Skip this! Just tell me who to kill!

Hongyan County, Baiyun Martial Arts School.

Underground arena.

"Has that man surnamed Chen delivered it yet?"

In a room lit by several kerosene lamps, Yin Pei, the senior disciple of Baiyun Martial Arts School, asked impatiently.

"Senior Brother, not yet, but it should be soon," said Pan Yu, the second junior brother, after glancing at the time.

"What's the rush! You, hurry up and send someone to find that guy surnamed Chen and urge him again. If he doesn't send the demon race's rations soon, another duel will have to begin!"

Yin Pei waved and said.

Before the gladiatorial combat begins, the demon race needs to eat a live human to activate their ferocity and fill their stomachs, so that they can hunt other prey in the gladiatorial combat.

Otherwise, a demon that has not been fed living people beforehand will lack physical strength, its ferocity cannot be aroused, and it will appear sickly.

After that, hunting prey no longer produces any exciting program effects.

Not only would it tarnish the reputation of their White Cloud Arena, but it would also make the blood and flesh of this demon race less viable in the future.

Handing over such flesh and blood to the headquarters of Baiyun Martial Arts School would greatly displease the senior brothers there!

Hearing Yin Pei's instructions, Pan Yu felt it was troublesome, but he had no choice but to do as he was told.

He returned to Baiyun Martial Arts School through the back door of the underground arena. He was just about to grab a junior brother at random in the school to urge Master Chen to hurry up when he noticed an unusual commotion coming from the outer courtyard of the school.

"What's all the noise about?!"

Pan Yu frowned. He had only been away from the martial arts school for a short time, and these people were already causing trouble again.

Thinking it over, Pan Yu pushed open the inner courtyard gate and strode towards the outer courtyard.

"What are you yelling about? Don't you know that in a martial arts school, one should maintain the composure expected of a martial artist...?"

As Pan Yu pushed open the gate leading to the outer courtyard, his words came to an abrupt halt.

Simply because.

The cause of the commotion in the outer courtyard was not the restless disciples he had assumed, but a young man wielding a strange weapon.

The young man had black hair and black eyes, his body stained with crimson blood, and at his feet lay martial arts disciples dressed in white robes.

"Second Brother Pig! Please save us!"

A martial arts disciple, already terrified, saw his second senior brother, Pan Yu, and scrambled to his side, his voice filled with deep fear:

"Second Senior Brother, this thug broke into the martial arts school, saying he's looking for some Shi Gandang."

"We didn't know who Shi Gandang was, so we stepped forward to stop him from barging in. Unexpectedly, he drew his sword on the spot and charged directly into the outer courtyard from the main gate of the martial arts school, killing and injuring more than a dozen of our fellow disciples!"

Upon hearing this, Pan Yu immediately looked at Qin Muyuan, his eyes filled with anger:

"What! You dare kill my fellow disciples?!"

"Just a few small monsters, we can kill them without a second thought."

Qin Muyuan glanced at the panel and confirmed that the character pointed to by the arrow in the [Task Guide] was indeed the martial arts disciple in front of him:

"The arrow is pointing at you, which means you know where the person I'm looking for is... Tell me, where Shi Gandang is, and I might spare your life."

"You're asking for it!"

However, faced with Qin Muyuan's apparent mercy, Panyu felt utterly insulted.

Although Pan Yu is the second senior brother of the martial arts school, he is a disciple who was transferred from the headquarters of Baiyun Martial Arts School to the Qinghua County branch of Hongyan County!

In terms of skill, he would be considered a third-rate expert in the martial arts world!

Within Qinghua County, apart from the eldest disciple and the branch master, no one has ever dared to speak to him like that!

Pan Yu, his face contorted with rage, stomped his foot heavily and flew out like a wild horse, heading straight for Qin Muyuan.

"White Cloud Palm!"

He twisted his waist and hips, unleashing the power in his palm, and slammed it towards Qin Muyuan.

"I wanted to complete the mission in a different way, but you're unwilling to cooperate, so I have no choice but to kill you."

Qin Muyuan remained calm as he swiftly raised the arm holding the pure bone nail, then brought it down with a thunderous crash!

Boom!

The sound of wind and thunder exploded!

Pan Yu sensed the power of the sword and his expression changed drastically.

He never expected that the young man's swordplay would be so fast!

Despite having made the first move, the young man in front of him was able to strike first and quickly counterattack with a sword!

In desperation, Pan Yu could only channel his energy, using the palm strike aimed at Qin Muyuan's chest to block the strange longsword.

As a third-rate expert with great strength, Pan Yu's hands had long been hardened and thickened like cowhide.

Ordinary swords and knives cannot cut through the palm and attack the user.

However, this time Pan Yu miscalculated!

That seemingly unremarkable triangular longsword was incredibly sharp; the moment it touched his palm, it was as easy as a butcher's knife slicing through tofu.

In an instant, it tore apart his palm, which was wrapped in force, and then slashed down his arm along the palm!

Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and arms were suspended in mid-air!

In the brief moment of the exchange, a thick arm was severed by the triangular longsword with exaggerated sharpness!

"Aaaaaah!"

Intense pain swept through Pan Yu's body, causing him to fall backward uncontrollably.

However, in the next instant, a glint of sword light flashed before his eyes, and Pan Yu felt a chill in his throat.

As he reached for his neck, blood gushed out uncontrollably, and his strength vanished along with the gushing blood.

pat!

A line of blood flashed across Pan Yu's neck, and he collapsed to the ground.

[Thunder Strike Sword Technique Level 2 (40%) → Thunder Strike Sword Technique Level 2 (70%)]

Why bother?

Qin Muyuan stepped over Pan Yu's corpse and walked straight towards the inner courtyard.

Having killed the White Cloud Martial Arts School disciple guarding the gate, his Thunder Strike Sword Technique had advanced from the first level to the second level, greatly improving its speed and accuracy.

Killing the second senior brother of Baiyun Martial Arts School is a piece of cake.

"A disciple from Baiyun Martial Arts School dares to block my way; it seems my reputation is far from sufficient..."

On his way to the martial arts school, Qin Muyuan checked his [reputation].

Reputation influences how NPCs perceive and understand you; the higher your reputation, the more NPCs know and understand you.

Depending on your specific actions, you will increase your reputation. Good actions will make NPCs like you, and they will give you gifts on a regular basis. They will also greet you when they meet you on the street.

Evil actions will make NPCs fear you, enemies dread you, and even when a battle is triggered, your infamy can scare NPCs into scattering and fleeing.

Furthermore, according to the "Fame" entry, this game uses a dynamic fame system.

Once your fame stat increases, it needs to be spread before NPCs become aware of it.

It's unlikely that something significant will happen here, and the news will immediately become known as soon as it steps out of the street.

Only by making big moves can fame spread more and more rapidly.

Furthermore, the impact of fame on NPCs will be more realistic.

If someone kills someone, people will be afraid. But if someone later discovers that the person killed was a villain, then people will no longer be afraid, but will support them and think that they did the right thing.

"I killed the martial arts school disciples, but even the second senior brother inside dared to speak to me like that, which means my reputation isn't big enough and hasn't spread fast enough..."

Qin Muyuan reflected.

I need to slaughter my way through the entire Baiyun Martial Arts School before the NPCs in this world will know my name!

Just like in Elden Ring 7, once you become the King of Elden, the soldiers in the borderlands no longer dare to attack you.

Only when you are famous enough will NPCs treat you with more politeness!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A humble author begs readers to add this book to their bookshelves!