"Shit, is that… the Xuanyuan Sword?" God of War exclaimed in shock before turning tail. "Time to leave, people!"

God of War had escaped without hesitation. Breeze and Rain though swooped toward me at high speed and attempted to hit me with Soul Capture + flurry skill immediately. This guy was clearly planning to instakill me and take the scroll for himself!

Not about to take a chance at this critical juncture, I moved away from him, took out the Ancient Divine Skill Scroll and used it immediately. After the scroll scattered into a shower of golden light and entered my body, I became the fourth player to enter the Heavenly River Realm. While there was no reward, I was okay with it!

The buttons for Heavenly River Transformation and Xuanyuan Slash appeared in my skill window. I activated them and felt a tremendous power filling my entire body instantly. A pair of bloody wings spread out behind my battle armor, and a domain took shape around my person. I felt like every wood, every blade of grass even was within my control. It was a godlike power that allowed me to see through absolutely everything within my domain. Not even the Cyan Earth City assassin sneaking up to me from behind was able to escape my notice.

I opened my palm and yelled, "Get lost!"

Bang!

My domain’s power spiked, and the assassin rolled unceremoniously out of my domain as if it had been struck by a heavy, invisible blow. Then, I jumped into the air, ran along an unnaturally huge Z-path and stopped at the point where Breeze and Rain, God of War and I formed a straight line. There was also just enough distance for me to hit both of them with my new skill!

God of War shuddered from head to toe. "Dammit!"

His instincts were good, and he immediately activated his invincibility skill without hesitation. It was useless though.

"Come, Xuanyuan Slash!"

I activated my Ancient Divine Skill and thrust Jiuzhou Han forward. The weapon started glowing like the sun and growing in size until it was as big as a small hill. The Xuanyuan Sword was 40 meters long and 4 to 5 meters wide. The ground beneath it crumbled as it exploded toward the two best Indian players in the world!

Crack!

The light of the Xuanyuan Sword pierced through the shield of God of War’s invincibility skill like paper, causing him to freeze in place. It was because the skill had one-shot the number one player of India.

1709277!

Breeze and Rain made a turn so sharp that he and his dragon rolled uncontrollably across the ground. It was ugly, but the Xuanyuan Slash just barely brushed past the tip of his nose and missed. He had survived. A centimeter closer, and he would’ve suffered God of War’s fate and be deleted from this map. If that had happened, he wouldn’t be able to get even an S Rank scroll, much less an SSS Rank scroll. The Ruins of the Gods probably weren’t the only chance ever a player had to ascend to Heavenly River Realm, but unless he became the champion and MVP of a major competition like the WEL, it was pretty unlikely.

"Withdraw! Withdraw!"

Breeze and Rain shouted twice before bringing his wind dragon to the sky again. Then, he and the 40+ remaining Cyan Earth City players made a break for it. The angle I had fired the Xuanyuan Slash was good enough that I took out not just God of War, but also 80 or so eighth-promotion players. I’m sure they were grateful that they were able to die under the first ever SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill in this game.

……

For a time, He Yi, Lin Yixin and everyone else could only stare at the carnage in shock. Finally, Lin Yixin walked up to me and said in an astonished tone, "Is that… the SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill, the Xuanyuan Slash, Little Cheat?"

I nodded with a smile. "Yeah. Took me almost 6 hours to kill the boss carrying it. Not bad, right?"

She nodded affirmatively. "Not bad at all. I cannot believe it was powerful enough to one-shot God of War. That idiot certainly hadn’t seen this coming!"

I laughed. "I know right? It’s a complete tragedy!"

He Yi walked up to me next and asked, "You’ve ascended to the Heavenly River Realm, right Lu Chen? Does that mean you’re going to be teleported in 10 minutes?"

"Yeah. In fact, there are only 7 minutes on my clock. By the way, you know that Fighting Spirits and Chaos Moon have ascended, right?"

"Yeah, we’ve heard!"

"Okay. Don’t fall behind them too much, you two!"

I thought for a moment before beckoning both girls to come closer. "Eve, Yiyi, there’s something I need to speak with you two."

"Okay?" They approached me obediently.

After I wrapped an arm each around their waists, I whispered, "Half an hour to the south from here, you’ll be able to find a river called the Ji River, a Chinese map. Right now, there is still one SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill and 4 SS Rank Ancient Divine Skills on that map. The SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill is around coordinates (17266, 67881). The 4 SS Rank Ancient Divine Skills are at (14267, 60882), (10282, 64277), (12837, 59028), (39747, 70988). Finally, the S Rank Ancient Divine Skills are at—"

I told them all the coordinates I had found out from the Luo River Map. This way, they wouldn’t have to waste the time to search for the Ancient Divine Scrolls in the first place.

……

The two girls were flabbergasted all over again as they stared at me. I smiled in amusement at their open mouths before continuing, "I’ve checked out the location of the other SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill Scrolls, and I can tell you that it won’t be easy to get it. Since neither of you has a skill like the Resurrection Art, my suggestion is that you forget about it and just focus on getting the SS Rank scrolls. It’s all over if you get party-wiped after all. Oh right, before you challenge the SS Rank bosses, you should grab an S Rank scroll for sis and Lu Buyi first. Also, teamwork is key to surviving in this place. I may have been forced to use the scroll to chase away the Indians, but the rest of you can totally gather a group of Chinese players before making any move."

He Yi nodded. "We will. By the way, you should take your rest soon. You’ve been online for too long already."

"Yeah. Take care, all of you!"

"Mn mn!"

……

A while later, a powerful magical vortex appeared in the sky and pulled me away from the Ruins of the Gods. It also canceled my Heavenly River Transformation automatically, but I was totally fine with it because the cost of maintaining Heavenly River Transformation was crazy. It cost 10 Divine Energy Points to maintain Heavenly River Transformation for a minute, so even with max Divine Energy I could only maintain it for 20 minutes tops. Until there was a way to increase the cap on Divine Energy, Great Earth Transformation + Divine General Skill + Ancient Divine Skill would be the go-to way to fight most battles. Heavenly River Transformation would only ever be used to end a duel against another peak expert as soon as possible as no one had the capacity to maintain it for long.

Swhoosh!

I appeared in Dark Moon City as it was the teleportation point I set.

I brought up my friend list and noticed that Chaos Moon, High Fighting Spirits and Li Chengfeng were all online. I sent the dragon warrior a message—

"You grinding, Chengfeng?"

"Yep!" Li Chengfeng video-called me right away. "I heard what you got from the Ruins of the Gods, bro. Congratulations on getting the SSS Rank Divine General Skill, the Xuanyuan Slash! We’re gonna drink until we drop on our next gathering, okay?"

"No problem. By the way, I see you’re just at Level 190. That’s 20 more levels before you can enter the Ruins of the Gods and find your Ancient Divine Skill. Have you thought of a way to grind fast yet? If you don’t mind, I can carry you through the S1 to S4 instances. I’m sure you’ll be able to hit Level 210 in just a day!"

"Thanks, but no thanks…"

"Why’s that?"

He smiled a little. "Ever heard of the saying, ‘what’s yours is yours, and what isn’t, isn’t’? So far, you’re the only one who has gotten an SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill, and I’m sure your method isn’t something anyone can replicate. I heard that a group of 30+ top Cyan Earth City and Elephant City experts was completely wiped during an attempt to defeat the guardian boss of an SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill. That’s how difficult these bosses are. Why should I believe I could do any better even if I hit Level 210 tomorrow?

“Rather than forcing such things, I would rather grind to Level 210 at my own pace. Then, I’ll tackle the SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill with 2 ASDS hundred-man parties. Slow and steady wins the race!"

I nodded smilingly. "That is certainly a sensible plan. I had died over 30 times trying to kill the guardian boss solo, and I can’t imagine anyone else doing better than me. It’s why I advised Eve and Lin Yixin to rein in their desires and seek out SS Rank scrolls only. Some things just can’t be forced."

Li Chengfeng replied, "It’s exactly as you say. By the way, I heard that God of War was one-shot by your Xuanyuan Slash. Is that true? Haha!"

"How the fuck did you learn about that so quickly? That was like ten minutes ago at most…"

"That’s wonderful, hahaha! We absolutely have to celebrate this when I get back from the southern headquarters!"

"Of course. Speaking of which, how is the matter with Tang Long?"

"We’re almost done with the evidence gathering and interrogation part. Now, the only process left is the public trial. The idiom ‘you can’t pull out a carrot without getting soil on it’ is so true, by the way. Not only did we manage to implicate almost 20 VR departments and other relevant departments in this case, we were able to fish out another two assistant bureau chiefs and one bureau chief as well. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this Tang Long case is worth. Feel free to jot this down in your virtuous achievement book, hero!"

"Yep, I’m an anti-corruption hero…"

"Huh? I never said you’re an anti-corruption hero. You’re more of an anti-fujoshi hero…"

"Fuck you. Sleep soon, brother!"

"You too, brother! I’ll do that after I get this last grind over with!"

"Yeah!"

……

I checked the time. I had lingered in the Ruins of the Gods for 14 hours in total, and it was now past 11 pm in the night. Naturally, my stomach was screaming for sustenance.

I logged out of the game and walked to the living room. I saw a paper slip with a message written by He Yi herself: "Your favorite Suan Chai Yu is inside the fridge, and the rice is inside the rice cooker. Just microwave the fish for 5 minutes."

I smiled. It’s been a long time since I felt like this. It felt so nice to be back with He Yi.

I warmed the dishes, sat in the living room and finished supper. After I washed everything, I went to Beiming Xue’s room and called out softly, "Beiming?"

Unfortunately, I didn’t receive a reply from the pitch black room. It was only then I recalled that Beiming Xue had gone back to her university already. A sense of loss permeated inside my heart as I entered He Yi’s room next.

He Yi’s room was tidy and stylish. The woman herself was lying prone on her bed and shivering from time to time. She was probably fighting a mob or something. Faint light circulated across her helmet slowly. She was currently dressed in white casual wear, and her long hair spilled across her pillow like water. Her breasts looked like upside-down, perfectly-shaped bowls from where I was.

I walked up to her and sat down beside her bed. Then, I held her hand and moved closer to her helmet. I said, "Do your best, Eve! Try and get at least an SS Rank Ancient Divine Skill!"

He Yi couldn’t reply since she was inside the game, but she could return my grip, albeit only slightly. A response was a response.

Lust suddenly welled inside my heart as I watched her for a moment. It wasn’t until I sat right beside her bed did my deep love for her made itself known. It was strange. Maybe Murong Mingyue was right. Maybe I didn’t know my own love for her. If my relationship with Lin Yixin was like burning fire, then my relationship with He Yi was like a cup of oolong tea; tranquil and fragrant.

I bent down and lightly kissed her neck. "I’m going to bed then!"

He Yi gripped my hand again.

I tried rising to my feet and leaving the room like a perfect gentleman, but in the end I wasn’t able to stop myself from sliding my hand across her breasts. They were firm, bouncy, and holy shit did she not wear a bra tonight...

Red-faced, I ran back to my room, lay down on my bed and pulled my blanket over my head.

I probably looked like a primary school student who sneaked a glance down his beautiful teacher’s collar right now.