He watched the enemy's movements and judged the distance between them.
He remembered an expert once saying that one obvious difference between professionals and amateurs was their ability to judge an opponent's distance.
Now he understood what that felt like.
If a group of people surrounded him, he could immediately tell who was closest and posed the greatest threat.
Just then,
the Fourth Elder stopped speaking and addressed them:
"Though you have been blessed with an extraordinary opportunity, you must still learn your skills one step at a time."
"Mastering even an ordinary skill takes years of hard work, let alone these extraordinary skills."
"You must be patient. This isn't a game world like the one you Descenders came from."
"Understood. Thank you for your guidance, Fourth Elder," they said together.
After that, the Fourth Elder spent the entire night teaching them.
He taught them the specific training methods and contents of the Secret Scouting Technique, Basic Lightness Skill, Basic Parrying, and Basic Fists and Feet, one by one, first having them memorize the material.
Ordinary villagers naturally couldn't be taught this way. But since they were players, they could use the Game System's log to force themselves to remember the material and practice on their own.
This greatly improved the efficiency of the lessons.
Even though it was only a broken Game System, with just one life and no way to revive,
it still created a vast gulf between players and ordinary people.
Lin Qing did just that, forcing herself to memorize everything using the log function, then slowly digesting it later, like a cow chewing its cud.
That way, even if she got trapped somewhere, she'd still have a way to break out.
Gao Linzhi, however, was different.
After a whole night of hard study and careful comprehension, he had already mastered the skills and reached the entry level.
His game panel had now transformed into:
[Skills: Heavenly Sight, Earthly Hearing, Person-Judging Art (Incomplete) (0/100), Basic Fists and Feet (0/100), Basic Parrying (0/100), Basic Lightness Skill (0/100).]
Many combat-related skills came to him automatically.
His hands and feet seemed to have developed muscle memory on their own.
"These basic skills are also available in the village library, but you have to spend Copper Coins and Contribution Points to redeem them."
"Speaking of Contribution Points, that's a new term you Descenders brought to the village. We never used to have anything so detailed..." the Fourth Elder explained.
According to him, ordinary players had to spend at least a month doing labor before they could redeem a basic skill.
Clearly, there were plenty of benefits to being a guard—but the duties and risks that came with it were just as significant.
Otherwise, only a fool would take the job.
The sky was already growing faintly bright. The Fourth Elder stretched and shook his head.
"I'm getting old. From now on, I'll have to rely on young people like you."
"Keep practicing. This old man's going to get some sleep." The Fourth Elder watched the two of them work hard, looking pleased.
What teacher didn't like hardworking students?
The harder they worked, the more soundly he could sleep.
Smiling, he strolled into the rear courtyard.
The Fourth Elder's residence was a large compound with three courtyards.
The two of them were staying in the east and west side rooms of the first courtyard, while the Fourth Elder lived in the main house of the second.
"Thank you for your hard work, Elder."
"Take care, Elder."
The two watched the Fourth Elder leave.
At last, Lin Qing and Gao Linzhi had some time alone together.
She looked at Gao Linzhi with a smile.
"What a coincidence. Looks like we'll be coworkers again."
Gao Linzhi looked confused. "What do you mean? Ms. Lin, have we met before?"
"Oh, sorry. I misspoke." Lin Qing only smiled faintly. "I hope you'll look after me from now on."
But from her expression, she seemed certain she'd identified Gao Linzhi.
Gao Linzhi didn't seem to mind. He simply replied, "Sure. Let's look after each other."
He knew that without training, it would be difficult to pass himself off as a complete stranger in front of someone who knew him.
It was like playing Werewolf: your role determined what information you had, and that changed the perspective you revealed when you spoke.
A veteran could expose you with just a few questions.
But it didn't matter. He had a cheat.
After smiling, Lin Qing went to a corner of the courtyard and began training diligently.
She started with the Basic Lightness Skill.
But the skill was a little too difficult. With her talent, it would take more than ten days just to reach the entry level.
Still, she believed that if she found it difficult, others would find it even harder.
Meanwhile, "Can Xue Waves Across the Map" stood there, looking utterly lost and unsure what to do.
She really had been testing Canxue just now.
A woman's intuition told her that the timing of his appearance had been a little too perfect.
She wondered if he might be Gao Linzhi, the one who had found Manager Li's body with her.
It wouldn't be hard to confirm. All she had to do was test him with information only someone from Xu Corporation would know.
After exchanging a few words with Lin Qing, Gao Linzhi returned to his east side room.
He then logged out of the game character.
He needed to hurry and check in the real world whether he had actually mastered these skills, or if it was just...
Brain: I've got this.
Hands: Bullshit.
He opened his eyes. The fire pit in front of him, the rocks behind him—everything was unchanged.
Everything on the Minimap was normal. No pursuers had appeared.
The sky was growing faintly bright as well.
He looked at a nearby birch tree, then punched it and kicked it.
A left hook, then a right front kick—both came naturally.
It was as if he'd practiced for decades, and the results were excellent.
But the birch tree only shook twice and shed a few leaves. His strikes weren't all that powerful.
He felt that if he ran into those two bastards again, he could easily kill them on his own, without relying on his pets.
After practicing for a while, Gao Linzhi confirmed that his hands and feet had learned the skills too, and finally felt reassured.
He then covered the dying embers with dirt, drank a few gulps of mineral water, ate a few sausages for breakfast, and finished with two vitamin tablets.
Once he'd done all that, he decided to leave and continue south.
Then he tried out the Basic Lightness Skill.
He felt light on his feet. Every step along the mountain trail had its own technique and finer points to consider.
Where to step, where to avoid, how to make his footsteps lighter and erase traces to avoid being tracked—all of it involved a wealth of detailed knowledge.
No wonder it took a month or even years to learn.
Without the game's direct infusion of knowledge, he never would have mastered it.
Before, walking along a mountain trail had taken twelve parts of his strength. Now, five were enough.
He could quickly scramble up steep slopes that had once seemed nearly impossible, taking just a few steps.
He was almost as good as some of the old masters with genuine lightness skills from livestreams.
This had tremendous strategic significance.
It meant he could travel much farther in a day than before.
Before you continue