Chương 39: Hard to Swallow

Xiao Chen had figured it out -- not a single one of these otherworldly Authentic Creatures was easy prey. Their minimum level was one hundred.

"When the veterans said Lv. 100 is where it really begins, this is what they meant?" Xiao Chen wasn't entirely sure, but he knew that every Authentic Monster killed represented a major victory for Blue Star.

"Either way, taking down a Lv. 200 Boss at age twenty-one? That's absolutely insane." He never would have dreamed he could accomplish something like this. Luck played a part, sure, but Xiao Chen was still proud of what he'd done.

"Five years since the Awakening. The world's changed completely." Or rather, these five years had been an explosive growth period for Blue Star's Awakened. Back when he'd first Awakened, only a few hundred people on Blue Star had hit Lv. 100. Now Xiao Chen himself was Lv. 110. Countless people had laid the foundation with their lives. That sacrifice made this explosive growth possible. Xiao Chen had walked a two-hundred-year journey in just five years. He hadn't walked fast, but he'd walked steady.

"The road ahead only gets harder." Maybe there would be no pathfinders ahead of him. Maybe he would have to blaze the trail for those who followed. Like this time -- he'd changed countless lives. The impact was immeasurable.

"All of this is right. So why can't I find peace?" The stronger he grew, the more restless he felt. The reason was simple: it was time to have a conversation with the Crimson Guild. The Crimson Guild had too many members to take down overnight. Even someone as powerful as Xiao Yan couldn't just dismantle them.

"The Crimson Guild's debt gets settled slowly. But Lin Jue -- that guy I'm definitely taking out. Otherwise, I'll never find peace."

"Wang Zhen, I'm using the money you gave me to buy a skill book. To avenge you."

"Brother doesn't know how far he can go, but he'll give it everything. If I somehow survive this, I'll make sure the Crimson Guild is erased from the human world." That was Xiao Chen's promise to Wang Zhen and Liu Mei. His promise to himself. Xiao Chen opened the Auction House and searched for a Universal Skill book. 【True Sight: Perceive the true nature of things. Discern reality from illusion. Can penetrate invisibility, disguises, and camouflage.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Note: Effectiveness scales with the user's Spirit stat. Price: 1, 000, 000 Gold Coins! 】 An absurdly expensive skill book. Compared to the thousand-gold summoning skills, this was a thousand times the price. If he hadn't lucked into that god-tier snipe, Xiao Chen wouldn't have had enough. He could take or leave other skill books. This one was mandatory. With 【True Sight】 active, the world looked different.

He could see farther, clearer -- he could even read basic information about the wild grass growing beside him. At high enough Spirit, you really could perceive the essence of things.

"Definitely way better than Anti-Stealth Potions." A million gold still stung, though. After buying the skill book, Xiao Chen started making his way toward the guild territory. Along the way, he reached out to a few friends. Killing a Lv. 200+ Boss -- there was no way that went unnoticed. Xiao Chen was basically a Tiannan City celebrity now. His name and photo had even appeared on the forums. With this level of attention, anyone who saw him would recognize him.

"The Crimson Guild must have noticed that announcement, right?" If they really wanted him dead, they'd have assassins lying in wait along every route back to the city. In a nondescript room in Tiannan City, Lin Jue stood anxiously, watching an old man eat noodles. Lin Jue was a top-tier Assassin, closing in on Lv. 130. But facing this Lv. 120 old man, he was incredibly nervous. In his eyes, this man was terrifying -- far more terrifying than Xiao Yan, Blue Star's strongest player.

The old man ate his noodles without paying much attention to Lin Jue standing beside him.

"I still miss the old flavors. Before the game invasion, this was all I ever wanted to eat. Even now, I only love it more." The old man finished every drop of his bowl, then carefully wiped each finger clean.

"I'm a nostalgic man. Lin Jue, you've been with me for nearly a hundred years now." Hearing this, Lin Jue remembered that rainy night a century ago. Freshly Awakened, trembling, he'd raised his dagger and taken the lives of ten dying Awakened from his own orphanage.

"Lin Jue, better they die to your blade than to some monster, don't you think?"

"You're good. Ruthless enough. An ordinary person couldn't have killed friends raised alongside them in the same orphanage."

"Lin Jue, you'll walk a unique path to godhood. Don't look at me like that. One day, you'll thank me."

"When I first killed, I was afraid too. Terrified. But after you've killed tens of thousands, you'll only regret not killing more."

"Every life is wealth. Attribute points. Raw power."

"Can you imagine? Ten thousand kills means over ten thousand extra stats." After enough kills, it really was just a number. How terrifying was someone who'd survived since before the game invasion? Even doing absolutely nothing, the planar reward attribute points alone would be astronomical. This man possessed horrifying power, yet he kept his level deliberately middling -- never high, never low. He'd long had the strength to contest the leaderboards, yet his name never appeared on them.

No one would ever guess that the true controller of the Crimson Guild wasn't one of those Lv. 140 or Lv. 150 top players.

"Boss, I need to work harder."

"That boy Xiao Chen. You're the one tailing him?"

"Yes."

"You definitely need to work harder. A hundred years since your Awakening, and you can't take down a five-year Archer? Embarrassing."

"I've reviewed his file. Decent potential. The kid's lucky -- Awakened something like 【Death Blow】. You might've been thinking of fattening him up before the kill, but scrap that plan. Find an opportunity and deal with him directly." Someone who made Planar Announcements and had a blood feud with the Crimson Guild had no business existing in this world.

"Boss, I could never track him down."

"In our line of work, patience is everything. Can't wait a month? Wait a year. Can't wait a year? Wait another. If you're thorough enough, no one stays hidden forever."

"Understood."

"I'm assigning you ten helpers. You focus on Xiao Chen and nothing else."

"With luck, you'll get excellent drops. Possibly even an Epic-grade necklace." Hearing "Epic-grade necklace," Lin Jue's eyes gleamed with greed.

"Lin Jue, if this goes well, I'll arrange a Lv. 150+ pig for you to kill."

"If you fail... you'll be the pig." Lin Jue quickly swore: "I'll complete the mission."

"Go then."

"And remember -- be thorough." Lin Jue activated stealth and vanished. The old man gazed at the sky outside, murmuring: "Why do I feel uneasy?"

"This feeling... it hasn't surfaced in a hundred years." Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts: "Old man, could you open the door?"

"Coming!" He was the founder of the Crimson Guild. He was also the building's dedicated doorman.