Chapter 5 – Ganging Up, No Martial Virtue

In the dim underground tomb, Lu Chen cautiously explored.

Although dying in the instance wouldn’t affect reality in any way,

Lu Chen had no desire to experience death unnecessarily.

Especially when “Immersion Mode” made everything feel almost completely real.

Infinite resurrection only meant he wasn’t afraid of death – it didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of pain.

After walking for about three minutes, he finally emerged from the narrow passage into a small underground tomb.

Besides a coffin at the center, ten puppets with gleaming azure metallic luster stood arranged around the room.

Seeing these puppets, Lu Chen cautiously stopped.

He noticed that as he entered the room, the previously still puppets all turned their heads to look at him.

The scene was indescribably eerie.

Simultaneously, information about these puppets appeared before Lu Chen’s eyes:

[Azure Mystic Puppet]

[Strength: Third Layer Qi Condensation Stage]

[Characteristics: Bronze Skin Iron Bones, Fearless of Pain]

Boom!

Just as Lu Chen considered retreating into the passage for further observation, the entrance gate slammed shut behind him.

Looking at the sealed gate, Lu Chen’s expression turned grim.

Now… there was no way back.

Almost simultaneously with the gate’s closure, the previously still Azure Mystic Puppets began to move.

Their two-meter tall bodies, covered in what resembled heavy armor, moved slowly yet exerted immense pressure on Lu Chen, like a python coiling around its prey.

Locking the door to beat the dog – no martial virtue whatsoever!

Have the guts to fight one-on-one!

Clearly, the Azure Mystic Puppets had no intention of dueling Lu Chen individually.

Watching the approaching puppets, Lu Chen drew his Qi Condensation Stage Magic Sword from his Storage Bag and ran his finger along the blade.

Sharpness Art!

As his finger passed over it, the Magic Sword became coated with a silvery-white ‘Sword Qi’.

This wasn’t true Sword Qi, but the unique Qian Metal power of the Sharpness Art.

Yet in most situations, this Qian Metal power functioned no differently from genuine Sword Qi.

At least that’s how Lu Chen saw it.

Thanks to the psychological advantage of infinite resurrection within the instance, Lu Chen quickly adjusted his mindset.

Raising his Magic Sword, he pointed it at the nearest Azure Mystic Puppet, his tone full of provocation.

“Come on.”

As if responding to his challenge, the previously slow-moving Azure Mystic Puppet suddenly burst into action, quickly closing the distance to Lu Chen.

Looking at the puppet made entirely of azure metal, Lu Chen felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

But the current situation left no time for contemplation as he instinctively swung his sword.

Screech!

The Magic Sword, coated with ‘Qian Metal power’, struck the Azure Mystic Puppet, producing a harsh metallic grinding sound.

Sparks erupted from the point of impact between sword and puppet, briefly illuminating the originally dim underground tomb.

While this strike had clearly inflicted significant damage, leaving a long sword mark on the puppet’s chest,

Lu Chen found no reason to celebrate.

Because the Azure Mystic Puppet completely ignored his attack, instead throwing a punch directly at his face – a mutual kill!

Purple Haze Divine Light!

Facing the unavoidable iron fist, Lu Chen had no choice but to activate his protective divine light.

Boom!The Azure Mystic Puppet’s fist halted mid-air, blocked by a layer of pale purple haze.

Seizing the precious moment provided by the Purple Haze Divine Light’s interception, Lu Chen’s Magic Sword transformed into a cold gleam, slicing across the Azure Mystic Puppet’s neck.

This time, the previously aggressive Azure Mystic Puppet finally came to a complete stop.

Its head rolled to the ground like a leather ball, producing a dull thud.

The headless body collapsed in response, crashing heavily onto the floor.

Wiping sweat from his forehead while visibly drained, Lu Chen stared at the now motionless Azure Mystic Puppet before him.

With only a Qi Condensation Stage second-layer cultivation, he had first cast the Sharpness Art and immediately followed with the Purple Haze Divine Light.

This was no small burden for him.

But before Lu Chen could relax for long, he heard the muffled sound of something cutting through the air beside him.

Looking up, he immediately saw several azure profound-colored iron fists rushing toward his face.

It was only at this moment that he remembered this underground tomb didn’t contain just one Azure Mystic Puppet—there were ten in total!

One Azure Mystic Puppet had already left him drenched in sweat, let alone nine attacking together.

In his dazed state, Lu Chen felt time slowing down around him.

He wanted to resist, but his heavy body refused to respond, leaving him to helplessly watch the incoming iron fists.

In his final moments, only one thought crossed Lu Chen’s mind:

Ganging up on someone… how despicable!!!

Boom!

In the underground passage of the Ancient Cultivator Tomb.

“Ah!”

Lu Chen gasped as he sat up from the ground, immediately patting his chest to check.

Only after confirming his body was unharmed did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Recalling the recent battle with the Azure Mystic Puppets, he still felt lingering fear.

Fearless of pain and possessing impenetrable bronze skin and iron bones, the Azure Mystic Puppets were somewhat too formidable for a cultivator like him at merely the Qi Condensation Stage.

Ordinary spells cast upon these puppets might not even leave a scratch.

If not for his Sharpness Art having reached Major Achievement level, harming these Azure Mystic Puppets would have been extremely difficult.

The power of the Azure Mystic Puppets was evidently extraordinary.

Having just experienced the sensation of ‘death,’ Lu Chen didn’t rush to leave the passage and challenge the Azure Mystic Puppets again.

Instead, he sat cross-legged and began analyzing the previous battle.

In terms of pure strength, a single Azure Mystic Puppet was far superior to an ordinary Qi Condensation Stage second-layer cultivator.

Cultivators at this stage typically hadn’t mastered many spells and possessed rather ordinary physical bodies.

But the Azure Mystic Puppets?

Their bodies were impervious to sabers and spears, fearless of pain and death.

Trading injuries was completely normal for them.

Not to mention Qi Condensation Stage second-layer, even third or fourth-layer cultivators wouldn’t stand a chance against an Azure Mystic Puppet one-on-one in Lu Chen’s estimation.

However, after thinking calmly for a moment, Lu Chen still identified several ways to deal with these creatures.

Although the Azure Mystic Puppets had steel-reinforced bones, their movements were extremely slow.

Even their burst speed, while surpassing ordinary humans, remained inferior to typical cultivators.

Therefore, familiarizing oneself with their attack patterns would make evading their assaults relatively straightforward.

Yet considering the limited space of the underground tomb and the presence of ten Azure Mystic Puppets,

completely avoiding all their attacks was clearly unrealistic.Fortunately, these fellows only knew physical techniques and not spells.

Otherwise, Lu Chen would have had no way to deal with them in a short time.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Chen finally came up with a strategy.

“To deal with these clumsy tanks, I either need terrifying destructive power to defeat them before they get close to me,”

“Or I need to be more agile than them to avoid being hit.”

“The former is out of the question for now. Even if I had such a spell, I might not have the cultivation level to cast it.”

“So, I should focus on movement techniques to deal with them. The school’s Treasure Pavilion should have suitable movement techniques for me to choose from.”

With this thought, Lu Chen immediately exited the instance space and returned to reality.

If an outsider had seen him, they might have thought he was merely resting with his eyes closed.

But in reality, he had just experienced a one-sided slaughter.

He was the one being slaughtered.

To wash away the shame of being quickly defeated by the Azure Mystic Puppets, Lu Chen earnestly searched for a suitable movement technique in the Treasure Pavilion.

He currently had very few school credits left and had to use them carefully.

After all, both renting a cultivation room and previously exchanging for the Purple Haze Nourishing Art had cost him a considerable number of credits.

These credits might not mean much to students in the Heaven’s Path Class or Earth Class, but for him in the Humanity Class, it was a significant expense.

Credits are hard to come by, so use them wisely.

After some searching, Lu Chen finally selected what he needed from the vast number of cultivation manuals in the Treasure Pavilion.

[Flowing Cloud Step]

[Effect: Greatly increases movement speed after cultivation. Major Achievement allows mastery of Flowing Cloud Afterimage]

[Cultivation Requirement: Water Spirit Root]

[Price: 200 credits]

[Water Dragon’s Roar]

[Effect: The sword strikes like a dragon. Major Achievement allows mastery of the Dragon’s Roar’s power]

[Cultivation Requirement: Water Spirit Root]

[Price: 300 credits]

Lu Chen had initially only intended to find a suitable movement technique, but after finding the Flowing Cloud Step, he quickly noticed the recommended complementary ‘Swordsmanship: Water Dragon’s Roar’ beside it.

After reading the effects of Water Dragon’s Roar, Lu Chen admitted he was tempted.

Although he possessed the ‘Major Achievement Level Sharpness Art,’ he lacked the swordsmanship to fully utilize the spell’s power.

His combat style had mostly consisted of simple slashes, which was a waste of its potential.

The appearance of Water Dragon’s Roar perfectly made up for this deficiency.

Paired with the movement technique of ‘Flowing Cloud Step,’ Lu Chen felt his strength could reach a whole new level in a short time.

Dealing with the ten Azure Mystic Puppets in the Underground Tomb would likely be much less troublesome.

“Alright, I’ll take them.”

The more Lu Chen thought about it, the more he felt that ‘Water Dragon’s Roar’ and ‘Flowing Cloud Step’ were perfect for his current needs, so he decisively purchased them.

Soon after, the cultivation methods for these two secret manuals were transmitted to Lu Chen’s phone.

After carefully studying them, two new skills appeared in Lu Chen’s skill panel.

[Water Dragon’s Roar: Beginner 1/150]

[Flowing Cloud Step: Beginner 1/100]

[Current Experience Points: 300]

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As long as I can defeat these ten Azure Mystic Puppets, the experience points spent now will definitely be repaid multiple times over.”

True Immortal Cultivation, allocate points!

[You consumed 150 experience points. Water Dragon’s Roar upgraded to ‘Proficient’…]【You have consumed 100 experience points. Flowing Cloud Step has been upgraded to ‘Proficient’…】

(End of Chapter)