56: Chapter 56 One-on-One Battle with Qinglong Temple

The pale green vortex closed slowly behind him. Hu Jinsi stood at the registration desk at the exit of the Wandering Isle instance, sunlight spilling down from the sky and illuminating his face.

He suddenly felt a sense of displacement, as if a lifetime had passed.

This feeling wasn't due to physical exhaustion from spending three days and nights in the instance, but a deeper, indescribable sense of dislocation.

Over the past three days, he had walked through the empty halls of the Temple of Five Dawns, sat on the second-floor platform of the Stormstout Brewery toasting the air, and shouted a name that would never receive a response to the ocean from atop Shen-zin Su's shell.

Those scenes were so real, so real that he almost forgot he was in an instance, but at the same time, they were so fake, fake to the point where there wasn't even a single talking Pandaren.

Perhaps most instances formed from world fragments harbored malice toward Water Blue Star. Those instances filled with slaughter, violence, and endless combat, those worlds where players struggled to survive in fear and despair—their very existence was an invasion.

But the Wandering Isle was different for Hu Jinsi. In this instance, Hu Jinsi felt no malice; it could even be called gentle. It simply existed quietly, preserving everything, waiting for an old friend who would never return.

Hu Jinsi shook his head, shaking this sentimental mood out of his mind.

As for whether his performance inside the instance would reveal to the consciousness of Water Blue Star that he was a transmigrator, Hu Jinsi wasn't too concerned.

After all, this world had absorbed so many fragments of different worlds; compared to those, what did one person like Hu Jinsi matter?

If the consciousness of Water Blue Star could absorb and assimilate even those complete world fragments with their full histories and cultures, why would it care about an insignificant soul who had transmigrated?

Besides, it wasn't like there was no precedent. Humans on Water Blue Star marrying creatures that came out of instances was no longer news.

Two years ago, there was a report about a female archer who came out of an Elf world fragment marrying an ordinary office worker on Water Blue Star; now they had two children and lived in a small suburban villa in a second-tier city.

Just look at those S-Rank twins at No. 3 High School. If their ancestors hadn't intermarried with other races, where would their Draconic Sorcerer and Dragon Scion traits come from? It couldn't possibly be left behind by an emperor from a previous dynasty, right?

Therefore, Hu Jinsi's situation really wasn't a big deal. As long as he didn't actively advertise it, he just needed to avoid being caught and dissected.

He took a deep breath and walked toward the public transport station in the instance plaza.

---

Since the paths of the Brewmaster and Windwalker had been completed in this way, Hu Jinsi didn't intend to wait for new opportunities.

He took a vehicle to leave the Wandering Isle instance plaza and returned to his temporary residence in Daibei City. The room wasn't large—one bedroom and one living room—but it was enough for one person. He threw his backpack onto the sofa, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, and the panel slowly unfolded before him.

"Level up."

[Level Up: Level 11]

A warm current spread from the panel throughout his body, but the feeling this time was different from the past. It wasn't just simple muscle strengthening or sensory enhancement, but a deeper, almost essential change.

His body became tougher, his bone density increased slightly, the vascular network under his skin seemed to have been rewoven, and his blood flow became more efficient.

But this was just the beginning.

Hu Jinsi had already prepared the content for his alternative school. He submitted a detailed explanation of the school to the panel and tapped into the void to confirm the submission.

His reason for choosing this school was simple—this school mastered resurrection spells in the later stages.

Hu Jinsi didn't dare to bet on what level his Mistweaver School would grant him resurrection spells. After all, the Mistweaver School was a brand-new, unprecedented class variant; no one knew how its skill tree would develop. But this school he was about to choose was guaranteed to get resurrection skills. From a risk management perspective, this was a safe choice.

"Select Life Stream Sect."

[Confirmed: Awakener Hu Jinsi has mastered the basic knowledge of the Life Stream Sect (Monk), allowing him to acquire a new class school (specialization direction), Life Stream Sect.]

[New School Unlocked — Life Stream Sect]

[Life Stream Sect job entry, you gain +2 Constitution.]

[Acquired new talent: Master the Life Stream.]

[Acquired new skills: Touch of Death, Life-Giving Hand.]

[Master the Life Stream: Life Stream Monks manipulate the power of the life stream of others. These monks are wandering healers, but they can also bring swift death to their enemies. They always wear masks, presenting themselves as faceless messengers of life and death. Effect: Insight and Medicine are included in your class domain; you can now gain class experience through medical-related actions. You have gained the ability to skillfully operate herbal tools.]

[Touch of Death: Once every 6 seconds, when you hit a creature with an unarmed strike and deal damage, you can consume 1 Chi to deal additional necrotic damage (based on your Agility and Perception values).]

[Life-Giving Hand: You can consume 1 Chi to touch a creature and restore the target's HP (based on your Agility and Perception values). When you use Flurry of Blows, you can change one of the unarmed strikes to use this feature to heal a creature, and you do not need to consume extra Chi for the healing.]

At the moment the school was selected, the Chi in Hu Jinsi's body no longer surged like a river but sank down like mercury. The restless force in his punches and kicks earlier was now completely contained within his Dantian, turning into a cold clarity.

Hu Jinsi looked at his palms, as if he could see the life and death pulsing at an imperceptible frequency in the tiny blood vessels under his skin. This wasn't an increase in power, but a glimpse into the essence of "life and death."

The surrounding air seemed to have changed because of him; there was no longer the murderous aura, but instead, a faint, lingering fragrance of herbs. He knew that from now on, every touch of his would no longer be a simple strike, but the cutting and stitching of life lines.

This feeling was neither violent nor sinister, but an absolute calmness like a doctor holding a scalpel. The Chi in his hand was now a scalpel.

This feeling was somewhat wonderful. Unlike the purely combat-oriented school of [Crane Form: Lonely Phoenix Style], [Life Stream Sect] felt more internalized to Hu Jinsi. It didn't pursue external intensity and brilliance, but refined Chi into the critical point between life and death.

As Hu Jinsi leveled up to 11, his Chi also went from 6 points to 7 points, but it still couldn't keep up with the consumption of these Chi-heavy skills. Touch of Death, Life-Giving Hand, Nandou · Dragonfly Slash, Water Bird Steps... each one was a heavy consumer of Chi. He even missed that [Extra Chi] talent from before.

"7 points of Chi..." Hu Jinsi calculated, "Parkour 1 point, Flurry of Blows 1 point, Spinning Crane Kick 1 point, Water Bird Steps 1 point, Touch of Death 1 point, Life-Giving Hand 1 point, Energizing Chi 2 points; not even enough for one round."

He sighed. The days of tight budgeting were still ahead.

With the confirmation of the new school, Hu Jinsi also opened the skill draw for Level 11.

[Monk (Classic School) gains new skills: Weapon Specialization (Optional), Parkour (Enhanced)]

[Weapon Specialization (Optional): You can choose one type of weapon (class-limited); gain a slight (+1) hit bonus when using this weapon.]

[Parkour (Terrain Enhancement): Your Parkour can now move on vertical surfaces (such as walls, cliffs) or non-solid surfaces (such as water, treetops). Note: You must stand on solid ground when the movement ends; this is not flight.]

[Weapon Specialization (Optional)]—choose Unarmed Strike for this, no question. [Parkour (Terrain Enhancement)]—it feels like having the "water walking" lightfoot skill, but unfortunately, the duration of Parkour is too short to be very practical; it would be better to have the duration doubled.

Next was the skill for the Mistweaver Monk.

[Monk (Mistweaver School) gains new skills: Sweeping Leg, Renewing Mist]

[Sweeping Leg: Instant cast, 1-minute cooldown. Forces all enemies within a 2.5-meter radius of you to make a Strength/Agility saving throw. Those who fail the save are knocked down.]

[Renewing Mist: Instant cast, no cost, 2 charges, 15 seconds to recharge. Surround a friendly target with healing mist, continuously restoring HP over 20 seconds (ticks every ~2 seconds, heals 200% of total Perception in HP during the healing duration). Mist Transfer: When Renewing Mist's healing on the current target results in overhealing (i.e., target is at full HP), the mist will immediately transfer. It automatically seeks another most severely injured ally within 7 meters of the target and transfers the remaining duration (and healing effect) to the new target. Synergy (Life Stream Sect): The total healing of Renewing Mist is increased by an additional 100% of your Constitution.]

Sweeping Leg and the jumping mist, pretty good—one rare crowd control skill, and one proper healing skill.

[Monk (Crane Form: Lonely Phoenix Style) gains new skill: Nandou · Dragonfly Slash]

[Nandou · Dragonfly Slash: Like a dragonfly skimming the water, seemingly gentle, but every touch severs the meridians. The figure is erratic, palms flying like butterflies, leaving several intersecting wounds on the enemy in an instant. Effect: Consumes 1 Chi, launches a fast hand-blade slash in a 120° fan-shaped area 2 meters in front. Deals additional damage to targets in a bleeding state.]

Not bad, although it was only one skill, it was the only attack capability this time. Although it overlapped somewhat with Spinning Crane Kick, it was a new tactical choice.

---

The fruitful Hu Jinsi found an open space in the residential area and began to test his new skills for the first time.

The residential area in the evening was empty, with most residents still at work or out. Hu Jinsi stood in the center of a concrete clearing, took a deep breath, and first tried [Renewing Mist].

He extended his right hand, palm up, and with a thought, a layer of faint white mist slowly rose from his palm, like a cloud blown away by the wind, gently wrapping around his wrist.

The touch of the mist was cool and moist, carrying a faint, lingering fragrance of herbs; it seemed the talent [Master the Life Stream] had begun to affect healing-related skills.

Hu Jinsi pressed his palm against his left arm, and the mist immediately permeated the skin as if it had found a home. He felt a thin, moist film covering the surface of his left arm, as if a layer of invisible ointment had been applied.

A buff icon appeared on the status bar on the panel—[Renewing Mist: Remaining duration 19 seconds], and at the same time, a green number jumped out every two seconds: [+5] [+6]...

"The healing amount is okay." Hu Jinsi nodded. His Perception was 20 points, 200% of total Perception was 40 points, spread over 10 ticks, 4 points per tick, plus the 100% Constitution synergy bonus from the Life Stream Sect—his Constitution was now 18 points, adding an extra 18 points of healing, totaling about 58 points.

He waited for 20 seconds, watched the buff disappear, and then tested the effect of the Mist Transfer. He cast Renewing Mist on himself, then deliberately kept his HP full during the healing period; the moment the mist produced overhealing, it immediately drifted away from him as if it had life, hovered in the air for a second, and then re-attached to him (because there were no other allies around).

"Pretty smart." Hu Jinsi recorded this data with satisfaction.

Next was [Sweeping Leg].

He assumed a low horse stance, swept his right leg across the ground, and a burst of Chi energy erupted from the soles of his feet, spreading outward in a circle. The energy swept across the fallen leaves on the ground, blowing them all away, forming a clean circle with a radius of 2 meters centered on him.

"The range is okay." He estimated, "It should be enough to deal with enemies in close proximity."

The cooldown is 1 minute, which means he cannot use it as frequently as Spinning Crane Kick. But as an instant control skill, it is already quite valuable for interrupting the enemy's attack rhythm at critical moments.

Next are [Touch of Death] and [Life-Giving Hand].

Hu Jinsi walked to a plane tree beside the clearing, took a deep breath, and condensed Chi energy into his right fist. [Touch of Death] activated! The moment his fist struck the trunk, a dark black energy surged from his knuckles, like a tiny black snake, burrowing into the bark.

A faint crack appeared on the surface of the trunk, and the color around the crack dimmed, as if its vitality had been drained away. [-15]

He withdrew his fist, looked at the crack on the trunk, and then switched to [Life-Giving Hand]. Pressing his palm against the trunk, a warm white energy flowed from his palm, and the color around the crack gradually recovered. However, since the tree trunk does not actually have health to restore, the healing effect stopped after just one second.

"One Yin and one Yang, one life and one death." Hu Jinsi looked at his hands thoughtfully. "This is the core of the Life Stream Sect."

Finally, there is [Nanto Dragonfly Slash].

He assumed the [Crane Form: Lonely Phoenix Style], leaned forward slightly, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and then suddenly unfolded them! His hands transformed into two sharp blades, tracing a 120-degree fan-shaped trajectory in front of him.

A soft "whoosh" sound came from the air, like the sound of wind being cut. The fallen leaves within a 2-meter range in front were neatly cut in half, the edges as smooth as if they had been sliced by actual blades.

"Nice." Hu Jinsi grinned. The visual effect of this skill was sharper than Spinning Crane Kick, and it consumed less stamina, making it suitable as a finisher or for quick crowd clearing.

He tried the combo connection between [Nanto Dragonfly Slash] and [Spinning Crane Kick] several times. First, use Spinning Crane Kick to kick the enemy into a low-health state, then immediately follow up with a Dragonfly Slash to finish them off. Aside from the higher Chi consumption, everything else was fine.

"Tactical option +1." He silently noted to himself.

The sky grew dark, and the streetlights in the residential area lit up one by one. Hu Jinsi stopped his stance, brushed the dust off his body, and walked toward his residence with satisfaction.

That evening, Hu Jinsi sent a brief message in the small group chat with Lin Rui and Su Wan.

[Hu Jinsi: Level 11, chose a new school, Life Stream Sect. This is a healing-oriented Monk school, with a core of healing + shadow erosion damage, and I can get a resurrection skill in the late game. There are two other new skills: Sweeping Leg (AOE knockdown, 1-minute cooldown) and Renewing Mist (continuous healing, with automatic transfer). We can talk about the rest when we meet.]

[Lin Rui: Life Stream Sect? Never heard of it, I'll look it up when I get back.]

[Su Wan: Congrats on level 11! Sweeping Leg and Renewing Mist both sound very practical, especially that automatic transfer... Is it a chain heal similar to a HoT?]

[Hu Jinsi: Pretty much, but smarter than a HoT. Overhealing automatically jumps to injured teammates within range, no need to manually switch targets.]

[Lin Rui: Got it. Let's chat in detail when we meet after the holidays.]

[Su Wan: Stay safe, don't rush in too hard by yourself.]

Hu Jinsi put down his phone and smiled. Even though they were hundreds of kilometers apart, his teammates' concern still made him feel warm.

The next day, a confident Hu Jinsi went straight to the plaza at the entrance of the Temple of the Jade Serpent dungeon.

[Dungeon: Temple of the Jade Serpent]

[Entry Level: 10-18]

[Suggested Group Size: 1-5 people]

The gate of the Temple of the Jade Serpent dungeon was quite interesting; it was actually the gate of the Temple of the Jade Serpent from the game. In the very center of the gate was the vortex at the dungeon entrance, giving it a bit of an authentic feel. Two huge vermilion doors were tightly shut, and the bronze studs on the doors glittered in the morning light. A plaque hung above the lintel, with the characters "Temple of the Jade Serpent" written in traditional Chinese, the brushstrokes bold and powerful.

Hu Jinsi stood in front of the gate, took out his phone, and took a selfie. In the photo, he was wearing a dark blue police uniform jacket, with the solemn gate and the grayish-white vortex behind him, his expression as serious as if he were attending some important ceremony.

"Souvenir." He saved the photo and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

The reason he chose the Temple of the Jade Serpent instead of the Jade Forest was mainly because Hu Jinsi was alone this time. The area of the Temple of the Jade Serpent wasn't actually that large; if you didn't count the time spent fighting mobs and clearing bosses, Hu Jinsi estimated that at his current speed, he could circle the Temple of the Jade Serpent in 20 minutes.

Of course, Hu Jinsi also remembered seeing online before transmigrating that some masters could speed-run the Temple of the Jade Serpent in 42 seconds, not even a minute. This was a record he didn't dare to even hope to match.

Besides that, the bosses in the Temple of the Jade Serpent all had rather unique combat mechanics, rather than being the pure strength type. For Hu Jinsi, who considered himself a hardcore veteran player, the combat mechanics of the Temple of the Jade Serpent should be deeply ingrained in his mind.

He was also looking forward to the exclusive achievements of the Temple of the Jade Serpent, wanting to see if he could farm them again in this world. After all, the achievement rewards were quite tempting.

Previously, when he was with his team, even though they had farmed the Burning Village difficulty up to 250%, they hadn't triggered any achievements, which was quite a pity. After all, it might have been a dungeon converted from an arcade game, and Hu Jinsi wasn't sure what specific hidden content was needed to trigger them.

Perhaps the professions of the team members weren't quite right. Hu Jinsi remembered that the protagonists of that dungeon were Knights of the Round Table; perhaps one needed those orthodox Western professions to trigger certain plot points and obtain achievement rewards.

Without too much hesitation, Hu Jinsi completed the registration and stepped into the teleportation vortex.

Pushing open the dungeon gate, the first thing that came into view was a spacious open-air circular courtyard.

Underfoot was a huge, bluish-gray stone floor, with a circular stone magic circle with complex golden patterns embedded in the very center. At the end of the courtyard was a magnificent stone wall, and standing on the wall was a huge circular double-door stone gate. The doors were dark red, with two lifelike, blue-green relief dragons coiled on them, and the edges of the gate were decorated with gorgeous golden ornaments.

On both sides of the circular gate, supporting the wooden eaves structure above, there was a blue-green dragon-shaped statue under each eave, and burning braziers were placed next to the statues. On the far left edge of the courtyard, one could see several Pandaren wandering around—Jade Serpent Temple Keepers.

On both sides of the courtyard grew several lush pine trees with dense branches and leaves, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled light and shadows. The entire scene presented a solemn and tranquil Pandaren temple style.

If Hu Jinsi's memory was correct, the side hall on the left was the location of the first boss, which should be a Jinyu. The side hall on the right was the second boss's location, a particularly long-winded storyteller Pandaren. The third boss was in the second courtyard, a priestess who could summon a flying dragon. The fourth was the freebie, Sha of Doubt.

Anyway, when he ran the dungeon before, it seemed like the second boss didn't need to be fought, but he didn't know about now.

Just as he entered, there were 2 Jade Serpent Temple Keepers. Hu Jinsi decided to test his strength. With one [Chi Torpedo], he closed the distance directly. He didn't use any skills, just a simple punch and kick against the Jade Serpent Temple Keeper.

[-8] [-9]

I have to say, the Pandaren looked cute and clumsy, but their fur was really hard; Hu Jinsi even felt a bit prickly when hitting them bare-handed. The damage was average, but the opposing Jade Serpent Temple Keeper was inflicted with a bleeding status by Hu Jinsi.

The [-1] [-1] numbers jumped once every second.

Facing the counterattack of the Jade Serpent Temple Keeper, Hu Jinsi also planned to take a hit to see the intensity of the damage. One of the opponents slammed down with a [Slam].

[-19] damage popped up above Hu Jinsi's head.

Not intending to tank the hit, Hu Jinsi used a [Sweeping Leg] to knock down both opposing Jade Serpent Temple Keepers.

Then he assumed the [Crane Form: Lonely Phoenix Style] and released [Spinning Crane Kick], spinning and retreating while using the skill, maintaining a maximum attack distance of 4 meters, as long as he could hit the Jade Serpent Temple Keepers. The 3-second skill ended, and the Jade Serpent Temple Keepers climbed up and rushed toward Hu Jinsi.

Hu Jinsi reached out with a [Nanto Dragonfly Slash], his hands quickly sweeping across in front of him, and the two Pandaren fell in front of Hu Jinsi.

After the battle, Hu Jinsi casually cast [Renewing Mist] on himself. His summary of his performance was that it was okay. Given the agility of the opponents, if Hu Jinsi wanted to, even if 5 of them came at once, they probably wouldn't be able to touch him.

After all, the current Hu Jinsi was a powerful Monk who could heal, fight, and control.

After clearing the two gatekeeper monsters at the entrance, Hu Jinsi turned and stepped into the side hall on the left.

Actually, the distance from the dungeon entrance to the first boss was very close. After entering the side hall, left, right, left, right—4 turns later, he arrived. There were a few enemies guarding the hallway and each turn.

At the first turn, two Jade Serpent Temple Keepers stood side by side like two door gods. Hu Jinsi did not hesitate and followed the previous tactic, except this time he was too lazy to even use Chi. These Jade Serpent Temple Keepers were clearly not agile; with the speed bonus from his 19 points of Agility, Hu Jinsi could completely dodge all of their attacks.

Although the narrow corridor restricted Hu Jinsi's lateral movement, the Vertical Sprint characteristic of the [lickers leg bind] gave Hu Jinsi higher flexibility in such scenarios.

[Vertical Sprint: After equipping, you gain climbing speed equal to your walking speed. You can move freely on vertical walls and ceilings, and your hands remain free (no need to use your hands to climb).]

Hu Jinsi knocked down the Jade Serpent Temple Keepers with movements that were almost like play.

At the second turn, a Fallen Water Speaker was casting a spell. Hu Jinsi saw the blue light of [Waterbolt] condensing in its hand! He almost instinctively used [Parkour], his body retreating back to the previous turn. The Waterbolt passed through the position where he had originally been standing, leaving a small puddle on the ground.

"That was close." As he landed, Hu Jinsi followed up with a [Chi Torpedo], moving upside down along the upper edge of the ceiling, instantly closing the distance. [Flurry of Blows] activated, and all three kicks hit the Water Speaker's chest. Its robe was kicked to tatters, and it flew backward, crashing into the wall and turning into light particles.

The corridor was too narrow, and some spells couldn't be dodged. At the third turn, a Water Speaker's [Tidal Burst] cast finished. The blue frost wave spread in a fan shape. Although Hu Jinsi jumped back in time, his shoulder was still grazed, and ice crystals formed on his Raccoon City police uniform.

[-12]

"Ouch." He gritted his teeth and cast [Renewing Mist] on himself. The white mist wrapped around the wound, and his health slowly recovered. Then he rushed up and finished off the Water Speaker with a few punches.

With Hu Jinsi's 19 points of Agility, it was basically impossible for these enemies to hurt him. Unless it was in such a narrow corridor where the spell's coverage was too large and occasionally unavoidable. But overall, the clearing along the way was much easier than he had expected.

More than ten minutes later, Hu Jinsi arrived in front of the first boss.