The examiner quickly verified the Ding Ring, and after a moment directly allowed passage.

Thus, Jian Chou, who hadn’t yet sorted through her tangled thoughts, watched as Brother Lihan walked up. His face had already regained its composure, as if that smile from before had never appeared at all. He swept his gaze around briefly, then selected the empty seat directly in front of Jian Chou and sat down.

His frame was tall, but somewhat lean.

When he sat down, the hem of his robe draped to the ground, yet not a speck of dust clung to it.

This wasn’t a particularly imposing figure from behind, but it gave Jian Chou an ineffable sense of oppression and suffocation.

No one would forget that the person sitting in front of her had once instantly annihilated a Jade Nirvana stage cultivator.

That smile from before had been so fleeting it seemed like an illusion.

Moreover, none of the people around Jian Chou showed any unusual expression, as if she was the only one who had seen his smile, as if what she had seen was indeed an illusion.

This feeling was incredibly eerie.

Jian Chou didn’t believe she would see illusions. The other party had indeed smiled at her, and those glazed, deep blue eyes seemed to hide some secret information, waiting for her to explore.

Was it because of the Eight Direction Yama Hall?

After all, he was also on the list and should know about this “transaction,” so that’s why he looked at her like that, right?

For a moment, Jian Chou couldn’t quite figure it out.

She slowly pressed her brow, forcibly suppressing the chaotic thoughts—

Right now, she needed a calm, undisturbed mind more than anything else.

Below the platform, countless people were still discussing Jian Chou, or discussing Brother Lihan who had just gone up.

Initially, they hadn’t really believed the rumors that the Eight Direction Yama Hall had leaked in advance, but who would have thought they’d actually see Jian Chou here.

Thus, their original doubts vanished like smoke.

But people’s new topics naturally followed—

What was she here for?

Did she think she could win?

What special abilities did she have?

Could she pass the second round?

Some immediately began placing bets, and for a time, the atmosphere was quite lively.

Of course, there were also idle people who noticed that Brother Lihan was sitting in front of Jian Chou, and laughed loudly asking: “What do you think? With Brother Lihan’s temperament, might he sit there and in a fit of anger, just strangle that frail little girl behind him?”

“Hahaha…”

“Better not! I’m still waiting to watch the show!”

“What if there’s that possibility?”

…

Loud laughter immediately spread.

Who didn’t know that Brother Lihan should have originally taken the Ghost King clan’s spot, but because Zhong Lanling suddenly appeared on the Fengdu City side, he was squeezed out and had no choice but to take one from the Eighteen Floors Underground Tower.

Now a small Soul Pearl realm cultivator had actually obtained a spot from the Eight Direction Yama Hall.

Wasn’t this a slap in the face?

Many people, thinking this way, couldn’t help but start anticipating.

Soon, the platform was full.

The half-hour time limit mentioned earlier was also quickly approaching.

Zhou Qingyu, who was responsible for hosting the second round, walked out again, clapped his hands, and signaled for everyone to quiet down.

Then he turned around, back to the outside, facing everyone, and swept his gaze around in a circle.

“Time is up. Everyone will soon be able to see the questions they face through the Ding Ring. You need to use the Ding Ring as a magical artifact to answer questions. You have only one chance to sink your consciousness into answering, with a time limit of half an hour, and only one chance to answer each question. After finishing the questions, withdraw your consciousness. Those who pass will be announced by the Ding Struggle Golden Order.”

“Those who don’t answer correctly at least eighty percent of the questions will be automatically eliminated and taken off this platform by the Ding Ring.”

“When it begins, the Ding Struggle Golden Order will automatically sound, and the same when it ends.”

Zhou Qingyu pointed to the very center of the plaza.

There stood a massive golden pillar. When the golden order had flown down initially, the golden light had spiraled around it, forming the rules for this Ding Struggle tournament.

Everyone followed his pointing finger and looked over, then nodded in understanding.

Jian Chou began calculating.

The questions she had obtained from Cui Jue totaled one hundred. If she needed to answer eighty percent correctly, the requirement really wasn’t particularly high.

She figured the written test was just the most basic screening. Jian Chou didn’t take it to heart.

On the contrary, she was more interested in this little thing called the “Ding Ring.”

After the examiner had stamped it in the round groove of the disc, a small white circle appeared at the center of the Ding Ring’s round surface, emitting a faint fluorescent glow.

If one sank their consciousness into it, they would find themselves facing a world of white mist.

Within this white mist, something seemed to be hidden, impossible to explore to the end.

This reminded Jian Chou of when Fudao Shanren and Hengxu Laiguai had set up the light screen during the small gathering at Single Person Platform, allowing them to see the situation of most people inside.

The Extreme Domain relied even more heavily on the Ding Struggle to extract enormous profits from it.

Something that could observe the Ding Struggle situation at any time shouldn’t not exist.

So how could one see it?

Slowly rotating the Ding Ring on her index finger, Jian Chou’s lips gradually curved upward, though her eyes narrowed slightly.

She had almost forgotten that this Ding Ring placed on them by the Eight Direction Yama Hall must never be underestimated, otherwise she wouldn’t even know how she died.

If she were the organizer and designer of the Ding Struggle, she would probably also set up such a seemingly harmless prop.

In fact, the Ding Ring was an effective weapon for monitoring everyone in the Ding Struggle.

However…

No one in the Nineteen Continents could craft such a special little gadget.

As Jian Chou contemplated the crafting difficulty of this thing, several pages of content automatically surfaced in her mind—

“Secrets of the Ding Ring”

“Methods of Breaking”

“Using Ring to Watch Ring”

…

What was this?

Even Jian Chou herself was startled by what appeared in her mind. What suddenly emerged in her consciousness was actually all research related to the Ding Ring!

“…”

A moment of bewilderment.

Then Jian Chou realized that all of this was content she had previously read in the study. It was just that she had memorized it by rote at the time without truly understanding it, so when it surfaced in her mind now, she found it so unfamiliar.

At this moment, quickly “reading” through these pages of content again in her mind, Jian Chou’s expression changed slightly!

The master of the study had already thoroughly researched the Ding Ring.

That small portion of content included the methods of crafting the Ding Ring, methods of breaking it…

And even “using ring to watch ring”!

Ding Rings weren’t crafted one by one, but as complete sets, like a spider web.

Each Ding Ring was a connection point on the web.

The situation of each connection point would be fed back through the Ding Ring to the very center of the spider web—that is, the center of this entire set of Ding Rings.

“Using ring to watch ring” meant utilizing one ordinary Ding Ring within the entire spider web to break through the limitations of the Ding Ring set itself, destroying the rules to spy on the situation of other Ding Rings!

What did this mean?

Just reading through it, Jian Chou gasped!

If she could do this, wouldn’t all the opponents in the Ding Struggle be completely within her grasp?

Extreme shock showed not a trace on her face, but her heart had already been set into tumultuous waves.

Until…

“Hum”—a tremendous resonance!

Jian Chou raised her head, and her somewhat chaotic thoughts were finally pulled back.

At the center of the plaza, from that massive golden pillar, along with this sound, nebula-like golden light suddenly shot out, instantly covering the entire plaza!

It was like unfurling a scroll of starlight across the dusky sky.

All the surrounding buildings took on an unusual luster under such brilliant nebulae, serene yet magnificent.

Below erupted another wave of cheers, but when Jian Chou looked up, she only felt a sense of familiarity…

Starlight.

The Extreme Domain existed underground relative to the surface world—where would there be real starlight?

She suddenly remembered the scene when she had triggered Single Person Platform and delivered that strongest strike. Single Person Platform had revolved around the Primordial Star, thus possessing the power to traverse space.

So did this similar starlight also signify something?

A dot of ink-green ripples gently spread outward from the ink-green Ding Ring on Jian Chou’s finger.

Thus, each question of the second round written test appeared in her mind.

These hundred questions had already been leaked to her by Cui Jue beforehand.

For Jian Chou, they posed no difficulty whatsoever.

With a thought, she could select the most correct answer from among the given options.

She wasn’t in a hurry to answer yet, but looked around at her surroundings.

All sounds from below the platform instantly became inaudible. The starlight scroll overhead must have automatically isolated all voices to prevent cheating.

Chen Tingyan was to Jian Chou’s right, with Zhang Tang in front of Chen Tingyan.

And that Brother Lihan also sat straight-backed in front, almost motionless. Since he had his back to her, she couldn’t see his expression.

It appeared that everyone was concentrating on their Ding Rings, answering seriously.

Jian Chou withdrew her gaze, a slight smile playing at her lips.

Now she faced a question: should she “submit her paper” early?

Beside the plaza stood the towering Eighteen Floors Underground Tower.

Looking down from the highest point, the entire plaza’s situation was clearly visible.

At this moment, Cui Jue in his blue robes stood above, gazing down below.

“Why isn’t she moving?”

A light, ethereal voice came from beside him, yet sounded as distant as clouds.

Cui Jue couldn’t help but turn to look.

At the railing stood a woman of delicate build.

She had a very slender waist, a gentle face, a full forehead, and below it a pair of clear eyes without any impurities. When gazing down from this height, she possessed an extraordinarily lofty temperament.

Like a bird spreading its wings on Phoenix Phoenix Platform, singing clear melodies.

She wore white robes, very soft, like gauze, like clouds.

As if a breeze could carry her flying into the sky.

Her entire person seemed like an ordinary woman.

The only thing that could prove her identity was the long train trailing behind her, embroidered with golden patterns, one connected to another, gradually extending toward her back.

Any judge of the Eight Direction Yama Hall would know that these golden embroidered patterns, this trailing train, could only be seen on the ceremonial robes of the Eight Palace Yama Kings.

This was their unique mark, an indelible mark.

Even though Cui Jue knew that Jiang Chang seemed to dislike this mark.

Yes, standing beside him was Jiang Chang, who had come to the City of Wrongful Death seventy-odd days ago.

Because Sha Hanzhi, who had been sent to Ghost Gate Pass, had mysteriously disappeared, Jiang Chang had abandoned the affairs of Eight Direction City and come to search.

Only the final result…

Cui Jue didn’t know how to describe it.

Expected?

Unexpected?

Both a little.

The missing Sha Hanzhi had long since been murdered, with the incident occurring near Ghost Gate Pass.

As half the chief steward under the Capital King, Sha Hanzhi had always been highly valued and favored by Jiang Chang. How could she easily abandon the matter?

She had even used that ability unique to the Eight Palace Yama Kings.

But ultimately she still couldn’t discover who had acted or what their purpose was. All information remained frustratingly vague.

Her appearance at the Eighteen Floors Underground Tower today was also unexpected for Cui Jue.

Perhaps she was just tired from investigating and taking a casual stroll?

As for the person she asked about…

Cui Jue followed her gaze and saw Jian Chou below, who was clearly not answering questions.

Regarding this female cultivator who dared to brazenly extort the Eight Direction Yama Hall and succeeded, he had a deep impression.

Seeing her now, Cui Jue was silent for a moment, his eye corner twitching involuntarily: “Reporting to Your Highness, she knows all the test answers, so she’s probably not in a hurry?”

This was a guess, not necessarily completely answering Jiang Chang’s question, but definitely matching Jian Chou’s current state.

Jiang Chang didn’t turn around, still looking down below.

She understood immediately upon hearing this. How could a ghost cultivator below know the answers for no reason?

Needless to say, the unscrupulous Lord Qin Guang must have added another weight to ensure this Ding Struggle’s success.

Jiang Chang didn’t ask further.

She wasn’t particularly concerned with the Ding Struggle affairs. Coming up to look today was indeed just taking a casual stroll.

Her gaze quickly moved away from Jian Chou. She casually scanned the others and didn’t find anything noteworthy, except…

When she saw the figure in front of Jian Chou, Jiang Chang suddenly felt a very strange sensation in her heart.

As if beneath that dark blue silhouette lurked some demon or monster.

But in the blink of an eye, this feeling swiftly vanished from her heart, like a momentary illusion!

“…”

Jiang Chang couldn’t help but lean forward slightly, placing her jade-like transparent hands on the railing, narrowing her eyes.

“That one… who is he?”

That one?

Cui Jue started, seeing Jiang Chang’s posture and inexplicably feeling a chill in his heart.

He quickly looked over and saw the figure in front of Jian Chou…

“…He’s a ghost cultivator from the Ghost King clan, called Brother Lihan. He’s a ruthless fellow.”

“Brother Lihan…”

The ethereal, cloud-like voice slowly drifted away as Jiang Chang looked down from above.

She didn’t quite understand what that momentary feeling had represented.

She vaguely remembered that when she first saw Lord Qin Guang years ago, she had felt something similar, only… not this intense.

“Your Highness, is there something wrong?”

Cui Jue thought she had discovered something.

Jiang Chang shook her head without speaking, but also dismissed the thought of leaving, simply saying: “…Let’s watch.”

Let’s watch.

The Ding Struggle was only in its second round.

Below, Jian Chou had been thinking for a while now.

Her gaze had been unconsciously focused on the back of that Young Master Li in front of her, staring at the skull, yaksha, and evil ghost patterns on his dark blue robes.

Whether it was because he sensed her gaze or not, his back suddenly stiffened for an instant.

Tightly tensed.

As if he had suddenly encountered some extreme danger.

However, the next moment he returned to normal, as if nothing had changed.

This tension was like Brother Lihan’s previous smile—coming quickly and leaving just as fast.

Jian Chou unconsciously frowned, but the next moment she also came to her senses.

Forget it.

These were all irrelevant matters.

She was still on the platform. Since she had already received benefits from the Eight Direction Yama Hall, she should “love her work” and properly play her role as a “spectacle” to the end.

The crowd below was still pointing and discussing her, apparently also noticing her absent-mindedness and distraction.

Even from quite a distance, Jian Chou could clearly determine what they were saying through their lip movements—

“Can’t she answer even one question?”

“Haha, is it that bad?”

“I bet she’ll come down. She must be scared to death by now, right?”

“I want to see her enter the next round. I wonder how she’ll die—really looking forward to it…”

…

Hmm, looking forward to it?

She was quite looking forward to it too.

There was only one chance to sink one’s consciousness into answering. After finishing the questions, if one passed, the Ding Struggle Golden Order would automatically announce their advancement to the next round.

So then…

Jian Chou smiled slightly and directly lowered her head, completely sinking her consciousness into the Ding Ring.

Question after question rapidly appeared in her mind, and she could almost instantly provide the most correct answer without needing to think.

First question!

Second question!

Third question!

Fourth question!

…

Jian Chou was completing all the test questions at a mind-boggling speed!