Shi Yanran had practiced her family's unique hidden weapon techniques since childhood. Her family had a deep and profound background. Ten years ago, she married Gongsun Qian, a man old enough to be her father, firstly for status in the martial world, secondly for wealth and glory, and thirdly… naturally, she also coveted the Wanxia Tower's secret skills that were not passed on to outsiders. Over the past ten years, Shi Yanran not only mastered her family's hidden weapon techniques to perfection but also integrated the Wanxia Tower's superior internal energy methods with her original internal power. Now, although her martial arts cultivation was not yet comparable to the heads of major sects, she was definitely confident of victory against the heads of second- or third-rate sects such as the Hai Sha School or the Qinghai Sword Sect.

Without a doubt, she could be ranked among the top-tier experts.

As for Feng Bujue in the Spirit Consciousness Convergence Technique state, his speed alone was definitely at the level of a first-rate expert. Of course, he relied not on qinggong and internal energy, but on the attribute points the game gave him. Even though his dynamic vision, reaction speed, and agility could keep up with Shi Yanran, there was still a world of difference in fighting skills and experience.

Faced with the incoming attack, a true martial arts master could evade the dart and prepare a counterattack, or even turn the tables. But Feng Bujue could do nothing but dodge. He needed more probing to determine his next tactic.

This was the magic of the martial arts setting... opponents like K3-Crimson Steel were formidable, but their power was all laid out in the open, a combination of strength, speed, energy, traits, skills, and so on.

In the world of Eastern martial arts, the criteria for measuring masters were vague and uncertain. Terms like "first-rate," "near-first-rate," "Xiantian," and "peerless" were all very broad. The rankings on the weapon index were also relative, and no one could say for sure that a higher-ranked person would definitely win against someone lower down.

Skillful moves could allow someone with inferior gongli to defeat a much stronger opponent, and profound internal energy could allow a frail old man to split rocks with his bare hands. Li Xunhuan's flying daggers, Lu Xiaofeng's fingers, Chu Liuxiang's qinggong... no one would bother to calculate "how much strength, how fast," the unique Eastern subtlety and romance was the charm of the martial arts world.

After all, Feng Bujue had never fought against NPCs who used "martial arts" before. He had no way of predicting what Shi Yanran would do next, so he could only proceed cautiously, striving to strike only after the opponent had moved.

His idea wasn't wrong. Shi Yanran's move just now was a two-stage attack. Whether the opponent dodged or blocked, there would be subsequent changes. If Feng Bujue had been even a little rash, it would have been even more dangerous.

A white blur flashed, and Shi Yanran, with darts between her fingers, was already upon him. Don't be fooled by her being a woman using small weapons. Her external martial arts skills were both fierce and ruthless, her strikes faintly accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder.

Three more terrifying darts were shot out, aimed straight at Feng Bujue's throat, specifically targeting the three major acupoints on his chest: Tiantu, Zigong, and Tanzhong.

Shi Yanran's follow-up attack was very unexpected. Judging by the way she threw the darts, it was impossible to guess where she was aiming. If a martial artist with years of experience were here, after dodging the first dart, they would deduce based on experience that Shi Yanran's follow-up would be aimed at the lower abdomen or the limbs. If you thought that way… you'd be fooled. As long as you moved even half a step in advance, the subsequent three darts would be almost impossible to avoid.

But Feng Bujue… didn't have so many thoughts.

If the contest between martial arts masters was likened to playing chess, then at this moment, Shi Yanran's half of the board was filled with chess pieces, while Feng Bujue's side was filled with pieces from Animal Chess.

You move your cannon, I release an animal to bite you. You move your chariot, I still release an animal to bite you. You jump your knight, that's just sending live food to my door...

It's your business how many steps you can calculate. I don't even have the concept of a chess manual.

Therefore, Feng Bujue once again made an unpredictable move. His expression was focused, but he didn't make any advance movements. Only when the darts completely left Shi Yanran's hand did he begin to react, dodging again. Although it looked like he was in constant danger, he still wasn't hurt.

Shi Yanran was increasingly shocked by Feng Bujue's strength. She had never seen anyone who could respond like this on their first encounter. Everyone she had faced in the martial world would have moved in advance when facing this follow-up attack. It was just that some people had high-level kung fu and could remedy the situation even if they realized they had been tricked. Feng Bujue's response was more like what someone who didn't know martial arts would do, but he just happened to have the speed to avoid the attack at the last moment…

Doubt breeds hesitation. Although Shi Yanran's offensive didn't stop, her decisiveness had vanished. She was thinking, *If this kid can last twenty moves under my hand, the outcome will be hard to say… His companions all seem like mediocre characters, but if they're all like this kid…*

Of course, thinking was one thing, fighting was another. After throwing the darts, Shi Yanran's figure had already closed in on Feng Bujue. Taking advantage of her opponent's unstable footing, she activated her internal energy and thrust out a palm.

This move, "Gentle Wind Permeating the Sunset," looked no different from ordinary palm techniques, but it contained hidden secrets. A viscous internal energy was attached to her palm. As long as the opponent used internal force to meet her palm, Shi Yanran's hidden power could seep into their body, directly attacking their dantian. By then, it would be impossible for the opponent to gather strength to counterattack or withdraw. If the recipient's internal energy was weak, their palm would be stuck, and their dantian would instantly feel as hot as boiling water. At best, they would lose their martial arts skills, and at worst, they would die on the spot.

Shi Yanran used this move because she couldn't see any signs of internal energy on Feng Bujue. She wanted to test the waters. If the kid's actions up to now had been just luck, then this palm would definitely kill him. But if this kid had used a unique technique to hide his internal energy, this palm could roughly determine his gongli.

But what happened was… in an instant, golden phantoms burst forth. Shi Yanran's palm actually struck a barrier as big as a door panel. This defensive method was undoubtedly the effect of [Death Poker] – the shield "牌" (pinyin: pái).

It turned out that when Shi Yanran approached, Feng Bujue had sensed that the situation was bad. He thought… *I can dodge or block ranged attacks, but the real close-quarters moves of these martial arts masters are no joke. Ye Hai, that old ghost, caught one of my skills with his bare hands, and I lost 30% of my health. Now that this woman is attacking me, how can I use my body to resist?*

Therefore, Feng Bujue instantly summoned his spiritual weapon and used the effect without hesitation.

These few exchanges between Feng Bujue and Shi Yanran were as fast as lightning, taking only about ten seconds in total. By this time, his teammates had also arrived to help.

The first to arrive was not Xiao Tan, who excelled at speed, nor Si Yu, who was the most skilled among them, but Atobe. As soon as he saw a combat scenario, he immediately got excited. After all, he was the highest-level player on the team and a "professional gamer." He couldn't keep getting roasted by Feng Bujue. He had to show off his skills and let his teammates see his strength.

Atobe immediately used his signature skill from the title "High-Profile Raid" - Flash Impact.

[Name: Flash Impact]

[Special Ability Type: Active]

[Consumption: Stamina Value 300]

[Effect: Transform into a stream of light and raid the target at high speed, launching a powerful slash. After the skill ends, you will appear two meters behind the target, facing away from the target (Cooling time is five minutes. Must be equipped with a bladed weapon. Can be activated within two to twenty meters of the target, but cannot pass through obvious obstacles.)]

[Note: If you encounter an enemy much weaker than you and want to kill them in a very cool and efficient way, this is the skill you need.]

By the way, Atobe's weapon was a giant folding fan about sixty-five centimeters long, with iron bones and steel ribs, and the fan edge was extremely sharp when unfolded. In the martial world of this script, there probably weren't many people who could wield this weapon well.

This weapon, combined with Atobe's title skill, was like adding wings to a tiger. Normally, he couldn't move very fast when fighting with this thing, but under the skill's raid charge effect, he could hold anything he could lift in his hand and approach and slash at the target at high speed.

Shi Yanran was confused by Feng Bujue's unbelievable defensive moves. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a flash of light beside her, and a humanoid figure was rushing over like a gust of wind. She was shocked and hurriedly chose to jump back to evade.

Unexpectedly, her instinctive reaction was precisely the high-level trick to deal with raid-type skills. The weakness of Flash Impact was that as long as the target jumped high in the two seconds before the approach, the attack would most likely miss.

Sure enough, when Atobe arrived at Shi Yanran's original position, the skill effect disappeared. He didn't hit anything and stopped. At the same time, he heard the sound of wind behind him, and two darts were already upon him.

Shi Yanran's combat rhythm was messed up by these players. She didn't quite understand how to fight this fight. With the mentality of doing whatever came to mind, she twisted and turned in mid-air and casually threw two darts at the back of Atobe's head, targeting the Lingtai acupoint. It wouldn't hurt to try; it wouldn't get anyone pregnant.

Unexpectedly… with two *kacha* sounds, they actually hit…

Since Atobe was between Feng Bujue and Shi Yanran after rushing over, the former couldn't help him block in time.

But fortunately, Atobe, as a "professional gamer," had decent armor. The two *kacha* sounds weren't the sound of darts piercing his spine, but just the sound of hitting his armor…

The two darts fell to the ground, and Atobe staggered a few steps, almost falling. Although the hidden weapons failed to penetrate the armor, he wasn't wearing echo armor that created a sonic barrier for defense, so the impact of the darts was still transmitted to his body, causing a 16% loss of survival points.

After landing, Shi Yanran was even more puzzled. In her eyes, the players were all dressed as young ancient martial artists in regular cloth clothes, and they didn't look like they were wearing armor inside. But the sound just now, and the darts that were bounced off, all sounded like they hit something hard…

"The highest realm of the Golden Bell Shield… Qi protecting the body?" Shi Yanran thought. "How is that possible… This kid looks so weak, how strong can his external skills be? Even if he really practiced the Golden Bell Shield, he would have to grip the ground with his toes and stand firm to gather his qi to withstand my attack, but he didn't even assume the horse stance. How could my iron darts not pierce his body?"

Thinking of this, Shi Yanran already had the intention to retreat. If these five people were from the same sect, then no matter what kind of unorthodox martial arts they used, her best hidden weapons would probably be useless. If she switched to close combat, how could she win against five opponents?

The problem was… things had come to this. Even if she admitted defeat and begged for mercy, the other party might not let her go. She could only blame herself for being too careless at the beginning and saying too much. Now, killing them to silence them was impossible… Fighting would probably mean dying here directly. Escaping would mean that the murder of Wang Ao would be exposed before dawn, and she would die sooner or later anyway, and would also be known as a promiscuous woman.

The more Shi Yanran thought about it, the more desperate she became. Her face was ashen, and a surge of anger rose in her heart. She bit her lip lightly and was already contemplating a desperate fight.

At this moment, a figure just happened to come charging over, none other than Wang Tanzhi, wielding an assassin's dagger.

In fact, Xiao Tan didn't think much. He just decided to charge at the enemy, and then attack when he got close enough. Unexpectedly, Shi Yanran was so anxious that she didn't care about anything else. Facing the closest enemy, she gathered all her internal energy and threw a punch.

As the fist moved towards Xiao Tan, there was a slight crackling sound in the air, even before contact. This punch might not have been as skillful as the moves Shi Yanran had used before, but in terms of pure power, it was enough to send a player directly back to the login space.

Xiao Tan was having a bit of bad luck this time, but he still had the strength.

At the critical moment, in the blink of an eye, a suffocating calm flashed in his eyes. [Demon Bat Phantom Shadow] was activated immediately. Xiao Tan's figure instantly split into two, and two illusory shadows rushed away from Shi Yanran's sides.

Shi Yanran's full-powered punch missed, and the force of the punch shook up dust and sand within a three-meter radius in front of her. She stared blankly, slowly turning her head to look at Xiao Tan, who had appeared several meters behind her, and exclaimed in her heart: "What was that this time… could it be the lost 'Heavenly Net Formation'?"

Just as she was horrified, Si Yu's Feng Sheng had quietly arrived and was slashing at Shi Yanran's neck.

"Stop!" This shout, like a thunderclap in the middle of the night, resounded from a dark alley.

At the same time, the blade that Si Yu swung was hit by a small stone, which didn't cause her to lose any survival points, but it shook her arm until it felt numb and her movement stagnated.

Shi Yanran came back to her senses and hurriedly jumped back. A light of hope seemed to ignite in her eyes again. Although she didn't know who was helping her in the dark, the situation had undoubtedly taken a new turn.