Chapter 97: The "Live Broadcast Room" in the Hall

As Yan Jing finished speaking, footsteps echoed from downstairs.

A player on the Inner World Pathway appeared from below, walking slowly toward him.

For a moment, Yan Jing found himself trapped in a three-and-one encirclement.

The leader of this Inner World Pathway team was a man in his thirties with a buzz cut and glasses who didn't seem to talk much.

Upon seeing Yan Jing, he made a subtle hand gesture, and the two men beside him immediately mobilized the weird energy around them.

One man's eyes flashed sharply. Driven by weird energy, the air in front of him transformed into invisible blades that slashed toward Yan Jing.

The other's eyelids drooped, and he suddenly leaned against the wall and began to snore.

Mental power rippled outward with his snores, carrying a heavy wave of exhaustion that threatened to drag anyone nearby into a deep sleep.

The rest of the team had already taken anti-fatigue medication in advance to minimize the effect.

This was clearly a team that had worked together for years, acting with seamless coordination.

Under their watchful eyes, Yan Jing sat beside the headless corpse on the stairs, shrouded in pitch-black shadows without moving a muscle.

Those invisible blades slashed into the shadows surrounding him only to be swallowed without a trace, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.

The snoring grew louder, but since Yan Jing's face was obscured, they couldn't tell if he was affected at all.

The bespectacled man's eyes darkened. He signaled again, and the group halted their advance.

He didn't believe Yan Jing's mental resistance was so weak that he would fall asleep under the influence of a First Tier "Sloth."

It was a trap.

"Heh."

Yan Jing's amused voice suddenly rang out.

The bespectacled man's pupils shrank, and he frantically gestured for his men to fall back.

At the same time, he shifted his feet, moving with the other player to form a defensive line in front of the "Sloth" Pathway user.

But that clearly wasn't Yan Jing's target. He sprinted through the dim light like a pitch-black ghost, charging straight toward the player downstairs.

Seeing this, the bespectacled man breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he led the team, that was only because he excelled at organization and command; in terms of raw combat power, he couldn't possibly compare to the player below.

That guy was a monster he had spent a long time poaching from elsewhere.

This was exactly why he had employed a three-and-one encirclement. That "one" was a deliberate trap.

Seeing Yan Jing rushing at him, the gaunt player raised his fists.

As weird energy surged, his fists revealed their true form:

Each fist was as massive as a thirty-pound watermelon. The thick fingers were entirely devoid of skin, exposing dark red flesh, and on the back of each hand sat a huge blister seething with pitch-black weird energy.

He was a "Fist Cultivator" on the Inner World Pathway from another massive Domain.

To obtain these fists, he had endured torment beyond ordinary imagination.

Watching Yan Jing close in, he immediately swung his fists. His emaciated frame didn't slow his punches in the slightest; a series of sonic booms erupted as he aimed straight for Yan Jing's chest.

Yan Jing dodged sideways. The terrifying fist smashed violently into the wall, instantly blasting web-like cracks across half its surface.

But just as the man pivoted to throw his next punch, his eyes glazed over.

Two or three dark, withered flowers drifted in from nowhere and landed on the tip of his nose.

Suddenly, a chorus of shrill, agonizing screams echoed through the stairwell, blending into a maddening symphony.

Before he could even react, a sharp pain tore through his abdomen.

Looking down, he saw a Black and White Dual-Colored Long Spear piercing clean through his gut.

In the next second, as if vengeful spirits had descended from purgatory, he saw countless hideous ghostly shadows roaring before his eyes, tearing bites out of the flesh of his stomach.

The excruciating pain caused the force of his punch to plummet. When it collided with Yan Jing's bracer-covered right fist, a loud crack rang out, and his wrist bent backward at a sheer ninety-degree angle.

That joint hadn't been tempered to match the strength of his fists; it was his most vulnerable spot, and under Yan Jing's strike, it completely deformed.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" His expression twisted in absolute agony. Veins bulged on his neck as he let out a wretched scream that melted right into the maddening symphony lingering in the air.

Yan Jing's eyes remained calm. Without giving him another chance, he twisted the spear in his left hand, yanked it back, and thrust again—this time burying it deep into the man's chest.

Blood geysered outward, splashing over Yan Jing and pooling before slowly trickling down.

Bathed in crimson, Yan Jing looked like a demon walking out of hell. With a flick of his spear, he shook the corpse off the blade. He looked up at the three terrified figures on the stairs and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"That's one."

Everything happened in a flash. By the time Yan Jing caught up to the final "Sloth" Pathway player and shattered his legs, only a few minutes had passed.

"Are you also here for the 3 million Inner World bounty?"

Yan Jing looked down at the player.

"N-No, not entirely. We also took a private commission."

The man shook like a leaf, his voice trembling violently.

"Do you know who the employer is?"

"N-No, I have no idea. These kinds of things... they're always anonymous."

"I see. How much money do you have on you?"

"H-Huh?"

"I asked, how much money do you have on you?"

Once the man transferred over 80,000 Inner World coins, Yan Jing nodded and, as promised, reached out to snap his neck.

He didn't let him suffer too much.

In truth, he didn't really care who the employer was.

Plenty of people wanted him dead, and that number was only going to grow.

However, he wasn't very satisfied with today's battle.

Although he had utterly crushed the four of them, that was only because they were still in the lower tiers, possessing just two abilities that weren't even particularly strong.

If their Tiers rose in the future, would he still be able to pull this off?

He still needed to work harder.

He nodded to himself, deciding to brew a few more pots of Body-Forging Water once he got out of here.

Still, it wasn't without its unexpected gains. He discovered that when he summoned the Fear Thorn, the white energy inside the Dice clung to it just like his bracer did, providing a significant boost.

The usage count alone had doubled, jumping from five to ten.

Standing up, he headed upstairs.

He knew that many people were watching him right now. Under these circumstances, switching to the Cameraman was obviously impossible. Fortunately, he was planning to use his original body to take care of a few things anyway.

In the hall.

A crowd of inner world residents stared at Yan Jing as he gradually disappeared from the screen, completely speechless.

The vast majority of the inner world residents here were First Tier; the humans on the Inner World Pathway were virtually no different from them in terms of abilities.

In other words, if Yan Jing could effortlessly crush four of those humans, then if he faced them...

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed hard.

This human was a little too strong—so strong that he struck fear into their hearts even through a screen.

Finally, breaking the dead silence, someone in the crowd spoke up:

"Quick, switch the perspective to him!!!"

As soon as the words left their mouth, hundreds of voices chimed in, echoing their agreement.

They all wanted to see what this terrifyingly strong human was going to do next.

Was he going to hunt down the last team of hunters?

"Wait a minute, wait a minute."

The "Honesty" Elder wiped the sweat from his forehead. Using the "Honesty" Mirror for an extended period was a massive drain on him.

After this session, he probably wouldn't be able to use it again for several days.

However, the upper management of the Sun-Swallowing Tower had given him quite a bit of compensation, which was why he had agreed to this in the first place.

Changing to Yan Jing's perspective didn't seem like a difficult request.

"Mirror, Mirror, let me ask you: who is the strongest human player in the Sun-Swallowing Tower?"

As soon as he spoke, the surface of the Mirror shifted, revealing the sight of Yan Jing's back in the stairwell.

"It's working, it's working!"

The crowd looked at the Mirror in anticipation.

In the reflection, Yan Jing arrived at the eighth floor.

"What is he doing on the VIP floor?"

Someone asked.

"He might be contacting the employer from his time as a bodyguard."

Someone more knowledgeable explained, "These humans usually keep in good touch with their employers after finishing their bodyguard duties. Even if they don't get any immediate benefits, those connections might come in handy when they enter Dungeons later."

"Who was his employer when he was a bodyguard?"

Someone asked.

"I think it was Officer Lu."

A voice in the crowd replied.

"That woman needs a bodyguard?!!"

The speaker had clearly witnessed Lu Miao's ferocity before.

"I advise you to watch your mouth."

"Alright, stop arguing!! Look, he's at Officer Lu Miao's door!!!"

Someone shouted.

The crowd nodded. Sure enough, he was looking for Lu Miao.

"He's knocking, he's knocking!"

These inner world residents were reacting like children from the Surface World watching television for the very first time. They were completely thrilled, providing a nonstop running commentary.

"The door is opening!!!"

"Officer Lu is out!"

"They're talking, but we can't hear them!"

"Oh? Oh? They stopped talking! Why does Officer Lu look so angry?!"

"Holy shit, why did Officer Lu just pin him against the wall?!"