Three-Legged Cat Swordsmanship

When the heavy gate closed, the entire stairwell grew dim.

By the light from the corridor, Xu Kai could clearly see the vicious grins of two monsters in his black-and-white world as they lunged at him.

They roared a few words. Their voices sounded increasingly familiar to Xu Kai, and he could even clearly understand their intentions.

"Xu Kai, come join us! The Instance means no harm. It only wants to make you stronger and turn you into a weird creature!... Roar!"

"Think about what you're saying. The Instance mission says only one person can survive. If there were a chance to get stronger, would you leave it to me? Are you stupid?"

Xu Kai made one movement every second, moving quickly. He swiftly pulled a red pill from his pocket and swallowed it. The moment he took it, his ears felt as though they had filled with water. The two monsters' words began to blur and turned into roars.

"What are you babbling about?"

"Roar!"

Seeing that Xu Kai wouldn't listen, the two monsters began to show killing intent and leaped at him.

Xu Kai watched the monsters' movements closely. They held their leaping poses without moving for a second, then, as if flickering, moved several steps forward on the stairs and nearly reached Xu Kai's face.

Xu Kai showed no sign of panic. Keeping his eyes fixed on the two monsters, he held his retreating pose for a second and took another step back, nearly pressing against the closed heavy fire gate.

Hiss~

Leng Chong opened his huge mouth wide. Icy air gathered inside it, forming a dark ice spike that shot out toward Xu Kai's heart.

Xu Kai watched the ice spike fly into the air at incredible speed and hang there, still moving at high speed. A second later, it flickered onto Xu Kai's skin.

Seeing the ice spike flicker toward him, Xu Kai had dodged in advance. After holding himself sideways for a second, he successfully avoided the flickering spike.

After that experience, Xu Kai understood.

One of the stairwell's rules was that a movement had to be held for at least one second to take effect; otherwise, it wouldn't count as movement.

But what were the rules for moving through the stairwell? Why did one have to treat it as flat ground and stride boldly forward?

Xu Kai hadn't figured out the exact rules. He had to concentrate on dealing with the two monsters in front of him.

Leng Chong specialized in an ice Talent, while Nurse Lin specialized in swordsmanship. It was also highly likely that she had spatial equipment that allowed her blades to emerge from her hands.

Judging by their modifications, the two monsters had retained their respective Talents, and their strength had increased significantly as well.

Xu Kai carefully observed the two monsters in front of him. The hospital stairs were wide enough for four or five people to pass through at once.

He had enough room to dodge, but he couldn't do so.

For now, Xu Kai had only figured out the rule for moving straight ahead, so he stared at Leng Chong and released flames.

After becoming a monster, Leng Chong's ability to sense danger had improved considerably. He sensed Xu Kai's gaze and immediately controlled his body to produce an icy mist, blocking Xu Kai's view.

Nurse Lin wasn't idle either. After becoming a monster, she was somewhat smaller than Leng Chong, standing about two meters tall. A long blade emerged from her right palm. Instead of moving forward, she stared at Xu Kai, jumped on the spot, and slashed at the air with her right palm.

Xu Kai didn't understand the movement. But after the next second passed, Nurse Lin appeared directly in front of him. The slash she had made at empty air cut open his neck, and Xu Kai immediately fell into darkness.

On his 103rd Save-Load, Xu Kai returned to the point where the heavy fire gate closed, and he understood something else.

To move freely in the stairwell, there were two important requirements.

First, he had to keep his eyes fixed in the intended direction until the movement was complete. Second, to move in anything other than a straight line, he had to jump on the spot.

Just as Xu Kai figured out the rules, Nurse Lin moved. She made the same movements as before, staring fixedly at Xu Kai and sweeping her right palm through the air, holding the pose.

Xu Kai reacted extremely quickly. He immediately fixed his gaze on the right side of the stairs and jumped.

Clang!

A second later, Xu Kai flickered to the side, while a gust of force appeared where he had been. The stairs were cut open, and surprise flashed in Nurse Lin's eyes.

"What a genius. It's only been this long, and you've already figured out the rules of the stairwell."

"Why are you roaring so loudly? I don't understand beast language."

"I forgot. You haven't been modified yet. Never mind, you'll understand soon. I'll cripple you and hand you over to the doctor."

Nurse Lin didn't care whether Xu Kai understood her. She leaped into the air and made a horizontal slash, a vertical slash, and a diagonal slash. Her body flipped up and down in a pleasing display, but her eyes remained fixed on Xu Kai.

Xu Kai tried to jump, but a patch of icy mist flickered beneath his feet and stuck them in place. Immediately afterward, a second passed, and Nurse Lin's sharp blade energy flashed across Xu Kai's left shoulder, right arm, and lower leg, three slashes in all. When they appeared, Xu Kai felt unable to move a muscle. It was a mechanism of the stairwell, like a stuttering-frame special effect.

Xu Kai had no interest in being taken prisoner. Under the two monsters' astonished gazes, he rolled directly to the side, violating the stairwell's rules. He fell and was smashed to death.

On his 104th Save-Load, Xu Kai returned to the instant Nurse Lin began to move. He immediately jumped on the spot, turning his gaze away from Nurse Lin and charging toward Leng Chong instead.

After becoming a monster, Leng Chong's Talent was too troublesome. Xu Kai had to deal with him first before he could spare the effort to fight Nurse Lin.

Xu Kai's reaction this time completely stunned Nurse Lin. Her movements were incredibly fast and dazzling, and her blade strokes left no gaps. Her aim was to make it impossible for Xu Kai to dodge even if he saw her movements, because every escape route was blocked.

But Nurse Lin hadn't expected Xu Kai to react so absurdly fast, moving almost at the same time as she did. Could this be battle instinct?

As she thought this, her swordsmanship missed completely, chopping the stairs on that floor to pieces. Nurse Lin didn't care. She adjusted her position and looked toward Xu Kai, who had dodged away, only to be taken aback.

Xu Kai had already flickered in front of Leng Chong. Covered in flames, he reached one hand into the icy mist and swiftly thrust a finger at Leng Chong's eyes.

Leng Chong had just started to jump when a force suddenly pressed him firmly back down. That force was Xu Kai's second advanced fragment, High-Altitude Fall.

Normally, the conditions for High-Altitude Fall were extremely strict: it could only be used at a cliff. But the stairwell's rules had clearly triggered a bug in the Talent.

When Leng Chong jumped on the spot, the stairwell's spatial rules were in the process of judging his movement. If he failed, Leng Chong would fall from a great height; if he succeeded, he would complete his dodge.

That meant the game judged Leng Chong to be at a great height.

Xu Kai's Talent could take advantage of this to make Leng Chong fall rapidly.

Unfortunately, the falling movement couldn't last more than a second, which meant it was invalid. Otherwise, Xu Kai could have dropped Leng Chong directly to his death.

But the effect was still good. Xu Kai could still control Leng Chong, making his jump last less than a second and causing his dodge to fail.

Thus, Xu Kai's hand landed firmly on Leng Chong's head, and terrifying flames erupted inside Leng Chong's body. As long as Xu Kai kept his gaze fixed on him, Leng Chong would burn alive.

But Leng Chong's vitality was astonishing. Xu Kai felt it would take about three more seconds to burn him to death, but he had already achieved his goal: he had taken Leng Chong's eyes first.

"Ah! No, brother, I was your teammate before!"

Leng Chong roared. Xu Kai couldn't understand him, but it sounded roughly like a plea.

Unfortunately, Xu Kai had no time to pay him any attention. He felt a powerful gust sweep past behind him. It had to be Nurse Lin lunging at him. He hurriedly held a pose, jumping and bending at the waist, his gaze fixed ahead, in the direction of the doctor's operating room.

Swish!

The blade energy severed a strand of Xu Kai's hair. He had narrowly avoided it.

At that moment, Leng Chong was half-crippled, while Nurse Lin and the doctor had Xu Kai caught between them. But the doctor was timid and merely watched coldly from inside the operating room.

Xu Kai had fought the doctor before. The certificate in the doctor's hand was terrifying; if it caught him off guard, Xu Kai would meet his end here. So Xu Kai moved again.

The Weird Energy in his hand transformed into a long blade. Starting from his right, he slashed toward Nurse Lin, swinging his arm forcefully to the left until his finger pointed at the operating room door. The movement made Nurse Lin smile contemptuously. Xu Kai could hear her mocking beast language, roughly saying:

"With that Three-Legged Cat Swordsmanship, you're showing off before an expert."

But that was exactly what Xu Kai wanted. A second later, Nurse Lin's contemptuous gaze froze and, in a humanlike manner, turned to concern.

The blade formed from Weird Energy wasn't heading for Nurse Lin. Instead, like a bullet, it shattered the operating room door and shot straight for the doctor's throat!