Chapter 109: Clearing the Level for a Price

The crocodile monster unleashed wave after wave of attacks on the boar monster, yet it stood firm and unmoving, still firmly believing that the clue on the note would lead it to victory...

At first, pain would occasionally radiate through its body...

Now, it kept hypnotizing itself, “I am not a boar, I am a piece of wood…”

Sure enough, under the relentless assault of the crocodile monster’s skills, it suddenly felt no pain...

Indeed, the hint was correct.

“Come on, hit me harder, trample me, crush me…”

Finally, at the end, the crocodile monster could no longer continue, collapsing atop the boar monster, gasping for breath, utterly exhausted...

The boar monster smiled; persistence is victory. It hadn’t just taken the blows in vain. It remained as immovable as a mountain, a rotten piece of wood…

Lying there, letting you do as you please...

Look closely—who truly falls last?

But…

The crucial point was...

When the boar monster tried to stand and punish the crocodile monster, it realized the problem...

Every bone in my body is fractured...

I’m crippled...

I can’t get up...

What kind of wood am I?

Now, it truly had become a piece of wood...

Under the moonlit swamp, the crocodile monster lay exhausted on a “piece of wood,” snoring softly as it slipped into a peaceful sleep...

Only leaving behind the bewildered pig demon, gazing up at the vast sky, shedding two helpless tears...

A treacherous piece of wood.

On the tavern’s large screen, a few bold words slowly appeared...

“Pig Iron Tusk voluntarily forfeits, eliminated…”

The ending caught all the demons off guard. Everyone sighed, thinking how much more pig brain this pig demon needed...

Now, only Dragon Seventh Master, Li Changluo, and the Mantis Demoness remained in this trial...

The live broadcast on the screen switched to a plaza paved with stone bricks. The mantis demoness strolled cautiously, alertly observing her surroundings...

In this trial, her odds were actually the lowest, even behind Li Changluo...

If not for her alluring face and fiery figure adding to her appeal, this ornamental vase would have ranked dead last...

Over the years, the strength of several ancient demon clans had sharply declined, especially the mantis demon clan—talent had withered away. If not for holding the advantage of being a major demon clan...

It’s likely they would have been easily replaced by the hardworking, striving outsider demons of this world...

Thus, the tavern was recruiting waitstaff, an opportunity to strengthen their clan’s power and status.

No mistakes were allowed.

The mantis demoness carried the hopes of her entire clan...

Thinking of this, she instinctively touched the sack of soft currency strapped to her back.

Cautiously, she took careful steps across the stone-paved plaza, following a path that led her here.

Yet, this place was not as perilous as she had imagined; the vast plaza was empty, devoid of anything...

Still, she proceeded cautiously.

She had no clear idea of the trial’s ultimate purpose—before entering, not even told what the trial aimed to test.

Aimless wandering.

So, she could only take it step by step...

“One hundred thirty-four...”

“Two hundred eight...”

The mantis demoness muttered numbers under her breath with every step. Then she noticed a note stuck on the stone floor...

Could it be a hint?

She hurriedly picked up the note...

“Please burn me.”

Reading the words aloud, rage immediately flared within her...

What kind of nonsense is this? It says nothing else, just asks me to burn it?

Furious, she threw the note to the ground and furiously stamped on it...

Stamping wildly...

In truth, in this desolate, empty plaza, fear had already filled her heart. She merely used this baffling note to vent her terror...

Who would have thought, as she stamped...

The stone bricks beneath her feet seemed to trigger some mechanism...

The bricks, like blocks, began shifting positions uncontrollably...

Suddenly, the ground she stood on started collapsing, sinking downward.

The dizzying change stunned the mantis demoness. She dashed forward, but it was too late—her body lost balance, plummeting rapidly...

Though she unfurled her wings, mantises were not adept at flying. Her wings only lessened her weight, slowing the fall somewhat...

However...

Her life was not yet to be extinguished. At the critical moment, barbs suddenly sprouted from her hands. She gripped the stone wall tightly, halting her fall...

But then, an ear-piercing sound rang out, causing goosebumps to rise over her entire body.

She hurriedly looked down...

Below her feet, rows of sharp spears slowly rose...

In moments, she might be pierced into a wasp’s nest.

The mantis demoness clung to the barbs on her hands, slowly climbing upward...

Yet she was only a demoness, her strength waning. If she struggled any further, she’d fall prematurely.

Dangling midair, cold sweat streamed down her face.

At that moment, the tavern’s giant screen wavered, zooming in repeatedly on the money pouch strapped to the mantis demoness’s back...

Then, it moved closer to her face.

She shook her head at the camera anxiously, eyes fixed on the approaching spears below, her calves growing weak...

The screeching sounds grew nearer; the spears gleamed coldly...

Finally...

Reluctantly, the mantis demoness nodded...

The camera wobbled again...

At that moment, the tavern’s audience saw a pair of hands shakily reach behind the demoness and snatch away the money pouch.

Then the screen trembled chaotically, as if the footage had been disrupted...

The picture momentarily blacked out. When the signal returned, the mantis demoness was already standing safely in a corner above the stone plaza...

Still shaken, she patted her ample chest, gazing down at the rows of spears that had risen to the ground, exhaling deeply. She gave an awkward but polite thumbs-up to the camera.

The demons watching the broadcast in the tavern erupted in astonishment, frozen in place...

“Absolutely despicable...”

“This is outrageous.”

“To be so blatant, it’s rare to see...”

“Yeah, I dare you to film that again.”

“Indecent! The world’s gone downhill if a demoness dares to flaunt herself on camera.”

“Watch out, I’ll report you, and you’ll get a 404 error...”

“...”

The tavern’s patrons vehemently condemned the mantis demoness for her shameless flaunting before the camera...

Yet while everyone seethed with righteous indignation, a shadow quietly slipped into the tavern’s kitchen...