Chapter 57: The Sword Saint of Ten-Mile Slope

[Ghost Tamer Alliance] Guild Hall.

In the management conference room at the very top floor, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes sat in a carved armchair by the wall, twirling a wand between his fingers.

A fragment of gemstone at the end of the wand flickered with a faint blue light.

The blond man narrowed his eyes slightly and murmured, “The Replica Soul… has been used?”

The last fragment of the Divine Wand was different from the others in one crucial aspect: it could only be used once. Once activated, its physical form would dissipate, and its energy would be permanently embedded into the skill it replicated.

That didn’t make sense.

Given his understanding of Jun Wu Ming’s capabilities, once Jun Wu Ming had infiltrated the map and noticed his presence, no one should have been able to stop him from acquiring that final fragment.

However, knowing Jun Wu Ming’s character, he would never have used the last fragment inside a mere trial map.

Could it be… that Jun Wu Ming failed to obtain the fragment?

How could that be…

In a novice trial map, was there really a player who could outmatch Jun Wu Ming?

After a moment of surprise, the blond man’s lips curled in amusement. “Heh, interesting.”

…

…

[Feng Shui Dissolution] Guild Hall.

Within a fragrant, birdsong-filled pavilion, a middle-aged man dressed in traditional Chinese attire was sipping tea.

A jade pendant hanging from his chest glimmered twice with a blue light.

His hand paused slightly as he raised his teacup. “The last fragment of the Divine Wand has been used?”

A furrow formed on his brow. After a brief silence, he sighed and shook his head. “Jun Wu Ming… actually failed? Defeated by a newcomer?”

Yet after the sigh, a faint smile touched his lips. “Interesting.”

…

…

System’s Temporary Settlement Point.

Upon hearing Fatty’s question, Wen Nan shrugged. “That depends on how the targets are set in the next map.”

Fatty nodded vigorously, thinking that this essentially meant “the more the merrier,” and couldn’t help but raise a thumb in admiration.

At this moment, the task settlement panel on the screen above their heads vanished, replaced by a row of bold, highlighted notifications—

[The Novice Trial for “Campus **” is now officially concluded.]
[Congratulations, contestants! You have successfully cleared the Novice Trial!]
[We wish you continued success in the upcoming main dungeons!]
[Now proceeding to experience point settlement for the trial zone.]
[All contestants, please take your positions.]

Experience point settlement?

All four players broke into excited grins—at last, it was time for the long-awaited attribute allocation!

Just as they were thinking this, a crisp system notification chimed in each of their minds, and their individual attribute panels appeared before their eyes.

Wen Nan glanced at his own panel. All his attributes were exactly as they had been when he’d first entered the trial map—

[Name: Ye Jiu]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 2/100]
[Agility: 3/100]
[Armor: 1/100]
[Charm: 4/100]

Soon, the light screen above shifted prompts—

[Player Huang Tao, please proceed to identity confirmation.]

To think that even the settlement required public confirmation—Huang Tao was briefly startled, then quickly stepped forward and pressed the [Confirm] button.

Text scrolled rapidly across the screen—

[Player Huang Tao, main quest settlement results as follows:
Main Quest 1: Quest score 62, target progress 20%, total EXP gained: 12 points.
Main Quest 2: Quest score 60, target progress 38%, total EXP gained: 23 points.
Main Quest 3: Quest score 80, target progress 68%, total EXP gained: 54 points.
Total EXP gained in this trial: 89 points.
Please select attributes to allocate your points to and complete the settlement.]

Looking at his points, Huang Tao broke into a satisfied smile.

Fresh out of the gate and only in the novice trial, he was already content with just passing. The extra 89 points were pure profit for him.

He eyed his personal attribute panel thoughtfully—

[Name: Huang Tao]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 8/100]
[Agility: 6/100]
[Armor: 3/100]
[Charm: 2/100]

As a sports student, his starting attributes weren’t bad, especially strength and agility. Among new players entering the map, those were solid numbers. Unfortunately, he hadn’t played his cards well.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to allocate points to his strongest attributes. After a flurry of clicks, the system chimed in his mind—

JI: [Attribute update successful. Updated player panel as follows—]
[Name: Huang Tao]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 37/100]
[Agility: 36/100]
[Armor: 33/100]
[Charm: 2/100]

At the end of the day, Huang Tao still believed that to defeat a female ghost boss in the future, a strong body was essential.

Just as he was thinking this, Fatty had already hit [Confirm] to begin his allocation—

[Player Wang Erxiao, main quest settlement results as follows:
Main Quest 1: Quest score 63, target progress 9%, total EXP: 6 points.
Main Quest 2: Quest score 88, target progress 43%, total EXP: 38 points.
Main Quest 3: Quest score 90, target progress 72%, total EXP: 65 points.
Total EXP gained in this trial: 109 points.
Please select attributes to allocate your points to and complete the settlement.]

Over a hundred! Far beyond Fatty’s expectations.

He glanced at his original panel—

[Name: Wang Erxiao]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 2/100]
[Agility: 1/100]
[Armor: 5/100]
[Charm: 1/100]

Aside from his higher armor, everything else was pitifully low.

After some thought, Fatty decided to max out his armor—after all, tankiness was key to survival.

Xiaoxiao: [Attribute update successful. Updated panel as follows—]
[Name: Wang Erxiao]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 2/100]
[Agility: 1/100]
[Armor: 114/100]
[Charm: 1/100]

Immediately, a golden light flashed around him.

Xiaoxiao: [Congratulations! Level up! lv1 -> lv2.]
[Name: Wang Erxiao]
[Level: lv2]
[Strength: 2/200]
[Agility: 1/200]
[Armor: 114/200]
[Charm: 1/200]

Leveled up! So a single attribute exceeding its cap was enough to trigger a level up?

While Fatty was admiring the golden glow, Shao Ling had already pressed [Confirm], starting his own allocation—

[Player Shao Ling, main quest settlement results as follows:
Main Quest 1: Quest score 69, target progress 3%, total EXP: 2 points.
Main Quest 2: Quest score 69, target progress 5%, total EXP: 3 points.
Main Quest 3: Quest score 92, target progress 95%, total EXP: 87 points.
Total EXP gained in this trial: 92 points.
Please select attributes to allocate your points to and complete the settlement.]

Pushing up his glasses, Shao Ling checked his original panel—

[Name: Shao Ling]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 1/100]
[Agility: 4/100]
[Armor: 1/100]
[Charm: 1/100]

His original panel was dreadful, but fortunately, he’d earned enough points this time to finally escape such a feeble body.

The first three levels didn’t offer extra skills, and the only difference between lv1 and lv2 was the raw stats. Shao Ling didn’t plan to max out a single stat for a quick level up like Fatty; he valued balanced development—

00: [Attribute update successful. Updated panel as follows—]
[Name: Shao Ling]
[Level: lv1]
[Strength: 25/100]
[Agility: 25/100]
[Armor: 25/100]
[Charm: 24/100]

After completing their allocations, the three all looked to Wen Nan, awaiting the main event.

Wen Nan, unlike the others, was utterly calm, pressing [Confirm] with a casual motion.

The results appeared promptly—

[Player Ye Jiu, main quest settlement results as follows:
Main Quest 1: Quest score 91.
- Target: “Pure and Adorable Deskmate” Progress 99%, EXP: 90.
- Target: “Sultry and Alluring Campus Belle” Progress 83%, EXP: 76.
- Target: “Fiery Sports School Beauty” Progress 72%, EXP: 66.
- Target: “Snowy, Delicate Neighbor Auntie” Progress 36%, EXP: 33.
- Target: “Aloof and Scheming Academic Genius” Progress 60%, EXP: 55.
…

Main Quest 2: Quest score 94.
- Target: “Pure and Adorable Deskmate” Progress 99%, EXP: 93.

- Target: “Sultry and Alluring Campus Belle” Progress 99%, EXP: 93.
- Target: “Fiery Sports School Beauty” Progress 72%, EXP: 68.
- Target: “Snowy, Delicate Neighbor Auntie” Progress 89%, EXP: 84.
- Target: “Aloof and Scheming Academic Genius” Progress 99%, EXP: 93.
…

Main Quest 3: Quest score 100.
- Target: “Pure and Adorable Deskmate” Progress 99%, EXP: 99.
- Target: “Sultry and Alluring Campus Belle” Progress 99%, EXP: 99.
- Target: “Fiery Sports School Beauty” Progress 99%, EXP: 99.
- Target: “Snowy, Delicate Neighbor Auntie” Progress 99%, EXP: 99.
- Target: “Aloof and Scheming Academic Genius” Progress 99%, EXP: 99.
…

Side Quest “Xiaowei’s Entanglement”:
- Successfully unlocked side quest, EXP: 100.
- Successfully completed side quest, EXP: 300.
…

Map exploration exceeded 30%, EXP: 100.
…

Total EXP gained in this trial: 1684.

Please select attributes to allocate your points to and complete the settlement.]

At this number, the other three were stunned.

How much?

1684 points?!

Just for one novice trial map?

One map equaled ten for others?

What are you, the Sword Saint of Ten Mile Slope?!

Wen Nan couldn’t help but smile.

Although the system had warned him from the start that pursuing five targets at once would net him five times the EXP, actually seeing this number on his attribute panel was still exhilarating—this, perhaps, was the true pleasure of numbers.

Click, click, click.

The sounds of rising stats echoed in his ears, and in just a few seconds, the system chimed again.

9527: [Congratulations! Level up! lv1 -> lv2.]
[Name: Ye Jiu]
[Level: lv2]
[Strength: 2/200]
[Agility: 3/200]
[Armor: 1/200]
[Charm: 100/200]

With the successful level-up, a golden glow flashed around Wen Nan.

Unstopping, he dumped points into Charm, and soon, the system chimed in rapid succession.

9527: [Congratulations! Level up! lv2 -> lv3.]
9527: [Congratulations! Level up! lv3 -> lv4.]
9527: [Congratulations! Level up! lv4 -> lv5.]

In a blink, a thousand points were gone, and he’d reached level 5.

With over six hundred points remaining, Wen Nan recalled his earlier, vigorous performance and figured that physical stats couldn’t be neglected, especially with the risks involved. So, with little reluctance, he allocated two hundred points each into the remaining three attributes.

[Name: Ye Jiu]
[Level: lv5]
[Strength: 230/2000]
[Agility: 230/2000]
[Armor: 230/2000]
[Charm: 1000/2000]

As the last points were distributed, a golden, forked tree appeared before him.

This is… a talent tree?

9527: [Congratulations, player! Upon reaching lv5, your skill talent tree is now unlocked.]
9527: [From lv5 onward, with each level gained, you receive 1–10 skill points. You have gained 1 skill point this time.]
9527: [Based on your player traits and personality, the system has intelligently matched and drawn the following four skill talents. Please select one as your initial talent—]

[1. Diamond Body (Enhancement): Randomly select a part of your body to increase its hardness, armor, strength, and agility to 300% of its current value. Range: 18cm, duration: 3 minutes, cooldown: 12 hours.]
[2. X-ray Vision (Magic): See through all obstacles on the map (walls, buildings, vehicles, clothing, etc.) to clearly view your target’s flesh. Range: 1 meter, duration: 1 minute, cooldown: 3 hours.]
[3. Cloak of Invisibility (Magic): Become invisible for a period of time. Works on player, targets, NPCs (except when counter-invisibility or dispel skills/items are used). Duration: 30 minutes, cooldown: 24 hours.]
[4. Mind Reading (Perception): After selecting a target, you can hear their innermost thoughts for a limited time. Level 1: one target at a time, duration: 10 minutes, cooldown: 3 hours.]

Staring at the four options, Wen Nan fell silent.

X-ray vision, invisibility, mind reading… and especially Diamond Body!

Were these really matched to his player traits?

How did they all seem so ill-suited for someone of noble character?!