Chase Game

Within the abyss, Ling Yi was engulfed in flames.

With all these enhancements, he can now even confront his pursuers head-on, and even if he is no match for them, he can still protect himself.

Of course, this state did not last long, and Ling Yi could clearly sense the burning state of his own flames.

It was as if there was a constantly decreasing energy tank; in his perception, the ember burst lasted for about three minutes.

There is another special mechanism, which is to use the pillar of fire spewed out by [Ember Mark - Lava Stomp] to baptize oneself.

This allows for the continuous replenishment of his "energy bar," which extends the duration of the skill.

His transformation stunned the other three people present.

Zhou Jie, in particular, kept glancing between Ling Yi and Ding Guifang beside him, thinking:

"How come both of them know this trick? Is there something fishy going on?"

He became more vigilant and silently distanced himself from Ding Guifang.

Ding Guifang, however, paid no attention to him; all her attention was focused on Ling Yi's eyes, arms, and legs.

She frowned and said, "He actually managed to collect all three divine items..."

Previously, Ding Guifang escaped the confinement of the courtyard house with the help of the "Red Feather Nirvana Pendant". Her first destination was Dongshan Village.

One reason was to form an alliance with Zhao Dayou, but in the end, they discovered that he had been killed by Ling Yi.

Another reason is for those three items—[Burning Eyes], [Burning Hands], and [Ember Steps].

Ding Guifang suddenly realized that Ling Yi had gotten his hands on both the Crimson Feather Nirvana Pendant and the "Lustful Executioner Three-Piece Set" first.

If this momentum continues, I'm afraid Ling Yi will indeed snatch the final victory in the game.

Compared to Wang Yun, Ling Yi is a much greater threat.

Having reached this conclusion, Ding Guifang turned her gaze to Wang Yun, who was also somewhat shocked.

She said, "Wang Yun, why don't we join forces for now and take down this Ling Yi first?"

Zhou Jie, standing to the side, cast a surprised glance at Ding Guifang.

One second they're attacking each other, the next they're applying to form an alliance?

Wang Yun also fell into deep thought. He understood Ding Guifang's meaning and also believed that Ling Yi posed a great threat.

But joining forces...

Before he could think it through, a flash of fire appeared as he was suppressed by gravity.

It was Ling Yi who had fled.

Ding Guifang's words were not sent in encrypted form, and Ling Yi, being hard-of-hearing, naturally heard them clearly.

"Damn it, you really want to team up against me? I'm not playing with you anymore!"

The [Ember Step] in the Ember Burst state is especially powerful, and in the blink of an eye he flashed out of the range of [Overwhelming Pressure].

"Wow, that's fast!"

Wang Yun was secretly startled, but he did not hesitate and immediately gave chase.

As for the temporary alliance, we'll have to talk about it later.

Ding Guifang reacted at the same time as him, and the two set off almost simultaneously.

Only in his [Steel Body Giant Transformation] state is Zhou Jie not good at running. He can only temporarily exit the giant form and use a movement item to help him chase.

During the chase, Ling Yi constantly dodged left and right, avoiding various attacks from behind.

Although Ding Guifang and Wang Yun did not explicitly agree to join forces, they reached a tacit understanding during the pursuit.

All the attacks flew towards Ling Yi, but he was highly focused and managed to dodge them with relative ease.

Each time he dodged the ember marks left behind, he used [Burning Eye] to move forward and then used [Ember Step] to unleash "Lava Stomp".

The pillars of fire erupted, cleansing themselves and thus prolonging the duration of the ember burst.

Until he saw Zhang Qiang and Meng Dong ahead.

The six players gathered in the Abyss, a situation that should have been on the verge of a major battle, but everyone exercised great restraint, each with their own considerations.

First was Wang Yun, who frowned in thought. He was alone and at a disadvantage!

Secondly, there's Ding Guifang. This decisive battle wasn't her original intention; she only wanted to obtain the [Phoenix Flame].

Finally, there's Ling Yi's side, whose thoughts are similar to Ding Guifang's.

For a moment, the three parties were deadlocked again.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the entire abyss, accompanied by constant tremors.

"What's going on!"

"Holy crap, this time it's a real earthquake!"

The crowd was surprised and puzzled.

Ding Guifang frowned, noticing the oil lamp in her hand flickering, and asked in confusion, "Is the source wavering?"

She spoke very softly, but Wang Yun still heard her. In an instant, Wang Yun's eyes widened like a startled animal, and he exclaimed in surprise:

"The Chosen One!!"

Wang Yun was a veteran player, so he naturally knew about the Chosen Ones.

Of all those present, Ding Guifang was probably the only one who didn't know what "Chosen One" meant. After all, she had only been a player for less than a month and hadn't joined any organization, so it was natural that she was out of touch with the news.

However, she seemed to be able to sense it in some way—

"Someone has tampered with the 'Origin of God'!!"

As if to confirm her words, right above them, in the sky above the abyss, a huge phantom of a firebird spread its wings, as if about to take flight.

Ding Guifang's face was filled with shock; it was an extreme shock.

She proclaims herself a "messenger of God," the most loyal believer and the most devoted protector of the gods.

She called it the "origin of God," which shows how precious, even sacred, this thing was to her.

But now, someone has touched it!!

And right under the nose of this "messenger of God"!

After the initial shock came extreme anger.

Without saying a word, she activated the oil lamp and summoned a firebird, but no matter how much effort she put in, she could not achieve the same solidified state as before.

The firebird in front of me was swaying and fluttering, like a patient who had been suffering from illness for a long time, and a gust of wind could blow it away.

In that state, she definitely couldn't ride it.

She had no choice but to try a different approach. Two fiery wheels appeared beneath her feet, spinning rapidly and carrying her around Ling Yi and the others, heading straight towards the top of the abyss.

Once Ding Guifang left, Zhou Jie naturally didn't stay; he manipulated the props and followed her.

Wang Yun thought for a moment, then left.

The tense atmosphere was broken by the Chosen Ones' act of collecting the source.

Ling Yi said to the two people behind him, "Let's go too!"

Zhang Qiang followed behind, asking anxiously, "Ling Yi, what exactly happened? Was this earthquake really caused by the Chosen Ones? What did you see inside the courtyard?"

As Ling Yi walked away, she explained without turning her head, "I don't know how to answer all these questions at once."

"In short, after I opened the barrier, the Chosen One appeared and took the item containing the origin, called [Phoenix Flame]. The current commotion should be because she is collecting the origin."

Ling Yi gave a brief explanation, and the two people behind him roughly understood.

After pondering for a moment, Meng Dong asked, "So, should we go directly to find the Chosen One now, and then reclaim the [Phoenix Flame] after she has finished collecting the source?"

Zhang Qiang spoke first, "Of course! Wang Yun and Ding Guifang both went; wouldn't we be falling behind if we didn't?"

Ling Yi nodded, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "While we're on our way, I can tell you about the secrets of this underground palace."

"secret?"

The two turned their attention to Ling Yi, who was hurrying ahead.

"That's right, the secret I'm about to tell you was learned from the murals on the screen wall inside the courtyard house."

Ling Yi said solemnly, "One of the reasons the Meng family moved to this county town is what the old patriarch mentioned in his last letter: to shift the blame and try to make Dongshan Village bear the consequences for them."

"Now we also know that although Dongshan Village was destroyed, the contract with the divine bird still exists."

"This leads to the second important reason for the Meng family's relocation, which was not mentioned in the will."

Walking on the cliff face, Ling Yi looked down at the abyss below.

His words had piqued the interest of both men, especially Zhang Qiang, who, seeing Ling Yi suddenly pause, said somewhat anxiously:

"Stop keeping me in suspense and tell me the second reason."

Ling Yi's gaze sharpened, and he uttered only four words: "Suppress the divine bird!"

"Popularity is a particularly crucial factor in the contract between the divine bird and the Meng family."

The Meng family provides popularity, and the divine bird provides fortune in return; this should have been a fair and mutually beneficial transaction.

However, the Meng family discovered that the "price" was mutual; while they were suffering the "pain of being burned," the divine bird also lost its own fortune.

In the contract, the divine bird also stipulated that upon its resurrection, it would reclaim all its fortune, further illustrating the importance of fortune to the divine bird.

Hearing this, Meng Dong seemed to understand something. He frowned and asked, "So, the Meng family has some ulterior motives?"

"That's right, after they discovered this hidden condition, they developed a countermeasure."

That would mean relocating to Zhuncheng County, taking advantage of the long-standing popularity there, and mixing it with the local population. In this way, the divine bird would need to provide more of its own fortune in return.

At the same time, they built an underground palace based on the bones of the divine bird, and the entire abyss was equivalent to its 'heart'.

They placed the divine messenger Afang in the courtyard of the Abyss to restrict her movements.

By the time the sleeping divine bird realized something was wrong with its fortune and warned the divine messenger Afang, it was too late.

At this point, the Meng family had begun to subtly exert their power to suppress the divine bird.

After listening, Meng Dong suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. I'm afraid even the elders of the family don't know about this; it's only been passed down among the successive heads of the family!"

Ling Yi agreed, saying, "That's the purpose of the patriarch's jade pendant."

Zhang Qiang, who was listening from the side, nodded repeatedly, and he even pondered:

"If the divine bird's fortune is truly as mystical as it's said to be, then can we boldly speculate that it's also related to the old patriarch's death?"

Ling Yi and Meng Dong turned to look at him. Zhang Qiang smiled sheepishly, but continued, "..."

"Think about it, this fortune was supposed to protect the Meng family, but the old patriarch suddenly died. Doesn't that mean the divine bird sensed something was wrong and started to rebel?"

After listening, Ling Yi thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "That's certainly one way to explain it..."

"In short, the truth has been mostly revealed now, and the 'Transformation of Fire into Feathers' painting will probably surface soon."

Hearing Ling Yi's summary, Zhang Qiang was naturally excited. It seemed that this dungeon was finally coming to an end.

Meng Dong, standing to the side, was not so happy. A question unconsciously popped into his mind:

There can only be one winner in this game. Should you try to win it?

He looked at Ling Yi ahead, seeing his firm and unwavering steps, and thought to himself, "He must be aiming to be the ultimate victor..."

Meng Dong thought about it a lot, but in the end he decided to give up on fighting for the final victory. He thought it would be good enough if he just finished his single line.

Moreover, the oil lamp is on Ding Guifang, and he needs the help of Ling Yi and Zhang Qiang to get it.

Although Ling Yi was walking in front, he still noticed Meng Dong's thoughtful expression throughout the journey.

Considering what he had said before, it's not hard to guess what he was thinking.

But no matter what Meng Dong thinks, Ling Yi will fight for that final victory, get the last S-level rating, and become a Tier 1 player!

The three of them raced all the way back to the Abyss, during which time the tremors throughout the underground palace continued unabated.

However, after searching the entire underground palace, they still couldn't find the Chosen One.

Even Wang Yun and Ding Guifang were not there.

"Strange, why is there no one here?" Zhang Qiang asked, puzzled.

Ling Yi also fell into thought. Then he realized that if the Chosen One needed a certain amount of time to collect the source and also needed a safe place, then it certainly wouldn't be this underground palace.

The tremors in the underground palace were merely a sign that the chosen ones were beginning to collect the source.

Her true location is most likely somewhere in the suburbs.

There were no clues to guide him; it was just his intuition telling him.

After he voiced his guess, Zhang Qiang exclaimed in surprise, "What? We're leaving the Meng residence...?"

Zhang Qiang frowned, because he could no longer leave the Meng residence for an extended period of time.

Meng Dong also felt that things were a bit tricky. Without Zhang Qiang following him, he was in danger. After all, he was the only escapee in the traditional sense in the entire game.

With Ling Yi's strength, even fugitives could be treated like half-hunters; he can't be used as a reference.

However, Meng Dong and Zhang Qiang were also a little worried about letting Ling Yi go alone, as he might be facing three pursuers!

"That's settled then. I'll go check on the situation alone. You all stay at the Meng residence and wait for orders."

Meng Dong looked at Ling Yi's face and saw no fear or hesitation. Was it because he had the confidence to do so?

Indeed, Ling Yi has the confidence to back it up. If he were to be attacked by three people, he would simply reveal all his trump cards and expose them.

He was confident that he could take at least one of them with him, and the other two would inevitably be seriously injured.

If the future is uncertain, then consider the worst-case scenario, fight with your back to the wall, and put yourself in a do-or-die situation to survive.

How can one possibly foresee everything in life?

Adventure is always inevitable.

Before Zhang Qiang and Meng Dong could say anything more, Ling Yi had already left.

Sure enough, after returning to the surface, Ling Yi saw a pillar of fire shooting into the sky in the distance.

Ling Yi thought it looked familiar, and then he remembered that the Chosen One in the [Stolen Item] dungeon also unleashed a huge beam of light when collecting the source at the mountaintop.

"It seems that all these chosen ones collect the source in the same way."

With this thought in mind, Ling Yi led a fast horse out of the stable, whipped it, and galloped towards the pillar of fire.

Actually, there were three people ahead of him: Ding Guifang was first, Wang Yun was second, and Zhou Jie was third.

The source of the towering fire pillar was indeed Shen Nianqing collecting the source energy.

After bringing [Phoenix Flame] out, she didn't run far. Estimating that she could buy some time, she began to prepare to collect the source.

"My lord, shall we set up a protective barrier?"

Sancai Tuanzi asked with some concern, still feeling that collecting the source in this way was too risky.

Shen Nianqing shook her head: "No need, it'll be over soon anyway."

As he spoke, he took out the [Phoenix Flame] containing the essence of the universe.

【Phoenix Flame】From the outside, it looks like a ball of fiery red flame, but Shen Nianqing knows that it is actually the "life flame" of the divine bird Phoenix!

The Phoenix Flame in her hand was full and brimming with vitality, a state that stemmed from the long-standing popularity and support of the Meng family.

If we were to compare it to a fruit, then it is now in its fully ripe state.

However, the Meng family used special methods to suppress it and then isolated it with restrictions, preventing it from ever achieving its ultimate goal.

By watering the divine bird's egg, the bird's life force, body, and fortune are combined, allowing it to be reborn.

Of course, Shen Nianqing didn't need to care about any main quest.

Her goal has always been singular—

"[Transformation from Blazing Fire] Dungeon Essence Collection, Begin Now!"