Chapter 468: First Confrontation

“A fair and just duel…”

Hearing these words, Di Ma had no choice but to calm herself and focus on the challenge before her.

No matter how the field had been altered, no matter if anyone would hold her accountable later, her priority now was to eliminate all the participants by any means necessary. If this game resulted in both the destruction of all facilities and the participants escaping unscathed, she would truly have no way to justify the outcome.

“The mechanisms weren’t lost because of me… I believe Zhuque will forgive me…” Di Ma slowly moved her fingers, retrieving a second ball from the bamboo tube beside her. “As long as I kill everyone as usual… he will surely forgive me.”

From a distance, the ball in Di Ma’s hand appeared to be made of ordinary material—just a simple wooden sphere.

The participants exchanged glances. With no more traps surrounding the track, victory in this game hinged solely on withstanding the next “ball” Di Ma would launch.

But who among them could possibly block a “ball” thrown by Di Ma?

At that moment, everyone’s gaze instinctively turned to Qiao Jiajin.

“I’ll do it,” Qiao Jiajin said, narrowing his eyes slightly and waving a hand to signal the others behind him. “But that horse-woman has only attacked once, and I haven’t fully adapted yet…”

“Which means you’ll adapt eventually,” Bai Jiu nodded. “That puts my mind at ease.”

“Hah…” Qiao Jiajin let out a bitter laugh. “Let’s hope so.”

The surviving participants had now placed all their bets on Qiao Jiajin.

If he succeeded in blocking the attack, everyone would live. If he failed, the rules dictated that all would face “punishment.”

Di Ma weighed the wooden ball in her hand, then slowly raised it above her head before hurling it toward the group with a sudden swing.

**BOOM!!**

To everyone’s shock, Qiao Jiajin swung his bat almost simultaneously with Di Ma’s throw. Before the wooden ball even left her hand, he had already begun his motion.

Relying on Di Ma’s throwing motion, Qiao Jiajin did his best to predict the ball’s trajectory. Given its terrifying speed, failing to start his swing early would make blocking it impossible.

He felt like a goalkeeper standing before a penalty kick—luck played a far greater role than skill.

Fortunately, Di Ma was an utter amateur when it came to throwing. She had no feints, no deceptive techniques, and didn’t even use her full body to amplify the force. She simply tossed the ball as if throwing away trash.

Yet despite that, the ball was still impossibly fast—beyond what any human could reasonably react to.

Leaning his body to the right in advance, Qiao Jiajin swung his bat downward toward the lower right.

To everyone’s astonishment, the wooden ball seemed to be flying precisely toward that spot. If luck was on his side, he might just intercept it.

But how could he predict it so accurately?

Gritting his teeth, Qiao Jiajin swung with all his might. He couldn’t see the ball’s path at all—this was purely a gamble.

**CRACK!!**

In that split second, Qiao Jiajin’s bat collided with the wooden ball. The impact between wood and metal even sent faint wisps of black smoke into the air.

To the others, it seemed like he had successfully blocked it. But Qiao Jiajin knew the truth—he had only grazed the edge of the ball.

Yet even the slightest deflection was enough to drastically alter the trajectory of something moving that fast.

**BOOM!!**

A deafening explosion erupted beside them as the wooden ball slammed directly into the ground far from the “Wooden Oxen and Gliding Horses.” The ice shattered into massive fissures, and the ball itself disintegrated into splinters.

Only after the sound faded did many of those nearby begin to process what had happened.

In less than a second, Qiao Jiajin had genuinely deflected an attack from a being of Di Ma’s caliber—using nothing but his own strength.

This was likely an unprecedented feat in the entire “Land of Finality.”

“Qiao… Qiao-ge…” Bai Jiu stared at him in disbelief. “You… adapted?”

Qiao Jiajin smirked coldly and raised his head toward Di Ma. “Just as I thought… First, you target the fortune-teller girl, then the flashy girl… You damn monster, do you only go after the injured?”

Only then did the others realize that if Qiao Jiajin hadn’t deflected the ball, it would have undoubtedly pierced through Feng Shiqi, whose leg was already wounded.

“Hah.” Di Ma laughed from a distance. “So what? The injured are nothing but dead weight to any team. I’m being merciful—helping you shed that burden.”

“What…?” Qiao Jiajin’s teeth clenched. “Who told you that comrades fighting side by side are dead weight?”

“Drop the act.” Di Ma shook her head. “Every one of you thinks the same—you just can’t say it out loud. After all, speaking the truth goes against the ‘humanity’ you cling to. So really, I’m doing you a favor.”

Qiao Jiajin listened, then took three deliberate steps forward, closing the distance between them.

“You know, I’m actually glad I unlocked ‘Wu Qu’ in your arena,” he said. “Now, I don’t have to hear that star’s wailing anymore.”

Di Ma frowned, studying Qiao Jiajin. She couldn’t fathom why he’d dare to advance under these circumstances.

After a moment’s thought, her eyes flicked to the bat in his hand—and she noticed something peculiar.

A stream of dark red blood was slowly trickling from Qiao Jiajin’s palm, creeping up the metal bat from the base and dividing it into two colors: ashen gray and crimson.

“Heh…” Di Ma pulled out a translucent ice ball from the bamboo tube. “Showing off…”

Qiao Jiajin knew both his palms were split open. The sheer force behind that ball made the idea of blocking it unscathed nothing but a pipe dream.

He reached up with his left hand, grabbed his collar, and tore his shirt apart. Then, as if bandaging a wound, he wrapped the fabric around the metal bat and his right hand before biting down on the cloth and tying it into a tight knot.

Even if his hand broke now, the weapon wouldn’t slip free.

Di Ma tossed the ice ball lightly a few times, eyeing Qiao Jiajin with mockery.

This was practically a human challenging a god—yet the man before her was treating it like a street brawl. Wasn’t this just suicide?

Gripping the bat with both hands, Qiao Jiajin steadied his breathing as much as possible.

He’d guessed right about the wooden ball’s path—but what about this time?

Zhou Liu walked over and sat down nearby. Seeing this, Luo Shiyi, Wang Ba, Qiu Shiliu, and the others followed suit, finding large discarded stones to rest on.

“Qiao Jiajin,” Zhou Liu called out. “Whether you succeed or fail this time, ‘The Cat’ will send you off with the highest honors. You’ve already proven yourself a warrior in our eyes.”

“Sounds ominous,” Qiao Jiajin shook his head. “If I succeed, I don’t need a funeral—just a good bottle of liquor. If I fail, skip the funeral too. Let me rot in the streets.”