Inside the Dragon's Nest

Nothing of that concerned him.

Qin Mu wasn't here to grind for points. Since he finally had the chance to see the interior of the Dragon's Nest, his goal was very simple-fight to the very end.

Having thus completed the reconnaissance, he prepared to leave the city in a few days and raid the actual Dragon's Nest directly.

Heh.

That is a Super-Tier Fierce Beast; it must be worth a fortune!

He moved through the simulation as if he were entering an uninhabited land.

Full throttle.

Whenever a vicious beast showed up, he struck.

Instant kill.

Kills instantly in all ways.

The Azure Flame Flying Sword contained twelve different kinds of Mentalist powers and was powered by his technique. Now, it had even attained the level of destructive force worthy of a Ninth-Rank Grandmaster. Along with Qin Mu's ninth-level Cultivation Technique, each and every one of his strikes precisely struck where it was weakest.

"My goodness! Master killed the Earth Walking Dragon Leader, an Eighth-Rank Vicious Beast, with a single blow! 1600 points added. Total points: 6520. Rank: 9th!"

Bang!

Xiao Yi projected colorful digital fireworks in front of him, cheering boisterously. "Congratulations, Master, for breaking into the top ten of the leaderboard!"

"How's the ranking now?" Qin Mu continued without stopping.

Whoosh.

Xiao Yi flipped on the holographic ranking.

NO. 1: Bai Qingyan — 12,720 points.

NO. 2: Qi Jun — 11,530 points.

NO. 3: William Kyle — 9,810 points.

NO. 4: Zhang Delong — 8,210 points.

NO. 5: Li Chengwu — 8,130 points..

NO. 9: Qin Mu — 6,520 points.

Outside the Dragon's Nest

While paying close attention to the leaderboard, Bai Qingyan was hunting Vicious Beasts.

"Qin Mu. ninth place?"

She blinked, bewildered. "When did he.when did he climb up there?"

She had been monitoring the ranking with Qin Mu specially marked. Just a minute ago, he was outside the ranking of the top hundred.

One minute.

He scored 5,000 points in one minute?

How did it happen? Did he come upon a nest of Vicious Beasts?

Bai Qingyan had watched Qin Mu rise to the top during the assessment of Martial Artists, so she knew that he was able to experience bursts of speed. However, she was not Bai Qiuye; a little thing like someone getting lucky with monster spawn wasn't going to faze her easily.

But now. actually, she was a bit afraid.

"No way."

"Is Qin Mu's luck really that absurd? Why can't I find a herd of Vicious Beasts?"

Bai Qingyan felt really depressed. She had slaughtered all the beasts she encountered in the outer perimeter, but had not encountered a single dense group.

"Wait. Could it be that he entered the core of the Dragon's Nest? Did he kill a high-ranking Fierce Dragon?"

She halted. The competition wasn't to Capture the Flag; rather, a points race. As a rule, the most efficient approach for a Mentalist was to mow down Fifth and Sixth-Rank beasts in the outer ring. Few risked the battles in the core area, just too time-consuming.

"No. I need to go to the core area. Now."

Bai Qingyan was getting increasingly frustrated with her search in the perimeter.

Qin Mu!

So you were that day's Dominion Grandmaster! And to think you lied to me-you bastard!

She realized the truth: even if the beasts in the core gave high points, a standard Second Stage Dominator would die from exhaustion attempting to kill them quickly enough to jump 5,000 points in a minute.

And when the pieces came together, her competitive fire erupted into fury.

"Bastard! Just you wait!"

"When I get to the core, you'll realize that the top three spots aren't so easily taken!"

[Myriad Sword Pavilion Internal Chat Group]

Bai Qingyan: "All members, listen up! Everyone charge into the core area immediately!

Member:, "Senior Sister Yan, are we not cleaning the perimeter? Ancestral Master provided us with a quota and we absolutely can't leave those points for those martial artists."

Bai Qingyan: "Stop cleaning! The core area yields higher points, and if we don't grab them now it will be too late.

Bai Qingyan: "And also, Qi Jun, Chengwu - you two got to get into top three! Return if you can't, and receive your punishment!

Holy crap!?

Panic exploded on the group chat.

[Member]: "Hiss. Senior Sister Yan is furious. If you two don't pull this off, your fate will be miserable."

Member: "Once, I was thrown into a nest of Vicious Beasts in the wilderness, forbidden from flying, and had to walk my way out. That was. I am speechless. It's all tears.

[Member]: "@Qi Jun @Li Chengwu — Good luck, Senior Brothers!"

[Member]: "Charge, charge, charge!"

Martial God Hall

The council members were staring at the competition screen as if they had seen a ghost.

"Are you kidding me?"

"A Second Stage Dominator Mentalist and the moment he saw it, he killed an Eighth-Rank Earth Walking Dragon?"

"I don't believe it! I just don't believe it!"

"To one-shot an Earth Walking Dragon sans Grandmaster-level combat power is absolutely impossible! Impossible!

"At the very least," one of the members grumbled, "he has to be on the Grandmaster Ranking list to kill them this casually.

Karmen was furious.

The moment the Alliance vote was over, that brat Qin Mu had charged into the Dragon's Nest like a madman.

Damn it!

You two planned this, didn't you?

He glared again at Wu Po Xing. You have intentionally set this to screw us over!

Karmen furtively palmed his projection interface and started hacking his way to send a message. I have to alert everyone. Enter core of Dragon Nest right now!

He was angry about the trap, but what had him furious was his own team. His martial artists were still diligently clearing low-rank trash in the outer perimeter, completely ignoring the core.

Won't this amount to an invitation to one's death?

It was used against Qin Mu just moments prior, and now it was Karmen who sat in its sights.

[System Notice: It is not allowed to send messages inside the Martial God Hall. If you have any business, please ask the admin for permission.]

What?

Karmen froze.

He was about to say his piece when, out of nowhere, William slammed his hand on the table, shouting in anger.

"Alliance Leader! Are you restricting our freedom to contact the outside world?"

Wu Po Xing's eyes didn't budge. "How did you know I restricted contact?

"Does the Alliance Leader think I haven't tried?!" William asked through gritted teeth.

"You can try again."

William refused to believe it and openly tapped his smart system.

[Access Denied.]

"Alliance Leader. what is the meaning of this?!"

"It means nothing," Wu Po Xing said dispassionately. "You may contact personnel, if you like, outside the tournament context. However, communications with active participants is strictly verboten.

"Ha."

Bai Ming dryly laughed. "It was agreed upon that we're using this competition to root out cowards. I'm sure nobody present wishes to inform them and give them an unfair advantage, yes?"

This.

The expressions of the opposing council members changed drastically.

Bang!

Wu Po Xing's face turned red as he slammed his palm onto the table. "We do not need any cowards among martial artists! The restriction stands-no one may contact the participants until the simulation ends!"

At this, William began to quiver with repressed anger.

A conspiracy!

This was one great conspiracy against the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance and the Freedom Group.

Any martial artist participating this year who was deemed to be a "coward" would have all resources taken away. Worse, the Alliance would reclaim past investments, forcing them to have to hunt just to pay off the debt, throwing them out of the city.

William could not bear this.

His own son was in this tournament.

If his son was rendered into a position bereft of all resources, thrust into the wilderness—or worse, thrust into the real Dragon's Nest—the danger would be catastrophic.

Aw, damn it.

How can I warn him?

William's mind raced and could find no technical loophole. His eyes moved around the room until they settled on the screen that reflected Qin Mu.

He suddenly remembered something.

"Alliance Leader!"

"I demand an immediate suspension of the competition!"

Huh?

The council members turned to him in surprise.

"State your reason," Wu Po Xing said. He did not reject the demand outright, but his eyes narrowed.

Cough, cough!

William cleared his throat; a confident, predatory smile returning to his lips.

"Qin Mu is the perpetrator behind the Jiang City tragedy from a few days ago!"

"It is a solved case!" William pointed at the screen. "His real cultivation is Grandmaster Combat Power. He might as well be strong enough to enter the Grandmaster Rankings."

"With such power in his hands, he not only ignored the mobilization order of the Alliance Grandmaster but even took advantage of other Grandmasters' absence and committed a massacre in Jiang City!" William looked around the room, his voice rising in righteous indignation. "How can such a villain be allowed to continue participating? He must be suspended and apprehended immediately!

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