Chapter 5: Bullying with Numbers, No Martial Virtue

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Bullying with Numbers, No Martial Virtue

In the dim underground tomb, Lu Chen explored cautiously.

Although dying in a Dungeon wouldn’t affect him in reality, Lu Chen had no desire to die for no reason. This was especially true since he had activated "Immersion Mode," which made everything feel incredibly real. Infinite Resurrection only made him fearless of death; it didn’t mean he was immune to pain.

After walking for about three minutes, he finally emerged from the narrow passage, and a modest-sized underground crypt appeared before him.

In the center of the crypt sat a coffin, surrounded by ten puppets gleaming with a cyan metallic luster. Upon seeing these puppets, Lu Chen came to a cautious halt. He noticed that as he stepped into the room, the previously still puppets all turned their heads to look at him. The scene was indescribably eerie.

At the same time, information about these puppets appeared before his eyes.

[Cyan Profound Puppet]

[Power: Qi Cultivation Third Level]

[Features: Copper Skin and Iron Bones, Invulnerable to pain]

BANG!

Just as Lu Chen was about to retreat into the passage to observe further, the heavy stone door behind him slammed shut. Looking at the tightly sealed door, his expression soured. Right now, he had no way out. Almost at the exact moment the door closed, the once-quiet Cyan Profound Puppets began to move. With their two-meter-tall frames and armor-like bodies, even their slow Walking exerted an immense, suffocating pressure on Lu Chen, as if he were being constricted by a python.

"Trapping me like a rat in a hole? No martial ethics at all!" he cursed inwardly. "Fight me one-on-one if you have the guts!"

Obviously, the Cyan Profound Puppets had absolutely no intention of fighting Lu Chen one-on-one. Watching them close in on him step by step, Lu Chen drew his Qi Cultivation Stage Magic Sword from his Storage Pouch and ran his fingers along the blade.

Sharpness Skill!

As his fingers trailed across it, the Magic Sword was instantly cloaked in a layer of silver-white Sword Qi. This Sword Qi wasn’t true Sword Qi, but rather the unique Qianjin Power of the Sharpness Skill. However, most of the time, the effects of this Qianjin Power were no different from genuine Sword Qi. At least, that was how Lu Chen saw it.

Thanks to the psychological advantage of having Infinite Resurrection within the Dungeon, Lu Chen quickly adjusted his mindset. He raised his Magic Sword, pointed it at the nearest Cyan Profound Puppet, and spoke with a provocative tone.

"Come on."

As if responding to his provocation, the Cyan Profound Puppet, which had merely been walking slowly, suddenly burst forward and charged right up to Lu Chen. Looking at the puppet forged entirely of cyan metal, Lu Chen felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. But the current situation left him no time to ponder, and he instinctively swung his sword.

SCREECH!

The Magic Sword, coated in Qianjin Power, struck the Cyan Profound Puppet, emitting a harsh metal-cutting screech. A shower of sparks erupted from the collision, briefly illuminating the dim underground crypt.

Although this strike dealt significant damage, leaving a long, narrow gash on the puppet’s chest, Lu Chen couldn’t find any reason to rejoice. The Cyan Profound Puppet completely ignored his attack and threw a punch straight at his face, opting for a mutually assured destruction tactic!

Purple Mist Divine Light!

Faced with the Cyan Profound Puppet’s inescapable Iron Fist, Lu Chen had no choice but to deploy his Protective Divine Light.

BANG!

The Cyan Profound Puppet’s fist halted in midair, blocked by a faint layer of purple light. Using the precious time bought by the Purple Mist Divine Light, the Magic Sword in Lu Chen’s hand flashed like a cold beam and sliced through the Cyan Profound Puppet’s neck. This time, the frenzied puppet finally ceased its movements. Its head rolled off onto the ground like a ball with a muffled thud. The headless body immediately collapsed, crashing heavily onto the floor.

Looking at the now-lifeless Cyan Profound Puppet before him, Lu Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling physically drained. With Cultivation at only the Qi Cultivation Second Level, casting the Sharpness Skill and then immediately following up with the Purple Mist Divine Light was a considerable burden for him.

However, before Lu Chen could relax for long, he heard muffled sounds of the air tearing around him. He looked up, only to see several cyan Iron Fists flying straight at his face. It was only at this moment that he remembered there wasn’t just one Cyan Profound Puppet in this underground crypt, but ten! Just one of them had already made him break out in a sweat, let alone nine attacking all at once.

In a daze, Lu Chen felt time slow down around him. He wanted to fight back, but his heavy body refused to make a single movement, leaving him helpless to watch the incoming Iron Fists. In his final moments, only one thought flashed through his mind.

"Bullying me with numbers? That’s totally despicable!!!"

BOOM!

...

Inside the underground passage of the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb.

"Ah!"

Lu Chen cried out in shock and sat up from the ground, hastily looking down and patting his chest. After realizing his body was perfectly fine, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Recalling the battle with the Cyan Profound Puppets, he still felt a lingering dread. The pain-immune, Copper Skin and Iron Bones Cyan Profound Puppets were simply too troublesome for a mere Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator like him. Ordinary Magic cast upon these puppets wouldn’t even leave a scratch. Had his Sharpness Skill not reached the Great Success Level, harming these Cyan Profound Puppets would have been immensely difficult. The power of the Cyan Profound Puppets was evident.

Having just experienced the sensation of "death," Lu Chen wasn’t in a hurry to leave the passage and challenge the Cyan Profound Puppets again. Instead, he sat cross-legged and began to analyze the previous battle.

In terms of sheer Power, a single Cyan Profound Puppet was far stronger than a typical Qi Cultivation Second Level Cultivator. Cultivators at this stage usually hadn’t mastered many Magic spells, and their physical strength was quite average. But what about the Cyan Profound Puppets? Their bodies were Invulnerable, and they feared neither pain nor death. Trading blows and injuries was entirely natural for them. Let alone the Qi Cultivation Second Level, even if it were the Qi Cultivation Third Level or Fourth Level, Lu Chen didn’t think they would be a match for a Cyan Profound Puppet in a one-on-one fight.

However, after pondering calmly for a moment, Lu Chen came up with several ways to deal with them. Though the Cyan Profound Puppets possessed bodies of steel and iron, their movements were very slow. Even if their burst speed far exceeded that of ordinary people, it was still inferior to a regular Cultivator. Therefore, if he could familiarize himself with their attack patterns, dodging their strikes wouldn’t actually be difficult. But considering the confined space of the underground crypt and the sheer number of ten Cyan Profound Puppets, dodging their attacks flawlessly was clearly unrealistic. Fortunately, these guys only knew Body Skills and couldn’t use Magic. Otherwise, Lu Chen truly wouldn’t have known how to handle them in the short term.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen finally finalized a countermeasure.

"Against these clunky tanks, I either need terrifying destructive power to defeat them before they get close.

"Or I need much greater agility to avoid being hit.

"The former is out of the question for now. Even if I had that kind of Magic, my Cultivation wouldn’t be enough to cast it.

"So, I have to rely on a Body Technique. The school’s Treasure Pavilion should have something suitable for me to choose from," he concluded.

With this thought in mind, Lu Chen immediately exited the Dungeon space and returned to reality.

If an outsider had seen him, they might have thought he was merely resting his eyes for a moment. In reality, he had just experienced a one-sided slaughter. And he was the one getting slaughtered.

To wash away the shame of being speedrun by the Cyan Profound Puppets, Lu Chen earnestly searched the Treasure Pavilion for a suitable Body Technique. His Academic Credits were running low, so he had to spend them wisely. After all, renting the Cultivation Chamber and exchanging for the Purple Mist Health Cultivation Technique had already cost him a substantial amount of Academic Credits. These Academic Credits might not mean much to the students in the Heavenly Dao Class or Earth Dao Class, but for a student in the Human Dao Class like him, it was a massive expense. Academic Credits were hard to earn; he had to cherish every point.

After some searching, Lu Chen finally picked out what he needed from the vast sea of Cultivation Techniques in the Treasure Pavilion.

[Flowing Cloud Step]

[Effect: Upon Cultivation, it vastly increases movement speed. At Great Success, one can learn Flowing Cloud Afterimage.]

[Cultivation Requirement: Water Spiritual Root]

[Price: 200 Academic Credits]

...

[Water Dragon Roar]

[Effect: The sword strikes like a dragon. At Great Success, one can learn the Might of the Dragon Roar.]

[Cultivation Requirement: Water Spiritual Root]

[Price: 300 Academic Credits]

...

At first, Lu Chen only wanted to find a suitable Body Technique. However, after discovering the Flowing Cloud Step, he quickly noticed the recommended pairing next to it: "Sword Technique: Water Dragon Roar." After reading its Effect, Lu Chen admitted he was tempted. Although he possessed the Great Success Level Sharpness Technique, he lacked a Sword Skill to unleash its true potential. His combat style had mostly consisted of simple hacking and slashing—a complete waste of a good skill. The appearance of Water Dragon Roar would undoubtedly make up for this shortcoming perfectly. If paired with the Flowing Cloud Step Body Technique, Lu Chen felt his Power could easily leap to a whole new level in a very short time. Dealing with the ten Cyan Profound Puppets in the underground crypt would surely become far less troublesome.

"Alright, these are the ones," he decided. The more Lu Chen thought about it, the more he felt that Water Dragon Roar and Flowing Cloud Step were absolutely perfect for him right now. He decisively purchased them.

Before long, the Cultivation methods for these two Secret Manuals were sent to his phone. After reading through them carefully, two brand new Skills appeared on Lu Chen’s skill panel.

[Water Dragon Roar: entry-level 1/150]

[Flowing Cloud Step: entry-level 1/100]

[Current Experience Points: 300]

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he thought. "As long as I can defeat those ten Cyan Profound Puppets, the Experience Points I spend now will absolutely be earned back multifold."

True Cultivation, add points!

[You consumed 150 Experience Points, Water Dragon Roar leveled up to ’Proficient’...]

[You consumed 100 Experience Points, Flowing Cloud Step leveled up to ’Proficient’...]

...