Chapter 816: The Shift of the Storm

Jian Changsheng felt like his life was flashing before his eyes.

First, there was the endless dice-rolling, then the frantic plummeting, followed by being inexplicably besieged, the overwhelming attacks nearly costing him his life. Just when he thought he could escape, he stepped into thin air again, spinning in the darkness like a roller coaster for dozens of seconds before landing here...

The experience of just one minute was as twisted as his fate. Now, lying on the ground, Jian Changsheng felt like everything around him was spinning.

Even Chen Ling, who was beside him...

Chen Ling?!

Jian Changsheng’s eyes widened. He sat up with a jerk and gritted his teeth, "You Heart, you! I'll fight you to the..."

"I heard you told the Jiaolongshi that your name is Lin Yan?" Chen Ling said calmly without looking back.

Jian Changsheng: "Uh..."

Jian Changsheng’s momentum instantly weakened by more than half, and he awkwardly turned his head to look elsewhere.

Seeing this, Chen Ling knew that the fact he told the assassin his name was Jian Wubing hadn't been exposed yet... Otherwise, given Xiao Jian's personality, he would definitely have retorted with the same thing. Of course, Chen Ling couldn't take the initiative to expose it either; after all, he was currently standing on the "moral high ground."

"So, this is the place where you’ve been manipulating everything from the shadows?" Jian Changsheng naturally changed the subject, "Looks pretty decent."

"Just a cuckoo in the nest."

Chen Ling’s gaze was fixed on one of the mirror surfaces, "They... are also close to a result."

Jian Changsheng looked toward that mirror surface and saw that in the deepest part of the Dark Palace, a stone door leading to the outside world was slowly opening... At the same time, Tu Tian had forcibly fought his way to Pu Xiazhan, and even though he was covered in wounds, he showed no fear.

After a brief struggle between the two, Pu Xiazhan was still smashed into the wall by a strike of the flag. In such a narrow space, neither the Book God Path nor the Chess God Path could possibly be a match for a berserk Power God Path.

Tu Tian snatched the stone ball from her hand, then stumbled out of the passage with the flag, disappearing from everyone's sight...

The leader of the [Pitch-pot] nearby saw this, his eyes narrowing slightly. He didn't immediately chase after Tu Tian to fight, but instead bent down to pinch a bit of dust from the ground and tossed it casually into the air.

The dust drifted into the air, as if guided by some force, and followed Tu Tian toward the surface.

"Li Shengmen, why didn't you make a move?!"

Pu Xiazhan stood up from the ruins, covered in blood, and glared at the [Pitch-pot] leader opposite her, "Can't you see he’s at the end of his rope? Why didn't you stop him! Once he leaves the Dark Palace with the [Privilege], that thing will be bound to him!"

"Of course I know, but the more a beast is on the verge of death, the more dangerous it is."

"So you just handed the [Privilege] over to someone else?"

Facing Pu Xiazhan's questioning, the [Pitch-pot] leader Li Shengmen said calmly, "Miss Pu, you seem to have too high expectations for the [Privilege]... That [Privilege] only allows you to pin the location of a Star Position descent during the final stage; it doesn't mean you directly obtain a seat. In other words, it’s just occupying a head start.

But if you think about it carefully, this kind of head start can actually be possessed even without holding the [Privilege]..."

"...What do you mean?"

"Tu Tian will inevitably use the [Privilege] to designate the Star Position to descend near him, which means that as long as we lock onto Tu Tian's location, we can also predict the approximate descent point of the Star Position... Besides, do you think he can really hold onto that seat while severely injured?"

Pu Xiazhan fell into deep thought upon hearing this:

"You mean... wait until he summons the Star Position, then kill him and forcibly seize the seat?"

"Exactly."

"But there is still some time before the final stage. If Tu Tian finds a place to recuperate and heal, he should be able to return to his peak strength. Are you that confident you can kill him?"

"In that case, we just need to make sure he doesn't have the chance to heal, right?" Li Shengmen’s mouth curled up slightly,

"We know that after leaving the Dark Palace, the Privilege will bind to him, but the other participants don't... As long as we go out and spread the word, letting the other participants know that Tu Tian holds the Privilege and is severely injured...

Do you think he’ll still have a chance to rest?"

Pu Xiazhan was stunned. She stared at Li Shengmen for a long time before she couldn't help but click her tongue.

"You Chess God Path people really have dirty hearts..."

"Me? You overestimate me." Li Shengmen smiled, "I’m just a pitch-pot player. If you’ve ever dealt with those chess-playing folks, you’d know what ‘dirty hearts’ really are."

After Li Shengmen finished speaking, he was about to leave when he noticed Spade 7 still standing in the corner, and he was slightly taken aback.

This Spade stood there with such little presence that he had forgotten this guy existed while talking to Pu Xiazhan... He had accidentally spilled his "evil plan."

Feeling the strange gazes from both Li Shengmen and Pu Xiazhan, Spade 7 was silent for a moment,

"Well said. Count me in on the plan to scheme against Tu Tian."

“……”

Li Shengmen’s mouth twitched slightly. He seemed to hesitate whether to just kill this guy, but thinking about it, someone who could survive from this hellish Dark Palace until now was definitely not a simple character. Now that the [Privilege] wasn't there, there was no need to take that risk.

"And you are..."

"Oh, I’m Jin Fugui, from the folk side."

"Mr. Jin, since we’re all on the same path, why don't we travel together for now?"

Although Spade 7 had indicated he wouldn't disrupt their plan, Li Shengmen was still a bit uneasy, so he simply decided to take him along.

"No problem."

"After you, both of you."

"No, you first!"

"Eh, you go first..."

Li Shengmen, Pu Xiazhan, and Spade 7 lingered at the entrance with superficial politeness for a long time before entering the passage, each harboring their own ulterior motives, and gradually disappeared into the Dark Palace.

The underground space, which had just been the scene of fierce fighting, fell into a deathly silence.

It wasn't until some time later that two figures slowly walked out from a secret passage.

"You actually let them go... I thought you intended to trap them all here to die." Jian Changsheng looked in the direction the three had left and couldn't help but speak, "Or is their plan also within your calculations?"

"It’s not a calculation, just the simplest of mind games." Chen Ling said calmly, "If no one survived the Dark Palace, it would inevitably arouse the suspicion of other referees and participants; if only one person left with the [Privilege], no one outside would know what happened here;

But if two or three people escape and spread the news of the Privilege, it will sweep the turmoil from the Dark Palace into the entire Old District... The more chaotic the situation, the more advantageous it is for us."