CHAPTER 9 – AN EXPERT’S MARTIAL ARTS

After witnessing their Guild Master lose in such a clean and complete manner, the spirits of the guild members from [Against the Gods] clearly waned. After shooting a few hateful glares at Gu Fei and Fireball, they silently followed behind their leader and left.

Fireball pursed his lips and whistled; he was someone who took pride in others’ achievements. In this moment, the expert gamer he once worshipped had been reduced to some nobody in his heart.

“Drunk Bro, Drunk Bro!!!” The moment the members of [Against the Gods] left, he already had a new idol.

“How did you know that he was behind you?” He excitedly asked.

“Because there was killing intent,” Gu Fei smilingly said.

“Killing intent… Is there really such a thing?” Fireball muttered to himself.

“Of course,” Gu Fei nodded. “My ability to sense killing intent is still not perfect, especially when compared with my fourth uncle. For instance, when he’s sleeping, even if you make a racket, he’ll still be sound asleep. However, the moment you focus your attention on him, he will immediately wake up!”

“You really do know Wushu!” Fireball said. 

“It is not Wushu. It is Kung Fu!*” Gu Fei replied.

“What’s the difference?”

“The purpose of Wushu is to strengthen the body, while in practicing Kung Fu, one seeks to subdue and control their enemy, allowing them to protect their country.” Gu Fei sighed as he spoke. This was precisely where the difference in the understanding of Kung Fu lay between him and his father. His old man always emphasised that what they practiced was simply wushu, but he firmly believed that what he practiced was Kung Fu.

“Protecting our country… Is there really such a need?” Fireball couldn’t help but voice out.

“Nope.” Gu Fei laughed, “Isn’t that why I’ve come here to play this online game?”

“Oh… Then can I learn it?” Fireball’s eyes shone.

“You…” Gu Fei hesitated.

“Is it because I’m already too old?” A trace of disappointment could be heard in his voice. He was already over twenty years old and according to the patterns in wuxia novels he had read, the MC’s name should already be reverberating throughout the world by this age. Even if he only started learning martials arts at his current age, the glory would have already been stolen.

To his surprise, Gu Fei shook his head and explained, “It isn’t until one has a fully developed and matured body that they can officially begin learning Kung Fu. The average person will be fifteen or sixteen years old when this point is reached. We are more or less of the same age, so how could you be too old to practice? It’s just that learning Kung Fu takes up too much time. It requires at least 8 to 12 hours a day. Do you have that much free time on your hands?”

“I don’t.” Fireball didn’t even need to think as he instantly replied.

“Either that or you could use the time you spend ingame…”

“Nevermind, nevermind. It’s better if I don’t learn it. Let’s continue gaming!” Fireball hastily interrupted.

Gu Fei couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

At this moment, six Vagrants had already respawned beside the pond. Gu Fei picked up the dagger that he had previously tossed aside and was about to let them meet their maker. Just then, Fireball called out from the side, “Drunk Bro, the level of the monsters here is too high for me. I’m not as skilled as you, so I’m going to level up somewhere else.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you!” Gu Fei offered.

“I came to play, not to be carried!” Fireball said with much resolve.

“Fine, go on then!” Gu Fei chortled back.

“Drunk Bro, level up slower! Don’t leave me too far behind!” Fireball waved his hand as he ran off. “Later, if you’re still around, let’s go back to town for a drink.”

“Sure, sure!” Gu Fei agreed.

Just like that, the two parted ways. While Fireball walked away, Gu Fei decided to continue grinding the monsters in this levelling area. The previous battle with Ghost Blade had filled him with a sense of excitement. It had been a very long time since he had had the chance to spar with someone like that. He loved the feeling that he got from the short instant that determined victory and defeat. Even though his opponent was fairly rough around the edges from the perspective of his wrestling technique, it was only a matter of time before everyone would master their own fighting techniques in this type of virtual reality game. When that time came the real fun would begin.

As for the NPCs in front of him? Gu Fei was bored to death by them and was only killing them to pass time. AIs were AIs after all, this rigid and repetitive manner of attacking was so predictable that practising on them yielded no merit. There would come a day when the entire playerbase would grow accustomed to the AIs attacking sequence. For example, those with brains and reflexes like Ghost Blade, would become experts eventually.

At the pond by the hillside, Gu Fei swept up all of the monsters for a full two hours. In his eyes, he was not beating these monsters, he was merely practising his own martial arts sequences. He loved basking in the sweat-induced exhilaration that came from fighting to his heart’s content as he didn’t feel the repetitiveness of his current actions to be dull in the slightest. The fact that he could continue persevering on with Kung Fu despite his family members abandoning the art one by one was because he himself was filled with love for it, deriving boundless enjoyment therefrom.

After killing the group of six Vagrants again, he had already reached Level 16. He cupped his hands and drew some water from the pond, washing his face with it. It was really incomparably refreshing when the cool water stimulated the steamingly hot sweat on his face. This was the first time that Gu Fei let out an admirative gasp toward the game’s virtual realism. This feeling of warm sweat trickling down and the ice-cold feeling from the water was really too amazing. 

At this moment, Gu Fei received a notification that a message had been sent to him. As he opened his in-game mailbox, he saw, without much surprise, that the message was from Fireball,「Drunk Bro, Drunk Bro, what level are you now?」

「I’m already Level 16,」 Gu Fei replied.

「Ah! Ah! So fast? I’ve only just reached Level 10.」Looking at the words, Gu Fei could even picture Fireball’s pitiful wailing. Nonetheless, it had taken Fireball two full hours just to reach Level 10. Compared with the time he first came here to train, it was much slower. It seemed that farming monsters that were of a higher level than oneself truly was the most effective strategy to rapidly level up in Parallel World!

「Drunk Bro, Drunk Bro, are you done grinding? I saved up some money. Let’s go back to town for a drink, my treat!」Fireball sent another message.

「Sounds good!」Gu Fei replied, after which he quickly cleaned up the six Vagrants he had just slain. He looted a small amount of coins, some flowers and grasses he knew not the use of, and some small butchering knives. He had already collected tens of them and there was no more place to store them in his inventory anymore.

Even though it was supposed to be a virtual reality game that completely mimicked reality, but seeing as it was still a game, the characters in the game still had to have an inventory where they could store their items in. In Parallel World, the inventory was designed to be a pocket. As long as the player threw their loot into the pocket located by the right side of their waist, it would then be considered as being put into their inventory and would not randomly fall out. When one wanted to take the items out, they just needed to reach into their pocket. Following that, the inventory window would immediately pop up in front of them, enabling the player to select the item they wanted to take out. Upon choosing, it would then appear in their hand. Even if it were just fishing things out from their pocket, the feeling of doing so seemed as miraculous as Doraemon** fishing things out from its front pocket.

Having properly cleaned-up, Gu Fei climbed up to the top of the hill. Raising his gaze, he observed his surroundings, trying to discern the route back to Cloud City.

As luck would have it, he chanced upon a chap who was also grinding Vagrants. Upon activating [Conceal], the chap crept up behind the Vagrant and unleashed a [Backstab]. He subsequently went against the besiegement from the monsters, bringing them down with a flurry of violent stabs. After killing one, he would rest and replenish his health before going back into the fray and playing the same old trick once again.

The dagger in that person’s hand was emitting a faint, netherworldly blue light. Gu Fei chuckled as he recognised that it was precisely Ghost Blade who was wielding it. Seeing that the latter had already well surpassed Level 20, this was indeed a suitable place for him to grind monsters to level up. However, the group of six Vagrants were not suited for players to solo. Apart from Gu Fei, whose skills were almost perverted, only a player who was adept at being calculative and meticulous, like Ghost Blade, could deal with them.

There should be six Vagrants gathered around the bonfire, but currently there were only three. The moment the fourth Vagrant respawned, Ghost Blade would immediately use [Conceal], close in, unleash [Backstab], let loose several powerful strikes, withdraw, rest, wait for the monster to respawn, and repeat the whole sequence once more.

The tactics that Ghost Blade used to attack were actually similar to Gu Fei’s. It was also a repetitive sequence drawn up to counter the NPC’s characteristics. Gu Fei couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration in his heart.

Suddenly, his eyes moved and he discovered that someone else was watching Ghost Blade’s performance from atop another hill.

This person was donned in a tight-fitting, purple-coloured Changpao*** that properly accentuated her figure; it was clearly a female player. From where he was, he could not distinctly make out her appearance. He only saw that her right hand was gripping her left arm while two delicate fingers from her left hand were stretched out, lightly touching her lips. In that posture, she was observing Ghost Blade who was still grinding Vagrants in a very concentrated manner.

Unexpectedly, a female player that actually had a good eye for renowned players. As Gu Fei chortled over this, Ghost Blade just finished killing another Vagrant and withdrew to his resting place. Feeling his pockets, he realised that his inventory was already full. After letting out a long sigh, he raised his head following which he noticed the two who were watching him. After staring blankly for a moment, he decisively turned around and left.

“I wonder whether he recognised me from this distance,” Gu Fei pondered to himself. He did not have a special symbolic item like Ghost Blade’s [Frosted Memories] dagger to be identified by.

Since they lost the target of their observation, the two spectators each embarked on their own route at once. Gu Fei noticed that the direction the girl chose was basically identical to Ghost Blade’s; he snickered to himself: Could it be that Ghost Blade was going to have an encounter with a beautiful woman? Even though a gossipy heart rose up within him, he remembered that Fireball was waiting for him in the town’s pub. Hence, he could only give up on the thought of going to watch what would surely become a good show.

……