A bone-chilling wind blew through the Frost Forest. Eight players were facing one another in a stand-off in the clearing.

Clad in red armor and wielding a two-handed broadsword, Xu Yang glared at his enemies before saying coldly, “What is the meaning of this? We got this armor fair and square. Finders keepers. You guys think you just can take whatever you want?”

Standing behind Xu Yang was a beautiful priest clad in gray robes and a mage’s staff. By itself her outfit was nothing special, but combined with her voluptuous body it was almost like an art of the gods. Her chest was positively trying to burst out of the confines of her robes.

The priest was Murong Mingyue, of course. She stared at the people in front of her calmly and smiled. “You can save your breath, Xu Yang. Can’t you see the greed on their faces? They want to take your Bronze-grade armor for themselves. Or at least try. We’re not afraid of you people!”

Six people stood on the opposite side of Xu Yang and Murong Mingyue. The leader of the group was a warrior called Shadow Maple, and behind him was an archer Shadow Deep Sea, a wanderer Shadow Volcano, and several other people. Their levels ranged from 25 to 29, and it was clear that their equipment was at least Bronze-grade.

Shadow Maple took a step forward and smiled. “Oh, Brother Hot Sun, relax, it’s just a saying. How about this. I can offer you 2 gold as payment if you give us your Bronze-grade armor.”

“2 gold?” Murong Mingyue couldn’t help but sneer. “You may as well stop talking and just rob us already. Do you think we’re stupid? Bronze-grade equipment is worth at least 10 gold on the market.”

Shadow Deep Sea dropped his act on the spot, raised his longbow and aimed an arrow at Murong Mingyue, cackling. “Look, pretty, I never liked hitting girls, but if you keep being stubborn then we’ll have no choice but to do this the hard way. After we kill both of you, we will camp your corpses. Eventually we will get that chest armor!”

Murong Mingyue gritted her teeth angrily and raised her own staff. However, there was nothing she could really do to these hoodlums. The world of Heavenblessed favored the strong, leaving no room for reason. Rules were a social construct, created by people, so they could be torn down by people too. Those who broke the rules were almost always the voracious type.

Shadow Maple suddenly raised his sword, edge of his blade glistening with white light. It was none other than the signature skill of Warrior, Heavy Slash! It was a powerful skill that enhanced attack’s damage by 10%!

Shadow Maple was gunning for Murong Mingyue, so Xu Yang let out a roar and charged toward him. He knocked Shadow Maple out of the way and left a cut on his shoulder.

247!

It was a considerable amount of damage, so Shadow Maple took two steps back and sneered, “Not bad, not bad. Brothers, let’s get him together!”

Chiang chiang!

Shadow Deep Sea fired 2 arrows in a row, hitting Xu Yang in the chest.

178!

201!

It was a costly exchange. Xu Yang’s total HP was only around 500. How could he possibly endure this?

It was at this moment a beam of holy light landed squarely on him. A green number appeared in the air—+225!

It was Murong Mingyue. Her healing output was very impressive!

Xu Yang’s HP was still losing HP rapidly, however. Obviously, a single priest couldn’t outheal the damage done by several high-level players.

“Die, bastard!”

Xu Yang swung his broadsword in a domineering fashion, dancing around his enemies like a mad lion, but he couldn’t make up for the difference in numbers. Even with heals and health potions, he was hovering on the edge of death.

Meanwhile, Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen were still holding their breaths and watching the battle unfold from their hiding spot.

When I saw them, I yelled angrily, “What the hell are you two waiting for? Charge! Annihilate the Shadow Clan!”

“Okay!”

Gui Guzi took off almost at the same time as me. Du Thirteen lagged behind a bit.

Red light surrounded the Weeping Fire Blade. PvP was where my Undead Energy talent shone the brightest. The boost of 15% damage to living targets was nothing to scoff at!

Puchi!

I swung out the Weeping Fire Blade from a steep angle and hit Shadow Deep Sea directly on the neck. The poor archer collapsed to the ground and died before he could even react.

484!

Good! My attack power is downright terrifying after equipping the Soul Turmoil Armor and the Bloody Ring of Protection!

I zigzagged toward the enemy priest after killing the archer. The priest was a man with delicate features, and he died under the Weeping Fire Blade with barely any resistance as well.

On the other side, Gui Guzi let out a yell and executed Flame Thrust, skewering a mage like a piece of meat to roast.

The Shadow Clan’s party was only six men strong, and we had killed half of that almost instantaneously. Better yet, they didn’t even have time to recover from their shock.

“Who's there?!” Shadow Maple shouted and turned around.

When he saw me, a look of hate immediately overwhelmed his features. “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, you bastard! I haven’t even settled my score with you at Fruit Forest yet! Die!”

Swoosh!

Hot fire surged, and Shadow Maple executed the powerful Heavy Slash once more!

I chuckled and simply allowed him to hit me on the chest.

Bang!

117!

Most of the damage from Heavy Slash was canceled out by Ghost Deity Armor, and I had a total 128 Defense thanks to my Steel-grade helmet and Dark Steel–grade armor. Moreover, I had 750 total HP and Regeneration of the Undead, a self-healing passive. I was, in every sense of the word, a tank. How could Shadow Maple possibly kill me?

While Shadow Maple was attacking me, I too swung my sword across his chest. A huge “MISS” appeared in the air!

He couldn’t help but laugh. “You call yourself a Top 3 pro with this level of skill? What a joke! My evasion rate is pretty high, you know! Fuck you for killing my brothers. Die!”

In response, I simply curled my lips into a smile.

Surprised by my reaction, Shadow Maple wasn’t able to react when I moved closer to him again. Green light wrapped around the Weeping Fire Blade as I executed my strongest technique—

Pardon + Slayer Slash!

Crack!

The attack cut right through Shadow Maple’s chest armor. A huge damage number popped into the air—1448!

“Ah?!”

Shadow Maple’s eyes widened like saucers. He couldn’t seem to believe how much damage I had dealt to him. He glared at me in humiliation before he finally passed away.

I kicked him in the chest and knocked his body to the ground. At the same time, I said in the party channel, “Thirteen, Little Gui, don’t say a word, and don’t wait for Hot Sun and Murong Mingyue to thank us. We leave immediately after we clean up the rest of them!”

The reason I said this was because I didn’t want to speak with Murong Mingyue at all. It was highly likely that my identity would be exposed the second a conversation started.

Gui Guzi cleanly took out the remaining two players and was rewarded with a floor of health potions. Shadow Maple even dropped an Iron-grade legguard. Unfortunately, it was a trash equipment with average stats and would sell for at most 10 silver on the market. Du Thirteen and I dutifully picked up everything on the floor before acting to leave.

Meanwhile, Xu Yang and Murong Mingyue still hadn’t recovered from the shocking damage I dealt. By the time they finally came to, Gui Guzi, Du Thirteen and I were almost at the edge of the forest.

“Please wait, my heroes…”

Murong Mingyue caught up to us and asked with a smile, “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, you’re Top 3 on the Heavenly Ranking, aren’t you? Thank you so much for saving us. Are you interested in joining Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls?”

A bitter smile sprung to my face as I thought to myself. Oh, Sister Mingyue, what are you saying? I am a member of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls already…

I shot Du Thirteen a look, and he immediately turned around and said, “I’m sorry, but we have our own guild, pretty lady. We’re called Bloody Mercenaries. Why don’t you join us if you’re that interested? Right now the three of us are the only members in the group, and we’re in dire need of a pretty lady like you…”

Surprised by the interruption, Murong Mingyue faced Du Thirteen and smiled. “Haha, I was just joking. Anyway, thank you very much for helping us. If there’s anything you need from us in the future, just give us a call.”

Du Thirteen looked at the murder weapon hanging in front of Murong Mingyue and gulped immediately. He was just about to make an improper request when I shot him a freezing look. Shivering back into reality, he immediately shook his head and said, “Forget it, didn’t do it to help you. We did it because our factions are at odds. Saving you two was just a coincidence.”

Murong Mingyue stood there blankly and didn’t reply. I quickly took the opportunity to lead Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen into the forest and vanished from their sight.

Later, Xu Yang walked up to her and said, “Mingyue… did you notice?”

“Notice what?” Murong Mingyue turned around to face him.

Xu Yang stared thoughtfully at the forest before answering, “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand’s fighting style is incredibly similar to our old friend’s…”

Murong Mingyue shuddered and blurted, “Falling Dust…”

“Yeah.” Xu Yang nodded.

Murong Mingyue bit her lips and murmured, “But Lu Chen… he… he’s already… Sigh. If only he was still with us. Eve wouldn’t be so sad and beside herself. She had a real chance of becoming the president, but because of her current state that chance is gone now...”

Xu Yang: “...”

Meanwhile, the three of us walked side by side through the Frost Forest.

“Ahem, so, what is our profit today?” I asked.

Gui Guzi smiled. “We accepted three requests, earning 5 gold total. How about you, boss?”

I pondered for a moment before replying, “16 gold.”

“Wow, we’re rich! Should we celebrate with a drink tonight?”

“Haha, my thoughts exactly!”