Chapter 465: Self Faction (Two in One)

Fear Bird picked up another melon seed, popped it into her mouth, and chewed carefully, her eyes narrowing to slits.

This was genuinely good stuff.

Fragments of a Deity.

Once all of them were collected, they could be exchanged for a mysterious grand prize.

If it were anyone else, even with such a treasure right in front of them, they would likely only be able to stare blankly at the mountain of gold.

But for her and Fei Yu sitting across from her, this tiny bit of a Deity's consciousness could be completely digested with just a little time.

As for the rest—

It was pure essence.

"You can't eat any more."

Fei Yu swatted away Fear Bird's reaching hand.

Fear Bird puffed out her cheeks. "I haven't eaten that many. Don't be stingy."

"You can't finish these all by yourself. Eat too much and you'll get bloated."

Fei Yu carefully wrapped the remaining melon seeds in a napkin. "We have to save some for the young master."

"How could he possibly eat these?" Fear Bird thought Fei Yu was just spouting nonsense.

But Fei Yu merely smiled faintly. "Not necessarily."

Fear Bird froze for a moment. Then, as if she suddenly realized something, her eyes widened. She shot up from her seat and pointed a trembling finger at Fei Yu. "You... you... don't gross me out!!!"

Fei Yu said nothing, merely closing her eyes with a smile.

She felt her position as the chief maid becoming increasingly unstable lately; she really needed to think of something.

Yan Jing was completely oblivious to all this. At that moment, he was leading the group down the snowy mountain.

Compared to the endless, uneven peaks of the snow mountains, the single path of the Glacial zone was clearly a more effortless and precise route.

"We've been walking down for so long, but we haven't seen anything. At this rate, when will we ever collect items possessing the heart of reaching the summit—"

Holding a broom, Mo Lian looked back at the ice layer she had swept perfectly clean behind the group.

The translucent ice beneath them was completely empty. Let alone useful items, there wasn't even a shadow of a monster.

"Miss Mo, where did you get that broom?"

Zhao Dongchuan asked.

"I use it to sweep the streets of Bianliu County." Mo Lian triumphantly waved the broom in her hand. "It's an Ancient Relic. The county magistrate of Bianliu County gave it to me."

Beside her, Qi Ming chuckled. "Indeed. Right now, Lianzi's reputation as the sweeping pioneer is known by everyone in Bianliu County."

Among their group, Mo Lian focused primarily on Bianliu County, Zhao Dongchuan took the initiative with the Path of Destiny, and Qi Ming and Zhou Xian ran back and forth between areas, until Zhou Xian recently settled in the Heavenly Kingdom.

Qi Ming, on the other hand, went from running between two places to juggling three to handle communications. As a result, he was well aware of the situation in Bianliu County.

"Impressive." Zhao Dongchuan gave Mo Lian a thumbs-up, then smiled. "But it's not that there's nothing under this ice mountain."

"Then what is it?" Mo Lian paused in surprise.

"Someone took the things under the ice."

Qi Ming said calmly, "There are some cracks in the ice invisible to the naked eye. They must have formed recently and haven't fully recovered yet."

Zhao Dongchuan smiled. "Exactly."

"Mr. Qi, can you find their tracks?"

Qi Ming seemed to have been prepared for this. He pointed in two directions. "Judging by the scent, three went that way, and three went this way."

"Six people in total."

Zhou Xian said softly, "It's one team."

"Captain, what's the call?" Qi Ming looked at Yan Jing.

No matter what, the final decision always rested with Yan Jing.

"Let's head this way."

Yan Jing pointed to the left.

He didn't split the team.

Even though the team's overall strength had improved significantly under their recent intensive training, Zhao Dongchuan was actually the only one with presentable combat power.

Qi Ming had slacked off for far too many years and started a bit too late.

Compared to those heavenly prodigies, Zhou Xian and Gangzi's early-stage resources were somewhat lacking.

As for Mo Lian—

For her to have made it this far, they couldn't demand anything more from her.

Splitting up, running into danger, and then him swooping in to save the day—just thinking about that cliché plotline bored him.

It was better to just take it step by step.

After confirming their direction, the group quickened their pace.

Several dozen minutes later, a certain sound reached their ears.

It sounded like punches being thrown, but not quite so crisp; it was more like a biting, freezing wind whipping up ice shards, carrying a uniquely coarse, gritty texture.

As if sensing their approach, the sound gradually stopped.

A man in a white coat with both hands shoved into his pockets appeared at the edge of their vision.

Two women followed behind him. One held a pair of boxing gloves, while the other held a belt.

Pouches hung at both women's waists, faintly radiating a kind of light from within. Those were likely the summit items they had collected earlier.

"Yan Jing."

The man spoke softly. Then, with a light sway of his feet, his figure became like a phantom, splitting into multiple afterimages. In just a few seconds, he appeared mere meters away from the group.

"You know me, sir."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Fifth Ring Domain, Fist."

The man stated, his expression indifferent.

Fist was his honorary title.

Yan Jing nodded with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you."

Back when he was learning eerie momentum, Old Man Wang Zhongmian had told him about some of the formidable figures in the Self Faction to entice him into joining.

Among them, the heavenly prodigy of the Fifth Ring Domain went by the honorary title Fist.

The geniuses the First Ring Domain had recruited earlier weren't the strongest batch, but rather the easiest to win over.

The man before him was clearly not one of them.

Seeing that Yan Jing had heard of him, the man nodded. "If you want to fight, we can go to the Glacial zone."

Since weird energy couldn't be used freely on the ice mountain, the man didn't want to take advantage of Yan Jing.

But Yan Jing shook his head. "It's fine."

"I actually consider myself half a member of the Self Faction."

He smiled at the man.

The man frowned. He had never heard of anyone named Yan Jing within the Self Faction.

"Who did you study under?"

Members of the Self Faction almost always had a master-disciple lineage.

"I studied under Old Man Wang Zhongmian for a while," Yan Jing replied.

Half a day still counted as 'a while'.

Upon hearing Wang Zhongmian's name, the man's expression gradually grew solemn. He bowed to Yan Jing. "In this battle, we will only determine who is superior, not who wins or loses, nor will we fight to the death."

It seemed Old Man Wang was quite a big shot, after all—

Yan Jing smiled and nodded. "That works."

The rest of the group stepped back, leaving room for Yan Jing and Fist.

Fist still kept his hands in his pockets.

In truth, he had come to this ranking tournament with a mission.

And that mission was to revive the Self Faction.

There were five of them from the Self Faction in total.

Their goal this time was to snipe the renowned figures of various factions and restore the glorious name of the Self Faction.

If he guessed correctly, the other four should have already made their moves by now.

On the other side of the ice mountain.

A person lying on the ice looked at the woman in an azure dress opposite them and drawled lazily, "Fourth Ring Domain, Heng."

The woman smiled faintly. "Tianzi, Ninth Child, Meng Bing. Please enlighten me."

Inside Thunder Valley.

A man standing a full five to six meters tall, looking like a literal monster, blocked Jin Yao's path.

"Third Ring Domain, Colossus."

"Please enlighten me."

Jin Yao narrowed his eyes, a long saber manifesting in his hand.

Above the surface of a vast lake.

A solitary boat slowly drifted out. The man holding a fishing rod looked up at the woman hovering above the water across from him.

"And you are?"

"Second Ring Domain, Hongmao."

"Please enlighten me."

The man laughed and rested his fishing rod on his shoulder. "Beast Lord, Sixteenth Monarch, Angler."

In the Sand Domain.

Wan Yicheng was leading his group, slowly excavating downward.

They were astounded by today's harvest; beneath the grayish-white dust lay an ancient cultural settlement of a terrifyingly vast scale.

In just half a day, the group had already collected over a dozen items inscribed with ancient symbols.

Unfortunately, the information conveyed by these symbols was far too fragmented. For now, it remained unclear what they actually meant.

However, the team as a whole maintained their excitement. If they could gather more, they might truly uncover the secrets of this region.

—

Of course, despite that, everyone still kept their guard up. Suddenly, Xu Feng looked up toward the top of the pit and said, "Someone's up there."

"I'll go take a look."

"Wait." Wan Yicheng stopped Xu Feng. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Nianshuang, you go with Xiao Feng."

"Alright."

Shui Nianshuang nodded.

The two of them quickly exited the pit.

Right as they emerged, they happened to spot a dark silhouette sprinting off into the distance.

"Looks like they're trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain," Xu Feng analyzed calmly.

"Yeah, or maybe they're baiting us into a trap to kill us," Shui Nianshuang said. "Let's go. We'll report back to Brother Wan. We might need to move forward. If we don't establish our dominance soon, every random stray cat and dog will come bothering us."

"Yeah." Xu Feng agreed with Shui Nianshuang's point, and the two descended back into the pit.

Not long after they reentered the pit.

A phantom-like figure stepped out of the distant dust. Looking at where the two had vanished, a trace of unwillingness flashed in their eyes before the figure disappeared once again.

In the Surface World.

The ranking boards were constantly shifting, with teams continuously unlocking new achievements.

But everyone's attention remained firmly fixed on a few messages highlighted in red.

—

—

[The player with the honorary title Fist has encountered the player with the honorary title Yi; the two are preparing to clash.]

[The player with the honorary title Heng has encountered the player with the honorary title Bing; the two are preparing to clash.]

[The player with the honorary title Colossus has encountered the player with the honorary title Qianjin; the two are preparing to clash.]

[The player with the honorary title Hongmao has encountered the player with the honorary title Angler—]

[A mysterious entity approached the team led by the player with the honorary title Full Moon, but ultimately left.]

"Holy shit, they're fighting at almost the exact same time."

Comments flew madly across all major streaming websites. "Does anyone know the backgrounds of these guys?"

"Yeah, anyone know?"

Very quickly, some big shots compiled the true identities of these top players, and the audience immediately noticed a pattern.

"These guys... they're all from the Self Faction!"

"What's the Self Faction?" someone who didn't understand asked.

"It's a school that relies solely on oneself. They emulate the body refinement of a distant era, using items only to temper their bodies rather than utilizing the powers of a Ritual. Instead, they fight using eerie momentum."

"It was popular for a while when it first came out, but nowadays—"

"Thrilling! So thrilling!" someone exclaimed excitedly. "Old school versus new innovation! If we got this kind of entertainment every year, would the websites ever have to worry about ratings?"

In the First Ring Domain.

The Tiger-Skin Skirt Woman spoke with piqued interest. "Speaking of which, our Beast Lord faction also has a kid from the Self Faction this generation. But I didn't expect you to hide your hand so deeply, Rabbit. To think you had so many Self Faction talents tucked away."

Beside her, the Man in the Dragon-Patterned T-shirt scoffed disdainfully. "Just the dregs of a bygone era. It's already been proven to be a dead end."

"In all these years across the three domains, we've never seen anyone from the Self Faction reach the Summit."

But the Tiger-Skin Skirt Woman disagreed. "That's because you reached the Summit too late and never participated in the grand gathering."

"Among the Twelve Domains, there have been people from the Self Faction who reached the Summit."

"But as for going any higher than that—"

She let out a sigh.

That truly was something no one had ever witnessed.

Beneath the white veil, the figure remained silent, her eyes locked dead onto a few specific words in a certain line on the ranking board.

[—the player with the honorary title Yi—]

"Are you not going to wear your gloves?" Yan Jing smiled.

The man in the white coat kept a calm face. "You'll see once the fight begins."

"You can ask someone to act as a referee."

"Sure."

Yan Jing nodded and called out, "Gangzi!"

"Here, Captain!"

Wang Gang gave a salute and pulled a Pocket Watch out from her backpack. Then, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Three! Two! One! Begin!!!"

She forcefully pressed down on the Pocket Watch.

But in that very instant.

As if perfectly synchronized with her voice, the man opposite them threw a punch.

From within the team, Mo Lian watched Yan Jing's figure shift slightly and unconsciously swallowed hard.

Without using weird energy, she couldn't even see the specific movements of their exchange.

The man's hands still seemed to be tucked into his pockets, while Yan Jing merely swayed his body slightly.

The only reason she knew the opponent had thrown a punch was because the gloves and belt held by the two women had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"The opponent completed the entire sequence of taking his hands out of his pockets, putting on the gloves and belt, and throwing a punch all in an instant."

Qi Ming had seen it clearly, his gaze sharpening.

He truly hadn't expected the Self Faction to be capable of something to this degree.

"The opponent keeping his hands in his pockets is both a way of building up momentum and making the enemy drop their guard."

Zhou Xian, who hadn't spoken much, chimed in.

"Then who will win?" Mo Lian's eyes went wide.

But unexpectedly, right as she finished speaking.

The other four spoke in unison: "The Captain."

And right at the exact moment they finished speaking, the battle between the two men seemed to reach a white-hot climax.

Billowing white smoke began rising from the top of the white-coated man's head.

His sweat was pouring out profusely only to instantly evaporate.

At this moment, the world in his eyes was far more treacherous than what the spectators were seeing.

Opposite him, Yan Jing hadn't even struck back; he was simply dodging continuously.

Even though Fist had cycled through dozens of punching styles, he couldn't so much as graze the hem of Yan Jing's clothes.

What was even more terrifying was that there were no signs of Yan Jing using any weird energy, either.

Fist took a deep breath. Feeling the soreness creeping into his muscles, he knew he couldn't drag this out any longer.

His opponent hadn't even thrown a punch yet. If he kept fighting like this, he would eventually exhaust himself entirely.

He had to end this quickly.

Having made his decision, wisps of weird energy began flowing around his body.

The weird energy was extremely faint, yet it seemed to morph, expanding into a scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood around him. Those were the battles he had personally experienced.

Right now, he was trying to drag Yan Jing into those very battles, hoping to affect him even slightly, before using the combat style he was most familiar with to take Yan Jing down.

However, unexpectedly, that expanding sea of blood and mountain of corpses suddenly froze midway.

Fist faltered in shock.

There was only one possible reason for this to happen.

His opponent was also using eerie momentum.

And it was an eerie momentum of a much higher level than his own.

If this kept up, he would likely suffer a backlash and be dragged into the battles his opponent had experienced.

He let out a long breath, the white smoke turning into ice crystals as it fell.

His gaze focused sharply; he was ready.

He was confident that even if he were dragged into his opponent's rhythm, he would still win.

'Come on, let me see the battles you've lived through.'

With that thought, he calmed his breath and focused his mind, sinking his qi to his dantian as he relaxed his body to the absolute limit, using his center line as an axis.

But the very next second.

Staring at the scene before him, his pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.

Half a second later.

"Thud!"

Amidst the billowing steam and white mist, under the shocked gazes of the two women opposite them and the watchful eyes of the five-man chore squad...

The head of the white-coated man snapped back violently as if he had suffered some sort of heavy blow.

Then, he tipped backward, stiff as a board.

And crashed into the snow.