163: Chapter 163 The Debt Collector is Online; Interest Will Be Collected from You First

Lin Qi swallowed the last bite of fruit pulp and tossed the pit down the rocky cliff.

The battle below had reached a fever pitch.

The heavy armored warriors of the Berserker Alliance were like mad bulls, brandishing giant axes, their armor covered in scratches.

The assassins of the Blade of the Firmament were like ghosts, utilizing speed and tricky angles to continuously leave wounds on their enemies.

"Captain Lei Meng! You bunch of idiots! Do you really want to fight us to the death?"

Captain Wang Tao gasped for air; one of his arms had been grazed by an axe blade, dripping with fresh blood.

Two crossbow bolts were embedded in Captain Lei Meng's chest armor; he spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned wildly.

"Wang! Cut the crap! Today, either you die or I do! That one hundred thousand points, I'm taking it!"

"Madman!"

Captain Wang Tao cursed and charged forward again, dagger in hand.

Both sides were blinded by bloodlust, their reason completely consumed by anger and greed.

No one noticed the figure on the rocky cliff in the distance.

Lin Qi picked up another pebble from the ground and flicked it with his finger.

The pebble made an almost imperceptible sound as it precisely struck the back of a Berserker Alliance warrior's knee.

The warrior's body went limp, and his greatsword swung out of control, landing right on the back of a nearby Blade of the Firmament assassin.

"You bastard!"

The assassin let out a roar before dying, stabbing his dagger into the other man's neck with a backhand motion.

The battle, which had already shown signs of fatigue, was reignited by this small accident.

The Chaos lasted for nearly half an hour.

Finally, the shouting and killing in the forest clearing gradually subsided.

Corpses lay scattered across the ground, and some mortally wounded survivors were groaning in pain in the mud.

There were fewer than ten people still standing, and every one of them was injured, their magic and stamina completely exhausted, swaying as they stood.

"Captain Wang Tao... you bastard..."

Captain Lei Meng was half-kneeling on the ground, his massive battle axe stuck into the soil beside him to support his body; there was a deep, bone-visible wound on his abdomen.

Not far opposite him, Captain Wang Tao sat leaning against a tree, his chest heaving violently, his face as pale as paper.

"Captain Lei Meng... you idiot... we... we seem to have been tricked."

Captain Lei Meng froze, a sliver of clarity finally returning to his chaotic mind.

"Tricked? What do you mean?"

"We've been fighting for so long... where is that Lin Qi? Where is his signal?" Captain Wang Tao's voice carried a hint of despair.

Captain Lei Meng looked up abruptly, scanning the surroundings.

Aside from the corpses and bloodstains left by their two groups, there was no sign of their target anywhere.

From the very first second they started fighting, the signal source worth one hundred thousand points had vanished without a trace.

A chill rose from the bottom of both men's hearts.

They had been played like monkeys.

But it was all too late.

A steady, unhurried sound of footsteps came from deep within the thick mist.

Tap, tap, tap.

Each step felt like it was treading on the hearts of all the survivors.

A figure slowly emerged from the white mist and arrived at the center of the chaotic battlefield.

The person wore a clean student uniform, completely out of place with the bloody carnage around him.

It was none other than Lin Qi.

Everyone still conscious, whether from the Berserker Alliance or the Blade of the Firmament, looked at him with an expression as if they had seen a ghost.

"It's you..." Captain Lei Meng gritted his teeth, squeezing the words through the gaps in his teeth.

Lin Qi didn't look at him, nor did he look at any living person.

His gaze fell upon the "spoils of war" on the ground.

Lin Qi walked to the side of a Blade of the Firmament assassin's corpse, squatted down, and skillfully unfastened the identity tag from the other's wrist.

As his fingertips touched it, the points on the tag turned into a stream of light and flowed into his terminal.

Then, he began to strip the equipment.

Enchanted leather armor, sharp daggers, the Storage Pouch at the waist.

His movements were fluid, like an experienced battlefield cleaner.

"You... stop that!" A Blade of the Firmament member leaning against a tree saw this scene, his eyes splitting with rage. "That's my brother's dagger! You can't take it!"

Lin Qi didn't even raise his head; he put the dagger into his own Storage Pouch and spoke indifferently.

"It's mine now."

He stood up and walked toward the next target, the corpse of a Berserker Alliance warrior.

Take the tag, strip the armor, remove the arm shield.

The whole process was smooth and flowing.

"I'll say it again! Put that down!" another Berserker Alliance survivor roared.

Lin Qi finally stopped his actions.

He turned his head, looked at the few "Prodigies" who still wanted to struggle, and a cold sneer curled the corner of his mouth.

"Consider these things as a bit of interest collected on the tens of billions in gambling debts that the Tianji Pavilion owes me."

He patted the heavy armor he had just obtained, making a dull thud.

"Do you have any objections?"

"You..."

Those contestants were shocked and angry, but they were severely injured and could barely even stand; they could only watch helplessly as Lin Qi looted their companions' belongings.

Rings, necklaces, boots, staves.

Lin Qi didn't let anything that looked valuable go.

His personal points were soaring at a terrifying speed.

Meanwhile, outside the arena.

The huge light screen hanging above the Kyoto Stadium was displaying the points ranking of all contestants in real-time.

The eyes of all the spectators were drawn to a name on the leaderboard.

"Look! That guy named Lin Qi!"

"Holy crap! His ranking is flying!"

They saw Lin Qi's name, trailing a long golden tail flame, skyrocketing from the very bottom of the leaderboard.

99th place...

50th place...

10th place...

3rd place...

1st place!

In just a few minutes, the previously unknown Lin Qi had directly topped the points leaderboard!

And his score was still rising at a heart-stopping speed, soon creating a massive gap from the second place.

"This... what is going on? Is he cheating?"

"No! Look at the source of his points!"

Someone clicked on Lin Qi's points breakdown.

On the light screen, rows of small text clearly displayed:

[Killed contestant: Captain Lei Meng (Berserker Alliance), gained 1000 points]

[Killed contestant: Captain Wang Tao (Blade of the Firmament), gained 1000 points]

[Killed contestant: Li Si...]

[Killed contestant: Zhao Wu...]

Dense and packed, it was all records of killing contestants!

Not a single one was from killing magical beasts!

The entire stadium fell into a dead silence.

Everyone was dumbfounded, watching the name that was crazily refreshing the screen.

This wasn't a competition; this was clearly a one-sided massacre!

In the Mist Forest.

Lin Qi stuffed the last piece of relatively intact armor into his Storage Pouch and clapped his hands with satisfaction.

He looked around at the "Prodigies" scattered on the ground, stripped down to their underwear—whether dead or alive, they were treated the same.

"Job done."

He turned and walked in one direction, where another living "bait" was still being thrown.

"Next target, Shadow Blade Alliance."