“Secure one, compete for two…” Zhang Shan said with furrowed brows. “Take Heavenly-Dragon’s life, then try to take yours?”

“That’s right!” Qinglong nodded. “No matter what, you won’t lose on this deal, right? I guarantee that the current Heavenly-Dragon won’t wake up. You can rush right up and beat him to death.”

“Beat him to death, and then what?” Zhang Shan asked again.

“Isn’t this simple…” Qinglong said. “You kill Heavenly-Dragon, and theoretically I have to avenge him, so I fight you and ultimately annihilate you. The ending is that I suppressed the rebellion, but unfortunately Heavenly-Dragon died in battle, and all of ‘Taoyuan’ will mourn him. To better manage ‘Taoyuan,’ I’ll select a whole new batch of ‘Heaven Level’ members to lead everyone in building a better world.”

After listening, Zhang Shan let out a helpless laugh. “What if you don’t kill us?”

Qinglong nodded. “Since you’re being frank, I won’t hide anything either. If I fail to kill you, then I’ve failed to suppress the rebellion. Both Heavenly-Dragon and I die in battle, causing everyone to wander here for eternity.”

Zhang Shan frowned, clearly beginning to hesitate. Just listening to Qinglong’s explanation, he didn’t seem afraid of failure at all.

“I just want Heavenly-Dragon dead,” Qinglong said again. “My own ending can be decided later, but right now I must determine Heavenly-Dragon’s ending. What do you two think?”

After speaking, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back in the center of the entire arena, looking at the two with a smile, seemingly leaving them sufficient time to think.

Zhang Shan lowered his head, contemplating Qinglong’s proposal. He felt that Qinglong was the one with the most rebellious intent among everyone. Perhaps he had even participated in this rebellion, but why wasn’t he afraid of failure?

His goal was to have Heavenly-Dragon die. Perhaps at this moment, they could turn his scheme to their advantage—first take Heavenly-Dragon’s life, then attack Qinglong.

As Qinglong said, regardless of the final outcome, they would have at least killed one of the “Land of the End’s” rulers.

“Hey… tattoo kid… what do you say?” Zhang Shan turned back, wanting to discuss the current situation with Qiao Jiajin.

But he saw Qiao Jiajin walk to the room’s entrance and close the door with his hand.

This action caused Qinglong’s expression to darken slightly.

“Ha…” Zhang Shan chuckled. “Your thinking is pretty clear, kid.”

“Don’t misunderstand, big guy,” Qiao Jiajin turned around with a smile. “This is just my personal plan—you don’t have to follow it. So for the time being, I’ll fight Qinglong, you fight Heavenly-Dragon. Let’s split up.”

“Damn, hahahaha!” Zhang Shan was amused by Qiao Jiajin’s words. “That’s a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that?”

After speaking, he turned back to look at Qinglong. “Then let’s do it this way. I’ll go kill Heavenly-Dragon myself, and you can spar with the tattoo kid. Sound good?”

After hearing this, Qinglong’s expression darkened again, then he said, “No… there’s no such rule. You either choose to kill Heavenly-Dragon now, or leave this room, and I’ll send you on your way outside.”

“No, no, no, little green guy,” Qiao Jiajin shook his head. “This matter is no longer up to you.”

“What…?”

“We were enemies to begin with,” Qiao Jiajin stretched lazily and loosened his muscles. “So whatever the enemy wants is exactly what I must prevent. Either we do one-on-one battles separately right now, or we’ll fight you to the death here. Little green guy, you choose between these two paths.”

“I choose…?” Qinglong glared with a pair of ice-cold eyes. “Two ants accidentally took human form, and now they’re being picky about the sugar humans threw down. You want to crawl into the honey and carry the sugar back to the ant nest—where’s the logic in getting such a cheap deal?”

“‘Ants,’ is it?” Zhang Shan also snorted coldly after hearing this. “Qinglong, I remember Chu Tianqiu once said that if Heavenly-Dragon dies, you’ll die too, right?”

“Theoretically, that’s correct.”

“So you’ve found some method that lets you avoid dying when he dies,” Zhang Shan said thoughtfully. “But this method takes up your energy, preventing you from fighting with full concentration.”

“Damn…” Qiao Jiajin’s eyes slowly widened on the side. “Big guy’s got a big brain.”

“What kind of brain is this?” Zhang Shan smiled. “How could someone who’s been a soldier not analyze the enemy’s weaknesses?”

After hearing this, Qinglong shook his head. “You brought this death upon yourselves.”

After hearing this, both of them began loosening their muscles. Qiao Jiajin took off his upper garment and threw it far away.

He always felt that fighting such a formidable person should even warrant taking off his pants, but thinking that image was too absurd, he ultimately gave up on the idea.

“What, do you always have a habit of stripping when you fight?”

“Yeah, big guy, your physique makes my clothes too tight,” Qiao Jiajin said while stretching his arms.

“Got any tactics?” Zhang Shan asked again.

“Yes,” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “The tactic is we figure out a way to beat him to death.”

“Good, what way?”

“Haven’t thought of it yet.”

Zhang Shan paused. “Alright, pretty similar to my tactics.”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin said again, “But… big guy, this little green guy has been wanting little red guy dead all along… so what we need to do is absolutely not let him die. After all, going against the enemy is adding advantages to our side.”

“Yo, you’ve got quite a few ideas too, kid.”

“Of course,” Qiao Jiajin smiled. “When fighting, if you can’t call more underlings, then try to shake the other side’s underlings.”

“Makes sense,” Zhang Shan nodded. “Then I won’t hold back. Let me throw this first punch.”

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Shan’s figure immediately shot forward explosively, even cracking the white floor beneath his feet.

Qinglong looked at him coldly, then extended both hands to block. He and Zhang Shan collided violently with a tremendous sound, causing both of them to retreat several steps simultaneously.

Qinglong marveled at the opponent’s astonishing destructive power, and after landing, Zhang Shan also touched his elbow, immediately discovering an unusual problem.

Qinglong had just precisely blocked the point where his elbow generated power. This defensive technique didn’t seem like an ordinary person who had simply gained physical enhancement.

“I see…” Zhang Shan nodded. “You’re different from the others… you’re a ruthless veteran who’s been fighting on the front lines all along…”

“That’s right,” Qinglong dusted off his sleeves and said softly. “I’ve been fighting with the people here for decades, dealing with countless disobedient ‘Zodiacs.’ Even someone not proficient in combat would have become a battle-hardened elite by now.”

“Battle-hardened?” Qiao Jiajin became interested upon hearing this. “Little green guy, what’s the most ‘Zodiacs’ you’ve fought at once?”

“What?”

“Since you’re battle-hardened, I’ll have to test your abilities.”

Qiao Jiajin’s figure swiftly passed Zhang Shan, sprinting toward Qinglong.