I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

Although Gu Yan was being followed, the newcomer's aura was well concealed. With Gu Yan's current cultivation level, it would be very difficult for anyone to detect him unless they were extremely focused.

Of course, the reason he was able to sense it was because he had been waiting for the other party all along.

He had known all along that around this time, a monster would come knocking on his door.

"It should be about time they arrive."

Gu Yan muttered something to himself, then stopped in the deserted alley and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Suddenly, a rough, wild howl erupted from the end of the alley, like a wild boar in a fit of rage, shaking the tiles and walls at the base of the wall.

Before the sound had even faded, two dark figures swept out, accompanied by a stench of blood. Their afterimages blurred, and their weapons, carrying a menacing aura, launched a sneak attack.

One of the two demons wielded a heavy, powerful iron fanged awl, its tip aimed directly at Gu Yan's vital point in the back. The other wielded a solid iron wolf-tooth mace, its head sweeping horizontally to strike Gu Yan's side.

The two demons attacked simultaneously, almost without any difference in timing. One thrusted while the other swept, their combined attack was extremely ruthless, and their coordination was remarkably seamless.

Without turning his body, Gu Yan's long sword at his waist was already like a nimble snake emerging from its hole. He slashed diagonally, precisely striking the fang-shaped cone. A crisp "clang" rang out, and sparks flew everywhere. This sword technique was extremely exquisite, using skill to overcome force. Although the fang-shaped cone was powerful, it was struck from the side, causing its momentum to falter and its thrust to go astray.

Gu Yan then slightly flipped his wrist, and the longsword spun out a half-arc of light. The blade lightly sliced, and then accurately parried the second demon's sweeping spiked club.

The second demon was very confident in his arm strength. When he saw the opponent's longsword intercepting him, he did not hold back. He suddenly slammed his arms down, as if trying to break the opponent's strength with force and break the longsword in the process.

But Gu Yan touched the ground with his toes. His sword touched the spiked club, and at the same time, his body floated back lightly. While retreating to dissipate the force, he also used the momentum of the club to pull himself away and create distance to escape the two demons' attack circle.

Gu Yan stepped back and stood still, only then did he see that standing in front of him were two burly demons, their skin rough and black like ancient pine bark, their manes stiff and bristly like steel needles. One of them had a tuft of golden hair on its forehead, while the other had silver-white mane. Their wide mouths and protruding tusks clearly indicated that they were two wild boar demons.

Seeing Gu Yan skillfully deflect the attack from the two, the silver-maned boar demon exclaimed "Eh!" and turned to the other boar demon, saying, "Brother, his swordsmanship is quite impressive."

"Who do we have here?" Gu Yan said. "It turns out to be the two cave masters, Golden Mane and Silver Mane."

The two demons exchanged a glance, both showing surprise.

The two monsters are named Golden Mane and Silver Mane; they are brothers.

There are three demon caves near Qingxi, all set up by the mysterious "Master". Gu Yan and Shen Qinghan escaped from only one of them, while the Golden Mane and Silver Mane are the masters of another demon cave further away - "Double Fork Cave".

Jin Zong's face darkened: "Very well, since you know my brother's name, you must also know that the Jubao Gambling House is under the protection of my Shuangcha Cave. You've chosen that gambling house, causing us brothers quite a bit of trouble. Excellent, excellent, it seems you don't take us brothers seriously at all."

The Demon Cave Master is a demon king who reigns over a region near Qingxi. His cultivation level, judged by human martial arts standards, would be at the Qi Control level. The Twin Fork Cave Masters are two brothers, individually the weakest among the three demon cave masters, barely crossing the threshold of Qi Control. However, the two brothers cooperate seamlessly, their minds in perfect harmony. When they fight together, they are like a master with four arms and four legs, allowing them to rival the other two cave masters.

Although Gu Yan's swordsmanship surprised Jin Zong, he also realized from their sword-pointing that although Gu Yan had reached the pinnacle of the Solidifying Yuan Realm, he was still a step away from the Qi Controlling Realm.

A martial artist with a solidified internal energy level cannot project their internal energy to injure someone from a distance. This difference in skill level is difficult to bridge with sword techniques, especially since his brothers are fighting two against one, giving them a sure chance of victory.

The advantage is in my hands!

But the younger brother, Silvermane, said, "Brother, since this man knows our names and isn't afraid, he must be very confident. We...we're likely to suffer a loss. Maybe we should talk about it another time..."

But Jin Zong glared at him fiercely, and Yin Zong quickly shut his mouth and remained silent.

Jin Zong knew that his younger brother had been timid since birth; the word "coward" was ingrained in his bones, and his courage had never increased in tandem with his cultivation. This wasn't something that had only happened recently, so he simply didn't want to pay him any attention.

Jin Zong raised his fanged awl and pointed it at Gu Yan, saying, "When the next gambling den owner inspects the place and finds it has been attacked, my brother and I will inevitably be punished. We have no choice but to capture you and take you back so we can report back to the gambling den owner."

This was Gu Yan's first encounter with a Qi-controlling demon in the game, and there were two of them at once, both of whom were at a higher level than him.

But his expression remained unchanged, his posture casual, and he didn't even seem to have the slightest sense of urgency about the danger he was in, which made the two demons uneasy.

—Isn't he afraid of me?

The silver-maned man couldn't hold back any longer and whispered, "Brother, he seems so confident; he must have a powerful backup plan. What if we fall into an ambush? Wouldn't that be terrible? I think we should just give up..."

Jin Zong glared at him fiercely and snapped, "Can't you be a little more dignified? You're such a coward, a mere Qi Refining Warrior. He's just bluffing!"

But while he said this, he secretly hesitated. Could he really feign such genuine composure through mere bluster?

From the moment he chose that gambling den, Gu Yan had been waiting for these two demons to come knocking. The gambling den's location was Shuangcha Cave, and these two wild boars were bound to come looking for trouble.

Prior to this, he had already completed the prerequisite tasks for finding the best solution to this side quest based on the walkthrough.

Just as the two demons were about to make their move, they suddenly heard a series of dragging footsteps coming from the alley entrance.

The two demons turned their heads to look, and saw a ragged beggar staggering into the empty alleyway, carrying a gourd of wine in his hand, drinking as he walked, the wine dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Silvermane looked at his elder brother: "Brother, a beggar has arrived."

"I can see it. I'm not blind yet," Golden Mane said in a deep voice.

For some reason, the beggar's gait was erratic, making him look like a drunkard, and there was no internal energy fluctuation on his body, yet he gave the beggar a strange sense of crisis.

Like a wild animal's instinctive sense of danger.

Golden Mane made a quick decision: "Take this beggar first!"

Silvermane chimed in, "Yes, Big Brother!"

So the two pigs shouted loudly and pounced on the beggar, each wielding a weapon and striking him fiercely.

A strange thing happened.

The beggar stood motionless, still engrossed in drinking. But the two demons rushed forward, and the golden-maned demon stabbed the silver-maned demon in the shoulder with a powerful thrust, while the silver-maned demon struck his elder brother in the chest and abdomen with all his might.

The two pig demons let out a simultaneous scream of pain, like pigs being slaughtered, and hurriedly pulled away, each clutching their wounds as they retreated.

The beggar casually tossed the gourd over his shoulder, but only two or three drops came out, not a single drop remaining.

The beggar clicked his tongue and sighed, "The wine is good, but it's a pity this gourd is too small. I can only taste it, but it's not enough to satisfy my craving."

It seemed as if he hadn't seen the two demons' sudden attack at all, but rather that the two pig demon brothers harbored mutual resentment and were secretly trying to kill each other.

Golden Mane was shocked. Clutching his abdomen, which was throbbing with pain from his brother's attack, he shouted at the beggar in disbelief, "What kind of sorcery are you using?!"

Silvermane's shoulders were also aching terribly, but he still spoke up to correct him: "Big brother, we are the demons. He is human, how can you say he uses demonic magic..."

Golden Mane roared in fury: "Can't you just shut up for a second?!"