Chapter 1 Bewildered Awakening

Zhang Yuanqing groggily opened his eyes. Sunlight streamed in through the window, accompanied by a burst of noisy clamor.

Outside the window, a racket raged, but the living room was unusually quiet!

*Why am I sleeping on the floor?* Zhang Yuanqing stared blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds.

Then, he sprang up, his heart pounding. *What time is it? There's a match today! Why didn't Grandma wake me up? Doesn't she know her beloved grandson is unconscious on the floor?*

Zhang Yuanqing lunged to the bedside and grabbed his phone. He was instantly shocked.

The time was 8:57 AM, Saturday. "Damn it! Only two minutes left before entering the instance dungeon. It's Saturday, no wonder Grandma didn't wake me up. She knows I'll be up late playing games..." Zhang Yuanqing tossed his phone aside and sprinted out of the room, across the living room, and into the bathroom. Without a word, he pulled out Optimus Prime and let loose a torrent.

"Ah~" He tilted his head back, a look of mingled pain and pleasure on his face.

He could leave behind the Yin corpse, but he had to relieve himself. He didn't want to cause a scandal during the arena match because he couldn't hold it in.

*Hurry, hurry...* Zhang Yuanqing centered his qi in his dantian, flexed his lower abdomen, and rapidly emptied his bladder. Then he turned and dashed out of the bathroom, back to his room. He grabbed a small medicine bottle from his nightstand and dumped the pills inside into his pajama pocket.

Next, he kicked off his cotton slippers and accurately plunged his feet into his aunt's new running shoes, without tying the laces. He rushed to the closet, threw open the door, and reached out to touch the Yin corpse's shoulder.

*lingdian.*

*Ding!*

Just in time. The next second, he heard the Lingjing prompt:

[Ding, Zhao City map is opening. Entering Li Qing in 30 seconds. Your entry to Zhao City this time is "Ultimate Battle," No. 7119]

[Difficulty Level: S]

[Type: Multiplayer (Non-Death Type)] [Main Quest: Eliminate all opponents] [Note: Items not from Zhao City cannot be brought in.]

[Zhao City No. 7119 Introduction: This Li Qing is divided into three stages. Each stage will eliminate a certain number of players until a champion is decided.]

*Thirty seconds of preparation time...* Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the clothes hanging on his ergonomic chair. He hesitated, deciding that thirty seconds wasn't enough to change his outfit, and gave up.

"Wearing pajamas is fine. Geniuses must be unconventional..." He muttered to himself. Immediately, his vision blurred.

His vision distorted into a watery ripple.

The image went from blurry to turbid. Zhang Yuanqing looked around. He was in a small conference room, about twenty square meters in size. In the center of the room was a long, brown table.

There were eight high-backed chairs around the table.

At this moment, there were eleven figures at the table: eight players and three Yin corpses.

Sun Miaomiao looked around and said, "Huh? Why is it a conference room? Is the first stage in a conference room? If that's the case, it's not a martial arts contest, but a literary contest?"

The others scrutinized each other, outwardly calm but secretly on guard.

After a brief moment of silence, nothing happened. There was no Li Qing prompt. The conference room was filled with chatter.

"The atmosphere is so stiff..." Sun Miaomiao looked around curiously again. "The official posts on the forum said that our match would be projected onto the audience seats. But there are no cameras here. I wonder what method the instance dungeon is using... Ah? What image? How come I don't know?" Zhang Yuanqing, who hadn't had time to read the forum, lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Qing Songzi looked at Sun Miaomiao with a sweet smile. "Among the Lawful factions, Water Ghosts can create images. Among the Evil factions, it's Illusionists."

"Oh, oh!" Sun Miaomiao nodded.

She actually knew this, but was just starting a conversation to break the ice.

At this moment, a group of official Xingzhe were watching the scene from the arena.

Below the arena, on the stage, sat a round mirror the size of a washbasin. The edge of the mirror was surrounded by transparent crystal. The round mirror projected a pale blue beam of light into the air, which spread out and formed an image of the conference room.

"The first stage is a conference room? I hate literary contests the most. Throwing the top eight players onto the stage for a free-for-all would be much more exciting." "You crude Fire Master, that kind of battle is both meaningless and boring. I'm really looking forward to the plot of the conference room."

"Hurry up and end. I can't wait to see the top eight players battling wits and courage. Look, why is Yuan Shi Tianzun wearing pajamas? Did he oversleep?" The audience was noisy, with voices rising and falling.

In a certain seat, a woman in a thin gauze dress looked at Yuan Shi Tianzun in the image and smiled elegantly. "Good boy, he's Yuan Shi Tianzun. Such a handsome young man. If Mom were twenty years younger, she'd call him 'gege' too." Xie Lingxi smiled sweetly. "Mom, you can't call him 'gege'. You're already 37. The father with the receding hairline and potbelly is your best match, don't you think, my dear mother?"

Xie Lingxi said this not because her mother sent Aunt Wang to snatch her invitation, but because she really thought her mother and father were a match made in heaven.

The woman, who looked more like a sister than a mother, covered her mouth and chuckled. "Your dad was as handsome as an international superstar when he was young. Mom has had your dad at his best. Oh right, I heard you pulled a lot of strings and spent a lot of money to get an invitation."

"Really, if you wanted to watch the match, you could have just told Mom. Mom wouldn't steal her daughter's things."

The mother and daughter smiled brightly, both appearing to be thinking of the other.

At this moment, Tianxia Guihuo pulled out a chair, sat down casually, and said with a smile, "Eight chairs, exactly matching our eight people. Sit down and the quest will trigger, right?"

"Yuan Shi Tianzun?"

He looked at Zhang Yuanqing.

The other six players looked over expressionlessly. Zhang Yuanqing nodded slightly and randomly pulled out a high-backed chair to sit down.

Seeing this, the others relaxed and took their seats. After sitting down, Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the seven players. Zhao Chenghuang, wearing black clothes, domineeringly took the head seat at the conference table.

He had a cold and arrogant look, as if this position was rightfully his.

To Yuan Tinghuang's left was Sun Miaomiao. The girl was beautiful, but what was truly admirable were her large, dark eyes.

They were lively and pure, captivating to behold.

Then there was Tianxia Guihuo. He had ordinary features. He was not yet thirty years old, wearing a black vest and loose black pants. He was weak rather than reckless, physically frail but not bulky, with excellent proportions.

Yinchi was a fair-skinned, scholarly young man with delicate features. His wrist was encircled with various bracelets. His hair was neatly styled, and his earlobes were inlaid with silver studs, giving him the air of a pop musician.

Qing Songzi had proper features and a violent temperament, somewhat reminiscent of Demon Eye Heavenly King – sunny and cheerful.

However, Zhang Yuanqing noticed that this person had been glancing at Sun Miaomiao several times.

After taking their seats, the crowd did not speak, and their emotions were somewhat subdued. This was their first time entering an S-class instance dungeon.

Lingjing, with distinctive features but a noble aura, sized up Zhang Yuanqing and said, "Yuan Shi, why are you wearing pajamas? Did you oversleep?"

*Why are you staring at my pajamas? Sure enough, gossip lovers have a different perspective than others...* Zhang Yuanqing chuckled. "Why not wear pajamas? To me, an S-class instance dungeon is as simple as eating and drinking. After the match, I'm going back to take a nap."

Lingjing was stunned, then praised, "You're really confident."

*He's so confident...* The players were alarmed and secretly vigilant.

At this moment, the Zhao City prompt came from everyone's ears:

[Ding, players are in position. Please listen carefully to the following: Professor Li of Jingcheng University was tragically murdered yesterday. The suspect is a friend visiting from out of town. After the incident, the security guards who received the report quickly arrived and apprehended the criminal suspect.]

[The Security Department has entrusted the detective team to handle this case with full authority. Today, the detective team intends to execute the criminal suspect to bring justice to the deceased.]

[Please select a criminal suspect from among yourselves through a vote, and execute him. If a criminal suspect is not voted out within ten minutes, all will be deducted ten points.]

[After the criminal suspect is voted out, the Zhao City scenario will officially begin. The criminal suspect can prove his innocence in the scenario, clear his name, and successfully obtain 30 points, winning and being directly eliminated.] [Executing the criminal suspect earns the detective team 10 points. Conversely, 10 points will be deducted.]

[Note 1: Each player's initial score is 20 points. If the score is cleared to zero, the player will be eliminated.]

[Note 2: Before the Ultimate Battle, the player with the highest score will receive a powerful item (cannot be taken out of Zhao City).]

Listening to the Zhao City prompt, the eight players around the conference table had slight changes in their expressions.

The same voice also sounded in the ears of the audience outside the arena.

"Huh, the instance dungeon prompt has arrived. Tianxia Guihuo's mind works fast. He immediately judged that the quest would only trigger when all eight players were seated... Holy crap, what did I just hear? Publicly vote for a player as a criminal suspect? Is this a one-on-seven situation? A bit exciting!" "Although there's a chance to prove innocence after entering the scenario, being publicly voted as a suspect is basically like starting in hell. Yuan Tinghuang is done for. If I were the others, I'd vote him out directly."

"Haha, Yuan Tinghuang's face is so ugly. Interesting, too interesting."

Not only the players in the arena, but also the audience in the seats were stunned, and then burst into a tidal wave of clamor.

Compared to directly starting a war, this kind of battle of wits and courage was more interesting. The players would compete in both martial strength and intelligence.

The level of boredom would be incomparable. The audience's enthusiasm instantly soared.

[Voting begins!]

In the players' visions, a dialog box popped up, listing eight IDs, each corresponding to one of the eight players at the conference table.

The conference room fell into a brief silence. The eight players looked at the dialog box in front of them. No one spoke, and everyone had their own agenda.

*Who came up with this rule? It's a bit insidious...* Li Qing stared at the players' faces, his mind racing. "Whoever is selected as the criminal suspect is practically eliminated. This is a rule targeting the strongest, whether it's the strongest in martial strength or the strongest in clearing instance dungeons. They'll definitely seize the opportunity to vote the strongest person as the suspect."

"If nothing goes wrong, the criminal suspect will be chosen between me and Yuan Tinghuang."

He was still very aware of this point.

*My heart has already left in the vast sea of people.*

"Yuan Ting and Sun Miaomiao are from the Taiyi Sect. They won't vote for Zhao Chenghuang. Among the remaining four, Landlord is relatively friendly to me and will definitely vote with me. Qing Songzi, Tianxia Guihuo, and Yinchi's attitudes are unclear. I have to find a way to win them over."

Zhang Yuanqing and Zhao Chenghuang spoke almost simultaneously, "Everyone follow me and vote for Zhao Chenghuang (Yuan Shi Tianzun)." Their eyes met in the air, and sparks seemed to fly.

The six players did not speak, remaining silent. Their expressions were calm, without panic or solemnity, obviously understanding the target of this rule.

Tianxia Guihuo chuckled. "Why don't you two say something and campaign for each other?"

Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice:

"Everyone is clear on how strong Zhao Chenghuang is. Eliminating him in this way is beneficial to everyone. None of you have the confidence to defeat him, right? As for me, I'm a newbie. Everyone here is a senior. In terms of martial strength, I'm not the best." Saying this, he raised his hand and clicked on Zhao Chenghuang's name.

Landlord, wearing a leather jacket and leather pants, said with a smile, "I vote for Zhao Chenghuang." He raised his hand and clicked in the air, voting for Zhao Chenghuang. Zhao Chenghuang was not flustered. He first voted for Yuan Shi Tianzun, then raised his chin and said calmly, "This is an S-class instance dungeon. You know in your hearts who is the biggest threat." Sun Miaomiao raised her hand and voted, "I vote for Yuan Shi Tianzun."

A two-to-two tie.

Seeing this, Yuan Ting could only look at Zhang Yuanqing with an apologetic expression, raising his hand and saying, "I vote for Yuan Shi Tianzun."

He couldn't vote for Zhao Chenghuang, who came from the same sect. "Two to three, I'm behind..." Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly looked at Yinchi and the others, saying, "Although we Five Elements Alliance have five people, the Taiyi Sect only has three people, that's not the case. Each of them has a Yang corpse, which is equivalent to six people, not counting spirit servants. Now, eliminating the strongest person is beneficial to us." He had no friendship with these three, so he urgently tried to create a conflict between the Five Elements Alliance and the Taiyi Sect, telling them that they were an organization.

Qing Songzi's eyes wandered between the two for a moment, and he smiled, "I vote for Yuan Tinghuang. Although I don't want to deny it, this guy is indeed so strong that he makes me despair. If we can take him down in the first stage, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief." The vote was tied again.

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Tianxia Guihuo and Yinchi. Their choices would decide who the suspect was, and the suspect would likely be the first to be eliminated.

Yinchi showed a firm expression. He needed to carefully consider who was the biggest threat.

Of the two of them, as long as one person voted for Yuan Tinghuang, the other person would definitely follow suit. No one wanted a tie... Zhang Yuanqing urged, "The Taiyi Sect has three people, and the Night Watcher is very threatening. There's nothing to hesitate about. Vote for Yuan Tinghuang."

"I vote for Yuan Shi Tianzun!"

The conference room went silent, and everyone looked at Tianxia Guihuo in astonishment.

*Vote for me?* Zhang Yuanqing's expression changed. He never expected that Tianxia Guihuo, a member of the Five Elements Alliance, would vote for himself.

Tianxia Guihuo shrugged, giving his reasons. "From the content of this stage, we can analyze that S-class instance dungeons won't purely compare martial strength. In other words, Yuan Tinghuang's advantage will be reduced, while Yuan Shi Tianzun's advantage will be increased." Landlord said in a deep voice, "Even so, you don't have to choose Yuan Shi Tianzun." Tianxia Guihuo shook his head.

"No, Grandpa, you're wrong. Remember the note? The player with the highest score can get a powerful item. I'm good at clearing instance dungeons. If Yuan Tinghuang is left, I'm confident in getting the item. That way, I can try to compete with him."

"But if Yuan Shi Tianzun is left, I'm not confident in beating him in the instance dungeon. If you were Grandpa, what would you choose?" Landlord stopped talking.

Everyone immediately looked at Yinchi. The pressure was suddenly on this musician.

Yuan Tinghuang looked at Yinchi and said calmly, "There are eight of us. If you vote for me, it will be a four-to-four tie. There will be no result. After ten minutes, everyone will be deducted ten points. But if you vote for Yuan Shi Tianzun, he will be the suspect, and you won't be deducted any points."

"After entering the scenario, we'll execute him together, and everyone will get ten points." After speaking, he turned his gaze to Yuan Shi Tianzun, raising the corners of his mouth, "You've lost!"

Between harming others and harming oneself and harming others to benefit oneself, it goes without saying what Yinchi would choose.

The delicate and fair-skinned Yinchi smiled and shook his head, "It seems that I have no choice." Without any hesitation, he clicked on Yuan Shi Tianzun's ID. [Ding! Voting is complete. The suspect is "Yuan Shi Tianzun." Entering the scenario in three seconds.]

"Damn it! You guys just wait..." Zhang Yuanqing's vision went black, and the scenery twisted like water.

PS: I have something to say. My book, Lingjing Xingzhe, has reached 100,000 subscribers. It was achieved on June 30th. I've been working day and night these past few days, and there was something else yesterday, so I didn't update and forgot to mention it.