Chapter 533

Chapter 533: Chapter 530: "The Change of Era, High Tower Invitation.

In the twelfth zone, belonging to the United Group, within a building of pure white.

"Bang!"

The fluffy pillow was smashed to the ground, as a man in patient clothes, with blond hair, yelled at the entering doctor:

"—Don’t come any closer!"

The doctor stood still, revealing an affable smile, and waved his hands.

"Please don’t be afraid. You see, there’s nothing strange on me, right?"

The doctor turned his body, indicating there were no tentacles growing on him.

Edward’s pupils constricted. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was confronted with colorful, jumping spots. He felt like he was still amidst nauseating, slippery tentacles.

An intense wave of abnormal emotions surged from his mind. He had an urge to stop doing anything and just die quickly.

...I really want to die.

...I really want to die, I really want to die, I really want to die.

All humanity, all Points progress bars, let them all be destroyed! He couldn’t do anything, he didn’t want to enter those instances anymore, he’d had enough! Enough! He had been tortured enough by the Underworld instance!

Those disgusting viewers who only spit idle talk, the organizers who regarded him as expendable, the United Group that kept using him as a blade...they could all die! He was thoroughly disgusted by all of it!

He grabbed his scalp, irritated to the extreme, but felt no pain. His senses had dulled, and even his pain had grown blurred.

"Mr. Edward..." The voice of Edron and others came from outside the door.

"—Get out! Get out! All of you get out!"

He roared in anger, tossing all the cushions around him, hating that the Main God World couldn’t inflict direct harm on humans, otherwise he really wished he could slash himself.

Suddenly he collapsed at the side of the bed, starting to retch.

He felt utterly disgusted with everything: the air he breathed... the white walls... the chirping birds outside the window... the sight of them made him want to vomit.

"An NPC... an NPC!" He retched, with a strangled voice, his eyes bloodshot.

...That NPC called Xiber, just an NPC! Why could she affect him to this extent? Why, after being dragged into the filth by her tentacles, was the horrifying mental impact still present?

He retched a few more times, masochistically opened the live streaming interface.

Now, out of a hundred live streaming interfaces, only twenty-seven were still active, and among those many Players who had died, a full eighteen had been killed directly or indirectly by Su Ming’an.

...And he was one of them.

—He was one of so many failures!

Looking at the Number One Player’s live stream, which had a popularity of five hundred million, way more than any other channel, Edward retched with full disgust—

Why does Boss Rabbit want only Su Ming’an, not him?

He had knelt down, so degradingly begged, so why wouldn’t Boss Rabbit even spare him a glance?

And that Xiber... why does Su Ming’an get matched with such a powerful NPC, and why doesn’t he metamorphose because of those tentacles?

His fingers randomly slid across the streaming interface, but accidentally clicked into one of them.

"—For the time being, the Eighth World is making good progress."

This was a live stream dedicated to commentary and relay.

During the World Replica activation period, many Casual Players who were anchors, announcers, or competition commentators would choose to relay others’ Adventurer Players’ live streams and provide live commentary.

Of course, the popularity of these relay channels was nowhere near the Players’ own streams, but many fans who enjoyed commentary would choose such streams because the atmosphere here was more relaxed, lacking the feeling of being on the edge, similar to the inclusive vibe of the world forums.

At the moment, in the most popular of these relay streams, several laid-back commentators were sitting.

Behind them, the screen showed a relay of the Number One Player’s stream, while they sat at a table, commentating in the style of a tea party, narrating the story of the Eighth World, joining incomplete clues from various streams to help viewers who didn’t watch 24 hours understand.

"...The Number One Player has already taken an absolute lead. Previously favored Players like Mizushima, Edward, Atlanda, who had matched with powerful Guides, still failed to control the situation," said the male commentator with the ID "JunJun," famous in Zhai Xing for his S-series commentary, and highly popular.

"The tide turned starting from the sixth day. After escaping the frenzy, the Number One Player and his heretical Guide powerfully returned to the front line in the First Tribe, catching other Players off guard."

"...Indeed, it was unexpected that the Number One Player’s strength had grown to such an extent. In the Seventh World, he didn’t really show his Strength," responded the female commentator with the ID "QiQi."

"Lu, Isabella, Yamada Machiichi, and Luna, four of them, have been assisting the Number One Player’s actions. This is the most surprising factor in the Eighth World. Aside from Lv Shu, who has gone dark, and Noel, who has been constantly supportive, the Number One Player is no longer viewed as the ’lone wolf’ teased by viewers."

"...Now, with the World Replica showing its fangs, we hope the metamorphosis won’t cause panic. To maintain mental stability in such a crisis and provide courage and hope for everyone, the Number One Player fully deserves his title..."

The commentators had the audience’s mentality in their grip, lavishly praising Su Ming’an, one more fervently than the last, as if they hadn’t been the ones disparaging him earlier.

Hearing the commentaries, Edward’s face turned grim.

—What did these people take them for?

A game competition? A 5V5 fair fight? Or some team monster-fighting instance?

This was a World Replica where Adventurer Players fought for their lives on the frontline! Why, when he looked around, did he only see a screen covered in relaxed, chatting and betting bullet comment?

—Were these people worth it?

——Are these people really worth it?

They only make him feel utterly disgusted!

He stared at the emblem on the back of his hand which represented the Perfect Pass until now, looking at the pure white mark for a long time.

Suddenly, he raised his head.

"...Organizers, can you hear me?" he said, "Make a deal with me."

Noel leaned against the wall outside Xiber’s room.

He was pondering the upcoming instance progress, listening to the sound of Su Ming’an telling dark fairytales inside.

With nothing else to do, he stood outside the door, listening for more than an hour.

...Is Su Ming’an boosting Favorability? Boosting Favorability for someone on the brink of death...

...Is it a necessity for a Ruler’s Skill?

Noel’s eyes moved slightly, and he soon understood.

Moments later, he suddenly realized it had gone silent inside.

"Bang!" He immediately pushed open the door.

"——Su Ming’an!" he called out, then froze at the doorstep.

In the cozy, pink-toned room, only a puddle of pitch-black sludge remained on the wooden bed. The young girl in the red robe was nowhere to be seen.

At the bedside, Su Ming’an, with his hand dipped in the sludge, looked bewildered.

He watched the sludge slowly drip from his fingers to the floor, as if watching irrevocable, flowing sand.

"There’s no need for a next time... I’ve come to save you," Su Ming’an said:

"Come with me, Xiber."

Xiber smiled faintly. In the moment she received the invitation prompt, she suddenly realized that Su Ming’an did not come from her world.

"I see," she said. "So... you are not my Fantasy Creation."

She reached out her hand, dried up and yellowed, and placed it on Su Ming’an’s hand.

"...I can’t," she said.

Su Ming’an was slightly taken aback.

"Haven’t you always wanted to leave, to end this cycle of Reincarnation?" he said. "Now there’s a chance. Why won’t you come with me?"

"..." Xiber averted her gaze.

"If I leave, if it ends tragically, there’s no turning back," she said. "Even if Reincarnation might not be true Reincarnation, I must keep on cycling through it. Since I am the one with the greatest chance of success, I must... find the opportunity to become a Deity. Even if it’s painful, I also, I also..."

She blinked, tears sliding down her gaunt cheeks.

"I just stubbornly want to win once."

"...I want to save them."

"No matter how many times."

"...I must... save..."

"You’re still missing the Black Crow Authority, you haven’t succeeded this time... I dare not gamble, I dare not..." Xiber’s voice grew softer.

Her outstretched hand, fingers as thin as chicken claws.

"Stay with me, Su Ming’an, I can’t leave with you, but you can stay..." she said.

"...Don’t go, promise me, let’s build a house together, plant flowers, look at the sea... okay?"

After a moment of silence, Su Ming’an spoke.

His response was identical to hers from before.

"...I can’t," he said.

Xiber gave a bitter smile, as her hand slowly, gradually fell.

"You have things you can’t let go of, and so do I," she said.

"...Look how well-matched we are, an adventurer and a guide," she said.

"How alike... how, mournful..."

"It’s too painful... too bitter."

She closed her eyes, her body rotting away like melting ice and snow, her head, limbs, torso...

A moment later,

She vanished as if a sand tower had collapsed.

"Ding-dong!"

The room was deathly silent.

"Bang!"

At this moment, Noel pushed the door open.

Su Ming’an stood by the bed, silent as a statue.

After losing Xiber’s control, the black mud formed by her corpse sprouted wildly growing tentacles that leapt towards him—

Su Ming’an didn’t dodge, and the tentacles dragged him inside.

In the instant he was pulled in, he saw a pair of bright red eyes.

They resembled the eyes of a wild beast, imprinted within the tentacles, they appeared particularly ferocious.

"Who are you?" His tone was calm.

"I am Aria," the eyes said.

—It was Jiu Shen slumbering within the tentacles.

Xiber had provided It with a considerable amount of faith during the cycles of reincarnation, and It had begun to awaken.

"Do you wish to resurrect that believer? Become mine, and your wish shall be granted," Jiu Shen said.

...Jiu Shen was tempting him.

It even dared to tempt him.

Even though It had already caused Xiber such misery, making it so she could neither live nor die. It had forced her into endless cycles of reincarnation and death without experiencing even a sliver of joy.

It wanted to create another "Xiber."

Su Ming’an didn’t answer; he pushed aside the tentacles to look out.

The horrifying tentacles burst through the door and spread beyond the Stone Fortress, carrying with them the corrupt mud that could mutate people, stabbing towards the defenseless tribespeople—

Jiu Shen’s posture clearly intended to kill them all.

"You really are an evil god," Su Ming’an said.

The curse originated from the tribespeople’s faith; only by killing all of them could the curse be eliminated.

Jiu Shen accepted the tribespeople’s offerings and collected faith, all to one day have the power to completely wipe out every single tribesperson without exception.

However, the outsiders faked an oracle, altered the faith, and shaped a righteous image of Bai Shen, taking away Jiu Shen’s source of faith.

...Postponed until today, Jiu Shen with enough faith finally awoke and raised the butcher’s knife.

[Pingping:

Dear Xin Jia,

New colleagues have arrived, and I asked them about the new plan they are pushing out. It’s called "Deification Project."]

The project’s goal is to fake an oracle in Qiongdi, hold a series of deadly competitions, stirring people’s emotions, to shape a deity known as "Bai Shen."]

...The outsiders were saving people.

Through preposterous, cruel, competitions of mutual slaughter... to change the tribespeople’s faith, to delay Jiu Shen’s slaughter, to save people.

...And Jiu Shen was killing people.

For the sake of eliminating the curse, purifying the world... It killed.

Through ancient and present times, the centuries changed.

In every era, Jiu Shen did this—At the beginning of an era, when new life was born, It granted people rain and seed under the guise of a god’s name, accepted offerings, and acquired faith from the people.

And faith would give birth to a curse.

When the curse became uncontrollable on the people, Jiu Shen, now strong with ample faith, would wield a massacre, killing everyone, erasing faith, and wiping out the curse and contamination.

The world entered the next epoch, new life was born.

The Jiu Shen would once again bless the new people to gain faith. After hundreds of years, when the curse became hard to suppress, the empowered deity would kill all people once more.

Thus, the curse and faith dynamically balanced,

The world kept advancing in cycles of rebirth and destruction,

——Thus, epochs alternated,

Continuously.

"Swish!"

Su Ming’an slashed through with his blade, the enhanced annihilation revealed by the black python, cutting through Jiu Shen’s tentacles as he charged out of the Stone Fortress——

"Killing all those who harbor the curse and entering the next epoch. That’s the best way to preserve the lifespan of the world, to keep it turning," Jiu Shen said: "Clearing the curse, letting new life be born, is the only way to prevent this world from being polluted to exhaustion."

"——And then, years later, you’re going to slaughter those new lives that gradually start to carry the curse?" Su Ming’an said, "Is this what is called a deity? Calling you an Evil God does not insult you, oldest of gods, Aier Ya."

He remembered the mission prompt from the Stone Fortress a few days ago.

...He just knew that the system wouldn’t lie.

He raised his head.

The sky, like living creatures, the Canopy Curse emitted a teeth-gritting squeezing noise, they seemed poised to break through the Shield created by Bai Shen five years ago, pressing down on this land riddled with holes.

The scene from five years ago, was reappearing.

In this world, malice is everywhere, human survival time was precisely measured.

Although Jiu Shen had to do so, the world did not need to continue at the cost of erasing all beings.

Only when people act according to their fundamental will, do they have value. Free spirits, they too have a mission.

They shine only when they freely choose life or death.

"Splash——"

His tentacles burst forth from his body.

The brilliant, white tentacles raised, sweeping towards the dark ones, as if tearing open a crevice through the night.

Calamitous poison rain, Canopy Curse, Jiu Shen’s tentacles...

With the strength of a single person, he used white tentacles to block the whole world’s insane, desperate, murderous, intense evil aimed at humankind.

Still, even so, those black tentacles were everywhere, still killing the tribe members.

"You don’t need to stop me, this is history’s march, a necessary for the world’s operation," Jiu Shen said: "The past countless epochs have passed like this, this epoch has now come to an end.

——Those who hinder the turnover of the times will ultimately become dust in history."

"...I can’t just watch you destroy the Silver Star Replica," Su Ming’an said, "Besides, I promised Xiber, I would save her."

Under the devout gaze of the tribe members and the astonished stares of players everywhere——

He reached out his hand, aiming it at the deity in the Stone Fortress.

On his wrist, two bracelets jingled.

"Come, Jiu Shen Aier Ya," he said, "——I challenge you to a High Tower Invitation."