Chapter Thirty-One: Divine Technique—The Wandering Dragon

“Dragon’s Glide,” Level 10
Melee Universal Skill Book. Click to learn the skill “Dragon’s Glide.”
Dragon’s Glide: Instantly leap backward 3 meters (Level 1) [Uncontrollable], then surge forward 3 meters at even greater speed (Level 1) [Uncontrollable]. Your next attack is guaranteed to stun the target for 1 second. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Mana Cost: 5

This skill allows you to dodge an opponent’s attack and guarantees a stun on your next strike, all with a cooldown only a tenth that of Power Charge!

Though Huang Yunshuo loved Power Charge for its brute force and savagery, compared to “Dragon’s Glide,” it was utterly outclassed!

Why? Because the cooldown is so short!

One skill can only be used once every five minutes, and even then, just for three days, while the other can be used permanently and only has a 30-second cooldown at level one!

If it ever gets maxed out and the cooldown drops to 10 seconds or less, who else could keep up?

Without hesitation, Huang Yunshuo slapped the skill book and learned it on the spot.

“Savage Dash,” Level 10
Class Requirement: Warrior
Savage Dash: Dash forward 3 meters. Your next attack gains a bonus 20% critical strike chance and a 20% chance to stun the target for 1 second.

“Damn, why are all the skill books I find so brutal—nothing but charges and dashes,” Huang Yunshuo complained in the group chat that Yu Shiyin had renamed to “Nine Little Melons Who Love Each Other.” “Anyone planning to play warrior? Old Chu or the assassin?”

Chu Jun replied immediately: “Do you have a warrior weapon or skill book? Screenshot, quick!”

Given the commotion Huang Yunshuo had caused, the friends aboard the Mirror were already chatting non-stop, and now everyone perked up at once.

Huang Yunshuo posted a screenshot of the Savage Dash skill book. “Jin Xiong’s probably planning to play warrior, right?”

“This skill is fierce, but it’s not really for me,” Chu Jun sighed. He’d played assassin for years and wasn’t used to such direct, forceful skills.

“Yes, yes, I’ll play warrior! Big Huang, Brother Huang—I love you, give it to me!” Jin Xiong was so excited his typing turned into gibberish, and it took him five or six messages to get out a coherent sentence.

“It’s yours, then,” Huang Yunshuo said, seeing no one else wanted to switch to warrior, and promptly traded the skill book to Jin Xiong, who shouted “Dad!” right there in the group chat.

“Good boy,” Huang Yunshuo replied with a grin.

“Who is this ‘Morning Dew, Light Frost’?” Ye Piaoxue asked.

Ye Piaoxue hadn’t planned on staying up all night, but the PvP event had her itching for a fight—she just couldn’t suppress her urge to battle and, uncharacteristically, pulled an all-nighter.

Song Na chimed in, teasing, “Ooh, Piaoxue’s jealous? Judging by the name, ‘Morning Dew, Light Frost’ must be a real beauty. Huang, got any high-def pics?”

Everyone started making faces, leaving Huang Yunshuo feeling awkward.

“I charged her for carrying her through the instance and the newbie village—she paid a million credits,” Huang Yunshuo quickly explained. “She seemed pretty strong, and with her requests, after we cleared the advanced mode, we took a shot at disaster mode and actually made it through.”

“Lucky her—got carried through five instances, made the server-wide announcement, and scooped up all those rewards,” Ye Piaoxue said. True, a million credits was crucial for the Mirror at this stage, but she still felt uncomfortable.

Huang Yunshuo chuckled dryly. “She’s got a hidden class too. It’s always good to make friends.”

“Do you have a weapon for me? I just got a black flag from two arena rounds,” Ye Piaoxue asked.

Huang Yunshuo grumbled, “What, you think I’m an ATM? You ask for a weapon and I just hand one over? I only just switched out my newbie wooden club myself.”

Despite his words, he closed the chat and checked his three white-grade equipment pieces.

Two had dropped from Gagaro, and one was a reward from Skynet.

Cloudlinked Robe (White), Level 10
Agility: +6
Movement Speed: +5%

Cloudlinked Circlet (White), Level 10
Defense: +5
Agility: +5

Rusty Iron Sword (White), Level 10
Attack: 9–13

“Cloudlinked set?”

Huang Yunshuo’s heart skipped a beat. A set from a disaster-level instance? His excitement surged.

But then his chest tightened.

He had two more chances at the disaster-level instance, but the newbie village redemption ticket was a universal pass—meaning, once you progressed, if you quit at any point, all remaining runs were forfeited.

“Damn it,” Huang Yunshuo muttered, nearly in tears.

The rusty iron sword’s 9–13 attack was a major upgrade from his own 6–8.

Who would’ve thought—right after Ye Piaoxue asked for a weapon, a sword actually dropped.

Unfortunately, the level requirement was 10. Ye Piaoxue had just hit level 5—still a long way to go. Huang Yunshuo couldn’t help much with how many instance runs the others could clear; all he could do was hope she leveled up quickly.

He traded his own rusty iron sword to Ye Piaoxue and admired his shiny new weapon with satisfaction.

The last loot consisted of some miscellaneous materials.

Glancing at the materials list, Huang Yunshuo grinned from ear to ear.

Refined Steel x5
Low-Grade Eternal Crystal (Shattered) x3

Rocket **paper required 8 Refined Steel and 78 more Eternal Crystal shards—he already had 2, now 5. At least for the crystals, he knew advanced-mode clears would provide more, but the refined steel was a welcome surprise.

He just needed to find other disaster-mode players to buy from, and he’d have enough refined steel.

Once he equipped the new gear, his stats soared again: Attack 31–36, Defense 27—a solid boost.

Huang Yunshuo no longer gave a second thought to the little white rabbits.

With a wicked grin, he charged at a green, fluffy little rabbit, hacking ruthlessly at its head with his iron sword.

The fluffy little rabbit was genuinely adorable—even Huang Yunshuo felt a twinge of affection. Unfortunately, these weren’t cute pets, but the bullies of the newbie village, stronger even than the chicks and stone turtles.

-35!

The damage number popped up. Judging from the rabbit’s health bar, it had just over half left—full health must be around 80 points.

Dragon’s Glide!

Burning 5 mana, Huang Yunshuo’s body suddenly leaped back three meters, dodging the green rabbit’s attack.

Then, as if a thruster had fired behind him, he shot uncontrollably forward at triple his normal speed!

Damn!

Caught off guard, Huang Yunshuo almost threw up from the sudden disorientation.

He struck the green rabbit with a slash—minus 40!

The little rabbit was left with only 5 health, a stun icon flashing above its head.

Huang Yunshuo kicked it to the ground and, seeing the nine copper coins it dropped, plopped down on the grass.

“To really get the hang of this skill, I’ll need more practice. The sudden backward leap and then instant dash forward—the acceleration isn’t quite like a mech, but for a first use in-game, it feels seriously weird.”

He sat stunned for a while before finally collecting the copper coins and getting up—only to notice his health had mysteriously dropped by 10 points.