The four people sat at the four sides of the square table. [Snake] said that they were invited in to have tea, but there was no tea on the table. Instead, there was a box of special board games.

"Let's get this straight, I'm not playing any games with you."

"Don't speak too soon." [Snake] smiled sinisterly. "Lust, that little rascal, hasn't had anyone to play with in a long time. Since you're her new friend, shouldn't you at least play with her for a bit?"

"Yes, yes! Big brother! I will entrust the Heart of Great Sin to you, but before that, you have to play the game that Brother [Snake] invented himself with me!"

It seemed that simply running away wasn't a solution, so Jiang Ran could only sigh softly: "Tell me, what do you want to play?"

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. It's just a game. If you lose, you'll just die. I'm sure you won't mind."

"Enough with the small talk, let's get straight to the rules."

"Has anyone ever told you that your personality is really unlikable?" [Snake] picked up a board game next to her. "My game is called 'Transcending Tribulation and Ascension'. What do you think? Doesn't it sound very much like your Dragon Kingdom?"

Lin Changqing frowned inwardly, because in the previous similar plot, Aransta and the [Snake] were not playing this game at all. He would choose different games depending on the opponent, and they were not even in the same world!

"Since the four of us are all sitting here, let's play together."

"Yay! Yay!"

The snake gave everyone a card that read "Ordinary".

"Each of us will go through ten realms: Mortal Body, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, Void Transformation, Body Integration, Mahayana, and Tribulation Transcending. Reaching the last realm is considered a victory."

"Each round you can choose one of five options: [Cultivation], [Breakthrough], [Defense], [Ambush], and [Recuperation]. The maximum thinking time for each round is one minute."

“Cultivation can increase your chances of the next breakthrough, and this can stack up to the limit.”

"The success rate of the breakthrough varies depending on the level you are at. Once you succeed, you will be able to reach the next level."

"【Ambush】allows you to attack another character this turn. If that character is 【Cultivating】, it will invalidate their current cultivation and deduct 1 HP. If that character is 【Breakthrough】, it will invalidate their current breakthrough and deduct 2 HP. Each character has a total of 10 HP. Once the HP reaches zero, the character dies instantly."

"However, if the character chooses [Defense] this turn, the [Ambush] attacker loses one health point and cannot choose [Ambush] for the next two turns."

"【Recuperation】can restore one point of your health, but if you are 【ambushed】 during 【Recuperation】, not only will the 【Recuperation】 be ineffective, but you will also lose one point of health."

"I've explained all the rules, without holding anything back. How about that? I'm sincere enough, right? So—let the game begin! The winner can decide the fate of the remaining three!"

Jiang Ran looked at the card in front of him. The current breakthrough probability was 50%. If he chose [Cultivation], the breakthrough success rate in the next round would become 100%.

There are five choices in a round. Focusing solely on cultivation and breakthroughs might lead to rapid progress, but you only have 10 health points in total. Don't die before you even complete your tribulation.

The winner can decide the fate of the remaining three people, so it seems that as long as the "snake" doesn't win the game, it's a pretty good outcome.

"Do all of you [Zodiac Signs] enjoy researching such strange and unusual games?"

"What can we do? We're stuck in this dark and gloomy place, we have to find some fun to pass the time, right?"

All four made their choices in the first round.

Jiang Ran [breaks through], Gwen [cultivates], Lust [cultivates], Snake [is on guard]!

[Snake] seemed somewhat surprised, because as long as Jiang Ran didn't let him win, he could basically guarantee his own survival. So [Snake] thought that at least one of Jiang Ran and Gwen would come to harass him, but unexpectedly, neither of them made such a choice!

But Jiang Ran chose to [breakthrough]!

With only a 50% probability, isn't he afraid of failure?

Gwen couldn't quite understand Jiang Ran's actions: "Are you really that bold? Aren't you afraid that guy will ambush you, or that you'll fail your breakthrough?"

“I’ve always been this bold.” Jiang Ran crossed his arms. “He is a snake, waiting for the right moment to strike, so he won’t recklessly try to ambush us from the start. If he fails, he won’t be able to interfere with our development for two rounds.”

"Didn't you notice that if [Ambush] fails, it means that he only has four options in the next two rounds, and three of those options will be countered by [Ambush]. If he chooses [Defense] in both rounds, it will widen the gap in progress."

"As for breaking through, isn't a 50% probability high enough? If you choose to cultivate, it's equivalent to breaking through once every two rounds. If you choose to break through in both rounds, you have a high probability of breaking through with two 50% chances. And if you're lucky, you can even widen the gap by one round."

Jiang Ran's card flashed with golden light, and he replaced it with another card.

Qi Refining!

The current success rate is 40%, which will increase to 90% after one training session.

"Does one training session equate to a 50% increase in the success rate?"

None of the four players on the field have ever plotted against each other, so anyone could potentially do so!

"Hey, hey, hey, should I ambush him next round?" Gwen whispered, leaning closer. "As long as I keep interfering with him, you can just focus on your training and break through to victory, right?"

"It's not that simple. What if he chooses [Ambush] this round?"

This means that Gwen's attack missed, and Jiang Ran still has to endure another attack!

In the second round, Jiang Ran [breaks through], Gwen [breaks through], Lust [breaks through], and Snake [cultivates]!

[Snake] gave Jiang Ran a deep look: "You really are a super gambler!"

Were they completely unprepared for his ambush?

"You're really patient, [Snake], haven't you tried to [ambush] me after two rounds?"

Jiang Ran was gambling, and so was the snake. Since there was no ambush in the previous round, Jiang Ran should have been more wary of it this round, but instead, he chose the most dangerous method!

"Reverse thinking, huh? Well then, I'm going to have some fun with you."

Unfortunately, Jiang Ran did not succeed in breaking through this time, so all three of them are still at the Qi Refining stage, except for [Snake] who is still a mortal.