บท 5: 005: The heights of the Temple, the distances of the Martial World
The dark, dreary rain fell like an old man striking the earth with a bell.
Water splashed from the ground as if whipped around by a lash.
The small town was nearly under curfew, enveloped in darkness.
The few guards at the city gate, bored and restless, hastened to close up and either went home to their wives for a confused sleep or headed to the dim and dusty Leopard Room to squander some silver coins.
Jiang Dali had planned ahead and walked to a deserted corner of the city wall to whistle.
A shadow, its feathers drenched by the rain, descended from the sky, its claws reaching for him.
A bright message appeared on the eagle's forehead, visible only to Jiang Dali,
"Sword Gate Demon Hawk
Master: Jiang Dali."
Jiang Dali reached up to grab the base of the claws, and a burst of force exploded as the Demon Hawk flapped its wings.
Using this momentum, Jiang Dali swiftly advanced, lifting his foot to kick off the wall, quickly scaling the nearly thirteen-meter-high wall, his figure disappearing outside the city.
Traveling the Martial World as an assassin, one invariably needed exemplary Qinggong skills.
Yet this Martial World was so lifelike that mastering Qinggong was challenging.
Jiang Dali had been forced to stay in this Martial World for over three years now.
Though he had learned the robust Iron Cloth Shirt from the Great Master Xiong Ba of the Mountain Village, and Hidden Weapon Skill and Light Body Skill, Eight Steps to Catch a Cicada, from the Second Master, the Life-stealing Scholar, he still couldn't cross the thirteen-meter-high city wall alone, remaining an obscure figure in the Martial World.
However, timing the days, in three more days, a meteor shower was due. According to a Magician of the Martial World, it marked the arrival of remarkable and unique beings.
That was when Jiang Dali's opportunity would officially arrive.
"What remarkable and unique beings? They're just players entering the scene.
According to the timeline, it's currently mid-May of the year 134 in the Comprehensive Martial World Calendar, probably just the first batch of players in the internal test.
But if used well, it could bring me quite some benefits..."
Outside the city, Jiang Dali found the horse he had tied up in the needle-leaf forest.
He took the rain cape from the horse, wrapped it around himself, pulled out the solidified cornbread to eat and replenished some strength, then mounted the horse, looking forward to what might come.
As a veteran player who had mingled in the Mixed Martial Arts game world for over four years, his skills had nearly been top-notch, not far behind those famous families that ruled and dominated, making him a minor celebrity in the Mixed Martial Arts World.
However, what he hadn't anticipated was that, upon accidentally acquiring the Evil King Relics in the Yangzhou Treasure Vault, he lost consciousness mysteriously.
When he awoke, he had become a minor mountain bandit leader NPC within this version of the Mixed Martial Arts World.
This world was essentially a melting pot made up of various familiar martial arts novels' forces, characters, and historical events.
In this world, the Martial World was mysterious, with sects everywhere and experts as common as clouds.
Above the court sat the Emperor, mastering the Temple with the Emperor's Divine Fist, exerting pressure across the lands, cultivating entities such as the Two Factories, Six Gates, Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Inner Palace Experts, too numerous to count.
In the Martial World, there was One God, Two Queens, Three Immortals, Four Buddhas, Five Lords, Six Masters, Seven Demons, and Eight Kings, roaming the world freely.
Some could cast a Flying Knife, never missing their target.
Some wielded the Extreme Love Sword, unmatched by anyone.
Some had the Twenty-eight Palms that could turn heaven and earth upside down.
Some could summon a Demon Blade that could slay gods and obliterate Buddhas.
In a nutshell, this world was vast, with countless experts. Even though Jiang Dali had been a top-notch player among players for four years, within the Martial World, he was merely an expert on the Earth List, not even qualifying for the Sky List.
And now in this life, he debuted as merely a mountain bandit leader NPC template, a classic example of a short-lived character, likely to be eliminated by incoming players soon.
Therefore, Jiang Dali had even attempted suicide in advance, trying to escape this world.
Yet, he found that it was impossible to leave.
After his suicide attempt, he would resurrect at the nearby City God Temple just like a player.
The only cost was similar to the player's penalty, reducing the proficiency of his learned Martial Arts Realm skills.
This was utterly absurd.
Because this world, being so real, didn't seem like just another game, but a genuine, flesh-and-blood Martial World.
In the past two years, he had been eating and drinking well; the only thing left for him to do was find a wife and retire from the martial world.
But he was still not satisfied and wanted to find a way back.
That meant he needed to continue growing stronger, strong enough to again obtain the Evil Emperor's relics from Yanggong's Treasure Vault. Only then, there might be hope.
Over these two years, although he hadn't obtained any powerful cultivation techniques or weapons, he had laid a lot of groundwork for eventually dominating the martial world. He was just waiting for the players to arrive, and the right time to strike was nearly ripe.
Currently, to the outside world, he seemed to be the Third Master of Black Wind Village, but in secret, he had already become an assassin of Qingyi Building.
This dual identity allowed him to accomplish more tasks and gather more resources and intelligence.
Jiang Dali's eyes flickered lightly as a transparent frame, similar to a player's attribute template, once again appeared before him.
"Jiang Dali [Black Wind Village Third Master (Gathering Power Realm Small Boss), Qi-Blood 3000/3000, Inner Qi 0/0)
Realm: Gathering Power Realm (92/100)
Status: One of the Three Masters of Black Wind Village / Iron Word Killer of Qingyi Building
Reputation in the martial world: Slightly infamous (340/500)
Pet: Sword Gate Demon Hawk
Martial Arts: Hidden Weapon: Mortal Middle Grade 'Sky Rain' (slightly successful in the 3rd Realm)
Basic Fist and Kick: 'Four Directions Fist,' 'Six Paths Leg,' 'Eight-direction Palm'
Saber Skill: Mortal Middle Grade 'Tiger Evil Golden Ring Saber' (slightly successful in the 3rd Realm)
Cross Training: Mortal Lower Grade 'Iron Cloth Shirt' (slightly successful in the 3rd Realm)
Qinggong: Mortal Lower Grade 'Eight Steps to Catch a Cicada' (Initial Insight at the 2nd Realm)
Internal Cultivation Methods: None
Cultivation Points: 53
Potential Points: 72"
After pondering briefly.
Jiang Dali decided to use up almost all of his hard-earned 53 Cultivation Points on advancing his realm, leaving only 3 points remaining.
Instantly, as the Cultivation Points were consumed,
he felt as if the dry rations he had eaten earlier turned into streams of warm energy chaoticly circulating within his body. Heat made all his pores open wide, and he sweated profusely.
The next moment, the numbers of the Gathering Power Realm after the 92/100 turned into 97/100.
Jiang Dali exhaled, his eyes gleaming in the dark night, his lips curving into an involuntary smile.
He was just 27 Cultivation Points away from gathering the 30 needed to break through to the Inner Strength Realm, the same realm as Qiu Xue Mei.
Once he returned to the village and completed his mission, it would be his moment to break through.
...
Two days later.
On a secluded mountain trail more than thirty miles from Black Wind Mountain Village.
The trees swayed, and summer cicadas buzzed endlessly in the forest.
Life-stealing Scholar, along with two trusted aides, had been waiting there for some time; one of them occasionally bent down to listen for any approaching sounds of horse hooves from afar.
One of them, with a somewhat anxious expression, said, "Second Master, why has the Third Master not appeared yet? If we delay further, the Great Master might start noticing."
Life-stealing Scholar calmly with a slight smile replied, "Don't panic. Given the speed of his horse, he should arrive within the time it takes three incense sticks to burn."
Another spoke upon hearing this, rising to his feet, "Third Master has mastered your hidden weapon skills completely, and he has refined the Iron Cloth Shirt and Tiger Evil Golden Ring Saber to perfection. He's outstanding in both close and long-range combat. Killing Qiu Xue Mei, an expert of the Inner Strength Realm, was truly difficult."
Life-stealing Scholar laughed lightly, "No worries. I taught him the hidden weapon skills; however he uses them, I know how to counter them. This mastery will be the first we'll disable. As for the rest... both of you are also adept in the Gathering Power Realm. When the three of us strike together, with our preparedness and his unawareness, haha... Once he's dead, I'll certainly promote you two to be the new Third and Fourth Masters."
"Heh heh, thank you for your support, Second Master. Indeed, the Third Master has no idea of our malicious intentions."
Hearing this, the two mountain bandit leaders chuckled gleefully, their initial fear and caution dissipating somewhat, relaxing their expressions...
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