The Great Thief

The Blackrock Mountains were a noisy area with strong winds. An ordinary player would not have noticed what was about to happen. However, as a seasoned veteran who had poured his blood and sweat into this game, Lu Li recognised the presence of an assassin behind him.

He quickly dived forwards and rolled to the side, which allowed him to avoid the assassin that was closing onto his position. Despite this, the assassin managed to predict Lu Li’s movements and stabbed his back with his dagger.

Lu Li’s dodging opened a window of opportunity to strike back. He reached for his dagger and blocked.

Where was it?

Lu Li attributed this to the change in reaction speed from the helmet to a full-dive machine. This change in reaction speed made him mistime the block on his enemy’s Cheap Shot. Fast reaction speeds were not favourable all the time. After all, reaction speed and the time of judgment needed to be paired to be effective.

The effect of Cheap Shot caused a Stun. If Lu Li did not do anything now, he would be waiting to be killed.

The assassin was definitely a strong player. He managed to deal a Bleeding effect in a small window of opportunity when Lu Li had froze for a split second. This Bleed effect prevented Lu Li from entering Stealth, since the damage over time would force him out of Stealth.

Gale Steps!

Lu Li never hesitated when it came to decision making. After he made a decision, he would always follow through, regardless of whether it was correct or not.

The enemy saw what was happening, so he entered Stealth.

In this first clash between the two Thieves, Lu Li was losing. He had lost a considerable amount of HP and had used Gale Steps. Furthermore, this was his first time using the new machine, so the slight changes placed him in a disadvantageous position, especially when faced with a strong player like this.

As for the identity of his opponent, he was most likely an elite player.

As of now, Lu Li decided that the most important thing to do was to reveal his enemy’s identity, then defeat him. Lu Li believed in honour upon defeat, so he believed that his opponent wouldn’t run away. This was the expectation of all strong players, especially in a one-on-one situation like this.

The area they were in spawned new Fire Elementals, so the ground they were standing was scorched and smouldering. Lu Li had to be cautious, as the burn effect from these flames could expose his position.

The enemy suddenly realised a cloud of ash that had been kicked up. He then found himself stuck in a trap as his dagger made contact with thin, despite slashing at the ash clouds that he thought Lu Li had left behind.

Lu Li had a wealth of battle experience, so he gathered the ashes and dust to form clouds to lure his enemy to attack. He was successful in luring his opponent, and he immediately knocked his opponent unconscious.

A female?

After knocking her unconscious, Lu Li could see who the assassin was, in spite of her mask.

Water Fairy!

Lu Li then placed his dagger in the sheath. He had seen her yesterday, so it would obviously not be hard to recognise her today. Originally, he thought that it might have been Blood Dagger or Floral Paralysis, since those two had the tendency to attack players in the open environment, especially professional players.

“Why did you stop fighting?” Water Fairy asked when she saw that Lu Li had already sheathed his dagger.

“It’s not that safe in the Wild. I’m worried that there might be other assassins around, waiting for both of us at low HP, such as the one over there…” Lu Li said as he changed into a ranged weapon and fired.

A person stumbled out of his hiding area. It was Unforgettable Maple.

“Don’t misunderstand! I just came a little earlier and saw you guys slashing at each other, so I did not dare to approach you guys,” Unforgettable Maple explained while raising both his hands, as if to surrender.

He had to surrender. After all, he was a Mage up against two Thieves of his calibre.

Lu Li decided to let this go, since they were going to another Instance Dungeon soon. Otherwise, Lu Li would have definitely skinned him alive.

“Today…” Water Fairy suddenly said.

“Ah, I moved houses, so I got myself a new setup,” Lu Li immediately responded; he understood what she wanted to ask.

“Moved houses…huh. Where’d you guys move to?”

Previously, when Water Fairy passed Jiangnan, she visited Lu Xin, so she knew his address and also knew of the three beautiful ladies who lived with them.

“A riverside town in Jiangnan. I bought a house there. Come visit when you have time!” Lu Li offered.

“Alright then!” Water Fairy was clearly elated at his response.

“Eh…are you guys done with flirting? Do you need to make me jealous?” Unforgettable Maple asked as he gritted his teeth. “A riverside town in Jiangnan, right? I also want to come visit, but I’m not sure if the master would allow me to come.”

“Wait until you come to Jiangnan for competitions. Otherwise, probably not,” Lu Li calmly said.

For Unforgettable Maple, this was salt in the wound twice in a row. They had already lost to Glory Capital this morning and consequently, their chances at the Top 8. Majin Temple became the second guild to be eliminated from the competition.

The first guild to be eliminated was Blue Universe after being destroyed by Ruling Sword.

In the Quarterfinals, there were Home teams and Away teams. Lu Li’s words meant that they would have to become Ruling Sword’s opponent to come. However, as they have already been eliminated, they would obviously not be able to battle Ruling Sword.

Shortly after, other pro players began to arrive.

It was the same batch of people. However, from yesterday to today, they seemed much calmer and had more chemistry together after seeing them kill some small monsters.

Although Lu Li’s performance was different due to the change to a full-dive machine, it was not that noticeable. Furthermore, these small monsters were not going to cause him any trouble anyway. However, there were some that weren’t that happy, such as Unforgettable Maple. Majin Temple was eliminated by Glory Capital, where he faced his long-time opponent Sorrowless. They had also lost to Blood Red War Flag, so Jade Flower Lover was a sore sight.

There was still a chance for them to enter the quarterfinals though; it just depended on what happened the next day.

This unfortunate situation also fell upon Star Moon Guild, except that they did not have any players in the All-Star squad.

Grand Hegemony had a match with Purple Lunar Paradise the next day. Sea Breaker did not seem worried against this dark horse of a guild and believed that they had a 100% chance of winning.

After chatting amongst themselves about the morning’s matches, they quickly moved the topic to yesterday’s dungeon clear.