Chapter 343: King Meets Emperor

Yan Jing was making his move on Zhou Mo!

First Chen Xiaojing, then Zhou Mo. Who would be next?

Zeng Qing swallowed hard.

If this kept up, would it eventually be her turn?

What was she supposed to do? She stared blankly. The time to choose had arrived.

Side with Zhou Mo, or side with Luo Sheng?

Siding with Zhou Mo was out of the question—there was no chance of winning. Luo Sheng was a Seventh Rank.

But siding with Luo Sheng didn't guarantee her survival, either.

Who knew if he would just toss her aside once he was done with her? Chen Xiaojing was still in prison!

What should she do? Her mind was in complete disarray. The mechanical core inside her was spinning frantically, its temperature skyrocketing.

Finally, she glanced at her watch, panicking as she realized a full eight minutes had already passed.

She couldn't wait any longer. She raised her Information Component on instinct.

Luo Sheng had only given her thirty minutes. She couldn't delay any longer.

Then, staring at her raised right hand, a surge of humiliated anger washed over her. How could she, Zeng Qing, be this terrified?

Forget it...

He was a Seventh Rank, after all. There was no shame in it.

"Hello? This is Zeng Qing."

The duel between the two kings had reached a fever pitch.

Qi Ming's expression grew heavier by the second. He knew reinforcements were coming, which was why he had been using his sense of smell to track the surrounding auras. But sensing them was useless; as long as he couldn't deal with the man in front of him, it remained a dead end.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. They were here.

Three distinct new auras had appeared in the air, lingering just a short distance away.

Having already prepared for this moment, he tapped his foot against the ground and instantly shot backward.

To his shock, the golden-eyed man opposite him didn't give chase. Qi Ming's heart dropped. Twisting his body mid-air, he sent the mist pouring from his eyes surging frantically toward where Pan Yue stood nearby.

But he was too late.

Three silhouettes lunged from behind Pan Yue. A torrent of putrid stench spewed from the mouth of a potbellied man. A man in a leather jacket swung his right hand, which had warped into a dark longblade. Beside them, a silent woman thrust forward with a teaching pointer shaped like a spear.

In a flash, three terrifying attacks slammed into Pan Yue's back, kicking up a billowing cloud of dust.

"Pan Yue!"

Qi Ming roared. Blood gushed from his hollow right eye socket. Originally incapable of releasing black mist, it now erupted with a massive cloud identical to his left eye, tainted with an unmelting crimson that completely engulfed the five enemies across from him.

"Your opponent is me."

The golden-eyed man spoke flatly. He was highly displeased by Qi Ming's divided attention. A follower's only purpose was to serve their king's Summit, regardless of life or death.

That was a follower's destiny. A king was not supposed to offer pity; only someone like that was qualified to reach the Summit. As for the followers, they would simply become part of the king's glory after death.

He drew his dark-gold blade across his palm again. Pale golden blood whipped frantically through the air, forming a storm of golden blade energy that swept toward Qi Ming.

Qi Ming was already a step behind. If he wanted to neutralize the storm, his only option was to forcefully turn back and face his enemy.

Yet he ignored the attack completely, charging straight toward Pan Yue.

Two churning clusters of black mist poured endlessly from his eyes. As he landed, they smashed directly into Pan Yue's position, blasting all five attackers away.

"Run!"

The instant he grabbed Pan Yue, he hurled her away with all his might. Weird Energy surged around him, and a gigantic spectral face manifested above his head.

[Floating Life: Ghost Visage]

This was the true foundation that had made him the fifth seat of Yuelin. He had once relied on this exact move to fight a Fifth Tier to the death.

Scorching dark flames ignited around him, and he slowly levitated into the air. His clothes, his hair, his very features—everything burned, turning into fuel. The surrounding light seemed to dim, leaving him as the most dazzling existence in this stretch of heaven and earth.

The Ghost Visage and the man merged into one in that moment.

"Form has no true form."

He pointed a finger at the golden-eyed man from afar, and the massive ghost face above him locked its gaze onto the same target.

"That's more like it."

The golden-eyed man smiled. Blood poured from the wounds across his body, coalescing in his empty left grip. It condensed into a bloody longblade identical to the one in his right hand.

He crossed his arms, crossing the blades along with them. Two colossal phantoms of blade energy formed behind his back, locking onto Qi Ming in mid-air.

In that moment, the sheer pressure of their gathered power caused the sky itself to change color.

Thrown to safety, Pan Yue stared in despair at Qi Ming and his Ghost Visage. She knew that unless the golden-eyed man was completely obliterated under the Ghost Visage, this clash would absolutely cost Qi Ming his life.

What should she do? She stared blankly for a second. Her thoughts were in complete disarray; in a moment of such dire crisis, her mind had actually gone completely blank.

In the past, this would be the exact moment that man stepped up to turn the tide.

But that man was gone.

Only now did she finally understand what Qi Ming had meant when he said they had been abandoned.

Yes, they were the ones left behind. A bunch of idiots wallowing in the past. She was so utterly ridiculous.

Even if they died, that man wouldn't spare them a single memory or ounce of grief.

Tears spilled from her eyes. But just as she sank completely into despair, a cold voice rang out behind her:

"He said that as long as you ask for help, he will come to save you."

She looked up like she was waking from a dream, staring at Zhou Xian, who had just rushed over from behind her.

"If you're willing to ask for help, then get behind me now."

Zhou Xian's arms morphed into a pair of black gauntlets. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be woven from countless crooked, interwoven lips. Those lips opened and closed, silently mouthing a word:

"Victory."

In Pan Yue's vision, Zhou Xian charged straight at the five advancing enemies, stepping directly in front of her.

She was stunned. The tears froze at the corners of her eyes.

Not just because Zhou Xian had actually come to save them, but because he was of the Victory System.

The Victory System forbade defeat; every single loss caused a drop in strength. Zhou Xian had once mentioned that the only reason he entered this Dungeon was because he had lost to Yan Jing, hoping to scrounge up some good loot from this Dungeon to recoup his losses.

So... he didn't harbor the slightest resentment toward Yan Jing for making his strength plummet?

Pan Yue suddenly let out a miserable laugh.

She was laughing at herself.

What 'main characters of the previous world'? They were just a bunch of clowns. So hideous that her own heart trembled at the thought.

She had been wrong. Horrifically wrong.

The past was long gone. Now, she only had one choice left to make amends.

Then, under the shocked gazes of Qi Ming and the golden-eyed man, she sprinted directly between them.

She looked up, meeting Qi Ming's eyes.

"What are you doing?! Pan Yue!"

Qi Ming's heart seized, and he roared furiously, "Run!!!"

Of course he knew what she was trying to do, but it was far too late for that.

She hadn't asked that man for help earlier. Even if they held out until he arrived, Pan Yue would definitely die here.

But Pan Yue's gaze was unyielding. She dropped to one knee before Qi Ming.

The biting edge of the twin blades shredded her back, while the gaze of the ghost face set her entire body on fire.

It was a certain-death situation.

But it was the only thing she could do.

The moment her whole body ignited, she felt her soul being slowly ground to dust. Her flesh and blood were being carved away by the twin blades. Yet she merely stared into Qi Ming's left eye, kneeling on one knee with her hand placed on her shoulder.

It was a gesture of submission.

And the necessary condition to activate the death contract.

She knew her voice couldn't reach him, so she used all her strength to mouth the words.

Chanting in some ancient tongue.

"I, Pan Yue, submit to you."

"I offer my soul, my past, and my future. I offer my remorse and my past arrogance, and I beg for your forgiveness."

A pitch-black death contract materialized above her head.

She knew she was dead for sure, yet she continued to speak:

"I beg for your mercy and kindness. I shall repent and swear my vows in hell."

Her entire body trembled in agony, as if she really had plummeted into a boundless inferno.

"I will use my soul as the stepping stone for your future ascension, contributing my final trace of effort to your ascent in tiers."

"I do not demand your forgiveness; I only hope for a shred of your pity."

Qi Ming's heart trembled. Pan Yue's chant wasn't just a simple oath—she was erasing her final ounce of peace in death. The moment she died, she would be dragged behind that Screen, reduced to a mindless existence enduring endless torment.

Even if, by some astronomical miracle, she regained her consciousness, she would only become a sacrificial pawn the next time Yan Jing advanced in tier.

"Please, I beg you to save them—"

Her shrill, mournful wail echoed through the air, but behind her, the golden-eyed man had finished gathering his power.

"It's over."

The wails of an ant meant nothing to him. He only found them noisy.

If the man in the sky held back his full power just because of this ant's appearance, then he wasn't worthy of being his opponent, and the golden-eyed man would lose whatever interest he had left.

A coward could never earn his acknowledgment, nor were they fit to follow behind him.

The next instant, the razor-sharp blade energy looked ready to cleave the entire sky into four pieces. The strike severed the air itself and seemed to tear through time. Up above, Qi Ming closed his eyes. A single tear slipped down his cheek as he drove the massive Ghost Visage downward.

Dark gray and gold collided in that moment.

But right then, a discordant splash of color appeared between the two.

Qi Ming stared at his chest in disbelief. Pinned there was the rose Yan Jing had given him.

Drawing out a portion of his Weird Energy, the flower bloomed. It instantly transformed into thousands of twisting Thorns that forcefully wedged apart the dark gray and the gold, shielding the dying Pan Yue within them.

It became a streak of absolute blackness between heaven and earth.

"What the hell?" The golden-eyed man furrowed his brows. He hadn't anticipated such a twist. He immediately swung his twin blades, trying to hack apart the tree-like thicket of Thorns.

But when the blade energy struck the vines, the expected destruction never happened.

His blades met immense resistance. For a moment, he couldn't even shake the swaying pitch-black Thorns.

"Damn it—"

His gaze darkened. Blood gushed madly from the wounds across his body, coating the twin blades. Finally, the Thorns, which bore withered flowers, showed signs of giving way.

Yet just as the blades in his hands chopped faster and faster, a voice rang out from afar.

"Good afternoon, sir."

The golden-eyed man's pupils shrank, and he whipped his head around. But it was too late. Yan Jing had practically blinked right in front of him.

He tried to raise his blades to block, but the very next second, his eyes bulged. A massive, crushing force slammed directly into his chest.

A pale golden barrier flared to life across his skin, only to shatter instantly, scattering into a storm of fragments.

"Pfft—"

Pale golden blood sprayed from the man's mouth. He was sent flying backward in an instant, crashing heavily into a pile of scrap and vanishing beneath the collapsing garbage.

"Game over."

Yan Jing appeared beside the cage of Thorns. He smiled and reached out a hand. The sky-filling Thorns lowered themselves like obedient little beasts, resting gently beside his palm.

He looked at Pan Yue, who was nearly charred to a crisp, and smiled.

"I don't want your death contract."

"When you get out, give it to Teacher Shen when you have the time. She likes this sort of thing."