Assassination System

Chapter 270 - Changing Battlefield

Dan lightly smiled and stared at the Chrysanthemum on his chest as he ran away. The minimap in his peripheral vision perfectly scanned the area and marked the winding paths with several icons that indicated if they led deeper into the cave or if they were a dead end.

Dan stopped for a moment and looked around, even though the he had the system's assistance. There was no guarantee that someone couldn't evade its watchful eyes. Whispering in the air, he said: "System, can you tell me the effects of this Aurora Chrysanthemum?"

[System Functions; Initiating]

[System Functions; Initiated]

[System Evaluation: Aurora Chrysanthemum]

[Description: It took root within a Yin filled cave, basking on pure Yin within the depths of the Yin filled cave. It gradually gained slight sentience enough that it could influence the consumer's mind and body once eaten.]

[Effects: Once consumed, mental Yin Demons will arrive and will try to overwhelm the consumer. However, once victory is captured, it enables the consumer to break through a single Realm unconditionally without any severe repercussions. Can only be consumed once in a lifetime. A rare and exotic finding.]

"What in the actual..." Dan sucked a mouthful of cold air as his eyes widened in shock. His shoulders couldn't help but tremble as a sour sensation overcame his stomach and chest: "Such... Such an outrageous item actually exists within this virtual world?! I thought that the Chimera Flame was ridiculous enough, but this..."

Dan tightly held the Aurora Chrysanthemum, afraid that it may find an opportunity to escape. After all, according to the system. The Chrysanthemum had developed slight sentience, although he wasn't sure that the developed sentience was enough for it to recognize danger and escape. It was better safe than sorry.

Wrapping it around a cage of Lightning, Dan made sure that the Lightning never actually touched the Chrysanthemum. Afraid that some medicinal efficacy may dissipate. After all, the Chrysanthemum was Yin filled object and Lightning belonged to the extreme Yang with the highest offensive capabilities.

Continuing his journey, Dan knitted his eyebrows. The minimap displayed at his peripheral vision suddenly turned white, as if covered by a thin sheet of snow. Just as he was about to ask the system about what was going on. A breeze swept past his body and Dan's figure instantly shivered in coldness.

"What the fuck? How is everything so cold?" Dan circulated his cultivation base and fought against the coldness with his extreme Yang Blessing of the Lightning God. But when he activated his cultivation method, he realized that the frosty and ethereal aura of the Aurora Chrysanthemum drastically dimmed.

"Shit" In a panic, Dan turned off his cultivation method and just as he expected. The Aurora Chrysanthemum easily recovered within this Yin filled cave. However, as a consequence. Dan's body became continuously battered by the freezing winds as his body started shivering.

"I need to get away as fast as possible from here!" Dan didn't dare to revolve his cultivation method. Instead, he circulated his cultivation base and used it as a throttle as he stomped on the ground and leaped great distances towards a certain cave path that led deeper into the cave.

Meanwhile, Natalie, Grace and Vincent entered the cave entrance. Just ahead of them was a world filled with a thick sheets of snow. Wherever their eyes landed, they could see that everything had turned into ice sculptures. They even saw numerous disciples that escaped a tad too late and never managed to reach their safe haven.

"Vincent, are you okay?" Natalie asked this question to Vincent. As women, their bodies were more suited for these cold temperatures. Unlike Vincent who was already shivering non-stop. Her extreme Yang cultivation method was thoroughly suppressed and couldn't even circulate properly.

"This battlefield is quite strange..." Grace glanced at Vincent for a moment and mumbled, "When we arrived here earlier. I already started mapping out the area and found that this virtual world only spans three kilometers at most. Beyond that three kilometers was a world that none of us could reach. If so, where did these snow came from?"

Grace's words astonished Natalie and she also nodded her head and said: "I think I can safely say that the Headmaster is forcing us to fight each other. They should be shrinking the battlefield right now until there's now place that we could escape to..."

Vincent who was shivering suddenly lifted his head when he heard their words. Taking a deep breath, he said: "I remembered that the Headmaster said that there was not enough time. Wasn't that the reason why he chose this kind of method instead of selective selection process?"

"Indeed, this method allows them to swiftly and efficiently shave off those disciples that lacked the requirements to survive within that Mystic Realm of the Undead..." Grace nodded in confirmation and Natalie lightly smiled and said.

"So in conclusion, this battlefield is constantly shrinking! To prevent disciples from hiding into secluded places and earn higher positions that they didn't deserve, the Headmaster and the Elders have chosen this method! What a brilliant method!" Natalie even clapped her hands and Vincent stared at her with a frown.

"Why does it feel like you're enjoying that idea?" Vincent had an inkling about it in his mind but he didn't dare to confirm it without asking for Natalie and Grace's answer.

The two women turned their heads to look at him with smiles on their faces. Their countenance beamed with brightness and the freshness of Spring, yet the following words that they said sent shivers down Vincent's spine.

"Of course, it's because we can kill~"

"To kill, of course. What else?"

Natalie and Grace casually said and Vincent subconsciously sucked mouthfuls of cold air as he suppressed the fear that inched closer to his heart. Even if a man possessed a Lion's heart, the stark contrast of beauty and the cold-bloodedness that resembled murders that Natalie and Grace displayed, could easily froze anyone's heart.

Vincent gulped a mouthful of saliva and suppressed his fear. Natalie noticed his fluctuation emotions and merely chuckled, it was as if she was looking at a small boy that required her protection. Opening her palm, a small flame that mysteriously didn't even waver amidst the cold breeze and didn't emanate any heatwave appeared above her opened palm.

"Here, I'll let you borrow this flame, this flame will keep you alive in such harsh conditions." Natalie flicked the flame over to Vincent who initially panicked. But when the flame reached his chest, it didn't blaze and burn his body into ashes. Instead, it disappeared like a rock thrown into the ocean.

"Thank you," Although mystified, Vincent expressed his gratitude at Natalie and Grace made a sidelong glance at him for a moment. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she also opened her palm and flicked a spark of flame towards Vincent's body.

Like what happened earlier, the flame that didn't carry any hostile intent quietly disappeared into Vincent's chest. When Vincent received the two flames, he found that his cultivation method suddenly revolved faster than before; as if it was on steroids.

"Just what is going on here? I feel so warm... It's like there's nothing even cold here in the first place..." Vincent blurted out, his tone laced with astonishment which made the young women chuckle: "It's something that we got from a secret place, just stop talking. Let's continue walking. We have stopped far too long. I'm afraid that we may not be able to get as much kill as we would if we didn't stop..." Grace said these words to the two.

For some reason, Vincent felt apologetic but he didn't dare to say anything as he just hung his head low and carried his lance on his shoulder. Following after the two young women, he thoroughly looked like an obedient child.

Meanwhile, Dan also reached the same conclusion as his wives. The battlefield was indeed constantly shrinking. Not only that, the cold temperature that surrounded the area also pressured their cultivation bases and methods. Making it so that they won't be able to exert their true strength in engagements.

Activating the Chimera Flame, the coldness around Dan's body disappeared and he felt unrestrained and free. He could walk for as long as he liked without suffering any severe injuries from the coldness. It looked like he wasn't walking in such harsh conditions but was walking on his own backyard.

Dan suddenly crouched and inhibited his movements. According to the minimap, he was nearing the place that could be considered as the center of the cave. There were no other possible movements other than going back. So he had to make sure that there weren't any traps within that center of the cave or else he would be akin to a cornered mouse.

Narrowing his eyes, Dan found the presence of six disciples that huddled together. Apparently, the cold had overwhelmed their bodies so they just huddled together and tried their best to survive for that slim chance of acquiring one of the top ten positions.

Taking off the token on his chest, Dan saw that from several hundreds of disciples. The number of disciples had dwindled to fifty. The sudden change of the battlefield chipped at least two hundred disciples as Dan clenched his fists.

"Damn, those bastards really are ruthless, not only they didn't warn us about this feature, they also used such a merciless method in decimating those that had used their minds and hid throughout the entire Selection Process!"

Dan reached this conclusion. Apart from weeding out those that hid within secluded locations to reach higher positions within the Selection Process that they didn't deserve, it also forces the potential of these disciples by exposing them to life and death battles. If said in another way, it was definitely a good method to find the diamond among the stones.

"Well, they're really trying their best to survive..." Dan unsheathed his daggers and a cold gleam swept past his eyes. Particularly, when he noticed that one of the huddled disciples was someone who had shouted at him in disdain earlier when he made his escape.

Dan furtively glanced at the nearest cave entrance beside the huddled and cold disciples. A strange and cunning light flashed through his eyes. But in the end, a small smile crept on his face and he stealthily approached the huddled disciples.

A cold light flashed by and the shivering of these disciples abruptly stopped as their eyes widened in shock. Nothing special happened. Their eyes just simply detached from their heads and rolled on the ground, their blood stained the snowy-ground into crimson before their bodies disappeared into countless specks of light crystals.

Sheathing his word, Dan lifted his head and stared at the adjacent cave entrance that was void of any light. Lightly chuckling, he said in a calm and composed voice.

"Are you guys not gonna come out or anything? Didn't you guys used your fellow comrades as bait to lure me in? Now that I am here, can you guys stop hiding? It'll be a hassle for me to get in that cave so it's much better for you to come out. Much more, visibility is better here..."

A light and refreshing feminine chuckle came out of that dark entrance as the silhouette of a young woman came into light. As expected, the young woman was the female disciple that held so much distrust to him earlier.

"You really feel so confident about yourself, don't you?" The female disciple lightly chuckled once again and behind her, came dozens of heavy footsteps as dozens of Core disciples wearing angered expressions came forward and stood beside her like obedient subordinates.

Dan merely smiled towards what he saw, taking out his daggers. He said not any word anymore and silently rotated his cultivation base and method. Crouching down, he thought: 'It was time for a slaughterfest!'