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“Alright, then you can continue to wait… Wh-What?”

Qinghuo Gaochi’s voice suddenly rose in pitch. Jiang Wang’s sudden decision to depart caught him off guard.

Jiang Wang paused and asked, “What, is it not possible to go now?”

“Possible, of course, it is!” Qinghuo Gaochi hurriedly said, “Having fought alongside you for so long, you should have some understanding of the warriors’ strengths. See which warriors you’d like to bring?”

Jiang Wang shook his head. “Didn’t you already choose the people before? Just them.”

Qinghuo Gaochi smiled apologetically, “Didn’t that matter already pass?”

For the sake of the Qinghuo tribe, he was indeed willing to lower himself. Addressing Jiang Wang with “You” repeatedly, bearing grievances without complaint, serving Jiang Wang like a grand master.

“Star General,” Qinghuo Yuanchen said with some dissatisfaction, “Are you looking down on our warriors?”

“It’s not looking down on them,” Jiang Wang said, “But rather… that I alone am sufficient.”

Qinghuo Gaochi followed after him for a few steps.

Jiang Wang’s excessive confidence at this moment was different from the impression he had given before.

After a few steps, Qinghuo Gaochi had made a decision, and then said, “Let Yuanchen accompany you.”

This time, Jiang Wang did not refuse. “Then let’s go.”

Qinghuo Gaochi winked at Qinghuo Yuanchen, as he would certainly not let those old men accompany Jiang Wang into the Game of Life and Death. Jiang Wang had already proven his strength. The Qinghuo tribe was aiming for a ranking this time!

Qinghuo Yuanchen understood very well, and immediately selected fifteen warriors, silently following Jiang Wang.

Including him, these sixteen warriors guarding the Wuzhi Grottoes were the chosen ones from the Qinghuo tribe to enter the Game of Life and Death.

As expected, Jiang Wang said nothing.

He wouldn’t force those sixteen elders to come.

His unwillingness to select people, including his deliberate concealment of the plan earlier, was all to make these people anxious. The essence of it all was to express the resentment born from Qinghuo Qiming’s leap into the Nether Heavens. If Qinghuo Gaochi hadn’t forced Qinghuo Qiming to the grottoes, this matter wouldn’t have happened at all.

Qinghuo Gaochi also understood this, so he adopted an attitude of bearing all the blame and ridicule. Even his undisguised anxiety these past few days was perhaps to let Jiang Wang vent his anger.

In the face of the Qinghuo tribe’s “overall situation,” he had indeed managed to disregard personal honor and disgrace.

Having stayed in the Wuzhi Grottoes for several days, constantly cycling between rest and battle, the sudden departure from the fortress felt like a lifetime ago.

It was afternoon on the Floating Continent, and the sky was still bright.

Qinghuo Yuanchen led the way in front, flying swiftly.

The group rushed to the Qinghuo tribe’s Fire Shrine at the fastest speed. Qinghuo Heng had been guarding here recently, preparing to send the Chess Master to the Game of Life and Death at any time.

Seeing the Fire Shrine, Jiang Wang faintly had the illusion that Qinghuo Qiming was still there. But reason told him that this was impossible.

The new shaman had already taken office, still wearing that exaggerated mask. This shaman had no connection to Qinghuo Qiming’s lineage. A shaman who could not overcome fear and dared not enter the grottoes was enough to become the tribe’s disgrace. The Qinghuo tribe had long been cultivating a new shaman, but due to the special nature of the shaman’s position, it could not be easily replaced.

Jiang Wang did not say anything to this new shaman. Of course, the new shaman also maintained the dignified manner of a shaman.

The group, guided by the new shaman, entered the inner chamber of the Fire Shrine.

Passing through a long corridor, one fork in the road led to the Totem Pool that Jiang Wang had visited last time, and the other led to their destination this time—another dark room, with a door densely covered with flame patterns standing in the center of the room.

There was nothing else.

The new shaman stood in front of the door, making a gesture of invitation. No ritual was needed, or rather, Qinghuo Heng, who had been waiting anxiously, had already made all the preparations.

They were just waiting for Jiang Wang to arrive.

Qinghuo Yuanchen walked forward and pushed open the door.

Behind the door was a wall of fire.

Qinghuo Yuanchen did not hesitate and stepped directly into the “wall of fire.”

Jiang Wang followed, stepping in second.

The “wall of fire” was not scorching. With one step, the scenery changed.

The first thing they saw was a huge stone door. The stone door was covered with a hazy, clear light, and they could not see what was inside.

Next to the stone door stood a tall stone slab, which should be the “Stone Tablet Chessboard.”

The entire chessboard of the Game of Life and Death was miniaturized on the stone slab. Different positions, different objects, emitted light of different shapes, different colors, and different intensities.

Among them, there were the most small glowing dots, and the intensity of the light was the same, and they were constantly moving.

Those were the participants of the Game of Life and Death. They could not see what they were facing, but they could only observe where they were, and who had met whom. After they met, the light points that continued forward were naturally the winners.

For example, those belonging to the Fire Tribe were red light points, those belonging to the Water Tribe were blue light points, the Earth Tribe were yellow light points, and the Plague Tribe were black light points… and so on. There were slight differences specific to each race, and perhaps only the native residents of the Floating Continent could accurately distinguish them.

This stone door was the entrance for the Qinghuo tribe to participate in the game this time. Several Qinghuo tribesmen were guarding here, constantly paying attention to the “Stone Tablet Chessboard.”

They were all happy to see Qinghuo Yuanchen and others come over.

According to ancient rules, they needed to confirm their “identity” on the chessboard on the stone tablet.

For example, Jiang Wang was the Chess Master, so he would press his hand on the palm print belonging to the Chess Master.

And Qinghuo Yuanchen was one of the two Chess Knights.

After confirming, Qinghuo Yuanchen looked at the sky and persuaded, “Chess Master, there isn’t much time left, or should we set off tomorrow?”

Jiang Wang asked, “How long until it gets dark?”

“During the Game of Life and Death, the sky is very punctual.” Qinghuo Yuanchen said, “There is still half an hour.”

“Go in,” Jiang Wang said.

Going in now meant that if they could not occupy the first “life point” within half an hour, then the ending would be failure. They would be directly erased by the Game of Life and Death. Or they could choose to give up before that and withdraw from the Game of Life and Death. After withdrawing, it would be impossible to enter again.

This decision was undoubtedly risky.

But including Qinghuo Yuanchen, none of the sixteen Qinghuo warriors raised any further objections.

Jiang Wang was the Chess Master, and Jiang Wang’s decision was the order.

Regardless of their position, fighting for years in the largest and most dangerous Wuzhi Grottoes within the Qinghuo tribe’s territory, they were all very qualified warriors.

Stepping into the stone door, the hazy, clear light carried a mysterious rule.

Jiang Wang felt that his already very thin totem power was completely dissolved and disappeared without a trace—this was the reason why the Floating Continent’s powerhouses could not use supernatural powers in the Game of Life and Death.

What relieved him was that the “star power” stored within the Fire Totem was not affected.

This meant that his preparations had not been in vain.

The Game of Life and Death was indeed only aimed at the power of the totem.

Jiang Wang himself had the Dao Source in his body, and the erasure of a little totem power had no effect on him at all.

And the sixteen warriors behind him all looked fine. Before coming to the Game of Life and Death, they had already left most of their totem power in the Totem Pool in the Fire Shrine.

It was said that Qinghuo Gaochi had repeatedly emphasized this… he was really very frugal.

But Qinghuo Gaochi’s starting point might have been stinginess, but the final effect was very good. At least these sixteen warriors skipped a lot of adaptation time.

After stepping into the Game of Life and Death, Jiang Wang and his group were in a circle of light, which was probably the scope of the starting point.

Before them was a road paved with huge stone slabs. The size and specifications of each stone slab were exactly the same, with a length and width of sixteen zhang. And one stone slab was one “position” in the Game of Life and Death, that is, “one chess position.”

The visible range was not wide, and could even be said to be narrow.

Most of the environment was hidden in the mist.