Chapter 342: Kings Do Not Meet

"Bang!!!"

Almost the instant the golden-pupiled man looked at the inner world resident, a cloud of mist flew out from the resident's left eye and crashed straight toward him.

The golden-pupiled man's expression remained unchanged as he swung his blade once more.

This time, it was a double slash.

The blade trails crossed in the air, forming a golden cross that collided with the mist.

Behind the mist, Qi Ming was slightly stunned.

He hadn't expected the other party to see through his disguise.

How did he do it?

He was certain the man hadn't directly spotted his disguise. The ability to evade detection across three Tiers was written into the system's description, and he had never heard of a description failing. This was exactly why Ghost Visage was considered a divine skill.

Yet the other party had undeniably seen through him. If he hadn't struck first just now, he likely would have lost the initiative.

Meanwhile, as the golden-pupiled man watched his slash fail to pierce the mist, the interest in his eyes deepened.

When the mist dispersed, he looked at where the inner world resident had just been standing. The figure was gone. Among the crowd hiding in the shadows, it seemed a new face had appeared.

"Interesting."

He laughed.

He naturally hadn't seen through the disguise, but he could read the opponent's aura.

'Pride.' This was his ritual system.

Every strong person carried that same 'pride'—it was only a matter of how much.

"This guy isn't simple."

Zhou Xian carefully watched the projection on the wall.

The eyeball Qi Ming had plucked out was now acting like a projector, aimed at the wall and displaying his current field of vision.

Zhou Xian watched closely, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

Yan Jing smiled.

"You're paying quite a bit of attention."

Zhou Xian retracted his gaze and unconsciously moved a little further from the wall.

"I'm not. I just wanted to see how strong this enemy is."

"Of course—I know he definitely wouldn't pose any challenge to you."

He looked at Yan Jing and naturally tacked on that sentence.

"I never said that,"

Yan Jing denied with a smile.

"Who do you think will win?"

"If it stays three against two like it is now, it's probably a fifty-fifty split. Those two lackeys are too weak. But the other side shouldn't only have three people."

Zhou Xian said, "This kind of team composition—one strong leading the weak—reminds me of a certain place."

"Where?" Since this involved regional culture, Yan Jing had no say in the matter, so he asked immediately.

"Beast Lord."

Zhou Xian spoke slowly.

"Unlike our Yueyin, the Beast Lord to our right practices a semi-hereditary system, while Tianzi to our left practices a centralized system."

"Two hundred seeds in Yueyin, twenty kings in Beast Lord, and exactly nine sons in Tianzi. This is the difference between the three federations."

"In every generation of the Beast Lord, twenty kings are chosen. The children born to these twenty kings then compete among themselves to give rise to the new kings of the next generation."

"The children of the twenty kings can only inherit their own father's throne. Furthermore, the geographical location of Beast Lord makes it relatively easy for powerful individuals to have children. This results in every king having at least a dozen offspring."

"If it's a king who likes to mess around on the outside, it wouldn't be surprising if they had over a hundred."

"Whether born to an official spouse or not, as long as they are birthed, they are treated equally and have the right to fight for the throne."

"And every candidate goes through the process of selecting followers, forming a team, competing, and killing. Only by slaughtering all other offspring besides themselves can they become the king of this generation."

Hearing this, Yan Jing spoke with piqued interest.

"So they value genetics?"

"Yes," Zhou Xian said.

"Surveys show that the offspring of the strong naturally have a higher efficiency in utilizing weird energy. Furthermore, their thinking and other aspects are more agile, and their chances of obtaining a system talent also increase."

He looked at the golden-pupiled man holding the dark gold blade on the screen and said, "He should be a king."

"Otherwise, there's no way he could fight Qi Ming to a standstill like this."

At this moment, the battle on the screen had already entered a white-hot phase.

Pan Yue was fighting one against two, locked in a fierce struggle with the one-armed man and the masked woman, while Qi Ming and the golden-pupiled man were inextricably matched.

Mist continuously exploded from Qi Ming's right eye as he switched identities. The golden-pupiled man stood his ground, whirling his blade. Tens of thousands of golden light blades struck from all directions, weaving together with the mist. The sheer power of the shockwaves spawned cyclones in the air.

Right at that moment, flowing light spilled from the corner of Qi Ming's left eye, and he finally caught a trace of a flaw in the golden-pupiled man's guard.

Taking a deep breath, he instantly inhaled the weird energy factors permeating the air into his body. The phantom of an exquisite little nose surfaced behind him—black-purple, Third Rite, perfect ratio.

[Analyze All Things]

This was the second ability of his Third Rite apart from tracking. The weird energy factors generated from the prior battle were instantly sucked into him, and in that split second, it was as if he had completely seen through the pattern of the tens of thousands of interlacing golden light blades in the air.

His figure rapidly wove through, passing through the single gap only wide enough for one person, and he directly blinked right in front of the man.

Then, he spoke softly, "You are sleepy."

As his voice fell, the man's eyelids actually drooped for a second. Seizing this exact moment, mist surged from Qi Ming's left eye, completely engulfing the man.

Did it succeed?

No, it didn't.

Qi Ming's face sank. He rapidly retreated, but it was already too late. Golden blades blocked his path from behind, and in an instant, a tight encirclement formed.

He couldn't dodge.

Qi Ming said in a deep voice, "It doesn't hurt."

"Spurt!"

A dense cluster of wounds instantly appeared across his body. Blood splattered, but Qi Ming's speed did not diminish. He swiftly phased through the encirclement of golden light blades and vanished into the shadows.

On the other side, the pitch-black mist also dissipated, and the man's figure stepped out from within.

His right cheek had been sliced open, and his right sleeve had been chopped off, but he wore a smile.

It was only because he increasingly felt that the man opposite him was highly suited to join his team.

If he had that person's assistance, it would be enough for him to become one of the top five kings of this generation in the Beast Lord.

"I'm going to get serious."

He reached out with his left hand and gripped the dark gold blade in his right hand. Treating his left hand as a scabbard, he drew the blade straight out.

Pale gold blood gushed from his palm, dancing upon the edge of the blade before transforming into a vast, sweeping expanse of light and shadows that filled the sky.

Black-orange light bloomed behind him. It was a cluster of pale gold blood—a Fourth Rite of ultimate ratio, and his greatest source of confidence.

"Take this blade."

He didn't turn his head. He gracefully swung the blade forward like a scepter. The sky-filling light and shadows seemed drawn into this single strike, condensing into a viscous, unyielding stream of liquid that annihilated everything in its path.

Unexpectedly, at that exact moment, a scene he had never anticipated unfolded. Opposite him, black-orange light flared up as well!

The man's eyes narrowed, filled with disbelief.

He hadn't expected the other party to also possess a black-orange Fourth Rite. This momentary shake in his focus caused what should have been a guaranteed killing strike to fall slightly short.

The power of pride stemmed from pride itself. With his mind shaken, the strength of his pride naturally weakened.

Meanwhile, Qi Ming's mouth tore open at the corners, and he viciously bit down on that incoming blade.

Blood splattered from his mouth, but he seemed completely unaffected, intensifying the output of mist from his left eye.

And this time, the mist actually seemed to carry a faint tinge of gold.

"Bring it on!"

Looking at the billowing mist hurtling toward him, the golden-pupiled man finally stopped holding back, allowing the Ritual around his body to bloom entirely.

Purple, purple, black-purple, black-orange. The light and shadows of two perfect and two ultimate Rituals flickered.

Likewise, radiance erupted behind Qi Ming. Yellow-purple, purple, black-purple, black-orange!

He was a notch weaker, but that wasn't the deciding factor. Under such a closely matched Ritual ratio, the true elements that determined victory were the application of their abilities, the consumption of weird energy, their control over the battle, and even sheer willpower.

The king who ascended by stepping on the offspring of kings, and the genius who advanced by defeating other geniuses—at this moment, they finally bared all their fangs, intent on using all their strength to tear the other apart and defend their dignity.

Weird energy and blinding light instantly swallowed the surrounding area. Meanwhile, on the other side...

Zhou Xian stared intently at the screen. His fists clenched involuntarily, and the veins on the backs of his hands bulged slightly.

His Ritual ratio was: yellow-purple, purple, black, black. Among them, his Third Rite was an ultimate ratio, while the rest were perfect ratios. This was not much different from Qi Ming's, but he was dissatisfied. Rituals grew stronger the further one progressed—this was the trend.

When advancing to the Fourth Rite this time, he had tried to accommodate a black-orange Ritual, but he had failed.

This was one of the reasons he had agreed to Yan Jing's request to enter this Dungeon. He wanted to obtain a Ritual Blessing Coupon.

If he had a Ritual Blessing Coupon, he wouldn't necessarily have failed. The quality of all his current Rituals would determine the limit of what he could accommodate next. He knew he was already one step behind.

He stared intently at Qi Ming's perspective as the man fought to the death with the opponent, his breathing unconsciously growing tense.

He looked at Yan Jing.

"He's about to lose." "Yes."

Yan Jing smiled faintly. "Their teammates are about to arrive."

"If they lose, will you go save them?" Zhou Xian asked.

"That depends on whether they call for help." Yan Jing still wore a smile.

Zhou Xian nodded.

"You are right."

Then he looked at Yan Jing and said, "Can I go save them?"

Yan Jing's smile widened.

"Of course. As long as you are willing."

"Thank you."

Zhou Xian said. Immediately after, he headed downstairs.

When he reached the top of the stairs, Yan Jing's voice drifted from behind him.

"Zhou Xian, let's team up for Dungeons more often when we have time later, alright?"

Zhou Xian paused, then nodded firmly.

"Alright."

Zeng Qing was driving on the road. She had just asked around and confirmed that there was indeed a batch of shady Happy Water going around. Now, she was getting ready to find someone to ask what was going on.

Suddenly, her communication module rang.

Seeing that it was Luo Sheng, she answered immediately.

"Hello? What's wrong?"

"Do you have any trusted contacts in the Law Enforcement Agency?"

"Only one," she said.

"The Peace Faction that I support is currently the ruling party. They are mostly government officials; very few belong to the Law Enforcement Agency."

"However, the deputy director of Muke District is quite old. After losing the competition against the young new director, he was completely stripped of his power and had no choice but to side with me."

"Is he reliable?" Yan Jing asked.

"His son is currently in the government system."

"Mm, good. I will give you a location. Tell him to bring his men there in thirty minutes," Yan Jing said. "I'll hand him a political achievement."

"It couldn't be..."

Zeng Qing stopped mid-question. Hearing the silence on the other end, she immediately shut her mouth.

Don't ask what you shouldn't ask.

She naturally understood this logic.

After agreeing, she stopped the car and recalled everything that had happened today, feeling a bit strange.

First it was Wen Tian, then it was Li Chengxi, and now it's the Law Enforcement Agency. Could it be that the other party's target is—

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard.