Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Clearing the Stage

Even without a reminder from Wang Xi, the moment everyone saw the Demon King Barrier shatter, they instinctively knew it was a golden opportunity!

"Hah!"

Zhong Shuang, wielding a Square-Pointed Long Knife, rushed to the Demon King’s side and slashed down.

Ruan Cheng and Ge Tian attacked from the other side, also slashing at the Demon King with all their might.

But the Demon King only furrowed her delicate brows. She raised her hands, precisely blocking the trio’s strikes with her slender palms.

Her entire palms were coated in a layer of Green Crystal Sugar Coating, making them look like Jade Gloves. The long knives struck them with a loud CLANG, but she remained completely unscathed.

"?!"

The expressions on Zhong Shuang and the others faltered.

With a cold expression, the Demon King flicked her hand. A shower of Green Crystal Shards erupted from her side like a blossoming flower, accompanied by a sharp WHOOSH.

The three screamed in pain, blood spraying from their bodies as they were thrown backward.

Just then, a figure flashed behind the Demon King. It was Lin Xin’Er, covered in blood.

Somehow, she had gotten close. The band holding her ponytail had been broken by some unseen force, leaving her hair disheveled. On either side of her forehead, two small, delicate, finger-length horns had grown.

Lin Xin’Er’s deathly pale face was covered in bulging veins, her black eyes filled with fighting spirit.

"Kill!!"

With a cold shout, she shot her right fist out like a cannonball.

BOOM!!

A visible shockwave radiated outward.

CRASH—

The Demon King Goblin was knocked out of her levitation, skidding seven or eight meters across the ground and plowing two deep tracks with her feet.

She straightened up, her face expressionless, a trickle of blood already at the corner of her mouth. The back of her robe was torn open from Lin Xin’Er’s punch, revealing a gruesome wound so deep the bone was visible.

The Demon King was about to raise her hand to counterattack when a wild gale kicked up, forcing her to shut her eyes. At the same time, the ground beneath her softened and collapsed, causing her to sink into it.

Not far away, Nagata An raised her hands, her enchanting purple eyes focused. It was she who had used Curse Power and a Skill Card to restrict the Demon King’s movements.

Beside them, Xiao Yuzhe’s right palm burst into flames. He aimed at the Demon King, then clasped his hand into a fist.

"God has spoken: incinerate all evil!"

The golden scar on Xiao Yuzhe’s forehead lit up again, but his face was deathly pale. He was clearly overloading himself by using his trump card.

FWOOSH!!

A reddish, circular Seal appeared on the Demon King’s chest, and her entire body was immediately engulfed in flames.

The Mushroom Witch guarding the Treasure Chest earlier had been severely wounded by this same move, a testament to its immense power.

Not only that, but Carl also seized the opportunity to raise his hand and fire a volley of missiles at the Demon King.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

This round of focused fire showed the team’s impeccable coordination.

But when the billowing black smoke cleared, the Demon King Goblin still hadn’t fallen. She was half-crouching on the ground, enveloped in a translucent, eggshell-like green crystal barrier.

The barrier was covered in cracks and scorch marks, and the Demon King couldn’t stop coughing up blood, her pretty face twisted into a ferocious grimace.

"You all deserve to die!!"

The Goblin Witch staggered to her feet, letting out a hoarse shriek.

She brought her hands together, condensing a dazzling green crystal sphere in her palms. The terrifying power gathering within it made the hearts of everyone—both in the Maze and watching from afar—run cold.

"The Demon King is using her ultimate!"

"We’re screwed! It’s a total party wipe!"

"What’s the buzz-cut guy doing?"

"He’s going for a sneak attack!"

The live stream comments flew by, and the hearts of over two million viewers were in their throats.

Wang Xi stared at Gurusha, who was charging her spell, wondering if another Tidal Blade could interrupt her. If that didn’t work, he would have to use his trump card.

Both the Wolf Witch’s Red Cloak and the Holy Covenant Prayer Stone were single-use Blue Cards of immense power, which would surely be enough to get them out of this jam.

Just then, Wang Xi caught sight of a figure not far behind Gurusha, and his eyebrows shot up.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand and flung out several Water Blades and two Water Arrows.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

The Water Blades and Water Arrows struck the Demon King Barrier dead-on, ringing out with a CLANG and successfully drawing her attention.

Gurusha’s cruel, crimson, horizontal pupils turned to Wang Xi. The green crystal sphere condensing between her palms had already exceeded half a meter in diameter.

Clearly, Wang Xi had become her primary target.

Wang Xi took a deep breath, cupped his fingers, and then violently flung out a Spiral Water Blade.

The high-pressure jet of water, possessing immense impact and Cutting Force, traced a graceful arc before slamming heavily into the barrier—

A spray of water and crystal dust flew everywhere.

A loud BANG resounded.

Finally, Wang Xi had once again shattered the Demon King’s barrier, the green crystal breaking into pieces. But at that very moment, Gurusha raised the sphere in her hands, a vicious grin on her face.

"Die!!"

An enraged roar suddenly erupted from behind her.

It was none other than Jiang Tianjie, who, through sheer force of will, was dragging his heavily injured body to launch a life-or-death sneak attack on the Demon King.

He was covered in blood, his left arm dangling uselessly, but his eyes were filled with unyielding resolve. He dragged his Long-Handled Square-headed Hammer with his right hand, swinging it in an arc to bring it crashing down on the Demon King’s head—

At that moment, everyone was stunned to see a blurry, blue-black silhouette materialize behind the buzz-cut young man.

It looked like an elephant.

But it wasn’t an elephant.

It only had two legs and stood upright like a person. Its head and tail were not visible; one could only faintly glimpse strange, ring-like patterns on its pillar-like legs, resembling the growth rings of a tree.

BRRRAAAAWWW—

A resounding trumpet echoed.

The phantom leg lifted, then stomped down ferociously.

For an instant, it seemed to overlap with Jiang Tianjie’s hammerhead, letting out a whistling, thunderous roar.

BOOM!!!

The ground quaked.

Dirt and dust were thrown several meters into the air.

A battered, green-skinned figure was sent flying.

It was the Demon King, who had taken the full force of Jiang Tianjie’s hammer blow!

Gurusha’s legs were now broken, a gaping hole was torn in her chest and abdomen, and she was covered in dark green blood.

THUMP!!

Like a broken ragdoll, she tumbled to a stop right in front of Wang Xi, her breathing faint.

Gurusha didn’t scream or wail. She was silent, struggling several times to get up, only to fall back down each time.

Thud... thud...

Just then, Gurusha noticed someone had walked up to her. A silver-gray Beheading Sword entered her vision. Its polished blade was like a mirror, reflecting her own devastated face.

She raised her head and saw the black-haired young man.

Then, she heard his voice, barely a whisper:

"I’m sorry, Gurusha."

SHING—

A cold glint of sword light flashed.

Wang Xi beheaded the Demon King Goblin.

But in the next moment,

his expression froze.

Because on Gurusha’s face, hidden by her messy hair, her crimson, horizontal pupils had regained a trace of clarity as two lines of bloody tears rolled down. Her bleeding mouth opened and closed with difficulty, as if trying to say something.

Wang Xi could vaguely make out her words:

"Thank you... Gurui... Everyone is dead, all dead. I’m so useless..."

...

...

On the Feng Mei live streaming platform, in the exclusive stream of the number one ranked Shanshan Conglomerate, the viewer count had reached 2.2 million, even breaking the platform’s single-day record.

"They cleared it?!"

"A ten-person squad cleared the Maze?!"

"This year’s candidates are all Elites. Especially those seeded ones, and the Six Gods. They’re too strong!"

"Incredible!"

"A salute to every Professional Warrior! The peace and stability of our Valley City is bought with their blood, fighting time and again in Mazes and disasters!"

"Six Gods! You’re our Heroes!"

"We love you!!"

Compared to the lively atmosphere of the live stream, the scene at the end of the Maze was grim and silent.

After a series of battles and a life-or-death struggle with the Demon King, everyone was exhausted. Jiang Tianjie and Lin Xin’Er, among others, had suffered significant injuries. Xiao Yuzhe and Yu Jiali pushed through their fatigue, using Medical Cards to provide emergency treatment to their companions.

After a few moments, everyone’s injuries were stabilized, but Jiang Tianjie’s condition was not looking good.

The group gathered around him, watching him tremble in pain and wail ceaselessly on the ground.

Xiao Yuzhe tore open Jiang Tianjie’s clothes, and everyone’s expression changed. The skin on the buzz-cut young man’s abdomen had hardened, turning a bruised, blackish-blue color, and was covered in strange, ring-like patterns.

"His Technique Card belongs to the Monster Talk System. He overloaded his power just now, and it’s causing a backlash..." Xiao Yuzhe said gravely.

"If we don’t solve this in time, he’ll probably die shortly and turn into a Monster Talk creature."

Wang Xi stood to the side, silent.

The Professional Warriors of the new world often use Technique Cards as the foundation of their systems. The four systems correspond to four types of Mazes, as those are the sources of Extraordinary Power.

He had never encountered the Monster Talk System before.

Seeing Jiang Tianjie’s miserable state, he realized that the power of the Monster Talk System was immense, but it came with a corresponding price.

"Water..." Jiang Tianjie forced out hoarsely, his face contorted in pain.

"I need a lot of water... to... to suppress the backlash from ’Cloud Elephant’!"

Everyone was startled.

"Everyone, get out your water," Xiao Yuzhe said hurriedly.

Hearing this, no one hesitated, and they all took out bottles of mineral water from their backpacks.

Xiao Yuzhe took them, quickly twisted off a cap, and supported the back of Jiang Tianjie’s head to help him drink.

GULP.

GULP.

But one bottle after another, even after all the mineral water was gone, Jiang Tianjie’s condition didn’t improve.

"Wang Xi!" Xiao Yuzhe thought of something and turned his head to the black-haired young man. "You seemed to be using some kind of Water Magic Card earlier. Could you help?"

"I’ll try," Wang Xi said with a nod.

He had already used a lot of stamina from using his Cards repeatedly just now. If his Randall Body Refining Technique hadn’t already reached the Ultimate level and enhanced his Unyielding Journey trait, he would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

GURGLE GURGLE.

Wang Xi raised his hand, forming Water Blades in his palm but not releasing them.

Then, he canceled the release, causing the Water Blades to dissipate.

The water fell, splashing onto Jiang Tianjie’s mouth. He was like a fish dying of thirst, desperately opening his mouth to drink.

After creating and dissipating Water Blades like this seven or eight times, even Wang Xi was starting to look tired.

Fortunately, Jiang Tianjie was finally out of danger, and the bluish-gray skin on his abdomen had returned to normal.

"Th... Thank you."

Jiang Tianjie was helped to his feet by the others and thanked Wang Xi gratefully. Then he looked at the rest of them.

"Thank you all, too."

"Don’t mention it," Yu Jiali waved her hand and smiled. "We’re a team, aren’t we?"

Jiang Tianjie was taken aback for a moment, then he smiled too.

"Right!" He looked back. "The only reason we cleared this is because we all worked together!"

"The Demon King is dead. According to the merchant’s intel, a Maze Card Pool should appear next..."

Xiao Yuzhe and the others also looked over.

RUMBLE—

A human-sized, seven-colored mushroom suddenly sprouted from the empty ground!

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