Chapter 531

Chapter 531: Chapter 528: "I’m here to save you.Su Ming’an stared at the pool of black sludge for a while before glancing at his task prompt again.

The advanced task "Protect Xiber till death" had failed.

She really died.

The world didn’t reset either.

It seemed that Xiber didn’t possess the "death rewind" ability; she could only retain her memory through the reset of the world.

Every time she was resurrected, she saw the first day of the war, so she thought this was the rewind caused by her death.

"Huff huff..."

At that moment, the mud on the ground suddenly began to surge violently.

The black tentacles that were supposed to disappear with Xiber’s death suddenly burst forth, spreading in all directions like the roots of a plant, growing rapidly.

"Boom rumble—"

The ground erupted with violent sounds as the passage began to collapse; these exceptionally large tentacles broke through the soil like colossal trees of the heavens, extending wildly in all directions.

Su Ming’an immediately used spatial displacement to move away from the area covered by the tentacles.

Xiber’s death, the only Believer of the Jiu Shen, didn’t seem to pacify all disasters as Fengchang had said.

On the contrary, this bunch of tentacles seemed to suddenly have escaped control.

The pitch-black, stream-like tentacles covered the land; he could clearly see figures in the distance being dragged into the midst of the tentacles without a sound.

This scene was almost identical to the ending where Xiber was supposed to purify Qiongdi.

Having lost her control, these tentacles began spontaneously purifying Qiongdi, absorbing energy.

"Raven! Aren’t you a Divine Envoy of Jiu Shen? What should we do now!" Su Ming’an pulled the Raven from his shoulder in one swift movement.

"Caw—Splash—" The Raven let out a cryptic cry, its pair of bright red eyes looking utterly lost, not knowing what was happening.

Su Ming’an suddenly realized that Xiber was essentially a "tentacle suppressor"; with her death, no one was left to control the energy bestowed by the Jiu Shen.

She couldn’t die.

Without hesitation, he pressed on his temple.

Just before his death, he suddenly saw a figure, in the stance of a Savior, heading straight towards the center of the tentacles—

He didn’t have time to see who it was before the scene shifted in an instant, death rewind.

"Bang!"

He blinked and saw his hand on the gun barrel, with Xiber in front of him, eyes closed.

...This was the moment she chose to shoot herself.

Without hesitation, Su Ming’an grabbed Xiber, falling with her through the rain barrier toward the praying tribe members below.

"—Su Ming’an!" Fengchang was left behind as he fell from the sky.

Su Ming’an landed and fired a single-target Judgment that precisely hit a player trying to escape.

She was a fair-skinned and beautiful woman named Sherry; one of her Skills was "Phototherapy," a single-target support skill that could provide continuous healing and clear negative effects and controls from players or NPCs.

To save Xiber, whose body was on the brink of collapse, he had to use the power of the players.

"Heal her." Su Ming’an’s palm was already aimed at Sherry, leaving her no space to dodge.

Sherry bit her lip.

"Will you let me go after I heal her?" she said calmly.

"Yes," Su Ming’an replied.

Sherry trusted the credibility of the Number One Player, and she began to chant her healing spells.

Warm green radiance flowed from her fingertips, landing on Xiber, whose rotting flesh gradually began to retract and heal.

Around them, the tribe members continued to pray in the plaza, pleading for the death of the heretic.

Heads bowed en masse, people’s statures shrank by half, as they cleared the land, bowing toward the spot where Su Ming’an had landed.

Various voices flooded his ears, and after being designated as the heir of Bai Shen, he could distinctly perceive their desires.

These voices became a vast source of Emotion Value, and his savings had reached 800 Points.

He averted his gaze and saw Mizushima Kawa Sora not far away, dressed as a shrine maiden. She seemed to want to be part of this scene, as she hadn’t run away in time.

With one look, he saw the Guide, Dian Si, by her side.

"—I command you in the name of Bai Shen, Dian Si," Su Ming’an said: "kill the adventurers beside you."

Mizushima Kawa Sora was taken aback, only to see Dian Si beside her, lifting his white flame sword.

Dian Si was the most faithful believer of Bai Shen, obeying the commands of Bai Shen’s heir unconditionally.

War was just a way for him to practice his faith, like a pilgrimage that demanded life as its price.

"—What are you doing?" Mizushima Kawa Sora’s face changed dramatically.

At the beginning of the instance, she had been proud to have drawn Dian Si, a strong card, and laughed at Su Ming’an for getting the worst guide.

But now, the situation had completely reversed.

This guy, Su Ming’an... he had turned the tables in just eight days, dragging the worst hundred subordinate Guides straight up to the First Tribe. Against the world, he oppressed them all.

...How did he do it?

...What had he been through these past few days? How had he maintained his rationality after such close contact with the black tendrils for so long?

These past few days, she had been infiltrating the Second Tribe, vying for Silver Stars, gathering intelligence... All her hard work now seemed pointless. The Dian Si she had been most proud of had become a double-edged sword that stabbed back at her.

"—Blind faith! I am your adventurer, how can you strike at me!" She yelled at Dian Si, but his flame sword swept across and brutally severed her legs.

The blackened lower legs broke off, falling to the ground.

"—There’s no saving your world! Any fraud dressed up as a deity can lead you to such blind faith!" Mizushima Kawa Sora fell to the ground, her heart filled with panic, as she had never encountered such an unfavorable situation in her previous perfect passes.

"—Do you think you’re in the right? Dian Si! Led by the nose, and yet you think you’re devout?" she roared.

Dian Si remained silent as white flames rose around him.

The scene of him leveling a mountain with a single sword strike was still vivid in her mind; Mizushima Kawa Sora didn’t dare to confront him. Enduring the pain, she crushed a teleport scroll at random and fled the scene.

...She still had a chance; half the time of the instance remained. With seven more days, she could still find an opportunity to turn things around. She would never admit defeat until the very end...

Behind her, her companion Yuriklu sensed danger and shouted loudly. Bright red flames burst out from his gauntlet, charging toward Su Ming’an with the momentum of a fiery punch—

The bright flames exploded among the tribespeople, the hot wind blew through Su Ming’an’s black hair, and the fiery fist passed right through his body without even igniting his clothes.

He now had 157 Mentality Points, and with the resistance from the Shadow State to all attributes, Yuriklu’s impact fire punch was like a breeze to him.

With a "whoosh," Dian Si’s white flames leaped over Yuriklu’s position, leaving behind only a pile of ashes.

The other Players watching secretly wanted to flee but were fixed in place by Su Ming’an’s Judgment Skill one by one.

"Hey, Number One Player, I’ve never laid a finger on you..." Prophet Atlanda said with a bitter smile, waving his hands.

"Bang!" A metal bullet pierced through his forehead. Su Ming’an didn’t give the man a chance to babble and swung the muzzle of Wandering Night Walk around.

This long-range sniper rifle, after being enhanced by Firearms Mastery lv.2, could hit almost any target it aimed at. Moving targets were a bit of a challenge, but hitting those locked in place by "Judgment" was no problem at all.

"Wait, Ming’an, I think we can talk..." Summoner-type Player Eve retreated.

"Bang!"

Blood burst forth, and Eve’s voice halted abruptly.

Meanwhile, Assassin-type Player Blake slipped into the shadows.

"Bang!"

Already at Fourth Rank, Ming’an possessed rank suppression and immediately spotted Blake’s cloaked position.

He activated the active skill of Glory Hunt, and this close-range gun demonstrated its terrifying lethality before the eyes of the whole world.

Special Skill : Causes high-level piercing + AOE effects to enemies in front. When an enemy’s physical defense is below 45 points, it will cause a body explosion effect.

Blake seemed to want to activate some damage immunity skill, but the exploding bullet instantly penetrated him.

The bullet embedded in his body, setting off a fireworks show inside, causing his body to explode from the inside out, his flesh rolling on the ground, his death grotesquely fierce.

This chilling disparity in strength was fully displayed at that moment.

Although everyone was a top hundred player on the rankings, they were like chicks being blown away one after another, utterly defenseless.

"Bang! Bang!"

Ming’an kept firing with precise aim. It was as if a red-haired girl was standing by his side, guiding his moving gun barrel.

Gradually, the players had all fled. The top-ranked players might not have the strongest combat ability, but their survival skills were definitely top-notch, each running away swiftly.

Ming’an’s sanity points returned to 80, and his ammunition had run out. He put away both guns, picked up a few pieces of equipment dropped by players, which he could later use to upgrade the Sword of Yarman.

"Boom!"

A loud collision sound came from above the Barrier. Ming’an had set up several Barriers in the sky to hinder Clan Leader’s pursuit.

Every time Clan Leader broke through a Barrier, he set up another one. The tribal members praying beside him provided a continuous stream of Emotion Value.

This was the clash between the Black Python Authority, which represents "Annihilation," and the Black Lamb Authority, which represents "Shield."

"—Ming’an!" Finally, Clan Leader stopped blindly slashing through the Barriers and stood in the sky, looking at him through several Barriers: "—Have you really decided to help her?"

Ming’an glanced at Xiber, whose wounds corroded by the poisonous rain had been healed, but the sacrificed life force would not return.

She stood quietly in place, her hair turning somewhat straw-like.

He didn’t know how much longer she could hold on this time.

"Why aren’t you speaking? Xiber." Ming’an said, "Speak, now, tell me the truth."

Xiber’s eyes shifted slightly.

"... No one believes it," she said. "There’s just no way."

Ming’an let Sherry go. At that moment, under the rainproof Barrier, only he and Xiber stood, surrounded by millions of kneeling tribespeople.

"Then let me help you say it." He said.

"Ming’an." Clan Leader watched this scene, his expression becoming exceptionally weary: "...You are destroying this Qiongdi."

He was the most lucid person in Qiongdi, even more so than Xiber, who wanted to clear her name.

If the tribespeople knew that the deity they worshiped was fictitious, and that the true deity was the one they denounced as the Evil God, it would be a monumental blow to Qiongdi.

The collapse of faith would lead to the instant breakdown of Qiongdi’s productive activities. The "Protect God" faction and the "Restore God" faction, holding different ideologies, would take up arms against each other.

Differences in ideology are the source of war. The belief in a single deity is not only "pure" but also implies "no conflict" and "peace."

Revealing a truth that is the complete opposite does not mean destruction followed by reconstruction, but the emergence of conflicts.

He had to suppress this fuse of conflict. Qiongdi was fragile and beset by natural disasters, and he couldn’t let the opposition of the twin gods take its course over a truth that could be deemed trivial. Searᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

—There could only be one god in Qiongdi.

If it’s Bai Shen now, then it can only be Bai Shen later.

"Fengchang, I finally understand why you were matched with Su Rin." Su Ming’an chuckled:

"...Your obsession with maintaining stability really is exactly the same."

"The survival of the race, the continuation of civilization, seems to be the greatest justice... For this, you would choose to coordinate everything properly, burying the secrets in your heart. As for the hidden truth, and the sacrifice of individuals, they don’t matter."

"Xiber became a sacrifice in this war of faith... and so did you."

He turned his head, gazing into Xiber’s eyes.

In no more than a few hours, she would die from the depletion of her life force.

But at this moment, her eyes had not yet lost their luster, her body was still intact, not yet turned into filth, she was still standing alive before him, not yet dead.

The Bai Shen, bathed in light, stood shoulder to shoulder with the scorned believer of Jiu Shen.

Under the shocked and puzzled gazes of all, he took her hand as if to transmit the splendid radiance onto her.

"Speak," he said. "Speak it all out, let the people themselves judge their fate."

He erected a barrier, creating a stage for thousands.

"Go on, Xiber," he said. "This time—no one will take away your right to explain."

Hearing his words, Xiber revealed a weary smile.

In a defiant gaze, she looked at Fengchang who was blocked outside the barrier.

Suddenly, her pupils contracted.

She saw Fengchang seemed to be removing a bracelet.

The moment he removed the Black Bracelet, Fengchang’s body became frail, his strength began to regress massively, and even the Black Blade in his hand seemed difficult to grasp.

"Clink—!"

A crisp sound of something hitting the ground rang out, the bracelet dropped to the floor.

At the same time, emerged the calm voice of Fengchang.

"Take the Black Python Authority," he said dispassionately. "In exchange, please remain silent henceforth—Su Ming’an, you have achieved your goal, congratulations."

By throwing down the Authority, he had given up his own power, forsaken the victory in war,

...and likewise given up the position as the sole survivor, choosing instead to wait for death.

For the stability of Qiongdi.

...This newly appointed Clan Leader relinquished all his future.

Su Ming’an watched him steadfastly.

Xiber picked up the Black Python Bracelet from the ground and slipped it onto Su Ming’an’s wrist.

"...That’s why I could never really hate you, Feng Qiqi," she said. "So many times... you’ve been so nobly beyond reproach."