Lin Feng sprinted all the way until he reached a forest far from the mountain stronghold.
He picked a dead tree trunk, hollowed it out with his blade, and crawled inside before daring to sit down and catch his breath.
Looking at his current state, he realized he had narrowly escaped danger.
[Player: Lin Yanfeng]
[Level: 18]
[Experience: 420/3600]
[Strength: Unranked]
[Reputation: 35 (Slightly Known)]
[Infamy: 140 (Notorious)]
[Vitality: 95/1410]
[Internal Strength: 55/655]
[Physique: 131]
[Force: 212]
[Defense: 130]
[Agility: 215]
[Martial Arts: Profound Grade Intermediate · Sunflower Acupoint Striking Hand (Beginner), Yellow Grade Lower · Mountain-Crushing Strike (Beginner), Basic Blade Technique (Beginner), Yellow Grade Lower · Iron Mountain Lean (Beginner)]
[Lightness Skill: Profound Grade Superior · Treading on Snow Without a Trace (Beginner)]
[Internal Energy: None]
[Equipment: Ordinary Long Blade, Black Cloth Boots]
...
His vitality and internal strength were nearly depleted, and he was at risk of being killed by even a minor expert.
Lin Feng was filled with regret, realizing he shouldn't have played so recklessly. The thrill of killing had gotten to his head.
It felt like he had returned to the state of mind he had on the battlefield between Russia and Ukraine, where he was a killing machine.
He needed to control himself in the future to avoid losing his sanity and putting himself in danger.
After resting for a while, Lin Feng began to inventory his recent loot.
First, he took out the secret manual dropped by Sister Yu of North City.
[Martial Arts]: Eight Trigrams Wandering Dragon Palm (Yellow Grade Superior)
[Description]: From the Two Elements come the Four Symbols, and from the Four Symbols come the Eight Trigrams. This palm technique is unpredictable and full of mysteries, growing more powerful the longer the battle lasts.
[Effect]: Base Force +65 points, can deliver a total of 1200 points of base damage within 30 seconds of continuous strikes.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
[Consumption]: Consumes 20 points of internal strength per second.
[Requirement]: Can only be learned by those with an Innate Talent of 40 points or higher.
...
What a treasure!
Lin Feng immediately recognized the value of this palm technique, which was far superior to the Mountain-Crushing Strike.
He learned it without hesitation!
Next, Lin Feng focused on the jade pendant.
This jade pendant was entirely emerald green, crystal clear, shaped like a venomous fang, with tassels hanging below, emitting a faint golden glow.
In "The Grand Martial World," equipment is divided into five grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, and Common, corresponding to the colors red, purple, blue, gold, and white.
This was clearly a Yellow Grade jade pendant.
[Accessory: Green Snake Jade Pendant]
[Grade: Yellow Grade Superior]
[Effect: Evasion +2%, Defense +20, Poison Resistance +10%]
This jade pendant made Lin Feng feel like he had struck gold, as it increased both defense and evasion.
Especially the poison resistance, which was extremely practical.
In wuxia novels, there are many experts skilled in using poison, like Golden Flower Granny, Li Mochou, Yin Li, Ouyang Feng, and others.
Using poison is a common combat technique in wuxia. Some powerful individuals, despite their strength, often fall victim to poison.
Yang Guo and Little Dragon Girl were once poisoned by the Love Flower.
The Six Major Sects' experts couldn't withstand Zhao Min's Ten Fragrance Soft Tendon Powder.
Ren Woxing controlled his subordinates with the Three Corpse Brain Pill, and so on.
Many players also frequently fall victim to poison, and some even choose to learn poison techniques, following the principle of "if you can't beat them, join them."
Poison resistance and anti-poison equipment or cultivation methods are rare and valuable on the market. Lin Feng saw a Common Grade item with 2% poison resistance sell for a sky-high price of ten thousand yesterday online.
Lin Feng feared being poisoned one day, and this jade pendant might save his life at a critical moment.
He put on the jade pendant and then looked at the next item, a pair of leather gloves.
[Equipment: Rhinoceros Skin Gloves]
[Grade: Yellow Grade Intermediate]
[Effect: Force +22, Fist and Palm Technique Damage +7%, Attack Speed +10%]
Another great item!
Lin Feng put them on without hesitation.
In "The Grand Martial World," there are no fixed professions.
You can arm yourself to the teeth if you want.
You can also learn various martial arts.
Blades, spears, staves, fists, palms, legs, and feet—eighteen types of martial arts are yours to learn.
Lin Feng naturally wouldn't pass up on items that increase combat power.
Finally, there were the two bottles of elixirs.
[Elixir: Blood Restoration Pill*5]
[Grade: Common Grade]
[Effect: Restores 300 points of vitality within 10 minutes after consumption, non-stackable]
...
[Elixir: Qi Condensation Pill*5]
[Grade: Common Grade]
[Effect: Restores 150 points of internal strength within 10 minutes after consumption, non-stackable]
Not bad, not bad. These elixirs came just in time.
Lin Feng, who was feeling exhausted, found these elixirs to be a timely solution to his urgent needs. He immediately took out two pills and swallowed them.
Soon, he felt a warm flow of energy within him, and his vitality and internal strength began to recover slowly.
Ten minutes later, Lin Feng checked his vitality, which had recovered to around four hundred.
He didn't plan to fully recover, as that would waste too much time.
With this amount of health, as long as he didn't act recklessly, he wouldn't be in much danger.
He wanted to quickly return to the mountain stronghold to see if the fight was over. If not, he could still take down a few more mountain bandits.
Lin Feng didn't want to stay in the novice map for too long, as the real treasures and great opportunities were in other maps.
He wanted to explore them early and claim them before others did.
So he didn't want to miss this excellent opportunity to level up.
With this in mind, Lin Feng slipped out of the tree hollow and quickly returned to the mountain stronghold.
Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, the battle was already nearing its end.
With the deaths of the Third-in-Command and the Second-in-Command, the mountain bandits had lost their will to fight and were being killed one by one. Even those who tried to escape were relentlessly pursued by players.
The entire Black Wind Stronghold had been almost completely cleared.
Outside the stronghold, only the Chief, Huang Ting, was still struggling to hold on.
Although he was a third-rate expert, he was now just a trapped beast, surrounded by five captains. Magistrate Lou had even sent a similarly ranked expert to assist.
With dozens of players watching eagerly, Huang Ting had no chance of escape.
"Huang Ting! You're at the end of your rope. I advise you to surrender now. You were once a hero in capturing bandits. If you surrender voluntarily, the Imperial Court might spare your life."
"Hah! No hero can atone for the crimes I've committed. At worst, I'll die. If you want to capture me, it's not going to happen!"
"Stubborn fool, don't blame us then!"
The captains, having lost hope of capturing him alive, were now determined to kill.
Seeing that Huang Ting was doomed, the surrounding players' eyes gleamed with greed.
This was the biggest boss of the Black Wind Stronghold. Whoever landed the final blow would be richly rewarded.
Moreover, the biggest boss was bound to drop treasures, and they couldn't bear to leave.
Lin Feng saw the boss surrounded so tightly that even if he used Treading Snow to Seek Plum Blossoms, he wouldn't be able to get a piece of the action.
He sighed, shook his head, and decided to give up on this slim chance.
With the captains and the Imperial Court's third-rate expert present, other players had no chance of stealing the kill. Players were rewarded for killing bandits, and so were the soldiers.
The captains wouldn't miss such a great opportunity to earn merit, so Lin Feng knew that other players would be wasting their efforts.
He no longer held any hope for the boss but became interested in the stronghold.
Perhaps he could sneak in while no one was watching and see if there were any treasures left.
Determined, Lin Feng used his lightness skill and quickly reached the stronghold's wall.
The stronghold's gate was wide open, and all the bandits had been dealt with, leaving no guards.
Lin Feng slipped into the stronghold without any obstacles.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the only clever one. Once inside, he found that there were already a dozen players with the same idea.
They had also given up on the boss and rushed to loot the stronghold.
The stronghold's warehouse, dormitories, and other places had already been ransacked and cleaned out, leaving Lin Feng empty-handed.