Chapter 106: Chapter 103 Skinning

On the screen, Gao Xuan was speaking eloquently, his words were funny and humorous, with a bit of flair, causing the audience below to burst out in laughter.

The atmosphere felt like a stand-up comedy show.

In reality, it was a livestream of a Sword Dao duel on Battle Net.

Back in his hotel, Cao Xiong had been watching Gao Xuan’s livestream for over an hour.

Gao Xuan had achieved two hundred seventy consecutive victories, advancing to the Bronze Rank on Battle Net.

At this rank, regardless of swordsmanship, the swordsmen had plenty of battle experience.

Even so, rarely could anyone withstand three strikes from Gao Xuan.

Swordsmen facing Gao Xuan for the first time were usually instantly defeated.

Even experts like Cao Xiong found the show fascinating.

In truth, Gao Xuan’s Swordsmanship had no special techniques; he just understood Swordsmanship profoundly and predicted accurately.

That’s why he was unstoppable on Battle Net, with no worthy opponents.

Cao Xiong watched many battles, and he thought he might not win even if he participated.

Sword Dao duels on Battle Net resembled a game of chess more than real combat and tested more on strategy.

If you could always accurately judge your opponent’s strategy, you could definitely win without losing.

The question is, how could you always accurately judge your opponent’s strategy?

This couldn’t simply be attributed to profound swordsmanship; it felt more like an odd intuitive talent.

Cao Xiong grew increasingly interested in Gao Xuan. After watching for a while, he eventually decided to participate personally.

Registering a small account on Battle Net wasn’t hard; Cao Xiong spent some money to directly elevate to Bronze Rank and sent Gao Xuan a challenge letter.

Currently, Gao Xuan’s livestream room had tens of thousands of viewers, and a consecutive win streak over two hundred times wasn’t common.

Ultimately, Sword Dao livestreaming depended on Swordsmanship. No matter what others say, Gao Xuan could keep winning consecutively.

Within a few days, he gained some reputation in the East Continent District on Battle Net.

Dozens of people challenged Gao Xuan. Cao Xiong paid extra to jump the queue.

In any industry, money talks. Money grants privileges.

Cao Xiong also chose to wear a mask; being a dignified Tenth-Level Expert, a Soul-Seeking Divine Hunter, it would be embarrassing to lose easily to Gao Xuan.

Using a virtual body, Cao Xiong behaved moderately and no longer reeked of alcohol. With a mask on, he wasn’t worried about being recognized.

However, Gao Xuan recognized Cao Xiong at a glance; controlling the virtual body was the real spiritual awareness, the Spiritual Miao of the Divine Soul.

Through the Six-winged Celestial Cicada, Gao Xuan immediately locked onto Cao Xiong’s Divine Soul aura.

“Coming for me?”

Gao Xuan was a bit surprised. Cao Xiong was swift in tracking him down; this man indeed had skills.

Clearly, Cao Xiong must have discovered something, prompting him to specially engage him in a sword duel.

Gao Xuan felt like sighing; if he let Cao Xiong continue fussing, he might truly dig him out.

Gao Xuan glanced at Cao Xiong and said, “Would you like to leave a name?”

Cao Xiong brandished his sword and assumed a stance, implying there was no need for words.

“Brother, I’m in a hurry, so forgive my manners.”

Gao Xuan said as he raised his sword to attack, while Cao Xiong cautiously defended with a tightly knit Swordsmanship guarding the gate.

Gao Xuan let loose a furious assault, thrusting his Longsword repeatedly. By the tenth strike, he breached Cao Xiong’s defense, sealed his throat with a sword, then dragged it horizontally, turning Cao Xiong into a mass of white light data.

The live audience reacted enthusiastically. It had been a while since anyone held out until the tenth sword.

The legend of Gao Xuan’s guaranteed victory with ten swords continued.

Some wealthy viewers even threw some rewards. This wave netted over a hundred Credit Points.

Gao Xuan smiled in thanks, but his Spirit remained locked onto Cao Xiong at Zhongyuan Hotel.

This kind of spiritual contact was ephemeral; someone of Cao Xiong’s capability shouldn’t detect anything unusual.

Of course, in this state, Gao Xuan couldn’t monitor much information, only confirm Cao Xiong’s location.

In his room, Cao Xiong indeed noticed nothing unusual.

He unscrewed the cap, downed a drink in one go; the bitter liquor turned into a fiery blaze in his stomach, feeling as if it would roast him alive; the intense burning pain froze him for a few seconds before he regained his senses.

Since acquiring the Bitter Fate Wine Vat, Cao Xiong lost his sense of taste, only able to savor the bitter taste of the liquor from Bitter Fate.

Moreover, the whiskey’s burning rapidly brought disease to his stomach, requiring a replacement annually.

However, these costs were worth it.

The Bitter Fate Wine Vat allowed Cao Xiong to see others’ destiny lines while intoxicated.

People leave traces of destiny lines wherever they go, like footprints left walking through snow.

No one can observe or perceive these destiny line traces.

But Cao Xiong could see a person’s circumstances and state through destiny line traces and even glimpse at their past and present.

Hence, as long as Cao Xiong visited a scene, finding the trace left by the perpetrator, he could easily find the other side.

Though, at the scene of An Shirong’s and Bai Yuncheng’s deaths, he found no useful trace of aura.

Cao Xiong knew the assassin must possess a powerful marvel. However, all people are intrinsically connected. No one exists independently.

He just needed to locate Wei Yue and others and continually piece together a complete picture. The missing piece would ultimately be the target.

Of course, if the person distanced themselves from Wei Yue, this crude method might fail.

Nevertheless, Cao Xiong believed the person aiding Wei Yue must have motives. They couldn’t have done all that just to leave.

Over time, he would undoubtedly find the missing piece.

What Cao Xiong hadn’t expected was discovering Gao Xuan by Wei Yue’s side.

On the surface, Gao Xuan seemed unproblematic, but having saved Wei Zhenzhen and Wei Yue, their destinies should be closely linked.

At least during this period, both parties should share in each other’s fortune and ruin.

However, Gao Xuan’s and Wei Yue’s destinies weren’t tightly intertwined. This was highly unusual.

At this time, any anomaly was worth investigating and monitoring.

Cao Xiong, having observed Gao Xuan for an afternoon, realized the other was a supremely talented Swordsmanship prodigy and became even more interested.

At present, he couldn’t make any judgments, but Gao Xuan undoubtedly harbored numerous secrets.

Cao Xiong also researched Yun Qingshang; cutting down a Seventh-Level Luo Yong at eighteen was extraordinary.

Born among the White Dragon Mountains, everyone from the tribe perished, leaving only the two supreme geniuses Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang?

Although Cao Xiong couldn’t pinpoint any issues, he felt there were too many coincidences and it didn’t add up.

As Cao Xiong browsed the files on Gao Xuan and Yun Qingshang, Nuwa appeared before Gao Xuan.

Only Gao Xuan could see her, not even electronic data could record her existence regardless of the number of people in the livestream.

“You’re still livestreaming for money, making quite an income, with hundreds of tips a day…”

Nuwa seemed a bit surprised; nowadays, free-loading viewers were rampant with almost no willingness to tip.

Gao Xuan swindling hundreds in a day was an extraordinary feat for a small streamer.

“I can’t help it; I’m just this talented.”

Gao Xuan said smugly.

Nuwa said with a trace of annoyance: “Cao Xiong accessed your and Yun Qingshang’s files, including those on Black Water City, among others. If he keeps investigating, he’ll surely uncover you.”

Gao Xuan sighed, “I intended to cut them some slack, but they insist on courting death.”

“Don’t be too arrogant.”

Nuwa reminded, “They are staying at Zhongyuan Hotel, which is essentially a trap aimed at you.”

Gao Xuan nodded, “I noticed, there’s another Tenth-Level Expert in the hotel, likely a member of the Black Dragon Association. There’s also a hidden armor squad in the underground warehouse.”

Many parts of Zhongyuan Hotel were equipped with special shield layers capable of suppressing spiritual sensing.

Even Gao Xuan’s spiritual power couldn’t perceive specific situations inside. However, his spiritual power could cover the entire Mingjing City.

He had particularly observed the key departments equipped with armor several times.

Gao Xuan discovered that a crack unit of the Law Enforcement Department was missing and deduced that the opposing team must be hiding in the hotel.

Zhongyuan Hotel was a carefully designed ambush circle.

Cao Xiong dared to reside there so boldly, not to await his death, but to await his voluntary trap.

Nuwa warned, “You don’t have much time left. Within one day at most, Cao Xiong will make a move. Once your information spreads, I can’t control it…”