**System Message:** Mission 4 completed: One hour of preparation time has passed.
**System Message:** Main mission updated. Mission 5: The Dark Dragon King Xunaida's forces have begun their assault on the mountain. The first wave of troops is expected to attack in twenty minutes. Please organize your forces for defense. If more than 400 survivors die before reinforcements from Yanjing City arrive, the mission will fail, and the instance will end immediately.
On the forum, there were many different methods discussed on how to defend against the Yuan Army's four-hour assault. Some suggested trap methods, such as digging various traps on Wudang Mountain's peak; others proposed the Four Symbols method, arranging four teams of the True Wu Seven-Section Array at key positions; still others suggested the door-blocking method, where swordsmen would go down the mountain to block the entrance where the Yuan Army was gathering; and there was even the bait method, using survivors as lures to draw part of the Yuan Army to another side and then eliminating the remaining forces.
In short, there were all sorts of bizarre and creative methods, with varying degrees of effectiveness. With good luck and sufficient strength, one could achieve an SSS rating. With bad luck and insufficient strength, even a B rating would be difficult.
However, Guhan, who had gathered three NPC Ancient Sword-level swordsmen, didn't need to worry so much. He simply gathered all the villagers inside the Chao Tian Palace, closed the gates, and had the three Ancient Sword-level swordsmen guard the large open area in front of the gate. This way, everything would be fine. Guhan only needed to deal with the more troublesome waves of Yuan Army that might break through the defenses and rush into the Chao Tian Palace during the last two waves.
Previously, Guhan had asked the Taoist priest Rumi to persuade all the survivors to hide inside the Chao Tian Palace and wait for reinforcements from Yanjing City. Rumi completed his task very well, and by the time the hour was up, almost all the survivors were inside the Chao Tian Palace. The word "almost" was used because three survivors were still missing, having hidden somewhere unknown.
If Guhan didn't find them and bring them to the Chao Tian Palace, according to previous player experience, these three people would be dead for sure.
For players who didn't aim for an SSS rating, these three people didn't matter much. Three people out of 400 were insignificant, and their deaths wouldn't affect the overall outcome. However, for someone like Guhan, who was determined to achieve an SSS rating, this was the most challenging part. The minimum number of deaths for an SSS rating was three, so he had to find these three people, no matter what.
At the start of the game, the five missing people would randomly appear in 25 locations. Players just needed to search each location one by one to find the three missing survivors. However, the system later expanded the 25 locations to 750, including places like the bottom of a cliff, the peak of the Golden Summit, and dense forests, which were very difficult to search. Even if players searched each location, it would take more than ten hours, and by then, it would be too late.
However, the system didn't completely block the players' path. It would provide Guhan with three random clues through NPCs, and by analyzing these clues, he could find the three missing NPCs and bring them to the Chao Tian Palace.
To be honest, analyzing the locations of the three missing survivors was considered a 200-point difficulty task (out of 100) by the forum players.
In the instance, players couldn't connect to the forum to search for the 750 locations. They had to be thoroughly familiar with the terrain of Wudang Mountain's peak and memorize all 750 locations before entering the instance to have any chance of solving the puzzle. It was like your teacher marking 750 key points in the textbook and asking you to memorize them all... Most players gave up on finding these three people, focusing instead on other areas to achieve an SS rating.
Even for a genius like Guhan, memorizing 750 locations was very mentally taxing. It took him about four hours to memorize all 750 locations...
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**System Notice:** Side mission triggered: Find the three missing survivors. No penalty for failure. Upon success, a random reward in the instance will be upgraded by one level.
**System Notice:** Player Tidu can ask NPC Rumi for the first clue about the missing person.
Randomly upgrading a reward by one level is a very luck-based thing. If your luck is bad, it might just mean increasing a 1 RMB reward to 2 RMB. But if your luck is extremely good, it could mean turning a white gacha item into a blue one, a blue one into a purple one, a purple one into a gold one, and a gold one into... well, no one knows what comes after a gold gacha item.
Regardless, this side mission must be completed.
Guhan received the first clue from the Taoist priest Rumi.
**Clue 1:** The missing survivor, Li Dachui, is a bald, single man. The last person who saw him said he was holding a red cloth and running towards the Yun Tai area.
At first glance, this clue seemed confusing and nonsensical. A red cloth and running towards the Yun Tai area didn't seem to provide much useful information. But Guhan thought for less than ten seconds and told Yuewang, "Stay here and guard the Chao Tian Palace with Yuan Kong. If there's any news, contact me through the sword mark. I'll be back soon."
With that, Guhan ran out and, five minutes later, returned to the Chao Tian Palace with a leg-fractured Wang Dachui, handing him over to the Taoist priest Rumi, who was maintaining order inside. Rumi was stunned.
"May I ask how you found Li Dachui, Sir Tidu?" Rumi asked eagerly. "My three disciples searched for a long time but found nothing!"
"Wudang Mountain's peak lacks dyes, and cloth is generally gray, white, or black. Red cloth is very rare. The only place to find red cloth on Wudang Mountain is a tree of love, where a red scarf is tied to a branch."
"The red scarf on the tree of love symbolizes love. I went to the tree first and found a comb that Li Dachui had dropped. A bald, single man like him wouldn't need a comb, so it must belong to his lover. This means he took the red cloth to please his lover."
"The houses near Yun Tai are few, and even fewer are occupied by women. There are only three households. I searched all three and found a half-burned red scarf in one of the firewood piles."
"There are five locations among the 750 that are closest to this household. I searched each one and found him in a trap pit. His leg was broken by someone, and he said it was his lover's husband who caught him and broke his leg, then threw him into the pit to die."
Sure enough, as soon as Li Dachui entered the Chao Tian Palace, he dragged his broken leg to confront his lover and her husband, causing chaos inside the palace.
"Sir Tidu, your mind is sharp. I am truly impressed!" Rumi praised. "There are two more missing people. Please find them. The second missing person is Chen Xiaochui, a seven-year-old girl who lives near the Xuri Pavilion. She told her mother she was going to watch the sunrise, but she hasn't returned."
"Wudang Mountain has many places to watch the sunrise, and 60 of the 750 locations can see the sunrise," Guhan thought. "But a seven-year-old girl couldn't have gone too far. She must be near the Xuri Pavilion, so the 60 locations can be narrowed down to 20."
"Of these 20 locations, 17 are too dangerous for a seven-year-old girl, so the remaining three are the most likely."
Guhan quickly ran to the three locations but found no sign of the girl.
"If she's not in a safe place, she must have been curious and gone to one of the dangerous places to watch the sunrise. She might be trapped there!" Guhan spent about ten more minutes searching the 17 dangerous locations but still found nothing.
"Did I analyze it wrong? Is Chen Xiaochui not watching the sunrise near the Xuri Pavilion?" Just as Guhan was about to leave the Xuri Pavilion, he noticed that the soil and rocks at his feet were very wet, making it slippery and dangerous to fall off the cliff.
"Is it possible that the girl slipped and fell off the cliff?" Guhan immediately dismissed this thought. If the girl had fallen, she would be dead, and the system wouldn't have him search for a dead person.
But what if she fell and didn't die? The protagonist falling off a cliff and being saved by a tree, surviving by luck, is a standard plot, right?
With this in mind, Guhan walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Sure enough, a ragged little girl was lying on a branch extending from the cliff, her body rising and falling, proving that this lucky NPC was still alive.
---
**Tianxing Sword:**
- **Material:** Bintie
- **Origin:** Born (Yuan Dynasty ยท Rare)
- **Realm:** Ancient Sword (Cannot be upgraded)
- **Grade:** 9th Rank (Can be improved)
- **Sword Path:** Martial Path
- **Cloud Path Characteristics:** Sky Walker โ The sword maiden gains the ability to float, rising one meter every five seconds, with a maximum height of three meters.
- **Awakening:** Awakened
- **Form:** Sword Maiden Form
- **Sword Holder:** Old Woman (NPC)
- **Deep Carving:** Not deeply carved
- **Damage Ratio:** Sword Maiden Form 0.017 / Sword Form 0.026
- **Defense Ratio:** Sword Maiden Form 0.19 / Sword Form 0.21
- **Agility Ratio:** Sword Maiden Form 0.082 / Sword Form 0.111
- **Synchronization Coordination Time Requirement:** 2 minutes
- **Initial Carving:** After synchronization, permanently increase the sword holder's sword essence by 100 points and increase the sword holder's reputation by 1 point.
- **Carving Contract:** After synchronization, the sword holder gains the ability to float, with a maximum height of three meters.
- **Basic Skill โ Skyfall:** Consume 130 sword qi to fall rapidly from the air, using acceleration to deal different damage based on the floating height at the time of skill use, with a maximum of 300% damage. The floating state is sealed for 10 seconds after use.
- **Passive Skill โ Floating Chaos:** When attacking in the air, attack power decreases by 30%, and evasion increases by 50%.
- **Advanced Skill โ Break the Limit:** Consume 500 sword qi to rise to a height of 5 meters in five seconds. During the ascent, damage taken increases by 100%, with a cooldown of two minutes.
- **Ultimate Skill โ Sword Qi Bombardment:** Consume 40% durability and 2000 sword qi to deal 200 sword qi damage to all enemies within a five-meter radius below. The floating ability is sealed for five minutes after use.
- **Description:** A stone sword born from the rocks of Wudang Mountain, it has the potential that ordinary sword maidens lack, having once slain a Yu-level Yuan Army.