Alliance

On the other side, Yu Xian appeared around a corner of the labyrinth. Leaning against the maze wall, he patted his chest. That had been terrifying. Lauked-Hades was definitely capable of killing him in an instant. Had he been even a second slower, he might already have been humiliatingly knocked offline and forced to quit the game. Wait! Yu Xian narrowed his eyes as a possibility suddenly dawned on him. Could this event have actually been orchestrated by someone just to kill him? After all, how could there be such a coincidence? One event had barely ended before the next one began. If that had always been the norm, that would be one thing, but there hadn't been anything like this in hundreds or thousands of years. The more he thought about it, the more chilling it was. After a moment's thought, Yu Xian decided to play it safe. He summoned a beast, then swapped places with Death Emperor. Having already grasped Yu Xian's intention upon being summoned, Death Emperor tore open the bandages on its body to reveal a pitch-black entrance. Yu Xian immediately slipped inside Death Emperor's body, descending straight into Avici Hell. Upon entering Avici Hell, he used Primal Aegis to form a spatial bubble and closed his eyes within it. Somewhere in the labyrinth, the eyes of a Silver Mirror Ghost King identical in appearance to Yu Xian suddenly came alive. "Let's see what this event is really about," Yu Xian muttered to himself after possessing the Silver Mirror Ghost King. He then procured a mount that looked like a cross between an ox and a horse and began leisurely wandering through the labyrinth. Searching for treasure chests could be left to his summoned beasts; his task now was to uncover the truth. Under normal circumstances, Avici Hell severed all connection with the outside world. Yu Xian staying inside Avici Hell would normally be equivalent to being trapped there forever, unable to live and unable to die. The thing was, Death Emperor had already become the true master of that Avici Hell. It had specifically opened a window for Yu Xian, which was why Yu Xian could use Death Emperor as a medium to indirectly control the Silver Mirror Ghost King. …… With a blast of searing dragon breath, Lauked-Hades instantly vaporized the monsters blocking his path. Looking at the dead-end labyrinth corridor ahead, he snorted sparks from his nostrils, then turned around to head back. He knew he had lost his quarry. Yu Xian could swap places with his summoned beasts, which made him an enormous nuisance. More importantly, Yu Xian had far too many summoned beasts. As long as he scattered them throughout the entire labyrinth, no one could pin him down unless they had enough hands to set up an inescapable dragnet. Emerging from the dead end, he picked a direction to resume his pursuit. Suddenly, he sensed a formidable aura rapidly approaching, so he swiftly shifted from dragon form back into human form. Dragon form was useful, especially against low-tier mobs—it was undoubtedly the ultimate mob clearer. However, against an evenly matched opponent, it became a giant sitting duck; human form offered a much greater advantage. Just then, a green silhouette leapt out from the other side of the labyrinth. Both sides instantly saw each other clearly and confirmed their identities. Lauked-Hades didn't attack. Instead, he said, "I'm looking for Yu Xian. What about you?" "Same," Fathe'aim replied. Fathe'aim knew about Lauked-Hades blockading Fukang City. The enemy of an enemy was a friend, and there was no bad blood between them. Even so, neither lowered their guard. After all, besides killing Yu Xian, there was still the event itself. If either party coveted the treasure chests the other had found, a sneak attack wasn't out of the question. "Why don't we make a pact?" Lauked-Hades proposed after thinking it over. "We form an alliance until we kill Yu Xian. Once Yu Xian is dead, we can focus on the event." Fathe'aim agreed. "Fine with me!" "This is a Bamboo Lord Contract. It establishes an offensive and defensive alliance and forbids attacking each other. Any objections?" Lauked-Hades took out a bamboo scroll and let it unfurl downward, its golden characters glowing brightly. Fathe'aim had seen Bamboo Lord Contracts before. He held out his hand, and Lauked-Hades tossed the scroll to him. Half a minute later, Fathe'aim signed his name and smiled. "A pleasure doing business." "Save it until Yu Xian is dead," Lauked-Hades said. Originally, he had only been blockading the city and held no personal grudge against Yu Xian. But Yu Xian had humiliated him utterly with the Dung Slime, leaving him reeking all over—he had even needed an extremely precious item just to cleanse the stench. If he didn't kill Yu Xian, he would never vent the hatred burning in his chest! Once their alliance was formed, Lauked-Hades shared his intel with Fathe'aim, including the areas he had already searched. When Fathe'aim learned that Yu Xian possessed the ability to swap positions with his summoned beasts, his expression turned grim. His own Class skills were mostly geared toward direct combat: high offense, high defense, lightning speed, and tremendous combat prowess. Beyond that, however, he lacked fancy utility tricks. "If that's the case, I'm afraid we'll need more allies," Fathe'aim said solemnly after some thought. He and Lauked-Hades might not be able to catch Yu Xian on their own, but he was certain there were plenty of other Class users across the Baihe Continent who despised Yu Xian. They had to gather allies now—recruit more people to search for Yu Xian, corner him, and finally butcher him. "Without benefits, I doubt many people will be willing to step up," Lauked-Hades remarked flatly. Fathe'aim gritted his teeth. "I'll put up an Enhancement Lucky Talisman! Whoever kills Yu Xian gets it!" "It seems you've been driven half mad by Yu Xian as well, Fathe'aim," Lauked-Hades said, eyeing him in shock with a trace of pity. He assumed Fathe'aim, like him, had suffered at the hands of Yu Xian's Dung Slime. Fathe'aim said coldly, "Scum like him shouldn't even exist!" The two then discussed their search routes. Based on the clues Lauked-Hades had gathered, they mapped out their search areas to avoid overlapping and wasting time. Just as they finalized their routes, they saw Yu Xian riding on the back of an ox-horse beast, ambling leisurely out of a passage. The moment their eyes met, both sides froze in unison. For a split second, time seemed to stand still as they stared at each other in surprise. Fathe'aim was the first to react. Pushing off the ground with explosive force, he lunged at Yu Xian like a flood dragon. "Wait, hear me out!" Yu Xian hurriedly called out, but before his words had even settled, a fist the size of a clay pot slammed brutally into his face. In an instant, the Silver Mirror Ghost King was knocked back into its true form. It flew backward off the ox-horse beast, slammed against the labyrinth wall, and dissolved into white light. The ox-horse beast then spoke up: "I told you not to be so reckless. Looks like there really is something fishy about this event. Must've been tough work setting all this up just to kill me!" "..." Veins bulged on Fathe'aim's forehead. He hadn't expected this Yu Xian to be a fake. Even less had he expected that this mount could also be controlled by Yu Xian, and could even speak. Yet now, he was in no hurry to strike. Earlier, he had rushed because he feared Yu Xian would teleport away; now, he wasn't rushing because he knew being in a hurry was pointless.