Chapter 110: Kill Or Be Killed

    Shen Nianzu sneered quietly at Wind, who looked like she could not wait to chew him down to the bones.

    If there was only her in this Cycle, Shen Nianzu would not hesitate to deal with her once and for all. After all, she had mistaken him as JJ, and he could not be bothered to correct her.

    However, it became a different case altogether when Jiang Shun, a member of the Immortal Phoenix, entered the picture.

    Jiang Shun had entered this Cycle with the purpose of delivering a formal invitation to Jin Jiuchi in person. It was only logical to assume that even if he were rejected, he would be able to escape this low-level Cycle unharmed. But then, Wind had audaciously declared her intention to kill everyone in the Cycle last night, instantly putting Shen Nianzu on high alert.

    If Jiang Shun were to meet his demise here, Immortal Phoenix would not let it slide for certain. A veteran player dying in a low-level Cycle? Something must have gone terribly wrong there! They would spare no effort to uncover the truth, and inevitably, more attention would be directed towards JJ. Some might even suspect that JJ had some involvement in their member’s death.

    Shen Nianzu could already envision the chain of events that would follow. Immortal Phoenix would likely send its members, one by one, to test and provoke JJ to demand the truth from him. What if that silly husky flipped and killed one of them by accident? Shen Nianzu had a headache just by the mere thought of the consequences.

    Attracting more attention was the last thing Shen Nianzu had ever wanted.

    His motto was only one — challenge the Cycle while maintaining a low profile to avoid the limelight. That’s why he chose to be a lone fighter despite the nonstop invitations that were pouring into his inbox. He did not want to be entangled with the organizations and draw more attention to himself.

    Alas, he had no other choice now because he needed to hurry and find a way to bring Jin Jiuchi’s spirit back from the underworld, and he could not afford to play around with an insignificant player like Wind.

    By exposing Wind’s identity and her real intention, he had just drawn a line between her and the other players, and also dragged Jiang Shun to his side.

    Jiang Shun’s death would overcomplicate things, but it was a different story for Wind. She was the one who had taken the initiative to enter the Cycle to challenge JJ. Either kill or be killed; only one of them would remain standing in the end.

    Such was the cruel rivalry in the Cycle.

    And sure enough, he knew he had taken the right decision when Jiang Shun recovered from his shock, and the gaze he directed toward Wind was full of vigilance. "You are Dance of the Wind?"

    "So what if I am?" Wind raised her chin haughtily and scoffed with disdain. "You came here to recruit JJ into your organization, but you couldn’t even recognize him until now. What a useless piece of trash!

    Jiang Shun’s face flushed with anger at the reminder. Fine, he admitted that it was an oversight on his part. First, he had mistaken this woman for JJ, and then he had shifted his attention to Xinxin due to the impressive display of skills ’she’ had shown the previous night. But who could have guessed that JJ would turn out to be an eight-year-old child who had remained inconspicuous until now?!

    Wait a moment...

    A realization dawned on him. Using a skill card for an extended period drained a player’s energy and could even cause them to faint. Yet, this little boy had been with his dog from morning till late at night without showing any signs of exhaustion. What kind of monstrous stamina was required to sustain the use of a skill card for an entire day?!

    It was only now that Jiang Shun realized what a big blunder he had made. However, would he admit it? No! His pride was too high for him to admit such a flimsy mistake. "Dance of the Wind..." he gritted his teeth and directed all his anger and embarrassment towards the woman before him. "You think you’re such a big shot, huh?"

    Before Wind could react, a huge golden net descended over her head and trapped her within like a fish.

    "How dare you...!" Enraged, Wind moved swiftly to activate her skill card but much to her dismay, she found that she could not do it! Not only that, all of her props were rendered invalid as well. Her eyes widened in realization. It was this golden net that had nullified all of her skill cards and props!

    "What have you done?!" She demanded angrily. "Let go of me! I am Dance of the Wind, do you hear me? I have sat in the leaderboard for two years! JJ is just a newcomer, are you sure you want to side with him?!"

    "Yeah," Jiang Shun shrugged and gave her a condescending look. "Compared to you, JJ is much easier on the eye. Do you think Immortal Phoenix is unaware of your vicious method? The reason why you could sit in the leaderboard for so long is because you entered so many low-level Cycles and killed Intermediate players there to steal their skill cards and props. Tsk, why do you think no top organizations are interested in inviting you, woman?"

    Beside him, Lang Zhenya, who barely regained her bearings from the shocking turn of events, gasped in disbelief and fanned the flame, "Oh my, what a genius! Jiang Shun, do you think I should employ that method too? Can I climb on the leaderboard if I do it for half a year?"

    Jiang Shun threw his head back and laughed out loud, "Hahaha, you may try!"

    Wind’s face contorted with a mix of rage and humiliation. She continued to struggle relentlessly against the unforgiving net that held her captive, but her efforts proved futile. She screamed in frustration, refusing to accept her current predicament. "Do you think I will give up just like this? I am Dance of the Wind! I ranked among the top 100 players in the entire country! I’m going to kill all of you!"

    However, Jiang Shun remained unfazed by her outburst and disregarded her words as if they were mere fart. Instead, he turned to Shen Nianzu with a pleasant smile. "JJ? What are you planning to do with her?"

    "Of course, kill," Shen Nianzu replied with nary a hesitation. "It’s either you or me who gets out of this Cycle alive, so don’t blame me for being ruthless, Dance of the Wind."

    If glares had the power to kill, Jiang Shun and Shen Nianzu would have been reduced to sieves under the intensity of Wind’s furious glare. Shen Nianzu had been prepared to use a lower-quality prop to end her life while she was defenseless. But then, Wind suddenly vanished from within the net, leaving behind a broken matryoshka doll in her place. It was none other than an expensive prop that could allow her to escape to another location in a blink of an eye.

    Jiang Shun could not help but laugh again when he saw this, "Ha, she’s using her life-saving prop! She’s using her life-saving prop just to escape from us!" Beside him, Lang Zhenya also giggled with contempt in her eyes.

    Shen Nianzu could not help but cast him a speechless look. This man’s mouth was truly poisonous and his skill to pull aggro was so strong. He had no doubt that after him, Jiang Shun and his female companion would be the next target of Wind’s vengeance.

    "Be careful," he palmed his forehead with a helpless sigh and gave them a warning. "Dance of the Wind is a former top 100, after all. She has a lot of tricks up her sleeve."

    Jiang Shun wanted to say that he, too, had a life-saving prop that could rescue him from the brink of death, but upon remembering who he was talking to, he cleared his throat and said, ’So, are you interested in joining Immortal Phoenix, JJ?"

    "Wait, you’re really JJ?" Lang Zhenya peered at him with pure curiosity. "How can you be so powerful?"

    Chuckling without humor, Shen Nianzu replied, "Haha, just so-so. I’ll consider your offer once we get out of this Cycle."

    Jiang Shun nodded in understanding. He had expected this kind of response, as he was certain that JJ must have wanted to see the benefits Immortal Phoenix could provide him before agreeing. Now that he had found his target, Jiang Shun was in an extremely good mood. "Sure," he readily agreed. "Let’s focus on getting out of this Cycle first."

    The group continued their journey toward the temple, but any remnants of their good mood quickly dissipated as the thick stench of blood overwhelmed their senses, coming from the temple in front of them.

    "Wha—" Jiang Shun coughed and covered his mouth. "What the hell is going on?"

    Fatty recoiled to the side and retched, but because they had not had breakfast yet, he only brought up stomach acid, leaving his face even paler.

    Exchanging solemn glances, the players entered the temple grounds, walking through the same corridor they had traversed the previous day. The putrid stench of blood grew stronger with each step, weighing down so heavily on their chests. Everyone instinctively held their breath.

    Xinxin trembled in fear, and her complexion grew pale. "I–I have a bad feeling about this."