The Three Realms Thief Chapter 6

Central Hospital.

Nurse’s station.

“Oh, it’s Xiao Yuan. Your mom is undergoing treatment and won’t be done until much later. She said for you to go home and rest first.”

The Nurse Auntie’s face was kind and amiable.

“It’s fine, I’ll just wait for her outside,” Xu Yuan said.

There were many chairs in the corridor outside the ward.

Xu Yuan sat down on one of them.

There was actually a lot of homework.

Should he do it?

He should do some.

No.

He should do it seriously.

He needed to quickly familiarize himself with the knowledge structure of this world.

He took out a “High School Third Year Qi Refining Exercise Collection (Part 1)”, opened it to page 19, and began to work on the problems.

According to the original body’s memory—

Nothing particularly remarkable had happened in the past three days.

One could even say it was exceptionally plain.

Until the third night.

The original body was walking on the road when he was suddenly kidnapped and drugged, then impaled by a sword and carried airborne, pinned to the Jianghe Bridge.

—Where does one even begin to complain about that!

Xu Yuan shook his head, checked off a few true/false questions, and started on the fill-in-the-blanks.

“Qi Refining (Artifice Refining) can be used to construct civilian facilities such as houses, bridges, and tunnels, and can also be used to construct ( ) facilities, as well as ( ) and ( ) type items.”

Xu Yuan filled in “Military”, “Weapons”, and “Armor” in the blanks.

Next question.

As he was looking at the question, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a figure.

That person was standing in the corridor, swaying as they walked, and heading towards his location.

Who—

Why was this person looking at him while walking over?

Was it an acquaintance of his parents?

Did he need to greet them?

Xu Yuan looked up.

The corridor was empty.

No one.

He must have been mistaken!

Xu Yuan squinted his eyes, looked directly down the corridor, and stared for a few more moments.

Indeed, no one.

Alright.

Perhaps he had strained his eyes too much; he’d buy some eye drops later.

He lowered his head and continued writing the fill-in-the-blanks.

One question finished.

The second question.

Xu Yuan was carefully reading the question when the figure reappeared in his peripheral vision.

It was just a few meters to his left.

A black shadow.

It stood in the corridor, clearly closer than the first time.

—Not an illusion!

Xu Yuan suddenly looked up.

The fluorescent lights on the ceiling shone down, casting bright light everywhere.

Nothing could hide.

But—

There was no one in the corridor.

Silence.

After a few breaths.

From the distant nurse’s station, the sound of a nurse answering a phone call made everything seem remarkably real.

No.

This was definitely not a dream; it was already a real night.

Xu Yuan remained silent, slowly tightening his grip on the pen.

“Shop.”

He silently called out in his mind.

The “Apprentice Qi Cultivator’s Combat Preparation Room” immediately appeared before him.

The shelves still hadn’t refreshed with items.

But next to the shelves, a small pile of Gold Coins appeared, with the number marked next to it:

“21 coins.”

—These were the Gold Coins Xu Yuan had obtained from killing the human traffickers and assassins in the “Simple Level” match.

Gold Coins could buy things!

But there were still no goods.

What to do?

Xu Yuan slowly lowered his head and began to write the exam questions again.

“There are a total of ( ) types of hand seals for manipulating the Qi Refining (Artifice Refining) Cauldron, and in the high school stage, the first ( ) types can be practiced.”

He had memorized this.

He could write the answer directly.

Xu Yuan began to write, but his pen suddenly stopped.

That black figure appeared in his peripheral vision again.

This time.

The black figure was sitting right next to him, silently watching him do his homework.

Xu Yuan ignored it, still bowing his head, seriously answering the questions.

Is there any way—

to get a weapon I can use to fight?

Quickly.

Any weapon.

Even a knuckle duster would do!

Along with his strong will, a line of faint glowing text suddenly appeared in the void:

“Spend one Gold Coin to refresh the shelves once.”

Why didn’t you say so earlier!

Xu Yuan immediately paid one Gold Coin.

The next moment.

Two items immediately appeared on the shelves.

A short dagger.

On the product tag in front of the dagger, detailed information was written:

“Night Walk (Night Traveler).”

“Qi Refining Stage Dagger, Excellent Grade.”

“Qi Blade +1.”

“Price: 2 Gold Coins.”

Swords belong to the Weapons division.

Some people are naturally unable to use swords, so they choose the more common dagger as a substitute.

There was also a Water-Fire Daoist Robe.

The product tag read:

“Alchemy Daoist Robe.”

“Qi Refining Stage Daoist Robe, Common Grade.”

“Dust Removal +1, Fire Resistance +1.”

“Price: 3 Gold Coins.”

—Only two pieces of equipment!

Xu Yuan finished writing the answer on his exam and then suddenly heard footsteps.

In the corridor.

A man pushed a wheelchair past.

An old man with a cast on his leg sat in the wheelchair.

Several lively men and women followed, talking.

The black shadow instantly disappeared.

After these people walked past and left the corridor on this floor—

The black shadow reappeared.

This time.

It was pressed tightly against Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan buried his head in his work, and it leaned in, whispering in his ear:

“You—”

Hiss!

A short dagger suddenly pierced through the black shadow.

Xu Yuan had struck!

The black shadow trembled slightly, but it showed no concern about being hit, and its tone even carried a strange joy:

“You have entered the Dao.”

Xu Yuan pulled back the dagger and swung a few more times.

White line Qi Blades, like threads, flew from the blade, but the black shadow dodged them.

However, as it moved, Xu Yuan’s dagger followed suit—

The milliseconds-level reaction speed allowed Xu Yuan, with weapon in hand, to pounce and unleash a move from the Yan Song Sword Art—

Arc Dance!

The short dagger and the person became an arc that snaked down the wall, slicing directly towards the black shadow!

“Not bad.”

The black shadow praised, then flashed again, retreating and dodging.

But as it moved, it met a wisp of white Qi Blade—

The Qi Blade entered the black shadow’s body, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, causing no damage.

“Is it armor?”

Xu Yuan’s expression subtly changed.

In this close-quarters combat, he had already used all his reaction speed, anticipation, and killing moves.

But the opponent seemed to have room to spare.

The black shadow took a step, then suddenly vanished.

But a voice echoed in Xu Yuan’s ear again:

“Follow me.”

Xu Yuan looked around.

—He didn’t see it!

Damn it.

Where was it hiding?

Xu Yuan suddenly stopped searching.

Because the black shadow stood in the empty corridor, hands behind its back, silently observing Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan slowly turned around, facing the black shadow.

Silence.

“Who are you?” Xu Yuan asked.

No response.

Dead silence.

Ding-a-ling—

A phone suddenly rang.

The black shadow raised its hand, signaling him to answer the phone.

Xu Yuan stared at the black shadow, took out his phone, and pressed the answer button.

“Hello…”

“Mom, I’m not waiting outside.”

“I’m already home, yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll go to bed early, you too.”

The call ended.

The black shadow silently waited for him to finish the call, then raised its hand, extending one finger.

A faint sound immediately echoed in Xu Yuan’s ear:

“I’ve come to kill you; you need to hold on for at least ten seconds.”

Before the sound faded.

The black shadow suddenly vanished.

It passed directly through dozens of meters, appearing by Xu Yuan’s side.

Almost simultaneously—

Xu Yuan pressed his thumb on the hilt of the dagger, his four fingers rapidly rotating the dagger’s direction, trembling as he slashed five times in quick succession.

Swallow Chain!

If the boys in his class were here, they would certainly be impressed.

The Yan Song Sword Art has a total of four moves, making it one of the top sword arts that can be learned in high school.

Swallow Chain is the last move in this sword art.

Commonly known as the “ultimate move.”

—High school seniors all referred to this move by that name.

The original body could only barely perform it, often making mistakes and failing to meet the required score for exams.

To truly master this sword art, one needed to unleash at least three consecutive sword shadows!

But Xu Yuan’s reaction, hand speed, and even combat awareness, in a life-or-death situation, instead made this move perfect and pushed it to the extreme that this body could achieve.

—He drew upon his memory, coordinating body movements with sword techniques, and instantly unleashed five streams of sword qi!

Not sword shadows, but sword qi!

After all, he had now entered the Dao, becoming a true cultivator.

When this sword art was used, it naturally activated the spiritual energy within him, causing the sword shadows to condense into incomparably sharp sword qi, also elevating the power of this “Swallow Chain” to a higher level.

Five sharp white lines suddenly appeared, cutting through the air with a “whooshing” sound, instantly striking the black shadow.

“Haha…”

The black shadow dodged continuously, drifting back, and softly said:

“I underestimated you.”

Its voice suddenly stopped.

Xu Yuan held the dagger in one hand, while the other formed a hand seal.

—In high school, various hand seals for manipulating Dan fire were already taught, but without spiritual energy, they couldn’t be performed.

But at this moment, Xu Yuan activated his spiritual energy, immediately summoning the five-elemental fire.

Dan Fire – Furnace Burning!

Boom—

A ball of flames shot towards the black shadow.

This spell accounted for the opponent’s movement and landing spot, as if the opponent had actively walked into his flames!

At the most dangerous moment, with the most timely reaction, he chose the most correct strategy, unleashing a fatal attack that would determine the direction of the entire battle!

—This was the true value of a global esports champion!