Chapter 2: Soulless Mountain Bandits, little monsters?

One inch longer, one inch stronger; this kind of game that's virtually identical to reality definitely needs ranged weapons—spears and crossbows. So I chose the Tang Sword!

Skipping the few available ranged cold weapons, Chen Shicheng resolutely chose his beloved Tang Sword for life, determined to embody the word 'marshal' throughout his life.

As the weapon selection was completed, a chillingly sharp Tang Sword appeared in the storage slot, and the skill changed to 'Basic Sword Technique'.

【Tang Sword】

【Quality: Common】

【Description: This is an ordinary Tang Sword forged from refined steel, with no additional attributes; it can only increase damage slightly with its own sharp blade.】

【Basic Sword Technique (Entry)】

【Passive Effect: Damage increased by 10%, attack accuracy increased by 10%, stamina consumption reduced by 5%.】

【Description: A fundamental technique for cultivators to get started, it is the prerequisite skill for all sword arts; after use, one can grasp some simple sword techniques for combat.】

(Note: Skills can only be upgraded through personal training or purchasing skill true explanations; this game does not provide experience points or skill points, so players must train themselves.) "Well, I've picked up a treasure!"

Chen Shicheng seriously finished reading the skill description, then grabbed the pendant at his neck and kissed it fiercely.

After all, according to his common sense, using a skill once grants a point of experience, and with enough uses it will eventually reach max level.

At first he was somewhat dissatisfied with the pendant's ability, but now he no longer feels that way; being able to upgrade skills with Merit Points, he can save a lot of time for monster hunting.

This put him, already ahead of most players entering the game, in the position of standing at the wind's mouth with a glider on his back—it's not that he can fly as high as he wishes; he lifted the pendant before his eyes and couldn't help checking his attributes again.

【Stealing Heaven Pendant (Unique)】

【Quality: Primordial Relic】

【Description: After performing good deeds, one may choose whether to claim the corresponding Merit Points; Merit Points can increase skill proficiency, usable only three times per day—choose wisely.】

【Merit Points: 57】

【Remaining uses today: 3/3】

Huh?

Compared to the web description, the pendant's description in the game is more detailed, adding quality, remaining Merit Points, and usage count.

However, he had just entered the game and hadn't used this equipment yet; where did those 57 Merit Points come from? Chen Shicheng guessed they were accumulated from good deeds over his 25 years of life, and as an extraordinary game, being able to ascertain his whole life shouldn't be too difficult.

After figuring out all his and his equipment's attributes, Chen Shicheng eagerly opened the storage slot and selected 'Basic Sword Technique' for use with his thoughts.

As the skill turned into a white light in the storage slot, some memories of practicing sword techniques spontaneously surfaced in his mind.

However, the entry-level Basic Sword Technique is just that—an introduction; those unfamiliar memories only gave him a rough grasp of sword fundamentals, nothing more advanced.

Yet this ability to let someone learn an unfamiliar skill out of thin air still left Chen Shicheng feeling utterly amazed.

"If I had this ability earlier, I wouldn't need to study; I could just learn whatever I don't know."

Upon first experiencing this miraculous ability, Chen Shicheng eagerly took out his Tang Sword from the storage slot, ready to practice the Basic Sword Technique, but before he could assume a stance, a girl's urgent voice came from outside the ruined temple.

"Grandpa, grandpa, there's a City God Temple ahead—hurry and go inside to hide!"

As the words fell, the wooden door at the ruined temple's entrance was kicked open, shaking dust loose inside the ruined temple.

"Cough cough cough, whose brat is this, doesn't know to be gentle?"

Chen Shicheng fanned the dust before his eyes and turned his head toward the doorway.

Before the ruined temple door stood a thin little girl, frozen in place, staring at him holding a Tang Sword with a frightened expression, unsure whether to enter.

Behind her stood an old man covered in wounds; through his tattered clothes one could see blood continually seeping from his injuries, staining his patchwork garb red.

Their gazes were nearly identical, both looking at Chen Shicheng with some fear, as if they couldn't believe he was here.

Amazing!

Chen Shicheng looked at the grandfather-granddaughter pair at the doorway, their expressions almost lifelike, and felt utterly shocked—no wonder it's an extraordinary game; the NPCs have such a high degree of realism.

I just don't know how far these NPCs' underlying logic can go; if they could fully simulate real people, this game would really blow up.

"Come in, look at me."

Chen Shicheng was somewhat speechless, not knowing why these two NPCs were acting crazy, seeing him as if they'd seen a flood beast.

He hid his Tang Sword behind his back, just about to reach out and greet the two to come in.

At that moment, the little girl's face instantly turned to extraordinary delight; she bent down, picked up the door bolt nearby, pulled the old man inside, then casually shut the door, saying, "Grandpa, this person isn't one of those ghosts—hurry and come in."

The old man was pulled by her and staggered, almost falling to the ground.

After finally steadying himself, he gave Chen Shicheng an apologetic smile, then began searching with the little girl for heavy objects nearby to block the door.

After quite a struggle, the two finally managed to bar the door securely; they then sat on the steps by the doorway, panting heavily, no longer looking like they had just fled for their lives.

Seeing this relaxed state, Chen Shicheng's eyes twitched. Just moments ago he had been praising the NPCs' intelligence as undeniably human, but less than a minute later he was proven wrong.

Who knows how long this ruined temple has been abandoned; the windows are so rotten they'd break with a poke. In this situation, just blocking the door and feeling safe? Why not run out the back? He pointed to a window less than 1.5 meters off the ground and said, "I don't think you should relax yet—run out the back, those chasing you don't even need to smash anything; they can easily jump in through the window."

"It's fine, don't be afraid; those chasing us aren't human—the Soulless Mountain Bandits can't climb through windows." The little girl waved her hand without looking up, speaking carelessly.

Seeing this, the old man affectionately rubbed the girl's head, rose, and bowed weakly to Chen Shicheng, saying, "Young hero, please excuse us; my granddaughter is young and a bit rude, but she's right—as long as we block the door, the Soulless Mountain Bandits can't get in."

As his words fell, the ruined temple's great door suddenly let out a huge bang, as if something had struck it.

The little girl had been glaring at the old man for rubbing her head, but upon hearing that she immediately looked at Chen Shicheng, as if to show off that she'd been right.

Chen Shicheng pondered their words in his mind, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

The special name 'Soulless Mountain Bandits', plus the talk about their low intelligence—this is practically a wild monster!

Although we can't upgrade skills without techniques right now, killing a few wild monsters to check drop rates isn't out of the question.

Thinking this, Chen Shicheng tightened his grip on the Tang Sword, walked over to the window with interest, intending to look outside through the hole.

"'What are you doing? Don't let the Soulless Mountain Bandits see you; if they don't hear any movement for a while, they'll disperse on their own!' Seeing Chen Shicheng's action, the little girl was startled and urgently warned."

"'It's fine, just a bunch of bandits, no big deal.'"

After saying that, Chen Shicheng asked nonchalantly, "Are these bandits the most ordinary, common, and weakest kind?"

"'Yeah, what's up?'"

"'Then it's fine; I'm about to… uh… get ready to fight.'"

He felt as if he had practiced for several years, the Tang Sword unusually familiar, Chen Shicheng made a gorgeous sword flourish.

"Grandpa." The little girl looked anxiously at the old man, hoping he would say something.

The old man nervously stared at Chen Shicheng's Tang Sword without speaking, merely shaking his head slightly, he pulled the little girl to sit under the window behind the ruined temple, as if ready to flee at any moment.

Chen Shicheng didn't notice their small movements, leaning on the window looking out, "Whoa, these Soulless Mountain Bandits are fierce!"

Outside the ruined temple's door, a full seven sturdy men wielding rusted broadswords and wearing leather armor stood gathered; six of them had "Lv. 1 Soulless Mountain Bandit" displayed above their heads, and one had "Lv. 2 Soulless Mountain Bandit Captain".

Just as the grandfather and granddaughter said, these Soulless Mountain Bandits, though big and burly, with muscles almost able to burst their armor, are indeed not very smart.

Their faces expressionless, eyes vacant, they stood at the ruined temple's gate, unable to see the target, wandering aimlessly in circles; from time to time a Soulless Mountain Bandit would slam headfirst into the door, that loud bang just now must have been like that.

Chen Shicheng compared their builds, still deeply doubtful whether he could take on these monsters.

But then he thought, these Soulless Mountain Bandits are merely level‑1 small fry; their movement speed probably isn't high either—even two frail oldsters could outrun them.

Moreover, with their low intelligence, flying a kite would definitely work! Although he said that, considering the game's strangeness, he didn't choose to go out the main gate; instead he went to the side of the ruined temple and carefully pushed open the window to climb out.

You have to eat rice bite by bite, and take on monsters one by one! First let's check these monsters' composition before deciding whether to launch an all‑out attack.

Standing at the corner, he picked up a small pebble, poked his head out, and threw it at an outer Soulless Mountain Bandit.

"Smack!"

The pebble struck the bandit squarely.

The bandit, his forehead bright red, turned his expressionless face toward the direction the pebble came from and immediately spotted Chen Shicheng peeking out.

Like a fly seeing dung, the bandit brandished his broadsword, abandoned his companion, and sprinted over at high speed.

"Success!"

Chen Shicheng quickly pulled his head back, stepped back a few paces, and assumed a defensive stance according to the Basic Sword Technique.

Three seconds later, the bandit drawn over turned the corner, and without a word raised his broadsword to chop down at his head.

"Clang!"

The moment the blades clashed, Chen Shicheng's face changed instantly.

He never expected a level‑1 monster to be this strong; a tremendous force surged along the blade into his hand, splitting his tiger's mouth and making the bones in his arms seem to crackle with "crack‑crack" sounds.

The Tang Sword in his hand couldn't hold for even a second, it pressed down onto his shoulder, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt directly on the ground.

And that wasn't the end; before he could react, the bandit's thick thigh slammed straight into his abdomen with a front kick.

"Damn, your pure‑stupid eyes actually pulled a sneak attack!"

The tremendous force from his abdomen made Chen Shicheng feel as if a red‑hot iron rod had been shoved into his innards, and it also twisted.

The intense pain made veins bulge on his neck, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his whole body lifted off the ground and flew backward like a torn sack, rolling several times before he barely managed to stop.

He could swear that, aside from his mother pinching his thigh as a child, this was the most painful experience of his life! (End of chapter)