Online Game: Unrivaled Gods

"Where did this kid come from?" The leader was secretly surprised, feeling the pressure from Sun Rui. He didn't seem like a Qi Cultivation stage general at all; his strength was abnormal, and his reactions were incredibly fast. He couldn't fight like a Liquid Condensation stage general would crush a Qi Accumulation stage general. Apart from being experienced, he couldn't feel any advantage over Sun Rui.

"Clang..." Sun Rui seized the moment when the leader was distracted and slashed the blade towards the leader's chest. Just as he was about to succeed, the leader quickly stepped back, pulled back his gun, and blocked. Sun Rui gained a small advantage. The leader's hands trembled slightly. Obviously, the leader, who was not as strong as Sun Rui to begin with, could not exert his full strength in the hasty block and suffered a great loss in this collision.

Sun Rui looked at the leader who had distanced himself from him, a hint of annoyance flashing in his eyes. He was very dissatisfied with the result just now. He hadn't hurt the leader at all. Sun Rui could only sigh that the leader was too experienced. His body had even acted on instinct. In a moment of distraction, his body instinctively took a step back, saving his life. Otherwise, the big knife in Sun Rui's hand could have torn a gash in the leader's body. The leader, who was wounded, would have been much easier to deal with.

"This kid." This was the first time the leader had retreated after fighting Sun Rui for so long, and it was also the first time he had felt fear. The leader had been distracted for a moment, but he was conscious of it. He didn't think that a fledgling, although powerful, was too inexperienced to seize the opportunity to launch an effective attack. But it had happened. He knew there was only one reason for this outcome: this fledgling had been growing unknowingly during their fight, and its growth rate was astonishing.

Sun Rui stood there, panting. He felt exhausted; he had been fighting for several hours that day, especially mentally. As a new recruit just entering the battlefield, exchanging over a hundred blows with a veteran like the leader had put immense mental pressure on him. Fortunately, with the help of the swordsmen, Lü Bu's unparalleled talent had finally yielded results.

"Congratulations to player Lü Bu! Your peerless talent has been successfully activated, and you have mastered the Qi-accumulating martial art, the Surging Wave Spear Technique."

Surging Wave Spear Technique: A martial art for the Qi Accumulation stage. During the Qi Nourishing stage, internal energy activation increases attack power by 50%, and during the Qi Accumulation stage, internal energy activation increases attack power by 100%.

What made Sun Rui happy was not that he had gained a new skill, but that he could now predict the trajectory of the Surging Waves Spear Technique and force himself to fight the leader. After fighting for so long, Sun Rui naturally knew where his advantage lay.

"No, we must finish this quickly." The leader's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he looked at Sun Rui, who was only three steps away from him.

"Drink..." The spear shot out swiftly, aimed directly at Sun Rui. Seeing the horrified look in Sun Rui's eyes, the leader smiled and thought to himself, "A fledgling is still a fledgling. He's not even on guard at a distance of three steps."

"Clang... Pfft." The leader's eyes widened as he stared at the person opposite him with a mocking smile, as if the person was mocking him. Coming to his senses, the leader collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.

Sun Rui flicked his tattered broadsword, as if trying to shake off the bloodstains. His double pupils had detected the slight tremor in the leader's hand earlier; after mastering the Surging Waves Spear Technique, Sun Rui's ability to predict the leader's movements had greatly improved. Sun Rui had expected a fierce battle, but the leader, impatient for a quick kill, launched a sneak attack. Sun Rui played along, feigning surprise, causing the leader to lose control and be unable to stop. Sun Rui simply parried with his broadsword, deflecting the thrusting spear, and then slashed down with his broadsword, severing the leader's right hand. What should have been a protracted battle ended abruptly, leaving Sun Rui with a surreal feeling.

"We surrender! We surrender!" A group of bandits knelt down, threw away their weapons, and indicated that they would not resist.

"Take a count of them. You guys go search this mountain stronghold; there should still be civilians inside." Sun Rui ignored the bandits kneeling on the ground, plopped down on the ground, and panted as he assigned tasks to his soldiers.

"Hoo." Sun Rui assumed the Five Hearts Facing Heaven stance and began circulating the Overlord's True Scripture to recover his depleted internal energy.

"Player Lü Bu, completed the second stage of the Nine Revolutions of Overbearing Power, with an internal energy proficiency level of 0."

The second stage of the "Overlord's True Scripture" increases the power of internal energy by 10%.

Seeing his internal energy deepen in color, Sun Rui felt a surge of joy. Since entering the game, Sun Rui had not properly cultivated his internal energy, but unexpectedly, after several hours of fighting, the depletion and recovery of his internal energy led to a breakthrough. This was an unexpected surprise.

After reviewing the attributes, Sun Rui opened his eyes and saw a small figure standing in front of him. In the mountain stronghold, besides Ugly Girl, no one else had that size. Sun Rui felt a little guilty towards Ugly Girl. He had originally thought that with his strength, he could easily clear the level and level up with her with ease. Who knew that actual combat would put so much pressure on him, causing his progress to be delayed again and again, ultimately allowing the stronghold's leader to successfully break through and advance to the Condensation Liquid stage of martial arts.

"Chouya, come here." Sun Rui looked at Chouya, who was on guard. Although it was useless, Sun Rui was still very touched. Children don't have any negative thoughts; they act according to their nature.

Upon hearing Sun Rui's voice, Chou Ya, who was on guard, relaxed. As soon as she relaxed, she felt a deep sense of exhaustion. Although she was protected by the longbowmen arranged by Sun Rui, for a child, the fierce battle and the bloody atmosphere had put a lot of pressure on Chou Ya's young body and mind.

"Waaah..." Ugly Girl threw down the dagger in her hand, buried her face in Sun Rui's arms, and started crying. Although Ugly Girl didn't understand why she was crying, she just felt that crying would make her feel better. Having someone to rely on to cry with was Ugly Girl's worldview.

Sun Rui stroked Chou Ya's back, which was trembling from crying, without saying a word. He knew that there was no need to say anything; just let Chou Ya cry it out. Holding Chou Ya in his arms, Sun Rui felt as if time had turned back. When his younger sister cried before, it was the same. He didn't need to comfort her or say anything; he just let her cry it out.

"Sir, we have completed the search and found them in the water dungeon of the stronghold." The village chief had searched the stronghold while Sun Rui was cultivating his internal energy and distracted, and had also found all the civilians in the stronghold whom Sun Rui had specifically instructed him to search. He then brought the civilians to Sun Rui.

Sun Rui stood up, holding Ugly Girl in his arms. His eerie double pupils looked at the civilians standing behind him and found that many of them were not the ones Yuan Kai had robbed from the village that afternoon. Most of the people in this group were women and young adults, and some children, but there was not a single elderly person.

Among this group of civilians, the young and middle-aged men and children were all wearing shackles and their clothes were tattered. The young and middle-aged men had somewhat numb eyes and no vitality at all. Even when they were rescued by the longbowmen, they did not react much. The children looked at Sun Rui with some fear, obviously feeling afraid and distrustful of him.

Most of the remaining women were disheveled, and Sun Rui knew without a doubt what had happened to them. The few who had escaped harm were those who had just been abducted that day, and Sun Rui's swift action saved them from certain death.

"Where are you all from? I was sent by the governor of Jiuyuan City to suppress bandits. Tell me where your village is, and I'll take a count and send you back to your village later." Sun Rui was at a loss as to what to do in this situation. The village chief noticed Sun Rui's predicament and stepped forward to ask him questions.

"I'm from Dahuang Village." As the village chief asked the question, the young and middle-aged men began to answer numbly. In Sun Rui's view, it would take a long time for these young and middle-aged men to return to normal.

As time passed, the blank expressions of the women among the common people changed, and they began to cry one after another.

"There should be some clothes in this mountain stronghold, right?" Sun Rui felt uncomfortable seeing the weeping women who were barely clothed, so he asked the swordsman standing next to him.

"Sir, we found clothing among the supplies we searched." Upon hearing Sun Rui's question, the swordsman immediately straightened up. Initially, the 150 soldiers Sun Rui brought didn't think much of him, and then the ambush of bandits had frightened them so much that they fell from the trees, making them even more contemptuous of Sun Rui. The fact that the morale of the troops was only 60 points before using the "Desperate Measures" strategy was the best proof of this. However, Sun Rui's subsequent performance won over these 150 soldiers, and the swordsman seemed very excited about Sun Rui's question.

"Go and get some clothes to distribute to these civilians," Sun Rui casually instructed, oblivious to the change in his soldiers' attitude.

"Yes."

"My lord, my husband has been killed by bandits. How will my child live?" A pretty woman with red eyes approached Sun Rui, leading a child with her left hand, seemingly unconcerned about her barely clothed state.

“Hmm.” Sun Rui pondered after hearing this. In ancient times, it was difficult to raise children if there were no able-bodied young adults in the family. “Now the growth cycle of children has changed. They can become working adults in a year. I can set up a support system for them, but they will have to join the army to guard Jiuyuan City in the future.”

"Really." The pretty woman's eyes lit up when she heard Sun Rui's words. "Ai'er, quickly thank your benefactor. After that, you must listen to your benefactor's words, join the army to fight the enemy, and protect those who should be protected." The pretty woman squatted down and stroked the child Ai'er's head, tears falling from her eyes again.

"My benefactor, I entrust my child Ai'er to you from now on." The pretty woman, holding the child Ai'er's hand, knelt down and bowed to Sun Rui.

"You shouldn't..." Sun Rui wasn't stupid. Seeing the pretty woman's behavior, he knew what she wanted to do. He was about to stop her when the village chief stopped him.