by Fat Bread
Three green crystals immediately turned into ashes and began to enhance the newbie iron sword for the first time.
The green light points infiltrated the newbie iron sword and engraved new grooves on the common newbie iron sword.
Every groove would use three green crystals. After using up nine green crystals, the newbie iron sword had three beautiful ancient-style grooves on it which made it look better.
However, the green crystals gave no response at all after that.
"Could it only be enhanced three times?" Yun Xi knew that this was the newbie iron sword's limit. It was limited by its material quality and couldn't be engraved with any more grooves in it.
To be honest, even the three grooves had surprised Yun Xi. He didn't know how it was made, it was a superlative craftsmanship.
After enhancing three times, it didn't change anything, no matter its centre of gravity or quality of balance. However, its material quality and sharpness had been improved to a higher level.
Perhaps the newbie iron sword couldn't compare to the two-handed sword of Thunder Army now, but it was already a fine sword. It could at least be regarded as a top grade weapon among all Mortal weapons.
Especially, when it had the special property - "Never wear", which was the only property of the newbie weapon.
"Well, then, it's your turn now." After successfully enhancing the newbie iron sword, Yun Xi enhanced the newbie cloth armor and the newbie wooden shield to their limit without hesitation.
As the same as the newbie iron sword, the enhancing limit of the newbie cloth armor and the newbie wooden shield was three times. However, the cloth armor needed three times more green crystals than the iron sword, which meant that it used nine fragments of green crystals to engrave a single groove.
After that, Yun Xi had used all the fragments of green crystals he obtained in the first level.
However, the expensive enhancement brought Yun Xi power. After putting the three pieces of newbie equipment on his body, Yun Xi could clearly feel the power the pieces of equipment brought him.
Chapter 47: Lancers
The first was the newbie iron sword. The iron sword was the weapon Yun Xi was most comfortable with. And now it was brand new, shining cold light from its sword handle to the point of the blade.
Undoubtedly, its weight and center didn't change, but it was more comfortable and flexible to hold it in his hands.
If there was a specific way to describe it, the newbie sword has enhanced Yun Xi's combat power by over 150%.
The next was the newbie cloth armor. After engraving three grooves on it, it supported Yun Xi by defending his vulnerable body parts better. At least, he wouldn't be cut so easily again.
As for the last one, the newbie wooden shield, it improved in stability and anti-impact ability; which also meant that Yun Xi needed to master higher skills to use it.
After experiencing violent battles, wandering between death and life, Yun Xi was keenly aware of the importance of good weapons and equipment on the battlefield.
If he had these three pieces of equipment at that time, perhaps he would only to die a hundred times and would pass through the first test perfectly.
This was also the reason as to why he enhanced all his equipment without any hesitation after getting the fragments of green crystal.
Because of the horror of death, it made him feel the value of life more clearly.
Humans shouldn't get used to death. Yun Xi didn't become numb to the frequent deaths but only valued his own life more carefully.
He knew that people died if they were killed. In the real world, there was no bonfire that could l revive him without limit.
"My strength improved by about... 10%?" At the end of the first stage of the trial, Yun Xi absorbed all the souls of the stone soldier army.
The souls of every single stone soldier only offered Yun Xi a few improvements. Even after he had absorbed the last three stone soldiers' souls, they couldn't match up with the green hippo's soul at all.
The energy in the souls of the stone soldier army was more than the energy of the green hippo's soul by about 1.5 times, but to kill them was far more difficult than to kill the green hippo. Yun Xi even missed the stupid green hippo a little from the newbie trial.
The green hippo's soul let Yun Xi become a 1st-ranked swordsman and the green hippo's seed let Yun Xi level up to 2nd rank after his Limit Practice.
Well, though the hippo was supposed to be killed, but it would be regarded as a pretty good novice package. It would be better if Ashen summoned more hippos at that time.
"The next step, is to choose the route." Standing in the empty palace, Yun Xi looked at the doors leading to two different areas.
Behind the two doors, there were wide bridges and both bridges had several stone soldiers wandering on them.
The door on the left led to the volcanic area, where gathered countless flames - It was the location of the young heroine, who was going to fight the evil dragon.
The door on the right led to the great tower - At the end of the coastline waited the imprisoned princess.
Now, Yun Xi had to make his choice.
Should he do the branch quest first, meeting with his childhood sweetheart and fighting against the evil dragon in the volcanic area with her, or directly finish the main quest, going to the great tower to save the princess of the twin witches?
"By the way, do they really need my help?" Yun Xi stood in the middle of the fork with a helpless expression on his face.
The road to the left led to his childhood sweetheart Hua Huo. His strongest ability was obtained from her seed. Did such an awesome childhood sweetheart really need him to fight side by side with her?
The road to the right led to the twin witches, Red Lotus and White Lotus. Hey, hey, hey! Is there even anyone in the village that’s able to imprison you? You are two Hero ranked warriors who can even fly!
Thinking about it, Yun Xi felt that the world was so ridiculous.
"Sure enough, I should go meet with Hua Huo." Though in the hot spring White Lotus showed her love to him, but in Yun Xi's heart, Hua Huo was the most important one.
After all, they were childhood sweethearts who lived together for ten years. Besides, she was also his first love; he knew her quite well.
Since he had made the decision, Yun Xi didn't hesitate anymore. He directly rushed out of the palace.
"Ka La! Ka La!" In the hallway, a stone soldier holding a lance in its hand leaped into the air. It brandished its lance and locked onto Yun Xi's position.
3rd rank! It was a strong stone soldier at the 3rd rank! Was its class Lancer?
The attack of a 3rd rank was far more powerful than the attack of a 2nd rank. Anyone who was at the 3rd rank was certain to have mastered a method to improve his power and could break out with a power that Mortals could never imagine.
They were the strongest presences amongst all Mortals. Each one of them could be regarded as a valiant general who could fight one against thousands of enemies.
"Ding!" The wooden shield he had just enhanced played a role at this crucial moment. It helped Yun Xi block the mortal blow from the sky.
Quicksilver Motion and Flying Swallow Sword! His combat instinct waking up immediately, Yun Xi struck back.
"Chi! Chi! Chi!" The sharp lance danced like a violent storm in the air, breaking through Yun Xi's Flying Swallow Sword from the center and thrusting into Yun Xi's chest.
The enhanced newbie cloth armor worked again. It helped Yun Xi block the unknown 3rd-ranked strong person's thrust.
"Cough!" Yun Xi vomited out blood from his mouth as he quickly stepped back.
The enemy was too strong. He was more powerful than the 3rd-ranked enemies Yun Xi had met before. Even the green hippo wasn't at the same level with him.
He was apparently a veteran of many wars. His lance never drew back, he was really a violent general-like man. And his lance skill was also a military style, it had no extra skills except the killing tec
hniques themselves.
"Hoo!" He didn't give Yun Xi the chance to adjust himself. After the thrusting, the violent general-like man swept Yun Xi to the sky with his shield.
"Too bad, I lost my balance!" Yun Xi heard harsh howling. It was the fatal announcement of death.
"Just fight!" Yun Xi threw away the newbie wooden shield. He struck an unnatural pose and brandished his sword nine times in the air.
It was the secret sword skill he used to kill the owner of the Snake Bones Soft Sword, a skill that could only be used after mastering Flying Swallow Skill, killing his enemy by brandishing his sword nine times from different angles and directions.
"Uh?" With a surprised voice, the lance struck back nine times on the nine sword waves, breaking Yun Xi's unique skill from the center again.
He was too strong. What to do? Yun Xi turned around in the air, standing on the stone pillar of the bridge. For the first time, he looked his opponent up and down.
Yun Xi surprisingly found that he wasn't a Childe of a noble family, but a real general wearing military armor.
He even knew the general very well. When he was still young, the general and his army had passed by the small village more than once.
"Why is it him?" Yun Xi was dumbfounded. After all, he was a former general of the White Lotus Sword Domain, an army chief who had the title as "Battle Deity"!
When he was young, the general was the idol of many boys in the village and was the only 3rd-ranked person who emerged from the small village.
As far as Yun Xi knew, he was over forty-years-old this year.
Chapter 48: The Five Great Generals
So, the trial didn't only pull the young Childes of the noble families in here, but older people were in its range as well...
Yun Xi remembered that when he was young, a "Battle Deity" was a big deal.
Not only him. There were also other generals who passed by the small village sometimes when they led their troops to go on patrol.
They were called the "Five Tiger Generals" and were seen as great heroes.
When didn't the young boys and girls in the village regard themselves as their heroes?
Well, Yun Xi remembered what happened after Hua Huo dueled them.
In the duel, Hua Huo beat the five people down at the same time.
After that, Hua Huo replaced the position of the five generals, becoming the unquestionable number one in the hearts of all the young boys and girls in village.
He remembered that the invitation of White Lotus Sword Palace was also sent to her at that time.
Since a genuine "Battle Deity" was here, Yun Xi had a hunch that the several big and tall stone soldiers behind him were...
Yun Xi raised his head up, looking at the several familiar faces.
They looked like they were cut from the same mold. They all had strong muscles, big and tall bodies, finely tempered, fine steel lances, and looked like five standard lancers.
Yes, they were the famous Five Tiger Generals in the Mortal army of the White Lotus Sword Domain, the successors of the "Ruinous Star Sect", which was located in the sword blade region of the domain. It was said they were five cousins.
Zhao Ming, Zhao Xiong, Zhao Chu, Zhao Chui, and Zhao Shen. These were the Five Tiger Generals' names, and the true name of the general "Battle Deity" was Zhao Xiong.
However, many people thought the five generals looked like they were cut from the same mold. No matter if it was their powerful muscles or frightening faces, it made everyone refuse to believe that they were not brothers.
The reason people called them the "Five Tiger Generals", was because their faces were too alike.
"General Zhao Xiong." Yun Xi adjusted his breath.
This was the first time he would fight against a general who was so powerful, that he alone could replace a thousand normal enemies. Yun Xi felt a little nervous.
No matter if it were battle skills, attack power, or fighting abilities, the green hippo who had only brute force couldn't be compared to General Zhao Xiong.
Even if he ignored other factors, his simple "sweep away" skill had already forced Yun Xi into a desperate situation.
However, Hua Huo's seed sent him a strange piece of information. It seemed to be trying to tell Yun Xi that general "Battle Deity" Zhao Xiong, wasn't unbeatable.
At that time, when Hua Huo put herself against the Five Tiger Generals and defeated them one by one, she wasn't at the 3rd rank, but at the 2nd rank, the same as Yun Xi.
"Is this... true?" If Yun Xi didn't obtain Hua Huo's seed, he would never have figured out that the five generals, who were also known as the Five Military Strategists, had the same weakness.
"Well... it should be here..." Yun Xi looked around, then skillfully dashed towards General Zhao Xiong.
"Ohhhh!" General Zhao Xiong looked pretty excited. In the dream, he seemed to have returned to the most important battle in his life.
At that day, his opponent was also so tiny and nimble, it seemed as if he could easily beat her down by a sudden strike.
However, in the end, the battle ended with his crushing defeat. Not only him, but his four brothers - Zhao Ming, Zhao Chu, Zhao Chui, and Zhao Shen, were all defeated by the little girl's sword.
That was the first time he realized how wide the gap was among geniuses and ordinary people, and that battle also became the turning point of his life.
After being defeated by the sword skill of the genius girl, he finally realized the limit of his talent. He understood that he probably couldn't step on the road to the Hero rank during his lifetime. Then, he gave up, he followed his family's arrangement: marrying a wife and having a son. Now, his children were already old enough to hold a lance.
Perhaps that was the limit of his life. He had pinned all his hopes on his children.
Now, his son had succeeded his blood. Though his son could only practice with a wooden lance now, but his lance skill already looked like his father's and would definitely surpass him.
However sometimes, when he woke up from a dream, he couldn't stop himself from imagining what would have happened if he had won that duel.
He thought he wasn't the only one who thought so. His brothers, who also had gotten married and had children, would also imagine that battle.
Zhao Ming, Zhao Xiong, Zhao Chu, Zhao Chui, and Zhao Shen, they were called the Five Tiger Generals. They must've cared about that duel too much, so they had this dream together.
The opponent in their dream wasn't a girl. However, his sword skill and battle style looked exactly like the genius girl they remembered.
What a wonderful dream!
After that battle, they had reflected on it countless times. They practiced their lance skills, thinking about the mistakes they made in the battle over and over again. Now, they finally had the opportunity to fight again in the dream!
"He ha!" Zhao Xiong shouted. The lance he held rotated, drawing a circle in the air. He dashed towards Yun Xi.
This was it, this was the feeling! The feeling that, though his strength and attacks held the advantage, his heart still beat heavily.
Kid, try your best!
Let's start a jolly and hearty fight!
One on one!
"One... two... three... four..." Yun Xi took a few nimble steps, shielding the heavy lance arc by using his sword. Then, he showed his back to General Zhao Xiong, exposing his weakness on purpose.
At the moment Yun Xi showed him his back, General Zhao Xiong's eyes suddenly turned red. His steel lance rotated like a drilling bit, starting his fatal-violent lunge toward Yun Xi.
"Here it is... five... six..." Yun Xi rolled over, which almost was at the extreme limit of the human body and then jumped up on the edge of the bridge.
"Boom!" General Zhao Xiong's lance furiously broke through the balustrade of the bridge. Then, he dropped down into the green water under the bridge without hesitation.
"Plop!" With a loud noise, the water splashed ten meters high.
After about
dozens of seconds, a ball of green soul of the stone soldier flew to Yun Xi.
"Eh... so it's true..." Yun Xi stood on the position General Zhao Xiong dashed down from on the bridge, looking at the traces caused by the severe friction. For a moment, he was stunned.
The Five Tiger Generals were the successors of military strategists. They were experts in charging and breaking enemy positions by using their skilled lance skills, and they had a strong compulsion to attack when their opponent's exposed their weakness. He could defeat them by using this tactic, making them have an error in judgment.
