Chapter 60 Sword Qi Master, Sword Demon

The Guardian class's greatest strengths are undoubtedly defense and offense, with defense taking the primary role and attack acting as a secondary one. However, many people failed to realize that agility is the attribute where the Guardian class holds a distinct advantage in third place. After careful observation by Ye Yu, he found that Old Hu's skill buff increased both agility and attack power, along with a gradual health recovery effect. As a trade-off, however, it required the continuous burning of his own health and mana points. Coupled with the high cost of the skill itself, Old Hu's buffed state probably wouldn't last much longer.

Therefore, enhanced by this skill, Old Hu's agility could be said to be extremely high. Although his attack power had been slightly reduced to accommodate the boost in agility, that reduction was fully compensated for once the agility advantage came into play. Conversely, "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" appeared unable to sustain herself after executing a full combo of skills, so Old Hu gradually took the upper hand and undoubtedly seized the dominant role.

"Damn it, you sneaky bastard!"

"Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" spoke somewhat exasperatedly at this moment, clearly not expecting "Warmth for a Long Time" to be so difficult to deal with. Naturally, she no longer had the capacity to unleash another combo, and with neither her speed nor her attack power holding much advantage, she was completely entangled by "Warmth for a Long Time" with no way to counter. She was forced to use defensive and evasive skills, which left her with even fewer opportunities to unleash her offensive combos. "Warmth for a Long Time" had clearly spotted her weakness and was now attacking fiercely, denying her any chance of a counterattack.

Under Old Hu's relentless attacks, the health points of "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" plummeted at a startlingly rapid rate. In barely the blink of an eye, her health bar had dropped below the twenty percent mark, directly triggering the near-death warning. Meanwhile, despite the continuous drain and subsequent recovery, Old Hu's health had risen to fifty-seven percent, with reaching sixty percent being only a matter of time. Clearly, under these circumstances, it was self-evident whose side held the absolute advantage. However, Old Hu's mana was no longer sufficient to sustain such a drain, meaning his current state could not hold out much longer either.

Old Hu took a slight, deep breath, and then directly launched an offensive suppression against "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving."

Seeing this, "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" wore a solemn expression as well. She had originally thought that the job they took on together as a trio would be a relatively easy gig, with a reward substantial enough to cover their streaming income for half a year. Yet, this seemingly easy job had been fraught with frequent unexpected twists. Even when they thought they were taking their opponents seriously, they were repeatedly met with shocking surprises. They had already lost "Champion Short Sword"—and although that guy was arrogant, "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" knew very well the extent of his strength. Yet even with that level of ability, he had failed to win against a single opponent and had instead been the very first to be directly eliminated.

Therefore, "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" knew she absolutely could not afford to lose this way. Even though their third teammate on deck was the safest insurance policy, having seen the precedent of defeat left her feeling somewhat unconfident, especially given the current situation.

"Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" darted directly toward Old Hu, her long spear brandished as dazzling ice-blue light flared around her entire body.

Old Hu reversed his grip on his greatsword and held his shield in his left hand. The moment he raised it abruptly, a crisp clashing sound clearly echoed from the far edge of the shield, and a recoil shockwave surged directly into Old Hu's left hand, causing it to suddenly go numb.

Sparks scattered in all directions as the two figures collided, but Old Hu's reaction was exceptionally swift, and he hastily leaped backward out of range. Upon seeing this, Ye Yu couldn't help sighing and said, "That 'Hyper-Acceleration Mode' was activated with incredible precision. Just how on earth does Old Hu manage to avoid falling for that skill a second time?!"

Even some spectators in the audience who understood the moves of "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" couldn't help but be startled, gasps of astonishment rippling through the crowd as they were clearly amazed and shocked by such an unexpected maneuver.

"Xue'er, did you see that? After exchanging blows with 'Don't Frown, I'm Leaving' just once, that guy actually figured out how to disrupt her opening skill?"

"Yeah, exactly. Could that guy be the 'Blood Berserker' who vanished from the old server? If so, shouldn't we report this?"

"Not necessarily the 'Blood Berserker'. Given that person's victory after the great war, it's impossible to say they completely vanished, but the possibility of them leaving the game entirely is quite high. Many people have searched for traces of that person but never found anything. Although this particular player comes from a beginner server, no matter what, they are merely emulating the 'Blood Berserker's' skills. Clearly, they've paid attention to the classic battles of the Guardian class. Many people have published speculations based on skills from the 'Blood Berserker's' custom talent tree, but no one knows whose build is truly the best. This person right now might just be adopting one of those variations," Ye Lingxue analyzed carefully, before pausing to think and adding, "Although 'Don't Frown, I'm Leaving' has taken her opponent much more seriously than 'Champion Short Sword' did, the sheer strength of the opponent seems to exceed their imagination. As for their third teammate, they will likely have to swap in a different fighter. Otherwise, if two fighters are beaten down back-to-back and the third one sent out is still the same person as before, they might lose their last chance. Fighting eight opponents alone—such a massive disparity in ladder rating seems like an impossible feat on paper. Yet, it is precisely these seemingly impossible feats that often deliver a fatal blow to the opponent. It's very likely that once all of them are defeated here, they will choose to quit this game entirely, because this kind of blow isn't something just anyone can endure, is it?"

…

"Number Three, Old Hu actually managed to dodge and block the startup of 'Don't Frown, I'm Leaving's' previous combo skill!"

At this moment, even the usually composed Luo Feng appeared somewhat surprised, simply because he hadn't expected such an outcome to occur.

"The opponent's skill is practically instantaneous. You can tell that 'Don't Frown, I'm Leaving' had already activated 'Hyper-Acceleration Mode', meaning that as long as her very first strike connects, all subsequent attacks are guaranteed to hit. The only window to defend was that initial split second," Ye Yu explained with a puzzled expression. "Besides, the startup speed of her skill is insanely fast. I reckon that even if you guys activated 'Hyper-Acceleration Mode', you'd only see a blurred afterimage charging right at you."

After Old Hu blocked that attack from "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving", even she looked utterly astonished. The opponent had only exchanged blows with her move a single time, yet he had managed to time the exact moment of the first strike—and that was while she had her "Hyper-Acceleration Mode" active. Old Hu immediately swung his right elbow to shove the close-range "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" backward, followed by a forward lunge with his greatsword. It was an ordinary thrust, the blade wreathed in a blood-red glow, and in the next instant, Old Hu's figure materialized directly behind "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving."

Old Hu flicked the greatsword in his hand, the blood-red aura on the blade scattering like fresh crimson droplets before abruptly vanishing from everyone's line of sight. At the same time, the remaining health of "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" instantly plummeted to zero, before recovering by a tiny sliver.

However, Old Hu was also panting heavily, glancing at his heavily depleted state—with nothing left to speak of except a health pool resting at sixty-three percent. He could only shrug, turn toward the distant lounge, and send a message visible only to the members of his own team's lounge.

[Arena · Lounge · Team] Warmth for a Long Time: "Next match, you take care of it, Brainless. I'm completely spent. Aside from having a slight advantage in health, I have no way left to deal with the opponent."

Yet, as he walked back toward his team's lounge area, the slightly gentle expression on Old Hu's face gradually turned icy. He abruptly raised his greatsword, resting it across his shoulder, cast a glance at the slightly shocked and surprised look on her face, and said in a deep voice, "Let me warn you in advance: I'm not as kind as they are, so you'd better not try any ungentlemanly tricks."

Upon hearing Old Hu's words, "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" snapped back to her senses, lifted her head, and glared at him through clenched teeth as she said, "You absolute, invincible scumbag."

The moment their voices completely faded, the two of them were separately teleported back to their respective team lounges. Meanwhile, the next combatants from both sides began stepping out from the arena entrances, slowly walking toward opposite ends of the stage to prepare for the next round of battle.

"Very wise," Ye Yu murmured to himself suddenly, a half-smile on his face revealing a sense of mystery.

For Old Hu, his custom talent skill tree was undoubtedly designed to revolve entirely around his own physical capabilities, likely without any enhancements from equipment or the like. His greatest boost came purely from personal progression. Such enhancement inevitably came with certain trade-offs, though whether they could be used simultaneously to reach perfection was something Ye Yu hadn't witnessed yet. Still, displaying just one skill buff had already proven immensely powerful. He had chosen to handle the match with just that single skill, defeating "Don't Frown, I'm Leaving" without even unleashing his other abilities. This would undoubtedly prove to be a tremendous headache for the people backing "Three Years Younger".

"Wine-Addled Hero" and his opponent had already stepped onto the stage, and this time, the opponent was once again a Swordsman player.

"I didn't expect my turn to come up. We were just betting on whether that guy in the previous match could actually keep fighting, considering his health had recovered all the way to sixty-three percent."

"Wine-Addled Hero" spoke somewhat carelessly, a look of obvious delight on his face at the prospect of getting to fight again.

This time it was still a Swordsman, but it appeared to be a different person filling the role. The name was quite peculiar as well—"A Single Plum Blossom".

"A Single Plum Blossom" wore a set of light armor without using any cosmetic skins to replace its appearance. The light armor looked rather retro and even weathered, as if its color and decoration had been deliberately modified. "A Single Plum Blossom" showed no interest in responding to "Wine-Addled Hero", slowly drawing the sword from the scabbard at his waist with his right hand, a dazzling purple radiance instantly flashing across the blade.

"You're the other survivor among yesterday's trio, right?" "Wine-Addled Hero" asked with a sudden chuckle. "Fancy tasting the flavor of defeat all over again?"

At that moment, however, both Ye Yu and Old Hu in the lounge abruptly narrowed their eyes. "They seem to have swapped people," one of them remarked. "This third contestant is different from the one we dealt with before."

"They swapped in a third person?" Hearing Ye Yu and Old Hu speak almost in unison, Luo Feng reacted accordingly.

"This guy is also a Swordsman, but he seems to be following an unorthodox path—the Qi-Master Sword-Demon route!" Old Hu was naturally well-traveled and experienced; the moment he saw the purple halo entwining the three-foot-long blade in "A Single Plum Blossom's" hand, he realized what was going on.

Seeing the purple glow flickering on the blade of "A Single Plum Blossom", "Wine-Addled Hero" frowned slightly and muttered, "Could this be some hipster off-meta build?"

The Qi-Master Sword-Demon was the sole unorthodox path within the Swordsman class that veered into the realm of spell-based area-of-effect damage. Classes of this type didn't rely strictly on spell damage; instead, they used specific skills to imbue their equipment with continuous spell-damage effects. Naturally, this growth path was strictly for the wealthy, as finding suitable gear was no easy feat, and its execution demanded far higher mechanical precision than traditional Qi-Masters.

Following Old Hu's brief explanation, the rest of the group gained a basic understanding, and "Wine-Addled Hero" on the stage naturally heard the warning as well.

This was destined to be an unexpected duel: an off-meta Qi-Master Sword-Demon versus an off-meta pure-attack Witch-class player.