I Am Also a Pawn (Please Keep Reading)

Su Cheng was in an exceptionally terrible state.

The enormous blade wound across his chest, which had nearly cut him in half, had already utterly extinguished his life force.

However, he had deliberately avoided the vital areas that would have killed him on the spot. With his attainments in the Medical Dao, he could still cling to life for a few days.

But even more terrifying was the evil divine power continuously eroding his body.

Even though this divine power was now water without a source, it was still not something an ordinary soul master like him could endure.

If not for that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone with its sacred attribute still giving off its last remnants of power, he would already be a corpse.

"Less than two hours left to live..."

Su Cheng accurately assessed his current physical condition.

He realized that he had truly underestimated the might of gods.

Of course. An ordinary mortal soul master, unless he had resolved himself beforehand to directly detonate his soul bone and briefly touch the threshold of God-level power, would not merely have been unable to step forward and block that attack—he would not even have been able to follow the movements of those two with his eyes.

Even being able to block that strike was because Su Cheng had prepared in advance.

He had long sensed Bibi Dong's hidden move.

Those Blade Shadows were very wrong.

Although Qian Renxue surpassed him in every aspect of raw strength, her instincts on the battlefield were still lacking. Her path had been too smooth, leaving her with too little combat experience and combat wisdom, far inferior to Bibi Dong, who was nearly twice her age.

Su Cheng, on the other hand, reacted a step faster.

Su Cheng curled his lips into a somewhat strange smile. "It's so cold."

It was not just the bitter chill of deep winter. The bone-deep cold brought by the erosion of evil divine power made him tremble slightly despite himself.

"Teacher..." Qian Renxue appeared silently before him and stared blankly at the battered body in front of her.

His upper body had nearly been severed into two pieces, held together by strands of energy that stitched and tugged at the wound, barely stopping the blood from spraying out.

His right leg was already gone. A faint golden glow emanated from the stump, locked in a back-and-forth struggle with the hazy purple aura spreading across his body.

His face was covered in dust and blood, while purplish-black blood occasionally spilled from his mouth in coughs.

At this moment, Su Cheng no longer possessed his former calm composure. He looked utterly wretched.

At last, her tears poured out uncontrollably. She dropped to her knees and reached out to gently stroke his cheek.

A faint red glow surfaced in her eyes. Even amid that dazzling golden radiance, it remained plainly visible.

"Cough, Xiao Xue..." Su Cheng braced himself against the ground with his fingers and barely sat upright, glancing at the figure farther away.

Bibi Dong still stood where she was, unmoving.

"Teacher, why..."

"Cough, listen to me first... Spiritual Power, her weakness... cough..."

"Stop talking. I'll save you first."

Qian Renxue spoke through sobs as golden light gathered in her hand.

At the same time, faint flames rose from her body.

She had actually begun directly burning her own divine power!

"Quiet, Xiao Xue. Listen to me first..."

But Qian Renxue turned a deaf ear to him, heedlessly pouring Angel God Power into his body.

Yet moments later, she discovered that her divine power could not merge with his in the slightest.

At the same time, sword shadows emerged around Su Cheng's body, blocking the gentle healing divine power released from Qian Renxue's hand.

If she forcibly broke through this barrier to treat him, it would instead worsen his injuries and hasten his death.

"Teacher?!"

Qian Renxue raised her head in shock and looked at Su Cheng.

"It's useless. I know my own condition. Don't waste your effort."

Su Cheng said calmly, staring directly into Qian Renxue's eyes.

"Now... cough..." As he spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood that shimmered with purplish-black light, mixed with dense Rakshasa Divine Power. It landed on the ground with a sizzling sound.

"Can you listen to me now?"

"..."

"I was wrong. That isn't the Asura God; it's the Rakshasa God. And she isn't Bibi Dong anymore. Her mind has long been eroded by that evil will. Spiritual Power... cough... Spiritual Power is her weakness, but it is your strength."

"Rakshasa..." Upon hearing the name, Qian Renxue instinctively felt a wave of disgust, as though the two were natural sworn enemies.

"That's right. The Rakshasa God, the most evil of gods. Leaving her alive is a disaster for the entire world. Xue'er, go kill Bibi Dong. She has already gone mad. Do not show mercy. Cut the knot while you still can."

He looked at Qian Renxue. "Xiao Xue, kill her!"

At those words, the red light in Qian Renxue's eyes instantly intensified severalfold, nearly overwhelming her original golden radiance.

The grief, indignation, rage, Killing Intent, and countless other negative emotions she had been forcibly suppressing had merely been buried beneath her concern for Su Cheng.

Now that she had heard his personal verdict, those emotions erupted in an instant.

Su Cheng's current condition in particular nearly made her lose all reason.

Her father was dead. Her grandfather was dead. And now, even the teacher who mattered most to her might die.

All of it was because of that Rakshasa God!

"That isn't Bibi Dong..."

Whoosh—

Flames reignited upon the Angel Holy Sword.

But this time, the fire was no longer dazzling gold. It carried a faint trace of bloodlust.

"Cough..."

Watching Qian Renxue return to the battlefield, Su Cheng coughed up another mouthful of blood.

He truly did not have much longer to live.

He could only linger on through the energy within the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone and his own medical arts.

But Su Cheng had nothing to regret.

As a weak person, how could it be so easy to manipulate the strong?

No matter how cold and hostile Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong's relationship was, how could the blood bond between mother and daughter be so easily severed?

If he did not personally enter the fray, then regardless of who won or lost between these two, neither would die.

Main Quest: Fourth Ring has been completed.

Quest Reward: Final settlement bonus multiplier increased by 20%.

Main Quest: Fifth Ring: Finale

Quest Objective: Kill or drive away more than 80% of Spirit Hall's fighting force.

Quest Reward: Final bonus will be settled based on overall completion.

Su Cheng paid no attention to the changes in the quest's progress.

After painstakingly planning his way to this point, he had already done everything he could.

Balancing the strength of two God-level beings, dividing Spirit Hall's forces, secretly leading three peak experts of the Worship Hall to their deaths...

He had accomplished nearly all of it through his own power alone.

But now, at last, it was time for him to enter the game board himself.

If he did not make the two of them fight to the death today, then this confrontation would instead become a catalyst for mother and daughter to resolve their knots.

Every emotion could be worn away by time, including love and hatred.

Not to mention that battle itself offered a means to vent those emotions.

If he missed this chance, he would never again have room to fan the flames.

Better to lose a piece than lose the initiative.

No chess player wished to sacrifice any piece in their hand.

But at the same time, no piece was beyond sacrifice.

Including himself.