Chapter 68: The Piedmon's Challenge

Page (1/3)

Having successfully dodged the latest wave, Lu Yang stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and looked at Barnes standing in the spectator stands. He had managed to evade the final wave of Thunder Lizards.

At that moment, Barnes raised both hands and smiled, applauding Lu Yang.

System Prompt: Player Lu Yang has successfully passed the 16-gate Thunder Stomping challenge, broken the Joker Emperor's record, and obtained an SSS-grade rating.

System Prompt: The Joker Emperor has appeared in the spectator stands.

A jester wearing a golden crown appeared by Barnes's side, appearing to murmur something to him before the two of them walked over to Lu Yang together.

Barnes said, "Congratulations, Mr. Lu Yang. You have successfully conquered the most difficult trial of Thunder Stomping. Now you have two choices: one is to accept your reward, and the other is to take on a new challenge. If you succeed, we will grant you an even greater reward."

This was precisely what Lu Yang had been waiting for. Feigning ignorance, he asked, "What kind of challenge?"

Barnes pointed to the Joker Emperor beside him and said, "This is the Joker Emperor. You just broke his record, so he wishes to challenge you. Are you willing to accept?"

The Joker Emperor stood a full head taller than Lu Yang. His face was painted with thick white pigment, and his exaggerated panda eyes gave off an eerie, terrifying aura.

"Kid, I've held this record for ten years. Having it broken by you really rubs me the wrong way. I'm issuing a challenge to you. Do you dare accept?" the Joker Emperor asked arrogantly.

System Prompt: You have successfully broken the competition record held by the Joker Emperor for 10 years, causing him considerable unease. He has decided to challenge you. If you succeed in this challenge, your rewards will be upgraded.

Yes / No

Lu Yang replied, "I accept the challenge. Please state the rules."

He had been waiting precisely for the Joker Emperor's challenge. Only by completing this challenge could he obtain the prize he truly desired.

The Joker Emperor said, "Very well. The rules for this mission are simple: you will still dodge the Thunder Lizards from these 16 gates, but you must also evade me as I chase you relentlessly. If I catch you, you lose. If I am struck by a Thunder Lizard, I lose. How about it?"

This rule sounded simple, but in reality, it was anything but. Dodging running Thunder Lizards was already extremely difficult; having to simultaneously evade a Joker Emperor actively hunting you down raised the difficulty exponentially.

Lu Yang said, "Very well, let's begin."

In his past life, he had also progressed to this stage. Although this trial was brutally difficult, once cleared, the rewards bestowed upon the player were beyond imagination.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

"Splendid. Barnes, you shall act as the judge." The Joker Emperor snapped his fingers and stepped to a position ten meters away from Lu Yang.

Barnes walked over to the referee's podium.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"The match begins."

The moment the words fell, the Joker Emperor lunged toward Lu Yang. Simultaneously, all 16 gates flew open, each releasing a Thunder Lizard that roared and charged wildly toward Lu Yang.

The Joker Emperor possessed tremendous movement speed, closing the distance to Lu Yang in a mere two seconds.

The moment Lu Yang was caught, he would be judged defeated. Lu Yang watched as the Joker Emperor closed in on him, a terrifying grin plastered across the jester's face.

"Little one, you've lost," the Joker Emperor shrieked, reaching out with both hands to grab Lu Yang's collar. At that exact split second, Lu Yang violently leaped backward by six paces.

The Joker Emperor's attack missed completely. Gnashing his teeth in frustration, he continued his pursuit, but before he could take two steps, he noticed a Thunder Lizard barrelling in from his side and was forced to dodge sideways.

Lu Yang had intended to trick the Joker Emperor into getting hit by a Thunder Lizard, but the jester's reflexes were too fast; his first attempt at deception had failed.

At this point, the Thunder Lizards in the arena were constantly surging past between them, obstructing their lines of sight. To pinpoint the Joker Emperor's location, Lu Yang had to run continuously from side to side, carving out maneuvering space while making sure he didn't accidentally collide with the jester during the repositioning, all while keeping a watchful eye on the direction of the next wave of Thunder Lizards.

The Joker Emperor was similarly searching for Lu Yang. After narrowly evading the Thunder Lizards several times, he cleared some space and quickly locked onto Lu Yang's position.

"I found you!" The Joker Emperor flung his arms wide and lunged toward Lu Yang with a chilling smile.

Lu Yang rapidly calculated the data. Formulating the most optimal path in his mind, he immediately bolted toward the northeast direction.

Yet, as he ran, Lu Yang suddenly thought of Liu Jie, and a surge of bitter resentment welled up in his heart, reminding him of those years in his past life when he had been forced to scurry and hide everywhere.

Glancing back at the Joker Emperor, a fierce anger flashed across Lu Yang's face. Listening intently to the surrounding footsteps, Lu Yang instantly devised a brand-new strategy to complete the trial.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

While dodging the Thunder Lizards, he sprinted toward a blind spot in the northeast corner.

The Joker Emperor, while similarly dodging the Thunder Lizards, rapidly closed the distance on Lu Yang.

At this moment, the two of them were still eight meters away from the northeast corner, while the Joker Emperor was only five meters away from Lu Yang.

Seeing the Joker Emperor drawing closer and closer, Lu Yang did not panic, maintaining his pace along the predetermined trajectory toward the northeast corner.

The smile on the Joker Emperor's face grew more and more radiant; it seemed he could already picture the scene of Lu Yang being captured by his hands.

Before long, the distance between the two shrank to just three meters, while Lu Yang was only two meters away from the corner.

At this distance, the moment the gate opened and a Thunder Lizard charged out, it would inevitably collide with Lu Yang. Evasions would become exceedingly difficult.

Lu Yang noticed this as well, but he timed his move impeccably, choosing the exact split second when the preceding Thunder Lizard had just bolted past, positioning himself right in the creature's wake.

The Joker Emperor had it much harder. He not only had to dodge a single Thunder Lizard, but also two additional ones coming in from his flanks. This made his evasive maneuvers somewhat frantic, yet he remained remarkably nimble, threading through the narrow gaps to shake off the lizards' attacks and continue pressing toward Lu Yang.

By now, the distance between them had narrowed to a mere two meters, and Lu Yang had pulled back to within just one meter of the northeast corner.

Directly behind Lu Yang was the gate releasing the Thunder Lizards; directly in front of him was the Joker Emperor. He had nowhere left to run.

"Kid, you've lost." The Joker Emperor lunged forward at Lu Yang.

A faint smile touched the corner of Lu Yang's mouth. At the very instant the Joker Emperor lunged, he dropped flat onto the ground.

A Thunder Lizard suddenly burst out from the gate, lowering its head to point its sharp horn directly forward.

The exact moment Lu Yang dropped flat allowed him to narrowly clear the Thunder Lizard's horn. Meanwhile, the Joker Emperor, caught with nowhere to dodge against the charging Thunder Lizard ahead of him and the additional ones converging from the side rails, took the full impact of the creature's charge head-on.

System Prompt: You have successfully defeated the Joker Emperor. Trial complete.

Page (3/3)