Chapter 1 A Ghost Swordsman

A Ghost Swordsman is one of the four basic Swordsman classes, a swordsman who can wield the power of ghosts and deities in battle. Depending on the choice and combination of skills, Ghost Swordsmen are divided into two main schools.

One is the Ghost Swordsman who strengthens offensive skills, abandons some ghost formations (gui zhen), and ultimately maximizes damage, commonly known as a Zhan Gui (Slaying Ghost).

The other is the Ghost Swordsman who specializes in various ghost formations (gui zhen), releasing powerful barriers to strengthen themselves and their surrounding companions, known as a Zhen Gui (Formation Ghost).

This branching of schools exists precisely because skill points are limited. No matter what, it is impossible to maximize all skills, so there must be trade-offs. Ghost Swordsmen are considered relatively extreme, and these trade-offs eventually led to two distinct schools. Of course, some people take a moderate approach, using a skill build that can handle both. This kind of compromise build is very common among ordinary players, but in the professional scene, players strive to maximize effectiveness. Professional Ghost Swordsmen are either Zhan Gui or Zhen Gui; few try to grab both.

Of the two schools, Zhan Gui is more straightforward, with a balance of offense and defense, capable of standing alone; while Zhen Gui has characteristics and weaknesses that are equally distinct. A large number of high-level ghost formations (gui zhen) can greatly enhance a Ghost Swordsman's combat ability, but the limitation of the ghost formation barrier means that a Zhen Gui is basically useless outside the barrier.

This shortcoming is not too obvious when fighting NPCs, but it is more awkward in the arena. Opponents can choose not to enter your barrier and wait for your ghost formations (gui zhen) to disappear. Ranged classes can also attack you from outside the ghost formation. In one-on-one PK, Zhen Gui clearly requires more skill and tactical awareness, and many ordinary players even believe that Zhen Gui is incapable in solo fights.

As it stands now, Zhan Gui is the mainstream among Ghost Swordsmen, and most players choose Zhan Gui; while Zhen Gui is becoming less and less popular among players due to complicated controls and the limitation of the barrier. However, Zhen Gui usually has a place in some elite teams, but since the effects of two Zhen Gui's ghost formations (gui zhen) cannot be stacked, one or two is generally enough.

Even the champion team, Tiny Herb, has a Zhen Gui in their lineup. Zhou Yebai's Ghost Swordsman account, Shi Junzi, is a Zhen Gui, and has appeared in official matches, providing the team with some tactical changes and options.

"A Zhen Gui…" Qiao Yifan muttered to himself. Perhaps it was because no one had ever specifically guided him for so long, but upon suddenly hearing a pointer, Qiao Yifan immediately accepted it subconsciously, especially since the one pointing it out was Ye Qiu, the Glory Textbook, even more experienced than their captain, Wang Jiexi.

"That's right, your overall awareness is excellent, and your teamwork is strong. You're very suitable for the Zhen Gui class!" Ye Xiu said.

"But… but…" Qiao Yifan said "but" twice but couldn't say anything. There was too much he wanted to say, and he didn't know where to start at that moment.

Change classes? He, a nobody, wasn't qualified. Even if he switched to a Zhen Gui, their team already had Zhou Yebai, so how could they possibly give him the Zhen Gui role?

Rebuild a character for him? That was even more impossible. The club was already neglecting his current professional-level Assassin account, let alone rebuild a Zhen Gui for him.

More importantly, his situation in the club was becoming more and more awkward. His contract was expiring at the end of this season. Given his dispensable existence in the club, he himself didn't believe that the club would renew his contract. And since he entered the professional scene, he had been unknown, his only aura being the title of "member of the championship team." With this, perhaps some small clubs would be slightly interested in him. But switching to a new class at this time, with less than half a year left, could he impress anyone during the trials?

If he didn't have a professional contract, changing to an even more suitable class would be meaningless!

"Sigh…" In the end, Qiao Yifan just sighed. At this time, the two of them were slow to make a move. The spectators couldn't hear their voices, and they didn't know what they were doing. No one was polite to Qiao Yifan, and the screen was filled with urging.

Qiao Yifan didn't dare to be negligent, but seeing that Lord Grim had no intention of attacking, he had no choice but to greet him, "Senior, I'm going to start." After saying that, he immediately began to attack.

Ye Xiu could naturally handle Qiao Yifan with ease. Before long, he had defeated him. As expected, in terms of time, Qiao Yifan lost the fastest, just like he won the slowest against Tang Rou.

"Show some courage!"

Qiao Yifan heard Ye Xiu say this to him as he exited the arena.

Courage?

Qiao Yifan silently sat in front of the computer, watching the next teammate rush up to fight Lord Grim. The two sides were on the verge of breaking out, not saying a word. The teammates around him were in groups of twos and threes, watching the battle and discussing it. Qiao Yifan looked around and saw that Gao Yingjie was not in his seat. Looking in the other direction, he saw that Gao Yingjie had been called over by the captain, who seemed to be saying something to him.

"How nice… to often have a captain, a great god-level figure, to guide you…" Qiao Yifan thought silently, suddenly feeling a bit of bitterness in his nose. He and Gao Yingjie had joined the team at the same time, were about the same age, but one was being cared for and loved by the seniors, while the other could only carry bags and pour water behind the seniors.

"Zhen Gui…" Qiao Yifan couldn't help but think of the guidance from that god in the game, and the encouragement he received before he logged out.

He, perhaps, really needed a little more courage!

But… courage wasn't something that came just because you said it did. Qiao Yifan thought it over and over again, but was still afraid.

Why not just try it out a little! He finally made such a decision. Not completely abandoning the Assassin in his hands, but starting now to get in touch with the Zhen Gui. Maybe it would really be different?

Just such an idea immediately made Qiao Yifan very excited.

"Yifan, what are you smiling at?" Gao Yingjie had returned to his seat at this time, and saw his friend smiling foolishly, his eyes scattered, and he didn't seem to be watching the match.

"Oh, it's nothing." Qiao Yifan quickly put away his smile.

That night, Tiny Herb's results still didn't improve, and they lost every match. But this time, their captain, Wang Jiexi, didn't play. But after yesterday's tie between the two, no one suspected that the captain was afraid of losing or anything. In short, their captain always had some unexpected actions, like suddenly pulling everyone to the internet cafe for training camp. The members of Tiny Herb had become accustomed to only obeying their captain's orders, not guessing his thoughts.

"How was today?" At Happy Internet Cafe, Ye Xiu, who had finished the night of gauntlet matches, went to check on Tang Rou. The two had completely opposite experiences, one winning everything, the other losing everything, a pair of antonyms.

"A little better than yesterday," Tang Rou said.

"Not bad," Ye Xiu verbally praised.

"But… today that Lie Yan Jin from their team invited me to some kind of trial!" Tang Rou said.

"Is that so?" Ye Xiu didn't seem surprised, "He has good eyes. You really have a lot of potential to be tapped. Did you agree?"

"No, I haven't thought about becoming a professional player," Tang Rou said.

"Don't tell the boss lady, she'll strangle you," Ye Xiu said.

Tang Rou thought for a moment, then nodded seriously, "You're right."

"Hehe, continue with the dungeon tonight?"

"Of course."

"See you at 12."

"Okay."

The two finished speaking and returned to their positions. Ye Xiu was already preparing to switch shifts at the front desk, while Tang Rou returned to her seat and continued playing.

Once it passed eleven o'clock, the internet cafe immediately changed scenes. The hustle and bustle of the evening peak had passed, and it was much quieter in comparison.

"Is the professional league really fun?"

Ye Xiu logged into Lord Grim at the front desk and suddenly received a message from Soft Mist.

"Is Glory fun?" Ye Xiu replied.

"It's okay," Tang Rou said.

"Then the professional league is just like that," Ye Xiu said.

"Oh…"

"But, based on your personality, you're really suitable to be a professional player. You like challenges, don't you?" Ye Xiu said.

"Then what about you? Why don't you play in the professional league?" Tang Rou asked.

"I played before. I'm tired now, so I'm resting," Ye Xiu said.

"Liar." Tang Rou wasn't stupid. How could "resting" involve running to an internet cafe to work as a night shift manager?

"In short, I'll go back," Ye Xiu said.

"When?" Tang Rou asked.

"That's hard to say…" Ye Xiu replied.

Tang Rou didn't say anything more. The two silently played their games. At twelve o'clock, the dungeon attempts refreshed. Group dungeon, everything was as usual.

The next day was the same, except that Tiny Herb lost even more miserably to Ye Xiu. It was impossible for them to make any exaggerated progress in two or three days, but after Ye Xiu earned materials for two days, the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella was comprehensively upgraded again, reaching level 25. This time, this work was clearly more efficient than clearing dungeon records, and even better, it could be repeated. Dungeon records could only be cleared once.

Car Front was still busy collecting the materials on the list, but here, a new list had already been provided. Car Front nearly spat blood upon receiving it. This time, the materials needed were mainly level 30-35 items. The elite teams of the three guilds were only in their early thirties and had just begun challenging this area's dungeons and leveling zones. Where would so many materials come from?

At this rate of consumption, even if all the guilds in the tenth server were combined, it might not be enough, let alone Blue Brook Guild. Most players were currently at level 25. Lord Grim's level 28 was only slightly behind the elite accounts of the major guilds who were competing for levels and rankings. Compared to ordinary players, how could Ye Xiu and Tang Rou, who played without rest except for sleeping and eating, possibly fall behind? They were already the most insane existence playing solo.

Without materials, Wang Jiexi wasn't worried. They were professional players. Winning and losing was their job. They couldn't just blindly fight after losing; they had to analyze the reasons technically.

So in the following days without materials to lose, Tiny Herb's evening training camp became an analysis of the accumulated match recordings from these days.

Ye Xiu naturally didn't pay attention to any of this. If no one came to find him, he would continue to level up. A few days later, their levels finally crossed the level 30 threshold. During this period, Glory's twenty-second round of matches was held as scheduled. Excellent Era finally ushered in their long-awaited turnaround battle, beautifully completing this round of matches with a score of nine to one.

In comparison, Tiny Herb had a small upset in this round, facing a mid-tier team in the alliance and ultimately only taking three points.