I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 220 Tacit understanding
Chen Ming had a wound on his right shoulder, which he had inflicted himself; it was a penetrating wound.

He originally thought this would give him an excuse not to make a move. After all, he had only exchanged a few blows with Liang Qi, and could only imitate the moves he had seen before. He would be exposed the moment he made a move.

Unexpectedly, Liang Qi's master, Zhou You, was so ruthless as to still send him in to scout ahead. He must have realized that Liang Qi's injuries weren't as serious as they appeared.

It is clear that there is not much master-disciple affection within this demonic sect.

He lagged half a step behind his junior brother Qian Jiu, gripping the hilt of the "Broken Army Sword" and cautiously surveying his surroundings.

What a strange place.

The ground, the sky, the surrounding trees, and the mountain villa in front all felt extremely strange, as if the entire world had no color, only lines and shadows created by ink wash.

It's as if the world exists within a black and white landscape painting.

Everything here feels so eerie.

Suddenly, a sense of crisis surged in Chen Ming's heart, coming from behind him. He dodged to the side, and a black sword tip was already protruding from his chest.

The sword was also black and white, but after being stained with bright red blood, it looked extremely eerie!
"Brother!"

Qian Jiu, standing to the side, shouted angrily and raised his knife to kill the dark figure who had attacked his senior brother.

The dark figure kicked out, sending Chen Ming flying several meters away. He rolled a few times and lay there motionless.

The dark figure blocked Qian Jiu's knife again, sending him flying.

"What a strength!"

Qian Jiu was taken aback, feeling a numbness in his hand; the opponent's strength was simply unbelievable.

At this moment, he finally saw the dark figure clearly. Like the surroundings, it looked like a person painted with a brush, dressed in guard uniform, with eyes that looked like ink strokes that were extremely bright and revealed a chilling killing intent.

"Anyone who trespasses on the mountain estate shall die!"

After saying that, he attacked Qian Jiu again, his speed as fast as a ghost.

Within a few moves, Qian Jiu was already flustered and on the verge of collapse, his heart filled with extreme shock. Such strength was almost no less than that of a second-grade expert.

Is this a human or a ghost?
Just as Qian Jiu was about to flee, a flash of sword light appeared, and the ghostly figure was cut in two. After falling to the ground, no blood flowed out. In the blink of an eye, it turned into two puffs of black mist and disappeared.

After his initial surprise subsided, he turned around and said gratefully, "Thank you, Master, for saving me."

Zhou You surveyed this world and said with some solemnity, "This world is indeed very different from the human world."

Fang Yong, who came in with him, also said, "The laws of heaven and earth here are very strange. That thing just now was neither human nor ghost, and was most likely a creature of this world. It's really strange."

Zhou Yilan also came in, remaining silent. Her gaze lingered on the fallen "Liang Qi" for a moment before shifting away.

Qian Jiu also thought of his senior brother who had been ambushed, and hurriedly reported, "Senior brother was ambushed and seriously injured, I'm afraid..." His tone was somewhat saddened.

Zhou You looked at Zhou Yilan, "Junior Sister, I'll have to trouble you to treat him. After all, he's your junior brother, you can't just watch him die here, can you?"

Zhou Yilan remained expressionless and silent as she walked to Liang Qi's side, placing her hand on his chest. She discovered that he was indeed severely injured, his lung pierced—a vital organ. Even with a third-rank cultivation level, without proper treatment, his life would be in danger.

She was secretly shocked. This man could be so ruthless to her. She knew that if the sword had been off by even half an inch, it would have killed him on the spot.

A white light shone in her hand, and the bleeding from Liang Qi's wound stopped instantly.

Zhou Yilan withdrew her hand and said coldly, "You will recover in ten to fifteen days. During this time, you must not fight with anyone."

Zhou You said, "Why doesn't Junior Sister go all the way and cure Xiao Qi?"

Zhou Yilan turned her face away.

Fang Yong smoothed things over, saying, "We can't replenish our energy in this secret realm, and we don't know what dangers lie ahead, so we naturally need to conserve some strength."

Zhou You skipped over this part and said to Xiao Jiu, "Carry him on your back and follow behind your master."

"Yes."

Qian Jiu carried his pale and extremely weak senior brother on his back, closely following behind their master.

This place is so dangerous. There's a ghostly creature here that's comparable to a second-rank demon right from the start. It must be even more perilous inside. Only by sticking close to our master can we have a chance of survival.

……

After observing for a while, Zhou You said, "That manor should be the core of this secret realm. The Demon Sword is most likely suppressed inside. Let's go."

Fang Yong had no objection and walked at the very back, keeping watch as he asked, "Junior Sister, I've missed you terribly these past few years. Although Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother don't say it, I know they also think of you very much..."

Zhou Yilan said quietly, "So, you want to ruin my family and make me turn against my husband?"

Zhou You, who was at the front, instantly flew into a rage, "We are your family! I should never have let you marry that man surnamed Ruan in the first place, otherwise, how could things have come to this?"

Zhou Yilan said bitterly, "If you really considered me family, you shouldn't have done such a thing to my husband and destroyed everything he had."

"Why? In your heart, is Ruan Caixiong more important than the three of us, your fellow disciples who depend on each other for survival? What's so good about that womanizing playboy?"

“You and he are all my closest relatives, they are all my flesh and blood…”

"In the end, it's different. In your heart, that guy surnamed Ruan is more important than the three of us senior brothers, isn't he? I regret so much that I didn't kill that guy surnamed Ruan back then..."

Chen Ming, perched on Qian Jiu's back, listened to their argument, feeling both amused and exasperated. What kind of time was this, to be arguing about such trivial matters of love and affection in a place like this?

They're all first or second-grade experts, yet they're still so naive.

Those who practice demonic arts lack the necessary mental fortitude; their cultivation is too rapid, and they haven't properly tempered their character.

"So Zhou Yilan's natal item is related to healing. It seems her role in the team was that of a healer. This healing power is somewhat different from the wood attribute. I wonder what object it originated from." "The sword energy that Zhou You just unleashed was extremely strong; his natal item is likely a divine weapon. He's an extremely dangerous person."

"I just don't know what Fang Yong's natal object is."

Chen Ming suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wound, so painful that he almost lost his breath. It was because Qian Jiu suddenly jumped up, which was so sudden that it jolted him.

At this moment, they finally entered the mountain villa.

He suddenly felt something and looked up. He saw a sword stuck in the top of the tallest building in the manor. It looked like an ordinary steel sword, but it was completely out of place with the building painted with black ink.

It was a real sword, with a dark brown hilt and a red tassel, indicating that this sword did not belong to this world.

Zhou You exclaimed excitedly, "There it is!"

Fang Yong murmured, "It's the demonic sword left behind by the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Swords!"

"Who dares to trespass on my Duba Manor!"

A dozen or so figures leaped out of the manor, shouting and rushing toward the outsiders with murderous intent.

"Humph!"

With a wave of his hand, Zhou You unleashed several sword intents that flew out to meet the dozen or so ink-like figures that appeared as if painted with ink. The invincible sword intent pierced through the ink figures in one breath, and their corpses turned into black mist and vanished into the world.

"What a powerful sword intent!"

Chen Ming was secretly shocked. This person's strength was probably even greater than that of the "senior brother" of the Blood Demon Sect he had encountered in the Fire Element Cave.

"How brave!"

Just then, a loud explosion rang in everyone's ears.

A tall, middle-aged man in a brocade robe appeared. His features were exceptionally well-defined, making him clearly different from the other "people" they had encountered earlier.

The BOSS is coming!

Chen Ming's spirits lifted.

In his view, this so-called secret realm was just a dungeon, and the monsters he had just encountered were just regular mobs. This one now should be the BOSS.

Unfortunately, killing these monsters didn't drop any equipment or similar items.

Based on this, it seems that this is not a real game instance.

What he was more curious about was whether killing the monsters in this world would grant him experience points.

However, he is currently seriously injured and unable to fight, so he is naturally unable to conduct the test.

He said to Qian Jiu, "Xiao Jiu, put me down."

"But your injury—"

"Cough cough, I can walk now, don't let me drag you down too."

Qian Jiu hesitated for a moment, but still put him down.

Then, the two watched the battle between Zhou You and the middle-aged man in mid-air.

This world seems to lack concepts like true qi; cultivation focuses on the physical body—if they could cultivate at all. The middle-aged man possessed extremely formidable physical strength and ghostly speed. His combat power was comparable to a first-grade cultivator.

For a time, Zhou You found himself unable to subdue this man.

After more than ten moves, Zhou You finally unleashed his natal weapon. No one knew where he took out a sword; it was as black as ink and quite similar to the art style of this world.

Chen Ming could tell at a glance, thinking, "It's not a peerless divine weapon."

The moment the sword was drawn, it immediately injured the middle-aged man.

"That thief is formidable! Come help quickly!"

With a sharp cry, several figures suddenly flew out of the manor.

Fang Yong said with a solemn expression, "Junior sister, be careful." Then, he faced the three fastest figures and instantly engaged them in battle.

Zhou Yilan remained expressionless and drew the weapon she had brought with her—a short sword.

"A three-headed elite monster!"

Chen Ming quickly made a judgment in his mind: the three people Fang Yong was facing were also of the first rank, but their strength was slightly weaker than that of the BOSS, and generally speaking, their health was also much lower.

The remaining few small monsters.

He smiled bitterly to himself. To a first-grade expert, these were nothing but small fry, but to them, they posed a huge threat. These small fry were just like the one they encountered when they first entered, all equivalent to second-grade experts.

Of course, this is just a rough comparison; compared to a true second-grade monster, these minor monsters are still far inferior.

How to do?
Chen Ming looked at the second-grade "minor monster" charging towards him and reached out to touch the "Broken Army Sword".

At this point, Zhou You and Fang Yong couldn't care less about him. Qian Jiu was even more preoccupied with his own problems.

Just as he was about to make his move, a streak of light flashed and pierced through the "little monster" that was charging towards him.

He turned his head and saw that Zhou Yilan had put the short sword back. Their eyes met, and he realized that this woman had indeed seen through his true identity.

Chen Ming felt relieved; with her help, he didn't need to worry about his identity being exposed for the time being.

(End of this chapter)