I laughed and said, "The Reincarnation Department? Are they looking for death?"

There's a vicious cycle in the martial world that no one has ever been able to break.

That is, the various factions can only fight their own battles; they must never unite.

The day the martial world unites is the day rivers of blood will flow.

Zhu Xiaoyu said, "At any other time, the Reincarnation Department wouldn't act like this. But with the great calamity approaching, a brief unification is necessary; that's the Reincarnation Department's thinking."

I sneered. "You don't need to speak up for them. Anyone with eyes can see what the Reincarnation Department is up to."

Zhu Xiaoyu sighed before saying, "The reason you're confused is because I brought the Yi Tian Nine Sons here, yet I'm making them kill each other, right?"

"The Reincarnation Department needs the ultimate emperor. The Invisible Hand has two Yi Tian Nine Sons. If the Invisible Hand refuses to let them go, the Reincarnation Department and the Invisible Hand will inevitably have a war. I don't want to see that outcome."

"So, someone has to sacrifice themselves for this."

"That sounds cruel, doesn't it?"

"In fact, the Yi Tian Nine Sons are like venomous insects raised together. Even without me pushing things along, they would still devour each other."

I responded calmly, "What you do is none of my business. As long as you don't set your sights on the Liangjie Tang, I won't ask any more questions."

Zhu Xiaoyu said, "On this trip to Xianyang River, I must hand over the person most likely to become the emperor to the Reincarnation Department, no matter what. Only in this way can a major war between the two sides be avoided."

I laughed and said, "So? Am I also part of your calculations?"

Zhu Xiaoyu said bluntly, "No! You're not one of the Yi Tian Nine Sons."

"The Yi Tian Chess Master's Blood Chess Pieces seem like tokens, but they're actually fortune-gathering magical artifacts."

"Those who obtain the Blood Chess Pieces will gather fortune, encounter endless opportunities, and reach the peak in a short period of time."

"Luck is like a drug; once you get a taste, you can't quit. Even if you're a temporary hero, you'll eventually succumb to the temptation of fortune."

"The fact that you were able to cut the Blood Chess Piece with your blade back then can be said to have saved your own life."

"You don't have the fortune of the Nine Sons, so why would I deal with you?"

Zhu Xiaoyu said, "Senior Brother, I'm not saying this just to please you! Actually... never mind, you wouldn't believe me even if I said it."

I said with my back to Zhu Xiaoyu, "Have you ever thought that the idea of the last one standing being a ghost is actually a pseudo-proposition?"

"People are people, and ghosts are ghosts. To lump people and ghosts together is just deceiving people."

"The last one standing being a ghost means that there will never be a last one. Everyone who falls behind will become the primary target."

Zhu Xiaoyu was shocked. "Are you saying that even if we use ghosts to hold the line, the last one will still die?"

"That's right!" I responded. "Be careful. If it really comes down to it, switch places with me."

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the sound of someone moving above us.

The sound was like a group of people dragging their shackles, converging from a distance towards the edge of the Black Stone Path.

Soon after, the sound from above stopped abruptly, but I felt countless eyes looking down from above at the Black Stone Path, which was only wide enough for one person to pass.

Everyone subconsciously raised their heads, but their line of sight was blocked by the white lamps above, making it impossible to see the situation on the Black Stone Path.

I said in a deep voice, "Keep moving forward, watch out for the front and back."

At this moment, someone said, "If someone throws stones down from above, wouldn't we all be smashed into meat paste?"

"Shut up!" Zhu Xiaoyu shouted sternly, "Who's talking nonsense? Step forward."

No one in the entire group responded. Zhu Xiaoyu shouted again, "Everyone, start counting off from the front of the line."

"One, two... fifteen..."

After someone shouted "fifteen," the counting suddenly stopped. The person who should have shouted "seventeen" immediately drew his blade and pointed at the person in front of him, shouting, "Why didn't you speak?"

That person chuckled and said, "Didn't the commander say that everyone should count off? I'm already dead, so I don't count as a person. Why would I count off?"

Seventeen was shocked and raised his blade to slash at that person, but at that moment, the person threw down a bundle of explosives with the fuse already lit.

"Get down!" At this time, lying down was the only way to reduce the damage, but the members of the entire team were arranged so densely that we couldn't even find space to lie on the ground. How could we talk about lying down?

Seventeen suddenly leaped up and pounced on the dead man in front of him. He wanted to press the other person down on the explosives, using the destruction of their bodies to exchange for the survival of his teammates.

While Seventeen was in the air, Zang Jian, who was hidden in the dark, suddenly struck with a sword from below, splitting the dead man in front of him in half, and then pushed Seventeen back to his original position with a palm strike.

Zang Jian himself picked up the explosives on the ground and threw them into the sky.

After a loud explosion, the violent firelight, along with the shattered rocks, fell into the Black Stone Path like rain.

When I stood up from the ground, protecting my head, I felt that the Black Stone Path had become pitch black. My heart sank suddenly.

We've fallen into a trap!