Chapter 137: Winning Move

Chapter 137: The Crucial Move

The hidden mission is complete? Just as I thought, the final step was to kill the mage...

The staff should be the reward. Grabbing the item after killing the boss is a test of team endurance. My physical condition is terrible now; my stamina has dropped too severely...

Yin-Yang Robe, unclaimed? Where do I claim it? Right, the river... In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind.

But there was no time to think further, because Li Xianzong, who was closest to the staff, had already pounced on this powerful item.

This move sent the adrenaline of the Order faction members skyrocketing.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out in the distance. Li Xianzong, who had been bending down to retrieve the staff, threw himself forward and rolled continuously. An exaggerated crater appeared where he had been standing.

He had been keeping an eye on the "sniper"'s movements and made a prediction.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing, wearing the Red Dance Shoes, charged to the staff first and picked it up.

"Primordial!!" the Queen shouted.

Zhang Yuanqing was startled, only to find his hands empty. The staff had vanished. No, it had never been picked up.

Picking up the staff was an illusion; he had been hit by a hypnotic spell.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The rat-man's cheeks bulged, and a slender bamboo tube shot out emerald-green poison needles.

Without needing Zhang Yuanqing's control, the Red Dance Shoes spun him around automatically, turning him away. The two poison needles grazed past him.

The young man missing his left ear dashed out like an arrow, vying for the staff lying quietly on the ground.

As soon as he approached the staff, two rings flew towards him, binding his upper body and legs.

Slap! The young man missing his left ear fell forward with inertia, landing flat on his face on the ground.

"Bang!"

Guan Ya's bullet accurately hit the young man missing his left ear in the head. Bone and flesh splattered, and this witch doctor was killed with a single shot.

Including Li Xianzong, the three remaining evil professions felt a chill in their hearts.

At that moment, Fire Virtue Star Lord threw a flaming spear, which landed precisely next to the staff. He himself was enveloped in a ball of fire, appearing in the flames formed by the spear.

Fire Virtue Star Lord quickly bent down to retrieve the staff.

The moment their comrade bent down, Guan Ya and Li Chunfeng each locked onto an enemy and pulled the triggers, providing cover for Fire Virtue Star Lord.

Well done... Zhang Yuanqing's face lit up with joy as he rushed to support Fire Virtue Star Lord with his Red Dance Shoes, ensuring he could get the staff smoothly.

Controlling the staff meant controlling the initiative.

Unbeknownst to others, a wooden box appeared in Li Xianzong's palm. The lid clicked open, and in the next moment, thick fog filled the square, obscuring vision.

He had not used this item when dealing with the mage earlier because the mage had a special sensory ability; the fog didn't affect him much, but would blind his own side and the Order faction, leaving them to be slaughtered by the mage.

Guan Ya and Li Chunfeng's fingers froze; they had to stop providing cover fire.

Under the dense fog, their vision was blocked, and they dared not shoot anymore, as it would easily injure or kill their teammates.

The ranged attackers were neutralized by the enemy.

Under the fog's cover, Fire Virtue Star Lord's vision was also hindered, but he still grabbed towards the staff's location based on feel, since it was right at his feet.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The fog stirred, and two emerald poison needles pierced through the mist, hitting Fire Virtue Star Lord in the chest.

Taking advantage of the fog's concealment, Li Xianzong approached like a ghost, his butterfly knife slashing through the air towards Fire Virtue Star Lord's throat.

"Clang!"

Zhang Yuanqing, on his Red Dance Shoes, arrived just in time. He held his Willow Blade vertically, and the butterfly knife's blade scraped against the Bloodthirsty Blade, sending out dazzling sparks.

Zhang Yuanqing grabbed Fire Virtue Star Lord by the shoulder and threw him behind him, shouting, "Fire Virtue is poisoned."

While shouting, he did not forget to kick the staff far away.

Fire Virtue Star Lord's burly body was hurled more than ten meters, landing outside the range of the fog.

The Wood Demon youth swiftly dragged the Fire Master away, first stuffing a few antidote pills into his mouth, then taking out sandalwood and sprinkling it on the tiny wounds where the poison needles had entered his chest.

This could only neutralize the poison initially; whether he survived remained to be seen.

As for fighting, it was definitely impossible.

Li Liyuan Shang Cao roughly calculated the combat power of both sides. The evil professions still had three people, while his own side only had the captain and the Queen left, and the fog was the enemy's home ground...

Worry flickered in his eyes.

Li Xianzong listened to the "clanging" sound of the staff rolling away, judged its distance, and grinned:

"What a coincidence. That day at Pingtai Hospital, it was also this kind of fog. How did I beat you then? Need me to jog your memory?"

Zhang Yuanqing's expression was blank, and he said flatly:

"Is it possible that today, it will be you begging for mercy on your knees?"

"Oh? In just over a week, you've reached level three, or obtained a rule-type item? Or do you think that red veil can still threaten me?"

Was he saying that he had an item that could counter the Ghost Bride? Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank.

The red veil was his trump card, used to deal with enemies he couldn't handle at this stage. If it were countered, he would lose a card that could turn the tide.

The fog blocked Guan Ya and Li Chunfeng's vision, so they couldn't shoot. Though he had the Red Dance Shoes, he had less than three minutes. Defeating Li Xianzong in the fog would be very difficult...

If things went wrong, the Queen might die...

Zhang Yuanqing's mind raced, weighing options. After analyzing the situation, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.

At that moment, a wild laugh rang out. Not far away, the rat-man's arrogant voice came: "I got it, I got the staff!"

Zhang Yuanqing's expression changed.

Li Xianzong curled his lips: "Not bad. To have improved so much in a week, your talent makes me envious. That's why you have to die today. What are you waiting for? Curse them!"

He had not been idle just now. While holding off Primordial, he had subtly signaled to his comrade, telling him the staff's location and using the fog to guide him to it.

The rat-man giggled eerily, raised the staff, and said loudly:

"Li Xianzong, this is a divine artifact. You don't know how powerful it is..."

Suddenly, he saw the fog ahead shake violently. The next moment, a long leg transformed into a whip, savagely striking towards his head.

The rat-man immediately withdrew the staff and swung it at the whipping leg, which had a whistling sound.

"Slap!"

The staff and the whip leg rebounded in opposite directions. The rat-man staggered, while the owner of the whip leg skillfully spun, using the rotation to absorb the rebound force and at the same time delivering another whip kick.

The rat-man had never seen such ferocious attacks. The "whip" struck him on the side of the face, and he flew as if riding a cloud, the staff clattering to the ground.

Who was that?

Both Li Xianzong and Zhang Yuanqing were taken aback.

Then, Zhang Yuanqing heard Guan Ya's voice: "Primordial, I can't see. Squeak if you're still alive."

"Why are you here?"

Zhang Yuanqing's heart surged with wild joy. Without hesitation, he slammed his fists together, generating a concussive blast like a high-explosive grenade.

The entire expanse of fog shuddered violently, scattered by the shockwave and flames, briefly creating a clearing with limited visibility.

Now, he could finally see the figures of everyone present, and their respective actions.

Centered around the fallen staff, the closest was the dazed Ratman. Behind him stood Long-Legged Old Sis, the bloody wound on her calf already healed.

She used the last half-vial of Life Elixir? At the critical moment, Old Sis was reliable after all, but why didn't she bring her rifle... Zhang Yuanqing's gaze swept elsewhere. On the other side of the staff, towards the edge of the square, was the flat-headed man, crouching and ready to snatch it up.

Opposite him was their own Queen. This woman was also stealthily creeping towards where the staff had fallen, guided by the sound.

The two factions stared at each other. The next instant, they charged towards the staff simultaneously.

To seize the staff, both sides had already fought to the point of drawing blood.

The Ratman sat up first, blowing poison needles at Guan Ya behind him.

As a Scout, Guan Ya had anticipated his move. She dodged swiftly, the needles grazing past her, but simultaneously lost the initiative.

This was why she fought close-quarters without her rifle. If she had been holding it, she might not have avoided the needles.

That item carried a side effect of bringing bad luck, and the explosive pistol in Li Chunfeng's hands would similarly make her lose her composure.

The Ratman agilely crawled towards the staff. Just as he reached out, two rings clattered against the dark wood, knocking it a considerable distance away, preventing him from grabbing it.

Clang, clang, clang... The flat-headed man lunged for the staff, simultaneously snapping his fingers to cast an illusion, creating the false impression for his enemies that he was still standing in place.

Just as he was about to touch the staff, a muffled drumbeat suddenly pierced his mind.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The stirring drumbeats echoed, piercing the ears of everyone present, scattering their consciousness and instinctively evoking emotions of panic, alarm, and fear.

The Cat King Speaker's drumbeat!

This was actually a powerful auxiliary item, but Zhang Yuanqing rarely used it because the drumbeat was an area-of-effect attack, and only its owner was immune. Teammates and enemies were not included.

Used poorly, it might protect the enemy and hurt allies.

But now, there was no time to worry about that.

The flat-headed man's mind went blank, and he instinctively wanted to kneel or turn and flee.

However, as an Illusionist, he had strong resistance to mental influences. He recovered quickly, and a piercing scream erupted from his throat.

The scream instantly awakened everyone.

At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing lunged forward, driving a vicious flying knee into the flat-headed man's chest.

Bam!

The Illusionist flew backward, crashing heavily into the earthen wall behind him, sending dust cascading down.

He clutched his chest, curled up on the ground, unable to stand again.

Zhang Yuanqing had no time to follow up with a finishing blow, nor did he bend to pick up the staff. Because in the vision granted by the Eye of Insight, Li Xianzong was silently approaching him, leg muscles tensed, power transferring from top to toe.

Crack!

A vicious upward kick produced an explosive sound. Zhang Yuanqing leaned back, causing the attack to miss.

At the same time, his body defied the backward momentum. As if no wind-up was needed, he actually spun during the lean-back, closing in on Li Xianzong's side. The Bloodthirsty Blade stabbed towards the carotid artery.

Even with Li Xianzong's extensive close-combat experience, he had never seen such a maneuver. He immediately pulled his spine, letting his body fall sideways in the opposite direction, while simultaneously leaping with both legs to kick fiercely at his enemy.

During this process, two crimson patterns appeared in Li Xianzong's pupils.

Zhang Yuanqing's mind buzzed, going completely blank.

Seeing this, a ferocious grin split Li Xianzong's face. As a Combat Master, he could already see the fate awaiting the Primordial Celestial Master.

Suddenly, the dazed Zhang Yuanqing retreated uncannily, narrowly avoiding the fierce kick.

Crack!

Li Xianzong's knee snapped, the mid-air side kick striking only air.

Impossible... Li Xianzong's expression shifted slightly. Then he sensed the sound of air breaking behind his head.

Guan Ya had arrived. Old Sis pivoted on her left leg, knee slightly bent, and her right leg whipped violently towards Li Xianzong's head.

Zhang Yuanqing heard a clear "crack." Li Xianzong's neck bone broke.

The Bewitching Demon's head bent at an unnatural angle and was sent flying like a sandbag.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yuanqing and the Queen looked ecstatic. Guan Ya's kick had almost secured victory.

Tap, tap, tap... Zhang Yuanqing, wearing the Red Dancing Shoes, darted towards Li Xianzong, attempting to finish him off and completely eliminate this great enemy.

He hadn't used the Exorcism Pestle's purification. On one hand, he had the Red Dancing Shoes; on the other, he wanted to lull Li Xianzong into a false sense of security to create an opportunity for Guan Ya.

The Ratman panicked. He raised his bamboo tube and, with a series of puffs, blew out six poison needles in quick succession.

Under the control of the Red Dancing Shoes, Zhang Yuanqing spun and leaped, nimbly avoiding all the attacks.

Li Xianzong's head lolled, his eyes bloodshot, his gaze fierce and ruthless. His arms slammed together, and thick fog surged in, covering his body.

Guan Ya rushed forward to deliver the finishing blow, only to find Li Xianzong was no longer there.

"Ahhh..."

A scream echoed from deep within the thick fog.

"Not good!" Zhang Yuanqing immediately realized something and blurted out.

In desperation, Li Xianzong had staked everything and killed the flat-headed man. A Bewitching Demon, upon seeing blood, enters a frenzy.

"Indeed, only slaughter brings me pleasure. Only slaughter makes me invincible." From within the fog came Li Xianzong's satisfied sigh.

"This guy..." Guan Ya's pretty face darkened.

Suddenly, she sensed the thick fog ahead churning, as if an enemy was approaching. The next instant, a fast and powerful straight punch stabbed towards her.

Guan Ya had already retreated in advance, crossing her arms over her chest.

Bang!

Her arms ached fiercely. She stumbled backward, nearly falling.

"Primordial, his strength has recovered to at least eighty percent!" Guan Ya cried out sharply, forcing herself to steady her stance. Her long leg swept horizontally forward.

The thick fog churned violently, but there was nothing there.

A gust of wind attacked from the side. Guan Ya's heart tightened. She retracted her leg, turned, and threw a punch.

Crack!

Fist met fist. She heard the sound of her own finger bones breaking, pain so sharp tears nearly welled up.

With such a disparity in strength, combat skill could not help her regain the advantage. Moreover, the thick fog obscured her vision, putting her at a disadvantage of being hit.

There was no chance of winning.

"Boom!"

At that moment, a deafening explosion sounded. The shockwave, carrying flames, blasted the thick fog apart.

Guan Ya caught a glimpse of Li Xianzong from the corner of her eye as he lunged at her.

Under the threat of danger, she did not retreat but advanced, sidestepping the slashing blade and crashing into Li Xianzong's chest, but only managed to stagger the Corrupting Fiend slightly, failing to repel her foe.

Damn... Guan Ya, a master of combat, felt her heart sink.

Li Xianzong let out a sinister laugh, hooked his arm around Guan Ya's neck, and swept the butterfly knife toward her pale, slender throat.

"Li Xianzong!!"

Zhang Yuanqing's face twisted in fury.

Just as the butterfly knife neared her pale throat, it halted abruptly—Li Xianzong's wrist was caught by a water whip.

The other end of the "whip" was in the Queen's hand.

The explosion moments earlier had pushed back the dense fog in a small area, allowing her to see what was happening here.

Zhang Yuanqing pressed the second button on the Cat King speaker. Instantly, a fierce suona sound erupted, each note shrill and piercing, sharp enough to split metal and crack stone.

Zhang Yuanqing's pupils were bloodshot, his muscles swelling abruptly, veins bulging under his skin like a mad bull pumped full of stimulants.

The suona's cry from the Cat King speaker brought him, weak and exhausted, back to his peak for a brief moment.

The negative effects of the suona were severe—a move that hurt the user as much as the enemy. He never used it unless it was a matter of life and death, because it was just as likely to cripple him before killing his opponent.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

He stepped in the red dancing shoes, unleashing unprecedented speed, leaving trails of afterimages as he rushed toward Li Xianzong, the sharp willow-leaf blade aimed at his temple.

Li Xianzong's wrist was still caught by the "whip," so he shoved Guan Ya hard, pushing her toward Zhang Yuanqing.

Zhang Yuanqing did indeed withdraw the blade, catching the woman.

Seizing the moment, Li Xianzong broke free from the whip, his legs springing as he lunged forward: "You want to fight to the death? Come on then."

"Come on!"

Zhang Yuanqing punched Li Xianzong, sending him flying.

Then, grabbing Guan Ya, he turned and ran, fleeing toward the edge of the square.

"You think you can escape?" Li Xianzong landed lightly, unharmed, and sneered as he prepared to give chase, when suddenly he heard the Rat Man cry out in alarm: "Li Xianzong, something's running off with the staff!"

Li Xianzong's heart jolted. He abandoned the pursuit immediately, following the sound, sensing the flow of the fog.

In his perception, the staff floated up on its own, one end tilting upward, the other dragging along the ground as it slipped away quickly...

"An incorporeal being?"

He snorted, giving chase to the staff while pulling out a round plastic needle case and extracting a dark, slender needle.

The needle exuded a fierce, malevolent yin aura.

The fleeing staff stiffened, then clattered to the ground. The spirit that had been dragging it seemed to have been scared off.

On the other side, Zhang Yuanqing immediately sensed Little Dork's terror—a fear that threatened to erupt into tears.

That bastard Li Xianzong really had prepared an item to deal with powerful spirits... Zhang Yuanqing's last shred of hope vanished, solidifying his resolve to flee.

His escape was a feint; the real goal was to have Little Dork retrieve the staff and test whether Li Xianzong had any means against spirits. If the guy was bluffing, he wouldn't hesitate to use the Red Veil.

Too bad—after their encounter at Pingtai Hospital, Li Xianzong had seen the Ghost Bride's power and privately prepared a countermeasure.

Damn, I can only bet on the hidden item now... Zhang Yuanqing unlocked the second form of the Red Dancing Shoes, issued the order to pursue and kill Li Xianzong, and without looking back, dragged Guan Ya out of the square.

As the two rushed out of the square, the Queen followed, her face pale, a faint despair in her eyes:

"Are we giving up..."

"How can we fight? With what?" Guan Ya let out a bitter laugh.

She then looked at Yuan Shi, whose muscles were bulging and face flushed—clearly a means of stimulating potential that couldn't last long. Once the effect faded, his condition would likely be dire.

The Queen bit her lip hard.

Their conversation reached the ears of Lily on the Plain and Li Chunfeng, who had just caught up. The light in their eyes quickly dimmed, replaced by expressions of despair.

Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand. "All of you, shut up and listen. Take Fire Virtue Star Army and Eat Lotus now, go by water, back to the place where we discussed tactics. Queen, can you handle moving us?"

The Queen nodded weakly. "Your plan is to fight a guerrilla war, using the vast copy space to keep them at bay?"

Li Chunfeng frowned. This tactic was a last-ditch struggle in a hopeless situation, but there was no other option now—just survive as long as possible.

"Stop the chatter. Move now," Zhang Yuanqing said.

He remembered that Li Xianzong had an item that could release curses. The Red Dancing Shoes wouldn't be able to hold him off for long. Time was of the essence.

As for the hidden item, he hadn't told his teammates because he didn't know its properties yet. Sometimes rare items didn't necessarily have powerful offensive capabilities. If the hidden item was one with a special function, then the team's morale would completely collapse, and they wouldn't even have the will for guerrilla warfare.

Yes, if the hidden item couldn't turn the tide, he would resort to guerrilla warfare with Li Xianzong.

Immediately, Lily on the Plain carried Fire Master on her back, and Li Chunfeng carried Eat Lotus. The group leaped into the river.

The river water was cold and clear. The Queen moved through it as swiftly as a fish, controlling four currents that pushed her teammates forward at speed, heading toward the position they had come from.

...

Li Xianzong bent to pick up the staff, while at the same time dropping to his knees and bowing toward the Red Dancing Shoes.

Instantly, the pristine dancing shoes took on a layer of gray decay, their attack frequency and stomping force reduced.

Tsk, the Dharma robe merely suppresses it, and this is a tool with Saint-level power... The Red Dancing Shoes must be a top-tier item. Once I kill Primordial Heavenly Lord, they'll be mine... Li Xianzong withdrew his burning gaze and instead examined the staff's information:

[Name: Decay Staff]

[Type: Weapon]

[Function: Curse]

[Introduction: The weapon of the Poison Valley Master. Every three years, the Master would slaughter over a thousand lives, pooling their blood to nourish this weapon. One day, the Yin-Yang Wanderer heard of the Master's crimes, came to Poison Valley, ended his sinful life, and took this item.]

[Note 1: Activate the gem atop the staff to unleash a curse on all living things within a fifty-meter radius.]

[Note 2: Can cast a curse upon a target that harms you, returning injury for injury, blood for blood.]

[Note 3: When you use it, you owe it a thousand lives.]

Such a powerful item. With this, not only at the Transcendent stage, but even against a fifth-level Saint, I can hold my own for a while. As for large-scale slaughter copies, who else could rival me? I will become the highest scorer in the copy... Li Xianzong's pupils contracted, a wild joy spreading over him.

Large-scale slaughter copies have score rankings. Every year, many Travelers successfully advance, but what truly draws attention are the top ten in the scoring list. Those who break into the top ten are sure to become powerful Saint-level fighters in the future, like the Four Young Masters of the Five Elements Alliance. They were top ten figures. Ordinary executives, on the other hand, are Saints outside the list.

But the cost of this item is terrifying... Li Xianzong reined in his joy, frowning.

Once he started using this item, he would have to pay with a thousand lives within three years. With the merit cap in place, how many merit points would a thousand lives cost? Ten thousand!

Even if he started now, doing good deeds nonstop, he probably couldn't accumulate that many merit points.

Transfer it to someone else before the three-year deadline? No, that would be too simple. High-level items wouldn't have such a huge loophole.

The Rat-man beside them gave a snickering weird laugh: "I told you, this item is just heaven-defying. Boss, those two chicks were really pretty just now. Can we cut their tendons and let me have some fun?"

As he spoke, the Rat-man extended his tongue and licked his lips, his small eyes glittering with lewdness and greed.

Li Xianzong, having obtained the top-tier item, was in an excellent mood, and enduring the trampling of Red Dancing Shoes, he grinned and said:

"Sure! I wouldn't mind even if you wanted to play with a man."

The Rat-man then said: "Then let's hurry up and chase them. These little bastards want to fight us guerrilla-style, huh, wishful thinking."

……

After surfacing twice for fresh air, Zhang Yuanqing, through the river water filled with suspended fine particles, saw a coffin appear ahead.

He immediately patted the Queen's shapely buttocks in front of him, pointed at the coffin ahead, and gestured to go over.

The Queen looked back with a puzzled expression — she had searched this stretch of water, even blown away the riverbed silt to check, so when had a coffin appeared?

She, first, didn't know about the hidden mission, and second, didn't know about the little goof's treasure-hunting skill, so at the time she hadn't understood why the Primordial Celestial Lord wanted to search this area.

Now she suddenly had some understanding.

But, how had he known in advance? And what was inside the coffin?

The Queen swayed her waist, nimble as a fish, and led the group to stop in front of the coffin.

She pointed upward, signaling for everyone to go up.

Zhang Yuanqing and the others then paddled their limbs to float up, and with the aid of the water's thrust, lightly leaped onto the bank.

Zhang Yuanqing stumbled to steady himself, his face pallid, his expression showing a kind of withered exhaustion like oil spilt and lamp gone dry.

The continuous high-intensity battle, the purification of the Demon-Subduing Pestle, the explosion of the gloves, the suona of the Cat King speakers… had nearly drained his stamina. That he hadn't died of exhaustion was entirely due to the vitality of the Night Wanderer.

No sooner had he steadied himself than a splash sound came from behind, and a great surge pushed the coffin out of the water onto the bank.

The Queen immediately leaped out, unlike the drenched Guan Ya, she didn't have a single droplet on her.

"What is this?" Li Chunfeng leaned over the coffin, scrutinizing it closely. It was a wooden coffin nearly two meters long, with mottled black lacquer, heavily waterlogged, and nothing exceptional about it.

"Now's not the time to pick up trash; we need to escape," urged Liliyuan Shangcao.

He then saw that Li Chunfeng, Guan Ya, and the Queen were all looking at Zhang Yuanqing, wearing expressions of thoughtful consideration.

Only then did Zhang Yuanqing speak, his voice weak, to explain:

"The hidden mission. Whether we can turn things around depends on what we get from it."

Hearing this, the four present were shaken in expression, feeling a wild joy of surviving a desperate situation.

So he had kept this card up his sleeve?

The Queen's breathing quickened. "Open it up."

Li Chunfeng already couldn't wait and reached out to push the coffin lid, but no matter how hard he tried, the coffin wouldn't open. He turned back to Zhang Yuanqing urgently:

"It won't open! What do we do?!

"Maybe the conditions haven't been met. What's the hidden mission?"

Guan Ya also looked at Zhang Yuanqing, her expression somewhat anxious.

At this moment, every second counted; Li Xianzong could catch up at any time, one strike of his staff stopping everyone's heart.

Zhang Yuanqing wasted no time; he took a round white jade from his inventory and placed it on the coffin lid.

The ordinary-quality white jade lit up with a soft white light, covering the coffin, and then the jade pendant vanished.

Zhang Yuanqing extended a hand trembling from exhaustion, pressed it on the coffin lid, tried once, and the lid opened easily.

Everyone's eyes, at once, turned to the inside of the coffin.

……