Deng Caiying remained silent, only feeling that this scene was incredibly familiar.
But it was the first time for the others to see Wu Zhen, and also their first time being provoked by such a young junior. Dong Yin, in particular, had no intention of showing deference to the younger generation. He let out a cold sneer and took a step forward.
"If you want a fight, you'll get a fight! As long as you don't use those underhanded tricks, I'll properly teach you the rules of the martial world today!"
"You've just entered the martial world and achieved a little something, yet you really think you're a big shot!"
Faced with such harsh words, the black-haired girl didn't even bat an eyelid.
A trace of confusion over the term underhanded tricks flashed through her pitch-black eyes, but it quickly dissipated. It wasn't out of magnanimity or tolerance, but rather an utter, dismissive indifference.
She paid equally little mind to Dong Yin, who struck first and swung his blade at her. With a slight twist of her right wrist holding the long scythe, the jade bracelet on her wrist let out a crisp clinking sound.
Terrifying strength instantly hoisted the giant weapon. Perhaps for the convenience of forging, the long sleeve of her right arm was tied up near her shoulder. Her exposed pale arm, layered with dense, smooth muscles, suddenly tensed up as she exerted force.
Then—
She slightly pivoted backward to gather her strength and viciously swung the blade!
The entire sequence of movements didn't look swift at all. Due to the unique nature of the weapon, it carried a profound, heavy sense of weight. Yet, when the pitch-black scythe blade rushed right before his face, Dong Yin suddenly realized that all of this had happened in the blink of an eye!
Even though he was the one who had struck first, he ended up being the one who moved first but arrived last!
"Sect Leader Dong!"
A sharp cry rang out. In a split second, the eminent monk from Shaolin flashed to his side, using every ounce of his strength to thrust his demon-subduing pestle forward to block.
The moment they clashed, the Shaolin monk's pupils shrank as an agonizing pain, accompanied by an endless wave of numbness, surged through both of his arms.
Not good!
His mind instantly assessed the current situation.
He couldn't block it!
Wu Zhen, who could wield this weapon, had to possess boundless strength. Such innate divine strength, combined with the immense weight of the weapon itself, could smash a person to pieces even without its sharp edge!
In such a rush, he absolutely could not block it head-on!
His thoughts raced like lightning. Abandoning the demon-subduing pestle, he switched to palm techniques, striking a heavy palm against the pestle while grabbing Dong Yin's collar with his other hand. Executing his movement technique, he rapidly retreated several steps.
"Bang!"
At the same time, the pitch-black blade swept past, almost brushing against their bodies, and smashed heavily into the ground, sending crushed stones flying everywhere.
"..." Watching this scene, Dong Yin realized that his back was already drenched in cold sweat without him knowing.
Having roamed the martial world for so many years, he had engaged in countless life-and-death struggles. Yet, in that swing of the scythe just now, he sensed an almost terrifying... oppression.
Contrasted by the giant scythe, the black-haired girl's tall, lean figure appeared incredibly petite. However, when she stood on the battlefield, on the opposing side, and swung her blade without a shred of emotion, she suddenly possessed an unparalleled—
Dominance.
But things had already reached this point. Even if he wanted to retreat now, he couldn't.
Dong Yin gritted his teeth, losing every bit of his previous contempt, and brought out one hundred and twenty percent of his focus to face her.
The biggest flaw of heavy weapons was that they were difficult to control and hard to adapt with. At the same time, human arm span had its limits, and excessively long two-handed weapons would hinder performance. Yet, for the black-haired girl, these flaws seemed completely non-existent.
Her joints could actually bend backward by sheer force, perfectly matching her innate, terrifying sense of power. It even gave people the illusion that no matter what unwieldy weapon she was given, she could wield it with ease.
Even though Dong Yin was fully prepared this time, he could only barely protect his heart meridians and vital spots. He dodged the blade but failed to dodge the long shaft, and was sent flying with a loud crash.
This time, no one had time to react. The scene was dead silent, save for the sound of a falling tree as Dong Yin, who had snapped an old tree in half with his body, lay there with his fate unknown.
"Next."
In this silence that Deng Caiying was incredibly familiar with, the terrifying blade of the scythe fell back to the ground, letting out a heavy, resounding thud. Its owner raised her head once again, looking in the direction of the old Manor Lord. Her black eyes were dead silent as she revealed a chilling smile.
...
As soon as Wu Zhen left the forging room, she was drawn to a group of NPCs standing outside the door, as well as a hostile faction they were crowding around.
Upon closer inspection, the identity of this red-named character was actually the Manor Lord of the Flying Star Manor.
Whoa! Hit the jackpot!
She couldn't even be bothered to check the Event tab. The high-quality red name had captured all her attention and gaze. Unfortunately, the other NPCs weren't very tactful. Blocking her way was one thing, but someone actually had the audacity to speak insolently.
Sigh, then they could only be killed.
Players didn't like killing people at random. Players also had morals, but a player's moral bottom line was very flexible.
It was one thing in games where you couldn't attack NPCs.
But in a high-freedom game where any NPC could be killed at will, how many lives did they have to dare speak to a player like that?
The only penalty for killing non-hostile factions was randomized drop items. However, the moment a player initiated combat, the target NPC would usually turn into a red name, meaning there was effectively no consequence.
The red-named character with the name Dong Yin floating above his head had already turned into a corpse, and his affiliated faction instantly turned red as well. Those few Flying Leopard Sect NPCs glared at her with hatred and impulsively stepped forward to avenge him, ganging up to surround her.
Wu Zhen killed them all together.
With this, those NPCs seemed to finally understand her true strength. Their expressions instantly turned ugly, especially that old Manor Lord He.
Deng Caiying's expression was also a bit bitter.
Although it was quite normal for people to die during sparring and battles in the martial world, not to mention that Dong Yin and his sect members had gone for the kill the moment they stepped up, killing them so quickly, coupled with the dirty water that had been splashed on Wu Zhen, meant the situation could easily spiral out of control. That was not what he wanted to see.
Sigh, he had told them it was for their own good not to provoke young hero Wu. Why wouldn't they listen?
This person was a killing star who would definitely draw blood once she made a move, recognizing neither family nor friend once a fight broke out.
Wu Zhen had no idea about Deng Caiying's distress. She turned on auto-combat and continued walking toward her target's location.
At this time, some of the smarter people among the NPCs seemed to realize that something was wrong. Wanting to stabilize the situation, they stepped forward and earnestly asked if there was some misunderstanding, only to be sent flying by Wu Zhen's blade after she toggled on non-lethal takedown.
Thus, these righteous figures of the martial world tried to persuade her one by one, stepped up one by one, and none of them could defeat her.
Deng Caiying pulled them up, looking at the life-doubting expressions on their faces with deep sympathy. However, seeing that Wu Zhen didn't deal lethal blows to these people, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Wu Zhen finally arrived in front of old Manor Lord He.
She turned off non-lethal takedown.
A red name only had one ending.
And that was death.
Auto-battles required no effort from the player. Although the system was a bit robotic, when the player was in a state of absolute suppression, there was simply no need to use her brain. Evidently, the Manor Lord had realized this as well and immediately channeled some sort of technique. Instantly, the word [Berserk] appeared right behind his name.
"...Hm?"
The player finally found a hint of interest.
She opened the opponent's status bar and took a look.
"Suffering from Qi Deviation due to practicing a fragmented manual of the [Three Yin Ultimate Stance]."
After glancing at the event logs from the past two days and checking the movements of the relevant NPCs, the player suddenly understood everything.
"So you were after the Three Yin Blade in my hands all along."
As soon as she said this, not only did Old Manor Lord He's face stiffen for a second, but Deng Caiying also abruptly raised his head.
"You are spouting nonsense!" Old Manor Lord He wanted nothing more than to strike Wu Zhen dead on the spot. But with dozens of eyes staring at him like tigers eyeing their prey, he knew very well that lashing out now would be taken as a tacit admission of guilt. He had to deny it decisively.
Wu Zhen tilted her head in confusion. "But aren't that so-called Demonic Cult assassin and that precious sword sitting perfectly fine in the secret room of your study?"
She glanced at the minimap and casually read out the coordinates of the secret room.
Old Manor Lord He did not understand what "69, 148" meant, but he understood the words "secret room of your study." His expression immediately twisted in horror, and he drew his sword, thrusting it straight at Wu Zhen.
"Young Hero Wu, spare him—!"
By the time Deng Caiying uttered those words, Wu Zhen was only a split second away from snapping Old Manor Lord He's neck.
However, the player still had a bit of patience for a guide NPC. Thus, maintaining her posture, she turned her head to look back.
Deng Caiying bowed deeply. "Young Hero, please spare his life for now so that I may investigate some events of the past."
Wu Zhen said, "You can still investigate even if he's dead."
With a squeeze of her hand, she effortlessly crushed the red-named enemy to death.
He You stumbled backward a few steps and pointed at her, trembling. "You... you actually killed the Manor Lord...!!"
Since he dared to accuse the player, Wu Zhen casually killed him too.
Instantly, the majority of the disciples in Flying Star Manor turned into red names, and the minimap displayed a [Hostile Area] tag.
The Shaolin master sighed. With a solemn expression, he said, "Benefactor, you have killed so many people and are involved in a past case. We must give our fellow martial artists an explanation. We harbor no ill will toward you, Benefactor. Please do not take offense, but stay with us until we can uncover the truth of this matter."
Wu Zhen smiled slightly. "Then let's see what you've got."
The sound of broken jade clinking at her wrist rang out. She held her blade horizontally and stood in tranquil stillness.
This battle raged continuously from daytime until nightfall.
Several renowned experts from prestigious sects joined forces, using every trick in their arsenal to besiege Wu Zhen. Yet, they failed to gain the slightest advantage over her. Instead, she found the time to strike down a few more Flying Star Manor disciples who dared to sneak over and launch underhanded attacks. By the time the faint light of dawn broke, the unconscious and the dead were strewn all over the ground. Blood flowed like a river, making the scene look like purgatory.
Wu Zhen was the only one still standing.
Midway through, Deng Caiying had also felt the unbearable itch to exchange a few moves with her. Although he was not injured as severely as the others, he still could not even crawl to his feet and was currently lying motionless on the ground like a corpse.
Wu Zhen lifted her foot and began walking deeper into Flying Star Manor.
There were still a few fish that had slipped through the net...
But before she could even step out of the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, a wave of dizziness washed over her.
Wu Zhen: "..."
Not good.
She had completely forgotten about her Fatigue gauge hitting the maximum limit—
Having continuously forged for over ten days and forcefully pushing through without a single rest, the player suddenly pitched forward.
In the final second before her vision went completely dark, she sensed someone arriving behind her and pressing a hand against her shoulder.
Following that came a sensation of weightlessness.
She fell into a soft, gentle embrace.
