Conflict

Uwan Ryu looked at the saber-and-shield soldier and said, "Go out and call Ruo Kou in. You'll split your bounty with him. Any problem?"

The saber-and-shield soldier nodded. "No problem."

The saber-and-shield soldier went back the way he had come. Before long, a new saber-and-shield soldier entered, and only then did Yan Qing understand why Uwan Ryu had selected a batch of reserves—as soon as someone in the combat unit could no longer hold on, they could immediately go out and switch places.

During this rest, Yan Qing pretended to wander around, while "Yan San" brushed against the edges of the servants' corpses and picked up all the drops. Aside from the food materials, he had also obtained 500 spirit jades. Yan Qing was quite excited. If he could gather 9,000 spirit jades over the next few days, then even if he failed the theft four days later, he could still pay the fine and get through it!

Perhaps because many of the combat soldiers had been injured, the team's morale was somewhat low. Realizing that things could not continue this way, Uwan Ryu took the initiative to speak to "Yan San." "Yesterday at the city gate, you clearly stabbed me, yet it had no effect. Do you know why?"

Yan San: "Why?"

Uwan Ryu: "Because I have this mask—the keepsake, Evil Spirit Mask."

Uwan Ryu removed the mask and held it high above his head. The mask, which appeared to be made only of iron, suddenly radiated a black aura, drawing everyone's attention.

The game also displayed a message:

"Evil Spirit Mask"

"Rank: One-Turn"

"Equipment Requirements: 5 Vitality, 5 Spirit"

"Effect · Evil Spirit Protection: At the instant you are attacked, summon an evil spirit to help you resist the damage. Each point of spirit power can negate 25 points of damage. Each activation consumes at least 1 point of spirit power and at most 4 points."

"Effect · Evil Spirit Entanglement: While continuously wearing the Evil Spirit Mask, your vitality will gradually increase and your sense of pain will gradually weaken, but your appearance and physique will also gradually become more like an evil spirit."

"Evaluation: If you want to survive, you have to give up something."

Uwan Ryu shouted, "As long as you're strong enough to change class into a herald and have enough merit, any of you can exchange for this Evil Spirit Mask and become an Evil Spirit Knight whose strength far surpasses that of ordinary people. From then on, ordinary people's bows, crossbows, and weapons will never be able to hurt you again!"

"And if you want to increase your strength, there's no better method than actual combat—blood battles and fierce battles! Aside from secret realms, is there anywhere else that lets you fight without any worries? No!"

"Back then, I followed General Duan into a secret realm to fight. I only narrowly escaped death before tempering my Crescent Blade Technique to the extreme and changing class into a Martial Dao Herald. As long as you undergo enough training and temper your skills to the extreme, you can change class into heralds as well!"

Uwan Ryu's speech clearly boosted everyone's morale.

However, when Yan Qing heard Uwan Ryu mention "tempering one's skills to the extreme" and "Martial Dao Herald," an idea surfaced in his mind—

Could it be that every cultivator in this world who changes class does so through sheer brute force?

Although Yan Qing had never played a "herald," he knew that one of the game's highlights, which had allowed it to reach the top of the MMORPG world, was that players changed class once every ten levels.

The system would provide players with three class options every ten levels based on their combat style in the game, their weapon choices, and even their quest history. There was no doubt that players obsessed with high-difficulty content would study guides and plan out every class change to maximize their gains, while casual players who did not care much for high-difficulty content could also experience new gameplay every ten levels.

Generally speaking, players would immediately change class upon reaching level ten. However, if a player refused to change class, the system would not force them.

To attract new players, "Herald" did not charge anything before a new account's first class change. Only after changing class would the player have to purchase a monthly pass. If a player never changed class, they could continue playing for free, ruthlessly exploiting "Herald" for all it was worth.

But there was one exception.

That was when a player had tempered one of their skills to the extreme—for example, level-10 Basic Spear Technique, level-10 Basic Saber Technique, level-10 Basic Calligraphy, or level-10 Basic Musical Instrument—and their character level was at least 10. At that point, the system would force the player to change class into a "hidden class"—a Martial Dao Herald or a Scholarly Dao Herald.

At that point, free-to-play players would mistakenly think they had triggered a hidden class and would eagerly subscribe to a monthly pass to keep playing...

Then they would soon discover: Huh? Why doesn't my hidden class seem particularly powerful either?

It was simple. All of this was a player-acquisition scheme by "Herald."

Martial Dao Herald and Scholarly Dao Herald were indeed hidden classes. Any player who had not changed class would automatically change class upon maxing out any basic skill. However, the strength of these two hidden classes was merely average, and they were absolutely not worth deliberately changing class for.

But the class-change system belonged to the players, while the people of this world clearly did not receive the privilege of "choosing a class change at level 10." From that, Yan Qing could easily reach a conclusion: for the people of this world to undergo their first class change, they probably had to max out their basic skills and rely on sheer brute force to achieve a miracle.

With morale high, Uwan Ryu immediately led them onward. When they reached the estate's Central Courtyard garden, they saw no one. Uwan Ryu walked straight behind a rockery and opened a concealed trapdoor, revealing a passage leading underground.

Although he had never run this dungeon, Yan Qing guessed that they were probably supposed to search the other rooms for clues before discovering the existence of the underground passage. Uwan Ryu and the others had long since studied this dungeon thoroughly, so naturally they took the correct route directly.

Following the tunnel downward, they entered an arena. The weapon racks were filled with white-steel sabers and spears, and eight fully armed, armored servants were sparring inside. The names above their heads read "Elite Servant." The moment Uwan Ryu stepped into the arena, they immediately charged over and triggered combat.

At that moment, Uwan Ryu pulled "Yan San" to his side with one hand. "You and I will hold the staircase entrance together. Retreat, and you die! Survive this, and you'll be a Centurion Knight!"

There was no way five combat soldiers could hold back eight servants, but by taking advantage of the staircase entrance's terrain, two people could block the servants while the archers behind them fired from higher ground. It was practically a perfect tactic.

But the question was, who would block the staircase entrance?

The first two waves of ordinary servants had already been difficult enough. These "Elite Servants" were stronger in both appearance and name, and there was almost no room to dodge at the staircase entrance. They had to—and could only—fight head-on!

Uwan Ryu, a Martial Dao Herald with a protective keepsake, naturally had nothing to fear. But the other Centurion Knights were merely ordinary mortals. Even if they won against these elite monsters that traded injuries for injuries, they would still be covered in wounds.

At last, Yan Qing understood why Uwan Ryu had treated "Yan San" so well and had even brought him into the Centurion barracks without any assessment. Even if "Yan San" had high vitality and strong combat power, such preferential treatment had been excessive... So it was all for the sake of using him to fill the line at this staircase entrance!

It was easy to predict that this place would have the highest casualty rate in the dungeon, and the ones injured would inevitably be the elite Centurion soldiers. Otherwise, they simply could not stop the Elite Servants. So when Uwan Ryu had discovered while wandering around that "Yan San" actually possessed the combat power of a Centurion Knight, he had naturally been overjoyed—there was actually such a high-quality meat shield among ordinary people!

Even now, Uwan Ryu had not forgotten to paint him a rosy picture, hoping that "Yan San" would fight to the death.

Fortunately, I'm using an alt account. It won't matter if I die, and besides...

If "Yan San" really survives and clears this dungeon, then who gets to call the shots afterward may not be so certain.

However, after one round of exchange, Yan Qing sensed that something was wrong.

The Elite Servant had lost 10% of its health, while "Yan San" had lost 7%. Although there were archers in the rear, the archers prioritized attacking the servants farther back who were not participating in combat. Therefore, "Yan San" could only deal with the enemy alone.

It seemed that he still had the advantage in health, but the problem was that once this Elite Servant died, the second Elite Servant would take its place. The only way around that was for the archers to kill all six servants in the back before "Yan San" killed the Elite Servant—but judging from the changes in their health, the archers' damage output was nowhere near that high.

This can't continue... But retreating is impossible either. The saber-and-shield soldiers behind me are blocking the way... Saber-and-shield soldiers?

Yan Qing had a sudden thought. He threw away his spear, turned around, and punched the saber-and-shield soldier behind him!

"Bastard!"

"How dare you—"

Just as Uwan Ryu and the others thought "Yan San" had betrayed them, "Yan San" picked up the saber and shield dropped by the combat soldier behind him. He took two slashes from the Elite Servant during that time, but once he held the saber and shield and took up the line, his health immediately stabilized.

"You have comprehended Basic Saber Technique. Current level: 1"

"You have comprehended Basic Shield Technique. Current level: 1"

"You have comprehended..."

His Saber Technique and Shield Technique continued leveling up. The Elite Servant had initially been able to take 3% of his health, but later, it could not even break through his shield's defense.

When all eight Elite Servants fell, "Yan San" had reached level 5 in both Saber Technique and Shield Technique. His level had also risen by two, reaching level 9—only one step away from changing class!

However, "Yan San's" attack on his comrade had clearly angered everyone. They had held back because of the battle, but now that it was over, the combat soldier whose saber and shield had been taken immediately came over and raised his fist, ready to strike "Yan San." "Your mother—"

Yan Qing executed a Perfect Dodge, triggering the time-slowing state, then knocked him down again with two punches. He had even learned a new skill.

"You have comprehended Basic Fist Technique. Current level: 1"

Seeing that "Yan San" actually dared to fight back, someone in the archers' ranks drew his bow and aimed at him. However, "Yan San" swept his gaze around without the slightest fear, picked up his spear, and sneered at the combat soldier lying on the ground. "If I had died just now, would it have been your turn to hold the line? If I hadn't held it until the end, wouldn't your life have been saved? And you actually repay kindness with ingratitude?"

The combat soldier's eyes bulged with fury. He looked as if he wanted to pounce over and bite someone, but Yan Qing was not afraid at all—he was not actually there in person.

"I blocked the enemy, and you're still aiming your bows at me?" "Yan San" took out another meat bun and ate it, sneering. "Good, good, good. So this is what a Centurion Knight is. If you have the guts, wait until I finish this bun and see who dies here!"