CHAPTER 31 – "No Reward?"
Li Chen didn't just jump into the fray. He paused for a brief second, not because he was shocked or overwhelmed, but because charging in headfirst here felt like a very fast way to get himself killed in this place. His eyes moved across the battlefield, trying to take in as much as he could while everything around him kept shifting.
Nothing made sense.
People were fighting everywhere, but there was no structure to it. No formations, no clear sides, no pattern he could follow. Some wore similar robes, but even they were clashing against each other like it didn't matter.
"…So there's really no way out of this."
He let out a slow breath, his shoulders loosening slightly. There was no safe route, no path he could slip through unnoticed, and if he wanted to survive here, he already knew what that meant.
He had to fight.
The only problem was figuring out who.
His gaze landed on a pair battling not too far away. At first glance, they looked like enemies, but something about the way they moved made him pause, and then both of them slowed just enough to turn toward him.
Li Chen's eyes narrowed slightly as they broke off and started heading his way, their speed picking up almost instantly.
"…Yeah, that answers that."
He adjusted his stance, settling his breathing as the two closed in. Their movements were sharp, direct, and a little too precise for people caught in this kind of chaos, and up close, it only got worse. Their expressions were blank, completely empty, like there was nothing behind their eyes at all.
Li Chen's fingers twitched slightly.
"…You guys aren't normal."
They didn't respond, didn't slow down either, and just as they were about to reach him, something else caught his attention. Their stance wasn't anything like what he had learned at the Azure Cloud Sect. There was no familiar structure, no recognizable flow, and while it looked rough at first glance, the longer he watched, the more it felt deliberate in a way that made his instincts tighten.
Before he could think further, a panel appeared in front of him.
[Emergency Quest Generated]
[Eliminate Targets]
[Number of Targets: 2]
[Failure Penalty: Death]
[Reward: …]
Li Chen glanced at it briefly.
"…No reward?"
Nothing else showed up, not even a hint, and under normal circumstances he might have laughed, but the timing wasn't great because the next second, one of them was already in front of him with a blade coming straight for his neck. Li Chen tilted his head just enough to avoid it, his body shifting back as the second attacker closed in from the side, giving him no breathing room at all.
They didn't circle or probe him. They went straight for the kill.
That last bit of hesitation he had faded instantly. If that was how it was going to be, then he wasn't holding back.
The first clash hit harder than he expected. Li Chen raised his arm to block, but the force still pushed him back a step, his footing slipping slightly before he could stabilize, and before he could even reset, the second strike was already coming from another angle. He twisted just enough to avoid a clean hit to his ribs, but still felt the edge scrape across his side.
[HP -5]
His brows furrowed slightly.
"…They're fast."
Too fast to properly track. Another strike came higher and he ducked, but not perfectly, the blow grazing his shoulder and sending a sharp jolt through him.
[HP -5]
He tried to create space, but the moment he stepped back, they followed without hesitation, their pressure constant, unrelenting, and it didn't take long before something else shifted behind him. A third presence slipped into his awareness, then a fourth, and before he could fully turn.
"You've got more company," the system said, sounding almost entertained.
Li Chen let out a breath that was half a sigh.
"…Of course there's more."
By the time he looked, the space around him had already shrunk, five figures closing in from different angles without a word, no signals, no obvious coordination, and yet none of them got in each other's way.
They moved like one cohesive unit.
The pressure hit instantly, and Li Chen didn't wait.
Shadow Step.
His figure blurred out of the center just as their attacks collided where he had been standing, the ground cracking under the combined force as dust kicked up violently. He reappeared near the edge, but one of them was already there, turning toward him faster than he expected, and before he could fully react, the strike landed hard into his side.
[HP -10]
The impact forced the air out of his lungs as he staggered, and that single misstep was enough for the others to close in again. Another attack came from behind, he turned just in time to deflect it, but the angle was off and the force still carried through his arm, followed immediately by another and then another.
Li Chen blocked, parried, shifted where he could, but five opponents didn't leave room for mistakes. Every step he took was cut off, every opening he tried to create disappeared before it could form, and it didn't take long before a strike slipped through, then another.
[HP -5]
[-5]
His breathing grew heavier.
"…This is bad."
They weren't rushing him all at once, they were pressing him down bit by bit, forcing him into smaller movements, slower reactions, until even keeping up started to feel like a strain. A low strike came and he blocked it, another came high and he ducked, but the third caught him clean enough to knock him off balance and send him crashing to the ground.
[HP -10]
Dust rose around him as he coughed, the impact rattling through his body, his vision blurring slightly.
"…Yeah… not great."
They didn't give him time to recover. All five closed in again, their attacks already coming down, and when he tried to trigger Shadow Step
[Skill on Cooldown]
"…Seriously?"
No time to complain. He rolled to the side just as their attacks crashed into the ground where he had been, the impact cracking the earth again, and he pushed himself back up, though not fully this time, his stance lower.
No weapon.
A quick thought crossed his mind, sharp and annoying, and for a split second Zhao Tianyu crossed his mind as he thought back to how he had intercepted him when he had finally decided to get a weapon.
Li Chen's jaw tightened.
"…Curse him to the seven hells."
Didn't matter now.
They were already coming again.
This time, instead of backing off, Li Chen stepped forward, and that small shift threw off their timing just enough for him to act. He closed the distance with the nearest one, ignoring the strike coming toward him as his palm shot forward.
Crushing Palm.
The hit landed hard enough to break their balance, but at the same time, another strike slammed into his side.
[HP -5]
He didn't react, didn't pull back, his hand shooting out to grab onto the opponent instead.
"…You first."
Seven Star Phantom Strike.
His movements weren't clean anymore, each strike slightly off, slightly slower than before, but still fast enough to land. The hits came one after another, building pressure until the figure's defense gave out and their body went slack in his grip, arms flailing lifelessly.
[Targets Remaining: 4]
He barely had time to think about what he had just done before something slammed into his back, shoving him forward as his footing slipped again.
[HP -10]
He caught himself just in time, but another strike was already coming for his face, and he raised his arm instinctively, the impact numbing it as he stumbled sideways.
Still no space.
They were closing him in, tightening the circle.
"…Too many…"
He couldn't keep blocking like this, so the next time a strike came, he didn't dodge. He stepped into it, letting the blade scrape across his shoulder while his hand shot out to grab the attacker's wrist, yanking them forward and throwing off their balance before driving his knee up into their midsection. The hit wasn't clean, but it was enough to stagger them, and Li Chen followed immediately with another Crushing Palm that sent them back.
Not enough.
So he pushed forward, ignoring the hit that grazed his back and grabbed his attacker again, dragging them into range before unleashing another Seven Star Phantom Strike. This one was rougher, less controlled, each hit landing harder than the last until the figure finally dropped.
[Targets Remaining: 3]
Li Chen staggered back, breathing rough, but didn't get even a second to recover before another hit caught him from his blind spot and sent him crashing to the ground again. His vision blurred harder this time, the world tilting slightly as he forced himself to move, rolling just enough to avoid the next set of strikes.
"…Can't keep this up…"
Fighting them head-on wasn't working anymore.
So he stopped trying to.
The next time they rushed him, he shifted to the side instead of meeting them directly, slipping just out of alignment at the last second. One of them overextended slightly, not by much, but enough for Li Chen to grab their collar and yank them forward, dragging them straight into the path of another attacker's strike.
The hit landed.
Both staggered for a split second, and Li Chen didn't waste it as he stepped in and drove his palm forward, the impact landing solid enough as one of the attackers dropped limp , his chest caved in awkwardly.
[Targets Remaining: 2]
The last two adjusted quickly, their movements sharper now, more direct, while Li Chen felt the opposite happening to himself. His body was slower, heavier, every movement costing more than it should.
A strike slipped through.
[HP -4]
Another grazed him.
His vision flickered.
"…Not good…"
But they didn't slow down, so he moved first, slipping past one strike and stepping inside their range before driving his palm forward again. The hit landed, but not clean enough to finish it, so he grabbed them, pulling them in as the last attacker closed the distance.
Seven Star Phantom Strike.
This one was messy, uneven, some hits landing, some barely connecting, but it was enough, and the figure in his grip finally went limp.
[Targets Remaining: 1]
The last one didn't hesitate.
It was already moving.
Li Chen turned too slowly this time, and the strike landed straight into him.
[HP: -5]
For a second, everything dimmed at the edges, his body threatening to give out right there, but he forced himself to stay upright as the next attack came in. Instead of dodging fully, he stepped into it just enough to avoid the worst of the blow while his hand shot forward at the same time, his palm slamming into the attacker's chest with everything he had left, the force sinking in deep as the figure stiffened briefly before finally collapsing in front of him.
Li Chen stayed standing for a second, barely.
A panel appeared.
[Targets Eliminated]
[Task Complete]
He stared at it, waiting for something else to show up, maybe a reward or at least another line, but nothing came, and after everything he had just gone through, that empty silence felt more annoying than anything else.
"…You've got to be kidding me…"
A weak breath left him, almost turning into a laugh.
"I nearly died for this…"
His gaze drifted over the bodies around him before returning to the panel.
"…Not even a reward."
His body swayed slightly, the weight finally catching up to him as everything started to feel distant.
"…Next time… I'm getting a weapon…"
His legs gave out after that, and the moment he hit the ground, the noise of the battlefield faded out completely as exhaustion finally caught up to him.