92: One-Sword Man 4

Early the next morning, when Qin Jiuge appeared at the Life and Death Arena once again,

the gazes of all the survivors focused on him.

The news of last night's massacre had already spread throughout the city. Although no one had seen who did it with their own eyes,

everyone suspected it was related to this "one-sword superman."

Of the original hundred survivors, only eighty-seven remained due to last night's deaths and those who voluntarily withdrew today.

On the high platform, the Heavenly Lord of the First Heaven's gaze lingered on Qin Jiuge for a long time.

"It seems some little bugs have resolved things themselves,"

he sneered,

"just as well, it saves us from dirtying our hands."

"The third round, the rules have changed."

The Heavenly Lord announced,

"There will be no more arena battles; instead, we will conduct the 'Death Maze'."

He pointed behind the Life and Death Arena, where a massive black opening had appeared at some unknown time.

"This is the entrance to the underground maze, which is filled with traps, monsters, and other dangers."

"All of you will enter simultaneously, fighting each other within the maze while searching for the exit."

"The final ten people who walk out of the exit will be the winners of this competition and obtain the qualification for Ascension."

"Now, enter the maze!"

The eighty-seven Martial Artists looked at each other, but no one dared to defy the Heavenly Lord's command.

One after another, they walked into the black opening and disappeared inside.

Qin Jiuge was the last to enter.

As he stepped into the opening, he could feel the Heavenly Lord's gaze staring at him the entire time.

"An interesting prey."

The Heavenly Lord whispered to himself,

"I hope you can survive until the end... after all, top-quality 'consumables' are not easy to find."

...Inside the maze was pitch black, with only the occasional glowing moss on the walls providing faint light.

The passages were intricate and complex, as if they had no end.

After Qin Jiuge entered, he did not rush forward. Instead, he stood in place, releasing his Divine Sense to perceive the structure of the maze.

This maze was not simple; complex runes were carved on the walls, clearly making it a meticulously designed Formation.

It not only interfered with one's sense of direction but also produced illusions and traps.

"Low-level Trapping Formations and Illusion Formations,"

Qin Jiuge evaluated,

"but for Mortals, they are already lethal."

He walked forward slowly, his bamboo cane tapping the ground and making a crisp "tap-tap" sound.

This sound echoed through the silent maze, carrying quite far.

Soon, the sounds of fighting and miserable screams came from ahead.

Clearly, some people had already encountered each other.

Qin Jiuge remained unmoved and continued forward.

Turning a corner, he saw three Martial Artists besieging an injured man.

That injured man was already on his last breath, seemingly about to be killed.

The three attackers noticed Qin Jiuge, and one of them sneered:

"Another blind man coming to his death."

Qin Jiuge said nothing and continued walking forward.

"Stop! Hand over the Token on your person!"

Another Martial Artist barked.

They thought Qin Jiuge would be afraid or beg for mercy, but Qin Jiuge simply and calmly drew his saber.

"Seeking death!"

The three attacked simultaneously.

Three flashes of saber-light passed, and the three fell, each killed with a single strike.

The injured Martial Artist was stunned. He stared blankly at Qin Jiuge as if seeing a savior:

"Thank... thank you..."

Qin Jiuge ignored him and continued walking forward.

"Wait!"

The injured Martial Artist shouted,

"I know a shortcut that can reach the exit faster! As a reward, I'll lead you there!"

Qin Jiuge stopped his pace.

The injured Martial Artist struggled to stand up:

"My name is Zhang Tie. I'm a miner and very familiar with underground structures."

"Although this maze is complex, I can see it was built according to a certain pattern."

"I just observed the growth direction of the moss and the airflow, and I've roughly determined the direction of the exit."

Qin Jiuge's Divine Sense swept over Zhang Tie, confirming he was not lying.

"Lead the way,"

Qin Jiuge said simply.

Zhang Tie was overjoyed and hurriedly led the way in front.

Although he was injured, he could still move, and he was indeed very sensitive to underground structures.

He led Qin Jiuge through the maze, avoiding several obvious traps.

On the way, they encountered several waves of Martial Artists; some wanted to snatch Tokens, while others simply wanted to kill to reduce the competition.

But under Qin Jiuge's saber, no one could last beyond the second move.

Zhang Tie watched, dumbfounded. He finally understood why this blind man could survive until now.

"Brother... Brother Qin, this saber technique of yours is simply divine."

Zhang Tie couldn't help but praise,

"I've never seen such a fast saber."

Qin Jiuge did not respond.

Zhang Tie didn't mind and continued speaking:

"Actually, I didn't join the competition for Ascension... I know Ascension is a scam."

Qin Jiuge raised an eyebrow slightly:

"You know?"

"My father participated in the competition twenty years ago and luckily survived to the end, obtaining the qualification for 'Ascension'."

Zhang Tie's voice grew low,

"But before he left, he secretly told me that it might be a trap and warned me never to participate in the competition."

"But my mother is seriously ill and needs medicine. I had no other choice..."

Qin Jiuge was silent for a moment before asking,

"You want to save your mother?"

"Yes."

Zhang Tie nodded,

"Among the rewards for the top ten in the competition is a Spirit Medicine that can cure all ailments. I must get that."

"You will die."

"I know."

Zhang Tie smiled bitterly,

"But if my mother dies, there's no point in me living either."

The two continued forward, resolving three more waves of enemies along the way.

Qin Jiuge's saber technique became increasingly sharp, and Zhang Tie even felt that this blind man might truly be able to fight his way into the top ten.

Suddenly, the sounds of a massive struggle and roars came from ahead.

"It's monsters!"

Zhang Tie's expression changed,

"The monsters in the maze have been disturbed!"

Turning a corner, they saw a gruesome sight: five Martial Artists were fighting three massive Crypt Spiders.

Each of these spiders was the size of a calf, their eight legs as hard as steel, and they could spit viscous spider webs from their mouths.

Two people had already been trapped by the webs and were being gnawed by the spiders, letting out shrill screams.

The remaining three were barely holding on, but they were also in critical danger.

"Brother Qin, let's take a detour!"

Zhang Tie suggested.

But Qin Jiuge had already walked over.

One spider noticed him and immediately spat out a web.

Qin Jiuge leaped lightly, dodging the web, while a flash of saber-light severed one of the spider's front legs.

The spider let out a sharp shriek, and the other two spiders also turned to attack Qin Jiuge.

The three spiders pounced from three directions, sealing off all paths of retreat.

Qin Jiuge was unhurried, his figure moving like a ghost between the three spiders.

Every dodge was accompanied by a flash of black saber-light.

The spiders' hard carapaces were as fragile as tofu before the blade tempered by Devilish Qi.

After three breaths, all three spiders fell to the ground, each precisely severed at the joint between their head and body.

The three surviving Martial Artists were stunned. The monsters they had struggled so long to kill were so easily defeated before this blind saber user.

"Thank... thank you for saving us!"

A Martial Artist cupped his fists.

Qin Jiuge ignored them and continued walking forward.

Zhang Tie hurriedly followed, and as he passed the three, he whispered:

"Leave here quickly; the smell of blood will attract more monsters."

The three snapped out of it and hurriedly fled in another direction.

Qin Jiuge and Zhang Tie continued forward, and after walking for about another hour, light finally appeared ahead.

"The exit!"

Zhang Tie said excitedly.

But at the exit, people were already waiting.

Seven Martial Artists stood guard before the exit, clearly intending to intercept and kill everyone who arrived to secure the slots for their own people.

Leading them was a One-Eyed Old Man holding twin sabers, his aura cold and sinister.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The One-Eyed Old Man sneered,

"Hand over your Tokens, and I can leave your corpses intact."

Qin Jiuge counted; there were seven of them, plus himself and Zhang Tie, and whoever else might still be alive... for ten slots, clearing out the competition was indeed necessary.

"Zhang Tie, step back."

Qin Jiuge said calmly.

Zhang Tie knew this was not a battle he could participate in and hurriedly retreated to a distance.

"Blind man, you're quite arrogant."

The One-Eyed Old Man licked his lips,

"I've heard of you, the one-sword superman, right?"

"Today, let this old man see if you're truly that fast."

The seven attacked at once!

These seven clearly coordinated well, their offense and defense integrated, making them far superior to Zhao Gang's gang from last night.

But Qin Jiuge's saber was faster.

His figure turned into seven afterimages, each meeting one of the seven people.

Seven flashes of saber-light lit up almost simultaneously, like seven flowers of death blooming in the dark night.

"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!"

Seven soft sounds, and the seven fell.

The One-Eyed Old Man widened his only eye, looking at the saber wound on his chest in disbelief.

He had clearly parried, but the other's saber seemed able to bypass all defenses and strike his vital points directly.

"This... what kind of saber technique is this..."

He spat out his last words and fell dead.

Qin Jiuge sheathed his saber and looked toward the exit.

Zhang Tie ran over and said excitedly:

"Brother Qin, you're too strong! Let's get out quickly; we should be able to make the top ten!"

But Qin Jiuge shook his head:

"You go out first."

"Why?"

Zhang Tie was puzzled.

"I still have some matters to handle,"

Qin Jiuge said.

Although Zhang Tie was confused, he still nodded:

"Then... I'll wait for you outside. Be careful."

He walked toward the exit, and with a flash of light, he disappeared.

Qin Jiuge turned around and looked into the dark depths of the maze.

His Divine Sense perceived two relatively strong auras approaching; they should be the final competitors.

Sure enough, after a short while, two people walked out from different directions.

One was a Young Swordsman dressed in white robes with an otherworldly temperament, and the other was a Middle-aged Saber User dressed in black, his Killing Intent cold and stern.

Seeing the corpses at the exit and Qin Jiuge, both were stunned.

"They're all dead?"

The Young Swordsman frowned,

"Did you kill them?"

Qin Jiuge did not answer, simply looking at them calmly.

"Good, very good."

The Middle-aged Saber User grinned hideously,

"Just right, the three of us will decide the final two slots."

The Young Swordsman, however, shook his head:

"No, one person just left. Including the three of us, there are already four people."

"Six people must have already left ahead of us."

The Middle-aged Saber User's expression changed:

"What? Then aren't the slots already full?"

"They aren't full yet,"

Qin Jiuge spoke,

"After I kill you both and then head out, it will be just right."

Hearing this, both of them were enraged.

"Arrogant!"

The Middle-aged Saber User was the first to strike, his saber attacking like a violent storm.

The Young Swordsman also struck with his sword at the same time, his sword-light like snow, sealing off Qin Jiuge's path of retreat.