Clang!!!
The staff strike Lin Ye had been certain would land was actually knocked aside head-on by his opponent in an incomparably domineering manner!
The tremendous rebounding force made Lin Ye’s staff momentum show signs of collapsing for the first time.
Zhou Kai let out a low roar, bloodshot veins spreading through his eyes, his entire body seeming to transform into a streak of blood-red lightning.
The battle saber in his hand dragged out a blinding saber radiance as it chopped down with a crushing momentum!
Too fast!
Lin Ye had no time to dodge at all.
He could only hastily raise his staff, trying to block.
But in the next instant, the saber radiance came smashing down with peerless power, and Lin Ye still failed to block it.
Pfft!
His vision went dark, and his consciousness returned to the matchmaking space.
【Battle over!】
【You have been defeated!】
Lin Ye looked at the gray settlement screen and frowned.
His opponent’s final burst… wasn’t normal.
That wasn’t an increase brought about by a breakthrough in cultivation method or martial technique. It was more like some kind of external force.
【The despicable adventurer used an evil potion, temporarily enhancing his own strength!】
【What a pity. You lost, but such is the fate of a BOSS.】
【Friendly reminder: whatever methods adventurers can use, you can use as well.】
At this moment, the system seemed to be mocking him as it told Lin Ye the truth.
Lin Ye was stunned.
Then he felt relieved.
Doping?
Sure enough, humans were more troublesome than beasts. He could scheme against a mutated beast.
But he couldn’t predict what outrageous things a person would do in order to win.
……
The real world.
Zhou Kai abruptly pulled off his CR wristband, gasping heavily for breath, his face carrying an abnormal flush.
He had won.
But there was not the slightest joy of victory on his face. Instead, there was a trace of lingering fear and anger.
He lowered his head and looked at the small porcelain bottle by his hand.
On the bottle were three seal-script characters written with bold, sweeping strokes—Blood-Burning Pill.
Just now, during the brief moment when he had widened the distance between himself and his opponent, he had broken out of the virtual state and swallowed the pill in one gulp.
Peak Martial Dao Battles read a person’s real-life strength completely one-to-one. Even if this sudden increase in strength might later be judged by the system as cheating.
But Lone Wolf had wanted to win this match!
That pressure had been too great—so great that it suffocated him, so great that he had instinctively taken out this trump card his father had spent a large sum to buy for him as a life-saving measure.
To Zhou Kai, and even to the true top students of Dongjiang Experimental High School, a single Blood-Burning Pill might not count as some kind of cheat at all.
Like cultivation methods and martial techniques, it was itself part of one’s combat strength.
It was a reasonable resource for a martial artist, and also a reflection of one’s foundation.
It was just that using it in a virtual battle, and against a rookie he had always looked down on…
Zhou Kai felt somewhat unable to save face.
For the sake of winning a virtual battle, and one that he had considered a stomp against a noob at that.
He had actually used a Blood-Burning Pill.
The whiskey at his side and the elegant string music playing in the room now seemed like the greatest mockery.
Zhou Kai turned off the music and the room’s ambient lights, irritably raked his fingers through his hair, and opened his CR wristband.
He intended to delete the friend.
To completely erase this guy called 【Goblin Grunt】 from his world, and pretend nothing had happened today.
But in the next second, Zhou Kai discovered that although he hadn’t said anything, that Goblin Grunt from earlier had actually sent him a whole barrage of messages.
Zhou Kai opened them, already prepared to receive the other party’s curses.
However, the contents of the messages left him completely stunned.
【Goblin Grunt: I’m really convinced!】
【Goblin Grunt: I still couldn’t do it?!】
【Goblin Grunt: I used Boiling Blood Powder, and I still couldn’t beat you!】
【Goblin Grunt: I’m so pissed!】
Boiling Blood Powder?
Zhou Kai’s pupils dilated slightly, and his brain buzzed.
That was a forbidden drug even lower-grade than the Blood-Burning Pill, with even more violent side effects. It exchanged a brief burst of power at the cost of overdrawing one’s martial dao foundation.
But it was much cheaper.
He… had doped too?
That thought was like a bolt of lightning, instantly splitting apart all the gloom in Zhou Kai’s heart.
So that was it!
No wonder his improvement today had been so huge. So he had used this kind of crooked, heretical method!
All of Zhou Kai’s previous frustration, anger, and guilty conscience vanished like smoke in this instant.
Replacing them was relief after a sudden realization, along with an almost imperceptible trace of pity.
Since his opponent had also used drugs, then his own use of the Blood-Burning Pill was not bullying the weak, but a fair duel between evenly matched opponents!
He had even won!
This proved that even when they were both doped up, his own foundation and strength still firmly suppressed the other party!
The curve of Zhou Kai’s lips rose again.
He picked up his glass and drained the remaining whiskey in one gulp. That fiery warmth flowed down his throat, making his entire body feel comfortable.
With the tolerance of a superior toward an inferior, he replied unhurriedly.
【Lone Wolf: No wonder. I was wondering how you suddenly became so much stronger.】
【Lone Wolf: You must be from a poor background, right? Being able to get this far is already quite impressive.】
【Lone Wolf: But let me give you a word of advice. Use things like Boiling Blood Powder less in the future. On the path of martial dao, foundation is the most important. Ruining your future for the sake of temporary victory or defeat isn’t worth it.】
Looking at the other party’s “kind instruction,” Lin Ye let out a long breath.
It was all thanks to the system.
If the system hadn’t directly pointed out the fact that the other party had doped after his defeat, he really wouldn’t have thought of using this method to give this mentally unstable “expert” a perfect way to save face.
If the other party had truly become furious from embarrassment and deleted him as a friend, the system mission might have changed, but there would have been too many variables. The difficulty would probably only rise instead of fall.
Now, this mission target could be considered temporarily stabilized.
Lin Ye stood in the battle hall, sinking into thought.
He was only one step away from beating him.
Since you used drugs, don’t blame me for using them too.
You started it.
As for doping, Lin Ye didn’t have much psychological resistance.
As long as it could be transformed into real combat strength, he would accept anything that came.
Of course, he had one absolute bottom line.
It could not damage his foundation.
If he cut off his future path for the sake of brief strength, he would never make such a foolish choice.
In Lin Ye’s mind, a plan had already begun to form.
Tomorrow, he would have to make a trip to the school’s logistics exchange office.
It just so happened that he still had one hundred thousand Federation credits untouched, and his father Lin Tao had also sent home the first stipend of fifty thousand Alliance credits.
Lin Ye did not plan to use his father’s money, but the one hundred thousand from the scholarship should be usable.
Perfect timing to see if he could buy some tonics.
Just then, Lone Wolf sent another message.
【Lone Wolf: I can see you’re someone with potential. Today’s fight was fairly enjoyable too.】
【Lone Wolf: How about this? I happen to be short on sparring partners lately. Your strength is passable.】
【Lone Wolf: Three days from now, then. Come spar with me for two hours at night. I’ll pay you at a rate of five thousand Federation credits per hour. How about it?】
Lin Ye looked at the message and was first stunned.
Then he smiled in relief.
He had been afraid this fish would run.
Unexpectedly, the other party had been thinking the same thing.
He had even taken the initiative to add bait.
Money to earn, and the mission target would even cooperate of his own accord—where in the world could there be such a good thing?
Lin Ye immediately replied.
【Goblin Grunt: Okay! Thank you, Brother Wolf!】
Five words, two exclamation marks. The image of a student from the lowest stratum of a poor family sprang vividly to life before his eyes, and Lone Wolf smiled freely.
His mood improved once more.