【Ping! The Lawful faction secures victory, and the Chaotic faction loses the array effectiveness for 24 hours!】 【Ping! Please select your combat roster within fifteen minutes.】 The incantation surrounding the arena gradually fades away. The Master of Taiyuan withdraws his crystal sphere and staff, takes a single step, and returns to the Lawful faction. The half-gods of the Chaotic faction gaze upon his figure, falling into quiet silence. It is evident that the prowess of the Star Sovereign has surpassed all expectations. This half-god has been in seclusion for six decades, rarely stepping into battle—his achievements are nearly unheard of in the world. Among the present half-gods, only two such encounters are known: once, when the War God blocked the gates of the capital, the Star Sovereign and the Fire God personally engaged him, though the battle itself was relatively quiet and its true outcome remains unclear. The other was during the contest for the Light Compass, where the Star Sovereign performed unremarkably. It is well known that the Star Sovereign excels in strategy and strategic foresight, mastering these arts above all—yet today, his battlefield performance has proven astonishingly powerful. The god of wine thus fell. Ling Tu suddenly lifted his head, revealing a pale, handsome face, his deep black eyes fixed and thoughtful, as if pondering something profound. In contrast, the lawful half-god beamed with delight—though in truth, they did not believe the lord of the stars would surely prevail. While the power of the sun effectively countered chaos, the lord of the stars was not a half-god specializing in solar energy; he wielded the very essence of the stars. And the stars were not particularly skilled in combat. Indeed, there was no one more suitable than him to send forth. Thus, he was chosen. Should he lose, it would merely cost a few points. Yet, the lord of the stars had defeated the god of wine with overwhelming dominance, displaying a level of prowess that astonished everyone. As the lawful half-gods were stunned by the lord of the stars' strength, they quietly began to calculate their next moves in their minds. The most formidable force among the evil faction was the Warlord, who could only be matched by the Void—though even then, the contest would be one-sided, with a very slim chance of victory. Beyond the Asura lies the Wine God, the Sovereign of a Hundred Demons, and the Lord of the Lunar Spirit—both of the first two are 11-tier warriors. Aside from the Wind and Thunder deities currently in slumber, no one can match either of them. The third, the Sovereign of the Moon, though currently at a 10-tier level—having only recently completed the Lunar domain—holds a higher status than ordinary half-gods. With the Wine God now fallen, these three stand as the only forces capable of delivering overwhelming pressure against the Lawful half-gods. The remaining Evil half-gods, though stronger in their class advantages over the Lawful, are themselves only at the 10-tier level and thus offer only limited strength, unable to achieve decisive dominance. Fu Qingxuan studied the Lord of the Stars for a moment before shifting her gaze, saying, "In the second match, the Evil faction will likely send one of the Lord of the Lunar Spirit, the Asura, or the Sovereign of a Hundred Demons. Though the Lord of the Lunar Spirit has only recently ascended to his position, the fully realized Lunar domain carries a status surpassing ours. So, who among you will take on The Void Half-Deity folded his arms and said, "Clearly, I'm the safest choice—whether it's the Spirit Expansion or the Lord of a Hundred Demons, I can contain both. But this time, we're sending our players first. If I step up and they send the Robe of War, I might have to restart from scratch. "Yet, if I don't play, any one of you goes out, the opposing side can deploy both the Spirit Expansion and the Lord of a Hundred Demons and secure victory." Liu's Half-Deity stroked the turtle shell in his hands. "For the second match, we can hand it over to the Evil faction. We currently have two points, which we can use to absorb two out of the three, leaving one to be handled by the Void Half-Deity. This way, we end up with a 2-2 draw. Then, as long as we win one more match, we'll claim one of the array's core structures. After that, if every single one of us has to step onto the stage once, there will still be five matches left—against the King of Fear, the two Phantom Deities, and the two Dragon-Flame Lords." "Out of five battles, we only need to win two. After the tournament concludes, the evil faction will be left with just five half-gods, while we will still have twelve. Even if we win only one of the five, we'll have eleven half-gods—still enough to outnumber the evil faction in the core battle strategy." Liu's half-god continued. "The worst-case scenario would be losing all five subsequent battles, in which case the five alliance leaders would merge to contain the Asura forces. We would then have five half-gods remaining, while the evil faction would have four. Given the nature of the evil faction's strengths, the outcome would be even—yet losing all five battles is impossible. We still have the goddess of beauty in our ranks. With her unique abilities, as long as she doesn't face the goddess of illusion, the Asura, or the spirit architect, she will remain unvanquished." The Lord of the Stars broadened the perspective of the lawful faction. Liu's half-god concluded with finality: "This tournament offers the lawful faction at least an 80% chance of victory." Yet at that very moment, a subtle notification from the spiritual realm reached everyone's ears: 【Ding Rule update: the restriction that each participant can enter only once is canceled...! [Chime! The above rule is canceled...] [Chime! Rule update: the points-based exemption mechanism is canceled...] [Chime! The above rule is canceled...] [Chime! Rule update: Either side, as long as they win three matches, may end the tournament!] Hearing the chimes drifting through the air, the half-gods felt as though they had stepped into a women's spa—wave after wave of change kept coming. They realized this was the realm of the spirits fighting back against the invaders. After the death of the Wine God, the situation had grown favorable to the orderly faction, prompting the invaders to attempt to disrupt the spirits' efforts by introducing new rules advantageous to the forces of chaos—such as removing the limit on participation and eliminating the life-or-death point exemption. Yet, these efforts proved unsuccessful. In the end, both sides had made certain compromises, adding a new condition for the tournament's conclusion: the half-gods no longer needed to fight until only one remained. Regardless of whether they are lawful or chaotic, as long as they win three matches, they can conclude the tournament and advance to the next phase of the core strategy competition. The Void Half-Deity turned to Liu's ancestral elder and asked, "What's the current win rate?" After holding his breath for a while, the Liu Clan Half-Deity waved his sleeve and replied, "Less than 50%." The three—Warrior, Lord of a Hundred Demons, and Lingtuo—can almost guarantee victories in two matches, since the Lawful side still has the high-spending player known for one-on-three prowess, the Void Half-Deity. The two remaining Void Monastic Half-Deities and the two Half-Deities from the Spirit Energy Association, due to their unique class strengths, outperform their peers in the Lawful category, thus their win rate falls below 50%. The Void Half-Deity drew a deep breath, "If even a 50-50 split isn't achievable, then they're in serious trouble." "So who's going to play in Match Two?" asked Mo, the head of the Chihuo Clan, rubbing his shoulders with a sense of urgency. "In terms The Marshal's output ranks among the top among the half-gods without a doubt. Yet her weaknesses are clear—she lacks defensive and healing capabilities. She shines in team fights, as long as there's solid defense and healing support. However, in unavoidable, decisive battles, she tends to be targeted easily. In contrast, the Fire God's power when using his ultimate ability—self-explosion—is just as strong as the Marshal's. Moreover, his passive skill, "Rebirth in Flames," allows him to keep reviving and exploding repeatedly until his vitality is depleted. Should he be determined to meet his end alongside the evil half-gods, he can absolutely achieve that. Among the evil half-gods, only the Warlord carries the risk of falling. Fu Qingxuan turned her head slightly, gazing at the handsome young man dressed in a black suit, wearing a silver earpin on his left ear, and responded calmly: "Fear—I won't risk the entire Order of the Law just to engage you in a matter of sentiment." The King of Fear raised an eyebrow: "I promise you, as long as you step onto the stage, your opponent will be me. If anyone unseats me without proper regard for the rules, even a Buddha of the Avatars, I shall turn cold." Hearing this, Fu Qingxuan paused and looked at her teammates: "I believe we can make it. I'm confident I can defeat Fear. Should he deceive me, and it's the Avatar who steps up, I can use my points to secure a win." The Lord of the Stars shook his head slightly: "What if it's Chulong from the Council of Spiritual Energy who steps up instead?" Chulong's abilities specifically counter the Scouts. Should Fu Qingxuan lose to Chulong, the Avatars, the Spirit Expansions, and the Lord of a Hundred Demons would still hold a 3-2 advantage, and the Order would lose the match. The subsequent outcome Should there be another arena battle, the lawful faction would have little chance of victory—likely being wiped out within the dungeon. "Thus, Master Jiang's participation is the most secure choice," said the Void Half-Deity. "Whether it's the Phantom God or Zhulong, neither can withstand him; his self-explosion is nothing short of artistry." The ultimate move of the Fire God—self-explosion! Even the Void God's ability to absorb and neutralize void energy cannot fully dissipate the force of the explosion, and Zhulong has no alternative but to endure the Fire God's self-explosion. Master Jiang landed with proud confidence upon the arena. The King of Fear expressed disappointment. Master Jiang, with fiery hair, looked down upon the evil Half-Deities with an air of superiority: "Who shall step forward?" The Robe of the War God, black as an iron tower with three heads and eight arms, silently descended upon the arena. Master Jiang's face darkened, then ignited with determination: "Vairocana, in our last battle, you didn't give it your all. I wasn't satisfied. Today, let's fight until we're both spent—see who truly stands tall." Before he finished speaking, the orderly half-deities behind him raised their hands in perfect unison: "Surrender. This match is waived." Master Jiang's expression froze instantly. Only then did Vairocana realize what had happened, and nodded to Master Jiang: "Good!" "Good heavens—what the hell!" Master Jiang's temples bulged with fury as he stormed off the platform. The restriction had just materialized and then vanished. The duration of one of the orderly faction's array was reduced by one day. ... Shu Mountain. Golden arrows struck female Ba, then vanished silently—seeming to have been transported to another realm. Suddenly, Ba disappeared and materialized before Zhang Yuanqing, her pale, slender right hand pressing together like a blade, her black nails extending to pierce the young sun-god's heart. Zhang Yuanqing, who had been preparing for a long time, calmly drew out the Purple-Jade Shield and activated the second form of the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, forming two layers of protection in front of him. Crack! With a sharp, piercing sound, the Purple-Jade Shield pierced straight through, and the golden dragon silhouette encircling his body shattered. Zhang Yuanqing remained composed, tapping his fingers to activate the Star-Flight Technique and step back. Snap! At the very moment he tapped, he noticed the white glow of the crown atop Nü Ba's head flicker. Then, his vision began to swirl and invert. Gurgle... Gurgle... His head rolled down from his neck, landing on the ground, blood streaming from him.