Turns Out There Were Other Paths

Turns Out There Were Other Paths

When Hu Liena re-entered the game, her mindset was completely different from the first time.

At the very beginning, she only wanted to prove whether this shop had any problems.

Later, she wanted to prove that she would not get blocked by a mere minor mob.

And now, she genuinely wanted to figure out just how many things were hidden within this game.

The mountain path was still the same mountain path.

Tree shadows swayed, and the distant bell chime remained the same.

Yet this time, Hu Liena did not rush forward immediately.

She glanced back at the Land Shrine, then looked down at the staff in her hand.

Basic Staff Stance Insight made her more familiar with this body.

She could distinctly feel that her stance opening, dodging, and attack recovery were all much smoother than before.

This was not an enhancement of Soul Power.

Yet its help to combat was extremely direct.

She proceeded along the mountain road, carefully avoiding the first patch of grass.

When the wolf demon leaped out, she did not panic, sidestepped to dodge, and countered with a staff strike hitting its shoulder and neck.

After two exchanges, the wolf demon fell to the ground.

Hu Liena continued onward.

Soon, she saw that elite mob once again which had caused her to suffer quite a bit.

Wielding a fiery blade, it stood before the dilapidated courtyard, as if waiting there all along.

Hu Liena gripped her staff tightly.

She had already defeated it once, but that victory had not been easy.

If she wanted to trigger the Elite Challenge Lin Chuan mentioned, she would probably have to keep fighting this kind of mob.

She took a deep breath, preparing to step forward, but a sentence Lin Chuan had said earlier suddenly echoed in her ears.

This is not a Battle Arena.

In the Battle Arena, the opponent was right across from you, and a winner could only be decided after the match started.

Yet a game was not necessarily like that.

She halted her steps, choosing not to charge into the courtyard right away, and instead turned to observe her surroundings.

There was a patch of bushes on the left side of the courtyard.

Behind the bushes seemed to be a very narrow path, one that was very easy to overlook at first glance.

Hu Liena hesitated for a moment, then walked around.

Inside the internet cafe, Xie Yue saw the movement on the screen, his gaze shifting slightly.

"She found the path."

Lin Chuan nodded.

"Games are not just about fighting monsters, but also about exploration."

Yan frowned. "What kind of skill is taking a detour?"

Lin Chuan looked at him.

"On a battlefield, if there is a path that lets you avoid strong enemies and directly accomplish the objective, do you take it or not?"

Yan opened his mouth.

He wanted to say that he would fight his way through head-on.

Yet with Yue Guan and Gui Mei standing beside him, in the end he did not dare to voice such foolish words.

Xie Yue said indifferently, "As long as you win."

Yan snorted and did not refute.

Inside the game, Hu Liena walked along the small path for a distance.

The trees on both sides grew increasingly dense, and the stone steps on the ground also grew dilapidated.

She originally thought this was a shortcut, but upon reaching the end, she discovered that it was not an exit, but rather a ruined temple concealed behind the cliff face.

A little demon was dozing off in front of the ruined temple.

Hu Liena did not rush to make a move.

She first observed the surroundings for a circle.

There was half a broken stele at the entrance of the ruined temple, with blurred characters carved upon it. She could not read them very well, yet she could sense that this place was different from the mountain road outside.

She tried to approach.

Little Demon woke with a start, brandished its blade, and lunged.

Hu Liena sidestepped, striking it down with three successive staff blows.

After Little Demon fell, a faint glow lit up inside the dilapidated shrine.

She walked in and saw a shattered statue of the Land Shrine.

The moment she drew close, a system prompt materialized before her eyes.

[Land Shrine discovered.]
[Teleportation point recorded.]

Hu Liena froze.

A teleportation point?

She tried touching the statue of the Land Shrine, and several options appeared before her.

Rest.

Recover.

Teleport.

She could understand all three of these terms.

She chose recovery first.

The next moment, the injuries on her body vanished rapidly, and her stamina refilled as well.

Hu Liena's gaze changed completely.

So something like this existed.

She had previously kept fighting her way straight along the main road, forced to press forward while carrying injuries every time she got hurt, until she was eventually worn down and killed by minor monsters when her condition was poor.

Yet if she found the Land Shrine first, she could treat this place as a new starting point.

This was not simply combat training.

It was a comprehensive test of routes, resources, and pacing.

Inside the internet cafe, Xie Yue understood her discovery and said in a low voice, "This game has its own rule system."

Yue Guan also narrowed his eyes.

"If you view it as a secret realm, it's easier to understand."

Gui Mei shook his head.

"Secret realms kill people."

This was the most crucial difference.

It was not that special spaces and ruins did not exist on the Douluo Continent, but entering them often came with enormous risks. A place where one could enter repeatedly, die repeatedly, and summarize experiences repeatedly was something they had never seen.

Lin Chuan didn't offer much explanation from the side.

He knew that the more he explained, the more it would sound like a sales pitch.

It was better to let them see for themselves.

After recovering at the Land Shrine, Hu Liena resumed exploring her surroundings.

Instead of rushing back to the main road, she continued forward along the ravine behind the dilapidated shrine.

This time, she did not encounter a wolf demon, but a snake demon with even faster movements.

The opponent hugged the ground, and its attack angles were tricky.

Hu Liena was bitten on the calf for the first time and was immediately poisoned, not lasting long before dying halfway there.

After resurrecting, she didn't get angry, but instead went straight back to the vicinity of the Land Shrine and tried again.

The second time, she observed the snake demon's ambush spot in advance and lured it out with stones.

The third time, she learned to wait for the snake demon to miss its pounce before counterattacking.

The fourth time, she finally defeated the snake demon without taking damage.

As the snake demon fell, a small, grayish-white jade fragment dropped.

Hu Liena picked it up, and a prompt materialized before her eyes.

[Acquired: Poison-Repelling Jade Fragment.]
[Gather three pieces to gain a temporary anti-poison effect.]

The corners of Hu Liena's mouth ticked upward slightly.

She was starting to understand the fun of this game.

Not everything relied on brute force fighting.

Observation, trial and error, memorizing routes, and utilizing items were equally important.

And this was precisely the aspect that many Soul Masters easily overlooked during training.

Spirit masters relied too much on martial souls and spirit skills.

If the martial soul was strong and the spirit rings were good, one could often overpower an opponent.

Yet here, everything was pulled back to the most basic judgment.

Hu Liena continued forward.

Half an hour later, she finally looped back to the main route from the other end of the path.

More importantly, she stood at the side and rear of that fire- blade elite monster.

The other party did not discover her.

Hu Liena looked at that back and suddenly smiled.

So fighting head-on wasn't the only option.

She gripped the wooden stick tightly and approached without a sound.

The first strike landed squarely on the back of the neck.

The fire-blade freak roared and whirled around.

Hu Liena retreated immediately, drawing it away from the small courtyard.

She did not grow greedy for attacks.

She dragged the battle onto the wider mountain path, utilizing the attack rhythm she had figured out earlier to slowly wear the opponent down.

When the final blow landed, the fire-blade freak crashed heavily to the ground.

A new prompt appeared on the screen.

[Completed Elite Challenge: Assassination from behind.]
[Conditions met: Discovered a hidden route and defeated an elite enemy with a non-frontal engagement.]
[Reward: One eligibility draw for the Lucky Roulette.]

Hu Liena took off the helmet.

There was fatigue on her face, but she smiled quite obviously.

"Boss."

Lin Chuan had already seen the system prompt.

He nodded.

"Congratulations, the draw eligibility is in hand."

Yan looked at Hu Liena's expression and finally couldn't help asking, "There really is a reward for taking the long way?"

Hu Liena looked at him.

"There is."

Yan was silent for a moment, cursing in a low voice.

"How does this game even have rewards for not fighting frontally?"

Xie Yue said indifferently, "Because this takes brains."

Yan: "..."