Their eyes turned to one another, tension sparking. Old grudges flickered. Greed soured the air.

  Each group shifted like packs of wolves sizing each other up, the unspoken threat tangible.

  Then without warning, they burst into motion, sprinting down the terraces, spreading apart like a swarm of blades. Some veered towards the bridge where the unholy Cultivators and the girl waited. Others charged towards the empty ones.

  And then—

  The bridges responded.

  KRKKKTTT!!!

  With a violent shudder, Wide gaping holes peeled open behind the first footfall, every step beyond the first person became a trap.

  “Huh!?”

  “Wha—AARGHHH!”

  “NO—NO—AAAAAARRRGHHHH!”

  Before they could even react, the second and third cultivators on each bridge dropped like flies, their bodies swallowed by the abyss with bone-snapping speed, their screams cut off too quickly.

  The remaining ones froze, wide-eyed.

  “What—!?”

  “They’re falling! Why are they—!”

  Others soared in an attempt to evade the hole, desperation flashing in their eyes.

  But something was wrong.

  Very wrong.

  The moment they left the ground, an invisible force slammed down on them, pushing them faster towards the ocean of lava, like prey caught mid-flight.

  BOOOOMPH!

  SKKRUNK!

  Some twisted in air, their ribs compressing, their limbs flailing as they were dragged faster into the chasm.

  "NOOOOOOOOO!" One screamed in horror.

  “No! No! Let me go!” another shrieked, clawing at empty air, his voice cracking just before it was lost beneath the roar of the pit.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  On one bridge, a man had only planted a single foot before freezing in shock, his eyes wide with horror.

  A moment later, his chest heaved with relief.

  But fate wasn’t done.

  The unknown force didn’t forget him.

  SHHHHK!

  A nearby hole tore open like a mouth in the earth, and with a sharp jerk, his body twisted unnaturally, yanked sideways into it like a puppet on broken strings.

  "ARRR-!"

  His scream vanished before it fully began.

  The rest stood frozen, horrified, watching as the bridges devoured their members.

  In the blink of an eye, the holes on the bridges sealed shut, silent and seamless, as if it had never been there at all.

  Everyone swallowed hard.

  Silence fell.

  And Jin Yu...

  He still hadn’t moved.

  He was looking at his influence points.

  Influence points: 220,000.

  Damn!, I need 600,000 for God's sake!

  Of the five dozens or so people earlier, only 15 people remained.

  The groups on the entrance Jin Yu and Co had entered earlier died the most, only four people survived from them, two stood on the terrace, the other two were on the bridge, alive.

  Every other that stepped on the bridges used by Jin Yu, Seer and the three fellows, fell to their doom, dying tragically.

  On the other entrance, seven people stood alive on the seven bridges, while four stood on the terrace.

  The girl and the two unholy cultivators looked at them with indifference, before moving forward, without a word.

  Seeing the three's lack of emotions, a gloom descended on everyone of them.

  They exchange glances with each other.

  One of the Cultivators on the terrace, a Lady in green, looked at three green robed female on the bridges and spoke.

  "Go on, help each other"

  They snapped out of their shock and nodded. They looked at Jin Yu who was miles away from them, a fierce light glinting in their eyes.

  "It's your fault, you'll pay for this" one of them muttered under her breath.

  The other four on the bridge also glared at Jin Yu, as if he was the cause of their misfortune.

  They moved forward, completely forgetting about their dead fellows, instead, the promise of the Lord rang continuously in their minds.

  Not to be outdone, the others on the other bridges also took a sprint.

  The girl that was weak and heartbroken earlier seemed to be renewed with energy, she moved on without stopping, going ahead of everyone.

  The unholy cultivators also forgot their rest, the air of competition was enough fuel to keep them going.

  Everyone strived to outrun each other, to make the first kill, but the three were far ahead of them.

  Jin Yu had sat down at this point, he seemed to be restless as he closed his eyes in a meditative manner.

  Gleams of sweat donned his forehead while his pinky fingers twitched slightly.

  System, what do I do?.

  He asked mentally, anxiously, feeling his senses slipping away from him by the second.

  An unknown source of Fury was burning slowly in his chest, making him feel like going rampant and tearing everyone to shreds, then plunging the World in chaos.

  The system's reply was cold and emotionless:

  Use the refined energy first. Absorb the hostile ones.

  Jin Yu's heart chilled.

  I Obviously have no enough points, you dimwit, do something!.

  Silence.

  Don't fuckin go silent!,

  You Useless Piece Of Shit!.

  He snapped in anger.

  but that seemed to be a bad move as his senses suddenly slipped faster, like smoke drifting in the wind.

  He took in a sharp breath to steady himself.

  Fuck...

  He cursed, finding it hard.

  After a few minutes, he asked again.

  What feature can help my situation then?

  Silence.

  Damn it!.

  He took ragged breath, the twitching of his fingers getting faster.

  In his closed eyes, flashes of Red light was flitting through them incessantly, threatening to take control.

  He decided to just stop asking, focusing on controlling his anger instead.

  Minutes passed, then an hour.

  Hummmm.

  The Red film hummed softly in alert, someone had entered.

  And it was the girl.

  Jin Yu didn't open his eyes.

  The girl stared at him for a moment, then slowly, A mocking grin curled on her lips, but she didn't move closer.

  "You were so fierce earlier, who knew you'd be a lamb on a chopping board so soon"

  Jin Yu's ear twitched in annoyance, he felt like snapping her neck, but restrained against it.

  He kept quiet.

  The girl scoffed and dropped to a meditative position, cancelling her Qi barrier. She stared at him wide eyed, attention unwavering, making sure to track every single twitch he made, even his breath didn't go unnoticed.

  "You'll be dead soon, and I'll be happy." She said, her voice low and firm. She didn't sound gloating but rather, Relieved.

  A few minutes passed, the film hummed again.

  Silence followed.

  Another few minutes, it hummed .

  Then again, silence.

  The two unholy cultivators sat close to each other, neither making a move, not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't dare.

  A cruel and brutal aura was leaking from Jin Yu's body, slow and steady.

  And it wasn't showing signs of stopping.