The special condition necessary to activate Praise of Dawn limited this incredible recovery power so that it wouldn’t break the game and make players invincible as long as they wore the Dawn Sage’s Robe.
In the hands of a player like Gu Nan, it became a way to supplement his kiting strategy. After exchanging injuries with the enemy, he could decisively run away, wait for his HP to refill again, then return to fight another round.
In fact, Gu Nan’s power wasn’t actually as terrifying as Feng Zhuotang imagined—or rather, Feng Zhuotang’s correct response during the battle lessened the advantage Gu Nan had over him.
Feng Zhuotang was slightly more skilled than Ye Qinglan. In order to deal with Feng Zhuotang, Gu Nan also had to exhaust a large amount of his power to force the shadows to break through the laws making up his opponent’s blades.
Out of force of habit after years of gaming, Gu Nan occupied his opponent’s domain at the start of the battle. However, there wasn’t much power behind his shadows, so it wasn’t like Feng Zhuotang had no way to fight back.
Unfortunately, Feng Zhuotang overestimated the quality of Gu Nan’s weapon and mistakenly attributed the power that broke through his laws to the weapon itself instead of Gu Nan, so he conceded defeat early.
But since his opponent conceded defeat, Gu Nan was also too lazy to make trouble for himself. In any case, he was only here to help the Lu family this time. This fight wasn’t his own mission, so killing or not killing his opponent made no difference at all.
What he was more interested in now was still the pair of apostles of the God of Luxurious Blossoms.
‘Why exactly did a god’s apostles come to Star Realm?’
Putting aside Gu Nan’s thoughts for a moment, the practically instantaneous victory in the arena made the onlookers’ jaws drop in shock. This was especially true for Feng Lun, who had to swallow all of his words. His face was flushed with anger.
Qin Xuanji’s gaze flickered, and a trace of unconcealed shock flashed through the depths of her eyes.
‘He actually broke through directly to Domain Stage in just a few months’ time?’
“Is this the true power of one… loved by the heavens?” As someone who left Radiant Tower alongside Gu Nan, Qin Xuanji probably knew him better than anyone else in this world.
At the very least, she was the only one who knew that he could obtain extra benefits from reincarnation.
She felt slightly relieved when she thought of this.
Reincarnation was originally a method to bypass the law of time, and from the memories she inherited from her bloodline, she knew that some truly powerful reincarnators had existed for longer than even the world itself.
Nobody knew just how much time Gu Nan actually experienced during these few months, since time usually passed several times faster in the worlds reincarnators visit. Thus, it wouldn’t be accurate to judge his cultivation speed by the amount of time that passed in Star Realm.
Feng Zhuotang’s defeat at Gu Nan’s hands not only meant that he himself lost, but it also meant that Lu Qi’s side, which had now lost three out of five rounds, wouldn’t even need to fight the last match anymore.
This famous Star Ranker swordsman wasn’t even able to perform his signature technique, the “Tempest,” and was directly defeated by a single slash from Gu Nan, shocking the audience.
“Ms. Lu.” When Feng Zhuotang walked off the arena and faced Lu Qi again, he couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed.
Lu Qi, however, shook her head slightly and actually comforted him instead, “Lord Feng need not blame himself. With that Crazy Warrior’s prowess, no matter which round he fights in, we’d have no chance of winning that match. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
She was also in the Prodigious Realm herself, so she could naturally see how much had happened in just a few seconds’ time.
It wasn’t uncommon for true powerhouses to fight for three days and three nights, or to decide victory and defeat in an instant.
It could only be said that their side was indeed ill-prepared. Be it Xu Yuanjun or Gu Nan, they were both almost guaranteed to win their respective matches, leaving her with too few opportunities to reverse the situation.
……
The competition ended, and people from the two Lu branch families started negotiating. One by one, the outside helpers began to leave.
Qin Xuanji tried to find Gu Nan’s figure, but he was already long gone. She could only frown slightly and also decided to leave early—if he wanted to meet her, he’d show up sooner or later.
Feng Zhuotang also walked back here, while Feng Lun was still in shock.
“Dad, didn’t that fellow recently advance? How could…” He asked with a face full of shock.
When Feng Zhuotang heard this, the anger in his heart instantly surged again, and he threw a fierce slap at his son, causing Feng Lun to stumble.
“That Gu Nan was already in the Star Ranking within a few months of entering the public’s eye. Who gave you the guts to shout so impudently from below the ring?” Feng Zhuotang scolded, dearly wishing that his son would actually grow a brain.
Feng Lun was admonished so much that he didn’t dare to speak, but he was still a little unconvinced in his heart.
‘So what? My old man is also on the Star Ranking. What’s there to be afraid of?’
But he didn’t dare talk back to Feng Zhuotang. Just then, he saw Qin Xuanji turning around and walking away and hurriedly tried to follow, but Feng Zhuotang picked him up by the collar and pulled him back.
“I told you not to talk to Qin Xuanji again. Did you not understand me?”
“Oh…” Feeling the severity in his father’s tone, Young Master Feng hastily conceded.
……
A few moments later, Qin Xuanji returned to her room. She only opened her door a slight crack before quickly slamming it close again.
“Come out,” She said coldly to someone behind her.
Feng Lun popped his head out with a smile. “Xuanji, I saw it all. Do you have a friend in your room? Introduce me to them too…”
As soon as his words fell, Feng Lun suddenly sensed the temperature drop by a few degrees and felt some chills on his back.
He discovered that the originally familiar Qin Xuanji was now looking at him with an incomparably unfamiliar gaze, as if she was looking at a corpse.
Just when he felt his breath start to catch and his heart being clutched by some force, a bewitching female voice came, freeing him from this tense situation.
“Qin Xuanji, you’re scaring this little brother…”
Feng Lun suddenly felt lighter, and all that pressure weighing down on him seemed to disappear, while a tall, almost perfectly proportioned woman was now standing in front of him.
This woman wore trendy casual clothes, revealing most of her arms and calves. Her face was painted with many strange patterns, and she wore several different shades of eyeshadow. Her entire person seemed demonic and enchanting.
But her appearance was incomparably pure, and even her gaze was extraordinarily clear. She had a pair of large eyes that seemed able to seduce the soul itself.
“San Wei[1], my affairs are none of your business.” Qin Xuanji gave up on silencing the witness, Feng Lun, when she saw San Wei voluntarily reveal herself, but her voice was much colder.
The woman named “San Wei” covered her mouth and chuckled lightly. She didn’t even glance at Feng Lun and replied directly, “I’m not here to gossip with you. There’s a temporary mission for you.”
“What kind of mission is important enough for you to be the messenger?”
“Information from a certain superior of ours.” When it came to business, San Wei looked slightly more serious. “People from White Mist snuck over here to meet someone named Gu Nan. We need to find out the purpose of their meeting.”
“Gu Nan? Gu Nan again?” Before Qin Xuanji could say anything, Feng Lun beside her had already shouted in alarm.
San Wei opened her big beautiful eyes and looked at him with puppy dog eyes. “Big Brother, do you know who Gu Nan is?”
Being stared at like this by a woman a whole head taller than you was obviously a rare experience. Feng Lun swallowed his saliva. “Yeah, I know…”
San Wei continued to gaze at him. “Then can you tell me?”
“Of course…”
As soon as Feng Lun’s words fell, a silhouette instantly appeared in front of San Wei at a speed invisible to the naked eye. Then San Wei watched with stunned eyes as a sword directly opened a cut on her arm.
Pale golden blood flowed out of San Wei but was quickly picked up and collected by the other party.
“W-Who are you?”
“Weren’t you looking for me just now?” Gu Nan bled her out while casually answering.
Notes: [1] San Wei: Literally means “Three Tails” or “Third Tail” (she’s… related to foxes if I remember correctly)