Chapter 25: Now This Is The Chosen One Of The Patch
obsidian martial arts hall, training ground.
“We’ve been digging dirt for so many days, we finally get to change things up a bit. I wonder what this new map is like.”
“But the requirements for this task are a bit high. Strength has to be 95 kilograms, speed 5 meters per second. My current breathing technique is only at 4% entry-level. Whether it’s strength or speed, I’m still a bit short. Have any of you reached it?”
“I’ve been practicing leopard shadow steps a lot recently, so my speed meets it, but my strength is still 3 kilograms short.”
Yi Ye Fu Yun’s group of four, who had hurried over, stared at the task on the announcement board, eyes burning with excitement. But they were newcomers who had only been here for four days.
Even if they ran themselves ragged 24 hours a day and pushed like their lives didn’t matter, they were still short of the task requirements.
“This time, with the new map open, even though the task reward is average, since the game manufacturer is testing the game, they definitely won’t test it casually. Maybe there’ll be special plot, or special tasks.” Twilight of the Gods walked over, eyes shining uncontrollably.
Previously, when he dug a hole, he directly triggered special plot and got 500 points in one go. He then sold it to Luo Wu Shang for one hundred thousand and made a fortune. This time might be another opportunity.
With that one hundred thousand, he didn’t need to worry about living expenses for a few months all at once, and he could even eat extra every day. It made his other dorm mates so jealous they all suspected he’d won the lottery.
Even his recent deaths while exploring the underground radiation zone no longer needed careful budgeting; he could die casually for fun.
To better explore underground and increase efficiency, he had forced himself through more than ten deaths to push startling spirit breathing technique to 8% entry-level.
Now his physical fitness in all aspects already met the task requirements. He was only a step away from truly becoming a quasi-apprentice.
“Qing Wei, how are you doing?” Luo Wu Shang looked over at Zhang Qing Wei, who had just walked up.
“No problem at all with speed, I’m just 4 kilograms short on strength,” Zhang Qing Wei said with a smile. “But there should be no problem taking this task today.”
With that, Zhang Qing Wei sat cross-legged and began practicing startling spirit breathing technique, but before she had practiced for more than a few minutes,
a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from her mouth and splattered all over the ground.
“Mm, okay, my breathing technique has now reached 8% entry-level.” Zhang Qing Wei wiped the corner of her mouth, a happy smile on her face. “But the injury is a bit serious. One lung is bleeding badly. You guys wait a bit, I’ll resurrect.”
Zhang Qing Wei violently pushed startling spirit breathing technique, and in an instant she almost turned into a person made of blood, then turned into flying ash.
This scene made Yi Ye Fu Yun and the others present look on with envy.
Breathing techniques weren’t something you could improve just because you wanted to. You had to constantly explore on your own. If you had a direction, improvement in breathing technique would come quickly, but if you had no clue, even dying a few times would be useless.
“Brother Zhen, are you going?” Saiwai Qiangke asked.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Fang Zhen said without hesitation. “At worst I’ll ask for leave today. If the captain and the others scold me, then so be it.”
“What a pity. Qiangke’s and my breathing techniques have been improving a bit slowly. We’ve only just reached 7%. We can only leave it to Brother Zhen to scout the way.” Yi Qiang Ba Jue sighed.
Right now in their mecha squad, only Fang Zhen’s breathing technique had reached 10%. He was already a quasi-apprentice.
Among their ten people, he was one of only two quasi-apprentices. For the others to catch up would probably take another two or three days. And if they wanted to speed up during that time, they would have to spend a lot of money dying a few times.
Outside the City of Light Chasing.
The midday sun beat down fiercely on the ground. Everywhere the naked eye could see was ruin, not even a single blade of grass, only wasteland shrouded in radiation.
A tricycle as large as a small pickup truck slowly drove along the cracked street. Fang Zhen, Luo Wu Shang, Twilight of the Gods, and Zhang Qing Wei sat in the rear carriage, looking around curiously, like newborn babies filled with curiosity about everything around them.
“This map is huge. We’ve already been on the road for over an hour, right? At this speed, we’ve traveled at least thirty kilometers.” Fang Zhen was stunned by the scenery along the way. “To make a map this huge and this detailed, I have no idea how much that costs.”
“It really is huge.” Twilight of the Gods beside him strongly agreed. “With a map this big, if it were any other game, they would’ve already put several towns in. But this game doesn’t have a single town. The game really goes all out to build realism.”
In a normal virtual game the maps were also very large, but normally you’d never see scenery stretching for dozens of kilometers with nothing else. They’d usually design lots of stages and tasks, even loads of buildings. But in high martial arts descend, there was not a single one. Such an extravagant approach was truly unheard of.
“This vehicle is pretty nice. I wonder when we’ll get to own one. It’d make getting around so much easier.” Luo Wu Shang didn’t pay much attention to the surrounding scenery, instead she was full of interest in the tricycle in front of her.
A vehicle comparable to a small truck. If they could own it, they could leave NPCs in the dust and haul ore and wood load after load. The efficiency of earning points would definitely be much faster than digging dirt.
“A vehicle this powerful probably won’t be given to players.” Fang Zhen patted the metal body of the vehicle with a kind of unspeakable longing. “I see this one is electric, it just needs charging. If I could really own it, I’d absolutely pester the hall master bald to get it.”
Lin Qi, who had been driving the tricycle the whole time, was speechless at their conversation.
It was just an electric tricycle that had passed through who knows how many hands and been used for who knows how many years, yet it had become a divine weapon in the players’ eyes.
Lin Qi didn’t dare imagine what would happen if players found out that in the high martial arts world there were not only armored vehicles capable of fighting ordinary beasts, but also battle armor that could arm martial artists. All of these were directly for sale in the City of Light Chasing. He had no idea how excited they would be.
Of course, Lin Qi himself also longed for those things. But at those prices, even the middle class could never afford them in a lifetime.
For Lin Qi right now, even this broken electric tricycle had a resale price of fifty thousand bits from those profiteers, with rent at two thousand bits a month. It was completely beyond what unregistered nomads could afford.
If he wasn’t thinking about the efficiency of repairing the martial arts hall, Lin Qi really wouldn’t have been willing to rent this electric tricycle.
Grizzly Mine.
After Lin Qi had driven for more than three hours, a stretch of continuous mountain range came into view. Towering trees grew all over the slopes, completely different from the ruins along the way, filled with a sense of vitality.
As soon as Lin Qi had driven along the mountain road for a short while, a drone with a radius of more than two meters flew over from the distance and directly scanned Lin Qi and the others. Machine guns and two RPGs were mounted on its body.
“Identity confirmed. You may now follow me to the mine area.”
The sudden appearance of the drone and its intelligent armament instantly stunned Fang Zhen and the other three present.
And not only Fang Zhen and the others. Viewers watching the live stream were also struck dumb, unable to believe this was real.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland? How did it suddenly become a futuristic technology world?
Why bother learning martial arts?
Wouldn’t learning guns be better?
“Brothers, if I switch to mechanical engineering now, is it too late?”
“Damn. The high martial arts descend world background is insane. I was never that into martial arts. If it weren’t 100% virtual, I might not have even made a reservation. But now I’m in love. Mecha and cannons, I must get in and play. My gun technique is top tier, fast and accurate within ten steps.”
While the live stream room buzzed with discussion, Lin Qi followed the drone to the mine entrance.
“Alright, split into two groups now. One group goes into the mine to carry ore, the other goes to cut trees.” Lin Qi glanced at the departing drone and directly instructed the four.
Grizzly Mine was huge. Even the big gangs of the City of Light Chasing, after occupying it, couldn’t cover every corner. Mostly they just scanned to keep outsiders out. Since he had cooperation with the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop, Grizzly Mine would record how much ore he shipped out, then send the data to Azure Crystal Weapon Shop.
So on the ore side, neither party worried about problems, unless the people carrying ore had a death wish.
And ore was what mattered most in Grizzly Mine. No one cared about ordinary trees on the mountain, and naturally they wouldn’t stop them from cutting wood.
Right after Lin Qi finished instructing, the four looked at one another.
Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei went straight to carry ore, while Fang Zhen and Twilight of the Gods went to cut trees.
In the forest.
“Brother Zhen, why didn’t you fight for carrying ore? With your strength and speed, you shouldn’t be any worse than Sister Qing Wei. The hall master might have agreed.” Twilight of the Gods looked at Fang Zhen in puzzlement.
In terms of strength, Fang Zhen was first among the ten of them, and in terms of speed, he was second only to Luo Wu Shang. Carrying ore wasn’t that hard; you just loaded it into the vehicle. The mine was deep so it meant more running and hauling, but 100 kilograms was 3 points. Compared to cutting trees and hauling wood, that was much better.
“You don’t get it.” Fang Zhen said with a sly grin. “Before the new map opened, the NPC had us learn two martial skills. Leopard shadow steps can be practiced while carrying loads. So what about crushing stone fist? I’ve been really curious. A game test wouldn’t throw in something useless.”
“You mean crushing stone fist is meant for here?” Twilight of the Gods was still a bit confused.
“Of course.” Fang Zhen nodded, putting on the air of a professional expert. “Every game test has a purpose. Before, we were in the underground of the martial arts hall testing leopard shadow steps. Now that we’re at Grizzly Mine, it’s naturally to test crushing stone fist. And doesn’t the manual say it clearly?”
“First level is the stump crushing realm. Crushing piles, crushing piles. Aren’t these natural wooden stakes? With so many wooden stakes here, this is a natural holy land for training. If we don’t practice crushing stone fist now, when will we?”
“Brother Zhen, you’re insane good. Your understanding of this game is unbeatable.” Twilight of the Gods felt enlightened, giving him a big thumbs up.
They had thought leopard shadow steps was the version answer. Who knew crushing stone fist was actually the child of the version.
“Alright, let’s train quickly before they notice.”
“Otherwise they’ll fight us for it.”
Fang Zhen waved his hand casually, found a big tree four or five meters tall, and was about to start practicing crushing stone fist.
