Chapter 472: The Arrival of the Finals Circle

Who would have thought that upon saying this, the most excited person was not Principal Ti, that greedy ghost, nor Mo Laotou, the professional match, but rather that ugly and fat hermit.

Moreover, without regard for the danger of exposing his identity, he hurriedly asked another question.

"If that Demon Lord smoothly inherits the Purple Lightning Divinity, could he then steal the Purple Lightning Authority and become a Zhen Shen in one fell swoop?"

The Divine Chosen fell silent for a moment, then spoke vaguely.

"They…… said that."

Power moves hearts; for a moment the arena became deathly silent, even the faint wind earlier vanished.

Only the two Demon Dragons far away, painstakingly struggling, were still furiously spewing dragon breath, beyond reach, and indeed had no energy to spare for this side.

Just then, Mo Laotou, who had been watching for a long time, cleared his throat and asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Just what level is that Demon Lord, exactly?"

Ji Ming naturally guessed his concern, but his current persona is that of a self‑claimed bit of cleverness forced into the high‑stakes game, just wanting to get out quickly—an ordinary person.

So he did not clarify, but instead gave another bow, timid and hesitant.

"Gentlemen, I am only twenty‑eight, and in the Royal Capital I have merely been a traveler for less than three months; I am nothing but a short‑sighted, crude country bumpkin, and truly I do not understand your riddles, my lords!"

"Let's do this: I'll tell you everything I know, and you can judge for yourselves—don't blame me anymore."

As for Ji Ming, the best outcome for those few fat rats that went up the mountain would be for them all to die.

If possible, he even wanted to input the command code 【fightfightfight】 to make them start dog‑eating‑dog at once, dying in a pure white blankness.

So he simply switched from riddler mode to big‑bluffer mode, beginning his narration as the sole eyewitness present.

And in his story, the ten Demon Dragons all became unparalleled big pig snouts—stupid, foolish, and clumsy, not to mention greedy, savage, and violent, lacking any ambition or dignity.

Moreover, he quoted Lord Xijue's earlier words, emphasizing that this pack of Demon Dragons was related to the great war ten thousand years ago, holding many secrets, and that any one of them might be priceless vital intelligence.

But precisely for that reason, the bodies of these Demon Dragons have rotted into their present state, their ranks severely dropped, and their strength is about as empty as those forcibly elevated divine abominations.

All of this is objective fact—at least nine of those ten dragons are like that, and even those few servants are not as strong as Ji Ming described.

And by speaking all this truth so obediently, he was actually trying to provide cover for that last dragon—the Demon Lord.

Naturally, this cover wasn't because he had bad teeth and wanted something soft; it was to dispel everyone's worries on the spot.

——What a damned Demon Lord, just an old fool who's lived over ten thousand years, his bones rusted shut—not worth fearing!

"Gentlemen, cast aside your shyness, cast aside your hesitation, for the Divine Seal, begin fighting—let's battle until heads are split and blood flows, dying to the last!"

But now Ji Ming is playing the genuine high‑stakes game; aside from that pack of silly dragons, who among those who made it here isn't a crafty person?

Therefore, even with his silver tongue fully deployed, he couldn't fool everyone present; at least the three standing openly could not possibly believe it all.

He merely threw in a bland remark.

"Hmm, if that's the case, then if this isn't resolved, it's very likely to spawn a great disaster."

"Yeah, so the Divine Chosen, please wait here a moment; once we finish our business, we'll definitely bring you along."

"Heh heh, naturally so, naturally so!"

Moreover, even if they chose to let the Divine Chosen go, they had no intention of helping him escape.

They even left him right here so they could settle accounts later if they got screwed, letting him walk slowly toward the stone wall by himself.

But before they had taken a few steps, the three stopped in unison.

Principal Ti is an open‑hearted person; as the host of the Radiant East, he respectfully bowed to the two other guests and said modestly.

"Uh, haha, this kind of good thing definitely goes to the elders first, ma'am—what do you say?"

Yinjuke: "Heh heh, I have no objection."

As an old player of Yangyue, Mo Laotou's worldly wisdom is to never be first under heaven, so he also kept yielding.

"Hey there, what are you doing, young man? Be a gentleman, ladies first, right?"

Principal Ti: "All right, all right, I have no objection."

And this Yinjuke, looking foolish and obese yet sharp‑minded, babbled and tossed that hand‑held thunder back.

"Heh heh, you two are really polite, but I'd say we still need a strong, able‑bodied youngster to lead the way—what do you think, old folks?"

Mo Laotou: "Eh eh, I have no objection."

All one can say is that a triangle is indeed a very stable shape; the three who didn't want to walk in front and draw fire actually staged a tug‑of‑war before the long stairs.

You decline me, I recommend you—lo and behold, it's a picture of brotherly friendship, with righteousness foremost, quite lively.

But as for Ji Ming, he's like a scoundrel merchant who knows the raw stone holds no jade yet insists on selling it at a sky‑high price, ruining other families.

Now, having finally found three suckers, the only way is to trick them into quickly coughing up money to smash open this stone called the Demon Lord, then, because of a blood‑loss of one hundred million causing a heart attack, drop dead on the spot—only then can his strategic goal be achieved.

So now, the three buyers all sense something's off and don't want to fork over the cash first—what should he do?

【Haikemedia Team Leader, can you hear my voice? I am Ji Ming, the Divine Chosen】

The Haikemedia Team Leader was still locked in a passionate dogfight with the President, nearly losing his hair to the enemy's flames, when this sudden voice from deep within startled him.

"This…… what is this?"

【This is a secret art of my status as Divine Chosen; Team Leader, I have a major task I want to entrust to you—listen to me……】

And after hearing Ji Ming's suggestion, the Haikemedia Team Leader's first thought was——Did I hear that right?

"Are you sure? Doing this would be far too risky!"

【Haikemedia Team Leader, although this is our turf, the situation is urgent—what lies down the mountain matters more than what's up on ShanShang, and we probably can't wait for reinforcements to arrive】

【So if we don't use such means, we simply cannot stop them; but as followers of the Holy Light, we cannot simply abandon these heretical evil gods……】

"All right, you needn't say more—I understand!"

The Haikemedia Team Leader, though ultimately unable to escape the indecisive inertia of the elven race, knew that in a situation like this, it was indeed no longer time for him to hesitate.

Thus, while pulling away from that Demon Dragon, he activated a very special communication spell, silently issuing to all the Pegasus Knights the order to pull back.

Although they were still locked in mortal combat with the enemy, as the Holy See's staunchest shield, the knights' loyalty came first, so they immediately carried out the task to a full hundred percent.

"Hmm, huh?!"

But seeing that damned elf fly cease fighting him, the President's first thought was actually to fly into a rage.

He roared.

"What do you mean? Are you looking down on me? Come fight me!"

Sea Corps Commander:?????

One can only say that bronze dragons are truly a race that loves combat, especially after the President turned into a vengeful spirit and abandoned his lawful good stance.

When the strong join forces, what they create is definitely not an ordinary lunatic.

The best way to deal with a lunatic is to get far away quickly, so the Sea Corps Commander didn't exchange words with her but raised his spear and pointed toward the distance.

"Dragon, I'm not afraid of fighting, but three strangers I don't know have already gone up to the high platform of your temple. Shouldn't you go take care of them?"

"What?"

Well, perhaps the Vice President on the other side is indeed out of reach, but the President, immersed in the aerial combat game, has probably truly forgotten about this.

Now seeing three people standing in the clearing, behind them the captured future queen, and in front of them a stone wall that continues to glow.

Only then did she realize—ah, indeed!

"Damned meat worms, stop right now!"

Having said that, she no longer cared about any damn fly, and quickly led her draconic kobold subordinates back to fly.

Exactly, this is the scheme of the profiteer Ji Ming.

You're all afraid of death and don't want to open this raw stone, right?

Sure, I'll immediately find a strong and powerful boss-level emerald spirit whose hatred is locked onto you.

Or, you dogs with heaven‑defying gall, quickly open this raw stone; if the gamble fails, you'll lose all your property and end up with destroyed families and ruined lives.

Or, you just watch the emerald spirit lift this raw stone one by one and smash your heads to pulp with brute force.

Waiting to die, can I win twice?

And the three still bickering wildly saw a huge demon dragon fly in from the east, leaving them completely dazed.

Damn, isn't that demon dragon supposed to be fighting the Pegasus Knight Corps of the Hui Guang Kingdom's church?

Could Haikemediya have lost?

The Sea Corps Commander is known abroad as an honest man; they could never imagine that the foolish Hai had been tricked into becoming crippled, deliberately letting the enemy return to disgust them.

And Principal Tiliya's expression behind his mask changed instantly, filling with uncertain surprise.

He is greedy, deceitful, and cunning; as one of the top rulers of the Hui Guang Kingdom, he is certainly not stupid.

Indeed, in his eyes, his own interests are definitely above those of the academy, the king, and even the entire Hui Guang Kingdom.

But he, well‑versed in history, also knows that if the Hui Guang Kingdom's interests are severely damaged, his own will inevitably suffer as well!

So.

"Hmph, the game's too chaotic; you play it yourselves, I'm taking my leave!"

After thinking it over, the anxious him hastily found an excuse and simply whipped up a gust of wind to leave the platform.

Moments later, in the direction from which the demon dragon flew, the Sea Corps Commander who was directing the knights to land and rest suddenly sensed a completely unhidden aura rapidly approaching from the south.

"This is… ah, wonderful!"

He was overjoyed, quickly grabbed the reins, and let the Pegasus rush toward his relatives, his words becoming even more fervent.

"Principal Tiliya, how did you come here?"

Tiliya: ……

Holy shit! You're not dead?

Removing his mask, Tiliya is indeed a rare handsome man; standing before Haikemediya, who possesses the elves' beauty talent, he does not lose out.

Although he still can't simply and crudely match Ji Ming's two‑hundred charisma, at least when he lies he can keep a straight face without blushing or his heart racing.

Hiding the ghost‑like shock in his eyes, he began his act, borrowing the fatigue from rapid flight.

"Cough cough, I just left the meeting when I heard Professor Ji was trapped here; as a fellow educator, I couldn't bear to watch a good teacher suffer such hardship…"

Unfortunately, his human disguise didn't hold long before the honest Sea Corps Commander broke it with a few sentences.

Because.

"What? The divine selection told you to release the demon dragon back?"

Tiliya wanted to cry but had no tears, helplessly rubbing his nose as if wondering whether a red nose had grown here.

Meanwhile, after the masked man fled the battlefield, the final circle shrank, and the old demon and the hermit naturally did not retreat when facing the furious demon dragon leader.

Instead, one kicked out a wind blade, the other threw out a ring blade with both hands—essentially a probing toss of stones.

But such probing before the President is downright ridiculous; she flapped her wings and spat out a fan‑shaped draconic breath with a clatter.

Unlike the breath of other demon dragons, the President's breath carries the distinctive sharpness of a bronze dragon, instantly tearing apart the gust the old demon had whipped up.

And those two ring blades, made of unknown material, though not destroyed on the spot, were blown away with no resistance.

"Be careful, this dragon is no ordinary creature!"

The hermit snorted coldly, simultaneously using a secret technique to send the ring blades back.

Perhaps she did this just to show off, but the instant her hand was about to catch the ring blade, upon contact it snapped back like touching hot coals.

This operational mistake nearly caused her to stab herself; she floundered a moment before successfully retrieving her weapon.

Another survival wisdom of the old demon is not being ashamed to ask; seeing this, he immediately threw out a sentence.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just… cough, a bit hot."

Even the faint malice lingering on those ring blades could almost wound the hermit, who is unscathed even by contact with divine‑monster virulent poison—showing just how formidable the President's strength is.

But the President, whose brain is directly linked to his fists and whose wisdom is entirely converted into qi and blood, wouldn't think so much.

Having easily nullified the enemy's long‑range attack, she had already activated the demon dragons' most adept vengeful‑spirit form, instantly teleporting behind the two and exhaling a draconic breath with no wind‑up, pouring straight down.

"Again, this move!"

But similar sneak attacks had already been seen by everyone present; let alone the two people in the field, who, being on guard, made a big jump and quickly left the scorching range of the dragon's breath.

However, after all, a man is one chi tall while a dragon is one zhang tall; the president, like flicking a sniper rifle, sharply flicked his neck, and thus squarely struck the dragon's breath onto the face of one of the lucky ones.

"Er—ahhh!"

One can only say that it's human nature to first strike at ugly things, for this lucky one is none other than the Black Big Mama who thought she could escape the fastest.