The Bloodfiend Taotie immediately blocked Tianming as soon as it appeared, spitting out blood-colored flames at him.
The blood-colored flames weren’t hot, but instead cold and insidious. It was extremely terrifying. Upon contact with them, it would feel like the soul was being burnt away.
Tianming had completely lost his chance with the third-order saint beast blocking his way. Yuwen Zhenxing had already arrived at the manna ball when the taotie unleashed its spiritsource ability. He seized hold of it and stored it in his spatial ring.
“The first floor’s treasure is mine!” Yuwen Zhenxing was excited. Everything was going according to plan, apart from Tianming defeating Chen Xiaoji. Honestly, although Chen Xiaoji was defeated rather quickly, he had still made great contributions.
Otherwise, with Li Tianming’s abnormal speed, he really would have benefited a lot. Yuwen Zhenxing visibly relaxed now that he had obtained the treasure. He was imagining giving Tianming his beating now, when a giant gate suddenly opened above his head. The pillar the manna ball had been secured on extended, linking to the gate.
“Return, Xue You!” Upon Yuwen Zhenxing’s command, the taotie quickly disengaged from Tianming and rushed to Yuwen Zhenxing’s side, vanishing back into his lifebound space.
For Yuwen Zhenxing, now that he had obtained the first floor’s treasure, the next priority was the second floor’s treasure. Making a challenging gesture at Tianming, he quickly charged up the pillar toward the second floor.
Tianming had only just reached the bottom by the time his figure vanished.
“Noooo, my treasure!” Ying Huo said, irritated.
“Not a big deal. We’ll just take it when we catch up to him,” Tianming said, then entered the second floor and continued the pursuit. He was aware that there were no rules saying nobody could snatch the prize from whoever obtained it. There had been many such cases throughout history; it was allowed as long as it all happened inside the tower.
That made the Prime Struggle much more complicated, as obtaining the treasure was a very separate matter from holding on to it.
Tianming remained unperturbed even though the treasure had been snatched by Yuwen Zhenxing, as only the first third of the Prime Struggle had finished.
Gongsun Chi was third to arrive and quickly entered the second floor, before being followed by Huangfu Feifei, Shangguan Jiayi, and Chen Xiaoji, who was persevering.
Finally, another two arrived, Zhao Xingxing and Jiang Xuankong. They had spent a long time searching for the exit. Currently, many others were still lost inside. Still, these two were at seventh-level Unity, making them weaker than those who had gone before them.
Inside the maze, there were still four eighth-level Unity beastmasters stuck inside, completely lost on where to go. Now that the manna ball was gone, they were even more directionless than before.
Many spectators could already smell something fishy here. Those who had already known the route prior had not only quickly found the first floor’s treasure, but also quickly entered the second floor. The rest were all still stuck wandering around.
What did power alone count for?
……
When Tianming entered the second floor, the first thing he saw was a thick mist that filled his entire vision.
Tianming quickly used his third eye to see the area clearly, but Yuwen Zhenxing was already long gone. Fortunately, the mist quickly started to recede.
At that moment, Gongsun Chi arrived, along with a pair of lovers. The pair looked like a match made in heaven, both holding themselves with an elegant bearing. They looked completely at odds with Yuwen Zhenxing and Gongsun Chi.
In terms of style, this pair would be Yuwen Zhenxing and Gongsun Chi’s superiors, but they lost out in ferocity and fighting spirit.
Tianming recognized them. They were descendants of the first and fourth elders, and weren’t part of Yuwen Zhenxing’s circle. Of course, they weren’t part of his circle, either. They were all competitors.
Two other seventh-level Unity beastmasters arrived. Li Tianming didn’t recognize them, but they didn’t matter much in the current situation.
The defeated Chen Xiaoji also crawled up, but looked to be in a wretched state.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the second floor was completely bare!
The only thing was an ancient copper bell on the ground in the center.
Tianming just needed to see where Yuwen Zhenxing and the rest were running to see where the prize was located. As was expected, they were racing toward the bell.
“So, they’re not completely shameless. Fortunately, that mist hindered Yuwen Zhenxing for a while, or else he’d already have the other prize, too.”
The second floor was obviously to be a chaotic brawl with no rules. For Yuwen Zhenxing, Gongsun Chi, and Chen Xiaoji, all of whom were among the top five geniuses, what did they have to fear if they worked together? The one hiccup they hadn’t expected was Chen Xiaoji being defeated first and temporarily becoming useless.
“Go!” Tianming didn’t care about anything, but simply accelerated toward the bell with his Celestial Wings. He could only see Huangfu Feifei and Shangguan Jiayi dashing over.
As for the last two seventh-level Unity people, they didn’t dare make a move, lest they be zeroed in on by Yuwen Zhenxing.
“Stop them. I’ll take the treasure,” Yuwen Zhenxing said.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible!” Chen Xiaoji said with a troubled expression.
Yuwen Zhenxing glared at him. He had a slight disadvantage in speed! The original plan was just to have Chen Xiaoji and Gongsun Chi block Huangfu Feifei and Shangguan Jiayi. However, now there was an extra Li Tianming and Chen Xiaoji was unavailable. Their advantage had completely been lost.
However, Yuwen Zhenxing was still Yuwen Zhenxing! He was still the same person who had been raised in battlefields. When in battle, he would be completely different from other disciples.
He and his taotie quickly appeared in front of Huangfu Feifei and Shangguan Jiayi. Yuwen Zhenxing didn’t just have to take the treasure; he also had to shut up any gossip. Hence, he had to show a satisfactory performance and convince the masses!
“Gutsy, aren’t you, to compete with me! Come at me together!” There was a ferocious light in Yuwen Zhenxing’s eyes, and his taotie gave a furious bellow.
The lovers exchanged a look.
“Take him down!”
“Yes!”
In a one-on-one, they would be wary of Yuwen Zhenxing. However, this right here was a rare chance for them!