Chapter 182: Grab

The Old Man’s figure vanished, and at the same time, the door to the next floor rumbled open.

But there wasn’t just one door.

Twenty-four doors swung open at once, each one a different color. Above every door, colorful symbols indicated the type of event inside.

Jiang Ke’er immediately spotted the sign for the Treasure Chest Room. The other teams noticed too; their eyes lit up, and every face turned fierce.

“The Treasure Chest Room is ours!”

“Get lost, all of you!”

Out of all the options, the Treasure Chest Room was hands-down the most profitable—no monsters to whittle down your strength, plus you could get an artifact to enhance your power.

With powerful artifacts, even teams with a big gap in strength could turn the tables. The weak might defeat the strong.

Jiang Ke’er felt a surge of longing herself.

The Taiming Sect team had started off disastrously, failing to obtain any items that could directly boost their strength.

The Regret Button did allow the team to re-select a room, but that meant losing momentum and falling far behind in their strategy.

Moreover, since they hadn’t gained any direct boosts, they would inevitably fall behind other teams with artifact-enhanced strength when facing difficult rooms.

In short, the Taiming Sect team urgently needed an artifact like the one the Fireblade Squad had—something to greatly increase their power.

Yet Jiang Ke’er didn’t keep her eyes on the Treasure Chest Room. Instead, she immediately tried to decipher the other room symbols.

The crossed swords must indicate a Battle Room—best avoided.

If the sword was glowing, that probably meant an even harder Battle Room.

Among the twenty-four rooms, aside from one Treasure Chest Room, the other twenty-two were all Battle Rooms.

Only one remained—a symbol resembling a Spirit Stone. Jiang Ke’er guessed this might be a Resource Room or Shop Room.

Most teams were fighting for entry to the Treasure Chest Room. If the Taiming Sect rushed in, it would only drag their progress down even further.

So—go for the Spirit Stone symbol room!

As Jiang Ke’er signaled her teammates with her eyes, all preparing to head for the Spirit Stone symbol, another team moved!

The Heaven’s Gate Team!

Heaven’s Gate had drawn the Shop Membership Card as their starting artifact, so they were interested in the Resource or Shop symbol as well! Besides, they didn’t see any reason to fight for the Treasure Chest Room either!

“Rumble—”

The ground shook slightly as the Fireblade Squad, powered up with double attack, exploded forth and instantly wiped out three teams in seconds!

The artifact’s might was fully on display—no one dared challenge Fireblade anymore… but the treasure chest’s lure grew even greater.

Yet, all anyone could do was watch as Fireblade Squad strode up to the room, their overwhelming strength driving everyone else back.

“Bunch of trash!” sneered the Fireblade Squad, reaching for the door.

“Hold it.”

A clear, bright laugh rang out from not far away. While everyone was still stunned, a team that had been keeping a low profile suddenly shot forward!

The Fireblade Squad seemed frozen, all of them standing in a daze, watching helplessly as this team dashed into the room!

[Time Stop Ring: Usable once every ten floors. Freezes time in a designated area. The user is unaffected.]

“We’re outta here!”

The young man in green clothes flashed a crafty grin, gathering his team—a dignified cat-eared girl, a short blonde dog demon, a wolf demon with a vicious scar over his glasses, and a refined-looking male cat demon—and dashed straight through the door.

The man in green was a cat demon himself, with pale skin and an almost girlish cuteness… but right now, every other team found him unbearably hateful and envied him to the extreme!

Meanwhile, Jiang Ke’er’s side hadn’t been idle.

Both teams were equally close to the Spirit Stone room, and Heaven’s Gate Team was strong—a tough opponent.

Jiang Ke’er wanted to grab an explosive pill from her inventory to throw, but found its surface covered in a black film.

Clearly, the tower’s restriction had neutralized all external pills and artifacts, blocking their use.

That meant they could only fight head-on.

Neither team had obtained a boost-type artifact.

Though the Taiming Sect team had been underestimated by Yuan Shouyi, they still had a fighting chance!

Jiang Ke’er transformed into a Demon Fox, leaping onto Qian Yue’s shoulder.

Dynamic Vision, activate! Appraisal Technique, activate!

She looked at the fierce Heaven’s Gate Team charging toward them.

[Heavenly Gate Sect – Liang Ruhui – Sixth Style of Tianmen Battle Technique: Draw Qi into left arm, right sleeve feints, left arm attacks for real. Can break through Spiritual Ruins Acupoint, also can…]

Jiang Ke’er’s mind raced. With the quick thinking she’d honed against System Dummy Su Yayaya, she instantly devised the best counter-strategy.

Fortunately, there was still some distance between the Heaven’s Gate Team and the Taiming Sect, giving Jiang Ke’er time to send secret voice transmissions.

“One opponent each! Qian Yue, hit the leftmost one—target the Spiritual Ruins, follow with a right elbow, then a spinning roundhouse kick!”

“Xuanyang, take on numbers two and three! Slam the ground, then double-fist Tiger Pounce to the face!”

“Xiao Ming, go for number four—flip in midair, charge in before landing, headbutt to the chest!”

“Xiao Ri, number five—double-fist ear strike, then Drunken Hammer to Tianmen!”

When Jiang Ke’er gave her orders, the others hesitated.

They had never coordinated this way, and each already had their own plan. Changing tactics on the spot could slow their reaction.

“Trust me!” Jiang Ke’er urged.

Those words—they couldn’t be more familiar.

In Taiming Sect’s darkest days, Jiang Ke’er had said “trust me” countless times. However impossible her plans seemed… the result always left them stunned.

Let’s trust her one more time! If she messes up, they’d scold her for bad command afterward!

Qian Yue didn’t hesitate; she even took the initiative to charge ahead.

She pointed her fingers like a knife, driving them straight for her opponent’s Spiritual Ruins Acupoint.

The opponent was shocked.

He never expected the flaw in his sect’s Battle Technique to be exposed so instantly. In panic, he twisted left to dodge.

But the Taiming Sect members moved as if they’d seen it coming, instantly following up with a vicious elbow to his chest!

At this point, the Heavenly Gate disciple was already off-balance.

Or rather, the twin attacks had thrown him completely off his game, leaving no time for any countermeasures…

As terror filled his eyes, Qian Yue spun around!

“Bang!”

Her 360-degree roundhouse kick landed perfectly in his abdomen, launching him like a missile—straight into a Monster Room with a swoosh!

One by one, the Taiming Sect followed Jiang Ke’er’s instructions perfectly.

“Bang bang bang bang—”

They felt as if blessed by the gods! The opponents seemed to have lost all will to resist, getting ruthlessly trampled!

Xuanyang’s double fist smashed into the ground, the shockwave unbalancing two foes.

Normally, that should be all—but the opponents were stunned, like kittens grabbed by the scruff.

The Qi in their legs went haywire, and before they could recover, Xuanyang’s explosive fists slammed their faces, sending them flying.

Xuanyang realized—their Battle Technique had been countered at its flaw, making their Qi spiral out of control.

Their weakness was in the feet.

But… if the flaw were so obvious, Heaven’s Gate would’ve been wiped out long ago!

Why did Little Junior Sister tell him to strike the ground? Was it luck, or…

Could it be that Little Junior Sister was also terrifyingly talented in Battle Technique?!

With a series of thunderous crashes, four members of the Heavenly Gate Team were sent flying into four different Monster Rooms.

Unfortunately, the other four Monster Rooms flickered with a black film and bounced them back out.

It seemed a team could only enter one room per round.

At this point, the other teams, having lost the Treasure Chest Room, began searching for other options.

Soon they spotted the Taiming Sect at the Spirit Stone room—the only seemingly reliable choice.

But they were too late.

Qian Yue, holding Jiang Ke’er, rushed in first, followed closely by the rest of the Taiming Sect.

The doors shut, blocking all the other covetous teams outside. Whatever awaited inside was no longer Jiang Ke’er’s concern.

Passing through the soft barrier, a brief wave of teleportation dizziness struck, and Jiang Ke’er found herself in a room shining with golden light.

It was so bright that she had to shield her eyes and peer through her fingers.

Soon, she found the source—a golden coin, the size of a fist, wedged into a pedestal in the room’s center.

She took the coin from the pedestal, and the light dimmed instantly.

At the same time, three new teleportation doors appeared on the far wall.

The Old Man’s voice echoed through the tower.

[From now on, some rooms will no longer limit the number of teams who can enter.]

[In these rooms, you may encounter other teams—competing for fortune, or joining forces to overcome danger.]

[There is only one room on the penultimate floor. There, you will all gather, and face the most difficult battle of your lives.]

[Before that, collect artifacts and strengthen yourselves.]

The Old Man’s voice faded. Jiang Ke’er looked at the three new doors.

Battle Room, Treasure Chest Room, Battle Room.

Any normal person would know what to choose, but Jiang Ke’er noticed the Treasure Chest Room was glowing red—something was different, and the feeling was ominous.

Gamble, or not?

This was a brutal place, as everyone now realized—every misstep could spell total defeat.

Fortunately, she still had the Regret Button.

“Let’s gamble!”

They exchanged glances.

Support-type artifacts that couldn’t convert to real strength were meaningless.

The Regret Button itself was a support artifact, giving a chance to dodge disaster and choose again.

Such an item would be useless if kept till the end; eventually, it must be traded for real, tangible power. That was its purpose.

Time was tight—the sooner they reached the top, the greater the rewards, so every moment counted.

And now that public rooms existed, Jiang Ke’er guessed their resources would be limited, first come, first served.

No more hesitation—they exchanged a few words, then dashed into the red-glowing Treasure Chest Room.

Inside, Jiang Ke’er quickly surveyed the area and didn’t spot any danger.

A huge chest sat quietly in the center of the hall, surrounded by twenty-four teleportation doors—not the exits to the next floor, but doors identical to the one they’d entered, leading here from elsewhere.

A public room! This was a public room where other teams could appear!

Jiang Ke’er instantly realized the danger.

No doubt, teams would arrive soon.

Qian Yue acted at once, rushing up to open the treasure chest.

Without looking, she grabbed whatever was inside.

The teleportation doors to the next floor had already opened—again, twenty-four, just like before.

Unfortunately, all twenty-four were battle options.

And all of them were high-difficulty Elite Monster rooms.

Everyone fell silent.

So they really were all cursed with Crimson Oath.

Jiang Ke’er began to wonder about her luck as a fox—had she infected her teammates with Crimson Oath too?

But there was no time to grumble; the doors were starting to light up as other teams teleported in, with the Fireblade Squad arriving first.

They were the last enemy the Taiming Sect wanted to see.

Their double attack boost made them so formidable, no one else could get close.

They had no choice but to pick a random room and go in.

To avoid pointless fighting—or being targeted by a furious Fireblade Squad—they bolted into the nearest Battle Room at top speed.

“Don’t run if you’ve got guts!”

Fireblade Squad’s furious shouts echoed from behind.

They glared at the empty chest and sent a wave of warped, high-temperature fire crashing into the teleportation door, nearly burning Xiao Ming’s pants clean off.

“Why is it always me getting hurt?” Xiao Ming almost cried. With a new hole torn in his pants by the portal, he was one step away from baring it all.

But he couldn’t use his Qiankun Bag here, so he could only stay half-dressed.

Inside the Battle Room, Jiang Ke’er and the others finally had time to examine the artifact.

[Strong One’s Egg: Summons an extremely powerful Elite Monster into the room. Defeat it to gain a random item. Single use only.]

Her instincts screamed not to use it now.

With Taiming Sect’s current strength, greedily summoning the monster would be instant death.

“I’ll hold on to it for now,” Jiang Ke’er said, fashioning a small cloth pouch and hanging the Strong One’s Egg around her neck.

This was a Battle Room—and not just any, but an Elite Monster Room.

Before using the Strong One’s Egg, it would be best to first test their strength against a regular elite monster.

There was a red line drawn across the floor—most likely the monster’s trigger line.

Jiang Ke’er stepped forward, crossing the line.

“Whoosh—”

Her vision spun, and suddenly the space opened up, becoming bright and spacious.

The ground turned soft beneath her feet, and as she looked around, she found herself in a desert.

In the distance, a yellow shadow leapt across the dunes, spraying clouds of sand from its body like bizarre fountains.

It was rapidly swimming toward them.

When Xuanyang saw what it was, his face turned green in an instant.

“A Tier 7 Ruin Realm beast—White Bone Sand Whale!”