I Bound Myself to a Destructive Witch-Chapter 821 - 789. Settlement stage

Chapter 821: 789. Settlement stage

Two hours later.

Xia Feng finally emerged from the vast forest, arriving at a stretch of beach.

Ahead lay an endless expanse of blue ocean. In the sky above the ocean, a shimmering azure treasure chest hung suspended.

A complex array made up of layers of spiritual light flow surrounded the treasure chest, circle after circle extending outwards.

Xia Feng estimated that it would take him at least half a day to forcibly break this array by sheer power.

“Zzz—”

The sound of space tearing exploded, and the dim and cloudless sky suddenly ripped open a fissure. In the burst of brilliant light, a six-winged angel descended, plunging straight toward the sea.

It looked like it had just gone through a big battle, trudging a difficult path to get here, with its wings stirring up gusts of bloody wind as it moved.

“Buzz—” It abruptly landed on the sea surface, with waves on both sides surging up to form two towering walls.

Between them, the azure treasure chest separated the six-winged angel from the distant Black Spade Man on the beach, who regarded each other from afar.

Yophiel furrowed his brow slightly, not expecting the Black Spade Man to have arrived first.

But there was no helping it; that madwoman Lady Mi had chased after him, refusing to relent unless he handed over the Ash Sun Card. He had expended significant effort trapping her temporarily in the Angel Cage.

That caused his slight delay.

Nevertheless, he was relieved that it was only the Black Spade Man who arrived with him.

This enigmatic character, who loved to be mysterious, was only at the Venerate One Realm. Even with some bizarre tactics, he posed no real threat.

At least, dealing with him was much easier than with the other seven.

Xia Feng stood at a distance, reflexively glancing at the map marker.

On the map, the flashing red dot in the Unsinking Sea Domain coincided with this location. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Did it mean Yophiel was the Red King?

This made Xia Feng puzzled, feeling something… wasn’t quite right.

Yophiel also looked at Xia Feng with some confusion, pondering deeply about something before nodding and saying softly:

“Since you’ve also come to this place, why not join forces with me to break the array? We will split the benefits equally.”

Xia Feng smiled: “That’s exactly what I had in mind.”

He didn’t believe this guy’s nonsense, but it didn’t matter. The priority was opening the treasure chest first.

The two stood on either side of the treasure chest, each releasing their own spiritual pressure, infiltrating the array.

In such a short time, unless one was a divine-level genius, breaking the array by force using spiritual pressure was more efficient than analyzing and dismantling its principles.

However, Xia Feng noticed that Yophiel wasn’t releasing spiritual pressure, but a more advanced Dao Thought domain. His array-breaking speed was several dozen times faster.

The layers of seals on the treasure chest’s surface burned away swiftly, like paper meeting candlelight.

Yophiel glanced distantly at the Black Spade Man’s crawling array-breaking speed, shaking his head secretly, his cold gaze hiding contempt.

How laughable for someone who hadn’t even comprehended the Dao Thought domain to dare partake in the Sumeru Throne competition.

Yophiel secretly contemplated with his gaze turning icy; he had never intended to genuinely split benefits with the Black Spade Man.

He would not do something as foolish as sharing the spoils with the weak.

Survival of the fittest was the ultimate truth of the world.

Once the array was broken and the basic resources were devoured, he’d seek an opportunity to eliminate this insignificant opponent.

In doing so, he could secure the first-kill reward and the 8 item cards from the basic airdrop, swiftly advancing from the bottom to a middle-upper position.

After that, he could use the just-acquired ‘Ash Sun Card’ to search for the Ash Sun Divine Domain’s whereabouts.

Attain the Ash Sun Divine Domain!

With thoughts churning, Yophiel no longer paid any heed to the Black Spade Man. He advanced step by step toward the treasure chest, walking over the sea current.

As his six wings fluttered, divine light spread, further accelerating his array-breaking speed.

Half an hour passed, and the luminous flow sealing the treasure chest swiftly reduced to just a remaining three cubic meters of space.

In a little over a minute, they would succeed in breaking the seal.

Xia Feng’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He knew well that once the seal was broken, it would most likely signal his demise.

Yophiel would definitely make a move against him.

Nevertheless, Xia Feng remained unfazed, calmly waiting, while silently counting down in his mind.

[Red King exposure time remaining: 9 seconds…8 seconds…]

[3…2…1]

The drifting clouds, the gentle sea breeze, the untrammeled luminous flow, and Yophiel’s flapping six wings, and Xia Feng’s robe billowing behind him, all stood still!

The entire Sumeru Realm entered a time-stop state at this moment.

Even the energy shockwave from two Holy Realm powerhouses battling somewhere remained motionless.

[Red King exposure phase ends, entering the first calculation phase—]

Xia Feng’s vision went dark.

The next moment, he found himself atop a tall cylindrical platform.

In the dimness, eight other tall pillars encircled around him.

In the center of the nine pillars, a dark red ◬ symbol glowed, slowly rotating clockwise.

When Xia Feng lowered his head to observe his status, a square column rose from a hole at his feet, aligning with his waist.

Resembling a tablet, his data information emerged on the vertical surface of the column.

[Seat: 9]

[Ash Stones owned: 9 pieces]

[ Owned Item Cards: Special · Black King Card*1 (Inactive), Level 0 · Ash Stone Multiplication Card*4 (Active)]

[First round calculation—]

[First kill: None]

[Hunts: None]

[…]

[Guessed Red King: None (Each person has only one guess opportunity; the earlier the round guessed, the more Ash Stones are gained)]

[As the Black King, you possess an extra calculation task— you successfully completed 1 round of identity hiding, receiving Ash Stones: 20 pieces!]

[Because you own Ash Stone Multiplication Card*4, for every 10 Ash Stones you receive, you can multiply to gain another 4 Ash Stones— Total: Additional 8 Ash Stones!]

[Calculation complete—]

[Current Ash Stones owned: 37 pieces]

According to the rules, the possessor of the Black King identity gains doubled Ash Stones for each additional round they remain hidden.

20 pieces the first round, 40 pieces the second round, 80 pieces the third round, and so on.

This is one reason why all players want to expose the Black King as soon as possible; otherwise, the resources the Black King can acquire for free grow terrifyingly.

Looking at the 37 pieces in his account, Xia Feng felt quite pleased.

Though not extremely much, and it couldn’t compare to the two mysterious big shots who have already amassed 50 pieces, the feeling of freely acquiring Ash Stones was quite enjoyable.

As long as he held out until later stages, the freebies only increase!

[Hint: The calculation exchange phase is divided into four sub-phases]

[1 Calculation → 2 Private Exchange → 3 Public Auction → Identifying the Red King]

[The store is open; private exchanges commence now, you have one minute to exchange for item cards, the store will close in one minute]

[First round exchange—Store price increases by 300%]

[Level 0 · Ash Land Investigation Card· Price 3]

[Level 0 · Active Positioning Card· Price 3]

[Level 0 · Ash Stone Multiplication Card· Price 15]

Seeing the 300% price surge, Xia Feng’s eyelid couldn’t help but twitch.

Though the game had initially noted that prices of item cards would become more expensive with later rounds,

this threefold increase was rather terrifying.

After all, the Ash Stone Multiplication Card initially cost only 5 Ash Stones to purchase one, now it demanded 15…. even more exhilarating than stock trading.