Chapter 40: Mount Duoshu Trial Grounds
The live ranking screen in the clearing showed only the top one hundred fighters at any given moment.
Lin Huai scrolled through the names. Aside from Master Cloud Cliff, none of the legendary players she remembered from her past life had appeared on the board yet. Even Old Demon of Xiangxi, who had claimed the server’s top combat ranking in the monthly announcement, was nowhere to be seen.
The players currently dominating the leaderboard were complete strangers to her.
In her past life, right up until the moment of her death, Master Cloud Cliff had stayed firmly in first place, Old Demon of Xiangxi had held second, and third belonged to a powerhouse named Dragon Crossing the River.
As for Chen Feng and Su Wan, they had only risen to prominence by riding on the coattails of her green jade coffin. In terms of raw combat power, Chen Feng had never even cracked the server’s top ten back then.
It seemed the truly terrifying players from her past life were just like her—busy settling affairs after the town merger and had not arrived yet.
Rewards in the trial grounds were calculated using arena points, and the scoring system was fairly complex. Playing a high volume of matches and building win streaks both granted substantial bonus points. The player sitting at number one right now had accumulated a towering score simply by grinding out an enormous number of quick fights.
Clearly, entering early and playing constantly had its advantages.
Because this was Lin Huai’s very first time stepping into the arena, she chose not to rush in blindly. Instead, she stood quietly by the edge of the clearing to watch how the other survivors fought.
After all, her situation had changed completely. She was no longer the powerless weakling from her previous life; she was now the undisputed number-one player across the entire server. The moment she entered a match, all eyes would be on her. If she suffered an embarrassing defeat in her very first duel, it would utterly ruin the reputation of “Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice.”
Moreover, if she jumped into the ring too early and burned through a string of fights, she would be completely exhausted by the time the real monsters—Master Cloud Cliff, Old Demon of Xiangxi, and Dragon Crossing the River—finally showed up, leaving her with no strength left to challenge them.
As Lin Huai was watching, a ring directly across from her flashed with bright white light, expelling two players back into the open square.
One of them dropped to his knees, clutching his chest and wheezing violently. His eyes were wide with terror and despair, as if he had just endured an unspeakable nightmare.
The other fighter was a man of about thirty-five dressed in clean Daoist robes. A confident, detached smile touched his lips. He had already tucked his weapons into his inventory and walked casually toward the ranking board behind Lin Huai, his hands clasped behind his back.
Looking up at the leaderboard, the Daoist murmured lazily, “Why haven’t the real experts arrived yet? The regional mergers should be finished by now, shouldn’t they?”
Lin Huai happened to be standing right next to him. She turned her head and met his gaze. “You’re Master Cloud Cliff, aren’t you? I wonder which experts you’re waiting for.”
Hearing her speak, the Daoist turned to look at her. A flicker of genuine curiosity broke across his calm face. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You recognize me?”
He brought a hand to his chin, furrowing his dark brows as he squinted at her. After a brief pause, his tone turned completely certain: “You’re Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice—the server’s number one, aren’t you?”
Lin Huai had no idea how he had deduced her identity so quickly, but she didn’t press the matter.
Standing beside him gave her an uncanny sensation. This was her first time meeting Master Cloud Cliff face-to-face, and the immense aura he radiated was distinct and undeniable. It made sense why he had reigned supreme as the server’s undisputed champion in her previous life.
She steadied her breathing and nodded. “I am. What, do you want to have a match?”
Master Cloud Cliff gave a warm chuckle, pleased that his guess was right. He shook his head lightly. “Not yet. The real heavyweights haven’t shown up. I’d rather rest for a while and let the newer players enjoy themselves first.”
Lin Huai let out a quiet breath of relief. Shrugging with an air of casual indifference, she turned to walk away. “Since Daoist Yun isn’t in the mood to duel, it gives me a chance to look around. I only just arrived and don’t know the rules yet; I’ll watch from the sidelines.”
Master Cloud Cliff called out to stop her. “Why not sit down and watch together? We can wait for the others to arrive.”
He smiled. “I know how this place works. Want me to explain the rules?”
Lin Huai didn’t hesitate. She walked over and sat down beside him on the stone steps beneath the blossoming canopy.
Master Cloud Cliff pointed toward the dueling rings nestled beneath the giant peach tree, his posture completely relaxed. “Inside, it’s strictly one-on-one. You register your profile under the tree and join the matchmaking queue. The system will randomly pair you with an opponent and pull you into an arena. It’s very straightforward.”
“However,” he added, his tone turning a bit conspiratorial, “the server’s top three players enjoy a special perk: you can either enter the random queue or directly challenge a specific player by name.”
He looked at her with a teasing grin, like a friend sharing gossip. “How about it, little fellow Daoist? Is there someone in particular you want to call out?”
Lin Huai had never expected Chen Feng to actually be in the arena, but the moment Master Cloud Cliff mentioned the option, an intense urge flared inside her chest.
She stood up and made her way toward the matchmaking tree. After taking a couple of steps, she paused and looked back over her shoulder. “By the way, Daoist Yun, I have one more question. That player who just fought you looked like he was in pure agony. Why was that?”
Master Cloud Cliff smiled gently, but the words that left his lips were chillingly cold: “Because he just died once.”
Lin Huai nodded slowly. “Thank you, Daoist Yun.”
With that, she walked straight beneath the Great Wilderness Peach Tree to register her profile.
Learning that players could not be permanently killed inside the arena duels left Lin Huai slightly disappointed. Didn’t that mean she couldn’t end Chen Feng’s life here today?
Yet after a second thought, her eyes turned cold. Even if a match couldn’t permanently end his life, the agony and trauma of dying were entirely real. If she couldn’t kill him for good just yet, she could simply kill him over and over again in the ring to collect some interest on her debt!
She brought up the search interface on the system terminal and typed in Chen Feng’s username: [Edge of the Blade].
A system prompt popped up immediately on her screen:
[Target player ‘Edge of the Blade’ is currently online in the arena lobby. Would you like to issue a direct challenge to enter Arena PK?]
Lin Huai’s eyes widened slightly. In this lifetime, without her shelter and self-sacrificing support, had Chen Feng still managed to become the top-ranked player of his zone?
An uneasy feeling tugged at her mind, but since she had found him, she hit confirm without a second of hesitation.
Flash!
Her vision flared with bright white light. A moment later, she materialized inside a combat chamber surrounded on all four sides by glowing blue energy walls.
Standing across from her was a man with chin-length hair, wearing a black combat jacket and sunglasses. Fully geared for battle, he was looking down at his sleeves, adjusting his cuffs, and had not yet noticed who was standing in the arena with him.
Lin Huai’s fists clenched so hard that her fingernails bit deep into her palms, drawing sharp stings she couldn’t even feel. Her jaw locked tight, and her entire frame trembled with raw fury.
She had thought she could face him with cold indifference, but the hatred burning in her chest erupted like a volcano.
I finally found you, Chen Feng!
A synthesized system voice echoed across the chamber:
[Arena 12 is prepared. Combat environment loaded. Match duration: 10 minutes. Combatants may begin.]
The second the system announcement faded, Lin Huai lunged forward, swinging her brand-new war scythe with lethal speed!
Chen Feng wasn’t even fully in position when he saw his opponent charging straight for his throat. He hurriedly drew a pair of twin daggers to parry, cursing loudly in shock: “What the hell?! No greeting, no warning—you just charge in? That’s dirty as hell!”
Lin Huai gritted her teeth, her voice dripping with venom: “A dog like you doesn’t deserve an honorable fight!”
With a snap of her wrist, the jagged scythe blade decoupled from the haft. Dragging a black chain, it whipped through the air in a deadly arc, curving behind Chen Feng to sever his neck from behind.
Chen Feng’s reflexes were astonishingly sharp. Moving like a seasoned wasteland combatant, he ducked the instant the blade grazed his skin, rolling across the floor to slip under the strike. In the same fluid motion, he twisted his twin daggers, tangling the trailing chain around his blades to lock her weapon in place.
He snapped his head up to glare at his attacker. The moment their eyes met, utter shock washed over his face.
“Lin Huai?!”
“It’s me—Chen Feng! Don’t you recognize me?!”
Lin Huai yanked the chain, wrenching her scythe back into her grip, her heart pounding with equal shock.
At this stage in her previous life, Chen Feng had been clumsy and weak—he had never possessed combat skills anywhere near this sharp!
