God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 23: It’s not Training

The broad man standing on the leader’s left stepped forward first, dragging a heavy axe across the snow.

The thin man on the right lowered his body slightly, and the dagger in his hand disappeared behind his wrist almost naturally.

Shen Wuxia’s gaze paused on both of them before shifting back to the leader, whose shadow had already started moving strangely beneath his boots.

A faint system scan appeared in Xingluo’s vision as she focused on the three of them.

[Target: Shadow Attribute Mage]

[Level: 83]

[Target: Warrior]

[Level: 80]

[Target: Assassin]

[Level: 80]

Xingluo’s face tightened after seeing the levels, but she did not lower her sword.

The leader noticed her reaction and smiled faintly. "Now you understand why I asked politely first?"

Before Xingluo could answer, the warrior rushed forward and swung his axe toward her shoulder with both hands.

"Do not block directly," Wuxia said at once. "Let the bear take the first hit."

Xingluo stepped back, and the bear-shaped Soul Soldier moved forward under Wuxia’s control.

Its dark body slammed into the warrior’s axe, stopping the strike with a dull impact that made its outline shake for a moment.

The warrior’s expression changed slightly, but he quickly twisted his grip and kicked toward Xingluo’s knee from the side.

Xingluo raised her sword and cut toward his leg, forcing him to pull back before the blade reached his joint.

At the same time, the thin assassin vanished from her sight.

"Right side," Wuxia said coldly.

Xingluo turned her sword just in time, and the assassin’s dagger struck the flat of her blade with a sharp sound.

The force was not heavy, but the angle was vicious enough that the dagger would have entered her ribs if she reacted slower.

Before Xingluo could counter, the snow beneath her feet darkened as the leader lifted two fingers.

"Jump."

Xingluo kicked off the ground without hesitation, and three shadow spikes stabbed upward from where she had been standing.

The leader stood several steps away, black mana twisting around his fingers as his smile deepened slightly.

"Good reaction," he said. "But how many times can you keep doing that?"

Xingluo landed hard, and pain shot through her side from the earlier explosion.

Her breathing turned rough for a moment, but she still forced her sword up as the warrior charged again.

The Soul Soldier blocked the warrior’s axe with its shoulder, but its body sank slightly from the impact and flickered for half a breath.

Shen Wuxia felt the pull on his soul force increase at once.

[Soul Soldier control burden increased.]

His gaze turned colder, but he did not pull the Soul Soldier back.

The warrior was using raw strength to hold the bear down, while the assassin and mage forced Xingluo to keep moving.

These three had fought together before.

They did not need many words, and every attack filled the gap left by the previous one.

The assassin circled behind Xingluo while the leader’s shadow mana spread near her feet again.

"Forward," Wuxia said. "Do not retreat into his shadow."

Xingluo gritted her teeth and rushed toward the leader instead.

The leader’s eyes changed slightly, clearly not expecting her to move toward him while injured.

He raised his hand, and a wall of shadow rose from the snow, but Xingluo cut through the edge of it before it could fully harden.

Her blade tore open the shadow barrier, but the force behind it still slowed her for half a breath, that delay was enough.

The assassin appeared beside her again, his dagger cutting toward her throat from a blind angle.

Xingluo twisted her body and raised her arm, letting the armor on her forearm take the strike instead of her neck.

The dagger scraped across the armor, and her sword swept toward his chest in the same motion.

The assassin bent backward, avoiding the slash by a narrow distance, but a shallow line still opened across his shoulder.

His face turned ugly at once. "She is not as weak as she looks," the assassin said, retreating two steps.

"Then stop testing her," the leader replied coldly.

The warrior roared and struck the Soul Soldier again, forcing the bear-shaped soul to slide backward across the snow.

Shen Wuxia pushed more soul force into the connection, and the Soul Soldier’s dark eyes flickered before it slammed its paw toward the warrior.

The warrior raised his axe to block, but the impact still forced him back several steps.

Before the Soul Soldier could follow up, the leader’s shadow moved across the ground and wrapped around its legs.

Several black chains rose from the snow and tightened around the bear-shaped soul, holding it in place.

Shen Wuxia immediately tried to force it out, but the control burden spiked sharply inside his soul.

[Control Cost rising.]

[Soul Force Consumption increased.]

His expression darkened.

The Soul Soldier was not weak, but it had just been created, and his control over it was still crude.

Against beasts, its size and pressure might have been enough, but experienced hunters could test every weakness immediately.

"Xingluo, cut the mage’s casting hand."

Hearing Wuxia’s command, Xingluo rushed toward the leader again, her sword angled low.

The assassin moved to intercept her, but she suddenly changed direction and slashed toward his wrist instead of his body.

The assassin’s eyes widened, and he barely pulled his hand back before the sword could take his fingers.

This time, Xingluo did not stop, she kicked the snow beneath her feet toward his face and rushed past him while his vision was blocked.

The leader’s smile faded for the first time, he raised his left hand and the shadow beneath his feet stretched toward Xingluo like a black rope.

"Step over it, then thrust."

Xingluo followed Wuxia’s voice, jumping past the shadow rope before driving her sword toward the leader’s shoulder.

The leader twisted aside, but the blade still tore through his sleeve and cut into his upper arm, blood spilled down onto the snow as a groan escaped his throat.

The leader’s expression became cold. "You really are asking to die."

His shadow suddenly expanded under Xingluo’s feet before she could pull back.

Wuxia reacted at once and sent a burst of soul force toward the ground, disturbing the shadow before it fully closed around her legs.

The binding weakened for only a moment, but Xingluo used that gap to break out and retreat.

The cost hit Shen Wuxia almost immediately as a faint tearing pain spread through his soul body, making his outline flicker once.

Xingluo noticed it from the corner of her eye, and her expression changed slightly. "Wuxia?"

"Focus," he said sharply. "Do not look at me."

The assassin used that moment to close in, his dagger struck from below, aiming for the gap under her chest armor.

Xingluo barely turned the blade aside, but a second dagger appeared in his other hand and cut across her waist.

The armor blocked most of it, yet the impact still made her stumble. The warrior finally broke free from the Soul Soldier’s pressure and slammed his axe into its side.

The Soul Soldier’s front leg flickered, and part of its dark body became unstable before reforming again.

Shen Wuxia felt the control connection shake.

The leader noticed it too. "So that spirit beast is not as strong as it looks," he said, his smile returning. "Good."

Xingluo breathed heavily, her arms already aching from holding the sword.

Her injuries from the bear fight had not disappeared, and every movement pulled at the damage left by the explosion. Still, she forced herself to stand straight.

The leader raised his hand again. "Keep that thing busy, cut her tendons first."

The assassin’s eyes narrowed as he shifted his dagger into a reverse grip. "Understood."

Xingluo’s grip tightened until her knuckles turned pale.

"Do not let him circle behind you," Wuxia said. "Use the broken trees on your left."

Xingluo moved at once, retreating toward the broken trunks instead of staying in the open snow.

The assassin followed, but the moment he entered her range, she suddenly stepped forward and slashed diagonally.

He dodged the first strike, but Xingluo turned her wrist midway and changed the slash toward his thigh.

This time, the blade landed as blood bloomed across the assassin’s leg, and his movement slowed for half a breath.

"Good," Wuxia said. "Ag ain, before he adjusts."

Xingluo stepped in, but the leader’s shadow spear shot toward her from the side.

She was forced to pull back and block, and the spear shattered against her sword with enough force to numb her arm.

The assassin used that delay to retreat, his eyes now carrying real killing intent. "Annoying girl."

He rushed again, but this time Xingluo read his movement better, his shoulder shifted before his dagger moved, exactly like Wuxia had taught her during combat practice.

Xingluo turned her body, let the dagger pass close to her ribs, and thrust her sword toward his chest.

The assassin’s eyes widened for the first time, he was too close to fully dodge.

The longsword pierced through his side, tearing through armor and flesh before coming out near his back.

His body froze, and blood spilled from his mouth.

Xingluo also froze as her hands still held the sword, and the assassin was stuck on the blade in front of her.

But then she froze to as a thought ran through her mind.

No, he was not a beast but a living person.

Even if he had tried to kill her first, the feeling of her sword inside a human body was completely different.

"Pull it out and finish him," Wuxia said immediately.

Xingluo’s fingers trembled around the hilt, the assassin’s wounded face twisted, and one of his hands slowly moved toward the dagger at his waist.

"Xingluo," Wuxia’s voice became colder. "Now."

Her breath caught for an instant and that moment was enough.

The assassin’s dagger flashed upward and cut across her arm, forcing her grip to loosen as he tore himself away from the blade.

At the same time, the leader’s shadow struck from behind and wrapped around her ankle.

Xingluo tried to retreat, but her injured leg was pulled off balance, and the warrior broke away from the Soul Soldier long enough to swing his axe toward her side.

The Soul Soldier lunged to intercept, but the leader’s shadow chains dragged it back before it could reach her.

Xingluo barely raised her sword in time as the axe crashed into her blade, and the force sent her sliding across the snow until her back struck a broken tree trunk.

Pain burst through her body, and blood rose in her throat again.

The assassin pressed one hand against his bleeding wound, but his eyes were now filled with hatred as he stepped forward.

The warrior stood on the other side, breathing heavily but still holding his axe with both hands.

Behind them, the leader slowly lowered his injured arm while the shadow beneath his feet spread wider across the snow.

"You had the chance to kill him," the leader said coldly. "That hesitation will cost you."

Xingluo forced herself to stand, but her knees shook once before she steadied them.

Shen Wuxia floated in front of her, his expression colder than ever as the Soul Soldier struggled against the shadow chains behind them.

"Xingluo," he said quietly. "This is not training anymore."

Her face was pale, and her sword was still wet with the assassin’s blood.

The three men began closing in again, slower this time, not because they were cautious, but because they already knew she was weakening.

Xingluo raised her sword with both hands, but her grip was no longer steady. The leader’s shadow moved first, spreading across the snow toward her feet.

The assassin disappeared from her sight again, and the warrior charged straight at her from the front.