As everyone knew, before any great battle came the resupply, and after came the payout.
Among the many Sovereign Virtues, the blessings of the White Stag and the Swarm were particularly swift. After all, the wilderness struggles of the strong preying on the weak and life-or-death warfare were often exceedingly brief and fierce. Their outcomes were clear, leaving no room for ambiguity: the winner won, and the loser... died on the spot.
The life-and-death struggle in the villa had just concluded when a blessing from the White Stag descended from the heavens.
It was like a streamer having a great team fight and a wealthy patron tipping a superchat rocket.
And the biggest beneficiary among them was... Blondie, who had hovered on the periphery spectating the entire time and hadn't joined the team fight at all.
After all, he was one of only two genuine, true-blue White Stag practitioners in the villa, and he had at least contributed a tiny sliver of DKP and damage. Though it was barely better than nothing, the redeeming factor was that... so damn many people had died, and Blondie's rank was embarrassingly low.
After bumbling through a fight, the exact same amount of experience carried his rank straight to King as if he were riding a bus.
Ji Jue had baited the waters for him, and Blondie had basically picked up a blessing for free. Right now, Blondie was practically going insane with joy.
It was like a mouse wandering into a brawl among beasts, mindlessly delivering a kick, and then dragging half a side of beef back home to celebrate New Year's on the spot.
Yet what happened next made everyone's jaws drop.
It nearly caused Blondie to choke on his breath and keel over right there.
When they turned back toward the ruins of the villa, amid the blood and wreckage of the main hall, flickers of light illuminated a phantom that seemed not to belong to this place.
As if emerging from the eternal chaos and untamed wilderness, within a cruel forest of blood and death, a solemn White Stag turned its head, gazing toward this place.
Summoned by this brutal hunt and competitive strife, the shadow of the White Stag arrived in response!
Bearing witness to this bountiful harvest.
This was...
"A Sovereign Virtue Calling?" Old Tom blurted out.
In the dead silence, the phantasmal White Stag stepped lightly through the blood and corpses, walking toward Blondie step by step. Just as Blondie watched in ecstatic anticipation, it took a sharp turn and continued forward.
At last, it came to a halt before Ji Jue.
Looking down in silence.
In the overly prolonged standoff, Ji Jue stiffened, swallowed hard, and finally couldn't help asking, "What... do you want?"
The White Stag remained silent. As if giving a regretful sigh, it turned and departed.
The phantom dissipated, leaving no trace behind.
It's gone?!
Ji Jue's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Hey, aren't you going to leave something behind?!"
He shouted in disbelief, "I did damage too! Raid Leader—wait, I'm the MVP! I was the match MVP! Raid Leader! Raid Leaderrrr!"
Alas, no one answered.
Leaving only Ji Jue, who had been stared at for ages for nothing, standing there completely dumbfounded.
After a long while, Old Tom walked over with a sigh and patted his shoulder. "The White Stag seemed to think quite highly of you."
"Did it?" Ji Jue was baffled, unable to understand. If it really thought highly of him, why didn't it toss him a rocket, a spaceship, or a carnival gift? Who just looks into a livestream and closes the tab?
Old Tom let out a numb sigh. "Pity you're so damn dense."
"Huh?" Ji Jue was stunned. "What did you say?"
"What do you think!"
Looking at that innocent face, Old Tom's teeth itched with rage. He wanted nothing more than to sock him twice right then and there.
"A massive strife and clash like this, a textbook hunt where the weak overcame the strong... If you had played hard to get just a little, flaunted your stuff, and purred, 'Brother Stag, you're so fierce! Brother Stag, you're so amazing! The Path of the White Stag is so badass!' the Sovereign Virtue might have bought you a designer handbag already!
"Yet the Sovereign Virtue Calling knocked right on your damn front door, practically ready to choose you personally, and you bastard didn't have the slightest interest in it!"
It wasn't that the White Stag was too stingy to give.
It was that you never damn well wanted it!
The payment app was open, but you stubbornly refused to show your QR code. How was the patron supposed to tip you?
Old Tom understood now: deep down, this bastard Ji Jue probably had zero interest in the White Stag's schtick from start to finish. Or maybe he had an interest, but precious little of it.
He offered not a shred of devotion.
Nor did he feel the slightest thrill or longing over this hunt and struggle where the weak triumphed over the strong. He had never yearned for the wilderness the White Stag represented; he merely gazed upon it from afar.
The big boss had clutched that rocket in hand all night, but couldn't find a single chance to send it.
Given the chance, you just didn't live up to it!
Giving him a parting glare before leaving was already a rare display of good temper from the White Stag.
"When things go wrong, look inward and find your own faults—don't go blaming the Sovereign Virtue!"
Old Tom was practically bursting with frustration. "After causing such a stir and getting so deeply involved, you don't have the slightest intention toward it... How are you any different from a scumbag conning someone into marriage?"
"Mm-hmm." Beside them, Xiao An, who had returned at some unknown point, nodded vigorously in agreement. "Brother Ji is like that."
Ji Jue's face twitched. Several times, he started to speak, then stopped.
He could only grumble inwardly: Since when did Sovereign Virtues care about pure love these days?
Even if I didn't want it, couldn't you just force it on me anyway?!
Everyone was just out for a casual fling, exchanging sweet nothings amid the bright lights. Couldn't each take what they needed and call it a day? Why did it have to be about true feelings? Why did it require mutual affection? What a total buzzkill!
Still, since the White Stag hadn't given anything, he had no regrets.
After all, he was currently in the Calling stage and didn't need to seek the White Stag's gifts for the time being. Besides, he had no intention of indulging his desires, unlocking his shackles, and throwing himself into that wilderness of slaughter.
And for an Embers practitioner, tonight's harvest was already abundant enough.
It was practically like New Year's.
Leaving aside the miscellaneous alchemical trinkets carried by the other attackers—all of which could be used to practice the Dissociation Art and hone his abilities—even though he lacked workshop support and couldn't preserve the blessings in time before they dissipated, the corpses left behind were still usable!
Ji Jue was as busy as a diligent bee, picking and choosing through the villa, using quicksilver seals to preserve the usable parts. Before long, he had piled an entire cart full.
A true master of thrifty housekeeping.
Toward the end, he only lamented bringing far too little quicksilver, forcing him to preserve only the parts that were easiest to store and highest in value.
The rest, he painfully fed entirely to Niuma.
An absolute embodiment of wasting nothing.
And when he reached the very end of his scavenging, out in the courtyard, he actually found a battered-looking bell, seemingly the relic left behind by that lightning geezer earlier.
Anything capable of surviving Minerva's destruction was bound to be of immense value. Even though he couldn't figure out how to use it for the moment, sealing it away and keeping it safe was definitely the right call.
After toiling for several hours until the dead of night, Ji Jue finally freed up some time to go reassure Chen Yubo, who was still locked inside the safe room.
A long night invited many nightmares, and ghost knew what else might happen next. It was better to let him stay in the safe room until dawn.
Ji Jue also took the opportunity to issue a stern warning: "I only helped you out of loyalty between friends. Don't you damn well repay kindness with enmity and come pledge your body to me in the next life..."
Turning back, Ji Jue smiled when he saw Xiao An sitting obediently in the living room.
Carrying a medical kit, he waved him over, gesturing for him to come.
"Injured?"
Ji Jue put on medical gloves and used a scalpel to pick open the seams at the neckline of the T-shirt. "Don't move. Let me take a look."
"It's nothing, Brother Ji," Xiao An smiled. "Just superficial wounds. I already applied medicine."
"You still need to be careful. If it turns into internal injuries or doesn't heal properly, that'll be bad."
Ji Jue carefully cleaned the wound on the neck, applied medicine, and wrapped it in a bandage before breathing a sigh of relief.
"There, all done..."
His hands pressed gently onto the youth's shoulders as if offering comfort. Yet intricate patterns surfaced upon his pale hands.
Matrix: Non-Offensive!
Instantly, it forcibly shackled and froze all circulation of spiritus, while his deceptively light fingers pressed against the carotid artery through the thin skin.
And so, the gentle tone turned abruptly frigid—
After a night of endurance, at last, the dagger was revealed!
"Could you tell me who on earth you are?" Ji Jue leaned down and asked curiously beside his ear. "What did you do to my friend?"
"Brother Ji?" Xiao An seemed bewildered, instinctively wanting to turn his head, but his cervical spine and artery were pinned down, rendering him unable to move at will. His face was full of confusion and tension. "What's wrong?"
Ji Jue looked up, gazing straight ahead.
Right before them, a large full-length mirror vividly reflected both of their figures down to the finest detail. Sadly, a crack snaked across the surface, severing all harmony and smiles between them, leaving behind only the cold remnants.
"I *am* Xiao An." The youth blinked in astonishment, perplexed. "Do you suspect someone is impersonating me?"
"Alright, alright, that's enough. It's very convincing, you don't need to imitate him anymore." Ji Jue coldly tightened his fingers slightly. "I admit your tone, expressions, and spiritus fluctuations are identical to his. But telling whether you're Xiao An is simple. All you have to do is roll up your pant leg."
Xiao An raised his hand, slowly pulling up the pant leg to reveal the pin on his knee.
Identical to the original.
In the brief silence, Ji Jue finally couldn't help letting out a breath of relief.
"Thank goodness." He finally smiled. "I thought you had been..."
*Bang!*
At that instant, right amidst his smile, Ji Jue struck without hesitation, ruthless and merciless.
Non-Offensive's spiritus manipulation ruthlessly disrupted the spiritus within the opponent's body and locked down the blood flow through the carotid artery. In an instant, his hands contracted, shifting between motion and stillness as he activated the Dissociation Art!
Yet before that, his hands suddenly caught empty air.
The shackles of Non-Offensive were broken.
Even Masterwork Nature failed to hold him, nor did Non-Offensive's spiritus manipulation detect the slightest trace of spiritus in motion. Through pure muscular control alone, relying on vibrations and contractions perfected to the utmost degree, the figure broke free of Ji Jue's hold in an instant, without any startup or telltale sign.
A flicker.
He appeared on the other side of the room.
Only now did the slender youth let out a sigh of wonder.
"Eh? Aside from Old Mister Zhang, not even that Aether named Tong Hua noticed anything." 'Xiao An' turned back, wearing a pleasant smile. "Aren't you being a bit too sharp?"
His appearance was completely identical to before, yet his aura was night and day—sharp as a blade, elusive as a phantom.
Unfathomable.
Merely gazing at him sent cold sweat trickling down Ji Jue's back.
"...Could it be that pure paranoia drove you to attack a friend who trusted you?" 'Xiao An' shook his head, sighing in mock helplessness. "How cruel, Brother Ji."
"Is 'Brother Ji' something you're allowed to call me?!"
Ji Jue pulled the trigger without mercy. Amid deafening blasts, all eight corruption bullets shot forth without reservation. In this narrow room deliberately chosen in advance, there wasn't even space to dodge.
Yet at this moment, the instant the eight scorching bullets left the barrel, every single one vanished.
When 'Xiao An' unfolded his clenched fists, intact bullet heads dropped from between his splayed fingers, clattering onto the floor. Even the quicksilver seals upon them hadn't been triggered.
Completely unscathed.
"Humor my curiosity, won't you?" 'Xiao An' remained smiling, so sweet and gentle. "Could you tell me just where I gave myself away?"
"The reason is simple—" Ji Jue sneered. "Because you didn't damn well memorize my Book of Sacred Words!!!"
Chapter 135