123: Chapter 123 The Second Throne

Pulling back their thoughts, the few followers looked at the grim and murderous throne battlefield before them, then recalled their outrageous journey, leaving only infinite emotion in their hearts.

It was truly exhausting, but the earnings were also truly substantial.

Just by killing wave after wave of monsters, their points had already piled up to the point of numbness.

Following this peerless, hidden powerhouse at the top of the leaderboard, even if they had to act as laborers the entire time, it was still a massive, profitable gain.

Wen Xiaoyou was completely unaware of the myriad complaints in everyone's hearts; she stood on her tiptoes, gazing at the crowded central battlefield, looking around.

She looked around a circle, failing to see the familiar figure, and immediately became a little anxious.

"Where is Lin Yan?"

"Why can't I find him yet?"

She tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

The team members beside her quickly comforted her in low voices, terrified that this big shot might run off on a whim again and attract another wave of terrifying monster tides:

"Don't worry, Boss!"

"Everyone here is currently fighting for the thrones and testing the rules; it's too chaotic!"

"Lin Yan is extremely powerful, he definitely won't be in any trouble!"

"Let's stay here safely for now; once the situation stabilizes, we will naturally be able to see him!"

Wen Xiaoyou nodded as if she understood, her gaze once again turning towards the ten towering, majestic golden thrones in the sky that were suppressing the entire field.

Looking at those layers of mysterious, unknown, and treacherous ultimate domains, her eyes were clear and filled with curiosity.

Meanwhile, the few followers beside her looked at the Shura-hell-like throne battlefield, then looked at the seemingly innocent and harmless top-ranked big shot beside them.

The awe in their hearts grew deeper and deeper.

Everyone in the field was struggling with the rules, despairing over the monsters, and fighting for points.

Only their Boss, from beginning to end, did not need to fight, did not need to struggle, and did not need to compete.

This was what a true top-tier powerhouse was!

This was the true foundation of someone firmly seated at number one!

...

Just as everyone was watching and deadlocked, more and more top geniuses could no longer endure the silence and tentatively stepped into the Second Layer throne domains.

Compared to the single suppression of the First Layer, every throne in the Second Layer had dual rules superimposed as confinement, causing the level of danger to skyrocket exponentially.

The first batch of powerhouses who forced their way in paid a heavy price and retreated with injuries under the combined assault of unknown rules and high-ranking monsters.

But it was precisely through these repeated extreme battles and bloody probes that the terrifying overlapping rules of the three Second Layer thrones were forcibly dragged out of the darkness, bit by bit, revealing their full extent!

[Second Layer · Throne No. 1]

The moment an elite squad first stepped into the domain, an invisible confinement instantly descended upon them.

Hum—

The storage spaces of everyone on the team trembled slightly at the same time.

The team members' expressions changed drastically in unison.

"Something's wrong! The items have failed!"

Someone urgently activated a high-level protective scroll and buff items, but the special effects that should have triggered remained completely silent, with not even a hint of a reaction.

Not only were all items invalidated, but they also clearly sensed that the mana in their bodies was rapidly draining away at a constant speed.

It wasn't combat consumption, but rather being forcibly extracted by the domain!

The entire team felt as if they were in a bottomless mana-draining abyss, growing weaker the longer they dragged it out.

Everyone instantly realized the situation, roaring in shock:

"It's a consumption-type rule! We can't drag this out! If we keep going like this, we won't even need to fight; we'll run out of mana and collapse on our own!"

Before anyone could respond.

Five Imperial Guard Commanders clad in heavy golden armor slowly raised their long spears.

Boom!

Five golden figures simultaneously dashed out.

The long spears Rend the air, thrusting straight at them.

The captain let out an angry shout.

"Engage the enemy!"

The mage raised a hand, unleashing a high-level Fire Dragon spell.

Boom!

The scorching flames instantly engulfed one of the Imperial Guard Commanders.

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the commander stepped out through the flames, its golden armor charred black, yet it didn't stop at all, its long spear smashing down with a boom.

Bang!

The mage was sent flying dozens of meters, blood spraying wildly.

The team fought back in a rush.

But as time passed, everyone's mana continued to drain away.

One skill...

Two skills...

Three minutes later.

The mage in the team was the first to run out of mana.

Immediately after, the support and healer lost their ability to cast spells one after another.

After losing the support of their skills, the entire team collapsed rapidly.

The captain gritted their teeth and roared:

"Retreat!"

But at this moment, they barely had the strength left to retreat.

[Second Layer Throne No. 1 Complete Rules: Items Disabled + Mana Depletion]

All recovery, buff, and teleportation items were completely sealed and invalidated.

The mana of Contestants within the domain drained away passively and continuously; in a war of attrition, they would inevitably be drained dry.

...

[Second Layer · Throne No. 2]

Elsewhere, at the second throne domain.

A strong team specializing in heavy assault and burst skills had just stepped in when the entire space suddenly became sluggish.

With a boom!

A terrifying heavy pressure suddenly descended, causing the ground beneath everyone's feet to collapse slightly.

"Gravity! More than ten times!"

A heavy-armor warrior struggled to lift a leg, their knees forced into a slight bend by the pressure.

An Imperial Guard Commander struck with a spear.

He pushed his assault skill to the limit, but his body, which should have been charging like thunder, felt like it was stuck in a quagmire, its movements stiff and more than half as slow.

The immense force sent him flying, and before he could get back up, the Imperial Guard Commander attacked again.

"Not good!"

"The skill hasn't cooled down yet!"

The burst assault skills that usually recovered in a few seconds now had their cooldown times doubled.

"The skill cooldowns have doubled! My skills won't come off cooldown!"

The team's entire output rhythm was broken; their assaults, kiting, and burst damage all collapsed, completely suppressed by the domain.

In less than a minute, the entire team was beaten into a steady retreat.

[Second Layer Throne No. 2 Complete Rules: 15x Gravity + Skill CD Doubled]

Global gravity increased by 15 times, heavily suppressing movement, jumping, and assault speeds; all skill cooldown times were directly doubled, completely locking down burst and rotation capabilities.

...

[Second Layer · Throne No. 3]

The most bizarre suppression appeared at the last Second Layer throne.

The moment the squad stepped into the domain, the world suddenly distorted.

"My vision... it's blurred!"

"My hearing is gone! My sense of touch is disappearing too!"

The team members were terrified, their vision a gray blur; 90% of their senses were completely stripped away, and they couldn't even distinguish front from back.

Someone subconsciously activated detection, tracking, and clairvoyance skills, wanting to get a handle on the surrounding environment.

But all detection methods dimmed and failed.

Completely blind, completely unable to detect!

They couldn't see enemies, couldn't hear movements, and couldn't figure out their orientation.

Their five senses were completely wasted, leaving them in total darkness, able only to passively endure the secret attacks of the Imperial Guard Commanders.

A sense of despair instantly permeated their entire bodies.

Just then.

A cold spear tip thrust out from the darkness without warning.

Puchi!

One team member's chest was instantly pierced through.

It wasn't until blood gushed out that he belatedly felt the pain.

"Where is the enemy?!"

No one knew.

They could only stand back-to-back in a circle, constantly attacking wildly in all directions.

But the Imperial Guard Commanders were like true hunters; every spear thrust was despairingly precise.

In just a short moment, the entire squad completely lost their footing; some swung their weapons at teammates, others mistook companions for enemies.

The entire battlefield fell into complete chaos.

[Second Layer Throne No. 3 Complete Rules: Five Senses Deprivation 90% + Detection Disabled]

The Contestants' five senses were nearly reduced to zero, their battlefield perception completely paralyzed; all detection, tracking, and clairvoyance skills and items were sealed and invalidated.

...

The entire battlefield fell into complete silence.

Countless geniuses looked at the terrifying overlapping rules of the three Second Layer thrones, their backs chilling and their hearts heavy.

Finally, someone saw through the truth completely and whispered, revealing the secret:

"These aren't random rules at all... On the previous battlefield, at least we would still encounter beneficial buff rules for the Contestants."

"But the rules of every layer and every throne here are top-tier rules designed for targeted suppression!"

"The four First Layer thrones restrain the four basic mainstream playstyles."

"The three Second Layer thrones directly crush the three top-tier schools of high-level team systems, skill bursts, and sensory reconnaissance!"