Chapter 7: Trial of the Warriors

After several more attempts, Zhao Haiping temporarily chose to give up.

Forget it, don't be stubborn!

If it were any other action game, he would definitely persist against an impossible boss, whether it took ten, twenty, or fifty tries, continuously failing until he succeeded.

But this game was different.

After a few attempts, Zhao Haiping realized that he lacked too many things; if he used his talent skills to improve his acting, his combat power would not be sufficient to assassinate the towering Emperor Yanling, but if he used his talent skills to enhance his combat power, his acting would be insufficient and he'd be discovered.

In such a situation, persisting was useless.

So Zhao Haiping thought it over and decided to withdraw first to check out the situation in other Trial Illusion instances.

Since different instances represented different identities, the rules for clearing them naturally differed. He just needed to choose the one that suited him best.

Even if they were all difficult, checking out other Trial Illusion instances might deepen his understanding of the game and help him find new strategies for clearing them.

When he had a strong intention to exit the instance, a cloud of mist once again enveloped his sight, and moments later, he was back in the huge palace floating in midair.

"So, this is the home of the Order Restorer?"

"I wonder if NPC functions will be unlocked later."

Having died many times in the instance, Zhao Haiping unexpectedly felt a bit of warmth towards this place.

After considering for a moment, Zhao Haiping chose to enter the Trial of the "Common Soldier" identity: "Achieving Greatness."

Because he thought the identity of a common soldier should be the simplest—comparing it to other games, it was like that of a pure brute force man. Although it might still be tough, it might be more user-friendly for a player like him who didn't think much and relied on operational skills.

…

After stepping through the entrance of the Illusion Realm, Zhao Haiping's sight was filled with vastness.

In the distance, yellow sand rose high into the sky, blotting out the sun. Zhao Haiping looked around and found himself already on top of an earthen city.

The entire city seemed to be constructed of rammed earth, with the battlements filled with rolling logs and stone throwers, and soldiers clad in black armor busy about their duties, though time seemed frozen, and they were all motionless.

In the distance, what seemed like a menacing dark cloud loomed.

Looking carefully, he realized these were many square formations of a hundred soldiers each, massive and imposing, prepared to lay siege.

At that moment, three different talent skills appeared in front of Zhao Haiping.

[Gui-Level 'Sea of Corpses and Blood' (Blue): Amidst the sea of corpses and blood, you can unleash your potential in extreme situations, ignoring some pain and erupting with great strength.]

[Ren-Level 'Skilled Horseman and Archer' (White): Enhances your horsemanship and archery.]

[Ren-Level 'Endure Hunger' (Blue): You have a higher tolerance for hunger and thirst than ordinary people.]

Seeing these three new talent skills, Zhao Haiping's eyes lit up.

They seemed better than before!

A Gui-level blue skill, along with two Ren-level skills.

Although still under a clear sky, these seemed to pitch a greater level of battle capability than the assassin's trial.

Zhao Haiping guessed that there must be many skills with the same name but different levels and rarities in the skill library. To assess the strength of a skill, one should consider level, rarity, and the actual effects of the skill.

Generally, choosing skills with higher levels and rarities isn't necessarily the optimal choice, but at least they wouldn't be terrible.

From the perspective of level and rarity, the 'Endure Hunger' was clearly the best, but the effect of this skill seemed somewhat useless?

As a soldier, you needed to survive on the battlefield first, right?

'Sea of Corpses and Blood' and 'Skilled Horseman and Archer' seemed equally advantageous in different aspects, Zhao Haiping thought for a while, and decided to try the 'Skilled Horseman and Archer' first.

After all, from the current situation, this wasn't a field battle but a siege defense, and since there were many siege weapons on the city walls, archery would probably be quite useful.

After choosing the talent skill, the entire Trial Illusion started to operate.

Instantly, countless complex sounds flooded into his ears, causing his eardrums to tremble, his heart to flutter.

"Boom! Boom, boom!"

The sound of thunderous drums came from afar, with two rows of large cowhide drums in the military formation pressing towards the city, being beaten violently.

Accompanied by the drum sounds were bursts of war cries; even from such a distance, they still incited a sense of fear in Zhao Haiping's heart.

Looking down at himself, he found that he had donned the same black armored outfit as the other soldiers, with a saber on his waist and a longbow in his hands, and a quiver on his back containing over a dozen feathered arrows.

Seeing this, Zhao Haiping couldn't help feeling pleased.

He had chosen correctly!

Indeed, since this was a siege battle, archery would definitely be important initially.

Had he not chosen the 'Skilled Horseman and Archer' skill from the start, he might not have been able to even draw the bow properly, which would have spelled doom again.

Before he could think further, the general on the city wall raised his hand and spoke in a deep and authoritative voice, "Load bows with arrows!"

"Swoosh!"

Zhao Haiping's soldiers immediately adeptly drew arrows from their quivers and nocked them onto their bowstrings, then pulled their longbows taut, ready but not releasing.

Zhao Haiping took extra care and deliberately slowed his pace by half a beat before making the same movements as the other soldiers.

He didn't reveal any flaws.

He had discovered that, in this game, it was crucial to avoid acting rashly. If he had been the first to nock an arrow, he might have impulsively shot it.

It's better to observe the behavior of the NPCs and follow their lead.

The innate skill of archery mastery truly came in handy. Zhao Haiping had never touched a bow in reality, and in other virtual reality games, archery was simplified due to lower levels of authenticity and thus had little to value.

But now, he could utilize this innate skill to draw the bow in the most accurate posture, control the force properly, and maintain a balanced tension on the bowstring, always ready to shoot.

The enemy had already approached within three hundred paces, but the general on the city wall remained immovable. Zhao Haiping also dared not ask anything, choosing instead to hold his breath and continue holding his drawn bow like the others.

Besides them, many other soldiers busied themselves on the city walls placing sealed pottery jars on catapults.

The enemy advanced quickly, soon closing into the range of two hundred paces.

At this point, Zhao Haiping could clearly see their attire. They appeared to be barbarians, their helmets and armor adorned with animal bones, each looking particularly ferocious.

Finally, the city wall's general gave the command!

With a wave of his hand, the catapults on the city wall hurled the pottery jars!

The jars flew through the air and smashed into the crowd of enemy soldiers, but the damage they caused was minimal; they simply shattered and scattered a dark black liquid everywhere.

Many barbarian soldiers got splashed with this dark liquid but they ignored it, continuing to rush forward with all their might.

The city wall's general waved his hand again while someone nearby shouted, "Fire the arrows!"

"Whoosh, whoosh whoosh!"

Arrows flew, forming an overwhelming barrage that enveloped the barbarian soldiers!

Zhao Haiping aimed at one particularly tall barbarian soldier, and as soon as he released the arrow, he had a premonition. Sure enough, as he reached for a second arrow from his quiver, he saw his first arrow hit the barbarian right in the chest.

The arrow, falling from the sky, was powerful—immediately causing the barbarian soldier to lose balance and fall backward.

Zhao Haiping couldn't help feeling ecstatic: I'm so badass!

Could this hundred-pace piercing skill make me considered a divine archer in the army?

However, his celebration was short-lived as he saw the barbarian soldier stand back up and yank the arrow out of his chest, discarding it to the ground.

It turned out that the arrow hadn't penetrated fatally; the armor had taken most of the hit, and the burly barbarian seemed to suffer no serious injury.

Slightly disappointed, Zhao Haiping didn't dwell on it too long before drawing his bow to aim at another target.

It was then he heard the soldiers on the city wall cry in unison: "Those hit by Great Chu's divine arrows will suffer divine retribution!"

Immediately after, rockets flew towards the enemy lines!

Zhao Haiping didn't have any rockets, likely because he was only a low-ranked bowman and rockets, being scarce, were given to more skilled archers in the army.

As the rockets hit the ground, they ignited a fierce blaze!

Zhao Haiping realized that the black liquid in the previous pottery jars was probably the historically notorious Greek fire!

Flames formed a fiery wall. The barbarian soldiers in front were engulfed in fierce fire; both men and horses were burnt and rolled on the ground screaming in agony, which caused Zhao Haiping's hand holding the bow to tremble slightly.

But he hardly had time to think, as more barbarian soldiers charged through the gaps in the fiery barrier towards the city walls and gates!

Near the city gate, dozens of barbarian soldiers pushed siege hammers forward, while ladders were set up along the wall, barbarian soldiers climbing fiercely without any fear of death.

Zhao Haiping felt like he was playing an FPS game, constantly drawing his bow and shooting at the barbarian soldiers below. The rocks and logs poured from the city wall inflicted heavy losses on them, but despite this, they showed no signs of retreat, instead pressing on to assault the city head!

"Kill!

"Make these northern barbarians retreat with no chance to return!"

A loud shout erupted, and the black-armored soldiers on the city walls drew their swords in unison, fighting fiercely with the barbarian soldiers.

Caught in the urgency, Zhao Haiping also quickly drew his sword and fought fiercely with a barbarian soldier.

Now, up close, he could clearly see the faces of these barbarian soldiers. Numerous small bone pieces and teeth were braided into their hair, their faces painted with intimidating war paints, making each look like a ferocious spirit.

A cold, gleaming curved sword swung down towards him. Zhao Haiping quickly raised his sword to block. The blades collided, and he felt a fierce shock in his arm, causing severe pain in his palm.

"Damn! This guy is ferocious!"

Zhao Haiping found this barbarian soldier to be even more outrageous than the Red-armored Guards from the last instance!

Of course, this might be because Zhao Haiping's roles in the two instances were different, affecting both physical fitness and combat skills.

Previously, he controlled the body of Nie Rang, the top swordsman at the time, but now, he was merely a lowly footman—there was simply no comparison.

Zhao Haiping had no time to think further as the grim barbarian soldier suddenly swung horizontally. The chilling cold light slashed at Zhao Haiping's throat!

He only felt a coolness at his neck, then copious amounts of blood gushed out, blurring his vision.

Fuck!