Taking advantage of the chaos, Zuo Lin'an repeated his trick. With a few quick flickers, he left all the players on the first floor behind and slipped up to the second floor!
By now, only one player with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent remained in the second-floor corridor; the rest had gone down to the first floor to stand guard.
Spotting the 【Spirit Vision】 player scanning the corridor alertly, Zuo Lin'an took a step forward and materialized behind him. He struck swiftly with his blade—this time, using his boning knife to slice clean through the man's neck.
While the head was still balancing precariously on the neck, Zuo Lin'an vanished from the spot.
By the time he reappeared, he was already at the second-floor stairwell, where he used the exact same method to eliminate another guarding player.
Even if they held a specter item in their hands, as long as they didn't have time to use it, even the most powerful specter item was nothing but useless trash!
Only now did the head of the decapitated 【Spirit Vision】 player begin to slide off his neck. Before it even hit the floor, Zuo Lin'an seized this final half-second to instantly materialize in front of another guard patrolling the second-floor corridor.
Before the guard could react, Zuo Lin'an plunged his gleaming, sharp knife straight through the man's throat as he watched in helpless horror.
“Ugh... You...”
【This player has used a specter item. Special effect: Repels specters!】
【This player cannot kill the one bound by the gold hairpin; the specter item's special effect fails to take effect!】
With that, Zuo Lin'an had cleared the entire second-floor corridor. As for the other guards, they had already been drawn away by the commotion on the first floor.
The other players on the second floor were currently hiding inside the classrooms. They were talented or high-status players who were being kept under protection.
These players had likely noticed the commotion in the corridor.
Huddling together in fear, none of them dared to scream. Although calling out would certainly attract reinforcements, who could guarantee that the one who made a sound wouldn't be the first to die?
They certainly didn't want to die.
Noticing the expressions on their faces, Zuo Lin'an instantly deduced that they possessed no means to deal with specters.
If they had the ability to repel specters, they would surely have been invited upstairs to protect the Emperor instead of being cast aside in the second-floor classrooms.
Those left in the classrooms on the second floor were essentially mediocre, useless players—they had some minor utility but weren't immediately needed, so they were simply kept there as spares.
After killing the three guards, Zuo Lin'an did not enter the second-floor classrooms to hunt the players inside.
After all, doing so would be pointless.
Even so, the sudden deaths of three people on the second floor were quickly discovered.
It made sense. There were quite a few Specter Masters on the upper floors.
Specter Masters could sense the aura of the living around them through their fused specters.
Although they couldn't distinguish individuals, they could easily detect the presence or sudden disappearance of a living aura.
And the sudden disappearance of three auras on the second floor was a major event.
Hearing footsteps coming from the stairs, Zuo Lin'an did not rush up. Instead, he hid in a dark corner and waited for a short moment.
He planned to wait for the reinforcement teams from above to head down, then seize the opening to slip up to the third floor.
Soon, two teams of about ten people each ran down from the stairwells on both sides of the academic building.
Over twenty players in total.
During this time, Zuo Lin'an also spotted Gu Hedao flying through the air. Gu Hedao was stepping on the corridor railings, flying upward floor by floor.
Distracted by the chaos, Gu Hedao apparently didn't notice that Zuo Lin'an had been watching him.
Perhaps he was too concerned about the Emperor's safety to pay attention to anything else.
Once Gu Hedao went upstairs and the stairwell to the third floor was clear, Zuo Lin'an glided up the stairs in just two swift strides, reaching the third floor.
However, his luck seemed to run out here. The moment he reached the third floor, he ran headfirst into a player with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent.
The player instantly saw through Zuo Lin'an, who had deeply concealed his presence.
Although startled by the sudden appearance of a specter, the player did not panic. Instead, he spun around to flee, opening his mouth to shout that the specter was here.
However, to Zuo Lin'an, this person's speed was far too slow.
“Spe—”
Before the first syllable could fully leave his mouth, Zuo Lin'an materialized behind him. Covering the man's mouth with one hand, he drove the tip of his blade upward into the player's neck and gave it a vicious twist!
While everyone was focused on the commotion downstairs, Zuo Lin'an took a step back. Both he and the corpse in his arms vanished from the spot, reappearing a split second later at the stairwell landing.
Tossing the limp corpse onto the stairs, he made his way toward the third floor once more.
To be honest, he found the whole situation somewhat hard to believe.
He had forced his way into Academic Building No. 5, which housed over a hundred veteran players, and had made it all the way to the third floor without encountering a single attack that could deal him a significant blow.
It was simply mind-boggling.
Was it because his speed was so fast that all these players simply couldn't react in time?
Zuo Lin'an nodded inwardly.
It seemed players with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent weren't entirely impossible to deal with after all.
However, he had caused quite a stir by now.
The players on the fourth floor and above were bound to be fully on guard, likely keeping their talents or specter items primed for immediate activation.
He had to be increasingly cautious for the rest of his path.
Zuo Lin'an concealed his form, suppressing all of his specter aura.
While this was useless against players with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent, it would allow him to evade the Specter Masters' ability to sense specter aura.
In other words, as long as he didn't enter the line of sight of any player with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent, he wouldn't be detected.
Of course, if they possessed certain special talents or specter items, this method naturally wouldn't work.
But when combined with his speed, he should still be able to catch them off guard.
Zuo Lin'an carefully sensed the living auras around him and discovered that the players on the fourth floor and above were actually moving toward the sixth floor in a rapid, orderly fashion.
Even the people from the first and second floors had begun to rush upward frantically.
Zuo Lin'an knew this had to be the Emperor's order to gather all the players inside Academic Building No. 5.
Once everyone was packed tightly together, even if Zuo Lin'an wanted to materialize, he would have to squeeze into the middle of the crowd.
When that happened, the sheer mass of players would be able to repel Zuo Lin'an's fierce onslaught.
Zuo Lin'an knew he had to make a decision quickly. Once all the players gathered, it would be too late.
At that moment, he suddenly recalled what the principal had mentioned earlier.
There were a total of seven cards in Academic Building No. 5.
Xuan Jingyuan and Gu Hedao each held one, while Xuan Yi had five.
Therefore, his primary objective right now was to attack Xuan Yi!
Having made his decision, Zuo Lin'an instantly vanished from the spot.
By the time he reappeared, he was already halfway up the stairs to the fourth floor. The players rushing upward only felt a dark blur flicker before their eyes before vanishing instantly.
The player assumed his eyes were playing tricks on him and paid it no mind, so he didn't bother to warn the others.
Rate on N.U.
