Suddenly, Bai Qiu stopped his movements and turned to look into the distance…
“So they’ve arrived already…” he sighed inwardly.
In barrier mode, a Level 2 Sanctuary wasn’t easy to break through barehanded.
At his current full-force striking frequency, it would take at least fifty minutes.
Of course, if he used Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear, he could tear open a gap in just two minutes.
But Bai Qiu wasn’t willing to reveal his trump card just to kill a group of ants.
At present, his trump cards—Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear, the future Radiant Star, and his chantless Noble Phantasm—had never been revealed to the public.
The reason he had been schemed against last time was largely because his abilities had been fully exposed.
His entire monster-grinding process had been livestreamed, leaving him no time to react.
Seeing Bai Qiu suddenly stop attacking and look into the distance, the Sage followed his gaze—but saw nothing.
Only after a while did he notice a group of adventurers in uniform approaching in orderly formation.
Clearly, Bai Qiu’s perception and detection abilities were far superior—he had noticed them long ago.
The Sage felt uneasy at first, but soon relaxed.
The killing intent of this transcendent expert seemed targeted—otherwise, those approaching adventurers would have already been wiped out.
One of them, the highest-level among the group, ran forward and stopped three meters away from Bai Qiu.
“I am Huang Weiming from Zone 2201. Cease your attack on the barrier of Zone 2203 immediately!”
Bai Qiu glanced at him and activated his detection.
Huang Weiming’s level was instantly revealed—Level 26, not low.
However, his attributes were somewhat lacking.
He had probably only used one item card, had no special opportunities, and wasn’t even equipped with a full set of C-rank gear…
“That’s fine. I didn’t come here to break the Sanctuary barrier in the first place. As long as I can kill the players who attacked me a few days ago, I’ll leave on my own,” Bai Qiu said calmly.
Though Huang Weiming was from the military, Bai Qiu had no intention of compromising or backing down.
Huang Weiming frowned. “You’re Bai Qiu? Then tell me—how many players attacked you a few days ago?”
At first, seeing the Sanctuary shaking from afar, he already knew this person was no ordinary figure, which was why he hadn’t used force right away.
Now that he had confirmed the gray-black cloaked figure was indeed Bai Qiu, he actually felt a bit relieved.
Bai Qiu looked toward the Sage and said, “Including the 29 I’ve already killed, there are still 218 people inside the Sanctuary who participated in the attack against me. If you let me in to kill them, I won’t harm a single innocent person.”
Huang Weiming’s expression darkened.
If Bai Qiu only wanted revenge against a few individuals, that would be one thing—they might even be able to help track them down.
But he wanted to kill over two hundred people.
And he had already killed 29.
At this point, Bai Qiu was practically a butcher—perhaps even addicted to killing!
The Sage also sucked in a cold breath.
Killing another 218 people would mean wiping out nearly all the high-level combat power of Zone 2203…
Naturally, he had no idea what had caused Bai Qiu’s rage.
When Tang Sang and his group had set Bai Qiu up, the [Supporters] had all been deliberately lured away by Tang Sang’s subordinates.
However, there was one silver lining.
Although those players were Tang Sang’s subordinates, they had not been present at the scene of the setup, nor had they attacked Bai Qiu.
As a result, Bai Qiu had not marked them as targets…
So, after learning how things had unfolded, those players decisively cut ties with Fei Wu’s faction.
They were also clever enough to know that someone like Fei Wu—having followed Tang Sang for so long—had inevitably inherited some of his worst traits.
To avoid being dragged in as scapegoats, they decisively left the Sanctuary barrier, leveling and exploring outside, preparing to head to other regions and live under new identities.
Back to the matter at hand—the Sage naturally could not agree to Bai Qiu’s request.
Instead, he angrily rebuked Bai Qiu for slaughtering his own kind.
Huang Weiming, however, remained silent.
The soldiers stood on both sides, staring straight at Bai Qiu, each with their own thoughts and judgments.
But what they thought didn’t matter.
A soldier’s duty was to obey orders.
Including Huang Weiming—at this moment, he was merely seeking instructions from his superiors.
Given Bai Qiu’s status as a widely acknowledged top-tier figure, he had no authority to make the decision himself.
Bai Qiu, however, showed no anger at the Sage’s reprimand.
Instead, he changed his tone and spoke in a measured, almost persuasive manner:
“Old man, how about this? Let me go in and kill those people. In return, I’ll lead the people of this region to grow stronger and help them withstand the next monster tide.”
Hearing this, Fei Wu—who had been watching nervously from afar—immediately turned pale.
He hadn’t expected that after the military arrived, not only would they fail to stop Bai Qiu, but Bai Qiu would even propose such a ruthless condition!
If Bai Qiu were allowed inside, then even the heavens themselves wouldn’t be able to save them.
So he rushed forward to the group of [Supporters], wailing loudly.
Bai Qiu said nothing, merely watching his performance indifferently.
At that moment, Huang Weiming finally spoke:
“Bai Qiu, is there really no room for compromise? Besides killing them, you still have other choices…”
Bai Qiu glanced at him and spoke slowly:
“Three days ago, I rushed here, nearly exhausted. To help them, I used up almost all my arrows, my mana reserves, and my stamina—only then did I manage to kill the twenty-seventh Hydra.
And how did they repay me? With chains meant to trap monsters… with system-issued treasures… with concealed Noble Phantasms… They treated me like prey and threw everything they had at me…”
“And you want me to spare them?!”
By the end, Bai Qiu was practically gritting his teeth.
The almost tangible killing intent forced even Huang Weiming to take a few steps back.
“Are you kidding me?!” Bai Qiu roared.
He pointed at the Sanctuary barrier again and continued:
“I was sent back to Zone 2233 and lay unconscious for a full day and a half. After waking up, I had plenty of ways to take revenge.”
“Assassination. Inciting players to create inter-zone conflict. Or during the next monster tide, coming here and breaking the Sanctuary barrier together with the monsters…”
The more Bai Qiu spoke, the more alarmed Huang Weiming became—because every method he mentioned was entirely feasible…
“But grievances have their rightful targets. I will not harm innocent players of Zone 2203 for the sake of personal revenge…”
“I’ll… consult my superiors first…” Huang Weiming said, somewhat at a loss.
If it came to fighting Bai Qiu, he absolutely did not want that outcome.
After learning the truth, the group of [Supporters] led by the Sage were shocked—not only by Bai Qiu’s past feats, but even more so by the actions of the adventurers in their own zone.
Ever since Tang Sang arrived, Zone 2203 had been plagued by internal conflict over control.
Murder and arson were the least of it—there were kidnappings of family members, nighttime assassinations…
All kinds of ruthless struggles had quickly turned Zone 2203 into Tang Sang’s domain.
These external [Supporters] had tried to intervene, but to no avail.
Ironically, this predatory unification had made Zone 2203 stronger than ever—strong enough to repel monster tides on its own.
But many innocent people had suffered terribly under such rule—oppressed, abused, and exploited.
Acts of bullying and violence were all too common.
Even the Sage had once hesitated over whether to grant the Guardian class to Tang Sang in the future.
Now there was no need to consider it anymore—Tang Sang was dead, and the people remaining in this safe zone would likely struggle to escape death as well.
The Sage found himself hesitating over whether he should interfere in conflicts between players at all.
Huang Weiming quickly received a message.
He turned to Bai Qiu and said, “Check your private messages.”
Hearing this, Bai Qiu glanced through his friend chats and found a suggestion sent by Li Qingshan.
After carefully reading it, he frowned and pondered for a long while.
“I can spare your lives,” Bai Qiu finally said.
He gestured toward Fei Wu, who immediately scrambled over, crawling and stumbling, adopting an attentive posture—though he still didn’t dare step outside the Sanctuary barrier.
After Fei Wu gathered all 213 people who had been present at the time, Bai Qiu spoke in a low voice:
“Where are the other four?”
“They… they fled to other zones…” Fei Wu replied tremblingly.
Bai Qiu nodded and said calmly, “I can spare you—but I have conditions…”
“As long as you spare us, we’ll accept any condition!” Fei Wu blurted out immediately.
“Very well. First—return the seven storage cards from the seven people I killed before, along with all of their relics. Not a single item may be missing.”
As soon as Bai Qiu finished speaking, it took less than a minute for the seven storage cards—along with all the item cards dropped upon their deaths—to be placed in a small box and presented to him.
“Second—tomorrow, I will take over clearing the three dungeons around Zone 2203. Based on the total drops, you will deliver 90% of that amount as your daily quota.
If you fail to meet the requirement, you must make up the difference yourselves. I will collect once every week. If even a single herb or ore is missing, the promise I made to spare you will be void—and I will still kill you.”
This second condition was nothing short of extortion—even Huang Weiming was inwardly shocked.
Ninety percent of the drops? And based on Bai Qiu’s own dungeon runs?
Who could guarantee that dungeon drops were consistent each time?
What if their luck was worse and they obtained fewer resources than Bai Qiu?
Moreover, with three dungeons, it meant they would have to guard the dungeon entrances from midnight every day.
If others got there first, they would have to spend their own money to buy the materials.
Dungeon resources were still quite valuable—buying them once a week with Sanctum Coins could bankrupt them!
Fei Wu felt bitterness well up inside, but he knew he had no right to bargain with Bai Qiu.
So, gritting his teeth, he agreed to Bai Qiu’s unreasonable demands on behalf of the remaining 213 people.
There was no other choice—no one wanted to die.
Reaching this outcome was already better than expected.
Originally, he had hoped the military would intimidate Bai Qiu into backing down, but it turned out Bai Qiu wasn’t the least bit afraid—boldly saying whatever he wanted in front of everyone…
— The end of the Chapter–
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