Surrounded.
Zhang Yuanqing's heart clenched, but he maintained a calm facade, his deep gaze sweeping across the contestants to his front, back, left, and right—six players in all.
World Returns to Fire slowly exhaled, massaged his throbbing temples, and smiled faintly. "Gentlemen, let us join forces to eliminate Yuanshi Tianzun. Fifty points—fair game for whoever earns them!"
Tone-Deaf, who had already formed a covert alliance with him, twirled his dark bamboo flute and chimed in, "I have no objections!"
Standing among the emerald vines, Qingsongzi offered a brilliant smile. "In this dungeon, points reign supreme! Whoever holds the highest points gets eliminated. I agree."
Yuan Ting and Zhao Chenghuang remained silent, but their eyes turned toward Yuanshi Tianzun, clearly sharing the sentiment.
Earth God puffed on his cigar, chuckling without a word.
"Oh? You take me for meat on the chopping block, to be carved up as you please?" Zhang Yuanqing scoffed.
"Are you not?" Qingsongzi countered.
As they spoke, Zhao Chenghuang and the others tacitly tightened the encirclement. A clash was imminent.
*If I play all my trump cards, I should be able to escape, but my yin corpse will be left behind. Destroying a yin corpse doesn't break any rules. Aside from Yuan Ting and Earth God, none of these guys harbor any goodwill toward me... Driven by petty jealousy, they wouldn't hesitate to take the chance to wreck my yin corpse. I can't just brute-force my way out; I need to use my head and find a way...*
Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts raced, and an idea swiftly struck him!
This group was far from a unified team. Leaving aside their smaller cliques, players from the Five Elements Alliance and the Taiyi Sect could never truly trust one another.
The only reason they had formed a consensus to gang up on him was that they felt neither pressure nor danger. He had to instill a sense of crisis that would make them guard against each other and fear getting shot in the back by their allies.
With that analysis, the solution became clear: dock their points.
Without a hint of panic, Zhang Yuanqing turned toward Earth God, a smile surfacing on his face. "Old sir, you have to help me."
Earth God held his cigar in his teeth. "Why's that?"
Zhang Yuanqing discreetly spat out Little Doubi, commanding him to strip the yin corpse's trousers, while keeping his outward expression completely neutral. "Look, the strongest person here is Zhao Chenghuang. If a real fight breaks out, I'll definitely be killed by him. When that happens, the fifty points will fall into Taiyi Sect's hands. That won't do. Even if I must die at the hands of one of our own, I can't die by his."
Earth God had been thinking along the same lines. Seizing the convenient excuse, he chuckled and said, "Makes sense!"
With that, he took a step sideways, interposing himself between Zhao Chenghuang and Yuan Ting.
Seeing this, World Returns to Fire immediately said, "Old sir, hold them off. We'll deal with Yuanshi Tianzun as quickly as possible."
In truth, the outcome best suited to his desires was for Zhao Chenghuang to act as the main vanguard to heavily wound Yuanshi Tianzun, after which Earth God and his group would join forces to drive Zhao Chenghuang away and eliminate Yuanshi Tianzun.
In a free-for-all like this, it was inherently a game of driving tigers to devour wolves, exploiting each other. Yet reality rarely unfolded precisely as planned.
Having Earth God keep Zhao Chenghuang in check was also a fine outcome.
At once, Tone-Deaf brought the bamboo flute to his lips, Qingsongzi produced a wooden staff from his inventory, and World Returns to Fire drew a half-meter-long blowtorch, its stock fitted with a small gas canister.
Just as the "bugle call" of battle was about to sound, Zhang Yuanqing abruptly spun around, looked at the vine-bound yin corpse, and roared in fury, "How dare you treat my yin corpse like this?! You're utterly morally bankrupt!"
His voice was urgent and piercingly loud, as if some unspeakable outrage had just been committed against the yin corpse.
*Hm?*
Pure instinct compelled everyone at that instant to turn their gaze toward the yin corpse, or at least dart their eyes in that direction.
Even Earth God turned his head back to look.
At that exact second, Little Doubi followed his master's command and yanked down the yin corpse's trousers.
*What is going on?*
While the six contestants were plunged into total bewilderment, Zhang Yuanqing—who had averted his eyes in advance—threw his head back and hollered at the top of his lungs:
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against World Returns to Fire for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Grounds for report: unlawful conduct!"
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against Qingsongzi for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Grounds for report: unlawful conduct!"
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against Tone-Deaf for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Grounds for report: unlawful conduct!"
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against Yuan Ting for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Grounds for report: unlawful conduct!"
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against Zhao Chenghuang for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Grounds for report: unlawful conduct!"
Amidst the rapid barrage of reports, beneath the firmament, the three-hundred-meter-tall heroic spirit slowly drew his bow and unleashed five consecutive arrows down at the crowd on the ground.
Five dark, heavy arrows streaked across the sky like shooting stars.
[Ding! You have been reported by Yuanshi Tianzun. Report verified. 3 points deducted.]
[Ding! You have been reported by Yuanshi Tianzun...]
[Ding! You have been reported by Yuanshi Tianzun...]
"???"
Hearing the system notifications in their ears, a string of question marks floated through the minds of five contestants, excluding Earth God.
*What just happened?*
*I got reported?*
*Three points, just gone like that?*
*The earlier penalty was Yuanshi Tianzun testing the reporting mechanics—and this was the rule he uncovered?!* Zhao Chenghuang's eyes flashed as realization struck him instantly. He seized Yuan Ting's yin corpse and hurled it violently into the center of the crowd.
Midway through the throw, Zhao Chenghuang forcefully tore off the yin corpse's pants.
*Whatever Yuanshi Tianzun can do, I can do too.*
Zhao Chenghuang was exceptionally sharp; he immediately realized this was an opportunity—an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Five Elements Alliance contestants in one fell swoop.
*Thud!*
The yin corpse, its lower half completely bare, landed right among the dazed crowd.
*Dammit!* Everyone snapped their heads away in unison.
Yet it was too late.
Zhao Chenghuang looked up at the sky and raised his voice with cool composure:
"I, Zhao Chenghuang, submit a verified report against Yuanshi Tianzun for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Grounds for report: unlawful conduct!"
"I, Zhao Chenghuang, submit a verified report against World Returns to Fire..."
Amidst the string of verified reports, the heroic spirit beneath the firmament drew his bow once more and loosed five arrows downward.
Immediately after, everyone except Yuan Ting received the Spirit Realm's notification chime.
*Learning on the fly, are we...* Zhang Yuanqing's expression shifted slightly.
"Fuck—" World Returns to Fire, being a Fire Master after all, couldn't hold it in and blurted an expletive. But an instant later, his face twitched as he hastily added, "...the grass is really green!"
World Returns to Fire had suddenly realized that if merely looking at someone's private parts could be reported, foul language carried a very high probability of being reported as well.
Qingsongzi and Tone-Deaf retreated repeatedly, their faces pale and livid, stripped of any sense of security.
In a single minute, they had lost six points, leaving them with only four. And Zhao Chenghuang still had a yin corpse beside him.
Zhao Chenghuang rested his hand on the level-4 yin corpse's shoulder and remarked calmly, "A fine trick, Yuanshi Tianzun. I suppose I should thank you!"
"Save your thanks until after I report you," Zhang Yuanqing sneered, tilting his head back to shout, "I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against Zhao Chenghuang for stripping a yin corpse's trousers! Grounds for report: indecent assault!"
The moment Zhang Yuanqing shouted out the words "submit a verified report," World Returns to Fire, Qingsongzi, and the others collectively lowered their heads and backed away like startled birds.
[Ding! You have been reported by Yuanshi Tianzun...]
Hearing the chime confirming the report, Zhao Chenghuang's expression darkened instantly.
He immediately retaliated in kind, reporting Yuanshi Tianzun on the exact same charge. The report succeeded, but Zhao Chenghuang felt no joy whatsoever, for he had only four points left.
Yuanshi Tianzun, on the other hand, had started with fifty points. Barring any surprises, he still possessed forty-one.
*They're panicking, and they no longer trust each other...* Seeing the besiegers looking wary and deeply insecure, Zhang Yuanqing knew his window had arrived. Clamping both hands onto his waistband, he projected his voice:
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report—"
Before finishing his sentence, his hands violently yanked downward.
All six contestants on the scene ducked their heads, wrenched their gazes away, and scrambled backward in retreat.
Having feigned the act of dropping his pants, Zhang Yuanqing's figure faded into thin air. A split second later, he reappeared beside Corpse No. 1, slashing with the Bloodthirsty Blade to easily sever the tough vines binding it.
*Wuuu—*
Realizing they had been duped, Tone-Deaf immediately played his bamboo flute. A shrill, sorrowful sonic wave pierced their minds like steel needles, lashing their very souls.
Under the indiscriminate attack, everyone present clutched their heads in agony.
Zhang Yuanqing's slashing motions slowed down.
Almost simultaneously, Qingsongzi, who was closest, twisted his face in a grimace and endured the throbbing headache to swing his wooden staff.
*Crack!*
The staff caught the wind and transformed into a thorny vine, whipping across Yuanshi Tianzun's back. It tore through cloth and carved a bloody welt into his flesh.
This item was called the "Ruyi Staff." It could alter its form at will, each shape possessing different effects: in staff form, strikes caused a stun effect, while in whip form, strikes inflicted bleeding. Adaptable for both ranged and melee combat, it suited the nimble Wood Demons perfectly.
Even among Transcendent stage items, it was considered a top-tier piece.
The sharp pain caused Zhang Yuanqing's scalp to tingle, but it actually snapped him out of the flute's disorienting grip. His thoughts cleared, and without further hesitation, he rapidly sliced through the final strands of vine, seized the yin corpse, entered Night Walk, and vanished completely from their sights.
Without a Scout providing true vision through Insight, other classes found it exceedingly difficult to detect the minute traces indicating where a Night Wanderer had gone.
Zhao Chenghuang and the others, who had intended to close in, could only watch in frustration as Yuanshi Tianzun escaped.
"You..."
Tone-Deaf, both startled and infuriated, glared at Qingsongzi from afar.
He had not anticipated that this fool would act so recklessly. That strike had done nothing of substance beyond dealing Yuanshi Tianzun a minor wound; if anything, it had jarred him awake.
Had it been any other opponent, Tone-Deaf would have acted personally, sending a Music Thrall to strike.
Yet Yuanshi Tianzun was a Night Wanderer. His Music Thralls could suppress enemies from afar with their songs, but in close quarters, a Night Wanderer would likely devour them whole with no hope of return.
Hence, playing the flute was meant to delay Yuanshi Tianzun's rescue of the yin corpse so their allies could intercept him.
Only for Qingsongzi's whip to bungle everything.
With the prey having escaped the trap and fled into the deep mountains, the hunters stared at each other, hostility and suspicion quietly brewing between them.
Who would be the next prey?
After a silence of two or three seconds, all of them executed a single action in unspoken, simultaneous unison—
They clamped their hands over their waistbands.
They stared at one another with razor-sharp gazes and resolute expressions, carrying a solemn trace of mutual-destruction readiness.
"Disperse, disperse. None of us have many points left anyway; there's no fight to be had here," Earth God said, waving his hand as if shooing flies. "Disperse, disperse."
World Returns to Fire, Qingsongzi, Tone-Deaf, and Yuan Ting kept their hands firmly on their waistbands as they slowly backed away, like ancient samurai resting their palms on the pommels of their swords.
Zhao Chenghuang gripped his yin corpse by the shoulder and retreated as well.
Once they had opened sufficient distance, each party turned and sped off in different directions as fast as they could.
Yuan Ting was followed by his pantless yin corpse.
***
In the arena, the atmosphere turned somewhat stiff.
The spectators stared at the star contestants inching backward while clutching their waistbands, their minds buzzing. *Stripping a yin corpse to expose it? Grabbing waistbands as a standoff deterrent?*
*How could contestants do such things? Aren't they celebrity talents? Don't they care about their dignity?*
*This isn't the battle everyone came to see!*
*How did the tone derail so preposterously?*
It inevitably brought to mind an old meme: *Is this a distortion of human nature, or a collapse of moral values?* The joke was dated, but here it fit like a glove.
At the Elders' bench, the seven or eight Elders present fell completely silent.
Among them, a Taiyi Sect Elder surnamed Zhao had his temple twitching uncontrollably, veins bulging across his forehead.
In the twenty years since the arena tournament's inception, never had there been a battle so humiliating to the sect's honor. If word of this spread, where would the official faction hide its face?
"This Yuanshi Tianzun..."
One Elder let out a heavy sigh.
***
"Zhao Chenghuang, World Returns to Fire, Tone-Deaf, and Qingsongzi each have four points left. Earth God and Yuan Ting have seven points, and Sun Miaomiao still has ten..."
Amidst a stretch of ruins, Zhang Yuanqing sat against a wall, calculating his enemies' points.
*Given the current situation, there are two possible paths forward. First: those with fewer points will covet those with more, while those with more will distrust those with fewer. At the same time, because everyone's score has dropped below the safety threshold, all of them are on edge. Their alliances are no longer solid, which will lead to assassinations and infighting to plunder points. This outcome is the most advantageous to me.*
*Second: to counter the breakdown of trust, those with a broader strategic perspective will do everything they can to cement alliances. The most suitable and effective method is to leverage external interests outside the match.*
After all, this was a tournament, not a genuine Spirit Realm life-or-death mission.
Losing wouldn't result in death; at worst, one's ranking would drop and rewards would diminish.
Therefore, offering external benefits was an effective way to rebuild trust among allies.
*Forming alliances and playing factions against each other is part of the dungeon's design; it doesn't violate any rules. In that case, I should also make reasonable use of external benefits to divide my foes and win over allies. The ones closest to me are Earth God and Yuan Ting. But I know nothing about the old man's temperament or preferences. In contrast, I know Yuan Ting's preferences all too well.*
Zhang Yuanqing hit upon a plan at once: trade confidential gossip for Yuan Ting's support.
For example, how a female pup in Elder Gou's Zoo had mysteriously become pregnant; how Chi Yue'an, during his time in the Zhu family, had witnessed his wife frolicking with multiple male favorites in bed; the secrets behind the Chu family's annihilation; the women the Demon Lord had slept with over the years; or how Young Master Fu had been bullied by the Fu family sisters in his youth.
He knew far too many secrets.
***
Inside a relatively intact, crumbling building, Tone-Deaf, Qingsongzi, and World Returns to Fire each occupied a corner of the room.
They did not trust one another, maintaining a cautious guard, yet they craved an alliance.
World Returns to Fire said in a heavy voice, "We all have four points left, which means we can withstand two reports. If Yuanshi Tianzun and Zhao Chenghuang pull those vulgar, underhanded tricks again, we'll undoubtedly lose. Therefore, we must unite."
Qingsongzi said coolly, "Unite how? What is our basis for trust?"
World Returns to Fire smiled. "There's no need to be so guarded. This is just a match, not a deathmatch arena. Our conversation is being watched by the Elders, Deacons, and so many of our colleagues. They are our witnesses.
"We're all figures with reputations to uphold, right? I can solemnly promise that once the tournament concludes, regardless of how the three of us rank, we will split the rewards equally. The Elders and colleagues watching outside can attest to this."
This was different from in-game scheming. Since World Returns to Fire had staked his reputation and invoked the Elders, Deacons, and colleagues as witnesses, he could not go back on his word.
Qingsongzi's demeanor immediately softened. "What do you plan to do?"
World Returns to Fire replied, "Right now, what we need to consider is whom to target.
"My thought is: if Yuanshi Tianzun is still operating as a lone wolf, we'll try to win him over and focus entirely on the three from the Taiyi Sect. If Earth God and Yuanshi Tianzun have allied, we'll sit back and watch the tigers fight.
"Our tactics will need to be a bit more shameless. None of us have many points left; we can't afford to be reckless anymore."
Once his two companions nodded, World Returns to Fire continued, "Furthermore, Yuan Ting looked at his own yin corpse's private parts earlier, yet Zhao Chenghuang didn't report him. I think we need to test a rule: can reports be retroactively filed?
"If they can be retroactive, we can report Yuan Ting right now, and then report Yuanshi Tianzun, because he cursed when he fought us for the cuirass."
Tone-Deaf nodded. "I heard it too. But we don't have spare points to test the rules."
A failed report would seal the reporting feature for thirty minutes and deduct one point.
Currently, they had four points each, theoretically enough to endure two reports. But if a failed report cost one of them a point, a single subsequent report against that person would spell game over.
World Returns to Fire pondered for a moment before sighing. "I'll do it!"
If he wanted to be the leader of this team, he had to make the sacrifice.
Immediately, World Returns to Fire raised his head and shouted aloud, "I, World Returns to Fire, submit a verified report—"
[Ding! Report verified.]
World Returns to Fire was overjoyed. "It worked!"
***
"I, Yuanshi Tianzun, submit a verified report against Yuanshi Tianzun for using foul language! Grounds for report: moral misconduct!"
Back in the ruins, Zhang Yuanqing lifted his head and shouted his report.
[Ding! Report verified.]
[Ding! You have been reported by Yuanshi Tianzun. Report verified. 3 points deducted.]
"It really can be retroactive. As long as the act occurred in the dungeon, it can be reported at any time... This rule is great. If I report Earth God for cursing right now, it's bound to hit every single time."
Zhang Yuanqing had figured out yet another rule.
***
Inside the dilapidated building.
Hearing the confirmation, Qingsongzi urged, "Then what are you waiting for? Report Yuanshi Tianzun immediately!"
Chapter 202