After the twenty-first Doomsday Rule ended, the official account only posted a brief notice.
The content of this notice was: All Ascendants who survived the Gambling Space but lost abilities or items should promptly report their information through the relevant channels.
The notification details had nothing to do with the rule's content, which was unavoidable.
Because this rule was different from previous ones—after its release, everyone was immediately pulled into the Gambling Space, leaving no time to study countermeasures or communicate.
Ascendants in the Gambling Space couldn't use item abilities, and even the Mind Network was cut off, making it impossible to contact anyone.
This meant that even though Guan Tong knew the Hidden Rule for safely exiting the Gambling Space, he couldn't share it—only use it himself.
Thus, when the rule ended, whatever the authorities said was already too late. They could only let the Ascendants who had lost important items in the gambling rounds report, thereby updating the statistical information in the official database.
Online, many people immediately shared their tragic experiences. In the Casual Chat section of the Ascendant Home forum, complaint threads had piled up into towering skyscrapers.
"I got screwed over so badly! I won two out of the first three beginner rounds, thinking I could at least win one in the formal rounds. Then I lost two in a row—not only did I lose what I'd won, but I also lost my exclusive Dao Zhen!"
"Same here, buddy—I also went two wins and one loss in the first three, then lost my ability in the formal rounds... I really want to bash my head against a wall right now. Without my ability and just a few hundred points of Mind Power left, what can a blank-slate Ascendant even do?"
"I don't want to live anymore either. I worked hard developing my exclusive item for two years, finally got it decent, and then lost it again. With over twenty rules left to go, how am I supposed to survive?"
"Are you all too pessimistic... At least you didn't lose your life entering the formal rounds. After the rule ended, our shelter suddenly had a bunch of people missing—they definitely lost their lives and died right there in the Gambling Space."
"Even if you become a blank slate, there's still a chance to bounce back. Who knows—if you stumble upon a decent non-disposable item someday, you can use it as a makeshift exclusive item."
"The guy above me is hilarious, right? Non-exclusive items can't be deeply developed continuously. Even if you get a good one, it'll become obsolete over time. Do you really think your luck is good enough to score a non-disposable Dao Zhen that rivals an exclusive one in every era?"
"What's the point of messing with items as a blank slate? Go study under Shi Jingyi at the academy! She doesn't use items at all—she's insanely strong just by combining Mind Power Flow with martial arts. I heard many official experts aren't even her match!"
"Holy crap, the guy above just woke me up from a dream! From now on, I'm going to focus on Shi Jingyi's online courses and study her Mind Power martial arts techniques!"
"...I really don't want to discourage your enthusiasm, but mastering Shi Jingyi's cultivation methods is probably way harder than developing decent items. Haven't you seen how many academy students struggle for a whole year and still can't get it right by graduation? And don't forget, those students have the advantage of Shi Jingyi answering their questions in person..."
There were many complaint posts online, but most of those posters had at least survived.
Still, many people couldn't hold out until the gambling round was forcibly ended and lost their lives. Naturally, those people would never make another sound.
However, aside from the unfortunate ones, there were also some clever people who not only didn't lose anything but actually won something from the Life-Hunting Avatar.
......
"Haha, what a bunch of idiots!"
In a villa in New Covenant City, Suroma, the former leader of the Three Beasts Army, Scarface, lounged on the sofa scrolling through his phone, laughing and mocking as he read those complaint threads.
"Any fool who's never played cards can see through that kind of trickery. They don't even know when to cut their losses—serves them right for losing their abilities and items, right, Han Qiu?"
Scarface looked up toward the back. Beyond the small French window in the living room, Han Qiu's face reflected on the glass seemed lost in thought.
Ever since Han Qiu left Lianluo'an City and returned to New Covenant City in Suroma, Scarface had followed along. He had realized, after getting to know Han Qiu, that it was more promising to stick with him. Plus, Han Qiu needed a helper like him.
"Han Qiu, aren't you happy? You won all three gambling rounds, right? And you pulled out before the formal rounds even started."
"Yeah."
"Then what's there to be unhappy about?" Scarface was utterly confused.
"I won three rounds and got two good rewards. I only won two, and one of those only netted me a measly 100 Ascension Coins! That damn demon avatar was fishing—I'm a big fish that took the bait and swam away, isn't that enough?"
"Do you still remember the prompt the Fire Thief gave before closing the Gambling Space?" Han Qiu suddenly asked.
Scarface frowned, not understanding why Han Qiu was bringing that up.
"Of course I remember. The original consciousness of that Life-Hunting Demon disappeared, its avatar stopped functioning, so the Gambling Space closed."
"Exactly. So have you ever thought about why the Life-Hunting Demon's original consciousness disappeared?"
"...Han Qiu, what are you getting at?"
Han Qiu turned around, expressionless. "What I mean is, we're just a bunch of fish that took the bait but didn't get hooked. But one fish leaped ashore and directly killed the angler."
"..."
Scarface froze for a few seconds, momentarily speechless.
"So, why do you think I'm not happy?" Han Qiu sighed. "There must have been some special mechanism in the Gambling Space that I, as a professional player, failed to trigger—isn't that regrettable?
"Besides, what we won isn't bad. But think about it—the person who triggered that mechanism and made the Life-Hunting Demon's original consciousness disappear—how much benefit did they get?"
"...Damn it!" Scarface cursed after listening, spitting in frustration. "The way you put it, suddenly what I won doesn't feel so satisfying anymore!"
After cursing, Scarface asked urgently, "Han Qiu, who do you think killed the demon's original consciousness?"
"How would I know? But..."
Han Qiu narrowed his eyes, speaking slowly:
"That Administrator of the Ascendant Home, the one who keeps discovering and selling hidden rules. If that 'insight' of his could still work inside the Gambling Space, maybe it's him."
Scarface shook his head. "That's impossible. You can't use abilities or items in the Gambling Space. How would the Administrator see hidden information?"
"...That's why I said 'maybe.'"
Mentioning the Administrator piqued Scarface's curiosity. "Han Qiu, how many Ascension Coins do you think that guy has made from selling rules? Damn, he sells them so expensively every time—combined, it's probably more than what I've looted from the Human Consortium!"
"How would I know?" Han Qiu said flatly. "But that guy hasn't been shy about taking my money."
Scarface was stunned. "Han Qiu, are you saying you regularly buy hidden rule information from the Administrator?"
"Yeah, every single one."
"You're an idiot!" Scarface couldn't comprehend it. "Once several countries' officials buy the information, they make it public. Aren't you just throwing away your money for nothing!"
Han Qiu looked at Scarface with a helpless expression, as if he had exhausted all his patience. Eventually, he explained, "The Administrator might be selling censored secondhand information. I don't want to go through another layer from the various national officials and end up with fourthhand information."
Scarface still didn't get it. "Does that really matter?"
"Accurate and reliable information is more important than anything... Forget it, Brother Scarface, I don't think you need to worry about this." Han Qiu shook his head. "Anyway, this rule is over—there's no point overthinking it."
Scarface shrugged. "Whatever, I've already come out ahead with the benefits I got. I'm going to enjoy myself during this break."
"Enjoying yourself? Better put that on hold for now. There's something I need you, Brother Scarface, to handle."
"What is it?"
"You need to go to Liruo'an and meet with Your Holiness."
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