Meanwhile, in the woods.
A young man named Yan Buliu was staring ecstatically at his game interface. "This Daoist master has done it! HAHAHAHA!"
He had been tediously grinding proficiency for days, all for this moment!
On the interface, after accumulating the full 10,000 proficiency points, the skill [Theft] had finally become [Pilfer] (0/50,000).
This meant he could instantly become an expert capable of randomly stealing items from NPCs! Spirit Stones, magic treasures, elixirs... Yan Buliu was nearly dizzy with the thought of his bright future.
He looked excitedly at Mr. Qian, the elder in charge of imparting techniques, and spoke with tears and snot streaming down his face:
"Wah, Mr. Qian! You're like a second father to me! To repay you for graciously teaching me these past few days, you must let me try out the power you've bestowed upon me, yah!"
He wanted to test the skill's power right now.
His gaze fell upon Mr. Qian, and Yan Buliu immediately used [Pilfer] on Qian Buyu.
[You have successfully used Pilfer on 'Qian Buyu'. Due to the vast difference in Cultivation, the random item you obtained is: Elder's Sock (White, Common Quality).]
[You have angered Mr. Qian. Fend for yourself.]
At the same time, Qian Buyu's expression changed.
His eyes widened in fury as he pointed at Yan Buliu. "You insolent disciple! How dare you have improper designs on your master's socks! You must be punished-punished-punished-punished-punished—!"
Mr. Qian's voice seemed to get stuck, with only the last word, "punished," repeating at an extremely high frequency.
But the next moment, an astonishing wave of energy erupted from his body. His eyes turned crimson, and he completely lost control!
"Punished-punished-punished-punished-punished-punished..."
He roared, his body convulsing violently, and sent a palm strike flying toward Yan Buliu, who was closest to him!
'It's over, I've really done it now!'
'To think I'd trigger an auto-attack bug!'
Yan Buliu's heart jumped. He knew full well how powerful Mr. Qian was in this game, and he also knew that this kind of bug would only stop after it killed someone!
Without a moment's hesitation, he logged out at the speed of light.
Meanwhile, on a nearby path, Lin Qingfeng and Su Ling'er had witnessed the entire scene.
In Su Ling'er's eyes, that unknown disciple had actually stolen the personal socks of the elder who imparted techniques!
'This person's fetish is so twisted!'
What was even more terrifying was that just as the elder was about to reprimand him, the insolent disciple struck a vicious blow! Su Ling'er hadn't even seen what he did before the elder lost control!
But in the blink of an eye, the insolent disciple's figure vanished into thin air, leaving only a pair of socks on the ground.
'Was he turned to dust by the elder's palm strike?! Or did he use some kind of advanced Escape Technique that lets him come and go without a trace?!'
Su Ling'er whispered in shock, "Senior Brother, what... what was that just now?"
Lin Qingfeng was already cursing Yan Buliu a thousand times in his head:
'Couldn't you have stolen them earlier or later? Did you have to do it right when I was passing by with Junior Sister? Are you fucking doing this on purpose?!'
He could only brace himself and try to save face, clearing his throat. "Ahem, the Dao follows its own nature. There's no need to look too deeply into it. This is a case of 'a divine dragon showing its head but not its tail'—the mark of a true expert, understand?"
Before his voice had even faded, the berserk Mr. Qian, having lost his target, instantly locked his blood-red gaze onto him and Su Ling'er!
'Holy shit!'
'Damn you, Yan Buliu, you even triggered an auto-targeting attack bug!'
"Punished-punished-punished-punished-punished!"
Mr. Qian roared and charged over, looking for all the world like he was about to clean house!
"Senior Brother, what should we...?!"
Su Ling'er had just started to ask her Senior Brother what to do when she turned her head and found the spot beside her completely empty.
Su Ling'er: ???
"Senior Brother, where are you?!"
She focused her eyes and saw a figure sprinting in the distance. Who else could it be but her Senior Brother, Lin Qingfeng?!
'No way!'
'Senior Brother, how can you run faster than a rabbit?! Where's your integrity?!'
'Wait for me!!!'
Lin Qingfeng glanced back and was shocked as well. 'No, are you really a moron? He's coming for us, why aren't you running?!'
"Junior Sister, what are you spacing out for? Waiting to die?! I just took my sword to the Artifact Refining Pavilion to have it reforged. I can't get it back until tomorrow, so I can't fly you out of here today!"
Su Ling'er was so exasperated she nearly couldn't catch her breath. "You could have at least said something when you started running!"
"You should've been quicker on the uptake and run with me!"
Before he finished speaking, Lin Qingfeng's figure flickered, and in an instant, he was back in front of Su Ling'er, grabbing her by the wrist.
"Junior Sister, run!"
Su Ling'er: Hmmm...
'When trouble starts, he runs off by himself first. He only remembers to glance back at me after he's already far away?!'
'If he hadn't looked back, would he have even remembered to save me? It really is every man for himself when disaster strikes...'
However, Qian Buyu's figure flickered in and out of existence, closing in on them in a way that defied all logic.
No matter how fast they ran, whenever they looked back, they could see those crimson eyes staring sinisterly at them from not far behind, relentlessly charging closer.
Su Ling'er trembled with fear as she watched the approaching Mr. Qian.
'Is this what a demonic sect is like?'
'An elder will strike to kill a disciple over a mere disagreement!'
'For just having his socks stolen, he killed that disciple on the spot! And that wasn't enough—he also has to silence the two of us who witnessed it!'
As Lin Qingfeng sprinted for his life, he quickly called for backup in the sect channel.
[Sect Channel]
[Lin Qingfeng]: Emergency bounty! The teaching elder is bugged, attacking indiscriminately! Need a scapegoat! One hundred Spirit Stones! Come quick!
[Player A]: Holy shit, is this Yan Buliu's handiwork again?
[Player B]: I'm turning in a quest at the quest elder's place right now! So you're saying I won't be able to go to the teaching elder for a Cultivation Technique lottery in a bit, right?
[Player C]: Fuck, him again!
[Player D]: Him again!
[Ji]: Guild Leader, don't worry, I'm on my way! Send me the coordinates! For one hundred Spirit Stones, you are my heaven; my life is yours!
Lin Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that "Ji," a player who specialized in suicidal sacrifice builds, had accepted the job.
He continued to lead Su Ling'er in circles while sending the coordinates to "Ji."
A moment later, a disciple dressed in a full set of basic gear charged over with a death-defying look, heading straight for Mr. Qian. "Damn it! For the Spirit Stones!"
"Punished!"
The word had barely left his mouth when Mr. Qian struck with his palm.
The disciple's body instantly exploded, his bones shattering as flesh and blood flew everywhere!
A piece of his spine even shot out, and a severed leg was left dangling high on a distant treetop. The scene was too gruesome to watch!
After killing one person, the red glow in Mr. Qian's eyes seemed to fade, and he stopped his pursuit.
He just stood there, his body still twitching, muttering "Punished... punished... punished..." under his breath. Then he started banging his head against a large nearby tree, making dull THUD, THUD sounds.
Lin Qingfeng and Su Ling'er both stopped in their tracks, their hearts reeling as they watched the bizarre scene.
'What had she just seen?'
'A disciple was just passing by, and that elder, without a second word, pulverized him with a single palm strike!'
'Didn't that person just walk past? Why did the elder have to kill him, too?'
'This takes 'collateral damage' to a whole new level, doesn't it?'
'And why did he start banging his head against a tree and chanting "punished" after the kill? Was it because the insolent disciple's final counterattack had left him mentally unstable?'
'If that's true... then if a disciple's sneak attack could succeed, maybe this elder isn't as strong as he seems?'
'But while killing the two of us could be understood as silencing witnesses to prevent the sock-stealing incident from getting out, how could she explain him killing a disciple who just appeared out of nowhere?'
'Just what in the world is going on with this demonic sect?!'
...
「The Real World」
[News Archive]
The massively immersive game Ashen Heaven, based on the "Shensī" engine, officially launched its open beta. Concurrent online players broke the 100 million mark for the first time, setting a new record for any entertainment product in human history.
It is said that the "Shensī" engine used by Ashen Heaven has a core logic based on a derivative algorithm developed from the world-class AI, "Ava."
Time Magazine made an exception and featured a character from the game (Qian Buyu) as its Person of the Year, commenting: "A new era, built upon the virtual clouds, has arrived."