57: Chapter 57 Inheritance

Outside the ancestral hall, in the front-line camp, the air of the standoff was as solid as an iron block.

The wind stopped.

Yet, a murderous aura radiated in ripples between "Holy Light Hunk" and "Plague Knight - Zero," suffocating every player present.

This wasn't a simple case of red names versus blue names in a game; it was a deeper schism, a rupture of paths and beliefs.

Hundreds of players from the "Purifiers" alliance had their weapons' lights merge into a single, magnificent torrent, their blades all pointing at the solitary, pale figure standing opposite them.

Behind Zero, the players drawn by his sinister power, though few in number, all had burning gazes, like a pack of starving wolves that had caught the scent of blood in the darkness.

Their formation was loose, yet they echoed each other, exuding a dangerous and primitive wildness.

"Everyone's gone mad... everyone's fucking lost it!" A voice broke the deathly silence.

It was the Chamber of Commerce president, "All Realms Connector." He squeezed his fat body out of the crowd, his signature "harmony brings wealth" smile looking even worse than crying.

"Brother Hunk, Brother Zero, give me some face!" He cupped his hands to both sides, his posture extremely low. "Our true enemy is this godforsaken place, those monsters that can learn and evolve! Why are we fighting our own kind? Are we just letting the monsters laugh at us? We're only wasting our own resurrection resources and draining our family's strength!"

"All Realms Connector, this has nothing to do with you." Holy Light Hunk's voice was as cold and hard as iron, his gaze not shifting in the slightest. "This isn't business; this is a war of orthodoxy. We are human, so we must walk the human path. We absolutely cannot turn ourselves into monsters just for power."

"Monsters?" Zero finally spoke, his voice raspy with a strange resonance, as if coming from the eye on that arm armor. "All Realms Connector, you tell him what a monster is. Is it being repeatedly slaughtered by the enemy using tactics they learned, contributing death data like livestock, or is it... turning the enemy's power to your own use and mastering your own destiny?"

He slowly raised his left arm. The eyeball totem on the [Abyssal Gazer's Wrist] seemed to rotate slightly like a living creature, and an invisible pressure made everyone who looked directly at it feel a palpitation of the heart.

"A path is made by walking," Zero's lips curled into a sneer, "not by talking."

"Enough!" Holy Light Hunk roared. The golden flames on his body surged violently, and the finely crafted longsword in his hand emitted a clear, resonant hum.

"There's no point in talking! Since you are obsessed and refuse to repent, today, I will clean up the sect on behalf of the ancestors!"

Before the words even faded, he moved!

The ground beneath his feet sank abruptly, and he shot forward like a golden cannonball, his sword light turning into a streak of brilliance, carrying the force of thunder as he thrust directly at Zero's throat!

This strike was upright and magnificent, unparalleled in its ferocity, gathering all the spirit and energy of a top PVP player. Before the blade even arrived, the sharp sword aura had already caused the players behind Zero to choke and instinctively take half a step back.

Facing this earth-shattering strike, Zero's reaction sent a chill deep into the bones of everyone present.

He did not retreat, nor did he even block.

His body bent sharply to the left in a posture that completely defied human biomechanics, his waist nearly forming a right angle.

The entire movement was too fluid to be human, looking more like a puppet controlled by precision parts.

Whoosh! The golden sword light grazed the tip of his nose, and a few strands of black hair were sheared off by the sword aura, drifting into the air.

And at the very moment he performed this inconceivable dodge, the black dagger in his right hand had already silently thrust out, like a viper lurking in the abyss, biting towards the wrist Holy Light Hunk used to hold his sword.

The timing, angle, and speed were all precise to the extreme.

Holy Light Hunk's pupils shrank!

He could feel that the opponent's attack was not a prediction, but a near-certainty born of insight!

It was as if every one of his movements had been calculated in advance by the opponent!

He roared, his internal energy erupting as he forcibly retracted his sword to defend.

"Clang!" The sound of metal clashing was ear-piercing.

Holy Light Hunk felt a cold, eerie force travel from the sword, making half his body go slightly numb.

He was knocked back three steps, each one leaving a deep footprint on the hard ground.

As for Zero, he merely swayed once and steadied himself.

The difference in skill was immediately apparent.

"See that?" Zero stood straight, his terrifyingly bright eyes sweeping across the crowd. "This is the 'bravery' you are so proud of. In the face of absolute 'calculation,' it is vulnerable."

"You..." Holy Light Hunk's face flushed red; it was anger, but also a hint of imperceptible horror.

"Don't let him dictate the tempo!" From the crowd, "Trap Specialist - Infrastructure Maniac" shouted in a deep voice. "He's using psychological warfare! His equipment has special effects. We have the numbers, let's attack together and overwhelm him with area-of-effect attacks!"

"Right! Pile on him!" "Demolition Office Director" immediately responded, raising his battle axe high.

Hearing this, the players of the "Purifiers" alliance regained their morale, and it looked like a chaotic brawl was about to break out.

"No." Holy Light Hunk raised his hand to stop everyone, his gaze locked firmly on Zero. "This is my fight. If even I cannot sanction him, then our so-called 'righteous path' is the real joke."

He took a deep breath. The golden flames on his body stopped bursting outwards and instead gradually retracted, coating his armor and longsword to form a dense, golden halo.

His aura became more concentrated and even more dangerous.

"Again!" He growled and charged forward once more.

This time, his sword technique was no longer wide and sweeping, but had become swift and dense. The sword light poured down like rain, sealing off all space around Zero for evasion.

However, Zero's performance became even more bizarre.

He seemed to have turned into a ghost in the wind, weaving through the impenetrable net of swords.

Every dodge was perilously close, and every block was perfectly timed at the weakest node.

His movements had no wasted motion; they were terrifyingly efficient.

The eyeball totem on his arm remained locked onto Holy Light Hunk's figure, and countless minute streams of data light flashed rapidly within its pupil.

"It's useless." For the first time, Zero's voice carried a hint of pity. "Your anger, your moves, the way your muscles will exert force in the next second... it sees everything clearly."

"Shut up!" Holy Light Hunk, consumed by rage, suddenly changed his sword move. A cross-shaped golden sword beam flew from his hand, slashing towards Zero!

This was one of his finishing moves, [Holy Light Cross Slash]!

At the very moment the sword beam left his blade, Zero's body made an action that no one could have anticipated.

He suddenly stepped forward, advancing instead of retreating, charging straight at the sword beam!

Was he crazy?! Everyone widened their eyes.

Just as the cross-shaped sword beam was about to shred him into pieces, the [Abyssal Gazer's Wrist] on Zero's left arm flared with brilliant light. A pitch-black ray shot out from the eyeball totem, accurately striking the center intersection of the cross sword beam!

"Hum—" With a muffled sound, the violent golden sword beam actually stalled for a split second in mid-air.

That split second was all it took! Zero's figure, like a ghost, had already passed through the gap in the sword beam and appeared in front of Holy Light Hunk!

Too close! The distance between the two was less than half a meter!

Horror flashed across Holy Light Hunk's face, but his rich combat experience made him subconsciously raise his left fist, golden light gathering on it as he punched towards Zero's chest.

However, Zero's target was not him at all.

That poisoned dagger traced a cold arc, aiming for—Holy Light Hunk's throat!

Another "injure yourself to kill the opponent" tactic!

No, this time, Holy Light Hunk was too late to retract his move; this was fundamentally a lethal trap!

"Hunk!" "Watch out!" Cries of alarm erupted.

Just when everyone thought Holy Light Hunk was about to be killed instantly on the spot, a sudden change occurred!

Behind Zero, an inconspicuous earthen wall rose from the ground without warning!

This earthen wall appeared too suddenly, too tricky, exactly blocking the trajectory of Zero's thrusting dagger.

"Pfft!" The dagger sank deep into the earthen wall.

Zero's lethal strike had missed.

He whipped his head around, his gaze like lightning, shooting towards a corner of the crowd.

There, "Shield Mountain" was holding a pose with one hand pressed to the ground, his expression grave.

This creator of the prototype "Pot Lid Army" had, at the most critical moment, used an inconspicuous skill to save Holy Light Hunk.

The battle, because of this sudden turn of events, once again fell into an eerie stalemate.

"Heh..." Zero chuckled. He withdrew his dagger and slowly retreated, opening up the distance. "See that? This is you. Always unable to shake off your so-called 'companions.' As for me, I only need myself."

He looked around, observing the faces that were angry, fearful, greedy, or lost, and shook his head.

"You don't understand at all what you are fearing, or what you are yearning for."

His voice suddenly rose.

"You yearn for power, yet you are afraid to pay the price for it! You want to take shortcuts, yet you are ashamed to admit your own desires!"

He stomped his foot, and a pitch-black stone tablet emerged from his storage space, slamming heavily onto the ground!

The stone tablet was ancient and rustic, covered with carvings that looked like they were hacked by swords and axes. Every character seemed to contain endless demonic nature; just one glance made one's mind sway and consciousness churn.

An aura, deeper, more ancient, and more chaotic than that of the [Abyssal Gazer's Wrist], erupted and spread!

"What is this?!" "My god... my sanity points are dropping like crazy!" "Don't look at those characters!"

"Plague Knight - Zero" reached out and pressed his hand onto the stone tablet, and a stream of black energy surged from his palm into the stone.

The next moment, the characters on the stone tablet seemed to come alive, turning into streams of blood-colored light that shot into the sky, condensing in mid-air into scriptures that exuded an ominous aura!

[Heavenly Demon Strategy · Fragment]

[...Use the body as a furnace, refining the spirit as fire, and fusing the soul as the catalyst...]

[...Death is not the end, but the ladder to rebirth. Every time the soul returns to heaven and earth, it is the beginning of tempering. Those who cast aside life and fear death can attain the supreme demonic body...]

[...The cost of resurrection can be transformed into an undying foundation. Sacrifice your lifespan to receive the gift of the Demon God...]

The content of this cultivation technique was incomplete, but it clearly showed everyone a bloody and crazy shortcut to the peak!

"This... this is..." "I Love Exploiting Loopholes"'s lips trembled. He wasn't afraid, but excited. "Resurrection costs can be converted into attributes? Death counts can enhance the effect of the cultivation technique? My god... this... this is a perfect closed loop! This is... the ultimate theory of the sacrifice build!"

"Crazy, it's crazy!" Life-skill player "Skillful Hands Mending" turned pale. "This technique is encouraging us to go and die!"

Meanwhile, "Outlaw Zhang San" adjusted his non-existent glasses, his eyes flashing with rational light. He muttered in a low voice: "So that's how it is... This is the true learning mechanism of the 'Abyss.' It's not learning our tactics; it is... inducing us to choose the most efficient 'evolution' route. It is selecting... selecting the 'species' most suitable for this land."

"Heavenly Demon Strategy..." Holy Light Hunk looked at the blood-colored characters in the air, reciting the name word by word. His face was already ugly to the extreme. "The fundamental law of the Old Demon Lord... Zero, not only are you associating with evil objects, but you have also inherited the mantle of the demonic path!"

Zero did not answer him, but instead faced everyone and opened his arms, like a deity welcoming believers.

"I have found the ladder to the throne of gods."

"Now, it is right before you."

"Will you choose to hold onto ridiculous morality and be repeatedly ravished by monsters on the path of purification, or... follow me, embrace evolution, and become the true masters of this land?"

"Make your choice!"

His voice, like the whisper of a devil, rang in the bottom of everyone's heart.

[World Channel] instantly exploded.

Countless players who were still watching from the sidelines were completely driven mad after seeing the tempting attributes of [Heavenly Demon Strategy].

"Holy shit! The more you die, the stronger you get? Isn't this fucking tailor-made for me? I, 'Life-Bargaining First Person - War God Number One,' am putting it on the line today: I'm joining Boss Zero!"

"Can't beat Brother Hunk and the others in PVP, but now there's a chance to overtake them on a curve! Count me in!"

"Fortune favors the bold! Let's do it!"

In an instant, more than thirty percent of the players saw their IDs turn into the yellow symbolizing neutral. They silently walked out of the crowd and stood behind Zero.

The remaining members of the "Purifiers" alliance became even more angry and even more determined.

"Demonic heretics! A bunch of demonic heretics!"

"You will regret this! You are selling your own souls!"

The lines were clearly drawn.

The player community was, at this moment, split into two.

There was no room left for compromise.

...

Deep inside the dilapidated ancestral hall, the memorial tablet belonging to the ancestors stood quietly.

Lu Bei, in his spirit form, slowly opened his eyes.

Just a moment ago, he felt that the "incense" he relied on for survival—the power gathered from the beliefs of countless players—had been forcibly torn into two.

One part remained hot and pure, filled with high-spirited fighting will and the determination to protect.

The other part had become cold and chaotic, filled with an extreme craving for power and the impulse for destruction.

The two forces clashed and tore within his spirit form, making him feel a long-lost weakness and stinging pain.

What made him feel even more uneasy was that, outside these two entangled forces of incense, he vaguely sensed a trace of an extremely faint, yet pervasive, prying gaze.

That gaze did not belong to any player.

It came from a place so unimaginably distant, carrying a kind of... indifferent pleasure in watching pawns slaughter each other on a chessboard.

It was as if the civil war about to break out before him was exactly the script It had hoped to see.

Lu Bei's brows furrowed deeply.