The skills were strong, not his awareness

Clear Spring Stockade had become a realm of death?

Lin Feng took note of this important piece of information.

In a story-driven game like this, every part of the plot carried a deeper meaning.

Could Clear Spring Stockade have something to do with the Western Hunan Blood God later on?

Generally speaking, a good game's plot points were like beads strung together, all telling the same story within the same world.

Come to think of it, Lin Feng still had no idea what the Western Hunan Blood God actually was.

An evil god, a demon, or a cultivator whose practice had gone awry?

Surely a game based on history and mythology would leave some clues to follow?

Could he find some leads online after logging off later?

As he pondered the story, he headed back up the mountain with the guide, carefully protecting his fragile companion.

But before long, Lin Feng wanted to give the developers a piece of his mind!

What kind of lousy game is this? Of all the things to learn, you had to copy that old bastard Miyazaki!

So you're playing dirty, huh!

Throughout this journey, Lin Feng could hardly be said to have enjoyed himself at all!

Lin Feng took back his initial bold declarations.

This stretch of road alone had made him shut down.

Bold declarations at the start.

Laughter and chatter in the early stages.

Incoherent rambling in the middle.

Dead silence by the end.

Lin Feng stopped talking.

Along the way, he finally saw just how powerful his max-level character was. He was so strong he barely seemed human. A single sword thrust could pierce a monster five or six meters away, and whenever a problem arose, he only had to think before a spell appeared.

Wind control, true fire, true water—every technique came effortlessly.

Yet even so, he had to restart the game again and again.

Why?

Because his awareness couldn't keep up with his body, and all kinds of bizarre things kept happening along the road.

A weak voice called the guide's name from behind him. Lin Feng failed to notice, and the guide was gone.

A voice identical to his called the guide's name. The guide answered, and the guide was gone.

As the guide walked along the road, they came upon a hillside scoured by a flash flood. A mirror had washed into their path, and they walked past it.

The guide was gone.

A jar washed out by the flood shattered. As its fragments scattered, Lin Feng caught a fragrance. He was fine, but the guide was gone.

This road could practically have been called the Road of Ten Thousand Ways for the Guide to Die.

The poor guide died in all sorts of ways, each more varied than the last.

The journey left Lin Feng mentally exhausted. He wasn't afraid of dying himself, but protecting a guide was beyond him.

He was on the verge of losing his mind.

But the worse it got, the more determined Lin Feng became to play. He was just that stubborn. He had once streamed for six hours solely to clear a difficult Mario level.

He had once streamed through an entire night just to kill his foster father in that sword-clanging game.

When faced with a setback, Lin Feng's first response was to grind.

"I'm an expert gamer!"

Lin Feng kept telling himself that. Frustrated though he was, he absolutely refused to admit defeat.

Even if he had to cry his way through it, he was going to beat this game today!

Games were meant to be played with a howl!

He let out a long breath. This time, Lin Feng finally developed some of the awareness befitting a high-ranking Daoist priest. He layered numerous protective spells onto the guide, then opened his heavenly eye to inspect him. The guide looked almost divine, dazzlingly golden at a glance. Only then did he feel reassured.

Lin Feng walked along the road expressionlessly, signaling for the guide not to say a word. To ensure the guide's safety, he sealed his mouth shut.

As for showing the way?

Lin Feng could walk this road with his eyes closed now!

The whole route was littered with traces of the guide's deaths!

To the guide, this Daoist master sent by the imperial court seemed like a god descended to earth. He apparently needed no directions, navigating every obstacle with practiced ease. As the master passed a muddy pit, a flick of sword energy sent green blood gently rising to its surface.

Passing a dense stretch of forest, he raised his hand and summoned divine fire, burning the sinister creatures inside to death.

A jar fell to the ground. Before the guide could smell anything, the master breathed out a gale that swept everything away.

Farther ahead, something lay on the ground. Before the guide even saw it, a bolt of lightning struck it, drawing a howl of agony.

Over the course of the journey, Lin Feng even developed an illusion.

Even with a different body, he could still pull off moves like these!

Expert gamer awareness!

They made it safely to the entrance of Clear Spring Stockade without a single scare or mishap.

The sun had yet to rise.

The guide marveled inwardly. As expected of a Daoist master. He's incredible!

They had come through the journey unscathed despite all the dangers. How fortunate!

He lavished praise on Lin Feng.

Lin Feng merely lifted the corners of his mouth. Heh.

Look impressive?

I paid for it with endless grinding!

Seeing the strange, sardonic look on the Daoist master from the capital, the guide didn't dare say another word.

He pondered it to himself.

I haven't offended this Daoist master.

Why is he being so sarcastic toward me?

They reached the entrance of Clear Spring Stockade. This was the final stretch of their journey.

The guide wanted to continue upward, but Lin Feng grabbed him and held him back.

The guide looked at the Daoist master in confusion, while Lin Feng let out a long breath, filled with a peculiar sense of pride!

It was the pride of completing an achievement!

Sadly, there was no save point here. Otherwise, he would definitely have saved his progress!

He had finally brought the guide to Clear Spring Stockade safely and alive!

Clear Spring Stockade lived up to its name: a clear spring flowed within it. Deep in these remote mountain forests, a source of drinkable spring water was nothing short of a gift from heaven.

Clear Spring Stockade also regularly traded its spring water with other mountain stockades for supplies.

Now, yin energy settled heavily while yang energy ran thin. Throughout Clear Spring Stockade, the wind sounded like weeping ghosts, raising goose bumps all over the guide's body.

Standing there, Lin Feng gazed at the broken pots and gongs before him. Though this was hardly a serious game, he still felt a hint of desolation.

The wind swept up leaves and carried them past the broken pots and gongs.

He could hardly imagine what catastrophe had struck this stockade, wiping out every last one of its inhabitants.

A natural disaster, or a man-made calamity?

After layering numerous protective spells onto both himself and the guide, Lin Feng led him inside.

Clear Spring Stockade was nothing special in its construction, consisting entirely of the stilt houses common in the mountains. Livestock lived below these houses, while people lived above. A single road ran through the entire stockade, ending at its highest point.

That was where the stockade drew its water.

Beside the water collection point lay the source of Clear Spring Stockade, where the village chief and priest lived.

Lin Feng looked up toward the source in the darkness.

[Clear Spring Village Shrine]

The moment Lin Feng saw the Clear Spring Village Shrine, he sensed a gaze concealed within it!

Someone was inside.

Just as he was about to investigate, large blood-red words suddenly appeared before him.

The background music surged once more, shaking him to his core!

[Western Hunan Blood God, act one: Reach Clear Spring Stockade before dawn. Complete.]

[Calculating mission results...]

[No results calculation for beginner missions]

[Mission complete. Distributing rewards.]

The scene before Lin Feng suddenly shattered. Both the stockade and the guide dissolved into fragments of information. Then, just as on that occasion in Yingtian, an invisible hand roughly seized him and hauled him skyward, higher and higher.

He looked down over the mountains!

As Lin Feng surveyed the mountains from above, for one fleeting instant, he felt as though they had changed. Before his eyes, the mountains became an enormous, hideous face, glaring fixedly at him.

But it lasted only an instant. Soon, those fragments turned into blood-red words and appeared before him.

Amid the pure darkness, he saw the bloody text before his eyes.

[Game reward: Five qian of fortune has been granted.]

[Game reward: Drawing a skill...]

[Beginner protection active. Selecting the five strongest skills for a targeted draw.]

[Skill draw complete.]

[You have obtained: Swordsmanship Mastery (permanent passive)]