"Kid, throw me the blade!"
Straddling Tone-Deaf, Earth God hammered his fists down with dull thuds, but every blow was deflected by the barrier of light projected from the cuirass.
Though Tone-Deaf grimaced in agony on the ground, his vitals remained unscathed.
His two musical slaves had failed to wrest control of Earth God's body and were firmly suppressed within the old man.
Transcendent-stage Earth Monsters had three defining traits: defense, earth manipulation, and tenacity.
Possession by spirit bodies could only influence an Earth Monster temporarily; it could never overpower a body of such extraordinary resilience.
Zhang Yuanqing strode quickly over to the narrow-bladed saber, bent down to pick it up, and shouted, "Catch!"
The dark iron saber whistled through the air toward Earth God, spinning with a heavy, muffled hum.
Earth God reached out, catching the weapon cleanly. Kneeling on Tone-Deaf's chest with both hands gripping the hilt, he drove the blade downward.
No matter how Earth God had pounded on it before, the energy barrier had only rippled with faint pulses of light. Now, the instant the saber's tip pressed into it, hurried waves of ripples spread across its surface.
Though aged, Earth God was powerfully built. The muscles of his arms swelled against his sleeves, dark veins bulging on the backs of his hands as he silently exerted his full might.
Beneath the tip of the blade, the ripples churned with increasing frenzy.
Tone-Deaf's face twisted with terror. Panic finally gripped him. No matter how battered he had been earlier, the cuirass had kept him completely safe; the energy barrier hovering a centimeter above the breastplate had felt indestructible.
Yet now, it looked ready to shatter at any second.
Qingsongzi and World Returns to Fire were already eliminated. If he went down too, their small team would be wiped out entirely, leaving them with nothing but a few hundred thousand in prize money.
To be sure, that sum was not small, but compared to the lavish rewards for the top three, a few hundred thousand was practically an insult.
A sharp pang shot through Tone-Deaf's chest. Horrified, he looked down to see that the saber's tip had already pierced into the breastplate. The protective light barrier stretched taut like plastic wrap under a sharp point, on the verge of puncturing.
*It's over...* Tone-Deaf sank into total despair, abandoning all hope.
Suddenly, a shrill, agonizing scream pierced the air from the distance. Everyone in the arena turned toward the sound. The cry came from Sun Miaomiao; behind her, the ghostly woman in the nightgown had erupted in black flames across her translucent form.
Damage sustained by a spirit body fed directly back into its master's soul.
*Sun Miaomiao can't hold out?* Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank, and he immediately whipped his head toward Zhao Chenghuang's position.
Zhao Chenghuang stood holding a yellow paper talisman between his fingertips. The black flames burned quietly—smokeless, odorless, devoid of heat, yet radiating a bone-chilling cold.
"A Spirit-Slaying Talisman!" Sun Miaomiao's expression shifted slightly. "You can even draw that..."
Gritting her teeth, she bit the tip of her tongue and spat a spray of blood toward the female ghost.
*Sizzle...*
The moment the blood mist struck the black flames, dense plumes of phantom black vapor billowed up, and the fire died out.
Sun Miaomiao's delicate face twitched from the lingering agony.
"Using a Spirit-Slaying Talisman just to break your ghost wall is a waste," Zhao Chenghuang remarked indifferently.
As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward the battlefield, pausing briefly on Yuanshi Tianzun before shifting to the stalemate between Earth God and Tone-Deaf.
Dropping the yellow talisman, Zhao Chenghuang gave a sharp snap of his fingers. "Go!"
The Level 4 yin corpse behind him shot forward like a cheetah, vaulting over earthen ramparts and leaping past piles of rubble. Turning into a dark blur barely visible to the naked eye, it charged straight for Earth God.
*Controlling a yin corpse takes only a thought, yet you have to snap your fingers just to show off...* Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers with a loud *crack*, directing Corpse No. 1 to intercept.
Tone-Deaf was on the verge of elimination; he could not allow Zhao Chenghuang to save him.
Corpse No. 1 charged in like a rampaging off-road truck, cutting in from the flank. The two yin corpses collided with a deafening boom, flesh crashing against flesh with the force of two colossal boulders slamming together.
The Level 4 yin corpse stumbled backward, while Corpse No. 1 was sent flying, crashing messily into a heap of ruins.
Zhang Yuanqing was taken aback.
Corpse No. 1 had been crafted from the body of a Bewitching Demon and enhanced with an Earth Monster gemstone for added bulk, possessing both the savagery of a Bewitching Demon and the defense of an Earth Monster.
Yet before this Saint-stage yin corpse, it was completely outmatched.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately unlocked the second form of the Red Dancing Shoes, commanding them to hunt down the yin corpse. At the same time, he drew his Explosive Pistol, sprinting forward while pulling the trigger.
After Qingsongzi was eliminated, the Red Dancing Shoes had lost their target. To prevent them from demanding an awkward dance at a critical juncture, Zhang Yuanqing exploited an oversight: by switching to their second form and wearing them, he kept them in an active combat state.
This postponed the shoes' negative toll.
*Tap, tap, tap...*
The Red Dancing Shoes moved with rapid, rhythmic steps, catching up to the Level 4 yin corpse and delivering heavy, crushing stomps. Simultaneously, the dark-red tracer rounds from the Explosive Pistol struck the yin corpse's knees, skull, and joints, successfully checking its advance.
"Sun Miaomiao, hold off Zhao Chenghuang! Buy us some time!" Zhang Yuanqing yelled over his shoulder.
Sun Miaomiao ground her teeth, ink-black energy swirling in her eyes. The dark-gowned female ghost behind her lightly exhaled a breath of yin energy toward Zhao Chenghuang and Yuan Ting.
Once again, she cast her ghost wall to confound her two sect brothers.
Yet in that instant, Zhao Chenghuang's body shattered like an illusion, leaving only Yuan Ting looking around in bewilderment.
Zhao Chenghuang had deceived Sun Miaomiao with an illusion, while his true body had long slipped away into stealth.
*Not good!* Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat. He instantly looked toward Earth God.
The moment Earth God entered his sight, Zhao Chenghuang's proud, cold figure appeared behind the old man, silent as a wraith. Sinking his hips and dropping into a deep stance, Zhao Chenghuang pulled his right arm back, fist encased in an armguard, drawing it like a heavy war bow.
*Boom!*
With a roar like a collapsing mountain, Earth God was sent hurtling through the air like a runaway car, smashing through mud walls before crashing into a dilapidated building.
The building collapsed in a thunderous roar, sending up a massive cloud of dust.
Zhao Chenghuang glanced at Tone-Deaf beneath his feet and said coldly, "Now, back me up with your flute. This item will protect your spirit body from being polluted by spirit servants or Yuanshi Tianzun's items."
With that, he tossed down a bone blade.
Tone-Deaf snatched up the blade and quickly skimmed its attributes. The item possessed three abilities: Armor Break, Spirit Slay, and Soul Summon.
Following the instructions in the item description, Tone-Deaf eagerly slashed his own wrist. As the bone blade drank his blood, an ethereal, swaying phantom emerged and merged into his body.
Instantly, he felt his spirit body cloaked in an outer shell, as though his soul had donned a suit of armor.
In the distance, Sun Miaomiao let out a furious screech, spewing stream after stream of black smoke from her mouth. Every wisp was a spirit servant—seven or eight in total—entwining and twisting together into an ethereal whip radiating dense black vapor.
The moment this whip materialized, every Spirit Realm walker present felt an involuntary shudder strike their soul, an inexplicable terror washing over them.
This fear did not stem from the mind, but from the depths of the soul.
The soul itself trembled before that whip.
Sun Miaomiao was different from Zhao Chenghuang. While he specialized in corpse refinement and an extraordinary mastery over Taiyin power, Sun Miaomiao excelled at commanding spirit servants.
This technique, the God-Striking Whip, was a supreme art created by Elder Sun and passed down solely to his beloved granddaughter. It was the very foundation of Sun Miaomiao's third-place ranking.
Trailing the ethereal whip, Sun Miaomiao sprinted forward and lashed it out with all her might toward Zhao Chenghuang and Tone-Deaf.
*Whoosh...*
Yin winds howled around them, accompanied by the eerie wails of vengeful ghosts.
Zhao Chenghuang and Tone-Deaf leaped apart in tacit coordination. Zhao Chenghuang's expression in particular grew wary and solemn, clearly aware of just how terrifying that whip was.
Even when facing Earth God, Zhao Chenghuang had never displayed such vigilance or treated an attack like a venomous serpent to be avoided at all costs.
*I can feel it... One strike from that whip would shatter a soul. Is this Sun Miaomiao's trump card? Wait, yin corpses have spirit bodies too!* Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. Seizing the opportunity, he triggered the imprint in his sea of consciousness, sinking his mind into it to take direct control of Corpse No. 1.
*Crash!*
Corpse No. 1 burst from the rubble. Flanked by the Red Dancing Shoes, it wrapped its arms around the Level 4 yin corpse's waist.
The Level 4 yin corpse snarled, raining punches and knee strikes upon the foe pinned beneath it.
At this moment, the downside of a yin corpse's limited intellect became painfully clear. Its orders were simply to fight; whenever an enemy appeared, it merely lashed out on instinct.
Corpse No. 1 opened its mouth and spoke with human speech: "Sun Miaomiao, hit here!"
Sun Miaomiao understood instantly. With a flick of her wrist, the ethereal whip swept across, lashing violently across the Level 4 yin corpse.
The Level 4 yin corpse stiffened abruptly, its brutal assault grinding to a halt. It stood dumbly in place, the ferocious light in its pupils rapidly fading.
The yin corpse's spirit body had suffered a devastating blow, temporarily robbing it of vigor.
Zhang Yuanqing snapped his consciousness back to his physical body. Summoning the Silencer Mask from his inventory, he activated Night Wander and rushed toward the Level 4 yin corpse.
He intended to seal Zhao Chenghuang's yin corpse while it was incapacitated.
Just then, a mournful, piercing flute tune rang out, driving an agonizing pain into his skull like steel needles piercing through bone.
Clutching his head, Zhang Yuanqing was knocked out of Night Wander, the blood vessels in his temples throbbing violently.
On the other side, Zhao Chenghuang, his forehead veins bulging as he endured the pain, triggered the imprint in his sea of consciousness and split his mind in two.
Sparks of spiritual light erupted in the Level 4 yin corpse's eyes as Zhao Chenghuang took possession of its body.
The yin corpse spoke in a grating, raspy voice: "Yuanshi Tianzun, you are strong—stronger than I expected. I thought you would make top eight at best; I never imagined you were holding back. But you cannot beat me, not even with Sun Miaomiao on your side."
Even as he spoke, his movements never ceased. His right arm shot out like lightning, grabbing Corpse No. 1 by the throat, and his fingers clamped down with ferocious strength.
*Crack!*
A halo of ochre light burst across Corpse No. 1's surface as the defensive barrier it had built up over so long was crushed by brute force.
The physique of a Saint-stage Fire Master, even without using active skills, could completely overwhelm a Transcendent-stage yin corpse through sheer strength and speed alone.
The gap between Level 3 and Level 4 was not merely one level; it was an entire major realm.
Hurling Corpse No. 1 toward Yuanshi Tianzun, the yin corpse kicked off the ground, vaulting several meters to pounce on its target.
Zhang Yuanqing paid no mind to the thick-skinned Corpse No. 1. Anticipating the attack, he dodged to the side, donning the Thug Gloves, and drove a punch like an artillery shell straight toward the Level 4 yin corpse's face.
*Bang!*
"Zhao Chenghuang" halted and raised an elbow, intercepting the incoming fist with pinpoint accuracy.
Amid a sharp snap, Zhang Yuanqing heard his own knuckles fracture.
The mournful, piercing flute melody continued without pause. The relentless sonic assault prevented any Night Wanderer present from entering Night Wander.
Both initiating an attack and taking a hit would disrupt the stealth state.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Explosive punches echoed in Zhang Yuanqing's ears as fists, elbows, kicks, and knees clashed. "Zhao Chenghuang" held off both Corpse No. 1 and Yuanshi Tianzun single-handedly, relying on his Level 4 physique to tank the trampling strikes of the Red Dancing Shoes.
Zhang Yuanqing was nearly struck several times, barely staying in the fight through Scout-level predictive instincts and Fire Master agility.
*Tone-Deaf's flute is insufferable... Both he and Zhao Chenghuang only have three points left. If Yuan Ting files a report, he could eliminate them both on the spot...* While parrying, Zhang Yuanqing glanced into the distance.
Yuan Ting remained trapped in the ghost wall, rushing left and right, dashing forward and backward in complete confusion.
*Now is not the right time to report...* Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to bide his time.
Yuan Ting was thoroughly pinned down by Sun Miaomiao, and Zhang Yuanqing could hardly shout to her, *That guy is on our side, let him go!*
If he did, Yuan Ting would never get the chance to backstab Zhao Chenghuang.
Though all three were Level 3 Night Wanderers, Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang completely outclassed Yuan Ting when it came to assets like spirit servants and yin corpses.
Such was the difference between a commoner and the scion of a prominent spirit family.
Nearby, Sun Miaomiao pressed one hand to her head against the splitting headache while cracking her whip with the other, lashing toward Tone-Deaf and Zhao Chenghuang's true body.
Yet her strikes missed again and again.
Zhang Yuanqing roared, "Old man, are you awake yet?!"
"Awake, awake!" Amid the clatter of shattered bricks and tiles, Earth God crawled out from the ruins, rolling his neck and stretching his back as he cursed, "That Zhao kid has no manners, ambushing an old man like that! Nearly knocked my brains out!"
As he grumbled, he gripped the narrow-bladed saber and charged forward.
Seeing this, Zhao Chenghuang's aura shifted. His skin turned an ashen blue-black, bulging with dark vessels, while his eyes became bloodshot and his fingernails lengthened into sharp, blackened talons.
With his aura surging, he lunged forward, crossing both fists firmly before his chest.
*Boom!*
The narrow-bladed saber slashed into the armguards with the force of an explosion, pulverizing the surrounding dirt and tiles and scattering them outward.
Aided by Tone-Deaf's flute and bolstered by his armguards, Zhao Chenghuang fought in an explosive berserk state, splitting his attention to battle on two fronts without giving an inch.
As Zhang Yuanqing grappled with the yin corpse, he reviewed the traits of his various items:
*The gloves' explosive effect is useless against a Saint-stage Fire Master; aside from boosting my agility, they can't deal meaningful damage. The Explosive Pistol is the same. The straw doll could shatter Zhao Chenghuang's sanity, but he handed Tone-Deaf an item to protect spirit bodies so casually, which means he definitely has similar defenses himself...*
*Deploying the Yinyang Robe would make me invincible, but flames can't hurt a yin corpse, and water won't help either—a yin corpse is dead and doesn't need to breathe. The Red Dancing Shoes don't hit hard enough; they can assist, but they can't turn the tide. The best way to deal with this yin corpse is like Jiang Jingwei did—break its limbs. But if I had that kind of combat power, I wouldn't need items in the first place...*
*Should I pop an explosive burst pill? No, I only have enough for one use. If I use it in the second round, I won't stand a chance in the final battle. I have to find another way first; I'll only stake my life on the pill if all else fails...*
After turning the options over in his mind, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly realized: *Why am I butting heads with Zhao Chenghuang?*
*As long as we take out Tone-Deaf, the support, Sun Miaomiao and I will recover our strength. Then, joining forces with Earth God, how could we possibly lose to him?*
*Besides, I still have Yuan Ting as an undercover agent.*
With that thought, he pulled back from the melee, leaving the Red Dancing Shoes and Corpse No. 1 to tie down "Zhao Chenghuang," and sprinted toward Earth God. "Old man, give me the helmet! I'll go slaughter Tone-Deaf!"
With the helmet, he could ignore the sonic attacks and enter Night Wander, making short work of a Musician.
That cuirass had already been battered by Earth God; Zhang Yuanqing had plenty of ways to bypass its defenses—the Bloodthirsty Blade, the Yinyang Robe's array, or simply subduing Tone-Deaf, snatching the flute, and slapping the Silencer Mask on him.
The assassination had to be carried out by him. Earth God was an Earth Monster lacking stealth skills; to reach Tone-Deaf, he would never get past Zhao Chenghuang.
As a seasoned veteran, Earth God caught on immediately.
Slashing Zhao Chenghuang back, he pulled off the helmet and tossed it to the ground.
The soil opened up, swallowing the helmet in one gulp. Then, the earth swelled beside Zhang Yuanqing's feet, pushing the helmet back out.
This neatly prevented the enemy from intercepting or snatching it away.
Zhang Yuanqing scooped up the helmet and donned it. Instantly, his mind cleared. The soul-rending ache vanished. The flute's tune remained mournful, but it could no longer affect him.
Without hesitation, he activated Night Wander.
Seeing this, Tone-Deaf's eyes narrowed, and he scrambled toward Zhao Chenghuang.
Earth God stamped his foot. "Rise!"
The ground beneath Tone-Deaf surged, sending up an earthen wall that cut him off from Zhao Chenghuang.
Zhang Yuanqing materialized right in front of Tone-Deaf, gripping the Bloodthirsty Blade with both hands and plunging it into the cracks in the cuirass.
The dimming energy barrier caved inward, violently shuddering before finally disintegrating into motes of pure light.
The Bloodthirsty Blade pierced the cuirass, driving into Tone-Deaf's chest.
Tone-Deaf could no longer keep playing, and the flute music abruptly died.
A Musician unskilled in close combat, whose abilities were hard-countered by the helmet, was as helpless as a child before Zhang Yuanqing.
Yet the cuirass still provided substantial physical protection. The Bloodthirsty Blade was not long enough to pierce his heart and send him out of the instance.
Zhang Yuanqing kicked Tone-Deaf to the ground, stomped on his chest, and raised the blade to finish him off. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Sun Miaomiao appearing behind Earth God on the other side of the earthen wall, her arm snapping forward as she lashed out with the ethereal whip.
*Waaah...*
Amid the wails of ghosts, Earth God stiffened, his face twisting in pain as his eyes lost focus.
Sun Miaomiao did not stop, cracking the whip a second time.
Earth God stood frozen in place, eyes blank.
Though he possessed unmatched defense at the Transcendent stage, Sun Miaomiao's whip struck at the soul, completely bypassing the physical plane.
Watching this unfold, Zhang Yuanqing's pupils shrank violently. Without thinking, he hurled the Bloodthirsty Blade toward Sun Miaomiao.
Abandoning Tone-Deaf, he dashed toward Earth God to save him.
From the side, a figure lunged forward—Zhao Chenghuang's yin corpse. Just as Corpse No. 1 had intercepted it earlier, it now cut off Zhang Yuanqing.
*Bang!* Zhang Yuanqing was knocked flying.
Midair, he saw Zhao Chenghuang drop his hips and pull back both fists to his waist.
*Hum!*
Propelled by shockwaves, his fists slammed heavily into the dazed Earth God's chest.
Earth God was hurled into the distant ruins, lying motionless.
A second later, his body vanished from the instance.
He had not died at Zhao Chenghuang's hands; his spirit body had been shattered by Sun Miaomiao's whip, eliminating him from the match.
Zhang Yuanqing hit the ground, bounced back up, and melted into Night Wander, reappearing only after fleeing a great distance.
With a dark scowl, he stared at Sun Miaomiao. "You played me?"
Sun Miaomiao stuck out her tongue and giggled playfully. "Sorry, sorry!"
Zhao Chenghuang said indifferently, "Yuanshi Tianzun, you've lost. I told you, you cannot defeat me."
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuanqing looked between the two and asked, "When did you ally? Was this all planned from the start?"
Zhao Chenghuang curled his lips into a smirk. "From the moment you exploited the reporting rules to drain everyone's points, I knew we couldn't beat you at gaming the system. World Returns to Fire and the others surely thought the same. The logical move was to ally with you to eliminate the Taiyi Sect contenders first.
"So I sent a spirit servant to Sun Miaomiao, asking her to feign an alliance with you. By playing on your desire to win, she infiltrated your side, and you took the bait."
Zhang Yuanqing looked at Sun Miaomiao and said in a heavy voice, "So your fondness for spirit servants was an act?"
Zhao Chenghuang answered for her: "Sun Miaomiao truly loves little spirit servants; that comes from the heart. You saw it too, didn't you? Otherwise, why would you agree to ally with her? As long as you wanted to win, you wouldn't pass up the opportunity. Whether you trusted her or not was irrelevant—that was only step one."
Sun Miaomiao smiled. "Yuanshi Tianzun, I did ask you, you know. I asked twice if you'd trade with me, and you refused both times. If you'd agreed, I definitely would have helped you take down Zhao Chenghuang, cross my heart.
"Did you really think an empty promise could turn me against my own sect brother? I'm not an idiot. What Zhao Chenghuang offered was far more tempting than your pie-in-the-sky promises."
Ignoring her, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "What was step two?"
Zhao Chenghuang replied, "Step two was having Sun Miaomiao urge you to ally with Earth God, driving a wedge between the Five Elements Alliance contenders. Then I stepped in to propose an alliance with World Returns to Fire, which he couldn't refuse."
Zhang Yuanqing fell silent for a moment before saying, "So earlier, you two were putting on a show, pretending to be trapped in the ghost wall to let us tear each other apart while you reaped the spoils?"
Zhao Chenghuang nodded. "I didn't expect you to hide your strength and take out Qingsongzi so easily. Sun Miaomiao had to pretend I broke through her illusion so I could join the fray and protect Tone-Deaf. By the way, Tone-Deaf served another purpose: forcing you to borrow the helmet from Earth God."
*No wonder this woman was slacking off the entire time. Her moves looked flashy, but she didn't accomplish a thing...* Realization dawned upon Zhang Yuanqing.
"You lent him that item to shut down my spirit servants and pollution effects, all to guide me into borrowing the helmet."
Pleased with what he considered his masterstroke, Zhao Chenghuang laughed. "Earth God's defense was too strong, and with the helmet guarding his spirit body, taking him down would have been too difficult. That's why Sun Miaomiao bided her time, waiting for the perfect opportunity."
"Impressive, truly impressive!" Zhang Yuanqing sighed. Looking toward Yuan Ting in the distance, he asked, "Then why did you keep Yuan Ting trapped?"
Sun Miaomiao grinned. "If I didn't trap him, I'd have had to fight him. But he's so weak that a single lash of my whip would kill him. To keep you from realizing I was holding back, I had to keep him out of the way."
With that, she picked up a pebble and flicked it toward Yuan Ting.
The illusion shattered instantly.
Yuan Ting looked around in bewilderment, then dashed over with his yin corpse in tow, asking in shock, "Where's Earth God?"
Sun Miaomiao giggled. "We took care of him. Zhao Chenghuang and I set up a trap together."
She briefly summarized the plot.
Yuan Ting's expression turned complicated. As if recalling something, he looked at Zhao Chenghuang and said, "So when you sent that spirit servant out back then, it was secretly to ally with Miaomiao..."
He was referring to the spirit servant that could siphon vital essence. When it returned, Zhao Chenghuang had claimed he sent it to scout the perimeter.
Zhao Chenghuang gave a slight nod. "The fewer people who knew the plan, the better. That's why I didn't tell you."
The fact that he bothered to explain was already giving Yuan Ting plenty of face.
Nearby, Tone-Deaf stared at them, dumbfounded, feeling like an utter fool.
Zhao Chenghuang bent down to pick up the narrow-bladed saber. "We've said all that needs to be said. Yuanshi Tianzun, it's time for you to leave the instance."
Sun Miaomiao gripped her ethereal whip, poised to strike.
Just then, Yuan Ting spoke up, halting their advance. "Actually, I have something to say too."
Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang turned to him. With blinding speed, Yuan Ting violently yanked off the jacket tied around his yin corpse's waist.
"?!"
Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang froze, their eyes blank with shock. Neither had expected such a move.
"I'm sorry," Yuan Ting said gravely. "Yuanshi Tianzun made an offer I couldn't refuse."
With that, he tilted his head back and bellowed to the sky:
"I report Zhao Chenghuang for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Reason: breaking the law!"
Beneath the gloomy heavens, the hundred-zhang heroic spirit drew a massive bow and loosed an arrow toward Zhao Chenghuang.
Both Sun Miaomiao's and Zhao Chenghuang's expressions darkened.
Zhao Chenghuang had only three points left; this report was meant to be a fatal strike.
The arrow plummeted from the sky and pierced Zhao Chenghuang.
Then, an unexpected sight unfolded. Zhao Chenghuang took the arrow calmly, utterly unaffected.
Yuan Ting's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's impossible..."
He had only three points left—how could he be fine?!
Just then, Yuan Ting noticed Tone-Deaf's body slowly disintegrating nearby, dissolving into specks of light.
*What happened?* Having been trapped in the ghost wall the entire time, Yuan Ting was completely in the dark, caught between shock and confusion.
Zhang Yuanqing raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Dumb luck!"
Zhao Chenghuang broke into a smile. "This is called planning ahead. I originally intended to use the Soul-Summoning Bone Blade to eliminate Tone-Deaf after dealing with you and Earth God. I didn't expect it to come in handy right now. Yuanshi Tianzun, this is what they call destiny."
The vengeful spirit within the bone blade had killed Tone-Deaf.
The moment Tone-Deaf's spirit body was wrapped by that vengeful spirit, his fate was no longer in his own hands.
From start to finish, the bone blade belonged to Zhao Chenghuang. The Spirit Realm's mechanics dictated that an item only bound to an owner once placed into an inventory.
Tone-Deaf had never stored it in his inventory because it was lent to him by Zhao Chenghuang; in such dire straits, he had relied entirely on Zhao Chenghuang and dared not do anything to displease him.
"Yuan Ting, you know what to do," Zhao Chenghuang said coldly. "This is your last chance."
Yuan Ting's face filled with dejection and helplessness.
After a few seconds of silence, he looked up at Yuanshi Tianzun and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry! I can't help you anymore."
As the words left his mouth, Sun Miaomiao cracked her whip.
Yuan Ting's face instantly contorted in excruciating agony.
Zhao Chenghuang thrust his blackened claws forward, piercing Yuan Ting's chest.
Yuan Ting vanished from the instance, eliminated from the match.
"Now I have plenty of points; your dirty tricks won't work on me," Zhao Chenghuang said, looking at Yuanshi Tianzun in the distance with supreme confidence.
After slaying Tone-Deaf and Yuan Ting, his score had risen to seven points.
With that buffer, joining forces with Sun Miaomiao would quickly eliminate Yuanshi Tianzun and seal the outcome.
Outside, the arena erupted into a boiling uproar.
The Spirit Realm walkers of the Five Elements Alliance reacted like football fans who had lost their bets, filling the stands with groans, sighs, and curses.
They had watched Yuanshi Tianzun's deal with Yuan Ting, as well as Zhao Chenghuang and Sun Miaomiao's scheme, fully aware that both sides were plotting against each other.
Thus, even after Earth God was eliminated, they had waited with tense excitement.
Zhao Chenghuang had played his trump card; now it was Yuanshi Tianzun's turn to counterattack.
By all rights, Zhao Chenghuang, with only three points left, should have been finished.
Who would have guessed his schemes were nested one inside the other like endless traps?
At the crucial moment, he had killed Tone-Deaf to plunder points, surviving the lethal strike through sheer calculation.
Now, all hope seemed lost.
Both slots for the final showdown would belong to the Taiyi Sect.
In stark contrast to the Five Elements Alliance's gloom, the Taiyi Sect's side was abuzz with joy.
Elder Zhao, clad in black robes, stroked his beard with a smile. "He who excels at war excels at strategy. Chenghuang may be quiet, but his intellect yields to no one."
Setting aside underhanded tactics like stripping pants, the match had been thrilling, and Yuanshi Tianzun had indeed proven himself a prodigy capable of clearing two S-rank instances.
Yet it was precisely his brilliance and strength that highlighted Zhao Chenghuang's peerless intellect all the more.
As his great-grandfather, Elder Zhao felt immense pride.
"Miaomiao and Chenghuang coordinated brilliantly! This battle was magnificent and will surely be remembered," Elder Sun said cheerfully, glad he wouldn't have to look foolish after all.
Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang had overpowered Yuanshi Tianzun, demonstrating through action that the Taiyi Sect was teeming with talent.
Elder Hongying beamed with smiles.
Across the aisle, Elder Dog and the Five Elements Alliance elders sat in grim silence.
Only Yuanshi Tianzun was left, standing alone without support. Once he was eliminated, every contender from the Five Elements Alliance would be gone.
The final showdown would have nothing to do with them.
Amid the din, Yuanshi Tianzun's laughter drifted from the projection:
"Do you two really think you've won?"
At those words, the arena went dead silent. Countless spectators looked up at Yuanshi Tianzun's figure on the screen.
Inside the instance, Zhao Chenghuang remained impassive. "Still bluffing? How many moves can you last against Sun Miaomiao and me?"
Sun Miaomiao's eyes darkened with viscous black energy as the nightgown-clad female ghost behind her exhaled a plume of yin aura.
The illusion expanded, plunging Zhang Yuanqing into a ghost wall once more.
Seizing the opening, Zhao Chenghuang snapped his fingers.
The Saint-stage yin corpse, having endured the Red Dancing Shoes' stomping, lunged forward alongside its master to strike down Yuanshi Tianzun.
An external attack would break the illusion, but Zhao Chenghuang was confident that the instant it shattered, Yuanshi Tianzun would already be eliminated.
*Tap, tap, tap...*
Two dark-red glimmers shot forward ahead of the rest, breaking away from the yin corpse and rushing toward their own master.
Their speed was blistering. In the blink of an eye, they overtook Zhao Chenghuang and the yin corpse, stomping down hard on their master's foot.
The illusion shattered instantly.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately entered Night Wander, evading the pincer attack of Zhao Chenghuang and the yin corpse.
The moment he had been trapped in the ghost wall, Zhang Yuanqing had calmly ordered the Red Dancing Shoes to attack him—a calculated countermeasure tailored to the situation.
Reappearing farther away, he called out, "One minute left."
*One minute?* Flanked by the yin corpse, Zhao Chenghuang and Sun Miaomiao closed in from both sides.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately used Night Wander to flee farther away, reappearing only when the duration expired.
"How many times can you use Night Wander?" Zhao Chenghuang pursued relentlessly.
Watching the pair rush toward him, Zhang Yuanqing said, "Time's up."
Backing away, he looked up and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I report Sun Miaomiao for child molestation! Reason: breaking the law!"
"I report Sun Miaomiao for child abuse! Reason: breaking the law!"
"I report Sun Miaomiao for child abduction! Reason: breaking the law!"
"I report Sun Miaomiao for peeping at a yin corpse's private parts! Reason: breaking the law!"
Sun Miaomiao skidded to an abrupt halt, her face draining of color.
Zhao Chenghuang's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Continuing his retreat, Zhang Yuanqing sneered, "Sun Miaomiao, I admit I wanted to win, and I admit you tempted me. But why did you ever assume I would trust you blindly? Why would you think I'd trust a stranger without keeping cards up my sleeve? Even if you hadn't offered to hold Little Doubi, I would have found an excuse to let you handle him.
"Because that way, I could report you for child molestation.
"And because by having him grope your chest, I could bait you into pushing me away, giving me grounds to report you for child abuse. Add in Yuan Ting's turncoat report, and your points are stripped clean.
"Sun Miaomiao, from the moment you proposed an alliance, I had already calculated your points down to the last digit. I was never afraid of you betraying me. You played me, and I played you—we're even."
As he spoke, four arrows descended from above, striking Sun Miaomiao.
[Ding! Your points have been reduced to zero. You have been eliminated.]
"Yuanshi Tianzun..." Sun Miaomiao spat his name through gritted teeth before her body dissolved into light, eliminated from the tournament.
Chapter 207