"As a subordinate branch of the Yin Yang Sword Sect, the Gangrou Sect focuses on two types of Swordsmanship."
A bright moon hung in the sky, accompanied by a scattering of stars. On the Roof of the Tongzi Building, an incandescent lamp illuminated a small area.
Xie Yanran spoke eloquently to Feng Yin. Her tone carried a hint of nostalgia, as if she were reminiscing about her days practicing Martial Arts in the Sect.
She patted the Soft Sword at her waist. "The Swordsmanship of the Soft Sword is the 'Snake' that I practice. The Swordsmanship of the Steel Sword is the 'Jiao'. Both can be considered the Basic Sword Technique of the Yin Yang Sword Sect. Once a Disciple cultivates either to a profound level, they can head to the Yin Yang Sword Sect with the Sect Leader's recommendation to learn the more advanced Yin Sword or Yang Sword.
"Of course, now that we are trapped on this Border Prison Island, the chances of us eventually escaping aren't high. This is merely a wishful thought."
Feng Yin remained silent, not knowing what to say.
Meanwhile, Xie Yanran quickly adjusted her emotions. She stared directly at Feng Yin with a burning gaze. "Originally, I only planned to teach you the basic Techniques of the Jiao Sword just to have another capable fighter around to make up the numbers. However, your talent is one in ten thousand. It would be a pity to let it go to waste.
"Now, I am preparing to accept a disciple on behalf of my master and teach you the Ultimate Skill Form of the Jiao Sword, 'Dragon Transformation'. If you want to learn, you must promise me two things."
Xie Yanran's expression was solemn.
Feng Yin nodded earnestly. "I want to learn. Sister Xie, please tell me your requirements."
Jokes aside, after learning that such completely unscientific Skills existed in this world, Feng Yin couldn't turn a blind eye to them, even though he possessed the "Armor" Golden Finger. If the Armor provided him with "Values," then the Martial Arts Techniques of this world could perfectly maximize those Values. He had to grasp both, and master both!
Xie Yanran was clearly satisfied with Feng Yin's decisiveness. The corners of her lips curled up slightly. "By receiving the Fixed Form, you will become a core Disciple of my Gangrou Sect and must embrace the responsibilities of a disciple. If you ever have the chance to leave this Border Prison Island in the future, you must do two things.
"The first is to return to the Gangrou Sect and report to the Sect Leader—who is also your master. Let him know that I found a genius disciple for him on the outside."
Feng Yin nodded. "Alright. If I have the opportunity to leave, I will go back."
Xie Yanran gave a nod. "Second, I want you to kill someone!"
"Kill who?" Feng Yin paused slightly.
Xie Yanran's face turned ferocious. "The traitor of the Gangrou Sect, my third junior brother—Shang Yunjie!"
Feng Yin fell silent for a brief moment. "Since I am already a Gangrou Sect Disciple, can I know what happened?"
Xie Yanran gave Feng Yin an inscrutable gaze. "He was tempted by outside thieves, attacked and severely injured our master's most highly regarded youngest junior brother, which directly led to the youngest brother's death. Then, he fled far away to the Genroku Country.
"My second junior brother, fourth junior sister, and I went together to hunt down this traitor, but he conspired with outside thieves to ambush us. My second junior brother and fourth junior sister perished in the Array on the spot, while I was captured by the Genroku authorities and thrown onto this Border Prison Island. Tell me, does he deserve to die or not?"
By the time she finished speaking, this usually aloof and stoic woman had her entire face twisted together. Combined with the hideous scar on her face, she looked like a malicious spirit.
Feng Yin remained silent for a moment before saying earnestly, "Alright, I will kill him. But I need more information about him."
Xie Yanran nodded in satisfaction. "He changed his name in the Genroku Country, transforming into the rising star of the business world, Yoshino Tenju, the chairman of Yoshino Biological."
Feng Yin didn't offer any extra promises, simply repeating, "I will kill him."
Sensing his determination, a smile appeared on Xie Yanran's face. "Alright, then let's officially begin the teaching. For these first few days, I will teach you the basic stances, Sword Techniques, and Body and Step Techniques of the Jiao Sword. After you gain a simple familiarity with the basics of generating force, I will impart the 'Dragon Transformation' ultimate skill to you.
"As the Jiao Sword is part of the Steel Sword Series, its basic routines do not differ much from the common Sword Skills on the market. It is divided into upper, middle, and lower stances, along with two extra stances, twenty basic Sword Forms, and Four combat Stepping Techniques..."
...
Five days passed by in a flash.
During these few days, Feng Yin followed the team to move goods during the day and learned Swordsmanship under Xie Yanran's supervision at night. His life could be considered quite fulfilling. He had basically gone through all the foundational content of the Jiao Sword once.
Through this learning process, Feng Yin discovered that he might truly have some talent in this area. He grasped the basics very quickly; with just five days of study, he had accumulated roughly the same foundation that would take others a month to achieve.
According to Xie Yanran, this was exactly the level an Innate Martial Artist should possess. Empowered by a formidable physique and body control that surpassed ordinary people, the Martial Arts training efficiency of an Innate Martial Artist was simply meant to be this high.
Xie Yanran was already preparing to officially teach him the Jiao Sword's Ultimate Skill Form, "Dragon Transformation," in the next couple of days.
Compared to his smooth progress in practicing the sword, Feng Yin wasn't entirely satisfied with another matter. That was the advancement path for his Armor...
Ever since that first time, he hadn't been able to enter that Game World again. This inevitably made him somewhat anxious and uneasy. If it weren't for the fact that he could still summon the Armor's interface at any time and transform into an armored state at will, he would have doubted whether his encounter that night was just an illusion.
Today was no different from the previous days.
After another full day of busy work and finishing his sword practice, Feng Yin took a simple shower. Having rested in his room for a while, he silently lay in bed, harboring the hope of entering the "game" once more.
That's right, he now had a bed. After confirming that she would take him as a disciple on behalf of her master, Xie Yanran found a long wooden board for Feng Yin and even got him a blanket. One could only say that she treated her own people well. Now, he finally didn't have to curl up in the corner on the hard, cold floor to sleep.
His physical exhaustion and adjusted biological clock allowed Feng Yin to quickly fall asleep.
Just after Feng Yin entered a Depth of sleep, the Double-headed Trident mark on the back of his right hand, which hadn't actively shone for a few days, resurfaced once again.
Falling, sinking—as if plunging into an endless deep sea.
——
Feng Yin was suddenly startled, and his vision lit up. Before his eyes was a square table covered in leather, and on the table lay a pair of overlapping black Arm Armors.
"I'm in!" he thought.
At this point, how could Feng Yin not know what had happened? He had entered this game once again!
After a full five days, he was finally back in. He had entered this game that, while requiring continuous combat, could enhance the performance of his Armor.
Behind him, the familiar voice of the White Crow rang out, "CAW CAW, it seems you are ready."
Feng Yin quickly stood up, turned around, and arrived in front of the White Crow.
The White Crow flapped its wings. "Do you want to set off for the next location?"
———————
Head to the next location? [Yes/No]
———————
The interface popped up before his eyes.
[Yes]
As Feng Yin finished making his selection, an endless white mist rose up and obscured his vision.
[Heading to destination: "Valley of Howling"]
A moment later, the mist dispersed.
Feng Yin's vision cleared, and he appeared in a clearing. He glanced around. In front of him was a gaping crevice sandwiched between massive cliff walls, wide enough for about three people to pass through side by side. It looked like it snaked deep inside, and there was no telling where it led.
Behind him were the same carriage and black mist he had seen before.
The White Crow flew out of the carriage, landed on his shoulder, and spoke its new lines.
"'He' discovered traces of a powerful entity destroying and escaping the Nameless Prison. Following the trail all the way here, 'He' arrived at the valley rumored to have devoured hundreds of people!
"Can 'He' uncover the secrets of the valley and successfully complete the mission?"
This was the subsequent fixed development for choosing the "Nameless Prison" as the starting point. There would be a continuous, interconnected mini-storyline spanning three stages.
Feng Yin remained silent.
The White Crow, on the other hand, continued to play its role as a guide unprompted, "Go, enter the valley. Banish the corrupted beast horde, pull out the Life Wedge, and further liberate your power."
Subsequently, several messages condensed from the mist appeared before Feng Yin's eyes.
[Destination reached. Mission begins.]
[Objective — Eliminate the "Filthy Blood Demon Wolf," pull out the "Life Wedge."]
...
Soon, the information before his eyes dissipated.
Feng Yin pondered slightly, beginning to recall his experiences from when he played this stage in the game. As the second stage, the difficulty of this transitional level obviously wouldn't be too high either. However, if he didn't carefully utilize his newly acquired "Stealing Step" skill, there was still a possibility he would lose a massive amount of Durability under the siege of the beast horde. Including the Demon Wolf at the end of the stage, which was also a rather troublesome Elite boss monster.
After thinking things through clearly, he cautiously took a step forward.
Just like that, following the guiding White Crow, he entered the crevice leading into the deep valley.
HOWL. The continuous howling of wolves began to echo around them.