Chapter 1 Gu Fei's Debut

Gu Fei's appearance was spectacular! This feeling of being the center of attention and anticipated by everyone made the extremely skilled players seethe with envy. Actually, it wasn't just them; even the players from the Eagle Regiment wished they could possess such unrestrained style. However, this wasn't the time for them to be envious. Gu Fei's shout of "I'm here!" and the descent of fire and sword sent their hearts sinking into their boots.

Chen Qiyi, however, wasn't flustered. Having anticipated this, he saw the attack clearly. After only a slight hesitation, his dagger rose to meet the sword.

To onlookers, Gu Fei's sword descending from above would give him the advantage, forcing the opponent to yield. But in Gu Fei's professional eyes, the opponent's dagger already anticipated all possible variations of his attack. No matter what, the dagger would block his sword.

So, Gu Fei used a move impossible in martial arts: Instantaneous Movement.

The moment the figure vanished, the eternally impatient one cried out, even before seeing where Gu Fei had moved, "Careful!"

But Chen Qiyi's reaction was even faster than the warning. Without turning his head, he stabbed behind him with a backhand strike.

With a "clang," his surprise attack was blocked by Gu Fei, who had flashed behind him. Gu Fei angled the Dark Night Flowing Light Sword to deflect the incoming dagger, quickly retreating several steps.

"Oh, he really is a master!" Gu Fei exclaimed, delighted. Chen Qiyi didn't reply, suddenly flicking his left hand, sending something flying. Gu Fei blocked it with his sword, sending the object aside. Everyone looked and saw a strangely shaped object lying on the ground.

Yu Tian Shen Ming trotted over and picked it up, examining it with a bewildered expression. It was just a broken piece of iron, nothing special.

In that brief moment, Gu Fei and Chen Qiyi were already locked in combat. Gu Fei's arrival instantly changed the situation. Hadn't Yu Tian Shen Ming had the time to run off and pick up trash? The Eternally-types were crying out in dismay. They were being attacked from both sides by the Very Heaven defying experts and the ordinary player groups. Their healers were struggling to keep up. But their healers were nowhere near Han Jia Gongzi's level. Their team was already in dire straits.

The Eternally-types were hoping Chen Qiyi was the number one expert in the universe, able to instantly wipe out Qian Li Zui. But looking over, the two were fighting fiercely! Their positions constantly shifting, weapons always waving, and even their free hands were never idle, sometimes using their legs to assist in the attack.

This was a spectacular scene rarely seen in player-versus-player combat. Everyone knew it was a battle between masters, but they couldn't see any pattern, only feeling dizzy. Though they still used fists and kicks, their weapons were their main offensive tools. This was a game, after all. Unless using special skills, they had to rely on weapons for damage. The sword and dagger, one long and one short, one dark and one bright, danced with brilliance. Those who tried to observe closely soon had tears in their eyes.

Too fast! It was simply too fast. The players present were all experts, with a deep understanding of the game! But these two's movements made them feel like it was beyond the attributes a character could possess. Only Jian Gui, who had received some guidance from Gu Fei, could understand a little: this was rhythm.

Because both were masters, both professional, the changes in rhythm were even faster. Many attacks were only half-executed, or even a third. Seeing the opponent's response, they would immediately change their move. Such economical attacks made it seem incredibly fast.

Jian Gui explained to everyone why it looked so unbelievably fast, using his understanding. Finally, someone asked, "Who has the advantage now?"

Jian Gui was embarrassed because he couldn't see it at all. He could only occasionally catch a detail and then realize that the principle behind it seemed to be something Gu Fei had told him. By the time he had studied it carefully, they had already exchanged countless blows.

"I don't think they've hit each other yet," Zhan Wushang concluded after watching for a long time.

"If this continues, will our side be finished first?" Jian Nan You asked, casually pulling an arrow from his shoulder. The advantage Very Heaven was gaining was evident. Two members of the Eagle Regiment had already fallen.

You Ge finally returned to the game at this moment. Everyone was confused. Why was the one called later arriving faster than the one called first?

As soon as You Ge logged in, he sent a message in the channel, "What's the situation?"

"Fighting!"

"Who's fighting?"

"Besides you, everyone!"

"Qian Li and that Chen Qiyi?"

"Fighting like flowers blooming."

You Ge was puzzled. Weren't they saying they couldn't fight? He didn't say much and hurried back.

"Are you guys okay over there? Do you need my help?" Just then, Gu Fei suddenly shouted.

Hearing this, everyone lost all their worries. They couldn't see the intricacies of the battle, only that Chen Qiyi, as a thief, was faster than Gu Fei, so they were worried about him. But now he was even offering to help, so did that mean he had the upper hand?

Very Heaven had more than just the upper hand. Without Chen Qiyi's help, the Eagle Regiment led by Eternally-types were simply being surrounded and bullied.

"Take care of yourself!" The experts shouted at Gu Fei.

Gu Fei smiled, turning back to face his opponent, "If you don't show your real skills, I'm not holding back anymore! What are you messing around with? Do you even know how to use a short knife?"

Everyone erupted at this. In their eyes, Chen Qiyi's dagger was so sharp, but it was just messing around? Everyone was confused, unsure if Gu Fei was just bluffing to scare his opponent, playing psychological warfare. But based on their understanding of Gu Fei, he didn't seem to like playing psychological tactics in fights. He usually just beat them until they were down.

The Very Heaven players, with time to spare, looked at Chen Qiyi, who was being criticized as "messing around." Because he was masked, they couldn't see his expression after being criticized, but they suddenly noticed that his attack movements had slowed down.

That's right, they were slower. Compared to his previous storm-like attacks, his movements were now slow enough to make people laugh. The Very Heaven people stared at the sudden change. Someone suddenly shouted, "Is that Tai Chi?"

After this shout, a bunch of people nodded in agreement. Tai Chi was so common that these online game nerds had recognized it. But Gu Fei's expression was now much more serious than before. He was clearly concentrating, saying, "No wonder, so you're practicing Tai Chi. I was wondering why you were so disorganized. If you're practicing internal Yin Fist, then practice it properly. Why are you playing with external Yang Fist? It's not for you."

The more observant comrades noticed the mask on Chen Qiyi's face twitch a few times. He was probably on the verge of a mental breakdown from Gu Fei's words, but he still didn't say anything. He swept his hand and adopted a stance against Gu Fei. But Gu Fei strode towards the Very Heaven people, loudly calling out, "How are you guys doing? Still alive?"

"Hey hey!!" Everyone was shocked. The enemy was still right in front of him, and this guy was acting crazy, walking towards them so casually. Could it be that the guy had already been killed in a second, but the white light was delayed?

"Already dead?"

"Not yet, right?"

"Did he even attack?"

"Didn't see it!"

"Too fast!"

"Yeah!"

"Then why is he still standing? Why isn't he dead yet?"

"Hey, he's still moving, look! He blinked!!"

"Hey hey, he's not dead yet, what are you doing!!" Everyone shouted at Gu Fei. No matter how disorganized Gu Fei said Chen Qiyi was, they only knew one thing: they definitely couldn't deal with Chen Qiyi, even with a whole team, even if he was using his disorganized messing around.

"Hehe, Tai Chi emphasizes using stillness to control movement, following the opponent's lead. So it focuses on listening to jin (劲, internal force), judging the opponent's attack before reacting. You see, he's listening to jin now, but if I don't move, he's just dumbfounded," Gu Fei said.

"That's exaggerated!" No one believed him. Although what Gu Fei said sounded like the principles of Tai Chi, if the style was really that rigid, and you couldn't attack unless the enemy moved, who would believe it?

Sure enough, Chen Qiyi saw that the enemy wasn't moving, so he had to move himself. He raised his dagger and slapped it towards Gu Fei. Gu Fei didn't hesitate, turning and meeting it with his sword. Chen Qiyi saw that it was exactly what he wanted. The dagger deflected the sword, and as he was about to strike, a cluster of flames suddenly burst from the sword. Chen Qiyi wasn't stabbed by the sword, but he was burned by the fire. Shocked, he retreated, watching Gu Fei smiling at him.

"You can't do it," Gu Fei said. "It would be one thing if you practiced something else, but you just had to practice Tai Chi." Gu Fei shook his head as he spoke.

The Very Heaven people were anxious and ran over to ask, "What can't he do? What can't he do?" They weren't worried about the Eagle Regiment anymore. Half of them had already fallen. They were now full of curiosity about the duel between Gu Fei and this master.

"Tai Chi's martial applications emphasize 'leading, neutralizing, combining, and issuing.' Like just now, I didn't move, he initiated. This is called 'leading hand,' using a move to lure me to attack, then using listening jin to judge the size and direction of my force, following its momentum, changing its path, neutralizing and borrowing force, and then counterattacking. His skill is quite good, but unfortunately, he met me. It's useless."

"Why?" Everyone asked.

"Because I don't need to exert force to injure my enemies. What I use is—" Gu Fei said, a ball of flame dancing on his fingertip.

"Magic," Gu Fei said.

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Chasing time... one morning, I returned to pre-liberation days, I'm in tears!