82: Chapter 82 The Last Safe Zone: Everyone Survives?

The weather in Thunder Roar Canyon changes faster than a homeroom teacher's expression.

One second it was just overcast, and the next, electrical arcs were skittering across the ground. Purple lightning struck the scorched earth until it smoked, leaving it riddled with craters.

An announcement rang out through the air, crackling with static.

[Announcement! Announcement!]

[Remaining surviving teams: 15.]

[The safe zone is shrinking rapidly. Final destination: Central War God Platform.]

[Attention! Thunderstorm intensity is about to increase by 200%! Ten-minute countdown!]

As soon as the announcement ended, the surviving teams in the canyon went wild.

Everyone had been playing a game of "whoever hides the longest wins," crawling into bushes and digging holes, operating on the principle of "if the enemy doesn't move, I don't move." Now, that was no longer an option; staying still meant death.

In a forest of black thorns.

A three-man team called "Shadow Walkers" was currently inching toward the central area on all fours. They wore special color-changing ghillie suits that blended perfectly with the environment, and they kept their breathing extremely faint. Even if someone walked right past them, they wouldn't notice the three people lying there.

The captain, "Old Gou," was cautious by instinct.

"Steady!" Old Gou signaled with hand gestures. "We don't have many points. Reaching the top ten is a victory! Don't get exposed!"

Just then, an arrogant and ill-timed commotion came from behind.

Zzz—Zzz—Rumble—

The sound was chaotic, consisting of the sharp screech of metal scraping the ground and the muffled thuds of a beast running wildly.

Old Gou's heart tightened.

A high-level Vicious Beast?

He looked back, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

A ball of golden light.

In this dark and oppressive canyon, it was as bright as a hundred-watt light bulb, charging straight toward them.

It was a sofa.

A sofa with someone sitting on it holding an umbrella, being pulled by a lion!

The scene was so bizarre that Old Gou completely forgot his camouflage and stood up in a daze.

"What the hell is that?!"

Gu Fan, who was "driving," immediately spotted three "grass men" popping out of the bushes.

"Whoa—"

Gu Fan patted the armrest, and Wangcai braked hard. The train of tower-shield sleds behind them performed a 180-degree drift, coming to a steady halt right in front of Old Gou's trio.

Mud splattered all over their faces.

The two sides stared at each other.

Old Gou clearly saw the face of the person on the sofa.

That face was currently a taboo throughout Thunder Roar Canyon.

"The... The Thunder Roar Sandman!" Old Gou's teeth were chattering.

Between the previous announcements and the deserters who had been scared witless along the way, rumors like "Gu Fan eats human brains" and "one look from him makes you sleep for a hundred years" had spread like wild myths.

Gu Fan took off his sunglasses, intending to ask for directions.

"Hey guys, the War God Platform..."

Thud!

Before Gu Fan could finish, Old Gou and his two teammates knelt down in a perfect row, their movements so practiced it was pitiful.

"Don't put me to sleep! Please don't put me to sleep!!"

With tears in his eyes, Old Gou hurriedly pulled out point cards, a pile of herbs, and Ore, even stripping off his ghillie suit.

"President Gu! Grandpa Gu! Here is everything we own! Take all our points! I only have one request: let us withdraw from the competition while we're still conscious! I don't want to be turned into a pillow! I have an eighty-year-old mother at home!"

The two teammates also kowtowed frantically. "Yes, yes! We're terrible sleepers! We grind our teeth, snore, and drool in our sleep! Please, whatever you do, don't activate your Domain!"

Gu Fan squeezed his cola can and looked at Xiao Fan blankly. "Are young people these days always this polite? I was just asking for directions, but they're acting like I'm collecting protection money."

Xiao Fan said solemnly, "President, this just shows that your overbearing Aura can no longer be hidden. They were captivated by your personal charm and took the initiative to offer tribute. This is respect for the strong!"

"Really?" Gu Fan skeptically snatched up the point cards. "Well, since you're being so polite, I won't stand on ceremony. So... which way to the War God Platform?"

Old Gou pointed in a direction, his finger shaking like he had Parkinson's. "Go... straight... five hundred meters..."

"Thanks."

Gu Fan waved his hand. "Wangcai, let's go!"

The golden sled sped away, leaving the three "Shadow Walkers" standing in their underwear, bewildered in the cold wind.

After passing through the last minefield, the view suddenly opened up.

War God Platform.

The only high ground in the center of Thunder Roar Canyon was a massive circular altar. There was no cover around it, and violent lightning danced wildly, forming a natural chasm that left only one path to the top.

At the top of the altar stood a simple, ancient stone pillar.

Stuck into the pillar was the championship battle flag—the cloud brocade celestial silkworm banner.

Under the lightning, light rippled across the flag's surface. Even from hundreds of meters away, its texture exuded a sense of silkiness and suppleness.

"Good stuff..."

Gu Fan's gaze instantly softened, like a bachelor of thirty years seeing his first love. He even activated the System's appraisal function—not to check its attributes, but its material.

[Item: Cloud Brocade Heavenly Silkworm Silk (Battle Flag Form).]

[Material Analysis: Harvested from the silk of a Ten-thousand-year-old Ice Silkworm, tempered by Nine Heavens Profound Lightning.]

[Tactile Rating: SSS-rank.]

[Functional Suggestions: Extremely breathable, warm in winter and cool in summer, dustproof and mite-resistant. If made into bedsheets, it can improve sleep quality by 300% and has miraculous effects on the lumbar and cervical spine.]

"Perfect." Gu Fan's Adam's apple bobbed. "My fated bedsheet."

However, there was an obstacle on the way to the bedsheet.

Below the War God Platform, a single team stood alone. Or rather, a single person.

The man was dressed in a flashy set of Golden Dragon Scale Armor and held an eighteen-foot-long Crimson Gold Coiled Dragon Spear. His cape fluttered loudly in the gale. Standing there alone, the golden light radiating from him forced back the surrounding lightning by three feet.

The president of the Divine Dragon Society and the academy's acknowledged number one: Long Aotian.

This wasn't a nickname; it was his actual name. It was said that when his father named him, he hoped he would exude an overbearing Aura. He lived up to it, being the "perfect child" since he was small; whether it was in Cultivation or acting cool, he had never lost.

At this moment, Long Aotian had his back to Gu Fan and the others, gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, as if waiting for a fated duel.

Hearing the commotion behind him, Long Aotian slowly turned around.

His movements were incredibly slow, every frame seemingly choreographed.

"Gu Fan, you've finally arrived."

Long Aotian's voice was deep and magnetic, audible even over the thunder. His gaze was as sharp as a blade, fixed firmly on... the sofa beneath Gu Fan.

"Being able to defeat Zhao Tiezhu shows you have some skill. But it ends here."

Long Aotian shook his spear, pointing the tip directly at Gu Fan, his Battle Intent soaring to the heavens.

"Remember, the one who defeats you is Long Aotian of the Divine Dragon Society!"

Gu Fan let out a yawn, crushed the cola can in his hand, and tossed it aside.

Clang.

The aluminum can rolled to Long Aotian's feet.

"Uh, Little Long."

Gu Fan waved his hand lazily. "Whether you're a divine Dragon or an earthworm, please move aside. You're blocking my view of my bedsheet. Also, with that all-gold look, aren't you worried about getting struck by lightning?"

"You!!"

Long Aotian's Aura faltered, feeling as if he'd been suddenly startled while taking a dump and had to force it back in.

He, the great Long Aotian, was being ignored? And called "Little Long"?

"Very well, you have successfully provoked me." A cold sneer curled at the corner of Long Aotian's mouth. "I will show you that some people are like an insurmountable mountain to you!"

Gu Fan sighed and said to Xiao Fan beside him:

"Xiao Fan, go have a chat with him. Let him know that we're a land reclamation team, and we specialize in leveling mountains."

"Tell him, a good dog doesn't block the way, and a good person doesn't block someone's sleep."