Chapter 60: National Server Rank 39 Warrior, Dragon Soul Guan Yu!

"Qinqin, you..."

Knocked to the ground and pinned down by two Dragon Soul warriors, White Tiger raised his head, staring in sheer disbelief at Qinqin standing right in front of him.

Qinqin had instantly shed her previous pitiful appearance, transforming in the blink of an eye into an arrogant princess looking down from above.

As she gazed down at White Tiger, her eyes were filled with chilling indifference and deep disgust.

"Zhang Hu, I'll tell you the truth—I stopped loving you a long time ago!"

"I waited for you in Yunzhou for two years, and then two more! When I fell sick, when people bullied me, where were you? On top of that, I had to look after that old hag for you! I'm sick of it, I've had enough!"

"I'm young, beautiful, and in great shape, while you're ugly, pathetic, and broke. What makes you think you deserve me? Just because of your National Ranking with the assassin class? What good is a national badge? Can it ever bring me the life I want?"

White Tiger's eyes widened. He simply could not believe these words were coming from Qinqin's mouth.

"I admit, over the years I haven't given you enough care, and it's thanks to you looking after my granny in Yunzhou that I could throw myself into my career in Modu,"

"Yet even in Modu, every single moment of my life has been spent working hard to make money, striving to give you a better future!"

Qinqin let out a cold snort. "No matter how hard you try, what's the point? Some things can never be attained in this lifetime through sheer effort alone!"

With that, Qinqin walked over to the warrior holding a Guan-style broadsword, affectionately hooking her arm through his.

She coquettishly asked him, "How was my performance just now?"

The man smiled faintly. "Brilliant."

"Then can I be your girlfriend now?"

"Yes."

White Tiger was overwhelmed by utter disbelief and despair. "So this... this was all a setup from the very beginning..."

Right at that moment, the man stepped forward.

He planted his boot directly onto White Tiger's face, leaned down, and stared right into his eyes, speaking in a deep voice: "Do you know who I am?"

With a flick of his wrist, he opened his status panel, revealing his hidden ID floating overhead—

[Dragon Soul Guan Yu] (Lv50, 6th-Rank Warrior, Ranked 39 on the Great Xia National Warrior Leaderboard)!

National Rank 39 Warrior!

Catching sight of that golden national badge, White Tiger's eyes filled with shock.

No wonder that slash earlier had nearly killed him in a single hit!

At level 50, the weight behind a national rank of 39 was leagues heavier than his own national rank of 98!

Though both held national rankings, the gap between their tiers was insurmountable!

Dragon Soul Guan Yu glared down at White Tiger, his sharp gaze blazing with fury: "Do you have any idea who the Dragon Soul player you slaughtered in the barbarian tribe yesterday was?"

"A man whose life is such a complete failure, betrayed so easily by the woman he loved most—where on earth do you find the audacity to kill a brother of mine, Guan Yu?"

"Today, this place shall be your graveyard!"

Saying this, Dragon Soul Guan Yu raised his broadsword.

Just as he was about to bring the blade down to decapitate White Tiger,

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Suddenly, a torrential storm of fire rained down from the sky, blanketing a massive area of the Fortress of Despair.

The Dragon Soul players caught within the zone suffered devastatingly high damage, instantly reduced to critical health!

Under the suppression of the mage Vermilion Bird's long-range firepower,

Azure Dragon the warrior and Black Tortoise the knight charged into the Fortress of Despair together, unleashing an unstoppable, overwhelming momentum as they hacked down every Dragon Soul player blocking their path!

"Hang in there, Hu! We're here!"

Seeing his three sworn brothers coming to his rescue, White Tiger didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"Didn't I tell you guys not to come? I could have handled this..."

"Handled my ass!" Black Tortoise smashed his heavy shield into the face of a low-health Dragon Soul warrior, shouting back at White Tiger, "You're the one getting handled!"

Swish!

Azure Dragon pointed his Azure Sky Sword straight at the ground. "We swore as four brothers to share life and death together!"

"What a touching oath of shared life and death!" Dragon Soul Guan Yu laughed aloud, his eyes turning glacial. "Since you've all conveniently gathered here, I'll send the lot of you down to the underworld together!"

As the words left Dragon Soul Guan Yu's lips,

Clatter!

At the rear, the heavy gates of the Fortress of Despair slammed shut.

Simultaneously, countless Dragon Soul Guild players poured out from within the fortress!

Every single one of them was a Level 50, 6th-Rank warrior, fully equipped with Level 50 Bronze-tier gear!

Seeing this, Vermilion Bird knitted her brows. "It seems they've made thorough preparations this time, waiting precisely for us to walk into the trap!"

Clang!

Flames erupted fiercely along the blade of the Azure Sky Sword in his hand, Azure Dragon's gaze burning like fire. "Then we'll fight our way through heaven and hell!"

Black Tortoise planted his heavy shield on the ground, roaring, "If you guys don't leave a few kills for me this time, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Kill them all."

At Dragon Soul Guan Yu's command,

Hundreds of surrounding Level 50, 6th-Rank Dragon Soul players charged forward toward Azure Dragon and the others with a heaven-shattering, earth-consuming momentum...

Rumble!

Beneath a clear blue sky, a sudden bolt of lightning tore through the air, and it began to rain.

Pattering down,

Dark clouds gathered over the sky in an instant.

The rain poured down in sheets.

A slender figure braved the torrential downpour, sprinting at full speed.

Even when she stumbled and fell, she quickly scrambled back up and kept running.

Qin Chuoran's heart was a chaotic mess.

She felt as though a dark premonition was gripping her soul.

"A-Long, A-Hu, Xiao-Wu, Old Zhu—you guys cannot afford to be hurt!"

A suffocating sense of unease drove Qin Chuoran to push her pace even faster.

The rain beat down relentlessly.

When Qin Chuoran finally reached the outer perimeter of the Fortress of Despair, she looked up to see fire soaring into the sky from deep within the darkness-shrouded citadel!

Intense battle cries and agonizing screams echoed through the heavens.

The moment Qin Chuoran sprinted over and forcefully shoved open the heavy fortress gates, an eerie silence had already settled over the scene.

Inside the vast city, corpses littered the ground, and rivers of blood flowed freely.

Squelch!

As a sharp blade pierced through flesh,

The last sliver of health remaining on Black Tortoise's health bar was drained away. With a heavy thud, he sank to his knees, collapsing straight into a pool of blood right before Qin Chuoran's eyes.

Simultaneously, on the other side, Vermilion Bird was pierced through by a barrage of arrows, perishing alongside him.

"Xiao-Wu!"

"Old Zhu!"

Watching the horrifying reality unfold before her eyes in utter disbelief, Qin Chuoran let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Azure Dragon slashed down a Dragon Soul player with a sweeping blow, spotting Qin Chuoran in the distance, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Run! Rruran! Run away now!"

"Just run!"

The next second, his own health and mana bars nearly depleted, Azure Dragon—now fighting purely on his last breath—was decapitated by a single strike from Dragon Soul Guan Yu, his torso crashing lifelessly to the ground.

Dragon Soul Guan Yu stepped over Azure Dragon's corpse, his expression cold, dragging his broadsword as he closed in on Qin Chuoran step by step.

The surviving White Tiger cried out in agonizing anguish, "I'm sorry, brothers... It's my fault that you all died..."

"I'm sorry... Let's be brothers again in the next life!"

With that, White Tiger unleashed dozens of phantom shadows, charging at Dragon Soul Guan Yu all at once to buy precious time for Qin Chuoran's escape.

Swish!

Dragon Soul Guan Yu swept his blade in a grand arc, unleashing a circular shockwave of steel that instantly shattered every single clone.

With a sickening squelch, his blade impaled White Tiger's true body as he leaped forward mid-air.

"Rruran... Run... away..."

The heart pierced by the razor-sharp blade stopped beating.

White Tiger's life came to a complete and permanent end at that very moment.

Witnessing four people who, despite lacking any blood ties, had treated her better than true family—those who had guarded, protected, and accommodated her her entire life—die right before her eyes, Qin Chuoran burst into helpless, soul-shattering tears.

Having slain White Tiger and cleared away the final obstacle,

Dragon Soul Guan Yu had no intention of stopping there.

Dragging his longsword behind him, he continued his advance toward Qin Chuoran.

Qin Chuoran transmuted her grief and hatred into boundless strength.

The instant she raised her head to look at Dragon Soul Guan Yu, her cold, beautiful eyes were consumed by infinite killing intent.

Snatching up her dagger, she charged straight at Dragon Soul Guan Yu!

Clang!

The moment Qin Chuoran entered striking range,

Dragon Soul Guan Yu thrust his blade into the ground, sending a shockwave of lethal blade energy rippling outward in all directions.

Before Qin Chuoran could even close the distance, the shockwave blasted her backward.

She crashed violently onto the stone ground, her full health bar instantly plunging down to a single remaining sliver.

A Level 33 ordinary assassin.

A Level 50 National Rank 39 warrior.

The two were worlds apart, and the disparity in their strength was naturally absolute and insurmountable.

Fresh blood spilled from the corner of Qin Chuoran's lips.

Yet she refused to submit, her eyes burning with an even more intense, unyielding hatred.

"I'll drag you down with me!"

Dragon Soul Guan Yu sneered at her stance. "Foolish and reckless."

Just as Qin Chuoran prepared to stake her life on a final, desperate assault against Dragon Soul Guan Yu,

Hum!

Several bloody seals suddenly manifested across Dragon Soul Guan Yu's chest.

Before he could look down in confusion to figure out where the mysterious marks had originated,

Four Necromantic Generals abruptly materialized from his flanks, instantly flash-stepping right in front of him.

Slash, slash, slash, slash!

Four soul-shattering strikes bloomed across Dragon Soul Guan Yu's body simultaneously.

Seeing these menacing Necromantic Generals deal nothing more than a few negligible tickles of a thousand-plus damage to his health, a flash of utter contempt crossed Dragon Soul Guan Yu's eyes.

"Courting death."

Clang!

With a flick of his blade, Dragon Soul Guan Yu swept outward, instantly obliterating all four Necromantic Generals in a single motion!

Yet, the moment those undead fighters were cleared and he looked back toward his front, Dragon Soul Guan Yu realized to his astonishment that the female assassin, Qin Chuoran, had vanished completely...

Dragon Soul Guan Yu narrowed his eyes.

"Trying to run?"

"Not a chance!"