In this world, Demon Sealers were a strange breed.
Most of them were orphans, with no parents, no relatives, and no friends. They preferred to keep to themselves and rarely associated with others, standing entirely alone. They focused on slaying demons and monsters, had little interest in fighting people, and their strength was hard to gauge.
They were the last people anyone wanted to provoke.
At that moment.
Looking at the Man in Black Hat on the hilt, everyone from the Iron Leg Sect and the Divine Fist Martial Hall was taken aback.
Tie Longgang's expression changed several times before he finally laughed heartily and said:
"We're all Martial Masters. We believe in sparring with restraint. Fighting to the death isn't our style."
"Let's go!"
With that, he turned and walked off the Martial Arts Arena without the slightest hesitation.
"That guy's really cunning..." Mu Ye watched the scene and thought.
Demon Sealers were actually stronger overall than the other characters.
Although Martial Arts were shared between characters, Demon Sealers had the unique Demon Subduing Body talent. This ability temporarily boosted their attributes. The stronger they were, the greater the boost; and the more Martial Arts they learned, the stronger they became.
It was designed specifically for slaying demons and monsters, but that only meant it was less effective against people—not that it didn't work at all.
Of all the playable characters, the Demon Sealer—the official protagonist of Sword and Blade Demon Sealing—was unquestionably one of the strongest.
And since Martial Arts were shared, no matter how many more they learned, Demon Sealers would always get a bigger boost than the other characters.
Their one drawback was their special status: it was hard for them to befriend other factions, harder still to earn their trust, and correspondingly difficult to learn Martial Arts.
In a real fight, even with the Golden Blade Art, the Demon Sealer might not have been able to completely defeat Tie Longgang, a Third Grade who had opened a hundred apertures.
But people in this world had a fixed impression of Demon Sealers: if you fought one, you'd have to fight for your life.
Most Demon Sealers stood alone, and risking their lives was just another day's work for them. They had long since put life and death aside, and few others could do the same.
If they fought to the death, who knew how many Iron Leg Sect disciples would die? Even if Tie Longgang won, he'd be badly wounded.
And if he lost, he'd be done for.
Then it would all be over.
"In another month or two, he won't get off so easily..." Mu Ye glanced after him.
He'd achieved his goal, and wasn't certain he could win, so he couldn't be bothered to fight.
Besides, exploring the World Map was all about building up your character. Wasn't it better to raise your level a little and mow them down with overwhelming force?
Once the other man had left, Mu Ye didn't want to linger either. He drew his long blade, tapped the ground with his toe, and leaped onto the roof. He flew to a secluded corner and was just about to log out.
A pitch-black figure suddenly appeared.
"You finally showed yourself!"
"?" Mu Ye drew his long blade. The man had been skulking around, and had only just shown himself—had he been following him all this time?
"Demon Sealer Mu Xinghe? Don't attack. I'm here on Madam Shen's orders," the Man in Black said. "She would like to invite you to the Shen Mansion tomorrow at midnight. Madam Shen said you saved her life last time, but left in such a hurry that she never had the chance to repay you..."
[Shen Mansion Side Quest Unlocked: Beside the Bed]
[Side Quest Requirement: Go to the Shen Mansion at midnight tomorrow...]
[Yes/No]
Without the slightest hesitation, Mu Ye chose yes.
Even a second's hesitation would have been an insult to a player who went for every side quest and achievement.
Seeing him nod, the Man in Black quickly cupped his hands.
"Then I won't keep you. The Shen Mansion will await your arrival tomorrow."
With that, his figure slowly vanished into the darkness.
"Judging by his skills, he's no ordinary man," Mu Ye thought.
He was probably one of the Shen Mansion's enforcers.
Come to think of it, although the Tutorial Stage had been fun, after a month of playing the game carefully, Mu Ye had realized there were quite a few suspicious details.
For example, the Shen Mansion was one of the wealthiest households in Taiping City, and Hero Shen was a renowned Third Grade powerhouse. So why were there only a few servants who knew a couple of fist-and-foot techniques on the estate?
There wasn't even a single Martial Warrior who'd made it to the first grade.
And where had those two demons come from? Why had they been in Madam Shen's chambers?
As a player, all that mattered was having fun cutting through the story. The plot itself usually didn't get much attention.
But Madam Shen was a female character with her own Favorability rating. That meant she could be romanced. Even if he didn't care about her looks, as a player, he still wanted the romance achievement.
Mu Ye wanted both.
And if he wanted to romance her, it was worth thinking about the story.
After logging out, he logged in again as the Ranger.
He was still in the martial hall.
As soon as he logged in, a notification appeared.
["Restore Sect Prestige" completed]
[Reward: 100 Paradise Coins, reputation increased, Martial Hall Favorability increased]
Paradise Coins were all that mattered.
Without them, he couldn't buy the second chapter.
He didn't have many Paradise Coins right now. He'd exchanged some for two keys in the shop, unlocked the Ranger and Thief Character, and had 200 Paradise Coins left.
Knowing how this game worked, he figured he'd have to buy the other games with Paradise Coins too.
Without a cash shop, the only way to earn Paradise Coins was by completing in-game missions.
Just then, Yan Zhennan returned to the inner hall, looking astonished.
"So Demon Sealer Mu Xinghe is your big brother? Aren't all Demon Sealers parentless orphans...?"
"Uh...we're sworn brothers," Mu Ye made up on the spot.
That's my main character.
"I see..." Yan Zhennan didn't ask any more. After a moment's silence, he continued, "Actually, I saw this coming. I just didn't think it would happen so soon..."
At that, Mu Ye knew there had to be another side quest coming, and immediately pressed him for details.
"You've only been at my martial hall for a month, but you're righteous and unyielding. If you're interested, I'll tell you an old story about our martial hall."
Mu Ye listened closely.
He'd already guessed most of it from the bits and pieces he'd heard earlier, but hearing Yan Zhennan tell the whole story was still quite interesting.
Many years ago, there was an oddball in the Jianghu. He'd gotten his right arm broken in a fight because he loved brawling, and his left leg broken in a bet because he loved gambling.
He was a complete cripple.
And yet this same cripple suddenly turned over a new leaf in his thirties. Not only did he rein in his wild ways, he began studying Martial Arts with the only fist and leg he had left.
Forty years later, at the age of seventy, he created Divine Aperture True Martial Art and the Innate Qi Technique.
Later, relying on this technique, he became a Fourth Grade Minor Grandmaster who had opened five hundred apertures. If not for his limited Lifespan, he might even have become a Fifth Grade Grandmaster!
Mu Ye was genuinely stunned when he heard that. The man sounded like he'd been cheating, but what did any of this have to do with Divine Fist Iron Leg?
"The Innate Qi Technique is a True Martial Art that can open the Head Aperture," Yan Zhennan said, his face full of reverence and longing. "But...that technique was far too powerful, and far too difficult to practice. My master took in countless disciples, but found that none of them had his willpower or resilience. They simply couldn't learn it. On top of that, opening Divine Apertures was inherently dangerous. If your willpower and resilience were even a little lacking, you could make a mistake during cultivation and die on the spot."
"So, after much thought, he decided that it was only natural his disciples didn't have the willpower and resilience he'd gained from his own experiences."
"Drawing on those experiences, Master divided the True Martial Art into two parts. He revised the first part into two Secret Martial Arts that could open the Limb Apertures. Those became today's Crimson Flame Fist and Vajra Leg."
"The second part was the true Innate Qi Technique."
"To practice Crimson Flame Fist, you have to endure the pain of being burned by flames. If you succeed, you'll surely have tremendous willpower."
"To practice Vajra Leg, you have to endure the pain of having your bones shattered again and again. If you succeed, you'll surely be unbreakably tough."
"Even if something goes wrong while practicing either one, you won't die on the spot."
"Once you've mastered both, you can smoothly practice the second part, the Innate Qi Technique. And since it was originally divided from those two techniques, learning it will be much easier."
"Master truly went to great lengths for us..." Yan Zhennan sighed.
After watching this part of the story, Mu Ye felt quite moved. He hadn't expected there to be such a story behind these two Divine Aperture Secret Martial Arts.
There had to be a remarkable person behind every remarkable technique.
"What happened after that?" Mu Ye asked.
"After that?" Yan Zhennan paused. "Things were fine while Master was alive. No one dared complain. But after he died, quite a few disciples thought he'd been holding back and hadn't taught them anything real. My senior brother Tie Longgang was one of them. He left the sect and founded the Iron Leg Sect."
"I took some of the disciples and founded the Divine Fist Martial Hall."
"But none of us had much talent. We never mastered either of Master's Secret Martial Arts."
"All these years, Tie Longgang has been trying to get his hands on the true Innate Qi Technique, so he wants to swallow us up. I have the Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art Map for Crimson Flame Fist, as well as the Secret Secretion Ointment Recipe required to practice it."
"He only appears to be after the recipe. In truth, he wants the Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art Map too. It contains clues to the location where Master hid the second half of the Innate Qi Technique, though ordinary people would never be able to decipher them."
Mu Ye understood.
Yan Zhennan looked at him and sighed.
"With your talent, if you learned Vajra Leg and got its Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art Map, I might be able to decipher the clues and help you find the Innate Qi Technique. Then you could pass down Master's divine art, and he could finally rest in peace."
"His greatest regret was that none of his disciples could inherit such a divine art..."
"Unfortunately, getting Tie Longgang to hand over the Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art Map is nearly impossible... Even killing him might not be enough..."
Just then, a notification appeared.
[Divine Fist Martial Hall Side Quest Unlocked: Gathering of Two Martial Arts]
[Quest Requirements: Obtain the Divine Aperture Secret Martial Art Map and learn Vajra Leg.]
[Yes/No]
Interesting.
Mu Ye chose to accept.
"It'll be very difficult for you to learn Vajra Leg..." Yan Zhennan shook his head. "But Master used to say that there's always a glimmer of hope. Perhaps...it isn't impossible."
Heh. Of course it was possible.
Mu Ye said goodbye to his master, left the martial hall, and logged out early. Then he logged in as another character.
"Thief."
"I've wanted to use this character for ages... I'm just gonna steal it from you!"
Before you continue