52: Chapter 52 Sky Island Noose

As soon as the first-round list was posted, the main screen of Zone E-7 pushed Lu Jin's match to the center.

An Sky Island map, and his opponent was the person best at island-hopping from Xuanhe Academy.

Before dawn, the small workshop in the Zhuixing Academy residential area was already littered with gray bones.

Lu Jin crouched on the ground and dismantled the wheels of the third bone cart.

The bone carts were originally designed for the ground. With large wheels and a heavy frame, they were perfect for ramming in slope openings and mine shafts.

On an Sky Island map, however, something like that would only drag down the entire floating island.

So, the first thing he did when he returned to the residential area last night was to dismantle the carts.

He removed the wheels and replaced the bottom of the carts with four curved bone hooks.

By adding a short railing and two layers of hollow bone frames to the back of the cart, once it was hooked onto old iron chains, it could slide along them.

To put it bluntly, he had converted the ground-based bone carts into hanging carts for the air.

Grey Pupil stood to the side, looking at the pieces of wheel bones scattered on the ground.

"With no ground, the Tunneling Rat is half-useless."

"You still want to send the carts up there?"

Lu Jin didn't stop working.

"The ground is gone, but the paths remain."

"Chains, roots, broken bridges, and the underside of the islands can all serve as paths."

Wu Fu stood in front of the auxiliary pool nearby, the three bundles of nest silk behind her tail tapping gently against the edge of the pool.

Last night, she had compressed the Brood Nursery Court into half a pool, leaving only the most essential growth-acceleration trough. This saved materials and made it easier to transport onto the floating island.

She looked up at Lu Jin; her voice was soft, but her words were practical.

"Half a pool is enough to accelerate two rounds."

"The Nest-Paste Worker Rat can continue to spit paste, and the Hard-Shelled Gatekeeper Rat can replenish another batch."

"But if you want to plaster a bone cavity under the island, you have to give me repair paste and gray bones. I need both."

A bone cavity was easy to understand.

It meant building a hollow bone frame underneath the floating island first, then using nest paste to plaster the outside into a shell.

The rat swarm would move along the frame; people above wouldn't see them, and the stress on the island surface would be dispersed to the sides, preventing it from collapsing under a single step.

Lu Jin nodded immediately.

"Two carts of gray bones and half a trough of repair paste—it's all yours."

"Don't skimp on the half-pool of the Brood Nursery Court. On today's map, the underside of the island is more important than the surface."

Footsteps sounded at the doorway. Qiao Ye, Wen Zhao, and Ning Yanqiu all walked in.

Wen Zhao scanned the scattered bone parts on the floor, stunned for a moment.

"You really didn't sleep all night."

Qiao Ye looked at the three carts stripped down to their frames and frowned.

"Can they really move after you've modified them like this?"

Lu Jin stood up, grabbed an old iron chain hanging on the wall, and deftly hooked the newly modified hanging cart onto it.

"Whether they can move or not, we'll know once we're on the map."

He flicked his wrist.

The hanging cart slid down the iron chain, rushing more than thirty feet along the wall before stopping.

Qiao Ye's eyelids twitched on the spot.

"Fine."

"If this thing hits someone, it'll definitely hurt even more than the original cart."

Ning Yanqiu walked to the battle map and pointed her fingertip at the high island on the north side.

"I just got back from the competition office; the opponent is confirmed."

"Xuan He Divine Academy, Lin Zhezhi, third among the freshmen, late-stage Apprentice God Realm Controller."

She paused, then clarified the opponent's strategy further.

"He uses the Wood-Feather Jumping Ape line. The Jumping Apes can grab roots to hop between islands, moving very quickly. In the air, the Leaf-Blade Sparrows are skilled at cutting chains, roots, and bridges. This Xuan He line also has a main vine, and the bridges grow from that main vine. As long as the main vine exists, temporary bridges can be sent out endlessly."

Wen Zhao understood immediately after hearing this.

"In other words, what this person is best at is filling the map with paths and then forcing you to follow his rhythm."

"Yes," Ning Yanqiu nodded. "In the first round of individual points matches, winning a match is the base score, and a high match rating can earn extra floating points. If we lose points in the first Sky Island map match, our ranking, odds, and military training screening will all be affected."

This was the significance of this match.

This was the first bite of points in the zone; whoever seized it first would suffer less later on.

Lu Jin hooked the third hanging cart, his orders coming quickly.

"Do not spread out a large city on the main island."

"Place the War Nest Gate at the narrow opening of the main island, keep the Gray-Vein Smelting Well as the furnace core, place the Priest Well at the rear, and press the half-pool of the Brood Nursery Court to the left."

"All eight Cart-pulling Rats go to the winch."

"Two hanging carts loaded with kerosene and Burrowing Spear Rats, and one loaded with gray bones and Work Rats."

"We aren't drilling into the ground today."

"Today, we move beneath the sky."

The first round of the zone competition began at the Hour of the Dragon.

As soon as the Sky Island battleground appeared, the noise in the entire Zone E-7 main arena rose a notch.

This map was even more treacherous than what they had seen on the drawing platform last night.

There was a main island in the center, side islands on the left and right, and a higher pointed island suspended to the north.

Between the islands, there were no complete bridges, only several segments of half-broken old iron chains, two thick, withered roots hanging down from a height, and a few narrow stone platforms that could barely serve as footholds.

Further down, there was only empty space.

Chaotic winds swirled up from below, making many people standing in the viewing stands feel a sense of vertigo.

Lu Jin's match was scheduled on the No. 3 main screen.

A tall, thin young man soon walked up from the opposite side, dressed in neat green robes, with faint wood patterns on the back of his hands and the side of his neck.

When he stood on the northern high island, the half-man-high green vine mother-frame behind him immediately unfurled, and a few thin vines swayed gently in the wind.

This was Lin Zhezhi.

Third among the freshmen of Xuan He Divine Academy.

Being able to rank in the top three at Xuan He Divine Academy, his skills were certainly not lacking.

Within the zone, he was considered quite solid among the late-stage Apprentice God Realm Controllers.

Coupled with the fact that this Sky Island map naturally favored his line, most of the outside bets had him placed ahead of Lu Jin during the pre-match analysis.

Lin Zhezhi first glanced at the half-city behind Lu Jin, then spoke.

"I've seen your Unified Exam, and I saw your championship match last night."

"You are very good at turning the ground into your own path."

"But on today's map, there's no ground and no holes. No matter how firmly you guard your gate, you can only hold this one main island."

He spoke smoothly, and his meaning was clear.

"In a moment, I will cut the chains, break the roots, and finally jump across the islands from three sides to suppress you."

"You can't catch up to me."

Lu Jin stood behind the narrow opening of the main island and replied directly.

"You grow the bridges first."

"For every one you grow, I will dismantle it."

Lin Zhezhi smiled after hearing this.

"Fine."

"Then today, I'll see how you dismantle them in the sky."

The referee's white light descended.

"Zone E-7, first round, begin!"

Lin Zhezhi revealed his main vine as soon as he started.

The green vine mother-frame trembled violently, and three living vine bridges immediately shot out from the edge of the high island: one connected to the left island, one to the right, and the third, the shortest, hung directly over the main island, as if ready to press down at any moment.

Twelve Long-Armed Jumping Apes also scattered.

These creatures weren't large, but their limbs were terrifyingly long, making them perfectly suited for jumping back and forth by grabbing withered roots and living vines.

Looking into the air, eighteen Leaf-Blade Sparrows had already taken flight, the ring of green leaf-like hard feathers on their wing edges rotating, specifically designed to cut old chains and thin roots.

Someone in front of the viewing stand immediately spoke in a hushed voice.

"This map is too convenient for Lin Zhezhi."

"His line fears head-on collisions on flat ground the most. On the Sky Island map, it's Lu Jin who is in trouble."

In the arena, Lu Jin wasn't anxious at all.

"Main island, tighten defenses."

"Work Rats, go beneath the island; plaster the first layer of the bone cavity."

"Gatekeeper Rats, go to the back of the left island and lock the first chain for me."

As soon as the order was given, four Nest-Paste Worker Rats flipped over the edge of the island.

They didn't run onto the island surface but crawled along the bottom of the main island. They spat out white paste bit by bit, and soon, a light gray shell was plastered under the floating island.

The batch of Work Rats behind them carried short bone strips, crawled in, and inserted them quickly.

With the bone strips set and the white paste applied, the hollow bone cavity immediately began to take shape.

People above could only see a light gray shadow appearing under the island.

When they looked closer, the rat swarm had already hidden inside.

Lin Zhezhi had clearly seen this scene as well.

"You built the path to the bottom of the island?"

Lu Jin didn't answer; he just continued to issue commands.

"Left winch, activate."

None of the eight Cart-pulling Rats were pulling ground carts today.

They were all crouching by the winch behind the main island, biting the bone cable and pulling backward. As the winch turned round by round, a gray chain with bone joints was quickly fed out from under the main island, section by section, towards the back of the left island.

The gray chain grew longer and longer, and finally, it hooked accurately onto the broken rock opening on the back of the left floating island.

The four Hard-Shelled Gatekeeper Rats guarding there lowered their claws simultaneously, locking the end of the chain tightly into a crevice in the rock.

The left island was locked.

Bone chains could usually be used for pulling carts, binding beasts, or latching doors. But when locked onto a floating island, it had another use.

It could serve as a path.

The hanging cart behind the main island was immediately hooked onto the chain.

The cart was loaded with two barrels of kerosene, four Burrowing Spear Rats, and a layer of black bone shield shell wrapped on the outside. As the winch released, the hanging cart shot straight towards the underside of the left island along the gray chain, moving so fast it looked like a black shadow flying along the chain.

Lin Zhezhi had already occupied the left island by this time.

Four Jumping Apes were rushing towards the main island along the living vine bridge, and the Leaf-Blade Sparrows were flying overhead, clearly intending to tear open a gap from the left side first.

In the next instant, the hanging cart arrived.

Thud!

The black bone cart head slammed into the root of the bridge on the left island first.

That spot was the thickest part of the living vine bridge; when the impact hit, the outer vine skin split instantly.

The kerosene barrels in the cart exploded at the same time.

The fire burrowed into the split bridge root, and the four Burrowing Spear Rats dove out from the cracks, specifically drilling into the section of the vine bridge where the Jumping Apes were landing.

The living vine bridge on the left only held for two breaths before it charred and collapsed from the middle.

The three Jumping Apes on the bridge stepped into empty air, a flash of white light appeared, and they were ruled out of the match by the protective light.

Even the two Leaf-Blade Sparrows flying low overhead had half their wings scorched off by the rising wave of fire.

The entire arena was silent for a moment, then erupted with a roar.

"He really drove the cart into the sky!"

"That wasn't running on the ground; it was smashing across while hooked to a chain!"

"Locking the island with a bone chain, breaking the bridge with a hanging cart... how is this guy's brain wired?"

Lin Zhezhi's expression finally changed.

But he didn't panic.

As soon as the left bridge broke, he immediately raised his hand.

"Continue the pressure on the right island."

"Leaf-Blade Sparrows, ignore the residual fire on the left; clear the air above his main island first!"

The rhythm of his line remained fast.

The living vine bridge on the right island had grown another segment, six Jumping Apes rushed up the vine bridge in one go, and all the Leaf-Blade Sparrows in the air turned, beginning to circle over the main island.

They were no longer cutting the old chains.

They began to cut the newly plastered gray shell on the underside of the island.

Once the gray shell fell off, the bone cavity inside would be exposed.

By then, the Work Rats and Spear Rats hiding below would all be pinned out from the sky.

Grey Pupil looked up at the flock of Leaf-Blade Sparrows in the air, his voice very steady.

"They've figured it out."

"If we let them cut one more round, the bottom of the island will be exposed."

Wu Fu spoke at the same time.

"The half-pool can supply another hanging cart."

"Any more than that, and it'll be empty."

Lu Jin watched the high island to the north and finally issued his second round of commands.

"Don't save the right chain yet."

"On the old northern chain, hang the second cart."

"Send all the Work Rats, Burrowing Spear Rats, and fire oil to the bottom of the high island."

As soon as these words were out, even Ning Yanqiu narrowed her eyes in the viewing stand.

Wen Zhao was the first to react.

"He's not fighting for the side islands anymore."

"He's going to burn the main vine."

The main vine was the green vine parent frame in Lin Zhezhi's backfield.

As long as that thing was there, the living vine bridge could keep growing.

Once that thing was burned, this air island bridge line of Xuanhe Academy would be severed by half.

Lin Zhezhi clearly understood the implication.

He jumped straight down from the high island.

Moving with him were four long-armed Jumping Apes, each a size larger. They grabbed the thick root hanging directly above the main island and swung downwards, moving faster than the groups on the left and right.

While still in mid-air, Lin Zhezhi's voice pressed down.

"You want to burn my backfield? Then I'll crush your gate first."

"Let's see who runs out of breath first in today's match."

This push was extremely fierce.

As soon as the thick root touched the edge of the main island, the four elite Jumping Apes landed and lunged fiercely towards the left side of the War Nest Gate. Lin Zhezhi landed right behind them. He slapped his palm down, and a short vine immediately began to crawl up the side of the gate, clearly intending to strangle the corner of the gate before letting the Jumping Apes behind him tear into it.

With this move, the main island finally faced real, direct pressure.

The twelve Hard-Shelled Gatekeeper Rats behind the gate lowered their bodies in unison, and the gate bones emitted a muffled sound.

Lu Jin still didn't look at the gate.

His gaze remained fixed on the old chain to the north.

The second hanging cart had been pulled up bit by bit by the eight-yard Cart-pulling Rats.

This time, there were no shield shells in the cart.

Six Work Rats, six Burrowing Spear Rats, and two barrels of fire oil were all tucked inside the hollow cart body. The outside of the hanging cart was coated with a layer of grey mortar; looking down from above, it was almost the same color as the bottom of the island.

As it inched along the old chain to the bottom of the North Island, the Leaf-Blade Sparrows in the air were still circling the main island.

No one noticed that a black cart had already been hung beneath the high island.

Only then did Lu Jin look towards the gate for the first time.

Lin Zhezhi had pressed to within three feet of the island's edge.

The thick root behind him was still there, and although the two side islands had been slowed down, the group of Jumping Apes on the right was about to reach the edge of the main island. As soon as this layer at the gate was breached, Lu Jin's entire main island defense line would be overturned.

Lin Zhezhi clearly knew he was very close.

"Lu Jin."

"Your style is very strange, and you're very good at turning the tables."

"But in the end, an Air Island map match comes down to who can hold the main island first."

Lu Jin finally looked at him and replied.

"You should look back first."

Lin Zhezhi's eyes darkened, and he instinctively tilted his head half an inch towards the North Island.

It was just that half inch.

Lu Jin slammed his palm down.

"Northern cart, open up."

The layer of grey shell beneath the high island suddenly split open.

The six Work Rats in the hanging cart pushed the cart shell outwards, and the six Burrowing Spear Rats drilled out through the crack simultaneously, stabbing directly into the chassis of the main vine. Two barrels of fire oil were also pushed to the base of the vine frame at the same time.

The next instant, Grey Pupil compressed the fire from the Priest Well and forced it across the air.

Boom!

The main vine caught fire.

The green vine parent frame began to blacken from the roots up, and the three living vine bridges that had been stretching in mid-air all shuddered at once.

The section of the bridge on the left, which had already been blown apart, curled directly into a ball of grey-black vines. The bridge on the right, which had just reached the edge of the main island, went slack, and the two Jumping Apes on it slipped and fell off on the spot.

Lin Zhezhi's expression truly changed this time.

"When did you sneak up there?"

Lu Jin's voice was very flat.

"You kept staring at the island surface."

"You didn't see the layer below."

Once the main vine burned, the bridge routes across the entire map immediately began to descend into chaos.

But Lu Jin wasn't finished yet.

"Sever the root."

The third empty hanging cart behind the main island finally moved.

This cart wasn't carrying anything; it was the lightest and the fastest when it charged. As the winch released, it swung out along another short chain and slammed directly into the root node of the thick root behind Lin Zhezhi.

Crack!

The root node had already been weakened by the backlash from the main vine; this impact caused it to split more than halfway on the spot.

The group of Work Rats guarding under the edge of the main island simultaneously raised their bone saws.

With three saws falling, the final layer of fibrous root bark immediately snapped.

The path behind Lin Zhezhi and the four elite Jumping Apes was gone.

The viewing stand was filled with gasps.

"He burned the main vine and cut off their root path back!"

"This isn't just defending the main island; he's changed the routes of the entire map!"

On the island's edge, Lin Zhezhi's reaction was astonishingly fast.

Once the root was cut, he didn't turn back to fight for the path; instead, he backhanded his weapon, trying to pry open the left corner of the War Nest Gate.

But he was still a step too slow.

The layer of bone cavities at the bottom of the island finally fully activated.

The pale grey shell, which had only been slightly exposed, suddenly split into six narrow openings beneath the island's edge. Twelve Burrowing Spear Rats stabbed out through the narrow openings in unison, targeting the Jumping Apes' ankles and the narrow rock where Lin Zhezhi was standing. The Gatekeeper Rats also pushed forward at this instant, pinning all four elite Jumping Apes onto the narrowest foot of the main island.

The biggest difference between an Air Island and the ground is that there's nowhere for you to retreat.

One step too narrow.

Behind it was empty air.

Before the short vine in Lin Zhezhi's hand could fully wrap around the corner of the gate, the narrow rock beneath his feet was cracked by the forced push of the Spear Rats and Gatekeeper Rats. An elite Jumping Ape beside him lost its balance first; a flash of white light appeared, and it was immediately removed by the judgment light.

With one less, the opening became even narrower.

Grey Pupil seized the opportunity to press the fire to the edge of the island.

Wu Fu sent out the last of the white paste from the half-pool; four freshly summoned Hard-Shelled Gatekeeper Rats charged into the front row, instantly pinning the remaining three elite Jumping Apes on Lin Zhezhi's side to the edge.

Lin Zhezhi gritted his teeth, still trying to push forward half a step.

Lu Jin watched him, his voice steady.

"Your line is indeed fast on the Air Island."

"But by growing all the paths in your own hands, you gave me the chance to burn them all down with one fire."

After he finished speaking, the final command was issued.

"Push forward."

The Gatekeeper Rats, Spear Rats, and Work Rats all pressed forward together.

Having lost the main vine and the return root, the Jumping Apes and Leaf-Blade Sparrows on the left and right islands were in complete disarray. With this push on the main island, Lin Zhezhi could no longer hold his ground.

The white light descended almost the next instant.

[Zone E-7 First Round]

[Lu Jin, Win]

[First Round Points +13]

[Match Rating: High]

[Tactical Tags: Structural Utilization, Air Island Adaptation, Backfield Cut-off]

The entire arena fell silent for a moment.

Then, the entire Zone E-7 main arena exploded.

"He won!"

"The first match on an Air Island map, and he actually pulled it off!"

"This isn't just the Underground style anymore; he's taken that sense of routine from the underground and moved it to the skies!"

In the top right corner of the main screen, the results from the other tables were also updating.

Ji Mingxiao had already secured a clean win on his side.

Meng Huichao also took his first-round points at another table.

Ning Yanqiu's table was still dragging on, but her battle damage looked decent.

The first round of the zone wouldn't wait for anyone.

If you play a beautiful match, the hot list and odds will move immediately.

Before Lu Jin had even come down from the island, the odds board beside the main screen had already changed.

[Zone E-7 Real-Time Odds]

[Second: Ji Mingxiao, Cangting Divine Academy]

[Third: Lu Jin, Zhuixing Divine Academy]

[Fourth: Meng Huichao, Zhuixing Divine Academy]

Wen Zhao stood by the viewing stand and laughed.

"Nice."

"After this match, those people in the Merchant Alliance will finally be willing to bump you up a tier."

Qiao Ye looked at the "Structural Utilization" tag on the main screen, his eyes shining.

"You call this playing an Air Island map."

"You've basically calculated every place in the sky where you can hang things as your own path."

On the Cangting viewing stand, Ji Mingxiao wasn't in a hurry to leave either.

He stared at the bone cavity hanging at the bottom of Lu Jin's island on the main screen for two seconds before speaking to the analyst behind him.

"Clip this match separately."

"What he's playing now is no longer just the Underground style."

"He's playing structure."

The voice wasn't loud.

But the Cangting analyst following him clearly looked much more serious.

The post-match interview stage was quickly set up.

As soon as Lu Jin stepped off the field, he was blocked by the crowd from the Competition Media Station.

The host in the front was so excited that his speaking speed increased.

"Lu Jin, let's start with a direct question."

"Did you retrace your old style on this Air Island map, or did you come up with it on the spot?"

Lu Jin took the water, drank a sip, and then spoke.

"After seeing the map last night, I knew I couldn't play the old way."

"The ground is gone, the caves are gone, and the city can't be spread out like it was in the mining fields. So, I calculated every chain I could hang from, every root I could step on, and every island bottom where I could hide people."

The host pressed on quickly.

"But you dared to dismantle carts, lock islands, and burn the main vine right from the start. Weren't you afraid of crashing and burning in the first match?"

Lu Jin looked at the main screen, which was still replaying the match, and replied calmly.

"Even if I was afraid, I had to play."

"If you lose points in the first match of the zone, people will keep targeting your weak point later on."

"If the Air Island doesn't let me go underground, I'll find somewhere else to walk."

The host clearly wanted to ask more.

But the crowd below suddenly went quiet.

The silence came quickly.

It was as if someone had walked in, and the people around had stepped aside on their own.

Lu Jin looked in the direction of the silence.

Right in front of the interview stage, a young man with deep gold short armor had appeared, though no one knew when.

He was tall, with broad, flat shoulders, and the extremely thin sun pattern on his chest looked like a line of cold gold under the lights. The people from Bei Yue Divine Academy around him didn't make a sound, just standing quietly behind him.

The young man raised his eyes, looked at Lu Jin on the stage, and spoke for the first time.

"Lu Jin."