Testing the waters

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

From Qin Shujian's sudden attack to his composed retreat,

the entire exchange lasted only a few seconds.

Many players had not even had time to react before it was all over.

Then Instructor Zhang and the others exchanged glances and retreated into the village.

Inside the tailor's shop.

Instructor Zhang and the others sat facing one another.

Also present was an elderly man with a snow-white beard, well into his eighties.

When the three looked at the old man, an almost imperceptible trace of respect appeared on their faces.

"I've long heard that the bandits of Liangshan Stronghold are the fiercest in these parts. Seeing the Liangshan Stronghold Chief today, he certainly lived up to his reputation. His strength is probably even greater than the previous chief's." Recalling that terrifying saber strike, Instructor Zhang still felt shaken.

Li Chunhua shook her head. "That goes without saying. Since he managed to kill Wu Sheng, he must be stronger than him."

"What a shame. I thought the death of Wu Sheng, that utterly wicked bandit chief, would give everyone a little peace. I never expected the new Liangshan Stronghold Chief to be even more vicious than Wu Sheng.

With things as they are, keeping our village peaceful will hardly be easy."

Li Chunhua's words cast a somber mood over the room.

Zhu Daming, however, looked indignant. "The Liangshan Stronghold Chief may be strong, but he can't be that much stronger than us. If the village chief were willing to act, he'd capture that man with ease."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the elderly man.

This was the chief of Beginner Village 10021.

Outwardly, he looked like a frail old man nearing the end of his life. In truth, only Zhu Daming and the others knew that he was the true powerhouse of Beginner Village 10021.

The village chief said slowly, "From what I observed, the Liangshan Stronghold Chief has already achieved Full-Body Force Release. His own cultivation must be at least at the Martial Entry Fifth Level.

With the enhancement granted by his status as Liangshan Stronghold Chief, his strength is now comparable to an expert at the Entering Martial Sixth Layer.

If we act rashly without preparation, we cannot be certain of taking him down."

At this point, the village chief paused before continuing.

"Letting a tiger return to the mountains is easy; dealing with it after putting it on its guard is another matter. Given the nature of bandits, they certainly won't be content with this retreat. Once they've made their preparations, they will surely return.

When that happens, we will be ready to catch them all in one net."

"Hmph! It's infuriating that we can't leave the village freely. Otherwise, we would have uprooted Liangshan Stronghold long ago!" Zhu Daming snorted.

Meanwhile, Qin Shujian had already left the territory of Beginner Village 10021 entirely.

As for why he had left so decisively,

the truth was simple.

He could not beat them.

During that lightning-fast exchange, he had used almost all his strength.

In Qin Shujian's estimation, both the first man to appear and the two who came afterward were experts at least at the Martial Entry Fifth Level, possibly even the Entering Martial Sixth Layer.

He was confident he could defeat one or even two of them.

But against all three working together, Qin Shujian could do nothing.

Not to mention—

There might be other experts inside the Novice Village.

In that case, continuing to fight would bring no benefit beyond potentially putting him in danger.

"At least three experts at the Martial Entry Fifth Level. There may be some at the Entering Martial Sixth Layer inside, and perhaps even more experts. Dealing with Beginner Village 10021 won't be easy."

After this probing encounter, Qin Shujian had a clearer idea of what he faced.

With Liangshan Stronghold's current strength, facing Beginner Village 10021 would more likely end in the stronghold's destruction.

On second thought, however, Qin Shujian found that reasonable.

After all, a Novice Village was the first line of protection players received upon entering the game, and the most important one. It was a place intended to let them develop safely.

Qin Shujian surmised that the strength of each Novice Village might vary by location.

For instance, he was currently the strongest person in Liangshan Stronghold.

Thus, the newly spawned Novice Village had been designed around his existing strength, making it just strong enough that Liangshan Stronghold had no chance of dealing with it.

Still, these were only Qin Shujian's personal conjectures.

Whether that was actually the case would take time to verify.

For now, his most pressing concern remained eliminating the threat posed by the players.

Qin Shujian had originally planned to test the Novice Village's strength first. If it was weak, he would go back, bring over a large force of Liangshan bandits, and wipe it out completely.

Without their Novice Village, the players would be like rootless duckweed.

At that point, they would naturally be at his mercy.

But—

This probing encounter had revealed that the Novice Village was too strong. Liangshan Stronghold alone could not contend with it for the time being.

Qin Shujian therefore had no choice but to change his approach.

At that moment, he also checked his attributes.

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Liangshan Stronghold Chief

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Entering Martial Sixth Layer (within Liangshan Stronghold's territory, realm +1)

Cultivation techniques: Body Tempering Scripture, complete mastery (Force Follows Will) (Mortal Tier, Low Grade); Black Tiger Saber Technique (peak perfection), Mortal Tier, Middle Grade

Life Source: 22

Equipment: Ninth-Rank Sharp Weapon, Tiger Head Saber; Ninth-Rank Armor, Tiger Hide Outfit (Tiger Hide Coat, Tiger Hide Trousers, Tiger Hide Belt, Tiger Hide Boots)

His Life Source had risen from the initial eight points to twenty-two.

Qin Shujian made a rough count. He had personally killed thirteen Novice Village guards.

Each guard had contributed one point of Life Source.

But as he left, he had also casually cut down a number of players.

Qin Shujian had not kept a precise count, but there should have been at least eight or ten.

Of those twenty-two points of Life Source, after subtracting the thirteen contributed by the guards and the eight he already had, the players had contributed only around one point.

"One point of Life Source..." Qin Shujian looked at his attribute panel and silently calculated.

He had definitely killed more than one player.

Yet he had gained only one additional point of Life Source.

Either this was because the players were too weak, or the Life Source gained from killing players differed from that gained from killing NPCs.

Still—

whichever it was,

Qin Shujian had now confirmed something important.

Killing players also yielded Life Source, even if the amount might be smaller than what he received from killing NPCs.

But the crucial thing was that players could revive.

Such a supply of Life Source could be considered inexhaustible.

After learning this, Qin Shujian's gloomy mood brightened considerably.

His earlier speculation about whether killing players could yield Life Source had finally been confirmed.

Afterward,

Qin Shujian wasted no more time and returned straight to Liangshan Stronghold.