Chapter 66: Discovery

Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, Training Ground.

A Leaf Adrift walked out of the rest area, looking rather exhausted, and stretched lazily.

"That nearly cost me my old life."

The thought of his older sister, Ye Qinglu, constantly pestering him with questions about the Crashing Stone Fist and the Leopard Shadow Steps gave A Leaf Adrift a headache.

He hadn't thought much of it when he was learning the Crashing Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps himself, but teaching someone else was absolute torture.

This suddenly made A Leaf Adrift understand why his parents used to gnash their teeth in exasperation and look like they wanted to smash his head in when they helped him with his schoolwork as a child.

Of course, it wasn't that Ye Qinglu wasn't smart; on the contrary, she was too smart. When he taught her, she would grasp things by drawing inferences from other instances, directly questioning the core points of the two martial arts techniques, and even making him notice quite a few flaws of his own.

After teaching Ye Qinglu for the better part of the day, he had experienced a sudden, profound awakening, feeling as though he had lived his entire life in vain until now.

Just as A Leaf Adrift was planning to head to the labyrinth tunnels to mine and relax a bit, he noticed quite a few players in the training ground looking over at him with sympathetic expressions. Twilight of the Gods, in particular, glanced at A Leaf Adrift and couldn't help letting out a sigh.

"What's with those expressions? I just disconnected for a little bit—did something go wrong when I logged back in?" A Leaf Adrift asked, seeing the looks on everyone's faces, a hint of worry surfacing.

Ye Qinglu had suddenly cut the internet connection. Normally, in other virtual games, that was equivalent to logging off directly and wouldn't cause any problems.

However, the High Martial World was different from other virtual games. Even if a player went offline, their physical body in the high martial world merely remained asleep, and nobody knew whether a sudden disconnection would cause complications.

If he got banned because of some bug, that would truly be a joke.

"It's nothing. Everyone just feels like this latest update to the martial arts hall is essentially an epic-tier nerf for you," Twilight of the Gods explained, looking at the nervous A Leaf Adrift.

"An epic-tier nerf?" A Leaf Adrift asked with a blank expression. "What do you mean?"

"Go take a look for yourself." Twilight of the Gods pointed toward the notification board.

A Leaf Adrift hurried over to check.

"What the hell! What is this situation? I was only offline for half a day, and the game nerfed me?" A Leaf Adrift stood dumbfounded as he looked at the newly released martial arts techniques in the martial arts hall.

Prairie-Fire Spear Technique (Volume One): A mid-tier martial artist-level spear technique divided into three tiers across two volumes. Through a specialized breathing technique and the mobilization of internal Qi and blood, it allows the spear technique to resemble a prairie fire, scorching everything in its path. Mastering the first tier, the Spark Realm, triples the speed and power of the spear technique and unlocks the first form, Spark. (Requires 3,000 points and 200 contribution to redeem. Volume Two requires Elite Disciple status to view and redeem. Note: Combining the Prairie-Fire Spear Technique with the Prairie-Fire Footwork yields even greater effects.)

Prairie-Fire Footwork (Volume One): A mid-tier martial artist-level footwork divided into three tiers across two volumes. Through a specialized breathing technique and the mobilization of internal Qi and blood, it creates multiple afterimages, making the user's movements unpredictable. Mastering the first tier, the Triple Body, increases speed by forty percent and generates up to three afterimages. (Requires Inner Disciple status, 50,000 points, and 1,000 contribution to redeem. Volume Two requires Elite Disciple status to view and redeem. Note: Combining the Prairie-Fire Spear Technique with the Prairie-Fire Footwork yields even greater effects.)

Although the martial arts hall update didn't include many items, for A Leaf Adrift, who used a spear, it instantly knocked him from the first tier down to the third tier.

The current Spiral Demonic Spear Kill only possessed a 2.5-fold power outburst, but the Prairie-Fire Spear Technique, once mastered, granted a three-fold power outburst. Furthermore, it could be paired with the specialized Prairie-Fire Footwork to unleash even greater combat prowess.

There was simply no comparison.

"Wait, I can learn this spear technique too! And as for this footwork, as long as I gather enough points, I can redeem it right now. With both combined, I'll still be in the first tier." A Leaf Adrift suddenly remembered his status as an Inner Disciple, realizing he might not have been nerfed as severely as he thought.

Since he naturally excelled at spear techniques, having higher-tier spear skills to learn was beneficial to him anyway. Not to mention, his integration of the Spiral Demonic Spear Kill wasn't entirely perfect; perhaps he could achieve further improvements through the Prairie-Fire Spear Technique.

On the contrary, Luo Wushang and Zhang Qingwei had it much worse.

Previously, since nobody else had weapon-based martial arts techniques, Luo Wushang and Zhang Qingwei could be said to have been miles ahead of everyone else. But now, as long as anyone had sufficient points and contribution, everyone could use even more powerful martial arts techniques, instantly erasing the advantages Luo Wushang and Zhang Qingwei held.

In effect, this martial arts hall update pulled the first tier right back down to everyone else's level.

For the majority of players, this was also a golden opportunity to catch up. Obtaining the Prairie-Fire Spear Technique meant they could close the gap with the experts of the first tier.

For a time, the players stuck in the third tier began frantically repairing the interior of the martial arts hall, abandoning any thoughts of sleeping. If they didn't hurry up and catch up now, the gap would only widen further once the first-tier players created even more formidable martial arts techniques.

The next day at noon.

Lin Qi drove a medium-sized transport vehicle to the Phosphorus Fire Trading Market. Along the way, he had stopped at the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop, spending 160,000 Bits to acquire two B2-grade standard swords and giving Luo Qi over four kg of ancient bronze ore to forge eight B2-grade standard spears.

Inside the Phosphorus Fire Trading Market.

"Miss, the person who sold us the Crocodile-Toothed Rhinoceros meat is here again."

A Half-Scale guard carrying a battle saber hurried into a sealed chamber forged entirely from energy ore. Xia Ling sat cross-legged in the center; with each inhalation and exhalation, it was as if a giant whale were swallowing water, instantly sucking all the air out of the chamber before expelling it all at once.

Anyone sensitive to energy would have noticed that an energy vortex had formed around Xia Ling as her center, with the surrounding energy madly pouring into her body to stimulate her muscular cells.

"They're here again? Let the other traders deal with them." Xia Ling opened her eyes, clearly having lost interest in this transaction.

Through their previous dealings, Xia Ling was well aware that Lin Qi and his group were merely a lucky minor wild-territory gang. The last transaction should have exhausted all the monster meat Lin Qi and his group could possibly scrape together.

Since they no longer had monster meat, Lin Qi and his group naturally lost their value.

"Miss, the young fellow leading the team said they brought something you like this time and want to make a big deal with our Phosphorus Fire," the Half-Scale guard reported truthfully.

"Something I like?" Xia Ling couldn't help smiling, then asked, "Did you see what it was?"

"There was no way to tell." The Half-Scale guard shook his head. "They drove a medium-sized transport vehicle over this time."

"A medium-sized transport vehicle? They certainly seem to have come into some money after a few days." Xia Ling stood up directly, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Very well, since they've come specifically to trade with me, let me see what else they managed to dig up."

Inside the Phosphorus Fire Trading Market.

Although it was broad daylight and the entire market was far less bustling than at night, there were still plenty of gangs and rovers coming to trade, either carrying large metal crates or driving large tricycles.

For Lin Qi to arrive driving a medium-sized transport vehicle made him absolute the most eye-catching presence in the entire place.

"So wealthy! What kind of gang is this anyway?"

"The few of them are all dressed in gray clothing. I've heard of them in the wilderness recently; they seem to be called the Gray-Clothed Gang, traveling to the Grizzly Bear Mines every day to transport ore for the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop."

"No way, a gang actually bothers with the meager pickings of ore transport?"

"Who knows? But the Gray-Clothed Gang members seen in the wilderness always drove large tricycles, and now they've even upgraded to a medium-sized transport vehicle. They must be making a tidy profit."

The various rovers in the market looked at the five players wearing dark gray long-sleeved T-shirts standing beside the transport vehicle, whispering among themselves. Some members of small wilderness gangs even cast envious glances at the players.

For many small gangs in the wilderness, being able to use a large tricycle was already a blessing; a medium-sized transport vehicle capable of withstanding attacks from martial apprentices was simply the dream of a lifetime.

Among the group of passing rovers, however, a one-armed Feather-race youth was curiously eyeing the medium-sized transport vehicle. After observing for a moment, his expression suddenly shifted, giving way to wild elation.

Disregarding the items he had prepared to trade, the one-armed youth turned and immediately left the Phosphorus Fire Trading Market.

"Captain Mans, I've found that medium-sized transport vehicle our base lost previously," the one-armed youth murmured tremblingly into his smart wristband.

A reward of one million Bits!

This was enough to completely alter his life. Not only would he gain a promotion within the gang, but he could also spend his latter half of life living comfortably in the suburbs with a few Feather-race beauties, leaving behind the need to risk his life adventuring in the wilderness.

"Are you certain?" the man on the other end confirmed once more.

"I am entirely certain," the one-armed Feather-race youth explained. "Last year, when I was accompanying a convoy delivering goods, a Limit Martial Apprentice from another gang ambushed our cargo compartment halfway through. The martial apprentice used a spear technique that pierced three holes right in the middle of the compartment—that's how I lost my arm back then, so I remember it clearly."

"Although wilderness transport vehicles accumulate plenty of battle scars, it's virtually impossible for there to be a second one with such an exact match."

"Alright, you've done well. Keep an eye on those people, I'm going to contact the gang leader right now!" The man on the other end sounded thoroughly satisfied.