Chapter 473 - What if It Calls Me Bai Shen?

Chapter 473: Chapter 470: What if It Calls Me Bai Shen?Su Ming’an carried her, gradually approaching the center of the dark space.

The song sung by Xiber was likely a local song from Qiongdi, possessing many vocabularies far more complex compared to a regular lullaby. Its melody was smooth and soft, yet the content embraced hope while simultaneously filled with despair and sorrow.

Indeed, the song conveyed emotions well, fostering empathetic connections among unrelated individuals.

At least, Su Ming’an discerned the emotions uniquely belonging to the people of Qiongdi from the song—full of hope yet laced with despair.

They repetitively and powerlessly struggled against their destined fate.

Perhaps, Xiber was merely one of them—a more sorrowful and more powerless epitome.

Continuously advancing in the darkness, Su Ming’an gradually began to cough.

Bright red blood continuously spewed out along his throat; his vision had already started to blur, vaguely feeling dizzy.

The black mud on the ground tugged at his steps as if it wanted to pull him into the mire.

Carrying the sleeping child, he walked step by step, unceasingly.

The light from his wristwatch scattered across his face, illuminating the gloom and fatigue in his eyes.

The concept of time was vague here, and after an undefined duration, he arrived in front of a faintly glowing crystal.

This crystal stood suspended in the air, entirely enveloped by sludge, its radiance completely obscured. Su Ming’an had walked for a long time before he discovered it.

He extended his gloved hand, sweeping away the mud.

At this moment, the raven that had been hidden in his robe also jumped out, seemingly unaffected by the surrounding environment, its pair of red eyes still vividly spirited.

Su Ming’an clasped the crystal in his palm.

This authority, symbolizing "blessing," transformed into a silver bracelet engraved with a lamb pattern, clasping around his right wrist.

"Ding-dong!"

After Su Ming’an had obtained the Black Lamb Authority, a teleportation formation appeared before him. It seemed that this formation would take him back to the farm.

However, his present condition was not good, his sanity value having dropped to 60; not to mention, Xiber had fallen into a sleep due to mental abnormality, her curse activated by the environment, ominously on the verge of erupting, potentially claiming her life at any moment.

He glanced at the time. There was still more than an hour left until dawn, uncertain whether those players who only knew shopping had finished drawing the altar.

Considering the increasingly dangerous situation in Xiber, he still planned to enter that teleportation formation.

"...stop,"

Suddenly, a commanding voice came from the right.

Su Ming’an had not anticipated that someone would suddenly appear beside him, and he immediately turned his head and took a step back to look towards the source of the voice.

A youth with white hair, dressed in a black and red cross-collared shaman outfit and holding a black samurai sword, with a demeanor as sharp as the crescent moon, appeared in the shadows.

By his side stood a black-haired young man in a trendy hoodie with hands in his pockets.

The white-haired youth raised the black blade in his hand, pointing the tip directly at him.

"Put down the Black Lamb Authority," Fengchang said coldly. "That is not something you should tamper with, outsider."

Su Ming’an didn’t look at Fengchang but instead turned to the youth in the modern hoodie.

The hoodie worn by the youth featured English letters and a blue-purple paint design, giving it a trendy appearance and a DJ-like vibe. Paired with jeans, he looked pretty stylish.

"What happened to our agreement?" Su Ming’an said to Su Rin.

Just earlier at the comic exhibition, Su Rin had specifically come to discuss the cooperation with him, but here he was causing trouble.

He had just acquired the Black Lamb Authority when these two suddenly teleported in. Clearly, Fengchang likely also had the duty to protect the Authority and must have sensed the disturbance here before using some method to rush in.

"Fengchang is the next Clan Leader," Su Rin stated succinctly. "He will not allow the Authority to be taken away by an outsider. I have no intention of attacking you myself; just leave the Black Lamb Authority behind, and he won’t kill you."

Su Ming’an lifted his left foot, attempting to step forward.

"Boom—!"

A loud noise erupted, and abruptly in front of him, a clear area appeared.

The vague black mist, shadows writhing like living creatures, even the sticky mire on the ground in front of him... It all seemed to be abruptly erased by an eraser. When Fengchang withdrew his blade, what Su Ming’an saw was the scene before him being formatted.

A slight cold breeze brushed his face. A strand of his floating black hair was severed by the blade wind, disappearing in an instant as it touched the residual breeze, as if it had fallen into a black hole.

...Such terrifying destructive power.

The other guides really hadn’t exaggerated Fengchang’s abilities. It was just a simple swing of his blade, yet the persistent black mire was directly scraped away.

Su Ming’an withdrew his foot that was testing the teleportation formation, realizing he couldn’t just force his way through.

The atmosphere in his live stream channel was very tense.

People originally thought that Su Ming’an had securely obtained the Black Lamb Authority and that the situation was greatly favorable. Suddenly, Fengchang appeared along with the equally strong Su Rin. This duo facing Su Ming’an’s wounded and dormant combination seemed to have no chance of winning.

"Put down the Black Lamb Authority."

Fengchang’s voice was cold and firm. He wouldn’t give Su Ming’an a chance to leave.

"The three authorities were all dispersed after Bai Shen died." Su Ming’an said, "Since you possess the Black Python Authority, why won’t you allow me to obtain the Black Lamb Authority?"

"Heh." Fengchang laughed.

Even while laughing, his facial expression remained extremely cold, his entire body emanating a piercing chill.

"I admit, your affinity with Lord Bai Shen is higher than mine, and you could easily take away the Black Lamb Authority that has been left here for a long time. But you are an outsider, moreover an outsider who has signed a contract with the followers of Jiu Shen—just for this reason, I could never let you take the Black Lamb Authority away."

"So." Su Ming’an didn’t back down.

The Raven perched on his shoulder, a pair of blood-red eyes staring at Fengchang.

He reached out his hand and stroked the Raven’s feathers; it nuzzled against his hair in an affectionate manner.

"...What if it calls me Bai Shen?" he said.

Previously, he was sure he hadn’t misheard. That night, the Raven indeed called him "Lord Bai Shen".

He had thought that like Mizushima Kawa Sora’s Guide, after hearing this, Fengchang would immediately back off and leave. But instead, he didn’t budge an inch, as if he hadn’t seen the Raven at all.

"Do you think, what kind of existence can be called a ’Deity’?" Fengchang indifferently said, "An omnipotent being who can bless people, satisfy their demands and beliefs—that is what could be called a ’Deity’. Without the matching ability, you dare to call yourself Bai Shen?"

Su Ming’an raised an eyebrow. Fengchang’s idea of faith was really quite realistic.

Fengchang believed—unless one had the abilities of a deity, they wouldn’t count as a deity, even if acknowledged by the Raven. After all, anyone could become a god as long as they meet the three major requirements of "Authority, Faith, Energy". Without meeting these requirements, in Fengchang’s eyes, Su Ming’an was just an ordinary outsider.

"Bai Shen is dead. The Raven calling you that is just a mistake, recognizing Lord Bai Shen’s aura in you. Don’t think of yourself as a god, you are not worthy yet." Fengchang picked up the Black Blade, "Well, it seems you won’t hand it over willingly, so let me take it myself."

As he spoke, he leaned slightly forward, murderous intent already apparent in his eyes.

"Gold Level Equipment Noah’s Chain, can use Damage Transfer once, cooldown time unknown, but should not be less than half an hour." Su Rin said, "Force out this skill before moving in."

"Understood." Fengchang’s body lowered slightly, blade edge pointing forward, a streak of black light flashed.

Su Ming’an, with his back against Xiber, didn’t even have a hand free to grasp a weapon, but he wasn’t in a hurry, merely sidestepping as the black line grazed past his face.

"Boom—!"

The black light hit the ground, a patch of black mud was cleared once again, the area completely leveled.

"Not bad in power," Su Ming’an stepped back, "It’s your move."

Fengchang disregarded what he had said, the blade turning as if to strike again.

However, Su Ming’an’s gaze was already firmly locked on Fengchang.

Su Ming’an stared intently at Fengchang without blinking.

Visible to the naked eye, Fengchang’s expression, initially cold and hard, gradually softened, confusion starting to appear on his face.

His blade’s cold light gradually retracted bit by bit.

Finally, he turned his wrist, completely withdrawing that highly dangerous charged attack and sheathing the blade.

He looked at Su Ming’an with a puzzled expression, and the coldness in his eyes gradually faded away.

"..." Fengchang, who had put away his chilly aura, spoke, "What is your name?"

Proud as he was, he had never remembered Su Ming’an’s name before.

"Su Ming’an."

"I will remember it," Fengchang nodded.

He reached out, and the Black Blade flowed into his arm, and while looking at Su Ming’an, there was no longer any intent to kill in his eyes:

"The Black Lamb Authority shall temporarily remain with you. At the Clan Leader Succession Congress five days from now, I look forward to your arrival. I hope... even as an outsider, you can become my right-hand man. If you can grasp the power of ’Blessing’ and strive for this Qiongdi, then, in these next few days, I am willing to entrust my trust to you."

His attitude changed incredibly quickly, from just moments ago stating "The Authority is not something outsiders should desire." "You think you are worthy?" to now saying, "You can become my right-hand man" "I am willing to entrust my trust to you."

As the ruler of Qiongdi, Fengchang’s favorability towards Su Ming’an, even if it had reached the highest, would still adhere to his original faith. His trust in Su Ming’an was merely limited to these few days because the final victory only has one pair, and Fengchang would not forsake the win for the highest favorability.

However, before the final battle arrived, Fengchang would no longer be an enemy.

Su Ming’an chose Fengchang to use the Ruler’s Skill as well to increase their chance of winning. Fengchang, being such a person, would definitely be many times better as a friend than as an enemy. If they ended up cooperating and someone successfully ascended to godhood, they might find a way for the remaining people to all survive.

"That’s quite unexpected," Su Rin spoke from the side: "You actually have such a skill."

He had witnessed the entire process of Fengchang’s transformation, like watching a sad mime show.

"This makes our existence truly pitiful in you players’ eyes... We are just a bunch of beings whose emotions can be manipulated." he said.

Those other copies of him would also have their emotions manipulated by such a skill.

And he was merely, as one of all those ’him’, pulled out of the instance by Su Ming’an, who bestowed upon him the ability to think independently of the system.

...On that thought, what exactly is he now?

Is he a real person, or just a character copied from an instance, part of the game’s amusement and challenge?

"Hard to say," Su Ming’an said: "Who knows if the current you is a real person, or just a npc constructed by the system in the guise of a real person?"

"I do not wish to argue about these with you, after all, you are not me, not truly feeling your own emotions as a ’person,’ you cannot verify whether those around you truly exist." Su Rin had no intention of arguing further, his demeanor always calm, like an old man in his twilight years, knowing that there’s no point in fighting over it.

He looked at Fengchang, whose expression had softened a lot: "Since you chose to leave the Black Lamb Authority with him, let’s depart."

Su Ming’an watched as Su Rin decisively left and laughed softly.

Su Rin, a man of no desires or demands, seemed indifferent about the outcome of the contest and didn’t care whether he would die or not.

Perhaps because everything he cared about had already completely left him.

"But, Su Ming’an."

Su Rin suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Your way of treating these people... is quite good," he said: "If you hadn’t regarded us as people like yourself, that knight would probably just be a high-freedom npc."