Who Were the Players, and Who Were the NPCs?

"Trying to leave?"

"Did you ask this stronghold chief's permission?"

As the broken sword flew toward him, Qin Shujian's gaze finally turned cold.

The next instant!

Roar!

An earth-shaking tiger's roar resounded through the forest, startling countless birds into flight.

A ferocious aura swept outward like a gale, carrying the bitter chill of deepest winter.

Everyone's minds reeled under its impact, and the fleeing players were forced to stop in their tracks.

Boom!

A phantom Black Tiger roared as a chilling burst of saber light erupted.

The broken sword had barely touched its edge before it shattered into countless fragments.

Rumble!

At that moment, the very earth seemed to shake.

It was as though a sleeping tiger had fully awakened, unleashing the might unique to the king of beasts.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Many players dissolved into white light before they could even react.

When the saber light faded.

The bitterly cold blade gleamed with an unusual sheen beneath the blazing sun.

A ravine stretched from the blade into the distance.

Gulp!

One player's throat bobbed as he struggled to swallow.

The sight before them had truly stunned them.

Just one slash.

Two-thirds of the players had been sent back to respawn.

The overwhelming gap in strength filled even Liu Qinghong and Fu Moyan with despair.

They had never known.

That Mingai Mountain's bandit boss could be this powerful.

Had they known.

Liu Qinghong and Fu Moyan would never have led their teams here so casually to clear the dungeon and complete their quests.

Against a boss of this caliber, they would probably need hundreds, if not thousands, of players to overwhelm him before they had any hope of victory.

Tap, tap!

Tiger Head Saber in hand, Qin Shujian slowly approached the players forced to remain behind.

Meanwhile, after recovering from his shock, Niu Feng had already ordered the other bandits to cut off their retreat.

In short.

In less than ten seconds.

Liu Qinghong, Fu Moyan, and the others had been driven into a hopeless situation.

"Brother!" Liu Qingqing retreated to Liu Qinghong's side, her pretty face filled with panic.

She could not help it. Qin Shujian's aura was simply too frightening.

Even though she knew this was only a game, she still felt afraid beneath the weight of that aura.

Liu Qinghong patted the hand gripping his shoulder and was just about to speak.

Hum!

Terrifying saber light engulfed him.

Immediately afterward!

Boom!

Everyone, including Liu Qinghong and Fu Moyan, vanished completely, as though the saber light had swallowed them whole.

At the sight, Niu Feng drew a sharp breath.

He had long known how terrifying Qin Shujian was. That was why he had submitted before the man truly attacked and willingly handed over Mingai Mountain.

The scene before him made him realize just how right his earlier decision had been.

Those two Otherworlder leaders were not much weaker than him.

Without Qin Shujian here, Mingai Mountain's previous forces might not have been able to defeat them.

Yet even such formidable strength had crumbled before his stronghold chief.

Two slashes!

Only two slashes!

Dozens of Otherworlders had been wiped out.

Even without facing that terrifying saber light head-on, Niu Feng could sense its dreadful power.

Looking at the items scattered across the ground, Qin Shujian sheathed his saber and withdrew his aura. "Clean this up. Collect anything useful."

"Yes, Chief!"

Niu Feng was utterly deferential now.

He immediately ordered the other bandits to gather the items the players had dropped upon death.

These players had not carried much, and death did not guarantee an item drop.

Still, some players were always unlucky.

With dozens of players dead, a dozen or so items remained on the ground. Most were weapons such as sabers and swords, perfect for the bandits to use.

The broadswords the bandits currently wielded were of extremely poor quality.

The weapons these players had dropped were clearly a grade better.

In this world, who are the players, and who are the NPCs?

As Qin Shujian stood quietly watching, that question crossed his mind.

When players killed NPCs, the NPCs could respawn.

When NPCs killed players, the players could also respawn.

Even killing monsters to level up worked much the same way.

For a moment, it almost made Qin Shujian think his role had been reversed with the players'.

However.

He dismissed that thought as soon as it arose.

He was now the chief of Liangshan Stronghold.

A major boss in the players' eyes.

From the very beginning, he and the players had been destined to stand in different camps.

Liangshan Stronghold Elite Leader Wang Tiezhu has advanced to martial entry fifth level after killing large numbers of Otherworlders!

A system notification caught Qin Shujian's attention.

Ever since he had sent Liangshan Stronghold's bandits into Rubble Forest to hunt players, he had received system messages from time to time.

Some reported bandits advancing; others reported their deaths.

Qin Shujian had ignored most of these messages.

Only this one.

Had drawn his attention.

"Martial entry fifth level!" Qin Shujian's eyes flickered.

The higher the cultivation level, the more experience it took to advance.

Although he could not see the Ordinary Bandits' experience bars either, he could infer this from how quickly they advanced.

But how long had it been since they entered Rubble Forest?

Half a day?

Or a day?

Wang Tiezhu had already advanced from the fourth level of martial entry to martial entry fifth level. Wasn't that far too fast?

Could it be...

"Kill!"

Drenched in blood, Wang Tiezhu charged with his broadsword in hand. Having just reached martial entry fifth level, he was now brimming with momentum.

Around him were a dozen or so bandits and twenty to thirty players.

Every bandit who had come out of Liangshan Stronghold was at least at martial entry third level.

Most of the players, meanwhile, were only at entering martial second layer, though some experts had reached martial entry third level.

However, the players outnumbered the bandits two to one.

Their numerical advantage therefore made up for the difference in strength.

"Damn it, this boss seems to have gotten stronger!" One player blocked a slash from Wang Tiezhu head-on, only to stagger back coughing blood, his arms wracked with pain.

"Quick, Chen Gong, get in there! Tank this boss's attacks!"

Huang Kun's expression was grim, but he continued issuing orders methodically.

They had only encountered an elite monster out in the wilderness, yet once the fighting began, they discovered he was practically a miniboss.

With his team's strength, taking down a miniboss and a dozen ordinary mobs would have been difficult, but not impossible.

But now the boss had broken through in the middle of battle, instantly putting them under enormous pressure.

If they could not hold off this boss.

Their losses this time would be severe.

After all, Huang Kun's team had already lost twenty to thirty players in their effort to surround and kill Wang Tiezhu.

In a game where every respawn meant losing an entire cultivation level.

The price of a single death.

Was simply too high.