"?"
Zhang Yue looked at Qin Ye, his face full of question marks.
Qin Ye stared at the glowing jade in his hand, then looked at Zhang Yue with an incredulous expression. "The jade seal was on you all along, yet you pretended to search everywhere for it. You did it on purpose to lure me out, didn't you?"
"I always thought you were a righteous person. Never would I have imagined—you're such a scheming player."
Zhang Yue's eyes also fell on the jade in Qin Ye's hand.
He took a step back, and the jade's light dimmed.
He stepped forward, and the light became brighter.
"So, this thing can detect the jade seal, right?"
Furious, Qin Ye threw the jade onto the ground, glaring at Zhang Yue. "Stop pretending, you hypocrite!"
"You made me search the Hell Dynasty all day!"
Though unclear why, the evidence was obvious: the jade seal was indeed on him..
After all, when Zhang Yue first arrived in the World 15, during his first encounter with the Undying Guard, they treated him with great respect and didn't dare approach him casually.
Later, wherever Zhang Yue went, the four clan leaders would personally arrive, searching for the jade seal.
At this moment, Zhang Yue finally understood.
What you've sought everywhere but couldn't find, you stumble upon effortlessly.
To think, the jade seal he'd been painstakingly searching for was with him all along.
Realizing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help but sincerely thank Qin Ye. "Truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart, brother. You've done me a huge favor."
Qin Ye was dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"
"Don't tell me you didn't know the jade seal was on you?" Seeing Zhang Yue's confident look, Qin Ye replied in disbelief, "Are you kidding? How could you not know the jade seal was on you?"
Zhang Yue smiled without answering.
This time, Qin Ye truly panicked. "You really didn't know?"
His face was filled with astonishment and regret.
One had to admit—Qin Ye was Zhang Yue's lucky star.
From the beginning, if Qin Ye hadn't intentionally approached Zhang Yue and given him the Death God Seal, Zhang Yue wouldn't have been able to complete the world mission so quickly. Nor would he have succeeded in the four clan challenges.
And now, Qin Ye directly told Zhang Yue the jade seal was on him.
Without Qin Ye's reminder, how could Zhang Yue have realized this?
At this point, certain that the jade seal was with him and likely connected to the events of a year ago involving "Asura," Zhang Yue could now focus on finding the solution to retrieve the seal.
Meanwhile—
Qin Ye started to panic.
In his flustered state, he remembered something Inoue Amano had once told him.
He quickly picked up the jade he'd thrown aside earlier and pointed it at Zhang Yue with a sneer. "I have Uncle Amano's talisman. You can't kill me!"
"Is that so?" Zhang Yue calmly pulled out a Death God Seal he'd specially prepared for Qin Ye, channeling its effect onto his staff.
He said to Qin Ye, "Then let's test it."
With that, a thunderous SS-level Heavenly Strike blasted toward Qin Ye.
Qin Ye didn't dodge.
He knew that in this situation, death was inevitable.
But he wasn't afraid.
Because in his hand was the talisman—the jade.
Standing his ground, Qin Ye greeted Zhang Yue with a smile. "We'll meet again, Zero."
As his words fell, the lightning struck straight through Qin Ye's body.
The next moment, the massive 3,888,000 damage instantly emptied the health bar above Qin Ye's head.
Even then, Qin Ye smirked smugly. "I told you—you can't kill me! Not even with the Mark of Death!"
Zhang Yue looked at him and asked, "Do you even hear yourself?"
Qin Ye seemed to realize something was wrong.
He looked down and found his legs turning to ashes.
"How can this be!" Qin Ye stared in horror at the shattered jade in his hand. "Uncle Amano told me this jade could not only detect the jade seal but also block a Mark of Death attack once."
"Why isn't it working? Why isn't it working!"
It turned out Inoue Amano had once told Qin Ye: due to its connection to the jade seal, the jade had another hidden ability.
"This jade, modified by our craftsmen, can block a lethal attack from someone holding the jade seal in a critical moment. After being struck down, you won't die. Instead, you'll be teleported directly to my territory in Japan."
Because of these words, Qin Ye regarded the jade as his talisman.
Previously, he'd even thought Inoue Amano was incredibly thorough, as if he'd predicted the jade seal would end up with Zhang Yue and that Zhang Yue would eventually kill him.
Being killed by Zhang Yue, Qin Ye believed the jade's power would let him escape to Japan.
So, Qin Ye stayed fearless, even at the risk of being hunted nationwide, as he lingered in the World 15 seeking the jade seal.
But now, the jade had failed to work as promised.
"You believed a word from a Easterner." Zhang Yue hoisted his staff, looking at Qin Ye with a sigh. "You're hopelessly stupid. The fact you've lived this long is a miracle."
And so, with immense reluctance and disbelief, Qin Ye's body turned to ashes, scattering and disappearing.
Nearby, players grinding levels, hearing that Qin Ye was a fugitive traitor, clapped and cheered as they saw him die.
Just then, the shattered jade fragments on the ground emitted a voice. "Zero, your end is near. Prepare to die!"
Zhang Yue instantly recognized the voice—it was Inoue Amano.
As the voice faded, the jade fragments turned into starlight, swirling around Zhang Yue.
At the same time—
The Hell God Clan's main city: Divine City
The Hell Demon Clan's main city: Demon City
The Hell Ghost Clan's main city: Ghost City
The Hell Shadow Clan's main city: Shadow City
In the clan leaders' mansions, jade glowed simultaneously.
This time, the light was brighter than ever.
The four clan leaders shuddered.
"The jade seal! This time, it's undoubtedly the jade seal!"
"Such a strong reaction—it must have appeared!"
"Send my command: All God (Demon/Ghost/Shadow) Clan combat forces, mobilize!"
Meanwhile—
After taking care of Qin Ye, Zhang Yue turned his attention to himself.
Now, it was certain: the jade seal was on him.
But where exactly?
How could he retrieve it?
Zhang Yue opened his inventory, pet space, and every storage space he could think of. Yet, the jade seal was nowhere to be found.
Just as he was racking his brain—
Suddenly, a powerful disturbance came from all directions.
The aura of a divine-tier boss surged toward him...
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