Chapter 380: Death Rewind? I'll Just Jump Back and Forth.

At the Celestial Capital Sealing Vault, when the Crown Prince saw Qi Suian, a look of surprise crossed his face. "You weren't pulled into Eternal Purgatory???"

He had come here specifically to stand guard, to prevent Qi Suian from getting trapped inside like last time.

But unexpectedly, Qi Suian hadn't emerged from a seal; he had come straight to the Sealing Vault.

"No, I was wondering about that myself."

"Did the Royal Shadow Guards go in?" Qi Suian asked directly.

"Yes, the survivors have arrived safely. A new round of hunting has begun," the Crown Prince replied without hesitation.

The first time, Qi Suian was needed to provide support, which was why he had to enter first.

After the Royal Family stabilized the data, he was no longer necessary. They could have the Royal Shadow Guards enter at a predetermined time.

"This is a good thing for you. You don't have to go back to the dangerous Eternal Purgatory." The Crown Prince couldn't discern Qi Suian's true thoughts but offered some words of comfort.

In the Crown Prince's eyes, Qi Suian's most important quality was never his ability to enter the Truth Layer or his status as a survivor, but rather his capacity for learning and research.

That manual, the *Supreme Pure Yang Sword Qi*, had single-handedly opened up a brand-new path of development for anti-ghost weaponry for the Ziyue Dynasty.

Qi Suian was the pioneer. Therefore, the Crown Prince believed Qi Suian should join the Royal Family and become a researcher focused on dealing with and protecting against ghosts.

As for the conflict between Qi Suian and the Royal Family, that was hardly a major issue. As long as he was willing, resolving it would be a trivial matter.

But Qi Suian had always been a maverick, so he couldn't very well say anything.

He was just thinking of using this opportunity to get him back on the right path, instead of wasting his talent. But before he could even speak, Qi Suian spoke first. "Your Highness jests. I have something to attend to. I'll speak with you in detail when I return."

As he spoke, Qi Suian took out a piece of living body observation equipment. Ignoring the stares of others, he randomly selected a seal and, using the Shadow Guard technique from the Ghost Control Technique, traveled alone to the Truth Layer.

The Crown Prince opened his mouth, the words still stuck in his throat, but Qi Suian had already vanished.

"Sigh... If anything unusual happens, be sure to inform me." He sighed, left this final instruction, and departed.

He could only lament how vast the gulf between people's ways of thinking could be.

Meanwhile, Qi Suian had successfully entered the Truth Layer. A Blood-Feeding Ghost was sealed inside. Qi Suian merely glanced at it before leaving immediately.

"Is there anything on the map?" Qi Suian asked the smart-brain.

[No response. Unable to effectively locate the survivor protagonist.]

It was able to locate him last time because the World Will had given him the Ghost Control Technique. This time, he didn't have that opportune blessing, so there was no way to track him.

"Looks like I'll have to rely on luck," Qi Suian stated calmly.

For anyone else, this would be giving up in despair. But for Qi Suian, he could genuinely let luck guide him to his target.

Then, he used the living body observation equipment to open a passage to another Truth Layer.

'Anyway, all the Truth Layers around here contain ghosts from the Celestial Capital Sealing Vault.'

'Wrong. Go south.'

A voice suddenly drifted by his ear, causing Qi Suian's steps to falter.

He knew he hadn't misheard. After all, he was inside an expedition-grade ecological circulation device.

The only ones capable of this were ghosts and the World Will.

The ghost in this Truth Layer was a Blood-Feeding Ghost, which lacked this ability.

So, it had to be the World Will.

"Turn around. Punch a hole to the south," Qi Suian said, choosing to believe it.

Although he was wary and guarded against the World Will, as long as he remained valuable, it was unlikely to discard him after he served his purpose.

Aside from its deep cunning, the probability of it killing him was not high.

Qi Suian was simply acting out of habitual caution.

The Tai Sui God immediately changed direction, using the living body observation equipment to open a passage at the southern edge.

After entering, he encountered a group of survivors. However, they weren't being chased by ghosts, but by the Royal Shadow Guards.

Qi Suian glanced at them and then simply ignored them, continuing south to open another passage.

Until he received another reminder, he would just keep punching holes southward.

Although there was a chance it was deceiving him, Qi Suian felt the probability was low.

After traversing through several layers, he finally came across a special Truth Layer area.

It was special because Qi Suian could see traces of a rewind on this Truth Layer.

Of course, he couldn't see through time itself, but every rewind would cause damage to the Truth Layer.

Without sufficient power or firsthand experience, it would be difficult to notice the signs.

Specifically, the target probably hadn't performed many death rewinds, as the traces weren't very heavy yet.

"It seems the World Will thinks the survivor protagonist is progressing too quickly." Qi Suian couldn't help but smile. "There's only one chance. Once he starts rewinding, he'll be prepared."

"I'll grab what I want and run. That way I can escape smoothly without getting caught in his death rewind."

The main issue was that the target's death rewind was just too overpowered, and Qi Suian had no way to counter it. His only option was a swift strike. If he couldn't get it done, he would flee the Truth Layer immediately.

Then, he would just repeat the process.

'That's right. As long as I'm not in the Truth Layer, I can escape the effects of his death rewind.'

He only had one chance after entering. Once he left, that chance would essentially reset.

However, the survivor protagonist would become more vigilant, so Qi Suian needed to seize the right moment.

The higher his vigilance, the more difficult Qi Suian's actions would become.

The first time would be the easiest, as the target's guard would be at its lowest.

"I can't kill him, and I can't take the Truth Ghost. Everything else is fair game, right?" Qi Suian muttered to himself.

He was certain the World Will could definitely hear him.

"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."

This was Qi Suian's way of giving it a heads-up.

The World Will remained silent, which he took as tacit approval.

In reality, Qi Suian knew his actions wouldn't have much of an impact on the survivor protagonist.

It was nothing that a single death rewind couldn't fix, but Qi Suian would have obtained the data he wanted.

Ultimately, the one losing out would be the Ghost World itself. After all, a death rewind consumed the power of the Truth Layer, while neither Qi Suian nor the survivor protagonist paid any price.

But it was precisely because the cost was being charged to the Ghost World's account that the Ghost World was able to find some leverage.

This was a classic case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Qi Suian suspected the reason for this was likely that the Doomsday Game system was too pathetic to handle such high-frequency death rewinds on its own; otherwise, there would be no need to piggyback on another system.

-----------------

Su Huayun watched the timer, which showed five minutes remaining. His exploration level was at a high of ninety-nine percent. With just one percent left, he would once again claim the reward for one hundred percent exploration.

"I'll just have to restart again."

"Besides, all my teammates are dead. Next run, I have to find a way to keep them alive."

After he had persuaded these nine people with his "Deceive the Gods" trait, they trusted him completely. That was how he'd managed to reach ninety-nine percent exploration with only three death rewinds.

Therefore, keeping them alive was extremely advantageous for Su Huayun.

'Maybe I can find a way to bring them under my command, as my own subordinates.'

The Deceiver talent was crucial to him, but if he was alone, not only would some of the Deceiver's traits fail to activate, but gathering intelligence by himself would also be a hassle.

"It's about that time. The violator should be showing up again soon," Su Huayun said softly.

The Survival Area he was in had, of course, been invaded by those enemies with ghosts inside them. Compared to others, Su Huayun had experience dealing with them.

This time, the invading enemies were not only fewer in number than before, but their overall strength was also inferior.

He had even managed to easily control them during their first appearance.

Killing them was out of the question; the ghosts inside the enemies were not to be trifled with.

If only one revived, it would be manageable. But if too many revived, he wouldn't be able to control the situation.

"Last time, it was in the final three minutes. It'll probably be around the same this time."

But as time ticked by, only the final minute remained, and the violator still hadn't appeared.

This made Su Huayun suspect his guess was wrong. As the final thirty-second countdown began, he had no choice but to initiate a death rewind.

As the powers of truth and lies collided, death arrived in an instant.

Three seconds later, Su Huayun opened his eyes.

The nine survivors who had died were once again alive and well beside him, looking as if they had just arrived.

With the experience of the previous three times, he expertly used his "Deceive the Gods" trait to make the nine of them trust him completely.

He was actually thinking that after three rewinds, he could probably make these nine people trust him even without the help of "Deceive the Gods."

However, it was a passive effect; it either activated or it didn't. He had no control over it.

'Rather than deception, it feels more like bewitchment,' he thought.

The whole process went very smoothly. Because the violator hadn't appeared even when he was about to complete the mandatory mission in the last rewind.

This meant the violator wouldn't appear in this run.

"Listen to me. Xu Yi, you go..." Su Huayun began assigning tasks, trying to quickly find the missing one percent of exploration.

The nine people were quickly and efficiently organized by him.

During this time, no one questioned his orders, as they were all under the influence of the "Deceive the Gods" effect.

The personnel dispersed to carry out their assigned tasks, while Su Huayun remained in place, preparing to deal with the imminent enemies.

But in the next instant, he lost consciousness.

Because of his death, the Truth Ghost within him began to revive.

He had no idea what had happened. By the time he opened his eyes again, the death rewind was already complete.

A look of confusion was on his face. The next moment, his consciousness faded once more.

Someone had killed him again, yet he hadn't noticed any disturbance.

He didn't even know who the enemy was, even though there had been no problems during the first three death rewinds.