Scouting

Li Wei walked out of the fishermen's village while it was still dark. The sun had yet to appear at the horizon. Everybody was still asleep, but it was the ideal time to scout the bandit camp. He met with the Lake Fairies who agreed to guide him.

The Fleeting Cloud Sect was going to arrive in the evening. He needed to gather as much information as possible. He already went to scout the bandit camp twice but stayed at a reasonable distance and did not engage in combat.

Today, Li Wei wanted to try something different. He wanted to test their strength. There were about five hundred bandits in the camp and the Lake Fairy told him that they averaged level 20. However, this was no longer the case. All the bandits who survived the Lake Fairies' earlier assault, managed to level up significantly. He did not see a single bandit below level 20. Li Wei himself was only level 18 and so far, only a handful of players managed to reach level 20. It was impossible for Li Wei to complete the quest alone and even with the help of his guild; the outcome was uncertain.

"You are finally here... Let's go." A voice sounded in Li Wei's mind. He nodded and followed the small bubbles forming at the surface of the Gassian Lake.

Li Wei silently followed his guide. He had already recognized her voice; she was a rather cold Lake Fairy who never spoke more than necessary. It was pointless to try to speak to her.

As the first ray of light pierced through the horizon, Li Wei arrived at his previous hiding spot, at a safe distance from the bandit camp. He observed the bandits' behavior for the past two days. They usually roamed through the nearby woods, slaying all the beasts they encountered. They would often dispatch a few teams to set up ambushes on the nearby roads.

As it was quite early, the bandits had yet to start their daily activities; it was an ideal time to start setting up his own ambush. Li Wei learned from the Lake Fairies that the bandits were all entities summoned by a dungeon core. Although they were classified as monsters, the bandits still had basic needs like eating and drinking and they also needed to relieve themselves.

Li Wei was already familiar with the bandits' routine. He knew there would soon be a lot of bandits leaving the camp to relieve themselves. The bandits built a few facilities for this purpose, but it was not enough to accommodate all five hundred bandits when they would wake up at about the same time.

The unlucky ones who would wake up late, would have to wait for a few hours in a long queue. As a result, many left the camp early and went to an isolated region of the woods. The Bandit Leader did nothing to stop them; this method really did help shorten the queues. As long as they did not contaminate the river, the bandits were free to do as they wanted.

Li Wei sneakily made his way to the woods. Unfortunately, the Lake Fairy was unable to follow him; she could not move away from a body of water for too long.

Li Wei arrived at the general area used by the bandits and climbed one of the nearby trees. Strangely, there was no unpleasant smell despite the area effectively being the bandits' toilet.

'D*mn. I would never have thought that I would be one day peeking on men relieving themselves. I'll be instantly labeled as a pervert if someone hears about it.'

He readjusted his position on top of the tree branch and made sure to hide himself using the foliage. 'Not exactly how I envisioned it but if even I could not have predicted it, how could the bandits see it coming? I wonder how much experience a level 20 NPC would give? Just one should be enough.'

Li Wei crouched on the branch and waited. His blades were already drawn. He was ready to pounce at any given moment.

Soon, he heard footsteps coming in. Several silhouettes appeared and rushed inside the nearby bushes. From his vantage point, Li Wei barely saw the bandits, but he noticed the name tag floating above them.

He firmly held onto his swords, not daring to move. The group that just entered consisted of powerful bandits who were at least level 25. Li Wei already knew he did not stand a chance against them. He was only level 18.

He took the risk in coming here only to try his luck. He would only act is he encountered a distracted level 20 bandit. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side today. Several minutes went by, during which Li Wei remained tense.

He heard people moving around but never got to see them. Furthermore, from what he was hearing, Li Wei determined that the bandits were not so careless as to leave their weapons behind. He occasionally heard the blades slicing through the foliage and the stem of the trees being marked.

'I got myself in this awkward situation. Now, I'll have to wait at least an hour before being able to leave. Hopefully, there are level 20 bandits or else, this scouting mission will be for naught.'

Li Wei nervously looked around him, focusing on the tags of the NPCs appearing. Level 22. Level 25. Level 24.

The longer Li Wei waited, the tenser he felt. 'Were the Lake Fairies wrong? The bandits average level 20, what a joke. All the bandits are at least level 22.'

As time went by, the frequency at which the bandits were walking into the woods gradually decreased. Li Wei was not the best at hiding but fortunately, none of the bandits noticed his presence.

Eventually, after not hearing any bandits around him for about five minutes, Li Wei silently poked his head out of the foliage. The woods were empty; the bandits were nowhere to be seen. The woods were quiet and soon, Li Wei even noticed a Wild Racoon, one of the beasts that spawned in the woods. Wherever they walked, the bandits would not hesitate to capture or exterminate the beasts. The presence of the racoon indicated that no bandits have been in the surroundings for the past few minutes.

Gaining confidence, Li Wei examined his surroundings and after finding no enemies, he stepped out and jumped off the tree. This short reconnaissance mission has been for the most part fruitless; he still was not able to evaluate the strength of a bandit but determined that the weakest was at least level 22.

Tiptoeing while constantly scanning his surroundings, Li Wei slowly made his way back toward the river, using the same path he took earlier. He stopped at the edge of the woods, and after finding no bandits nearby, he rushed toward the river.

"It took you more than an hour… I hope I did not have to wait here for nothing!" The Lake Fairy spoke in his head as soon as he got close to the water.

"I did not fight them. None of the bandits are under level 20. In fact, all those I saw were at least level 22. This task of destroying the bandit camp might be a little too much for me at this stage."

"What?" The Lake Fairy fell silent.

"Let's return for now. Staying here is dangerous."

Li Wei followed the river stream and soon, the Gassian Lake came into view. He remained silent during the entire trip. He only spoke once he arrived at the familiar place. "I will still give it a try, but I cannot guarantee anything. My guild leader will arrive here this evening or tomorrow. I'll let you know his decision."

"Hmmp! You are going back on your words! We already paid you. Humans are so unreliable."

"I am going to do my best, but I don't know if they will be convinced. My guild is strong but only a branch of the guild is coming."

"Whatever. Find a way to get them to fight."

…

Li Wei returned to the cottages. The fishermen have already gotten to their spot but he himself was not planning on joining them. Fishing was a minor profession that would not bring him a lot of benefits. The only bonus he obtained was an increase in sensitivity, but this small buff did not mean much in the grand scheme of things.

Instead of fishing, Li Wei decided to spend the day training his techniques. He acquired the [Immortal Sword Spirit] but has yet to successfully develop the skill. He needed to train for a long period of time to unlock it.

He was jealous of the seeded players of the Fleeting Clouds Sect. People like Li Yuxin spent all day long training their techniques which allowed them to unlock the advanced skills of the techniques. When they needed to level up, the entire guild would support them. On the other hand, Li Wei needed to do everything by himself.

At the moment, Li Wei's progress looked as follows:

[Gliding Steps (level 1)]: Mastery Points (193/1000)

[Clarity of the Mind (level 1)]: Mastery Points (3/1000)

[Myriad Sword Dance (level 1)]: Mastery Points (270/1000)

[Ghost Blade (level 1)]: Mastery Points (17/1000)

[Immortal Sword Spirit (level 0)]: Mastery Points (53/100)

He had a total of five techniques but only the [Immortal Sword Spirit] has yet to reach level 1, giving access to the skill of the same name. Since it was the technique, he was the closest to levelling up, Li Wei naturally focused on this one.

The [Immortal Sword Spirit] was a support technique. After reading through the manual given the Meng Family, Li Wei learned that the technique had five different levels. The first level allowed him to convert his Mana into a sword that he could use to fight. Maintaining the sword would cost him a lot of Mana but the damage dealt by the sword was boosted by both his Strength and Intelligence.

At the second level, Li Wei would no longer need to physically hold the sword. He would be able to control him telepathically in a small radius around him, as if he had an invisible third arm.

For the third level, his control over the sword would deepen and he would be able to use it for many more things other than fighting. The example written was the ability to use the sword as a means of transport. He would be able to step on the sword and use the skill to travel as if it was a flying skateboard.

The fourth level simply allowed him to materialise and control more than one sword. The number of swords he would be able to control would depend on his own talent.

And as for the fifth level, Li Wei would get the ability to change the shape of his swords at will, even in the middle of fights.

As the skill level up, the more overpowered it became. Just to be able to wield a third sword meant a significant increase in the amount of damage he would deal. Li Wei naturally understood the value of the skills. No wonder the mastery points requirement increased so much.

Nevertheless, after realising the value of the Meng Family's technique, Li Wei started to ponder about the [Myriad Sword Dance]. It paled in comparison to the [Immortal Sword Spirit] technique.

Li Wei did not believe it at first. According to what he was told, the Li family and the Meng Family were both highly respected families with equal standing. Their core techniques could not differ that much. Furthermore, Li Yuxin was someone who practised both skills, but she focused on the [Myriad Sword Dance]. It would not make sense for her to focus on a weaker skill.

This could only mean one thing, the manual he obtained at the Fleeting Clouds Sect trading hall was incomplete! The Li Family has not been honest when putting their technique up for sale.

It caused Li Wei's respect for the Li Family to plummet. Now, how was he supposed to level up his skill after it reached level 2? It was not impossible for him to come up with his own version of the technique, but it was an arduous task and it would require many tries before finding the correct training method.

It was for this reason that Li Wei decided to temporarily put the training of the [Myriad Sword Dance] on hold. For now, he would focus on the [Immortal Sword Spirit] only.

He sat down, cross-legged and started meditating. Imagining himself holding a sword, breathing in and out at a regular pace. Contracting his muscles according to the training technique.

He had the whole day ahead of him and hopefully, he would be able to unlock the [Immortal Sword Spirit].