The Fourth Disaster: People become gods through high martial arts and gaming

Chapter 174: Repeatedly Frictioning on the Forbidden Red Line (Combined Chapters, Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
"Finally... finally... we've seen it!"

As Lu Fanchen and the other two gazed at the gate that was gradually becoming clearer in their field of vision, they couldn't help but feel excited.

After spending an entire night without eating or sleeping, the ultra-high-level map finally beckoned to them.

Inside the gate was a passage less than a hundred meters long. This passage was clearly man-made, with layers of steps and the sides made of an unknown metal.

At the end of the passage, there was a faint light, and you could see a vast space with scattered stones, giving you an indescribable feeling of heat and restlessness.

As Lu Fanchen and his companions reached the end of the passage, the entire underground space was laid out before them.

The entire space was the size of more than ten stadiums. In the center of this space stood a tall human man, three meters tall, holding a giant sword, with his eyes closed, standing there quietly, like a statue.

On the opposite side of this space is a 20-meter-high metal gate, just like the one we came in through. However, this metal gate is clearly locked, with horizontal and vertical pillars blocking it. It is obvious that the gate cannot be opened without breaking through these metal pillars.

"What does this map mean? Do we have to defeat that man before we're allowed to move forward?" Lin Xinyao glanced around the space, her gaze lingering on the statue-like man in the center.

“That should be it.” Lu Fanchen glanced at the statue-like man, then looked around at the ground and said, “However, our mission is to collect Molten Crystals. Those light red crystals on the ground should be Molten Crystals. Let’s ignore the statue for now and investigate it after we’ve collected the Molten Crystals.”

Lin Xinyao and Li Tianxing nodded in agreement with Lu Fanchen's suggestion.

This map is extremely high-level, practically unreachable for them at this stage. Rather than recklessly investigating the statue man, they should complete the mission first; there might be some follow-up hints.

The three of them then entered the space and began digging up the pale red crystals on the ground.

However, the moment Lu Fanchen and his companions stepped into this space, the giant man who had been standing motionless like a statue suddenly moved, drawing the pitch-black giant sword on his back and instantly creating a gust of wind.

"Three candidates have been identified. They have been assessed as advanced apprentices. I have adjusted myself to become a quasi-martial artist and broken down into three bodies for the first stage of testing."

As the man who picked up the jet-black giant sword spoke in a mechanical voice, the originally three-meter-tall man and the jet-black giant sword split into three, like liquid metal. Each of them was much smaller than before, only a little over two meters tall.

"Examinee? First stage test for prospective martial artists?" Lu Fanchen looked at the man who had split into three and immediately smiled. "Looks like we're in luck. This super high-level map is actually a trial map."

“Perfect, we can each take on one and see who gets through first,” Lin Xinyao laughed.

Li Tianxing nodded as well.

Playing a personal trial in front of these saintly beings is practically like picking up a free map, especially since it's one-on-one. The opponent is only at the level of a quasi-martial artist. Even if you have to face a lot of mental pressure in the space, defeating him is incredibly easy.

As they spoke, the three of them took the initiative to approach the giant sword-wielding mechanical man.

Lu Fanchen used a B2-level spear and immediately unleashed a martial arts technique called Starfire.

Lin Xinyao used a B2-level battle sword and immediately unleashed her signature move, "One Slash Splits the Sea," which incorporated elements of the Thunder Palm technique. The sword light was so fast that it was like a bolt of lightning, easily breaking the sound barrier.

Li Tianxing, wielding two B2-grade battle axes, used his signature Eighteen Consecutive Slashes, a technique combining the Shattering Stone Fist, to spin around. Using the momentum, each axe strike was stronger than the last, unleashing eighteen consecutive blows that no one of his class could withstand.

However, the three giant sword-wielding mechanical men, facing the attacks of the three, avoided all of their attacks by the slightest margin by using their footwork and slight body movements.

"What kind of movement technique is that? How can it easily dodge my supersonic strike?"

Lin Xinyao was also shocked to see the giant swordsman who dodged to the side and then immediately struck with a palm.

However, as a sword saint, Lin Xinyao's sword was like an arm to her. With just a turn, the blade blocked the palm strike, and she was knocked back several steps without being injured.

Lu Fanchen and Li Tianxing were in the same situation. The moment they used their martial arts techniques, the giant sword mechanical man dodged them and launched a counterattack. With their super-fast reactions, both of them blocked the giant sword mechanical man's attack without being injured. They were just as surprised as Lin Xinyao when they looked at the giant sword mechanical man.

"Is this what meticulous attention to detail is?"

Lu Fanchen stared intently at the mechanical man who effortlessly deflected their attacks, and was deeply shocked.

Although I already knew that there was an introduction to body control in the game, which is divided into three levels: basic, specialized and subtle, and these were shown in the very beginning of the game's battle storyline.

But the feeling of actually fighting is completely different.

As the top experts in the pilgrimage, the three of them possessed unparalleled control over their bodies. They could precisely control the amount of force they exerted, down to 0.1 kilograms, and could even strike more than ten times per second, hitting the desired spot with pinpoint accuracy.

However, compared to the mechanical man in front of them, the three of them were clearly much less in control of their bodies.

The mechanical man dodged their attacks with barely a touch. Even Lin Xinyao, whose attack speed was exceptional, was rendered completely useless by the mechanical man's incredibly precise evasion, which instead exposed her significant weaknesses.

If the cyborg hadn't reacted a little slower than them, the three of them would definitely have been hit and injured.

"The three candidates' physical control level is at the expert level, so they are not worth testing. Initiate annihilation mode!"

As a cold, mechanical voice rang out, the three mechanical men raised their greatswords and swung them down fiercely at Lu Fanchen and his companions.

The three of them almost instinctively used their weapons to defend themselves.

Just as the weapons of both sides were about to collide, the giant swords in the hands of the three mechanical men stopped abruptly less than a centimeter apart. In an instant, they changed their move from a vertical slash to a horizontal cut. Even the three men, with their lightning-fast reflexes, couldn't keep up with this sudden change and were all cut in half, falling to the ground.

Obsidian Martial Arts School, underground confinement room.

As Lu Fanchen and the other two were resurrected once again, none of them could utter a word for a long time, still immersed in the scene of their previous deaths.

"They're just advanced apprentices and quasi-martial artists, is there really such a big difference in combat power?" Lin Xinyao thought of the sword strike she couldn't withstand just now, and felt that those quasi-martial artist-level elite monsters she had killed before were just fake.

"It seems that this game is completely different for those who have reached the 'microscopic' level and those who haven't." Lu Fanchen couldn't help but smile bitterly. "If we can't reach the 'microscopic' level, we probably won't even be able to touch the other side. Fortunately, the enemies we encountered before didn't reach the 'microscopic' level, otherwise we probably wouldn't even be able to beat monsters of the same level."

"So, do we still have to do the quest? As soon as we enter that space, we'll be attacked, and we won't have a chance to mine those crystals, let alone escape," Li Tianxing said. "Go! Of course we have to go!" Lu Fanchen's eyes suddenly lit up with unprecedented excitement. "This super high-level trial map will be very useful to us in the future. With this super high-level trial map, we can adapt to the monsters in high-level maps much earlier than other players."

"Fan Chen, do you mean that monsters in high-level maps in the future might be able to reach the level of microscopic perception?" Lin Xinyao asked in astonishment.

She had now witnessed the power of the microscopic vision; it was simply inhuman.

Let alone the fact that the mechanical men are stronger than them, even if they have the same physical abilities, they are probably no match for them at all.

If the enemies in future high-level maps are all of this level, then they probably won't even be able to defeat enemies of the same level.

“I just suspect that future high-level maps will be like this,” Lu Fanchen explained. “I’ve investigated this game company, and they always plan ahead. Since they’ve created a trial map in the underground of the starting area, it’s very likely that it’s a test to prepare for the enemies that will appear in future high-level maps.”

“If that’s the case, then we can start fighting enemies on high-level maps right now, wouldn’t that give us a huge lead over everyone else?” Li Tianxing’s eyes lit up after hearing this.

In virtual games, the higher the level of a monster, the more attack patterns it has, making it increasingly difficult to deal with, just like the microscopic mechanical man we are facing now.

However, if they can become familiar with the combat style of these high-level monsters, then when they enter high-level maps with others in the future, their advantage in clearing new areas will be enormous.

"Then let's go over there." Lin Xinyao realized what was going on and became eager to try.

The thought of everyone else entering high-level maps, where even a saintly being like Luo Wushang would be killed, while they could wreak havoc on high-level maps, was exhilarating.

"Not now. We're too weak. We're not even in the same league as that mechanical man. Fighting him would just result in us being instantly killed." Lu Fanchen shook his head.

“But if we level up, the monsters will also level up, and then we’ll never be able to fight them,” Lin Xinyao said.

"No! I don't mean increasing our levels, I mean increasing our combat skills," Lu Fanchen said with a smile. "Didn't the game just update with the Faction Wars gameplay? Those four factions have quite a few elites. I guess this update is to let us players practice and improve our combat skills through these four factions."

"After all, the four major factions have far more people than us players, and it's usually very difficult for us to encounter a battle. But now we can fight to our hearts' content. It can be said that the game developers are basically letting us use the four major factions to practice our control over our bodies, while the mechanical monsters are excellent learning and testing machines that can help us reach the state of microscopic perception as soon as possible."

"This game is indeed well-hidden, full of details. If we hadn't been focused on exploring the maze tunnels, but instead gone to Crimson Moon Mountain to earn points and build houses like other players, we would have missed it all," Li Tianxing sighed.

"Alright, let's pack up and call the other members. We're heading to the territory of the four major powers now. We can't let others steal our practice enemies," Lu Fanchen said.

Both of them nodded and got to work.

The City of Light, North Ring Avenue.

As the main street closest to the city center in the City of Light, the entire North Ring Street is lined with shops and towering steel buildings on both sides, with a constant stream of pedestrians, and many mid-to-high-level members of various gangs have purchased properties here.

This caused the North Ring Street, which originally covered only two or three square kilometers, to gather more than a million people, and it was divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower. The Beiao family alone mobilized more than 8,000 people to maintain the security and stability of the North Ring Street, including several martial artists who were stationed there for a long time.

On the bustling North Ring Street, a group of humans dressed in silver-gray clothing quickly attracted the attention of many people, especially members of various gangs living in the suburbs. They were all stunned by the sight of this group.

"Aren't these people from the Obsidian Martial Arts School?"

"Why are they here? Don't they know this is the territory of the Bei'ao family?"

"I guess it was because that great man from the human race gave the four major powers a warning yesterday that they dared to come over so brazenly."

The crowd on the street stared at the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy members carrying A6-level arrows and began to whisper among themselves. No one expected the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy members to be so bold as to appear in the territory of the four major powers in broad daylight, completely unaware of the meaning of death.

You should know that the four major powers are furious right now. Yesterday, they sent people to assist the Iron Heart Gang in dealing with the traitor, but the Iron Heart Gang was wiped out by the Obsidian Martial Arts School, and many of their elites were killed. This is a slap in the face to the four major powers.

If it weren't for the big shot from the human race who graduated from the genius training camp making a statement, everyone would suspect that the four major forces would have gone to the abandoned area today to destroy the Obsidian Martial Arts School.

Instead of hiding to avoid the wrath of the four major powers, the people of the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy are out strolling the streets, showing utter disregard for them.

"Look, the Bei Ao family is here."

"The fact that a martial artist is leading the team shows that the Bei'ao family is indeed very angry with the Obsidian Martial Arts School."

Do you think a fight will break out?

"The martial artists from Bei'ao have all arrived, they're definitely going to deal with the people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy. But the people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy are strange, they saw the people from Bei'ao arrive, but they didn't run away."

As a fully armed guard team of fifty members from the North Ao family appeared on the street, the members of the various gangs present were quite surprised that the dozen or so disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts School were still standing there, chatting about something, seemingly not caring at all about the North Ao family members walking by.

"Is this Beidajie, which is close to the city center? It's really bustling." Lin Xinyao looked at the towering steel buildings overhead and the bridges connecting them. As far as the eye could see, there were people everywhere. It was like entering a science fiction city, leaving one in awe.

"Stop looking, we're here to do serious business. There will be plenty of opportunities to look later." Lu Fanchen glanced at Lin Xinyao, who was still looking around, and instructed the others, "Let's all disperse and do our own thing. Don't forget that our goal this time is to improve our combat skills and, incidentally, destroy the Bei'ao family's shops to earn contribution points. If there are no problems, let's move out!"

After saying that, Lu Fanchen and more than ten others scattered like locusts, rushing towards the shops bearing the emblem of the Bei'ao family.

As they stormed into the shops, Lu Fanchen and his men looted and vandalized them, leaving the members of various gangs watching on the street completely dumbfounded.

"Have all these people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy gone mad?"

“Those are all shops belonging to the Bei'ao family!”

"They've gone mad! They've gone mad! Are they determined to fight the Bei'ao family to the death?"

The members of various gangs trembled as they looked at the Obsidian Martial Arts School members who were showing no mercy. It was one thing for the Obsidian Martial Arts School to provoke the North Ao Family before, but at most it was a simple gang conflict. But now the Obsidian Martial Arts School was digging up the North Ao Family's roots...

(End of this chapter)