Chapter 54 – This Person Is a Monster!
“Has this person always been here?” Qin Wuchen couldn’t help but ask the others through the team chat when he saw the cloaked woman sitting on the sofa.
Players would have their five senses enhanced significantly after reaching Tier 3. Meanwhile, thanks to the combat experience he had racked up during his journey to Tier 3, he would always subconsciously spread out his senses wherever he went to familiarize himself with his surroundings.
Yet, before the cloaked woman spoke up, he had failed to notice her presence even at the slightest. This situation was simply astonishing.
“She shouldn’t be, right?” Xiao Yuheng said hesitantly.
“No, she should’ve been there the entire time,” Wu Xiaoxiao said, shaking her head. Then, in a wary tone, she continued, “It’s just that she has hidden her presence very well, and none of us managed to notice her before she spoke up.’
Upon hearing Wu Xiaoxiao’s analysis, everyone immediately grew cautious of the cloaked woman.
An expert capable of coming so close to them without their notice was without a doubt a huge threat to them. After all, there were many Red Players in God’s Domain, and a large portion of them were crazy players who PKed solely for fun. It would be an absolute nightmare if such a player targeted them.
When Wu Xiaoxiao saw the cloaked woman standing up and approaching them, she took the initiative to ask, “May I know what business you have with us, Ma’am?”
“Mr. Black Flame assigned me to teach you,” Hidden Soul, the cloaked woman, said. Then, she glanced at Wu Lingling’s ID of Whimsical Wind and continued in a slightly surprised tone, “Your ID matches, but why are there six of you? Whatever. Six is even better. You lot, come with me.”
“Is Instructor Black Flame not in the hotel?” Wu Lingling asked. Although Shi Feng had previously stated in his message that someone would be helping them train in God’s Domain, they didn’t come here just to train this time.
“Instructor Black Flame?” Hidden Soul was surprised once more. She didn’t think that Shi Feng had taken in students under his wing. However, she quickly concluded that Shi Feng was most likely trying to develop his own troops so that Zero Wing could have an easier time managing its affairs in this God’s Domain. “Mr. Black Flame has already gone offline because he has something to do. I will be overseeing your training in God’s Domain in his stead. Alright, enough talking and come with me to the combat room. I need to check your actual combat standards before I decide how I should train you.”
He’s leaving the teaching to others? Wu Xiaoxiao inwardly sneered when she heard Hidden Soul’s words. It’s a clever approach. Unfortunately, you used it in the wrong place!
Originally, she thought that Shi Feng possessed some level of skill. However, she didn’t think that Shi Feng would have caught wind of her arrival and hired an expert to teach in his place.
The method Shi Feng employed could be regarded as perfect. Even if the instructor he hired taught poorly, it couldn’t be considered his problem. After all, he wasn’t doing the teaching personally. At most, he could give the excuse that he had failed to account for the expert he hired to be bad at teaching. On the other hand, if the hired instructor did well, not only could Shi Feng flaunt his expansive connections, but he could also show off his excellent insight, killing two birds with one stone.
Unfortunately, he had met her!
Wu Xiaoxiao admitted that the cloaked woman before her was a capable expert, so much so that she had failed to notice the other party’s presence immediately. However, she had fought against many such experts in the Professional League before.
If it were in the past, Wu Xiaoxiao would’ve had a headache dealing with such concealment experts. After all, as an Elementalist, she’d fall into a huge disadvantage if she allowed an Assassin to come close to her. She might even get killed quickly. However, after returning from Crimson Emperor’s special training course, her combat standard had undergone a qualitative transformation. Now, she would have no problem dealing with experts like Hidden Soul. It was especially true in the Miniature Ancient World, where older generation experts and rookie experts had almost no difference in equipment standards.
“Sis, Instructor Shi isn’t here. Will you still be joining us?” Wu Lingling whispered to her elder sister.
“Of course. Since your instructor has hired such an expert, wouldn’t it be a waste if I don’t take a look at this scheme?” Wu Xiaoxiao said nonchalantly.
After saying so, Wu Xiaoxiao followed Hidden Soul to the hotel’s underground combat room. Meanwhile, when Wu Lingling and the others saw this, they quickly followed the two.
Unlike Wu Xiaoxiao, Wu Lingling and the others didn’t have any problems with Shi Feng finding someone else to teach them. After all, even Southern Tiger, a captain of the Soulfire adventurer team, had tried to curry favor with Shi Feng. So, it stood to reason that the expert Shi Feng hired was someone strong. At the very least, Hidden Soul should be enough to teach freshmen like them.
…
Candlelight Hotel, underground combat room:
The hotel’s underground combat room was designed specifically for players. Although it didn’t come equipped with as many functions as the combat rooms found in the Battle Arena, and its size was only a mere 50-yard radius, it was more than enough for players to practice their Skills and Spells in.
“Miss Instructor, how will you be testing our actual combat standards?” Qin Wuchen curiously asked when he saw the relatively small combat room.
This small combat room might be suitable for Tier 2 players to duel in, but it was somewhat lacking for a duel between Tier 3 players. After reaching Tier 3, experts would only need a few steps to cross a distance of 100 yards. A Tier 3 Great Mage could even cover the entire room with their AOE Spells. So, for Tier 3 players, a combat room so small was only useful for target practice and nothing more.
“Just come at me together. Don’t worry about anything and attack me with everything you’ve got,” Hidden Soul calmly said as she swept a glance at Wu Xiaoxiao and the others. “I won’t use any weapons. It’s your win so long as you can land a hit on me. I can give each of you an Advanced Class Legacy if you win. I can even give you a Peak Class Legacy if you want.”
“Advanced or Peak Class Legacies?”
The eyes of Qin Wuchen and the others instantly reddened a little when they heard Hidden Soul’s words.
Hidden classes were incredibly rare in God’s Domain, and even a Basic Hidden Class was worth astronomical amounts of money. In the case of Advanced Legacies, even first-rate powers would go crazy for them. They weren’t items that ordinary experts could get their hands on at all.
“Is what you say true?”
At this time, even Wu Xiaoxiao felt a little tempted. After all, she didn’t even have an Advanced Legacy right now, let alone a Peak Legacy. Instead, she only possessed the Basic Hidden Class Illusionist. Even though the hidden class only allowed her to create illusions in battle, making it difficult for her opponents to keep track of her, it had still helped her greatly thus far.
If she could obtain an Advanced Legacy, not only would it increase her strength significantly, but it could also help her massively when she tried to reach Tier 5 in the future.
“Don’t believe me?” Seeing the skeptical look on Wu Xiaoxiao’s face, Hidden Soul took out a stone tablet that radiated a golden aura from her bag and said, “Take a look at it yourself.”
“An Advanced Legacy! It’s a real Advanced Legacy!” Qin Wuchen’s eyes bulged when he saw the stone tablet. “I’ve seen one in a battle video before!”
“In that case, I’ll gladly take you up on your offer!” Wu Xiaoxiao said, her expression turning serious when she saw the stone tablet.
Immediately, Wu Xiaoxiao and the others took out their weapons. Then, without prior discussion, the six of them tacitly scattered across the room, fully intent on going all out for Hidden Soul’s test.
Meanwhile, as soon as everyone was in position, Wu Xiaoxiao waved her Epic Staff and cast two Spells simultaneously.
Tier 3 Spell, Phantom Art!
Tier 3 Spell, Thunderbolt Lock!
Immediately, not only did Wu Xiaoxiao split into more than ten copies of herself, but every one of them held a chain made of lightning in their hands. It was impossible to distinguish her real body from the fakes at all.
As for the others, they coordinated their movements with Wu Xiaoxiao, with Xiao Yuheng firing a series of arrows at Hidden Soul, Wu Lingling charging forward after using Wind Blade, Lu Wuxuan standing close to Wu Xiaoxiao with his shield raised and his body poised for action, Liu Yuecheng casting a Truth Shield on Wu Xiaoxiao, and Qin Wuchen secretly entering Stealth.
Although the six of them had no prior experience working with each other before, there wasn’t any conflict in their classes. On the contrary, their classes allowed them to make up for each other’s flaws, doubling their effective combat power.
“I already told you to attack me with everything with your full strength. Why are you using a Boss-raiding strategy to fight a player?” Hidden Soul said in a slightly frustrated tone when she saw Wu Xiaoxiao and the others scattered around her. “Have any of you fought with other players all these years?”
After letting out a sigh, Hidden Soul took a step forward. Subsequently, Hidden Soul’s cloaked figure split into over a dozen indistinguishable copies, each copy charging in different directions.
“What kind of Skill is this?”
Wu Lingling, who had charged to the forefront, was a little dumbfounded when she looked at the realistic doppelgangers in front of her.
Typically, even if a Tier 3 Assassin had a Doppelganger Skill, they could, at most, produce three to five realistic doppelgangers or a dozen or so false doppelgangers. There shouldn’t be a Tier 3 Doppelganger Skill capable of producing over a dozen realistic doppelgangers.
“No, this isn’t a Skill!” Wu Xiaoxiao exclaimed, her eyes filled with disbelief as she looked at Hidden Soul’s doppelgangers. “She’s using the Bronze Footwork Thousand Shadow Steps!”
During her training at Crimson Emperor, the instructor overseeing the training had shown them a video of an expert executing Thousand Shadow Steps, so Wu Xiaoxiao could quickly discern the move Hidden Soul used. Meanwhile, the instructor at the time had specifically told them that should they encounter an expert capable of using the Bronze Combat Technique under Tier 5, there was only one thing they should do.
Run!
This was because anyone capable of using Thousand Shadow Steps before reaching Tier 5 was essentially invincible among experts beneath the Domain Realm. Moreover, such an expert could be regarded as a one-man army, their effectiveness in PvP matching that of a 1,000-man team…
Meanwhile, as soon as Wu Xiaoxiao finished speaking, a familiar voice suddenly entered her ears.
“Good insight, average talent, a good degree of Mana control, and good reaction. Unfortunately, your combat standard is too low, and you didn’t even use your Berserk Skill. You even used double speed-casting in this confined space instead of leaving it as a backup plan. If I were to score you out of one hundred points, I’d give you only five points.”
As soon as these words entered her ears, Wu Xiaoxiao suddenly felt her vision darkening.
Meanwhile, just as Wu Xiaoxiao was about to collapse to the ground, she vaguely saw Wu Lingling and the others collapsing to the ground one after another…
A monster?!