What Reward Did Sword Douluo Get?

Chen Xin never reached the White-Clothed Scholar. He even moved slowly through the first half of the old Black Wind Mountain path. Yet no one thought he was embarrassing himself anymore.

Because slow could be terrifying too.

Ordinary players moved slowly because they did not know where the path was. Chen Xin moved slowly because he stopped every few steps.

He stopped to listen. To watch. To test.

He treated the old Black Wind Mountain path like a temporary sword chamber. Only, there were no swords in this chamber. There were only wooden sticks, muddy ground, gravel, and Little Demons that could pounce at any moment.

A few students waiting in line had originally wanted to take the chance to get some water from the counter, but the instant they moved their feet, the action on the screen pulled them back.

"Why did he stop again?"

"Is there something in the grass?"

"No way. I didn't see anything."

The words had barely left his mouth when the bushes rustled. A Little Demon lunged past Chen Xin's front and missed. The speaker's expression froze.

Someone beside him immediately whispered, "You didn't see it. He did."

In the first quarter-hour, he was scratched four times. In the second, twice.

After that, he began using fighting methods that were very unlike Sword Douluo.

He used slopes. He used trees. When the wooden stick flew from his hand, he picked up stones and threw them at their eyes. When a Little Demon lunged too viciously, he rolled.

There was nothing dignified about those rolls.

Yan watched with a deep frown.

"Does this count as being strong?"

Xie Yue replied blandly, "Could you let yourself do that?"

Yan choked.

He truly could not. If he had to go without fire and roll through the mud with a wooden stick, he would probably curse the system on the first hit.

Chen Xin reached a narrow passage. The grass grew thick on both sides, while the path ahead looked empty.

Yet he stopped.

This time, he stood there longer than before.

Long enough that Ma Hongjun could not help lowering his voice.

"Could there be no path ahead?"

Tang San shook his head.

"No."

"Then what is he waiting for?"

Tang San watched the trembling blades of grass on the screen.

"He's waiting for them to get impatient first."

Ma Hongjun looked completely lost. Grandmaster, however, nodded.

"When attacking, people grow impatient. When defending, monsters grow impatient."

Ma Hongjun understood only half of it.

But the next moment, he understood.

Yue Guan raised an eyebrow.

"Why isn't he moving?"

The instant those words fell, a Little Demon sprang out from the bushes on the left. Chen Xin did not look left. His wooden stick was already held horizontally before him.

A second Little Demon lunged from the front.

Two of them.

Many people's hearts tightened. Chen Xin shifted his footing and allowed the one on the left to land half a step behind him. The Little Demon in front slammed into the wooden stick.

Before the one behind him could regain its footing, Chen Xin thrust backward, striking its abdomen dead-on. It doubled over, perfectly blocking the claws of the one in front.

Chen Xin turned.

The stick came down.

The two Little Demons fell one after the other. A line of text appeared on the screen.

[Hidden Evaluation Triggered: Edgeless Leverage.]

"Hidden evaluation!"

Someone in the shop gasped softly. Those four words were no longer unfamiliar at the Grand Dao Internet Cafe. Hu Liena had drawn a reward through one. Tang San had obtained Rewind Incense Ash through a special clear. Xiao Wu, Yan, and Ma Hongjun had all gained something as well.

But Chen Xin's evaluation still made everyone tense.

Edgeless Leverage.

Those four words felt like a slap aimed specifically at Sword Douluo. Yet after the slap, it handed him a key.

The reward screen descended. Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up.

"Grandpa Sword got a reward too!"

The light spun, then finally stopped on a grayish-white pattern of fine lines.

[Edgeless Distance Sense: One Line]

[Effect: Condenses the player's fundamental understanding of distance, signs before an attack, and points of imbalance while in an edgeless state. This understanding does not create a soul skill, increase Soul Power, or replace the original martial soul system.]

"Edgeless?"

Yue Guan laughed.

"Sword Douluo drew something edgeless?"

Yan laughed too.

"Without an edge, can it still be called a sword?"

The reward's name was simply too strange.

Sword Douluo had drawn something edgeless.

It sounded as though the system were deliberately making fun of him.

Ma Hongjun could not hold back.

"If I drew that, I'd definitely ask whether I could redraw."

Xiao Wu shot him a glance.

"Trigger a hidden evaluation first."

Ma Hongjun immediately fell silent.

Yan sneered.

"Edgeless suits Sword Douluo well enough. Without a sword, what else can he fight with?"

That was rather harsh.

Xie Yue frowned. Hu Liena did not stop him, though.

She wanted to see as well.

Not to see Chen Xin make a fool of himself, but to see whether this reward was really nothing more than a strange name.

Chen Xin exited the game and sat in his chair with his eyes closed for a moment. Ning Rongrong leaned closer.

"Grandpa Sword, is it useful?"

Chen Xin opened his eyes.

He did not answer at once. That made Ning Rongrong even more nervous.

She had seen the look in Chen Xin's eyes when he obtained a good sword. That look was very clear. If he liked it, he liked it.

But now, Chen Xin looked at his own hand as though confirming something utterly unfamiliar.

It was not strength.

Nor was it sharpness.

It was subtle.

So subtle that a raised hand, a shifted shoulder, or even a sheet of paper half an inch from the table could all enter his sight.

Lin Chuan was about to move the teacup on the counter.

His fingertips had just touched the rim when Chen Xin spoke.

"Half an inch."

Lin Chuan paused.

Chen Xin looked at his wrist.

"If you toss the cup, its rim will tilt outward by half an inch first."

The shop instantly fell silent. There was no Soul Power fluctuation, no pressure, no sword intent.

Yue Guan's sleeve moved slightly. With a flick of his fingers, he lifted a sheet of paper from the counter's edge.

The corner of the paper had only risen half an inch when Chen Xin said, "It will fold three times and land to the left of the teacup."

The sheet floated up.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then it drifted lightly down to the left of the teacup.

The people who had laughed earlier felt as though their throats had been blocked.

Ma Hongjun's mouth opened and closed.

"He... he really got it right?"

Oscar could not help saying, "Why don't you pick one up and try?"

Ma Hongjun immediately hid his hands behind his back.

"I'm not trying."

He feared that the moment he moved, Chen Xin would tell everyone where he intended to throw the paper. That would be far too humiliating.

Yan's expression was even uglier.

He had laughed the loudest just now. Yet now that sheet of paper lay beside the teacup, as if it had landed there specifically for him to see.

Xie Yue looked at Chen Xin, and a trace of gravity appeared in his eyes.

There was no Soul Power. No sword intent.

Only his eyes.

In a life-or-death battle, this might not make someone dramatically stronger. But it could make a strong person commit far fewer mistakes.

Making fewer mistakes was another kind of strength to begin with.

The smile on Yue Guan's face faded somewhat.

"Not Soul Power?"

"No."

Chen Xin lowered his head and looked at his own hand.

"It was earned through dying."

Ning Fengzhi's gaze changed.

Others heard "edgeless" and found it absurd. What he heard was distance.

What did support-system Soul Masters fear most?

Misjudging distance.

A little too close, and they blocked the way. A little too far, and they could not save someone in time.

Using Soul Power too early was wasteful. Using it too late was fatal.

Ning Fengzhi looked toward Lin Chuan.

"Boss Lin, I'll bring two sect disciples here tomorrow."

The smile in Yue Guan's eyes vanished entirely. He understood.

Ning Fengzhi was not bringing people here to play. He intended to turn this shop into a new training ground for Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples.

And he would begin with what support-system Soul Masters lacked most.

Distance.

Timing.

The first reaction when there was no protection.

A thought flashed swiftly through Yue Guan's mind. This had to be reported to His Holiness the Pope.

Not because Sword Douluo had drawn some powerful reward.

But because Seven Treasure had begun taking this seriously.

Once Seven Treasure became serious, Spirit Hall could not simply stand by and watch the show.

Ning Fengzhi continued, "We'll pay according to the shop's rules. We won't book the whole place, and we won't ask for exceptions."

Lin Chuan nodded.

"The reservation board is on the wall. First come, first write."

Ning Fengzhi walked to the wall and wrote down the name.

His brushstrokes were not heavy, but everyone in the shop saw them.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had officially entered the game.

The reservation board on the wall suddenly seemed much heavier than before.

The day before, it had only been a wooden board for lining up. Whoever arrived first played first.

Now, it was different.

On one side were Spirit Hall's people.

On the other were Shrek.

And now there was Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as well.

A small wooden board had somehow taken on the feeling of powerful factions facing one another.

Lin Chuan glanced up, then lowered his head and put the money into the drawer.

To him, factional struggles could wait.

As long as they paid according to the rules, they were customers.

As for who embarrassed whom in the shop, that was the game's business.

Ning Rongrong secretly glanced at Yue Guan. The smile had returned to his face, as if nothing had happened.

But she could tell that the smile was no longer the same as before.

At first, he had merely come to watch the excitement.

Yet something created by a wooden stick had suddenly made several factions unable to sit still.

That was more frightening than the reward itself.

Chen Xin closed his eyes again.

But this time, no one thought he was resting.

It was as though he were placing every blow he had taken, every deviation, and every flutter of the paper back into his heart.

Edgeless.

Distance Sense.

Those four words finally no longer sounded like a joke.