Chapter 234: The Final Circle

At that moment, everyone's heavy breathing seemed to sync to the exact same frequency.

Every pair of eyes locked onto the monstrous figure standing in the center of the arena.

Feng Buran stared blankly at the remaining half of the War Body Broadsword in his hand. A second later, a massive mouthful of blood sprayed uncontrollably from his lips.

Yan Jing's strike hadn't just severed his weapon; it had cleaved right into his body.

A bloody wound slashed diagonally downward, carving entirely through his torso.

The white Thorn Bracer on Yan Jing's right arm had shredded the flesh across his torso.

"Haa... Haa..."

He tried his hardest to suppress the terror welling in his heart, but Yan Jing's voice echoed from behind him once again:

"I hope you can complete the mission your team gave you."

Clang!

He instantly spun around, clashing his broken War Body Broadsword against Yan Jing's right hand. In the next split second, a terrifying force sent him hurtling through the air.

Taking advantage of the brief moment before Yan Jing closed the distance, he hovered in midair. His body erupted with weird energy as three phantom silhouettes materialized simultaneously.

Yellow-purple, purple, black.

It was another perfectly balanced Ritual Tier, and one of the ritual items had even reached the absolute limit of its tier!

The first ritual item was a quaint, ancient scabbard.

Yellow-purple light flared. In an instant, his hand curled into a grip, as if an invisible blade had manifested in his palm. He swung his right hand. A faint glimmer swelled from nothingness, exploding into a blinding radiance that slashed directly toward Yan Jing.

Ding!

A Black and White Dual-Colored Long Spear materialized in Yan Jing's palm. He brought it down like a dam cutting through a raging river, accurately striking the invisible blade aura and shattering it to pieces!

Then, his figure shot forward, dashing straight for Feng Buran.

Wave after wave of blade aura was reduced to scattered currents beneath his spear, carving scale-like fissures across the ground. In the blink of an eye, he arrived right in front of Feng Buran.

The spear in his hand transformed into a bolt of pitch-black lightning, tearing through the sky and aiming squarely for Feng Buran's chest.

Hum—

A purple glow ignited.

The already shattered War Body Broadsword turned into a phantom projection, reappearing in front of Feng Buran and blocking the strike!

But as the phantom shattered into dissipating fragments, the momentum of Yan Jing's spear remained undiminished, plunging straight into Feng Buran's chest.

"Urgh, aaaaaah!"

Feng Buran finally understood what Xu Qiao'er had felt back then. A lethal agony surged through his entire body. His face instantly twisted in pain, sweat poured down like rain, and his muscles spasmed uncontrollably.

This strike essentially declared Feng Buran's defeat.

But at that moment, a terrifying surge of power plummeted from the sky and poured directly into Feng Buran's body.

[Faction No. 13 has used a Commander's Power Liberation Card]

This sudden influx of power gave Feng Buran a chance to turn the tables. His body, previously paralyzed by agony, roared back to life.

The black light of his final ritual item suddenly erupted. His form flickered and shifted, seemingly morphing into a massive, ancient-looking broadsword. As a result, the Thorn Spear lodged in his chest naturally slipped aside.

Looking at Feng Buran now, his entire right half had completely transformed into five distinct blades.

One was pitch-black and slender, acting as his arm like a crescent moon; another was thick and ancient, serving as his leg like a stone pedestal. Two blades, one black and one white, connected at their spines to form his torso, and the final half-blade—resembling a short dagger or a push dagger—became his face.

Intense waves of blood essence exploded around him, soaring straight toward the Firmament.

A crimson eye snapped open on the dagger face.

"Since entering the Inner World, I, Feng Buran, have slaughtered 247 players," his overlapping voice echoed out. "Of those, only 3 have died to this move. You will be the 4th."

Feng Buran's killing intent had almost physically materialized. Having obtained a portion of Faction No. 13's commander's power, he had now reached his absolute peak condition.

Yan Jing burst into laughter:

"Then bring it!!!"

The spear in his hand dissolved. He drew out the full power of the Hercules Potion and simultaneously unleashed the Fear Bird Stance to its absolute limit.

Every drop of blood in his body felt like it was boiling. Every muscle fiber pulled taut with strength, like a fully drawn bowstring. His heart hammered like a deity beating a war drum; his lightest step felt like an army sweeping across the land, and his fists swung with the force of Chaos descending once more.

"Come!!!!!"

He roared, charging forward to butcher Feng Buran.

Feng Buran, his murderous intent fully solidified, refused to yield an inch.

The two clashed head-on like two completely different beams of light!!!

Fist and blade collided nearly a hundred times in a fraction of a second!!!

The murderous intent vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Then... Feng Buran's singular crimson eye widened in disbelief as he stared down at his bladed body...

Crack, crack, crack—

Webs of cracks bloomed across the broadsword like fireworks before shattering into a pile of broken metal shards. The dense weird energy drained away instantly. Blood sprayed out in streams, and he reverted to his original human form.

Only this time, he was left with just half of his body.

This clash had determined the victor in mere milliseconds.

"You're not Third Tier..."

He spent his last ounce of strength raising a hand to point at Yan Jing. His long fingers, which used to wield his blade, were now completely mangled and twisted from the exchange, trembling faintly.

"I wasn't before."

Yan Jing smiled, looking at the blood gushing from the wounds on his knuckles.

They were talking about entirely different things. Feng Buran assumed Yan Jing was Fourth Tier, while Yan Jing meant he used to be Second Tier.

But Feng Buran could no longer process that much information.

His internal organs were slowly spilling out from what was left of his bisected torso.

"Impossible. It's impossible..."

He stared blankly at the sky. Even in the final moments of his life, he couldn't accept just what kind of monster was standing in front of him.

Monsters like that simply shouldn't exist in this world.

Yan Jing's appearance had completely shattered his worldview.

Soon, his eyes dimmed, fading into a lifeless, dull gray.

Yan Jing dismissed all his stances. Bare-chested, he cast a cold, sharp glare at the surrounding crowd.

Everyone subconsciously averted their gaze from those eyes, which still burned with unrestrained killing intent. Only Lin Xiaoran, suppressing her trembling heart, managed to pull out her camera.

Thus, she naturally snapped photos of Yan Jing looting the corpse while everyone else was looking away.

"Despicable! Utterly despicable! Just like Big Sister Shen!!"

The camera in Lin Xiaoran's hands clicked incessantly.

Yan Jing looted very quickly, so it didn't take him long to notice Lin Xiaoran taking pictures.

...

What a loss. The most valuable things on this guy were probably those blades, but he had already destroyed them. The Eerie Coins he carried were likely stored in his Inventory. He hadn't managed to scavenge a single thing, yet he had still been photographed in the act of looting.

He could already imagine the massive scandal Lin Xiaoran would blow this into once they got out.

Yan Jing pressed his lips together. Whatever. He'd just have Teacher Shen deal with it when they left.

[Deathmatch Card effect has ended. Faction No. 13's chess piece has died. Please pay 20 gui yuan to replace the piece]

[Faction No. 13's cash balance is 8]

[Faction No. 13 owns only one Regional Grid under its banner. It can be put up for sale]

[If the sale fails, Faction No. 13 will be declared bankrupt, and the remaining assets will be auctioned]

[Faction No. 13 message: Bai Qiu! Spend the money! Hurry!]

[Sale countdown initiated]

An extremely pale Tang Lian stared at the empty crystal panel in front of her. No prompt appeared, and her face drained of color in panic.

She had followed all of Bai Qiu's instructions throughout this phase. As a result, she only possessed a single Regional Grid and only had Feng Buran as a capable chess piece, all because Bai Qiu promised her that nothing would go wrong.

But now... a problem had arisen, and a massive one at that.

She had paid the price to use the Commander's Power Liberation Card, but that useless trash still hadn't won!

More importantly, why wasn't Bai Qiu stepping in to make a transaction with her?!

Was Bai Qiu abandoning her?!

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

She stared at the crystal panel in despair. Bai Qiu was nothing more than a dog for Across the Lake. How could he possibly defy that person's orders and cast her aside?

He wouldn't dare!

But... the countdown ticking away before her eyes was steadily dropping to zero...

What about the Penalty Exemption Card?!

She frantically tried to activate it, only to be notified that bankruptcy was not a penalty. Penalties only referred to specific negative effects triggered on Random Grids...

"No, this can't be happening..." Tang Lian collapsed to the floor in total despair.

"Hoo-yoo~~ Hoo-yoo~~"

Bai Qiu dangled a birdcage in his hand, casually teasing the bird inside.

He knew exactly what Tang Lian was waiting for.

That woman was too stupid.

There were many smart women in this world, but she clearly wasn't one of them.

She had grown so accustomed to living sheltered in the arms of that man, relying completely on others, that she had simply forgotten how to think.

Thought!

Independent thought was crucial!

Without it, one wouldn't even realize when they had been discarded.

He wasn't worried about whether Tang Lian lived or died.

If she died, he would be free to roam anywhere in the world without her constantly surveilling him.

If she survived, she would still have to rely on him anyway, trapped here in Bianliu County with no way to contact the outside world.

Anyone! Absolutely anyone! No one could afford to lose their ability to survive independently. Otherwise, what difference was there between them and this caged bird?

"Am I right?"

He reached out and stroked the chin of the Little Bird in the cage.

"By the way, do you have anything you want to say?"

He spoke toward the outside of the Curtain.

Just moments ago, he had informed the boy playing video games outside about Feng Buran's death.

Consequently, starting a few minutes ago, he no longer had to endure the irritating, rapid-fire clicking sounds of fingers smashing against that game console gadget.

Beyond the Curtain, absolute silence reigned.

"Weren't you full of solutions?"

"Aren't you incredibly capable?"

Bai Qiu's tone was mocking:

"Hurry up and think of a plan. We're all waiting for you."

"Don't tell me you're out of ideas? I guess you aren't all that impressive after all. You humans are simply too green in the end."

"In the future, don't make promises you can't—"

"Shut up!!!!!"

The boy's infuriated roar tore through from outside the Curtain.

Heh.

Bai Qiu chuckled:

"So you can get angry after all."

"That's good, very good. Kids ought to have a bit of temper."

"Speak up, then. What do we do next?"

...

The boy raised his head, his eyes brimming with freezing killing intent. "How many resources can you mobilize?"

...

[No one was willing to purchase Faction No. 13's properties. Faction No. 13 is declared bankrupt]

"No!"

Tang Lian shot to her feet like a madwoman. She tried to flee the tent, but the four thin panels of the Curtain now felt as heavy as four immense mountains. No matter how hard she struggled, they remained completely unyielding.

Staring at the terrifying power seeping out of the crystal panel, an icy chill ran down her spine.

The next second, a sinister force instantly penetrated her body.

Boom—

Her imposing aura began to plummet violently. Ultimately, she was forcibly knocked down from the Fourth Tier to the Third Tier.

"No!!!"

Her miserable scream echoed through the tent. For her, this outcome was hardly better than death.

Unfortunately, the game was not over yet, so she still could not leave the tent.

As for the remaining players under her command, they were instantly reduced to withered husks.

...

...

"Impossible. It's impossible."

The tall, muscular woman couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Her sturdy frame couldn't stop shivering.

She utterly refused to accept that someone as overwhelmingly powerful as Feng Buran had died just like that.

Reduced to half a corpse.

In truth, the rest of the crowd was equally engulfed in shock.

Only the projection in the sky remained unaffected. Having finished auctioning off Tang Lian's assets, it mechanically proceeded to the next round of operations.

"Commencing dice roll."

It was now Faction No. 5's turn, next in line after Yan Jing.

But nobody expected a sudden twist to occur at this very moment!

[Faction No. 5 has used a Designated Dice Card]

[The dice roll for this turn has been designated and cannot be changed]

[Do you wish to use a Bye Card?]

[Faction No. 5 has not opted to use a Bye Card]

[The dice result for this turn has been designated]

33.

After securing this roll, Jiang Yao moved directly to the square occupied by Faction No. 9's chess piece.

Faction No. 9 was the very same faction that had just used a Designated Dice Card to force Yan Jing onto the same grid as Feng Buran.

It was also the final member of Bai Qiu's alliance:

Mechanism Alley Entrance.

That was right—the West Street Artisans backing Jiang Yao had made a swift and decisive choice. They were going to eliminate Faction No. 9's chess piece to prove their loyalty to Yan Jing!

As for why they targeted No. 9 specifically...

It was because the only piece Jiang Yao was absolutely guaranteed to defeat was No. 9's piece, who did not originate from the Third Ring Domain.

[Faction No. 8 has used a Deathmatch Card]

The other West Street Artisan faction made their move, expending their Deathmatch Card to force Jiang Yao into a battle to the death with the targeted chess piece.

Very quickly, Faction No. 9's piece was slain.

On its own, this wouldn't have been a terribly significant event. But the crux of the matter was...

When it was Faction No. 12 Crop Plains' turn, they made the exact same choice!

[Faction No. 12 has used a Designated Dice Card]

[The dice roll for this turn has been designated and cannot be changed]

[Do you wish to use a Bye Card?]

[Faction No. 12 has not opted to use a Bye Card]

[The dice result for this turn has been designated]

Crop Plains' chess piece was the man with messy hair who always had a cigarette dangling from his lips. Under the effects of the Designated Dice Card, he landed directly on the Regional Grid occupied by Faction No. 13's piece.

His opponent was the woman who previously had a smile plastered across her face.

Of course, she wasn't smiling anymore.

Nobody had anticipated that the tides would turn so drastically.

Initially, it had been Bai Qiu's six factions against Yan Jing's one.

But now, it had suddenly morphed into Bai Qiu's five against the remaining eight!

High up on Stone Mountain, Bai Qiu's expression grew slightly solemn. Outside the Curtain, the boy's face darkened with absolute fury!

If they lost that woman as well, their losses in this Super-Large Dungeon would be truly catastrophic!

The only thing they could do now was pray she could win the fight.

However...

In the end, the chain-smoking man wiped a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth. His long trench coat was completely crumpled and ruined. Glancing down at the woman lying on the ground with dilated pupils, he dragged his exhausted body away with a heavy limp, retreated to a corner, and lit a cigarette.

After that, he had Crop Plains actively spend money to swap him out.

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!"

The boy viciously smashed his game console onto the floor.

"Six of you went after one person, and you still couldn't kill him!!! You useless pieces of trash!!!"

He lunged at the Curtain and roared furiously at Bai Qiu.

"Heh."

Instead of getting angry, Bai Qiu actually regained some of his composure. He then spoke telepathically to the ponytail girl who had been standing frozen on her Regional Grid for a while:

"The targets have changed. The new targets are No. 9 Mechanism Alley Entrance, No. 7 Crop Plains, No. 13 Zhennan County, and No. 5 West Street Artisans."

Seeing the ponytail girl still standing there in a daze, he chuckled and continued:

"Listen. There are currently thirteen teams left on the board. That's too many. We need to wipe out those four factions I just mentioned. Their assets are small, and their chess pieces are weak. With five spots available out of nine remaining teams, we still have a chance of winning."

...

The ponytail girl swallowed hard before finally speaking up.

"Five spots out of nine... what makes you so sure we'll be among the survivors?"

What makes me sure I will be among the survivors, Bai Qiu mentally corrected her.

The ones currently still holding Designated Dice Cards were Faction No. 2's freelance team, Faction No. 10 under Bi Jie, and Liu Ye's team.

He had just dispatched someone to bribe Faction No. 2, only to discover that his opponent, Luo Sheng, had actually sent someone to do the exact same thing.

Both of their goals, naturally, were Faction No. 2's Designated Dice Card and Bye Card.

Faction No. 2's commander was guaranteed to be eliminated.

However, the team members wouldn't necessarily face the same fate.

Therefore, as long as Bai Qiu promised sufficient benefits, Faction No. 2's commander would naturally know what to do.

Even if he was going to die, he still needed to earn enough money to buy his people's lives!

Bai Qiu firmly believed that this logic held true no matter where one went!

As for the bribing contest, how could Luo Sheng possibly outspend him?

Just the amount of gui yuan he had hidden in Bianliu County alone was a staggering sum!

In other words, out of the remaining teams, Bi Jie and Liu Ye would have Designated Dice Cards, while he would hold Faction No. 2's Designated Dice Card and Bye Card.

Even if the other side used all their Designated Dice Cards to force Yan Jing onto his Regional Grids to slaughter his pieces, he could simply sub in a few disposable pawns to die in their stead.

And the moment all the cards were exhausted, this match would devolve into a pure management simulation, devoid of any external interference.

By then, even if the ponytail girl was killed, all he had to do was substitute her with the boy he currently had on hand.

As long as he did that, he was guaranteed one of the final five spots.

In other words.

Looking at the long game, as long as a faction's chess pieces were passable and not disastrously weak, this game was ultimately a battle of financial assets!

The only reason Tang Lian and the freelance team had been eliminated was that they possessed far too few assets!

The cards could only inflict some marginal losses; they couldn't stop a wealthy faction from reaching the top five!

He had seen through the true nature of the game, and he believed that his opponent, Luo Sheng, had definitely seen through it as well.

Therefore, those fools who barely owned any Regional Grids and had no capable pieces left just needed to sit back and wait for their inevitable elimination.

And so...

One round concluded.

Liu Ye used his Designated Dice Card. Faction No. 11—Zhennan County's other affiliate—lost its chess piece, the man with exceptionally thick knuckles.

During this battle, Zhou Xian unleashed all of his ritual items:

Yellow-purple, purple, black.

Sporting the exact same ratio as Feng Buran, he secured victory at the cost of only minor injuries.

Five rounds concluded.

Faction No. 2, the freelance team, was eliminated.

Right before their elimination, they used their Designated Dice Card to send Bai Qiu's ponytail girl straight to Faction No. 5, Jiang Yao.

The West Street Artisans spent 20 to swap Jiang Yao out, then spent another 20 to swap her back in.

After that, Bi Jie's final Designated Dice Card remained unused for the rest of the game.

Twenty-one rounds concluded.

Feinan Temple was eliminated.

Before their elimination, they sold off all their assets, yet they still couldn't salvage the situation. They didn't even survive long enough to land on their own Regional Grids to perform management actions and trades.

Cause of death: They were simply stationed too far away.

As a result, Chen Dalang's uncle perished.

Twenty-nine rounds concluded.

Mechanism Alley Entrance was eliminated.

Lacking powerful chess pieces and running low on assets, they finally collapsed after twenty-nine rounds of relentless double-teaming from both West Street and South Street.

The head mechanist plummeted to the Third Tier in utter despair.

Thirty-five rounds concluded.

Both of Zhennan County's marshals were eliminated one after another.

The reality remained the same: without capable pieces, they had to pay a toll nearly every time they landed on a grid. The others simply collected that money to reinvest and construct more buildings, creating a vicious cycle of poverty.

Forty-seven rounds concluded.

Crop Plains was eliminated.

Prior to their elimination, Crop Plains hawked as many assets as they possibly could, but it still wasn't enough to reverse their decline.

By this point, out of the initial fifteen teams, only Bai Qiu, Liu Ye, the two West Street Artisan factions, Bi Jie, Yan Jing, and Baile Manor remained.

Seven teams left fighting for five spots!!!

They had entered the final circle!