"Did it change phases? The first boss has a second phase? Nice, nice!"
Lu Ma praised the game as he went over his moves.
His thinking was simple:
The weapon got deflected because the opponent had "attacked."
And if it was an attack, he could dodge it. So, the instant he saw the needle appear, he made Ning Rongrong dodge to the side, then kept attacking.
He hadn't expected to send the opponent straight into phase two.
Looking at the opponent's long health bar, Lu Ma felt fired up.
Smoke?
Sorry, he could adjust the game's brightness, and even tweak the game filters in his NVIDIA control panel.
Under the filters, the opponent's figure stood out clearly.
Ning Rongrong had only noticed her vision blur when the opponent first released his Soul Skill. After that, she could suddenly see his movements clearly again.
Before she could think it through, she was already charging forward with the iron rod, landing a precise blow to his head.
His health bar dropped by about a tenth.
"Ugh!"
Donald covered his face and staggered back three steps.
"Second Soul Skill: Toxic Dust!"
The white smoke turned green in an instant. The smell made Ning Rongrong feel sick, and Lu Ma noticed his health bar was dropping too. So he went all in and charged forward, landing two more hits.
"Urgh! You little brat!"
Donald blocked the third blow, then rushed forward and looked down at Ning Rongrong.
"Third Soul Skill: Shaping Powder!"
The smoke flowed back to the hand he'd used to catch the iron rod, gradually coating it.
Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth and tried to pull the rod free, but it wouldn't budge.
"Hey, it can disarm you too!"
Seated at his computer, Lu Ma only got more excited and more delighted the longer he fought.
Rather than stubbornly trying to reclaim the rod, he had his character punch Donald.
The fist landed solidly. It had only half the force of the iron rod, but it still threw Donald off balance. His hand loosened, and the rod broke apart.
Lu Ma had already seen the QTE prompt light up over Donald's head. It was time for another execution.
Ning Rongrong slammed into Donald, knocking him to the ground, then kicked him into the fire.
The Purple Fire had almost burned out, and Donald's body put out what remained.
Ning Rongrong turned and took a huge nail from the cross, then drove it into the back of Donald's head.
Donald, a Soul Elder, struggled on the ground a few times, then fell silent.
"Done."
Ning Rongrong dusted off her hands and glanced at the girl unconscious nearby.
A yellow dot hovered over the girl's head. She seemed to be coming around.
Lu Ma knew exactly what it was: a quest marker. But he didn't hurry. Instead, he made Ning Rongrong crouch down, roll Donald's body onto its back, and search his pockets with her small hands.
Before long, she found a round object, a scroll, and ten Gold Soul Coins.
So poor.
Ning Rongrong looked at the items being stowed in her Space Soul Tool and thought.
She didn't know what the first two were, but she knew all about ten Gold Soul Coins...
Wait, why had time stopped again?
Lu Ma opened the inventory and checked the new items' properties. Then he stared blankly at the two descriptions.
[Holy Spirit Pill (Cannot Be Consumed): A pill developed by the Holy God, combining the effects of various medicinal herbs. After consumption, it takes one hour to digest. Once digestion is complete, Soul Power will be greatly enhanced. However, this Holy Spirit Pill is flawed, and its effects have changed.]
[Holy Spirit Scroll (Part Three): Records a one-time secret technique of the Holy Spirit Sect. Once activated, it can raise Soul Power and Martial Soul quality. It only works once on any given person. Automatically destroyed after all uses are expended: 2/3]
Put simply, one seemed to be an experience potion, and the other was a dud—probably a plot item that couldn't be used.
As for the other one... no reason not to use it!
When Ning Rongrong came to, she was already sitting cross-legged with an open scroll before her. A chill and warmth intertwined inside her, flowing through her body. It was tingly and strange, but also quite comfortable.
Hey, could she really just use something like this? What if it was poisonous?
She struggled to think, but in the next moment, she was swept away by the surge in her strength. Her Soul Power was rapidly increasing, and even her Martial Soul seemed to be stirring. A few purple glimmers appeared on the bottommost layer, which then grew more solid.
Level 27. Breakthrough!
Level 28. Breakthrough!
Level 29. Breakthrough!
Level 30...
Her Soul Power rose halfway through level 30, then stopped.
It didn't feel like a bottleneck, more like she simply didn't have enough "experience."
She could absorb a third Soul Ring now. Ning Rongrong was confident of that much.
The increase in strength didn't make Ning Rongrong happy. Instead, she felt a pang of sorrow.
First, this wasn't her achievement; it was the achievement of the person controlling her. Second, she had spent six years cultivating from level 9 to level 26, while he had taken less than two hours to cultivate from level 26 to level 30. Finally, she still didn't know whether this method would leave hidden problems.
There hadn't been any of that loathsome black aura around her while she cultivated, but the scroll had still come from someone like that.
For a moment, Ning Rongrong didn't know how to respond. Fortunately, she didn't need to think about it right now. Lu Ma watched the number of uses on the scroll drop from 2 to 1, then had her put it away and stand up. She walked toward the other twelve Soul Masters.
Unfortunately, they had nothing on them. Forget experience potions—they didn't even have a single Gold Soul Coin.
"So poor!"
Lu Ma complained, feeling as if he'd wasted his time.
Then he looked toward the girl.
For some reason, Ning Rongrong had started to feel a sense of kinship with her.
She watched herself walk over and take the girl down from the cross. Then the girl's purple eyes snapped open, startling her.
Lu Ma got excited again.
[Test Subject No. 2, Codename: Saintess, Level 30]
The screen dimmed, and the boss's name appeared in a close-up.
This girl seemed to be a boss too.
And bosses meant rewards.
Unfortunately, Lu Ma was disappointed. Sounds from outside the cave came through his headphones, all the function bars on the game interface disappeared, and only a SKIP option remained.
In other words, the game had entered a cutscene. The girl before him couldn't be killed—not right now, at least.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin finally shattered the barrier and broke in. He quickly found Ning Rongrong and held his sword to the girl's throat.
"Rongrong, are you all right?"
Chen Xin asked with concern, shielding Ning Rongrong behind him. He looked at the girl, who had fainted in terror, then at the bodies strewn all around them, and froze.
"Are these... Evil Soul Masters? Rongrong, did you take them all out?"
Chen Xin was a little surprised. He knew Ning Rongrong was weak in combat, and that her protective treasure probably wouldn't hold for long, so he had rapidly worked out how to break the barrier from outside. After notifying the others, he'd launched a fierce assault on it and finally broken through five minutes later. He'd seen Ning Rongrong being held hostage by the man beneath her—only it turned out that his Rongrong was the one who'd won?
He looked at the twelve Soul Masters, one Soul Grandmaster, and one Soul Elder, then frowned.
"Rongrong, let's go back to the sect first. We'll talk about this later. I'll have someone else clean up."
After a long while, Chen Xin spoke. He carried Ning Rongrong back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Meanwhile, Lu Ma used the time during the cutscene to make himself a bowl of instant noodles.
He wasn't in the habit of watching cutscenes, but as a game tester someone had paid to play, Lu Ma felt it was his duty to listen to the story and find out what was going on.
Before you continue