Text-based martial arts: A nighttime rendezvous with the gang leader's wife in a dilapidated te

Location: East suburbs of Jinling City, at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain, on the fourth mountain road.

[Time: 9:30 AM (巳时二刻)]

[Currently walking...]

You are walking on a mountain path.

The steep road will leave you physically and mentally exhausted.

Your stamina is completely depleted.

You are now hungry.

"I……"

Chen Xuan stared at the large characters on the black screen and almost cursed out loud, but he still let out a long breath, opened his backpack, and took out the last of his dry rations.

He had already eaten the three wild peaches he had eaten earlier.

There's no way around it, my strength is too low and my stamina is too limited.

More importantly, his agility is low, and his walking speed is too slow!

At the same time, and most importantly, this dilapidated temple is just too damn far away!

He had been walking for two and a half hours after unlocking the map outside Jinling City.

That's right, the time in the game is also two and a half hours in the real world! After all, real time and martial arts are interconnected, only they are reversed at different times.

According to forum posts, most people with a level 3 or 4 movement speed can complete a normal solo mountain path in about ten minutes.

As a result, it would take at least half an hour to get here from Chen Xuan.

This was even because the "Defying Fate" ability was used, which boosted two of the three attribute points attached to the jade pendant to agility; otherwise, it would have been even slower.

For the next half hour, Chen Xuan couldn't do anything but stare at the recurring text prompts on the map:

[Currently walking...]

Chen Xuan sighed, but a hint of relief appeared in his eyes.

In fact, walking slowly is not the most important thing; safety should be the top priority!

He was genuinely afraid that the map might suddenly spawn a bandit, a thug, or some kind of wolf, bear, tiger, or leopard.

If that's the case, then it's a huge injustice.

Fortunately, this agonizing journey, which was even more troublesome than Chen Xuan's own journey, is finally coming to an end.

Don't misunderstand, it's not that he's about to arrive in Jinling City, but rather that he has finally left this mountain road called "Zhongshan".

More importantly, according to the map obtained from the ruined temple...

At the foot of Zhongshan Mountain, there is a river called Zijin River. Following this river westward, it will soon enter Donghu Lake, which is near the outskirts of Jinling City.

The so-called Shen family is located on one side of East Lake.

That's right, Chen Xuan is preparing to travel by water.

Otherwise, if he were to take the main road, according to the map, the distance of the main road is no different from that of the mountain road. In that case, with his crippled status, he would probably have no chance of reaching the Shen family before his stamina ran out.

He had every reason to believe that if it weren't for the jade pendant and the provisions he had obtained from his previous adventure, he would have definitely died of exhaustion on the road.

Your body is too weak.

Hiking on mountain trails will leave you physically and mentally exhausted.

Fortunately, you've finally escaped that steep mountain path, and two paths lie before you.

The land route was the official road leading to Jinling City.

[The waterway is the Zijin River, which leads directly to the edge of East Lake.] (You need to be able to swim to choose this route.)

Please make your choice.

You made your choice almost without thinking!

You carefully wrapped up the remaining dry rations and then entered the Purple Gold River.

[You enter the scene: Zijin River, eastern suburbs of Jinling City 1]

The icy river water was incredibly cold, yet it washed away all the fatigue in my body!

[While in the river, your agility increases by 2.]

You feel your body is lighter.

"The abyss is bottomless, dark and without light. While the fish frolic, I alone hide..."

[You silently recited the mantra of "The Fish Leaps Over the Dragon Gate" in your mind.]

[You moved with the flow of the river, half-swimming and half-drifting, moving so fast that you were even several minutes faster than the passersby on the bank.]

[Swimming...]

Chen Xuan stared intently at the screen.

The occasional sound of the river made him extremely nervous in the dead of night.

The importance of this game kept him on his toes for even a second!

Especially when there is absolutely no safe zone!

Although Chen Xuan has the "Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate Technique" and has experienced its effects, whether he can cross the four map areas again to reach the Shen family mansion and earn a living is still a question.

Fortunately, this time, he didn't have to wait too long!

You move with ease in the river, like a carp swimming downstream.

You have swum through area 'Purple River 1' and entered 'Purple River 2'.

Twelve minutes!

Chen Xuan clenched his fist!

But this wasn't the time to get excited. He quickly opened his attribute panel, and his stamina, which had just been fully restored by eating dry rations and resting, appeared on the screen:

[17/23]

Chen Xuan let out a long breath, finally able to completely relax.

enough!

Even if the dry rations were soaked in water and became inedible, I still had enough strength to get to the Shen family mansion!

As it turned out, Chen Xuan was right.

As time passed, Chen Xuan felt increasingly sleepy in the darkness of the real world, and he would unconsciously want to close his eyes from time to time.

But in an instant, he woke up with a start.

This is not the time to sleep!

The darkness of the real world is the daytime in "Martial Arts".

He will need to adjust his biological clock from now on.

You swim swiftly through the river, somewhat tired, but the joy of mastering the current is intoxicating.

【…】

You have swum through area 'Purple River 2' and entered 'Purple River 3'.

You ate the dried rations that had been soaked in the river water, rested for a while on the bank, and then continued on your way.

【…】

You have swum through area 'Purple River 3' and entered 'Purple River 4'.

You feel that your energy is running low.

Fortunately, you can see the end of this river ahead; that leads to East Lake.

The powerful and influential Shen family of Jinling City is located there!

[You leave the Purple Gold River and enter the area 'Outside the Shen Family Mansion, Eastern Suburbs of Jinling City'.]

You are now hungry.

coming!

Chen Xuan's eyes welled up with tears, partly from exhaustion and partly from excitement!

However, just as he clicked on the screen, a very familiar notification appeared before his eyes once again:

[You now have a sufficient understanding of the 'Purple River' scene. Do you wish to activate your destiny ability 'Defying Fate'? View all the adventures that can be triggered in the current scene and their trigger conditions.]

There was no such warning on the mountain path leading down from Zhongshan! Clearly, there's no such thing as a special encounter in that desolate place.

Chen Xuan immediately perked up and hurriedly nodded.

[You have initiated a feat of defying fate. In the darkness, your eyes have turned golden, and destiny, time, and cause and effect are as clear before your eyes as the lines on your palm.]

[You have observed all the fixed encounters and trigger conditions for the map 'Purple River':]

【1. Treasure Fish (Black): In the Zijin River area, at location 3, place ten copper coins as bait each time, and use earthworms soaked in bamboo leaf tea and dough as bait to catch the treasure fish "Golden Coin Fish". You can catch a maximum of one per week.

Golden Money Fish: A unique fish species found in East Lake and surrounding waters, its flesh is incredibly delicious and highly effective in stimulating blood circulation! It is hailed as one of the "treasure fish." Consuming this fish provides a permanent boost to blood circulation and strength. It is a treasure sought after by countless martial arts practitioners.

Upon seeing the prompt for this extraordinary encounter, Chen Xuan's eyes widened in surprise.

Could this serendipitous encounter offer a chance to permanently increase attributes?