Sword Qi Technique

At the foot of Tiger Head Mountain, near the soldiers’ encampment, the people from Little White Village were too few to launch an attack. The remaining players from Glorious Village didn’t dare rush forward again. Both sides were locked in a stalemate, neither making a move nor uttering a sound, the atmosphere heavy with tension. Even the onlookers didn’t dare stir up trouble anymore—just moments ago, quite a few had been “accidentally killed” by people from both villages, and now not a whisper could be heard among them.

The face of the Glorious Swordsman alternated between anger and embarrassment as he debated whether to fight again to save face. But with just fifty or sixty players left in Glorious Village, all dispirited, he felt far from confident.

Just then, a player beside him leaned in and whispered something, and the Glorious Swordsman’s face lit up with joy. It turned out that another group of players, at least a couple dozen to a hundred strong, had arrived at Glorious Village to take on the bandit-suppression quest. With so many reinforcements, if they still couldn’t defeat Little White Village, he might as well bash his head against a rock.

He quickly summoned everyone. Soon, a large group of Glorious Village players surged toward the standoff, shouting with bravado, “Boss, let’s see who dares to mess around on our turf! I’ll chop them down!” “Exactly! Do they even know whose territory this is? Glorious Village runs this place!” “Let’s take them out!”

The people from Little White Village remained unmoved. Since Zhan Xiaobai made no move, neither did anyone else.

Zhan Xiaobai frowned slightly and glanced at the sly bandit strategist beside him. All this trouble, just for this bandit—something he hadn’t foreseen. Given the current situation, he likely couldn’t keep the strategist after all. What a pity.

The bandit strategist blinked his cunning eyes and happened to meet Zhan Xiaobai’s gaze, shivering a little. He knew the two villages were on the verge of war over him, but he couldn’t guess Zhan Xiaobai’s intentions.

As the Glorious Swordsman listened to his men’s shouts, his face broke into a wide grin. “Good, good, morale is high!” He stepped out from his protectors, brimming with confidence, and shouted at Zhan Xiaobai, “See that? My brothers from Glorious Village are all brave and battle-hardened. I don’t want to be accused of bullying you with numbers. Hand over that NPC, and we’ll call it even for all earlier unpleasantness.”

Spring-and-Autumn Hero, seeing the intimidating momentum of Glorious Village’s players, made a covert gesture. Seventeen players formed a tight defensive ring around Zhan Xiaobai, Wutong, and the bandit strategist. He knew Boss Bai would never hand over the bandit so easily, and as a core fighter of Little White Village, could only do everything possible to defend against the enemy.

The Glorious Swordsman grew impatient at the delay. Since the other side still hadn’t budged, he raised his voice to his men, “Brothers, get ready to—”

Suddenly, a cry of surprise erupted from the onlookers as the crowd was forced apart by a surge of people.

The Glorious Swordsman’s voice caught in his throat, strangled like a duck being lifted by its neck. He choked and never finished his order.

With an icy expression, Autumn Water appeared, leading the Light and Shadow Squad under Ah Fei and Guangming, as well as over two hundred high-level players from Little White Village. These elite players exuded an aura far stronger than ordinary players and easily parted the crowd.

The two Little White Village groups quickly merged. Autumn Water hurried to Zhan Xiaobai’s side, anxiously asking if he’d been injured, though she soon remembered that players couldn’t be hurt, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Zhan Xiaobai smiled quietly to himself, thinking how timely their arrival was. At last, the valuable bandit strategist was firmly in his grasp. With their numbers now matching those of Glorious Village, it was time to show their rivals the futility of further struggle.

The Glorious Swordsman immediately spotted the striking Autumn Water among the newcomers. Swallowing hard, he eyed her beauty greedily and barked, “Who are you? This is Glorious Village territory. State your name!”

Ah Fei leapt up and retorted, “You idiot! Do you know who I am? I’m your big brother Fei! Damn it, daring to bully Little White Village? If you’ve got the guts, let’s fight right now!”

“Fight!” “Fight—!”

The people of Little White Village quickly understood the circumstances and raised their weapons with furious shouts.

The arrogance of Glorious Village was instantly subdued. Some newcomers, unaware of the shift in numbers, shouted back defiantly, “Fight if you want! Who’s afraid?”

Zhan Xiaobai, Autumn Water, and others stepped forward and signaled for their players to quiet down.

As silence fell, Zhan Xiaobai finally addressed the Glorious Swordsman across the field. “Brother Glorious, Little White Village and Glorious Village have never had much to do with each other, let alone any real grudges. You tried to snatch someone from me, and I killed over ten of your men—let’s call it even. Now, you can either withdraw on your own, or start a war with us. But if you choose war, there’ll be no going back. Think carefully before you decide.”

The Glorious Swordsman hesitated.

Had it still been three hundred against twenty, he’d have launched the attack without a second thought. But now, the numbers were even and the strength gap clear; he had no confidence in victory. If all three hundred plus fell here, the village would be severely weakened.

“Fight!” “Fight!” “So what if we die? Who cares!”

Both village chiefs wavered, but the players beneath them were already in an uproar, itching for battle. The heated mood pushed the situation toward chaos.

Just as both sides were about to charge—

Suddenly, a streak of blue sword light flashed and slashed down in the center of the field.

Boom!

A sword mark more than three meters long and an inch deep tore into the ground, sending up a spray of dirt and sand. The terrifying, dazzling warning was clear to all—a line of death. Cross it at your peril.

Players on both sides gasped and stepped back in unison. Fury vanished, replaced by panic as they looked toward the source of the sword light.

There stood NPC Zhang Feng, gripping a sharp blue sword, face dark, flanked by four squad leaders and dozens of soldiers, pushing through the crowd into the center of the field.

His blade still shimmered with the fading blue aura of sword energy.

With a stern face, Zhang Feng bellowed at the players from both villages, “The bandits aren’t even eliminated, and you lot are already at each other’s throats. Do you take me for nothing?”

Hardly any player listened to his words. All that filled their minds was shock: Sword energy! For the first time, they had witnessed such a terrifying martial skill. To think such a technique existed in the game! With a move like that, numbers meant nothing.

That such a formidable martial art was wielded by this mere fifty-man militia NPC leader—just who was he?

Sword Energy Skill: Learnable by players level 30 and above, a peerless technique. Damage depends on internal force and sword skill level.

There were many types of sword energy skills, but what was the name of the move Zhang Feng had just unleashed? Cleave the Mountain? Players speculated wildly, and some couldn’t wait to upload the video of the sword energy slash to the forums, adding their own commentary.