Third Soul Skill, Truth or Dare

Zhu Zhuqing reacted fastest.

She instinctively retreated, but the instant her toes touched the ground, the edge of the light membrane had already slid beneath her boots.

Looking down, she found that the flagstones beneath her feet had vanished, replaced by a black-and-white checkerboard, with a tiny die stamped at the corner of every square.

There was no retreating beyond it.

Dai Mubai tried too.

With his White Tiger Vajra Transformation fully unleashed, he smashed his right fist into the edge of the light membrane.

The punch felt less like striking a wall than striking cotton. All its force dissolved, without even the slightest rebound.

He withdrew his fist. The web of his hand tingled, and his bones were fine, but all that strength had gone to waste.

Tang San raised the Clear Sky Hammer and smashed it against the light membrane overhead.

With a muffled thud, the hammerhead bounced back, jolting his wrist sideways. The handle nearly slipped from his grasp.

He changed directions, striking sideways, swinging upward, then smashing down-three consecutive blows, all with the same result.

After those three blows, his arm ached and swelled, yet not even a ripple had appeared in the light membrane.

This thing was not hard, but brute force did nothing to it.

Tang San withdrew his hammer, his brows knotting together.

His first instinct was to probe it with spiritual power. But the moment he activated Purple Demon Eye, purple mist filled his vision. Just as before, he could see through nothing.

He tried another approach, shooting Blue Silver Grass from his palm, hoping to thread it through a gap beneath the light membrane.

The instant the tip touched the membrane, the entire strand of Blue Silver Grass went limp, as though its muscles and bones had been stripped away. It drooped onto the checkerboard, turning into an ordinary vine.

Tang San recalled the Blue Silver Grass. Its sheen had dimmed.

Oscar pulled a Recovery Sausage from his pocket.

"Brother San, take this..."

He had barely extended his arm when the sausage abruptly spun in midair and vanished.

He looked down. A six-sided die rolled toward Ma Hongjun's feet.

Oscar looked at his empty hand, then at the die on the ground, and opened his mouth.

"Where's my sausage?"

No one answered him.

Inside the domain, the remaining Spirit Hall team members were in distinctly different conditions.

The three unnamed core team members had long since fallen unconscious from severe injuries, lying motionless at the corners of the arena. Xie Yue and Yan were still conscious. Both stayed close behind Hu Liena, their bodies tense throughout as they watched warily for changes inside the domain.

Everyone on the arena platform was enclosed within it, with checkerboard squares beneath their feet.

Qin Chuan stood at the center of the domain, his posture relaxed, as though he were strolling through a quiet courtyard.

"Finished trying?"

Qin Chuan asked.

No one responded.

Qin Chuan raised his hand and pointed his index finger at Tang San.

"You'll do."

Tang San's expression stiffened.

"Third Soul Skill, Truth or Dare!"

Two glowing spheres floated out of the Clown Dwarf's body behind Qin Chuan.

Each was the size of a millstone, hovering three feet above Tang San's head, one to the left and one to the right.

The left sphere read "Truth," and the right read "Dare." Both slowly circled Tang San's head.

The Clown Dwarf jumped down from Qin Chuan's shoulder and hung upside down before Tang San, his head pointing toward the ground and his face facing Tang San's.

He spoke, the words popping out one by one in a shrill voice. "Choose one of the two. You have ten seconds."

"Truth triggers the Honesty Lock. You must answer the question truthfully. No lying, no silence, no evasive answers."

"Dare triggers compulsory execution. You must complete the assigned task. No resisting, no cutting corners, no finding someone to take your place."

"Failure to choose within the time limit counts as forfeiting. The penalty doubles."

"Anyone who violates the rules of the game..." The Clown Dwarf tilted his head, his grin stretching to his ears.

"Will suffer Soul Power backlash."

A chill swept through Tang San's mind.

It was no figure of speech. It was truly cold.

An invisible force entered through the crown of his head and spread downward along his meridians, freezing all the Soul Power wherever it passed.

He instinctively circulated Mysterious Heaven Skill, but the internal energy he had just summoned jammed in his chest, as though someone had stuffed a stone into his meridians.

He could not move.

Not his body-his Soul Power.

He could still raise his limbs and move his legs, but all his Soul Skills, hidden weapons, and spiritual power techniques were locked down.

Under this game's rules, he was now an ordinary person.

An ordinary person who could only speak.

Sweat seeped from Tang San's forehead.

Xiao Wu stood two paces behind him. She saw the veins bulge at the back of his neck and sweat soak into his collar.

Ning Rongrong quietly tugged Zhu Zhuqing's sleeve.

"Zhu Zhuqing, my Glazed Tile Pagoda won't stop trembling."

Zhu Zhuqing pulled her half a step behind herself. Her cool eyes remained fixed on the Clown Dwarf in Qin Chuan's hand, and she said nothing.

She was an agility-attack type, with a keener sense of danger than most.

Every hair on her body was standing on end.

Tang San's gaze darted between the two glowing spheres. He thought that if he simply refused to play this game, nothing would happen.

It was a habit he had developed growing up in the Tang Sect-never trigger an unfamiliar mechanism until he was certain it was safe.

He possessed Twin Martial Souls, the Clear Sky Hammer and Blue Silver Grass. He refused to believe he could not withstand this Soul Skill.

Red countdown numbers appeared beneath the two glowing spheres, ticking down from ten.

Behind him, Dai Mubai grew anxious. "Just pick one!"

Tang San did not turn around.

The countdown reached three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

The glowing spheres stopped revolving.

The domain fell silent for a breath.

Tang San's shoulders relaxed, and he exhaled.

The Clown Dwarf spoke. "Time's up! The player has forfeited, triggering the additional penalty mechanism! Questioner, please select the penalty."

Qin Chuan smiled. "Then choose Truth for him."

The Clown Dwarf said, "The player refused to choose. The penalty doubles. Answer two questions!"

Tang San's face went pale.

He opened his mouth to argue, but a force gripped his throat. All he managed was a hoarse rush of air.

In the stands, the smile Yu Xiaogang had not yet had time to withdraw froze at the corner of his mouth.

Flender glanced at him.

Yu Xiaogang did not look back. His mind raced.

The flaw recorded in the fragmentary manuscript for a rule-type Martial Soul was that "the user can also lose."

He had thought Tang San could avoid the risk by refusing to choose, but he had been wrong.

The rules of this Martial Soul were tighter than he had imagined.

Not choosing meant forfeiting. Forfeiting meant admitting defeat. Admitting defeat did not exempt a player from punishment-it increased it.

The only way out was to participate directly and defeat the opponent within the game.

On the arena platform.

"Tang San, what trips clever people up most easily is that they always think they can find a loophole."

Qin Chuan lifted his chin slightly and spoke in an even tone.

Then his gaze shifted behind Tang San.

Xiao Wu stood there, her scorpion braid hanging over her chest, the hem of her short pink skirt lifting slightly.

She was looking at Tang San and did not notice Qin Chuan watching her.

By the time she realized it, Qin Chuan's gaze had already moved on.

Just that single glance.

Yet Xiao Wu felt as though cold water had been poured over her entire body. Her fingers instinctively clenched the hem of her skirt.

Qin Chuan's voice carried outward, wrapped in Soul Power. Not only those inside the domain, but everyone in the square outside it could hear him. "The first question..."

He paused.

"Is about Xiao Wu."

At that moment, Tang San discovered that the rules had already taken control of his throat and vocal cords.

Fear spread through his entire body.