Chapter 341: King Meets King

Muke District.

Inside an alley in the Anthill.

The golden-eyed man led the one-armed man and the masked woman in a rapid dash through the cold, cramped alley.

Dazzling red light emanated from their bodies, projecting several meters into the air like a warning to everyone around them. The moment they noticed the trio, the Inner World Residents hiding in the dark corners all concealed themselves.

The news had already made it clear: these were true outlaws.

They were the ones who had killed those two councilors.

If spotted, they were to be reported to the Law Enforcement Agency immediately so the relevant personnel could deal with them.

But then, a soft click sounded.

An Inner World Resident dressed as a beggar had accidentally made a noise while activating his Information Component.

He turned his head in terror, his pupils trembling.

The next instant, a golden "Two" appeared in his field of vision.

With a squelching thud, his head rolled onto the ground and tumbled a few times.

Blood sprayed from his neck like a fountain, dyeing the triangular tent he had been hiding in a striking red.

The golden-eyed man didn't even break his stride after delivering the strike, his gaze completely tranquil.

"How long has it been?"

He glanced at the two people beside him.

"An hour and forty-something minutes," the one-armed man said, his expression dark.

Given the task's increased difficulty, they still needed to hold out for over eight more hours.

Although they did their best to cover their tracks, word would inevitably get out.

The Information Components the people here wore on their wrists could automatically trigger an alarm even if the user was killed.

Because of this, their position was constantly being exposed.

The other side would find them sooner or later.

"How many spots are left unsearched?" the golden-eyed man asked calmly.

Not a trace of panic showed on his face.

"We sensed a total of seventeen spots with a human presence. We eliminated four during our previous joint operation, and Fatty's group checked three—none of them were the target. We just eliminated another four, so there are six left."

The one-armed man's Ritual System revolved primarily around "perception" items from various Inner World Pathways.

As the golden-eyed man's follower, he had been trained since childhood for a single purpose: helping the man become a Monarch.

In the end, they had succeeded.

Treading over mountains of bones, they had claimed the throne of this generation's Beast Lord.

He had helped the man become one of those twenty Monarchs.

"There's a node with a human aura very close to us," the one-armed man said.

"Compared to the previous ones, this node is very strong."

"Mhm. Let's go take a look," the golden-eyed man said.

He had a premonition that this was the one.

Though he didn't know what wicked arts the other group had used to seize the initiative, as long as they could subdue them and use them as bait, they still had a chance to win this mission.

The group immediately hurried away.

Nothing around them changed, except for a dark red tent swaying faintly in the Anthill.

Qi Ming and Pan Yue walked forward.

Since leaving the abandoned self-built house, the two hadn't spoken a word to each other.

In truth, ever since Zhoulin had disbanded, the two of them had barely kept in touch. The other members of the organization likely had very little contact with each other as well.

As the atmosphere between them grew increasingly stifling, Pan Yue finally couldn't hold back anymore. "Is Yan Jing really that strong? Stronger than you?" she asked.

She had competed with Yan Jing in physical strength, but brute strength wasn't the deciding factor in a battle.

She understood Qi Ming's personality; he was almost always cheerful. Normally, Zhou Xian's words wouldn't have caused such a massive emotional reaction from him.

Looking like this now, he must have taken a heavy blow to his pride.

Qi Ming paused his steps and finally nodded.

"Very strong."

"If they were compared at the same Tier, he could probably have fought that person for the title of number one in Zhoulin back in the day."

"And that's only what I saw. There might be things I haven't."

Pan Yue was stunned.

Fighting that person from back then for the number one spot in Zhoulin... that meant the current Yan Jing could practically be considered the number one among all Fourth Tiers in Yueyin.

After a few seconds of silence, she said, "Well, that's only right now. That person grew stronger the further he progressed—"

"Pan Yue,"

Qi Ming interrupted her, his gaze cold. "Stop reminiscing about that person. He's already gone."

Pan Yue pursed her lips.

"I know the two of you had a falling out back then, but you don't have to—"

"It has nothing to do with that!" Qi Ming's voice spiked as he looked at the startled Pan Yue.

"Although I also thought Zhou Xian's words were harsh just now, he was absolutely right about one thing."

"Zhoulin is gone."

"That person abandoned us and left."

"He's a traitor, and we're the ones who were abandoned. Stop reminiscing about some past glory."

Hearing the word "traitor," Pan Yue trembled. She finally stopped walking and lowered her head.

"In my heart, Zhoulin never left," she said softly. Her tone was desolate, and her ponytail trembled slightly.

"Eight years ago, we were the main characters of this world too—"

"Of course you guys could decide on whatever you wanted. You were the ones who pulled us in, and you were the ones who declared the disbandment. What could we do? If you ask me, we shouldn't have gone to the Third Ring Domain in the first place—"

"If we hadn't gone to the Mu Family, if we hadn't met that person from outside Yueyin, if he hadn't been taken away..."

Qi Ming stopped walking and looked at Pan Yue, his voice softening a bit.

"It's all in the past, Pan Yue. We all thought it was wonderful back then, but that's where it ended."

"Don't cry. Yan Jing and the others can see through my current field of vision. Don't embarrass Zhoulin."

But Pan Yue recklessly lifted her head, revealing two faintly dried tear tracks on her face. Qi Ming tried to turn away, but Pan Yue stepped right up to him and said earnestly, "For the past eight years, I've never abandoned my Zhoulin habits. I haven't missed a single day of training. Not one."

Qi Ming's heart trembled.

He couldn't be any more familiar with the intensity of Zhoulin's training.

He just hadn't expected Pan Yue to be this stubborn.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to offer a single word of comfort.

"Let's deal with the situation at hand first. Let's not make a joke out of ourselves—"

He collected himself and stated seriously, "Pan Yue, Anomalous Energy Detection."

"Copy that."

At Qi Ming's command, Pan Yue's expression turned stern. The Weird Energy around her was instantly released, surging outward in all directions.

Surface World.

Looking uneasy, Shen Youran stood up to pour herself another cup of tea.

Beside her, Lin Xiaoran was speechless.

"How many cups is that for you?"

"Are you trying to turn into a water bucket?"

"I feel like something's not right," Shen Youran said in a low voice.

"Are you worried something's going to happen to that monster of yours?" Lin Xiaoran rolled her eyes. "You'd be better off worrying about Yueyin and the Beast Lord going to war tomorrow."

"No," Shen Youran sighed, rubbing the space between her eyebrows.

"I suddenly feel like I shouldn't have put Pan Yue on the team. I might have made a mistake."

"Huh?" Lin Xiaoran was slightly taken aback. "What's wrong with that? Sister Yue follows orders better than anyone else here."

"Plus, there's absolutely nothing wrong with your team composition. One intelligence, one liaison, one main decision-maker, one support, and two frontline vanguards. It's one of the five standard formations."

"And Sister Yue's unique sensory abilities let her count as half a perception user."

"..." Shen Youran didn't know what to say and ultimately sighed.

In any case, Xiao Yanzi should be fine.

The one-armed man's expression sharpened.

He spoke in a cold voice: "Three kilometers ahead."

"The other side is also using Anomalous Energy Detection on us. It's practically guaranteed that they aren't weak."

The golden-eyed man nodded. "Tell Fatty and the others to hurry over here."

"We've probably been exposed as well. Get ready for battle."

"Understood."

The group steadily made their way toward the sensed location and soon arrived at the edge of an abandoned plaza.

The center of the plaza appeared to be the campsite of some faction, with numerous tents pitched across it.

The enemy's Weird Energy fluctuations had vanished several minutes ago. The last signal disappeared right here.

"Not simple at all," the masked woman laughed.

"The team matched with us really isn't a bunch of pushovers."

"Their perception ability is probably only slightly weaker than yours, One-Arm."

One-Arm smiled.

"Then let's test it out."

As he spoke, the Ritual on his back lit up, and a purple-black Fourth Rite flickered.

(Perfect: Yellow-Purple, Purple, Purple-Black, Black, Black-Orange, Orange, Red; Limit: Purple, Purple-Black, Black, Black-Orange, Orange, Red, Silver-Red)

It was a giant mechanical eye representing the Mechanization Pathway. It slowly rose from his back, and a beam of red light shot out from its pupil, shining directly upon the tents in the center of the plaza.

Instantly, wretched screams rang out from the cluster of tents.

Plumes of white smoke slowly rose. Soon, several figures fled frantically from inside, but One-Arm's brows gradually furrowed—simply because none of them were human.

"Their camouflage skills are incredible—"

One-Arm's heart sank.

The masked woman beside him laughed. "The falconer got his eyes pecked by the falcon!"

But she quickly noticed something was wrong, because One-Arm didn't react.

Instantly alert, she reached out to pat his shoulder. But before she could fully extend her arm, a hand shot out from behind her and yanked her backward.

At the exact moment she was pulled back, a figure smashed down like a meteor, landing right where she had just been standing.

The sheer force of the impact kicked up a violent cyclone, scraping a layer of skin right off the arm she hadn't managed to pull back in time.

Meanwhile, One-Arm, who hadn't been pulled away in time, was sent flying.

"Hearing deprived," said the golden-eyed man who had pulled her back. He rapidly tapped a signal on her arm, telling her to read his lips.

The woman understood instantly. The Ritual on her back lit up as her purple-black Third Rite ability activated, and an illusory heart floated down toward Pan Yue's position.

But to her surprise, the moment the heart landed, a layer of light flared around Pan Yue, seemingly rendering the attack useless. Pan Yue then pushed off the ground, clenched her right fist, and fiercely lunged toward her.

Just as the blow was about to connect, the golden-eyed man reached out, and a long saber flickering with flowing golden flames materialized in his palm.

The narrow blade carved a near-perfect arc through the air as it slashed down. The golden trail seemed to slice open an invisible barrier; the severed ambient sounds reconnected for a brief moment before swiftly vanishing again.

Even though the strike failed to dispel the hearing-deprivation force field, Pan Yue sensed extreme danger. She forcefully twisted her body and retreated.

The golden-eyed man didn't pursue. He didn't even focus his attention on Pan Yue.

He carefully sensed his surroundings.

The woman who had just attacked was very strong, but ultimately, she lacked the aura of a Monarch.

He was looking for a Monarch just like himself.

The ability to deprive someone of their hearing wasn't particularly rare. However, being able to imperceptibly strip it from their specific area alone—while still allowing them to hear the sounds from the campsite—was extremely rare.

If possible, he wanted to recruit this person to his own team.

Of course, there could only be one Monarch.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened. He looked at an Inner World Resident not far away who had just fled from the center of the plaza, and smiled.

"Found you."