Demon Lord Protection is Work, Saint(ness) Was Life

Black Serpent was only a wall away from Lu Ze.

Lu Ze kept feigning a charge behind the wall, then retreating, back and forth repeatedly.

From Black Serpent's perspective, this maneuver was infuriating.

If he fired, Lu Ze only exposed a tiny sliver of his elbow—auto-aim couldn’t lock on, and all the spirit bullets slammed into the wall.

If he didn’t fire, he feared Lu Ze might suddenly rush out for real.

Lu Ze’s marksmanship and accuracy were clearly evident from the corpses upstairs—insanely skilled. Black Serpent didn’t dare gamble; he could only rely on his wallhack to fire pre-emptive shots.

His spirit bullets were already more than half depleted, and he was hesitating whether to pop a smoke grenade and switch positions.

Just then, Weilong’s voice came from behind the wall: “You’re not good enough. Next.”

Imagining Lu Ze wagging his finger in that smug manner, Black Serpent’s temper flared.

“Damn it!”

He pulled the trigger, and a dense barrage of spirit bullets, as if venting his frustration, hammered into the wall.

At the same moment, Lu Ze’s figure moved!

A long jump followed by a jet boost—a very standard attack maneuver, so standard that Black Serpent’s heart leaped with joy, suddenly feeling he had won.

Even though he only had 6 spirit bullets left in his gun…

But 6 shots of the Celestial Soldier-14 spirit bullets to the chest—even with a grade 6 armor, it meant death!

As everyone knew, a Weilong in mid-jet couldn’t fire.

For ordinary players, sudden movement disrupted aim and tracking, making them vulnerable to breakthroughs.

But for those empowered by the Ten Direction Spirit Descending Array, such tracking wasn’t a problem at all!

A Weilong in jet mode was nothing but a sitting duck.

Even Lu Ze was no exception!

Black Serpent pulled the trigger, and all 6 spirit bullets sank into Lu Ze’s chest!

‘Hit!’

A flash of joy surged through Black Serpent, but it was quickly replaced by terror.

Because Lu Ze didn’t die!

He even turned back and dropped two spirit-absorbing bombs right on Black Serpent’s head!

“No! No!!!”

Black Serpent clawed desperately at the bombs on his face, even though he knew they couldn’t be removed.

Behind him, Lu Ze’s footsteps faded away, accompanied by a floating remark in the air:

“Happy New Year!”

“Boom—!!”

[Terrain Master Lu Ze defeated Black Serpent!]

[Team Eliminated!]

Li Moran and Zhou Yue stared in stunned disbelief at the sequence.

“How dare you fly out like that?”

“How did you not die… Wait! You swapped your helmet and armor in midair?”

Even Li Moran, who was usually a man of few words, was shocked into speaking multiple sentences.

When Lu Ze launched himself out, both had thought he was doomed.

But not only did Lu Ze survive, he used the most infuriating method to torment Black Serpent to death.

“Yeah, I swapped my helmet and armor in midair.”

Lu Ze nodded, confirming Li Moran’s guess.

“???”

Zhou Yue was dumbfounded.

In the split second that decided life or death, Lu Ze dared to swap his equipment midair—how fast did he have to move, and how steady did his nerves have to be?

And to time it perfectly just as the third spirit bullet hit—such reaction speed was simply outrageous.

“You did that on purpose?”

“Of course. If they cheat, you humiliate them hard.”

Lu Ze replied with a smile.

During those several feints and probing exchanges, he had secretly kept track of the number of spirit bullets Black Serpent had fired.

He deliberately attacked when his opponent had only 6 bullets left.

The opponent’s Celestial Soldier-14 golden bullets required three hits to the chest to break through a grade 6 armor.

Two grade 6 armors were enough to absorb all 6 spirit bullets.

As for headshots…

Lu Ze had observed for two and a half rounds—these guys had a low headshot rate, under thirty percent.

Probably to keep their cheats subtle and avoid detection, they had deliberately played that way.

Of course, he had more perfect ways to counter it.

Like instant-detonation Tiger Pounce, flick-peeking for three headshots, or steady-aim AW sniper instakills…

But in the end, he chose the method that crushed the opponent’s pride the most.

This was the merciless insult to a cheater.

“Junior Brother Lu, maybe you shouldn’t save me… I’d rather watch more of your moves.”

Zhou Yue, seeing Lu Ze’s skill for the first time, was utterly amazed.

“Can’t do that.”

Lu Ze shook his head.

“This is a competition based on supplies for ranking. I can’t take it all alone.”

…

…

Lingxiao Sect Spectator Zone.

“Faking a shot with the hip, retreating with a jet, swapping armor midair… Junior Brother Lu, how many more secrets do you have hidden from us?”

Lu Ze’s three moves left Zhong Yi in awe, wishing he could rewatch them several times.

The duel between experts was breathtaking. Though only about a minute had passed, Zhong Yi, fully immersed, felt like it had lasted ages.

In a novel, this would probably fill a whole three chapters!

“Junior Brother Lu’s current strength is way ahead of the pack…”

“With Junior Brother Lu stepping in, our Lingxiao Sect will surely—mmph! Mmmph!”

“Elder Nangong, why are you covering my mouth???”

…

Heavenly Dao Livestream Room.

[What’s going on? Old Demon Lu didn’t die??]

[Empty the bullets, and he’d have been dead!]

[No way, 6 gold bullets all to the chest—how is he still alive?]

[Not only is he alive, his HP is still high!]

[Just came back from Lingxiao Sect’s area… the genius cultivator said Old Demon Lu swapped his armor after taking three shots!]

[Whoa? There’s a move like that???]

[Wait… With skills like that, why did he play like a pacifist in the first segment?]

[I don’t get it!!]

[Don’t tell me he actually likes playing the pacifist?]

[Impossible! No one likes being a pacifist! He must have been possessed!]

[???]

[??????]

[What the hell—Old Demon Lu’s lying down again???]

[Where did he get a Zi Mouse-18??]

[…Folks, looks like we spoke too soon.]

[Why is he back to being a pacifist again!!!]

[Being a demon lord is just work; being a pacifist is the real life…]

…

…

On the other side.

Last Dusk’s preparation area.

The three of them had exited early for the first time, their expressions grim.

“That kid definitely has array support too… maybe even an Eleven Direction Spirit Descending Array!”

Black Serpent cursed angrily.

“Didn’t the Alliance Leader tell us… if we all went for headshots, our projections in the illusion would look too abnormal and attract Heavenly Dao’s attention. How the hell can that kid hit headshots every time?”

Setting Sun was equally bewildered.

Hadn’t they been told that hitting only headshots was too fake and they needed to play cautiously to avoid Heavenly Dao’s punishment?

What about Lu Ze?

He didn’t even try to be subtle!

“Damn it! How about we leave the illusion now and have the Alliance Leader remove the restrictions on the Ten Direction Spirit Descending Array?”

Black Serpent clenched his teeth and proposed.

“No.”

Dusk shook his head, his gaze deeply grim.

“Setting aside the fact that leaving during the match equals forfeiting… the complexity of this array—you know it, everyone knows it. It took half a month just to activate it. There’s no way to modify it on the fly!”

“Then what do we do!? Are we just going to let them take first place like this? If the Alliance Leader takes back the cultivation he gave us, wouldn’t we be…”

Setting Sun’s brow furrowed deeply in worry.

Having muddled along at the lowest rungs of the loose cultivators for decades, I had finally broken through to the Golden Core realm.

Such a level of cultivation might mean little to the disciples of the great sects;

but to us, it was nothing short of a leap to heaven!

There was no way I would give it up.

"Then there's only that one move left..."

Dusk clenched his teeth and forced the words out.

"Let the Alliance Master lend us his strength..."

"Light the ninth spirit lamp!"