The sound of a blade cutting through flesh could be heard and when Wang GuiYing looked at Zhihao, the first thing he noticed was the blood that trickled down from Zhihao's lips.
The celestial sword had managed to stab his stomach...
However, it looked like Wang GuiYing had won the bet.
The crowd took a moment to react and loud cheers flooded the place only when Zhihao's opponent fell onto the floor with a sword going straight through his neck.
His hand was still clutching tightly onto the celestial dragon but it was no longer attached to the man's body.
Although the sword controlled the wielder, at the end of the day, this fight was still between Zhihao and that man. As long as that man was dead, the sword could not attack Zhihao and Zhihao would inevitably win this match.
Zhihao closed his eyes and his face was red with bulging veins. He was in pain but he tried to suppress it as he pulled the sword out from his stomach. Li Ling immediately rushed over to the stage as he saw this sight and before Zhihao could fall onto the floor, the man caught him.
"A-Zhi!"
Zhihao gently smiled as he saw Li Ling's worried face and muttered, "Don't worry. It's just a game. I'm not really dying."
Li Ling's eyebrows creased together as he heard this. He knew this was a game and he knew that Zhihao wouldn't die from this injury, but at the same time, he still hated seeing the sight of Zhihao in pain.
"I should've disabled the artificial pain receptors," Li Ling sighed as he blamed himself.
"Then it wouldn't be so fun, would it?" Zhihao chuckled, coughing out blood in the very next second.
"You won," The celestial dragon spoke, admitting defeat.
Wang GuiYing was also shocked to see the outcome of this match but now that he heard the voice of the celestial dragon, he couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself as he confidently boasted, "I told you, didn't I? There is no way you can beat Mastermo!"
"Put your hand out."
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
Wang GuiYing had no idea what the Celestial dragon spirit was trying to do but he still held his hand out in front of him as he waited to see what would happen next.
In the very next moment, the celestial sword that Zhihao had pulled out, flew towards Wang GuiYing, almost making it seem as if it was trying to attack Wang GuiYing.
Wang GuiYing's eyes widened but he didn't have enough time to react and before Xin could step in front of him and block the sword, the sword stopped by itself and gently rested its hilt on Wang GuiYing's hand.
Wang GuiYing blinked in surprise as he cluelessly looked at the celestial sword that somehow seemed to be happy suddenly.
Everyone looked over at Wang GuiYing with complicated expressions on their face. They all wanted to question the man on why the sword had flown over to him but from his own confused face alone, it was quite clear that he would probably not be able to answer that question.
"The curse is now lifted," The celestial dragon spoke in Wang GuiYing's head, "The sword has found its owner."
Wang GuiYing gulped as he heard this and felt even more confused.
"How can I be the owner...?" Wang GuiYing questioned.
"Because you possess my bone ring." The celestial dragon didn't bother going into any details and said a single sentence that cleared up the confusion in Wang GuiYing's mind.
According to the curse, the celestial sword was looking for its rightful owner who would naturally be someone as strong as the celestial dragon. If the sword was possessed by somebody weaker than the celestial dragon, the sword would kill the wielder and move on to the next person.
Now that Wang GuiYing possessed the bone ring, he was considered to be just as powerful as the celestial dragon, and hence the curse was broken and he was chosen as the next owner of the celestial sword.
He was now in possession of two celestial artifacts and that in itself made him a very lucky person. If it were somebody else in his shoes, they would probably be jumping around in joy but instead of being delighted, Wang GuiYing looked to be a little pissed off.
"Oi! This wasn't the deal!" Wang GuiYing shouted with a frown on his face, "If I won the bet, you promised to give me the location of the next artifact!"
The celestial dragon laughed, "From my bones, came a summoning ring. From my breath, came two mischievous fire spirits. From my teeth, came a heaven-defying sword. From my blood came an immortality potion and from my soul, came a heaven orb. Out of the Six artifacts, you have already found four. Out of the remaining two, which one do you want to find first?"
"The nearest one," Wang GuiYing answered without missing a beat.
"The nearest one?" The celestial dragon asked, sounding a bit amused.
"Hmm."
"Look ahead and you'll see a man dressed in a black cloak with golden patterns embroidered on it. Follow him for Three days and you'll find the heaven orb."
Wang GuiYing frowned as he heard this and his eyes quickly scanned the people standing in front of him and around him. At first, he couldn't find anyone dressed like that and hence, he almost thought the celestial dragon was mocking him but before he could curse at the spirit of the celestial dragon, he saw a moving figure of a man dressed in a black cloak with intricate cloud patterns embroidered in gold around the hem of his cloak.
Without waiting to explain any details, he rushed over and followed the man.
Zhihao was still injured and hence Li Ling didn't notice Wang GuiYing leaving the place.
Xin, on the other hand, frowned as he saw Wang GuiYing walking away in a hurry, and without thinking about it too much, he instinctually followed after him.
The man in the black cloak didn't have a name floating over his head and hence, it could be concluded that he wasn't a player but an NPC instead. Wang GuiYing was a bit suspicious of the man not only because of what the celestial dragon had said but also because this man was in a fighting arena that was meant for only players.
"Why are we following him?" Xin asked as he caught up to Wang GuiYing.
"He's the next clue," Wang GuiYing replied without bothering to explain anything further.
Xin didn't exactly understand what the man meant by this but he didn't question it either and quietly kept walking, following after that mysterious man with Wang GuiYing by his side.
The man dressed in the black cloak first went to a restaurant and instead of eating anything there, he packed up the food and took it with him.
Wang GuiYing also felt a little hungry but he didn't want to attract any attention to himself. He didn't want the man to realize that he was being followed and hence, he ignored his own growling stomach and quietly followed the man from a safe distance.
They walked for quite some time and the man entered a building that looked to be the place where he was staying at.
With the use of Xin and his 'rich pocket', Wang GuiYing bought an apartment that was right next to the mysterious man's apartment.
It was now starting to get late and it looked like Wang GuiYing was planning on staying here for quite some time so, in the end, Xin couldn't help but ask, "How long are we going to follow him?"
"For three days," Wang GuiYing closed his eyes and sat down on the bed with his legs crossed as he spoke.
Xin also sighed as he sat next to the man and asked, "So it'll take three days to find the next artifact?"
Wang GuiYing gave a nod in response.
"That's fast," Xin muttered, almost sounding as if he was thinking to himself.
"We have to be fast. You can only get out of here if we find all the artifacts."
"Why are you so enthusiastic about making me leave?" Xin asked with a short chuckle.
Wang GuiYing snapped his eyes open and looked directly into Xin's eyes as he spoke, "Look at yourself."
"Hmm?" Xin tilted his head in confusion before the realization suddenly hit him and he looked down at his hands.
Since it was already nighttime, he was starting to lag again. His hands would sometimes look translucent and for a split second, one could even see them disappearing.
Xin gulped but didn't say anything as he quietly kept his head down, looking at his fading hands and body.
"If we don't hurry, you'll disappear, won't you?" Wang GuiYing asked and this time, there was a small smile on his face filled with a bit of worry and sadness, "Zhou Xinyi, don't disappear on me again. Please..."