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"Wu Shang?"

"That's insane! Is this the strength of a Sword Saint?"

Twilight of the Gods, watching Luo Wu Shang fend off four arrows in one breath from afar, was left dumbfounded, scarcely able to believe it was real.

They had long known that Luo Wu Shang, the vice guild leader of the Heavenly Might Guild and bearer of the Sword Saint title, was no ordinary person. But witnessing that scene firsthand, it was impossible not to be shaken.

"Normal." Fang Zhen remained calm beside them and explained with a smile, "In Pilgrimage, Luo Wu Shang was known as the one sword that severed the water, making ten thousand rivers cease their flow. That wasn't bragging—she truly cleaved a river apart with one strike and made its waters flow backward."

"Here in High Martial Descent, the virtuality is at 100%. Her physical attributes are far inferior to those of the Sword Saint in Pilgrimage, and the physics engine is much more realistic, but her control over her body and reaction speed are even better."

"It was only four arrows. It would've been a joke if she couldn't block them."

"True." Twilight of the Gods nodded, feeling that they had made a fuss over nothing.

A Sword Saint from Pilgrimage was an expert standing at the pinnacle of players. If she had to struggle desperately even in a game's opening scripted battle, that would truly be an insult to the Sword Saint name.

Yet Fang Zhen's and Twilight of the Gods' words left Lin Qi at a loss for words.

Just listen to them!

Only four arrows?

It would be a joke if she couldn't block them?

Were those even human words?

Still, Luo Wu Shang's stunning performance had indeed shocked Lin Qi. He even felt as though he had struck gold.

At this pace, they were practically being carried to victory by experts.

But the Featherfolk drifters on the other side were not so easy to deal with. After their brief shock, the four Featherfolk immediately began firing wildly at Zhang Qingwei and Luo Wu Shang. Even if Luo Wu Shang blocked every arrow, it would greatly slow the two women's advance.

"Hao Tuo, use the trump card!"

Watching Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei draw closer and closer, the Featherfolk leader shouted through gritted teeth.

"Coming."

A Featherfolk youth over two meters tall, carrying a large metal case on his back, set it down and took out two Electromagnetic Grenades.

Those two Electromagnetic Grenades were the trump cards their squad had saved up for with more than half a year's income.

With those trump cards, they had enough confidence even if they encountered a Quasi-Martial Artist.

But now everyone understood that they had run into experts. If they still refused to use them, the entire squad would be in danger.

With that, the Featherfolk youth clutched the two Electromagnetic Grenades and rushed toward the window. He intended to coordinate with the four men's arrow fire and blow the two women to death.

"Damn it! Since these NPCs can't win, are they going to play dirty?" Zhang Qingwei's expression darkened as she watched the Featherfolk youth, less than twenty meters away, holding two big treasures in his hands.

Blocking arrows was no problem for Luo Wu Shang, but blocking exploding grenades was simply impossible.

"Die!"

Seeing Luo Wu Shang prepare to block another volley of arrows, the Featherfolk youth hurled the two grenades in his hands.

Whoosh!

Only the sound of something tearing through the air rang out. A pitch-black arrow struck one grenade directly, causing it to explode. Everything nearby was swallowed by endless flames and lightning. The heat wave and shockwave left the six Featherfolk drifters inside the building unable to keep their footing, while large portions of the walls were destroyed, exposing the six people within.

"Brother Zhen is awesome! It was so far away and so dark, yet he still hit it." Twilight of the Gods stared at the bursting flames and could not stop exclaiming in amazement.

"It was nothing. Just over a hundred meters." Fang Zhen said indifferently. "For professional players on Mecha Continent, this wouldn't even meet the assessment standard."

As Twilight of the Gods and Fang Zhen chatted, the six members of the White Feather Gang inside the ruined building were utterly stunned.

"Why is there another expert?"

"What kind of gang is this?"

"Could they be a Quasi-Martial Artist squad returning to the city?"

One person could block arrows fired simultaneously by four people, while another could hit a grenade from over a hundred meters away in the night. Other than Quasi-Martial Artists, they could think of no one else capable of such strength.

"No, if they really were a Quasi-Martial Artist squad, why would they be driving a three-wheeler?" The White Feather Gang's young leader shook his head, then looked directly at Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei charging up from below. He said coldly, "Their squad merely has two experts. Don't let yourselves be frightened. Don't forget that we're experts of the White Feather Gang too. They only have two experts. Until the stag is dead, no one knows who will claim it."

Following the leader's words, the other five calmed down and rekindled their fighting spirit.

Whether it was Luo Wu Shang or Fang Zhen, their skills had indeed stunned everyone. But in the end, they were drifters just like them. Their speed alone showed that they were merely Quasi-Apprentices like themselves. In a real fight, no one could say who would win or lose, not to mention that they had the numbers advantage.

"Hao Tuo! In a moment, you and I will tie down that woman blocking the arrows." The Featherfolk leader immediately gave orders. "The rest of you, go take down that woman who fired the sneak arrows!"

By then, Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei had already reached the ground floor. A fierce battle was inevitable.

Running was not an option either. They had fought to this point; it would certainly end only with one side dead. If they fled, they would merely become targets for the other side. They might as well use the ruined building's terrain to eliminate the two women first.

"Yes!"

After hearing this, everyone moved into action one after another.

The captain and Hao Tuo were both peak Quasi-Apprentices, only a hair's breadth away from becoming Martial Apprentices.

With strength like that, they were ranked experts even within the White Feather Gang. The two of them joining forces to suppress a sword-wielding Quasi-Apprentice on the other side would surely be as easy as turning over their hands. As for the other four, though they were only ordinary Quasi-Apprentices, dealing with an archer once they got close—

Wouldn't that be as easy as lifting a hand?

For a time, the White Feather Gang's young leader and the Featherfolk youth named Hao Tuo rushed down to the first floor, directly engaging Luo Wu Shang as she charged up. The other four White Feather Gang members jumped down from above and circled around from behind to surround Zhang Qingwei, who had only just entered the building.

"You two dare to charge straight in. I'll give you that much. But this ends here. In close combat, Hao Tuo and I won't lose to a sword expert like you. As for your bow-wielding companion, she'll likely find it difficult to fend off my four companions."

Seeing Luo Wu Shang charge directly toward him, the Featherfolk leader spoke at once. He intended to distract Luo Wu Shang with concern for her companion so that he could seize a chance to launch a sneak attack.

But when Luo Wu Shang drew her weapon, the Featherfolk leader stared in stunned disbelief.

A sword?

What sword was Luo Wu Shang using?

Damn it, she was using an arrow!

Just now, Luo Wu Shang had actually used a single arrow to block all of their arrows!

This made the Featherfolk leader deeply question what kind of human gang the woman before him came from. One moment she carried an alloy shovel, the next she used an arrow as a weapon.

Was this really a proper gang?

Before the Featherfolk youth could think further, the Black Steel Arrow in Luo Wu Shang's hand thrust forward.

Five consecutive thrusts, like the imprint of a cross. Black light flickered as they stamped directly toward the Featherfolk leader.

This was also Luo Wu Shang's signature technique in Pilgrimage.

Point Star!

Now, fused with the explosive force of Crushing Stone Fist, every thrust carried double her own strength. With Luo Wu Shang's original strength already reaching 112 kilograms, each thrust possessed 224 kilograms of force, already reaching the level of a formal Martial Apprentice.

Even though the Featherfolk leader desperately raised the spear in his hand to block—

With only the first thrust, the spear jolted so violently that both his hands ached. The second and third thrusts knocked the spear from his grip. The fourth thrust struck the Featherfolk leader directly in the chest, robbing him of his life.

Even as the Featherfolk leader died, he could not understand how he had been killed by an expert who used arrows.

And as the Featherfolk leader closed his eyes, the corner of his vision caught an unbelievable sight.

Zhang Qingwei, who held a bow, was actually hacking the four squad members backward with her compound bow. Every strike knocked one of them back, and all four were completely suppressed by a single longbow...

What kind of human squad was this?

Was there not a single normal person among them?

Less than three minutes later, all six members of the White Feather Gang were lying at Luo Wu Shang's and Zhang Qingwei's feet.

"Too brutal."

Looking at the White Feather Gang members inside the ruined building, Lin Qi could not help sympathizing with them, especially the four who had fought Zhang Qingwei. They had practically been hacked to death alive by a longbow.

Of course, sympathy was sympathy, but looting the corpses was absolutely not something they could skip.

"As expected of the White Feather Gang. Every one of them is loaded." Lin Qi looked at the items taken from the six men and sighed inwardly.

A normal unregistered drifter's total possessions probably did not amount to even five hundred Bits. Yet these White Feather Gang members possessed not only four A3-grade compound bows, but also an A3 Spear each, already worth over fifteen hundred Bits.

But even more valuable were the Smart Watches on the six men's wrists, as well as a large crate of Blood Essence Rice.

Though the six men used secondhand Smart Watches as well, the six watches alone were worth six thousand Bits. The large crate of Blood Essence Rice was estimated to contain a hundred kilograms. It was likely Blood Essence Rice that these White Feather Gang members had recently collected and were preparing to transport back to the city to sell.

But compared with those things—

Lin Qi felt that the greatest gain this time was the players' performance in this battle. Just three people had wiped out the White Feather Gang's six-man squad without suffering a scratch. Among wilderness drifters, such strength could be considered among the best.

And once Luo Wu Shang and the others grew into Martial Apprentices, then into Quasi-Martial Artists, who in the entire abandoned district would dare provoke the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall?

After all the spoils had been sorted, Lin Qi also rewarded each person with 200 Martial Hall Points.

The four were overjoyed. They had not expected such tremendous rewards from completing a simple story mission.

"Let's go. Back to the martial arts hall!"

Looking at the sorted loot, Lin Qi had everyone push the Big Three-Wheeler back toward the City of Light Chasing.