Chapter 482: Death (Two-in-One)

Beneath the frost-like moonlight, Yan Jing held Sheng Xia in his grip. Hideous scars covered his entire body, making anyone who saw them shudder.

In the distance, Zhou Kai and the others stood with trembling eyes, their hands and feet turning ice-cold.

No one had expected Yan Jing to survive taking such a blow from Sheng Xia head-on.

Even that person hadn't chosen to take that attack head-on with their physical body back then.

Didn't this mean... Yan Jing's physical mastery had already surpassed that person's?!

Yet that wasn't what terrified them most.

If they remembered correctly, during the Sin Live Broadcast of that Dungeon, Yan Jing had revealed the quality of his Ritual. Although it lasted only a brief moment and the news was forcibly suppressed by that person afterward, countless people had still witnessed it. The four Rituals he displayed had all exceeded the limit tier. But right now, there wasn't a single fluctuation of weird energy around Yan Jing's body.

This meant he wasn't using his full strength at all.

It was simply impossible to win.

The group all came to the same conclusion. They knew Wan Yicheng's strength well enough. Even if he still had trump cards, without Sheng Xia, the probability of winning against such overwhelming power was infinitely close to zero.

"What, no one is going to speak?"

Yan Jing smiled. He lowered his head, looking at Sheng Xia as her consciousness faded in his grip, and chuckled.

"Miss Sheng, you may have chosen Mr. Wan, but it seems Mr. Wan didn't choose you in the end."

"What a shame."

With that, he tightened his grip, about to snap Sheng Xia's neck. Just then, Wan Yicheng's voice rang out in midair.

"Xiao Kai, Xiao Shuang, Xiao Feng, Xiao Bo! Are you just going to stand there and watch Xiao Xia die?!"

"Get ready to attack! His injuries are definitely not light. If we join forces, there's still a chance to win!"

"Otherwise, even if Xiao Xia and I are eliminated, do you really have the confidence to beat him?"

"If that happens, God's Candidate Ticket will definitely be his!"

"Attack!!!"

At Wan Yicheng's words, the group's expressions shifted slightly. After all, he had a point.

They had all come here for one reason: God's Candidate Ticket. If they couldn't defeat Yan Jing, then everything was pointless. If they fought now, as long as they weren't careless, they still had their Crystal Stones to exit the Dungeon.

Xu Feng was the first to act.

He was the most responsible one in the group. Seeing Sheng Xia unconscious in Yan Jing's grasp, he couldn't bear to stand by and struck first. The moment he moved, he unleashed his seventh Ritual.

Fierce winds surged toward Yan Jing from all directions.

The moonlight itself seemed to shatter under the violent gale. Xu Feng's figure split into three, then nine, ultimately transforming into thousands of silhouettes that swept toward Yan Jing.

"Water Prison!"

Shui Nianshuang struck next. Four rifts opened around Yan Jing, spewing pitch-black liquid that completely encased him, temporarily restricting his movements.

"Well done!"

Wan Yicheng shouted, "Xiao Bo!!!"

Chang Chunbo was the deputy team leader.

Wan Yicheng was calling on him to use his seventh Ritual.

It was a killer move, no less lethal than Sheng Xia's ability.

But Chang Chunbo clearly hesitated. He normally had eyes that crinkled in a permanent, gentle smile; now, only one eye remained, and it was filled with conflict. He felt something was deeply wrong.

"Hold it, Brother Bo," Zhou Kai said from beside him, his gaze dark.

"He's screaming his head off, but he hasn't even shown his face. He just wants us to be cannon fodder."

Chang Chunbo's expression grew even more torn. Clearly, Zhou Kai's words mirrored his own concerns.

But Wan Yicheng's voice rang out again.

"Xiao Bo, you know how my ability works! I can only use it once at the most critical moment! I promise, you can leave as soon as you unleash the seventh Ritual! Hurry! We're running out of time!"

Urged on by Wan Yicheng, Chang Chunbo's conflict reached its peak. His hands twitched at his sides.

"Xiao Bo, do you really want to watch Xiao Xia die?! Have you forgotten how she saved your life when you nearly died in the Dungeon?!" That was the final straw. Chang Chunbo sighed and finally raised his hand.

"Doom!"

Behind him, a silver-red Ritual suddenly flared to life.

A black cloud mark surfaced on Yan Jing's charred forehead.

A persistent halo of black mist wreathed the mark. Merely glancing at it provoked a subconscious sense of revulsion. A torrential downpour suddenly erupted from the sky. Dense, heavy black clouds instantly gathered above Yan Jing's head, crushing everyone's hearts with an overwhelming sense of oppression. Lightning flashed. Streaks of dark lightning surged from the skies above the nearby Thunder Valley, merging into the massive storm cloud.

The dark clouds began to spin, forming a massive vortex. At its dead center, a thick bolt of lightning—as massive as a mountain ridge—emerged, pointing straight down at Yan Jing.

The next instant, it crashed down!

Having done this, Chang Chunbo seemed to solidify his resolve. A white light flashed in his palm, leaving Zhou Kai stunned.

"Brother Bo, you!"

Zhou Kai hadn't expected Chang Chunbo to act so decisively. He had directly activated his Crystal Stone to exit the Dungeon.

"This is all I can do." Chang Chunbo shook his head slightly.

"Whether Xiao Xia survives or not will depend on her own luck."

"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. I'm sitting this one out."

He might have harbored grand ambitions for God's Candidate Ticket in the beginning, but the moment he laid eyes on Yan Jing, he realized his chances were essentially zero.

Even if Yan Jing actually lost, without his killer move—which he had been saving specifically for Wan Yicheng—he stood no chance of defeating Wan Yicheng anyway.

"We were wrong, Xiao Kai. Dead wrong."

Leaving behind those final words, Chang Chunbo's figure vanished from the Dungeon.

Almost simultaneously, the colossal lightning bolt struck Yan Jing, transforming the area into an ocean of electricity.

A pungent, charred scent instantly filled the air. Yan Jing's already burned wounds turned into a layer of black charcoal that coated his body. His eyes were clamped shut.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Feng lunged to grab Sheng Xia from Yan Jing's grip.

But just as he was about to touch her, Yan Jing suddenly snapped his eyes open.

His searing gaze was like twin beams of blinding light, stinging Xu Feng's eyes with a flare of sharp pain. Though Yan Jing's entire body was charred black, his eyes were abnormally bright, seemingly hiding countless swirling stars within them. He reached out, effortlessly pinpointing and seizing Xu Feng's true body amidst the swarming illusions. And then—

A brutal slam!

With a loud boom, the ground beneath his feet shattered once again. Fissures spiderwebbed outward into the untouched dense forest in the distance, dragging vast swaths of the woods deep underground.

At this moment, Xu Feng finally understood what Sheng Xia had felt from that earlier blow.

The instant he was slammed into the earth, his entire life flashed before his eyes. Then, he completely lost consciousness.

The next instant, Yan Jing lifted his gaze to Shui Nianshuang, using blink to appear right in front of her.

He didn't give Shui Nianshuang any time to react.

He raised his hand and threw a punch!

A direct hit to the abdomen.

A massive hole was blasted open in Shui Nianshuang's stomach, and she too lost consciousness under the devastating blow.

Finally, Yan Jing looked at Zhou Kai, who was now standing there all by himself, and laughed.

"Mr. Zhou, if we really get down to it, it seems we formed a grudge a while back."

"You've never really found me pleasing to the eye, have you?"

"But forgive my bluntness—you're all too weak."

"With all the resources the First Ring Domain has, did you feed them all to the dogs?"

Hearing Yan Jing's humiliation, Zhou Kai glanced at the monster-like youth. He clenched his fists, not daring to act out. Even now, he still couldn't accept it. How could a nobody from a backwater achieve this level of power?!!

"Are you a pawn that person planted in advance?"

He spoke, desperately seeking an answer that would make him feel better about his defeat. But Yan Jing just burst out laughing.

"Mr. Zhou, forgive my bluntness, but it's not just your strength that's pathetic. Your very core is incredibly weak."

Yan Jing's laughter and words struck Zhou Kai like a physical slap, causing his complexion to alternate between a sickly pale and a furious flush.

Yan Jing looked at Zhou Kai, the corners of his lips suddenly curling up into a smirk as he spoke.

"Tell you what, Mr. Zhou. I'll give you a chance."

"Since you boast that the First Ring Domain reigns supreme over all of Yueyin, and that you're entirely different from us folks from the backwaters, let's play a game. I will throw exactly one punch. If you take it head-on without retreating and don't choose to exit the Dungeon, I'll place you at the number one spot in this ranking match."

"If you exit, you lose nothing. How about it?"

Zhou Kai trembled all over with rage.

On the surface, Yan Jing was giving him a chance, but in reality, it was a dual humiliation targeting both his courage and his strength.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice. "...Bring it."

He couldn't retreat.

Any other time would be fine, but this time, he absolutely could not retreat.

For reasons of his own, if he retreated now, everything would be ruined.

"Good."

Yan Jing smiled and raised his arm. Then, he mobilized the power within his body.

Every patch of charred skin on his body, every strand of exposed flesh, seemed to take on a life of its own, spontaneously vibrating. An invisible, grayish-white aura of power gradually rose above Yan Jing's head.

Zhou Kai's pupils shrank violently at the sight.

In a mere instant, Yan Jing seemed entirely reborn and remade. His figure, which was originally similar in size to Zhou Kai's, now appeared in his eyes as a sky-piercing giant. Just a single eye of that giant was larger than his entire body.

This was Yan Jing's imposing aura.

Zhou Kai involuntarily began to tremble.

If he took a punch like this...

He swallowed hard.

"Take the punch! Mr. Zhou!!!"

Yan Jing shouted, his voice echoing in Zhou Kai's ears like a god speaking from the heavens. A suffocating wave of terror instantly engulfed him.

That mountain-like fist... if it landed on him...

Finally, just as the colossal fist was about to crush him, a roar tore uncontrollably from his throat. The light in his palm flared, and his figure directly exited the Dungeon.

The dust settled.

Yan Jing looked at the pristine moonlight pooling at his side, which seemed to be trembling slightly, and chuckled.

"It's just you and me now, Mr. Wan."

"It wouldn't do to not spill blood. It really wouldn't do."

"If I let everyone go, I wouldn't have any deterrent power left, would I?"

Surface World.

First Ring Domain.

At this moment, no one could speak a word.

In the eerie silence, everyone's eyes were locked onto the ranking list.

[The player with the honorary title Yi has brutalized the player with the honorary title Sheng Xia]

[The player with the honorary title Doom has fled]

[The player with the honorary title Yi has brutalized the player with the honorary title Eye of the Storm]

[The player with the honorary title Yi has brutalized the player with the honorary title Shadow Flow]

[The player with the honorary title Winner has fled]

It was a one-sided slaughter.

An absolute massacre in every sense of the word.

In just a few short minutes, the First Ring Domain's representatives had been almost entirely wiped out, save for Wan Yicheng.

Inside the First Building, the figure seated behind a white veil stared at the notifications, her breathing coming to a near halt.

The next instant, her figure flickered, and she appeared directly inside the room from which the group had initially entered the Dungeon.

Right now, Chang Chunbo and Zhou Kai were both inside the room.

Chang Chunbo sat on the sofa, smoking a cigarette, his gaze vacant. The television across from him was broadcasting the live ranking list. Zhou Kai's condition was far worse; he was crouched alone in a corner, his face ashen, lips moving as he muttered to himself. Chang Chunbo was the first to notice the arrival of the veiled figure. Weird energy instantly smothered the cigarette in his hand as he stood up and bowed.

"My Lord."

"What happened..."

Beneath the white veil, Liu Xiaoyue tried her best to keep her voice calm, but the obvious emotional turbulence in her tone was impossible to hide.

Chang Chunbo sighed.

"I apologize, My Lord. We failed. Our opponent... was too strong."

"That Yan Jing..."

He gave a rough summary of everything he had seen before leaving. To put it simply: the opposing Yan Jing was so strong he didn't even seem human.

"...And Zhou Kai..."

Liu Xiaoyue was about to step forward to check on Zhou Kai, but Chang Chunbo shook his head.

"My Lord, Xiao Kai... his Dao heart has shattered."

"As you know, all his Rituals belong to the Victory Pathway. I don't know exactly what happened in there, but now..."

He let out a long sigh.

"He's basically crippled."

Crippled.

Liu Xiaoyue felt a rush of boiling anger shoot straight to her head.

She had prepared for so long and spent so much effort on this. Yet now, Sheng Xia had been captured, her fate unknown, and Zhou Kai had been rendered utterly useless.

Aside from Wan Yicheng, everyone else had lost, and she didn't even know where they were.

How could she possibly accept this?!!

Sensing the intense emotional fluctuations radiating from Liu Xiaoyue, Chang Chunbo sighed softly.

"My Lord, I have something to say, now..."

"It's fine. At least we still have Yicheng."

Liu Xiaoyue suddenly spoke, murmuring to herself.

"Yicheng won't necessarily lose."

Chang Chunbo was taken aback before speaking up.

"Forgive my bluntness, My Lord. Captain Wan... essentially has no chance of winning."

"No, that's only because you don't know the trump card I gave him,"

Liu Xiaoyue said coldly.

Chang Chunbo actually did know. Liu Xiaoyue had dismantled a small fragment from the third of Yueyin's three great Vessels and given it to Wan Yicheng.

But he still felt that Wan Yicheng stood absolutely zero chance of winning.

The opponent was just too strong.

Insanely strong.

He was so strong it shattered all logic. In all his years, Chang Chunbo had never seen—or even heard of—anyone who could unleash such devastating power without having reached the Summit. However, since Liu Xiaoyue had already preemptively shut the conversation down, he naturally couldn't voice his objections.

He could only say, "But it's fine, My Lord. Even if Captain Wan loses in the end, as long as Mr. Yan is here, our Yueyin hasn't truly lost."

Hearing this, Liu Xiaoyue nodded inwardly, finding a small measure of comfort.

It was true. Yan Jing could also be considered one of their own.

This was the only piece of good news they had right now.

But she didn't let it show on her face, merely replying indifferently, "We'll see. Yicheng is the person I chose, and my choices are never wrong."

"..." Hearing Liu Xiaoyue say this, Chang Chunbo opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to stay silent.

This was Yueyin. It was Liu Xiaoyue's Yueyin.

She was called a domain lord, but in truth, she might as well have been a president or an emperor.

She was the absolute ruler here.

As such, no one could defy her will.

Things had been this way for hundreds of years.

But just as Liu Xiaoyue was about to leave, both of their eyes were suddenly drawn to the television.

[The player with the honorary title Yi has savagely brutalized the player with the honorary title Full Moon]

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!!!

Yan Jing relentlessly drove his fists into the unrecognizable mass of flesh beneath him, pounding it like a lump of raw meat as blood splattered in all directions.

Wan Yicheng was completely stripped of any means of resistance.

Just moments ago, Yan Jing had used a time stop to rip him straight out of the moonlight, denying him any chance to use his abilities. "Give me a chance..."

His speech was barely intelligible as he lay there, taking in less air than he was letting out.

"We are all Yueyin People... Give me a chance, let me live, I beg you..."

"I promise... I'll never stand against you again..."

Yan Jing chuckled.

"With you saying that, Mr. Wan, does that mean you never intended to kill me before?"

"N-never... I never thought of it..."

Wan Yicheng forced the words out.

"Once we get out of here, can you admit to everyone that you're inferior to me?"

"I can. I absolutely can."

"Can you admit to everyone that you're just not good enough?"

"I can do that too."

"Alright, then I'll let you go."

Yan Jing nodded.

But the very instant Yan Jing loosened his grip, Wan Yicheng's hand shot into his pocket. Ecstasy washed over him as if he had just grasped a lifeline, his hands trembling violently.

Clutched in his hand was a bead.

It wasn't a Crystal Stone.

It was Yueyin's Vessel.

'Die, die, die!!!!'

He screamed madly in his heart, desperately attempting to pour all his weird energy into it.

But suddenly, he realized in sheer horror that he couldn't marshal a single drop of weird energy.

A moment later, his field of vision began to spin.

Tumbling from high to low, he caught a glimpse of his own headless, mud-like corpse.

'Why... no...'

That final, despairing thought flashed through his fading consciousness before his pupils completely lost focus.

[The player Full Moon has died]

Yan Jing looked at the others, pondered for a moment, and made his final arrangements.

He crippled Sheng Xia.

As for Xu Feng and Shui Nianshuang, he largely spared them, merely breaking their bones.