Chapter 1
"Hmm?" Seeing the mecha split in two, Oda Ai did not reveal a look of triumph, but rather showed suspicion.

As a master like her, even if everything happened in a fleeting instant, she could confidently determine that the separated mecha was not "cut" by her katana, but rather separated on its own.

*Kaka Kaka*—

Just as her thoughts were uncertain, several strange noises came in succession.

At that moment, the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] actually split apart like a dismantling, into six parts: head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. Moreover, each part maintained high-speed movement by relying on its own attached propulsion devices after separation.

"Hahaha!" The next second, Feng Bujue's狂狂laughter came from the torso of the mecha, "Naive! Too naive! This daddy's machine is equipped with a dragoon system (dragoon_systework_system, i.e., a detached integrated control high-speed mobile weapon group network system)!"

"Dragoon system, huh..." Unexpectedly, Sasaki Mei's sinister voice then sounded, "Heh... that makes it easier..."

With that said, he made another move, an ultra-high-speed slash purely for speed, targeting the right leg of the [Void Thunder God Beast EX].

"Tch... a troublesome fellow..." As soon as Feng Bujue saw Sasaki Mei's action, he understood that the other party knew the weakness of the "Dragoon System" very well. Therefore, he simply abandoned that leg and controlled the torso to flee.

Sure enough, in less than two seconds, Sasaki Mei's attack hit the thruster of the right leg of the [Void Thunder God Beast EX], causing it to stop. Seeing this, Oda Ai also took advantage of the situation and attacked, cutting the right leg component into four pieces with two neat slashes, which then caught fire and exploded.

"The weakness of the dragoon system lies in... that the system itself does not have the ability to dodge attacks. Without targeted operation, the separated parts will only reduce the possibility of being locked and destroyed by the enemy by constantly making irregular high-speed movements." Sasaki Mei said as he rushed towards the left leg of the [Void Thunder God Beast EX], "Feng Bujue... no matter how fast your thinking and hand speed are, as long as the operating medium remains at the physical level... its reaction speed will always have a limit; even if controlling six parts at the same time is not a burden for you, after all, the machinery is not your hands and feet. Once you reach the stage of competing for speed, you will never be able to avoid it!"

*Zheng*—

By the time he finished speaking, he had used another high-speed突进 to stop the left leg of the [Void Thunder God Beast EX]. Oda Ai also followed up with ease, using her unrestrained slash to chop off that leg as well.

At the same time, an even greater threat had arrived...

Due to the separation of the mecha, the barrage attack had weakened. He Yangxin descended from the sky and successfully passed through the barrage group after several "stepping in the air and changing direction," approaching above the "torso" component that Jue Ge was riding.

"It's over..." He Yangxin revealed an expression of determination to kill, which meant that at this distance, he was fully confident that he would never miss.

However, at this moment!

"Heh... I told you... you guys are too naive..." Feng Bujue's insidious voice rang out once again.

Immediately afterward, a blue light flashed around him.

In the blink of an eye, the several parts of the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] that had already scattered, including the wreckage of the two parts that had been destroyed... all disappeared abruptly.

"Nani?" He Yangxin reined in his momentum in shock and landed again.

Oda Ai and Sasaki Mei also looked surprised, not knowing what had happened.

As for Feng Bujue... he was piloting the intact [Void Thunder God Beast EX], appearing in the position where he had stood thirty seconds ago when he had just fired the positron cannon.

Obviously, in addition to the dragoon system, he had other means... even stronger means.

The "Reverse Time Flashback System", from the hand of Dr. Eternity, is an extremely dangerous system driven by time magic; in their own universe, the use of such magic is prohibited in most cases. But as mentioned earlier... since the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] was going to be given to Jue Ge to take to another universe anyway, the big guys in the UCA didn't mind installing these black technologies that they usually couldn't use.

"Attack the torso!" After a moment, Sasaki Mei, who had calmed down, once again made a very accurate judgment and issued instructions to his teammates and He Yangxin.

Although He Yangxin was not a person who would take orders from others, in order to capture this strange device taken out by the "foreigner", he had to rely on the help of the Sengoku duo, who were also "foreigners".

Thus, the three of them joined forces and attacked the torso of the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] from three directions...

"Finally discovered that they should directly attack the energy furnace and the pilot..." Feng Bujue in the cockpit operated with superb skill and remained calm as ever, "Hehe... it's a pity, I have many more fun weapon systems here..."

[Warning, your mecha has thirty seconds of usage time remaining.]

Just as Jue Ge was feeling proud, the sudden system voice was like a straight punch to his stomach, causing his expression to change.

"Damn it?" While Feng Bujue cursed, his thoughts ran like lightning.

About two seconds later, he figured things out and said to himself, "Only six minutes, huh..."

Yes, the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] only has a usage time limit of six minutes each time it appears; moreover, the player can only bring it out once per instance.

Because this mecha is a special item stored in the ["Poker Man" Hero ID Card], there is no detailed explanation like ordinary items (Chuck Norris series items, just_we, Tiangang Disha Box, etc. are also like this). It was for this reason that Feng Bujue didn't realize how strong it was until he summoned this mecha; if Jue Ge had known the mecha's combat power and "usage time limit" earlier, his strategy might not have been like this now.

"It took forty seconds to kill Leng Yuqiu... one minute and thirty seconds to familiarize myself with the weapon system... about forty seconds to fly over from outside the town... and then fought with them here for more than two minutes..." Feng Bujue silently calculated the time, "Hmm... I've tentatively figured out a useful piece of information, so I can calculate the time next time I use it; but... the current situation... is a bit bad..."

As he was thinking, the three of them attacked.

The surrounded [Void Thunder God Beast EX] still had weapons to deal with the situation, using a move that unleashed an indiscriminate sonic attack centered on the mecha—the "Howling Cannon" instantly bloomed, forcing the three of them back.

[Your mecha has twenty seconds of usage time remaining.]

The system prompt reminded Feng Bujue of the impending crisis, as if urging him to his death.

"It's impossible to kill all three of these guys in twenty seconds..." Jue Ge was thinking of a way in a race against time, "The mecha will disappear in twenty seconds, and I'll have to go into battle myself... Things are different now, my skills and equipment have been almost completely cleared, and without the [Spiritual Sense Gathering - Modified], I might be killed in seconds..."

Looking at it now... Feng Bujue's strategy of driving the mecha to play "Musou" was not so wise; if the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] did not have a time limit, it would be fine for him to do so—relying on the advantage of "infinite energy", once dragged into a war of attrition, even if he couldn't kill all the enemies, he would definitely be able to kill his opponents to pieces before the mecha was scrapped.

However, as the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. Only halfway through the battle did he realize that this mecha could only be used for six minutes at a time, putting Jue Ge in an extremely unfavorable predicament...

Of course, he hadn't reached the point of "absolute desperation". If it really didn't work, he still had [Demon Descent] and [Chuck Norris' Shaving Razor]. Relying on these two bottom-of-the-box tricks, it would be more than enough to kill the three people in front of him.

It's just that... the risks and rewards associated with these two moves are considerable; once the duration of the moves is over, Feng Bujue would basically be half-dead, and all the remaining opponents who haven't been dealt with would have to be taken care of by Ruoyu alone.

Speaking of Ruoyu... she has already taken action.

Although she had a lot of confidence in Feng Bujue, thinking that "since he came out to play Musou in such a high-profile manner, he must have more than 90% certainty of winning", but... after watching for a while, perhaps out of intuition, perhaps out of some other thought... she vaguely felt that there was something unusual behind Jue Ge's "ease" and "arrogance".

Even the three people who were besieging Jue Ge didn't notice this.

But Ruoyu noticed it, so she rushed over at the fastest speed, wanting to help Jue Ge out of the siege.

Unexpectedly...

"Please stay!" Suddenly, a stern shout, like surging waves, came from the side.

Along with the shout, there was also a sword move.

[Ten Thousand Guiding Heavenly Pivot Sword Returning to the Source] is one of Crazy Shadow Sword's trump cards.

There was no probing, nor was there any need for mercy. Facing an opponent like Li Ruoyu, Sword used his full strength from the start.

At the same second, a figure also rushed from the opposite direction of Sword.

It could be seen that Don't Be Afraid Mei was holding a golden, strangely shaped weapon. One end was a flat, round hook, shaped like a crescent moon, and the other end was a full sphere, shaped like a full moon. At this moment, Don't Be Afraid wielded the "full moon" end, directly attacking Ruoyu's blind spot from the side and rear with a move called [Apocalypse Attack (Pseudo)].

Faced with this sudden pincer attack, Ruoyu used both swords at the same time, using two completely different sword techniques—

The Xuanyuan Sword was a heavy sword, using "Demon Flow Sword", recklessly and madly; the Original Water God Sword was a light sword, using "Wind Trace", calmly and swiftly.

The heavy sword was for attack, responding to Sword's ultimate move.

The light sword dissipated the energy, avoiding Don't Be Afraid's sharp edge.

In the entire Thriller Paradise, there were probably only a handful of people who could withstand the combined attack of two super-first-class masters in this way using conventional combat methods.

Ruoyu was one of the people who possessed this kind of strength, but... at this moment, she was not able to exert her due strength.

Due to her eagerness to provide support, Ruoyu's attention had been prematurely focused on the killing formation where Feng Bujue was, which made her vigilance around herself somewhat relaxed.

This degree of relaxation wouldn't matter in most cases, but when encountering a sneak attack from players of the level of Crazy Shadow Sword and Don't Be Afraid Mei, it would cause problems...

A duel between top experts does not allow for the slightest hesitation or distraction... A slight deviation is the difference between victory and defeat.

Ruoyu's reaction was, after all, a beat slower. This slight difference brought about a devastating result...

*Bang*—

The heavy sword was half a beat slower, so the power at the time of the blade-to-blade contact could not be exerted to the maximum.

Therefore, Ruoyu's sword in her right hand was knocked away.

*Zheng*—

The light sword was half a beat slower, so the technique of dissipating the energy could not be fully applied, and the opponent's attack trajectory would not be completely shifted according to her intention.

Therefore, the effect of Ruoyu's sword in her left hand was also greatly reduced.

In the end, Crazy Shadow Sword's sword move pierced Ruoyu's shoulder, directly hitting her right collarbone; Don't Be Afraid Mei's skill, although not hitting directly... still hit Ruoyu's left waist with most of its force.

As the move landed, Ruoyu's entire person flew out horizontally, her state was as if she had been hit by a train...

It could be seen that her figure rapidly swept across the street, heavily hitting a street pillar and breaking the wooden pillar as thick as a tree trunk; even so, her forward momentum still did not diminish. After her body broke the pillar and landed, she still rolled and slid a long distance on the ground before stopping.

Obviously, she took this round of attacks very solidly... so solidly that she lost control of her body for a while, unable to even adjust her posture in mid-air.

Originally, Ruoyu would most likely have died instantly from the hit. If Crazy Shadow Sword's sword had been cut down a few more inches and torn her lungs, then she would definitely have been beyond saving; fortunately... the great impact generated by Don't Be Afraid's [Apocalypse Attack (Pseudo)] blasted Ruoyu away, preventing Sword's move from cutting to the end.

"Guh... cough... haa... haa..." Ruoyu, lying on the ground, had her clothes stained with blood. For a moment, she couldn't tell which blood was coming from her mouth and which was coming from her wounds... She had to exert a lot of effort to get her lungs to start breathing again, but breathing made her sense of pain even clearer. In contrast... Ruoyu's consciousness and vision became blurred.

"To think that she's still not dead after all that... truly amazing..." Soon, Don't Be Afraid's figure appeared in front of Ruoyu.

"Sorry... this is the killing game after all..." Sword also appeared immediately, and raised the sword in his hand as he spoke.

It must be admitted that their sneak attack was very successful, and it was worth the two of them waiting patiently in the dark for so long.

As outsiders, Jianghu's two naturally did not know about Feng Bujue's data being cleared, nor did they know that the [Void Thunder God Beast EX] had a time limit. Therefore, in their opinion, the two from Hell's Frontline were currently the most powerful beings in the instance. Taking advantage of the fact that the two were fighting on their own, defeating one of them was undoubtedly the best strategy.

The sword fell...

Ruoyu, however, had not yet stood up.

At this moment, her snow-white face and jet-black hair were stained with mud and blood from the ground. Her injuries had also reached a point where she could not handle them on her own.

She had never been so disheveled before. Even though she had been killed more than once in instances before, it was the first time that she had been successfully ambushed due to her own mistakes...

"I've changed, haven't I..." In the moment before death came, Ruoyu thought of something else in her heart.

"When did it start?"

"When I met him... or, even earlier..."

…………

Half a year ago, June 19th, evening.

Feng Bujue furtively followed Ruoyu to the latter's home. Ruoyu, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, calmly opening the door, taking Jue Ge upstairs, and going straight to her room.

"Uh... are you going to give it to me now?" Feng Bujue seemed a little uneasy after entering the room.

He rarely felt nervous, and it was even rarer for him to show such an undisguised nervousness.

"Yes, it's getting late. Take it and go back early." Ruoyu replied in a very ordinary tone.

Hearing this, Feng Bujue swallowed and couldn't help but repeatedly think over Ruoyu's words not long ago—"'Strictly speaking, that was originally your thing, and I've been keeping it for you for many years. I think it's time to give it to you', 'It can't be said that I suddenly remembered it. I wanted to give it to you many years ago, but I never had the chance. When I first met you in Thriller Paradise, I also had the urge to give it to you directly, but after hesitating a bit, I dragged it until now.'"

"Hmm... no matter how I think about it, it's that, right..." Feng Bujue thought to himself, "To be honest, I'm a little embarrassed that she's being so proactive..."

Just as he was lost in thought, Ruoyu had unhurriedly taken out something from her bedside table, and then walked to Jue Ge and handed it to the latter.

"Here." When Ruoyu said this word, Jue Ge instinctively froze for a moment.

Two seconds later, he came back to his senses and looked at the thing in his hand: "Uh... this is what you're going to give me?"

"Hmm." Ruoyu nodded. It was also rare for her cheeks to flush red, as if she had done something quite embarrassing.

Feng Bujue examined the thing in his hand. It was a notebook, the kind of standard notebook commonly used by elementary school students when he was still an elementary school student.

The notebook was not thick and looked quite old. The cover of the notebook had two words written on it—"Sword God".

Jue Ge immediately recognized that the handwriting of these two words... came from his own hand, and he immediately understood the origin of this notebook.

"This daddy had already completed his debut short novel *Sword God* by handwriting it on a notebook when he was only ten years old..." (From Chapter 322) These were the original words that Feng Bujue said to Honghu, Qiufeng Se, and Yu Zhongjichang in the Reasoning Club.

Although, judging from the situation at the time, his words seemed like he was just being difficult and talking nonsense, but in reality... what he said was true.

*Sword God* was his first novel in the true sense. The story was not long, and it was just enough to fill a notebook. The plot was not very complicated either. It was just a description of how a fledgling swordsman grew into a sword god who looked down on the world.

However, since it was written by Feng Bujue, even if he was only ten years old at the time, the setting of the story would naturally have some highlights. The most unexpected setting in *Sword God* was that... the cold and unruly protagonist he portrayed was actually a female swordswoman who had been disguised as a man from beginning to end. He left foreshadowing everywhere in the entire novel, but he did not explain the reasons for the various abnormalities. It was not until the end that the truth was revealed.

Of course, no one could evaluate whether the story was written well or badly, because this was a practice work that Jue Ge wrote out of interest. After he finished writing it and looked at it himself, he felt that there were many flaws in it, and he saw some of his own childishness in it. Later, he put this notebook together with some old books at home. He didn't know when, but it was taken to be sold to the old book collector.

Feng Bujue never expected that he would see this *Sword God* again at this time, in this place, and under these circumstances...

He opened the notebook and looked at the dense text that he had written by hand, one by one. He couldn't say what kind of feeling he had in his heart.

"Where did you get this?" Feng Bujue asked as he flipped through it.

"I accidentally saw it when I passed by an old bookstore when I was a child. I opened it and looked at it... and bought it back for a few bucks." Ruoyu replied.

"How did you know that I wrote this?" Feng Bujue asked this because he didn't write his name on the notebook at all.

"I've read so many books you've written after I grew up, so I naturally know." Ruoyu said.

"Heh..." Feng Bujue smiled, "Judging from the traces on this notebook... it seems that you've read it many times..."

"When I was a child... I didn't have many friends." Ruoyu leaned against the bedside, responding thoughtfully, "Besides Xiaoling, no one else would play with me... I didn't even have a single peer to talk to..." As she said that, she looked at the notebook in Jue Ge's hand, "I knew after reading one or two pages of that notebook that it was written by a child who was about the same age as me. At the time, I thought that I, who was not good at communicating with people face-to-face... perhaps I could understand some of my peers' thoughts through words."

"And the result?" Jue Ge closed the notebook and continued.

"Heh..." Ruoyu also smiled, a bitter smile, "It seems that I opened the thing that I shouldn't have opened the most..."

"No wonder I had a familiar, inexplicable feeling when I first met you..." Feng Bujue said.

"Alas..." Ruoyu sighed, "I can only blame myself for being too young back then and unknowingly being influenced by you..."

"If I could go back to the moment we first met, I think I should say to you..." Feng Bujue showed a warm smile, "I once wrote a book, and you are very much like the person in the book..."

"Then I will also answer you..." Ruoyu said with a smile, "I once read a book, but I accidentally... made myself become the person in the book..."

…………

"Which is the real me?"

"Is it the me before reading that book?"

"Is it the me before meeting him?"

"Or is it the current me..."

"Am I lost because I'm being sealed?"

"Is the obsession and concern with him my true heart, or am I telling myself 'how' I should do it?"

"Are my feelings real or illusions... Am I imitating something? Chasing some kind of phantom in my heart?"

Thoughts can transcend time, and moments can be almost eternal.

In this moment before death, Ruoyu thought a lot, as if she had been thinking for a long, long time...

But, death finally came.

Crazy Shadow Sword's finishing move was very precise, a sword to the throat. Ruoyu, who didn't have much survival value left, began to turn into white light after being hit.

After the two from Jianghu succeeded, they immediately turned their attention to the other end of the battlefield.

At this time, Jue Ge's [Void Thunder God Beast EX] had also reached its time limit. The mecha, like ordinary summoned creatures, turned back into light and returned to the card in Feng Bujue's bag. And he himself... was exposed in the middle of a script boss and two top players.

"It seems... Brother Feng's situation is not good either..." Crazy Shadow Sword said when he saw this, "But with his strength, he may not lose."

"Don't worry, anyway, Si Ru has already been taken care of by us..." Don't Be Afraid continued, "No matter how strong Feng Bujue is alone, he will reveal his flaws sooner or later... Look, Bi Laoshi and Juanmeng Han are still watching, we can wait a little longer."

Just as they were speaking, suddenly...

"Hey hey... who did you say has already been taken care of?" A voice with a tone that sounded like a hooligan came from behind Sword and Don't Be Afraid.

Just hearing the voice, the two were shocked and gasped at the same time.

"How is that possible?" Don't Be Afraid suddenly turned around, only to see a disheveled face covered in shadows close to her. The tips of their noses were almost touching.

"That was really painful just now..." At this moment, Ruoyu's tone and the temperament of her whole person had undergone a drastic change.

For some reason, her body had returned to its state before the injury, as if she was perfectly unscathed as she had just entered the script. Even her clothes had become clean, and her sword was sheathed.

"It's my turn now..." As Ruoyu spoke, her left hand had grabbed Don't Be Afraid's neck. But Don't Be Afraid, a female player famous for her monstrous strength, was unable to break free from this restraint.

A short second later, only a "gulp" sound was heard. Ruoyu actually broke Don't Be Afraid's neck with one hand.

This series of changes happened too quickly. It was not until her teammate died instantly that Sword barely recovered from the shock. He immediately roared and slashed his sword wildly...

*Dang*—

This time, Ruoyu's sword appeared on Crazy Shadow Sword's attack trajectory before his attack even landed, steadily catching the opponent's full-strength blow in anger.

"You seem to have quite a bit of research on swordsmanship..." Ruoyu's usual cold temperament had now turned into a taunting coldness, "Then I'll play a few more moves with you and make you happy."

As she said that, her left hand was slightly raised, and she pointed her finger at the sword, lightly stroking it.

Instantly, a manic edge and demonic flames attached to the blade; the Xuanyuan Holy Sword... actually revealed the appearance of a demonic sword.

In the blink of an eye, Ruoyu had executed ten sword strikes, each one dangerous, each one fatal.

Whether in terms of strength, speed, or moves, Crazy Shadow Sword had fallen into a disadvantage. In that brief confrontation... it was as if he was not fighting against a player, but against the incarnation of some kind of violent sword intent.

"Have you warmed up enough?" After a round of continuous slashes, Ruoyu was calm and relaxed, with a frightening smile on her face, "The really interesting part is about to begin..." After saying that, she flipped her left hand, and the Original Water God Sword suddenly appeared. Another kind of swordsmanship was also displayed along with it...