Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

interesting.

Cheng Cheng wanted to curl the corners of his mouth to express his disdain, but he was afraid of being judged to have lost, so he could only slightly narrow his eyes and part his lips slightly: "What did the executioner say to the prisoner when he was still a hundred meters away from the execution ground?"

Felix frowned: "What?"

"What is she saying! What's so funny about the executioner talking to the prisoner before he even reaches the execution ground!" an audience member cried out in despair.

"Sigh, this newcomer is so good-looking, he's definitely not suited for comedy. He's starting to talk nonsense, isn't he?"

"My Liyue is doomed!"

"Hmph, whatever joke you're telling, don't think you can make me lose my temper!" Felix raised his middle finger in a provocative manner. "Sylvia-chan, you should know that there is no friendship on the field, meow!"

"The executioner said—"

Cheng Cheng slowly opened his arms, his posture relaxed, as if to encompass the entire arena, and loudly revealed the answer—

"Turn around in 100 meters!!"

boom--!!!

Like the stillness after a nuclear explosion, the whole world fell silent instantly. Everyone was stunned by the joke and speechless!

The next second, a deafening roar of laughter swept across the entire arena, with shouts, laughter, and slamming of the table all mixed together!

"Puhahahahaha—!!"

"Why, why are there such funny jokes, yet they make me feel like I'll go to hell after laughing at them!"

Xia Mi, sitting in the VIP section, knelt down in excitement, tears streaming down her face: "Heaven has not forsaken Liyue! Liyue has finally found a comedic genius of national destiny!"

The Ocean and Water King, who ruled Fontaine, pressed his lips together, his heart filled with trepidation: "To create such a brilliant piece in her first competition, this woman is terrifyingly powerful and must not be allowed to live! Felix, can you still hold on?"

Everyone looked toward the field, where Felix stood firmly on the grass, his body unyielding!

The stands erupted with cheers from the Fontainebleau spectators: "Well done, Felix! Hold on! Fight back!"

But soon someone noticed something was wrong and exclaimed, "Something's wrong! She looks like she's laughing so hard she's lost her mind!"

The next moment, Felix fell to the ground, and the cold announcement echoed throughout the arena:

"Liyue has emerged victorious in this national tournament! The reward is a 200% increase in the nation's technology attribute and a 10-year extension to the average lifespan of all citizens!"

Before the echoes of the broadcast had faded, golden amber ripples suddenly appeared in the center of the high platform hosting the event.

On the once-empty marble stage, a faint light slowly rose from the ground, tiny specks of light swirling and intertwining, coalescing into a semi-transparent barrier of light. All the spectators instinctively stopped laughing, tens of thousands of eyes fixed on the stage, the clamor gradually subsiding until only soft breathing could be heard in the vast stadium.

"The National Games have concluded. Next, it's time for the sage Malphite from the 'Tower' to descend and award the prizes..."

Xia Mi suddenly stood up from the ground, her fingertips gripping the hem of her clothes tightly; Cheng Cheng and Kuang Xinzi stood side by side on the lawn, looking up at the high platform; even Felix, who had been laughing so hard he was in a daze, had his cat ears perked up, forgetting his disappointment at his defeat.

Offstage, Freya looked at the Sky and the King of Wind in the VIP seats with a complicated expression, then glanced at the high platform, lost in thought.

Within the misty light, a tall, slender figure slowly solidified and took shape.

The National Fortune Tournament, held once every ten years, and the Amber God Messenger who appears only after each tournament, the guardian who has suppressed the underground city of the Theocracy for a thousand years, the legendary sage who wields the "Tower" for a thousand years—here we begin!

He wore a heavy amber-trimmed robe, his eyebrows and eyes were light and peaceful, and his pupils were a clear honey amber color, like ancient resin that had been deposited for thousands of years; his face looked no more than middle-aged, but there was a sense of old age and weight. He lightly held a wooden scepter in his fingertips and slowly stepped out from the light mist.

"Morpheus! Long time no see, meow!"

Felix waved happily, but Murphy ignored him. He glanced around the arena, his amber eyes slowly sweeping over the cheering crowds from various countries, finally settling on Cheng Cheng on the lawn:

"The winner, come forward to receive your award."

…………

On the other side, Himegami and Serafina traveled over a hundred miles and finally entered a deep and boundless rainforest.

Towering ancient trees intertwine, their lush branches weaving into an impenetrable dome. Vines twine and coil among the trees, and unnamed, brightly colored wildflowers hide among the bushes. The damp air carries the fresh scent of decaying vegetation and earth, while the chirping of insects rises and falls, creating a tranquil yet profound atmosphere.

“Morpheus used to live in seclusion here. When I met him five hundred years ago, he invited us to have a picnic in the woods—his stew was delicious.”

Serafina looked up into the depths of the dense forest, her steps unwavering, leading Himeko towards the heart of the woods.

After traveling for a long time, the two finally found a wooden house in the middle of the dense forest.

However, the wooden house was already dilapidated, and the entire building was crushed and destroyed from the inside by an unimaginably huge tree.

The tree trunk was so thick that it would take dozens of people to encircle it. Its branches soared upwards, blocking out the entire sky, and its canopy disappeared into the high-altitude clouds, as if it had grown all the way to the heavens.

The two were stunned for a moment before stepping into the wooden house.

The interior of the wooden house was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the corners and wooden beams were covered with blackened and rotten marks. It was shrouded in a deathly silence, clearly having been abandoned for a long time and no one living there anymore.

"Strange...it looks like no one has lived here for a long time."

The two slowly stepped out of the dilapidated wooden hut. Ji Yushen frowned: "I, a true god, have to condescend to this wretched place to find someone, and I still haven't found them! What bad luck!"

"Alright...it seems Murphy has moved. I guess I can only see him by winning the match with Freya and Sylvia...no, wait!"

Serafina suddenly frowned. Although the wooden house was rotten, the various furniture, decorations, and even the books on the bookshelves that had been gnawed by insects and rodents all indicated that Murphy had not moved!

A sense of doubt arose in her heart. Serafina slowly walked to the trunk of the giant tree and gently stroked the rough, cracked bark with her fingertips: "Moreover... when I visited five hundred years ago, there was never a tree like this here. In a mere five hundred years, it is impossible for it to have grown to this size."

As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand and removed the blindfold covering her eyes, her clear eyes staring straight at the entire giant tree.

A moment later, two lines of tears unexpectedly slid down her cheeks.

She stared blankly at the tree trunk, muttering to herself in a trembling, broken voice: "Impossible... How could this happen!"

Ji Yushen's heart tightened, and she quickly asked, "What did you see?"

Serafina gazed at the colossal tree that blotted out the sky, remained silent for a long time, and then closed her eyes again: "This tree... is the sage Malphite. He passed away four hundred years ago, and his body was transformed into this ancient tree, blocking the gate from the Dragon Realm to the real world."

"what!"

Ji Yushen's eyes snapped open, and he looked up in shock at the colossal tree piercing the clouds, a chill suddenly creeping over him.

If the sage in the tower died and turned into a tree four hundred years ago, then what about the sage who has presided over the national events and the competitions for the past four hundred years, appearing on the high platform to present awards to the winners...?

who is it?

Chapter 150, The Fool Always Rings the Bell Twice

"In these four hundred years, who has succeeded the sage of the 'Tower'...?"

Himegami's voice echoed through the mist.

The answer to this question is not difficult to think of.

The sage Malphite secluded himself in the Dragon Realm for a thousand years, his purpose being to suppress a great enemy. Even though he had long since died, he still used his own body to block the passage to the outside world, firmly locking the exit; and the legendary has an endless lifespan, and will not die of old age or illness naturally.

The only possibility is that he was killed by the so-called "great enemy".

"So, who was the greatest enemy he suppressed?"

Faced with Himegami's relentless questioning, Serafina made no attempt to conceal anything this time, stating bluntly, "It is the 'Fool,' a demon of blind folly, and the 'Magician,' a demon of magic."

really.

A glint flashed in Ji Yushen's eyes, and his long-held suspicions were finally confirmed.

It is likely that these two demon lords joined forces to assassinate the true sage, Malphite, and then usurped the throne, occupying the Dragon Realm and single-handedly controlling this game of national destiny that has lasted for hundreds of years.

Demons are inherently filled with a destructive desire for all living beings, a desire that is not diminished by being imprisoned. To outsiders, the Dragon Realm appears peaceful and stable, with orderly power struggles and tournaments, but a closer look reveals the truth:

If the Dragon Realm is truly peaceful and safe, why were the kingdoms of Inazuma, Sumeru, and Shifu wiped out and completely destroyed in the game?

Those demons... even when trapped in a small world, they don't forget their mission of destruction.

I don't know if I'll get the original performance bonus if I do a good job.

As for why it was these two demon lords, it was within Himegami's expectations—

Previously, when she explored the Imperial Dungeon and studied the cracks on the Amber God's body, she had already concluded that only six primordial demons remained in the Abyss, while the twenty-two demon lords had all entered reality or existed in the legendary bodies in the form of blasphemous tokens.

Since then, Himegami has been investigating all the paths. Now the locations of the eighteen paths are clear, but the four paths of "Fool", "Magician", "Hermit" and "World" have never shown any trace in the world for thousands of years.

Therefore, when Serafina suggested going to the dungeon of the Theocracy to find the sage, she had already set her sights on conquering this small world and finding the four lost demon lords.

only……

"Your country has six legends, as well as the Amber God. Why did you only suppress them and not attack them?" Ji Yushen asked.

Serafina shook her head slightly upon hearing this, her tone helpless:

"Cannot be killed."

"...The fate of Amber God is currently unknown. You six legends working together can't even defeat two demon lords?"

"The main reason is that the power of these two is too strange and difficult to kill."

Seraphina sighed and explained, "The 'Fool' can manipulate time, history, and fate. If any outcome is unfavorable to it, it can change the present reality by manipulating the past. As for the 'Magician,' a magical demon, it possesses all magic in the world and can use magic to simulate the effects of any legendary authority."

"The Tower was able to suppress them entirely thanks to the blessing of the Amber God. But for some reason, we didn't receive news of the Tower's death from the Amber God..."

"That's easy, I'll just pull them out and ask them, won't I?"

As Ji Yushen spoke, he lightly raised his fingertip and snapped his fingers crisply.

A crack suddenly appeared in the void behind her, and a magnificent and radiant gate to a divine kingdom slowly unfolded and opened.

War God Kingdom - Hall of Heroes!

The true god and half of the original power originated from the divine kingdom. In addition to being able to resurrect infinitely and store all the divine weapons in the world, the Hall of Heroes can also send the Valkyrie to guide the spirits of fallen warriors throughout the past and future of the world, forming the strongest divine army in the world.

This is the only authority of the Himegami that transcends the river of time, with only one limitation: living beings who are still alive, even if destined to perish in the future, cannot be guided.

But summoning the dead from the past is effortless.

After a short while, the palace doors opened wide, and divine light surged forth. A moment later, a female warrior clad in silver armor stepped out, bowed, and approached Ji Yushen, whispering her report in her ear.

Hime Misaki's composure vanished abruptly, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes:

"What? We can't find Malphite's heroic spirit? How is that possible..."

Before she could ponder the reason, Serafina had already put her blindfold back on and uttered the "prophecy" she had just foreseen: "It is 'The Fool.' It has fooled and stolen Malphite's fate, making the whole world accept that it is the real Malphite, and naturally, it cannot guide Heroic Spirits. I'm afraid even the legendary cards of 'The Tower' have fallen into its hands."

She paused briefly, her tone becoming increasingly serious:

"I suspect that the game of national destiny has been constantly shifting the fate of various nations for hundreds of years, relying on this method of fooling fate."

"This is really troublesome..."

Ji Yushen's eyes darkened.

Now she understood why the legends of the Holy Kingdom couldn't kill these two demon lords—their power to fool time and alter fate alone was far more valuable than that of most legends in the world!