Star Trace Gate

Maru La, Barbie Q!

The effective range of this ghost hand is only twenty steps, which means that Ren Ye's absolute deterrent against Zhou Taozhi has completely disappeared.

Actually, the main reason he chose the Ghost Hand technique was because it could create immense psychological pressure. As the old saying goes, it's not the thief you should fear, but the one who covets it. As long as he possessed it, Zhou Taozhi would be constantly on edge, gradually making mistakes…

But now, he has widened the gap between himself and others, making the rest of the road ahead very bright. He only needs to keep controlling the dice and keep getting sixes. Even if he encounters two bad results in the first two rounds, he will inevitably widen the gap between himself and the other three.

After all, the other three players cannot control the outcome of the dice rolls, nor can they be lucky enough to roll a six every time... Zhou Taozhi only needs to maintain his leading position. After estimating the number in his mind, he can keep his distance and get good cards, and then easily and happily play the three-man team to death.

This is how to do ah? !

Ren was so anxious that he was covered in sweat and felt utterly hopeless.

Beside him, the chubby boy asked nervously via telepathy, "What he meant was... you didn't manage to steal anything this time?"

"Yes." Ren Ye, pale-faced, transmitted his voice to the two of them: "He is more than twenty steps away from me, I can't steal it."

"Damn it... then it's all over!" Li Xiaopang exclaimed in despair, "You... you can't steal it, so what's the point of playing!"

The storyteller pondered for a long time, but was unwilling to give up: "Can we find a way to catch up with him, even if it's just 19 steps?"

"What kind of plan is that?" Li Xiaopang shrugged. "He has the ability to foresee the future and control the dice. As long as he maintains the lead and can't be robbed, he's invincible. He'll snowball in a few rounds and completely leave us far behind!"

"No, let's give up. If we keep going, we'll only suffer more and more." Li Xiaopang had second thoughts: "In the last round, I was assigned to raise pigs... This... This is simply unacceptable for a young master like me."

"No, don't rush, we still have a chance." After thinking it over carefully, Ren's expression returned to normal: "Don't give up so easily...!"

"Don't just talk the talk, tell me, where is the opportunity?" Li Xiaopang demanded.

Ren paused for a moment, then immediately spoke up, instructing, "In the Treasure Chess Game, since there are tokens with leap-forward properties, there can't be just one! The chances of the three of us getting such a token in each round are not low. Therefore, we need to devise a strategy in advance…!"

Li Xiaopang listened quietly without interrupting.

"Here's what we'll do. If either of you gets your hands on this token, you need to figure out first whether it can only be used on yourself or on others. If it can be used on others, then give it to me immediately. As long as this token allows me to leap more than seven steps, I can re-enter Zhou Taozhi's attack range... and continue stealing from him! But if this token can only be used on myself... then you two need to clear your own accumulations, and I'll steal this token back to myself."

Upon hearing this strategy, the storyteller's eyes lit up, and he said with satisfaction, "Brilliant! This method will work."

"But isn't wiping out all my savings a bit too risky?" Li Xiaopang frowned. "That would mean all the suffering I went through was for nothing!"

“Sacrificing one person can help two others regain their threat to Zhou Taozhi, so it’s worth it.” Ren Ye frowned and said, “Let’s go for now. If it really comes to the point where we have to clear the tokens, I’ll tell you how to use them.”

"Good." Li Xiaopang nodded emphatically, drawing out his words as he commented, "I must say, your intelligence is practically on par with mine...!"

"Stop talking nonsense and focus on raising pigs."

Ren urged, "I'll continue rolling the dice."

As soon as they finished speaking, the three-person team regained their confidence and continued their game against Zhou Taozhi.

Just as Ren Ye had guessed, Zhou Taozhi did not let her guard down even after suddenly leaping twenty steps forward. Instead, she rolled six twice in a row, drawing one good result and one bad result.

He did this naturally to maintain his advantage and avoid being caught within twenty paces. Ren Ye and the others, however, did not have his method. The highest number they could roll together was six, and that was the one rolled by the chubby guy who was already a bit further away from Zhou Taozhi.

However, the three of them were not in a hurry, because Ren also noticed a detail. That is, although his Ghost Hand could not be used twenty steps away, Zhou Taozhi was the same. The series of offensive tokens he shook could not be used on the three of them twenty steps away either.

In other words, neither side can harass the other right now; they can only focus on building up their own strength. For the three-person team, who are at a significant disadvantage, this is a silver lining amidst the overall crisis.

And so, the four of them walked steadily forward and soon covered half of the road to Jubao. Zhou Taozhi was now twenty-eight steps ahead of Ren Ye, who was closest to him.

At this moment, Zhou Taozhi only selected the most advantageous tokens and began frantically stuffing good stuff into his pockets. He had been exhausted and humiliated by Ren Ye's threats earlier, so he was prepared to take revenge. Confident in his ability to win, he planned to slowly wear down these three arrogant opponents.

In this round, Ren also rolled two points and stepped onto the corresponding bluestone brick.

[After overcoming countless hardships, you finally arrived at the territory of the "Heavenly Instant Sect" in the Stone Kingdom, but the entire kingdom is controlled by the ancient Heavenly Instant Sect. The soldiers here are conscripting men to repair the sect's teleportation array. As a traveler, you are outnumbered and powerless, and naturally unable to resist. You are forced to perform forced labor and must remain here for two rounds. Of course, you can choose to escape, but if caught by the soldiers, you may be executed and eliminated...]

Upon hearing the result, Ren felt a sense of powerlessness and didn't even have the energy to curse.

He was originally the closest to Zhou Taozhi, and if he could obtain a leap-forward token, he might still have a chance to catch up. But now that they've stopped for two rounds, if Zhou Taozhi rolls another six or five, he'll probably be more than thirty steps behind.

This distance is really hard to catch up with!

Ugh, that damned Heavenly Grace-level secret realm won't even let me use my luck power, otherwise I wouldn't be so unlucky!

Little Bad King gritted his teeth, then turned to the storyteller and said softly, "I drew a terrible result this round... I have to stay in the game for two rounds. You are closer to Zhou Taozhi than Little Fatty, so these two rounds depend on you. If you are lucky enough to catch up to within twenty steps, use up all your attack tokens and keep him standing there for two rounds. That way we will still have a chance."

"Um……!"

The storyteller, feeling immense pressure, earnestly summoned a bronze statue from his consciousness, then, with a devout gaze, clasped his hands together in prayer: "Bless me...bless me so that in these two rounds, I can roll the two highest possible numbers...!"

Ren was stunned by what he saw, because the two were not far apart, and he could clearly see that the bronze statue in the storyteller's hand was actually carved in his own likeness.

My God, what kind of teammates are these? There are even players who worship themselves at crucial moments?

Ren Ye asked in bewilderment via telepathy, "Why are you kowtowing to yourself?! This... this is so unlucky!"

"You don't understand. There are too many founders in the Ancient Path of Words. I don't even know who to worship right now. As the saying goes, it's better to rely on yourself than on others. It's more reliable to make offerings to yourself..." the storyteller replied eloquently.

Ren rolled his eyes, but could only grit his teeth and encourage him, "What you said makes a lot of sense."

Whether it was luck or the storyteller's earth-shattering prayer of "worshipping himself" truly worked, he did indeed roll a six in this round, and his physical body shone with divine light, exuding an extraordinary aura, as if he had received some kind of divine blessing.

After taking six steps, the storyteller obtained another decent attack token and maintained a distance of about twenty-nine steps from Zhou Taozhi.

Before long, a new round began. Zhou Taozhi mentally calculated the gap between herself and the storyteller, and then felt that the other party's threat was not too strong. She could sacrifice a step or two of the gap and continue to obtain better attack tokens for accumulation.

After a moment's thought, he raised his hand and rolled a four, obtaining a "Border Army Plunder Order" in the corresponding illusion. This order allows him to dispatch a 3,000-strong army to plunder other players' illusions. It can not only attack and kill, but also delay the corresponding player for one turn, making it a very annoying card.

In this way, the storyteller had essentially caught up by two steps in this round, bringing the distance between them to twenty-seven. But even so, the former still posed no threat to Zhou Taozhi.

Ren was then forced to remain standing and was not allowed to move forward.

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, please show your spirits, my Li family ancestors..." Having played this game for so long and suffered so much, Li Xiaopang no longer believed in intelligence or scheming; all he cared about was metaphysics. He practically knelt on the ground praying, only thinking about getting by as long as he didn't get beaten up.

After finishing his prayers, he shook his head and got a five, then took five steps forward.

"boom!"

As Little Fatty nervously walked up to the corresponding bluestone steps, a chilling, dark yellow aura rose from beneath his feet, and the surrounding scenery rapidly changed.

In this illusion, he saw a very familiar scene: a hazy yellow sky filled with flying sand and stones...

"Hmm, this place seems familiar." The chubby boy blinked his wise eyes, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"You were lost in the wilderness when you were fortunate enough to encounter a caravan from the Heavenly Instant Sect. You interacted amicably with them, traveled together, and eventually arrived in the Stone Kingdom. However, you never expected that the Sand and Stone Spirit of the Sand Sea Kingdom had already fallen into demonic ways and greatly increased his power. He proclaimed himself the King of the Sand Sea and single-handedly invaded the Stone Kingdom, committing massacres and plunder in an attempt to prove his Dao through demonic means. The entire Heavenly Instant Sect resisted, but they could not find the 'Shuttle Without Edges' that could defeat the Sand and Stone Spirit. In desperation, they posted a notice, inviting heroes from all over the world to come to their aid, declaring that whoever could defeat the Sand and Stone Spirit would receive an astonishing reward from the Heavenly Instant Sect…!"

"You are a hero of heaven and earth, and when you see injustice in the world, you will naturally draw your sword to fight. Therefore, you are the only hero who answered the call to help. Looking at the Stone Kingdom shrouded in yellow sand, you asked yourself, if there are truly heroes in this world, who else but me?"

“You have made up your mind to fight the Holy Spirit of Sand and Stone here to the death.”

"Damn it, all those experts have run away, what am I, a mere third-rank stray dog, supposed to do?!"

Upon hearing the announcement from the spirit of the formation, Li Xiaopang felt his hair stand on end and his face turn deathly pale.

He thought that after navigating the first half, he would no longer encounter his previous "nightmare," and guessed that this round of the Treasure Chess Game might be completely different from the last. Unexpectedly, he found himself facing the iron fist of the Sand Saint Spirit once again…

It's as if the two had a secret karmic entanglement in a past life, one that they can't untangle in this one.

"I'm so stupid! I've run into the Sand Saint Spirit again, and I just can't beat him...!"

Li Xiaopang's voice was filled with anguish as he transmitted his pleading words to the two men: "You two, hurry and save me, or... or I won't even have a chance to jump into the well."

"Huh?! You've encountered the Sand and Stone Holy Spirit again?" The storyteller was somewhat bewildered.

"Yes...and I will fight it to the death." The chubby boy replied in a trembling voice.