Chapter 23 Jin's Golden Talent Skill

Before formally starting today's assassin trial instance, Du Gang didn't rush to check the three talent skills but instead reviewed the prepared process he had in mind.

When Du Gang first entered this trial instance, his experience was much like that of Zhao Haiping.

Both were completely bamboozled by Emperor Yanling!

Being too nervous in the main hall wouldn't do; suspicion from Emperor Yanling might arise.

Being too domineering in the main hall also wouldn't do; still, it would arouse suspicion from Emperor Yanling.

Once Emperor Yanling harbored any suspicion, it would directly lead to mission failure because Emperor Yanling did not allow untrusted individuals to approach and offer treasures.

Without the chance to approach the emperor, assassination naturally became impossible.

Even if Nie Rang himself were present, he would never be able to initiate a peerless assault directly in the main hall, bypassing all the civil and military officials and guards to forcibly kill Emperor Yanling.

Historical scholar Nie Rang indeed provided a standard answer: to deceive Emperor Yanling with the pretext of "a tiny flaw in the ink jade," thereby gaining the opportunity to get close.

Naturally, Du Gang, like Zhao Haiping, had already tried this tactic.

But after trying it, he found it ineffective!

Emperor Yanling was too vigilant and too doubtful. If he already had suspicions about a player, then mentioning "a tiny flaw in the ink jade" would only increase these suspicions.

This was one of the biggest difficulties that stalled the majority of players in the assassin trial of "Killing the Sovereign."

Faced with this, Du Gang didn't have any clear ideas, so he sought help from outside.

Through internal organizational connections, he found some excellent historical scholars to study with and finally conceived a theoretically highest success rate method to pass the instance.

Up to this point, Du Gang had made preparations in three areas for this game's difficulty.

The first was mental preparation, the second was acting ability, or perhaps the specifics of what to say, and the third was combat strength.

To stabilize the mental state, one mustn't show timidity or be too ostentatious in front of Emperor Yanling; one had to strike the right balance so as not to arouse his suspicion—this was fundamental.

Afterward, it was also important to think carefully about how to cleverly bring up the topic of "a tiny flaw in the ink jade" without being too abrupt or making Emperor Yanling feel anything was amiss.

When finally facing Emperor Yanling, whether one could succeed would depend on swordsmanship.

For swordsmanship, Du Gang indeed sought advice from some professionals and underwent targeted training. But since he never got the chance to get close enough to Emperor Yanling, he was still uncertain about whether his combat strength was up to par.

Thus, Du Gang didn't expect to pass on the first try.

He would need to try several more times to pinpoint his specific shortcomings and compensate for them with talent skills.

After rehearsing the speech for after approaching the hall, Du Gang looked at the three talent skills in front of him.

[Grade Jia - Calm Equanimity (White): Your emotions steady, allowing you to face danger with more composure.]

[Grade Jia - Mastery of Swordsmanship (Blue): Your swordsmanship level is correspondingly improved.]

[Grade Ren - Blending In (White): You naturally blend into your surroundings, becoming much less noticeable.]

These three talent skills were much like the ones Zhao Haiping had seen before.

Du Gang had died many times and refreshed his skills on numerous occasions, discovering the skill pool for the novice trial instance wasn't very large.

Most likely for the same reason speculated before: the skills in the novice trial instance were targeted and instructive, relatively simple, all to better guide players in adapting to the game's mechanics.

Du Gang glanced over the three skills.

Last time he chose Blending In, thinking it was a great skill tailor-made for an assassin, but after finally encountering Emperor Yanling, he realized it was a disappointing decoy.

This skill was indeed useful; his presence was significantly reduced, and Emperor Yanling didn't suspect him to be an assassin at all.

But the problem was, when he took the initiative to point out the flaw in the ink jade, even the slight change in his established low profile caught Emperor Yanling's attention!

A minor figure who suddenly asks to access the stage to point out a flaw in the ink jade for the emperor would be too conspicuous.

Emperor Yanling was suspicious, and as a result, it ended in failure again.

Thus, the Blending In skill was really useful for an assassin, like when assassinating someone in the streets, but it wasn't effective in a situation like "Killing the Sovereign."

After considering for a moment, Du Gang lightly stroked the Calm Equanimity skill with his hand to switch it out.

The effect of Calm Equanimity was to enhance composure, which for a newcomer, can relieve tension well and prevent being overwhelmed by the excessively solemn atmosphere of the main hall.

But after all, it offered no enhancement to acting or combat ability, so relying on it to pass was unlikely.

Du Gang's mental fortitude was strong; he didn't need such a talent's help.

And in the instant the card flipped, Du Gang heard a sharp "clang" sound effect, a golden glow effect flashed by, nearly blinding his eyes.

A golden card appeared in Du Gang's vision.

[Grade Ren - Auspicious Fortune (Gold): Your luck improves.]

Full of special effects, all that was missing was a sound effect of "Wow, a legendary gold!"

Du Gang couldn't help but brighten up.

"Oh?!

"Could this be what players refer to as a stroke of 'European luck'?"

Although Du Gang didn't play games very often, he did play them. He understood some basic concepts within games.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been selected as a beta tester.

He was well aware of what a Grade Ren gold talent skill meant; this was probably the best talent skill he could get in the novice trial instance!

But after carefully reading the skill description, he felt some disappointment.

This wasn't a combat talent!

If it were an enhanced version of Mastery of Swordsmanship, that would be amazing—the difficulty of combat would be significantly reduced.

Maybe just being able to get close to Emperor Yanling would be enough to pass.

But this talent seemed to be a supportive type.

It said it could improve luck, but how exactly? There wasn't a detailed description.

If it were a card-drawing game, one could definitely seize it without hesitation, but after all, the goal of this instance was to assassinate the emperor—would the difficulty of the assassination decrease with the improvement of luck? The mechanics behind this were still unclear.

Du Gang hesitated, but after thinking it through, he felt that it would be rather unreasonable not to take such a Ren level golden talent when he had come across it.

Although the golden color represented only rarity, not necessarily practical effect, since it had been rated as a golden Ren level talent, it must have had its uses.

In the end, Du Gang decided to give it a try and lightly tapped on the card.

The card turned into a stream of light particles and merged into Du Gang's body, but this time, Du Gang felt absolutely nothing.

When he had taken "Overbearing," he could feel himself in a state of domineering presence; with "Swordsmanship Mastery," he could feel a familiar muscle memory filling him; and with "Unnoticeable Presence," he could noticeably sense his presence diminishing.

But this time, the effect of "Supreme Fortune" had no manifestation whatsoever.

"Could it be that I've been duped by this game?"

Du Gang was somewhat suspicious, but as the Illusion Realm had already begun to flow, the little eunuch had taken steps forward, and he could only keep up with a quick pace and bowed head, following the plan.

It was the same slow ascent of the long stairs, arriving at the grand hall, the pressure from the red-armored guards on both sides as ever-present, but to Du Gang at this time, they could be considered non-existent.

His mental fortitude was among the best of players, and he had been through this scene countless times, had even been killed by these guards innumerable times, long accustomed to the strangeness of it all.

Once again, he arrived at the grand hall.

"This humble subject pays homage to Your Majesty!"

Du Gang knelt in the grand hall, holding the wooden box high with both hands.

Unlike other players, he was composed, his words full of confidence, and at the same time, his tone was very respectful.

This balance was hard to achieve, a hair over and it might be considered a grave disrespect, yet a touch less and it could seem overly timid, as if harboring guilt.

Du Gang had practiced many times before finally grasping the optimal approach.

All around was silent as the grave, but Du Gang was not surprised. He counted to five in his heart and just then heard Emperor Yanling say, "Rise."

Du Gang respectfully stood up.

Sure enough, this time Emperor Yanling did not pick on him and instead asked with concern, "Where is the auspicious item you spoke of? Present it swiftly!"

This meant his performance after entering the grand hall was without issue.

Du Gang immediately followed the steps he had rehearsed many times, bowing his head respectfully as he opened the wooden box, "To report to Your Majesty, the auspicious ink jade Qilin is here!"

The moment the wooden box was opened, Emperor Yanling's eyes widened with longing!

Within the box lay an ink jade Qilin, slightly larger than a human head, its claws outstretched. Under the sunshine, it seemed to emit a dark luster, truly extraordinary.

Such a large piece of ink jade was rare in the world, not to mention that the Qilin was lifelike—as if crafted by the heavens, beyond what any human craftsman could achieve.

Emperor Yanling was so captivated that he could not help but exclaim joyfully, "Auspicious! This is undoubtedly auspicious!"

Du Gang couldn't help but secretly think, everything was exactly as planned!

The ancients were truly superstitious!

To modern people, it would be obvious that the Qilin was carved by human hands; how could there be a large piece of ink jade that just happened to form the shape of a Qilin?

But the ancients, especially emperors who believed in the destiny of heavenly luck, were often deluding themselves, which is why through the ages, officials would cause the people to suffer greatly in their efforts to present auspicious items.

Regardless, the plan was a success.

A strategy conceived through collective wisdom was indeed effective!

After several setbacks, Du Gang had discussed with his colleagues and some scholars in history, surmising that Emperor Yanling, naturally suspicious, was unlikely to agree to his approach to present a treasure in person.

Historical records claimed that Nie Rang managed to get close to Emperor Yanling by using the "flaw in the ink jade" as an excuse, but clearly, many details were omitted.

Du Gang had proven with his previous failures that this excuse alone was not enough—he needed thorough preparation.

It was like magic, no matter how miraculous, once deconstructed, it seemed dull—usually based on a very simple principle. The key did not lie in the principle of the magic, but in the series of misleading techniques during the performance of the magic.

So after discussing with others, Du Gang decided that upon entering the grand hall, he must showcase the ink jade Qilin right away, not hiding it!

Because the ink jade Qilin could grab Emperor Yanling's attention immediately, serving as a misdirection in magic and greatly increasing his own chances of success.

And Emperor Yanling's reaction was indeed in line with Du Gang's prediction.

The emperor, notorious for his suspicion and cruelty, had taken no notice of the abnormality, his attention entirely seized by the ink jade Qilin, his eyes eager.

"Quick, quickly present the auspicious item to me!

"As for you, your contributions in presenting this auspicious item are commendable; go down and await your reward!"

Emperor Yanling looked towards the little eunuch beside him, wanting him to fetch the ink jade Qilin.

If the little eunuch were allowed to take the ink jade Qilin away, then this assassination mission would end in failure.

Du Gang knew very clearly that with Emperor Yanling's suspicious nature, to get close, he needed to make good use of the "flaw in the ink jade" excuse.

But this excuse couldn't be used too directly, as that would easily raise suspicion.

He needed a more clever approach.

Without waiting for the little eunuch to reach him, Du Gang had already "thumped" back to the ground, his tone carrying an exact measure of panic, not a fraction more or less.

"This humble subject deserves death, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Yanling was momentarily stunned.

Presenting an auspicious item was a great merit, so how could it become a crime deserving death?

Even the historically suspicious emperor was somewhat baffled at this moment and asked, "What crime have you committed?"

Du Gang, holding up the ink jade Qilin with both hands and keeping his head bowed respectfully, said, "This auspicious item has a minor flaw, this humble subject dared not report it to Your Majesty before, committing the crime of deceiving the emperor!"