Chapter 230: Welcome to County Magistrate Luo's Special Grid

Xu Qiao'er was injured!

And from the looks of it, badly!

On a Level 1 Combat Grid! Facing a shadow of Yan Jing at only 30% of his strength!

Who could have expected this?

No one.

Coming back to their senses, the spectators' minds were still reeling.

"Damn it, Old Yan, just how much are you hiding..."

Xu Weizhou wiped the sweat from his forehead again and again. Before this Surface and Inner Worlds summit, he had thought Yan Jing was First Tier.

Before the Super-Large Dungeon, he had bumped that up to Second Tier.

After Stage A ended, he considered him a terrifyingly strong Second Tier.

But now, he couldn't even tell what level Yan Jing was at.

"Old Yan, are you using cheats?"

he muttered.

The reactions of those around him were no better.

The cigarette in the smoking woman's hand had burned down to her fingers. The tall, sturdy woman's breathing was heavy and rapid. Even long-haired Chu Ming's subordinate—the boy dressed like a high schooler—wore a look of utter shock.

Only the light screen in the air continued its methodical procedure.

[Piece No. 7 is injured. Faction No. 7's execution phase is complete. No toll is required.]

[Begin rolling the dice.]

It was Faction No. 8's turn to roll, but the process was noticeably slower than before.

Bianliu County West Street.

One of the two grand artisans stared at the crystal board before him, in no rush to have his player roll the dice.

He had to figure out a critical question first: if their piece—the blind man—actually landed on a Combat Grid in Tranquil Valley, should they pay the toll?

This was the exact question every subsequent faction was pondering.

The result of this dice roll had completely upended everyone's plans.

Meanwhile, the culprit behind this chaos was listening to Dong An, who had rushed over to the wonton shop to describe the recent battle.

"...Advisor, that's how it happened."

Dong An finished speaking and cupped his fist toward Yan Jing.

He held deep respect for Yan Jing. After all, his ability to enter the ranks back then had been almost entirely orchestrated by the Advisor.

"Hmm."

Yan Jing nodded.

After hearing the account, he found it a bit strange.

According to Dong An, his shadow had performed excellently.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that it hadn't displayed 30% of his true strength.

Thinking it over, even if he only factored in the Potion of Heracles...

Thanks to the potion's effects, his current physical constitution matched his strength at his absolute peak.

That meant the Potion of Heracles alone should equal the combined strength of eating the Fear Apple, unlocking the Second Tier of his Fear Stance, the Fear Bird Stance, the Chongming State, the Power of the White Stone, and the everyday power of the Chongming bird.

He should have had a decent chance of winning.

Moreover, for the Ritual, the shadow had only used the Fear Thorn from the Day Selection Ritual.

The Power of the White Stone hadn't even been used.

And that was 30%?

Yan Jing blinked, then sighed.

He still wasn't strong enough.

Seeing this, Dong An immediately offered some comfort.

"Advisor, even though we didn't get the toll, this is already great. I heard from those humans that she's incredibly strong."

"Makes sense."

Yan Jing nodded, then looked up with a smile. "Little An, I'll leave this to you. Keep scouting and reporting back."

"You got it! Don't worry!"

Dong An nodded, then darted back into the crowd to check on the other teams.

The rounds of dice rolling continued.

It wasn't until Faction No. 14 finished their roll.

By then, three more factions had entered Tranquil Valley, all landing on Level 1 Combat Grids.

Without exception, all three chose to pay the 5-yuan toll.

Just like that, Yan Jing's assets increased to 106 yuan.

Then, it was Faction No. 1's turn again.

Zhou Xian was currently on Regional Grid No. 74, which meant he might step into Tranquil Valley next.

As the countdown began, the crowd gathered around Zhou Xian noticed that the dice above his head didn't spin immediately.

His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed tightly as he seemingly communicated with his commander behind the scenes.

"Could Zhou Xian be scared..."

"Are you joking? That's Zhou Xian!"

"Didn't someone just analyze it? Yan Jing's strength might not be as exaggerated as we thought."

A few minutes prior.

Recovering from their shock, the crowd had begun a new round of analysis regarding Yan Jing's strength.

Some believed Yan Jing was likely the strongest among all the players present.

However, this claim met with well-reasoned rebuttals.

The tall, sturdy woman spoke up.

"First of all, that woman underestimated her opponent. If she had used multiple arrows from the very beginning, she probably would have ended the battle immediately."

"Furthermore, she only got hurt at the end because she didn't expect the shadow to launch a sneak attack right before it died. If you ignore that specific injury, she went practically unharmed."

Surprisingly, these points earned the agreement of the smoking woman, who had previously been at odds with her.

"Indeed. The Precognition Society's captain used only three abilities in total: an eye-based ability likely meant for analysis and prediction, an arrow, and teleportation. If those three abilities had been combined properly, she could have achieved a flawless victory."

"This isn't something that can be reflected in a single exchange. In other words, if she had used all three abilities simultaneously from the start, even if the shadow's strength were boosted to 60% or higher, she most likely would have emerged unscathed."

"Looking at her combination of abilities, her formidable reputation is well-deserved."

"Judging by the abilities Yan Jing has revealed, they can be handled as long as you stay on guard. But even knowing this captain's abilities, I, for one, would find it difficult to mount a decent response."

"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that this Yan Jing possesses other powerful abilities."

"Overall, our combat sample size is too small. These comparisons are practically meaningless."

Based on this discourse, most people temporarily ranked Yan Jing in third or fourth place. Those gathered near Zhou Xian had heard this analysis, so they didn't understand why he was hesitating.

Little did they know, it wasn't Zhou Xian hesitating; rather, Inspector Liu, the man backing him, was deeply conflicted.

Liu Ye wanted to use the Targeted Dice Card to let Zhou Xian roll a direct 60. First, it would bypass Grid No. 101. Second, it would get Zhou Xian to the next Domain as quickly as possible. Third, Grid No. 134 was a Level 1 Regional Grid.

Generally speaking, he still trusted Zhou Xian, believing that defeating 30% of Advisor Yan's strength wouldn't be a problem.

The problem was that he didn't trust County Magistrate Luo.

Judging by his brief encounters with the county magistrate, the man was by no means simple. After seeing the magistrate's grand maneuvers, Liu Ye couldn't shake the feeling that this game of Monopoly might end faster than anyone expected.

Therefore, some items had to be used while they still could be.

In the end, however, following Zhou Xian's repeated requests, Liu Ye chose to listen to him. Forgoing the dice card, he ordered the roll.

43 points.

Regional Grid No. 117.

It was only four spaces past Xu Qiao'er's Regional Grid, but Liu Ye's inverted-triangle eyes widened.

Special Grid!

This was the first Special Grid of the day.

What utterly wretched luck!

Recalling the strange individuals under County Magistrate Luo, a profound sense of foreboding welled up in Liu Ye's heart.

Especially that man perennially draped in a black robe who had helped solve the live transport case. Please, let it not be his Special Grid!

"Zhou Xian, if the competition inside feels off, just choose to skip it. We still have plenty of funds," he told Zhou Xian telepathically.

"I will handle it."

Zhou Xian neither agreed nor refused, maintaining his usual demeanor.

Liu Ye sighed. He had a feeling things were going to go poorly, but there was nothing he could do. Unless Zhou Xian voluntarily chose to spend the money, the decision remained entirely in his hands.

The next instant, Zhou Xian's figure flickered, reappearing inside a wooden hut.

The wooden hut had only three walls; the fourth side was replaced by two tattered cloth curtains that swayed constantly in the mountain breeze, giving off a distinct chill.

In the center of the room burned two fire pits.

Beside each fire pit sat a table and a chair, with boilers and assorted herbs arranged on top.

[Special Grid: Herbal Tea Shop

As you walk through the mountains and forests, you suddenly feel parched and unbearably thirsty. You happen upon a herbal tea shop. It is late summer and early autumn, the weather is dry, and you should drink more herbal tea to reduce internal heat.

You may choose between the following two options:]

[1. Drink three bowls of herbal tea brewed by the projection of the Inner World resident in this Special Grid without spitting them out. Leave without paying the toll.]

[2. Choose to brew herbal tea yourself using the provided ingredients, and compete with the projection of the Inner World resident in this Special Grid. Both sides will take turns drinking each other's herbal tea. The first to stop loses. If you fail, you must pay double the toll. If the opponent fails, they must pay the passing piece 50% of the toll.] Zhou Xian read the options before him, pondered briefly, and selected the first option.

He didn't know how to make herbal tea.

As for drinking three bowls of herbal tea, he figured that shouldn't be much of a problem.

The moment he made his choice, a figure dressed in coarse cloth with her hair tied in double buns appeared on one of the stools. Weird Energy surged in her hands, and a bowl of pitch-black herbal tea materialized on the table.

The figure raised a hand, gesturing for him to drink.

...

Zhou Xian stared at the seemingly unremarkable bowl of herbal tea. With an indifferent gaze, he picked it up and tossed it back.

He was so fast that even Liu Ye—who had paled upon realizing it was the herbal tea shop and prepared to stop him—didn't have time to voice a warning before the bowl was drained.

Seeing the prompt state that Zhou Xian had already downed the herbal tea, Liu Ye's eyes widened and he gasped.

Fucking insidious!

This Luo Sheng is too fucking insidious!!!

"..."

"...—...Pfft!"

A few seconds later, Zhou Xian's eyes bulged, and he sprayed the herbal tea everywhere!

The entire process hadn't been complicated. Zhou Xian had originally planned to just pour the herbal tea straight down his throat.

But halfway through, he felt his throat and stomach violently rebel. The muscles across his entire body, which he could normally control at will, completely stopped listening to his commands, forcibly driving the swallowed herbal tea back into his mouth.

He tried to force it back down, but it was impossible.

The liquid felt like a mass of the vilest filth, violently rejected by his body's instincts. The sickening taste was as if he held a concentrated blend of the most bitter things in the world in his mouth.

Caught off guard, he sprayed it out.

Not only that, but the bitterness continued to linger in his mouth, leaving him gasping for air, his eyes tearing up.

So bitter!

How could anything be this bitter?!

Right at that moment, a line of text appeared on the light screen outside:

[Faction No. 1's execution phase failed. Pay 10 yuan.]