Roland seemed very quiet. He just stood in a front horse stance and held the hilt of the saber in both hands while the back of the blade rested on his left shoulder.

  Because the miaodao was very long, it would be quite laborious to hold in one’s hands if one didn’t wield it. It was also impossible to wear it at the waist, and it was even more difficult to use it if it was carried behind the back.

  Therefore, most of the time, the miaodao would be mounted on the shoulder, making it easy to carry, and therefore, most of the time, the movement of the miaodao strike would start with this posture.

  Li Lin’s wooden sword was still striking the ground, the sound becoming heavier and heavier as Li Lin continued to approach slowly.

  The atmosphere was getting more and more tense, and on the side, Night Tide Sands subconsciously clenched her small fists.

  Just when he was still three meters away from Roland, the wooden sword suddenly struck the concrete floor with heavier force, and with the strength of the rebound, he stepped forward and suddenly struck forward and down with the longsword in his right hand.

  The speed of the strike was extremely fast, like lightning.

  However, Roland’s reaction speed was even faster, and the moment Li Lin swung his longsword, Roland was already moving.

  He took a sudden step backward while the miaodao struck forward and down with the strength of his wrist.

  Roland retreated so fast that Li Lin directly slashed the air with his sword, and before Li Lin could withdraw his strike, Roland’s much longer miaodao slashed directly at his shoulder guard.

  It bounced upward with a clacking sound. This was the effect of Roland withdrawing his strength.

  “Stop!”


  On the sidelines, Qi Shaoqiu shouted, “Roland wins.”


  Li Lin removed the protective gear and then tapped his shoulder, somewhat bewildered. Although he was shielded by the protective gear and Roland had withdrawn his strength, his shoulder still felt somewhat numb from the wooden saber coming down.

  He asked strangely, “How do you have such fast reflexes?”


  Roland smiled. “Maybe it’s because I’m more talented.”


  Li Lin clicked his tongue and didn’t speak again-a real expert reveals the truth or falsehoods at once. Although Li Lin hadn’t systematically practiced cold weapon techniques. He had learned basic military sword techniques with veterans in the game, and for over half a year, he participated in nearly a hundred battles of all scales. His number of deaths had exceeded twenty. Because he had too many deaths and lost experience at every turn, he had yet to reach level five.

  After so many battles, he found that he was approaching the limit in terms of his melee abilities, and although he could continue to improve by leveling up and learning more specialties, those were mere numerical improvements rather than skill improvements.

  Meeting a player with similar equipment and level, he would be at a great disadvantage if the opponent was more skilled than he was.

  With that thought in mind, he went offline to learn cold weapon techniques.

  Although he was not yet good at these techniques, his eyesight was trained during this time.

  The reaction speed of Roland’s retreat just now was very fast, and the moment he raised his hand to attack, Roland had already retreated.

  It was almost synchronized.

  Otherwise, his sword wouldn’t have missed so easily.

  “A person with quick wits also has fast reflexes?” Li Lin felt that it was a bit unfair. He slumped against the concrete pillar next to him. “How can we ordinary people live when you talented people are so impressive?”


  Roland laughed and removed his protective gear. “But you have money.”


  When Li Lin heard this, he looked even more upset. He said timidly, “Generally speaking, isn’t that usually how we local tycoons talk when we meet geniuses and embarrass them? No matter how outstanding your abilities are, I just need to say I have money. And now, instead, you’re directly comforting me with those words—the ways of the world……”


  Qi Shaoqiu was laughing at this, and he came up and said, “See, your fundamentals are too poor, you can’t even move while holding a sword, so start learning the basics first.”


  Li Lin grunted.

  Then, Li Lin, under Qi Shaoqiu’s tutelage, first learned the most basic movements, while Roland practiced the routines on his own.

  Soon it was noon and Roland was about to go home when Night Tide Sands pulled him aside and asked, “How’s your Daoist Nourishment of Life training going?”


  Roland shook his head. “Not much progress.”


  It was true that he hadn’t made much progress. Currently, he would take an hour every day before entering the game to meditate for a while.

  But he didn’t feel any miraculous warm currents, nor was there any sense of qi produced.

  If he had to say where there was a bit of progress, it was that now he wouldn’t feel his legs go numb even after sitting cross-legged for an hour, and seemed to be quite comfortable with it.

  “There’s no need to rush, you’ve only been practicing for a month. I was practicing for almost a year before I got a sense of qi.” Night Tide Sands looked indifferent before shoving something into his hand. “This is an aromatic incense, it has a calming effect. I usually light some when I’m having trouble practicing qi, take it and try it.”


  “Aromatic incense is quite expensive, isn’t it.” Roland found the aromatic incense wrapped in a handkerchief that had a unique texture and felt pleasant to the touch, not like it was mechanically made, but like it was handmade. “I’ll pay you.”


  “What’s a grown man doing being so wishy-washy! It’s not expensive,” Night Tide Sands said with a light tone, turned around, and left.

  “Thanks.” Roland waved at Night Tide Sands’ back.

  At this moment, Li Lin came over and asked with a smile, “How’s this girl?”


  “Pretty good. A very hardworking girl, with a seemingly frigid personality, but she’s actually cold on the outside, warm on the inside-nice to the friends she knows.”


  Roland thought about it and commented so.

  “Sounds quite suitable to be a wife.” Li Lin laughed ambiguously, then asked, “Do you want me to take you home?”


  “Forget it. I came over on a bicycle.” Roland waved his hand dismissively.

  “That’s fine, I’ll go first.”


  They parted in front of the saber arts club, and the red sports car whirred away.

  Roland, on the other hand, rode his bicycle slowly home.

  After lunch, Roland opened the forums as usual, then found that the data powerhouse O’Neal was privately messaging him, telling him to get in the group chat as soon as he saw the message—there was something important.

  Then, Roland opened the group chat. O’Neal was online, and as soon as he saw Roland come online, he immediately sent a message over.

  “Yesterday a player found a strange drawing in the black market at the capital. He thought it looked like a magic model, so he sent me a third of it, and I thought it looked like that too, so I paid a lot of money for it.”


  “And then what?” Roland asked.

  “I can’t understand it!!!!”


  O’Neal entered several exclamation marks in a

  row.

  Then he continued.“The magic models we’ve been exposed to now for the past six months have all been traceable to the same origin. But this model is clearly not the same system as the magic models we’ve learned.”


  “Elven magic?” Roland asked.

  “It’s possible.”


  Roland thought about it and said, “Can I see it?”


  “Now who’s to see if it’s still useful but you? I told you to come online just to see if you could comprehend something. If you figure it out, let me know.”


  Roland replied, “No problem.”


  Shortly after, an email was sent over.

  Roland opened the attachment and a strange “painting” appeared in the center of the computer screen.