Almighty Genius

Chapter 2246 - 1740: The Brutal Second Floor of the Underground Palace

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"You get it now, right..."

Seeing Charlie and the others all pale as sheets, clearly scared out of their wits, Qin Fang drawled a sentence, then didn't even spare a glance at those piles of eye‑blinding, heart‑pounding treasure, and continued walking deeper into this passage.

This pile of treasure was indeed an unimaginable fortune, but at the same time it was also a gigantic trap...

If Qin Fang's estimate was right, then the other forks probably had similar trap designs. It's just that compared to their side, where not a single person had been lost, the other sides would absolutely be rivers of blood, casualties everywhere.

Wipe out these two Bronze Warrior statues?

Keep dreaming!

When Qin Fang first got here, he'd already taken note of these two Bronze Warrior statues, because they were the same type of Puppet person as the one in Qin Fang's hand, all crafted by master artisans. The materials were far inferior to Qin Fang's, but they were just as impervious to blades and gunfire.

These Bronze Warriors were created to be killing machines. Once their killing intent was triggered, even a Great Grandmaster Level Expert wouldn't dare lightly clash head‑on with them. As for Grandmaster-level Experts… if they tried to meet force with force, they'd only be marching to their deaths.

Unless you could wield a Divine Weapon of the Flowing Shadow Divine Sword's caliber, then you might be able to hold them off for a bit, maybe even damage the Bronze Warriors... However Qin Fang had no intention of doing that; who knew if there were other chained traps hidden here.

So he would rather give up on this treasure than bring a massive headache down on himself.

"Young Master Qin, we'll all listen to you..."

After the lesson just now, Charlie and the others had finally been scared honest. They no longer schemed after that mountain‑like treasure... You need to be alive to spend money; just like earlier, even if that gold mountain and silver mountain were all theirs, if they lost their lives, what meaning would any of it have?

"You've seen the light now, still not too late… Relax, your share of the benefits won't be missing!"

He casually swept his gaze over the people present. This time they were finally genuinely loyal, no more stray thoughts, which did put Qin Fang in a rather good mood.

The group continued to push forward. Along the way they ran into quite a few mechanical traps, but with Qin Fang's Grandmaster-level Tier Cheating Skills, he helped them avoid one deadly crisis after another, fighting their way deeper into the Underground Palace.

Of course, traps similar to those gold and silver mountains were there too, and they saw two more Bronze Warriors guarding the Underground Palace, even stronger and more terrifying than the previous pair... However, Charlie and the others had learned their lesson and didn't dare provoke them again.

"Second Floor of the Underground Palace?"

When Qin Fang and the others reached a platform, they discovered that the other nine forked passages really did converge here, just as he'd predicted in advance... And at the convergence point, there was a cave leading further down.

"Second floor..."

Hearing Qin Fang's words, Charlie and the rest were all stunned for a moment. They looked at that pitch‑black cave and couldn't help feeling a chill in their hearts.

"Let's go. From down there on, there should be some real goodies..."

After walking this entire route, Qin Fang's mini‑map now had the floor plan of this level of the Underground Palace basically covered, except for the two outermost passages that couldn't be mapped. The rest was more or less filled in, which was almost as good as having it all.

One look at it and he knew this level was about explored. Then this cave should be the path to deeper levels...

The Underground Palace was mysterious and eerie. Qin Fang didn't believe for a second that the place was only this big, with only these few things...

If there were only this bit of stuff, how could the Six Major Chinese Clans possibly spend such huge effort, pay such a huge price, to invite the Hand of the Demon to join the game?

"Maybe they actually know what kind of treasures are hidden in this Underground Palace..."

Qin Fang couldn't help speculating like that in his heart. Otherwise the Six Major Chinese Clans wouldn't be willing to bleed this much!

"Anything that can catch the eye of the Six Major Chinese Clans can't be too shabby..."

The more he thought that way, the more Qin Fang naturally cared about these treasures. His relationship with the Six Major Families was far from harmonious, so of course he didn't want these treasures falling into their hands...

Qin Fang planned to take everything away himself, let the people from the Six Major Families run around for nothing, cough blood and die of anger...

Having made up his mind, Qin Fang certainly wouldn't linger on the First Level of the Underground Palace. He immediately headed toward the Second Floor.

If Qin Fang hadn't guessed wrong, the second wave from the Six Major Families and the Hand of the Demon should also be entering the Underground Palace. The Daredevil Team was there to die, and also to scout the route... Once the path was scouted, the later waves would naturally move in.

With a guide, the second, third, even fourth waves would move through the First Level of the Underground Palace extremely fast and could quickly catch up with the teams ahead. So if Qin Fang wanted to snatch the treasures first, he had to seize the time and speed up.

"Hiss~~~ this is the Second Floor of the Underground Palace?"

Stepping onto the Second Floor of the Underground Palace, everyone present, including Qin Fang himself, couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Compared to the empty, echoing first level with its nine crisscrossing passages, this second level looked much simpler—just a single narrow passage, leading straight to the gate of the Third Floor of the Underground Palace…

Except, along this one narrow passage, roughly every ten meters or so, a Bronze Warrior stood on each side… counting all the way down, there were nine rows in total, eighteen Bronze Warriors altogether.

"This is such a scam…"

Seeing this setup, even Qin Fang couldn't help wanting to throw his head back and roar at the sky.

The design right in front of them was clearly telling them they had to fight their way through…

Someone had arrived here slightly earlier than Qin Fang's group, but there were already three corpses on the ground. Only one man had survived the first trial and was currently locked in combat with a Bronze Warrior in the second trial.

"Looks like…it's a bit easier than I imagined…"

Qin Fang didn't rush to have Charlie and the others make a move. Instead, he carefully observed that mercenary who was fighting and the Bronze Warrior he was up against. Only then did a faint smile appear on his face as he spoke.

"Young Master Qin, you have a way?"

Charlie and the others had been wearing bitter expressions, but the moment they heard Qin Fang say this, their spirits all jolted. Five pairs of eyes turned and locked onto him.

"Don't rush yet. Wait till that guy dies, then we'll talk…"

Qin Fang, however, casually pointed at the mercenary who was still struggling bitterly and said this in an unhurried tone.

Pff~~

And almost as soon as the words left his mouth, that mercenary was struck squarely by the Bronze Warrior's palm. Blood sprayed wildly from his mouth, mixed with bits of internal organs. His body slammed to the ground, and within the blink of an eye he completely stopped breathing.

After killing the mercenary, the Bronze Warrior froze for a brief moment, then returned to its original standing position. Its posture reverted to the previous stance, becoming exactly as it was before, like a dead thing once again…

But Qin Fang and the others all knew that as long as someone stepped into the area occupied by these Bronze Warriors, they would immediately be met with the fiercest of attacks…

The mercenary just now had actually been quite strong. The fact that he'd managed to hold out until the second trial was more than enough to prove how formidable he was. His cultivation had already reached the Grandmaster Level, and even in the Hand of the Devil Mercenary Corps, he probably held a significant position.

Unfortunately… even with that level of strength, he still hadn't been able to live much longer. In the end, he died a miserable death under the iron palm of that Bronze Warrior.

"Same rules as before—follow in my footsteps and do not mess up… absolutely do NOT mess up! Otherwise, not only will you die, you'll drag the others down with you…"

With this mercenary dead, Qin Fang's group of six were the only ones on the Second Floor of the Underground Palace for the moment. Before making any moves, Qin Fang solemnly repeated his warning over and over.

Tony had slipped up once earlier. Although it had been unintentional and they'd made it through with only a scare, this time there was no margin for error… If everything went smoothly, the six of them could easily pass through the Second Floor of the Underground Palace. But if anyone made a mistake, they would be forced to face the pursuit and slaughter of all eighteen Bronze Warriors.

Qin Fang himself had the Flowing Shadow Divine Sword and a Puppet person. Even if he couldn't beat all eighteen Bronze Warriors at once, protecting his own life wouldn't be too big of a problem… But as for the people under him, not a single one of them should expect to make it out alive.

"Understood…"

In truth, Qin Fang didn't even need to remind them again and again like this. Just one look at the corpses on the ground was enough for Charlie and the others to understand what they needed to do.

Qin Fang might not know these people, but Charlie and the rest did.

These four were basically the strongest among the first wave of the Daredevil Team. Each one had Grandmaster-level strength, a whole tier above any of them, yet all four were lying on the ground now, dead and gone.

If they wanted to live, they absolutely had to follow Qin Fang's instructions and not make the slightest mistake… unless they wanted to end up lying here dead like these four.

Seeing that everyone had given their word, Qin Fang immediately moved forward, directly stepping into the first trial.

Only, the spot he chose was rather strange—it was right in front of the first Bronze Warrior, more precisely, right in front of the Bronze Warrior's fist… All it would take was one strike for Qin Fang to be seriously injured.

"Hiss~~~"

Charlie and the others were dumbfounded, staring blankly at Qin Fang…

"Huh…"

But then, something incredibly bizarre happened… it was as if that Bronze Warrior didn't sense Qin Fang's existence at all. It didn't move in the slightest, while Qin Fang stood there safe and sound.

"Th-this… what's going on?"

Charlie and the others were completely stunned. They had thought Qin Fang might get into trouble, but nothing like what they expected happened. The Bronze Warrior didn't attack him at all.

"He's r-really fine…"

They checked over and over, watching carefully several more times, until Qin Fang was starting to get impatient. Only then did they finally accept the truth, and each of them instantly grew wildly excited. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you're welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)