Chapter 44: Chinese People Stealing Our Cabbages!
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The protagonist had already undergone self-castration. Next came the arduous training of divine martial arts, which felt like a fully optimized, high-definition version of "Heroes of the Martial World: Zero." Because the system automatically generated a vast amount of text, there were numerous side quests scattered across the maps, making the experience far from dull.
Interactions with the relatives and escorts of the Fortunewell Escort Agency, though somewhat repetitive due to their frequency, were all richly written and evocative.
"Amazing— even in Japanese, you can feel the sheer brilliance."
The system's excellence truly shone through these fine details. Every language translation was flawless; given the quality, the tens of thousands spent on translation fees were well worth it. The protagonist was genuinely impressed—normally, Japanese translations of Chinese games were rather, well, hard to describe. Most standard Chinese single-player games didn’t get released in Japan, and many lacked Japanese translations altogether, except for some carefully localized mobile games.
To be fair, Genshin Impact had contributed significantly to cultural exchange.
"Lin Papa’s love for his son, the protagonist could feel it; I must protect Lin Papa!"
The protagonist enjoyed calling out “Dad” randomly during livestreams—a bit cheeky, really (insert playful dog-face emoji).
"Oh no, this time it’s the real father."
“Father-in-law above!”
“Now we’re talking about raising children.”
Soon, several months passed in-game, and Lin Pingzhi’s martial arts had advanced remarkably thanks to an unexpectedly obtained "Ancient-Modern Heavenly Tome"—every player-chosen protagonist quickly acquires such a tome. The tome indicated that he had fully comprehended the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique.
His combat power had risen to the level of a top-tier master of the era.
Such rapid advancement wasn’t just due to the quick-study nature of the Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, but also because Lin Pingzhi had practiced its moves since childhood, giving him a solid foundation, and his exceptional compatibility with this martial art.
In Gu Meng’s design, many unconventional and dark arts featured rapid early progress.
Techniques like the "Counter-training Nine Yin," "Star-Absorbing Great Method," and the "Sunflower Manual" came to mind—not to mention the mystical styles from novels, such as the Demonic Disintegration Technique, the Yin-Yang Lament of Heaven and Earth, or the Divine Blade Slash—fighting styles so arcane that once mastered, they could dominate a region.
There is a saying: turning evil magnifies strength tenfold, while redemption weakens it by three-tenths.
Among top-tier masters, villains often possessed stronger combat power.
But by the late stages, they usually matched or slightly fell behind the orthodox sect masters.
Regardless of late-stage strength, Lin Pingzhi was undeniably very powerful now.
As the Qingcheng Sect launched their assault as scheduled, the heavenly tome notified that the "Laughing Proudly" storyline was beginning.
Following hints from the live chat and from Pa Qingji, the protagonist first went outside the city to kill Yu Canghai’s son.
Then, choosing to use lightness skill to follow the escaping disciples, he arrived at the Qingcheng Sect’s encampment.
“Who are you?”
“Kill the duck! Kill the duck—”
The protagonist chose to unleash a massacre.
Slash, slash, slash—
All fell, even startling the protagonist herself.
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Previously, when killing Yu Canghai’s son, she had only passed one move and thought it was a special cutscene, but it turned out to be combat. The automatic strikes were swift, and the impact felt exhilarating.
More enemies rushed out, and the protagonist hurriedly moved the joystick.
Slash, slash, slash—
“So cool!”
The sword techniques differed with each strike; she had thought there was only one set of moves.
How was this even possible?
“This is too easy. The game defaults to top-tier masters moving fast enough to swiftly kill third-rate novices before their inner energy runs out. Save some qi, try turning on manual mode—the boss is coming.”
Unlike speedrun streamers, the protagonist wandered around, practicing martial arts, completing simple side quests within Fuzhou City, or interacting with escorts like playing house. Her progress was noticeably slower than viewers’.
Those playing simultaneously had already killed Yu Canghai.
Sure enough, shortly after, the boss appeared.
Seeing several disciples killed, Yu Canghai was furious and charged forward using the Pine Wind Sword Technique.
The protagonist quickly paused the game, switched to manual mode, then dashed forward to duel Yu Canghai!
!!
Slash, slash, slash—
Dead.
“Awesome! A sword duel! So cool!”
“Awesome! Qingcheng martial arts! Awesome!”
“LOL.”
The one who died was the protagonist.
“No way to beat a face-changer without switching moves, and even with switching, it’s impossible—what’s the point then?”
*Bang*
The protagonist slammed the table in frustration!
“Gaia—”
“We’ve all mastered the invincible Evil-Repelling Sword Technique, why did we lose?!”
“Also, who said to turn off auto mode? I want to mute you!”
“Chinese people tricked the protagonist, Chinese people tricked the protagonist!”
...
The promise of “easy wins” was a lie.
Previously, the protagonist had been grinding martial arts manually; if she had used auto or QTE mode, the hidden mechanism of the Evil-Repelling Sword’s first deadly strike would have given her at least a fifty percent chance to defeat Yu Canghai.
But manual mode required skill.
In the world of Ancient Yongjin, masters in Fuzhou City were scarce. The protagonist had never encountered a secluded expert for sparring and had no experience with the "bean dip" techniques, so winning was unlikely.
Upon the character’s death, the screen displayed the classic message:
“Victory and defeat are common in warfare, hero, please try again.”
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In cursive script, but every Chinese player instantly recognized its meaning.
“Classic.”
“Finally, that familiar flavor.”
“Sorry, officer, I didn’t recognize you just now.”
“Almost forgot this was a Chinese game; I thought it was made by a Japanese studio.”
“Who would have thought, our Chinese martial arts game has come this far.”
“Quick note: everyone can watch the streamer and try playing themselves. This game’s manual mode is truly exhilarating!”
“Between the flashing sword lights, battles decide fate and life!”
“The Evil-Repelling Sword Technique is incredibly cool; I’ve practiced it and felt like flying!”
“Perfectly captures the imagined martial arts world. Selling at 198 yuan, General Gu must be losing money.”
“The protagonist’s too weak, didn’t show the fun at all, needs more practice (dog-face emoji).”
“There will soon be elite disciples from the South Sea Sword Sect passing through the Fuzhou City inn—less powerful than Yu Canghai. The protagonist can challenge them or directly duel Yu Canghai again. After all, Lin Pingzhi’s stats are decent now, and the Evil-Repelling Sword moves are especially useful.”
The protagonist refused to admit defeat and reloaded the save to storm the Qingcheng Sect’s encampment once more.
Still in manual mode, sword dueling fiercely!
As a streamer, the show’s effect was important.
The livestream title was changed on the operator’s advice from “Heroes of the Martial World, Launch!”
To “I Dueled and Got Stronger!”
...
“I won! I finally won!”
“Gained another divine skill.”
“Now let the teammates take over!”
“Combat is thrilling, so thrilling!”
“Cloud Crane, I’m coming to kill you!”
“Trying Child’s Play combined with Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth plus Mighty Vajra Palm!”
“Stronger than last time and more controllable.”
“This cliff isn’t the one with the secret manual, right? You can clearly jump down by exploiting it.”
“Fairy Sister... may I worship your jade feet?”
At the same time, countless Chinese players once again immersed themselves in the martial arts world.
How long had it been since they felt this way? Old friends reunited, a sense of déjà vu.
They remembered—yes, they remembered—this was what martial arts felt like, the feelings of childhood returned.
...