Sharpening The Knife Doesn’t Delay The Cutting of Vegetables With The Bow[eSports]: Chapter 12

12.  *Jing Ke Presents the Dagger

*bold and daring act, particularly in a risky or dangerous situation, even if it ultimately leads to failure.

In yesterday’s livestream, Chen Xingran predominantly used the Tang Sword in the game.

On one hand, it was because he personally enjoyed the feeling of the Tang Sword. On the other hand, the viewers who came to the stream were attracted by his “Thunderclap” technique. Faced with their eager requests to see Thunderclap, Chen Xingran had no choice but to continue using the Tang Sword in battles.

However, up until now, the viewers in the livestream were surprised to find out:

This streamer called Ye Shao seems to be skilled not only with the Tang Sword?

Being specialized in a particular weapon is already enough for most players to achieve good rankings. To master multiple weapons simultaneously, one not only needs a deep understanding of the game but also needs to have the usage habits of different weapons ingrained in their bones, ready to switch at any moment. Usually, only professional players would delve into such research. Most players tend to choose one or two weapons they like and find cool and focus on mastering them.

“Does the streamer also know how to use a longsword? It doesn’t look like their first time using it.”

“Of course.”

Chen Xingran glanced at the barrage and replied, “I can use other weapons too. Do you want to see?”

“Yes, we want to see!”

“Is this for real? Is this the master of the training room?”

“It’s rare to see someone from the training room who can use more than three weapons…”

“Didn’t he just grab a purple dagger earlier? I want to see the dagger!”

“Did you say a dagger?”

Chen Xingran thought for a moment and didn’t refuse. He directly replaced the blue longsword in his hand and took out the purple dagger from his bag.

When a player picks up a weapon, it automatically changes to the player’s preset skin. However, when obtaining a weapon from another player through a weapon drop or picking it up from an enemy’s grave, the weapon retains the skin of the original player.

Chen Xingran’s account had no skins at all. Both his game character and weapons had the default appearance, quite plain and simple.

However, the dagger he acquired from the Voodoo player just now was an uncommon skin in the game.

“Dark Gold · Dragon Fang”

It had an overall sleek black design, forearm length, and a slightly curved blade. The sword body, including the dragon bone, was crafted from highly flexible dark gold. The handle was shaped like a dragon’s head, with dragon scale patterns engraved on it. The black dagger blade emerged from the dragon’s mouth, giving it a very cool appearance.

“As the saying goes, ‘an inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch riskier.’ Daggers have much shorter blades compared to other weapons, so they require more emphasis on footwork when using them.”

Chen Xingran gently reversed the grip of the dagger, the snow-white blade fitting snugly against his forearm. “Although daggers don’t have the impressive attack range of long spears, they have their own advantages. They excel in stealth and surprise attacks. In close combat, they provide greater agility and are difficult for skilled opponents to defend against.”

“It’s all so confusing…”

“Do we need to consider so many details in melee combat? With movement adjustment, shouldn’t we not have to worry about such things?”

“Let’s put it into practice!”

“Yeah, it’s hard to understand just by listening.”

“Alright.”

Chen Xingran wasn’t annoyed either. He put away the dagger, tidied up the supplies in his backpack, and walked out of the Lord’s Mansion.

In his previous life, he had already established his own martial arts school and taught disciples these techniques and principles every day by the time he was 25 years old.

However, in modern society, very few disciples have the patience to listen to all that. Most of them just want to learn some self-defense skills or cool poses and moves. Chen Xingran had long been accustomed to this.

Perhaps he really was getting old.

When Chen Xingran first started learning martial arts, he not only had to learn all the basics of weapons, but also had to study forging the blades himself. Every inch of curvature, length, weight, and every subtle detail of the weapons became ingrained in his mind. He kept the weapons with him even while eating and sleeping. His small hands, belonging to a child, were covered in blisters from the rough blades. It seemed like a lot of hardship to others, but Chen Xingran himself enjoyed it.

It hadn’t been long since the start of the game, and there were still quite a few people in the city of Huntian.

Soon, Chen Xingran heard the sounds of a fight coming from near the main road of Huntian.

“The combat style of the dagger is elusive and weaker in direct confrontation compared to other weapons. So if you want to use the dagger effectively, your style also needs to change.”

As Chen Xingran spoke, he moved towards the direction of the battle.

With the cold blade gleaming in his hand, his figure and footsteps changed dramatically, completely different from before.

His footsteps were delicate and subtle. If you listened carefully, it seemed as if they merged with the faint whistling of the wind in the air. The originally graceful and upright posture of the Shadow Dancer slightly lowered, and his path began to converge towards a corner. Every step he took landed in the shadows, as if he had completely blended into the dark environment. Even at close proximity, his presence couldn’t be felt.

Like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness, silently seeking its prey, he slithered forward, waiting for the perfect moment to strike a fatal blow.

“Oh my, why do I suddenly have a creepy feeling creeping up my spine…”

“Same here, even through the screen, it’s sending shivers down my spine”

“I dare not even breathe while sitting in front of my computer…”

“How did he do that? His walking posture is slightly different, but it feels like his entire being has changed”

“Oh my god, it’s a bit frightening. Quickly, hold on tightly to my pillow!”

In the live streaming footage, Chen Xingran had quietly approached the location where the sounds of fighting were coming from.

In front of him were two players engaged in a dagger fight. One was Divine Frost, and the other was *the Zhu Jiuyin, a crowd control specialist.

*(烛九阴) A legendary creature in ancient times that was known as Zhu Long(烛龙), Candle Dragon. It was actually a giant poisonous snake. I didn’t know how to translate this into English. The individual characters are zhu- candle, jiu – nine, yin – shadow/dark

The Zhu Jiuyin was more commonly seen in four-player lineups, but rarely in single-player matches. His skills focused on control, allowing him to apply a deceleration effect and a 6-second silence on enemies for a short period of time. During the silence duration, they couldn’t use any skills or ultimate moves.

The Zhu Jiuyin’s ultimate move was a large area field that gradually applied a deceleration effect on enemies within the field, stacking up to 5 times. After reaching 5 stacks, the enemy would be stunned for two seconds. It was a divine technique for dividing and controlling the battlefield. The only drawback was that while using the ultimate move, the Zhu Jiuyin couldn’t attack or move.

The Zhu Jiuyin held a long sword, locked in a fierce battle with Divine Frost, who wielded a Tang sword. The two engaged in a back-and-forth exchange, evenly matched. They displayed their skills, as if two martial arts masters were in the midst of a duel, creating a captivating scene.

Under normal circumstances, such a confrontation would be considered impressive. However, the viewers in the live stream room had grown accustomed to Chen Xingran’s fighting style. When they turned their attention to this duel between the two platinum-ranked players, they couldn’t help but feel… rigid?

Seizing the opportunity, the Zhu Jiuyin thrust his long sword forward, catching Divine Frost off guard and dealing a weak point damage. The Divine Frost remained calm and was about to activate his sword’s defensive skill, but the Zhu Jiuyin acted first. His sword technique suddenly halted, and he quickly unleashed a skill, silencing the Divine Frost for 6 seconds, interrupting his abilities.

The Divine Frost became somewhat flustered. He attempted to retreat, but due to the slow effect on him, courtesy of the Zhu Jiuyin, he couldn’t escape. They exchanged several more blows, and Divine Frost’s health dropped rapidly. After a few seconds, he was defeated and disappeared, transforming into a soul mound in the game.

As they engaged in their intense battle, neither of them noticed that just a few steps away, a pair of eyes were calmly observing them. It was as if a poisonous tongue, shimmering with dangerous coldness, was patiently waiting to strike.

After defeating the Divine Frost, the Zhu Jiuyin began performing rapid actions in place.

The surroundings fell silent, without the sound of footsteps. This gave the Zhu Jiuyin a great sense of security.

One second, two seconds.

Using an armor piece or health potion takes three seconds. Just as the progress bar reached two seconds, a sudden change occurred!

At the moment when the Zhu Jiuyin was about to use an armor piece, when he was at his most relaxed, Chen Xingran, who had been lurking nearby all along, finally made his move.

His body sprang forth like a coiled spring, every muscle tensed. In an instant, he unleashed terrifying speed, transitioning from stillness to motion. The entire process didn’t allow any time for reaction.

The Zhu Jiuyin just caught the sound of movement and swiftly turned around, but all he saw was a flash of a pitch-black dagger!

At the precise moment when the progress bar reached 2.8 seconds, it was abruptly interrupted. the Zhu Jiuyin reacted swiftly and instantly activated his ultimate technique!

A purple aura instantly spread, continuously slowing down the surrounding enemies. At the same time, the ultimate state provided him with a 20% damage reduction.

However, Chen Xingran remained calm, showing no signs of panic or intention to retreat.

When facing the Zhu Jiuyin’s ultimate ability, normal players would typically choose to retreat first to avoid being stunned. They would find cover to evade the ongoing slowing effect, and then return to seize the opportunity after the duration of the ultimate ability had passed.

But Chen Xingran didn’t do that.

His gaze was incredibly calm, as if everything was calculated. the Zhu Jiuyin’s aura continued to slow him down, and his movements became increasingly sluggish.

During the first layer of slowing, Chen Xingran swiftly passed by the Zhu Jiuyin’s side, his sharp blade slicing across his throat, leaving a wound.

During the second layer of slowing, Chen Xingran swiftly turned around again, approaching from a diagonal angle. His left hand grabbed the Zhu Jiuyin’s head while the dagger in his right hand smoothly pierced from the lower right abdomen to the upper left, targeting the heart.

Although the Zhu Jiuyin was unable to attack due to his ultimate ability, his gaze kept searching for Chen Xingran’s location, waiting for the two-second stun after the ultimate to secure a counter-kill.

But he couldn’t find him.

Chen Xingran’s figure moved like a ghost, constantly shuttling near him, always perfectly hidden in his blind spots.

Although they were very close to each other, almost face-to-face in close proximity, the Zhu Jiuyin could only see a fleeting figure, and nothing else. All he felt was a slight tingling sensation from the injuries, informing him that the assassin before him was continuously attacking.

It was as if he had an intractable festering sore, impossible to shake off or escape from!

During the third and fourth layers of slowing, Chen Xingran’s movements had become extremely sluggish under the cumulative effect of multiple slowdowns. Finally, the Zhu Jiuyin caught sight of him.

He is a Shadow Dancer.

The Zhu Jiuyin glanced at his own health bar and breathed a sigh of relief.

He could withstand a couple more hits.

It was already too late for the Shadow Dancer to run now. Just one more second, and he would be stunned, giving the Zhu Jiuyin plenty of time to escape or counterattack.

The Zhu Jiuyin thought this way and felt a slight sense of ease.

However, that moment never came.

Chen Xingran’s body slightly lowered, resembling a bow fully drawn to its maximum. The dagger in his right hand was held behind him, while his left hand made a subtle gesture, causing the pitch-black dagger to vanish from the Zhu Jiuyin’s sight.

What’s going on?

Unable to see the opponent’s dagger, the Zhu Jiuyin had no idea from which angle Chen Xingran would launch his attack.

Left side? Right side? Would it be a diagonal thrust or a slashing motion?

Numerous thoughts flashed through the Zhu Jiuyin’s mind in an instant.

At the exact moment these thoughts arose, he realized that his vision had gone dark.

“Ye Shao used a dagger to defeat Lost Soul”

Zhu Jiuyin: ???

Why?

Did he attack?

When did this happen?

Everything happened in an instant. Above Zhu Jiuyin’s head floated the number 421, the damage inflicted even with a 20% damage reduction from his ultimate ability.

The high number instantly depleted his remaining health. Zhu Jiuyin didn’t last until the fifth second. The planned routes for counter-killing or escaping in his mind ultimately remained unrealized.

With Zhu Jiuyin’s death, the slowing effect on Chen Xingran instantly disappeared.

He slowly pulled the pitch-black dagger out from Zhu Jiuyin’s chest. Only then did Zhu Jiuyin collapse, his body turning into a white light and disappearing, leaving behind a dim soul mound in its place.

“This move is called…”

Chen Xingran smiled faintly. His clear, youthful voice now carried a dangerous hoarseness, as if it resounded in the ears of everyone in the livestream room, causing people’s hair to stand on end, as if his dagger was held against their throats.

“Jing Ke Presents the Dagger.”

TN:

“Jing Ke Presents the Dagger” refers to a historical event where the assassin Jing Ke attempted to kill the king of Qin with a dagger concealed in a map scroll. It has become a famous term in Chinese culture, symbolizing a lethal and unexpected attack.

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