### Chapter 0: Dual Blades! The Gale Severing Formation!
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【Warning: A level 40 legendary elite monster is approaching!】
【Warning: A level 40 legendary elite monster is approaching!】
When the system popped up this notification, Strong Brother’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Level 40! Elite monster! And legendary to boot!
Since when did Mirror Mountain turn into a hidden lair of tigers and dragons? High-level wild monsters were sprawled around like they were the last cabbages at a discount sale!
He was a man who had gone in and out of Mirror Mountain like it was a local bodega, having slaughtered no fewer than eight hundred small wild monsters under his blade.
If Mirror Mountain had always been at this terrifying level, he wouldn’t even dare set foot there, even if you paid him in gold.
Yet today, everything had shattered his preconceived notions and left him utterly baffled.
In the distance, a giant mantis was meandering around on the hillside, making Strong Brother and Cold Little Rain’s hearts drop like rocks.
A level 40 legendary elite monster—said to possess at least 50% better stats than a regular level 40 monster—would annihilate players under level 30 like they were nothing, leaving no chance for a heroic last stand.
Sure, Little Musashi had managed to take down a level 30 elite monster, but Strong Brother estimated her level to be somewhere between 35 and 40.
After all, neither he nor Cold Little Rain could feel any aura of cultivation coming from her.
She hailed from the Land of the Rising Sun, where a solid cultivation system probably hadn’t even formed yet.
So at Little Musashi’s current level, even if she’d reached the peak of the ordinary warrior’s path, she was likely no match for an epic elite monster.
Plus, NPCs don’t respawn when they d*e.
Strong Brother didn’t want to drag their savior down with them.
Today was already a bad start; exploring Small Cave Heaven was officially canceled. Better to avoid any accidents that would leave everyone regretting their choices.
“Um… Little Musashi, maybe we should just…”
Before Strong Brother could finish his sentence, he had no idea how that giant mantis had detected them. Its pointed head turned toward their location like it had radar, and without giving them time to react, it charged at them with the fury of a freight train.
Cold Little Rain shrieked, taking several steps back.
It felt like jumping from the wolf’s den right into the tiger’s mouth.
The gale created by the mantis’s charge nearly blew Strong Brother’s hat off.
Shaking all over, Cold Little Rain instinctively cast a defensive shield around everyone. A little extra protection was better than none, right? Better to feel something than to go down without a fight.
I’m definitely dying, but at least I tried!
Against that raging wind, Little Musashi didn’t move an inch.
Of course, there was no point in running now.
With the speed they were going to turn and run, they’d never escape the mantis’s onslaught.
What a pity for Little Musashi, who had just saved their skins. They were about to say goodbye before even getting to know each other.
“Little Musashi, we’ll hold a memorial for you on the forums,” Strong Brother murmured.
Cold Little Rain was already choking back her sobs.
Although they had just met, their lives had indeed been saved by Little Musashi. If they hadn’t invited her to explore Small Cave Heaven with them, they probably wouldn’t have entangled with that giant mantis and wound up facing total annihilation.
They owed her that much.
At that moment, the live streaming room fell silent, and the usual barrage of b*llet comments ceased to exist.
The viewers had realized that their cool, sexy, yet slightly grounded NPC girl was about to meet her untimely end almost as soon as she appeared.
Ahhhh… it had been ages since they’d seen such a uniquely charming NPC girl. Why was fate so cruel?
Ahhh! They finally got a potential waifu, and she was about to vanish just like that?
No! Don’t take her!
A few seconds later, as the giant mantis barreled toward them like a construction vehicle, Cold Little Rain finally cried out, “I’m sorry, Little Musashi!”
Strong Brother blinked back tears, rendered speechless. Perhaps he’d never set foot on Mirror Mountain again.
Then, the wind suddenly stopped.
Everything around them fell into an eerie silence.
Was it because the mantis’s strike was so sharp that they didn’t feel a thing as their heads were severed from their bodies?
…
Wait, why could they still see things?
Strong Brother and Cold Little Rain looked up sharply.
And right in front of them, Little Musashi stood, wielding twin blades, having blocked the mantis’s earth-shattering strike.
The massive sound of impact was deafening.
It was only then that their ears began to buzz; they had been so close to the explosion that their eardrums nearly gave out.
In that moment, Little Musashi’s slender frame seemed larger than life.
“Dual Blades! Gale Severing Formation!”
As her battle cry rang out, a gust even mightier than before erupted from her, but then something astonishing happened.
The ferocious gale seemed to compress around her blades, swirling with a menacing aura of flickering lightning that sent shivers down their spines.
Everyone knew that the power of compressed air when suddenly released could be catastrophic.
And this was no ordinary gale.
The giant mantis apparently sensed the impending danger and immediately attempted to retreat from the standoff with Little Musashi.
But it was too late.
Little Musashi’s arms quivered from the pressure held for too long, and then she shouted, “Severing Formation! Break!”
“Boom!”
As she swung her blades downward, that tempest of wind shot forth in a straight line, slicing through the fleeing giant mantis like a hot kn*fe through butter.
The surviving winds surged forward, unyielding, snapping branches and splintering trees along their path. Thunderous echoes of destruction rang out for a whole minute.
【Cold Value from Strong Brother of Sky Void Academy +295】
【Cold Value from Cold Little Rain of Flowerless Palace +286】
Strong Brother knelt on the ground, astonished by the spectacle.
Cold Little Rain, still reeling from shock, had thought to offer Little Musashi some healing, but her health was perfect. She didn’t need any help at all!
The live streaming room erupted into a cacophony of “Aaaah!.”
“Little Musashi is the true boss of Mirror Mountain, right?!”
“What kind of luck did you guys have to run into such a badass NPC with looks to match?”
“I’m so utterly jealous!”
“How ridiculous—I thought Little Musashi was about to bite the dust and was steeling myself for a tragedy, only for reality to slap me in the face. How could I doubt my waifu’s capabilities?”
“I confess! I deserve to be stomped on for ever doubting her!”
“Get lost! Who are you calling your waifu? Little Musashi is mine!”
…
It wasn’t until the shocking power of that attack faded that Little Musashi finally landed gracefully on the ground, crossing her two slim swords and sheathing them with effortless flair.
Her calm aura exuded the charm of a true master.
“Big Boss! Please take my knee!”
At this point, Strong Brother no longer dared to call her Little Musashi.
A level 40 epic elite monster? This girl had dispatched it unscathed with a single blow.
The pressure she exerted on him was overwhelming.
Cold Little Rain immediately adjusted her title too, “Sister Musashi, you’re incredible!”
But Little Musashi didn’t acknowledge either of their praises, striding forward with an air of detached coolness, leaving only her resolute back behind.
Strong Brother and Cold Little Rain exchanged bewildered looks.
What was happening with her?
