Chapter 80: You Did Very Well... Child

The moment Chen Ling's words faded, an aura of judgment surged into the gun barrel!

Simultaneously, Chen Ling felt his spirit rapidly deplete, as if he had poured all of himself into the weapon in his hand. A subtle power seemed to guide the gun's muzzle, locking onto the target ahead.

Jian Changsheng, closing in on him, instantly felt his skin prickle with an unprecedented sense of crisis. He stared at the slowly approaching black muzzle, which felt like the gaze of death itself. His instinct screamed at him to dodge, but his body was too slow to react.

Bang—!

Chen Ling pulled the trigger.

The power of deconstruction materialized into a bullet, firing from the muzzle without a spark or a bang. Silent as an arrow, it instantly pierced Jian Changsheng's chest.

Jian Changsheng felt his body grow light. A fist-sized blood-hole gaped in his chest, and when he looked down, he could even see the ground beyond him... Everything the bullet touched seemed to vanish into oblivion, including his heart. Unable to control his body any longer, he stumbled two steps before collapsing at Chen Ling's feet.

After firing the shot, Chen Ling's vision blurred. The intense drain on his mental energy nearly made him collapse. Only by gritting his teeth and forcing himself to stand did he avoid falling unconscious. As expected, unleashing a Tier 4 skill like "Judgment Court" while only at Tier 1 proved to be too taxing. Furthermore, the effect showed that he couldn't project a domain like Han Meng had. Instead, the domain condensed countless times smaller, only around the gun barrel, and the destructive power of the deconstruction bullet was merely fist-sized...

It was important to remember that Han Meng had disintegrated the Red Paper Monster's body with three shots, each blast having a destructive range more than ten times greater than Chen Ling's current one. Even if he could unleash a skill beyond his tier at Tier 1, would its power be severely diminished, confined to the effects of his current tier? This thought flickered through Chen Ling's mind. Yet, it proved that even a weakened "Judgment Court" was sufficient to instantly kill almost any enemy of the same tier, Jian Changsheng included.

"You are... a monster..."

A faint voice rasped from the throat of the fallen Jian Changsheng. Perhaps due to his own unique skill, even with his heart pierced, he did not immediately perish but instead glared fixedly at Chen Ling. "I shouldn't... die... here... I was just... beginning."

"I won't... accept this..."

His voice grew increasingly faint, until it finally faded into complete silence... Yet, even then, his eyes remained fixed on Chen Ling, as if to imprint his face onto his memory for the next life. He died with his eyes wide open, unwilling to accept his fate.

Only after confirming Jian Changsheng's death did Chen Ling finally breathe a sigh of relief. This guy had been incredibly difficult to kill. Injuries not only failed to inflict pain but seemed to make him fight even more fiercely. Chen Ling suspected that had he not used "Judgment Court" to instantly kill him, he might not have been Jian Changsheng's match if the fight had dragged on.

Chen Ling rested for a moment, slowly recovering from the brink of unconsciousness. He scanned his surroundings, then carefully moved towards Number 8, who lay in a pool of blood.

Number 8 was now utterly disfigured by Jian Changsheng's assault. Chen Ling rummaged through the mangled remains for a moment until he found the fragment of the Way of the War God foundation clutched in Number 8's hand. Just as he reached for it, he found that Number 8 was still clutching the fragment tightly, refusing to release it.

"You're still alive?" Chen Ling asked, surprised.

Although Number 8's body was utterly broken, a faint breath of life still lingered within him. His single remaining eyeball glared at Chen Ling through the blood, his hand desperately clutching the fragment—a final act of defiance. The eight Incendiaries had traveled countless miles from other realms solely for this fragment of the Way of the War God. They had been utterly annihilated in their pursuit of it... This was the fruit of their very lives; how could they allow Chen Ling to claim it at the end?

"Let go," Chen Ling sighed. "Everyone else is dead. Do you truly believe you can still turn the tables?"

A flicker of despair crossed Number 8's single remaining eye... but he still did not release his grip.

Chen Ling no longer tried to pry the fragment from Number 8's hand. Instead, he gently placed his palm on Number 8's mangled face, while with his other hand, he drew his gun and pressed it against Number 8's temple. Chen Ling could feel Number 8 trembling, though whether it was from fear, rage, or sheer unwillingness, he couldn't say.

"There, there," Chen Ling, draped in his crimson opera robe, crouched beside the mangled remains, comforting him gently as if coaxing a child, "You did very well... child."

Bang—!

The bullet pierced Number 8's skull, and he finally ceased to breathe.

Chen Ling moved his hand away. He had gently closed Number 8's eyelids, making him appear to have passed away peacefully. Chen Ling used his dagger to pry open Number 8's stiff hand, retrieved the blood-stained fragment of the Way of the War God foundation, and slowly stood up... The breeze stirred the hem of his bloody opera robe, which swayed gently in the desolate wilderness, like crimson flames from the underworld.

"Has the performance not ended yet...?" Chen Ling mused for a moment, then a realization dawned on him. "Right... I'm not dead yet."

He was the ultimate victor, the sole survivor on this stage. Yet, the final condition of the performance was 'no one left alive.'

Chen Ling glanced at the words etched in blood on the ground—Current Anticipation Value: 65

Since the performance began, the audience's anticipation value had slowly risen with the ongoing show. However, the true accumulation of points came after he transformed using the Bai Qi Token, inciting the Enforcers and Incendiaries to slaughter each other... He had reaped nearly 30 anticipation points just from killing Yan Xicai and seizing the ring artifact, and then appearing after Jian Changsheng and his two companions presumed victory, engaging them in a one-against-three battle. Taking Number 8's life just now added another 5 points.

"Everyone's dead. Where am I going to get another 5 anticipation points?" Chen Ling suddenly felt a headache. Had he known, he would have designed a few more plot twists to make these corpses contribute a bit more anticipation value.

Chen Ling's gaze swept over the scattered corpses, finally settling on the unknown, mysterious darkness deep within the Ancient Armory... That was the only path left.

Chen Ling checked the time. There was still a short while before the Ancient Armory officially opened. He immediately set off, walking deeper into the ancient vault.

The Five-Man Trench, the Ten-Man Trench, the Fifteen-Man Trench, the Twenty-Man Trench... the Fifty-Man Trench; as Chen Ling delved deeper, the soldier spawn points he encountered grew increasingly vast. After passing the Fifty-Man Trench, he saw a prominent stone tablet standing majestically on the grayish-white ground.

"Trial Boundary, No Further Passage."

Crossing this tablet meant leaving the trial area designated by Aurora City and entering the true depths of the ancient vault... The area beyond was clearly not meant for newcomers like them. Chen Ling stood before this tablet, paused briefly, then continued forward. The moment his foot crossed out of the trial area, a faint warm current emanated from his chest.

Chen Ling paused, surprised, then reached into his robes and pulled out the object that was radiating warmth.

It was the Bai Qi Token.