Chapter 569: God: I Bleed Too

"The four principals have exercised their One-Vote Privilege, and their decision is unanimous."

The female host raised her cue card, discreetly wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

She then looked toward Yan Jing. "I am sorry, but your appeal has been rejected."

"According to the assembly procedures, we will now enter the allocation phase."

"Under the Gods' Association allocation regulations, if any principal exercises their One-Vote Privilege, the allocation rights fall to one of the Domains represented by those four principals."

"However, your preference remains the primary consideration."

"Now, the principals of the four Domains will present their offers to help you make a decision."

"Please rest assured that the Gods' Association will notarize all terms to protect the rights of both you and your Domain."

Yan Jing nodded. "That's fine."

He wore a faint smile, seemingly having no objections to the outcome.

The host looked out at the audience.

The first principal spoke almost without hesitation. "We will provide the resources for five Eighth Tier individuals to advance to the Ninth Tier, along with Domain protection. If your Domain is invaded, we will dispatch up to ten Ninth Tiers to assist. Furthermore—we guarantee that your strongest Ninth Tier will reach the Tenth Tier before Advent Day arrives."

The first half was reasonable enough, but that final sentence left the crowd stunned.

The host's expression froze. She looked down at the principal. "Are you saying—"

"Tenth Tier."

The first principal raised a hand. "Before Advent Day, I guarantee your strongest Ninth Tier will become a Divine Envoy."

With that, he waved his hand, signaling for the next person to speak.

Yet the crowd couldn't settle down.

Tenth Tier—

Never before had such a generous condition been offered.

After all, the only reason a First Level Domain held that title was because a Tenth Tier resided there.

It was no exaggeration to say a single Tenth Tier was worth fifty, or even a hundred, Ninth Tiers.

The gap between the two was simply too vast.

It wasn't just a matter of sheer strength. More importantly—

It meant being chosen by a Deity.

Stepping into the Tenth Tier meant catching the eye of at least one Deity and being selected as their spokesperson.

The implications of that went without saying.

And now, the first principal had offered terms so generous they bordered on absurd, forcing everyone to turn their gazes back to Yan Jing on stage.

Clearly, these principals knew some inside information. They were absolutely certain this Domain was worth such a massive investment.

"We will provide the resources for ten Eighth Tiers to reach the Ninth Tier, along with Domain protection. If invaded, we will dispatch up to fifteen Ninth Tiers to assist. Furthermore—we guarantee that at least two of your Ninth Tiers will reach the Tenth Tier before Advent Day."

Just as the crowd was reeling in confusion, the second principal spoke up, making everyone doubt their own ears all over again.

Ten Ninth Tiers! Two Tenth Tiers!

With those kinds of resources, why not just build a brand-new Domain from scratch? Why waste it on outsiders?

Besides—

Leaving all that aside, many couldn't help but wonder: could the faction behind the second principal even produce two Tenth Tiers of their own right now?

This was the Tenth Tier!

They didn't even have enough for themselves, yet they were promising them to someone else.

A massive commotion broke out across the floor. However, Tiger, who had returned to his seat, watched the scene with a calm expression.

A few others remained just as calm. They didn't doubt whether these Domains could fulfill their promises, because right before Advent Day descended, the concentration of Weird Energy would skyrocket.

When that time came, while the Tenth Tier wouldn't quite fall to the level of the current Ninth Tier, their strategic value would certainly drop.

These were closely guarded secrets known only to high-level Domains.

Still—that was no small amount of resources.

Behind his mask, Tiger's eyes remained locked on the figure on stage. Golden threads surged around his fingertips, yet he couldn't glean any clues.

"Just what is this guy's background..."

Tiger muttered, sinking into thought.

On stage, the host wiped the sweat from her forehead again and looked toward the seventh principal.

"Your terms are—"

Just when everyone expected the seventh principal to offer even more generous conditions, he unexpectedly scaled back. "We will provide resources for five Eighth Tiers to reach the Ninth Tier, along with Domain protection. If invaded, we will dispatch up to ten Ninth Tiers to assist."

Exactly the same as the first principal—

The crowd gradually calmed down.

It seemed that grand gestures like the second principal's were the minority after all.

Everyone stared at the seventh principal, waiting for him to add the final guarantee about a Ninth Tier reaching the Tenth Tier.

But the seventh principal just chuckled. "Our Domain won't force yours into anything. We'll grant you absolute freedom, in exchange for a single promise."

"When the Domain War begins, your Domain must act as the vanguard once."

With that said, he crossed his arms and fell silent.

The audience blinked, thoroughly bewildered.

That was it?

No guarantee for reaching the Tenth Tier?

Not only that, but he wanted this Domain to act as a suicide squad?!

Who on earth would agree to that?!

Everyone shared the exact same thought: if the final principal failed to bring anything compelling to the table and the first principal didn't raise his bid, then Yan Jing would almost certainly choose the second principal's Domain.

Right then, Yan Jing suddenly spoke up. "I choose the seventh principal."

?!

The crowd stared at Yan Jing in sheer disbelief.

With that single, casual sentence, things were once again veering in a completely unforeseen direction.

"Um... the tenth principal hasn't spoken yet," the host reminded Yan Jing.

Yan Jing nodded. "There's no need."

"I choose the seventh principal's Domain."

"Perhaps he might offer a more suitable proposition—"

"No, no matter what, I won't choose him." Yan Jing smiled. "He's too weak."

!!!

The crowd finally realized what was going on.

No wonder some had noticed from the start that the tenth principal was looking at Yan Jing strangely. As it turned out, the two of them had a prior grudge.

But... based on what was just said, had this skinny, frail-looking youth actually defeated the tenth principal before?!

No, impossible.

Everyone who had that thought instantly snuffed it out.

Someone below the Tenth Tier defeating a Tenth Tier—that was absolutely impossible.

And the tenth principal—

Who was none other than Hermit, now clenching his fists so tightly that the veins on the backs of his hands bulged.

"You'd better think this through."

He picked up the microphone and glared at Yan Jing on stage, a murderous look in his eyes.

Yan Jing smiled. "If a principal can't even beat me, I don't see any reason to join the Domain behind him."

It was true!!!

At this point, the uproar from the floor could no longer be contained.

Coming straight from Yan Jing's mouth in a setting like this, the chances of it being a lie were vanishingly slim.

In sheer disbelief, the crowd—including the other principals—all turned to look at Hermit.

Hermit suddenly felt a barrage of strange stares stabbing at him from all directions. His face flushed red, then paled in panic.

"Bullshit! To spread such rumors at the Gods' Association! You have some nerve!"

Of course, he wasn't about to admit it. Since no one else had witnessed the fight anyway, as long as he vehemently denied it, no one could prove he was lying.

However, at that very moment, the seventh principal leisurely stood up.

Seeing this, Hermit's heart skipped a beat.

Because after being defeated by Yan Jing, the seventh principal was exactly the person he had gone to for help.

Sure enough, a second later, the seventh principal chuckled. "I can testify. Hermit did indeed lose, and he lost miserably. He came to me to heal his wounds, but I couldn't cure them."

"And as a result—"

The seventh principal sneered. "He actually tried to default on his debt to me."

With those words, the seventh principal threw open his robe.

Everyone's pupils contracted.

Beneath the green robe was no physical body at all, but rather a humanoid silhouette formed from swirling clusters of purplish-black gas.

He wore a suit, a gold watch on his wrist, and a pouch clipped to his waist.

Judging from his attire and what he had just said, one could vaguely infer that this man had deep ties to commerce and trade.

"Chaos Merchant Haiti."

Someone whispered, "Chaos swapped their representative recently. So it was him they sent. Rumor has it that out of every ten existing Tenth Tiers in this world, seven have done business with him, and the other three did business with his father."

"This guy has no taboos. He only cares about the deal and ignores all rules. He acts like a total rogue, yet... those Tenth Tiers always find themselves needing his help eventually."

"Word is... it's no coincidence, it's—"

Just as the man was getting carried away with his gossip, he suddenly felt something clamp down on his neck. He turned his head in terror, only to come face to face with Haiti's visage formed of purple gas.

And when he turned to look, he saw his own headless body still sitting in its seat.

As if finally realizing what had happened, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he stopped breathing entirely.

Haiti smiled, tossing the severed head onto the ground. He looked up at the host on stage. "My apologies. I recall that killing is strictly prohibited at the Gods' Association."

"I will provide compensation according to the rules."

"I-It's fine."

The host gulped, her legs feeling a bit weak.

"Rules are rules."

Haiti detached his own right arm and tossed it onto the stage at the host's feet, terrifying her so badly that all the color drained from her face.

Haiti chuckled. "This is my right hand, which contains my origin power. That should be enough."

"It's enough, it's more than enough."

The host hastily called for someone to come up and clean the mess.

Haiti then looked at Hermit in the last seat and smiled. "I, Haiti, never lie. Hermit did indeed lose."

"If you all don't believe me, you'll see for yourselves the moment Hermit throws off his robe."

"Let me see."

The fourth principal—hailing from New Sin City—who had just been publicly humbled, reached out a hand. It seemed he wanted to reclaim some of his lost face at Hermit's expense.

But Hermit took a single step, instantly appearing on stage and dodging the grab.

"Look at you. Why make it so obvious you're trying to hide something?"

The fourth principal laughed.

However, the expressions of the principals who had just used their One-Vote Privilege shifted slightly, and Haiti immediately rushed toward the stage.

At this moment, Hermit was less than three meters away from Yan Jing. With Hermit's speed, if he were to strike now, the chances of Yan Jing dodging were infinitely close to zero.

And just as everyone expected, in the next second, Hermit let out a savage grin and thrust a hand toward Yan Jing.

At this distance, and now knowing Yan Jing's tricks, his chances of losing were practically zero.

He was fully prepared. If Yan Jing blocked the strike with the same tactic as last time, he would retreat immediately. If he failed to block it, Hermit would take his life right then and there.

"Die!"

The crowd below couldn't even catch a shadow or a flash of light. They could only vaguely sense something moving right before their eyes, lunging straight at Yan Jing.

It all happened in a split second. Haiti's expression shifted drastically, knowing he was already too late.

He wasn't known for his speed, and even if he was, he could never be as fast as Hermit.

Yet in the next second, the crowd only heard a loud bang, followed by something exploding on the stage.

Endless streams of blood sprayed out like a burst showerhead, instantly dyeing the entire platform crimson.

Then, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.

Hermit was lying on the ground, rolling around in a pitiful state. His green robe was completely gone, revealing hideous gashes underneath and the sharp spikes embedded in them.

Meanwhile, Yan Jing stood exactly where he had been, still wearing a smile.

"I don't lie either."

Yan Jing looked at Haiti, who wasn't far away. "I hope we'll have a pleasant cooperation."

At this moment, even though Haiti's facial features were nothing but blurred gas, he still displayed visible astonishment.

He knew that Hermit had lost to the man in front of him before.

But according to Hermit's own account, he had only fallen for the attack because he didn't understand the man's methods and had been careless, failing to unleash his maximum speed.

But what had just happened obviously contradicted that completely.

Truth be told, he hadn't clearly seen what exactly took place.

But the outcome was crystal clear.

Hermit was rolling across the floor like a beaten stray dog. His chest, which had already been riddled with black spikes, now looked as if a massive cluster of porcupines had latched onto it.

And every single one of those porcupine quills was nearly two meters long.

Hermit was finished—

Haiti had treated these specific wounds on Hermit before, so he knew that any injury inflicted by Yan Jing simply would not heal.

Even when utilizing highly extraordinary methods, he couldn't cure them.

Hermit had offered an astronomically high price at the time, and to close the deal, Haiti had even directly contacted the Deity behind him.

Yet there was still nothing they could do.

This had also caused the Deity behind him to develop a massive interest in Yan Jing.

Which was exactly why he had been instructed to do everything in his power to secure Yan Jing during this assembly.

But—

Wasn't this assignment just a bit too dangerous?!

A completely invisible "bead of sweat" rolled down Haiti's gas-formed face.

And aside from him, every single one of the other principals now wore a grave expression.

Because not a single one of them had seen exactly what had just happened.

More importantly, when they put themselves in Yan Jing's shoes and honestly asked themselves...

None of them believed they could have emerged from that situation completely unscathed.

The man before them was definitely not in the Tenth Tier.

If he were in the Tenth Tier, he would have absolutely applied for his territory to become a First Level Domain.

Yet for someone below the Tenth Tier to achieve something like this—

They simply couldn't wrap their heads around it.

Looking at Yan Jing, who was still smiling in his direction, Haiti gulped. He suddenly recalled the words spoken by the Deity behind him.

"If I can't even think of a way to heal these wounds for the time being... doesn't that mean—if I were pierced by them, I would bleed too?"

"Heh. How interesting."