Chapter 233: A Single Strike

"Rolling dice."

The light screen prompt appeared in the sky once more.

This time, it was Number Five's turn.

The West Street Artisan backing Jiang Yao was very conservative. Seeing she had landed on a Special Grid belonging to Yan Jing's faction, they immediately paid to avert disaster, allowing Jiang Yao to skip the execution phase.

Next was Number Six, Feinan Temple. They similarly chose to pay up, letting Chen Dalang's uncle skip the combat phase of a Level 1 Regional Grid.

Number Seven, Baile Manor. Xu Qiao'er paid the price of a leg injury to clear a Level 1 Combat Grid.

Number Eight, the other West Street Artisan, rolled the maximum of sixty. This allowed the blind man to surpass everyone and become the first person to enter Baile Manor's Regional Grid.

He landed on a Level 1 Combat Grid. The projection upon it was none other than that man with the extremely thick knuckles.

A minute and a half later, the blind man cleared it completely unscathed.

This exceeded many people's expectations. The vast majority present knew the blind man, Xia Qian, was formidable at clearing Dungeons—he even held a spot on the Player Leaderboard—but there were rarely any reports regarding his actual combat strength.

No one expected him to publicly reveal the officially recognized perfect ratio of yellow-purple, purple, and purple-black right in front of them.

The official Yueyin standard for the perfect ratio of Rituals across the first seven tiers was:

Yellow-purple, purple, purple-black, black, black-orange, orange, and red.

Over the years, the explorations of successive generations of geniuses had pushed the absolute limit ratio for the first seven tiers to:

Purple, purple-black, black, black-orange, orange, red, and silver-red.

Without tremendous fortuitous encounters, immense luck, or vast wealth, it was virtually impossible to achieve even the perfect ratio.

As for the limit ratio, no one had ever heard of anyone surpassing those seven specific colors.

Possessing even one color from the limit ratio was enough to elevate a person into the ranks of true geniuses.

Rumor had it that the genius who suddenly appeared in the Third Ring Domain years ago had achieved limit ratio colors for their Second Ritual and Fifth Rite, with all other Rituals hitting the perfect ratio. That alone allowed them to ascend as a Fifth Tier Sovereign and stir up massive waves across the Third Ring Domain.

Thus, upon seeing the blind man's Rituals, even the core members of teams from outside Rainbow City were somewhat shocked.

"To think Rainbow City was hiding things this deeply," the smoke woman said, her expression grim.

She had originally assumed a remote city like this would struggle to produce even a single seed candidate. Yet, counting Yan Jing, the blind man, and Zhou Xian, there were already three. That put them almost on par with a prosperous place like Wuqing City.

Next came Number Nine, Number Ten, Number Eleven...

Another round passed.

Before Number One, Zhou Xian, rolled his dice again, the Regional Grids everyone occupied showed obvious disparities.

Yan Jing trailed at the very back alone; just ahead of him were the four from the Third Ring Domain who had skipped a round. The other factions were positioned much further along the board.

Zhou Xian was currently on grid 191. Barring any accidents, he would return to the very front of the pack after this roll.

"Rolling dice."

Yet right at this moment, an accident happened.

"8."

"..."

"..."

"..."

For a moment, deathly silence fell over the crowd. No one expected that Zhou Xian still hadn't stepped out of Tranquil Valley.

Not only that, but his roll landed him on yet another Special Grid!

"..."

Liu Ye sat blankly in his chair, staring at the pitch-black curtain ahead.

He knew it. He was terrible at games of luck. If his luck were any good, he wouldn't have bounced around so many posts without a single promotion.

If that were all, so be it.

But all he wanted was to simply protect the people's livelihood and be a good official, yet he couldn't even manage that much...

What do you say, are we trying it this time? he asked weakly in his heart, already prepared to go along with whatever Zhou Xian wanted.

"Let me see what the contest is first," Zhou Xian replied, clinging to his last shred of hope.

[Special Grid: Funeral Shop]

[Taking a night walk, you happen to hear the sound of weeping deities and wailing ghosts. Believing it to be a fortuitous encounter, you follow the sound and ultimately find a Funeral Shop. The noise emanates from within.]

[You may choose from the following options:]

[1. Pay 5 yuan; nothing happens.]

[2. Enter the Funeral Shop and successfully listen to the shopkeeper play five Suona pieces. You may then pass safely without paying.]

[3. Compete with the shopkeeper in a Suona soul-summoning contest...]

"..."

"I..."

For the first time, Zhou Xian's eyes wavered. Finally, his lips moved, a trace of defeat bleeding into his voice:

"Let's just pay and move on."

He had suffered enough of this chaotic nonsense.

For the first time in his life, he felt that fighting was the simplest thing in the world.

...

"Rolling dice."

Soon, the Number Two unaffiliated team and the girl with the ponytail under Bai Qiu finished their rolls.

Then, it was once again the turn of Yan Jing, who was lagging behind everyone else.

"Rolling dice."

[Faction number nine has used a Designated Dice Card.]

[The dice for this round have been designated and cannot be changed.]

[The dice roll value for this round has been designated.]

27.

Yan Jing's figure flickered, appearing on grid 187.

This was his own Combat Grid, so there was no so-called execution phase.

But someone was already there waiting for him.

[Faction number thirteen has used a Deathmatch Card.]

[The two pieces meeting on this Regional Grid will engage in a life-and-death struggle. The victor earns the right to live.]

It was a man carrying a blade on his back. Clad in black night-stalking clothes and cloth shoes, he didn't look like someone from the Surface World, but rather a local from Minhu.

The man's face was expressionless. Even seeing Yan Jing appear right in front of him brought little change to his features. Only his eyes lifted, his gaze abnormally sharp. The long blade on his back unsheathed itself, dropping into his hand.

It was a Broadsword similar to a Horse-Chopping Saber. The blade was extremely wide, dark cyan throughout, and looked incredibly heavy, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.

However, the man didn't grip the hilt with both hands like one would a Horse-Chopping Saber. Its hilt was absurdly short—impossible for a two-handed grip. Instead, he grasped the hilt with one hand and braced his other against the spine of the blade. He pivoted his feet, planting them firmly to assume a stance.

Watching this posture, Yan Jing instantly knew where this man's Ritual originated. It was definitely Minhu.

It bore quite a resemblance to the stances Fei Yu and the Old Man normally took.

"It's a War Body Broadsword."

In the distance, Dong An—who had finished his errands according to Yan Jing's instructions and hurried back—stared at the blade in the man's hand, his eyes shining.

As the saying went, to enter the thief's trade, one must first understand a hundred trades. Before Old Monkey taught him the arts of thievery, he had made him memorize the foundational knowledge of every other profession so he wouldn't expose any flaws while on a job. The blade the man just drew was none other than the War Body Broadsword he had read about.

Though called a War Body Broadsword, it was actually just the blade removed from a Tiger Head Guillotine of that era. Because of that, it had practically no hilt.

According to the books, this blade didn't exist before the decline of the Imperial Era.

Even if it had, it could only be used in secret, for the Tiger Head Guillotine belonged to the imperial family. If commoners touched it, it was a capital offense.

This blade was considered an exotic weapon. Not many used it, but in the right hands, its heavy mass carried tremendous momentum, and its edge could slice through iron like mud. It could attack just as well as it could defend.

"Beautiful."

Who among the people of Minhu didn't have a heart for martial arts? Dong An's eyes beamed, but he quickly realized that the blade was aimed at Advisor Yan. He instantly slapped his own cheeks with both hands, then turned and bolted toward Bianliu County.

His master had told him that if equipment from Across the Lake appeared here in Bianliu County, he needed to be on high alert immediately.

He had to go tell his master.

"Bagua Sect, Feng Buran," the man spoke.

The onlookers felt the aura radiating from him—thick yet piercing. He felt like a member of an orthodox sect who had planted one foot down the wrong path. He used upright and honorable techniques, yet carried a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood on his back.

Hearing his name, the well-informed quickly caught on.

"Feng Buran, I've heard of him!"

"His name is on the Player Leaderboard!"

The Player Leaderboard!

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this. To think that a figure of that caliber was hiding within a team, and wasn't even the leader—it was downright despair-inducing.

"I found him," Mu Wan said nearby, quickly pulling up Feng Buran's detailed file.

"Feng Buran."

"Suspected to be a seed from the Third Ring Domain."

"Personal Title: Heavenly Blade - Phantom Edge. Effect: Upon entering a Dungeon, directly acquire a random blade-type item from that Dungeon, with increased affinity for the blade."

"..."

Many gasped. This was a bona fide genius! In Rainbow City, he would be one of the absolute best, enshrined and placed on a pedestal by every major faction! Yet here he was, acting as someone's underling?

"Hahaha!" a tall, robust woman burst into laughter.

"I never thought there'd be a day 'the Madman' got this kind of treatment!"

"Coming here was the right choice. When we get back and tell the others, we'll be able to tease him about this for ages."

Tease him...

The crowd looked at the muscular woman and gulped, instinctively edging away from her.

"Heh, don't be scared. I'm nowhere near as strong as the Madman."

The tall woman gave a chilling smile. "At least, not yet."

"Still, the boss was right. Your Fifth Ring Domain really is weak... Sometimes the higher-ups are just too cautious. If you ask me, if we'd known things were like this out here, there'd have been no need to hold us back for so long."

"..."

"..."

Listening to the tall woman's mockery, the crowd seethed with indignation and secretly clenched their fists, but ultimately didn't dare to speak out.

But suddenly, a clear, crisp voice rang out:

"Go Yan Jing!!! Beat him to a pulp!!!"

Eyes wide, everyone turned toward the sound.

They saw Lin Xiaoran pull off her beret and clutch it alongside her camera, raising her arm and shouting for Yan Jing. Her short, chestnut-brown hair fluttered in the wind.

"Go Yan Jing!!! Don't lose face for Big Sister Shen!!!"

"Show them the strength of our Fifth Ring Domain!!!"

"Beat him!!!"

"..."

"..."

The crowd froze. Since entering the Dungeon, this was the first time they had heard someone proudly claim the Fifth Ring Domain as their identity.

To them, this was a team battle, an individual battle, but it definitely hadn't escalated into some war between the Ring Domains.

After all, the seeds of the Fifth Ring Domain—those true monsters ranked in the top ten—hadn't even appeared yet.

Even if they lost... it wasn't shameful... that's how it should be... right?

But with the girl shouting like that, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in their hearts.

Yan Jing glanced back at Lin Xiaoran, then laughed.

Lin Xiaoran was the textbook definition of a wealthy young miss. She did whatever came to mind, bought whatever she liked, and shouted loudly at anything she despised. In her twenties or thirties, backed by the confidence of having someone to support her, she was as radiant as a beam of sunlight. Her short chestnut hair only reminded people of the aroma of chestnut bread in a high-end bakery, rather than what conditioner she used or which salon she visited.

This was what a normal young miss should look like.

The Eldest Miss Shen back home, on the other hand, was the abnormal one.

Sure, she could manage finances, cook, handle logistics, and hold her ground.

However, Lin Xiaoran was right about one thing.

He couldn't lose face for Teacher Shen.

"I don't have a sect," Yan Jing laughed. "But I have an investor. Just consider her my sect."

He raised his eyes and looked across as weird energy bubbled and surged around him.

Fear Stance emerged.

Power of the White Stone emerged.

Power of Heracles maximized.

Fear Bird Stance manifested.

"Rumble—"

Terrifying weird energy spiraled around him. Black and white hues warped within his eyes. Fissures cascaded down his skin, tearing open to reveal ferocious, hellish eyes. Like netherflames roaring to life, they burned away the clothing on his upper half, exposing a perfectly proportioned physique. The broken hair at his forehead swayed in the black mist.

He had transformed into a true monster. Amidst the crowd's shock and terror, every single eye across his entire body snapped open, locking onto Feng Buran simultaneously.

"Shen Family's Shen Youran—Yan Jing," he said softly.

The moment his voice fell, his figure vanished from where he stood. In the next instant, he appeared behind Feng Buran.

"Buzz—"

The War Body Broadsword in Feng Buran's hand vibrated, and then a tiny hairline crack appeared across the middle of the blade.

"Crack—"

A second later, the crack violently webbed out.

The blade in Feng Buran's hand snapped in half.