I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate
Chapter 265 - 230: Tier 4 Wondrous Item: Wind-Rolling Grass
Su Ze and Mr. Ya each took one down. Just like that, only four attackers remained surrounding Wan Qizhi.
Some of them had only stayed behind on a gamble, thinking the fourth trial wasn’t too dangerous since only one person had died. They never expected the fifth trial to be this cruel—a minimum of five people had to die!
With two more dead, the gears started turning in someone else’s mind.
SQUELCH!
One of the four suddenly coughed up blood. A man with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and an honest-looking square face had pierced his heart in a sneak attack.
After his ambush succeeded, the square-faced man swiftly retreated, abandoning his attack on Wan Qizhi.
And just like that, Wan Qizhi only had two opponents left.
Wan Qizhi curled up and crouched down. Spikes erupted from his back, launching like a volley of arrows toward the remaining two men.
BOOM! RUMBLE!
The spikes Wan Qizhi fired from his back actually exploded. Amid the thundering blasts, the two men were left covered in soot and grime, looking utterly wretched.
Wan Qizhi seized the opportunity to attack. He blurred into an afterimage and pounced on one of them. With a flash of cold light, the man’s body was sliced in two.
At that, only five Trialists remained alive in the Dice Space.
Su Ze, Mr. Ya, Wan Qizhi, and the square-faced man had each secured a kill, thus completing the fifth trial.
Only one person had yet to complete the trial: a prodigy from a great family in Lin Hua Country. If he wanted to survive, he had to kill one of the other four.
He scanned the group, then grit his teeth and charged at the square-faced man.
Su Ze wasn’t surprised by his choice. He simply watched the show from the sidelines. ’Their fight is pointless,’ he thought. ’Because they’re both going to die anyway.’
A few minutes later, the square-faced man managed to kill his opponent, but at the cost of losing an arm. His face was ashen, showing no joy in his victory.
He knew there was no place for him among the next three survivors.
And with that, the fifth trial was over. It had been the shortest of all five rounds.
Su Ze suddenly felt his palm grow hot. He opened his hand. The five dots on his palm projected beams of light that converged just above it.
Gradually, the light coalesced into the shape of a clump of... grass?
’A messy clump of dry grass?’
The light faded, and the clump of grass dropped into Su Ze’s hand. The five dots on his palm were now gone.
’This is my reward for passing the fifth trial?’
Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was holding a bird’s nest.
However, when Su Ze infused a bit of evolution power into the clump of grass, it began to emit a faint green glow.
Su Ze was stunned. ’This clump of dry grass is actually a Tier 4 Unique Item!’
Su Ze looked at the others. Each of them had also received a Tier 4 Unique Item as a reward.
However, the others’ rewards didn’t look as shabby as his. Mr. Ya received a pair of beast-hide gloves, Wan Qizhi got a suit of Crystal Armor, and the square-faced man obtained a Crystal Sword.
Even though they were all Tier 4 Unique Items, Su Ze’s looked the least impressive.
An instant later, a stream of information flowed into their minds, explaining the function of their new Unique Items.
’This thing is amazing...’ Su Ze thought, looking at the clump of grass. He never expected it to be an escape-type Unique Item!
He was holding a miniature version of a "Wind-Rolling Grass."
Its purpose was to envelop the user in times of danger and then carry them away to safety. It was said to be ridiculously fast and completely unaffected by terrain.
Whether through fire or water, up mountains or down hills, its speed remained constant. It could even fly through the air and burrow into the earth. In short, as long as there was a way forward, it would carry its owner as far away as possible.
’Isn’t this just a portable, simplified version of Mr. Ya!’
Su Ze was secretly delighted. This Unique Item was perfect for him. He didn’t lack offensive power or trump cards; what he needed was a means of escape.
"Boss, these gloves are a perfect match for me!" Mr. Ya sidled up, beaming and rubbing his hands together as he showed off his new gloves to Su Ze.
He had named the beast-hide gloves ’Explosive Gloves’. They were a pure damage-dealing Unique Item. By wearing them and touching a surface, he could plant a biological bomb that could be detonated at will.
This perfectly compensated for Mr. Ya’s lack of offensive power.
Su Ze was starting to understand. The rewards from the fourth trial had been extracts meant to enhance their strengths, granting them skills in the areas they already excelled at.
The Unique Items from this fifth trial, on the other hand, were meant to compensate for their weaknesses.
Mr. Ya lacked offensive power, so he was given a Unique Item with explosive damage. Su Ze lacked an escape plan, so he was rewarded with a Unique Item for self-preservation and flight.
Wan Qizhi donned the Crystal Armor, patting it all over. He was clearly very pleased with his new Unique Item.
The only one not smiling was the square-faced man. The Crystal Sword he’d received was powerful, but he didn’t believe it could help him reverse his current, dire situation.
After examining his Crystal Armor, Wan Qizhi walked over to Su Ze and thanked him profusely.
"Mr. Su," he said, "the exits will open soon, and I’ll be leaving. Before I go, we need to get our stories straight. Xiang Chuan is dead, and the Xiang Family will definitely question me. The three of us can’t afford any slip-ups."
"You’re very thorough, Mr. Wan."
And so, Su Ze, Wan Qizhi, and Mr. Ya concocted a story for Xiang Chuan’s death: he was killed in a sneak attack by the square-faced man during the fifth trial.
The square-faced man, already dejected, watched the three of them loudly conspiring right in front of him. He nearly coughed up a lung. ’I’m still alive, you know! Are you really just going to pretend I’m not even here?!’
’I’m about to fucking die, and you’re still going to pin this shit on me? Make me your scapegoat?’
’Are you even human?!’
What the square-faced man didn’t know was that Su Ze had already set his sights on the Crystal Sword. If he had, he would’ve been even more furious.
In Su Ze’s eyes, the Crystal Sword was as good as his.
As the three of them finalized their story, two halos of light ignited high above the Dice Space.
CLANG!
The exits had finally opened. This time, there were only two.
"Mr. Su, if you’re ever in Lin Hua Country, be sure to let me know. Allow me to show you some proper hospitality," Wan Qizhi said, bidding farewell.
"Boss, I’ll wait for you on the outside," Mr. Ya added with a wave.
The two of them flew toward the exits.
The square-faced man glanced up at the two exits, which seemed a world away. He then looked at Su Ze, who was staring right at him. He let out a long, desolate sigh and slumped to the ground. It was as if all his energy and spirit had been drained away, leaving him a lifeless husk with a withered face and a heart of dead embers.
Wan Qizhi and Mr. Ya left without incident. The two exits sealed shut, and the Dice Space was once again plunged into darkness.
The square-faced man looked up at Su Ze. "I won’t fight you. I can’t win anyway. I just ask that you don’t kill me. Let me live for as long as I can."
"Alright," Su Ze nodded. "Hand over the Crystal Sword."
The square-faced man took a deep breath but obediently produced the Crystal Sword and tossed it in front of Su Ze.
Su Ze flicked the sword into his hand with the tip of his boot. He admired the dazzling, unbelievably cool weapon, gave it a couple of test swings, and was quite satisfied.
’My Moon Blade was damaged, and I was in need of a suitable weapon. And just like that, here one is.’
Su Ze asked the square-faced man about the Crystal Sword’s abilities. Weapon-type Unique Items usually had simple effects, their main characteristics being sharpness and durability.
This Crystal Sword was no exception. However, it did have one special feature: it could be used as an extension of the body to cast skills!
In other words, by holding the sword, Su Ze could use its tip to execute skills like "Needle Strike," "Strongest Punch," and "Furious Waves."
Additionally, the sword could change size, much like the Golden Cudgel, though its range was more limited. At its smallest, it was the size of a dagger; at its largest, it became a greatsword five to six meters long.
"Thanks for the Crystal Sword," Su Ze said, politely robbing him. "Do you have anything else of value? Might as well give it to me. It’d be a waste for you to keep it."
"There’s really nothing left." The square-faced man took off his Storage Ring for Su Ze to inspect. Aside from some miscellaneous bottles and jars, it was indeed empty of valuables.
"Alright then, I’ll take this Storage Ring as a gift. You get some rest," Su Ze said, pocketing the ring and leaving the man alone.
He’d barely found anything good while looting corpses in the Divine Dice this time. Everyone’s pockets were cleaner than their faces.
Fortunately, the trial rewards were generous, so he had already made a huge profit.
’I just wonder what the reward for this final trial will be.’
’Will there be a Bloodline Crystal?’
’The difficulty of this trial far surpassed the others. Logically, a Bloodline Crystal should be part of the reward.’
While waiting for the final trial to begin, Su Ze took out Xiang Chuan’s Storage Ring and probed it with his Spiritual Power. He couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. ’This guy was sure confident!’
Xiang Chuan’s Storage Ring was packed with items: various high-grade evolution potions, two or three Unique Items, and a pile of miscellaneous junk that would probably fetch a high price.
Instead of being happy, Su Ze frowned. He clutched the Storage Ring and began to pace back and forth within the Dice Space.
Although the contents of Xiang Chuan’s Storage Ring were valuable, they were nothing special to Su Ze—certainly not enough to stop him in his tracks.
The real issue was the risk involved in handling Xiang Chuan’s belongings. It could attract the attention of the Xiang Family. If it brought down the wrath of Xiang Chuan’s Saint-rank Supreme Elder grandfather...
’Not worth it!’
Su Ze tossed the Storage Ring aside without taking a single thing from it.
But after a moment’s thought, he picked it back up again.
’As the last survivor in the Dice Space, it’s only natural that Xiang Chuan’s Storage Ring would end up with me, regardless of who killed him. If I deliberately get rid of it, it’ll just look like I have something to hide.’
"I’ll hold onto it for now," he decided. "If the Xiang Family really comes looking for trouble, I’ll deal with it then."
Just then, a blazing light erupted, illuminating the entire Dice Space as if it were day.
Su Ze looked up. An incredibly dazzling portal had appeared overhead.
’The final trial is behind that door!’
Only one person could participate in the sixth trial. The first to enter the portal would qualify; everyone else would be eliminated.