Chapter 99

After the black-robed man died, those blood shadows also disappeared.

"This space still exists, it seems this guy wasn't the final mastermind after all." Yun Di shook his head.

"It's a pity we couldn't capture him alive; otherwise, we might have been able to ask him some questions." Zhou Xian shook his head, regretting not capturing the black-robed man. Moreover, the situation at the game headquarters still wasn't clear, with those terrifying ghostly figures and strange places. The black-robed man's words just now seemed to be a hint, suggesting that he had transformed this place into his base, but what about before that? Unfortunately, now all these questions can't be answered.

"Ah... Sorry, I accidentally mixed up reality and the game just now. I didn't expect that in the real world, hitting a vital spot would make someone collapse immediately..."

In the game, there was HP, but no special vital spots, which was somewhat different from the real world. Although Zhou Xian felt a bit helpless, this person was a Great Emperor player, and it would be good to form a good connection.

"So, what do we do now?" Zhou Xian asked tentatively.

"Hmm... I think we can wait and see. Let's come back and check this place tomorrow; maybe the mastermind will show up."

"Alright." Zhou Xian glanced at the black-robed man pinned to the wall with a dagger, and the two of them left.

On the way, those zombies were still active, indicating that the mastermind was still alive, and the black-robed man was just a proxy, or even possibly someone who had infiltrated here like Zhou Xian and the others.

After exchanging contact information, Zhou Xian parted ways with Yun Di.

At this moment, it was already midnight, and there were no notable commercial places around, so the area was quite dim.

"Phew, at least I'm not in that terrifying place anymore."

The temperature in July was very high, and even at night, there was no coolness. However, this stifling heat was much better than the chilling ghost house.

This place seemed to have few people around. Zhou Xian looked around and suddenly dodged to the side without any warning!

At that moment, an ice spike stabbed at the spot where Zhou Xian had just been, carrying a hint of killing intent.

"Side step?!"

The black-robed man, standing on the roof of a low building, looked down at Zhou Xian.

"You didn't die..."

"Ha ha ha! Two people together are a bit hard to handle, but if it's just you alone, you're no match for me at all!"

"I see, this was a trap to make us let our guard down."

For some reason, Zhou Xian suddenly felt that this black-robed man was even more dangerous than before.

"Roar!" The black-robed man roared and jumped down from the roof, wielding a large sword and slashing down at Zhou Xian.

Zhou Xian used a reverse step to avoid the attack and immediately cast a Soul Dao Charm.

The black-robed man's evasion was also quick. Despite being in the air, he easily avoided Zhou Xian's attack with a flip and landed gracefully on the ground.

The black-robed man, seemingly unimpeded, quickly leaped toward Zhou Xian after landing, and his long sword stabbed fiercely at Zhou Xian!

This was just an ordinary slash, but it made Zhou Xian feel a sense of despair, as if there was no way to avoid it.

Too strong... So there's no way to fight back—!

Earth Escape!

Zhou Xian immediately wanted to use Earth Escape, but he suddenly realized that the spot he was standing on seemed wrong. Under his feet were some pipes!

Under his feet, Zhou Xian also noticed a gas pipe manhole cover.

"Divine War Armor!"

Since he couldn't block or escape, he could only take the hit.

Zhou Xian immediately summoned the Divine War Armor.

The Divine War Armor on his body collided with the long sword, and Zhou Xian immediately felt intense pain.

However, Zhou Xian used this force to quickly retreat and cast a Nether Fire Charm.

"Boom!"

The concrete on the ground was torn apart by Zhou Xian's attack.

"Skills aren't used like that!"

Three fireballs from the black-robed man immediately shot toward Zhou Xian. Zhou Xian dodged and retreated, and cast a Ghost Shield to protect himself from mages.

"Clap!" Almost at the same time, a bolt of lightning struck from the sky, hitting Zhou Xian, but he managed to dodge it.

"Poison Skill!"

The Poison Skill, which was highly effective in the real world, was immediately used by Zhou Xian.

After being hit by the Poison Skill, the black-robed man clearly trembled, obviously affected by the negative status.

"Right now!"

Zhou Xian swung his purple sword and charged at the opponent.

"Clang!"

Just as Zhou Xian was about to hit the black-robed man, the black-robed man's long sword blocked his attack.

But the long sword in Zhou Xian's hand suddenly turned into a fire sword, piercing through the black-robed man's defense.

"Do you think the same move can work on me twice?!"

The black-robed man didn't dodge and charged straight at Zhou Xian!

A side step, Zhou Xian avoided the attack, but his offensive was also repelled.

But Zhou Xian's other hand was already holding a charm and pressing it against the black-robed man.

"Soul Dao Charm!"

The Soul Dao Charm at point-blank range immediately hit the black-robed man, and Zhou Xian was also forced back by the shockwave. In his view, the black-robed man was clearly not going to survive.

"Phew, phew, good thing I cast a magic shield at the last moment, or it would have been really bad."

The black-robed man, far away, struggled to stand up.

"You have a lot of skills..."

"Hmph, if I didn't have many, I would have been killed by you just now. But let me show you that my abilities aren't just limited to the skills in the game!"

After saying that, the black-robed man raised his sword again and charged at Zhou Xian.

Unlike in the game, in the real world, there weren't as many tactics available, and tactics that hurt both sides would cause more harm to oneself. For a Taoist, the inability to summon pets was a significant limitation.

At this moment, Zhou Xian was clearly in a tough battle.

"Even though you're a mage, you're so strong in close combat in the real world..."

If it were in the game, even in a fair competition mode, Zhou Xian could use close combat to suppress the opponent, even if the opponent was a descendant of the Nine Swords of Solitude—because in the game, mages could only use staves.

But in the real world, Zhou Xian encountered a situation that would never happen in the game.

This person was different from the three brothers he had encountered before; he was clearly not a novice. Each sword technique he used had terrifying power. In this situation, even the displacement techniques he had learned were not very effective, and the only ones he could use were the three major displacement skills.

"Hey, you over there, are you some kind of martial arts expert?"

Zhou Xian asked while trying to buy time.

"Heh, if you're willing to give me your account and password, I might teach you a few moves. If you have good potential, I might even teach you more," the man said with a playful tone.

"Sorry, that's not going to happen. You're not an employee of the game company, are you? Where did you take those people?"

"Trying to trick me? Ha ha ha, you're still too young."

The pressure the black-robed man gave Zhou Xian was almost completely different from when they were at the game company headquarters.

"..." Zhou Xian glanced at the mirror of the Five Directions Formation, which now had a crack. He didn't know how long it could hold.

His Dao power had dropped below 50%, and fatigue and other side effects were starting to set in.

"It's just two strings of data, why are you so stubborn?"

The black-robed man shook his head.

"Hmph, but the things these two strings of data can control are probably not just data."

The data was still in Zhou Xian's TX-800.

Just the secrets in these data, if revealed, could shock all the players and cause a massive storm.

This game was not just a game; it also contained "rune technology" that was completely different from the real world. Its influence extended beyond just the players, even affecting the national level.

"It seems talking won't help. I'll capture you and get the information out of you slowly!"

The black-robed man charged again, and Zhou Xian hastily defended but was pushed back. However, he immediately used a reverse step to escape the attack.

But the black-robed man didn't stop and immediately summoned three ice spikes, which shot toward Zhou Xian!

Zhou Xian dodged to the side, avoiding the attack.

"Hmph, you fell for it!"

At that moment, Zhou Xian clearly felt a scorching heat from above; it was Meteor Fire Rain! The previous attack had clearly placed him within the range of this skill.

"Right now!"

Seeing the Meteor Fire Rain, Zhou Xian was not alarmed but rather delighted.

Zhou Xian immediately took out a simple formation and reactivated the Five Directions Formation.

A clear bird call, and the illusion of the Vermilion Bird of Fire appeared in the sky, blocking the terrifying attack for Zhou Xian. Then, the illusion of the White Tiger of Metal charged at the black-robed man, but its sharp claws were blocked by the black-robed man's sword.

"Trap Demon Spell!" This time, Zhou Xian didn't dodge but used the Trap Demon Spell to trap the black-robed man in place.

"You—?!"

The black-robed man didn't expect Zhou Xian to use such a move. In these few seconds, what could be done? At the same time, the illusions of the Azure Dragon, True Wu, and Qilin appeared around Zhou Xian, protecting him.

"Clap!"

This was the sound of the Meteor Fire Rain hitting the ground and piercing through it.

"—Boom!!" A massive explosion surged from underground.

"Below is a gas pipe!"

Only when he noticed the smell of gas in the air did the black-robed man realize the danger.

The terrifying force of the gas explosion engulfed both Zhou Xian and the black-robed man, leaving only a red glow...