“He saved me?” Kai murmured, head bowed as she stared at her hands—chains severed, wrists free. A faint trace of gratitude colored her voice. “Honestly… this might be the gentlest robbery I’ve ever experienced!”
Ou Tao didn’t glance back. His gaze locked ahead where the fifty-coin goblin buddies approached the snowmen. “If you don’t want to die later because of my bad luck,” his voice drifted to her, “find somewhere to hide.”
Kai rose silently, palms resting gently over her chest. Obediently, she slipped behind cover.
Time to gamble again. To reset the aggro, every snowman wearing black-and-white scarves had to vanish. Fastest way? Smash one. The rest would chain-explode.
Fifty-fifty odds: either drop materials or consumables worth a hundred gold… or summon a level-70 horror.
Both kept distance. If luck failed, the goblin buddy’s sacrifice would buy Ou Tao two seconds to read the monster—eight more to stall.
Kai swallowed hard. The goblin struck a heroic pose, swung his curved blade at the nearest snowman—
*Boom!* Golden sparks erupted. Chain reaction ignited. Flashes of gold lit the air like a golden fireworks display, swirling together… and coalescing into a single bracelet.
Both exhaled in relief.
“Phew… thank goodness. Not a monster,” Kai whispered, rubbing her chest.
The goblin trotted over with the loot: a Heavenly Principle bracelet.
This world’s skill system had two types. Standard skills—like Ou Tao’s Descent and Reverse Edge—consumed mana and cooled down quickly.
Then came Principle of Heaven skills: divine gifts granted to all life. At level 10, anyone could buy a bracelet for a hundred gold to learn them. Fixed two-hour cooldown. Uninterruptible. Unconditional. No cost. Immune to silence, stun, suppression, confusion. Over a dozen options existed. Each bracelet held three slots. One person, one bracelet.
Ou Tao slipped it on. “Not rare, but perfectly timed. Saves me a trip to town.”
“Wait—you *just* hit level 10? And you’re from some remote mountain village?” Kai’s crimson eyes widened in disbelief.
Ou Tao shrugged. “Does this farmer’s outfit not scream ‘country bumpkin’?”
Kai looked away. That flawless Reverse Edge sheath… his seasoned aura… she’d pegged him as a city-based leader reviving the Spiritblade Knight legacy. But if he only just got his Heavenly Principle bracelet—was he telling the truth? Could anyone master a skill’s trajectory and force *that* fast?
Ou Tao finalized his selections. Kai swiped her finger, stunned. “Blink. Blink. *Blink?!*”
“Are you insane?” Anxiety flickered across her face. “Blink just teleports you! No damage, no defense, no heal, no buff! This build is wrong!”
Ou Tao chuckled lightly. “Not your concern.”
Goblins had drawn the white-scarved snowmen’s aggro. Ou Tao recalled them with Reverse Edge. Shared aggro flared—snowmen swarmed him.
“Hey! I’m trying to help! This is hard-earned advice!” Kai lunged to stop him, but he charged forward without a glance.
“Stop!” She grabbed his cloak. His blade flashed out in reverse grip—halting inches from her face. In-game, she’d be split clean. Figure aside. But he remembered: she was real. He lowered the blade. “I freed you to hide. Not to interfere.”
Kai’s pulse hammered. His intent had felt chillingly real—like he’d kill her for wasting one second.
Swallowing hard, she gripped his hand. “You can’t go on. Three Dark Guild members invaded our village. Level 12 each… yet they slaughtered over a dozen level-12 swordsmen, knights… and my father. Wen Laien.”
Bika instantly queried the intel net.
“Sir. Wen Laien Eugene: craftsman of Stone Hammer Village. Level 70. Renowned Spirit Smith. Forged weapons for countless masters. Combat power equivalent to a level-17 T1 class.”
