Chapter 33

It was not noon yet, so there was still time before nightfall.

Wang Shuo wasn’t in a hurry to take action. He squatted in the bushes and continuously scoured for information on the forum.

Putting aside the complicated bits and pieces of information, there were only two things to pay attention to—the Desolate Temple and the Desolate Tower. These were the two main buildings in the Desolate Game and held the highest authority.

As long as the players could complete the mission issued by the Temple, they could obtain anything they wanted, even if it was to revive the dead.

But all of this was not free. Everything had to be exchanged with points.

There were two ways to obtain points in the game. The first way was to farm desolate bosses. When a desolate boss died, not only would it drop a lot of points, but it would also drop a boss treasure chest based on the battle evaluation. As for what items you would obtain, it depended on your luck.

The second was to complete the Tower Training. Every time you completed the training, you would obtain a considerable amount of points and various rewards.

According to the currently known information, the Desolate Tower had a total of four floors, each of which corresponded to one of four different spaces.

For example, where he was now was a tier 1 space.

The maximum number of players a tier 1 space could accommodate was 10,000. Within this space, the upper cultivation limit was the peak of stage one. After reaching this cultivation level, the players would be forced by the space to participate in the advancement trial.

Typically, the earlier you participated in the advancement trial, the lower the difficulty. Otherwise, the longer you waited, the higher the difficulty.

Suddenly, Wang Shuo’s vision blurred. The next moment, he found himself in a pitch-black room.

The room looked ancient, like a temple.

“Haha, even if he has wings, he can forget about flying out of this sea of fire!”

Amid the cackles of laughter, a door slammed with a bang.

The footsteps of the three people echoed through the room. Then someone pushed the door with their hands, but it didn’t open. It turned out that there was a stone blocking the door.

Only then did Wang Shuo realize that there was some faint light coming from the flames flickering between the door gap.

Seeing that the three of them couldn’t open the door, they stood still beside it. One of them smiled and asked, “What do you think of this plan?”

Another person chuckled. “It only worked out with the two of you diligently managing the plan! When we return to the capital, the marshal will promote both of you to high-ranking officials. This time, there will be no reason for Drill Inspector Zhang to refuse.”

Then the three of them laughed and chatted. [1. The paragraphs below are from Water Margin.]

“Lin Chong has certainly been caught in our trap this time. Master Gao will soon be cured of his sickness now!”

Another man said, “A man was sent four or five times to plead with Drill Inspector Zhang, and said that his son-in-law Lin Chong was dead. But Zhang would not agree to let his daughter remarry. As Master Gao only got worse Marshal Gao Qui ordered us to do this business, and we did not expect to get it finished so soon.”

Another man said, “I went inside the fence and lit about ten stacks of hay on every side, so that he could not get out.”

Another man said, “It is nearly all burnt down now.”

Another man said, “Even if Lin Chong escapes he will have to answer a serious charge of allowing a big depot full of army fodder to be burnt.”

The other man said, “Let us go back to the town.”

A man said, “It will be better if we wait until the fire is out, and then we can go and get one or two of his bones, and then when we report the matter to Marshal Gao Qiu and also Master Gao, they will see that we did the work thoroughly.”

…

Just as Wang Shuo was wondering why these people were speaking so strangely, he suddenly felt himself lose control of his body. With a thud, he kicked the door, sending it flying far away. Then with the Green Dragon Staff in hand, he walked out slowly.

Under the firelight, he saw three well-built, middle-aged men with swords in their hands.

The man wearing a felt hat exclaimed in shock, “Lin Chong?”

“Who is Lin Chong?” Wang Shuo was surprised, then suddenly felt his body regain control.

“Die!” The man on the left shouted and charged forward.

He was extremely fast, about the same as Shalong from the third trial.

“You’re courting death!”

Although he didn’t understand what was happening, he knew what he had to do.

His staff shot out like a snake emerging from its hole, accurately striking the middle of the sword from the side.

After inheriting the perfect human bloodline, his Physique was twice as strong as when he fought Shalong.

His current opponent wasn’t comparable to Shalong, so how could he be able to withstand this hit? As the strike hit the sword, the man’s hand instantly let go.

Without delay, Wang Shuo advanced and directly crushed his throat.

“Lin Chong, you forced me to do this. Kill him!”

The felt hat man had a ferocious expression as he slashed down with his saber.

The moment this person attacked, Wang Shuo’s expression changed.

A faint white light appeared on the edge of the saber as it sliced through the air, making a sharp grinding sound like a ghost crying.

Clang!

Wang Shuo held the staff with both arms to block the attack. But even so, the powerful force pushed him back three steps before he stopped.

The felt hat man also felt uncomfortable.

Wang Shuo had used the Mountain Shaking stance, and through a combination of his own strength and his opponent’s, the recoil sent the felt hat man staggering several meters back before stopping.

Before Wang Shuo could heave a sigh of relief, another saber light tore through the air.

Fortunately, this person’s strength was about the same as the previous person, far inferior to the felt hat man.

Wang Shuo swung his staff and quickly cleaned him up. Then he leaped through the temple door and exited to the open space outside.

The cold wind howled, and flames flickered under the sky.

The two looked at each other for a moment, then moved at the same time.

The felt hat man had an extremely high Physique, and his saber skills were exceptional.

The blindingly bright saber reflected the flames like bolts of lightning streaking across the night sky. Every strike of the saber never failed to find its way toward Wang Shuo’s vital points.

If he hadn’t fought Shalong before, Wang Shuo would definitely be flustered.

But he was no longer the same as before.

The 18 basic staff techniques executed smoothly in his hands. As the saber light and staff shadow stirred up sparks, Wang Shuo held his own.

After a moment of stalemate, the felt hat man took advantage of the recoil from a clash and retreated. Then his body suddenly swayed and split into an afterimage.

Like a living being, the afterimage and the felt hat man slashed at Wang Shuo simultaneously.

From the sounds, Wang Shuo was simply unable to distinguish the difference between the two slashes. In other words, both slashes were real.

Gritting his teeth, Wang Shuo ignored the afterimage and directly used his long staff to attack the main body.

“Mountain Splitting!”

Clang!

The felt hat man was knocked back, but Wang Shuo was struck by the saber behind him.

Slash!

The blue barrier cracked open, and Wang Shuo felt a burning pain in his back.

After slashing out, the afterimage instantly disappeared.

Boom!

On the other side, the felt hat man had just stabilized his body and immediately attacked again. Suddenly, there was a blazing aura in the air.

Only then did Wang Shuo realize that Garuru was also around.

At some point, he had crept behind the felt hat man. From there, he spat out the fireball that had been brewing for a long time as his target regained balance.

The felt hat man immediately sensed that something was amiss and was about to dodge, but how could Wang Shuo miss such a good opportunity?

His movement technique erupted with all his strength as he struck with another Mountain Splitting.

Moments ago, it was Wang Shuo who was attacked from both sides. But in the blink of an eye, the situation reversed, and it was the felt hat man’s turn.

The two attacks were too close to each other. It was impossible for him to dodge this staff strike completely.

Sensing the power of the two, the felt hat man chose to take the weaker fireball head-on and positioned his saber in front of him to block.

The fireball instantly engulfed him.

But unlike the female warlock, who had lost all her magic power, the felt hat man suddenly burst out with a white light that reduced most of the fireball’s power.