultivated by the Wang Family. Every single death equated to a weakening of their strength.
If they didn't buy time now to allow Wang Renbin to secure the Core Token, he would undoubtedly face severe punishment.
Hearing Wang Cheng's shout, the players who had instinctively backed away snapped back to reality and charged toward Qin Shujian's back.
Feeling the rush of wind from behind, Qin Shujian's expression turned frosty.
"Court death!"
With a sudden halt in his footsteps, an arc of brilliant saber light erupted from his body, sweeping outward in all directions with the force of a thunderbolt.
Boom!
The players who hadn't even managed to close in were instantly swallowed by the terrifying blade light, transforming into white pillars of light that vanished.
This display frightened quite a few people into backing away.
Ignoring them, Qin Shujian walked steadily forward, clearing a path with the blade in his hand. With every step he took, countless pillars of white light dissolved into nothingness.
Any player blocking his path—
Whether trying to intercept him or simply failing to dodge in time—
Qin Shujian killed them all without exception.
The center of the novice village was the location of the former village head's residence.
The building had long since been reduced to ruins, leaving only a copper token hovering in mid-air, beneath which lay a pale blue circle of light roughly one fathom in diameter.
At this moment, Wang Renbin stood right inside the light circle.
Surrounding and guarding the perimeter were less than ten players remaining from the group he had brought.
Outside this tiny perimeter, other players looked on with covetous eyes.
Yet, no one made a move.
Though the high-tier players Wang Renbin had brought were impressive, they still couldn't make much of a splash in front of thousands of people.
The reason nobody else made a move was simply because the other party had made a promise.
The Wang Family was wealthy and generous.
That much was indisputable.
Outwardly, Wang Renbin appeared calm, but inwardly, he was extremely tense.
To secure this opportunity, he had paid a heavy price, one that even a direct descendant of the Wang Family found painful.
To claim the Core Token right now, he needed to occupy the light circle for ten minutes.
Ten minutes wasn't long, but it wasn't short either.
As time ticked away second by second, a fierce aura approached from the distance, followed closely by the screams of numerous players and the flash of countless disappearing white lights.
"The Liangshan Stronghold Master is coming!"
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"What?!"
Wang Renbin jolted in shock, his eyes locking onto that terrifying figure in the distance.
With every step forward, a large number of players perished.
Seeing this, his heart trembled violently.
If the grand boss known as the Liangshan Stronghold Master had shown up here, it meant Wang Cheng and the others had undoubtedly perished at his hands.
Those were elite players cultivated through the Wang Family's all-out efforts.
Had he not been a direct descendant of the Wang Family, he wouldn't even have had the authority to mobilize them.
And yet, all of them had fallen right here.
Seeing Qin Shujian heading directly toward the Core Token, Wang Renbin panicked.
The losses were irreversible.
If he failed to secure the Core Token now, he would truly have thrown good money after bad.
"I ask you all to step up and block the path of the Liangshan Stronghold Master! As long as you allow me to secure the Core Token, the Wang Family will reward every single person here with one thousand for every death! Anyone can cash it out from the Wang Family afterwards. I stake my status as a direct descendant of the Wang Family as a guarantee—I will not break my word!"
As soon as these words left his mouth, the eyes of the hesitant players instantly turned red.
One thousand per death!
This money was simply too easy to make.
Most of the players present were ordinary people.
Though one thousand wasn't an exorbitant sum, getting paid a thousand just for dying once was a massive temptation.
Considering Wang Renbin's words and the status of the Wang Family, the probability of them going back on their word was quite low.
Besides—
Players could respawn after dying, and with almost everyone currently at Martial Entry Stage Zero, death carried literally zero cost.
That being the case, the other players stirred into action, surging toward Qin Shujian.
Seeing this, Wang Renbin secretly let out a breath of relief.
Then, he glanced back down at the progress bar.
"Six minutes left!" Wang Renbin looked at the dense sea of players alongside Qin Shujian cutting a bloody swath through the crowd, calming himself slightly.
The Liangshan Stronghold Master was still at least dozens of meters away from his location.
Within those dozens of meters, the number of players was practically endless.
Even though Wang Renbin didn't believe the players present could defeat this grand boss, stalling for six minutes shouldn't be too much of a problem.
No matter what, he had to secure the Core Token first.
Once the token was in hand, he would immediately retreat.
With countless players blocking the way, the Liangshan Stronghold Master wouldn't be able to catch up to him.
Once he got out of here, he refused to believe the boss could do anything to him.
Worst case scenario—
Even if he got the token and ended up getting killed, so what? As long as it didn't drop, the item remained his.
Right now, Wang Renbin could only pray that the value of the Core Token wouldn't be too low.
Judging by his own estimation, there was a high probability that the Core Token was a means of controlling the novice village.
On the other side.
Qin Shujian could naturally see the copper token hovering in mid-air and Wang Renbin standing inside the light circle.
When he saw more players rushing toward him, a surging intent to kill filled his heart.
No words were spoken.
His pace did not falter in the slightest.
All that remained was the Tiger-Head Saber flashing with fierce saber light.
With his transformed Black Tiger Saber Technique unleashed at full power, a black tiger several feet wide materialized out of thin air, its roar shaking a ten-mile radius.
With every step he took, dozens of players vanished.
Watching the players throw themselves at him wave after wave to court death, a sudden epiphany blossomed deep within Qin Shujian's heart.
So, he had grown to this extent.
He, who once trembled in fear at the mere mention of players, was now able to look upon them as mere grass and dirt.
Even when an occasional player broke through his blade light and landed an attack on Qin Shujian, it failed to cause any change in him.
The copper-skin trait bestowed by the Martial Entry Seventh Stage had pushed his defense to a terrifying level. Unless these players—not even at the First Stage—wielded some divine weapon, they simply couldn't scratch him at all.
"How are we supposed to fight this?!"
"He completely ignores our defense!"