Chapter 5

After a long while, Qin Shujian finally emerged from that state of profound comprehension.

A pair of calm eyes seemed to contain a terrifying, murderous glare. Even as he sat unmoving, an invisible mighty aura radiated from him.

"Peak perfection!" Qin Shujian murmured to himself.

This was another level reached after achieving mastery.

Reaching this level meant his comprehension of the Black Tiger Saber Technique was now completely on par with the person who had created it.

Name: Qin Shujian Identity: Liangshan Stronghold Master Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold Realm: Martial Entry Fifth Stage (Within Liangshan Stronghold's territory, Realm +1) Cultivation Method: Body Forging Scripture Fourth Stage (out of five) (Mortal Grade Low-Tier), Black Tiger Saber Technique (Peak Perfection) Mortal Grade Mid-Tier Life Source: 8 Equipment: Ninth-grade forged Tiger-Head Saber, Ninth-grade armor Tiger-Skin clothing set (Tiger-skin coat, Tiger-skin trousers, Tiger-skin belt, Tiger-skin thick boots)

This was Qin Shujian's complete attributes at present. The 83 points of Life Source had directly consumed 75 points just to elevate the Black Tiger Saber Technique from mastery to peak perfection. There was no change in his realm, but his strength had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.

Once the Black Tiger Saber Technique reached peak perfection, Qin Shujian had a premonition. In his current state, even if he were to face an uninjured Han Jing head-on, he could directly defeat him. Even without the blessing of the Liangshan Stronghold Master identity, he still had such certainty.

One had to know that Han Jing was unquestionably a martial artist at the Martial Entry Fifth Stage. Without his identity attribute bonus, Qin Shujian's realm was merely at the Martial Entry Fourth Stage. Yet now, he possessed such confidence and self-assurance.

And the source of this confidence and self-assurance was the peak-perfection-level Black Tiger Saber Technique.

Subsequently, Qin Shujian shifted his attention to the countdown in the bottom right corner.

"Time until the players' descent: 0 days 5 hours 21 minutes 03 seconds!"

In the blink of an eye, the time had quietly dwindled to less than six hours. This also indicated that in less than six hours, the players would completely descend into this world.

Qin Shujian took a few deep breaths, his mind surging with turbulent emotions. He did not know in what manner the players would descend, nor did he know what kind of changes would be triggered once they arrived.

Two days could hardly be considered long. Qin Shujian felt he had already done more than enough. In the tiny slice of time remaining, he could not accomplish much more. The only thing he could do right now was wait for the players' descent.

Qin Shujian sat quietly there, watching the countdown tick away bit by bit. The Loyalty and Righteousness Hall instantly fell into silence.

……

Chapter 11: The Players Descend

Boom!

In an instant, it felt as though the heavens and earth were humming. Qin Shujian only felt a heavy sinking in his chest, as if an infinite pressure was descending from the nether realms.

This unusual phenomenon forced him to step out of the Loyalty and Righteousness Hall.

Inside Liangshan Stronghold: The scorching sun hung high in the sky at this moment. The sky, which should have been completely clear, unexpectedly revealed the stars of the cosmos.

When Qin Shujian walked out of the Loyalty and Righteousness Hall, he happened to witness this very scene. He saw the starlight of the celestial constellations weaving together, complementing the radiance of the great sun and completely occupying the firmament.

"Today, Outlanders are born in response to the Mandate of Heaven, descending into the world from beyond the heavens!"

A system notification arrived, but Qin Shujian had no spare time to deal with it. Because within his line of sight, he saw the stars of the cosmos seemingly plummeting in a split second, transforming into shooting stars of the firmament as they plunged toward the earth.

Watching the falling stars, Qin Shujian seemed to witness something profound and mysterious. The Body Forging Scripture he had been practicing began to operate involuntarily at this very moment.

Boom!

A silent roar. Qin Shujian only felt his body jolt, as if some obscure barrier within him had been breached. Warm currents continuously surged through his limbs and bones, converging toward his lower abdomen.

His blood was gradually boiling. When this warm current gathered in the area below his abdomen, it merely circled for a few cycles before abruptly dispersing, flowing back into various parts of his body.

At this moment, Qin Shujian felt as though the connection between every part of his body had become incomparably tight and cohesive.

"You observed the falling stars and had an epiphany, the Body Forging Scripture has broken through to the fifth stage!" "Your practice of the Body Forging Scripture has reached completion, triggering the passive skill: Intent Follows Strength!" "Intent Follows Strength: Physical force moves according to your will, allowing you to kill an enemy invisibly with a flick of your finger!"

At this time, the celestial anomaly of falling stars gradually subsided.

"The Body Forging Scripture completed, Intent Follows Strength?" Qin Shujian looked at the system information, feeling quite astonished in his heart.

He never expected that the fifth stage of the Body Forging Scripture, which he had been yearning to break through to for so long, would be directly achieved at the very moment the players descended. This was also the first time he had achieved a result through his own cultivation rather than using Life Source.

Thinking of the "Intent Follows Strength" mentioned by the system, Qin Shujian closed his eyes slightly, sensing the subtle changes within his body.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and looked at a medium-sized stone nearby.

Immediately following that! He flicked his finger! A wisp of sharp wind burst forth from his fingertip, striking the stone. With a crisp, soft *pop*, the stone caved inward, forming a tiny pit.

Looking at this, Qin Shujian already understood in his heart. "In the past when I attacked, my body required a certain amount of coordination time to unleash my full strength. But now that the Body Forging Scripture is complete, my physical force resides everywhere throughout my body. Wherever my will goes, my full strength is executed."

The benefits of such a condition were by no means minor. When coordinating physical strength, no matter how fast the speed, there was always a tiny interval. In a fight between experts, a single interval could determine victory or defeat, or even decide life and death. Precisely because of this, Qin Shujian understood just how useful this passive skill truly was.

At this moment, he once again checked his personal attributes.

Name: Qin Shujian Identity: Liangshan Stronghold Master Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold Realm: Martial Entry Sixth Stage (Within Liangshan Stronghold's territory, Realm +1) Cultivation Method: Body Forging Scripture Complete (Intent Follows Strength) (Mortal Grade Low-Tier), Black Tiger Saber Technique (Peak Perfection) Mortal Grade Mid-Tier Life Source: 8 Equipment: Ninth-grade forged Tiger-Head Saber, Ninth-grade armor Tiger-Skin clothing set (Tiger-skin coat, Tiger-skin trousers, Tiger-skin belt, Tiger-skin thick boots)

The Body Forging Scripture was now complete, with the "Intent Follows Strength" function added to it. Meanwhile, his realm had directly become the Martial Entry Sixth Stage due to the stronghold bonus.

"Someone come!" After collecting his thoughts, Qin Shujian shouted in a deep voice.

Wang Tiezhu immediately came over at the sound, saying respectfully, "Stronghold Master!"

"Take a few brothers to investigate how many Outlanders there are within our Liangshan territory, and see if any changes have occurred around us."

"Obey your command."

——

In a small-to-medium-sized village, dense clusters of stars descended, transforming into human figures dressed in coarse hemp garments.

There were men and women! There were the elderly and the young! The scene instantly became noisy and chaotic.

"Hiss! Such a realistic game! I'm afraid no game in the country can compare to it in terms of realism!" Lu Shoujia pinched his arm, and that sharp sensation of pain immediately surged into his mind, causing him to involuntarily draw a sharp breath.

With every breath, a faint freshness drifted into his nostrils, making him feel refreshed and happy.

Soon, Lu Shoujia collected his wits. The very first thing he did was check his attributes.

After a long while, Lu Shoujia finally withdrew from checking his attributes, his brow furrowed deeply: "There are no common level divisions, no experience bars, and even the attributes present in past games are almost completely nonexistent. Martial Entry Stage Zero, it seems that's the level in this world. Yet without an experience bar, could it be that this world doesn't allow grinding monsters to level up, or is it hidden?"

He was a bit lost at the moment. Before the open beta of this game, the official authorities hadn't revealed a single piece of information. As a result, including him, those who entered the game were basically completely clueless.

However, years of rich gaming experience allowed Lu Shoujia to instantly suppress the doubts in his heart and instead turn his gaze toward the environment surrounding the village.

According to his estimation, this should be a novice village. And within a novice village, there would usually be some beginner tutorials and even beginner quests. These tutorials and quests wouldn't be laid out directly in the open; instead, individuals needed to actively trigger them themselves.

Within Lu Shoujia's line of sight, quite a few players had already left their starting spots. Some were trying to strike up conversations with passing villagers, while others were directly leaving the village boundary.

Lu Shoujia pondered for a moment, then walked toward a guard standing at the entrance of the village. Right there, quite a few players had already surrounded the guard, babbling all sorts of things in an attempt to trigger a quest or obtain some useful information.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" Lu Shoujia squeezed painstakingly to the front of the guard and asked a habitual line.

The guard glanced at him, shook his head, and replied, "Your strength is too weak; you can't help me."

There was no surprise whatsoever. The guard's reply to him was just like his reply to the other players.

Lu Shoujia was not discouraged; instead, he continued to ask, "Then how can I improve my strength, and how can I be of help to you?"

Hearing this, the guard was stunned for a moment. At the same time, Lu Shoujia quietly retreated from the crowd of players. Because just a moment ago, he had received a system prompt.

"Village guard Chen Ermu seems a bit troubled. You wish to help solve it, but alas, your strength is insufficient!" "Your enthusiasm has touched Chen Ermu. He tells you that the martial arts hall in the village will give you a chance to improve your strength. Once your strength is sufficient, you can go find him again!" "Quest: Taking the First Step!" "Requirement: Ascend to Martial Entry First Stage. Failure carries no penalty. Do you accept?"

Seeing this, Lu Shoujia chose to accept without the slightest hesitation. Afterward, he walked toward the interior of the village, searching for the location of the martial arts hall mentioned in the quest prompt.

——

Chapter 12: Look, There's a Human NPC!

Liangshan Stronghold.

Zhang Tieniu, who had been ordered to scout the surrounding situation, returned a step early to report on his mission.

"Stronghold Master!"

"How is it? How much have you scouted of the various factions bordering our Liangshan?" Looking at Zhang Tieniu before him, Qin Shujian asked in a deep voice.

Zhang Tieniu bowed and replied, "This time, your subordinate went to the Chaotic Stone Forest. Three groups of bandits are entrenched there, each gathering seventy or eighty people under their command. Their individual strength is not much weaker than our Liangshan Stronghold. It's just that these three bandit factions do not infringe upon one another, dividing the Chaotic Stone Forest into three parts and occupying their respective territories. Their leaders are at least experts at the Martial Entry Fourth Stage or Martial Entry Fifth Stage."

Hearing this, Qin Shujian's expression remained unchanged. According to Zhang Tieniu's account, the forces in the Chaotic Stone Forest were about the same as his Liangshan Stronghold, both considered bands of greenwood outlaws. However, compared to Liangshan Stronghold, the bandit factions in the Chaotic Stone Forest each occupied their own territory, so their average strength was not much different from each other. Yet if the Chaotic Stone Forest were ever unified, the former Liangshan Stronghold would definitely have had no possibility of resisting them.

Peeking through a tube to view a leopard. From the situation in the Chaotic Stone Forest, Qin Shujian could also deduce the general strength of the factions in other places.

If it were a day ago, he would still have taken precautions for the rainy day. But right now, Qin Shujian temporarily discarded this thought.

First, his Body Forging Scripture was complete, making him equivalent to a Martial Entry Sixth Stage expert within the Liangshan territory. According to Zhang Tieniu's previous words, among these factions, only the Xining Rebels to the west might possess experts surpassing the Martial Entry Fifth Stage, and even that might include the component of territorial bonuses. Once they left the territorial range of the Xining Rebels, whether they could maintain that strength remained an unknown matter.

In other words, Liangshan Stronghold, with him holding down the fort, was equivalent to having a Martial Entry Sixth Stage expert guarding it. Before any major changes occurred, he could basically keep Liangshan Stronghold worry-free.

Furthermore, what truly deserved Qin Shujian's attention at the moment was the players who had descended into the world. No one knew better than him just how much potential players possessed. And just how rapidly players progressed in strength.

If he didn't find a way to solve this problem, he, the minor boss of Liangshan Stronghold, would sooner or later be farmed to death by players.

Before Qin Shujian could dwell on it too much, Wang Tiezhu, who had been scouting the players' situation, also returned to report.

"Twenty miles east of Liangshan, an extra village has appeared, and many descending Outlanders have gathered there."

"A village?"

Hearing this, Qin Shujian's expression darkened slightly. The sudden appearance of a village meant he didn't even need to use his brain to know: this was undoubtedly a novice village in the game.

Qin Shujian hadn't expected such a coincidence—a novice village was right under his nose. This completely equated to roasting him over an open fire.

"Do you know what the strength of that village is like?"

"In this subordinate's view, there are quite a few guards inside the village; just the ones visible on the surface number in the tens. Since we haven't fought, their true combat capability is hard to tell, but judging by their appearance, I'm afraid it won't be bad at all."

Wang Tiezhu answered truthfully.

With dozens of guards visible on the surface, combined with those that might exist in secret, the number of guards could basically exceed a hundred. Such strength was not weak in the slightest.

Although Wang Tiezhu could not understand the meaning of "Outlanders," the sudden appearance of such a force within their Liangshan territory would inevitably cause no small impact on Liangshan.

Qin Shujian wore a contemplative expression, remaining silent for a time.

The appearance of a novice village meant that a massive number of players could gather. Liangshan Stronghold was right here and basically had no possibility of relocating. If they couldn't move away, then once the players developed, Liangshan Stronghold becoming the primary target was an absolute certainty.

Strike first to gain the upper hand, strike later and suffer misfortune. Since they would clash sooner or later, he had to grasp the initiative in his own hands.

——

Outside the novice village.

On a patch of farmland clearing, a large number of players were chasing chickens and ducks roaming through the fields, empty-handed.

"Damn, this game is way too hard!" "Starting out without giving any weapons, and there are no skills either. These chickens and ducks run so fast. At this rate, when will I ever reach the Martial Entry First Stage!"

In the rice paddies, quite a few players complained powerlessly.

When they first entered the game, they had been excited by the game's hyper-realistic restoration. But after the excitement cooled down, what they faced was a cruel reality.

Novice players, aside from being given a set of clothes at the start to avoid the indecency of lacking proper attire, were not given a single extra copper coin, let alone any weapons. Then, if they wanted to raise their level, they had to possess a cultivation method. So they scurried off to the martial arts hall to learn a cultivation method. The martial arts hall charged money for methods, but the players were penniless and had nowhere to get the cash. Thus, they had no choice but to turn back, go into the village to find other villagers, and do miscellaneous chores to earn a few copper coins. When they finally saved enough money to learn the cultivation method, the players discovered that learning the method didn't directly increase their level. To increase their level, they could only cultivate step-by-step. Spending a year and a half might raise it.

Such a situation was naturally a breakdown for the players. Fortunately, someone later discovered that there was no need to cultivate step-by-step; just like in other games, killing monsters could also accumulate the cultivation progress of the method, thereby indirectly raising their realm level. However, for empty-handed players, the only things they could deal with were monsters of minimal threat.

Therefore— This led to the scene unfolding before their eyes.

Suddenly, a player stopped, looked toward a certain direction in the distance, and his eyes lit up.

"Quick, look, there's a human NPC!" "What!" "It really is a human NPC, and he's even carrying a saber. Just looking at him tells you his strength isn't simple."

Hearing this, the other players also noticed this point, and instantly started whispering and discussing among themselves. As they spoke, the looks they cast toward that NPC became burning hot.

An NPC suddenly appeared out in the wild. Moreover, judging by his equipment and attire, his identity was clearly anything but simple. In the eyes of the players, this was a walking quest board, plain and simple.

Watching the swarm of players rushing toward him, Qin Shujian frowned slightly, but instead of attacking directly, he said with an affable smile, "Everyone, I... I wish to go to the village ahead to rest my feet. Please kindly make way."

"Easy to talk, easy to talk!" Hearing this, the other players consciously cleared a path. Because in their view, an NPC who could converse with them was very likely able to issue quests. If they soured relations over a minor matter and caused themselves to miss out on a quest, that would be losing the big for the small.

However, although the path was cleared, quite a few players still refused to give up and pursued him with questions.

"May I ask if there is anything I can help you with?" "Do you have any difficulties? Feel free to mention them and see if I can help." "Hello..." "..."

Qin Shujian kept a smile on his lips the entire time, walking toward the village surrounded by the numerous players.

——

Chapter 13: Stepping Into the Novice Village

"You are about to step into the territory of Novice Village No. 10021!" "Warning: Stepping into the novice village territory without permission will provoke hostility from the village guards and powerful figures!"

When he was only three zhang away from the village entrance, Qin Shujian received the system prompt.

Looking at the guards standing in front of the village, he came to a halt.

Novice village territory? Hostility from village guards and powerful figures?

These two prompts made Qin Shujian's expression turn solemn.

Regarding the novice village in the Liangshan territory, he knew almost nothing at all. However, just looking at the guards in front of the village allowed him to roughly gauge how strong the novice village actually was.

Under normal circumstances, before figuring out the details of both sides, Qin Shujian would not act rashly.

However— A novice village was different.