Chapter 21 of 100
Chapter 21
15 min read3,688 words
Just a little more! Ji Ran looked at his experience bar. Yes, just a little more, a tiny bit more...
So, he turned his gaze to the True God Cultist who was on the verge of death.
However, his injuries were too severe, and his true qi was almost depleted, making it impossible for him to use the skill "Within an Inch of a Thousand Miles." But he had his own way. Glancing at the high priest who was smugly looking at everyone, Ji Ran suddenly used all his strength to throw the greatsword in his hand toward the True God Cultist!
The greatsword spun through the air, instantly reaching the True God Cultist and slicing through his neck in one swift motion.
Although the True God Cultist had been enhanced by divine magic, he was not truly invincible. If his injuries were too severe, he would still die. The True God Cultist was already on the brink of death from the dark red light ball's impact, and Ji Ran's thrown greatsword was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
The True God Cultist died, and Ji Ran's experience bar jumped up a bit.
Thus, his level increased to 25.
Level 25 was actually a very ordinary level, but it brought two effects.
One was instant full health and mana, and the other was meeting the conditions to comprehend a sword skill.
The full health and mana were easy to understand; this was a common setting in online games, where players would be fully restored upon leveling up, feeling brand new. This instantly improved Ji Ran's condition, making all his pain and injuries disappear. This level-up effect could remove most abnormal statuses, except for some particularly powerful plot-related statuses... which he wasn't yet qualified to be affected by.
His body was completely restored, and his combat power was back to its peak. However, even now, Ji Ran was still no match for the level 5 priest.
The level 5 priest had only used up some mana and had some major skills on cooldown. In a real fight, Ji Ran still had no confidence.
However, meeting the conditions to comprehend a sword skill was a different matter.
In "Sword Hero Unparalleled," the sword skills of the Sword Vault were quite mysterious. Everyone knew the 24 basic sword moves, but the sword skills were unpredictable. Apart from some sword skills with very low comprehension conditions that almost everyone could grasp, no one could summarize a pattern for other sword skills... Many people comprehended sword skills without even knowing how they did it.
In the game, the person who openly comprehended the most sword skills had a total of 19. As for Ji Ran, he couldn't match this person but was close, having comprehended 16 sword skills.
However, only 11 of these sword skills overlapped. This meant that the Four Seasons Sword Technique could comprehend far more than just 19 sword skills!
However, these 11 overlapping sword skills were the ones that most Sword Vault players could master. These sword skills had roughly discernible patterns, though some conditions were quite strict, but at least there was a goal—everyone wasn't an expert, and not everyone could have their own unique skills.
Ji Ran currently didn't have the conditions to comprehend his own unique skills. What he needed was a widely known and well-understood sword skill that could be powerful even at low levels.
This sword skill wasn't an ordinary one. In the game, such skills were called "Ultimate Sword Skills," and players referred to them as "Killer Sword Skills."
The common feature of these skills was that they required consuming more than one sword qi bar. The power of these skills far exceeded that of ordinary sword skills. They had more spectacular effects and cooler actions, and once they hit, they could cut a large segment of the opponent's health bar, or even kill them directly!
However, if these killer sword skills missed, they would leave a significant opening. True experts would use killer sword skills when the opponent couldn't block or defend, while beginners would recklessly use them without restraint.
What Ji Ran needed to comprehend now was such a killer sword skill. In fact, the conditions to comprehend this skill were quite simple, and almost every Sword Vault player could meet them. Using the sword moves more than 3,000 times, comprehending at least two other sword skills, and having the fourth-level sword technique at level 2 or higher... Ji Ran met all these conditions. The last condition was reaching level 25.
Now, with his level reaching 25 and his status fully restored, the killer sword skill "Lightning Flash" appeared.
This sword skill was the most widespread killer sword skill of the Sword Vault and also the lowest-level killer sword skill. However, this didn't mean it was weak. In fact, from level 25 to over 100, this skill always held a significant position in the Four Seasons Sword Technique.
Lightning Flash, fleeting as a flash. Moving at an extremely fast speed, sword qi erupts, slicing through in one swift motion!
This was an instant burst, extremely powerful sword skill!
With his status fully restored, Ji Ran didn't rashly stand up. Using this skill head-on was easy to block. If it was a low-level opponent, it would be fine, but a level 5 priest might make the skill ineffective. He needed an opportunity, a moment when the level 5 priest exposed a weakness!
His act of killing the True God Cultist surprised the level 5 priest, but it didn't anger him. Instead, he laughed with interest.
"Desperate struggle? Well, the more people you kill, the more blood you will be stained with. The True God will like your soul, and your soul will make the True God even stronger, hahaha..."
The level 5 priest laughed loudly as he walked toward Ji Ran. Dark red light was faintly glowing around him.
Having thrown the greatsword, Ji Ran was now weaponless. The longsword was still hanging at his waist, but he didn't plan to use this ordinary iron sword. So, he rolled on the ground and grabbed the bone blade that had fallen from Les's hand.
"Struggle, despair... these are the True God's favorite seasonings!" The level 5 priest laughed with a distorted face, raised a hand, and aimed it at Ji Ran. A dark red light was gathering in his hand...
Ji Ran suddenly crouched, pushed off with his feet, and used "Within an Inch of a Thousand Miles"!
In an instant, Ji Ran disappeared from his original position and advanced several meters, directly reaching the side of the level 5 priest! He raised the bone blade, ready to slash down at the priest's head!
The level 5 priest was surprised by Ji Ran's sudden burst of speed but wasn't afraid. He raised a hand, and a light appeared in front of him, blocking Ji Ran's sword.
"I didn't expect you to still have the strength to move. You were clearly injured just now..."
Ji Ran didn't respond but instead stabbed the bone blade into the ground, pouring true qi into it!
Earthquake!
The bone blade's active skill, a large-scale, indiscriminate attack!
In an instant, the ground shook violently, cracking in countless places. The level 5 priest lost his footing and stumbled but quickly recovered.
"The True God says, I can fly!" A light lifted him off the ground, making him float in the air. The ground's shaking couldn't affect him, and it made him appear even more majestic.
"This petty trick is useless against the True God's servant..." The level 5 priest's words were cut off as a surge of sword qi erupted from the ground!
The sword qi made the level 5 priest a bit flustered, dodging the sword qi that spewed from the cracks. However, he quickly flew to a place where the sword qi couldn't reach, looking down at everyone while simultaneously chanting a powerful spell. Maintaining the flight spell seemed to be a burden, so he only added a thin shield to himself, not using the solid light to protect himself as before.
"Damn sinners, the time has come. The True God is impatient, quickly offer your blood-soaked souls to the True God..."
Hovering in the air where the sword qi couldn't reach, the level 5 priest looked at Ji Ran and the others as if they were already dead. Les and the others also showed signs of despair...
Jumping up, Ji Ran suddenly stepped on a surge of sword qi, using its upward force to leap into the air, reaching the same height as the level 5 priest!
"Damn!" The level 5 priest's expression finally changed, but he quickly pulled a statue-like object from his neck.
"All sinners of the True God will be destroyed!" The level 5 priest threw the statue directly at Ji Ran. In mid-air, the statue transformed into a dark red light, rushing straight at Ji Ran!
Ji Ran didn't dodge. In mid-air, he couldn't evade, and the sword qi under his feet had already injured him. The dark red light in front of him, due to being hastily triggered by a magic item, wasn't very dense. In this case...
Sword qi burst! Defensive type!
Consuming one full bar of sword qi to create a sword qi shield for himself! Although the defense wasn't as strong as the level 5 priest's spell, it should be enough to break through the dark red light!
In mid-air, "Within an Inch of a Thousand Miles" was activated. Ji Ran tilted his body, dragging the bone blade to one side. He charged straight at the level 5 priest without hesitation!
Killer sword skill, Lightning Flash!
His entire body turned into a streak of light. The speed was so fast that the level 5 priest could barely see it, let alone dodge. The streak of light pierced through the dark red light, instantly reaching the priest, and then disappeared in front of him.
After the flash, Ji Ran's body rushed to the back of the level 5 priest. The forward momentum stopped, and with no support in mid-air, his body fell to the ground.
Before landing, Ji Ran gritted his teeth, enduring the weakness from his injuries, and forcefully stabbed the bone blade into the ground. Using the reaction force, he curled his body into a ball and rolled several times on the ground.
Even so, the impact of landing from that height still worsened his injuries. Lying on the ground, he didn't have the strength to get up for a while.
Behind him, the level 5 priest, who had been hovering in the air, stared with wide eyes, mouth agape, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
After a pause, the level 5 priest's body suddenly split into two. Accompanied by a rain of blood, the two halves of the corpse fell to the ground from the air.
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