ã€ŠHell&#x27;s Handbookã€‹


 Chapter 1: Hellâ€™s Handbook

    <h4>Chapter 1: Hell¡¯s Handbook</h4>

    Su Jin whacked his forehead a few times tiredly. The force exerted by his hand reminded him that he was still alive. He wasn¡¯t dead, of course, but since he was such a poor and lowly person in this city, he thought that he probably wasn¡¯t much different from a dead person.

    After graduating from university, he hadn¡¯t been willing to return to his poverty-stricken hometown. He wanted to change his fate and increase his family¡¯s standard of living. That was why he had chosen to remain in S City in the hope that his hard work would eventually lead to sess.

    But after working for some time, he began to find that his original intentions were really na?ve. S City seemed to be filled with life and hope, but in reality, it was just a cold and ruthless city. Hard work was considered cheap and worthless.

    ¡°My sister¡¯s in her final year of high school already. Her school fees, her textbooks, and her meals have to be paid for,¡± he said to himself with a sigh. All the kids who lived in the mountain viges longed for the day they could leave the mountain, and the only way to do that was through getting a good education. Su Jin hoped that his younger sister could leave the mountain someday too.

    His family had initially wanted his sister to drop out of school and intended to either make her help with the farm or find some work for the extra money. That would have helped to relieve the financial burden on the family.

    But he had protested against that decision, and thus, his sister had been allowed to continue studying. The only condition was that he would have to be the one to provide for her expenses, including her allowance and textbooks.

    His sry wasn¡¯t high, but he had to split up his sry into several parts. One part went to his family, one part went to his younger sister, and thest part went to his rent and food. He was always left with almost nothing at the end of the month.

    After he tidied up his office desk, he left for the day. It was 10 pm, and there were some stars in the sky. That was quite a rare sight to see in such polluted city skies.

    ¡°We¡¯re having apany gathering in three days¡¯ time, and we¡¯re expected to pay for our own share. But it¡¯s the end of the month, so I don¡¯t have any money left for that. Maybe¡­ maybe I should just pretend to be sick and skip the gathering altogether!¡± Su Jin mumbled to himself. This sort of thing was really just a burden to a poor person like him. There was no way he could afford such luxuries.

    One had to spend money in order to upkeep rtionships with others in this society, but the harsh reality was that Su Jin just didn¡¯t have money to spare at the end of the month.

    The office wasn¡¯t very far from the apartment that Su Jin was renting. He didn¡¯t rent the entire apartment, though. Thendlord had split the apartment into separate rooms so that he could rent it to more people, and Su Jin rented the narrow cer of the building. But even though the rent for the cer was much lower than the rooms, it was still difficult for him to cough up the rent every month. S City was an expensive ce to live in. The cost of living in this city was seriously insane.

    It was autumn, so the weather was getting a little chilly. Su Jin instinctively pulled his jacket around him a little tighter. His cer was just around the corner, so he started walking faster.

    But just before he made it around the corner, he noticed a small makeshift stall selling books. The stall owner was a middle-aged man, wearing a hat that covered half of his face, so it was hard to see what he looked like. He kept rubbing his hands together and seemed to be feeling cold.

    Su Jin casually nced at the books the stall owner had put up for sale. Most of them were old issues of magazines, and there were also a few novels here and there.

    ¡°Hello there, how much are you selling these books for?¡±

    ¡°Ten dors for two books, pick anything you like,¡± replied the stall owner as he continued rubbing his hands together.

    That was very cheap. Even in paper costs more than that these days. Su Jin picked a few books randomly, waved them at the stall owner, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take five books. Could I have all of them for 20 bucks?¡±

    The stall owner looked ready to close shop for the day, so he just nodded, took the 20 dors from Su Jin, and started packing everything up.

    Su Jin returned to his ce with the books in hand. The cer he was living in measured only slightly more than 10 square meters. Furthermore, it was divided into two sections ¡ª the first being his bedroom, and the other a tiny bathroom.

    After he washed his face and looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn¡¯t help but feel really lost. The reflection he saw in the mirror wasn¡¯t the most handsome, but he had pretty decent features, and if nobody explicitly said anything about his origins, others would never have guessed that he actually hailed from the mountainside.

    He sat down exhaustedly on the bed and picked up the books he had bought earlier. His gaze froze for a moment when he flipped through them. Didn¡¯t he only buy five books? Why were there six books now?

    ¡°Did I take one more by ident?¡± Su Jin shook his head. Even though these books were being sold really cheaply, the stall owner had sold them to him at a discount, and he had actually taken one more by mistake.

    The extra book had a ck leather cover and felt slightly textured. It was a really nice cover.

    ¡°There¡¯s no title?¡± The entire cover was ck and didn¡¯t have any words on it. That was very strange.

    He was about to open the book when he suddenly shivered, and he even felt goosebumps on his arms. His first thought was that he might have caught a chill, but this didn¡¯t stop his hand from flipping the book open anyway.

    Immediately after he flipped it open, white smoke suddenly rose from around his body, and a creepy voice started narrating inside his head.

    ¡°Fengxi Town was originally a scenic ce, but a few decades ago, the vigers of Fengxi Town disappeared overnight. From then on, on one night every decade, the extinguished lights of Fengxi Town would light up once more in anticipation of the crazy night toe. And today¡­ you shall experience this crazy night for yourself.¡±

    The creepy voice rang in Su Jin¡¯s head for a long time. The voice was maniacal, unfeeling, cruel, violent, and seemed to be abination of every negative emotion known to mankind. Every syble it uttered made his head hurt terribly.

    ¡°Wh-what is this ce?!¡± Just then, a woman¡¯s voice rang out, and Su Jin suddenly realized that he was no longer on his own bed. Instead, he was seated next to sheaves of grain. Besides himself, there were four other men and two other women.

    He was immediately thrown into confusion, and he wondered if he was just dreaming. But everything here was a little too realistic for him to be merely dreaming.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure all of you already have the answer. Remember the voice you heard in your heads just now?¡± One of the men leaned against the sheaves as he spoke. His hair was entirely white, but he looked very young. He wore a ck suit and sounded both distant and aloof. But what he said reminded everyone of the hair-raising voice they had heard in their heads earlier.

    ¡°Do you mean¡­ we¡¯re in Fengxi Town?¡± asked another man a little puzzledly. This was a middle-aged man who was a little plump and showed signs of balding. The suit he wore looked extremely expensive, so it was clear from his appearance that he was pretty well off.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re in Fengxi Town, and this is where tonight¡¯s activities will be happening,¡± said the other woman. She seemed to be barely 20 years old and looked rather sweet and friendly. The faint smile on her face made her seem approachable.

    ¡°Tonight¡¯s activities? What¡¯s that supposed to mean? Is it some party? But I was¡­ I was eating at home just a few moments ago!¡± The middle-aged man was still puzzled by this whole situation.

    ¡°I was reading just now.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    The other two men piped up after hearing what the middle-aged man said. The two of them looked like students. One looked like he was in histe teens, while the other one looked a little younger, probably 15 or 16.

    ¡°I¡­ I was reading too,¡± said the woman who eximed earlier. This woman looked like she was in her twenties. Her makeup was meticulously done, but there was also something provocative in the way she dressed.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! I was reading a book while drinking my soup!¡± said the middle-aged man as he smacked his forehead.

    After listening to their ounts, Su Jin remembered that this happened immediately after he flipped open the book that he had just bought. Since everyone had been doing the same thing before arriving in this ce, there was definitely some sort of connection here.

    ¡°I know all of you have a lot of questions on your mind, but I don¡¯t have the time to answer all of them now because we¡¯re going to start in about ten minutes or so. So, listen up,¡± said the younger woman to everyone. ¡°All of you have suddenly appeared here because of the book all of you are holding right now. We call it Hell¡¯s Handbook.¡±

    Su Jin suddenly realized that he was still holding onto that book he flipped open earlier. The previously nk ck cover of the book now had tworge words written in a bloody red color: Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    Everyone else besides the aloof young man was rather taken aback, but the youngdy continued speaking, ¡°Nobody knows who came up with Hell¡¯s Handbook, but it undoubtedly carries a tremendous power. Every Handbook owner will have to go through countless nightmares. If you¡¯re lucky, you might get the chance to escape from it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re bothering to talk to these people. They¡¯re obviously all new, and I highly doubt they¡¯ll survive the night,¡± said the aloof man emotionlessly.

    ¡°Are you¡­ are you Mr. Jiang?¡± asked the middle-aged man a little hesitantly. He seemed to have recognized the younger man.

    The aloof man was a little surprised as he heard this, and he asked, ¡°Do we know each other?¡±

    ¡°Oho, I¡¯m not surprised that you don¡¯t know who I am, since I¡¯m not anybody particrly important. I¡¯vee into contact with yourpany for business, that¡¯s all,¡± said the middle-aged man with a cordialugh.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re business partners, then you can be on my team. If you¡¯re lucky, you might survive,¡± said the aloof man with a nod. Then he eyed the youngdy and said, ¡°If you want to continue talking to these people, go ahead. I¡¯m not sticking around.¡± After saying that, he walked away. The middle-aged man had no idea what was going on, but he followed after the younger man anyway.

    The youngdy watched the aloof man walk off and shrugged resignedly. She turned back to the rest of the confused people in front of her and continued, ¡°There¡¯s no point in saying so much, and we don¡¯t have time for this anyway, so I¡¯ll just leave you with a few pieces of advice. Firstly, always keep an eye on your copy of the Handbook carefully; it will be your key to surviving this ce! Secondly, you must never go beyond the borders of Fengxi Town. You¡¯re definitely going to die if you do that. Thirdly, try your best to survive this, and you¡¯ll get a huge reward at the end.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Miss, but are you sure this isn¡¯t just some reality show or some borate TV prank?¡± asked the older student.

    The youngdyughed and shrugged hisment off. ¡°If that¡¯s what you think this is, you¡¯re going to die very tragically.¡±

    ¡°How may I address you?¡± asked Su Jin. Regardless of what situation they were in, this young woman clearly seemed to know a lot more about what was going on. It was better to get to know her instead.

    ¡°My name is Liu Yingying,¡± said Liu Yingying as she looked a little surprisedly at Su Jin. Even though Su Jin also looked confused like the rest, he also looked a lot calmer than everyone else.

    ¡°You seem to know a lot more than we do. How do you know all this?¡± asked Su Jin. He didn¡¯t even remember how he got here, and the rest obviously had no clue either. In that case, any information this youngdy had was vital to them.

    But the youngdy just shook her head at his question and replied, ¡°There are some things you wouldn¡¯t believe even if I told you, so you guys can go experience it for yourselves. Bye, everyone!¡± Then she turned and left.

    Su Jin ran after her, but she had already gone out of sight and disappeared into the darkness that shrouded the rest of Fengxi Town.

    Everyone else was still feeling uneasy inside, so the meticulously dressed-up woman turned to everyone and said, ¡°Hello, my name¡¯s Zhang Jing, and I¡¯m in sales. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but I guess it¡¯ll be great if we all looked out for one another!¡±

    The eerie atmosphere made Zhang Jing seem very afraid and instinctively turned to the three men in front of her for support. Su Jin also agreed that it was best that all of them stick together, so he nodded and introduced himself, ¡°I¡¯m Su Jin, and I¡¯m just a low-level office worker. I think it¡¯s best if we all stuck together and looked out for one another too.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Chu Yi, and I¡¯m a student. But I¡¯m not attending a regr high school. I¡¯m in a martial arts academy.¡± Chu Yi was the older boy and was extremely muscr, so it was obvious that he was someone who worked out often.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Yang Zichen, and I¡¯m in my freshman year,¡± said the younger boy timidly. He wore a pair of sses and looked like the type who always stayed out of trouble.

    Su Jin looked down at the Handbook he was holding. Liu Yingying said earlier that this book was going to help them to survive, so he flipped it open. Every page was empty except for the first page, and the content was about Fengxi Town.

    Sheaves (plural): Sheaf (singr) - a bundle of grain stalksid lengthways and tied together after reaping.

 Chapter 2: Fengxi Town

    <h4>Chapter 2: Fengxi Town</h4>

    The page started off with therge words ¡°Fengxi Town¡± right on top, followed by the words that everyone heard in their heads before being transported to this ce. The rest of the page was entirely nk after that, and it looked like it was purposely left that way. Su Jin turned to the next page and realized that the words ¡°Difficulty Level: B¡± were written at the bottom of the page.

    ¡°Difficulty level? Is that referring to how dangerous this is going to be?¡± thought Su Jin. There were clearly varying levels of difficulty, but he had no idea what that actually entailed.

    He read every word on the first page very carefully, afraid that he would miss something. Liu Yingying had told him that this book would help them to survive, so perhaps there were some details hidden in these words.

    ¡°Everyone, take a look at your own Handbooks and see if there are any differences in the content,¡± said Su Jin to the other three.

    They opened their own copy andpared it across all four copies, but the content in all the books waspletely identical. Zhang Jing asked Su Jin, ¡°It¡¯s all the same. Do you see anything special in these words?¡±

    ¡°ording to the Handbook, something happened to Fengxi Town 50 years ago. It just says that all the vigers disappeared overnight, but it doesn¡¯t state whether they died or not. Every ten years, the extinguished lights of Fengxi Town light up again¡­ does that mean the vigers of Fengxi Town will return? Or does it mean that the thing that caused the vigers to disappear back then is going to appear again tonight?¡±

    ¡°Also, the ¡®crazy¡¯ in ¡®crazy night¡¯ here definitely refers to the danger we¡¯re about to face, but what does ¡®night¡¯ itself mean? Is it referring to the time between sunset and sunrise, or is it referring to an event that happens at night? There are too many unanswered questions here. If we don¡¯t get a better understanding of all these things, we¡¯ll be forced into a lot of unwanted situations.¡±

    The other three who were listening to Su Jin talk, werepletely stumped. And of them, Chu Yi said, ¡°It¡¯s just a few lines, but you¡¯re able to analyze them so much? You¡¯re amazing!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I like solving mysteries like these in my free time, that¡¯s all,¡± said Su Jin with augh. When he was a student, he actually set up a club in school with a few other friends who liked these sorts of things. They weren¡¯t great sleuths, but it wasn¡¯t difficult for them to pick up a few clues from any text given to them. He also figured out that the aloof young man earlier and Liu Yingying had probably discovered these clues pretty easily too.

    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± Yang Zichen¡¯s eyes were filled with fear as he said these words. And it wasn¡¯t really surprising that a teenager would be scared in such a situation. The fact that he didn¡¯t just burst out crying was already a sign of how brave he was trying to be. Chu Yi was trained in martial arts, so he was a little less timidpared to Yang Zichen.

    It was clear that the other three looked towards Su Jin as their leader, but Su Jin was usually the more easy-going sort of person and had never taken up a leadership position before. However, he couldn¡¯t really push this responsibility to someone else since the rest of the people on the team included two teenagers and a frightened youngdy.

    ¡°Just now, Liu Yingying mentioned that it¡¯s going to start in about ten minutes, so during this time, we¡¯re probably safe. But those ten minutes are almost up, so I think we¡¯d better enter the vige first.¡± Both Liu Yingying and the aloof young man had headed straight for the vige ahead, and it was also obvious from the way they spoke that this wasn¡¯t the first time that this was happening to them. In other words, they were veterans. And if the veterans chose to enter Fengxi Town immediately, newbies like Su Jin and the rest should also logically follow in their footsteps.

    ¡°Do we really have to go in? It seems safe here, so why don¡¯t we just stay here until daybreak?¡± After she nced at the sheaves next to her, the vige ahead, which was illuminated with bright lights, terrified Zhang Jing even more. It was as if the vige was a gigantic wild beast that was baring its fangs and was ready to gobble up anybody who came close.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°If this ce were safe, the two veterans wouldn¡¯t have been in such a hurry to enter the vige. I¡¯m afraid that once whatever is going to start, starts, something terrible will happen to us if we remain here.¡±

    And so, all four of them started walking towards the vige. The entire ce was brightly lit, but there was no sign of life at all. As they walked towards the vige, Su Jin said to them, ¡°If 6 am is the time when most people consider the night to be over, then we¡¯ll have to stay here for around eight hours or so.¡±

    ¡°Eight hours? Not six?¡± asked Yang Zichen timidly after blinking in surprise.

    ¡°It was around 10 pm when I got here, so it¡¯s eight hours to 6 am,¡± said Chu Yi matter-of-factly.

    But Yang Zichen replied, ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right. It should have been around midnight when I got here. I was doing some revision for school and got tired of my textbooks, so I reached for some books on my shelf and ended up with this Handbook!¡±

    ¡°Midnight?! Why do I remember that the time I came here was still only 4 pm?!¡± Zhang Jing eximed.

    Su Jin stared at them for a moment, then asked, ¡°We¡¯re all from the same country, right?¡±

    All three of them nodded.

    Su Jin frowned and pondered this matter for a while before saying, ¡°Since we¡¯re all from the same country and our country doesn¡¯t have different time zones, then¡­ perhaps the Handbook has the ability to warp time somehow, so even though we were transported here at different times, the time here is controlled by the Handbook and starts running again only when all of us have arrived. That¡¯s why we entered the Handbook¡¯s world at different times but appeared in Fengxi Town at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Or perhaps the Handbook has control over our consciousness, so it makes us lose our consciousness and wakes us up only when everybody has arrived here. But because nobody is able to tell how much time has passed urately while you¡¯re asleep, we all think that we appeared in this ce instantly.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s exnation wasn¡¯t the best, but at least it was usible. Besides, what everyone wanted was an answer that could make them feel less worried, and not necessarily the real answer. The unknown is the most terrifying thing, after all.

    Fengxi Town was ratherrge, so it would be pretty difficult to run into the aloof young man and Liu Yingying if they didn¡¯t purposely try to look for the two of them. Also, it was definitely unsafe to walk around the town right now.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we find somewhere to hide for the time being?¡± suggested Chu Yi.

    They didn¡¯t dare enter the vige itself, so they found a house outside the border of the vige that seemed fairly clean. This house was also not too far from the border of the town, so if they did run into any danger, it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult for them to run from it.

    The gate wasn¡¯t locked, so it only took a gentle push to open it, and the gate swung from its hinge, into the front yard of the house. An oilmp lit up the house, and the dim flickering of the light from it made the ce seem somewhat surreal.

    ¡°Hey, look! There¡¯s dinner on the table! Is the owner of this house at home?¡± Chu Yi was the first one to enter the house, and he found that there was food on the dining table. It was just simple fare, but the most surprising part was that the food was still steaming, which indicated that it had been prepared not too long ago.

    Su Jin looked around and shook his head. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right. Look at the amount of dust in the house, especially around the table.¡±

    The house was covered with a thickyer of dust, besides where the four of them had passed through as they entered the house. The area around the table, in particr, had umted so much dust that it nearly covered the entire leg of the table, and it even looked fluffy. The top of the table was also covered in ayer of dust. Only the cutlery seemed clean.

    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s going on? Are you saying that a ghost cooked this?¡± Zhang Jing started trembling fearfully.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the rest of the town looks just like this. Never mind that for now, let¡¯s look around and see if we can find any other clues. Let¡¯s see if we can find any good weapons too.¡± Su Jin was also feeling scared, but this was not a good time to start panicking. He had to remain calm in such situations in order to stay safe.

    After searching the house for a bit, Chu Yi and Yang Zichen found three knives, but they were all chef¡¯s knives. Plus, every knife was covered in ayer of rust, but it was still better than having no weapons at all. Zhang Jing took one first. As the only female among them, having a weapon on hand might help her feel a little more secure.

    Chu Yi took one of the knives as well. He was young, but he was trained in martial arts, so he was probably the best among them at wielding one. They wanted to give thest one to Yang Zichen, but to their surprise, he refused to take it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with a knife, so I¡¯ll just follow you guys.¡± Yang Zichen still seemed very jittery, but Su Jin felt that this boy was actually really brave inside. He just needed to go through a few ordeals in life, and he would definitely be able to make it big in the future.

    Since Yang Zichen wasn¡¯t going to take the knife, Su Jin took it. He got Chu Yi to look for a bottle, and Chu Yi quickly returned with an empty ss bottle that looked like it used to contain sauce. Su Jin found some kerosene and matches in the kitchen, so he poured the kerosene into the ss bottle before stuffing a piece of torn curtain fabric and passed it to Yang Zichen.

    ¡°You can hold onto this. But you¡¯ve got to be careful with it, because this is the only ammunition that we¡¯ve got,¡± said Su Jin with a smile as he patted Yang Zichen on the shoulder, hoping it would give the younger boy some courage.

    Yang Zichen didn¡¯t refuse this time. He carefully held the bottle and kept the matches properly in his pants pocket.

    Just then, Zhang Jing¡¯s stomach started growling. She grinned sheepishly at the rest of them and said, ¡°Sorry guys, I haven¡¯t eaten dinner yet, so I can¡¯t help it.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we could eat the food on the table?¡± Chu Yi asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin frowned and said to Zhang Jing, ¡°Bear with it for the time being. I don¡¯t know where any of these things came from, so I think it¡¯s better not to touch them.¡±

    Zhang Jing was disappointed, but even though she was hungry, she knew that it was better to stay far away from all of these strange things since they were in a really creepy town right now.

    ¡°Zhang Jing, if you¡¯re hungry, you can have this.¡± Yang Zichen suddenly pulled a chocte bar from his pocket and held it out to Zhang Jing a little shyly.

    She immediately grabbed it and said to him, ¡°Thank you so much! Once we get out of this creepy ce, I¡¯ll treat you to a good meal!¡±

    Yang Zichen didn¡¯t say anything and just nodded bashfully.

    Time slowly ticked by, and the silence was suddenly broken by the sound of bells ringing. Everyone jumped up in shock. Su Jin quickly ran out to the front yard. The sound came from the northern side of the vige, and it wasn¡¯t too far from them. The bell rang a total of 12 times.

    ¡°It¡¯s midnight!¡± said Zhang Jing before Su Jin could say anything.

    Since the bells rang 12 times, it probably meant that it was midnight right now, which also meant that all the different times that each of them had remembered beforeing here were wrong. But none of that was important now. The bells probably signaled the beginning of the crazy night mentioned in the Handbook.

    ¡°Everyone, stay alert!¡± said Su Jin as he walked back into the house.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Yang Zichen suddenly eximed as he pointed in horror at the dining table and stammered in fear, ¡°Someone¡­ someone¡¯s eating!¡±

    The cutlery on the table started moving as if someone was really eating the food on the table, even though they still couldn¡¯t see anybody. None of them dared to make any sound, and they could even hear the sound of someone chewing on the food.

    Crunch! Crunch!

    A sleuth is a detective/someone who investigates crimes

    Fare is another word for food.

 Chapter 3: Attacked by a Ghost

    <h4>Chapter 3: Attacked by a Ghost</h4>

    The terrifying scene in front of them, coupled with the eerie chewing sounds, struck fear deep into their hearts. Su Jin quietly told the other three to make their way out of the house and into the front yard. If there really was something else in here that they couldn¡¯t see, it was too dangerous to remain in this small house.

    But just as they turned to walk out of the house, the door suddenly mmed shut. A picture frame that was hanging on the back of the door shook violently from how hard the door had mmed shut. The frame creaked noisily as it swung from side to side, but along with this, the chewing noises at the table had abruptlye to a halt.

    Yang Zichen and Zhang Jing were clearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. They were both trembling all over, and their pupils had constricted in terror. They were convinced that If they remained in this ce for one more second, they might lose their marbles. Su Jin gave Chu Yi a knowing nce. Chu Yi saw it, and they both started ramming at the door together.

    But to their shock and horror, the door that had supposedly gone through several decades of weathering refused to give way even though two grown men were ramming their bodies into it so hard!

    Woong!

    A fork came flying from the dining table andnded itself in Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder. Chu Yi winced, and his eyes were suddenly filled with a look of horror.

    Everyone was too frightened to move, and only Chu Yi kept iling about. He kept making strangled noises, as if someone was actually strangling him. Su Jin quickly snapped out of his initial shock and ran over to pull Chu Yi up from the floor, but Chu Yi was struggling so hard that Su Jin simply couldn¡¯t get him to his feet.

    He then noticed the fork in Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder and felt that Chu Yi¡¯s odd behavior probably had something to do with this fork, so he grabbed hold of the fork in the hope of getting it out of Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder.

    But the moment he touched the fork, his eyes widened. He could now see a man whose body was half rotting, using his hands to strangle Chu Yi¡¯s neck.

    Su Jin¡¯s first instinct was to let go of the fork. And as he did that, the rotting man immediately disappeared from his vision. But at the same time, Chu Yi¡¯s eyes were beginning to roll upwards, and his limbs weren¡¯t moving as vigorously as before.

    So even though it was terrifying, Su Jin knew that he had to save Chu Yi. He grabbed hold of the fork, and the rotting man appeared again, but this time, Su Jin ignored him and used all his strength to pull the fork out.

    The fork finally came out, and the rotting man let go of Chu Yi, but suddenly pounced towards Su Jin instead. The man opened his mouth to roar soundlessly, as if he was going to tear Su Jin to pieces.

    Su Jin quickly threw the fork in his hands away. The moment the fork left his hand, the rotting man also disappeared.

    Cold sweat dripped down Su Jin¡¯s forehead while Chu Yi was panting heavily. Su Jin said to the rest, ¡°We¡¯ve got to find a way to open this door! We can¡¯t stay here any longer!¡±

    Everyone else agreed with Su Jin¡¯s opinion, but the old, rugged door of the house simply refused to budge. Suddenly, Su Jin heard the sound of metal clinking against each othering from behind them. He turned and saw that all the cutlery on the dining table were starting to move slowly.

    ¡°Move aside!¡± yelled Su Jin loudly. He pulled his knife out and used it to hack at the door, which sessfully chipped off some of the wood. When Zhang Jing and Chu Yi saw that, they immediately pulled their knives out and began hacking away at the door too.

    The cutlery on the dining table behind them started moving more and more vigorously, as if they would fly at the four of them again like the fork earlier. When Chu Yi saw that they had made several cuts in the door, he raised his foot and kicked a hole right through the door.

    He leaped out of the door while holding onto Zhang Jing and Yang Zichen. Su Jin was about to leap out as well when he felt a chilling presence right behind him.

    Su Jin grabbed a piece of the broken door and flung it behind him without even looking back, and then leaped out of the house. He could hear the sound of the broken wood smashing and the sound of several metallic objects crashing.

    After he made it out of the house, he noticed that all the cutleries had fallen to the floor just in front of the door, as if there were an invisible screen that prevented the cutlery from making it out of the house.

    ¡°Brother Su! Are you alright?¡± asked Chu Yi concernedly.

    Su Jin nodded, then motioned to the rest to move away from the house before he narrowed his eyes to look back inside the house. He could see that the dining table was still moving, but the kerosenemp in the house was quite dim, so he couldn¡¯t see very clearly.

    ¡°What ¡­ what was that?¡± Zhang Jing looked terrified. Everything happened very quickly, but the entire situation that just happened was just way too horrifying for words to exin.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi looked at each other. The two of them were the only ones who saw exactly what had happened earlier, and even they couldn¡¯t believe if that was seriously a ghost or if they had just been seeing things.

    ¡°Brother Su, you saw that too, right?¡± asked Chu Yi quietly.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°A man with rotting flesh, right? It¡¯s got something to do with that fork. It seems like only those who touch the fork can see him.¡±

    Chu Yi nodded, then thanked Su Jin, ¡°Thanks for saving my life. If you hadn¡¯t done that, I¡¯d be dead by now.¡±

    Su Jin patted Chu Yi on the shoulder. Even though that had happened in mere seconds, it had nearly cost Chu Yi his life. Su Jin now believed what Liu Yingying said earlier. It was true that there was something in this town that could potentially kill them at any minute.

    After what happened just now, nobody dared to stick around anymore. But there wasn¡¯t anywhere around them where they felt safe to stay in. It was probably really dangerous to simply wander about too.

    ¡°Wait a minute. Yang Zichen, what¡¯s that you¡¯re holding?¡± Su Jin noticed something in Yang Zichen¡¯s hands.

    He quickly replied, ¡°Oh, I happened to grab it earlier while looking for a weapon. I had totally forgotten that I was still holding onto it.¡±

    Su Jin took it from Yang Zichen and found that it was actually a painting. It depicted a family of three embracing an angel, so the owner of the house was probably a Christian.

    The picture was simple, but it was badly painted. The brushstrokes were crude, and it was clear that it was definitely not painted by some famous artist. It looked more like it had been painted by a beginner.

    ¡°The picture seems simple. It¡¯s just a family of three embracing an angel,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself before handing it back to Yang Zichen.

    But Yang Zichen stared at Su Jin in shock. ¡°Su Jin, the three in the painting¡­ they aren¡¯t embracing the angel, they¡¯re¡­ they¡¯re attacking the angel,¡± said Yang Zichen as he pointed in horror at the painting.

    Su Jin looked at Yang Zichen confusedly, and looked at the painting again, but didn¡¯t see what Yang Zichen was seeing. Yang Zichen said, ¡°Turn it 180 degrees! Rotate the painting!¡±

    Su Jin quickly turned the painting around and realized what Yang Zichen had been talking about. The painting waspletely different once it had been rotated. The crude-looking lines had made the painting such that it looked like the three people were embracing the angel when seen from one direction, but once rotated, the same three people were actually on top of the angel and were tearing the angel apart.

    Now that the picture was different, the meaning it carried also changed. The first interpretation of the picture embodied goodness, but now it embodied pure evil. Why would an ordinary family have such a painting? What did it really represent?

    ¡°Could the people of Fengxi Town believe in the ult?¡± asked Chu Yi.

    Everyone exchanged unsure nces, but Chu Yi¡¯s guess was highly possible. There was no other reason why an ordinary family would own such a creepy painting.

    Su Jin started to panic a little inside. If there was an unseen power controlling all of this, then it was probably impossible for them to get through the night without any mishaps. There was simply nowhere in Fengxi Town that was safe.

    ¡°What should we do next?¡± asked Zhang Jing helplessly as she hugged her arms with a despairing look on her face.

    All of them fell silent, and even Su Jin felt lost now. He thought that he shouldn¡¯t have let the aloof guy and Liu Yingying walk away like that then. If they had a veteran with them, they would be able to get some direction, at least.

    ¡°Everyone, watch your surroundings carefully. We met danger because Chu Yi and I came into contact with that fork, so¡­ I think the dangers in Fengxi Town are all the triggered type,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°The triggered type? What does that mean?¡± Zhang Jing couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Have you yed RPGs (role-ying games) before? For most yers, quests within the game do not appear automatically. The yer needs toe into contact with an NPC or an item of sorts to trigger something else. Fengxi Town seems to work this way too.¡± Most people around this age would have yed such video games before, so they understood Su Jin¡¯s exnation very quickly.

    ¡°Does that mean that we won¡¯t run into any danger if we don¡¯t touch anything?¡± asked Yang Zichen.

    Su Jin shook his head helplessly. ¡°I can¡¯t answer you definitively because I don¡¯t have enough information. I can¡¯t even try to predict what might happen next. The situation might change as time goes by. Nobody knows.¡±

    ¡°The situation might change as time goes by? What makes you think so?¡± asked Zhang Jing puzzledly as she looked at Su Jin with a confused expression.

    ¡°It¡¯s because we¡¯ve got to spend the entire night here. Think about it. If you were to design a game with stages and levels that need to be cleared, would you put everything you¡¯ve got right at the start of the game? You¡¯ve got an entire night to y with, so you would spread everything out, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Su Jin used his index finger to tap his nose out of habit.

    The other three fell into deep thought as they agreed with what Su Jin had just said. In the past, they merely controlled a game character and never thought about these things. But when they were like characters in a game themselves, all they felt were terror and despair.

    ¡°Hey, it looks like there¡¯s someone over there!¡± said Yang Zichen as he suddenly straightened up and tugged at Su Jin¡¯s shirt.

    Su Jin turned to see what Yang Zichen was looking at and saw that a woman was standing some distance away from them and was staring rather nervously at them. Chu Yi and Zhang Jing turned to look at her too.

    Both sides were stunned, but while the woman in the distance looked a little nervous, Su Jin and the rest felt pure terror slowly spread through their bodies. A woman had suddenly appeared out of absolutely nowhere in this terrifying town which didn¡¯t seem to have a single living human being in it. It was only natural for them to be fearful.

    ¡°Are you ¡­ are all of you alive?¡± the woman suddenly asked them.

    They were even more taken aback by her question. Chu Yi quickly nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, we are! Wh-who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a resident of this town. Why did youe here tonight? Come with me! It¡¯s not safe to stay here!¡± said the woman anxiously once she had confirmed that all of them were still alive.

    The four of them exchanged nces before turning to Su Jin. Su Jin was still hesitating when something in the houses around them began shaking, as if some unknown force was about to rush out of the houses.

    ¡°Hurry up! Would you rather die here?!¡± yelled the woman anxiously.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± said Su Jin as he gritted his teeth and nodded. Whether this woman was a friend or foe didn¡¯t matter now. They had to get away from this present danger first.

    The ult usually refers to mystical, supernatural, or magical powers, practices, or phenomena. The meaning here is basically something like an evil cult.

 Chapter 4: The Living People of the Town

    <h4>Chapter 4: The Living People of the Town</h4>

    The four of them ran with the woman for a long time and pretty much traveled across half the entire town.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Lin Yue, and I¡¯m a resident of Fengxi Town. What are your names?¡± Lin Yue looked around the same age as Zhang Jing.

    ¡°My name is Su Jin, and this is Yang Zichen, Chu Yi and Zhang Jing. We¡­ we¡¯re tourists.¡± Su Jin lied about who they were because he wasn¡¯t going to tell her anything about Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°Tourists?! And you dared toe to Fengxi Town at this time? Haven¡¯t any of you heard about the legend surrounding this ce?¡± Lin Yue stared at them as if they were nutcases.

    ¡°The legend surrounding this ce? You mean the story of what happened 50 years ago?¡± asked Zhang Jing.

    ¡°Since you know about that story, then you shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s just a legend. Besides, you¡¯re perfectly fine, aren¡¯t you? It¡¯s just an urban legend,¡± said Su Jin with augh. He pretended to look unbothered by this legend, as if he didn¡¯t believe it at all.

    Lin Yue shook her head sternly at Su Jin. ¡°No, the legend is true. As for why I¡¯m fine, it¡¯s probably because I was born and bred here.¡±

    ¡°If the legend is true, then ¡­ then what should we do next?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Leave this ce. You will be able to walk out of the town via that narrow path there, and you¡¯ll be out in about ten minutes or so,¡± said Lin Yue very seriously to them as she pointed out a small path ahead of them.

    There was no way the four of them were going to leave the town. Liu Yingying had warned them earlier never to go beyond the borders of the town. After experiencing supernatural event after supernatural event, the four of them were beginning to take the Handbook very seriously. Even though they really wished they could leave, they didn¡¯t dare to try.

    ¡°It¡¯s sote now, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe even if we leave now,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head helplessly while secretly observing Lin Yue¡¯s expression. He wasn¡¯t going to trust a woman who had suddenly appeared in a ce like Fengxi Town so easily.

    ¡°In that case¡­ you can stay at my ce for the time being!¡± After thinking about what to do for a while, Lin Yue decided to invite them over to her ce.

    The other three instinctively nced at Su Jin, and he nodded slightly. He wasn¡¯t sure if Lin Yue was reliable or safe to be with, but nowhere in this town was safe either. If there was a 50% chance they might die from staying with Lin Yue, at least there was another 50% chance that they would make it.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to trouble you then,¡± Su Jin thanked Lin Yue.

    Lin Yue smiled and didn¡¯t say anything. They walked for another ten odd minutes, and the four of them nearly stopped breathing during this walk. The town had be even more eerie and cold now. Su Jin even noticed a bloodied woman floating above one of the houses and staring down at them with a chilling look in her eyes, and he could see other things moving in the houses although it was a little too dark to see them clearly.

    Zhang Jing hid herself in the middle of the group and was trembling all over. Thankfully, they reached Lin Yue¡¯s ce quite quickly. It was a small house with a yard that was surrounded by a wooden fence, and there were other people in the yard.

    ¡°Here¡¯s where I live. Besides my parents and my younger brother, there¡¯s also Auntie Li and her family.¡± After Lin Yue opened the wooden gate, a boy who looked around 13 or 14 years old ran over and smiled when he saw Lin Yue.

    ¡°Sis! You¡¯re back!¡± This boy was Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother.

    ¡°Run along; let¡¯s all go in first.¡± Lin Yue motioned to the rest of the people to walk in with her. Everyone else sitting in the front yard approached their new visitors.

    ¡°Lin Yue, who are these people?¡± A middle-aged man frowned and didn¡¯t look too happy that Su Jin and hispanions were here.

    ¡°Dad, they¡¯re tourists. You know what day it is today. I saw them wandering around the town, so I brought them back,¡± exined Lin Yue in a low voice.

    ¡°What a busybody! They should know better than to be here! Why did you create trouble for yourself over some people who are obviously here to court death?¡± Lin Yue¡¯s father scoffed in disdain and marched back to his room. A middle-ageddy who looked like her mother quickly ran in after him.

    ¡°Lin Yue, your father is right. You know how dangerous it is tonight. It¡¯s tough enough for us to protect ourselves. We can¡¯t protect other people too!¡± said the other middle-ageddy in the front yard. It was clear that she was very unhappy that Lin Yue had brought the four of them here too.

    Lin Yue smiled awkwardly at the other middle-ageddy, then motioned to the four of them to follow her. She led them to a ce that resembled a storeroom of sorts.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s a rather special day today, so everyone is a little uptight.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright; we¡¯re the ones who are imposing on you, after all. But¡­ thedy earlier was Auntie Li, right? What did she mean when she said that it¡¯s hard enough for you guys to protect yourselves?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Just ignore her. Oh! I remember there are some stools and other things inside here, so you can make yourselvesfortable. I¡¯ll go get all of you some food. We don¡¯t have anything fancy, so I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± Lin Yue avoided answering Su Jin¡¯s question and left after saying this.

    After Lin Yue left, all four of them immediately huddled together. Chu Yi said, ¡°It seems safe here.¡±

    ¡°Games usually have a safe zone, right? Could this ce be the safe zone of Fengxi Town?¡± asked Zhang Jing.

    Su Jin shook his head. He didn¡¯t think so. ¡°Have you ever been able to advance through a game by just sitting it out in the safe zone? I¡¯m not sure if this ce is a safe zone, and even if it were, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be safe for long.¡±

    Su Jin looked around the room and pulled out a few stools for everyone to sit on and rest. It had been nearly an hour since they arrived in Fengxi Town, and even though it wasn¡¯t really a long time, the physical and mental stress on their bodies was now beginning to take its toll.

    ¡°You guys rest here; I¡¯ll go outside and take a peek.¡± Su Jin walked out of the room to look around. He was feeling extremely uneasy, and he needed a lot more information in order to analyze their current situation.

    After he walked out, he noticed Auntie Li muttering to herself as she sat in the front yard. Once she noticed him, she got up and returned to her room without giving him the chance to even speak.

    He started walking around the front yard casually. This estate was probably very old, and the bottom of the wooden fence was covered with a thickyer of nts. The house itself was built with bricks, and there was ayer of limestone on the outside, but a lot of it had already ked off.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He narrowed his eyes slightly as he noticed that there were certain parts of the fence that had been repaired before. After looking more carefully at the repaired areas, he realized that these were ces where the fence had been broken before. Based on the cracks in the wood, someone had broken the fence from the inside.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± A boy¡¯s voice rang out from behind Su Jin.

    Su Jin was terribly startled. He hadn¡¯t sensed anybody walking up to him at all. He turned around to see that it was actually Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother.

    ¡°Oh, I dropped something around here, so I came out to look for it,¡± replied Su Jin with a smile.

    Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother had a sullen expression on his face, and Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure of what he was thinking about. Her younger brother turned to walk back in just as Lin Yue emerged from the house with a bamboo basket in hand.

    ¡°Why are you out here? Go back and look after Grandma!¡± Lin Yue scolded her younger brother.

    ¡°Oh, your grandmother lives here too?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But she¡¯s in poor health and needs to be taken care of. I got some bread for everyone, so you can have some if you¡¯re hungry. Remember to leave first thing tomorrow morning!¡±

    The two of them returned to the storeroom. Lin Yue put the basket of bread down, told them not to wander about, then left. Zhang Jing was really hungry, so she grabbed a slice of bread and was ready to bite into it.

    ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d just bear with it. You¡¯re just missing dinner for the night, so you¡¯re not going to die from that,¡± said Su Jin to Zhang Jing.

    Zhang Jing hesitated for a while before eventually throwing the bread back into the basket. She wailed sadly, ¡°I can¡¯t eat anything? Could I at least sleep for a while?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re asking for my opinion, I¡¯d suggest that you don¡¯t sleep either. Nobody knows what¡¯s going to happen next, so if something happens while you¡¯re half asleep, you¡¯re going to be in terrible danger.¡±

    Zhang Jing shook her head in dismay. The four of them had no choice but to stay seated and look at each other. Meanwhile, Su Jin continued to think through all the information he had on hand now. He wasn¡¯t some genius, and the information he had wasn¡¯t enough for him to reach any conclusions, but he tried his best to connect the dots anyway.

    But Zhang Jing was really tired. Even though she said that she wasn¡¯t going to sleep, she started getting really sleepy. She leaned against a pile of things inside the storeroom and her eyelids closed against her will.

    All of a sudden, Zhang Jing felt something behind her. But before she realized what was going on, she was dragged backwards, and a terrifying face appeared before her.

    ¡°AHHHH!¡± shrieked Zhang Jing as she continued getting dragged backwards.

    It didn¡¯t cross any of their minds that there was someone else in the room. Then again, nobody was sure if it was a human or a ghost either. They were too confused to figure out what was happening.

    ¡°Help!!¡± screamed Zhang Jing. She hadn¡¯t been dragged very far out, but she had been dragged into a dark corner where the light of the kerosenemp couldn¡¯t reach.

    Gulp! They heard the sound of someone swallowing saliva, followed by Zhang Jing¡¯s even more intense screaming.

    The three men finally realized that Zhang Jing was in trouble. Surprisingly, the first one to run to her was actually Yang Zichen. He was the closest to Zhang Jing and had already dashed into the darkness, with Chu Yi close behind him.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t rush over with them. Instead, he grabbed hold of the kerosenemp first and approached the dark corner. Whatever dragged Zhang Jing away seemed very afraid of light, so when the light from themp shone on Zhang Jing, that thing released its grip on her and ran further into the darkness.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go after it!¡± shouted Su Jin when he saw that Chu Yi actually intended to run after that thing. Chu Yi was a gutsy boy from his martial arts training, but running after an unknown thing in the dark was too dangerous.

    ¡°Let¡¯s check if Zhang Jing¡¯s alright first!¡± Su Jin approached Zhang Jing with themp while Yang Zichen tried to pull her up, but failed even after several attempts.

    When the light shone on her face, their eyes widened. Her entire face was covered with some ck liquid, as if she had just washed her face in petroleum.

    ¡°Gulp! Gulp!¡± The thing that attacked Zhang Jing earlier started making some weird noise again from within the darkness, as if it might run out at any moment and attack the rest of them again.

 Chapter 5: Unexpected Change

    <h4>Chapter 5: Unexpected Change</h4>

    Su Jin pulled his knife out and stood in front of Zhang Jing alongside Chu Yi. Yang Zichen removed his jacket and helped to wipe the ck liquid off Zhang Jing¡¯s face.

    ¡°Watch out, everyone!¡± Su Jin remained cautious as he held themp out in front of him to see where the sound wasing from. But each time he shifted the light, that thing would shift its position as well, so Su Jin couldn¡¯t see what it looked like at all.

    The tension in the air made it almost impossible for any of them to breathe.

    Just then, someone opened the door to the storeroom. Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother ran in with a white piece of cloth in his hand. He ran into the darkness without saying a word, but before Chu Yi could tell him to watch out, he emerged from the dark corner again.

    But this time, the white cloth came walking out behind the brother too. He had used the white cloth he was holding earlier to cover something.

    ¡°It¡¯s the thing that attacked Zhang Jing just now.¡± It didn¡¯t take a genius to guess what was beneath that white cloth.

    The brother had entered the room and left the room in silence, and none of them had the courage to ask him anything. The thing under the white cloth made them fear for their lives, and they couldn¡¯t wait for it to leave the room.

    Su Jin made sure that the door to the storeroom was left slightly ajar. That way, they could escape more easily if something like that happened again.

    ¡°What do we do now? Should we go and ask Lin Yue for help?¡± asked Chu Yi.

    Su Jin nodded. There was no other option but to look for Lin Yue for help now. He said to the two other boys, ¡°Take care of Zhang Jing and look for me immediately if you sense anything amiss about her!¡±

    He walked out of the storeroom again and came face to face with Lin Yue immediately after he stepped out of the room. She was staring straight at them, and the look in her eyes startled Su Jin.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Su Jin sounded like he was asking casually, but he was wary of her and hid his knife behind him.

    ¡°My grandmother died.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect that answer.

    ¡°I said, my grandmother¡¯s dead! The four of you are the ones who caused her death! It¡¯s the four of you!¡± Lin Yue¡¯s expression suddenly turned nasty as she shouted viciously at Su Jin.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Su Jin took a small step backwards as he looked at her warily.

    Lin Yue took a step forward and gritted her teeth as she said, ¡°You¡¯re a bunch of ingrates! I was kind enough to save you, but you killed my grandmother instead! I¡¯m going to make all of you pay with your lives!¡±

    ¡°Calm down! We¡¯ve never even met your grandmother before, so how could we have killed her?¡± Su Jin got himself ready to defend himself anytime in case Lin Yue attacked him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve ¡­ you¡¯ve never seen her before!¡± Lin Yue¡¯s expression suddenly calmed down as she slowly considered Su Jin¡¯s words. Then she smiled apologetically at Su Jin and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was too agitated. You¡¯re right. You¡¯ve never seen my grandmother before, so how could you have killed her?¡±

    Su Jin breathed a long sigh of relief and thanked his lucky stars. But they couldn¡¯t stay here anymore, he thought. The way Lin Yue behaved earlier had been way too terrifying. Who knew when she might suddenly be like that again?

    Just then, Su Jin heard the sound of the bells ringing again. He looked towards where the sound wasing from and failed to notice that Lin Yue¡¯s expression had turned menacing again.

    ¡°Where is the sound of the bellsing from?¡± asked Su Jin as he turned back to Lin Yue, only to see her pounce towards him with her mouth wide open, as if she was going to bite into his neck.

    He raised an arm to block her attack, and then used his body to shove her aside before running back into the storeroom and mming himself against the back of the door.

    When Chu Yi saw how panicked Su Jin looked, he quickly asked, ¡°Brother Su, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a problem with this ce! We¡¯ve got to help Zhang Jing regain her consciousness fast because we¡¯ve got to get out of here as soon as possible!¡± Su Jin yelled at the other two.

    ¡°We can¡¯t get her to wake up! Why don¡¯t I carry her instead?¡± suggested Chu Yi.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do that! We can¡¯t go out through this door anymore, so check if we can make it out of the windows,¡± instructed Su Jin as he continued to lean against the storeroom door. The way Lin Yue was ramming against the door from outside made it hard for Su Jin to believe that all that strength came from a woman her size.

    Chu Yi passed Zhang Jing over to Yang Zichen before climbing up to the window on the other side. But before he could steady himself on the window ledge, a head that waspletely white suddenly appeared outside the window.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Chu Yi gasped and nearly fell from the ledge.

    The white head rammed against the window repeatedly without stopping and was soon covered with blood. Its features also slowly revealed a creepy smile.

    ¡°What are you waiting for?!¡± yelled Su Jin.

    ¡°Bro, this side¡¯s even worse!¡± Chu Yi really felt like crying now. Even though he was brave in a fight, he was afraid when it came to such supernatural beings.

    Su Jin had no idea what Chu Yi was talking about. He used all his strength to finally lock the storeroom door from the inside and copsed onto the floor as he panted heavily.

    ¡°Brother Su, what¡¯s happening on your side?¡± Chu Yi was still squatting on the ledge and looking out, watching the white head smash itself against the window repeatedly.

    ¡°It¡¯s Lin Yue ¡­ she seems to have gone mad and was trying to attack me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nothing! I¡¯ve got a flying head here!¡±

    ¡°A flying head? What flying head?¡± Su Jin stared at Chu Yi before he quickly noticed a white head flying at the windowpane from outside in an attempt to get into the storeroom.

    ¡°Brother Su! Brother Chu! There¡¯s something¡­ strange about Zhang Jing!¡± yelled Yang Zichen.

    By this time, Yang Zichen had already wiped off the ck liquid that had been on Zhang Jing¡¯s face, but he noticed that Zhang Jing¡¯s face kept contorting, as if she was making funny faces at him. However, after he yelled for the other two men¡¯s attention, she suddenly opened her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m so d you¡¯re alright, Zhang Jing!¡± Yang Zichen breathed a sigh of relief.

    But Zhang Jing suddenly sat up and lunged for Yang Zichen¡¯s throat. As Yang Zichen was very near to Zhang Jing and couldn¡¯t dodge her in time, her teeth sank right into his throat.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi were shocked by this and ran over immediately to try to pull Zhang Jing off Yang Zichen. But Zhang Jing¡¯s teeth seemed to have taken root in Yang Zichen¡¯s neck and simply couldn¡¯t be pulled away from Yang Zichen. Su Jin had no choice but to take his knife out and stab it into Zhang Jing¡¯s thigh, hoping that the pain would make her loosen her bite.

    But Zhang Jing didn¡¯t seem to feel any pain whatsoever and didn¡¯t let go of Yang Zichen. Yang Zichen¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers, and he was clearly in a lot of pain.

    Chu Yi decided to elbow Zhang Jing hard in the face since she refused to let go of Yang Zichen. There was a loud bam as Zhang Jing was finally separated from Yang Zichen, but the scary part was that they were separated not because Zhang Jing had let go of Yang Zichen, but because she had bitten right through Yang Zichen¡¯s throat and went flying backwards with arge piece of his flesh in her mouth.

    Both Su Jin and Chu Yi almost lost their minds when they saw what had happened. Zhang Jing swallowed the flesh in her mouth down and pounced towards Yang Zichen again. The poor boy was already lying in a pool of his own blood, and his limbs were convulsing slightly. It was pretty obvious from his state that he wasn¡¯t going to make it.

    Chu Yi grabbed hold of Yang Zichen and dragged him backwards so that Zhang Jing couldn¡¯t pounce on him, while Su Jin used both arms to hold Zhang Jing back and pulled her backwards as well.

    ¡°Find a rope!¡± There were a lot of random things in the storeroom, so it didn¡¯t take Chu Yi long to find one. It took the two men every bit of energy left inside them to finally tie her down properly.

    After they had tied her up securely, they went back to check on Yang Zichen. Unfortunately, Yang Zichen was no longer breathing. His entire Adam¡¯s apple had been swallowed by Zhang Jing just now, so even if he were still alive, he wouldn¡¯t have lived for much longer.

    As they looked at Yang Zichen¡¯s widened eyes, both Su Jin and Chu Yi looked terribly sad. But there was also clear traces of terror and despair in their eyes apart from their obvious sadness.

    From the moment they arrived in Fengxi Town, Liu Yingying had already warned them that they might die here. But when someone among them had actually died, both of them realized that they weren¡¯t prepared for it to happen at all. It was so hard to ept this reality.

    Su Jin ran his hand over Yang Zichen¡¯s face to close his eyelids; then, he gently patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder. Chu Yi turned to him and gave him a bitter smile before both of them turned to look towards Zhang Jing. Zhang Jing¡¯s face was still contorted, and her mouth was making weird noises. They could still see some bloodstains on her teeth. Blood that once belonged to Yang Zichen.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Why did things suddenly turn out this way?¡± Chu Yi slumped back down on one of the stools. The flying head outside was still trying to smash through the window, while Lin Yue was still trying to break the door down. Both of them were still in danger.

    ¡°I have no idea, but¡­ all of this could be connected to the sound of the bells.¡± Su Jin¡¯s mind was still quite alert. Lin Yue¡¯s sudden attack, the flying head outside the window, and Zhang Jing¡¯s sudden outburst had all happened right after the bells had sounded.

    ¡°And it¡¯s not only this time. Thest time we got attacked by a ghost, it also happened after the bells sounded!¡± Su Jin suddenly realized with a start that both attacks had urred after the sound of the bells.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Could the strange events in Fengxi Town be linked to the ce where the bells are ringing?¡± said Chu Yi puzzledly.

    ¡°I would think so. I think¡­ if we want to survive the night, we¡¯ve got two options. One is to keep running and escape any dangers thate our way. But it seems like taking that path is not going to be easy.¡± One of them had died, and another had gone mad. Su Jin didn¡¯t think they might be able to keep doing this until daybreak.

    ¡°What¡¯s our other option?¡±

    ¡°Find the source of this problem and resolve it.¡±

    Chu Yi fell silent. But his training in martial arts had taught him to tackle dangers head-on, so he gritted his teeth and came to a decision. ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll stop running. We didn¡¯t do anything until now, and we¡¯ve already lost onepanion. If we keep running, we might not survive either, so we might as well try to solve the root of the problem once and for all.¡±

    Su Jin was also thinking along the same lines. When it came to supernatural beings, just running away from them blindly was a stupid thing to do. One just had to look at the characters of a horror movie. Those who just ran for it tended to die the earliest.

    ¡°Hmm ¡­ did those two know about this right from the start? Was that why they headed that way immediately?¡± Su Jin suddenly thought about the first thing the aloof young man and Liu Yingying had done earlier.

    ¡°But what do we do with Zhang Jing? Do we bring her along?¡± asked Chu Yi.

    Su Jin nced at the struggling Zhang Jing and shook his head sadly. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. If we bring her along, we¡¯re definitely going to die. And I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s not going to make it either.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying we should just abandon her here?¡± Chu Yi was a little hesitant. Zhang Jing hadpletely lost her mind, but she was still one of theirpanions.

    But at the same time, he also agreed with Su Jin. If they had to bring Zhang Jing around in this state, all three of them were going to die. But it didn¡¯t seem right to leave her here to die either!

    Just then, they heard the sound of something breaking. The flying head had finally broken through the window and hadnded on the floor beside them.

    F to pay respects to fallenrades. First casualties of the novel, probably many, many more toe.

 Chapter 6: The Hunter and His Dog

    <h4>Chapter 6: The Hunter and His Dog</h4>

    After the white head flew into the storeroom, the two of them realized that the head was actually connected to something that was t and white like a piece of paper. At one nce, it looked like arge rectangr piece of paper with a whitentern hanging from one side.

    Perhaps because they had been frightened too many times in a short period of time, but they weren¡¯t really that scared to see that the head had made it into the storeroom. Chu Yi even picked up a wooden bat and started hacking at the head.

    But the wooden bat went right through the head, as if the head wasn¡¯t real. The two of them froze and didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. They had no idea what to do with a ghost.

    Just then, Zhang Jing started to struggle even more violently than before. She seemed very excited to see this ghost. The rope around her limbs quickly began to snap, and she managed to break free.

    But after she had broken the ropes around herself, she ignored Su Jin and Chu Yipletely and pounced towards the ghost instead. The ghost seemed very afraid of her and turned in horror as it tried to fly out of the window again. But Zhang Jing was faster than the ghost. Her mouth bit down on the paper-like body of the ghost; then, she breathed in so hard that she managed to swallow the ghost down.

    Boom!

    The door to the storeroom mmed open. Besides Lin Yue, her parents and her younger brother were also outside the door. The four of them glowered straight at the two inside the room.

    Su Jin was suddenly hit by a wave of despair. It looked impossible to escape such a situation. But Chu Yi didn¡¯t give up. He whispered to Su Jin, ¡°Brother Su, just run for it, I¡¯ll cover you!¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you saying? I¡¯m a grown man! I should be the one covering you, rather than letting a child cover my ass!¡± Su Jin hailed from a family of farmers in the mountains and was proud of growing up as a brave and loyal kid. He wasn¡¯t going to abandon Chu Yi just to save his own skin.

    ¡°You might not be as good a fighter as I am, you know?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯spete then! No matter what, if we can survive this, we¡¯re going to survive it together! And if we¡¯re going to die, we¡¯ll die together!¡± The two of them had only known each other for barely two hours, but the crises that they had gone through during this short period of time were more than all the ordeals that they had gone through their entire lives. The both of them knew very well that even if only one of them did actually manage to escape, it was hard for one person to survive by himself too.

    ¡°Shut up, both of you. Nobody is getting away.¡± The gentleness that Lin Yue possessed earlier had vanished, and she seemed like a different person now. Her gaze seemed too threatening.

    After she said that, both her father and younger brother pounced towards Su Jin and Chu Yi. They quickly got into a fighting stance because there was no way that they were going to let themselves be killed without putting up a fight. Besides, their attackers were humans and not ghosts, so they still stood a chance.

    But before they could start fighting, they felt a pain in the back of their necks before losing consciousness. Before fainting, Su Jin realized that they had both forgotten about the crazed Zhang Jing behind them.

    ¡°Grandma, you¡¯ve be so young,¡± said Lin Yue with a big smile as she walked towards Zhang Jing.

    Zhang Jing was a lot friendlier now, and she smiled devilishly at Lin Yue and her parents.

    After some time, Su Jin slowly regained consciousness. He didn¡¯t feel anything else besides a dull ache at the back of his head. But he couldn¡¯t move about freely, so he guessed that he had been tied up.

    He opened his eyes very slightly and didn¡¯t make any noise as he secretly observed his surroundings. He seemed to be tied up in the room that belonged to Auntie Li, and Auntie Li herself was sitting right in front of him. She sat on a low wooden stool as she sharpened a knife that looked like it was meant for ughtering animals on a sharpening stone.

    Chu Yi wasn¡¯t too far from him and was also tied to a pole like he was. He noticed that Chu Yi¡¯s eyelid twitched a little as Chu Yi nced at him stealthily. He had regained consciousness too, but he was also pretending to be unconscious like Su Jin was.

    ¡°Are you preparing to kill us both?¡± Su Jin decided to stop ying dead and asked Auntie Li.

    Auntie Li seemed to know that Su Jin was already awake, so she wasn¡¯t surprised and continued sharpening her knife patiently. And as she heard what Su Jin said, she replied without any expression on her face, ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. I¡¯m not the one who wants to kill you, so don¡¯t put the me on me once you¡¯re dead.¡±

    ¡°Oh? But you¡¯re spending so much time and effort into sharpening your knife. It would be such a waste if you didn¡¯t use it to kill someone,¡±ughed Su Jin.

    Auntie Li put the knife down, nced at Su Jin, then turned and pulled aside therge stic sheet behind her. Once she removed that stic sheet, a foul smell instantly hit Su Jin¡¯s nose. It was so gross that Su Jin furrowed his brow, and even Chu Yi¡¯s eyelids started twitching despite his best efforts to look like he was still unconscious.

    ¡°You killed those people?¡± Su Jin looked at what was behind the stic sheet, and saw that there was a pile of around 20 skulls or so scattered here and there. In other words, at least 20 people had died in this tiny room.

    ¡°As I said earlier, I don¡¯t do any killing. I¡­ just help them chop up the bodies.¡± Auntie Li¡¯s eyes flickered for a moment, and then she went back to sharpening her knife again.

    ¡°Who are those people? Aren¡¯t you in the same camp as them?¡± asked Su Jin in a low voice. He could sense something odd about Auntie Li¡¯s behavior.

    She shook her head. ¡°They¡¯re hunters, while I¡¯m just their dog. Have you ever met a hunter who treats their dog as their equal? If I do anything that goes against their will, they¡¯ll kill me and eat me without hesitation too.¡±

    ¡°If they¡¯re hunters, does that make us their prey?¡± Su Jin continued with another question.

    ¡°You two? I would say that everything in Fengxi Town are prey for them. You two just came at a time you shouldn¡¯t have,¡± Auntie Li replied to Su Jin¡¯s question without any reluctance.

    Since she seemed so cooperative, Su Jin quickly seized the chance to gather more information. Even though it seemed useless for them to know more in this situation, it was still better to find out more anyway.

    ¡°Why are you telling me so much? Aren¡¯t you afraid that they¡¯ll kill you too?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Both of you are going to die soon, anyway. Once they¡¯ve killed you, the two of you will be turned into human jerky. How much you know before you die is inconsequential.¡± Auntie Li said as she threw him a mocking smile.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched as he tried to sort and put the most useful information he had together. After looking around, he asked, ¡°By the way, when we were tricked intoing here, we heard that you were living here with your family. Where are the rest of your family?¡±

    ¡°Right next to you.¡± Auntie Li casually pointed to an area next to Su Jin.

    He turned, and his eyes widened. There were two more simr poles next to him with onerge skeleton and one smaller skeleton tied to them.

    ¡°They killed the rest of your family?¡±

    She didn¡¯t reply to him and just quietly nodded as she continued sharpening that knife, even though the knife was clearly sharp enough to slice through human flesh already.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take revenge?¡±

    ¡°Take revenge? Have you evere across an adult dog taking revenge on its owner for killing its child?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a clever one. So by bing a loyal dog to them, you¡¯ve been able to stay alive, and you¡¯re both fed and kept safe here. Compared to the two who are already dead and useless, this is a better choice.¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression was solemn, as if he really agreed with Auntie Li¡¯s decision.

    Auntie Li got up and walked over to Su Jin with the knife. She held the knife against his neck and red angrily at him as she said, ¡°I¡¯ve never had to kill one of the hunters¡¯ prey, so don¡¯t force me to break that now.¡±

    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re a person who doesn¡¯t even dare to avenge your dead family members! So how could you dare to break the hunters¡¯ rules? What a joke!¡± sneered Su Jin with a mocking look on his face.

    It seemed like Su Jin¡¯s attitude had really angered Auntie Li. The de was about to cut into Su Jin¡¯s skin, so he tried his best to stretch his neck away from the sharp knife.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get so agitated. You should know what you can do, what you can¡¯t do, and¡­ what we can help you do,¡± said Su Jin in a low voice. He had purposely agitated Auntie Li not because he was hoping to get killed, but to try and rile up her anger towards Lin Yue and her family for killing her family members. That was the only way to make an obedient and loyal dog turn on its owners.

    Auntie Li clearly understood what Su Jin was implying. She kept the knife away and stared straight into his eyes.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Simple. Help us to get out of this ce, and we¡¯ll help you take revenge,¡± said Su Jin in a serious voice.

    She stared at him in surprise for a while before scoffing. ¡°The two of you? Help me? If you were capable of dealing with the hunters, you wouldn¡¯t end up in this state now.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re mistaken. We ended up like this not because we were incapable of dealing with them, but because we didn¡¯t get a chance to show what we were capable of. You just need to do us a small favor, and you¡¯ll get the chance to take revenge. That¡¯s a really good deal for you.¡± Su Jin seemed to have be a wily salesman as he tried to tempt Auntie Li into striking a deal with him.

    ¡°It¡¯s a small favor in terms of what I have to do, but it could cost me my life. And if my life¡¯s at stake, it¡¯s not a good deal anymore.¡± Auntie Li shook her head and didn¡¯t seem convinced.

    Su Jin smiled as he stretched his neck nonchntly and said, ¡°Looks like you still don¡¯t realize how much you¡¯re worth. Think about it. If a hunter had a group of hunting dogs and one of them made a mistake, the hunter would definitely punish that dog. But if the hunters only had one dog¡­ what does Aunty Li think the hunters would do?¡±

    Auntie Li froze for a moment and seemed to waver, so Su Jin quickly continued, ¡°I know you¡¯re not very confident of us, but at least you have got a chance now. If you miss this chance, who knows how long you¡¯ll have to wait for another chance toe by? Would you even get another chance?¡±

    She remained silent for a moment and seemed to be struggling internally. After some time, she suddenly looked up and said to Su Jin, ¡°They¡¯ve gone hunting around town, so you two don¡¯t have a lot of time to run. Also¡­ if you two get caught, you must never say that I was the one who let you go.¡±

    Su Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief as he nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we have no reason to drag you down with us.¡±

    She nodded and used the knife in her hands to cut through the ropes around Su Jin¡¯s limbs. Then she went over to cut the ones around Chu Yi¡¯s limbs and said with a sneer, ¡°You can stop pretending. You regained consciousness earlier than he did, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Chu Yi stopped pretending to be unconscious and opened his eyes to smile sheepishly at Su Jin. After the two of them were freed, she said to them, ¡°You know what to say if you get caught, right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. You were ambushed by us, and that¡¯s how we got away.¡± Su Jin nodded and said to Chu Yi, ¡°Knock her out!¡±

    While Chu Yi was hesitating about whether he should knock out an olderdy like Auntie Li, Auntie Li said, ¡°They¡¯ll return once the bells start ringing again, so you only have around 20 minutes at best. I suggest you check their rooms to see if there¡¯s anything that could be of help to you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the suggestion. But do you know what the bells in Fengxi Town represent?¡± Su Jin was really puzzled about the ringing of these bells and what they signified.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. I just know that every time the bells ring, both the hunters and the town will go through a change of some kind.¡± She then nodded at Chu Yi to go ahead and knock her out.

    After she gave him permission to do so, Chu Yi didn¡¯t hesitate any longer. He struck her on the back of her neck, and she copsed onto the floor immediately.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to hurry. Let¡¯s go to Lin Yue¡¯s room first,¡± said Su Jin to Chu Yi before running out of Auntie Li¡¯s room.

 Chapter 7: Information in the Diary

    <h4>Chapter 7: Information in the Diary</h4>

    Su Jin and Chu Yi carefully made their way into the rooms that belonged to Lin Yue and her family members. Chu Yi just wanted to leave the ce as soon as possible, but Su Jin insisted on looking through the rooms first.

    ¡°Bro, they¡¯ll be back anytime now. If we don¡¯t leave now, we won¡¯t make it,¡± said Chu Yi anxiously.

    Su Jin was a lot steadier with his thoughts than Chu Yi was. Su Jin knew that it would be safer if they ran away now, but Auntie Li¡¯s talk about the hunters really bothered him. He had a strange feeling inside that these hunters could be the key to their survival.

    ¡°Rx, it won¡¯t take a long time for us to look through this room. Let¡¯s move quickly and leave as soon as possible.¡± Once Su Jin was done assuring Chu Yi, he focused all his attention on searching the room.

    A few minutester, the two hadbed through the fairly small rooms once, and Su Jin now held onto two notebooks. The owners of these two notebooks were Lin Yue and her younger brother. They didn¡¯t find anything else of value in these rooms.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± As Su Jin and Chu Yi quickly left, Su Jin nced one more time at the part of the wooden fence that had been repaired before. He realized that it had probably broken when someone who had been captured by Lin Yue and her family had tried to escape. But he had no idea if they were sessful.

    Once they got out, the two of them ran as far away from the house as they could and finally stopped to discuss a few things. They couldn¡¯t leave Fengxi Town, so as they decided, instead of running all the time, it was probably better to look for the source of the problem. Their chances of survival would probably be greater if they did that, plus Su Jin guessed that the two veterans were probably not too far from that ce.

    ¡°I¡¯ve made some rough calctions. We¡¯ve heard the bells twice, and it¡¯s about two hours in between each one. It won¡¯t be long before the bells ring a third time, which means that we¡¯ve already stayed in this town for four hours. The Handbook needs us to stay here for one night, and most people define 6 am to be the end of night-time. In other words, we just need to survive the next two hours, and we¡¯ll make it out of here alive.¡± Su Jin and Chu Yi continued their journey towards the location where the sound of the bells wereing from.

    ¡°Are you certain that everything will be over once the bells ring for the fourth time?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be certain. It¡¯s just my guess. But even if it¡¯s not the end yet, at least it¡¯s a possibility.¡±

    ¡°What makes you so sure?¡± asked Chu Yi puzzledly.

    Su Jin used his right index finger to tap his nose absentmindedly and exined, ¡°Think about it this way. After the bells rang the first time, the situation in the house we were hiding in suddenly became dangerous. When the bells rang a second time, Lin Yue, Zhang Jing, and that white head started going crazy at the same time. Auntie Li said just now that the hunters will return when the bells ring for the third time. Based on that, I¡¯m sure that the bells represent a limit of sorts, and everything within Fengxi Town has to respect those limits during this time.¡±

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is¡­ everything in Fengxi Town happens ording to these limits, so when the bells ring for the fourth time, everything wille to an end?¡± Chu Yi seemed to understand Su Jin¡¯s logic.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t nod. He stopped walking and said, ¡°I¡¯m really not sure if everything wille to an end or not, but when the bells ring for the fourth time, we should be able to unravel this mystery.¡±

    DONG!

    Just then, the bells began to ring for the third time. The entire town resonated with the sound of the bells ringing. Su Jin and Chu Yi turned to look nervously at Lin Yue¡¯s house from afar and saw that some people had just walked into the house. And it didn¡¯t take long for the howls of Auntie Li to pierce through the air.

    ¡°What have they done to Auntie Li?¡± Chu Yi widened his eyes.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression was grim. Auntie Li had been punished, after all, he thought. Then, he started tugging at Chu Yi to start walking again. It was better to move further away from there.

    To their surprise, their journey was quiet even after they had covered some distance. None of the strange paranormal things they had seen earlier appeared again. Instead, some ces they passed through were in a mess, and from the marks left on the floor, it looked like a fight had happened in these areas not too long ago.

    ¡°Auntie Li said that everything in Fengxi Town are prey, so this must have been where Lin Yue and her family hunted,¡± thought Su Jin to himself. But it wasn¡¯t a bad thing either. If Lin Yue and her family hadn¡¯t cleared this path for them, their journey towards the bells might not have been this smooth.

    Su Jin opened one of the notebooks, and it was Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother¡¯s diary. The entries stopped halfway through the notebook. The entries, in the beginning, were normal, but they started to change after 15 July 1967. Su Jin couldn¡¯t glean much from the contents, but he could understand the terror that the brother felt from the way he wrote. Most of the entries were about how he hid in his father¡¯s room and refused to see anyone, as if he was hiding from something.

    ¡°1967 ¡­ that¡¯s 50 years ago. In other words, Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother is actually past 60.¡± It was hard for Su Jin and Chu Yi to imagine that the strange boy they had met earlier was actually an old man.

    ¡°If Lin Yue¡¯s younger brother is past 60, doesn¡¯t that mean Lin Yue herself is nearly 80? Her parents have to be over a hundred by now, right? Do none of them grow old at all?!¡± remarked Chu Yi.

    Su Jin ignored Chu Yi and went on to read Lin Yue¡¯s diary. Compared to her brother, her entries were a lot clearer. The entries also started bing strange around the same date. Something had clearly happened to the town during that time.

    15 July, Cloudy

    Our neighbor, Auntie Li, and her family have returned from the capital city. They left many years ago, apparently before I was born. But they¡¯vee back because they said they couldn¡¯t get used to city life. But a lot of the vigers are saying that they probably couldn¡¯t survive in the city. After all, here, you can literally find food by digging in the vegetable patches, but you can¡¯t do that in the city. Speaking of digging up stuff, a bunch of people dug out a ck-colored stone from the area behind the shrine. It looks really scary, and it looks like a gigantic ck eyeball.

    16 July, Cloudy

    The Catholic priest said that the ck eyeball was demonic and told us to hand it to him. The Daoist priest also said that that thing was unlucky and even performed a rite. Even the monk from the Buddhist temple came to take a look at it. Actually, it seems like Fengxi Town didn¡¯t have any such priests and monks in the past. These people only suddenly appeared some years back. But they¡¯re all good people who take care of the old folks in the vige who don¡¯t have anybody else to rely on, so everyone¡¯s quite happy.

    17 July, Drizzle

    I heard something bad happened! The ck stone that looks like an eyeball was ced in the shrine, but this morning, everything in the shrine had been broken, and Uncle Wu, the old man who keeps watch over the shrine by himself, is dead too. Nobody can find that ck eyeball stone either. Today was such a mess.

    18 July, Drizzle

    Grandpa isn¡¯t in very good physical health, and he seems to be out of it too. He keeps talking about gods and ghosts, and he even kneeled in front of the altar in the house the whole morning. Neither Mom nor Dad could get him to get up, and Grandma was the one who finally managed to persuade him. After eating lunch, he went into his own room to sleep and never came out again.

    19 July, Cloudy

    The ck eyeball stone has been found, and I heard they dug it out from Uncle Wu¡¯s mouth. How gross! Grandpa¡¯s health doesn¡¯t seem to have gotten any better, and he even needs Grandma to bring his food into the room. Also, the Catholic priest, the Daoist priest, and the Buddhist monk have all stoppeding to the town. Everyone¡¯s faces are grim, and nobody knows what¡¯s going on anymore.

    The diary entries continued all the way until the end of August, and most of it was about how her grandfather wasn¡¯t in good health and how her grandmother had to take care of him as well as how Auntie Li was a nice person who gave Lin Yue things she bought from the capital city. The creepiest part was how several people died one after another, and it always had something to do with that ck stone that resembled an eyeball. The vigers were able to pry that stone from the mouths of every person who died, but it didn¡¯t make sense. There was only one ck stone, but they had pulled it out from more than a dozen people¡¯s mouths.

    Lin Yue¡¯s entries also became more and more frantic, and thest entry was on 30 August.

    .

    30 August, Partly cloudy

    Grandpa passed away this morning, but I think it¡¯s more like a release for him. My brother¡¯s behaving more and more strangely. He kept hiding in Dad¡¯s room and refused toe out even when we told him that Grandpa had breathed hisst. Also, I¡¯m really scared. The ck stone has already killed more than a dozen people, and nobody knows who¡¯s next. Grandma consoled me by saying that I don¡¯t have to be afraid since we have the protection of God, but that¡¯s crazy. Neither the Catholic priest, the Daoist priest, nor the Buddhist monkes to the town anymore, so what God is going to protect me? I heard that they had all moved to the top of the mountain on the west side of town, but I don¡¯t know why they did that. Also, Grandma was really depressed over Grandpa¡¯s death, so she kept all of his hand rolled cigarettes, saying that she wanted them as a memento.

    It seemed like there were more entries after that, but they had been torn out. There were probably another ten odd pages that had been torn out of the diary. But whatever Su Jin had read contained a lot of information already.

    ¡°A ck stone that looked like an eyeball, a Catholic priest, a Daoist priest, a Buddhist monk ¡­ and Lin Yue¡¯s dead grandfather!¡± Su Jin began tapping his nose with his index finger out of habit again. It wasn¡¯t quite possible for him to draw a link between all these pieces of information yet, so he had to put them aside for the moment.

    ¡°Wait, a Buddhist temple, a Daoist temple, and a Catholic church would all have bells!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up suddenly. The bells they had been hearing all this time had probablye from one of these ces. The diary mentioned that all three religious men had moved to the top of the mountain on the west side of town, so he looked towards the west and saw that there was indeed a low mountain located over there.

    The mountain wasn¡¯t too far off, so it was probably still within Fengxi Town¡¯s boundaries. Now Su Jin had a destination to head for.

    But just then, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He turned to see someone wrapped entirely in a cloak holding a longbow made from white bones. The bowstring had been pulled back and had shiny sparkles gathered on it.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi felt all their hair stand on end. Something told them that those sparkles were very dangerous, as if they would die on the spot if just one of the sparkles hit them.

    ¡°Run! Run up that mountain!¡± yelled Su Jin before the two of them quickly ran in two different directions instinctively.

    ¡°Haha¡­ Hey hey! Heee heee¡­ haha¡­!¡± The person covered in the cloak startedughing creepily as he released his hand, and the sparkles shot out, heading straight for Su Jin¡¯s back.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t need to turn around to know that the sparkles were headed for him, because the flying sparkles were apanied by a roaring sound. He quickly jumped to the side and rolled on the ground.

    But some of the sparkles still brushed past his arm. He felt a sudden pain in his arm before his entire arm turned to ash and vanished into the air.

    In case it''s confusing, the first bell was the one that was heard at midnight, which signified the beginning of the challenge. Then they heard another one 2 hourster, and Su Jin says that the third one would ring in a bit of time. So then, it would be 4 hours.

    Bruh.

 Chapter 8: Murder

    <h4>Chapter 8: Murder</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s entire left arm had literally turned to nothing but dust, which seemed really unreal. If not for the intense pain that followed after, Su Jin would have thought that he was just dreaming.

    The terrible pain made Su Jin curl up into a ball on the ground, but his rational side told him he couldn¡¯t just lie here because the monster with the longbow was still around. Stopping to rest now would definitely result in his own death.

    His survival instinct made him continue running despite the immense pain he felt. He looked like a mess, but when one¡¯s life was at stake, who cared if you looked cool or not!

    His arm didn¡¯t bleed, which was probably a blessing in disguise. For some reason, after those sparkles turned his arm into ash, the wound looked like it had been cauterized, so it didn¡¯t bleed at all. Otherwise, the amount of blood that he would lose from such arge wound would have sent him into shock, and he probably would have died from the sheer loss of blood.

    .

    But that monster didn¡¯t run after Su Jin. He just pointed at Su Jin, and two people in ck appeared from behind him and began running towards Su Jin. At the same time, two others in ck were also running after Chu Yi. The monster just continued walking along at a leisurely pace.

    Su Jin was panting heavily, and he could barely catch his breath, but he didn¡¯t dare to stop. The pain in his shoulder seemed to have hit its maximum, so it actually didn¡¯t seem as unbearable as before.

    ¡°I can¡¯t just keep running like this. My body won¡¯t be able to take it much longer, and I¡¯m doomed if I suddenly copse after running out of energy. I¡¯ve got to find a ce to rest.¡± Su Jin knew his own body well. Thest time he ran more than a mile was when he was still a student. Over the past two years, all he had done was either work overtime in the office or sleep in his cer, so his physical health was in terrible shape. The fact that he had been able to run for so long despite the major injury he suffered surprised even himself.

    The two people chasing after him were still hot on his heels, so he had no choice but to keep running. Thankfully, there was a barn up ahead. After years of weathering, the barn was only left with its frame, but that was enough to block their view of him.

    He quickly turned and entered the barn. He had barely caught his bnce when he heard the two behind him catch up with him. When he hid in a corner and peeked out, he realized that he knew the two who had been running after him. It was Lin Yue and her father.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that monster!¡± he thought to himself as he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If the ones chasing him were like that monster, he was probably doomed.

    After he quietly took in two deep breaths to calm down, he whipped his knife out. This wasn¡¯t that blunt and rusty knife that he got from the first house they were in. This was that sharp knife that Auntie Li had been sharpening the entire time he had been unconscious.

    He now had a knife sharp enough to kill, so he narrowed his eyes to watch what the other two were doing. After Su Jin suddenly disappeared in front of them, they immediately focused their attention on the barn. The two of them stood further apart in case Su Jin suddenly made a surprise attack.

    But after they both walked into the barn, they frowned, because they couldn¡¯t find Su Jin anywhere at all. The barn was empty, and there wasn¡¯t any ce around them to hide at all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go out and take a look; you search for him here,¡± Lin Yue said to her father. Her tone of voice was so emotionless. It was as if two robots were speaking to one another.

    Lin Yue left the barn, while her father started walking aimlessly around the barn. But when he got to one corner of the barn, he stopped walking because there was a small pile of hay there.

    An eerie smile spread across his face as he walked quietly towards that pile of hay and swung his arms to warm up. But just when he bent over to remove the hay, he felt somethingnd on his back and something cold on his neck. Something started flowing out from his neck, and his fingers weren¡¯t enough to stop the flow.

    Su Jin licked his lips as he nced around outside to make sure Lin Yue hadn¡¯t discovered what just happened in the barn. Before the two had entered the barn earlier, he had managed to climb onto the roof of the barn in order to escape their detection. He held the knife with his mouth and used his one arm and two legs to hang onto the beams of the roof.

    The beams were rotting away from years of weathering, so Su Jin felt that if he had to stay up there any longer, he would havended right in front of them.

    Thankfully, one of them left the barn, so he quickly took this chance to jump down and kill the father. Auntie Li¡¯s knife was really sharp and killed him very quickly. He was initially afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the father quickly and quietly, since he could only use one arm. If there was amotion here and Lin Yue came back in, he wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with both of them at once, and would definitely be the one to die instead.

    But it only took one knife and one slit of the throat. Lin Yue¡¯s father couldn¡¯t even fight back and copsed quickly onto the ground. Su Jin noticed the green liquid on the de and frowned. Even though he already guessed that Lin Yue and his family weren¡¯t humans, the green liquid proved his conjecture was right.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t intend to fight Lin Yue head-on. He had been lucky enough to kill her father, since he had been caught unawares. Su Jin didn¡¯t have the confidence to fight Lin Yue in a one-on-one fight.

    He held the knife with his mouth, climbed up the barn again, picked up a rock and flung it hard against one of the pirs. The loud thud sound it made attracted Lin Yue¡¯s attention, and she walked into the barn. He took this chance to quickly climb down the other side of the barn while keeping himself out of her line of sight. At the same time, Lin Yue had discovered her father¡¯s body.

    ¡°He¡¯s gotten away!¡± There was no sorrow in Lin Yue¡¯s eyes at all. She walked out of the barn without even looking back. Once she had ascertained which direction Su Jin had escaped in, she started running after him again.

    Thanks to that short break, Su Jin had regained a bit of energy. The headstart he had gotten also meant that he didn¡¯t have to run so hard anymore either.

    That was the first time Su Jin had killed anybody, and normally, it should have been very hard for him toe to terms with what he had done. But when faced with a life and death situation, he had to force himself to ept this reality by telling himself that the one he killed just now was a monster that was no longer human.

    After a short while, Su Jin arrived at the foot of the mountain. The mountain wasn¡¯t very high, and it was probably less than 300 feet to the peak. He could roughly make out the silhouette of a temple in the moonlight.

    He didn¡¯t waste any more time and started running up the mountain. Shortly after he started his ascent, he heard some footsteps behind him. He held his knife in his hand and hid behind arge tree.

    The sound of the footsteps came closer and closer. Suddenly, someone appeared in front of him, and Su Jin raised his knife but didn¡¯t bring it down because he realized that this person was actually Chu Yi.

    ¡°Chu Yi!¡±

    ¡°Brother Su! You¡¯re okay!¡± Chu Yi looked pleasantly surprised. He had seen how Su Jin¡¯s arm had literally turned to ashes, and he thought that Su Jin was doomed for sure. He was happy to see that Su Jin had not only survived but had also arrived at the mountain ahead of him.

    ¡°Not gonna die so quickly. Was someone running after you just now?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Chu Yi nodded, and his gaze lost its focus. Su Jin noticed a familiar-looking green liquid on his arms and patted his shoulder. ¡°You got rid of them?¡±

    ¡°There were two of them, Lin Yue¡¯s mother and younger brother. I lured them to an open field, then¡­ I killed them both,¡± said Chu Yi as his expression faltered and went into a daze. Taking the life of another person for the first time was something that struck fear into a person, regardless of whether that person had been trained inbat or not.

    ¡°No¡­ Lin Yue¡¯s mother and younger brother were both¡­ they were both very weak¡­ they were just an ordinary teenager and middle-ageddy with no technique or strength, so it didn¡¯t take a lot of effort,¡± said Chu Yi sadly. If the two of them had been powerful monsters, he might not have felt so guilty about taking their lives.

    Killing two monsters who were weaker than himself and still looked like humans threw Chu Yi into emotional turmoil, because he felt like he had seriously just killed a child and a woman.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what they are, but they¡¯re definitely not human. Have you ever seen a human with green blood? Have you ever seen any humans who don¡¯t age or die even after decades have passed? Besides, they were trying to kill you, so you had to defend yourself. Do you get what I¡¯m trying to say?¡± Su Jin patted Chu Yi¡¯s face and hoped that Chu Yi could pull himself together.

    ¡°Brother Su, how¡¯s your arm doing?¡± Chu Yi looked at Su Jin¡¯s shoulder and was surprised that the wound looked like that. The ckened wound where an arm should have been looked really frightening.

    Su Jin smiled bitterly and shook his head, then held out his knife to Chu Yi. ¡°You can hold on to this. I only have one arm now, so I can¡¯t get much done.¡±

    Chu Yi hesitated, but after Su Jin nodded at him to take it, he took the knife from Su Jin. ¡°So, do we continue going up the mountain?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I hope the two veterans are already up there. It¡¯s not cool, but looking for someone else to protect us is our only option now.¡± Su Jin knew how bad his own condition was. If he left his wound to fester, it was definitely going to get worse. It was already bad enough, so if it got worse, he was going to die from an infection instead.

    As Chu Yi helped him up the mountain, Su Jin started reading the Handbook again. He had taken it out several times throughout the night, but there wasn¡¯t any change in the contents. But this time, his eyes immediately lit up because there was something new written inside.

    ¡°The sound of the bells! It is the sound of death, but it is also the sound of hope! The shadow in the darkness is an attacker, but he is also a victim! How should one walk down this path that goes up and down and round and round?¡±

    The additional content that had appeared in the Handbook wasn¡¯t much, but it was still something. However, the content was a little abstract and looked more like a riddle of sorts.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of this? Is it a riddle?¡± Chu Yi sounded defeated because he had hoped that the Handbook would give them clear information on how to survive the night. But Su Jin had never counted on the Handbook to give them any clear and direct answers. Besides, the new content in the Handbook did give him a few clues.

    He started to break these words down as much as possible. The bells mentioned were probably referring to the sound of the bells that came from the temple on the mountain. ¡°Sound of death¡± probably referred to the sudden and frightening changes that happened within Fengxi Town, while ¡°sound of hope¡± was probably exactly what Su Jin had guessed earlier. Once the bells rang for the fourth time, this crazy night was going to finally end.

    Since the first two lines carried a deeper meaning, thest two lines probably meant something too. The attacker was also a victim? Su Jin¡¯s eyes slowly began to light up, as if he had managed to make sense of this mystery.

    ¡°How¡¯s your arm doing¡±: How do you think? He doesn¡¯t have one anymore. Mans really a clown fr.

 Chapter 9: Jiang Li

    <h4>Chapter 9: Jiang Li</h4>

    ¡°The attacker and the victim¡­ could it be that¡­ but there¡¯s still something missing. If I can¡¯t close this loop, then all my assumptions will not be able to stand.¡± Su Jin felt that he had more or less figured the whole thing out, but he needed some more information to prove that his conjecture was right.

    Just then, Chu Yi suddenly pulled Su Jin behind him. Lin Yue had caught up with them and was only a short distance away. When she spotted them, she started running towards them immediately. Her movements resembled a hungry wild beast much more than a human.

    Chu Yi was already prepared to fight, and she came within less than ten meters from them in seconds. Suddenly, a green sh shot through the air and went right through Lin Yue¡¯s shoulder.

    Both Chu Yi and Su Jin were stunned because they didn¡¯t expect that to happen at all. That green sh had rained down from the sky but had hit Lin Yue very urately, so Su Jin was certain that it was no coincidental strike of lightning or anything like that.

    And just like what he thought, someone walked out from behind the both of them. Su Jin breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw who it was. It was that aloof young man who had been with them when they first arrived here.

    ¡°You guys are still alive? Not bad,¡±plimented the aloof man as he nodded at them before marching towards Lin Yue.

    Su Jin turned to look at Lin Yue and realized that the sh that had pierced Lin Yue¡¯s shoulder earlier was actually a spear, but he didn¡¯t recall the aloof man holding onto any weapon like that earlier. Lin Yue had been pinned to the ground by the spear, but she was still struggling nonstop, as if she couldn¡¯t feel any pain at all.

    ¡°Are you going to kill her?¡± Su Jin asked.

    The aloof man didn¡¯t answer Su Jin¡¯s question. He bent over, and his face came very close to Lin Yue¡¯s as he snapped, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve got that smell. Were you the one who killed my guy?!¡±

    Lin Yue opened her mouth in an attempt to bite him since his face was so close to hers, but he had kept a sufficient distance from her to prevent this from happening.

    After Su Jin heard what the aloof man had said to Lin Yue, he btedly realized that the middle-aged man wasn¡¯t with him, so he guessed that the middle-aged man had probably perished.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened? Did the older guy with you die?¡± asked Su Jin.

    This time, the aloof man replied to Su Jin¡¯s question in a frosty voice, ¡°He was asking for it. An idiot will not survive a Handbook challenge for long.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Su Jin shrugged and didn¡¯t probe any further.

    ¡°Your shoulder ¡­ who did that to you?¡± The aloof man¡¯s eyes lit up when he finally noticed Su Jin¡¯s missing arm and asked about it.

    ¡°Thanks for the concern,¡± replied Su Jin sarcastically. But he could see that the aloof man was very intrigued by his injury and a thought hit him. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is there something wrong with my wound?¡±

    ¡°My guy ¡­ had the same sort of wound on him,¡± replied the aloof man.

    Su Jin realized why the aloof man was staring so intently at his injury and said, ¡°In that case, you¡¯ve gotten the wrong person. The one who did this to my arm wasn¡¯t this woman. It was a strange creature who wore a cloak that covered its entire body and carried a longbow that waspletely made from bones. This woman just follows its instructions, that¡¯s all.¡±

    The aloof man didn¡¯t question Su Jin¡¯s words. He nced at Lin Yue, then said, ¡°Come with me to look for that creature.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s as good as sending me to my grave!¡±

    ¡°If you stay close to me, you won¡¯t die!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! What¡¯s going on now? Are you hoping to avenge your friend?!¡± retorted Su Jin. The atmosphere between them instantly grew tense and awkward, and Chu Yi didn¡¯t know what to say either.

    ¡°That¡­ that was just an ident! It happened because he refused to listen to me.¡± The usually confident man actually started stammering, and Su Jin could even see the awkwardness in his expression.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t bring you to that thing because it¡¯s really too powerful for me. Even if you promise to protect me, it¡¯s still risky. I¡¯m just a newbie around here, so I just want to survive tonight.¡± Su Jin was apologetic, but at the same time, he was hoping for protection from further harm. Choosing to follow a madman blinded by revenge was definitely a bad idea.

    ¡°You still don¡¯t get it. This is a Level B challenge, so nowhere is safe in a challenge like that. Not even someone like me is confident of getting through it. It¡¯s actually safer if the two of you follow me instead,¡± the aloof man said to the other two.

    Su Jin fell silent for a while before asking, ¡°I¡¯m very curious. What does this Level B difficulty refer to? Is there an actual scale of sorts to the Handbook¡¯s missions?¡±

    ¡°The challenges are split into four levels from A to D, with D being the simplest. In general, a trained soldier from the special forces will have more than a 50% chance of getting through it as long as he has enough ammunition on hand.¡±

    ¡°At Level C, someone as powerful as maybe¡­ Batman would have a higher than 50% chance of getting through as long as he¡¯s fully equipped.¡±

    ¡°Level B is not a level that ordinary humans can deal with easily because this leveles with enemies with supernatural powers. Even veterans will not be able to say for sure if they¡¯d get through.¡±

    ¡°As for Level A, you will face a level of destruction that can destroy the whole world or face a threat to your life so great that it is almost impossible to protect yourself against it. You¡¯d have to y dirty and hope that you¡¯re lucky enough to get through it. But to be honest, it¡¯s very rare to get such a high-level challenge. However, if you do get it¡­ just start praying!¡± The aloof man answered Su Jin¡¯s question in great detail this time.

    But this made Su Jin frown as he eximed, ¡°If even the easiest level is too hard for ordinary people like us, then isn¡¯t it unreasonable to give newbies like us a Level B challenge?¡±

    ¡°I see you¡¯ve finally realized it,¡± said the aloof man as a strange smile spread across his face.

    Su Jin froze for a while before he smacked his own forehead and looked like he had a eureka moment. ¡°I see! The difficulty of the challenge rises as time goes by, which means to say that the actual Level B danger will only arise towards thest part of the challenge. But if it only appears during thest part of the challenge, it won¡¯t be long before the challengees to an end. If the remaining time is too short¡­ then the chances of surviving the challenge itself will increase! Besides¡­ this challenge is probably aimed at veterans like you guys and is probably meant to be just an experience for the newbies, right?¡±

    The aloof man was very surprised. He didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to connect the dots so quickly. He nodded slightly and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. So even though this challenge may sound very dangerous for a newbie, it¡¯s not entirely impossible for you guys to get through it.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ that¡¯s all the more reason I shouldn¡¯t go with you.¡± Su Jin red at the aloof man and said, ¡°If this challenge is for veterans like you, then I should stay as far away from you as possible, shouldn¡¯t I?!¡±

    The aloof man was stunned by Su Jin¡¯s response. He didn¡¯t think Su Jin woulde to such a conclusion. He quickly said, ¡°It¡¯s toote to hide now, don¡¯t you think? This woman wasing after the both of you, and your arm has already been injured by that strange creature, so it¡¯s clear that you¡¯re a target now. I¡¯m afraid their current priority is you and not the veterans.¡±

    ¡°You have a point,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. He asked, ¡°Is the temple safe?¡±

    ¡°At the moment, it is. Liu Yingying is already there making preparations,¡± the aloof man replied with a slight nod.

    ¡°Chu Yi, head over to the temple now!¡± Su Jin said to Chu Yi.

    ¡°What about you? Aren¡¯t youing with me?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°You heard him. I¡¯m their target now, so nowhere is safe for me to hide.¡±

    ¡°But they came after us at the same time. Doesn¡¯t that make me a target as well?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t argue with me! If we run separate ways, each of us has only a 50% chance of being discovered. So, let¡¯s promise each other now that whoever gets discovered will help to stall for time, okay?¡± Su Jin red hard at Chu Yi, then he whispered, ¡°Besides, if we hang onto a more powerful person each, we¡¯d probably be safer.¡±

    The aloof man was amused by what Su Jin was saying, but he didn¡¯t make anyments. He just wanted one person to help him find that creature. Bringing a second person would only be a burden to him.

    Chu Yi didn¡¯t know what else to say, so he nodded and passed the knife in his hands back to Su Jin. ¡°Bro, I think you¡¯d better take this to protect yourself.¡±

    Su Jin took the knife from Chu Yi and nodded before hurrying Chu Yi towards the temple. After Chu Yi had left, Su Jin said to the aloof man, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Jiang Li.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Su Jin. Actually¡­ you aren¡¯t really looking for that monster for the sake of revenge, right?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Jiang Li froze for two seconds before pulling the spear out from Lin Yue¡¯s shoulder, and then, he used the spear to break her four limbs. But even as Lin Yuey paralyzed on the ground, she was still screaming and growling at them. As Su Jin looked at her writhing on the ground, he found it hard to imagine how this woman had once looked so gentle and approachable when he had first met her.

    ¡°Did I ever say it was for revenge?¡± Jiang Li returned the question with his own question.

    Su Jinughed and started walking away from the mountain as he said, ¡°Let me make it clear that the monster we¡¯re looking for is extremely powerful. The longbow he carries can shoot these sparkly particles, and my left arm became like this because a tiny bit of the particles hit it.¡±

    ¡°Drink this down.¡± Jiang Li handed a thumb-sized ss bottle that had a purple liquid inside it to Su Jin.

    Su Jin shook the ss bottle and poured everything into his mouth without hesitation. Once the purple liquid entered his stomach, he felt a cool sensation spread through his body. The area where it hurt terribly earlier felt instant relief, which energized Su Jin greatly.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Su Jin exhaled deeply before continuing what he was saying earlier, ¡°I¡¯m not too sure about the rest, because I¡¯ll need to prove some of my guesses right first.¡±

    ¡°Well, you seem to be a smart one. Such people have a higher chance of surviving the Handbook¡¯s challenges.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for thepliment. But first, let¡¯s get through tonight.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, you¡¯d better start praying hard now!¡±

    ¡°I trust my own brain more than prayers,¡± said Su Jin as he pointed at his head. His ns and actions had all been purely reactive ones because he knew too little about Fengxi Town. He strongly believed that if he had enough information about what was going on, his chances of surviving the night would increase dramatically.

    Jiang Li didn¡¯t disagree. ¡°It¡¯s good to believe in yourself, but you must understand that while some things require more brainpower, other things require more physical strength. And tonight in Fengxi Town, brawn is more important than brain!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. I¡¯m almost there¡­ just let me find a few more clues, and I¡¯ll piece this puzzle together,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. He took a deep breath and said to Jiang Li, ¡°Since you¡¯re not doing this for revenge and I don¡¯t think you¡¯re hoping to die either, I suppose the only other reason would be that you¡¯re doing this for some sort of benefit!¡±

 Chapter 10: Understanding

    <h4>Chapter 10: Understanding</h4>

    Jiang Li stopped walking and looked Su Jin up and down with a frown before he said, ¡°You know, I know an asshole who¡¯s just like you. I¡¯ve already punched him a number of times.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s not as handsome as me, I assume,¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    ¡°You¡¯re a really confident one, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Not particrly. But you haven¡¯t punched me yet, so that must be the reason, right?¡± said Su Jin with a smug smile, which really amused Jiang Li.

    As Jiang Li continued walking, he said, ¡°Every challenge that the Handbook poses is extremely dangerous. Possessing some intelligence will help you to survive longer, but I want you to understand one thing. Do not use this good brain of yours to scheme against me. If I find out that you¡¯re plotting against me, believe me, I¡¯ll be a bigger threat to you than any of the enemies you¡¯ve faced so far.¡±

    The way Jiang Li spoke was so imposing and so domineering that Su Jin felt as though someone was holding him by the throat.

    ¡°Got it. Besides¡­ I¡¯m counting on you to protect me, so I won¡¯t be stupid enough to plot against you,¡± said Su Jin meekly as cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

    Jiang Li was satisfied with Su Jin¡¯s response and gave a pleased nod. The terrifying aura he exuded disappeared as well. ¡°Excellent. Alright then, you may ask me questions about Hell¡¯s Handbook. I¡¯ll try to answer you as best as I can. That¡¯ll be your reward for bringing me to that creature.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, okay. What¡¯s the biggest difference between a newbie like me and a veteran like you?¡± asked Su Jin with almost no hesitation.

    ¡°You are an irritating fellow, after all. Trying to sniff out my weaknesses with your very first question?¡± After giving it a thought, Jiang Li said, ¡°Veterans here are generally defined as owners of the Handbook who have activated their Spirit Power. So, the difference between them and a newbie would be Spirit Power.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s first question was actually a really intelligent one. He didn¡¯t ask specifically about a particr detail, and while the answer to this question seemed really direct, the answer would also carry a lot of other information along with it.

    For example, if you asked your neighbor if there was any difference between buying the onions from the supermarket and buying from the farmer¡¯s market, the other party would go on to list all the differences, like the difference in freshness, the difference in price, taste, etc.

    But Jiang Li¡¯s answer was extremely simple. If he had been given the question about onions, this answer would be as good as replying with, ¡°The ones I buy are nicer than yours.¡± The only new information Jiang Li supplied was the existence of Spirit Power and pretty much nothing else. It sounded like Jiang Li was giving useless answers on purpose, but it wasn¡¯t like there was anything Su Jin could do about that.

    ¡°What¡¯s this Spirit Power?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t bother thinking about whether Jiang Li was purposely answering him this way or not. Instead, he continued asking because even though Jiang Li¡¯s answer didn¡¯t contain a lot of detail, he mentioned something very important, so Su Jin had to probe further.

    ¡°This¡­ is Spirit Power.¡± Jiang Li spread his palm out, and a green gas swirled continuously around the middle of his palm, like a green-colored mist.

    ¡°What¡­ what is this?¡±

    ¡°Spirit Power!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re going too far now. I thought you said you¡¯re going to answer my questions as best as you can,¡± protested Su Jin. It was fine if Jiang Li gave him stupid answers once or twice, but if Jiang Li¡¯s attitude towards his questions was going to be like this, he wasn¡¯t going to get much information out of Jiang Li.

    Jiang Li knew that he had gone a little too far too, so he rubbed his nose and said, ¡°Alright, alright. Spirit Power is a power that Handbook owners possess. If I had topare it to something¡­ I would say that it¡¯s like the inner qi that those martial arts movies like to talk about? In short, it¡¯s an energy within your body that you can control and can use to increase your capabilities.¡±

    ¡°How do I activate mine?¡± Su Jin quickly asked. If veterans managed to survive by relying on Spirit Power, then that was definitely something he needed toy his hands on as soon as possible.

    But Jiang Li eyed Su Jin somewhat mockingly and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m seriously not trying to withhold information from you this time. The truth is, no Handbook owner can tell you exactly how their Spirit Power was activated. But you don¡¯t have to worry about whether you can get it activated or not. As long as you manage to get through ten challenges consecutively without dying, the Handbook will make sure you get Spirit Power.¡±

    ¡°Ten challenges consecutively? What are the chances of that happening?¡±

    ¡°Your chances of getting through ten challenges as you are right now, aren¡¯t really high, but it¡¯s not zero either. Also, every challenge will include some special characters who can help you to activate your Spirit Power. But of course, that totally depends on your luck,¡± said Jiang Li with a smile.

    Su Jin felt like the situation was hopeless. He had seen the sort of dangers a challenge could put him through. He had lost one arm, and out of his other twopanions besides Chu Yi, he wasn¡¯t sure if one of them was still alive, while the other one had died very early on. Worst of all, nothing that had happened so far was actually at Level B yet. How was he going to survive ten such challenges?

    ¡°Is there a way to get out of this Handbook universe?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Jiang Li very confidently.

    ¡°How?¡± Su Jin asked hurriedly.

    ¡°How? It¡¯s simple. Survive a hundred challenges, and you can get out of this. Or the other way would be to amass a million points,¡± said Jiang Li calmly.

    ¡°A hundred challenges,¡± Su Jin repeated those words to himself as he gasped. He didn¡¯t know the point system that was employed, so he couldn¡¯t speak for that. But this first challenge had already made him nearly break down in despair. It was almost impossible to imagine that anyone would be able to survive a hundred challenges.

    ¡°Are you wondering if it¡¯s even possible? I think it¡¯s almost impossible too. I¡¯ve already survived 13 challenges, and I¡¯m already one of the best among the other Handbook owners I¡¯ve met, so I think a hundred times is pretty much impossible.¡± The look in Jiang Li¡¯s eyes dimmed as he spoke. It was clear that even someone as powerful as himself didn¡¯t have any confidence that he would make it either.

    .

    Su Jin was a little discouraged, but he wasn¡¯t the type to despair at something he hadn¡¯t even tried doing before. No matter how impossible it seemed, he was going to give it a shot anyway. It had seemed impossible for him to leave his farming vige in the mountains back then for the great metropolitan S City too, but he had made it anyway.

    ¡°What about those points you mentioned? What do they do? How do I earn them?¡±

    ¡°Every time a challenge ispleted, the survivors will get 1,000 points each. If you¡¯vepleted any special missions or if you¡¯ve killed any enemies you were supposed to, you will also get some points for that,¡± exined Jiang Li.

    ¡°OH! So that¡¯s why you want me to help you to track down that monster! But where does one get these missions from?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    Jiang Li said, ¡°You can forget about it. Newbies will not get to choose any missions. The first challenge is really just to let you experience what it¡¯s like in here. But if you¡¯re unlucky and you die on your first challenge, then it¡¯s just too bad.¡±

    ¡°Is that considered a sort of protection for newbies? In that case¡­ can I check if your Handbook also has hints like these?¡± Su Jin opened his copy and showed the additional lines that appearedter to Jiang Li.

    Jiang Li nced at it and shook his head. ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t have that. That¡¯s something extra you got as a newbie. But once this challenge ends, you won¡¯t get hints like these anymore. You¡¯ll have to figure it out on your own.¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­ do we umte points purely to get out of this situation?¡± Su Jin fell into deep thought. If the points were purely put towards ending this situation, then that would ovep with the 100-challenge requirement. The only difference was that someone who could umte points quickly would be able to get out of this earlier.

    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s not its only use. But it¡¯s pointless for me to tell you all this now. Once you survive this challenge, you¡¯ll understand the importance of the points. Alright, enough! I¡¯ve answered a lot of your questions. Now, bring me to that monster.¡± Jiang Li was clearly not going to answer any more questions.

    Su Jin nodded while still thinking about everything Jiang Li had said. Jiang Li had already given him a lot of information, and he had a rough understanding of this Handbook now. And it was also true that everything else could wait until he actually survived the night.

    They weren¡¯t walking very quickly, but Su Jin knew where to go. He led Jiang Li towards Lin Yue¡¯s house because he believed that the monster was most likely to be there.

    And just as Su Jin had expected, they ran into the monster as they got closer to Lin Yue¡¯s house. It waspletely covered in a cloak, and it had the longbow in its hands. It stretched the bowstring as it took aim at Su Jin and Jiang Li. With the release of the bowstring, the sparkly arrow shot out from the longbow and pierced through the air.

    Su Jin felt goosebumps cover his back in fear. He had had a taste of what that arrow could do already. He was sure that if that destructive thing hit someone¡¯s body, that person was dead meat.

    Jiang Li took a step forward to stand in front of Su Jin. He said in a stern voice, ¡°Don¡¯t stray more than 10 meters from me! I¡¯ll protect you!¡±

    ¡°Roger that! I¡¯m counting on you!¡± Once Su Jin was safely behind Jiang Li, the despair he felt instantly dissipated. He believed that Jiang Li could really defeat this creature in a fight.

    As the arrow flew towards him, Jiang Li¡¯s expression turned grim, and he raised his spear. Su Jin couldn¡¯t see what was happening, but he heard a loud roaring sound, followed by a huge cloud of dust. It was hard to see clearly through the dust, but he could see that Jiang Li had dashed out.

    ¡°Damn it! What happened to the 10-meter radius we talked about just now?!¡± grumbled Su Jin as he secretly grabbed hold of his knife as well. Jiang Li had promised to protect him, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to really leave his life in Jiang Li¡¯s hands entirely.

    Jiang Li charged towards the monster and the spear in his hand shot out green beam after green beam. The glow of the spear made Jiang Li look like a god that had transcended to the earth as he covered more than 50 meters in a second.

    The monster didn¡¯t move and let the green beams stab into its body. The only thing it did was to hold up its longbow again.

    Once the bowstring had been pulled back, sparkles gathered once more in the shape of an arrow. But this time, the arrow was a lotrger than the previous one. It was so big and bright that Su Jin could make out the contorted face beneath the cloak from afar.

    Woong! The bowstring was released, and the arrow flew out just as the spear in Jiang Li¡¯s hand stabbed through the monster. The arrow flew out with a roar and went right through Jiang Li as well.

    ¡°Shit! They¡¯re both going to die together?!¡± Su Jin was bbergasted. He had been so confident that Jiang Li would win, but now, both parties were going to die at the same time.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Su Jin¡¯s pupils constricted as he stared at the monster that Jiang Li had just stabbed.

 Chapter 11: Smiling in Death

    <h4>Chapter 11: Smiling in Death</h4>

    Su Jin was already mentally prepared to see this face before him, but when he was actually faced with this person, he was still filled with fury. The person in the cloak was actually Zhang Jing.

    She immediately looked aggrieved as she stretched her hands out towards Su Jin and wailed miserably, ¡°Why did you abandon me? Why did all of you abandon me?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s expression grew even more furious as he roared angrily at her, ¡°That¡¯s quite enough! Did you think you could fool me with that face? What should I call you? Grandma? Or¡­ Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°How¡­ how did you know?!¡± Zhang Jing¡¯s expression instantly turned nasty as she yelled, ¡°What do you know? How did you find out?¡±

    ¡°How did I find out? You¡¯ve got to thank your granddaughter and grandson¡¯s diaries. Their entries weren¡¯t very detailed, but after I saw your face, I figured it out. The one who died back then wasn¡¯t Grandpa, but Grandma, wasn¡¯t it?¡± spat Su Jin frostily.

    Both Lin Yue and her younger brother had mentioned their grandfather¡¯s passing and also talked about how their grandmother started behaving strangely after that. Lin Yue had attributed it to her grandmother being depressed from losing her spouse and Su Jin hadn¡¯t paid it much attention either when he read it first either. But once he saw that this person was now using Zhang Jing¡¯s face and body, Su Jin realized what must have happened.

    ¡°If my guess is right, you have the ability to shift your soul to another body or something along those lines, right? Back then, you shifted your soul to your wife and continued living as Lin Yue¡¯s grandmother, and that¡¯s why Lin Yue found it strange that her grandmother had picked up smoking.¡±

    ¡°When you attacked Zhang Jing in the storeroom earlier, your intention was not to kill her, but to take over her body. So when your grandson walked in, he basically dragged away an empty shell you used to upy, right?¡± exined Su Jin as he nced at where Jiang Li ought to be standing. But to his surprise, Jiang Li was nowhere to be found.

    ¡®He¡¯s a veteran alright. So, he¡¯s chosen to escape after all?¡¯ thought Su Jin to himself as he continued talking to the monster in front of him. ¡°Is Zhang Jing still alive?¡±

    ¡°Alive? Heh heh! I am her and she is me. As long as I¡¯m alive, she¡¯ll stay alive. But if I die¡­ then you know what will happen to her, right?¡± said the monster with a maniacalugh. After Jiang Li stabbed its chest with his spear, green liquid kept flowing out but it didn¡¯t seem to care.

    ¡°Are you threatening me now?¡± said Su Jin in an icy voice. His expression was no longer as menacing, but his tone of voice remained the same. ¡°In that case, you can go to hell!¡±

    .

    ¡°What?¡± The monster didn¡¯t expect that. At that exact same moment, a spear stabbed right through his body once more. While Su Jin and the monster were conversing earlier, Jiang Li had taken the chance to creep up behind the monster to deliver this fatal blow.

    The monster turned around stiffly to look emotionlessly at Jiang Li beforeughing maniacally. ¡°Heh heh¡­ as long as my god still lives, I will live too! The ones who will have to die are the both of you!¡± Then, he copsed with a thud onto the ground.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a dying thing like you could utter so much nonsense.¡± Jiang Li wiped away the green liquid on his spear. He did sustain some injuries in his waist area that looked simr to Su Jin¡¯s in that it looked burnt too, but it wasn¡¯t too serious. Jiang Li had been hit by the monster¡¯s arrow after all.

    But Su Jin had an uneasy feeling about what the monster had said before it copsed. The monster didn¡¯t seem to care that it was on the verge of destruction at all.

    ¡°Wait, what? My mission isn¡¯t consideredplete?¡± muttered Jiang Li in surprise. He just checked his Handbook, only to find that there were no new kills recorded inside.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t die, he just left this body, that¡¯s all.¡± Initially, Su Jin thought that this monster had toe into contact with another body in order to transfer its soul, but it seemed like that wasn¡¯t the case after all.

    ¡°But that sounds odd too. If it doesn¡¯t have to touch the body to transfer its soul, then why did it attack Zhang Jing? Which part of this am I getting wrong?¡± Su Jin smacked his head a few times, wondering if he had missed anything.

    Jiang Li squatted down to look at Zhang Jing and suddenly eximed, ¡°Hey! This woman¡¯s not dead yet!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin was surprised to hear that. He ran over and bent down to see that Zhang Jing was still breathing and her eyes were slowly beginning to respond, which meant that she was actually somewhat conscious.

    ¡°Can she be saved?¡±

    ¡°Those two stabs of my spear have essentially destroyed all her internal organs, so unless you have something on hand that can bring her back to life, she¡¯s going to die,¡± said Jiang Li as he shook his head.

    Su Jin looked helplessly at Zhang Jing. He did feel a little guilty towards her since he and Chu Yi did abandon her, like what the monster had said earlier. It was true that they had left her behind because they didn¡¯t have much choice: trying to save her would definitely have sent them to theher world instead: but the two of them might have been Zhang Jing¡¯s only hope.

    ¡°We can¡¯t save her, that¡¯s for sure, but I can help her to recover her consciousness for a short period of time. I think you might be able to get some information out of her, given your level of intelligence.¡± Jiang Li nced at Su Jin, then continued, ¡°But judging from your expression, I guess we ought to just let her die.¡±

    ¡°No, help her to regain her consciousness, please,¡± Su Jin pleaded to Jiang Li with a determined look in his eyes. Jiang Li had noticed the guilty look on Su Jin¡¯s face too, so he was surprised that Su Jin would still want him to help her regain her consciousness.

    Jiang Li didn¡¯t refuse Su Jin¡¯s request. He shot out a beam of green light from his fingertips into her nostrils and she slowly opened her eyes after a few seconds.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Su Jin felt apologetic towards her, but he didn¡¯t think that he had made the wrong decision to leave her behind. They didn¡¯t know each other before this, so it was only normal for him to prioritize saving his own skin in that sort of situation and when faced with such enemies.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize. I should thank you, actually.¡± Her face was extremely pale, but she looked like she was having a moment of terminal lucidity. She smiled gently at Su Jin and said, ¡°I¡¯ve finally realized that the scariest thing that could happen to a person isn¡¯t death. It¡¯s having your body possessed by an old man. Just thinking about having to live the rest of my life like that really makes me prefer death, actually.¡±

    Su Jin smiled bitterly back at her. Zhang Jing¡¯s ability to let go made him feel even guiltier now. He said to her, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that anymore. You can leave in peace.¡±

    ¡°I hope so too. When that old man took over my body, I could sense a few things from him. There is something within Fengxi Town that can decide his fate and is powerful enough to make him worship it.¡± Her consciousness had been suppressed when she didn¡¯t have control over her own body, so she didn¡¯t really know that much.

    Su Jin nodded with a furrowed brow as he thanked her, ¡°Thank you! This is very important information to us!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look so upset. I don¡¯t want thest thing I see on earth to be a grouchy face,¡± said Zhang Jing to Su Jin with a smile.

    Su Jin blinked for a moment before turning to look at Jiang Li. Jiang Li nced back at him with his usual aloof expression and said to Zhang Jing self-deprecatingly, ¡°In this sort of situation, a smile is really a luxury.¡±

    ¡°A smile is especially important in such situations.¡± Zhang Jing¡¯s eyes seemed to be slowly losing focus. Jiang Li¡¯s powers were not able to keep her alive for much longer. She said to Su Jin, ¡°Actually¡­ actually, I was doing that sort of job. You know, a club hostess.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect Zhang Jing to tell him such things and Zhang Jing didn¡¯t seem to be expecting him to respond to her either as she continued speaking, ¡°It is a despised job and that¡¯s how I lived as well. It always seemed like everyone felt that they had the right to criticize me, and even those who had slept with me suddenly became saints once they had put their pants back on, as if they had nothing to do with the filth they were using me of.¡±

    ¡°That sort of life was really tiring. It was so tiring that I wished that I could close my eyes one day and never open them again. But life had to go on. So I learned to smile in all circumstances. No matter what I was facing, I would always smile. I always told myself that life would be so miserable if one couldn¡¯t even smile.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t say anything and quietly listened to her talk. Even Jiang Li didn¡¯t try to hurry her as he just sat there. But Zhang Jing¡¯s talking soon came to an end as her body went limp and her pupils dted.

    Su Jin gently closed Zhang Jing¡¯s eyes. Even as she passed away, she still had a smile on her face. In this sinister, terrifying and despairing town, her smile was like a light in the darkness that warmed the hearts of others.

    In fact, Su Jin¡¯s own expression was slowly beginning to transform too. His sorrowful gaze started to rx and his pursed lips slowly curved upwards into a natural smile. Zhang Jing was gone, but before she departed, she left Su Jin a smile and a quote to remember.

    ¡°Life would be so miserable if one couldn¡¯t even smile,¡± Su Jin quietly repeated those words to himself before turning to Jiang Li with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go! You still have a mission toplete, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°What about you? Are you going to take revenge?¡± asked Jiang Li with a smile. His smile didn¡¯t seem as mirthless as before.

    ¡°Oh yes! She¡¯s taught me such an important lesson, so¡­ I¡¯ve got to repay her for doing so!¡± Su Jin nodded. His lips were smiling, but the look in his eyes was malicious.

    ¡°I¡¯m really hoping that you¡¯ll survive now.¡±

    ¡°What a coincidence! I¡¯m hoping for that too!¡± replied Su Jin with augh before heading straight for Lin Yue¡¯s house. Before this, he had only guessed that the monster Lin Yue¡¯s grandfather had be would appear there. But now, he was very sure that the monster was waiting for them in Lin Yue¡¯s house itself.

    It didn¡¯t take them long to arrive at the house. A figure wrapped entirely in a cloak was already waiting for them outside the gate. But before either of them could say anything, it removed the cloak to reveal yet another face familiar to Su Jin.

    ¡°I get it now. So if you want to possess a living person, you¡¯ve got toe into contact with that person. But if you want to possess a dead person¡¯s body, it¡¯s a lot less troublesome, huh?¡± Su Jin figured it out immediately once he saw that he was now faced with Yang Zichen¡¯s face instead.

    ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it right! Let me reward you by¡­ sending you straight to hell!¡± cackled the monster in a cheeky voice.

    Su Jin held up a familiar longbow made from bones that he had been hiding behind his back and waved it at the monster. ¡°Your weapon is now in the hands of someone else and you¡¯re still so arrogant? Are you really going to be okay?¡±

 Chapter 12: A Conjecture

    <h4>Chapter 12: A Conjecture</h4>

    ¡°I am God¡¯s Hunter! Those who do not pledge their allegiance to God and disrespect God are my targets! You shall suffer my God¡¯s wrath!¡± roared the monster who called himself God¡¯s Hunter. At the same time, the longbow in Su Jin¡¯s hands began to tremble violently, as if it was struggling to get out of Su Jin¡¯s grip.

    ¡°What the heck? You¡¯re missing an Adam¡¯s apple, but you can still yell so loudly?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to return that longbow to the hunter. He looked at Jiang Li, but Jiang Li didn¡¯t need Su Jin to tell him anything. He was already prepared to attack.

    Jiang Li left a green light trail behind him as he suddenly appeared again behind the hunter and used his spear to rain small droplets of light on the hunter.

    The hunter knew how powerful Jiang Li could be, so he opened his mouth and let a roar that caused so many sparkles to flow out from his nose, his mouth and even the gaping hole in his throat. The sparkles immediately came together to form arge shield that blocked Jiang Li¡¯s attack.

    Su Jin was finding it more and more difficult to keep his grip on the longbow with just one hand, so he used both of his feet to step on the longbow and took the sharp boning knife out. Since he couldn¡¯t keep it under control, he was going to hack it into pieces.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± The hunter roared angrily at Su Jin when he saw that Su Jin was preparing to destroy the longbow. The hunter charged at Su Jin to stop him from doing that.

    But Jiang Li wasn¡¯t going to let the hunter have his way. He held the spear horizontally and the green glow around his body reached its maximum intensity before gathering around the spear. Immediately after that, the spear, which now seemed to have a life of its own, became like a green python that shot out and took aim at the hunter¡¯s chest.

    They were confident that if the hunter didn¡¯t dodge this attack, his entire body would explode into bits once the spear hit him. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, the hunter didn¡¯t dodge at all and remained focused on trying to salvage the longbow beneath Su Jin¡¯s feet.

    Bam! There was a terrible bang as Jiang Li¡¯s spear caused the hunter¡¯s body to explode just before he reached Su Jin. Pieces of flesh and green blood started raining from above.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t avoid the explosion, so he could only use his one remaining arm to cover his head and allowed the disgusting mess of flesh and blood to rain down all over himself. He took off his jacket after that, but he still got some of the green liquid on his skin.

    ¡°That was terrible,¡± sighed Su Jin. Yang Zichen had already died but his body still had to go through such an ordeal. He quickly checked with Jiang Li, ¡°Have youpleted your mission?¡±

    ¡°Nope, he¡¯s not dead yet.¡± Jiang Li¡¯s brows were deeply furrowed. He had attempted to kill that hunter twice in a row but still failed to kill himpletely. This mission was going to be difficult toplete.

    ¡°Hurry up and run for it! The hunter of God is immortal, so if he finds the both of you again, you¡¯ll definitely die,¡± a voice suddenly called out from the front yard.

    Su Jin looked up and realized that the voice belonged to the one who had allowed Chu Yi and himself to escape. But he now looked at Auntie Li with a grim expression on his face.

    ¡°Besides that hunter and Lin Yue, the rest of her family¡¯s already dead. Would you say that we¡¯ve upheld our end of the bargain?¡± asked Su Jin quietly.

    Auntie Li nodded calmly. ¡°Yes, thank you. And that¡¯s also why I¡¯vee to tell you to leave quickly. Don¡¯t let the hunter find you. The longbow in your hands is the hunter¡¯s weapon, so you need to destroy it quickly. Otherwise, he will be able to find you no matter where you go.¡±

    Su Jin suddenly chuckled before bowing politely at Auntie Li. ¡°Do you seriously intend to continue this act, Auntie Li? Or should I call you¡­ God?¡±

    Jiang Li¡¯s eyes widened in shock, but he quickly snapped out of it and looked warily at Auntie Li as he whispered, ¡°Are you sure she¡¯s the God in this challenge?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure of it,¡± said Su Jin with a slight nod.

    But Auntie Li shook her head expressionlessly and said, ¡°God? If I were God, I would have been able to keep my family alive and I definitely wouldn¡¯t have been kept here like a dog. How can there be a god who can¡¯t even control his own fate? You¡¯ve got to be kidding.¡±

    ¡°When you let us go, you specifically reminded me to search Lin Yue¡¯s room. I was pretty puzzled by that, and after I finished reading Lin Yue¡¯s diary, I was even more puzzled. The information I had was still too random and I couldn¡¯t piece them together until¡­ until the hunter appeared,¡± said Su Jin slowly.

    Auntie Li¡¯s previously emotionless eyes flickered a little. She looked at Su Jin and said, ¡°Until the hunter appeared? He provided you with vital information?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± said Su Jin with a confident nod. ¡°Do you wanna hear me tell a story?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± Auntie Li nodded.

    Jiang Li was getting a bit annoyed by how these two were talking in riddles, but he still quietly stood there and listened to Su Jin tell his story anyway.

    ¡°Our story starts in a ce called Fengxi Town. This town is very secluded and has very little contact with the outside world. Almost everyone in this town has never gone outside its borders. But as times change, even the most secluded of ces eventuallye into contact with the outside world.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to 50 years ago. Fengxi Town is no longer that secluded town that nobody has ever heard of or cares about anymore. A huge number of cultures has arrived in town, pushing it into an abyss that it would eventually never recover from.¡±

    ¡°What affected the town the most? Economics? Culture? Perhaps it was a mix of both. But one thing that made a big impact on the town was religion. Christianity, Daoism and Buddhism wanted a slice of the Fengxi Town pie, so they sent their evangelists to this small town, which resulted in churches, Daoist temples and Buddhist temples to be built here.¡±

    ¡°But actually, the people of Fengxi Town had their own belief. But then again, how powerful could the god of a tiny, secluded town be? These three major world religions were religions with centuries of history. The influence they had on their believers was something that surpassed anything a small town religion could possibly attain.¡±

    ¡°And so¡­ the people of Fengxi Town decided to betray the god they used to worship and turned to the three major religions instead. But that poor god they turned their backs on was still a god after all. He wanted to take revenge on these believers who had abandoned their faith.¡±

    ¡°This revenge n started with the first one to actually leave Fengxi Town. That was a woman whose surname was Li. She left the town a few decades ago to make a living in the capital city. The god took her life and took over her identity, then returned to Fengxi Town. First, he killed a few people to warn his believers, but his believers didn¡¯t pick up the hint.¡±

    ¡°The angered god decided not to hold back anymore. He turned all those who still believe in him into his hunters. And on that fateful night 50 years ago, they went on a massacre to kill every believer who had turned their backs on this god.¡±

    After Su Jin finished saying these things, he turned to look at Auntie Li, but she shook her head and said, ¡°This is all just your conjecture, right? If that god really wanted to destroy Fengxi Town, why leave a few of them alive?¡±

    ¡°The war isn¡¯t over yet, so you still need soldiers to fight!¡± Su Jin used his right index finger to tap on his nose and said, ¡°The three major religions are your real enemies. Before you took revenge, they were your enemies. And after you had taken revenge, they still are.¡±

    ¡°Back then, the three religions had discovered your existence, but they were only ordinary humans. How could ordinary humans fight a god? They had toe together andbine their powers from where their ces of worship are built, in order to keep you under control.¡±

    ¡°That night reys itself once every ten years in Fengxi Town, and that¡¯s your only chance. You kept Lin Yue and her family alive because you¡¯ve been waiting for a chance to finally break free from the control of the three religions. Am I right in saying that?¡±

    Auntie Li looked at Su Jin quietly and seemed a little interested now. ¡°Your story is very exciting, but this is nothing but your own imagination, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. But none of that is important. All we need to do now is to wait for the bells to ring again and everything wille to an end. You might still stand a chance ten yearster, but that will have nothing to do with us,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. His story might be urate, but that didn¡¯t matter. The challenge didn¡¯t require him to solve any mystery.

    ¡°What an interesting human you are. That¡¯s exactly why I was so fascinated by these tiny things called humans. Tell me¡­ even though these are just your guesses, I¡¯m sure you already have the most fundamental information on hand already, right?¡± Auntie Li¡¯s expression grew serious.

    Jiang Li suddenly felt a terrifying aura fill the air. He grabbed his spear tightly and stared warily at the woman in the front yard. Only a wooden fence separated them, after all.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t seem affected at all. ¡°Actually, it wasn¡¯t very hard to guess all this. Most of the information came from Lin Yue and her brother¡¯s diaries, while some actually came from you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? When did I provide you with any information?¡± Auntie Li was surprised.

    ¡°You did. You said that you were a dog to Lin Yue¡¯s family.¡± Su Jin took a while to sort his thoughts out before continuing, ¡°When the hunter first took over Zhang Jing¡¯s body, I saw him swallow an evil soul, which means that the hunter is the archenemy of wayward souls. As for the hunting you talked about, if my guess is right, you¡¯re referring to how once every ten years, the hunters will help you to get past the forces that hold you back and hunt down any wayward souls in the town.¡±

    Auntie Li didn¡¯t say anything and quietly waited for Su Jin to continue.

    ¡°After the bells rang for the third time, the hunters tried to hunt me down too. When I think about the situation then, it seemed like Lin Yue and her family were even more like hunting dogs than you were. They suit that metaphor a lot better than you do.¡±

    ¡°I mean, have you ever seen a hunter go out to hunt and leave his hunting dog to rest at home? Of course, this wasn¡¯t enough to help me piece together the story I told just now, until¡­ until the hunter blocked us twice as we made our way to this ce. Let¡¯s make a guess. Why did he decide to stop hunting and wait here for us instead?¡± said Su Jin slowly.

    Auntie Li suddenly started smiling as she nodded at Su Jin and said, ¡°You¡¯re just making guesses, but you actually got this far! Not bad! But¡­ who says my hunter has given up hunting?¡±

    Su Jin froze for a moment before his eyes darted around and he started tapping his index finger on his nose even faster than before. Then heughed and said, ¡°Oh, I get it. You¡¯re referring to¡­ that other corpse, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. So instead of saying that he blocked your way two times in a row and ended up revealing my real identity, it¡¯s more urate to say that he purposely lured you two here so that I could trap you two here and make his work easier!¡± said Auntie Li with a smile as a beam of sparkles shot out from her eyes and engulfed Su Jin and Jiang Li.

    ¡°With that body, my hunter can appear at the temple directly and the bells you¡¯ve been hoping to hear¡­ will never ring again! HAHA! HAHAHAHA!¡±

 Chapter 13: Elder God

    <h4>Chapter 13: Elder God</h4>

    Once Su Jin and Jiang Li were engulfed by the sparkles, they couldn¡¯t move an inch. They couldn¡¯t even move their fingers. It was as if they hadpletely lost control over their bodies.

    ¡°The bells will still ring¡­¡± muttered Su Jin.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, the bells will still ring. If that hunter had trouble fighting me, there¡¯s no way he can get through Liu Yingying.¡± Su Jin was surprised. He didn¡¯t expect Jiang Li to think so highly of Liu Yingying.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll know in a while whether the bells will ring or not.¡± Despite being trapped here, this god seemed very confident in his own hunter.

    But Su Jin had no confidence at all. An ordinary person had no way of controlling this sort of situation in the first ce, so the only thing he could do was to create trouble for the god, and he even needed Jiang Li¡¯s help to do that.

    ¡°Give me the longbow!¡± The god stretched his hand towards Su Jin. The longbow broke free from Su Jin¡¯s grip and flew towards the god.

    ¡°NOW!¡± Jiang Li suddenly gave a mighty shout as green beams shot out from his body. He had managed to break through the god¡¯s control over his body and was able to move on his own again.

    Once he broke free, he held up his spear and swung it towards the longbow so as to destroy it. The consequences would be very severe if the god managed to get hold of the longbow.

    ¡°Jiang Li, don¡¯t do it!¡± yelled Su Jin at the top of his voice.

    Jiang Li heard Su Jin¡¯s cry just before his spear was about to hit the longbow. For some reason, Jiang Li decided to trust in Su Jin and forcibly stopped the spear from moving forward. The spear that was headed for the longbow instantly came to a stop.

    Pfft! Jiang Li vomited a mouthful of blood. Sending the spear out had taken a lot out of him, so having to stop it when it had reached maximum speed also took a toll on his body.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t give me a good exnation for stopping me, I¡¯m going to break you like I meant to break that longbow!¡± Jiang Li red at Su Jin and started to regret listening to him. That was their best chance at destroying the longbow. There was no way he would get another chance at destroying it.

    But Su Jin started smiling, because he saw that the longbow had stopped just outside the fence and did not actually fly into the hands of the god.

    ¡°When I first saw the damage in the wooden fence around this house, I thought that it was caused by those who were tricked intoing in here ten years ago. But now¡­ I suppose that was done by Lin Yue and her family, right? Or it might¡¯ve even been yourself,¡± said Su Jin calmly.

    The god¡¯s expression turned sinister and didn¡¯t look as calm as before. But Su Jin continued, ¡°Actually, for as long as we don¡¯t walk through this gate on our own, there¡¯s nothing you can do about us. The best you can do is to use those sparkles to paralyze us, right? In fact¡­ you might not actually be able to paralyze us with those sparkles for very long either.¡±

    ¡°This wooden fence is actually like your jail cell, isn¡¯t it? Your hunters are able to go in and out freely, and even their dogs can do that. Only you, the god, cannot. Is that right?¡±

    The god was clearly incensed now. As the fury in his expression intensified, so did the smile on Su Jin¡¯s face. Sparkles began to flow from the god¡¯s body as he grew angrier and angrier.

    The sparkles from his body gathered above his head to form a menacing looking face which roared furiously at Su Jin, ¡°You foolish little lowlife! Angering me will do you no good!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. It¡¯s quite fun to watch a god get angry.¡± Su Jin massaged his shoulders for a bit because they had be numb from the pressure of the paralyzing sparkles earlier. Then he looked at the god and said, ¡°The longbow obviously cannot cross the wooden fence and you have no way of getting it inside either. So, you¡¯ve done everything in hope of tricking Jiang Li into actually destroying the long bow. Let me guess. As a god¡­ you have the ability to send the longbow to wherever the hunter is, except the longbow has to be destroyed? Or wait. No. Only one longbow may exist at a time. So, if this one is destroyed, then you can create a new one for your hunter, since you¡¯re a god. Is that correct?¡±

    The god fell silent, and his menacing face continued to tremble angrily. Jiang Li, on the other hand, stared at Su Jin like he was a monster. He muttered to himself, ¡°He¡¯s just like that asshole. What on earth are their brains made from?¡±

    ¡°Lowly human, you are one of the most outstanding humans I have ever seen. I know what your aim is, and I can help you. But I need you to agree to be one of my devotees. How about that?¡± said the god calmly.

    ¡°You know what our aim is?¡± Jiang Li merely snorted disdainfully.

    The god turned to look at Jiang Li and said, ¡°I know where all of youe from. It¡¯s Hell¡¯s Handbook, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Jiang Li was stunned, as if he were surprised that the god actually knew about the Handbook. His heart pounded wildly and his eyes flew open as he pointed at the god and said, ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re an Elder God?¡±

    ¡°Oh? You actually know about the Elder Gods,¡± the god was also surprised that Jiang Li knew anything about this.

    Jiang Li said, ¡°I don¡¯t know very much either, but during one of the challenges, I happened toe across some historical writings about the Handbook and the Elder Gods. None of the enemies we face in the challenges will know about the Handbook, except the Elder Gods. They are the only ones who know about the Handbook.¡±

    ¡°Heh heh¡­ you¡¯re right! So, be a devotee of mine and I will grant you strength,¡± the god said loudly to Su Jin.

    Su Jin scratched his head and looked like all of this was such a chore. ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing to have a religion, but I¡¯m not sure about believing in you. I¡¯m sure those ex-devotees of yours think the same way!¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re hellbent on going against me?!¡± roared the god as more sparkles poured out of his shoulders to grab onto the wooden fence. But the moment the sparkles hit the wooden fence, they disappeared.

    ¡°We¡¯ll take our leave now. Don¡¯t be too sad. Ten years isn¡¯t a lot to a god like you.¡± Then, Su Jin said to Jiang Li, ¡°You might be confident in Liu Yingying¡¯s abilities, but we¡¯d better go over and take a look!¡± Su Jin walked up to the fence and picked up the longbow again.

    ¡°You¡¯ll regret this! You¡¯ll definitely regret this! You¡¯ve turned down an elder god¡¯s invitation!¡± shrieked the god. He continued, ¡°As long as you agree to be one of mine, I¡¯ll make you my ambassador! You won¡¯t just be an ordinary devotee!¡±

    Su Jin ignored the screams and shouts of the god and walked off with Jiang Li. Jiang Li took his hat off to Su Jin for doing that. That was a god, and an Elder God at that, an existence that actually knew about the existence of the Handbook. But then again, thought Jiang Li, Su Jin was just a newbie. There was no way a newbie would know how valuable an Elder God really was.

    When they arrived at the foot of the mountain again, they saw that Lin Yue was dead. There was a hole that pierced right through her forehead, and they could still see some sparkles left behind.

    ¡°Where did your guy die?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Jiang Li pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Not too far from here. I had already warned him to stay within ten meters¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop talking about this stupid ten meters! I really pity that man! He didn¡¯t deserve to die,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. While he agreed that Jiang Li was powerful, Jiang Li could be a bit dumb sometimes.

    They walked up the mountain and eventually found the hunter at the entrance to the temple. But the hunter was now hanging from the doorframe like a piece of meat waiting to be smoked.

    Liu Yingying leaned against the entrance while Chu Yi looked like he had seen a ghost as he stayed far, far away from Liu Yingying. He came running over only when he saw that Su Jin was here.

    ¡°Bro! I¡¯m so d you¡¯re alright!¡±

    ¡°Tell me, was Liu Yingying the one who managed to deal with this hunter?¡± Su Jin asked Chu Yi in a low voice.

    Chu Yi immediately nodded, then nced at the other side of the temple where Jiang Li and Liu Yingying were talking. His lips barely moved as he whispered to Su Jin, ¡°Don¡¯t cross that woman. She¡¯s so vicious, and she doesn¡¯t seem human.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Who¡¯s so vicious that she doesn¡¯t seem human?¡± asked Liu Yingying with a bright smile on her face as she approached them.

    Su Jin watched as Chu Yi instantly froze before turning around robotically and saying with an awkwardugh, ¡°No, no, I was telling Su Jin that he was silly for choosing againsting here to be protected by someone as amazing as you are. Instead, he went to look for a monster to fight, which makes him sound so vicious that he doesn¡¯t seem human.¡±

    Liu Yingying red at Chu Yi, then smiled at Su Jin. ¡°You¡¯re a big reason why we¡¯ve managed to get through this challenge, since you managed to dy the time the hunter took to attack the temple. I¡¯m surprised that a newbie could actually get this far.¡±

    ¡°Well, it seems like you guys could have done well without me too. You¡¯d probably be able to settle this challenge all by yourself,¡± said Su Jin with a self-deprecatingugh. If he had known that Liu Yingying was this powerful, he wouldn¡¯t have allowed himself to take such a big risk. He could have just stayed here and let her protect him.

    But Liu Yingying shook her head and said very solemnly to Su Jin, ¡°No, your contribution was indeed substantial. Jiang Li has already told me what happened. If that hunter had that longbow with him, I don¡¯t think I could have ovee him either.¡±

    Su Jinughed and was about to speak when the bells started ringing for the fourth time. The dark skies outside immediately began to brighten.

    ¡°It¡¯s over,¡± said Liu Yingying quietly. She looked at Su Jin and Chu Yi and said, ¡°You¡¯ll be entering that area for the first time after this, so make your decisions carefully. These could affect your fate in the future.¡±

    ¡°That area?¡± Su Jin blinked in confusion.

    ¡°There¡¯s no time to exin, I hope we get to work together again.¡± Liu Yingying stuck her hand out at Su Jin and he shook her hand.

    Jiang Li nced at Su Jin and said in his usual aloof voice, ¡°You¡¯ve done a pretty good job this time, but please, don¡¯t be like that asshole.¡±

    ¡°Seriously though, who¡¯s this asshole you guys keep mentioning?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    ¡°You¡¯ll know when you see that asshole. But it¡¯s not going to be that easy to meet that fellow, since there are more than just a few Handbook owners out there,¡± said Jiang Li.

    Chu Yi turned to Su Jin and said, ¡°Bro, I really have to thank you for everything you¡¯ve done. Let¡¯s have a meal together when we get back, okay?¡± He rattled off a string of numbers and said, ¡°Call me when you get back! Miss Liu, what¡¯s your number?¡±

    ¡°Exchanging numbers? Trust me, it¡¯s meaningless.¡± Liu Yingying shook her head. Just then, a bright white light suddenly shone down and flooded the area.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but squint from the brightness. By the time the bright light vanished, he realized that he was in apletely different ce. There was nothing here, and it was dark except for a flickering me in the distance.

    ¡°What ce is this?¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself puzzledly, as he looked around him.

    This novel is hyping me up too much. Man has no fear. Absolute Chad.

 Chapter 14: Personal Hell Domain

    <h4>Chapter 14: Personal Hell Domain</h4>

    ¡°Wee to your Personal Hell Domain! You can enjoy the full range of punishments offered by hell here! If you¡¯re interested, we also offer some special services such as getting whipped by our demonesses or enjoying a sauna in Mengpo¡¯s boiling soup!(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Po_Soup)] These are services that are exclusive to VIP members!¡± an eerie voice suddenly resounded in this already creepy ce.

    Su Jin looked around him but didn¡¯t see anybody, so he shouted back, ¡°You can introduce those things to masochists! I¡¯m not one of them!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not interested? Aww, too bad.¡± The voice sounded disappointed. But before Su Jin could say anything, the voice continued, ¡°Alright then! Please take a step a forward. Don¡¯t ask me which way is forward, because this ridiculous ce doesn¡¯t differentiate which direction is which. Just move in any direction you fancy!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched in annoyance at this cheeky voice. But he still took a few steps forward in a random direction anyway. Shortly after he had taken those few steps, the ground in front of him suddenly broke open andva sprayed out.

    He instinctively moved two steps back while theva slowly cooled down to form a podium that stood about three feet high. A rectangr item was on top of this podium and upon closer look, he felt that this rectangr item resembled a book cover.

    After pondering for a moment, he took out his copy of the Handbook and tried putting it on top of the rectangr item. It was exactly as he had guessed. This podium was meant for holding his Handbook.

    ¡°Wee once again to your Personal Hell Domain, or whatever you want to call it. I will answer all basic questions about this space. If you don¡¯t know what to ask, I will proceed with giving you the generic introduction that I have been given in advance. You may start asking,¡± the creepy voice started talking again.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the butler of your Personal Hell Domain. I am in charge of answering any basic questions you have about this ce, and I will also help you with using this space.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°That depends on you. What will be my name?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you need me to set this?¡± After thinking about it, Su Jin said casually, ¡°I see nothing but ck around here, so I¡¯ll just call you ckie!¡±

    ¡°Okay then!¡± ckie didn¡¯tin about the name that Su Jin had obviously chosen off the top of this head. He didn¡¯t seem to know that this name was often used for pets.

    ¡°Are you actually alive? Or are you nothing but programming?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°That depends on your definition of these things. If you¡¯re asking if I have intelligence, then the answer is yes. If you¡¯re asking if I have emotions, then I¡¯m afraid this ability has not been activated for me,¡± answered ckie.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have emotions? Hey, I clearly remember how sarcastically you spoke just moments ago!¡± Su Jin protested.

    ¡°That was a result of the random personality I was given. If you don¡¯t like it, you may change it. But ording to my understanding of human emotions, humans are able to differentiate emotions purely based on something you feel inside your body and your analysis of another person¡¯s facial expression. If you view that as emotions, then I am able to express all sorts of emotions down to the finest detail.¡±

    Su Jin frowned. ckie¡¯s answer wasn¡¯t wrong, but were human emotions really nothing more than a highly urate yet mechanical analysis? He didn¡¯t think so, but he was also surprised that ckie was able to break it down this way.

    ¡°Alright then, next question! ckie, do you have a physical body?¡± Su Jin continued.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. But if you want me to have one, you can buy me one in the future,¡± replied ckie.

    Su Jin had a basic understanding of what ckie was now. In short, ckie was a high functioning AI, much like Ironman¡¯s AI butler, J.A.R.V.I.S.

    ¡°What¡¯s this space for?¡±

    ¡°This space is for Point Calction, Reward Exchange and Body Restoration after a challenge has ended. There are other functions that will require you to unlock higher levels of ess before they will be made avable to you.¡±

    ¡°Body Restoration?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He thought he would have to live with just one arm for the rest of his life. He didn¡¯t expect this ce toe with such a pleasant surprise.

    ¡°Your left arm has been severely injured. Would you like to activate Body Restoration?¡± ckie asked.

    ¡°Yes! Start restoring my body!¡± Su Jin nodded immediately.

    ¡°Got it!¡± After ckie responded, a translucent beam of light shot out from his Handbook that was on the podium and engulfed Su Jin¡¯s entire body. Su Jin felt a warmth run through his body, which made him feel very drowsy and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

    After some time had passed, Su Jin suddenly woke up. He felt really refreshed and energized now.

    ckie voice resounded in his ear again, ¡°Your body has been fully restored. Besides the injury in your left arm, the rest of your body and other illnesses have also been healed.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How nice of you.¡± Su Jin looked down to see that he did have a new left arm and a long scar that he had on his other arm was gone as well. Besides that, he noticed that his usual aches were gone as well.

    ¡°You can cure cervical spondylosis too?¡± He stretched his neck and realized his neckache was gone. Ever since he started working, his neck had only gotten stiffer.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re still alive when you enter this ce, I¡¯ll be able to heal any illnesses and injuries you have.¡± ckie¡¯s voice carried a tinge of pride.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you then! So, that was the Body Restoration function, right? What about Point Calction and Reward Exchange? What are those about?¡± asked Su Jin excitedly.

    ¡°Please instruct your Handbook to begin the Point Calction process!¡±

    ¡°Start Point Calction!¡± said Su Jin to his Handbook. A gentle beam of light shot out from the Handbook and turned to the end of the first page about Fengxi Town. ck text in a calligraphy font began to appear at the bottom of the page.

    Level B Challenge ¡°Fengxi Town¡±pleted: 1000 points

    Degree of Challenge Participation: A-, 500 points

    Analysis and Deduction of Challenge: 70%, 600 points

    Did notplete Special Mission, did not eliminate Special Characters: 0 points

    Points Received: 2100

    Total Points: 2100

    Remaining Points: 2100

    A bunch of numbers appeared on his Handbook. This was basically an assessment of his performance during the challenge. Besides getting no points forpleting Special Missions and eliminating Special Characters, he received points in the other three categories.

    ¡°There are many ways in which you can use these points. You can exchange them for items and rewards, get out of the Handbook world, appraise items and more. I will exin these in detail when we get to it.¡±

    ¡°Is this number of points considered good for a newbie? Or bad for a newbie?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°As a newbie, this is a really good score. Do you want me to proceed with introducing the Reward Exchange system to you?¡± asked ckie.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Sure. Introduce the Reward Exchange system to me!¡±

    ¡°Please activate the Reward Exchange system.¡±

    ¡°Activate the Reward Exchange System!¡± said Su Jin to the Handbook. The book opened and flipped through the pages to stop at thest page. The paper on thisst page was different from the pages in front. It possessed a whitish glow and looked like highly polished marble.

    ¡°The Reward Exchange system is a system that is based on your umted points. You can use the points you have received from challenges to exchange for various rewards here. However, the rewards avable in the system are not fixed and will change with every challenge. You will be allowed to reserve one item each time. So, even if you do not have sufficient points to exchange for this reserved item now, this item will still be avable after youplete the next challenge. Please note that you are only allowed to reserve one reward at a time!¡±

    ¡°Besides the rewards that will change with every challenge, the system also has a category of rewards that do not change. You may read the details of each item yourself, so please go ahead and explore the system. The interface works exactly like an app on your phone. If there¡¯s anything you are unsure about, please feel free to ask me,¡± ckie exined patiently to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded absentmindedly. His attention was already fixed on the page in front of him. Just like what ckie said earlier, there were two avable categories. One was filled with items that would change after each challenge and the other had items that would not change.

    He decided to look at the ones that wouldn¡¯t change first and was instantly stunned after just taking a quick nce at the items. The rewards were really generous and were mostly extremely valuable luxury items of the real world. There was anything from aged red wine to various art pieces to limited edition branded items. Almost anything under the sun was avable.

    But what really took Su Jin¡¯s breath away was the very first item. It was an option to exchange his points for actual cash and the exchange rate was unbelievable. One point could be exchanged for $100,000 in cash. He had a total of 2,100 points now, which meant that he could exchange all of it for a whopping $210 million dors.

    For an ordinary office worker who earned a few thousand a month like himself, this was definitely a huge sum of money. It was huge enough to make his head spin.

    He forced himself to calm down and started weighing his pros and cons. While the idea of exchanging for cash was tempting, if he exchanged his points for luxury items and resold those items, the amount he earned on it would be higher. A sports car that would have cost a few hundred thousand in the real world only required a little under 20 points here.

    He didn¡¯t make any exchanges at this point and went to look into the other category first. There were fewer items in this category, but he jumped even more excitedly at these things.

    Unlimited ammunition and modified Desert Eagle with higher shooting speeds: 50 points

    Ultra Light Mecha Armor: 100 points

    Witch¡¯s Concealing Potion sts 10 minutes within a challenge,sts one hour outside of a challenge): 150 points

    All Purpose Healing Pill (heals all illnesses besides extensive damage to body): 200 points

    Su Jin stared at the avable items listed in the Handbook and suddenly felt like he must be in some fantasy movie of sorts. Everything listed here sounded like it belonged in some fantasy novel!

    [<u>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Po_Soup</u>

 Chapter 15: Exchanging

    <h4>Chapter 15: Exchanging</h4>

    ¡°Do you have any rmendations?¡± Su Jin suppressed his urge to make exchanges on the spot and decided to ask ckie for advice first.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but every decision made will ultimately affect the Handbook owner¡¯s chances of surviving the next challenge, therefore I am not qualified to rmend you anything.¡± ckie¡¯s reply turned out to be pretty disappointing for Su Jin.

    Su Jin had to think about this very carefully. Out of all the items avable for exchange, he had to think about the ones that would be changed the next time. He looked through the list again. Every item was extremely valuable, but not many would really be helpful for ensuring his survival in the next round.

    ¡°Having a modified Deagle with unlimited ammunition sounds great, but I don¡¯t know how to shoot a gun at all, so that¡¯s useless.¡± Su Jin immediately eliminated the Desert Eagle first. If one knew how to use this gun, it would definitely be a powerful weapon and it didn¡¯t need a lot of points either. But Su Jin had never even touched a gun before, never mind shooting one. Exchanging his points for a gun wouldn¡¯t do him any good.

    ¡°Are you worried about not being able to use a gun?¡± ckie suddenly asked.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°The country where I¡¯m from doesn¡¯t allow us to carry guns, so I don¡¯t know anything about them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. You can go to the Fixed Areas for Exchange section. There¡¯s an option for arms training and it will cost you 10 points each time. Once you¡¯ve exchanged those points, I¡¯ll create a target practice room for you and the best coach will also be present there to guide you. You can stay in there for as long as you like, but once you leave the area, you¡¯ll have to exchange another 10 points in order to enter again.¡±

    Su Jin immediately went to check the Fixed Areas for Exchange section. Just like what ckie described, there was the option to undergo gun training. Besides that, there were all sorts of skills training avable, including kickboxing, diving, swimming and evennguage sses. Almost every skill in the world could be learned here.

    ¡°The cost for each one is the same too. If I weren¡¯t limited by how much energy I had, I would really want to try them all.¡± Su Jin had a special sort of craving for knowledge. Even after he had graduated and spent hours working overtime in the office, he would still buy all sorts of books to enrich his mind. So, when he saw that he could learn so many things here, he felt the urge to learn everything.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to look so torn. Time here passes differently from the world youe from. Over here, time passes a lot more slowly. One minute in your world is one entire day here. If you really want to, you could learn everything avable here,¡± said ckie.

    Su Jin was instantly thrilled by the fact that time passed slower here. This wasn¡¯t hell at all. He felt like this ce was more like heaven.

    ¡°But I must remind you that even though there¡¯s more than enough time, there¡¯s a limit to how much energy one has. No matter how much you want to learn here, you have to stop when you have to. There have been Handbook owners who survived challenges but ended up dying from exhaustion in one of their training grounds,¡± ckie warned Su Jin very sternly.

    Su Jin sighed quietly. Humans were too limited physically after all. Even though a ce like this existed, he was still unable to go beyond his human limits.

    ¡°The Ultra Light Mecha Armor only needs 100 points, so I¡¯ll take that!¡± Su Jin was very interested in such an armor and could understand the description of the item very well too. This armor was made from a high-tech flexible metal alloy, weighed about as much as a typical shirt and had excellent defence properties. It could deflect shots from most guns as long as they didn¡¯t keep shooting the exact same spot.

    There were other better defence items avable besides the Ultra-Light Mecha Armor, but the prices of those items were a little too high. Su Jin really wanted those too, but he couldn¡¯t afford it.

    After Su Jin confirmed his choice, a white light shot out from the Handbook and an Ultra-Light Mecha Armor floated above the Handbook.

    Su Jin reached out to grab the armor. It was extremely light, like how it was described, and there was a silver button on it.

    He pressed the button, and the armor instantly flew at him and wrapped itself around him. There was a bright sh and the armor disappeared. This was a special effect the armor had. It could make itself look like the user¡¯s clothing or even skin, so it was invisible to the naked eye.

    After making that first exchange, Su Jin began looking through the other items. He decided to exchange his points for the All-Purpose Healing Pill. Each one required 200 points and was a little expensive, but the effect it had made it impossible for him to ignore it. Besides, he believed that it woulde into good use in future challenges.

    Once he had thought it through, he exchanged his points for three pills, which made his total points drop by 600 immediately. After that, he turned his attention to a Low-Level Body Strengthening Elixir, which cost 1,000 points.

    The description for this Low-Level Body Strengthening Elixir was very simple. It just said that the body would be strengthened overall after it was consumed and that the effects would vary depending on the potential of the user, but it would unconditionally help the user to reach at least Level D.

    ¡°ckie, what does Level D mean?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°ording to human standards, Level D is equivalent to the standard of a soldier from the special forces,¡± replied ckie.

    ¡°Since this one is Low Level, does that mean there¡¯s also a Mid Level and a High Level version of this?¡±

    ¡°That is correct. But the higher the level, the harder it is toe across one. You¡¯re considered pretty lucky to have it among your very first set of items and you actually noticed it too. That¡¯s really rare,¡± remarked ckie.

    Su Jin raised his eyebrow slightly. Even though ckie said he wasn¡¯t going to give the owner any suggestions, the way he talked about this elixir made it sound like he was trying to rmend it to Su Jin.

    So, Su Jin didn¡¯t hesitate and chose to exchange his points for a Low Level Body Strengthening Elixir. A bottle of green liquid appeared on top of the Handbook.

    He opened the bottle and drank everything down in one shot. It was a little bitter and he didn¡¯t feel any difference at first. But after taking a few breaths, he slowly started feeling the difference. His muscles began to tremble slightly, and his heart started pumping faster. His heart continued increasing in rate so much that everything suddenly went ck, and he fainted.

    Quite some time had passed by the time Su Jin regained consciousness. He felt achy all over, as if he had engaged in a lot of vigorous exercise earlier.

    ¡°ckie, restore my body,¡± said Su Jin with a wince.

    ¡°Got it!¡± ckie immediately started the restoration process. But this time, Su Jin didn¡¯t faint. Perhaps this round of restoration wasn¡¯t as intensive as thest.

    Once the restoration waspleted, the aches he felt earlier disappeared and was reced by an energy that he had never felt before. He felt really good now. He tried throwing a few punches and he could even hear the sound of the wind his punches made.

    ¡°This is a really magical ce!¡± eximed Su Jin. He flipped the pages of the Handbook back to where his total points were written. His 2,100 points were now down to just 400, which made him sigh resignedly, ¡°It¡¯s magical until you run out of points.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take $10 million, please.¡± After thinking about it, Su Jin decided to exchange 100 points for $10 million. The items he got earlier were of use to him in the real world too, but the one thing he needed the most was still money. Both his parents and his younger sister needed money.

    ¡°You can use this card to withdraw cash from any bank you like, and nobody will question where it¡¯s from.¡± A debit card floated above the Handbook. It was entirely ck except for a drawing of mes in a silver color on the border, which made the card look rather sinister somehow.

    ¡°I still have 300 points!¡± thought Su Jin as he looked at his bnce. He finally chose to exchange 150 points for a Witch¡¯s Concealing Potion and left thest 150 points alone.

    ¡°Points! Points! Points! This ce is really scheming! Even though it¡¯s written here that you just need 100,000 points to get out of this whole thing, you¡¯ve got to exchange your points after each round for items to strengthen yourself with and to increase your chances of surviving in the next round. But if I have to keep exchanging at this rate, I¡¯ll never get to 100,000 points,¡± muttered Su Jin to himself.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done with the exchanging. Can I go back now?¡± Su Jin asked ckie.

    ¡°Sure. But onest thing. There will be a new challenge every month and you can choose when you wish to start the challenge during the course of the month. But if you do not decide when you wish to start the challenge, the Handbook will automatically send you into a challenge just before the month is up. Please remember that well,¡± said ckie.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Got it. Please send me back now!¡±

    ¡°Understood. Please close your eyes, I will send you to your world right now.¡±

    Su Jin closed his eyes and felt a warmth rush through his body. It felt like he had just emerged from the cold waters of ake and was now seated next to a firece. When he slowly opened his eyes again, he discovered that he was back on his bed in his cer. If not for his torn clothing and the items he had exchanged earlier, he would have wondered if he had really gone to a ce called Fengxi Town or if it had all been nothing but a dream.

    ¡°All of it¡­all of it was real.¡± He looked at the things he had brought back to the real world. The ck debit card reflected the light and the silver me design looked like it was really burning.

    He exhaled deeply before pushing away everything on his desk and getting hisptop out. He turned it on and started typing into Google¡¯s search box.

    ¡°Fengxi Town!¡± He hit the enter key and the search engine immediately started looking for results and the list came out in seconds.

    He scrolled through the results carefully. There were a lot of hits, but most of the results were about other simrly named towns and had nothing to do with the Fengxi Town he had been to.

    But he didn¡¯t give up. He continued to sit at hisptop to search for any useful information. His eyes finally lit up after searching for a few hours. He had found something useful.

    ¡°Fengxi Town¡­ really exists!¡± murmured Su Jin as he clicked on an image on hisptop.

 Chapter 16: Meet Again

    <h4>Chapter 16: Meet Again</h4>

    An undated photo loaded on Su Jin¡¯sptop screen. It was a little yellowish and it was taken from a high vantage point.

    Theyout of the town was the same as the Fengxi Town he had just returned from. He could even see where Lin Yue¡¯s house was.

    He looked at the longbow on his bed. This was like a prize he had picked up from the town itself, but ckie said that it had to be appraised before it could be used. Unfortunately, Su Jin didn¡¯t have a lot of points and it didn¡¯t make sense to use them on appraising an item that he wasn¡¯t sure was useful or not, so he decided to just keep it aside for the time being.

    After that, he made a phone call to his colleague. ¡°Hello, is that Brother Li? Yeah, Su Jin here. I¡¯ve got to settle some urgent matters, so could you help me to take leave? I¡¯ll need three days!¡±

    ¡°Three days?! Su Jin, you¡¯d better think about it carefully. If you take those three days, you won¡¯t get the perfect attendance award money and moreover, you¡¯ll miss the gathering too!¡± said the older man on the other end of the line.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, it¡¯s really urgent. Tell you what, once I¡¯m done settling this, I¡¯ll treat you to dinner.¡± Su Jin needed his colleague¡¯s help, so he tried his best to plead with Brother Li. In the past, he would never have offered to treat anybody to dinner. After paying the bills and sending money home every month, any money he had left was barely enough to even buy a beer, never mind a meal.

    Brother Liughed and said, ¡°You can¡¯t fool me with that! I know how tightly you hold those purse strings! There¡¯s no way you¡¯re going to treat me to a meal.¡±

    ¡°Oh well, that¡¯s just part of being poor. But seriously though, I really need you to help me to take leave for the next three days.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright. You¡¯re actually forgoing your attendance money, so it must be really urgent. Did something happen at home? If you need anything, just let me know. I¡¯ll definitely help you where I can,¡± said Brother Li seriously.

    Su Jin felt a warmth in his heart as he thanked Brother Li, ¡°Thanks so much, Brother Li. I¡¯ll let you know if you need anything. I¡¯ll hang up now, bye!¡±

    ¡°Bye.¡±

    After hanging up, he tried the number that Chu Yi gave him, but the number didn¡¯t belong to Chu Yi. He scratched his head and wondered if Chu Yi had remembered his own number wrongly.

    Hey back down on the bed and fiddled with the ck card for a while, then randomly called the customer service hotline of a bank and gave them the card number. Strangely enough, nobody asked him for a PIN or passcode or anything like that. He was surprised that there was no form of protection on this card at all.

    ¡°Your bnce is ten million dors.¡± Su Jin exhaled deeply as he listened to the automated voice report the bnce. Then he tried a few other banks and got the same result. This ck card was really usable across banks.

    ¡°The time!¡± Su Jin looked at his clock. Besides the time he had taken to research Fengxi Town and make a few phone calls, he had actually only left his apartment for only about a minute or so. As hey on the bed, he thought about the crazy things he had experienced earlier, and everything suddenly seemed unreal.

    What on earth was this Handbook all about? It allowed him to exchange those points for so many magical items and it transported the owner to a terrifying and almost unbelievable world. Compared to all that, body restoration and gettingrge sums of money didn¡¯t seem so out of this world anymore.

    It was impossible for Su Jin to understand everything about the Handbook by specting about it, so he closed his eyes and fell asleep soon after. Su Jin considered this one of his superpowers. As long as he wanted to sleep, he would be able to fall asleep in a very short time, regardless of what he was thinking about or worried about.

    The next day, Su Jin woke up early in the morning. After he packed a few things into his bag, he headed straight for the airport and bought a ticket to Z province. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t peak travelling season.

    The items he had used his points to exchange for in his Personal Hell Domain and the longbow really gave him a headache. His Ultra-Light Mecha Armor was invisible to others and was on him at all times, so that wasn¡¯t a problem, but it was almost impossible to bring the rest on board a ne. Just when he was running out of ideas on what to do with these items, he casually dumped the Handbook on the longbow.

    All of a sudden, the longbow turned into a sh of light and disappeared. He was stunned at first, then he quickly started flipping through the Handbook and found it on the secondst page of the Handbook. It was now nothing but a drawing in the book.

    He tried to grab at the longbow and a beam of light shot out as the longbow appeared in his hand again. Now he knew where Jiang Li¡¯s spear must have suddenly appeared from.

    After he practiced how to store and retrieve his items for a while, it became second nature to him. He marvelled once again at the Handbook. This storage ability was really amazing.

    On the ne, Su Jin continued to search for more information on Fengxi Town on his phone, but besides that photo he found, it seemed as though any other information about Fengxi Town had beenpletely erased. He couldn¡¯t find anything useful at all.

    He looked at the photo of Fengxi Town that he had saved on his phone. The address of the town was indicated at the bottom right corner of the photo. If not for this photo, he could forget about locating this secluded little town.

    Once he got out of the ne, he took an intercity bus, then changed to a local bus, but was still unable to reach Fengxi Town. After asking around, he found out that the location he was trying to get to was already abandoned years ago, which was why no public transport could reach it. If he wanted to get there, he had to walk.

    He looked up at the darkening sky. Just getting here had already taken him almost half a day, but he wasn¡¯t feeling tired at all. His strengthened body could now endure the sort of training a soldier in the special forces could, so merely travelling wasn¡¯t going to tire him out so easily.

    Since he wasn¡¯t tired, he decided to keep going. He purchased a bicycle from the town he was in because a bicycle was definitely faster than walking. Then, he went around to ask the townsfolk about exactly where Fengxi Town was. He thought it would be difficult to get information, but it seemed like everyone in the vicinity knew about that town.

    ¡°Fengxi Town has been abandoned for a few decades now. Why do you want to go to such a ce?¡± asked one of the girls he approached. She looked like she was only 15 or 16, yet she knew about Fengxi Town.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m the hiking and camping sort of guy, so I like to visit ces that are off the beaten track,¡± lied Su Jin. Then he asked her curiously, ¡°Since it¡¯s been abandoned for a few decades now, how do you know about the ce?¡±

    ¡°Everyone who lives around here knows about that ce. My grandfather used to tell us ghost stories about that ce when I was a child,¡± she replied as she rolled her eyes. Then she said, ¡°But what I heard was that something terrible happened a few decades ago that wiped out the entire poption overnight and the police cordoned off the town too. Apparently, it was an infectious disease. Aren¡¯t you scared?¡±

    ¡°An infectious disease?¡± Su Jinughed. ¡°Even if it were an infectious disease, it¡¯s already been a few decades. That won¡¯t be a problem anymore.¡±

    After he parted ways with the teenager, he started cycling towards where she told him it was. She yelled after him, ¡°It¡¯s getting dark! If you go there now, you¡¯ll have to spend the night there!¡±

    ¡°Got it! Thanks!¡± he replied and waved at her.

    The road eventually became impossible for a bicycle to get through and the bicycle had now be a burden to him. So, he abandoned it and continued the rest of the way on foot.

    It was 8pm by the time Su Jin could see Fengxi Town from afar. This Fengxi Town was so different from the town he went to, the night before. The houses were damaged, and the grass was half his height. It was obvious that nobody hade here for the past few decades.

    He pushed the tall grasses aside and continued walking slowly towards Lin Yue¡¯s house. He spotted it quite quickly and found it strange that this particr house was in much better shape than the rest around it. There was also a stter of flesh as well as dried blood in front of the gate.

    His memories went back to how Jiang Li had thrust his spear into the hunter after the hunter had taken possession of Yang Zichen¡¯s body, and the spear had blown the body to bits. Su Jin sighed quietly and found some abandoned tools nearby. He was much stronger now, so he used those rusty tools to dig a hole of sorts and buried whatever flesh he found.

    ¡°Yang Zichen, we happened to meet in this ce, and although it was only for a short time, we went through life and death situations together. I¡¯m alive partly thanks to you too. I don¡¯t know where your home or your family is, so the only thing I can do for you is to bury your body. I hope you won¡¯t run into such an unlucky thing in your next life,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. Since the remnant of Yang Zichen¡¯s body was here, that meant that everything that happened the night before had actually happened in this abandoned town. He didn¡¯t know why the town became so overgrown and rundown overnight, but after everything that happened the night before, nothing could really shock Su Jin anymore.

    He bowed a few times respectfully towards this simple grave, then he walked towards the gate of the house. A boning knife had been hidden near the gate and its de gleamed brightly. He picked up the knife and used it to knock on the gate.

    ¡°Is anyone there? I¡¯vee as promised!¡± Su Jin was yelling like a door-to-door salesman as he banged the knife against the wooden fence.

    Creak! Just then, the sound of a wooden door being opened came from the house inside. A familiar silhouette walked out of the house and stood before Su Jin.

    ¡°You really came.¡± This person was none other than Auntie Li, the only surviving human other than the Handbook owners who passed the challenge. She was also the god of Fengxi Town in human form.

    Su Jin smiled and tapped the fence with his boning knife again. ¡°I¡¯m a man of my word. I was just afraid that you might not have understood my message and that I would havee all the way here for nothing.¡±

    ¡°When you purposely left that boning knife behind, I knew you were going toe back. But it was still a gamble for me,¡± said the god in a low voice.

    ¡°Why? Were you afraid that I wouldn¡¯te back?¡± asked Su Jin with a grin.

    ¡°I was more afraid that you wouldn¡¯t be able to get back here. As one of the Handbook¡¯s challenges, Fengxi Town has its own special characteristics. I was supposed to have gone into a deep sleep once the challenge was over and wait for the next challenge to start. I paid a great price in order to wait for you, so if I don¡¯t get what I want this time, I will not let you off,¡± said the god as he stared straight at Su Jin, as if he might swallow Su Jin whole.

    ¡°I¡¯m someone who might be willing to work with you and you¡¯re threatening me? That¡¯s not a good start. You¡¯ve affected my impression of you,¡± said Su Jin as he started tapping his nose with his right finger again. He was trying to analyze what the god had just said. After his body had been strengthened by that elixir, he discovered that his mind seemed to have greater rity as well. It didn¡¯t necessarily mean that he had be more intelligent, but it was more like he had gotten a processing chip upgrade and he could process everything much faster now.

    The god¡¯s words contained important information, but Su Jin had to put that aside for now. He would need other information to verify his spections.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to think so much. You¡¯ll eventually find out more. So, how about our deal? Have you decided to be one of my devotees?¡± The god stretched both arms out, as if he was waiting for Su Jin to leap into his embrace.

    A lot ofpanies give a bonus to staff who don¡¯t miss a day of work

    And so the plot thickens.

 Chapter 17: Deal

    <h4>Chapter 17: Deal</h4>

    ¡°I refuse.¡± Su Jin turned down the God in a resolute voice without any hesitation.

    The God froze for a moment before his entire face turned ck and a flood of sparkles flowed out from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, forming a menacing face above Auntie Li¡¯s head. The face roared angrily at Su Jin, ¡°Are you taking me for a fool? How dare you y a God! How dare you!¡±

    ¡°Rx! Calm down!¡± Su Jin quickly waved his arms at the God and said with augh, ¡°Why are you so upset? I¡¯m just not happy with the terms. I didn¡¯t say I¡¯m definitely not working with you.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ what do you mean?¡± The God was a little confused by Su Jin. Even though a God was supposed to be at a much higher levelpared to humans, he was now confounded by a lowly human.

    ¡°It¡¯s simple. I don¡¯t mind working with you, but I want better terms. Get it now? If you want me on your team, you¡¯ve got to show some sincerity,¡± said Su Jin with a shrug.

    The God fell silent for a moment before he nodded and said, ¡°Fine! You¡¯re a talented man after all. In that case, I can make you my ambassador and my evangelist, which will allow you to use my power.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s all there is to your sincerity, then I think we don¡¯t have to waste time on this anymore. I believe your termsst night were also for me to be your ambassador and evangelist. I gave you a whole day to think about it, but your terms are still just as dissatisfactory.¡± The smile on Su Jin¡¯s face faded.

    ¡°Lowly human, do not anger me!¡± said the God in a stern voice as he made himself seem even more imposing in hope of frightening Su Jin into submission.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t budge at all. He nced at the God and said, ¡°What¡¯s happened? It¡¯s been only one day, and you¡¯ve be so much weaker already? Didn¡¯t you use these sparkles of yours to physically pressurize me intoplying? So now you¡¯re only able to threaten me with a mean face?¡±

    ¡°Why, you!¡± Su Jin¡¯s words made the God furious, but he no longer looked as imposing now. The God finally admitted defeat when he saw that Su Jin lookedpletely unbothered.

    ¡°Fine, greedy human. What do you want?¡±

    Su Jin started smiling again when he heard this question. He had already expected this to happen beforeing here. Since an Elder God could be suppressed by enough ordinary human members of the other major religions, it was clear that this God had lost a lot of his power. Also,st night, the God had been unable to break through and turn the tables on them. That was proof of how weak this God was. If this God weren¡¯t so weak, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t be behaving this way even though he was now a lot stronger than before.

    ¡°These two things were created by you, so could you certify them for me first?¡± Su Jin took out the boning knife and the longbow. He didn¡¯t use his points to certify the longbow because he figured that he could get the God to do it instead. Points were very precious, so he wanted to save them when he could.

    The God didn¡¯t refuse and waved his arm. The two items now had a golden glow around them.

    ¡°Done. But let me make this clear. I made these two items and that¡¯s why I¡¯m able to certify them. If you have other items that need to be certified or appraised, don¡¯t ask me to do it. Besides their creators, only Hell¡¯s Handbook can do it,¡± the God said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded. He picked up the boning knife and the longbow, but they didn¡¯t seem any different at one nce. After thinking about it, he decided to keep the boning knife inside the Handbook. Once he did that, a string of text appeared below the boning knife.

    ¡°Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife. It is a very sharp knife that can cut through most materials. Apanying skill: Attack of the Demon Lord. Requires 50 Spirit Power. When used, a breaking effect may be activated, and it will cut through any object in the way.¡±

    ¡°This ¡­ this is seriously like an MMORPG!¡± Even though Su Jin had expected some changes to ur after it had been certified, he didn¡¯t expect to change so specifically. Also, he was very bothered by the fact that it required 50 Spirit Power points.

    He picked up the long bow and kept it inside his Handbook as well. A few lines of text quickly appeared below it.

    ¡°Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. A longbow made by the Demon Lord; it is capable ofunching a very powerful attack. Apanying skill: Roar of the Demon Lord. Requires 100 Dark Spirit Power. Shooting a Demon Lord¡¯s Arrow from the Longbow will give the Arrow destructive power that can swallow anything it touches within a certain radius.¡±

    Su Jin had experienced that Roar of the Demon Lord skill personally. Just a tiny bit had touched him, and his entire left arm disappeared. If he had been hit by that arrowpletely, he would have literally vanished into thin air.

    ¡°There¡¯s Spirit Power and there¡¯s also Dark Spirit Power? So, there are different types of Spirit Power?¡± Su Jin had noticed the differences in the description of the two items. The Boning Knife only mentioned Spirit Power, but the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow specifically mentioned that it required Dark Spirit Power.

    ¡°Can you tell me a little more about Spirit Power?¡± The God in front of him right now was one who had been greatly weakened over the years, but he definitely knew a lot of things, so there was no reason why he wouldn¡¯t know anything about Spirit Power.

    The God nodded and said, ¡°As the owner of a Handbook, you would want to survive the challenges for as long as you can, and Spirit Power will be the most important thing to you. There are many ways to activate Spirit Power. You can push your limits, go through special training, receive an anointing from someone and¡­ through your faith!¡±

    ¡°Interesting. Is that why you helped me to certify the items without any question? You wanted me to be one of your devotees, huh,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°This is the best option for both of us. If you choose to be one of my devotees, I can help you to activate your Spirit Power immediately and it would be at a high level as well. That way, you will be able to use the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow right away. Believe me, with this Spirit Power, you will be much more powerful, even more powerful than most veterans. That¡¯s the only way you¡¯d get a chance to survive. Only then will you be able to help me.¡± The God continued his sales pitch desperately in hope that Su Jin would agree to be a believer immediately.

    ¡°No, I still refuse.¡± Su Jin turned down the God¡¯s request again without hesitation. ¡°I will not be a believer of anyone. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re a God or not.¡±

    ¡°Your stubbornness will not do your chances of survival any good,¡± spat the God hatefully. He took a while to calm down and said in a more agreeable tone of voice, ¡°Fine! Since you won¡¯t be one of my devotees, then what else can I do for you?¡±

    ¡°You can activate my Spirit Power!¡±

    ¡°Are you deaf? I just said that I can only do that if you be one of my devotees! If you refuse to do that, then there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you mention some other methods? What did you say? Push my limits? Special training? Getting anointed? We can try one of those instead! I can take it!¡±

    ¡°Time is the problem. There isn¡¯t enough time. Besides being anointed, the other two methods require a lot of time. I have to go into a deep sleep soon and I don¡¯t have the time to do any of these,¡± said the God helplessly.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go with the anointing thing then!¡±

    ¡°Heh heh¡­ if you wish to do so, I don¡¯t mind,¡± said the God as heughed a little too happily.

    A thought hit Su Jin. ¡°If you anoint me, I¡¯ll be one of your devotees. Is that what will happen?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a God, so I carry that sort of divine power. Another powerful being might be able to pass their power on to another person through anointing without affecting the anointed, but I¡¯m different. As long as you ept power from me, you will be turned into one of my devotees. This is an inevitable part of it,¡± said the God.

    ¡°What a useless God.¡± Su Jin shook his head and thought some more. ¡°Are there any substitutes for Spirit Power?¡±

    ¡°Substitutes for Spirit Power? No, there aren¡¯t any. Spirit Power is a unique magical power, so there¡¯s no way anything can rece it.¡± The God shook his head and was very certain in this reply to Su Jin¡¯s question.

    Su Jin was getting a little frustrated now. The two items he had on hand could have been his best weapons for future challenges, but if he couldn¡¯t use them, then they were worthless to him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put it another way. Is there any way I can use these two weapons without having any Spirit Power?¡± Su Jin decided to try asking from a different angle.

    The God paused for a while before nodding. ¡°If all you want is to use these two weapons, I do have a way of doing that. I can create a Spirit Power battery that can store my power and you can use it whenever you need to.¡±

    ¡°Phew!¡± Su Jin exhaled deeply. ¡°I¡¯ll take that then!¡±

    ¡°Humph! You¡¯ve been asking me for a lot, but I thought we were supposed to be working together. Shouldn¡¯t we benefit equally from this deal?¡± said the God.

    ¡°Of course. Tell me what you want then!¡± Su Jin nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Freedom! I want freedom! Let me out from the challenge that this damned Handbook created!!¡± The God was practically bellowing these words out in fury.

    Su Jin covered his ears and waited for the God to finish his rant. He frowned and asked, ¡°How do I do that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± replied the God immediately. When he saw the bewildered look on Su Jin¡¯s face, he quickly exined, ¡°The Handbook is not some robot that remains the same all the time. Even if I had found a method of escaping before, it wouldn¡¯t work now! So, I need you to find a new way of setting me free!¡±

    ¡°This will be very tough, but I will try my best.¡± Su Jin nodded and didn¡¯t look like he was going to negotiate with the God.

    That made the God very surprised. From his observations, even if Su Jin were willing to help him, Su Jin would definitelye up with a long list of conditions and be willing to help only after he had benefitted sufficiently.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to make any requests?¡±

    ¡°I need you to understand one thing. The higher my chances of surviving, the higher your chances of attaining freedom. I believe this chance is very hard toe by for you and I don¡¯t know when you¡¯ll find such a chance again if you miss it this time. If you continue to treat this whole thing as a deal and try to negotiate with me all the time, the one on the losing end is yourself,¡± said Su Jin calmly with a faint smile on his face.

    The God fell silent for a while before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯re my chance¡­ I might never have a chance like that again. I wasn¡¯t just lucky that you¡¯vee by. The stars must have aligned themselvesst night for this to happen. I can¡¯t miss this chance.¡±

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. He could tell right from the start that this God seemed to think very highly of him, but that was a strange thing in itself. He was pretty sure that there must have been more than one person willing to strike a deal with this God in the past, so why did this God think so highly of him?

    He didn¡¯t know the reason, but since they were going to work together, it was better that the God thought as highly of him as possible!

    ¡°Wait here for a while, there¡¯s something I have to pass on to you.¡± The God then turned to return to his room.

    Mans literally bargaining with a frigging Elder God. ABSOLUTE CHAD.

 Chapter 18: Trivial Matters

    <h4>Chapter 18: Trivial Matters</h4>

    The thing that the God brought out was something that Su Jin recognized. Those were the skeletons of Auntie Li¡¯s family members. He brought the skeletons to the wooden fence and broke their skulls apart in front of Su Jin. A smooth ck stone was hiding in each skull and these stones looked just like eyeballs.

    ¡°These are the eyes of my real body. Both of us shall have one each and I will transfer my power into them. In other words, this will serve as the Spirit Power battery I mentioned earlier. If you run into any dangerous situation, you can break it and it might be able to help you survive,¡± said the God very solemnly to Su Jin before throwing one of them out of the gate.

    Su Jin picked up the eye. It felt like it was made from metal and was also pretty heavy. It wasn¡¯t as smooth as he thought it would be and upon closer inspection, this eye was actually translucent. But it was a very dark color, so everyone thought it was a stone.

    He kept it inside his Handbook as well and some text immediately appeared.

    ¡°Demon Lord¡¯s Eye. It contains the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power from the body of a powerful demon. Apanying skill: Discernment of the Demon Lord. Requires 50 Spirit Power. Each time you use it, you can retrieve a certain amount of information from the other party and it will be reflected in the Handbook. You may use it only once on each person and it cannot be used on other Handbook owners. Current Spirit Power level: 3000/3000.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good skill!¡± Su Jin was pleased with the apanying skill that the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye came with. He was always happy to have more information because he believed that having sufficient information would increase his chances of surviving future challenges. Discernment of the Demon Lord was a skill that was perfect for him.

    ¡°The amount of Spirit Power inside isn¡¯t much, though. Is 3,000 points going to be enough? I guess I¡¯ll probably end up using it all. Looks like my ns to be a tycoon aren¡¯t going to happen,¡± sighed Su Jin. This item was almost perfect, but it couldn¡¯tst long.

    ¡°What ns to be a tycoon?¡± The God was rather confused.

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s nothing. Do you have anything else you can give me? Maybe a Demon Lord¡¯s Arm or a Demon Lord¡¯s Calf or a Demon Lord¡¯s Rib? Something like that?¡± Su Jin looked the God up and down as if he was hoping to steal a body part from him.

    The God¡¯s expression darkened and started chasing Su Jin away. ¡°Humph! I¡¯ve given you everything that I can possibly give! I hope you won¡¯t disappoint me. Go look for a way to help me regain freedom!¡±

    Su Jin waved and turned to leave. Since they had finallye to an agreement, there was no point in sticking around.

    Then he heard the God call out after him, ¡°Remember our deal! Remember, you¡¯re dealing with a God! If you dare to cheat me, you will be duly punished!!¡± The God¡¯s voice grew fainter and fainter and finally vanished into the night.

    Su Jin stopped walking and turned around to look back at the house again. The house was still standing, but in the ten odd seconds he had spent walking away, the entire ce had bepletely dpidated and the God was nowhere to be seen. It was as if Su Jin had been the only one here all along.

    ¡°So, this is how you¡¯re going to keep me in check?¡± Su Jin started ying with the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye he held in his hands. The God clearly had a backup n. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was, but he agreed that both of them ought to have a backup n. Without that, both sides would feel uneasy about the entire deal.

    He kept the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye away in the Handbook. This deal was a gamble for both Su Jin and the Demon Lord, actually. When Su Jin first arrived at Fengxi Town earlier, he wasn¡¯t really sure if the Demon Lord would be waiting for him here. The Demon Lord himself also seemed unsure if Su Jin would turn up.

    ¡°I think it makes sense for me to be unsure about whether he would turn up or not, but why was he unsure if I woulde?¡± Su Jin felt like something wasn¡¯t quite right and this was a point of concern. But after thinking it through for a while, he gave up. Trying to find an answer through pure spection wasn¡¯t going to get him the right answer.

    After he left Fengxi Town, he checked into a hotel in a nearby town for the night. His phone started ringing and it turned out to be his younger sister, who was still schooling.

    ¡°Qing? Why did you suddenly think of calling me?¡± Su Jiny on the bed in the hotel room and the smell inside the room made him feel a little ufortable. His tiny cer in S City was small, but it was very clean and felt a lot morefier than this ce.

    ¡°Brother, I suddenly have an additional $5,000 in my ount.¡± Su Jin¡¯s sister, Su Qing was still in high school, so she was at the peak of her teenage years. Su Jin doted very dearly on this sister who was a number of years younger than himself.

    ¡°Oh wow! Did some rich man¡¯s son fall for my dear sister and he¡¯s now trying to impress you with his money?¡± asked Su Jin as heughed loudly.

    ¡°Can you be serious? I know the money¡¯s from you. Why did you transfer so much money to me? I still have enough for my living expenses, and I¡¯ve not needed to pay for anything else recently either.¡± Su Qing chided her brother for being so cheeky.

    ¡°Mypany just gave us our bonuses. I figured that you¡¯d be busy studying soon, so I thought I¡¯d just transfer you enough money all at once, then I won¡¯t have to disturb you during the year. n your own finances and decide what you need yourself.¡± Su Jin had transferred this money to Su Qing¡¯s ount as well as another $800,000 to her other ount, but the card to withdraw from this other ount was at home with his parents and not with Su Qing. He had deposited the money there in case he suddenly died in a challenge. This was money for his family.

    Su Qing didn¡¯t really find anything amiss about Su Jin¡¯s answer, but from what she knew about her brother, Su Jin was someone who nned his finances very carefully. He wasn¡¯t being stingy. Their family was just really very poor.

    Su Jin went on to ask his sister about how school was and life in general, chatting for more than an hour before hanging up. The next morning, Su Jin rushed back to S City. Now that he had some money on hand, he wanted to move houses. He didn¡¯t have to stay in that tiny basement anymore.

    S City¡¯s property prices could be terrifying. If Su Jin had exchanged all his points for money, he might have been able to buy something here. But since he didn¡¯t, he decided to just rent a ce.

    ¡°You want to rent a ce? No problem. We¡¯ve got plenty of avable rooms and houses on hand. Is there something you¡¯re looking for? I¡¯ll get you the ce that best fits your requirements,¡± said the young middle aged property agent as she patted her fairly full bosom.

    ¡°My requirements? Hmm. It¡¯ll be great if it¡¯s near to C Road, on the quiet side, and as for the size¡­ I just don¡¯t want somewhere that¡¯s like ten square meters,¡± said Su Jin casually.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a humorous person! Well, even if you wanted to find somewhere that¡¯s just 10 square meters, our agency wouldn¡¯t have any on hand. But if you want something near C Road¡­ it¡¯s going to cost you,¡± said the agent with a smile as she looked Su Jin up and down. Most people in her profession judged their potential client¡¯s wealth from the clothes they wore.

    Su Jin knew what she was driving at, so he smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Mypany¡¯s paying for it, not me.¡±

    ¡°OH! In that case, no worries! I¡¯ve got a few ces in mind, so if you¡¯ve got the time, why don¡¯t we go take a look at them now?¡± The agent was no longer worried once Su Jin said that thepany was paying the rent and even wanted to bring him around right now.

    Su Jin happily went with her, and they looked at five different ces in one morning. Every apartment they saw was a ce that Su Jin could only dream of in the past, but when he actually had to choose one, he wasn¡¯t sure anymore.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what do you think? You don¡¯t like these apartments?¡± asked the agent anxiously when she noticed the perplexed look on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°They¡¯re not bad, but I don¡¯t find them quiet enough. I would like a quiet ce.¡±

    She was a little puzzled for a while. It wasmon for people to look for a ce in a particr area, but it wasn¡¯tmon toe across someone in the city who wanted somewhere quiet, since it would mean that such a ce would be more inessible. After thinking about it, she said, ¡°There is a ce that¡¯s quite quiet around here, but the rent is three times the ones we saw earlier, and you need to pay one month in advance plus three months¡¯ deposit. I think that wille up to about $60,000 or so.¡±

    ¡°$60,000? No problem. Let¡¯s go look at it!¡± said Su Jin with a nod. In the past, that would have been equivalent to hispany bonus, but money was meaningless to him now. Living his life well was more important, since he really had no idea how long he would live from now.

    The agent led him further down the road and the area was a lot quieter than where they had walked from. She eventually stopped in front of a double story bungalow. This bungalow had six or seven rooms, was fully renovated and had a number of well-kept decorative nts in the yard too.

    Su Jin immediately took a liking to this bungalow and said, ¡°This ce is not bad! Now the rent sounds cheap!¡±

    ¡°The house is really nice, but the location¡¯s a little inessible, so it¡¯s not very convenient when you need to buy groceries or shop for things. But if you¡¯re the type who stays home most of the time, this won¡¯t be a problem!¡± said the agent with a smile.

    Su Jin looked around and eventually settled on this ce. After paying the initial deposit, the agent said he could move in anytime, so he returned to his cer and packed his things immediately. He realized that he really had very few things. If he ever had to escape for whatever reason, he wouldn¡¯t even need a suitcase.

    He moved into his new house that very night since the house was fully furnished anyway. The next morning, he woke up at his usual time. He had asked Brother Li to help him to apply for three days of leave, but surprisingly, everything was settled within just two days. Since everything was already settled, he decided to continue going to work.

    Even though Su Jin didn¡¯t actually have to work anymore if he didn¡¯t want to, he felt that it was better to work anyway. It wasn¡¯t really for the money but more for the sake of having some human interaction. When he thought about how his future interactions would either be with Handbook owners like himself or some monster in the challenges, having interaction with normal human beings would be very precious to him.

    But when he arrived at the office, he realized that his entire team was out. He smacked his forehead and muttered under his breath, ¡°You idiot! Thepany gathering¡¯s today! How could I have forgotten?¡±

    He quickly called a colleague to get the address of the restaurant they were eating at, and he quickly hopped into a cab to rush there immediately. The moment he entered the restaurant, he saw his direct supervisor, a woman that he and his colleagues nicknamed ¡°Your Worst Nightmare¡± standing in front of him and ring straight at him.

    ¡°Good morning, Miss Tang!¡± Su Jin greeted her cheerfully.

    ¡°Do you know what time it is? Don¡¯t you know how to call to take a leave on your own? How could you get someone else to take leave for you?¡± she shouted angrily at him.

    ¡°Your Worst Nightmare¡± - The original Chinese literally means one whom even a ghost dreads seeing

 Chapter 19: Gathering

    <h4>Chapter 19: Gathering</h4>

    Tang Ning was Su Jin¡¯s direct supervisor. Her nickname made her sound really scary, but she was actually a pleasant looking youngdy. She was only around Su Jin¡¯s age, so there was a rumor within thepany that her father had connections with thepany management, and that¡¯s how she managed to rise to middle management at such a young age.

    But Tang Ning¡¯s expectations of her department¡¯s work was very high and that¡¯s why she was nicknamed ¡°Your Worst Nightmare¡±. But the thing that gave Su Jin a real headache was how she enjoyed nning team meals.

    Everyone was expected to pay for their own meals at such gatherings, but unlike most of his colleagues, Su Jin¡¯s sry was split three ways, so paying for these meals was no small amount. That was why Su Jin avoided these gatherings with every excuse he could find, which made Tang Ning fairly unhappy.

    ¡°I¡¯m really, really sorry! I really had something very urgent to attend to. And that¡¯s why I¡¯m back ahead of time to apologize and make up for it!¡± said Su Jin with a big smile on his face. He was good natured and mild mannered, so he was well liked in the office. Tang Ning was only unhappy about how he always found a way out of gatherings, but she did approve of his work standards.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯ve realized the error of your ways. Come in quickly! Also, remember to amend your leave form when you get back to the office,¡± said Tang Ning as she red at Su Jin. The restaurant this time round was a fairly nice ce that was both a restaurant and a bar. The food was served in an all-you-can-eat buffet style and there was a bar counter right in the middle that served a wide variety of alcoholic drinks. Unfortunately, the alcoholic drinks weren¡¯t part of the buffet, so if anybody wanted to drink, they had to pay for the drinks separately.

    ¡°Brother Li, thanks for helping me to take leave,¡± said Su Jin to a middle-aged man. ¡°I can only afford water, but here¡¯s a toast to you anyway!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me. You should be thanking your lucky stars that ¡®Your Worst Nightmare¡¯ didn¡¯t fly into a rage. But I¡¯m pretty sure your perfect attendance reward money¡¯s gone up in smoke. Why don¡¯t you talk to her about it and see if she could give it to you onpassionate grounds?¡± Li Zhikai was considered a senior staff in thepany, and he knew everyone. He was also an honest and reliable man, plus he was generally nice to the younger staff like Su Jin.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that after the gathering!¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Actually, Tang Ning enjoyed organizing these gatherings because she meant it as a way of helping everyone get to know each other better. Most of them were youngsters, so giving them the time to chat over food helped to build interpersonal rtionships in the department, which in turn helped the team to work together better.

    As for Su Jin, all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants were his favorite type of restaurant. He had grown up extremely poor, so he always felt like he never had enough to eat, or perhaps he never dared to eat enough to be full. Of course, that wasn¡¯t really the case, but his family¡¯s financial constraints had made him think this way. All-you-can-eat buffets were the one meal that could get around this issue.

    As he strolled through the sea of food around him, he chatted with his colleagues while munching away. But the ones who chatted with him were almost all males and his female colleagues were nowhere to be seen.

    He wasn¡¯t really surprised by that. He wasn¡¯t considered handsome and certainly wasn¡¯t rich, so there was nothing about him that could attract women. His female colleagues only approached him and said some nice things when they needed help at work.

    But he didn¡¯t really care either. In the past, he epted the reality that he wasn¡¯t really attractive and making ends meet was more important to him. But now¡­ his life waspletely different. Now he was someone who didn¡¯t know if he would even survive to see the next day, so there was no need to even try getting a partner. That would make life more difficult for himself and also bring misfortune upon another person for nothing.

    This peaceful and enjoyable time of chatting andughing with his colleagues seemed a little surreal to him. He suddenly found it hard to imagine that just two nights ago, he was fighting a bunch of monsters and even fought a God. For a moment, he wasn¡¯t really sure which of the two was reality.

    While he was still in a daze, there was amotioning from the other side of the restaurant. Everyone turned to look and saw that Tang Ning and a few female colleagues seemed to be having a disagreement with some others.

    ¡°Look, your friend¡¯s the one who offended Young Master Lin first, so there¡¯s no need for us to be nice to you either.¡± A few young men surrounded Tang Ning and her other female colleagues with nasty looks on their faces. They had clearly gotten into some conflict with these men.

    Tang Ning and the colleagues with her were around the same age, so they were all young women who would normally panic a little in such a situation. But Tang Ning was holding up pretty well. She stood in front of her colleagues to protect them as she spoke to the nasty men in front of her.

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point. We¡¯re all just trying to enjoy a good meal with friends. Why make things so ugly? Besides, you guys were the ones who tried to touch my friend, so you guys were clearly at fault first,¡± said Tang Ning through gritted teeth. She was scared of these men too, but the responsibility she felt as a supervisor to her colleagues made her try to stand up for them.

    ¡°Haha! And so what if Young Master Lin was in the wrong? Does that give you the right to ssh red wine on him? Who do you even think you are?¡± sneered one of the men.

    ¡°I¡¯llpensate him for damaging his clothes then,¡± said one of thedies hiding behind Tang Ning. She was obviously the one who had sshed red wine on this Young Master Lin.

    ¡°Oh, really? Well, lucky you, this jacket only cost $38,000. Are you paying by card or cash?¡± said another young man as he walked out from behind his friends. He looked around 24 or 25 years old and was wearing a ck suit. But the ck suit had arge stain on it now. Red wine was very difficult to wash out, so it was impossible for him to wear this jacket again.

    Once she heard that the jacket cost $38,000, her face paled. Her sry wasn¡¯t very low, but it would still take her half a year of scrimping and saving to buy an item of this value.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You can¡¯t afford it? No problem! You just need to have a nice meal with me today and have a drink with me tonight.¡± The lecherous smile on Young Master Lin¡¯s face was a clear sign that he wasn¡¯t really interested in just a meal and a drink.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push it! I¡¯llpensate you with the money,¡± said Tang Ning to Young Master Lin immediately.

    Young Master Lin red at her and sneered, ¡°Who do you think you are? You¡¯re going to help her pay? Well, you could spend a night with me if you¡¯re willing to. Are you not willing to do that? Then get lost!¡±

    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re a douchebag!¡± Tang Ning was clearly no match for Young Master Lin. Her best defense was to call him a douchebag, but that only made Young Master Lin¡¯s menugh at her.

    Young Master Lin was clearly from a wealthy and powerful background, since few would dare to make trouble in a proper establishment like this. So even though Tang Ning¡¯s male colleagues were outraged by Young Master Lin¡¯s behavior, nobody dared to stand up for thedies.

    All the female employees started to despise them immediately. These male colleagues of theirs often tried to impress them with their chivalry, as if they were very willing and able to protect them. But when trouble really came their way, all of them just watched on and did nothing.

    ¡°Look, one of you has to spend the night with me tonight, or else¡­ nobody¡¯s leaving this ce!¡± Young Master Lin and his men continued to threaten Tang Ning and the rest with their words, which made the girl who offended him in the first ce even more panicky. She didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Li Zhikai was like an older brother to everyone here, so he decided to try standing up for the girls. He put on an ingratiating smile and said to Young Master Lin, ¡°Hello, Mr. Lin! We¡¯re all just here for a good meal, so why make yourselves so unhappy? We¡¯ll definitelypensate you for the damage to your clothes, so I hope you can be magnanimous towards us and let this matter go!¡±

    ¡°Magnanimous towards you? Sure, I¡¯ll give you a generous p on the cheek!¡± Young Master Lin could tell from Li Zhikai¡¯s expression and clothing that he was just another ordinary man on the street, so he raised his hand and brought it down hard towards Li Zhikai.

    Pak! A crisp sound filled the air and Li Zhikai instinctively turned to one side, only to realize that Young Master Lin¡¯s palm hadn¡¯tnded on his cheek. Li Zhikai looked up to see that Su Jin was holding a half-peeled prawn in one hand while his other hand had grabbed hold of Young Master Lin¡¯s downward palm.

    ¡°What the hell?! Why are there so many troublemakers here today?! Are you tired of living?!!¡± Young Master Lin was stunned at first because Su Jin seemed to have appeared from absolutely nowhere. But once he realized that Su Jin was gripping onto his hand, he raised his foot to kick Su Jin below the belt.

    This kick could turn out really nasty, since kicking Su Jin there would definitely hurt. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by that kick at all. To him, Young Master Lin¡¯s kick was slow and weak, so it didn¡¯t pose a threat to him at all.

    Thud! Su Jin¡¯s hand suddenly let go of Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist, then he mmed it down hard on Young Master Lin¡¯s oing foot. After his hand hit the top of Young Master Lin¡¯s foot, it bounced back up to grab hold of Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist again before Young Master Lin even had the time to put his arm down.

    ¡°OWW!¡± Young Master Lin yelped in pain. Su Jin¡¯s had brought his fist down so quickly and so hard that Young Master Lin¡¯s foot now hurt terribly. He tried to move away from Su Jin but Su Jin was still holding onto his wrist, so the only thing he could do was to gasp in pain on the spot.

    ¡°Why are all of you still standing there?! Thrash him!¡± Everything had happened too quickly, so his friends were still too stunned to move. But once Young Master Lin screamed at them, they pounced towards Su Jin.

    Su Jin still had one arm around Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist and for some strange reason, everyone¡¯s movements seemed to have be much slower than before.

    Actually, this was a benefit of the Low-Level Body Strengthening Elixir. After Su Jin had consumed it, his body had be stronger overall. His eyesight had be sharper, his reflexes and his reaction time were much quicker than an average person now. It wasn¡¯t that his opponents had be slower. He was now faster, so they seemed slower inparison.

    Su Jin continued to hold onto Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist as he coordinated his other hand and his legs to send Young Master Lin¡¯s three men sprawling to the floor. The entire process took no more than 15 seconds.

    Everyone in the restaurant had eyes as wide as saucers. Those who were on close terms with Su Jin were the most surprised. All of them knew how Su Jin was always such a mild mannered and amiable person. Nobody expected him to be such a good fighter. He had been attacked by three men at the same time, but he had dispatched them so quickly.

    But at the same time, the three men had lost to Su Jin mainly because they had no experience in fighting. They had no technique and no strategy or teamwork, so they even got into each other¡¯s way at times. Su Jin didn¡¯t have any experience in fighting either, but he reacted quickly, and his attacks were both powerful and fast.

    As the saying goes, one expert can fight ten beginners single handedly. The three of them weren¡¯t even as good as beginners. They were no match for Su Jin at all.

    ¡°How dare you!! How dare you do this to my men?! I¡¯ll make sure your dead body lies abandoned in the streets tonight!¡± Even though Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist was still in Su Jin¡¯s hand, he remained as arrogant as ever and he tried to threaten Su Jin.

    Su Jinughed and gripped Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist more tightly, which caused Young Master Lin to pale instantly and scream in agony asrge beads of sweat started pouring down his face.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want one of us to apany you for the night? They don¡¯t have time for you, so why don¡¯t I keep youpany tonight?¡± asked Su Jin with a cheeky grin.

    ¡°Let go of my hand! Let go! You¡¯re going to break it!¡± screamed Young Master Lin desperately. The three men had gotten to their feet, but none of them dared to fight Su Jin anymore.

    ¡°Let go of him! Do you know whose son Young Master Lin is?!¡± shouted one of the men at Su Jin.

    Why¡¯s this guy being stingy with his money again

 Chapter 20: Unafraid of Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 20: Unafraid of Trouble</h4>

    Su Jin hated hearing that. That was the problem with today¡¯s society. The rich and powerful were willing to fight fairly only for as long as they were on the winning side. Once they realized that they were on the losing end, it wasmon for them to pull out their ultimate trump card: their fathers. They always imagined that they were never going to lose because they had a powerful father, so while ordinary folks had to work hard to gain recognition and clout, these came easily to those born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

    ¡°And who¡¯s your dad?¡± Su Jin did not loosen his grip on Young Master Lin¡¯s wrist and smiled sinisterly at Young Master Lin.

    ¡°My dad¡­ my dad¡¯s the mayor of S City, Lin Tianyu!¡± Young Master Lin started feeling a little scared when he saw that sinister smile on Su Jin¡¯s face, but when he thought about how his father was the one who called the shots in this city, he felt emboldened again.

    Everyone¡¯s hearts sank immediately when they heard that Young Master Lin was Lin Tianyu¡¯s son. Lin Tianyu was both a capable and tough mayor who had produced good results consistently right from his first day as mayor. In short, he was a mayor that everyone in the city loved, but nobody here was sure if he would still be upright and impartial if a member of his family was on the wrong side of thew.

    Since this boy was the mayor¡¯s son, it meant that he was used to enjoying special privileges. It now made sense to them why he had been so arrogant and seemingly unbothered by any possible consequences. Anyone who came from a less powerful background would usually have no choice but to just suck it up and consider themselves unlucky for offending the wrong person.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t think the same way. He was now a person who had no idea how much longer he could live, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of anything. He wasn¡¯t even afraid of a God, never mind a mere human.

    ¡°Oh my! Is Lin Tianyu really that amazing?¡± sneered Su Jin. Then he turned to Tang Ning and said, ¡°Miss Tang, I¡¯m afraid I have to take my leave first. I can¡¯t stand how this little boy is throwing his weight around like this, so I¡¯m going to drag him back to his father!¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Tang Ning was too stunned for words. Compared to Young Master Lin, Su Jin¡¯s words sounded even more outrageous. How could he call Young Master Lin a little boy?

    ¡°Wh-what do you want with my dad?¡± Young Master Lin felt like his wrist was on the verge of breaking. But even worse than the pain in his wrist was the fact that Su Jin didn¡¯t seem to care that he was the mayor¡¯s son and looked more like an adult trying to bring an errant child back to his parents.

    ¡°What do I want with your dad? I¡¯m going to ask him if he knows what his son has been doing out here,¡± said Su Jin as he yanked Young Master Lin along. As he dragged Young Master Lin out, he muttered, ¡°I believe the mayor is doing a walkabout in the city this week, right?¡±

    Young Master Lin¡¯s heart sank as Su Jin dragged him along. It was true that he was the mayor¡¯s son and he had gotten away with a lot of things on ount of his father, but it didn¡¯t mean that his father approved of the things he had done.

    All this time, regardless of what he did, everyone would do him a favor on ount of his father. It didn¡¯t matter how much trouble he created. Anybody he offended would make it so that the grievances they had gone through were trivial or even sweep it under the carpet. Nothing serious ever reached his father¡¯s ears. In fact, his parents always had the impression that their son was a good kid who respected the elderly and took care of those in need.

    But now, Su Jin was going to drag him to his father. Knowing his father, it didn¡¯t take a genius to guess how his father would react. His father would not let him off since someone outside the family was involved this time. More importantly, if any of his father¡¯s political enemies found out about what he had done and made a big fuss about it or exposed it to the public, his father might have trouble keeping his position as the mayor of S City.

    ¡°Are you quite done?! Who sent you here to do this? It¡¯s just my luck to run into you! How much did those people pay you? I¡¯ll pay you double!¡± Young Master Lin had concluded that Su Jin must have been sent by one of his father¡¯s political enemies.

    Su Jin red at him for a second before continuing to walk without saying anything. The three men with Young Master Lin didn¡¯t dare to help him either. After observing Su Jin¡¯s reactions to his offer, Young Master Lin wasn¡¯t sure who Su Jin really was anymore. His voice cracked as he pleaded, ¡°Please, sir! I was in the wrong! What do you want? Do you want money? Or are you after my life?¡±

    ¡°I want neither of those! I want justice!¡± Su Jin had no idea what Young Master Lin was thinking about. He had decided to poke his nose into this matter because he was much stronger than before and wasn¡¯t afraid of any consequences that might follow. But he also knew that if he didn¡¯t close this case cleanly, Tang Ning and the rest were going to be implicated. That was why he decided to just go all the way to the mayor to make sure this case was resolved properly.

    ¡°Justice?! What would you consider justice?¡± asked Young Master Lin as tears welled up in his eyes.

    ¡°I want you to apologize to my colleague! Also, after you had threatened her like this, I¡¯m sure she must have suffered some degree of emotional trauma, so you ought topensate her for that too, don¡¯t you think?¡± Su Jin stopped walking when he noticed that Young Master Lin looked ready to give in.

    Young Master Lin was on the verge of bursting into tears. It was true that he was at fault first. After a few drinks, he had noticed that one of Su Jin¡¯s colleagues had a pretty good figure and touched her, so she immediately grabbed a ss of wine and sshed it on him.

    He agreed that he deserved it and it was too bad for him, but at the same time, he didn¡¯t really do much more than that. In the end, he got hit in return and his wrist was on the verge of breaking. And now, Su Jin was actually demandingpensation from him. Such a thing had never happened to him before!

    But Young Master Lin didn¡¯t dare let Su Jin drag him to see his father, and he couldn¡¯t beat Su Jin in a fight either. So, he had no choice but to admit defeat and go along with anything Su Jin said. Su Jin dragged him back into the restaurant once Young Master Lin agreed to his conditions, only to see that the owner of the restaurant was arguing with Tang Ning and a few colleagues. The owner immediately hid behind the counter once he spotted Su Jin walking back in.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on now?¡± Su Jin asked Tang Ning.

    Tang Ning didn¡¯t know why Su Jin had dragged Young Master Lin back into the restaurant, but her immediate response was, ¡°This restaurant is trying to fleece us! When I booked the ce, they had agreed to charge us a total bill of $1,000, but now they¡¯re demanding $8,000 instead!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know there were still businesses that were so tant about fleecing their customers.¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. He didn¡¯t expect Tang Ning to be arguing with the owner over something like that.

    ¡°WEI DONGXU! Come out here right now!¡± Before Su Jin could say anything, Young Master Lin suddenly gave a shout and the owner immediately weaselled out from behind the counter. He looked like he was about to cry.

    ¡°What the hell is going on now?¡±

    ¡°B-Boss¡­ I saw that they were hitting you, so I was¡­ I was just trying to find a way to teach them a lesson for you,¡± replied the owner with a tearful expression on his face.

    Young Master Lin¡¯s first instinct was to kick the owner in anger, but because Su Jin had punched him in the foot earlier, this sudden motion nearly brought Young Master Lin to his knees. Thankfully, Su Jin was still hanging onto him, so he didn¡¯t end up on the floor.

    ¡°And who the hell told you to do that?! Mind your own business! You don¡¯t have toe back here tomorrow!¡± yelled Young Master Lin furiously.

    Su Jin quickly put two and two together. Heughed and said, ¡°Oh, so you own this restaurant.¡±

    ¡°I, uh, yeah, that¡¯s right! Your meal¡¯s on me today, please take it as my way of apology,¡± said Young Master Lin with an ingratiating smile on his face, even though he was secretly dying on the inside. He had never had to suffer this sort of loss in his entire life. But he had no choice but to swallow his pride now.

    Su Jin nodded. He had been wondering why someone like Young Master Lin would havee to a low-end restaurant like this. So, it was actually a business that Young Master Lin ran.

    In the end, Su Jin managed to force Young Master Lin to apologize to Tang Ning and his other colleagues. As for the part about the girl beingpensated for psychological damage, the girl who sshed red wine on him was too scared to ept it, so she insisted that she didn¡¯t need to bepensated. Su Jin couldn¡¯t do anything about that, so he left it as that.

    ¡°What happened today is between you and me. In the future, if you need to air any grievances,e and look for me directly, you hear me?¡± said Su Jin to Young Master Lin as he let go of Young Master Lin and patted his shoulders. Su Jin no longer saw this as a difficult problem that he would rather not have. In fact, if Young Master Lin really tried to make life difficult for him, he was ready to teach him a good lesson.

    Young Master Lin rubbed his painful wrist and said through gritted teeth, ¡°You¡¯ve got guts! I¡¯ve lost today, but just you wait! I¡¯ll get back at you someday!¡±

    Su Jin nodded and didn¡¯t seem bothered by Young Master Lin¡¯s threat at all. After that, Su Jin walked back to join his colleagues and the entire department left the restaurant together.

    After they had left, one of Young Master Lin¡¯s underlings asked, ¡°Young Master Lin, do you want me to call the police and get them to deal with him?¡±

    ¡°Are you stupid?! Where do you think you are? Some small town where the sheriff panders to you just because you¡¯ve got a bit of money and clout? We¡¯re in S City, one of the most developed and wealthiest cities in this country! Even my father doesn¡¯t dare to order the police in this city around! Did you think you were seriously some big shot?¡± Young Master Lin was already fuming mad, so when he heard one of his underlings say something so stupid, he flew into a rage and pped that underling hard.

    After that, he frowned and said, ¡°This guy eitheres from some powerful family or he¡¯s a nutcase! I don¡¯t care which one he is! Find out who he is!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Meanwhile, after Su Jin and his colleagues had walked away from the restaurant, Li Zhikai approached Su Jin and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were so good at fighting! But seriously though, that boy is from a pretty powerful family, so I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to get back at you for doing this to him.¡±

    ¡°I know, but I had to stop him at some point. I couldn¡¯t possibly just stand there and watch my colleagues get bullied like that,¡± said Su Jin with a smile on his face, as if what just transpired meant nothing to him.

    Li Zhikai sighed quietly. He too, knew that if Su Jin hadn¡¯t stood up for them and fought back, everyone at the restaurant earlier would have been implicated and he would have been pped so badly too.

    Tang Ning walked over with the girl who offended Young Master Lin in the first ce to thank him. ¡°Su Jin, I really want to thank you for today. I didn¡¯t think that the manliest guy we have in the office would turn out to be you. All the other guys are such cowards!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Everyone has their own difficulties. That can¡¯t be helped,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head. If the men who threatened thedies were just a bunch of ordinary ruffians, he was pretty sure someone would have fought them off too. But Young Master Lin¡¯s background gave him a huge advantage. It hadn¡¯t been easy for any of Su Jin¡¯s colleagues to get a job in this city, so it was only natural for them to stay out of trouble with someone like the mayor¡¯s son if they could.

    But Tang Ning didn¡¯t think that way. She tugged at the girl next to her and said, ¡°Li Man, you¡¯ve really got to thank Su Jin for today. If not for him, you¡¯d definitely be in big trouble.¡±

    Li Man nodded and she looked at Su Jin with a pretty smile instead of her usually snobby expression. ¡°Su Jin, thank you so much. I¡¯ll treat you to coffee next time!¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s alright, I don¡¯t really fancy coffee,¡± said Su Jin without even thinking. He genuinely didn¡¯t like drinking coffee because he found it too bitter, but these words sounded different to Li Man. As the prettiest girl in thepany, she had plenty of admirers lining up just to talk to her. Anyone she agreed to go for coffee with would have been on cloud nine by now. Nobody would have turned her down like this.

    .

    Tang Ning and Li Zhikai exchanged awkward nces while Su Jin didn¡¯t seem to have noticed anything at all. Li Man scowled and said, ¡°Fine, forget it then.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine!¡± Su Jin nodded slightly, which stunned both Tang Ning and Li Zhikai. They wondered if Su Jin was seriously just obtuse or if Li Man had offended him in the past. But if Li Man had offended him before, why would he bother standing up for her today?

    Su Jin ignored Li Manpletely and gave Tang Ning an ingratiating smile as he said, ¡°Miss Tang, on ount of my performance today, do you think¡­ you could reconsider giving me my perfect attendance reward money?¡±

    Tang Ning almost burst outughing at Su Jin¡¯s priorities, but she shook her head in the end. ¡°These arepany regtions and I¡¯m not able to change those. But you did do a good job today, so I¡¯ll reward you on behalf of thepany. You¡¯ll still get your perfect attendance reward money, just from a different source. Will that work for you?¡±

    ¡°Miss Tang, you¡¯re the best!¡± cheered Su Jin. Money didn¡¯t really mean anything to him now, but he liked the feeling of living life the way he used to.

    ¡°By the way, I didn¡¯t know you were so good at fighting. You shouldn¡¯t let that go to waste. Come to my office tomorrow morning, I¡¯ve got a new job for you,¡± said Tang Ning.

    ¡°Oh? A new job?¡±

 Chapter 21: She-Hulk

    <h4>Chapter 21: She-Hulk</h4>

    Su Jin arrived in Tang Ning¡¯s office the first thing the next morning. She was busy going through a whole pile of documents when he walked in, so she told him to sit down and wait for her for a while.

    An hour had passed by the time she was done. While she was hard at work, Su Jin had just spent the time idling about and she noticed that he had gone into a daze, smiling at himself from time to time. This was the first time she had ever seen someone sit in her office and daydream so openly. She never thought of Su Jin as the nonchnt type.

    ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯ve really got a lot of work to attend to,¡± said Tang Ning as she got Su Jin a cup of water.

    ¡°Miss Tang, what new job do you have in mind for me?¡± Su Jin scratched his head as he tried to think of what Tang Ning had in store for him. Could it be that he had disyed too much chivalry the day before and his boss had now fallen in love with him? So, she was using her authority as manager to transfer him to a position that worked closely with her so that they might get together?

    Tang Ning had no idea what ridiculous ideas were going through Su Jin¡¯s mind. She looked a little awkward as she said to him, ¡°Well, hear me out first. If you¡¯re not willing to take it up, I won¡¯t force you to take it either.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about it first?¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. I have a younger cousin who¡¯s run into some issues recently. She¡­ has some suicidal tendencies, so I was hoping that you could help look after her for the time being.¡± Tang Ning was clearly a little embarrassed to say these things since this concerned her family and was therefore a private and personal matter.

    ¡°She? Since your cousin¡¯s a girl, isn¡¯t it weird for you to get a big guy like me to protect her?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly. He didn¡¯t particrly mind, but he just found it rather strange.

    Tang Ning wasn¡¯t sure how to exin things to Su Jin either. She rotated the cup in her hand again and again as she made a face and then said, ¡°I know what you mean, but this cousin of mine is¡­ a little on the aggressive side and she can really fight. Most men aren¡¯t a match for her, never mind women. I don¡¯t know what to do either. My family just told me to find an honest and down-to-earth guy whom I know well and ¡­¡±

    ¡°AHEM! Are you sure you¡¯re looking for a bodyguard? Not a son-inw?¡± teased Su Jin as he burst outughing.

    To his surprise, Tang Ning smiled at him and actually started nodding away. ¡°That¡¯s an option too! She¡¯s not getting any younger herself, so if you¡¯re able to capture her heart, I¡¯ll send both of you my blessings!¡±

    ¡°No thanks, she¡¯s both a she-hulk and an olddy? Not for me!¡± Su Jin shook his head, but Tang Ning continued to grin widely at him, which made all his hair stand on end.

    ¡°I won¡¯t force you in that aspect, but you¡¯re okay with being a bodyguard, right? I¡¯ll pay you double, and you won¡¯t need to do anything else besides following my cousin around. If she makes any attempt on her life, you¡¯ve got to stop her,¡± said Tang Ning sternly.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t so sure about that. How was he supposed to stop someone who was bent onmitting suicide? If a person really wanted to die and bit their tongue hard enough for that to happen, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about that. He couldn¡¯t possibly tie and gag her either.

    Tang Ning could see what Su Jin was worried about, so she quickly added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! My cousin is leaning in that direction, but she¡¯s not trying to hang herself every day. Honestly, we wanted to hire a professional bodyguard too, but we were afraid that doing so might trigger her rebellious side even more, which would make the situation worse.¡±

    ¡°Also, we¡¯re looking for someone to be by her side as ast resort, actually. If anything really does happen, my family is mentally prepared for it. You won¡¯t be med, so you don¡¯t have to feel so stressed about that.¡±

    Su Jin was even more puzzled after hearing what Tang Ning said, but since his boss was the one who arranged for him to take up this job, he decided to agree to take it up. If it was really too difficult, he could always tell her that he couldn¡¯t continue. He didn¡¯t think she would fire him for doing that.

    Tang Ning was overjoyed when Su Jin agreed to take up the job. She handed her work to some colleagues and led Su Jin out of the office.

    Most of the cars parked in thepany parking lot belonged to the employees, so there were no luxury cars to be found among them. But Tang Ning led Su Jin into the deepest end of the parking lot where a red Ferrari was parked. Su Jin didn¡¯t know anything about cars, but he knew that a car that looked like this definitely cost a bomb.

    ¡°Get in!¡± Tang Ning hopped in and told Su Jin to get in too.

    Su Jin got in without hesitation and closed his eyes to rest. Tang Ning started the engine and drove out of thepany parking lot. After a while, the car stopped outside S City¡¯s most luxurious neighborhood. A security guard walked over immediately.

    ¡°Good morning, Miss Tang. Are you headed to Mr. Ye¡¯s?¡± The security guard took a blue card from Tang Ning, scanned it with a machine and smiled at Tang Ning as he spoke.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Do you need to check the boot?¡± Tang Ning pointed to her car boot.

    ¡°No need, I know I can trust you. Please go ahead!¡± The security guard shook his head and opened the gate for her.

    ¡°Ye? Isn¡¯t that¡­ isn¡¯t that the surname of ourpany¡¯s CEO?¡± Su Jin opened his eyes and looked at the estate they had just entered. This estate was extremely luxurious and was dotted with bungalows. The surroundings were pleasant and luxury cars like the one Tang Ning was driving could be seen driving along the roads.

    Tang Ning nodded. ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s my uncle from my mother¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so the rumors are real?¡±

    ¡°Yup, they¡¯re real.¡±

    ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I know. Did you think I wouldn¡¯t know what you guys talk about all the time? It¡¯s just that there¡¯s actually no untruth in it, so I can¡¯t defend myself and say that what you guys just said is not true. I¡¯ve been working so hard all this time precisely because I want to prove that I didn¡¯t make it here only because my uncle owns thepany. I¡¯m capable on my own too,¡± said Tang Ning in a fiercely independent voice.

    Su Jin nodded. Tang Ning was indeed capable, and everyone could see that. But her way of thinking was still a little too na?ve. The ones who spoke ill of her behind her back didn¡¯t care about whether she was capable or not. As long as her uncle was the CEO of thepany, her capabilities were inconsequential, and the gossiping would never stop. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to tell Tang Ning all this.

    During their conversation, Tang Ning had driven the car to one of the bungalows and parked outside the door. Once they got out of the car, a valet came over to help Tang Ning park the car in the designated parking lot.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± Tang Ning said to Su Jin before heading straight into the bungalow in front of them.

    This bungalow was huge and the one that Su Jin had rented recently was nothingpared to it. It took them a good three minutes just to cross the front yard and get to the Kano Main door of the house.

    ¡°A bungalow like this in this particr part of town has got to be really expensive, right?¡± said Su Jin as they walked together.

    Tang Ningughed and said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s expensive. But it¡¯s not just a matter of money. You¡¯ve got to be somebody if you want a ce in this neighborhood.¡±

    Su Jin grinned. ¡°Of course you¡¯ve got to be somebody. As long as you¡¯re human, you¡¯re some body. Get it?¡±

    Tang Ning rolled her eyes at him and couldn¡¯t be bothered with his lousy joke. Just then, an older well-dressed man approached them, and Su Jin thought that this man was the CEO of thepany. But the man bowed slightly at Tang Ning and greeted her, ¡°Good morning, Miss Tang.¡±

    ¡°The Master knows you¡¯re here and he¡¯s waiting for you inside with Madam.¡± The man looked like he was in his fifties, not a single strand of his hair was out of ce and his suit was definitely expensive. If he walked around on the streets, nobody would ever imagine that he was only a servant.

    ¡°Thanks, Uncle Yu!¡± Tang Ning seemed very polite to this man, so it was obvious that this Uncle Yu wasn¡¯t an ordinary servant of this household.

    After they walked further into the house, they saw a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman seated on the couch. Their faces immediately lit up when they saw Tang Ning walk in.

    ¡°Tang Ning! You¡¯re here! How have you been? Let me check if you¡¯ve lost any weight,¡± the middle-aged woman weed Tang Ning warmly.

    Tang Ning walked over to hug her, then hooked her arm and asked eagerly, ¡°So? What¡¯s the verdict? Did I lose any weight?¡±

    ¡°I think so!¡±

    ¡°Yes!! I¡¯ve finally lost weight!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already so skinny and you want to lose some more weight? That¡¯s terrible,¡± said the olderdy with a frown at Tang Ning. Tang Ning just stuck her tongue out cheekily and grinned back without saying anything.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know? Youngdies these days are so obsessed with their weight. If you dare to say that she¡¯s gained weight, she¡¯ll fall out with you,¡± said the older man with augh. He nced at Su Jin and nodded slightly with a smile to greet Su Jin.

    Tang Ning noticed that and quickly introduced her uncle and aunt to Su Jin. ¡°Oh yes! This is Su Jin, he works at ourpany and I¡¯ve brought him here to introduce him to both of you. Su Jin, this is my uncle, Ye Shaoshi, CEO of Ster Skies, and my aunt, Sun Tong.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Mr. CEO. Hello, Mrs. CEO.¡± Su Jin quickly nodded at both of them and greeted them politely.

    ¡°You work at ourpany? I haven¡¯t been to the office in a long while. Looks like I¡¯ve got to take a look one of these days, otherwise I¡¯ll have no idea that we¡¯ve gotten some new and handsome youngds.¡± Ye Shaoshi carried a smile all the time and seemed very easygoing.

    Tang Ning said, ¡°Uncle, about Xiaoyun¡­ is she still like that?¡±

    This ¡°Xiaoyun¡± was obviously referring to Tang Ning¡¯s cousin. The moment Tang Ning mentioned her, the smiles on everyone¡¯s faces faded and they had grim expressions on their faces. Sun Tong¡¯s eyes reddened as she nodded at Tang Ning. ¡°You¡¯re one of us, so we won¡¯t hide anything from you. Xiaoyun has been behaving more and more oddly recently and I¡¯m really afraid that she¡¯ll¡­ she¡¯ll¡­¡±

    ¡°We have a visitor,¡± Ye Shaoshi reminded his wife with a frown. But at the same time, he looked equally at a loss as to what to do. ¡°Xiaoyun¡¯s situation is pretty bad and you know about it ¡­ since you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t you go upstairs and talk to her? She responds so much better to you.¡±

    Tang Ning nodded, then said, ¡°Uncle, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to find someone around Xiaoyun¡¯s age to look after her? I think Su Jin¡¯s very suitable. He¡¯s good at fighting and he¡¯s an honest and reliable person too. The people in thepany can vouch for that.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? You¡¯re trained in martial arts?¡± Ye Shaoshi turned to ask Su Jin curiously after hearing what Tang Ning said.

    ¡°I learned a thing or two from one of my uncles when I was younger.¡± But of course, Su Jin had never been trained in martial arts before. His reflexes, strength and speed had increased tremendously purely because he had consumed that elixir. If he had to fight someone trained in martial arts, he was probably going to get himself injured.

    ¡°Oh? He looks amiable and he¡¯s honest and reliable too? Not bad! Tell you what. Why don¡¯t you go upstairs with Tang Ning and talk to that daughter of mine first? I¡¯ll just say you¡¯re a distant rtive of mine, so just focus on befriending her first. We¡¯ll talk about the restter.¡± Ye Shaoshi was the CEO of a bigpany after all, so he immediately started delegating work to Su Jin.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by Ye Shaoshi¡¯s tone. He nodded and Tang Ning brought him upstairs. Once they had gone upstairs, Sun Tong said worriedly to her husband, ¡°Do you think that¡¯s going to work? What if he¡¯s up to no good ¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of? You know what our daughter¡¯s capable of. Even if he does try something funny, he might be the one who ends up getting injured. Also¡­ did you think just anyone can do whatever they like in my house?¡± Ye Shaoshi raised an eyebrow and gave off an imposing air that he seemed to be born with.

    The original title literally means Barbie King Kong, a term that first referred to Russian female bodybuilders with sweet doll-like facial features but muscles that could kill.

    Yeah, not so chad anymore.

    The original says that the butler literally greets Tang Ning as ¡°Miss Cousin/Young Mistress Cousin¡±. Which generation you belong to, and family rtions are very clearly spelled out especially for the servant ss in Chinese cultures, but it sounds really strange in English. But that¡¯s how Su Jin knows that Tang Ning meant it when she said that she¡¯s a niece of the CEO.

 Chapter 22: Parallel Universes

    <h4>Chapter 22: Parallel Universes</h4>

    Su Jin followed Tang Ning up to the second floor and couldn¡¯t help but marvel silently at the house. It was luxuriously furnished but attention was paid to every detail to ensure that the house still looked elegant and ssy, so it didn¡¯t look like the owners were just desperately trying to show their wealth off. Everything was just opulent enough without going too overboard.

    ¡°Wait outside first, I¡¯ll go in and take a look,¡± Tang Ning stopped Su Jin outside the door and stepped into the room first.

    Su Jin leanedzily against the wall beside the door, and he realized that he could hear the conversation inside even though they weren¡¯t speaking loudly. After taking that body strengthening elixir, not only had his bodily strength increased, but his hearing and sense of smell had also been heightened. Once he leaned against the door itself, he could hear every single word the two girls inside were saying very clearly.

    ¡°Ye Yun, are you sure you don¡¯t need to get your head checked? Can you stop this nonsense? Your parents are almost going mad! Why do you make them worry so much for you?¡± said Tang Ning in a vexed voice.

    ¡°Sis, there are some things that you don¡¯t understand. I really find life very meaningless. If I weren¡¯t afraid that my parents would be heartbroken, I would have decided to die a long time ago.¡± The other voice in the room was very sweet and pleasant, so Su Jin immediately concluded that this voice must belong to a pretty and demure girl. Otherwise, that would be such a waste of this voice.

    Tang Ning retorted, ¡°What are you talking about?! What do you mean by you would have decided to die a long time ago?! Look, if you dare to kill yourself again, I¡¯ll kill myself too!¡±

    ¡°Ningggg¡­¡± Ye Yun dragged Tang Ning¡¯s name out and sounded equally vexed by Tang Ning¡¯s response, but she also soundedforted by the fact that Tang Ning cared for her so much.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in trying to act cutesy around me, I¡¯m not buying it. We¡¯ve got a guest in the house today, so don¡¯t be rude to him,¡± said Tang Ning before opening the door to see Su Jin leaning against the doorframe. She tugged at him and said, ¡°Come on in.¡±

    Su Jin walked into the room and looked around. This was a stereotypical girl¡¯s room that had been painted mostly pink with some white and other pastel colors to give it a soft and adorable look.

    ¡°Xiaoyun, this is your, uh¡­ cousin, Su Jin,¡± said Tang Ning to Ye Yun.

    When Ye Yun walked over, Su Jin instantly went into a daze. His judgment earlier was about how that sweet voice definitely belonged to a pretty girl, but Ye Yun was way prettier than he had imagined. Herplexion was a little pale and her eyes were slightly reddened, which was a sign that she had been staying up veryte. Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, but the ends were a little dry. However, none of these affected her beauty. Instead, they made her look a little frail and in great need of protection.

    ¡°Hello, Su¡­ wait, if he¡¯s a cousin, shouldn¡¯t he be a Ye or a Tang? Why is his surname, Su?¡± Ye Yun red at Tang Ning with thoserge and bright eyes of hers. Su Jin felt like if Ye Yun stared at him that way, he wouldn¡¯t be able to lie to her.

    But Tang Ning was clearly immune to these pair of eyes. She rapped her knuckles on Ye Yun¡¯s head and said, ¡°He¡¯s a distant rtive. Some things happened at home and so he¡¯s changed his surname to Su.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Ye Yun clutched the part of her head that had been knocked with a pitiful expression on her face before greeting Su Jin, ¡°Hello cousin Su Jin!¡±

    ¡°H-h-he¡­ llo, c-cou¡­sin Y-Ye¡­Yun!¡± Su Jin snapped out of his daze but stammered over his words. After saying that, Su Jin felt like pping himself for being such an embarrassment.

    ¡°Oh dear, Su Jin, do you have a stuttering problem?¡± asked Ye Yun curiously.

    Tang Ning nearly burst outughing at Su Jin¡¯s reaction, so she cleared her throat and said, ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. He¡¯s meeting you for the first time, so he¡¯s just a little awkward. He¡¯ll be fine once you two get to know each other better. Su Jin,e with me for a while.¡±

    She walked out of the room and motioned to Su Jin to follow her. Su Jin threw Ye Yun a smile before quickly walking out of the room as well. After they had walked away, Tang Ning had a huge grin on her face as she just stared at Su Jin without saying anything.

    Su Jin felt a little awkward from her staring and rubbed his nose embarrassedly. ¡°Was I¡­ did I look a bit dumb just now?¡±

    Tang Ning nodded without hesitation. ¡°Not just a bit. Very dumb. HAHA! My cousin¡¯s really pretty, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ she is,¡± said Su Jin with augh. But the only thing he could do now was to just admire her beauty. He was in no position to go after anybody, and if he managed to win her heart, that would bring her misfortune more than happiness.

    ¡°Look, my uncle doesn¡¯t really care about family background and all that jazz. As long as you¡¯re a nice boy and my cousin likes you, he¡¯ll ept you. So, work hard and you might get a chance in the future!¡± said Tang Ning with a smile as she patted his shoulders.

    ¡°Oh, so I should really go for it, huh?¡± Su Jinughed along. But his heart sighed resignedly. Ever since he had been chosen to be a Handbook owner, he was destined to never lead the life of a normal human being ever again.

    ¡°Enough of this useless chatter. I¡¯ve already introduced the two of you, so help me to look after her, okay? I¡¯m counting on you,¡± said Tang Ning earnestly to Su Jin as her expression became serious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re paying me, so I¡¯ll definitely do a good job,¡± said Su Jin as he saluted Tang Ning.

    She rolled her eyes at him, then walked back to the room and said, ¡°Xiaoyun, I need to go, thepany¡¯s calling me to go back to handle some urgent matters and I can¡¯t stay here to chat with you. Su Jin¡¯s just arrived in S City and your parents are also busy, so help to bring him around, okay?¡±

    ¡°Su Jin, if you¡¯ve got any questions, you can just ask Xiaoyun. We¡¯re all family, so don¡¯t be shy.¡± Tang Ning turned and winked at Su Jin.

    Su Jin suddenly felt like he had walked into a trap. He never realized that this usually well organized and efficient boss of his also could alsoe up with crazy ideas like this.

    Once Tang Ning had walked away, only Su Jin and Ye Yun were left in the room. Ye Yun peeked her head out to make sure that Tang Ning had left before turning to Su Jin. ¡°You¡¯re not my cousin!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m not your cousin,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. He had felt that Tang Ning and Ye Yun¡¯s parents had been too idealistic right from the beginning. As long as Ye Yun wasn¡¯t dumb, she would be able to tell that Su Jin wasn¡¯t really her cousin. And from the looks of it, Ye Yun was actually very intelligent.

    ¡°My parents hired you toe here?¡± Ye Yuny on her stomach on the bed and used her hands to prop her face up while she stared at Su Jin like there was nothing he could hide from her.

    Since she was being so direct, he decided to be honest with her. ¡°That¡¯s right. Your cousin was afraid that you might do something silly, so she wanted me to look after you.¡±

    ¡°Sometimes, I can¡¯t believe my folks! If I really wanted to die, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop me, and neither would you.¡± She nced at him and sighed. ¡°Oh forget it, you can stay here since it makes all of them feel more assured.¡±

    ¡°Seriously though, what¡¯s the real problem here? Are you just going through a rebellious stage? Trying to be a goth? Or¡­ you¡¯ve got dreams of bing a rockstar?¡± Now that Su Jin had already decided that he was not going to try to woo Ye Yun, he stopped being so reserved around her and spoke his mind. As he spoke, he picked up a photo frame on the table.

    Ye Yun snatched the photo frame away from him and rolled her eyes at him. ¡°What do you take me as? A stupid teeny bopper? I¡¯ve got my own reasons. It¡¯s just¡­ living is too tiring.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a rich man¡¯s daughter, so your life couldn¡¯t be more tiring than ordinary folks like me, struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. But we¡¯re all still alive and well, so why are you trying so hard to end your life?¡± Su Jin sighed. Before bing a Handbook owner, his life had really been draining. The only thing that upied his mind was how to make enough money to support his family and he always ate the inest and cheapest food he could find. But even so, ending his life never crossed his mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s different. That¡¯s different. There are many things about you which nobody else besides yourself would understand, so I¡¯m the only one who would understand why I want to die,¡± said Ye Yun with an equally heavy sigh.

    Su Jin chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ve got to think carefully before you really decide to die. We¡¯re not in some online video game where you can just delete that ount and start a new one in a new domain. If you end your life, you¡¯d really be gone forever.¡±

    ¡°Do you think¡­ do you think death is really the end? Could it also be a new beginning for you?¡± Ye Yun asked Su Jin excitedly.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not just going through some teenage angst phase? Your outlook on life sounds pretty delusionary,¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m sure you¡¯re some gaming addict, so you¡¯re no better than me! Besides, even if you delete an ount in an MMORPG, you don¡¯t have to start a new one in a different server. If you want to continue to y with the yers you used to y with, you can just restart by creating a new character in the same server,¡± said Ye Yun as she grumbled about Su Jin with a smile.

    Su Jin was about tough in response when an idea suddenly hit him. He seemed to have understood something. He asked Ye Yun, ¡°What¡­ what did you just say? Can you repeat that?¡±

    ¡°About you being a gaming addict?¡±

    ¡°Not that part! Thest bit!¡±

    ¡°Just create a new character?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it! So that¡¯s what it is! I can¡¯t believe I couldn¡¯t get it for so long. If that¡¯s how it works, then everything makes sense,¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself.

    Back when they were in Fengxi Town, Liu Yingying said that it was pointless for Chu Yi to leave his number behind and when Su Jin tried Chu Yi¡¯s number after hepleted the challenge, Chu Yi¡¯s number turned out to belong to someone else. Liu Yingying and Jiang Li didn¡¯t leave any contact information behind, and the Demon Lord had also mentioned that he had been very unsure if Su Jin would still be able toe back to look for him and that waiting for Su Jin had been very risky.

    Su Jin had been thinking about these things all this time and couldn¡¯t figure it out, but now, everything seemed as clear as day. If humans could create MMOPRGs, then someone else could have created the world that humans lived in, like an MMORPG universe. If that was the case, the existence of the Handbook¡¯s world would make more sense now.

    And if all those hypotheses held true, then would that mean that the world also had servers like MMORPGs? If Chu Yi, Jiang Li, Liu Yingying and himself belonged to different servers and were only put together in the same ce when a challenge began, then every time theypleted a challenge, they would return to their original servers and would have no way of contacting one another.

    ¡°Is that how it works? Is my guess right?¡± Su Jin felt his heart palpitate. He seemed to have understood the truth of the matter, but this truth only made his hair stand on end and was quite difficult to ept even for him.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Ye Yun noticed that Su Jin had gone into a daze, so she waved her hand in front of his face.

    He snapped out of his daze immediately and took a deep breath.

    Just then, a familiar voice rang in his ears, ¡°You have understood the existence of parallel universes, so you get the Mark of a Leader!¡± That was a voice that he expected to hear only when he was in his Personal Hell Domain, because that was ckie¡¯s voice. At the same time, he felt like one of the pockets in his jacket was very warm. That was where he had kept his Handbook.

    ¡°Sorry, I need to go to the washroom!¡± Su Jin smiled apologetically at Ye Yun.

    ¡°Oh, sure! It¡¯s the third door on your left,¡± said Ye Yun as she pointed to one of the doors along the corridor.

    Su Jin immediately walked out in that direction. After he had walked out, Ye Yun looked up at the ceiling, then yanked at one of her pillows. She pulled a ck book out from under one of them.

    ¡°Once one is under its control, is there still any meaning in being alive or dying?¡± Ye Yun sighed.

    I have lost all respect for the man now.

    The plot thickens¡­again.

 Chapter 23: Team Function Activated

    <h4>Chapter 23: Team Function Activated</h4>

    Once inside the bathroom, Su Jin sat on the toilet bowl with his Handbook in hand. The entire book was covered in a slight reddish glow.

    ¡°ckie, is that you?¡± Su Jin asked the book.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± said ckie.

    Su Jin was really surprised and asked puzzledly, ¡°I¡¯m not within my Personal Hell Domain but you can still talk to me?¡±

    ¡°In most cases, I can¡¯t because you haven¡¯t actually unlocked that function yet. But because you understood the secret of parallel universes just now, I¡¯m able to speak to you like this temporarily,¡± exined ckie.

    ¡°Parallel universes? So, my hypothesis is actually real?¡± murmured Su Jin as if he were talking to himself. Everything he surmised earlier was terribly frightening to him.

    ¡°It¡¯s not entirely urate, but to a certain extent, the parallel universes do work like the MMORPGs you were thinking about. Every universe is separate, so without the power of Hell¡¯s Handbook, there¡¯s no way the people from these universes would be connected,¡± said ckie.

    ¡°I want to know everything about these parallel universes,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but you have not reached that level of ess yet. I can only exin to you what you are allowed to know at this level.¡± Even though Su Jin was his master, ckie refused to answer Su Jin. Su Jin¡¯s level of ess still governed ckie¡¯s decisions.

    Su Jin sighed but didn¡¯t intend to argue with ckie. ckie was merely an AI that followed the rules of the system, so arguing with a robot was aplete waste of time.

    ¡°Alright, just tell me everything you are able to tell me then,¡±manded Su Jin.

    ¡°Sure!¡± ckie slowly started exining, ¡°Parallel universes refer to smaller universes that originate from a parent universe. The parent universe is the universe that appeared first and is the source of all life. When the parent universe reaches a certain size, its excess capacity can be used as a blueprint for new universes and those new universes based on the parent universe are termed as child universes.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ child universes are just imagined and aren¡¯t real?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    ¡°They are real. For example, if the parent universe is a tree branch, then child universes are the leaves growing from the branches. Those leaves are real and each one is a little different from the other. Child universes are the same. After being created, each child universe walks down its own path, so besides a few details which have been specially controlled, they work just like the parent universe,¡± exined ckie patiently.

    ¡°If the parent universe is a tree branch, then what are the tree trunk and the tree roots?¡± Su Jin suddenly asked.

    But ckie fell silent again. After a moment, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but your level of ess is too low. I cannot answer this question.¡±

    ¡°So, it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t know, but you can¡¯t answer my question. In that case, besides these parallel universes, Hell¡¯s Handbook contains many more other mysteries!¡± muttered Su Jin to himself. From ckie¡¯s answers, he could sense that there was more to this than just parallel universes. And if parallel universes were just one part of the full mystery behind Hell¡¯s Handbook, then what else was there? How much crazier must a concept be in order to require a higher level of ess than parallel universes? Su Jin simply couldn¡¯t imagine what it could be and the thought of something like that existing alone gave him the creeps.

    ¡°In other words, Chu Yi and the others who were with me during the challenge belong to different child universes. Do the other child universes have Earth and humans too?¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t figure this out. The birth of Earth and humans in this vast universe should have been purely by coincidence. If one could go back in time and let matter regroup itself again, humans might not exist, and Earth might not exist either. If that was the case, then it seemed impossible for other child universes to have humans and Earth as well.

    ¡°Like I said, there are some details that have been specially dealt with.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ since Earth and humans are unique, that also means the parent universe has Earth and humans too! The Earth and humans in child universes are a copy of what already exists in the parent universe, right?¡± Su Jin let out a soft whistle. ckie hadn¡¯t said a lot, but everything he said contained a lot of information which could be discovered once one read between the lines.

    ¡°I will not answer your question. The answer to your question is way beyond your level of ess.¡± Instead of just saying that Su Jin¡¯s level of ess wasn¡¯t high enough, ckie said that he wasn¡¯t going to answer at all.

    ¡°You¡¯re a really advanced AI system, aren¡¯t you? This is a very human-like change in emotions!¡± said Su Jin with a grin.

    ¡°If necessary, I am capable of functioning just like a highly intelligent organism. But remaining like this is more suitable for work,¡± replied ckie in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

    ¡°Hey, is it just me? I feel like you¡¯ve be a lot more serious than when you first talked to me. What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°I thought that you did not like the type of personality I had before, so I have automatically switched to a serious work mode personality instead. Do you want me to switch back?¡± asked ckie.

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not necessary.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t want ckie to switch back to his cheeky personality. Even though that made ckie seem more human, it was going to be hard to get reliable information from a more sarcastic and yful ckie. It was easier when ckie was serious and exined everything as it was.

    ¡°So, what is this Mark of a Leader about then?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Please look at the cover of your Handbook. There is a special drawing on it. That is the Mark of a Leader.¡±

    Su Jin looked at the book in his hands. There was indeed a new drawing at the bottom right-hand corner of the cover that wasn¡¯t there before. It was a triangle with a me inside to represent hell, while a few hands were drawn around the fire like they were holding hands.

    ¡°What does this do?¡± Su Jin continued to ask.

    ¡°Owners who have the Mark of a Leader will now be able to gather your own team. If you manage to persuade other owners to join your team and they be part of your team, all members of your team can participate in team challenges. As the team leader, you will be able to create a Hell Domain for your team. After your team levels up, you will get ess to more team functions.¡±

    Su Jin was stunned for a moment. He soon realized that this new function was actually very valuable. When ckie mentioned that team members would be able to participate in team challenges, his assumption was that all members of his team would be able to participate in the same challenge at the same time.

    During the Fengxi Town challenge, Su Jin had already noticed that all the owners present in the challenge had been randomly chosen. The only condition was probably the ratio of newbies to veterans.

    Since the owners in the same challenge as himself would be randomly picked, if he was lucky enough to get a bunch of veterans and newbies who were smart and could fight, then their chances of passing a challenge would increase. But simrly, if he got a bunch of people who weren¡¯t very good at this, then it was possible for the entire group to perish together.

    But having his own team would be different. Every person who was allowed to join the team would have been vetted by him and he would make sure that every member was capable. That way, he could ensure that he was going into challenges with capable members, which in turn increased the chances of him getting through the challenge itself.

    As for the team getting their own space, this sounded trivial, but it was also quite valuable. Su Jin remembered how he had been badly injured in Fengxi Town and Jiang Li had given him some potion to drink, which made him feel better immediately. In other words, all the items that individuals exchanged their points for in their Personal Hell Domains did not have to be owned and used by themselves alone. They could give it to someone else too.

    If he passed a challenge and was presented with new items for exchange that were different from his other members, then there was a possibility that another member would be offered an item that he needed urgently. In other words, a team could use this to their advantage by exchanging their points for all the items that the team needed. That would definitely boost the chances of the team surviving each challenge.

    ¡°Since we¡¯ll have a shared space, does that mean that the items offered to us at the end of each challenge will also be the same?¡± Su Jin decided to confirm this with ckie.

    ¡°No. Every owner¡¯s Handbook will get a random set of new items. Also, since your team has its own space, the team will also get an additional Handbook. There is a higher chance of getting more powerful items with this additional Handbook and only the team leader is allowed to exchange for them. That¡¯s a benefit of being a leader as well,¡± said ckie.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart instantly leaped for joy. This Mark of a Leader was a great thing to have because it came with many useful and powerful functions. The most important thing to do now was to find suitable and powerful teammates.

    ¡°You mentioned something about a team leveling up. What¡¯s that about?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°A newly formed team will be a Level D team, which is the lowest level. After the teampletes five challenges, it will level up to be a Level C team. After the teampletes ten challenges after leveling up, it will be a Level B team. After the teampletes another 15 challenges after leveling up, it will be a Level A team. The challenges start umting only after the team has at least three people in it. After leveling up, the team will receive more benefits and ess to more functions,¡± ckie exined in detail.

    Su Jin made a quick calction. The team would have to get through 30 challenges in total if they wanted to move from Level D to Level A. That was going to be tough, so there was no need for him to think too much about that for the time being.

    ¡°That¡¯s all the information I have regarding the Mark of a Leader for the time being. There is more information and other functions avable as well, but you will need to uncover them in a challenge,¡± said ckie.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. He wanted to ask more questions, but the reddish glow around his Handbook slowly faded and ckie didn¡¯t respond to him anymore.

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Su Jin shook his head disappointedly. But this Mark of a Leader had been a really pleasant surprise. As long as he used it wisely, his chances of surviving a challenge were definitely much higher than before.

    When he got back to Ye Yun¡¯s room, he noticed that her window was wide open, and she was looking down from her window while sitting on the ledge. His heart nearly skipped a beat in fright, but he quickly calmed down again. This room was only about ten feet above the ground, and it overlooked a well-tended garden. Even if Ye Yun were to jump down, the worst that could happen would be that she¡¯d probably break a couple of limbs and get disfigured. She wasn¡¯t going to die so easily from jumping down at this height.

    ¡°Were you constipated or something? Why were you gone for so long?¡± Ye Yun didn¡¯t turn back and continued staring down at the garden downstairs.

    Su Jin had a sheepish smile on his face. It was true that he had been in the bathroom for a long time. So, heughed awkwardly and said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a fancy bathroom before, so I took some time just to look around. By the way, is the toilet bowl made from real gold? I would have tried biting into it but I didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to bite a toilet bowl.¡±

    Ye Yun burst outughing. She turned and said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s not made from real gold! I don¡¯t think anyone would do that, no matter how much they wanted to unt their wealth!¡±

    She hopped off the ledge and said to Su Jin, ¡°I feel like going out for a walk. Do you wannae along?¡±

 Chapter 24: Ye Yun

    <h4>Chapter 24: Ye Yun</h4>

    ¡°Sure!¡± Su Jin was now employed by the Ye family, so he was going to go with anything his new boss said.

    ¡°Come with me then!¡± Ye Yun curled her finger at Su Jin toe towards her before she suddenly leaped right out of the window.

    Su Jin got a terrible shock. He didn¡¯t expect a frail looking youngdy like Ye Yun to be this wild. They were only on the second story, so it wasn¡¯t too high, but that girl was in a skirt!

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have a choice. Boss! Wait up!¡± Su Jin made a leap and jumped out of the window as well. After hended, he realized that Ye Yun was more than 30 meters away from him already.

    ¡°She¡¯s good!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but marvel. She wasn¡¯t only a fast runner, but she could actually run so fast in a long and fitting skirt, as though she were dressed in track pants. That wasn¡¯t easy.

    ¡°Uncle Yu, I¡¯m off to run after Ye Yun, please help me tell Uncle and Auntie Ye!¡± After Su Jin started running after Ye Yun, he spotted Uncle Yu in the front yard looking on calmly in the direction where Ye Yun had run off to, so Su Jin thought he¡¯d let Uncle Yu know that they were going out.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll let them know!¡± Uncle Yu seemed very unfazed. It was obvious that this wasn¡¯t the first time this was happening.

    Su Jin ran with all his might after Ye Yun. He wasn¡¯t good at fighting, but his stamina and speed was better than the average human. Yet, he couldn¡¯t catch up with Ye Yun at all. He wasgging behind and the fact that he managed to keep her within his sight was already a feat.

    ¡°She¡¯s so fast! Does this girl train professionally or something?!¡± grumbled Su Jin.

    Thankfully, Ye Yun finally stopped after some time. She stood next to a manmadeke and Su Jin slowed down as he finally caught up with her.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re done running, you want to go swimming?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got pretty good stamina! It¡¯s hard to find someone who doesn¡¯t lose sight of me almost immediately at this speed,¡± Ye Yunplimented Su Jin.

    Heughed self-deprecatingly. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m not the first person hired to watch over you!¡±

    ¡°Technically you¡¯re the first person hired just to do this. Before you came, my parents got one of the servants to do it. The first person who was tasked with this job was Uncle Yu. He lost sight of me after running for just ten seconds. When I got home that night, I saw that he was crying, so I felt pretty bad about it,¡± said Ye Yun a little embarrassedly and she stuck her tongue out cheekily.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart nearly skipped a beat from being mesmerized by her yful expression. He was d that she wasn¡¯t able to hear the way his heart pounded now.

    ¡°Ie from a family of farmers, and I grew up running up and down mountains and rivers, so my stamina¡¯s really good. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for you to run around like this all the time too, right? Why don¡¯t we try and reach an agreement? You promise not to run about like this, and we can all get along. How¡¯s that?¡± Su Jin tried to negotiate with Ye Yun.

    But she shook her head and started hopping from tile to tile on the pavement with her hands behind her back. ¡°If you just want to make sure that I don¡¯t make any attempts on my life, I can promise you for the time being that I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll be fine even if you didn¡¯t manage to catch up with me. But as for anything else, don¡¯t bother. I don¡¯t know what will happen either.¡±

    ¡°You seem to be in some difficulty. Why don¡¯t you tell me about it?¡± He still had no idea what was going on with her and felt that this whole thing was very strange. She seemed to be facing some trouble that she couldn¡¯t talk about.

    But she shook her head again, looked around her, then said to Su Jin, ¡°Come and walk around with me! I want to see more of this world!¡±

    ¡°You know, when you talk like that, I would really think you¡¯re going to try killing yourself!¡± Su Jinughed bitterly. The things this girl said could really be terrifying. It was as if she might suddenly jump into theke in front of them and sink to the bottom any minute if he took his eye off her for just one second.

    She ignored what he said and continued walking ahead. He had no choice but to continue following behind her. They kept a distance between them, so they looked more like two strangers who happened to be headed the same way.

    Their surroundings were really pretty, and it had been a long time since Su Jin had seen such lovely scenery around S City. He was in a pretty good mood because he was taking a nice afternoon stroll with a beauty, but at the same time, the way he followed her around at a distance made him resemble a stalker of sorts, which made him feel ufortable.

    The air in autumn was a little chilly and the sun wasn¡¯t as bright. The gentle ray shone through the trees that swayed slightly in the breeze. Ye Yun basked in the moving sunlight and didn¡¯t seem real for a moment.

    ¡°Do you believe in the supernatural?¡± Ye Yun suddenly stopped walking and turned to ask Su Jin this question.

    He replied, ¡°Sometimes I do and sometimes I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± She was puzzled by his reply.

    ¡°When I¡¯ve done a good deed, I hope that there¡¯s a God out there who will reward me for the things I¡¯ve done. But when I do something bad, I don¡¯t believe in such things and just hope that life goes on as per normal. So that¡¯s why sometimes I believe in these things and sometimes I don¡¯t,¡± he replied with augh. He was talking nonsense, but she had asked him a silly question first.

    ¡°You¡¯re a very realistic person, huh! You only pick what¡¯s beneficial to yourself. That¡¯s terrible,¡± she burst outughing after hearing his answer.

    He said, ¡°Well, things that already exist will not suddenly cease to exist just because you don¡¯t believe in them. If they exist, they do. If they don¡¯t exist, then they don¡¯t. This has nothing to do with your personal belief. You had an answer when you asked me this question, so my response doesn¡¯t matter at all.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Ye Yun looked down thoughtfully and continued walking and thinking with her head down. Since she was so deep in thought, Su Jin just walked behind her without disrupting her.

    But immediately after she turned the corner, he heard the sound of a car screeching to a halt. His heart nearly stopped. They had walked away from the residential area and had reached the main road. If Ye Yun had walked out without looking onto the road and gotten knocked down by a car, that would be terrible.

    However, the scene that greeted him next made his jaw drop to the ground. A ck sports car had stopped in the middle of the road, and it was nted, while amp post had been broken from the impact and half of the post was lying at least five meters away from the car. The ck tire marks on the road went on for at least 30 meters too. This ck sports car must have been driving at a very high speed. Meanwhile, he couldn¡¯t see Ye Yun anywhere, because¡­ she was actually squatting on top of the car.

    Ye Yun was squatting on the roof of the sports car like an agile little stray cat. She pressed her hands down on her feet and peeked into the car to see if anyone was hurt.

    ¡°Are you alright?!¡± Su Jin ran over to take a look at Ye Yun. His view had been blocked by a street light when everything happened and he wasn¡¯t really sure exactly what happened earlier. But from the looks of it, Ye Yun was perfectly fine, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! You¡¯d better check if the people in the car are alright!¡± she said anxiously.

    He nodded and turned to check the inside of the car, but before he could get closer, someone hopped out from inside.

    ¡°What the hell is going on?! Are you tired of living?! If I see you standing there one more time, I¡¯ll bloody mow you down!¡± The owner of the car started cursing as he walked towards Su Jin. But once he saw Su Jin, his expression fell instantly, while Su Jin¡¯s expression grew strange too.

    ¡°Hello there, Young Master Lin. We meet again.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he ought tough or cry. Of all the people in the world, the owner of this sports car had actually turned out to be that same boy he had taught a lesson just the day before: the son of the mayor of S City!

    Young Master Lin¡¯s expression grew furious as he thought to himself, if he had noticed that the fellow standing in the way of his car was this guy, he wouldn¡¯t have mmed the brakes. He would have just knocked Su Jin down and just consider it a traffic ident. It was the perfect chance to take revenge and he had missed it!

    Su Jin noticed Young Master Lin¡¯s expression and could guess what he was thinking about. Heughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. The one standing in the middle of the road just now wasn¡¯t me, so even if you had knocked that person down, the one who would die wouldn¡¯t be me either.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t you?¡± Young Master Lin stared at Su Jin in shock, because he didn¡¯t see anybody else around. Could that person have flown out from the impact or was his body lying in pieces on the road?

    ¡°Look at the roof of your car!¡± Su Jin pointed to Young Master Lin¡¯s car.

    Young Master Lin turned around and looked. ¡°What¡¯s on my car roof?¡±

    ¡°Your car roof¡­ wait, what?!¡± Su Jin was stunned too. There was nothing on top of Young Master Lin¡¯s car and Ye Yun was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Look, the previous time, it was my fault, so I¡¯ll take responsibility for that. But this time, you popped out of absolutely nowhere. I don¡¯t care whether you¡¯re tired of living or not, but don¡¯t implicate me along the way!¡± snarled Young Master Lin hatefully.

    But Su Jin was in no mood to talk to Young Master Lin. He looked around the car but didn¡¯t see Ye Yun anywhere at all. Young Master Lin snapped, ¡°You¡¯ve got topensate me for the damages to my car!¡±

    Su Jin continued to ignore him and quickly walked around the car again, but Ye Yun was still nowhere to be found. There weren¡¯t any buildings nearby and it was easy to spot a person since it wasn¡¯t crowded either. Even if Ye Yun had made a run for it, his eyesight wasn¡¯t so bad that he would be unable to spot her from afar.

    When Young Master Lin noticed that Su Jin was ignoring him, he became even angrier and barked, ¡°You¡¯re not going topensate me?! Wait right here, I¡¯m going to call the police!¡±

    But just when Young Master Lin pulled his phone out to make that call, a slim and pretty hand suddenly caught hold of his phone.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to call the police. I was the one who suddenly walked onto the road just now, not him. How much do you want inpensation? I¡¯llpensate you,¡± said Ye Yun as she helped Young Master Lin to hang up.

    Both Su Jin and Young Master Lin were stunned by this woman who had appeared from nowhere. But before they could say anything, Ye Yun continued, ¡°I live over there in Ye Shaoshi¡¯s house. You can send someone to my father to tell him about what happened and he willpensate you.¡±

    ¡°Where¡­ where did you go just now?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Oh! I went into the car to see if anybody else was injured,¡± she replied, as though the answer was obvious.

    Su Jin scratched his head. What she said did make sense. If she had entered the car while he was talking to Young Master Lin, he might not have seen her. Also, when he was walking around the car to look for her, he didn¡¯t try looking inside the car either.

    ¡°Ye Shaoshi? You mean the CEO of Ster Skies?¡± asked Young Master Lin.

    Ye Yun nodded and held a name card out to him. ¡°You can take this card and impensation from my father.¡± After she said that, she called Su Jin along and walked away.

    Su Jin thought it was rather interesting that he had run into this Young Master Lin twice in two days, so he turned to wave at the other young man before catching up with Ye Yun. Only Young Master Lin was left in the middle of the road with a dented car and a brokenmp post.

    And because Su Jin was busy waving to Young Master Lin, he did not notice that Ye Yun had put a book back into her jacket.

    She used a blue hair tie to bun her hair up and exhaled deeply. She looked a little exhausted now. Su Jin was very puzzled. Why did she suddenly seem so tired?

    ¡°Are you feeling tired? Why don¡¯t we go back?¡± Su Jin said to her.

    ¡°I am a little tired. Let¡¯s go back then! I¡¯m beginning to miss my parents,¡± Ye Yun replied without thinking.

 Chapter 25: Kano Mai

    <h4>Chapter 25: Kano Mai</h4>

    When Su Jin and Ye Yun returned to the house, Uncle Yu was standing at the gate and looking out for them. When he spotted the both of them walking towards the gate, he exhaled deeply in relief and mumbled to himself as he showed them back into the house.

    After they walked into the house, Ye Shaoshi red hard at Ye Yun, as if he was about to gobble her whole. But at the same time, he didn¡¯t look as upset anymore since his daughter had returned home safely.

    ¡°Dad, could you cook for me? I really miss your cooking.¡± Ye Yun quickly hopped over to her scowling father and tugged at his arm yfully while whining adorably at him.

    Su Jin figured that nobody would be able to stay angry for long with a girl like Ye Yun, especially if she started speaking in a cute voice like that.

    And just as he had guessed, Ye Shaoshi couldn¡¯t stay angry at his daughter after she spoke so endearingly to him. She just had to whine for a short while and he agreed to cook all the dishes that she loved to eat. Su Jin was also kind of disappointed that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to see Ye Shaoshi discipline his daughter after all.

    Ye Yun happily skipped all the way back to her room after she had sessfully convinced her father to cook for her. Meanwhile, Su Jin was still puzzled as to how Ye Yun¡¯s mood and energy had suddenly picked up again despite looking so tired on the way home. He could only conclude that it was true that the minds of women could be really hard to read at times.

    ¡°Su Jin! Ye Yun¡¯s be so much happier after taking a walk with you, so why don¡¯t you live here from now on?¡± Sun Tong noticed that her daughter¡¯s mood had suddenly improved, so she immediately gave Su Jin the credit.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not what it looks like! I¡¯m just trying to do my job, Lady Boss!¡± Su Jin stared at Sun Tong in rm. He was still trying to figure out why Ye Yun¡¯s mood had suddenly improved.

    ¡°Lady Boss?¡± Sun Tong looked at Su Jin puzzledly for a moment before bursting intoughter. She turned to Ye Shaoshi and said, ¡°My goodness, this employee of yours is really humorous!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably how he made Ye Yun happy, isn¡¯t it? Su Jin, why don¡¯t you just stay here from now on? My wife and I are leaving for the US in a few days, and we asked Ye Yun toe with us but no matter how hard we tried, she still refuses toe along. But if you¡¯re here to apany her, I won¡¯t have to worry about her.¡± Ye Shaoshi patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulders hard and looked like he really thought very highly of Su Jin.

    Su Jin decided to give up exining himself since it seemed impossible. He could only smile awkwardly at them as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve just signed a new rental contract two days ago, so¡­ I don¡¯t need a new ce to stay.¡±

    ¡°Just leave that for the time being. Pack your things and stay here until we return from overseas at least.¡± Ye Shaoshi had been the CEO of his ownpany for a long time and often gave orders that left no room for negotiation. Even though he sounded like he waspromising by getting Su Jin to move over temporarily, that still meant that Su Jin had to move.

    ¡°Well¡­ I guess¡­ alright then.¡± Su Jin nced up at the second story and figured that his house would be fine even if he were staying here for the time being.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! That¡¯s great! Go back and pack your things, thene back here. Also, take this card too, otherwise you¡¯re going to have trouble getting into the estateter.¡± Ye Shaoshi gave Su Jin a pleased nod as he handed a blue card to Su Jin.

    Since he had already agreed, he epted the card and returned to his ce after taking his leave. After walking out of the estate, he didn¡¯t take a cab and started jogging back instead. He wasn¡¯t doing this to save money. He was doing this because he could sense that someone was following him.

    From the moment he had stepped out of the estate, he had sensed something amiss. He could sense that there was someone not far away from him who kept following him. But the moment he turned around, that person would look just like any other pedestrian. It was obvious that this person was an expert at following others.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t jogging very quickly either, since the streets were quite crowded. But the crowd slowly thinned out as Su Jin chose to go down smaller alleys. Then he suddenly picked up speed, jumped over a fence, ran into a maze of small roads, before turning towards apletely different direction towards the busy city center.

    After he had suddenly increased his speed and switched directions, he was pretty sure that he had shaken that person off his tail. He quickly hailed a cab and got in. After the car had driven out of sight, the person following Su Jin finally arrived at where he had boarded the cab.

    ¡°He¡¯s a really vignt one!¡± Her nose twitched slightly, and she looked at the watch on her wrist with augh. ¡°But too bad, that¡¯s not going to be enough to get rid of me.¡±

    When Su Jin got home, his expression fell immediately after he opened the door. Someone was sitting on his living room couch and was even holding a cup of water in her hands.

    ¡°Hoho, looks like you ran into a jam on the way home. I¡¯ve actually arrived earlier than you did.¡± She stood up and Su Jin was finally able to see what she looked like.

    The woman in his living room looked like she was in her twenties, and she was of Asian descent. She was dressed in a ck suit and wore a pair of thin ck framed spectacles. This outfit made her look both intelligent and sexy at the same time.

    ¡°Are you¡­ Japanese?¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly and secretly pulled his Handbook out. He kept his fingers on the book because that way, he could take the Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife or the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow out of the Handbook with just a thought.

    ¡°Is it that obvious? I didn¡¯t expect you to identify my country of origin so specifically,¡± she said as she used her fourth finger to push some of her hair behind her ears, which seemed like a fairly flirtatious move.

    Su Jin grinned and shrugged as he said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ve seen a lot of uh, Japanese action movies, so while I¡¯m not always certain about the men, I¡¯m certain about the women.¡±

    ¡°Why would you be certain about the women and not the men?¡± She seemed a little confused.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you guess?¡± Su Jin raised his eyebrow.

    She suddenly realized what he was talking about andughed with a hand over her mouth. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be so interested in that sort of thing. But then again, there¡¯s nothing unusual about that.¡±

    ¡°Alright, enough of this idle chatter. Where you¡¯re from doesn¡¯t matter, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s appropriate for you to enter a home when the owner of the house isn¡¯t around, right? And from the looks of it, you were following me?¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression suddenly grew serious as he spoke sternly to her.

    She got up slowly and bowed at him politely. ¡°My name is Kano Mai, and I would like to be your teammate!¡±

    ¡°My¡­ team mate?¡± Su Jin frowned.

    Kano Mai got up and took something out from her jacket. It turned out to be the same thing that Su Jin was holding. She had a Handbook too.

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook?! You own this thing too?¡± Su Jin connected the dots immediately once he saw that she owned a Handbook as well. This woman was clearly here to form a team. But at the same time, Su Jin was surprised to run into another owner so quickly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve made it through seven challenges.¡± She nodded and opened her Handbook so that Su Jin could verify this for himself.

    The Handbook had records of every challenge its owner had been through and the assessment that followed, so Su Jin would be able to see if she was telling the truth or not once he looked through her Handbook. But he didn¡¯t take it from her and just nodded. After all, if she had really survived seven challenges, she might have some other tricks up her sleeve. He wasn¡¯t sure if she was a friend or a foe yet.

    ¡°Why do you want to be my teammate?¡± asked Su Jin as he maintained the same expression as before.

    Kano Mai blinked several times, then smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s because you have the Mark of a Leader. Once I be part of your team, I¡¯d be able to enjoy benefits that only teams can enjoy. If I enter a challenge with a team, my chances of survival will increase dramatically, and I really want to make sure I can live on for as long as possible!¡±

    ¡°Oh? But I didn¡¯t tell anybody that I have this Mark of a Leader and it¡¯s only been a few hours since I got it. How would you have found out about it? Japan is hours away from here.¡± Su Jin started tapping his nose again. Did the Handbook send out a public announcement after he received the Mark of a Leader? Is that how she knew about it so quickly?

    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯ve got this!¡± Kano Mai showed him the extremely intricately designed watch on her wrist. She exined, ¡°This is an item I purposely exchanged my points for thest time. This is a Team Finding Watch. As long as an owner with the Mark of a Leader appears within a certain radius, it will notify me. I happened to be in S City for a holiday and didn¡¯t think I would be able to find anybody here.¡±

    Su Jin scratched his head. The variety of items that the Handbook offered was immense, so it was possible for something like that to be avable for exchange. Kano Mai¡¯s exnation seemed very reasonable, so Su Jin actually let his guard down a little.

    ¡°Have youe across many other owners?¡± Su Jin sat down on the couch and motioned to Kano Mai to sit down as well so that they could speak face to facefortably.

    Kano Mai thought about it for a while and said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen quite a number, but¡­ the death rate of each challenge is way too high, so after seeing some of them one or two times, I¡¯ve not seen them anymore.¡±

    ¡°Are there a lot who have the Mark of a Leader?¡± Su Jin continued to ask.

    ¡°Before I found you, I wondered if this thing was just a toy. And if I hadn¡¯t run into an owner with the Mark of a Leader during one of my challenges, I would have thought this whole thing was a sham,¡± said Kano Mai as sheughed and shook her head.

    ¡°Is it that rare?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. It wasn¡¯t easy toe to a realization that there were actually multiple parallel universes, but he was quite sure that any owner who managed to survive a number of challenges and gathered sufficient information would be able to arrive at the same conclusion as he did.

    .

    ¡°Perhaps there aren¡¯t many where Ie from. I¡¯m not sure if there are many owners with the Mark of a Leader in other countries,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded thoughtfully, then looked up at her and said, ¡°Well, if you would like to be part of my team, then I¡¯d need you to introduce yourself in greater detail.¡±

    He didn¡¯t mind having someone on his team, but he needed to know more about any potential team member. He had to establish her identity and potential before agreeing to work with her and at the same time, he was still quite wary of her, since she had pretty much popped up from nowhere. He didn¡¯t know that much about other owners and Kano Mai was the first one he had met besides the ones who went through his first challenge. Remaining vignt was still of utmost importance to him now.

    ¡°My name is Kano Mai, and I¡¯m from Osaka, Japan. I¡¯ve been through a total of seven challenges, but I haven¡¯t been lucky enough to activate my Spirit Power, so I can¡¯t really consider myself a veteran yet. I¡¯m best at infiltrating enemy camps and being a sniper, so I can provide support from afar. My greatest weakness is dealing with any supernatural enemies, or rather, I don¡¯t possess any ability to deal with such enemies yet. If we run into such enemies in a challenge, I¡¯m almost useless.¡±

    ¡°And because I don¡¯t have Spirit Power, I¡¯m not able to use any weapons that require it. For close range attacks, I have a Starlight Sword. For long range attacks, I use a Soul Whisperer Sniper Rifle. That¡¯s all.¡±

    Su Jin started tapping his nose lightly after hearing what she said. He wasn¡¯t sure if she had told him everything, but whatever she had told him was probably true. The only thing that bothered him was how she still hadn¡¯t been able to activate her Spirit Power despite going through seven challenges already. That only went to show how difficult it was to activate Spirit Power.

    ¡°In that case¡­ congrattions, Kano Mai. You¡¯re the second member of this team!¡± Su Jin stuck a hand out at Kano Mai to wee her to the team.

    Man of culture. I respect him again.

 Chapter 26: Team Boning Knife

    <h4>Chapter 26: Team Boning Knife</h4>

    Kano Mai reached out to shake Su Jin¡¯s hand as well. She was tall and she had very slim fingers. Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to use too much strength to shake her hand.

    After they were done with that handshake, they looked at one another without knowing what to say and the atmosphere became awkward. Kano Mai nced at Su Jin¡¯s Handbook and said, ¡°I believe I also need to be confirmed by your Mark of a Leader in your Handbook in order to officially be a member of your team, right?¡±

    ¡°Is that so? I have no idea. You¡¯re the first one to join my team and I¡¯ve never done this before,¡± said Su Jin with augh. He held his Handbook out to her, and she took it from him, then ced her hand on his Handbook.

    A ck smoke rose from where the Mark of a Leader was. It covered Kano Mai¡¯s hand and extended outwards from her palm until it looked like a frightening demonic w.

    ¡°Su Jin, I need a drop of your blood,¡± she said to him.

    ¡°A drop of my blood? What¡¯s this, a paternity test? That¡¯s a terrible way to conduct a paternity test! You¡¯ve got to do it the scientific way,¡± said Su Jin very patiently.

    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. You¡¯re the owner with the Mark of a Leader and the Handbook needs your blood to verify that it is your decision to take me in as a new member on your team!¡± said Kano Mai in an exasperated voice.

    ¡°I was just trying to crack a joke¡­ Didn¡¯t you find the atmosphere really awkward just now? I thought a joke or two would help to ease the tension.¡± Su Jin made a face, then picked up a fruit knife on the table, made a cut on his finger and let one drop of blood drip onto the hand of smoke on Kano Mai¡¯s hand.

    Once his blood hit the hand of smoke, it dissipated for a moment before gathering again. But this time, the smoke entered Kano Mai¡¯s arm and moved up and down her arm like a raincloud.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t set your own team crest?¡± Kano Mai looked puzzledly at Su Jin.

    ¡°Like I said, this is the first time I¡¯m doing this!¡± Su Jin shook his head. ckie had disappeared immediately after briefly introducing what the Mark of a Leader was and didn¡¯t even let Su Jin ask too many questions. He now realized that ckie had skipped a number of these administrative details in his description earlier.

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t seem to believe that Su Jin seriously had no idea about these things, but she had no choice but to exin it to him now, ¡°Every team has their own team crest. This crest is like the name card of the team and it has certain powers depending on the challenge.¡±

    ¡°A crest? So, you mean like the symbol on a pirate ship¡¯s g?¡±

    ¡°Yup. Something like that.¡±

    ¡°How do I set my own team crest?¡±

    ¡°You can either leave it to the Handbook to design one for you, or you can design your own custom crest. You just need to think of a design while holding onto your Handbook,¡± she replied.

    He nodded slightly, held onto his Handbook, then closed his eyes slightly. After a short while, Kano Mai noticed that the ck smoke on her arm was beginning to take shape. About ten secondster, the ck smoke on her arm had formed the shape of a boning knife.

    ¡°Alright! That will be our team crest. From now on, our little team shall be called Team Boning Knife!¡± Su Jin was very pleased with his artwork. The boning knife he had drawn in his mindprised of just a few ck lines of different thickness and lengths, but the de looked nice and sharp, which made it look like one touch of the de could cut through flesh and bone easily.

    Kano Mai seemed pretty satisfied with the crest that Su Jin had designed as well. She used her finger to touch the crest and the crest stuck to her finger as she moved it along her skin.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s like a human touch screen!¡± Su Jin looked curiously at the way Kano Mai shifted the crest around.

    She finally decided to ce the crest on her shoulder. That way, it would be difficult for others to see it. She smiled and said, ¡°Yes, you can move it to anywhere you want.¡±

    Another wisp of ck smoke came out from the Handbook, but this time, it headed for Su Jin¡¯s arm instead. After it took the shape of a boning knife, Su Jin also tried moving the crest around and eventually settled on leaving it on his shoulder as well.

    ¡°Alright! Now that you¡¯ve joined my team, what do you intend to do next?¡± Su Jin started paring an apple.

    Kano Mai shrugged. She looked around the house and said with a smile, ¡°I want to stay in this city for a while more, so if you don¡¯t mind, why don¡¯t you let me stay here for the time being?¡±

    ¡°Rental here is very expensive,¡± joked Su Jin.

    ¡°And do you think money still means anything to a Handbook owner?¡± Kano Mai took out her ck card and waved it in front of Su Jin¡¯s face.

    Su Jinughed and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m not collecting money as rent. If you want to stay here, you¡¯ve got to pay with your body.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s really appropriate, is it? Then again, I¡­ don¡¯t really mind.¡± Despite saying that, Kano Mai remained in her seat and didn¡¯t move at all.

    Heughed and said, ¡°What do you mean by it¡¯s not appropriate? I¡¯m going to be away for some time, so if I don¡¯t get anyone to clean up and look after this ce on a regr basis, everything will waste away on its own. So, I¡¯ll be counting on you to do this for me. If you want to stay here, then you¡¯ll have to watch this ce and keep it clean for me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you stay here?¡± Kano Mai was a little surprised at first, but she figured it out quickly andughed, ¡°Ah! I see, you¡¯re going back to that luxurious neighborhood with all those bungalows, aren¡¯t you? Well, that Chinese girl is very pretty indeed. You¡¯ve got good taste!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to warn you about that. Do not follow me around like that ever again!¡± He got up and had a threatening look on his face as he pressed his palms against the coffee table and stared down at Kano Mai.

    ¡°Of course. I won¡¯t do that again.¡± Kano Mai nodded immediately.

    Su Jin started smiling again after hearing her response. He pointed to the second story and said, ¡°The third room on the second story will be yours. I¡¯ll leave this ce to you, but you are not allowed to bring random strangers back here, you hear me? Also, when do you have to start your next challenge?¡±

    ¡°I still have about ten more days or so. What about you?¡± said Kano Mai.

    ¡°I¡¯ve justpleted one recently. But we¡¯ve got to start challenges as a team, right?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. But don¡¯t worry, the Handbook will calcte the time in between challenges ording to the team member with the longest period of time left till the next challenge. So, thanks to you, I¡¯ll be able to have at least another two weeks of peace or so.¡±

    ¡°Aww, looks like you¡¯ve really got to thank me. In that case, help me to pack my things then. My room¡¯s over there.¡± Su Jin ced the apple in her hands, then pointed to his room before plonking back down on the couch and shut his eyes to rest.

    Kano Mai was a little stunned at first, but she soon stood up and went to help Su Jin pack his things.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes were only half closed as he watched Kano Mai walk into his room. This woman was probably not as simple as she seemed to be. She seemed to be very familiar with the team system, so this might not actually be the first time she was joining a team.

    But he wasn¡¯t really bothered by the idea that Kano Mai might be hiding some things from him. Handbook owners had to go through very frightening challenges, and it wasn¡¯t surprising for any owner to keep their trump cards hidden away from others. But at the same time, since she might not be honest with him, he wasn¡¯t going to be fully honest with her either.

    She had talked about herself during their conversation earlier, but Su Jin hadn¡¯t revealed anything about himself. He wasn¡¯t going to tell her much until she had earned his trust.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Kano Mai to pack Su Jin¡¯s things. Su Jin didn¡¯t check what she packed either. He took the bag from her, waved goodbye to her and walked out.

    After Su Jin left the house, Kano Mai started eating her apple. She smiled to herself as she quietly murmured, ¡°What a careful newbie. But he¡¯s got so much potential. He¡¯ll be a good teammate for the time being.¡± Then she bit down hard on the apple.

    Su Jin stopped thinking about Kano Mai and got back to the estate where Ye Yun lived. The blue card that Ye Shaoshi passed to him was an ess card to the estate, but Su Jin felt like this card was pointless. Kano Mai had obviously started following him from inside the estate, but the security hadn¡¯t detected her at all. It wasn¡¯t going to be hard for Su Jin to slip in and out either, since he had a bottle of Witch¡¯s Concealing Potion.

    When Ye Shaoshi saw that Su Jin had returned, he got Uncle Yu to bring Su Jin¡¯s things to his room. Then he said to Su Jin, ¡°That will be your room. When Sun Tong and I aren¡¯t around, you can let Uncle Yu know if you need anything. He¡¯ll settle it for you.¡±

    ¡°Boss, I think Miss Ye will be fine for the moment, actually. I really don¡¯t think you need to insist on me staying here,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°It¡¯s really not the first time she¡¯s behaving like this. I agree that there are times when her mood improves tremendously, but eventually, she will slowly be more and more depressed again. You don¡¯t have to do anything else, just keep herpany. If she tries to kill herself, I don¡¯t care what you do to stop her. You can try to convince her with caring words, or you can knock her out with a hit. In any case, I want toe back and see that she¡¯s still alive!¡± Ye Shaoshi looked at Ye Yun¡¯s room as he spoke and he looked so frustrated and helpless at the same time.

    Su Jin looked at Ye Yun¡¯s room as well and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re not asking for much, but I can only promise you that I will try my best. I believe you understand that if a person really wants to end their life, it¡¯s really not easy for others to stop them.¡±

    ¡°I understand, I understand,¡± murmured Ye Shaoshi. He suddenly looked like he had aged ten years as he patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulder listlessly and sighed.

    Nothing happened for the rest of the night. By the time Su Jin woke up the next day, both Ye Shaoshi and Sun Tong were on a ne to the US. The huge bungalow was left with just Su Jin, Ye Yun, Uncle Yu and a few other house servants and gardeners.

    ¡°Good morning, Uncle Yu!¡± After Su Jin washed up, he walked over to greet Uncle Yu.

    Uncle Yu nodded back at Su Jin with a friendly smile and bowed slightly. ¡°Mr. Su, would you like something to eat? I¡¯m afraid¡­ it¡¯s past breakfast time, so if you don¡¯t mind waiting, we¡¯ll be serving lunch soon.¡±

    ¡°Oh dear, is it noon already?¡± Su Jin looked out of the window. The noon sun was shining down very brightly indeed.

    ¡°Oh look! Young Mistress is home!¡± Uncle Yu pointed at the door to the house. Ye Yun was in a tracksuit and her cor was drenched in sweat, as though she had spent a long time exercising.

    ¡°Why, hello, my cousin!¡± Su Jin waved at Ye Yun. Then he asked Uncle Yu, ¡°There¡¯s meat for lunch, right?¡±

    ¡°Er¡­ yes, there will be, of course.¡±

    ¡°Looks like the meals provided at work are going to be great!¡± Su Jin nodded with a pleased smile on his face. He walked towards Ye Yun and asked with a smile, ¡°You didn¡¯t see your parents off?¡±

    ¡°I saw them off before going for my exercise. Hey, you¡¯ve got pretty good stamina, but you¡¯ll lose it if you don¡¯t train up on a regr basis. Why don¡¯t you exercise with me from tomorrow onwards?¡± said Ye Yun.

    ¡°Exercise, you say? That sounds like a great idea!¡± Su Jin immediately agreed to it. While exercising with a beauty did sound like an excellent idea, Su Jin had no idea what sort of exercise Ye Yun normally did and he had no idea what he had just signed up for.

 Chapter 27: Challenge to Fight

    <h4>Chapter 27: Challenge to Fight</h4>

    Ye Yun started banging on Su Jin¡¯s door very early the next morning. Perhaps it was because Su Jin had a renewed outlook on life, but he went from never sleeping in to sleeping in two days in a row.

    After he washed up, he was still bleary eyed as Ye Yun dragged him into a Ferrari. Once he got in, he saw Tang Ning in the driver¡¯s street greeting Ye Yun.

    ¡°I was just thinking that this car looks really familiar. So, it¡¯s yours!¡± said Su Jin after greeting Tang Ning and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

    Tang Ning noticed that Su Jin looked really sleepy, so she asked curiously, ¡°You didn¡¯t have to go to work for the past couple of days. Why do you still look so tired?¡±

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t been exercising for too long, that¡¯s why I¡¯m bringing him along today,¡± said Ye Yun with a big grin on her face.

    Tang Ning continued driving as she said, ¡°Exercising? Are you referring to <i>that</i> sort of exercising? I thought you gave up on that!¡±

    ¡°I did give up before, but I noticed that there are a few new ones in towntely. I don¡¯t have anything to do anyway, and I¡¯ve got a cousin to entertain, so I thought I¡¯d bring him around.¡± Ye Yun gave Su Jin a cheeky wink and Tang Ning couldn¡¯t stopughing too.

    Su Jin had a really bad feeling about this, but he was already in the car, so he had no choice but to go along with wherever they were bringing him to.

    The car soon arrived at the heart of town. This was the busiest district in S City and every inch ofnd here cost an arm and a leg. There were a lot of tall buildings, fancy restaurants, gyms, clubs and more.

    ¡°A taekwondo school? Wait, are you¡­ are you here to challenge someone to fight?!¡± For some reason, that was the first thought that entered Su Jin¡¯s mind. And judging from the expressions on Tang Ning and Ye Yun¡¯s faces, he was probably right.

    Su Jin followed the two of them into the taekwondo school they had arrived at. He had never been to such a ce before, since the monthly membership and lesson fees here were sometimes even higher than his sry. He had only seen such ces on TV.

    ¡°Hello there, are you here to register for a ss?¡± asked the receptionist politely with a smile.

    Ye Yun replied, ¡°No. I would like to have a sparring match with the instructor of this school. Please help to pass him the message.¡±

    The receptionist didn¡¯t look too surprised by Ye Yun¡¯s words. She nodded and said, ¡°Sure. Please wait here for a while.¡±

    Su Jin was surprised by the receptionist¡¯s response, so Ye Yun exined, ¡°It¡¯s verymon for instructors of these martial arts schools to meet martial artists of other schools or even martial artists trained in a different martial art from their own. When someonees to challenge them to fight, the school will also get their students to watch the fight and take notes.¡±

    ¡°Well, if the instructor wins, that¡¯s good for them. But what if he loses? Wouldn¡¯t that be really embarrassing for the school?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Ye Yun shook her head. ¡°To a martial artist, there is no way anybody can keep winning forever. And even if the instructor does lose, it¡¯s still a good time of learning for the students. Sparring matches between martial artists are really not as cruel or bloody as the way those novels and movies portray them to be. Everyone just wants to put their own skills to the test and whether you win or lose the match, it¡¯s all part of the journey to achieving excellence.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the match isn¡¯t going to be exciting anymore, right?¡± Su Jin was surprised that challenging someone to a fight was actually not meant to be violent.

    ¡°And what were you hoping for? Did you think that every sparring match was supposed to end only when one party died?¡± said Ye Yun as she red at him. Just then, the receptionist put the phone down and walked over to the three of them.

    ¡°Which one of you will be challenging the instructor? I will need you to sign this agreement.¡± The receptionist took a document out and ced it in front of them.

    ¡°Him!¡± Ye Yun pointed at Su Jin immediately and started filling his name out on the agreement.

    ¡°Me? Hey, I¡¯m just here to watch! Besides, if it¡¯s just a sparring match, why do I need to sign an agreement?¡± Su Jin reached for the document, but Ye Yun dodged him nimbly.

    ¡°You¡¯ll go first, and I¡¯ll go after you. The better fighter always appearsst. As for this agreement, well, we¡¯re going to fight, so both sides are in danger of getting hurt. We¡¯ve got to sign an indemnity form so that neither side has to be liable for each other¡¯s injuries,¡± said Ye Yun with a grin.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to say. He whispered to Tang Ning, ¡°Miss Tang, be honest with me. Miss Ye didn¡¯t say so, but she¡¯s really unhappy with the fact that I¡¯ve suddenly appeared, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it! If you don¡¯t think you can win the fight, just admit defeat and the match will end. As for my cousin¡¯s attitude towards you¡­ I think she¡¯s fine with you. Besides, if you had someone constantly watching you, I¡¯m sure you¡¯d get a little annoyed from time to time too, right?¡± replied Tang Ning with a smile.

    Su Jin shook his head and sighed. But he didn¡¯t particrly mind doing this, actually. He didn¡¯t have any experience in fighting, so if he could get some experience in the real world, it mighte in useful when he had to go through a challenge in the future.

    It didn¡¯t take the school long to get everything ready. The instructor had brought some of his students along for the match and they were all waiting.

    ¡°Sir, would you like to get changed? We have doboks avable in all sizes, so we can lend you one,¡± one of the staff said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin was dressed casually, and his clothes weren¡¯t tight fitting, but it would be a little difficult to fight in, so he nodded and followed the staff to the back to get changed.

    Once he had gotten changed, he started stretching his arms and legs. He hadn¡¯t learned any form of martial arts before at all, but his stamina, speed and strength had reached the highest level a normal human could reach, so even if he had to fight, he wasn¡¯t particrly worried.

    ¡°This is our school¡¯s instructor, Mr. Yoon Jeongrok, an eighth dan ck belt!¡± A staff member of the school introduced their instructor to the three of them and the instructor bowed slightly at Su Jin.

    ¡°Su Jin¡­ I don¡¯t belong to any school of martial arts!¡± He too, bowed towards Yoon Jeongrok.

    The staff member was their judge, so once both sides had greeted each other, he took a step back and motioned to them to proceed.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have any experience, so he chose not to attack first. He took a step back carefully so that he could observe the situation first. But to his surprise, the moment he took a step backwards, Yoon Jeongrok lunged forward and aimed a quick and powerful kick at Su Jin¡¯s waist.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was still moving backwards, and it was hard to suddenly move forward to attack, but it was also impossible to dodge the attack. And because he didn¡¯t have any experience, he wasn¡¯t sure what was the best way to defend himself either, so the only thing he could do was to quickly raise a leg to block the attack.

    Dong! Yoon Jeongrok¡¯s footnded on Su Jin¡¯s calf, but that didn¡¯t stop him. He bounced off Su Jin¡¯s calf and used that momentum tounch a roundhouse kick that was aimed at Su Jin¡¯s neck.

    Yoon Jeongrok had a ck belt in taekwondo after all, so he had plenty of sparring and actual fighting experience. That first kick was actually to test the waters. After making that first kick, he realized that while Su Jin¡¯s reflexes were pretty quick, he didn¡¯t seem to have any experience at all. He was surprised that Su Jin¡¯s first move was to actually retreat and even after retreating, he didn¡¯t have any moves up his sleeve either.

    Su Jin had no choice but to use his arm to block Yoon Jeongrok¡¯s oing kick. But he knew that he couldn¡¯t keep this up forever. He might be stronger and faster than Yoon Jeongrok, but Yoon Jeongrok¡¯s experience and use of techniques was going to defeat him eventually.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let him take the lead anymore,¡± thought Su Jin to himself. After he had blocked Yoon Jeongrok¡¯s kick with his arm, the next thing he did caught everyone by surprise.

    Su Jin took a step forward and suddenly wrapped his arms around Yoon Jeongrok¡¯s waist. Yoon Jeongrok was stunned for half a second before concluding that Su Jin must be trained in judo or some form of wrestling. So, he raised one of his legs and brought his foot down hard on Su Jin¡¯s thigh.

    Even a trained martial artist would have buckled if they had been stepped on like that by a taekwondo expert. But Su Jin merely winced a little and didn¡¯t let go of Yoon Jeongrok at all.

    Instead, Su Jin used both arms to throw Yoon Jeongrok onto the floor. His level of endurance was very high, so he started punching Yoon Jeongrok with both fists. His punches were fast and powerful, plus Yoon Jeongrok waspletely confused after getting flung to the floor by Su Jin. He couldn¡¯t even do anything when faced with Su Jin¡¯s furious punches besides raising his arms to protect his face while waiting for Su Jin to finish expending his energy.

    All the students of the taekwondo school, Ye Yun and Tang Ning watched the match with their eyes and mouths wide open. Su Jin had not disyed any technique whatsoever throughout this match. All he had done was to forcibly press an eighth dan ck belt taekwondo instructor against the floor and punch him in the face.

    ¡°What¡­ what sort of martial arts is this?!¡± Tang Ning eximed in shock.

    ¡°Hmm! If I¡¯m not mistaken, this is the legendary¡­ Douchebag Boxing!¡± Ye Yun pretended to be really impressed and marveled, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect my cousin to know this technique! That¡¯s amazing!¡±

    Meanwhile, the match between Su Jin and Yoon Jeongrok had ended. Yoon Jeongrok had a lot of experience and had judged Su Jin¡¯s situation urately, but he had underestimated Su Jin¡¯s stamina. Su Jin¡¯s stamina was actually at a level higher than the average human, so by the time Yoon Jeongrok realized this and figured that he was going to lose if he didn¡¯t fight back, he had run out of energy tounch a counterattack and ended up getting knocked out instead.

    ¡°Gosh! I didn¡¯t know that fighting was so tiring!¡± Su Jin exhaled deeply as he got off Yoon Jeongrok and stood up. If his stamina weren¡¯t this good, he would have copsed from exhaustion before the fight was over.

    The students of the school lookedpletely bbergasted. They knew that it was possible for their instructor to lose a sparring match, but to lose to someone with zero technique really blew their minds.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done fighting. Can we go now?¡± Su Jin asked Ye Yun and Tang Ning.

    ¡°Yup! Good job! Let¡¯s go to the next school!¡± Ye Yun nodded.

    ¡°What? You want me to fight some more?!¡± Su Jin stared at her in horror. He did have a lot more stamina than the average person, but each fight required too much energy out of him. If he had to go through this one more time, he was going to pass out first.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I¡¯m not going to watch you continue embarrassing yourself with the way you fight, so you can watch me fight the rest.¡± Ye Yun left the agreement they had signed behind on the floor, said a few things to the staff, then left with Tang Ning and Su Jin.

    After they left the school, Su Jin asked, ¡°Why do I sense that the staff seemed really angry when we left? I thought we were just having a friendly match and we¡¯re not responsible for each other¡¯s injuries, no?¡±

    ¡°Your douchebag boxing ¡®technique¡¯ knocked their instructor out! How was that a friendly match? At least they didn¡¯t turn on you and bash you up! Even though martial artists treat all sparring matches as an umtion of experience regardless of whether they win or not, they still want to be treated with respect and they would want others to know that they put up a good fight. If others found out that Mr. Yoon got thrashed by some fellow with absolutely no technique, he¡¯d be too embarrassed to even say he¡¯s learned taekwondo before.¡± Ye Yun felt really bad for Yoon Jeongrok. He had run into a challenger who didn¡¯t have any technique but had herculean strength, so he didn¡¯t get any chance to disy his techniques and got flung to the floor and punched repeatedly like a ragdoll.

    After they had left that first taekwondo school, Ye Yun proceeded to walk into several other martial arts schools. But regardless of what sort of martial arts that school taught, once the fight started, it would take Ye Yun only a few moves to defeat their representatives. Her fighting technique was incredible.

    This routine continued for about a week and Ye Yun had gone through every new martial arts school in town. She lost interest in them and decided to groom an opponent for her to spar with.

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you decided to send me sprawling first thing in the morning?¡± Su Jin was lying on the grassy yard of the bungalow as he looked resignedly at Ye Yun.

 Chapter 28: Temple of the Origin of Heaven

    <h4>Chapter 28: Temple of the Origin of Heaven</h4>

    It was mundane yet exciting at the same time for Su Jin to immerse himself in the world of martial arts every day. Being able to train himself in martial arts with a girl he liked was certainly something to be happy about, and it was equally important to him that he was able to improve his fighting abilities before he started on his next challenge.

    ¡°Something¡¯s happened at the house I¡¯ve rented, so I need to go home and settle it.¡± Su Jin took a day off from Ye Yun and returned to the bungalow that he had rented.

    Kano Mai had been staying in the house all this time and knew that Su Jin must have returned because he wanted to start his next challenge.

    ¡°Are we going to start the next challenge now?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°Yup. It¡¯s almost the end of the month now. Instead of letting the Handbook forcibly drag me into a challenge at a bad time, I¡¯d rather choose the timing myself,¡± replied Su Jin with a nod. He opened his Handbook, turned to the page after Fengxi Town and saw words begin to appear on the nk page. Everything went dark and Su Jin lost consciousness.

    ¡°Darkness has fallen, and the world is under the control of evil. The only hope that those in the light have is hidden within the Temple of the Origin of Heaven. At this moment, you and yourpanion have managed to ovee several major obstacles to finally arrive at the Temple of the Origin of Heaven. You must go to the deepest part of the Temple and there, you will discover the Sparks of Light! If you do not reach that ce, all that is awaiting you is death!¡± A voice began narrating the introduction to the challenge inside Su Jin¡¯s head. Just like thest time, this voice was unfeeling, cruel and could strike despair in the hearts of the listener. It was like abination of the darkest things in the world.

    By the time Su Jin regained consciousness, he realized that he was in front of an ancient looking Daoist temple gate. The temple glowed faintly but the entire area outside of the temple was shrouded inplete darkness. Besides himself, there was Kano Mai and four others.

    The other fourprised of three men and one woman. The three men were generally older than himself. One was wearing sportswear and looked around 27 or 28 years old. He had arge build and his muscles looked like they were made from steel and ready to bash through anything.

    The second man looked like he was in his thirties, wore a pair of gold rimmed spectacles and seemed like the schrly sort. He wasn¡¯t very tall and was on the skinny side.

    The third man also looked like he was in his thirties and was wearing a pair of blue faded coveralls. He looked like an honest and hardworking guy, and even though he wasn¡¯t as muscr as the first man, he still looked pretty strong.

    The only female looked like she was in her early twenties and looked like a student. She wore a pair of ck framed sses and looked like the quiet type. She was still holding her Handbook in her hands.

    Everyone had already regained consciousness at this point and the four others all looked a little panicky and lost. After Su Jin saw them, he realized how Liu Yingying and Jiang Li had immediately identified him and the other three as newbies. They had probably looked just as confused as these four in front of him right now.

    ¡°Where are we?¡± asked the girl fearfully. She had obviously been frightened by how she had suddenly appeared in a strange ce and took two steps backwards in horror.

    ¡°Calm down, everyone. You can try to think of thest thing you remember hearing in your minds and ask me anything you want. I¡¯ll answer your questions,¡± Su Jin tried to calm them down. As they recalled what theyst heard, Su Jin took the chance to open his own Handbook.

    A new introductory page had appeared in his Handbook and the text was identical to the narration he heard earlier. The level of difficulty this time was Level C and three missions had also appeared.

    Mission 1: Reach the deepest part of the Temple of the Origin of Heaven. Mission type: Must bepleted.

    Mission 2: Find the Spark of Light and release it.

    Mission 3: Kill the guardian of the Temple of the Origin of Heaven.

    These three missions were something that had not appeared in his first challenge. He looked through them and started analyzing the missions. The introductory narration had mentioned the Spark of Light, but it didn¡¯t say anything about the guardian of the temple. It was likely that he would have to fight the guardian in order to find the Spark of Light, just like how he had to fight off the hunters in Fengxi Town. But missions two and three were not the type that he had toplete, so he could choose not toplete them if he liked.

    But the first mission was the one that was mentioned in the introductory narrative. The owners had to reach the deepest part of the Temple of the Origin of Heaven and this was a mission that had to bepleted. If they didn¡¯tplete this mission, they would definitely die.

    ¡°May I ask if all of this is real? Or am I just dreaming?¡± the girl asked nervously.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said to the four of them seriously, ¡°This is a challenge started by the Hell¡¯s Handbook and it is controlled by mysterious forces. Please do not treat this as a game or a dream. If you die during this challenge, you¡¯re going to stay dead.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s assume this is real. How do we get back?¡± the man in the gold rimmed spectacles suddenly piped up. He looked extremely uneasy as well, but he was still able to think quite clearly. He didn¡¯t question the existence of the Handbook and went straight to asking how they could get out first.

    ¡°You just need to survive this challenge and you¡¯ll be able to go back. But the Handbook will give you a challenge once a month, so I hope you¡¯ll be mentally prepared for that,¡± replied Su Jin.

    ¡°This is going to happen once a month? What about our usual lives? I don¡¯t have time for this crap every month!¡± sneered the muscr man as he red at Su Jin in a rather unfriendly manner.

    Su Jin wanted to exin more but Kano Mai stood in front of him and motioned to him to stop talking because she would take care of things from here. Su Jin had no idea what Kano Mai wanted to do, but since she had already gone through seven challenges before this, she was probably very familiar with what to do in this situation.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to waste talking to you guys like this. Once the challenge begins properly, this ce will be the most terrifying ce in the world. I¡¯m not in the mood to stick around and wait to die. Whether you believe us or not is none of our business. But because my team leader is a kind soul, I¡¯ve decided to provide you with some reasons why you should believe us,¡± said Kano Mai in a calm and controlled tone of voice.

    ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m looking forward to how you¡¯re going to prove that this crap is real,¡± sneered the muscr man disdainfully.

    Kano Mai walked over to the muscr man and held her hand out at him. He was surprised for a moment before quickly grabbing hold of her hand with a smile.

    ¡°What a soft little hand you have! Why, have you fallen for me?¡± He held onto her hand and rubbed it greedily and looked like he was really enjoying himself.

    Kano Mai smiled faintly for a moment, and then it faded almost immediately. Her expression was icy and the next thing she did shocked everyone present.

    Kano Mai suddenly exerted strength in her hand and actually lifted the muscr man off the ground even though he probably weighed three times as much as she did. This was a shocking sight to behold. A petite and frail looking woman was holding onto only the man with just one hand, yet she was able to lift him up. That was terrifying.

    The muscr man¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He felt like his wrist was about to break, but no matter how hard he tried to get his hand out from her grip, he simply couldn¡¯t break free. Kano Mai¡¯s hand seemed so weak and supple, but it gripped him like a pair of heavy duty pliers.

    ¡°Let¡­ let go!¡± the muscr man began to howl in pain.

    Kano Mai smiled faintly, then flung him aside. She looked at the rest of them and said, ¡°If anyone else still doesn¡¯t believe what my team leader said, you cane forward and have a go.¡±

    None of the other three dared to challenge her or even say anything since she was obviously a lot stronger than they were. Only the man in gold rimmed spectacles frowned and said, ¡°Your strength is indeed shocking, but¡­ that doesn¡¯t prove that what he said is true.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an excellent point, but like I said, whether you guys believe us or not isn¡¯t our problem. Jin, we can¡¯t waste time on these people anymore. Every time a new challenge starts, we¡¯re given only 15 minutes to get ourselves ready. Once this grace period is over, everything around us will be filled with danger,¡± said Kano Mai to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement and said, ¡°Just like what my friend here said, we don¡¯t have a lot of time to waste here. If you believe what I said earlier, you cane along with me and even though I can¡¯t guarantee your safety, I will try my best to protect you. But if you don¡¯t believe me, then¡­ well, suit yourselves.¡±

    Out of the other four, the first one to make a decision was actually the muscr man. After experiencing Kano Mai¡¯s strength for himself, he immediately chose to follow Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    The quiet girl decided to follow Su Jin and Kano Mai as well after thinking about it, while the man in the gold rimmed spectacles and the man in blue coveralls chose not to follow them.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re not willing to believe me, fine. But I¡¯ll just leave you with two important pieces of advice. Firstly, this Handbook is very vital to your survival, check it often! Secondly, do not leave the Temple of the Origin of Heaven!¡± Su Jin did havepassion on the newbies and didn¡¯t mind protecting them, but if there were some who turned down his offer, he wasn¡¯t going to bother trying to convince them otherwise.

    Kano Mai looked rather perplexed by Su Jin¡¯s decision to protect the two newbies and seemed to hate the idea, but Su Jin was her team leader, so she had no choice but to go along with it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We can¡¯t stay here any longer. We¡¯ve got to enter the Temple,¡± Kano Mai hurried Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded and led the other three into the Temple. The other two men remained silent and didn¡¯t move. After Su Jin and the rest left, the man in gold rimmed spectacles and the man in blue coveralls exchanged nces.

    ¡°What¡¯s this about not being able to leave this ce? I think this must be some sort of reality show! How could they knock us out and bring us here without our permission? This is outrageous! I¡¯m going to sue these people once we get out of here!¡± snapped the man in gold rimmed spectacles angrily.

    ¡°Sue them? It¡¯s very expensive to hire an attorney,¡± said the man in blue coveralls quietly. He wasn¡¯t the initiative type, so if he hadn¡¯t been convinced by the other man earlier to stay behind, he would have gone along with Su Jin like everyone else.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m an attorney! As long as you trust me, I¡¯ll make sure theypensate us appropriately! Once you get sufficientpensation, my fees won¡¯t be a problem for you anymore,¡± said the man in gold rimmed spectacles with a big smile as he patted the other man¡¯s shoulders in an assuring manner.

    The man in coveralls felt relieved to hear that. The man in gold rimmed spectacles turned on the torchlight function of his phone and they started trying to make their way out of this ce.

    But the two of them soon realized that something was terribly wrong. Even when the man in gold rimmed spectacles shone his torch into the darkness, they still couldn¡¯t see anything. The darkness seemed as thick as a liquid and waspletely opaque.

    ¡°This¡­ this is really strange!¡± The man in gold rimmed spectacles looked at the darkness puzzledly. Just then, the darkness seemed toe to life as a ck fog began to gather in front of the two men.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± The man in coveralls reached out to touch the ck fog curiously.

    Woong! A gust of ck fog suddenly rushed towards the man in coveralls, and he was so frightened that he tried to withdraw his hand from the fog. But the fog was faster than him and the thick fog soon enveloped the man¡¯s arm.

    ¡°AHH!¡± The man in coveralls shrieked and fell to the ground. He kept rolling about frantically and the man in gold rimmed spectacles wanted to help him, but once he saw the man¡¯s arm, he instantly took several steps backwards.

    His arm looked like it had been bitten and chewed off by something and one could even see his bone already.

    ¡°Save me!!¡± The man in coveralls tried to reach out to the other man for help. His face was contorted in pain and his eyes bulged like they were going to pop out any minute.

    The man in gold rimmed spectacles hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to reach out to pull the other man away from the ck fog. But just before his hand reached the other man, the fog around his arms suddenly intensified and dragged the man entirely into the darkness.

    ¡°AHHHHH!¡±

 Chapter 29: Black Versus White

    <h4>Chapter 29: ck Versus White</h4>

    The four of them slowly entered the Temple of the Origin of Heaven. This Daoist temple was huge, so even after they entered the temple, they could only see the silhouette of some buildings in the distance behind the front hall.

    ¡°Let me introduce myself. My name is Su Jin, I¡¯m an office worker and I¡¯ve gone through one challenge so far,¡± Su Jin introduced himself to the two newbies.

    ¡°My name is Kano Mai, I¡¯m a frencer and I¡¯ve gone through seven challenges so far,¡± Kano Mai introduced herself after Su Jin.

    The quiet female student timidly introduced herself, ¡°My name is Tan Xin, I¡¯m in my second year of university.¡±

    ¡°My name is Shi Teng, I¡¯m a fitness trainer!¡± After Kano Mai taught him a lesson earlier, he had learned to behave himself.

    Su Jin nodded at them to acknowledge their introductions. Out of the two of them, Shi Teng certainly looked like he could fight and would probably be helpful against ordinary humans. He didn¡¯t think Tan Xin would be of much help in that aspect, but thankfully, this challenge was only at Level C. ording to Jiang Li¡¯s exnation, ordinary humans would still be able to handle this level as long as they weren¡¯t too unlucky. Besides, he now had Kano Mai, an experienced owner who had survived seven challenges before this. The chances of them making it through this challenge were quite high.

    ¡°The mission this time round is to reach the deepest part of the Temple. Do you guys have any ideas?¡± Su Jin decided to gather some opinions, in case the newbies proved to be intelligent.

    ¡°The deepest part of the temple? Is that referring to the part of the temple that¡¯s furthest from the gate?¡± asked Tan Xin a little embarrassedly after thinking about it.

    Su Jin nodded slightly to thank her for her opinion, but Kano Mai interjected, ¡°So, the deepest part of the Temple that¡¯s above ground? But it can refer to a spot underground as well, right? If this temple has structures underground, then the word ¡°deepest¡± could be referring literally to that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. If you¡¯re talking about these two nes, both are possible. But this ¡°deepest part¡± might have another meaning. It might be referring to the core¡­ the central part of the temple¡­¡± Su Jin started considering his options. The information provided by the Handbook wasn¡¯t very precise and the words it used could be easily misconstrued by the owners depending on how the owners defined them, so one had to chew on it very carefully.

    ¡°Is that very important? It¡¯s just a temple, isn¡¯t it? Let¡¯s just search for it and we¡¯ll find it, won¡¯t we?¡± asked Shi Teng puzzledly.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai exchanged nces, and Su Jin exined, ¡°Every Handbook challenge is filled with dangers. If you don¡¯t analyze the hints given properly, it could result in very severe consequences within the challenge.¡±

    ¡°Severe consequences? How severe could they get?¡± Shi Teng still wasn¡¯t taking this whole thing very seriously. To him, the temple was just a simple building and couldn¡¯t possibly be that dangerous.

    ¡°You could die, that¡¯s how severe,¡± spat Kano Mai frostily.

    Both Shi Teng and Tan Xin looked taken aback, so Su Jin said, ¡°Mai is right. So, if you don¡¯t want to die, you¡¯d better be as careful. Be as careful as you can.¡±

    By this point, they had already entered the front hall. Dim candles were burning within the hall, but these candles were gigantic and looked more like the pirs that held up the hall. Thick drops of wax had gathered at the bottom of the candles, which made them look like a raised tform that was a few stories high. A gigantic me flickered around the wick, coloring the entire hall the same yellow color as itself.

    The two sides of the front hall were nked by two huge statues. A general in white armor stood on one side with a golden sword in hand and a stern look on his face. The other statue was a demon covered in ck mes and its expression looked maniacal. The two statues were directly opposite each other and were staring furiously at one another.

    At the foot of these two giant statues were a group of statues that were around the same size as an average human being. Some were white and some were ck. All of them were carved differently, but they all looked like they were about to pounce on each other anytime.

    ¡°Be careful! I don¡¯t think this ce is safe.¡± Kano Mai narrowed her eyes slightly and Su Jin spotted a purple sh in her eyes.

    ¡°I attained this skill from one of the challenges Ipleted. It can enhance my vision, but because I haven¡¯t activated my Spirit Power yet, I wasn¡¯t able to change the type of things I can see,¡± Kano Mai exined to Su Jin when she noticed him staring at her eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good skill to have.¡± Su Jin thought very highly of skills that could increase one¡¯s natural senses.

    As the four of them slowly moved along, they observed the statues on both sides of the front hall and realized that they seemed to be telling an ancient legend of sorts. Even though words weren¡¯t used at all, the position and poses of the statues from the beginning of the corridor to the end were enough to convey the story roughly.

    ¡°It looks like a war between good and evil. The white side represents good, and the ck side represents evil. And in the end¡­ huh?¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression faltered slightly when he realized that there was a huge taijitu right at the end of the two rows of statues.

    A standard taijitu consisted of a white side and a ck side and it represented the universe as well as light and dark, or yin and yang. There was also a white circle in the ck part and a ck circle in the white part, which made them look like two fish resting against each other¡¯s tails, which was a symbol that opposing natural forces were also forces that relied on one another to exist. The interdependence of two extremes was the core belief of Taiji, the philosophy that used this symbol.

    But this taijitu was different. The ck and white parts were drawn like most taijitu, but there was no circle of a contrasting color in the middle. When Su Jin looked closer at it, it seemed like this might not be a taijitu, or at least it wasn¡¯t aplete one.

    ¡°So¡­ did the good side win or did the evil side win in the end?¡± asked Tan Xin puzzledly. She couldn¡¯t tell who won from just looking at this iplete taijitu.

    Su Jin thought about it for a while silently, then said to Tan Xin and Shi Teng, ¡°Can you two take a look at your Handbooks? The Handbook usually gives newbies an additional hint or two, so that might give us an answer.¡±

    Shi Teng immediately flipped his Handbook open and noticed that there was indeed some new content inside. He read it out loud, ¡°There was no winner between good and evil. Just like how the light and the darkness can never destroy each other, which side you stand on will determine whether you live or die!¡±

    ¡°Mine says the same thing,¡± said Tan Xin with a nod after she checked her Handbook.

    As usual, the hint given by the Handbook wasn¡¯t very precise, so the owners had to try and decode the message themselves. All of them thought long and hard and tried to understand the message, but the hint was simply too vague. But since it mentioned life and death, Su Jin and Kano Mai wanted to be really careful about interpreting this message.

    ¡°Which side you stand on ¡­ does it literally refer to which part we stand on?¡± said Shi Teng hesitantly as he pointed to the gstones below the taijitu. They had also been painted ck and white.

    ¡°That¡¯s possible. But which side should we choose?¡± Kano Mai nodded at the possibility, but none of them knew how to proceed. Which side should they stand on in order to remain safe? The information given by the Handbook didn¡¯t mention anything about this.

    ¡°I think the safest is to just choose a different side each so that we split the risk,¡± said Kano Mai as she looked to Su Jin for his opinion.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. After the four of them discussed their options, they decided that Su Jin and Kano Mai would choose the seemingly more dangerous ck side, while Shi Teng and Tan Xin would choose to stand on the white side.

    Su Jin took the first step to stand on the part that was painted ck, which was on the same level as the floor of the hall. Once he stood there, a ck mist swirled around him for just one second and disappeared, as if it was just marking him. There was no other reaction besides that.

    Shi Teng then went to stand on the white part, which was raised. This time, a white light shed for a second. After nothing else happened, Tan Xin and Kano Mai took their ces. Just like what happened to the two men, there was a ck mist and a white light appeared for a second and disappeared again.

    ¡°Is it just making a marking of sorts?¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. Based on what the hint in the Handbook said, it did seem like they were supposed to confirm which side they were on. So now that they had confirmed which side they were on¡­ <i>Crap</i>, Su Jin thought.

    ¡®Could it be trying to drive a wedge between the group?¡¯ thought Su Jin quietly. He started to think that there was something amiss now. The Handbook wanted them to choose a side each, but if they now represented the opposing sides of good and evil, then they were definitely going to end up fighting one another.

    Su Jin nced at the other three with him. Kano Mai remained silent and looked down at the floor, as if she was taking a rest. He concluded that Kano Mai had already realized this right from the start but decided not to say anything. Meanwhile, Tan Xin had a strange look on her face for just one second before it disappeared. It shed by so quickly that Su Jin thought he might have been mistaken.

    ¡®Has she discovered this problem too?¡¯ Su Jin frowned, because if they had to end up fighting each other, then the newbie team was definitely going to die.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m thinking¡­ did the Handbook want us to split into two factions because ¡­ because we¡¯re supposed to fight each other?¡± Tan Xin looked as though it had been very difficult for her to decide whether to tell Su Jin or not and she had finally decided to pluck up the courage to raise this issue.

    Shi Teng¡¯s expression fell. After Tan Xin mentioned this possibility, he too, felt that this was a possibility. But after he had experienced what Kano Mai was capable of, he knew that he was no match for Kano Mai.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± said Su Jin as he nodded honestly. Then he said, ¡°But you two don¡¯t have to be too worried. Even if we¡¯re supposed to be opposing sides, we might not have to fight to the death. Besides, the only mission we have toplete is to reach the deepest part of this Temple. So even if we¡¯re in opposing teams, we¡¯ll be fine as long as our goal is the same.¡±

    But Tan Xin was a very intelligent woman. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have discovered this possibility so quickly. She didn¡¯t believe what Su Jin said and felt that he was just trying to console them.

    ¡°Let me say this first. If we really have to reach a point where one side must win and the other side must lose, I¡¯m willing to lose as long as I don¡¯t have to die! I just hope that both of you can keep me safe,¡± said Tan Xin very earnestly to Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai exchanged nces. This girl was really an intelligent one. She quickly told them what her stand was on this matter so that they would know that she didn¡¯t pose a threat to them even if they had to fight each other. And since she was only a student, she certainly seemed harmless.

    ¡°I share the same sentiments! I know both of you are really formidable, so as long as I don¡¯t have to die, I¡¯d rather admit defeat,¡± said Shi Teng. He seemed afraid that they might not believe him, so he raised both arms in surrender.

    Kano Mai whispered to Su Jin, ¡°You can make the decision.¡±

    ¡°Alright then, we¡¯ll agree on that. But don¡¯t leave our line of sight, okay?¡± said Su Jin. He was willing to protect the newbies, but he had to guarantee his own safety first. If the two newbies threatened his survival, then he was definitely going to counterattack and nip the problem in the bud.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Both of them immediately nodded vigorously.

    Just then, a terrible crackling noise resounded in the hall. Su Jin and Kano Mai immediately became alert. A purple light shed in Kano Mai¡¯s eyes, then her eyes widened in horror as she yelled at Su Jin, ¡°Run! The statues havee alive!¡±

    Taijitu is a term which refers to a Chinese symbol for the concept of yin and yang. It is the universal symbol of the religion known as Taoism and is also often used by non-Taoists to represent the concept of opposites existing in harmony. The taijitu consists of a rotated pattern inside a circle.

 Chapter 30: Compassion Versus Survival

    <h4>Chapter 30: Compassion Versus Survival</h4>

    ¡°The first white statue at the entrance hase to life!¡± Kano Mai yelled at Su Jin. They were nearly 300 meters away from the entrance, so Su Jin couldn¡¯t really tell from this distance. But Kano Mai had heightened vision, so if she said those statues hade to life, she was probably right.

    ¡°But this is a dead end. Are we supposed to turn around?¡± thought Su Jin to himself. He looked around him, but there was nothing else but walls on all sides.

    Craaaaash! Just then, the statue that Kano Mai talked about had fullye to life. It was about the same size as an average human and a piece of itself had crashed to the floor from its movement as it started plodding towards them unsteadily.

    ¡°Mai, block that statue!¡± Su Jin yelled at Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai nodded and quickly retrieved her Soul Whisperer Sniper Gun from her Handbook as if she had magic powers. Both Tan Xin and Shi Teng were shocked to see a rifle suddenly appear in her hands.

    This sniper gun looked like it had been made from purple crystals. Even though Su Jin had never seen a real sniper rifle before, he could tell that this thing was definitely extraordinary. The purple crystal-like body was translucent and sturdy, and a purple spark seemed to be running through it at the same time. This wasn¡¯t a weapon that any technology on Earth could create.

    After Kano Mai took her Soul Whisperer out, she didn¡¯t even have to get it ready or load it with anything. She could just pull the trigger without even taking aim. But at the same time, all the numerous bullets that were fired hit the target, which made the statue retreat by several steps.

    But her attacks had also angered the statue, so once it regained its bnce, it started charging even more quickly at them than before. Su Jin immediately yelled at Tan Xin and Shi Teng to snap them out of their shock, ¡°The two of you! Help me find an exit out of here!¡±

    Su Jin then took his Handbook out and retrieved his Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife as well. But Kano Mai said to him, ¡°Jin, I¡¯ll deal with the statue, don¡¯t worry about that!¡±

    ¡°All right then!¡± Su Jin put aside his original n to help her and focused his attention on searching for an exit. Since the Handbook had blocked off the entrance, that meant the exit had to be in this ce. He didn¡¯t think the Handbook would trap them in a dead end with no exit.

    Su Jin tried to focus. The walls werepletely nk, so that wasn¡¯t it. And if it wasn¡¯t within his line of sight, he had to consider the exit being somewhere else. The floor!

    He looked down at the floor and his face lit up. There was something on the floor after all. The entire floor was covered in ayer of wax and there was actually a palm sized dial beneath it. The dial stuck out from the surface of the floor and should have been very obvious, but after the wax had formed ayer over the floor, the dial no longer stuck out and that was why none of them had noticed it earlier.

    ¡°Mai, help me stall for time!¡± Su Jin instructed Kano Mai.

    She didn¡¯t reply, but her gun was still firing, so that was her response to Su Jin.

    But even after she had shot the statue so many times consecutively, she had only seeded in slowing it down.

    ¡°Ordinary pulsed energy projectiles are pointless, huh?¡± mumbled Kano Mai to herself. She touched the rifle and the purple rifle instantly turned red instead.

    Bang! Bang! Two loud shots resounded in quick session and the statue suddenly stopped moving forward. Those two shots had hit the head of the statue and caused it to explode. The Red Soul Whisperer was much more powerful.

    ¡°These high explosive rounds are clearly better, but this is not a solution either!¡± Kano Mai started frowning because she noticed that right after she had sted one statue, another two statues came to life.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was using his Demon Lord Boning Knife to scrape the wax off the floor. This knife had been honed by the Demon Lord himself and could cut through metal like it was tofu, so the wax didn¡¯t stand a chance.

    Once he had scraped off all the wax, he could now see the dial in detail. There was a five-digitbination lock on it and one had to turn the dial to get the correct numbers in ce.

    ¡°A five-digitbination lock?¡± Su Jin frowned and began to think. He had been observing his surroundings ever since they stepped into the front hall, but he hadn¡¯te across any numbers or anything that could be rted to numbers.

    ¡°Could it be the number of statues?¡± said Tan Xin to Su Jin as she kept turning back anxiously at Kano Mai, who was still shooting at the oing statues.

    Su Jin looked at the statues on both sides and made a quick calction to get the correct total number. Both sides had the exact same number of statues. There were 49 statues that were the same size as an ordinary human and one extrarge one in each color, which made it a grand total of 100 statues in the hall.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not right! It¡¯s not right! This one is still not right!¡± Su Jin broke the numbers down and tried a bunch of five-digitbinations like 49492, 77772, 24949 and more, but none of them worked. The lock wasn¡¯t reacting at all.

    ¡°Jin, you¡¯ve got to hurry! I can¡¯t hold them off much longer!¡± The pressure was growing on Kano Mai because even though she had sted five statues so far, that was only a small fraction of the total number of statues in the hall. She had attempted to st the statues that hadn¡¯te to life yet, but those statues seemed invincible. Even the most explosive shells the Soul Whisperer could fire didn¡¯t even make a dent in those statues.

    Su Jin continued to look at his surroundings. A clue to the numbers had to be somewhere in the vicinity. All of a sudden, he realized that the colors of the taijitu on the wall gradually led to and disappeared where the dial was. His eyes lit up as an idea struck him and he immediately started turning the dial. Once he locked in thest digit, a loud creaking sound resounded in the hall.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Su Jin looked up to see where the creaking sound wasing from and saw that the two halves of the taijitu on the wall had be like two halves of a gate as they slid apart to reveal a corridor beyond the wall.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± yelled Su Jin. Kano Mai fired several shots in quick session before running into the corridor without even looking back.

    Once they were inside the corridor, they all shuddered as the wall behind them slowly slid shut. The path in front of them was pitch ck and they couldn¡¯t see anything at all. Su Jin took his phone out to turn on its torchlight function when a strong beam of light suddenly lit up the ce. Kano Mai was carrying a heavy-duty torchlight in her hands.

    ¡°You exchanged points for this?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai shook her head and said, ¡°I doubt an item like this would cost a lot of points, but points are so precious, I wouldn¡¯t waste it on something like this. I bought this myself.¡± She passed one to Su Jin and asked, ¡°How did you get this corridor to open?¡±

    ¡°I was lucky. When I looked at the taijitu on the wall and saw that a five-digit number code was required, I thought of the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, since they¡¯re all part of the same philosophy. I put in the numbers ording to how many strokes there were in each Chinese character, and it actually worked.¡±

    The other three were all really impressed by Su Jin. It wasn¡¯t really that difficult to think of the numberbination, and even an ordinary person would eventually get it even if they just went by trial and error. But what made Su Jin amazing was how he could still think logically and quickly in a life and death situation.

    Su Jin kept his phone away since Kano Mai had an extra torchlight, since phones were useless during challenges except for being a torchlight. He shone his torchlight around him and realized that they were on a gstone path. Or rather, they were really on a bridge that was made from rocks and the two sides of the path in front of them was filled with water. He couldn¡¯t tell how deep the water was.

    Meanwhile, all the statues that Kano Mai had destroyed in the front hall had turned into sand and disappeared in the wind. The eyes of the white statue of the general blinked a couple of times and seemed to be smiling, but all of this had happened in a split second, and everything went back to normal again, because another person had appeared in the front hall.

    Back on the dark bridge behind the wall, the four of them remained where they were without budging. Su Jin didn¡¯t need a sixth sense to know that the road ahead wasn¡¯t going to be a smooth one. A pitch-ck bridge over unknown waters was definitely the perfect ce to get someone killed.

    ¡°Mai, can you see anything in the waters?¡± Su Jin asked Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai took a step forward and the purple light shed in her eyes, but a few momentster, she shook her head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t see anything. The water is preventing me from seeing into it, so I don¡¯t know what¡¯s in it.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we could just dash across?¡± asked Shi Teng.

    Su Jin shook his head immediately. ¡°If there¡¯s something in the water, I¡¯m very sure that it will attack you faster than you can run.¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do then?¡± asked Shi Teng.

    ¡°I¡¯ll think of a way to get across first. Mai, cover me,¡± said Su Jin to Kano Mai after thinking about what to do.

    Kano Mai stared back at him in shock and shook her head. ¡°No! In such a situation, you should let the useless newbies do this sort of thing. You shouldn¡¯t be the one doing this.¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t protect themselves. If they run into any danger, they¡¯ll definitely die,¡± replied Su Jin.

    Kano Mai stood her ground and said, ¡°Newbies are supposed to fight for their own lives in these challenges. They¡¯re already lucky enough that someone like you is willing to protect them. They can¡¯t just be part of the team and do nothing. Besides, the only ones who can fight these things are you and me. If anything happens to you, I doubt they¡¯d survive either.¡±

    Su Jin hesitated. What Kano Mai said sounded heartless, but she wasn¡¯t wrong either. He looked at Tan Xin and Shi Teng and the two of them immediately looked back at him fearfully.

    ¡°Oh, forget it,¡± sighed Su Jin as he decided to just do it himself anyway.

    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t mind if you want to be nice to newbies, but I think you have to ensure your own survival before you can extend anypassion to others. The two indispensable members of this team are you and I, not the two of them!¡± Kano Mai was insistent that Su Jin not put himself in harm¡¯s way. ¡°This is a world that¡¯s controlled by Hell¡¯s Handbook. In short, we¡¯re basically in hell now andpassion is something that doesn¡¯t exist here in the first ce. And even if you¡¯re kind to them now and they manage to survive this challenge, what will they do when they go for their next challenge? If you protect them, they¡¯ll never learn and they¡¯ll never grow, so they¡¯ll still be as terrible as newbies!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll go!¡± Tan Xin suddenly spoke up. Fear filled her eyes, and her fingers were trembling slightly, but she still volunteered herself anyway.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to do. Kano Mai had been through many more challenges and was a lot more familiar with the world within the Handbook, so it was probably better to listen to her advice.

    He was about to agree to let Tan Xin go ahead when Shi Teng suddenly took a step forward and volunteered himself too, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯m no coward! I¡¯ll do this! I¡¯m a man, so I ought to be a gentleman and step up to the challenge!¡±

    ¡°Alright then, we¡¯ll be counting on you! We¡¯ll cover your back,¡± said Su Jin as he patted Shi Teng on the shoulder.

    Kano Mai wasn¡¯t going to be so mean that she would really leave a newbie in the lurch, so she retrieved a handgun from her Handbook and passed it to Shi Teng. ¡°I¡¯ve got 1,000 rounds in this gun, so use it to protect yourself. You know how to fire a gun, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve used hunting rifles before, so this shouldn¡¯t be too different.¡± Shi Teng wet his lips, took the handgun from Kano Mai and took a deep breath before he finally started walking towards the bridge.

 Chapter 31: Tiger Water Dragon

    <h4>Chapter 31: Tiger Water Dragon</h4>

    Shi Teng tread very carefully and didn¡¯t dare to even breathe too loudly. Kano Mai held onto her Soul Whisperer and stood on guard to make sure that she could shoot at anything that might try to attack Shi Teng as quickly as possible.

    A minute passed and Shi Teng was almost at the other end of the bridge. But the fear that had built up in his heart all this time had also reached its peak and he was clearly beginning to walk faster than before, which was only a natural human reaction in such situations. When humans faced something that terrified them, some people were able to remain calm. But when humans were going to finally get out of a terrifying situation, few were able to continue remaining calm. And clearly, Shi Teng wasn¡¯t one of those.

    But because he had started walking faster than before, his footsteps became heavier and louder as well. Just then, Kano Mai suddenly shuddered as she seemed to have spotted something.

    ¡°Shi Teng, run! Don¡¯t look back!¡± Kano Mai yelled at Shi Teng.

    Shi Teng could sense that something was approaching him as well, so once he heard Kano Mai tell him to run, he started running immediately. Kano Mai fired the Soul Whisperer once he started running.

    Whoosh! A snake-like monster rose from the dark waters and was headed towards Shi Teng. But Kano Mai was already prepared for this and fired targeted bullets at the monster in quick session, and every bullet hit the monster.

    But despite her uracy, all the bullets managed to do was to force the monster to shift slightly off course. It was still making its way towards Shi Teng.

    BOOM! The monster crashed against the bridge and the three of them couldn¡¯t see Shi Teng anymore. They didn¡¯t know if he was dead or alive.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jin cursed inwardly. He took the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye out from his Handbook and activated its skill, Discernment of the Demon Lord.

    As Su Jin was holding the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye in his hand, nobody noticed that a ck mist was rising from his hand and had entered Su Jin¡¯s body through his pores.

    He shuddered all over and felt like his vision was blurry. He felt like a million ants had just crawled into his body. But this sensation disappeared as quickly as it came, and he felt fine after one second. Kano Mai and Tan Xin¡¯s attention were focused on the bridge, so they didn¡¯t notice what was happening to Su Jin.

    ¡°Haha¡­¡± Su Jin exhaled quietly. The physical sensation he felt earlier was gone, but the feeling in his heart was still there and it made his hair stand on end.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± he thought, ¡°it¡¯s really like what I expected. Then again, there¡¯s nothing to be surprised about. He¡¯s a Demon Lord after all, so it¡¯s only natural for him to use such tactics.¡± He just knew that the Demon Lord from the Fengxi Town challenge hadn¡¯t been sincere in making a deal with him right from the start. He had managed to snag some benefits for himself, but the amount of risk involved was tremendous as well.

    ¡°HAHA! It¡¯s begun! It¡¯s finally begun!¡± Somewhere in a lonely courtyard located deep among the crevasses of time and space, a pair of eyelids covered in veins were stretched over a pair of empty eye sockets. The empty eye sockets trembled slightly, and its demonic mouth seemed tough maniacally as it roared mightily.

    But back inside the Temple of the Origin of Heaven, Su Jin had no time to think about the feeling in his heart now. He quickly flipped open his Handbook and found the results of using the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye skill.

    ¡°A Tiger Water Dragon is a creature born out of the waters. It is naturally vicious with a strong will to live. Special characteristics: It can live without food for a thousand years and a little food can keep it alive for a thousand years. As long as it eats just a little, it will definitely live for the next millennia. It is often kept as a pet by powerful beings to guard their residence or their ancestral graves. Weakness: The tiger stripes on its stomach. Any attack to that part will result in certain death.¡±

    The information in the Handbook was actually quite detailed. Su Jin was surprised that it actually stated the monster¡¯s weak spot so specifically.

    ¡°Mai, are you able to see tiger stripes on that monster¡¯s belly?¡± Su Jin asked Kano Mai.

    A purple light shed in Kano Mai¡¯s eyes as she focused on the monster in the water and nodded immediately. ¡°Yup! The stripes are obvious and covers a fairlyrge area.¡±

    ¡°Shoot the monster there!¡± said Su Jin.

    Kano Mai used her hand to smack her Soul Whisperer without hesitation and the purple gun changed colors again. This time, it turned green and looked like it was made from emeralds.

    Bang! A green light shot out and hit the Tiger Water Dragon urately in the stomach where its tiger stripes were. And just like the description in the Handbook, the Tiger Water Dragon immediately stiffened up after it had been hit in the stomach and stopped moving altogether.

    ¡°Cover me!¡± Su Jin leaped onto the bridge. It had only been about ten seconds or so since Shi Teng had been attacked, so if he was lucky, he might still be alive.

    Su Jin ran very quickly and made a lot of noise on the bridge, so several Tiger Water Dragons emerged from the water under the bridge. But immediately after they emerged from the water, the same number of green bullets were fired from Kano Mai¡¯s gun.

    Ssh! Ssh!

    All the Tiger Water Dragons that had been charging towards Su Jin were annihted by those green bullets after the bullets hit them in the stomach. They fell right back into the water where they came from lifelessly. Meanwhile, Su Jin had already jumped over the one that died on the bridge, but he still couldn¡¯t see Shi Teng anywhere at all.

    ¡°Did he fall into the water?¡± Su Jin sighed. If Shi Teng fell into the water, then he was definitely dead.

    ¡°Save¡­ save me ¡­¡± Just then, Shi Teng¡¯s weak voice resounded from behind him.

    Su Jin blinked a few times in surprise before turning to look for where Shi Teng¡¯s voice wasing from. He eventually found Shi Teng inside the dead Tiger Water Dragon¡¯s mouth. The bottom half of Shi Teng¡¯s body was inside the monster¡¯s mouth while his top half was squashed to the side, and he looked really miserable.

    Su Jin used the Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife to cut the Tiger Water Dragon¡¯s mouth open and pulled Shi Teng out from there. His injuries were a lot less than Su Jin had imagined. Shi Teng only had a few minor cuts from the monster¡¯s sharp teeth and was injured anywhere else.

    ¡°Mai, Tan Xin,e over!¡± Su Jin shouted to the girls on the other side once he had helped Shi Teng to the end of the bridge. Now that they knew the weak point of these monsters, the monsters no longer posed such a big threat to the four of them now. Besides, Kano Mai was such a sharpshooter, so these monsters weren¡¯t dangerous anymore.

    After Kano Mai and Tan Xin made it to the other side, the four of them were reunited. Kano Mai smiled at Su Jin and asked, ¡°How did you know that the monster¡¯s weakness was its stomach?¡±

    ¡°I used one of my skills.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t answer Kano Mai in detail and continued to check if Shi Teng was injured anywhere else. But Shi Teng had been really lucky. The Tiger Water Dragon had brought its jaws down on his body, but he hadn¡¯t been badly hurt at all.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you shoot at it?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Shi Teng was still traumatized by what happened, so he stammered as he replied, ¡°I¡­ I was¡­ too frightened!¡±

    Su Jinughed quietly at Shi Teng, but Shi Teng¡¯s experience also taught him that if one didn¡¯t have enough training and experience, having a weapon did not necessarily keep you safe in times of danger either.

    After taking a short rest, the four of them walked out of the dark corridor and found that they had also walked out of the front hall. The sky outside was getting darker and darker, and they also noticed that the area around the temple was also shrouded in darkness.

    A wide and empty pavement led from the back of the front hall to the main hall of the temple. Compared to the front hall, the main hall was even bigger and grander. The ce was so brightly lit, it was as if there was a mini sun within the main hall.

    The four of them walked down the pavement to the main hall without any problems at all. But the smoother the journey, the more uneasy Su Jin felt.

    When they entered the main hall, their breath was taken away by what they saw inside.

    Statues that were asrge as the general and demon in the front hall filled the entire main hall. The ck and white statues stood in groups like rolling hills, with one side representing the light and the other side representing the dark as they seemed to be engaged in a great battle between good and evil.

    ¡°Look over there!¡± Kano Mai pointed to the other side of the main hall. A statue was seated with a longsword in its hand as if it was the king of the gods. It looked down on the ck and white statues as if these fighting statues were no more than ythings to it.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you guys think the same way, but¡­ I feel that the ¡°deepest part of the temple¡± thing has something to do with that particr statue,¡± said Su Jin as he nced at his threepanions.

    The other three nodded without hesitation. That statue seemed so much like the king of the gods, so it reminded them of the mission they had toplete. But at the same time, this gigantic hall of giant statues also made all of them shudder in fear.

    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be a problem. If this entire hall of statues were toe to life, I don¡¯t think this challenge would have been merely a Level C challenge.¡± Kano Mai seemed to be able to tell what everybody was worried about.

    Su Jin nodded as well. Fengxi Town had been a Level B challenge and it hadn¡¯t looked this crazy. So, it was impossible for a Level C challenge to turn out the way all of them were afraid it would.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯d better go in first. There¡¯s no point standing out here. Besides, the challenge is forcing us to keep moving ahead.¡± Su Jin turned around and saw that the pavement they had walked through just moments ago had already beenpletely engulfed by darkness.

    The four of them started walking into the main hall carefully when Tan Xin suddenly let out a yelp. A white light shed beneath her feet, and she disappeared after that.

    ¡°Stop!¡± shouted Su Jin immediately. Tan Xin had been just behind him. He turned and looked around but couldn¡¯t find anything wrong. Kano Mai and Shi Teng looked equally confused by what just happened. They had been behind Tan Xin just now and didn¡¯t notice anything amiss about the ce either.

    ¡°Help¡­ help!¡± The sound of someone crying for help came from the entrance to the main hall. They thought it was Tan Xin, but when they turned around, they realized the person standing at the entrance was actually the man in gold rimmed spectacles.

    The man looked aplete mess. His neatlybed hair looked more like a bird¡¯s nest now and his sleeves had blood sttered on them.

    He started running towards the three of them and as he came closer, there was a creak from under his foot, after which a white light suddenly shone from beneath Shi Teng, and he also disappeared right after that.

    ¡°Crap! Are we triggering some sort of mechanism?¡± Su Jin muttered under his breath before yelling at the man approaching them, ¡°Stop right there! Don¡¯te any nearer!¡±

    The man stared back at Su Jin in confusion while Su Jin continued to instruct Kano Mai, ¡°Mai, if he dares to move a single inch, shoot him dead.¡±

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯m more than happy to do that for you.¡± Kano Mai immediately aimed her Soul Whisperer at the man.

    The man gulped and trembled all over before waving his arms about desperately. ¡°Don¡¯t do that! Aren¡¯t we¡­ aren¡¯t we supposed to be on the same team? I¡¯lle with you guys! Please don¡¯t leave me here!¡±

    Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s brows were both furrowed slightly. They weren¡¯t too bothered by this man in front of them. They were now very bothered by the hidden traps within this huge hall and were worried about where Tan Xin and Shi Teng had gone.

    The ¡®dragon¡¯ here is actually referring to a Chinese mythical creature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaolong

 Chapter 32: The Fake

    <h4>Chapter 32: The Fake</h4>

    ¡°The main hall is too big and we can¡¯t see the whole ce either. It¡¯s going to be very hard to locate them,¡± Kano Mai said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded slightly in agreement. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re in any danger at the moment. I don¡¯t think a Level C challenge would ensnare us with traps that kill us on the spot. That would be rather unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°What should we do now?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    After contemting his options for a while, Su Jin said, ¡°Let¡¯s settle the matter we¡¯ve got on our hands right now first.¡± He looked at the man in gold rimmed spectacles and said, ¡°Hello there, how should we address you?¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Chen Jing,¡± said Chen Jing as he pushed his spectacles up. But now that he looked like he had gone through some sort of terrible ordeal, those sses didn¡¯t make him look elegant anymore.

    Su Jin nced at him and asked, ¡°What happened to the other guy who left with you?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ he touched the ck mist and turned into ash on the spot. His entire body dried up and disappeared right in front of my eyes,¡± said Chen Jing in horror, as if he hadn¡¯t gotten over that terrifying sight.

    .

    Su Jin looked Chen Jing up and down, then focused on the blood stters on Chen Jing¡¯s sleeves. He pointed at Chen Jing¡¯s sleeves and asked, ¡°Are those bloodstains from that guy?¡±

    Chen Jing nodded. Su Jin raised another question, ¡°You said his entire body dried up and turned into ash. If that happened, then there shouldn¡¯t be any blood on your body, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I was too frightened and I don¡¯t remember exactly what happened. He got injured before being gobbled up by the ck mist, I suppose that¡¯s when some of his blood sshed on me.¡± Chen Jing smiled awkwardly and looked rather dazed.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t continue probing him on this issue and continued with his next question, ¡°So how did you get through the front hall?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I found a dial, keyed in the number code and got through the front hall. After that, I went down a corridor that had a stone bridge built over some water. There was a dead Tiger Water Dragon on the bridge and it seems like there were more in the water,¡± replied Chen Jing.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyelid twitched slightly as he got Kano Mai to turn around and whispered a few things to her. Kano Mai blinked at him in surprise at first, then nodded.

    Once they turned back to face Chen Jing, Kano Mai aimed her Soul Whisperer at Chen Jing and fired a stream of bullets at him. Chen Jing was hit by the bullets and flew backwards without even having any time to react, then crashed onto the floor and didn¡¯t move anymore.

    ¡°Did you make a mistake?¡± Kano Mai asked Su Jin after she had shot Chen Jing down.

    Su Jin shook his head. He addressed the fallen Chen Jing, ¡°Mr. Chen, right from the start, you had purposely convinced one of us to stay behind with you and now you¡¯ve suddenly appeared right behind us. I don¡¯t know if you ran into the statues that came to life in the front hall. Maybe you didn¡¯t. But even if you didn¡¯t, I actually put the waxyer back over the dial before running into the corridor that opened up behind the wall. Of course, if you looked at the floor carefully, you¡¯d find it again. We killed off all the Tiger Water Dragons in the water, so getting through that part would also be no problem.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ as a newbie, how did you even know what a Tiger Water Dragon is? I have a special skill, so I know what that creature is called. But I didn¡¯t tell anybody else the name of that monster, so I should be the only person in the challenge who knows that monster is actually known as a Tiger Water Dragon. It¡¯s usible that you could have single handedly gone through the earlier stages as a newbie because we pretty much cleared the way for you, but to know the name of a creature that you couldn¡¯t possibly have known? I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Chen, but you¡¯ve blown your own cover.¡±

    After Su Jin said those things, the seemingly dead Chen Jing suddenly started getting up again slowly. He cackled and said, ¡°Wow, I¡¯m impressed. I slipped up a little and you¡¯ve caught it.¡±

    Chen Jing¡¯s body was riddled with bullet holes but he didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by them at all. He straightened his clothes out and adjusted his gold rimmed spectacles, then smiled as he said to Su Jin and Kano Mai, ¡°The two of you are very clever, but¡­ not quite clever enough either. I wanted to y with you two for a while longer, but since you¡¯ve exposed my true identity, I¡¯m going to have to kill both of you!¡±

    Su Jin smiled as well as he scoffed disdainfully, ¡°If you were capable of killing us, you wouldn¡¯t have had to trick one into leaving with you and then pretend to be a hapless newbie in order to get close to us.¡±

    Chen Jing froze for a second, then suddenly started running towards a corner of the main hall. He hoped to hide behind one of the giant statues in the hall and avoid getting killed by Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    ¡°Mai!¡± Su Jin called out to Kano Mai.

    But Kano Mai didn¡¯t need Su Jin to tell her to shoot at Chen Jing. She mmed a hand on her Soul Whisperer and it immediately turned red. Three high explosive rounds shot towards Chen Jing at high speed, but just when they were about to hit Chen Jing, a white light shed from beneath Chen Jing and he disappeared immediately.

    ¡°He¡¯s been teleported too!¡± Kano Mai frowned unhappily. If Chen Jing had been just that tiny bit slower, he would definitely be hit by her bullets. Three of those bullets managed to st one of those statues in the front hall to pieces, so Chen Jing would definitely have died.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. At least now we know that one will be fine even after getting teleported,¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    Kano Mai noticed that Su Jin¡¯s brows were tightly furrowed, so she asked puzzledly, ¡°You seem to be worried about something?¡±

    He nodded and replied, ¡°Yeah. Among the four of us just now ¡­ I¡¯m afraid there might be an enemy among us.¡±

    ¡°Well, I did experience one challenge where a monster disguised itself as a newbie, but there¡¯s usually only one. If there¡¯s going to be more than one, the Handbook would hint at us about it,¡± said Kano Mai.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t put my finger on it. Besides Chen Jing, there¡¯s one more. That person might really be just a newbie, while Chen Jing is really a monster.¡±

    Despite getting shot multiple times by Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer, Chen Jing seemed perfectly fine, so he had to be some monster of sorts. It would be ridiculous for a newbie to be this invincible.

    After Kano Mai heard what Su Jin said, her expression suddenly fell as she muttered, ¡°An undercover mission? It¡¯s rare for a Level C challenge toe up with an undercover mission.¡±

    ¡°Undercover mission?¡± Su Jin looked puzzledly at Kano Mai.

    She exined, ¡°So, every time an owner starts a new challenge, he would get a main mission as well as some side quests, and these side quests can vary from person to person very widely. One type of mission that can appear is a mission to kill yourpanions. If one of us is really a snitch, then it¡¯s possible that the person actually has an undercover mission toplete.¡±

    Su Jin chewed on these words for a while before saying, ¡°Tan Xin¡­ if one of us is a snitch, I think the most likely among us is Tan Xin.¡±

    ¡°Do you have proof?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have any proof, it¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s just my guess. When I was putting in the numbers for the dial earlier, Tan Xin was right next to me. Let¡¯s say Chen Jing needed the numberbination to get to the passageway behind the wall. If he did, then the only person who could have told him the numberbination would be Tan Xin. Of course, you could say that Shi Teng has been putting on an excellent act all this time, but I think that if Shi Teng were the snitch, he wouldn¡¯t have risked his own life and be the first one to walk across that bridge just now.¡±

    ¡°But he didn¡¯t die in the end either,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded and fell silent for a while, then said, ¡°But his chances of dying were much higher, which is why I suspect Tan Xin more. But there¡¯s also a chance that both of them are snitches and both have such a mission toplete.¡±

    ¡°Now do you understand why I didn¡¯t want you to let them tag along?¡± said Kano Mai with a sigh.

    Su Jin looked a little apologetic as heughed bitterly and said, ¡°I guess that¡¯s the price I paid to learn this lesson.¡±

    ¡°Actually¡­ even if you didn¡¯t agree to let them tag along, they get certain advantages as newbies and might still manage to survive this challenge,¡± said Kano Mai to Su Jin after hesitating for a bit.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Well, since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s just put our focus back on the mission!¡± Su Jin sighed at himself. Perhaps Shi Teng and Tan Xin were innocent, but just like what Kano Mai said, if the newbies went through the challenge by themselves, they might actually have a higher chance of surviving than if they followed him around.

    ¡°There might be more traps lurking inside this main hall, so if we don¡¯t find them, we¡¯re going to have a lot of trouble moving about.¡± Kano Mai nced at the area around her. Even though these traps merely seemed to teleport one to some other ce, it was still very dangerous. Even if one didn¡¯t die immediately upon stepping on these traps, it would also cost you time trying to get out from wherever you were.

    Su Jin started looking around too and after a while, a smile spread across his face because he realized where all the traps were. He said to Kano Mai, ¡°Follow me and just be careful.¡±

    ¡°You know where the traps are?¡± asked Kano Mai puzzledly when she saw how confident Su Jin was.

    He nodded and pointed to the floor of the main hall as he said, ¡°That¡¯s the ce where Chen Jing disappeared, while that¡¯s the ce where Chen Jing stepped on and sent Shi Teng away, and that¡¯s the spot where Tan Xin disappeared. Look carefully: do you spot a pattern?¡±

    ¡°A pattern?¡± Kano Mai furrowed her brows for a few seconds before the answer suddenly hit her. She looked at Su Jin and said, ¡°Oh I see! It¡¯s always the spot right next to the midpoint of the side of each statue¡¯s right foot.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. All three of them had activated the trap at that part next to the midpoint of the side of a statue¡¯s right foot. That couldn¡¯t have been merely a coincidence.

    The two of them avoided those areas and made it across the hall without any problems. They breathed a sigh of relief as they finally arrived at where the king of gods was. This particr statue was seriously humongous. As they stood next to it, they realized they weren¡¯t even as tall as its foot.

    ¡°So, my clever team leader, what should we do now?¡± said Kano Mai as she grinned at Su Jin.

    ¡°Let me see!¡± Su Jin activated the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye again. This time, the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye quivered and sent a ck mist into his arm as well, but it wasn¡¯t painful like thest time. Instead, it actually felt sofortable that Su Jin enjoyed it.

    ¡°Looks like I¡¯ve got to limit my use of this Demon Lord Spirit Power,¡± Su Jin told himself. The Demon Lord was clearly eating into him and was even making him addicted to using this Demon Lord Spirit Power. He suspected that by the time he finished using all the Spirit Power inside the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye, he would have be a devotee of the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin flipped open his Handbook and frowned immediately at the information he had received. This time, the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye had given him very little information. It was clear that there was a corrtion between the type of target he was reading and how much information he would receive.

    ¡°A Heavenly Statue made in the image of a powerful and invincible god. The fact that humans managed to sculpt such an enormous statue is a miracle in itself. Its two bright eyes are made from the most perfect gems in the world. Each eye is worth billions!¡±

 Chapter 33: Inside the Statue

    <h4>Chapter 33: Inside the Statue</h4>

    ¡°This thing¡­ this thing is alive!¡± whispered Su Jin to Kano Mai. The Demon Lord¡¯s Eye was only able to give Su Jin information on any living thing. If the statue were just a piece of stone, the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye would not have reacted at all. But since the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye had actually given him information, it meant that this statue wasn¡¯t a non-living thing.

    Kano Mai had no idea how Su Jin knew that this statue was alive, but she didn¡¯t doubt his words. Since this man was someone who understood the mystery of parallel universes, it seemed natural for him to also have a few skills that she didn¡¯t know about.

    ¡°If I said that I think the ¡°deepest part of the Temple¡± that our mission talks about is actually the stomach of this statue, do you think it¡¯s usible?¡± Su Jin started thinking about what the next step was. If this main hall did not have a secret door to open like the dial in the front hall, then the next possible path ahead was possibly actually inside the statue.

    Kano Mai looked up at the statue. The statue was humongous, so it was highly possible that there was something on the inside. She said to Su Jin, ¡°Well, if you want to know whether it¡¯s usible or not, we¡¯ll just need to get up there and take a look.¡±

    She aimed her Soul Whisperer at the statue¡¯s head and patted the rifle. It turned white and shot a beam of light out towards the statue¡¯s head. The other end of the light turned into a hook and hooked itself onto the statue¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± Kano Mai stretched an arm out and motioned to Su Jin to hold on to her.

    ¡°Wh-what?!¡± Su Jin was suddenly a little awkward. An incredibly beautiful woman was offering to embrace him with open arms. That was something he used to only dream about.

    ¡°Hurry up! The longer we wait around, the more dangerous this ce will be!¡± Kano Mai started hurrying Su Jin when she saw him hesitate.

    He wasn¡¯t the one getting taken advantage of anyway, so he walked over and put his arms around her waist. She immediately tugged on her rifle and the beam of light began retracting and pulled both of them upwards.

    As they flew up towards the statue¡¯s head, Su Jin trembled as he looked down at the main hall and felt that something didn¡¯t seem quite right. When he looked more closely, he gasped.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kano Mai noticed his panic.

    ¡°Look at the white statues in the main hall. They¡¯ve¡­ they¡¯vee alive.¡± Su Jin pointed to the statues in the main hall. The white statues weren¡¯t moving, but they were no longer engaged in a fighting position with the ck statues like before, so it was clear that they had moved.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Su Jin stomped hard against the statue with his foot, causing them to swing to the side. And immediately after they swung aside, a spear made from stone that was as thick as an arm hit the spot where the two of them had been and turned into dust.

    They looked at where the spear came from and saw one of the giant statues standing with an empty but raised arm. That statue must have thrown that spear just now.

    ¡°Look at the statue¡¯s shoulder!¡± Kano Mai had excellent vision, so she could see someone hiding in the shadows on top of that statue¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s Chen Jing!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes. Even though his vision wasn¡¯t as powerful as Kano Mai¡¯s, he could roughly make out the person on the statue¡¯s shoulder to be Chen Jing.

    Chen Jing had already hopped off that statue and jumped onto another one instead. This second statue had a longbow in hand, so after Chen Jing hopped on it, the statue immediately drew the bowstring back and aimed its arrow at Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    ¡°Damn it! Can this thing go any faster?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t say anything as the beam of light continued to propel them upwards. The longbow was aimed straight at them, so Su Jin held on to his Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife. If he activated the knife¡¯s skill, he would probably be able to slice right through the oing arrow. But he threw that idea out immediately after thinking of it.

    Even if the knife could sh through the arrow, the force from the oing arrow alone might kill him first. He grabbed hold of his Handbook again. If he really had to, he was prepared to use his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. But that was his trump card, and he didn¡¯t want to use it if he didn¡¯t have to.

    ¡°Hang on tight!¡± yelled Kano Mai suddenly.

    Su Jin was stunned but before he could ask why, he heard a terrible whooshing sound headed towards them. And now, he didn¡¯t need to ask why he had to hang on to Kano Mai, because they suddenly started falling at high speed. Kano Mai had cut off the light beam that was carrying them up to the statue¡¯s head, and so they managed to avoid getting hit by the oing arrow.

    After that, Su Jin could feel them stop mid-air as Kano Mai shot a new beam of light at the statue¡¯s head and steadied them.

    ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t have to hang on so tightly anymore,¡± Kano Mai¡¯s voice rang in his ears.

    His entire face was buried in her bosom now, but it wasn¡¯t because he was trying to take advantage of her. Su Jin¡¯s greatest weakness was that he was afraid of heights.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry!¡± Su Jin pulled his face away from her chest, but he was still clinging tightly to her.

    Kano Mai had probably figured out by then that he was afraid of heights considering his face was so pale, so sheforted him softly, ¡°If you¡¯re scared, just close your eyes and leave the rest to me.¡±

    He had been trying his best to put on a brave front earlier, but after Kano Mai assured him, he shut his eyes and stopped thinking about the height they were at. But he could still feel himself rising and falling multiple times along the way. Chen Jing was clearly still using the statues in the main hall to attack them.

    A few minutester, Su Jin¡¯s feetnded on solid ground. They had reached the head of the Heavenly Statue and were now standing on its eye socket.

    ¡°That must have been really tough, thank you, Mai.¡± Su Jin noticed that Kano Mai¡¯s face was pale and looked very exhausted. Those few minutes must have taken a lot out of her both physically and mentally.

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about that. But could you not hold me so tightly next time? I nearly suffocated to death!¡± teased Kano Mai as she smiled sweetly at Su Jin.

    He rubbed his nose apologetically and turned to look back at the main hall. Chen Jing was standing at the top of a statue¡¯s head and ring at them from afar.

    ¡°We¡¯re too far from him now, so he can¡¯t do anything about us,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded in relief. After thinking about what happened earlier, he said, ¡°Chen Jing is able to control the statues, but he can only control the white ones.¡±

    ¡°So it seems. But so what?¡± asked Kano Mai puzzledly.

    ¡°Before this, we had to choose to stand on the ck side or the white wide and we both chose to stand on the ck side, which represents darkness. Chen Jing can only control the white statues, which represent light. There might be some sort of connection between the two.¡± Su Jin was just guessing because he didn¡¯t have enough information to be sure.

    ¡°Perhaps! Do you think that¡¯s probably also why Tan Xin and Shi Teng got teleported just now?¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly. Only a short time had passed since they started on this challenge and this challenge had given them very little time or space to explore the ce. Darkness slowly engulfed the temple, which in turn forced the Handbook owners to keep moving forward. This had made it very difficult for Su Jin to gather any information.

    ¡°Is it because the difficulty level is at Level C? If the owners were able to gather more information, it might make the challenge too easy, I suppose,¡± thought Su Jin to himself.

    From the looks of it so far, this challenge was difficult because one had to keep moving forward, they had Chen Jing, a monster disguised as a newbie, and the possibility that one or two of the newbies was actually a snitch. In short, the difficulty of this challengey in the fact that Su Jin had very insufficient information to work on at all times.

    ¡°This statue¡­ seems to have only one eye.¡± Kano Mai looked into the eyes of the Heavenly Statue and found that while the eye socket they were standing on was empty, the other eye socket was filled with a huge diamond eye.

    .

    Su Jin had never seen such an enormous diamond in his life. The diamond seemed as tall as a hill and the multi-faceted gemstone reflected the lights in the main hall so brightly, it made it hard for anyone to look upon it. The sparkle of the diamond was blinding.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t diamonds a girl¡¯s best friend? How do you feel now that you¡¯re looking at such a huge one?¡± asked Su Jin with augh.

    Kano Maiughed too and shook her head. ¡°In the past, I might have gotten really excited. But now, I don¡¯t feel anything towards such things anymore. I can swap my points for such things in my Personal Hell Domain, and it doesn¡¯t even cost a lot.¡±

    As they spoke, they suddenly heard some noiseing from the foot of the statue. Kano Mai looked down and her smile faded instantly. She said to Su Jin, ¡°Look! It¡¯s those life-sized statues from the front hall!¡±

    Su Jin held onto Kano Mai and looked down for a bit before straightening back up almost immediately after. ¡°All the statues are white, so this must be Chen Jing¡¯s doing. We can¡¯t stay here anymore. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    They started walking into the empty eye socket, which felt like a gigantic mountain cave of sorts. After walking for a while, they noticed that the path seemed to be moving downwards. If this statue was built like a normal human on the inside, this eye duct would lead to the nose, the mouth, then down the oesophagus and into the stomach.

    ¡°Be careful!¡± said Su Jin as he tried to shine his torch downwards to see what was ahead, but the light of the torch wasn¡¯t powerful enough.

    Kano Mai used her Soul Whisperer to shoot a beam of light out and secured it before getting Su Jin to hold onto her again. It was safer to lower themselves this way rather than attempt to climb down.

    They held onto each other and slowly made their descent. As the went down the oesophagus, Su Jin could see that his surroundings were no longer filled with statues. Instead, a thin and sticky film covered the walls of the oesophagus and he could also see dark veins trembling in some ces. It looked really gross.

    ¡°This thing is really alive,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself.

    After they had descended for some time, they could hear a pounding sound. They exchanged nces and concluded that the sound they were hearing was the sound of a heart beating. This heart wasn¡¯t beating quickly, but it was strong. Each beat of the heart sounded like an explosion and the vibration was enough to make their entire body vibrate as well, which made them feel very uneasy too.

    Boom! Just then, a life-sized statue suddenly fell past them and into the darkness. Su Jin frowned at this. Several of those white statues had been climbing the Heavenly Statue earlier, so the statues were probably not far from them now.

    ¡°Jin, there¡¯s something over there!¡± Kano Mai suddenly patted Su Jin and pointed to one side of the throat.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and shone his torch at it. The ce where Kano Mai was pointing to was a mess of veins and he couldn¡¯t see anything at first. But after he looked more carefully, his eyes widened in horror.

    SMH

 Chapter 34: The Heart

    <h4>Chapter 34: The Heart</h4>

    A person was hidden among the mess of ck veins. After shining a light at the area, Su Jin realized that the person stuck here was actually Tan Xin. Her entire body was covered with the sticky liquid and she seemed to be unconscious.

    The two of them exchanged nces. Su Jin had suspected that there was a snitch among the four of them. He wasn¡¯t sure but the possibility existed, and if there was a snitch among them, Tan Xin would most likely be the one.

    Su Jin thought about it for a while, but eventually said to Kano Mai, ¡°Can you think of a way to get me over there?¡±

    After taking a moment to think, she nodded. She retrieved a long whip from her Handbook, then whipped it towards the ck vein that was holding onto Tan Xin. One end of the whip wrapped itself very urately around that vein and Kano Mai pulled hard on it.

    Su Jin lodged his feet in between the ck veins, then carefully used his Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife to cut through the ck veins around Tan Xin. He was really surprised to find that these ck veins were so difficult to cut through. The Demon Lord¡¯s Boning knife had been sharpened by the Demon Lord himself and was extremely sharp even without activating its powers, but cutting through these veins proved to be tough for even such a knife. It took Su Jin quite some patience and energy to finally get through the vein.

    ¡°Something¡¯sing for us!¡± Kano Mai suddenly eximed. Three statues suddenly started falling from above and were headed towards them.

    Su Jin immediately let go of Tan Xin and pushed Kano Mai in the stomach so that she would move out of harm¡¯s way, while the ck vein he was hanging onto ensured that he wasn¡¯t going to fall.

    Doing this managed to help them avoid one of the statues, which fell right to the bottom. But the other two managed to catch hold of the ck veins and started heading for Su Jin and Kano Mai separately.

    Su Jin held up the Boning Knife, wrapped a vein around his arm, then activated the Boning Knife¡¯s Attack of the Demon Lord skill. A sh flew out from the de of the knife. The statue approaching Su Jin stopped in its tracks, then fell apart at the waist. That attack had actually shed the statue into half.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin let out a gasp as that chilling feeling spread through his body again and made him feel weak for a moment. If he hadn¡¯t already wrapped the vein around his arm securely earlier, he would have fallen.

    Meanwhile, Kano Mai was still suspended in the air. She wasn¡¯t able to use her Soul Whisperer, which made it very hard for her to defend herself. The statue used its palm to strike her and the impact of that strike caused her to fly and crash loudly against the other side of the throat of the Heavenly Statue.

    Su Jin ignored the difort he felt in his body and sent out another Attack of the Demon Lord from his Boning Knife. The statue shook violently, cracked from its shoulder to its waist, then fell to the bottom.

    ¡°Mai, are you alright?!¡± yelled Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡± Mai¡¯s face was pale and she was bleeding from the mouth because of the statue¡¯s attack. She clearly wasn¡¯t as okay as she imed to be.

    Once Su Jin got Tan Xin out from the mess of veins, Kano Mai used her whip to hook herself onto the vein near to Su Jin and he pulled her over to his side. Su Jin found that having to carry Tan Xin made it very difficult for him to move, so he cut another piece of vein and used it to tie Tan Xin onto his back.

    The injuries Kano Mai suffered earlier weakened her and carrying an additional two others with her made her face turn a whiter shade of pale. Su Jin could even see beads of perspiration on her forehead now.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you rest for a while?¡± he said to her.

    She smiled faintly, gritted her teeth and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Judging from the distance so far, I think we¡¯re almost at the bottom!¡±

    Shortly after she said that, they realized that they could now see the floor. They noticed that there were smashed pieces that belonged to those statues that came after them earlier. But to Su Jin¡¯s horror, the broken pieces seemed to only make up about two statues or so and he didn¡¯t see any other statue nearby. In other words, one of the statues did not get destroyed when it hit the floor.

    ¡°Is it hiding somewhere?¡± wondered Su Jin to himself. Su Jin and Kano Mai found a dim corner to check if Tan Xin was all right. Neither of them had any sort of medical knowledge, so besides confirming that Tan Xin was still alive, there was nothing else they could do.

    ¡°If this statue is the same as a human anatomically, then we should be in the lungs now. The heart is behind the lungs and the sound of its heartbeat is very clear now.¡± A sting sound resonated at a regr pace in her ears, so the Heavenly Statue¡¯s heart had to be nearby.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. Since the heart was probably just behind the lung lobe they were in right now, it meant that he just needed to slice through the lobe and they would be able to see the statue¡¯s heart.

    ¡°So, the Spark of Light mentioned in the Handbook is probably referring to the Heavenly Statue¡¯s heart, right?¡± Su Jin murmured to himself.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. The deepest part might be referring to some ce in the heart. We could try getting there,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Joshua gave it a thought, then said, ¡°We have no choice but to do that. Our priority is toplete this challenge sessfully. We don¡¯t have toplete the other missions.¡±

    The three of them were not really that powerful, so if he couldplete his additional missions along the way, that would be a bonus. But if he couldn¡¯t, then he wasn¡¯t going out of his way or risking his life just toplete those missions. After going through the first Challenge, Su Jin felt that levelling up his own body and abilities was the wise thing to do.

    The two of them continued moving forward. They didn¡¯t dare to stay in one ce for too long since Chen Jing was still sending statues after them. On top of that, one of those statues had gone missing in the vicinity, so there was the possibility that it could jump out from nowhere and attack them at any time.

    Other than Chen Jing, they weren¡¯t in any immediate danger, so Su Jin¡¯s Boning Knife and Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer were good enough to get by. If possible, Su Jin didn¡¯t want to use the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power anymore. But Kano Mai was injured now, so he wasn¡¯t sure if that was possible anymore.

    After walking for a bit, they suddenly heard the sound of gunshots. Their eyes lit up because the only other person other than Kano Mai with a gun in this ce was Shi Teng.

    Just as they had thought, they turned a corner to see Shi Teng shooting like mad at a statue. The statue that had fallen earlier but did not break had run into Shi Teng instead.

    Shi Teng¡¯s shooting skills were really terrible and he wasn¡¯t even aiming as he just kept shooting randomly at the statue. Thankfully, the gun that Kano Mai had given him had plenty of rounds and the bullets could shoot at high speed. The powerful weapon itself helped Shi Teng to keep that statue attacking him at bay.

    Kano Mai aimed her Soul Whisperer at the statue and shot an explosive round at its head. The statue immediately copsed onto the floor.

    ¡°Shi Teng, calm down, it¡¯s Su Jin!¡± shouted Su Jin. He didn¡¯t dare to walk over now while Shi Teng was in a panic. Shi Teng might shoot him in a frenzy.

    After the statue copsed, Shi Teng went into a daze for a while. But his face brightened when he heard Su Jin¡¯s voice and Su Jin decided it was safe to walk over.

    ¡°You guys¡­you guys are still alive! I¡¯m so d!¡± Shi Teng looked like he was about to cry.

    ¡°It¡¯s all right, calm down¡­tell me what happened after you disappeared suddenly,¡± said Su Jin once he had calmed Shi Teng down.

    Shi Teng took a few deep breaths and said, ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure either. I fainted and found myself here when I regained consciousness. I kept hearing these sting sounds around me, so I didn¡¯t dare to move.¡±

    The sting sounds he was talking about referred to the heartbeat of the Heavenly Statue. Su Jin didn¡¯t get any additional information from Shi Teng, but after looking at the fallen statue and Shi Teng, he got an idea.

    He didn¡¯t say anything and just asked Shi Teng to follow them. The four of them were back together again. Even though one of them was unconscious, the fact that all of them were still alive was good enough.

    After some time, they noticed that the sting sounds had suddenly gotten much louder. Su Jin guessed that they must be really near the heart, so they just needed to cut a hole in the lung lobe.

    Naturally, he chose the Boning Knife for this job, but the knife disappointed Su Jin this time. The purple lung lobes were so tough, the Boning Knife only left a scratch mark on it.

    ¡°Argh! Attack of the Demon Lord!¡± Su Jin had no choice but to activate the knife¡¯s skill again and a slit appeared in the lung lobe. But the slit was so thin that not only was it impossible for them to get through, Su Jin couldn¡¯t even use it to see what was going on outside.

    He sighed heavily. He was now very sure that he lost part of himself every time he used the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power and the Demon Lord had been very clever in providing him with this source of Spirit Power. But in order toplete this challenge and get out of here alive, Su Jin had no choice but to consume more of the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power.

    So, he gritted his teeth and unleashed the skill two more times, which effectively scored a triangle onto the surface of the lung lobe. The three of thembined their efforts to push that triangle outwards and a white light instantly poured in once the p was out of the way. The light wasing from a ball of light that resembled a tiny sun.

    The ball of light jumped up and down to a slow rhythm. Every time it jumped, it would not only give off a sound as loud as an explosion, but it would also shoot out ring beams of light. This was definitely the heart of the Heavenly Statue.

    ¡°We¡¯ll probably have to face the biggest crisis of this challenge next, so I need everyone to be in their best possible state,¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai and Shi Teng.

    Kano Mai frowned and said softly, ¡°We don¡¯t have time to rest and heal.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I¡¯ve got All Purpose Healing Pills here and you just need one pill to recover from any injuries and illnesses. I don¡¯t suppose Shi Teng needs one of these, but Mai definitely does!¡± Su Jin took one of his pills and passed it to her.

    ¡°All Purpose Healing Pills! I can¡¯t believe you actually managed to get your hands on this sort of thing. Such items are extremely precious to teams that don¡¯t have any members with healing powers!¡± It seemed like Kano Mai was very familiar with this particr pill.

    ¡°Is that so? Dang, I should have exchanged for a few more! Never mind that now, you¡¯d better take one quickly. I¡¯ll give Tan Xin one too. Carrying her around like this will limit my movement and that might put us in dangerter on.¡± Su Jin deliberated for a while and eventually took another pill out and put it into Tan Xin¡¯s mouth.

    Kano Mai exhaled deeply after taking the pill and color returned to her face in seconds. The pill had clearly taken effect. Meanwhile, Su Jin untied Tan Xin and put her down, and she slowly began to regain consciousness.

    He helped her to sit up and asked with concern, ¡°How are you? Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thanks¡­what the¡­?!¡± Tan Xin¡¯s voice suddenly came to an abrupt halt as she stared at Su Jin puzzledly.

    Su Jin had just stabbed her arm with his Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife.

 Chapter 35: Schemes and Murder

    <h4>Chapter 35: Schemes and Murder</h4>

    Su Jin didn¡¯t intend to kill Tan Xin, so he only stabbed her hard enough to incapacitate her. She clenched her teeth and shoved him aside, then held onto her bleeding left arm and moved further away from him.

    ¡°Are you crazy?! Why did you do that?!¡± shrieked Tan Xin furiously.

    Su Jin got up as well, wiped away the blood on his knife and said frostily, ¡°The pill that Mai ate was the real deal, while you merely got an ordinary mint.¡±

    Tan Xin blinked in surprise. Her furious expression slowly turned into a wary look as she asked Su Jin, ¡°When did you notice?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t really say I noticed anything, but I made some deductions after Chen Jing appeared. I wasn¡¯t sure which one of you was the snitch and I wasn¡¯t even sure if there was even a snitch in the first ce. But if there really was one, I figured that you were more likely to be it, so I decided to test my hypothesis out. If you passed my test, then I¡¯d shift my attention to Shi Teng,¡± Su Jin exined slowly.

    Tan Xin scoffed and sat back down on the floor. She raised her arms in surrender and said, ¡°Fine, you win! But could you spare my life? I¡¯m just a newbie after all. Now that you know I¡¯m the snitch, I¡¯m no longer a threat to you guys.¡±

    Su Jin and Kano Mai exchanged nces. Kano Mai hesitated for a moment, but she nodded after seeing how pathetic Tan Xin looked. Tan Xin was right after all: she was dangerous only when they didn¡¯t know she was the snitch. Now that her identity had been exposed, she was no longer dangerous.

    ¡°If this is indeed the deepest part that the Handbook mentioned, then we just need to get in and we¡¯llplete the Challenge. Miss Tan, I¡¯ll need you to take the first step.¡± Su Jin was no saint. Since she was the one who tried to plot against them, she had to face the consequences of doing so.

    ¡°You want me to take the first step? But if that leads to my death, I¡¯d die!¡± Tan Xin yelled back at Su Jin when she realized the possible dangers ahead.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m 80% confident that this will be just fine,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°What about the remaining 20%?!¡± Tan Xin wasn¡¯t going to agree so readily. The statue¡¯s heart didn¡¯t look particrly safe to her.

    ¡°Miss Tan, I highly doubt your chances of sessfully turning on us were anywhere near 80% when you chose to start on that mission after entering this Challenge. So, what are you afraid of now?¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    Tan Xin took two steps back and made sure she was far, far away from the three of them, then started screaming at them, ¡°Dream on! You¡¯re just sending me to my death! You¡¯re nothing but a hypocrite after all! So much for saying that you were going to help us newbies! You wanted to use us as stepping stones in the first ce, didn¡¯t you?!¡±

    Then she started yelling at Shi Teng, ¡°Brother Shi, if I end up dying, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t survive either. You¡¯d end up dead sooner orter too!!¡±

    But Shi Teng didn¡¯t believe a thing she said. He sneered, ¡°You were the one who betrayed us and you¡¯re trying to act like you¡¯re a victim now? Seriously, do you have to yell this loudly?¡±

    Shi Teng¡¯sst sentence made Su Jin realize something. He narrowed his eyes and said to Tan Xin, ¡°I¡¯m really impressed. It¡¯s hard to find a bold yet meticulous newbie like you. You¡¯re purposely trying to stall for time by arguing with us here and you¡¯re yelling this loudly because you¡¯re trying to attract the attention of your fellowrade, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°What fellowrade? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Tan Xin continued feigning ignorance as she tried to stall for more time.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been giving us trouble time and again, so you can¡¯t me us for getting nasty. Mai, send her off with a pile of bullets.¡± Su Jin was really furious now. If he didn¡¯t have to, he really didn¡¯t want to hurt Tan Xin. None of them were in the Handbook¡¯s world by choice, so he could sympathize with other owners and was willing to spare them. But Tan Xin refused to give up on her mission and persisted in going against them. He couldn¡¯t let her live anymore.

    Kano Mai aimed her Soul Whisperer at Tan Xin and pulled the trigger. The gun started spewing bullets at her, but a figure came flying out of nowhere and stood in front of Tan Xin. The bullets hit this figure, only to send rock fragments flying in all directions.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here. It¡¯s hard to call you an ally when you behave like this, you know?¡± Cold sweat dripped down Tan Xin¡¯s forehead, but a smile slowly crept over her face.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! But hey, I¡¯vee just in time, haven¡¯t I?¡± Chen Jing walked out from the shadows. His smile was sinister and frightening, and dozens of statues followed behind him.

    Su Jin and the rest felt their hearts sink. Su Jin quietly said to Kano Mai, ¡°Let¡¯s run for it. This area is very narrow and we¡¯ll lose if we try to fight. We just need toplete the Challenge.¡±

    Kano Mai nodded as unnoticeably as she could. They weren¡¯t very far from the statue¡¯s heart, but they were still unsure about whether it was really where they were supposed to go. If it turned out to be a dangerous ce, the three of them were dead meat.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice. If we don¡¯t give it a shot, we¡¯d die here too,¡± said Su Jin. Chen Jing had ced statues everywhere, so there was nowhere else for them to run. The only way out of this was through the hole they made in the lung lobe that led straight to the heart.

    Of course, they could try fighting Chen Jing. But Su Jin didn¡¯t think that was a good idea at all. Kano Mai was best at being a sniper from afar and poor at close range battles. He himself only had the skills that came with his weapons, neither of which were very useful for close range battles. Both of them were at a disadvantage because they were trapped in a small space.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± whispered Su Jin as he instantly activated the Attack of the Demon Lord from his Boning Knife, while Kano Mai coordinated perfectly by activating another mode on her Soul Whisperer. The gun shot out pink projectiles which burst open with a loud bang, filling the air with pink smoke.

    When Shi Teng saw that both Su Jin and Kano Mai started running for it, he started running too. Thick arteries connected the lungs to the Heavenly Statue¡¯s heart and these arteries were so thick that it would need at least two or three people to join hands and surround it, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for three of them to run down these arteries.

    Meanwhile, Chen Jing and the statues had emerged from the pink smoke. One of the statues carried Tan Xin on its back, but her weight didn¡¯t affect its running speed at all.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to see how far the three of you can run!¡± Chen Jing cackled before letting out an ear piercing shriek.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jin turned around to look and felt his hair all stand on end. More than ten of those statues with Chen Jing had longbows and arrows, and they were all ready to shoot now.

    The arteries were wide enough for them to run on, but not wide enough for them to dodge an oing rain of arrows. They would have to take the arrows head on.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got this.¡± Kano Mai suddenly stopped, switched her Soul Whisperer to green mode and pulled the trigger just as the statues released their bows and sent their arrows flying. Her bullets flew out and hit every single arrow, breaking them midair.

    WOONG! Just then, hundreds of silver needles suddenly came flying towards them. These needles didn¡¯te from the statues nor from Chen Jing. These came from Tan Xin.

    ¡°You¡¯re not a newbie!¡± Su Jin roared as he pulled both Shi Teng and Kano Mai behind him and used himself to shield them from the rain of silver needles.

    Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang! The silver needles nged loudly as they hit Su Jin¡¯s body. Su Jin allowed himself to be a human shield for the other two because he had his Ultra Light Mecha Armor on.

    Unfortunately, while the Armor could protect his upper half, it didn¡¯t cover his legs. More than a dozen needles punctured his legs, making them look like two cactuses.

    ¡°You¡¯re right! I¡¯m not a newbie!¡± Tan Xin smiled gleefully, then shouted to Chen Jing, ¡°My Thunderstorm Tears needs time to recharge, so use your statues to kill them!¡±

    ¡°Your wish is mymand!¡± Chen Jing tapped the air lightly with his finger and a dozen statues instantly charged towards Su Jin and the rest.

    Su Jin¡¯s legs were numb and he couldn¡¯t move at all. A statue with a long sword swung it towards him, so Su Jin held up his Boning Knife, ready to use his knife to fight the statue head on.

    But just then, he felt his entire body move backwards. Shi Teng had wrapped his arms around Su Jin and turned around.

    In doing so, Su Jin avoided getting shed by that statue, but Shi Teng wasn¡¯t so lucky. The statue¡¯s long sword sliced through the air horizontally and chopped Shi Teng¡¯s body in half at the waist.

    Shi Teng looked like he was in excruciating pain as his lower half copsed miserably onto the ground while his upper body flew out. Su Jin instinctively grabbed hold of Shi Teng¡¯s hand and pulled his upper body into his arms.

    ¡°Shi Teng!¡± Su Jin tried to call his name, but all he got was Shi Teng¡¯s ugly expression as his facial features became contorted from the pain.

    .

    ¡°Secret skill, Soul Whisperer Rain!¡± Kano Mai suddenly gave a shout and her Soul Whisperer turned transparent before shooting scores of multicolored bullets. The bullets rained down on the statues and they were unable to move any further.

    ¡°Hurry! If he can get to his Personal Hell Domain in time, he¡¯ll live!¡± Kano Mai yelled at Su Jin.

    Su Jin pulled as many silver needles out of his legs as he could, then endured the numbing pain as he carried Shi Teng towards the heart of the statue.

    Chen Jing and Tan Xin didn¡¯t expect Kano Mai to still have a powerful skill like that up her sleeve. This move of hers had increased the distance between them and the other three they were chasing.

    ¡°You can¡¯t get away!¡± screeched Chen Jing as he suddenly grabbed his ears with both hands and tore the skin off his face to reveal the face of an evil monster.

    He then blew out ck air from his mouth, which started howling like vengeful spirits. The ck air flew swiftly towards the other three and caught up with them in the blink of an eye.

    At the same time, Tan Xin¡¯s Thunderstorm Tears was ready to go again. She raised a jade tube and aimed it at the three as she sat atop a statue and smiled wickedly.

    When Su Jin saw what was happening, he immediately passed Shi Teng to Kano Mai and yelled, ¡°Just keep running! Don¡¯t turn back!¡±

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t ask any questions and trusted him like she always did. She took Shi Teng¡¯s upper body from him and ran with all her might towards the statue¡¯s heart while Su Jin retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow from his Handbook.

    ¡°Farewell, you two!¡± Su Jin activated the Roar of the Demon Lord and aimed it at the other two.

    When they were trapped in the lung lobe, he had considered using this skill to kill off Chen Jing and Tan Xin, but it was too difficult to kill them back there. Now, both parties were stuck on these arteries. This made it perfect for using this particr skill on them.

    As Su Jin drew his bow back, Chen Jing and Tan Xin immediately sensed danger. They could tell that Su Jin was probably using his trump card on them, so they quickly unleashed their best attack on him.

    On one side, there were statues, the vengeful spirits and silver needles.

    On the other side, there was Su Jin with his longbow.

    He let go of the arrow and sent an arrow of sparkles roaring down the huge artery of the Heavenly Statue!

 Chapter 36: Challenge Completed

    <h4>Chapter 36: Challenge Completed</h4>

    .

    The Roar of the Demon Lord swooshed through the air easily, turning everything into nothing but ash, regardless of whether it was the statues or the vengeful spirits. After the sparkles disappeared, Tan Xing and Chen Jing were the only ones left standing on the artery.

    Chen Jing¡¯s clothes were all gone and so was his human skin, revealing a monster body covered with nothing but blisters. At the same time, half of his monster body was gone too, as if a ferocious dragon had bitten a chunk off.

    Tan Xin, on the other hand, was surrounded by a red glow. Once the attack was over, the red glow disappeared and she could be seen panting heavily. That red glow was probably some form of protection she had exchanged for in a previous Challenge.

    ¡°Dang, a Handbook owner isn¡¯t always so easy to kill!¡± Su Jin scoffed before copsing onto the ground. The Roar of the Demon Lord had also caused great damage to his own body. Wisps of ck smoke rose out from the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and entered his body, making him feel like an army of ants was eating slowly into his flesh. The pain he suffered drove him to the brink of insanity.

    ¡°Damn¡­damn you! I can¡¯t¡­I can¡¯t believe you had so many tricks up your sleeve! But so what? You¡¯ve LOST! And now, you¡¯re going to lose your life too!!¡± Tan Xin walked towards Su Jin with a maniacal smile on her face. As she walked past Chen Jing, a vajra appeared in her hand and she suddenly thrust it backwards into Chen Jing¡¯s head.

    Chen Jing convulsed violently as he fell to the ground. Tan Xin cackled as she pulled the vajra out again and licked the blood on the vajra. Her entire body shuddered and she looked like she could die happy now, as if she had just tasted the most delicious thing in the world.

    Su Jin¡¯s vision was getting blurry and it was hard for him to even remain conscious, but he could sense that Tan Xin wasing for him.

    ¡°I lost to Tan Xin after all?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyelids trembled slightly as a feeling of indignation filled his heart. At the end of everything, it was his fault for not being decisive enough. If he had killed Tan Xin immediately after he realized she was suspicious, he wouldn¡¯t be in this state and Shi Teng wouldn¡¯t have been sliced into half either.

    ¡°Time to meet your maker!¡± Tan Xin raised her vajra and brought it down hard towards Su Jin¡¯s head.

    But just then, a beam of light hit Su Jin from behind and pulled him backwards at high speed. Kano Mai was standing right next to the heart and had already flung Shi Teng in, so she quickly used her Soul Whisperer to snag Su Jin from behind to pull him towards her.

    Tan Xin was surprised for a second, then ran with all her might when she saw that Su Jin had been rescued from under her own nose. But because she was badly injured, she couldn¡¯t run for long. So, she retrieved a gun from her Handbook and started shooting like a madwoman at him.

    Su Jin had no strength to avoid any of her bullets, so the best thing he could do was to curl up and hope hard that his Mecha Armor could block most of the bullets for him. But even so, Su Jin¡¯s arms and legs were hit multiple times and he left a bloody trail behind as Kano Mai reeled him in.

    Kano Mai pulled Su Jin aside and raised her Soul Whisperer to shoot at Tan Xin when the entire area suddenly started shaking violently. There was nothing for them to hang onto, so if this shaking went on, they might end up getting thrown off the artery they were on.

    ¡°Never mind her! Let¡¯s go!¡± Su Jin yelled through his heavy panting. Kano Mai quickly helped him up and they exchanged nces before she carried him and jumped into the heart of the statue.

    Immediately after they had leaped in, Su Jin could hear a voice announcing in his ears, ¡°Temple of the Origin of Heaven Challengepleted! Entering Personal Hell Domain now!¡±

    Once inside his Domain, Su Jin¡¯s body was enveloped by a white glow and all the pain he felt earlier disappeared. This ce could heal all injuries, illnesses and curses, so any owner that made it back here would be able to revert to his best state.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply, then ced his Handbook in its slot on the pedestal. ¡°Start Point Calction!¡±

    Level C Challenge ¡°Temple of the Origin of Heaven¡±pleted: 1000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 2, 200 points

    Degree of Challenge Participation: A, 700 points

    Completed optional mission of killing guardian of the Temple, did not eliminate Special Characters: 500 points

    Points Received: 2400

    Total Points: 2700

    Remaining Points: 2700

    Compared to the Fengxi Town Level B Challenge, he had received more points for this Level C Challenge. But that was also because he hadpleted an optional mission and there was a new category for surviving team members. Without points in these two areas, he would have gotten fewer points than thest time.

    ¡°So, Tan Xin had suddenly killed Chen Jing just now because she wanted toplete the mission. Even though we were enemies in the Challenge, the optional missions are for any Handbook owners in the Challenge toplete and we share the achievement.¡± Su Jin was surprised that he had actuallypleted an optional mission without intending to at all.

    On top of that, he noticed that the Analysis and Deduction of Challenge category that appeared in thest round didn¡¯t appear this time. He guessed that not every Challenge had a special story behind it, or perhaps an analysis of the events in the Challenge was too hard. He hadpleted that category inadvertently thest time too.

    ¡°Start the Reward Exchange!¡± said Su Jin to the Handbook.

    The Handbook instantly flipped itself to a page with a whitish glow. This page only appeared when he was in his Personal Hell Domain.

    While Su Jin looked through the new selection of items, ckie piped up, ¡°I need to remind you at this point that your Ultra Light Mecha Armor has been destroyed and you need to do something about it asap.¡±

    ¡°It has been destroyed?!¡± Su Jin blinked in shock before looking down at his chest. He realized that the armor that usually concealed itself from sight was now in full view and in very bad shape.

    ¡°It¡¯s in such bad shape now and I actually survived the Challenge. I was so lucky,¡± eximed Su Jin as he marveled at his good fortune. There were areas on the armor that were even broken. If he didn¡¯t have this armor on, those silver needles or the final shower of bullets would have killed him if he were hit in these areas with no protection.

    Since the armor was beyond saving, Su Jin¡¯s top priority was now to find something that could protect him like this armor did. This Challenge had taught him that having bodily defense was really important for his survival.

    His first instinct was to look for the exact same armor, but the menu he was given this time didn¡¯t have this particr armor. In the end, he chose to exchange points for a different defense armor, the Tensan Silk Armor.

    Tensan Silk Armor (made from the rare tensan silk and weaved together by the best craftsmen, this armor provides an extraordinary level of defense and it is both fitting andfortable to wear): 150 points

    Once he had received the armor, he put it on. This armor looked no different from an undershirt and it was asfortable as advertised.

    Now that he was done with finding a new armor, his next priority was to find a weapon. He had relied entirely on his Boning Knife and Longbow, but he knew that he couldn¡¯t use these items too frequently from now on, or he¡¯d lose himself before long.

    Since he couldn¡¯t rely on these two powerful weapons, he had to try finding something equivalent to them. Only three weapons were offered to him this time. One was a rhombus-shaped piece of ckened metal, a stealth weapon named Rumor; one was a ck gun with gold carvings named ck Fire; and thest one was a handheld cannon named The Tyrant.

    Rumor: Stealth weapons are the best weapons in the world, and nothing is as lethal as rumors and gossip. This weapon is named Rumor and it used to be a pair with another weapon named Gossip. But now, Gossip no longer exists so Rumor is the only one left. Requires 1 point of Spirit Power per attack. After it hits its target, it will fly back to the owner automatically. Damage inflicted will depend on the owner¡¯s ability. Points required: 900.

    ck Fire: Used to belong to an infamous pirate and has gone on countless strange and incredible adventures with him. ck Fire is a gun that uses special bullets and they can be exchanged for within the fixed items category. Points required: 700.

    Tyrant: A handheld cannon. Requires 100 points of Spirit Power per attack, powerful enough to st a hole in a city wall. Points required: 600.

    Su Jin nearly cursed out loud after looking at all three items avable. He was only offered one cheap weapon thest time and had no idea how expensive these things could actually get. It was impossible for him to exchange for all three at the same time since they cost so much. Two was his maximum.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to think through this carefully! I¡¯ve got to think this through carefully!¡± Su Jin reminded himself to think twice before making his selection as he kept looking at the three items again and again.

 Chapter 37: Team Hell Domain

    <h4>Chapter 37: Team Hell Domain</h4>

    Out of the three weapons, Rumor required the least amount of resources and could be used again and again. Since ck Fire required special bullets, Su Jin guessed that it could take different types of bullets, so it would work very simrly to Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer. Judging from the description for Tyrant, that was probably considered heavy artillery. It didn¡¯t require as much Spirit Power as the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow but the damage it could create was pretty impressive.

    ¡°I¡¯ll exchange for Rumor!¡± Su Jin¡¯s first choice was Rumor. Both weapons he had on hand right now, requiredrge amounts of Spirit Power and he was now very sure that the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power was eating into him every time he used some. It was highly possible that he would be a devotee of the Demon Lord the moment he finished consuming the Spirit Power in the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye, or turn into something even worse than he could imagine.

    Rumor was a weapon that only required 1 point of Spirit Power, so that would greatly reduce the rate at which the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power would eat into him. It was unfortunately not possible for him topletely give up using any of the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power. If he was in a life and death situation, he was still going to end up using it just to survive.

    After confirming his choice, 900 points disappeared from his bnce and he now held a rhombus shaped piece of ckened metal. It was a little rough to the touch and fit perfectly in his palm, so he could hide it easily. He didn¡¯t have any knowhow on using stealth weapons, but he could just spend some points here to learn and practice his technique, so that wasn¡¯t really a problem.

    He thought about his options again and eventually decided on taking ck Fire. Tyrant was more powerful, but ck Fire didn¡¯t require Spirit Power at all, which was more important to Su Jin right now.

    Once he confirmed his choice, ck Fire floated above the Handbook. He held it in his hand and gave a pleased nod. He had no idea what material this gun was made from, but it was a good weight and fit well in his hand too.

    Now that he was done looking for weapons, he continued to look through the other items avable to him to see if there was anything else worth exchanging. Thest item listed made his eyes widen and his heart started pounding excitedly.

    Lucky Draw Bag: In theory, you have a chance of picking absolutely any item avable within the Handbook. But the higher the value of the item, the lower your chances of getting it. Items include various Spirit Power equipment, rare items and even the Spirit Power Activation Potion! Each bag only requires 100 points, so it¡¯s a real value for money choice that everyone can afford!

    Su Jin gulped his saliva down when he read the introductory paragraph on this Lucky Draw Bag, especially when he saw that he might stand a chance to get the Spirit Power Activation Potion.

    ¡°Calm down! Calm down! All those best case scenarios I¡¯m thinking of now could just turn out to be like clouds in the air that get blown away easily by the wind! Nobody¡¯s THAT lucky. Besides, I¡¯m always so terrible at ying any games that are based on chance.¡± Su Jin smacked his forehead to snap himself back to reality. He had never been the lucky type and never got anything good from a lucky draw. Every time he tried his hand at a lucky draw, he usually got some message to thank him for participating and nothing more.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already spent 1,750 points on exchanging for two weapons and one armor, but I still have 950 points.¡± Su Jin nced at his remaining bnce, then looked back at the Lucky Draw Bag and couldn¡¯t decide what he should do.

    ¡°Maybe¡­maybe I¡¯ll just buy four bags and hope for the best!¡± He finally caved in to the temptation and went ahead with getting four Lucky Draw Bags.

    There were now four drawstring bags stacked up on his Handbook. Each bag was woven with gold silk with a red string around the opening and silver clouds embroidered on the front.

    ¡°These clouds¡­is the Handbook mocking me?¡± Su Jin grumbled under his breath when he saw the embroidery.

    He picked up the first bag, took a deep breath and pulled it open. A beam of light shot out from inside and a joyous melody filled the air.

    ¡°Wait, could I have gotten an amazing prize after all? On my first try?!¡± Su Jin was about to jump for joy when a doll made from straw floated out of the bag next.

    ¡°What on earth?¡± Su Jin stared at the doll.

    ¡°This is a Voodoo Doll. You can use it to increase your target¡¯s body temperature, make him dizzy, cause blindness, make him weak and other negative effects. The actual effect on the target will vary depending on how strong the target¡¯s body already is. It¡¯s 100% effective on an ordinary person and you get to choose what effect you want on others,¡± exined ckie.

    Su Jin sighed. His luck was still as terrible as it usually was. He kept the Voodoo Doll away in his Handbook and continued opening the other bags.

    Two bagster, Su Jin¡¯s heart was filled with regret for doing this in the first ce. The next two bags contained different things and were probably worth more than the 100 points he used to exchange for them, but there was one major problem with all these items: they were all useless to him!

    ¡°Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum. After chewing, the gum will provide enough oxygen to keep a grown man alive for three days. Comes in a pack of ten!¡±

    ¡°Foldable Stool for the Lazy. You can unfold it anywhere and use it on any terrain. After a tiring day, this could help to relieve your exhaustion.¡±

    ¡°Fuck my life,¡± muttered Su Jin as he stared at the items from the first three bags. He had onest bag left. He took a deep breath and opened it. The same cheery music filled the air again, but this time, a bottle of red liquid appeared before his eyes.

    ¡°Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir!¡± Su Jin was stunned when he first heard ckie tell him what it was, then the feeling of ecstasy took over. ckie told him thest time that it was rare for the Body Strengthening Elixir to appear among the items for exchange and it was true that it hadn¡¯t been part of his list this time. He was so pleasantly surprised that he had actually gotten it through a lucky draw and it was a level higher than thest too.

    ¡°This must be fate!¡± Su Jin eximed.

    He immediately knocked back the entire bottle of liquid without hesitation. This time, he didn¡¯t ck out, although he really wished he did. The Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir felt as though it was ripping his entire body apart from the inside and he felt like every bone in his body had been broken.

    ¡°AHHHHH!¡± Su Jin screamed miserably from the excruciating pain he felt deep within his body. He was certain that there was no form of torture or execution in the world that could match up to this.

    Ten minutester, the pain slowly subsided. But Su Jin also didn¡¯t have any energy to do anything. He didn¡¯t even have the energy to tell ckie to restore his body.

    Thankfully for him, ckie had artificial intelligence and restored Su Jin¡¯s body without needing Su Jin to instruct it. After the restoration process wasplete, Su Jin instantly felt the difference. The Low Level version had made him feel like his muscles were filled with energy, but this Mid Level one made him feel like there was energy bursting from even his bone marrows.

    ¡°ckie, how strong am I now?¡± Su Jin asked ckie.

    ¡°Your body is now stronger than an average human and you are now at Level C. If you need aparison to a fictional character, you¡¯re now at the same level as Captain America,¡± replied ckie.

    Su Jin pondered this for a moment, then asked, ¡°Are there many other Handbook owners who are as strong as I am?¡±

    ¡°I am not able to answer your question. There are many aspects in which an owner can strengthen himself. There are many other owners who are as strong as you in terms of their actual physical bodies, but there are many others who have strengthened themselves in other areas even if their physical bodies are not as strong as yours,¡± exined ckie.

    Su Jin looked at the Lucky Draw Bag option again. These bags could contain items which were seriously pointless, but they could also contain good stuff. He didn¡¯t get something as amazing as the Spirit Power Activation Potion, but getting a Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir was incredible too. The Low Level one already cost him 1,000 points, so he imagined that this Mid Level one would have cost him at least double. He had gotten a good deal this time.

    He was now left with 550 points. He wasn¡¯t going to spend them on a bunch of Lucky Draw Bags anymore, so he went to look at the menu with the special bullets. But after looking through the menu, he sighed again. These special bullets weren¡¯t that cheap either. Each bullet would cost him 1 point.

    ¡°If you need bullets, I suggest you take a look at the menu in your Team Hell Domain instead. That area will offer you higher level bullets at the same price,¡± ckie suddenly piped up.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve got a Team Hell Domain!¡± Su Jin smacked his own head. ¡°How do I get there?¡±

    ¡°Opening your link to your Team Hell Domain right now!¡± A ck hole soon appeared within Su Jin¡¯s Personal Hell Domain.

    He walked into the hole and found himself in another space. Kano Mai was already waiting for him here and there were five podiums in front of her that looked just like the one in his Personal Hell Domain.

    ¡°You¡¯re here!¡± Kano Mai stood up to greet him.

    He walked further in and noticed that the five podiums were evenly spread in a circr formation. He ced his own Handbook on one of them and the book immediately flipped open.

    ¡°Does five podiums mean our team can only have five members?¡± he mumbled to himself.

    Kano Mai nodded and said, ¡°Our team is newly formed, so it¡¯s considered a Level D team which can only have a maximum of five members. But as the team rises in level, the maximum number of members will also increase and you¡¯d also be able to ess a number of other team functions.¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and looked around. ¡°We don¡¯t get butler service here?¡±

    ¡°Nope. The Team Hell Domain is a private space for teams, so our Personal Hell Domain butlers are not privy to anything that happens here. Only our Handbooks and members are allowed in this space,¡± said Kano Mai with a nod.

    He looked curiously at her andughed. ¡°Mai, why do you know so much about this team?¡±

    ¡°Once I found out that owners could form teams, I started gathering any information I could about teams, that¡¯s why I know so much,¡± exined Kano Mai in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

    He nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯m looking to exchange points for some special bullets. Is there anything I should be looking out for?¡±

    ¡°Special bullets? You need some Domain Clips first.¡±

    ¡°Domain Clips?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. The same type of bullets have to be ced together in the same clip and each clip can take up to 1,000 bullets. The more types you have, the more clips you¡¯d need,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded and looked through his Handbook for these clips. Each one cost him 10 points, which wasn¡¯t really too expensive. He asked her for advice on which bullets to take and ended up spending 400 points on some of the better types.

    After that, he exchanged some points for $10 million, since he would always need money in the real world. When he saw that he was left with only 50 points, he sighed at how he never seemed to have enough points.

    Meanwhile, Kano Mai opened her own Handbook and started looking at the items offered to her. She moved very quickly, as if she had already decided what she wanted beforehand and was done with everything in less than ten minutes.

    ¡°What items did you exchange your points for?¡± Su Jin asked curiously.

    ¡°You know, for a Handbook owner, every item we exchange points for is a secret. It¡¯s not nice to ask so directly!¡± said Kano Mai with a cheeky smile. This woman behaved very differently during a Challenge and outside a Challenge.

    During a Challenge, she was so resolute, calm and seemed aloof and unapproachable.

    But once the Challenge was over, she became bubbly and her perfect smile made one want to befriend her. It was so hard to hate her.

 Chapter 38: Training

    <h4>Chapter 38: Training</h4>

    ¡°We¡¯re teammates, so it¡¯s good for us to know more about each other,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°Hmm! Let me treat you to a meal when we¡¯re back in the real world then! We can take the time to get to know each other better,¡± suggested Kano Mai.

    He nodded and said with augh, ¡°I should be the one giving a treat! It¡¯s not my country¡¯s culture to let the girl foot the bill.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Kano Mai wasn¡¯t going to argue with Su Jin over something like this. Money didn¡¯t mean much to either of them anymore, so they didn¡¯t have to fuss over a simple meal.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai started introducing their newly exchanged items to each other. The items that Kano Mai had chosen were indeed very specific. They were chosen to strengthen her attack and survival.

    ¡°Skill: Soul Crusher. Requires 10 points of Spirit Power. You can add this to your attack, which will instantly crush your enemy¡¯s spirit. Points required: 1200.¡±

    ¡°Shadow Cloak: Requires 50 points of Spirit Power. Wearing it will turn you into a shadow. It will also increase all your attributes and you will be immune to all physical attacks. Points required: 1500.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s jaw dropped. These two items alone cost Kano Mai 2,700 points. He asked her rather puzzledly, ¡°But you don¡¯t even have Spirit Power. Why are you exchanging points for these items?¡±

    ¡°The best part about the team¡¯s Hell Domain is that you get offered a lot of high level Spirit Power equipment. But there are many types of Spirit Power equipment and it¡¯s not easy to find something that¡¯s suitable for yourself. Since I¡¯vee across something that¡¯s suitable, I¡¯ve got to take this chance to exchange for it. I still have some points anyway,¡± exined Kano Mai.

    After Su Jin heard her exnation, he thought he ought to take a look at the items offered inside the team¡¯s Hell Domain. He didn¡¯t have enough points to exchange for anything right now, but he could reserve them this time and exchange for them the next time.

    Just like what Kano Mai said earlier, several of the items avable here were all Spirit Power equipment. He was only offered about four or five Spirit Power equipment within his Personal Hell Domain and most of them weren¡¯t suitable for him. On the contrary, the Team Hell Domain offered him a few dozen Spirit Power equipment. It would be much easier to find something suitable since he was given so many choices.

    Besides Spirit Power equipment, the number of other helpful items were way more than what he saw in his Personal Hell Domain. There were even a few that made him regret getting some of the things he did earlier.

    ¡°Wait a minute. This is¡­this is a High Level Body Strengthening Elixir?¡± Su Jin noticed this item and his eyes widened. Was this just a coincidence? He got the Mid Level one through a lucky draw earlier, and now, the High Level one was being offered here.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not very useful. But if you¡¯ve got extra points to spare, you could get that,¡± said Kano Mai after she nced at it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not very useful? Why not?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°That¡¯s because you need to get the Low Level and the Mid Level ones before you can consume the High Level one, otherwise you could exchange for it but you wouldn¡¯t be able to use it at all. It¡¯s also very rare for these body strengthening elixirs to appear in the point exchange menu. I¡¯ve heard that some have gone through 20 or 30 Challenges and never came across this item,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin scratched his head. He had always been an unlucky fellow, and the fact that he had been chosen to enter the Handbook¡¯s world was proof of that. But it seemed like he was lucky in this aspect.

    ¡°So, if you nevere across a body strengthening elixir, does that mean that an owner will never be able to strengthen his body?¡± asked Su Jin.

    She shook her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. Body strengthening elixirs are just the fastest and more efficient way for one to strengthen your body, but it¡¯s not the only way. Both the Challenge itself and one¡¯s Personal Hell Domain will offer owners the chance to strengthen your body. For example, you could spend some points on doing some training. These other methods are just slower in building you up, that¡¯s all.¡±

    Su Jin felt enlightened suddenly and thought further along this line. ¡°If I want to strengthen my body to the point where it feels like I¡¯ve taken a High Level Body Strengthening Elixir, how many Challenges would that take?¡±

    ¡°Er¡­I¡¯m not really sure about that. But I¡¯ve never met any owner at that level yet, so I suppose it must be very difficult to reach that point!¡± Kano Mai had no definite answer to his question and could only shake her head and make a guess.

    Su Jin immediately reserved the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir. Unlike a Personal Hell Domain, each member of the team could reserve one item in a Team Hell Domain and it wouldn¡¯t count against the items he had already reserved in his Personal Hell Domain.

    When Kano Mai noticed that Su Jin had reserved the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir without hesitation, a thought struck her mind as she said, ¡°Jin, you mean you¡­?¡±

    ¡°Oh! Well, I got pretty lucky two times in a row and got both the Low Level and Mid Level ones. I don¡¯t have enough points for this High Level one, so I thought I¡¯d just reserve it first. It¡¯s just that 6000 points is really a lot!¡± said Su Jin with a sigh as he nced at the price of the item. This was way higher than the price he had paid for the two lower level elixirs.

    ¡°Team leader-sama!¡± Kano Mai suddenly hugged Su Jin and even kissed him on the cheek, which made him both dazed and confused at the same time.

    ¡°Sorry! I¡¯m just really so happy to hear this! You¡¯ve been really lucky!¡± Kano Mai quickly let go of him when she saw his awkward expression and stuck her tongue out in embarrassment before hooking his arm again.

    ¡°Yeah, I guess! Haha¡­¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure how to react. A girl had nevere this close to him like that before.

    But Kano Mai looked at him seriously. ¡°You¡¯ve been really lucky,¡± she reiterated. ¡°It¡¯s really useful to have a physically strong member in the team. I¡¯ve met owners who were so strong that even bullets couldn¡¯t kill them. Such people are practically invincible in Challenges that involve modern weaponry.¡±

    ¡°I could be bulletproof?!¡± Then again, ckie did say that his body was nowparable to Captain America¡¯s. In that case, as long as no weapon managed to hit his vital organs, it would be very difficult to kill him. And if he did manage to get his hands on that High Level Body Strengthening Elixir, his physical body might really be invincible.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to work hard to get this High Level Body Strengthening Elixir! That way, we¡¯ll be able to ace the modern technology Challenges!¡± She pumped her fists in support of Su Jin.

    Heughed and reminded her, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the Handbook isn¡¯t going to let us be invincible. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some way to kill even the most physically strong without the use of supernatural powers.¡±

    ¡°Tsk, Jin, you don¡¯t have a girlfriend, huh,¡± Kano Mai suddenly asked with a wry smile on her face.

    ¡°Wha-? Yeah, I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°No wonder!¡± sheughed.

    He blinked a few times before realizing what she was driving at. He justughed bitterly before moving to the next topic. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of exchanging some points for training time. What would you suggest?¡±

    ¡°How many points do you have left?¡±

    ¡°50.¡± His shoulders drooped sadly. He had finished using all the points he gained from this Challenge and the leftover from the previous Challenge was almost all gone too.

    ¡°What sort of training do you want?¡±

    ¡°I want to train myself in martial arts and shooting.¡± Su Jin¡¯s body was now stronger than the average human, so he wasn¡¯t going to let that go to waste. Learning martial arts was definitely a good way to make use of this strong body. At the same time, he needed to learn how to shoot a gun now that he had ck Fire on hand.

    After thinking about it for a while, Kano Mai said, ¡°You should go for the martial arts training. I can teach you how to shoot. My friend owns a shooting range in S City, so we can go there to practice.¡±

    ¡°How is that possible? Guns are ouwed in my country,¡± said Su Jin with a puzzled look on his face. He came from a country with extremely strict gunws, so nobody found it profitable to run a shooting range since nobody could own guns.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say my friend was some ordinary person on the street,¡± said Kano Mai with a smile. ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll see yater!¡±

    Kano Mai turned and walked through the ck hole to return to her own Personal Hell Domain while Su Jin also returned to his own Personal Hell Domain to exchange points for training.

    ¡°I want to exchange points for martial arts training!¡± His surroundings instantly transformed into a traditional looking martial arts school. The floor was lined with linen carpets and calligraphy of martial arts rted phrases were hung on the walls.

    ¡°Please choose a coach!¡± said ckie as a telephone booth appeared before Su Jin¡¯s eyes. He walked closer to the telephone booth and a shadow of a man appeared within the booth.

    ¡°What on earth¡­is Superman going to teach me martial arts?¡± Su Jin nearly rolled his eyes.

    ¡°The Handbook will provide a coach ording to the type of martial arts you want to be trained in, but if your attributes are too poor or you do not satisfy certain requirements that the coach has, the coach may refuse to teach you,¡± said ckie.

    ¡°Oh? So what types of martial arts can I choose from?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°You can choose anything from cudgel techniques, spearing techniques, boxing, kicking techniques, Thai boxing, kickboxing and more. The Handbook has several coaches for each type of martial arts,¡± ckie exined.

    ¡°I want to learn how to use a stealth weapon. Who should I learn from?¡± Su Jin had exchanged his points for what was basically a throwing star, so he had to maximize what it could do for him. In other words, he had to learn how to throw it unnoticeably but urately.

    ¡°Here is the list of coaches you can learn from. Please pick a name. Please bear in mind that if you are not good enough for the coach, the coach has the right to refuse to teach you.¡±

    A long string of names appeared on the ss of the telephone booth and Su Jin looked through the list carefully. He didn¡¯t know most of the names here, but the few he did know made his jaw drop in shock.

    ¡°Li Xunhuan(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaoli_Feidao#Novels)] ¡­Xiaolongnu(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaolongn%C3%BC)] ¡­ Zhang Qing()] ¡­the head of the Tangmen¡­is it that same Tangmen I¡¯m thinking about?!()] Su Qianxue?! From Furious Sword, Mad Flowers?!¡± Su Jin gawked at the names he actually recognized. These were superstars in the world of stealth weapons.

    ¡°Well, even though the Little Li Flying Dagger(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaoli_Feidao#Weapon)] isn¡¯t really a stealth weapon per se, Li Xunhuan is a truly admirable character, so I¡¯ll choose Li Xunhuan!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t hesitate any further. The Little Li Flying Dagger wasn¡¯t always used in secret, but it was even more dangerous and mysterious than an actual stealth weapon. There were book critics that even imed that this weapon was some sort of irvoyant weapon because the target would die the moment it was thrown.

    After making this decision, a light shed in the telephone booth. A handsome man slowly opened the booth door and walked out.

    ¡°Jiao¡­Jiao Enjun!¡±

    [Li Xunhuan

    [Xiaolongn¨¹

    [Zhang Qing

    [Tangmen

    There''s nothing in English on this, but basically this character appears in two of Gu Long¡¯s wuxia novels, Lover¡¯s Arrow (actually written by Gu Long) and Furious Sword, Mad Flowers (written by a ghostwriter). TLDR Su Qianxue was a beautiful but scheming woman who created a poisonous arrow that could be shot secretly (using Tangmen invented technology) and it could send her ex-lovers (who were all high level martial artists) into a daze, thereby making them easy targets for killing.

    [Little Li Flying Dagger

    Vincent Chiao, Taiwanese actor who yed a bunch of famous characters in TV dramas based on wuxia novels in the 1990s, including Li Xunhuan

 Chapter 39: Drained of Energy

    <h4>Chapter 39: Drained of Energy</h4>

    The man standing in front of Su Jin right now was very familiar not only to Su Jin, but possibly anybody who had watched this man¡¯s TV dramas before. A mention of the name ¡®Li Xunhuan¡¯ would definitely bring this man¡¯s face to mind.

    ¡°You want to learn my Little Li Flying Dagger technique?¡± ~~Jiao Enjun~~ Li Xunhuan folded his hands behind his back and looked emotionlessly at Su Jin like a martial arts grandmaster.

    ¡°Esteemed senior, please teach me your ways!¡±

    Li Xunhuan looked Su Jin up and down, then shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°No?¡±

    ¡°You do seem to have an aptitude for it and your body is in fairly good shape. Unfortunately, you don¡¯t have any foundation, so it¡¯s hard for you to learn this technique!¡± Li Xunhuan shook his head again and turned to walk back to the telephone booth.

    ¡°Senior, wait up! So, if I get my foundation right, does that mean I¡¯d be able to take lessons from you?¡± Su Jin asked.

    Li Xunhuan stopped in his footsteps and turned his head slightly. ¡°If you¡¯re able to get it right, I¡¯ll teach you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much, Senior!¡± Su Jin knew that there was no point in trying to hold Li Xunhuan back. As ckie exined earlier, the coaches had the right to turn him away if they deemed him an unsuitable student.

    Since he couldn¡¯t get Li Xunhuan to teach him, he had to try another name. Eventually, he decided to choose Zhang Qing.

    The Featherless Arrow, Zhang Qing, was a character from Water Margin, one of four great ssical novels in Chinese literature and ranked 16<sup>th</sup> among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, which was the Agile Star. He was also the garrisonmandant of Dongchang Prefecture. The Featherless Arrow he used as his main weapon actually referred to the little stones in his hand that he could fling at his enemies with deadly uracy. That part was very simr to how he would use Rumor, and that was also why Su Jin had chosen him as a coach.

    A light shed in the telephone booth and a middle aged man pushed the door open this time. He wore a turquoise long robe and didn¡¯t look like a military man at all. Instead, he resembled a schr.

    ¡°Senior Zhang Qing?¡±

    ¡°That is correct!¡± Zhang Qing nodded. Just like Li Xunhuan, Zhang Qing looked Su Jin up and down. The look in Zhang Qing¡¯s eyes made Su Jin a little antsy. Was Zhang Qing going to reject him too?

    ¡°The structure and proportion of your body is good and you have much internal and external energy as well. You are very suitable to learn martial arts.¡± Thankfully, Zhang Qing eventually nodded and seemed very pleased with Su Jin.

    Su Jin let out a long sigh of relief. Zhang Qing turned his palm and an ordinary stone appeared in his hand. ¡°My technique doesn¡¯t depend on the choice of weapon, but the more you have on hand, the better. I¡¯ve chosen to use ordinary stones like these because you can get them anywhere and they are easily hidden.¡±

    After saying that, Zhang Qing stomped his foot once and several figures appeared in the arena. None of these figures had facial features and they came in all shapes and sizes. Once they appeared, they started jumping and running in all directions.

    Zhang Qing flicked his wrist and one of the figures immediately copsed to the ground. He continued to flick his wrist in various directions and he was so fast that Su Jin didn¡¯t even notice that a stone had flown out at all. But every time Zhang Qing flicked his wrist, a figure would copse and be unable to get up. Before long, every figure in the arena had fallen to the ground.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but exim in admiration. Anybody would be able to hit a fixed target with enough practice, but Zhang Qing had managed to not only hit moving targets, but he had also hit the head of all the targets.

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s your turn. You have a good body constitution, so you should be able to pick this up faster than the average person. However, you must still start from the basics.¡± Zhang Qing stomped his foot again and fixed target boards appeared in the arena. A pile of stones also appeared next to Zhang Qing¡¯s feet from nowhere.

    Kano Mai felt a strange feeling in her heart. This odd sensation had been bugging her ever since she left her Personal Hell Domain. She would feel it for just a few moments, then it would suddenly disappear. This really puzzled her.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I¡¯ve never had this feeling before.¡± She shook her head and was still thinking about it when she felt the couch suddenly sink a little, as if someone had plonked down next to her. But she wasn¡¯t shocked by this. A bright smile spread across her face instead.

    Su Jin appeared next to her and his eyes were unfocused, as if he had gone into a daze. She immediately retrieved a bottle from her Handbook, poured a little of the lotion it contained onto her hand and dabbed it on his face.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Su Jin exhaled deeply and his eyes looked a little more alert now. He leaned back weakly and shut his eyes. He was clearly extremely exhausted.

    ¡°You really overworked yourself! Time passes differently in your Hell Domain, but intensive training over a long period of time is still going to drain you of all your energy.¡± She moved to sit across from him and ced a cup of hot tea in front of him.

    He massaged his face with his hands andughed bitterly. ¡°You¡¯re right. But after suffering a little now, I¡¯d have a higher chance of surviving the next Challenge, right?¡±

    ¡°I know you¡¯re the type who can really withstand pain and tough situations, but you¡¯ve got to stop once you realize your training is no longer producing better results,¡± she said out of concern. After working together on a Challenge, they trusted each other a lot more now and were on much closer terms now.

    He nodded, then asked, ¡°I was training in there for two years, which means only half a day has passed in the real world, right? So it¡¯s around noon now?¡±

    ¡°Yup! I¡¯ve made lunch, so let¡¯s eat first!¡±

    ¡°All right! I didn¡¯t feel hungry during training, so I didn¡¯t have to eat. Gosh, that means I haven¡¯t eaten anything in two years? Oh, how I miss eating!¡± Su Jin chuckled. He had spent the equivalent of two years in the real world training in there and he had hoped to stay longer, but he had reached the limit of his physical and mental energy. For an ordinary person, practicing the same thing day and night would wear a person out in a matter of hours, but Su Jin spent two years practicing. If he had continued to stay inside there, he might have gone insane first.

    ¡°The first time I went for training, I stayed in there for three months and it took me three days to recover from it. You¡¯re really a lot more amazing than I was,¡± said Kano Mai very seriously.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°You were right about stopping when my practice no longer yields results. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d choose to stay in there for so long next time.¡±

    After nearly copsing from exhaustion, Su Jin couldn¡¯t imagine making himself go through this all over again.

    Kano Mai brought the food she had prepared out andid them on the table. It was simple Japanese home cooked food and wasn¡¯t very sumptuous, but much effort had been put into each dish.

    Su Jin nodded in approval each time he took a bite. Firstly, Kano Mai was a pretty good cook, but secondly, he hadn¡¯t eaten in two years and anything edible tasted fantastic to him now.

    He finally felt well again after he finished eating. But it was mostly thanks to that lotion that Kano Mai dabbed on his face earlier. That was a special lotion she had exchanged points for that could relieve one of exhaustion.

    After lunch, Su Jin bade farewell to Kano Mai, since he was perfectly fine with leaving the house with her. This time, they exchanged phone numbers and became proper friends.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about the shooting training in a few days, okay? I need some time to recuperate.¡±

    She nodded in agreement. ¡°Sure, just give me a call when you¡¯re ready for it. I don¡¯t have anything else to do here anyway.¡±

    Su Jin then headed back to Ye Yun¡¯s house and returned in time to see Ye Yun and Tang Ning having a chat. When Tang Ning spotted him, she immediately said, ¡°You¡¯re finally back! How could you go gallivanting all night and leave my cousin all alone at home!¡±

    ¡°AHEM! Miss Tang, please, don¡¯t put it like that. Others might misunderstand,¡±ined Su Jin.

    Ye Yun grinned and didn¡¯t look like she cared at all. She said to Su Jin, ¡°My cousin said she needs your support to meet some people. I want to go too and I¡¯ve been begging her for hours now. Why don¡¯t you put in a good word for me?¡±

    ¡°My support to meet some people? Who?¡±

    ¡°Thepany is preparing to expand into the security business and we¡¯re hoping to be the best securitypany in the country. We¡¯ve signed an agreement with a securitypany from the US and they¡¯re sending some people over to train our folks. Their flight arrives today and since we¡¯re going into this line, we shouldn¡¯t look too shabby when we receive them at the airport. Yun says that you¡¯ve improved quite a bit recently, so I wanted you toe along and beef up our image,¡± exined Tang Ning.

    Su Jin scratched his head. ¡°Miss Tang, this isn¡¯t within my job scope, right? Besides, we¡¯re all civilized people, right? It¡¯s not very good for us to engage in fighting and killing, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Tang Ning rolled her eyes. ¡°And why didn¡¯t you say something like that when you knocked out that poor guy at the taekwondo school? I don¡¯t care, you¡¯re an employee of thepany and I¡¯m your superior, so I have the right to delegate the work ordingly.¡± Tang Ning wasn¡¯t here to negotiate or plead with Su Jin, so she quickly put him in his ce.

    ¡°What about me?¡± Ye Yun hooked her arm around Tang Ning¡¯s and looked at her cousin with hopeful eyes.

    Tang Ning wasn¡¯t giving in. She pressed a hand against Ye Yun¡¯s head and said, ¡°And how do you expect me to bring you along? What if you suddenly feel the urge to hit someone and end up in some fight to the death with the trainers? I¡¯d like to keep my job, thank you very much!¡±

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve turned over a new leaf!¡± Ye Yun puffed her cheeks angrily, which only made her look like a greedy little hamster to Su Jin. Ye Yun looked at Su Jin and used her eyes to signal to him to convince Tang Ning.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t bear to disappoint Ye Yun, so he said to Tang Ning, ¡°Why don¡¯t we just bring her along? Uncle Yu can¡¯t possibly watch her by himself and if she suddenly does feel the urge to bash someone up, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to leave her at home either. It¡¯ll be better if she¡¯s constantly under our watch.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t make me sound like I¡¯m some terrorist, will you?¡± Ye Yun was clearly displeased by Su Jin¡¯s method of convincing her cousin, but both Tang Ning and Su Jin chose to ignore her displeasure.

    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll go with that then. But if she makes any trouble, you¡¯re in charge of cleaning it up.¡± Tang Ning felt that what Su Jin said made sense too, so she agreed to it. After all, if she brought Su Jin along and Ye Yun got into trouble as a result, it would be her fault.

    Su Jin eyed the overly excited Ye Yun and suddenly felt like he had made the wrong decision to help her convince Tang Ning. This girl definitely had some tricks up her sleeve!

    Tang Ning eventually drove them to the airport. Their other colleagues were already there, but Tang Ning was in charge of this part of the business and had to be there too.

    After they arrived at the airport, Su Jin saw a number of familiar faces among the wee team. Li Zhikai was here, and even Li Man, the female colleague he helped at the gathering thest time, was here too.

    ¡°Is everything in ce? Their flight is about to arrive, right? No dy?¡± Tang Ning asked Li Zhikai.

    ¡°There¡¯s no dy announcement so far, so their flight should be on time. I heard that these trainers are all special forces soldiers who have retired from the US army. They¡¯re all real experts who have actual battle experience!¡± Li Zhikai seemed especially excited.

    ¡°Well, we did ask the US side to send their best, so I¡¯m not surprised that they have actual battle experience. Everyone, put on your best behavior, I want to give our guests a good impression,¡± Tang Ning said to everyone.

    ¡°Their flight hasnded! You over there, get the wee sign out!¡± yelled Li Zhikai to his colleagues after checking the flight status on his phone.

 Chapter 40: Thor Security Services

    <h4>Chapter 40: Thor Security Services</h4>

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow when he saw the banner that the wee team had prepared. He wasn¡¯t sure about what their guests would think, but he certainly didn¡¯t fancy this cutesy pink banner.

    ¡°Who made this thing?¡± Tang Ning obviously didn¡¯t like this banner either from the way she asked Li Zhikai about it.

    Li Zhikai nced at Li Man, thenughed as he said, ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t have a lot of time to do this, so we just used whatever we had on hand. Don¡¯t scrutinize it so hard.¡±

    Tang Ning frowned but didn¡¯t ask further questions because passengers from that flight were starting to stream out from the gate. It didn¡¯t take Tang Ning and her colleagues long to confirm who their guests were. After all, it was hard to miss a group of fierce and terrifying men who looked ready to kill someone on the spot.

    Those men started walking towards Tang Ning immediately when they saw the pink banner with theirpany name on it. At least the pink banner was good for one thing: it was easy to spot.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m the leader of the team representing Thor Security Services, you can just call me Kevin,¡± said a muscr Caucasian man whose Mandarin was actually not bad. He looked like he was in his thirties and tattoos covered his hairy arms. The tattoos seemed to be depicting a scene from hell.

    Su Jin made a face at the tattoos. He couldn¡¯t believe someone was actually a fan of hell. He wondered if such people would still be a fan if they had to go through the hellish world of the Handbook.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Tang Ning from Ster Skies. It¡¯s been a long journey and all of you must be tired. Let¡¯s head to the office first,¡± said Tang Ning as she shook Kevin¡¯s hand with a smile, then turned to her colleagues. ¡°Why are all of you still standing there? Help our guests with their things!¡±

    Li Zhikai led a few other male colleagues over to help with the suitcases, but their expressions instantly faltered when they tried to carry them. These suitcases weren¡¯t veryrge, but they were incredibly heavy. It was simply impossible for them to even lift them off the floor, especially since most of them hardly exercised.

    ¡°Heh heh! I think you should just forget it! I wouldn¡¯t want my bags to hurt your little arms and legs,¡± said a ck man with equally excellent Mandarin as he burst outughing.

    Li Zhikai and his colleagues went red in the face and could only smile awkwardly. ¡°What¡¯s in these bags? They¡¯re really heavy!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all equipment for training. But¡­if you guys are the ones we¡¯re training, then I think we might not get to use them,¡± said the ck man cheekily.

    ¡°Thomas, that¡¯s enough!¡± Kevin didn¡¯t like what the other man said and red at him to keep quiet.

    ¡°What are you ring at me for? I didn¡¯t say anything wrong. You saw that yourself. These fellows can¡¯t even carry our bags. They won¡¯t make good fighters,¡± Thomas continued to ramble on.

    Li Zhikai and his male colleagues were feeling really awkward and Tang Ning felt pretty embarrassed too. She had called all the younger men in thepany to help so that she could give Kevin and his team a good impression, but her ns had the opposite effect instead.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help!¡± Just then, Su Jin suddenly walked over and took the suitcase that Li Zhikai had been trying to carry.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that heavy! Brother Li, you¡¯re so funny!¡± After Su Jin took the suitcase from Li Zhikai, he even threw it from one hand to the other. This suitcase that had seemed impossible to even lift off the floor looked as light as paper in Su Jin¡¯s hands.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s male colleagues were shocked and even the team from Thor Security Services was surprised. They knew very well how heavy those suitcases were. The suitcases were full of special training equipment and it was very hard for anybody to even lift them without going through training, never mind throw them from hand to hand.

    Su Jin proceeded to take the suitcases from his other colleagues, using just a few fingers to carry each suitcase. He had two suitcases in each hand but he looked like they weighed nothing.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Li Zhikai and the others were speechless. They couldn¡¯t even lift those suitcases by themselves a moment ago. Su Jin did look a little more muscr than them, but surely he couldn¡¯t be that much stronger!

    ¡°Shiiiit¡­are the suitcases empty or what?¡± Thomas couldn¡¯t believe it either. He picked up his own suitcase to check and confirmed that it was just as heavy as he remembered it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that heavy either. Hey, it¡¯s not nice to pretend it¡¯s heavy and make our guests carry their own bags, you know?¡± Ye Yun also picked up one of the suitcases easily. Su Jin¡¯s strength had been shocking, but the fact that a skinny youngdy like Ye Yun could carry one effortlessly really bbergasted them.

    ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Everybody in the Thor Security Services team couldn¡¯t help but curse in shock. Kevin¡¯s eyes widened because the suitcase Ye Yun had chosen was his own and his suitcase was even heavier than the others. Ye Yun was barely 1.7 meters tall and didn¡¯t look like she had any muscles at all. How did she manage to carry his suitcase?

    Tang Ning¡¯s mood lifted when she saw how impressed Kevin and his team were. Her only exnation for this incredible disy of strength was a flippant, ¡°It¡¯s kungfu. Chinese kungfu, that¡¯s all.¡±

    Catered dinner was waiting for everyone at the office, so everybody got into their cars and headed back to the office.

    Li Zhikai was in the same car as Su Jin, so he nudged the younger man and said, ¡°That was pretty incredible! Do you know magic or something? That was some David Copperfield level magic!¡±

    ¡°Brother Li, if I were as amazing as David Copperfield, I wouldn¡¯t be working my guts out in thispany now. I just happened to be pretty strong.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he ought tough or cry at Li Zhikai¡¯sments.

    ¡°But what about that youngdy? I¡¯ve never seen her before? Is she from ourpany too? Have we been deskbound employees for so long that we¡¯re not even as strong as a youngdy like her?¡± Li Zhikai started doubting himself after he saw Ye Yun lift the suitcase so easily. In fact, all the other men in the wee team felt the same way.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to feel bad about yourself. Maybe she seriously knows kung fu,¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    ¡°Oh please! I¡¯ve been to Shaolin Temple before too and I¡¯ve never seen anybody with real kungfu there. They¡¯re all stuntmen who do things like break rocks with their chest and hold down spears with their throats. Anybody can do those things with some physics calctions,¡± Li Zhikai scoffed. Then he nced at Su Jin and added, ¡°By the way, Li Man told me she wants to visit you at your ce.¡±

    ¡°Whatever for?¡±

    ¡°Whatever for? You helped her thest time and she wants to thank you for it. Don¡¯t get any funny ideas: she just doesn¡¯t want to owe you anything.¡±

    Su Jin shrugged nonchntly and said, ¡°Sure. You guys cane over tomorrow night.¡±

    ¡°Okay then. Tidy up that little apartment of yours. I know it¡¯s small, but it¡¯s more important to make sure it¡¯s clean,¡± said Li Zhikai as he patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulder.

    Su Jin hadn¡¯t told anybody else about his new address. He didn¡¯t really have any friends in S City and there was no need to update anybody. But since Li Zhikai and Li Man wanted toe over, he had no choice but to tell them his new address.

    ¡°By the way, I moved recently. I¡¯ll send you my new address. Don¡¯t lose your way,¡± said Su Jin as he texted Li Zhikai his new address.

    Li Zhikai nced at the message and said, ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll bring her there tomorrow.¡±

    The cars soon arrived at the office. Tang Ning arranged for Kevin and his team to take a rest in the meeting room, got some staff to bring them coffee and snacks, then asked Su Jin and Ye Yun to apany them while she went to grab her notes and other documents to discuss the training.

    Inside the meeting room, Thomas fiddled with a toothpick and kept looking Su Jin and Ye Yun up and down, which made Su Jin frown.

    ¡°Hey, since we don¡¯t have anything to do now, why don¡¯t we y a little game?¡± Thomas asked Su Jin with a bored look on his face.

    Su Jin wanted to turn him down but Ye Yun gently patted his arm and there was a look of excitement in her eyes. He gave in and nodded. ¡°Sure! What game would you like to y?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit small in here, so there¡¯s no space for us to stretch our arms and legs. Why don¡¯t we y¡­arm wrestling? Do you know arm wrestling? Do you guys y that here? Or you¡¯re all glued to yourputers? Haha!¡± Thomasughed loudly.

    Su Jin really didn¡¯t like this Thomas person at all. He was so fidgety and spoke without any filter. Su Jin didn¡¯t bother responding to any of Thomas¡¯ questions and put his elbow on the table, showing that he was ready to start an arm wrestling match.

    Kevin was the team leader but he didn¡¯t try to stop this arm wrestling match. He agreed that the way Thomas spoke could really test one¡¯s patience, but he also felt that there was no harm in finding some entertainment while they waited. If Thomas got into any trouble, he¡¯d deal with Thomas individuallyter.

    Thomas¡¯ muscles looked like they were made from iron. Every fibre in his arm looked like they were full of energy and it might explode upon touching. He smiled at Ye Yun, flexed his muscles a little, then slowly sat down across from Su Jin.

    ¡°All right, young man! You wanna ce a bet of sorts?¡± asked Thomas with a grin.

    ¡°Sure! How about¡­the loser gets punched by the winner?¡± Su Jin grinned back.

    Thomas continued to grin as he said, ¡°I like the sound of that! Do you have medical insurance? I assume yourpany would cover that? Looks like you might have to use that insurance soon!¡±

    ¡°Oh? I¡¯m looking forward to that.¡± Su Jin shook his wrist slightly to tell Thomas that he could go ahead.

    Thomas grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s palm, then looked at Su Jin as if to ask if Su Jin were ready. Once Su Jin nodded, he started to exert strength. But he soon realized that something was amiss. Su Jin¡¯s arm seemed to be fixed to the table or something. It hadn¡¯t moved at all even though he had increased the amount of strength he used.

    Arm wrestling wasn¡¯t just a matter of who had more strength. It required some control as well. Thomas hadn¡¯t used all his strength earlier, but after he noticed that Su Jin¡¯s arm hadn¡¯t budged, he started to use all the strength he had and his muscles looked like they were about to burst.

    But Su Jin¡¯s expression remained as unbothered as before, since he wasn¡¯t really using much strength. He had to admit that Thomas was pretty strong, but after taking two body strengthening elixirs, Thomas¡¯ strength was equivalent to the strength of a child to Su Jin.

    ¡°Shit!!¡± Thomas clenched his teeth and exerted as much force as he could.

    Su Jin noticed that Thomas was at his maximum, so he suddenly exerted some force and brought Thomas¡¯ arm along with his upper body down onto the meeting room table. They could feel the entire table shake violently and it nearly broke from the impact.

    ¡°Good god, what are you made of?!¡± Thomas muttered under his breath. Then he shook his head at Su Jin and said, ¡°I¡¯ve always heard about how Chinese martial artists have some special technique to release energy. Looks like those rumors were real.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. But even without using special techniques, we can be pretty strong too. Mr. Thomas, are you ready?¡± Su Jin swung his fists. He hadn¡¯t forgotten their bet.

    ¡°All right then!¡± Thomas was a little afraid of what was toe. He hadn¡¯t been able to hold up against Su Jin at all earlier. But a bet was a bet, so there was no room for regrets.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to go soft on Thomas either. He was already quite annoyed by the things Thomas said earlier, so he was going to take this chance to teach Thomas a lesson.

    Whoosh! Su Jin threw a punch at Thomas¡¯ stomach that was so swift and so powerful that his fist made a noise as it cut through the air.

 Chapter 41: Acting Crazy

    <h4>Chapter 41: Acting Crazy</h4>

    Su Jin knew that if he threw this punch with all his might, Thomas might die, so he only used 40% of his strength. But even so, Thomas flew out like a kite whose string had been broken, flying backwards, and crashed hard into the doors of the meeting room, then slumped down onto the floor and lost consciousness.

    The entire room fell silent. Thomas was taller than 1.9 meters and weighed at least 130 kilograms, so he was at least twice Su Jin¡¯s size. Nobody could believe that Su Jin managed to send someone twice his size flying like that.

    ¡°Oh dear! He¡¯s considered an international partner of ours, you know? You¡¯ve really crossed the line!¡± Ye Yun sounded like she was chiding Su Jin, but she was obviously enjoying the show.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched. He didn¡¯t expect things to get so bad. He was so d that he hadn¡¯t used every ounce of strength that he had. Otherwise he might have punched a hole in Thomas¡¯ stomach instead of making him fly across the room.

    ¡°Well, when he said those rude things earlier, the fact that I¡¯m an international partner of his didn¡¯t seem to bother him either.¡± What was done was done. Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to apologize for it. It was Thomas¡¯ fault for speaking without a filter.

    But the rest of the team from Thor Security Services had gotten angry. All of them were seasoned fighters and coordinated their actions well as they immediately came forward to hold Su Jin down. They couldn¡¯t possibly sit there and do nothing while Su Jin bashed up a brother of theirs and ruined their reputation at the same time.

    However, Su Jin¡¯s reaction time was way faster than the average human. He was already prepared to counterattack the moment the other men got up, but to his surprise, Ye Yun was the one who actually started fighting first.

    Her fighting prowess was truly incredible. Even though Su Jin was now a lot stronger physically, he wasn¡¯t confident of defeating Ye Yun in a fight because she had technique that he didn¡¯t have. Also, Ye Yun was very experienced in actual fights. Any martial arts school in this city could vouch for that.

    Ye Yun¡¯s strategy was clearly to take the leader down first. She moved nimbly past everyone and was next to Kevin in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, Kevin¡¯s attention was focused on Su Jin and even if he did notice Ye Yun approaching him, he didn¡¯t think much of it.

    But he soon regretted not being wary of Ye Yun. She grabbed hold of his arm, pulled it behind him, then used her right foot to step down on Kevin¡¯s calf from the back while keeping her own knee pressed against the back of Kevin¡¯s knee. She pulled his arm back in such a manner that his body was bent like a bow, which made it impossible for him to attack her at all.

    At the same time, her other hand had somehow managed to grab hold of the pen that was already on the table. She had already removed the pen cap and its sharp nib was now pointed at Kevin¡¯s jugr vein.

    ¡°All of you, don¡¯t move!¡± Ye Yun had no idea if the rest besides Kevin and Thomas understood any Mandarin, but she was pretty sure that her actions didn¡¯t need any exnation.

    Everyone immediately stopped and stared at Ye Yun in shock. Su Jin was the most horrified as he quickly shouted, ¡°Oh my god! Don¡¯t make things worse! Let go of him!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®don¡¯t make things worse¡¯? I¡¯ve alreadye to the point where I don¡¯t care anymore! If you don¡¯t agree to my conditions, I¡¯ll kill him!¡± Ye Yun seemed even more excited now. The pen nib inched even close to Kevin¡¯s throat and looked like it was about to pierce his skin.

    ¡°Calm down! If you end up making your cousin angry by doing this, you might not get anything you want in the end!¡± Su Jin had no choice but to use Tang Ning to threaten Ye Yun, since Ye Yun seemed to listen to Tang Ning.

    But Ye Yun scoffed and kicked Kevin¡¯s butt as she yelled back, ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of her! You¡¯d better agree to all my conditions, or I¡¯ll kill him!¡±

    Su Jin tried not to burst outughing. This girl was obviously being dramatic, but he had no choice but to y along. Otherwise, who knew what this girl who used to threaten tomit suicide would do?

    ¡°Okay, okay. Let go of him and we can talk about what you want. Let¡¯s sit down and talk nicely, how about that?¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid? I¡¯m going to state my conditions right now! One, I want independence! I want to move into my own ce! Two, do not get anyone to follow me or watch me 24/7! Three, I¡­I want to go bungee jumping!¡±

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe what he just heard. This girl had obviously nned this right from the start. She had intended to threaten a business partner in order to force her parents into letting her have what she wanted. And if she seeded in getting her way, Su Jin was sure he was going to get med for this.

    ¡°You¡¯re still taking your time to consider? I¡¯ll slice his arm off first then!¡± Ye Yun looked a little panicky and she raised her voice to scare Su Jin.

    But Su Jin was no longer worried when he saw the fear in her eyes. She had nned all of this, but she didn¡¯t dare to actually do anything to hurt someone else. If her parents were here, she might revert to being the good girl she usually was if they told her to.

    ¡°Ye Yun! I hear you¡¯re gonna slice someone¡¯s arm off? I¡¯d bet you don¡¯t have the guts to do so!¡± Just then, Tang Ning marched into the meeting room with a pile of documents in hand. Su Jin immediately noticed that Ye Yun¡¯s gaze trembled slightly.

    ¡°S-sis¡­¡± Ye Yun even started to stammer.

    Tang Ning narrowed herrge eyes and said threateningly, ¡°If you let go of Mr. Kevin now, I will take it that nothing ever happened.¡±

    Ye Yun looked like she was in a dilemma, but a few secondster, she gritted her teeth and yelled, ¡°No! I¡¯ve taken a huge risk toe this far! I¡¯m not leaving with nothing!¡±

    Tang Ning wasn¡¯t upset by her cousin¡¯s retort. She nodded thoughtfully and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. This is the most meticulous n I¡¯ve ever seen youe up with, so I think it¡¯s only fair that you walk out of this ce with something. Tell you what, I¡¯ll agree to your third condition.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Ye Yun looked like she didn¡¯t expect this at all. She blinked several times and asked, ¡°You¡¯re good with my third condition?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve agreed to it. Also, don¡¯t worry, I guarantee you that your parents won¡¯t make any protest. BUT¡­we will still decide who goes with you.¡±

    Ye Yun let go of Kevin and she only handed the pen over when Tang Ning stretched a hand out towards her.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes as he said, ¡°For the sake of going bungee jumping, you went so far as to hold someone hostage?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know the backstory, so you don¡¯t understand.¡± Ye Yun had a mysterious look on her face when she said this and Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he should believe her or not.

    Tang Ning patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulder and sighed. ¡°Stay calm at all times! You¡¯ll get used to this girl. It isn¡¯t the first time she¡¯s pulling a stunt like this. Also, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to apany her bungee jumping.¡±

    ¡°No way!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t afraid of most things but he was really afraid of heights. An activity like bungee jumping would never make it to his bucket list.

    ¡°No way am I letting you say no way,¡± said Tang Ning with a big grin as she patted his shoulder.

    ¡°Now I know why you didn¡¯t want to bring her along.¡± Su Jin pulled a long face. Even though Ye Yun hadn¡¯t actually injured anyone, she did pose a threat to most people. It was little wonder that Tang Ning had been unwilling to let her tag along.

    Tang Ning told Su Jin and Ye Yun to leave the room, then smiled as she apologized to Kevin and his team, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about this, Mr. Kevin! My cousin is really¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all right. Both of them are real fighters, perfect in both strength and technique. Are they the trainers from yourpany whom we will be working with?¡± Kevin wasn¡¯t offended and actually showed his admiration for the two of them.

    Tang Ning shook her head andughed. ¡°No, no, those two¡­If you need troublemakers, no problem, but if you need security personnel, you¡¯ve got to look elsewhere. I¡¯ll still be counting on everyone here to train our staff.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad! But if it¡¯s possible, I hope that we could get more chances to interact with the both of them. Also¡­could you call a doctor for my subordinate over there?¡± said Kevin calmly as he pointed at the unconscious Thomas by the door.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Tang Ning smiled.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Ye Yun were walking around the office. It seemed like it was Ye Yun¡¯s first time visiting the office. She kept asking him questions and looked about with a curious look on her face.

    ¡°When did you start being so¡­unrestrained?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure how else to describe Ye Yun¡¯s behavior.

    Ye Yun continued skipping along and said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to answer you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Like I said before, you don¡¯t know the backstory. If I could live like an ordinary person, I¡¯d definitely be the good daughter my parents want me to be and I¡¯d find a nice boy to settle down with. But unfortunately, that¡¯s not the case for me.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happened? You can see your future? You saw a vision of how the world got destroyed and so you decided to just live life in any way you want?¡± remarked Su Jin casually as he waved at his colleague to greet him, then realized that Ye Yun had suddenly stopped walking and was staring at him in shock.

    ¡°Well¡­you¡¯re quite close.¡± Ye Yun broke into a smile after snapping out of her initial shock. For that moment, Su Jin felt like this seemingly outrageous girl was really facing some trouble of her own.

    ¡°You know¡­I¡¯ve said this before, if you¡¯re facing any difficulties or if you¡¯re worried about something, you can talk to me about it. I know¡­perhaps you don¡¯t see us as friends and I guess that¡¯s only normal but¡­but if you don¡¯t mind, I don¡¯t mind being your friend.¡± Su Jin rambled a bit in between nervously probably because he did really like this crazy girl.

    Ye Yun didn¡¯t say anything and just looked at him quietly. She waited until he was done talking, then nodded slightly and smiled. ¡°Of course we¡¯re friends. It¡¯s not easy to find someone who¡¯s still willing to talk to me after getting bashed up by me for an entire month.¡±

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve discovered one of my strengths.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got a body that can take a beating?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m RESILIENT.¡±

    ¡°If you say so. When are we going bungee jumping?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going bungee jumping.¡±

    ¡°My cousin said you have to. So when are we going?¡±

    ¡°Little Miss Trouble, can we talk about something else?¡±

    ¡°No way!¡±

    Tang Ning¡¯s discussion with Kevin went very smoothly. Thor Security Services was willing to be trainers for Ster Skies¡¯ new security subsidiary. Also, after Thomas regained consciousness, the first thing he did wasn¡¯t to get angry at Su Jin but to start insisting that he wanted to learn Chinese kungfu from Su Jin.

    The next morning, Su Jin returned to his rented bungalow after he had bought a pile of groceries. Even though Li Man was just dropping by to thank him formally, he felt that it wasmon courtesy to ask her to stay for a meal. This was the first time a female colleague wasing to visit him and he didn¡¯t want to seem rude.

    ¡°You¡¯ve bought so much food and you¡¯re just passing it all to me?¡± Kano Mai red at Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this food in your good hands, team mate-san.¡± Su Jin bowed deeply towards Kano Mai.

 Chapter 42: Su Jin the Scion

    <h4>Chapter 42: Su Jin the Scion</h4>

    Li Zhikai and Li Man arrived outside Su Jin¡¯s ce slightly after 7pm. Their first thought when they saw the bungalow was that they must havee to the wrong ce, so they walked down the road again but couldn¡¯t find a second ce with the same address. Eventually, they called Su Jin and confirmed that this huge bungalow was indeed where Su Jin was living.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Are you some rich man¡¯s son pretending to be poor? Or a government official in in clothes hoping to get in touch with the underground?¡± Li Zhikai stared in amazement at Su Jin¡¯s house. He could hardly believe that the young man who used to live in some tiny ce in a basement would live in such a ce now.

    ¡°Oh, this ce belongs to my friend. He¡¯s gone overseas so he let me stay here for the time being,¡± said Su Jin casually.

    But Li Zhikai wasn¡¯t going to be fooled so easily. He grinned and said, ¡°Oh please, you can¡¯t fool me. Your friend could have rented this ce out for at least 20 or 30 grand a month. You mean your friend isn¡¯t interested in that sort of money?¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t like the idea of someone he doesn¡¯t know staying at his ce and he¡¯s not short of money anyway¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, no need to exin to me. It¡¯s none of my business anyway. As long as you know what you¡¯re doing.¡± Li Zhikai shook his head and continued his slow tour of the house, refusing to listen to Su Jin exin his situation.

    Meanwhile, Mandy¡¯s eyes were wide as she stared at the house in awe. Her mind had automatically ssified Su Jin as some rich man¡¯s son who was just pretending to be an average guy all this time. So that was why he bashed up the mayor¡¯s son without even thinking, she thought.

    ¡°Brother Su, er¡­if you hadn¡¯t helped me out thest time, I would definitely have been taken advantage of, so¡­thank you very much for doing that!¡± Li Man no longer spoke to Su Jin haughtily and her voice was even softer than before.

    Of course, Su Jin could tell what Li Man was trying to do. He just smiled politely and didn¡¯t say anything. Thest thing he wanted was to have anything to do with her.

    But just because he didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with her didn¡¯t mean Li Man thought the same. She was one of the few pretty youngdies of Ster Skies, so she was very picky about who she went out with. She despised all the male colleagues of her rank but couldn¡¯t get any chance to work with higher management. Now that she had assumed that Su Jin was rich, there was no way she was letting go of him so easily.

    ¡°Brother Su, since I¡¯m here to thank you, why don¡¯t you let me treat you to dinner? I know of a pretty nice ce and I think we can still get seats at this hour.¡± Li Man looked so imploringly at Su Jin, it was as if she was ready to swallow him whole.

    ¡°No need, we can just have dinner here!¡± Su Jin was creeped out by the way Li Man was staring at him and quickly started making his way towards the kitchen.

    Li Man was pleasantly surprised by this offer and said with a smile, ¡°Brother Su, you know how to cook too? My mother always said that men who know how to cook are kind and considerate.¡±

    ¡°Haha! I don¡¯t know how to cook, but I¡¯ve got someone in the house who knows how to,¡± said Su Jin as heughed awkwardly before yelling into the kitchen, ¡°Mai, are you almost done?¡±

    ¡°Yup, almost done! You can ask your guests to make themselvesfortable at the dining table.¡± The sound of Kano Mai¡¯s voiceing from the kitchen made the smile on Li Man¡¯s face freeze instantly.

    ¡°There¡¯s another woman in the house? It must be his family nanny or someone like that,¡± Li Man assured herself as she quickly fixed her smile. She had to make sure Su Jin saw her most perfect side all the time.

    Li Man was extremely confident in her looks. She came from a low ie family, but she was born with naturally pretty features and the perfect figure. Even those women from rich families with ess to expensive makeup and skincare products would lookcklustre next to her. She was very certain that if she had hailed from a rich family, she wouldn¡¯t lose to anyone in the looks department, not even to the hottest celebrities.

    She was also very sure that Su Jin would eventually fall for her charms. But she also knew that she had to take the initiative when it came to these rich men, so she walked towards the kitchen and called out sweetly, ¡°Brother Su, I can help!¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! How could I let our guest help?¡± Just then, Kano Mai emerged from the kitchen with a te of food. She was dressed in a blue dress and a pale yellow apron, while her ck lustrous locks were tied into a bun behind her head. A few stray strands had slipped out from the bun and covered her forehead.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but go into a daze when he saw Kano Mai dressed like this. Her looks and figure were always so perfect that he felt that she was unattainable and never harboured any ideas about her. But today, he was mesmerized for a moment by her approachable and homely look.

    He wasn¡¯t alone. Li Zhikai was blown away by her beauty and even Li Man suddenly felt her confidence copse. She had been so sure of her looks and figure just seconds ago, only to clearly lose to Kano Mai in both aspects.

    ¡°Jin, this youngdy is¡­?¡± Li Zhikai could tell that Li Man was interested in Su Jin and thought he could help her out. He didn¡¯t expect another woman in the house.

    Before Su Jin could say anything, Kano Mai spoke up first, ¡°Hello! My name is Kano Mai and I¡¯m living together with Brother Su!¡±

    ¡°Living together?!¡± These two words hit Li Man like a brick and Li Zhikai looked like he had trouble processing this new piece of information.

    Su Jin was equally speechless. Describing their situation like this without any details would definitely make everyone¡¯s imagination run wild. But he quickly also realized that Kano Mai was actually trying to help him out of this sticky situation with an overly enthusiastic Li Man.

    ¡°Er, yeah! That¡¯s right! Sorry I didn¡¯t tell you guys!¡± Su Jin walked over to Kano Mai and put an arm around her shoulder. But the moment his handnded on her shoulder, she put her hand around his waist and gave him a good pinch, causing him to nearly double over in pain.

    Li Man felt so frustrated when she saw how intimate Su Jin and Kano Mai were but couldn¡¯t do anything about it. She grabbed her bag and said to Su Jin, ¡°Well, I¡¯m done with my visit then. Bye!¡±

    She turned around and marched towards the front door, leaving Li Zhikai alone with the couple. He felt equally awkward and grinned sheepishly at Su Jin before turning to say to Kano Mai, ¡°Nice to meet you, Miss Kano. Er¡­it¡¯s not safe for a youngdy to walk around by herself at this hour, so I¡¯m going to send Li Man home.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Brother Li!¡± Su Jin smiled at Li Zhikai while enduring the pain in his side. Li Zhikai shook his head and quickly ran after Li Man.

    Once the two of them had left the house, Su Jin hurriedly let go of Kano Mai and she let go of him as well. Sheughed merrily and said, ¡°Did your pain sensitivity drop after drinking those body strengthening elixirs?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to pinch me so hard!!¡± Su Jin started massaging his sore ribs vigorously.

    She rolled her eyes at him and walked back into the kitchen to get the rest of the food. When she walked out again, she burst outughing when she saw that Su Jin had already taken his seat at the dining table and looked all ready to start eating.

    He mumbled awkwardly, ¡°You¡¯ve already cooked all this food, so I wouldn¡¯t want it to go to waste.¡±

    ¡°Seriously though, that girl was rather pretty. Why don¡¯t you like her?¡± Kano Mai put the food down, then poured Su Jin a ss of red wine, as if she were really a sweet and dutiful wife.

    Su Jin started eating the food hungrily and gave her a big thumbs up for the delicious food. ¡°I can¡¯t possibly fall in love with every pretty woman, right? Besides, she¡¯s nowhere as pretty as you are. You¡¯ve raised my standards so high.¡±

    ¡°Aww, how sweet of you! But I didn¡¯t add any honey to the food!¡± Kano Maiughed as she happily epted Su Jin¡¯spliments. She poured herself a ss of red wine too and they clinked sses.

    ¡°By the way, how did you know I don¡¯t like Li Man?¡± asked Su Jin curiously. Kano Mai had obviously detected this early on, which was why she had helped him out.

    ¡°It was pretty obvious. You looked at her like¡­she was the most burdensome thing in the world,¡± replied Kano Mai with a faint smile as she took a sip of red wine.

    Su Jin gave her another big thumbs up, then asked curiously while eating, ¡°Mai, I realized you¡¯ve cooked Chinese food today. I didn¡¯t know you knew how to cook Chinese dishes too.¡±

    ¡°I learned during my time in my Personal Hell Domain. It didn¡¯t take me long to pick it up anyway,¡± said Kano Mai as she stuck her tongue out a little shyly. ¡°I like to eat these dishes too anyway. So I might as well learn how to cook them myself instead of having to go to a restaurant.¡±

    Su Jin was more than happy to hear that Kano Mai had such a wonderful hobby. Suddenly, his phone started ringing. It wasn¡¯t a number he recognized.

    ¡°Hello, are you one of Su Qing¡¯s family members? I am Su Qing¡¯s homeroom teacher, Lu Ying,¡± a middle aged woman¡¯s voice came over the phone.

    Su Jin was surprised to hear that this was a call from his younger sister¡¯s homeroom teacher. He quickly responded, ¡°Hello, Ms. Lu. I¡¯m Su Qing¡¯s older brother. Did something happen to Su Qing?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t be rmed, it¡¯s nothing very serious. I just wanted to inform you that Su Qing¡¯s grades have fallen very badly recently. I know she lives in the school dormitory and rarely goes home, so I was afraid that she might be mixing with the wrongpany or there might be some other reason for this sudden drop in her grades. After much consideration, I thought it would be better to check in with her family first.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­thanks for calling, Ms. Lu. I¡¯ll head over to the school tomorrow and talk to her about what¡¯s going on.¡± Su Qing had always been an obedient girl and did well in school. He was surprised to hear her teacher say that her grades had fallen badly and wondered if it was because he had given her too much money thest time.

    ¡°Yes, I was hoping you could do that. But I also hope that you could be sensitive and listen to her as well, especially since Su Qing is at an age where she might not take advice from her family members very well if you¡¯re too harsh,¡± said Lu Ying patiently.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take note of that. Thank you so much for letting me know, Ms. Lu.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. As Su Qing¡¯s homeroom teacher, I¡¯m just doing what I ought to. Sorry to interrupt your day!¡± said Lu Ying.

    ¡°Thank you! Bye!¡± Su Jin hung up and started frowning immediately. If Su Qing had really started misbehaving because she suddenly had the money to do so, then he shouldn¡¯t have transferred her so much in the first ce.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Kano Mai when she saw the deep frown on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    He tapped his nose and smiled sadly, ¡°Nothing. My younger sister is now at the height of her teenage years, so I¡¯m going to visit her in school tomorrow to rectify any bad decisions someone her age might make.¡±

    Kano Mai immediately shook her head in response. She would have loved to help, but it wasn¡¯t her ce to.

    Early the next morning, Su Jin seemed to be in turbo mode as he took the first flight out of S City and made the long journey all the way back to his hometown, finally arriving in the evening. He didn¡¯t tell his sister that he wasing at all. He was going to spring a surprise inspection on her.

    It¡¯smon for the rich families to have their own in-house cook who¡¯s usually 1) an older and married female 2) doubles up as a maid or nanny for the family¡¯s children, shuttling between the parents¡¯ and the children¡¯s houses if necessary

 Chapter 43: Eating Into Him

    <h4>Chapter 43: Eating Into Him</h4>

    Su Jin arrived at his sister¡¯s school and met up with Lu Ying almost immediately. Lu Ying was in her forties and looked like a very strict sort of teacher.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to arrive so quickly. I¡¯ll write you a note, you can just show this to the female dormitory warden and she¡¯ll let you in,¡± said Lu Ying as she quickly filled out a visitor form for Su Jin.

    ¡°It¡¯s not appropriate for a grown man like me to just walk in like that, no?¡± Su Jin was a little hesitant. He had visited the female dormitory himself when he was a student and knew very well what sort of dangers lurked in that ce. He had been pretty traumatized back then.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. We don¡¯t have a lot of students living on campus, so you¡¯ll be fine as long as you don¡¯t walk into the wrong ce.¡± Lu Ying went back to marking her students¡¯ homework.

    Su Jin thanked her, then headed for the female dorms with the note he had gotten from Lu Ying. When he got to the dormitory, he realized why Lu Ying wasn¡¯t worried at all. The dormitory was a very simple and open three-story building. If anything happened to the girls, they just needed to scream and the entire school would hear it.

    The dormitory warden was ady in her fifties who just waved him in without even looking at the note carefully.

    Su Jin found his sister¡¯s room with the information Lu Ying had given him, only to find that she wasn¡¯t in the room. The dust on her doorknob told him that she hadn¡¯t been inside the room for several days now.

    His expression darkened. ¡°Getting bold now, huh?¡± he thought. He couldn¡¯t believe his younger sister actually started staying elsewhere without telling her family.

    ¡°Hello there, do you know where Su Qing is?¡± Su Jin asked the girl staying in the room next to Su Qing¡¯s. Unfortunately, Su Jin had arrived after school hours. Otherwise, he would have gone straight to the ssrooms to look for her.

    The girl was very helpful as she replied, ¡°Su Qing? She doesn¡¯t stay here anymore. I think she¡¯s staying with Yang Mengmeng.¡±

    ¡°Yang Mengmeng?¡± Su Jin blinked. That sounded like a girl¡¯s name.

    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s the girl who sells dumplings just outside the school. You¡¯ll definitely see it once you step out of the main gate,¡± said the girl as she pointed the way out to Su Jin.

    ¡°Thanks!¡± Su Jin smiled at her gratefully and quickly walked out of the dormitory.

    After he left, the few girls in the dormitory started talking about him. The girl who talked to him looked infatuated as she said, ¡°Was that Su Qing¡¯s boyfriend? He¡¯s so handsome!¡±

    ¡°Handsome? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the right word. But there¡¯s something about him that makes one feel veryfortable around him,¡± said another girl. The first girl thought about it for a while, and then nodded in agreement.

    Su Jin¡¯s looks were only average, but after going through two Challenges and two years of training inside his Personal Hell Domain, he carried himself very differently now. He used to be just another man on the street whom nobody would even take notice of, but now, he was like a highly polished sword outside of its sheath, attracting attention everywhere he went.

    When Su Jin walked into the school earlier, he had noticed a shop just outside the school, so he knew which ce the girl was talking about. The ce looked like it was both a shop front as well as a home for residence. It was only slightly past 8pm but the shop was already closed. The front of the shop was made from a panel of wooden nks and the entire front was sealed.

    Su Jin knocked on the wooden nks but nobody responded, so he started knocking harder. To his surprise, someone on the inside mmed something heavy against the back of the wooden nk.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when he heard a voice yell out from inside.

    ¡°Go away! If you guys make trouble for us again, I¡¯m going to call the police! Mengmeng, you¡¯ve got to pull yourself together!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s really inside!¡± Su Jin recognized his younger sister¡¯s voice immediately. But judging from what she said, it seemed like she was being harassed.

    ¡°How dare you tell your older brother to go away! I¡¯m going to spank you for being rude!¡± yelled Su Jin.

    ¡°Go to¡­wait, what?!¡± Su Qing was about to curse at Su Jin when she suddenly froze as she recognized her own brother¡¯s voice. There was a rustling noise as one of the wooden nks was removed and Su Qing stuck her head out.

    Su Jin immediately rapped his knuckles on her head and she yelped. But after that, she squeezed out from between the wooden nks and threw herself into his arms.

    ¡°You¡¯re here!!¡± Su Qing held onto her brother and refused to let go.

    Su Jin sighed and couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be angry with his sister. He gently patted her head of fine and soft hair and she rubbed her head against his palm.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t think that you can get away by pretending to be a cute little girl. What¡¯s going on?¡± Su Jin purposely put on a stern expression to exert his authority as her older brother.

    ¡°Come in first!¡± Su Qing¡¯s eyes darted about, then pulled Su Jin into the shop.

    After Su Jin entered the shop, he realized that there was another girl inside. She looked around the same age as Su Qing and she was staring at him. The shop used old tungsten bulbs, so the light was bright but yellowish, which made the girl look especially frail.

    ¡°Let me introduce you. This is my best friend, Yang Mengmeng. Mengmeng, this is my older brother, Su Jin!¡± Su Qing hooked an arm around Su Jin¡¯s and looked like she was about to make an extremely important announcement.

    ¡°Hello, Brother Su!¡± Yang Mengmeng spoke very softly, like an easily frightened bunny.

    ¡°Hello, Mengmeng.¡± Su Jin nodded, then looked around the shop. The shop space was very small and there was no second story nor separate room. Besides the kitchen, the only other thing in the shop lot was a double bed, which meant that Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng were the only ones staying here.

    ¡°Have a seat!¡± Su Qing got Su Jin a stool.

    Su Jin sat down, looked at Su Qing and asked calmly, ¡°Ms. Lu called me and said that your grades have been slipping recently, then I found out you¡¯re no longer staying on campus. Don¡¯t you think you owe me an exnation for this?¡±

    Su Qing was mentally prepared that her brother would ask about what was going on, so she made a face and was about to start exining the situation when the sound of someone banging against the wooden nks echoed in the small shop.

    ¡°Come out, you two! I know you¡¯re in there! Did you think you¡¯d be safe inside? If you don¡¯t hand the shop over today, I¡¯m going to teach you a lesson!¡± There were a number of voices yelling from outside, so there was more than one man outside the shop.

    Su Jin saw the two girls instantly tense up and guessed that this must be the issue affecting his sister. He got up to walk towards the shopfront but Su Qing pulled him back.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go out! They¡¯re nothing but a bunch of gangsters. If we ignore them, they¡¯ll eventually go away.¡±

    But immediately after she said that, the banging noise from outside grew even louder. The men outside were attempting to break the nks.

    Yang Mengmeng trembled frantically and even the usually brave Su Qing started feeling scared. Su Jin patted his sister¡¯s hand to assure her, then walked to the front. He followed the noise and pulled the wooden nk there aside.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± The man trying to break the nk was shocked to see the nk suddenly disappear.

    ¡°I see the two girls have gotten a man to help them out! And you think that would make a difference? Do you know who the hell I am? I¡¯m the big brother around here! Young man, if you know what¡¯s good for you, fuck off, or I¡¯ll break your legs!¡± Standing outside the shop were six men in their twenties who looked like thugs. The one speaking was only about 1.6 meters tall and wore chains all over himself. His fashion sense was very weird.

    Su Jin pped the man across the cheek without saying a word. This time, he knew how much strength to use. The man stumbled backwards after being pped and his cheek instantly swelled up.

    The other men didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to suddenly strike like that, so they stood in stunned silence even after Su Jin had pped their leader.

    ¡°My sister has only one big brother and that¡¯s ME! If you want to be her big brother, I can send you to hell right now and you can reincarnate as her brother in your next life!¡± spat Su Jin frostily. These men were clearly just small time hooligans, yet they were so daring. This was a very unsafe ce for his sister, he thought.

    ¡°Why, you! How dare you p me! All of you, thrash him!¡± yelled the man as he clutched his cheek in pain. Su Jin¡¯s p had broken several of his teeth and his mouth was filled with blood.

    The other five immediately charged towards Su Jin. If Su Jin were still that ordinary office employee of the past, these five men might have ended up killing him. But now, these fellows weren¡¯t even enough for a warm up.

    In mere seconds, Su Jin had given each of the five men a p across the cheek as well. In fact, he had pped every single one in the same ce, so all of them clutched the same cheek and wailed in pain on the ground.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s go!¡± The leader could see that they were no match for Su Jin, so it was better to just run for it. They hade to threaten the two high school girls only to run off with their tails between their legs.

    Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng were still in shock from Su Jin¡¯s first p. By the time they snapped out of their daze, all the men had disappeared out of sight.

    Su Jin sat back down on his stool and cupped his face with both hands. He could sense this angry sort of restlessness inside him threatening to gush out from within his body and there was something very wrong about it. It was probably the power of the Demon Lord taking its effect on him.

    After he started using the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power, he started feeling this odd restlessness inside. It usually disappeared almost instantly, but after he punched Thomas the day before and pped those men earlier, Su Jin realized that this rage wasn¡¯t normal. It was a rage that didn¡¯te from himself.

    He had already guessed that bad things would happen once he started using the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power, but in a life and death situation, he didn¡¯t have a choice. The good part was that the Demon Lord was eating into him at a fairly slow pace, so he still had time to prepare himself for what was toe.

    ¡®Calm down, calm down!¡¯ he told himself. ¡®The Demon Lord¡¯s hold over me isn¡¯t too strong yet, so as long as I keep myself in check, I should be okay.¡¯ Su Jin¡¯s quickened breathing slowly calmed down.

    When he took his hands away from his face and looked up again, he saw that Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng were both looking at him like he was their hero and their eyes sparkled with admiration.

 Chapter 44: The Vamp

    <h4>Chapter 44: The Vamp</h4>

    ¡°I¡¯ve known you all my life and I never knew you were this amazing.¡±

    ¡°Brother Su, you¡¯re amazing! Those men are from one of the most powerful gangs around here and everyone¡¯s really scared of them.¡±

    The two girls were in awe of Su Jin¡¯s heroic actions earlier.

    But Su Jin was getting really worried. If this went on, he might lose the morals and values he believed in. Would he still be himself if that happened?

    ¡°Don¡¯t treat violence as something to be celebrated. Why were those people here?¡±

    Su Qing started exining everything in detail to her older brother. It turned out that this dumpling shop was actually owned by Yang Mengmeng and her mother. Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother was ill and had to be hospitalized but they couldn¡¯t afford the hospital fees, so Yang Mengmeng had no choice but to ask her father for help even though her parents were already divorced.

    Yang Mengmeng¡¯s father had already remarried and not only was he unwilling to help with the bills after hearing what happened, he even started scheming how he could take over the little shop his ex-wife owned. On the contrary, it was his new wife who was magnanimous and willing to help. She eventually gave Yang Mengmeng $10,000 two dayster.

    Yang Mengmeng gratefully epted the money and went to the hospital to pay the bills. She thought everything would get better from then on, but it was only the beginning of her nightmare because those gangsters started appearing at the shop.

    The money that the new wife gave to Yang Mengmeng wasn¡¯t her own money at all. Instead, the new wife had used the dumpling shop as a guarantee to borrow $30,000 from those gangsters, giving $10,000 to Yang Mengmeng and keeping the remaining $20,000 for herself.

    The new wife was someone with some clout in this area as well because she was rted to someone in that gang. So, even though Yang Mengmeng and her mother were victims, the gangsters refused to let her off no matter how hard Yang Mengmeng tried to exin things. They wanted to repossess her shop and collect the interest of the debt from her. At this point, the interest was even higher than the original loan itself, so it was impossible for Yang Mengmeng to repay them.

    ¡°So¡­they decided to get violent? Did you girls call the police?¡± Su Jin frowned in disbelief. The government had a tough stance towards gangsters, so they were either all in jail or operating covertly, not boldly banging on doors and threatening school girls like that.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t dare to call the police. Mengmeng is all alone at home and her mother is still in the hospital. If we call the police and they fail to apprehend the gangsters, things will only get worse and it could also affect her mother¡¯s treatment,¡± exined Su Qing.

    Su Jin nodded. He understood where the two girls wereing from. Yang Mengmeng had taken everything upon herself and was afraid that the police would tell her mother about what happened if she called them for help. Her mother wouldn¡¯t be able to rest well in the hospital if that happened.

    While the two girls had the best of intentions, they weren¡¯t mature enough to handle the situation. They were best friends, so Yang Mengmeng told Su Qing about her situation and because Su Qing was worried about Yang Mengmeng, her grades slipped and she even moved in with Yang Mengmeng.

    ¡°Both of you are brave youngdies, but¡­you are also a little too rash and you¡¯ve not covered every possibility. Just imagine: what would have happened if I weren¡¯t here just now? What if they managed to remove the nks and get in here? Do you know how dangerous your situation is?¡± Su Jin spoke very sternly to them. They had good reasons for doing what they did, but it endangered their lives and he felt that he should not condone such behavior.

    Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng hung their heads and he knew they understood the gravity of the situation. He sighed and said, ¡°All right, I¡¯ll go settle this matter tonight. You two just stay put here and call me if anything happens.¡±

    ¡°Where are you going at this hour? Why don¡¯t you wait till tomorrow?¡± Su Qing pulled her brother back.

    Su Jin red at her to tell her to stay put, then patted her head to assure her. After Yang Mengmeng told him where her father stayed, they reced the wooden nk he yanked out earlier, made sure it was safely in ce, and then, Su Jin left the shop.

    Since this entire problem started with Yang Mengmeng¡¯s father¡¯s current wife, it had to end with her.

    Actually, Su Jin didn¡¯t have to do anything about this whole situation. In fact, he didn¡¯t really feel bothered by this matter at all. But the more unbothered he was, the more worried he felt. He knew he was different from before. In the past, even if he didn¡¯t have the means to do anything about the situation, he would have at least felt angry or aggrieved. But now¡­he didn¡¯t feel anything.

    This change of heart made him very worried, so he decided that he had to do the right thing. If he was going to bepletely evil, then he had to do as much good as he could before that happened. And perhaps¡­if he did more good deeds now and felt more love and warmth from others, evil might not seep into him so quickly.

    It was past 10pm by the time Su Jin arrived at his destination. The lights in the house were still on, so he marched up to the door and knocked on it.

    A woman in very thick makeup opened the door. Su Jin nearly burst outughing. This woman was so vampish, she fit the stereotypical look of a man¡¯s mistress in dramas and movies.

    ¡°Who are you looking for?¡± asked the woman.

    ¡°Is this Yang Qiyan¡¯s home?¡± asked Su Jin with a faint smile.

    ¡°Who¡¯s looking for me?¡± said a man from inside before walking to the door. He wore a pair of sses and had a nice blue tie on his neat white shirt. From just his outward appearance, no one would have guessed that he was such a heartless man.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Yang. My name is Su Jin and I would like to talk to you about your daughter,¡± Su Jin went straight to the point in hope of settling this matter as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Mengmeng? What¡¯s happened to her? Her mother and I are already divorced and her mother is now her legal guardian. Please look for her mother instead,¡± said Yang Qiyan impatiently as he pushed his sses up.

    ¡°Her mother is now in the hospital for treatment, so I¡¯m afraid you will need to help to deal with certain matters since you are her father,¡± said Su Jin icily with a frown.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what my husband said? Look for her mother instead! Are you deaf? Get lost!¡± The woman reached out to push Su Jin away from her door.

    Su Jin shifted slightly and flicked his fingers at her in a ce that was out of their line of sight. It was a simple technique for stealth weapons, and this flick was enough for her to lose her bnce and end up falling t on her face.

    ¡°Ouch!!¡± She wailed in pain as shended on the rough cement floor. The skin of her palms were grazed and she started wailing even more loudly when she saw that she was bleeding.

    ¡°How dare you hit her! I¡¯m going to call the police!¡± said Yang Qiyan as he pointed a finger at Su Jin.

    Su Jin nced at him and said calmly, ¡°Mr. Yang, I¡¯d advise you to watch your mouth. It was your wife who tried to push me and all I did was to dodge it. Did you expect me to stand there and let her push me instead?¡±

    ¡°Why, you!¡± Yang Qiyan didn¡¯t know what to say to that. It did look like his wife was the one who tried to push Su Jin andnded on the floor only because she lost her bnce while doing so.

    ¡°Why are you still reasoning it out with him? Call my younger brother and his men toe over right now! I¡¯m going to make sure they beat this boy to a pulp!¡± The woman held up her bloodied hands and did look rather pitiful.

    Yang Qiyan pulled his phone out to make a call while Su Jin ignored their antics and continued saying what he came here to say, ¡°Your ex-wife is now in hospital for treatment and your daughter, Yang Mengmeng, came here to ask if you could help with the hospital bills. You refused to help, but your wife did. She gave Yang Mengmeng $10,000. Did you know about that?

    ¡°Hello? Gouzi? Come over here quickly! Someone¡¯s bullying your older sister!¡± Yang Qiyan ignored Su Jin once the other side picked up the phone.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered either and continued, ¡°But where did this $10,000e from? Your wife used your ex-wife¡¯s store as a guarantee to borrow $30,000, gave Yang Mengmeng $10,000 and took the remaining $20,000 for herself. And now, the moneylenders are forcing Yang Mengmeng to pay up. What are your thoughts on THAT?¡±

    Yang Qiyan pursed his lips angrily. He didn¡¯t know that his wife had done such a thing. At the same time, tears welled up in his wife¡¯s eyes as she yelled at him, ¡°Yang Qiyan, I did this for your own good! Those two burdensome women keep trying to take advantage of you! If I don¡¯t teach them a lesson, you won¡¯t be able to live in peace!¡±

    ¡°But¡­you¡¯ve gone a little overboard too. How much trouble could those two women give me?¡± said Yang Qiyan quietly as he tried to calm her down.

    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit! Don¡¯t you know what that mother and daughter is up to? They can see that we¡¯re childless, so they¡¯re waiting to gobble up your assets once you¡¯re dead! If I didn¡¯t find a way to keep them off your back, those two would definitely find a way to kill you sooner orter!¡± the woman shrieked back.

    Su Jin could hardly believe what he was hearing. This woman was making up an even better story than the one he had deduced out of Fengxi Town!

    Yang Qiyan was obviously afraid of his wife, so even though this woman¡¯s view of the other two women was clearly twisted, he didn¡¯t speak up. Su Jin could only sigh and said, ¡°I¡¯m not going toment on anything else. I¡¯m just here to say that your wife¡¯s the one who borrowed the money, so she ought to be the one to repay the loan. It¡¯s hard enough for Yang Mengmeng and her mother to make ends meet. I¡¯d advise you not to burn bridges like this.¡±

    Just when Yang Qiyan started to hesitate, the sound of metal hitting the floor could be heard from downstairs. A man shouted, ¡°Who the fuck is making trouble for my older sister? Are you tired of living?!¡±

    Su Jin found this voice and manner of speech very familiar, but couldn¡¯t ce it. But before he could recall who this voice belonged to, six men came walking towards him.

    Once he saw their faces, he immediately chuckled. These were the exact same six men he pped outside Yang Mengmeng¡¯s shop earlier.

    ¡°You¡­how dare you find your way to my sister! Bros, show your weapons!¡± shouted the leader. All six of them immediately brandished the knives they were holding.

    But despite being armed, the six of them were still a little afraid of Su Jin and none of them moved. Su Jin tapped his nose and chortled, ¡°So, this whole thing was an inside job. What a great deal.¡±

    ¡°Gouzi, what are you waiting for?! Beat him up now! Chop one of his legs off too! Don¡¯t worry about anything else, I¡¯ll clean up the mess for you!¡± the vampish woman yelled at the leader of the six men.

    ¡°Are you guys here because you realized your faces are asymmetrical now and you¡¯d like me to help you fix that problem?¡± Su Jin grinned at the six men. Everything the vamp said earlier had really riled him up and he was looking for a ce to vent his frustrations. And now, a few punching bags hade knocking on his door.

 Chapter 45: God of the Soil

    <h4>Chapter 45: God of the Soil</h4>

    The six men were a little wary after Su Jin taught them a lesson earlier, but they were a little emboldened by the weapons in their hands, so they started charging towards Su Jin.

    These thugs were actually a really difficult lot to deal with. They made a lot of trouble for everyone in town but it was hard to actually charge them with any crimes. On top of that, they were locals and also had a lot of friends in high ces. If they reallymitted a major crime, they could find a ce to hide themselves fairly easily without being found for a long time. This made these local gangsterscent and unafraid of the consequences, so they were also vicious when it came to fights.

    If Su Jin didn¡¯t have super strength, these fellows would have definitely been able to saw one of his legs off.

    The six men were charging towards him with all their might, but they seemed to move very slowly to Su Jin. It was too hard to dodge their attacks since the corridor was very narrow, so Su Jin decided to just meet them head on.

    He suppressed the violent streak surging in his heart, then pped each of them once. All six of them ended up flinging their knives away and howled miserably as they clutched their painful cheeks.

    The vampish woman was surprised that a nice and decent looking boy like Su Jin turned out to be such a fierce fighter. She shivered all over and quietly moved towards the door, hoping to secretly sneak back into the house.

    Su Jin immediately blocked her way and said, ¡°If these hooligans are the only help you can get, then I¡¯d advise you to put an end to this matter right now. Of course, if you prefer to call the police, I¡¯ll cooperate with the police too.¡±

    There was no way she was calling the police. She knew that all these men dabbled in illegal dealings and calling the police would only get them into more trouble. Besides, since these men were well known gangsters around here, the police would definitely think that they were the ones at fault.

    Just then, Gouzi¡¯s phone started ringing. His eyes lit up when he saw the number, as if he just saw a ray of hope.

    ¡°Hello? Big bwotherr, the twobomakur at da shop is now at my sista¡¯s hoose (the troublemaker at the shop is now at my sister¡¯s house)! Come and sab us pwease e and save us please)!¡± Both of Gouzi¡¯s cheeks were swollen and he couldn¡¯t speak clearly. Even Su Jin didn¡¯t think the person on the other end of the line could understand.

    ¡°Pass it to me!¡± Su Jin walked over to Gouzi and stretched his arm out.

    Gouzi quickly handed his phone over. He was genuinely afraid of Su Jin after he had pped him twice. This wasn¡¯t the first time Gouzi had gotten pped, but this was definitely the first time someone had pped him so hard that he lost teeth.

    ¡°Hello? This fucking Gouzi! What the fuck are you talking about? Speak properly!¡± said the man on the other line.

    ¡°Hello! I think what he was trying to say just now was that the person who hit them at the shop earlier is at his older sister¡¯s ce now, and he wants you to save them.¡±

    ¡°What?! Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m that person who hit them!¡±

    The other end fell silent for a moment, then the man began to cackle. ¡°Heh heh! What great timing! I was still thinking of ways to track you down. Those men over there are just my subordinates, so don¡¯t make life difficult for them anymore. Come over to meet me and we can have a good chat!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this, a trap?¡± Su Jin chuckled. These gangsters were clearly very confident that Su Jin couldn¡¯t do anything about them.

    ¡°To put it simply, those two girls are now with me. You can choose whether you want toe over or not.¡± The other party hung up without waiting for Su Jin¡¯s response, then sent an address via text message.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and if one looked very closely, you could see that his eyelid was quivering very slightly but at very high speed. If Su Qing were here, she would know immediately that her brother was about to blow his top.

    He could feel a fire burning furiously from deep within his heart and he started gnashing his teeth so loudly that everyone around him felt their scalps go numb in fear.

    He took his phone out and tried calling Su Qing, but nobody picked up. The other party wasn¡¯t lying when he said that he had the two girls.

    ¡°Gouzi, was it? Why don¡¯t you take me to this ce?¡± After a while, the gnashing sound stopped. Su Jin grabbed Gouzi by his ponytail and dragged him along.

    Gouzi yelped in pain but didn¡¯t dare to fight back. Once Su Jin was out of sight, everyone couldn¡¯t help but shiver in fear. They felt like they had just been to hell and back.

    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to Gouzi?¡± asked the vampish woman with a trembling voice.

    Yang Qiyan was a lot calmer than her. He took a deep breath and red hard at his wife, but his words were stillforting, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Gouzi¡¯s boss is involved now, so everything will turn out okay. That young fellow is just asking for it.¡±

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had hailed a cab, flung Gouzi into the car, then showed the address to the driver.

    ¡°Please drive us to this ce!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± The driver didn¡¯t recognize Su Jin, but he certainly recognized Gouzi. Gouzi was notorious around here and many cab drivers had been bullied by Gouzi before, including himself.

    ¡°You wittle bastherd (you little bastard), you wah ded meep (you¡¯re dead meat)!¡±

    Su Jin threw him a nce but didn¡¯t say anything. After returning to the real world, he had been relying on this newly strengthened body of his to resolve matters with violence and hadn¡¯t given the consequences much thought. Even though part of his violent tendencies were a result of the Demon Lord¡¯s power taking over him, he was the one who made the decision to fight after all.

    .

    ¡°I hope the girls will be alright!¡± thought Su Jin worriedly as he kept tapping his nose anxiously.

    Gouzi didn¡¯t dare to continue yelling at Su Jin since Su Jin was ignoring him, afraid that Su Jin might suddenly punch him again.

    The car soon arrived at their destination. After paying the driver, Su Jin grabbed Gouzi¡¯s hair again and dragged him out of the car. The cab driver watched all of this gleefully and cheered for Su Jin in his heart.

    The address given was actually a warehouse, but the area had been abandoned for some time. The sound of dogs barking instantly filled the air as the two men approached the warehouse.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t barge in immediately. His rash way of dealing with things earlier had taught him not to do that anymore. While it was true that he was probably strong enough to kill everyone inside with his bare hands, these gangsters might hurt Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng if they were pushed into a corner.

    ¡°Saving the girls is the most important thing right now.¡± Once Su Jin was decided, he hit Gouzi on the back of his neck and Gouzi immediately lost consciousness. Su Jin then took his Handbook out and retrieved a small bottle from his inventory.

    ¡°Witch¡¯s Concealing Potion!¡± The bottle in his hand right now was the concealing potion he had exchanged for after the first Challenge. This was the best thing he had for rescuing hostages.

    He drank it down in one mouthful and both his body and his clothes became invisible. He walked towards the warehouse only after the potion had taken effect.

    Therge ck dogs at the entrance immediately started barking like crazy when he walked in. He was invisible to others, but the dogs could still catch his scent, so he was still visible to the dogs in that sense.

    ¡°What are you stupid dogs barking about? So noisy! I¡¯ll turn all of you into dinner someday!¡± A bald man walked over with a steel bat in hand. He whammed the steel bat hard against the metal pole that the dogs were chained to and the dogs didn¡¯t dare to bark anymore.

    Su Jin continued to walk further into the warehouse while observing his surroundings. The warehouse was extremelyrge and was divided into several rooms by simple metal sheets, like some sort of themed hotel. Each little room was upied by a group of people who were either gambling or drinking and yelling away.

    He used his phone to call Su Qing and listened quietly for her phone ring tone. His hearing had improved tremendously after being strengthened a second time, so now, he could pick up very faint sounds even in such a noisy ce.

    It took more than ten calls for him to finally locate Su Qing. The two girls were locked in a room far from everyone else. Two burly gangsters with arms covered in tattoos stood guard outside.

    Su Jin used the side of his palm to knock out the two gangsters, then pushed the door open. Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng were sitting in a corner with their arms and legs tied up. Su Qing still looked fairly calm while Yang Mengmeng¡¯s face was already covered in tears.

    ¡°Why do you keep crying? Don¡¯t worry, my brother will definitelye and save us.¡± Su Qing was very certain that Su Jin woulde and save them.

    ¡°They have so many men on their side, so if Brother Sues to save us, he¡¯ll be in great danger! It¡¯ll be better if he doesn¡¯te!¡± Yang Mengmeng¡¯s words made Su Jin smile. She was a very timid and frail girl, but she was kind and strong in her own way. She had decided to carry this burden on her own shoulders so that her mother could go through her medical treatment without having to worry about her daughter. That alone took great resilience.

    Su Jin dragged the two unconscious gangsters into the room after he opened the door. The two girls instantly felt their hair stand on end when they saw this happening.

    ¡°Su Qing, it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s a ghost!¡± Yang Mengmeng was so frightened that she immediately moved as close as she could to Su Qing, as if she wished she could hide herself in Su Qing¡¯s clothes.

    Su Qing was normally a fairly bold girl, but her teeth started chattering in fear when she saw that some invisible force was dragging the two burly men into the room by their feet. Anybody with a weaker heart would have fainted by now.

    ¡°Oh dang! I¡¯m still invisible to them,¡± thought Su Jin as he whacked his own forehead. But he had no way of making himself visible again. He had to wait until the potion¡¯s effects wore off by itself.

    So he made his voice much lower than usual and spoke like an old man, ¡°Brave youngdies! You need not fear, for I am the kindhearted God of the Soil(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudigong). In other words, the god watching over this particr area.] and I will bring you out from here.¡±

    ¡°God of the Soil?!¡± The two girls shuddered in fear and shut their eyes tightly when they first heard a voice from nowhere, but they slowly opened their eyes again after hearing what the voice said.

    ¡°That is correct! I am the God who watches over this ce. Both of you are good girls and do not deserve to suffer like this. I shall save both of you, then punish these evildoers,¡± Su Jin continued in his mysterious voice.

    ¡°A god hase to save us!¡± The faces of both girls lit up. None of this made sense, but the two girls immediately chose to believe this God of the Soil was real.

    Actually, the two of them just wanted to be rescued from this awful ce. It didn¡¯t matter who it was. If they heard such a story from someone else, they wouldn¡¯t have believed it. But now, they were prepared to do anything as long as they could get out of here.

    Su Jin used his Boning Knife to cut the ropes around their arms and legs, then whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s tie these two up first, then we¡¯ll leave this ce.¡±

    After they were done tying up the two gangsters, Su Jin said to them, ¡°When I say move, you two move. When I say stop, you two stop. Understand?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Almighty God of the Soil!¡± the two girls responded without any hesitation.

    ¡®you wah ded meep¡¯ HAHAHAHAHA my sense of humour is broken...

    [Tudigong

 Chapter 46: A Crime Scene Like No Other

    <h4>Chapter 46: A Crime Scene Like No Other</h4>

    Su Jin led the way and decided to settle this very simply by just knocking out every person they walked past. He was now invisible to everyone else, so he wasn¡¯t worried about being seen. Instead, those who noticed their friends who had fallen, would run over to take a look, and they would also be knocked out promptly by Su Jin.

    Nothing unusual happened along the way. Su Jin was someone who could knock them out easily in the first ce, regardless of whether he was visible to the rest or not.

    The two girls were even more certain that Su Jin was the God of the Soil that he imed to be as they watched the men fall to the floor unconscious time and again. It only took Su Jin a few minutes to lead them out of the warehouse.

    ¡°Both of you, find a good ce to hide for the time being and someone wille to pick you up,¡± said Su Jin to the two girls.

    ¡°God of the Soil, are you going to teach those bad guys a lesson?¡± asked Yang Mengmeng.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Evildoers must pay the price formitting evil deeds. All right now, quickly run and hide now!¡± Su Jin then turned and walked back towards the warehouse.

    At the same time, Su Qing pulled her phone out to call Su Jin. Since the two of them had already been rescued, there was no need for her older brother to risk his life to save them.

    But to her surprise, a familiar ringtone filled the air once she made that call and she blinked several times in surprise.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he cursed himself for not thinking about this. His own phone had given him away. He ran as quickly as he could away from the two girls, then picked up the phone when he felt that he was far away enough for them not to hear him.

    ¡°Su Qing? Are you girls all right?¡±

    ¡°Wait, Elder Brother, are you¡­are you the God of the Soil?¡±

    ¡°What on earth are you talking about? Are you talking gibberish because you were too traumatized by what happened earlier?¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart started pounding anxiously. He didn¡¯t want to involve his younger sister in the mysterious and dangerous world of the Handbook.

    Su Qing started doubting her ears and said, ¡°Never mind that. Come and pick us up now!¡±

    ¡°Okay! Find a safe ce to wait first, I¡¯lle over as quickly as I can.¡± Su Jin hurriedly hung up after that because he was afraid that Su Qing might notice something amiss.

    But Su Qing was even more puzzled after hanging up. It was strange that her brother didn¡¯t seem curious about how they got out at all, and the fact that she did hear his phone ringing earlier made her even more perplexed.

    By the time Su Jin entered the warehouse again, the entire ce was in chaos. More than a dozen men had suddenly copsed for no reason after all. Anybody would have gone into a panic.

    ¡°Is this some sort of infectious disease?!¡± someone yelled frantically.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. Stupid Number 7 caught some stray dog and stewed it: could he have gotten some sort of rabies or virus?!¡± Several other men started discussing among themselves.

    Just then, a man in his forties surrounded by his subordinates walked over. His expression was aloof and he was definitely the ruthless sort. He kicked a few of the men who were unconscious on the floor, then squatted down to take a closer look.

    ¡°It¡¯s not some virus. Someone hit them from behind so hard that they fainted.¡± The man frowned, got up and scoured the men around him. ¡°Since someone could knock out more than a dozen men without raising the rm, it must have been an inside job! Which one of you was bold enough to do such a thing? Own up now!¡±

    Everyone looked at each other but none of them owned up to doing this. The man scoffed disdainfully and said, ¡°What¡¯s going on now? You had the guts to attack your own bros but you don¡¯t have the guts to own up to it?¡±

    Su Jin watched them in amusement for a while, then suddenly called out, ¡°Don¡¯t bother searching for the culprit among your men. It¡¯s not one of your men who did it.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± A glint shed in the man¡¯s eyes as his sharp eyes looked around but couldn¡¯t find where that voice came from. Everyone else froze as well and looked around to see who had spoken.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t bother saying more. He walked to one of the men and knocked him out on the spot. This caught everyone by surprise but before they could react, Su Jin knocked everybody out swiftly.

    The only one he didn¡¯t knock out was the middle aged man. Su Jin recognized his voice as the man on the phone earlier who told him toe over. He was clearly the leader of the gang.

    There was a good reason why he was the leader after all. Despite being faced with such an eerie situation, he still remained calm. Perspiration covered his forehead and he narrowed his eyes as he stuffed a hand into the pocket of his jacket. He probably had a weapon inside that pocket.

    Su Jin walked to the man, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the floor as he said in a frosty voice, ¡°It¡¯s been a little hard for me to control my emotionstely, and given the things you¡¯ve done in the past, I think killing you would be a suitable judgment for your deeds!¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t kill me, please! Who¡­what are you?! Are you¡­are you a ghost?!¡± The man couldn¡¯t keep it together anymore and started to tremble involuntarily. The possibility of death made him feel a deep sense of terror for the first time in his life.

    ¡°I am¡­the God of the Soil!¡± Su Jin decided to just continue using this narrative. It wasn¡¯t going to impress this gangster boss as much as it impressed the two girls just now, but it was better than a more realistic narrative.

    The man obviously didn¡¯t believe in the existence of gods, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t be living a life of crime right now. But he didn¡¯t really have a choice right now. Su Jin was holding his throat so tightly that he was about to suffocate, so he wheezed, ¡°Let me off and I¡¯ll turn over a new leaf! I promise!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t trust you! However, I¡¯ll still give you a chance!¡± said Su Jin slowly.

    The man breathed a small sigh of relief, then tried to struggle to get out of Su Jin¡¯s grip. He was seriously going to suffocate soon.

    Su Jin let go of him, then knocked the man out without waiting for the man to catch his breath. But Su Jin didn¡¯t leave just yet. He started to set up the ce.

    After looking around the warehouse for a bit, he found several pills that looked like illegal drugs and a few guns. He was surprised that the gang in a small ce like this would have so many contraband items, but then again, that worked in his favor.

    Su Jin proceeded to make it look like everyone had gathered here to take drugs, ced all the guns in obvious spots, then used the leader¡¯s phone to call the police.

    ¡°Hello? Is this the police? I want to report a group of men taking drugs in a warehouse in the southern part of town. They¡¯ve got guns here too. I think these guys might be part of a syndicate. Yes, yes, that abandoned warehouse in the south. Yes, there are quite a number of them! Me? Oh, you can just consider me part of the Chaoyang masses.¡±(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaoyang_masses)] Then Su Jin hung up the phone and flung it aside.

    He left the warehouse and waited for a while. It didn¡¯t take long for the police to arrive, enter the warehouse and carry everybody out.

    ¡°That¡¯s so strange. It¡¯s one thing for a huge party to take drugs together, but how much drugs does it take to knock all of them out like that?¡± One of the police officers was stumped. This was the first time he hade across something like that.

    ¡°You¡¯re not the only onepletely floored by this case. Even our team leader was shocked. He said he¡¯s been a policeman for a few decades now and he¡¯s never seen an easier drug case than this. Apparently these people are famous locally for getting into a lot of trouble with thew and the local police have been waiting for a chance to arrest them but never found enough evidence to do so. I can¡¯t believe these people ended up doing themselves in this time,¡±mented another police officer.

    The team leader they were talking about earlier walked out of the warehouse, removed his cap and scratched his head. ¡°This is really insane. Guess who called the police on these guys.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the leader of this gang! I simply can¡¯t believe it. But never mind that now. We¡¯re going to get so much credit for rounding up these guys! Make sure we get them all!¡± said the team leader with a big smile as he patted the shoulders of his younger subordinates.

    Su Jin finally left when he saw that everything was going as nned. But he had one more problem. It was going to take another 20 minutes before the potion¡¯s effects wore off, so he ended up calling his younger sister again.

    ¡°Su Qing? Which hospital is Mengmeng¡¯s mother warded in? I was thinking of visiting her.¡±

    ¡°Wha-? It¡¯s almost 11pm now! Why don¡¯t we go together tomorrow instead?¡± Su Qing was stunned by her brother¡¯s question. It didn¡¯t seem appropriate to visit anyone in the hospital at this hour.

    But Su Jin said, ¡°I need to go back to S City first thing tomorrow morning, so let¡¯s go tonight. Send me the address, I¡¯ll meet you girls there.¡±

    ¡°Er, okay¡­¡± Su Qing was still puzzled by her brother¡¯s insistence but sent him the hospital¡¯s address and ward number anyway.

    The effects of the potion wore off just as Su Jin arrived at the hospital. He bought a basket of fruit just in time to see Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng arrive in a cab and quickly greeted them with a big smile.

    ¡°Elder Brother, I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s appropriate to visit the sick at this hour.¡± Su Qing rolled her eyes at Su Jin.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s really alright. My mom has trouble sleeping every night anyway.¡± Yang Mengmeng fiddled with her shirt hem as tears welled up in her eyes.

    Su Qing immediately put an arm around her bestie¡¯s shoulder tofort her and the three of them walked into the hospital.

    Just like what Yang Mengmeng had expected, her mother was unable to sleep because of the difort her illness gave her. Seeing her daughter drop by to visit her actually made her feel a lot better.

    ¡°Mom, how are you feeling today?¡± asked Yang Mengmeng worriedly as she held her mother¡¯s hand.

    Her mother squeezed a smile out, then smiled at Su Qing, since this wasn¡¯t Su Qing¡¯s first time visiting her. But she looked a little puzzledly at Su Jin.

    ¡°Auntie, this is my older brother Su Jin. He came back to visit me and heard that you were ill, so he wanted to visit you too,¡± Su Qing quickly introduced Su Jin.

    Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother tried to sit up and Su Jin hurriedly stopped her from doing so. ¡°Auntie, it¡¯s really alright. You need a lot of rest right now, so it¡¯s better to lie down. I don¡¯t know what fruits you prefer, so I just bought a whole basket.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, thank you so much. Su Qing already takes such good care of Mengmeng and now you¡¯ve spent money on fruits like that. I really don¡¯t know how to thank you both,¡± said Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother in a hoarse voice. Her illness had clearly taken its toll on her body.

    ¡°Mom, I¡¯ll get you some warm water.¡± Tears immediately spilled from Yang Mengmeng¡¯s eyes when she heard her mother¡¯s voice. She grabbed the hot water sk and ran out of the room to refill it. Su Qing ran out to apany her as well.

    Su Jin sighed and asked quietly, ¡°Auntie, what¡­what illness are you suffering from?¡±

    ¡°It seems I might havete stage stomach cancer¡­I really wish I could just die now! The longer I live, the more of a burden I am on Mengmeng.¡± Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother had clearly given up any hope of surviving her illness. The look of despair coupled with the worry for her daughter in her eyes was enough to make anyone cry.

    ¡°Have you confirmed the diagnosis?¡± Su Jin asked.

    ¡°Not yet. This hospital is too small. I¡¯ll have to go to arger hospital to get it confirmed. But there¡¯s no point in doing that. Since I¡¯m going to die anyway, I¡¯d rather die here. At least I¡¯d be able to be with Mengmeng during this time,¡± she said with a sad smile.

    Just then, a nurse walked in with the medicine that Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother needed. There were more than 20 pills in total.

    Yang Mengmeng and Su Qing came back with the warm water and Su Jin helped to pour her a ss. He quietly flipped his palm and an inconspicuous looking pill quietly fell into therge pile of pills that Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother had to take.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s not confirmed, don¡¯t give up hope. Sometimes¡­having hope can make miracles happen,¡± said Su Jin with a faint smile.

    [Chaoyang Masses

 Chapter 47: Shooting Genius

    <h4>Chapter 47: Shooting Genius</h4>

    Su Jin went to Yang Qiyan¡¯s ce first thing the next morning. Now that the vampish woman knew that her younger brother¡¯s boss and the rest of the gang had been arrested, she didn¡¯t dare to speak arrogantly anymore. Su Jin threw $10,000 at Yang Qiyan to put an end to this matter.

    On the way back to S City, Ye Yun called him. Of course, she was calling him only because she wanted to know when he was taking her bungee jumping as promised. Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand why Ye Yun was so insistent on going bungee jumping and had to try his best to find a reason to stall for time.

    After he arrived in S City, he met up with Kano Mai at a farm in the suburbs. It was only when he walked into the farm that he realized that it was a fully equipped shooting range.

    ¡°Let me introduce you guys. This is my good friend, Oda Shinako. This is also my good friend, Su Jin!¡± Kano Mai introduced another pretty Japanese young woman to Su Jin.

    ¡°Hello,¡± said Su Jin with a slight nod. He was really surprised that Oda Shinako had been able to maintain such arge shooting range in S City. He doubted that even the richest tycoons in the country could make this happen, never mind a youngdy from apletely different country.

    ¡°A good friend of Mai¡¯s is a good friend of mine. Mr. Su, please feel free to use any equipment you like. At first, I thought of introducing a few renowned instructors to you, but Mai said she¡¯ll teach you herself, so I gave up that idea. There¡¯s probably no sharper shooter than Mai in the world,¡± said Oda Shinako cheekily. Her Mandarin was fluent enough for her to host a TV show.

    ¡°Shinako, are you ming me for not teaching you? If you really want to learn, you can tag along with us today!¡± Kano Mai rolled her eyes at her friend. She knew what Oda Shinako was thinking.

    Oda Shinako brightened up and bowed slightly towards Su Jin. ¡°This is all thanks to you, Mr. Su!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Mai will be our teacher today, so as fellow students, we¡¯ve got to help each other out!¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    Kano Mai ignored their banter and led the way to the actual shooting range. It didn¡¯t take them long to reach an enclosed range. The range was in a quiet and secluded ce, so nobody would be affected by the sounds of the gunshots here.

    ¡°I¡¯m best at using sniper rifles, but you two don¡¯t have to learn that since you don¡¯t have any use for that. Besides, I don¡¯t know how to teach you the exact skills required either. So, I¡¯ll just teach you the basics of shooting today.¡± Kano Mai picked out two handguns and passed them to Su Jin and Oda Shinako.

    ¡°Go ahead and start shooting. Just fire ten rounds.¡±

    Oda Shinako went first. From her posture, Su Jin could tell that she was an expert and was certainly no newbie who had never held a gun before. But that wasn¡¯t anything to be surprised about. After all, why would someone who knew nothing about guns maintain a professional shooting range?

    All ten rounds were fired in quick session and the sound of thest bullet could still be heard even after Oda Shinako put the gun down. That was how quick and steady her shots were.

    The machine brought the target board closer to them and Oda Shinako¡¯s ten shots were almost all within the ninth ring. This was an excellent result. If she had taken more time between shots, she would definitely have gotten a better result. Even some professional athletes might not be as good as her.

    ¡°Not bad! Steady, urate and fast! Jin, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Kano Mai motioned to Su Jin to go ahead.

    Su Jin picked up the gun and found that it was a little heavier than ck Fire. He released the safety catch and started shooting. He also fired all ten rounds in quick session and didn¡¯t seem to have fired them any slower than Oda Shinako did.

    Oda Shinako was initially surprised by Su Jin¡¯s steadiness and thought that he was secretly an expert. But once the machine brought the target board closer, all three of them burst outughing. Only one of Su Jin¡¯s bullets hit the target board and it was only on the third ring.

    ¡°Haha! Mr. Su, shooting fast doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯d shoot better,¡± said Oda Shinako with a hand over her mouth as sheughed.

    Su Jin scratched his head in embarrassment. This was the first time he had fired a gun. Since he didn¡¯t have any experience, he didn¡¯t even know how to aim at the target and could only go with whatever he felt was right. He didn¡¯t expect his results to be this poor.

    But Kano Mai looked like she was in deep thought as she took a closer look at the target board. A few momentster, she eximed, ¡°Your hands are really steady!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin asked puzzledly.

    Oda Shinako didn¡¯t understand why Kano Mai made that remark either. She looked at Su Jin¡¯s target board again but still didn¡¯t notice anything different.

    ¡°None of the ten bullets he fired hit anywhere near the bullseye, but¡­all of them went through the same spot.¡± Kano Mai spelled it out when she saw that Oda Shinako still didn¡¯t get it.

    ¡°Wait, what?! That¡¯s impossible!¡± Oda Shinako was shocked for two seconds before expressing her disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s simply impossible. No matter how steady a shooter¡¯s hands are, there are other factors that can affect the bullet. It doesn¡¯t take much to affect a bullet¡¯s trajectory, so it¡¯s impossible for ten bullets to all hit the exact same spot.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s take a look at the tapes then.¡± This shooting range was also equipped with high speed cameras. Oda Shinako pulled out a tablet from one side of the counter and yed back Su Jin¡¯s shots in slow motion.

    They were watching it in slow motion, but the entire video was done in less than half a minute. The footagepletely blew Oda Shinako¡¯s mind.

    Just like what Kano Mai said earlier, all of Su Jin¡¯s shots had gone through the exact same spot. The hole in the third ring of his target board had actually been created by ten bullets.

    ¡°How¡­how can this be?!¡± Oda Shinako was a sharp shooter herself but she had never met anybody who could shoot like this before.

    ¡°Nothing is impossible.¡± Kano Mai suddenly held up a hand gun and shot ten rounds in quick session. The machine brought her target board close to them and they saw that there was only one hole in the bullseye.

    ¡°You alwaysin that I don¡¯t teach you how to be a sharper shooter, but that¡¯s not the real problem. Your own constitution has to be stronger before you can improve, otherwise there¡¯s no way you can replicate my technique.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sure that Su Jin made those shots mostly by instinct. His body made several unnoticeable adjustments in order to achieve this result. All he needs now is to learn basic technique. Once he¡¯s practiced enough, he¡¯ll be one of the best shooters in the world very quickly. As for you¡­you¡¯d need to do something about your physical body first.¡± Kano Mai had agreed to let her friend tag along, but she was actually using Su Jin to illustrate her point.

    Oda Shinako nodded with a disappointed look on her face. Then she looked at Su Jin with some surprise. ¡°Mai, you said that one needs a very strong body, right? But Mr. Su¡­doesn¡¯t seem all that muscr.¡±

    ¡°Muscr? If you think that having a strong body just means you¡¯ve got to look like a gori, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ve got the wrong concept.¡± Kano Mai shook her head.

    Oda Shinako considered Kano Mai¡¯s words for a while, thenughed sadly. ¡°It looks like I¡¯m really unable to understand your world and our standards are really too far apart. But¡­I¡¯ll catch up someday! All right then, I won¡¯t interrupt your practice anymore.¡± She bowed slightly at Su Jin.

    Su Jin bowed in return and Oda Shinako left. Kano Mai then said to Su Jin, ¡°Just like what I said before, you¡¯ve got a very powerful body now. Techniques that require extremely high levels of control is child¡¯s y to you, while most other people have to spend years of training to achieve it. Shooting for you is not really something you have to learn. It¡¯s just something you need to practice.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. He understood what Kano Mai was saying. Over the next few weeks, Su Jin spent his day perfecting his shooting technique. He estimated that he must have used up more than 10,000 bullets thus far, but Oda Shinako never seemed to run out of bullets for him to use. He began to wonder if this shooting range was secretly some illegal arms dealer¡¯s warehouse.

    More than 20 days passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Su Qing called him to say that Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother had gotten much better. All the doctors in the hospital were amazed and considered her a miracle, and they even wanted Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother to publicize their hospital for them. But Su Jin didn¡¯t care about any of that. He knew that Yang Mengmeng¡¯s mother waspletely healed of her illness because he had slipped in an All Purpose Healing Pill that night.

    Tang Ning and Ye Yun had called him too. Their agenda was almost identical: Tang Ning wanted Su Jin toe back to apany Ye Yun and keep an eye on her cousin, while Ye Yun wanted to go bungee jumping as soon as possible. Su Jin managed to get them off his back by iming that he was still settling some problems at home. He wasn¡¯t going back until he had survived the next Challenge that wasing up soon.

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun sat on her bed and shut the book in her hands. Exhaustion was written all over her face as she copsed weakly onto her bed. She had survived yet another Challenge, but she was a long way off from getting out of this universe, regardless of whether it was the number of points she had umted or the number of Challenges she had survived. In fact, she had barely made it through thisst Challenge.

    A vengeful ghost in red had pushed her into a corner after swallowing the souls of more than ten others. If not for an item she exchanged for after her first Challenge and the fact that the Challenge ended shortly after that, she wouldn¡¯t have emerged unscathed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been lucky so far, but¡­will I still be lucky the next time?¡± Ye Yuny down and looked at her hand. The light shone through her window and in between her fingers, casting a shadow on her face that made her seem especially fragile.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Kano Mai got ready for their next Challenge. They opened their Handbooks at the same time and darkness instantly engulfed them.

    ¡°At a time where heavy snowfall covers thend, Rubble Vige stands out as a paradise. This is a ce where you don¡¯t feel any cold, you don¡¯t see any snow and you don¡¯t have any¡­hope.¡±

    A maniacal, icy, cruel and violent voice that could paralyze one in fear resounded in Su Jin¡¯s mind. Every word uttered by the voice seemed to be leading him towards the deepest part of hell.

    ¡°Thirteen people! What an unlucky number!¡± A rough voice resounded in Su Jin¡¯s ears as he opened his eyes. He realized he was surrounded by other people and after giving them a quick count, he confirmed that there were 13 people in this ce, including himself.

    They were all on board a bus that was surrounded by snow. But oddly enough, none of them felt cold at all.

    ¡°If there are 13 of us, I¡¯m sure not everyone here is a newbie. Are there any other old timers like me?¡± The same rough voice spoke again. It belonged to a bearish man in his thirties.

 Chapter 48: Rubble Village

    <h4>Chapter 48: Rubble Vige</h4>

    The bearish man looked at everyone on the bus but nobody spoke up. Su Jin nced around at the rest as well and he could tell immediately that a few of them definitely didn¡¯t look like newbies.

    ¡°Well, since none of you want to cooperate, good luck to you guys then! Let¡¯s go!¡± The man walked to the door of the bus, grabbed the handle and forced it open, then three others followed him off the bus.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai exchanged nces. The four who just alighted were definitely a small team like theirs and the bearish man who spoke earlier was probably the team leader.

    ¡°Er¡­what¡¯s going on? How did I end up here?¡±

    ¡°Have we been kidnapped?¡±

    ¡°It was night time when I lost consciousness. Why is it daytime already?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that it¡¯s almost wintertime, but this amount of snow doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for the rest of the people on the bus to start talking among themselves.

    Su Jin flipped his Handbook open to look at what this Challenge was about. After a quick nce, his expression faltered a little. This Challenge was actually a Level B Challenge. A 13 person Level B Challenge meant that a lot of them were probably going to die.

    Mission 1: Stay alive until the Challenge ends! Mission type: Must bepleted.

    Mission 2: Find the truth behind Rubble Vige!

    There were only two missions, but the onlypulsory one was to stay alive until the Challenge ended. But how would he know when the Challenge came to an end? There was no time frame or any other parameters given. It was impossible to define this Challenge.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Su Jin nced at Kano Mai. There were probably other old timers among this group anyway. Su Jin didn¡¯t want to talk to the rest so early on if he didn¡¯t have to. After his previous experience with Chen Jing, the monster in disguise, and Tan Xin, a powerful owner disguising as a newbie in order to kill him, he had learned his lesson. Until he could confirm exactly which ones he could trust, he wasn¡¯t going to interact with them.

    After he alighted from the bus, he saw that there was only one road through the snow, so there was no need to worry about taking the wrong path. They walked for a while and soon noticed the four person group that had alighted first. But there was a fifth person driving a tractor as well.

    ¡°An NPC in the Challenge?¡± Su Jin and Kano Mai ran over immediately. They had way too little information this time round, so they hoped to find out more from a character within the Challenge.

    ¡°There¡¯s a huge bus that¡¯s broken down over there? You¡¯d better be telling the truth! We¡¯ve sealed off the roads leading up this mountain for several days now, so how could a bus get here?¡± The tractor driver was a viger in his fifties and he didn¡¯t seem to believe what the bearish man was telling him.

    ¡°We¡¯re telling the truth! If you don¡¯t believe us, you cane with me to take a look. The bus is still lying in the middle of the snow! Do you think¡­do you think you could take us to the vige for some warmth and shelter? We can pay you,¡± said a demure looking girl next to the bearish man. She sounded like she was good with words.

    The viger thought about it for a while, then nodded. ¡°Never mind the payment part. Our vige doesn¡¯t have a lot of space for any of you to stay the night though. If you need somewhere to stay, you¡¯ll have to stay in the ancestral hall.¡±(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_shrine)]

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with us! We¡¯re good as long as we have a ce to stay! Thank you so much! Don¡¯t worry, we will leave once the snow melts,¡± said the demure girl with a sweet smile.

    The bearish man noticed that Su Jin and Kano Mai had joined them, so he quietly asked, ¡°Are you an old timer?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Su Jin nodded and stretched his arm out. ¡°My name¡¯s Su Jin, I¡¯ve been through three Challenges.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Yu Guangde, I¡¯ve been through 13 Challenges.¡± Yu Guangde shook Su Jin¡¯s hand, then looked at Kano Mai. ¡°What about you, pretty girl?¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Kano Mai, I¡¯ve been through nine Challenges,¡± said Kano Mai with a slight nod and no smile on her face.

    Yu Guangde looked mildly surprised. He was probably surprised that Kano Mai had survived so many Challenges.

    ¡°What do we do with the rest of the people in the bus? Are we going to just leave them there?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Yu Guangde nced in the direction of where the bus was and said calmly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them. They¡¯ll get off sooner orter. They will just have to believe that Hell¡¯s Handbook is real. Of course, if any of them stupidly refuse to believe it and stay inside, then they¡¯re definitely doomed.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t surprised by what Yu Guangde said. Since Yu Guangde was an old timer with 13 Challenges behind him, he was probably very familiar with the way newbies thought. Su Jin was reminded of Jiang Li and Liu Yingying¡¯s attitude towards himself and the other newbies the first time round. It seemed like newbies were really not wee around here.

    ¡°Are you guys a team?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Yu Guangde nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Pretty girl, do you want to join my team?¡±

    The way he skipped Su Jin and asked Kano Mai instead was clearly a sign of disrespect and disdain for Su Jin, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t offended. If he were in Yu Guangde¡¯s shoes, he would definitely prefer someone with nine Challenges in the bag instead of someone with only three Challenges of experience.

    ¡°No thanks,¡± Kano Mai rejected the offer immediately. She pointed at Su Jin and said, ¡°He¡¯s my team leader.¡±

    ¡°What?! You¡¯ve only been through three Challenges and you were able to deduce the concept of parallel universes?¡± Yu Guangde was really surprised now. He had taken ten Challenges and a few happy coincidences to discover this concept and receive his Mark of a Leader.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°I was lucky. Mr. Yu, what are your thoughts on this Challenge? The details are very vague and I can¡¯t glean much from the description.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­why don¡¯t you talk to my other team mate? He¡¯s the brains of the group. Xiang Nan,e over for a while.¡± Another man in his thirties walked over when Yu Guangde called out to him.

    ¡°This is Xiang Nan, the brainy one of our group. He¡¯s a very intelligent guy. This is Su Jin, he¡¯s also an old timer. You two can discuss more about this Challenge.¡± Yu Guangde¡¯s way of managing his team was very simple: he just left the best person for the job in charge of that job and wouldn¡¯t interfere if he didn¡¯t have to. That was also why his four member team could work so well together.

    The demure girl had already led the viger to the bus to take a look, so Su Jin started chatting with Xiang Nan about the Challenge.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what are your thoughts on this Challenge?¡± Xiang Nan asked first.

    ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous one. 13 owners is a lot of people and it¡¯s a Level B Challenge, so I think the Handbook already assumed that the death rate this time will be very high. But¡­even if we manage to define the parameters clearly, we might not get through it easily either,¡± said Su Jin.

    Xiang Nan agreed with the front bit, but didn¡¯t understand thest part. ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°The description of the Challenge is way too simple. It¡¯s so minimal, it looks as though the Handbook is purposely hiding every useful piece of information from us. And if that¡¯s the case¡­why do you think the Handbook is doing that?¡± Su Jin smiled.

    Xiang Nan pondered this question for a moment, then nodded with a frown. ¡°You¡¯re right. If the Handbook is hiding information from us, the only exnation would be that the Handbook revealing these pieces of information would lower the difficulty level of the Challenge.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Therefore, I think gathering information would be our most important task right now.¡± Su Jin nodded in agreement. Xiang Nan was clearly a smart man, so if they could work together, they would have a higher chance of getting through this Challenge.

    Xiang Nan said a few things to Yu Guangde and Yu Guangde nodded. Then Yu Guangde walked over and asked Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, would your team like to work together with mine for this Challenge?¡±

    ¡°That would be great.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to turn this offer down. The other team had four experienced owners after all. If the two teams worked together, they¡¯d at least be able to put up a good fight if necessary.

    ¡°Excellent! I like your decisiveness. Zhang Shuhan,e over here too!¡± Yu Guangde called thest member of his team over and introduced Su Jin and Kano Mai to him as well. ¡°There are four members in my team. Xiang Nan is the brains of the group and he also has an edge in speed.¡±

    ¡°Zhang Shuhan is our expert in closebat and very good at hand-to-hand fighting. The girl who left with the viger just now is Tian Lili. She¡¯s a real nerd. Sometimes wee across strangenguages in the Challenge and she¡¯s been able to decipher them at a basic level. She¡¯s a really useful talent to have sometimes.¡±

    ¡°As for myself, I¡¯m also an expert at closebat and I¡¯ve got an ability to destroy everything within a prettyrge area, but I need to fulfil several conditions before I can activate that skill.¡±

    Yu Guangde¡¯s introduction of his team was a fairly detailed one, which showed how much he valued this partnership. It was probably because he realized how dangerous this Challenge was going to be after Su Jin and Xiang Nan had discussed the few clues they had earlier.

    ¡°My team member, Kano Mai, is an expert sniper and not very good at closebat. You can consider me an expert at closebat too.¡± Su Jin¡¯s introduction was a lot simpler since there were only two of them and they didn¡¯t have too many skills to offer.

    But Yu Guangde wasn¡¯t bothered by that. While they were speaking, Tian Lili and the viger had already returned and four other owners had followed them out.

    ¡°So, we¡¯ve got some stubborn ones on the bus?¡± Yu Guangde scoffed.

    ¡°Thest three didn¡¯t seem to believe me and said they¡¯d find their own way out. I didn¡¯t stop them,¡± Tian Lili whispered to Yu Guangde.

    ¡°Well, nobody can stop them if they¡¯d rather die. Let¡¯s go.¡± Yu Guangde nodded.

    The ten of them squeezed onto the viger¡¯s tractor and the viger drove the tractor back to the vige. Therge group quickly caught the attention of the other vigers when they arrived. The vigers stared at them with very curious looks on their faces.

    ¡°Vige Chief, who are these people?¡± someone shouted out at the tractor driver. That viger on a tractor had actually turned out to be the vige chief of Rubble Vige.

    ¡°They¡¯ve run into a snowstorm and want to stay here for a few days. They¡¯ll leave once the snow clears up. Go back to whatever you were doing, don¡¯t block the way!¡± The vige chief waved his arms about to chase the vigers away.

    But a few young men approached him and one of them said in a low voice, ¡°Vige Chief, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to let them stay. I think you should chase them away.¡±

    ¡°Psh! You don¡¯t know anything! Didn¡¯t I teach you boys to be helpful when others are in trouble? Shoo!¡± The vige chief stretched his leg out of the tractor to kick them and they quickly ran off. But the one who spoke up earlier still looked like he had more to say.

    Xiang Nan and Su Jin exchanged nces. They felt like something was amiss, but they decided not to ask now.

    The vige chief continued driving the tractor towards the middle of the vige. The ancestral hall of the vige was located here, and it was where the vige chief was willing to let them stay.

    ¡°There are very few houses in Clear Pond Vige, so this is the only ce where all of you can stay. Just make yourselvesfortable!¡± said the vige chief to everyone.

    But Su Jin raised an eyebrow as he murmured to himself, ¡°Clear Pond Vige?¡±

    [Ancestral Shrine

 Chapter 49: An Evil Spirit

    <h4>Chapter 49: An Evil Spirit</h4>

    The ancestral hall had more than enough space for everyone. The vige chief was very hospitable as he provided them with nkets and some daily essentials.

    ¡°Our vige has three water sources, there¡¯s water from the spring, water from the pond and a well. The well is located on the east side of the vige and it¡¯s hard to get water all the way from there, but water from the spring flows to the back of the ancestral hall, so you can get water from there,¡± said the vige chief with a merryugh.

    Su Jin asked the vige chief, ¡°Sir, your vige is named Clear Pond Vige?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯ve got arge pond on the east side of the vige and that¡¯s why we¡¯re called Clear Pond Vige,¡± said the vige chief with a nod.

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then Xiang Nan piped up, ¡°Sir, it¡¯s snowing so heavily out there. Why does the temperature feel like springtime in the vige?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯m not really sure about that either. It¡¯s something to do with the geography of this ce. Just make yourselvesfortable, look for me if you need anything.¡± The vige chief waved at everyone and left.

    Everyone settled down inside the ancestral hall, then Yu Guangde asked the four owners who joined the groupter, ¡°Is anyone else here also an old timer?¡±

    ¡°Me. I¡¯ve been through five Challenges.¡± A man in his twenties stood up. He wore a pair of ck framed sses and looked like he was still studying.

    ¡°So, the rest are all newbies?¡± Yu Guangde nced at the other three, thenughed and said, ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. I just have one thing to say: if there¡¯s secretly an old timer among the three of you, too bad. Don¡¯t count on us to help you if you run into danger.¡±

    After saying something like that, even if there were an old timer among them, that person wouldn¡¯t dare to own up now.

    Meanwhile, Xiang Nan walked over to Su Jin and whispered, ¡°Didn¡¯t the Handbook mention Rubble Vige? Why is it¡­why is it Clear Pond Vige now?¡± Xiang Nan had picked up the vige chief¡¯s words too.

    ¡°The Handbook can¡¯t be wrong, so it¡¯s the vige that changed its name.¡± Su Jin tapped his nose and said, ¡°But a vige wouldn¡¯t change its name for no reason. If they had really changed their name¡­does that mean that these two names of the same vige are rted to this Challenge?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough information, but I¡¯m sure the names of the vige have something to do with this Challenge,¡± Xiang Nan nodded in agreement.

    Yu Guangde and a few others helped to tidy up the ce so that they could get to sleep. He made sure that everyone took turns to keep watch while they slept, since letting everyone sleep at the same time was as good asmitting suicide. Yu Guangde was certainly a very experienced Handbook owner.

    ¡°Nobody knows how long this Challenge will be, so we¡¯ll take turns to rest. Mr. Su, I¡¯ll pair you with Ms. Kano. We¡¯ll take the first six hours, you two will take over after that,¡± Yu Guangde said to Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    Su Jin agreed to the arrangement and waited as time slowly ticked by. Everyone was surprised that absolutely nothing dangerous had happened during this time and the three newbies among them started to suspect whether they had been tricked all along.

    ¡°All this talk about some dangerous Challenge is nonsense, isn¡¯t it? So much for thinking they were serious! How silly of me,¡± muttered one of the newbie girls to her two fellow newbies. They were feeling uneasy at the beginning of the Challenge, yet none of the terrifying things these old timers imed would happen had urred.

    Su Jin found this very strange too. The Handbook usually sent dangers their way very quickly. But this time, hours had gone by without anything happening at all. This was very unusual.

    ¡°Time to change shifts.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s our turn,¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai. They got up and suddenly heard a shriek.

    The newbie whoined earlier had let out a shriek as if she had seen something terrifying. Everyone hurried over to see that one of the newbies was curled into a ball and his entire body was stiff.

    Yu Guangde walked over and turned the man¡¯s head to the front. A sticky liquid flowed out from his nostrils and he was no longer breathing.

    ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± Yu Guangde¡¯s expression was rather grim.

    ¡°So, this is THAT sort of Challenge?!¡± Xiang Nan paled and even Kano Mai looked a little distressed.

    ¡°Mai, what does he mean by ¡®that sort of Challenge¡¯?¡± Su Jin asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°The Challenges of the Handbook are divided into several types, and this is the type that we want to find ourselves in the least. This is the type where owners will die mysteriously and their deaths are caused by supernatural beings. In other words, spirits!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s breathing grew heavy. She had gone through one Challenge like that. Out of the eight owners that were thrown into the Challenge, only two of them survived. And they had survived only because they had found an item within the Challenge by chance that could ward off the evil spirit.

    ¡°Be cautious, everyone! This Challenge¡­might be really difficult,¡± said Yu Guangde with a grim look on his face.

    The other two newbies who thought they had been tricked started trembling violently. A person they had been talking to just moments ago was suddenly dead for no reason. It was very hard for them to ept this.

    Su Jin checked the body of the newbie and was rather puzzled. There was water in the body¡¯s nose and mouth and the body was curled up. It was as if this man had drowned.

    ¡°Mr. Su, have you discovered anything?¡± Xiang Nan walked over to ask when he saw Su Jin inspecting the corpse.

    Su Jin was quiet for a while, then said, ¡°Look at the way he died. He looks like¡­he looks like he has been drowned.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­in Challenges like these, most of the evil spirits are able to manipte minds. Even if the person literally died from fright, the way they die might be consistent with the imaginary situation that the evil spirits showed them,¡± said Xiang Nan.

    ¡°But if he died simply from believing he was in a deadly situation, how do you exin all the water in his nose and mouth?¡± Su Jin gently touched some of the water. It was just water and not any of the victim¡¯s bodily fluids.

    Xiang Nan was stumped after hearing Su Jin¡¯s question and could only shake his head. He didn¡¯t have any answers either.

    Su Jin sighed quietly. Now that the first person among them had died, more were going to follow. It wasn¡¯t going to take long for another victim to surface. But because there was no pattern or logic to follow, anybody could be the next victim. This feeling of helplessness annoyed Su Jin.

    Everyone in the ancestral hall were uneasy and jittery. They were allowed to take turns to sleep, but after what just happened, nobody dared to actually sleep. Everyone was afraid because they were worried that if they fell asleep, they might never wake up again.

    The me of the kerosenemps inside the ancestral hall flickered in the wind. The newbie who hadined earlier said something to Tian Lili, then Tian Lili ran over to say something to Yu Guangde.

    ¡°What the hell? At this time? If you¡¯re not afraid to die, go ahead!¡± Yu Guangde waved her away.

    The two women approached Kano Mai, but after they said a few things to her, she shook her head. The two then shrugged and left the hall.

    ¡°What did they want?¡± Su Jin asked curiously.

    ¡°They¡¯re going to bathe.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. The two women were going to bathe at such a time? Hadn¡¯t these two watched horror films before? Someone always died while bathing!

    ¡°You guys don¡¯t have to be so nervous. Rest while you can. Otherwise, all of you would be too tired to do anything even before the spiritse for you,¡± said Yu Guangde to the rest in the hall. But his words didn¡¯t calm anyone down at all.

    The air in the hall was very heavy. Zhang Shuhan boiled some water while the other old timers ate the food they had packed for the Challenge. They were in no danger of starving at the moment.

    But just when everyone was eating quietly, Zhang Shuhan suddenly froze for a moment. After that his limbs began to struggle uncontrobly but his actions weren¡¯t very violent. If Yu Guangde hadn¡¯t been fairly close to him, his actions might have gone unnoticed.

    ¡°Crap! Shuhan, what¡¯s wrong?!¡± Yu Guangde noticed something wrong with his team mate very quickly, but couldn¡¯t seem to be of any help. He could only grab hold of Zhang Shuhan and call his name repeatedly.

    ¡°He¡¯s drowning!¡± Su Jin immediately recognized the way Zhang Shuhan was moving as a sign of someone drowning.

    ¡°If anybody has something to ward off evil spirits, take it out now! I¡¯ll give you something really valuable in return!¡± Yu Guangde looked at Su Jin, Kano Mai and the other old timer, since thest remaining newbie was definitely of no use here.

    But the three of them shook their heads. First of all, anything that could ward off evil was very useful in any Challenge, so you could only get such an item from your Personal Hell Domain or during a Challenge. Such items cost way more points than a standard Spirit Power weapon, and it was almost impossible to find one in a Challenge. Secondly, even if any of them had something like that, they weren¡¯t going to exchange it for anything during this Challenge. That item was vital for their own survival, so nobody would give it up.

    Yu Guangde was getting frantic, but there was nothing he could do since nobody in his team owned such an item either. Su Jin tried to think of a solution and walked towards Yu Guangde, which made Yu Guangde give Su Jin a hopeful look.

    ¡°Mr. Su, if you¡¯ve got anything to ward off evil, I¡¯m willing to use a valuable item of mine in exchange for it. I¡¯ll make sure you get a good deal.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have anything that can ward off evil, but this item of mine might be useful.¡±

    He pulled out a piece of chewing gum and held it out to Yu Guangde. Yu Guangde stared at him strangely and was about to speak when Su Jin exined, ¡°He looks like he¡¯s going to drown, and victims of drowning die because water gets into the lungs and they eventually suffocate to death. This is Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum. One piece is equivalent to three days of oxygen supply, so it might save him!¡±

    Yu Guangde immediately stuffed the Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum into Zhang Shuhan¡¯s mouth and made him chew it. A few momentster, Zhang Shuhan slowly stopped struggling and his breathing became even again, but he was still unconscious.

    But that was enough for Yu Guangde to breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank you so much, Mr. Su.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± Su Jin shook his head. He squatted down in front of Zhang Shuhan and noticed that there was water in Zhang Shuhan¡¯s nose and mouth too, so he said to Yu Guangde, ¡°I suspect there¡¯s water in his lungs as well. You¡¯d better find a way to expel the water from his lungs.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Yu Guangde nodded, then mmed his palm hard against Zhang Shuhan¡¯s chest. Zhang Shuhan immediately sprayed a mouthful of water out along with the Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum. He started struggling again once the chewing gum left his mouth.

    Yu Guangde quickly caught the gum midair and stuffed it back into Zhang Shuhan¡¯s mouth.

    Su Jin left Zhang Shuhan to Yu Guangde and focused on the water that Zhang Shuhan had spat out. He started making some guesses when a ttering sound came from behind the ancestral hall.

    ¡°It¡¯s the girls!¡± Kano Mai was the first to respond.

    The twodies were bathing, so it wasn¡¯t convenient for Su Jin to save them.

    ¡°Go save them!¡± Su Jin gave two pieces of chewing gum to Kano Mai and she ran out of the hall immediately.

 Chapter 50: Water

    <h4>Chapter 50: Water</h4>

    A few momentster, Kano Mai came back with Tian Lili. Tian Lili was leaning weakly against Kano Mai and had clearly worn her clothes in a hurry.

    Kano Mai shook her head at everyone. ¡°I was toote. The other girl died by the time I got there.¡±

    The looks on everyone¡¯s faces grew even grimmer. Earlier on they felt that the Challenge was moving very slowly, but now they realized it was just the calm before the storm. In such a short time, four of them had met with danger. Two had died and one had lost consciousness.

    ¡°Lili, what happened just now? Please tell us everything in detail. We really need as much information as we can,¡± Xiang Nan said to Tian Lili.

    But Tian Lili had a perplexed look on her face as she shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened either. I felt as though I had fallen asleep. If Mai hadn¡¯te in to rescue me, I would have died without even realizing it.¡±

    This answer made both Su Jin and Xiang Nan sigh. Tian Lili was the only victim who was still alive and conscious, but she wasn¡¯t able to provide them with any useful information.

    Su Jin tapped his nose rapidly and said to Xiang Nan, ¡°The only thing we know right now is that all the victims had something to do with water.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The first victim had water in his nose and mouth. Zhang Shuhan also looked like he was drowning and Brother Yu also forced water out from his lungs. Then Lili and the other newbie ran into danger when they went to bathe,¡± Xiang Nan summarized the four victims¡¯ situation clearly for Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded as his finger continued to tap on his nose in a peculiar rhythm. His finger suddenly stopped and he said to Kano Mai, ¡°Mai, could you go back in with Brother Yu? I want the water from the newbie¡¯s lungs.¡±

    Yu Guangde nodded and followed Kano Mai to the back of the hall while everyone else was trying to figure out why Su Jin had asked them to do this. They returned shortly and Yu Guangde had a cup in his hand.

    Su Jin took the cup from Yu Guangde, then went to look for the boiled water that Zhang Shuhan had boiled for everyone.

    He poured a cup out andpared the water inside with the cup he had taken from Yu Guangde. Then he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the cup that the newbie used before she went to bathe?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s here, nobody touched it.¡± Xiang Nan brought a cup over. There was still some water left inside.

    Su Jin poured the water in the cup he took from Yu Guangde into the newbie¡¯s cup. The volume in both cups added up to almost exactly one full cup of water.

    Xiang Nan¡¯s eyes lit up while Su Jin sighed heavily. ¡°It¡¯s the water. Regardless of whether it was the previous newbie, this newbie or Mr. Zhang, the one thing they had inmon was that they all drank water.¡±

    ¡°But so did the rest of us!¡± said Kano Mai puzzledly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. So I¡¯m guessing that this evil spirit uses water as a medium to kill its victims, but it can only kill one person in a given timeframe and you must have drunk the water.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound right. If the evil spirit can only kill one person in a given timeframe, why did Zhang Shuhan, the newbie with me and myself, meet with danger at almost the same time?¡± Tian Lili couldn¡¯t understand.

    Xiang Nan exined things to her this time, ¡°Just like you said¡­ you, Zhang Shuhan and the newbie met with danger at almost the same time, but¡­only the newbie died.¡±

    Tian Lili froze in horror. Xiang Nan was right. Zhang Shuhan had merely fainted and she hade out unscathed. The only one among the three of them who actually died was the newbie.

    ¡°Does that mean this evil spirit only targets the Handbook owners? There are so many families in the vige after all. You mean we¡¯re the only ones in danger?¡± Yu Guangde raised a question.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°The vige chief said earlier that the vige has three sources of water: the spring, the well and the pond. We¡¯re drinking from the spring while the vigers take water from the well.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that¡­the vige chief set us up?¡± asked Xiang Nan.

    ¡°That¡¯s a possibility. Mr. Xiang, could you get some water from the vige chief and ask him more about this vige at the same time?¡± said Su Jin to Xiang Nan.

    Su Jin had somehow be the brains of the group, superior even to Xiang Nan. And Xiang Nan didn¡¯t seem the least offended or upset by this.

    ¡°No problem,¡± replied Xiang Nan before heading out of the hall.

    But Yu Guangde called him back, then said to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯d like to buy some of your chewing gum. Would you be willing to sell it to me?¡±

    ¡°Sure. I should have enough tost the rest of this Challenge.¡± Su Jin did have quite a few pieces on hand, so it wouldn¡¯t be a problem even if he sold a few.

    ¡°Would this item be good enough to exchange for your chewing gum?¡± Yu Guangde took his Handbook out and retrieved a bottle from inside.

    Su Jin was stunned to see this bottle. He knew this bottle very well. ¡°A Low Level Body Strengthening Elixir?¡±

    ¡°You know what this is? Oh¡­you¡¯ve already consumed this before?¡± Yu Guangde was rather surprised. This item was hard toe by and he wouldn¡¯t have offered it if he hadn¡¯t already consumed a bottle before.

    ¡°Yeah, I got it in my selection thest time and exchanged points for it too. But a bottle of this stuff is a lot more expensive than my chewing gum.¡±

    Yu Guangde sighed. ¡°It¡¯s more important to have items that can help one to survive a Challenge. As long as it¡¯s a useful item, I¡¯m very willing to use something of higher value in exchange for it. But if you don¡¯t want this, I can offer you something else.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no, no, I¡¯ll take this. Why don¡¯t I give you three pieces of chewing gum in return?¡± Su Jin agreed to the deal and held out three pieces of Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum to Yu Guangde.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Yu Guangde breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that Su Jin might only offer him one piece, since Su Jin clearly had the more useful item for this Challenge and called the shots. He was surprised that Su Jin was so generous.

    Su Jin passed the Low Level Body Strengthening Elixir to Kano Mai and said, ¡°You can have this. But it¡¯s better to consume it after you return to your Personal Hell Domain. You can¡¯t restore your body while you¡¯re here.¡±

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to give this to her. After all, Su Jin could have kept it as a high value item for exchange like Yu Guangde did. There would always be other owners willing to exchange their items for this elixir.

    ¡°You¡¯re giving it to me?¡±

    ¡°What does it look like to you?¡±

    Kano Mai took the bottle from him and swallowed its contents with one gulp. Su Jin got a shock and said, ¡°Why did you do that?! You¡¯ll be in a lot of pain after drinking this!¡±

    But she wiped her mouth andughed. ¡°Did you think I learned nothing after going through so many Challenges? If your body is strong enough before you consume this elixir, you won¡¯t go through much pain.¡±

    Su Jin breathed a long sigh of relief and shook his head. Yu Guangde passed one piece of gum to Xiang Nan and said, ¡°Hold onto this. If you meet any danger,e back immediately.¡±

    Xiang Nan nodded and left the hall.

    After Xiang Nan left, the hall was left with seven of them. Two out of the four who had joined themter were dead. Out of the remaining two, one was an old timer while the other one was supposedly a newbie as well.

    The two of them were feeling rather uneasy and the old timer approached Su Jin first. ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯d like to form an alliance with you.¡±

    ¡°With me? I think you¡¯re a little confused. I¡¯ve formed an alliance with Mr. Yu¡¯s team, so if you want to join me, that¡¯s the same as joining us all.¡±

    The old timer nodded and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter either way. My name¡¯s Yang Mo and I¡­I can use Spirit Power for a short period of time.¡±

    Su Jin was surprised to hear this. Yu Guangde had clearly heard these words as well and turned with a start to look at Yang Mo.

    But the way Yang Mo described his Spirit Power sounded a little strange, so Su Jin asked, ¡°You have a Spirit Power battery of sorts?¡±

    ¡°How did you know?¡± Yang Mo was surprised. His Spirit Power battery was his trump card and he had relied on it to survive most of his previous Challenges. He had never run into anybody who knew that such an item existed.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. How much Spirit Power does your battery have left?¡±

    ¡°800 points. I can use my Spirit Power to activate an energy barrier for defense purposes. I believe this will be useful to all of us,¡± said Yang Mo without withholding any information.

    ¡°A defensive skill?¡± Su Jin considered Yang Mo¡¯s offer for a while, then nodded in agreement. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Since you¡¯ve got Spirit Power on hand, we will definitely make sure you stay alive. But when we need you to activate your skill, you must activate it without hesitation. Are you able to do that?¡±

    ¡°Of course. As long as all of you can protect me, I will not stinge on using my Spirit Power.¡±

    Yang Mo was relieved to be epted as an ally. They were all stuck in the hall together, so if anything happened, Su Jin and the rest would definitely be able to put up a fight. But if the situation reached a point where saving another person might put their own lives in danger, they might choose to abandon him. That was why Yang Mo decided to tell them about his Spirit Power battery. That way, they would agree to protect him as well.

    ¡°Brother Yu, what do you think?¡± Su Jin turned to Yu Guangde for his opinion. Yu Guangde was the boss of this alliance after all.

    ¡°I¡¯m good. Anyone with Spirit Power would be able to fend off evil spirits to a certain extent, so he¡¯d definitely be useful to us.¡± Yu Guangde was agreeable as well.

    Everyone sat around the hall and continued to wait. Thest newbie kept shifting about uneasily and Su Jin felt that even if an evil spirit didn¡¯t kill this guy, he was going to scare himself to death. Then again, nobody knew if this guy was really a newbie like he said he was. After two Challenges, Su Jin didn¡¯t take anything at face value anymore.

    .

    Nobody dared to drink water anymore and an hour slowly passed by. Footsteps approached the hall from the outside and everyone thought that Xiang Nan had returned. But when the footsteps reached the hall, they realized it was a viger. It was that young man who stopped the vige chief earlier on.

    ¡°All of you need to leave immediately! If you continue staying here, all of you will die!¡± The young man was very kind and kept telling them to leave as soon as possible.

    ¡°Two of ourpanions have already died,¡± snapped Yu Guangde in response.

    The young man¡¯s expression faltered and he sighed. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry to hear that. I should have told you right from the start to leave immediately. Perhaps you would have a greater chance of surviving.¡±

    ¡°No way. Our friends died here, so we¡¯re going to find the murderer!¡± Su Jin purposely tried to agitate the young man.

    ¡°You won¡¯t find any murderer. The one who killed them isn¡¯t human¡­it¡¯s an evil spirit! It¡¯s an evil spirit that has cursed this vige!¡± said the young man anxiously.

    ¡°Is this vige called Clear Pond Vige or Rubble Vige?¡± asked Su Jin calmly.

 Chapter 51: Duped

    <h4>Chapter 51: Duped</h4>

    ¡°Rubble Vige? No, we¡¯re Clear Pond Vige,¡± replied the young man as he shook his head. His voice sounded grave as he said, ¡°Please, listen to me and leave this vige as soon as you can!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the warning, but what was that you said about this vige being cursed by some evil spirit? What stupid reason is that? My friends have died here, so I suspect someone in the vige murdered them.¡± Su Jin pretended like he didn¡¯t believe in the supernatural and insisted on finding an actual human murderer.

    The young man was surprised by Su Jin¡¯s insistence. He hesitated for a moment, then said, ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you. Didn¡¯t you notice that all your friends died very strangely? All of them looked like they were drowned, although they were in a ce that didn¡¯t even have water.¡±

    ¡°Well, if what you say is true, then please tell us the reason behind it,¡± Kano Mai spoke up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much either, but I know that every time there¡¯s a snowstorm, at least 13 people in the vige will die. This is the fourth time this is happening.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s mind started working quickly but he kept his doubtful expression on. ¡°What sort of strange logic is this? Even if some people did die around the same time, the first possibility you should consider is murder, right? Why would you assume it¡¯s some curse?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­because I remember when I was very young, the vige chief got drunk and I heard him say that this was a curse brought upon Clear Pond Vige by a woman. That the vige had let her down.¡±

    The young man could see that everyone was still deep in thought, so he said in a frustrated voice, ¡°I¡¯ve already told you everything I know. If you still stubbornly insist on staying here, then¡­good luck to that!¡±

    After he left, Su Jin began analyzing everything the young man said. He said to Yu Guangde, ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea, but I¡¯ll need you and Mr. Yang toe outside with me.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Yu Guangde agreed and called Yang Mo over.

    Su Jin led both of them up a small hill behind the ancestral hall. This small hill was the source of their drinking water and the spring was somewhere on this hill.

    The three of them followed the stream of water up the mountain and climbed for slightly more than 30 minutes before they finally arrived at the supposed source of the water. Su Jin told the other two to be vignt, then bent down to inspect this water source carefully.

    ¡°See anything yet?¡± asked Yu Guangde.

    Su Jin nodded and pointed to the source, ¡°Look at where the water¡¯sing from. I¡¯ve looked carefully at it and it¡¯s a typical spring. Normally, water from such a source would be really clean and clear.¡±

    He squatted down next to the flowing spring water. The stream of water was only about as wide as his palm, flowed at a steady pace and looked fairly clear.

    Then, he got up to look at the trees around them and led them further up the hill. They soon spotted a pond from afar.

    Compared to the spring, this pond was in a humid area, away from the sun. It was surrounded by dead and rotting leaves, and the water seemed slightly greenish. Algae was definitely flourishing in this pond.

    Su Jin¡¯s ears twitched slightly. He could hear the faint sound of water flowing.

    ¡°Come with me!¡± Su Jin waved at the other two and began hunting for the source of this sound. The sound of the water was extremely faint. If the hill wasn¡¯t fairly quiet and Su Jin hadn¡¯t enhanced his body twice and heightened his senses, no ordinary human could have heard this sound.

    The three of them followed the sound for a while and the sound of water slowly grew louder again. But that was because they hade back to the source of the spring. The sound of water flowing wasing from this downward stream down the side of the hill.

    ¡°Did I¡­make a wrong guess?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. He subconsciously started tapping his index finger on his nose as his eyes kept scanning the stream, as if he was trying to find something.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what are you looking for?¡± Yu Guangde couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    ¡°Water.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this¡­all water?¡± Yu Guangde couldn¡¯t understand what Su Jin was talking about.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the water I¡¯m looking for.¡± Su Jin shook his head, then he suddenly noticed something strange about the ground. He took out the lighter he always carried and put it near the ground to take a closer look. His expression instantly grew grim.

    Yu Guangde and Yang Mo looked at the area that Su Jin had illuminated with his lighter. There was a very thin line on the ground that was slightly darker in colorpared to the rest of the ground, as if someone had painted this line.

    Su Jin brought the lighter closer to the surface of the ground and the dark color began to lighten as it got heated up by the me. Yu Guangde and Yang Mo were both surprised.

    ¡°The ground can change color?!¡± said Yang Mo.

    Su Jin shook his head as he said gravely, ¡°I see. We¡¯ve been duped right from the start.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been duped? What do you mean? Who duped us?¡± Yu Guangde asked several questions in a row.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t reply to his questions. Instead, he took his Boning Knife out, then started digging around the area where the ground was a darker color. After digging for a bit, water started gushing out.

    It turned out that the ground was a darker color not because someone had painted it that way but because there was actually another stream of water beneath the soil. The soil looked like it was darker because it was wet.

    ¡°What on earth?!¡± Yu Guangde was stunned for a moment, then he turned immediately to look at the pond they saw earlier. Judging from the direction of this second stream of water, it probably came from that pond.

    ¡°It¡¯s the vige chief. He misled us right from the start, set up a trap for us and waited for all of us to die.¡± Su Jin frowned deeply. If the vige chief had nned all this right from the beginning, then they were facing not just an evil spirit but also the schemes of the vigers.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I still don¡¯t get it.¡± Yang Mo didn¡¯t understand how this other stream of water had anything to do with the vige chief plotting against them.

    ¡°We can safely conclude that it¡¯s the water that is problematic. The water acts like a medium and the evil spirit is only able to kill via this water. The first newbie who died, Mr. Zhang and the newbie who diedter were all killed only after they had drunk some water,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯ve already exined this earlier.¡± Yang Mo nodded.

    Su Jin continued, ¡°Earlier on, when we entered the vige and settled down in the ancestral hall, the vige chief told us that the vige has three sources of water. The spring, the pond and the well.¡±

    ¡°If we discovered that the evil spirit was able to kill a person because of the water we were drinking, we would immediately be wary of where the water we were drinking wasing from. We probably would have thought that the water was from the spring, since that¡¯s what the vige chief said. So if we had to drink water, we would end up avoiding the spring water and start drinking from the pond water which seemspletely separate from the spring.¡±

    ¡°But this secret second stream of water has mixed the water from the pond into the water from the spring. So in reality, we¡¯ve been drinking from the pond as well. If we didn¡¯t discover this mixing of water and decided we¡¯d just switch to drinking from the pond instead, we would still fall victim to the evil spirit.¡±

    Yang Mo finally understood what was going on. He gasped and spat angrily, ¡°So that¡¯s what happened. But¡­since we¡¯ve discovered this problem, let¡¯s just not drink water at all. In general, Handbook Challenges don¡¯tst for too long. We should be able to get by without drinking water.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right. Since there¡¯s a problem with the water, we¡¯ll just not drink any water. We won¡¯t fall prey to his schemes anymore,¡± said Yu Guangde in agreement.

    Su Jin nodded and looked towards the pond again. ¡°Let¡¯s go over and take a look. Perhaps we¡¯ll find some answers there.¡±

    The other two were agreeable to his suggestion, so all three of them headed for the pond. When they reached the pond, they instinctively pinched their noses. There was a terrible stench and a number of animal carcasses were actually floating in the pond.

    ¡°Augh!¡± Yang Mo was on the verge of puking. He turned away and muttered, ¡°Oh my god! Just thinking about how some of the water we drank earlier came from here, makes me wanna puke.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, if you feel like puking, just go ahead. You¡¯d get used to it eventually,¡± said Su Jin with a grin. He sounded like he wasn¡¯t bothered by the stench, but he actually felt like retching as well, so he pinched his nose harder.

    The pond wasn¡¯t really that big and looked like it was about 20 or 30 meters in diameter. The greenish water was quite murky, so it was probably really filthy inside.

    Su Jin squatted beside the pond to take a closer look. He used a finger to touch the pond water to find that it was more like glue instead of water.

    ¡°That was¡­¡± Su Jin spotted something from the corner of his eye as he scanned the pond. He thought he saw something that looked like the body of a baby in the middle of the pond. But when he looked again, it was gone.

    Before he could think about what just happened, a goat head floated towards him. Or rather, a skull with horns floated towards him.

    When he saw those horns, he suddenly felt this strange urge to pull it out of the water, and that¡¯s exactly what he did. He reached out to hold one horn in each hand and slowly fished it out of the water.

    As the horns moved out of the water, Su Jin felt like he was being suffocated. He tried to fling the horns away but he simply couldn¡¯t. His arms felt like they were no longer being controlled by himself, as if someone else were controlling them.

    ¡°Is this¡­is this why?!¡± Su Jin continued to fight against the force that controlled him but his body refused to listen to him. He couldn¡¯t even shout or scream, as if he was watching an extremely realistic movie unfolding before his eyes.

    After the horns were out of the water, the skull was next. But Su Jin didn¡¯t think that was the end of it. Just as he expected, arge forehead was stuck to the bottom of the goat¡¯s skull, as if thatrge forehead was wearing a hat.

    ¡°Gugg¡­gurrgglee!!¡± Su Jin tried his best to make some sort of noise in his throat in hope of attracting Yu Guangde and Yang Mo¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Tee hee!¡± The goat head was now fully out of the water and Su Jin saw that therge forehead connected to it belonged to a baby. The baby was deformed and its face was red, and it looked like those paper dolls burned for the dead at /post/paper-ritual-offerings-the-vivid-underworld)]. It started making strangeughing noises at Su Jin.

    A pair of short arms reached for Su Jin¡¯s neck and wrapped its fingers around his throat. It looked like a baby, but this monster had incredible strength. Su Jin¡¯s face instantly turned red and his neck was about to be crushed.

    [Paper ritual offerings: the "vivid" Underworld

 Chapter 52: An Evil Baby Spirit

    <h4>Chapter 52: An Evil Baby Spirit</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he couldn¡¯t think straight anymore because of theck of oxygen. He wondered if he was going to meet his end right here. Was both his life in the real world and his journey through the Handbook¡¯s Challenges going to end like this?

    ¡°HAA!¡± Just then, a loud shout resonated in his ears and the vengeful spirit in baby form let go of Su Jin¡¯s neck in terror and jumped out of Su Jin¡¯s hands, diving head first into the pond again. Su Jin regained control of his own body and he quickly retreated from the pond as he took huge gasps of air.

    ¡°Mr. Su, are you all right?¡± Yu Guangde helped Su Jin up and Su Jin noticed a bright red dagger in Yu Guangde¡¯s hand. There was a red mist swirling around it too.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Su Jin thanked Yu Guangde. He knew that it was Yu Guangde who saved him just in time.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal around me. We¡¯re allies after all,¡± said Yu Guangde with a smile as he kept his dagger away.

    Su Jin nced at the dagger and asked directly, ¡°Brother Yu, are you a veteran?¡±

    ¡°Ho! You know the term ¡®veteran¡¯? That¡¯s right, I¡¯m a veteran.¡± Yu Guangde confirmed Su Jin¡¯s guess and didn¡¯t hide it from Su Jin.

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Yang Mo seemed confused. It seemed like despite going through five Challenges, he hadn¡¯t run into an owner with Spirit Power before.

    ¡°That¡¯s the term for owners with Spirit Power. Only those who have activated Spirit Power have the right to consider themselves powerful in the world of the Handbook. No wonder you¡¯ve been able to get such a good team together, Brother Yu. A veteran would certainly be able to attract good team mates.¡±

    Until now, Su Jin had only met three owners with Spirit Power. He met Jiang Li and Liu Yingying in the first Challenge. He wasn¡¯t really sure exactly how powerful they were, but anybody who dared to hunt down a monster in a Level B Challenge like Jiang Li did was definitely someone who was pretty powerful. Liu Yingying defeated the hunter without breaking a sweat too. The hunter had lost his weapon to Su Jin but Su Jin was sure that the hunter couldn¡¯t be that weak either. That proved that Liu Yingying must have been rather formidable herself.

    Yu Guangde was the third one he had met so far. Having someone with Spirit Power by his side made him feel more assured and he had guessed that Yu Guangde had Spirit Power right from the start. That was why he wanted both Yu Guangde and Yang Mo to follow him here. His cautiousness had paid off.

    ¡°What was attacking you just now?¡± asked Yu Guangde as he nced at the pond.

    Su Jin asked puzzledly, ¡°You didn¡¯t get a good look just now?¡±

    Yu Guangde shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything, never mind take a good look. I just noticed a pained expression on your face and guessed that you were being attacked by the evil spirit, so I used my Spirit Power to chase it away.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Su Jin realized how lucky he was. If Yu Guangde hadn¡¯t noticed his odd behavior earlier, he would have been dead by now.

    ¡°The thing that attacked me just now was¡­an evil spirit in the form of a baby. It had a pair of goat horns on its head and once it took control of me, I couldn¡¯t move at all,¡± said Su Jin. The terror that he had felt from being controlled by an evil spirit was something he would never forget and never wanted to experience again.

    ¡°But now I know why the vige allowed water from the pond to be mixed in with the spring water. They weren¡¯t worried about whether we¡¯d find out about this. They wanted us to check out the pond.¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression turned frosty. The vigers had purposely mixed the water so that Su Jin and hispanions would notice a problem and eventually take a closer look at the pond. That way, that evil spirit could kill whoever came close enough.

    The other two understood what Su Jin meant and had to admit that the vigers hadid a really good trap for them. Now that they knew what the problem was, they weren¡¯t going to stick around anymore. A murderous evil spirit lurked in the waters, so even though Yu Guangde had chased it away temporarily, nobody knew if that evil spirit had other means of killing a person.

    The three of them went back down the hill and saw that Xiang Nan had returned as well. He got them to enter the ancestral hall first, then said to them, ¡°I asked the vige chief about the water. He said that the well is only for the vigers to use and that outsiders are not allowed to drink from it. When I asked him why, he refused to tell me anything.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for checking with him, but that¡¯s not important anymore. We¡¯ve figured out the water problem,¡± Su Jin thanked Xiang Nan, then said, ¡°Did you find out more about this vige?¡±

    ¡°A little, but not much. All I found out was that this vige was indeed called Rubble Vige a few decades ago, but I¡¯m not sure why the name was changedter. The older vigers refuse to talk to me, so I only managed to get this much information from the younger ones.¡± Xiang Nan shook his head helplessly. This information was nowhere near helpful.

    ¡°Oh! Never mind the vige: I also heard that a young man from the vige passed away. Guess who?¡± said Xiang Nan in a secretive manner.

    ¡°It¡¯s the young man who stopped the vige chief¡¯s tractor when we came in, right?¡± said Su Jin without even pausing to think.

    ¡°You mean the one who kept telling us to leave this ce?¡± asked Yu Guangde.

    Xiang Nan blinked in surprise and asked Su Jin suspiciously, ¡°How did you know? Did you¡­did you kill him?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. He¡¯s the only young man we know in this vige, so since you¡¯re asking me like that, it¡¯s got to be him,¡± replied Su Jin with augh.

    Xiang Nan burst outughing as well. Su Jin made it seem so obvious, but not everyone was able to make such links easily. He nodded and said, ¡°I heard he didn¡¯t die too far from here. But if we didn¡¯t kill him, who did? Is the evil spirit going for the vigers too?¡±

    Su Jin pondered this question for a while but didn¡¯t think this was possible. He asked Kano Mai if the young man came by again after he left the hall, but she said no. The young man hadn¡¯t taken any water from the hall either. Could he have gone to the hill to drink water? But why would he do that?

    ¡°Brother Yu, why don¡¯t you take a rest? Mr. Xiang, why don¡¯t you take a walk with me to check out what¡¯s happened?¡± Su Jin asked Xiang Nan.

    Xiang Nan was more than happy to apany Su Jin to find out exactly what happened to the young man. Yu Guangde wanted to tag along as well because he felt that for as long as they were still unsure of what this Challenge was about, it was better to have someone with Spirit Power to go with them.

    But Su Jin felt that it was probably quite safe for himself and Xiang Nan to walk around inside the vige. On the contrary, the people left behind in the hall were probably in greater need of Yu Guangde and Yang Mo¡¯s Spirit Power. Nobody else had Spirit Power, and one was a newbie while another was unconscious. After giving it some thought, Yu Guangde felt that Su Jin was right and agreed to stay behind in the hall.

    Besides, it wasn¡¯t as if Su Jin waspletely unprepared either. If he really needed to use Spirit Power in a fight, he still had some to spare, so he didn¡¯t need to have Yu Guangde with him all the time.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan walked over to where the young man died. Su Jin inspected the area and found that there was indeed something amiss. Xiang Nan said, ¡°You¡¯ve noticed it too, right? Something¡¯s very wrong here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. If this is where he died¡­then it¡¯s impossible to exin this.¡± Su Jin used his fingers to pinch a small amount of mud. It was moist and more importantly, all the mud around here was icy cold.

    ¡°Yup. This ce looks like it¡¯s been soaked in water, which matches the way this evil spirit usually kills a person. But this isn¡¯t like the drinking water we have in the hall. This is snow. That young man died more than half an hour ago, so the snow has melted. But it doesn¡¯t snow in this vige. You have to leave the vige in order to reach a ce with snow, and we did take quite a bit of time to reach the vige on a tractor earlier today,¡± said Xiang Nan calmly.

    Su Jin nodded and picked up where Xiang Nan left off, ¡°Exactly. There would be no need to kill someone outside the vige, then drag him all the way back here, unless the murderer wanted the vigers to discover his body. But if that¡¯s the case, then the murderer should have killed him within the vige itself and saved himself the trouble. And even if the murderer were afraid that someone would notice and tricked the young man all the way out of the vige to kill him, the time doesn¡¯t add up.¡±

    ¡°The young man came to the hall a little more than two hours ago, so that¡¯s the time west saw him alive. It would take so much time just to trick the young man into leaving the vige, kill him and bring him back here. Even a tractor wouldn¡¯t be fast enough. Besides, all the snow would have melted along the way back. But judging from how wet this ce is, the young man must have been covered in a lot of snow!¡±

    Xiang Nan smiled and continued, ¡°Mr. Su, you¡¯ve analyzed this very well. So, here¡¯s onest possibility: do you think it¡¯s possible for the murderer to have prepared some snow beforehand, killed the young man then piled the snow on top of his body?¡±

    Su Jin considered this possibility, then shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not possible either. We¡¯re at an intersection within the vige, so almost everybody in the vige would have to walk past this intersection to get to any other part of the vige. But if you look at the wet areas of the mud, it¡¯s obvious that arge part of the snow was actually below the young man¡¯s body.¡±

    ¡°It takes too much time toy the snow, kill the young man and ce him on the snow without being noticed. So, unless you¡¯ve got a lot of aplices, that¡¯s not a very smart way to kill someone.¡±

    ¡°I think so too. So, if the chances of homicide are very low, then we¡¯ll have to consider the possibility that¡­an evil spirit killed him!¡± said Xiang Nan solemnly.

    Both of them fell silent for some time, then Su Jin broke the silence first, ¡°It¡¯s true that we¡¯ve connected the deaths to the water, but perhaps the evil spirit of this Challenge has more than one way of killing people. In any case, we should take a look at the young man¡¯s body. Perhaps his body would be able to tell us who killed him!¡±

    Xiang Nan agreed with his opinion, so they asked some passersby and found out that the young man¡¯s body had been brought to the ancestral hall, so they didn¡¯t have to go elsewhere. They just needed to return to the hall.

    They hurried back to the hall in time to see the vigers carry the young man¡¯s body into the hall. The vige chief was talking to Yu Guangde and the two of them seemed to be arguing about something.

    ¡°Brother Yu, what¡¯s going on?¡± asked Xiang Nan.

    Yu Guangde was relieved to see that the two most intelligent members of the group were back. ¡°The vige chief wants to leave this dead body in the ancestral hall and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe to do that.¡±

    ¡°Sir, I think my friend here is right. You have living people staying in this ce, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s appropriate to leave a dead body here. Or¡­why don¡¯t you arrange for us to stay in some of the vigers¡¯ homes instead?¡± said Xiang Nan with a cheery smile. Su Jin secretly gave Xiang Nan a thumbs up for trying to flip the situation in their favor. He couldn¡¯t wait to hear how this vige chief was going to deal with this situation.

 Chapter 53: A Medium

    <h4>Chapter 53: A Medium</h4>

    ¡°The living and the dead exist in two separate worlds. A dead person in the world of the living is nothing but a body without a soul. All of you look like the modern and educated sort, so I¡¯m sure none of you believe in these superstitious things, right? Besides, as long as you remain respectful of the dead, I don¡¯t think his body will bring any trouble to all of you,¡± the vige chief rambled on and on but refused to change his mind.

    ¡°Sir, since you¡¯re so open minded about this, why don¡¯t you bring him back to your own home?¡± Xiang Nan was very annoyed. His high levels of intelligence didn¡¯t matter as long as the vige chief absolutely refused to budge. This man was the vige chief and had the final say on such things, so there was nothing Xiang Nan and the rest could do either.

    ¡°Young man, how could you say that? I¡¯m already so old. What if something does happen? What am I going to do?¡± said the vige chief very earnestly even though he just told Xiang Nan that nothing would happen as long as he wasn¡¯t superstitious.

    Su Jin tried not tough at the situation. Xiang Nan had made very clever moves, but not a single one worked on the vige chief.

    ¡°All right now, it¡¯s almost night time, so have a good rest, everyone!¡± The vige chief waved at everyone in the hall and left with the other vigers.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan exchanged nces, then they went to check out the young man¡¯s body. The body had been ced behind the hall and was covered with a white cloth. They could feel a drop in the temperature just by going close to the body.

    Yu Guangde and the rest had alsoe along. Su Jin pulled the white cloth back and froze on the spot. Xiang Nan noticed Su Jin¡¯s reaction and leaned in to take a closer look, then froze in shock as well.

    ¡°I doubt this was done by a human.¡± Su Jin stared closely at the young man¡¯s body. The body hadn¡¯t just been covered by snow and ice on the outside earlier. The young man¡¯s nose and mouth were also full of ice and snow. From the looks of it, there was probably ice and snow all the way into his stomach. In other words, this young man had been frozen from the inside out.

    ¡°Is this the evil spirit¡¯s doing? Unless someone here has an industrial freezer, there¡¯s no way you can freeze a body to this extent.¡± Yu Guangde reached out to press down on the young man¡¯s stomach to find that it was just as hard and frozen.

    Xiang Nan¡¯s expression was grim as he said, ¡°If it¡¯s the evil spirit, then we¡¯re in trouble. In short, it means that besides using the pond water, it has other ways of killing a person.¡±

    The atmosphere grew heavy. Su Jin had just solved the mystery behind the pond water, but now, it seemed like the evil spirit had more than one method of killing them. This thought made everyone feel very demoralized.

    ¡°I have two hypotheses. One, the same evil spirit has two methods of killing people. Two, we¡¯ve got two evil spirits with two different methods. After we found out how the first evil spirit kills, the second one started getting to work.¡± Su Jin tapped his nose rapidly. The dangers that came with either hypothesis were different and had to be dealt with differently.

    ¡°Two evil spirits¡­if that¡¯s the case, the threat to us will be a lot greater.¡± Xiang Nan frowned, then asked, ¡°Is there any evidence that can support this hypothesis?¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°When this young man came to talk to us, he said that when he was a child, he had heard the vige chief say something about how Rubble Vige had let some woman down. In other words, there is a woman involved in this Challenge¡¯s story, and she¡¯s a victim of sorts.¡±

    ¡°Also, when I went up the hill with Brother Yu and Yang Mo earlier and arrived at the pond, the evil spirit that attacked me was in the form of a baby. If that woman had also died, then it¡¯s possible that we¡¯ve got two evil spiritsing after us.¡±

    ¡°Let Lili take over from here. Making use of her ability would be much easier than trying to specte here,¡± Yu Guangde suddenly spoke up.

    ¡°Miss Tian?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow.

    Xiang Nan exined, ¡°Lili has the ability to speak to the dead, but sometimes it doesn¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°Does Miss Tian have Spirit Power too?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. ording to his observations, only those with Spirit Power would attain some special abilities. Owners who hadn¡¯t activated their Spirit Power yet, would only be able to strengthen their physical bodies and use some tools and weapons that didn¡¯t require Spirit Power. All these items were very ordinary and there was no way any of them couldmunicate with the dead. A Spirit Power tool could probably do that, but that would also require Spirit Power.

    Xiang Nan shook his head. ¡°No, Lili hasn¡¯t activated her Spirit Power.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, you don¡¯t have to be so surprised. This is my own special ability.¡± Tian Lili walked over and Su Jin saw her pupils begin to move. One of her eyes actually had two pupils.

    ¡°Lili is different from the rest of us. She¡¯s a famous medium in the real world. But once she¡¯s inside a Challenge, her ability as a medium is greatly weakened, so we can¡¯t guarantee that this is going to work,¡± exined Yu Guangde.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai were surprised to hear that someone among them actually possessed this sort of ability. Then again, the Handbook seemed to pick owners at random, so there was always the probability of being grouped together with someone like that.

    Tian Lili ced her hand on the young man¡¯s chest and started the process. This was going to take quite some time, so Su Jin turned his attention to the newbie in the hall.

    This newbie wasn¡¯t like the other newbies. He constantly hid himself in a corner and his eyes always darted around timidly. During this time, he didn¡¯t ask to be part of the team, but didn¡¯t go through a mental breakdown nor run away. It was as if he was a wooden puppet or something.

    ¡°Hello, what¡¯s your name?¡± asked Su Jin quietly.

    But the newbie refused to answer him. He looked at Su Jin with a fearful look in his eyes, then looked down without saying anything while hugging his Handbook tightly.

    Kano Mai noticed what was going on and walked over. She observed the newbie for a while and whispered to Su Jin, ¡°I think he¡¯s autistic.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s autistic?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect that. But Kano Mai nodded very confidently. This Challenge had proved that the Handbook really selected owners at random. First a medium, and now an autistic boy.

    ¡°Hello there, can I take a look at your Handbook? You¡¯re a newbie, so there might be some important information that only a newbie would have inside.¡± Su Jin tried to speak softly and gently to the newbie, but the newbie refused to respond to him. The newbie just kept his head down and held onto his Handbook.

    Su Jin scratched his head and wasn¡¯t sure what to do. This boy was the only surviving newbie and the Handbook always gave newbies additional hints that could be very helpful to getting through the Challenge. These hints also motivated old timers to protect newbies and help them get through their first Challenge. Su Jin really needed this hint now.

    Kano Mai saw that Su Jin¡¯s attempts ended in futility, so she gave it a shot instead. She squatted down next to the newbie and said gently, ¡°Hello there, my name is Kano Mai. We really need to see the content of your Handbook. Could you let us take a look?¡±

    The newbie lifted his head slightly and actually opened his Handbook up. Su Jin immediately rolled his eyes and felt like he had been slighted for no reason, while Kano Mai tried not tough at him.

    The newbie let Kano Mai read the additional information in his Handbook. She read it carefully, then nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The newbie immediately shut his Handbook again and went back to huddling in his corner. Su Jin sighed. Someone like this boy was definitely going to end up dead in a Challenge. Finding good people to work with was very vital to surviving a Challenge. Even if this boy was lucky enough to survive this one, would he still be as lucky the next time?

    Kano Mai said to Su Jin, ¡°The additional information reads: When did the freezing snow leave this vige for good?¡±

    Meanwhile, Tian Lili seemed to have sessfully established amunication channel with the dead young man. There was even some frost forming on her eyebrows.

    ¡°As usual, we get to ask three questions,¡± said Yu Guangde to Xiang Nan and Su Jin. He was clearly giving the two of them the chance to ask the questions. Su Jin felt that this was really something that made Yu Guangde an excellent leader. Yu Guangde always assigned tasks to the person who would be able to do it best. Such a leader would be able to raise the standards of the team even if he didn¡¯t possess any special abilities.

    ¡°Mr. Su, you go first.¡± Xiang Nan had faith in Su Jin¡¯s analytical skills, so he allowed Su Jin to ask the first question.

    Su Jin nodded, deliberated for a moment, then asked, ¡°When did snow stop falling on this vige?¡±

    His question was basically a paraphrase of the hint he got from the newbie¡¯s Handbook. Tian Lili¡¯s double pupils rotated and her voice replied hoarsely, ¡°40 years ago.¡±

    ¡°Woah.¡± Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He had been mentally prepared for no answer, which would mean that he had wasted a question. Thankfully, he had gotten a concrete answer.

    ¡°Where is Clear Pond Vige¡¯s chronicle kept?¡± Su Jin asked again. He didn¡¯t ask if the vige kept one because if the answer was yes, he would have to ask a third question to find out where it was.

    ¡°With the vige chief,¡± replied Tian Lili.

    Su Jin gave a pleased nod, then motioned to Xiang Nan to ask the next question. He had already used up two questions, so he had to leave thest one for Xiang Nan.

    Xiang Nan seemed to have thought of a question already, so he asked immediately, ¡°Who killed you?¡±

    The moment this question was asked, Tian Lili¡¯s entire body lurched and she started to tremble violently as she clutched her head like she was in tremendous pain.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Yu Guangde eximed and quickly pulled Tian Lili¡¯s hand away from the young man¡¯s dead body. She immediately copsed onto the floor once her hand left the dead body.

    Everyone quickly reached out to help Tian Lili up. She seemed to have lost consciousness and they could only see the whites of her eyes.

    ¡°Is she alright?¡± asked Su Jin worriedly.

    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine. Lili is always extremely exhausted after each session and she¡¯ll be fine after taking a rest. But this is the first time she¡¯s copsed from exhaustion before answering the third question,¡± said Yu Guangde.

    Xiang Nan was upset as he med himself, ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. She copsed because of the question I asked, it¡¯s my fault!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to me yourself. If I were you, I would have asked the same question.¡± Su Jin patted Xiang Nan¡¯s shoulder. Out of any other question he could have asked, that would definitely be first on the list because the answer to that question would help to confirm if there really was a second evil spirit or not.

    Just then, they heard some noiseing from the ancestral hall!

    Unlike actual polycoria where you¡¯re born with two pupils in your eye, this double pupil concept is like a Chinese version of having a third eye, so some believe that there are people who have a hidden third pupil that can see stuff or do supernatural things.

    It¡¯s quitemon for small viges and towns to keep their own records of theiryout, history, poption, economy etc., so it¡¯s google maps, birth and death registry and Wikipedia page rolled into one.

 Chapter 54: Village Chronicle

    <h4>Chapter 54: Vige Chronicle</h4>

    The noiseing from the ancestral hall made everyone freeze immediately. Yu Guangde threw Xiang Nan a nce and Xiang Nan immediately started tiptoeing his way back to the ancestral hall. Su Jin and Kano Mai followed behind him.

    ¡°Oh my,¡± Xiang Nan eximed softly. He turned back and said, ¡°It¡¯s the three newbies who refused toe along when the Challenge first started.¡±

    Everyone walked back into the hall to see three familiar faces sitting inside and shivering. It was the three handbook owners who had refused toe along with Tian Lili and the vige chief. They looked terribly exhausted as they sat down weakly in the middle of the hall.

    ¡°Did you guys find a way out?¡± Yu Guangde asked sarcastically.

    The three of them looked rather despondent and one of the shook his head as he replied, ¡°No, we didn¡¯t. There was nothing but ice and snow everywhere. We were about to freeze to death, so we had no choice but to walk along the only path we could see and got here.¡±

    Yu Guangde scoffed. If there was a way to literally walk out of a Challenge, none of them would be risking their lives right now. In fact, he was surprised that these three managed to stay alive till now. Lucky bums, he thought.

    ¡°All three of them are still alive. Does that mean we would have been safe if we just never entered the vige right from the start?¡± An idea suddenly struck Yang Mo.

    Xiang Nan threw him a nce and said quietly, ¡°If we don¡¯t enter the vige, the Challenge won¡¯t be able to start. If the Handbook realizes that we¡¯re not doing anything, it might wreak havoc on us. All of us might end up dead.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­what if some came in and some stayed outside?¡± asked Yang Mo again.

    This time, Su Jin was the one who threw him a nce. ¡°Firstly, the number of owners in each Challenge are corrted to the difficulty level of the Challenge. In other words, if there are fewer owners facing the Challenge than originally nned, these owners may end up dying a lot faster than if all the owners became part of the Challenge. Take this Challenge for example: we¡¯ve got three dead and two unconscious, of which four are Handbook owners. That¡¯s almost half the number of people that first entered the vige.¡±

    ¡°Once all the owners facing the Challenge are dead, anybody still outside will either have to wait to die or to face the Challenge. And without those who died earlier, the probability that thistter group will die is just as high as the previous group. If you split the entire group like this, you¡¯re basically forcing each group to face a Challenge that¡¯s too difficult for this smaller group of people toplete. That will do none of us good.¡±

    ¡°Secondly, unless all of us are one team, I don¡¯t think you would want to face the dangers of a Challenge and allow the others to just watch and wait without contributing, right?¡±

    ¡°Thirdly, have you already forgotten the horrifying ways in which Hell¡¯s Handbook keeps us all in check? The Handbook is not going to allow anyone to get away like this. The ones who stayed outside the Challenge this time were three newbies, so the Handbook let them off. If an old timer had stayed out there¡­I¡¯m very sure the Handbook would have rained hellfire on him.¡±

    Yang Mo could only nod as Su Jin exined these three points to him. He nced at the three newbies and grumbled, ¡°These three were really lucky.¡±

    In any case, everyone was a little relieved now that the total number of people had gone up by three. They carried Tian Lili to some tables that served as a makeshift bed and covered her with nkets, but she didn¡¯t look like she was getting better at all. Shey next to the unconscious Zhang Shuhan with her head tilted to one side. The eye with the double pupils kept switching between one pupil and two pupils, so it was clear that a lot was still going on in her mind.

    ¡°What we need to do now is to get our hands on the vige chronicle that¡¯s with the vige chief. That¡¯s the most important thing in this whole Challenge,¡± Xiang Nan mapped out their next step. The chronicles that Su Jin asked about earlier was definitely going to help answer all their questions.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go get it then!¡± said Yang Mo.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°If I were the designer of such a game, I¡¯m not going to let yers get to the key that will unlock the game that easily. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be easy to get our hands on the chronicles.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su is right. I think we¡¯ll need to gather our best fighters of the group to make sure we get the chronicles,¡± said Xiang Nan resolutely.

    Yu Guangde took a step forward and said, ¡°I¡¯m a veteran who has unlocked my own Spirit Power, so I¡¯m definitely part of this group.¡±

    ¡°The ones who can fight right now are myself, Brother Yu, Mai, Mr. Xiang and Mr. Yang. Brother Yu¡¯s got to be part of this group for sure. Mr. Yang has some Spirit Power on hand, but we also need someone to protect the people in the ancestral hall, so please stay behind.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Yang Mo nodded.

    ¡°Mr. Xiang and I are the analyst type, so we have to split up. Both sides would need someone like us.¡± Su Jin looked at Xiang Nan for his opinion.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m not a very good fighter, but I can help to defend. I¡¯ll stay,¡± Xiang Nan said to Su Jin.

    Yu Guangde looked a little surprised, as if he didn¡¯t expect Xiang Nan to want to stay. But he didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°If Mr. Xiang is going to stay here, then I¡¯ll go with Brother Yu. Thest fighter on the list is Mai, soe along with us!¡± Su Jin decided to bring Kano Mai along as well. Yu Guangde was the most powerful among them since he had his own Spirit Power, Su Jin had taken two doses of body strengthening elixirs, so his physical body was stronger than an average human, while Kano Mai was an excellent sniper with other skills suitable for long rangebat. They did make up a fairly formidable team.

    After exchanging some words, Su Jin, Yu Guangde and Kano Mai set off. It was night time, so it was actually a good time to go on a thieving mission. Meanwhile, Xiang Nan watched the three of them walk away with a strange look in his eyes.

    Xiang Nan had already found out exactly where the vige chief¡¯s house was earlier, so the trio could head there directly instead of having to ask around for directions.

    They soon arrived at the vige chief¡¯s house in the cover of night. Su Jin got Kano Mai to stay put in a high ce outside the vige chief¡¯s front yard as a backup, then climbed over the wall with Yu Guangde. Yu Guangde had a look of surprise once hended in the front yard of the house.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± whispered Su Jin when he noticed Yu Guangde¡¯s change in expression.

    Yu Guangde furrowed his brows and whispered, ¡°There¡¯s a seal of sorts in this ce. My Spirit Power has been sealed off, so I can¡¯t use it. Also¡­I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the only thing that¡¯s been sealed.¡±

    Su Jin stared at him in shock, then heard ckie¡¯s familiar voice in his ears, ¡°You have reached an area that has a seal around it. The Handbook¡¯s power has been sealed off so you cannot retrieve any items from inside. Spirit Power cannot be used here either.¡±

    ¡°So, owners can be weakened in this manner too?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect the Handbook to do something like this. He had been caught off guard, but thankfully the super strong body he was relying on the most was not subject to these issues.

    The two of them quietly made their way towards the house itself. After a quick discussion, they decided to split ways to look for the chronicle. The vige chief¡¯s house wasn¡¯t very big but it was split into seven rooms. Besides the obvious living room, kitchen and bedroom, the other four rooms were dark, so they couldn¡¯t tell what rooms they were.

    Su Jin checked two of them to find that one was a storeroom for food while the other turned out to be a bathroom. The two that Yu Guangde checked out was another storeroom as well as a study.

    ¡°A study?¡± Su Jin and Yu Guangde¡¯s natural choice was to search the study first. After they snuck in, they began searching the ce. But the study was a mess and many things were just randomly stacked on top of each other. It wasn¡¯t going to be easy to find the vige chronicle, especially when they didn¡¯t even know what it looked like.

    Craaaash!!

    Yu Guangde bumped into a high stack of books, causing the entire pile to slide to the floor. The sound of the books sliding to the floor was extremely loud since the vige was so quiet at night.

    Creak!

    Just as they had thought, the vige chief walked out of his bedroom, walked into the study and turned on the lights to see the scattered pile of books on the floor. He looked around suspiciously and even checked behind the shelves and corners of the room, then finally shook his head and closed the room door again.

    Su Jin and Yu Guangde didn¡¯t even dare to breathe. Su Jin was standing on the top of the study door frame with all ten fingers stabbed into the roof, while Yu Guangde was just hugging him tightly and hanging on for dear life. They were in a really awkward position.

    Just when they both thought it was safe toe down, the door to the study was flung open again. The vige chief had suddenly decided to return to the room. Thankfully, Su Jin hadn¡¯t removed all his fingers from the roof yet, so they didn¡¯t end up falling from above.

    ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m going to scare myself to death if I¡¯m always so paranoid,¡± the vige chief chuckled to himself, turned the lights off, shut the door again and actually locked it this time.

    The two of them remained where they were until Su Jin could hear that the vige chief had walked quite a distance away from them. Theynded back down on the floor and Yu Guangde breathed a huge sigh of relief.

    ¡°So, Mr. Su¡­you are well versed in the Eagle w technique?¡± /eagle-w-history.html)]

    ¡°Oh please. My fingers held on because I¡¯ve taken those body strengthening elixirs.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to ease the tension here¡­¡±

    The two of them continued their search for the chronicle, but after spending more than half an hour searching through everything in the study, they still couldn¡¯t find anything. The study was just filled with some of the vige¡¯s ledgers and the vige chief¡¯s personal book collection. There was no sign of the chronicle anywhere.

    ¡°The chronicle has got to be with the vige chief. But where else could it be if it¡¯s not in the study?¡± Yu Guangde scratched his head puzzledly. He had absolute faith in the answer that Tian Lili got from the young man.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up as he pped Yu Guangde on the back. ¡°Brother Yu, you¡¯re right! Nobody said that something like a vige chronicle had to be kept in a study.¡±

    ¡°Then where could it be?¡±

    ¡°If you had to hide something extremely important, where would you choose to hide it?¡± Su Jin asked Yu Guangde.

    Yu Guangde thought about it and said, ¡°If I had to hide something extremely important¡­well, if you¡¯re asking about my personal experience, I squirrel away some money into my socks, some is hidden in a container inside my toilet bowl¡¯s water tank, and I¡¯ve also got a custom made tripleyer pillow case with a secret pocket.¡±

    ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re a Handbook owner and you still have to hide your money? What on earth?¡± Su Jin was bbergasted. The amount of money he could exchange for with just a few points was enough to allow him to live veryfortably.

    Yu Guangde looked slightly embarrassed as he said, ¡°Young man, I see that you have no idea what a fantastic detective the organism called ¡®a wife¡¯ is. Out of every organism I havee across, only Sherlock Holmes, Detective Conan, you, Xiang Nan, those K-9 unit dogs and Lassie canpare to her.¡±

    ¡°It was a great honor to bepared to the first two, and then after that¡­Brother Yu, you¡¯re quite the smooth talker!¡± Su Jin grinned in amusement. Then he stoppedughing and said very seriously, ¡°If we look at this from a middle aged or elderly man¡¯s perspective, I think the first two spots aren¡¯t as likely. Thest one sounds about right.¡±

    ¡°Young man, you¡¯re a smooth talker too!¡± Brother Yu pped Su Jin¡¯s shoulder with augh.

    [Eagle w History

 Chapter 55: Motive For Killing

    <h4>Chapter 55: Motive For Killing</h4>

    The study had been locked, but this wasn¡¯t a problem for Su Jin. He grabbed hold of the door handle, then exerted some force, pulling the entire handle, lock and all, right out of the door.

    ¡°Exactly how strong is your body now? I can¡¯t believe you just did that!¡± Yu Guangde was shocked at how easy it had been for Su Jin to pull the handle out so cleanly and quietly. Also, his fingers had carried both their weight above the door just now. Yu Guangde had survived many Challenges and seen all sorts of owners, but he had nevere across anybody as strong as Su Jin was.

    Su Jin just grinned without answering his question and they headed towards the vige chief¡¯s bedroom. They hid outside the door and Su Jin put his ear against the wall to hear if anything was happening inside the room. Su Jin¡¯s hearing was now so powerful that he could hear slight noises even through a wall.

    A few momentster, Su Jin nodded slightly. He could hear even breathinging from inside, which meant that the person inside had fallen asleep. Su Jin proceeded to rey his feat of removing the bedroom¡¯s door handle and lock mechanism.

    After they crept into the bedroom, they immediately realized why their powers had been sealed off. The bedroom was covered entirely with talismans, including the walls and the furniture.

    ¡°Good heavens. This man must have done something really terrible, that¡¯s why he¡¯s so afraid of evil spiritsing to haunt him,¡± thought Su Jin. He nced at Yu Guangde and noticed that Yu Guangde had the same judgmental look in his eyes.

    They exchanged nces and immediately tiptoed over to the vige chief¡¯s bed and started trying to search for the chronicle.

    All of a sudden, the entire bedroom lit up. They two of them froze for one second, then quickly retreated from the bed and stood on both sides of the vige chief. The vige chief was now sitting upright with a book in his hand.

    ¡°How dare you do such a thing! I¡¯ve already been so kind as to allow all of you to stay in the vige and now, you¡¯re actually trying to rob my house?¡± The vige chief red frostily at the other two in the room.

    ¡°Uh¡­if I said we got lost and walked into the wrong room, would you believe me?¡± Su Jin grinned sheepishly.

    ¡°What do you think?!¡± The vige chief moved like a sh of lightning as he pounced towards Yu Guangde.

    Neither Yu Guangde nor Su Jin expected the vige chief to be this formidable. Yu Guangde wasn¡¯t able to use his Spirit Power and was no match for the vige chief, so the vige chief sent him flying with a palm to his chest before Yu Guangde could even dodge.

    Su Jin leaped over and caught Yu Guangde with one hand, hoping to absorb some of the impact on Yu Guangde¡¯s body. But a sharp pain in his wrist made him realize that not only was he unable topletely cushion the impact, but his own wrist had also gotten hurt as a result.

    ¡°He¡¯s so strong!¡± Su Jin was stunned. The vige chief was ridiculously strong. Even Su Jin wasn¡¯t as physically strong as him.

    The vige chief soon made a pounce for them again. He was very skinny but moved quickly and viciously. Su Jin¡¯s wrist was injured, but he had a weapon on hand. After he retrieved the Boning Knife earlier on the hill, he never put it back into the Handbook, so it was now at his waist.

    The Boning Knife was especially sharp, so even though it didn¡¯t contain any Spirit Power, waving the sharp de around was enough to keep the vige chief at arm¡¯s length.

    Yu Guangde was bleeding from the mouth as he said to Su Jin, ¡°We¡¯ve got to shift this fight outside!¡±

    Su Jin nodded. He picked up Yu Guangde and ran for it. The vige chief¡¯s house had sealed off all their powers, which made the situation very disadvantageous to them. They had to bring this fight all the way beyond the fence.

    But the vige chief wasn¡¯t going to let them run out of his bedroom so easily. He stomped a foot on his bed and a long sword flew out from his headboard. He grabbed hold of the handle and thrust it towards Su Jin¡¯s back.

    Su Jin sensed the swording for him and knew he was in danger, but it was toote to dodge the attack, so he had no choice but to swing his boning knife down on the sword. The force from the des colliding into one another caused Su Jin and Yu Guangde to fly away from the sword. But that also basically sent them flying right out of the vige chief¡¯s bedroom.

    Once theynded, Su Jin and Yu Guangde didn¡¯t pause to catch their breath and continued running. Su Jin exerted force in his legs and jumped more than ten meters into the air and smashed right through the fence of the vige chief¡¯s house.

    After they ran out of the front yard, both of them were able to use Spirit Power, so Yu Guangde gave a low shout, ¡°Activating Spirit Power!¡±

    A red glow shot out from his body and his hair flew wildly in the wind. A red beam of light shot out from his red dagger, turning the short de into a long sword.

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill him! I think he¡¯s linked to the story behind this Challenge!¡± Su Jin instructed Yu Guangde.

    ¡°But if we don¡¯t kill him, how are we going to get the chronicle? Once we¡¯re in his house, our powers are sealed and we¡¯ll be no match for him.¡± Yu Guangde felt that they would be able to kill the vige chief with their powersbined, but it could be hard to try and keep the vige chief under control. The vige chief was even stronger than Su Jin after all.

    ¡°You just need to stall him. We¡¯ve got one more on the team, remember?¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    Yu Guangde was confused for a moment, then broke into a smile. ¡°Stalling him won¡¯t be too difficult!¡±

    By the time they finished exchanging these words, the vige chief had caught up with them. His first target was Yu Guangde, since he concluded that Yu Guangde was the weaker one after he was sent flying with a palm attack earlier.

    But Yu Guangde now had the assistance of Spirit Power. He thrust his red sword into the air several times and the tiny red sparkles quickly transformed into a ferocious tiger that pushed the vige chief onto the ground.

    ¡°Scram!¡± The vige chief wasn¡¯t afraid of the tiger at all. He gave a low shout, grabbed the tiger with both hands and literally tore the tiger apart with his bare hands.

    ¡°Is that how powerful one¡¯s body can get in this universe?¡± Su Jin could hardly believe his eyes. He had heard of people tearing ghosts and spirits apart before, but this was the first time he was seeing someone rip an animal into two like that.

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there and watch! Come and help me out!¡± Yu Guangde was shocked by the vige chief¡¯s incredible strength as well. Trying to stall for time while minimizing injury was harder than killing the man.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t say anything, but a ck object with a golden glow quickly appeared in his hand, followed by a string of bullets.

    But the vige chief was really a force to be reckoned with. Su Jin¡¯s shooting skills were top notch after his training with Kano Mai, but the vige chief could dodge every single bullet. His reaction time was unbelievably fast.

    Of course, Su Jin didn¡¯t intend to use ck Fire to kill the vige chief. He was just using it to keep the man upied.

    A few momentster, a figure hopped out from the vige chief¡¯s house. Kano Mai had gone into the house to look for the chronicle while Su Jin and Yu Guangde were stalling for time. She quickly gave them a hand signal and disappeared into the distance.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Su Jin saw that Kano Mai had gotten what they needed, so he called out to Yu Guangde to quickly leave this ce. Both of them coordinated their actions perfectly as Su Jin shot a stream of bullets and flung Rumor out at the same time while Yu Guangde swept a swathe of Spirit Power sparkles at the Vige Chief.

    The vige chief was powerful, but even he couldn¡¯t get through such an aggressive attack. Su Jin and Yu Guangde quickly seized the chance to escape. The vige chief didn¡¯t run after them even after he dodged their attacks. Instead, he frowned and suddenly realized something was wrong, so he ran back to his bedroom immediately but the vige chronicle was already gone.

    After all three of them got away safely, Su Jin exhaled deeply. ¡°Gosh! I didn¡¯t expect the vige chief to be this formidable!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really surprising, actually. Such formidable characters often turn up in Challenges. But¡­everything seems to have turned out easier than we expected,¡± remarked Yu Guangde puzzledly. The three of them hade fully prepared that at least one of them might end up dead.

    Kano Maiughed and said, ¡°Maybe we got lucky! But never mind that now, we¡¯d better get back to the ancestral hall asap!¡±

    When they returned to the ancestral hall, they saw that Xiang Nan was sitting outside the hall with a cup of water in his hand. He breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw the three of them and gave them a tired smile.

    ¡°Why are you sitting out here?¡± asked Yu Guangde.

    ¡°I was waiting for you guys toe back! How did it go? Did you find the vige chronicle?¡± asked Xiang Nan as he got up.

    Kano Mai waved the book in her hand in response.

    Just then, they heard amotioning from afar. Su Jin turned to look and saw that all the lights in the houses were on and there were many people headed for the ancestral hall with fire torches in hand.

    ¡°The vige chief has gathered the vigers together and I think they¡¯reing for us! Go back into the ancestral hall and lock the doors!¡± said Su Jin to the other three.

    They quickly ran into the hall and pushed anything they could find against the door to keep it shut. They had the vige chronicle on hand now, so it was time to unravel the mystery of Clear Pond Vige. But they needed some time to do so.

    When Su Jin walked further into the hall, he noticed that Yang Mo had a disturbed look on his face. Yang Mo¡¯s lips twitched several times as if he was going to tell Su Jin something but shut up when he saw Xiang Nan and walked to the other side of the hall. The autistic newbie was still shivering in his corner.

    Su Jin found Yang Mo¡¯s behavior rather strange. He turned to look at the other corner where the three newbies were lying motionless. Initially, Su Jin didn¡¯t think much of it. But he soon realized something was amiss and approached the three newbies, only to find that all three of them were already dead.

    ¡°What¡­how did this happen?!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He checked the three of them carefully and discovered that all of them looked like they had been drowned. There was water dribbling out from their mouths.

    Su Jin turned back to look at Yang Mo and Xiang Nan. Yang Mo immediately avoided Su Jin¡¯s gaze and refused to look at him, so Su Jin looked at Xiang Nan instead. He took a deep breath and asked, ¡°Mr. Xiang, what happened here?¡±

    Xiang Nan looked emotionlessly at the three dead newbies and shrugged. ¡°The evil spirit killed them. I¡¯m sure you could tell.¡±

    ¡°The evil spirit uses water as a medium to kill humans, of course I know that. But how did that still happen to them?¡± questioned Su Jin frostily. Since everyone here already knew that the water was the problem, there was no reason why these three newbies would die this way.

    ¡°I got them to drink the water. All three of them were idiots¡­even until thest one dropped dead, none of them realized what the problem was,¡± said Xiang Nan with a chuckle.

    Su Jin marched towards Xiang Nan, then suddenly punched him in the face and sent him flying. Yu Guangde caught Xiang Nan and gave his team mate a questioning look.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± asked Yu Guangde. He couldn¡¯t understand why Xiang Nan would do such a thing.

    Xiang Nan wiped the blood off his lips and he could feel that his teeth were a little loose. But Su Jin had already held himself back. Otherwise, he was definitely going to lose more than just a few teeth.

    ¡°Why? If I said it was to ensure your safety, would you believe me?¡± said Xiang Nan quietly.

 Chapter 56: Moral Boundaries and a Story

    <h4>Chapter 56: Moral Boundaries and a Story</h4>

    Su Jin fell silent. He knew what Xiang Nan meant, but Kano Mai and Yu Guangde had no idea what was going on. Su Jin said in a quiet voice, ¡°I know what you were trying to do. But did you really have to do it this way?¡±

    ¡°What else could I do? There is always a certain order of things within the Challenge. Since whatever you guys were doing would definitely incur the wrath of the evil spirit, I had to make the evil spirit kill someone else to keep all of you safe.¡± Xiang Nan shook his head helplessly. He swirled the cup of water in his hand and said, ¡°And if you guys had dyed a little longer, I was going to drink this cup myself.¡±

    Kano Mai and Yu Guangde understood what was going on now. The logic was simple. This Challenge had a limit of killing only one person over a particr period of time. The evil spirit could only kill one person during this time and this was already proven by the previous deaths. Also, the evil spirit would always choose to kill someone by water first and not by ice.

    With this pattern in mind, Xiang Nan tricked the three newbies into taking turns to drink the water from the pond. Since the evil spirit could only kill one person at a time, the three newbies had given the trio at the vige chief¡¯s house quite a bit of time.

    The trio had not found the whole process too difficult also because Xiang Nan had kept them safe by killing these newbies instead.

    Su Jin was no saint. He knew that it was hard for anyone to survive a Challenge, but it didn¡¯t mean that he could ept Xiang Nan¡¯s way of dealing with this problem. Xiang Nan had tricked someone into getting killed just so that he could live. He simply couldn¡¯t agree with this.

    ¡°Mr. Su, you need to understand one thing. Kindheartedness is a luxury in the Handbook¡¯s world,¡± said Xiang Nan very gravely to Su Jin.

    Su Jin stared right back at Xiang Nan and said in an equally grave voice, ¡°This has nothing to do with kindheartedness. This is a matter of principle. A matter of moral boundaries!¡±

    ¡°Stop being so na?ve! What moral boundaries? The only boundary we have in these Challenges is to stay alive! That¡¯s the only thing we need to care about! Everything else¡­everything else doesn¡¯t matter!¡± Xiang Nan suddenly raised his voice and yelled fiercely at Su Jin like he was an angry tiger. The veins on his forehead bulged and his eyes reddened.

    ¡°Both of you have different philosophies, so there¡¯s no need to convince each other!¡± Yu Guangde stood in between the two of them and sighed. ¡°Look. What¡¯s happened has already happened. It¡¯s more important to save those who are still alive. If you two still want to convince each other, wait till we¡¯re done with the Challenge!¡±

    Su Jin tried his best to hold his anger back and finally calmed down after a while. Xiang Nan had also calmed down as he asked quietly, ¡°Just like what Brother Yu said, there¡¯s no point in arguing about this now. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re stupid enough to take revenge for them, right?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m not interested in that sort of thing,¡± scoffed Su Jin. He didn¡¯t agree with what Xiang Nan did, but fighting Xiang Nan now was definitely as good asmitting suicide.

    ¡°Good. Since you¡¯ve gotten the vige chronicle, it¡¯s time for us to get cracking.¡± Xiang Nan held his hand out at Su Jin.

    Su Jin threw the chronicle at him and Xiang Nan caught it. He immediately started flipping through it to look for any records of what happened 40 years ago. At the same time, the sound of people knocking and banging on the door from outside could be heard.

    ¡°I¡¯ll block them, you guys better hurry up,¡± said Yu Guangde before heading towards the main door of the ancestral hall. He had Spirit Power, so it was more than enough to fend off some vigers.

    Xiang Nan quickly looked through the information and quickly found what he was looking for. He murmured, ¡°1967, winter. Snowstorm. Wait¡­ Rubble Vige?!¡±

    The records in the vige chronicle weren¡¯t that of Clear Pond Vige but of Rubble Vige. In other words, this vige was still named Rubble Vige 40 years ago.

    ¡°The wind and snow was strong but it did not hit the vige. But even though the vige was not hit by the snowstorm, it was hit by a gue. 13 people died betweente winter and early spring.¡±

    The records dating back 40 years ago were very clear. The curse on the vige started from there and a total of 13 people died that year. But the vigers of Rubble Vige thought it was a gue and didn¡¯t realize that they had actually been cursed.

    ¡°Keep flipping back! Find the previous snowstorm!¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Here. 1959. There was a great famine, snowfall was heavy and the chilly winds cut like knives. Our crops on the mountain were barely enough to feed the vige. An unexpected group affected by the famine came by. A few hundred of them were like hungry ghosts, willing to do anything for a meal. Some women sold their bodies, some sold their children. It was such a tragedy, yet the heavens did not pity them. How sad!¡± Xiang Nan read out what was recorded.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Try to see if anything strange happened between 1959 and 1967.¡±

    Xiang Nan nodded and continued flipping the pages. After a while, he paused and read, ¡°1965. It was a good year. A woman came looking for her son and brought 13 goats as a gift of gratitude. She searched the vige but failed to find him, so she killed the goats to perform a ritual, resulting in blood everywhere. Later, she went mad, cursing others while hugging a goat¡¯s head and eventually left.¡±

    Xiang Nan stopped there and looked up at Su Jin. Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°I think we can confirm who that evil spirit is. In fact, we can pretty much guess the entire story.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But who did the woman pass her son to? Since she brought those goats along as a gift of gratitude, that means she made an agreement with someone in the vige. Someone in Rubble Vige agreed to take care of her son,¡± said Xiang Nan with great confidence.

    Su Jin took the chronicle from him and continued flipping. An entry in 1975 caught his eye. He read, ¡°1975, spring. One of our vigers has returned from studying. He was away for 16 years and his name is now Fang Leng. He brought glory to the vige and the vige celebrated his return.¡±

    ¡°Fang Leng? 1975¡­since he was away for 16 years, that means¡­he left in 1959!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Su Jin continued flipping the records because he felt like he knew who this Fang Leng was. He eventually found another record and looked like he had found the answer to his questions.

    ¡°Brother Yu, let them in!¡± Su Jin yelled out.

    Yu Guangde had no idea what Su Jin intended to do, but he allowed the vigers outside the ancestral hall toe in anyway. He kept his Spirit Power away and dozens of viges immediately poured into the hall.

    The vigers immediately started cursing and shouting as they entered the hall. Su Jin frowned, took out ck Fire and shot an explosive round at one corner of the hall. The loud sting noise shocked everybody and they fell silent immediately.

    ¡°Everyone, I know you¡¯re all very angry right now. But could you let me say a few words? Once I¡¯m done talking, you can do whatever you want to my friends and I,¡± said Su Jin while still holding ck Fire.

    Nobody dared to say anything since he was holding a gun. But the vige chief came forward and said, ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a bunch of thieves! What do you have to say for yourselves?¡±

    ¡°Thieves? At least we¡¯re not a murderer like you!¡± snapped Su Jin coldly.

    ¡°A murderer? Me?!¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m talking about you! I¡¯ve lost fivepanions in this damned ancestral hall!¡± spat Su Jin in a hateful voice, as if he was really furious.

    The vige chief scoffed. ¡°What has that got to do with us? I think it¡¯s more likely that you thieves didn¡¯t split the loot equally, so you ended up killing each other in a fight.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really? Well, here¡¯s your vige chronicle and I took a look at it just now. Over the past 40 years, this vige has met with a terrible snowstorm three times, and today is the fourth time. During thest three times, at least 13 people in the vige died and the worst one had 21 fatalities. What happened? Did they also fail to split the loot equally among themselves?¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°That was a gue!¡± said the vige chief.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin smiled mirthlessly as he pulled a chair over, plonked himself down and started flipping through the vige chronicle. ¡°Let me tell you a story!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to listen to you tell stories! You thieves must pay the price for what you¡¯ve done!¡± The vige chief refused to give Su Jin a chance to speak.

    Su Jin raised ck Fire and shot several rounds in quick session, sending waves of panic into the vigers. Su Jin red at them and sneered, ¡°It¡¯s not up to you to decide whether you listen to my story or not!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, since my friend wants to tell a story, why don¡¯t you give him a chance and hear him out? Otherwise¡­this theft case is going to turn into a massacre!¡± Yu Guangde stood next to Su Jin, flipped his Handbook open and retrieved a gatling gun from inside. The end of the gun was now pointed at all the vigers.

    The gatling gun was clearly a greater threat to the vigers, so even the vige chief shut up. Su Jin was sure that the vige chief probably wasn¡¯t scared of the gatling gun, since he was someone who could dodge bullets even while fighting a veteran. But if all the owners attacked him at once, the vige chief might not stand a chance anymore.

    Su Jin gave a pleased nod when he saw how everyone was cooperative now. He began speaking in a slow and steady voice, ¡°The story begins in 1959, and I believe a number of you weren¡¯t even born yet.¡±

    When the vige chief heard the year 1959, his eyelids twitched violently and he red even more icily at Su Jin.

    ¡°1959 was a snowstorm year and it was also a year of famine. At that time, everyone was desperate to fill their stomachs but Rubble Vige, or as you know it now, Clear Pond Vige, didn¡¯t have this problem. The geography of this vige was such that there was enough for everyone to eat that year.¡±

    ¡°But since the famine hit so many people, it was impossible for Rubble Vige to bepletely unaffected. It didn¡¯t take long for people from other vigers to find their way here. Rubble Vige had enough to feed these people, but the food wasn¡¯t free. If one wanted to eat, one had to pay the price.¡±

    ¡°ording to the chronicle, many of these desperate people sold their children in exchange for food. One woman in particr, left her child with one of the vigers, or perhaps she used him as a guarantee. No mother would want to be separated from her child unless she had no choice. So the mother looked forward to better days, to a day when she coulde back for her child.¡±

    ¡°Some yearster, things did get better. The woman returned to Rubble Vige and to thank the person who helped to take care of her child, she even brought 13 goats along as a present. But¡­not only did she fail to find her child, she also failed to find the person who agreed to take care of her child. She was heartbroken and absolutely furious.¡±

    ¡°But that wasn¡¯t the end. This woman used her own way to find her child. She was a woman who knew some sort of magic, so she killed the 13 goats she had brought as a method of divination to find out where her child was.¡±

    thecker: Shini, your chad¡¯s back

    Shinigami: HEHEHEHEHHEHEHE

 Chapter 57: The Woman

    <h4>Chapter 57: The Woman</h4>

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! What¡¯s this nonsense about divination?! You¡¯re just ming your own crimes on the supernatural!¡± shouted the vige chief angrily.

    ¡°I¡¯m just telling a story, so you don¡¯t have to be so angry.¡± Su Jin smiled faintly at the vige chief, then continued, ¡°The result of the divination brought great grief to the woman. The result must have been terrible.¡±

    ¡°Later on, the woman died. Her angry soul eventually turned into an evil spirit that hides in this vige so that she could exact revenge. Every time a snowstorm hits this region, the woman¡¯s evil spirit will emerge. She will take the lives of 13 people to continue the divination process in order to locate her child.¡±

    Su Jin paused to look at the vigers in the hall. He could see the terror in everyone¡¯s eyes, so he knew that regardless of whether this story was true, he had certainly triggered the fear buried deep in their hearts.

    ¡°The evil spirit has returned and this time, she has already taken the lives of six people. Not just mypanions, but also one of yours. Vige Chief Fang, are you really going to continue hiding the truth? Why don¡¯t you tell us the truth of the matter? Then we could help you to lift the curse over the vige once and for all?¡± Su Jin continued to dramatize his story.

    The vige chief red fiercely at Su Jin and he seemed a little convinced by Su Jin. But he eventually grit his teeth and retorted, ¡°Truth? What truth? Since you¡¯ve got the vige chronicle with you, then you can look through the records. That woman you¡¯re talking about was chased away and she didn¡¯t die. So how could she have be this evil spirit?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right in saying that the chronicle has no records of the woman dying. But it doesn¡¯t say that she¡¯s still alive either. Every time there¡¯s a snowstorm here, Rubble Vige will face the threat of losing a number of vigers. Did you think that was really a coincidence?¡± Su Jin shrugged, then stared straight into the vige chief¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Besides¡­Vige Chief Fang, you would best know exactly what happened to that child back then, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡­!¡± The vige chief was taken aback and nearly said something he shouldn¡¯t but calmed himself back down. ¡°Why would I know anything about what happened to that child? This has nothing to do with me.¡±

    .

    ¡°Is that so? After the snowstorm in 1959, you left the vige and returned in 1975 with a brand new name. After that, you became the vige chief of Rubble Vige and changed the name to Clear Pond Vige. Why did you do that? Did you do that because of the child you threw into the pond behind the hill at the back?¡± Su Jin sounded threatening and aggressive as he pushed the vige chief into a corner. But actually, most of this was just his conjecture.

    The vige chief looked like he was slowly breaking down under the pressure of Su Jin¡¯s words. His eyes bulged angrily and he growled, ¡°You¡¯re spouting nonsense!¡±

    ¡°You know very well if I¡¯m spouting nonsense or not! I¡¯ve already seen the baby¡¯s evil spirit inside the pond behind the hill! Are you really going to continue being stubborn like this? Are you going to just let all the vigers pay for the sin youmitted?¡± roared Su Jin.

    ¡°We don¡¯t want to pay the price for your sins!¡±

    ¡°Vige Chief, did you really do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°No wonder so many people die every time there¡¯s a snowstorm. So this is why!¡±

    The vigers were riled up by Su Jin¡¯s words and they started shouting and moring at the vige chief even though there was no concrete evidence to prove that he was really the one at fault.

    ¡°Enough! Shut up, you idiots!!¡± roared the vige chief furiously. His entire body was trembling slightly as he turned back to look at Su Jin with droopy eyes and heaved a sigh. ¡°All right then. What¡­how are you going to resolve this matter once and for all?¡±

    The vige chief waspletely broken after he finished speaking. As he admitted to his wrongdoing, Su Jin breathed a big sigh of relief. Most of this story was guesswork and he wasn¡¯t really that confident of the details either. He couldn¡¯t even be sure that the vige chief was really Fang Leng. He was just hoping that if the vige chief did turn out to be guilty, he would eventually give in to the pressure and admit his guilt. Su Jin was d that it actually worked.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. We just have to look for the one who created all this trouble in the first ce. She¡¯s not just looking for her child, right? She¡¯s also looking for you!¡± said Su Jin.

    But the vige chief argued, ¡°Regardless of who she¡¯s looking for, how do you know if she¡¯s really dead? We only know that she left the vige. That¡¯s recorded in the vige chronicle too.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s dead. I don¡¯t know how she died, but I am very confident that she¡¯s dead and I have a good idea about where she is right now.¡± Su Jin looked towards Tian Lili.

    One of her eyes had been switching constantly between one and two pupils, but no matter how the pupils switched, they remained fixed in one direction. Su Jin didn¡¯t think much of it at first, but after he noticed this, he started guessing why this was happening.

    Su Jin walked over to Tian Lili, then followed her gaze all the way to a statue within the ancestral hall.

    ¡°Brother Yu, help me shift this statue aside!¡± Su Jin called out to Yu Guangde.

    Yu Guangde nodded and got Xiang Nan and Yang Mo to help as well. They shifted the statue aside to reveal a corpse that had not fully rotted away.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Everybody in the hall gasped in horror. This body was really strange as some parts were so dposed that you could see the bone, but some parts still had some flesh hanging from the bones that resembled cured meat. The head was the most intact, but it also looked like it had been cured with ayer of wax.

    ¡°If¡­if that¡¯s really that woman and her body hasn¡¯t fully dposed despite being in such a ce, then¡­that¡¯s truly shocking,¡± blurted Yang Mo.

    Just then, the woman slowly raised her head to stare straight at the vige chief. Freezing winds suddenly filled the air.

    ¡°Crap! Yang Mo, activate your skill!¡± Su Jin called out to Yang Mo. He didn¡¯t expect this to happen after they found the woman¡¯s body.

    Yang Mo quickly activated his skill and a white glow shot out from his body to cover everyone. Meanwhile, the vigers immediately ran for it. Nobody dared to stay here any longer.

    ¡°My child¡­my child! Return my child to me!!!¡± roared the corpse of the woman as she charged towards the vige chief.

    The vige chief was a truly formidable fighter and remained calm even in such a situation. He sped his hands together into a formation and thrust it outwards. The woman seemed genuinely afraid of this formation and stumbled backwards.

    ¡°The Challenge isn¡¯ting to an end yet because there¡¯s still something else left to settle,¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself. His eyes suddenly lit up as he realized what else he had to do.

    ¡°Brother Yu, help to keep this woman here, I¡¯m going to get thest thing that will bring this Challenge to an end. Mai,e with me,¡± yelled Su Jin before dashing out of the hall without waiting for Yu Guangde to respond. Kano Mai quickly followed him out without asking any questions.

    Yu Guangde didn¡¯t have the time to respond to Su Jin either. The freezing winds that the woman unleashed were terrifyingly cold. Anything it touched would instantly turn to ice. The barrier that Yang Mo activated could only barely protect them from these winds, so both Yu Guangde and the vige chief had tobine forces to keep the woman at bay. They couldn¡¯t let her attack Yang Mo because he was the only one with Spirit Power besides Yu Guangde. If something happened to Yang Mo, everyone within his protective barrier was going to die instantly.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai ran at top speed, covering several meters with just one step. They soon arrived at the pond behind the hill, but it looked different now. Several animal skeletons now stood outside the pond as if to guard the waters.

    These skeletons looked very weird as well because they were a randombination of animal parts. A goat head could be paired with the body of a dog or a squirrel¡¯s body had a pig¡¯s head on it. Both the proportion of the animals and thebinations were simply absurd.

    ¡°Mai, I¡¯m going near the pond. If you see me behaving strangely, use your Soul Whisperer to yank me back here,¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai. She nodded and he walked towards the pond.

    As he approached the pond, those absurd animal skeletons charged towards him as well. But these animals were of no threat to him. As long as they didn¡¯t have the same power that baby evil spirit had, they were nothing but moving piles of bones.

    Su Jin used his Boning Knife to slice through them all. These half rotten bones were no match for his super sharp de.

    He continued walking closer to the pond because he was here to search for that baby. He was very certain of the whole story now. If that story he told the vigers earlier was right, then the woman was here to look for her son.

    Back then, the divination results told the woman that her son was dead, which both grieved her and infuriated her. But she couldn¡¯t find the body of her son, so she ended up hiding behind the statue inside the ancestral hall of Rubble Vige and sacrificed her own life to bring a curse upon the vige. Thereafter, she would gain strength every time there was a snowstorm.

    She had brought 13 goats as a thank you gift that year, but ended up killing those 13 goats in a ritual to find out what happened to her son. So now, she also used the lives of 13 people within Rubble Vige to continue trying to find out what happened to her son. That was why at least 13 people would die within the vige every time a snowstorm hit.

    Su Jin stuffed a piece of Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum into his mouth, then sat down next to the pond as he scoured the pond. It didn¡¯t take long for a baby with goat horns on his head to surface. He gurgled creepily at Su Jin, then sank back down again.

    A secondter, those horns appeared in front of Su Jin. Just like before, Su Jin felt the urge to pull those horns out of the water and he lost control of his body again. Just then, he felt something pull him backwards at high speed. Kano Mai had noticed his behavior and was using her Soul Whisperer to pull him back towards herself.

    The baby evil spirit in his hands got a fright and slipped out of Su Jin¡¯s hands to mber back to the pond.

    Su Jin panicked immediately. He knew that if he couldn¡¯t bring the baby evil spirit with him this time, it was going to be hard to lure it out again. He didn¡¯t have time to think of a different method either because the lives of everybody inside the ancestral hall was at stake right now.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let you escape like that! Come back here!!¡± Su Jin¡¯s body was still stiff as he yelled loudly in an attempt to make his body listen to him.

    In that instant, Su Jin felt as though everything had slowed down. But his mind was still working at the same speed, so he felt like he was looking at something in slow motion. There was also a silver glow around the escaping baby evil spirit and it couldn¡¯t move anymore.

 Chapter 58: Spirit Power Activated

    <h4>Chapter 58: Spirit Power Activated</h4>

    ¡°Congrattions, you have activated your own Spirit Power! Your Spirit Power type is Psychokinesis!¡± ckie¡¯s voice resounded in Su Jin¡¯s ears. Su Jin was stunned for a moment because he simply couldn¡¯t figure out what he did to activate his Spirit Power.

    He also noticed something else. A number floated on the top right hand corner of his line of sight and it was at 100. As he took the time to figure out what was happening, the number dropped to 99. At the same time, the world around him went back to normal again, so he continued being dragged backwards by Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­my Spirit Power?¡± Su Jin realized what that number represented. The number showed how much Spirit Power he had left to use.

    ¡°Come back!¡± thought Su Jin and the silver glow around the baby evil spirit carried the baby evil spirit back to Su Jin. The baby evil spirit thrashed around desperately but simply couldn¡¯t get out of this silver glow.

    ¡°We need to hurry back, we don¡¯t have much time.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t have time to exin things to Kano Mai now. He could see the number dropping at a rapid pace and he was going to run out of Spirit Power in less than five minutes at this rate.

    Su Jin practically flew down the hill, especially since going down was easier than going up. His entire body seemed to have turned into nothing but a silver beam of light as he left Kano Mai trailing far behind him.

    Kano Mai was also rather puzzled by this sudden surge in speed. Su Jin¡¯s physical body was very strong and he could definitely run very quickly, but he had never been fast enough to leave her so far behind. Also, that faint silver glow around his body seemed exceptionally bright in the dark night.

    Su Jin ran full speed ahead and managed to get back to the hall before hepletely ran out of Spirit Power.

    The hall was aplete mess. The autistic newbie¡¯s head had been severed from his body and Tian Lili was bleeding from every orifice.

    Yang Mo had lost his legs from his knees downwards and one arm had gone missing too. Xiang Nan was no better. He had a huge hole in his stomach, so his intestines had spilled out and he was lying on the floor and barely breathing.

    At the same time, Zhang Shuhan had actually regained consciousness. It was probably because Su Jin had fished the baby evil spirit out of the pond. Zhang Shuhan and Yu Guangde were the best closebat fighters of their group, so they worked together with the vige chief to trap her in a corner. But they looked like they were exhausted and Yu Guangde had run out of Spirit Power too.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you looking for your child? I brought him here!¡± yelled Su Jin as he ran to where they were fighting and thrust the baby at the woman.

    The woman immediately stopped unleashing her attacks and a foul smelling ck gas slowly filled the air, which made Su Jin knit his brows. But after the gas had cleared, the woman no longer looked like some half eaten corpse. Instead, she had transformed into a sweet and gentle looking woman.

    The woman reached her arms out to take the baby from Su Jin and started crying once she held the baby in her arms. When her tears fell on the baby, the baby stopped struggling and looked curiously at the woman instead.

    As more tears fell on the baby, the baby transformed too. The goat horns on his head crumbled into nothing but white powder and the filth on his body disappeared. It only took a few seconds for this evil spirit to look more like the cherubim painted on the walls of ancient Catholic churches.

    A voice rang inside everyone¡¯s ears, ¡°Rubble Vige Challengepleted!¡±

    Everyone breathed a big sigh of relief. Su Jin shook his head as he scanned the ancestral hall. This Level B Challenge had resulted in the deaths of all the newbies and most of the old timers were badly injured.

    Meanwhile, the woman stood in the middle of the hall, rocking her baby and singing gently. She was singing in anguage that none of them understood, but it sounded so soothing to the ears.

    ¡°Hasn¡¯t the Challenge ended? Why aren¡¯t we returning to our Personal Hell Domains?¡± Su Jin was puzzled because he thought that they would be whisked off to their own Hell Domains once the Challenge waspleted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! The Challenge has indeede to an end, but it has toplete its story. During this time, any injuries an owner is suffering from will no longer do any harm to the owner,¡± exined Yu Guangde as he walked over.

    Su Jin looked around and noticed that it was true that Yang Mo and Xiang Nan no longer looked like they were in pain even though one had lost three limbs and the other had a huge hole in his abdomen.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been able toplete this Challenge sessfully thanks to you, Mr. Su.¡± Yu Guangde stuck a hand out towards Su Jin.

    Su Jin shook Yu Guangde¡¯s hand and they smiled at one another. ¡°Brother Yu, you¡¯re too modest. Without the help of your small team, there¡¯s no way I could have survived either.¡±

    ¡°Well, well, well! We¡¯ve all helped each other in one way or another. If we ever run into each other again in a Challenge, Team Wind and Rain is willing to form an alliance with Team Boning Knife,¡± said Yu Guangde with a heartyugh.

    Su Jin was happy to hear these words and replied, ¡°I hope we get another chance to work together!¡± Then he noticed Xiang Nan looking straight at him and frowned.

    Yu Guangde noticed this as well and said, ¡°Mr. Su, I really admire your insistence on sticking to your moral boundaries, but¡­when ites to these Challenges, as long as it¡¯s for the sake of one¡¯s own survival, no way of doing things is really the right one or the wrong one. Xiang Nan has a different set of values from you, but¡­he did all that for the sake of our team, after all.¡±

    ¡°There is nothing wrong with ensuring the survival of the best people on the team in order to increase the survival rate of therger group. I might not have the right to criticize anybody for the decisions they make, but I still don¡¯t agree with doing something like that.¡± The Challenge had ended but Su Jin was still unable to agree with Xiang Nan¡¯s actions.

    Yu Guangde sighed but didn¡¯tment further. He walked towards Yang Mo and said, ¡°You¡¯re not bad and this skill of yours helped to protect us for quite a while. Would you like to join Team Wind and Rain?¡±

    Yang Mo was stunned by this sudden offer, then heughed sadly and said, ¡°Brother Yu, I¡¯ve already consumed all the Spirit Power in my battery, so I won¡¯t be able to execute this skill again. Are you sure you still want me in your team?¡±

    Yu Guangde wasn¡¯t sure of what to say now. It was true that he approached Yang Mo precisely because Yang Mo had a useful defense skill. But this skill required Spirit Power and Yang Mo didn¡¯t have any left. This put Yu Guangde in an awkward situation since Yang Mo didn¡¯t have anything else to offer that would make him good enough to join the team.

    Su Jin overheard their conversation and walked over. He pulled his Handbook out and said, ¡°Brother Yu, if you don¡¯t mind, let me have Mr. Yang then! Your team is already very formidable, so why don¡¯t you give my new little team a chance to gather some members?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d like to have him? Sure! I¡¯ll be happy to work with any of you in the future anyway,¡± said Yu Guangde with augh and walked away.

    Yang Mo looked at Su Jin and asked hesitantly, ¡°Are you serious about letting me join your team?¡±

    ¡°Stop saying all these useless things. You won¡¯t get a chance once the Handbook throws us out of here. Put your hand here.¡± Su Jin held his Handbook out in front of Yang Mo.

    Yang Mo followed Su Jin¡¯s instructions and put his remaining hand on Su Jin¡¯s Handbook.

    A ck mist rose immediately from the Handbook, engulfed Yang Mo¡¯s fingers and took the shape of a demonic hand. Su Jin cut his finger and let one drop of his blood fall onto the demonic hand.

    The demonic hand instantly shattered and turned into little bits of mist that went into Yang Mo¡¯s arm and settled into the shape of a boning knife.

    ¡°All right! From now on, you¡¯re a member of Team Boning Knife.¡± Su Jin smiled at Yang Mo. Even though Yang Mo hadn¡¯t proved to be very powerful in any way, he had contributed everything he could without question, including consuming everything in his Spirit Power battery. Su Jin didn¡¯t want to heartlessly make use of him and leave him in the lurch after that, so he asked Yang Mo to join the team topensate him for his sacrifice.

    At the same time, the events of this story wereing to a close. The vige chief was now repenting as he knelt before the woman and her child and started recounting exactly what happened back then.

    Back in 1959, a snowstorm hit and this woman hade to Rubble Vige with many others in hope of finding some food. At that time, the woman had trouble even ensuring her own survival, much less feeding another child, so she left her child with the vige chief along with all her money, hoping that the vige chief could take care of her child during these hard times. Once the snowstorm was over and things got better, she would return for the child.

    The vige chief epted the money and the child and agreed to take care of the child. But the vige chief was a young man back then, so after he got arge sum of money from the woman, he went to buy some alcohol to celebrate his good fortune.

    But because the vige chief eventually cked out from drinking too much and nobody knew about the baby in the house, the baby had already frozen to death by the time he woke up.

    In his panic, he threw the baby¡¯s body into that pond behind the hill. He was afraid that the woman mighte back soon after to look for her child, so he left Rubble Vige that same year and only returned more than a decadeter, thinking that everything had probably blown over.

    But when he returned, he realized that none of this had blown over at all. Later on, he changed the name of the vige to Clear Pond Vige in hope that the luck that came with this new name would keep the baby¡¯s evil spirit in the pond at bay, but it didn¡¯t work at all.

    Most of Su Jin¡¯s guesses had turned out to be correct. Everyone sighed as they looked at the vige chief kneeling in the middle of the hall. The vige chief used to be a good person, or at least he had enough kindness in his heart to agree to take care of a baby he didn¡¯t know. There was a famine everywhere else back then and food was extremely precious, so taking in a baby was undoubtedly a heroic act.

    Unfortunately, his negligence turned into a tragedy. Not only did he cause the death of a baby, but he had also brought disaster upon this vige. When he came back 16 yearster, he did think about how he could make amends, but it was already toote for that.

    .

    The woman stretched her hand out towards the vige chief and he stretched his hand out towards hers as tears streamed down his face. The moment their hands touched, the vige chief¡¯s incredibly strong body instantly crumbled and turned into a heap of dust within seconds.

    The woman did not forgive him and punished him for his evil deeds in the end. After that, everything went dark and all the owners were sent out of the Challenge. The Challenge had officiallye to an end.

    After the owners were sent away, something happened to the ancestral hall. The heap of dust on the floor came to life and became the vige chief again, like it was a tape on rewind mode. The baby turned back into an evil spirit and returned to the pond behind the hill, while the woman also reverted to a half eaten corpse and hid behind the statue again.

    Everything went back to what it looked like when the Challenge started. They awaited the next cycle and waited for the next batch of Handbook owners toe their way.

    But Su Jin and the other owners had no idea this had happened. They had all returned to their Personal Hell Domains.

 Chapter 59: Useless Spirit Power

    <h4>Chapter 59: Useless Spirit Power</h4>

    Level B Challenge ¡°Rubble Vige¡±pleted: 1000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 3, 300 points

    Degree of Challenge Participation: A, 700 points

    Analysis and Deduction of Challenge: 90%, 800 points

    Completed optional mission of uncovering truth behind Rubble Vige, did not eliminate Special Characters: 500 points

    Points Received: 3300

    Total Points: 3350

    Remaining Points: 3350

    Su Jin stared at the string of numbers in his Handbook with a despondent look on his face. He had earmarked the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir but his current points were nowhere near enough.

    The Rubble Vige Challenge had been his first real Level B Challenge and all the newbies had died. Of course, there could have been some old timers among them as well, but they were all dead too. Even Team Wind and Rain had gone through so many life threatening situations. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t suddenly activated his Spirit Power at the end, they might have all perished.

    ¡°We only managed to make it because all of us had to drain whatever Spirit Power we had. Is that how hard real Level B Challenges are going to be?¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart was still pounding in fear. He was mentally prepared to use the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power at the end if the baby evil spirit wasn¡¯t cooperative, but that would also have taken some additional time and everyone in the group might have died by the time he got back to the ancestral hall.

    Su Jin¡¯s first Challenge had been a Level B Challenge too, but it didn¡¯t seem as crazy as this one. Also, the newbies ended up in the same team, so half of them managed to survive because the Handbook was usually more lenient towards newbies.

    The newbies this time round were a lot more unfortunate. They had chosen to team up with old timers but ended up dead anyway. Three of them had even been tricked into incurring their own deaths by Xiang Nan. Su Jin now understood why Liu Yingying and Jiang Li left them behind right from the start. Perhaps that was actually their way of protecting newbies as well.

    Su Jin¡¯s greatest reward from this Challenge was the fact that he had activated his Spirit Power. But the number in the top right of his line of sight was gone.

    ¡°ckie, tell me more about Spirit Power,¡± Su Jin said to ckie.

    ¡°I will now proceed to go through a basic introduction of Spirit Power. Spirit Power is defined as a supernatural power that the owners of Hell¡¯s Handbook are able to awaken within themselves. Everything from magical powers to internal energymonly referred to in Chinese martial arts can be considered a form of Spirit Power. There is an upper cap on Spirit Power after an owner activates it. Owners can cultivate your Spirit Power in order to increase this cap. Most Spirit Power weapons and equipment require a particr type of Spirit Power, so please be careful when selecting any item that requires Spirit Power to operate.¡±

    ¡°At the same time, you will also receive an Internal Screen. This is specially meant for owners who have just activated their Spirit Power. You will be able to see how quickly you are consuming your Spirit Power so that you can get used to using your Spirit Power. Once you are familiar enough with using Spirit Power, this Internal Screen will disappear. That is all the information you are able to obtain regarding Spirit Power,¡± ckie introduced Spirit Power to Su Jin very quickly.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes. None of this information was new and most of it could be deduced pretty easily with some exposure to Spirit Power. The Handbook¡¯s stance on Spirit Power was clearly to let the owners explore the possibilities themselves.

    ¡°So, I only get a maximum of 100 at the start?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t pleased with his Spirit Power¡¯s upper limit at all. 100 was only enough for him to use the Demon Lord¡¯s eye twice and the Boning Knife once. He wouldn¡¯t be able to use the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow at all.

    If some other owners heard Su Jin grumble about how little Spirit Power he had, they might bash him up. The only difference between a veteran and an ordinary owner was Spirit Power and Spirit Power gave veterans a huge edge. There were owners who had gone through more than ten Challenges without activating Spirit Power. Being able to activate Spirit Power after just three Challenges like Su Jin was definitely a rare case.

    Now that Su Jin had Spirit Power, his survival rate in a Challenge was going to increase significantly and it would be very helpful to his team as well.

    Su Jin looked through the point exchange menu and noticed a few items that didn¡¯t look too bad, but he just looked at them and didn¡¯t exchange any points for them.

    But he couldn¡¯t resist buying Lucky Draw Bags again. After he spent 500 points in exchange for five bags and opened them, he felt like chopping his hand off as a punishment.

    ¡°Thank you for purchasing a Lucky Draw Bag!¡± The first three bags contained nothing else but this message. So, the bags didn¡¯t always contain an item, thought Su Jin. He had been very lucky thest time, that¡¯s all.

    He finally heard that familiar soothing music fill the air when he opened the fourth bag.

    ¡°A Trantion Watch. Spend 100 points to start simultaneous interpretation of anynguage of your choice. A must have for travelling overseas for work or going through a Challenge.¡±

    ¡°Woah! This is not bad!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he would have to trante a foreignnguage often during a Challenge, but as long as he needed to do that, this item woulde in handy. Spending 100 points wasn¡¯t too expensive either, since being able to read anything during a Challenge could make a huge difference.

    ¡°Wait a minute. This¡­this is actually for thezy, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Su Jin quickly realized there was something wrong here. Any owner could exchange points to learnnguages inside their Personal Hell Domain. There was pretty much no time limit on learning and you could learn almost anynguage in the world. So this was only useful to those who didn¡¯t want to waste time learning a foreignnguage from their Hell Domains.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t easy for anybody to master a foreignnguage. But if everyone in the team could learn a few each, they would be able to cover mostnguages.

    He kept the Trantion Watch away in his Handbook and opened thest bag to see that it was just another pack of Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum.

    ¡°What the¡­oh, never mind. I¡¯ll just take it as replenishing my stock,¡± said Su Jin with a hollowugh. Then again, this Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum wasn¡¯t a bad item either. Zhang Shuhan would have died instead of the newbie if he hadn¡¯t had this on hand.

    And if Zhang Shuhan had died, Team Wind and Rain would have had one person less to fight the woman during the final battle in the ancestral hall. He couldn¡¯t imagine how things might have ended if Zhang Shuhan hadn¡¯t joined the fight.

    He looked through the menu one more time to confirm that there wasn¡¯t anything he needed, then walked into the team¡¯s Hell Domain. Yang Mo was already looking around curiously inside, while Kano Mai had also just walked in from her own Hell Domain.

    Yang Mo immediately greeted them merrily when they walked in. His arm and legs had been restored, and he looked like he was in good spirits.

    ¡°You seem pretty hyped up!¡± Su Jin greeted him with augh.

    ¡°I¡¯m so happy to be ALIVE. This was a Level B Challenge after all.¡± Yang Mo still couldn¡¯t believe how lucky he had gotten. ¡°I heard that the chances of surviving a Level B Challenge is no more than 20%.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Is there such a thing?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    Kano Mai smiled and said, ¡°Yup, there is. For old timers, your rate of survival for a Level D Challenge should be higher than 60%, 40% for a Level C Challenge, 20% for a Level B Challenge and¡­I heard it¡¯s not even 10% for a Level A Challenge.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. This Rubble Vige Challenge had gone rtively well, if that was the case. But while he would have loved for everyone to survive the Challenge, guaranteeing his own survival in the face of the supernatural was already almost impossible, never mind the survival of other owners in the same Challenge.

    ¡°By the way, Jin, you¡­activated your Spirit Power right at the end, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Kano Mai as she stared at Su Jin. She had seen that silver glow around his body when they went to the pond behind the hill.

    Su Jin nodded with a smile. Kano Mai instantly gave him a hug excitedly and Yang Mo had an equally excited look on his face. He was an old timer who had gone through six Challenges, so he knew how much more powerful an owner with Spirit Power could be.

    ¡°What type of Spirit Power do you have?¡± Kano Mai asked.

    ¡°Psychokinesis.¡±

    ¡°You¡­say that again?!¡±

    ¡°Psychokinesis!¡±

    Kano Mai was speechless for some time, then she smiled sadly and shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect your Spirit Power to be this type of Spirit Power.¡±

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong? Is this Spirit Power bad to have?¡± Su Jin knew there must be something bad about this Spirit Power since Kano Mai looked so disappointed.

    She nodded. ¡°Yeah. Psychokic Spirit Power is also known as a useless Spirit Power.¡±

    ¡°Use¡­useless Spirit Power?!¡± Su Jin was stunned. He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted Kano Mai to exin further.

    She tried to break it to him gently, ¡°Let me put it this way. Spirit Power is the one thing that sets a veteran apart from other owners, but a powerful veteran is not just anybody with Spirit Power. One needs to have a lot of Spirit Power. In other words, you need a very high upper limit.¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly. Kano Mai continued, ¡°There¡¯s only one way to increase the limit, and that¡¯s by cultivating it. It¡¯s the same as martial arts. One needs to constantly practice martial arts in order to increase one¡¯s internal energy levels.¡±

    ¡°If you got some magic type of Spirit Power, you just need to cultivate it by practicing simr magic techniques. All types of Spirit Powere with its own method of cultivation but psychokinesis¡­it¡¯s not that there isn¡¯t a way to increase it, but the method is simply too difficult!¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to say. If it was almost impossible to increase the upper limit of his Psychokic Spirit Power, then it was truly a useless type of Spirit Power.

    ¡°But you don¡¯t have to be too sad. The point exchange system offers a potion that can erase your Spirit Power. If it¡¯s not working for you, just get rid of it,¡± Kano Mai consoled Su Jin.

    He thought about this option but shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s too hard to activate Spirit Power. As long as there¡¯s still a way to increase this Spirit Power, I want to give it a shot first. Otherwise, I might be dead before I get a chance to activate my Spirit Power a second time.¡±

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t respond to that and just nodded slightly. She didn¡¯t want to dampen Su Jin¡¯s spirits any further. After all, it was so disheartening to hear that the Spirit Power you had been looking forward to for so long had turned out to be useless. Anybody would feel lousy now.

    Su Jin took a deep breath and put that aside for the time being. He looked up at the other two and said, ¡°Let¡¯s look at what the Team Hell Domain has to offer! Maybe we can find something that can increase your prowess. Yang Mo, you¡¯ve used up everything in your Spirit Power battery, so you¡¯ve got to find some other way to make yourself stronger.¡±

    Yang Mo¡¯s expression instantly fell when he heard Su Jin mention his Spirit Power battery. That was his trump card, but this Challenge had used up all of it. He didn¡¯t know how he was going to face future Challenges without any Spirit Power.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ve got us in the future.¡± Su Jin patted Yang Mo¡¯s shoulder.

 Chapter 60: A Powerful New Member

    <h4>Chapter 60: A Powerful New Member</h4>

    Yang Mo felt a lot more relieved to hear Su Jin¡¯s assuring words. He looked at Su Jin and Kano Mai a little awkwardly, hesitated for some time, then said, ¡°Actually, I know that it¡¯s really hard for someone as useless as myself to survive these Challenges and I¡¯m already prepared to perish pretty soon. But¡­but¡­if you guys are okay with it, I really hope you¡¯d help me when you can. I know¡­I know it¡¯s very unreasonable of me to make such a request, but I promise to contribute everything I can to the team! I promise!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow and said quietly to Yang Mo, ¡°Of course we¡¯ll help you out. That¡¯s what a team is for, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Yang Mo blinked in surprise. Kano Mai nodded at him with a smile as well, which meant she agreed with what Su Jin just said. Yang Mo¡¯s eyes instantly reddened and he couldn¡¯t help but start crying.

    Ever since he became a Handbook owner, he had been living in terror every single day. He had been lucky to get hold of a Spirit Power battery and his Challenges thus far hadn¡¯t been too difficult. Being lucky had enabled him to survive thus far, but his luck had failed to reduce the terror he felt. But now, he felt like he didn¡¯t feel so scared anymore.

    It was hard enough to walk through life alone, let alone a road that was filled with difficulty and threatened to kill him at every turn. Perhaps what he really needed as a Handbook owner was justpanions on this same journey as him.

    ¡°Thank you¡­thank you so much both of you!¡± Yang Mo wiped his tears away and smiled at the two in front of him. This was the first time he had given anybody a genuine smile since he was chosen to be an owner of the handbook.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai smiled back. Yang Mo said, ¡°I believe one day, we¡¯ll be able to get out of this universe! Let¡¯s work hard to reach that goal!¡±

    The other two nodded gravely in agreement, then continued with looking through the menu for any suitable items. Kano Mai had a lot of experience in this area and she was the team member with the most number of Challenges under her belt.

    Su Jin also felt that Kano Mai was hiding some secrets. But there was nothing strange about that. Every person had their fair share of secrets. Every person had something that they didn¡¯t want others to know. He himself was hiding his deal with the Demon Lord too.

    Kano Mai started giving Yang Mo her opinion on what to choose. All of them felt that even though Yang Mo had gone through several Challenges already, he had barely made it through each time, so he had gained very few points at the end and most of the items he had exchanged for so far weren¡¯t very useful to him.

    After listening to Kano Mai and Su Jin¡¯s opinions, Yang Mo eventually chose items that were vital for keeping one alive. Su Jin¡¯s n was to make him the healer character of the team. He would be able to protect himself well and render medical aid to the rest of the team to keep them going.

    Yang Mo didn¡¯t object to this decision. He was now willing to do anything for the team, or rather, he had tied his own life to the team.

    ¡°With the addition of Yang Mo, we¡¯ll have three people on the team. But he might not be part of the same universe as us, so how do wemunicate with one another?¡± asked Su Jin. Handbook owners could be sent into a Challenge from different parallel universes, so Yang Mo did not necessarilye from the same universe as himself and Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai said with a smile, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Your Handbook canmunicate between universes like a phone. After the team levels up in the future, you could even unlock ess to features that will allow us to travel between universes.¡±

    ¡°Oh wow, we can do that?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect the Handbook to allow owners from different universes to travel across universes.

    Su Jin suddenly smacked his forehead with his hand, then gave Yang Mo two phone numbers. One was his own phone number while the other number belonged to Chu Yi. Su Jin hadn¡¯t forgotten his buddy from his very first Challenge.

    ¡°This is my number, while this belongs to a guy named Chu Yi. We went through our first Challenge together but unfortunately, we belong to two universes. Try these two numbers when you get back. If my number doesn¡¯t work, you could try his number,¡± Su Jin said to Yang Mo.

    Yang Mo took note of both numbers and nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! I do hope we¡¯re from the same universe!¡±

    After that, they returned to their own Hell Domains. Su Jin nced at the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir he had earmarked before leaving and figured that he would need to either go through another two Challenges or kill a Special Character andplete a Special Mission in order to get enough points for it.

    Once he returned to his own Hell Domain, he exchanged points for some training time. If he wanted to survive the next Challenge, he had to keep training himself up and be stronger.

    By the time Su Jin returned to the real world, Kano Mai was already waiting for him. Also, his Handbook had this red glow around it.

    He opened up his Handbook to find that there was a call request from Yang Mo. He epted the request and the Handbook turned into a tablet of sorts as it started a video conference with Yang Mo.

    ¡°Su Jin, I¡¯ve got a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?¡± said Yang Mo.

    ¡°Bad news first!¡±

    ¡°I tried your number but I got an olddy. I¡­don¡¯t think that¡¯s your grandma, right?¡± asked Yang Mo with an awkwardugh.

    Su Jin shook his head. He had been carrying his phone all this time, so the one who picked up the call was certainly no rtive of his. In short, Yang Mo was from a different universe.

    ¡°That¡¯s the bad news, huh. What¡¯s the good news then?¡±

    ¡°I tried the other number and got someone named Chu Yi!¡± said Yang Mo.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t expecting this. He just wanted Yang Mo to give the number a shot but didn¡¯t have high hopes of the number getting through. He didn¡¯t expect Yang Mo and Chu Yi to actually belong to the same universe.

    ¡°In fact, I didn¡¯t just get in contact with him, but I also got him toe over. Bro, say hello to our team leader!¡± Yang Mo moved aside and another young man¡¯s face appeared instead.

    ¡°Brother Su, it¡¯s really you!! I thought this fellow was lying to me!¡± Chu Yi had a curious look on his face as he continued speaking without letting Su Jin respond, ¡°So, other parallel universes really exist! I thought you had just forgotten all about me¡­sorry for thinking that way!¡±

    Su Jin was equally excited to meet Chu Yi again. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be from the same universe as Yang Mo either. How have you been?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still coping! I¡¯ve gone through three Challenges, but I barely make it through each time. I think I¡¯m going to die sooner orter.¡± Chu Yi looked rather deted as he thought about the Challenges he had gone through. He probably had a really tough time.

    Su Jin consoled him, ¡°It¡¯s the same for me. The Handbook Challenges were designed to be extremely dangerous, after all. But don¡¯t give up hope!¡±

    ¡°By the way, Brother Su, Yang Mo tells me you guys have your own little team. Can I join?¡± asked Chu Yi with a hopeful look on his face.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have an answer to this question. He turned to Kano Mai for an answer, since she seemed to be the most experienced member in the team with answers to almost any random question about the Handbook.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. You can authorize Yang Mo temporarily, then send your blood over via the Handbook and it¡¯ll work,¡± said Kano Mai with a nod.

    Su Jin followed her instructions to authorize Yang Mo temporarily. The Mark of a Leader immediately appeared on Yang Mo¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°Put your hand here.¡± Yang Mo had been through this before, so he started giving Chu Yi instructions.

    Chu Yi ced his hand on Yang Mo¡¯s Handbook and a ck mist emerged from the Handbook to form a demonic hand around his.

    Su Jin let a drop of blood fall onto his Handbook and it went right through to the other side. It leaped out from Yang Mo¡¯s Handbook and onto Chu Yi¡¯s hand.

    The demonic hand shattered upon contact with the drop of blood and turned back into a ck mist that travelled up Chu Yi¡¯s arm, forming the team¡¯s logo in an instant.

    ¡°All right! Team Boning Knife wees you to the team!¡± Su Jin smiled brightly. Chu Yi had been great to work with, so Su Jin was happy to have him on the team.

    ¡°Woah! That¡¯s a really cool tattoo!¡± Chu Yi admired the artwork on his arm and gave a pleased nod.

    ¡°Chu Yi, did you gain anything from thest few Challenges?¡± asked Su Jin casually.

    Chu Yi nodded vigorously and said in a secretive tone, ¡°Bing a Handbook owner might be one of the worst things that¡¯s ever happened to me, but it¡¯s also fulfilled a wish of mine!¡±

    ¡°A wish of yours?¡±

    ¡°Yep! This!¡± Chu Yi flipped his hand and a piece of paper floated above it.

    Kano Mai and Yang Mo were confused but Su Jin¡¯s eyes instantly lit up as he asked in disbelief, ¡°You¡­you¡¯ve got Spirit Power?!¡±

    ¡°SPIRIT POWER?!¡± It was Kano Mai and Yang Mo¡¯s turn to exim in shock. They couldn¡¯t believe they had run into another person with Spirit Power after just three Challenges.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! But I prefer to call it internal energy. I enrolled myself into a martial arts academy because I¡¯d seen this sort of thing in movies, and I naively believed that I could get internal energy if I trained hard enough. I was really disappointed when I found out that everything was just special effects,¡± rambled Chu Yi.

    ¡°That¡¯s not being na?ve. That¡¯s just dumb,¡± remarked Yang Mo in a snarky voice.

    ¡°I was just na?ve.¡±

    .

    ¡°If you say so.¡±

    While the two younger ones were bickering in their universe, Kano Mai had a really shocked look in her eyes. A brand new team had two veterans on the team. That sounded insane to her.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Su Jin when he saw that Kano Mai was in a daze.

    She shook her head andughed. ¡°Team Leader-sama, I think our team¡¯s future is getting brighter and brighter.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Is it because the team has a charismatic and formidable leader?¡± asked Su Jin shamelessly with augh.

    ¡°I guess so!¡± Kano Mai indulged him and nodded with augh.

    Just then, Su Jin¡¯s phone suddenly started ringing. When he saw who was calling, his expression fell but he picked it up anyway.

    ¡°MY DEAR COUSIN! Where the HELL have you been?!¡±

    That was¡­Ye Yun yelling into the phone.

 Chapter 61: Be Brave in Love, Young Man!

    <h4>Chapter 61: Be Brave in Love, Young Man!</h4>

    Su Jin felt all his hair stand on end when he heard Ye Yun¡¯s voice. He would never forget how Tang Ning had essentially forced him to apany Ye Yun to go bungee jumping. But there was no way he was doing that. He might have been really calm in the face of danger during the Handbook Challenges, but his fear of heights was something he had yet to ovee.

    ¡°My dear cousin, are you going to keep your promise or not?¡± hissed Ye Yun.

    ¡°I¡­I am!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t sound very sure. But he had already put this off for a month and Ye Yun was clearly losing patience.

    Kano Mai couldn¡¯t help but put a hand over her mouth tough when she saw the stiffened expression on Su Jin¡¯s face. After consuming that body strengthening elixir, she could hear what Ye Yun was saying over the phone since she was sitting so close by.

    ¡°Okay, fine. Where are you now? I¡¯ll meet you there.¡± Su Jin saw Kano Maiughing at him, so he grew indignant and decided to go ahead in a bid to save his pride.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you at Amusement Valley! If you dare to stand me up¡­you¡¯ll experience the full spectrum of horrors a youngdy can unleash!¡± Ye Yun threatened Su Jin.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be there.¡± Su Jin hung up with a sigh, then red at Kano Mai who was stillughing at him.

    She ignored his ring and said cheekily, ¡°Your girlfriend?¡±

    ¡°I¡­wish she were, but given our situation, I think it¡¯s better not to get into a rtionship. That would only hurt the other party,¡± said Su Jin with a big sigh. He did like Ye Yun very much. He had felt that way since he met her the first time.

    But so what? Should he fall for her, make her fall for him, then suddenly disappear forever sometime in the future and let her live in pain for the rest of her life?

    .

    As long as he was still under the Handbook¡¯s control, he felt that his future was bleak and uncertain. It was better to just hide his feelings than to pursue this rtionship. That would be better for everyone.

    Kano Mai looked at Su Jin strangely and said, ¡°Your logic is really weird!¡±

    ¡°Wha-? Why?¡± Su Jin was surprised by her remark.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that we¡¯re all under the curse of the Handbook and we might die anytime. But even if you weren¡¯t chosen by the Handbook, would you be able to guarantee what will happen tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Life is uncertain in the first ce. Sess and failure in life is uncertain. Falling in love is uncertain. When and how you die is also uncertain. You can¡¯t possibly be like a duckling that hides in its mother¡¯s embrace all day just because you don¡¯t know what tomorrow holds. So instead of worrying or escaping, why don¡¯t you give it a shot?¡±

    ¡°I might not be as good at analyzing Challenges as you are, but when ites to facing up to your own emotions, I think you need to take a few pointers from me!¡± Kano Mai said a lot, but everything she said made Su Jin think more deeply.

    ¡°Even if¡­even if I end up dying next month, I should pursue this rtionship?¡± Su Jin asked after a long period of silence as he looked up at Kano Mai.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Why would you want to die with regrets? Also, how weak do you think we women are? So many couples break up every day in the world. As long as you¡¯re prepared beforehand, it¡¯s going to be just fine!¡± said Kano Mai as she nodded very seriously.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re prepared beforehand? What do you mean?¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand. How did one prepare for a breakup?

    Kano Mai shook her head disappointedly and sighed. ¡°Why do you seem so obtuse when ites to such things?¡±

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m your team leader, you know? I have pride too!¡±

    ¡°So? Do you care more about your pride? Or do you want some pointers?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mai-senpai! Please teach me your ways!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t have a problem with putting his pride aside after being a low ranked employee for so many years.

    Kano Mai was appeased when she saw that Su Jin was contrite and said, ¡°It¡¯s very simple, actually. You just have to record a voice message or write an email that states the reason for breaking up clearly, then set it to send at a certain time. If you don¡¯t survive the next Challenge, this message will be sent to her automatically. Make sure the content is as awful as possible and I guarantee you that she will just assume that you were nothing more than a douchebag and she won¡¯t miss you.¡±

    ¡°It sounds like a good idea, but¡­why do I feel like it¡¯s not a nice thing to do?¡± Su Jin looked reluctant as he said, ¡°I¡¯d have died with no regrets, but she¡­¡±

    Kano Mai rolled her eyes at him and snapped, ¡°Fine! Do it your way then! The team leader of Team Boning Knife is a man of principle! A man who doesn¡¯t let women down! Sure! Carry on this one-sided rtionship then! Goodbye!¡±

    She pushed him all the way out of the house and mmed the door shut behind him. He grumbled, ¡°Hey, this is MY house!¡±

    Su Jin found Ye Yun very quickly once he got to the amusement park. She seemed to sparkle brightly like a diamond and attracted attention everywhere. Besides her good looks and the way she carried herself, the things she did certainly drew a lot of additional attention.

    When he found her, she was swinging arge hammer around at a booth that was supposed to measure one¡¯s strength. Arge group had already gathered around the booth to watch, since this youngdy was just swinging the hammer about like she was part of an acrobatic troupe and everyone was just cheering her on. Su Jin felt that if she ced a bowl on the ground in front of herself, someone would throw a few coins in for sure.

    ¡°Miss, are you going to y or not?!¡± The person manning the booth was almost going insane. Thisrge hammer weighed more than 10 kilograms and Ye Yun was swinging it about like it only weighed 10 grams, so the man knew that he was definitely going to end up having to give her a big prize once she mmed that hammer down. But instead of just getting it over and done with and allowing someone else to y the game, Ye Yun just held onto the hammer and entertained the crowd. The man looked more like he was about to have a heart attack.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough, cousin!¡± Su Jin grabbed hold of the hammer from behind Ye Yun and took it away from her.

    ¡°Hey! I haven¡¯t yed the game yet!¡±

    ¡°You can y again next time!¡±

    Su Jin pulled Ye Yun away from the booth and the man breathed a huge sigh of relief. But the crowd was very unhappy and kept yelling at Su Jin for taking Ye Yun away.

    He got so annoyed by their moring that he spun around and mmed the hammer down on the machine. A piece of metal from the top of the machine was instantly sent flying out because Su Jin had brought the hammer so hard, the indicator broke through the top of the machine.

    Everyone instantly fell silent. Su Jin ignored them and dragged Ye Yun away from them. And since Su Jin had actually turned up to go bungee jumping, Ye Yun couldn¡¯tin too much either.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been putting this off again and again. Is it because you¡¯re afraid of heights?¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression when he was first told to apany her bungee jumping and the way he had avoided her for a month helped her to reach this conclusion quite easily.

    He nodded sadly. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m afraid of heights.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Then¡­we¡¯ll just do it fewer times than I had originally nned.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?! You¡¯re going to do it more than once?!¡±

    ¡°Of course! It wasn¡¯t easy to get this chance, you know? I¡¯m going to jump to my heart¡¯s content!¡± said Ye Yun matter-of-factly.

    Half an hourter, the two of them stood atop a bungee jumping tform with a safety harness around each of their bodies. After the staff went through the usual questions to make sure they were good to go, the staff took a step back.

    ¡°Time to jump!¡± Ye Yun excitedly called out to Su Jin, then leaped off the tform with hesitation.

    Su Jin had no choice but to jump off the tform as well. But because he was really scared, he paused at the edge of the tform, shut his eyes and threw himself off the tform a little too hard.

    Craaak!

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin heard the sound of something breaking and his heart sank. He had pushed himself off the tform too hard, so the safety rope and part of the tform itself had broken off from the force.

    ¡°Oh no!¡±

    The staff on the tform immediately gasped in horror. Such a thing had never happened before. The bungee jumping tform and equipment were all specially made and were extremely durable, so it was impossible for anyone to break it like this.

    Su Jin went plunging at high speed and he fainted shortly after he had heard the sound of the tform breaking. He wasn¡¯t afraid of dying: he had fainted more from his fear of heightspounded by the sound of the safety equipment breaking.

    When he regained consciousness, he realized that Ye Yun was hugging him. But she was hugging him because the staff was now pulling them back to safety with Ye Yun¡¯s safety harness.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve woken up? I think you¡¯d better close your eyes again, otherwise you¡¯re going to faint from fear again,¡± said Ye Yun as she quickly used a hand to cover his eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m okay, I¡­don¡¯t feel so scared anymore.¡± Su Jin blushed crimson red because while Ye Yun was on the skinny side, she had quite a full bosom. Hanging off her body with her chest against his made his heart pound wildly.

    Ye Yun didn¡¯t seem to notice anything amiss and only let go of him after they had been safely pulled back up again. The staff kept apologizing to Su Jin and assumed that it was their equipment that was of poor quality, so they insisted onpensating Su Jin.

    Su Jin was rather embarrassed because he knew very well why the equipment broke like that. It was actually his own fault, so he felt bad epting anypensation.

    The management of the amusement park was very grateful that Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to pursue this matter, so they decided to cover Su Jin and Ye Yun¡¯s expenses for the day and also let them stay at the attached hotel¡¯s presidential suite for the night.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he ought tough or cry at their insistence. So, even though he still felt bad for them, he decided to ept their kind offer.

    Ye Yun¡¯s eyes instantly lit up when she heard that their expenses at the park were going to be covered and got ready to make Su Jin apany her on every ride possible.

    ¡°Wait¡­presidential suite? Did the staff think we¡¯re a couple?¡± Su Jin¡¯s imagination ran wild after the manager handed him the key card to the hotel¡¯s presidential suite.

 Chapter 62: Superhero

    <h4>Chapter 62: Superhero</h4>

    As Ye Yun quietly ate a chocte sundae, Su Jin secretly marvelled at how this seemingly quiet and dainty girl could be such a daredevil.

    ¡°Hey, if you¡¯re so scared of heights, why did you agree toe out with me?¡± Ye Yun asked Su Jin with a spoon in her mouth as she blinked herrge eyes at him.

    He smacked his forehead and sighed. ¡°Did you think I had a choice? Your cousin is my boss, so once she gives orders, I¡¯ve got to listen to her!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Ye Yun narrowed her eyes and sneered, ¡°I¡¯m not stupid, you know? There¡¯s no need for someone with such good fighting skills like you to remain at a desk job within my dad¡¯spany. If you wanted to, you could find a rich employer to hire you quite easily. My cousin wouldn¡¯t be able to order you around if you weren¡¯t willing to listen to her.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess you could put it that way. Then¡­if I told you that I was willing to listen to her because I¡¯ve taken a liking to you, would you believe me?¡± Su Jin said these words very flippantly, but his heart was actually palpitating.

    Ye Yun tilted her head a little to consider his words, then nodded. ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll believe that!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s heart skipped a beat and he smiled a little stiffly as he said, ¡°You¡­don¡¯t think I¡¯m lying to you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m such a likeable person, so it¡¯s only natural for you to take a liking to me!¡± said Ye Yun without even pausing to think.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. He scratched his head and asked, ¡°So¡­what¡¯s your opinion on this?¡±

    ¡°Nuh uh, you¡¯re my cousin!¡± she replied with a big grin.

    He nearly fell off his chair. ¡°I¡¯m not your cousin and you know that!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just teasing you! I¡¯m really sorry, but I can¡¯t ept your feelings for me.¡± Her expression grew serious as she turned Su Jin down.

    He was very disappointed, but he forced himself to smile as he shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I was already prepared for you to say no.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not because you¡¯re not good enough or anything like that. In fact, I kinda like you too and I think we really get along well, but¡­I have some personal reasons for rejecting you, so¡­I¡¯m really sorry,¡± she apologized to him.

    ¡°It¡¯s really alright, you don¡¯t have to feel so bad! But these personal reasons¡­are they the same reason why your behavior is so worrying?¡± asked Su Jin.

    She hesitated for a while, then nodded. ¡°Perhaps you think I¡¯m just being rebellious, but I really have my reasons for being like this and I¡¯m really sorry about my behavior¡­but I can¡¯t tell anybody about this.¡±

    He nodded silently. Everyone had their own secrets, after all. Since she had her own reasons, he wasn¡¯t going to force her to ept him. Just being friends wasn¡¯t a bad thing either anyway.

    They were a little downcast as they wandered about aimlessly in the park. Suddenly, they noticed a lot of people running in the same direction.

    ¡°Did something happen?¡± asked Ye Yun curiously.

    Su Jin looked into the distance, since his vision was so powerful that he could see much further than the average human.

    ¡°Something¡¯s happened to the Ferris wheel.¡± Su Jin could see smoke billowing from the Ferris wheel and he could also hear faint sounds of people crying and screaming for help.

    ¡°Why are you just standing there? Let¡¯s go over and help!¡± Ye Yun grabbed his arm and started running towards the Ferris wheel.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to do. He wanted to help but rescuing the people stuck on the Ferris wheel would require him to use his supernatural powers. He had always been careful to make sure he didn¡¯t do anything that gave him away when he was around Ye Yun. It would be very hard to exin himself if he were to disy anything that looked remotely supernatural now.

    ¡°You go ahead, I¡¯ll go inform the staff!¡± Su Jin found a reason to go separate ways from Ye Yun.

    She didn¡¯t think too much about what he said and let his hand go. ¡°Yeah! Call the police and the fire brigade toe!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do that!¡± Su Jin nodded and ran off quickly. After he made sure Ye Yun was out of sight, he started thinking about what to do next. An idea came to mind and he quickly started looking around the park.

    He quickly located a performing area within the park and found a sky blue cape and white face mask in the backstage.

    ¡°I guess these will have to do!¡± Su Jin took off his jacket, put on the cape and wore the mask over his face. He looked at himself in the mirror, then purposely messed his hair up. Only someone very familiar with him would recognize him like that.

    After he had gotten changed, Su Jin ran like a bolt of blue lightning and arrived at the Ferris wheel in less than half a minute.

    The center of the gigantic Ferris wheel had caught fire and there were several park guests shouting for help as they remained trapped in their capsules. But the Ferris wheel couldn¡¯t move because the mechanism was on fire and the park wasn¡¯t equipped with anything that could reach so high. They had to wait for the fire brigade toe, but it might be toote by the time they arrived.

    ¡°This can¡¯t wait anymore!¡± Su Jin realized how urgent the situation was. He ran to a section away from the smoke, then started climbing the frame of the Ferris wheel like an agile chimpanzee.

    ¡°What¡¯s that over there?¡±

    ¡°Oh my god! Is that what I think it is?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a HUMAN! But¡­but¡­how could someone climb like that?!¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for someone to notice Su Jin, but nobody could believe that a human could climb a Ferris wheel. Every leap that Su Jin took brought him a few meters higher.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t have time to worry about what everyone else thought. He had tried his best to avoid the smoke, but as he climbed higher and higher, it became impossible to avoid the smoke.

    He stuffed a piece of Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum into his mouth and the fresh supply of oxygen instantly perked him up. The smoke obstructed his vision, but he wasn¡¯t so worried about poor visibility since he could still feel his way around easily.

    ¡°Daddy! Daddy! I¡¯m scared!¡± Su Jin heard the cries of a young childing from one of the capsules but there was no response from the father.

    ¡°I smell blood!¡± Su Jin immediately jumped over, stuck his hands into the gap in the door of the capsule and yanked the door right out with his bare hands.

    A boy who looked around five or six was hugging his father and crying loudly. His father probably hit his head, so his forehead was covered with blood and he was unconscious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared! Uncle will carry you and your Daddy out of here!¡± Su Jin tried to assure the little boy, then carried the father with one arm.

    ¡°Hang onto me!¡± Su Jin said to the boy. But the boy seemed very afraid of him and tried to keep his distance.

    Su Jin did look like a strange person right now, so he deepened his voice and said, ¡°I am actually Superman! Brave young man, I am here to rescue you and your Daddy.¡±

    ¡°Superman!¡± The boy¡¯s eyes lit up and wasn¡¯t afraid of Su Jin anymore, so he held onto Su Jin as Su Jin instructed.

    ¡°You are a brave young man indeed! Close your eyes now. Once we reach safety, I¡¯ll tell you to open your eyes again, okay?¡± Su Jin encouraged the little boy.

    The little boy immediately shut his eyes. Su Jin made a quick escape n, then retrieved Rumor from his Handbook and held it in his hand. At the same time, a silver gleam shed in his eyes.

    Su Jin proceeded to jump right off the Ferris wheel. Everyone watching below gasped in horror. Jumping from that height was as good as suicide.

    But just before Su Jin hit the ground, he shot Rumor out and a faint silver thread seemed to be connected to Rumor. This was Su Jin¡¯s psychokic Spirit Power at work. He had spent a long time in his Personal Hell Domain to perfect his use of his Spirit Power and was now able to use it with ease.

    Rumor lodged itself in the frame of the Ferris wheel, slowed Su Jin¡¯s speed of descent down and enabled him tond safely on the ground. He put the boy and his father down, then patted the boy¡¯s head as he said, ¡°Go over there and ask those uncles and aunties to help send your Daddy to the hospital. Superman has saved you, so it¡¯s your turn to save Daddy, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll go save Daddy now!¡± The boy nodded vigorously.

    Su Jin gave the boy a pleased nod, then pulled his hand back to spring back upwards like Spiderman. Once he got back onto the frame of the Ferris wheel, he stopped using his Spirit Power since he didn¡¯t have a lot to spare.

    He continued to save the people in the next few capsules, but the fire was getting bigger and it was going to be difficult for him to save everybody by himself. He could only grit his teeth and try to move faster.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Su Jin was stunned for a moment after he opened the next capsule because he noticed another person in a cape hold onto two guests and jump off the other side of the Ferris wheel.

    After he was puzzled for two seconds, he realized that this other person was very likely to be another Handbook owner. He didn¡¯t think there was any technology avable right now that could enable a person to move like that.

    As he observed the other person, he noticed that this person wasn¡¯t very tall but was able to move nimbly between the metal beams and seemed even more flexible than himself. He also noticed a strange glow appear around this other person from time to time.

    ¡°Spirit Power! So, this other person is a veteran too?¡± It was already hard enough to find another Handbook owner, much less another veteran. He was surprised that there was another one right here.

    But this wasn¡¯t the time to go say hello to a fellow owner. It was more important to save everyone on the Ferris wheel right now. Su Jin stopped thinking about the other veteran and continued his rescue mission. Having two superhumans on the rescue team made everything go faster. Every guest trapped on the Ferris wheel was brought to safety in no time.

    Once Su Jin was sure that there was nobody else left on the Ferris wheel, he heaved a sigh of relief. But when he tried to look for the other superhuman on the Ferris wheel just now, he realized that the other party had disappeared. At the same time, he noticed arge group of people running towards him with microphones and cameras, so he ran off as quickly as he could.

    At the same time, another person in a cape was hiding in a secluded ce. After pressing down on a red button on her chest, her cape and mask disappeared to reveal a beautiful face. If Su Jin were here, he would have shouted in shock, because¡­

    ¡­this person was Ye Yun.

 Chapter 63: Department of Supernatural Affairs

    <h4>Chapter 63: Department of Supernatural Affairs</h4>

    As the capital city of the country, B City had the best team of extraordinary people. Some were martial arts experts, some dabbled in secret arts, while others were professionals in extremely obscure upations. But the star of the day was Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin was the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs in B City. He wasn¡¯t a high ranking civil servant, but he had tremendous influence in B City. Every government official had to tread carefully around Situ Jin, because the department he headed was allowed to take action without prior approval.

    ¡°Mr. Situ, here¡¯s the footage we just received from S City!¡± A female administrator opened herptop and yed a video for Situ Jin.

    The footage was a video of the Ferris wheel on fire in Amusement Valley. In the video, people kept falling out of the capsules, but strangely enough, they would suddenly stop just before reaching the ground, as if they had been caught by someone.

    ¡°This sort of thing again?¡± Situ Jin furrowed his brows. He had watched such footage many times ever since he became the head of this department. The content of these videos was also basically identical: an action that was clearly orchestrated by a human was happening but any video or camera would fail to capture an image of the person.

    ¡°ording to eyewitnesses, two superhumans in capes rescued these people and there were more than 100 eyewitnesses, so I¡¯m quite sure this is a legitimate incident.¡± The administrator wore a neatly ironed suit and a pair of ck framed sses. She seemed very stern and disciplined.

    Situ Jin nodded, then watched the video again several times, but failed to spot any signs of a human doing the rescuing. He looked up and said to the administrator, ¡°Call the department in for a meeting.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Situ.¡±

    It didn¡¯t take long for six people to enter Situ Jin¡¯s office. They covered a wide range of ages and didn¡¯t look any different from any ordinary person on the street. But if you looked carefully, you would notice that there was a gleam in everyone¡¯s eye, an alertness that made them look like they were keenly observing everything they saw.

    ¡°You can all take a look at this. It¡¯s the same as the previous situation we saw. This time, we have more than 100 witnesses and there are no signs of any chemicals or drugs used, so this is not a mass illusion of sorts.¡± Situ Jin turned theptop to let everyone in his office watch the video.

    After watching the video, everyone remained silent. This wasn¡¯t the first time they were watching footage like that. But other than staring at the video in a daze, there was nothing else they could do.

    ¡°In the 1960s, the previous iteration of this department, the Supernatural Investigation Unit, had discovered such happenings and managed to capture a man who called himself an ¡®owner¡¯ within the next decade. But this man soon died inside his jail cell and the unit didn¡¯t get any information out of him. All they know is that these so called ¡®owners¡¯ definitely have something to do with these incidents.¡±

    Situ Jin paused, then continued, ¡°Other people have been able to see them but it¡¯s impossible to catch them on camera. Such people pose a threat to our country. I¡¯m sure all of you know that, right?¡±

    Everyone in the office nodded. Public security had improved tremendously over thest few decades mostly because of advancements in surveince and video capture technology, since that made it difficult for anybody to engage in criminal activity without being caught on camera. But these seemingly superhumans couldn¡¯t be caught on camera at all, so if they engaged in criminal activity, it would be almost impossible to track them down.

    Many important ces considered these cameras that could capture everything in real time as their highest mode of security. If these superhumans decided to try anything funny, they could cause a lot of harm without getting caught at all.

    ¡°ording to the information from the Unit back then, the owner they captured was unable to tell them anything in detail. The only thing he could tell them was that he was an owner. But when they asked him what that meant, he lost his ability to speak, followed by an inability to control his bodily movements and more.¡±

    ¡°After that, several other agencies around the world managed to capture such people, but the result was the same. Eventually, both government agencies and private organizations gave up researching these people, but these people have continued to exist,¡± said Situ Jin quietly.

    ¡°Mr. Situ, you¡¯re thinking of¡­?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of investigating these people again. Their existence is an unknown threat to society after all,¡± said Situ Jin with a grave look on his face.

    Another person asked, ¡°But how do we go about investigating these people? There aren¡¯t a lot of them in the first ce and it¡¯s so hard to capture any of them. And even if we do capture them, what do we do with them?¡±

    Situ Jin pursed his lips and said, ¡°We¡¯ll talk about thatter. What we need to do now is to capture one of them first.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have any clues at all. Even though this incident just happened, it¡¯s impossible to capture the person involved unless we had alreadyid a trap beforehand,¡± said the administrator to Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Amusement Valley is a ce that requires one to show their ID when they buy tickets. Wen Yin, get me the list of people who bought tickets for the day.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Wen Yin nodded and left Situ Jin¡¯s office to get this done.

    ¡°Laddie, I want the surveince camera footage from Amusement Valley. And I mean footage from every single camera, especially during the time this incident happened,¡± Situ Jin said to a small sized younger man.

    ¡°Why would you want that? I thought those owners never appear in the footage,¡± said Laddie in a confused voice.

    Situ Jin chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I want the footage. Since we can¡¯t confirm who they are with the video, then let¡¯s go by elimination. We¡¯ll strike off everybody who appears in the footage, then investigate whoever¡¯s left on the name list who didn¡¯t appear.¡±

    Laddie was enlightened and smacked his head before leaving Situ Jin¡¯s office to carry out his boss¡¯ instructions.

    Situ Jin dismissed everyone else as well, but instructed everyone to remain contactable at all times. After everyone had left, he watched the video again very carefully.

    ¡°Owners¡­who on earth are you people? I¡¯m going to get to the bottom of this and I¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t upset the social order of this country!¡± There was a glint in his eyes as he narrowed them slightly.

    Meanwhile, the chaos in Amusement Valley had finallye to an end, so Su Jin went to meet up with Ye Yun again. This major rescue operation had left Su Jin rather exhausted and he had used up almost all of his Spirit Power.

    ¡°Hey, why do you look like a withered carrot?¡± Ye Yunughed merrily as she poked at his waist. But he wasn¡¯t afraid of tickles and let her poke all she wanted.

    ¡°I was helping to carry the injured people into the ambnce, so I¡¯m pretty tired from that.¡± Su Jin looked up at the TV in the rest area. It was showing footage from what happened at the Ferris wheel earlier.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Su Jin immediately noticed something amiss. The TV was showing the rescue process, but all he saw were people flying down from the Ferris wheel. He didn¡¯t see himself at all.

    ¡°What on earth?!¡± Su Jin was terribly shocked. He wasn¡¯t some ghost. He could see himself in the mirror and taking photos wasn¡¯t a problem either. He had taken some photos with his sister thest time he went to visit her and they had turned out perfectly fine.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ye Yun noticed the stunned look on Su Jin¡¯s face and asked out of curiosity.

    He quickly tried to hide his emotions and said, ¡°Oh, nothing. I just found the footage really strange. Those people jumped from such a high ce but none of them were injured. Isn¡¯t that amazing?¡±

    Ye Yun nced at the TV for a while, thenughed and said, ¡°I suppose it¡¯s some new high tech rescuing equipment! Anyway, it¡¯s gettingte. Don¡¯t you think we should be heading home soon?¡±

    Su Jin looked up at the sky and agreed that it was gettingte, so they got up to leave the amusement park. But once they stepped out of the park grounds, they froze in shock. Every road leading out of the park waspletely jammed. The only vehicles allowed to pass were ambnces. It was going to be too hard to even walk out of this ce, never mind catch a bus or a cab.

    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Ye Yun groaned.

    Su Jin was frustrated at first too, then he remembered that he had a key to a room in the hotel right next to the park. He waved the card in front of Ye Yun and said, ¡°Or¡­how about a presidential suite?¡±

    Ye Yun red at Su Jin, then grabbed the card and started running while yelling, ¡°Thest one to get there doesn¡¯t get to sleep on the bed!¡±

    Su Jin stared at Ye Yun who had left him far behind her and sighed in amusement. ¡°That¡¯s the wrong direction, silly.¡±

    He ended up waiting at the hotel for more than half an hour before she finally came walking in. He grinned as he approached her and said, ¡°What¡¯s the point of running so quickly? You should have gotten the right direction first!¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that I was running in the wrong direction? Why didn¡¯t you run after me? Aren¡¯t you afraid that something bad might happen to me since I¡¯m a girl just running about out there all by myself?¡± Ye Yun started ming him instead.

    He ignored her ranting, took her hand and pulled her towards the elevator. She didn¡¯t struggle and let him pull her along. They arrived at the room number stated on the card and Su Jin couldn¡¯t help feeling overwhelmed when he opened the door. This presidential suite could be described in two words: pure luxury!

    But before he could snap out of his daze, Ye Yun hopped into the room like a little bunny and dived head first onto the bed. She looked at Su Jin and dered proudly, ¡°The slower one doesn¡¯t get to sleep on the bed.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know whether tough at her or not. As the man, he was going to let her have the bed in the first ce. But since she wanted to tease him, he was going to tease her back.

    He sauntered into the room, plonked down on the bed and leaned back as he said loudly, ¡°No way! This is the park¡¯spensation to ME! Either I get the bed, or we¡¯ll have to share! You choose!¡±

    ¡°But but¡­MY DEAR COUSINNNNN¡­¡± Ye Yun whined pitifully at him, but he was already prepared for her to do that, so he pretended to be unaffected by her whining.

    ¡°Tsk! I¡¯ve never stayed in a presidential suite before, so I¡¯m not backing down,¡± Su Jin stood his ground.

    She puffed her cheeks out, pulled the nket over herself and snapped angrily, ¡°Big deal! We¡¯ll just share the bed then! Humph! Goodnight!¡±

    ¡°Good¡­night?¡± Ye Yun¡¯spromise left Su Jin in shock instead.

 Chapter 64: Intruders

    <h4>Chapter 64: Intruders</h4>

    In the end, nothing happened between the two of them. Or rather, nothing that anybody imagined a man and a woman alone in the room would have done. All they did was to sleep with their backs facing each other the entire night. After going through such an intensive rescue mission, both of them got some of the best sleep they have had in recent months.

    They checked out and left Amusement Valley first thing the next morning. Shortly after they left, a car with a government official license te drove in. It was Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin snubbed his cigarette out and exhaled thest of the smoke in his mouth, which floated into the air and disappearedpletely.

    ¡°Laddie, are you sure the suspects were staying here?¡± Situ Jin asked his subordinate.

    Laddie looked at his information again and said confidently, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Last night, they used their IDs to check in and stayed in the presidential suite of this hotel.¡±

    The two men walked into the hotel and the staff was very cooperative once they shed their badges. After all, not even a fellow government agency could refuse to cooperate with the Department of Supernatural Affairs.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, sirs, but the two people you are looking for have already checked out and left.¡± The hotel manager wiped his sweat away as he came running back with this report. These two men were from one of the highest authorities in thend, so he made sure to act as quickly as possible.

    Situ Jin was dismayed, but he nodded and said, ¡°What did these two spend on during their time in the amusement park? Could you give me a rundown?¡±

    ¡°No problem. Amusement Valley has records of our guests¡¯ expenditure in ourputers, so I¡¯ll bring you over to take a look.¡± The manager nodded vigorously, gave one of his staff a call, then led the two men to the management office.

    Half an hourter, the two men sat down with a park employee to look through all the rides and attractions Su Jin and Ye Yun went through. It didn¡¯t take long for them to see the records on what happened with Su Jin at the bungee jumping tform.

    ¡°Was this a result of someone pulling extremely hard on it?¡± Situ Jin held up the broken bungee rope and asked the employee.

    The employee scratched his head and said, ¡°Well¡­I can¡¯t really confirm that, but it¡¯s more likely to be a quality issue. This sort of rope can take way more force than a human can exert.¡±

    Situ Jin nodded slightly and smiled faintly as he said to Laddie, ¡°Mark Mr. Su Jin as an important target. I think¡­we need to pay him a visit.¡±

    Laddie nodded and took his phone out to contact his fellow team mates. Shortly after that, he said to Situ Jin, ¡°I¡¯ve called King Kong, Spectacles and Grandmaster along just in case.¡±

    ¡°Good job. If this Mr. Su does turn out to be one of our targets, he is very likely to be an extremely good fighter,¡± said Situ Jin with a nod.

    They left Amusement Valley and their next destination was Su Jin¡¯s ce. Once they met up with their other team members, all five of them drove to Su Jin¡¯s ce immediately.

    Su Jin had just gotten back himself. Kano Mai was pestering him for details on what happened the night before but Su Jin didn¡¯t want to tell her that despite sharing the bed with Ye Yun the whole night, nothing happened at all. There was nothing wrong with that per se, but he felt like saying that made him look like a loser.

    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Su Jin was about to tell Kano Mai to stop asking when he heard the sound of a caring to a sudden stop outside, followed by several footsteps.

    ¡°Mai, someone¡¯s here and¡­they don¡¯t seem like ordinary people.¡± Su Jin could tell that these weren¡¯t just normal visitors. Their footsteps were heavy and forceful, unlike ordinary people¡¯s footsteps. Su Jin didn¡¯t think anybody who walked like that was here for a nice afternoon chat.

    Kano Mai knew when to be serious and she trusted Su Jin¡¯s judgment, so she nodded and went to hide herself somewhere in the house. She wasn¡¯t good at closebat, so it was better for her to find a vantage point and assist Su Jin from afar. But of course, Kano Mai¡¯sck of closebat skills was only a disadvantage in a Handbook Challenge. She was formidable enough in the real world to take on even experts in martial arts.

    Su Jin shut his eyes and listened to the footsteps. There were five of them and not all of them were headed for his front door. They had gone separate ways and were approaching the house from different directions. These people were definitely up to no good.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips curled upwards slightly as he decided to walk towards one of them. This person had climbed over the back fence of his home and saw Su Jin right in front of him immediately after he got over the fence.

    This man was nicknamed Grandmaster and he was considered the fighting maniac in the Department of Supernatural Affairs. He was an expert in various fighting techniques and used to be a military general. But he identally killed an opponent during a friendly match and the military fired him. Situ Jin eventually got him to join the Department of Supernatural Affairs instead.

    And because the department was given a lot of resources, he managed to get his hands on a lot of items that were crucial for his martial arts development. That made him the best fighter in the entire department.

    Perhaps he was very confident of what he was capable of: Grandmaster¡¯s first reaction when he saw Su Jin wasn¡¯t to escape but to run towards Su Jin while swinging his arms at Su Jin¡¯s ears like a pair of whips.

    ¡°Wow!¡± eximed Su Jin with admiration in his heart. Grandmaster was using the momentum from his running to increase the force in his whip-like arms.

    Bang!

    Grandmaster¡¯s arms hit Su Jin¡¯s ears hard and he was gleeful at first. But his glee soon turned to absolute shock. Logically speaking, Su Jin should have lost consciousness immediately. But Su Jin was still conscious and had even taken a step towards himself.

    ¡°Mountain Leaning Technique!¡±(https://kknews/news/b648zb6.html)]

    Grandmaster cursed inwardly. He knew this technique that Su Jin was unleashing because this was one of the best Chinese martial arts techniques for closebat. A martial artist who used this technique well could use it to break a thick tree trunk with his bare hands.

    But Grandmaster was a martial arts expert himself, so instead of retreating, he bent his body so that he now moved like a supple willow in the wind. No matter how hard one attacked a willow, you wouldn¡¯t do it much harm because it was limp and flexible.

    ¡°Pfft!¡± To Grandmaster¡¯s surprise, Su Jin changed tactics too. Su Jin approached him with the usual Mountain Leaning Technique steps, but the moment Grandmaster switched to something else, Su Jin¡¯s shoulders suddenly moved such that his arms turned into whips!

    Grandmaster sprayed blood from his mouth from the impact and flew out like a kite with a broken string, then crashed heavily onto the ground and lost consciousness.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t stop and quickly turned to face the next person. This fellow had also climbed over a wall but he was better at moving stealthily andnded without any noise. But Su Jin blocked his way after he had just taken a few steps.

    This man¡¯s nickname was Spectacles, and unlike Grandmaster, he didn¡¯t know much about fighting. But he was an expert in poisons, and his nickname was a reference to the venomous snake, the king cobra.

    Spectacles took several steps back when he saw Su Jin, then touched the air with his fingers, which sent a foul smell towards Su Jin. Su Jin frowned and immediately realized there was a problem with this smell. He suddenly felt dizzy and nearly tripped over himself.

    ¡°Heh heh¡­this is something I¡¯ve taken much time and effort to concoct! But don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not fatal. You¡¯re just going to sleep for a little while,¡± said Spectacles proudly. He had arge variety of poisons on hand and if he wanted to, he could knock an elephant out in seconds. But since Situ Jin said that he wanted Su Jin to be captured alive, Spectacles didn¡¯t use anything fatal.

    Su Jin sat on the ground and took a few deep breaths. His body was a lot more powerful than an elephant now, so even though the poisonous fumes made him feel a little difort, he felt okay again after taking those few breaths.

    ¡°Someone who knows how to use poisons, eh? How troublesome,¡± muttered Su Jin as he patted his cheeks to sober up.

    Spectacles was stunned to see that Su Jin was perfectly fine. Then he realized that he was in great danger, so he quickly slid several vials of poison out from his sleeve. If Su Jin came too close, he was going to use these poisons to protect himself.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to walk towards him at all. He said to Spectacles, ¡°I had a good restst night, so it¡¯s hard for me to fall asleep now. Why don¡¯t you take a nap?¡±

    The moment he said that, Spectacles copsed onto the ground. Su Jin gave a pleased nod. He hadn¡¯t used any weapons at all. He had used his psychokinesis to cause Spectacles to faint.

    Now that he was done with a second person, Su Jin turned to a third one. Compared to the first two, the third one wasn¡¯t as sneaky. He actually walked in through the front gate.

    This man was nicknamed King Kong. He was well versed in making all sorts of equipment and weaponry. King Kong wasn¡¯t a good fighter, but he was able to make a variety of tools and weapons that helped him with any mission.

    Su Jin noticed that King Kong was wearing some strange equipment and decided it was better not to go too near to King Kong. If King Kong were to have some hidden weapons or poison like Spectacles, Su Jin would get hurt if he were to get too close.

    So, Su Jin decided to settle this very simply. It only took him a thought to cause King Kong to copse onto the floor unconscious. Unless King Kong had something that could counter psychokinesis, his equipment was pointless and only became an additional burden.

    Out of the five who had invaded his home, Su Jin had knocked three of them out in less than a minute. Meanwhile, the other two had already entered the house. But while Su Jin didn¡¯t have much money in the house, what he had was one ridiculously formidable Kano Mai, so he wasn¡¯t too worried about that.

    He strolled back into the house and saw Kano Mai dragging two men by the cor. After she flung the two men into the middle of the living room, he saw that Situ Jin had a swollen bruise almost asrge as a child¡¯s fist on his forehead. Kano Mai had attacked him without holding back.

    ¡°Who are these people? Burrs?¡± asked Kano Mai curiously.

    Su Jin shook his head with augh. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They¡¯re pretty good fighters, so I highly doubt they¡¯d waste their skills on being a bunch of burrs. I think it¡¯s better to wake them up and ask them instead. Mai, could you bring some cold water over?¡±

    ¡°You just want cold water? But I¡¯ve just boiled a full kettle of water,¡± said Kano Mai very earnestly.

    or the Tieshankao of Bajiquan, of which anybody interested can attempt these pictures lol [ÃØ‚÷ | °Ë˜OÈ­èFÉ½¿¿

    Themon name for a cobra in Chinese is bespectacled snake because when it extends its hood, the color of the scales on the back of the hood resemble a pair of spectacles.

 Chapter 65: Altering Memories

    <h4>Chapter 65: Altering Memories</h4>

    Su Jin carried the other three men in, flung them into the middle of the living room, plonked himselffortably onto the couch, then took the cold water from Kano Mai and proceeded to shower the five men with it.

    Besides Spectacles and King Kong, the rest woke up with a start. Su Jin guessed that the two of them weren¡¯t able to regain consciousness so easily because he had used his Spirit Power on them, so he just left them alone for the time being.

    ¡°All right, you three. Your otherpanions might have to sleep for a while longer, but since at least three of you are awake, I think¡­it¡¯s time you told me why you decided to barge into my home.¡± Su Jin sat on the couch with his hands sped together, while Kano Mai hid herself in a dark corner. As an expert sniper, she seemed to prefer hiding herself like this, especially when faced with unknown dangers.

    Situ Jin was the leader of the group, so he decided to speak up. He observed Su Jin carefully for a while, then said, ¡°You¡¯re the one who attacked us?¡±

    ¡°Oh wow, you make it sound like I was the one who barged into your home and knocked all of you out!¡± Su Jin chuckled, leaned back and asked nonchntly, ¡°Let me repeat myself. Why did you barge into my home?¡±

    ¡°Do you know how much trouble you¡¯ve caused?¡± said Laddie in a threatening voice as he red fiercely at Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded, then snapped his fingers. Laddie instantly froze, then lost consciousness.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I really don¡¯t like having to repeat myself so many times and I don¡¯t like others threatening me either.¡± Su Jin had a mirthless smile on his face as he stared coldly at Situ Jin. He was quite sure that Situ Jin was the leader of this small group, given their responses.

    Situ Jin wasn¡¯t too agitated when he saw Laddie copse onto the floor. Laddie had lost consciousness, but his breathing was normal, so his life wasn¡¯t in danger.

    ¡°We just wanted to find out a little more from you. Sorry for not introducing ourselves. We¡¯re from S City¡¯s Special Police and our unit is in charge of investigating any unexinable or supernatural urrences within S City,¡± said Situ Jin without batting an eyelid. He was an excellent liar because that was part of his job, regardless of whether he was doing his work or reporting to his superiors.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. He thought that such a unit only existed in storybooks. Then again, he had be a Handbook owner, so nothing was really too crazy for him to believe anymore.

    ¡°I see. Special Police, eh? But don¡¯t you find your standard procedure very strange? Is barging into a citizen¡¯s home part of it?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Of course not. But you¡¯re not an ordinary person. You¡¯re someone with formidable fighting abilities and I was afraid that you might escape, so I tried to think of a way to pin you down first. I felt that doing that would make everything else easier and keep the situation under control. But¡­it looks like I¡¯ve underestimated you, Mr. Owner,¡± exined Situ Jin calmly.

    Su Jin¡¯s pupils constricted instinctively. Not just anyone would use the term ¡®owner¡¯ in such a context. But he quickly calmed down again. If Situ Jin knew about Hell¡¯s Handbook, he would have gone further than just calling him an owner. Su Jin guessed that Situ Jin must have found out about owners somehow and was trying to use this word to get more information out of him.

    ¡°¡ê%$*#!¡± Su Jin suddenly uttered some words that Situ Jin couldn¡¯t understand at all.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Situ Jin stared at Su Jin.

    ¡°Nothing, I just used my hometown dialect to say something nice about you,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. Just like he had thought, only Handbook owners were able to tell one another about anything within the Handbook universe. If they tried to tell a non-owner about the Handbook, their words would sound like gibberish to the other party.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t believe what Su Jin had just told him. Before this, he wasn¡¯t sure if Su Jin was really an owner or not, but he was very certain now. The department had records stating that when that owner they captured tried to tell them more about his secret, his speech became impaired or iprehensible.

    Both parties got the information they wanted, but Su Jin had the disadvantage. It was going to be very difficult to hide his identity now.

    ¡°I hope that you can cooperate with me. Going against a government agency is definitely not a wise thing to do, even if you¡¯re an owner. ording to our records, people like you aren¡¯t invincible,¡± said Situ Jin very resolutely. He was now threatening Su Jin in hope that Su Jin would listen to him.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. Going against a government agency is not a wise thing to do, but even though I can¡¯t afford to cross them, I can always hide.¡±

    ¡°Trust me, you can¡¯t hide either! I know about you, so if I can find you this time, I¡¯ll be able to find you a second time. And it will only get easier each time.¡± Situ Jin knew that Su Jin was able to kill them easily if he wanted to, so he tried to pressurize Su Jin and make sure Su Jin knew that his team wasn¡¯t a group that he could kill and get away with it.

    ¡°Like I said just now, I don¡¯t like to be threatened. And once I kill you, you wouldn¡¯t be able to find me a second time,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Situ Jin smiled too. ¡°Did you think we¡¯re here on an ad hoc mission? I can guarantee you right now that if we die, you will never be able to escape from the government for the rest of your life. The government is powerful enough to make sure you have nowhere to run or hide!¡±

    Su Jin pretended to look really enlightened and said, ¡°You¡¯re right! That would make things so difficult for me, and I¡¯m someone who absolutely hates trouble.¡±

    He got up and stood in front of Situ Jin, then said, ¡°You¡¯re a clever one, but you¡¯re toocent. You think that your mission is definitely going to seed and you think you¡¯ve got everything under your control. You¡¯ve used something you know nothing about to sound me out and you think you¡¯ve got what you¡¯ve wanted.¡±

    ¡°But actually¡­you¡¯ve not gotten anything at all. This sentence might sound grammatically incorrect, but you¡¯re about to not get anything.¡±

    ¡°And which intelligent person isn¡¯tcent? You are no better! Grandmaster!¡± yelled Situ Jin. He felt that Su Jin might kill him anytime and immediately decided to give it onest shot. To him, Su Jin calling himcent was the pot calling the kettle ck. Su Jin was just ascent, which was why he left all of them on the floor without restraining them at all.

    Grandmaster bounced up like a bow whose string had been released and pounced towards Su Jin like a tiger hunting its prey. He knew that Su Jin was an expert in martial arts, so he wasn¡¯t hoping to defeat Su Jin in a fight. All he needed to do was to hold Su Jin back long enough for Situ Jin to escape.

    Situ Jin and Grandmaster coordinated their timings perfectly. As Grandmaster made his attack, Situ Jin moved backwards and ran for the nearest window. While talking to Su Jin, he had looked around and concluded that escaping through the window was his best bet.

    Their ns were perfect in theory, but pointless in reality. Grandmaster¡¯s body crashed heavily back onto the floor mid air, while Situ Jin tripped over himself and fell just before he reached the window.

    Su Jin shook his head and muttered, ¡°Besides bringing terror to its owners, Hell¡¯s Handbook gives them tremendous power as well. The power that veterans can wield makes them seem like gods to ordinary people.¡±

    ¡°Jin, it¡¯s not wise to just keep relying on the power you have!¡± Kano Mai walked out from the shadows. She had been on standby this whole time so that she could help if Su Jin¡¯s life were threatened.

    Su Jin nodded andughed. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking out loud. Power is rtive, after all. If we were really gods, we wouldn¡¯t be having so much trouble surviving Challenges.¡±

    ¡°How do you intend to deal with these people?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°These people are quite troublesome, but I¡¯ve learned a useful skill from my Hell Domain. I just need to do a little surgery on their memories.¡± Su Jin pulled Grandmaster up, pressed a finger on Grandmaster¡¯s head and started activating his Spirit Power.

    ¡°You have the ability to alter memories?¡± Kano Mai wasn¡¯t particrly surprised. Spirit Power contained a million and one possibilities and was something that every Handbook owner wanted to have. The fact that Su Jin was able to use his Spirit Power to change an ordinary person¡¯s memories didn¡¯t sound too farfetched to her.

    A few momentster, Su Jin removed his finger from Grandmaster¡¯s forehead. He looked a little tired as he said to Kano Mai, ¡°This is making me more tired than I thought. Thankfully I don¡¯t have a lot of memories to alter, or I might copse before I get through them all.¡±

    ¡°Thankfully, you got this Psychokic Spirit Power. If you got some internal energy type or magic type of Spirit Power, you wouldn¡¯t be able to do something like this,¡± replied Kano Mai.

    Su Jin remarked curiously, ¡°You said that psychokinesis was a useless sort of Spirit Power thest time, but I learned so many ways to use it from my Hell Domain. This Spirit Power is great at both attacking and defending, so I don¡¯t see why it¡¯s so bad.¡±

    Kano Mai nodded and said, ¡°If you¡¯re talking about what it can do, then I¡¯d agree that psychokinesis is one of the best Spirit Power types to have. Also, it carries a characteristic that no other types have.¡±

    ¡°What characteristic is that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a universal type of Spirit Power,¡± said Kano Mai in a serious voice. ¡°Most Spirit Power equipment have requirements on the type of Spirit Power needed. If you don¡¯t have the right type of Spirit Power, you won¡¯t be able to use that particr item. But Psychokic Spirit Power isn¡¯t like that. It can be used to operate any Spirit Power equipment, so it¡¯s as if you¡¯ve got every ss in the game.¡±

    Su Jin nodded in shock. He had spent a year¡¯s worth of time in his Personal Hell Domain to learn and train himself in using his psychokinesis, discovering many new techniques in the process. But he wasn¡¯t told anything about how this Spirit Power could be used universally.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, this Spirit Power isn¡¯t useless at all. This is a truly amazing type!¡± eximed Su Jin.

    But Kano Mai proceeded to burst his bubble as she said, ¡°But it¡¯s simply too difficult to train and cultivate psychokinesis. As long as your upper limit remains low, your Spirit Power is as good as useless in a Challenge. I¡¯m pretty sure your current upper limit can¡¯t even power a medium level Spirit Power weapon.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s expression instantly fell because he knew Kano Mai was right. The skill that came with the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, the Roar of the Demon Lord, required 150 points of Spirit Power for each use. Su Jin¡¯s current upper limit was at 100 points, which meant that he couldn¡¯t even use this skill once.

    If he didn¡¯t have sufficient capacity for Spirit Power, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it much in a fight. It didn¡¯t matter how powerful or amazing his Spirit Power type could be. Yet, this was the one weakness he couldn¡¯t seem to ovee.

 Chapter 66: Bodyguard

    <h4>Chapter 66: Bodyguard</h4>

    Su Jin stood in front of his door andughed along politely as he saw Situ Jin and his team out of his house. He shook their hands and said, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry that I couldn¡¯t be of much help to you guys.¡±

    ¡°Oh, no, don¡¯t say that, Mr. Su. We¡¯re already very grateful that you were willing to cooperate with our investigation. Also, it was not right of us to barge into your home like this as well. The chemicals that Spectacles used earlier will not be of any harm to your body, but if you do feel any difort, please contact me at this number, we willpensate you ordingly,¡± said Situ Jin apologetically.

    He had brought his team here and barged into Su Jin¡¯s home and even tried to attack Su Jin. But Su Jin had been such a model citizen by cooperating with them without even getting angry. This made the team really sorry for being so hostile before.

    ¡°Thanks! If you still have any other questions to rify, please feel free to drop by.¡± Su Jin shook Situ Jin¡¯s hand again and bid them farewell.

    After the five of them left, Su Jin walked back into the house and Kano Mai asked, ¡°Are you sure everything is going to be okay?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­nobody can be really sure about that. I used my Spirit Power to look through some of their memories, then overwrote them with false memories. Theoretically speaking, everything should be fine. But¡­that Situ Jin isn¡¯t stupid, so it¡¯s hard to say if he would smell a rat or not.¡± Su Jin shook his head. He didn¡¯t think there was any lie that could be covered up forever. He had fudged their memories and this should work out perfectly, but he still felt that there would still be a loophole somewhere.

    There were many intelligent people in the world and Su Jin felt that he was possibly the most intelligent out of 10,000 people. But there were some who were the most intelligent out of 100,000 people, a million people, or even 10 million people. Depending on their circumstances and personalities, these people might not always get a chance to disy their full potential, but there were definitely others who were able to use their intelligence to its fullest. The thought of having someone like that having an eye on himself terrified Su Jin.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin and his men had driven quite a distance from Su Jin¡¯s ce. Laddie grinned and said, ¡°Mr. Situ, this man was our biggest suspect but we¡¯ve already eliminated him. So, who¡¯s our next target?¡±

    ¡°Who said we¡¯ve eliminated this man as a suspect? Call up S City¡¯s Special Police and tell them that I need their best people to watch this ce 24/7!¡± said Situ Jin as he pulled out a cigarette and tapped it against his palm.

    Laddie was feeling fine but Grandmaster wasn¡¯t. Grandmaster pressed a hand against his chest and looked rather troubled. Situ Jin noticed this and asked, ¡°Grandmaster, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m fine. I suppose I¡¯ve been practicing a little too hard recently and I might have injured something in the chest area,¡± said Grandmaster with a smile.

    Everyone instinctively rolled their eyes. They knew how obsessed Grandmaster was with martial arts. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had gotten injured from practicing too hard.

    Laddie got into contact with S City¡¯s Special Police as instructed and both parties quickly arranged to meet in an office building in the heart of S City. Leading the team from the Special Police was a man in his sixties. Apanying him were a young man and a young woman who looked like they were 23 or 24 years old.

    ¡°Hoho, Mr. Situ, I¡¯ve heard so many wonderful things about you,¡± said the man with a heartyugh as he shook Situ Jin¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this situation. The Special Police is special after all, so we rent our own ce instead of using a government office. I hope it wasn¡¯t too much trouble getting here!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Yang, you¡¯re too kind! If you hadn¡¯t asked to retire from the Department of Supernatural Affairs because of your age, I wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to take up this position!¡± said Situ Jin very politely to the older man. Then he turned to his team and said, ¡°This gentleman over here is Mr. Yang Tianzheng, who used to be the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs. Mr. Yang, these men joined the department not too long ago. This is Laddie, he¡¯s an expert in gathering information.¡±

    ¡°This is Grandmaster, a martial arts expert who¡¯s well versed in arge variety of fighting techniques. This is Spectacles, our poisons experts who¡¯s also researching some useful chemicals for the department. And over here we have King Kong, our equipment and facilities researcher who¡¯s a real nerd when ites to technology.¡±

    All four subordinates stood up straight in the presence of Yang Tianzheng. They had heard all about this legendary man who had to face extraordinary and dangerous people from foreignnds in the 1980s and was a national hero who had protected the country from these attackers.

    Yang Tianzheng smiled brightly and nodded as he listened to Situ Jin introduce his team. He remarked, ¡°Not bad! The young people these days are more energetic than we were back then.¡± Then he turned to introduce the two young people he had brought along, ¡°These two are my proteges. This is Lv Jincheng, he¡¯s learned a thing or two from me.¡±

    ¡°This youngdy is Han Mengyao, she¡¯s an expert in tracking and tracing, plus she has some expertise in drugs and chemicals. If you need someone to follow a target, this girl will be the best person to do that.¡±

    ¡°Well, since you¡¯re the one making the rmendation, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem. I¡¯ll have to trouble you, Miss Han.¡± Situ Jin hadn¡¯t gotten to his position just by doing his work well. He knew how to get along with others and make use of his connections when necessary. Besides, he also trusted the judgement of the legendary Yang Tianzheng. A man like Yang Tianzheng wouldn¡¯t rmend an incapable person. Since he rmended Han Mengyao, then it meant that she must be very capable.

    Han Mengyao looked rather excited and she only calmed down and gave Yang Tianzheng a cheeky grin after he red at her.

    Situ Jin got serious and said to Yang Tianzheng, ¡°I¡¯ve already done a check on this man and even though everything seems fine on the surface, I still think that there¡¯s something amiss here, so I¡¯d like your help with this matter. If it¡¯s possible¡­I¡¯d really love for Miss Han to continue following this person in secret without alerting him.¡±

    ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll take a look at this person¡¯s case ande up with a n personally. I hope that will assure you, Mr. Situ,¡± said Yang Tianzheng with augh.

    Situ Jin immediately broke into a smile and said, ¡°You¡¯re dealing with it personally: that alone is assuring enough! Since that¡¯s all settled, we won¡¯t stay any longer in S City. There are many matters in B City that we need to settle.¡±

    ¡°Oh dear, I was hoping all of you could stay for a meal! But since you need to hurry back, I¡¯ll get Jincheng to send you to the airport,¡± said Yang Tianzheng.

    ¡°Thank you so much, Mr. Yang. We¡¯re off!¡± Situ Jin got up and walked out of the building with his team and Lv Jincheng.

    After they left, Yang Tianzheng said to Han Mengyao, ¡°Mengyao, this is your first mission, so make sure youe up with a good n, don¡¯t embarrass us.¡±

    ¡°Got it, Shifu. I¡¯ve been waiting for this day for so long now¡­besides, you¡¯re going to help me too, aren¡¯t you?¡± said Han Mengyao with a cheeky grin on her face.

    He shook his head a little exasperatedly and said, ¡°Get someone to check on the person Situ Jin wants you to follow. If you want your mission to go well, you¡¯ve got to do your homework well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Han Mengyao saluted Yang Tianzheng, then left to find out more about Su Jin.

    Of course, Su Jin had no idea that despite his efforts to alter Situ Jin¡¯s memories, Situ Jin was still on his case. After staying in his house for two days, Tang Ning called him back to the office.

    The first person he ran into when he arrived at the office was Li Zhikai. Li Zhikai seemed very happy and chuckled as he said, ¡°You¡¯re really doing well these days, aren¡¯t you? I heard from ¡®Your Greatest Nightmare¡¯ that you¡¯ve been promoted. Why didn¡¯t you tell any of us?¡±

    ¡°You call that a promotion? I¡¯m still just an employee at the end of the day. She just needs to make a phone call and I have toe running back to the office asap!¡± Su Jin drooped his shoulders sadly. Just then, Li Man walked towards them and Su Jin wanted to say hello to her, but she let out a scoff and walked past him without even casting him a nce.

    Li Zhikai noticed the awkward expression on Su Jin¡¯s face and patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? It¡¯s better to offend a lowlife than to offend a woman.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about? How have I even offended her?¡± Su Jin was confused. He hadn¡¯t done anything to Li Man.

    Li Zhikai sniggered and said, ¡°Well, you gave this woman a dream, then destroyed it with your own hands. To a woman, that¡¯s a crime worse than if you murdered her parents. You¡¯ve offended her, my buddy.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head in exasperation. There was nothing he could do about that. After chatting with Li Zhikai for a while, he headed for Tang Ning¡¯s office.

    Once he entered the office, he saw that Kevin and Thomas were around as well. He nodded at them to greet them, then said to Tang Ning, ¡°Miss Tang, why did you want to see me?¡±

    ¡°Well! Our security subsidiarypany has a new client who wants only the best we have. Also, the other request they have is that the leader of the team must be Chinese,¡± said Tang Ning solemnly.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t need Tang Ning to go on. He knew why she had called him in. ¡°Miss Tang, you know that I¡¯m not interested in this role. In fact, I was thinking of resigning.¡±

    ¡°Even if you want to resign, you still need to serve one month¡¯s notice. So¡­you can still be a bodyguard for this client for that month,¡± said Tang Ning.

    Su Jin began to wonder if Tang Ning was his nemesis or something. He was quite an intelligent fellow, but Tang Ning was always able to outtalk him in any situation. He could never seem to find a way to counterattack.

    ¡°Mr. Su, if you could work with us, that would be the best thing that has happened to me since I arrived in this country,¡± Thomas suddenly piped up.

    Su Jin threw him a nce and said, ¡°What¡¯s the second best thing that¡¯s happened? The day I knocked you out cold?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Thomas didn¡¯t know how to respond to that.

    Tang Ning ignored their conversation and threw a set of documents to Su Jin. ¡°Take a look at these documents first! Thepany really needs someone for this job and this deal is very important to us as well. I hope you can help us out!¡±

    ¡°Oh well, all right then.¡± Su Jin sighed as he agreed to take up the job. He flipped through the documents that Tang Ning had given him and was a little surprised. The person they were hired to protect was a youngdy. He looked at her photo and read her name out, ¡°Han Mengyao.¡±

    thecker: Shini please - leave the poor man¡¯s surname alone LOL.

    Shini: My boomer trantor tells me that it is in fact Lv and not Lu, so imma leave this alone. FOR NOW.

    OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    Bruh.

 Chapter 67: Han Mengyao

    <h4>Chapter 67: Han Mengyao</h4>

    ording to these documents, this Han Mengyao is 23 years old and was a Chinese living overseas. She hade back to look at the investment situation back home, and if the circumstances were suitable, she was prepared to live permanently in China. But her parents¡¯ identities overseas were a secret and it seemed like they had a feud with many difficult enemies. That was why they wanted to find a good security agency to be in charge of protecting their daughter.

    ¡°We¡¯re quite safe here, actually. But since her parents are being so careful, they must have a lot of powerful enemies,¡± thought Su Jin as he tapped a finger on his nose. He said to Tang Ning, ¡°I don¡¯t mind helping you, but I¡¯m not going to provide 24 hour service. I still have other matters to attend to.¡±

    ¡°Other matters? Thepany doesn¡¯t pay you enough so you have to moonlight?¡± asked Tang Ning with a joyless smile.

    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s my personal issue,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m going to woo your cousin.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Tang Ning was surprised. She looked Su Jin up and down a few times, then gave him a thumbs up. ¡°You¡¯ve got guts! How very manly! Your self-sacrificing act of offering yourself to a tiger is admirable indeed.¡±

    Su Jin burst outughing. ¡°Hey, she¡¯s your cousin, not a tiger!¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s because she¡¯s my cousin, I know her well. Plenty of guys have tried to woo her, but none have survived more than three days with her. You¡¯ve spent more than a month and you still want to woo her, so it¡¯s only natural for me to feel great admiration for you!¡±

    ¡°If I don¡¯t volunteer to be tortured, then who will? So? Are you going to agree to my conditions or not?¡±

    ¡°Well, given your fearless attitude, I have to agree to your demands. But over the next two days, I need you to be there with the client. After that, I don¡¯t really care about how you schedule your time.¡± Tang Ning made her requirements very clear and was also very supportive of Su Jin¡¯s initiative to woo her cousin.

    Since his superior had been so agreeable, Su Jin had to show his gratitude. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Miss Tang. I¡¯ll make sure the client is satisfied with our services over the next few days!¡±

    Tang Ning said to Kevin, ¡°Mr. Kevin, I¡¯m sure you heard him. I hope all of you will work well together over the next few days!¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. Thomas has shown great admiration for Mr. Su¡¯s Chinese kungfu and has been pestering me to arrange for him to learn from Mr. Su. This is a wonderful opportunity for Thomas to learn from Mr. Su!¡± said Kevin with augh. Then he turned to Su Jin and said, ¡°Mr. Su, we¡¯ll be in your care for the next few days!¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Before this meeting, he had knocked Thomas out while Ye Yun had threatened to slice Kevin¡¯s arm off, so he felt a little awkward about this situation.

    But Thomas rushed up to Su Jin and said excitedly, ¡°Mr. Su, I really have tremendous respect for Chinese kungfu, so I hope that you can give me a few pointers!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about that? Chinese martial arts requires one to learn how to be beaten up before you can learn how to beat others up, you know?¡± said Su Jin with a cheeky grin.

    Thomas¡¯ smile froze upon hearing that. He remembered how terrifying Su Jin¡¯s punch that day was. He was an elite bodyguard who had been through war and other dangerous missions and wouldn¡¯t havee here if not for the significance that Thor Security Services had ced on their deal with Ster Skies.

    In fact, when he had first arrived, he hadn¡¯t thought too highly of these Asians who had a much smaller build than himself and felt that their average size made them unsuitable for bing fighters. But Su Jin and Ye Yun had really opened his eyes to more possibilities. Not only had he suffered at the hands of Su Jin, but even his team leader, one of the top ten bodyguards of Thor Security Services, had been unable to defend himself against the seemingly frail and weak Ye Yun. After hearing about what happened between Ye Yun and Kevin after he had been knocked out, Thomas became even more determined to learn Chinese martial arts.

    ¡°Then¡­could you go a little lighter on me the next time?¡± asked Thomas a little more timidly.

    Su Jin shrugged in response. Tang Ning told him that he had to meet the client the next morning, so after leaving the office, Su Jin gave Ye Yun a call to ask her out for a meal, but he couldn¡¯t get through to her.

    ¡°Her phone¡¯s off? Or did it run out of battery?¡± Su Jin scratched his head.

    The next morning, Tang Ning brought Su Jin, Kevin and Thomas to a bungalow in the suburbs. It was located in the suburbs but it definitely cost a bomb. It looked about asrge as the ce that Kano Mai¡¯s friend owned and Su Jin estimated that it cost a few hundred million. Besides being rich enough to afford thend, one needed the right connections to obtain such arge piece ofnd in S City.

    After entering the bungalow, someone inside brought them to see his employers, who was the person stated in the documents, Han Mengyao. She was practicing taekwondo in an arena within the bungalow.

    ¡°Hello, Miss Han,¡± Tang Ning greeted Han Mengyao.

    Han Mengyao wiped her perspiration away, took a sip of the water that her servant had brought and nodded at Tang Ning. ¡°Oh, you guys are here. Please make yourselvesfortable.¡±

    Everyone sat down and Tang Ning said, ¡°Miss Han, this is the team of bodyguards thepany has put together for you. Mr. Kevin is one of Thor Security Services¡¯ best bodyguards and he has prior experience in protecting important political figures from various countries. Mr. Thomas is an expert in a wide variety of fighting techniques. Mr. Su Jin is Ster Skies¡¯ Security Services Manager and he is extremely well versed in Chinese martial arts.¡±

    Su Jin did a double take when he heard Tang Ning announce his position as Security Services Manager. He couldn¡¯t believe that Tang Ning had seriously given him a managerial position. He instinctively wondered if his sry was also going to increase.

    ¡°Chinese martial arts? I¡¯ve learned that before too, but¡­Chinese martial arts takes too long to master and you can¡¯t achieve much in a short time, so I turned to other forms of martial arts instead,¡± Han Mengyao said to Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s very true,¡± Su Jin nodded in agreement.

    ¡°When did you start learning martial arts?¡± Han Mengyao asked casually.

    Su Jin paused to think of a good answer, then said with augh, ¡°Oh, I was pretty young. I don¡¯t really remember anymore.¡±

    The Special Police and the Department of Supernatural Affairs had already done a thorough investigation on Su Jin¡¯s background, so Han Mengyao knew everything about Su Jin. In fact, she possibly even knew him better than he knew himself.

    She knew that Su Jin came from a poor family, so it was impossible for him to have learned martial arts from a young age. As the old adage goes, the poor don¡¯t practice martial arts. Anybody who practiced martial arts had to consumerge amounts of meat and other rare herbs to build up their bodies, so it was impossible for a poor person to learn martial arts.

    ¡°Well, even though I gave it up years ago, I still have great interest in learning it. I wonder if I could exchange some pointers with Mr. Su?¡± Han Mengyao suddenly got up and posed this question to Su Jin.

    As Su Jin hesitated, Tang Ning agreed to it on his behalf. ¡°Mr. Su, I think Miss Han is afraid that we¡¯re not up to the job. Why don¡¯t you show her what you¡¯re capable of?¡±

    Su Jin had no choice but to stand up as well. Han Mengyao stood in front of him and said, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯ve learned taekwondo, karate, kendo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so I¡¯d advise you to tread with caution.¡±

    He was surprised to hear that this woman was trained in so many techniques, but he nodded slightly and motioned to her to start sparring.

    Han Mengyao took a small leap forward, twisted her body slightly and brought her right leg up in a kick towards Su Jin¡¯s neck. After training for so long in his Hell Domain and having a superhuman body, Su Jin was very well versed in many fighting techniques now.

    He was very surprised by Han Mengyao¡¯s kick because he could tell instantly that she wasn¡¯t here to spar with him. That kick could kill a person. Also, she was lying earlier. Not only did she know Chinese martial arts, but she was an expert in it.

    Su Jin curled his toes so tightly that his shoes tore, while he took a deep breath and let out a ¡°HA!¡± that pushed his chest in so hard that all the air seemed to go into his neck and make it swell up just as Han Mengyao¡¯s foot hit it.

    Bam! Su Jin remained in the same position. Han Mengyao went flying backwards instead.

    Actually, even if Su Jin hadn¡¯t done that, Han Mengyao¡¯s kick wouldn¡¯t have hurt him in any way. But if he didn¡¯t do something physically obvious like that, it would make him seem impossibly superhuman, so he did it just for show.

    After Han Mengyaonded, she mmed a palm against the floor, rolled over and used one arm to lock itself around Su Jin¡¯s legs in hope of using a jiu-jitsu technique to bring him down.

    But his toes were firmly curled into the ground like ten steel nails, so Han Mengyao quickly discovered that she couldn¡¯t move him at all and brought her other fist up to punch him in the balls.

    Su Jin lost his temper at this. There was definitely something very wrong with this Han Mengyao. She was definitely making fatal attack after fatal attack on purpose. On top of that, she didn¡¯t need bodyguards if she could fight like this. Not even Kevin or Thomas was her match either.

    He stretched a palm out to block Han Mengyao¡¯s fist, then twisted his legs hard. Han Mengyao let out a yelp of pain as Su Jin¡¯s legs hurt the very arm she tried to hurt him with first.

    Tang Ning could sense something wrong with the situation and quickly tried to cool things down, ¡°It¡¯s just a friendly match, isn¡¯t it? Let¡¯s end it here!¡±

    Su Jin remained expressionless as he rxed his legs and pulled Han Mengyao up. He smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s normal for a martial artist to be fired up at times!¡±

    Han Mengyao let him pull her up, then smiled back and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Mr. Su. I was too excited about finding a sparring partner and went overboard. I hope you won¡¯t take it to heart.¡±

    ¡°Wow! That was awesome!¡± Thomas started pping and cheering loudly for them. He was into muscle training and control as well, so even though he didn¡¯t know much about Chinese martial arts, he could see that the two of them hadbined technique and strength perfectly as they fought.

    Han Mengyao beamed at Tang Ning and said, ¡°Miss Tang, I am very pleased with this team you¡¯ve brought today. I¡¯ll count on them to take care of me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re pleased with them. It¡¯s a deal then.¡± Tang Ning shook Han Mengyao¡¯s hand, then said to the three men, ¡°I will leave Miss Han to the three of you. I still need to attend to other matters in the office, so I¡¯ll leave first.¡±

    After Tang Ning left, Han Mengyao instructed her servants to prepare rooms for the three men, then left them, pretending that she was going to bathe.

    She walked to the second story and walked into one of the rooms. Yang Tianzheng was sitting in the balcony. He had watched Su Jin and Han Mengyao¡¯s exchange earlier.

    ¡°Shifu!¡± Han Mengyao stood in front of Yang Tianzheng and said respectfully, ¡°What are your thoughts about Su Jin?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­not an ordinary person!¡± said Yang Tianzheng.

 Chapter 68: Situ Jin

    <h4>Chapter 68: Situ Jin</h4>

    ¡°You think so highly of him?¡± Han Mengyao was shocked by her mentor¡¯s high praise for Su Jin. She had been Yang Tianzheng¡¯s protege for more than ten years now and she had never heard himpliment any of the great masters they worked with previously like this.

    Yang Tianzheng nced at Han Mengyao and said, ¡°Your current level of martial arts is verymendable. You have Chinese martial arts as your foundation and you have been able tobine it with other fighting techniques from all over the world. I believe you would be able to hold up against even the best martial artist in China.¡±

    Han Mengyao felt smug hearing her mentor say that about her. She was an intelligent girl and had a gifting for martial arts. And ording to Yang Tianzheng, she was a woman who could be one of the greatest grandmasters in martial arts history.

    ¡°Someday in the future, once you be more steady in your technique execution, I think you might actually stand a chance at bing the best. But if you¡¯re now at a point where you stand a chance in the future, I¡¯m afraid Su Jin is already number one in the world,¡± said Yang Tianzheng slowly.

    Han Mengyao stared at her mentor in disbelief. ¡°How can that be? He¡¯s about my age, so no matter how gifted he is, he couldn¡¯t possibly be number one at such a young age, right?¡±

    Yang Tianzheng suddenly smiled as he murmured, ¡°Situ Jin, I think I know why you want me to investigate this young man. So¡­he¡¯s an owner?¡±

    ¡°An owner?¡± Han Mengyao had no idea what he was talking about.

    Yang Tianzheng stood up without exining anything. Instead, he said to her, ¡°Mengyao, doesn¡¯t the Special Police have a few cases that have been unsolvable for many years now? Take this chance to get Su Jin to handle them.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­are you referring to THOSE cases?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    ¡°But haven¡¯t we already ssified those as supernatural activities? It¡¯s been really hard to find anybody who¡¯s active in this area in recent years and any experts we¡¯ve tried to contact are currently in seclusion. Those are cases that we haven¡¯t been able to exin at all. Isn¡¯t sending him to work on those cases as good as sending him to his death?¡± Han Mengyao couldn¡¯t understand why Yang Tianzheng wanted to do such a thing. Those were cases that were not just marked as unsolved but unsolvable and had been put into cold storage. Unless those experts in the country decided toe out of seclusion and help, nobody was allowed to talk about these cases.

    But Yang Tianzheng chuckled and said, ¡°I think Su Jin has the ability to deal with these cases. Besides¡­Situ Jin is a really sharp fellow. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s found us another owner in less than 40 years. But that¡¯s just in time to help us with these matters.¡±

    Han Mengyao couldn¡¯t help but ask again, ¡°Shifu, what are these owners that you talk about?¡±

    Yang Tianzheng looked up and paused to think as if he was wondering how he should answer Han Mengyao. After some time, he finally said, ¡°They are unknown people with unknown powers who can deal with the unknown.¡±

    This answer was so useless that Han Mengyao felt likeughing. But judging from her mentor¡¯s solemn expression, she knew that he wasn¡¯t joking with her. These ¡®owners¡¯ were clearly a formidable group of people.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin had returned to B City. Immediately after he arrived, he received a notice to go for a full body checkup. He lit a cigarette and snapped impatiently, ¡°No need for that. I know my own condition better than anybody else.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Situ, this checkup is not about your health,¡± the female administrator tried to exin in an exasperated voice.

    He frowned and asked puzzledly, ¡°What do you mean by that? You mean the main point of this checkup is not whether my body is healthy or not?¡±

    She nodded and pushed her ck framed sses up. ¡°This checkup is to confirm if the gadgets inside your body are working normally.¡±

    His eyes instantly burned with rage as he raised his voice angrily, ¡°What do you mean by that? There are gadgets inside my body? Why don¡¯t I know anything about this?¡±

    She calmly replied, ¡°You knew about them and you were the one who asked for these gadgets to be imnted into your body, then got someone to erase those memories.¡±

    He was puzzled for a moment before realizing that she was probably right. He exhaled deeply and said, ¡°That does sound like something I¡¯d do.¡± After a short pause, he added, ¡°After doing the checkup, please imnt thetest gadgets into my body.¡±

    She was a little hesitant at first, but she decided to try convincing him otherwise. ¡°Mr. Situ, as your colleague, it is not my ce to say anything. But as your friend¡­I hope you will reconsider this decision. You know what sort of effect those gadgets will have on your body.¡±

    He smiled and nodded. ¡°Bo Ya, thanks for your concern. Those things will eventually eat into my body, but they are also extremely useful.¡±

    ¡°Useful? More than half of the gadgets in your body are meant to kill you in an instant. And even those that aren¡¯t going to kill you now are going to start torturing you as the years go by. You¡¯re still young now, so your body is able to handle the damage they create. But when you grow old¡­in fact, no. In just ten years or so, you will begin to suffer tremendous torture from these things. Is it really worth it?¡± asked Bo Ya earnestly.

    He smoked hard on his cigarette and swallowed all the smoke in his mouth. There was a fierce glint in his eye as he said in a low voice, ¡°Of course it¡¯s worth it. You know very well what sort of office I hold. If a foreign power manages to capture me and gets even the slightest bit of information out of me, it could bring great cmity to our country. I have to make sure that I can self-destruct when necessary.¡±

    His response really broke her heart. Bo Ya had known this man for more than 13 years now. She could still remember her first impression of him. He shone as brightly as the sun, was gentle, humorous and reliable. He was practically perfect.

    Thirteen years had passed since then and he had be the head of the most highly ssified department of the country. In order to ensure the survival of this country, he was willing to be a shadow in the darkness, walking in a ce that nobody could see and contributed everything he had to ensure the security of the country.

    Bo Ya had heard many people call him arrogant, uncouth, full of himself, a ve to the government¡­she had heard them all. But besides the team who worked for him, nobody knew how gentle this man¡¯s smile once was.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you take on a little less? You¡­you still have us!¡± Bo Ya mustered her courage to say these words to Situ Jin in a loud voice.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± A genuine smile spread across Situ Jin¡¯s hardened face. Bo Ya blinked in surprise. This was the same gentle smile she remembered of him.

    ¡°She¡¯s right! Boss, unless we¡¯re all dead, we won¡¯t let anybody capture you,¡± said someone in a loud voice as he leaped out from the shadows.

    ¡°Who allowed you to even speak?!¡±

    ¡°Can someone just throw this idiot out?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Situ, Laddie is stupid but he¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Boss! We¡¯ll always be by your side.¡±

    ¡°With me around, there¡¯s no way you¡¯re going to die even if you wanted to!¡±

    After Laddie made his appearance, the rest walked out too. These were the elite members of the Department of Supernatural Affairs: Laddie, Grandmaster, King Kong, Gray Wolf, Spectacles and Doctor.

    Situ Jin¡¯s smile grew warmer. He snubbed his cigarette out and chided them jokingly, ¡°Dang! You guys are so good at buttering me up, so I¡¯ve got to treat everyone to dinner tonight.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°Our boss is the best!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re treating, then we¡¯ve got to pick somewhere fancy!¡±

    Bo Ya smiled as she looked at her excited and supportive colleagues. She pushed her sses up and said, ¡°If you want him to treat you guys to dinner, you¡¯ve got to wait until he¡¯s done with his checkup.¡±

    She chased everyone out of the office, then got Doctor to bring Situ Jin to get his checkup done. King Kong came along too. Doctor was in charge of all medical treatments and services required by the department. He graduated from the best medical college in the country, was familiar with both western medical practices and Chinese traditional medical practices and was known as a genius in the field. King Kong came along because most of the gadgets inside Situ Jin¡¯s body had been created by King Kong.

    Situ Jiny unconscious as his body was being scanned by the enormous scanner. Doctor and King Kong looked on nervously as the checkup went on for an hour.

    ¡°How¡¯s everything?¡± asked Bo Ya.

    Doctor said, ¡°His body¡¯s condition is stable, but¡­his condition has begun to deteriorate. It doesn¡¯t look very serious right now, but as time goes by, he will find it harder and harder to cope with his condition and his body might break down.¡±

    This wasn¡¯t new information to the team and it was something that Situ Jin was also aware of. But King Kong had something new to say, ¡°Most of the gadgets are stable, but the nanometer safety fuse of one of them in the brain is broken.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± asked Bo Ya.

    King Kong exined, ¡°To put it simply, it¡¯s like an electric fuse. This gadget monitors his brain waves, so when there arerge fluctuations in his brain wave activity, this fuse will burn out.¡±

    ¡°So what are the implications?¡± Bo Ya asked again.

    King Kong shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. Boss was afraid of overlyplicated gadgets because the margin of error was higher on those, so I designed something very simple like this. All I can tell you is when the fuse burned out but I can¡¯t tell you more than that.¡±

    Three hourster, Situ Jin slowly regained consciousness. He received a full report from Bo Ya with details on his body condition as well as the status of the gadgets inside his body.

    ¡°That¡¯s it? How about the new gadgets? If possible, I¡¯d like to imnt these two,¡± said Situ Jin as he read through the report. Suddenly, he spotted thement on his unusual brain wave activity.

    ¡°King Kong, what are your thoughts on this?¡± Situ Jin asked King Kong.

    King Kong thought about it for a while, then said, ¡°Assuming the gadget did not malfunction, that means that your brain wave activity at the time was unusual. But this gadget was built very simply, and to quote your words, the simpler something is, the less likely it is to make a mistake.¡±

    Situ Jin smiled faintly and nodded. ¡°That is correct. It seems like that model citizen we visited earlier¡­isn¡¯t as simple as he looks. But what happened back then? I don¡¯t think this has ever happened before.¡±

    King Kong shook his head. ¡°The gadget is too simple, so we aren¡¯t able to gather much information.¡±

    Situ Jin nodded. He put on a jacket and walked towards the door when he suddenly stopped to say to Bo Ya, ¡°You mentioned someone hypnotized me so that I would forget that gadgets had been imnted into my body. Can you ask him toe over again?¡±

 Chapter 69: Generalâ€™s Tomb

    <h4>Chapter 69: General¡¯s Tomb</h4>

    Back in S City, Su Jin, Kevin and Thomas had been brought by Han Mengyao to an offshore ind. This ind was apparently privately owned and they had to board a specially chartered boat to get there.

    ¡°My father hopes to make some investments here and New Moon Ind is very important to the future of his business. Unfortunately, we heard that there are some problems with this ce, so I was hoping that the three of you could help me with these issues,¡± Han Mengyao said to the three of them.

    Su Jin frowned. ¡°Miss Han, our job is to ensure your safety. Everything else is¡­not within our job scope.¡±

    ¡°You are right, Mr. Su. So, I don¡¯t need any of you to do anything, just ensure my safety,¡± said Han Mengyao with a sly look in her eye.

    Su Jin sighed inwardly. Han Mengyao was determined to use them for anything she liked. He turned and said to Kevin and Thomas, ¡°New Moon Ind is very famous here. Rumor has it that¡­this was where a military general was buried. In other words, it¡¯s a tomb.¡±

    ¡°A military general?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. This military general had killed a lot of people when he was alive and is apparently still not satisfied. Apparently, anybody who sets foot on the ind will be attacked by the spirit of the general,¡± Su Jin continued to exin.

    ¡°The spirit of the general? HA! I don¡¯t believe in this sort of thing. If such things really existed, someone in our line of work would have run into one by now,¡± said Thomas with a loudugh. He didn¡¯t believe what Su Jin just said at all.

    Actually, Su Jin didn¡¯t believe in such things either. Even though he had run into evil spirits and vengeful ghosts during the Challenges, he hadn¡¯t run into such things in the real world. Furthermore, while the rumors surrounding this ind were frightening, nobody had ever heard of anyone actually running into a mishap here.

    ¡°I would advise all of you to take it seriously. From the information that I have gathered, it seems that this ind is indeed problematic but only on a full moon night. We¡¯ve got a full moon tonight, and it¡¯s said that only those who go to the center of the ind will run into trouble,¡± said Han Mengyao very solemnly.

    Su Jin was confused. ¡°Miss Han, if you¡¯re so sure that there¡¯s a problem with this ce, why not give it up? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to risk your life, right?¡±

    Han Mengyao smiled and shook her head. ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯m sure you know that every inch ofnd in S City is worth millions. My father doesn¡¯t have that much money to invest, so he has no choice but to look at ces like this ind. If we can resolve the issues with this ce, I¡¯m sure you can imagine how much profit we will be able to reap.¡±

    Su Jin already smelled something fishy about Han Mengyao from the start but he didn¡¯t have any evidence to prove it. But she was his client after all. Since she wanted to explore this ind, he had no choice but to follow her.

    Han Mengyao led them to the center of the ind where the general was supposedly buried. Some said that a general had really been buried here, while others felt that the government had made up this story and built something just to attract tourists.

    But Han Mengyao knew that this was really the tomb of a general. It wasn¡¯t builtter by the government and all the rumors about it were real. If the tomb of a general were perfectly fine, it wouldn¡¯t be standing here in one piece anymore. Graverobbers would have emptied the entire tomb and it might even be in ruins by now.

    ording to the information she had, one would just lose their way and eventuallye crawling out hourster if one entered the tomb on a normal day. But if one entered the tomb on a full moon night, then you were dead meat for sure. And the dead person would be found outside the tomb the next day, as if the person had been flung out of the tomb or something.

    ¡°What I intend to do is to go in and take a quick look. It¡¯ll be best if we can get out before nightfall,¡± Han Mengyao said to the three men.

    Kevin and Thomas didn¡¯t believe in ghosts, so they were fine with it. Su Jin wasn¡¯t afraid because he had Psychokic Spirit Power now. Even if there were to be evil spirits hiding inside, he was sure that at least he could get out of there safely.

    Han Mengyao had prepared a number of tools, including daggers, gas masks, rope, torch lights, some medical supplies and even some explosives. Other than the explosives, each of them got one of every item. Su Jin took a set of the items as well so that he wouldn¡¯t stand out.

    The entrance to the tomb really surprised Su Jin. This was a hole that had been dug diagonally into the ground and looked like it had existed for quite a while. It was a tunnel that graverobbers typically dug.

    ¡°It¡¯s a general¡¯s tomb after all, so there was a period of time when graverobbers wanted to try their luck here. But the only thing they left behind besides their lives were these tunnels,¡± said Han Mengyao.

    She told everyone else in her entourage to stay outside the tunnel and went in with only Su Jin. Kevin and Thomas wanted to go along, but this tunnel was clearly meant for someone smaller. Su Jin could barely fit, never mind the two taller and more muscr men.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t mind this arrangement. He felt that Han Mengyao was up to no good, so anything happened, he didn¡¯t want to end up hurting Kevin and Thomas for nothing. It was probably easier for him to see what Han Mengyao was up to if he was alone with her.

    They followed the tunnel down around 30 meters or so, then the space in front of them suddenly widened. This was a fairlyrge tomb, which did sound very likely for a real general. They took a few steps forward and immediately saw two rows of statues that resembled soldiers. Each one of them held a long spear in their hands.

    ¡°Be careful. Even though it¡¯s not night time yet, one can still get lost in here. If we get lost in here and can¡¯t get out by nightfall, we¡¯ll be in danger,¡± said Han Mengyao to Su Jin.

    ¡°Since you know it might be dangerous, why did you purposely choose toe today?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Sheughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s simple. If you want to know a person, you¡¯ve got to get close to him. Since I want to know the truth behind this tomb, I¡¯ve got to pick the most dangerous time toe.¡±

    ¡°Forgive me for being rude, but you¡¯re seriously insane,¡± said Su Jin in a yful voice.

    She grinned and shrugged, then continued walking. They walked inside the tomb for more than 30 minutes and Su Jin suddenly felt that something was amiss. He took his dagger out and made markings on the wall as they walked on.

    After another 30 minutes had passed, Su Jin said, ¡°Stop. We¡¯ve been going round in circles.¡± He pointed to the markings he had made on the wall earlier.

    Han Mengyao nodded and asked, ¡°What should we do now?¡±

    ¡°What should we do now? Didn¡¯t you have a n at all beforeing in here?¡± he asked in horror.

    She shook her head immediately without even hesitating.

    Su Jin sighed. He looked around, then squatted down to touch the soil on the ground. He picked up a bit of it, smelled it, then flung it back onto the ground.

    ¡°There¡¯s a slight inclination in the ground that we can¡¯t sense, since our bodies would adjust itself as we walk. We¡¯ve been following this path that¡¯s in the shape of an ¡®8¡¯ all this time without realizing it,¡± exined Su Jin.

    She looked a little doubtful and asked, ¡°How do you know this?¡±

    ¡°When I threw the soil down just now, it rolled a little. If you look carefully enough, you¡¯d realize this,¡± said Su Jin nonchntly.

    Han Mengyao asked, ¡°How do we get out then?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll go by a path that we can¡¯t go through,¡± replied Su Jin immediately.

    ¡°Go by a path we can¡¯t go through?¡± Han Mengyao was even more confused now.

    He didn¡¯t bother exining and kept walking, except that this time, he kept his body close to the wall. She noticed that he was sliding his toes along the wall like a knife, and he quickly cut through a lot of the wall.

    Han Mengyao suddenly realized what Su Jin was trying to do. He was going to m right through the wall. Using brute force on a wall inside a tomb sounded crazy and futile at the same time, but Su Jin was capable of doing such a thing.

    As Su Jin followed the wall and made sure he was going forward at all times, he seemed to arrive at a dead end. But his lips curled into a smile and he smashed his fish against the wall. A hole appeared in the wall to reveal a space on the other side.

    ¡°That¡¯s the actual tomb!¡± Han Mengyao became extremely excited. She had brought others to check out this tomb before but nothing ever came out of it. The team always just got lost and eventually just walked out without finding anything. She was pleasantly surprised that Su Jin had not only solved the mystery behind why they always got lost but had also found a hidden tomb behind the wall.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t as excited. He had realized they were going round in circles not because he was smart but because he had used his psychokinesis to scan the ce and realized where the problem was. But he was also very sure that there was something strange about this ce. The moment he smashed through the wall, he felt an eerie and chilling feeling that he only got when he entered a Handbook Challenge.

    ¡°Miss Han, I suggest we go back the same way we came in right now. There¡¯s¡­there¡¯s something here that we can¡¯t deal with.¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes and noticed a figure seated in the distance slowly getting up.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re here, we should go in and take a look.¡± Han Mengyao didn¡¯t want to leave at all. She hade here so many times and this was the first time her exploration of the tomb actually got somewhere.

    But Su Jin ignored her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to the side as a violent force shot out from inside like an arrow, reducing the wall where they were standing earlier into dust.

    ¡°What¡­what was that?¡± Han Mengyao was initially annoyed by how Su Jin had rudely dragged her away like that, but once she saw what happened to the wall, her displeasure instantly turned into terror.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s something we shouldn¡¯t have disturbed,¡± said Su Jin as he ran back up the tunnel. He meant what he said: he could sense that whatever was in there was extremely dangerous. If he had a team like Team Wind and Rain, he might stand a chance. Otherwise, he was definitely doomed.

    The minute he finished saying that, he could hear something chasing after them. Thankfully, they had arrived at the entrance of the tunnel. Once he leaped out, he said to Kevin and Thomas, ¡°Seal this entrance as quickly as you can!¡±

    Thomas immediately grabbed a stick of dynamite, lit it and threw it in. The tunnel copsed instantly with a loud boom.

    ¡°Leave the ind right now and make sure nobody can get to it!¡± said Su Jin immediately. He didn¡¯t think that sting one tunnel could stop the thing inside the tomb froming out, since it seemed as dangerous as a monster inside a Handbook Challenge. Everyone had to leave this ind right now.

 Chapter 70: Going to Die

    <h4>Chapter 70: Going to Die</h4>

    Han Mengyao¡¯s subordinates worked very quickly, so the boat was ready to go by the time the four of them arrived at the jetty. At the same time, a red fog filled the air rapidly behind them. The red fog wasing out from the tomb.

    Even as the boat left the jetty, the red fog did not stop pursuing them. It finally stopped going after them after the boat was a few kilometers away. But the fog didn¡¯t dissipate and continued to hang over the ind.

    ¡°How did things turn out this way?¡± Han Mengyao asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled politely and said, ¡°Why are you asking me? You¡¯re the one who insisted oning. I¡¯m only in charge of ensuring your safety, and I think I¡¯ve actually done a pretty good job of that.¡±

    ¡°Tsk!¡± Han Mengyao rolled her eyes at him. But she was really shocked by this turn of events. Before this, both the Special Police and the Department of Supernatural Affairs had sent teams here to check out the tomb but didn¡¯t find anything significant. A few seniors noticed something amiss, but before they could do anything about the ind, they went into seclusion and cut themselves off from the rest of the world.

    She didn¡¯t have high hopes when she brought Su Jin over either. She figured that they might end up returning with nothing again. To her surprise, they triggered something inside the tomb and caused the entire ind to be surrounded by a red fog. It was going to be hard to exin this away to the citizens of S City.

    ¡°We¡¯ll head back to S City immediately,¡± said Han Mengyao. She turned to Su Jin and the other two men with him and said, ¡°I¡¯m feeling a little tired, so you¡¯re free to go elsewhere, I¡¯m going to take a nap.¡±

    After she walked away, Su Jin turned back to look at New Moon Ind. The thing inside the tomb was extremely powerful and if Han Mengyao wasn¡¯t around, he might have tried to explore a little more. But he couldn¡¯t guarantee her safety if he had done that, and now, there was no way he could get back on that ind.

    Just then, he felt a warmth near his chest. A look of shock colored his eyes as he realized that was where he had ced his Handbook. In short, the Handbook was reacting to New Moon Ind.

    ¡°No, I have to leave this ce as soon as possible,¡± thought Su Jin. He didn¡¯t want to be implicated in anything rted to the Handbook now.

    The boat didn¡¯t take long to reach the other side. His Handbook finally quietened down and no longer emitted heat only after Su Jin had gotten off the boat.

    The day before Han Mengyao and the rest went to explore New Moon Ind, Doctor and King Kong stood inside the operating room of the Department of Supernatural Affairs and prepared for surgery. All thetest gadgets made by King Kong had been ced in a special container and Situ Jin was lying quietly on the operating table.

    ¡°Are you two confident?¡± Bo Ya was rather worried. Doctor and King Kong had told her just now that the gadgets they were imnting this time were much more intricate. The more intricate they were, the more room for mistakes there were.

    Doctor was in charge of this surgery and he started getting nervous after hearing Bo Ya¡¯s question. He smiled stiffly and pleaded with her, ¡°Sis, could you leave the room? Any distractions at this time could result in disaster. Didn¡¯t he ask you to find the person who wiped out his memories thest time? Why don¡¯t you attend to that instead?¡±

    Bo Ya realized she had put unnecessary pressure on Doctor and nodded apologetically before walking out immediately. Once she had left, King Kong exchanged nces with Doctor and they nodded solemnly to each other.

    The bright light above the operating table was turned on and Doctor began the delicate job of operating on Situ Jin. King Kong stood by his side to exin what each gadget was for and where it should be ced, as well as serve as Doctor¡¯s assistant.

    Time slowly ticked by and Doctor¡¯s expression slowly grew more and more nervous. Perspiration kept dripping from his forehead and King Kong¡¯s heart began to sink as he helped to wipe Doctor¡¯s sweat away. Something must have gone wrong, he thought.

    ¡°Sew him up,¡± said Doctor. King Kong immediately proceeded with suturing. His suturing skills were as good as any professional surgeon.

    Once the operation was over, King Kong immediately asked Doctor, ¡°Doctor, did something go wrong? Your expression didn¡¯t look too good just now!¡±

    Doctor nodded quietly and King Kong became even more anxious. ¡°What happened? Did the imnting go wrong somewhere?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the imnting. But when I put in those gadgets, I noticed that there¡¯s something wrong with part of his body.¡± Doctor sighed and went on before King Kong asked more, ¡°Arge part of Boss¡¯ lungs have hardened.¡±

    ¡°His lungs have hardened? What does that mean?¡± King Kong was an expert at suturing but he wasn¡¯t trained in medical school.

    Doctor exined, ¡°It means that once too much of it hardens, Boss will no longer be able to breathe and he will eventually die from suffocation.¡±

    King Kong was too shocked for words. This wasn¡¯t the answer he expected. ¡°What caused this? Is it his smoking habit? Will the hardening slow down if he quits now?¡±

    Doctor shook his head helplessly. ¡°His smoking habit might have worsened it, but that¡¯s not the main cause. From what I can see, the batteries that run some of those gadgets have seeped into his lungs. And I think¡­I think Boss has probably noticed a decline in his own health.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he say anything?¡± King Kong couldn¡¯t understand what Situ Jin was thinking.

    ¡°Because he¡¯s the boss, that¡¯s why. If we didn¡¯t do this round of imnting, we would probably only find out after he¡¯s dead,¡± said Doctor as he shook his head sadly.

    King Kong nodded. That was certainly something Situ Jin would do. He was a stubborn man who also formed the backbone of the Department of Supernatural Affairs. He could die, but he made sure he never looked frail or weak.

    ¡°Should we tell the rest about this?¡± asked Doctor.

    King Kong thought about it, then shook his head. ¡°Since Boss doesn¡¯t want us to know about it, we¡¯ll let things be. But Doctor, could you think of a solution? His lungs might be dying, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a way to fix this.¡±

    Doctor nodded. Their hearts were heavy as they woke Situ Jin up. He noticed how crestfallen they looked and asked puzzledly, ¡°What¡¯s with this expression? Did the surgery go badly?¡±

    ¡°No, everything went well.¡± Doctor forced himself to smile, then helped Situ Jin to sit up. ¡°Boss, you¡¯ve got to thank Spectacles. If not for the drug he concocted, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to sit up like this for at least a few days.

    Situ Jin stretched his limbs, then looked at his wound. A greenish liquid had been applied on it and his wound was barely visible even though it had only been 20 minutes after the surgery. This was the work of Spectacles.

    ¡°Spectacles is indeed gifted in this aspect, but he¡¯s always engaged in very dangerous experiments and I¡¯m afraid he might hurt himself someday. Doctor, make sure we keep all the antidotes properly. We might need them to save this fellow¡¯s life someday,¡± said Situ Jin with a smile.

    Doctor quickly nodded in response as Situ Jin got off the operating table and started walking towards the door. But he suddenly tripped over himself and fell forwards.

    King Kong was right beside him, so he caught Situ Jin before Situ Jin hit the floor. He noticed that Situ Jin¡¯s face was turning gray, so he quickly yelled, ¡°Doctor! Doctor!¡±

    .

    Doctor got a shock and he got King Kong to put Situ Jin back on the operating table again. Doctor quickly hooked up arge number of equipment to observe Situ Jin¡¯s vitals and looked grimmer and grimmer as he checked the data. After some time, he looked away and shook his head without saying anything.

    King Kong was almost going insane with worry. He grabbed hold of Doctor¡¯s shoulders and said, ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there and shake your head! What the hell is going on?!¡±

    ¡°The infection within his lungs is very unstable. It might remain the same for several days, but it might also suddenly worsen in minutes,¡± said Doctor quietly.

    Situ Jin slowly opened his eyes again and coughed a few times. King Kong and Doctor rushed over to help him up. Situ Jin took a few deep breaths, calmed down, then said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to make such a big fuss. I know my condition well. I¡¯m not going to die yet.¡±

    ¡°Boss, leave your work to us for the time being, I¡¯ll call the top brass to let you take medical leave,¡± said King Kong.

    Situ Jin shook his head. ¡°You think too poorly of me. Also, if taking a rest from work improved the situation, I would have applied for medical leave a long time ago. But since it¡¯s pointless, I¡¯m not going to waste time on doing such things. I don¡¯t have much time left, so I¡¯ve got to make full use of every minute I have.¡±

    Situ Jin got off the operating table again and said to Doctor, ¡°Call Bo Ya for me. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s managed to contact the person who erased my memories thest time by now.¡±

    Ten minutester, Situ Jin changed back into his own clothes. He walked into the department¡¯s guest lounge to see a man teasing Bo Ya.

    ¡°Bo Ya, are you free tonight? I¡¯d like to treat you to dinner!¡± The man looked around 25 or 26 years old, had his long hair tied up in a ponytail and had such delicate facial features that made him look as pretty as Bo Ya. If he didn¡¯t say anything, someone would mistake him for a woman.

    ¡°Xu Ran, I think I need to find you a girl to keep tabs on you,¡± said Bo Ya with a sigh.

    Situ Jin frowned at the other man in the room and said in a stern voice, ¡°So, it was really you. If I had known earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have asked Bo Ya to call a little bastard like you over.¡±

    The man turned around to look at Situ Jin and grinned. ¡°The feeling is mutual. If Bo Ya wasn¡¯t the one who asked me for help, there¡¯s no way I would be willing to help an idiot like you!¡±

    Bo Ya felt really awkward. These two would be at each other¡¯s throats every time they met. They hadn¡¯t met for a few years now, but they still treated each other like that.

    Xu Ran nced at Situ Jin and looked rather surprised, then heughed hollowly and said, ¡°Well, well, well. Congrats, you look like you¡¯re not far from death.¡±

    Situ Jin snorted and sat down across from Xu Ran. ¡°Enough of this nonsense. Since you¡¯re the one who wiped out my memories thest time, help me to recall some of it now.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t wipe out anything important thest time, so why are you so anxious to get it back? Or¡­did you discover that I had also wiped out the part about me owing you money? But that¡¯s impossible! I¡¯m sure I did a very clean job thest time¡­¡± Xu Ran flippantly dug his ears as he continued being annoying.

    But Situ Jin remained calm. He knew that this was just the way Xu Ran talked. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to get back the memories you wiped out thest time. I suspect¡­someone erased some of my memories just a few days ago. I want those memories back.¡±

 Chapter 71: Going to Die

    <h4>Chapter 71: Going to Die</h4>

    After hearing Situ Jin¡¯s request, Xu Ran was a little surprised. He stood up, walked over to Situ Jin, stretched his hand out and rapped a knuckle on Situ Jin¡¯s forehead a few times.

    ¡°Hey, hey, Situ Jin, have you be stupid or something?¡± Xu Ran teased Situ Jin without holding back.

    Bo Ya felt like her heart was about to leap out of her mouth when she saw what Xu Ran just did. She knew her boss¡¯ temperament the best. Even though Xu Ran and Situ Jin were old friends who grew up in the same orphanage together, she was sure that Situ Jin wasn¡¯t going to take this sort of treatment lying down.

    Situ Jin was born an orphan and had relied on government schrships and sponsorships for his education, his living expenses and finally made it all the way to this position, so he had a loyalty to the nation that was stronger than most. On the contrary, even though Xu Ran had grown up the same way, he wasn¡¯t particrly loyal to the country. At most, he would assist certain government agencies from time to time. But he had indeed grown up in the same orphanage as Situ Jin and they were real friends.

    Just as Bo Ya had imagined, Situ Jin gripped Xu Ran¡¯s shoulder suddenly.

    ¡°What are you doing? OWWWW!¡± Xu Ran let out a wail as Situ Jin nearly flung him onto the table.

    Situ Jin¡¯s lips twitched violently, then he let go of Xu Ran, took a deep breath and sat back down again. He covered his face with his hands and muttered to himself, ¡°Stay calm. I must stay calm. This asshole is deliberately trying to provoke me.¡±

    Xu Ran straightened himself up and turned to face Situ Jin again. He gave Situ Jin a cheeky grin and said, ¡°Not bad! You¡¯ve finally matured! In the past, you would have bashed me up by now.¡±

    Situ Jin moved his hands slightly to reveal his eyes as he brought his leg up to kick towards Xu Ran¡¯s face. Thankfully, Xu Ran had quick reflexes and managed to dodge the kick. But the table wasn¡¯t as fortunate: Situ Jin¡¯s kick caused arge section to crack.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough, both of you! Are you two here to fight or to get work done?¡± Bo Ya raised her voice in exasperation. She realized that if she didn¡¯t stop them now, the two of them would eventually end up in a physical fight.

    Xu Ran quickly ran back to his own chair, then sneered disdainfully at Situ Jin, ¡°Mr. Situ, did you think erasing someone¡¯s memory is an easy thing to do? I¡¯m very sure there are no more than three people in the world who can do it, and I¡¯ve only seen one before: ME! I don¡¯t know if the other two even exist¡­¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap,¡± hissed Situ Jin as he tried to hold his temper down. ¡°I didn¡¯t say the memories have definitely been erased. I just want you to take a look.¡±

    Xu Ran sighed and said, ¡°So, you¡¯re not going to give up even if it costs you? I admire that! Since that¡¯s what you want, then¡­it¡¯s sleepy time!¡±

    He snapped his fingers and the seething Situ Jin suddenly drooped his head as he fell asleep instantly.

    Xu Ran had a lecherous look on his face as he sniggered, ¡°Ha! Let me check if you¡¯ve been harboring any inappropriate thoughts towards Bo Ya!¡±

    ¡°XU RAN!¡± Bo Ya red furiously at Xu Ran as her face flushed crimson.

    He burst outughing and said, ¡°Bo Ya, what does this expression of yours mean? Do you want me to check or not?¡±

    ¡°Xu Ran, can you please be serious?¡± said Bo Ya in a frustrated voice.

    ¡°Okay, okay¡­everyone in this department is too uptight and straiced, how boring!¡± Xu Ran shook his head before suddenly putting on a serious face as he ced a hand over Situ Jin¡¯s forehead.

    Half an hourter, Situ Jin slowly woke up. He saw that Xu Ran was still shamelessly teasing Bo Ya and wanted to say something when he realized he had some additional memories in his brain.

    He was in S City, in that apartment, with that man who kept a smile on from start to finish. King Kong, Grandmaster, Laddie, Spectacles and himself were lying in the middle of the living room and answering that man¡¯s questions.

    ¡°It¡¯s exactly as I had expected!¡± Situ Jin smiled. It had taken a bit more effort, but he managed to find a loophole after all.

    He got up and said to Bo Ya, ¡°Bo Ya, gather everyone! We need to go to S City immediately!¡±

    ¡°Hold up!¡± said Xu Ran suddenly. He nced at Situ Jin, then asked slowly, ¡°Are you really going to make trouble for that man?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not making trouble for him. This is part of my job,¡± replied Situ Jin.

    Xu Ran smiled and shrugged as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s your job or not and I¡¯m not going to stop you if you prefer to die. But as a friend, let me leave you with a warning: it¡¯s better not to do anything rash. Given your team¡¯s caliber, making trouble for that man will only result in your deaths.¡±

    Situ Jin fell silent for a moment, then he said to Bo Ya, ¡°Forget it. Keep this under wraps for the time being and don¡¯t tell anybody else about it. Bo Ya, please get both of us some tea.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Bo Ya nodded and walked out of the room.

    ¡°Spit it out. What do you need from me?¡± Xu Ran was old friends with Situ Jin and knew that Situ Jin had purposely gotten Bo Ya out of the room so that they could talk in private.

    ¡°Help me out. Deal with that guy,¡± Situ Jin went straight to the point. Since his team couldn¡¯t handle Su Jin, he had to turn to this friend for help.

    But Xu Ran shook his head without hesitation. ¡°I refuse.¡±

    ¡°Why?!¡±

    ¡°If I go, I probably might be able to handle that fellow, but I won¡¯t have any additional energy left to protect you guys, so it¡¯s very likely that all of you still have to die,¡± said Xu Ran.

    Situ Jin said, ¡°If that¡¯s your reason, then it¡¯s not really a problem. You just have to go look for him yourself, the rest of us won¡¯t go.¡±

    ¡°What the fu¡ªSitu Jin, how could you even say such a thing?! Are you asking me for help or are you asking me to sacrifice my life?!¡± snapped Xu Ran angrily as he pushed some of the fringe that had fallen over his eyes back. He looked a little wild and crazed now, but he still looked so beautiful. Not even his cursing could hurt his image.

    Situ Jin made a face and ignored Xu Ran¡¯s outburst. ¡°Aren¡¯t you usually unafraid of anything? Seriously, if you didn¡¯te from a proper sect and all, the first suspicious character I would investigate would be you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever. In any case, I¡¯m not going, you can go look for someone else!¡± Xu Ran turned to leave.

    Situ Jin quickly called after him, ¡°Fine! If you don¡¯t want to go, you don¡¯t have to. But at least give me a few suggestions?¡±

    ¡°Suggestions? My suggestion is that you hand your work over to someone else asap, otherwise the entire department is going to run around like headless chickens when you suddenly drop dead,¡± said Xu Ran calmly.

    Situ Jin narrowed his eyes a little, then sighed. ¡°When I saw your expression earlier, I knew I couldn¡¯t hide it from you. Please help me to keep this a secret from the rest. Don¡¯t tell anyone about this.¡±

    ¡°But why? You¡¯re in very bad shape and I think you¡¯re going to copse in a little more than a month. If you¡¯re unlucky, you might not even live to see tomorrow, so why bother keeping it from them? I think it¡¯s better to tell them right now so that they are prepared for what¡¯sing,¡± said Xu Ran frankly.

    Situ Jin frowned as he pulled a cigarette out and was about to light it when Xu Ran took it from him, crushed it and threw it onto the floor.

    Surprisingly, Situ Jin didn¡¯t get angry. Heughed bitterly and put the pack of cigarettes back into his pocket. ¡°I know I don¡¯t have much time left. But that man¡­I want to deal with him before I die. If I tell the rest about my condition now, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be hard for them to focus on their work.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on your subordinates: they¡¯re much stronger than you imagine them to be,¡± said Xu Ran quietly.

    He exhaled deeply and suddenly asked Situ Jin, ¡°If you had the chance to get well and live on¡­what sort of price would you be willing to pay?¡±

    ¡°Get well and live on? There¡¯s no way that can happen. I know my situation very well. My lungs have been polluted by certain chemicals, so death is just a matter of time,¡± said Situ Jin as he shook his head.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t fucking ask if you had a way to get well. I asked what if you had the chance,¡± snapped Xu Ran unhappily.

    Situ Jin smiled sadly and said in an indignant tone of voice, ¡°I would pay any price. I have so many more things I want to do. Honestly, I really hate the idea of dying so early. I need time, but time is something that money can¡¯t buy, neither can I rob someone of it nor beg someone for it.¡±

    Xu Ran nodded slightly and said, ¡°I would still advise you not to go after that fellow. At least not now. You¡¯re not powerful enough. Also¡­I¡¯ll drop by again in the afternoon. I have something for you.¡±

    After saying that, Xu Ran turned to leave, only to find Bo Ya standing at the door with a tray of drinks. He nced at her and immediately noticed the tear stains on her cheeks, so he helped her to wipe them away and patted her shoulder.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s not going anywhere,¡± Xu Ran whisperedforting words and she nodded in response.

    She had overheard everything outside the door earlier. But since Situ Jin didn¡¯t want anybody else to know about his condition, she decided to pretend that she didn¡¯t know anything.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t notice anything at all. He took a cup of tea from her tray and said with a frown, ¡°Bo Ya, postpone all my afternoon meetings, I need to attend to some matters.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know what Xu Ran was going to give him, but since Xu Ran was both his friend and nemesis, he felt that it was important to give this frenemy some airtime, even though he didn¡¯t have that much longer to live.

    After leaving Situ Jin¡¯s office, Xu Ran headed for Clear Moon Temple within B City. This was a Daoist temple that was not open to the public and did not take any donations or offerings. Xu Ran headed straight for the abbot¡¯s room and nobody dared to stop him along the way.

    Inside the room, an elderly man with white hair and beard was seated in a lotus position. Xu Ran grinned and greeted the old man cheerfully. The old man opened his eyes slightly and nodded at Xu Ran to acknowledge his greeting.

    Xu Ran walked closer to the old man and thrust his hand right into the chest of the old man. The old man did not look like he was in any pain at all as Xu Ran proceeded to pull a book right out from his chest.

    Xu Ran looked at the book in his hand and smiled to himself as he said, ¡°My dear Situ Jin! You were the one who said you were willing to pay any price, so¡­I suppose even if you were to be that sort of person, you wouldn¡¯t mind, right?¡±

 Chapter 72: Handbook Owner Situ Jin

    <h4>Chapter 72: Handbook Owner Situ Jin</h4>

    Situ Jin waited in his office for the entire afternoon but Xu Ran never turned up. He was about to blow his top when Bo Ya came walking in with a box and an envelope.

    ¡°Mr. Situ, Xu Ran sent these here and said that you have to look at these alone. Also, he said you must read the letter first.¡± Bo Ya put the items down on the table, walked out of Situ Jin¡¯s office and closed the door behind her.

    Situ Jin ripped opened the envelope angrily and unfolded the letter. It didn¡¯t take long for him to furrow his brows.

    ¡°To my dearest friend, respected brother and dumbass Situ Jin:

    Don¡¯t you dare me me for not saving you from dying. The item in the box might possibly save you but¡­don¡¯t be in a hurry to open the box and make sure you finish reading everything first.

    This item might kill you immediately too, but the worst part about it is that it will turn you into the sort of person you hate the most, and I¡¯m not referring to a change in personality.

    You can decide for yourself if you want to use this thing or not. BUT REMEMBER WHAT I SAID!

    The letter wasn¡¯t too long and half of it was gibberish, but since it was gibberish from Xu Ran, Situ Jin didn¡¯t dare to take it too lightly either.

    It was clear that the item in the box was a gamble, but it was definitely able to help him get well. So, Situ Jin didn¡¯t hesitate for too long and opened the box.

    A book with a red covery inside the box and it waspletely unmarked. Situ Jin flipped the book open puzzledly and instantly felt a chill envelope his entire body, as if the most terrifying thing in the world was about to happen.

    ¡°The General has survived a hundred wars and has returned a mighty soldier after ten years! I have seen countless bodies strewn carelessly without anybody to bury them after years of war. Returning home is hard but protecting my home is even harder! I have spent more than a decade at war but now, my country is in shambles and my family is dead!

    I am filled with hatred¡­hatred for how unjust the heavens are, hatred for how heartless humans are, hatred for how useless I am! Hatred fills my very soul!¡°

    A bitter and vengeful voice filled with hatred resounded in Situ Jin¡¯s ears. It was as though even the holiest of water would not be able to wash that hatred away. When Situ Jin saw light again, he found himself with several others and they were all standing in front of a general¡¯s tomb.

    Meanwhile, Yang Tianzheng was in S City and had been alerted about what had happened at New Moon Ind. He got his staff to make sure that no unauthorized persons could even go near the shore and also got his other disciple, Lv Jincheng, to observe the ind from afar.

    A glint shone in Lv Jincheng¡¯s eye as he looked into the distance. ¡°Shifu, I can¡¯t see anything at all. The red mist haspletely obstructed my view,¡± said Lv Jincheng as he shook his head helplessly.

    Yang Tianzheng wasn¡¯t surprised. After a short period of silence, he said, ¡°When I was in charge of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, this red mist appeared in various parts of the country more than a hundred times. It always appears in a ce that¡¯s supposedly haunted or where something out of the ordinary happened. Apparently, this has happened very frequently in other countries as well. Back then, many countries sent representatives into the red mist to investigate further, but none of them came back alive.¡±

    ¡°Back then, we didn¡¯t have such advanced technology. What if you send a robot in now?¡± asked Lv Jincheng.

    Yang Tianzheng shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s useless. The red mist carries a strange maic force, so any machines that enter the area fail to work. Do you know Priest Qiu Chan from Clear Moon Temple?¡±

    ¡°Priest Qiu Chan? You mean the man known as a living national treasure of our country and a highly respected figure in Daoism?¡± Lv Jincheng straightened up. He possessed a special pair of eyes because Yang Tianzheng had asked a Daoist priest to conduct a special ritual for him, so Lv Jincheng did know a thing or two about the local Daoists.

    Yang Tianzheng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Back when I was in charge of the Department of Supernatural Affairs and we saw this red mist, the federal government sent Priest Qiu Chan to help us.¡±

    ¡°But Priest Qiu Chan has incredible Daoist expertise and has godlike powers! I tried to stop him but he barged into the red mist anyway in order to find out what was going on, and in the end¡­he turned out to be the only one who came back out alive!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing? Priest Qiu Chan is extraordinary indeed,¡± said Lv Jincheng with admiration.

    But Yang Tianzheng shook his head. ¡°A good thing? I¡¯m afraid not. After Priest Qiu Chan emerged from the red mist, he seemed to have gone mad and only came back to his senses after a chance encounter five years ago with a young man.¡±

    ¡°A chance encounter with a young man?¡± Lv Jincheng was surprised. Was that young man so handsome that his face could bring someone back to his own senses?

    Yang Tianzheng smiled and said, ¡°Daoists believe deeply in fate, so perhaps it is by fate that Priest Qiu Chan met him! Priest Qiu Chan eventually took that young man in as his direct disciple, so that young man is extremely senior within the Daoistmunity.¡±

    ¡°Who is this young man?¡± asked Lv Jincheng curiously.

    ¡°He¡¯s Situ Jin¡¯s friend, the future abbot of Clear Moon Temple and possibly a Celestial Master in the future: Xu Ran!¡± Each statement Yang Tianzheng made was more incredible than thest. When put together, Lv Jincheng realized that this young man must be a truly powerful person.

    As the two of them spoke, the red mist over New Moon Ind suddenly began disappearing rapidly. Less than a day had passed since the red mist covered the ind.

    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± Yang Tianzheng had a lot of experience as he had seen this happen many times during his time as the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs. This red mist appeared very suddenly and quickly, but once it disappeared, it was no longer a threat to human life.

    At the same time, Su Jin was still looking at New Moon Ind from afar. When he saw that the red mist had cleared up, he decided to leave the ce. Even though he really wanted to explore the ind again, he knew that the first people allowed back on the ind would be representatives from the government. It would be a while before members of the public were allowed on the ind again.

    Kano Mai was in the house when Su Jin returned. She asked curiously, ¡°Where did you go?¡±

    ¡°New Moon Ind.¡±

    ¡°That offshore ind a short distance away from the city? Did you guys have a pic there?¡± she asked casually.

    He shook his head. ¡°No. Some strange things happened there earlier.¡±

    He proceeded to tell her everything about New Moon Ind and the general¡¯s tomb. She remained calm as she listened to the entire thing and said, ¡°I see. A Handbook Challenge must have started, so besides the owners that were chosen for the Challenge, nobody else is allowed to go anywhere near that ce, or they¡¯d die.¡±

    ¡°A Handbook Challenge started there?¡± Su Jin was surprised that Kano Mai seemed so familiar with how this worked.

    She nodded, poured him a cup of tea, served him a slice of cake she had baked earlier, then sat back down and took a sip of her own tea.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, really. You already know about how there are multiple universes and the Handbook Challenges ur across the various universes. The red mist appears so that the Challenge isn¡¯t interrupted by any forces that exist in that particr universe. As long as you don¡¯t force your way in, nothing bad will happen,¡± exined Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded. In that case, the general¡¯s tomb was probably central to this particr Challenge. He remembered that thing inside the tomb very clearly and pitied whoever had to run into it.

    Now that he knew what was going on, he was no longer concerned about it. He had gained a day off because of what happened on the ind, so since he didn¡¯t have to follow Han Mengyao around, he decided to look for Ye Yun.

    When he got to her ce, he found that she was actually fishing by the swimming pool in her house. She had to be the only person he knew who coulde up with something like that, he thought.

    Su Jin waved to Uncle Yu from afar, then approached Ye Yun. ¡°Fishing? How romantic.¡±

    Ye Yun nced at Su Jin, then went back to her fishing. He squatted down, put his hand into the water and swished it about. But the clear waters didn¡¯t even have a leaf in it, never mind fish.

    ¡°Are you fishing for fish or fishing to pass time? My dear cousin?¡± asked Su Jin with a big grin.

    She looked at him for a while, then flung the fishing rod aside. After hesitating for a long time, she suddenly said to him, ¡°Su Jin, I have something I need to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± Su Jin¡¯s chest tightened when he saw the serious look on her face. Was this girl really in some sort of trouble?

    Back at Situ Jin¡¯s office in the Department of Supernatural Affairs in B City.

    Situ Jin felt like he had just walked out of the darkness. He sat in his chair and looked both dazed and shocked.

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook! So, that¡¯s what this owner thing is all about¡­¡± murmured Situ Jin to himself. He lit up a cigarette, finished smoking half of it in one breath, then lit another. He wasn¡¯t concerned about his health anymore, since his dying health had beenpletely restored during his time in his Personal Hell Domain.

    Situ Jin wasn¡¯t a fragile man at heart by any means, but he still needed some time to ept the existence of Hell¡¯s Handbook, even though he had just gone through a Challenge at the general¡¯s tomb on New Moon Ind.

    He had nearly died in that Challenge and managed to survive only with the help of several old timers. He had experienced zombies and evil spirits during this Challenge, and everything that happened yed back again and again in his mind like a movie.

    Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside. ¡°Come in,¡± he called out, and Bo Ya walked in. She ced the report in her hand on his table and said, ¡°Mr. Situ, S City just had a red mist incident.¡±

    He nodded and picked up the document on the table. He had received several reports about this red mist suddenly appearing, but nobody had been able to find out the reason behind it. The only thing the government could do was to make sure that nobody came close to it and died by ident.

    But after reading the details, he stared at the document in shock. The red mist had covered the general¡¯s tomb on New Moon Ind! That was where he experienced his first Challenge. At the same time, Situ Jin understood that Su Jin was definitely a Handbook owner just like himself.

    ¡°But if he were an owner as well, why didn¡¯t he appear at the Challenge just now?¡± Situ Jin was puzzled for a moment, but he quickly arrived at an answer. It was clear that these Challenges happened quite frequently and each Challenge chose a different set of Handbook owners to participate.

    ¡°Mr. Situ, the incident hase to an end because the red mist on New Moon Ind has just dissipated. Mr. Yang Tianzheng has ensured that no members of the public can get onto the ind and he¡¯ll get his team to send another report once they¡¯vepleted their investigations,¡± continued Bo Ya. She didn¡¯t notice that Situ Jin wasn¡¯t really paying attention to the report anymore.

    ¡°Got it. Bo Ya, I¡­I¡¯m feeling a little tired, could you let me rest for a while?¡± said Situ Jin with a sad smile.

    Bo Ya thought that Situ Jin¡¯s health had taken a turn for the worse and quickly nodded before quietly leaving the office so that he could rest.

    But after she walked out, Situ Jin took out his copy of the Handbook and stared at it quietly for a long time.

 Chapter 73: Fairy Tales of Horror

    <h4>Chapter 73: Fairy Tales of Horror</h4>

    Su Jin sat in Ye Yun¡¯s room and watched as she packed her things. He sighed and asked, ¡°Are you seriously going to run away from home?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Ye Yun nodded gravely. But as he watched her pack suitcase after suitcase, he started to wonder if she could even make it out of this estate.

    ¡°Do you know where you¡¯re going? Since you want to run away from home, surely you¡¯ve got a destination in mind, right?¡± said Su Jinzily. He was always able to rx and be himself in front of Ye Yun, which was probably one of the reasons why he liked her so much.

    Ye Yun paused to think, then shook her head. ¡°Nope. I¡¯m just going to leave first and I¡¯ll think about thatter. Don¡¯t you dare tell my parents, or I¡¯ll kill you.¡±

    Su Jin sighed. He simply couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on in this girl¡¯s mind. He leaned back in his chair and said, ¡°So why did you bother telling me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if nobody knows about it, nobody will be able to find me when the timees,¡± said Ye Yun as if this was a normal thing to do.

    Su Jin nearly fell off his chair. There were times when he really couldn¡¯t keep up with her thought process at all. He sighed and said, ¡°So¡­when would be a good time for me to tell your parents?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you!¡± After she finished packing everything into suitcases, she stuffed everything under the bed and just slung a backpack over her shoulders.

    ¡°If you didn¡¯t intend to bring all this stuff along, why did you pack them?¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t one pack your own room from time to time?¡±

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not the sort of packing I¡¯m talking about,¡± said Su Jin as he smacked his forehead. ¡°Look, your parents and your cousin are going to go absolutely bonkers once they realize you¡¯re gone. Doing this is as good as seeking death!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore. I ought to challenge myself sometimes anyway. In any case, as long as I don¡¯t tell you to do so, you are not to tell my parents about where I¡¯ve gone.¡± Ye Yun opened the window and hopped onto the windowsill.

    ¡°Do you really have to go out by this way? Your parents aren¡¯t even home: why don¡¯t you just walk out of the main door?¡± asked Su Jin.

    She replied, ¡°No, Uncle Yu is downstairs and he¡¯ll try to stop me.¡± After saying that, she jumped down. But he wasn¡¯t worried about her since she was so good at this. Jumping out from the second floor wasn¡¯t going to kill her.

    After she left, he got a message from her. The content of the message was to warn him: Mr. Su Jin, you¡¯d better remember what I said just now!

    He typed back: You didn¡¯t even tell me where you¡¯re going, so there¡¯s no point in me telling your parents anything.

    She replied: Oh silly me! You¡¯re right! I¡¯m so smart! Well, that¡¯s that. Bye, cousin!

    He looked out of the window to see Ye Yun squirrel out of her own home like a little fox, disappearing within seconds. He wanted to ask her to stay, but it was probably pointless to do so. This girl was very unpredictable, so even if she agreed to stay for the time being, she would eventually find some other way to leave.

    And if she left without telling anybody anything, it would be impossible to locate her. If she wasn¡¯t willing to tell anybody where she was, she might not even pick up his calls. At least she was still willing to stay in touch with him now.

    Once Ye Yun hadpletely disappeared out of sight, Su Jin went back downstairs. He spotted Uncle Yu and said, ¡°Uncle Yu, I need to inform you about something.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Uncle Yu as he smiled politely at Su Jin. Su Jin was supposedly the cousin of the young mistress of the house, so he treated Su Jin with the same respect.

    ¡°Oh, well¡­Ye Yun has run away from home.¡± Su Jin was afraid of giving Uncle Yu a heart attack, so he tried to speak as gently as he could, hoping it would give Uncle Yu sufficient time to take it in.

    ¡°What did you say?¡± Uncle Yu was still smiling and didn¡¯t seem to have heard Su Jin the first time, but before Su Jin could repeat himself, the smile on Uncle Yu¡¯s face disappeared.

    Su Jin could hear that Uncle Yu¡¯s breathing had quickened and he quickly pulled a chair over for the older man to sit on before trying to calm him down. ¡°Uncle Yu, rx, rx. She¡¯s left home, but she hasn¡¯t been kidnapped or anything like that. Ye Yun¡¯s a tough cookie, you know that. Just pretend that she¡¯s gone on holiday, okay?¡±

    ¡°Mr¡­.Mr. Su, please, this is¡­this is not a joke. I¡­no, I need to call Mr. and Mrs. Ye right now.¡± Uncle Yu wobbled as he tried to get up again.

    Su Jin helped to steady him and said, ¡°Uncle Yu, there¡¯s no point in telling her parents now. They won¡¯t be able to do anything about it now. Please don¡¯t get so agitated. I will talk to them about it, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Uncle Yu was quite trusting of Su Jin since his employers trusted this young man a lot, so Uncle Yu eventually decided to listen to Su Jin.

    ¡°In that case¡­in that case, I¡¯ll count on you to take care of Miss Ye.¡± Uncle Yu seemed to have misunderstood Su Jin and thought that Ye Yun had gone to stay with Su Jin.

    Su Jin felt really awkward but there was no point in trying to exin anything now, so he just went with it. Then again, he didn¡¯t think a misunderstanding like that was necessarily a bad thing either.

    Unfortunately, over the next three weeks, Su Jin never got another message from Ye Yun and she didn¡¯t pick up any of his calls either, which made him feel very uneasy. But his fourth Challenge was almost due. He had to get through this Challenge before he could have the time and energy to look for her.

    Su Jin contacted Yang Mo and Chu Yi via his Handbook, then he and Kano Mai sat in his house and flipped their Handbooks open together.

    ¡°I heard that Snow White has escaped and Little Red Riding Hood is worried about the Big Bad Wolf

    I heard that the Mad Hatter likes Alice and the ugly duckling will turn into a swan

    I heard that Peter Pan never grows up and Jack has a magic harp

    I heard there¡¯s a candy house in the forest and that Cindere has lost her favorite ss slippers

    Only the wise river water knows that Snow White left the castle because she wanted to go out and have fun

    Little Red Riding Hood wears arge red cloak that stops herself from bing a wolf

    There¡¯s always a rainbow colored river that winds through the town of fairytales

    It¡¯s filled with the willfulness of magic yet it bends when ites to love

    The never-ending stream of water sprays water in all directions, then flows down straight like a screen

    Time is like water

    Making every Once Upon a Time eventually reach the point of Happily Ever After

    I heard that Sleeping Beauty has been buried and the Little Mermaid is looking towards the golden pce

    I heard Apollo became a three-legged crow and a sabretooth tiger runs through the fields

    I heard Pinhio always lies and Rumpelstiltskin has a chest filled with jewels

    I heard a tree of life grows along the cliff and the red shoes keep dancing tirelessly

    Only the wise river knows that Sleeping Beauty wanted to escape from her suffering

    The Little Mermaid turned sunshine into her eyeshadow and leaped into the embrace of bubbles

    There¡¯s always a rainbow colored river that winds through the town of fairytales

    It¡¯s filled with the willfulness of magic yet it bends when ites to love

    The never-ending stream of water sprays water in all directions, then flows down straight like a screen

    Time is like water

    Making every Once Upon a Time eventually reach the point of Happily Ever After

    There¡¯s always a surreal looking river that winds through the town of fairytales

    It separates ideals from reality then meets again at the river mouth

    The never-ending stream of water sprays water in all directions, then flows down straight like a screen

    Time is like water

    Making every Once Upon a Time eventually reach the point of Happily Ever After

    And everything bes strange /watch?v=Ap0huJwyT7g)]

    A melodious voice started singing in Su Jin¡¯s head. He had heard this song before. It was a song written by a few people and strung many famous fairytales together. But he couldn¡¯t think of how this song was connected to a Handbook Challenge.

    He opened his eyes and saw that besides his three team mates, there were five others. The total number of people involved in this Challenge was nine people.

    He didn¡¯t bother saying anything and flipped his Handbook open immediately. Besides the lyrics of the song he heard earlier, the difficulty level and missions of the Challenge were listed.

    Fairytales of Horror

    Difficulty Level: C

    Mission 1: Find the treasure within the fairytales! Mission is consideredplete upon finding three treasures. Finding five treasures will earn you an additional 1,000 points, finding seven treasures will earn you an additional 2,000 points

    There were no other missions to choose from this time, but the main mission was already a lot to deal with. You could also say that the main mission did give owners a choice as well. On top of that, the mission didn¡¯t seem as difficult as Su Jin thought it would be. He thought that this one Level C mission might be as difficult as a Level B mission.

    Then again, it wasn¡¯t really that strange actually. It only took three items toplete the mission and obtaining more items came with such a huge reward. In other words, as long as one didn¡¯t insist on getting more than three items, it was likely that the main mission could bepleted pretty easily.

    ¡°Okay everyone! Are there any newbies here?¡± asked a fairly energetic woman in a loud voice. She looked like she was in her thirties, wore a tracksuit and carried a long item wrapped in cloth on her back. It looked like a long sword of sorts.

    Everyone looked at each other and surprisingly, not a single person raised their hand. In short, all nine owners of this Level C Challenge were old timers.

    This clearly surprised everybody else too. Kano Mai had a puzzled look on her face as she whispered to Su Jin, ¡°Something¡¯s not right. In general, every Challenge would include newbies, unless it¡¯s a Team Challenge. But you have to make a special application for that.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t too bothered by this matter, so he whispered back, ¡°I think it¡¯s fine. Perhaps¡­this rarely happens, but it doesn¡¯t mean it never happens, right?¡±

    Kano Mai had no answer to that. Meanwhile, Chu Yi walked over and gave each other a big hug after grinning at one another.

    ¡°Brother Su, I just knew we¡¯d meet again,¡± said Chu Yi with a smile.

    Su Jin smiled back and patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s right! I didn¡¯t expect it to be so hard to meet you again, but I¡¯m d it all worked out.¡±

    The woman in a tracksuit spoke up again, ¡°Since everyone¡¯s an old timer, then that¡¯s great. My next question: is any of you a veteran?¡±

    Everyone immediately perked up at this question. They looked at one another with a hopeful look in their eyes, as if they were hoping that there were veterans among them.

    ¡°We¡¯re veterans, but we haven¡¯t gone through a lot of Challenges yet,¡± said Su Jin as he patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder. He felt that the presence of veterans would probably keep everyone calm and less nervous.

    And just as he had expected, everyone immediately had excited looks on their faces when they realized that there was not one but two veterans among them. After all, veterans were highly prized in a Challenge. If there was a veteran around, everyone¡¯s chances of survival would increase significantly.

    This is a real song: Town of Fairytales by Chen Yi Fa¡¯er, apparently based off the US TV series Once Upon a Time [YouTube

 Chapter 74: Splitting Teams

    <h4>Chapter 74: Splitting Teams</h4>

    ¡°I¡¯d need both of you to prove it,¡± a muscr man suddenly spoke up. Everyone was happy to hear that someone among them had Spirit Power, but they preferred to err on the side of caution.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi exchanged nces. Su Jin flicked his finger and the man immediately started trembling all over as he clutched his forehead.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± hissed the man. Su Jin immediately stopped using his Spirit Power to attack the man, since every point of Spirit Power he had was extremely precious within a Challenge. He wasn¡¯t going to waste any if he didn¡¯t have to.

    Chu Yi had an even easier time proving himself. He thrust a palm out and sent an invisible wave of air out that instantly pushed the man backwards. Everyone was really assured now.

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, wee to the World of Fairytales. Please allow me to introduce this world to you,¡± a voice suddenly resounded from behind everyone.

    All of them got a shock, but their reaction times showed which ones had more experience and which ones were still rookies. The woman in a tracksuit and the muscr man reacted the most quickly and were even faster than Yang Mo and Chu Yi, while the remaining three were a lot more jumpy.

    A shadow emerged from the darkness. He turned out to be a young man in a suit and top hat. He bowed slightly towards the crowd and smiled gently at them.

    Su Jin turned to look at Kano Mai. He had developed a habit of asking Kano Mai questions every time he didn¡¯t understand something about the Handbook¡¯s universe. Kano Mai realised he was looking at her, so she exined, ¡°This does happen sometimes during a Challenge, where a special NPC would give an exnation right at the start of the Challenge.¡±

    Everyone was relieved to hear Kano Mai say that. At the same time, they realised that they were still within the safe time frame of the Challenge, so even if this young man turned out to be some monster, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt them for now.

    ¡°What are you able to tell us?¡± Su Jin took a step forward to ask the young man a question.

    The young man smiled and said, ¡°I will tell you about the treasures of each fairytale. You will just have to find the items that I will list out for you now.¡±

    So that was what this young man was for, thought everyone. Then again, the mission hadn¡¯t stated exactly what those treasures they were supposed to find were and it was going to be pretty difficult to find anything without any further details. They were pleasantly surprised that the Handbook was actually going to give them a list.

    ¡°Please exin the treasures to us,¡± said Su Jin.

    The young man nodded and said, ¡°There are many treasures inside the World of Fairytales. There¡¯s Snow White¡¯s poisoned apple, the Little Red Riding Hood¡¯s red jacket, the Mad Hatter¡¯s hat, the Ugly Duckling¡¯s feathers, Peter Pan¡¯s wings, Jack¡¯s harp, the candy house¡¯s delicious candies, Cindere¡¯s ss slipper, the Little Mermaid¡¯s fish scales, Apollo¡¯s house, the Sabretooth Tiger¡¯s teeth, Pinhio¡¯s wooden head, Rumpelstiltskin¡¯s gems, the Tree of Life¡¯s fruit and the Red Shoes themselves.¡±

    The young man rattled off a long list of items without stopping, but thankfully Su Jin¡¯s memory had also improved along with his physique after drinking those strengthening potions, so remembering everything the young man had just said wasn¡¯t an issue. Besides, these were all items from the fairy tales he had heard as a child and most of them were items associated with the main characters of these stories, so they weren¡¯t too hard to remember either.

    ¡°Are there any items that are more valuable than the others? Or are there any items that we must find?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The young man shook his head and said, ¡°No, there is no distinction. You just need to find three and you will be able to activate the teleportation door. However, the door only opens once every time three treasures are found and it will remain open for a limited period of time. If one of you finds 13 treasures, then there will be fewer than three treasures left. If anyone is still left behind after the door opens the first time in such a situation, there will be no way out of here.¡±

    This made everyone¡¯s heart thump with worry and they couldn¡¯t help but be more wary of the others. If there was an owner who wanted more in order to gain more points at the end of the challenge and kept most of the treasures for himself, the rest of them were going to die here.

    Su Jin felt like cursing the Handbook. It had sent them an NPC that sounded helpful at first, but it only took a couple of sentences from the NPC to instantly make the little trust the owners had in each other disappearpletely.

    ¡°Alright now, everyone. I am going to open the door to thend of all fairytales. You can choose which ones you want to enter and you can go look for those treasures. Please take note of one more thing: If you did not participate in the search and attainment of the treasure, you will not be eligible to pass through the door even after it opens.¡± The young man bowed slightly at them again, then waved his hand. A row of portal doors instantly appeared before them and sparkled brightly.

    A ssic fairytale character could be seen within each door. There was Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ugly Duckling and more of such characters. These were all familiar characters to anyone who was old enough.

    But Su Jin was still thinking about what the young man had said earlier. Thatst bit had clearly eliminated anybody¡¯s ns to just remain here and just wait for the others toe back with treasures, thenplete the Challenge without having to do anything. The Handbook was basically forcing every owner to be part of this Challenge and making sure nobody got a free ride.

    The rest of the challengers weren¡¯t thinking so hard about all that. They knew that they couldn¡¯t stay here for long, so some of them approached Su Jin and Chu Yi to ask to join their teams, since being in the same team as veterans was clearly the safest option.

    Su Jin was a little overwhelmed by the other owners asking to form a team with him, so he said, ¡°Everyone, please, the four of us are already one team. But I think that if all of us work together as a team, it¡¯s not going to be too hard to get through this Challenge. It¡¯s only a Level C Challenge after all.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a veteran, so that¡¯s easy for you to say. A Level C Challenge might not be dangerous for you, but for the rest of us¡­even a Level D Challenge might kill us!¡± said the woman in a tracksuit with a sigh.

    Su Jin quickly formed a n and said, ¡°Tell you what, let¡¯s team up randomly, shall we? There are nine of us, so let¡¯s pair up and search for treasures. How about that? The extra ninth person cane with me.¡±

    All of them epted Su Jin¡¯s proposal. Su Jin had exactly four in his team, so each one of them would be paired with someone from outside the team. That way, he could ensure that none of them was going to run away with all the treasures and leave the rest here to die.

    In the end, Su Jin agreed to go with a girl who had only gone through one Challenge and a bespectacled otaku-looking man who had only gone through two Challenges. Kano Mai was paired with the woman in the tracksuit. She had gone through six Challenges, so even though she wasn¡¯t a veteran, she was pretty formidable.

    Yang Mo was paired with the muscr man, who had also survived six Challenges. He was better at fighting, so he was a good pair with Yang Mo, now that Yang Mo was a healer sort of character.

    Chu Yi was paired with thest person, a girl who had passed three Challenges. She looked only about 17 or 18 years old and seemed really young, but if a youngdy like her could get through three Challenges, it meant that she was probably quite a force to be reckoned with.

    Su Jin did not allow himself to look down on anyone just because they were new or young. This was only his fourth Challenge and he knew that some rookies held great potential. If anybody here was suitable to join the team, he was happy to extend an invitation to them.

    Once they were all paired off, the next thing they had to do was to decide which group entered which fairytale. All of them agreed that since Su Jin was the team leader of Team Boning Knife and was a veteran as well, he could make the choice for them.

    Of course, Kano Mai and Yang Mo didn¡¯t have any objections. Not only was Su Jin their team leader, but he was also the brains of the group. It made sense for him to take charge of this.

    After giving it some thought, Su Jin finally settled on the fairytales of Snow White, the Little Mermaid, the Ugly Duckling and Little Red Riding Hood.

    Out of the four stories, three of them did not include any supernatural elements. The Little Mermaid was a mermaid, but at least she was a kind mermaid. The biggest problem was probably the witch living at the bottom of the sea.

    Su Jin decided that he would enter the world of the Little Mermaid. He had Psychokic Spirit Power and the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye, so he could handle any monsters that mighte his way.

    Yang Mo and the muscr man entered the world of the Ugly Duckling, while Kano Mai and the woman in a tracksuit entered the world of Snow White. The Little Red Riding Hood story was a little more dangerous since it included the Big Bad Wolf, so Chu Yi and his partner were allocated that story.

    Nobody had any objections to Su Jin¡¯s arrangement, but all of them felt equally uneasy. These were supposed to be fairytales of horror, so there was no way these fairytales were going to proceed like the fairytales they knew. They would just have to find a way to deal with the dangers as they came.

    Shortly after the four groups entered the doors to their respective fairytales, a strange smile crept across the young man¡¯s face. He removed his top hat and stuck his hand in, as if he was looking for something inside. His eyes suddenly lit up like he had found what he wanted, but he ended up getting sucked into the hat instead.

    The world within the top hat was dark and was empty except for multiple cracks within the space. The young man swam through the space and quickly arrived at a crack that resembled an ind. A middle aged man was talking to another person.

    ¡°Are you certain that he has that sort of ability? We¡¯ve pulled so many owners into the Fairytales of Horror over the years, but not a single one has been able toplete that task,¡± said the middle aged man in a low voice.

    ¡°None of them were able toplete the task because firstly, all of you didn¡¯t want to work together, and secondly¡­you didn¡¯t have the help of someone from outside the Fairytales of Horror and thirdly, not all owners have that sort of potential!¡± said a voice from across the middle aged man.

    ¡°Heh heh, I¡¯ve followed your instructions and pulled that person into the world of fairytales. I hope he¡¯s as capable as you say he is, otherwise¡­I¡¯ll gobble him up.¡± The young man seemed to be joking, but also seemed serious at the same time. It was really hard to tell.

    ¡°Hoho¡­trust me, he will not disappoint any of you. But you must do what I told you before,¡± said the voice of the individual standing across the middle aged man again.

    ¡°But he¡¯s quite an interesting one. Or at least, he¡¯s pretty smart,¡± said the young man with a smile.

    The middle aged man bowed slightly at the person across from him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will follow our agreement very strictly. But if it doesn¡¯t work out, you shall suffer my wrath! Farewell!¡±

    After that, the middle aged man left the little ind with the young man. It was only then that the light fell on the person who was across from the middle aged man just now. There stood¡­a middle aged woman standing in a small front yard.

 Chapter 75: The Princeâ€™s Sailors

    <h4>Chapter 75: The Prince¡¯s Sailors</h4>

    The salty sea breeze blew against Su Jin¡¯s face. He was now moving along a vast beach. The sea waves seemed to go on forever.

    ¡°Well, now that we¡¯re here: my name¡¯s Su Jin and this is my fourth Challenge. What are your names?¡± Since they were going to work together, the very least he could do was to get to know them.

    The girl answered first, ¡°My name¡¯s Ning Meng and this is my second Challenge.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Gu Ming and this is my third Challenge. Erm¡­is this really only your fourth Challenge? You¡¯ve survived just one more Challenge than I have? Can you tell me how you activated your Spirit Power?¡± Gu Ming stared at Su Jin and simply couldn¡¯t understand how someone with just one more Challengepleted than he did could have obtained Spirit Power.

    But if Su Jin had an answer to that question, then both Kano Mai and Yang Mo would have been able to activate theirs by now. He could only shake his head and say, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry but I¡¯m afraid that there isn¡¯t anybody with an answer to that question. The activation of Spirit Power is not within our control at all. You might have to ask a fortune teller or something.¡±

    Gu Ming was very disappointed to hear this answer. Out of the three Challenges he went through, he had met a veteran during his first two. He still couldn¡¯t forget how powerful that veteran had been.

    ¡°So, what should we be doing next?¡± Ning Meng didn¡¯t know as much about the Handbook as Gu Ming did, but she knew that she had to do something.

    Su Jin said, ¡°We¡¯re in the Little Mermaid¡¯s story and the treasure is her fish scales. So clearly, that¡¯s our aim.¡±

    ¡°Do we have to go into the sea? But I don¡¯t know how to swim!¡± said Gu Ming anxiously. He couldn¡¯t even swim in a small stream, let alone the vast sea waters.

    Su Jin said, ¡°It might be a bit too difficult for us to go around looking for the Little Mermaid, so I thought it would be better to look for someone who would definitelye into contact with her.¡±

    ¡°Are you referring to¡­Prince Charming?¡± Gu Ming realised what Su Jin was driving at. The Little Mermaid¡¯s meeting with Prince Charming was the driving point of the story, so if they could find Prince Charming, they would eventually find the Little Mermaid.

    ¡°But where do we go to find him?¡± asked Ning Meng puzzledly. The sea was so vast. Trying to find the prince at sea was just like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

    Su Jin looked into the distance and saw that a gigantic naval fleet was slowly approaching them. They looked like kings of the sea, as the countless small boats moved in one formation.

    ¡°Looks like we don¡¯t have to go looking for him!¡± Su Jinughed and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Since the boats are headed this way, there must be some harbour nearby. We¡¯ve got to find a way to get ourselves on those boats.¡±

    The three of them left the beach and headed towards where the boats seemed to be going. It didn¡¯t take them long to arrive at a port city that was bustling with people.

    From a distance, Su Jin already noticed that everyone in the port city ahead were dressed in western mid century clothing. If the three of them tried to approach these people without changing their clothes, they would look very out of ce.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to find a way to get our hands on some of these clothes, otherwise it¡¯ll be hard for us to get around,¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself.

    ¡°Would these do?¡± Immediately after Su Jin muttered those words, Ning Meng retrieved some clothing from her Handbook. These clothes did look like what the people here were wearing.

    She saw the strange looks on their faces and said a little awkwardly, ¡°Well, I¡­my Personal Hell Domain offered me a Wardrobe of Wonders, so I exchanged my points for that.¡±

    ¡°Women!¡± Gu Ming shook his head. To him, points were very precious in this universe. It was the best way for an owner to make himself more powerful besides getting Spirit Power. He couldn¡¯t believe Ning Meng would waste it on an item like that.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t think the same way. There were times where a Wardrobe of Wonders would be useful, like the situation they were in right now. If they didn¡¯t have any clothes to change into, they would stick out like a sore thumb and quickly be a target. That would make things very difficult for themselves. With the right clothes, they would be able to blend in with the crowd and move about unnoticed. In fact, if this Wardrobe of Wonders didn¡¯t cost too much, Su Jin was considering getting one too.

    After they got changed, the three of them looked at each other and tried not tough. They now looked more like they were about to put up some theatre production. The clothes looked so strange on themselves.

    ¡°Ning Meng, do you have something more¡­suitable formoners? These clothes look like the type that only nobles and aristocrats wear, so I don¡¯t think they¡¯d be any better than our own clothes!¡± remarked Su Jin as he let out augh.

    Ning Meng was rather apologetic about her selection and quickly retrieved another three sets of clothing. These clothes looked a lot more ordinary, so they quickly got changed.

    They finally started walking towards the port city after they had changed a second time. This city was extremely busy and was filled with all sorts of people. Judging from their clothes, most of them were probably merchants or sailors.

    But the three of them were stopped right outside the city gate. It turned out that they needed to pay taxes before they could enter the city, but none of them carried the currency of this city.

    Ning Meng and Gu Ming didn¡¯t know what to do. On the contrary, Su Jin nced around, then walked towards a merchant who looked fairly wealthy. After walking around that merchant, Su Jin walked back to his twopanions with arge pouch of money in his hands.

    ¡°Wow! Mr. Su, you¡¯re¡­really incredible!¡± Gu Ming eximed.

    Su Jin rubbed his nose a little embarrassedly. He wasn¡¯t some regr pickpocket, but his body was now at a level of agility and speed that surpassed an ordinary human¡¯s. If he wanted to be a pickpocket, he would be a grandmaster of pickpockets. Stealing a bag of money was a piece of cake to him.

    They paid the necessary tax and finally made it into the city. Compared to the bustling port area, the city itself was a lot more orderly. There were even soldiers patrolling the city to ensure public safety.

    There was a noticeboard near the city gate that had several notices pinned to it, but none of them could understand what the notices said. The words on the notices looked like English, but not quite.

    Thankfully, Su Jin had a Trantion Watch on hand. After he had spent 100 points, he was now fluent in thisnguage.

    ¡°These are recruitment ads?¡± Su Jin looked carefully at the notices and realised that they were mostly ads looking for workers. There were ads for everything from bartenders to waiters. Also, there were no requirements or qualifications needed. As long as you could do the job, it didn¡¯t matter if you were a bandit or a robber before this.

    ¡°This one is hiring sailors!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. This particr ad had been put up by the prince. He was looking for sufficient sailors to search for treasures in the sea. But this prince was rather stingy and the benefits were even worse off than the ad for a cook. There was one use that was extremely attractive though. The prince promised to share the loot.

    ¡°This prince is more like some shady salesman, making people slog for him for possibly nothing in return.¡± Su Jin shook his head. But the three of them had no choice but to take up this job.

    ¡°My friends, do the two of you get seasick?¡± Su Jin asked Gu Ming and Ning Meng with a cheeky grin.

    Su Jin took note of the address on the notice and led the other two towards the ce where the recruitment exercise was being held. Gu Ming sighed and said, ¡°Mr. Su, I agree that this is a good n in theory. But I don¡¯t know how to swim! How can I be a sailor at this rate?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Gu, you just don¡¯t have enough confidence in yourself. Luffy doesn¡¯t know how to swim either, but he aims to be the King of the Pirates!¡± said Su Jin gleefully.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Luffy?¡± Gu Ming lookedpletely confused.

    .

    ¡°You don¡¯t readics?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯ll read some when we¡¯re done with this Challenge¡­¡± said Gu Ming a little embarrassedly.

    ¡°Ooh! I¡¯ve got a pile of rmendations for you! I¡¯ll give you a listter!¡± Su Jin was a typical otaku who got really excited when it came to his hobbies.

    Before long, they arrived at their destination. The man in charge of the recruitment exercise looked like a typical scrivener you would find in a children¡¯s book: a skinny man with sses hanging off his nose.

    ¡°Esteemed sir, my siblings and I would like to be part of His Highness¡¯ fleet,¡± said Su Jin very politely to the scrivener.

    Su Jin was a little apprehensive about this whole thing because in most cultures around the world, women on board a ship was generally regarded as bad luck and could bring disaster.

    But this didn¡¯t seem to be an issue here. The scrivener nodded without any hesitation and said, ¡°Thank you for your interest. It will be your greatest honor to be part of His Highness¡¯ fleet, but whether you be a sailor for His Highness or not depends on whether you¡¯re someone he needs.¡±

    ¡°Esteemed sir, the three of us are very capable, so I¡¯m certain that His Highness would need us,¡± said Su Jin with a big smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a decision for you to make. Men!¡± The scrivener gave a low shout and three men dressed like sailors walked over. They were extremely muscr and looked like they were good at fighting.

    Gu Ming and Ning Meng immediately gasped and took a step back, which were signs that neither could fight. But while it made sense that as a new owner, Ning Meng didn¡¯t know how to fight, Su Jin was surprised that Gu Ming didn¡¯t know how to either.

    ¡°Good heavens, didn¡¯t you even try to level up your fighting abilities for future Challenges?¡± Su Jin hissed quietly at Gu Ming.

    ¡°I leveled up my archery skills!¡± Gu Ming whispered through his teeth without moving his lips, as if he were a ventriloquist.

    ¡°Esteemed sir, the three of us are good at different things. I am good at fighting, my brother is good at shooting, while my sister¡­¡± Su Jin nced at Ning Meng.

    Ning Meng quickly piped up, ¡°I¡¯m good at cooking! I can cook the most delicious food in the world and I¡¯m sure His Highness will enjoy it.¡±

    The scrivener frowned and said, ¡°Each one of you has to defeat one of His Highness¡¯ bodyguards. That is the rule that His Highness set. If you can¡¯t do that, then I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you join the fleet.¡±

    ¡°Sir, do you think we could approach this differently? Why don¡¯t you let me take on all three of them by myself?¡± Su Jin came close to the scrivener and secretly put the bag of money he had stolen earlier in the scrivener¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Hmm¡­well, there¡¯s nothing wrong with being flexible at times and His Highness does like clever servants. I¡¯ll let you take them on by yourself then! But you have to fight all three of them at the same time.¡± The scrivener had to give in a little since he had epted a bribe from Su Jin, but he didn¡¯t think the skinny looking Su Jin could possibly defeat the three bodyguards. This arrangement worked out very nicely for the scrivener. He could keep this money without going against the prince¡¯s rules.

    Kaizoku ou ni ore wa naru.YOHOHOHOHOHO

 Chapter 76: The Evil Version

    <h4>Chapter 76: The Evil Version</h4>

    ¡°As you wish, esteemed sir!¡± Su Jin was now practically superhuman. If he were to participate in an MMApetition in the real world, he might kill someone with just one punch. Moreover, he now had the help of his Psychokic Spirit Power, so even if some boss level monster appeared right now, Su Jin probably still stood a chance.

    ¡°Come with me!¡± The scrivener walked off with the three bodyguards and Su Jin and hispanions quickly followed behind them.

    They came to a fighting arena with several fighting rings. More than a dozen others applying to be a sailor were engaged inbat here, but all of them were fighting a bodyguard one on one.

    ¡°You¡¯re up!¡± The scrivener waved his arm and the three bodyguards got into the ring. They stood at three points of the ring to form a triangle and left the middle position open for Su Jin. At the same time, the scrivener¡¯s hand gave off a white light and the three bodyguards were now armed.

    ¡°Once inside the ring, you must be thest one standing to win!¡± shouted the scrivener loudly.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± cursed Su Jin inwardly. The scrivener had taken his money but was going to send him to his death anyway. These three bodyguards were obviously armed for war.

    This Challenge wasn¡¯t named the Fairytales of Horror for nothing: none of the people here were fairytale-like at all. In fact, they were all scheming in their own way.

    One of the bodyguards had full body armor and a giant shield, one carried a spear and wore chainmail, and thest one had a bow and arrow in hand. This was a perfectbination for war. They covered defense, long rangebat as well as closebat.

    ¡°Mr. Su, are you sure you¡¯ll be okay?¡± Ning Meng was clearly rather worried.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t answer her. He got into the ring and stood in the middle of the ring. Once he got in, the fights in the other rings stopped and everyone turned to watch Su Jin, since a three versus one match was clearly going to be more exciting.

    ¡°Let the fight begin!¡± yelled the scrivener.

    Su Jin shook his wrist slightly and retrieved Rumor. At the same time, he heard the sound of something swooshing through the air. His eyes glinted as he sent Rumor flying out along with himself as he aimed straight for the bodyguard with a bow and arrow. Having someone who could attack from afar in such a fight was definitely his biggest problem.

    ng! Rumor struck the archer¡¯s arrow and returned to Su Jin¡¯s hand almost immediately after that. Su Jin threw it out again without even turning back because he could sense that the other two bodyguards wereing for him.

    The fighting ring wasn¡¯t that big, so even though the other two bodyguards had such heavy armor on their bodies, they could get close to Su Jin pretty quickly. The bodyguard with a shield used the shield to block Rumor¡¯s attack, but besides being sharp, Su Jin could use his psychokinesis to change its trajectory.

    Swoosh! Rumor flew right past the shield and stabbed right through the throat of the bodyguard with a spear. This bodyguard was wearing chainmail and the only part of his body that wasn¡¯t covered was his throat.

    The bodyguard with a shield was surprised that his shield hadn¡¯t managed to block Rumor¡¯s attack. While he was still trying to figure out how that had happened, he suddenly saw something ck flying towards him. Su Jin had flung Rumor out again after it had returned to his hand.

    The bodyguard with a shield wasn¡¯t afraid of Rumor¡¯s attack because he was covered in a full body armor. Even if Rumor hit him, he wouldn¡¯t die. But Su Jin hadn¡¯t thrown Rumor at this bodyguard to kill him. Su Jin was just using this attack to slow the armored bodyguard down enough for him to kill the archer first.

    The armored bodyguard instinctively lifted his shield to block Rumor¡¯s attack. By the time he put it down again, Su Jin¡¯s hand had already punched right through the archer¡¯s chest. The armored bodyguard was really terrified now. Su Jin had killed his twopanions in a matter of seconds.

    ¡°HA!¡± The armored bodyguard raised his shield and charged at Su Jin. He was in charge of defense, but since the two bodyguards he was supposed to help defend were dead, he switched to attacking instead. He didn¡¯t have any weapons on hand, but his heavy armor was almost as solid as a tank and could mow an ordinary person down easily.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t an ordinary person. He flung the archer¡¯s dead body aside, then lowered his center of gravity and charged towards the bodyguard with the same stance.

    One was a heavily armored man while the other was a skinny young fellow. Everyone was sure that Su Jin was on the losing end, but the actual resultpletely floored the crowd.

    Bam! The armored bodyguard was sent flying like a kite with a broken string after mming into Su Jin. In order to stand his ground, Su Jin had stepped so hard on the ground, his feet made a dent that was about a meter wide.

    Su Jin made an angry growl as he held up his arms in front of him. All the spectators remained silent. They were so terrified and shocked by the way Su Jin growled like an animal and the vicious attack that didn¡¯t match their expectations of what he was capable of.

    The scrivener himself was just staring wide eyed in shock. He had indeed intended to take the bribe money and leave Su Jin to die, but now, he simply couldn¡¯t process what just happened.

    Su Jin rotated his shoulders to rx them, then turned to shrug at the crowd, with an expression that looked disappointed in how weak the three bodyguards had been.

    But even so, nobody was offended by Su Jin¡¯scency. After all, Su Jin had proved that he was truly a mighty fighter. If someone like Su Jin didn¡¯t have the right to be boastful and arrogant, who did?

    At the same time, Ning Meng and Gu Ming were beaming from ear to ear. They were so excited at how powerful this veteran in their team was. With such a powerful person around, they didn¡¯t have to worry about anything.

    ¡°Impressive! Very impressive indeed! I am about to go on a sea expedition and I need a true warrior to protect me. Will you be willing to be the captain of my bodyguards?¡± a voice resounded from behind.

    Su Jin turned around to realize that this voice belonged to one of the main characters of this fairytale, the stupid prince who was beloved by the little mermaid but still had no clue about how much she had sacrificed for him even at the end of the story.

    Su Jin smiled faintly as he figured that the fairytale wasn¡¯t going to take too long to happen, otherwise it was going to take too much time to find seven treasures. He just needed to do something and it would push the story forward, and his hypothesis turned out to be correct.

    ¡°Your Highness, it is my great honor to be able to serve by your side!¡± Su Jin immediately bowed before the prince with a devout look on his face.

    The prince was dressed in an elegant white armor and did look like what one would imagine Prince Charming to be like. His facial features were handsome and approachable, so Su Jin was sure that this man would have seeded in the real world as an idol who made money with his looks alone.

    The prince gave a pleased nod and he turned to say to the rest, ¡°To everyone who is willing to serve me! I don¡¯t care if you were amoner or a thief. As long as you are willing to pledge your allegiance to me, I shall grant you glory and honor!¡±

    ¡°Long live His Highness!¡± Su Jin suddenly felt like he was watching some TV drama set in ancient times. Everyone was shouting ¡®long live His Highness¡¯ so loudly and excitedly as if they were on drugs or something.

    Everything went smoothly after that. As the captain of the bodyguards, Su Jin was allowed to bring two trusted people on board as well. So Ning Meng didn¡¯t have to be a cook. She could just follow Su Jin around.

    Su Jin looked at the armor he was given and felt like he had benefitted from this Challenge already. If he could bring this back to his Personal Hell Domain, he figured he could exchange it for some points.

    The gold armor on Su Jin sparkled brightly in the light and made him look impressive, but Su Jin felt that the prince had purposely given him this shiny gold thing so that in case of any danger, the enemy would spot Su Jin¡¯s gold armor first and target him instead. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t really bothered since he wasn¡¯t truly loyal to the prince. If he ran into any danger, he would just remove the armor.

    Ning Meng and Gu Ming, on the other hand, didn¡¯t get such pretty armor. They were given brass armor and barely looked like they were in the same team as Su Jin.

    ¡°My brave warrior, we are about to meet the punishing winds of the sea. Are you prepared for it?¡± said the prince as he stood at the bow. The fleet was about to depart. Besides Su Jin, the other person next to the prince was that scrivener.

    Su Jin was now the captain of the bodyguards, so he had to y the part. ¡°Your Highness, I am prepared to go through even the gravest of dangers for your sake!¡±

    ¡°Excellent! I like confident people. But you need to know our aim in going out to sea!¡± The prince was pleased with Su Jin¡¯s disy of loyalty. Then, he turned to look out at the distant sea as he held onto the railings of the boat.

    ¡°So¡­why are we going out to sea?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. The story was finally getting somewhere.

    ¡°Do you know any legends surrounding mermaids?¡± asked the prince as he looked towards the sea.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°I know a few. Legend has it that mermaids are the most magical creatures of the sea. Their voices are mesmerizing and they are a very kind race.¡±

    The prince nodded and he suddenly started smiling. ¡°You¡¯re right. Mermaids are magical creatures indeed. But that¡¯s not all. Mermaids also possess a very special ability¡­or rather, they are useful in a very special way. Do you know anything about that?¡±

    Su Jin was stunned for a moment as a nasty legend came to mind. This was a legend surrounding Japanese mermaids in particr and he didn¡¯t expect this to surface here.

    ¡°Are you referring to¡­the legend where one will gain immortality after eating the flesh of a mermaid?¡± asked Su Jin in a low voice. Gu Ming and Ning Meng shuddered when they heard what Su Jin said. This was a famous legend, but it didn¡¯t sound like the stuff of fairytales at all.

    ¡°Oh ho! I didn¡¯t expect amoner like you to know about this legend as well. But you are right! I am to be the king of this nation in the future, so I want to be king forever!¡± A bright smile spread across the prince¡¯s face and even the scrivener next to him was full of smiles.

    Su Jin and his twopanions couldn¡¯t help but feel a shudder down their spines. These were fairy tales of horror, all right. This man was an evil version of Prince Charming and he was wicked beyond redemption. Su Jin wondered if the Little Mermaid¡¯s side of the story was equally tainted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we just need a small piece of flesh and I will be able to live forever. So, I¡¯ll share the rest with all of you as a reward for your loyalty!¡± said the prince with a heartyugh.

    ¡°Long live Your Highness! No, wait. May Your Highness live forever!¡± the scrivener scrambled to butter the prince up.

    ¡°May Your Highness live forever!¡± Su Jin and the rest echoed the scrivener.

 Chapter 77: Coral Reefs

    <h4>Chapter 77: Coral Reefs</h4>

    The fleet moved at an insane speed and Su Jin was certain that these boats had been modified somehow. Otherwise, there was no way any boat in an era that relied solely on wind energy could move at this sort of speed.

    ¡°So, we¡¯re about to face some sort of supernatural power huh,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. Even though he was already mentally prepared for that to happen, actually having to face it would mean that his journey ahead was going to be very dangerous.

    ¡°Captain, we have already reached the mermaid territory. You¡¯d better be on standby, a battle may break out anytime now.¡± The scrivener had suddenly appeared next to Su Jin and said these ominous sounding words to him.

    After this fellow took Su Jin¡¯s bribe and failed to get him killed, he had been very curt to Su Jin. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by him anymore. These Fairytales of Horror were clearly filled with a bunch of nasty people.

    ¡°Sir, do you know what sort of enemies we are about to face?¡± Su Jin asked suddenly.

    The scrivener nced at Su Jin, looked at the sea, then said in a slow voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You¡¯re getting cold feet even beforeing into contact with the enemy?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°No, I just want to know what I¡¯m about to face. That way, I¡¯d be able to deal with them better.¡±

    ¡°You want to know? There¡¯s no hurry. You¡¯d be sent out to take a look at the situation tomorrow, so you¡¯ll be the person who knows what sort of enemies we¡¯re up against the best!¡± The scrivener cackled after saying these words. It was obvious that it was the scrivener who came up with this idea.

    But the scrivener¡¯s evil schemes actually worked out in Su Jin¡¯s favor. Su Jin was here to get one of the Little Mermaid¡¯s scales and he had only joined the prince¡¯s fleet in hope of doing that. Being sent into the sea was actually going to be helpful to Su Jin¡¯s mission.

    After spending a night onboard, the fleet arrived at some coral reefs the next morning. The boats couldn¡¯t go any further, or they would run aground.

    ¡°My captain, since you disyed such tremendous prowess before, I would like you to go and check out the situation among the inhabitants of the sea. Are you courageous enough to go observe the Sea People?¡± the prince asked Su Jin with a smile.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t possibly say no. He replied politely, ¡°Your Highness, I have enough courage, but while I do not fear death, I¡¯m afraid that if I go as I am, I would die without being able to send any information on the Sea People back to you. I need your help!¡±

    ¡°My help?¡± The prince looked puzzledly at Su Jin.

    ¡°That is correct. Your Highness, you are going to be the king of this nation in the future, so I¡¯m sure you have some powerful item that can help your loyal subject here. Of course¡­of course, as your loyal subject, I will most certainly return this treasure to you!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t know if the prince had anything magical like that, but there was no harm in trying.

    The prince hesitated for a while. Then again, even if Su Jin took this item, Su Jin would have toe back here and return it to him, since they were literally in the middle of nowhere. Besides the prince¡¯s fleet, Su Jin had nowhere else to go. Moreover, even though Su Jin was formidable, he was about to face the Sea People and it was true that he might note back in one piece if he wasn¡¯t given any extra protection. So, the prince thought it was fine to render Su Jin some help.

    ¡°Very well! In that case, I¡¯ll let you use this cloak.¡± The prince removed his cloak as he spoke. This was an exquisitely made cloak with several mysterious symbols on the inside. Su Jin didn¡¯t have any magic powers, but he could tell that these were likely to be magic runes of sorts.

    Su Jin bowed as he received the cloak. The prince said, ¡°This is my family heirloom and a treasure of my country. Once you put this on, you will be able to defend yourself against almost any attack. Ordinary attacks will not be able to hurt you at all.¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, thank you for your generosity! I will definitely bring a mermaid back!¡± Su Jin was secretly pleased that the prince had been so easy to fool. The prince was actually lending him such a powerful item.

    But at the same time, the prince wasn¡¯t that stupid. This cloak was a very special one that could find its own way back to its owner. So even if Su Jin never came back or died at the hands of the Sea People, he would still get this cloak back. Otherwise, the prince would never have left such a precious item in the hands of someone who might perish in the sea.

    ¡°Your Highness, I will also need the two of them. The three of us make a good team, so with their help, the chances ofpleting this mission will increase.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to leave Gu Ming and Ning Meng here.

    Since the prince had even been willing to part with his magical cloak, letting Gu Ming and Ning Meng follow Su Jin into the sea wasn¡¯t a problem. He nodded in agreement, then said to the scrivener, ¡°Cast the spell on them too.¡±

    The scrivener nodded, then stretched his arms wide towards the three of them. Green sparkles began to gather in front of his chest, then they flew towards the other three and covered them in a thinyer of sparkles.

    ¡°This is a spell that will enable you to swim in the sea without the need for air,¡± the scrivener said to them. ¡°You will be able to swim like a fish in the sea, but I¡¯m warning you, this spell will only work for seven hours. If you are still underwater after that, you will die. Do you understand?¡±

    The reason why the scrivener had done this was obvious. He was afraid that the three of them might choose to escape by swimming. But there was no way they could get to the nearest shore within the next seven hours. So they had to either get the job done, or die.

    The three of them walked to the front of the boat where there was a gangnk. Su Jin had always been curious about this whenever he watched movies set in this era. But when he actually had to walk the nk, his fear of heights overtook him again.

    ¡°Do we really have to jump?¡± Gu Ming gulped fearfully as well. Instead, Ning Meng turned out to be the bravest of all three. She closed her eyes and jumped right off the nk.

    Su Jin and Gu Ming didn¡¯t have a choice and jumped as well. But really, Su Jin¡¯s fears were unfounded: the nk was so close to the surface of the water, nothing bad would have happened even if he was jumping off into a pool of mud. The mud would suffer more damage than he would.

    After diving into the sea, all three of them realized that they were really able to swim freely without the need for oxygen tanks or any other diving equipment.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t taking any chances and retrieved some of his Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum. These pieces of gum could provide them with three days of oxygen after all.

    Su Jin swam around to take a quick look, then decided that he ought to swim deeper into the coral reefs.

    ¡°Both of you can just stay here. If I get the treasure, I¡¯lle back to look for you two immediately.¡± Su Jin decided to work alone since Gu Ming and Ning Meng were obviously poor fighters. If they got into a fight with the Sea People, they¡¯ll all end up dead.

    The two of them had no objections, so Su Jin left them one piece of Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum each before leaving, just in case anything untoward happened.

    After that, Su Jin headed straight for the coral reefs. This magic spell was a fairly interesting one. Su Jin didn¡¯t have to swim. He could just walk in the sea water as if he was walking onnd, which made it much easier to move about.

    The coral reefs were colorful and filled with plenty of fish and other sea creatures, but it didn¡¯t take Su Jin long to discover the Sea People because they were very different from the rest of the sea creatures. Most of them had at least one human body part. He saw an octopus with a human upper body, and a giant lobster with human legs. All of them looked like this.

    Su Jin dared not go too near because he didn¡¯t want to end up having to fight them if they noticed his presence. He tried his best to walk in the shadows, and if he couldn¡¯t find a ce to hide, he had to use his psychokinesis to blind the other creature temporarily.

    This Psychokic Spirit Power of his was really incredibly useful and it could be used in a million and one situations, both as an attack and a defense. There was almost nothing it couldn¡¯t do. The only problem was that his upper limit was way too low, so if he didn¡¯t have to use it, he didn¡¯t. But even so, he had already used up one third of it by just sneaking past the Sea People.

    ¡°Well, I still have the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power, but¡­it¡¯s best that I don¡¯t use it if I don¡¯t have to either!¡± Su Jin¡¯s trump card was his backup storage of the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power, which was enough to power the terrifyingly brutal Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow that had the skill of ¡®Roar of the Demon Lord.¡¯ But making use of these items came at a cost to Su Jin himself.

    Thankfully, while there were plenty of Sea People roaming the coral reefs, the sea was vast and Su Jin¡¯s careful steps did not attract any attention. He soon came to the middle of the coral reefs, where it looked like the city center of the sea. There were houses made from scallop shells, shiny stones on the seabed that resembled gemstones as well as submarine volcanoes that added an interesting touch to the reefs.

    Everything did look like they belonged to a fairytale world, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if other dangers lurked beneath the surface since he was now in a horror-inducing version of the Little Mermaid.

    ¡°In the original story, the Little Mermaid was from the royal family. In that case¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s attention was drawn to thergest structure in the area. It looked like the prettiest ce around here.

    He quickly made his way over but was a little disappointed when he actually got there. This was no pce. It looked more like a temple of sorts.

    Since this wasn¡¯t the ce he was looking for, Su Jin turned around to leave. But his way was soon blocked by a huge group of fish.

    Several sharks with a horn growing out of their heads kept swimming back and forth while giving Su Jin aggressive looks. Su Jin held Rumor in his hand, ready to strike at any time. Unfortunately, none of his ck Fire bullets were suitable to shoot underwater.

    ¡°Who are you? Why are you sneaking around my Sea People Temple?¡± A graceful and elegant woman emerged from behind the wall of sharks. Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if she was supposed to be a cuttlefish or an octopus, but she had a sexy woman¡¯s body on top and more than ten tentacles helping her move her body along.

    ¡°Sorry about that! If I said I got lost, would you believe me?¡± Su Jin grinned at her. If possible, he didn¡¯t want to stay here and fight with a woman who couldmand a bunch of sharks.

    ¡°I¡¯m not like those foolish Sea People. Of course, if you don¡¯t wish to tell me why you are here, I have other means to find out!¡± She raised her head high and pointed a finger at Su Jin. A ck beam shot out from her finger towards Su Jin.

    Su Jin immediately moved to one side as quickly as he could. The spell cast by the scrivener was still in effect, so he could still move as easily as he did onnd, which helped him to dodge that ck beam easily.

    ¡°If I want the sharks to go away, I¡¯ve got to get theirmander first!¡± thought Su Jin as he saw that the sharks were headed towards him. He didn¡¯t think that killing them was hard, but doing that would attract unnecessary attention, so the best n now was to take their leader down.

 Chapter 78: The Little Mermaid

    <h4>Chapter 78: The Little Mermaid</h4>

    Su Jin moved quickly and had nearly reached the mollusk woman when her tentacles suddenly wrapped themselves around him.

    Woong! A ck beam shot out from one of the tentacles. Su Jin couldn¡¯t dodge the attack in time and cursed inwardly, but just then, the cloak he carried unfolded, and blocked the attack for Su Jin.

    ¡°Good job!¡± thought Su Jin to himself. Then, he realized that the mollusk woman wasn¡¯t moving anymore.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s Triton¡¯s Cloak! Why do you have this item?¡± eximed the mollusk woman in shock and stared at the cloak around Su Jin¡¯s body with wide eyes.

    Su Jin realized that the mollusk woman stopped attacking merely because she was too stunned by the appearance of this cloak. He didn¡¯t know why she seemed so shocked, but he had heard the word ¡°Triton¡±. He shouted at her, ¡°Since you can see that I¡¯ve got Triton¡¯s cloak, then you¡¯d better let go of me!¡±

    Her expression changed several times before she finally calmed down again and scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s just his cloak, not him. I just have to kill you and that cloak is mine!¡±

    ¡°Wow, seriously? Who made up all these murderous characters?!¡± Su Jin grumbled in his mind as he used his strength to break a tentacle around him and send Rumor flying towards her eyes at the same time.

    She reacted very quickly by using a tentacle to block Rumor. Rumor cut through that tentacle, but her eyes weren¡¯t hurt.

    ¡°Lowly human, give me Triton¡¯s cloak and I can give you some other treasure in return!¡± she bellowed and looked determined to get her hands on that cloak.

    Su Jin thought about it, then said, ¡°Deal! If you can bring me one of the Little Mermaid¡¯s scales, this cloak is yours!¡±

    She was surprised for a moment but a smile soon returned to her face. ¡°I see. You¡¯re another one of those idiots who are hoping to live forever. But her scales are useless. You have to eat her flesh for that to work.¡±

    ¡°I guess you could say I have an acquired taste? Never mind why I want it! In any case, if you want this cloak, you must bring me one of the Little Mermaid¡¯s scales. Make sure it¡¯s a scale from Triton¡¯s daughter!¡± Su Jin spelled his terms out clearly.

    She pondered this deal for a while, then nodded in agreement. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll get you a scale from the Little Mermaid. Wait here for me.¡± She made a strange noise and all the sharks disappeared.

    ¡°No problem!¡± Su Jin nodded.

    But after she had walked off, Su Jin followed behind her. He wasn¡¯t serious about striking a deal with her in the first ce. He just wanted to use her to locate the Little Mermaid.

    As he followed the mollusk woman from a distance, he had to use his Spirit Power to conceal himself from time to time. By the time they arrived at their destination, Su Jin realized that he had already used up more than half of his Spirit Power. And this was only the first treasure. Su Jin could only hope that the other teams were doing fine.

    ¡°Greetings, Sacred Goddess.¡± This was a residence guarded by several Sea People bodyguards, but it didn¡¯t look like the pce. The bodyguards bowed and greeted the mollusk woman. She was actually the Sacred Goddess to the Sea People.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then she must be that sea witch that helped the Little Mermaid get her human legs, right?¡± Su Jin pped his forehead as he realized who this woman probably was.

    The mollusk woman strolled through the corridors easily, but it wasn¡¯t as easy for Su Jin to keep up. He was running out of Spirit Power and would have to kill his way in if he ran out before finding the Little Mermaid.

    Just when he got ready for the worst, he finally caught sight of the Little Mermaid. But when he actually saw her, he was taken aback. It was little wonder that the prince in this version of the Little Mermaid wanted to eat her instead of getting romantically involved with her.

    The mollusk woman stood in front of the Little Mermaid, or to be more urate, the mollusk woman was standing in front of a half rotten clump of flesh. She smiled and said, ¡°My dearest princess! It¡¯s been quite a while but you¡¯re still as beautiful as ever!¡±

    The clump of flesh started moving but Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand what it was trying to say at all.

    But the mollusk woman burst outughing loudly. ¡°Haha! Why are you so angry? I saved you from turning into sea foam back then so that you could enjoy pain and suffering for the rest of your life! It¡¯s too bad that you can¡¯t die, that¡¯s all!¡± Her expression became wicked and vicious, as if she was filled with hatred for the Little Mermaid.

    Su Jin nearly gasped in horror. If this was the result of saving the Little Mermaid from turning into seafoam, that means¡­the Little Mermaid had already gone through the entirety of the story he knew.

    He continued to put the pieces together andbined with the cloak he was wearing, he had pretty much the full story already. The Little Mermaid had fallen in love with the human Prince Charming and was willing to sacrifice anything for him. This mollusk woman was the sea witch who agreed to help the Little Mermaid grow human legs in exchange for Triton¡¯s cloak.

    But in the end, the Little Mermaid chose to let herself be seafoam while the cloak remained in the prince¡¯s hands. The mollusk woman furiously pulled the Little Mermaid halfway through her transformation into seafoam, which was why the poor mermaid was now a clump of rotten flesh. But because mermaids were able to live forever, she was now destined to remain in this state forever as well.

    So now, a descendant of that prince had returned to this part of the sea, perhaps after finding out from his elders about the Little Mermaid and wanted to attain immortality. But because Su Jin had appeared, Triton¡¯s cloak had also been inadvertently brought back to this ce.

    ¡°When you left Triton¡¯s cloak with the humans, you thought I¡¯d never be able to get it, didn¡¯t you? Guess what? It¡¯se back! A HUMAN has brought it back to me!¡± The mollusk womanughed maniacally and seemed extremely excited.

    The clump of flesh stopped moving as vigorously as before and even Su Jin could sense the despair emanating from the clump of fresh.

    The mollusk woman gently caressed the clump of flesh and said, ¡°But in order to get that cloak, I still need your help. I¡¯m taking this scale with me!¡± There was only one scale left on the Little Mermaid, so the mollusk woman reached for it.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t intend to exchange his cloak for the scale, so he threw Rumor out and it cut through the mollusk woman¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Ah!¡± she cried out in pain. She was a witch, but her physical body couldn¡¯t hold up against weapons like that, so she started shrieking in pain after Rumor cut her hand off.

    Su Jin pounced onto her and used his Boning Knife to cut off all the tentacles that tried to attack him.

    ¡°We had a deal! You promised me! You can¡¯t get that scale without me!!¡± she started shrieking in horror. Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe this woman was still thinking about the cloak despite being in grave danger.

    But he couldn¡¯t be bothered to talk to her at all. He turned the knife the other way and sliced her head right off. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds and she hadn¡¯t even had enough time to shoot any ck beams at him.

    As the mollusk woman¡¯s lifeless body crashed to the ground, Su Jin ran towards the clump of flesh. The mollusk woman screamed so loudly just now, so he was sure that the bodyguards outside must have heard her. He had no time to waste.

    When he got closer, he realized that actually this clump of flesh had all the correct parts, but they were in haphazard positions and were also of the wrong proportion.

    ¡°Please¡­kill¡­me¡­¡± an extremely soft voice came out from the clump of flesh, pleading with Su Jin to kill her.

    ¡°You want¡­my scale¡­but¡­only Sea People¡­can remove it. I¡¯ll¡­give the scale¡­to you¡­but please¡­please kill me!¡± she continued to plead in short spurts.

    Su Jin frowned as he remembered what the mollusk woman said just now. So, he needed a member of the Sea People to remove the Little Mermaid¡¯s scale. No wonder the mollusk woman said that he needed her to obtain the scale.

    ¡°I promise to do that! But first, you must give me your scale!¡± Su Jin was running out of time and had to agree to anything she wanted.

    The Little Mermaid was very trusting, so once Su Jin agreed to her request, the one and only scale on her body fell off.

    ¡°You must¡­turn me into¡­powder¡­or else¡­I cannot die,¡± the Little Mermaid said to Su Jin.

    He sighed heavily. This was going to be more troublesome than he had hoped. The only thing he had that could turn her into powder was the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, but using that needed him to use the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power.

    But Su Jin still decided to agree to it because he knew that these Challenges might actually be real happenings in another universe. He sympathized with the Little Mermaid and was willing to end her suffering.

    He picked up the scale, then retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow from his Handbook and activated the Roar of the Demon Lord. A stream of sparkles roared towards the clump of flesh and it was instantly shattered into a million pieces, causing colorful bubbles to appear in the water.

    In the midst of the bubbles, Su Jin trembled as he felt the Demon Lord Spirit Power eat away at him. But just then, he suddenly felt a warmth rise from within his body. He heard the sound of the bodyguards rushing in but at the same time, a white light enveloped him and he realized he was back where they had started. The bright portal door to the Little Mermaid¡¯s story slowly closed itself.

    ¡°Mr Su! You got the Little Mermaid¡¯s scale?¡± That voice belonged to Gu Ming. It turned out that Gu Ming and Ning Meng had been teleported back here after Su Jin got hold of the scale.

    Su Jin nodded and touched the cloak on himself. The cloak had left the story with him, which meant that the prince couldn¡¯t take it back anymore and it was now Su Jin¡¯s.

    But what caught Su Jin¡¯s eye was the number in the corner of his eye. What used to be his 100 point Spirit Power limit now read 110 points. His upper limit had increased by 10 points.

    Su Jin started analyzing what could have happened and realized something. After activating the Roar of the Demon Lord, the Demon Lord Spirit Power ate away at him as usual, but thest bit of Psychokic Spirit Power he had left also got to work.

    Su Jin¡¯s Psychokic Spirit Power resisted the attack of the Demon Lord Spirit Power on Su Jin and increased in this process. This came as a pleasant surprise to Su Jin. So, his Psychokic Spirit Power would only increase under the pressure from other Spirit Powers, or perhaps it only had the chance to develop further when he was in grave danger.

    If that was the case, then the remaining Demon Lord Spirit Power inside the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye was like gym equipment to his own Spirit Power.

    Meanwhile, somewhere in the crevasses of space and time, Auntie Li¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. She grabbed hold of the wooden fence and roared furiously, ¡°NO! That¡¯s impossible! There¡¯s nothing¡­nothing has ever been able to resist my power! What¡­how did that happen?!¡±

 Chapter 79: Cinderella

    <h4>Chapter 79: Cindere</h4>

    Su Jin had quite a bit of Demon Lord Spirit Power left, but now, he had one more consideration to make before using it again. He had to find out how he could best use the Demon Lord Spirit Power to his advantage.

    As he was thinking about these things, two figures came running out from another portal door. The two of them looked terribly exhausted. It was Chu Yi and his partner.

    ¡°How are you two? Are you guys hurt?¡± Su Jin asked Chu Yi. He didn¡¯t have to ask about whether they got the treasure because he could see a red jacket in Chu Yi¡¯s hands.

    Chu Yi panted heavily as he shook his head. ¡°Good god that was terrifying! I¡¯m going to be very scared of all these lolita looking girls from now on!¡±

    ¡°Was the Little Red Riding Hood very hard to deal with?¡± asked Gu Ming curiously.

    Chu Yi immediately nodded and shivered slightly as he said, ¡°The Little Red Riding Hood was alright, actually. The problem was dealing with her after she had transformed, and she transformed not once, but twice!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Gu Ming was a little confused.

    The other girl started exining, ¡°After we entered the story, we didn¡¯t run into any dangers and we found the Little Red Riding Hood rather quickly too. In fact, she was very willing to hand her jacket over to us. But¡­once she gave us the jacket, she instantly turned into the hunter!¡±

    Su Jin and his twopanions widened their eyes as they heard how odd this other fairytale had also be.

    Chu Yi picked up from there, ¡°The hunter wasn¡¯t really too bad, actually. It took quite a bit of time but I eventually killed him off. But once the hunter died, the wolf leaped out of his stomach! This wolf¡¯s attacks could cause a lot of damage and nothing could hurt it besides my Spirit Power. We were chased down like a pair of criminals!¡±

    Judging from how exhausted Chu Yi looked, Su Jin guessed that the wolf must have been really tough to handle. Otherwise, there was no reason why a veteran would end up looking so worn out.

    ¡°So, how did both of you get rid of the wolf?¡± Gu Ming asked.

    The girl shook her head and said, ¡°We didn¡¯t get rid of the wolf. We just kept running and running and eventually spotted a bright light that looked like a portal door, so we ran right out and got back here.¡±

    They continued chatting while waiting for the other two teams to return, but even after waiting for three days, Kano Mai¡¯s and Yang Mo¡¯s teams didn¡¯te back.

    Su Jin became anxious. Could something have happened to them? He tried to walk into the portal door leading into the story of Snow White, but the door refused to let him in. The Challenge was ongoing and nobody else was allowed to enter at this juncture.

    ¡°Brother Su¡­do you think they¡¯re alright?¡± asked Chu Yi worriedly.

    Su Jin shook his head and furrowed his brows as he started regretting his decision to split the group this way. Splitting the group madepleting the Challenge more efficient, but the risks were also higher. He initially thought that a Level C Challenge wouldn¡¯t be too difficult for old timers like Kano Mai and Yang Mo, but it was clear that he had underestimated the Challenge.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just sit here and wait. Even if Mai and the rest can¡¯tplete their missions, I think they would still be able toe back alive. So, instead of just waiting around, why don¡¯t we try the other fairytales? That way¡­that way, even if Mai and the rest nevere back, the rest of us willplete the Challenge.¡± It was impractical to hope that everyone would make it out of a Challenge alive, after all.

    In fact, Su Jin was already mentally prepared that he might lose his teammates in a future Challenge. But that didn¡¯t mean he just resigned his team to that fate. He would still put in his best efforts to protect his teammates. However, there was only so much he could do, so he could only try his very best.

    Since he couldn¡¯t help Kano Mai and Yang Mo directly, the only thing he could do right now was to search for the other treasures from the other fairytales. The others had no opinion on Su Jin¡¯s decision.

    After some discussion, they decided to enter the story of Cindere. This time, Su Jin didn¡¯t split them into two groups. The fact that Kano Mai and Yang Mo¡¯s teams still hadn¡¯te back told him it was better that all of them moved together.

    They walked through the portal door and found themselves standing in the midst of a bustling city. The people here wore simr clothing to the people in the Little Mermaid story, so Ning Meng got clothes from her Wardrobe of Wonders for everyone again. It seemed as though she could retrieve clothes from this Wardrobe infinitely, and eventually everyone had a set of suitable clothing.

    Su Jin, Gu Ming and Ning Meng kept away the armor they got from the Little Mermaid story into their Handbooks, and Su Jin also kept his Triton¡¯s cloak away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just recap the story for everyone, alright?¡± Even though Su Jin was pretty sure that everyone knew this story, he decided to go through it anyway.

    ¡°Cindere is a Grimm Brothers story, and it¡¯s basically the story of a kind girl who gets abused by her stepmother. A fairy godmother helped her to get a chance to attend the ball at the pce and caught the prince¡¯s eye. But because the effects of the fairy godmother¡¯s magic started wearing off, Cindere ran off before the effect wore offpletely, leaving a ss slipper behind.¡±

    ¡°The prince went around looking for Cindere with that ss slipper. Many women who hoped to marry the prince for materialistic reasons thought of all sorts of ways to fit their feet into the ss slipper, with some going as far as to chop their heel off. But all fairytales end well: the prince eventually found Cindere, the stepmother was punished, while Cindere and Prince Charming lived happily ever after.¡±

    Chu Yi paused to think, then said, ¡°Since we need Cindere¡¯s ss slipper, I suppose we need to head for the pce?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. If the story hase to the part where the prince is looking for her, then we¡¯ll have to get one side from the prince and I¡¯m afraid we might have to get the one that¡¯s with Cindere as well. If she hasn¡¯t gone for the banquet yet, then we just need to look for Cindere,¡± said Su Jin.

    Everyone nodded but they gave up on attempting to look for Cindere. It was going to be quite hard to track down a youngdy secretly being abused by her stepmother in such a big city.

    In the end, they decided to just head for the pce directly. Along the way, Su Jin noticed several noticeboards but there weren¡¯t a lot of people walking around. Upon closer inspection, the few people walking around were all male.

    ¡°That¡¯s really strange.¡± Su Jin was a firm believer that no anomaly happened without a reason. This couldn¡¯t be happening for no good reason.

    Su Jin approached one of the noticeboards and realized that thenguage used here was the same as the one in the Little Mermaid¡¯s story, so he didn¡¯t have to make use of his Trantion Watch again. But after he read the notices, he finally understood why there wasn¡¯t a single woman in sight.

    The notices read: Summoning all women to the pce to try on a ss slipper. Any woman whose foot fits the ss slipper will be the prince¡¯s wife!

    The content of the notice was very simple but Su Jin still found it strange. Even if there was a summon for all women to head to the pce, did it seriously include every woman regardless of age? If that was the case, this prince must have some really strange fetishes¡­

    ¡°Well, given how our fairytales were distorted and made more evil than we remember them to be, this isn¡¯tpletely impossible either,¡± said Chu Yi with a sadugh.

    But it didn¡¯t take long for Su Jin¡¯s group to be part of this problem. A group of soldiers representing the prince stopped them and said that all women had to go to the pce right now, including Ning Meng as well as Liu Jingjing, the girl paired with Chu Yi earlier. They were to report to the pce right away to try on that ss slipper.

    Su Jin and the rest didn¡¯t put up a fight and followed the soldiers to the pce. Once they entered the pce, the soldiers proceeded to escort the twodies towards a different part of the pce.

    ¡°Be careful!¡± Su Jin instructed the two of them before the group was split up.

    Su Jin and the other two boys were allowed to take a rest and Su Jin immediately noticed something amiss. He spotted someone familiar: the scrivener from the Little Mermaid story was here too.

    ¡°Either all the officials in the stories are identical, or¡­these two stories¡¯ universes are connected!¡± Su Jin realized that they might be in trouble if that scrivener noticed himself and Gu Ming.

    Gu Ming had clearly discovered this problem as well, so he kept throwing worried nces at Su Jin. Su Jin nodded slightly and motioned to him not to do anything. The scrivener slowly strolled towards them and suddenly shed a smile at Su Jin.

    ¡°Hello, gentlemen! What a surprise to see you two here!¡± said the scrivener with a mirthless smile.

    ¡°Now!¡± Su Jin shouted loudly. The scrivener clearly recognized them, which meant that all of this could be a trap. There was no point in trying to pretend that they didn¡¯t know the scrivener.

    Chu Yi reacted the quickest and thrust a palm out towards the scrivener¡¯s face. But ayer of green sparkles immediately surrounded the scrivener and Chu Yi¡¯s attackpletely failed.

    ¡°Double Qi Thrust, HAA!¡± Chu Yi gave a low shout as he threw a punch with Spirit Power, which broke through the green sparkles around the scrivener.

    ¡°Attack of the Demon Lord!¡± Su Jin retrieved his Boning Knife and used its skill without hesitation in hope of killing off this scrivener as quickly as possible.

    The scrivener didn¡¯t expect Su Jin and Chu Yi to attack him so aggressively at once. He didn¡¯t even get the chance to escape and was sliced into half by Su Jin¡¯s attack instead.

    ¡°Die!¡± The scrivener had already been sliced into two, but managed onest angry roar just before dying. His body turned into nothing but green sparkles and exploded on the spot.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi were too close to the explosion and didn¡¯t have time to get away. But just then, ayer of dust suddenly rose and formed a protective barrier around them. Gu Ming had made use of a magic scroll to protect the two of them.

    After the impact of the explosion had faded, the protective barrier fell apart and they realized they were now surrounded by arge group of soldiers. But as long as none of the soldiers were as powerful as the scrivener, the three of them could deal with them easily.

    ¡°Come on, we¡¯ve got to go! I¡¯m afraid that Ning Meng and Jingjing are in trouble!¡± said Su Jin as he dashed out first. The soldiers were no match for Su Jin¡¯s swift, nimble and strong body and his razor sharp Boning Knife, so Su Jin shed a path through them in no time. After all, if trying to get the treasure the clever way didn¡¯t work, then they would have to use force!

 Chapter 80: Demigod

    <h4>Chapter 80: Demigod</h4>

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have any experience in actually fighting a war of any kind and had only engaged in very small closebat fights. But he had a body strengthened to a level above an ordinary human, a sharp de as well as a gun that worked very well when he wasn¡¯t underwater. ck Fire worked best when it was used on arge group of people.

    Chu Yi¡¯s body didn¡¯t seem much weaker than Su Jin¡¯s. He had his very own Spirit Power and the good part about his was that it strengthened the owner¡¯s body as it increased. In other words, while Su Jin needed a higher level Body Strengthening Elixir to increase his physicality, Chu Yi just needed to keep training up his Spirit Power and he would catch up or even surpass Su Jin.

    Faced with these two superhuman bodies and their weapons, the soldiers couldn¡¯t hold up at all and were quickly ughtered. Gu Ming just followed behind them as he wasn¡¯t good at fighting.

    Su Jin was worried about the two girls, so he just focused on shing his way through the soldiers. He grabbed one of them and forced the soldier to tell him where the two girls were, but the soldier remained loyal to the prince and refused to tell him anything. Su Jin used hisst bit of Spirit Power to look into the soldier¡¯s memory and found out where the two girls had been sent to.

    The three of them killed their way to the main pce and they couldn¡¯t help but stop in horror when they stepped past the entrance. The hall of the pce looked more like purgatory: women¡¯s dead bodies were strewn everywhere. Regardless of age, their naked bodies were lying randomly on the floor, and some had even begun to pile up.

    Gu Ming was the first one to vomit, while Su Jin and Chu Yi¡¯s faces paled. They quickly walked further into the pce and realized that many of these women¡¯s feet had been mutted by a knife, while some other women had the flesh from the other women¡¯s feet pasted onto theirs.

    ¡°Brother Su!¡± Chu Yi tugged at Su Jin and motioned to him to look in front.

    Su Jin followed Chu Yi¡¯s gaze and realized that Ning Meng and Liu Jingjing were suspended in midair. Their expressions were terrified because a man in white armor was standing next to them with a sharp knife in one hand whileparing the two girls¡¯ feet against a bloodied ss slipper.

    Swoosh! Bang! Bang!

    Su Jin threw out Rumor and pulled ck Fire¡¯s trigger at the same time. Rumor headed straight for the man¡¯s head while the two bullets snapped the rope that held the girls up.

    Chu Yi also dashed out and used his Spirit Power to create two whirlwinds that blew Ning Meng and Liu Jingjing back towards the group.

    The man held his hands up and his white armor blocked Rumor¡¯s attack. When he put his hands down again, he red at Su Jin with bulging eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s you! You¡¯re actually still alive!¡± This man was none other than Prince Charming. Butpared to what he looked like in the Little Mermaid story, the prince seemed to have aged a little here.

    ¡°It looks like¡­I¡¯ve left for some time, eh?¡± Su Jin smiled as he caught hold of the returning Rumor and got ready to fling it out anytime.

    The prince smiled faintly and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. It has been ten years, but all of you¡­look the same. I see. You must have eaten mermaid flesh back then!¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect the prince to interpret the circumstances this way, but he couldn¡¯t be bothered to exin things. Chu Yi had already rescued the two girls, so the only thing he needed to do now was to get that ss slipper from the prince.

    ¡°Has it been ten years already? It seems like Your Highness¡¯ interests have also changed. You¡¯re no longer interested in deep sea treasures and you¡¯re now a necrophiliac?¡± Su Jin purposely tried to agitate the prince in hope of finding a chance to snatch that ss slipper away.

    But the prince wasn¡¯t affected at all. Instead, he nodded and walked to one of the bodies on the floor. He tried to put the ss slipper on her feet, but this woman¡¯s feet were clearly way toorge for the shoe.

    The prince sighed and shook his head. He withdrew his long sword and a few quick movementster, the woman¡¯s feet werepletely covered with blood. But when the prince tried to put on the shoe on her bloodied foot, it fit now.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes. The prince had obviously gonepletely mad, but this action of putting the ss slipper on random corpses was a good thing, because that made it simpler for him to snatch it away. But the prince¡¯s incredible control of his sword was something to be careful of.

    ¡°Brother Su, what should we do now?¡± whispered Chu Yi.

    ¡°Both of us will focus on fighting the prince, Gu Ming and the rest can try to find a chance to get that ss slipper,¡± said Su Jin in a low voice. Grabbing a ss slipper didn¡¯t require any special skills or the ability to fight, so he figured that the other three shouldn¡¯t have any trouble with this.

    After he gave those instructions, Su Jin charged at the prince and Chu Yi followed suit. Su Jin had already used up all his Spirit Power, but he still had Demon Lord Spirit Power on hand. He didn¡¯t have to worry about the Demon Lord Spirit Power eating into him because that only helped to train up his own Psychokic Spirit Power. On top of all that, Chu Yi himself still had remaining Spirit Power to help fight the prince.

    The two of them moved as quickly as lightning and appeared in front of the prince in the blink of an eye. In fact, Chu Yi was slightly faster than Su Jin.

    ¡°Double Qi Thrust! HAA!¡± Chu Yi threw a punch at the prince¡¯s breastte, which trembled before imploding.

    Boom! The prince flew backwards and Su Jin was already waiting for him there. He threw Rumor and ck Fire into the air, held the Boning Knife tightly with both hands, then used the knife to slice the prince¡¯s back.

    ng! The prince¡¯s white armor was sliced open from behind. Su Jin stabbed the knife into the floor, then caught both Rumor and ck Fire again. The sparks from Rumor as it hit the prince coordinated perfectly with ck Fire¡¯s bullets as they attacked the prince¡¯s back without stopping.

    ¡°Triple Qi Thrust! Demon Tiger Emerges!¡± Chu Yi gave a low shout as he clenched his right fist and ayer of Spirit Power surrounded it, then punched the prince hard in the chest.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Threeyers of Qi hit the prince as ferociously as a tiger. The prince¡¯s chest literally caved in.

    With Chu Yi attacking with such force from the front and Su Jin sending nonstop attacks from the back, Su Jin was very sure that nobody would be able to survive this.

    But the moment their attacks slowed down for a moment, a frosty smile appeared on the prince¡¯s face. He ripped the battered armor off himself to reveal a healthy and practically uninjured body.

    His seemingly indestructible body was giving off steam from the impact of the Triple Qi Thrust, while his back had one white mark as well as a bunch of red tiny dots all over his skin. Those were made by the Boning Knife, ck Fire and Rumor.

    Su Jin gasped in shock. The Boning Knife was so sharp, it could slice through metal as if it was merely tofu. But it had only left a white mark on the prince¡¯s back. What was this guy even made from?

    ¡°You foolish humans! Did you think you could really defeat a demigod?¡± The prince scoffed and raised his palm. Sparkles gathered and quickly formed a long spear in the prince¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Crap!¡± cursed Su Jin as he retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and shot the Roar of the Demon Lord without hesitation.

    The sparkles from Su Jin¡¯s arrow collided with the prince¡¯s spear and even though the spear was powerful, it couldn¡¯t hold up against the power of the Demon Lord. The spear instantly shattered and the sparkles surrounded the prince.

    ¡°Get the ss slipper and run! The prince is still alive!¡± yelled Su Jin before copsing onto the floor. Shooting Rumor out earlier had consumed Demon Lord Spirit Power as well, but it was only one point at a time. The Roar of the Demon Lord had used up 150 points at once, but he had less than 10 points of Psychokic Spirit Power left, so it was impossible to hold up against the attack of the Demon Lord Spirit Power. Su Jin¡¯s body immediately fell to the floor from the pain he felt inside.

    Chu Yi quickly caught hold of Su Jin before his head hit the floor. Meanwhile, Gu Ming and the two girls tried to take the ss slipper off the dead woman¡¯s foot. But the moment they caught hold of the ss slipper, the dead woman suddenly sat up and grabbed hold of Gu Ming¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Ughhh¡­ghhhh!¡± Gu Ming¡¯s eyes widened. The dead woman was holding onto his neck so tightly, he was about to suffocate.

    ¡°Move aside!¡± shouted Chu Yi as he put Su Jin down and pounced towards the dead woman. ¡°Double Qi Thrust! HAA!¡±

    Chu Yi¡¯s attack hit the dead woman¡¯s arm, causing it to explode and release Gu Ming in the process. Chu Yi then thrust another palm out towards the dead woman¡¯s legs in hope ofpletely destroying her.

    But the dead woman seemed to be able to predict what Chu Yi was trying to do, so she jumped backwards and dodged the attack. Just then, Ning Meng suddenly eximed, ¡°Chu Yi, watch out!¡±

    Chu Yi¡¯s attention was focused on the dead woman and the prince, but the prince was still enveloped by the sparkles from Su Jin¡¯s arrow while the dead woman had jumped away from him, so he couldn¡¯t understand what to watch out for. But soon felt a terrible pain in his back and he turned around in disbelief.

    One of Gu Ming¡¯s hands was enveloped in ck smoke and now looked like a hand belonging to a demon. That demon hand had flung a long sword at Chu Yi and it was now sticking out of Chu Yi¡¯s back.

    ¡°You?¡± Chu Yi couldn¡¯t understand why Gu Ming had done such a thing. Was he under the control of the prince?

    ¡°Heh heh¡­don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t me me for doing this! I have to kill one of you to gain your points at the end of the challenge! That way¡­that¡¯s the only way I can be stronger! Strong enough¡­to survive!¡± Gu Ming was clearly fearful and his eyes were filled with terror, but greed could also be seen in his eyes.

    ¡°The Handbook has a personal mission that says that if you kill another owner, you will receive all the points the owner should have gotten at the end of the challenge!¡± Ning Meng shouted loudly. But at the same time, Chu Yi saw that Liu Jingjing had raised a sharp knife behind Ning Meng.

    ¡°A traitor deserves to DIE!¡± Chu Yi suddenly bellowed loudly and his body trembled as his internal energy forced the long sword in his back to fly right out again. That was the power of a veteran, the power of Spirit Power that was beyond the imagination of any ordinary Handbook owner.

    Gu Ming was so terrified that he tried to escape, but Chu Yi mmed a palm towards Gu Ming, so he copsed weakly onto the floor and stopped breathing. Meanwhile, Chu Yi had also aimed the sword that had flown out of his back towards Liu Jingjing and it sliced her head off her neck.

    ¡°Mere mortals, time to meet your maker!¡± Just then, the prince actually managed to break out from the sparkles. He waspletely naked and the flesh on his chest had been eaten away by the sparkles, so much that one could see his ribs clearly. But the prince didn¡¯t seem affected by this hugeck of flesh at all.

    He grasped the air with a hand and Chu Yi and Ning Meng immediately started struggling, as if he was strangling the both of them from afar. Their vision dimmed and they eventually lost consciousness.

    The prince looked at the owners lying on the floor before him and cackled. ¡°Such fools! This is what you get for being so audacious in front of a demigod!¡±

    ¡°Is that so? That sounds like what I would say to you!¡± Su Jin stood up from behind the prince with an evil smile on his face.

 Chapter 81: The Demon Lord Reappears

    <h4>Chapter 81: The Demon Lord Reappears</h4>

    The prince was stunned for a moment, then he stared puzzledly at Su Jin as he asked in a hostile voice, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Who am I? Heh heh¡­well, well, you are indeed a demigod, even though you barely got to this stage by using a special treasure. You¡¯re not very powerful, but at least your power is real!¡± Su Jin smiled wickedly as he looked around somewhat curiously at the pce and walked about nonchntly as if the demigod prince meant nothing to him.

    ¡°You pseudo demigod! How dare you be so rude to a true god?¡± Su Jin suddenly bellowed at the prince and red fiercely at the prince, as if his gaze alone could incinerate the demigod prince on the spot.

    The prince shuddered as he stared in terror at Su Jin and murmured, ¡°You¡­you¡¯re a real god! But that¡¯s¡­but that¡¯s impossible! After that era ended, all the gods disappeared, so how¡­how could someone at the god level possibly appear here?¡±

    ¡°Just like what you said, you¡¯re a fool! The gods have never disappeared. They have merely gone into hibernation. This body is an extremely important tool to me, so if you dare to destroy him, I will ughter you!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly as they shed murderously.

    The prince was initially terrified, but he soon regained hisposure. He stared straight at Su Jin and said, ¡°You¡¯re trying to pull the wool over my eyes. This is not your world. Even if you used to be a god, you¡¯re no match for me here. And you think you could really ughter me? Ha! If you were capable of doing that, you wouldn¡¯t have to take possession of this human and try to save him.¡±

    The prince was fairly confident of this. Once upon a time, the World of Fairytales had many people who had reached god level. Some of his own ancestors had reached that realm too. But as time passed, these gods died. Time had been cruel to them, but their legends continued to be passed down from generation to generation. As the main character of the World of Fairytales, Prince Charming was very familiar with the concept of gods.

    And now, he had attained demigod status and this was his world, so even though the Demon Lord was at god level, the Demon Lord might not be able to do anything about him even if the Demon Lord appeared in his true form.

    But the Demon Lord wasn¡¯t here. Only a fraction of his consciousness had possessed Su Jin, so that didn¡¯t pose a threat to the prince.

    ¡°Do you really think so?¡± Su Jin, or rather, the Demon Lord scoffed. It was true that he had possessed Su Jin in order to keep him alive, because he needed Su Jin to continue working for him.

    The Demon Lord had initially hoped to use his Demon Lord Spirit Power to gradually overtake Su Jin¡¯s will and eventually take control of Su Jin¡¯s body, but of all the things to happen, Su Jin activated the one Spirit Power that could fight his Demon Lord Spirit Power.

    Absolutely any other type of Spirit Power would have worked out just fine, but Su Jin had Psychokic Spirit Power.

    Psychokic Spirit Power was considered a high level Spirit Power and one of its special characteristics was its resilience. When Su Jin used Demon Lord Spirit Power for the first time after he had activated his Psychokic Spirit Power, the effect of the Demon Lord Spirit Power had been suppressed by a very small amount of Psychokic Spirit Power. Not only had the Demon Lord Spirit Power failed to take over Su Jin, but it had also be a way for Su Jin to increase his Psychokic Spirit Power¡¯s upper limit.

    The Demon Lord had almost despaired when he realized what was happening, but things suddenly took a turn for the worse. A demigod actually appeared within the fairytales, which was something that not even the Demon Lord¡¯s two allies could have predicted.

    In order to fight this demigod, Su Jin had no choice but to use the Attack of the Demon Lord and the Roar of the Demon Lord several times. He had barely any Psychokic Spirit Power left and was unable to fend off the effects of the Demon Lord Spirit Power, which gave the Demon Lord a chance to possess Su Jin¡¯s body.

    Under normal circumstances, the Demon Lord wouldn¡¯t have cared about saving a mere mortal like Su Jin. But he needed Su Jin¡¯s help to find a way to free him, so even though he was reluctant to do so, he had no choice but to try and save Su Jin from this sticky situation.

    But this was also thanks to the agreement he had reached with his two allies from the World of Fairytales. Otherwise, there was no way the Demon Lord could have possessed Su Jin¡¯s body, since Su Jin was not within the Demon Lord¡¯s world.

    Just like what the prince pointed out, it was indeed almost impossible for the Demon Lord to even appear in this world, much less fight a demigod who belonged to this world. This fact really infuriated the Demon Lord. After all, when the Demon Lord was at the peak of his power, he could kill a demigod with a flick of his fingers, never mind a pseudo demigod like Prince Charming, who had forcibly used a special item to increase his powers to be equal with a demigod.

    ¡°No? I¡¯m going to kill him now! If you¡¯re really that capable, you can try stopping me!¡± The prince was extremely confident. He held his sword in one hand, then grabbed the air with the other, and a ck spear appeared in his hand.

    The Demon Lord frowned, then suddenly said, ¡°You foolish demigod! If you kill this body of mine, then you will lose the one and only chance you get to find out how to be a god!¡±

    ¡°What did you just say?!¡± The prince trembled in shock.

    The Demon Lord cackled. ¡°Isn¡¯t that something you¡¯ve always wanted to know? After all the gods in the World of Fairytales died, you had no way of finding out how they became gods, right? If you¡¯re willing to leave this ce right now, I can tell you how.¡±

    The prince trembled even more violently. Bing a god was something he had pursued all his life. Both his search for mermaid flesh and this insane ritual of feeding the ss slipper with the flesh and blood of women was part of his quest to be a god.

    ¡°You¡­if you really tell me how one can be a god, I will leave this ce!¡± The prince started wavering. Just like what the Demon Lord said, after the gods in this world died, his dream of bing a god became an impossible dream because he didn¡¯t know where to start and what direction to take at all.

    The Demon Lord gave the prince a pleased nod and said, ¡°Excellent. Gods cannot tell lies, I¡¯m sure you already know that. Come over here and I will tell you how to be a god.¡±

    The prince nodded. He had heard about that in the legends. He walked over to where the Demon Lord and the Demon Lord whispered into his ear.

    After hearing what the Demon Lord said, the prince looked utterly shocked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s how one bes a god?!¡± The prince was in disbelief.

    ¡°How else did you think one became a god? Gods are heartless creatures! In any case, that¡¯s how I became a god. Whether you want to do it or not is up to you!¡± snapped the Demon Lord as he waved his hand to shoo the prince away. ¡°It¡¯s time you left this ce! That¡¯s what you promised me!¡±

    The prince left in shock, and once he had left, the Demon Lord suddenly started smiling gleefully to himself. ¡°Gods don¡¯t tell lies, but¡­I¡¯m a Demon Lord, so I¡¯m not subject to that. But I can¡¯t me him for falling for it: the World of Fairytales doesn¡¯t have a Demon Lord!¡±

    The Demon Lord looked around at the mess around him, then touched his forehead with a finger. One of Su Jin¡¯s eyes immediately went back to normal, but he looked even scarier now. His left eye was normal, but his right eye waspletely ck, as if he was a soul-sucking demon.

    ¡°Get out of my body!¡± yelled Su Jin. He had gotten his consciousness back but he didn¡¯t have any control over his own body. The Demon Lord was too powerful, so even though the Demon Lord had only sent out some of his consciousness to this world but it was enough topletely suppress Su Jin¡¯s consciousness. If the Demon Lord did not allow Su Jin to wake up, Su Jin could very well sleep forever.

    ¡°Why are you so angry? If I hadn¡¯t saved you, you¡¯d have be like one of these bodies here,¡± Su Jin spoke in the Demon Lord¡¯s voice. His body was now possessed by two different souls.

    Su Jin fell silent. It was true that if the Demon Lord hadn¡¯t intervened in time, all of them were dead meat. But Su Jin still had a bad feeling about this.

    ¡°What do you want to do now? Are you going to take possession of my body?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m a god, you know? How could you think so poorly of a god? We had an agreement before and all I wanted was for you to help me regain my freedom. I don¡¯t care about the rest,¡± said the Demon Lord in righteous sounding voice.

    Su Jin felt like the Demon Lord was insulting his intelligence and went straight to the point, ¡°Is that so? You¡¯ve been using your Spirit Power to eat into me! That¡¯s clearly an attempt to take control of my body! If I hadn¡¯t activated Psychokic Spirit Power, you would have already be the owner of this body, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Aww¡­don¡¯t be so sensitive, I just happen to have a very infectious sort of Spirit Power. Besides, I think you¡¯vepletely forgotten about helping regain my freedom, haven¡¯t you? We¡¯re no better than each other,¡± said the Demon Lord with a smile.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t deny this. Both of them had been scheming against each other right from the beginning. Su Jin had been hoping to use the Demon Lord¡¯s power to survive the Handbook Challenges and he had indeed managed to get out of several life threatening situations with this power. On the other hand, the Demon Lord wanted to take control of his body, but unfortunately for the Demon Lord, Su Jin had activated Psychokic Spirit Power.

    ¡°Fine. What do you want now?¡± asked Su Jin quietly.

    ¡°I just want you to find a way for me to get out! That¡¯s all I¡¯ve wanted right from the start¡­¡± said the Demon Lord in a pitiful sounding voice, as if he had suffered tremendously.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t buying it. ¡°Even if I wanted to do that, I¡¯m not powerful enough now. You need to give me time!¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course. I¡¯m not an unreasonable client. I¡¯ll give you time and I¡¯ll even give you some other benefits,¡± replied the Demon Lord.

    ¡°Other benefits?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need my Spirit Power to train your own up? I can modify the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye such that it can regenerate Demon Lord Spirit Power. That way, you don¡¯t have to be afraid that you¡¯d run out of Demon Lord Spirit Power to train up your Psychokic Spirit Power.¡±

    Su Jin paused for a moment. The Demon Lord was offering him something that sounded too good to be true.

    ¡°So¡­what do you need from me in return?¡± Su Jin cut to the chase.

    ¡°Haha! Like I said before, you¡¯re a very intelligent one! Of course, in order to make sure you never forget your promise to me, I¡­want your heart!¡± said the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin was stunned and asked puzzledly, ¡°Do you mean this¡­literally? Or figuratively?¡±

    ¡°Literally. I¡¯m going to take your actual heart away to make sure you work hard and honestly for me!¡± said the Demon Lord.

    ¡°But without a heart, I¡¯d die! How am I supposed to work that way?¡± Su Jin was still confused.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that! Of course I¡¯m not going to let you die. This thing will rece your heart temporarily and keep you alive.¡± The Demon Lord took out a round ball, which was actually a Demon Lord¡¯s Eye.

    The Demon Lord stabbed a hand right through Su Jin¡¯s chest to yank his red beating heart, then used his other hand to imnt the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye back where Su Jin¡¯s heart should have been.

    Su Jin felt like his very soul was about to shatter during this process. Having his heart dug out caused him unbearable pain, but once the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye had reced his heart, everything went back to normal again.

    ¡°That¡¯s settled then, I¡¯m off now. I hope you¡¯ll be able to continue on your journey through the world of Hell¡¯s Handbook this way. But I¡¯d like to remind you that I¡¯m not in a very good state right now. If you take too long to find a way out for me, I¡¯ll turn into dust. Your heart will also turn into dust along with me and the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye will also lose its source of power, so you will die too!¡± said the Demon Lord just before leaving. ¡°So¡­work hard! You don¡¯t have a lot of time left!¡±

 Chapter 82: Lost Lives

    <h4>Chapter 82: Lost Lives</h4>

    A small front yard stood alone on a broken piece in the void. A woman with only one eye smiled eerily and opened her palm. Blood instantly gathered within her hand to slowly form a beating heart.

    ¡°Young man, I¡¯m counting on you!¡± The one-eyed woman turned to walk back into her room. A little more of her front yard seemed to have disappeared.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had fully regained control over his own body. The eye that had turnedpletely ck had also slowly returned to normal, but Su Jin didn¡¯t feel any happier despite being more powerful now.

    With the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye inside him, he was now fully entangled with the Demon Lord and he didn¡¯t even get the chance to say no. If he had said no, the Demon Lord would have probably destroyed him.

    ¡°Oh, forget it. I¡¯ll just take it one step at a time.¡± Su Jin was very tired by all this. He saw that Chu Yi and Ning Meng were lying unconscious on the floor, while Gu Ming and Liu Jingjing had already died.

    Since the prince had already left, the dead woman wearing the ss slipper was no longer a threat as shey lifelessly on the floor. Su Jin took the ss slipper off her foot and there was a white sh as all the survivors of this story was sent back to where they started.

    Su Jin woke Chu Yi and Ning Meng up. He had to find out from them why Gu Ming and Liu Jingjing had died. Su Jin¡¯s consciousness had already been suppressed at that time and had no idea what happened.

    ¡°Personal mission?¡± Su Jin was surprised to hear this. He knew that such missions did exist after his experience at the Temple of the Origin of Heaven, but this mission was given to the owner at the start of the Challenge, not appear suddenly halfway through the Challenge. Something didn¡¯t sound right here.

    By giving out these personal missions at the beginning of the mission, it gave the other owners time to discover who was for them and who was against them. On the contrary, giving out a personal mission like that in the middle of the Challenge was definitely going to incite war between the owners instantly.

    The Handbook Challenges were terrifying, but there was always a chance to survive, as long as one could find the rightbination of decisions. None of their missions would result in immediate deaths. But this personal mission was clearly getting owners to kill another owner directly.

    ¡°I got this personal mission too, but I didn¡¯t expect them to¡­¡± Ning Meng still looked distraught.

    ¡°I can¡¯t really me them. The promise of getting all the points the other owner would have received is a very tempting one indeed, and it would be worth going all out to get it,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. If one could kill a few other owners, then the total points for this one Challenge would be equivalent topleting several Challenges.

    .

    ¡°Ning Meng, could you let me take a look at your Handbook?¡± Su Jin asked Ning Meng.

    Ning Meng immediately opened her Handbook for Su Jin to take a look but the nk pages threw her into confusion. ¡°How¡­why is itpletely nk? I¡­I was very sure I heard the mission being given out!¡±

    ¡°You heard the mission being given out?¡± Su Jin looked confused as well. As far as he knew, any mission from the Handbook would be clearly stated inside the book itself. Nobody he knew had ever heard of a mission being announced to the owners.

    ¡°But¡­but I heard the voice of my Personal Hell Domain butler¡­¡± Ning Meng didn¡¯t know how to exin any of this. There was nothing in her Handbook pertaining to a personal mission.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Chu Yi was also perplexed and Su Jin couldn¡¯t figure it out either.

    Su Jin looked towards the portal doors to Snow White and the Ugly Duckling and became extremely worried. He was pretty sure that supposed personal mission must have appeared to the others as well, so he wondered if Kano Mai and Yang Mo had run into simr misfortunes.

    His arrangement was such that he and Chu Yi had taken the weakest owners since they were much more powerful veterans, leaving Kano Mai and Yang Mo with less powerful but more experienced owners. If those owners suddenly decided to turn on them, Kano Mai and Yang Mo were in grave danger.

    ¡°I really hope nothing bad happens¡­¡± Su Jin murmured to himself. Not even his first Challenge had made him feel so nervous.

    ¡°Teehee! Teehee!¡± Just then, a strangeughter came from the darkness and caught their attention.

    They turned to look at where theughter hade from and they slowly saw a young man wearing a top hat slowly walk out as he doubled over inughter.

    ¡°Personal mission? HAHA! That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s so hrious!¡± The young manughed and shook his head at the same time, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the young man¡¯s face to see that the young man¡¯s nose was much longer than before.

    His heart sank. ¡°Damn it!¡± If he still didn¡¯t know who this young man really was, then Su Jin had failed as the brains of his team.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve just not seen such a foolish person in a long time¡­or rather, it¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve actually seen a human.¡± The young man bowed politely at the three owners with the same smile on his face.

    ¡°Mr. Pinhio, I suppose you¡¯re the one behind all of this!¡± Su Jin addressed the other party directly by his name.

    ¡°Pinhio?!¡± Chu Yi and Ning Meng were still obviously clueless as to who this young man really was and was surprised to hear what Su Jin just said.

    The young man shrugged and grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is all very interesting? For the sake of self-gain, one can find it in himself to even murder a fellowrade who fights alongside him! That¡¯s human nature for you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! Not everyone would do that! I think¡­they must have been too pressured by the stresses of the Handbook¡¯s Challenges!¡± Ning Meng suddenly retorted loudly. She was the only one who did not make any attempt on Chu Yi and Su Jin¡¯s lives, so Pinhio couldn¡¯t use her of such thoughts.

    ¡°Tsk, howughable!¡± Pinhio remained disdainful anyway.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and said to Pinhio, ¡°If you¡¯re here, then if I walk into Pinhio¡¯s story¡­where would the Pinhio from that story go?¡±

    ¡°Teeheehee! Did you see Cindere after walking into her story? Besides, this is me after I became a boy, so my wooden self is still inside the fairytale!¡± said Pinhio gleefully.

    ¡°What on earth are you trying to do? You¡¯re part of the Challenge itself¡­no wait! You¡­you¡¯re an Elder God!¡± Su Jin suddenly realized what was going on. When Ning Meng mentioned the Handbook, Pinhio looked like he knew exactly what she was talking about and he also had the power to affect owners. In that case, there was only one possibility: Pinhio was an Elder God just like the Demon Lord was!

    Pinhio burst outughing. ¡°Did you finally realize that! I thought you wouldn¡¯t notice!¡±

    ¡°Why are you doing this? Are you just making a fool out of us?¡± Su Jin gritted his teeth angrily. He never thought that the entire group would have been a target of an Elder God right from the start.

    Pinhio shook his head and looked so offended as he said, ¡°How could that be? I¡¯m a god, so I wouldn¡¯t do something as pointless as that¡­then again, this was actually really fun too!¡±

    Su Jin was furious but there was nothing much he could do to a god. Chu Yi and Ning Meng were equally furious. If Su Jin didn¡¯t hold them back, they would have tried to attack Pinhio even though he was way more powerful than both of thembined.

    ¡°As for what I¡¯m trying to do, you¡¯re going to find out real soon!¡± Pinhio smiled mysteriously, then pointed a finger at the portal doors.

    Just then, the door to Snow White¡¯s story shed and Kano Mai appeared. Her entire body was covered with blood, and there was a wound on her waist was so deep, it nearly sliced her in half. Her beautiful face had a gaping hole in it, as if someone had stabbed a spear right through it. She was also holding onto a bloodied red apple.

    ¡°Mai!¡± Su Jin got a shock but before he could recover from it, the portal door to the Ugly Duckling story shed as well and Yang Mo came tumbling out.

    He was in even worser shape. His lower half was nowhere to be seen and his entrails were just hanging out of his upper half. His face was distorted in pain but he was holding onto a feather in his hand.

    Su Jin grabbed the feather and the red apple and yelled loudly, ¡°End the Challenge! End the Challenge right now! We¡¯ve gathered enough treasures to end the Challenge, so end it right now!!¡± The only way the two of them would survive was to send them to their Personal Hell Domains right now.

    Pinhio nodded as he slowly took the feather, the ss slipper, the scale, the jacket and the apple from Su Jin. But at the same time, Su Jin noticed a sneer on Pinhio¡¯s face.

    Su Jin quickly pulled his hands back but was only able to hold onto the ss slipper and the apple. Pinhio was holding tightly to the other three items.

    ¡°Oh, did you notice something?¡± Pinhio looked a little displeased.

    ¡°You¡­you don¡¯t intend to end this Challenge at all! Or perhaps¡­perhaps the requirements to end this Challenge weren¡¯t the correct ones to begin with! You lied to us right from the start!¡± Su Jin shook his head in horror. He felt that his hypothesis was probably right.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Everything was a lie right from the start. But I¡¯m not the one who lied to you. Otherwise, my nose would have grown much longer than this.¡± Pinhioughed and pointed at Kano Mai and Yang Mo. ¡°Oh look! Yourpanions are about to die!¡±

    Su Jin turned to look at Kano Mai and Yang Mo to see that Chu Yi and Ning Meng were trying their best to attend to their injuries, but the two of them were too severely wounded. Only their Hell Domains would be able to heal them. Su Jin did still have one All Purpose Healing Pill, but that wasn¡¯t helpful for such severe injuries.

    ¡°What on earth do you want?!¡± Su Jin roared angrily.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to know very soon!¡± Pinhio floated into the air and seemed to sit down on an invisible chair and crossed his legs, as if he was waiting to watch a good show.

    Su Jin rushed over to Kano Mai and Yang Mo¡¯s side as he med himself for being too careless. If he had been more careful, this wouldn¡¯t have happened.

    ¡°Jin¡­I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think¡­I don¡¯t think I can continue this journey¡­with you¡­I¡­I¡¯ll have to¡­leave the team in advance¡­¡± She was still beautiful despite the gaping wound on her face, but this beautiful flower was about to wilt.

    ¡°No!! You¡¯re my very first team mate! I will not let you die like this! I will not!¡± Su Jin held onto her hand tightly, wishing that if he held onto her tightly enough, she wouldn¡¯t leave him.

    Kano Mai smiled faintly and shook her head at Su Jin as her voice grew weaker, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry¡­but I think¡­you¡¯ve always been prepared for a day¡­like this¡­so from today onwards¡­you know what you need to do¡­farewell, my team leader!¡±

    Kano Mai¡¯s hand fell limply from Su Jin¡¯s and the smile on her face slowly faded. He could no longer hear her heartbeat nor her breathing. She was already gone.

    ¡°No¡­no¡­NO!!!¡± Su Jin yelled hysterically. Owners were constantly dying throughout Handbook Challenges, but these owners had been strangers to Su Jin. But Kano Mai was different. They had been through a few Challenges together now and were also very good friends in the real world.

    ¡°You¡¯re biased towards pretty girls after all¡­Su Jin¡­thank you for taking care of me, I¡¯ll go apany Sister Mai now¡­¡± Yang Mo was afraid of dying, but it hade to a point where he was now resigned to it. He had no choice but to face his fears.

    Su Jin let go of Kano Mai¡¯s hand and tried to hang onto Yang Mo¡¯s but it was no use. Yang Mo had already breathed hisst, so there was no way to turn back time.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time!¡± Pinhio took his top hat off and shook it slightly. A man came walking out of the hat.

    The ¡®ka¡¯ in ¡®kano¡¯ means flower, so¡­

    Ngl, I did NOT expect Kano to die. Dang.

 Chapter 83: The Mad Hatter

    <h4>Chapter 83: The Mad Hatter</h4>

    The man who walked out of the hat grew bigger and bigger until he became life size, like he was a magic trick of sorts. He was a middle aged man in a ck suit who bowed slightly towards Su Jin and seemed very gentlemanly.

    On the contrary, Su Jin¡¯s eyes were bloodshot and he held the Boning Knife in his hand. Even though he knew that there was no way he could win a fight against this man, he felt the urge to attack him right now.

    ¡°You¡¯re very angry¡­very good, very good!¡± The middle aged man gave Su Jin a pleased nod as he said with a smile, ¡°I haven¡¯t introduced myself. They call me¡­¡±

    ¡°The Mad Hatter!¡± Su Jin spat his name out before the man could introduce himself. The Demon Lord¡¯s Eye had be his heart now, so he activated its skill when the middle aged man appeared, but the only information he got was his name.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wondend!¡± The Mad Hatter smiled.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care where you¡¯re from or what you are!¡± shouted Su Jin angrily.

    The Mad Hatter shook his head and smiled gently. ¡°I can understand why you¡¯re so angry. When Alice died¡­I was just like you, or even angrier. You have no idea how hard I searched for a way to revive Alice.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± Su Jin blinked. He could see where the Mad Hatter was going with this and asked, ¡°Did you seed?¡±

    ¡°No, I failed! Alice had died for too long, so the method I found could not revive her.¡± The Mad Hatter shook his head and Su Jin could see the deep pain and regret in his eyes.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi¡¯s hearts started pounding. What the Mad Hatter was implying was clear. There was a way to revive the dead, but they must not be dead for too long.

    ¡°I get it now. This was your n right from the start. You dangled a carrot in front of the other owners and tricked them into killing my friends in order to force me into getting that item for you. What is it you want? Is it the fruit from the Tree of Life?¡± After putting the Mad Hatter¡¯s words together with everything that had happened so far, Su Jin more or less understood what the Mad Hatter was up to.

    Su Jin realized that the missions he saw in the Handbook were probably filled with misinformation too. The reward for finding seven treasures had been too good to be true. The ones who needed seven treasures were actually Pinhio and the Mad Hatter!

    The Mad Hatter nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. I need that item and your team¡¯s performance thus far has been fairly impressive, since you managed to get five items. So, take your pick. I can send you into the story of the Tree of Life and you can pick its fruit to save your friends, or if you prefer, I can consider these items to be mission aplished and end the Challenge right now.¡±

    He was certain that Su Jin would ede to his request.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t even need to think. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°Open the portal to the Tree of Life¡¯s world!¡±

    The Mad Hatter nodded. ¡°Very well. But let me remind you, you must bring back three of the Tree of Life¡¯s fruits.¡±

    ¡°And why should we listen to everything you say? Even if we agree to it now, what makes you trust our word?¡± retorted Chu Yi. He was very upset by how the Mad Hatter seemed to bepletely in control of this situation.

    ¡°Firstly, we are more than able to make sure that even if you only bring one fruit back, that fruit will be mine. Secondly, the fruit can only revive them for a short time and they will still need to return to their Hell Domains in order to be fully restored, otherwise they¡¯ll still die. And we are the only ones who can send you back,¡± exined Pinhio with a gleeful smile.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi quickly realized that they simply had no choice. There was no way for them to fight back nor to say no, or they¡¯d all perish here.

    ¡°Ning Meng, this whole thing has nothing to do with you, so you can just stay here and wait,¡± Su Jin said to Ning Meng. She had been an innocent victim in this whole situation and there was no need for her to risk her life for two dead people she didn¡¯t even know. Furthermore, she wasn¡¯t of any help to Su Jin and Chu Yi, and was probably more of a burden than anything else. They would probably end up having to spend additional energy to take care of her if she came along.

    Ning Meng knew what Su Jin meant and didn¡¯t raise any objections. Every portal represented great danger, so if she didn¡¯t have to be part of it, she didn¡¯t want to either.

    ¡°Open the portal to the Tree of Life!¡± Su Jin said to the Mad Hatter.

    The Mad Hatter quietly tipped his hat and a portal door appeared. The Mad Hatter said to Su Jin and Chu Yi, ¡°A reminder to the both of you, the fruit of the Tree of Life must be consumed immediately after they have been plucked from the Tree of Life. Once you get all three, I will send you back here. One of them will be for me, and the other two must be given to your friends immediately.¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then he and Chu Yi nced at their deadpanions lying on the floor before dashing into the world of the Tree of Life with determined looks on their faces.

    After the two of them had left, Pinhio asked the Mad Hatter a little worriedly, ¡°Back then¡­the Tree of Life was a demigod. We¡¯ve left for so many years, so it might have reached the next level. Do you think they¡¯d be able to aplish this? Why didn¡¯t you get them to go into another story instead?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice. If we want to open that door, we need the purest form of energy, so a fruit from the Tree of Life would be our best choice. If I could send them elsewhere, I wouldn¡¯t have caused the deaths of their friends in order to force them into the world of the Tree of Life.¡± The Mad Hatter shook his head. Su Jin and his team weren¡¯t the first team of owners to arrive at this Challenge, but almost all of them had died by this juncture. Only a small number had found some treasures and chose to leave. Not a single one had actually aplished what the Mad Hatter wanted.

    Of course, if the Mad Hatter pulled together a group of the most powerful veterans, the chances ofpleting this mission would be much higher. But high level veterans were extremely powerful and might not listen to him, so the Mad Hatter had to find owners who could remain under his control. Su Jin and his team had worked out perfectly so far and there was just onest step to go.

    After stepping through the portal door, Su Jin and Chu Yi found themselves atop a hill. This world was very dim and dark clouds covered the sky. Barely any sunlight made it through the dark clouds, so this world seemed especially cold and dreary.

    ¡°Brother Su, I suppose the Mad Hatter and Pinhio are trying to make us find seven treasures, right? But even if we manage to get all the fruits they want, it would only be six treasures in total. We can¡¯t let them have their way! Let¡¯s think of a way to escape when we get back!¡± Chu Yi now bore a grudge against Pinhio and the Mad Hatter, so he refused to let the two Elder Gods have their way.

    But Su Jin sighed listlessly and said, ¡°It¡¯s no use. Besides, they don¡¯t need seven. They just need six. The mission was a lie to begin with and they put this mission there so that we wouldn¡¯t realize that it was all a sham.¡±

    ¡°As long as I became tempted by the prize we would get from collecting so many treasures, I would have fallen for the Mad Hatter¡¯s scheme already. When we got five treasures, the Mad Hatter made use of their ability to affect the other owners to make them try to kill one of us. As long as at least one of us died, the rest of the team would be forced to enter the world of the Tree of Life to find its fruits and they would have the right number of treasures.¡±

    Su Jin was so angry with himself now. In the words of Situ Jin, all intelligent people werecent. Su Jin had underestimated the difficulty of a Level C Challenge. He thought that a group of old timers wouldn¡¯t have any troublepleting it and would be able to deal with any problems that came their way.

    ¡°So¡­they only need six treasures?¡±

    ¡°No, they need seven. But¡­they already have the seventh one,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh as he shook his head.

    .

    Chu Yi frowned for a moment, then he suddenly realized what the seventh item was. ¡°That hat! One of the treasures needed is the Mad Hatter¡¯s hat!¡±

    ¡°You finally realized it?¡± Su Jin chuckled as he patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder, then looked serious again as he said, ¡°In any case, we still have time to reverse this situation. As long as we find the fruits of the Tree of Life, we¡¯ll be able to save Mai and Yang Mo!¡±

    They walked down the hill and wandered about within this unknown world. But their hearts grew more and more anxious as time passed because no matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t see the tree anywhere.

    ¡°Were we sent to a part of the world that¡¯s super far from the Tree of Life?¡± Chu Yi couldn¡¯t figure out why they couldn¡¯t find the tree at all.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. The Mad Hatter needs this fruit as urgently as we do, so there¡¯s no reason why he would make things difficult for us if he didn¡¯t have to¡­did we miss out something?¡±

    He looked around but the entire world seemed to look exactly the same. It was dim, gloomy and void of any structures, as if no humans had ever lived here.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± A thought struck Su Jin. He activated the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye skill and looked in a random direction. His eyes instantly widened in shock.

    ¡°The Tree of Life, a magical nt that exists only in the World of Fairytales has fruits that can grant long life to humans and also raise the dead to life (only if the person has been dead for no more than seven days). After going through the long passage of time, the Tree of Life has begun to merge with the World of Fairytales!¡±

    Su Jin gasped. If he understood this piece of information correctly, the Tree of Life had be the world itself. They didn¡¯t need to find the Tree of Life because they had been on it the whole time.

    ¡°Brother Su, did you manage to find the Tree of Life?¡± Chu Yi asked curiously when he noticed the change in Su Jin¡¯s expression.

    Su Jin nodded and looked at Chu Yi. ¡°I¡¯ve found it!¡±

    ¡°Where is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s everywhere! These mountains, these vastnds, everything!¡±

    ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s insane!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes widened as well as he looked around him.

 Chapter 84: Gift of Life

    <h4>Chapter 84: Gift of Life</h4>

    Su Jin looked up at the sky and found the dark clouds very strange for some reason. After observing them for a while, he realized what the problem was. These dark clouds didn¡¯t move at all. It was as if they were permanently suspended in that position.

    ¡°The fruits of the Tree are in the sky,¡± said Su Jin as he pointed at the dark clouds.

    Chu Yi looked up but couldn¡¯t understand. If the entire world was the Tree itself, why would the fruits be above them?

    ¡°Those aren¡¯t clouds at all. Those are the leaves of the tree. But because they¡¯re huge, they end up casting a shadow on everything below it and so they resemble dark clouds,¡± exined Su Jin.

    Chu Yi blinked in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes and realized that these dark clouds didn¡¯t behave like clouds at all. But it still sounded crazy to him. How big did the tree have to be in order to have leaves asrge as clouds?

    ¡°If the fruits are really up there, how are we going to get there? I can¡¯t fly,¡± said Chu Yi dejectedly.

    Su Jin was also thinking of a way around this problem. Even if Kano Mai were here, her Soul Whisperer couldn¡¯t possibly shoot this far up. They had to find the tree trunk or at least a branch to climb.

    He looked around and quickly noticed that a mountain in the distance looked somewhat odd. It was very dim where they were, so he couldn¡¯t see the peak of that mountain. But it was also possible that he couldn¡¯t see the peak because it was actually a branch of the tree, so the top part extended beyond the clouds.

    ¡°Come with me!¡± said Su Jin before he started running at full speed. He was very strong now, so he could run at a speed that was even faster than the world¡¯s fastest sprinter. Even the best runners in the animal kingdom would lose to Su Jin now. Not only did Su Jin have a lot of stamina, but his muscles did not produce anyctic acid, which enabled him to run at the fastest speed possible for a long time without feeling any muscle aches.

    Chu Yi¡¯s situation was slightly different. His body wasn¡¯t as strong, but his Spirit Power helped him to ovee various physical limitations. So, even if his muscles producedctic acid, his Spirit Power would be able to break it down instantly, thus his movements would not be affected either.

    The two of them ran as quickly as lightning, but the mountain was much further from them than they realized. They ended up running for three whole days. Su Jin couldn¡¯t even estimate the distance they must have covered during this time.

    ¡°I was right!¡± Thankfully, Su Jin¡¯s guess had turned out to be right. This mountain wasn¡¯t a mountain at all. It was one of the Tree¡¯s branches.

    The two of them couldn¡¯t help but stare in awe at the Tree. This Tree was practically a miracle in itself. The Tree was the world and the world was the Tree. They couldn¡¯t imagine how incredible this was.

    ¡°Come along, we¡¯ve got a long way more!¡± Su Jin snapped himself back to reality and hopped onto the branch.

    The branch was huge and the bark wasn¡¯t slippery, so they could move upwards very easily.

    One full dayter, the two of them had finally reached a point where they could touch the dark clouds.

    Su Jin reached out to touch the leaves and found that these leaves were as tough as steel. He tried to cut one of them with his Boning Knife, but was only able to make a small cut in the leaf.

    A green sap flowed out of the leaf and just a whiff of the sap made both of them feel refreshed immediately. The exhaustion they had umted over the past four days of running and climbing had disappearedpletely. Even the mental stress they were under had been lifted significantly.

    ¡°This is really good stuff! This could definitely count as a treasure of sorts!¡± Su Jin and Chu Yi were both very impressed. There was always a chance to take back all kinds of treasures found in the Handbook Challenges. Su Jin¡¯s Boning Knife, Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and Triton¡¯s Cloak were all amazing items he had picked up along the way.

    ¡°Brother Su, why don¡¯t we collect some of these leaves?¡± Chu Yi was very interested in these leaves.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. It was definitely worth collecting some of these leaves. Unfortunately, the only thing that could cut through the stems was Su Jin¡¯s Boning Knife. Chu Yi even tried his Triple Qi Thrust to no avail.

    There was no other choice but for Su Jin to use his Boning Knife to cut the leaves one by one. Several hourster, he had only managed to collect 30 leaves. They didn¡¯t have time to spare anymore, so once they had collected 30 leaves, they continued making their journey upwards.

    Moving through the leaves was actually very difficult. The gigantic tree leaves were very solid and ovepped each other. The Boning Knife was sharp enough to cut through them, but Su Jin would probably die from exhaustion if he had to cut through them all, so they chose to go through any gap they could find.

    After they finally got through a thickyer of leaves, they were almost blinded by a light in front of them. The bright orbs in front of them made them feel like they were looking at a gxy.

    ¡°Are these¡­the fruits of the Tree of Life?¡± Chu Yi stared in shock. But he soon felt that he must have guessed wrongly, because each orb was asrge as a knoll. If these were the fruits they were looking for, then plucking them was a problem in itself.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid they are.¡± Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched. The Tree of Life was so ridiculously huge, even its fruit was humongous. Besides, even if they managed to pluck the fruits and bring them back, how were they supposed to feed it to Kano Mai and Yang Mo?

    Su Jin used the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye skill on one of the bright orbs and got information on it immediately. Just as Chu Yi had guessed, these bright orbs were the fruit of the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Fruit of the Tree of Life. It contains the essence of vitality and can be used in a million and one ways! Status: Unripe¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow at the word ¡®unripe¡¯. If these orbs were unripe fruit, that meant that there were ripe ones somewhere else.

    They started walking around to observe the various fruits they could see and finally found the difference. Even though every fruit gave off light, the light was a different color, and each color corresponded to a different size of fruit.

    ¡°There are green ones, yellow ones and purple ones. The green ones are thergest, followed by the yellow ones, and the purple ones are only as big as an earthen pot. In short, the smaller the fruit, the riper it is!¡± said Su Jin after checking all three types he could see. The smallest purple one was almost ripe.

    ¡°In that case, a fully ripened fruit would probably be around the same size as a normal fruit,¡± said Chu Yi.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°The riper the fruit, the higher up it is. We have to keep going up.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡± Chu Yi swung his arms like he was warming up, then he exerted force into his legs and shot upwards like a rocket to hop from one fruit to the next. He was treating the fruits like a trampoline.

    Su Jin followed his example and they used the fruits to move upwards. They quickly reached another thickyer of leaves and had to find gaps between the leaves to continue upwards again.

    ¡°This has got to be the highest point of the tree, right?¡± blurted Chu Yi immediately after they made it out of the leaves. He went into a daze as he stared at the view around him because it was simply too shocking.

    ¡°Are we in¡­outer space?¡± Su Jin was equally lost for words. It was rather cold up here and they could see the stars. The orbs they could see in the distance weren¡¯t fruits but actuals.

    ¡°But if we¡¯re in outer space, why aren¡¯t we having any difficulty breathing?¡± asked Chu Yi quizzically. He didn¡¯t know much about outer space but he had some basic general knowledge.

    Su Jin pondered this question for a while, then said, ¡°Perhaps the Tree of Life makes a difference. Trees give off oxygen, after all! We¡¯re surrounded by the Tree of Life, so it makes sense for us to still have sufficient oxygen to breathe.¡±

    Chu Yi nodded, then looked around. His eyes suddenly lit up and he tugged at Su Jin. ¡°Brother Su! Those things over there¡­those must be the ripe fruits, right?!¡±

    Su Jin turned to see several red orbs floating in the distance and immediately checked on them with his skill. Chu Yi was right. Those were indeed the ripe fruits of the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Bingo!¡± Su Jin nodded and they immediately dashed towards the fruits. But the moment they came near to one, the fruit floated away from them.

    ¡°Why are they able to move?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect that to happen. But unlike the unripe fruits they saw earlier, these ripe ones weren¡¯t attached to the tree by a much longer and thinner stem, so they looked as though they were just floating about randomly and were thus able to move away with ease.

    ¡°Let me try!¡± said Chu Yi. He got himself into a half-squat position and adjusted his breathing pattern. Su Jin watched as a gust of wind formed around Chu Yi¡¯s body.

    ¡°Go!¡± Chu Yi gave a low shout as he thrust his hands out, sending the gust of wind towards one of the fruits.

    But just before the wind could reach the fruit, Chu Yi heard something shooting towards him, so he quickly moved aside. He turned back and saw that the ce where he was standing earlier was filled with severalrge wooden splinters.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Su Jin saw those splinters and immediately became wary of his surroundings, but couldn¡¯t find where this sudden attack hade from.

    ¡°Was it¡­the Tree itself?¡± Chu Yi was the victim, so he had a better idea of what happened.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes as he traced the splinters¡¯ trajectory based on the angle at which they had stabbed into the ground. He soon found the source of the splinters. Some thorns were sticking out of the Tree of Life¡¯s branch.

    ¡°It¡¯s really the Tree of Life protecting its own fruit!¡± Su Jin sighed. He had guessed as much, since it made sense for such a majestic source of life to be sentient to a certain extent.

    Just then, Su Jin noticed something from the corner of his eye. It looked like a human¡¯s face, but it was covered by the tree bark.

    Su Jin used his Boning Knife to cut some of the bark away and froze when he saw that face clearly. That face belonged to Prince Charming!

 Chapter 85: Prince Charming Reappears

    <h4>Chapter 85: Prince Charming Reappears</h4>

    ¡°Why is it this guy again?!¡± Chu Yi was shocked to see the prince here.

    ¡°Let me out!!¡± Just when Chu Yi was staring at the prince, the prince suddenly opened his eyes and yelled so loudly that Chu Yi got a fright. Chu Yi took several steps back and even felt all his hair stand on end.

    ¡°What the fuck was that?! I¡¯ll send you straight to hell someday, I swear!¡± Chu Yi yelled back angrily from his shock.

    Su Jin pulled the agitated Chu Yi aside and told him to calm down, then said to the prince, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Humph! That¡¯s none of your business, you mere mortal! You are not qualified to speak to me. Only the fellow who possessed your body is qualified.¡± The prince was behaved arrogantly because mortals like Su Jin were as good as worms in the ground to a demigod like himself.

    ¡°The fellow who possessed your body?¡± Chu Yi was confused.

    Su Jin immediately replied, ¡°If you want us to help you get out of there, then you have to answer my question honestly. I asked you, why are you here?¡±

    The prince hesitated for a moment but eventually decided to cooperate with Su Jin. He had been trapped here by the Tree of Life, so unless the Tree decided to let go of him, he could only break free with the help of someone else.

    ¡°I came here to look for a chance to ascend to godhood,¡± grumbled the prince.

    ¡°Ascend to godhood?!¡± Su Jin had no idea that the Demon Lord had previously spoken to the prince, and also didn¡¯t know about how the Demon Lord had lied to the prince.

    ¡°A mortal like you wouldn¡¯t understand! I¡¯ve got to swallow the Tree of Life! That¡¯s the only way I can be a god!¡± snapped the prince in an arrogant voice.

    Su Jin more or less figured out what was going on. The prince had tried to fight the Tree of Life in order to be a god.

    This gave Su Jin an idea. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If the Tree of Life was going to guard its fruit like that, then Su Jin needed someone powerful to distract the Tree.

    ¡°Why are the two of you here? Oh I know! Both of you want to swallow the Tree as well! You foolish humans! You¡¯re so weak and you have such lofty dreams? What a joke!¡± The prince was already a little off his rocker to begin with and now, he seemed to trust his own guesses more than anybody else.

    Su Jin scoffed and said, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in the Tree of Life. I¡¯m here on an unexpected mission. I can help you to get out of there, but¡­you have to agree to one request I have!¡±

    ¡°Mere mortals are not qualified to negotiate with gods! Get me out now, otherwise I¡¯ll hack you into a million pieces once I¡¯m out of here!¡± the prince threatened the two of them.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi almost burst outughing. This prince was pretty formidable in terms of his skill and power, but his brain was certainly not worthy of the title ¡®demigod¡¯.

    ¡°Brother Su, let¡¯s move on. Let¡¯s just leave this demigod prince to have fun on his own. We don¡¯t have to get him out of there, it¡¯s no loss to us,¡± Chu Yi deliberately provoked the prince as he pulled at Su Jin and pretended like he wanted to leave right now.

    ¡°Wait!¡± The prince was stubborn in speech, but he did need Su Jin and Chu Yi¡¯s help very badly, so he finally chose to humble himself. ¡°Fine, you little mortals! If you help me out of here, I¡¯ll agree to one condition of yours!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Su Jin gave the prince a pleased smile. ¡°It¡¯s very simple. I want you to defeat the Tree of Life!¡±

    The prince was stunned for a moment before a crazed grin took over his face. ¡°Haha! If that¡¯s all you want, then that¡¯s not a problem! Even if you didn¡¯t ask me to do that, I would have done it anyway! So, get me out of here right now!¡±

    Su Jin nodded as he took out his Boning Knife and used the Attack of the Demon Lord multiple times. The tree bark finally gave way under the continuous attack. But the moment the bark split open, Su Jin and Chu Yi suddenly realized that they couldn¡¯t move.

    ¡°You stupid mortals! Did you think you could really negotiate terms with a demigod?¡± The prince suspended a clenched fist in the air as he stared at them with a sinister look on his face.

    Su Jin was convulsing because using this Spirit Power that didn¡¯t belong to him continued to cause him pain and suffering even though the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye had taken the ce of his actual heart and he didn¡¯t need to worry about it being eaten away by the Demon Lord anymore. Yet at the same time, the pain he was going through would help to increase his Psychokic Spirit Power levels.

    ¡°Are you¡­are you really going to kill me?¡± Su Jin trembled as one of his eyes suddenly turnedpletely ck. ¡°Do you want him toe here instead?¡±

    The prince froze for a moment. He remembered that eye. The owner of that eye was the one who had told him the way to be a god. The prince hesitated for a moment, then put his clenched fist down, and both Su Jin and Chu Yi could move again.

    ¡°Fine! I¡¯m grateful to that fellow for telling me his secret, so I¡¯m just repaying the favor this way!¡± snapped the prince frostily before turning to takerge strides in the opposite direction.

    The prince was more afraid of the Demon Lord than grateful to him. The Tree of Life was already tough enough to deal with. After his first battle with the Tree of Life, he had ended up getting trapped in the tree bark. If he caused a god toe here because he had killed Su Jin, then the prince might end up dying.

    Su Jin fell to the ground as he gasped for air. His body was still trembling slightly. His eye had reverted to its normal state again as well. His eye hadn¡¯t turned ck because the Demon Lord had possessed him. He had just used the Demon Lord Spirit Power within him to recreate this illusion, and this was the best he could do. Demon Lord Spirit Power wasn¡¯t his own Spirit Power after all. Thankfully, the ruse worked.

    Meanwhile, the prince had already gone quite some distance from them. He suddenly gave an angry shout and leaped into the sky.

    ¡°Chu Yi! Prepare to get those fruits!¡± Su Jin endured the pain he felt and got up. He was hoping that the prince was powerful enough to keep the Tree of Life upied while they plucked the fruits.

    Chu Yi nodded and mustered up all his Spirit Energy. This was their best chance at getting a fruit. If they still couldn¡¯t get a fruit this way, then they were probably doomed to return without any.

    It didn¡¯t take long for explosive sounds to resound from above, as if a thousand bombs had just gone off in the sky. They could even feel the Tree shaking.

    ¡°HAHA! Just let me swallow you whole! The World of Fairytales haven¡¯t had a god in a long time now, so let me be god and I will reshape this World!¡± dered the prince in a maniacal voice.

    ¡°Are you insane? That¡¯s not how one bes a god, Prince Charming! You¡¯ve been tricked!¡± A mighty voice filled the air and clearly belonged to the Tree of Life. But the voice didn¡¯t sound like it wasing from afar. It seemed to boom inside their own heads.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one trying to fool me! You¡¯re just afraid to die! If you¡¯re willing to sacrifice yourself, the World of Fairytales can go back to what it once was, so let me swallow you! Isn¡¯t it your dream to reshape this World?¡± the prince¡¯s maniacal voice shouted back.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough! You have been so foolish! If swallowing another power is enough to be god, I would have swallowed the entire World of Fairytales by now! You wouldn¡¯t even get a chance!¡± The Tree of Life was getting angry now and Su Jin and Chu Yi realized that countless vines were growing upwards towards the sky.

    ¡°Now!¡± yelled Su Jin. This was their chance!

    Chu Yi immediately sent all his Spirit Power swirling towards the ripened fruits. The Tree of Life was too busy fighting the prince, so it wasn¡¯t able to give its fruits any attention or energy. Even though the fruits were able to move on their own, they could not ovee Chu Yi¡¯s Spirit Power and Chu Yi was able to stop them from moving away.

    ¡°Woohoo!¡± Su Jin was overjoyed. There were five ripe fruits in total and they were all within Chu Yi¡¯s control now.

    Chu Yi had to focus on controlling his Spirit Power, so he couldn¡¯t move from his spot. Su Jin struggled to get up so that he could cut the fruits off their stem. He stumbled over to each one of them and used his hand to pluck the fruits. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t greedy and only took three of them, since the Mad Hatter said that the fruits shriveled up quickly after they had been plucked from the Tree, so he couldn¡¯t keep any for future use.

    ¡°We¡¯re done!¡± Su Jin nodded at Chu Yi and Chu Yi immediately released the other two fruits. By this time, the Tree had also noticed that someone had plucked its fruits without permission, so the vines that had shot up earlier came back down to catch the two thieves.

    But at that exact moment, Su Jin and Chu Yi were surrounded by a white light and immediately after that, they appeared before the Mad Hatter.

    Su Jin immediately threw one of the fruits at the Mad Hatter, threw another one to Chu Yi, then brought thest one to Kano Mai. He pushed the fruit into her mouth and it instantly turned into a beam of red light that went straight into Kano Mai¡¯s body. The same thing happened to Yang Mo.

    Once the red light went into their bodies, color returned to their faces and they started breathing again.

    ¡°Send us back now!¡± Su Jin shouted to the Mad Hatter.

    The Mad Hatter didn¡¯t intend to go back on his word. He replied, ¡°Give me the two treasures you are still holding onto.¡±

    Su Jin was in no position to negotiate with the Mad Hatter, so he threw the other two treasures to the Mad Hatter as well. The Mad Hatter caught them both and put them inside his hat like the other items.

    ¡°Before leaving, I¡¯d like to leave you with somest words. Their physical bodies will be restored by their Hell Domains, but their souls are temporarily restored by the power of the fruit of the Tree of Life. This power will eventually be used up and they will still die after that,¡± the Mad Hatter said to Su Jin.

    .

    Su Jin red at him and raised his voice, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡±

    ¡°If I said so, would you have given up getting the fruit to revive them? Since you did such a good job in getting all of this done, let me give you a suggestion. Try to find something that can boost their soul strength. Also, the stronger your physical body is, the faster you will consume your soul strength!¡± The Mad Hatter ended with a cackle.

    Su Jin tried his best to suppress his anger since losing his temper was pointless at this point in time. He said to Ning Meng, ¡°Ning Meng, we¡¯re about to return to our Hell Domains and we might never see each other again. So now, I want to ask if you want to join my team.¡±

    Su Jin was inviting Ning Meng to the team purely because Ning Meng had been able to hold up against the temptation of killing a fellow owner and even warning Chu Yi to be careful. This was a character trait that was hard toe by and Su Jin was sure that nobody would object to having a trustworthy team mate like her.

    Ning Meng was very excited and she nodded. ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Good! Put your hand here! Hurry!¡± Su Jin said to Ning Meng.

    Ning Meng ced her hand on his Handbook. Su Jin quickly squeezed a drop of blood out and the demonic hand that appeared turned into the familiar boning knife symbol on Ning Meng¡¯s arm.

    At the same time, Su Jin heard ckie¡¯s voice announce, ¡°Congrattions, your team is nowplete! You have unlocked a new area: Hell¡¯s Bar!¡±

 Chapter 86: Good Items or Pointless Items?

    <h4>Chapter 86: Good Items or Pointless Items?</h4>

    Meanwhile, the Mad Hatter and Pinhio stood side by side in the midst of the darkness. The Mad Hatter held up his hat carefully and six different colored lights glowed from within.

    ¡°Is it working?¡± Pinhio looked a little anxious as he focused his gaze on the glow in the hat with a yearning look in his eyes.

    ¡°Wait a while more, just a while more!¡± The Mad Hatter licked his lips nervously. He hadn¡¯t felt so nervous ever since he became a god. And now, the anxiety he felt was so overwhelming, he started trembling.

    The Mad Hatter shook his hat slightly and his breathing quickened. The hat itself turned into a beam of light that enveloped the other six lights.

    All seven colors merged into one bright orb and trembled in the air in front of the two of them, as if it might explode anytime. The trembling became more and more violent and the darkness they were in seemed like it was about to fall apart.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± the Mad Hatter asked Pinhio.

    Pinhio shook his head vigorously. ¡°You¡¯re going to leave just like that?¡±

    ¡°What else?¡± the Mad Hatter asked in return.

    ¡°What about the World of Fairytales? Prince Charming and the Tree of Life are still fighting and we¡¯re going to just leave? We¡¯re the only two gods left from the World of Fairytales, so we should be protecting it!¡±

    ¡°Shut up, you stupid blockhead! Don¡¯t you get it? The World of Fairytales doesn¡¯t exist anymore! Look at those dark stories! That disgusting world! Everything is different now! What we need is¡­revenge!¡± The Mad Hatter¡¯s previously elegant and gentlemanly demeanor was now distorted with rage.

    Dark mes of fire illuminated his body when he got angry. He grabbed hold of Pinhio¡¯s neck and they red at each other like a pair of ferocious dogs.

    Pinhio sighed and pulled the Mad Hatter¡¯s hand away. He walked towards the portal doors and saw that the portal doors were already crumbling to pieces, which meant that the World of Fairytales was also crumbling to pieces, including the story he should have been part of.

    ¡°Alright then! We¡¯ll go with what you said. But¡­who should we look for to take revenge?¡± Pinhio changed his mind after watching the World of Fairytales slowly fall apart.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we¡¯ll eventually find out. Let¡¯s just leave the world that has trapped us all this time first!¡± said the Mad Hatter gently. He caressed the trembling orb of light, then smashed it with a mighty punch and a brilliant beam of light shot out from within.

    The light was so brilliant that everything it hit was destroyed, including the darkness they were in right now. A smile spread across the Mad Hatter¡¯s face. This was what he wanted. He had wanted to put all these treasures together for this very moment.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s opening up!¡± the Mad Hatter yelled with a smile.

    The darkness they were in was now engulfed in light.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know where it leads to, but it¡¯s better than being stuck here!¡± Pinhio shrugged.

    They leaped together into the light.

    After they leaped into the light, the light continued to destroy everything around it. Any part of the World of Fairytales that had not crumbled earlier was sucked into the light and destroyed.

    Several momentster, the light slowly dimmed and the entire ce was dark again.

    Level B Challenge ¡°Fairytales of Horror¡±pleted: 1000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 5, 400 points

    Degree of Challenge Participation: A, 700 points

    Completed optional mission of destroying seven treasures: 2000 points

    Points Received: 4100

    Total Points: 7050

    Su Jin gave the point calction a quick nce. The field he cared about the most was the fact that all five of his team members had survived, which meant that Kano Mai and Yang Mo had indeed made it back alive. This made him breathe a big sigh of relief.

    But to his surprise, the reward for the supposedly fake mission turned out to be the same the reward that the Handbook was actually giving, except that the mission of collecting seven treasures had be a mission to destroy seven treasures.

    ¡°So, those seven treasures have been destroyed?¡± Su Jin was quite puzzled, but since the Challenge had beenpleted, what happened to those treasures had nothing to do with him.

    ¡°Do you need to appraise any of your items?¡± ckie¡¯s voice piped up as it reminded Su Jin that he had taken some items back from the Challenge.

    ¡°Are you talking about these?¡± Su Jin flipped open his Handbook. Triton¡¯s Cloak, that gold armor and 15 leaves from the Tree of Life were inside.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! It will cost you 3000 points to appraise the cloak, 1000 points for the armor and just 200 points for the leaves,¡± ckie quickly listed the cost of appraising the items.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. He was getting them appraised, not buying them! The price of appraising the cloak was enough to buy a high level Spirit Power weapon.

    .

    ¡°Just a reminder, the price for appraising the item is in proportion to the value of the item. If you do not appraise the item, you will not be able to use them at all,¡± ckie reminded Su Jin, as if ckie knew what Su Jin was thinking about.

    Su Jin thought through this for a while. He had hoped to exchange his points this time for the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir, but if the cost of appraisal was proportionate to the value of the item, then it meant that Triton¡¯s Cloak might be even more powerful than the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir, since the elixir only needed 6000 points to purchase.

    ¡°Alright then! Please appraise the cloak for me!¡± said Su Jin through gritted teeth. The fact that the cloak was able to protect its owner automatically from most attacks was already quite incredible in itself. If it possessed other skills after the appraisal process, then it would definitely be a lot more useful to him than the elixir.

    ¡°Alright! Appraisalplete, 3000 points deducted.¡± ckie was super efficient. A beam of light scanned the Handbook and the appraisal process waspleted.

    ¡°Earth Level Spirit Power item, Gift from the Gods. It is a powerful item that has the blessings of the gods, so once charged with Spirit Power, you will have the power of the gods temporarily.¡±

    ¡°Skill 1: Protection of the Gods. Activated with 200 points of non-negative Spirit Power. Any elemental attacks will have no effect for 10 minutes, cool down period is 24 hours.¡±

    ¡°Skill 2: Walking on Air. Consumes 10 points of non-negative Spirit Power for each minute used. Gives owner the ability to walk on air.¡±

    ¡°Passive skill: Protect owner. The Gift from the Gods has basic sentience and will protect the owner from all ordinary physical attacks.¡±

    Su Jin stared in shock at the cloak that was now called the Gift from the Gods. This cloak¡¯s passive skill was already very formidable, but its two main skills were even more incredible.

    ¡°Calm down! Calm down! This is a very good item to have, but it requires way too much Spirit Power. The Protection of the Gods not only consumes a lot of Spirit Power, the cool down time is extremely long too. It will not make sense to use this skill unless absolutely necessary.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. Skill 1 sounded insanely awesome, but it required too much Spirit Power and he didn¡¯t even have enough Spirit Power to use it once. Since it needed non-negative Spirit Power, he was pretty sure Demon Lord Spirit Power wasn¡¯t going to work. In short, Skill 1 was out of the picture for him.

    But Skill 2 caught Su Jin¡¯s eye. Walking on air was basically as good as flying. It would cost him 10 points of Spirit Power per minute, so he could deal with that but not for long.

    As for the cloak¡¯s passive skill, Su Jin had already experienced it and it was a really good skill to have. Having this Gift from the Gods was definitely an advantage in a Challenge that didn¡¯t involve the supernatural.

    ¡°The cost of appraisal is indeed proportionate to the value of the item.¡± Su Jin was very pleased with the Gift from the Gods. He looked towards the gold armor. It cost quite a bit to appraise this thing too.

    ¡°I¡¯ll appraise this one too!¡± Su Jin was the type who loved opening loot boxes in the first ce and this appraisal process was quite simr to opening a loot box, so he simply couldn¡¯t resist the temptation.

    ¡°Appraisalplete, 1000 points deducted.¡± Once Su Jin gave the go ahead, ckie appraised the item in an instant.

    ¡°Level A Spirit Power item. Gold Armor. Defense is not its strongest suit, but ites with abilities that other Spirit Power items do not have.¡±

    ¡°Skill: Air of an Overlord. Requires 100 points of Spirit Power. It carries a high probability and no differentiation of targets, shocks and makes surrounding targets giddy for one second. For ordinary targets, it carries a high probability of adding on the effect of admiration.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this? A group control function?¡± Su Jin nearly burst outughing. To put it simply, this was a skill that could be used on a group. He wasn¡¯t sure what was this about having no differentiation of targets, and what on earth was this effect of admiration all about? The skill name alone sounded hrious to him.

    Thest item he was left with were the leaves from the Tree of Life. Appraising this item was cheappared to the rest, but it was definitely not a Spirit Power item, so 200 points suddenly seemed quite expensive.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just appraise the leaves too.¡± It was thest item, so Su Jin decided to just go ahead with appraising it too.

    ¡°Appraisalplete, 200 points deducted.¡±

    Su Jin looked into his Handbook again and his eyes finally lit up. ¡°The Leaves from the Tree of Lifee from the magical giant tree from the World of Fairytales. Contains a huge amount of the Essence of Life. The Essence of Life can be obtained by juicing the leaves. Consuming the Essence of Life can restore one¡¯s physical energy quickly and can restore one¡¯s Spirit Power slowly. The Leaves can be eaten without being juiced, but overconsumption will cause the person to turn into wood.¡±

    If one described the Handbook Challenges as a video game, then these Leaves were a healing potion of sorts. Its ability to restore Spirit Power was what caught Su Jin¡¯s attention.

    In general, Su Jin was rather pleased with these three items. The Gift from the Gods and the Gold Armor were very powerful items but they were not very useful to him at the moment. The Gift from the Gods required too much Spirit Power and Su Jin didn¡¯t have enough to use its skills. The Gold Armor¡¯s ability to control masses was more hrious than anything else, but since there was no differentiation in targets, Su Jin had to be careful if he used it. The Leaves of the Tree of Life were a good healing potion, but the fact that overconsumption would turn one into a tree meant that Su Jin had to be careful with using that as well.

    The other information he had gained from this appraisal was that the Gift from the Gods was considered an Earth Level item. He did know about the fact that Spirit Power items were split into different levels. His Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife and Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow were Level B and Level A respectively.

    The Handbook Challenges were also split into four levels, from A to D. But this new level ssification bothered Su Jin. If there was an Earth Level, did that mean a Heaven Level existed too? And was there anything higher than Heaven Level? Were these levels applicable only to equipment, or were there Challenges with these levels as well, just that he hadn¡¯t experienced them yet?

    In any case, the description of the Gift from the Gods as an Earth Level item made Su Jin think about many other things, and he felt that he could actually confirm some of them.

    The name in Chinese can sound either like the Air of an Overlord or the Air of a Douchebag/Asshole/Bastard

 Chapter 87: Full Team

    <h4>Chapter 87: Full Team</h4>

    Su Jin closed his Handbook and asked a question that had been on his mind since the Challenge ended. He wanted to know more about this Hell¡¯s Bar.

    ¡°ckie, what is the Hell¡¯s Bar?¡±

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Bar! Once an owner haspleted 20 Challenges or a small team gets five members, ess to Hell¡¯s Bar will be granted. Hell¡¯s Bar is a ce where owners can gather to exchange items, recruit new members, ask for information and more. Entry into Hell¡¯s Bar will cost 100 points. For teams, the team leader needs to pay 200 points and the whole team can enter the Bar,¡± exined ckie in great detail.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise. He didn¡¯t expect such a ce to exist. He thought that besides meeting other owners during a Challenge, the only other way was to run into them by chance in the real world.

    ¡°How do I get in there?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re in a ce that doesn¡¯t have any non-owners, you can open your Handbook and choose to go in.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. Entering the Bar was easy and this was a great ce to have ess to. Besides the possibilities of making exchanges of items and information, the fact that the team members had a physical ce to gather besides the Challenges themselves was great for the team.

    He also took a quick nce at his Spirit Power. After going through thest Challenge, his Psychokinesis had gone from a maximum of 100 points to 140 points. Demon Lord Spirit Power had clearly been of great use to the improving of his own Spirit Power. The only drawback was the terrible pain. Su Jin would never forget that sort of pain.

    ¡°Well, either way, at least I¡¯ve found a way of pushing the limit upwards,¡± muttered Su Jin with a sigh. The process was painful, but the improvement was significant.

    He suddenly shut his eyes. The Demon Lord¡¯s Eye was now his heart, so if he wanted to check its status, he just needed to shut his eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s really recharging itself.¡± The Demon Lord¡¯s Eye showed that it still contained about 2000 points of Demon Lord Spirit Power. During the Challenge, Su Jin had used Demon Lord Spirit Power several times and had definitely used way over 1000 points in the process. So, the fact that he had 2000 points left meant that the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye was indeed regenerating Demon Lord Spirit Power.

    After a few moments, he entered the Team Domain and saw that the other four were already waiting for him inside. They had obviously been waiting for some time.

    ¡°Boss!¡± Yang Mo waved excitedly at Su Jin. Kano Mai sat next to him and smiled faintly as she nodded at Su Jin.

    Su Jin broke into a smile and walked over as he said to Kano Mai and Yang Mo, ¡°How are both of you? Still alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright I guess! Just feeling a little tired.¡± Yang Mo scratched his head, looked himself over, then patted his chest to show that he was fine.

    Su Jin turned to look at Kano Mai and she smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°The more you insist you¡¯re fine, the more worried I am,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. Kano Mai was the type who didn¡¯t want others to worry about her, so even if something was wrong, she probably wouldn¡¯t mention it.

    She smiled even more brightly and patted Su Jin¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. Mai-oneesan is standing in front of you in one good piece, isn¡¯t she? Oh, and before I lost consciousness, I heard someone bawl REALLY loudly too!¡±

    Su Jin rubbed his nose embarrassedly while everyone else tried hard not tough. He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Well, that¡­hey, by the way, the team has activated a new function!¡±

    ¡°HAHAHA!¡±

    ¡°Jin, you¡¯re SO cute!¡±

    Everyone knew that Su Jin was just trying to change the topic, so they all burst outughing, which made Su Jin even more embarrassed.

    Kano Mai helped him to get out of the situation by saying, ¡°Alright, alright! We¡¯ve got a new function! Don¡¯t you guys want to know what it is?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± the other three responded in unison. But they were still clearlyughing at him.

    Su Jin proceeded to tell them about Hell¡¯s Bar with a straight face.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about anything else, but¡­¡± Chu Yi¡¯s expression was serious as he spoke up and only broke into a smile when everyone looked at him. ¡°That means Brother Su¡¯s gonna give us a treat at the Bar!¡±

    Su Jinughed and nodded. It wasn¡¯t always easy being a team leader after all.

    ¡°We need some items that can boost their soul strengths, so Hell¡¯s Bar will definitely be of great help to us in this aspect. I hope we get some useful information there.¡± Su Jin sighed. Kano Mai and Yang Mo weren¡¯t in the clear just yet. Their souls could fade anytime, so they had to find a way to boost their soul strength as soon as possible.

    The only thing left to do was to strengthen the team. Kano Mai and Yang Mo couldn¡¯t strengthen their bodies any further in order to conserve soul strength, but since one was a sniper and the other a healer, it was alright not to strengthen their bodies. They just needed to fortify their other characteristics.

    Su Jin was still hoping to get the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir, but he didn¡¯t have enough points, so he could only look at it.

    Chu Yi, on the other hand, was going to rely on his Spirit Power.

    ¡°You might get involved in a physical fight, so why don¡¯t you get some weapons?¡± suggested Su Jin.

    But Chu Yi shook his head. ¡°No need. The true meaning of martial arts is to fight with whatever you¡¯ve been given. Weapons are what the weak and cowardly use to help them feel braver!¡±

    The moment Chu Yi said such insulting words, everyone else started berating him. All of them needed to rely on weapons in some way or another besides himself.

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a mean thing to say!¡± Yang Mo was very unhappy to hear these words. He had a healer¡¯s role, but he too, needed some sort of weapon to defend himself.

    Chu Yi quickly smiled and apologized to everyone as he said, ¡°No, no that¡¯s not what I meant! None of you are martial artists or have any innate ability to fight. I¡¯m referring to martial artists! The ones who have to fight on the frontlines!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes. What Chu Yi said had eliminated everyone else except Su Jin, which made it personal now.

    Chu Yi suddenly realized what he just said and apologized again, ¡°Brother Su, I¡¯m not talking about you! I¡¯m talking about¡­oh, forget it! I won¡¯t say anymore!¡±

    Everyone burst outughing again when they saw how miserable Chu Yi looked after all his attempts to exin himself had failed. When they were alone, they didn¡¯t get a chance tough to their hearts content like this. This team wasn¡¯t the most powerful right now, but it was a safe and assuring haven for them.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re all set, then¡­Ning Meng, do you have any ideas on what sort of role you want to y?¡± Su Jin turned to look at Ning Meng. This was only her second Challenge, so she didn¡¯t know what she wanted to strengthen herself in.

    Ning Meng thought about it for a while, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with whatever the team needs and strengthen myself in any area we¡¯re stillcking in.¡±

    She was a very agreeable character, but Su Jin didn¡¯t think it was appropriate to just pick something random for her either. Chu Yi and himself were the melee fighters, Kano Mai was their long distance expert, while Yang Mo was the medic. This team was actually considered an all rounded team with just four persons.

    ¡°You¡¯d definitely need something that will help with your own survival, and as for what the team needs now¡­why not be the team¡¯s stealth user?¡± Kano Mai suddenly piped up.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up and Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Being able to go undercover or disguising yourself will help to keep yourself safe, and you¡¯d also be able to help the team to conduct reconnaissance or assassinate someone. Ning Meng, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good with that!¡± Ning Meng was willing to do anything that would benefit the team, which was the smart thing to do. If she was useful to the team, the team would value her and protect her. She would be an indispensable member of the team and be in a safer position that way.

    She only received the basic 1000 points from her first challenge and she had used most of it on various items already. Luckily, she had received high points this time round. After the system confirmed that everyone had destroyed the seven treasures, Ning Meng had received a total exceeding 3000 points.

    ¡°Speaking of which, can these supposed gods seriously be so powerful that they can change the world of the Handbook? If that¡¯s the case, what should we do if we run into such characters again?¡± Kano Mai was really worried.

    Su Jin shook his head andughed sadly. ¡°Our concept was wrong to begin with. I think, even the gods in these Challenges are not powerful enough to change anything in this universe.¡±

    ¡°So why did the actual mission differ from what we saw initially?¡± Chu Yi was still confused.

    Su Jin pointed to his eyes and said, ¡°Think about it in another way. They can¡¯t change anything in this universe, so it means that they can change what we are able to see!¡±

    Everyone was stunned by this possibility. They believed in Su Jin¡¯s judgement, but this only made them feel even more terrified. If these gods could decide what they could see, then could they still believe what they saw in the Handbook the next time? What if they ran into a god again? How could they tell what was real and what wasn¡¯t?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it. Even gods would be subject to certain parameters. We ran into two gods, the Mad Hatter and Pinhio, yet all they could do was to alter what we saw very slightly. Also, I think it has something to do with their own personal characteristics,¡± Su Jin assured everyone.

    Everyone was a little more assured after hearing these words.

    Ning Meng proceeded to choose the items she needed under the guidance of the rest. She was quite lucky, so she managed to get a Camouge Cloak, which could help the user to conceal themselves to a certain extent.

    Once that was all done, everybody returned to their Personal Hell Domains to either spend some points on training or return to the real world immediately. That was not something Su Jin could interfere with.

    As usual, Su Jin spent points on training. He wanted to see if using Demon Lord Spirit Power in this space would help him to gain more Psychokic Spirit Power.

    After his training period was over and he returned to the real world, he noticed that the upper limit of his Spirit Power hadn¡¯t increased by much. It was nowhere near the increase that he had gotten during the Challenge. It seemed like he was only able to increase it significantly when he was in great danger.

    Now that he didn¡¯t have to worry about a Challenge for the next month, Su Jin tried Ye Yun¡¯s number again. She had gone missing for nearly a month now, so he couldn¡¯t just let her be anymore.

 Chapter 88: Strange Orphanage

    <h4>Chapter 88: Strange Orphanage</h4>

    As usual, Su Jin¡¯s call didn¡¯t get through. Things had been like this for nearly a month now and Su Jin was getting really worried. Ye Yun was a good fighter, but she was all by herself and she was a real troublemaker at times too. There was a real chance that she might offend somebody too powerful for her to fight.

    After thinking about it for some time, Su Jin decided to make a phone call to another person. This person not only picked up quickly, but also immediately started ranting at Su Jin.

    ¡°Damn you, Su Jin! You FINALLY remember that I exist? Dude, you haven¡¯t called in YEARS! Have youpletely forgotten about me?!¡± The person on the other line was male and he was probably on very good terms with Su Jin.

    Su Jin grinned and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m not doing spectacrly well, you know? I¡¯m too embarrassed to meet you guys.¡±

    ¡°What the hell?! Is that what you think of me? I, Mu Qiuming, do not care for your money! Whether you¡¯re doing well or not is none of my business!¡± snapped the man before continuing, ¡°Enough of this nonsense. Are youing over? Or you want me to go over? You¡¯re still in S City, right?¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯te over. Even if you do, I don¡¯t have time for you. When I¡¯m done with my work here, I¡¯ll go visit you,¡± Su Jin quickly interjected.

    ¡°Ha! That¡¯s a promise! I¡¯ll send you my address in a while, so if you stand me up, prepare to meet my wrath!¡±

    Mu Qiuming stopped teasing Su Jin and said, ¡°Clearly you¡¯re not calling me to catch up, so¡­what do you want from me? Spit it out.¡±

    ¡°Help me check where this particr phone number is right now,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Give me the number.¡±

    Su Jin gave him Ye Yun¡¯s number. He was very confident in the abilities of this best friend from his university days. After all, Mu Qiuming was someone who had been headhunted by almost every international tech firm even as a student.

    Before long, Mu Qiumingughed merrily and said, ¡°Not bad! Not bad! Ye Yun¡¯s quite pretty! Are you trying to be a stalker now?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a friend and she¡¯s been missing for nearly a month now,¡± said Su Jin defensively as he rubbed his nose awkwardly. He was so d that Mu Qiuming couldn¡¯t see how awkward he looked over the phone.

    ¡°Done! I¡¯ll send you the address right now. But seriously, dude, I¡¯m so d to hear that you¡¯re going after a girl,¡± said Mu Qiuming cheekily.

    ¡°Thanks bro! I¡¯ll visit you in B City once I¡¯m done with everything here!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting!¡±

    They hadn¡¯t met in many years, but they were still best of friends. Actually, Su Jin did miss this buddy of his, but he wasn¡¯t doing very well before and was a little embarrassed to meet up with old friends. He was doing well now, but his life was constantly in danger, so he didn¡¯t want to interrupt his old friends¡¯ everyday lives either.

    Two addresses were sent to him in quick session. One was Mu Qiuming¡¯s current address, while the other was where Ye Yun was right now.

    ¡°Starlight Orphanage?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect to find out that Ye Yun was actually at an orphanage within S City. But this orphanage was in the rural part of town, so it wasn¡¯t within the city center.

    As far as he remembered, S City had been trying ensure that all social welfare services were located in the city, because the government had ced a lot of emphasis on such organizations. Evenmercial buildings had to make way. So he found it very strange that there was an orphanage so far flung from the city center.

    Kano Mai suddenly appeared in front of Su Jin. She had just finished her training time in her Personal Hell Domain.

    ¡°Mai, I¡¯m going to the suburbs for a while. You¡¯re very tired, so just stay here and rest!¡± Su Jin said all this to Kano Mai very rapidly, grabbed a jacket and ran out of the house.

    He gged a cab and found himself in front of Starlight Orphanage in slightly under an hour. His first impression of the orphanage was that it was old and rundown.

    That really surprised him. Given how the government had been supporting such organizations directly and how the flow of donations had been very transparent in recent years, it didn¡¯t seem possible for any welfare organization to suffer ack of funds or for their funds to have been siphoned off without anybody noticing.

    As he walked closer, he began to stare puzzledly at the signboard. The signboard was crooked and it looked a bit weird.

    ¡°It¡¯s written in pencil?¡± Su Jin finally realized what was wrong with the signboard. The name of the orphanage had actually been written in pencil. If he didn¡¯t look carefully, he wouldn¡¯t have noticed.

    He was even more curious about this orphanage now. The orphanage was old and rundown, plus it had a signboard written in pencil. This orphanage didn¡¯t even look like it belonged to this era.

    The main gate was really two wooden panels. He pushed it open to find that there was almost nothing inside. It was just arge front yard with a pile of oil barrels.

    Swoosh! Su Jin heard the sound of something flying through the air towards him. He dodged to the side and a small stone hit the wooden gate behind him. When he looked at where the stone hade from, he discovered several children huddled together. The eldest looked like he was 15 or 16, and that small stone had beenunched from his catapult.

    When the children realized that the stone hadn¡¯t hit Su Jin, they quickly scampered off. The smallest child looked about three or four years old and tripped over himself as he ran. The eldest one picked him up and continued running.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t run after them. He yelled, ¡°Hello there! I don¡¯t mean any harm! I¡¯m just looking for someone!¡±

    The children ignored Su Jin and disappeared in the blink of an eye. But that wasn¡¯t a problem to Su Jin. He had Psychokic Spirit Power and it was enough to locate even the stealthiest murderer in the world.

    ¡°My friend has gone missing for nearly a month now. I checked her phone¡¯sst location and it led me here. If she¡¯s here, can you ask her toe out and talk to me? Her family is very worried and they¡¯re all looking for her!¡± Su Jin continued to shout as he started walking about.

    Just then, the eldest child walked out. One of his arms seemed to have been badly injured before, so it hung limply by his side. The boy stared at Su Jin very cautiously and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°My name is Su Jin. What about you?¡± Su Jin kept a friendly smile on, hoping that he would look approachable.

    ¡°You¡¯re Su Jin!¡± The boy let out a long sigh of relief. He quickly passed a phone to Su Jin and said, ¡°Sister Ye said that someone will definitely try to look for her, so if either a person named Su Jin or Tang Ninges, I¡¯m supposed to pass him or her this phone. There¡¯s one video clip inside here that you must watch.¡±

    Su Jin quickly took the phone from the boy and found the video clip that he mentioned. The first thing he saw on the screen was the glint of a knife, then Ye Yun appeared within the frame. The entire video was barely a minute long, and it was basically Ye Yun fighting a few guys.

    He furrowed his brows as he watched the video clip. The men attacking Ye Yun weren¡¯t very good at fighting, but they were very bold and aggressive. Every move they made was meant to be fatal.

    Ye Yun had knocked out everybody by the time the clip was almost done. She looked straight at the camera and said, ¡°Tang Ning! Su Jin! Regardless of which one of you ends up watching this,e to Yunshan in Z Province in three months¡¯ time to pick me up! I¡¯ll be waiting!¡±

    After the video ended, Su Jin was even more confused. Who were those people fighting Ye Yun? Why did she want him to pick her up from Yunshan in Z Province only after three months? What was even going on?

    ¡°Brother Su, did something bad happen to Sister Ye?¡± the boy asked Su Jin worriedly.

    Su Jin patted the boy¡¯s head and said, ¡°Have you watched this video before?¡±

    ¡°No. Sister Ye said that it was for you to watch,¡± replied the boy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your Sister Ye is fine. She¡¯s just gone on a holiday and will only be back some timeter.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to tell the boy exactly what he just watched.

    Then he asked curiously, ¡°Why do you know Ye Yun? How are you rted to her?¡±

    ¡°Sister Ye often gives us food and clothes. She¡¯s a very nice person!¡± the boy replied.

    That wasn¡¯t the answer Su Jin was expecting, but he wasn¡¯t surprised. Ye Yun seemed very fierce on the outside, but she was actually a very softhearted and friendly person on the inside. It would have been very easy for her to provide for these children since she hailed from a well-to-do family, but she didn¡¯t seem to have taken any money from the family at all.

    ¡°This ce isn¡¯t actually an orphanage, right?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Yeah. This is actually an abandoned factory. Sister Ye said that nobody woulde here, so she told us to live here,¡± said the boy with a nod.

    Su Jin started processing all this information. It seemed like Ye Yun had purposely arranged for these children to live here. He asked another question, ¡°Are all of you orphans? Why don¡¯t you stay at one of the government-run orphanages?¡±

    ¡°Sister Ye says they¡¯re not safe!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not safe?¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself. He tried to think of a possible reason, but couldn¡¯t. Yet there had to be a reason why Ye Yun found them unsafe.

    ¡°How long have you guys known Ye Yun?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯ve known her for more than three months, some have known her for two months, some six months. Xiaoyin has known her the longest. She got to know Sister Ye nearly a year ago!¡± said the boy as he pointed to a girl in the distance.

    Su Jin nodded and waved at Xiaoyin. Xiaoyin didn¡¯t seem afraid of him at all. It was as if the children trusted him just because he was a friend of Ye Yun.

    ¡°Xiaoyin, were all of you brought here by Sister Ye?¡± Su Jin asked Xiaoyin gently, afraid to frighten her.

    Xiaoyin nodded and pointed to the other children. ¡°Yeah! Xiaoyin came first! They cameter!¡±

    Su Jin concluded that Ye Yun brought these children to this ce at different times for their safety. She was trying to protect them from something.

    ¡°Xiaoyin, what happened to your parents?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Xiaoyin stared at him in surprise before her eyes were filled with tears. Her eyes blinked as her voice cracked, ¡°Daddy and Mommy are dead! They¡¯ve been killed!¡±

    Once she started crying, all the other children started crying as well. The whole ce echoed with the sound of their cries as they shouted the exact same thing.

    ¡°Daddy and Mommy have been killed!¡±

 Chapter 89: Hellâ€™s Bar

    <h4>Chapter 89: Hell¡¯s Bar</h4>

    The fact that all the children were crying and wailing the exact same words really shocked Su Jin. All the children here had met with the same predicament: their parents had been murdered.

    This country had always been fairly safe, so even the police would have found it hard to find so many children orphaned because both parents had been killed all at the same time.

    Su Jin was really puzzled now. Where did Ye Yun find all these children? Why did she want to hide them here? Why was it safe here? What did ¡°safe¡± even mean? Were the people who killed their parents after these kids as well?

    Many questions popped up in his mind, but he wasn¡¯t going to get any answers until he got to see Ye Yun. But it also seemed like he was going to have to wait another three months before he got to see her again.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this ce might not be very safe anymore either. If you guys are okay with it, you cane and live with me instead,¡± said Su Jin to the children. He noticed that the ce where Ye Yun had fought those men in the video was actually not too far from where they were standing right now, so he didn¡¯t think this ce was really that safe.

    But the eldest boy shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright, Sister Ye told us that this ce is definitely safe. She told us not to go anywhere until shees back.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. Since Ye Yun had already made such an arrangement and the children insisted on listening to her, then there was no point in forcing them toe along with him.

    ¡°Do you guys need anything? Food? Clothes? I can help to buy stuff for you,¡± offered Su Jin.

    Xiaoyin shook her head and said, ¡°Thank you, Brother Su, but we don¡¯t need anything. We just need you to bring Sister Ye back safely!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I promise to bring your Sister Ye back!¡± said Su Jin solemnly as he patted Xiaoyin¡¯s head.

    After that, Su Jin left the orphanage. Immediately after he left, two men in ck hoodies appeared. They looked in Su Jin¡¯s direction to make sure he had left, then walked towards the orphanage. But just when they got close, they seemed to have hit an invisible wall and couldn¡¯t take a single step further.

    ¡°Damn it, we¡¯re still not able to get in!¡± one of them cursed angrily.

    ¡°It¡¯s an Earth Level Formation after all, so anybody with ill intentions will not be able to enter. Let¡¯s just wait for a while more. Once Boss and the rest seed, they¡¯ll find a way to get through this thing,¡± said the other man in a sinister voice. The two then turned and disappeared into the darkness again.

    Of course, Su Jin had no idea what happened after he left. Once he returned to his own house, he gave Tang Ning a call and told her that Ye Yun called to say that she had gone on a holiday and that her family didn¡¯t have to worry about her.

    Tang Ning was annoyed with Su Jin and med him for not doing a good job of watching her. Su Jin had no choice but to just let her rant at him. At the same time, Tang Ning knew that there was no way anybody could stop that cousin of hers from doing whatever she set her mind on, so even though she berated Su Jin, she didn¡¯t actually me him for what happened.

    Su Jin was very worried about Ye Yun, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he left it aside for the time being.

    He called Kano Mai over, then contacted Yang Mo, Chu Yi and Ning Meng via the Handbook. Ning Meng was unfortunately all by herself in a third parallel universe and hadn¡¯t been lucky enough to share the same universe as any of them.

    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯m going to activate our Hell¡¯s Bar ess, so get ready to enter the Bar!¡± Su Jin gave his team mates a heads up, then paid the fees via the Handbook. A ck tunnel immediately appeared in front of him and Kano Mai. They exchanged nces, then walked into the tunnel.

    In the other two universes, Yang Mo, Chu Yi and Ning Meng also selected Hell¡¯s Bar inside their own Handbooks. A simr ck tunnel appeared and they walked in too.

    Once they reached the end of the tunnel, they found themselves in an actual bar. Theyout and d¨¦cor looked like it had been heavily influenced by the bars in old cowboy movies.

    The lighting was a little dim, which was to be expected, since the name of the bar had the word ¡°hell¡± in it. The size of the ce was surprising huge. Owners of all ethnicities sat around the numerous tables, discussing matters in low voices or cheering and drinking.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­seriously a bar.¡± Su Jin thought that it might have been an euphemism for something else. He didn¡¯t expect it to seriously be a drinking hole.

    Just then, a gorgeous looking man approached them. He was wearing a typical bartender¡¯s uniform and bowed slightly towards Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    ¡°Mr. Su, Miss Kano, Team Boning Knife¡¯s table is over there, please follow me.¡± The man had very delicate features and spoke equally gently, but his eyes did not seem to contain any human emotion at all and looked more like a talking doll. He was actually very creepy.

    ¡°You know who we are?¡± asked Su Jin as he followed behind the bartender.

    The bartender replied with a smile, ¡°Of course. Your team¡¯s information was sent to me immediately after Team Boning Knife was given ess to Hell¡¯s Bar. You could say that I was created for Team Boning Knife.¡±

    Su Jin and Kano Mai got it now. Hell¡¯s Handbook had created this bartender specially for the team. He was probably another AI robot like ckie.

    ¡°Is your look fixed?¡± asked Su Jin curiously. He felt that this bartender looked like the most handsome an East Asian man could possibly be. He was gorgeous, yet still looked manly, unlike many of those new and young celebrities on TV who looked too effeminate for Su Jin.

    The bartender shook his head and said, ¡°My look is randomly generated. If you don¡¯t like this look, I can change it anytime. Like this!¡±

    He smiled faintly as his body seemed to liquefy for a moment, then solidified again into an equally gorgeous woman.

    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect the bartender to suddenly start demonstrating his abilities.

    ¡°Not to your liking? What about this?¡± The bartender thought that Su Jin stunned expression meant that he didn¡¯t like this look, so the bartender started the process again, but this time, he turned into a muscr man.

    ¡°Eh¡­!¡± Su Jin was even more stunned. This bartender had clearly misunderstood his reaction!

    ¡°Still no? Is it a race problem?¡± The bartender tried to think of what else could be the issue and changed himself once more. This time, he turned into a minotaur.

    In fact, he now looked so much like the Bull Demon King in one of the Journey to the West(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_Demon_King)] live action adaptations Su Jin had watched. The bartender¡¯s smile looked even creepier now.

    ¡°The first one was fine!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to make anymore facial expressions without exnation and quickly asked the bartender to revert to his first look. At the rate the bartender was going, who knew what else he was going to be?

    The bartender nodded and went back to his first look. By this time, they had reached an empty round table.

    The symbol of Team Boning Knife was clearly inscribed on the table, since this was the table that the Handbook had prepared for their team.

    ¡°This table is Team Boning Knife¡¯s table. Please wait here, your other team mates have arrived, so I need to wee them as well.¡± The bartender pulled out two chairs for Su Jin and Kano Mai, then left them alone.

    A few minutester, Chu Yi, Yang Mo and Ning Meng were all led to this table by the bartender. Ning Meng was practically staring holes into the bartender¡¯s head. If the bartender weren¡¯t an AI robot, he would have run far, far away from the way Ning Meng stared at him.

    ¡°Boss!¡± Yang Mo waved at Su Jin. Chu Yi and Ning Meng also liked calling Su Jin ¡°Boss¡± now, which was fine by Su Jin. It was just a form of address, so he didn¡¯t really care.

    ¡°Are all the people here owners?¡± Chu Yi looked around curiously at the huge bar. There were nearly a hundred tables. If each table represented one team, that meant that there were nearly a hundredplete teams at the moment. The Handbook had enved so many people across the various universes.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Besides the bartenders like myself who have been created by Hell¡¯s Handbook, everybody else is an owner. Anyone with team ess will have their own table, while anyone with personal ess will not get their own table. They would normally be found around the bar counter instead,¡± exined the bartender.

    Su Jin looked over and saw many people by themselves standing around the bar counter. But while they were alone, they were not to be underestimated. You needed to survive 20 Challenges in order to gain ess to the Bar, so they were clearly very formidable characters. Su Jin had only survived four and had nearly died each time. He wasn¡¯t even sure if he could really survive 20.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask around for some information. How do I do that?¡± Su Jin asked the bartender.

    ¡°There are two ways. One is to ask via the Handbook and the boss will name his price depending on what information you need. I wouldn¡¯t rmend it because even though his information would be urate, it usually costs way too much.¡±

    ¡°The second way would be to ask other owners for information. Even though you can¡¯t pay for the information in points, you can exchange items for information. The only problem is that you can¡¯t verify the veracity of the information. But it¡¯s definitely a lot cheaper than asking the boss,¡± exined the bartender.

    ¡°The boss?¡± Su Jin¡¯s team was very curious about this person.

    The bartender pointed to a bald man wiping down the wine sses at the bar counter as he spoke to the owner standing in front of him.

    ¡°He¡¯s also one of the Handbook¡¯s creations?¡± asked Ning Meng curiously. It was hard to me her for asking this question: the bald man¡¯s mannerisms and gaze waspletely different from the AI bartenders.

    The bartender shook his head. ¡°I do not know. The boss is at a much higher level than myself, so I am not allowed to know anything about him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go over and talk to him myself then!¡± Su Jin got up and walked towards the bar counter.

    He found himself a seat and said to the boss, ¡°I¡¯m here to ask for some information.¡±

    ¡°Everyone who approaches this bar counter is here to ask for information. But we¡¯ve got a rule here: you have to buy a drink before you¡¯re allowed to ask. Since you¡¯re new, your first drink¡¯s on the house!¡± The boss nced at Su Jin, then ced a ss containing an amber colored liquid in front of Su Jin.

    [Bull_Demon_King

 Chapter 90: Divine Finger

    <h4>Chapter 90: Divine Finger</h4>

    The amber colored liquid gave off a mesmerizing glow. The boss motioned to Su Jin to go ahead and drink it, since this was for Su Jin¡¯s first time in Hell¡¯s Bar.

    ¡°I came with some friends, so if you¡¯re going to treat me to my first drink, why don¡¯t you treat all five of us?¡± said Su Jin with a big smile. When he walked over, he noticed someone exchanging points for a drink and it had cost that owner quite a bit. Now that the boss was offering a free drink, Su Jin was going to make full use of it.

    The bossughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that! All first-timers to the Bar will get one free drink to wee you here. Theirs are already on the table.¡±

    Su Jin turned to look and saw four identical drinks on the table that looked just like the one in front of him.

    ¡°Thanks!¡± Su Jin thanked the boss, then took a mouthful of the amber colored liquid. His eyes instantly lit up. The drink tasted much more amazing than anything he had drunk in the real world, but the more surprising part was that after he had taken just one mouthful, he noticed that the upper limit of his Spirit Power had actually increased.

    ¡°Ooh!¡± Before Su Jin could say anything, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of euphoria. It was a feeling that he had never felt before and his body couldn¡¯t help but tremble in response.

    ¡°It tastes good, doesn¡¯t it?¡± The boss shed a smile at Su Jin.

    Su Jin suddenly panicked and asked with a frown, ¡°What¡¯s in this? Is it¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! It¡¯s not one of those cheap tricks that demons use to beguile humans. This is a drink made with the diluted blood of dragon ancestors and it has the ability to increase the upper limit of an owner¡¯s Spirit Power. But this only happens when you drink it for the first time. Did you really think Hell¡¯s Bar would give you a cheap drink as your first drink?¡± The boss finished wiping the ss in his hand and reached for another with a rather smug look on his face.

    Su Jin looked at the liquid in the ss and took another gulp. The feeling of euphoria hit him again and he could see his Spirit Power¡¯s limit increase again. After he finished the entire ss, his Spirit Power limit had reached 170 points.

    ¡°This is good stuff!¡± Su Jin eximed. But it was too bad that only the first ss had this effect. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t mind spending points on this drink even if it cost him a lot.

    ¡°Of course. Everything in Hell¡¯s Bar is the best that all the universes can offer. So, what do you want to know?¡± said the boss with a shrug.

    Su Jin put the ss down and realized that once the feeling of euphoria was gone, he didn¡¯t miss it at all. In other words, this drink didn¡¯t contain anything that would make it addictive.

    He looked around and felt that the other owners were too close to him, so the bar counter wasn¡¯t really a good ce to chat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Every seat here has its own special sound barrier in ce, so nobody else will hear about your secrets besides myself,¡± exined the boss when he could see what Su Jin was worried about.

    ¡°I need some items that can boost soul power. Do you know anything about that?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The boss put down the ss he was wiping, then put both palms on the countertop and leaned forward as he said to Su Jin, ¡°Young man, Hell¡¯s Bar has everything that you want to know, as long as you can afford it.¡±

    ¡°My team¡¯s personal bartender said that you¡¯d name the price.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. This information you want is worth 1000 points.¡±

    ¡°1000?!¡± Su Jin was bbergasted. This was very expensive for just information. He frowned and said, ¡°Are you going to just give me information? Or are you going to provide some other sort of help as well?¡±

    ¡°Just information. That¡¯s the rule around here. Besides alcoholic drinks, the only other thing Hell¡¯s Bar provides is information.¡± The boss smiled and straightened up, making him look like the perfect butler in an English household. He seemed so trustworthy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need a while to think about it before making a decision, sorry about that!¡± Su Jin started walking away from his seat. Since the price that the boss offered was too high, he was going to try the second method instead.

    ¡°There¡¯s a noticeboard on the leftmost side of the bar counter, you can paste a notice with your query on it. If someone has information, they¡¯ll contact you.¡± The boss wasn¡¯t angry and even gave Su Jin directions.

    ¡°Thanks!¡± Su Jin thanked the boss, then walked to the leftmost side of the bar. But the bar counter was so long, it took Su Jin a full five minutes to reach the leftmost side.

    Just like what the boss had mentioned, there was a gigantic noticeboard here. To be more specific, it was really a giant wooden board. Several notices were randomly stuck to the board. Some had special symbols on them, so those were probably put up by the various teams. Others were just ordinary parchment paper, so those were probably put up by the owners without a team.

    Su Jin looked through the notices and saw that their contents varied quite a bit. Someone were asking for a specific item, some were looking for information like himself, while others were trying to sell items.

    As he read the notices, he came to the end of the noticeboard and saw a door next to it that glowed faintly. He walked over curiously but wasn¡¯t able to go any further once he reached the door.

    ckie¡¯s voice resounded in his head, ¡°You don¡¯t have sufficient ess to enter.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin took a step back and tried to look beyond the door, but couldn¡¯t see anything at all. He figured that this ess was referring to his team¡¯s level of ess.

    Back then, Kano Mai had already told him that the team would be able to gain higher levels of ess as theyplete more and more Challenges. Hell¡¯s Bar was a ce that required the team to reach a certain level in order to enter, so he concluded that whatever was behind this door needed his team to level up first before he was allowed in.

    ¡°But even if I want to put up a notice, I need some paper.¡± Just as he spoke, a brown piece of parchment paper with the symbol of his own team on it appeared out of nowhere. He touched the paper and was impressed by its quality. A feather pen was floating next to the parchment.

    He chuckled in amusement as he took the feather pen and began writing on the floating piece of paper. The contents were simple. He just wanted information on anything that could boost one¡¯s soul power.

    After he finished writing what he wanted, the paper disappeared and reappeared on the noticeboard, awaiting someone with information toe by and read it.

    Su Jin then returned to his team¡¯s table to find that they were talking about theirplimentary first drink. Chu Yi¡¯s firstment was, ¡°It¡¯s too bad none of you have Spirit Power yet! What a waste!¡±

    The three of them rolled their eyes at Chu Yi. There were times when Chu Yi was too direct and insensitive with his words.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve gained nothing at all. At least for myself, the strange sense of exhaustion I had been feeling before this has reduced by quite a bit,¡± said Yang Mo.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Perhaps this drink contains something that can strengthen one¡¯s soul power,¡± suggested Kano Mai.

    Su Jin sat back down and said, ¡°That would be best. I¡¯ve already put up a notice, so hopefully someone will contact us soon!¡±

    ¡°Do you guys want more drinks? We¡¯re not just going to sit around and wait, right?¡± suggested Yang Mo after noticing that all the other owners were drinking.

    ¡°Just let me know what you¡¯d like to drink!¡± Their personal bartender pulled out five menus from nowhere and ced one in front of each person.

    Su Jin briefly nced through the menu and his eyes widened. The names of the drinks here were fairly strange, but the surprising part was that some of them came with special effects. Theplimentary drink from the boss earlier was called The Dragon Ancestors¡¯ Dreams. It was a drink that could increase one¡¯s Spirit Power limit when drunk for the first time, and was also able to boost one¡¯s soul power.

    ¡°The Dragon Ancestors¡¯ Dreams is really good stuff, but it¡¯s so expensive.¡± Su Jin shook his head. Each ss cost 2,000 points, which meant that their wee drink was actually worth 10,000 points.

    ¡°Give me two Songs of Purity and three Energizers! Put everything on my tab!¡± Su Jin went ahead to ce an order without asking the rest. Song of Purity was a drink that could boost one¡¯s soul power and cost 200 points. Energizer was actually just an ordinary drink, but it still cost him 10 points each, so five drinks set him back 430 points.

    The bartender nodded and left, then returned with five sses after a short while. Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s our first time drinking together as a team, so this one¡¯s on me!¡±

    ¡°All right!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ¡°Of course, you¡¯re Boss!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t stand on ceremony then!¡±

    All four of them quickly picked up their sses merrily and took a sip.

    Every drink offered by Hell¡¯s Bar was truly of the highest quality. Even the drinks that didn¡¯te with any special effects were just as tasty.

    As they chatted, a man who looked like he was in his forties approached their table. He looked at the group as if he was trying to confirm if he had found the right people.

    ¡°Are you the ones looking for something to boost soul power?¡± asked the man after he lit a cigar and took a deep puff. His voice was extremely low.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect someone to respond to his notice so quickly. He got up and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Do you have any information for us?¡±

    ¡°Of course. But first, let¡¯s talk about the price.¡± The man snapped his fingers and a chair appeared in front of him. He proceeded to sit at their table as if they were all friends.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need anything very specific. I just want something that¡¯s useful,¡± the man said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin thought about this request for a while. They didn¡¯t have many things on hand to exchange, but there was one thing that was definitely worth exchanging for.

    ¡°What about this?¡± Su Jin opened his Handbook and showed the man the description of the leaves he had gotten from the Tree of Life during the Fairytales of Horror Challenge.

    The man read the description carefully and gave a pleased nod. He then opened his own Handbook and showed one of the pages to Su Jin.

    ¡°The Finger of Anubis!¡± Su Jin saw the image of a shriveled finger on that page, and the description made his eyes widen.

    ¡°The Finger of Anubis. Anubis was the ancient Egyptian god of the dead. This finger is able to lead an owner into Anubis¡¯ mausoleum.¡±

    This was a finger that once belonged to a god!

 Chapter 91: Guiding Object

    <h4>Chapter 91: Guiding Object</h4>

    Anubis was the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, often appearing as a man with a jackal¡¯s head, and enjoyed a very important ce in Egyptian myths. And now, one of his fingers was inside this man¡¯s Handbook.

    Su Jin was more concerned about the part where the description said that this finger could lead an owner to Anubis¡¯ mausoleum. If taken literally, this item would lead him straight to Anubis himself.

    ¡°What is this part about leading an owner into Anubis¡¯ mausoleum about? What¡­what does that mean?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    The man blinked in surprise at this question and he quickly realized that all the members of Su Jin¡¯s team were staring at him nkly as well. ¡°Oh! None of you have run into something like that before, I see. To put it simply, if youplete a Challenge and get a grade better than an A, you¡¯ll get a prize simr to this.¡±

    ¡°Better than an A?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow. He remembered how the Gift from the Gods was graded as an Earth Level item. So, there were other aspects that were given grades beyond A to D.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since none of you seem to know, I¡¯ll exin this for free.¡± The man took the cigar out of his mouth, thought about how to exin this clearly, then said, ¡°After youplete a Challenge, you¡¯ll get a review of your performance. I don¡¯t have to exin this to you, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. But we¡¯ve never gotten a grade better than an A before,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    ¡°Indeed, such a situation is hard toe by. You have toplete a Challenge perfectly, and that¡¯s only possible if you get a Level D or a simple Level C Challenge. If you get a Level B and above Challenge, it¡¯s pretty much impossible.¡±

    ¡°But if you doplete a Challenge perfectly and get a perfect score on it, Hell¡¯s Handbook will give the owner a Guiding Object, like this Finger of Anubis. What a Guiding Object does is to send an owner to a ce where a Challenge has happened before,¡± exined the man slowly.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°But that¡¯s still very dangerous, isn¡¯t it? The Challenge is over, but many of these ces remain very dangerous. If someone is sent there all by themselves, it would be very hard for him to deal with any dangers.¡±

    The man nodded and smiled. ¡°Your worries are valid, but that¡¯s the good part about these Guiding Objects. If an owner runs into a situation where his life is endangered, the Guiding Object will pull the owner out of that ce, unless¡­unless the owner himself is unwilling to leave.¡±

    ¡°But why? Why would someone risk their life like that?¡± Chu Yi asked with a confused expression on his face.

    ¡°It¡¯s not hard to understand why one would do that. If whatever the owner is looking for is more important than his own life, then it would make sense for him to risk his life to get that item,¡± said Su Jin.

    The man nodded again. ¡°That¡¯s right. There will always be some precious items that people are willing to risk their lives for out there. Guiding Objects are just there to lead the owner to the right ce. If the owner¡¯s will is strong enough and refuses to leave, the Guiding Object will not go against the owner¡¯s wishes.¡±

    ¡°Got it. So, what item inside Anubis¡¯ mausoleum is able to boost one¡¯s soul power?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The man flipped through his Handbook and showed Su Jin a different page. The item shown on this page was a bright red liquid. It resembled blood, but the color was a little more striking.

    ¡°Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul. Legend has it that the heart is actually where the soul lives. After one dies, one drop of Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul will flow from the heart. It carries arge amount of soul power, and there are rumors that this is the core of every new soul the god of the dead makes.¡±

    ¡°Anubis¡¯ mausoleum has this liquid and I got one drop thest time,¡± exined the man.

    ¡°Oh? Could you sell that drop to us?¡± asked Su Jin immediately. If he could get one drop right now, either Kano Mai or Yang Mo could use it and they could see how effective it was.

    But the man shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯ve already used it. If you want any, you¡¯d have to pay Anubis¡¯ mausoleum a visit.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t even hesitate and immediately agreed to this exchange. But he had no idea how this worked, so once the older man confirmed with Su Jin that he wanted to go ahead, the man stacked their Handbooks on top of each other.

    ¡°You just need to think about which item you¡¯re exchanging and what you¡¯re exchanging it for,¡± instructed the man.

    ¡°Exchange done!¡± The two Handbooks emitted a glow. The man took his Handbook and told Su Jin to open his to check.

    Su Jin saw that his Handbook now contained the Finger of Anubis, while the other man¡¯s Handbook now contained a leaf from the Tree of Life.

    ¡°It works so simply? What if I¡¯m thinking of exchanging my item for something more valuable than what we agreed? What would happen then?¡± Chu Yi asked.

    The man stuffed his cigar back into his mouth andughed. ¡°If the two parties are not thinking of the same items, the exchange will not happen. Also, don¡¯t you dare try anything sneaky like that. The boss of this bar is not one to be trifled with!¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much! How do I address you?¡± Su Jin asked the man.

    But he got up and waved his hands about. ¡°Never mind what my name is. Once you know someone¡¯s name, you¡¯ll start a rtionship with that person and form an attachment. But the world of the Handbook is a ce where you could die anytime. Someday, we might walk in here again and realize that the friends we used to know are no longer around and we¡¯ll only make ourselves sad for nothing. We¡¯ll see each other again if we¡¯re fated to!¡±

    ¡°By the way, that Finger of Anubis was from a Level C Challenge, so whoever you pick to go to Anubis¡¯ mausoleum¡­you¡¯d better be mentally prepared for that.¡±

    He then turned and walked away. Yang Mo watched the man walk away andughed. ¡°What a deep guy! But he¡¯s right about one thing. Knowing too many people within the Handbook¡¯s universe isn¡¯t always a good thing.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t disagree. But at least now they had something that could help them to get an item that would boost soul power. The five of them continued sitting in the bar for quite a while, but nobody came forward to offer them any deal. It wasn¡¯t that easy to get information even though so many experienced owners were gathered here.

    But going through an item exchange with another owner did seem a lot more worth itpared to just getting information from the boss. Besides adding something new to what they already knew, information from the boss did little else.

    ¡°Please be reminded that time in Hell¡¯s Bar flows at the same rate as the real world,¡± their personal bartender suddenly spoke up.

    Chu Yi jumped up instantly. ¡°WHAT?! CRAP!! I¡¯ve got an exam this afternoon! I¡¯m doomed!!¡±

    ¡°If you go back now, you might still be in time to hand in your nk script!¡± said Yang Mo as he sniggered.

    Su Jin was surprised that the flow of time in Hell¡¯s Bar was the same as the real world. He said to Chu Yi, ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll go to Anubis¡¯ mausoleum myself.¡±

    Chu Yi fell silent for a moment, then nodded. He and Su Jin were the team¡¯s most formidable members and it would be safer for one with Spirit Power to go to such a please. Since Su Jin was the team leader and he had made this decision, Chu Yi didn¡¯t argue with him.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll help the next time!¡± said Chu Yi.

    The five of them waved each other goodbye and returned to their own universes. Su Jin and Kano Mai also reappeared in their house. Su Jin decided to use this Finger of Anubis immediately, since there was nothing else he needed to prepare and his body was in good shape.

    Kano Mai looked worriedly at Su Jin and said, ¡°You¡¯re going all by yourself to a ce where a Challenge took ce. This really sounds way too dangerous. Why don¡¯t you put this aside for the time being?¡±

    ¡°When did you be the type to procrastinate? Don¡¯t worry, if the situation gets really dangerous, I¡¯lle back.¡± Su Jin smiled at her and retrieved the Finger of Anubis from his Handbook. As per the instructions provided, he crushed the finger and disappeared immediately, leaving behind one very worried Kano Mai.

    Meanwhile, in B City, Situ Jin sat by himself in his office. The word ¡°annoyed¡± was written all over his face. Bo Ya had just informed him that Xu Ran was refusing to meet him because he had gone into seclusion.

    ¡°Xu Ran, you¡¯re still such an escapist!¡± Situ Jin knew this childhood friend of his very well. Whenever Xu Ran couldn¡¯t resolve something, he would immediately run from the problem. Situ Jin couldn¡¯t believe he was still the same even after so many years.

    Unfortunately, Xu Ran was no ordinary man. Since he had dered that he was going into seclusion at the temple and could not be disturbed, Situ Jin couldn¡¯t do anything about it despite being the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs. In fact, not a single person in the entire country was allowed to disturb Xu Ran while he was in seclusion.

    Situ Jin looked at his Handbook on the table. Nobody else could see it at all. He was feeling very conflicted right now.

    As far as he could remember, he had gotten to know Xu Ran from his first day at the orphanage. He had heard that Xu Ran had been abandoned immediately after he was born. But Situ Jin¡¯s case was different. He had been sent to the orphanage only when he turned seven. He had gone through different things and had a different dream altogether.

    Situ Jin saw himself as the country¡¯s guardian. His existence was to make sure that any mysterious forces that could not be controlled were extinguished before they became too big to handle. He didn¡¯t think the country needed mutants or supernatural urrences. The country needed peace.

    Thest thing Situ Jin had expected was to be the very sort of creature he hated the most. This caused him great inner turmoil.

    But as he looked at the faint glow around his Handbook, he suddenly seemed to have sorted out something in his mind and a smile spread across his lips.

    ¡°As the saying goes, fight fire with fire. Perhaps¡­perhaps the heavens have allowed me to be such a person precisely to help me rein in their powers!¡± Situ Jin suddenly felt like he had found his direction in life again as he gripped his Handbook tightly with a rather frightening look on his face.

    The Handbook seemed to respond to Situ Jin as the glow around it became brighter. Situ Jin and the Handbook then disappeared from his office as Situ Jin began his second Challenge.

    Su Jin stood atop a high tform and looked at the countless monsters in front of him. He didn¡¯t seem to havee at a very good time: these monsters looked like they were gathered for some special purpose.

    ¡°Would you believe me if I said I got an invitation to this party?¡± said Su Jin with an awkwardugh.

 Chapter 92: Where the God Sleeps

    <h4>Chapter 92: Where the God Sleeps</h4>

    Countless monsters, including mummies and other half-human creatures like Anubis, were bowing down in worship. Su Jin had appeared right on top of the altar they were bowing to.

    ¡°Damn it, damn it!¡± Su Jin knew that he had to escape right now. He didn¡¯t expect this Guiding Object to put him in a pickle like this. This was as good as pushing him into a zing fire. But at the same time, it didn¡¯t seem like it was about to pull Su Jin back to the real world either, which meant that his life wasn¡¯t in any danger right now.

    Su Jin patted his Handbook and a sh engulfed his body as the Gold Armor covered his body. The metal shone prettily in the light, but it always made him feel like some nouveau riche unting his wealth unnecessarily. At the same time, the Gift from the Gods appeared on his back as well.

    ROAAAAR! A terrible roar thundered in the desert. The monsters weren¡¯t going to believe Su Jin was their god. The fact that something else besides their god had appeared on top of their altar was an unforgivable thing in itself.

    They charged towards Su Jin as they roared, like a flowing river of creatures, so densely packed that looking at them could make one¡¯s hair stand on end.

    Su Jin looked around him quickly. The huge pyramid was behind this army of monsters. ording to ancient Egyptian traditions, the pyramids were the pharaohs¡¯ resting ce. As an Egyptian god, it made sense for Anubis to be worshipped like this.

    ¡°Air of an Overlord!¡± Su Jin charged at the crowd and used Demon Lord Spirit Power to activate the Gold Armor¡¯s skill.

    An invisible wave of air spread out from Su Jin, covering about 500 meters or so. All the monsters within this radius suddenly stopped and looked nkly at each other. That was the dizzying effect this skill had.

    Su Jin moved as quickly as lightning, seizing this chance to run in between the gaps. After one second passed, a portion of the monsters actually turned around and started killing their fellow monsters.

    ¡°Is that the¡­effect of admiration?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t understand what this effect meant, so he didn¡¯t expect it to turn out like this. These monsters were actually considered to be on par with ordinary humans. That meant that these monsters just looked scary but weren¡¯t really all that powerful.

    The infighting helped Su Jin to get through them very easily, but all the other monsters that hadn¡¯t been affected by the Air of an Overlord continued to chase him down.

    Just then, a faint smile crept over Su Jin¡¯s lips as he started to walk upwards. He had activated Walking on Air, the skill that cost him 10 points of Spirit Power for every minute he spent walking in the air.

    ¡°Betcha didn¡¯t expect that! I can actually fly!¡± Su Jin continued to walk swiftly above all the monsters towards the pyramid, but was soon hit by something in the back.

    Pfft! Su Jin sprayed a mouthful of blood out as he started hurtling towards the pyramid.

    The thing that hit Su Jin¡¯s back was a giant crossbow bolt. It didn¡¯t pierce him, but it hit his back hard enough to send him flying at a much higher speed than before.

    If he continued flying towards the pyramid at this rate, he was going to at least break some bones. But the force from the bolt made it impossible for him to physically slow himself down.

    ¡°STOP!!¡± Su Jin let out a roar and a white light shed in his eyes. His Psychokic Spirit Power went down by 50 points as he suddenly stopped midair.

    Many owners felt that Psychokic Spirit Power was useless because it was very difficult to train up and increase. But because it was good for both attack and defense, it was also regarded as one of the best Spirit Power types to have. The upper limit was indeed a problem, but if one could ovee that limit, this Spirit Power came with endless possibilities.

    Su Jin winced as hended gently on the ground again. That bolt had hit him really hard. If his Gift from the Gods had not protected him from the full impact, he would be even more injured now.

    The monsters became even angrier when they saw that Su Jin had reached the pyramid. They started charging towards the pyramid, but they were too far to be of any threat to Su Jin.

    Su Jin quickly climbed the pyramid and reached the top in no time. There was an entrance into the pyramid from the top, which was different from most pyramids that had entrances from the bottom. This pyramid belonged to a god, and gods descended from above.

    He jumped in without hesitation and everything around him changed. He was engulfed inplete darkness and he realized that instead of falling at a rapid rate, he was actually floating down slowly, as if the gravitational pull inside the pyramid was much lower than outside.

    He took a torchlight out to look at his surroundings, but the light illuminated very little and there wasn¡¯t anything around him at all.

    Just then, Su Jin heard the sound of metal clinking. Before he could attempt searching for the source of the sound, the area around him turned blood red. He looked up and everything was just as red. It was as if the darkness he came from earlier didn¡¯t exist at all.

    Now that it wasn¡¯t pure darkness anymore, he could see better. The thing that was making that clinking sound also appeared in front of him. The sound hade from several metal chains.

    These chains were intertwined and each one was almost as thick as his own waist. He couldn¡¯t see where they started nor where they ended. It was like the chains went on endlessly, cutting through this empty space.

    All of a sudden, Su Jin¡¯s feet hit the ground. He had arrived at the bottom of the pyramid. The light wasn¡¯t so harsh here, but if he looked into the distance, all he could see was still nothing but this mix of ck and red, as if the two spaces had merged.

    ¡°This is a ce for the dead, living soul! Why are you here?¡± A voice rang in Su Jin¡¯s ears in anguage he had never learned, yet he could understand without any problem.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t respond. He looked around him cautiously and saw a figure walk out from the darkness towards him.

    ¡°Situ Jin?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. The man standing in front of him right now was the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, Situ Jin!

    ¡°Are you very surprised?¡± Situ Jin moved his shoulders about.

    Su Jin immediately sensed that something was amiss. Firstly, it didn¡¯t make sense for Situ Jin to appear here. Secondly, even though this person looked just like Situ Jin, there was something about the way he carried himself that waspletely different.

    The Situ Jin he had met was aloof and proud, but he still disyed normal human emotions.

    This man, however, was smiling and seemed friendly, but Su Jin couldn¡¯t see any human emotion in his gaze. His gaze was calm and seemed to contain nothing in it, yet also seemed to know everything. In any case, this man didn¡¯t have the gaze that a human would have.

    ¡°No! You¡¯re not Situ Jin! Who are you?¡± asked Su Jin fiercely. The fact that this man could appear in the form of someone he knew greatly disturbed Su Jin.

    Situ Jin smiled even more brightly as he shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m just me!¡±

    But immediately after he said that, his face became a blur and he transformed into Kano Mai. But less than two secondster, he transformed into Ye Yun, then Su Qing, then Chu Yi, Yang Mo, Ning Meng, Tang Ning, Uncle Yu, Li Zhikai¡­Yang Zichen¡­Zhang Jing!

    The person¡¯s face changed very rapidly from one person to another and finally stopped at Zhang Jing. That was the woman from his first Challenge, the one who told him to smile even in hard times.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t a saint by any means, but he was willing to help others out. However, Zhang Jing had died right before his very eyes at Fengxi Town. Her life had been very miserable, but before dying, she told Su Jin how important it was to smile. And now, Su Jin always kept a faint smile on, perhaps because he subconsciously remembered what Zhang Jing said to him.

    In any case, Zhang Jing and Yang Zichen were hispanions who died during his very first Challenge, so they remained a scar in his heart. Zhang Jing represented his frailty, his indignation and his inner struggles.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember me anymore?¡± Zhang Jing looked pitifully at Su Jin. Her features were just as charming as when he had first met her in Fengxi Town.

    Su Jin went into a daze as he took a step forward and bit his lips hard. He reached a hand out to touch her face with sadness and indignation in his eyes.

    But just when he was about to touch her face, his outstretched palm suddenly clenched into a fist and he swung a punch at Zhang Jing. However, all he hit was air. Zhang Jing seemed to have vanished into thin air.

    ¡°Living soul, you have great willpower. Not bad,¡± said Zhang Jing with a pleased smile as she emerged from a different direction.

    Su Jin was furious as he retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, pointed it at her and said, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Who? I¡¯m not human.¡± Zhang Jing shook her head and frowned at the weapon in Su Jin¡¯s hand. ¡°Living soul, the item in your hand is very dangerous. That carries a power that surpasses a god, so you must use it carefully!¡±

    Su Jin could deduce from Zhang Jing¡¯s words that whatever this thing was, it wasn¡¯t at god level. That¡¯s why this longbow posed a threat to it. But Su Jin was also certain that this creature wasn¡¯t easy to fight too.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t try to harm me, I won¡¯t use it,¡± said Su Jin evenly.

    Zhang Jingughed and said, ¡°I only guard the spirits of the dead and have no interest in the living. But you have barged into my pce, so don¡¯t you think you ought to pay the price for doing so?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyelid twitched as he smiled and said, ¡°Guardian of the dead, the great Anubis¡­why don¡¯t you use your real face when dealing with an ordinary man like me?¡±

    Zhang Jing sneered. ¡°An ordinary man? No¡­not too long ago, others like yourself barged into this ce as well. None of you of can be considered ordinary. You are not as powerful as I am, but my instinct tells me that someday, those like you will threaten my safety!¡±

    As she spoke, Zhang Jing¡¯s features slowly faded to turn into a muscr man with a jackal¡¯s head.

    It was none other than the god of the dead from ancient Egypt, Anubis!

 Chapter 93: Atonement

    <h4>Chapter 93: Atonement</h4>

    Su Jin knew that Anubis was a god that was worshipped by a great civilization, and yet when Anubis stood in front of him, he didn¡¯t really feel that much pressure. In fact, he felt even less pressure here whenpared to standing before the Mad Hatter and Pinhio. Perhaps despite being the god of the dead, it had not reached the level of the elder gods within the Handbook world.

    ¡°Living soul, what is your purpose ining here?¡± asked Anubis in a deep voice. He held a scepter in his hand and his muscr body seemed even more imposing in the dim light.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul. Please give it to me,¡± Su Jin said directly. Since this god was willing to talk, Su Jin was happy to settle this matter without having to fight.

    Anubis was initially surprised, then it hit the ground hard with its scepter before barking fiercely, ¡°How dare you! Do you know what the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul is?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the main ingredient in creating new souls,¡± said Su Jin. He remembered what the older man in Hell¡¯s Bar had told him.

    ¡°Since you know that, then you must also know that it is vital to my role as the god of the dead. How could I possibly give that to you?¡± said Anubis.

    Su Jin knew it wasn¡¯t going to be that easy to get this item, so he exined patiently, ¡°I have two friends whose souls are about to wither if left alone, so I need this Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul to boost their soul power. Please, I only need two drops! I really hope you can give these two drops to me!¡±

    ¡°Humph! As I said, the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul is vital to my role. Every drop counts!¡± said Anubis very sternly.

    But he added, ¡°However¡­if you are able to redeem yourself, I could give you one drop.¡±

    ¡°Redeem myself?¡±

    ¡°That is correct. Redeem yourself by atoning for your own sins and I will give you one drop of the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul,¡± said Anubis.

    It suddenly pointed its scepter at Su Jin and warned him, ¡°I also need to remind you that even though you are much more powerful than an ordinary person, you are still no match for me. If you attempt to snatch the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul from me, I will strike you down.¡±

    Anubis thumped its scepter on the ground again, causing the entire ce to shake. The sort of pressure Su Jin felt from Anubis was no greater than the elder gods, but it was greater than Prince Charming from the Fairytales of Horror.

    Su Jin paused for a moment. Just like what Anubis said, trying to fight Anubis for the item he wanted was unlikely to work, so he had no choice but to give this self-redemption thing a shot.

    ¡°Alright then! I¡¯ll go through this self-redemption.¡± The Finger of Anubis would transport him back to the real world if he was in a life threatening situation, so he wasn¡¯t really too worried about this.

    Anubis gave a pleased nod and waved its arm. Something came flying towards Su Jin from the back, taking away his Gold Armor, his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, the Gift from the Gods and even all the clothes on his back before he even realized what was going on. All he was left with was a terrible pain in his back.

    ¡°You need not worry. You have agreed to go through self-redemption, so your weapons and clothing have been hidden temporarily. Once youplete this process, they will appear again,¡± said Anubis slowly.

    Su Jin had already fallen to his knees from the pain in his back. The pain seemed to reach deep into his very bones. The pain subsided slightly after a while, so he tried his best to touch his back, only to feel something cold and hard there.

    Anubis raised a finger and a mirror appeared before Su Jin, showing him what was actually on his back.

    A metal chain had been stabbed directly into his back and was chained to his spinal cord. That was why the pain was so excruciating.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Su Jin asked Anubis.

    ¡°These are sins. Every person in the world has sins. Minor sins weigh 5,000 kilograms, while major sins weigh 50,000 kilograms. These sins are now stuck to your back. Do you see that door over there? If you make through that door, you will be free of all your sins.¡± Anubis pointed to a glowing door that was a few hundred meters away from Su Jin.

    ¡°And now, your journey of self-redemption will begin. I hope you¡¯ll be sessful in cleansing yourself of all sins.¡± Anubis slowly retreated and disappeared into the darkness.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have anything on himself at all besides that chain that represented sin on his back. He looked around but there was nothing but darkness.

    He tried to move forward, but it was as if he had reached the end of the chain and it did not allow him to move forward at all. He tried his best but it seemed as though he didn¡¯t have strength at all. He felt like a helpless baby. After physical strength failed him, he tried using his psychokinesis, but that failed to do anything too.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my Handbook?¡± Su Jin suddenly realized that his Handbook was gone as well.

    ¡°How did things turn out this way?!¡± Su Jin began to feel uneasy. Was his Handbook also hidden away because he had chosen to do this?

    Minor sins weighed 5,000 kilograms and major ones weighed 50,000 kilograms: all of this was on his back right now. It possibly weighed even more than a. He simply couldn¡¯t move at all, never mind reach that glowing door a few hundred meters away.

    ¡°Atonement? How do I do that?¡± Su Jin quickly realized that he couldn¡¯t rely on brute strength to get out of this ce. He had to do something about this atonement.

    Su Jin calmed down again and sat down on the floor to think about this. Time slowly ticked by. There were no seasons, day or night. He didn¡¯t even feel hungry.

    He quickly began to enter a trance of sorts. At times, he wasn¡¯t sure if he existed at all. He would ask himself who he was, and he would then tell himself that he was Su Jin.

    But when he thought about other things besides his own name, he felt even more lost.

    <i>Am I Su Jin only because I have this name? Without this name, who am I? Am I really the owner of this name? Why am I able to observe myself like I¡¯m outside of this body?</i>

    <i>I¡¯m looking at this man named Su Jin, despising some of his actions and apuding others.</i>

    It felt like his soul had left his body and was just staring at his physical body.

    The more time he spent thinking, the more confused he became. He slowly forgot who he was, forgot why he hade here, his soul just shaking his head in confusion.

    This was actually a very dangerous state to be in. A person¡¯s understanding of themselves was a result of not only his name, but also his actions, rtionships and many other factorsbined together. It was said that some astronauts lost their understanding of themselves after being isted for too long without anymunication with the outside world.

    Su Jin was in a very simr situation now. This ce was even more empty yet ustrophobicpared to outer space. The words ¡°atonement¡± and ¡°redemption¡± ringing in his head made Su Jin feel even more lost even faster.

    ¡°Atonement! Atonement! Atonement!¡± Su Jin murmured to himself. He seemed to have forgotten everything else but this word. He had to remember what his goal was. That was the only way he could find himself again.

    ¡°Every person in the world has sins. In that case¡­is every god of this world sinless?¡± Su Jin suddenly came up with this question. He had seen gods, elder gods and demigods.

    The Demon Lord had killed so many people in an instant with no regard for human life, creating the Fengxi Town Challenge, which became a ce for Hell¡¯s Handbook to torture owners.

    Prince Charming was a demigod who was so desperate to attain godhood that he killed even more people than the Demon Lord did. And after the Demon Lord egged him on, Prince Charming even wanted to swallow the entire World of Fairytales just to fulfil his own desire to be a god. Weren¡¯t these deeds that clearly disregarded other forms of life a sin too?

    Sinless humans only existed in an ideal world, while sinless gods only existed in stories. They were in a high and lofty position and therefore worshipped by many. But if there were no demons, there would be no Buddha; if there were no light, there would be no shadows!

    Every yin had a yang, so simrly, as Su Jin sat on the ground, his soul was theplement to his body, his beliefs as opposed to his desires. Everything existed because the other did as well. There were no coins with tails on both sides, just like there were no coins with heads on both sides.

    ¡°If everyone were good, then how can good be defined? If everyone were evil, then how can evil be defined?¡± Su Jin¡¯s soul muttered as he continued examining his body. At the same time, his body remained seated on the ground, chanting the word ¡°atonement¡± over and over. The two Su Jins remained facing each other this way, one standing and one seated, as if they were trying to engage in a debate.

    ¡°I see!¡± Su Jin¡¯s soul suddenly shouted loud. His shout was as ear deafening as thunder and carried great authority.

    ¡°Why the need to atone for sins?¡± Su Jin¡¯s body opened his eyes with a start. His voice was faint like the gentle rains of spring, like he was just stating facts.

    Su Jin stood up to look into the distance. He could see his other self standing in the darkness.

    They smiled at each other. One was Su Jin¡¯s soul and the other was Su Jin¡¯s body. They walked towards each other, took each other¡¯s hands and a sh of light shone as both body and soul became one. The new Su Jin was once again clothed in his Gold Armor, his Gift from the Gods and held the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow in his hand. His presence was dazzling in the darkness.

    He took wide strides towards the glowing door and walked right through it. After that, Su Jin finally really opened his eyes. His journey of self-redemption had ended.

    ¡°We had an agreement!¡± Su Jin stretched his hands towards Anubis. Anubis had been standing there all along, quietly watching Su Jin¡¯s journey.

    Anubis tapped the air gently and a drop of red appeared in the air. Su Jin quickly opened his Handbook and caught that drop of the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul.

    ¡°I seem to have vaguely caught a glimpse of the future, but the future does not belong to me. As a god, I should not have such troubles. Are you able to resolve these questions for me?¡± Anubis suddenly asked Su Jin.

    But Su Jin shook his head helplessly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I think I have even more questions than you do.¡±

    Anubis was a little disappointed, but Su Jin added, ¡°But I believe that nothing in the future is fixed. As long as you have faith, you¡¯ll definitely have a ce in the future!¡±

    Anubis stared nkly at Su Jin for a moment andughed sadly in response. But there was a sparkle in its eye now.

    At the same time, Su Jin slowly faded into the darkness.

    Countless people had gone through Anubis¡¯ world. Su Jin was merely one of them.

 Chapter 94: Attacked by Their Own

    <h4>Chapter 94: Attacked by Their Own</h4>

    A white sh of light appeared in the house and Kano Mai watched as Su Jin reappeared before her. He had left for barely a minute in the real world, but she had been terribly worried during this time. Once she saw that he was safely back again, she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

    ¡°I got it!¡± Su Jin grinned as he nodded at Kano Mai. But before he could go into further detail, he copsed onto the floor.

    ¡°Jin!¡± Kano Mai paled as she quickly helped him up. But Su Jin didn¡¯t have an ounce of energy left in him at all. If Kano Mai let go of him, he would slump onto the floor again.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening to me?¡± Su Jin was terribly shocked as well. He was fine when he left Anubis¡¯ mausoleum. What was going on? Had he suddenly be paralyzed?

    But he was quickly ovee by a very strange sensation. He suddenly realized that his surroundings had be especially clear to him. He could see every particle of dust, feel even the slightest brush of air and see the tiniest bit of light.

    It seemed as though he was able to differentiate everything and look at them separately. This was both a magical and creepy sort of feeling. Su Jin could even hear the sound of his blood travelling through his arteries. One sounded like a gushing river leading to a waterfall, while the other one sounded like a little stream through the forest.

    He soon realized that the one that sounded like a gushing river was actually his own bloodstream, since his physical body was very strong. The weaker one belonged to Kano Mai.

    After observing the sounds he was hearing for a while longer, he realized there were other flowing sounds besides these two. He quickly discovered that these other sounds weren¡¯ting from his blood vessels. These sounds seemed to being from inside his head and probably had something to do with his psychokinesis.

    He activated his Spirit Power and looked at the number in the corner. His upper limit had hit 300!

    Su Jin was astonished at first, but he soon figured out what must have happened. During his time inside Anubis¡¯ mausoleum, he hadpleted his journey of self-redemption and had understood concepts that were intangible and were difficult to define.

    In other words, sin only existed because there were certainws that defined it as such. The exact definition of sin would vary ording to which rules you were following, so atonement and redemption were meaningless.

    His understanding of this idea increased his Spirit Power by a lot.

    In Daoist terms, Su Jin had gained enlightenment and understood the Dao.

    ording to the Chinese legends he grew up with, Daoists who understood the Dao could go on to be immortals. Su Jin was clearly not going to be one, but this experience had increased his Spirit Power by a lot.

    Su Jin was now sure of the sounds he was hearing, but he also discovered that besides hearing the sound of his own and Kano Mai¡¯s blood circting, he could hear many more of such soundsing from outside his house. These sounds were much more powerful than his own and they were approaching the house.

    ¡°Mai, listen to me. Some people have barged into our house, so you¡¯ve got to be careful!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t move, but he had no problem using his Spirit Power to observe his surroundings.

    Kano Mai¡¯s eyes widened, then she retrieved her Soul Whisperer from her Handbook immediately. She never doubted what Su Jin said.

    ¡°We¡¯d better hide first.¡± Kano Mai retrieved a wheelchair from her Handbook and carried Su Jin onto it.

    Su Jin found it very strange that Kano Mai had a wheelchair among her Handbook items, but this was not the time to ask. She pushed him up to the second story.

    ¡°Okay, Professor, what¡¯s your n?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°Professor?¡± Su Jin was confused. When did he be a professor?

    Kano Mai covered her mouth andughed. ¡°Haven¡¯t you seen X-Men before? You¡¯ve got psychokinesis and you¡¯re stuck on a wheelchair now. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re just like him?¡±

    Su Jin realized that he did resemble Professor X now, except that he had a full head of hair.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a n yet¡­the people barging in seem to be pretty good fighters, so it doesn¡¯t seem possible for you to take all of them down by yourself. I¡¯ll just spend a bit of points and we can hide in Hell¡¯s Bar.¡± If Su Jin could move normally, he could have easily taken these people on.

    Kano Mai was a sniper after all. Even though she had taken a body strengthening elixir before, closebat fighting was still not her strength. If she were in a spot further and higher than these intruders, she could shoot them easily. But they weren¡¯t in a very good ce to do that now.

    ¡°Could it be those people from the Department of Supernatural Affairs again?¡± Kano Mai¡¯s first thought was that it was Situ Jin and his team again. She couldn¡¯t think of anybody else who would try to sneak a surprise attack on them like this.

    Su Jin shook his head. He could sense their activity, but he couldn¡¯t tell who they were.

    ¡°Do you have tranquilizer bullets?¡± Su Jin suddenly asked.

    Kano Mai nodded. ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll be your eyes, while you try to shoot them and knock them out. I¡¯ll think of a way to question themter,¡± said Su Jin. He thought it best to find out exactly who these people were. It was very unsettling to have enemies hiding in the shadows.

    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± Su Jin covered the entire house with his Spirit Power and detected seven people in the house.

    ¡°Someone¡¯sing upstairs, he¡¯s going to appear at the staircasending soon. The closest person to him is five meters away,¡± Su Jin whispered to Kano Mai.

    She nodded and there was a glint in her eye as she got ready to fire. She took aim and a purple bullet flew out from her Soul Whisperer. But when the bullet was fired, the man who was supposed to appear at the staircasending hadn¡¯t appeared yet.

    But the man appeared at the exact moment the bullet reached the staircasending, as if the man hade towards the bullet instead. That was how skilful Kano Mai was.

    Su Jin¡¯s shooting skills were above average and if he joined the military, he would be the sharpest shooter of them all, especially since his physical body and control was way better than an ordinary human¡¯s. Butpared to Kano Mai, his skills were nothing to shout about at all.

    The person who got shot trembled a little but didn¡¯t copse. Instead, he looked towards where Su Jin and Kano Mai were hiding and gave them a creepy smile.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin and Kano Mai realized they were in trouble. Kano Mai gave up using the wheelchair and carried Su Jin before shifting ces in an instant.

    Less than two seconds after they shifted, a figure appeared from a dark corner and stood where the two of them werest standing.

    ¡°Not bad, huh!¡± The second man smirked, then called out to the man on the stairs, ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course! This seems to be a tranquilizer bullet though. I¡¯m surprised that there are still kind souls among the Hell¡¯s Handbook owners. Which owner actually uses a tranquilizer to attack an enemy?¡± The man on the stairs burst outughing.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s eyes widened. These people were not ordinary people. They were Handbook owners like themselves. But why were these people attacking them?

    ¡°Oho! I found them!¡± The second man turned and disappeared again.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Su Jin hissed. The second man appeared less than a second behind Kano Mai and swung the two sharp daggers in his hand towards her back.

    Thanks to Su Jin¡¯s warning, Kano Mai let go of Su Jin and gave her attacker a roundhouse kick, which was definitely the right thing to do in this situation. If she had chosen to run instead, she would have been attacked by someone else, so the best thing to do right now was to counterattack.

    The man didn¡¯t expect her to choose to fight him either. He could have gone ahead to stab her with his daggers anyway, but remaining close to her would also mean that she would kick him in the chest.

    He and hispanions had the upper hand anyway, so they didn¡¯t have to allow themselves to get hurt just to apprehend Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    So, he chose to move backwards and gave up fighting Kano Mai. She pulled her leg back as well, carried Su Jin and ran to a dead end.

    To most people, hiding yourself in a dead end while being chased down was the dumbest thing one could do. But she didn¡¯t have a choice. They were stuck in the house and were greatly outnumbered. It was more dangerous to leave their backs unguarded.

    She had chosen a ce where they could hold off their attackers for a while. That way, Su Jin could choose to either enter Hell¡¯s Bar or proceed with any n he might have.

    But actually, Su Jin had already realized he had a different problem at hand. He couldn¡¯t move at all and getting into Hell¡¯s Bar needed him to use his hand. In other words, going to Hell¡¯s Bar was not an option right now.

    ¡°Mai, go to Hell¡¯s Bar by yourself! Now!¡± Su Jin whispered to Kano Mai. Things had gotten too dangerous and he didn¡¯t think it was necessary for both of them to end up dying when there was actually a way out.

    But Kano Mai shook her head and refused without hesitation. Su Jin never gave up on her when they were in the Fairytales of Horror Challenge, so she wasn¡¯t going to give up on him either.

    ¡°Silly girl, this isn¡¯t the time to prove your loyalty! Hurry up and leave!¡± Su Jin began to panic. He was touched that she was choosing not to abandon him here, but he still felt that doing so was very foolish.

    She ignored him and continued to hold onto him, refusing to waver. Su Jin could only sigh exasperatedly. Then again, it was quite nice to be carried like this. Kano Mai¡¯s figure was really perfect!

    Kano Mai could sense what Su Jin was thinking about and she immediately rapped her knuckles on his head, embarrassing him immediately. Anyone who didn¡¯t know better would have thought that Kano Mai was the one with psychokic powers and could read Su Jin¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Your disy of love is soooo touching!¡± The man who had tried to attack Kano Mai earlier appeared in front of them with a mirthless smile on his face. They could see him clearly now, and to their surprise, he turned out to be a blond white man with blue eyes!

    Thecker: These two chapters made me wonder if I was doing HH or QHDW good gracious.

 Chapter 95: Robbers

    <h4>Chapter 95: Robbers</h4>

    The blond man was fairly tall and muscr, and the two daggers he held, shone with a green glint. The des had clearly been soaked in poison.

    ¡°Your Mandarin isn¡¯t too bad, huh!¡± Su Jin was initially surprised at how well this blond man spoke Mandarin, but when he remembered that the he was a Handbook owner, it didn¡¯t seem surprising anymore.

    ¡°Besides Mandarin, I also know seven othernguages. But none of that is important. My friend and I are just here to borrow a few things.¡± The blond pulled a chair over, turned it around, sat down and rested his arms on the backrest.

    ¡°What, you¡¯re here to borrow our lives?¡± Su Jin felt like he didn¡¯t seem very imposing since he had to be carried by Kano Mai.

    The blond shook his head and his expression grew serious as he said, ¡°You can call me Ron. In general, our policy is not to kill those who are willing to cooperate with us. We¡¯re not bloodthirsty murderers who kill others for nothing.¡±

    Su Jin made a face. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why are your other friends still hiding around the house? I hardly call this a no-kill policy.¡±

    Ron was rather surprised and concluded that these two must have some sort of skill that could observe their surroundings without the use of surveince cameras. Those were useless, since any owner making use of their special items and techniques could not be caught on camera.

    .

    But he wasn¡¯t worried. If the two of them could still get away under such circumstances, he might as well kill himself.

    ¡°They¡¯re just there in case anything goes wrong,¡± said Ron as he shrugged.

    Su Jin pursed his lips, then said, ¡°In that case¡­what do you want to borrow from us?¡±

    ¡°Oho! We want to borrow¡­every Spirit Power item as well as any other useful items.¡± Ron grinned at them but maintained a good distance from the two, in case they decided to attack him even at their own expense.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai weren¡¯t expecting this response. These men were basically a group of robbers who targeted Handbook owners. They were a little caught off guard, but they weren¡¯t particrly surprised. It wasn¡¯t hard to understand why these men were doing this. It was much easier and safer to rob someone of what they had rather than fight your way through a Challenge desperately and slowly use the points received to exchange for items.

    ¡°I can give you what you want, but I have a question. How did you end up targeting us?¡± asked Su Jin quietly.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know the answer to that. Hand over all your things now!¡± Ron had a murderous glint in his eye now. He was clearly losing his patience.

    But there was no way Su Jin was going to hand over every item he had on hand. Those were vital to his own survival in the Handbook world. Besides, he didn¡¯t think these people were going to leave after taking their items. The murderous aura surrounding Ron was simply too strong. This wasn¡¯t just based on Su Jin¡¯s observation, but based on what his Psychokic Spirit Power had detected. It sensed a bloodthirstiness in this man.

    It seemed like there was no way out for Su Jin. This situation was even worse than anything he had experienced during the Handbook Challenges. His limbs were paralyzed, so he had lost 90% of his fighting abilities. His Psychokic Spirit Power was powerful, but there was no way he could kill seven Handbook owners in one shot. He figured that he might be able to kill three of them at the same time, then he would run out of Spirit Power and still end up getting killed by the other owners.

    ¡°Mai, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve not told you all this time,¡± Su Jin suddenly said to Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai stared nkly at Su Jin in surprise. Ron was equally surprised that Su Jin wasn¡¯t more concerned about the situation he was in right now. Kano Mai took a deep breath and said, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Actually¡­I¡­I¡¯ve always had a crush on you!¡± said Su Jin suddenly.

    Kano Mai¡¯s entire body literally shook. That was thest thing she expected Su Jin to say. She knew how much Su Jin liked Ye Yun.

    But Su Jin smiled faintly and said to her, ¡°Put me down.¡±

    Kano Mai immediately put him down. Ron looked oddly at the couple in front of him. How was this a good time to get romantic?

    ¡°Mai,pared to those things, it¡¯s more important to stay alive! Give them whatever they want! Also, help me to take my Handbook out,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh, as if he was resigned to his fate and was really prepared to hand everything he had over to these robbers.

    Kano Mai helped Su Jin to take his Handbook out and Ron watched Su Jin very closely to make sure that Su Jin didn¡¯t try anything funny, since Su Jin had to take his Handbook out for this transaction and he might try to attack.

    But what puzzled Ron was why Su Jin was in this state. Ron had seen Su Jin before and Su Jin was perfectly mobile. How did he suddenly be a paralytic?

    Then again, that was none of Ron¡¯s concern. He concluded that Su Jin had run into some ident in the real world and got himself badly injured. In other words, even if Ron hadn¡¯te looking for him, Su Jin was definitely going to die during his next Challenge. Apletely immobile person would never survive a Handbook Challenge.

    Just then, Kano Mai suddenly did something to the Handbook. A portal door suddenly appeared and Kano Mai jumped right in.

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Bar!¡± Everything happened too quickly and Kano Mai had disappeared by the time Ron let out a shout.

    Su Jin had a pleased smile on his face after Kano Mai had jumped in. If those words hadn¡¯t distracted Kano Mai and caused her to waver, he wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to control her mind.

    Kano Mai was someone who had gone through several Challenges and had a very strong will. It wasn¡¯t easy to control someone like her at all. But Su Jin¡¯s sudden confession had shocked her so much that Su Jin was able to control her mind and made her enter Hell¡¯s Bar against her own wishes.

    Inside Hell¡¯s Bar, Kano Mai nearly went insane when she realized what just happened and wanted to dash out again, but Su Jin¡¯s voice rang in her head, ¡°Silly girl, you are NOT toe back! I have a way to protect myself. If youe back, you will only ruin my ns. Have a little more faith in your team leader!¡±

    Su Jin had left Kano Mai a message when he sent her into Hell¡¯s Bar because he was afraid she would hop right out again and his efforts would have gone to waste.

    Back inside the house, Su Jin had a pleased look on his face because he had made use of his psychokinesis perfectly. Using it to control another person¡¯s mind was not a technique he had learned or practiced before. Trying it out on Kano Mai had been a desperate attempt, but it had turned out better than he had expected.

    Ron was furious as he stared daggers at Su Jin. He couldn¡¯t believe one of them had managed to get away despite being cornered like this. If anybody else found out about this, it would be such an embarrassment. Thankfully, this was his own private operation, so nobody else would know besides his own small group.

    Actually, Ron had his eye on Su Jin because he was part of the group watching Starlight Orphanage. They were pretty sure that anybody connected to Ye Yun was no ordinary person.

    Ron was supposed to report such findings to the organization he belonged to, but he felt that it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to handle Su Jin on his own. After all, if he took Su Jin down secretly, everything Su Jin had would be his and he wouldn¡¯t have to take only what the organization allowed him to.

    ¡°Great! Just great! Yourpanion has fled but I highly doubt you¡¯re able to do that in this state. Are finally prepared to cooperate?¡± asked Ron as he tried to suppress his anger.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not!¡± Su Jin made a face as he gave themand, ¡°Gold Armor! Rumor!¡±

    A golden beam flickered as the Gold Armor covered Su Jin. Ron cursed inwardly. He didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to still choose to counterattack even at this stage.

    ¡°Get him!¡± yelled Ron. Ron couldn¡¯t afford to kill Su Jin now because once Su Jin died, his Handbook and all the items inside would disappear as well. He needed to hold Su Jin down and keep torturing him until he surrendered all his items. Ron was very sure that nobody would be able to hold up against his tactics.

    ¡°Air of an Overlord!¡± Su Jin immediately activated his armor¡¯s skill, sending out an invisible force from his body. All seven owners were stunned and their world spun for one second.

    ¡°Move! Move!¡± Su Jin gritted his teeth and perspiration dripped from his forehead as he filled Rumor with his Psychokic Spirit Power. He couldn¡¯t move, so Rumor was his only hope.

    Rumor started moving, to Su Jin¡¯s delight. He was right in believing that he wasn¡¯tpletely helpless. And even if he were to die, he was going to drag a few of them down with him.

    But just then, Ron and the rest snapped out of their dizziness. They were so horrified by what just happened to them. If there was another owner here while they were experiencing that dizziness, at least one of them would have died by now. Once they snapped out of their daze, they charged towards Su Jin and couldn¡¯t see anything else but him.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± Rumor flew out along with whatever remained of his Spirit Power.

    All seven owners felt like they weren¡¯t in control of their bodies anymore and Rumor flew right through two of their hearts.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin felt an excruciating pain in his head. He had overestimated himself after all. Even with Rumor¡¯s help, he could only kill two of them.

    The remaining five were even more horrified now. Su Jin had turned out to be way more powerful than they had expected and the possibility of Su Jin being a veteran hadn¡¯t even crossed their mind. In fact, if Su Jin were fully mobile, they would all be dead by now.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? So what if he¡¯s veteran? He¡¯s just one paralyzed guy! Get him!¡± yelled Ron. He was afraid that his team would lose morale because Su Jin was a veteran. After all, the organization would have sent a different team to deal with veterans.

    Su Jiny on the floor with despair in his eyes. He had always thought he would end up dying in a Challenge. But now, it looked like he was going to die in the real world.

    The other five felt relieved when they saw the despair in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. That meant that Su Jin wasn¡¯t able to defend himself anymore and had given up, so they charged towards Su Jin again.

    Just then, the doorbell rang and a man¡¯s voice called out, ¡°Hello! Is Mr. Su Jin at home?¡±

    Everybody say¡­PLOT ARMOR

 Chapter 96: Foreknowledge

    <h4>Chapter 96: Foreknowledge</h4>

    Inside the house, everybody had stopped moving, not because they decided to stop but because they couldn¡¯t move at all. The moment the man¡¯s voice resounded inside the house, nobody could move anymore.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Su Jin was equally taken aback. It was clear that everyone was under someone else¡¯s control. Some of them had leaped into the air and were still in midair. This lookedpletely insane to Su Jin. Did someone have the ability to stop time or something?

    If Su Jin was just taken aback, Ron and his team were absolutely terrified. They were Handbook owners and were more formidable than an ordinary human being themselves. But now, they couldn¡¯t even see their enemy, yet their entire bodies could be controlled by him. They couldn¡¯t imagine how powerful this person must be.

    They soon heard the sound of someoneing up the stairs. A young man soon appeared within their line of sight. He walked over to Su Jin, squatted down beside Su Jin and picked up Su Jin¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Hello there, my surname¡¯s Xu. My friend came to make trouble for you thest time and I wanted to apologize on his behalf. Could I have a chat with you?¡± The man had a big and friendly smile on his face and didn¡¯t look like a bad guy.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have the time to talk to you,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh.

    The young man looked up at Ron and his team and frowned slightly. After staring at them for a few seconds, he said, ¡°I¡¯m shocked that such an organization exists. I¡¯ve never seen you people before.¡±

    He then flicked his fingers and four out of five of them instantly dropped dead. A protective beam of light flickered around Ron, so he remained unhurt.

    ¡°I see you have something to protect yourself,¡± murmured the young man nonchntly. That beam of light didn¡¯t bother him at all.

    ¡°Xu Ran, you can¡¯t kill me! Our organization has never done anything to offend you! If you kill me, you¡¯re just asking for trouble! You can¡¯t do that! You can¡¯t!¡± yelled Ron in terror.

    Ron knew exactly who this young man was. Before arriving in China, he had received a list of people they must never offend. Xu Ran was right at the top of this list.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± Xu Ran flicked his finger again, causing the protective light around Ron to shatter, and also crushed Ron¡¯s brain at the same time.

    The floor was instantly covered with a mushy white liquid mixed with blood. Su Jin was used to bloody and cruel deaths, but this sight still made him feel ufortable.

    ¡°Can we talk now?¡± Xu Ran smiled as he lifted a finger and Su Jin immediately floated up from the floor.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression changed dramatically when he felt the force that was moving his body. This force felt exactly the same as his psychokinesis. In short, Xu Ran was also someone with Psychokic Spirit Power.

    Xu Ran put Su Jin down on a chair, then pulled the chair that Ron used earlier and sat down across from Su Jin.

    ¡°Mr. Su, your situation doesn¡¯t look too good. Let me see¡­hmm, you¡¯ve gone through enlightenment once. Not bad! But you seem to have used a rather aggressive method to train up your psychokinesis. I need to warn you at this point that doing so is very dangerous. You were only paralyzed this time, but you might die the next time.¡± Xu Ran looked a little curiously at Su Jin. His control of his psychokinesis was much better than Su Jin¡¯s, so it only took one nce for him to know what happened to Su Jin.

    After Su Jin realized how much more powerful Xu Ran was in terms of his psychokic powers, he wasn¡¯t surprised that Xu Ran had been able to read him so easily.

    ¡°This method might have almost cost me my life, but if I didn¡¯t do that, I¡¯d definitely be dead by now.¡± Su Jin then asked, ¡°Mr. Xu, you mentioned that you were here to apologize on behalf of a friend. This friend of yours¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh! That! My friend¡¯s name is Situ Jin and he¡¯s from the Department of Supernatural Affairs. He came to make some trouble for you but¡­well, he ended up in trouble himself.¡± Xu Ran immediately started chuckling when he talked about how Situ Jin ended up on the losing end.

    ¡°Situ Jin?¡± Su Jin frowned and asked, ¡°Mr. Xu, are you really here to apologize? Or are you here to¡­take me to task?¡±

    ¡°Oh no, of course I¡¯m here to apologize! If I were here to take you to task, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d be dead by now,¡± said Xu Ran as he rolled his eyes to act out what a dead man would look like. But he didn¡¯t look or sound threatening when he said these words. He was just stating facts to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Mr. Xu, you¡¯ve helped me to get rid of these fellows, so you¡¯ve not only done me a big favor, but you¡¯ve actually saved my life. I¡¯m not going to pursue Mr. Situ¡¯s matter any further.¡±

    Xu Ran gave a pleased nod and said, ¡°That¡¯s great! Honestly speaking, that friend of mine is a little stubborn and he might give you trouble again in the future. I hope that you could let him off on ount of the favor I¡¯ve done for you today.¡±

    Su Jin paused for a moment. He had amended Situ Jin¡¯s memories thest time, so Situ Jin should not be suspicious of him anymore. But since Xu Ran knew about what happened, it probably meant that Situ Jin had regained his original set of memories.

    ¡°Mr. Xu, did you help him regain his memories?¡± Su Jin asked directly.

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want me to hurt Mr. Situ in any way, then I don¡¯t think you ought to have helped him regain his memories. I don¡¯t think changing anybody¡¯s memories is an appropriate thing to do, but in that situation, that was the best way to make sure he never came knocking on my door again,¡± said Su Jin with a frown.

    Xu Ran grinned and said, ¡°Of course I understand that, but I have my own reasons. It¡¯s too bad that he¡¯s my best buddy and I have no choice but to clean up after him.¡±

    He shook his head and looked like he really couldn¡¯t do anything to make the situation better. Su Jin felt like he could understand how Xu Ran felt.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve got a really good way to make sure you never worry about me hurting your buddy ever again,¡± said Su Jin.

    Xu Ran nced at Su Jin, then burst outughing when he realized what Su Jin was driving at. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not the bloodthirsty type. Besides, we¡¯re all Handbook owners, so we¡¯re in the same boat. There¡¯s no need for us to attack one another.¡±

    Su Jin burst outughing this time. ¡°Well, judging from how expertly and decisively you killed those guys, I¡¯m not really sure if you¡¯re not the bloodthirsty type anymore.¡±

    Xu Ran nced at the dead bodies on the floor and sneered, ¡°These fellows are anomalies among Handbook owners, robbing other owners to empower themselves. What¡¯s even worse is that they¡¯re doing this outside of the Handbook universe, so they¡¯ve crossed the line. Such people are just asking to be killed.¡±

    Su Jin agreed. It was clear that Xu Ran really wasn¡¯t here to kill him. After all, Xu Ran just had to snap his fingers and Su Jin would breathe hisst.

    ¡°In any case, if that friend of minees looking for you, I hope you¡¯ll be merciful towards him. As a show of my gratitude, let me repay you this way.¡± Xu Ran suddenly stood up, walked over and ced a finger on Su Jin¡¯s temple.

    Su Jin had an astonished look on his face but before he could ask what Xu Ran was doing, he felt a powerful force flow into his brain from his temple.

    The brain was a human¡¯s most powerful yet most fragile organ. If a person¡¯s brain was damaged, it would affect the rest of the body severely.

    Right now, Xu Ran¡¯s Psychokic Spirit Power was travelling through Su Jin¡¯s brain. Su Jin could feel the strength of that Spirit Power, but he could also sense that this power had no malicious intent and it was actually helping his own Spirit Power to take control of his body again.

    Xu Ran¡¯s Spirit Power did not forcibly take control of Su Jin¡¯s body. Instead, it helped to push Su Jin¡¯s Spirit Power along and guide it to where it should go.

    Under the guidance of Xu Ran¡¯s Spirit Power, Su Jin¡¯s Spirit Power slowly began to fill his body and he was able to control his movements again.

    Su Jin¡¯s fingers moved slightly and a look of joy spread across his face. He was now able to move normally again.

    Xu Ran took his own Spirit Power out of Su Jin¡¯s body once Su Jin had recovered. He smiled and said, ¡°Remember that feeling. If something simr happens again, I believe you¡¯re now able to resolve it yourself.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Su Jin was truly grateful to Xu Ran. If not for Xu Ran, he had no idea when he would be able to take control of his body again. If he was still paralyzed by the time he had to start his next Challenge, he would be in grave danger.

    ¡°No need to thank me. Treat it as my way of thanking you in advance for letting my buddy off. I have a bad feeling that he¡¯s going to look you up pretty often, so please remember what you promised me. You can beat him up and teach him a lesson in any way you like, but no matter what you do, please don¡¯t kill him,¡± Xu Ran said very solemnly to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded, but he still had questions. ¡°But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s very troublesome to handle it like this? I mean, if there¡¯s a misunderstanding between Mr. Situ and myself, wouldn¡¯t it be better if we resolved that misunderstanding directly? Or seriously, if you just kill me, you won¡¯t have to worry about this ever again. Not being the bloodthirsty type has nothing to do with this.¡±

    But Xu Ran shook his head and sighed. ¡°There are some things you don¡¯t understand. If I didn¡¯t have to, I wouldn¡¯t do something that¡¯s unnecessary either. Moreover, you¡¯ve got great potential and I don¡¯t want to kill someone like you. Also, if Situ Jin makes trouble for you again, please don¡¯t mention my name, okay?¡±

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. He couldn¡¯t possibly refuse any of Xu Ran¡¯s requests, since Xu Ran had just saved his life.

    There was one more question on Su Jin¡¯s mind. ¡°Did youe here because you knew I was in danger?¡±

    Xu Ran nodded, paused to think for a moment, then said, ¡°Just like me, you¡¯ve activated Psychokic Spirit Power. Some people think that it¡¯s a useless type of Spirit Power, which is not entirely wrong, since it¡¯s so hard to increase or improve it. But once you manage to grow it, this Spirit Power will be an extremely powerful force that can do wonders.¡±

    ¡°Daoists have a philosophy about foreknowledge. If a cultivator bes one with the heavens, you will be able to sense danger before it happens. When Psychokic Spirit Power reaches a certain level, it will be capable of this as well.¡±

    ¡°I found out about you from Situ Jin, so I kept you on my mind since then. Just now I sensed that you might be in danger, so¡­I came over.¡±

    Take someone to task - reprimand or criticize someone severely for a fault or mistake.

 Chapter 97: Fight in the Rain

    <h4>Chapter 97: Fight in the Rain</h4>

    Su Jin was really mindblown by this point. If he had foreknowledge, that meant he could predict the future. He would be invincible in Challenges.

    Xu Ran could tell what Su Jin was thinking about, so heughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not really that incredible. Firstly, this is something that only works on people who are very closely tied to you. Secondly, you don¡¯t have any control over it. What I sense, and when I sense it, ispletely random.¡±

    Su Jin actually felt a bit better after hearing Xu Ran exin the limitations. It seemed a little too fantastical otherwise. But even with limitations, it was still an incredible power to have. It could even save lives.

    Xu Ran seemed eager to exin more to Su Jin as his way of thanking him in advance for letting Situ Jin off, so he went on, ¡°Psychokic Spirit Power is often thought of as a useless one not only because it¡¯s hard to develop. There are other Spirit Power types that are equally hard to develop. The difference is that the experience you have in developing it cannot be duplicated.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by it cannot be duplicated?¡± Su Jin stared at Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran exined, ¡°In other words, I cannot pass on my experience in developing my Psychokic Spirit Power to you. We could do the exact same thing and while the method might work for me, it might not work for you at all.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He didn¡¯t know that Psychokic Spirit Power had this limitation as well. No wonder Kano Mai was so disappointed to learn that he had activated Psychokic Spirit Power.

    ¡°But you¡¯ve been pretty lucky so far. Your methods have been rather dangerous, but they¡¯ve worked. That means there are plenty of possible methods that work for you.¡± He went on, ¡°Don¡¯t look down on something like luck. In a Handbook Challenge, it¡¯s the lucky ones who get a chance to survive. You, me and every owner who¡¯s still alive are all very lucky people.¡±

    After saying all that, Xu Ran got up and said with a smile, ¡°My visit is a little sudden, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to be upset with me for that. I¡¯ll help you to clean up this mess. Just don¡¯t forget our agreement!¡±

    Su Jin also got up from his chair. He still had many questions but he didn¡¯t think Xu Ran could answer them all, so he said, ¡°I hope to see you again, and I hope we¡¯re still friends when that happens.¡±

    ¡°I hope so too!¡± Xu Ran nodded. Then he snapped his fingers and all the bodies on the floor suddenly turned to dust, flying out of the windows and disappearing into the sky.

    That snap was all it took for Su Jin to realize that the difference between himself and Xu Ran was really impossible topare. Xu Ran was already high up in the clouds, while he had only just discovered a rope that would slowly lead to those clouds.

    After Xu Ran left, Su Jin immediately sent word to Kano Mai that it was safe for her to return now.

    A portal appeared in the house and Kano Mai came running out. She ran straight towards Su Jin and gave him a tight p.

    Su Jin felt like his cheek was burning. Kano Mai was no expert in closebat but her body had been strengthened tremendously over time. He didn¡¯t think even the bestmandos in the military were any match for her. That was how hard she pped him.

    He looked at her sadly and sighed, ¡°Alright, alright, I shouldn¡¯t have controlled your mind and made you do things against your own will. I won¡¯t do it again, I promise.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about that!¡± Kano Mai red furiously at him with her big and beautiful eyes as she puffed her cheeks out. Her tiny nose was quivering as she inhaled and exhaled angrily, which actually made her look terribly cute.

    Su Jin scratched his head, then said, ¡°Ah, okay I get it. The next time we run into danger, I¡¯ll make sure we fight it together. At most we¡¯ll all die together, okay?¡±

    ¡°Who said I was willing to die with you?! You¡­you¡¯re such a douchebag!!¡± Kano Mai stormed off, and left Su Jin standing there awkwardly by himself.

    Su Jin rubbed his nose absentmindedly. Of course he knew exactly why Kano Mai was so angry with him. In order to gain control of her mind, he had resorted to saying something like that to her. That was a really despicable thing to do to a girl. But the bigger problem was that judging from Kano Mai¡¯s reaction, it seemed like she was carrying a torch for him.

    ¡°Sigh! Why didn¡¯t anybody like me when I was still an ordinary guy on the street?¡± Su Jin sighed glumly. He was pretty obtuse when it came to such matters, so he decided that he was just going to pretend that none of this happened and perhaps Kano Mai would forget all about it in time as well.

    But the awkwardness between them didn¡¯t disappear just because he pretended nothing had happened. While their rtionship did not worsen, Kano Mai continued to be curt towards him.

    It was a rainy night in B City. A man in a ck windbreaker walked through the rain quietly by himself. His face was covered in camouge paint.

    This area was quite secluded in the first ce, and because it was raining, there was nobody using this unsheltered overhead bridge except this strange man.

    All of a sudden, a man in his forties came up from the other end of the bridge. He had nearly lost all his hair and had a bit of a beer belly. He didn¡¯t have an umbre, so he was all drenched and the only thing he had to shield his head from the onught of the falling water was his document bag.

    The two were about to pass each other when the man in the windbreaker suddenly disappeared. It was as if he had suddenly vaporized and was nowhere to be found.

    The middle aged man¡¯s expression turned serious as he put his arm down and used one hand to loosen his tie. The grim look in his eyes intensified.

    ng! A shiny de suddenly appeared in the rain and came down towards the man¡¯s arm. But when the de hit his arm, his arm merely trembled and gave off that loud nging noise, as if his arm was made from steel.

    The middle aged man threw his document bag into the air, then reappeared where his document bag was about tond and caught it again in an instant.

    ¡°Xu Songde, born and bred in B City. Seven months ago, you were just an ordinary office worker. Something happened at that point in time and you continued your old life, but you received huge amounts of cash. I¡¯ve checked the source of this money and it¡¯s all legal. The only problem is¡­it¡¯s way too legal to be true.¡± The man in the windbreaker appeared again. The camouge paint on his face seemedpletely unaffected by the water pouring down on it.

    The middle aged man looked at the other man puzzledly. The man in the windbreaker had gotten it exactly right. His life had changedpletely seven months ago. He was initially an ordinary office worker who was about to be fired back then, but one day, something happened and he felt like he had been reborn.

    ¡°On that fateful day seven months ago, you received a copy of Hell¡¯s Handbook. After surviving great dangers, you attained power. Power might not make the upright even more upright, but it will definitely enable the lowlifes to be even more despicable. And you, Xu Songde! Your despicable acts are evil beyond any hope!¡± the man in the windbreaker continued.

    A smile spread across Xu Songde¡¯s face. His earnest looking features looked a little crazed now as he licked his rain drenched lips.

    ¡°Despicable acts? I¡¯m just looking for some fun and entertainment in this world of ordinary people. To ordinary folks, we¡¯re like gods. When a child pours hot water into an ants¡¯ nest, would you consider that to be despicable? What¡¯s wrong? Can¡¯t a god have some fun when they¡¯re among mortals? How is that despicable?¡± Xu Songdeughed maniacally.

    Anger shed in the eyes of the man in the windbreaker, while Xu Songde continued, ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, but I¡¯d advise you to stay away or else¡­you might lose your life!¡±

    ¡°Xu Songde, over the past seven months, you have raped and killed 31 women. Your modus operandi is cruel and inhumane, so today, I shall bring judgement upon you!¡± A sharp knife appeared in the man¡¯s hand and it glinted threateningly in the dim streetlights.

    Xu Songde scoffed in disdain. ¡°Humph! And who do you think you are?!¡±

    He shook his document bag open and a vajra and his Handbook flew out. He grabbed hold of both items and ran like a bolt of lightning towards the other man.

    The man in the windbreaker narrowed his eyes. His body trembled slightly and turned into nothing but rainwater, so Xu Songde¡¯s attacknded on nothing.

    ¡°Spirit Power? No, it¡¯s an illusion!¡± Xu Songde was initially shocked, but he soon realized something was amiss. He mmed his vajra violently against the bridge and sent a powerful force out in all directions.

    A section of the rainwater became distorted as some electrical sparks appeared on the other man¡¯s windbreaker. The force from the vajra had flung him backwards.

    The man frowned. Just like what Xu Songde had thought, his ability to vanish into the rain was actually just an illusion caused by this special windbreaker. But the force from the vajra had damaged this windbreaker.

    ¡°Like I always say, the more intricate a gadget is, the more likely it is to have problems,¡± muttered the man with a sigh. He bounced back up from the ground and ran towards Xu Songde again.

    Xu Songde had a threatening smile on his face now. The fact that he had survived seven Challenges was enough to prove how formidable he was. His experience told him that while his attacker was definitely more powerful than an ordinary person, he was no match for him.

    He charged towards the man in the windbreaker and the two collided. But when the man¡¯s knife struck the vajra, he also smashed a vial in his hands. A green powder filled the air in spite of the rain and exploded into a cloud of green smoke.

    ¡°Poison?!¡± Xu Songde got a shock and pushed the other man aside before rapidly pulling back. But he immediately started to feel difort. He had inhaled some of that smoke and he could feel his body grow numb. The other man seized this chance to charge at Xu Songde again. He didn¡¯t seem affected by the green smoke at all.

    ¡°Puppet Warriors!¡± Xu Songde gripped his Handbook hard and several wooden soldiers appeared.

    ¡°Kill him!¡± roared Xu Songde.

    The main in the windbreaker threw his knife at the soldiers, then pulled out two guns from his windbreaker. The sound of rapid gunshots filled the air as the wooden soldiers were forced to retreat.

    Xu Songde had plenty of other weapons, but he was a cautious man and decided it was best to run since he had been poisoned. Since the wooden soldiers were keeping the other man busy, he turned to run off.

    But the other man was keeping an eye on Xu Songde. When he saw that Xu Songde was trying to make his getaway, he immediately pulled his Handbook out and retrieved a round pearl. A sh of light instantly shot out and turned into a barrier around the entire bridge.

    When Xu Songde realized he was trapped in this bubble, he immediately tried to attack it. It wasn¡¯t really too difficult for him to break through the barrier, but he couldn¡¯t do it in a short time. He gritted his teeth and yelled hatefully, ¡°You¡¯re the one with a death wish, so don¡¯t me me for getting nasty!¡±

 Chapter 98: Resources Are King

    <h4>Chapter 98: Resources Are King</h4>

    Xu Songde pounded his chest, transforming his barely 1.7 meter tall body into a 3 meter tall giant in seconds. His body gave off a little steam, as if the rain was falling onto boiling hot steel. The only problem was that the steam wasn¡¯t because of the rain. The light barrier was still keeping the rain out.

    The man in the windbreaker pulled out a metallic item that was asrge as his palm. He came near the wooden soldiers, then moved backwards as quickly as possible. Immediately after he moved away, the wooden soldiers were sted to pieces andy in parts all over the ground.

    Xu Songde was now charging towards the other man. He was now as tall as a giant, so one step of his was equivalent to several steps of an ordinary human. Each step he took was powerful and stirred up gusts of wind.

    The man in the windbreaker immediately smashed two tiny ss bottles and stuffed two strips that resembled chewing gum into his mouth. But instead of fighting Xu Songde head on, he turned and ran off.

    Xu Songde was strong and capable of causing a lot of damage, but he wasn¡¯t very nimble at this size. It was very hard to corner the other man within the boundary of the light barrier.

    ¡°You¡¯re just a cockroach who just keeps trying to escape! So, you think I¡¯ve run out of ideas?¡± Xu Songde roared furiously before he suddenly stopped running and stabbed his own stomach with his vajra. His stomach started to shake violently immediately after he did that.

    The man in the windbreaker felt threatened by Xu Songde¡¯s actions, so he pressed a hand on his Handbook and a transparent ss ball appeared in his hand.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± bellowed Xu Songde as he pulled the vajra out from his stomach. The entire vajra was covered in fresh blood, outlining every engraving on it clearly. A secondter, a dazzling sh of light shone out from the vajra and swept through the air.

    The light from the vajra was almost as bright as the sun. It filled the entire area within the light barrier and even looked like it might break the light barrier. But even though the light barrier managed to stay intact, it meant that the man in the windbreaker was going to die, since the light barrier also cut off any escape route for himself.

    Xu Songde looked rather exhausted afterunching this attack, but the wound on his stomach had already healed uppletely even though only mere seconds had passed. This terrifying ability to heal so quickly made Xu Songde almost impossible to kill.

    But Xu Songde was stunned by what he saw next. Arge bubble was floating within the light barrier and the man in the windbreaker was standing inside that bubble,pletely unscathed. The incredible force unleashed by the vajra had actually been unable to break a mere bubble.

    Once the man in a windbreaker was sure that Xu Songde hadpleted his attack, he jumped out of the bubble confidently and looked at his watch before saying to Xu Songde, ¡°The green powder I released into the air earlier is made from abination of animal poisons. The toxins in thisposite powder will move along the bloodstream and attack the victim¡¯s heart directly. Given how much you moved about earlier, I think it¡¯s about time.¡±

    Xu Songde was stunned for a moment before he started observing himself. He suddenly realized that his heart was beating faster than usual and it was only increasing in speed.

    ¡°But we¡¯re in an enclosed space. If I¡¯ve been poisoned, you must have been poisoned too! Are you insane? Are you seriously going to perish with me?!¡± Xu Songde started feeling afraid now. He was strong and had the ability to recover extremely quickly from external injuries, but he wasn¡¯t immune to poisons. Toxins were still able to kill him.

    The man in the windbreaker shook his head and showed Xu Songde the chewing gum in his mouth, then continued chewing on it as he said, ¡°One can always¡­take the antidote first.¡±

    Xu Songde could feel his entire body trembling uncontrobly. This trembling infuriated him. He saw himself as a god and didn¡¯t think that a god should be afraid of anything. He told himself that he wasn¡¯t afraid. He was just angry. He still had a chance. As long as he killed that other man and snatched away the antidote, he would live.

    With that in mind, Xu Songde leaped up from the ground like a missile, shooting himself towards the man in a windbreaker to engage in onest fight. But the man in a windbreaker didn¡¯t seem worried and didn¡¯t even dodge.

    ¡°Yup! Time¡¯s up!¡± said the man in a windbreaker as he looked at his watch.

    Xu Songde suddenly felt his heart pound wildly at an erratic rate. His body curled up from the pain midair and crashed heavily to the ground.

    ¡°Spectacles¡¯ poison is really amazing! And it¡¯s very reliable,¡± murmured the man in a windbreaker as he gave a pleased nod.

    Xu Songde writhed in pain on the ground. He grabbed hold of the man in a windbreaker¡¯s foot and pleaded desperately, ¡°I beg you, please, please, let me off! Give me a chance! I¡­I promise to turn over a new leaf! I promise! Give me¡­give me the antidote!¡±

    The man in a windbreaker stared down coldly at Xu Songde. The aloofness in his eyes turned into pure rage as he roared, ¡°You want a chance? When those 31 women pleaded with you to give them a chance, did you give them a chance? DID YOU?!¡±

    He yelled so loudly that all the veins on his forehead were bulging. He grabbed hold of Xu Songde¡¯s thick neck and bellowed, ¡°Go! To! Hell!¡±

    Xu Songde¡¯s eyes slowly faded as his wildly pounding heart finally stopped beating. A powerful Handbook owner who had survived seven Challenges lost his life atop a secluded overhead bridge on this rainy night.

    The man in the windbreaker let go of Xu Songde¡¯s head. The paint on his face still looked like it was freshly painted. He said to his watch, ¡°10.31pm. Target 1 confirmed dead.¡±

    He then plonked himself down on the ground. He had won this battle purely because he had the right resources to counter Xu Songde¡¯s attacks. If he had to fight Xu Songde without those resources, he would have lost the battle even if there were ten of him.

    ¡°Thankfully, I¡¯ve got plenty of resources on hand. And as I continue my hunt for more of such owners¡­I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll only be more powerful.¡± He picked up the vajra in Xu Songde¡¯s hand and reaffirmed his self-confidence.

    A few momentster, the light barrier vanished. He took his phone out to make a call, and when the other side picked up, he said, ¡°Grandmaster, someone has made a report about an incident on an overhead bridge along the outskirts of the southern district. Could you send some people over to check it out?¡±

    ¡°Sure! But Mr. Situ, where are you? We haven¡¯t seen you in days!¡± said the person on the other line.

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for some people. Some¡­people who can¡¯t seem to behave themselves.¡± A smile spread across his lips as he hung up and disappeared into the darkness once more.

    Su Jin spent another 200 points to gain ess to Hell¡¯s Bar and called his other team mates to join him and Kano Mai as well. When Su Jin and Kano Mai got to their team¡¯s designated table, they found the middle aged man who exchanged the Finger of Anubis for a leaf from the Tree of Life waiting for them.

    ¡°OH! You¡¯re finally here! I¡¯ve been waiting for you all this time!¡± The man immediately brightened up at the sight of Su Jin.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai felt their hair stand on end. If a man in his forties suddenly started smiling at you like he was infatuated with you, anybody would feel creeped out.

    ¡°Er¡­hello, sir. Is¡­anything the matter?¡± Su Jin forced himself to smile.

    The man nodded and threw an arm around Su Jin¡¯s shoulder before saying enthusiastically, ¡°Bro, do you have anymore of those leaves? Name your price, I¡¯m taking them all!¡±

    ¡°All? No, I can¡¯t give them all to you. My team needs these leaves too. If you want just one or two, I don¡¯t mind, but not all of them.¡± Su Jin shook his head immediately. The leaves from the Tree of Life were the only things his team had that could give them additional energy. They would certainly be useful in some Challenge in the future.

    The man was disappointed, but he quickly piped up, ¡°Well, name your price anyway. As long as it¡¯s reasonable, we can strike another deal.¡±

    ¡°I just want anything that can restore soul power or anything that will help me to get something like that.¡± Su Jin¡¯s request was very simple. His first mission was to restore Kano Mai and Yang Mo¡¯s soul power.

    The man looked at Su Jin puzzledly and asked quietly, ¡°Have you already used the Finger of Anubis?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and I did get a drop of the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul. But that¡¯s not enough,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. He had two team mates who needed this stuff, so one drop wasn¡¯t going to be enough. Besides, he didn¡¯t know if this one drop was enough to restore one¡¯s soul power fully either.

    The man looked surprised and he looked Su Jin up and down curiously before eximing, ¡°Not bad! Not bad at all! I thought you might fail! Back when Ipleted the mission, Anubis hade back to life.¡±

    ¡°I was rather lucky, alright.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t want to borate.

    The man nodded and said, ¡°Alright then, I will try to get you what you want. I have some connections in this bar, so you can remove your notice from the noticeboard. There aren¡¯t a lot of items that can help in the aspect of soul power and they¡¯re usually rather rare. Most people will not be willing to sell it to you.¡±

    Su Jin did think that there was some truth in what the man said. Nearly half a month had passed but this man was the only one who hade forward with anything.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine to leave it there. Who knows if something elsees along?¡± Su Jin did believe that such items were probably really hard toe by, but he didn¡¯t want to remove the notice either. He wasn¡¯t going to give up that option for as long as there was still a chance, no matter how small.

    The man just shook his head and walked away since he failed to convince Su Jin to remove his notice. Actually, he was worried that someone mighte forward and strike a deal with Su Jin, thereby causing him to lose a chance to get more leaves from the Tree of Life.

    Shortly after the man left their table, the other three arrived at the bar. Since everyone was here, Su Jin ced his Handbook on the table and said, ¡°I managed to get one drop of the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul, so it¡¯s time for us to discuss who gets to use it first. Mai or Yang Mo?¡±

    Everyone fell silent. This was something that affected a person¡¯s life, so nobody had the courage to make a decision.

    In the end, the first one to break the silence turned out to be Kano Mai. ¡°Yang Mo is the medic of the team and he¡¯s more vital to the team. Let Yang Mo have it first.¡±

    ¡°Wha-?¡± Yang Mo looked up with a start and shook his head to refuse the offer.

    But Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°We¡¯ll go with that then. Yang Mo, this drop of the Blood of the Heart¡¯s Soul is yours.¡±

    Yang Mo looked gratefully at Kano Mai, then epted the drop from Su Jin. He didn¡¯t waste anytime and consumed the drop immediately.

    But a few momentster, there was a faint look of disappointment in his eyes. He said to the rest, ¡°This drop does carry a lot of soul power and I feel like my soul has be a lot stronger than before. But¡­but it¡¯s still missing a little something. I can¡¯t really exin it but it¡¯s missing just that bit.¡±

    Yang Mo¡¯s words made everyone rather disappointed too. But there was no time to waste. They quickly returned to their own universes to get ready for their next Challenge.

    Two weekster, Su Jin and Kano Mai stood side by side. They took out their Handbooks and contacted the rest of their team. Their first Challenge as a team of five was about to begin!

    TATAKAEEE!!!

 Chapter 99: Level A Challenge

    <h4>Chapter 99: Level A Challenge</h4>

    ¡°You shall be surrounded by fire and brimstone; rats, toads and snakes shall be your food! You shall boil in hot oil and struggle in the snake pit! Your limbs shall be taken apart, you shall be flung into icy waters and you shall experience the pain of being torn apart!

    Through me the way into the suffering city,

    through me the way to the eternal pain,

    through me the way that runs among the lost.

    Justice urged on my high artificer;

    my maker was divine authority,

    the highest wisdom, and the primal love.

    Before me nothing but eternal things

    were made, and I endure eternally.

    Abandon every hope, who enter here.¡°(http://.worldofdante.orgedy/dante/inferno.xml/1.3) HOWEVER for this particr Challenge, please note that there is a Chinese poem that makes use of these lines as the front half of the poem, and then the back half is a summary of the second volume, Purgatorio. It is attributed to Dante but this poem does NOT exist in any othernguage and while it¡¯s a neat summary, it is still missing content from the third volume and shouldn¡¯t be taken as the full thing or something actually written by Dante. The other half is in Chapter 106. It took me waaaaay too long to confirm this and made cker VERY angry. VERY.

    Shini: It¡¯s okay cker-san. BE STRONG (*/¦Ø£Ü*)]

    In the darkness, a voice of utter despair rang in Su Jin¡¯s ears. The voice wailed so miserably, it was as though the world wasing to an end. Yet, at the same time, it sounded like it was mocking all foolish humans. A variety of negative emotions were mixed together in that voice, and it was threatening to take over Su Jin¡¯s brain.

    Su Jin opened his eyes and was shocked to see that there were a total of 14 people standing in front of him. This was even more people than the number of owners for the Rubble Vige Challenge.

    He quickly flipped his Handbook open and his eyes grew even wider.

    ¡°Challenge: All Have Sinned, Difficulty level: A!¡±

    This was a Level A Challenge. Su Jin could only smile sadly to himself. Out of the four Challenges he had gone through, three of them were B level challenges and one was a C Level Challenge. Thest one was actually a Level B Challenge, but the Mad Hatter and Pinhio had done something to make the owners think that it was a Level C Challenge.

    And now, he was faced with a Level A Challenge. He calmed himself back down and continued looking at all the other information avable.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one mission. Cross the Desert of Crime and Punishment to reach the Temple of Light.¡±

    The mission for this Challenge was simple. They just had to cross the desert in front of them and reach this Temple of Light. But of course, nobody knew what terrifying dangers lurked in this desert.

    ¡°Boss! It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s a Level A Challenge!¡± Yang Mo looked panicky and Ning Meng didn¡¯t look much better. Chu Yi and Kano Mai were calmer, but their faces were grim as well.

    Su Jin nodded and turned to look at the other owners, only to find that the remaining nine owners were split into two groups and were discussing among themselves like his team was.

    ¡°They¡¯re teams too!¡± That was the first thought that popped into Su Jin¡¯s head.

    The other two teams had finished their discussion, so a representative walked out from each group. Su Jin also went forward to meet with them.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Long Zhenglei from a Level D team, Shadow of Thor!¡± The man who spoke was muscr, but had a slightly worried look in his eyes.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Cai Dexiang from a Level D team, Moon in the Blue Skies!¡± another man spoke up. He was slightly plump and also had a wry smile on his face. It was clear that these other two men were feeling rather resigned about the Challenge they were about to face.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Su Jin, team leader of a Level D team, Team Boning Knife,¡± Su Jin introduced himself as well.

    ¡°Three teams? It¡¯s a Level A Challenge, alright.¡± Cai Dexiang didn¡¯t look hopeful. This Challenge had gathered two full teams and one four-member team. That was a good indication of how difficult this Challenge was going to be.

    Su Jin went straight to the point, ¡°Do the both of you have any thoughts about how we should tackle this Challenge?¡±

    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind saying this, but I don¡¯t trust any of you, so Team Shadow of Thor will go their own way,¡± said Long Zhenglei. Su Jin and Cai Dexiang stared at him in shock.

    Long Zhenglei continued, ¡°Both of you haveplete teams, which puts my team at a disadvantage. In a difficult Challenge like this one, I think having to interact with you guys is no less dangerous than the Challenge itself.¡±

    He was very direct about it, but Su Jin and Cai Dexiang could understand where he wasing from. The Handbook did give out missions to kill other owners too, so if this four-member team became a target, they would definitely lose to a five-member team. It was little wonder that they wanted to work on their own.

    But Su Jin tried to persuade him otherwise, ¡°Mr. Long, this is a Level A Challenge. Going separate ways means that you might run into a problem that your team cannot cope with on your own. And if that happens¡­¡±

    ¡°I know. My team has its own way of protecting itself. If this were a Level C or even a Level B Challenge, I wouldn¡¯t refuse to work with both of you. But¡­this is a Level A Challenge and I know how terrifying it can be. If we insist on working as one team, we might run into more horrifying dangers, so¡­I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Long Zhenglei was very firm in refusing to work with the two other teams and his words made it sound like this wasn¡¯t his first Level A Challenge.

    ¡°Mr. Long, you¡¯ve been through a Level A Challenge before?¡± Cai Dexiang immediately asked.

    Long Zhenglei nodded and replied honestly, ¡°I was part of one before. There were 16 owners and we were all old timers, of which five of them were actually veterans. But in the end¡­including myself, only three survived and all five veterans perished.¡±

    Su Jin and Cai Dexiang both gasped at this. They knew that the death rate of a Level A Challenge would be high, but it was really terrifying to hear that all five veterans perished.

    Cai Dexiang sighed and said, ¡°I did hear from other owners before that Level A Challenges are basically too difficult for any owner to ovee with whatever they have. If you want to get through a Level A Challenge, you basically have to rely on pure luck.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. He had heard Jiang Li mention something like this during his first Challenge. So, it seemed like it was true after all.

    ¡°Well, if we¡¯re all still alive at the end of the Challenge, we can talk then!¡± Long Zhenglei didn¡¯t trust anybody else at all, so he quickly returned to his team and the four of them left immediately.

    After Team Shadow of Thor left, Su Jin and Cai Dexiang were left in an awkward position. Long Zhenglei had chosen to leave because he was afraid that there might be a mission to kill off other owners or teams, so even after leaving, this possibility still existed. If the remaining two teams were constantly paranoid about each other, then even if they joined forces now, they wouldn¡¯t work together very well. They would fall apart at the slightest thing.

    ¡°I still think that it¡¯s better that webine forces for the time being. This is the first time both our teams are facing an A Level Challenge, so I think it¡¯s better to have more people to look out for one another.¡± Su Jin still preferred to work as one team.

    Cai Dexiang wasn¡¯t against it, so he nodded gravely and said, ¡°I think the same way.¡±

    Now that the two team leaders had made a decision, the rest of the members huddled together as well. They didn¡¯t know what this Challenge was about, so they decided toe together to brainstorm some ideas.

    Moon in the Blue Skies was made up of four males and one female. Cai Dexiang introduced himself as their team leader, and the only female in the group was the brains of the team and her name was Chen Xin¡¯er. Every member had their own part to y and was considered a pretty perfect team. Su Jin proceeded to introduce his team members as well.

    The two teams were still a little wary of each other, so they didn¡¯t introduce themselves with too much detail. They understood each other¡¯s concerns and wasn¡¯t too hung up about this.

    ¡°The introduction to this Challenge is really strange and you could even say it sounds nonsensical. Also, the first part is in a different style from the second part,¡± said Chen Xin¡¯er with a frown. As the brains of the group, it was obvious that the rest of the team was very reliant on her and trusted her judgement.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. After pondering for a while more, he said, ¡°The front part seems to be a list of punishments, while the back part sounds like a poem from Europe or something. Also, I think this has something to do with religion.¡±

    Both Su Jin and Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up at this. They had both realized what this introduction was about.

    ¡°Seven punishments and something rted to religion? If I¡¯m not wrong, this¡­this is referring to the seven deadly sins,¡± said Su Jin in a grim voice. It didn¡¯t take a genius to link these things together.

    Chen Xin¡¯er nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it. So, I suppose this Temple of Light refers to the final safe zone we need to reach?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure about that. But that¡¯s the only ce we¡¯ve got to aim for, and we¡¯ll find out when we get there,¡± said Su Jin.

    Ning Meng looked like she was thinking very hard and Su Jin noticed her expression, but didn¡¯t ask her anything. He said to Cai Dexiang, ¡°Mr. Cai, if your side is ready, I think we ought to get going right now.¡±

    ¡°Are you in a very big hurry?¡± Cai Dexiang was a little surprised.

    Chen Xin¡¯er piped up, ¡°Mr. Su is right. We¡¯d better start on our journey as soon as possible. Otherwise¡­if Team Shadow of Thor is the one who got a mission to kill us and we give them too much time to set up traps for us, we¡¯ll be at a disadvantage instead.¡±

    Cai Dexiang suddenly realized that she was right. Team Shadow of Thor looked like he was afraid that the other two teams had such a mission on hand, but the reverse was also true. They might have left in such a hurry because they were the ones who got that mission.

    The two teams quickly left where they were and headed for the desert.

    Su Jin found a chance to get close to Ning Meng and whispered, ¡°Ning Meng¡­did you have something to say earlier?¡±

    Ning Meng nodded slightly and whispered back, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the front part of the introduction, but the back part is familiar, because it¡¯s from Dante¡¯s Divine Comedy. But there¡¯s another sectionter on about the punishments for these seven deadly sins.¡±

    ¡°Punishments? Didn¡¯t the first part talk about them already?¡± Su Jin had heard of Dante¡¯s Divine Comedy before too. It was a long poem written by an Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, and it was about hell, purgatory and heaven. There were a number of trantions and adaptations over the years, but he didn¡¯t know the exact content, since he had very little interest in Western poetry in the first ce.

    Ning Meng shook her head firmly and said, ¡°No, the front part is not from Divine Comedy. Besides, I remember that these weren¡¯t the punishments in the poem. Why¡­why is it different?¡±

    She was still struggling to understand what was going on, so he assured her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, take your time to think about it.¡±

    She nodded slightly in response as Chu Yi and Yang Mo came over. Yang Mo asked curiously, ¡°Boss, did Sister Mai¡­confess to you?¡±

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Su Jin red back at Yang Mo and nearly cursed out loud. He hissed quietly, ¡°What on earth are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Oh, then that means YOU were the one who confessed to her. There¡¯s something funny about the way she looks at you now,¡± said Yang Mo confidently, while Chu Yi and Ning Meng continued watching this show unfold excitedly.

    Su Jin red at Yang Mo again. How was Yang Mo able to detect something like that? He was about to try and exin things when he suddenly noticed something and ran to the front of the group.

    ¡°Be careful, everyone! Something¡¯sing¡­something really terrifying!¡± Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis was very sensitive now, and he could sense something very powerfuling towards them.

    Lines are taken from Dante¡¯s Divine Comedy, the first volume, Inferno, Canto 3, trantion from here: [Inferno

 Chapter 100: Original Sin: Greed

    <h4>Chapter 100: Original Sin: Greed</h4>

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t the only one who felt it. Chu Yi, along with Cai Dexiang felt it too, since Cai Dexiang was the only veteran of his team. But if all three veterans could sense danger, whatever wasing their way had to be really scary.

    ¡°Scatter! Scatter, everyone, scatter!¡± Cai Dexiang yelled at everyone to run in different directions. This thing was very powerful, so if they stood together, they might end up getting killed at one shot.

    Su Jin could feel all the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and so, he also instructed his team to scatter.

    But after a few moments passed, nothing appeared. However, none of them dared to rx because the three veterans could feel its presence even more clearly now.

    ¡°We can¡¯t see what it is, but it¡¯s already here!¡± Cai Dexiang was horrified.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi didn¡¯t say anything but they felt the same way. This thing was among them but they couldn¡¯t see it at all.

    Just then, one of the members of the Moon in the Blue Skies team suddenly lost his mind and drove the spear he had in his hand right through his team mate¡¯s body again and again.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± Cai Dexiang eximed. Everyone in his team had gone through several Challenges and knew that even if they received a mission to kill other owners, it would always be to kill those from another team, not their own.

    ¡°He¡¯s not your teammate anymore! He¡¯s that terrifying thing!¡± Su Jin was the most sensitive among them since Psychokic Spirit Power was excellent for sounding out such things. He could sense that the terrifying thing that was approaching them earlier was within Cai Dexiang¡¯s team mate right now.

    ¡°DIE! DIE!!¡± That team mate¡¯s limbs were bent weirdly and his eyes were bloodshot as he tore his victim apart with his bare hands. That wasn¡¯t the strength that a human could possibly have.

    Everything happened too quickly and nobody thought that the first death would ur so soon. But as veterans, the three of them reacted the fastest.

    ¡°Triple Qi Thrust! Demon Tiger Emerges!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy made him excellent for this sort of hand to handbat. He reached that person in an instant and used a Triple Qi Thrust without hesitation.

    ¡°This power is MINE! It¡¯s all MINE! MINE!¡± That team mate growled hysterically. He didn¡¯t look like he was going to dodge the attack at all and seemed prepared to meet Chu Yi¡¯s palm head on.

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill him!¡± Cai Dexiang couldn¡¯t bear to watch his own teammate get killed in front of him and shouted at Chu Yi.

    This made things very difficult for Chu Yi. He had alreadyunched an attack and it wasn¡¯t something he could stop just like that. But it was also true that his opponent was just an owner who had been possessed, so he let the attacknd on his opponent¡¯s arm instead of aiming for any vital areas.

    The Triple Qi Thrustnded on the team mate¡¯s arm with a loud st, breaking it off instantly. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a very serious injury that would have stopped anyone from continuing to attack. But it was also not fatal, so as long as he could make it back to his Personal Hell Domain, he could get his arm back without a problem.

    But Chu Yi¡¯s hair instantly stood on end as he sensed dangering his way even after he had maimed one of his opponent¡¯s arms.

    ¡°MINE! ALL MINE!¡± That team mate didn¡¯t seem to feel any pain at all as he ran his other arm through Chu Yi¡¯s abdomen.

    Chu Yi yelped and endured the terrible pain he felt as he brought one palm down to destroy that arm that attacked him, then moved away as quickly as he could.

    Destroying two arms and getting attacked had taken no more than a few seconds, so Cai Dexiang hadunched his own attack as well. Or rather, it was more urate to say that Cai Dexiang was just hoping to keep his teammate under control for the time being.

    An orange beam shot out from his palm and wound itself around his team mate like a rope made from rubber. This move would have helped to stop his team mate from continuing to hurt others, but Cai Dexiang had underestimated the strength that his team mate now possessed.

    The teammate had lost both arms, but he was still pouncing towards Chu Yi like a maniac. He leaped and broke right through Cai Dexiang¡¯s orange beam,nding on the ground and started writhing about like a fish out of water struggling to jump back in.

    An arm was still sticking out of Chu Yi¡¯s abdomen and the pain made sweat stream down his face. His injury was serious and even though his internal energy enabled him to move, he couldn¡¯t move as quickly as before.

    After Cai Dexiang¡¯s orange beam failed, he started to make a thicker one instead. But Su Jin didn¡¯t think that was going to work, so he retrieved his God Armor from his Handbook, then unleashed the Air of an Overlord.

    In that instant, every single person, including the team mate trying to attack Chu Yi, were stunned for one second. Su Jin wasn¡¯t affected, so he dashed over to where Chu Yi was and dragged him back to safety.

    One secondter, everyone had snapped out of their daze. When the team mate realized that his original target had gotten away, instead of changing direction to run after Chu Yi, he turned to attack the next nearest person, which was Chen Xin¡¯er.

    Chen Xin¡¯er was the brains of the team, so she wasn¡¯t strong in other areas. When she saw her own team mate pouncing towards her, she was so stunned that she forgot how to run.

    Bang! The sound of a gun firing filled the air as two red bullets flew out from Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer, breaking that team mate¡¯s legs instantly.

    The impact of the explosive rounds caused the team mate to fly out. After hended on the ground again, he still struggled to move, but it was impossible since he didn¡¯t have any limbs left.

    This entire process had taken no more than 15 seconds and most of them were still struggling to figure out what just happened.

    ¡°Mine¡­your lives, your blood¡­it¡¯s all mine! MINE! MUAHAHA!¡± The team matey on the ground, bellowing and cackling maniacally with a crazed look on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I had no choice,¡± Kano Mai apologized to Cai Dexiang. Cai Dexiang had hoped to just keep him under control, but she ended up incapacitating him instead.

    But Cai Dexiang just shook his head dejectedly before squeezing out a smile at Kano Mai. ¡°I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn¡¯t done that, Xin¡¯er would have been in great danger.¡±

    Chen Xin¡¯er herself had finallye to terms with what happened and thanked Kano Mai as well. If Kano Mai hadn¡¯t shot the team mate so decisively, she might have been dead by now.

    Su Jin passed Chu Yi over to Yang Mo for Yang Mo to heal him, then frowned and asked Cai Dexiang, ¡°What should we do now? He¡¯s your team mate after all.¡±

    Cai Dexiang had a disturbed look on his face. This limbless man on the ground didn¡¯t look like his team mate at all. He was so badly injured, yet he was still struggling to attack the rest of them.

    A de appeared in Cai Dexiang¡¯s hand and the team mate¡¯s head went rolling immediately after that. He had killed his own team mate himself.

    The other two remaining members of the team remained silent as grief filled their eyes. Su Jin could only sigh as well. Cai Dexiang seemed to have made a very heartless decision, but he didn¡¯t have a choice either. This team mate had lost all his limbs and was now a monster that kept trying to attack everyone else. It was impossible to keep him by their side.

    It wasn¡¯t wise to just leave him here either, since the Handbook could make use of him to attack others. There was no choice but to kill him.

    ¡°Greed¡­is the beginning of all desires.¡± After that team mate¡¯s head went rolling, it smiled eerily and actually managed to utter a sentence.

    This made everyone¡¯s hair stand on end, since a severed head could actually still talk. Su Jin and Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s expressions were grim.

    The Challenge had barely started and two members of the Moon in the Blue Skies had died just like that. While it was true that the death rate in Handbook Challenges were high, it was rare for a Challenge to introduce something that could have killed them all right from the start.

    ¡°Greed, gluttony, lust, wrath, sloth, jealousy, pride. Those are the seven deadly sins, the categories of original sin. He said greed is the beginning of all desires, so¡­does that mean that other Original Sins will appear next?¡± Chen Xin¡¯er had a terrified look in her eyes.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and frowned. ¡°This Level A Challenge¡­it looks like we should not remain together after all. If this happens again, we will suffer great casualties.¡±

    ¡°But if we go separate ways and run into another Original Sin, it might be too hard for a team to face it by themselves,¡± said Cai Dexiang. He had lost two out of five members, so he was really hoping to get the support of Su Jin¡¯s team.

    But Chen Xin¡¯er had slowly calmed back down again by this time. She said firmly to Cai Dexiang, ¡°No, we must go separate ways. Otherwise, all of us are going to die.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± Cai Dexiang trusted her judgement, but he was really afraid that his team would not be able to handle the dangers ahead if it was just the three of them.

    Su Jin chuckled when he saw Cai Dexiang¡¯s reaction and said, ¡°Mr. Cai, I think you¡¯re mistaken. When we say ¡®separate ways¡¯, we¡¯re not talking about each team going their own way. We mean that the teams have to split up. Everyone will have to continue this journey on their own.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Everyone else eximed, with the exception of Chen Xin¡¯er.

    .

    Chen Xin¡¯er exined, ¡°If the seven Original Sins only attack once each, then we¡¯ve got six more to go. There are eight of us here, and Team Shadow of Thor has another four more owners. If we continue to stay together like this, once any of us is under the control of an Original Sin, it¡¯s very likely that we would hurt or kill the people around us. Also, we¡¯d have to be wary of each other at all times.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. If we walk separate ways, then even if the six Original Sins choose to attack one of us, it wouldn¡¯t be able to wipe all of us out at one shot. We¡¯ll have to leave everything to luck,¡± said Su Jin with a sad smile.

    ¡°Leave everything to luck? Are you being serious now?¡± Yang Mo just stared at Su Jin.

    He had already helped to remove the arm from Chu Yi¡¯s abdomen and used some special techniques as well as the leaves from the Tree of Life to treat Chu Yi¡¯s injury, so Chu Yi was a lot better than before.

    Chen Xin¡¯er and Su Jin exchanged nces and sighed at the same time. Su Jin said, ¡°It¡¯s a Level A Challenge after all. Surviving this Challenge was going to be a matter of luck to begin with.¡±

    ¡°What happens if the seven Original Sins can attack more than once, or if it can attack more than one person at a time? What do we do?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°We¡¯re basically taking a gamble now, and it¡¯s a gamble where we have very little to fall back on. Right now, the only thing we can count on is Hell¡¯s Handbook. It¡¯s very rare for a Challenge to really force an owner into a truly desperate situation,¡± said Su Jin solemnly.

    ¡°So¡­so we¡¯re going to drive ourselves into a desperate situation instead?¡± asked Kano Mai puzzledly.

    ¡°There¡¯s an old phrase in Chinese: one will fight to survive when ced in a desperate and hopeless situation!¡± said Su Jin through gritted teeth.

 Chapter 101: The Shrine in the Way

    <h4>Chapter 101: The Shrine in the Way</h4>

    Su Jin and Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s idea was very simple. Even though this was a Level A Challenge, the Handbook would not put them in a situation where there was absolutely no way out.

    The aim of each Challenge was not to kill the owners, but to put them through terrifying experiences. Also, if they moved around by themselves, they wouldn¡¯t have to constantly guard against each other.

    Su Jin called this a gamble, but in reality, they didn¡¯t really have much choice. They were now faced with a Level A Challenge, where even veterans could only get by with luck. In other words, intelligence and scheming wasn¡¯t going to get anybody anywhere. It all depended on whether you got lucky or not.

    ¡°Okay. Everyone, listen to me. I believe that even if you¡¯re under the control of an Original Sin, there is a way to get out of its control. As long as we don¡¯t give up, there¡¯s hope!¡± said Su Jin earnestly to his team members. He didn¡¯t have any better way to tackle this Challenge either.

    ¡°But Boss, we were still able to apprehend that fellow even after he was possessed, so I don¡¯t think we really have to, you know¡­¡± Yang Mo was still very worried. A Level A Challenge had only made him even more afraid than before and having a team helped to ease some of his fears. Thinking about having to face these dangers all by himself made him feel weak in the legs.

    Su Jinughed bitterly and said, ¡°What if the one who got possessed was myself? Or Chu Yi? How do you think things would have ended?¡±

    Everyone gasped at the thought of this possibility. Su Jin and Chu Yi were way better fighters than them, especially since they were both veterans. If either one of them had been possessed earlier, then more than half of them or even all of them would have perished.

    ¡°What we¡¯re up against this time is different from the usual. We don¡¯t understand anything about these Original Sins, so if anything happens, we won¡¯t have any chance to find a way out since we could all be wiped out in an instant. So¡­I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to go our own way from here.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t want to do this either. But he knew that if he or Chu Yi got possessed by an Original Sin, they were all going to be massacred.

    Everyone fell silent. Su Jin gave out some leaves of the Tree of Life to everyone, then said to Kano Mai, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I will survive this Challenge, so¡­so don¡¯t be angry with me anymore, will you?¡±

    Kano Mai pursed her lips and stared straight at him with her clear and beautiful eyes. But just before he looked away from feeling too awkward, she suddenly said, ¡°If you survive this, I¡¯ll forgive you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a deal!¡± Su Jin grinned and nodded.

    Su Jin walked over to Chu Yi. Chu Yi was recovering well, but he was definitely in poorer shape than before getting hurt. Su Jin asked Chu Yi worriedly, ¡°How are you? Is this injury going to affect you badly?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, just a little painful. But it won¡¯t affect my fighting ability too much, plus my internal energy is able to help me heal faster.¡± Chu Yi didn¡¯t want Su Jin to worry about him, so he just nodded with a bright smile despite the pain he was actually in.

    Su Jin sighed heavily, then turned to look at Yang Mo and Ning Meng. These two were the poorest at fighting but were still pretty good at staying alive. But none of that was helpful in a Level A Challenge.

    ¡°Either one can use this,¡± said Su Jin as he retrieved ck Fire from his Handbook. This was the only weapon he had that didn¡¯t require any Spirit Power and it was a fairly powerful one too.

    Yang Mo immediately shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got weapons of my own, so Ning Meng can have it. She¡¯s gone through too few Challenges, so she doesn¡¯t have much in her inventory.¡±

    This was only Ning Meng¡¯s third Challenge and her first one as part of the team, but she had unfortunately run into a Level A Challenge. She was probably the weakest and the most terrified among all the owners in this Challenge.

    Su Jin gave Ning Meng ck Fire and all the ammunition he had on hand, then patted her shoulder and said, ¡°Being afraid in a Challenge is pointless, so why not be brave and live on?¡±

    Ning Meng looked down at ck Fire and the bullets in her hand. She pursed her pale lips and looked up to see her teammates nodding at her encouragingly. Her previously terrified heart suddenly didn¡¯t feel so afraid anymore.

    ¡°I¡­I will¡­I will live on!¡± Ning Meng nodded vigorously.

    Kano Mai retrieved two purple crystals and said, ¡°These are Teleportation Crystals and they can send you to a random ce ten kilometres away. You just have to crush it to activate. I hope it will be of help to you two.¡±

    Teleportation Crystals were rare treasures and could probably save a life in almost any Challenge, but Kano Mai didn¡¯t hold back and gave them away to the weakest members of the team.

    Chu Yi too, took out two small wooden balls. After giving them one each, he rubbed his painful abdomen and winced as he said, ¡°These are Thunderbolt Bombs, they¡¯re a lot more powerful than ordinary hand grenades. Also, the thunderbolt power inside is good for driving away some evil spirits, so if you run into any danger, just fling it at your opponent.¡±

    Yang Mo and Ning Meng received the items gratefully. Yang Mo took four bags out and said a little embarrassedly, ¡°I¡¯ve made some emergency packs, so each bag contains stuff that can help to stop bleeding, disinfect and dress wounds. It¡¯s not very useful, but I hope it will help everyone in one way or another.¡±

    The rest of the team didn¡¯t refuse the packs and took one each. Ning Meng pursed her lips and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have anything for you guys.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright! Surviving this Challenge will be the best gift to all of us! Promise me I¡¯ll see you at the end of the Challenge?¡± Kano Mai tousled Ning Meng¡¯s hair and smiled at her.

    Su Jin moved the tattoo of his team¡¯s symbol to his forearm and said, ¡°I had initially hidden this symbol on my shoulder because I didn¡¯t think it was good for others to see it. But now, I¡¯ve realized something. Team Boning Knife isn¡¯t something to be ashamed of at all. All of you are my best friends, my reliable team mates, my precious memories. I won¡¯t hide it from now on! Team Boning Knife!¡±

    The other four blinked in surprise, then smiled as they too, moved the symbol on their shoulders to their forearms. They locked arms and shouted, ¡°Team Boning Knife!¡±

    After they bid each other farewell, the other team was also done saying their goodbyes. Eight of them went their own way into the vast desert of billowing sand to face the next obstacle by themselves.

    Su Jin walked on and on and had no idea how far he had walked. There was nothing but sand all around him, so it was hard to estimate how much he had walked without anyndmarks in sight.

    ¡°Is there really nothing I can do?¡± Su Jin furrowed his brows deeply. He hadn¡¯t given up on trying to find a way out of this tough Challenge.

    ¡°Greed, gluttony, lust, wrath, sloth, jealousy, pride. The seven deadly sins. When Greed chose that team member of Team Moon in the Blue Skies, was it a random selection? Or was it deliberate? Did it know which one among the ten of us had the most greed in his heart?¡±

    ¡°If that was so, then did Greed choose him because his greed had hit a certain level? Or purely because he had the most out of all of us?¡±

    ¡°And if one of us doesn¡¯t have any of these sins, does that mean he¡¯d be invincible in this Challenge?¡± Su Jin asked himself before shaking his head immediately. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. Original sin refers to the earthly desires that a human is born with. As long as one is alive, you would have desires. And once you have desires, you will definitely fall into one of these categories.¡±

    Su Jin continued to mutter to himself in an attempt to find a pattern, but he eventually shook his head dejectedly. He had too little to work with. If the teams stayed together and got attacked by these deadly sins more times, he was sure he would be able to find some sort of pattern. But doing that would result in too many casualties and would defeat the purpose of finding a way for everyone to get out of this Challenge alive.

    ¡°What¡¯s the aim of this Challenge? Is it just trying to kill us all off? If that¡¯s not its aim, then¡­what deeper meaning does this Challenge have? Is that the key to surviving this Challenge?¡±

    ¡°Original sin¡­original sin¡­when I met with Anubis, I had also gone through this journey of redemption and gained some insight. In my opinion, original sin is something thates naturally with all humans. Once one has desires, then one would be guilty of these deadly sins. But humans can only move forward when they have desires. The further they go, the more sin they will umte. If humans were judged based on their sins, then¡­do humans have to give up the desire to keep moving forward? But that goes against the very concept of life.¡±

    The more he thought about these things, the more confused he became. After the Challenge began, he hadn¡¯t been able to gather any further information on this ce at all. He had made decisions purely because he didn¡¯t have any other choice. Relying on just knowing that this Challenge involved the seven deadly sins was not useful for gaining any other information at all.

    ¡°I have to find something¡­for the sake of Mai, Chu Yi, Yang Mo, Ning Meng¡­for their sake, I¡¯ve got to find a way to survive this!¡± said Su Jin through gritted teeth.

    Just then, he realized there was something ahead. He looked into the distance and saw that an ancient shrine was right in front of him. A shrine had suddenly appeared in the middle of this desert of nothingness.

    He walked towards the shrine to find that it looked very old but rather stately as well, as if it had been here since the beginning of time. One door of the shrine was ajar and he could see that there was greenery inside the shrine. It was as though the world outside the shrine waspletely different from the world inside.

    The shrine seemed very calm and peaceful, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to conclude that this ce was some trap. A shrine suddenly appearing out of nowhere in a Level A Challenge? It couldn¡¯t possibly be safe.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to pay it any attention. I¡¯ll just walk around it.¡± Su Jin immediately walked around the shrine and didn¡¯t even want to go too near it, afraid that some terrible danger might suddenly appear.

    After that, he continued walking. But it didn¡¯t take long before he stopped again, because that shrine had appeared before him yet again. This time, the door was wide open and he could see a river flowing inside the shrine. If he walked in, he wouldn¡¯t have to suffer the terrible heat of the desert anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯m still going around it!¡± Su Jin went around it again and continued trudging on, pretending to have not seen it at all.

    But the shrine reappeared and blocked his way again before long. This time, both sides of the shrine¡¯s doors were wide open. But the river and greenery inside the shrine had be a little strange. It seemed a lot angrier this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going in!¡± Su Jin threw it a nce, then walked around it again. This thing obviously wanted him to go in, but there was no way Su Jin was going to do what he wanted.

    This time, Su Jin had just walked around the shrine when the shrine reappeared before him. This time, a monk in a white kasaya was standing in front of the doors to the shrine.

    Su Jin immediately burst outughing when he saw that monk.

 Chapter 102: Original Sin: Pride

    <h4>Chapter 102: Original Sin: Pride</h4>

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help butugh when he saw the monk in front of the shrine doors.

    A man in a white kasaya was staring back at Su Jin. He sped his hands together reverently and chanted Amitabh, but that wasn¡¯t why Su Jin wasughing. Su Jin wasughing because that monk in white looked exactly like himself.

    ¡°Please,e in!¡± The Su Jin inside the shrine turned to one side to invite Su Jin in.

    Su Jin stood outside and shook his head, thenughed and said, ¡°Dude, you¡¯re pretty good looking and I¡¯m finding it hard to control myself even though I¡¯m not interested in men. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to go inside that shrine, so why don¡¯t we just go our separate ways?¡±

    The Su Jin inside the templeughed and shook his head as he shrugged. ¡°If you don¡¯te in, you won¡¯t be able to move on. You¡¯ve tried so many times, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already realized that!¡±

    Su Jin made a face. His doppelganger was right. He had tried to avoid going into the shrine so many times but the shrine would keep appearing again, as if he was walking in circles. This shrine was probably both an entrance and an exit.

    With that in mind, he stopped hesitating and walked towards the shrine. His doppelganger stepped aside to let Su Jin walk in.

    After walking in, he headed straight for the main hall. He burst outughing again once he saw the god that was being worshipped in this shrine, because the statue in the middle of the shrine looked exactly like himself as well. He couldn¡¯t believe he had actually be a god in this Challenge.

    ¡°So, which one of the Original Sins are you?¡± Su Jin asked his doppelganger.

    ¡°Guess!¡±

    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re Pride,¡± said Su Jin without even taking a moment to think.

    The other Su Jin gave a pleased nod and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Pride. How did you know?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve even made a statue of a god in my image. Besides pride, I can¡¯t think of anything else that would do such a thing,¡± said Su Jin in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

    ¡°What a clever person you are!¡±

    ¡°So, clever people are always prideful?¡± Su Jin turned to look at Pride.

    Pride nodded. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve never seen a clever person who isn¡¯t proud. Or rather, the smarter one is, the more prideful one bes!¡±

    Su Jin nodded. Situ Jin had said something like this before and Su Jin fully agreed with that. When one could resolve a problem that nobody else could with his own intelligence, it seemed only natural for that person to feel a littlecent.

    He walked around inside the shrine, but it didn¡¯t seem to have any other rooms besides the main hall he was in. He asked puzzledly, ¡°Isn¡¯t the concept of the seven deadly sins a Christian one? And you¡¯ve built a Buddhist temple instead? Don¡¯t you think it doesn¡¯t make sense?¡±

    ¡°Do not spheme my god,¡± replied Pride very simply.

    Su Jin scoffed and shook his head. This fellow here represented a sin of a religion, yet he was against sphemy and was even doing something against a different religion¡¯s god. After thinking about it some more, he asked, ¡°Why do you want me to stay here? Are you going to kill me?¡±

    ¡°Of course not!¡± Pride looked so hurt that Su Jin had misunderstood him, then he threw an arm around Su Jin¡¯s shoulder and said very sincerely, ¡°I¡¯m trying to save you!¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then suddenly whipped out a knife and sliced off the arm that Pride had ced around his shoulder.

    Pride was a little shocked and stared puzzledly at Su Jin. Su Jin raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I hardly think that something that needs to hide itself and even steal someone else¡¯s appearance like you can save me!¡±

    Pride didn¡¯t get angry and smiled even more brightly now. His severed arm didn¡¯t bleed at all and a milky colored glow was where the rest of it should have been.

    ¡°Excellent! Excellent! You are a proud man alright! I¡¯ve made the right choice!¡± Prideughed loudly, then his smile faded instantly. His expression was somber as he said, ¡°But I wasn¡¯t lying to you. I am trying to save you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Su Jin refused to believe him. He didn¡¯t think Pride would want to save him. It wasn¡¯t as if he shared the same religion.

    Pride said a little teasingly, ¡°You¡¯re so clever, so perhaps you could make a guess. I¡¯ll just give you two numbers for a hint. One is seven and the other number is 14.¡±

    He then kept quiet and looked expectantly at Su Jin, while Su Jin began to consider the two numbers very carefully. His expression soon fell as he said, ¡°You¡¯re making us kill each other! You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re collecting deadly sins!¡±

    Su Jin felt a chill down his spine. These two numbers just looked like multiples of each other, but what they represented became obvious very quickly. The number ¡®7¡¯ definitely referred to the seven deadly sins, while the number ¡®14¡¯ was the original number of owners that were part of this Challenge.

    When Greed took over that member of Team Moon in the Blue Skies, he killed off another team member and tried to attack the rest too, but did not manage to actually kill anyone else.

    Su Jin came up with a hypothesis: every owner chosen for this Challenge carried one of these deadly sins, of which two of them carried the same deadly sin. The seven Original Sins were going to choose the one who had more of it, take control of that person and use him to kill the other.

    The reason for doing this was to gather deadly sins. As long as the Original Sins told the owners that the owner with more of this particr sin would get a chance to survive, then the owners were bound to end up trying to kill each other. And in order to be acknowledged by the Original Sins as the one with more of that sin, they would try their best to increase that sin in themselves, which would also fulfil the Original Sins¡¯ goal.

    Pride gave a pleased nod and sighed. ¡°Look at how intelligent you are! Isn¡¯t it only natural to be proud of yourself? I only gave you two numbers and you deduced so many things all by yourself. Don¡¯t you think you have the right to be proud?¡±

    ¡°In that case¡­everyone else is in danger!¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart leaped in horror. If his deduction was correct, that meant that none of the owners could escape this impending disaster. Every single one was a target of an Original Sin.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! My other brothers have already started on their mission. To be very honest with you, out of the two targets that I have, I prefer you. I¡¯ve even transformed myself to look like you! Don¡¯t you agree that I¡¯m really saving you from harm?¡± said Pride as he beamed from ear to ear.

    ¡°You can read my thoughts?¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes and scoffed. ¡°You prefer me? I think it¡¯s only because you know that the other target cannot fight as well as me and you don¡¯t want anything unexpected to happen, so you chose me, isn¡¯t it?¡± Su Jin was pretty sure he knew who the other target was. Since Pride had said that all intelligent people were prideful, the other target had to be the brains of Team Moon in the Blue Skies, Chen Xin¡¯er.

    Pride made a face, then walked to the statue in the middle, knelt down and began praying piously, ¡°Young man, don¡¯t let me down! Otherwise¡­the consequences will be terrifying!¡±

    Su Jin walked towards the statue too, but remained standing as he said puzzledly, ¡°I¡¯m very curious about one thing. As an Original Sin, you¡¯ve got the ability to take possession of a body by force, right? That¡¯s what Greed did. So why¡­why aren¡¯t you doing that to me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not so uncultured.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head and continued in a confident voice, ¡°I¡¯m not like the others and¡­you¡¯ve not been able to attack me. If I don¡¯t invite you in or ept you, then there¡¯s no way you can control me, right?¡±

    Pride burst outughing loudly. ¡°Haha! What a joke! Did you think you¡¯re not being controlled by me right now?¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly as he looked around at the shrine around him and suddenly smiled. ¡°I get it now. That¡¯s why you¡¯ve been trying so hard to get me toe in. Coming inside here is equivalent to epting you, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! But so what if you¡¯ve figured it out? Your body is already mine!¡± Pride¡¯s eyes turnedpletely ck, unable to reflect any light.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t feel afraid at all. He shut his eyes and fell into deep thought. He felt as though he had fallen into a vast nothingness when suddenly he opened his eyes again.

    Pride was gone, and so was the statue and the shrine. All that was left was the sand billowing across the desert, as well as Chen Xin¡¯er struggling to get up.

    Chen Xin¡¯er looked a mess. She had been cut all over and Rumor was stuck in between her shoulder des. She floundered in the sand as she tried to crawl away. Su Jin had clearly been the one who attacked her.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin cursed inwardly. He had thought that he hadn¡¯t spent a long time in the shrine, but Pride had already used that time to use him to kill Chen Xin¡¯er.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid! I was controlled by one of the Original Sins, Pride, earlier! I¡¯ve regained control of my body now, so you don¡¯t have to be scared anymore,¡± Su Jin tried to coax Chen Xin¡¯er gently, afraid to rm her.

    Chen Xin¡¯er looked at him suspiciously and tried to get up, but her injuries were too serious, so she fell back down on the sand again. Su Jin took a step forward to help her but she shrieked in fear instead.

    Su Jin could only sigh and attempt to exin himself. He told her about how the seven Original Sins were trying to force the owners to kill each other in hope of regaining her trust.

    ¡°Please believe me! I¡¯m not lying to you! Besides, if Pride were still in control of me, I would have killed you by now instead of taking the time to exin all this to you,¡± said Su Jin.

    The fear in Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s eyes faded a little after hearing these words. She swallowed some saliva and asked hesitantly, ¡°Are you¡­really Mr. Su right now?¡±

    ¡°I am!¡±

    Chen Xin¡¯er nodded and said, ¡°You seriously attacked me too aggressively just now and I nearly died. Could you help me up?¡±

    Su Jin felt bad when he saw how badly injured Chen Xin¡¯er was and quickly ran forward to help her up. Chen Xin¡¯er was already poor in fighting, so she was even worse off after getting so badly injured. All of this was his fault.

    ¡°Are you really not possessed by Pride anymore?¡± Su Jin was already holding onto Chen Xin¡¯er, but she was still worried and asked him again anyway.

    ¡°I¡¯m really not.¡± Su Jin was just short of swearing to god that he wasn¡¯t possessed by Pride anymore. But he didn¡¯t me her for being so wary. She was so badly injured precisely because of him.

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Chen Xin¡¯er smiled and nodded, but her smile suddenly made Su Jin¡¯s scalp feel numb and all his hair stood on end.

 Chapter 103: Drive Out by Force

    <h4>Chapter 103: Drive Out by Force</h4>

    Su Jin was now very good at using his Psychokic Spirit Power. Every time hepleted a Challenge, besides learning and practising fighting techniques, he would also set aside arge amount of time to find out more about his psychokinesis. Xu Ran had told him before that when his psychokinesis reaches a certain point, it would be able to foretell future events.

    While Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis hadn¡¯t reached that point yet, he was still able to use it to sense nearby dangers. And now, he could sense that danger was right in front of him.

    ¡°HA!¡± Su Jin let out a shout, but he didn¡¯t retrieve his Boning Knife. Instead, he held onto Rumor that was stuck in Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s shoulder, pulled it out, then unleashed his Psychokic Spirit Power to push himself backwards. But a moment before he flew backwards, he felt a pain in his chest.

    Once he was quite some distance away from Chen Xin¡¯er, he realized that a ck tube was stabbed into his chest. He didn¡¯t know what it was made from, but it was ck all over and was able to pierce through his skin easily. If he hadn¡¯t used his Spirit Power to force them apart in time, this ck tube would have made it to his heart.

    ¡°Teehee! Your reaction¡¯s pretty quick! You actually managed to dodge my attack.¡± Chen Xin¡¯er didn¡¯t look hurt anymore. She stood confidently before Su Jin and gave him a mocking smile.

    ¡°Pride!¡± hissed Su Jin. He thought that after he drove it out from his own body, it would disappear like Greed. He didn¡¯t expect it to possess Chen Xin¡¯er instead andunch a secret attack on him. He nearly died from that.

    Su Jin grabbed the end of the tube that was sticking out and pulled it right out. This tube was hollow in the middle, so if he didn¡¯t remove it, his blood would keep flowing out of it and his life would be in danger from losing too much blood.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s me! You weren¡¯t very cooperative, but this girl is different! She can¡¯t refuse me at all! She¡¯s such an obedient child! How nice!¡± Pride touched Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s face and seemed very pleased indeed.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and retrieved his Boning Knife. It wasn¡¯t hard for him to kill Chen Xin¡¯er, even when she was possessed. The Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow would be powerful enough to turn her into dust. But Su Jin didn¡¯t want to kill her. If he could, he would rather save her.

    Pride clearly realized that Su Jin was difficult to deal with. That was why he tried to make use of Su Jin to injure Chen Xin¡¯er, so that after Su Jin drove him out, he could possess the weakened Chen Xin¡¯er without any problem.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± Pride roared angrily as he moved Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s body at an rming speed.

    Su Jin was shocked by Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s speed, but also furious at the same time. Pride was draining the life out of Chen Xin¡¯er, pushing her body over its limit. Even if Su Jin could really drive Pride out of Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s body, it was going to be hard for Chen Xin¡¯er to survive after that.

    Boom! Pride reached Su Jin in seconds. He swung a fist that glowed milky white towards Su Jin¡¯s jaw while his lower half raised his leg at an angle that should have been humanly impossible towards Su Jin¡¯s abdomen.

    Su Jin was certain that Chen Xin¡¯er was going to die at the rate Pride was abusing her body like this, so he mmed a palm on his Handbook and the Gift from the Gods immediately wrapped itself around him and pped in the wind.

    Thanks to this cloak, Su Jin was able to fend himself against the two simultaneous attacks from Pride. But the impact of these attacks were still very powerful. Even with the cloak on, Su Jin was still hurt to a certain extent and was sent flying right out.

    ¡°When Pride was trying to control me, he had to get my permission first. But when ites to Chen Xin¡¯er, it seems like he is able to just take over her body. I¡¯m not beingcent here. I do have something that can fight against this Original Sin.¡± As Su Jin adjusted his stance to get ready for Pride¡¯s next attack, his mind started to analyze this situation. He felt like he did have something that could drive these Original Sins out of his body, just like what he did to Pride just now.

    ¡°The difference is that I¡¯ve got Psychokic Spirit Power and I understood the deeper meaning behind sins¡­that¡¯s right! That¡¯s it! The Original Sins are unforgivable because a religion has defined them as unforgivable sins. But I don¡¯t believe that sin is certain and unchangeable, because it depends on how the parameters are defined. You have to define thew for a crime to exist. So, for as long as I deny his existence¡­these Original Sins will be unable to affect me!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up.

    While using the Gift from the Gods to protect himself from Pride¡¯s attacks, he also started trying to drive Pride out. When Pride came close to him tounch an attack, hetched his Spirit Power onto Chen Xin¡¯er.

    ¡°Pride! I do not acknowledge your existence and I¡¯m banishing you right now!¡± yelled Su Jin loudly. His heart affirmed what he had just said and refused to acknowledge Pride¡¯s existence.

    Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s body lurched violently and a milky white liquid flowed out from her mouth, nose and ears, quickly gathering together to form something else instead.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t quite expect this to happen. The milky white liquid had solidified into a strange creature with the body of a human, but a gigantic ball for a head that kept switching faces like a television screen.

    Su Jin shot Rumor out and used his psychokinesis to pull Chen Xin¡¯er towards him. Then he activated his Walking on Air skill immediately. His instinct told him that this monster was extremely powerful, so the wise thing to do was to escape and not fight it head on.

    Walking on Air sounded like it was a skill that could help Su Jin to fly, but it actually just did what its name said. Su Jin could now walk in the air like he walked onnd, so how quickly he walked onnd would determine how quickly he walked in the air as well. If he only moved as slowly as a tortoise, it would be the same in the air as well.

    But Su Jin was very strong now, so he could run so quickly, all anybody could see would be a blur. He was going very quickly, but when he used his psychokinesis to check the situation behind him, he realized that Pride was still on his tail and was actually about to catch up with him.

    ¡°This won¡¯t do! The fact that I have to carry someone along is slowing me down!¡± Su Jin looked down at Chen Xin¡¯er and got a shock. Chen Xin¡¯er was no longer breathing. In fact, she died the moment he drove Pride out of her body.

    In that moment, Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to do. He wasn¡¯t sure if Chen Xin¡¯er had died because Pride had pushed her body over its limits, or if it was because he had forcibly driven Pride out from her body and caused her death. If it was thetter, that would make Su Jin her killer.

    While Su Jin was wallowing in guilt, Pride had overtaken Su Jin and stood in his way. The ball of light on its head kept changing its face, so when it spoke to Su Jin, its voice kept changing as well. Sometimes it had a male voice, sometimes a female voice, a child¡¯s voice, an old person¡¯s voice, anything.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to run anymore! She¡¯s already dead, so I¡¯ve gotten what I wanted!¡± said Pride to Su Jin.

    Su Jin gritted his teeth and hissed hatefully, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why were you still running after me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s because I love to look upon the faces of those who¡¯ve lost! The way you look like you want to cry but are unable to really brings me joy! I never get sick of it! Haha!¡±

    Su Jin was really infuriated by Pride¡¯s sadistic desires. He put Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s body down, then mmed a hand on his Handbook to retrieve the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± yelled Su Jin.

    ¡°Only a god can kill me! You? You can¡¯t!¡± Pride had reverence for deities, but it despised a human like Su Jin. Pride might have had trouble controlling Su Jin, but it was sure that Su Jin would never be able to hurt it.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t care about what was going through Pride¡¯s mind. He pulled the string back and sent out the Roar of the Demon Lord at Pride. The Demon Lord Spirit Power shed with his Psychokic Spirit Power, which caused him great pain inside. Perspiration dripped down his face as he endured the pain and used a bit of his psychokinesis to set Pride as the target.

    The previouscent and confident Pride suddenly started running in horror. It could sense the power that the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow carried. It knew that even if it didn¡¯t die from this attack, it would be severely injured. If Su Jin was able to shoot more arrows consecutively, it might seriously die.

    Sparkles shot through the air and aimed straight for its target like a target missile, chasing straight for Pride no matter which direction Pride ran in. But Pride was not human, so it scattered itself, abandoning the strange body it had created for himself out of the milky liquid and disappearedpletely.

    After it had lost its target, the Roar of the Demon Lord also stopped advancing. Su Jin copsed onto the ground and panted heavily. His heart was filled with guilt as he looked at Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s body. He felt so apologetic.

    ¡°Pride¡­perhaps Pride was right. It was my pride that killed Chen Xin¡¯er!¡± Su Jin pped himself on the face. The pain he felt was exacerbated by the heat of the desert.

    But he didn¡¯t just sit there and keep ming himself. The other Original Sins were going after the other owners, so he had to look for them first.

    When they bid each other farewell earlier, he had left a tiny bit of his psychokinesis on each of them. But it was a very small amount, so unless they were very close by, he wouldn¡¯t be able to sense where they were. But it was better than nothing.

    He didn¡¯t continue using Walking on Air since he had already consumed a lot of his Spirit Power already and he had to save some for the dangers ahead. He swallowed a leaf from the Tree of Life to help his body to recover, then picked a direction and started heading down that way as quickly as he could.

    After a long time, he finally picked up a signal. He started moving faster towards it and could see a person from afar. But that person was hung on a spear and pped in the warm desert wind, like a human shaped g.

 Chapter 104: Heartache

    <h4>Chapter 104: Heartache</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s heart started pounding wildly in fear. He had left his psychokinesis on just his own teammates, so to sense it here as a human pped about lifelessly in the wind made his heart nearly stop.

    He dashed over and breathed a sigh of relief when he arrived at the spear. A skeleton was hanging from that spear with the tip of the spear pierced through its head. The rest of the body wasn¡¯t secured to the spear, so the strong desert winds made it p noisily.

    ¡°How strange.¡± Su Jin looked more closely at the skeleton, then gasped. He realized that this skeleton had been alive not too long ago and it probably belonged to someone from the Moon in the Blue Skies.

    The team was only left with its team leader, Cai Dexiang, and onest male team member. The unique thing about this team member was that he wasn¡¯t even 1.6 meters tall, but his head was reallyrge for his height. Su Jin could imagine that this short and slightly disproportionate looking skeleton probably belonged to that particr team member. Also, that team member had been holding onto a spear.

    ¡°We¡¯ve gone separate ways for barely a day and you¡¯ve been reduced to a skeleton,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. He decided to take the skeleton off the spear to bury it properly, since he was also a fellow owner in this Challenge.

    But his eyes widened when he touched the skeleton. Besides finding dried blood on it, he realized that there was a bite mark too.

    He immediately connected the dots. This man had his flesh chewed off him. Someone had eaten all the meat and left only the bones behind.

    ¡°Who? Who did this?¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart started pounding wildly again. He had sensed his psychokinesis nearby just now, which meant that one of his own teammates had passed by not too long ago. Did that mean that an Original Sin had possessed his team mate and made him eat this man from Team Moon in the Blue Skies?

    Su Jin dared not think any further. He took the skeleton down, then dug a hole in the sand and buried the body. He had done the same thing for Chen Xin¡¯er, since there was nowhere else in this vast desert to bury their bodies.

    Doing this didn¡¯t take him too long, so once he was done, he continued walking in the same direction and could sense that a tiny bit of psychokinesis was still nearby.

    After walking for a bit more, his eyes lit up because he could sense his psychokinesis even more clearly now. He followed his senses and finally came to someone sprawled in the sand. This person¡¯s back was facing Su Jin and Su Jin couldn¡¯t tell who it was.

    ¡°Is that Chu Yi? Or Yang Mo?¡± Su Jin realized it was a man, so it had to be either one of them.

    ¡°Don¡¯te any closer!¡± The man suddenly shouted at Su Jin as Su Jin came nearer to him.

    ¡°Yang Mo!¡± Su Jin recognized that voice as Yang Mo¡¯s.

    ¡°Don¡¯te any nearer¡­don¡¯t¡­don¡¯te any closer, go away!¡± yelled Yang Mo hysterically.

    Su Jin was puzzled and felt that there was something wrong with Yang Mo. Yang Mo seemed to be rubbing sand all over himself, which was a very strange thing to do.

    But he wanted to be cautious, so instead of walking towards Yang Mo¡¯s back, he switched directions so that he could see Yang Mo from the front and see what on earth Yang Mo was doing.

    ¡°Yang Mo, what¡¯s wrong? You can tell me what¡¯s happened,¡± said Su Jin as he moved slowly so that he wouldn¡¯t frighten Yang Mo. But when he finally reached a position where he could see Yang Mo from the front, he got a terrible shock.

    Yang Mo¡¯s hands were covered in blood and mush, his mouth torn on both sides and his face stained with blood as he continued to vomit more blood and mush out. He had a horrified and despairing look on his face as he continued to use his hands to pull things out from his mouth. He didn¡¯t seem to care that his hand was too big for his mouth and continued to w at the insides of his throat.

    Su Jin was too stunned to speak. Yang Mo realized that Su Jin was standing in front of him and started crying nonstop. His cries sounded hoarse and unclear, so he sounded terrifying as well.

    ¡°Boss¡­go away! Leave! Just leave!¡± Yang Mo was crying and he couldn¡¯t talk properly with his mouth like that, but Su Jin could sense the despair in his voice.

    Of course, Su Jin wasn¡¯t really going to just leave Yang Mo alone. He took a few steps forward cautiously and said gently, ¡°Yang Mo, no matter what happens, I¡¯ll be here for you. You don¡¯t have to be afraid, I¡¯m here with you.¡±

    ¡°Just¡­just leave!!¡± Yang Mo saw Su Jin approaching him and swung his arm violently to wave Su Jin away. An eyeball went flying out as well. That was one of the things he had vomited out earlier.

    ¡°Yang Mo, calm down! You know you can trust me! We¡¯re teammates, fellow team members of Team Boning Knife, remember? No matter what problems you¡¯ve run into, we¡¯ll be by your side,¡± said Su Jin gently as he quickly stopped going any nearer to Yang Mo, afraid that Yang Mo might do something more drastic.

    But Yang Mo shook his head repeatedly and cried miserably as he pointed to himself. ¡°Boss, I¡­I ate that guy¡­I¡¯ve swallowed his flesh, his internal organs¡­everything is in my stomach now¡­I¡¯m not a human anymore! I¡¯m a demon! I¡¯m a demon!!¡±

    Yang Mo suddenly stood up and Su Jin could see, even from a distance, that Yang Mo¡¯s belly was veryrge, as if he were pregnant. Su Jin could imagine that Yang Mo¡¯s belly was so huge because he had eaten that entire man not too long ago.

    Just then, Yang Mo suddenly pulled a sharp knife out and put it against his neck. He wailed, ¡°Boss, I¡¯m so sorry¡­I¡¯m so sorry!¡±

    Su Jin panicked and yelled out, ¡°Yang Mo, don¡¯t do anything foolish! Please, I beg you! Please! Don¡¯t do it!¡±

    Su Jin was trembling all over, afraid that Yang Mo would suddenly break down and kill himself as he tried to talk Yang Mo out of this, ¡°This has nothing to do with you! It¡¯s the Original Sin¡¯s fault! This is not who you are and you weren¡¯t yourself! So it¡¯s not your fault!¡±

    But Yang Mo continued to shake his head as tears continued to flow down his cheeks and drip down his chin. He had a crazed look in his eyes, because realization of what he had done was enough to drive anybody mad.

    ¡°It was Gluttony¡­Boss, I really didn¡¯t mean to! I really didn¡¯t mean to!¡± Yang Mo was suffering from a mental breakdown as scenes of how he had eaten the other man alive kept shing in his mind.

    He had torn the other man¡¯s flesh apart, swallowing everything, including his heart, his liver and even gobbled down his brain.

    He remembered everything. Every rip, every bite and even the taste of the flesh and how it went down his throat. How that man had screamed and pleaded for mercy before finally breathing hisst. Yang Mo could remember everything vividly and it kept reying in his head.

    These scenes had driven himpletely mad. He simply couldn¡¯t ept the fact that he had done such a thing. Gluttony had purposely allowed him to watch himself do this, so that he would believe that he was guilty of this act and go through a mental breakdown.

    ¡°Yang Mo, listen to me! It¡¯s all Gluttony¡¯s fault! He¡¯s an Original Sin and his aim is to kill us all! If you do this, you would have fallen into his trap and that¡¯s not what you want, right? Right?¡± urged Su Jin as he prayed hard that Yang Mo would calm down.

    Suddenly, Yang Mo had an eerie smile on his face thatsted only one second before he suddenly let out a mighty roar.

    ¡°Air of an Overlord!¡± Su Jin immediately activated this skill in hope of using this one second to save Yang Mo.

    An invisible wave swept towards Yang Mo, but before it could reach Yang Mo, he had already stabbed the knife deep into his own throat.

    ¡°NO!¡± Su Jin roared as he dashed towards Yang Mo in an instant to stop the knife from going in any further.

    Blood gushed out of Yang Mo¡¯s neck as he convulsed. He tried to speak but it was impossible for him to speak clearly since there was a hole in his throat.

    Su Jin took out some leaves from the Tree of Life to get Yang Mo to eat them, but he couldn¡¯t swallow anything anymore, so that method wasn¡¯t going to work. Su Jin had never felt so helpless before. He had no idea what to do at all.

    Yang Mo grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s hand and tried to push Su Jin aside even though he didn¡¯t have much strength left. He was very worried and uneasy, so when he saw that Su Jin wasn¡¯t budging, he started trying to move aside instead.

    Su Jin knew Yang Mo wanted to tell him something, so he connected his psychokinesis with Yang Mo¡¯s consciousness.

    ¡°Boss, run! That monster is still here!¡±

    ¡°I will chase him off! I will definitely chase him away! You believe in me, don¡¯t you? I¡¯ll get rid of him!¡± Su Jin held onto Yang Mo as tears started streaming down his face as well.

    Yang Mo no longer had any energy left in him to move. His throat wound was too serious, so he copsed weakly onto the sand again, convulsing from time to time. But after hearing Su Jin assure him, his expression looked like he was at peace again.

    Su Jin used his sleeve to wipe away the bloodstains on Yang Mo¡¯s face. He knew that he couldn¡¯t save Yang Mo anymore. Yang Mo wasn¡¯t only hurt physically but mentally as well. Even if Yang Mo survived the Challenge, he would continue to live in this nightmare.

    All of a sudden, Yang Mo¡¯s expression became threatening as he bared his teeth and lunged for Su Jin, but Su Jin red back at Yang Mo and sent his psychokinesis into Yang Mo¡¯s consciousness again.

    ¡°Gluttony! I will not acknowledge your existence! I¡¯m going to banish you right now!¡± The threatening look on Yang Mo¡¯s face faded and he looked at peace again. Su Jin had his own understanding of sin, so he was able to drive Gluttony away easily. As long as he denied their existence, he could chase any of them away.

    He held onto Yang Mo¡¯s lifeless body as tears flowed down his cheeks. He couldn¡¯t help but me himself. He knew that if they hadn¡¯t gone separate ways, the group might have suffered even greater casualties. But he was upset that he hadn¡¯t been there when Yang Mo needed help.

    Was this what a Level A Challenge was like? What could he do to get everyone through this?

    He had never felt more lost and helpless before. It seemed like no matter what choice he made, it would send his ownpanions to their deaths. He simply couldn¡¯t see how he could possibly survive this Challenge. Besides his tears, the only thing he could see was darkness, as if this was a dead end that waspletely void of any hope.

 Chapter 105: Great Loss

    <h4>Chapter 105: Great Loss</h4>

    A yellow light shone out from Yang Mo¡¯s nose, mouth and ears and gathered itself into a monster. This monster was veryrge, had a few dozen human arms and its mouth upied most of its head. It looked very grotesque indeed.

    ¡°Get out!¡± Su Jin held up his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. He was filled with rage but he knew that he wasn¡¯t capable of killing Gluttony himself.

    But Gluttony seemed to realize that Su Jin was dangerous, so once it spotted the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow in Su Jin¡¯s hands, it turned into nothing but yellow sparkles and disappeared, refusing to even fight Su Jin.

    Su Jin proceeded to dig a hole in the sand to bury Yang Mo, but he was afraid that if he didn¡¯t dig a hole that was deep enough, the strong winds in this ce would blow Yang Mo¡¯s body out of the sand.

    But it was impossible to dig a hole in the desert. Every time he dug a hole, the wind would blow sand in again almost instantly and fill it up again.

    Su Jin was still crying as he continued to dig and got more and more frustrated. He eventually took his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and shot the Roar of the Demon Lord straight into the sand.

    A huge hole appeared in the sand immediately. Su Jin cut some of Yang Mo¡¯s hair as a keepsake. Yang Mo was one of his team mates but had lost his life here. The only thing he had to remember Yang Mo by was these strands of hair.

    After he ced Yang Mo¡¯s body in the hole, he filled it again with sand. This was Yang Mo¡¯s grave and he might never get the chance to pay his respects here again, but Su Jin promised never to forget him.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart ached terribly, but he knew he had to carry on. He had to find the rest of his team mates. What happened to Yang Mo could very well happen to them too.

    About half a dayter, he sensed his psychokinesis on another team mate. He immediately ran towards where it wasing from, only to find that the other person was also running at top speed.

    Su Jin quickly found his target. It was Ning Meng. She was running like crazy through the desert and a team member of Shadow of Thor was running after her.

    ¡°Does this guy have a mission to kill her? Or?¡± Su Jin ran over to meet with Ning Meng, but once he came closer, she ran in the other direction as if she hadn¡¯t seen him at all.

    ¡°Ning Meng!¡± Su Jin called out to her.

    She suddenly stopped running, then started running again almost immediately after that as she muttered to herself, ¡°No, it can¡¯t be. It¡¯s not Boss. It must be that Original Sin. It¡¯s trying to use the Boss¡¯ voice to trick me into stopping!¡±

    Su Jin blinked in surprise and turned to look at the Shadow of Thor team member running towards him. The moment Su Jin saw his face, Su Jin knew what must have happened. The team member was possessed by one of the Original Sins and was now pouncing towards Su Jin.

    Su Jin immediately threw Rumor out to attack the other man and held the Boning Knife in his hand. He wanted to drive out the Original Sin inside this man¡¯s body, but first, he needed to know which one was inside him.

    Just like how a court judge could rule that the used was not guilty, Su Jin could banish these Original Sins too. But he had to know what the used was guilty of first. His psychokinesis couldn¡¯t do anything if it didn¡¯t know what it was driving out.

    The team member was also attacking very aggressively and didn¡¯t seem to care about how badly injured he was getting. He was bent on killing Su Jin even if he perished in the process.

    Rumor moved like a fish in the water as Su Jin used his psychokinesis to control it, but unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a very powerful weapon and could not cause a lot of damage with each hit. Unless Rumor cut through a vital part of the body, it was very hard for Su Jin to kill his opponent quickly.

    Su Jin decided to leave Ning Meng alone for the time being since he had managed to block the Original Sin from attacking her. Ning Meng was out of trouble for the time being, so it was more important to deal with this possessed team member first.

    ¡°What a strong body! I want it! I want it!!¡± muttered the possessed team member repeatedly as he attacked Su Jin and looked at Su Jin enviously.

    This team member¡¯s attacks were very aggressive and his own body was also very wrong, so his attacks were even more powerful than the Moon in the Blue Skies¡¯ team member who had been possessed by Greed.

    Su Jin continued to fight the other man in the middle of the desert but neither was able to kill the other. And as time went on, Su Jin was pretty sure that this man was going to die even if he drove the Original Sin inside him out.

    The other party had ignored any injuries to his body as he fought and there were several wounds that were definitely fatal to an ordinary human. Once this Original Sin left this man¡¯s body, the man would die instantly from his injuries. There was no other possibility.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t have a choice!¡± Su Jin sighed. He suddenly widened his eyes and Rumor, which was previously gliding through the air like a fish swimming in a pond, suddenly attacked its target at an even higher frequency and intensity, quickly puncturing thousands of holes in its target¡¯s skin.

    Rumor could not cause a lot of damage on its own, but Su Jin could spend a lot of Psychokic Spirit Power to make itunch an attack that was equivalent to sending out a few hundred Rumors over a short period of time.

    The weapon couldn¡¯t really clone itself, but what it did was to bounce off the target instead of returning to the owner¡¯s hand after each attack, allowing it to make multiple attacks in a short period of time, which made it seem as though there were a few hundred Rumors attacking simultaneously.

    After being attacked so intensely, the man couldn¡¯t move anymore. But he continued to look at Su Jin and muttered, ¡°What an amazing weapon to have! I¡¯m so envious! I want it!¡±

    ¡°That golden armor looks really good too! If only it were mine!¡±

    ¡°That knife looks amazing too! I¡¯m sure it¡¯s really sharp! I really want that too! Why isn¡¯t it mine?¡±

    His repeated ramblings made it clear to Su Jin that this man was definitely possessed by Jealousy. Only Jealousy would keep wanting everything that others had and believe that these things were better than his own.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t want to waste any more time and chopped his opponent¡¯s head off in one fell swoop. If he tried to drive the Original Sin out, it would revert to its original form and attack him, which might be even harder to deal with. So, he decided that it was easier to chop off the man¡¯s head with his Boning Knife and scare Jealousy away.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry I have to do this to you, but I think it will actually be more of a relief to you,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh.

    Once he was done dealing with Jealousy, he ran after Ning Meng again. When he stood in her way, she pulled ck Fire out and started shooting at him.

    Su Jin started running immediately. Thest thing he expected was for Ning Meng to use the weapon he had lent her to attack him in return. What was going on?!

    ¡°Ning Meng, it¡¯s me! Su Jin!¡± yelled Su Jin as he kept moving. If he stopped for even just one moment, bullets would start raining on him again.

    ¡°You¡¯re lying! I won¡¯t be fooled by you!¡± yelled Ning Meng nervously.

    Su Jin noticed that there was something very wrong with Ning Meng. Besides the wounds on her body, he noticed that her eyes were shut tightly and blood was flowing from her eye sockets.

    ¡°You¡¯re hurt?¡± Su Jin decided to use his psychokinesis to overwhelm Ning Meng¡¯s consciousness, making her feel dizzy without hurting her.

    Ning Meng felt her head spin before realizing that someone had caught hold of her hands. She was terrified and tried to push Su Jin away, to find that she simply couldn¡¯t find the strength to do so.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Ning Meng, it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s really me. I¡¯ve already dealt with Jealousy and it¡¯s gone. Look, if I were really possessed by that Original Sin, I would kill you right now instead of taking time to talk to you and convince you otherwise.¡±

    ¡°B-boss? Is it really you?¡± Ning Meng realized that Su Jin made sense and she immediately calmed back down.

    ¡°It is me. Now, tell me what happened to your eyes,¡± said Su Jin.

    Ning Meng shook her head sadly and tried to stay strong as she exined, ¡°I was ambushed and my eyeballs were both destroyed, so I can¡¯t see anything now. But it¡¯s alright, I exchanged my points for something in a previous Challenge that can help me to move about based on just my sense of hearing and smell.¡±

    Su Jin nodded in response. This ability might have been pretty useless anywhere else, but it was perfect for this Challenge. Besides, there was nothing else but sand here, so she didn¡¯t have to worry about running into anything. She just had to duck and hide if someone was running after her. But even so, Su Jin was really impressed that Ning Meng had made it this far by relying on just her sense of hearing and smell.

    ¡°Boss, did you run into anybody else? You¡¯ve got to be careful! Anybody could be possessed by one of the Original Sins!¡± said Ning Meng.

    Su Jin nodded and he said in a quiet and dejected voice, ¡°Ning Meng, Yang Mo¡­Yang Mo¡¯s dead.¡±

    Ning Meng started trembling and she iled about in shock. Su Jin held onto her hands firmly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid! I¡¯ll protect you and I¡¯ll make sure that nothing happens to you!¡±

    His words were veryforting to Ning Meng, so she nodded and calmed down again as she said sadly, ¡°Yang Mo¡­was a really nice person.¡±

    ¡°I agree, he definitely was. But unfortunately, whether you¡¯re nice or not doesn¡¯t have any effect on your chances of surviving a Challenge,¡± said Su Jin with a sad sigh. He turned and said to her, ¡°Let me carry you on my back? It will take you a long time to move about in your current state.¡±

    Ning Meng agreed and knew that Su Jin wouldn¡¯t have any trouble carrying her since he was so strong, so she climbed onto his back obediently.

    ¡°Oh, but Boss! What if an Original Sin decides to possess one of us?!¡± asked Ning Meng frantically when she realized that this might happen.

    Su Jin consoled her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I think I¡¯ve found a pattern to the way the Original Sins choose who to possess, so both of us will be just fine.¡±

    Ning Meng didn¡¯t ask any other questions since Su Jin was confident that her worries were unfounded. All the members of Team Boning Knife trusted Su Jin wholeheartedly, even Ning Meng, despite being the newest to join the group.

    As Su Jin walked with Ning Meng on his back, he continued trying to pick up any signals from his other team members. Ning Meng was working hard to: she was still thinking about the introduction to the Challenge that was taken from Dante¡¯s Divine Comedy.

    ¡°Oh! I remember now! I remember the back half of the poem!¡± Ning Meng suddenly sat up and patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulders excitedly.

    ¡°Oh? Tell me what it says!¡± Su Jin was very interested to hear about this poem, since the Handbook only used half of it. The other half could very well be the key to whether they could survive this Challenge or not.

    This sounds creepy but I guess there¡¯s¡­nothing else?

    Only what about that Pride shrine that refused to go away huh??

 Chapter 106: The Battle of the Veterans

    <h4>Chapter 106: The Battle of the Veterans</h4>

    Through me the way into the suffering city,

    through me the way to the eternal pain,

    through me the way that runs among the lost.

    Justice urged on my high artificer;

    my maker was divine authority,

    the highest wisdom, and the primal love.

    Before me nothing but eternal things

    were made, and I endure eternally.

    Abandon every hope, who enter here.¡°

    ¡°Pride: its fault is haughtiness, the punishment is a heavy weight;

    Jealousy: its fault is covetousness, the punishment is to have their eyes sewn shut;

    Wrath: its fault is anger, the punishment is blinding acrid smoke;

    Sloth: its fault isziness, the punishment is to run endlessly;

    Greed: its fault is always wanting more, the punishment is to lie face down;

    Gluttony: its fault is excessive focus on bodilyforts, the punishment is to starve;

    Lust: its fault is misguided sexual desires; the punishment is an intense fire.¡°

    After Ning Meng finished reciting the entire poem, Su Jin blinked in surprise.

    ¡°The back half is based on Purgatorio, the second volume of Divine Comedy. My ssmates and I took an interest in some of these things so we studied it before, but I couldn¡¯t recall it at once. But when the Original Sin was running after me, I suddenly remembered it,¡± said Ning Meng.

    ¡°You and your ssmates were interested in this sort of thing? The younger generation takes an interest in different sorts of fantasies huh,¡± said Su Jin jokingly, hoping to help Ning Meng feel more rxed.

    Ning Meng wasn¡¯t that afraid anymore since Su Jin was carrying her, so she stuck her tongue out cheekily and said, ¡°Well, that¡¯s only normal. I was so interested in things like angels and demons when I was in high school, and when I think about it now, I really have no idea why I was interested in such things. Boss, what were you interested in when you were in school?¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t make it sound like I¡¯m an old man! But if you¡¯re talking about high school, then it would definitely beics, like Dragon Ball, YuYu Hakusho, and my favorite was Journey to the West!¡± Su Jin put his hands together as if he was doing the famous Kamehameha move.

    Ning Mengughed and stered her cheek against Su Jin¡¯s back. Three months ago, she had been pulled into the world of Hell¡¯s Handbook and she had lived in fear all this time. But after she joined Team Boning Knife, this fear had decreased significantly.

    She was a clever girl and knew that she couldn¡¯t possibly survive Challenges by herself and needed a team to protect her, so she was also willing to contribute whenever she could.

    In school, she had learned that teamwork was vital for working well together, but the first Challenge she was facing after joining a team turned out to be a Level A Challenge. This was a very unlucky thing for her indeed, since every owner in a Level A Challenge was in grave danger.

    Fear consumed Ning Meng¡¯s heart again as a result. An Original Sin had targeted her and she had nearly given up after being chased by it for so long. Just then, Su Jin appeared and saved her, so she was so d that she had joined this team. She believed that she would be able to survive the Challenge with such a team and return to her own life soon.

    On the other hand, Su Jin was still thinking about the poem that Ning Meng had recited to him. The back half was about punishments for each of the seven deadly sins, but the introduction to the Challenge already included a list of punishments. Did the Challenge purposely take texts from two different sources to create this Challenge? Or did the back half that Ning Meng remembered actually mean something else?

    Su Jin¡¯s head really hurt now. He was the brains of the group, so everyone relied on him toe up with suggestions and ns on how to tackle each Challenge. But that was only possible when he had enough information to work with. Without sufficient information, even the most intelligent person wouldn¡¯t be able toe up with anything.

    This Challenge was a Level A one, so the amount of information given was very little, which also contributed to its difficulty level. But as long as things were happening, they would be a source of information. The only difference was how much information was provided.

    ¡°The punishments are not the same in both texts, the Original Sins would possess the body of the one who has more of that Original Sin, after possessing one person, that Original Sin would not appear again, or so it seems. Also, the Temple of Light is our final destination,¡± Su Jin repeated the information that he had gathered again and again, but these pieces of information didn¡¯t seem sufficient for him to reach any sort of conclusion.

    As he continued walking through the desert with Ning Meng, he continued to search the area for those traces of his Spirit Power. The desert was seriously too vast and the eight of them had gone in different directions, so they would be miles apart by now. If he didn¡¯t have his Spirit Power, he wouldn¡¯t know how to find his team mates at all.

    Several hourster, Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He could sense some of his Spirit Power nearby. It had to belong to either Chu Yi or Kano Mai.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Boss?¡± asked Ning Meng when she felt Su Jin suddenlye to a stop.

    ¡°I¡¯ve found one of our team mates, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s Chu Yi or Mai.¡± Su Jin quickly started moving towards that bit of Spirit Power but he soon realized something was amiss. That tiny bit of Spirit Power seemed very unstable, like it could be snuffed out anytime.

    ¡°How did this happen?¡± Su Jin was very puzzled. Psychokinesis was a type of Spirit Power, so it was not possible to get rid of it unless the other party had Spirit Power or someone else with Spirit Power was attacking the person with his psychokinesis.

    ¡°Is it Chu Yi? Or has Cai Dexiang been possessed by an Original Sin?¡± There were only three veterans between the two groups, so it was either Chu Yi, or Cai Dexiang was attacking Chu Yi. But he didn¡¯t know if there were veterans in Team Shadow of Thor.

    ¡°Ning Meng, wait here for me and don¡¯t move! I¡¯lle back for youter!¡± Su Jin said to Ning Meng.

    Ning Meng was feeling a little afraid but didn¡¯t say anything as she nodded and hopped off his back. Su Jin left a bit of his psychokinesis on her so that he would know if she were in trouble.

    After that, Su Jin ran towards where his waning bit of Spirit Power before it was extinguishedpletely. If he failed to find his team mate before that, he could forget about finding that person in this insanely huge desert.

    He found his team mate shortly after and it did turn out to be Chu Yi. Chu Yi was now engaged in a fierce battle with Cai Dexiang, and a fight between veterans was definitely much more aggressive than one between ordinary owners.

    But to his surprise, Cai Dexiang seemed to have trouble attacking Chu Yi. Cai Dexiang just kept dodging Chu Yi¡¯s attacks and even though the former was good at moving quickly, he was still unable to shake Chu Yi off and was often sent flying by his attacks instead.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to make any attack yet because he felt like there was something weird about this situation. He realized he couldn¡¯t be sure which one of them was possessed, since it was possible that either one was.

    Cai Dexiang quickly noticed Su Jin and was delighted to see him as he shouted, ¡°Mr. Su!! Your teammate has been possessed by an Original Sin! You need to do something or else we¡¯re all going to die!!¡±

    Cai Dexiang looked terribly anxious and panicky because Chu Yi had been chasing him down for a long time. If he wasn¡¯t an experienced old timer, he would be dead by now.

    Su Jin looked at Chu Yi and saw a crazed look on Chu Yi¡¯s face. Chu Yi was quick and nimble as heunched yet another attack at Cai Dexiang.

    Su Jin had to make a move. If Chu Yi ended up killing Cai Dexiang now, it would be too hard for him to keep Chu Yi under control by himself and he might have to end up killing Chu Yi instead, which was something he didn¡¯t want to do.

    He threw Rumor at Chu Yi in order to stop Chu Yi from chasing Cai Dexiang. He didn¡¯t dare to use the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow on Chu Yi because that weapon was way too powerful. He wasn¡¯t going to use it unless he meant to kill Chu Yi.

    He held his Boning Knife backwards and leaped onto Chu Yi,nding one foot on Chu Yi¡¯s back. This was a pretty powerful kick, but he wasn¡¯t afraid of injuring Chu Yi. As long as the Original Sin was willing to leave Chu Yi¡¯s body, he had supplies on hand that could help Chu Yi recover from this much injury.

    But Su Jin¡¯s expression fell immediately. It seemed as though his foot hadnded on a cushion of sorts. The flesh on Chu Yi¡¯s back sank in like a sponge and absorbed the impactpletely.

    Chu Yi spun around and grabbed hold of that leg that Su Jin had used to kick him and bared his teeth fiercely. ¡°HA! Another one is here! Excellent! You can both go to hell!¡±

    He proceeded to fling Su Jin towards Cai Dexiang, hoping that they would collide into each other and die at the same time.

    Su Jin immediately retrieved the Gift from the Gods from his Handbook and activated Walking on Air. He stomped heavily with both feet and there was a loud st in the air as he nearly broke his calves doing this. Thankfully, it was enough to stop him from flying any further.

    ¡°Mr Su, watch out! This fellow is really powerful! Terrifyingly so!¡± Cai Dexiang warned Su Jin. There was a look of terror in Cai Dexiang¡¯s eyes, as if Chu Yi had beaten all the courage out of him.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. He knew that an owner possessed by an Original Sin would be stronger, but a lot of it depended on how strong that owner was in the first ce. Su Jin had managed to kill the ones possessed by Greed and Pride because they weren¡¯t very formidable, but he was now faced with Chu Yi, a fairly powerful veteran. He had no idea how much stronger the Original Sin inside would make him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be careful! This fellow is really formidable and I simply can¡¯t seem to do anything about him!¡± Cai Dexiang wiped away the sweat on his forehead and his shoulders were trembling slightly from how much force Chu Yi had used to attack him.

    ¡°Mr. Cai, cover me and I¡¯ll try to get him under control,¡± said Su Jin to Cai Dexiang.

    Cai Dexiang was surprised to hear that Su Jin was going to try to get Chu Yi under control and not just kill him straightaway. But Su Jin was his only hope now, so he nodded and went along with it.

    ¡°Noting over? I¡¯ll go over then!¡± Chu Yi threw them a nasty grin and charged at them like a missile.

    ¡°Now!¡± bellowed Su Jin as he pounced towards Chu Yi as well. Su Jin was stronger than Chu Yi in terms of physical prowess, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of colliding into Chu Yi head on like this.

    Cai Dexiang didn¡¯t stand there and do nothing either. He shot an orange beam of light out and covered Su Jin with it, so that Su Jin looked like he was wearing an orange armor.

    ¡°Time to meet your maker! Destroy the Moon! Flying Star Finger!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as he used both his arms and legs to attack Su Jin.

 Chapter 107: Invincible Chu Yi

    <h4>Chapter 107: Invincible Chu Yi</h4>

    ¡°Destroy the Moon! Flying Star Finger!¡± One of Chu Yi¡¯s legs sent out an arc of qi while his fingers tapped the air and shot qi towards Su Jin like bullets.

    Thankfully, Su Jin was protected by Cai Dexiang¡¯s orange armor. But while the attacks didn¡¯t hurt him, it stopped him from moving any further and he stumbled over his feet.

    Before he could regain his bnce, he felt a shadow over him. Chu Yi was right in front of him now and his palms were at his waist, ready tounch an attack.

    ¡°Bajiquan, Cannonball from Earth to the Sky!¡± Chu Yi swung his arms at Su Jin as if they were giant hammers that weighed 5,000 kilograms. Even the sound of his fists cutting through the air was terrifying to hear.

    Su Jin hadn¡¯t regained his bnce yet, so this attack from Chu Yi sent him flying out instantly and the orange armor around himself began to crack in several ces.

    ¡°He¡¯s really strong!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He had also trained himself in various martial arts techniques during his time in his Personal Hell Domain, and he recognized Chu Yi¡¯s move as a Bajiquan move. He didn¡¯t expect a martial arts move to wield so much power when internal energy was added to it.

    ¡°Bajiquan, Yama¡¯s Three Point Hit!¡± Chu Yiunched another attack by holding up his hands the way the Lord of Hades held up a que to summon spirits. He aimed a simultaneous attack at Su Jin¡¯s head, heart and below the belt.

    This one move could hit three vital spots at a time and Su Jin was sure that he would die if he was hit by any one of them. He had no choice but to retrieve his Gold Armor and activate the Air of an Overlord.

    A wave of air hit Chu Yi and the dizzying effect made him pause suddenly. Su Jin quickly seized the chance to retreat and catch his bnce and his breath.

    ¡°You little bastard! How dare you treat me like this! All of you deserve to die! All of you!¡± As the Original Sin controlled Chu Yi¡¯s body, Chu Yi began to bellow with rage and his eyes became even redder.

    Su Jin was in a really difficult position. Out of everyone in his team, Chu Yi was definitely the best at such hand to handbat. But in terms of overall fighting ability, Su Jin would not lose to Chu Yi. And if they had to fight one another, Chu Yi might end up on the losing end.

    Internal energy relied on its explosive physical power, so as long as Chu Yi was close enough to his opponent, he could kill his opponent easily. But psychokinesis was invisible to the eye and could beunched at any time without the opponent noticing anything. Therefore, if the two were to fight each other seriously, Chu Yi would constantly be caught off guard.

    But the problem now was that Su Jin didn¡¯t want to kill Chu Yi, while Chu Yi didn¡¯t care if Su Jin died or not, because he was under the control of the Original Sin. Chu Yi didn¡¯t care who it was. As long as there was someone in front of him, he was going to kill that person.

    Chu Yi charged at Su Jin again, but this time, Cai Dexiangunched an attack on Chu Yi as well. He transformed his orange beam of light into arge hand, hoping to catch hold of Chu Yi.

    ¡°Taizuquan, Central Cannon!¡± Chu Yi didn¡¯t dodge the orange light and used a Taizuquan move to shatter thatrge orange handing for him. After that, he decided against attacking Su Jin and headed for Cai Dexiang instead.

    Cai Dexiang started cursing inwardly. He remembered how impossible it had been to shake Chu Yi off earlier. Thankfully, Su Jin didn¡¯t abandon him at this point.

    Su Jin charged at Chu Yi as well. Su Jin was good at hand to handbat too, but since his psychokinesis did nothing to strengthen him physically, he wasn¡¯t really Chu Yi¡¯s match in terms of pure physical strength, so all he could do was to use Rumor to intercept Chu Yi¡¯s moves and seize the opportunity to make sneak attacks.

    Cai Dexiang coordinated well with Su Jin and attacked Chu Yi with a weapon fashioned out of the orange beam again and again, but they were still unable to take Chu Yi down.

    ¡°All of you are nothing but worms! Worms!! How dare you treat me with such disrespect! All of you deserve to DIE!¡± Chu Yi charged towards Su Jin, but just before reaching Su Jin, he suddenly switched directions and turned towards Cai Dexiang instead.

    Throughout the fight earlier, the Original Sin had been trying to get closer to Cai Dexiang. Su Jin was powerful, but Cai Dexiang was causing him more problems. If Cai Dexiang weren¡¯t here to help Su Jin, then even if Su Jin were really powerful, the Original Sin was sure that he would have been able to take Su Jin down by now. It figured that if it wanted to defeat these two people, it had to take Cai Dexiang down first.

    Cai Dexiang didn¡¯t expect the Original Sin to pull such a move. He quickly ducked to the side and turned his orange beam of light into a giant ball of light around himself.

    ¡°Die, you lowly mortals!¡± roared the Original Sin furiously. It controlled Chu Yi¡¯s body, making him stretch one finger out but enabling that finger to have the power of a mighty spear as he shouted, ¡°Great Spear of Baijiquan and Liuhequan!¡±

    The orange ball of light around Cai Dexiang was no match for that spear-like finger. Chu Yi¡¯s finger made a hole in the ball and there was a red sh in Chu Yi¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Double Qi Thrust, Raindrops!¡± Chu Yi mmed his palms against the already breached ball of light with twice as much force, crushing the ball so badly that it shattered.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Cai Dexiang broke into a cold sweat. His orange light was an extremely resilient force that could be shaped into anything he liked. That ball of light had taken all the strength he had to fortify, yet Chu Yi managed to shatter it with just two moves. That was insane.

    ¡°Flying Star Finger!¡± Chu Yi tapped the air rapidly with his fingers and sent several streams of Qi shooting out from them.

    Cai Dexiang felt a terrible pain in the front of his body, and his shoulders, right hand and left thigh were all hit by these streams of Qi. Luckily, Su Jin hade to rescue him from these attacks. Su Jin wasn¡¯t being slow: Chu Yi had surprised them both with a fake move and broke through Cai Dexiang¡¯s defenses faster than Su Jin could reach him.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of Chu Yi. He had to pull Chu Yi away from Cai Dexiang, or else Chu Yi would definitely end up killing Cai Dexiang. But just then, Su Jin¡¯s hair stood on end and he shuddered as he felt dangering his way.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± cursed Su Jin inwardly as he tried to dodge the oing attack.

    ¡°Backward Spear!¡± Chu Yi swung his fist behind him. He had turned his finger into a spear when he attacked Cai Dexiang¡¯s orange ball of light, and now, his entire arm had be a spear, which meant that it was even more powerful.

    Blood sprayed everywhere as the attack went right through Su Jin¡¯s left shoulder. This attack was formidable beyond belief. It had actually managed to pierce through Su Jin¡¯s Gold Armor as well as Su Jin¡¯s extremely strong body.

    Su Jin endured the pain and delivered a kick to Chu Yi¡¯s abdomen. Chu Yi had been injured there before and even though he had recovered mostly from it, it was still a weak point.

    As Su Jin had expected, Chu Yi¡¯s expression didn¡¯t flinch, but his body doubled over and was sent flying by Su Jin¡¯s kick. Cai Dexiang was now temporarily out of trouble.

    ¡°Mr Su, you need to go all out! If this keeps up, we¡¯re all going to die!¡± said Cai Dexiang anxiously to Su Jin as he dragged his injured body along. Chu Yi was too powerful for them, so if Su Jin continued to show mercy, they were definitely going to die.

    ¡°You lowly, inferior and ugly mortals! How dare you try to hurt me! All of you shall die here today!¡± roared Chu Yi as the Original Sin inside him forced his body to charge at Su Jin and Cai Dexiang again.

    Su Jin and Cai Dexiang were both injured, so Su Jin held his Boning Knife in front of him and activated the Attack of the Demon Lord, but none of his attacks were aimed at vital spots.

    The Original Sin was in control of Chu Yi, so it also had Chu Yi¡¯s memories and knew that Su Jin¡¯s move was a powerful one. It didn¡¯t dare to fight Su Jin head on and kept dodging.

    He had barely regained his bnce after dodging one of the attacks when a tremendous force hit him from the front and forced him backwards by several steps.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± bellowed Chu Yi. He was sure that attack hadn¡¯te from the two men in front of him.

    ¡°Mai! Ning Meng!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He didn¡¯t expect Kano Mai and Ning Meng to appear at this point. But he was also a little worried, so he yelled out to Kano Mai, ¡°Ning Meng¡¯s hurt, so the two of you should hurry up and run away from here!¡±

    .

    Kano Mai put her Soul Whisperer down and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not possible! We¡¯re being chased by another Original Sin right now!¡±

    Su Jin and Cai Dexiang groaned when they realized that they were going to face two Original Sins at the same time. Kano Mai quickly brought Ning Meng over to where the two men were.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let the two Original Sins meet! We¡¯re definitely dead meat if that happens!¡± Cai Dexiang said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded. He agreed that would be a disaster. One Chu Yi was already too much to handle, never mind two of them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to give it a shot!¡± Su Jin gritted his teeth and said to Cai Dexiang, ¡°Protect the two girls.¡±

    Before Cai Dexiang could say anything, Su Jin had already made his way towards Chu Yi. But instead of looking like he wasunching an attack on Chu Yi, he looked more like he was about to hug Chu Yi.

    A threatening smile spread across Chu Yi¡¯s lips as he spread his arms out into a taijiquan position to execute a taijiquan move. Su Jin gave Chu Yi a bear hug as Chu Yi¡¯s hands tried to block him.

    ¡°Taijiquan, Gentle Qi!¡± yelled Chu Yi.

    But he never delivered that blow, because Su Jin¡¯s forehead was now stered on Chu Yi¡¯s, and his psychokinesis was able to flow straight into Chu Yi¡¯s consciousness without anything in the way.

    ¡°Chu Yi, wake up!¡± Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis seemed to call out to Chu Yi from afar, echoing inside his head in hope of pulling his actual consciousness back to reality.

    Chu Yi¡¯s consciousness was initially asleep and was woken up by Su Jin¡¯s shout. He quickly remembered how the Original Sin had taken over his body and was controlling his actions right now.

    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m here! But I can¡¯t get out!¡± yelled Chu Yi in response.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyelid trembled slightly as he located Chu Yi¡¯s consciousness and started talking to him, ¡°You have to find a way out, otherwise you¡¯re going to get all of us killed.¡±

    ¡°All of us?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Myself, Mai, Ning Meng and the team leader of the Moon in the Blue Skies, Cai Dexiang, are all here. You¡¯re now in some invincible mode or something and you¡¯reing after us like awnmower cutting down grass,¡± said Su Jin.

    But Chu Yi pulled a long face and sighed. ¡°I really can¡¯t get out! Wrath is too powerful! You know, I thought that as a martial artist who remains faithful to martial arts ethics and concentrates on training myself up in martial arts, I would be able to get rid of the angry side of me. But when Wrath took over me, I realized that I¡¯ve never been able to get rid of that side at all. I¡¯ve just been suppressing it all this time and now that I¡¯m allowed to express it, I¡¯ve gonepletely out of control!¡±

    For a martial artist, a life of fighting was to be expected. But Chinese martial arts was very insistent on having a code of ethics among the martial artists so that they did not use their heightened fighting prowess to bully or oppress others who were not as powerful or who were not martial artists.

    Adhering to these ethics were supposed to help a martial artist remain in control of his rage and urges, but Chu Yi was nowhere near that level of control yet. Instead, all he did was to suppress his anger over a long period of time, so the impact of his pent up anger would be greater than anybody else. That was why Wrath had chosen him over Cai Dexiang.

    ¡°In that case¡­I can only say I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Su Jin dejectedly.

    This refers to the first move someone ying Chinese chess can make, moving the Cannon piece to the middle. It is a very aggressive first move and is totally how I was bullied by my dad in Chinese chess as a child.

 Chapter 108: Original Sin: Lust

    <h4>Chapter 108: Original Sin: Lust</h4>

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have a choice. Chu Yi had be impossibly formidable after Wrath had taken possession of his body. If this fight went on for so long that the other Original Sin appeared, they were all going to perish together.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. My willpower wasn¡¯t strong enough, and that¡¯s why Wrath was able to take control of me. I¡¯m an embarrassment to the martial arts circles and I ought to pay the price for it.¡± Chu Yi was willing to look at this situation very honestly and was also willing to face the consequences of his choices.

    On the other hand, Su Jin was facing a dilemma. He could drive the Original Sin out, but this could result in the deaths of the owner. Chen Xin¡¯er and Yang Mo had died after he had driven the Original Sin inside them out, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it was because they were already too severely injured before that or if it was because he had driven the Original Sin inside them out.

    ¡°Listen to me. I have a way to drive the Original Sin out, but¡­but you might die,¡± said Su Jin to Chu Yi very seriously.

    ¡°Go ahead then! What are you waiting for?¡± Chu Yi hurried Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Start praying then! Whether you survive this or not depends on God.¡±

    Chu Yi nodded solemnly before Su Jin summoned an intense amount of psychokinesis and yelled out, ¡°Original Sin Wrath! I refuse to acknowledge your existence and I am banishing you right now!¡±

    After Su Jin shouted those words out, Chu Yi¡¯s body instantly stiffened up and bent backwards like a bow ready to shoot. Su Jin let go of Chu Yi and watched as a red beam of light shot out from Chu Yi¡¯s nose, mouth and ears.

    The other three were terrified by this sight. They had never seen Su Jin drive an Original Sin out before, so whatever was happening to Chu Yi now looked very scary to them.

    Chu Yi roared in agony as the red light left himpletely. Once it was all gone, Su Jin pulled Chu Yi away from it.

    ¡°You filthy animals! You lowly worms! All of you must die! All of you shall die!!!¡± The red light had gathered itself together to form a blood colored giant. It seemed to constantly give off a murderous air and looked extremely enraged.

    Just then, someone else appeared. It was a member of Team Shadow of Thor. He was now standing behind Wrath and his eyes were rainbow colored.

    ¡°Hey, big guy, just a little warning, this guy is not one to be trifled with! Since you¡¯ve lost the body you possessed just now, I¡¯d advise you to run for it!¡± said the man with a lecherous smile. He parted his lips slightly and licked them deliberately.

    Su Jin felt like he was about to puke. If the person doing this was a great beauty, she would have looked really charming. But this was a pervy looking guy: nobody was charmed by that.

    ¡°Anybody who steps on my toes shall die! I don¡¯t care who it is!¡± Wrath didn¡¯t care about the other man and roared as he charged at Su Jin and the rest.

    ¡°Tsk! When will you stop being so angry! Hurry up and leave! Don¡¯t make things worse!¡± The man from Team Shadow of Thor frowned and was clearly displeased with Wrath¡¯s actions.

    Su Jin passed Chu Yi to Kano Mai, then retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. This was a weapon fashioned by a god and even a demigod was afraid of it. These Original Sins were no match for it.

    Woong! The sparkles of the Roar of the Demon Lord shot through the air towards Wrath. Wrath now realized that these sparkles were indeed dangerous and tried to duck to one side, but the Roar of the Demon Lord still brushed past one side of him, turning one half of his body into nothing but dust.

    ¡°You idiot! That¡¯s why I told you to run for it!¡± The member of Shadow of Thor scoffed in disdain. Suddenly, a pink glow flowed out from his mouth and surged towards Su Jin and the rest.

    ¡°What is the Original Sin possessing him?¡± Su Jin asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°Lust!¡±

    Su Jin nodded. His psychokinesis moved faster than that pink glow, going into the other man¡¯s mind from afar. His case was different from Chu Yi¡¯s in that this man wasn¡¯t a veteran. Chu Yi was a veteran and had internal energy to protect him from other Spirit Powers, so in order to drive out the Original Sin within him, he had to go very near to Chu Yi. But since this man wasn¡¯t a veteran, it was much easier for Su Jin to get his Spirit Power into his head.

    ¡°Original Sin Lust! I do not acknowledge your existence, so I am banishing you now!¡± yelled Su Jin angrily.

    The member of Shadow of Thor suddenly stiffened up and a pink light shot out from his nose, mouth and ears. But at the same time, the glow he emitted earlier now covered everyone else too.

    Su Jin¡¯s vision was blurry and he felt a little weak as well. Someone appeared in the distance and was walking towards him. When he squinted his eyes to look at who that was, he was surprised to find that the person walking towards himself was actually Ye Yun.

    ¡°Ye Yun? What¡¯s going on? She¡­she shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± Su Jin frowned quizzically, but his head felt so heavy, he could barely think. His instinct was to run towards her and hug her tightly.

    ¡°Wait, no! It¡¯s Lust that¡¯s influencing me!¡± Su Jin widened his eyes as he vaguely remembered that he was fighting Lust just now. He used his psychokinesis to clear his mind and he was able to think properly now.

    The illusion of Ye Yun also vanished to reveal arge pink snake that was covered with mouths, and each mouth was filled with sharp teeth.

    That was Lust itself. It realized that Su Jin had woken from his stupor, so he quickly grabbed hold of the injured Wrath and both pink and red monsters vanished into thin air. Su Jin couldn¡¯t run after them like that.

    But Su Jin also knew that the two Original Sins weren¡¯t afraid of him per se. They were afraid of the power that the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow held.

    He turned to look at the others behind him and noticed that everyone¡¯s eyes had lost their focus, had a silly smile on their faces and looked like they were daydreaming.

    ¡°Oppa! Oppa, you¡¯re a celebrity, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good for us to behave like this,¡± said Ning Meng with a shy look on her face, as if she was making out with some popr Korean celebrity in her dreams.

    ¡°Ah Jiao! Ah Jiao, wait for me! It was my fault that all that happened, and I¡¯ll change, so please don¡¯t go! Don¡¯t run from me anymore! I¡¯ll make sure you have a good time!¡± Cai Dexiang had a more lewd expression on his face inparison. It was hard to say if that ¡®Ah Jiao¡¯ was even his wife.

    ¡°Aoi-san¡­I¡­I really like you very much,¡± said Chu Yi with an awkwardugh.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. Was it the same Aoi-san he knew?

    ¡°Oh! Ohashi-san, don¡¯t be angry, I like you too! And you too, Sakurai-san! Heh heh¡­I have a Japanese friend who¡¯s been teaching me Japanese, so I know a little! All three of you are very kawaii!¡± rambled Chu Yi.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. Everyone else had only one person in mind while Chu Yi clearly had more than one in his dream. Moreover, Su Jin had a good idea who thesedies were¡­

    He then turned to look towards Kano Mai, but Kano Mai wasn¡¯t doing anything at all. Her eyes were zed over but she wasn¡¯t talking or moving, as if she was trapped or something.

    ¡°Wake up, all of you!¡± Su Jin used his psychokinesis to snap everyone out of their daze and they sobered up with a shock as focus returned to their gaze.

    The Original Sin of Lust had just used its powers to draw out everyone¡¯s deepest desires in this aspect, so each one of them started seeing such illusions. But Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis was the nemesis to illusions and that was also how he managed to snap out of his own daze so quickly.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Ning Meng suddenly eximed and her face was all red. She remembered what happened earlier and hadn¡¯t thought much of it, but now that she was clear minded again, she felt so awfully embarrassed.

    .

    ¡°Ah Jiao! Ah Jiao! Wait, was that just an illusion? What happened?¡± Cai Dexiang seemed especially disappointed as he stared down at his hands with a lonely look in his eyes.

    Chu Yi, however, remained silent. Driving the Original Sin out from his body didn¡¯t seem to have harmed him very much, and Su Jin guessed it was because Chu Yi¡¯s own Spirit Power was able to protect his body.

    Su Jin asked Chu Yi cheekily, ¡°Weren¡¯t you in a trance earlier too?¡±

    ¡°A trance? Wh-what do you mean? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± said Chu Yi as though he really had no clue what just happened.

    Su Jin burst outughing. ¡°Oh? Then who¡¯s this Aoi-san, Ohashi-san and Sakurai-san?¡±

    ¡°How¡­how did you know that?!¡± Chu Yi looked like he had been caught stealing something red-handed and went into a panic.

    ¡°Oh my, thesedies are very famous! You want to know them personally? I can introduce you guys,¡± teased Kano Mai with augh as she cupped a hand over her mouth.

    ¡°Can you really do that for me?¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes instantly lit up as he ran over to her, which made herugh even harder as she nodded.

    ¡°Sister Mai, who did you see in your trance?¡± asked Chu Yi curiously.

    But Kano Mai shook her head and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t see anybody. All I saw earlier was a patch of darkness.¡±

    ¡°What? That can¡¯t be! Sister Mai, don¡¯t lie to us!¡± Chu Yi narrowed his eyes as he continued to pester her for an answer.

    Su Jin stepped in to exin things for her, ¡°Mai¡¯s not lying. I did see that she was in a daze, but unlike the rest of you, she didn¡¯t seem to be having an encounter with anybody at all.¡±

    But at the same time, Su Jin was also curious about why Kano Mai hadn¡¯t seen anybody while she was in a trance. As long as you held a torch for someone, Lust¡¯s move would have been able to ensnare you with an illusion of yourself with that person. Did she have no interest in this area at all? That sounded strange too.

    Now that everyone was safe, Su Jin¡¯s next course of action was to check how Chu Yi was. Chu Yi checked himself over and confirmed that he was perfectly fine.

    ¡°So, is it because driving out an Original Sin doesn¡¯t actually cause any damage to an owner? Or is it because Chu Yi has Spirit Power that can protect his body from any harm?¡± Su Jin really wasn¡¯t sure, so he quickly walked towards the team member of Shadow of Thor that had been previously possessed by Lust.

    But he shook his head in disappointment when he got to the other man. His entire body was covered with bullet holes, so even if driving out Lust hadn¡¯t been of any harm to him, his body couldn¡¯t hold up without a supernatural force inside it.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Cai Dexiang was also feeling pretty depressed by the situation, but they still had to find a way through this Challenge.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just keep walking. We don¡¯t really have a choice.¡± Su Jin shook his head sadly. They had been forced into every decision ever since this Challenge started and there was no room to consider any other options.

    Su Jin and Cai Dexiang were both injured from their fight with Chu Yi earlier, so Su Jin took out some leaves from the Tree of Life and gave them to Cai Dexiang as a form of treatment. He ate some as well, then used the bandages from Yang Mo to bandage his wounds. Sadly, Yang Mo had already passed away and would never appear in front of them again.

 Chapter 109: Original Sin: Sloth

    <h4>Chapter 109: Original Sin: Sloth</h4>

    Su Jin told everyone about what happened to Yang Mo. Chu Yi and Kano Mai were both very upset to hear about it, but Chu Yi was definitely more upset. He came from the same universe as Yang Mo and they actually lived in the same city. They enjoyed teasing each other all the time, but they had be really good friends. Now that Yang Mo was gone, Chu Yi felt really depressed.

    Su Jin patted Chu Yi on the shoulder. Nobody could say for sure if they would survive a Handbook Challenge, after all. He might be the next one to die for all anybody knew.

    Regardless of how upset they were, they had to continue their journey. Chu Yi took over carrying Ning Meng on his back since Su Jin¡¯s shoulder was still healing from how Chu Yi¡¯s arm had pierced through his flesh earlier. Kano Mai was a girl, so Chu Yi naturally took up this responsibility.

    ¡°As far as I can tell, all the Original Sins can only possess a body once. After it¡¯s been driven out, it either can¡¯t possess another, or it will take some time before it can do that again,¡± Su Jin analyzed the situation after telling them everything he had gone through earlier.

    But Kano Mai shook her head and said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound correct. Weren¡¯t you initially possessed by Pride, then Pride moved to Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s body? That¡¯s twice, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    After hearing her question, Su Jin exined, ¡°I don¡¯t think Pride¡¯s possession of my body counts. I detected its existence and knew who it was, and since I have psychokinesis, it wasn¡¯t able to take over my body by force. It was able to use me only because I agreed to it, in hope of finding out more about it.¡±

    Su Jin hadn¡¯t really been possessed by Pride. It was more urate to say that Su Jin had given up control of his body to Pride, made use of that time to search for more clues, then took back control of his body.

    ¡°You little bastard!¡± Cai Dexiang suddenly yelled at Su Jin angrily and grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s throat. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you did such a thing! How clever do you think you are? You actually wanted to test the Original Sins?! Xin¡¯er died because of this stupid pride of yours!¡±

    Cai Dexiang proceeded to punch Su Jin in the face. Chu Yi immediately held Cai Dexiang back and said, ¡°Mr. Cai, can you please calm down? Even if Boss hadn¡¯t done that, Pride would have gone looking for Chen Xin¡¯er as well. She probably wouldn¡¯t have survived either.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit! He knows how to drive Original Sins out! If he weren¡¯t so full of himself and did such a thing to Pride, he could have saved Xin¡¯er!¡± Cai Dexiang continued to roar furiously with bloodshot eyes. If Chu Yi didn¡¯t hold him back, he was definitely going to punch Su Jin a few more times.

    Su Jin wiped away the blood on his lips. Cai Dexiang had punched him very hard, but Su Jin did not have any reason to retaliate. It was true that he was toocent and too arrogant. If he hadn¡¯t approached the situation with a n to test out his hypotheses, Chen Xin¡¯er might really have survived and Pride would not have gotten what it wanted.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Su Jin apologized.

    But Kano Mai walked over and asked him, ¡°Why are you apologizing?¡±

    ¡°I was the one¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this really your fault? We¡¯re in a Handbook Challenge and your responsibility in our team is to try to find out as much as you can about each Challenge. If you already knew that Chen Xin¡¯er would die as a result of your actions and went ahead with it anyway, then I would agree that you should feel bad about that.¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t know that this would happen. It¡¯s impossible to have foretold the consequences. You¡¯re not some god. Everything that we do results in some consequences and not everything we do turns out well. Are we supposed to take responsibility for everything then?¡± Kano Mai looked like she was talking to Su Jin, but her words were also targeted at Cai Dexiang.

    Su Jin remained silent, but a few momentster, Cai Dexiang walked towards him. Cai Dexiang was still clearly upset, but he still lowered his head and said quietly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was too rash earlier.¡±

    ¡°No, don¡¯t say that. I should have taken greater care to consider all areas before taking any actions.¡± Su Jin still felt bad anyway. His decisions had resulted in Chen Xin¡¯er¡¯s death after all.

    By Su Jin¡¯s calctions, even if the other two members of Team Shadow of Thor were still alive, that meant that only a total of seven of them were still alive. At least half the owners in this Challenge were dead and not even a day had passed yet.

    As the sun began to set, the warm desert winds grew extremely cold. They dared not rest at all, in case they ended up freezing to death on the spot.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the temperature difference between day and night in a desert is huge, but this¡­this is insane.¡± Chu Yi could feel Ning Meng shivering nonstop on his back and couldn¡¯t wrap his head around this situation. This desert was at least 40 degrees Celsius in the day, but now, it was more like minus 40 degrees.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, I¡¯m going to help you to deal with the cold,¡± said Chu Yi to Ning Meng as he sent some of his internal energy into her body. She immediately felt a warmth flow through her body.

    ¡°It¡¯s so nice to have Spirit Power. I would love to activate my Spirit Power too,¡± said Ning Meng enviously. Three out of five of them here turned out to be veterans and they weren¡¯t affected by the freezing temperatures at all. If she and Kano Mai had been stuck in the desert without any of them, they¡¯d probably end up freezing to death.

    Kano Mai had a coat made from Cai Dexiang¡¯s orange beam of light. It was great as an armor and worked well against extreme temperatures as well.

    The five of them continued to walk on until the sun came up again. They could see a majestic temple in the distance, but even though they could see it, it didn¡¯t mean that the temple was actually very close to them.

    ¡°Wait up! Wait up!!¡± someone called out from behind.

    Everyone was on high alert as they watched a man approach them with another person on his back. It was the two remaining members of Team Shadow of Thor. The one being carried was Long Zhenglei, because he had lost consciousness.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened to your team leader?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The other team member was at a loss as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. He warned me not to wake him up and told me to look for the rest of you, then suddenly fell into unconsciousness.¡±

    A thought struck Su Jin and he ced a palm against Long Zhenglei¡¯s forehead to send his psychokinesis in. He immediately noticed something very wrong. There were two consciousnesses in Long Zhenglei¡¯s mind.

    ¡°The Original Sin, Sloth, is inside him!¡± Long Zhenglei had been possessed by the Original Sin but somehow knocked himself out so the Original Sin couldn¡¯t control his body.

    ¡°Are you saying he¡¯s been possessed by an Original Sin?¡± asked Cai Dexiang.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure how Mr. Long managed to put himself into such a deep sleep. He¡¯s lost all consciousness, so the Original Sin is unable to move his body.¡±

    ¡°Is your team leader a veteran?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    The team member nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s the only veteran on the team.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I could try helping your team leader to drive that Original Sin out of his body, but it might be risky,¡± Su Jin said to the team member.

    ¡°It¡¯s even more dangerous for him to keep sleeping like this, if you ask me. Before losing consciousness, he told me to find you guys and go with anything you guys decide on,¡± said the team member with a worried look on his face.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but admire Long Zhenglei for making such quick and firm decisions. After being possessed by an Original Sin, Long Zhenglei had given such clear instructions on what to do before sending himself to sleep as quickly as possible. He must have been extremely calm despite the circumstances.

    Since Long Zhenglei had given such instructions, Su Jin went ahead with his n. He sent his psychokinesis into the deep side of Long Zhenglei¡¯s consciousness and saw a shocking sight.

    A gigantic cage stood right at the back of Long Zhenglei¡¯s mind and Long Zhenglei himself was in that cage. But he was inside with another monstrous creature as well.

    That monster was all ck and held Long Zhenglei in its hand as it continued to torture Long Zhenglei. This was Long Zhenglei¡¯s consciousness, so his body wouldn¡¯t suffer any harm. But if his consciousness died, then the rest of him would die too.

    ¡°You foolish thing! How dare you trap me inside here! Such insolence!¡± The monster seemed to be having loads of fun as he flung Long Zhenglei high into the air, then sent Long Zhenglei flying with a p, making Long Zhenglei crash against the metal grilles of the cage. But before Long Zhenglei hit the floor, the monster would catch him and fling him in a different direction.

    ¡°Damn it! So, this is an Original Sin? I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s so powerful,¡± thought Long Zhenglei as he grit his teeth and tried to endure the torture. He knew that if he couldn¡¯t get through this, he was as good as dead.

    At this rate, Long Zhenglei was definitely going to get killed by Sloth, so Su Jin didn¡¯t waste any time and came to the cage.

    ¡°Oh? Who are you?¡± Sloth looked down at Su Jin and stopped tossing Long Zhenglei around. He was surprised that someone else could enter Long Zhenglei¡¯s consciousness.

    ¡°Mr. Su?!¡± Long Zhenglei was on the verge of passing out, but when he saw that Su Jin was here, he was so shocked that his eyes nearly flew out of their sockets.

    ¡°Original Sin Sloth! I do not acknowledge your existence, so I am going to banish you right now!¡± dered Su Jin in a loud voice after he had pressed his palms against the cage grilles.

    ¡°Banishing me?! Who do you think you¡­¡± Before Sloth could finish speaking, its body became more and more distorted before disappearing from the cage altogether.

    ¡°Mr. Long, are you able to leave this ce yourself?¡± asked Su Jin. He didn¡¯t know how to open this cage at all, so if Long Zhenglei didn¡¯t know how to get out either, he might get stuck here forever.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be fine!¡± Long Zhenglei nodded.

    ¡°Great! I¡¯ll get out of here now,¡± said Su Jin before withdrawing himself from Long Zhenglei¡¯s consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he could see the ck smoke pouring out of Long Zhenglei¡¯s nose, mouth and ears.

    ¡°Move aside, everyone!¡± yelled Su Jin. Sloth was about to solidify into its original form, so anybody too close to it was in danger of getting killed on the spot.

    Su Jin held onto Long Zhenglei and waited for all the ck smoke to leave his body. Once everything was out, he immediately retreated, passed Long Zhenglei to his team mate, then retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow.

    Sloth¡¯s original form was a mountain of meat. Its ck body was covered in sores and its facial features were all squished together. It looked seriously gross.

    Long Zhenglei had also regained consciousness by this time. He was very weak as he uttered hoarsely, ¡°Run, everybody! If you go too close to it, bad things will happen!¡±

    ¡°Bad things? What bad things?¡± asked Chu Yi.

 Chapter 110: The Temple

    <h4>Chapter 110: The Temple</h4>

    ¡°Run!¡± Long Zhenglei had a terrified expression on his face as he hurried his team mate along. Everybody else quickly started moving as well.

    ¡°And you think you¡¯d be able to run in time?¡± Sloth¡¯s tiny face was covered with disdain as it let out a ck mist that swiftly caught up with everyone.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi were the fastest runners, followed by Cai Dexiang, since all three were veterans. Long Zhenglei was badly hurt, so he was slowed down a lot because of that.

    ¡°That ck mist is a problem, right? What happens if it gets to us?¡± Su Jin yelled at Long Zhenglei.

    ¡°Once you¡¯re covered by it, you¡¯d be very lethargic and unwilling to move at all. Even if Sloth bashes you up, you wouldn¡¯t even think of fighting back.¡± Long Zhenglei shuddered at this thought. He had been thrashed so badly by Sloth while they were in the cage together precisely because he couldn¡¯t do anything as long as he was within close proximity of Sloth.

    The ck mist was gaining speed and Su Jin figured that while he and Chu Yi would be able to outrun it, the rest might not.

    Su Jin suddenly stopped in his tracks and nobody knew what he was trying to do. He grabbed hold of Cai Dexiang, causing Cai Dexiang to pale in horror and wonder if Su Jin was hoping to bring someone down with him because he figured he was doomed.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Cai,¡± Su Jin apologized to Cai Dexiang first.

    ¡°Are you seriously gonna¡­how have I even offended you?¡± Cai Dexiang looked terrified but Su Jin¡¯s next course of action stunned him.

    Su Jin gripped Cai Dexiang firmly, then flung him out like a shotput ball. Cai Dexiang ended up covering way more distance this way than if he had run on his own.

    .

    ¡°I¡¯ve misunderstood him!¡± Cai Dexiang instantly felt guilty for the way he had judged Su Jin earlier. Su Jin was actually trying to save him.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t stop there. He grabbed hold of Long Zhenglei and his team mate, then flung them towards where Cai Dexiang was as well.

    ¡°Chu Yi! Come over here!¡±

    ¡°Coming!¡± Chu Yi didn¡¯t know what Su Jin wanted to do, but he trusted Su Jin with all his heart.

    ¡°You¡¯re in charge of catching Ning Meng and Mai!¡± Su Jin got Ning Meng off Chu Yi¡¯s back, then flung Chu Yi out too.

    Chu Yi was trained in martial arts, so he was able to adjust himself midair to ensure a propernding. The four men looked like shooting stars from the way Su Jin had flung them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Chu Yi will definitely catch both of you,¡± said Su Jin to Ning Meng and Kano Mai. He proceeded to fling both girls towards Chu Yi.

    Meanwhile, Cai Dexiang had alreadynded. But before he could get up, the next twonded on him and he realized what was going on. <i>Damn it</i>, he thought. Su Jin was using him as a softnding for everyone else!

    Cai Dexiang wasn¡¯t too happy about having two other peoplend on him, but Su Jin honestly wasn¡¯t trying to pick on him or anything like that. Cai Dexiang was the meatiest one among them, so he was the most suitable for this role.

    Chu Yinded neatly on top of the other three and bounced up immediately, then held his arms out in a taijiquan stance. Ning Meng and Kano Mai came flying towards him one after another, and he caught them in a way that reduced the impact sufficiently for both of them tond safely.

    After Su Jin had flung the other six far away from himself, there wasn¡¯t enough time for himself to escape the ck mist. It covered him instantly and made him lethargic instantly. Ennui overwhelmed him and his brain started sending signals to the rest of his body to just lie down and sleep.

    He couldn¡¯t help but yawn while Sloth reached out for him. Kano Mai could see what was happening and quickly fired a beam of light towards Su Jin in hope of dragging him over to where they were.

    But once the end of the light was engulfed by the ck mist, it also lost any energy it carried and fizzled out by itself. Even non-living things were affected by this ck mist.

    ¡°Come on, guys! Think of something!!¡± said Kano Mai to the rest in an anxious voice.

    Chu Yi was about to run back towards Su Jin but Long Zhenglei stopped him in time. ¡°Don¡¯t do that! Anyone covered by that ck mist is going to die because it¡¯s almost impossible to use Spirit Power. Any Spirit Power moves at less than 0.1 times the usual speed, so if you rush over like that, you¡¯d only end up bing another victim of Sloth¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°What do we do then?¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes bulged from his anxiety.

    Cai Dexiang had finally managed to peel himself off the ground after three men hadnded on him. He looked at Su Jin covered by the ck mist and felt that he had to do something to save Su Jin. He had escaped this fate because of what Su Jin had done after all.

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t beat it with speed, let¡¯s beat it with strength! If all three of us veterans use our Spirit Powers on that ck mist, I don¡¯t think that ck mist will hold up for long!¡± said Cai Dexiang.

    ¡°That sounds like a n! When I trapped myself within my own consciousness, I felt like it was possible to break through that ck mist, but I couldn¡¯t do it alone,¡± said Long Zhenglei with a nod. He agreed that Cai Dexiang¡¯s n could work.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was slowly losing consciousness. His Psychokic Spirit Power turned out to be useless against it and he had nearly lost all his ability to think now.

    ¡°I understand why¡­Long Zhenglei ended up getting thrown about so easily just now¡­¡± thought Su Jin with a bitter smile. His vision was dimming and his knees were giving way. He stumbled about and looked like he might copse anytime.

    Sloth stared down at Su Jin with disdain. His strength came not only from humanly desires, but also from God. One might possibly abstain from the other desires, but his was definitely something everybody needed. One could keep away from almost everything else, but their bodies needed rest when it was tired.

    Other desires were a way to prolong one¡¯s life, but resting was as essential to life as breathing was. No living thing could escape the need to rest, unless that living thing had somehow transcended that stage and became a higher being of sorts.

    Just when Sloth was feeling all smug and pleased with itself, it suddenly felt something amiss. Three waves of supernatural power had invaded its territory.

    ¡°These lowly worms!¡± Sloth was extremely displeased, but the ck mist it controlled could only go so far. The source of these three supernatural powers was outside its scope, so there was nothing it could do.

    Chu Yi¡¯s Spirit Power was internal energy, so it could be domineering and invincible, and it could also be as devastating as the ocean waves. He used his Spirit Power to bombard the ck mist in the most violent and forceful way possible alongside Long Zhenglei and Cai Dexiang¡¯s Spirit Powers. The ck mist began to move and distort from the attack.

    ¡°There¡¯s a gap here!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes lit up. Cai Dexiang¡¯s Spirit Power could morph into any shape, so he turned it into a little car that could carry the Spirit Power of the other two and drove it into the ck mist to look for Su Jin.

    Sloth was very unhappy about this situation but it couldn¡¯t move very quickly either. The ck mist was unable to catch hold of the three supernatural powers, so there really wasn¡¯t much else it could do. It was clear that these humans had found a way to counterattack.

    ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ve done everything I was supposed to anyway,¡± mumbled Sloth to itself. It retracted all the ck mist, then its body dissipated into the air. Nobody expected this to happen at all.

    Su Jin started gasping for air as he regained his senses and his ability to think again. That was a close call: he felt that Sloth didn¡¯t need to do anything but allow the ck mist to eventually cause his entire body to shut down. It wouldn¡¯t be long before his heart stopped beating and his brainpletely stopped functioning.

    ¡°Boss, are you alright?!¡± Chu Yi was happy to see that Su Jin was still alive.

    Su Jin nodded, then turned to Cai Dexiang and Long Zhenglei and said, ¡°Thank you so much, both of you.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal with us. If not for you, I would have been dead by now,¡± said Long Zhenglei with a smile. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t driven Sloth out of his mind in time, he would definitely have perished in his sleep.

    ¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± grunted Cai Dexiang.

    Sloth had left, so all seven deadly sins had already appeared. Su Jin told Long Zheng Lei that his two remaining team members were dead.

    A look of sadness and resignation shed in Long Zhenglei¡¯s eyes. This was a Handbook Challenge, after all. Death was always lurking round the corner and even veterans weren¡¯t confident of surviving any Challenge.

    The group rested for a while, then continued walking towards the temple in the distance. They were very careful on their way there and the four veterans took turns to be on the lookout for any dangers.

    Half a dayter, they finally arrived in front of the temple.

    To their dismay, arriving at the temple did not end the Challenge. In other words, they still had to enter the temple itself.

    The temple was huge and looked like it was fashioned out of a mountain. When they stood in front of the temple, they realized that they couldn¡¯t see the top of it. The group was standing outside the temple gates and the ring-shaped handles of the gate were more than ten meters above their heads. This temple was built for giants or something.

    Su Jin sent a beam of psychokinesis out to check out the gate. The moment his psychokinesis hit the gate, there was a loud boom as the gates opened by themselves.

    ¡°Did my Spirit Power cause that to happen?¡± Su Jin pondered this possibility for a while. This thing probably worked that way. Once Spirit Power touched it, it would open up by itself, so ordinary owners would not be able to open it.

    They walked into the temple grounds and the first thing that greeted them was darkness. But a glimmer of light soon appeared and they saw as a sun started rising and stopping above them.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± Chu Yi cursed. Everyone else was equally surprised by what they could see in front of them. The inside of the temple was actually a tropical rainforest.

    ¡°Is this an entire ecosystem on its own?¡± muttered Kano Mai to herself. This temple was incredibly huge. Besides the wall they had just passed through, they couldn¡¯t see where this forest ended at all. All they could see was lush greenery and birds in the air that none of them could name.

    ¡°What do we do next? Go through the forest?¡± asked Chu Yi as he scratched his head.

    ¡°That¡¯s the only thing we can do. I don¡¯t think we have any other choice,¡± said Cai Dexiang with a sigh. This rainforest definitely carried great dangers, and it was probably going to be as bad as getting possessed by an Original Sin. Also, the Original Sins were probably going to attack them while they were going through this forest.

    ROAAAARRR! Just then, the sound of an animal roaring filled the air. Everyone looked at where the sound hade from and saw a huge beast walk out.

    ¡°Is that¡­a tiger? Or a hippo?¡± The other Shadow of Thor team member stuttered as he watched this giant creature with the head of a lion and the body of a hippo emerge from the forest, roaring angrily at them.

 Chapter 111: City of Gold

    <h4>Chapter 111: City of Gold</h4>

    White smoke came out from the gigantic beast¡¯s nostrils. It seemed extremely interested in the tiny things in front of it, perhaps because they looked like food to it.

    .

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we do a little test?¡± Chu Yi started stretching his legs.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. ¡°Great idea. I¡¯ll leave it to you!¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes were filled with excitement. It was impossible to see such arge creature in the real world, and even if you did, you wouldn¡¯t be allowed to fight it like this.

    Chu Yi bent his body forward, then straightened up to send himself flying towards the creature. He was as quick as lightning, but the creature was not slow either. It raised its giant ws and swiped them at Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi raised a fist to meet with its ws and when the two collided, it was the creature that howled in pain as Chu Yi¡¯s punch easily overpowered its attack.

    ¡°You¡¯re a strong one, eh?¡± remarked Chu Yi. He ran swiftly to the side of the creature and jumped onto its back before the creature could turn around in time.

    Doong doong doong!

    Roaaaaaar!

    Chu Yi punched the creature viciously in the back and the creature roared in agony. It couldn¡¯t do anything about Chu Yi since he was on its back, so it moved about violently in hope of shaking Chu Yi off, but Chu Yi¡¯s legs seemed to be deeply rooted in the creature and didn¡¯t budge at all.

    After some time, the creature ran out of energy and copsed weakly onto the ground. Chu Yi didn¡¯t intend to kill it, so he jumped off the creature¡¯s back and stood in front of it as he said, ¡°Boss, it¡¯s just arge cat! We don¡¯t have to be afraid of it!¡±

    ¡°Watch out!¡± everyone eximed as they saw the huge creature approach Chu Yi from behind.

    Chu Yi narrowed his eyes and his body tensed up as he got ready to fight again, but to his surprise, the creature did not attack him. Instead, it nudged his back with its head adorably.

    ¡°Wait, did Chu Yi just¡­tame it?¡± Su Jin could hardly believe his eyes. But the creature¡¯s behavior couldn¡¯t be more obvious. It had been tamed after getting thrashed by Chu Yi.

    Everyone was equally amused, while Chu Yi felt very proud of himself. He said to them, ¡°Let¡¯s use this fellow as a mode of transportation then! I think that should work pretty well!¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡± Long Zhenglei nodded. He was still recovering from his injuries while Ning Meng was still unable to see, so having something else to transport them through this forest would save them a lot of energy.

    Chu Yi turned to pat the creature¡¯s head, then said sternly, ¡°Listen up. These people here are all my friends, so be good and let everyone ride on your back. I¡¯ll set you free after that, okay?¡±

    Roarr! The creature was clearly highly intelligent and was able to understand everything that Chu Yi said to it. Ity down obediently on the ground so that everyone could get onto its back easily.

    Everyone quickly hopped onto the creature¡¯s back. Its hippo-like body was wide and good for sitting, so sitting on its back felt like sitting on a huge leather carpet of sorts.

    Chu Yi took his ce on top of the creature¡¯s head and took on the role of leading the creature. But he didn¡¯t really need to lead the creature, since they didn¡¯t actually know where they were going and had to just plough through the forest.

    As the creature continued advancing through the forest, everyone was quickly relieved that they had found this animal to ride on. The rainforest was filled with all sorts of animals, and none of them dared toe too close to this gigantic creature they were on.

    Also, the rainforest was filled with huge and random holes, slopes, swamps and other difficult terrain. This creature was used to traversing such ground and was able to walk through the forest without much problem.

    Time slowly ticked by and they had soon spent nearly an entire day in the rainforest. Strangely enough, they hadn¡¯t been attacked at all.

    After some time, the giant creature refused to walk any further. No matter how hard Chu Yi tried to coax it or urge it, the creature seemed very afraid of the road ahead. This probably had something to do with the seven Original Sins, so even a gigantic creature like this one felt too afraid to take another step forward.

    Since the creature refused to move, Chu Yi had no choice but to let the creature go back to where it belonged. The seven of them continued trudging through the forest themselves and came to a stop again before long.

    They were shocked by what had appeared before them. It was a city made from gold!

    This was truly a city of gold and sparkled brightly in the light. As they walked towards it, Su Jin kept his eye on the ground. Chu Yi asked curiously, ¡°Boss, what are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking at the ground. I want to know what divides the rainforest from this city of gold,¡± replied Su Jin.

    Chu Yi scratched his head in confusion, while Long Zhenglei chimed in, ¡°Mr. Su is a careful person indeed. We don¡¯t know where this city of gold came from, so it¡¯s better to make such observations.¡±

    ¡°Hey, can you clever people speak a little more directly?¡± Chu Yi was very annoyed by these vague answers. It was easier to ask him to fight than to use his brains.

    Su Jin exined, ¡°There¡¯s a possibility that this city of gold was built by humans. If that¡¯s the case, then it should be clearly separated from the rest of the rainforest. But if this city of gold is formed naturally, then there might be a gradual change from forest to city along the way.¡±

    ¡°The city might be man made or formed naturally? What¡¯s the difference?¡± Chu Yi still didn¡¯t get it.

    ¡°What Mr. Su means is that there might be something in this city of gold that can turn everything it touches into gold. If that¡¯s the case, then it would be dangerous for us to enter it.¡± Long Zhenglei understood what Su Jin was driving at. Team Shadow of Thor had nobody to be the brains of the team, so Long Zhenglei was in charge of gathering information and analyzing the Challenges.

    In fact, Long Zhenglei and Su Jin were very simr in that they were both their team¡¯s leader as well as analyst.

    Su Jin nodded. This was exactly what he was worried about. Nothing in a Handbook Challenge should be taken at face value or assumed to work the same way as things did in the real world. Being cautious definitely increased one¡¯s chances of surviving.

    He quickly found the boundary between the city and the forest and breathed a sigh of relief. The border was drawn very clearly. The golden roads and the forest floor did not meld into one another, so it didn¡¯t look like the city was going to turn anything into gold.

    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s safe, but it¡¯s best that everyone remains cautious,¡± Su Jin said to the rest.

    They entered the city and were on high alert as they carefully made their way through. Just then, a swishing sound came from behind them.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Su Jin warned the rest. He had used up a lot of his psychokinesis, but the leaves of the Tree of Life were good for replenishing his Spirit Power and he still had more than half left. He sent his psychokinesis out to see what wasing after them and was surprised by what he detected.

    ¡°Boss, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Chu Yi when he saw the strange expression on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    ¡°A group of small animals are headed towards us,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Small animals?¡± Everyone stared at Su Jin, while Su Jin used his chin to indicate where the animals wereing from.

    One momentter, a random horde of animals came rushing at them from the other end of the street. A knot of toads came first, followed by rats, then a tangle of snakes. The strangest part was that all these animals were made from pure gold, rushing down the street like a golden wave.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Kano Mai screamed and jumped onto Su Jin¡¯s back, which shocked Su Jin. He didn¡¯t expect the usually calm and unafraid Kano Mai to be scared of these things.

    ¡°AHHH!¡± Someone else screamed and jumped onto Cai Dexiang¡¯s back, except that this person turned out to be Chu Yi.

    Everyone stared at Chu Yi weirdly. Chu Yi had dared to beat that huge creature they rode on so fiercely, but now, he was afraid of these tiny things?

    Chu Yi was pale in the face and even his voice was trembling, ¡°It¡¯s¡­I can¡¯t help it! I¡¯m not afraid of anything except snakes! I was bitten by one before as a child and I didn¡¯t dare to learn any martial arts moves associated with snakes either!¡±

    ¡°SNAKES?! AHH!¡± Ning Meng was confused at first because she couldn¡¯t see anything, but once Chu Yi mentioned snakes, she jumped onto Su Jin in her fright. Su Jin now looked like a patty stuck in between two buns.

    Cai Dexiang wished he could tear Chu Yi off his back. Why did he get the guy when Su Jin got the two girls? How unfair!

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so scared. Those animals aren¡¯ting for us,¡± said Su Jin exasperatedly. These animals were small and harmless, so he didn¡¯t see why they were so afraid.

    ¡°Jin, since they¡¯re noting for us, why are you walking towards them?¡± Kano Mai was even more terrified now.

    Everyone else had the same question on their minds. Regardless of whether those small animals were a threat to them or not, they felt that it was better to stay far away from them. But Su Jin was walking towards them instead.

    ¡°Have all of you been scared silly? Open your Handbooks and take a look. I think these little things might be useful to us, so I want to get my hands on some of them.¡± Su Jin rubbed his palms together and walked towards the horde of small animals with both Kano Mai and Ning Meng on him since he was strong enough to carry them both without any issue.

    Long Zhenglei¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re right! Snakes are mentioned twice in the introduction to this Challenge, and both rats and toads were mentioned too.¡±

    Kano Mai opened her Handbook to take a look and saw that snakes had indeed been mentioned twice. ¡°Rats, toads and snakes shall be your food; you shall struggle in the snake pit.¡±

    ¡°Bro, can you get off my back? I don¡¯t care if you can¡¯t help, but don¡¯t get in my way, will you?¡± Cai Dexiang red at Chu Yi after pulling him off his back. He would rather go catch some rats than to let Chu Yi cling to him like that.

    Su Jin got Kano Mai and Ning Meng to get off him as well. The twodies and Chu Yi stood to one side while the rest went to catch some of the animals.

    Chu Yi made a face. He had caught disdainful nces from the other guys before they left. ¡°What, can¡¯t a man be afraid of snakes? I¡¯m sure you guys have something you¡¯re afraid of too! Humph!¡±

 Chapter 112: The Original Sins Reappear

    <h4>Chapter 112: The Original Sins Reappear</h4>

    After going closer, Su Jin and the rest realized that these animals were just gold in color but not actually made from gold. Su Jin caught hold of a toad and it felt exactly the way a toad should. Besides its golden color, the rest of it was the same as an ordinary toad.

    ¡°They¡¯re not made of gold.¡± Cai Dexiang had caught a snake and made the same observation immediately.

    Su Jin said, ¡°It¡¯s probably a color for protection. Since everything in this ce is gold, it¡¯s easier to survive if you¡¯re the same color.¡±

    The rest agreed with Su Jin¡¯s hypothesis. Thousands of animals in the real world made themselves the same color as their surroundings in order to camouge themselves and keep themselves from getting eaten.

    ¡°But why are they running?¡± They had initially thought that the toads and rats were being chased down by the snakes, but they realized that this wasn¡¯t the case at all. There were some snakes that had caught up with the rats and toads, but they were clearly escaping from something and not interested in hunting the other animals.

    Su Jin had caught one of each animal and tried to keep them inside his Handbook. To his delight, the Handbook allowed him to keep these golden animals inside just like any other item.

    ¡°That¡¯s a clue!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. The Handbook did not allow owners to keep anything else besides weapons purchased with points and items that were essential to the Challenge. Since it allowed him to keep these animals inside, it meant that these small animals were vital to this Challenge.

    The rest of the group also started collecting these animals, since these things might very well be able to save them in times of trouble. Even Chu Yi and the two girls bravely came forward to catch a few themselves.

    It didn¡¯t take long for the seven of them to catch all the golden little animals. Once they were sure that they had caught them all, they continued on their way.

    Woong! A ck mist suddenly came towards them.

    Su Jin and Long Zhenglei recognized this ck mist instantly. The four veterans reacted quickly by activating their Spirit Power to protect the group. They had to work together to keep the ck mist at bay.

    ¡°It¡¯s Sloth!¡± Su Jin began to look around. Since Sloth¡¯s ck mist had made an appearance, it meant that Sloth itself had to be nearby.

    But what Su Jin found was not Sloth. Instead, he found a creature covered with arms. Nobody else recognized this Original Sin, but Su Jin did. It was Gluttony.

    ¡°Everyone, be careful! We¡¯ve got two Original Sins here!¡± Su Jin felt that something was very wrong here. They hadn¡¯t run into any Original Sins along the way. Why did they appear only within the city of gold and even start attacking them?

    Gluttony pounced towards the group. The seven of them were food to it, and it had to gobble all of them up.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Everyone¡¯s heart sank. It was already hard enough to deal with one Sloth, and now, Gluttony had joined in. They were going to die at this rate.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just stand around and wait to die. We¡¯ve got to fight with all we have!¡± Su Jin gritted his teeth and yelled at the other three veterans, ¡°You guys hold off Sloth, I¡¯ll deal with Gluttony!¡±

    They nodded and Su Jin retracted his Spirit Power. He retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and pulled the string back. Sparkles in the shape of an arrow immediately took shape and Su Jin sent the Roar of the Demon Lord out towards Gluttony.

    Gluttony did not bother dodging the attack at all and even remained where it was so that the Roar of the Demon Lord would hit it. It turned into dust and disappeared altogether.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Su Jin was surprised by what just happened. Gluttony was no fool. He had threatened Gluttony with the Longbow before too and Gluttony had chosen to flee before he even had the chance to shoot. Why did it remain in position and let him kill it so easily this time?

    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there! We¡¯re not going to hold up for long!¡± yelled Cai Dexiang. The three of them were still struggling to keep the ck mist at bay and were under a lot of pressure.

    Su Jin looked into the ck mist and noticed a golden pyramid in the middle of it. He pulled his string back and aimed the Roar of the Demon Lord at the pyramid. The pyramid instantly disappeared along with Sloth that was hiding behind it.

    ¡°Something¡¯s not quite right!¡± The fact that both Original Sins had been killed so easily made Su Jin feel very uneasy about this situation. How could the clever Original Sins that got away earlier suddenly be so easy to vaporize?

    Just then, Su Jin started convulsing. The side effects of using the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power in quick session was taking its toll on him. His psychokinesis had increased by quite a bit since the first day he activated his Spirit Power and was better able to suppress the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power as well, but using so much of it at one shot was still too much for his body to take.

    ¡°Boss!¡± Once the ck mist disappeared, Chu Yi ran over to keep Su Jin from copsing.

    Su Jin shook his head. All this was part of his training, after all. If he wanted to be stronger, he had to pay the price. At least now he had reached an agreement with the Demon Lord and didn¡¯t have to worry about bing the Demon Lord¡¯sckey. That was good enough for him.

    On the other hand, Cai Dexiang and Long Zhenglei were pleased that two Original Sins had been killed off just like that. That was a pleasant surprise.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be happy too soon. Something¡¯s not quite right here. These Original Sins can¡¯t possibly be so weak,¡± said Su Jin. This whole thing didn¡¯t make sense, so he preferred to err on the side of caution.

    Long Zhenglei began to realize that this didn¡¯t make sense either. He knew how hard it was to deal with Sloth. If Sloth had been so easy to deal with, he wouldn¡¯t have suffered so badly earlier on.

    Immediately after Su Jin finished speaking, brilliant sparkles appeared where Gluttony once was and was beginning toe together to form Gluttony again.

    Su Jin stared at the sparkles in shock. How could something shot by the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow possiblye back to life? He spun around to look at where Sloth had once been and saw that the ck mist was gathering again.

    ¡°Run! Run! Run!! We must not stay here anymore! RUN!¡± yelled Su Jin with all his might. They had to get out of this ce before the two Original Sins took shape again.

    As the seven of them ran through the city, the two Original Sins were restored and started chasing them. Gluttony was moving rapidly towards them, while Sloth was much slower.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± wondered Su Jin to himself as he ran and made observations at the same time. He suddenly realized one strange thing about these two. The Original Sins were all very talkative fellows, but these two hadn¡¯t said a single word.

    ¡°Is it possible that these two aren¡¯t Gluttony and Sloth in their actual forms?¡± This thought popped up in Su Jin¡¯s mind, but he dared not stop to test this theory out. If his guess was wrong, he was definitely going to end up dead.

    But they couldn¡¯t outrun Gluttony and Gluttony was going to catch up soon. Chu Yi suddenly stopped and yelled, ¡°All of you go ahead, I¡¯ll stall this fellow!¡±

    ¡°And you think you can stall it yourself?!¡± Cai Dexiang yelled right back. But he also stopped running. There were only four veterans in the group. If Chu Yi died, then they would be at an even greater disadvantage. Su Jin and Long Zhenglei were both injured, so he was the only one who could assist Chu Yi in a fight.

    Chu Yi¡¯s style of fighting had always been very aggressive, so he leaped towards Gluttony, brought both palms back, then thrust them towards Gluttony as he exhaled with all his might.

    ¡°Quadruple Qi Thrust, Billowing Sea Waves!¡±

    Boom boom boom boom! Gluttony stopped in its tracks as the area hit by Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy exploded four times in a row and sted Gluttony to pieces.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡± Cai Dexiang wanted to help, but Chu Yi had actually killed Gluttony with one move, so he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at Chu Yi¡¯s prowess.

    Boom! Another st filled the air, but this time, it came from Chu Yi. One of his arms started spurting blood because his blood vessels had burst from overexertion.

    Chu Yi clutched his arm and retreated, then bandaged his arm very simply while saying to Cai Dexiang, ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, I had to go all out. Unfortunately my body is not really strong enough, so I think I might have broken something elsewhere too.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re crazy!¡± said Cai Dexiang. Executing a move that was too much for the body to take soundedpletely insane to him.

    As they spoke, Cai Dexiang¡¯s expression turned to a one of horror, and he immediately started running. Chu Yi turned to look behind him puzzledly, only to find that Gluttony was beginning to piece itself together again despite being sted to nothing just moments ago.

    Chu Yi instantly started running as well and they quickly caught up with the rest. After they told the rest what happened earlier, Su Jin was even more stumped. ¡°There¡¯s no way the Original Sins are unafraid of dying. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been so afraid of my Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s exactly what happened! These things simply will not die!¡± Cai Dexiang couldn¡¯t believe he had to argue with Su Jin over this. Gluttony had been reduced to nothing twice now, but it was still able to revive itself. These creatures were clearly immortal.

    ¡°Boss, I smell a lot of sulphur ahead!¡± said Ning Meng as she held onto Kano Mai.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise and looked around for the source of the sulphur. He immediately noticed a ce engulfed by mes. The smell wasing from there. Su Jin ran over to take a closer look to find that it was a huge area covered in mes, as if it was the entrance to hell or something.

    ¡°Fire and brimstone!¡± This was a ce that was also mentioned in the introduction to the Challenge. But while it was easy to keep those golden little animals in the Handbook, how was he going to keep this ce in there?

    He decided to try flinging the Handbook into the mes. He wasn¡¯t afraid that the Handbook would be destroyed since he had tried several times to destroy this Handbook in the real world, but it seemed like no natural means could destroy this book.

    The Handbook gleamed brightly, then all the mes and sulphur disappeared as they were absorbed by the Handbook.

    Su Jin picked up his Handbook again and gave a pleased nod. This fire and brimstone was definitely of some use, just that he didn¡¯t know how right now.

    After he walked back to where the group was, the other team member of Shadow of Thor waved his Handbook at Su Jin and said excitedly, ¡°Mr. Su, I found a golden carriage and it¡¯s inside my Handbook now!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for tearing someone apart!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He didn¡¯t think they would be able to gather so many items rted to the punishments so quickly.

    ¡°Enough talking, Gluttony¡¯s catching up soon,¡± Cai Dexiang reminded the rest.

    But they couldn¡¯t run any further. Two Original Sins were standing silently in their way, one glowing pink and the other glowing milky white.

    ¡°Is it just me or¡­is that another two Original Sins?!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s lips twitched uncontrobly.

 Chapter 113: Both Light and Darkness

    <h4>Chapter 113: Both Light and Darkness</h4>

    ¡°It¡¯s Lust and Pride!¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression was nasty. The two Original Sins in their way weren¡¯t Gluttony and Sloth but two other Original Sins. He immediately realized what was going on.

    ¡°The items we collected are things that can suppress them. Once we collected them into our Handbooks, they were set free,¡± said Su Jin with a frown. It was very clear that once they came across an item rted to a punishment and kept it in their Handbooks, the Original Sin connected to that punishment would appear.

    But figuring this out now wasn¡¯t of any use. These two Original Sins were no fun to deal with and they had to find a way to get past them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take on one of them,¡± said Long Zhenglei weakly even as he was still being carried by his team mate.

    ¡°Leave the other one to me!¡± As the team leader of Moon in the Blue Skies, he was fairly powerful too. He sped his palms together and a huge beam of orange light shot out from his back.

    A blue gleam shone in Long Zhenglei¡¯s eyes as he sped the air with one hand and shouted, ¡°Invisible Entrapment!¡±

    Lust¡¯s body suddenly became distorted and looked like it was being sucked into an invisible space.

    The orange beam behind Cai Dexiang turned into a gigantic hammer. Cai Dexiang brought it down on Pride and smashed it on the spot.

    Both of them were on the verge of copsing after doing that. Just like how Chu Yi had unleashed a Quadruple Qi Thrust earlier, these two techniques were clearly their trump cards.

    Now that the coast was clear, everyone started running again. Chu Yi asked, ¡°Boss, if we take those things out of our Handbooks, would we be able to suppress them again?¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s probably possible, but we can¡¯t do that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Cai Dexiang was the one asking this time.

    ¡°There¡¯s something odd about these Original Sins and I suspect these are not their original forms. I think they¡¯re either clones or merely a part of their actual bodies,¡± Su Jin exined his guess. ¡°I think the Original Sins are unable to appear in their actual forms within the temple because the city contains things that can suppress their existence. Our final destination might be a ce where the seven of them are unaffected, so we must bring these items from the city along because they might save uster on!¡±

    The rest agreed with this analysis. If these Original Sins were the same ones they had met in the desert, there was no way they would be able to defeat them so easily. That in itself was very strange.

    ¡°There¡¯s also a possibility that the thing suppressing the Original Sins is the city itself, while these items are important items to this Challenge. We¡¯ve kept the items away in our Handbooks, but the power of the city continues to suppress their existence, and so the seven of them can only appear in this manner,¡± Long Zhenglei continued to analyze the situation in the same vein.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. Long Zhenglei¡¯s exnation made sense too. In no time, they found a pot of hot oil and Greed appeared.

    The other four Original Sins were still hot on their heel, so Su Jin had no choice but to activate the Attack of the Demon Lord and slice Greed into half with his Boning Knife. They just needed to get the Original Sins out of the way and didn¡¯t need to actually get rid of them permanently.

    ¡°The hot oil is Greed, the snakes, rats and toads are Gluttony and Sloth, the brimstone and carriage are Lust and Pride,¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself as he confirmed which item was for which Original Sin, since he might need these items to counter the Original Sinster on.

    ¡°Ice water¡¯s over there!¡± Kano Mai found ake that was frozen up ahead and threw her Handbook at it. Just like the fire and brimstone, the frozenke was instantly absorbed by her Handbook.

    Jealousy instantly appeared, so the four veterans used their Spirit Power to shatter it in seconds.

    ¡°Icy waters is jealousy,¡± noted Su Jin.

    As they continued running for their lives, the six Original Sings continued running after them as well. But besides running as hard as they could, they were also on the lookout for thest item they needed. The introduction to the Challenge only mentioned taking limbs apart, but they figured it couldn¡¯t be referring to broken arms or legs.

    They couldn¡¯t find thest item and the six Original Sins were about to catch up with them. If they didn¡¯t find thest item soon, they were doomed.

    ¡°Taking limbs apart¡­if it¡¯s not broken limbs, then¡­it¡¯s some tool of sorts?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. This sounds usible. And something that could take limbs apart was probably a knife or something along those lines.

    Su Jin quickly found his target. A standalone building at one corner of the city was filled with all sorts of knives as well as the head of a strange looking creature. This was probably a ughterhouse.

    ¡°You guys go ahead, I¡¯m going to retrieve thest item!¡± said Su Jin before running towards the ughterhouse. Once he stepped in, he noticed a golden sword stabbed into the floor.

    ¡°You¡¯re it!¡± Su Jin threw his Handbook at it and the sword was instantly absorbed by the Handbook. This was indeed what Su Jin was looking for.

    But by the time Su Jin walked to the entrance of the ughterhouse, Wrath was already waiting for him there, staring at him with bloodshot eyes.

    ¡°Sorry, no time to y with you! Move aside!¡± Su Jin instantly activated the Attack of the Demon Lord and used his extra sharp Boning Knife to slice Wrath into two.

    He dashed out of the ughterhouse and quickly caught up with the rest. Kano Mai said, ¡°Jin, I think we¡¯ve reached our destination.¡±

    Su Jin looked at where she was pointing at and saw that there was a gigantic golden roulette wheel at the far end of the city. From afar, the slots looked like giant doors and were quite obvious even from this distance.

    ¡°Is there something on it?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyesight wasn¡¯t as powerful as Kano Mai, since she was a sniper and he wasn¡¯t. But since she seemed so certain, he felt that there had to be something on the golden roulette wheel.

    She said, ¡°Pictures of all seven Original Sins are drawn on it.¡±

    ¡°Speed up, everyone!¡± Su Jin yelled. Everyone was already moving at their fastest, but at the same time, all seven Original Sins were right behind them. Su Jin grabbed Long Zhenglei off his team mate¡¯s back and carried him instead since the team member looked exhausted and was unable to move as quickly as before.

    As they came closer to the roulette wheel, they saw that the image of all seven Original Sins were indeed drawn onto it with a gigantic slot beneath each image.

    ¡°We probably need to put those items in each slot,¡± said Long Zhenglei.

    ¡°But how?¡± asked Cai Dexiang. Each Original Sin had their own slot, which meant that there was a particr item they had to ce in each one. If they ced the wrong item in the slot, it probably wasn¡¯t going to be epted.

    Su Jin retrieved the golden sword and said, ¡°This belongs to Wrath,¡± and ced it in the slot beneath Wrath¡¯s image.

    A beam of light flickered around the sword and turned into the exact same image of Wrath inside the slot.

    He retrieved the pot of oil and said, ¡°This belongs to Greed.¡± The pot of oil also became the image of Greed.

    ¡°The frozenke belongs to Jealousy.¡± Kano Mai put the frozenke in her Handbook into the slot.

    The three items they were most certain of were ced in their correct slots, but they weren¡¯t sure of the remaining four. Sloth and Gluttony had appeared at the same time, just like Lust and Pride.

    ¡°Hurry up and decide! They¡¯ve caught up already!¡± said Cai Dexiang frantically as he turned to see that the seven Original Sins were already looming behind them.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to stall for some time!¡± said Su Jin. Chu Yi, Long Zhenglei and Cai Dexiang immediately turned to face the seven Original Sins, since only the veterans had the ability to buy some time for the group.

    ¡°Boss, you need to hurry! We won¡¯t be able to hold them off for long!¡± said Chu Yi with a pained look on his face. All three of them were already exhausted at this point, so they weren¡¯t sure how much longer they could hold up.

    Su Jin began to tap his nose with his finger as hebelled the snakes, toads and rats together as item 1, just the snakes as item 2, brimstone and fire as item 3 and the carriage as item 4.

    1 and 2, as well as 3 and 4 were interchangeable, so it was either 1, 2, 3, 4; 2, 1, 3, 4; 1, 2, 4, 3 or 2, 1, 4, 3. Those were the four permutations.

    He started going through the permutations systematically. Once any one of them transformed into the image of its corresponding Original Sin, the rest was easy to deduce. They were done with the arrangement in a matter of seconds.

    But these few seconds were enough for the three veterans to be beaten up pretty badly. At the same time, the fact that they hadn¡¯t been killed instantly from being attacked by all seven Original Sins at the same time proved that they were really formidable fighters.

    Once the items had been ced in the correct slots, the golden roulette wheel began to turn. The wheel broke into pieces and the images of the seven Original Sins gathered together to form a giant door that shone brilliantly.

    There was a roaring sound as several beams of light shot out from the giant door, surrounded the Original Sins and dragged them into the door.

    ¡°Is it over?¡± Everyone had excited looks on their faces at first, but when they realized that the Original Sins were transforming within the door, their faces fell.

    As the dazzling light covered their bodies, the seven Original Sins lost their ugly appearance. Wings grew out from their backs as they slowly transformed into angels.

    ¡°This makes me feel¡­very uneasy¡­¡± Su Jin started shivering. Watching the Original Sins morph into angels made him feel a great sense of impending danger.

    Just then, one of the Original Sins stopped evolving. Pride walked out from the door. Its metamorphosis was notplete, so even though its body looked like an angel¡¯s and it had white wings like an angel, its head did not change. It was still a ball of light that kept changing its face.

    After Pride walked out of the door, Gluttony, Jealousy, Greed, Lust, Sloth and Wrath walked out as well. Just like Pride, their metamorphosis was notplete, so their faces were still the same as before.

    Everyone paled instantly. The seven Original Sins had definitely not changed for the better. They seemed to have evolved into something even more dangerous now.

    All of them were injured and were already finding it hard to hold up against the clones of the Original Sins earlier. How were they going to face these newly evolved Original Sins?

    ¡°Are we really going to die here? That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s how terrible a Level A Challenge is?¡± Su Jin refused to resign himself to such a fate, but the future looked bleak.

    ¡°Light and darkness are like twin brothers. I can be darkness, and I can also be light!¡± dered Pride loudly. He turned to look at Su Jin and sneered, ¡°It¡¯s time for the second round to begin!¡±

 Chapter 114: Revival of the Angels

    <h4>Chapter 114: Revival of the Angels</h4>

    After Pride said those words, Su Jin felt his body shake violently. A bright white light around Pride flickered and ate up everything around Su Jin.

    A few secondster, everything had disappeared. Su Jin¡¯s surroundings had turnedpletely white, as if he lived on a piece of paper. There was only one other person on this piece of paper, and that was Pride.

    Pride had a pair of white wings, which were a hallmark of an angel. It also had a head that kept changing face, and that was part of its original body.

    ¡°The seven deadly sins are Pride, Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Jealousy and Sloth. They¡¯re tied to catholic philosophy and represent the seven unforgivable types of Original Sin. But besides these seven deadly sins, there are seven other famous names: the seven archangels.¡±

    Pride looked at Su Jin a little curiously and didn¡¯t do anything, as if he was waiting to hear Su Jin finish talking about the archangels.

    ¡°Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raguel, Sariel and Remiel. These were the seven angel leaders and represented holiness. I didn¡¯t expect the seven Original Sins to be connected to the seven archangels like this. So, which archangel are you?¡± Su Jin had a wavering look in his eye. This Challenge had been unpredictable right from the beginning and nothing had been within his control, so he wasn¡¯t surprised anymore.

    Pride nodded and said, ¡°Not bad, not bad. Not many people still know about such things, not even those who profess to believe in this faith. All they do is to pray and ask to be protected, but they don¡¯t even know who¡¯s the one protecting them, which is a joke in itself. But the bigger joke is how they think that they can keep this attitude and still receive protection.¡±

    ¡°Pride, greed, wrath, gluttony, lust, jealousy and sloth form what your God calls original sin, doesn¡¯t it? As God¡¯s creation, it¡¯s only normal for humans to have these sins. Since your God has already ordained all this, then you should have known all this beforehand. Why are youining now?¡± Su Jin spoke nastily to Pride. He had no intention of buttering up to Pride since that wouldn¡¯t do anything for him.

    Prideughed and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m not God and I cannot understand his ways. All I can do is to follow what he tells me to do.¡±

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me which archangel you are.¡± Su Jin wanted to know Pride¡¯s other identity. Not knowing enough information made him very uneasy because he felt that with more information, he might stand a chance of winning this battle.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I was an archangel. Just like God, the archangels are the pinnacle of light and I can only look toward them!¡± Pride sighed, then looked at Su Jin andughed. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking about. I have to say that you¡¯re really different from everyone else. You¡¯ve refused to acknowledge the existence of all the Original Sins and brought all yourpanions here. I have topliment you on that.¡±

    ¡°Are you mocking me? Actually¡­wait. Right from the beginning, all of you already nned for seven people to get to this point, right?¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression fell. He got it now. The 14 owners were actually sacrifices. Sacrifices meant for the seven Original Sins to evolve.

    ¡°If my guess is correct, you started with using the Original Sins to kill off seven owners, so that you could absorb the power from their souls that you needed, since that¡¯s something you need for a revival ritual. Then you pushed us into this ce so that we would put the items in the introduction to this Challenge into the right slots and activate the goldenpass, which all contributed to your metamorphosis.¡± Su Jin had finally understood where all of this was leading to. In short, all the owners were here in order to aid the seven Original Sins in their metamorphosis.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But this is not the end,¡± said Pride with a nod.

    Su Jin nodded as well and said in a grim voice, ¡°Of course this isn¡¯t the end. The remaining seven of us are also going to be food for all of you, since it¡¯s obvious that your metamorphosis is notplete and you need another source of power. If you consider the first seven who died as negative energy, then those of us who have struggled to survive till now and are still holding out hope for the end represent positive energy¡­ We¡¯re actually your food for the final transformation!¡±

    Pride fell silent for a moment, then burst outughing. ¡°HAHA! You¡¯re really clever, really, really clever. If you were around during my God¡¯s most glorious era, you would have been chosen to have your ignorance put aside and to be one of us.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched as he sneered, ¡°I¡¯m not interested.¡±

    ¡°Well, since you¡¯ve been so clever, let me give you a chance to guess who on earth we really are,¡± said Pride with a big grin on its face. It was as if Pride were ying a cat and mouse game with Su Jin, like a cat ying with its food before finally eating it.

    Su Jin tried to recall everything he knew about this religion. He had taken a theology course back in university. But at that time, he had taken it purely because he was curious and wanted to learn about everything. Back then, he was a youth who had grown up in a mountain vige, so even though this course would probably not prove useful for work, he had absorbed all the information like a sponge.

    However, it had been a number of years since he graduated, so he had forgotten many of the things he had learned.

    As Su Jin tried to recall, his psychokinesis worked like a librarian that sorted out all the information inside his brain into categories and picked out the information that he needed at that moment.

    His eyes suddenly lit up as he seemed to have hit something useful. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough for him to make a guess.

    ¡°Sariel! ording to legend, Sariel was the angel in charge of the moon and considered to be one of the fallen angels. But ording to the book of War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Sariel was on the side of the Sons of Light, so Sariel was considered to be an angel with two identities: he could be darkness, and he could also be light!¡± Thest phrase that Su Jin uttered meant the same thing as what Pride said when it had walked out from the door of light earlier.

    Su Jin was just guessing, but towards the end, he was sure that he was right. Sariel was an archangel, and even though there wasn¡¯t much written about him, his situation was so simr to Pride¡¯s.

    Pride bowed slightly towards Su Jin and said, ¡°My goodness! I can¡¯t believe you managed toe up with so much just based on what I¡¯ve said. You¡¯re really clever, but all intelligent people are¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­are prideful,¡± Su Jin finished Pride¡¯s sentence before it could. Then he said, ¡°But it can¡¯t be that all the Original Sins are Sariel. That¡­doesn¡¯t make sense. Besides, you said that you¡¯re not an archangel.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! But¡­we can be the seven archangels,¡± said Pride as he started walking briskly towards Su Jin.

    ¡°Be the archangels?!¡± Su Jin finally understood what was going on. ¡°The seven archangels have fallen and they no longer exist¡­¡±

    Pride stopped walking and looked at Su Jin in surprise, while Su Jin continued, ¡°But for some reason, you have a way to revive these archangels, and all seven of you are vessels for the archangels to be reborn into. This so-called metamorphosis is actually to allow the archangels to take on your bodies!¡±

    Su Jin had finally found one end of the messy ball of yarn, so he was able to unravel the entire mystery. This whole thing seemed veryplicated at first, but once he had grasped a key point in the story, he could piece the rest together.

    Pride was even more surprised now. Heplimented Su Jin, ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re trying to do. You should feel honored that you¡¯re going to be part of seven archangels!¡±

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t want any part of this. By this same logic, pork could be part of him too, but he never thought the pig should thank him for eating it.

    ¡°Pride: its fault is haughtiness, the punishment is a heavy weight,¡± Su Jin repeated the correcttter half of the poem that Ning Meng recited to him earlier. He felt that thistter half was going to help him out of this dead end.

    ¡°Do I have to hold him down with something heavy?¡± Su Jin could see Prideing closer and closer to him and cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Perhaps he had guessed it right, but he didn¡¯t have anything on hand right now that could do that.

    ¡°Pride, I do not acknowledge your existence! I¡¯m banishing you right now!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He had a theory in mind and it might prove to be his chance at surviving this.

    ¡°How dare you do that! Argh!¡± Immediately after Su Jin said those words, part of Pride¡¯s body was forced out and was now a floating ball of milky white light.

    Su Jin retrieved his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and took aim at it. The milky white ball of light could not escape the sparkles from the arrow and was vaporized instantly.

    But the rest of Pride¡¯s body was still around. It was now a headless angel¡¯s body and it was still walking towards Su Jin.

    ¡°That¡¯s not going to work! I am light and darknessbined, so unless you can destroy both elements, I will not die and I will eventually be revived!¡± Its voice now came from the angel¡¯s chest, which made it seem even creepier.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll kill the light!¡± Su Jin sent out another Roar of the Demon Lord attack without hesitation. He was determined to destroy this angel¡¯s body.

    But to his horror, the sparkles fell apart once it got near the angel¡¯s body. A white glow broke the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power downpletely and it wasn¡¯t able to hurt the angel¡¯s body at all.

    Su Jin was too stunned for words. The only thing he had that could kill something as powerful as this creature was the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. Now that the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow was no match for his opponent, there was nothing he could do.

    ¡°What do I do now?¡± thought Su Jin. He was really panicking now because he knew that if he couldn¡¯t get rid of this angel¡¯s body, he was going to die.

    The angel swung a fist at Su Jin and sent a sh of white light towards Su Jin. But Su Jin reacted quickly enough and escaped before the white light could engulf him.

    ¡°Is this it? Is this how it ends?¡± Su Jin gritted his teeth. He really didn¡¯t know what else to do. He had used everything he had and was still unable to defeat his enemy. Death was only a matter of time now.

    ¡°You shall be part of the archangels and live forever!¡± The angel lifted its arm again and the white light in its fist seemed even more dazzling than before.

 Chapter 115: Stuff of Legends

    <h4>Chapter 115: Stuff of Legends</h4>

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else I can do! Is this really the end? But¡­but I really hate to admit defeat!¡± Su Jin was at a loss as he watched that white ball of lighte towards him again.

    But as he watched the lighte for him, he suddenly thought of something. The white light crashed down on him and covered himpletely.

    ¡°That was pretty troublesome, but at least it¡¯s finally over.¡± The angel put its arm down as it watched the white light slowly fade, then turned to walk away.

    ¡°Hey! Just because you say it¡¯s over doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s over!¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice rang out from behind.

    The angel shuddered, as if that voice hade from a vengeful spirit that hade to reap its soul. It couldn¡¯t believe Su Jin had survived that powerful ball of light.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­impossible! How¡­how are you still alive?¡± The angel simply couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Su Jin looked down at his own body and saw that not only was he entirely unhurt, but even the ces where he was previously hurt had healed. In fact, Su Jin felt that the ball of light had made his body even stronger before, as if he had just been refined and honed.

    ¡°Thanks to you, I understood a few things.¡± Su Jin stretched his arms and rotated his neck. This new body felt a little strange to him now. ¡°If even the archangels need both the power of light and the power of darkness to be revived, then as a human¡­I believe I have some light in me as well!¡±

    Pride had a bad feeling about this. It seemed as though Su Jin had found something that could kill it.

    ¡°If one looks at pride in a more positive light, you could call it self-confidence,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He had suddenly understood this just before the bright white ball of light struck him.

    There were two sides to everything. Even when the sun shone down, it created shadows on the ground. And without darkness, the light would not seem that bright anymore.

    Pride was a weakness of mankind, but if one looked at it in a positive manner and used it correctly, pride could be self-confidence and be one¡¯s strength instead.

    The angel carried the power of light, so it was able to diffuse the Roar of the Demon Lord¡¯s attack. But light could not destroy light. Since Su Jin did not want to be destroyed by light, he chose to be light.

    Just before the bright light engulfed his body, Su Jin allowed a thought to run through his entire self so that he was brimming with nothing but self-confidence. Others might not have been able to fully wipe out all other emotions, but his psychokinesis was able to increase the intensity of one emotion above all other emotions. Once he was filled with only self-confidence, he became one with the light instead.

    ¡°Light cannot kill light, so in order to survive, I became light as well!¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He had found the way to get through this Challenge now, so he was nearing the end now.

    ¡°Light cannot kill light, so how are you going to kill me now?¡± Pride bellowed from inside the angel¡¯s body. It was supposed to be an archangel! How could it allow itself to be killed by a mere mortal?

    Su Jin ced his hand on his Handbook and muttered, ¡°I didn¡¯t intend to use light to kill you, anyway. Boning Knife!¡±

    The Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife appeared in his hand and he dashed towards Pride as quickly as lightning and shed right through the angel¡¯s body.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Pride shrieked in horror before being abruptly cut off as its angel body copsed noisily and became nothing but sparkles as the Boning Knife cut through it.

    Su Jin wiped his knife clean and kept it away. The angel¡¯s body was able to fight the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power, but as long as he didn¡¯t use the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power and used the Boning Knife as it was to attack his opponent, it would work. And now that he understood how this light and darkness logic worked, the angel¡¯s body was now unable to harm him.

    Once Pride fell, the white space he was in instantly vanished and he was back where the group was earlier. Su Jin fell from the sky and copsed onto the ground weakly. He was no longer able to hold up against the pain caused by using the Roar of the Demon Lord twice and his body began to convulse uncontrobly.

    He looked up at the sky and his eyes nearly bulged out in horror. Out of the six white balls of light suspended in the air, three of them had owners fighting an Original Sin each, while the other three contained only one Original Sin each.

    ¡°Ning Meng!¡± yelled Su Jin. Inside one of the balls of light, an Original Sin was evolving, while Ning Meng¡¯s dead bodyy at the bottom of the ball. The other two owners that had lost the fight were Cai Dexiang as well as that member of Team Shadow of Thor. Both of their bodies were also lying lifelessly at the bottom of the balls of light they were in.

    Su Jin knew that this was no time for grief. He looked at the other three balls of light. Chu Yi and Long Zhenglei were struggling to hold off their opponents, while Kano Mai seemed very calm.

    He forced himself to get up despite the pain and leaped towards where Chu Yi was. To his surprise, the ball of light did not put up any resistance and he was allowed to be part of the fight.

    By this point, Chu Yi was essentially just running and dodging Wrath¡¯s attacks, unable to retaliate at all.

    ¡°Boss! You¡¯re here! Save me!¡± Chu Yi noticed Su Jin instantly and waved desperately to get Su Jin¡¯s attention.

    Meanwhile, inside the other ball of light, Kano Mai was staring frostily at Jealousy. She didn¡¯t look the least bit panicky, but Jealousy was staring back at her in disbelief.

    ¡°Hoho¡­I didn¡¯t expect this. I really didn¡¯t expect¡­something like YOU to really exist! I thought they were merely the stuff of legends!¡± Jealousy couldn¡¯t believe its eyes.

    ¡°What are you talking about? I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s expression looked even frostier now and she was clearly very displeased.

    Jealousy slowly walked around Kano Mai and stared down at her. It observed her closely and eximed, ¡°How very strange! Why do you bother disguising yourself? There are many creatures that cannot be attacked by the power of darkness and remain unaffected by the power of light at the same time, but only one type of creature has this distinguishing feature while remaining so weak. I thought the Dead Sea Scrolls had made a mistake, but now, I¡¯m actually seeing one of you for myself!¡±

    ¡°I said, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s voice suddenly increased in volume as she red furiously at Jealousy and furrowed her brows.

    Jealousy sneered in response. ¡°Disguising yourselves is a special characteristic that your kind has, after all. It¡¯s been so long, yet you¡¯ve survived so many reincarnation cycles. That¡¯s the truly shocking part!¡±

    ¡°Shut up! I said, SHUT UP!¡± Kano Mai raised her Soul Whisperer and it shot out ming snake after ming snake at Jealousy.

    Jealousy used its angel wings to shield itself. The Soul Whisperer wasn¡¯t even a Spirit Power weapon, so it was unable to hurt Jealousy in any way.

    ¡°Hoho! I¡¯m really curious now. What sort of strength will the revived archangel have if I absorb a creature like you into my body?¡± Jealousy was getting very excited and it spread its wings violently. Every feather on those wings was as sharp as knives. Since neither the power of darkness nor the power of light could kill its opponent, it had to use brute force to do so, which was the same line of logic that Su Jin had towards Pride.

    ¡°How dare you call me a ¡®creature¡¯? Didn¡¯t your God tell you that you¡¯ve got to treat us with respect?!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s rage turned into literal mes as one of Jealousy¡¯s sharp feathers slit her throat.

    Blood spurted out and stained Jealousy¡¯s white wings. It looked smugly as Kano Mai fell to the ground but quickly began to panic when it realized that its wings were on fire.

    ¡°How¡­how did that happen?!¡± Jealousy became frantic when it realized that the droplets of Kano Mai¡¯s blood on its wings had turned into mes and were impossible to put out. Fire quickly engulfed Jealousy and turned its body into a huge ball of fire.

    ¡°AHH! No! NO!! How can this be?! How! How could I possibly be burned to death by mere fire!¡± Jealousy was indignant and in disbelief, but it was clear that the fire was able to burn it and the mes were only burning stronger and stronger.

    Kano Mai clutched her own neck as blood continued to flow from her wound. Jealousy¡¯s feathers were extremely sharp, so even though the wound seemed small, it was enough to kill her.

    ¡°So¡­is this¡­the end of the road¡­for me? This¡­this is¡­my fate? No¡­I¡­I don¡¯t want to die!¡± She had an indignant look on her face even as tears streamed down her face.

    Once Jealousy perished, the ball of light disappeared. Kano Mai fell and crashed heavily onto the ground.

    At the same time, Su Jin and Chu Yi had joined forces and killed Wrath off. Now that Su Jin had worked out how to kill these creatures that were abination of light and darkness, they were easy to deal with.

    ¡°Boss, you¡¯re amazing! That fellow was so arrogant earlier on, and now it¡¯s gone! HA!¡± Chu Yi was ecstatic because if Su Jin hadn¡¯te to save him in time, he would have died instead of Wrath. He was so happy and relieved to have survived.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t in the mood to celebrate yet. He noticed that Long Zhenglei was still struggling inside thest ball of light in the sky, but had also noticed that Kano Mai had fallen to the ground. Kano Mai¡¯s condition made him more worried.

    ¡°AH!¡± Just then, Long Zhenglei fell to the bottom of the ball and breathed hisst.

    ¡°Sister Mai! Ning Meng!¡± Chu Yi also noticed his two team mates lying motionlessly on the ground and was in shock.

    Su Jin was calmer because his psychokinesis told him that Kano Mai was still alive. But she was on the brink of death.

    He ran towards Kano Mai and saw the wound on her neck. He quickly took out the leaves from the Tree of Life, crushed them and dripped the juice onto her wound.

    ¡°Please, please don¡¯t die!¡± Su Jin was very anxious and prayed hard that this would work. He said to Chu Yi, ¡°Go and check on the rest! See if anybody else is still breathing!¡±

    Chu Yi was worried about Kano Mai too, but he obediently ran off to check the rest of the group and returned in a matter of seconds.

    ¡°Boss¡­they¡¯re all dead. Including¡­including Ning Meng.¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes reddened as tears came to his eyes. Their team had lost two members and they weren¡¯t sure if Kano Mai would survive either. But of course, the other two teams were worse off, since their entire team had been wiped out.

    Just then, the remaining four balls of light in the air glowed even more brightly than before. Su Jin and Chu Yi watched as four perfect beings stepped right out.

 Chapter 116: Team Blue Sky

    <h4>Chapter 116: Team Blue Sky</h4>

    Four perfect angel bodies with wings walked out of the dazzling light andnded in front of Su Jin and Chu Yi. Their faces glowed with a holy aura.

    ¡°Why, hello there! How do I address you?¡± Su Jin was smiling, but he had a firm grip on his Boning Knife. Pride had confirmed earlier that they existed for the sake of eventually turning into the seven archangels, so these beautiful angels were probably the actual archangels themselves.

    ¡°My name is Sariel!¡± said all four angels at the same time. Theirbined voices mysteriously weighed down heavily on Su Jin and Chu Yi.

    ¡°All four of you?¡± Su Jin was a little surprised. He had guessed that Sariel was one of them, since the only archangel that could use the seven deadly sins as well as the negative energy from mankind to revive the archangels had to be the doing of this particr angel.

    But now, all four of them were iming to be Sariel, which confused Su Jin. It was like receiving four identical forks when you had clearly ordered a full set of cutlery. Anybody would have been confused.

    ¡°I was the one who came up with this method. I have not confirmed its effect yet, so I chose to be careful.¡± The four voices in unison made Su Jin and Chu Yi feel very uneasy.

    ¡°Go ahead and kill us if you want! What¡¯s the point in saying so much?¡± Chu Yi looked like he had totally given up. They had barely managed to defeat a few of the Original Sins, and now they had to face the more powerful archangels. He didn¡¯t think there was any point in trying to fight them.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t think the same way. ¡°I don¡¯t think the archangels are going to kill us.¡±

    ¡°That is correct. Your tribtion ends here. Walk through that door of light and return to the world you came from.¡± All four Sariels raised the same hand at the same time and pointed to the goldenpass. It turned out that door of light was actually their exit from the Challenge all along.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyelid twitched violently. If that was actually their exit, it meant that when the goldenpass first opened up, they could have all hopped in andpleted the Challenge. If they had done that, fewer lives would have been lost.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Su Jin was very depressed now. He got Chu Yi to carry Kano Mai and they walked towards the goldenpass. But after Chu Yi had walked into the light and returned to his Personal Hell Domain, Su Jin stopped and turned around.

    ¡°Sariel, I want to talk to you about something,¡± said Su Jin in a grim voice as he stared steely at the four angels.

    The four Sariels were surprised that Su Jin had suddenly turned around to talk to them, but they nodded and said, ¡°What do you want to speak to me about?¡±

    ¡°What was¡­what was your aim in doing this? What were you going to do once all seven archangels were revived?¡±

    The four Sariels were silent for a moment, then they said, ¡°That has nothing to do with you. Leave now and receive the reward you deserve.¡±

    ¡°Wait. That means you know the existence of Hell¡¯s Handbook, which means¡­you¡¯re an Elder God!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes. Only the Elder Gods knew that they were within the universe of the Handbook. Based on what Sariel just said, Sariel knew about the Handbook. That¡¯s why Sariel could talk about receiving a reward after this whole thing was over.

    ¡°I am not an Elder God, but¡­I serve a God.¡± The four Sariels had a devout look on their faces.

    Su Jin started tapping his nose out of habit. He nced at the four Sariels and asked in a serious voice, ¡°So, is your aim¡­actually to save your God? Is that it?¡±

    The Sariels froze for a moment and stared in disbelief at Su Jin. They frowned and said in a bewildered voice, ¡°Someone of your status should not know these things!¡±

    ¡°There are exceptions to every case, and I¡¯ve got one of my own to save too. So, can you tell me¡­how should one go about saving an Elder God?¡± asked Su Jin. The Demon Lord had warned him that he didn¡¯t have much time left, so Su Jin had to find a way to gather more information on how he could possibly save the Demon Lord.

    The Sariels stared seriously at Su Jin, then shook their heads. ¡°There¡¯s a long way more to go, a long, long way more to go!¡± With that, the four angels flew upwards and disappeared into the sky above the city of gold.

    Su Jin sighed exasperatedly. He walked over to Ning Meng¡¯s body and took some of her hair. The Handbook¡¯s universe was a cruel one. No matter how hard an owner struggled, they could not escape their fate when death came knocking on their door. It was as if this was their destiny. That thought made him shiver.

    The Boning Knife was very sharp, so he managed to use it to dig out arge enough hole in the ground to bury Ning Meng. He proceeded to bury the rest as well because he believed that humans ought to have a final resting ce.

    He then walked into the bright door of light that the goldenpass had opened and was immediately surrounded by a brilliant light.

    At the same time, a golden notice appeared within Hell¡¯s Bar.

    ¡°Level A Challenge, All Have Sinned, waspleted by Team Boning Knife with a perfect score!¡± The golden notice didn¡¯t say much, but it sent an uproar through the entire bar.

    ¡°Perfect score for a Level A Challenge? That¡¯s crazy!¡±

    ¡°Team Boning Knife? I¡¯ve never heard of them.¡±

    ¡°Go investigate! Is this team a Level A team?¡±

    Several owners within the bar were really shocked by the words on the notice.

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing! How long has it been since someone managed toplete a Level A Challenge with a perfect score?¡± a good natured looking man asked the person next to him curiously as he sipped an extremely expensive drink.

    ¡°How long has it been? Thest one toplete a Level A Challenge was us, but we didn¡¯t get a perfect score.¡± The man next to the good natured man was very muscr. He scratched his head and downed an entire ss in a crude manner, then burped loudly andughed. ¡°Wait a minute. Weren¡¯t YOU the one who got a perfect Level A Challenge score thest time? It was you, right? Xu Ran?¡±

    The good natured man was actually Xu Ran. He swirled his sszily and nced at the muscr man as he said, ¡°Li Hongyi, this is a ss that¡¯s worth 500 points. Can you not chug it down like it¡¯s cheap beer?¡±

    ¡°My dear team leader, you know that Hongyi downs any drink the same way, regardless of how much it costs. Why don¡¯t you buy him the cheapest drink on the menu next time and use the points you¡¯ve saved to exchange for an item that I can use?¡± said a youngdy with a cheeky grin on her face. Li Hongyi rolled his eyes at her.

    ¡°Zhao Xiaoxiao, how could you say such a thing! Look, even if I take slow sips, it wouldn¡¯t increase the effect of the drink at all, right?¡± Li Hongyi burped loudly again and didn¡¯t look bothered by her words at all.

    Zhao Xiaoxiao stuck her tongue out cheekily, then hooked her arm around the girl next to her and said, ¡°Zishi, you¡¯ve got to help me out! Brother Hongyi is bullying me!¡±

    The girl next to her had an aloof expression on her face, but she did help Zhao Xiaoxiao out by ring fiercely at Li Hongyi. Li Hongyi couldn¡¯t be bothered with the two of them.

    Just then, a young man approached them from afar. Li Hongyi immediately waved and called out, ¡°Dong Buchen! You¡¯rete again!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I had to attend to some matters. What¡¯s happened? Did I miss something?¡± Dong Buchen smiled brightly and looked like an easygoing guy.

    ¡°If we¡¯re not counting how these two girls are ganging up to bully me, then the only thing you¡¯ve missed was the announcement that Team Boning Knife haspleted a Level A Challenge with a perfect score,¡± said Li Hongyizily. He always carried himself like this except when he was within a Challenge. Nobody would have thought that he was actually such a formidable fighter.

    Dong Buchen widened his eyes in surprise and said, ¡°A perfect score for a Level A Challenge? Wow! But I¡¯ve never heard of Team Boning Knife before. Is it a new Level A team? But that doesn¡¯t sound right either. I have information on all the Level A teams that exist now, including those that are on the way to reaching Level A. I¡¯ve never heard of this Team Boning Knife before.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Even an information maniac like you doesn¡¯t know who they are? Where did these monsters pop up from?¡± Zhao Xiaoxiao was also really surprised. Dong Buchen was the team member in charge of gathering information both during a Challenge and outside of a Challenge. He always had information on anything under the sun, so it was strange to hear that he didn¡¯t know this team.

    ¡°Monsters? Oh please! The real monster is our team leader! He was the one whopleted a Level A Challenge with a perfect score all by himself! He¡¯s definitely a monster!¡± said Dong Zishi, the sniper in Xu Ran¡¯s team. Her long distance tactics had helped her team to get through many Challenges a lot more easily.

    Xu Ran stretched, then shook his head slightly. ¡°Team Boning Knife, was it? You guys should keep tabs on them. It¡¯s not easy for a team toplete a Level A Challenge with a perfect score.¡±

    ¡°Youpleted one with a perfect score all by yourself, so you¡¯re even more amazing!¡± Zhao Xiaoxiaoplimented Xu Ran with a sweet smile on her face. She seemed to really idolize him.

    But Xu Ran shook his head and his eyes glinted as he said, ¡°No, a team requires coordination and a good leader who can maximize each of his team member¡¯s strengths. Doing that is possibly twice as hard aspared topleting a Challenge by yourself. Team Boning Knife is definitely no simple team, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be a strong opponent in the future.¡±

    Everyone was surprised that Xu Ran had rated Team Boning Knife so highly. This team leader of theirs had never been a humble one, and he seldom praised anybody else.

    Xu Ran stood up and said to his team, ¡°Well, Team Blue Sky, it¡¯s time to get to work!¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Four of them cheered in unison.

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun was sitting at the bar counter as she swirled the drink in her ss with a bored look on her face. But she had been very surprised to hear about Team Boning Knife¡¯s achievement.

    ¡°Perfect score for a Level A Challenge? That¡¯s amazing!¡± Ye Yun¡¯s first reaction was to give them a thumbs up. But after that, she slumped back down on the counter and mumbled to herself, ¡°If only those people were my teammates. Then I wouldn¡¯t be stuck here like this.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer I have to wait for those jerks out there to go away. They¡¯ve sent so many at one shot: how am I supposed to deal with all of them at this rate?¡± grumbled Ye Yun.

    She let out a long sigh and whined pitifully, ¡°I wonder if Tang Ning or Su Jin tried looking for me. Was I too rash in making this decision? But then¡­I don¡¯t have a choice either! If I didn¡¯t do that, it would create more trouble for them. Woe is me!¡±

    ¡°Boss! I want a ss of Drunken Dreams!¡± Ye Yun suddenly yelled at the top of her voice. Thankfully, nobody else could hear her except for the poor boss.

    While all this was happening in Hell¡¯s Bar, Su Jin stood in the darkness of his Personal Hell Domain and ced his Handbook on the pedestal. He said quietly, ¡°ckie, please calcte my points.¡±

 Chapter 117: Divine Comedy

    <h4>Chapter 117: Divine Comedy</h4>

    Level A Challenge "All Have Sinned" Completed perfectly: 3000 points

    Guiding Object: Divine Comedy

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 3 - 300 points

    Degree of Challenge Participation: A+ - 1000 points

    Completed mission to kill main enemies Pride and Wrath: 2000 points

    Points Received: 6300

    Total Points: 8320

    Despite the high points he had received this time, Su Jin did not feel happy at all. Fourteen owners had been part of this Challenge, including four veterans, yet only three of them had survived. The other two veterans had perished at thest round before the end and he had lost two of his own team members as well. Handbook Challenges were truly a cruel ce.

    "Completed perfectly?" Su Jin was a little surprised by that. He had heard about getting a perfect score for Challenges, but the man who had given Su Jin the Finger of Anubis had told him that it was hard to get a perfect score even for a Level B Challenge. Yet, Su Jin had actually managed to get a perfect score for a Level A Challenge.

    "Then again, this Challenge seems to have been perfect for me," thought Su Jin. When he was at Anubis'' mausoleum, he had understood how these original sins only existed if he acknowledged their existence, which already made him the perfect nemesis for the seven sins. His psychokinesis had also allowed him to bepletely unaffected by an attack made by a creature of light. If he still couldn''t survive the Challenge despite having all these advantages, he might as well ram his own head against a wall and die.

    A book with an intricately designed leather cover appeared in his Handbook. The words "Divine Comedy" were written on the cover, which made Su Jin feel emotional. Ning Meng was the one who had told him that the introductory words to the Challenge hade partially from this text after all.

    He retrieved ck Fire from his Handbook. He had taken it back from Ning Meng after she had passed on. Ning Meng had been holding it tightly until the moment she died, because this was pretty much the only weapon she had against her enemies. She had only gone through three Challenges, so it wasn''t surprising that she didn''t have anything else on hand.

    Unfortunately, ck Fire had failed to protect her. When it was time to go, nobody could stand in death''s way. The only thing Su Jin could do now was to look at ck Fire and remember Ning Meng fondly.

    He let out a long sigh, then moved on to the team''s Hell Domain. Chu Yi was already sitting inside and staring nkly into space. He didn''t even notice Su Jin walk in.

    "Chu Yi," Su Jin called out to him softly. He could see the sadness written all over Chu Yi''s face and wasn''t sure how to console him, so he just walked over to pat Chu Yi on the shoulder.

    "I''m fine, Boss. I¡­I was already mentally prepared for such a thing to happen. That''s how the Hell''s Handbook universe works, isn''t it?" said Chu Yi with a sad smile on his face. He was young and couldn''t hide his emotions, so even though he understood the reality of the Handbook''s universe, he was still grieved by the loss of his team mates.

    "Just like you said, that''s how this universe works. Both of us have to get used to it." Su Jin sat down next to Chu Yi. It was so hard to ept how someone who was alive just a day ago was gone forever after just one Challenge.

    "Sister Mai hasn''te out yet. Do you think she''s okay?" Chu Yi looked at the portal door to the space they were in with a worried look on his face. He had already lost two teammates and he didn''t want to lose a third one.

    Immediately after Chu Yi said those words, Kano Mai emerged from the portal door. Her Personal Hell Domain had restored herpletely. That was the magical part about this ce. As long as you were still breathing when you were teleported back to your Personal Hell Domain, you would be healed of all injuries and cured of all illnesses.

    "Are you alright?" asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai was pale but she still managed to squeeze a smile out as she nodded at Su Jin and Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi knew that Kano Mai was feeling down because they had lost two teammates. He consoled Kano Mai, "We''ve already done our best. This¡­this is something that we couldn''t have avoided."

    "I know. Life goes on, right? I know that." Kano Mai nodded slightly as her smile faded.

    And as if they could read each other''s minds, The three of them did not mention Ning Meng or Yang Mo again. They hoped that they could move on from this tragic episode so that it wouldn''t affect them in future Challenges.

    Su Jn exchanged his points for the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir. 8000 points was more than enough for that. The elixir was a reddish liquid that looked like blood, but it was much more viscous than blood.

    Without thinking, he gulped the entire bottle down. He didn''t feel anything at first, but his face began to contort shortly after that. He felt like every cell in his body was rebelling against him.

    His entire body began to convulse against his will. If the first two elixirs felt like it was changing his hardware, then this one felt like it was just destroying himpletely by force.

    It pained Chu Yi and Kano Mai to see how much Su Jin was suffering, but they couldn''t help him at all. But they weren''t worried that Su Jin''s life would be in any danger, since he just had to endure the pain for a while and it would be over.

    Su Jin ended up writhing on the floor like a piece of sticine, twisting and turning from the pain. The High Level Body Strengthening Elixir turned out to be a lot more potent than he had imagined. Instead of just strengthening what he already had, the elixir seemed to be reconstructing his body.

    Time ticked by slowly for Su Jin as he felt as though every part in his body was exchanging ces with one another. Sometimes he felt like his brain had switched ces with his butt, then sometimes he felt like his eyes were now on his heel. He was so confused.

    After a long time, everything finally stopped. "Restore my body!" wailed Su Jin. Thankfully, body restoration was possible within the Team Hell Domain. Otherwise, he wasn''t sure if he would be able to even get back to his own Personal Hell Domain.

    Once his body was restored, he slowly got up from the floor. The torture he went through earlier still made him feel ufortable and he still had a little trouble walking.

    "How are you feeling?" asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin hit his head gently to help him think more clearly, then rubbed his belly as he said, "I''m hungry!"

    Kano Mai and Chu Yi were stunned for a moment before they both burst outughing. Kano Mai rolled her eyes and said, "I can''t believe you can feel hunger while you''re in this ce!"

    Su Jinughed. "I think it''s strange too. But it''s not really a grumbling in my stomach, it''s more like¡­I don''t know how to exin it either. It''s as if all the cells in my body are mouring for food." Su Jin scratched his head because this feeling was really hard to describe. But he was sure that he was actually feeling hungry.

    "By the way, I''ve got something for you guys to see," said Su Jin as he took out the copy of Divine Comedy he had received and showed it to the other two.

    Kano Mai couldn''t help but shudder when she saw it. Her eyes widened as though she couldn''t believe her own eyes.

    "Can I¡­can I have it?" asked Kano Mai in a somewhat agitated voice.

    Su Jin held it out to her without hesitation and said, "Even though this thing promises to send you back here if your life is in danger, you''d better be careful when you re-enter the world of the Original Sins. I got stuck when I went to Anubis'' Mausoleum, and my Guiding Object refused to get me out of there."

    He was still a little traumatized by that experience. He had been forced to go through this journey of atonement and the Guiding Object had not sent him out even though he was going through so much pain. He wondered if he would end up being trapped in there forever if he didn''t gain enlightenment. That would have been as good as dying.

    Kano Mai didn''t expect Su Jin to just give the book to her. This was a Guiding Object to a Level A Challenge after all, so she asked, "Jin, are you sure you want to give this to me just like that? Do you know what this item represents?"

    "Huh? I mean, if you need it, you can have it. Oh, Chu Yi, you don''t mind, do you?" Su Jin realized he had forgotten to ask Chu Yi for his opinion.

    Chu Yi looked like he didn''t care for it at all and even said hatefully, "I wouldn''t want that thing. I never want to go back there." He had a saddened expression on his face after saying that.

    Kano Mai was touched that the two of them trusted her so much, but then again, this was nothingpared to how hard the both of them had worked to get the fruit of the Tree of Life just to revive her and Yang Mo.

    "The difference between a Guiding Object from a Level A Challenge and from other levels is that if you return to a Level A Challenge, there''s a high chance you will be able to activate your Spirit Power." Neither had asked her why she wanted it so much, but she decided to tell them anyway. They trusted her, so she felt that she ought to be honest with them too.

    Their faces lit up when they heard what she said. Chu Yi said excitedly, "That''s great! If you could activate your Spirit Power, then we''d stand a higher chance of getting through Challenges in the future."

    "He''s right!" Su Jin nodded excitedly as well. If Kano Mai had Spirit Power, then she would be better able to protect herself as well as contribute more to the team.

    She herself was the happiest among them. Having Spirit Power was something that all owners wanted because that would help them in surviving the Challenges a lot more easily.

    "Boss! Look at this!" Chu Yi suddenly eximed as he pointed to the emblem of Team Boning Knife that was carved into the pedestal where they ced their Handbooks. The emblem used to be a bronze color, but now it was gold in color.

    "That means that our team has leveled up. Jin, you should be able to see this reflected in the team''s Handbook," exined Kano Mai to the other two.

    Su Jin opened the team''s Handbook and saw that she was right. The information about the team stated that they were now a Level C team.

    "Wow, we''ve gained so many experience points from a Level A Challenge¡­" Su Jin knew that a team could level up eventually, but he thought that it would take more Challenges before it happened. He didn''t expect just one Level A Challenge to be enough to help them reach the next level.

    "In general, a Level A Challenge wouldn''t be enough either, but we managed toplete it perfectly, so the number of experience points we gained from that is much higher than normal," exined Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded. The team had lost a lot over the course of this Challenge, but they had also gained plenty in terms of rewards. But if given a choice, Su Jin would rather that all his team members were alive and well than get all these rewards.

    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll be off first. I want toplete this as soon as possible!" Kano Mai seemed to be more concerned with the Guiding Object in her hand and couldn''t wait to get back into that world.

    "Sure. But be careful!" Su Jin nodded.

    Kano Mai immediately returned to her Personal Hell Domain, leaving Su Jin and Chu Yi behind in the Team Hell Domain.

 Chapter 118: The Golden Pill and the Archangel

    <h4>Chapter 118: The Golden Pill and the Archangel</h4>

    Chu Yi had a lot of points, because he had relied entirely on his Spirit Power and martial arts skills to get through Challenges. He had never used or spent anything on any equipment that required Spirit Power because ording to Chu Yi, that was an insult to him as a martial artist.

    ¡°So, how many points do you have now?¡± asked Su Jin out of curiosity. He had gained a lot of points from the previous Challenge and this one, and Chu Yi must have saved a lot from his previous Challenges too.

    ¡°Let me see¡­I¡¯ve got about 17,000 points,¡± said Chu Yi nonchntly after ncing at his bnce.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. ¡°Did you¡­did you not use a single point?!¡±

    ¡°I did! I exchanged some points for a few weapons, but because I activated my Spirit Power pretty early on and nothing useful turned up in my Personal Hell Domain, I didn¡¯t spend my points on anything.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. 17,000 points over five Challenges was an average of about 3,000 odd points per Challenge, which made sense.

    However, he felt that there was no point in holding onto all these points. It was wiser to exchange them for items that would help one to better survive future Challenges.

    ¡°I think you should exchange your points for some things, though. Even if you don¡¯t want a weapon, I think you could still go for something to protect yourself,¡± Su Jin persuaded Chu Yi.

    After this Challenge, Chu Yi¡¯s mentality had also changed a little. His Spirit Power had been able to handle most battles so far, but there were still times where it really wasn¡¯t enough. That was when having some items on hand would have been useful.

    Chu Yi went along with Su Jin to look for something suitable within the Team Hell Domain¡¯s catalogue. The catalogue had a lot of items, but it wasn¡¯t always easy to find something suitable.

    There were a few thousand different types of Spirit Power within the Handbook¡¯s universe, and most of the Spirit Power items required the owner to have a particr type of Spirit Power in order to use it. That eliminated a lot of items.

    As both of them looked through the catalogue, Su Jin¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he pointed at one of them and said, ¡°How about this one?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a¡­Golden Pill?¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes widened. Su Jin was pointing to a shiny gold colored pill.

    The description read: Nobody knows everything about the universe, neither what is the greatest nor what is the smallest. Regardless of whether you spend your days inplete ignorance or in great discipline, you die anyway. But a Golden Pill in your dantian (I¡¯m just going to assume 99% of readers are into wuxia/murim and I don¡¯t have to exin any of this) as you work and rest each day will help you to eventually rise above the rest and be an immortal!

    This is a Level D item that can eventually transform into a Spirit Power treasure. It is capable of much, but it needs the owner to explore its capabilities on their own. It will increase in level in tandem with the owner, and when it reaches the highest level, the owner will be able to move away from being a lower lifeform.

    Spirit Power types that are able to use this: Soul Energy, Internal Energy, Truth Energy etc. (Author put ¡®¡­¡¯ and I assume there¡¯s more because Su Jin doesn¡¯t have any of these types, yet he¡¯s upset he couldn¡¯t get this item)

    Points required: 15,000

    Su Jin and Chu Yi exchanged nces. They were initially attracted to the name ¡°Golden Pill¡±, since that was amon term seen in cultivation novels. But after reading the description and how much it cost, both of them were too stunned to speak for a while.

    ¡°This thing is actually something that can defy nature!¡± Su Jin gasped as he started regretting getting that High Level Body Strengthening Elixir. This pill was much more expensivepared to the elixir, but it was definitely way more powerful as well.

    ¡°The Spirit Power types it needs are those found in cultivation legends, including the one I have! So¡­I should exchange my points for this pill?¡± Chu Yi was also interested in this item.

    ¡°Yup! That¡¯s the one for you!¡± Su Jin said with a nod. He was most interested in the part about how one could move away from being a lower lifeform. Also, even though the Golden Pill started at Level D, which was definitely lower than Earth Level, the fact that the item could keep levelling up made this item much more valuable.

    At the same time, it cost 15,000 points, so even though Su Jin really wished he could have it, only Chu Yi had enough to exchange for it. After the exchange waspleted, they were surprised to find that the item had disappearedpletely from the catalogue. In other words, there was only one of this pill and he could not reserve it for the future.

    ¡°This is an item that evolves depending on the owner¡¯s level. I¡¯m really looking forward to how it will change in the future,¡± murmured Su Jin. The more restrictions an item in the Handbook had, the more powerful it was. This was merely a Level D item, yet it cost 15,000 and each team could only get it once. That proved how valuable it was.

    After the exchange waspleted, the Golden Pill didn¡¯t appear inside the usual list within the Handbook, which puzzled both of them. Su Jin thought about why this was so for a moment, then had an idea. He told Chu Yi to check his own dantian.

    Chu Yi tried and was pleased to find that the pill was indeed already inside his dantian. He spent some time observing what was happening inside his body and his face soon lit up. ¡°Boss! There¡¯s been a significant increase in the amount of internal energy I have, and¡­and I can circte it at a much higher speed now.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s increased significantly? How much do you have now?¡± Su Jin was curious because he had very little psychokinesis to spare. Despite all his efforts to increase it, he still only had 300 odd points and never dared to use it too often even during Challenges. He had no idea how much Spirit Power other people had.

    ¡°I started off with 1,200 points, and now it¡¯s at 3,000 points. That¡¯s more than double!¡± Chu Yi was really excited. He was an owner who relied heavily on his internal energy and used it toplement his martial arts, so the fact that his Spirit Power had doubled was a pleasant surprise. He beamed from ear to ear and said, ¡°Hoho! You were right to say that I should have used my points instead of just saving them!¡±

    Su Jin felt like smashing something after he heard those numbers. <i>This is so unfair</i>, he thought. He had worked so hard to finally push his psychokinesis to 370 points, but Chu Yi had ten times more than him to spare now.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Boss?¡± asked Chu Yi a little uneasily when he saw Su Jin ring at him.

    Su Jin let out a big sigh. There was no point in being jealous of Chu Yi. He patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to leave all the fighting to you in the future and I¡¯ll just focus on being the brains of the group.¡±

    Meanwhile, Kano Mai was now standing in front of Sariel. The look in his eyes went from being puzzled, to being curious, then surprised and finally pure shock.

    ¡°I simply can¡¯t believe a Primordial Deity is still alive! This is incredible!¡± Sariel shook his head in disbelief at Kano Mai.

    ¡°I¡¯vee back here because I need to talk to you.¡± Kano Mai¡¯s expression didn¡¯t even flinch. If the seven Original Sins were still in control of this ce, then she wouldn¡¯t have dared to return. Those lunatics didn¡¯t care what you were. As long as you were useless to them, they would kill you. And even if you were useful, they¡¯d just finish using you and kill you after that.

    But Sariel was different. Sariel was an actual archangel that had survived countless cycles, a being that was almost an Elder God. His nature swung between good and evil, so Sariel was the archangel that was most humanlike.

    ¡°You¡¯re a Primordial Deity, so I should actually speak to you deferentially. What do you want to talk to me about?¡± asked Sariel puzzledly.

    ¡°I want to work with you to¡­to end all of this!¡± She had a resolute expression on her face, while Sariel looked extremely surprised.

    ¡°Even though I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to really end this all, since you¡¯re a Primordial Deity, I¡¯ll help you if you really want to try.¡± Sariel nodded slightly and motioned to her to take his hand.

    She took his hand and they both jumped into a bright beam of light.

    As usual, Su Jin exchanged his points for a long period of training time. He was now very adept at using concealed weapons, so Zhang Qing didn¡¯t think he had anything else to teach Su Jin. Su Jin didn¡¯t mind either, since his ultimate goal was to get Li Feidao to teach him. He was just slowly training himself up to reach that stage.

    Shortly after he returned to the real world, Kano Mai returned too. She seemed to be in a really good mood and insisted on cooking a feast to celebrate.

    ¡°You¡¯ve activated your Spirit Power?¡± It was obvious from her expression that that had probably happened, but Su Jin thought he¡¯d still ask.

    She nodded and grinned back at him. ¡°Yup! I won¡¯t be a burden to you two anymore!¡±

    ¡°How could you say that? Chu Yi and I have never seen you as a burden to us.¡± Su Jin red at her. They were teammates who relied on each other to survive each Challenge, so no one was more important than the other. Calling herself a burden made it seem as though he and Chu Yi had found her tiresome, which wasn¡¯t true at all.

    She knew that she shouldn¡¯t have said that, so she smiled and apologized to him. Then, he asked curiously, ¡°What sort of Spirit Power do you have? Can you show me?¡±

    Kano Mai paused to think then nodded. She tapped his forehead lightly and waited. He stared at her with a confused look on his face and was about to say something when he felt unusually exhausted, as if he had worked overtime for an entire week without eating. His body was ovee by this awful feeling.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Su Jin felt like he barely even had enough energy to say anything and his eyelids were incredibly heavy. He immediately used thest bit of energy he had to circte his psychokinesis and the exhaustion instantly left him.

    ¡°Good heavens! That was¡­the power of Sloth, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Su Jin stared in shock at Kano Mai.

    She smiled and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ve gained the power of the Original Sins, but I¡¯m only able to use Sloth¡¯s power now. As I be stronger, I will be able to use the other Sins¡¯ powers.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but exim. He knew best how terrifying the power of the Original Sins was. If Kano Mai could execute the powers all seven of them had at that level, she would be practically invincible.

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. And I¡¯m sad to say that I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to reach their level,¡± said Kano Mai with a shrug. It would be really insane if she could.

    Su Jin grinned sheepishly and had to admit that he had been too hopeful. If the powers of the seven enemies in a Level A Challenge were duplicated perfectly in one owner, that would make the owner way too powerful than the Handbook would permit.

    Just then, Su Jin¡¯s phone started ringing. He was surprised to see who was calling.

    ¡°Han Mengyao?¡±

 Chapter 119: Working with the Special Police

    <h4>Chapter 119: Working with the Special Police</h4>

    Su Jin was surprised that Han Mengyao was trying to call him. It had been more than a month since they hadst seen each other, since she had not contacted him since they left New Moon Ind. He figured she must be calling him over something urgent.

    ¡°Can we meet? Now?¡± Han Mengyao seemed to be very anxious and needed to meet Su Jin right away.

    Su Jin frowned when he heard her request, but since he was still hired as her bodyguard, he had to agree to it. He smiled sadly at Kano Mai and said, ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll have to enjoy your feast another time!¡±

    ¡°No problem, I¡¯ll just cook for you another day,¡± she replied with a smile.

    Su Jin left the house for the office building that Han Mengyao told him to meet her at. He was surprised that there was an office building in the heart of town, sincend was extremely expensive here. Most of the buildings here were shoppingplexes and hotels because it didn¡¯t make economical sense to build something like an office building here.

    After he arrived at the top floor of the building, someone opened the door for Su Jin. Han Mengyao was already in a room along with a young man and a much older man.

    ¡°Mr. Su, you¡¯re here.¡± Han Mengyao immediately greeted him when she saw that he had arrived.

    ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t wait for too long! These two gentlemen are¡­?¡± Su Jin could tell with one nce that these two men were used to being in a position above others. They had friendly smiles on their faces, but there was still something distant about their demeanour.

    ¡°This is my senior, Lv Jincheng,¡± said Han Mengyao. Lv Jincheng nodded at Su Jin and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Han Mengyao continued, ¡°This is my mentor, Mr. Yang Tianzheng. He is also the superintendent of S City¡¯s special police, and he¡¯s also the one who wanted to meet you today.¡±

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. The special police? He had only heard of this department in books, but he never knew they actually existed. He was even more surprised that they wanted to meet him and that Han Mengyao belonged to this department.

    ¡°Hoho, young man, you don¡¯t have to be so wary. Mengyao isn¡¯t from the special police. She¡¯s just one of my disciples,¡± said Yang Tianzheng with a kind smile. It was really hard to imagine that this man was once the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs.

    Su Jin went straight to the point. ¡°Hello, Mr. Yang. Why did you want to meet me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. Things have been a little rough in S City and some bad things have happened. We¡¯re a little short on manpower and Mengyao rmended you when she found out about my situation. She said you¡¯re a really capable person, so I¡¯m actually here to ask for your help,¡± said Yang Tianzheng with a rather sheepish look on his face, as if he was truly in a sticky situation.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t believe a word Yang Tianzheng said. His instinct told him that these people were very likely to be connected to Situ Jin. In fact, government officials sealed off New Moon Ind immediately after he had gone there with Han Mengyao, so he was pretty sure Han Mengyao worked for the special police too.

    And if all these incidents were connected, then it was possible that Han Mengyao had gotten into contact with him on Situ Jin¡¯s orders. Xu Ran had already restored Situ Jin¡¯s altered memories, so it wasn¡¯t surprising if Situ Jin was trying to hunt him down again.

    With that in mind, Su Jin replied tly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Yang, but I¡¯m just an ordinary guy, so I don¡¯t think I could be of any help to you.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, young man, you don¡¯t have to be so modest. I know someone from B City made things difficult for you, but our country is in trouble and we need a capable citizen to help us now that we don¡¯t have enough people in our department. Mengyao has strongly rmended you to me, so I hope you can put aside any prejudices you have from prior incidents and lend us a hand.¡± Yang Tianzheng¡¯s voice was gentle, but there was nothing gentle about the message he was sending to Su Jin.

    In short, what Yang Tianzheng was saying was that he knew that Su Jin could be of help, so it was best that Su Jin agreed to help. Since Situ Jin could track him down and make life difficult for him, the special police could do the same.

    Su Jin really didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with the government, but since Yang Tianzheng had already put it this way, it was hard for him to turn the old man down.

    ¡°Could you at least tell me what are these ¡®bad things¡¯ you need help with? If it¡¯s within my ability to help, I don¡¯t mind helping.¡±

    Su Jin had parents, a younger sister and friends. He wasn¡¯t all alone in this world. So, even though he had superpowers and was way more formidable than an ordinary human being, he thought it better to be careful around anybody from the government. He didn¡¯t want any of his loved ones to be implicated because he had offended a government body.

    Yang Tianzheng gave Su Jin a pleased nod and smiled brightly when he heard Su Jin¡¯s answer. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so worried, really. We¡¯re just hiring you as external help and you might not need to be part of the actual operation.¡±

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me exactly what¡¯s happened,¡± said Su Jin with a frown.

    Yang Tianzhengughed heartily and said, ¡°I won¡¯t keep you in suspense anymore. Basically, two major happenings have urred in S City. The first one is a series of three murder cases where an entire family has been killed.¡±

    Su Jin was rather surprised to hear this. He was living in one of the safest countries in the world and it was rare to hear about any major crimes at all. Past murder cases were talked about on TV, but he couldn¡¯t recall hearing about a murder case that involved the deaths of an entire family.

    ¡°The second one is also a spate of murder cases, but the victims are foreigners. S City is a cosmopolitan city and a global financial centre, and security in this country has never been a problem. It is extremely unusual for so many murder cases to ur in such a short time,¡± said Yang Tianzheng.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t so surprised by the second part. Xu Ran had killed seven foreigners in his house thest time. There were clearly more of such Handbook owners going around S City.

    Yang Tianzheng was secretly observing Su Jin from the corner of his eye, but Su Jin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t flinch at all. Su Jin was also wary of Yang Tianzheng.

    ¡°I think these two events are likely to be rted. The special police should have been able to cope, but when we did an autopsy on the bodies, we noticed that many of the fatal wounds on the victims¡¯ bodies were very strange. To y safe, we decided that we ought to consult an expert outside of the police force like yourself,¡± said Yang Tianzheng with a friendlyugh.

    Su Jin was quite interested in finding out more about those Handbook owners who were going around robbing fellow owners of their items, so since there was a chance to investigate them, he thought he ought to seize the opportunity. It was a lot easier to get things done since the government was now involved.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help out this time, but I hope this will be the first andst time,¡± said Su Jin. He didn¡¯t want to be overly involved with the special police. Situ Jin was not easy to deal with and he didn¡¯t want to end up having to face Situ Jin again.

    Yang Tianzheng was pleased with Su Jin¡¯s response and said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you then, Mr. Su! Jincheng, you and Mengyao can bring Mr. Su along on your investigations and see if he can provide any useful clues.¡±

    Lv Jincheng nodded, then left with Han Mengyao and Su Jin. After the three of them left, Yang Tianzheng fell into deep thought for a while, then suddenly smiled. ¡°Looks like Situ Jin was right to suspect this young man. There¡¯s more to this fellow than meets the eye.¡±

    As Su Jin followed Lv Jincheng and Han Mengyao out, Lv Jincheng exined the situation to Su Jin. ¡°Mr. Su, we¡¯re going to the crime scene of the very first homicide case. A family of three died there. The father was stabbed in the chest and his heart has gone missing, but the stab wound is only the size of a needle, so there¡¯s no way anybody could have removed the heart from such a small hole.¡±

    ¡°Is it possible that he was injected with some corrosive substance that corroded the heart within his chest?¡± asked Su Jin. If it was impossible to remove it from the body, then the other possibility was that the heart had been left inside all along.

    Lv Jincheng shook his head. ¡°No. We did a full autopsy and found that all his other organs were intact. Only the heart was missing. Based on the injury to the arteries, it seems like it had been tugged on by a great force, but of course, my conclusion is that it is still not possible to remove the heart through such a small hole.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t say anything. It was certainly impossible from a scientific point of view, but this wasn¡¯t difficult for an owner with the right abilities.

    ¡°The woman who was found dead in the same location was his wife. Her cause of death is much simpler. Her forehead suffered severe trauma and there is a wound that is the size of a finger that went right through her skull, so she died immediately,¡± continued Lv Jincheng.

    ¡°What about the third person?¡± asked Su Jin nonchntly.

    ¡°The third person¡­should be the child of this couple. The boy was probably around six years old or so, but we haven¡¯t been able to find his body,¡± said Lv Jincheng with a sigh.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise. ¡°If you haven¡¯t been able to find his body, how were you able to conclude that the child is dead?¡±

    ¡°How should I put this? We haven¡¯t found his body, but we¡¯ve found his skin. It¡¯s one perfect piece from head to toe, so if you stuff it, you¡¯d make a perfect humanlike doll,¡± said Lv Jincheng with a strange smile on his face. That smile was so creepy that Su Jin was sure that Lv Jincheng would be famous instantly if he acted in some horror film with that smile.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case then I agree that it¡¯s enough to be certain the child is dead.¡± Su Jin nodded.

    Han Mengyao shook her head and said, ¡°Things might not be that simple. My senior said that the third victim ¡®should be¡¯ this child, but we¡¯re actually not sure either. ording to a medical expert, the piece of skin we found was not peeled off the body but it came off the body on its own, just like how a snake molts.¡±

    ¡°Just like how a snake molts?¡± Su Jin was really shocked. He had never heard of a human molting before.

    An expensive sports car that belonged to Han Mengyao was parked outside the building. After going through the jammed roads for half an hour, the three of them finally arrived at the crime scene.

    This was a middle ss neighborhood and it looked like the special police had made sure that this entire case was kept under wraps. Nobody in the vicinity even looked mildly curious about the unit they were headed for, which meant that nobody knew a homicide had urred here recently.

    ¡°The police have managed to keep this a secret?¡± Su Jin asked Lv Jincheng.

    Lv Jincheng nodded. ¡°Someone reported the case after it happened and it was immediately passed on to our department. We¡¯ve kept the person who called the police in custody and we¡¯ve checked with all the units within a one kilometer radius to make sure that absolutely nobody else knows about this.¡±

    The murder happened in a unit on the third story and Lv Jincheng had keys to the apartment. After he opened the door, Su Jin immediately noticed that the inside of the house had been thrashed very badly. It was almost unbelievable that nobody else had noticed anything amiss.

 Chapter 120: Xu Ranâ€™s Standing

    <h4>Chapter 120: Xu Ran¡¯s Standing</h4>

    It was very obvious that a violent fight had happened here. The inside of the house was so badly destroyed, that it was as if a bomb had went off inside here.

    ¡°Are all the units here only meant for people who are deaf?¡± said Su Jin sarcastically.

    Lv Jincheng chuckled and said, ¡°We thought it was weird too. Logically speaking, if a scuffle were violent enough to cause this much damage, it¡¯s impossible for it to gopletely unnoticed. But besides their neighbors who found it strange that the family hadn¡¯t left the house in half a month and discovered this horrifying situation purely out of curiosity, not a single unit in the vicinity has noticed anything.¡±

    There was clearly something fishy here. Su Jin tapped a finger on his nose and said casually, ¡°That leaves us with two possibilities then. Either someone was able to make everyone in the vicinity deaf while the fight was happening, or they were able to keep the noise within these four walls.¡±

    Su Jin walked further into the house and observed his surroundings carefully. The special police had preserved the crime scene very well and hadbelled everything so that they could make sure that the scene stayed almost identical to how they found it.

    A few momentster, Su Jin looked at the wall. His gaze flickered when he noticed that arge part of the ster had fallen off the wall, so he reached out to touch it.

    ¡°Mr. Su, have you discovered something?¡± asked Lv Jincheng curiously when he saw Su Jin looking closely at the wall.

    ¡°I suppose you could say so. Take a look at this wall.¡± Su Jin used his fingers to knock the wall lightly.

    Lv Jincheng was an expert investigator and realized the problem immediately. The wall had obviously been very severely damaged and Su Jin had made a hole by just knocking the wall with his fingers. That was definitely strange.

    ¡°The wall is so thin¡­That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Lv Jincheng frowned as he couldn¡¯t seem to figure out how this could have happened.

    Han Mengyao came over as well. She was more of a fighter than an investigator, so she couldn¡¯t understand what the problem was.

    Lv Jincheng exined to her, ¡°Based on how badly damaged the wall is, it¡¯s obvious that the wall had been hit by a powerful force.¡±

    ¡°I can see that.¡± She nodded.

    ¡°But that¡¯s the problem. Despite taking such a hard hit, the force did not make a hole through the wall. Also, take a look at this side.¡± Lv Jincheng moved his finger along the wall and continued, ¡°All of the damage to the wall stopped at the same part in the wall, as if¡ª¡±

    ¡°As if the outer wall had been protected by something, or something had stopped the force from moving further outwards.¡± Han Mengyao quickly realized what her senior was trying to say.

    He nodded and poked the wall with his finger. Just like what happened when Su Jin knocked on the wall, his finger went right through because the remaining undamaged wall was barely half a centimeter thick, so it was very easy to make a hole in it.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what¡¯s your opinion on this?¡± Lv Jincheng turned towards Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, ¡°Just like what I said earlier, there¡¯s no way such a big fight could have gone on without disturbing or shocking any of the neighbors. Therefore, either everyone had been deafened during this time, or there was something that could contain the noise within this area.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that the thing that protected the outer wall from copsing was also something that could soundproof this ce?¡± asked Lv Jincheng.

    Su Jin chuckled. ¡°Of course, this doesn¡¯t sound scientifically possible. But based on what we¡¯ve observed, this might actually be what happened.¡±

    ¡°How could any of that be possible? Even if the two parties fighting were able to find a shield of sorts that was big enough to do that, installing the shield itself would be a huge engineering project. Besides, the wall was obviously protected from within the wall, so that¡¯s even more impossible to install, right?¡± Han Mengyao scoffed at Su Jin¡¯s conjecture because she didn¡¯t think any of it made sense.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by her attitude. He turned to look at Lv Jincheng for his opinion, since it was clear that Lv Jincheng called the shots around here.

    Lv Jincheng nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s not entirely impossible. Or at least¡­there are a few people in this country who are capable of something like that. They call it a forcefield.¡±

    ¡°A forcefield? Wait, are you¡­are you referring to those Daoists?¡± asked Han Mengyao curiously when she heard the term that Lv Jincheng used.

    Su Jin became curious too. He was pretty sure that this must have been done by an owner, but it was interesting to hear that Daoists were also capable of such supernatural acts.

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. Do you remember that future Daoist Celestial Master that our mentor mentioned thest time? Xu Ran?¡± said Lv Jincheng.

    Su Jin was surprised to hear this name. Xu Ran was a Daoist and could even be a Celestial Master in the future? Who on earth was this guy really?!

    Han Mengyao nodded. ¡°So, you mean Xu Ran can do something like this?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s supposed to be a Celestial Master and the next abbot, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too difficult for him?¡± Lv Jincheng wasn¡¯t really sure either, but based on the information the special police had on Xu Ran, the man was certainly one of the most highly valued young men in the country, and was seen as someone who could very well be powerful enough to protect the nation in the future.

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go arrest him right now!¡± Han Mengyao got very excited and looked like she couldn¡¯t wait to hunt Xu Ran down.

    Su Jin and Lv Jincheng exchanged awkward nces, then Su Jin said, ¡°Uh¡­Bro, do you have a photo of the victims? I¡¯d like to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, bro, I meant to show it to you but I forgot. Thanks for reminding me,¡± Lv Jincheng quickly replied.

    .

    Han Mengyao puffed her cheeks angrily and snapped unhappily, ¡°You two barely know each other! Why are you suddenly calling each other bros?! Are you deliberately trying to ignore me?¡±

    Lv Jinchengughed bitterly and said, ¡°Well¡­I really couldn¡¯t respond to thest thing you said. Xu Ran is a future Celestial Master and abbot in the making. Did you think you could arrest him just because you wanted to?¡±

    ¡°So what? Nobody¡¯s above thew! Since when did you be someone who¡¯s afraid of those who are stronger or more powerful than you are? You were never like this before.¡± Han Mengyao was extremely displeased and looked like she was going to seek justice for the innocent by ridding the world of all these big bullies.

    Lv Jincheng sighed inwardly and turned to look at Su Jin. ¡°Bro, I¡¯m really sorry about her.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, even twins could turn outpletely different from one another, what more a senior and junior?¡± Su Jin waved it off and gave Lv Jincheng a sympathetic look.

    Their expressions nearly drove Han Mengyao up the wall. She red fiercely at Lv Jincheng and he quickly tried to exin the situation to her again.

    ¡°Mengyao, we aren¡¯t trying to be funny here. The truth is that Xu Ran is truly someone we cannoty a finger on. You¡¯re right to say that nobody is above thew, but that only applies to ordinary people. If Xu Ran were an ordinary person, I¡¯d definitely arrest him right away. But he¡¯s not.¡±

    ¡°Let me put it this way. Even if everyone in the special police dies, and even those from the Department of Supernatural Affairs are wiped out, we must not let Xu Ran die!¡± Lv Jincheng used this illustration to help Han Mengyao understand how important Xu Ran¡¯s existence was.

    Her jaw dropped. Both the special police and the Department of Supernatural Affairs were groups that were respected on a global scale and they could do what they liked without having to go through the usual procedure of getting approval for their operations. Yet, both units put together were still worth less than one Xu Ran.

    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate him. Did you know? Our country has been nearly wiped out several times since we gained independence? From what I¡¯ve read, this has happened no less than ten times, and the one who got us out of these crises were not you and me, neither was it our mentor or the Department of Supernatural Affairs. It was these Daoists,¡± Lv Jincheng exined patiently.

    This time, even Su Jin was astonished to hear such a thing. Before being selected to be an owner, he had been an ordinary man on the street and knew very little about such major events. He never knew that the country he lived in had gone through such perilous times before.

    Lv Jincheng nced at Su Jin and smiled faintly. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not an ordinary person either, so it¡¯s fine for you to know, but I hope you will not tell anyone else about this.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Of course. You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±

    Lv Jincheng then took his phone out to show Su Jin some photos. Su Jin looked through the photos one by one and paused for a moment when he saw the photo of the child. But he concealed his reaction very well and had only paused for an additional millisecond.

    He had paused for that tiny bit longer because he realized that this child looked a lot like one of the kids he saw at that orphanage.

    ¡°Those children are connected to Ye Yun and now, one of them is part of this case. Exactly what sort of trouble is that girl in?¡± thought Su Jin to himself. He had a bad feeling about this, but his subconscious still failed to link Ye Yun to Hell¡¯s Handbook because Lv Jincheng had said earlier that Daoists were able to do such seemingly supernatural acts. Were Daoists the only people in the world who were capable of such acts? Clearly, they weren¡¯t. That would exin why there were other forces who could nearly wipe out a country.

    The Daoists had an enemy, and a formidable one at that. It was possible that this was the doing of an enemy of the Daoists. Ye Yun might have been involved in this case by chance, or she might have saved those children purely out of the kindness of her heart.

    Su Jin was usually an intelligent person, but somehow, when it came to anything rted to Ye Yun, it was as if his brain refused to work properly, as if he wanted to continue believing that Ye Yun was just another ordinary girl who couldn¡¯t possibly be in the same tragic situation as he was.

    Lv Jincheng and Han Mengyao proceeded to bring Su Jin to take a look at the other crime scenes. After putting all the information together, Su Jin agreed that these homicide cases were very strange indeed, and he was pretty certain that at least one Handbook owner was involved in this whole thing.

    ¡°These are all the cases involving locals, it¡¯s 17 victims across four households. We discovered aplete piece of skin in two households and they both belong to children. So¡­ bro, what do you think?¡± Lv Jincheng and Su Jin were joking at first when they called each other ¡°bro¡±, but now they were quite familiar with one another and didn¡¯t go back to calling each other ¡°mister¡± anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a few ideas in mind, but I think it¡¯s best that we take a look at the cases involving the foreigners first,¡± said Su Jin. He felt that once he got to see the foreigners who had been murdered, he would be able to say for sure if Handbook owners were involved in this matter or not.

 Chapter 121: Eighteen Corpses

    <h4>Chapter 121: Eighteen Corpses</h4>

    Lv Jincheng brought Su Jin to the special police¡¯s morgue at Su Jin¡¯s request. ording to Lv Jincheng, this ce operated independent of the police force, with its own doctors and facilities that could match those of the best hospitals in the country. Not only did they do autopsies, but they served as a secret hospital as well.

    A total of 18 corpses were ced next to one another in the morgue, including both men and women. Just like what Yang Tianzheng said, all 18 of these corpses were foreigners. In fact, none of them was Asian.

    ¡°Is there an autopsy report?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Lv Jincheng nodded and got a staff member to bring some files over. Su Jin looked through them quickly, since his psychokinesis had enabled him to speed read and gave him a photographic memory. If he had to take his national high school exams again, he would have passed with flying colors. He would just have to study for a few days before the exams and he was sure to top the entire nation.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sure that these people are rted to the local cases we saw earlier,¡± said Su Jin confidently as he handed the files back to the staff member.

    Lv Jincheng asked curiously, ¡°Why are you so sure?¡±

    ¡°I suppose you haven¡¯t read the autopsy reports,¡± said Su Jin.

    Yang Tianzheng had handed this case to Lv Jincheng not too long ago, so it was true that he had not read some of the information on the case. He took the autopsy reports from the staff member and gasped after reading it carefully.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s very obvious that they¡¯re linked,¡± said Lv Jincheng with an embarrassed smile.

    Han Mengyao couldn¡¯t stand the way they talked so vaguely and took the files from Lv Jincheng. But even after reading through them once, she still didn¡¯t get the connection.

    ¡°What did the two of you see in these cases? Can you guys stop speaking in riddles and go straight to the point?¡± Han Mengyao was very annoyed. It was bad enough that Su Jin was speaking like this, but now her senior was speaking like this too.

    Lv Jincheng exined, ¡°The fatal wounds of all 18 persons are different, but they were all killed in a simr fashion and the report has more or less ssified these into four categories.¡±

    ¡°Is that included in the report? I didn¡¯t see that.¡± Han Mengyao read through the report again but failed to see what Lv Jincheng mentioned earlier.

    Su Jin sighed and exined, ¡°He¡¯s not saying that four types of weapons killed them. The report has listed the injuries suffered by these 18 people in detail, and if we do a venn diagram of their injuries, you would be able to see some oveps. For example, person one could have a knife wound, a gunshot wound, a tear in the skin and a burn; person two could have a tear in the skin, a bruise from a hard knock, a burn from being electrocuted and was poisoned; person three could have suffered a knife wound, a tear in the skin and a burn; person four has a bruise, an electrocution burn and was poisoned.¡±

    ¡°So, we can say that person one and three are in the same category, while person two and four are in another category. By sorting out the victims ording to how simr their injuries are, they can be ssified into four main categories.¡±

    Han Mengyao was too stunned for words. ¡°What sort of brains do the two of you have? Mr. Yang said before that twisted criminals have twisted minds, so does that mean that twisted minds would also be twisted criminals?¡±

    Lv Jincheng and Su Jin stared at each other, then rubbed their own nose a little awkwardly. Han Mengyao burst outughing. These two men were smart, but they couldn¡¯t seem to get that she was just kidding.

    The four families that had been ughtered could also be divided into these four categories, so they were definitely connected.

    ¡°The most recent case happened just three days ago, while the bodies of these foreigners were found in an abandoned warehouse two days ago. In other words, someone had gathered these bodies on purpose. Do you think we could find the mastermind based on this?¡± asked Lv Jincheng with a thoughtful look on his face.

    Su Jin shook his head and did not think Lv Jincheng ought to start his investigation this way. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea. Mr. Yang said earlier that the special police doesn¡¯t have enough manpower, and you saw the situation in those houses just now. The people we¡¯re looking for are extremely formidable fighters, so if we have to fight them with our current resources, I think¡­it¡¯s too dangerous.¡±

    Lv Jincheng hesitated for a moment, thenughed sadly, ¡°Well, we¡¯re in charge of ensuring public safety, so regardless of whether it¡¯s dangerous or not, we can¡¯t just say we¡¯re going to just stay away.¡±

    ¡°You and Miss Han can go ahead then! To be honest, I don¡¯t want to get into trouble with these people,¡± said Su Jin as he rubbed his nose. He was now very sure that these cases had something to do with Handbook owners. After his own experience with those Handbook owners who tried to rob him, he was 100% sure of this.

    Su Jin was fine with having to deal with ordinary thugs, since he had superpowers. But things were very different if his opponent was an owner. Also, it was hard to say if the owners they were up against were veterans.

    Lv Jincheng did not expect Su Jin to retreat so quickly and didn¡¯t know what to say. Han Mengyao quickly piped up, ¡°Mr. Su, I believe you still have the responsibility to protect me. If I insist on going to the warehouse to investigate, would you fulfil your job responsibilities and go there with me?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s expression fell. He could insist on not going, since he didn¡¯t think Lv Jincheng and Han Mengyaobined would be able to stop him from leaving. But if Tang Ning found out that he had abandoned the client, she was going to skin him alive. And if she got Ye Yun to teach him a lesson, he was doomed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Su Jin was afraid of what Tang Ning and Ye Yun might do to him, but he also felt that since he was now knew about these cases, he had a feud with that syndicate of owners who went around robbing other owners, plus this whole thing might have something to do with Ye Yun, there was no harm in continuing the investigation.

    It was evening by the time the three of them arrived at a warehouse in the countryside. In fact, this ce wasn¡¯t too far from the shooting range that belonged to Kano Mai¡¯s friend, where he practiced his shooting skill for about a month.

    The warehouse was huge, and ording to the information that Lv Jincheng had, this ce was built by a foreignpany seven years ago, but they ran into cashflow problems and were about to go bankrupt, so they gave up their business and left behind their properties, including warehouses, factories and offices. But they had also been looking for buyers very actively.

    The warehouse contained mostlyrge containers. Lv Jincheng brought them to where the bodies were discovered and said, ¡°Some junkies discovered the bodies here. They had taken some drugs and somehow found their way here. After the effects of the drugs wore off, they found the 18 bodies and called the police in a panic. The special police took over from there.¡±

    The area where the bodies were found was arge and empty space, and Su Jin could still make out where the bodies had been. He squatted down to take a look, but this ce had merely been used to store the bodies and there wasn¡¯t anything worth taking note of.

    He used his psychokinesis to scan the ce, since it could pick up many things he might not have detected on first sight. But once he did that, his heart started palpitating. His psychokinesis had detected signs of 15 living people hiding in this warehouse.

    He stood up emotionlessly and said to the other two, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything here that¡¯s worth checking out. Let¡¯s go back and see if we can get more information from those junkies.¡±

    Lv Jincheng was rather puzzled. They had barely arrived for ten minutes, but Su Jin seemed to be in a hurry to leave. He noticed an uneasiness in Su Jin¡¯s eyes, but he couldn¡¯t understand why.

    Just then, Su Jin let out a bitterugh. ¡°Forget it. We can¡¯t leave even if we wanted to. It¡¯s time to fight our enemies!¡±

    ¡°Fight our enemies?¡± Neither Lv Jincheng nor Han Mengyao knew what Su Jin was talking about.

    Su Jin scanned his surroundings. It seemed like those 15 people could feel that Su Jin had noticed them and did not intend to let the three of them leave this warehouse alive.

    He flicked his wrist and Rumor appeared in his palm. He whispered to the other two, ¡°When I give the signal, just run for it. Don¡¯t look back and don¡¯t hesitate, or we¡¯re all going to die here.¡±

    Lv Jincheng was still confused, but Han Mengyao realized what Su Jin was talking about. She was trained in fighting after all, and her sharp instincts in that aspect helped her to understand what Su Jin meant.

    ¡°Jincheng, just follow me!¡± Han Mengyao grabbed her senior¡¯s arm tightly. He didn¡¯t know exactly what was going on, but he figured they were in trouble.

    ¡°And¡­NOW!¡± Su Jin suddenly yelled as he threw Rumor out. He was very good at controlling the direction and strength of his attacks, so even without the help of his psychokinesis, Rumor still flew through one of the containers and a scream could be heard.

    ¡°It seems like none of them is a veteran.¡± Su Jin let out a sigh of relief. He hadn¡¯t used psychokinesis to control Rumor earlier, so if there were veterans among the 15 people hiding in the warehouse, they would have intercepted his attack easily.

    That scream from behind the container was like the sound from a starting gun. Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng immediately dashed out at top speed. These two were certainly no ordinary humans either: they ran at a speed that wasparable to some of the best short distance runners in the world.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin remained close behind them, flinging Rumor out again and again, and killing three people in the blink of an eye. However, these victims were those who hadn¡¯t realized that Su Jin had discovered them and didn¡¯t know how their location was exposed even until the moment they died. But once the other owners realized that Su Jin knew their exact location, it wasn¡¯t going to be as easy to take them down.

    Just as he had expected, five owners leaped out from the darkness. Three of them had guns while the other two had a sword and a saber.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t summon the Boning Knife or the Demon Lord¡¯s Bow in front of the other two, so he broke off a metal rod from one of the machines and held it in his hand.

    ¡°Get out of there!¡± Su Jin flung the metal rod out as hard as he could. The metal rod whooshed through the air with a mighty roar. His body was now very tough, and he could stay unhurt even after being shot by a handgun. The strength he possessed was now beyond what any ordinary human could possibly have.

    The metal rod crashed into one wall of the warehouse and exploded upon impact, creating a hole in the side of the warehouse.

 Chapter 122: 1 vs Everyone

    <h4>Chapter 122: 1 vs Everyone</h4>

    This move by Su Jin shocked everyone because nobody could believe a human could create such an explosive impact without the help of any other machinery. If that metal rod hadnded on a human instead of the wall, that person would have been sted to pieces.

    ¡°Why are you still standing there?! RUN!¡± Su Jin noticed that Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng were staring at him in horror and had stopped running, so he had no choice but to yell at them.

    Thankfully, Han Mengyao reacted immediately when Su Jin started yelling. She grabbed hold of her senior again and ran out of the hole that Su Jin had just created.

    ¡°Leave them to us!¡± called out two of the owners hiding in the warehouse, running out after Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng, and leaving the rest to deal with Su Jin.

    Out of the 15 owners hiding in the warehouse, Su Jin had killed three and two of them had run out to chase after hispanions. But he still had 10 more left.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to kill just one or two, and he could even manage up to four. But ten was going to be a problem. If they formed a good team with attackers, defenders, backups and fighters who could handle both short range and long range attacks, then he was probably doomed despite being a veteran.

    Earlier on, he had tagged a little of his psychokinesis on hispanions and was sure that they had run very far from this ce, so he summoned his Boning Knife from his Handbook.

    ¡°Watch out, everyone. This fellow¡¯s a veteran, so we need to fight him together,¡± said a blond with blue eyes. He was dressed casually and spoke only in English.

    Su Jin learned English a long time ago and hadn¡¯t used it in many years, but the blond had spoken simply enough for him to understand.

    The 10 men spread themselves out to take on different roles in their team, which was exactly what Su Jin had been afraid of. One of them suddenly spewedrge amounts of white smoke from his mouth, which filled the warehouse in seconds.

    ¡°Trying to impede my vision?¡± Su Jin smiled faintly. A smokescreen was probably enough to deter many other veterans, but it was pointless on him, since his psychokinesis was actually much more sensitive and could see blind corners that his own eyes couldn¡¯t.

    Immediately after the smoke had filled the ce, gunshots were fired. The sniper was testing Su Jin to see if he could at least injure Su Jin, because it would be easier for the rest to attack Su Jin after that.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was tough enough to dodge bullets, but he wasn¡¯t going to just stand there and wait to get shot. He leaped up from the floor and began to move about the warehouse at high speed.

    He guessed that the sniper must have something that could help him to see despite the white smoke in the air, but that didn¡¯t matter to him. After all, if he moved too quickly for them to even take aim, good vision in this smoke was useless.

    ¡°He¡¯s moving too quickly! We¡¯ve got to find a way to stop him from moving¡­¡± the sniper called out to hispanions. But before he could finish his sentence, his body stiffened up. The protective goggles he was wearing were split down the middle and there was a finger sized hole right through his head.

    Su Jin caught Rumor as it flew back into his hand after killing the sniper. None of these fellows were veterans, but they were too confident of themselves and thought that they would definitely be able to take Su Jin down if they joined hands.

    If they had just fought him head on earlier, it was true that they might have been able to kill Su Jin. Unfortunately, they had chosen to impede their own vision in an attempt to kill him in a way that required less effort and minimized injury on their part.

    This decision had been a foolish one, since impeding his vision would also impede theirs. They did have protective goggles that could help them see, but it was obvious that these goggles were too expensive, so the sniper got to wear their one and only pair. The rest were now as good as walking around blind because they couldn¡¯t see in this smoke, whereas Su Jin could see using his psychokinesis.

    Also, if everyone could see properly, then they might have helped to block his attack on the sniper just now.

    ¡°Suck the white smoke back in! Hurry! This thing doesn¡¯t affect him, but it affects us!¡± yelled another owner loudly. He realized that the sniper had been killed, which meant that the smoke didn¡¯t affect Su Jin at all.

    The person who let out the white smoke quickly sucked everything back in again, but after the smoke had cleared, Su Jin was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°He got away? We can¡¯t let that happen! We¡¯ve got to kill him, because we can¡¯t allow the organization¡¯s secrets to¡­¡± He didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence. Blood spurted from his neck and he copsed onto the floor.

    Of course Su Jin was still around. These people were a threat and he couldn¡¯t allow them to remain in S City. Otherwise, he might end up getting attacked by them again in the future.

    Su Jin was now like a ghost who hid from their sight but was still able to kill them with Rumor. It was impossible for them to even block the attack because they had no idea where it woulde from next.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic, he¡¯s all by himself, so even if he¡¯s a veteran, we can still defeat him.¡± This group of people was actually quite resilient. Su Jin had killed five of theirpanions in a row, yet they hadn¡¯t broken down in fear and panic and were still trying to work together as a team to fight back.

    As Su Jin caught Rumor again, he watched as three of the eight remaining people had vanished into thin air.

    ¡°Do they have the Witch¡¯s Concealing Potion too?¡± Su Jin had used it before, but he wasn¡¯t sure if the other party was using the exact same thing.

    That sort of thing worked well against ordinary humans, but not against Su Jin. Unless you could disappear into a different dimension, there was no escape from his psychokinesis¡¯ detection powers.

    Bang! A shot was fired, but if one listened carefully, it was actually two shots fired at the same time, so it sounded like it was just one shot.

    Su Jin leaped up from his hiding ce behind the container. One bullet was aimed at where he was standing earlier to force him to jump, while the other bullet had estimated how high he would jump and would have struck him in the vitals. This shooter was a real expert and Su Jin felt that the shooter might be Kano Mai¡¯s match.

    Su Jin used his arms to block the bullet, but to his surprise, the second bullet turned out to be an explosive round and not an ordinary bullet. The impact did not hurt Su Jin, but it made enough noise to expose his location.

    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± His psychokinesis told him that the three who had vanished earlier wereing for him. They were armed with close range weapons, while the other owners took out their guns. That explosive round had served as a huge spotlight to help the owners know where to aim.

    Countless bullets came flying at him and each one of them was aimed urately at him, as if Su Jin were a bullet ma of sorts. But that wasn¡¯t surprising. Almost every owner was a sharp shooter, since they had heightened senses and could train for hours in their Personal Hell Domains. Su Jin could shoot like that too.

    As he fought to dodge the bullets, the three men had reached him. Their invisibility wore off once theyunched an attack, which meant that they weren¡¯t using the Witch¡¯s Concealing Potion.

    ¡°Die!¡± Su Jin had quick reflexes and he was already prepared for their attacks, so there was no way these three were going to seed in their ambush. He turned his Boning Knife the other way, slicing one of them across the waist. The owner crashed onto the floor, wailing in agony.

    At the same time, Su Jin gave another person a hard kick. He wasn¡¯t as skilful as Chu Yi, but his body was both fast and strong, so not even the best martial artist in the world could beat that.

    The man whom Su Jin kicked rolled for a long time on the floor before stopping. He curled into a ball from the pain, since Su Jin¡¯s kick had probably been powerful enough to turn his internal organs to mush.

    Su Jin had killed two men in almost an instant because they had attacked him at the same time. The third one had been waiting for his chance and now leaped up from behind Su Jin with a katana in hand, raised it, and aimed to bring it down in line with Su Jin¡¯s spine.

    If this attack sessfully hit Su Jin, then he would cut right through Su Jin¡¯s spinal cord. For an ordinary human, even a bit of damage to the spinal cord could make one paralyzed for life, never mind a cut right through where part of the body¡¯s central nervous system was located.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was tough enough to deflect the attack, so he wasn¡¯t particrly threatened by it. But he wasn¡¯t going to let the attacker even strike him. He leaped up so quickly that none of the other owners could see where he had gone. There was one centimeter dent in the floor from how hard Su Jin had stepped on it in order to dodge the attack fast enough.

    Meanwhile, the attacker was stunned that his target had suddenly disappeared, so he stumbled forward as his katananded on nothing.

    Su Jinnded back down behind his attacker and grabbed hold of his neck. The other owners paled in horror and began shooting like crazy, and didn¡¯t even care that their bullets werending on the owner with a katana. Unfortunately, the poor man did not have a tough body like Su Jin did, so after several hits, he died from the bullets his ownpanions had fired.

    ¡°What a ruthless bunch! They¡¯re even willing to kill one of their own,¡± marvelled Su Jin. He continued to allow the bullets to rain down on him, since these were all ordinary bullets that felt like nothing to him.

    The other owners were on the verge of losing their minds. They had seen what veterans were capable of, since their organization had some. But when those veterans had to fight 10 well trained owners all by themselves, they had to work very hard to dodge the attacks and try to escape. If they ended up being cornered, they would end up surrendering.

    On the contrary, Su Jin was like a monster to them. He had already killed half the team and didn¡¯t look like he intended to escape at all.

    ¡°Switch to special bullets! At most, we¡¯ll all die together!¡± one of them shouted. They realized that if they failed to kill Su Jin, Su Jin would kill them, so they decided to go all out to attack Su Jin.

    Special bullets could be highly explosive, so they might really all end up dying together if these bullets were fired in such a small space. That was how desperate these owners were right now.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough!¡± Su Jin suddenly shouted. A silver light flickered in his eyes and all the owners suddenly realized they couldn¡¯t move anymore.

    One of them had a glowing palm sized box on his belt that started flickering strangely. When he saw the flickering, he said, ¡°This is¡­you have psychokinesis! You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re Mr. Xu Ran!¡±

    ¡°Xu Ran¡­that is correct. I am Xu Ran.¡± Su Jin hesitated for just a split second before nodding with a naughty smile on his face as he admitted to being Xu Ran.

 Chapter 123: That Wasnâ€™t Me

    <h4>Chapter 123: That Wasn¡¯t Me</h4>

    Everyone looked as though everything they had just seen earlier made sense now. The leader among the survivors said to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Xu, we don¡¯t have any feud with you and today was just an unfortunate ident. I hope you can let us off.¡±

    ¡°An unfortunate ident? You teamed up to fight me! I wouldn¡¯t call that an ident.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t feel the least sorry about pretending to be Xu Ran. Xu Ran had saved him before, but Su Jin didn¡¯t know if Situ Jin would make life difficult for him in the future, so he was going to collect interest on this future debt first.

    These owners were very frightened of Xu Ran, because they were from the same group of owners who went round robbing other owners. They had heard about how Xu Ran hade to the rescue of an owner another team had targeted, and even though the other team had asked Xu Ran for mercy, Xu Ran had used his psychokinesis to turn them all to dust.

    ¡°Mr. Xu, we¡¯re¡­we¡¯re willing topensate you,¡± said the leader.

    Su Jin was surprised by this situation. How much of a big shot was Xu Ran? These guys were from a syndicate of professional robbers. How was it possible that they were asking topensate their victim instead?

    ¡°Compensation? And what do you think would be enough topensate for my loss?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow. Anything these fellows possessed was stolen from elsewhere, so epting an item from them wasn¡¯t going to get him into trouble.

    The few of them discussed this, then retrieved a handgun and threw it to Su Jin from afar.

    If an owner did not agree to any exchange or giving away of their items, then all their items would disappear with them when they died. That was why these robbers always caught their victims alive, forced them to handover all their items willingly, then silenced them.

    So, even though they had thrown the handgun over to Su Jin, it didn¡¯t mean that Su Jin was now the owner of the gun.

    Su Jin looked at the gun in his hands and suddenly felt that it looked really familiar. In fact, it looked just like ck Fire. The only difference was the color of the gun.

    ¡°This weapon is called White Ash, and it forms a pair with another gun named ck Fire. If you use the two guns separately, it will only be a gun that can fire special bullets. But if you¡¯re lucky enough to get ck Fire, then the two guns together will change drastically,¡± exined the man who passed Su Jin the gun.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe his luck. He didn¡¯t need to search for that other gun. ck Fire was in his Handbook right now.

    ¡°So, Mr. Xu, if you¡¯re willing to ept White Ash, then we¡¯ll call it quits. Okay?¡± said the man.

    Su Jin smiled and nodded. ¡°Sure! I¡¯m a man of my word, so we¡¯re even once you give this gun to me.¡±

    All of them were relieved to hear this. The deaths of theirpanions didn¡¯t particrly bother them, since they were a team who just worked together to get more benefits for themselves and weren¡¯t actual friends. Besides, it was normal for them to get injured or die during an operation. They had been told to avoid certain characters in this country, so now that they had run into one of them, the organization would not me them for the deaths of thesepanions.

    ¡°I heard that the Chinese ce a lot of importance on taking oaths. Could you please take an oath?¡± The leader was still worried that Su Jin would go back on his word and wanted Su Jin to take an oath.

    Su Jin raised his hand and grinned as he said, ¡°I, Xu Ran, swear that once I ept White Ash, our feud will be cancelled and I will not make any trouble for you in the future. If I go against my oath, may the heavens punish me, Xu Ran, and make sure that I die a tragic death!¡±

    After Su Jin was done, the leader breathed a big sigh of relief and happily allowed Su Jin to have White Ash. Once Su Jin had confirmed his ownership of White Ash, he yed with it for a while, then retrieved ck Fire from his Handbook.

    ¡°You¡­you actually have ck Fire!¡± The leader was extremely surprised. He muttered, ¡°White Ash and ck Fire are both weapons that are very hard to get and it¡¯s even harder to get them together. ording to my information, something incredible will happen when both guns are put together, but I don¡¯t know or have any details.¡±

    Su Jin yed with the guns for a while, then kept them in his Handbook together. The change in their properties were now written in his Handbook.

    White Ash and ck Fire are two guns that exist in two different worlds. Once brought together, their special characteristic will be activated: unlimited ammunition.

    The two guns will fire Light Fire and Dark Fire Spirit Power type bullets. As long as the owner does not run out of Spirit Power, the bullets will not run out either.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. Even though this meant that using these guns would now consume his Spirit Power, more importantly, these guns were able to convert his Spirit Power into the types that were mentioned in the Handbook. He didn¡¯t possess Light Fire or Dark Fire Spirit Power, but if he did run into an enemy where Psychokic Spirit Power didn¡¯t work, then this converted Spirit Power mighte in handy.

    He looked pleased as he epted this peace offering and grinned at the owners in front of him. But his grip around the Boning Knife tightened. Of course he wasn¡¯t going to let these fellows off. They didn¡¯t let off any of those people they killed in S City, so why should he let them off?

    The other owners could sense the malice in Su Jin¡¯s grin. The leader nervously said, ¡°You just swore not to attack us! Are you going back on your word?¡±

    ¡°Oh? What oath? Who took an oath?¡± asked Su Jin flippantly as he used a finger to clean his ear.

    ¡°You¡­Xu Ran! You took a very serious oath just now and you¡¯re going back on your word? You said you would be punished by the heavens!¡± said the leader.

    Su Jin cackled. ¡°Xu Ran? Who¡¯s that?¡±

    The owners looked at each other in horror and realized that they had been duped. This young man wasn¡¯t Xu Ran at all, but they had just assumed he was. Unfortunately for them, Su Jin had just admitted to being Xu Ran and never corrected them at all.

    ¡°You¡­you¡¯re not Xu Ran? Then why did you say you were?¡± The leader gnashed his teeth angrily and couldn¡¯t believe how shameless Su Jin had been.

    ¡°Oh please! You guys didn¡¯t check my identity properly and now you¡¯re ming me?¡± Su Jinughed.

    Their hearts sank. They wished they could check too, but information on powerful characters like Xu Ran was ssified and only their team leader could see it. But Su Jin had already killed their team leader and there was no way for them to do any checks in such a situation.

    ¡°So, that oath was made by Xu Ran. It wasn¡¯t me!¡± Su Jin stretched his limbs and said in an icy voice, ¡°Since you dare tomit murder in my country, then you¡¯d better be prepared¡­to be murdered as well.¡±

    ¡°Run!¡± the leader suddenly shouted. They had been no match for Su Jin when there were 13 of them and now there were only five of them left. The only option was to run for it.

    They ran out in five different directions. They didn¡¯t think Su Jin could possibly split himself into five and fight them all at once.

    The problem was, Su Jin was actually able to do just that. Psychokinesis was a very high level sort of Spirit Power and it had be a terrifying force in Xu Ran¡¯s hands. Of course, Su Jin was nowhere near Xu Ran¡¯s level, but he was still rtively formidablepared to other veterans.

    His psychokinesis wasn¡¯t as overbearing as Xu Ran¡¯s, so sending his psychokinesis into the minds of the five men while they were terrified and panicky was the best time to take control of their minds.

    ¡°So, you think you can escape?¡± A silver glint flickered in his eyes as his psychokinesis entered the minds of the five owners on the run. He couldn¡¯t keep this up for too long, but he didn¡¯t need a lot of time either.

    Rumor pierced through their skulls like they were skewered meat, killing the whole team instantly even though they really would have stood a chance if they had remained mentally strong enough to reject Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply. Besides the two owners who went to chase after Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng, the rest were dead.

    Just to be safe, Su Jin scanned the warehouse with his psychokinesis to make sure that he hadn¡¯t missed anybody out before running out as quickly as he could. This had taken a lot of time and if Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng were killed by those two owners, he would be in big trouble. He had already gotten on the wrong side of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, and he didn¡¯t want to get into any trouble with S City¡¯s special police.

    Immediately after he left the warehouse, a flying object the size of a thumb flew out from one of the containers. It flew around for a while, then left the scene.

    Su Jin had no idea that there was a machine hidden inside the warehouse. He focused on following the traces of psychokinesis he had left on the other two and quickly caught up with them.

    To his surprise, the two owners who had given chase were actually losing. As an owner, even if you didn¡¯t have a superhuman body or powers, you would probably have something in your Handbook that could help you defeat ordinary humans in a fight.

    It was obvious that this senior and junior pair were no ordinary people. The two of them had plenty of strange weapons on themselves, so they could fend off the two owners easily.

    ¡°It¡¯s always nice to have a sugar daddy, I see,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng were clearly armed with thetest technology made avable only to the special police. He had never even seen some of these things before.

    He stopped dawdling about and ran over to help his twopanions take down the two owners.

    The two owners were surprised that Su Jin had appeared here. They had assumed that their team mates would have beaten Su Jin to a pulp by now.

    ¡°I see that both of you have many questions to ask me, but unfortunately I¡¯m not the type to answer questions. However, I hope that YOU can answer some of our questions,¡± said Su Jin with a smile as he pointed at one of the owners.

    ¡°Tell me, why did you and the otherse here?¡± Su Jin pretended to interrogate him as he sent his psychokinesis into the man¡¯s brain in hope of finding answers directly from there.

    <i>Ye Yun!</i> Su Jin trembled slightly when he spotted her name among the man¡¯s memories. But before he could dig for more information, the man suddenly convulsed and his brain stopped working, so Su Jin couldn¡¯t get any more information out from him.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression fell, while Han Mengyao and Lv Jincheng didn¡¯t know what was going on at all. Su Jin took a deep breath and smiled at the other owner before saying to hispanions, ¡°Good news and bad news. The bad news is that this fellow doesn¡¯t seem to know anything, and it seems like he¡¯s brain dead now. The good news is, we¡¯ve got two prisoners on our hands.¡±

 Chapter 124: More Information

    <h4>Chapter 124: More Information</h4>

    Lv Jincheng quickly took a step forward to stop Su Jin from doing anything as he said worriedly, ¡°It¡¯s alright, we¡¯ll take over from here. It¡¯s too bad about the other guy, since he¡¯s brain dead.¡±

    Han Mengyao wasn¡¯t concerned with the two owners they had caught. She asked curiously, ¡°There were so many people in there just now. How did you manage to get away? They didn¡¯t chase after you?¡±

    ¡°The dead can¡¯t chase after the living,¡± said Su Jin.

    The other three were too shocked to speak. Thest surviving owner was in disbelief as he said, ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s impossible! There were 15 of us, and we left 13 people in there to fight you, so how¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever. Bro, can this be considered my contribution to the nation? I mean, I don¡¯t want the special police to say that killing is a crime regardless of reason in the name of equality or something like that.¡± Su Jin was rather worried about this. Those fellows were Handbook owners, so they posed a real threat, but the special police didn¡¯t know that. If the special police decided that Su Jin had to take responsibility for killing so many of them, he was doomed.

    Thankfully, Lv Jincheng assured Su Jin, ¡°These guys deserved to die anyway. What¡¯s done is done, I¡¯ll get some people to clean up the ce.¡±

    ¡°Did you seriously kill 13 people all by yourself? These guys are really quite formidable. If Jincheng and I didn¡¯t have some other weapons on hand, we¡¯d be dead by now. But you took 13 on by yourself¡­that sounds a little out of this world.¡± Han Mengyao couldn¡¯t believe how formidable Su Jin was. She was one of the best fighters of her generation and Su Jin didn¡¯t look that much older than her. How could someone his age be so much more formidable than her?

    Su Jin justughed. ¡°You have your own tricks and I have mine. Don¡¯t be too bothered by this.¡±

    Since he wasn¡¯t willing to talk about it, Han Mengyao didn¡¯t ask anymore. Lv Jincheng, however, was a little more astute. He could tell that Su Jin didn¡¯t actually want to tell them that he had wiped out 13 people all by himself. But Su Jin was worried that if those two men killed him and Han Mengyao and Su Jin couldn¡¯t destroy all the corpses and traces in time, the special police would eventually find out about this, so it was easier to just say so first but keep the process a secret.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t worried about thest surviving owner. Handbook owners had their own way of getting out of sticky situations and he was sure that the special police weren¡¯t going to be able to get anything out of him. What bothered Su Jin was what happened earlier when he searched the other owner¡¯s memories.

    There were fewer restrictions between owners, and the Handbook never stopped him from searching another owner¡¯s memories. In other words, the external force that stopped him from finding out more was this mysterious organization they belonged to.

    The special police was in charge of clearing up the mess of bodies in the warehouse, so Su Jin didn¡¯t want to stay with the two of them and Lv Jincheng didn¡¯t insist either. However, instead of heading home, he went to the orphanage that wasn¡¯t too far from here.

    Immediately after Su Jin left, Lv Jincheng made a phone call and said, ¡°Follow him.¡±

    Han Mengyao looked at her senior. ¡°You got someone to follow Su Jin?¡±

    ¡°Yup. Shifu said before that Su Jin is hiding some secret. The special police have checked through all the information we could get on him, but there¡¯s nothing extraordinary about his life at all. It¡¯s as if the incredible ability he has appeared overnight. Shifu thinks¡­he could be that sort of human.¡± Lv Jincheng didn¡¯t borate, but Han Mengyao knew what he was talking about.

    ¡°Situ Jin came here because he thought the same way, right?¡± said Han Mengyao.

    Lv Jincheng nodded and furrowed his brows. ¡°Those people have always been a mystery to us and they are a major threat to a safe country like ours. If he¡¯s really one of those people, then¡­I¡¯m sure Shifu will want to get rid of him as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Get rid of him? But he doesn¡¯t seem like a bad person.¡± Han Mengyao was a little hesitant to do something like that. Su Jin had saved her life before, and he had done so again today.

    Lv Jincheng sighed and looked towards where Su Jin had walked off to. ¡°We¡¯re humans who can be understanding towards people whom we deem as good people in difficult circumstances, but the special police will not make any exceptions. A threat is a threat. Unless he works for the special police and we are fully aware of exactly who he is and how he became so formidable, it will be difficult for the special police to justify why he should be spared.¡±

    Han Mengyao looked at the frosty glint in her senior¡¯s eyes and felt her heart sink. She looked towards where Su Jin had left as well and felt rather conflicted inside.

    ¡°Come along now, Shifu is waiting for our update, and we need to question this fellow too.¡± Lv Jincheng patted Han Mengyao¡¯s shoulder as he dragged along the owner whom he had already drugged earlier on.

    ¡­

    As Su Jin made his way to the orphanage, he quickly realized that he was being followed. His psychokinesis was like the calm surface of a pond. If anything disturbed its peace, he would sense it immediately.

    ¡°It¡¯s just like what I had expected, huh.¡± Su Jin shook his head. He didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with the special police because that brought him unnecessary trouble. So, unless he decided to wipe them all out, the only thing he could do was to avoid them.

    Su Jin suddenly increased his speed under the cover of the night and disappeared out of sight with just a few leaps. The one on his trail was a senior of the special police and had been trained specially to tail others. In most cases, it was almost impossible for anybody to shake him off, but Su Jin actually managed to disappear right before his very eyes.

    He came to where hest saw Su Jin, squatted down and touched the ground as he started sniffing around like a dog.

    Just then, everything before him went dark as he lost consciousness. Su Jin reappeared a short distance away. He knew that anyone from the special police was trained and was difficult to deal with, so it was easier to just knock him out, change his memories and take away some of his belongings to make it look like a robbery.

    The man only regained consciousness the next morning. He mmed his palm angrily against the ground and muttered, ¡°What the hell?! I can¡¯t believe I got robbed! And by such formidable robbers too!¡±

    ording to his new memories left behind by Su Jin, he had run into a few robbers while tailing Su Jin and they eventually knocked him out and stole all his things.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had arrived at the orphanage. He called all the children out and found the two children who were involved in those homicide cases. Someone had found some way at that time to save them via this strange molting process.

    Everything pointed back to Ye Yun, but none of the children could exin things clearly to him. All they knew was that their parents were dead and Ye Yun had rescued them and told them to stay here.

    Su Jin began to feel more and more uneasy and he could sense something deep inside him that made his heart rate increase significantly. irvoyance was a skill that Xu Ran had told Su Jin about thest time. In general, one would only sense it when something was going to happen to themselves or to those very important to them. Su Jin had a feeling that this sensing was rted to Ye Yun.

    After thinking about it, he decided to enter Hell¡¯s Bar to see if he could get his hands on any information. Once he entered the bar, he discovered that the middle aged man who had exchanged Tree of Life leaves with him was already there waiting for him.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here! I found a few more things that are rted to Soul Power, why don¡¯t you see if any of these things are useful?¡± said the man before Su Jin could even say anything and opened his Handbook to show Su Jin.

    Su Jin was really surprised. Did this man have nothing else to do? ¡°Er¡­.are you¡­do you just wait inside here all day?¡±

    The man nced at Su Jin and shook his head. ¡°How can that be?¡±

    <i>I thought so too. I guess I¡¯m just lucky enough to keep running into him</i>, thought Su Jin.

    ¡°I only stay in here for about 20 days a month or so,¡± the man went on.

    Su Jin nearly choked on his own saliva. 20 days a month was as good as staying in the bar every day. If the man worked here, he would have gotten an award for never missing a day of work.

    ¡°What are you coughing about? Hurry up and look at these things! Are they of any use to you?¡± The man shoved his Handbook into Su Jin¡¯s face. Out of the three items that could boost Soul Power, only one of them gave a medium boost, while the other two only gave a small boost.

    ¡°What are your terms of exchange if I want them all?¡± Su Jin thought it was best to get as many items as he could, but it also had toe at a reasonable price.

    ¡°One leaf. That¡¯s all I ask.¡± The man was practical too. He knew that even though these things were hard toe by, he wasn¡¯t offering something that valuable either, so he couldn¡¯t ask for too much.

    Su Jin felt that this was an agreeable price, so they went ahead with the transaction.

    After that, Su Jin asked, ¡°By the way, since you spend so much time in here, does that mean you have a lot of information on hand as well?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a businessman, so as long as you¡¯ve got enough money, I can get anything for you.¡± The man lit his cigar and inhaled deeply.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I need two pieces of information. One is regarding a group of owners who¡¯ve been going around robbing other owners of their items; the other is about someone whom I suspect is an owner. Would you be able to get that sort of information for me?¡±

    ¡°Oh no, you¡¯ve run into those robbers?¡± The man looked rather surprised and shook his head at Su Jin. ¡°I¡¯d advise you to watch out. If you can¡¯t handle them, just stay in here and don¡¯t go out anymore.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the advice. Do you have any information on them?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    The man nodded and said, ¡°Well, most owners who¡¯ve been around long enough know about them, and I don¡¯t know much more than they do. Nobody knows who formed this organization and legend has it that the boss is actually a Level A team. Their memberse from different universes and they¡¯ll send members to target owners in a different universe from their own. That way, even if they create a lot of trouble in the target¡¯s universe, the humanly powers in that universe would not be able to do anything about them since they technically do not exist.¡±

    ¡°A different universe?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. So, the people who tried to attack him were actually from a different universe?

    ¡°Surprising, isn¡¯t it? Apparently, the boss has some powerful treasure that can allow anybody he permits to move through different universes. In any case, these fellows are not to be trifled with. Very few owners have managed to get away from them.¡± The man exhaled arge mouthful of smoke and shook his head with a perplexed look on his face. ¡°I heard that these people will not stop until they get what they want so¡­all the best to you!¡±

    Su Jin nodded. It was true that these people were difficult to deal with, and it was possible that the organization would send more powerful owners after him the next time. But that was something he had to deal with in the future, not now.

    So, he asked again, ¡°I need information on another person. Her name is Ye Yun and she might be an owner. Might be. Could you help me to find out more about her?¡±

 Chapter 125: The Bossâ€™s Secret

    <h4>Chapter 125: The Boss¡¯s Secret</h4>

    The man nced at Su Jin with a cheeky look in his eyes. ¡°An enemy?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Ah, then it must be a lover.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re business partners, there¡¯s no need for you to be such a busybody,¡± muttered Su Jin as he rubbed his temples. This middle aged man looked like the serious, no-nonsense type. He didn¡¯t expect him to be interested in such gossip.

    The manughed even more merrily when he saw Su Jin look like he was suffering from a headache. He put his cigar out and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to investigate, but I can¡¯t guarantee if I¡¯d find anything. There are so many universes after all. There aren¡¯t a lot of owners in each universe, but when you put everyone together, the number is astounding. It¡¯s very hard for me to help you with just one name.¡±

    Su Jin quickly took his phone out and showed the man a photo of Ye Yun. ¡°Does having a photo make it easier?¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say you had a photo earlier?¡± The man rolled his eyes at Su Jin, thenughed again when he saw the photo. ¡°Judging from the angle, you must have taken this photo secretly! I just knew it! If it¡¯s not an enemy, it¡¯s got to be a lover! Then again, that infatuated look on your face makes it obvious that it¡¯s thetter.¡±

    Su Jin tried his best not to jump up and p the man across the face. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the price. How much do you think is a suitable price for this information?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­it¡¯s a bit difficult to name you a price right now, since I don¡¯t know how much effort it will take for me to find out more about her. We can settle that a littleter.¡± The man got up to leave, then suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Su Jin. ¡°Besides exchanging items for information, we could exchange information for information. There¡¯s a small team that¡¯s garnered some attention recently, so if you can get information on them, you could use that in exchange for information on this youngdy.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Which team is this?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°It¡¯s a team called Team Boning Knife,¡± said the man. Su Jin blinked in surprise and the man carried on, ¡°They¡¯vepleted a Level A Challenge perfectly, so everyone¡¯s talking about them now. So it¡¯d be great if you could get me some information. I want some basic information about each of the team members.¡±

    ¡°I¡­how did you know that this Team Boning Knifepleted a Level A Challenge?¡± Su Jin did not expect anybody else to know about this.

    ¡°That¡¯s because the noticeboard in Hell¡¯s Bar has a golden notice on it. As long as you¡¯re not blind or deaf, you¡¯d see it,¡± said the man as if it was a normal thing around here. Su Jin quickly turned to look at the noticeboard and saw that a golden notice was indeed still stered on it.

    ¡°How long will this thing be up there?¡± Su Jin¡¯s head hurt just thinking about it. Getting a golden notice was something to be proud of, but now that he was a target of a dangerous syndicate, getting any form of additional attention was bad news.

    The man paused to think, then said, ¡°It¡¯ll be there until theyplete their next Challenge. I¡¯ve got information on almost every high ranking team here, but I¡¯ve never heard of this team before.¡±

    Su Jin smiled awkwardly and was so relieved that he had only left his team¡¯s emblem on the notice he put up thest time and had not left the team¡¯s name. Otherwise, this man would have known who he was by now.

    He then remembered that his team was now a Level C team, so he asked the man, ¡°Can I ask you something? If a team moves from Level D to Level C, do they get more perks?¡±

    ¡°Level C? It¡¯s been a long time since I bothered about such low ranking teams. I don¡¯t think they get a lot more perks. They¡¯ll have one more team member vacancy and¡­do you see that portal door over there? They¡¯ll be able to go in there now,¡± said the man nonchntly.

    Su Jin looked at the door that the man was pointing at. It was the same door he had seen thest time but was denied ess. After the man had left, he walked towards the door.

    The faint colorful glow he saw thest time had disappeared, which seemed to be a sign that Su Jin was allowed entry. He walked in and was immediately surprised by what he saw on the other side. The two sides of the door looked identical.

    It was the same bar on both sides, as if the portal door was a mirror. If not for the fact that Su Jin hadn¡¯t drunk a single drop of alcohol all day, he would have thought he was just drunk and seeing things.

    Su Jin took a look around and saw that the bar counter was still manned by that slightly balding barkeeper. He turned back to look at the side he hade from and saw that it was the same guy on that side too.

    ¡°Twins?¡± Su Jin was puzzled as he went to take a seat at the bar. The boss eyed him andughed. ¡°Are you very surprised?¡±

    ¡°I guess I am¡­are you two twins?¡± He wasn¡¯t surprised that the boss could see through his thoughts, since this man was the boss of a ce like Hell¡¯s Bar. Even if someone told him this man was actually the lord of Hades himself, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t even bat an eye.

    ¡°Unfortunately, that¡¯s not the case. The man on the other side is also me.¡± The boss smiled and ced a drink in front of Su Jin. ¡°Congrattions on your team¡¯s promotion to the next level, this drink¡¯s on me.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Su Jin was still puzzled by the situation and asked, ¡°So¡­what¡¯s going on? If you¡¯re not twins, then is this some sort of cloning technique?¡±

    ¡°You could put it that way! I¡¯ve got to talk to so many customers at the same time here. Did you think I¡¯ve got so much time to stand here and talk to you all day?¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, I¡¯m sorry. I shan¡¯t disturb you anymore,¡± said Su Jin with an awkward smile.

    But the boss burst outughing again. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be sorry. I really do have the time, actually.¡±

    Su Jin felt like he was being trolled. The middle aged man earlier had already been annoying enough, and now he was faced with another.

    ¡°You could try guessing what¡¯s going on. If you guess it right, I¡¯ll give you a bottle from my prized collection,¡± said the boss.

    ¡°And how am I supposed to be able to guess?¡± Su Jin rolled his eyes at the boss.

    The boss smiled and said, ¡°Just give it a shot! You¡¯re the team leader and brains of Team Boning Knife, the team that managed toplete a Level A Challenge with a perfect score!¡±

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. This boss really seemed to know everything. He broke into a smile and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just give it a shot then.¡±

    Su Jin thought through everything the boss had said earlier and slowly tapped his nose. Was this man a human, or just AI, or some sort of god like existence? It was impossible for one person to handle so many owners, since there was barely even enough time in a day to talk to everyone, plus he did not see the boss talk to any other owners at the same time either.

    ¡°Time!¡± It suddenly hit him. He didn¡¯t have enough time in the real world because he was constrained by thosews, but time worked differently here. After experiencing the difference in time in the Handbook¡¯s universe, the answer suddenly seemed very obvious.

    ¡°The bar counter is a space that¡¯s simr to a Handbook Challenge, isn¡¯t it?¡± Su Jin smiled as he went on, ¡°You¡¯re in a space where you can stretch time as long as you like. Perhaps only one second has passed in the world outside, but it¡¯s an entire day inside here, so you have all the time in the world to slowly handle each owner¡¯s needs and you can even go in and out of different bars.¡±

    .

    The boss was stunned for a while before giving Su Jin a pleased smile as he pped for the young man. ¡°You¡¯re really good at this! You¡¯re truly an owner whopleted a Level A Challenge perfectly after all. I¡¯ve posed the same question to a lot of people, and many of them are the analytical type as well, but very few have been able to give me the right answer. You¡¯re really not bad.¡±

    Su Jin just smiled at thepliment. He had been able to arrive at this answer only because of the conversation they had earlier. If the boss had asked him without saying anything prior to that, he wouldn¡¯t have arrived at this answer.

    ¡°Boss, I¡¯m now really looking forward to that prized bottle you talked about just now.¡± Su Jin downed hisplimentary drink with one mouthful. This was the same drink that the boss gave him thest time, and it could increase the upper limit of his Spirit Power. After he finished the drink, his upper limit now stood at 400 points.

    The boss was a man of his word, but he still looked reluctant as he retrieved a bottle filled with a blue liquid from under the counter and put it in front of Su Jin. Su Jin picked up the bottle and shook it slightly. Colorful sparkles floated about inside the liquid, so there had to be something extraordinary about this drink.

    ¡°What drink is this?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    ¡°This is called the Blood of Demons and Gods, and it¡¯s good stuff that reallyes from demons and gods. Each cup you take will be able to toughen up your body. I see that your physical body is already very strong, so if you want to bring it up to the next level, you¡¯ll have to rely on such items to do so. This is very suitable for you,¡± exined the boss.

    Su Jin fell silent for a while. The Blood of Demons and Gods? He hoped it didn¡¯t have anything to do with those pesky Elder Gods. Then again, it was good to hear that there was something that could toughen his body up even after he had already taken the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir.

    His body was really strong now, but it always seemed hungry. It wasn¡¯t really hungry in that sense, but his cells always needed more nourishment and his body couldn¡¯t provide that much. If he could satisfy the hunger in his cells, he would definitely be even stronger.

    He excitedly poured himself a ss and drank it down. A powerful sense of satisfaction overcame him and he realized that his cells weren¡¯t hungry anymore.

    ¡°Just one ss at a time will do. Drink it again only when you feel hungry, that will greatly increase its efficacy,¡± said the boss in a gentle voice.

    ¡°Thanks!¡± Su Jin thanked him with a big grin. This was an unexpected reward.

    During this time, Lv Jincheng had already reported everything that happened as well as his observations of Su Jin to Yang Tianzheng. Yang Tianzheng fell into deep thought, then said, ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time to talk to Situ Jin about this. I want to know what he thinks.¡±

    Meanwhile, on a secluded ind thousands of kilometers away from China, a tiny little machine flew in andnded in the hands of a man with red eyes.

    The man pressed the tiny machine and it instantly transformed itself into many tiny figurines as it reenacted the entire fight between Su Jin and the other owners.

    After watching the whole thing, the man frowned and said, ¡°I¡¯m surprised that China has a new owner with psychokinesis. He¡¯s not as powerful as Xu Ran, but he¡¯s on his way there. Should I kill him before he bes powerful?¡±

    After a while, he suddenly said, ¡°Contact Andre and Guiume. I need them to help get something done.¡±

 Chapter 126: Ye Yun Is Amazing

    <h4>Chapter 126: Ye Yun Is Amazing</h4>

    After he returned to the house, Su Jin¡¯s uneasiness about Ye Yun grew stronger. He tried calling Ye Yun again, and even though the call got through, she never picked up the phone.

    ¡°This girl really makes me worry.¡± Su Jin sighed. As per Ye Yun¡¯sst message, he was supposed to head to Z Province to look for her on Cloud Mountain in three months¡¯ time, but he decided to go there earlier instead.

    He bought a ticket and told Kano Mai where he was going. But when she heard what he was going to do, she decided to go with him.

    ¡°Mai, you really don¡¯t have to be part of this. The people looking for Ye Yun are really difficult to deal with.¡± He didn¡¯t want to drag Kano Mai into this mess. If that syndicate found out that she was an owner too, they might target her as well.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. We¡¯re team mates and my team leader is so infatuated with this girl,¡± teased Kano Mai. She ignored Su Jin¡¯s attempts at convincing her and bought a ticket online as well.

    Su Jin looked exasperated, but he felt a warmth inside his heart. Ever since he formed a team, he felt like he wasn¡¯t so lonely and helpless in his journey as a Handbook owner anymore.

    Their trip to Z Province caught the attention of the special police, so Lv Jincheng and Han Mengyao were sent to follow them, since their current mission was to keep a close eye on Su Jin.

    In B City, Situ Jin sat tiredly in his office. Over the past month, he had used his understanding of owners and the resources that the government had to confirm the identities of several owners. His aim was to bring to justice those owners who used their superpowers to break thew and bring disorder to the country.

    Of course, Situ Jin was not the sort who just acted without thinking. He had done meticulous nning and would only attack if he was more than 70% confident of defeating the owner.

    Even so, his new mission to filter out the bad eggs ran into unexpected problems from time to time. Owners were people beyond human imagination to begin with, and some owners had hidden the true extent of their superpowers very well.

    ¡°That was almost the end of me.¡± Situ Jin looked down at the wound in his abdomen. The wound went right through his abdomen and many of his internal organs were damaged in the process. If he had not exchanged his points for very powerful healing substances, he would probably have died by now.

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m really still too weak to do this. Even though I have the entire country¡¯s resources at my fingertips, it¡¯s not enough to deal with an owner.¡± Situ Jin had a frightening look in his eyes as stared at his Handbook. Most other owners dreaded the start of a Challenge, but Situ Jin looked forward to it.

    Just then, his phone started ringing. He frowned when he saw the number. It was Yang Tianzheng from S City¡¯s special police. Why was he calling now?

    Situ Jin picked up the call and the first thing he heard was Yang Tianzheng¡¯s heartyughter. ¡°Situ! I¡¯m sorry for calling you at this hour, but I wanted to ask you about Su Jin. You know, the young fellow you asked me to keep tabs on thest time.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± A smile spread across Situ Jin¡¯s face.

    ¡­

    After arriving at Z Province, Su Jin and Kano Mai did not stop to take a rest and switched to a bus to reach Cloud Mountain. Cloud Mountain was the highest mountain in Z Province and its peak was hidden in the clouds. It snowed all year round and was a popr tourist destination.

    The two of them looked like they were here on a free and easy mountain climbing trip, but they didn¡¯t take any of the normal routes that everyone took. They took an entire week tob every hiding ce they could find on the mountain, but there was no sign of Ye Yun anywhere.

    ¡°Are we just too early?¡± Su Jin sighed. Ye Yun did tell him toe only in three months¡¯ time, and it seemed like she wasn¡¯t going to appear anytime before that.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t going back to S City now either. Z Province was a pleasant ce with fresh air and beautiful scenery. More importantly, he could avoid all the crazy things happening in S City.

    The syndicate of robbers, the special police and even Situ Jin¡¯s Department of Supernatural Affairs, were all people who made things very difficult for him. Hiding away in Cloud Mountain for the time being wasn¡¯t a bad idea. In any case, he could start a Challenge anywhere in the world.

    Meanwhile, Lv Jincheng and Han Mengyao werepletely bewildered. Initially, they managed to keep up with Su Jin and Kano Mai. But after a while, they had to give up tailing them because these two took trails that were impossible for ordinary people like themselves to climb. They were now even more certain that Su Jin was one of those superhumans that their mentor told them about.

    After Su Jin and Kano Mai came down from the mountain, he went sightseeing and enjoying local delicacies every day with the beautiful Kano Mai, which made Lv Jincheng and Han Mengyao wonder if these two were actually just a pair of lovebirds here on a simple holiday.

    Day after day went by and Lv Jincheng was the first to give up. He had many things to attend to back in S City and nothing seemed to be happening, so he left Han Mengyao behind and returned to S City by himself.

    Shortly after Lv Jincheng left, Kano Mai said to Su Jin, ¡°One has left.¡±

    ¡°Uh huh. But we still have on more on our tail,¡± said Su Jin with augh. They had detected their two stalkers from their very first day in Z Province. But they were merely ordinary people and Su Jin had no reason to stay away from them, so he just kept an eye on them and continued to do whatever he wanted.

    ¡°Do you need me to get rid of the girl?¡± Kano Mai spoke very ruthlessly at times, because besides her own friends, people she didn¡¯t know, like Han Mengyao, was no different from the grass on the road to her. She had spent a long time going through cruel Handbook Challenges that often taught her not to trust others and not to grow too attached to other humans. Anybody who went through such experiences often enough would end up looking at life this way.

    ¡°Forget it, just let her be. She doesn¡¯t affect us anyway,¡± said Su Jin as he nced at Han Mengyao hiding in the distance from the corner of his eye. This girl really had to learn how to conceal herself better.

    When almost an entire month had passed, Su Jin paid Hell¡¯s Bar another visit. The middle aged man was already waiting for him and approached Su Jin the minute he saw him.

    ¡°You¡¯re here! I¡¯ve got information for you!¡± said the man with a wide smile.

    Su Jin immediately burst outughing. ¡°And what would you do if I say I don¡¯t want it anymore?¡±

    ¡°You¡­don¡¯t want it anymore?¡± The man¡¯s eyes widened and he nearly lost his temper. Then again, if Su Jin had managed to get the information he wanted from another source already, there was no reason why Su Jin would want information from him now.

    ¡°You got information on the person you wanted?¡± asked the man in a sulky voice.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t, but judging from your expression, I¡¯ve gotten most of the information that I wanted.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The man was confused now. How had his expression given Su Jin any information?

    Su Jin sighed and exined, ¡°You said that you managed to get hold of information, which means that there¡¯s information about her within Hell¡¯s Bar. In other words, she¡¯s definitely a Handbook owner. Right?¡±

    The man stared nkly at Su Jin for a moment, then pped his own forehead andined loudly, ¡°That¡¯s not the way things are supposed to work! If everyone¡¯s like you, how am I going to do any business in the future?¡±

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. I¡¯m still interested in more detailed information, so please tell me what you know.¡±

    The man looked warily at Su Jin and still looked uneasy. ¡°Young man, let¡¯s talk terms first before I tell you anything, okay?¡±

    Su Jin chuckled. His joke had clearly shaken the man¡¯s confidence, so he nodded and said, ¡°Sure. What¡¯s your price?¡±

    ¡°It took me quite a bit of effort to get information on thisss, so two Tree of Life leaves or information on Team Boning Knife, the team I told you about thest time.¡±

    ¡°Team Boning Knife? I do have a bit of information but I don¡¯t have details. I can tell you what I know, and you can decide if that¡¯s enough for an exchange.¡± Nobody knew Team Boning Knife better than Su Jin, after all.

    The man¡¯s eyes lit up and he rubbed his palms together. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually managed to gather information about that team! Not bad! You¡¯ve seen members from their team?¡±

    ¡°We went through one Challenge together before,¡± said Su Jin rather flippantly. ¡°They¡¯re now a three member, Level C team. Two members are male, one member is female, and they¡¯re all veterans.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it. We don¡¯t know each other well, so that¡¯s all the information I have.¡±

    ¡°What are their names?¡± The man refused to give up.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I was a newbie and they were already kind enough to help me through the Challenge, and they didn¡¯t tell me their real names. What do you think? Is that enough information for you?¡±

    The man didn¡¯t hesitate and smiled as he said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s enough. Any information on a team that canplete a Level A Challenge with a perfect score is valuable, no matter how little.¡±

    ¡°So, tell me what information you¡¯ve gathered.¡±

    ¡°Right. This Ye Yun you asked me to investigate is a Handbook owner, and she¡¯s a pretty formidable one too. ording to the owner who provided me with this information, if Ye Yun is still alive, she should havepleted at least 30 Challenges already.¡±

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Su Jin gasped. He had guessed that Ye Yun was probably an owner and after the recent incidents, he was actually very certain that she was one, but he didn¡¯t expect her to have survived so many.

    ¡°Take a look at this.¡± The man showed Su Jin a photo of a beautiful youngdy standing on top of a mountain of dead bodies with a billhook in hand, her brownish hair flying in the wind.

    ¡°Is she a veteran?¡± Thedy in the photo was definitely Ye Yun, but it was so hard to connect this frightening photo to the yful Ye Yun he knew.

    The man nodded and said, ¡°Since she¡¯s survived more than 30 Challenges, she must be a veteran. Also, I¡¯ve confirmed that thisss is a target of that syndicate of robbers we were talking about thest time, and apparently she¡¯s on the list of owners that must be killed.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyelid twitched and he shook his head in dismay. He had guessed that the syndicate was targeting her, but to be on a list of people who must be killed¡­he really wondered what on Earth she did to offend these people so badly. Also, he felt that he had to salute her the next time he saw her, because she was truly amazing for surviving so many Challenges.

    He had many more questions, but it was already almost time for the next Challenge. So, he left the bar, contacted Chu Yi, and started their next Challenge.

    ¡°Challenge started: Zombie Frenzy!¡±

 Chapter 127: Zombie Frenzy

    <h4>Chapter 127: Zombie Frenzy</h4>

    Su Jin found himself surrounded by darkness and he had no idea where he was at all. A bright light suddenly appeared in front of him like a movie screen, and a zombie movie began to y before his eyes.

    <i>Humans have always been a greedy race. Since primitive times, humans always wanted to be fed and wanted to be safe. In the age of civilization, they craved money and power. And now, humans wanted to live forever.</i>

    <i>It seemed impossible to ever satisfy the desires of humans. At the same time, humans were intelligent beings, living creatures blessed by their creator. Not only did they possess intelligence of their own, but they also passed knowledge down from generation to generation, slowly finding their way towards a territory that once only belonged to God.</i>

    <i>The Key to Immortality was the greatest invention of the 21st century, a substance that put an end to ageing. Once injected with the Key to Immortality, the human body would undergo a tremendous change. The cells would have greater vitality, possess an incredible ability to multiply itself and create a much more resilient body.</i>

    <i>But the Key to Immortality came with a problem. Those who were injected with it would be infertile. Then again, what was the aim of reproduction? What were children for?</i>

    <i>For some people, children were a continuation of life, a continuation of civilization and the continuation of their race. Indeed, children were a way of extending life as their ancestors knew it.</i>

    <i>But if one could live forever, then did extending life in the form of children mean anything anymore? Humans were now immortal and they could do all the aforementioned things. And so, the human race fell into this temptation, or rather, they were persuaded to go in this direction.</i>

    <i>The vast majority of humans chose to be injected with the Key to Immortality, and only a very small group refused. This group were called the Fools and they were treated as a lower life form.</i>

    <i>Indeed, after the Key to Immortality came into the world, discrimination moved from being a matter of skin color to a matter of the choice you made regarding immortality.</i>

    <i>Unfortunately, these happy times did notst long. A few centuriester, the side effects of the Key to Immortality began to surface.</i>

    <i>Everyone injected with the substance slowly began to lose their conscious minds. Their bodies began to rot and they started craving for blood. They had be the creatures that the movie studios centuries ago had created: they had turned into zombies.</i>

    <i>Destruction came without warning. Besides the small group of Fools, the rest of humanity turned into zombies, and it didn¡¯t take long for the Earth to be a of zombies.</i>

    <i>God never only provided the world with despair, however. Hope was small, but it still existed. The small group of Fools banded together, and they were now much smarterpared to all the zombies who had lost the ability to think for themselves. They were intelligent beings who could make use of tools and weapons to fight the zombies. As long as they could rid the world of zombies, the Fools would be able to change the world back to what it was before.</i>

    <i>But they were really badly outnumbered. The zombies refused to die even after they had been severely injured, while humans could be infected with the side effects of the Key to Immortality with just once scratch. Those infected at this stage did not remain as humans for a few centuries. They turned into zombies in a very short time.</i>

    <i>Time and tide wait for no man. Thest group of Fools are now trapped in a Safe Zone, but the safety of this zone is about to bepromised. Go forth and save the Fools!</i>

    The movie wasn¡¯t long and it was probably only as long as a long movie trailer, but it stated the context of this Challenge very clearly.

    As Su Jin looked at the screen that was now covered in bloodstains, arge hand suddenly appeared and mmed its palm against the screen. That was the hand of a demon. A terrifying cackle that sent shivers down his spine followed soon after.

    ¡°Hehehe! HEHEHE!¡±

    As the cackling echoed and slowly faded, Su Jin opened his eyes with a start. He was panting and all his hair was standing on end. He was in the middle of a pile of rubble, and everything around him was a mess, as though he was in what was left of a house that had just been violently demolished. Kano Mai and Chu Yi were next to him, and they also looked like they had been frightened.

    Besides his two teammates, there were five others with them. There were three men and two women. Two of the men looked like they were in their 30s, thest man and one of the women looked like they were in their 20s and thest woman looked like she was around Chu Yi¡¯s age.

    Su Jin said to his team mates, ¡°Exin the situation to them, I¡¯ll go read up on the introduction to the Challenge and any missions.¡±

    He opened his Handbook and looked through the content on this Challenge. The content was very simple, since it was basically a summary of what Su Jin watched earlier.

    ¡°Challenge: Zombie Frenzy, Level D Challenge!¡± Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally going through an easier Challenge. Since his team were all veterans now, this Challenge was probably going to resemble a tour of a zombie movie set more than a Handbook Challenge.

    ¡°Mission one, reach the Safe Zone where the Fools are. Mission two, kill any mutants. Killing one Level 1 mutant will earn you 2 points, a Level 2 mutant is worth 20 points, a Level 3 mutant is worth 50 points and a Level 4 mutant is worth 100 points.¡±

    Su Jin tapped his nose as he contemted these words. In short, these zombies could actually mutate and level up. A Level 1 zombie was probably the really slow and dumb type, but as they levelled up, their prowess clearly increased proportionately to the points they were worth.

    ¡°A Level 4 mutant is worth 100 points. Logically speaking, they probably wouldn¡¯t be as powerful as the hunters in Fengxi Town, right?¡± thought Su Jin. In general, this Challenge didn¡¯t look too difficult. Even though a Level 4 mutant was powerful, it was probably not going to stand a chance against thebined attack of three veterans.

    But when Su Jin continued reading the rest of the page, he stared in shock as he cursed, ¡°Fuck!¡±

    Everyone else around him was shocked by his sudden outburst. His expression was so nasty that the youngdy around Chu Yi¡¯s age looked like she was on the verge of tears.

    The reason for Su Jin¡¯s outburst was simple. Thest thing written inside the Handbook was: This Challenge will seal all Spirit Powers and any equipment inside the Handbook.

    ¡°Sometimes, Challenges with such limits would appear because some owners are too powerful. The Challenge could seal a majority of your power so as to increase the difficulty of the Challenge,¡± Kano Mai exined to Su Jin with an equally frustrated look on her face.

    Su Jin did not say anything and tried to use his psychokinesis, but it didn¡¯t work at all. He tried to retrieve an item from his Handbook, but nothing happened. However, when he punched the wall next to him angrily, a smile finally appeared on his face.

    The wall he had just punched cracked from the impact of his punch, spreading across the wall before the wall finally copsed.

    ¡°My physical strength has not been limited, that¡¯s great to know.¡± Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He didn¡¯t have any supernatural power on hand, but having superhuman strength for a Level D Challenge was probably more than enough to get through it.

    He looked at Kano Mai and Chu Yi, but they both shook their heads at him. Their Spirit Power and items had also been sealed off by the Handbook. He consoled them, ¡°With Chu Yi and I around, we can just make a run for the Safe Zone. I think we¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    But Chu Yi smiled sadly and shook his head. ¡°Boss, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be of much help to you this time.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Your physical strength has increased because your body has undergone a permanent transformation and you¡¯ve been training it up as well. I, on the other hand, have been using my internal energy to give my body a boost. The strength and speed needed for my martial arts move are maximized with the help of my internal energy. Now that my Spirit Power has been sealed up, I¡¯m really just any martial artist with a bit more fighting experience, that¡¯s all,¡± said Chu Yi sadly.

    Su Jin was very upset by this turn of events. He looked into the distance and he could see that arge number of zombies were wandering the area beyond the rubble area they were in right now. Once they crossed the border of the rubble, they would definitely be attacked by the zombies.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to confirm where this Safe Zone is first,¡± said Su Jin with furrowed brows.

    Just then, one of the older men walked over and raised his voice angrily, ¡°What the hell is this all about? I can¡¯t believe a reality TV program is resorting to kidnapping people now! I¡¯m not going to let you people off! You¡¯d betterpensate me, or I¡¯ll see you in court!¡±

    Su Jin widened his eyes, then nced at Kano Mai and Chu Yi, since the two of them should have exined the situation to the five newbies with them for the Challenge. The two of them shrugged and shook their heads. This man clearly had not epted what they told him at all.

    ¡°This world is full of dangers. If you don¡¯t want to die, I suggest that you stay close to me. Also, this is not a reality TV program. This is a game designed by a demon,¡± said Su Jin.

    The man pushed Su Jin aside and scoffed disdainfully before marching off. The other four looked at him and started wondering if they ought to follow him.

    In most cases, because the Handbook transported owners mysteriously into a different world and also introduced the Challenge via their subconscious, most newbies would ept that they were really in apletely different dimension.

    Unfortunately, there were always a few strange and stubborn ones, like this man. Not only was he about to walk into his own grave, his words had also raised suspicions in the hearts of the other four newbies.

    ¡°Should we stop him?¡± asked Chu Yi.

    ¡°Whatever for? He prefers to die, so let him be. Even if you try to stop him, he might think it¡¯s part of the program or something. Something bad is bound to happen with the sort of attitude he has,¡± said Kano Mai inly.

    Su Jin hesitated for a while, but he eventually chose to agree with Kano Mai. This man was quite agitated and did not believe the situation he was in at all, so even if they managed to keep him with them for now, he was definitely going to cause trouble for them eventually.

    By this time, the man had already walked beyond the border of the rubble area. The moment he took a step outside of the border, the zombies came surging towards him.

    ¡°HA! You think you can scare me? You think I¡¯m afraid of these stupid costumes? Gosh, you¡¯re reallying for me, huh? Oh gross! You¡¯ve spilled all this fake blood all over my clothes! You¡¯d betterpensate me for ruining my clothes!¡± The man was quite violent and actually managed to bash a number of them aside, which made Su Jin and Chu Yi both look rather impressed.

    But he couldn¡¯t keep this up for long. One of the zombies came from behind the man and bit down on his shoulder.

    ¡°OWW! How dare you bite me!! OWW! OWW! AHH! You¡­Save me! SAVE ME!¡± The man finally realized that something was amiss. The dozens of zombies surrounded him, tearing and biting away at his body.

    The faces of the newbies instantly paled, because it was clear that none of this was just acting. In less than half a minute, there was no more screaming. A human skeletony lifelessly on the ground, with some bloodied flesh hanging off the bones.

    Su Jin nced at the four terrified newbies and sighed. ¡°I guess that speaks for itself. You can judge for yourself whether this is real or if you¡¯re part of some TV program. So, now, it¡¯s time to think of a way to survive this.¡±

 Chapter 128: I Respect Your Decision

    <h4>Chapter 128: I Respect Your Decision</h4>

    The newbies were scared out of their wits by what they just witnessed. A man who had been well and alive just minutes ago was now nothing but some bones and pieces of flesh. The zombies who ate him still seemed hungry and refused to leave for a long time.

    The youngest one among them finally burst out crying. She trembled violently and it was clear that she had reached the point of breaking. The other three didn¡¯t cry, but their faces were pale and their expressions were grim.

    Su Jin frowned and said patiently, ¡°Everyone, you¡¯ve seen what just happened. It¡¯s not easy to live on under such circumstances, but the first thing you need is courage!¡±

    ¡°The three of us have gone through several simr Challenges, and to be honest with you guys, this is probably going to be the easiest one so far, which is good news to all of you. But just because it¡¯s simple doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that we¡¯re all going to survive it. We will try our best to help you guys, but I hope that you never lose hope and never lose courage. Otherwise, even if we help you to get through this first Challenge, you will still face the threat of death in your next Challenge.¡±

    ¡°What utter nonsense.¡± Thedy in her 20s looked at Su Jin with disdain and she looked like she couldn¡¯t stand Su Jin at all. Su Jin was very puzzled. What had he done to offend her?

    ¡°What a hypocrite. You¡¯re willing to help us? Tsk! What about that man just now then? Did you help him? He was being eaten alive by those creatures! Did you help him? You didn¡¯t!¡± The displeasure in her eyes became more intense as she scoffed. ¡°I think you just want to use us as pawns and you¡¯d sacrifice us the minute you face any danger, right?¡±

    Su Jin was speechless for a moment. What sort of logic was that? The man was the one who insisted on leaving even though the situation had already been exined to him, and Su Jin had also tried to convince him not to leave.

    ¡°Miss, my friend tried to convince the man not to leave earlier but he refused to listen. How could you call my friend a hypocrite?¡± Chu Yi started getting annoyed.

    The woman¡¯s eyes were bulging as she spoke in a sarcastic manner, ¡°Tried to convince? You knew very well that there¡¯s real danger out there and you could have forcibly held him back since you¡¯re so strong. Did you do that? You didn¡¯t! Instead, you just watched him walk out to his death! Are you sure you REALLY tried to convince him?¡±

    Her logic was simple. Su Jin had the ability to literally stop the man from leaving but he did not use that ability, so her conclusion was that he hadn¡¯t tried hard enough because he wasn¡¯t sincere in wanting to help the man. That made Su Jin a hypocrite.

    Su Jin frowned. He didn¡¯t want to spend too much time arguing with her, since he could understand where she wasing from. When he first found himself in the Handbook¡¯s universe, he had been na?ve as well. But he was also pretty sure he had been more cooperative than her.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough! If you think we¡¯re dangerous and unreliable people, then from now on, you can go your way and we¡¯ll go ours. There¡¯s no need to bother yourself with us at all. If the rest of you agree with her, you can go ahead and do whatever you like too. We won¡¯t stop you,¡± Kano Mai suddenly spoke up. Her logic was also very simple. If the newbies didn¡¯t trust Team Boning Knife, they could leave on their own. The team was willing to respect their decision.

    This stunned the woman into silence. Leaving this safe area on her own was practically suicide. But following them went against the bad feeling she had about them, and it also made her feel like a wimp for backing down after saying such things about them.

    Su Jin just shook his head and looked at the other three. ¡°Let¡¯s introduce ourselves, shall we? I¡¯ll go first. I¡¯m Su Jin, team leader of Team Boning Knife.¡±

    ¡°Chu Yi, member of Team Boning Knife.¡±

    ¡°Kano Mai, member of Team Boning Knife.¡±

    The three of them introduced themselves very simply and did not state anything else besides their name. It was a protective measure that they had decided to take after realizing that there were too many unknowns in each Challenge, like enemy missions. It was better not to share too much.

    ¡°I¡¯m Chen Duo, a student.¡± The first one to speak turned out to be the one who burst out crying earlier. She bit her lip and looked like she was trying very hard to suppress the fear she was feeling inside.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Lei, an office worker.¡± He was the other man in his 30s and looked pretty fit, so he probably exercised on a regr basis.

    ¡°I¡¯m Shen Hongjiang, a university student.¡± The young man wore sses and was on the plump side. He pushed his sses up nervously and asked, ¡°I still want to confirm something. What¡­what world are we in? Are we still on Earth?¡±

    ¡°To put it simply, this ce is a parallel universe to Earth. But time here works differently to Earth,¡± exined Su Jin.

    Shen Hongjiang nodded, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if the young man could really understand or ept what he just heard.

    Su Jin then turned back to thedy who had called him a hypocrite earlier. ¡°Miss, just like my friend said earlier, if you don¡¯t trust us, you can choose to leave on your own. But of course, if you change your mind, I don¡¯t mind letting youe along with us.¡±

    He did not mind what she said earlier, since it was only normal to be terrified and be distrustful of everyone after being pulled into this strange and frightening universe. At the same time, if she insisted on going her own way, he wasn¡¯t going to stop her. If she wanted to do what the first man did, she could go ahead.

    She hesitated for a while, and finally chose to go along with Su Jin and the rest, since she wasn¡¯t going to take a gamble on her life. She took a deep breath to suppress the irritation she felt and said, ¡°I¡¯m Ju Xin, apany director and a Big V.¡±

    ¡°A Big V?¡± Kano Mai looked at Su Jin with a confused expression.

    Su Jinughed. ¡°Do you know about Weibo? Big Vs are people who¡¯ve been verified. So she¡¯s like an inte celebrity.¡±

    ¡°Ah! I see.¡± Kano Mai nodded. She understood that much.

    Ju Xin said in an annoyed voice, ¡°What do you mean by ¡®inte celebrity¡¯? Don¡¯t use such crude terms on me. I¡¯m just someone who speaks up on the inte for those who¡¯ve been treated unjustly.¡±

    Su Jin just smiled faintly. He didn¡¯t really care who Ju Xin was in her universe. He was more focused on the task at hand.

    He turned to discuss things with Chu Yi and Kano Mai, ¡°At the moment, there¡¯s no information on the Safe Zone, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find something once we step out of this ce. Mai, you¡¯ve taken one elixir and Chu Yi, you¡¯re a martial artist, so we should be safe as long as we don¡¯t run into any Level 2 mutants. You two take the front and the back of the team, while I¡¯ll clear the path in front and get rid of any threats.¡±

    Both of them were fine with the n. Actually, they could choose to ignore the newbies, since they had nothing to do with one another. But Kano Mai knew that Su Jin and Chu Yi were kindhearted people and would choose to save lives if they could.

    ¡°So¡­what do we need to do?¡± Zhang Lei asked.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi exchanged nces. Chu Yi sighed and said, ¡°Just stay alive. Like literally.¡±

    Zhang Lei¡¯s eyes nearly popped out at that response.

    ¡°Well, while it¡¯s true that newbies aren¡¯t very useful in a Challenge, especially if they¡¯ve got nothing to fight with, if you¡¯ve got a good memory or observation skills, it¡¯ll be helpful if you could take note of anything that might be of use,¡± Su Jinforted Zhang Lei.

    Before heading out, Su Jin used some of the scraps he found around them to make some armor. To put it more urately, he was just trying to cover any exposed skin up. The zombies could pass their zombie attributes on with an injury, and even though they were owners and the humans in this world, Su Jin didn¡¯t think they had any immunity against the zombies if they were to be bitten or cut by them.

    The n was straightforward. Su Jin would hang around the group to get rid of anythinging their way. Kano Mai was the leader of the group, the four newbies would follow behind her, while Chu Yi would cover the back. Once everyone was properly briefed, they walked out of the safe area.

    Immediately after they left the safe area, arge number of zombies came towards them. Thankfully, the zombies moved very slowly. As long as they did not remain standing in one ce and curse and shout like the first man did, it was possible to outrun these slow moving zombies quite easily. But of course, their best defense was Su Jin.

    Despite losing the ability to use his Spirit Power and equipment, Su Jin was still a killing machine in this Challenge. He managed to find a metal rod among the rubble, and he used his bare hands to tten one end of the rod to turn it into a spear of sorts. Once he had his eye on any zombie, that zombie was doomed.

    These Level 1 zombies were easy to deal with and he could earn points by killing them too, so he dealt with them as quickly as possible. The zombies were dead before they could even get within 10 meters of the group.

    ¡°Boss, leave some for me, won¡¯t you? Look at how many points you must have umted by now!¡± Chu Yi wished he could just abandon these newbies and go on a zombie massacre like Su Jin.

    ¡°You¡¯d better stick to the n! You can¡¯t use any internal energy, so you¡¯re not as formidable as you usually are. It¡¯s not so bad if you end up getting killed by the zombies, but if you get bitten and turn into one, we¡¯ll be worse off.¡± It wasn¡¯t that Su Jin couldn¡¯t bear to share these points with Chu Yi, but Su Jin knew that it was more dangerous to allow Chu Yi to fight these zombies.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was so strong now that even if a lion or tiger tried to bite him, his skin wouldn¡¯t break, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of getting infected. But the same couldn¡¯t be said about Chu Yi. It was too horrifying to imagine what would happen if Chu Yi were bitten.

    Chu Yi was disappointed, but he obediently stuck to his post and followed behind the group. The group just kept walking on, hoping to find some clues about this Safe Zone they needed to reach.

    More than an hourter, the group arrived at a supermarket. Su Jin stopped because he felt something that he never felt during Challenges. He felt hungry.

    They had only been on the move for slightly over an hour, but he was feeling hungry already. That didn¡¯t sound right.

    Kano Mai exined, ¡°Since your Spirit Power has been sealed up, you¡¯re relying entirely on your body and you¡¯ve been clearing all these zombies during this time. It¡¯s only natural for you to feel hungry after expending so much energy.¡±

    After hearing Kano Mai¡¯s exnation, Su Jin decided it was best to get some food. The supermarket was a good ce to get some, and it was vital that they got food quickly, since it wouldn¡¯t be long before the rest also got hungry.

    ¡°Be careful, everyone. There are many hidden corners in a supermarket, so beware of zombies hiding in the shadows,¡± Su Jin warned the group before pushing the ss door of the supermarket open.¡°

    But immediately after he pushed it open, something ck pushed Su Jin to the floor and screeched loudly.

    Most articles I¡¯ve read online equate Weibo verification to Twitter verification, but as far as my personal experience with Weibo goes, I feel that Weibo is a bit looser with who gets to be verifiedpared to Twitter. That¡¯s just my feeling, no stats nor papers to back it up.

 Chapter 129: A Very Noisy Woman

    <h4>Chapter 129: A Very Noisy Woman</h4>

    The attack hade too suddenly and even Su Jin couldn¡¯t react in time, so he got pushed to the floor. Kano Mai was the closest to him, so she flung the simple weapon that Su Jin had made towards the thing that attacked Su Jin.

    The creature went flying out,nded on the floor and scampered off. It was so fast that nobody saw what it was clearly.

    ¡°Jin! Are you alright?¡± Kano Mai helped Su Jin to his feet.

    Su Jin shook his head. Kano Mai had reacted too quickly. He had intended to catch the creature alive, but the creature moved very quickly, then she sent it flying, so there was no chance to catch it at all.

    ¡°I reacted too quickly.¡± Kano Mai¡¯s face reddened in embarrassment. Given how strong Su Jin¡¯s body was, it would have been impossible for that creature to hurt him, since he was like a walking tank in this Challenge. Perhaps only a Level 4 mutant could hurt him. She didn¡¯t have to worry about an attack like that and if he managed to catch it, they would have known what it was.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s just a mutant,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He didn¡¯t think there would be any other strange creatures in this world.

    ¡°That thing just now¡­looked like a monkey,¡± said Chen Duo in a soft voice. Everyone turned to look at her and she said, ¡°I¡¯ve got very sharp vision. From the size of that thing and its behavior, I think it¡¯s a monkey.¡±

    Su Jin thought about this possibility but shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Mutants were created after they were injected with the Key to Immortality, and I don¡¯t think the humans in this world were crazy enough to administer it to monkeys. Besides, we haven¡¯te across any animal mutants thus far. Perhaps animals are immune to this substance, since their immune systems work differently from humans.¡±

    Chen Duo nodded and looked down again. ¡°I guess I saw wrongly.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. If you see anything or if you have any opinions on anything, just tell me,¡± said Su Jin in a gentle voice. As long as they were willing to help, even newbies could be useful in increasing a team¡¯s prowess.

    Chen Duo nodded immediately. Su Jin pushed the ss door of the supermarket open again, then carefully checked the hidden corners of the ce. He wasn¡¯t afraid of being attacked, but everyone else with him was.

    Just then, Ju Xin suddenly said, ¡°If it¡¯s so dangerous inside, can¡¯t you go in by yourself? We¡¯ll wait for you outside.¡±

    Chu Yi red at her. He was very annoyed with how difficult this woman was. He snorted and said, ¡°And why should my boss take the risk all by himself?¡±

    Su Jin gave Chu Yi a nce to calm down, then patiently exined, ¡°I did not ask all of you to follow me because I wanted to drag others down with me in times of trouble. I wanted all of you to stay close so that I can get to you quickly if anything happens.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got the two of them.¡± Ju Xin was still indignant about it. The supermarket was so dark and seemed so dangerous. If a zombie appeared in there, she was doomed for sure.

    ¡°Firstly, the three of us don¡¯t have any trouble protecting ourselves, but having to protect you and ourselves will take more effort. Secondly, if something does happen, I can tell you right now that you¡¯d definitely be thest person we save,¡± said Kano Mai in a frosty voice. She did not like Ju Xin at all.

    ¡°Why, you!¡± Ju Xin was furious and felt like she had been discriminated against. She yelled, ¡°How could you behave like this?¡±

    ¡°Very simple. I just don¡¯t like you. Since you think we¡¯re hypocrites, we might as well be the nasty, petty people you think we really are. So, let me repeat myself. If we run into any danger where all of our lives are endangered, you¡¯re definitely thest one we¡¯ll save.¡± Kano Mai decided that it wasn¡¯t worth trying to be nice to Ju Xin at all, and felt that Ju Xin was a character who would get the team into trouble.

    Ju Xin was so angry that she started shaking, but she didn¡¯t dare to fall out with Kano Mai either. She had seen how dangerous the zombies in this world were. If Su Jin¡¯s team abandoned her, she might not evenst ten minutes.

    ¡°Alright now, let¡¯s not quibble over small matters like this. Reserve your strength for the journey ahead, okay? We don¡¯t even know how long this Challenge willst.¡± Su Jin¡¯s head hurt. Kano Mai was usually a reserved and gentle person, who was only frosty and nasty to those she thought deserved it. If Ju Xin hadn¡¯t been so uncooperative and demanding, Kano Mai wouldn¡¯t treat her like this either.

    Su Jin got the rest to keep within a certain distance of him as he started knocking on the shelves inside the supermarket, using the noise to lure out any zombies hiding in the darkness. This method proved very useful as zombies kept trying to pounce on Su Jin. None of them seeded in taking him down, but he was still very unsettled by the fact that the smaller thing that attacked him when he first entered seemed to have disappeared.

    The shelves in this supermarket looked just like the ones he was familiar with, but there was a protective transparentyer over each shelf. Su Jin broke one of them and took a loaf of bread out. There was no expiry date on the package, but the bread looked fresh, so the protectiveyer was probably able to preserve these items.

    The supermarket had clearly been abandoned for decades, yet the protectiveyer still worked. Su Jin had no idea how that was possible.

    This supermarket sold everything, so he found where the backpacks were, grabbed a few, then packed them with food, water, toilet paper, batteries and some other essential items. Like he said earlier, nobody knew how long this Challenge would take, so it was better to take more now while they could.

    Besides these items, they also found some things they could use as weapons, including axes and knives. They took a few of these items each so that they had something to defend themselves with. To Su Jin¡¯s dismay, there were no guns in this supermarket.

    Once the bags were full, Su Jin passed the lighter ones to the two male newbies, while the three in his team took at least two backpacks each. Their bodies were way stronger than regr humans, so this weight meant nothing to them. But Ju Xin had a foul expression on her face.

    When they were ready to leave, they found that a huge number of zombies had gathered outside the supermarket. Ju Xin¡¯s yelling at Kano Mai earlier had clearly attracted these zombies over.

    ¡°Do we kill our way out?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin observed the zombies for a while and shook his head, because he had seen some mutants that were obviously muchrger in size than the rest, so he figured that those were probably the higher level mutants. Charging out like this might turn out to be dangerous.

    The team quietly moved further into the supermarket. If Su Jin dashed out by himself, it might not be too difficult for him to handle the zombies. But the supermarket wasn¡¯t safe either. If that tiny thing that attacked Su Jin earlier suddenly reappeared, the rest of them would be in trouble.

    ¡°This is a very difficult situation!¡± Su Jin frowned and took some food out to eat so that he could recover some of his energy.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about us. With Sister Mai and myself around, that little thing is doomed for sure.¡± Chu Yi swung the axe in his hand to assure Su Jin, while Kano Mai nodded at Su Jin as well.

    Su Jin swallowed thest bit of food he was holding, then said to everyone, ¡°Alright, everyone, watch out and stay safe. I¡¯ll try to clear the zombies out there as soon as possible.¡± He wrapped some steak knives with a cloth, then hooked somerger ones on his belt. He couldn¡¯t use his Boning Knife now, so therger knives would have to do for now. The steak knives could rece Rumor, since he was very adept at using such hidden weapons now.

    He walked out of the supermarket by himself and it didn¡¯t take long for the sound of fighting to reach their ears. Everyone in the supermarket immediately tensed up and looked out for any potential attackers.

    At this point, Zhang Lei said, ¡°Miss Ju, could you¡­could you try to hold your temper back a little? If you attract so many zombies our way again, it¡¯ll put all of us in danger.¡±

    Ju Xin was surprised by these words and scoffed. ¡°Wow, Mr. Zhang, I didn¡¯t know you enjoyed being ackey so much. So, if these people told you to die, you¡¯d really kill yourself?¡±

    Her words made Zhang Lei very unhappy. ¡°How could you say such things? I think that Team Boning Knife has been very kind to us so far and they¡¯ve even allowed us to walk in the middle. Also, Mr. Su has been working very hard to clear the zombies all this time. Why can¡¯t you see their kindness?¡±

    ¡°Kindness? I don¡¯t think they¡¯re kind at all. Just look at the way they¡¯ve distributed the bags of food and resources. There are so many of us: don¡¯t you think the way they¡¯ve done it is problematic?¡± She scoffed as though she had seen through Su Jin and his team.

    The other newbies blinked in silence and Ju Xin sniggered again. ¡°You¡¯re all a bunch of fools. Look, you two might think you can fool others with your fake kindness, but you can¡¯t fool me. Out of all of us, the three of you have taken the most number of things, followed by the presumably more useful two men. As for Chen Duo and myself¡­we¡¯re just two frail young women who are of no use to you, so you¡¯ve not given us a single thing.¡±

    Chu Yi was so angry that he burst outughing. Heughed and nodded at the same time while saying, ¡°Ha! HA! What an ingrate!¡± He threw one of the backpacks on the floor and said, ¡°If that¡¯s what you think, then you can have this bag!¡±

    Ju Xin immediately dragged the bag nearer to her but stared at it in shock when she tried to carry it. The bag was full of food and water, so it was too heavy for her and she could only drag it along the floor.

    ¡°I hope that you¡¯d still be able to keep up with the team while carrying this stuff,¡± said Chu Yi with a sneer.

    Ju Xin looked embarrassed for a moment, then she flew into a rage and started shrieking, ¡°You hypocrite! You insincere, disgusting¡­¡±

    Pak! Kano Mai suddenly pped Ju Xin so hard across the face that she fell to the floor. Kano Mai had taken one body strengthening elixir before, so the fact that Ju Xin hadn¡¯t lost consciousness meant that Kano Mai hadn¡¯t used all her strength.

    ¡°You¡­How dare you p me! How DARE you p me! Do you know who I am?! I¡¯m someone who can make your life hell with just one word! I¡¯m going to sue you! I¡¯m going to sue you!¡± Ju Xin shrieked uncontrobly.

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t bother arguing with her. She picked up Ju Xin by the cor and dragged her all the way to the entrance to the supermarket. The entrance was now covered in zombie remnants left behind in the wake of Su Jin¡¯s zombie massacre.

    Without any hesitation, Kano Mai threw Ju Xin out of the supermarket and said, ¡°If you want to scream and shout like that, you can do that outside the supermarket. Don¡¯t implicate us.¡± Kano Mai went back inside, blocked the door with some heavy items, and returned to where the group was.

    Ju Xin¡¯s miserably wailing and shrieking could be heard from inside. Chu Yi gave Kano Mai a thumbs up and said, ¡°Sister Mai, you¡¯re the best!¡±

 Chapter 130: Mutants

    <h4>Chapter 130: Mutants</h4>

    ¡°Are you really just going to leave her out there?¡± Chu Yi didn¡¯t like Ju Xin, but he was a good guy at heart and started looking worriedly at the ss door.

    Kano Mai rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just want to scare her. You and Jin don¡¯t really mind how she just goes off like that, but kindness is very precious in a Handbook Challenge and cannot be wasted on those who don¡¯t cherish it.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I really don¡¯t mind her. Everybody who bes a Handbook owner for the first time would definitely feel fearful, so it¡¯s only normal for one to behave crazy,¡± said Chu Yi as he scratched his head. He remembered the way he had behaved when he went through his very first Challenge. If not for Su Jin, he¡¯d be dead by now.

    Kano Mai shook her head and justughed. ¡°You really don¡¯t have to be so worried. I saw that Jin is more or less done with all the zombies, so none of them would be able to get close enough to her to hurt her. I just wanted to teach her a lesson.¡±

    The other newbies had been really frightened by Kano Mai as well, since she had red up so suddenly and done something so extreme. They were a little relieved to hear that Kano Mai wasn¡¯t as cruel as they thought her to be, but they also realized that she was the team member whom they had to be most careful around.

    They were a lot more rxed when it came to Chu Yi. This cheerful boy seemed to be genuinely kind hearted. Even though Ju Xin had been so unreasonable and insulted him, he hadn¡¯t taken it to heart. They weren¡¯t sure if they would have been as magnanimous as Chu Yi if they were in his shoes.

    Meanwhile, Ju Xin was still wailing and shrieking outside the supermarket. If the group couldn¡¯t see her, they might have thought that some zombie was tearing her to pieces. But actually, she was curled into a ball, leaning against the ss door desperately and just screaming away with her eyes closed.

    ¡°Is she stupid or something? Her screaming is as good as announcing to all the zombies that there¡¯s food right here,¡± grumbled Zhang Lei. Her screams were really grating his ears.

    Kano Mai seemed very annoyed by her screaming as well, so she got up to get Ju Xin back in. But just as she got up, a ck shadow suddenly came flying towards her.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Chu Yi called out. He swung his metal bat so quickly in front of Kano Mai that it resembled a wall rather than a bat.

    The shadow was flying very quickly, but Chu Yi¡¯s bat was just as fast. After his bat blocked the shadow¡¯s initial attack, he flicked his wrist and sent the bat flying out.

    Bang! The metal bat hit the shadow, but the shadow was not stunned by the attack. It nimbly used the force from the collision to fly further back.

    Kano Mai had been startled for a second, but quickly realized what just happened. She dropped to the floor and slid across the floor, reaching the shadow in an instant.

    ¡°HA!¡± Kano Mai used a Japanese swordfighting technique, wielding her vegetable knife like a samurai. Her knife glinted like a real sword that had just been unsheathed.

    ng! The shadow couldn¡¯t dodge her attack in time, but it was still too fast and managed to avoid getting killed. It merely lost a limb.

    But that wasn¡¯t the end of it. Kano Mai¡¯s attack gave Chu Yi time to get ready to counterattack. Immediately after Kano Mai¡¯s knife had sliced through its limb, Chu Yi stood in the shadow¡¯s way.

    ¡°Ha!¡± Chu Yi let out a low shout and mmed the shadow with this palm. This time, the attack hit the shadow straight on, so it yelped as it flew straight into the wall.

    Everything had happened in no more than three seconds. The fight was over even before the newbies knew what was going on.

    ¡°Sister Mai, are you alright?¡± Chu Yi exhaled deeply. If he hadn¡¯t been watching the surroundings all this time, that shadow might have taken Kano Mai down with that sneak attack.

    Kano Mai was also frightened by the thought of what could have happened. The rest of them came over and they were all shocked when they looked at the unconscious shadow on the floor. It turned out to be a child.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a child. What is this thing?¡± Kano Mai frowned. This zombie was extremely skinny and looked like a child, but upon closer inspection, this thing¡¯s limbs were shorter than usual, but broader than normal. Its head size was also toorge for a child.

    ¡°Is this a Level 2 mutant?¡± said Chu Yi. Kano Mai nodded. Based on its speed, it was definitely more powerful than the ones they had seen so far. It made sense that this was a higher level mutant.

    ¡°This was the thing that attacked the Boss just now, right?¡± Chu Yi took a second look. This thing was about the same size as the one that attacked Su Jin earlier, so it was probably the same creature.

    Kano Mai wasn¡¯t so quick to jump to a conclusion. She said cautiously, ¡°It¡¯s probably the same type of creature, but it might not be the exact same one. We¡¯ve all got to be careful.¡±

    After that, she went to open the ss door and dragged the inconsble Ju Xin back in. Ju Xin was shaking violently from fear. Su Jin had killed off all the zombies just outside the supermarket, but while there were no live zombiesing after her, sitting in a pile of zombie limbs was still terrifying.

    ¡°Shut up, or I¡¯ll throw you out again,¡± Kano Mai threatened her. These words did the trick. Ju Xin used both hands to cover her mouth and she stared at Kano Mai with terror in her eyes.

    Meanwhile, Chu Yi looked around to see where the shadow mutant could havee from and was able to trace its tracks back to an opening in the floor.

    ¡°Is that a basement?¡± Chu Yi cautiously looked into the basement and gasped silently. He slowly backed away from the opening, then walked back to the group standing at the ss door and whispered, ¡°Run! We¡¯ve got to get out of this ce now!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Everyone was confused and didn¡¯t hear him clearly.

    ¡°There¡¯s a basement of sorts further in and it¡¯s full of the same mutants as the one just now! They¡¯re¡­they¡¯reing out!¡± Chu Yi flung the ss door open and said in an urgent voice, ¡°We need to run now!¡±

    <code> </code>Immediately after he finished saying that, the sound of something pouring out came from the opening in the floor as those children like mutants rushed out from the basement.

    Kano Mai picked up Ju Xin and ran out. Ju Xin was noisy and irritating, but Kano Mai didn¡¯t really want to leave her to die either. All of them dashed out of the supermarket, but they had no idea where Su Jin had gone. They took a quick look around them but couldn¡¯t find him.

    ¡°AHHH!¡± Ju Xin was terrified and started screaming again. As she screamed, the noise from inside the supermarket increased, and countless mutants came spraying out from the ss door of the supermarket.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Kano Mai hissed. When she saw that saying that was useless, she struck her palm against the screaming woman¡¯s neck and knocked her out.

    ¡°The mutants were attracted to her screaming. They were resting in the basement, but her screaming was too loud and it woke all of them up.¡± Chen Duo was a timid girl, but she could analyze the situation quite clearly.

    The group couldn¡¯t really move very quickly as their backpacks slowed them down. Zhang Lei and Shen Hongjiang were really struggling because they weren¡¯t as strong as Kano Mai and Chu Yi. They could keep up at first, but they startedgging behind after some time.

    ¡°Just throw the backpacks away! Staying alive is more important!¡± said Chu Yi anxiously.

    The two men left the backpacks behind and were able to run more quickly now, but the problem was that the mutants were just too fast. They could catch up with them in seconds.

    ¡°Where is Boss?! We¡¯re going to die at this rate!¡± Chu Yi slowed down to use his metal bat to bash the mutants that were about to pounce on the newbies.

    Just then, their expressions fell as they looked in despair at what was in front of them. Another group of mutants were blocking their way from the other side. These things were not entirely without any intelligence.

    ¡°We¡¯re doomed!¡± Even Chu Yi despaired at this situation. They either needed their Spirit Power back, or they needed Su Jin to appear. There was no way the two old timers could protect everyone.

    The mutants surrounding them started making weird noises, as if they were guests at a banquet getting ready to eat by saying a prayer first.

    Boom! All of a sudden, there was an explosion as a bomb killed arge group of the mutants blocking their way. The group was stunned and didn¡¯t know who was helping them.

    ¡°This way! Hurry up! We don¡¯t have much time!¡± Some men in specialbat uniforms shouted at the group as they waved their arms.

    Nobody knew where these men were from, but they were clearly more friend than foe. Kano Mai and Chu Yi exchanged nces, and made a decision on the spot. Staying alive was their priority.

    The group started moving towards the men while trying to watch out for any mutants trying to attack them. The men also helped by throwing bombs to kill off most of the mutants.

    A few minutester, the group finally reached where the men were. The men didn¡¯t exin themselves and just motioned to the group to follow them.

    The group didn¡¯t have any choice. There were still many mutantsing after them and they had to find a safe ce to hide.

    They followed the men round the city for a while before arriving at a library. The library was fairly rundown and it was surrounded by some simple barriers.

    ¡°This ce is safe, so you can go in and have some food and take a rest,¡± said one of the men to the group.

    Chu Yi said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry but we don¡¯t want to go in. We¡¯ve got anotherpanion out there and we would like to look for him.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another survivor?¡± The man was surprised.

    Chu Yi nodded. The man said without hesitation, ¡°In that case, let me go with your group. My mission is to search the city for survivors.¡±

    Kano Mai broke her silence, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but who are you people? Are you from the government? Or some other organization?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re the messiah of this world, thest hope that this apocalyptic world has,¡± said the man with a gentle smile.

    Kano Mai became even more wary. As far as her own experiences went, none of those who said they were a messiah of sorts turned out to be anything good.

 Chapter 131: The Messiahs

    <h4>Chapter 131: The Messiahs</h4>

    ¡°We¡¯re a group of survivors and our aim is to save any remaining humans so that we can get out of this apocalypse and restore mankind to its former glory.¡± The leader seemed very confident, as if he already possessed the power to help mankind to advance despite these circumstances.

    Kano Mai became even more suspicious, but she just smiled and said, ¡°Thanks for your kind intentions, but I think we can handle the rest ourselves. We¡¯ll head off now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but look! Your friend is injured, so I think it¡¯s better to go in and dress her wounds first. If she¡¯s been scratched or bitten by any of those things¡­I suggest you get rid of her immediately.¡± He tried to reach for Ju Xin.

    Kano Mai carefully moved Ju Xin out of his reach and said, ¡°No thanks, we should get going.¡±

    ¡°Stop right there!¡± The leader¡¯s face fell and the other men with him quickly surrounded the group. ¡°You don¡¯t know what sort of injury your friend is suffering from and she might very well have been bitten by one of the zombies. If I let you leave now, firstly, that would be very irresponsible of me; secondly, that would also be a threat to us. Every additional zombie in this world increases the level of danger, after all.¡±

    Kano Mai scoffed inwardly. These men were clearly not the nice guys they had made themselves out to be. Chu Yi and the rest started bing suspicious of the men as well. They weren¡¯t stupid. These men phrased everything very nicely, but their overly friendly attitude was very odd and what they were saying now wasn¡¯t even making sense.

    Logically speaking, it was quite normal for any survivors in an apocalypse to want to help each other. But these men seemed way too eager to keep them here, as if they were afraid that the group would run off. Compared to their ims to be the messiah, Kano Mai felt that these people were more like hunters, except that they were possibly hunting for human survivors and not zombies.

    ¡°In that case, we¡¯ll have to trouble you then.¡± Kano Mai figured that if they tried to resist the men some more, the men might attack them. These people definitely outnumbered her small group and they were also armed with proper weapons. She and Chu Yi were no match for them.

    The leader started smiling again when he saw that Kano Mai had decided to be cooperative. He motioned to the group to follow him into the library.

    The library had been divided into several sections and each section was for a different function. Kano Mai could see a section for medical treatment, another for food and another for weapons. These were not hidden from the site.

    The men brought the group to a ce that looked like a bar counter and said, ¡°Anybody who enters the library has to hand over all the resources they have and we will reallocate them as necessary. I hope you can understand.¡±

    Chu Yi snorted, but since they were now in the care of these men, they had no choice but to bepliant. They ced their bags on the counter and arge sized man came to inspect their items. He poured everything out onto the counter and was stunned for a few seconds when he saw how much stuff they had.

    ¡°Wow. I¡¯m not sure if all of you were very brave or just really lucky. You actually dared to enter the supermarket and took so many items. We¡¯ve been eyeing that supermarket for a long time too, but it¡¯s too dangerous. There are many zombies outside and many Level 2 mutants inside. It¡¯s practically a death trap.¡± The leader picked up one of the cans of food, smelled it greedily, then waved at the man conducting the inspection before stuffing it into his own pocket.

    Chu Yi and Kano Mai had four bags in total and they were filled to the brim. If the things inside were to be shared by just the group, then there was enough food tost everyone for a month. But now, everything was confiscated and they weren¡¯t even allowed to keep a loaf of bread.

    ¡°And you¡¯ve taken a number of weapons too, I see. We won¡¯t be taking these, you can keep them for yourselves.¡± The leader looked at the random knives and other household items that the group had intended to use as weapons, and snorted a little, as if he thought of them as useless.

    He went on, ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve not introduced myself yet. My name is Reggie and I¡¯m in charge of the security in the library. I¡¯m responsible for the safety of everybody inside here, so I hope that we¡¯ll get along well, please don¡¯t make things difficult for me.¡±

    He nced at Ju Xin again and frowned. ¡°Take her to get checked. If she¡¯s really been injured by those zombies, I¡¯m sorry to say that you¡¯ll probably lose her.¡±

    Chu Yi almost lost his temper when he heard the flippant way Reggie spoke but Kano Mai pulled him back. She smiled and asked, ¡°Where can we sit down and rest? What time are meals?¡±

    Reggie smiled and said, ¡°The sleeping area is at the back, but you guys are new and you didn¡¯t make any contributions, so you won¡¯t have a bed. You can just find a space somewhere and sleep wherever.¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t make any contributions? We¡¯ve brought a lot of food with us. Don¡¯t these count?¡± asked Kano Mai in a calm voice.

    ¡°These? These can¡¯t be counted as contributions. It¡¯s more like remuneration. We saved your group from those mutants, so it¡¯s only fair to pay us with this food, right?¡± Reggie burst outughing loudly.

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t get angry and kept a faint smile on as she said, ¡°That¡¯s fair. These things are nothingpared to staying alive.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a clever girl! I like clever people, so let me tell you more.¡± Reggie pulled out a cigarette that had been lit before, lit it again, took one puff and snuffed it out again. ¡°In the library, you can¡¯t just stay here and eat for free. If you can¡¯t gather more resources to contribute to the pile, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t get anything to eat.¡±

    ¡°Of course, there are other things you could do to get food and water. The men can join our team to help clear the zombies in the vicinity and protect everyone from hard. They¡¯ll get half a piece of rye bread and half a bottle of clean water every day.¡±

    ¡°The women¡­can help to fix up some of our things or whatever they can. But they will get less in return, so a quarter piece of rye bread a day and half a bottle of water for three days. Of course, there¡¯s also one easier method to get food, since¡­women are a rare resource toe by in such times!¡± Reggie had such a lecherous smile on his face, it didn¡¯t take a genius to understand what he was driving at.

    Chu Yi¡¯s knuckles were cracking loudly from how hard he was clenching his fists and he would have bashed Reggie in the face if Kano Mai hadn¡¯t held him back. It was obvious that this group had not saved them out of kindness, but because they wanted the food and resources the group had and also wanted the group to work for them.

    ¡°Everything sounds reasonable to me, except that the amount of food and water we get in return is a little on the stingy side,¡± said Kano Mai with a smile.

    ¡°Stingy? Miss, you must understand that food is very scarce in such times. By staying here, you get to eat something and you also get a good night¡¯s rest. Isn¡¯t that such a blessing? Isn¡¯t that what a messiah should be doing?¡± Reggie came closer to Kano Mai, sniffed her neck and looked utterly mesmerized.

    ¡°Last question. Can we choose to leave right now?¡±

    Reggie shook his head sadly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the zombies are getting smarter and smarter. To ensure everyone¡¯s safety, anyone who has entered the library is not allowed to leave without permission, or you will be seen as a traitor. And when ites to traitors¡­our policy is to kill them all.¡±

    He felt that he had said everything that he ought to, so he walked away with his subordinates.

    After leaving, the man inspecting the group¡¯s items whispered, ¡°I¡¯d advise you guys not to incur his wrath. Reggie¡¯s basically the king around here.¡±

    ¡°The king?¡± Kano Mai had a mocking smile on her face as she muttered almost inaudibly, ¡°Looks like your king is going to meet his end soon.¡±

    They brought Ju Xin to get checked, and once they had confirmed that she was fine, they walked through the library to reach the living quarters of the library, which was essentially an open area where the bookshelves had been cleared. Right in the middle stood a room that had been built from bookshelves.

    ¡°That must be the pce,¡± snorted Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi and the group were new and hadn¡¯t contributed in any significant way, so they just found an area that was rtively clean and sat down. Chen Duo asked worriedly, ¡°What do we do next?¡±

    ¡°What do we do next? We¡¯ll just wait. Boss will find us.¡± Chu Yi seemed to have given up and was just hoping for a miracle. Su Jin was the miracle he was waiting for.

    The rest ignored Chu Yi and turned to look at Kano Mai. She had a much better n. ¡°Let¡¯s try to find out more about this ce first. It looks like a safe ce, but it could be more like some sort of ve factory. But since the city actually has such an organization, this might be pertinent to the Challenge.¡±

    The group quietly went to look around to gather more information. There were more than 70 people in the library and most of them were lying tiredly on the floor. It was hard to say how long it had been since theyst had anything to eat. Most of them were either rather old or rather young. They couldn¡¯t do any fighting or patrolling like the younger adults, so it was hard for them to earn any food.

    Or rather, Reggie and his team were probably not going to give these people any chance to earn food because feeding these people was a waste of resources. The fact that he didn¡¯t just have them killed was kind enough on his part.

    ¡°At least they don¡¯t just go around killing other people,¡± said Chu Yi with a sigh. That was good news to him.

    But Kano Mai shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. Almost everybody here are elderly, children or women and there are almost no young men. In fact, besides Reggie and his team, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen any young men since we entered the library.¡±

    ¡°Could it be a coincidence?¡± asked Shen Hongjiang.

    Chen Duo shook her head. She stood next to Kano Mai and said, ¡°That¡¯s impossible. If a disaster struck our world, then the ones who would survive the longest would definitely be young men and not the old and weak. But we only have the old and weak here, which is very strange indeed.¡±

    ¡°Miss Chen is right. If you ask me, I think these messiahs have killed those young men,¡± said Kano Mai as she narrowed her eyes. ¡°After all, if you don¡¯t mind, that age group makes for a pretty good meal.¡±

 Chapter 132: Seduction

    <h4>Chapter 132: Seduction</h4>

    Everyone felt their hair stand on end when they heard what Kano Mai said and Chen Duo was pale as she said, ¡°I¡­I hope not!¡±

    Zhang Lei didn¡¯t look too good either, but he nodded in agreement and said, ¡°It¡¯s not impossible. I¡¯ve heard from my father¡¯s friends before that when they went through a really bad famine in the past, there were people who resorted to eating other humans.¡±

    ¡°Humans can endure fear, pain, insecurity and other negative emotions, but they cave in very easily when ites to a physical need like hunger. It¡¯s happened many times in human history, regardless of country. Cannibalism is not that umon,¡± said Kano Mai with a sigh.

    The three men in the group shuddered. Didn¡¯t this mean they were in danger of bing food?

    ¡°Rx, even if they wanted to eat you guys, they would wait until you were too weak to fight back or even copse. After all, these people¡­are not the type who would take risks.¡± Kano Mai peered out of the living quarters and noticed some men walking around the area, as if they were watching all the people inside the library.

    Their only hope was Su Jin. If Su Jin was not able to find them, then it was going to be hard to escape this ce since they couldn¡¯t use any of their powers or weapons. If it was just Chu Yi and Kano Mai, they stood a good chance. But there were others with them now.

    A short whileter, Ju Xin woke up and the first thing she did was to scream in horror. She had probably spent thest hour having nightmares.

    ¡°If you keep screaming like that, I¡¯ll knock you out again,¡± said Kano Mai in a frosty voice.

    Ju Xin mped her hands over her mouth and looked around her. She calmed down after she realized they were in a safe ce.

    Her screaming had caused a number of heads to turn, so Chu Yi had to exin that she had been having nightmares. Everyone seemed to ept this exnation. Perhaps all of them were also having nightmares from their current situation.

    Many of them left to do what they were supposed to do. None of them looked d to be in a safe area and had despairing looks on their faces instead. One man in his 50s, however, stayed behind.

    He stared at the new group that hade in for a long time, then suddenly approached them. He said to Chu Yi, ¡°I can see that you¡¯re a fighter.¡±

    Chu Yi scratched his head puzzledly and the old man continued, ¡°Take me away from here! This is not a ce you should stick around for too long. They¡¯ll kill all of you.¡±

    All of them turned to look at the old man. Kano Mai walked over and asked, ¡°Sir, do you know some secrets about this ce?¡±

    ¡°Secrets? I wouldn¡¯t call it a secret. Reggie and his group are keeping us here for their own benefit. If there¡¯s enough food, they use us as ves. If there isn¡¯t enough food¡­then we be food,¡± said the old man with a scoff, not caring about whether Reggie¡¯s men could hear him from outside or not.

    Kano Mai frowned. She didn¡¯t expect that everyone here already knew this was happening. ¡°Sir, you asked us to take us away, but¡­where should we go?¡±

    The old man scoffed and said, ¡°Humph! That¡¯s something that YOU should be thinking about. Why are you asking me?¡±

    Kano Mai thought that the old man had some escape n of sorts. This wasn¡¯t the attitude she was expecting.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we don¡¯t know how we can get out of here either,¡± said Kano Mai before motioning to the rest of her group to ignore the old man.

    The old man started getting anxious when he realized that the group wasn¡¯t taking him seriously. He dropped his voice to a whisper, ¡°You have to think of a way to get me out of here.¡±

    ¡°And why should we?¡± Chu Yi started getting annoyed with this weird old man. He wanted the group to save him, yet he spoke so arrogantly.

    ¡°Because I¡¯m the real messiah of this world! This is a vine against the effects of the zombies, so if we can mass produce this, humans will no longer need to be fearful of the zombies,¡± said the old man as he pulled a test tube out from his pocket and waved it in front of them.

    .

    Chu Yi¡¯s first reaction was to conclude that the old man had gone mad, but just then, everyone felt a warmthing from their pockets. The source of the warmth was their Handbooks.

    Kano Mai turned around and took her Handbook out to take a look. An additional mission had appeared.

    Hidden mission: Escort Professor Charlemagne to the Safe Zone.

    ¡°He¡¯s not lying to us.¡± Kano Mai was surprised by this new discovery. She turned back to the professor and said, ¡°We can bring you along when we leave, but as you can see, we can¡¯t even get out of this ce ourselves.¡±

    The old man nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I can see that. So, please think of a way out of here. If youe up with anything, I¡¯ll be over there.¡± He slowly walked back to where he was resting earlier,y back down on the floor and closed his eyes to sleep again.

    Kano Mai told the rest about this hidden mission, and after they confirmed that it was the same in their Handbooks, they began discussing if they should proceed with the mission.

    ¡°If we do it, how would we benefit?¡± asked Zhang Lei.

    Kano Mai exined the Handbook¡¯s point system to them, and once the newbies heard that the points they would get frompleting this hidden mission was equivalent to the average number of points an owner would earn frompleting a Challenge, they unanimously decided to do it.

    Kano Mai herself was for doing it. The hidden mission was in line with the main mission anyway. They just had to bring one more person along.

    Now that they had decided to go through with the hidden mission, the next problem was how to get out of this library. Fighting their way out was definitely a bad idea, so Kano Mai felt that they had to scheme their way out instead.

    ¡°Does anybody have any good ideas?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t around and Kano Mai didn¡¯t think she was smart enough toe up with a good scheme, so she hoped that the group could think of something instead. She was pinning her hopes on Chen Duo, because this youngdy seemed to be fairly good at this.

    Chen Duo ended up being the first one to speak up. She pursed her lips for a while, then said, ¡°Fighting our way out is definitely not an option. Even if we manage to defeat these guys, not all of us would make it out alive. So¡­we will have to try some other alternative methods.¡±

    ¡°Do you have a concrete n?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Chen Duo paused to think, then said, ¡°I noticed that there are probably somewhere between seven to 10 guys guarding the library. As Reggie said earlier, women are a scarce resource around here, so if you¡¯re willing to do this, then¡­I think the threedies of the group could trick the men into leaving their posts, then I¡¯ll need the three guys here to attack them.¡±

    Kano Mai got the n. Chen Duo¡¯s n sounded good, but to distract the men and lead them away from their posts, the threedies in the group had to work individually.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Ju Xin threw Chen Duo a dirty re and hissed, ¡°Do you take me as a licentious woman? How disgusting.¡±

    Everyone stared at Ju Xin like she was out of her mind. Their lives were on the line now, so this was not the time to behave like this. Besides, nobody was asking her to really do anything with those men. They just needed to distract them and stall them.

    Chen Duo immediately trembled fearfully when Ju Xin snapped at her so fiercely, and quickly apologized, ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry. That¡¯s the most usible n I coulde up with¡­¡±

    ¡°You might be willing to do something so shameless, but I¡¯m not. Count me out of this,¡± said Ju Xin with a disdainful sneer.

    Chen Duo was timid and didn¡¯t dare to say anything, but Kano Mai wasn¡¯t going to back down. ¡°Sure. Like I said before, we will respect your decision. Once we get out of here, we¡¯ll go separate ways. If she¡¯s not willing to contribute, then there¡¯s no need for us to protect her either.¡±

    Ju Xin¡¯s eyes widened and her face reddened, perhaps out of embarrassment, or out of anger. She knew that Kano Mai was serious and would really abandon her If necessary, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and say, ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll agree to this n, but my request is that the guys save me first.¡±

    Kano Mai nced at her, then said to the rest, ¡°Later on, you don¡¯t have to worry about me, I¡¯ll be able to handle the situation myself. As for which of the otherdies you save first, that will depend on the situation.¡±

    ¡°Why, you!¡± Ju Xin red furiously at Kano Mai, but she didn¡¯t dare to actually say anything else.

    Since this was decided, there was no time to waste. They had eaten some food and drank water before arriving at the library, so it was best to act now while their bodies were still strong. If they waited for too long, they would be hungry and weaker.

    Kano Mai was the first one to start on the n. She reced her aloof expression with a charming one and walked out of the sleeping area. Reggie was discussing something with one of his subordinates when he noticed Kano Mai approaching them and had a puzzled look in his eye.

    ¡°Miss, do you need something?¡± asked Reggie.

    Kano Mai bit her lip and said, ¡°My younger brother hasn¡¯t eaten anything in a long time, so¡­I wanted to ask if you could give him a slice of bread.¡±

    Reggie raised an eyebrow and had a lecherous smile on his face as he shook his head and said, ¡°Oh dear! But I can¡¯t possibly do that just for you. The food in the library is for everyone. If you want food, then you have to make some contribution, otherwise it¡¯s very hard for me to help you.¡±

    ¡°But¡­but my younger brother is really very hungry.¡± Kano Mai¡¯s acting chops were amazing. Her eyes were already brimming with tears that were ready to roll down her cheek any moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but like I said, I can¡¯t help you.¡± Reggie sighed, but his subordinates began to snigger.

    ¡°I¡¯m not after the food in the library, I want what you have¡­didn¡¯t you say¡­didn¡¯t you say that women were a scarce resource around here?¡± Kano Mai bent her head slightly and looked very shy.

    Her shyness turned Reggie on and he couldn¡¯t help but lick his lips as he said, ¡°Since you¡¯re willing to make such an exchange, then let me help you! But I have to make things clear here. You¡¯ll only get half a piece of rye bread after this.¡±

    ¡°I¡­I understand.¡± She looked up at him and the tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks.

    Reggieughed and pulled her back towards the sleeping area, but she suddenly shook her head and bit her lip. ¡°Don¡¯t go there¡­my younger brother¡¯s there. Can we¡­can we find somewhere more secluded?¡±

    Reggie could barely keep it in his pants when he saw how shy Kano Mai looked, and he was happy to ede to this request. He pulled her towards the exit and called two subordinates along.

    She frowned slightly as she realized why Reggie had been able to remain in charge of his little team. He was actually still so cautious even in such times. Then again, fighting three men wasn¡¯t going to be much of a problem to her.

 Chapter 133: Fighting Back

    <h4>Chapter 133: Fighting Back</h4>

    After Kano Mai had left with three of them, Chen Duo was next. She didn¡¯t bothering up with some sob story about her younger brother. Instead, she told them straight that she was hungry and was willing to exchange her chastity for food.

    Chen Duo was barely 20, which was something that turned some of them on. It didn¡¯t take long for someone to take up her offer, but he was still very careful and made sure he brought another person with him.

    Out of the seven men they had seen guarding the library, five of them had left with the twodies, so there were two more left. Chu Yi nced at Ju Xin, only to find that she was being very reluctant and didn¡¯t want to do it anymore.

    But the n had gone too far for her to back out now. Kano Mai and Chen Duo had already gone ahead and the men in the group had to find a way to finish off Reggie and his subordinates as quickly as possible, otherwise thedies would be in great danger.

    ¡°Hurry up! If you keep wasting time here, Sister Mai and Miss Chen will be in danger!¡± Chu Yi was getting very antsy. He couldn¡¯t believe this woman was hesitating when lives were at stake.

    But when Ju Xin heard him mention that Kano Mai might be in danger, she actually burst outughing. All of them stared at her in shock. It was bad enough that she was being uncooperative, and now, she was even gloating over another person¡¯s misfortune.

    Pak! Chu Yi suddenly pped her across the face. He didn¡¯t p her that hard, since doing that would probably have sent her flying.

    But it was enough to shock her. She stared at Chu Yi in disbelief for two seconds, then started wing at him as she shrieked, ¡°How dare you hit a woman! How dare you call yourself a man after hitting a woman? You aren¡¯t even human! How dare you hit me!¡±

    Chu Yi held his arm up in front of his chest to block her wing. His eyes bulged as he spat hatefully, ¡°You can go ahead and continue screaming your head off and wasting time here. But I¡¯m warning you: if anything happens to thedies, I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    His voice sounded as frightening as a demon from hell. This young man was usually bright and optimistic, and was always so caring towards others. But now that his friend¡¯s life was in danger, he finally showed how extreme he could really be.

    Ju Xin felt as though an actual demon was staring at her, so she shivered in fear instinctively. Chu Yi¡¯s expression suddenly became gentle again.

    ¡°Please, we¡¯re counting on you. Not only for the sake of the twodies, but also for your own survival,¡± Chu Yi pleaded with her.

    Ju Xin scowled, nodded, then pushed Chu Yi aside. She quietly walked out of the sleeping area where two more men were standing.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­here to strike a deal too?¡± The remaining two men were quite surprised. It was true that many women had been willing to offer sex for food during this time, but they never had so many women do this at the same time.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but we will not agree to a deal right now. If you really want to, you have to wait until our leader returns.¡± The two men were very cautious and did not dare to leave their post.

    Ju Xin¡¯s expression darkened as she said, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to strike that sort of deal. I¡¯m here to make a cuckold of that stupid man. He actually hit me, so I¡¯m here to make him regret it.¡±

    The two men¡¯s faces lit up. They hade across many who were just hungry, but this was the first time a woman wanted to do this out of pure spite. The two of them were quite interested now and they believed her since her cheek was red and swollen.

    ¡°Are you doing it or not? If you¡¯re not, then too bad.¡± Ju Xin had dared to do this only because she was too angry to think straight. Now that she wasn¡¯t as angry anymore, she was beginning to regret it.

    But the two men didn¡¯t give her the chance to back out of this. They smiled lecherously at her and said, ¡°We¡¯ve not had someone who just wanted to cuckold her partner. Let¡¯s do it!¡±

    ¡°Um¡­but who¡¯s going to guard the ce? Maybe this isn¡¯t such a good idea after all?¡± Ju Xin was getting scared and tried to find an excuse to get out of this situation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, we¡¯ve got people to do that.¡± One of them blew on a whistle and another two men walked out from the shadows. He patted the shoulders of his tworades and said, ¡°We¡¯ll leave this ce to you guys, we¡¯re gonna have some fun elsewhere.¡±

    The two men who had been tasked with guarding the ce looked on enviously. Ju Xin wanted to back out, but the two men had grabbed one arm of hers each and dragged her off.

    Chu Yi had been watching the situation all this time, so about 20 secondster, he nced at Zhang Lei and Shen Hongjiang, then approached the two men at the door first.

    He purposely pretended to look confused as he asked the two men at the door, ¡°Where¡¯s my older sister?¡±

    The two men were wary at first when Chu Yi walked towards them, but they burst outughing when they heard Chu Yi¡¯s question. ¡°Your older sister has gone to get food for you, but she needs to eat her fill first.¡±

    ¡°And where¡¯s my wife?¡± Chu Yi continued to ask with a nk expression on his face.

    ¡°HAHAHA! Your wife has to eat her fill too! Two of our bros are feeding her right now!¡± The two men sniggered even more loudly. To them, Chu Yi was an idiot who deserved to be cuckolded.

    .

    Chu Yi continued to disy his acting chops as he suddenly grabbed one of them and started crying, ¡°You¡¯re lying to me! You¡¯re lying to me! My wife would never eat all by herself!¡±

    The man was shocked when Chu Yi grabbed him by the shoulders, but he startedughing again when he heard what Chu Yi said, and his partner also justughed it off and didn¡¯t do anything to help. Chu Yi suddenly pushed the man against the wall, then let go of the man so that the two steak knives hiding in his sleeves could slide out.

    There was only a muffled gurgling noise as Chu Yi moved his arms horizontally. The man stared at Chu Yi in disbelief as the two steak knives slit right through his throat. His body convulsed and he tried to use his arms to warn his partner, but Chu Yi¡¯s body was blocking his, so his partner had no idea what just happened.

    Chu Yi took a sharp scissors out and used it to pin the man to the wall. Meanwhile, the man¡¯s partner finally realized that something was amiss, but before he could say anything, Zhang Lei and Shen Hongjiang ran to pin him down.

    Even though Chu Yi wasn¡¯t sure if he could trust the other two to help and was ready to fight to the death all by himself, the two men turned out to be reliable. They had dashed out at the right time and grabbed one arm each.

    However, neither had fighting experience and they were almost unable to hold the man down. Thankfully, Chu Yi was done with the first one and could attend to the second man. He didn¡¯t have any more knives left, so he grabbed a vegetable knife from Zhang Lei and swung it violently. The man¡¯s body convulsed for a second before his head went flying off. Chu Yi had decapitated him with one move and there was blood all over Chu Yi¡¯s face.

    Zhang Lei and Shen Hongjiang were so horrified that they immediately let go of the man and the body of the man copsed instantly. The two of them were so scared that they, too, looked like they were about to copse.

    Chu Yi looked around to check if there were any other people hiding in the shadows, but fortunately, nobody else appeared.

    He took the guns from the two dead men, taught the other two how to use them, then took whatever knives the two of them had hidden on themselves. They didn¡¯t have any hand to handbat experience, so there was no point in letting them hold onto knives.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Chu Yi quickly started moving. The threedies said that they would leave markings along the way so that the three men could follow their trail.

    Kano Mai could probably handle the situation on her own, so Chen Duo was probably in the most dangerous situation now. Chu Yi quickly found the marks left by her. He had attached something sharp on her shoes, so they left a mark as she walked. The markings on the floor were not the smoothest and were also very faint, probably because she was afraid that the men with her would notice it.

    However, the markings suddenly stopped, probably because the sharp object had fallen off her shoe. This made the three men very anxious, but they soon realized that they didn¡¯t need any markings, because they could hear Chen Duo screaming from a short distance away.

    The sound wasing from the bathroom. Chu Yi got the other two to guard the door, while he pushed open the main door. The sounds wereing from one of the cubicles, so Chu Yi found it and kicked it right open.

    The men in the cubicle clearly did not think that someone would barge in at such a time. They had already pulled Chen Duo¡¯s jacket off and both of them had their pants down.

    Chen Duo was screaming and struggling and her face was covered in tears. She had been very brave earlier, but she was now filled with fear. Everything sounded good on paper, but nobody knew if anything would go wrong. What if the other guys couldn¡¯t find her? What if they had to save someone else first?

    She thought she could stall the two men for a while, but she hadpletely underestimated the impatience of the two men driven by their libido. Everything quickly went out of control.

    Thankfully, Chu Yi hade in time. The two men had been caught unawares and had put their weapons aside. Worse still, their pants were still around their knees, so they couldn¡¯t really move properly.

    Chu Yi stabbed one steak knife into one man¡¯s throat, then gave a kick inside the narrow cubicle. His aim wasn¡¯t the other man, but the weapons on the floor.

    As the weapons were kicked to one side, the other man leaped to grab one of them, which was exactly what Chu Yi wanted. Chu Yi lowered his body and used his shoulder to m the man against the cubicle wall before slitting his throat with a knife.

    Everything happened within seconds. The two men were both dead, while Chu Yi merely had more blood on himself now.

    Chen Duo¡¯s face was also covered with blood. She had been screaming in horror and had felt some of the men¡¯s blood go down her throat, which instantly triggered her gag reflex.

    Chu Yi felt bad when he saw how hard she was puking, but he had to move on. ¡°Come along now, don¡¯t puke anymore. We still have to save the other two! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The poor girl nodded but still looked too weak to walk, so Chu Yi decided to just carry her out of the bathroom. It would take too long to wait for her to recover from her shock.

    Chen Duo suddenly didn¡¯t feel frightened anymore and buried her face in his arms.

    Meanwhile, Ju Xin¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t much better than Chen Duo¡¯s. She yelled, ¡°Let me off! Please! Please, let me off!¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who wanted to cuckold your husband? Why are you chickening out now?¡± teased one of the men with a lecherousugh.

    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t want to do that anymore! He¡¯s not my husband, we¡¯re not married! Don¡¯te any closer!¡± she shouted as she kept moving backwards.

    The two men paused for a while and exchanged nces, because something didn¡¯t sound quite right. Ju Xin noticed their reactions and quickly added, ¡°We haven¡¯t registered our marriage yet, so we¡¯re not husband and wife yet.¡±

    ¡°Well, even if you wanted to register your marriage, you can¡¯t anymore. This world¡­doesn¡¯t care for that sort of thing!¡±

 Chapter 134: Spilling The Beans

    <h4>Chapter 134: Spilling The Beans</h4>

    Ju Xin was terrified. She had never even dated before. This was definitely not the circumstances she wanted to lose her virginity in.

    ¡°I¡­I have a secret to tell you guys,¡± she said loudly as she continued to back away from the two men.

    The two of them looked at her expectantly and she quickly said, ¡°There¡¯s¡­there¡¯s an old man in the library who says that he¡¯s got a vine! With that vine, you don¡¯t have to fear the zombies anymore.¡±

    ¡°HAHA!¡± The two men burst outughing loudly. One of them said, ¡°I¡¯ve almost forgotten about that! Seriously though, this old man has been telling so many people about it, but I think you must either be an idiot or insane to believe him.¡±

    Ju Xin¡¯s face fell. She didn¡¯t expect this matter to be known by everybody, and worse still, nobody believed the old man.

    ¡°The vine is real! Please believe me!¡± she pleaded.

    <i>Riiiip!</i>

    There was a tearing sound as the men started tugging at her clothes. She was dressed in a typical OL sort of jacket and skirtbination with ck stockings, which had contributed to turning the two men on.

    They continued pulling at her clothes like they were peeling an onion, quickly shredding them and revealing part of her underwear.

    ¡°Please stop! Please! I lied to you! I don¡¯t have a boyfriend or a husband or anything like that! Those people schemed to distract you guys so that they can escape! You¡¯ve all been duped!¡± screamed Ju Xin hysterically.

    The excitement in the two men instantly fizzled out. The fact that they had survived in these conditions for so long was testament to their quick thinking and intelligence. Three women had appeared at the same time and distracted almost all of them from their post, then led them to different ces. That was definitely a scheme!

    One of them pulled out what looked like a walkie talkie, while the other one red coldly at Ju Xin and suddenly grabbed her neck with both hands.

    ¡°How dare you scheme against us! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± The man exerted force in both hands as he stared murderously at her.

    Ju Xin struggled desperately and her eyes were bulging as she tried to pull the man¡¯s hands off her neck, but she didn¡¯t have enough strength to do so.

    The first man¡¯s walkie talkie got a response and he immediately said, ¡°Boss, bad news! We..¡±

    Before he could finish his sentence, a figure appeared from nowhere, stabbing a steak knife into the back of his neck and through his mouth.

    The man trying to kill Ju Xin was focused on her, so he didn¡¯t notice what just happened to his partner. But he noticed the hopeful look in Ju Xin¡¯s eyes.

    The moment he noticed that change in her eyes, he suddenly let go of her and moved to one side, sessfully dodging Chu Yi¡¯s secret attack.

    Chu Yi didn¡¯t expect the man to react so quickly. As the man turned to one side, he also pulled out a gun from his belt.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! He fired three shots that were steady, urate and fatal.

    The man was fast, but so was Chu Yi. He picked up the first man he killed and used him as a human shield, so all three shotsnded on the dead body.

    DADADADA! Just then, a series of shots were fired. The one firing those shots wasn¡¯t the second man, but Zhang Lei and Shen Hongjiang. They had just learned how to use a gun and had been given machine guns, so the moment they pulled the trigger, they ended up firing everything until there were no more bullets.

    Chu Yi cursed inwardly. The gunshots were very loud in this quiet ce, so Reggie had probably heard them. Kano Mai was a good fighter and was even stronger than him when he had Spirit Power, but it wasn¡¯t going to be easy for her to fight three men with guns by herself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this ce to you guys! Take care of her!¡± yelled Chu Yi before dashing out again.

    Ju Xin was crying inconsbly in a corner of the room. She watched Chu Yi leave without any gratefulness in her eyes, but hatred and anger.

    Meanwhile, Kano Mai wasn¡¯t in a very good situation either. Reggie¡¯s walkie talkie received a message followed by the sound of gunshots. The message over the walkie talkie wasn¡¯tplete, but it was obvious that something had gone very wrong.

    Reggie stared frostily at Kano Mai. He didn¡¯t go out to save hisrades, but got the other two men to lock the main door of the library. To him, those men whom Chu Yi had killed were merely subordinates that he could always find more of in the future. It was more important that he stayed alive. As long as he was alive, he could build his little private army again.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem very scared,¡± remarked Reggie.

    Kano Mai smiled faintly. ¡°Why should I be scared? You¡¯re here, and everyone has a huge stock of weapons. This ce is probably safer than almost anywhere else.¡±

    Reggie¡¯s expression softened a little, since she made it sound as though this matter had nothing to do with her. Of course, if Reggie found out that the other women in her group had also led his remaining men away with the same tactic, he would definitely kill Kano Mai on the spot.

    He poured out a ss of red wine, which looked mesmerizing in its ss. Wine was definitely something that wasn¡¯t just rare but a luxury, because it wasn¡¯t an essential item that most would take with them. Food and water would definitely be more important than wine.

    He swirled the wine gently in the ss, then passed the wine ss to Kano Mai. She smiled and drank everything down at once.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to proceed with your original ns instead of going out there to settle the matter?¡± she asked calmly. Her looks, figure and demeanor was almost impossible to find in another woman, so it wasn¡¯t surprising if a man became so obsessed with her that he decided to forget about everything else.

    Heughed and shook his head. ¡°Is there a need to? If those fellows can settle it, then I wouldn¡¯t have to do anything. If they can¡¯t settle it, then it means that something really terrible is happening out there and my presence won¡¯t change anything. I might as well just hide here and wait for everything to blow over, then I can rebuild this ce.¡±

    Reggie was a very practical and shameless man, but he did really know what he was doing. Kano Mai had already noticed earlier that Reggie had brought her to a room that was hidden from sight. If someonebed the library carefully enough, they would find them, but the bigger problem was that this room had been fortified and it was going to take a lot of effort to break in. Also, there was probably a secret passageway of sorts to the outside of the library, so if someone tried to barge in, he could still run.

    Reggie removed his jacket and Kano Mai immediately felt her eye twitch. This mad man had explosives tied to himself.

    He noticed the change in her expression andughed. ¡°Are you very surprised?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I thought only a mad man would do such a thing,¡± she replied without hesitation. She wasn¡¯t afraid of agitating this man.

    He nodded. ¡°A madman? I like the sound of that. This is just my trump card in defending myself. It works for both zombies and humans.¡±

    If he was in a desperate situation, this amount of explosives would definitely bring several zombies down with him, or scare away most humans.

    Meanwhile, Chu Yi had located the hidden room with the help of the markings that Kano Mai had left behind. The markings stopped here, which meant that she was definitely inside. But the gunshots earlier must have worsened the situation.

    Unfortunately, the door to this room was made from pure metal and he had no idea how thick it was. Either way, there was no way he could open it with brute force, and even a gun wouldn¡¯t work.

    ¡°What should I do now?¡± Chu Yi scratched his head anxiously.

    Kano Mai knew her situation didn¡¯t look good either, but she wasn¡¯t going to let Reggie have his way too. She made some quick ns, then waved the empty wine ss at him to get him toe over.

    He smiled as he pulled his arms around her and whispered into her ear, ¡°Baby, you¡¯re so mesmerizing. To be honest with you, I saved your group only because of you. I wouldn¡¯t have bothered otherwise.¡±

    She chuckled and said, ¡°Is that so? In that case, I really have to say thank you. Also, I¡¯ve got to say¡­sorry!¡±

    ¡°Sorry?¡± Reggie¡¯s eyes widened as he sensed danger. He wanted to push her away but her arms were wound so tightly around him that he couldn¡¯t get out of her grip.

    At the same time, she crushed the wine ss in her hands to turn it into a weapon. She had passed all the knives she had hidden in her clothes to the rest so that Reggie wouldn¡¯t suspect anything, but this wine ss hade in handy.

    She pressed a shard against his neck, then spun him around such that she held his arms down and he couldn¡¯t move them at all.

    ¡°Tell them to open the door,¡± said Kano Mai in an icy voice.

    Reggie didn¡¯t expect the tables to turn in such a short time. This charming, gentle and frail woman turned out to be so quick and vicious.

    His subordinates had finally realized what was going on and pointed their guns at Kano Mai, but they didn¡¯t dare to fire because their boss was in her hands. She could slit his throat anytime.

    But Reggie didn¡¯t look scared at all. Instead, he gave Kano Mai an admiring look and said, ¡°You¡¯re really mesmerizing. No wonder you managed to survive in this post-apocalyptic world. How about bing my woman? I¡¯ll give you food, water and safety. Isn¡¯t that what you want?¡±

    ¡°You think that¡¯s what I want?¡± Kano Maiughed and said to Reggie¡¯s men, ¡°Open the door right now or I¡¯ll kill him.¡± She pushed the shard into his neck enough to make him bleed, but not enough to kill him.

    She wasn¡¯t kidding. If the two men didn¡¯t cooperate, she was going to quickly kill Reggie before he had the chance to detonate the explosives. It was going to be difficult to fight off the two men since they had guns, but it wasn¡¯t impossible.

    Reggie noticed the murderous look in Kano Mai¡¯s eyes and quickly shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t open the door! Fire at me!¡±

 Chapter 135: Help Arrives

    <h4>Chapter 135: Help Arrives</h4>

    .

    Reggie¡¯s decision shocked everyone. Kano Mai knew that this man was insane, but she didn¡¯t expect him to be so out of his mind that he didn¡¯t even care about his own life. Instead of trying to think of a way to turn the situation in his favor, he asked to be shot dead.

    Thankfully, Reggie¡¯s subordinates were not as crazy as him. Even though theirmander had given orders, they were still hesitant. They weren¡¯t concerned over Reggie¡¯s life. They were concerned with their own.

    Reggie¡¯s face fell when he saw their hesitation and started yelling, ¡°I told you to shoot! You bastards, have you forgotten who saved you when you were in trouble? Have you forgotten who was the one who made sure you had food to eat and a roof over your heads in these uncertain and dangerous times?¡±

    The inner turmoil in the two men¡¯s eyes slowly faded and Reggie¡¯s expression darkened as he watched his two subordinates put their guns down.

    ¡°Reggie, you¡¯re a very intelligent man, but you¡¯ve also regarded yourself a little too highly. You only get to live once, so no matter how well you¡¯ve treated them in the past, it¡¯s impossible to expect them to give up their lives like that. It¡¯s foolish to think they would,¡± said Kano Mai with a frown.

    Reggie nodded slightly and scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re right. That¡¯s why, sometimes you can only rely on yourself.¡±

    Immediately after he said that, he kicked a leg backwards, making it curl up like a scorpion¡¯s stinger and striking Kano Mai from behind.

    She was caught by surprise and loosened her grip enough to let one hand slip out. Reggie pressed a button on his chest and the timer on the explosives tied to his body started counting down.

    ¡°HAHA!¡± Reggieughed maniacally and stopped struggling. Since all of them were going to die, there was no point in wasting so much energy.

    ¡°Open the door!¡± Kano Mai yelled at the two subordinates.

    To her dismay, both of them had a look of despair on their faces as they said, ¡°We can¡¯t! Only the boss knows thebination code to the door, so we can¡¯t open it even though we want to!¡±

    ¡°What about a secret passage out of here? There must be something like that in this room, right?¡± asked Kano Mai. This room was clearly built to be a hiding ce in times of emergency, so whoever designed it couldn¡¯t possibly have built it without a way out of the building itself.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in asking them. I¡¯m the only person who knows where the secret passage is! Just calm down and wait to die with me!¡± Reggie was reallypletely insane. The way he dealt with a threat to his life was to just throw his own life away.

    Kano Mai felt like a deted balloon as her heart sank and her shoulders drooped. The countdown timer on Reggie was only for three minutes, which wasn¡¯t enough time for her to locate a secret passage. In other words, she was going to die here.

    Reggie stood up and leisurely patted himself off. He poured himself a ss of wine and chuckled. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a woman to be the one to force me into such a situation. But that doesn¡¯t matter. A woman of your caliber is definitely more than qualified to do such a thing.¡±

    ¡°Boss! Please! Let us out!¡±

    ¡°Boss, please, let us off! We¡¯ve been loyal to you all this time!¡±

    Reggie¡¯s two subordinates broke down and started pleading desperately with him. The feeling of waiting for death to arrive was no better than being surrounded by zombies, so it wasn¡¯t hard to see why they broke so quickly.

    He nced at them frostily and smashed the wine ss in his hand on the floor as he said hatefully, ¡°Loyal to me? And what did you do just now? I really don¡¯t see why you¡¯re so afraid. Instead of waiting until you¡¯re too old and be enved by someone else, or get eaten alive by a zombie, don¡¯t you think this is a much more dignified way of dying?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re nuts!¡± Kano Mai shook her head helplessly. Their n had gone pretty well so far, but unfortunately she had run into a twisted and paranoid madman. Otherwise, she should have been able to get out safely.

    The countdown timer was left with only 30 seconds. Reggie sat down leisurely on a chair. He looked at his subordinates trembling in fear because they were about to die soon, then looked at the much calmer Kano Mai. He started to admire Kano Mai more and more, and felt that it was wonderful for someone like her to die together with him. Truly, truly wonderful.

    Just then, a st could be heard from above the room. Someone burst through the ceiling and waved away the dust in front of him.

    ¡°Mai! Are you alright?¡± It was Su Jin.

    She didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to literally fall from the sky, but she didn¡¯t have the time to hug him and cry either. She quickly exined the situation, ¡°Jin, he¡¯s got explosives around his body and it¡¯s going to blow in 20 seconds.¡±

    Su Jin immediately grabbed hold of Reggie, who was way too stunned and confused by how someone could just smash through a ceiling and failed to react to the situation.

    Su Jin leaped back through the ceiling and ran out as quickly as he could. It didn¡¯t take long for them to hear a terrible st in the distance.

    A few secondster, Su Jin reappeared in the room. He took away the two subordinates¡¯ weapons easily, since the two men were so frightened by Su Jin¡¯s destructive power that they dared not fight back at all.

    ¡°Is he dead?¡±

    ¡°As long as he didn¡¯t eat Chop-Chop Fruit, he should be dead,¡± said Su Jin with a straight face. Then he burst outughing and said, ¡°Also, how did you guys end up here? After I was done with all those zombies, I went back to find all of you missing. I was so worried.¡±

    Kano Mai rolled her eyes at him and snapped, ¡°You don¡¯t say. We were nearly surrounded and killed by a whole army of mutants. Speaking of which¡­actually, that fellow saved us from those mutants, so he¡¯s our benefactor.¡±

    Su Jin blinked in surprise and said in disbelief, ¡°You mean¡­you mean¡­I let your benefactor st himself dead?¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with you. I¡¯d consider it suicide more than anything else,¡± she said with augh. She turned to look at the two subordinates and said, ¡°Get out now, or¡­you¡¯ll end up just like Reggie.¡±

    The two men were too terrified to put up a fight. Both Su Jin and Kano Mai were much more formidable than they were. Reggie was happy to die, but they weren¡¯t.

    They immediately climbed out the same way Su Jin hade in and decided to run far away from this ce and never return.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave this ce first,¡± said Kano Mai. They couldn¡¯t open the door either, so they, too, went out by the ceiling and quickly found Chu Yi and the rest.

    ¡°I¡¯m so d you made it in time!¡± Chu Yi breathed a big sigh of relief. Su Jin had found them because he had heard the gunshots, and Chu Yi had told him about their n to escape. Su Jin¡¯s first n was to try and ram the metal door down, but it was way too big and too solid for even someone with Su Jin¡¯s strength to knock down.

    Since that wasn¡¯t working out, he had to find another way in. The only wall that wasn¡¯t fortified was the ceiling, so he smashed that right in. Violence did work sometimes, after all.

    Chu Yi also told Su Jin about the hidden mission to escort Professor Charlemagne to the Safe Zone. Su Jin was of the same opinion as them. Since they were headed that way, they could just bring him along.

    During this time, Ju Xin remained silent and hung her head. She was wearing clothes that Chen Duo had found for her. If someone could see the look in her eyes now, they would see nothing but hate and fury in them.

    They got back to the living quarters and Chu Yi went to fetch Professor Charlemagne. The old man was extremely shocked to hear that Chu Yi¡¯s group had taken control of the library and killed Reggie, which annoyed Chu Yi greatly. It was as if the old man never thought they would be able to do it. If that were the case, why did the old man even ask them to try?

    ¡°Since your group was able to overthrow Reggie, it means that you really have what it takes. Please send me to the safe zone, because I¡¯m the real messiah of mankind.¡± Professor Charlemagne sounded like some pyramid scheme salesman, and his shameless promation that he was mankind¡¯s messiah really made him sound like a swindler. However, the mission inside their Handbooks proved that regardless of whether he was a swindler or not, Su Jin was happy to bring him along with them.

    The library was just a ce they happened to pass by while trying toplete their Challenge, but they were unable to just leave these people behind to die. Su Jin eventually left most of the ammunition and weapons behind here. They couldn¡¯t stay here and protect these people forever, so the residents had to learn to protect themselves.

    Learning how to use these weapons wasn¡¯t too difficult, and there was enough food and water for them to take this time to get used to using weapons.

    The group rested in the library for the night and left first thing the next morning. Su Jin approached the professor to find out more from him. Since the old man knew about the Safe Zone, it meant that he would know where it was.

    ¡°The exact location of the Safe Zone? Of course I know where it is. It¡¯s in a field in the middle of the African continent. The poption density there is low and they face fewer zombies, that¡¯s why they¡¯ve been able to remain a safe zone until now,¡± exined Professor Charlemagne.

    Su Jin nodded and asked, ¡°Which part of the African continent are we in right now? How far are we from the safe zone?¡±

    ¡°Good heavens, has the apocalypse turned your brains to mush? We¡¯re in North America right now, so we¡¯re miles from Africa!¡± Professor Charlemagne stared at Su Jin as if Su Jin were an idiot.

    Su Jin was stunned for a moment before nearly cursing out loud. What was the Handbook trying to do? Why did it ce them in North America if the Challenge had to bepleted in Africa?

    Getting to Africa from here needed him to cross an ocean and the European continent. Su Jin felt terribly depressed now. How were they going to travel so far? They couldn¡¯t possibly swim there, right? He figured that he might make it, but the rest probably wouldn¡¯t.

    Team Boning Knife was a team that hadpleted a Level A Challenge with a perfect score and now, they were all going to die during a Level D Challenge from trying to travel from one continent to another? That would be terribly embarrassing, thought Su Jin.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what are you worried about?¡± asked Professor Charlemagne curiously. He could see the exasperated look on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow, then suddenly said, ¡°Prof, is there an airport or an airbase nearby?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°I need to hijack a ne.¡±

 Chapter 136: Parking Lot Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 136: Parking Lot Trouble</h4>

    ording to Professor Charlemagne, there was an airport about 70 kilometers away. It was originally a civilian airport, but after the humans started turning into zombies, the military took over the airport, so there were probably some nes that were still usable.

    After they were certain of the airport¡¯s location, they agreed to go there. However, 70 kilometers was no short distance. Besides the possibility of running into a high level mutant, it might be impossible for most of them to make such a long journey on foot.

    ¡°Transportation isn¡¯t a problem. We¡¯re in a city, so there are plenty of abandoned cars. We just need to gather petrol from other cars to fill up the one we take, so that¡¯s not a problem either,¡± said the professor. But he still sighed. ¡°The bigger problem is safety. Most zombies can¡¯t do any damage to a car, but a higher level mutant could be strong enough to even tear a car to pieces with their hands, so we¡¯ll be in great danger if we run into one of those.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not really a problem either,¡± said Chu Yi.

    Everyone turned to look at Chu Yi, surprised that he had a good workaround for this problem. Even Su Jin was surprised. While it was true that Chu Yi was probably the best fighter of the team and Su Jin was not always confident of defeating him in a fight, Chu Yi definitely had a disadvantage when it came toing up with ideas and ns. Chu Yi was never as quick or detailed as Su Jin or Kano Mai, and felt like he was constantly outwitted by his two teammates.

    Chu Yi scratched his head a little embarrassedly when he saw that all eyes were on him. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that! It¡¯s very simple, really. Just tie Boss to the top of the car and no mutants would be able to get near us¡­right?¡±

    The eyes of the rest widened and Su Jin felt his mouth twitch violently. He red at Chu Yi and said, ¡°What do you take me as? A guard dog? How could you say that you¡¯re going to tie me to the top of the car?! I¡¯m going to bash you up right now!¡±

    Chu Yi nodded gleefully, then ran to hide behind Kano Mai. If Su Jin was really going to beat him up, then only Kano Mai could hold him back.

    Kano Mai burst outughing. She rolled her eyes at Chu Yi, then said gently to Su Jin, ¡°Well¡­I would say that while Chu Yi didn¡¯t put it across very nicely, he has a point. I think our only way around this problem is to actually tie you to the top of the car.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes bulged angrily and he felt like yelling in frustration. He was the team leader, yet he had to be treated like this.

    But no matter how annoyed Su Jin was, he too, had no choice but to admit that Chu Yi¡¯s idea was simple yet effective. His body was strong enough to be considered invincible in this zombie world, so protecting a car wasn¡¯t going to be a problem.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi went out to look for an appropriate car to use. Just like what the professor said, it was easy to find a car in a city. They came to a parking lot where several different car models were parked. Su Jin was on the lookout for one that was more hardy, since it was hard to say what dangers they might run into along the way.

    ¡°Boss, I feel that¡­this ce is not safe.¡± Chu Yi was very sensitive to dangers as part of his training as a martial artist.

    This sensitivity was umted from engaging in battle over a long period of time. It was an instinct that he had, unlike Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis. Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis could even see blind spots, enabling him to see the actual danger and not just sense it. This Challenge had sealed his Spirit Power off, so Su Jin was handicapped. But this didn¡¯t affect Chu Yi. As long as he was still alive, he would not lose this sensitivity.

    Su Jin looked around, since his strengthened body gave him super vision as well. He could even see in the dark when ordinary people couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± whispered Su Jin before taking his position in front of Chu Yi. Just like what Chu Yi had suspected, this ce was not safe. Several figures swayed in the darkness. They were all zombies.

    Chu Yi slowly walked backwards toward the entrance and pulled the safety catch of his gun, ready to help Su Jin anytime.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, began walking towards the darkness. He was like bait, making it hard for the zombies to resist the temptation of fresh meat. All of them began rushing out at him.

    ¡°Spring cleaning time!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t have a gun. He had taken a katana from the library instead.

    Guns were powerful weapons, but Su Jin felt that using a katana was more suitable. He dashed into the crowd of zombies and brandished his sword left and right, taking a zombie head with each sh of the sword.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Su Jin to slice more than half the few dozen zombies in the darkness. But this was no time to rx, because he had already noticed a muchrger zombie waiting in the shadows behind this group of zombies.

    ¡°Waiting for me to exhaust my energy?¡± Su Jin scoffed. Thisrge fellow clearly had some intelligence and knew that it would be easier to finish off its enemy if the enemy had expended all their energy. Unfortunately for the zombie, slicing a few dozen zombies wasn¡¯t going to slow Su Jin down in any way.

    As the remaining low level zombies were swiftly wiped out by Su Jin, therge one at the back couldn¡¯t wait anymore. It let out a growl and charged at Su Jin from the back of the parking lot. When Su Jin finally got a good look at thisrger zombie, he felt like stabbing his eyes out.

    This zombie was some really badly put together monster. Its rotting body was a hodgepodge of parts that weren¡¯t in the right proportions to each other, and there was more than one of each part, as though it was a designer human gone terribly wrong. A broken head sat on top of its neck, but crazily enough, there was another head inside that one.

    ¡°Oh gross!¡± eximed Chu Yi with a look of disgust on his face.

    ¡°URGHHHH!¡± The mutant let out an indistinguishable noise as it picked up a car randomly and flung it at Su Jin.

    Su Jin stepped aside quickly and was shocked by how strong this mutant was. That mutant had picked up that car and flung it like it was nothing more than a rubber ball. Su Jin was capable of more than that, but it still meant that this mutant was almost as strong as he was.

    It picked up yet another car to fling at Su Jin. The additional limbs on its body were not for disy only. Every single arm worked independently, so the cars came flying at him in quick session and it was getting hard for Su Jin to dodge them all.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± Su Jin just wanted to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. He deflected an oing car, then charged at therge zombie, his katana glinting like the stars in the night sky. Chu Yi might be the one with the best training in martial arts in the team, but Su Jin knew a thing or two too.

    Secondster, the mutant had lost more than half of its limbs. The mutant was smart enough to realize that it was in danger, so it chose to retreat and escape instead of fighting an opponent it could not win.

    But there was no way Su Jin was letting this fellow go. He moved faster than the mutant, so he ran in front to stand where he knew the mutant would go past, holding his katana out at the right spot to slice the mutant right into half at the waist as it ran past Su Jin.

    To his horror, the mutant did not die. The two halves of its body continued running at the same speed as before.

    ¡°What¡¯s this? An earthworm?¡± Su Jin wondered if the two parts of the mutant were going to grow back into two mutants instead.

    Killing this mutant would score points and get rid of a big problem at the same time, so Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to let it get away like that. The mutant failed to outrun Su Jin even when it was one whole piece, so two pieces weren¡¯t going to get very much further.

    It didn¡¯t take Su Jin long topletely kill the two parts of the mutant. But even though he had finished it off, he still had a grim look on his face.

    ¡°Boss, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Chu Yi when he saw that Su Jin had gotten rid of the zombies but still looked so unsettled.

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°We really have to be careful. This mutant is just a Level 3 Mutant and it¡¯s already this clever and strong. If we seriously run into a Level 4 mutant¡­I don¡¯t think it will be a match for me, but if it goes on a crazy rampage, I¡¯m not sure if I can really protect all of you from harm.¡±

    He was really very worried about this. The basic zombie was weak and even an ordinary person could deal with it. But once it evolved to be a Level 2 mutant, it became too strong for even an ordinary person to survive an attack.

    This Level 3 mutant was way stronger and smarter than a Level 2 mutant. The difference between each level was insanely huge, so Su Jin predicted that a Level 4 mutant would definitely be as powerful as himself.

    The two of them eventually found an imposing looking jeep, and they were pleasantly surprised to find that it still had a lot of gas left and would not have any trouble covering 70 kilometers at all. The surprising part was that neither of them knew how to drive.

    ¡°Boss! You don¡¯t know how to drive?¡± asked Chu Yi in disbelief.

    Su Jin scratched his head awkwardly andughed sadly. ¡°I really don¡¯t know how to. What about you? You don¡¯t know how to drive either?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just a student who lives on campus. Why should I bother with learning how to drive?¡± asked Chu Yi in a matter-of-fact manner.

    Left with no other choice, Su Jin had to literally carry the car above his head. From afar, the jeep looked like it was flying. Chu Yi stood on the roof and helped Su Jin to observe the surroundings, in case a mutant suddenly appeared.

    The two of them shocked everyone when they got back to the library. The newbies, in particr, were still in awe of how strong Su Jin was.

    ¡°Mr. Su, are the cars of this era ultra light?¡± asked Zhang Lei.

    ¡°You can try lifting one.¡±

    Zhang Lei immediately ran towards the jeep and put both hands under one side of the car, but he couldn¡¯t even lift it enough for the car to shake, never mind lift the whole thing off the ground. Everyone realized how incredibly strong Su Jin really was.

    .

    After checking with everyone in the group, it turned out that none of the men could drive, but all thedies, including the youngest Chen Duo, could.

    Thedies agreed to take turns to drive, so they took the front of the jeep. The jeep could take more people than an average car, but they still couldn¡¯t all squeeze inside. In the end, Chu Yi had to share the car roof with Su Jin.

    ¡°Oho! Looks like I¡¯m not the only one stuck on the roof!¡± said Su Jin with a merryugh. Chu Yi looked back at him with a miserable expression on his face.

    Chu Yi armed himself with a gun, and the two of them were now the jeep¡¯s bodyguards. The jeep started up and they began their journey towards that airport 70 kilometers away.

    They hoped that they could arrive within the next two hours, but Su Jin was not very optimistic. He was pretty sure he would have to clear a lot of zombies along the way, and he was most worried that they might run into a Level 4 mutant. After seeing what a Level 3 mutant was capable of, he was beginning to feel very uneasy about running into a higher level one.

 Chapter 137: Anger

    <h4>Chapter 137: Anger</h4>

    Just as Su Jin had expected, the car could not drive at the speed that they had hoped. After all, when the zombie apocalypse first broke out, the ce that was hit the worst was the densely popted city. The chaos was terrifying to look at.

    ¡°We can¡¯t get through, help us to clear the way!¡± yelled Kano Mai in the driver¡¯s seat as she knocked on the roof of the car again.

    Su Jin jumped off the top of the car and waved his walkie talkie as he said to Chu Yi, ¡°Keep a lookout and tell me if anything unusual ising!¡± They had swiped walkie talkies from the library as well.

    The things in the way were cars. It looked like a major traffic ident had happened and arge number of cars had crashed into one another, blocking the entire road.

    Su Jin had a katana in hand, but he also had a pile of steak knives tucked into his belt, because he realized that it was easy to use these like throwing stars.

    ¡°AARRRGGGGHHH!¡±

    Zombies kepting towards Su Jin from all directions, but Su Jin just needed a quick flick of his wrist or threw a knife out to kill the zombie. As he passed by the cars, if he saw that the people inside had turned into zombies, he would kill them too.

    Su Jin was now like a human shaped forklift of sorts as he shifted all the cars away, then hopped back onto the jeep to wait for his next assignment.

    In the end, they took more than four hours to cover the 70 kilometer distance. If they were going to take any longer than that, Su Jin was prepared to find a safe space for them to stay the night. Travelling at night would be too dark and dangerous for them.

    Thankfully, they arrived after 2pm. The huge airport was very empty and there were hardly any nes. Perhaps many people had flown off quickly when the zombie apocalypse first hit.

    ¡°Professor, keep close to me and don¡¯t run off without telling me,¡± Su Jin said to Professor Charlemagne.

    The professor nodded obediently and no longer looked ascent as before. This concerned his own life, so he had to cooperate.

    They walked in the same arrangement as thest time. Su Jin cleared the way, while Kano Mai took the front, Chu Yi covered the back, and the rest were in the middle. There were also several helicopters and one passenger ne avable, but most of them were clearly damaged and couldn¡¯t be flown anymore.

    Su Jin checked all of them for damages and said, ¡°There are three helicopters that should still be useable, and that passenger ne should be alright too, but I¡¯ll need everyone to help me check if they¡¯re really good for flying.¡±

    There were no zombies in sight, so it looked pretty safe. Perhaps it was because the military wiped out the zombies after they had taken over back then.

    They split up to check each vehicle. Professor Charlemagne was the only one who knew how to fly a helicopter, so he was the only one who could tell if the helicopter piloting systems were good to go. He just asked everyone to check if the monitors were working and if there was gas in the tank, then he would decide which one would be the best one to use. That would save them time.

    Shen Hongjiang and Ju Xin decided to check out the one and only passenger ne. There was very little space in a helicopter and they couldn¡¯t possibly throw excess passengers onto the top of the helicopter. Having a passenger ne would be much morefortable. note

    The two of them quickly found the button on the outside to open the cabin door. Modern nes were so much easier to operate.

    Once they got the door open, they decided to head for the cockpit. But when they walked into the front part of the cabin, they froze on the spot. A zombie was seated in each chair, making strange, unintelligible noises.

    The two of them trembled all over and Ju Xin¡¯s legs refused to budge. Shen Hongjiang tugged at her but couldn¡¯t get her to move at all.

    ¡°Mr. Su, there are many zombies inside the passenger ne, Miss Ju and I are here,¡± Shen Hongjiang radioed Su Jin for help.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be there, you two find a safe ce.¡± Su Jin and Chu Yi ran towards the ne immediately.

    ¡°Let¡¯s goe on¡­¡± Shen Hongjiang¡¯s teeth were chattering in fear as he pulled on Ju Xin harder. This time, she finally started moving, but when she spun around to leave, her hand identally hit a button. (THIS WOMAN I SWEAR)

    There was a loud snap as all the seatbelts holding the zombies back suddenly came undone. That button turned out to be the one that could control all the seatbelts. But the zombies didn¡¯t move, possibly because they had been trapped in their seats for so long that they had already forgotten how to move.

    Ju Xin breathed a big sigh of relief. She and Shen Hongjiang were already soaked with their own sweat. The two of them cautiously made their way out of the ne again, but as they did so, a giant zombie emerged from the cockpit. That was a Level 3 mutant.

    ¡°AUGHHHH!¡± The Level 3 mutant let out an angry roar and all the zombies in the ne came to life, leaping up from their seats and charging towards the two intruders.

    Ju Xin was so terrified that she fell to the floor and Shen Hongjiang was too stunned to move. Just then, Su Jin appeared from behind. He dashed into the ne and brandished his katana quickly, shing several zombies dead at one shot.

    But it didn¡¯t take long for the Level 3 mutant to reach Su Jin. It was strong enough to match Su Jin, so it charged at Su Jin and crashed against Su Jin hard enough to send him flying out of the ne.

    However, Su Jin reacted fast and grabbed hold of the Level 3 mutant, so both of them flew out of the ne. If that mutant remained in the ne, the two newbies were dead for sure.

    Even though Su Jin had brought the most dangerous one out of the ne, there were still arge number of zombies on board. Thankfully, Chu Yi had arrived in time to help. He dragged Shen Hongjiang out of the way, then pulled Ju Xin to his side.

    The zombies were closing in on them, so Chu Yi grabbed one of the armrests and jumped up to give the nearest zombie a dropkick, giving him a little time to breathe.

    He yelled at Ju Xin, ¡°Run! Why are you still here?!¡±

    Ju Xin snapped out of her daze when she heard Chu Yi yelling at her. She scrambled off the ne and Chu Yi was about to follow behind her when the zombies caught up with him again, so he had to continue fighting them off inside the ne first.

    At the same time, Ju Xin suddenly stopped running after she had run out of the ne. She turned back to stare at Chu Yi with nothing but hatred and spite in her eyes. She reached out to press the button outside the cabin and the door slowly closed.

    Meanwhile, Chu Yi had no idea that the door behind him had been closed. He had finally managed to keep the zombies a safe distance from him and turned around, only to find that the door was shut fast. He looked out of the ss window to see Ju Xin ring venomously at him.

    ¡°Open the door! Hurry up!¡± Chu Yi rammed the door desperately but Ju Xin merely cackled outside and was obviously not going to open the door at all.

    Chu Yi knew that Ju Xin had done this on purpose, but he had no idea how he had offended the woman at all. He could only try to see if there was another button that could open the door. But the poor boy had never even taken a ne before, much less locate a button that could open the cabin door.

    Outside, Su Jin stabbed his katana through the Level 3 Mutant¡¯s head and it finally stopped moving altogether.

    ¡°Phew! That was hard!¡± Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to see Shen Hongjiang still panting and trying to recover from the terrible ordeal, while Ju Xin was cackling outside the cabin door.

    ¡°She¡¯s really crazy. Why in the world is she justughing at a bunch of zombies?¡± wondered Su Jin with the shake of his head.

    Kano Mai and the rest came over as well. ¡°How¡¯s everything? Everyone okay?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded, then Kano Mai asked, ¡°Wait, where¡¯s Chu Yi?¡±

    ¡°Chu Yi?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He turned around with a start to see that Ju Xin was stillughing maniacally at the closed cabin door and ran over quickly. He had a bad feeling about this.

    He pulled Ju Xin aside and ripped the cabin door right off. There was no time to wait for it to open by itself.

    By this time, all the remaining zombies in the ne had gathered together and were all heading in the same direction, even stepping and shoving fellow zombies aside. Su Jin immediately pulled zombie after zombie away, throwing them out rapidly before finally spotting Chu Yi all curled up in a corner.

    Su Jin pulled Chu Yi out of there and covered him all the way out. It was impossible for these basic zombies to hurt him anyway.

    Once out of the ne, he handed Chu Yi to Kano Mai before heading back into the ne to finish off the rest of the zombies. He didn¡¯t want any of them to suddenly pop upter.

    The number of zombies left inside the ne weren¡¯t many and it was a fairly small space, so it was quite easy for Su Jin to kill a lot of them at one shot. He was done with them within a few minutes.

    He walked out of the ne much dirtier than before and approached Kano Mai, only to see that she was extremely pale in the face.

    ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s happened?¡± Su Jin had a bad feeling about this.

    Her eyes were red as she said, ¡°Chu Yi¡­has been bitten!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened and he turned to look at Chu Yi, to see a bloody patch on his shoulder where the zombie had bitten him. The area around the wound was beginning to turn ck from rotting.

    ¡°You! How could you do such a thing!¡± roared Su Jin as he grabbed Ju Xin by the neck and mmed her against the outside of the passenger ne.

    Ju Xin struggled wildly. Su Jin was incredibly strong and if he gripped her hard enough, he could snap her neck.

    ¡°How could you! HOW COULD YOU!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t stop yelling furiously at her. He hadn¡¯t seen what she did, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to put two and two together. Ju Xin was definitely the person who had locked Chu Yi inside that ne.

    ¡°Let¡­let go¡­¡± Ju Xin could barely squeeze any words out. If Su Jin wanted to, he could kill her very easily.

    ¡°Mr. Su, please let go of her! You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re going to strangle her to death at this rate,¡± said Zhang Lei very cautiously.

    Su Jin was angry, but he wasn¡¯t some killing monster. He let go of her, but he red at her and snapped, ¡°If you can¡¯t give me a good exnation for doing what you did, I¡¯ll make sure you die a worse death than bing a zombie!¡±

    Ju Xin copsed onto the ground and breathed heavily as she stared up in terror at Su Jin. How could she give him a good exnation? What could she even say? Ju Xin herself was now utterly shocked by the fact that she had even done such a thing.

    cker would also like to say that helicopters can only make it for 3-5 hours depending on your load before it needs to be refueled, but more than one Chinese author has failed to understand this. NA to Africa is a long journey that will require multiple stops or mid-air refueling.

 Chapter 138: The Truth

    <h4>Chapter 138: The Truth</h4>

    Chu Yi was very important to Su Jin. Su Jin treated Chu Yi as a brother, a brother who stayed by his side through thick and thin, even risking his own life to protect him. Su Jin, Chu Yi and Kano Mai had supported each other in every way and got through many difficult trials together.

    Ju Xin was terrified by how angry Su Jin was. Her lips were pale and she didn¡¯t dare to respond to him at all.

    ¡°I said, exin yourself! If you don¡¯t seize this chance, then you shall have to die!¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice was as frosty as a demon from hell as a murderous rage surged through his body.

    Ju Xin swung from being terrified to bing angry at Su Jin¡¯s threat, before finally goingpletely insane. She started shrieking wildly, ¡°And why should I have to die? Why? He did that to me, so I¡¯ve just done to him what he deserves! Why can¡¯t I do that?¡±

    ¡°He did what to you?¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes and did not believe Ju Xin at all. He was very sure that Chu Yi would never have done something like this to another person.

    Ju Xin wasn¡¯t done. She continued to shriek, ¡°Hypocrites! You¡¯re all nothing but hypocrites! In the library, the threedies were supposed to seduce those guards and lead them away. Look at what happened in the end! I was nearly vited! He went to save this little wench first instead of me! He left me all by myself to be vited by two animals! Do you know how much despair I was in at that time? I¡¯m just¡­I¡¯m just letting him have a taste of that same sort of despair!¡±

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. This woman had decided to do something so insane because of her misunderstanding of the situation.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not what happened. At that time, Mr. Chu felt that Chen Duo was in greater danger, so he chose to save her first. But he didn¡¯t waste any time and ran to save you after he had settled Chen Duo¡¯s side,¡± said Shen Hongjiang.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t waste any time? That¡¯s bullshit! You think I don¡¯t know? He wanted to get back at me because I argued with his team leader! I know all about that! I know all about that!!¡± she continued to shriek in rage.

    Everyone felt that Ju Xin was just being unreasonable now. Su Jinughed bitterly. Poor, poor Chu Yi. To think he ended up in such a state because of a woman like that.

    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s your reason, then you¡¯re still going to die!¡± Su Jin raised his katana. Since she hadn¡¯te up with a good reason for doing this to Chu Yi, she still deserved to die.

    Ju Xin retreated in horror, but it was no use. If she could dodge Su Jin¡¯s sword, then these Challenges wouldn¡¯t be a problem to her.

    But just before his sword struck her, she shouted, ¡°There¡¯s hope for him! There¡¯s hope for him!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s katana stopped just half a finger above her head. She continued, ¡°He¡¯s got a vine! With a vine, he¡¯ll be saved!¡±

    His eyes lit up. He had been too angry and had forgotten all about this. He turned to look at Professor Charlemagne and said, ¡°Prof, please hand over the vine.¡±

    The professor stared at Su Jin and said, ¡°I can¡¯t do that. This is the only one avable in the world. I can¡¯t give it to you.¡±

    ¡°You can see the state my friend is in yourself. He really needs the vine, so please, please help us,¡± pleaded Su Jin.

    The professor shook his head again. ¡°Please calm down. You know what a vine does, right? Have you seen someone use a vine on a person who has already been infected with the virus? It¡¯s useless to him.¡±

    Su Jin continued to hold his ground. ¡°As long as there¡¯s hope, I¡¯m willing to try anything. Please help us, Professor. I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡±

    The old man had seen what sort of superhuman strength Su Jin had and he immediately took a step back in fear when he heard Su Jin threaten him. ¡°There¡¯s no point in hurting me. I can only say¡­I can only tell you that what I¡¯m holding onto will not help him.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you¡¯re leaving me with no choice.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t want to waste any time talking to the professor, so he grabbed hold of the old man and said to Kano Mai, ¡°Mai, search him!¡±

    Kano Mai quickly found the vine but the professor seemed to have gone insane. He struggled like crazy and bellowed, ¡°Give it back to me! You don¡¯t know what that is! Give it back to me! That¡¯s thest hope for mankind!¡±

    Su Jin ignored the old man. He had a bigger problem now. The vine only came in a vial and he had no idea how to inject it into Chu Yi¡¯s body. Zheng Lei suddenly came forward with a small box in hand. There were actually syringes inside.

    ¡°I found a small first aid kit in the library and thought it mighte in handy, so I brought it along,¡± exined Zhang Lei.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Su Jin thanked him.

    The professor immediately yelled out, ¡°Su Jin, stop right there! If you administer that shot to him, you¡¯d kill him!¡±

    Su Jin paused and turned to look at the professor. The professor did not look like he was kidding. Su Jin wasn¡¯t stupid and was the brains of the team for a good reason. Normally, he would have remained calm no matter what, but his worry for Chu Yi made him lose his cool. But after looking at the expression on the professor¡¯s face, he realized that something might be amiss.

    The professor looked at Su Jin with a pleading look in his eye. ¡°Please, that¡¯s thest hope for humanity.¡±

    Su Jin furrowed his brows and suddenly realized what was going on. He stared straight at the professor and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t a vine at all is it?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened as Su Jin continued, ¡°You¡¯ve been telling me all this time that this thing is the hope for all humanity, the hope for this world. So¡­this thing does have something to do with humans. If you¡¯re now telling me that giving it to Chu Yi will kill him, that means this thing isn¡¯t a vine. It¡¯s poison, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    The professor had a bitter look on his face. Su Jin went on, ¡°Because if this were actually a vine and you managed to get it to the Safe Zone to produce it in bulk, the only thing it would achieve would be that humans no longer need to worry about turning into zombies, but they would still be attacked by zombies. The sheer number of zombies in the world are too many for the few humans left to fight off.¡±

    ¡°Therefore, if this thing is truly the hope for mankind and the world, the only possibility is that this is poison. Making it in bulk can kill zombies and mutants!¡±

    After Su Jin finished speaking, the professor nodded silently. He sighed and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. This is poison. But it¡¯s hope to humans.¡±

    ¡°But this thing has an effect on humans too, doesn¡¯t it?¡± remarked Su Jin.

    The professor shuddered as he stared at Su Jin in disbelief. He couldn¡¯t understand how Su Jin would have known about that.

    Su Jin said in a matter-of-fact voice, ¡°Did you think it would be hard to reach that conclusion? Like you said, it¡¯s poison, but it¡¯s also something very precious to humans. Yet, you hid it away and called it a vine. The only reason why you would do this is because this thing is very dangerous. It¡¯s dangerous to both humans and zombies alike.¡±

    ¡°Everythinges with a risk. The Key to Immortality was once known as man¡¯s greatest invention, something that could give humans immortality. But look at what happened in the end. The Key to Immortality did not bring eternal life, but disaster instead. Humans ought to understand that benefits and risk alwayse together,¡± said Professor Charlemagne slowly.

    But Su Jin merely scoffed. ¡°Is that so? I don¡¯t think the same way. I¡¯m afraid that the thing that brought disaster upon mankind wasn¡¯t the Key to Immortality, but those who hated the Key to Immortality, right?¡±

    The professor¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. ¡°What¡­what do you know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very obvious. There was nothing wrong with the Key to Immortality, but some people hated it. They had a different philosophy in life and they probably supported the natural cycle of life instead, believing that it was correct for all life to eventually die. Someone ended up doing something to the Key to Immortality, and that¡¯s what caused the problem we have today!¡± said Su Jin firmly.

    ¡°That¡¯s a load of gibberish!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a load of gibberish? In order to develop a poison against the zombies, one must have done a lot of experiments, right? Let¡¯s put aside the ethics or whether you had the resources to begin with for the moment. Even if you had full ess to resources, then where would you start from? How would you know what would kill the zombies? By examining the zombies? If doing that could result in a poison that could kill the zombies, the governments would havee up with one by now.¡±

    ¡°So, if the zombies weren¡¯t a good ce to start, then what would be? It would be much easier toe up with such a poison if you knew what went wrong with the Key to Immortality in the first ce, right?¡± Su Jin was like a storyteller, revealing the rming truth with such a calm voice.

    The professor looked like a deted balloon and his face fell as he murmured, ¡°So, I couldn¡¯t hide it forever. I couldn¡¯t hide what I did after all.¡±

    ¡°Prof, I don¡¯t care about what you¡¯ve done and I don¡¯t care what will happen to this world. All I want to know is, can my brother here still be saved?¡± It was true that Su Jin didn¡¯t care about this world since he didn¡¯t belong to it. But he needed to know if there was hope for Chu Yi.

    The old man shook his head immediately. ¡°I¡¯ve done a lot of experiments and the conclusion is no. Anybody bitten by a zombie will get the virus and there¡¯s no hope for the person after that.¡±

    Su Jin looked at Chu Yi, whose face was all pale from the spread of the virus in his body. If his Spirit Power had not been sealed off, he might have been able to hold it off. But now¡­he was slowly but surely turning into a zombie.

    ¡°Mai, tie Chu Yi up and make sure he can¡¯t move. Regardless of what happens, I¡¯m bringing him back,¡°Su Jin said to Kano Mai.

    She nodded and found a rope to tie Chu Yi up. Ju Xin started yelling again, ¡°You can¡¯t bring him along! He¡¯s already turned into a zombie!¡±

    Su Jin scoffed and glowered at Ju Xin, ¡°I almost forgot about you. But I¡¯m toozy to kill you now.¡±

    Just after she breathed a sigh of relief, he continued, ¡°But you¡¯re not allowed to board the ne. You can stay here and wait to die!¡±

    ¡°No! No! You can¡¯t do that! You can¡¯t abandon me! I have the right to get onto the ne! That¡¯s my right as a human being!¡± Ju Xin went into a panic. If she were left behind, she would definitely die.

    ¡°Miss Ju Xin, I think you¡¯re mistaken about something here. I¡¯m not obliged to observe any of your rights as a human,¡± said Su Jin frostily.

    Her face turned a whiter shade of pale. Of course she knew that. But she was desperately trying to find a reason for him to bring her along so that she didn¡¯t have to die here. She had done a very stupid thing indeed, a stupid deed that was going to cost her life now.

    ¡°No! Whether I get to board the ne or not is not entirely up to you! I want everyone to vote!¡± yelled Ju Xin very loudly after taking a deep breath.

 Chapter 139: Life And Death

    <h4>Chapter 139: Life And Death</h4>

    Ju Xin was still being so ridiculous even at this juncture. Kano Mai scoffed loudly in disbelief. The fact that Su Jin didn¡¯t just kill her on the spot was already an act of goodwill. And now, she even wanted to take a vote?

    To Kano Mai¡¯s surprise, Su Jin actually nodded and said, ¡°You want us to vote? Fine. I¡¯ll let you guys vote.¡±

    Ju Xin was stunned by his response because she had only said that out of desperation and she didn¡¯t expect him to agree either. But since he had agreed, that was better for her. She knew how to convince everyone to stand on her side.

    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Ju Xin gulped her saliva down in excitement.

    Su Jin nodded quietly. Kano Mai stared at Su Jin in disbelief and opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head at her and said, ¡°I said I¡¯d give her the chance.¡±

    Kano Mai red at him angrily, but she respected him as the team leader of Team Boning Knife and went with any decision he made.

    Ju Xin said excitedly, ¡°Everyone, listen to me. I admit that what I did was wrong, but now¡­I¡¯m really trying to consider everyone¡¯s safety. Professor Charlemagne, how many vehicles are good to fly here?¡±

    ¡°Only two helicopters can be used. But even if youbine the remaining fuel in the other helicopters, it¡¯s only enough for one helicopter,¡°the professor replied.

    Ju Xin nodded excitedly again and after sorting out the information in her head, she said, ¡°As all of you can see, a helicopter doesn¡¯t have a lot of space. It¡¯s already hard enough to squeeze everyone into one and now, this guy! This guy wants to bring on board a human who¡¯s slowly but surely turning into a zombie! If something happens while we¡¯re in the air, we can¡¯t possibly do anything inside this tiny helicopter. Do you guys really want to die together with him?¡±

    The newbies fell silent after hearing what Ju Xin said and they had shifty nces because Ju Xin¡¯s words had clearly hit home. Chu Yi was going to turn into a zombie anytime now and there was no way to fight him in a tiny helicopter in midair. Bringing Chu Yi along would result in their own death.

    Su Jin had a sullen look on his face as he asked, ¡°Are you done?¡±

    ¡°Onest word. Friends, I think everyone already knows how terrifying this Challenge is and how difficult it is to survive. But no matter how difficult it is, we¡¯ve got to try! And now, the chance to survive is right in front of you. I¡¯ll leave you to decide which side you¡¯re on,¡± said Ju Xin as she stared straight into everyone¡¯s eyes. She knew all the newbies were struggling inside to make a decision.

    But Ju Xin believed that she was a clever woman who understood human nature well. And what were humans like? Most humans avoided anything that might kill them because they had a strong survival instinct. It might sound cowardly, but that was precisely why mankind had been able to reach their current level of development.

    Su Jin nced at all of them coldly, then said, ¡°All right then. We can start voting now. Between this woman and Chu Yi, we will only take one of them. Those who choose her, raise your hands!¡±

    The first person to raise her hand was Ju Xin. She looked at the rest and Zhang Lei was the first one to waver as he slowly raised his hand. He said apologetically to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯m really sorry. I really, really want to survive this. It¡¯s too dangerous to bring Mr. Chu along.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t say anything. After that, Shen Hongjiang raised his hand and looked apologetically at Su Jin as well. Ju Xin was very proud of herself. So what if Su Jin were an old timer? He still lost to her after all.

    But Ju Xin¡¯s heart quickly sank. She had been so sure that Chen Duo would raise her hand, but Chen Duo did not. She stared at Chen Duo and said, ¡°Chen Duo, are you certain you¡¯d rather travel with a zombie?¡±

    Chen Duo bit her lip and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry but Mr. Chu saved my life before, so¡­I¡¯ve decided to go with this side instead.¡±

    Her words surprised Su Jin and Kano Mai as well. This youngdy was a grateful person even at this juncture, which was something that most people would not be able to do, especially in a life and death situation.

    Su Jin grinned. ¡°That¡¯s three versus three. I guess you won¡¯t be allowed to board after all.¡±

    Ju Xin nearly blew up when she thought of something. ¡°You said that everyone gets to vote so¡­Professor Charlemagne gets a say as well. If he allows Chu Yi to board, then I will ept my fate.¡±

    Su Jin raised his eyebrow slightly, while Ju Xin started trying to convince the professor to stand on her side. ¡°Prof, the future of mankind and the world rests on your shoulders! It¡¯s not worth taking such a risk. I¡¯m sure you understand that.¡±

    The old man nodded slightly and said to Su Jin, ¡°I hope you can understand. I will not allow Mr. Chu on board.¡±

    ¡°Why, you!¡± Kano Mai raised her voice, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember who got you out of the library?¡±

    The professor went red in the face but Su Jin said, ¡°Prof, just like she said, everyone gets to cast a vote. In that case, I believe Chu Yi should have the right to vote as well, so our votes are still split evenly.¡±

    ¡°No! He doesn¡¯t have the right to vote! He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s already be a zombie! Only the humans get to vote!¡± yelled Ju Xin through gritted teeth.

    The professor was very apologetic as he said to Su Jin, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Mr. Su. But if you insist on allowing Mr. Chu to fly with us, I will have no choice but to refuse to pilot the vehicle. As the only one who knows how to do that, I believe you ought to respect my choice.¡±

    Su Jin scoffed and he nced at everyone on Ju Xin¡¯s side with a sinister smile. ¡°I¡¯m going to give all of you onest chance, so you can still change your mind now. Tell me - are you really going to stick to your first decision?¡±

    The three newbies were silent, and they all eventually nodded in agreement that Chu Yi should not be allowed to board.

    Su Jin sighed and waved his hand to motion to them that they could leave. Since Chu Yi was not allowed to board, he wasn¡¯t going with them either. Kano Mai chose to do the same thing as him. Su Jin looked at Chen Duo and said, ¡°Miss Chen, if you trust me, stay here and I will guarantee your safety even after they¡¯ve left.¡±

    She nodded without hesitation. ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you guys to take care of me then.¡±

    Su Jin nodded at her with a smile. The three newbies quickly boarded the helicopter while Su Jin spoke privately to the professor. ¡°Prof, it¡¯s too bad that we can¡¯t continue on this journey together, but since we did rescue you from the library, could you at least tell me the exact location of the Safe Zone?¡±

    The professor felt bad for refusing to let Chu Yi board earlier, so he quickly agreed to answer Su Jin¡¯s question. He found a map on another helicopter and marked out the exact location of the Safe Zone.

    ¡°Mr. Su, I¡­have a great responsibility to fulfil, so I hope you can understand,¡± said the old man with a guilty look on his face.

    Su Jin smiled faintly and shook the professor¡¯s hand. ¡°I hope your journey ahead is smooth.¡±

    ¡°You too.¡± The professor sighed, then nced casually at Su Jin¡¯s pocket.

    Su Jinughed and returned the ¡®vine¡¯ in his pocket to the professor, which relieved the old man. He was still wondering how he could convince Su Jin to return this to him.

    ¡°What a hypocrite.¡± Ju Xin scoffed inside the helicopter as she watched Su Jin and the professor talk. To her, that was the ultimate disy of hypocrisy. Su Jin clearly hated them so much, yet he still cooperated with the professor as if the future of mankind was more important than his own life.

    The helicopter took flight in no time. Ju Xin suddenly started yelling at Su Jin from the helicopter, ¡°You hypocrite! You stupid hypocrite! You can wait to die here with all that hypocrisy! HA! Aren¡¯t you angry? Aren¡¯t you soooo angry? But you can¡¯t do anything about that! Thest man standing turns out to be me! HA! I, Ju Xin, is the ultimate winner!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a real nutcase.¡± Su Jin shook his head disdainfully. This woman had clearly gone mad.

    After the helicopter had left, Kano Mai red at Su Jin furiously and said in a frustrated voice, ¡°Why did you agree to her suggestion? Why did you allow everyone to vote like that? This is a Handbook Challenge and the only aim is to survive! On top of that, she¡¯s caused this horrible thing to happen to Chu Yi and you let her off?! WHY?¡±

    Su Jin was a little intimidated by Kano Mai¡¯s angry yelling and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so angry. I have my own ns. You know I¡¯m never the good guy for nothing.¡±

    Chen Duo smiled and said, ¡°Miss Kano, don¡¯t be angry with Mr. Su anymore. Actually¡­I figured that Mr. Su had some ns of his own already.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin was surprised to hear this. He looked at her curiously and asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about what you think?¡±

    She nodded and said, ¡°This is all guesswork, so please don¡¯t be offended if I¡¯ve guessed it wrong.¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine. Just speak freely.¡± He nodded at her.

    ¡°If my guess is right, Mr. Su is using them like a minesweeper. You¡¯re just using them to test the waters,¡± exined Chen Duo.

    Su Jin¡¯s smile widened and he nodded to tell Chen Duo to continue. After receiving affirmation, she went on, ¡°Before this, Mr. Chu and Miss Kano exined to me that this whole thing is a Challenge, and to look at it simply, it¡¯s like a stage in a game. Once weplete all the missions in this stage, we would also havepleted the stage.¡±

    ¡°Continuing with this analogy, you could see Professor Charlemagne as an NPC of this stage, and he¡¯s an NPC with a quest. I haven¡¯t yed a lot of such games before, but I know that such NPCs can either lead you to other side quests or trigger other events. If I¡¯m not wrong, Mr. Su thinks that the professor will trigger an event that may be very difficult to deal with and could possibly affect whether we get through this game stage or not. That¡¯s why you wanted them to leave with the professor, because then we could avoid going through whatever event he would trigger.¡±

    Su Jin gave her a pleased nod and said with a smile, ¡°Miss Chen, you¡¯re a really smart youngdy. You¡¯ve nailed it. Ju Xin is an evil woman who¡¯s done this to mypanion, so there¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to just let her off like that. Since I would prefer her dead, I might as well make full use of her before she dies.¡±

    ¡°Poor Mr. Zhang and Mr. Shen, though.¡± Chen Duo smiled sadly.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I gave them the chance to choose our team, but they failed to seize the chance. When they turned their backs on Chu Yi in hope of surviving this ordeal, they didn¡¯t realize they were actually turning their backs on their own lives.¡±

    But Kano Mai was still very unhappy. ¡°If I were you, I would have killed Ju Xin with my own hands to avenge Chu Yi. She¡¯s the one whonded him in this state after all!¡±

    Su Jin quickly tried to calm her down. ¡°No, no, if my guess is right¡­there¡¯s still hope for Chu Yi yet.¡±

 Chapter 140: Key To Immortality

    <h4>Chapter 140: Key To Immortality</h4>

    Kano Mai stared at Su Jin with a confused expression on her face, then she looked toward Chu Yi. Chu Yi had pretty much be a zombie already. His eyes were unfocused and his body was convulsing slightly.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She still couldn¡¯t figure it out.

    Su Jin looked at Chu Yi and felt likeughing, since there were times when Chu Yi went into a daze and looked exactly like this. He exined, ¡°To put it simply, the zombie virus is just a virus. I¡¯ve observed several mutants along the way and they seem to be ever evolving. In other words, the humans who have been infected with the zombie virus aren¡¯t dead. They¡¯re just¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re just ill?¡± Kano Mai had figured it out and her face lit up.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. This world might not be able to cure anybody of the zombie virus, but that doesn¡¯t mean his situation is hopeless. As long as he can make it out of this Challenge alive, he¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    It was true that Chu Yi was just infected with the virus but he wasn¡¯t dead. As long as he was still alive, his Personal Hell Domain would restore him to what he was before. That was why Su Jin was not worried at all.

    Kano Mai let out a long sigh of relief. She looked at Chu Yi again, to see that he had fully be a zombie and was trying to reach for them because he saw them as food now.

    Bam! Kano Mai bashed him in the head and made him shrink back instinctively.

    ¡°Stupid Chu Yi! If you end up getting into trouble because of a woman like that again, we won¡¯t save you a second time!¡± Kano Mai was yelling at him, but now that she knew he could be saved, she felt that he was kind of adorable in this state as well.

    ¡°Haha! He¡¯s stupid, alright,¡°Su Jin chimed in to gloat over Chu Yi¡¯s misfortune. Unfortunately, this set Kano Mai off as well.

    ¡°And you! If you reach any conclusions, tell me in advance! Don¡¯t leave me in the dark like that! Otherwise¡­I¡¯ll punch you next!¡± Kano Mai was very upset that Su Jin hadn¡¯t told her about his ns at all. She had been so upset when she thought Chu Yi was leaving them forever.

    Su Jin immediately nodded and apologized as he promised to never do it again. He was just short of making an oath.

    Chen Duo was very amused as she watched them bicker. It turned out that the real boss of Team Boning Knife was Kano Mai, but only the three of them knew that. Su Jin did have the final say, but after going through so many tribtions together, each one of them was just as important to each other.

    Now that the professor had flown off in one helicopter, the most urgent task at hand was to find a suitable vehicle and gas.

    After what happened thest time after he allowed everyone to split up to check the vehicles, he decided not to do that again. The group moved as one to inspect every helicopter but to their dismay, there was really only one other helicopter that was in working order. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t enough gas for it.

    ¡°Do I seriously have to walk all the way to Africa?¡± Su Jin sighed heavily. He could probably make it, but having to bring along twodies and one zombie made it impossible.

    ¡°Actually, we didn¡¯t check the passenger ne,¡°Chen Duo piped up.

    Su Jin smacked his forehead and went up the ne himself. There were still some more zombies left behind inside, so he had to do a thorough check and clean up. Half an hourter, he was finally done checking through even the tiniest of spaces inside the ne. Once he was certain there were no zombies on board, he allowed the twodies to board.

    The three of them sat in the cockpit and after some time, Chen Duo¡¯s face lit up as she said, ¡°Good news! The passenger ne is working just fine and it doesn¡¯t rely on gas, but sr energy. It¡¯s been parked here for so long, so it¡¯s fully charged.¡±(depending on what sort of ne it is¡­seriously sr doesn¡¯t carry you that far without additional battery packs or recharging¡­)

    Su Jin leaned over and stared at the controls for a long time before finally asking, ¡°How¡­did you deduce any of that?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a user manual stored in the controls interface, so I read it!¡°said Chen Duo with augh. She started pressing buttons on the interface and the entire cockpit lit up. They could hear that the ne was beginning to move forward and was ready to take flight.

    ¡°Woohoo! I know how to pilot a ne now!¡± Chen Duo was very excited.

    On the contrary, Su Jin wasn¡¯t so optimistic. The runway was still crawling with zombies, so it was going to be difficult for them to take off. They might end up flying to heaven instead.

    Su Jin instantly leaped out of the ne with no problems, since he ripped off the cabin door thest time. He ran ahead of the ne and sent everything in the way flying with several punches, then ran back once he was sure there was enough distance for the ne to take off.¡°

    ¡°Is it a problem if the cabin door is gone?¡± asked Kano Mai worriedly.

    Su Jin leaped off the ne again and grabbed the door he had ripped off. The ne was beginning to take off, so he gritted his teeth, ran really hard and leaped high into the sky,nding urately inside the cabin.

    ¡°And how do we put it back?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    He looked at the cabin door, then used his palms to m the sides so hard that the door was now embedded in the doorframe. There were a few gaps left behind, so he mmed some of the seats onto those ces and sealed the doorway shut.

    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°The design looks a little crazy, but it works.¡± Kano Mai approved of it.

    Meanwhile, Chen Duo was still very excited about getting to fly a ne. When Su Jin and Kano Mai returned to the cabin, she grinned at them and said, ¡°I can fly a ne now!¡±

    ¡°Hoho! Congrattions! But that¡¯s not the only thing I know how to drive,¡± said Su Jin with a naughty smile.

    Chen Duo didn¡¯t get the joke but Kano Mai did. Su Jin stared at her in surprise and whispered, ¡°Oh, Mister Driver, won¡¯t you let me ride your car?¡±

    Su Jin got punched in the face immediately.

    Actually, it wasn¡¯t really that surprising that Chen Duo could fly the ne, because they quickly discovered that this ne was built such that even a child could fly it. Once the destination was keyed in, the ne would find its best route and fly itself.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t get it. All the cars in the city run on gas but the passenger nes are so high tech? This world doesn¡¯t seem to make sense,¡± grumbled Su Jin. It was so odd to find a passenger ne running on sr energy and using such smart technology.

    ¡°Jin, could youe over for a minute?¡± Kano Mai suddenly called out to Su Jin.

    ¡°Miss Chen, I¡¯ll leave this ce to you,¡± Su Jin said to Chen Duo.

    After she nodded, Su Jin went over to where Kano Mai was and saw her holding a small box in her hand.

    She put it down and opened it to reveal five syringes filled with a colored liquid. He looked at her quizzically, so she pulled out another piece of paper that had the picture of a key on it.

    ¡°The Key to Immortality!¡± Su Jin was shocked to find a box of this stuff on board.

    She nodded and said, ¡°I found it inside the safe on board. It was very well hidden and I didn¡¯t expect it to contain these either.¡±

    The Key to Immortality was med for causing the zombie frenzy in this Challenge, but after Su Jin put the pieces together, it turned out that this substance wasn¡¯t at fault at all and there was no problem with it. And if that were the case, this remained a precious drug that could grant humans immortality. It was an invaluable substance.

    Su Jin took one of them and returned to the cockpit. He said to Chen Duo, ¡°Here, this is yours.¡±

    She looked at him puzzledly and he exined, ¡°This is the Key to Immortality, the drug mentioned at the beginning of the Challenge that gives humans eternal life. I suppose even if it can¡¯t help you to live forever, it can probably extend your lifespan significantly. This one is yours.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t believe how generous Su Jin was. Lifespan was something more precious than anything in the world to humans. Even if she didn¡¯t use this on herself and sold it to some wealthy person, she would have enough money to livefortably for the rest of her life.

    Su Jin could guess what she was thinking about andughed. ¡°Once you get out of here, you¡¯d realize that money is the least valuable thing to a Handbook owner. I¡¯d advise you to exchange this for points instead. That would be of greater use to you in the future.¡±

    But she was still puzzled. ¡°But¡­but why would you give such a valuable thing to me?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve seen it, so you get one!¡± said Su Jin with a smile. Actually, this was to thank her for choosing to stick with him. Even though her choice would not have made any difference to his ns, he was still grateful for her faith in him.

    He took one of the Keys for himself, saved one for Chu Yi, then gave thest two to Kano Mai. She was the one who found them after all.

    The hours after that were calm and quiet, since it was going to take them some time to reach their destination. The three of them took the chance to recover some of their energy so that they would have enough strength for any dangers that mighte their wayter.

    After a long time, Chen Duo called out to the other two, ¡°I think we¡¯re here!¡±

    Su Jin and Kano Mai walked to the cockpit where they could look out of the ss windows to see the situation outside. Chen Duo figured they had arrived because she could see an area that resembled a volcano crater. Tall mountains surrounded it and many humans were within the crater.

    ¡°Prepare fornding,¡± said Su Jin.

    Chen Duo hit a few buttons and the ne immediately started scanning the area to find a goodnding spot. It quickly found a good spot and was ready for descent in half an hour. But Su Jin took another look outside and said to Chen Duo, ¡°Cancel thending!¡±

    Chen Duo couldn¡¯t understand why Su Jin wanted her to do this but she did it anyway. He pointed at the ground and said, ¡°Look over there! Don¡¯t you think that looks like the helicopter that Professor Charlemagne and the rest took?¡±

    The twodies looked in the direction he was pointing in to see a badly damaged helicopter. A giant monster was standing on top of the helicopter and roaring loudly.

    The creature looked like it was made from a fusion of innumerable human bodies. Each inch of flesh on its limbs was a body. Its gigantic body was nearly 20 meters tall.

    ¡°We can¡¯tnd like that. What do we do now?¡± asked Kano Mai with a frown.

    Su Jinughed and said to them, ¡°Hang on to me, my darlings!¡±

    These wordse from ÀÏË¾»ú´ø´øÎÒ, which is a folksong from Yunnan, China that loosely trantes to ¡®Mister Driver, bring me along¡¯. It became popr some years ago because while it starts as a song about two women trying to fight over a cab of sorts, it gets raunchy very quickly. The songes with a dance and the lyrics are usually improvised, so there¡¯s no fixed set. Either way, the ¡®Mister Driver¡¯ or literally tranted, ¡®Old Driver¡¯, has be an inte ng for someone very experienced and familiar with something, since the words for ¡®bring me along¡¯ can also mean to lead/teach someone, and it¡¯s mostly referring to anything sex rted, including puns like the driver¡¯s going too fast etc.

 Chapter 141: Battle In The Air

    <h4>Chapter 141: Battle In The Air</h4>

    Su Jin sounded so much like the male lead of a billionaire CEO novel. If he had the crazed and confident smile of a young master, he might have garnered some fans. Unfortunately, neither Kano Mai nor Chen Duo were in the mood to y along with him.

    ¡°Can you please be serious?¡± Kano Mai rolled her eyes at Su Jin.

    He looked sadly at her and said, ¡°I¡¯m being serious here. We¡¯re going to fly through the airspace above the safe zone in a moment, so I need both of you to hang on to me. Also, Mai, I¡¯ll need you to give me a push from behind. We¡¯re going to jump off this aircraft.¡±

    ¡°Jump off this aircraft?¡± Chen Duo¡¯s face paled. From their current height, the Safe Zone was merely a small dot in the ground. If they jumped like that, even if they didn¡¯t end up crashnding and dying, there was no guarantee that they would be able tond exactly where they wanted either.

    ¡°That¡¯s one way, I guess. But aren¡¯t you afraid of heights?¡± asked Kano Mai in a serious tone. Chen Duo paled even more when she realized that Kano Mai seemed agreeable with this insane n to just jump out of the ne.

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s why I need you to give me a push from behind! I won¡¯t have the guts to keep my eyes open on our way down, so just tell me which way we have to go and I¡¯ll adjust ordingly.¡±

    Kano Mai thought about this for a moment and figured that the n could work, so she nodded in agreement. Chen Duo immediately spoke up, ¡°W-wait a minute! Are you sure about this? Aren¡¯t we going to die if we jump from such a height?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that! Our team leader can handle it,¡± said Kano Mai confidently as she patted Su Jin on the shoulders. Chen Duo nearly fainted. Just because Su Jin could handle it didn¡¯t mean she could too!

    Unfortunately for her, she had the least say over what they ought to do. If she didn¡¯t go with this n, she would have to allow the ne tond where there were zombies. Her survival rate in such a situation without Su Jin¡¯s protection was just as low as jumping off the ne.

    The ne was about to fly over the Safe Zone. Su Jin carried Chu Yi on his back, held Chen Duo in his arms and kicked the cabin door off the ne again. The air current rushed into the ne and it was hard for any of them to open their eyes.

    ¡°Here we go!¡± That was all the warning Kano Mai gave before kicking Chu Yi in the back, causing the three to fall out of the ne. She leaped out behind them and grabbed hold of Chu Yi¡¯s back.

    The four of them kept spinning in the air as they descended. The temperature at that height was very low and the air currents pushed hard at them. It was very difficult for anyone without proper training to keep their body from spinning out of control.

    However, none of this was difficult for Su Jin. He was really strong and had control over even the minutest muscle in his body. Movements that others took a long time of practicing to learn were mastered by Su Jin in minutes.

    ¡°Move to the right a little, otherwise we¡¯ll fall outside the Safe Zone.¡± Kano Mai¡¯s Spirit Power had been deactivated, but her body had gone through one round of strengthening before this. Her strengthened eyes were now able to see everything below clearly despite being a few thousand meters above ground.

    Su Jin spread his arms out and moved himself ording to Kano Mai¡¯s instructions. The rushing air currents helped him to adjust his direction very easily. Chu Yi was trying to bite his neck, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by that, since there was no way a zombie at Chu Yi¡¯s level could actually get through his skin. So, unless Chu Yi suddenly became a Level 4 Mutant, Su Jin was happy to let Chu Yi grind his teeth down.

    At the same time, Chen Duo was screaming her lungs out. She also had a fear of heights and her screaming had not stopped since they leaped out of the ne. Su Jin really hoped she would just faint from fright, but her consciousness seemed particrly resilient and she refused to faint. Her screaming only got louder as time passed.

    Su Jin endured her screaming and kept adjusting his angle and position, while Kano Mai continued being an excellent co-pilot. Just then, a ck figure leaped into the air towards them.

    ¡°Watch out, thatrge thing ising for us,¡± Kano Mai warned Su Jin a little nervously.

    Su Jin sighed, then pulled Chen Duo off his chest. Chen Duo started wing at him desperately in horror, preferring to remain in his embrace.

    ¡°Stop struggling, stay up there for a while,¡± Su Jin yelled at her before holding her up. Kano Mai caught hold of Chen Duo and held onto her. She knew that Su Jin was going to fight the monster head on.

    After more than ten seconds had passed, the ck figure grewrger andrger in size. The nearly 20-meter tall figure soon appeared in its entirety in front of Su Jin and threw a punch at him.

    Su Jin clenched his teeth and opened his eyes to throw a punch at the monster as well. Su Jin was much smallerpared to the monster, but their strength was equally matched.

    ¡°UGGGHHHH! ARRRGGHHH!¡± Every fiber of this Level 4 Mutant was making unintelligible noises. The monster was made from nothing but zombies. Their expressions were threatening as they swung their arms about, hoping to grab hold of Su Jin as he swung a punch towards the monster.

    ¡°DIE¡± Su Jin bellowed. The zombies did not get the chance to grab hold of him because the sheer wind created by Su Jin¡¯s actions had hit the monster before their fists collided.

    Boom! The two figures were like the repelling poles of a ma as they flew backwards away from each other. Su Jin felt like the flesh of his arm was about to tear apart. The impact of the collision almost shattered his arm.

    This was the first time something like that was happening to Su Jin after he took the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir. The Level 4 Mutant turned out to be a truly powerful being that could match him in terms of physical body strength.

    Meanwhile, the Level 4 Mutant itself was not doing much better. The arm it had used to attack Su Jin had exploded upon impact. Su Jin was pleased that the mutant had suffered more damage. After all, the mutant had to go against gravity to punch him, while Su Jin had thrown a punch from above, so gravity was on his side.

    The Level 4 Mutant continued to growl angrily. It flung out its other good arm and the zombies that the arm wasprised of were only connected at their heads and feet, so they could be extended like a long chain. This chain of zombies was like a whip as it flew towards Su Jin.

    Su Jin reacted quickly by pulling out more than ten steak knives from his belt and flinging them out at once. Each knife would stab through a few dozen zombies, so after all the knives had hit their targets, the Level 4 Mutant basically lost its other arm.

    Chen Duo hid in Kano Mai¡¯s arms and watched the fight with a look of disbelief on her face. Su Jin was a formidable fighter, but he hadn¡¯t used anything supernatural, so she just took it that Su Jin was some incredible martial artist, like the ones she had watched on TV.

    At the same time, fighting a 20-meter tall monster while being suspended in mid-air didn¡¯t seem like something a mere martial artist could do. This fight scene seemed more like something out of a cultivation novel rather than a martial arts novel.

    The mutant saw that Su Jin was going to swing another punch from above at it, so it took a step backwards and fell onto the ground. It growled loudly once itnded and countless zombies rushed towards it to form new arms.

    Su Jin gasped in horror. The mutant was actually able to repair its body just like that. In other words, for as long as there were zombies in the world, the mutant would always be able to repair any part of its body infinitely.

    Now that the mutant had shifted, Su Jin¡¯s oing attack was blocked and the impact had lessened significantly. The mutant got up from the ground and blocked Su Jin¡¯s next attack.

    The mutant¡¯s arms were now a lot thicker than before, as if it had purposely gathered more zombies in order to deal with Su Jin. Its fist had brushed past Su Jin in less than a second, but Su Jin noticed something and was stunned for a moment.

    He saw a few familiar faces on the fist of the mutant. Ju Xin, Zhang Lei, Shen Hongjiang and Professor Charlemagne made it here, but they had all be zombies that growled fiercely at Su Jin.

    During the time he was stunned, the mutant¡¯s fist had nearly reached him. He didn¡¯t have the space to swing his fist as hard as before, so even if he did try to throw a punch, the impact wouldn¡¯t be as great.

    He forced his body to turn and narrowly dodged the oing wind caused by the mutant¡¯s punch. He exerted some force in his legs and used them to press down one of the zombies on the mutant¡¯s fist from both sides. And of all the zombies, his legs happened to grab hold of Ju Xin.

    Boom! Su Jin¡¯s legs were too strong and squeezing Ju Xin¡¯s zombie body between them smashed her body to pieces. That rmed Su Jin for a moment: he really hadn¡¯t meant to be disrespectful to a dead body, no matter what Ju Xin had done in the past.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re just unlucky,¡± muttered Su Jin with the shake of his head. But now that he had be just like one of the zombies that formed the mutant¡¯s fist, he used the force from the mutant¡¯s punch to fly towards the Safe Zone.

    The momentum from the mutant¡¯s punch helped Su Jin to fly faster than if he had leaped off the mutant himself, which made the mutant furious. But there was nothing the mutant could do. Even if it shot another chain of zombies at Su Jin, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to catch up with him.

    A whooshing sound filled their ears as they came closer and closer to the Safe Zone. Kano Mai¡¯s expression remained unfazed by everything that just happened, Chu Yi was still trying to find a way to chomp on Su Jin¡¯s neck, while Chen Duo¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers. To her, they were still going to die if they were to do a crashnding in the Safe Zone. This time, it wasn¡¯t because they were falling from too great a height, but because they were flying at too high a speed.

    As they came closer tond, Chen Duo began to despair, but Su Jin looked just as confident as before. Just before theynded, Su Jin suddenly sucked in a huge amount of air, then blew it out as hard as he could.

    This rush of air out of his mouth served as an emergency brake of sorts that slowed them down sufficiently. It made Su Jin fly backwards a little, but it was within what Su Jin could handle. He used his legs to adjust the speed and finallynded all four of them safely on the ground.

    The people in the Safe Zone were all rmed when Su Jin literally fell from the sky. They had witnessed the battle earlier as well.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± yelled one man who looked like he was the leader.

    Su Jin looked at him, then ced a ss test tube on the ground and said, ¡°This is a substance that can poison zombies to death. A Professor Charlemagne said that it¡¯s the only hope that this world has.¡±

    Immediately after he said those words, Su Jin¡¯s entire world cked out.

 Chapter 142: The Godsâ€™ Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 142: The Gods¡¯ Ceremony</h4>

    Level D Challenge ¡°Zombie Frenzy¡±pleted perfectly: 2000 points

    Guiding Object: Badge of the Fools

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 3, 300 points

    Degree of Challenge Participation: A-, 500 points

    170 Level 1 Mutants killed; 20 Level 2 Mutants killed; 3 Level 3 Mutants killed: 840 points

    Points Received: 3640

    Total Points: 5860

    Su Jin breathed a big sigh of relief when he saw the number of surviving team members. He had merely guessed that Chu Yi was not considered dead by bing a zombie and looked very confident on the outside, but he really didn¡¯t understand the virus well and had been very anxious all this time. He could finally rx now.

    He took a look at the items he could exchange his points for in his Personal Hell Domain but there was nothing interesting among them. Kano Mai had told him previously that the chances of getting anything really good out of the Personal Hell Domain were pretty low.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have anything I need now, so maybe¡­I¡¯ll do a lucky draw?¡± Su Jin rubbed his hands together. The one thing he bookmarked in his catalog was actually those Lucky Draw Bags. They cost 100 points each and even though the chances of it turning up something good were low, he couldn¡¯t help but want to try his luck again and again.

    When he thought about how they might find something really valuable in the team¡¯s Hell Domain catalog, Su Jin decided not to spend too much and exchanged his points for just eight bags. His scowling only got worse as he opened each of the bags. Every bag only had a thank you message and nothing else. In his anger, he exchanged his points for another ten bags.

    He immediately regretted his decision when he got the bags and really felt like pping himself, but he chose to open the bags anyway. At least there was something in these bags.

    ¡°High grade blood clotting bandages, single-use human mask, winning luck.¡± Su Jin stared at the things in his hands and didn¡¯t know what to say. While these things weren¡¯tpletely useless, they were certainly not worth the number of points he had spent on them.

    ¡°This is thest bag. May Lady Luck shine on me!¡± muttered Su Jin to himself before opening the bag. There was a book inside.

    Su Jin was quite surprised. This was a purple-colored book and his name was printed on it in a very odd font. Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand a single word inside the book, so he kept it inside his Handbook and finally found out what this book really was.

    ¡°Skill manual for Ster Streams Heavy Armor. This skill will harden all the air and blood in one¡¯s body so that the owner will increase their defense very significantly over a short period of time. While skill is in use, the owner cannot move.¡± Su Jin did not expect to get something like this at all.

    He had gone through several Challenges now and had nevere across a skill manual. This skill was a defense one and it was probably a really powerful one, except that he couldn¡¯t move while it was in use.

    In other words, whenever he used this skill, he would be a target board. He¡¯d be a more resilient than usual target board, but one nheless. He hesitated for a moment, but chose to learn how to use this skill anyway. It wasn¡¯t great but there was no harm in adding another skill to his bag. It mighte in handy in the future.

    Learning it was easy anyway. Just like how it worked in those lousy games, Su Jin just had to confirm that he wanted to learn the skill, then ce his hand on the book. The book slowly disappeared and the skill appeared inside Su Jin¡¯s head.

    ¡°Ster Streams Heavy Armor!¡± shouted Su Jin in order to activate the skill. He immediately felt as though his entire body had be a lot heavier. His body hardened all over, as though he had be a block of steel.

    During this time, Su Jin felt like he was being tortured. Stopping the cirction of blood was definitely something that went against the way a human body worked, so if Su Jin¡¯s body weren¡¯t strong enough, executing this skill might almost kill him.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply after some time and his body went back to normal again. His body was strong enough to use this skill for about three minutes. Any longer and he might die.

    When he walked into the Team Hell Domain, Chu Yi was already waiting inside and Kano Mai hadn¡¯t arrived yet. Su Jin immediately smiled at Chu Yi and asked, ¡°How was it? How was it like being a zombie?¡±

    Chu Yi looked at Su Jin as if he was about to cry. He scratched his head and wailed, ¡°It was so awwfuuuuulllll I nearly criiiiiiedddddd¡­¡±

    ¡°Please speak properly.¡±

    Chu Yi stopped pretending to be the most pitiful person in the world and said with a frightened look on his face, ¡°It was really awful. I could still think normally but I couldn¡¯t control my actions at all. I was so afraid you might shoot me dead.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I wouldn¡¯t shoot you. Even if I couldn¡¯t stand it, I¡¯d use my sword to lop your head off,¡± said Su Jin with a heartyugh.

    Chu Yi shrank back and grumbled, ¡°I¡¯d rather you shot me. At least I¡¯d die in one piece.¡±

    After that, he had a serious expression on his face as he said, ¡°Boss, I really want to thank you. If not for you, I¡¯m sure I would have died during this Challenge.¡±

    Su Jin really couldn¡¯t stand how Chu Yi looked at him with those puppy eyes, as if Chu Yi was ready to offer himself to Su Jin to repay him for not killing him. ¡°Ugh please! I wouldn¡¯t have minded if Mai behaved like this, but not you.¡±

    ¡°Jin, please watch your words,¡± Kano Mai¡¯s voice suddenly resounded from behind.

    Su Jinughed awkwardly but she ignored him and asked Chu Yi with a smile, ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Uh huh. It¡¯s terrible to be a zombie. I still prefer being human,¡± said Chu Yi with augh.

    After they had finishedughing at one another, Su Jin told his team mates about the skill manual he had received. Kano Mai said in surprise, ¡°You¡¯re a really lucky one, aren¡¯t you? It¡¯s very rare to find a kill manual in the Handbook universe, and it¡¯s said that any skill offered in the universe is an excellent one.¡±

    Su Jin felt much better about spending so many points on useless Lucky Draw Bags after hearing what Kano Mai said.

    After that, he took out the Badge of the Fools to show the other two. ¡°This is the Badge of the Fools, a guiding object we¡¯ve received forpleting this Challenge perfectly,¡± exined Su Jin.

    Kano Mai was puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t think wepleted this Challenge perfectly. We didn¡¯t even kill the Level 4 Mutant at the end.¡±

    Su Jin grinned mysteriously, which made Kano Mai ask him, ¡°What did you do?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it was nothing really. When I was fighting the Level 4 Mutant, I swiped the poison from the zombified Professor Charlemagne and gave it to the Fools in the Safe Zone.¡± Kano Mai and Chu Yi were certain that if Su Jin were an animated character, his nose would be high in the air right now from being so secretly proud of himself.

    The Badge of the Fools was merely a Level D Challenge¡¯s Guiding Object, but it was still a rare item in the Handbook¡¯s universe after all. They decided to just keep it for the time being and proceeded to see if there was anything worth exchanging points for in their team catalog.

    As they looked through all the new items in their catalog, their attention was attracted to one small item.

    ¡°Smart module for firearms. After installing, it will adapt the weapon ording to the user¡¯s habits and evolve the weapon. Points required: 3000.¡±

    ¡°I want this,¡± said Kano Mai without hesitation. Her Soul Whisperer was the type of firearm that fit the requirements. Now that she had Spirit Power, her Soul Whisperer wasn¡¯t really good enough for her anymore, but it was hard to find a better weapon than this sniper gun. This smart module was just right for it.

    After she exchanged her points for the item, an item that resembled a pigeon¡¯s egg appeared in her Handbook. She ced it on her Soul Whisperer and it instantly melted to coat the entire gun.

    Neither Su Jin nor Chu Yi found anything that was suitable for themselves, so Su Jin went on to pass Chu Yi the Key to Immortality that he had kept for him.

    ¡°Goodness, appraising this item needs 5000 points?!¡± Su Jin was shocked at the points needed just to appraise this item. Based on how things worked in the Handbook, the more it cost to appraise an item, the more valuable an item was. This Key to Immortality was probably way more incredible than he had imagined.

    ¡°How did such an item end up appearing inside a Level D Challenge?¡± Kano Mai was surprised too.

    Chu Yi had enough points to spare, so he proceeded to appraise the item. He was even more shocked by the description that appeared in his Handbook and he quickly showed it to the other two.

    ¡°This is a sacrificial item required for the Gods¡¯ Ceremony. The ceremony can be activated once five of such items have been gathered and you will receive a gift from the gods.¡±

    The description was a bit vague and it didn¡¯t exin what the ceremony or the gift was. But as far as Su Jin¡¯s experience went, anything connected to the gods had to be something pretty amazing.

    They had four of these Keys, but the ceremony probably only required one of them. If possible, Su Jin was happy to gather more of these sacrificial items and activate the ceremony.

    After returning to the real world, Su Jin and Kano Mai did not return to S City. Han Mengyao had been following them all this time, but she had no idea that the two of them hadpleted a Challenge. To her, Su Jin and Kano Mai had merely gone out of her sight for less than 30 seconds.

    Back in Hell¡¯s Bar, Ye Yun was sitting by herself and attending to her wounds. These wounds had been inflicted outside of a Challenge, so she couldn¡¯t get her Personal Hell Domain to heal her. Judging from how exhausted and injured she was, she had probably escaped into Hell¡¯s Bar because she had been ced in a really desperate situation.

    ¡°Your injuries are even more serious than thest time you were here. The same guys are running after you?¡± The boss spoke to her like he was talking to an old friend.

    Ye Yun made a face and scoffed. ¡°They¡¯re just a bunch of despicable idiots. But there are so many of them, so it¡¯s really hard to deal with them. Argh!¡±

    ¡°If they are too many for you to handle, why don¡¯t you consider finding some help?¡± asked the boss with a smile.

    She considered his suggestion for a while, then shook her head. ¡°Forget it. I don¡¯t want team mates who are too weak. Unless¡­¡±

    ¡°Unless¡­?¡±

    ¡°Unless those people are really formidable, like those owners who managed toplete a Level A Challenge perfectly! That¡¯s my minimum requirement for a team mate!¡± said Ye Yun in a matter-of-fact voice.

    The bossughed in response but did not say anymore. Ye Yun frowned and started thinking more about this suggestion. Perhaps she really did need some team mates to help with those people. But at the same time, if she wanted to deal with those people, she had to make sure her team mates were really very, very powerful.

 Chapter 143: Family In Danger

    <h4>Chapter 143: Family In Danger</h4>

    Su Jin activated Hell¡¯s Bar for his team, since they hadn¡¯t gone to the new area after the team had risen in level. Also, he was very interested in this Gods¡¯ Ceremony, so he hoped to get some information from the people in the bar.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t run into the middle-aged man in the bar. He could only put up a notice to reward anybody with information on this matter.

    This time, he didn¡¯t have to wait long. A man covered entirely in a cloak came forth to strike a deal with Su Jin. Su Jin offered the blood clotting bandages he got from the Lucky Draw Bags and the other party seemed satisfied with that.

    ¡°Actually, information on the Gods¡¯ Ceremony isn¡¯t considered very valuable information, since there are many rumors about the ceremony,¡± said the cloaked man honestly. ¡°Nobody knows when it first started, but the ceremony requires five unique sacrificial items, and it¡¯s said that there are a few thousand of such items.¡±

    ¡°A few thousand?¡± Su Jin was shocked. He thought that there would only be five unique items.

    The cloaked man nodded and continued, ¡°That¡¯s right. So far, more than 2,000 different items have been discovered, but after a particr item has appeared, it never appears again. So, there are some who think that each item only appears once or for a limited time only.¡±

    ¡°Why does it work this way? What¡¯s the point?¡± Su Jin was very puzzled. There was no point in having a few thousand different sacrificial items, unless these items had some special use of sorts.

    ¡°There¡¯s also a rumor that differentbinations of items will get you different gifts,¡± said the cloaked man.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. It did make sense that if you only needed five items out of the thousands of items, then the only reason why you had so many eligible items in the first ce was to differentiate the gifts you could get out of the ceremony.

    ¡°How many types of gifts have there been so far?¡± asked Su Jin.

    But the cloaked man shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s really difficult to activate a Gods¡¯ Ceremony. The number of sacrificial items are many, but the chances of getting one is very low, and nobody knows it¡¯s a sacrificial item unless you appraise it. There is no pattern to the items and they appear in any Challenge at any level. Also, nobody uses them to make a deal with other owners. That¡¯s why the number of owners who have managed to gather five sacrificial items is probably very few. And even if someone managed to get all five, they would probably activate the ceremony in secret and they wouldn¡¯t tell anyone else what gift they got.¡±

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. That made sense. Something like that would be a trump card of sorts, so nobody would go around telling everyone what they had. If he could activate this ceremony, he would keep the gift he got a secret too.

    ¡°But there¡¯s also another rumor that the leader of the group that¡¯s been going around robbing other owners owns something that can enable owners to travel across universes, and apparently that item was a gift from a ceremony,¡± added the cloaked man.

    Su Jin was rather surprised by that additional information, since it never crossed his mind that the leader of this group of robbers was possibly someone who had sessfully activated this ceremony before. Once the cloaked man had shared all the information he had, he left.

    Su Jin walked to the bar counter by himself and started asking the boss how many points it would cost to find out more about this ceremony.

    ¡°The Gods¡¯ Ceremony? I¡¯ve got a few thousand pieces of information and each one isn¡¯t too expensive, just 1,000 points each,¡± said the boss with a big smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s daylight robbery!¡± Su Jin gasped. In short, he had to spend tens of millions of points just to find out everything there was to know about this ceremony. If he had that many points to spare, he would rather use that to get himself out of the Handbook universe.

    The boss shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s your choice. And even though we didn¡¯t manage to strike a deal, we¡¯re still friends, right?¡±

    Su Jin justughed sadly and shook his head before walking away. He really couldn¡¯t count on the bar¡¯s boss for information after all. He walked back to his team¡¯s table, since they had their own in this new area as well.

    Shortly after Su Jin left the bar counter, someone else left the same bar counter as well. That person was Ye Yun. She had a bored look on her face as she looked around the bar. Her gaze swept past Su Jin but she did not think much of it and left the bar not too long after that.

    Back in the real world, two men had arrived at a mountainous area near H City in A Province. This was one of the poorest regions in the country.

    ¡°That fellow suddenly left S City, so there¡¯s nothing else we can do but to target his parents instead,¡± said a dark-skinned man with arge earpiece. He spoke in a confident and decisive manner.

    ¡°It¡¯s better to be careful. You don¡¯t know if he has otherpanions. If this doesn¡¯t go well, the boss will be unhappy.¡± The other man was fair-skinned and had a grim look on his face.

    The two men seemed very familiar with this area. They went down a few small paths to venture further into the mountains to arrive at a small vige at the foot of one of the mountains.

    By the time they got there, the sun had already set. But that was exactly what they wanted. They were too visible in the daytime and they knew that if they attracted too much attention, the authorities woulde down on them very quickly.

    They located the house they were looking for and knocked on the door. The sound of their knocking wasn¡¯t very loud, but it was enough to rm the residents inside.

    It didn¡¯t take long for someone to open the main door. An honest-looking farmer stood at the door of his own house and his features looked simr to Su Jin¡¯s.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The two men weren¡¯t Chinese, so the farmer was surprised to find two foreigners at his doorstep in the middle of a mountain vige. Then again, more and more tourists were venturing out of the city these days, so he quickly calmed down again.

    ¡°Hello, are you Mr. Su¡¯s father?¡± asked the fair-skinned man with a smile.

    The farmer nodded and asked a little hesitantly, ¡°Are you¡­are you Jin¡¯s friends?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We have some dealings with hispany. Mr. Su told us thest time that if wee to H City, we could look for him here and he would bring us around,¡± replied the fair-skinned man with a cheeryugh.

    The farmer did not suspect the man¡¯s words at all and quickly ushered both of them into the house. ¡°I¡¯m really so sorry about this! Jin isn¡¯t at home, but I¡¯ll definitely take care of any friends of his! Just stay the night here, and I¡¯ll bring you to see the scenery around here tomorrow morning.¡±

    The two men exchanged nces when they heard that Su Jin wasn¡¯t home. The darker-skinned man said, ¡°Did Mr. Su leave something at home? He asked us to help get it for him.¡±

    The farmer frowned puzzledly and shook his head. ¡°No, he didn¡¯t leave anything in particr here. He hasn¡¯t been home for a while now. The only thing he sent recently was money.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s all this noise about?¡± A woman in her fifties walked out and got a shock when she saw the two foreigners in her house. ^note[racist section redacted LOL]

    ¡°Who are these people?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re Jin¡¯spany clients. Our son told them that he¡¯d take care of them if they came to visit, but this terrible boy didn¡¯t even tell us that he was expecting guests,¡± said Su Jin¡¯s father as heughed heartily.

    He said to the two men, ¡°Please take a seat, my wife and I will get you some food and drinks. It takes a long time to get here from the city, so I¡¯m sure you must be famished!¡±

    He then dragged his wife to the kitchen. Once inside, his smile disappeared as he whispered to his wife, ¡°There¡¯s something fishy about these two fellows. Initially I did think they were Jin¡¯s friends, butter they asked me about whether Jin left something behind in our house, which made me suspect that something was amiss.¡±

    ¡°Oh no¡­ do you think¡­do you think something bad has happened? Do you think something¡¯s happened to Jin?¡± His wife began to look a little panicky.

    He red at her and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t let your thoughts run wild! Leave via the back door and call my brothers over. I don¡¯t know why they¡¯re here but it doesn¡¯t matter. Let¡¯s make sure we¡¯ve got the situation under control first.¡±

    His wife nodded and quickly opened the back door, only to find that the fair-skinned man was already standing there.

    ¡°And where do the two of you think you¡¯re going?¡± The fair-skinned man snickered as he grabbed Su Jin¡¯s mother by the neck and dragged her out of the kitchen.

    ¡°Let go of my wife!¡± Su Jin¡¯s father roared before grabbing an ax meant for chopping firewood. He ran out after the other man and swung the ax at him.

    The fair-skinned man did not dodge and Su Jin¡¯s father stared in disbelief as his axnded on the other man¡¯s shoulder but failed to injure him in any way.

    ¡°Who¡­what are you?¡± Su Jin¡¯s father was at a loss for words.

    The fair-skinned man grabbed hold of the ax, flung it into the air and flicked his fingers at the ax, causing the entire ax to break into several pieces.

    ¡°What in the world¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s father gasped in horror. Was this guy even human? Who on Earth had his son offended?!

    ¡°You seemed quite gullible but you¡¯ve turned out to be quite smart, or at least you¡¯re very sensitive. If you did manage to find enough people to hold us down, we might really be in trouble,¡± said the fair-skinned man in an approving manner.

    Su Jin¡¯s father had a grim look on his face. ¡°Who are you people? My son is only an ordinary office worker! How has he offended you?¡±

    The fair-skinned man pped andughed. ¡°Not bad! Not bad at all! Even in such a situation, you¡¯re still trying to find out who I am! Are you hoping to leave a message for your son?¡±

    Immediately after the man said that, he pped Su Jin¡¯s father hard across the face, sending the older man flying into the fence around the house.

    ¡°NOOO!¡± Su Jin¡¯s mother started wailing at the top of her lungs, not only because her heart ached for her husband but also because she hoped that her screaming would attract the attention of the other vigers.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use, we¡¯ve soundproofed the ce, so you can scream as loudly as you like and nobody will hear you.¡± The fair-skinned manughed and shook his head.

    ¡°Why are you still wasting your time on talking to them? Just kill them and search their memories! I don¡¯t want to spend anymore time in this filthy, rundown ce,¡± snapped the darker-skinned man as he walked over, unhappy that his aplice had wasted so much time for nothing.

    Just then, a man burst through the gates of the Su family residence. He patted the dust off his shoulders and stared at the four people in front of him.

    ¡°Hello there, I¡¯m the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs in this country. My name is Situ Jin!¡±

 Chapter 144: The Guardian

    <h4>Chapter 144: The Guardian</h4>

    Beforeing in, Situ Jin had discovered that the entire house had been surrounded by a small forcefield to keep sound out. He had exchanged his points for a simr forcefield before, so he recognized it immediately and was certain that something bad was happening inside.

    In fact, it was very bold of Situ Jin to barge in without knowing anything, since intruders were usually killed in such situations. However, he did not hesitate because he was the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs and his job was to protect his fellow citizens, even though this couple¡¯s son was an owner.

    The two men stared at Situ Jin and were surprised to see him. It never crossed their minds that someone woulde to such a secluded little vige and try to stop them from killing two ordinary folks.

    ¡°Kill him too.¡± The dark-skinned man was very annoyed. Since Situ Jin had decided to risk his life by doing this, they could just kill him as well.

    He flicked his fingers and two sharp des appeared where his fingernails should have been. The fair-skinned man pulled him back suddenly, let go of Su Jin¡¯s mother and motioned at Situ Jin to show that he did not mean any harm before pulling hispanion further back.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The dark-skinned man was confused.

    The fair-skinned man nced at him and said frostily, ¡°He¡¯s from the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so it¡¯s better to have nothing to do with him. Otherwise, we¡¯re going to have a hard time here.¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of? Just kill him and nobody will know that we did it.¡± The dark-skinned man thought that Situ Jin was merely an ordinary person and killing him wouldn¡¯t make any difference.

    The fair-skinned man frowned in annoyance and said, ¡°This fellow is also an owner and we know who¡¯s backing him. We cannot afford to offend this guy, so we¡¯d better go!¡±

    The two men spoke openly and did not have any regard for Situ Jin, despite sounding like they were wary of Situ Jin. Their attitude greatly irritated him because he could tell that these two men were only afraid of the people on his side and didn¡¯t actually think much of him.

    At the same time, Situ Jin had to admit that these two men gave off a much more imposing airpared to any of the owners he had fought previously.

    The dark-skinned man was convinced, so they leaped over the fence without even giving Situ Jin a second look. They clearly did not want to even fight Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin breathed a long sigh of relief. After going through several Handbook Challenges, he had be a lot stronger than before. But the stronger he got, the more he realized that the difference in power between owners could be really huge. There were people who could kill him with just the snap of their fingers.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Su Jin¡¯s father picked up his wife from the ground and looked at her anxiously.

    Situ Jin walked over, retrieved a purple seed from his Handbook and told Su Jin¡¯s father, ¡°Let her eat this.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s father knew that Situ Jin had saved them and was not a bad person, so he took the seed from Situ Jin and fed it to his wife. Color instantly returned to her face and she stopped frowning as her eyes slowly opened again.

    When Situ Jin saw that she had regained consciousness, he said to them, ¡°Look this way please! That¡¯s right, look into the lens here! Say cheese!¡±

    There was a loud click and a bright sh. Su Jin¡¯s parents looked like they were in a daze, which was exactly what Situ Jin wanted. But he frowned and muttered to himself, ¡°It¡¯s too bad that this thing requires the people to have their eyes open in order to erase their memories, so I had to waste one Purple Star Seed to wake her up.¡±

    He then walked towards the kitchen, looked around for some time to finally find some leftover rice and two eggs. He made himself a nice te of egg fried rice ^note[#uncleroger] and nodded satisfactorily to himself after he was done eating.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just take that as payment for the Purple Star Seed.¡± Situ Jin shrugged, then walked back to the two older folks. He took a while to cook up a story and said, ¡°So¡­it¡¯s like this. You two got injured because you discovered that he had been secretly eating eggs and both of you started arguing and fighting with one another. Okay?¡±

    After the old couple nodded, Situ Jin walked out of the house. A few secondster, the two of them woke up from their daze at the same time. Su Jin¡¯s mother raised her hand and pped her husband across the face.

    ¡°It¡¯s bad enough that you were secretly eating all our eggs, but you actually dared to hit me?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s mother raised her voice as she cried. Su Jin¡¯s father looked like he was at a loss and felt great remorse in his heart. He had never hit his wife in all their years of marriage.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin was already long gone. He had a feeling that he would meet those two owners again, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before that happened.

    Three dayster, Su Qing had just finished ss when Yang Mengmeng came running over with a big smile on her face. Her mother hade up with a recipe for a new snack and wanted Su Qing toe over to have a taste.

    ¡°Again?? I¡¯ve be so fat recently because I¡¯ve been trying out your mom¡¯s new recipes! I¡¯m going to turn into a pig at this rate,¡± said Su Qing as she pretended to pout. But the twinkle in her eyes was a clear sign that she was just teasing her best friend.

    ¡°By the way¡­Mengmeng, do you have a crush on my brother or something? Why else would you be so nice to me? Huh? Huh?¡± teased Su Qing with a cheeky grin on her face.

    Yang Mengmeng¡¯s face instantly turned bright red and became panicky as she said, ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not true! I just¡­I just want to thank your brother for helping me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only going to thank him?¡±

    ¡°Fine, you too!¡±

    Su Qing burst outughing as she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m SO sure you¡¯re crushing on my brother. Seriously though, he¡¯s like the perfect guy. If I weren¡¯t his younger sister, I¡¯d want to marry him myself.¡±

    Yang Mengmeng burst outughing too. ¡°Oh goodness, how could you praise your own older brother like that?¡±

    ¡°Why not? I¡¯m being very serious here. He¡¯s the one who¡¯s worked so hard just to put me through school and he can¡¯t bear to spend more than the minimum on himself. But¡­recently, he seems to have won the lottery or something. Hey, Mengmeng, doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯ve found a rich man to marry?!¡± said Su Qing with wide eyes, as if her best friend were already her brother¡¯s girlfriend.

    Yang Mengmeng was about to defend herself when she suddenly realized something was wrong. The path in front of them didn¡¯t look like the usual one they took.

    ¡°Su Qing, what¡­what ce is this? Why don¡¯t I have any impression of this ce at all?¡± asked Yang Mengmeng puzzledly.

    Su Qing quickly realized that she didn¡¯t know where they were either. The two girls were extremely familiar with the area around their own school, so it seemed impossible for them to suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar ce.

    ¡°Hello, prettydies! Which one of you is Miss Su Qing?¡± A dark-skinned man approached them with huge headphones on his head and looked like he was into hip hop.

    ¡°We¡¯re not Su Qing and we don¡¯t know anybody by that name.¡± Su Qing immediately sensed something wrong and denied being Su Qing, since there was nobody else around to expose her lie.

    ¡°It¡¯s her then. Everyone from the Su family seems to be pretty smart, huh?¡± A fair-skinned man walked out from the other side to block the two girls¡¯ way. These were the same two men who had tried to kill Su Jin¡¯s parents that night.

    Su Qing furrowed her brows because she could tell that these two men were very dangerous. There was a cold-bloodedness about them, so they seemed more like two unfeeling machines rather than normal human beings.

    ¡°Who are you and what do you want?¡± Su Qing started feeling scared.

    The dark-skinned man smiled and said, ¡°Nothing much, we just wanted to find out more about your older brother and we hope you can cooperate with us. I really wouldn¡¯t want to hurt such a pretty girl like you.¡±

    ¡°My older brother?¡± Su Qing was very sure that these two guys were bad people, but she didn¡¯t dare to turn them down straightaway, because she was afraid that both herself and Yang Mengmeng would be in danger if she did that.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Did your brother¡­what¡¯s going on? AGAIN?!¡± The dark-skinned man had a furious look on his face because he could sense that someone had barged into the forcefield he had created.

    ¡°I¡¯m the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, Situ Jin!¡± Situ Jin had a feeling that he would run into these two again very soon, and he was right.

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± This time, the dark-skinned man lost his patience immediately. He stretched his fingers out at Situ Jin, sending ten small des flying toward Situ Jin like darts.

    Situ Jin stood where he was and he just needed to move his body slightly to avoid all ten des. This ability really surprised his attacker.

    ¡°Mr. Situ, can you please stay out of this since it has nothing to do with you?¡± said the fair-skinned man with a frown. He was more afraid of Xu Ran than Situ Jin, really. Beforeing, he had already done a very thorough investigation of Xu Ran, including his best friend, Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin stared frostily at the fair-skinned man and said, ¡°I¡¯m the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs of this country and my job is to protect my fellow citizens!¡±

    Su Qing¡¯s eyes lit up when she heard these words. She had no idea where on Earth this man hade from, but he seemed really cool and he sounded like a good person.

    ¡°Poking your nose into others¡¯ affairs might result in your life ending prematurely!¡± The fair-skinned man¡¯s tone of voice was bing more hostile now.

    ¡°My job is to protect my fellow citizens, even at the expense of my own life!¡± said Situ Jin before shaking his wrist slightly to make a sword slide out from his sleeve. This was a very intricately made Tang sword, which was a popr weapon that was representative of the Tang dynasty.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± spat the fair-skinned man angrily. He didn¡¯t have any regard for Situ Jin, but he certainly could not afford to offend Xu Ran. He heard that the leader of the organization wanted to get Xu Ran to join the team, so if they ended up offending Xu Ran over this mission, they were going to end up dead.

    ¡°And what if we¡¯re here to deal with something other than your fellow citizens? Like, a rabid monster, for example?¡± asked the fair-skinned man suddenly before leaving.

    Situ Jin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t flinch as he said, ¡°As long as it exists within the boundaries of this country, that makes it a monster of my country, so you¡¯re not allowed to touch it either!¡±

    The two men stared at Situ Jin in disbelief. This man was like a piece of chewing gum stuck in hair. They had to talk to the higher ups about Situ Jin at this rate. Otherwise, there was no way they could continue with any of their missions here. They couldn¡¯t possibly flee every time they ran into Situ Jin.

    After the two of them left, the scenery reverted to the way it was supposed to be. Situ Jin took out a pen-like object and said to the two girls, ¡°Ladies, please look this way.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Su Qing was right next to Situ Jin, so she reached over and took it from him to take a closer look.

    Situ Jin was caught by surprise and was about to snatch it back from her when Su Qing curiously pressed down on one of its buttons.

    Click!

 Chapter 145: Su Jin Vs Situ Jin

    <h4>Chapter 145: Su Jin Vs Situ Jin</h4>

    Su Jin received a phone call from his father. His father spent several minutesining about how his wife had hit him, but shortly after he hung up, his mother came calling toin about how her husband had hit her.

    He sighed helplessly when he heard what they told him. His parents were generally a little too money minded, but they were fine in other aspects. If they told him that someone else had hit them, Su Jin would have rolled his sleeves up and thrashed that person. But if it was a fight between the two of them, there was nothing he could do about it. He was going to get scolded if he sided with either of them.

    In the end, he could only try to counsel them and listen to what led to this fight. Since it started over a bunch of eggs, he figured that they would forget all about it in no time.

    After promising to visit during the new year holiday, he finally hung up and slumped down on the couch. Kano Mai was already in a giggling fit. This was definitely the first time she had heard about an old couple getting into a physical fight over eating two eggs.

    ¡°They¡¯re not usually like this, I swear!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to exin the situation to her, since it only made herugh even harder.

    .

    ¡°I get it, I get it,¡± said Kano Mai through her wheezing as she held a hand up to stop Su Jin from exining. But that only made Su Jin wish he could bury himself in the floor right now.

    Just then, Su Jin¡¯s phone started ringing again. His phone normally almost never rang, so he was really dreading this phone call. He took a look at the screen and was surprised that it was his younger sister this time.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is everybody calling me?¡± Su Jin picked up the call and heard Su Qing¡¯s voice, ¡°Jin! Whatcha doing now?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Brother Su,¡± another female voice spoke into the phone.

    Su Jin was confused initially before identifying this voice as Yang Mengmeng¡¯s. Heughed and said, ¡°Hello, Mengmeng. How¡¯s your mother? Is she better?¡±

    ¡°Yes, she¡¯s a lot better now. She said that she wanted to treat you to a meal or something to thank you!¡± Yang Mengmeng sounded really happy.

    ¡°Hey, if you want to talk to my brother, I¡¯ll give you his numberter. Let me get down to business first,¡± said Su Qing as she took the phone back from her friend. ¡°Jin, I¡­I picked up someone on my way home from school.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯ve picked something up, just give it to the pol¡ªwait, you picked up what?!¡± Su Jin finally realized the problem with what his sister just told him. ¡°You picked up a person?! A cat or a dog is fine but why did you pick up a person? Bring them to the police too!¡±

    ¡°Bro! Let me finish! This guy seems to know who you are. He was asking about you before he fainted,¡± exined Su Qing.

    ¡°Before he fainted? What? Why did he faint?¡± Su Jin¡¯s head was throbbing really badly now. It was ridiculous enough that his parents had gotten into a fist fight over two eggs, and now his younger sister had picked up someone who had fainted? What was going on?

    ¡°That¡¯s not the point! The point is that he knows who you are!¡±

    Su Jin sighed. He was too tired to chide his sister, so he went straight to the point. ¡°Do you know what his name is?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t say, but I found his ID in his wallet and he¡¯s got a strange name. He¡¯s got apound surname and his full name¡¯s Situ Jin,¡± said Su Qing.

    ¡°What? Did you just say his name was Situ Jin?!¡± Su Jin nearly exploded. His first thought was that Situ Jin had tried to harm his sister, but somehow failed and ended up fainting in front of Su Qing.

    Su Jin¡¯s imagination began to run wild. Could it be that Situ Jin was trying to take revenge on him in a different way? Was Situ Jin trying to gain his sister¡¯s affection, then dump her so that his sister would be emotionally hurt forever?

    ¡°This guy¡¯s pretty handsome though. He¡¯s a friend of yours, right?¡± asked Su Qing.

    <i>I was right!</i> Su Jin was even more wary now, but he suddenly realized something else. Based on their age difference, Situ Jin was more than ten years her senior. Did his sister have a thing for older men?

    ¡°Oh! Oh! He¡¯s waking up!¡± eximed Su Qing.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression fell. ¡°Su Qing, pass the phone to him, then you two¡­hide yourselves somewhere. I need to talk to him about some business matters.¡±

    Su Qing felt that her brother was talking strangely but since those were his instructions, she chose to listen to them. She passed her phone to Situ Jin, then ran off to hide somewhere else with Yang Mengmeng.

    ¡°Hello, who¡¯s this?¡± Situ Jin was puzzled as to why Su Qing had passed him her phone. His head hurt terribly, so his tone of voice was rather nasty as well.

    ¡°Listen up, Situ Jin. If you dare to hurt any of my family members, then I¡¯m not going to care about who I¡¯ve promised before. I¡¯ll make sure you die horribly!¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice was cold and ruthless because he was really angry this time. Every person had a boundary that they did not allow others to cross. For Su Jin, it was his family.

    ¡°Who in the world are you? What the hell are you talking about?¡± Situ Jin couldn¡¯t understand what the other person was talking about at all. A few momentster, it suddenly hit him. He said in a low voice, ¡°Are you Su Jin?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m Su Jin! If you have a problem with me, thene for me! If you dare to hurt my family, I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    Situ Jin was stunned by how aggressive Su Jin was, but he snapped back in an equally unfriendly voice, ¡°Fine! Where are you now? I¡¯ll go over right now!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m at Cloud Mountain in Z Province, Flying Cloud Hotel. I¡¯ll be waiting for you here. Also, just another reminder, do NOT hurt my family.¡± Su Jin was still afraid that Situ Jin would hurt Su Qing. After all, even though Su Jin was much more formidablepared to Situ Jin, he was too far from his sister to help her, so the best he could do was to warn him verbally.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± Situ Jin then hung up on Su Jin. A faint smile spread across his lips. Initially, he meant to collect information on Su Jin in secret and didn¡¯t want Su Jin to find out so quickly, since Su Jin was too tough an opponent for him to handle. But even though Su Jin now knew that he had been keeping tabs on his family members, he wasn¡¯t afraid of Su Jin.

    He walked over to where Su Qing was hiding and returned her the phone. Then he asked puzzledly, ¡°By the way, what happened to me just now? Did I faint? I don¡¯t remember what happened earlier anymore.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Yes! This thing suddenly shone very brightly in your face and you fainted. Is it epilepsy?¡± asked Su Qing curiously.

    Situ Jin stared at the item in Su Qing¡¯s hand in disbelief. Su Qing had basically erased his most recent memory. <i>Crap</i>, he thought, <i>what happened just before I fainted?</i>

    If he hadn¡¯t already promised Su Jin not to hurt Su Qing, he might have tried to force her to tell him what happened earlier. He ended up just walking away without saying a word, leaving behind a very confused Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng.

    ¡°Spectacles, get me a ticket to Z Province for today. The earlier, the better,¡± Situ Jin called Spectacles to help him arrange for a flight.

    The next day, Situ Jin arrived in Z Province around noon. He headed straight for Flying Cloud Hotel and Su Jin was already standing at the entrance to the hotel and glowering at him.

    Su Jin did not say anything and started walking, so Situ Jin quickly followed behind him. Su Jin kept to mostly secluded pathways and it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive at terrain that was clearly not possible for an ordinary human to pass through without equipment.

    ¡°Mai, is he still behind me?¡± Su Jin used a device to talk to Kano Mai.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jin, he¡¯s right on your trail. He¡¯s pretty good,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded and continued walking until there was really no path of any sort. He had arrived in a valley and turned around to see that Situ Jin was really right behind him. No wonder Kano Mai had said that he was pretty good.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve got good intentions in leading me to a ce like this.¡± Situ Jin sensed something was amiss. The murderous look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes told him that this young man was serious about attacking him, and that actually made Situ Jin a little excited.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to attract too much attention,¡± said Su Jin with a scoff. He motioned to Situ Jin and said, ¡°You can make the first attack. I¡¯ll give you a fair chance.¡±

    Without hesitation, Situ Jin flung a stun grenade at Su Jin. Su Jin didn¡¯t expect that, so the burst of light from the grenade made him unable to see anything. But of course, that wasn¡¯t a problem for Su Jin.

    During this time, Situ Jin had gotten much closer to Su Jin. He flicked a short club made from a special sort of alloy at Su Jin. The club immediately grew in length and was aimed at Su Jin¡¯s ribs.

    Dang! The club did not hit Su Jin¡¯s ribs, but was caught by Su Jin instead. Situ Jin immediately gave up on using that weapon and did a somersault backwards. Then he exerted force in his legs and leaped into the air.

    That alone was enough to prove that Situ Jin was a really agile fighter. The two movements had given him more space between himself and Su Jin, but before he couldnd back down on the ground, he suddenly saw a shadow over his head.

    Su Jin let out a low shout. His body was so strong now that he didn¡¯t need any fancy moves or techniques to defeat an ordinary highly skilled fighter. All he needed was a burst of energy and speed.

    Situ Jin felt as though a mountain was weighing on him. But he continued to hold up against the pressure, his body stiffening like a nail sticking out of a piece of wood. At the same time, a white glow burst from his hands and covered his entire body.

    Everything happened within seconds. Situ Jin was covered in cold sweat, and when he was within the protection of the white glow, he realized that Su Jin hadn¡¯t even moved a single inch. Su Jin was still standing exactly where he was and everything he experienced earlier seemed like nothing but an illusion.

    This threw Situ Jin offpletely. Was that shadow and all really just an illusion? But if it was merely an illusion, that terrifying pressure he felt couldn¡¯t have seemed so real. In other words, Su Jin hadn¡¯t moved. His imposing aura was enough to fight another person.

    ¡°That¡¯s how much more formidable he is?¡± Situ Jin looked at his Handbook in dismay. That white glow had actually been a defense item he owned. He hadn¡¯t been in any danger, yet he had felt so threatened that he activated it.

    At the same time, Su Jin¡¯s expression was one of pure shock. ¡°You¡­you¡¯re a Hell¡¯s Handbook owner?¡±

 Chapter 146: Avalanche

    <h4>Chapter 146: Avnche</h4>

    Su Jin was really shocked. He never expected Situ Jin to actually be an owner as well. He stared at Situ Jin and felt like finding a chance to take a peek into his mind again.

    ¡°Is this what Xu Ran was worried about?¡± wondered Su Jin. If Xu Ran had been worried that Situ Jin would do something like this, then his worries weren¡¯t unfounded. Handbook owners could be extremely powerful anytime. Situ Jin was no match for him today, but he could suddenly be more powerful than him after the next Challenge.

    Situ Jin was drenched in cold sweat and he felt so defeated. The young man before him had actually beat him so soundly with his aura alone.

    The white glow slowly faded and disappearedpletely, since it was an item that could only be used once. Situ Jin had specially exchanged his points for this item in order to hunt down rogue owners.

    ¡°No, wait! That wasn¡¯t your aura. What did you do?¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. The concept of aura sounded too ridiculous to be true, so it had to be something else.

    ¡°Spirit Power. I believe you¡¯ve heard of it before. Only owners with Spirit Power can be called veterans,¡± exined Su Jin without withholding any information. After all, even if he didn¡¯t exin it now, he was sure that Situ Jin would eventually deduce what happened in no time.

    Situ Jin looked like he had just been enlightened and Su Jin flung the short club back at the older man. He glowered at Situ Jin and said, ¡°You work for the government, so how could you target my family over a personal feud? If you don¡¯t have a good exnation for doing this, I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    Situ Jin believed that. He could sense the rage within Su Jin, so he knew Su Jin was serious about this.

    ¡°I was not trying to attack your family members. In fact, you could say that I saved them. If I hadn¡¯t paid your hometown a visit, your parents would probably be dead by now.¡± Situ Jin decided to be honest with Su Jin, since Su Jin was very agitated now and might really smite him on the spot.

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°And how am I supposed to believe that?¡±

    ¡°You could change my memories thest time, right? That means you can check them too, isn¡¯t it?¡± said Situ Jin.

    Su Jin immediately sent his psychokinesis into Situ Jin¡¯s brain and found the most recent set of memories. Just like what Situ Jin said, he had actually saved Su Jin¡¯s parents from harm.

    The misunderstanding made Su Jin feel rather embarrassed now, because that meant that Situ Jin wasn¡¯t an enemy, and was actually a benefactor now.

    ¡°I, uh¡­thank you for doing that,¡± said Su Jin awkwardly.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. It¡¯s my job to protect my fellow citizens. Other than yourself, your family consists of ordinary folks, so they fall under my protection as well,¡± said Situ Jin stiffly. To him, this was his job, so he didn¡¯t think it was necessary for anyone to thank him for doing his job properly.

    As for the two foreigners whom Su Jin had seen in Situ Jin¡¯s memories, the first people he thought of was that group that robbed other owners. He couldn¡¯t think of any other reason why owners from a different country would be hunting him down like this.

    ¡°Then why were you with my younger sister?¡± asked Su Jin. The one who had discovered Situ Jin was Su Qing, not his parents.

    Situ Jin had an equally confused look on his face as he smacked his head and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know why either. Your younger sister used this on me and erased the memories I had just prior to that.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this? A memory erasing device?¡± Su Jin looked at the item that Situ Jin held up and instantly thought of the device used in the movie, Men in ck. This thing did look a lot like the neuralyzer in the movie.

    Situ Jin nodded and sighed heavily. ¡°I don¡¯t remember how it happened at all. This item belongs to me, yet I ended up falling victim to it. I really don¡¯t remember what I did when I met your sister.¡±

    Su Jin nearly called Situ Jin a douchebag when he heard those words, since this description made Situ Jin sound like one of those jerks who had their way with a girl and then dumped her mercilessly.

    ¡°You saved my parents, so let me help you with that.¡± There was no such thing as erasing memories. It was more urate to say that the memories had been sealed off elsewhere. Situ Jin still had memory of what happened, except that it was in the deep recesses of his subconsciousness. Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis could not only change another person¡¯s memories, but it could also retrieve these sealed off memories.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t like Su Jin very much, but he trusted him. Or perhaps even though he treated Su Jin as an enemy, the fact that Su Jin did not kill him despite having the upper hand and the fact that Su Jin gave him the chance to exin himself and acknowledged that there was a misunderstanding earlier told him that Su Jin was not a despicable and wicked person.

    With Situ Jin¡¯s permission, Su Jin sent his psychokinesis into Situ Jin¡¯s brain again. He quickly located the sealed memories and unsealed them so that Situ Jin could retrieve them too.

    ¡°It looks like I really owe you big time,¡± said Su Jin as heughed self-deprecatingly and shook his head. Situ Jin had not just saved his parents, but also saved his younger sister. He definitely owed Situ Jin a big one now.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t care for any of that. His voice was still unfriendly as he said, ¡°Like I said, protecting my fellow citizens from harm is my job.¡±

    Despite having said that, Su Jin still felt that he owed Situ Jin a favor anyway. But that was not important now. The problem now was that this organization of robbers had moved on to attacking his family members, which meant that these people had no ethical boundaries at all. Su Jin wasn¡¯t afraid of them attacking him, but his friends and family couldn¡¯t possibly be so lucky as to have Situ Jin pop up to save them all the time.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to think of a way to resolve this problem,¡± thought Su Jin with a frown. But he wasn¡¯t really confident of solving this issue, since the organization was huge and had a lot of owners at their disposal.

    Su Jin turned his attention back to Situ Jin and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about us first. What do you want from me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to evaluate you and perhaps¡­I might hunt you down!¡± replied Situ Jin very simply.

    Su Jin was stunned by this response. The more he talked to Situ Jin, the more he couldn¡¯t understand this man. He really regretted not searching the rest of his brain earlier.

    ¡°Owners of Hell¡¯s Handbook are a dangerous variable, and they are a potential threat to not only this country, but the entire world and perhaps even all of mankind. I¡¯ve killed several owners recently because they are of poor character and have poor morals. After gaining the supernatural powers thate with the Handbook, they began to indulge in wicked deeds. You¡¯re an owner too, so I need to judge how dangerous you are,¡± exined Situ Jin.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to respond. Was he supposed to admire this man for having a lot of guts? Situ Jin wasn¡¯t an owner yet when Su Jinst met him, which meant that Situ Jin had be an owner only very recently. Just trying to imagine a newbie owner hunting down other ownerspletely blew Su Jin¡¯s mind. It was a miracle that Situ Jin was still alive and well right now.

    ¡°Allow me to give you a kind warning: out of all the owners I¡¯ve met, your capabilities are right at the bottom of the barrel. If you go around killing other owners at this level, you¡¯re more likely to end up dead,¡± said Su Jin. He understood where Situ Jin wasing from. Owners had supernatural powers and ess to weapons that nobody else in the world did, so if they wanted to, they could indeed be very dangerous characters. The organization of robbers was a group that targeted owners, but in the process of robbing owners, they also caused harm to ordinary folk who happened to be in the line of fire.

    Situ Jin knew that Su Jin was right, but time and tide waited for no man. He could take his time to slowly increase his capabilities, but the people of his country could not wait so long for him. There were people who needed help every single day.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. If I had taken the time to slowly train myself up before doing such things, your parents would be dead by now,¡± said Situ Jin expressionlessly.

    Su Jin had no answer to that. Situ Jin was right. While Situ Jin seemed like a strangely irrational and troublesome person to him, there was no doubt that Situ Jin was a hero to ordinary folks.

    He didn¡¯t know what else to say, but he began to see why Xu Ran wanted to protect this friend of his so much.

    Just then, they both felt the ground shake.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Situ Jin looked around but could not find the source of the shaking.

    ¡°Mai, is something happening nearby?¡± Su Jin immediately contacted Kano Mai.

    ¡°Jin, bad news! An avnche is happening! Arge amount of snow ising down from the top of the mountain and there are a lot of people in the way of the snow, so they¡¯re in great danger!¡± replied Kano Mai.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± cursed Su Jin. He turned to Situ Jin and said, ¡°An avnche is happening nearby, so you¡¯d better keep your distance because it¡¯s very dangerous. Contact the authorities and tell them to send help right now!¡± He then turned to walk off.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Situ Jin yelled after him.

    ¡°You might be a hero, but I¡¯m not someone who just leaves others in the lurch either! I¡¯ll save whoever I can!¡± Su Jin ran off as quickly as lightning. He knew that avnches happened very fast and he didn¡¯t have a lot of time to waste.

    After Su Jin disappeared out of sight, Situ Jin pulled his phone out and called his superintendent. ¡°Sir, an avnche is happening on Cloud Mountain in Z Province, so please contact the relevant authorities now. We need them to send help immediately.¡±

    ¡°Cloud Mountain? You¡¯re at Cloud Mountain now?¡± his superintendent asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s not important now! I¡¯ll exin thingster. We need help now!¡± barked Situ Jin before hanging up and running off in the same direction as Su Jin.

    Su Jin had reached the mountain very quickly, but his eyes widened when he saw the sheer amount of snowing down. He didn¡¯t think he would be able to save a lot of people by himself.

    ¡°Mai, tell me which part of the mountain has the most number of tourists! We can only try our best!¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Got it. The highest concentration of tourists is at 7 o¡¯clock, about 1,800 meters away from you. There are 17 of them and I think they¡¯re a tour group,¡± Kano Mai reported back.

    Su Jin immediately ran in that direction and covered all 1,800 meters in barely a second. The tourists were all too terrified and panicky to even move out of the way.

    He quickly stood between them and the snow and retrieved his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. He shot the Roar of the Demon Lord at the snow and it managed to st a good amount away. But it didn¡¯t take long for more snow toe rolling down.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jin cursed inwardly as he clenched his teeth, then red hard at the oing snow. A silver beam of light shot out from his eyes and an invisible force suddenly stopped the snow from falling.

 Chapter 147: An Invitation

    <h4>Chapter 147: An Invitation</h4>

    As the rolling snow came to a sudden stop, Su Jin felt like his head was about to explode. A metallic taste came from the back of his mouth and he sprayed blood out. Even a Handbook owner found it hard to hold up against the forces of nature. His psychokinesis nearly copsed under the weight of the snow.

    ¡°Split now!¡± Su Jin yelled with his eyes still as wide open as before. He manipted his psychokinesis into a conical shape so that the snow slid down on both sides of the cone to avoid the people behind him.

    Su Jin¡¯s legs buckled and he fell on his knees because he felt like there were a thousand needles piercing into his head now. He knew that it was because he had been overly ambitious with the amount of psychokinesis he had and he was going to take some time to recuperate this time.

    After the falling snow subsided, the first avnche had passed. But Su Jin was worried that all that shaking earlier would result in a second avnche, so he yelled at everyone, ¡°Get out of here now! It¡¯s dangerous to stay here!¡± After yelling, he disappeared as well.

    He made sure that his back faced the other people all the time, so he wasn¡¯t worried that someone might remember what he looked like. He had to move to other areas quickly, since he only had the strength to protect one spot from getting hit by the oing snow.

    Su Jin was not an idiot, so he knew that since he couldn¡¯t possibly save everyone on the mountain, the least he could do was to save the people in one area to the best of his abilities. If he tried saving everybody at once, he might end up not saving anybody at all.

    There was still blood dribbling from his lips but that didn¡¯t bother him. His face was pale because he had used his psychokinesis to do something that was too hard for him and he had consumed more than half of his limit. So, he retrieved a leaf from the Tree of Life and chewed on a section of it.

    He used his psychokinesis to search beneath the snow and pulled out whoever had been buried by the snow. Half an hourter, he had managed to pull out about seven or eight people.

    However, his expression looked even grimmer than before, because he knew that the longer someone was trapped beneath the snow, the lower their chances of survival.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already tried my best,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself as he shook his head helplessly.

    Just then, two figures approached him from two different directions. The first one to reach him was Situ Jin. One of his arms was twisted and he was clearly badly injured. His entire body was covered in snow and he looked like he had been buried under the snow earlier too.

    ¡°I managed to save a few more than ten, but it¡¯s still not enough.¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers together tightly. He was clearly very upset by this result.

    Kano Mai was the other person making her way toward Su Jin. She was better off than the other two since she wasn¡¯t injured, but she was also covered entirely in snow. But if Su Jin took a look at himself, he would have noticed that he had the most snow on his body.

    ¡°We can still continue to save a few more, there are signs of life in these ces!¡± Su Jin drew a map in his mind with the various spots he had detected, then sent it to the other two via his psychokinesis.

    The two immediately ran in two different directions to search for the survivors that Su Jin had detected. Su Jin himself continued to save whoever he could within the vicinity. After about ten minutes, Su Jin managed to dig three people out. Thankfully, they weren¡¯t injured and were just suffering from a slightck of oxygen.

    ¡°Are you alright? If you can, go down the mountain right now!¡± As Su Jin spoke, he suddenly realized that the person he had just pulled out was none other than Han Mengyao, the woman who had been tailing him and Kano Mai all this time.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Han Mengyao was shivering like crazy. She had thought that since she was a martial artist, she wouldn¡¯t have to fear the cold and didn¡¯t put on too manyyers. But after being buried in the snow like that, her body couldn¡¯t take the cold either.

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m on¡­a¡­a¡­h-h-holid-day¡­¡± said Han Mengyao through chattering teeth.

    Su Jin tried not tough. This girl was still keeping up appearances even in such a situation. But this was not the time to expose her lies or tease her. It was more important to focus his efforts on rescuing whoever he could.

    ¡°Leave now, don¡¯t stick around and get in the way.¡± He wasn¡¯t too worried about her since she was very fit and nimble.

    After Su Jin turned and walked away, Han Mengyao made a face because she felt insulted that he thought she might get in the way. She did some stretching and felt much better, so she ran back to where Su Jin was.

    ¡°Hey! You¡­have a way to urately pinpoint where the survivors are, don¡¯t you?¡± Han Mengyao was a clever youngdy and she quickly realized that Su Jin could locate survivors with an uncanny precision.

    Su Jin frowned and felt that he needed to borrow that memory erasing device from Situ Jinter on and use it on Han Mengyao. If everyone from the special police found out that he had superhuman powers, he would be in trouble.

    ¡°Could you tell me where these survivors are? I¡­I want to help with the rescue mission too,¡± said Han Mengyao.

    Su Jin immediately pressed a finger to her forehead and the locations of the nearest survivors appeared in her head. She stared back at him in disbelief.

    ¡°You need to be fast in such situations! Don¡¯t just stand here and stare at me!¡± yelled Su Jin before running off to save more people.

    Han Mengyao didn¡¯t get angry after he reprimanded her and ran off to save the people he had told her about immediately. About half an hourter, help had arrived, but there was little more that needed to be done. After all, four people had been pulling people out from the snow all this time, so that resulted in more survivors than if they had waited for help.

    Once help arrived, Su Jin and Kano Mai immediately disappeared from the scene. Situ Jin knew about them, but he was an owner as well, so that didn¡¯t matter. What they wanted to avoid was the authorities taking notice of them.

    Situ Jin was the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so he stepped forward to show his badge to the authorities. Han Mengyao did the same, and the two of them continued to help with the rescue mission.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Kano Mai returned to their hotel. They both needed a rest, especially Su Jin. In order to prevent that huge amount of snow from burying the whole tour group, he had taken a terrible hit and his head was still aching very badly.

    ¡°Jin, are you alright?¡± Kano Mai was very worried because he looked like he was in great pain.

    He cracked a smile and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I just went a little too hard on myself earlier and I just need to get some sleep. Don¡¯t wake me up for dinnerter.¡±

    Su Jin chose to use sleep to recuperate, since he had found that to be the best way to recover his psychokinesis.

    Unfortunately, his head ached so much that he couldn¡¯t fall asleep at all. It was already past midnight but he still couldn¡¯t sleep. He tried punching himself in the head in hope that the pain would go away, but it didn¡¯t help at all.

    ¡°This might be of use to you,¡± a voice suddenly resounded next to Su Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s hair stood on end as he got up with a start and retrieved his Boning Knife. His psychokinesis needed time to recover, so his sensitivity to his surroundings had dulled significantly. Someone had actually made it all the way to his bedside without him knowing. If this person wanted to kill him, he would be dead by now.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Su Jin was surprised but also relieved. The person standing next to his bed turned out to be Situ Jin. Instead of sleeping, he had chosen to stand here like some creepy vampire. <i>Goodness knows how long he¡¯s been standing here for</i>, thought Su Jin.

    Situ Jin threw a bottle of purple liquid at Su Jin and said expressionlessly, ¡°This is something I got from a Challenge involving magic forces. You can see if it helps.¡±

    Su Jin took one nce at it and gulped it down without hesitation. After all, if Situ Jin had meant to kill him, he would have done so long ago.

    The purple liquid tasted terrible and Su Jin initially wondered if he had trusted Situ Jin too much. But shortly after that, a refreshing feeling filled his head and the sharp pain he had been suffering from earlier disappearedpletely.

    ¡°Phew! Thank you!¡± Su Jin thanked him sincerely.

    But Situ Jin still had a foul expression on his face. He asked in a low and serious voice, ¡°Why did you rescue those people?¡±

    ¡°Was it¡­wrong for me to rescue them?¡±

    ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t wrong. But why you?¡±

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with your logic? Why not me? I might be a Handbook owner, but I¡¯m human too. Is it wrong for a stronger person to help a weaker person?¡± Su Jin simply could not understand how this man¡¯s brain worked.

    But after that outburst, Situ Jin suddenly smiled and gave him a pleased nod. ¡°It looks like I can conclude my evaluation of you for the time being. You aren¡¯t a threat at the moment and you will not bring harm to society.¡±

    ¡°Wow, thanks?¡± Su Jin snorted. This evaluation was pointless to begin with. Even if Situ Jin had concluded that he was a dangerous character, what was Situ Jin going to do about that? There was no way Situ Jin could kill him right now.

    Such an evaluation only made sense if the stronger one was evaluating the weaker one. A weaker person evaluating a stronger person was nothing more than mere words.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited about that now. If you ever do anything that brings harm to my fellow citizens, I will get rid of you, no matter what it will cost me,¡± said Situ Jin with a solemn expression on his face, as if doing so would scare Su Jin.

    ¡°Alright, alright, I get it. I¡¯ll be a good citizen and make sure I don¡¯t bring you or the country trouble. Good enough for you?¡± said Su Jin flippantly. ¡°By the way, Han Mengyao found out that I have some supernatural powers, so could you lend me that memory erasing device of yours?¡±

    Situ Jin looked even more hostile now. ¡°Han Mengyao is one of my fellow citizens. You do not have the right to change or delete her memories.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to lend it to me, just say so! Look, if she and her department decide that they want to do something about me, I¡¯m not going to obediently turn myself in, you hear me? Thew allows for me to defend myself too, doesn¡¯t it? So, I won¡¯t be considered hurting them out of malicious intent, right?¡± said Su Jin with a big grin.

    Situ Jin¡¯s lips twitched slightly. If Su Jin was indeed aw abiding citizen despite being a Handbook owner, then should he protect his legal rights too? This was a difficult question for Situ Jin to answer.

    Su Jin still had a smile on his face as he said, ¡°By the way, you were saying that you¡¯ve been hunting down rogue Handbook owners who¡¯ve been wreaking havoc, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too weak to do something like that. My opinion of that part hasn¡¯t changed at all. If you end up having to face someone stronger or worse, a veteran, you¡¯re definitely going to lose. If you want to be stronger¡­you can consider joining my team!¡± said Su Jin in a calm voice.

 Chapter 148: A New Member

    <h4>Chapter 148: A New Member</h4>

    Situ Jin was stunned by this invitation and stared at Su Jin in disbelief. To him, they were like police and thief.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m just extending the invitation to you. If you don¡¯t want to, I won¡¯t force you to,¡± exined Su Jin. He was inviting Situ Jin to join the team even though this man had a strange way of thinking because he was a good guy who was reliable and responsible, and he had also saved his family from harm, so this was a way of repaying the favor.

    ¡°What happens when I join a team? Do I get any benefits?¡± Situ Jin enquired instead of turning the offer down straightaway.

    Su Jin exined patiently, ¡°Of course there are. Operating as a team in a Challenge will reduce your chances of having to fight alongside weaker owners or owners with ill intentions, so the chances of surviving a Challenge will increase. Also, you get some extra points for being part of a team. It isn¡¯t much, but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±

    Situ Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He hesitated for a moment, then asked, ¡°What¡¯s your team called?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from Team Boning Knife,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m in!¡± Situ Jin immediately nodded and agreed to join the team. His sudden change in attitude surprised Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of Team Boning Knife. I heard you guyspleted a Level A Challenge perfectly, which means that your team is really formidable.¡±

    Su Jin was surprised that even Situ Jin had heard of his team before.

    ¡°I won¡¯t say that we¡¯re really that formidable, honestly. The team has three members now, and we¡¯re all veterans. Three teams were involved in that Level A Challenge actually, but the rest¡­unfortunately did not survive,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. That Challenge was a painful memory for him. Arge number of owners had died in the process, including Yang Mo and Ning Meng, two of his own.

    Situ Jin nodded and said, ¡°Either way, you still managed to survive it and evenpleted it perfectly. I believe that even if others do ask me to join their teams, they might not be more formidable than yours, so I choose to join your team.¡±

    His decisiveness really floored Su Jin. Was this man seriously just joining the team because of that one achievement?

    But since Situ Jin was willing to join, Su Jin did not hesitate any longer. He took his Handbook out and said, ¡°Put your hand here.¡±

    Situ Jin ced his hand on Su Jin¡¯s Handbook, then Su Jin squeezed a drop of his blood onto it, which caused a ck smoke to rise, turn into a demon¡¯s hand over Situ Jin¡¯s, then shattered to form the team¡¯s emblem that Situ Jin could move about on his body.

    ¡°That¡¯s the symbol of our team. We¡¯re the only ones with that, anybody else with that are imitations!¡± said Su Jin with augh. Then he added, ¡°Because you¡¯ve joined our team, the time of your next Challenge has shifted backwards. Our team¡¯s next Challenge is happening a week from now, so I hope to see you there.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Situ Jin nodded, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure your family¡¯s kept safe too. Once I get back to my office, I¡¯ll arrange for a small team to watch over them. I don¡¯t think those fellows would try anything funny if the government is involved.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect Situ Jin to offer something like this, but he quickly realized that since Situ Jin was the cautious type, he was probably doing this not only to protect Su Jin¡¯s family members but to use it to keep Su Jin in check. If Su Jin tried to hurt him during a Challenge or anything like that, Situ Jin was going to fight back.

    This behavior wasn¡¯t offensive to Su Jin, since it was only natural for a person to try and protect themselves in whatever way they could. Besides, his family members would get protection in return.

    His family¡¯s safety had always been a concern of his because he couldn¡¯t guarantee their safety unless he was with them all the time. But they had their own lives to live, and he couldn¡¯t possibly force them to follow him around like a pet either.

    ¡°Thanks then,¡± said Su Jin. He called Kano Mai over so that he could introduce them and help them to get to know each other better since they were now team mates.

    Kano Mai was clearly surprised that Situ Jin was now part of the team and she didn¡¯t understand why Su Jin allowed him to join either. To her, Situ Jin was a dangerous character. She hadn¡¯t forgotten how he and his team had barged into their house.

    ¡°Not everyone stays an enemy forever, but everyone can be friends as long as there¡¯s something to gain from it.¡± That was Situ Jin¡¯s way of thinking. He didn¡¯t like being part of Su Jin¡¯s team either, but he needed to be more powerful and Su Jin¡¯s team was a great ce for that to happen.

    ¡°Thanks for being so honest!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but an honest team mate was definitely better than having to guard against a team mate who kept plotting against you.

    Was Situ Jin really honest? Perhaps not. As the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, the most mysterious and secretive department of the government, he had to coordinate people from many departments while keeping everything top secret. If he were too honest and open all the time, he wouldn¡¯t have made it this far.

    But at the same time, Situ Jin was a very intelligent man. He knew whom he could scheme against, and whom he could not. Su Jin was not someone he could fool easily, so he quickly chose to be honest with him.

    It waste and Su Jin couldn¡¯t sleep, so he decided to pay Hell¡¯s Bar a visit with his team mates. Situ Jin had never been there before, so he was really surprised that such a ce even existed.

    Once inside, Su Jin tried to contact Chu Yi, but he seemed very busy and did not respond immediately. Su Jin proceeded to introduce Hell¡¯s Bar to Situ Jin as well as the concept of multiple universes.

    The concept of multiple universes made Situ Jin fall into deep thought. This wasn¡¯t something he had thought about at all. To him, the he was on was the only one that existed.

    Su Jin also briefly went through the Challenges he hadpleted. After understanding more about enemy missions, Elder Gods and more, Situ Jin felt his head spin.

    ¡°Is it toote to back out of your team now?¡± said Situ Jin as he massaged his aching temples. He sighed and said, ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure if I¡¯d get stronger by being part of your team, but I¡¯m pretty sure my chances of dying in a Challenge is going to increase.¡±

    After Situ Jin pointed that out, Su Jin also realized that the Challenges he had gone through seemed abnormally terrible and he guessed that it might have something to do with the Demon Lord. Nobody else knew about his deal with the Demon Lord, but that didn¡¯t mean that the Handbook universe didn¡¯t know about it. He could have been unlucky because the Handbook universe was punishing him.

    A long whileter, Chu Yi finally appeared. Su Jin was shocked when he saw Chu Yi because the younger man was covered in injuries. There was a serious wound in his chest area and it was still bleeding.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, Boss.¡± Chu Yi plonked down on his seat and said to the nearest waiter, ¡°Do you have anything that can stop my bleeding and help me to heal faster? I¡¯ll have one of that!¡±

    The waiter nodded and served Chu Yi a ss containing a bright red liquid. Chu Yi downed it without hesitation. The effect of this drink was amazing. Chu Yi¡¯s wound instantly stopped bleeding and began to heal.

    ¡°Boss, did something happen? Why did you call me to enter the bar?¡± Chu Yi wiped away whatever liquid was left on his lips.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai were still in shock at how badly injured Chu Yi was, so it was Situ Jin who broke the silence first, ¡°Hoho, young man, I just found out that there¡¯s more than one universe out there. Is the universe where you¡¯re from¡­going through a war right now?¡±

    Chu Yi nced at Situ Jin, then asked Su Jin, ¡°Boss, who¡¯s this guy? Why is he sitting with us?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t avoid the question. How did this happen to you? Did you seriously go to war?¡± Su Jin was really horrified by Chu Yi¡¯s injuries, since Chu Yi was strong enough to get through a war unscathed.

    Chu Yi scratched his head and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not a war. I got on the wrong side of this faction consisting entirely of Handbook owners and I couldn¡¯t handle them all by myself.¡±

    ¡°A faction consisting entirely of Handbook owners? Was it those robbers?¡± The first group that Su Jin thought of were those robbers who targeted other owners.

    Chu Yi shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not them. Those robbers haven¡¯t appeared in my universe. What we have is this group who call themselves the Hell Cult and their ideology is that owners ought to control ordinary people. They want to control the entire and make ordinary folks do their bidding.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how those people found out I¡¯m an owner. They came knocking on my door two days ago and invited me to join their cult, but I¡¯m not interested in making ves out of other people, so I turned them down.¡±

    ¡°But the moment I did that, the other party became unhappy and started attacking me. I didn¡¯t expect them to have so many people on their side either. After I finished off one, another two woulde. After I finished off those two, another two more woulde. I really couldn¡¯t defeat them, so I¡¯m so d you got me ess to Hell¡¯s Bar.¡±

    The other three were horrified by what they were hearing. One of the universes had owners who wanted to turn ordinary folks into their ves. The one with the biggest reaction was Situ Jin. He sneered and had a nasty look in his eyes.

    Situ Jin was hunting rogue Handbook owners precisely because he felt that these people could pose a real threat to ordinary people. What he had been worried about had actually be a reality in Chu Yi¡¯s universe.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect both of us to be threatened by fellow Handbook owners despite being in two different universes,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. If they belonged to the same universe, they could help each other out. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t belong to the same universe.

    Chu Yi looked like he wasn¡¯t bothered at all. ¡°Those fellows are insane, but not everyone thinks like them. There are some owners who havee together to fight back. When I get back, I¡¯m going to join these owners and make sure those crazy fellows die.¡±

    ¡°Well said. Those with the power to do so should contribute to the betterment of mankind, and not enve their fellow brethren. Scum like them ought to be destroyed,¡± Situ Jin assured Chu Yi as though he were a fellowrade.

    ¡°Bro, you think so too? By the way, who exactly are you?¡± asked Chu Yi.

 Chapter 149: Ghostly Games

    <h4>Chapter 149: Ghostly Games</h4>

    ¡°So, you¡¯re the fellow who caused trouble for my Boss? And you¡¯re actually an owner as well?¡± Chu Yi looked Situ Jin up and down, then said to Su Jin, ¡°Boss, do you want me to get rid of him?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. From today onwards, Situ Jin will be a member of Team Boning Knife. I hope we can all work together and safely get through our next Challenge,¡± said Su Jin as he red at Chu Yi.

    ¡°Boss! You actually let him into the team?¡± Chu Yi pretended to be very upset just to tease Su Jin, which made Su Jin sigh exasperatedly.

    They didn¡¯t stay for too long in the bar. Situ Jin had to return to the office for work while Su Jin and Kano Mai were still keeping a lookout at Cloud Mountain. Only Chu Yi didn¡¯t want to leave just yet. He told them that until he was sure that he was safe, he was prepared to just live inside the bar. The bar never threw anyone out anyway.

    After they returned to the real world, Su Jin and Kano Mai realized that Han Mengyao was nowhere to be found. It was hard to say if she had left because she was injured in the avnche or for some other reason. Either way, she was no longer keeping tabs on Su Jin, and Su Jin guessed that Situ Jin had made some arrangements, but he didn¡¯t ask.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t remain in Cloud Mountain. He had a lot of work on his hands, so he returned to his office in B City and called Su Jin to tell him that he had already sent his subordinates to protect Su Jin¡¯s family members, so he needn¡¯t worry about them.

    Time slowly ticked by and Ye Yun was still nowhere to be seen. It was already time to go through another Challenge, so Su Jin contacted Situ Jin and Chu Yi with his Handbook and got everyone ready to enter their next Challenge.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai stood side by side and opened their Handbooks together. Everything went dark and they both fell unconscious.

    ¡°Death, pain, cmity, terror¡­why does everybody say we¡¯re dark and malicious? We just¡­wanna y games with you!¡± That familiar terrifying voice resounded in Su Jin¡¯s ears again. No matter how many times he heard this voice, he never felt any better. The voice struck terror in his heart and it took him a long time to get over it.

    His surroundings lit up again and he opened his eyes. A lot of people appeared within his line of sight, which made his heart sink. The difficulty level of a Challenge was positively corrted to the number of owners involved.

    ¡°Mr. Su, Miss Kano!¡± A voice suddenly rang out from nowhere and surprised Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    Su Jin turned to look and was even more surprised to see that the person calling out to them turned out to be Xiang Nan. They had worked together on the Rubble Vige Challenge, and even though there was some unhappiness between the two of them back then, a lot of time had passed since then and Su Jin was no longer bothered by it.

    Also, after going through more Challenges after that, Su Jin understood why Xiang Nan had chosen to behave that way. In fact, Su Jin had done something simr in thest Challenge. He had used the people who didn¡¯t want Chu Yi onboard to be bait for the highest level mutant and to confirm if they were moving in the right direction, even though he knew these people were probably going to end up dead. So now, Su Jin felt that he had no right to tell Xiang Nan off.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Xiang. I didn¡¯t expect to meet you again,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. But he quickly noticed that besides Xiang Nan, the rest of his team was nowhere to be seen.¡°

    ¡°Mr. Xiang, where¡¯s Mr. Yu and the rest?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    Xiang Nan¡¯s expression fell and he said a little sadly, ¡°Boss¡­didn¡¯t survive one of the Challenges and our team disbanded after that.¡±

    Su Jin and Kano Mai were saddened to hear that. Yu Guangde had taken very good care of them and worked with them to get through the Rubble Vige Challenge. It had only been a few months since then and he was gone.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m so sorry to hear that. That¡¯s the reality of Hell¡¯s Handbook. Nobody knows how long they¡¯ll live for,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. The Handbook universe was filled with dangers and the risk of dying. The only way to survive was to keep bing stronger and stronger.

    Xiang Nan smiled wordlessly and they finally turned to look at who else was in the Challenge with them. There were a total of 13 people and no newbies. This unsettled Su Jin even more. He had gone through two Challenges with no newbies, first the Fairytales of Horror Challenge, then the All Have Sinned Challenge. Both Challenges had been difficult to get through and he was now faced with yet another one with no newbies.

    Su Jin immediately flipped his Handbook ope.

    ¡°Ghostly Games, Level B Challenge!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eye twitched. Facing a Level B Challenge was bad enough, but this one even included ghosts. This was going to be as bad as a simple Level A Challenge.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one mission. y games with the ghosts and stay alive until the end.¡±

    The fact that there was only one mission only proved how dangerous this Challenge was going to be. Everyone had dismal looks on their faces. They clearly knew how bad it was going to get.

    ¡°I think there¡¯s no need to exin too much, I¡¯m sure everyone here is aware of how dangerous this Challenge is going to be. I just want to know how many veterans are here,¡± said a plump middle-aged man.

    ¡°Five!¡± The man looked delighted when he counted the number of raised hands. Having five veterans out of 13 owners was a better ratio than most and everyone knew how much more advantageous it was to have veterans among them. But perhaps there was such a high number also because this Challenge was really difficult.

    ¡°Excellent. My name¡¯s Han Yiqing. Could the veterans please introduce yourselves? We¡¯ll need your help for this Challenge,¡± said Han Yiqing with a merryugh. He had a pleasant disposition and seemed very approachable.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Su Jin, I have Psychokic Spirit Power,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m Xiang Nan, and I have Maic Spirit Power.¡± Su Jin and Kano Mai were surprised that Xiang Nan was one of the five veterans, since he didn¡¯t have Spirit Power thest time they saw him.

    ¡°Chu Yi. My spirit power is Internal Energy and I¡¯m better at close range fights,¡± said Chu Yi.

    ¡°Kano Mai. My Spirit Power is the power of Sloth,¡± Kano Mai introduced herself as well.

    Thest veteran was a man in a formal white shirt. He nced at the other four and said, ¡°Park Donggeun. My Spirit Power is telekinesis.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re from Korea?¡± Everyone was a little surprised that they had a Japanese and a Korean among them this time. The Handbook seemed to always put owners from the same country together after all, regardless of which universe they were from.

    ¡°Is that very strange to you? I¡¯ve been based in China for work recently,¡± snapped Park Donggeun.

    Nobody asked him anymore questions and continued to introduce themselves. They weren¡¯t veterans but they were still important to the group.

    ¡°Is there anyone who¡¯s good at nning and strategizing?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Everyone exchanged nces and shook their heads in unison. Su Jin and Xiang Nan looked at one another and tried not to sigh out loud. Supernatural beings were a big part of this Challenge, which meant that quick thinking and strategizing was probably going to go a much longer way than pure physical strength or weapons. If a ghost attacked you with its supernatural power, even a veteran might not hold up, depending on what Spirit Power you had.

    ¡°In that case, Mr. Su and I will lead the group for the time being. Any objections?¡± Xiang Nan immediately asked to take up this role.

    One of them protested, ¡°Why should we listen to you? What qualifies you to lead our group?¡±

    Xiang Nan nced at him and said, ¡°Firstly, I¡¯m a veteran. Secondly, I used to be the strategist for my small team.¡±

    ¡°Hoho, just like you said, you ¡®used to be¡¯ the strategist for your team. I overheard your conversation earlier. Your team has already disbanded. You¡¯re a strategist who couldn¡¯t even hold your own little team together, so what makes you think you¡¯re good enough to lead all of us here?¡± the one with objections continued in a nasty tone.

    Xiang Nan furrowed his brows and looked at Su Jin as he sighed inwardly. ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯ll have to leave this role to you then. In such Challenges, everyone has to be united and listen to only one set of instructions, otherwise the chances of survival will be very low.¡±

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow at Xiang Nan. Xiang Nan was not the type who would worry about the safety of others, after all. Xiang Nan seemed to know what Su Jin was thinking about and said, ¡°Look. For a Challenge like this, the longer all of us survive, the higher the chances of us getting out of this alive. If a lot of us get killed right from the start, none of us will make it out at the end.¡±

    Su Jin knew that Xiang Nan was trying to say. The Challenges got progressively harder and dangerous as time went by, so if more of them survived the earlier part of the Challenge, there would be more of them to fight during theter part of the Challenge. On the contrary, if too many of them died early on, the few left at the end would definitely be targets for these ghosts and perish eventually.

    He had great faith in the way Xiang Nan strategized. Even though Xiang Nan had used a method he didn¡¯t agree with to keep all them safe back in Rubble Vige, he had to admit that Xiang Nan¡¯s solutions were all very effective.

    Su Jin nodded slightly at Xiang Nan, so Xiang Nan went on, ¡°Mr. Su is the team leader of Team Boning Knife and he¡¯s also the brains of the team. I¡¯m sure all of you have heard of Team Boning Knife, right?¡±

    The rest were puzzled for a moment but one of them reacted immediately.

    ¡°Team Boning Knife? You mean the team whopleted a Level A Challenge perfectly?¡± asked Park Donggeun in shock.

    Xiang Nan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Mr. Su is the strategist for that very same team. You guys don¡¯t want to trust me, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯d trust him, right?¡±

    Nobody had any further objections to make after they found out who Su Jin was. Someone who couldplete a Level A Challenge was definitely someone they could count on.

    ¡°Since everyone trusts me, then I¡¯ll take charge,¡± said Su Jin. After pausing for a short moment to think, he said, ¡°The name of this Challenge is quite self-exnatory, so we¡¯re expecting ghosts to make an appearance. Does anybody here have anything that can counter such creatures?¡±

    Nobody said anything, which made Su Jin and Xiang Nan exchange tired nces. No owner would choose to reveal their trump cards if they didn¡¯t have to. That was a natural mode of behavior in these dangerous circumstances.

    ¡°Alright then! Since nobody wants to speak up, I won¡¯t ask anymore. The introduction to this Challenge has already said that we¡¯ll have to interact with the ghosts and somehow survive their games. There¡¯s very little information to work with, so we¡¯ll just have to y by ear,¡± said Su Jin in a grim voice.

    He took this time to observe the owners in the group. Most of them looked rather unsettled, but a few of them seemed a lot calmer than the rest. Thetter group was probably the one with something that could deal with ghosts, or at least they were the ones most likely to survive a ghostly attack.

 Chapter 150: Searching For Bodies

    <h4>Chapter 150: Searching For Bodies</h4>

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t angry that these people had refused to say that they had something on hand that could deal with ghosts. One could die anytime in a Challenge, so it made sense for owners to prioritize self-preservation and hang onto anything that would increase their chances of survival.

    They decided to quickly leave the safe area, since they would definitely die if they wasted time by staying here for too long. They didn¡¯t have any other choice but to keep moving along.

    Once they had all walked out of the area they were in earlier, a ck mist swirled around them and they soon found themselves inside a room. The room was very rundown and there were spiderwebs everywhere. The furniture was covered in dust and the room was very dark as well. There was barely enough space for 13 adults to stand in this room.

    Su Jin scanned his surroundings and Situ Jin did the same. He said to Su Jin, ¡°The smell of blood is very strong, so somebody definitely died here, and this person¡­died pretty recently.¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly. As the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, Situ Jin made an excellent detective and immediately noticed what was wrong about the room.

    Xiang Nan piped up, ¡°I heard that some Challenges go in a cycle. So, once a group of owners pass through it, it would remain in ce and wait for the next group of owners. Do you think this bloody smell is left behind by the previous group of owners?¡±

    Situ Jin walked toward a photo frame and sniffed it before touching it. He shook his head and said, ¡°Nope. The smell of blood is very strong but the blood dried up a long time ago and it¡¯s almost ck in color now. I can¡¯t tell exactly how long the stains have been here, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s been quite a long while.¡±

    ¡°I think we don¡¯t have to guess anymore. Something¡¯s in front of our door and it¡¯sing in soon!¡± Su Jin had activated his psychokinesis from the moment they stepped into this dim room. He hadn¡¯t detected anything in the room, but something was about toe in from outside.

    Everyone instantly tensed up when they heard what he said. The door creaked open and a ckened figure walked in.

    Their hair stood on end when they got a better look at the figure that had just walked in. It was a little girl around seven or eight years old, her body half rotted away and left with only the whites in her eyes. She walked in with a huge coffin behind her.

    The little girl raised her hand and the lid of the coffin flew open. Two people were lying inside the coffin. One was a middle-aged man who had probably died a long time ago with his eyes wide open, and next to him was a middle-aged woman who was embracing the man, but who also had a sharp knife in her hand that was stabbed through the man¡¯s heart from the back.

    ¡°Daddy¡¯s dead, Mommy¡¯s dead, and so am I¡­we¡¯re ying hide-and-seek! Mommy and I are hiding while Daddy¡¯s supposed to look for us. Daddy found Mommy, but why hasn¡¯t he found me yet? I miss Daddy and Mommy! You¡¯ve got to find me!¡± The little girl suddenly raised her head, causing the veins in her half rotten face to bulge. Her teeth were clenched within her lipless mouth as she hissed dramatically, ¡°If you can¡¯t find me in an hour, then all of you shall DIE!¡±

    Thest word was practically screeched out and everyone felt as though their eardrums were about to burst. The little girl¡¯s face contorted as she shrieked and disappeared in an instant, bing nothing more than smoke. But she left the coffin behind.

    Everyone had grim looks on their faces. They didn¡¯t expect a ghost to appear so swiftly. The ghost hadn¡¯t attacked them, but they were only given an hour to find her or die.

    ¡°Our entire group¡¯s lives are in danger right from the start? This Challenge is seriously¡­¡± One of the owners looked really worried. He didn¡¯t expect the Challenge to start off like this. If they failed toplete this quest, they¡¯d all die.

    ¡°Stop thinking about those useless things and focus on the task at hand,¡± said Su Jin before looking at Xiang Nan. ¡°Mr. Xiang, what are your thoughts?¡±

    ¡°Firstly, the ghost said that we¡¯re supposed to look for her. Based on the story she told us, I think we¡¯re supposed to find her body. That coffin she brought along has the bodies of her parents but not her, so I think we can confirm that much.¡±

    ¡°Secondly, her body has to be within this ce we¡¯re in. So, we¡¯ve narrowed down the parameters.¡±

    ¡°Thirdly, I think everyone has to remain on high alert. The ghost said that we¡¯ll all have to die if we can¡¯t find her within the next hour, but it doesn¡¯t mean that we¡¯re safe for this hour,¡± said Xiang Nan.

    Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing Xiang Nan¡¯s analysis. Xiang Nan was indeed an excellent strategist and the disbandment of his team was really not directly corrted to him.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°I agree. We can¡¯t just sit around and do nothing. We need to get moving right now. We don¡¯t have much time.¡±

    Actually, Su Jin had purposely allowed Xiang Nan to present his analysis of the situation because he wanted the rest to ept and acknowledge Xiang Nan as a reliable and intelligent member of the group who could help them survive the Challenge. Having Xiang Nan around was definitely going to make things easier, but the rest had to be willing to listen to him too. Otherwise, if they refused to listen to himter on, thatck of trust might bring all of them down.

    ¡°Let¡¯s start then!¡± Chu Yi was very excited. He wasn¡¯t very frightened of ghosts in the first ce, and he thought that this whole body hunt concept was very thrilling and he couldn¡¯t wait to get started.

    Su Jin nodded, but added, ¡°Always be cautious. If you run into anything that doesn¡¯t seem right, move away immediately and we¡¯ll think of something together.¡±

    Everyone nodded, then started on their search. The room they were in was tiny, but once they walked around the coffin at the door and left the room, they realized they were in an old but extremely luxurious bungalow. There were at least 20 other rooms simr to the one they had just walked out from and the house itself was five or six stories high.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan didn¡¯t look very optimistic. This ce was huge, which meant that it was going to be hard for everyone to look out for one another while searching the house. Someone was definitely going to end up getting attacked at this rate.

    .

    ¡°Or¡­should we get everyone to search in pairs? It will slow down the search though,¡± Xiang Nan said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin contemted this option for a while. It wasn¡¯t too hard to search a house of this size within an hour, but the little girl¡¯s body was probably very well hidden. If everyone searched in pairs, then the speed would reduce by half, which meant that they had to search in a big hurry.

    ¡°The veterans can search the ce on their own, and everyone else can pair up.¡± Su Jin decided on an in-between sort of n. Veterans could fend off ghosts for a while with their Spirit Power, so even if something did happen, there would probably be enough time for them to get help or attract the attention of the others.

    Besides the five veterans, the remaining eight quickly got into pairs and they began their search. To y safe, they always remained on the same floor at all times.

    Su Jin went round the living room first. There was a portrait of the family hanging on the wall. The picture of a couple and their daughter looked very heartwarming at first, but the couple¡¯s expressions were very strange because their smiles looked more like they had been drawn on. It was as if they were wearing a mask with a smile on it.

    He was a little disturbed by this portrait, so he went to take a closer look. It was indeed a photograph and not a painting. If it were a painting, he could me these weird expressions on a lousy artist. But a photograph ought to have captured the original moment as it was.

 Chapter 151: Missing Floor

    <h4>Chapter 151: Missing Floor</h4>

    The photo looked weird, but Su Jin didn¡¯t pay it too much attention. This probably wasn¡¯t going to be the weirdest thing he was going toe across in such a Challenge.

    Everyone searched the rooms very carefully and it didn¡¯t take long for them to finish searching the first story. All 13 of them gathered back together again to exchange notes on what they found.

    ¡°The room in the south is the kitchen. I found a lot of bloodstains and some unwashed dishes.¡± Chu Yi had a te in hand and the bloodstains on it were also ckened like the ones found inside the first room they were in.

    ¡°The room in the west is the bathroom. It¡¯s filled with bloodstains as well and it¡¯s aplete mess, but there¡¯s nothing else unusual about it.¡± Kano Mai had been in charge of searching that room.

    ¡°There¡¯s a room meant solely for clothing in the southwest. The room is filled with both men and women¡¯s clothing, but therge majority are for children. Strangely enough, there are clothes for both boys and girls,¡± said Xiang Nan with a puzzled look on his face.

    Su Jin frowned at this information. Based on the photo he saw in the living room, this was supposed to be a family of three: father, mother and daughter. He mumbled to himself, ¡°Well, the child isn¡¯t very old yet, so she could wear clothing for either gender if the parents wanted to.¡±

    Besides the information from these three, the rest did not have anything of note to report. In fact, most of them had not found anything unusual at all in their rooms.

    ¡°A murder definitely happened here, but the first story was not where it happened.¡± Situ Jin was a trained police investigator, so he followed the bloodstains on the floor and quickly pointed to the staircase. He walked over to the staircase and said grimly, ¡°Based on the direction of the bloodstains, the murder scene should be upstairs. There¡¯s only one trail of blood and beside it are footsteps, onerger than the other. Judging from what we saw in the coffin earlier, the wife killed the husband, then dragged the body downstairs along with her daughter.¡±

    Situ Jin¡¯s observations were very astute, but he did not say anymore after that. He knew his ce well and just left the decisions to the two strategists of the group.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan exchanged nces and Su Jin said, ¡°Let¡¯s not waste time here, continue with the second floor! We need more information!¡±

    The group went up to the second story and searched the ce, but this floor didn¡¯t even give them any clues. The entire floor was nothing but guest rooms, so they were all neat and tidy. The bloodstains went past the second story, so Situ Jin concluded that this floor wasn¡¯t the scene of the crime either.

    The third story was next. This was where the family lived. There was one master bedroom, one children¡¯s bedroom and one servant¡¯s bedroom.

    They quickly came back together again. Xiang Nan said, ¡°I searched the servant¡¯s bedroom and it¡¯s quite strange. It seems like more than one person had lived in it before.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to exin it either. Based on the size of the bed and the room, it¡¯s impossible for more than one person to have lived there at one time,¡± said Xiang Nan.

    ¡°Situ, could you go in and have a look?¡± Su Jin had begun to trust Situ Jin in this aspect since he had professional investigative training. He was the most qualified to make a judgment in this situation.

    A couple of minutester, Situ Jin and Xiang Nan walked out of the servant¡¯s room again and Situ Jin said, ¡°He¡¯s right. More than one person lived there before.¡±

    ¡°Did the owner of the house force more than one person to live in that tiny room?¡± asked one of them.

    Situ Jin shook his head. ¡°There are a number of everyday items inside that seem toe from different ces and it¡¯s obvious that the users of these items have different living habits.¡±

    ¡°Take the slippers for example. This tiny room has proper shelves installed for slippers in three different ces: one end of the bed, under the table and behind the door. I don¡¯t think a servant would be in the mood to disy their slippers like this.¡±

    ¡°Therefore, I feel that there were at least three servants who went through this room. At least three servants worked here before. We also found servant uniforms in different sizes inside the closet, so I think we can confirm our guess. Based on the size of the clothing, two of them were quiterge sized, so it would really be impossible for more than one person to live in the room at one time. In short, this family changed servants quite frequently.¡±

    Su Jin nodded quietly at Situ Jin¡¯s detailed analysis and the other group members began to look a little more admiringly at Situ Jin now.

    Situ Jin went on, ¡°The children¡¯s bedroom is a little strange too. There are two children¡¯s beds in the room, which means that¡­this family has more than one child.¡±

    That was something Su Jin was prepared to hear. The room full of clothing on the first floor had clothes for both boys and girls after all. He had guessed that they were all for just one child, but he did not eliminate the possibility that this family could have had two children.

    ¡°The master bedroom is very clean and it looks like it had been tidied up before this. There¡¯s nothing else unusual about it.¡± Kano Mai and a few other owners had searched the master bedroom together but they didn¡¯t find anything of note.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go up!¡± said Su Jin.

    The fourth story turned out to be a library. The entire floor was covered in bookshelves with books of all sorts on them.

    ¡°How¡­how are we supposed to search a ce like that?¡± eximed one of them. There were probably a few thousand books in this ce, so if they were to look at the books one by one, they wouldn¡¯t be able to finish looking through them even if they were given an entire week to do so, never mind less than an hour.

    ¡°Comb the shelves for any diaries, notebooks or books with special markings on them,¡± instructed Su Jin. He too, knew that it was impossible to look through every single book given such a short time.

    Everyone immediately got to work and it was a lot easier toplete the search of the shelves since they knew what they were looking for. They found three diaries in no time and handed them over to Su Jin.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go up!¡± Su Jin passed one of the diaries to Xiang Nan and flipped through the other two himself while the group went upstairs. They had used up quite a bit of time already, so they had to move more quickly.

    The fifth story was even more surprising because there was absolutely nothing on this floor. The entire floor was covered in dust except for the space right in the middle. There was a rectangle shaped area that was not covered in any dust.

    Everyone had looks of despair on their faces. They had been hoping that the little girl¡¯s body was somewhere on one of these floors, yet they found nothing afterbing through four floors and the highest floor had no rooms nor furniture. Where could the little girl¡¯s body be?

    ¡°That¡¯s where the coffin was ced initially,¡± pointed out Park Donggeun.

    Su Jin told everyone not to move and said to Chu Yi, ¡°Can you find a way to blow away all the dust on this floor?¡±

    Chu Yi nodded. He gathered his internal energy and thrust his hand out. Wind flew out from his palm, which stirred up all the dust on the floor. Everyone quickly covered their nose and mouth with their hands.

    Su Jin covered his nose and mouth as well, but kept his eyes on the floor. The rest were also stunned when they looked down at the floor. The entire ce was covered in blood.

    ¡°It¡¯s the murder scene!¡± said Xiang Nan.

    Situ Jin squatted down and touched the floor with his fingers, then shook his head and said, ¡°Nope. This isn¡¯t where the murder urred either.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? This is the highest floor,¡± said Park Donggeun.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes as he looked around, then looked up at the roof. ¡°Situ is right. This is not the scene of the murder. The murder happened on the sixth floor!¡±

    ¡°The sixth floor? But the house only has five floors.¡± Chu Yi looked confused too.

    ¡°Is that so? Are you sure?¡± Su Jinughed.

    Xiang Nan¡¯s eyes lit up and he said, ¡°Mr. Su is right. The murder urred on the sixth floor. The missing sixth floor.¡±

    This confused everyone even further. They were clearly on the highest floor right now. What were these two talking about?

    Su Jin exined, ¡°Earlier on, I guessed that this was a six story house based on the height of each of the floors below. Don¡¯t you think the ceiling of this fifth floor is a little higher than usual?¡±

    Everyone raised their heads and nodded in agreement. Kano Mai asked, ¡°The sixth floor has been torn down?¡±

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been torn down. Just¡­hidden,¡± said Su Jin quietly. A silver beam shot out from his eyes as he allowed his psychokinesis to scan the area above their heads.

    He smiled and walked towards one side of the floor. Everyone watched in amazement as he started ascending, as though he were walking on invisible stairs.

    All of them became hopeful again, since there was actually a hidden sixth story. They thought they had hit a dead end, but it turned out that the ghost had yed a prank on them.

    Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis revealed the hidden sixth floor to him in its entirety, so he was able to see everything in it. This was certainly the scene of the crime, since it was covered with bloodstains and it looked like the victim had struggled very violently here.

    He suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as though a sinister pair of eyes were staring at him. It made him shiver and all his hair stood on end.

    As he carefully searched the sixth floor, the people downstairs could see everything clearly since Su Jin seemed to be floating in the air above them.

    At the same time, the more he searched, the grimmer his expression became. The sixth story was aplete mess and this was definitely the scene of the murder, since some of the blood found on the other floors had seeped through the floor from here. But the little girl¡¯s body was nowhere to be found. This floor was just as empty as the one below it.

    He walked down again and shook his head. ¡°Her body isn¡¯t upstairs either.¡±

    Despair filled everyone¡¯s hearts again. They thought that things would change after Su Jin found the sixth floor, only for their hopes to be dashed.

    ¡°What are we going to do? Time is already almost up! We¡­we¡¯re all going to die!¡± One of them was a middle-ageddy and she started panicking because she realized that they only had about ten more minutes to go.

    The more timid ones among them were already trembling in fear, while those who were bolder frowned from the uneasiness they felt inside.

    Su Jin remained silent as he continued looking through the diaries in his hand. The frown on his face slowly smoothened out as he read the entries. Perhaps¡­they weren¡¯t actually all too far from the little girl¡¯s body!

 Chapter 152: Mystery Of The Dates

    <h4>Chapter 152: Mystery Of The Dates</h4>

    Su Jin did not say anything and just held out the diary in his hand toward Xiang Nan, pointing out a few important areas. Xiang Nang did the same thing and they both pointed to the dates in the diaries.

    ¡°What are the two of you trying to imply? There¡¯s no more time left! Are we just waiting to die now?¡± Han Yiqing almost flew into a rage.

    ¡°Come on! We¡¯ve got to go back to the first floor!¡± said Su Jin.

    Nobody knew what Su Jin was trying to do, but they had no choice but to follow him back downstairs. When they passed through the living room, Su Jin nced at the odd photograph and smiled strangely at it before walking into the room full of clothes with Situ Jin.

    A minuteter, they emerged from the room and brought everyone back to the first room they were in. The coffin was still lying quietly where it was. As everyone walked around it again, Han Yiqing suddenly eximed, ¡°But wait! If the scene of the murder was on the missing sixth floor, then why is the coffin here?¡±

    ¡°What a dumb question. It was carried down, obviously,¡± snapped another person. They were about to face their deaths soon, so some of them found it hard to keep their cool.

    Han Yiqingughed hollowly. ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I mean, if the coffin was originally ced on the fifth floor, then why didn¡¯t the wife just ce her husband in the coffin there? Why drag it all the way down to the first story? There was no blood on the floor where the coffin had been, which means that the coffin was still on the fifth story when the murder happened, and was only carried down after that.¡±

    Han Yiqing¡¯s point made everyone start thinking. Since the coffin was already on the fifth story, it would have been easier to just dump his body into it there. Dragging the body to the first story, then carrying the coffin down before cing the body inside seemed like a lot of trouble for nothing.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan remained silent the whole time, as though they were waiting for something. But while they could remain calm, the rest couldn¡¯t. Their faces were pale and some were on the verge of crying. They had no idea how these two men could remain so calm in the face of impending doom. Could it be that they had already lost their minds?

    Once time was up, the entrance to the room went dark again and the little girl walked out from the darkness. She had a wicked smile on her half rotten face, as though she was about to eat something delicious.

    ¡°All of you failed to find me, so you¡¯re all going to die!¡± she shrieked in a shrill voice.

    Everyone shuddered fearfully but Su Jin snorted and said, ¡°What do you mean by we failed to find you? We found you.¡±

    Everyone was shocked and turned to stare at him. No wonder he and Xiang Nan had managed to remain so calm. They had actually located the little girl¡¯s body.

    The little girl¡¯s voice was frosty as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare lie to me, or you¡¯d suffer a worser fate than death.¡±

    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t dare to do that. But¡­actually, you don¡¯t belong to this family, right?¡± said Su Jin out of nowhere.

    The little girl was stunned for half a second before she opened her mouth and shot her rotting tongue out at Su Jin, stopping just before it hit his face. She roared, ¡°You¡¯re spouting nonsense! Of course I belong to this family!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Or at least, you¡¯re not the child that the couple raised,¡± said Xiang Nan as he held up the three diaries and pointed to them.

    ¡°Mr. Xiang is right. The three diaries belong to the wife, the husband and their child. The name on the child¡¯s diary is not a girl¡¯s name, but a boy¡¯s name,¡± said Su Jin. He looked curiously at the little girl and said, ¡°We¡¯ve checked the rooms on every story. There¡¯s a room filled with children¡¯s clothes for both boys and girls on the first story, and there¡¯s a children¡¯s bedroom on the third story with two beds. Situ and I checked the clothing to find that the boy clothes look like they¡¯ve been worn before, but the girl clothes are all brand new. The tags haven¡¯t even been cut.¡±

    He held up a handful of tags, which were all taken from the room full of clothing. All the adult clothing and the boy clothing looked like they had been worn and washed before, but all the girl clothing still had tags on them.

    ¡°If this family really had a daughter your age, why would all her clothes still have their tags on?¡± said Su Jin.

    The little girl¡¯s tongue kept changing in shape in front of Su Jin¡¯s face but he wasn¡¯t bothered by it at all. Since it failed to frighten him, she withdrew it and red fiercely at him instead.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the photograph in the living room? That¡¯s a photo of my family!¡± yelled the little girl.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, the photograph does show a husband and wife with a little girl in the middle. But I found their expressions extremely disturbing. They look like they were forced to take this photograph. There¡¯s no reason why anybody would look like that if they were taking a photo with their actual child. So, perhaps they looked like that because¡­you forced them to take this photo.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! I did no such thing! I¡¯m their child! I¡¯m their child!¡± The little girl seemed to have gone mad and her body emanated a ck mist as she shrieked.

    Xiang Nan waved the three diaries in his hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s start from these three diaries then. The husband¡¯s diary entries end on a different day from his wife¡¯s, and the wife¡¯s entries actually start on after the husband¡¯s stop. There¡¯s a year in between the two dates.¡±

    ¡°The husband¡¯s diary records clearly for us that his wife was pregnant and he was very happy about it. He said that he wanted a boy, but a few months after first writing about his wife¡¯s pregnancy, the entries stopped.¡±

    ¡°The interesting thing about both their diaries is that their diary dates include only the day and month, but no year,¡± Su Jin continued where Xiang Nan left off. He took one diary from Xiang Nan and flipped through it as he went on, ¡°The date on the entry in the husband¡¯s diary about his wife¡¯s pregnancy was on 1<sup>st</sup> November, and it stopped in January of the next year.¡±

    Su Jin flipped the diary open to that page, then flipped open the wife¡¯s diary. ¡°The wife¡¯s first entry on her pregnancy was in March, and it stopped in January of the next year as well. They seem to stop around the same time, but their records of her pregnancy have a difference of around eight months.¡±

    Everyone agreed that this was very strange indeed. While it was true that the woman would know about her pregnancy first, it couldn¡¯t have taken the husband eight whole months to know about it, unless he was blind or something.

    Su Jin smiled and continued, ¡°It all seems very strange, but remember, the dates in these diaries do not state the year. Also, the content of the wife¡¯s diary is very strange. She seemed very excited, saying that she¡¯s made up for her husband¡¯s loss and is pregnant.¡±

    ¡°That is very strange because the man¡¯s diary entries from the back half of November onwards are filled with frustration and indignation, while the woman¡¯s is filled with joy and celebration. But everything made sense once I filled in the year.¡±

    Everyone was really getting confused now except for Xiang Nan. Su Jin pretended to write the number 1 on the husband¡¯s diary and the number 2 on the wife¡¯s diary.

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at it this way. If the man found out that his wife was pregnant on 1<sup>st</sup> November of year 1, and the wife found out that she was pregnant in March of year 2, then the difference in time reduces from eight months to four months.¡±

    Su Jin looked at the little girl and went on, ¡°The difference is still quite a lot, but if youbine that information with the content of the entries¡­let me hypothesize for a while here. What if the wife was pregnant not once, but twice?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened. Situ Jin and Kano Mai had strange looks on their faces, because they had clearly put some of these clues together faster than the rest.

    Xiang Nan smiled and said, ¡°Alright, Mr. Su! I¡¯ll take over from here.¡± He took the diaries back from Su Jin and continued, ¡°From the man¡¯s diary, it¡¯s obvious that he wanted a boy, and the woman¡¯s entries also state that she did give birth to a boy.¡±

    ¡°But if we assume that the wife was pregnant more than once, then going by Mr. Su¡¯s timeline, the wife had a miscarriage or she aborted her child. If we say that the wife discovered her pregnancy first, and the husband found outter, then this abortion or miscarriage would have happened when she was already eight months pregnant, which is a little unbelievable. Anyone who wants to abort their child wouldn¡¯t wait till eight months, and the fetus is usually too stable to be miscarried by that time as well.¡±

    ¡°So, it makes more sense to switch them around. The husband discovered that his wife was pregnant in November of year 1, and then his wife became pregnant a second time in March of year 2. That would be more reasonable.¡±

    ¡°So let¡¯s make some assumptions here. Say the husband found out that his wife was pregnant on 1<sup>st</sup> November, but two weekster, he discovered that she was pregnant with a girl and not a boy, like he wanted, so he brought her to get an abortion.¡±

    The little girl¡¯s expression suddenly became contorted, as though she was going to hack Xiang Nan into a thousand pieces.

    Xiang Nan was unfazed by her expression and went on, ¡°Then, in March the next year, the wife became pregnant again and this time, she was pregnant with a boy. She gave birth to this child by the end of the year and that¡¯s the real child to this couple.¡±

    ¡°Both diaries stop in January of the year after the entries start. If you don¡¯t read everything carefully, you might not notice anything amiss. But once you realize that the entries don¡¯t make sense and you rearrange the dates ordingly, everything would make sense.¡±

    The little girl began shrieking maniacally again, ¡°It¡¯s not fair! It¡¯s not fair! I had to be aborted just because I was a girl! That man killed me! He forced Mommy to lose me! I must make him pay! I must!¡±

    Su Jin snorted and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it was your father who brought your mother to get an abortion. If he wanted it to happen, he wouldn¡¯t have written diary entries with such content all the way till January. It seems more like it could have been someone else.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! That¡¯s impossible! I could sense my mother¡¯s sadness! She missed me! I¡¯m sure of it!¡± shrieked the little girl.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°A husband and wife have other family members too. The one who brought your mother to get an abortion might have been an elder of the family. In any case, I¡¯m quite sure it wasn¡¯t your father. You¡¯ve chosen the wrong person to take revenge on.¡±

    The man¡¯s diary entries were filled with frustration and indignation from November all the way till January. If his frustration and indignation was about his baby¡¯s gender, then it would mean that up until January, he still had no idea that his wife was already no longer with child. That would also mean that he wasn¡¯t the one who brought his wife for an abortion, if it even happened at all.

 Chapter 153: The Body

    <h4>Chapter 153: The Body</h4>

    The little girl was too stunned for words. It wasn¡¯t hard to reach these conclusions, but the little girl¡¯s vengeful spirit had been blinded by her hatred and rage, or perhaps she never sought to find out the truth in the first ce.

    ¡°Did you¡­guess all of this?¡± The little girl stared at Su Jin and Xiang Nan. She couldn¡¯t understand how the two of them figured everything out as though they knew exactly what happened back then.

    Su Jin shook his head and exined, ¡°Guessing is part of it, but I got the most important clues from the hidden sixth floor of the house.¡±

    He took a photograph out and showed it to her. That was a photograph of a toddler who was two or three years old and wasn¡¯t wearing anything, so it was obvious that the toddler was a boy.

    ¡°The boy in the photo should be your younger brother, right? Ipared this photo to the one in the living room and they look like the same person, so I guessed that you had already taken over your brother¡¯s body by the time that photo was taken and you were also threatening your parents,¡± said Su Jin.

    Everyone was surprised that Su Jin had found some clues on that floor after all. They had all been too distraught after he said that he hadn¡¯t found the little girl¡¯s body.

    The little girl didn¡¯t say anything, so Su Jin continued, ¡°You probably took over his body when he was seven years old, or perhaps he was the one who let you have it.¡±

    The little girl looked rmed but did not utter a single word.

    ¡°You don¡¯t wanna talk about it? I¡¯ll keep guessing then. Even though your mother did not give birth to you in the end, you already had a soul and it did not vanish along with your physical body. You were filled with hatred, so your soul refused to go to theher world and you eventually became a vengeful spirit. For some reason, you did not do anything to your brother. Instead, you stayed by his side as he grew up. Unfortunately, during this period, you became jealous of how he got all the love from your parents, and this jealousy drove you to do something more extreme.¡±

    ¡°You told your brother about how you felt and he wrote about this in his diary as well. One of the entries say: My older sister is so pitiful. I want to help her. I want her to be as happy as I am.¡±

    The little girl¡¯s expression faltered and calmed down when Su Jin spoke about her younger brother.

    ¡°The diary entries stop when your brother turned seven and that was the only entry that mentioned you. But when you put it together with everything else, it¡¯s enough for us to piece the whole story together. You wanted to take over your brother¡¯s body, and regardless of whether he did it out of guilt or kindness, he agreed to let you have it.¡±

    ¡°You got your brother¡¯s body but you weren¡¯t satisfied with that. You wanted everything he had as well. You insisted on having two beds in the bedroom because subconsciously, you still saw yourself and your brother as two different people. On top of that, you wanted a lot of girl clothes, which is why we ended up finding so much of it in that room over there.¡±

    ¡°I think your parents already realized this by that time, or perhaps they even tried to do something about it. You fought back and you fought back very violently, making it too difficult for the servant in the house to continue working for your parents. More than one servant quit during this time,¡± said Su Jin very calmly, as if he were just talking about the weather.

    The little girl clenched her hands together tightly as she kept her head bowed. Su Jin did not stop. ¡°You¡¯re a vengeful spirit, so these humans were obviously no match for you. In the end, they let you control them like marites, and that¡¯s how the three of you ended up taking that photo, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I just wanted to take back what I had lost,¡± said the little girl quietly.

    Su Jin sighed. ¡°But it was impossible for your parents to truly love you since you were forcing them to. And because you threatened them like this, they slowly began losing their minds, while you became tired of their fake love for you and you began to hate these parents of yours. In the end, tragedy struck.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take over from here.¡± Xiang Nan motioned to Su Jin to take a break and he continued, ¡°And because you hated your father, you made your mother kill him. But your father wasn¡¯t the only one you hated. You also hated your brother, the one who gave you his body. To you, he was the real reason why you were abandoned.¡±

    ¡°So, in the end, your brother died along with your parents. You killed them all.¡±

    After Xiang Nan finished speaking, the little girl finally raised her head again. Bloody tears were flowing out from her eyes and disgusting maggots were wriggling inside her eye sockets. She said spitefully, ¡°Why¡­why did I get abandoned¡­I¡­I hadn¡¯t even done anything wrong¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right! You didn¡¯t do anything wrong, but tragedies do not necessarily happen because of anything you¡¯ve done. Your hatred stems from your assumption that your parents aborted you, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case at all,¡± said Xiang Nan.

    The little girl froze and asked, ¡°That wasn¡¯t the case? Then?¡±

    ¡°If we look at the indignation and regret in your father¡¯s diary entries, alongside your mother¡¯s entries about making up for his loss, I think you were lost through a miscarriage, not an abortion,¡± said Xiang Nan.

    The little girl didn¡¯t buy it and questioned him loudly, ¡°And how would you know that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Your father¡¯s diary writes that he wanted a boy, and that¡¯s probably why you think he made your mother abort you. But if we look at your mother¡¯s diary entry, she was very excited about her second pregnancy, saying that it had made up for your father¡¯s loss. If your mother had miscarried in the middle of November, it would take time for her to get well and be pregnant again by March the next year. In other words, she would have only just found out about her pregnancy in March and there¡¯s no way she would have known about the baby¡¯s gender at that point.¡±

    ¡°So¡­you weren¡¯t aborted at all. Your mother had a miscarriage, so when she became pregnant again, she felt that this new baby would make up for your father¡¯s disappointment,¡± exined Xiang Nan.¡°

    The little girl stared at Xiang Nan in disbelief and shock. But Xiang Nan¡¯s exnation had been very clear. Even if her mother wanted a boy, she would have to wait until she was pregnant for some time before the doctors could confirm the gender of the baby. She wouldn¡¯t have talked about making up for her husband¡¯s loss in the first month of finding out about her pregnancy, unless the couple never cared about the gender of their child to begin with.

    ¡°This¡­None of this is true¡­you¡¯re¡­you¡¯re lying to me¡­you¡¯re lying to me¡­¡± The little girl shook her head in disbelief, but it was clear that she believed what Xiang Nan said to be true.

    ¡°You know best whether what I¡¯m saying is true or not. The supernatural are able to look into human hearts, but why don¡¯t they look at their own hearts!¡± yelled Xiang Nan.

    The little girl¡¯s body shook violently as it gave off a white glow. Tiny sparkles restored her rotting flesh and it didn¡¯t take long for the little girl to look more like a little angel.

    ¡°Thank you everyone, for helping me to understand what really happened and for helping to let go of the past! However, the rules of the game still apply. You still have to tell me where my body is.¡± The little girl looked as pure and beautiful as an angel, but she couldn¡¯t go against the rules of the game.

    ¡°Finding your body really made us rack our brains, but thankfully we figured it out in time. Actually, searching the entire house for it was a dumb move, because we overlooked the ce right under our noses,¡± said Su Jin.

    He walked to the coffin where the coupley. The wife had one arm around her husband, but it was also holding a knife that was stabbed into his back. It was such a terrifying sight to behold.

    ¡°Sorry to disturb you guys.¡± Su Jin suddenly stuck his hand in between the couple to separate them, then smiled faintly as he pointed at them. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡±

    Everyone was surprised and they craned their necks to look into the coffin, but couldn¡¯t see anybody else besides the couple. What was Su Jin talking about?

    ¡°Mr. Su, please don¡¯t spout nonsense like that! What you say could determine whether we live or die!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Don¡¯t just give up and say something like that in desperation!¡±

    Some of them were still worried that Su Jin might be wrong.

    Su Jin ignored them and stared straight at the little girl as he said softly, ¡°The bloodstains in the kitchen and the bathroom make it very obvious, but it sounds really insane, so most people wouldn¡¯t want to go there.¡±

    Su Jin tugged at the husband¡¯s shirt and murmured, ¡°The poor man looks like he¡¯s barely 30, yet he¡¯s had to go through something like this. Poor fellow!¡±

    While everyone was still confused and were trying to understand what Su Jin was talking about, Su Jin suddenly tore the husband¡¯s shirt open andughed quietly when he saw the man¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°So, you really did what I think you did. After your mother killed her husband, you minced your brother¡¯s body up and put the pieces inside his stomach.¡± Su Jin touched the huge stitches on the man¡¯s stomach. It was clear that whoever stitched the man¡¯s wound was no professional. Those were some crazy looking stitches.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened when they heard what Su Jin said and were speechless when they saw those stitches on the man¡¯s body.

    ¡°You made them embrace each other like this so that you could hide the bulge, right? That would be a truly unexpected ce to hide the body. Everyone¡¯s first thought would be to search the house, so even if we noticed something amisster, we might not have enough time to figure things out. The size of the house also distracted us.¡± Rumor appeared in Su Jin¡¯s hand and he gently sliced through the stitches on the man¡¯s stomach.

    A sticky mess of bones and flesh instantly poured out of his belly. The missing body had been found. It had been right in front of them all this time.

    ¡°It¡¯s not possible to find your actual body, since a miscarried fetus would have been disposed of years ago. But your brother¡¯s body is here. You took over his body, so this body is also your body. We¡¯ve found it,¡± said Su Jin as he looked at the little girl.

    The little girl looked at the three sets of bodies lying in the coffin and nodded. ¡°Congrattions on getting through the first game. Please move on to the second game!¡±

    Immediately after she said that, the dim light in the room instantly went out. Everything went ck, just like how they always entered the Handbook universe.

    ¡°Congrattions on making it here, because it means that you¡¯re still alive! But that¡¯s also an unfortunate thing because all of you are going to die here! Let¡¯s begin the second game, Gambling with Ghosts!¡±

 Chapter 154: Gambling With Ghosts

    <h4>Chapter 154: Gambling With Ghosts</h4>

    The darkness around them was lifted and a gambling table appeared in front of them. A man with frightening facial features sat where the dealer usually sat.

    Su Jin burst outughing when he saw the man. He recognized this dealer immediately and said to him, ¡°That was fast. Your tummy¡¯s all sewn up already?¡±

    ¡°Haha! That¡¯s nothing to me, really. Thank you both for helping my daughter to let go of her hatred. I¡¯ll give the two of you a little advantageter on.¡± This man was none other than the father of the little girl whom Su Jin had sliced open just moments ago to reveal his own son¡¯s chopped up body.

    Many of them paled immediately. It was creepy to see a dead man who was lying in a coffin just a while earlier to be sitting in front of them and talking to them about ying games with him.

    ¡°What¡¯s there to be scared of? We¡¯re in a Handbook Challenge, after all. I¡¯ve not just seen ghosts, I¡¯ve even seen gods,¡± said Chu Yi with a scoff as he mocked the more timid among the group. He found it ridiculous that Handbook owners would still be afraid of such things.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, didn¡¯t think it was that ridiculous. They hadn¡¯t expected the ending of that story after all, so seeing a mutted body flow right out of another body was traumatizing. Worse still, the man whose body contained those chopped up parts was now seated in front of everyone. It was normal for some to feel disturbed.

    The dealer scanned the group in front of him and snickered. ¡°You don¡¯t have to look so scared. When I was alive, I loved having fun. And out of all the fun I had, I loved gambling the most. I just want to take a gamble with everyone here, so that we can decide who wins and who loses, or¡­who lives and who dies.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re making us gamble with our lives?¡± someone asked in a trembling voice.

    The dealer nced at the one who spoke and burst outughing. Everyone could see the algae on his teeth and a ck, sticky liquid inside his mouth. It looked really gross.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Your lives are at stake now! If you win, you live. You lose, you die!¡± The dealer looked at everyone with his greenish eyes, which made all of them feel unsettled, including Su Jin.

    ¡°I know every game there is in the world and I¡¯m an expert at cheating as well. So, let me warn all of you now: do not attempt to cheat in front of me. If I catch you cheating, then you would have lost that round. Of course, I won¡¯t cheat either. This is meant to be a fair challenge. I¡¯ll give you ten minutes to decide what game you want to y with me,¡± said the dealer.

    Su Jin thought about the instructions for a while, then said, ¡°You said we would have lost if you caught us cheating. In other words, we can cheat as long as you don¡¯t catch us doing so?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± The dealer nodded. ¡°If you¡¯re able to cheat without me finding out throughout the duration of the game, then I will acknowledge your victory regardless of how you did it. In other words, if I dere that the game is over, then even if I realize you¡¯ve cheated after that, I will still take it that you did win the game.¡±

    The dealer was extremely confident. Perhaps he was certain that he would be able to detect any form of cheating, so he wasn¡¯t afraid that someone would win by cheating without him knowing. Or perhaps he looked forward to someone trying a cheat, since he would have a license to kill these living people if that happened.

    He grabbed the air suddenly and a wisp of white smoke emerged from each of their bodies. The white smoke turned into a little person who looked just like them and flew to sit down in front of the dealer.

    ¡°These are your souls. If you can¡¯t win it back, then it¡¯ll be a delicious meal to me,¡± said the dealer with a cackle.

    Everyone started thinking about what they ought to do. Gambling was something that everyone knew how to do. It was just a matter of how good you were at it. Even a child could do a game of guessing whether the next card drawn was of a higher or lower valuepared to thest card. That was a form of gambling too.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Situ Jin turned out to be the first one to try. Everyone was shocked because they still had a good five more minutes to contemte their strategy, but they were also relieved that someone else was going first. That way, they could see if there was a good way to get through this round.

    The dealer looked curiously at Situ Jin and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a bold one, and boldness is exactly what a gambler must have. What would you like to y? You can choose any game from any country.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll draw from a normal deck of poker cards, including the joker cards. The one who draws the higher value wins. The colored joker card will have the highest value, and a three will be the lowest,¡± said Situ Jin.

    The rest were shocked that Situ Jin had chosen to y such a simple game. But Su Jin apuded the man in his heart. Gambling was something that required skill and that dealer was definitely more skilled in this aspect than any human was. The game that Situ Jin had chosen to y reduced the technical gap between himself and the dealer to its minimum.

    The dealer didn¡¯t object. He told them that they could pick any method of gambling they wanted, after all. He flicked his wrist and a deck of cards appeared in his hand. He held it out at Situ Jin.

    ¡°You can shuffle the deck.¡±

    Situ Jin took the deck from the dealer and kept shuffling them. Two minutester, the deck was definitelypletely shuffled.

    He put the cards down and asked, ¡°Who goes first?¡±

    ¡°You can go first,¡± said the dealer nonchntly.

    Situ Jin nodded, then drew a card from the pile and turned it over without hesitation. It was a colored joker card.

    The dealer¡¯s eyes widened, then he nodded at Situ Jin. ¡°Not bad! You¡¯ve won! You¡¯ll stay alive for now.¡± The dealer waved his hand, sending the little person with Situ Jin¡¯s face on it flying toward Situ Jin. It was absorbed back into Situ Jin¡¯s body immediately.

    Everyone could hardly believe their eyes. That was it? Only three minutes had passed since Situ Jin stepped forward and he had won just like that.

    ¡°He¡¯s really daring! This method of gambling eliminated the need for any technique and he just left everything to chance. That¡¯s¡­practically insane,¡± blurted one of them, clearly in awe of how gutsy Situ Jin had been.

    But some of the other ownersughed when they heard this remark, because they knew how Situ Jin had won. The dealer alsoughed and said, ¡°Chance? Chance doesn¡¯t truly exist in gambling. This gentleman here didn¡¯t leave anything to chance. I don¡¯t consider what he did a cheat either. He used a legitimate gambling technique and showed us what he was really capable of.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know any technique. I just picked the card with the highest value,¡± said Situ Jin quietly. He didn¡¯t sound smug at all.

    Some of them were still confused, so Su Jin exined, ¡°Regardless of whether you consider it a gambling technique or not, Situ Jin had won the round by his own ability. While he shuffled the deck, he memorized the movement of each card, and picked out the colored joker card at the end.¡±

    What Situ Jin said made sense now. He had literally just picked the card with the highest value. The dealer did not consider memorizing the cards cheating, since Situ Jin did not hide any card, make any markings, peep at the cards or anything like that.

    Everyone was amazed by Situ Jin¡¯s ability. It was possible to memorize 54 cards in a fixed order and some of them could do it, but to memorize the cards while shuffling them without using any cheats or any special method of shuffling was really difficult. In fact, it was more than difficult. It was practically impossible.

    Yet, Situ Jin had done the impossible. Even an intelligent man like Xiang Nan knew he couldn¡¯t do it. Su Jin could probably do it only because he had be physically stronger and his brain was capable of a lot more with the help of the Body Strengthening Elixir. None of the others were confident of pulling this off.

    ¡°This gentleman has done an excellent job, so if any of you would like to do the same, I will dly allow you to. I can even allow you to shuffle the cards as well.¡± The dealer apuded Situ Jin and even encouraged the rest to do the same. But that smile on his face made everyone feel very disturbed.

    The others weren¡¯t fools either. Situ Jin was able to do something that none of them could, so they didn¡¯t want to do the same thing if they didn¡¯t have to. They all looked worried and antsy as they continued to think about how they should handle this round.

    When the ten minutes was up, the dealer looked at the hesitant group and shrugged as he said, ¡°You¡¯re not very excited about this, eh? Well, too bad! All of you have to go through this round! Since nobody¡¯s stepping forward, I¡¯ll choose an opponent!¡±

    His green eyes scanned the group and he cackled when he saw that every person avoided meeting his eye. Suddenly, his gaze fell on Park Donggeun.

    ¡°You¡¯re next!¡± The two words were like a curse that made Park Donggeun feel numb all over as he walked toward the gambling table against his own will.

    ¡°What game do you want to y?¡± asked the dealer with a smile.

    Park Donggeun gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I¡¯ll do the same thing as he did!¡±

    ¡°Oh? You seem very confident!¡± The dealerughed maniacally, revealing those disgusting teeth covered in algae again.

    ¡°Since he could do it, I can do it too! I¡¯m a veteran, after all.¡± Park Donggeun was certain that a veteran would definitely be able to do something that an ordinary owner was capable of.

    The dealer made a new deck of cards appeared in his hands and put it down in front of Park Donggeun. ¡°Just like him, you can shuffle the deck. But I¡¯m warning you: do not use the power that you have. Otherwise, you shall die immediately!¡±

    Park Donggeun held the deck of cards tightly in his hands. Since he couldn¡¯t use his Spirit Power, he could only shuffle the cards as slowly as he could. But he soon started panicking because he realized that he couldn¡¯t remember a single card now.

    Sweat began to drip down his forehead and he eventually gave up, putting it back down on the table. The more he shuffled, the more confused he became. He couldn¡¯t do what Situ Jin had done at all.

    ¡°Oh dear. Given up already?¡± The dealer cackled.

    Park Donggeun¡¯s eye twitched slightly as he snapped, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say who will win! There¡¯s still a non-zero chance that I might win!¡±

    The mocking smile on the dealer¡¯s face disappeared as he nodded very seriously. ¡°Now we¡¯re talking. You¡¯re right, you still have a chance of winning. That¡¯s the way a gambler should think! And now, pick a card!¡±

 Chapter 155: I Want To Play Dou Dizhu

    <h4>Chapter 155: I Want To y Dou Dizhu</h4>

    Park Donggeun drew one card with a trembling hand, as though that one car weighed a ton. That was a card that would decide if he lived or died.

    Pak! He turned it over and mmed it down on the table. Everyone looked over immediately and saw that he had drawn a nine of hearts. This wasn¡¯t a very high value card, but it was definitely better than drawing a three or four.

    The dealer nced at the nine of hearts on the table, then drew a card and flipped it over in front of everyone without hesitation.

    ¡°NO!¡± Park Donggeun staggered a few steps back in terror. He stared in horror at the card on the table. It was a ten of spades. It was only one point higher than the card he drew, but it was enough to pronounce him dead.

    Everyone gasped at the results. While losing to the dealer had always been a possibility right from the start, nobody thought he¡¯d lose by just one point.

    ¡°No! I¡¯m not going to acknowledge these results! It¡¯s just one point! It¡¯s just one point!¡± shouted Park Donggeun angrily. He stared at the dealer and decided to fight back instead of giving in to fate. There was a non-zero chance that he could kill this dealer and survive this Challenge.

    ¡°Die!¡± Park Donggeun roared and all the cards on the table flew up, hurtling toward the dealer like they were ninja stars.

    The dealer didn¡¯t bother dodging. All 54 cards went through his body, which made his body contort a little, but that was about it. He opened his mouth and sucked in a great amount of air, including the little person that represented Park Donggeun¡¯s soul.

    Park Donggeun was about to retrieve more items from his Handbook when his soul was consumed by the dealer. His face instantly paled and his eyes widened.

    In less than a second, Park Donggeun¡¯s body copsed stiffly onto the floor, his eyes wide open. Before he could unleash everything he had, he had already breathed hisst.

    The atmosphere became grimmer than before. The Challenge had taken its first fatality, and it had unexpectedly turned out to be a veteran.

    The dealer licked his lips, his tongue covered in bubbles that were asrge as watermelon seeds as it also polished his algae covered teeth. This was a truly terrifying sight.

    Su Jin sighed to himself. He didn¡¯t think Park Donggeun had made a bad decision at all. He wasn¡¯t capable of doing what Situ Jin had done, but drawing a card randomly from a deck of 54 cards was still the best way to minimize any difference in level of technique between two yers. It was just too bad that luck wasn¡¯t on Park Donggeun¡¯s side.

    ¡°If you¡¯re willing to take a gamble, then you¡¯ve got to be prepared for the possibility of losing and ept it. It was a one point difference, but I won anyway. In any case, he was pretty yummy,¡± said the dealer with a grin. He looked at the group in front of him hungrily, as though he was picking out which one he wanted to eat next.

    Su Jin pressed his hand on his Handbook and retrieved a jade-colored ring. He exerted some strength and crushed the ring in his hand.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next,¡± said Su Jin after he had crushed the ring. Everyone instantly turned to look at him. Kano Mai and Chu Yi became worried as well. They thought that Su Jin would observe this round for a longer time before trying anything.

    The dealer said to Su Jin, ¡°You and the other gentleman over there resolved my daughter¡¯s grudge, so I will give you a little special treatmentter on. But first, tell me what game you want to y.¡±

    Su Jin said, ¡°I believe that besides one on one games, you¡¯re okay with group games, right? How about a three versus one?¡±

    ¡°Three versus one? Of course I¡¯m okay with that. As long as you want to, I¡¯m happy to amodate any arrangements. But¡­if you lose the game, then all three of you will perish at the same time,¡± said the dealer with a cheeky grin. Getting the chance to swallow three souls at a time was certainly something that the dealer looked forward to.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Of course. Mai, Chu Yi,e and be part of my team.¡±

    The two of them didn¡¯t protest. They trusted that Su Jin would never get them to do anything that would endanger their lives, and wasn¡¯t the type to drag others down with him either.

    Once all three of them had gathered around the table, the dealer asked curiously, ¡°There are many games that four persons can y, but what are you thinking of? Mahjong?¡±

    ¡°If we y mahjong, we¡¯d lose to you in terms of technique. I want to y Dou Dizhu!¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    <i>(shini you decide if you want to leave this in the middle or at the end, but) For those who have no idea how to y this game, the rules are here:  Knowing the rules does not really affect the reading of the story so to speak, but for those interested in understanding the logic behind the decisions that the owners make over the course of the next three chapters, you can read this first.</i>

    ¡°You want to y Dou Dizhu?¡± Both the dealer and the other owners were surprised by this choice. This was a game yed by almost everyone in China, but because it started as a game among the lower sses, it was never yed in ces like a casino, so there was also no actual table for it to be yed on.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I want to y Dou Dizhu. You said any sort of gambling is allowed, right? Dou Dizhu is definitely such a game,¡± said Su Jin. He quickly added, ¡°And you said I can get a bit of special treatment right? In that case, I would like you to be the Landlord role for this game.¡±

    The dealer looked at Su Jin for a moment, then started apuding. ¡°What a fantastic idea. Instead of taking me on by yourself, you¡¯ve got a team of three who can work together to help one another and take me down. This is a very good choice indeed.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good for you too, right? You can settle three of us at one go and waste less time and effort here. That¡¯s why you¡¯re so generous with yourpliments - you¡¯re trying to convince the rest to choose to y this game as well and lose quickly!¡±

    It was true that everyone else thought that Su Jin¡¯s method of pitting a team of three against the dealer would increase their chances of winning. But they hesitated again after hearing Su Jin¡¯s analysis of the dealer¡¯s words. What if this wasn¡¯t going to make winning this round any easier? They would end up getting eaten faster instead.

    ¡°Since you know that I can gobble more of you up at one go by ying this way, why did you get these two to be on your team? Unless¡­you¡¯re hoping to drag these two down with you?¡± said the dealer in a mean voice.

    Su Jin merely nced at the dealer and said, ¡°You can stop making guesses. I want them here because I¡¯ve got a very high chance of winning. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Aha! You¡¯re very confident that you¡¯d win! Yet another person with the potential to be a gambler! This makes me so excited!¡± said the dealer with a big smile. He pped his hands and two decks of poker cards appeared on the table. After he picked out the cards that weren¡¯t needed, hebined both decks.

    The dealer passed the entire deck to Su Jin and Su Jin started shuffling it. ¡°Humans are always willing to take a gamble when ites to matters of life and death. I would say¡­every human is born a gambler.¡±

    ¡°Heh heh, you¡¯re right. Every human is born a gambler, but not every human is born a winner,¡± said the dealer with a sinister smile.

    Just then, Kano Mai suddenly raised her hand and said to Su Jin, ¡°Jin, I don¡¯t know how to y this game at all.¡±

    Su Jin froze and Chu Yi pped his forehead. Everyone who forgot that Kano Mai was actually not from China was confused as to why she didn¡¯t know how to y this game, while Su Jin cursed himself for not checking if she knew how to y this game first.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a very simple game!¡± Su Jin gave her a quick rundown on how to y the game. The dealer did not hurry him at all, probably because that was part of the special treatment Su Jin deserved for undoing the hatred in his daughter¡¯s heart earlier.

    Kano Mai was an intelligent woman and the rules of the game weren¡¯t really too hard. She got it within the next ten minutes or so.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry guys, just y it like you normally would. Don¡¯t try anything funny,¡± Su Jin instructed his team mates. He was afraid that the two of them might try to cheat because they were worried about losing. But if they did that and the dealer caught them, they¡¯d definitely end up dead.

    The two of them trusted Su Jin wholeheartedly. Since Su Jin told them not to try anything funny, they weren¡¯t going to. The dealer flipped the first card and the game began.

    The atmosphere grew rather tense. Three lives were at stake now, and these three were all veterans. If they lost, then they would be left with only one out of the five veterans they had in the group. That thought alone made the tension almost suffocating.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t too worried. He just yed the game like he normally did. If the item he had retrieved from his Handbook earlier worked, then his chances of winning this game weren¡¯t going to be a problem.

    As time passed, the four of them had fewer and fewer cards left in their hands. The dealer had only six cards left, which meant that it was possible for him to end up putting all six down at one shot. Su Jin and his team mates had more cards on hand, so by just looking at the number of cards, the dealer seemed to have a higher chance of winning the round.

    Cold sweat was already dripping down Chu Yi¡¯s face. He was the yer who went before the dealer, so the pressure was really on him. If he yed a card that the dealer could win easily, he might cause the downfall of his entire team.

    ¡°The dealer has six cards¡­whatbination could they be? A bunch of pairs? A full sequence? A bomb? Oh my god what should I do?¡± thought Chu Yi as he felt his hands perspire. His sweaty hands were having trouble even holding onto the cards.

    ¡°Come on, put something down,¡± the dealer hurried Chu Yi.

    ¡°One card!¡± Chu Yi finally decided that putting out one card was safer. At least the dealer wouldn¡¯t be able to put down all his cards at one time.

    ¡°Humph! Pass!¡± said the dealer with a scoff. He did not think it was necessary to put any cards down.

    Su Jin smiled. ¡°You sure you want to pass this single card? I¡¯ll go next then.¡± Su Jin put down a card with higher points than Chu Yi¡¯s. The dealer was annoyed with Su Jin¡¯s taunting but there was nothing he could do about it and just shook his head.

    ¡°In that case¡­the game¡¯s over.¡± Su Jin put down the rest of his cards. He had a full sequence on hand.

    The dealer was stunned for a moment. He stared at the cards and burst outughing. ¡°Indeed, your team has won. The three of you can have your souls back.¡±

    The dealer waved his hand and the three little persons on the table flew back into their respective owners¡¯ mouths and nostrils. All three of them had survived this round.

    Chu Yi breathed a big sigh of relief. He wasn¡¯t good at ying cards in the first ce and was really worried the whole time. Thankfully, Su Jin managed to win the round.

    After watching Su Jin and his team win the game, the rest felt a little more confident now. Some of them got into small groups as though they were prepared to do something simr.

    Of course, there were a few who still didn¡¯t think that teaming up would be a good idea, since one person¡¯s decision could result in the death of the others. They looked around shiftily, unsure of what to do next.

    Han Yiqing suddenly turned to Su Jin and Xiang Nan and asked, ¡°Um¡­I just wanted to ask both of you¡­what do you think we should do next?¡±

 Chapter 156: Best And Worst Case Scenarios

    <h4>Chapter 156: Best And Worst Case Scenarios</h4>

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan exchanged nces when they heard Han Yiqing¡¯s question. Su Jin said, ¡°We¡¯re not able to give you guys any suggestions because this concerns your lives. The only thing we can do is analyze the choices you have.¡±

    ¡°Please do that for us,¡± said Han Yiqing politely.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°For the Dou Dizhu game I just yed, the worst case scenario is when the dealer is also the Landlord and the Farmers lose the game. If that happens, all yers on the Farmers side will die at once. At the same time, that¡¯s also the best case scenario. The dealer was the Landlord earlier, and we the Farmers won, so all three of us could survive together.¡±

    Han Yiqing nodded in agreement. Su Jin went on, ¡°Of course, there¡¯s another possibility. The dealer could be one of the Farmers, and if that happens¡­if the Farmers win, then any owners who are in the Farmers¡¯ team will survive. But the owner who became the Landlord is dead for sure.¡±

    ¡°Thest scenario would be if the dealer bes one of the Farmers but the Landlord wins. In that case, the Landlord owner will definitely survive, but the owners who are Farmers with the dealer¡­I¡¯m not sure what that counts as to the dealer.¡±

    The dealer cackled and said, ¡°Let me tell you now. I said that those who lose will die. So in that scenario, myself and the owners with me would have lost. So they¡¯ll die. As for me¡­I¡¯m already dead!¡±

    It was clearly unfair that the dealer was not subject to the same fate as them, but he called the shots around here so there was nothing anybody could do about it. In other words, for Dou Dizhu, either all three survived, all three died or just one might survive. Either way, there was only one scenario where all of them would end up dead.

    Han Yiqing looked pensive as he nodded. Xiang Nan then said, ¡°Of course, if you think you can¡¯t count on others but you aren¡¯t very highly skilled in any particr game, then Mr. Situ¡¯s method is the best choice. Or at least, it¡¯s the most fair.¡±

    ¡°The most fair?¡± Han Yiqing was confused. ¡°You mean other methods of gambling aren¡¯t fair?¡±

    ¡°Of course they aren¡¯t. The moreplicated the game is, the more technique is required. If you pit someone with no technique against an expert, then you¡¯re definitely going to lose, unless a miracle happens. Mr. Situ¡¯s method reduces the possibility of someone manipting the game to almost zero, so it¡¯s actually more fair than the rest,¡± exined Xiang Nan.

    Su Jin added on, ¡°Of course, if any of you have a way to guarantee a win or if you¡¯re really good in any particr game, you could try that as well.¡±

    The two of them had already stated clearly that they would only analyze their possibilities but would not make any choices on their behalf. Each owner had to make their own decision, since their own lives were at stake. Nobody was qualified to make decisions on their behalf.

    The dealer started calling for his next challenger. This time, three owners took a step forward. They wanted to join hands and y the same game as Su Jin did.

    This group of threeprised of two men and one woman. The woman was a middle-ageddy who looked absolutely terrified. Perhaps that was why she had chosen to work with the other two. Going through this with others took some pressure off herself.

    However, the game started off terribly. The woman was to be the Landlord. Her entire body trembled uncontrobly and she was so horrified that she threw her cards onto the table.

    ¡°No¡­no¡­I don¡¯t want to be the Landlord! Please, please! Please give me another chance! Let¡¯s¡­let¡¯s draw lots again, please?¡± The woman fell to her knees and kowtowed to the dealer, hoping to get another chance.

    ¡°Oh? But that puts me in a really difficult position. Tell you what. If these two gentlemen are willing to draw lots again, I¡¯ll give you another chance,¡± said the dealer with a cheeky grin.

    The woman¡¯s face lit up immediately as though someone had thrown her a float while before she drowned in the ocean. To her dismay, the two other men shook their heads without hesitation. They weren¡¯t going to let the woman get a second chance at changing roles.

    ¡°But¡­but why? Aren¡¯t we¡­aren¡¯t we on the same side?¡± wailed the woman.

    Su Jin shook his head. Unlike the woman, he had totally expected the other two would shake their heads. After all, as long as they won, it didn¡¯t matter if they were in the same team as the dealer. If they won, they¡¯d live.

    Even though the best case scenario was for the dealer to be the Landlord and for the owners to band together as Farmers to defeat him, that only worked in theory. In reality, being a Farmer with the dealer was actually the best way to survive this game.

    After all, the dealer was extremely skilled in all sorts of gambling techniques and games. So, if they were already teamed up with the best yer in the game, they would definitely win. They had no reason to give up their better position so that the woman would have a second chance.

    The only thing that Handbook owners really cared about was surviving. The dealer had allowed the other two to have their opinion on whether they could draw lots again only because he already knew the psyche of the two men on his team. He knew that these two would not agree to drawing lots again.

    The woman remained on her knees and pleaded with them desperately. But neither of them budged. They were more interested in saving themselves. There was no way they would give up their own chance of surviving just because they pitied the woman.

    ¡°Stop crying and get up! If you were in their shoes, would you have agreed?¡± said Situ Jin all of a sudden.

    The woman froze for a moment, then got up from the floor as if she had found courage, and sat back down on her chair.

    ¡°Straightened your thoughts already?¡± The dealer was impressed. He didn¡¯t expect one remark of Situ Jin to be enough to reignite the fighting spirit within this woman.

    ¡°How strange. How did she recover from that so quickly?¡± Chu Yi whispered to Su Jin.

    ¡°There are times you might think that women are weak and emotional and breakdown more easily. But after they face up to reality, they ofteneback from their negative emotions more easily. Situ Jin¡¯s remarks helped her to see that if she were in the other two owners¡¯ shoes, she would have held on to her current position and refuse to let the third owner do a redraw. Once she realized this, she also quickly realized that the only way to survive this is to actually win the round as the Landlord and not to plead and beg, since that¡¯s not going to happen,¡± exined Su Jin in a low voice.

    The woman had tears in her eyes, but she was a lot more emotionally stable. Everyone could see that she was now focused on ying the game.

    As time went by, the game turned out rather differently from what everyone had expected. The Farmers seemed to be losing despite having the dealer in their team, while the woman was only left with five cards. She could very well win the entire game in the next round.

    Meanwhile, the two men were perspiring furiously. They didn¡¯t expect to be on the losing end at all. The dealer fiddled with his cards like he couldn¡¯t really be bothered and spent more time grinning at the other two men in his team, using his disgusting tongue to lick his equally disgusting teeth.

    ¡°You¡­you¡¯re doing this on purpose! Compared to devouring just one soul, you want to devour two!¡± eximed one of the men as he pointed at the dealer with a trembling finger.

    The other man began to despair when he heard these words. ¡°You never meant to win this round right from the start. If you win, you only get to consume one of us. But if you lose, you¡¯d get both of us.¡±

    The dealer cackled. ¡°What a wonderful, wonderful idea! What clever people you two are!¡±

    The two men felt like their heads were about to explode from this realization. If the dealer¡¯s priority was to consume as many souls as possible, then losing the game would be better than winning, since he¡¯d get to eat two souls instead of one.

    The woman was now beginning to smile. She had actually turned the tables around and was going to survive this ordeal after all. She didn¡¯t expect things to turn out this way. She was actually up against someone who didn¡¯t want to win, so she was definitely going to win this game.

    ¡°A pair!¡± The woman put down two matching cards on the table.

    ¡°A pair? You only have three cards left and I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve got a bomb or anything like that. There are only three possibilities. You¡¯ve got a pair plus a single card, a triplet, or three single cards.¡± The dealer suddenly started cackling. His mouth was even wider than before, reaching nearly his ears.

    The woman felt her heart skip a beat in fear. She had a bad feeling about this. The dealer threw down a pair of aces. The woman shook her head in horror and the dealer cackled again as he threw down a pair of threes.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t beat a pair of threes, then you don¡¯t have a pair on hand at all. In that case, I¡¯m going to finish this game.¡± The dealer put his cards down again and again. First, a pair, followed by another pair, then a bomb¡­in no time, the eight cards left in his hand were all gone.

    The woman¡¯s eyes were about to fall out of their sockets as she stared in disbelief at the dealer. She murmured, ¡°But¡­but¡­why¡­you¡­you could have¡­taken both of them¡­¡±

    ¡°Well,pared to souls, the game is more important to me!¡± The dealer cackled again. He had never intended to deliberately lose the game in the first ce. He had only gone with that narrative in order to troll the woman.

    The woman fell off her chair and a terrible smell filled the air. She had peed herself and even though her mouth was open, she couldn¡¯t get a word out.

    ¡°One more thing. A soul in despair makes for a more delicious soul.¡± The dealer suddenly took a deep breath and the little person representing the woman disappeared into his mouth, leaving her physical body lying in a puddle of her own urine.

    The other two managed to survive the round. Two out of 13 owners had died and six had survived, so there were five more to go. Xiang Nan took a step forward.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next! I¡¯ll y the same game that Mr. Situ did. Let¡¯s see who draws the higher value card.¡± Xiang Nan plonked himself down on the chair across from the dealer.

    After what happened with that round of Dou Dizhu earlier, the remaining five found it difficult to trust any of the other owners to work together and fight the dealer. At least Xiang Nan didn¡¯t trust any of them. He wasn¡¯t going to leave his life in the hands of other people. If he was going to lose, he was going to be the one responsible for doing so.

    The dealer didn¡¯t wait around either. A new deck of cards appeared in front of Xiang Nan. Xiang Nan picked it up and shuffled it for a few minutes before putting it down again. He randomly drew one card and flipped it over without waiting.

    Everyone immediately gasped, because Xiang Nan¡¯s card turned out to be a five of diamonds.

    Su Jin shook his head as well. When he saw how calm and confident Xiang Nan looked, he thought Xiang Nan had a n of sorts. He was surprised that Xiang Nan had seriously randomly chosen a card, and that card turned out to be such a low value one. The chances of him winning were equally low.

    Xiang Nan was upset too, but he pushed the deck toward the dealer and said, ¡°Alright. Your turn.¡±

 Chapter 157: Lies, Lies, All Lies

    <h4>Chapter 157: Lies, Lies, All Lies</h4>

    The dealer didn¡¯t hesitate and tapped on the deck. A card flew out andy face up on the table. The dealer didn¡¯t even bother looking at it first. Everyone¡¯s eyes widened in horror when they saw the card.

    It was a king of hearts.

    Everyone felt a shiver down their spine. Another veteran was gone just like that.

    Xiang Nan sighed heavily, lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. He breathed out arge cloud of smoke and shook his head sadly. ¡°Those willing to gamble have to be willing to admit defeat too.¡±

    The dealer looked curiously at Xiang Nan and did not consume the little white figure on the table immediately. He cackled and said, ¡°The difference between our cards is very great, but that doesn¡¯t matter. Like I said earlier, I¡¯ll give those who helped my daughter with her hatred special treatment. So, I¡¯m going to let you draw another card. As long as the two cards add up to more points than mine, you will have won.¡±

    Xiang Nan did not expect the dealer to give him a chance like this, but he wasn¡¯t going to give it up either. He immediately drew another card, but this time, he hesitated before turning it over.

    ¡°Well, whether I live or die is already predestined!¡± said Xiang Nan as he spat his cigarette to the floor and snuffed it out with his shoe. He needed at least a nine to win.

    He flipped the card with great flourish and a smile lit up his face. ¡°It¡¯s a jack of diamonds! I¡¯ve won!¡±

    The dealer shrugged and waved his hand to allow the little person to fly back into Xiang Nan¡¯s body. Xiang Nan had survived this round, but that hadn¡¯t been easy. If he hadn¡¯t teamed up with Su Jin to solve the earlier case, he would be dead by now.

    He looked gratefully at Su Jin, because he was quite sure that Su Jin could have solved the earlier without his help. Of course, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t have known that roping him in would save himter on, but Xiang Nan still felt grateful anyway.

    There were only four owners left, including Han Yiqing. Three of them exchanged nces, as if they had already agreed on something earlier. They stepped forward and sat down at the table.

    ¡°We want to y Dou Dizhu.¡± Su Jin was a little surprised. After what happened with the woman and the two men earlier, he thought the remaining owners would be wary of choosing to y this game. But he also quickly understood that this was probably a game that could ensure that more of them could survive together.

    They started drawing lots and the dealer became the Landlord again. He scanned the three humans in front of him and started cackling. ¡°Heh heh! Devouring three souls at a time makes me so excited, I¡¯m trembling! I just can¡¯t help it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too arrogant just yet! Nobody knows who will win!¡± said one of them sternly. At this point, he was no longer afraid and just wanted to defeat the dealer in this game.

    But it didn¡¯t take long for them to sink into despair. The pressure on the three owners grew as the dealer got rid of more and more cards. Just one mistake was enough to kill them all.

    Dou Dizhu was a game of chance for sure, but it also required one to strategize, make predictions and scheme against the other yers. Everyone at the table was good at strategy to a certain extent, so they did their best to consider each round carefully, making sure that they yed the best cards possible each time.

    But stress was something that often made people suffer a nervous breakdown. One of them ended up ying a bad card. He put a single card down, but the next person was unable to match that card and the right to start the next round went to the dealer.

    ¡°The three of you aren¡¯t too bad. I like souls like yours,¡± said the dealer with a toothy grin as he continued putting down his cards again and again. The other three had no way to counter his cards at all.

    After the dealer put hisst card down, he shut his eyes with a satisfied look on his face. He snapped his fingers and the three little persons on the table instantly flew toward him.

    ¡°No! Please, spare me!¡±

    ¡°Please, don¡¯t eat me!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die like this!¡±

    The three of them howled miserably as they tried to stop the dealer. They pounced toward the dealer, unable to ept the fact that they were about to die.

    But the dealer smiled even more brightly. To him, these humans were fools for attempting to bargain with him. Those who were willing to gamble had to ept the results even if they lost. They didn¡¯t have a choice in this at all.

    Immediately after the three little people flew into the dealer¡¯s mouth, their physical bodies stiffened up and crashed heavily to the floor. All three of them were dead.

    The only thing the surviving owners could do was to sigh. The rules within a Challenge were fixed by the Handbook¡¯s universe. Owners could not bend these rules at all.

    Thest one was Han Yiqing. He stood in front of the dealer and wiped his sweat away as he stammered, ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll go with something¡­simpler. Let¡¯s¡­draw lots! Two lots, one white and one ck. White to live and ck¡­to die!¡±

    ¡°Oh? How very clever,¡± said the dealer approvingly.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan nodded in agreement. Xiang Nan and Situ Jin had chosen to pick one card out of a deck of 54, mostly because they were confident in themselves. Situ Jin believed he could remember where that joker card was, while even though Xiang Nan had failed, he had also believed that he could pull it off. Park Donggeun was also confident that he could remember the cards, but his confidence was unfortunately misced as well.

    Han Yiqing, on the other hand, knew he wasn¡¯t capable of remembering anything. ording to the analysis made by Su Jin and Xiang Nan, picking a card from the deck was the best way to reduce any difference in technique between the two parties.

    So, he decided to take an even more extreme method. He came up with a game that was based 100% on chance, eliminating any need for technique. You only had one chance and you could only pick one out of two. No technique could make any difference.

    As the old saying goes, those who know themselves well have an easier time in life. Han Yiqing was someone who had sufficient self-awareness in this aspect. He was perspiring profusely because he knew that this way of gambling sounded absolutely crazy. But it was his best bet too.

    The dealer wasn¡¯t going to object to ying this way. As long as it involved some element of chance, it was a gamble, so he did not say anything. He opened his mouth, stuck two fingers in and pulled out two short bamboo sticks from his throat.

    The bamboo sticks were sticky from the gooey substance in his mouth, but it was clear that the ends of the sticks were colored: one white and one ck.

    The dealer flicked the bamboo sticks with his ckened fingers and a little container measuring as high as half the sticks appeared on the table. He ced the colored end of both sticks into the container and a darkness shrouded the container. Everyone could hear the sticks being shaken inside the container.

    A minuteter, the shaking sound stopped and the darkness over it disappeared. The two sticks were still moving a little from the vigorous shaking earlier. The dealer said to Han Yiqing, ¡°Pick one! Pick one to decide your fate!¡±

    Han Yiqing¡¯s forehead was entirely drenched in sweat and his breathing had quickened. He sped his hands nervously as he stared at the bamboo sticks. He had a 50-50 chance of living or dying. It was just a matter of which one he ought to choose.

    He reached for the sticks and started pulling one out, but before the end of the stick could be revealed, he suddenly trembled and the stick fell back into the container. His hand had suddenly cramped up.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry, my hand¡­my hand started cramping up,¡± said Han Yiqing apologetically to the dealer with a fearful gulp. Even his face looked like it was cramping up.

    He was under tremendous pressure. This wasn¡¯t his first Challenge and certainly wasn¡¯t the first time he was faced with the possibility of dying. But in previous Challenges, there was hardly any time to think or strategize. You could only desperately fight with whatever you had and you hardly got a chance to think about how you could better survive a particr ordeal.

    This time, however, waspletely different. His decision alone decided if he would die or not. The thought of that made him so nervous.

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to behave like that, I¡¯m going to get angry¡­¡± said the dealer with a big grin on his face. His green eyes were filled with anticipation, as if these games that relied on pure chance made him rather excited as well.

    Han Yiqing licked his dry lips, then bit on his tongue. The pain helped him to calm down a little.

    He exhaled deeply, then held onto one of the sticks with certainty. He kept the other hand on the container and slowly pulled the stick he had out of the container. His other hand blocked his view of the other end of the stick.

    He then brought it closer to himself and slowly took away his other hand. His eyes widened and his breathing quickened.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s white! It¡¯s white!!¡± Han Yiqing started cheering as he waved it at the dealer. The white end of the stick was very obvious.

    The dealer scoffed a little reluctantly before waving his hand and allowing thest little person on the table to return to its owner.

    .

    ¡°Tsk, so many of you are still alive. How disappointing.¡± The dealer had only managed to kill five out of the 13 owners that made it to his round. He wasn¡¯t too pleased with that.

    ¡°Well, congrattions, all of you. You¡¯ve survived the second game, Gambling with Ghosts. You can proceed to the third game.¡± The dealer exhaled and everything before the owners went ck again.

    When light returned to their surroundings, all they saw was red. They were in an oddly shaped room, where the walls around them were stained with blood and flesh, while human hearts were suspended on the ceiling. The scariest part was that these hearts were still beating.

    ¡°Wee, wee! This is the third game, Lies, Lies, All Lies!¡± A woman¡¯s voice resounded loudly in the room but they couldn¡¯t see who was speaking at all.

    ¡°Who are you? And where are you?¡± asked Chu Yi.

    ¡°Hahaha! Where am I? I am where you are!¡± The woman had a very flirtatious voice, but there was a malicious undertone to it, which made everyone shudder from just listening to her speak.

    A thought struck Su Jin¡¯s mind. He squatted down and poked at the area around his feet. He straightened up again and said, ¡°If my guess is right¡­we¡¯re inside your body, right?¡±

    ¡°Her body?¡± Chu Yi stared at Su Jin in shock.

    ¡°You mean we¡¯re like¡­in her stomach?¡± Han Yiqing¡¯s eyes were also filled with disbelief.

    Xiang Nan squatted down and started touching the floor as well. His hand picked up something sticky from the floor and the smell of it was enough to make someone puke.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯re inside my body! Let¡¯s y a game, shall we? If you win, you get to live. If you lose¡­then you¡¯ll be part of my body!¡± Herughter started off coquettish, then it became higher and higher in pitch until it became a shrill howling. The owners, especially the non-veterans, began to tremble. They really didn¡¯t want to y anymore of such games¡­

 Chapter 158: Fact Or Fiction

    <h4>Chapter 158: Fact Or Fiction</h4>

    ¡°My game is very simple. Each of you will y it just once. I will make a statement and you shall decide if it¡¯s fact or fiction. If you make the wrong decision, you will die!¡± The female voice sounded flirtatious again, but the word ¡°die¡± still sent chills down everyone¡¯s spine.

    ¡°Who wants to go first?¡± asked the female voice.

    Everyone automatically turned to look at Su Jin and Xiang Nan. As the two strategists of the group, they concluded that they would be good at something like this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. He didn¡¯t think there was much point in observing the game first, because he had a feeling that she was going to ask questions that were pertinent to that particr owner.

    ¡°You look pretty average, but your luck with women is better than I had imagined. So¡­this woman here, Kano Mai, as well as another woman, Ye Yun, both truly love you. Do you think that¡¯s fact? Or fiction?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened in shock while Chu Yi smirked as if he had sensed it all along. Su Jin was in a very awkward position now. He knew how Kano Mai felt about him, but he liked Ye Yun, so he wasn¡¯t able to reciprocate Kano Mai¡¯s feelings for him.

    ¡°You only have ten minutes to consider your answer. If you give me the wrong answer, you shall die here!¡± the female voice reminded Su Jin.

    Su Jin frowned as he turned to look at Kano Mai. Kano Mai immediately looked at the floor. Having her feelings exposed like this made her feel really shy.

    <i>Do they love me?</i> Su Jin began to wonder. Kano Mai was probably really in love with him, but what about Ye Yun? Based on the way she behaved before disappearing and how she only told him and Tang Ning where she was going, she probably liked him too. But what was this female voice really asking him? Was the focus on whether they loved him or not? Or was it on whether their love was true or not?

    Su Jin really wasn¡¯t too sure about this and felt that there was more to this question. He couldn¡¯t help but look toward Kano Mai again, and this time, she plucked up the courage to face him. She wanted to help him, and the best way to help him right now was to tell him exactly how she felt.

    She nodded at him to confirm her feelings for him. It was true that she was in love with him. She wasn¡¯t revealing this because she hoped that he would ept her feelings, but to help him with giving an answer.

    He felt his heart skip a beat and his lips trembled slightly. Since Kano Mai did have feelings for him, then that meant¡­wait a minute.

    Su Jin paused for a moment. Something was still not quite right. His mind quickly started processing everything again and he finally took a deep breath before dering, ¡°It¡¯s fiction. You¡¯re lying to me. Neither of them love me.¡±

    Everyone was too stunned for words. They had all seen Kano Mai nod at Su Jin, which meant that at least Kano Mai did love him.

    ¡°Boss, are you too touched or excited, so you tripped over your own words? Didn¡¯t you see her nodding at you?¡± yelled Chu Yi anxiously.

    Kano Mai was also nervous as she said, ¡°Jin, I¡­I¡­do like you. It¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Is that your final answer?¡± said the female voice.

    Su Jin smiled and nodded. ¡°Yup. That¡¯s my final answer. Neither loves me.¡±

    .

    Kano Mai trembled all over and tears filled her eyes. What was wrong with this man? She had already told him how she really felt.

    ¡°Tell me your reason,¡± said the female voice.

    Su Jin scoffed. ¡°You¡¯ve been ying word games with me. You asked if they both truly love me, but the word ¡®love¡¯ can be so misleading.¡±

    Everyone was even more confused after hearing Su Jin¡¯s exnation. Su Jin went on, ¡°Love represents the most beautiful emotion of mankind and it¡¯s something that everybody yearns to have, whether it¡¯s the love between two lovers or the love between family members. But when ites to two people who haven¡¯t actually confirmed their rtionship status, using the word ¡®love¡¯ is a little too strong. After confessing their feelings for one another and getting a positive response, the couple can then slowly reach a point where they can say they truly love each other. Before that¡­just like what Mai said, she does truly like me, but she wouldn¡¯t use the word ¡®love¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve purposely tried to confuse me by using a simr word that conveys simr meanings. The two of them might have feelings for me, but since I haven¡¯t reciprocated them, then we¡¯re still at the ¡®like¡¯ stage. You can¡¯t call that love. Do not use this word so carelessly!¡±

    The female voice seemed to vanish for several seconds before speaking again, ¡°Congrattions, you¡¯ve guessed it right! These twodies do like you very much, but like you said, the word ¡®love¡¯ should not be used carelessly.¡±

    Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He had nearly said that the voice¡¯s statement was true. But after Kano Mai said that she liked him, he became sure of the logic behind his answer.

    ¡°Mai, thank you. I nearly fell for her trap,¡± Su Jin thanked Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai¡¯s entire face was crimson and she looked a little awkward as she said quietly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Jin. I¡­nearly misled you.¡±

    Heughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t say that! If you hadn¡¯t said those things, I might have really been misled. I¡¯m really grateful for the way you feel about me and I really can¡¯t reciprocate them in that way, but no matter what, I will still be your most loyal friend and your most reliable backup.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Boss! There are some words that shouldn¡¯t be thrown around carelessly! How could you say you¡¯re her most anything? You¡¯re making it sound like I¡¯m not loyal or I¡¯m not reliable!¡± Chu Yi came over and red at Su Jin indignantly before turning to Kano Mai with an ingratiating smile. ¡°Sister Mai, what are your thoughts about dating a younger man?¡±

    Kano Mai whacked the younger man promptly on the head as her response.

    ¡°So, who¡¯s next?¡± the female voice resounded once more.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next.¡± Xiang Nan stepped forward. He thought the same way as Su Jin. If the questions were personal, then standing by to watch and wait wasn¡¯t going to make much difference.

    ¡°Oho! You¡¯re a clever one! I like clever people. So¡­your little team fell apart because of your mistake and your incorrect judgment caused the death of your friend. Is that fact or fiction?¡± The female voice sounded really mean as she asked Xiang Nan about something he was least willing to face up to.

    Su Jin frowned. This was possibly the worst question to ask Xiang Nan. It was going to be hard for Xiang Nan to remain calm.

    And just as Su Jin had feared, Xiang Nan immediately clenched his fists after hearing the question, which meant that he was going through an inner struggle. When the Challenge started, he had told Su Jin and Kano Mai that the team had disbanded because of something he had done.

    ¡°Mr. Xiang, keep calm and think rationally. What¡¯s right or wrong doesn¡¯t change depending on your emotions. You need to face it bravely and make the correct judgment,¡± Su Jin said to Xiang Nan. He believed that as long as Xiang Nan could remain calm, he¡¯d definitely make the right decision and survive this round.

    But it was so hard for Xiang Nan to remain calm. Even though Su Jin had already tried to advise him, Xiang Nan was still facing great difficulty in controlling his emotions. He shut his eyes and tears began streaming down his cheeks.

    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault, it¡¯s all my fault! If I hadn¡¯t made a poor judgment, if¡­if I hadn¡¯t been stubborn in sticking to my own opinions, Brother Yu wouldn¡¯t have died!¡± Xiang Nan cried bitterly as he fell to his knees.

    Su Jin could barely believe how Xiang Nan could have been so affected by just one statement like that. He felt that there was more than met the eye, so he sent out his psychokinesis to take a closer look at this ce but it was blocked immediately.

    The woman¡¯s voice whispered into his ear, ¡°Young man, I can see that your psychokinesis is strong, so I did not use any hallucination techniques on you. But if you dare to ruin my game, I will kill everyone here!¡± Her voice was menacing and she practically shrieked thest bit out.

    He felt a sharp pain in his head and nearly fell to the floor. Thankfully, Chu Yi caught him in time. Chu Yi asked worriedly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Boss?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Su Jin through gritted teeth. He was horrified that these questions that the female voice was asking included making the owners hallucinate and think they were at the scene of the context surrounding the question. His psychokinesis was able to fight against such techniques, so he did not end up seeing any hallucinations, but he was not allowed to help anybody else. The female voice had obviously sensed that he was trying to use his psychokinesis, so she stopped him and gave him a warning.

    But he couldn¡¯t just stand there and do nothing either, since these hallucinations could be a matter of life and death.

    He could only say to his team mates, ¡°When you guys go through her testter, just remember one thing. Keep your minds clear and don¡¯t let anything else affect your judgment.¡± He dared not mention anything about hallucinations because he was afraid that the female voice would kill them all.

    ¡°Humph, do you take us as idiots?¡± Situ Jin scoffed a little disdainfully. By joining the team, he had epted Su Jin to a certain extent. But his main aim was to be more powerful and to be able to better observe and analyze this young man.

    ¡°Got it, Boss.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jin.¡±

    Unlike how judgmental Situ Jin was, Chu Yi and Kano Mai took his advice seriously and nodded in response.

    By this time, Xiang Nan was crying so loudly, it echoed. The female voice spoke again, ¡°Tell me, is it true? Or is it a lie?¡±

    Xiang Nan trembled violently as he raised his head. His face was covered in tears, but he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°No! I¡­I cannot agree with this statement! My duty is to strategize for the team, but every judgment that I make is¡­is based on the information and understanding that every member of the team has! The team is gone and Brother Yu is dead too, but before dying, he told me¡­regardless of whether we make it to the end or not, the team will share everything!¡±

    ¡°So, the statement you made is a lie! Things turned out this way for the team because the team wasn¡¯t capable enough for that Challenge! It wasn¡¯t purely because of what I did, so I will not agree with this statement!¡± yelled Xiang Nan.

    His eyes glowered angrily, enraged by the hallucinations that the female voice had given him.

    ¡°What a resilient fellow! Well, you win!¡± said the female voice.

    Xiang Nan stumbled and Su Jin ran over to catch him. He panted heavily as he grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s arm and whispered, ¡°Mr. Su, the questions are not a matter of getting them right or wrong¡­¡± His voice trailed off as he fainted.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next!¡± Kano Mai stepped forward for her question.

 Chapter 159: Tragic Pasts

    <h4>Chapter 159: Tragic Pasts</h4>

    Kano Mai stepped forward very calmly, as if she wasn¡¯t afraid of what the female voice was going to ask her at all.

    ¡°Hello, pretty youngdy! You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re¡­!¡± The female voice suddenly went into a state of panic and shock, as if Kano Mai had agitated her.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­what?¡± said Kano Mai in a low voice. Her back was facing the rest, so nobody saw the aggressive expression on her face.

    ¡°I, uh¡­so, the¡­nation you hail from has already been destroyed, right?¡± After hesitating for a moment, the female voice decided to go ahead and ask Kano Mai the question she had.

    Kano Mai remained silent as a bright light suddenly appeared before her. When she looked at it, she saw a beautiful covered in oceans that gave the life.

    One day, this same was swallowed up by darkness and everything on it was crushed. Every living thing died and every soul wailed and howled miserably. Kano Mai watched on without flinching. This scene had once flung her into despair and depression, but it had also appeared countless times in her dreams, so she was already used to seeing it.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s already been destroyed.¡± Kano Mai nodded without hesitation. Not only was her nation destroyed, but her entire world was.

    The rest were rather puzzled by Kano Mai¡¯s response. To them, Kano Mai hailed from Japan and that country was still standing. Why did she respond this way? Was there something about the country that they didn¡¯t know about?

    ¡°Congrattions on passing this round!¡± The female voice announced without hesitation as well.

    Kano Mai walked back to where Su Jin was. She looked very exhausted and Su Jin felt that it wasn¡¯t a good time to ask her questions, so he just nodded slightly at her.

    After seeing that three owners had managed to get through this round unscathed, the others began to feel more courageous. This round didn¡¯t seem as difficult as they had previously imagined.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next!¡± Han Yiqing took a step forward. He was a little nervous, but after making it through the gamble with the ghost from the previous round, he felt a lot more confident now.

    ¡°Aha! An honest man! So¡­your child¡¯s surname isn¡¯t Han, true or false? HAHA!¡± The female voice started cackling.

    Han Yiqing¡¯s entire body shook as his previously timid gaze suddenly became enraged. He was about to speak when he realized he was back in his own house.

    ¡°This is¡­my house.¡± Han Yiqing felt confused but his memories were a blur. What was he doing before this? Why couldn¡¯t he remember anything?

    Just then, the main door of the house opened. His eyes widened when he saw who walked in, because the person who just came in was none other than himself. He was dumbstruck when he saw what his doppelganger was carrying.

    ¡°That cake¡­that¡¯s¡­that day¡­¡± mumbled Han Yiqing to himself. There was a terrified look in his eyes as he stared at the cake box.

    The other Han Yiqing, however, was full of smiles. Today was his tenth wedding anniversary with his wife, so he had taken the afternoon off and bought a cake. He was going to wait till his son came back from school to give her a surprise.

    But when he walked toward the bedroom door, he heard some weird noisesing from inside. He was a timid man, so he cautiously approached the door and put his ear against the wood. The sounds he heard next nearly made him faint in shock.

    ¡°Tsk tsk! How could you invite me to your ce to make love to you while your husband¡¯s at work? Don¡¯t you feel sorry for him?¡± a man¡¯s voice spoke. Han Yiqing knew exactly who it was. That voice belonged to Qi Hai, his neighbor. Qi Hai had always been nice to him and even referred some business deals to him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve slept with another man¡¯s wife and you still have so much energy toin? But then again, you¡¯re definitely way more energetic than that useless fellow. He can¡¯t evenst a minute and I still have to pretend that I¡¯m enjoying myself! The best part? He actually believes my acting! What a joke!¡± replied a woman. That voice belonged to Han Yiqing¡¯s wife.

    Outside, both Han Yiqings were furious. He couldn¡¯t stand the fact that someone he saw as a good friend was actually sleeping with his wife, but he was also not the confrontational type. The first thought that crossed his mind wasn¡¯t to dash into the room and give the adulterous couple inside a piece of his mind. Instead, his instinct was to run away from this horrible reality that he didn¡¯t want to face.

    ¡°You coward! You coward!! Go in and confront them! Go on! Scold them! Shame them for what they¡¯ve done! Come on, you coward!!¡± Han Yiqing roared at his doppelganger standing outside the bedroom door in a daze.

    But the other Han Yiqing clearly couldn¡¯t hear a single thing he was shouting. He stood woodenly outside the door and heard the next part of the conversation.

    ¡°Hey, do you think he¡¯ll notice something when Xiaojun gets older? Xiaojun is beginning to look more and more like you. Do you think he¡¯ll kick up a big fuss?¡± asked the wife worriedly.

    ¡°Why are you worried about something like this? If he tries to kick up a big fuss? I¡¯ll bash him up!¡± said Qi Hai disdainfully, as if he didn¡¯t have any regard for Han Yiqing at all.

    That was the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. He could ept the fact that his wife was cheating on him and he could even ept the fact that she was cheating on him with someone he treated as a good friend. But he couldn¡¯t ept the idea that Xiaojun, his precious son, wasn¡¯t his.

    <i>Xiaojun is my son, Xiaojun is definitely my son</i>, he thought.

    He finally pushed the bedroom door open and gave the couple inside a shock. They clearly did not think he woulde home at this hour.

    ¡°Yiqing, I¡­let me exin¡­¡± His wife looked a little scared because he had a very frightening expression on his face.

    ¡°Xiaojun¡­Xiaojun is MY son. Xiaojun is MY SON!!¡± Han Yiqing grabbed hold of his wife¡¯s hair and started yelling at her.

    Qi Hai kicked Han Yiqing aside and grabbed him by the neck before he could fight back. ¡°How dare you treat her like that!¡± said Qi Hai in a frosty voice. ¡°Why did youe back so early today? Then again, it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯ll find out sooner orter anyway.¡±

    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t care¡­about you two¡­but¡­but Xiaojun¡­Xiaojun is my son! Please¡­please tell me Xiaojun is my son¡­¡± pleaded Han Yiqing as tears flowed down his cheeks.

    Qi Hai snorted. ¡°Well, too bad. Xiaojun is MY son!¡±

    ¡°NO!¡± Han Yiqing roared furiously and pounced at Qi Hai to kill him, which was actually what he did after he became a Handbook owner.

    But when he was about to get to Qi Hai, Qi Hai turned into nothing but a cloud of green smoke. His wife and his other self disappeared as well.

    He was only left with the female voice asking him again, ¡°So, tell me. Was that statement true? Or false?¡±

    ¡°No! No! Xiaojun¡­Xiaojun is my son!¡± yelled Han Yiqing in rage. Nobody could take Xiaojun away from him. He would never allow it.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin shook his head. It was clear that Han Yiqing was already too immersed in the hallucinations before him and couldn¡¯t think clearly anymore.

    ¡°Teehee! You¡¯re WRONG! He¡¯s Qi Hai¡¯s son! HAHAHA!¡± The female voiceughed manically as a rope suddenly fell from the ceiling and wrapped itself around Han Yiqing.

    ¡°No!¡± Han Yiqing had snapped out of his daze and started shouting in horror when he realized what was going on. He struggled to get out of the rope¡¯s grip, but it was too strong for him.

    One end of the rope went straight into Han Yiqing¡¯s mouth. He gurgled and his eyes rolled back in their sockets as his struggling slowly weakened. His movements came to an abrupt stop and his body bent over limply, unable to move anymore.

    The end inside him came out again from his mouth, but this time, it was holding onto a beating heart. The rope retracted back into the ceiling and Han Yiqing¡¯s heart remained suspended from the roof. Now, everyone knew why there were so many beating hearts hanging from the ceiling.

    After Han Yiqing¡¯s lifeless body was flung back down onto the floor, the female voice called out, ¡°Next!¡±

    Death was inevitable. Human life was the most worthless thing in a Handbook Challenge. Even if one managed to survive the earlier rounds, it didn¡¯t mean they would survive the rest.

    ¡°Nobody wants to step forward? I¡¯ll be fair to you guys: all of you can do this at the same time!¡± said the female voice with a snicker.

    All of a sudden, thest four who had not gone through her test trembled all over as they started hallucinating.

    Chu Yi saw nothing but a white blur in front of him as the female voice rang in his ears, ¡°You¡¯re a strong, young man, but your heart is filled with questions. Your father died when you were very young and you once naively thought that it was merely an ident. But after you gained this supernatural power, you started searching for the truth, and in the end¡­what I¡¯m really asking is, the one who caused your father¡¯s death was actually you, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    The white mist in front of his eyes dissipated and he returned to a familiar ce. This was the house where he lived for 11 years of his life. His father, as always, was seated at his desk, tidying his notes.

    Chu Yi blinked in surprise. His father had passed away when he was six and he had already forgotten what his father looked like. Why were his father¡¯s features so clear now?

    The door of the house was suddenly kicked open. His six year old self came running from outside with a ser ball in hand and gulped down the cold water that his father had left for him on the kitchen counter.

    ¡°Dad, I want a fizzy drink!¡±

    ¡°Fizzy drinks aren¡¯t good for you and they¡¯re so expensive! We¡¯re having trouble making ends meet and your father is ill! Can¡¯t you be more mature and help your father to worry less?¡± his mother¡¯s voice called out from behind.

    Young Chu Yi made a face as he grumbled, ¡°The boy next door gets to drink fizzy drinks all the time, but you refuse to buy me any.¡±

    ¡°Stop bothering me in the kitchen. Go pass this to your father. I need to work overtime tonight, so remember to make sure your father takes one pill on time,¡± instructed his mother after patting his head.

    Chu Yi brought the medicine to his father and asked curiously, ¡°Dad, what happens if you don¡¯t take your medicine on time?¡±

    His fatherughed and said jokingly, ¡°What would happen? If I forget to take my medicine, then I won¡¯t be able to talk to you anymore. Besides sleeping, I won¡¯t be able to do anything else.¡±

    ¡°Ohhh!¡± Chu Yi nodded, then ran out with his ball again. His father watched his son run out and chuckled to himself.

    At night, the young Chu Yi knelt on the floor as his father red furiously at him and scolded him in a loud voice, ¡°How could you do something like this? I didn¡¯t buy something for you and you went to snatch it from someone else? That¡¯s no different from being a thief!¡±

    ¡°Dad, I¡¯m sorry, I was wrong, I won¡¯t do it again,¡± said little Chu Yi through his tears.

    ¡°I know, I¡¯m useless! Even if I work myself to death, I won¡¯t be able to earn much and I really wish I could just have a good night¡¯s sleep for once, but¡­even if that¡¯s the case, that¡¯s the way it is for our family! We might not be able to afford expensive things, but we are of upright character! By doing such a thing, you¡­you¡¯ve be a bad person!¡± His father was agitated as he scolded his son with disappointment in his voice.

    All of a sudden, his father clutched his chest and said to Chu Yi in a weak voice, ¡°Get¡­get my medicine¡­¡±

    Chu Yi ran to get his father¡¯s medicine, but after taking it from the cab, something his father said in the afternoon struck him. Didn¡¯t his father say that he could just sleep and not do anything else if he didn¡¯t take this medicine?

 Chapter 160: Too Simple

    <h4>Chapter 160: Too Simple</h4>

    Chu Yi was excited that he had found a way to help his father to take a good rest. He hid the medicine and his father ended up dying from a heart attack because he did not get his medicine in time.

    As a young child, Chu Yi didn¡¯t know what had gone wrong. His father¡¯s death only hit him when he saw his mother¡¯s face covered in tears and realized that his father was never waking up from this nap.

    Fear gripped his immature heart. And because he med himself and he also wanted to protect himself from further me, he inadvertently started hypnotizing himself about what had happened. He sessfully blocked out this part of his memory, forgetting how his father had really died and believing that an ident had caused the death of his father when he was a still a child. This became so ingrained in him that after he became a Handbook owner, he started trying to investigate the truth behind this supposed ident.

    And now, the truth was right before his very eyes. The cold, hard truth that was enough to make him suffer a mental breakdown.

    Chu Yi wailed miserably as he fell to his knees. His entire body was convulsing and his teeth were tightly clenched. Su Jin and Kano Mai immediately tensed up because Chu Yi looked like he was having difficulty coping with this challenge.

    Su Jin understood the modus operandi of this female voice. She would use her hallucinatory powers to recreate the scene of that person¡¯s most painful memory and use that memory to agitate the person, leading them to the answer that she wanted. Once an owner went through a nervous breakdown, they would not be far from death.

    That¡¯s what happened to Han Yiqing just now. Even though he knew what the correct answer was, he was so agonized by the hallucinations that he was willing to die than to face the actual answer.

    In other words, these owners had chosen death, and the female voice hadn¡¯t really killed them so to speak. But while Su Jin could detach himself from Han Yiqing¡¯s choices, he refused to allow anything untoward to happen to Chu Yi.

    Woong! A silver light shot out from Su Jin¡¯s eyes and he formed a needle-like object with it, then stabbed it into Chu Yi¡¯s mind.

    Chu Yi yelped in pain, but he also became more aware of what was really happening.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± shrieked the female voice. A rope flew toward Su Jin. Su Jin had broken the rules, so she was going to kill them all now.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and retrieved his Boning Knife from his Handbook. He drew a horizontal line in the air with it and sliced right through the rope that wasing for him. He put the knife back and retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be enemies with you, but I¡¯m going to protect this friend of mine, no matter the cost.¡± Su Jin pulled the bowstring back and an arrow of sparkles appeared.

    The female voice could sense how powerful the longbow and its arrow were, but she could not allow anybody to make trouble for her here like this either, so she sent more ropes flying toward Su Jin.

    At this point, Kano Mai made her move. She stretched her palms out toward the floor and a dull yellow glow shot out from them. All the ropes suddenly became very slow moving because they were all affected by her sloth Spirit Power. Anything could be affected by her power, living or non-living.

    ¡°I repeat myself. I just want to protect him. If you insist on attacking me like this, I will have no choice but to fight back,¡± shouted Su Jin angrily. He was willing to fight this time because they were actually inside the woman¡¯s body. In the previous two rounds, his opponent could run or hide from his attacks, so attacking them like this might not work.

    She was very indignant, but after remaining silent for some time, she said, ¡°Humph, since you helped my daughter to let go of her hatred, I¡¯ll give you a chance. But if you dare to do anything to ruin my game, I¡¯ll make sure you die a terrible death.¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Su Jin quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn¡¯t really that confident of defeating this female voice. The Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow seemed able to destroy absolutely anything, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it was effective against this particr creature. Thankfully, she seemed to be a little afraid of his weapon.

    Out of the four who were undergoing the challenge at the same time, Situ Jin was the first one to open his eyes. He sneered and said, ¡°That¡¯s not true. My loyalty to the country stems from deep within my heart. I sincerely believe that the country will protect the weak!¡±

    Nobody knew what question Situ Jin was asked, but it was obvious that it had something to do with his loyalty to his nation. His expression was rxed and his words were firm as he spoke without hesitation.

    ¡°You¡¯ve passed the round!¡± The female voice had been unable to break Situ Jin in the end. From what Su Jin observed, this female voice targeted the deep seated fears of the owners. So, there was nothing she could do about the owners who were either able to fend off her hallucinations with Spirit Power like Su Jin did, or those who were calmer and unafraid of her game in the first ce, like Situ Jin.

    A short whileter, another owner opened his eyes and screamed as tears streamed down his face, ¡°No! You¡¯re wrong! You¡¯re WRONG!¡±

    A rope immediately tightened itself around him, sending one end into his mouth and down into his chest area. A few secondster, the rope end came back out with a heart and the owner slumped to the floor, dead.

    Su Jin sighed sadly. In the past, he thought that as long as one had Spirit Power, one would be able to get through Handbook Challenges easily. But now, he realized that veterans merely had a higher chance of surviving the Challenges. The Handbook could choose to prevent the owners from using their Spirit Power, and there were even Challenges where having Spirit Power wasn¡¯t of any use at all.

    They were allowed to use their powers and weapons freely in this Challenge, but this Challenge did not involve any sort of fighting. Having power and weapons could not guarantee a win and the ghosts they were up against seemed invincible. Su Jin could only pray that Chu Yi would be able to get through this all by himself.

    Ten minutester, Chu Yi finally opened his eyes after struggling with his emotions. He nodded with a depressed look on his face. ¡°You¡¯re right. My negligence and misunderstanding of the situation caused the death of my father.¡±

    ¡°Humph, you¡¯ve passed this round.¡± The female voice was very displeased. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t intervened, she would probably have been able to get Chu Yi¡¯s heart.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai breathed a big sigh of relief. Their hearts ached for him when they heard what he had said to the female voice, but there was nothing they could do to help him. He had to find it in himself to stay strong.

    They walked over and Su Jin patted his shoulders, but he didn¡¯t know what else he could do for the younger man.

    A few minutester, thest owner suddenly opened his eyes and spat out some blood. If one looked closely, one would notice that this blood came from his tongue.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! You¡¯re twisting the concept! I don¡¯t agree!¡± yelled the owner with gritted teeth.

    ¡°You¡¯ve passed too,¡± said the female voice.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect someone else to be able to hold up against these hallucinations.¡± Situ Jin was quite surprised. He had experienced for himself how powerful this female voice¡¯s hallucinations were.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Su Jin asked the other owner worriedly as he helped him to stand properly.

    The owner nodded and smiled sadly as he said, ¡°Thankfully, I was mentally prepared right from the start, so I bit my tongue really hard and managed to get through this round because the pain brought me back to reality. That was¡­really frightening.¡±

    The results weren¡¯t too bad at all. Eight of them had made it to the third round, and only Han Yiqing and the other owner had died. That was enough for the surviving owners to feel relieved.

    ¡°Alright, all of you can proceed to thest game now,¡± snapped the female voice nastily, as if she was still very unhappy about what Su Jin had done to interrupt her game.

    In the next moment, two doors appeared on one of the bloodied walls. A little girl and a little boy stood in front of one door each.

    The owners recognized these two children. These were the same children from the very first round.

    The female voice resounded once more, ¡°The game is very simple. My two children are guarding the two doors. One of them only speaks the truth and the other only tells lies. All of you are only allowed to ask one question to choose the door to life. Of course, the other door is the door to death. If you choose the door to life, you will get out of this ce. But if you choose the other¡­I don¡¯t think I need to exin further. You have 30 minutes to make your choice!¡±

    Su Jin and Situ Jin stared nkly at the doors for some time. A short whileter, Xiang Nan regained consciousness. Su Jin exined the situation to him and Xiang Nan had no idea what to do either.

    Kano Mai remarked, ¡°This is too difficult. We can only ask one question? How are we supposed to choose a door based on that?¡±

    Su Jin, however, furrowed his brows. He looked puzzledly at the two children, then walked to one of them and asked, ¡°If I asked him, which one is the door to life, how would he answer me?¡±

    The child he asked pointed to the door behind her, and Su Jin nodded. Kano Mai was confused and was rather shocked by Su Jin¡¯s actions. ¡°You asked a question just like that?¡±

    .

    ¡°Actually, if you give it some thought, this is not a very difficult question and it¡¯s quite a ssic logic problem. Mr. Su¡¯s question is the only way to get the correct answer. Regardless of which child he asks, he will always get the wrong answer,¡± Xiang Nan exined to Kano Mai in a weak voice.

    ¡°If Mr. Su asked the child who only speaks the truth, then the answer of the other child would be the door to death. If he asked the child who only tells lies, then even though the honest child would point to the door to life, the dishonest child would im that the honest child would point to the door to death. Either way, we just need to choose the other door that the children did not choose.¡±

    Xiang Nan¡¯s exnation was a little wordy, but Kano Mai managed to get it. Chu Yi and the other owner were still confused.

    After getting the answer from the child, Su Jin looked at the door that ought to be the door to life, based on the child¡¯s answer, but walked toward the other door instead and opened it.

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Besides Xiang Nan, everyone else immediately eximed, unable to understand why Su Jin had chosen the other door instead.

    Su Jin stopped walking and said, ¡°Well, I was rather puzzled, actually. This question might be really difficult to those who¡¯ve never heard it before, yet it¡¯s way too simple to those who know how to solve such questions. Using such a game to end the Challenge doesn¡¯t seem to make sense, because it¡¯s nowhere as difficult as the previous three rounds.¡±

    ¡°I was also very puzzled by the fact that you did not actually tell us clearly that your game had ended and which game we were going to next. The ones in charge of the previous rounds both did that, but you didn¡¯t. Initially, I thought you were still unhappy over how I intervened just now. But after thinking about it carefully, doing this actually pointed us to the correct answer. Am I right to say that?¡±

 Chapter 161: Strategists

    <h4>Chapter 161: Strategists</h4>

    ¡°So, she didn¡¯t announce the end of the game, we did not find ourselves in a difference ce plus the name of this game, Lies, Lies, All Lies¡­I suppose I can assume that this game hasn¡¯t ended? Besides, if the main thrust of this game was to make choices and we are still making a choice now, that means that even if we¡¯ve moved onto a fourth game, this fourth game is actually part of the third game,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Are you taking a gamble?¡± sneered the female voice with contempt.

    Su Jinughed, as though her words had only made him more certain of what he was doing. ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m taking a gamble. And that¡¯s precisely why I¡¯m sure I¡¯m right.¡±

    ¡°This ring of winning luck has proved to be really useful after all,¡± thought Su Jin as he looked down at his palm. There was a greenish glow swirling around it and it was from an item he had obtained from one of the Lucky Draw Bags.

    ording to the description in the Handbook, this item would give him the luck of an expert gambler for 24 hours. He would have an extremely high chance of winning any gamble. That was what he had been relying on since the second round. This tiny item had a lot of limitations and he didn¡¯t expect it to be useful here.

    The reason why he had been willing to get Kano Mai and Chu Yi to y Dou Dizhu with him in thest round was only partly because he felt that it was a good game that could rely on the cooperation of three people to defeat one person. But even if he was one of the best yers in the world or had a vast wealth of experience, neither of these were the main reason why he chose to do something that might implicate his friends. He did that because he had this item that could increase his chances tremendously.

    .

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take one more gamble. I¡¯ll win this!¡± Su Jin looked at the light beyond the open door in front of him with a confident look on his face. He was very sure that this third round had not ended yet. The question about the doors was too simple and the break in the pattern from one round to the next made Su Jin very certain that this was all just part of the female voice¡¯s n to trick them into making the wrong decision again.

    ¡°Mr. Su, choose wisely!¡± Xiang Nan suddenly called out. Su Jin could see the fear and the uneasiness in the other man¡¯s eyes.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°Mr. Xiang, you¡¯re a really outstanding strategist. I believe that the Xiang Nan I know from before would have made the same choice as I am making now!¡±

    Xiang Nan froze and his lips trembled, but he did not manage to say anything. Su Jin took one step past the door and said, ¡°Mr. Xiang, what¡¯s the most important thing about being a strategist?¡±

    Xiang Nan¡¯s eyes shifted as he struggled to think of an answer. What was the most important thing about being a strategist? Besides being intelligent, being meticulous, being able to analyze situations and make quick decisions¡­

    ¡°Confidence! It¡¯s confidence! If even the strategist of the group is unsure of his own choices, how can he expect his team mates to believe in him? We might make mistakes, but if we keep doubting ourselves because we¡¯re afraid to make mistakes, then even if we manage to survive this time, what about the next time? If we keep doubting ourselves, one day we will no longer be qualified to be the team¡¯s strategist because we will not be able to make any judgment call and we will keep second guessing our own judgment!¡± said Su Jin with a big smile.

    He turned to look at Xiang Nan and said very seriously, ¡°If you¡¯ve made a mistake before, then learn from it and look for your team mates again! I don¡¯t think Team Wind and Rain should disappear just like that!¡±

    With that, Su Jin leaned back and fell into the light beyond the door.

    Xiang Nan stared at the light that swallowed up Su Jin for some time in a daze. He suddenly raised his hand to p himself, then burst outughing loudly. ¡°You stupid little bastard! You just got schooled! But thanks for that! I¡¯ve got to get back and apologize to those fellows!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Kano Mai said to the rather depressed Chu Yi. He was still shaken from what happened earlier, but he still followed Kano Mai to the same door that Su Jin chose without hesitating.

    ¡°Hey! You guys! Aren¡¯t¡­aren¡¯t any of you worried at all? His theorizing might make some sense, but at the end of the day, he¡¯s just taking a gamble! There¡¯s no evidence to prove that his theories are correct!¡± shouted thest owner to survive the previous round. He wasn¡¯t really trying to get Kano Mai and Chu Yi to reconsider their choices, but he was wondering what he ought to do if all of them chose to believe Su Jin. Was he supposed to just blindly follow these nutcases?

    Humans were weak creatures after all, especially when they were alone in their journey. Terror would engulf them and throw them into a bottomless pit of fear.

    Kano Mai and Chu Yi ignored that owner and walked straight into the same door as Su Jin. Situ Jin frowned, but he walked through the same door as well.

    ¡°Hey!! Didn¡¯t you hear what I just said?!¡± that owner continued to yell.

    Xiang Nan patted his shoulder andughed as he said, ¡°There¡¯s no point in shouting at them. They¡¯ve been through several Challenges together, and they¡¯ve got every reason to trust his decisions without question.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I know because there used to be a group of people who believed me without question as well. I let them down, but I¡¯m going to apologize to them!¡± Xiang Nan smiled warmly and walked through the same door.

    The darkness quickly turned to light again. Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief when he found himself in his Personal Hell Domain, because that meant that he had made the right choice.

    ¡°Phew!¡± He ced his Handbook on the pedestal and said, ¡°ckie, calcte my points, please.¡±

    Level B Challenge ¡°Ghostly Games¡±pleted: 1000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 4, 400 points

    Undoing the hatred in the little girl from Round 1: 500 points

    Points Received: 1900

    Total Points: 5760

    Su Jin looked at his total and sighed. He couldn¡¯t choose what level his Challenges were, but it seemed like the points for each level were almost the same. If he wanted more, he had toplete the Challenge perfectly.

    When he looked through the catalog of items, his heart skipped a beat when he spotted one of the items and couldn¡¯t stop staring at it.

    ¡°Soul of a Broken God contains arge amount of soul power. Points required: 5000.¡±

    Su Jin immediately exchanged his points for this item because he still hadn¡¯t solved the problem with Kano Mai¡¯s soul. She seemed fine for now, but he knew that if she ran into any danger that could sap her soul power dry, she¡¯d die.

    After doing that, the points he had taken so much effort to umte became a three digit number again. He shook his head and moved on to the Team Hell Domain instead. Kano Mai and Situ Jin were already waiting for him there, but Chu Yi was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Mai, this is for you!¡± Su Jin passed her the item he had just purchased.

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s something that can increase my soul power!¡± Kano Mai was delighted to receive this item. She thanked him, then consumed itpletely. More color returned to her cheeks and Su Jin could even hear that her heart was beating more strongly and steadily now.

    ¡°Is there something special about this ce?¡± Situ Jin looked around curiously. This space looked very simr to his Personal Hell Domain, but he wanted to know if there were any differences since he had never been part of a team before.

    ¡°The best part about the Team Hell Domain is over there.¡± Su Jin pointed to the pedestals for their Handbooks and exined, ¡°After each Challenge, your Personal Hell Domain would refresh the catalog of items you can choose from, right? The Team Hell Domain does the same thing, which means you get to choose from two catalogs after each Challenge instead of just one. That¡¯s very important to owners.¡±

    Situ Jin¡¯s eyes lit up and he immediately walked over to look for anything he found useful.

    ¡°The number of items avable here are a lot more than what I have in my Personal Hell Domain! These things are not bad at all. I¡¯ll exchange my points for this, this, this¡­¡± Situ Jin barely paused to think and exchanged his points for a number of items before long.

    ¡°Why are you exchanging your points just like that?!¡± Su Jin was bbergasted by Situ Jin¡¯s choices. The items seemed almost randomly selected, and they were generally one time use items or booster items. He hadn¡¯t picked anything that could make him stronger permanently or any Spirit Power equipment.

    Situ Jin nced at Su Jin, then looked back at the catalog as he said, ¡°I¡¯m going after those rogue owners, so even though these things might look useless to you, they could be unexpectedly very useful in my hunt for those people.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head exasperatedly. Kano Mai said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t advise you to choose items like that. Doing this would help to make you more powerful initially, but you will eventually realize that this is not going to work in the long run. There is a limit to your capability and it is very low right now.¡±

    Situ Jin was not stupid and he knew what she was trying to say, but he remained stubborn and said, ¡°Making myself stronger over a long period of time is going to take too long. I have to go through battles on a daily basis, so¡­¡±

    ¡°You can choose to ignore our suggestions, but you¡¯re going to endanger yourself if you continue this way. Not only are you going to die anytime during a Challenge, but the owners you¡¯re going after are the ones who abuse their superpowers. If you use your points like this¡­you¡¯d only be able to deal with those who are newer to this game,¡± said Su Jin as he made a face.

    Situ Jin frowned and finally asked the two of them directly, ¡°So, how do both of you think I should use my points?¡±

    ¡°Firstly, you have to decide what role you want to y. In this team, I¡¯m the fighter and the strategist. Chu Yi is a fighter, while Mai is a sniper. As for you¡­you¡¯re going after owners on a daily basis, so¡­I think making yourself into a strong assassin will be quite suitable for you,¡± said Su Jin after giving this question some thought.

    Situ Jin nodded slightly and Kano Mai piped up, ¡°I think bing an assassin is a suitable role for you as well. You would be able to fill a role in our team where we¡¯recking while also helping you to take down the owners you¡¯re targeting. Also, the path to bing a really good assassin doesn¡¯t take very long. I think it¡¯s a good n.¡±

    Thest sentence made Situ Jin waver. He nodded and said, ¡°Alright then. In that case, I¡¯ll go with this n. So¡­what do I do first?¡±

    The first person who crossed Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s minds when they thought about assassin training was Ning Meng. They had decided on this n back when she first joined the team as well, but unfortunately, they lost her to the Level A Challenge that they went through next before she could even grow in this aspect.

    But it was also because they had made ns for Ning Meng previously that Su Jin and Kano Mai knew immediately what to do next. They had spent time to craft out the steps she needed to be an assassin back then, after all.

 Chapter 162: Thrashing Situ Jin

    <h4>Chapter 162: Thrashing Situ Jin</h4>

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t have a lot of points left, so the only thing that Su Jin and Kano Mai felt would really help him to increase his prowess in the shortest time possible would be to give him as much actual experience in fighting as possible.

    ¡°Later on, Chu Yi and I will take turns to fight you. We can spend a long time training in here, so we¡¯ve got more than enough time to turn you into a really experience warrior.¡± This n wasn¡¯t just beneficial to Situ Jin, but it was also great for himself and Chu Yi.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t object to this idea. Training together required each owner to give up a certain number of points, but it was better this way. There were certain limitations in the sort of personal training the Handbook could provide, so it was more effective for owners to fight each other.

    After waiting for a while more, Chu Yi finally appeared. He still looked downcast and forced himself to smile when he saw his three team mates.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Su Jin asked worriedly. He had no idea what Chu Yi had gone through earlier, but based on Chu Yi¡¯s final answer, it was clear that it had something to do with Chu Yi¡¯s father and it was likely that Chu Yi had actually caused the death of his own father.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright. Thank you, Boss. If not for you, I think I¡¯d have died this time,¡± Chu Yi thanked Su Jin. He knew that it was Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis that had helped him snap out of his emotions sufficiently for him to make a rational decision.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re alright. After discussing just now, we decided to do a joint training so that Situ can umte some experience. I¡¯ll need you to put in some effortter,¡± said Su Jin to Chu Yi with a pat on his shoulder.

    Chu Yi looked at Situ Jin, then grabbed the older man¡¯s hand and said gratefully, ¡°Thank you so much, Bro! I¡¯m feeling really awful now and I think I¡¯ll feel better after bashing you up.¡±

    Situ Jin¡¯s lips twitched and he scoffed. ¡°We can¡¯t say for sure who would be bashing who.¡±

    ¡°Ha! You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right!¡± Chu Yi nodded while stretching his limbs.

    They quickly proceeded to exchange their points for the joint training. They soon found themselves in the midst of a huge arena, like a stadium without seats. A lighted screen filled with words appeared in front of Su Jin. It was actually a full menu selection.

    ¡°Oh! I can use this to choose what sort of arena I want!¡± After looking through the options, Su Jin realized that this ce could perfectly replicate any weather, terrain and environment to give the owners the most perfect experience possible.

    ¡°We¡¯re just starting out, so I don¡¯t need anythingplex. A basic fighting arena will do,¡± mumbled Su Jin as he selected some options on the screen. The floor switched from grass to granite. This flooring was nice and solid, and Su Jin had specially chosen this for Chu Yi.

    ¡°Chu Yi, you can go first. Try not to kill him, okay?¡± Su Jin said to Chu Yi.

    Situ Jin raised an eyebrow and felt that Su Jin had underestimated him. At Cloud Mountain, he had witnessed what Su Jin was capable of, so he felt that even if Chu Yi was stronger than himself, he didn¡¯t think he would lose very badly to Chu Yi.

    ¡°Don¡¯t finish him off in one second, you hear me,¡± Su Jin added.

    ¡°Humph! If he¡¯s capable of doing that, I wee him.¡± Situ Jin really felt that he was being despised, so he was prepared to give it his best shot. He was going to show Su Jin and the rest that he wasn¡¯t just some useless bum.

    Chu Yi had a cheeky smile on his face. ¡°Oh dear, who should I be listening to?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you!¡± Su Jin snorted. Situ Jin was definitely one notch above an average human being, but Handbook owners were not average human beings in the least.

    ¡°Mai, let¡¯s make a bet. How long do you think Situ Jin willst?¡± asked Su Jin with a grin after Situ Jin and Chu Yi stood facing each other in the arena, ready to fight anytime. The screen in front of Su Jin had a timer that would start once the two of them began their battle.

    Kano Mai immediately replied, ¡°This is a close range fight. One is a veteran with Spirit Power, while even though the other has gone through a few Challenges, he spent most of his points on items that don¡¯t make himself stronger in any way. This fight isn¡¯t going tost more than ten seconds.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head a little disappointedly at this response and said, ¡°Then there¡¯s no point in making a bet. I¡¯m also sure that Situ Jin won¡¯t hold out longer than ten seconds.¡±

    Situ Jin frowned even harder when he heard the conversation between the two onlookers. At the same time, he became more cautious. If both of them regarded Chu Yi so highly, it meant that Chu Yi was probably really not bad.

    ¡°Gentlemen, if you¡¯re both ready, you may begin!¡± Su Jin said to both of them.

    Immediately after Su Jin said that, Situ Jin leaped forward like an arrow that had just been released from the bowstring as a vajra appeared in his hand. This was a weapon of his. It was a very unusual item he hade across on his first hunt and he had taken it by force from the owner he had targeted.

    The vajra could not unleash any special attacks since Situ Jin was not a veteran, but it was still a really sharp weapon. It could cut through metal like a piece of paper.

    Chu Yi behaved like he was slow in reacting. The pointed end of the vajra was already almost at his chest. Situ Jin could go all out because neither had to worry about dying here. The Hell Domain would heal them of any injury immediately, so their lives weren¡¯t in any danger.

    The timer had just started and the vajra had already reached Chu Yi¡¯s chest. But it stopped again almost immediately after that.

    Chu Yi¡¯s arm was raised and his palm was t, while Situ Jin was lying unconscious on the floor.

    Su Jin reyed what happened earlier. The instant Situ Jin¡¯s vajra had touched Chu Yi, Chu Yi took a deep breath such that his chest caved in a little, then he raised his right ttened palm and brought it down on Situ Jin¡¯s neck like a guillotine.

    Situ Jin¡¯s neck was clearly twisted as hey on the floor. If this happened to him anywhere else, he would have died by now. But not within the Hell Domain.

    In no time, Situ Jin had fully recovered and he sat up again. He looked at the others in confusion because he had no idea what just happened. As far as he could remember, he had nearly stabbed Chu Yi¡¯s chest with the vajra and was definitely going to win the fight. But then suddenly, he lost consciousness.

    Su Jin looked at the timer on the screen and clicked his tongue. ¡°Chu Yi, you were really aggressive! 0.017 seconds!¡±

    Chu Yi swung his arms and said in matter-of-factly, ¡°Of course! He was the one who told me toe at him. Boss, you must know that in the martial artsmunity, if you don¡¯t fight with everything you¡¯ve got, that would be considered an insult to your opponent.¡±

    Su Jin looked at Situ Jin and saw the look of dismay on the older man¡¯s face. After a moment, Situ Jin sighed and said, ¡°Before exchanging blows with Mr. Chu, I must have looked damned stupid to all of you, right?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Situ, you don¡¯t have to feel so bad. Chu Yi has a lot more experience than you and he¡¯s also a veteran, so it¡¯s only expected that you would lose. Don¡¯t take it to heart,¡± Kano Mai consoled Situ Jin.

    He smiled sadly as he watched the rey of the fight on the screen. He had really been taken down in a second. In fact, he had gone down in less than a second. How terribly embarrassing.

    ¡°Alright, alright. Now that you know what Chu Yi is really capable of, let¡¯s proceed. Chu Yi, you¡¯re not allowed to use your internal energy from now on. Just fight him with your body strength and techniques,¡± Su Jin instructed Chu Yi.

    After defeating Situ Jin in less than a second, Chu Yi seemed to be in a much better mood indeed. He nodded and motioned to Situ Jin to go ahead andunch an attack.

    This time, Situ Jin was a lot more careful. He held the vajra in the other direction and leaped toward Chu Yi again. But once he got close enough, Situ Jin flung the vajra at Chu Yi like a throwing star while ramming himself into Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi used one palm to sweep the air in a taijiquan style to slow the vajra down and caught hold of it safely. But at the same time, Situ Jin had rammed himself against Chu Yi¡¯s chest.

    ¡°HA! Deadly Embrace Below the Wasit!¡± Chu Yi jumped up to trap Situ Jin¡¯s head between his thighs, then flipped his legs upwards such that Situ Jin went flying over his shoulders and crashed to the floor again.

    ¡°1.3 seconds!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened not because Chu Yi had dealt so quickly with his opponent, but because of the way Chu Yi had done it. What a way to fight an opponent! Situ Jin¡¯s neck was broken again and he had such an indignant look in his eyes.

    After he recovered from that, Situ Jin lookedpletely broken. Chu Yi scratched his head a little awkwardly and asked Su Jin, ¡°Boss, was I a little too hard on him?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about that. It¡¯s the sort of technique you used on the poor guy! What sort of technique was that?! What a vulgar way of dealing with your opponent! If I were him, I¡¯d look like that too!¡± Su Jin whacked Chu Yi on the head. Trapping someone¡¯s head between the thighs like that was definitely not a wee move.

    ¡°My teacher told me before that martial artists must adapt and adjust their moves ording to the situation and opponent. That¡¯s how a real martial artist should be like!¡± Chu Yi raised his head proudly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what your teacher said! You are not to do something like to other people ever again!¡± Su Jin whacked Chu Yi¡¯s head again.

    This sort of training went on for an entire year in the Domain. Situ Jin was continuously thrashed by Chu Yi and Su Jin one after another, and Kano Mai would join in the fun from time to time too.

    A yearter, Situ Jin couldst more than three minutes in a fight against Chu Yi. Even though he spent quite a bit of time dodging Chu Yi, he had clearly improved a lot.

    After returning to the real world, Chu Yi had to be careful of that cult of owners who had targeted him, while Su Jin went back to waiting for Ye Yun at Cloud Mountain. It was now very close to the time Ye Yun had told him to meet her.

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun fell through a door. Her injuries were very severe and there was even a small crack in her skull. She was a frightening sight to behold.

    She spat out a mouthful of blood and frowned as she grumbled, ¡°What a difficult bunch to handle!¡±

 Chapter 163: Ye Yunâ€™s Rage

    <h4>Chapter 163: Ye Yun¡¯s Rage</h4>

    In the evening, Su Jin¡¯s phone rang. He sat up immediately when he saw who was calling, because it was Ye Yun. He picked up the call without thinking.

    ¡°Hello¡­my dear cousin!¡± Ye Yun¡¯s voice could be heard on the other end of the line and she sounded as unserious as ever.

    ¡°You terrible girl! Where in the world have you been?¡± asked Su Jin angrily. She had gone missing for a few months now. Thankfully, her parents were overseas during this time. Otherwise, they would have been worried sick.

    ¡°Tch, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m perfectly fine! Have youe into contact with some children recently?¡± she asked.

    ¡°The kids in the suburban area of S City, right? I¡¯m already at Cloud Mountain. Where are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re already there? Great! Can you help me with something? Help me to buy a train ticket headed for Q Province and ce it beneath therge stone que at the entrance to the mountain. You can go back after that,¡± she said with a deliberately flippant tone.

    Su Jin frowned. What was going on? She was definitely in danger, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t tell him to just leave after helping her to buy a ticket out of here and not even want to meet him.

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll get the ticket ready by 8am tomorrow morning.¡± Su Jin agreed without asking any questions.

    He could hear her breathe a sigh of relief. She then imed to be busy with something else and hung up, but it was obvious that she was still in danger during this phone call.

    Su Jin went to buy the ticket, then waited till the next morning to go to the entrance of the mountain. He ced it beneath the stone que like she had requested, then pretended to look for her in the vicinity, then left with a disappointed expression on his face.

    ¡°Mai, I¡¯ll be counting on you to help me keep a lookout,¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai over the phone. He had already discussed with her the night before and decided that she would help to watch the area for him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯ve got this ce covered with your psychokinesis and you¡¯ve got me looking out for her from afar. As long as Miss Ye appears, I¡¯m sure we won¡¯t lose her,¡± Kano Mai consoled him.

    Su Jin nodded. He had attached a little psychokinesis on the ticket, so once Ye Yun retrieved it, he would be able to trace her whereabouts.

    A few minutester, Su Jin¡¯s phone rang again. It was Kano Mai, so he picked it up quickly. ¡°Jin, someone¡¯s taken the ticket and she¡¯s running up the mountain!¡±

    Kano Mai was at an excellent vantage point and had an almostpletely unobstructed view of the mountain. But what shocked Su Jin was how he had not detected anything even though he had been checking that bit of psychokinesis constantly. It was impossible for that ticket to be moved without him realizing it.

    ¡°Is that an ability to block psychokinesis, or an ability to block off Spirit Power?¡± Su Jin frowned. Thankfully, he had also stationed Kano Mai there instead of relying solely on his Spirit Power. He immediately ran to the mountain and got Kano Mai to direct him.

    Su Jin moved very quickly and didn¡¯t have to worry about anybody noticing him because the local authorities had sealed the mountain off temporarily after the avnche.

    ¡°Jin, jump down from the peak ahead. That¡¯s all the guidance I can give you because I can¡¯t see anymore. Sorry!¡± There was another tall peak after that drop that blocked Kano Mai¡¯s view, so she lost sight of Ye Yun and was really apologetic about it.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, thanks so much for guiding me all the way here!¡± Su Jin thanked her, then dashed up the peak like a rocket before jumping down again without even pausing for a moment.

    Thankfully, the snow on the mountain was fairly deep. Unless Ye Yun could fly, she would definitely leave some tracks behind, so he could still sort of follow her trail.

    In no time, Su Jin discovered some tracks at the bottom of the peak. But he quickly started frowning, because it was obvious that there were way more footprints than what just one or two people would leave behind.

    He squatted down to take a look and noticed that the size of the footprints were different, which meant it wasn¡¯t the same person pacing the area. In other words, arge group of owners had just dashed across this area. As for why he was sure these people were owners, it was because ordinary humans would have required a lot of specialized equipment or machinery to get to this part of the mountain. Besides, the authorities had sealed the mountain off and nobody was allowed toe in either.

    After confirming the directions in which the footprints went, Su Jin continued to follow the trail of prints in the snow.

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun was also running like crazy. Her speed was no slower than Su Jin¡¯s and she was being chased by more than ten equally quick owners.

    ¡°Ye Yun, I¡¯d advise you to stop running right now. You know what we want. As long as you hand it over, we will not hurt you. If you keep running like this, you¡¯d end up copsing first.¡± The people running after Ye Yun were clearly not locals, but the one speaking to her spoke very fluent Mandarin. If one only listened to his voice and did not see what he looked like, you would think he was a local.

    But Ye Yun continued running at the same speed, as if she hadn¡¯t heard him at all. The man who spoke to her earlier frowned at her reaction. She was very fast and she had more stamina than he and his group had. He imed that Ye Yun would copse first, but he was actually afraid that his group would copse first.

    Just then, a small ear stud on the man¡¯s ear suddenly flickered. A smile spread across his face as he snickered. ¡°It¡¯s finally all set up? I¡¯m going to see where else you can run to, Ye Yun!¡±

    Ye Yun could sense something amiss as well. A mountain pass was right in front of her, but her instinct told her that dangery beyond that pass. She suddenly stopped and turned to run in a different reaction, which caught her chaserspletely off guard.

    The one leading the chase had already received news that hispanions had alreadyid a trap beyond that mountain pass, but to his surprise, Ye Yun suddenly switched directions.

    ¡°Get her! Don¡¯t let her get away!¡± he yelled as he retrieved two double-ded swords from his Handbook. The others also retrieved weapons from their Handbooks, some even retrieving heavy artillery.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! The guns were fired toward Ye Yun first, but she suddenly turned into a cloud of green smoke and disappeared.

    ¡°What was that? Spirit Power? Or a skill?¡± All of them were shocked. They didn¡¯t know much about Ye Yun, never mind what her trump card was. What they knew was that she was someone who survived a few dozen Challenges, so she definitely had Spirit Power.

    Ye Yun reappeared the same way she disappeared, making her appearance right in front of an owner holding a rifle. She appeared with an ax in hand and chopped his head off before he could even react.

    She wasn¡¯t worried about the owners with hot weapons, but the ones with cold weapons, because those were the ones who could be very difficult to deal with. However, it was too difficult to fight those with cold weapons while others were shooting at her from afar, so she decided to get rid of the owners who were easier to deal with first.

    She kept disappearing and reappearing like a ghost, turning into a cloud of smoke if she were attacked and popping up again elsewhere to make her next attack.

    In less than half a minute, all the owners with hot weapons were dead. But Ye Yun was very pale as well, because using this ability repeatedly like this consumed a lot of energy. Each time she used it, she became more tired.

    Just then, the owners who had been waiting for her beyond the mountain pass came over as well. Owners were running toward her from both sides and there were at least 30 of them in total.

    ¡°Why won¡¯t these idiots go away?¡± Ye Yun furrowed her brows. Three of these owners were veterans and she had already fought them several times. The rest were ordinary owners.

    She was very annoyed that the organization that went around robbing owners had sent three veterans after her. Veterans formed a minority of all Handbook owners and each one was very powerful. The organization really overestimated her abilities.

    ¡°Ye Yun, stop trying to fight us. As long as you¡¯re willing to hand over the item you have and join us, I¡¯m sure someone of your caliber will be able to gain more benefits,¡± an owner clothed in a cloak tried to persuade Ye Yun in a very earnest voice.

    ¡°Benefits? After I got to know that asshole, all I got in return were the deaths of my team mates! We used to be a Level A team, but I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s still alive! Then again, I was the one who wanted him to join the team, so this is the retribution I get for having such poor judgment!¡± Ye Yun knit her brows together even more tightly and she had a sorrowful look in her eyes.

    The man in cloak sighed and said, ¡°And why do you insist on going down the path that leads to death? The leader has said before that he likes you very much, but from what I understand of his personality, if you continue rebelling like this, even if he likes you, he will kill you without hesitation once he captures you!¡±

    ¡°That does sound like something he¡¯d do. But if I were afraid to die, I wouldn¡¯t have resisted until now.¡± Ye Yun refused to surrender.

    The man in cloak suddenly pulled his hood down to reveal a handsome face. Ye Yun was stunned for a second before she hit the roof.

    ¡°Alex?! It¡¯s YOU?! Now it all makes sense! That¡¯s why you backed out of the team then! That¡¯s why that fellow knows exactly which universe I¡¯m in! So it¡¯s because of YOU! Everything makes sense now!¡± Ye Yun was furious, but she was also terribly disappointed.

    ¡°I¡¯d advise you to surrender, Ye Yun. You¡¯re the only team mate I have left from back then and¡­I don¡¯t want to lose another,¡± said Alex with a sigh.

    Ye Yun looked up again and yelled back, ¡°That¡¯s not up to you! I¡¯m not going to surrender and I¡¯m not going to let you guys catch me that easily either! I¡¯m not going down without a fight!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s 30 versus one, including three veterans. There¡¯s no way you¡¯re going to win,¡± Alex continued to persuade her with his words, even though he already had a sword in his hands. He was clearly prepared for a fight as well.

    ¡°30 versus one sure sounds like you¡¯re bullying her! 30 versus two sounds like a more reasonable ratio, don¡¯t you think?¡± Su Jin suddenly appeared from among the thick snow.

 Chapter 164: Same Kind

    <h4>Chapter 164: Same Kind</h4>

    Su Jin ran toward Ye Yun and waved at her before saying unhappily, ¡°You¡¯re a real tyrant, aren¡¯t you? First, you went around S City to challenge martial artists, and now you¡¯re fighting gangsters on Cloud Mountain? Very fierce, but very unbing too!¡±

    But Ye Yun didn¡¯t realize he was teasing her and panicked when she saw him. ¡°You¡­you silly boy! Run! Run as fast as you can! You shouldn¡¯t be here at all!¡±

    She was frantic because she had been trying to keep her distance from the people closest to her so that they wouldn¡¯t be implicated. To her horror, Su Jin had managed to track her down.

    ¡°They¡¯re not ordinary humans, so even if you¡¯re a martial arts expert, you¡¯re no match for them!¡± she yelled at him.

    Alex had a strange smile on his face when he saw Su Jin and said to an owner next to him, ¡°Get him.¡±

    The owner nodded slightly and dashed toward Su Jin. Ye Yun got a shock and clenched her teeth as she turned herself into smoke again, hoping to kill that owner before he got to Su Jin.

    ¡°Ye Yun, do you have no regard for me?¡± Alex¡¯s voice resounded in her ears even though she had be nothing but smoke. A brilliant beam of purple light shot out from Alex¡¯s body and turned into several screens that formed a box around Ye Yun.

    She had no choice but to revert to her original form within the box. She shouted, ¡°Su Jin, run!!¡±

    Su Jin pretended not to have heard her and cupped a hand behind his ear as he asked, ¡°What? What did you say?¡±

    ¡°She told you to run! But it¡¯s toote!¡± The owner was now in front of Su Jin and he reached out to grab Su Jin by the shoulders.

    Su Jin stumbled back with a frightened look on his face. Alex was pleased to see their interaction, because he knew that Ye Yun was the sort of person who would do anything for the sake of someone she cared for.

    After the owner grabbed hold of Su Jin, Su Jin did not put up any resistance and allowed the owner to knock him out with a hit to the back of his neck, then let the owner drag him all the way back toward Alex. Ye Yun had a look of dismay on her face and she was extremely anxious as well, but with Alex around, it was difficult for her to get to Su Jin. In fact, once she realized that Alex was among the owners hunting her down, she already figured that she probably couldn¡¯t get away this time.

    Alex wasn¡¯t a particrly powerful owner, even though it was true that he was considered pretty powerful among a group of average owners. The problem was that his Spirit Power happened to be one that could counter hers. This purple light was a very pure sort of energy and she couldn¡¯t pass through it even after turning into a cloud of smoke. Moreover, there were two more veterans in the crowd, so it was going to be hard for her to escape her fate today.

    But even if it was going to be difficult for her to escape, she would rather die alone than to implicate Su Jin. She gritted her teeth, then suddenly flung her ax at one of the purple screens Alex had used to surround her.

    ¡°Ye Yun, you¡¯re asking for it!¡± roared Alex angrily. When Ye Yun¡¯s ax hit the screen, a burst of energy impacted all the screens, which made them flicker a few times. The screens did not fall apart, but Alex¡¯s face paled visibly.

    ¡°Let go of him! If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll self-implode! I¡¯m sure the impact from that is enough to make sure you die with me! Other people might not know, but I know that your Spirit Power is actually tied to your life. If it¡¯s impacted, you get hurt. If I shatter it, you¡¯d die!¡± Ye Yun threatened Alex.

    Su Jin felt a warmth in his heart when he heard what Ye Yun said. There was no reason not to feel touched when a girl was willing to sacrifice her life in order to save you, after all.

    Alex had a nasty expression on his face as he responded in a hostile voice, ¡°Ye Yun, did you think I woulde after you without making sufficient preparations? I brought these two along just for you!¡±

    The other two veterans immediately ran over and pressed their hands against the purple screens, causing a yellow glow to fill the box that entrapped Ye Yun.

    ¡°Numbing Spirit Power? It¡¯s a rare Spirit Power, but he doesn¡¯t have enough to numb someone at my level!¡± sneered Ye Yun.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I brought my other friend along. His Spirit Power can increase another veteran¡¯s Spirit Power upper limit temporarily by a lot. Like I said, I¡¯ve prepared very well for today,¡± said Alex with a smirk.

    Ye Yun¡¯s expression fell and she quickly started activating her own Spirit Power. If she was going to self-implode, she was going to make sure she brought Alex down with her.

    But she nearly lost her bnce when she tried to activate her Spirit Power. The Numbing Spirit Power of the veteran outside the box had already taken effect. She did her best to keep herself from copsing and looked at Su Jin from inside the box with an apologetic look in her eyes.

    Just then, she saw Su Jin wink at her, even though he was supposed to be unconscious. She thought she was mistaken, but she could also clearly see a silver spark in his eyes.

    The owner holding onto Su Jin suddenly let go of Su Jin and leaped toward Alex like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. Alex¡¯s attention was focused on Ye Yun and he didn¡¯t expect one of his own to attack him either. The owner¡¯s fistsnded on Alex and caused Alex to stumble and fall forward.

    Su Jin already had his Boning Knife in hand, so he unleashed the Attack of the Demon Lord and stabbed the knife into the purple screens.

    ¡°AHHH!¡± Alex shrieked in pain and he was no longer able to maintain those screens around Ye Yun. The other owners realized that Su Jin was dangerous and started running toward him.

    ¡°Now!¡± Su Jin yelled as he sent his psychokinesis surging toward all the other owners. These ordinary owners could not hold up against his Spirit Power and froze on the spot.

    Su Jin spat a mouthful of blood out. He wasn¡¯t at a level to control the movement of 27 owners simultaneously for long. A few secondster, he had to cut off his supply of psychokinesis.

    But those few seconds were enough for him to get to Ye Yun and carry her out of the range of the other veteran¡¯s Numbing Spirit Power.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Su Jin asked.

    Ye Yun nodded and stared at him in disbelief as she said, ¡°That¡­that was psychokinesis? But¡­but why¡­why do you have¡­that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Spirit Power, I know! You silly girl, haven¡¯t you figured it out yet? We¡¯re all owners!¡± Su Jin shook his head exasperatedly. This girl was usually very intelligent but she seemed so confused now. Did that numbing energy also numb her brain?

    But Ye Yun was really shocked that Su Jin had turned out to be an owner just like herself. Su Jin also realized that he didn¡¯t have any right tough at her either. He never exined his struggles to her either and it took him a long time to figure out that she was probably a Handbook owner as well.

    ¡°What a pleasant surprise, isn¡¯t it? Aren¡¯t you happy to hear that I¡¯m an owner just like you?¡± Su Jin wiggled his eyebrows at her.

    ¡°It is a surprise, but it¡¯s a bit hard to be happy in this situation, my dear cousin!¡± said Ye Yun with a depressed sigh.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your cousin is right here! Are you able to move on your own now?¡± asked Su Jin with augh. They were up against too many people, so even though he managed to rescue Ye Yun earlier, they were still not safe yet.

    Ye Yun pulled herself out from Su Jin¡¯s embrace. She seemed normal again after she took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she said to Su Jin. ¡°That guy¡¯s numbing powers aren¡¯t very powerful and it doesn¡¯t affect me for very long either, so I¡¯m good to go.¡±

    Alex did not dare to approach the pair so quickly now. He said angrily, ¡°Ye Yun, I¡¯m sure you know that anybody whom we target will not be able to get away. If you are willing to leave with me now, I can pretend that I never saw this fellow. Otherwise¡­you might be able to get away today, but I guarantee you, this man is going to die a horrible death.¡±

    Ye Yun¡¯s expression grew grim. She knew that Alex wasn¡¯t making empty threats. This organization was very difficult to deal with, so even though Su Jin was an owner, it would be hard for him to get away from them once he became a target.

    Su Jin nced at Ye Yun and he could guess what she was worried about. He said, ¡°Look, sacrificing yourself is touching the first time, but not anymore the second time. I¡¯m already a target of theirs, so it doesn¡¯t matter either way.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already a target of theirs?¡± Ye Yun was surprised.

    ¡°Uh huh. I killed a number of their people in a warehouse in the suburbs of S City, so I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m quite high on their list now,¡± said Su Jin nonchntly. If Situ Jin hadn¡¯t appeared in time thest time, his family would be dead by now as well.

    Alex looked at Su Jin and raised his eyebrow slightly. He suddenly recalled something and smacked his head lightly as he said, ¡°Oh! I did hear about how some of ourpanions were wiped out in the 7<sup>th</sup> universe. So it was you! I wanted to hunt you downter after settling Ye Yun, but you¡¯ve actuallye knocking on our door first.¡±

    ¡°Well, since I¡¯ve already killed a bunch in S City, I suppose killing another bunch is the next natural course of action for me, especially since you¡¯ve actually dared to touch my girl,¡± said Su Jin with an arrogant sneer, as if he was one of those billionaire CEOs in a romance drama.

    ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense like that, will you,¡± grumbled Ye Yun even as she clutched a corner of his shirt and leaned against him.

    Alex was even more enraged now. He nodded and scoffed loudly. ¡°Fine! Excellent! You ambushed me earlier, so you had the upper hand. Now, I¡¯m going to see how two of you are going to fight all 30 of us!¡±

    He raised his sword and a purple light instantly covered it, making it seem like it had grown ten times bigger. The other owners also raised their favorite weapons.

    ¡°Mai, can you help with the ordinary owners,¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai over the phone.

    ¡°No problem. I can handle the ordinary ones.¡± Kano Mai had caught up with Su Jin by this time and had found herself a good vantage point. As the team¡¯s sniper, her role was to help take out the enemy from a distance.

    Ye Yun had no idea who Su Jin was talking to, but she took a step forward to shield him and whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll stall them, you run!¡±

    ¡°What? You want me to run like a coward after I made such a cool statement? That would be so embarrassing for me,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head. He took a step forward to stand in front of Ye Yun as he kept away his Boning Knife and took out the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and his Gold Armor instead.

    ¡°Aha! You¡¯re all within range! Now, bow to my Air of an Overlord!¡± Su Jin sounded like a child pretending to be a king, but immediately after he said that, a rush of air that could freeze them for a second as well as the Roar of the Demon Lord surged toward Alex and hispanions.

 Chapter 165: A Fierce Battle

    <h4>Chapter 165: A Fierce Battle</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s Gold Armor was able to forcibly take control of others for one second, and that was enough for him. Kano Mai was very far from them, so before Su Jin executed his Air of an Overlord, she had already sent out her Spirit Power in the form of bullets. Dozens of bullets filled with sloth now flew toward the owners.

    Before the owners could do anything about the bullets, the Air of an Overload made them dizzy for a second and that made it really easy for Kano Mai to hit her targets.

    At the same time, the Roar of the Demon Lord was flying toward the three veterans. The only thing he had that could kill a veteran with one blow was the Roar of the Demon Lord.

    Thanks to their perfect coordination, the ordinary owners were hit by Kano Mai. Even if they did not die on the spot, they became so listless that they copsed onto the snow, unable to move anymore.

    The three veterans, however, were truly extraordinary. The bullets had hit them as well, but their expressions had faltered for just a moment before different colored beams of light shot out from within their bodies as their Spirit Powers neutralized the slothful power in the bullets.

    At the same time, Alex gave a low growl as he formed severalyers of wall with his purple Spirit Power. He could sense that the Roar of the Demon Lord was very powerful and was not to be underestimated.

    The Roar of the Demon Lord turned into sparkles as it crashed hard into the purple walls of light, breaking oneyer after another. Alex continued to create new walls each time one shattered. Blood wasing out from his nose and mouth, and he looked worse than when he had tried to trap Ye Yun earlier.

    Unfortunately for Alex, the Roar of the Demon Lord was not powered by Su Jin, but by the godly powers of the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, so it was way more powerful than Su Jin himself was. If any opponent was not careful, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for them to perish if they were hit by this force.

    One of the veterans helped to increase Alex¡¯s Spirit Power upper limit so that he could make more walls to block Su Jin¡¯s attack.

    The Roar of the Demon Lord was slowly drained of energy and finally faded away after it had smashed through more than a dozen walls.

    ¡°Damn it, how is he so powerful?¡± Alex was worn out and the other veteran had already half copsed to the ground, his body trembling involuntarily. That was a sign of exhaustion.

    He looked up and narrowed his eyes when he realized that Su Jin and Ye Yun were nowhere to be found. Su Jin had sent that attack out not so much to kill him, but more to create a chance for them to escape.

    ¡°Ye Yun¡­you can¡¯t escape and you know that,¡± spat Alex as he wiped the blood from his lips. He had a threatening smile on his face as he continued running after the couple.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin¡¯s phone rang. It was Kano Mai. ¡°Jin, the ordinary owners are no longer able to fight and they¡¯ll remain like this for at least the next two hours. But the three veterans have gone after you guys, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Mai. Go back to the hotel now, you don¡¯t have to worry about us anymore,¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai. He didn¡¯t want anybody to notice her, otherwise she would also be in trouble.

    ¡°Got it,¡± she replied obediently before hanging up the phone.

    Ye Yun looked like she had a million questions to ask but she knew that this was not the time to ask anything. Instead, it was Su Jin who asked her a question. ¡°Do they have something that can track your location?¡±

    ¡°They do. Alex used to be in my team and he has this item that can track me down. I connected myself to it when we were still team mates,¡± replied Ye Yun with a nod.

    Su Jin felt like he was suffering from a terrible headache. This was a really tough situation to be in. Alex was very powerful. He had already taken Alex by surprise with the Air of an Overlord and the Roar of the Demon Lord, yet Alex was able to handle these attacks. If Alex were careful or knew more about him, it might have been impossible for Su Jin tounch any attack at all.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that he can¡¯t check the item all the time? Is there a time limit or perhaps a distance limit?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°There¡¯s a time limit, but it¡¯s really low. You can check it once every hour. The distance limit is better. He won¡¯t be able to detect me if I¡¯m more than 250 kilometers away from him,¡± said Ye Yun.

    ¡°250 kilometers, huh.¡± Su Jin frowned. 50 kilometers wasn¡¯t a long distance to him. If he started running now, he would cover it in less than an hour. The problem was that Alex was no slow runner. He was now probably running after them like crazy, so trying to make sure they were 250 kilometers away from him was practically impossible.

    ¡°We can¡¯t run anymore. If we keep this up, we¡¯d die. We have to take the offensive and wipe them out.¡± A murderous desire rose in Su Jin¡¯s heart. Since they couldn¡¯t outrun their attackers, they had to fight back. He and Ye Yun were pretty good fighters anyway, while Alex was the only difficult one to handle among the three veterans. The other two were probably easier to deal with.

    Ye Yun figured out what Su Jin was thinking when he suddenly stopped running and said, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Alex. You just need to deal with the other two.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Su Jin nodded and they quickly hid themselves, ready to ambush the three running after them.

    A few minutester, Alex and the other two had arrived where they were. Alex suddenly stopped and told the other two, ¡°Stand with our backs to each other. Don¡¯t give them any opportunity to strike.¡±

    Su Jin did not expect Alex to be this careful. The man had instantly gone into defense mode when he sensed something amiss and hadn¡¯t gone into a panic at all.

    ¡°Get him!¡± Just then, Ye Yun suddenly transformed into a cloud of smoke and dashed out. Her sudden attack shocked Su Jin.

    ¡°Remember what we talked about just now!¡± Su Jin sent out a message to her via psychokinesis but also had no choice but toe out of hiding as well. It was true that it was impossible tounch a sneak attack if Alex was being so cautious.

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve not left yet? You¡¯re going to fight?¡± Alex cackled as he enveloped his sword with his purple Spirit Power and hacked it at Ye Yun.

    ¡°Attack of the Demon Lord,¡± chanted Su Jin as he ran toward Alex to help Ye Yun fight off Alex¡¯s attack.

    The cloud of smoke that Ye Yun had turned herself into suddenly turned back into herself right in front of Alex. She brought her machete down at him and Su Jin felt like she had shattered the entire space in front of her.

    Alex, however, did not go in a panic at all. He pressed a hand on his Handbook, spraying out a ck liquid that stopped Ye Yun¡¯s machete from striking him.

    Ye Yun frowned and put her machete back inside her Handbook. The ck liquid lost its target and solidified into a human-shaped monster made from jelly.

    ¡°A Nightmare Monster! You¡­¡± Ye Yun¡¯s expression fell and she seemed rather afraid of this ck jelly creature.

    ¡°HA! Like I said, I¡¯ve made all sorts of preparations in order to deal with you today. Your Spirit Power is the is the power of souls and spirits, which is already very difficult to deal with. On top of that, you¡¯re well versed in all sorts of martial arts, so I¡¯m really not your match. But with all these things I¡¯ve prepared, you won¡¯t be able to escape,¡± said Alex with an evilugh.

    Su Jin could not pay any attention to the fight between Ye Yun and Alex anymore. His mission now was to get rid of the other two veterans, especially the one who could increase the upper limit of another veteran. If he got the opportunity to team up with Alex again, Alex would be too difficult to handle.

    The two veterans noticed Su Jin running toward them, so one of them helped the other as thetter mmed his palms on the ground. The ground instantly rose to form several walls made from dirt. The temperature on Cloud Mountain was very low, so the soil was extremely hard from being frozen, making them even more effective as a wall.

    ¡°Coming through!¡± Su Jin did not slow down and smashed right through the first tough and frozen wall of soil with brute force. His strong physical body could pass through concrete, never mind this wall of merely frozen soil.

    ¡°Block him! He¡¯s a close range fighter, so we must not let hime too close, or we¡¯d both die!¡± The supporting veteran was very clear on the strengths of both sides.

    The other veteran nodded and pressed a hand on the wall in front of him. A yellow glow instantly flew around the wall and enveloped the rest of the walls as well.

    Su Jin had just broken through another wall when he suddenly realized that it was getting difficult for him to move. He remembered that one of the veterans had a numbing Spirit Power and realized he had walked into a trap.

    ¡°Ha! You can forget about moving now that you¡¯ve been hit by my numbing Spirit Power! Your muscles will eventually stop moving and you won¡¯t even be able to breathe. You¡¯ll end up choking on your own tongue,¡± said the veteran wit ha cackle. Now that he had joined forces with the supporting veteran, he was able to unleash enough Spirit Power to do that to Su Jin.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. This Spirit Power could be difficult to deal with, but while it could numb his physical body, it had no effect on his psychokinesis.

    There was a silver glint in his eyes as he used whatever energy he had left to press his hand against his Handbook. A ck sh shot out as Rumor flew right out, controlled by his psychokinesis.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± The veteran with numbing powers was horrified as Rumor stabbed right through his shoulder. In pain, he rxed his hand and his numbing Spirit Power disappeared.

    ¡°Damn it! Keep unleashing your Spirit Power!¡± yelled the supporting veteran. But before he could say more, he saw a shadowing for him.

    ¡°Die!¡± The veteran with numbing powers reacted more quickly. He pressed a hand against his Handbook, unleashing fiery mes at the shadow.

    But he quickly realized he had been mistaken. The shadowing their way wasn¡¯t Su Jin at all. It was just one of the walls of frozen soil that Su Jin had flung at them.

    The wall instantly fell apart after the mes hit it and a small ck object flew right through. Rumor was not affected by fire at all, so it stabbed the veteran¡¯s other arm, incapacitating that arm as well.

    A white light shot out from the Handbook belonging to the supporting veteran, which enveloped the shoulders of the hurt veteran. His wounds healed up instantly.

    ¡°You! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± The previously hurt veteran let out a low shout as he mmed his palm against his Handbook. A giant ck shadow leaped out immediately.

 Chapter 166: Ye Yuns Despair

    <h4>Chapter 166: Ye Yun''s Despair</h4>

    The giant ck shadow couldn¡¯t stop growling from the minute it appeared. Its entire body was covered in ck mes, while its three heads kept moving left and right as it growled. As it moved about, the ck mes on its body fell onto the ground, creating patches where there was no snow.

    ¡°Cerberus?¡± Su Jin got a shock. Cerberus was supposedly a legendary creature that guarded the gates of hell. It was very powerful and even though it wasn¡¯t a god, it was at least a demigod. How could something so powerful be summoned so easily by an owner?

    ¡°Is it really Cerberus?¡± Now that the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye had reced Su Jin¡¯s heart, he could use its skill anytime he wanted.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just it¡¯s the essence of its soul,¡± said Su Jin as he let out a sigh of relief. The information on the creature said, ¡°Cerberus (Physical Manifestation of the Essence of its Soul): has 10% of the Cerberus¡¯ strength, very rare treasure.¡±

    Even though it only had 10% of Cerberus¡¯ strength, Su Jin dared not look down on it. He hung his boning knife on his belt and summoned two handguns out from his Handbook.

    He caught hold of ck Fire and White Ash. These two guns could convert his psychokinesis into the Spirit Powers the weapons required. This Cerberus manifestation only had a tenth of the original creature¡¯s strength, but it was still something from the evil side, so the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power couldn¡¯t do anything about it. He had to count on White Ash.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! He fired the guns, aiming White Ash at Cerberus and ck Fire at the other two owners.

    Roar! Cerberus became even more agitated after it was attacked. It raised a paw and swiped it at Su Jin, its huge paw making a whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

    ¡°Go away!¡± shouted Su Jin. Rumor acted like a boomerang as it shot out and returned and shot out again, slicing through Cerberus¡¯ ws in quick session like aser. Its ck blood instantly started burning once it came into contact with air.

    Su Jin seized this chance to grab tightly onto one of Cerberus¡¯ legs, which stunned the other two owners. What was Su Jin trying to do? Fight the creature head on?

    ¡°Let¡¯s¡­GO!¡± Su Jin¡¯s veins bulged as he lifted the three-headed dog. The two veterans watched in horror as Su Jin flung Cerberus at them.

    ¡°Mud wall! Rise!¡± The supporting veteran went into a panic and quickly summoned mud wall after mud wall. Unfortunately, the dog¡¯s body was very heavy in the first ce, so with the momentum from being flung like that, there was no way the frozen mud walls were able to hold up against it.

    The two veterans quickly leaped out of the way. Since they couldn¡¯t defend themselves against it, they had to dodge it. They chose to run in two different directions, which was exactly what Su Jin wanted.

    Su Jin smiled as he dashed toward the supporting veteran. The veteran with numbing abilities immediately cursed inwardly and yelled at Cerberus, ¡°Save him!¡±

    Cerberus shook its head to sober up, then roared as it pounced at Su Jin with a ferocious look in its eyes.

    Su Jin pulled White Ash¡¯s trigger and white bullets instantly sprayed out of the gun. The gun could convert Su Jin¡¯s Spirit Power so that it now carried elements of holiness, which was exactly what he needed to take Cerberus down.

    As he continued shooting at the dog, he flung Rumor toward the supporting veteran. Thebined fire power of ck Fire and Rumor terrified the veteran, but the only thing he could do was to raise more and more walls to block the attacks.

    ¡°Now!¡± yelled Su Jin as he retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and sent the Roar of the Demon Lord toward the veteran, which melted through every mud wall he had put up.

    ¡°Save me!¡± The supporting veteran was yelling desperately, but the only thing that the other veteran could do was to get Cerberus to hurry. But Cerberus had to dodge White Ash¡¯s bullets and could hardly move.

    Boom! The Roar of the Demon Lord broke through all the mud walls, but the supporting veteran had already run off in a different direction and avoided getting hit by it. The Roar of the Demon Lord was a powerful skill, but it was not capable of chasing after a target.

    But Su Jin did not intend to use the Roar of the Demon Lord to kill that veteran in the first ce. He just wanted to use it to breakthrough all the mud walls and it had done its job.

    Rumor and ck Fire¡¯s bullets were now able to get to the veteran without any obstacles in the way. The veteran wasn¡¯t able to summon a mud wall in time, so Rumor hit him in the forehead and was stuck for just one moment before slicing right through the man¡¯s head,ing out the other side with a white, sticky liquid trailing behind. ck Fire¡¯s spray of bullets hit him all over, riddling the man with countless holes.

    ¡°You! Damn you!¡± roared the other veteran hysterically. Su Jin could see fear in his eyes now. He had the protection of Cerberus, but he was still very afraid of Su Jin.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to hell as well?¡± Su Jin smiled menacingly and turned to dash toward the other veteran.

    ¡°Alex! Save me! Save me!¡± yelled the veteran in a loud voice. But Alex was in no state to even pay him any attention. Ye Yun was attacking him with everything she had as well, so he was having trouble saving himself, much less someone else.

    In fact, Alex was rather shocked that Su Jin had been powerful enough to kill off one of the veterans even though they outnumbered him.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ve got the time to bother about someone else?¡± Ye Yun grinned at Alex. At this rate, they might win.

    ¡°Ye Yun, you won¡¯t be gleeful for long! You have no idea that a fearsome presence ising!¡± scoffed Alex. He moved along with the Nightmare Monster so that Ye Yun would not get any chance at attacking him directly.

    Her heart skipped a beat in fear when she heard what he just said and frowned. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. He¡­he would nevere all the way here.¡±

    ¡°Haha! That depends on whom he¡¯sing for!¡± cackled Alex loudly as he mmed a palm on his Handbook. A stone que with runes on it appeared and the runes immediately flew up from the stone and covered the Nightmare Monster.

    The Nightmare Monster¡¯s ck jelly-like body shook when the runes swirled around it, then as though it had suddenly gone berserk, it broke off one of its arms and flung it at Ye Yun.

    ¡°Thousand Mountain Seal!¡± Ye Yun used all her fingers to w at the cover of her Handbook and a huge seal flew into the air. Ye Yun sped her hands together hard and the seal in the air burst into many tiny pieces. Each piece turned into a mountain that came hurtling back down on Earth.

    One of them came down on the arm that the Nightmare Monster flung at her, exploding instantly upon impact. The other mountains rained down on its head, forcibly pressing it down and making it unable to move, like how the Jade Buddha in Journey to the West kept the Monkey God under control.

    ¡°Cousin! We¡¯ve got to end this battle quickly! A terrifying fellow ising into this universe! If he gets here, we¡¯re both doomed!¡± Ye Yun yelled anxiously at Su Jin.

    Su Jin too, wanted this battle to end quickly. But because he had used the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power so many times in a row, he was beginning to suffer from its side effects. He endured the pain and continued fighting against thest veteran and his three-headed dog. In fact, Su Jin was slowly losing the advantage he had in the beginning.

    The veteran refused to actually fight Su Jin, choosing instead to let the dog protect him. He kept moving and switching directions to stall for more time.

    ¡°This will not do. At this rate, I¡¯ll end up copsing first,¡± thought Su Jin as he stumbled over his own feet. The silver glint in his eyes began to shake as his Psychokic Spirit Power and the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power began to get all mixed up. He had to find a way to sort these two Spirit Powers out.

    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re not going to make it! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± The veteran smirked proudly. So what if Su Jin were powerful and had aggressive moves? Su Jin was still going to die at his hands after all.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be waiting!¡± Su Jin bared his teeth as he pped his forehead hard. Since his Spirit Powers were the ones making life difficult for him, he was going to seal them off temporarily.

    Once he did that, his psychokinesis shrank rapidly, forming a small ball at the back of Su Jin¡¯s mind. That was the best he could do about these two Spirit Powers.

    The veteran had no idea what Su Jin was doing, but he could see that Su Jin was clearly feeling much better. His heart leaped into his mouth and he quickly ordered Cerberus to kill Su Jin while summoning a ck talisman out of his Handbook.

    ¡°Get him!¡± yelled the veteran as he tore the ck talisman. The talisman instantly turned into a ck thread that flew toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin had resolved the conflicting Spirit Powers, but it also meant he couldn¡¯t use them for the time being and had to fight with his own physical body.

    He dashed toward Cerberus and grabbed its head. They started wrestling, and surprisingly, they were actually on par with one another. The ck thread quietly went around the dog and aimed for Su Jin¡¯s back instead.

    The ck thread looked like it was going to stab into Su Jin and the veteran had a look of maniacal glee in his eyes. But just then, he suddenly felt as though he was flying into the sky. He could see that his body was still on the ground below, which meant that what was flying was actually his head. At the same time, he saw that an ax had actually flown right through his neck.

    Once he died, both Cerberus and the ck thread disappeared. Su Jin had suddenly lost the thing he was holding onto and lost his bnce as a result, so he stumbled over his feet and nearly fell down.

    Ye Yun appeared next to him and said, ¡°Run! He¡¯s here!¡± Su Jin could see nothing but fear in Ye Yun¡¯s eyes. He could hardly imagine what sort of person could possibly make her feel so afraid.

    All of a sudden, he felt his whole world spin. Arge slit appeared in the air and a person glowing all over walked out from the slit.

    ¡°Shen¡­Shen Wu¡­¡± murmured Ye Yun.

    Alex let out a sigh of relief as he fell to one knee and bowed his head as he said, ¡°You¡¯re here!¡±

    Once the person had stepped out of the slitpletely, he shook himself slightly and the glow around him shattered, revealing a small-sized body that belonged to a boy around 11 or 12 years old.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Ye Yun. How have you been?¡± The boy smiled as he asked after her, as though they were old friends.

    Ye Yun¡¯s expression was grim as she gripped her pickax tightly and red at him intently. But in the end, she let out a sigh, as though she had given up any attempts at resisting him.

    ¡°Shen Wu, this is between you and me, and it has nothing to do with anybody else. Let him go and I¡¯ll leave with you,¡± said Ye Yun with a deep sigh, as if there was really nothing else she could do about this situation.

    Su Jin could sense the despair in her voice. A despair so deep and so heavy, it was like a darkness that even the zing bright sun would fail to illuminate.

 Chapter 167: The Weak

    <h4>Chapter 167: The Weak</h4>

    ¡°Promise me to let him off, will you?¡± Ye Yun sounded like she was pleading as she said, ¡°If you¡¯re willing to let him off, I¡¯ll leave with you immediately.¡±

    Shen Wu shook his head slightly and chuckled. ¡°You know the way I am. He¡¯s killed some of mine, so he must die. Nobody will be able to get him out of this fate.¡±

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes. Perhaps this young fellow was capable enough to do that, but Su Jin¡¯s philosophy was to make sure he did not go down without a fight. If this boy tried to kill him, he was going to make sure the boy was as badly hurt as possible.

    Ye Yun could sense the murderous thoughts running through Su Jin¡¯s mind and grabbed his hand immediately as she shook his head at him. She took a deep breath and said to the boy, ¡°Shen Wu, you and I both know what you want. If you don¡¯t let him off today, I promise you will not get anything at all.¡±

    Shen Wu merelyughed at her threat. He shook his head, like he was mocking her for thinking too highly of herself. ¡°Ye Yun, if the only change in you during this time is that your ego has grown bigger, I¡¯ll be really disappointed.¡±

    Ye Yun ced her hand on her Handbook and held up a branch that was covered in mysterious engravings for him to see.

    His expression faltered a little as he fell silent for a moment. ¡°I did not expect you to actually get a Divine Branch from the Garden of Eden. Very well, I will agree to your request and let him off.¡±

    She breathed a long sigh of relief. ¡°I want some time to say goodbye to him.¡±

    He frowned at that, so she added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will not go back on my word.¡± He nodded and seemed to trust what she said.

    Ye Yun turned to look at Su Jin. She took his hands in hers and gave him a bright smile as she said, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, dear cousin. This time¡­you¡¯ll have to return on your own.¡±

    Su Jin gritted his teeth and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t give up! If we work together, I believe we¡ª¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t believe we have a chance at winning,¡± Ye Yun cut him off. Sheughed bitterly and shook her head. ¡°Shen Wu is very powerful and he¡¯s more powerful than anybody can ever imagine. Even if you¡¯re also an owner, it¡¯s almost impossible for you to reach the stage that Shen Wu is at.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, there are no more than three owners who can fight him. They are all owners who went through very special experiences and survived situations that should have been impossible. They¡­they¡¯ve taken a different path.¡±

    Su Jin was indignant. He wanted to protect Ye Yun and he didn¡¯t want Shen Wu to take her away. But he suddenly realized that he couldn¡¯t move anymore.

    He stared down at the hands that were holding his and looked back at her with wide eyes. ¡°You¡­what have you done?¡± He tried his best to move but his body refused to respond.

    She grinned and held her palms up to show him a greenish substance on it. ¡°I got this from one of the Challenges. It¡¯s a nt that can temporarily stop someone from moving, even if you¡¯re a veteran. The effects don¡¯tst very long and it will not hurt you in any way.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do this? Please? I¡¯m begging you,¡± said Su Jin in a pained voice. He had never felt so helpless before. The person he loved was right in front of him, but he was unable to protect her from harm.

    She looked into his eyes and smiled even more brightly than before. Her eyes were like two twinkling crescents as she suddenly put her hands around his head, tiptoed and slowly came closer to him.

    She gently kissed him on the forehead, then let go of his head. Her smile remained as bright as ever as she said, ¡°Goodbye¡­ Being able to meet you during these hopeless times has made me very happy.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Me too. Meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me,¡± said Su Jin through clenched teeth. Tears welled up in his eyes. He hated himself for being so weak. If he were stronger, he wouldn¡¯t have to bid her farewell.

    Ye Yun took a step back and started walking back toward Shen Wu, while turning back from time to time to look at Su Jin. Shen Wu looked a little impatient but he did not say anything.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Ye Yun said to Shen Wu.

    He nodded and said, ¡°For everyone¡¯s sake, I¡¯m going to have to seal you. Is that alright with you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you,¡± said Ye Yun with a bitter smile.

    Shen Wu tapped the air and Su Jin could sense that his surroundings had be even colder than before. His eyes moved from side to side and he realized that all the snow and frost on the mountain was gathering together. The frost on Cloud Mountain slowly melted away to reveal the mud and rocks beneath.

    ¡°He¡­he¡¯s absorbing all the coldness in this area.¡± Su Jin could hardly believe what he was seeing because what Shen Wu was doing seemed absolutely insane. The snow that had umted on Cloud Mountain over so many years had meltedpletely in a short time. Shen Wu had forcibly sucked in all the icy air of the mountain.

    All the iciness gathered together to form arge block that encapsted Ye Yun entirely.

    Ye Yun was like a pure and beautiful fairy inside the block of ice. She was still looking at Su Jin with that cheery smile, as if she had been frozen in time.

    Shen Wu gave a pleased nod and raised a finger. An icy tform appeared beneath Alex, which carried him to where Shen Wu was.

    ¡°There are others within the mountain. Do we take them along with us?¡± asked Alex.

    Shen Wu shook his head. ¡°There are other things that need to be done in this universe, so leave them here for the time being.¡± He then looked at Su Jin with a mocking smile.

    The slit in the air appeared once more. Shen Wu and Alex walked in, and the block of ice with Ye Yun inside flew off the ground as well.

    Su Jin suddenly felt energy pass through his body as he finally regained the ability to move. He ran like a madman toward the block of ice and used his fists to punch repeatedly at the ice.

    ¡°Let go of her! Let go of her!¡± roared Su Jin furiously. His fists punched the ice continuously, causing severalyers of ice to chip off. But all he had managed to chip off was the outermostyer of ice.

    The block of ice finally squeezed itself through the slit and disappearedpletely. The slit itself also slowly disappeared, leaving Su Jin alone to bellow angrily at the sky like he hadpletely lost his mind.

    His roaring echoed for a long time until he finally fell weakly to his knees. He saw the bodies of the two veterans he had killed earlier. He had been able to do that because he was more powerful than them. But he was not as powerful as Shen Wu, so he had no choice but to watch Shen Wu take Ye Yun away.

    ¡°I¡­I want to be more powerful. I want to bring her back,¡± muttered Su Jin as he clenched his fists tightly.

    Just then, there was a smallmotioning from a distance. It was the 20 odd owners that had been hit by Kano Mai¡¯s slothful powers earlier and had recovered. They came running from afar to find Su Jin kneeling on the ground all by himself.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one left! Everyone, get him!¡±¡°Can¡¯t you see the bodies of those two veterans just there? If we try to attack him, we¡¯ll end up like them!¡±¡°I don¡¯t think he killed them. They were probably killed by thedy we were targeting.¡±¡°But he¡¯s a veteran too.¡±

    The crowd of owners were hesitant, because veterans were way more powerful than they were.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had gotten to his feet. Once he spotted the owners approaching him, his eyes lit up with a murderous glint.

    ¡°All of you¡­deserve to die!¡± He marched toward them with a vengeance. To him, these people belonged to a band of robbers who were able to bully others because they had an advantage in numbers. Their organization had taken Ye Yun away, so he was going to get back at them in whatever way possible before getting Ye Yun back.

    The owners could sense the murderous intenting from Su Jin as he tookrge strides toward them, so they quickly stopped arguing among themselves and got ready to put up a fight.

    ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s one of him versus more than 20 of us! Not even a veteran can defeat so many! Let¡¯s kill him!¡± yelled one of them, believing that they outnumbered Su Jin sufficiently to kill him.

    Su Jin remained unfazed by this fact. He dashed into the group like a strong wind. Since he had sealed his Spirit Power away, the only thing he had was his boning knife.

    He brandished his knife left and right, resulting in continuous screams and blood spurting in all directions.

    He was like a wolf that had rushed into a flock of sheep. It didn¡¯t take long for all the owners to die at his de. He was much stronger and tougher than all of them, so he could attack them without worrying that any of their weapons would hurt him. After all, regardless of whether they had cold or hot weapons, the most they could do was to inflict him with some light injuries. They could not stop him at all.

    Su Jin had gonepletely insane. His boning knife shed one after another without any rationality, sending howls and cries of despair echoing in the mountains. The noise finally died down after about half an hour.

    That evening, Su Jin made it back to the hotel with blood all over his body. Everyone on the street who saw him were terrified as they saw the state he was in, but he didn¡¯t seem to see them at all and just carried on walking.

    Kano Mai was also shocked when she saw Su Jin covered in blood. She sighed quietly when she saw the pained look on his face and could guess that he hadn¡¯t been able to bring Ye Yun back.

    ¡°Go and take a rest first? I¡¯ll settle everything else.¡± Kano Mai filled the bathtub with warm water for Su Jin and got him a clean set of clothes.

    He snapped out of his daze a little when he saw Kano Mai. After nodding at her, he walked into the bathroom and went to lie in the bathtub in silence.

    Kano Mai walked out of his room and gave Situ Jin a call, since this was a situation that only Situ Jin could handle. Su Jin had caused quite a stir after walking through a touristy area covered entirely in blood, which was something that could raise a panic.

    Situ Jin was quite surprised to hear what had happened to Su Jin, but he did not turn Kano Mai¡¯s request to deal with the aftermath. The Department of Supernatural Affairs was willing to clean up after Su Jin.

    The next morning, Kano Mai bought herself some newspapers. She was quite surprised by what she read. There was no mention of anybody like Su Jin, but there was still an entire page dedicated to Cloud Mountain.

    A mysterious phenomenon has urred at Cloud Mountain. All of its snow has melted within a day and visitors to the mountain have reported the strong stench of blood in the air. Investigations into this matter are ongoing.

    Kano Mai knew that the information written in the newspapers definitely had something to do with Su Jin. A huge battle must have urred after she had left and Su Jin wasn¡¯t one of the winners.

    After an entire night of rest, Su Jin looked much better. He was still upset about how he had failed to bring Ye Yun back, but at least he wasn¡¯t behaving like a zombie anymore.

    ¡°Mai, call the rest to meet at Hell¡¯s Bar. There are some matters I need to talk to you guys about,¡± Su Jin suddenly said to Kano Mai.

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll contact Chu Yi and Mr. Situ,¡± replied Kano Mai without asking any questions.

    He nodded and activated ess to Hell¡¯s Bar. It was time to make proper ns for the future of Team Boning Knife.

 Chapter 168: Change in Style

    <h4>Chapter 168: Change in Style</h4>

    Su Jin, Kano Mai and Chu Yi sat together at their team¡¯s table in Hell¡¯s Bar and waited. Situ Jin came in after a while and plonked himself down at the table as well.

    ¡°Did you get beaten up?¡± Chu Yi looked curiously at Situ Jin because Situ Jin was covered in bruises and wounds.

    Situ Jin threw him a nce, then turned to stare at Su Jin. His lips twitched as he said, ¡°What a good job you¡¯ve done. One versus 27, and you¡¯re the one who actually survived.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t say anything. He didn¡¯t intend to hide what happened on Cloud Mountain from his team mates, especially Situ Jin. As a high ranking government official, he knew a lot more than most people in the country did. The fact that Cloud Mountain lost all of its snow in less than a day would have attracted the attention of Situ Jin¡¯s department after he had left, so they would naturally have discovered the bodies of the owners he had killed.

    ¡°Boss, what¡¯s this one versus 27 all about?¡± Chu Yi couldn¡¯t understand their conversation and grumbled, ¡°Why aren¡¯t we from the same universe? What did I miss?¡±

    Kano Mai red at Chu Yi, then said quietly to Situ Jin, ¡°Mr. Situ, everything can be settled, right? He walked past a lot of people on his way back to the hotel and I¡¯m afraid he attracted a lot of attention along the way.¡±

    Situ Jin scoffed and red unhappily at Su Jin as he said, ¡°That¡¯s why I said he did such a wonderful job. A good 1,300 people saw him in that state andbined with the strange phenomenon on Cloud Mountain, it caused quite a bit of panic among the people there. I¡¯ve already sent out everyone I could from the department and I also made use of the local government officials to settle this matter.¡±

    There was good reason for Situ Jin to be upset. Su Jin had been so despondent after he watched Ye Yun being taken away by force. Under normal circumstances, he would have kept a low profile. But he had been so out of it this time that he couldn¡¯t even remember how he managed to descend the mountain and walk back to the hotel. He only remembered he had gone on a rampage, killing 27 Handbook owners in less than an hour. Furthermore, he had aplished that feat without using his Spirit Power.

    ¡°Those who are weak¡­get quashed like ants,¡± said Su Jin out of the blue.

    Everyone blinked in surprise at Su Jin. Situ Jin had a glint in his eye as he pressed one palm against his Handbook. He could see that Su Jin was not himself today.

    Su Jin was very powerful. Those 27 bodies found on Cloud Mountain was proof of that. If Su Jin¡¯s state of mind became problematic and he did something that could cause harm to society, the consequences would be very severe.

    ¡°Situ, are you thinking of killing me?¡± After one night of rest, Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis had returned to normal levels and had even increased by a little. He could clearly sense the murderous intentions that Situ Jin had. But he shook his head slightly and said, ¡°It¡¯s too bad. Compared to me, you¡¯re too weak. You¡¯d never kill me, but I could kill you.¡±

    Situ Jin¡¯s eyes glinted even more brightly. He wet his dry lips and said in an icy voice, ¡°I know that too. But if you be the type of human I must rid society of, I will not hesitate to do so, even if you¡¯re more powerful than I am.¡±

    Chu Yi and Kano Mai were confused by the tension between the two men. Chu Yi hurriedly cut in, ¡°Hey, both of you, calm down! Calm down! What¡¯s going on? We don¡¯t support infighting in this team!¡±

    ¡°You will not hesitate to kill me? And what right does the weak have to be able kill a stronger person?¡± Su Jin snorted. He must have seemed as dumb to others as Situ Jin seemed to him now.

    Situ Jin narrowed his eyes slightly and said, ¡°While it¡¯s true that attempting the impossible when you already know it¡¯s impossible is foolish, but¡­deciding not to try just because you know it¡¯s impossible is cowardice! I might be foolish, but I¡¯m no coward.¡±

    The atmosphere between them was tense and it looked like they might suddenly break into a fight.

    But Su Jin suddenly said, ¡°Then¡­do you want to be more powerful?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I even dream about bing more powerful.¡± Situ Jin nodded as he replied without pausing to think. Before yesterday, he might even have been the member of the team who had wanted this the most.

    Su Jin understood Situ Jin¡¯s thinking. Situ Jin was a very responsible man. He wanted to be more powerful not for his own sake, but for the philosophy that he was in charge of safeguarding. One could consider Situ Jin to be a very frustrating, unfriendly and uncooperative, but nobody would say that he was an irresponsible man.

    Next, Su Jin looked at Chu Yi and asked, ¡°Chu Yi, do you want to be more powerful?¡±

    ¡°Me? I, uh¡­of course! I¡¯m a martial artist to begin win, and the goal of a martial artist is to be even more powerful. Furthermore, I¡¯m being hunted down by this insane group of cult followers, so my desire to be more powerful is now stronger than before.¡± Chu Yi started off a little flippant, but the look in his eye began to change as he continued speaking. Unlike Situ Jin, his reason for bing more powerful was simply so that he could survive.

    ¡°What about you, Mai? Do you want to be more powerful?¡± Su Jin turned to ask hisst team mate.

    She nodded and said, ¡°Of course. There are some things I cannot talk about now, but¡­I must be powerful. I have my own reasons for wanting to be more powerful.¡±

    Su Jin gave the team a pleased nod. ¡°Very good. Since everybody wants to be more powerful, then I think we need to change the way we handle future Challenges as a team.¡±

    ¡°The way we handle future Challenges? What do you mean?¡± Situ Jin found Su Jin really strange today. If Su Jin turned out to be some psychopath serial killer after massacring 27 Handbook owners, Situ Jin wouldn¡¯t feel so confused. What was Su Jin talking about now?

    Su Jin scanned the other three and thought about how he should exin his thoughts to them. ¡°The way we¡¯ve gotten through thest few Challenges are honestly a little conservative. We were simply trying to get through them, so we didn¡¯t actually get the most out of it. That limited our final reward at the end.¡±

    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is¡­?¡± Situ Jin frowned at Su Jin.

    ¡°Risk is proportional to rewards. Since everyone has their own reasons for wanting to be more powerful, then I want to change the way we do things and try to gain as much out of each Challenge as possible. Of course, survival is still the top priority,¡± said Su Jin solemnly.

    Chu Yi was the first one to nod in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m good with that. Boss is right: risk is proportional to rewards. I¡¯m willing to take risks.¡±

    Kano Mai nodded as well. ¡°Me too. Rewards onlye with taking risks. That¡¯s definitely right.¡±

    Situ Jin suddenly startedughing. He nced at Su Jin, then removed his hand from his Handbook. He chuckled and said, ¡°I have no idea what sort of trauma you¡¯ve suffered, but¡­bing more powerful is definitely up my alley!¡±

    ¡°Excellent! Since that¡¯s the case, that¡¯ll be the way we do things from now on! The aim of Team Boning Knife will be to be more powerful!¡± Su Jin sped his hands together tightly. No matter how difficult the road ahead was, he was going to make sure he not just survived, but he also became more powerful.

    Now that all four of them were in agreement, Su Jin said to Situ Jin, ¡°The bunch that I killed on Cloud Mountain is a group of owners who move between universes to rob other owners for their own selfish gain. They¡¯ve arrived in our universe, so I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to have more work to do in the near future.¡±

    Situ Jin smacked his forehead. He ordered a beer of sorts, drank a mouthful of it, then said, ¡°By the way, why don¡¯t you join the Department of Supernatural Affairs?¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He couldn¡¯t believe what Situ Jin just said.

    Situ Jin was calm as he said, ¡°There are way too many owners doing wicked things in the real world, and just like you said, I¡¯m too weak. There are so many owners that I simply can¡¯t handle and I have to watch them do evil before my very own eyes¡­I need someone to help me.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Xu Ran to help you?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    Situ Jin narrowed his eyes and Su Jin immediately realized he shouldn¡¯t have said that. Situ Jin had never told Su Jin about Xu Ran before, so mentioning his name meant that they actually knew each other.

    Just as Su Jin had expected, Situ Jin immediately asked, ¡°How did you get to know Xu Ran?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡­you can call it by ident, I suppose.¡± Su Jin shrugged even as he grumbled inwardly, it¡¯s all because you tried to make things difficult for me in the first ce!

    Situ Jin did not pursue this matter and asked instead, ¡°Do you know how I got my copy of Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡±

    ¡°How you got your copy? As far as I know, the Handbook selects owners randomly. You could pick up some book in your house that you¡¯ve read a million times before and when you open it, it turns out to be your first Handbook Challenge,¡± said Su Jin.

    Situ Jin scoffed. ¡°And what if I tell you Xu Ran was the one who gave it to me? What would you think of that?¡±

    ¡°Xu Ran gave it to you?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s pupils constricted and his first reaction was that this was impossible. He had already asked all the other owners he hade across about how they became owners and all of them had simr stories. No owner knew exactly why they had been selected or what they could have done to end up bing an owner. And most certainly, nobody had ever heard of someone being able to give another person a Handbook.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Hell¡¯s Handbook is something that exists outside of the owners and even the elder gods in the Challenges have no control over the universe, or they wouldn¡¯t have been trapped inside the Challenges. Unless¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart suddenly palpitated as his voice dropped to a whisper that only he could hear, ¡°Unless¡­that¡¯s impossible. If that¡¯s the case, then¡­then what in the world are we doing? When Ye Yun said that Shen Wu and others like him had taken a different path, did she mean that?!¡±

    Situ Jin frowned when he saw how Su Jin was muttering to himself. He rapped the table with his knuckles and said, ¡°Why are muttering to yourself? So, are you interested in joining the Department?¡±

    Su Jin put his thoughts aside for the moment since they seemed a little too farfetched. He gave Situ Jin¡¯s proposal some thought, then finally nodded and said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind joining the Department, but I don¡¯t want to be like one of your subordinates. Do you get what I¡¯m saying?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do. Don¡¯t worry about that. We actually have many people working for us all over the country. While most of them are direct employees, everyone has plenty of freedom to do whatever else they want as long as they are willing to be mobilized when we need help and listen to orders during operations.¡± Situ Jin finally had a smile on his face. He really needed someone like Su Jin to help him.

    ¡°That¡¯s a deal then. If you need my help, just give me a call,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    Situ Jin took his wallet out and passed Su Jin a SIM card. ¡°Insert this into your phone. Ites with unlimited call time, so it¡¯ll be useful for contacting you.¡±

    ¡°Oh wow! Working for the government has pretty good perks, eh?¡± said Su Jin with a chuckle.

    Just then, there was a loud bang as someone marched up to their table and punched the surface.

    ¡°How dare you lie to me like that!¡±

 Chapter 169: Reviving the Dead

    <h4>Chapter 169: Reviving the Dead</h4>

    The sudden bang gave all four of them a shock. Su Jin looked up to see that the person who had marched up to their table so angrily was actually the middle-aged man who had sold him information in the past.

    ¡°What do you mean by I lied to you? If you don¡¯t exin yourself clearly, all my friends here are going to misunderstand!¡± After he had reached a consensus with his team mates, Su Jin no longer wallowed in his misery and indignation. He was going to get Ye Yun back on his own strength. Now that he was feeling much better emotionally, the way he spoke went back to normal as well.

    The man red at Su Jin and pointed a finger at him as he said, ¡°You! You turned out to be Su Jin! The team leader of the team thatpleted a Level A Challenge perfectly! Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡±

    ¡°How did you find out?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. Logically speaking, there weren¡¯t that many who would know anything about him. What were the chances of this man running into one who knew him personally?

    The man grinned gleefully. ¡°I have my own ways of finding out.¡±

    ¡°Amazing. Simply amazing.¡± Su Jin apuded the man without any expression on his face, then said, ¡°We¡¯re having a drink here as a team, so please leave and stop disrupting our gathering.¡±

    The man was a little stunned by Su Jin¡¯s response. The team¡¯s usual waiter immediately looked at the man and he said hurriedly, ¡°Don¡¯t chase me away! Fine, I¡¯ll tell you how I found out. I paid a very high price to get someone to use an extremely rare item. That¡¯s how I got information on you.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an item that can get information on others from nowhere?¡± Su Jin was shocked. If that were true, then there were no secrets left in the world.

    The man smiled smugly as he said, ¡°Of course there is. But don¡¯t worry, you have to pay a high price each time you use it, and there are many other conditions you have to fulfil in order for it to even work. I merely got lucky.¡±

    Su Jin was even more surprised to hear this. They had made two transactions before this but that was all. It didn¡¯t seem logical for this man to spend so much effort on finding out more about him.

    ¡°You spent so much time and effort to investigate my team leader¡­ Gosh, I didn¡¯t know you leaned that way.¡± Chu Yi stared at the man suspiciously and shifted his chair further away from him.

    The man¡¯s lips twitched and he took a deep breath to keep himself calm. ¡°I¡¯ll go straight to the point then. I want to join Team Boning Knife!¡±

    ¡°Wha-?¡± Su Jin blinked several times.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t that clear enough? I would like to be part of Team Boning Knife,¡± he repeated himself in a solemn voice.

    ¡°But why? Why should I let you join my team?¡± Su Jin was very puzzled. He couldn¡¯t possibly allow anybody who wanted to join the team to join, or ept anybody who had frivolous reasons like ¡°I admire you¡± or anything like that.

    The man looked like he didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to turn him down and said, ¡°I¡­why won¡¯t you ept me as a member?¡±

    ¡°What a deep question. Let me ask you an equally deep question: why should I ept you as a member of this team?¡± asked Su Jin. The other three nodded in support of their team leader¡¯s question.

    The man was caught in an awkward position and the atmosphere became just as awkward. Su Jin exined further, ¡°Your request is rather¡­unreasonable. We don¡¯t know anything about you. We don¡¯t know how capable you are or even what kind of person you are. If you were the leader of a team like mine, would you simply ept anybody who just wants to join?¡±

    Su Jin was now very cautious when it came to taking in new members. Based on what he gathered from the conversation between Ye Yun and Alex the day before, he knew that Ye Yun had allowed Shen Wu to join her team. And what happened in the end? The entire team had been torn apart and it seemed like Ye Yun and Alex were the only ones who survived. Su Jin could not ignore the serious lessons he could learn from their experience.

    ¡°Alright then! You can test me.¡± The man also felt that his request was a little too ridiculous, so he patted his chest and said, ¡°I¡¯m someone considered good in fighting, so while I might not always be of help, I will not be the one to drag the team down in a Challenge.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How many Challenges have you passed?¡± asked Su Jin rather curiously.

    ¡°41 Challenges,¡± replied the man without hesitation.

    The four at the table gasped. They had never heard of anybody who had passed 41 Challenges before.

    Su Jin stared in disbelief at the man and asked puzzledly, ¡°41 Challenges? You would have amassed enough points to get out of the Handbook universe, right?¡±

    The man did not refute that point and nodded. He had a bitter smile on his lips as he said, ¡°I had enough points by the time Ipleted a little more than 30 Challenges, but¡­sometimes thingse to a point where yourck of points isn¡¯t the only thing preventing you from leaving the Handbook¡¯s universe.¡±

    Su Jin could empathize with that. Even if Su Jin had enough points right now, he wouldn¡¯t choose to leave the Handbook¡¯s universe. He needed the Handbook to make himself powerful enough to get Ye Yun back. He figured that this middle-aged man probably had a reason like that for choosing to remain as an owner.

    ¡°Then¡­can you tell me what¡¯s stopping you from leaving?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The man paused to think about this for a moment, then pulled his wallet out. He took out a photo of a young girl from inside and gave it a fatherly smile.

    ¡°This little girl here is my daughter. She¡­passed away from an illness five years ago. I wasn¡¯t an owner five years ago, so even though her illness wasn¡¯t incurable, I didn¡¯t have the means to get her treated.¡± He used his thumb to touch the face of the little girl in the photo with a gentle look in his eyes.

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to feel bad, because¡­I will revive her!¡± The man carefully ced the photo back in his wallet again and had a determined look on his face.

    ¡°Revive her?¡± Everyone stared at him in shock.

    The man grinned back at them and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m going to revive her. Over the past few years, besides going through Challenges every month, I¡¯ve spent the rest of my time gathering information. I¡¯ve found at least three ways I can revive the dead.¡±

    Chu Yi¡¯s eyes brightened instantly. His father had passed away because he had been too young to understand the consequences of his actions back then. If the Handbook had a way to revive the dead, he wasn¡¯t going to pass on that opportunity.

    Kano Mai¡¯s eyes shone brightly too. She had someone in mind too. Situ Jin and Su Jin looked interested to find out more as well. After living long enough on Earth, most people would have someone they would be happy to revive.

    ¡°Revive the dead? How can you be sure that someone has really been revived?¡± Su Jin was the calmest among the four. He went on in a low voice, ¡°The Handbook is driven by a very powerful force that¡¯s almost godlike. If he makes someone with the same memories and the same appearance, would that be considered a revival of the dead?¡±

    The man nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, but what do you think humans are? If there¡¯s someone with the same memories as you, the same appearance as you and the same emotions as you, would you consider him merely a duplicate? I think that¡¯s a true revival.¡±

    ¡°Of course, my ideas are a little biased. It¡¯s true that the Handbook is capable of all sorts of supernatural things. Replicating someone¡¯s memories, emotions and body is one possibility, but there¡¯s also the possibility that you can revive someone the more traditional way, which is to bring her soul back from theher world and recreate my daughter!¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to say to that. This was bordering on the philosophical, and the man wasn¡¯t entirely wrong either. Could one really consider someone with the exact same body containing all the memories and real emotions merely a duplicate? Perhaps not.

    ¡°So, what are these three methods you¡¯ve found out?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°The first one is to find a god and make use of their powers to revive a person. But it¡¯s too hard to find one and it¡¯s almost impossible to find one in the Handbook¡¯s universe, so hoping to use their powers is just ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°The second way is to get a particr elixir. Legend has it that once a team reaches the highest level possible, such an elixir will appear in the team¡¯s Hell Domain. It can create a body and bring back someone who has died.¡±

    ¡°Thest method is the Gods¡¯ Ceremony.¡±

    ¡°The Gods¡¯ Ceremony!¡± Su Jin and his team raised an eyebrow. The Key to Immortality they had received from thest Challenge was one of the items for the Gods¡¯ Ceremony.

    ¡°ording to the legend, if you sacrifice the items for the Ceremony in a particr pattern, you will receive a divine gift that can revive the dead.¡±

    All three methods were extremely hard to achieve, which exined why this man had not fulfilled his wish despite having gone through more than 40 Challenges and had chosen to continued ploughing through Challenges.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°The first and third method require you to put in effort on your own. Only the second method requires an outstanding team. That¡¯s why you¡¯vee for us.¡±

    The man smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s a win-win situation. You can test me if you like. If I don¡¯t qualify for the team, then I won¡¯t pester you guys anymore. How about that?¡±

    Su Jin looked at his team mates and they all nodded at the same time. The man¡¯s information on reviving the dead was simply too incredible and they believed that he had more information on hand. The other three were willing to take him in based on this information alone, even though there was still a risk that this would turn out to be a bad decision.

    The man noticed that Su Jin was still hesitant, so he said, ¡°There are many people who really want me to join their teams, butpared to your team, their teams don¡¯t have enough potential. Believe me: I¡¯m really sincere in wanting to join your team.¡±

    ¡°You want to join Team Boning Knife so badly? Just because wepleted a Level A Challenge perfectly before?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t really understand. Completing a Level A Challenge might be really tough, but wanting to join a team just because of that sounded rather odd to him.

    But the man nodded very confidently. ¡°Of course that¡¯s the reason why I want to join your team. I suppose you have no idea whatpleting a Level A Challenge perfectly really signifies.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Su Jin nodded. Level A Challenges were very hard and almost every owner had died in that Challenge. But he still felt that one Challenge alone wasn¡¯t enough to prove anything.

    ¡°After I became an owner, I¡¯ve seen a total of four teamsplete a Level A Challenge perfectly and all four teams eventually became top tier teams. Level A teams. I don¡¯t know if Team Boning Knife will be able to get there, but at this point in time, it¡¯s the one that¡¯s most likely to reach that point,¡± said the man with a smile.

    ¡°I like watching ser, so I know that if you¡¯re making a bet, you¡¯ve got to ce your bets on the team that¡¯s most likely to win, because the chances that a team would suddenly win out of the blue are just too low.¡±

 Chapter 170: Visiting the Temple

    <h4>Chapter 170: Visiting the Temple</h4>

    In the end, all of them agreed to ept the middle-aged man into the team. Just like before, Su Jin let a drop of his blood fall on the man¡¯s hand, then once the ck demon¡¯s hand shattered, it turned into the emblem of Team Boning Knife and appeared on the man¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Hoho! I¡¯m so happy that I made it into Team Boning Knife today! Let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Chen, I¡¯m a veteran and my Spirit Power is shapeshifting,¡± said Wu Chen with a big grin on his face.

    .

    ¡°Shapeshifting?¡± The rest of the team was very curious to find out more. There were so many types of Spirit Power. Some were more direct sources of power like psychokinesis and internal energy, while others were more passive like the power of slothfulness and numbing. It was hard to say which one was better than the other. It all depended on the situation.

    Wu Chen smiled faintly as he stood in front of Chu Yi. His body began to change like he was made of sticine as his skin shrank in some ces and expanded in others. Less than 20 secondster, a second Chu Yi stood before the team, the only difference being their clothing.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Chu Yi himself gasped in shock as he stared at Wu Chen. As far as he could tell, Wu Chen looked exactly like him. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell himself apart.

    The rest were amazed as well. Su Jin paused to think, then raised Wu Chen¡¯s arm to take a look. ¡°Is your ability to change based only on what your eyes are able to see?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I can change into anything I see. But only living things.¡± Wu Chen nodded and reverted to his own look again.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re not able to replicate any parts that are hidden from your view. Or at least, you¡¯re not able to do that if you don¡¯t know about it.¡± Su Jin was a very observant man. From the outside, Wu Chen did look just like Chu Yi. But Chu Yi had a mole on his inner arm that Wu Chen had failed to reproduce.

    The team felt that Wu Chen¡¯s Spirit Power would do wonders in a Challenge. As for the whole thing about reviving the dead, Wu Chen didn¡¯t hide any details from them either. They were curious about the Gods¡¯ Ceremony, so they asked him about it.

    ¡°If you get five different items for it, you can activate the Ceremony and receive a reward from it. There are certain special items that must be included in this list of five in order to receive the reward to revive the dead. I am only sure of three of such items at the moment.¡± Revival of the dead was something that was extremely important to him, so while exchanging information, he was always sensitive to anything pertaining to this topic.

    He opened his Handbook and showed the team the three items he knew about. Basically, he just needed one of the three items listed to be the main item in the Gods¡¯ Ceremony. Then only would he get the reward he wanted.

    Other than Situ Jin, the other three blinked in surprise at the list. Out of the three items, one of them was actually the Key to Immortality.

    They exchanged nces but didn¡¯t say anything. Wu Chen was not really a trusted member at the moment, after all. If he became someone they trusted, they might tell him that they actually had one of these.

    After they left Hell¡¯s Bar, they returned to their own universes. Su Jin had just returned to the real world when he received a call from Situ Jin.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t have anything in particr to do, thene to B City for a while. If you¡¯re going to join the Department of Supernatural Affairs, you¡¯d need toplete some paperwork,¡± said Situ Jin.

    It was true that Su Jin had no reason to remain at Cloud Mountain anymore. He looked out at the peaks that were slowly turning white again. Perhaps the mountain range would look like what it used to in just a few months¡¯ time. But it was hard to tell when he would be able to get Ye Yun back from Shen Wu.

    Kano Mai was worried about letting Su Jin travel by himself, so she was prepared to buy another ticket to travel with Su Jin to B City. But when she tried purchasing a ticket, she got a call from the airline.

    ¡°Someone¡¯s already bought us tickets?¡± Kano Mai was surprised.

    Su Jin thought about what could have happened, then said, ¡°It¡¯s probably Situ Jin. He¡¯s a high ranking government official after all. He just needs to pull a few strings and he¡¯d get something like this done very easily. That¡¯s where all our tax dors are going!¡±

    By the time they got on the ne and arrived in B City, it was the next morning. As the capital city of the country, B City¡¯s airport security checks were a lot stricter than other ces. The security officers inspected Su Jin from head to toe and were just short of dismantling his nail clipper at the rate they were going. But despite all that, none of them saw his Handbook at all.

    After they walked out from the terminal, someone approached them immediately. He wore sses and looked like a well-mannered gentleman. Su Jin remembered him. This man had broken into his house along with Situ Jin thest time and tried to attack him with poison.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Su! We¡¯ve met before. And this youngdy here must be Miss Kano, right? I¡¯m sses. Mr. Situ got me to pick you guys up,¡± said sses with a smile. He had ambushed Su Jin with Situ Jin back then and Su Jin was the one who personally saw them out of the house too.

    He ushered them into a car and they arrived near a bustling business district after about half an hour. Su Jin found it strange that both the special police and the Department of Supernatural Affairs chose to base themselves in an office that was smack in the middle of the city center.

    Situ Jin was already waiting for them by the time sses brought them into the Department¡¯s office. He nodded slightly at his two guests, then called all his subordinates together.

    ¡°Let me introduce someone to all of you. This gentleman here is Mr. Su Jin. From today onwards, he will be one of our consultants, so I hope everyone will work well together,¡± Situ Jin gave a brief introduction.

    All of them were rather surprised. Ever since they moved into the new millennium, the Department had not hired any new consultants. They didn¡¯t expect their department head to suddenly bring one who was not only young, but also someone they had investigated previously.

    Situ Jin could sense the tension in the room, so he frowned and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you have any objections?¡±

    ¡°No, no, not at all. It¡¯s just that¡­we¡¯ve not hired a consultant for a long time now,¡°said King Kong in a small voice.

    ¡°That was because we didn¡¯t need to in the past,¡± said Situ Jin. He continued to introduce his subordinates to Su Jin, ¡°This is King Kong, this is sses, and this is Grandmaster. You¡¯ve met them before. Thisdy over here is Bo Ya. There are some others who are busy carrying out other work outside, so I¡¯ll introduce them to you another time.¡±

    Su Jin nodded at each person as a way of greeting them, then Situ Jin pped his hands and said, ¡°Alright now, everyone, you can go back to doing whatever you were doing earlier. Bo Ya, please help me make three cups of tea and send them into my office.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mr. Situ.¡± Bo Ya nodded.

    Situ Jin motioned for Su Jin and Kano Mai to follow him into his office. Su Jin noticed that Situ Jin¡¯s office was only a few square metersrge, so heughed and said, ¡°Your office is a little small for a department head, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t spend a lot of time inside here anyway, so the size doesn¡¯t really matter. Moreover,nd in B City costs an arm and a leg. The Department has spent all its budget on improving and upgrading our equipment, so we don¡¯t have a lot of money left to spend on having a big office,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Su Jin chuckled andmented, ¡°Oh? Are you also going to tell me that the government didn¡¯t provide you with a ce to stay?¡±

    ¡°They did, but one of our improvement projectscked funding, so I sold it,¡± said Situ Jin, as if this were a normal thing to do.

    Both Su Jin and Kano Mai were shocked. Selling an apartment provided by the government for work was definitely unheard of. Then again, this was Situ Jin they were talking about. Given his personality, doing something like that was totally usible.

    ¡°Are there any more procedures I need to go through? If not, I¡¯d like to return to S City.¡± Su Jin was very tired and wanted to just go home and sleep. He didn¡¯t want to entertain Situ Jin anymore.

    Situ Jin immediately replied, ¡°There¡¯s one fellow I¡¯ve been investigating in B City for a very long time now and I¡¯m now sure he¡¯s an owner. Over the past one year, several murders have happened around him and I think he¡¯s the culprit. Come with me.¡±

    Su Jin had already agreed to help Situ Jin when he needed any, so he got Kano Mai to stay behind in the office to rest, while the two men left to look for that owner.

    It was afternoon by the time Situ Jin finally brought Su Jin to their destination. Su Jin nearly lost his temper when he saw where the owner was supposedly living. They had arrived at a daoist temple.

    ¡°Are you sure about this? This is a daoist temple!¡± Su Jin whispered to Situ Jin as they hid in the shadows nearby.

    Situ Jin lookedpletely unfazed by this. ¡°Why are you so surprised? You mean daoist priests can¡¯t be chosen as Handbook owners?¡±

    Su Jin still felt like something was amiss. Suddenly, an idea struck him and he said, ¡°Wait. This is Xu Ran¡¯s territory, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Situ Jin averted his gaze and Su Jin let out a sigh. He didn¡¯t expect Situ Jin to actually bring him directly to Xu Ran, and Situ Jin didn¡¯t look like he was here on a friendly visit.

    ¡°What are you trying to do? At the very least, I need to know, right?¡± said Su Jin exasperatedly.

    Situ Jin paused to think, then decided to tell Su Jin. ¡°The priest in charge of this temple is not Xu Ran, but his teacher, Qiu Chan. Priest Qiu Chan has secluded himself here for a very long time now and I feel like something¡¯s not right about it, so I wanted you toe here and take a look.¡±

    ¡°Something¡¯s not quite right? So you¡¯re hoping to sneak in?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Situ Jin nodded. Su Jin sighed again and said, ¡°Look. Xu Ran is a lot more powerful than I am. We¡¯re in his territory, so as long as we set one foot inside there, he¡¯ll know immediately. There is no way we can sneak in.¡±

    Su Jin had witnessed for himself how powerful Xu Ran¡¯s psychokinesis was. Trying to sneak into a ce he kept watch on was definitely impossible. Even someone at Su Jin¡¯s level would be able to cover the entire temple with their psychokinesis. You couldn¡¯t possibly go undetected at all.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Xu Ran¡¯s in N City, which is really far from here. I wouldn¡¯t have brought you here otherwise.¡± Situ Jin seemed to have already checked everything out beforehand and was just waiting for Su Jin toe over and help him. ¡°Enough of this nonsense. All these priests are very tricky and I need you to think of a way to somehow dull their senses or something.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have a choice. Since he was already here, he had to go with whatever Situ Jin wanted to do. He sent his psychokinesis into the temple, only to immediately sense an identical energy surge right back out.

 Chapter 171: Temple of the Living Dead

    <h4>Chapter 171: Temple of the Living Dead</h4>

    As a familiar energy came surging toward him, Su Jin narrowed his eyes as he detected immediately that this energy was psychokinesis, which was most probably a defense mechanism set up by Xu Ran.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Situ Jin when he saw the change in Su Jin¡¯s expression.

    Su Jin did not respond because he was using all the psychokinesis he had to counter Xu Ran¡¯s. He had to admit that Xu Ran had set up a fantastic defense mechanism around this ce. Once it detected an intruder, it would attack the intruder¡¯s consciousness and send information about the intruder to Xu Ran.

    But Xu Ran probably never thought that this intruder would be someone with the same Spirit Power as himself, like Su Jin was. Su Jin was using his own psychokinesis to calm the waves of psychokinesis attacking him, slowly injecting his own into the sea of psychokinesis particles to take control of it and quiet it down again.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Su Jin exhaled deeply, then widened his eyes in disbelief. He frowned slightly as he used his psychokinesis to scan the priests in the temple and let out a gasp.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Situ Jin was getting more and more anxious because he didn¡¯t know what was going on with Su Jin.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure how to exin things either. He scratched his head, hesitated for a moment, then said, ¡°The temple is filled with dead people!¡±

    ¡°Dead people?¡±

    ¡°Uh huh. These priests are all dead¡­ or wait, calling them dead isn¡¯t quite right either¡­¡± Su Jin really couldn¡¯t find the right way to exin the situation.

    After a while, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way. These priests have bodies that are alive, but they don¡¯t have a soul, so they¡¯re like the living dead.¡±

    ¡°What? They can talk and they can move too?!¡± Situ Jin found it hard to believe what Su Jin just said, especially since he could see clearly that the priests were speaking to one another, while some were doing exercises and others were burning incense. There was no way a dead person could do any of this.

    Su Jin tried a different way of exining it, ¡°You¡¯ve seen androids before, haven¡¯t you? These fellows are kind of like androids, just that someone programmed them with a very detailed operating system, which includes almost every possible scenario. So, they know how to react in a particr situation, what expression they should have and what they should say. Even if you tried to talk to one of them, you wouldn¡¯t notice anything unusual about them. But¡­ no matter how intricately designed and programmed a robot is, it¡¯s still a robot. They don¡¯t have souls.¡±

    Situ Jin was too stunned to speak for a while. He paused to digest this information, then said, ¡°But their bodies¡­ used to belong to living people, right?¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. They used to be living people.¡±

    ¡°Who¡­ who did this?¡± asked Situ Jin. He sounded hesitant because he already knew the answer to this question. The only person who could do such a thing in this ce was Xu Ran.

    ¡°Xu Ran,¡± said Su Jin immediately. ¡°Xu Ran has the same Spirit Power as me, that is, psychokinesis. To put it inly, these people don¡¯t have¡­ a soul or consciousness. Someone removed the core of their very being and reced it with a man-made soul, which is why they¡¯re like programmed androids. I¡¯m very certain that this operating system they¡¯re running on was created with psychokinesis.¡±

    Situ Jin had a frosty glint in his eyes. He and Xu Ran were not just friends but very close friends, but that did not mean he would turn a blind eye if Xu Ranmitted wicked deeds.

    ¡°Is it possible for these people to go back to the way they were?¡± Situ Jin asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin stared back at Situ Jin nkly while he pondered this question. Then, heughed bitterly and said, ¡°I¡¯m not really sure. My understanding and use of psychokinesis is nowhere near Xu Ran¡¯s. It¡¯s like how you can¡¯t expect a middle school student to be able to answer a research topic that a university professor is working on.¡±

    He put himself in a much humbler position because Xu Ran had left such a deep impression on him. They were both owners with Psychokic Spirit Power, but Su Jin felt like an elementary school student in front of Xu Ran. He had grown a lot in this aspect since the first time he met Xu Ran, but he was still unable to turn seven owners to dust in an instant like what Xu Ran did in his house in S City.

    ¡°So now¡­¡± Situ Jin wasn¡¯t sure about going into the temple anymore. He had witnessed how powerful Su Jin could be, yet Su Jin said that he was nowhere near Xu Ran¡¯s level. He could hardly imagine how incredible his friend could be.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in,¡± said Su Jin resolutely all of a sudden. He looked at the puzzled Situ Jin and said, ¡°If Xu Ran were here, I¡¯d leave immediately. But since he¡¯s not here, then¡­this is actually as good as leaving the gate wide open to me.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t Xu Ran very formidable? Aren¡¯t you worried that he might notice something amiss?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°If someone else tried to enter the temple, they would definitely be discovered. But not me. If this temple were a pool of water and I were a drop of water, do you think someone would notice a drop of water in therger pool of water?¡±

    Situ Jin nodded with a thoughtful look on his face, while Su Jin walked right in. He ignored the priests that he walked past and the priests ignored him as well, as though they hadn¡¯t seen him at all.

    Su Jin waved to Situ Jin to follow him. Situ Jin was doubtful, but he walked in anyway. The priests ignored him too.

    After he caught up to Su Jin, he asked puzzledly, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Are they all blind?¡±

    ¡°How should I exin this? I guess you could say that I¡¯ve given you an invisibility cloak!¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    ¡°You can obviously see me, so this isn¡¯t an invisibility cloak at all,¡± grumbled Situ Jin as he followed behind Su Jin, earning a re from Su Jin.

    The two of them walked further into the temple. Situ Jin finally proved to be useful at this juncture because as a high ranking government official, he was able to get a copy of the temple¡¯s floor n.

    Situ Jin led the way and they made their way around the temple in no time. However, they did not discover anything else besides those android-like priests.

    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything of note around here.¡± Su Jin had mixed his own psychokinesis in with the psychokinesis that Xu Ran had left behind, so he felt like he was really in his element, like a fish swimming in water. If he ran into an enemy here, he would definitely be a lot more powerful than he already was.

    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s one more area we need to check out.¡± Situ Jin pointed to a standalone building on the map.

    The temple wasn¡¯t really that big, so they found that standalone building quite quickly. Su Jin pushed the door open to see an old man sitting cross-legged inside, his features resembling someone from a wuxia story.

    ¡°Priest Qiu Chan!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eye twitched violently. The man seated inside this building was Priest Qiu Chan, the one who had protected the country several times and was known as a national treasure.

    But Su Jin¡¯s expression did not flinch. He walked closer to the old man, scanned him over, then said to Situ Jin, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Those priests outside are the living dead, but this guy here is really dead.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s really dead?! But that¡¯s imposs¡­¡± Situ Jin wanted to say that it was impossible for the old man to be dead, but after seeing those android-like priests for himself, it seemed like anything was possible now.

    Su Jin looked closely at Qiu Chan and found that the old man looked just like a real person, except that he showed no signs of life. He seemed more like a wax statue.

    ¡°Psychokinesis is not what keeps him going. No matter how powerful one¡¯s psychokinesis is, it has its limits too,¡± muttered Su Jin as he reached a hand out to touch Qiu Chan¡¯s body.

    Woong! Once his hand touched Qiu Chan, the old man¡¯s eyes suddenly opened. A tiny beam of light shot out from them as a powerful suction force from within his body caused Su Jin¡¯s palm to get stuck to his shoulder.

    ¡°What just happened?¡± Situ Jin saw that Su Jin had tried to move away from Qiu Chan. Not only had he failed to do so, but his hand was now firmly on the old man¡¯s shoulder. Something had clearly gone wrong.

    Su Jin had a look of dismay on his face as he uttered through clenched teeth, ¡°I¡¯ve fallen for his trap. This priest is also a defense mechanism. Anybody who touches him will be trapped here and the victim will rapidly lose any energy within their body¡­I get it now. This Priest Qiu Chan moves by absorbing energy from others. I¡¯m like his battery now.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t only losing physical strength at a rapid rate, but his psychokinesis was depleting as well. He was going to turn into a dry corpse in no time.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked Situ Jin. He had a vicious glint in his eye as he said, ¡°Or¡­ why don¡¯t I blow Qiu Chan up?¡±

    ¡°No! You¡¯d attract Xu Ran¡¯s attention!¡± Su Jin immediately rejected Situ Jin¡¯s idea. Doing that might get him out of his current predicament, but that would definitely trigger a message of sorts to Xu Ran. And who knew what would happen if Xu Ran discovered that they¡¯d barged into the temple?

    Situ Jin frowned and said, ¡°Or else, I¡¯ll blow you up!¡±

    ¡°Why?!¡±

    ¡°If I make sure you explode beyond recognition, that will also guarantee that my identity will remain a secret. You¡¯re now a civil servant, so I¡¯m sure you understand that sometimes, sacrifices have to be made for the betterment of the country,¡± said Situ Jin gravely.

    ¡°Sacrifice my ass!¡± spat Su Jin angrily. He just knew this man meant trouble. How could Situ Jin expect him to give up his life on his first mission?

    ¡°What should we do then? We¡¯ve got to find a way out of this! You caused this problem, so you think of a solution yourself!¡± Situ Jin left Su Jin to solve the problem himself without thinking twice.

    Su Jin red at the other man fiercely and told himself that he¡¯d quit once he found a way to resolve this issue.

    He thought through what he could do and his eyes lit up as an idea hit him. Since he couldn¡¯t get out of this problem himself, he was going to borrow the power of the Handbook.

    Su Jin ced one hand on his Handbook and a badge appeared in his hand. This was a reward he got frompleting the Zombie Frenzy Challenge perfectly. He didn¡¯t expect it to be able to save him.

    ¡°I¡¯m only able to use this method once, so please, do NOT touch Priest Qiu Chan!¡± Su Jin instructed Situ Jin. He crushed the badge and a white beam of light appeared for a second, then disappeared along with Su Jin.

    Su Jin now stood in the midst of skyscrapers. The entire ce was deserted, but there were no more zombies on the street. It seemed like this world was moving in a good direction now.

    ¡°Since I¡¯m here, I¡¯ve got to find a way to get my hands on those things.¡± Su Jin walked out from the shadows of the buildings and began searching for people.

 Chapter 172: One More Time

    <h4>Chapter 172: One More Time</h4>

    The city was quiet and deserted. Su Jin walked for an entire afternoon and didn¡¯t run into a single person. But just because he didn¡¯t see anyone didn¡¯t mean no one was there. He had returned to the same world as the Zombie Frenzy Challenge, but his Spirit Power was not curbed this time, which reduced the danger he was in tremendously. In fact, he had already noticed someone was following him about an hour ago.

    The city had clearly been cleaned up and the bodies all over the road had disappeared. The random vehicles had all been neatly parked by the side, which meant that someone had taken the trouble to restore order around here.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see anybody only because there are just too few humans left, I suppose. There aren¡¯t enough of them to proliferate the entire city,¡± muttered Su Jin to himself. He wasn¡¯t sure about the timeline he had entered into, but based on how clear the city was, he figured it wasn¡¯t too long after he left.

    ¡°You! You¡¯ve been discovered by us, so stop walking and let us inspect you!¡± a voice resounded from above.

    Su Jin stopped walking and looked up to see more than ten people standing along a corridor at the top of a tall building. Ady among them was yelling at him through a loudspeaker.

    ¡°That¡¯s all the humans there are?¡± Su Jin stuffed his hands into his pockets. When the people in the building saw that he had stopped, they got onto a flying tform that resembled a magic carpet and descended to the first floor.

    The leader of this group was thedy who had spoken earlier. Her expression was grim and she was dressed in a tracksuit. She had a ss rifle on her back and there was a green liquid inside the rifle.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s that so-called vine.¡± Su Jin recognized it immediately. He was the one who gave the surviving humans here this liquid, after all.

    ¡°Who are you? Why are you wandering about here?¡± asked the woman sternly.

    Su Jin replied, ¡°When the disaster happened, my family hid ourselves underground. We¡¯ve run out of supplies so I had no choice but toe back to the surface again, only to find that¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ to find that all the zombies are gone.¡± Thedy smiled, a sign that she believed him. After all, many people went hiding underground when the apocalypse hit, so it sounded about right.

    ¡°Yep,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    She held out a hand and said, ¡°My name is Katrina and I¡¯m in charge of safeguarding this city as well as clearing this ce of any remaining zombies. Wee back to human civilization.¡±

    ¡°My name¡¯s Kane!¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Lawrence!¡± ¡°Oscar here!¡± The people standing behind Katrina introduced themselves as well.

    ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Su Jin!¡± Su Jin smiled and nodded at them.

    Katrina said to him, ¡°You cane back with us for now. We need to run a small test on you first.¡±

    ¡°A test?¡± Su Jin looked at her puzzledly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we just need to confirm if you¡¯ve been given the Key to Immortality before, since that¡¯s what started this disaster in the first ce. Based on what I can see, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve had it before, so we just need to go through the formalities to confirm this. You don¡¯t have to worry too much about it,¡± Katrina quickly exined things to Su Jin to ease his fears.

    Su Jin nodded, but he still looked a little doubtful as he asked, ¡°Such a long time has passed, though. Anyone who¡¯s taken the Key to Immortality should be dead by now, right?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so. Those who¡¯ve taken the Key to Immortality have all turned into zombies and most of them don¡¯t exist anymore, but we still have to be careful, in case there are others besides that generation who¡¯ve taken it,¡± said Katrina with a smile.

    Su Jin nodded and got onto the flying tform with the rest. They flew together to the middle of the city, talking andughing merrily along the way. Now that the worst of the apocalypse was over, they no longer felt so pressured and were much more rxed.

    ¡°The Key to Immortality shouldn¡¯t exist anymore, right? If nobody has made more during this long period of crisis, shouldn¡¯t the supply have dried up?¡± said Su Jin rather flippantly.

    But Katrina shook her head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure. We¡¯ve already discovered the Key to Immortality in at least three ces. The ones we found in two of the ces have been destroyed, but thest batch should be getting destroyed in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why aren¡¯t they destroyed immediately after being discovered?¡± asked Su Jin with an innocent and clueless expression on his face.

    ¡°Hoho, I¡¯m not surprised that you have no idea. This new generation of humans understand very little about the characteristics of the Key to Immortality. That thing is a drug that can grant humans longevity, so it contains an extremely powerful energy inside and you need to be really careful when you destroy any of it. If you¡¯re not careful, the energy from a few tubes of it could st an entire city to pieces,¡± said Lawrence with a heartyugh.

    ¡°Gosh! Which city is thisst batch of Key to Immortality in? Where is it? Is everything going to be okay?¡± Su Jin purposely put on an anxious expression.

    Katrina smiled and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Sunshine City is an A-tier city, so their defense mechanisms and all that are top notch. Even if something happens, they¡¯ll be able to handle it. It¡¯s very safe over there.¡±

    Su Jin had a look of amazement as he said, ¡°That sounds really good! If only I could live there. Then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry all day.¡±

    ¡°Haha! That¡¯s not difficult. There are too few humans right now and we¡¯re all gathered within a few major cities. If you want to go there, you can work with us for a while and clean up the garbage in the cities. Once you¡¯ve umted enough contribution points, you¡¯d be allowed to migrate there,¡± said Oscar with a smile.

    ¡°I need contribution points?¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. He then smiled at Oscar and asked, ¡°Is Sunshine City very far from here?¡±

    ¡°Not really. If you go 500 kilometers south, you¡¯d see a majestic city. That¡¯s Sunshine City,¡± said Oscar.

    Su Jin nodded. The Badge of the Fools had not sent him to this ce randomly after all. The reward forpleting this Challenge perfectly ought to have something to do with the Key to Immortality.

    ¡°As long as it¡¯s not too far.¡± Su Jin nodded, then walked to the edge of the flying tform and looked down. Katrina and the rest got a shock.

    ¡°What are you doing? Don¡¯t do anything silly!¡± Katrina shouted at him. The rest started shouting at him as well, thinking that Su Jin was trying to kill himself.

    Su Jin smiled and leaped off without saying anything, falling rapidly from a height that was more than a hundred meters above ground. This move stunned Katrina and the rest. They never thought that a fellow human would suddenly choose tomit suicide.

    All of them had puzzled and shocked looks on their faces, but since Su Jin had already made the jump, there was no way to save him. Katrina sighed and said, ¡°Maybe he¡¯s spent too long hiding underground and that took its toll on him mentally.¡±

    The rest nodded in agreement, since there was no other way to exin what just happened. After the apocalypse ended, they had rescued several humans who had gone into hiding alone. So many of them suffered from all sorts of mental illnesses from hiding in fear for such a prolonged period of time, so they were not surprised if it was the same for Su Jin.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin did not turn into a pile of minced meat like they imagined. He crashed into a building, which copsed dramatically as if a bomb had exploded inside it.

    He stretched his limbs for a bit and was fine to keep walking. His physical body was very strong now, so falling from a height of more than a hundred meters or even a few hundred meters wasn¡¯t a problem to him.

    He walked out of the rubble, confirmed which direction he should be headed in and began running. He wanted the Key to Immortality within Sunshine City. He wasn¡¯t worried about whether this world would notice that he wasn¡¯t an ordinary human. A Challenge activated by a Level D guiding object wasn¡¯t dangerous to begin with, so Su Jin was more than able to ovee any dangers that came his way.

    Five hundred odd kilometers wasn¡¯t far to Su Jin. Before long, he saw a huge city ahead that was surrounded by a simrly huge outer wall. If one looked down from the sky, it would indeed look like a sun embedded into the ground.

    He walked closer to the city and touched the outer wall. It was made from a special sort of metal and was very strong. It was probably built to keep out any zombies and mutants back then.

    After he estimated how much strength he would need, he punched the wall hard. Arge section of the metal wall sank in. He gave it two more punches and made a hole in the wall.

    Through the hole, he could see that the other side was a dim corner of the city. Nobody discovered him after he snuck in, and he figured that this hole in the wall was going to remain there for a long time toe if he didn¡¯t tell anybody about it.

    He continued walking aimlessly on the streets. Compared to the empty city he firstnded in, this one was way more well developed. In fact, it wasparable to some major cities in the real world.

    However, based on the things he saw on the streets and what the people were holding, he guessed that the level of technology here was more advanced than the real world. At the very least, his world wasn¡¯t filled with cleaner androids yet.

    Su Jin quickly found his target. Sunshine City had ns to destroy that Key to Immortality they had that very night and made announcements about it in every corner of the city. It was purposely done in such a way as to strike terror in the hearts of people so that they never forgot the time when this Key to Immortality brought great cmity to mankind.

    He did not waste any time and headed straight for where the city was going to destroy the Key. He had to get it before it was destroyed; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t get another chance to.

    The venue was the Summer za, and when he got there, he saw that many government officials were already setting up the ce. None of them looked like they wanted the Key to Immortality, probably because this disaster had helped them understand how truly terrifying this Key was. But Su Jin merely scoffed. This disaster had been brought upon this world by humans. There was no problem with the Key to Immortality at all.

    Su Jin was about to sneak into the venue when he noticed that there was a group that had gotten here ahead of him. There were seven men in total, and they moved stealthily toward the venue.

    ¡°Oho, looks like there are still some who can¡¯t resist the temptation of living forever,¡± thought Su Jin with a grin. People who disregarded the safety of others and only cared about themselves existed in every world, after all.

 Chapter 173: Familiar Face

    <h4>Chapter 173: Familiar Face</h4>

    The Key to Immortality was like synthetic drugs to this world, and most people hated it with a vengeance. But longevity was a temptation that some people couldn¡¯t resist. There would always be people who would stoop to anything in order to gain long life.

    Su Jin followed the group to where the Key to Immortality was kept. This building seemed to be for government use. It was a very tall building, and its ss walls shone brightly in the sun.

    The group of seven seemed very familiar with this ce. Immediately after they entered the building, they went down an area that was within the security guards¡¯ blind spot. One of them had a machine the size of his palm that made any camera he came near enough to turn the other way, so they passed through without being captured on camera at all. In that way, even those watching the cameras did not discover them either.

    ¡°They¡¯re really well-prepared for this!¡± thought Su Jin. After all, it was going to be hard to enter and move around in a heavily guarded building like this one.

    Compared to how the seven men were sneaking about carefully, Su Jin looked like he was walking with ease. In reality, Su Jin could move at a speed faster than the camera could catch, so unless someone slowed the footage down by nearly a hundred times, they wouldn¡¯t notice him at all.

    ¡°Boss, is the Key to Immortality really here?¡± asked one of them. They seemed rather nervous, since what they were doing was going against what the rest of the world wanted.

    The man leading the way had a nasty look in his eye. He nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s here. I¡¯ve already read through all the information and the only ce where Sunshine City could keep it would be here.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up when they heard what their leader said. Su Jin, on the other hand, found that these men were progressing way too slowly. He used his psychokinesis to take control of their minds and found out where the Key was from the leader¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Wow, this guy¡¯s really vicious.¡± Su Jin also discovered that the leader was prepared to kill everyone else with him after they got the Key.

    Most of the world saw the Key to Immortality as a poison and evil substance, but it was indeed able to prolong a person¡¯s life. Those who consumed it before had lived a very long life before they turned into zombies.

    Compared to just living for a few decades, there were some who did not mind living for a few more decades. After that, dying and turning into a mutant did not make much of a difference to them, so the Key to Immortality was still a very valuable substance even during this time, and there were people who were willing to pay a high price for it.

    The batch in Sunshine City probably only had slightly over ten portions, and if everyone in the group took one each, there would only be half or less left to sell. If the leader killed the other six, then he could make more money. The leader did not n to share the spoils with the other six at all.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t interested in their ns and overtook them immediately. He already knew where the batch was and just had to get to it before they did.

    After the seven of them were released from Su Jin¡¯s control, they did not notice a thing. They just felt like they had gone into a daze for a couple of seconds.

    Su Jin followed the information he had gleaned from the leader¡¯s mind and quickly arrived at a giant safe room. This was literally a safe that was the size of a room. He knocked on the walls of the room to find that it was made entirely from pure copper and was around 20 centimeters thick.

    He raised an eyebrow with some admiration. This safe room did not use any fancy materials or technology and relied on other methods to protect the things inside.

    He ced a hand on the wall and spread his psychokinesis throughout the room so that the inside of the door to the room became clear to him. There was an intricately designed mechanism in the door. One needed to scan their fingerprint, then follow the instructions on the screen to go through more than ten steps to open the door. There was no password required.

    But if any of the steps went wrong, the door would not open and the rm would be activated. Trying to open this door without the correct instructions would be almost impossible.

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t difficult for Su Jin at all. He used his psychokinesis to take the mechanism apart and crushed itpletely so it wouldn¡¯t work at all.

    Without the mechanism, he could just push the door open. The pure copper door weighed at least a ton, so he felt that even if the seven men made it here, pushing this door open might prove too difficult for them.

    Immediately after he opened the door, he was disappointed. The room was empty except for a ss stand that was only a meter high. There was an indention in the ss which was of the same shape as the Key to Immortality that Su Jin had received before. This was probably where the Key had been ced previously.

    ¡°Did someone else take it away?¡± Su Jin frowned. Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps. A group of armed guards was making their way to this room.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been discovered?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. He hadn¡¯t set off any rms, yet someone had detected him.

    After thinking about it more carefully, Su Jin pped his head when he realized what must have happened. There was a problem with the mechanism that he had disassembled. It was supposed to set off the rm only if someone had not followed the ten odd steps to unlock the door, but in reality, the rm would probably go off as long as someone tried to open the door.

    Su Jin thought that was a really clever idea. Then again, it made sense to do something like that. This safe room was guarding the very important Key to Immortality after all. If someone wanted to conduct any checks or move the Key, the staff would know beforehand and nothing would happen even if they opened the door and the police were called. But if someone who hadn¡¯t made any prior arrangements were to try and open the door, the rm would be set off and the guards would know that they had an intruder.

    He was about to turn and leave when he saw beams of purple light appear inside the safe room. He realized that these copper walls were not just a simple defense mechanism but it was also used to conduct a powerful electrical current.

    Su Jin had a very strong physical body, but he still couldn¡¯t stroll past the electrical current just like that. He was still human, and he was still going to die if the voltage was high enough.

    Before long, he heard sounds of gunfire from outside the room. He wasn¡¯t surprised by themotion. The group of seven had probably arrived and happened to run into the guards, so they would naturally start fighting each other.

    The fight didn¡¯tst long, based on what he could hear. The seven of them had probably all been killed. The footsteps came closer and closer to the room. One of them now stood outside the room, and a group of heavily armed guards were standing behind him.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe someone could actually get in here. What a surprise,¡± said the man at the doorway, a Caucasian man with a long scar on his face, his muscr upper body clothed in only a wifebeater.

    ¡°Oh my, I didn¡¯t expect to be trapped here either.¡± Su Jin merely smiled. Being trapped here didn¡¯t pose much of a threat, now that other humans were here. He could use his psychokinesis to take control of them and get them to let him out.

    Just when Su Jin was about to use his psychokinesis on them, the muscr man suddenly eximed, ¡°Oh my god! It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s you!¡±

    The muscr man was so excited that if not for the electrical currents running through the room, he might actually run right in.

    Su Jin looked at him and narrowed his eyes, ¡°You know who I am?¡±

    ¡°Of course! You¡¯re like my god! Ten years ago, you were the one who gave me that drug that saved all of us! Have you forgotten?¡± said the man excitedly.

    Now that he mentioned it, Su Jin remembered. At the end of the Challenge, he had given the vine to a man in the Safe Zone. When he thought about it, this man did look like the man from that time.

    ¡°So it¡¯s you. It¡¯s been ten years, huh,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. A very short time had passed in the real world, but an entire decade had passed in this one.

    ¡°Sir, my name is Andrew de Roo, but you can just call me Andrew. How should I address you?¡± Andrew still looked so delighted to see Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m Su Jin! Could I ask if you can switch off this wall of electricity?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Andrew was about to nod when one of the guards next to him whispered something into his ear. Andrew¡¯s expression faltered for a moment, then he bowed to Su Jin and said apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mr. Su, but¡­ I don¡¯t have the rights to let you out of the room. I¡¯m afraid we have to go through a meeting and confirm that you¡¯re not dangerous before we can do anything. I¡¯m really sorry about that. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll persuade the rest.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t worried. He nodded and said, ¡°Sure. But please hurry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see to it now!¡± Andrew nodded, then turned and left.

    If Su Jin really wanted to just leave this ce, he could have taken control of their minds and gotten them to do his bidding. But he felt that since his aim was the Key to Immortality and the people here actually remembered him, he figured that he could make use of that and it might make his mission easier.

    After Andrew left, he arranged for a meeting via video call. The human world was now split into five major cities, of which Sunshine City was the biggest. The leaders of the five cities were now gathered in the same meeting.

    ¡°Mr. de Roo, you¡¯ve called for all five of us to meet using your special privilege. Did something disastrous happen?¡± asked an old and wise-looking gentleman.

    Andrew nodded. He said, ¡°As all of you know, our world was once living in terror and everything changed ten years ago, when a man came down from the sky like a god andnded within ourst Safe Zone. If he hadn¡¯t given us that drug that saved our civilization from further destruction, there would be no more humans left.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. But what has that got to do with this emergency meeting?¡± asked another person.

    Andrew took a deep breath and said, ¡°That man, that godlike man¡­ is back!¡±

 Chapter 174: The Legendary Su Jin

    <h4>Chapter 174: The Legendary Su Jin</h4>

    Andrew¡¯s words made everyone on the screen freeze. The elderly man who spoke first was also the first to realize what Andrew had just said.

    He said sternly, ¡°Make sure he doesn¡¯t get away. We must not let him disappear again. Ten years ago, he disappeared into thin air and until today, we¡¯ve not been able to understand what happened at all. He holds great secrets!¡± The old man stood up with a start like he had gone mad, making his screen shake a little.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We have to find out exactly where this manes from. He might be the key to helping humanity restore our former glory,¡± chimed in a beautiful woman.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what it takes. We¡¯ll give you the highest authority and you can use any weapons you need,¡± said another man in a suit without hesitation.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I want to say. I¡¯ll go with them.¡± Thest person was a plump man with a friendly face, but the glint in his eyes could make anyone shudder in fear.

    Andrew had a conflicted look on his face. The other four had made their stance clear, but it wasn¡¯t as if they hadn¡¯t witnessed how incredible Su Jin was back then. His voice was quiet as he said, ¡°Do you think we¡¯d be able to keep him here? All of you know how frightening he was at that time. We¡¯ve analyzed that fight between him and that Level 4 Mutant and our conclusion was that this man isn¡¯t human! Have you forgotten?¡±

    ¡°Of course we remember. That¡¯s why we¡¯re giving you the highest authority so that you can use any weapon you want without having to give a reason for it. Andrew, that man is powerful beyond belief. If he¡¯s really a human like all of us, then I¡¯m sure you know what we could get out of him, right?¡± said the plump man with a heartyugh.

    Of course Andrew knew what he was talking about. Su Jin had appeared and disappeared suddenly at that time and spent only a very short time here, but the impression he had leftsted a good ten years. He was still considered the messiah of mankind until today.

    There were even religions who imed that Su Jin was an apostle of God and used his sudden disappearance to prove that he had godly powers.

    The five leaders of the major cities, including Andrew, were not as foolish. They didn¡¯t believe in a god and only believed in powers they could see. To them, the incredible prowess that Su Jin possessed could be exined by science, just like how the humans several centuries ago managed to concoct the Key to Immortality that enabled mankind to almost live forever.

    ¡°I understand, but I cannot guarantee if I can capture him. Let me be realistic here. If he realizes what we¡¯re doing, we might¡­ we might end up incurring a wrath beyond our imagination.¡± Andrew was the most worried. He had the deepest impression of how incredible Su Jin had been. The man who had fallen from the sky to rescue them had really been no different from a god to him.

    The beautiful woman chuckled and looked at him intently with her blue eyes. ¡°Incur his wrath? Over the past ten years, we¡¯ve put in all our efforts to develop our weaponry. Even if a Level 4 Mutant from back then appears in front of us now, we¡¯d be able to kill it too! It¡¯s hard to say if that man¡¯s stronger or if a Level 4 Mutant is stronger. Even if he really bes angry, what could he possibly do to us?¡±

    Her words made everyone else nod slightly. Over the past ten years of peace, they had not advanced in the way they lived, but in weaponry and defense. Perhaps the trauma of having gone through a disaster that had nearly wiped them out made them believe that strength was everything.

    Andrew got up and ended the call. He let out a long sigh and had a worried look on his face. Was that man really only as strong as a Level 4 Mutant? If they miscalcted that, what new disasters would be wrought on this world again?

    He sorted himself out, then led some people back to the safe room. Su Jin was still waiting with a bored look on his face. A smile spread across Andrew¡¯s face when he saw Su Jin.

    ¡°Mr. Su, we¡¯ve confirmed that you¡¯re not a dangerous person, but¡­ in order to turn off the security systems here, I¡¯ll need the keys held by the leaders of the other four human cities, so please wait for a while more,¡± said Andrew apologetically.

    Su Jin looked at him and grinned, ¡°It¡¯s alright, Andrew¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Andrew felt as though something had struck the back of his head and he had lost focus for a few seconds.

    By the time he snapped out of his daze, he saw that Su Jin was frowning and shaking his head at him. Andrew¡¯s eyes widened and he felt his hair stand on end because he realized that Su Jin was no longer inside the safe room. Su Jin had made it past the electrical current and was standing right in front of him now.

    ¡°How did that¡­¡± Andrew¡¯s face paled as he realized that he was holding a special seal in his hands. That was the key to activating and deactivating the security systems of this building. Did he just help Su Jin to turn off the security system here?

    Actually, Su Jin had smelled a rat after Andrew left earlier, so once Andrew returned, Su Jin instantly looked through Andrew¡¯s memories. The result disappointed him greatly. He didn¡¯t expect to have turned into a coveted piece of meat by the humans of this world.

    But of course, he wasn¡¯t going to let these people just gobble him up. If they tried to eat him, he was going to make sure any bite they took would make them feel sick in the stomach.

    ¡°You have disappointed me greatly, so you must suffer the wrath of God!¡± Su Jin knew that he was no apostle of any god, but he found out from Andrew¡¯s memories that the humans of this world viewed him as their messiah and some ces even had statues of him. Using such an identity seemed appropriate for this situation.

    Andrew instantly became terrified. He was a warrior who had gone through hundreds of battles and had even survived a fight with a Mutant back in the day. But he felt a terror like he had never felt before as he stood before Su Jin.

    He did his best to suppress the terror in his heart and said in a deep voice, ¡°Mr. Su, I believe you know that over the past ten years, we¡¯ve advanced tremendously and¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­and your weaponry is more advanced than before, and your fighting prowess has increased significantly,¡± Su Jin finished the sentence for Andrew. He scoffed and said, ¡°But so what? You still have to pay the price for spheming God!¡±

    Su Jin spread his psychokinesis out to cover every person in front of him. Their hearts were all palpitating because Su Jin had used his psychokinesis to adjust how sensitive they were and how fearful they felt inside. To them, Su Jin now seemed like a demon from hell. Every word he uttered made them shudder uncontrobly.

    ¡°Are you¡­ are you really an apostle of God?¡± Andrew was indeed the best soldier among the group. He was still trying to remain rational even in such a situation and tried to speak as calmly as he could to Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°You can think of me as anything you like. I didn¡¯t want toe back here, but I didn¡¯t expect that filthy thing to still exist in this world. My mission this time is to annihte those filthy things.¡±

    ¡°Filthy things? Do you mean¡­¡±

    ¡°The Key to Immortality!¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression was stern as he said, ¡°I do not intend to be too deeply involved with any of you as I only want toplete my mission here. The Key to Immortality has crossed into God¡¯s boundary and I must destroy any that¡¯s left. If you stop me from doing so, then¡­ then humans shall have to suffer the wrath of God!¡±

    Immediately after he made that deration, Su Jin ced his hand on the Handbook he had hidden on the inside of his jacket. The Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow instantly appeared and he shot an arrow from it. A ck mist swooshed toward the safe room, consuming the entire room made from pure copper in an instant. It left absolutely no traces behind.

    Everyone was terrified by what they had just seen. What sort of power was this? Su Jin had merely shot an arrow at the room and the huge mass had disappeared into thin air. Not even the most powerful weapon they had now could do something like this. Was this truly the power of God?

    ¡°Give me the Key to Immortality now. I will leave immediately after that and never appear again.¡± Su Jin kept a straight face throughout. It wasn¡¯t always easy to pretend to be a deity of sorts, but it was much easier once you had supernatural powers to help look the part.

    Andrew was on the verge of a mental breakdown, while his soldiers hadpletely surrendered. Su Jin had made them extremely terrified of him, and only those with a strong heart like Andrew could still hold up.

    ¡°We¡­ we will be responsible for destroying the Key to Immortality. It is a poison to humans as well, so¡­ so God¡­ doesn¡¯t need to worry about it,¡± said Andrew through clenched teeth.

    Su Jin scoffed and said in a loud voice, ¡°Human desires will never be satisfied! The fear of death in all humans will make you hanker after immortality once more! God no longer believes any of you, so I must take that curse away. Now, in the name of God, I order you to hand over any remaining Keys you have. Otherwise, the apocalypse will strike again and I will cleanse this world of filth with my own hands!¡±

    All the soldiers behind Andrew copsed onto the floor, blood seeping from their nostrils and mouth. Only Andrew was left standing before Su Jin, trembling with a look of terror in his eyes.

    His heart finally couldn¡¯t take it anymore. He bowed toward Su Jin and murmured, ¡°Please, have mercy on us! I will give you all that we have! Please, have mercy on us!¡±

    Su Jin was a little surprised. He didn¡¯t expect this method to be so effective. After giving it some thought, he realized that he had been using his psychokinesis in a rather barbaric manner. Psychokinesis was actually a Spirit Power that could achieve a lot if it was used carefully and appropriately.

    He raised his fingers and used his psychokinesis to make Andrew raise his head again. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Bring me to where the Key to Immortality is kept!¡±

    Andrew nodded and started walking very quickly, allowing Su Jin to just follow behind him. They soon came to the top floor of the building, where a lot of live streaming equipment had been set up. Andrew and the rest had intended to live stream the process of destroying the Key to Immortality so that all humans in the world could witness it.

    Su Jin had arrived at the safe room just after Andrew had moved it to this ce, which exined why Su Jin didn¡¯t see it in the safe room.

    Eight vials of the Key to Immortalityy quietly on a tform inside. Andrew took the tform down and was about to hand it to Su Jin when he suddenly convulsed and copsed.

    This happened so quickly that not even Su Jin could stop it from happening. He saw a hole in Andrew¡¯s chest that went right through his body. Someone had shot Andrew from a distance.

 Chapter 175: A Leader or a Ruler

    <h4>Chapter 175: A Leader or a Ruler</h4>

    Su Jin looked toward where the sniper could be. His vision was much better than the average human, and he quickly found the sniper. It was a ball shaped machine suspended in the air, located a good 50 kilometers away. The machine resembled an eyeball, and there was a greenish smoke around the pupil area. That was probably left behind by the attack earlier.

    ¡°Oh? He¡¯s still alive?¡± Su Jin thought that Andrew was dead, but Andrew moved a little as hey on the floor with a pained look on his face. He was definitely still alive.

    Su Jin used his psychokinesis to examine Andrew¡¯s wound and was shocked to discover that this man was truly one of the best soldiers in the world. Just before he was hit by the bullet, he had actually shifted himself enough so that the bullet would not puncture his heart. That was why he was actually still alive.

    Su Jin stood in front of Andrew to protect him. After all, if that machine continued firing, Andrew was definitely going to die.

    ¡°Do you know who¡¯s attacking you?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°The leaders of the other four cities,¡± said Andrew through clenched teeth. The burning sensation from his wound caused him excruciating pain.

    Su Jin retrieved a leaf from the Tree of Longevity and fed it to Andrew. After consuming it, his wound healed up almost instantly. These leaves had a miraculous effect on ordinary humans.

    .

    ¡°This¡­ this must be a blessing from God!¡± If Andrew previously thought that Su Jin might be an apostle of God purely because of his strength, then now he truly believed that Su Jin was sent by God. There was no way anything created by humans could have healed a wound that was almost fatal.

    Those in higher positions often used a mixture of methods to both gain respect and gratitude from their subordinates, which tranted into loyalty, and Su Jin realized that this tactic worked on Andrew as well. He figured that if anybody suspected he wasn¡¯t from God, Andrew would be the first person to defend him. Su Jin could sense that Andrew had that sort of reverence toward him.

    By this time, that eyeball machine had alreadye much closer to the two of them. A light screen shot out from the eyeball and four faces appeared on it.

    ¡°Mr. de Roo, are you going to betray mankind?¡± shouted the old man. They didn¡¯t know exactly what happened earlier, but ording to the reports from the staff in the building, more than ten soldiers with Andrew had died mysteriously, while Su Jin and Andrew had proceeded to the top floor of the building. To the leaders of the four cities, Su Jin couldn¡¯t have escaped from the wall of electricity in the safe room by himself, so Andrew must have let him out.

    Andrew was now seen as the traitor, which was why they shot him earlier. But to their surprise, Andrew did not die.

    ¡°Andrew, you¡¯ve betrayed mankind and you should be punished for doing so!¡± yelled the plump man.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t betray mankind! He has been sent by God to save us! We¡­ we shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Andrew tried to fight back.

    ¡°Shut up, you shameless traitor! Sent by God? Ha! If there was really a god, then why did humans suffer such a disaster?¡± the beautifuldy reprimanded Andrew.

    Su Jin made a face and said, ¡°Disasters are a punishment. Humans have tried to y God, but God gave you a chance. The time for punishment has ended, and I was the one who brought you relief from it.¡±

    His words did make him sound like he was some sort of deity, but the four in the screen weren¡¯t stupid and were unwilling to just take Su Jin at his word. Besides, they were way too far away from Su Jin, so he couldn¡¯t use his Psychokinesis to control them even if he wanted to.

    ¡°Humph! And you think we¡¯d believe what you say? I can only agree that your appearance is indeed a mystery. You fell from the sky ten years ago and suddenly disappeared after that. You¡¯ve reappeared now, but your face hasn¡¯t changed even in the slightest. You¡­ may not be an apostle of God, but you¡¯re definitely not human,¡± said the old man.

    Su Jinughed. He didn¡¯t care what others thought of him. He just wanted the Key to Immortality now. He said to Andrew, ¡°How many more vials are there?¡±

    ¡°These eight are thest ones we¡¯ve discovered. I don¡¯t know if there are any more that have been hidden and have just remained undiscovered.¡± Andrew shook his head.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Did you guys keep the form for making the Key to Immortality?¡±

    Andrew blinked in surprise, then shook his head vigorously. ¡°No. The Key to Immortality used to be the most important secret to mankind, so even those who took it were only allowed to take it and were not given ess to the form, never mind us who have never even taken it before. I heard that an AIputer linked across governments was responsible for safekeeping this form, but after the apocalypse hit, that AIputer was the first thing to be destroyed.¡±

    Su Jin frowned slightly. Meanwhile, the four faces on the screen looked even more infuriated now. They had never been ignored like this before.

    ¡°Su Jin, was it? On behalf of the World Government, I am asking you to remain where you are and await arrest. Otherwise¡­ we will wipe you out!¡± said the beautifuldy in a frosty voice.

    Su Jin burst outughing. ¡°Wipe me out? With this ball? Did you think you could kill an apostle of God just because you want to?¡±

    ¡°Do not look down on our determination. You are hiding many secrets, many that might be the hope of mankind¡¯s future. But at the same time, you are a threat to humans. If you don¡¯t cooperate, we are willing to pay a high price to eliminate you,¡± said the man in a suit.

    Su Jin asked curiously, ¡°Pay a high price? For example?¡±

    ¡°Nuclear weapons! Even if we end up destroying the whole city, we must make sure we don¡¯t let you escape,¡± said the beautiful woman.

    Andrew¡¯s expression turned to one of horror and he shouted, ¡°You¡¯re crazy! 700,000 ordinary humans live in Sunshine City and that¡¯s nearly one-sixth of all surviving humans left to propagate the world. How could you do something like that?¡±

    ¡°Propagate the world? Humans have a strong survival instinct and they¡¯ll repopte as long as we don¡¯t wipe all of them out. He¡¯s more important than that,¡± said the plump man as he pointed at Su Jin.

    The four leaders were clearly determined to capture Su Jin at any cost. Andrew became like a provoked lion as he roared at them, ¡°You bastards! I will not let you do such a thing!¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t let us? You¡¯re a traitor of mankind, Andrew de Roo! The four of us have already agreed to withdraw your authority, so from now on, you have no right to even talk to us,¡± said the old man calmly.

    Andrew¡¯s eyes widened. It was true that they only needed four out of five of the leaders to terminate a leader. In fact, this was a policy that Andrew had set up back then. He didn¡¯t expect the first execution of this rule to be used on him.

    Su Jin said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Andrew. These people are supposed to be the leaders of mankind, yet they treat human lives like trash. They will face the consequences of their own actions!¡±

    ¡°Haha! Humans used to be called the Fools, and I think that¡¯s a really appropriate term. Humans are fools and a vast majority of them can¡¯t even think for themselves, blindly letting the people in authority lead them. And the four of us are the people in authority!¡± The man in a suit looked so confident, it was as though he had control over all life and death.

    Su Jin nodded and pointed at the live streaming equipment around him. ¡°Excellent. But everything you¡¯ve said has been broadcast live to the people. I hope these humans won¡¯t be as foolish as you imagine them to be and listen to your lousy exnations!¡±

    The entire ce fell silent and there was a look of joy on Andrew¡¯s face, but the four faces in the screen merely burst outughing and called Su Jin a fool.

    ¡°Haha! Did you think we¡¯d make such a dumb mistake? Before talking to you, we already cut off all signals from this building. You¡¯ve broadcast our conversation live? HA! Dream on!¡± said the plump man as he continued tough merrily.

    Andrew looked disappointed but Su Jin burst outughing as well. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten one thing wrong though. When I said I¡¯ve been broadcasting this conversation live, I wasn¡¯t referring to using YOUR methods of broadcasting. I¡¯m using MY method.¡±

    The four of them were puzzled and didn¡¯t know what Su Jin was talking about. Just then, loud screams and shouts came from where the plump man was.

    The plump man was surprised and shouted to the person next to him, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Go out and take a look.¡±

    But before that subordinate could walk out of the room, another rushed in and said with a terrified look on his face, ¡°Sir, bad news! The people have barged into this building and they said¡­ they said¡­¡±

    ¡°What did they say?¡± asked the plump man with a fearful look on his face.

    ¡°They said that you¡¯re not fit to be the leader of this city and they want you to get lost!¡± said the man in a stern voice all of a sudden as he pounced onto the plump man and stabbed him in the chest.

    The plump man¡¯s eyes widened in pain as the man went on, ¡°We saw everything being reyed in our minds. You actually want to use nuclear weapons to kill your fellow humans! You think we¡¯re all fools!¡±

    Meanwhile, a simr chaos was happening in the offices of the other three leaders. They had a horrified and fearful look on their faces when they realized that Su Jin had been telling the truth. All the humans had seen and heard everything just now. In the blink of an eye, their offices were overrun and the seemingly lowly humans proved that they could stand up for themselves too.

    Andrew was shocked at first, but when he remembered that Su Jin was an apostle from God, he figured that Su Jin must have used some supernatural powers to do this. That made him look even more piously and reverently at Su Jin.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, was pretty proud of what he had just done. He had used one of the pieces of broadcasting equipment in the room to broadcast his psychokinesis earlier.

    His psychokinesis was broadcast as a signal, so it didn¡¯t cause any harm to the people receiving it. It just enabled them to see and hear everything that Su Jin saw and heard, so it wasn¡¯t too difficult to do either.

    Meanwhile, loud voices could be heard from the first floor of the building that Su Jin and Andrew were in as well. Arge number of people had surrounded the building, making Andrew freeze and pale when he remembered what happened to the other four in their offices.

    But that onlysted a moment. Andrew sighed heavily and said, ¡°I suppose this is our retribution. The disaster ended ten whole years ago, but what have we done? The people have not lived any better. Besides no longer having to live with mutants, nothing else has changed, right? The people still suffer from ack of food and our living conditions have not improved. In fact, you¡¯re the one who helped us to destroy those mutants, so¡­ we humans are reallypletely useless!¡±

 Chapter 176: Day Before the Next Challenge

    <h4>Chapter 176: Day Before the Next Challenge</h4>

    Su Jin smiled and pulled Andrew to his feet. He pointed to the people downstairs and said, ¡°Don¡¯t give up on yourself so quickly. Take a look at the people downstairs first.¡±

    Andrew looked downstairs with a puzzled look on his face. He was surprised to see that the people did not rush upstairs. Instead, they were gathered on the first floor, cheering and pping. That¡¯s right: they were cheering and pping, shouting Su Jin and Andrew¡¯s names proudly.

    Su Jin said calmly, ¡°There¡¯s plenty of time ahead of you. You can do a better job than the other four. Remember, what you want to be is a leader, not a ruler!¡±

    ¡°A leader and not a ruler¡­¡± Andrew repeated these words as he fell into deep thought.

    Su Jin continued, ¡°Humans are not stupid and have never been. Otherwise, why would heroes appear each time they are in crisis?¡±

    ¡°Actually, humans simply trust their fellow humans. They trust the ones who have gone before them. But once some of them do something stupid that therge majority cannot ept, someone will rece those people. You refused to ept the use of nuclear weapons, which is why these people are sincerely grateful to you. You are truly a leader! Those awful fellows who only saw other humans as animals they could abandon anytime were merely rulers who wanted absolute power. Leaders are respected while rulers are despised. That¡¯s how it works.¡±

    Andrew nodded and Su Jin smiled as he stretched his hand out. Andrew gave all the vials of the Key to Immortality to Su Jin immediately.

    As he took the vials, Su Jin said, ¡°May God bless you and bless this world.¡±

    It was a simple line, but Su Jin could see a brightness light up within Andrew¡¯s eyes. Su Jin was certain that Andrew would do everything he could to improve the living conditions of the humans around him after he had gone.

    Saying all this seemed kind of redundant, since he had no idea if this world would still exist after he left. But that was just Su Jin ying his part to the very end.

    Once he took the Key to Immortality from Andrew, he turned into sparkles and disappeared. Andrew fell to his knees in worship and did not get up for a long time.

    Su Jin reappeared in the temple. To Situ Jin, Su Jin had only left for a moment, but after Su Jin reentered that Challenge and came out again, he had indeed reappeared with his body no longer attached to Qiu Chan.

    He let out a long sigh of relief. He was extremely d he had a guiding object on hand. If not for that, it would probably be too hard to get out of this mess by himself. Of course, even if Xu Ran returned and realized the trespassers were just him and Situ Jin, Xu Ran probably wouldn¡¯t hurt them, but the whole point was that they couldn¡¯t let Xu Ran know that they hade by.

    Or at least Su Jin was sure that if he were Xu Ran and found that two people he knew had secretlye to spy on his territory, he would happily use his superior psychokic powers to scan the brains of these two intruders in order to find out what they were here to do.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we shouldn¡¯t stay here for too long.¡± Su Jin could sense that this temple was not like an ordinary temple and probably had more secrets that they hadn¡¯t uncovered yet. But they decided to not explore anymore. Their brush with Qiu Chan was already bad enough, and they agreed that any uncovered secrets were going to be even more dangerous.

    Just when they were about to leave the temple, Su Jin suddenly stopped. He turned around to look at the priests behind him with a sly look on his face.

    ¡°What are you nning?¡± Situ Jin looked warily at Su Jin.

    ¡°Nothing, really. I¡¯ve got an enemy that I could possibly me this whole thing on.¡± Su Jin tapped on nose, and his smile looked even more sinister than before, causing Situ Jin to unconsciously take a step backwards.

    Su Jin sent his psychokinesis out into the empty heads of these priests. He made a few adjustments, gave them a new memory, and then got them to beat each other up.

    Once he was done, he gave a pleased nod and finally left with Situ Jin.

    Xu Ran came back a day after they left. He immediately noticed the injuries on the priests and frowned as he summoned one of them over to check his memories.

    ¡°That bunch actually dared toe here and ruffle my feathers?¡± Xu Ran scoffed. But another thought hit him. ¡°Wait a minute. If it¡¯s them, then¡­ how did they get past my psychokinesis traps? Do they have an owner with psychokinesis among them now?¡±

    Xu Ran felt that this was very usible. That was a massive group of people from mixed backgrounds, after all. Many owners who wanted to be stronger joined this group, so it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if someone with psychokinesis joined them.

    ¡°Shen Wu, was it? As a fellow team leader of a Level A team, I¡¯m really looking forward to meeting you now. Then again¡­ I know someone else with psychokinesis¡­¡± mumbled Xu Ran. He still wasn¡¯t entirely sure if the intruders were one of Shen Wu¡¯s and he started to suspect Su Jin.

    A few momentster, he arrived in Qiu Chan¡¯s room. He raised an eyebrow once he got closer, and he scanned Qiu Chan¡¯s shoulder with his psychokinesis.

    ¡°It¡¯s an owner with psychokinesis, alright. But¡­ how did this person get away?¡± Xu Ran was really puzzled. He was very confident of the trap mechanism he used on Qiu Chan.

    ¡°Someone who can get away from this trap is definitely from Shen Wu and his bunch.¡± Xu Ran was now certain that it was Shen Wu who did this. He had seen what Su Jin was capable of and was certain that someone at Su Jin¡¯s level wouldn¡¯t be able to escape this trap. He didn¡¯t think that Su Jin had a guiding object, which provided him a different way of moving from this dimension to another.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Kano Mai bid Situ Jin farewell and returned to S City. Situ Jin was worried that Xu Ran would find out that Su Jin came to B City before, so he used his government connections to wipe out any record of Su Jin¡¯s travels. Otherwise, if Xu Ran ever found out that Su Jin had been working with Situ Jin before, then it would be impossible to hoodwink Xu Ran if they had to do something like this again.

    Once he was back in S City, Su Jin went to meet with Tang Ning. Everyone in the office was very friendly with Su Jin now, and was perhaps a little overly friendly. He hadn¡¯t left thepany for very long, but they all knew that he was somehow much closer to the bosses now, so they all behaved like they were currying favor with him, which really left him exasperated.

    Once he got to sit down with Tang Ning, he started telling her about Ye Yun. Of course, he didn¡¯t tell her what really happened to Ye Yun, since that would scare her to death. Instead, Su Jin told her that Ye Yun had gone overseas and was now studying in a university there. He told Tang Ning not to try and contact Ye Yun because she didn¡¯t want to be disturbed during her time of study.

    Tang Ning found Su Jin¡¯s words hard to believe, so she looked up the university that Su Jin had told her about and gave the university a call.

    After a short exchange, the other side confirmed that Ye Yun was indeed one of their students and even asked if Tang Ning wanted to speak to Ye Yun. By this time, Tang Ning had already believed what Su Jin told her and decided not to disturb her cousin. Ye Yun¡¯s emotional state over the past few years had been very unsettling, so if Ye Yun could find a nice ce to settle down and feel better, Tang Ning thought that would do her cousin good.

    In reality, Ye Yun wasn¡¯t at any school, obviously. Everything had been fabricated. The information on the website, that international phone call, and the person on the other line were all an borate setup.

    Situ Jin had made these arrangements, or rather, this was part of the benefits Su Jin could enjoy now that he worked for the Department of Supernatural Affairs. As a government department, they had ess to way more resources.

    It was easy to set up a believable website and get someone fluent in a foreignnguage. Situ Jin even found someone who could almost perfectly imitate Ye Yun¡¯s voice, or at least Su Jin couldn¡¯t differentiate the voices over the phone and thought that Ye Yun had seriously called him.

    Thus, if Tang Ning were to really demand to speak to Ye Yun, that wouldn¡¯t have been a problem. Convincing Tang Ning was equivalent to convincing Ye Yun¡¯s parents, so that was settled. Su Jin didn¡¯t know when he could go and rescue Ye Yun yet, so he had to lie to all of them for the time being.

    At the same time, he was pretty sure that Shen Wu was not going to harm Ye Yun for now. It was obvious that those robbers were making sure that they captured her alive, so Ye Yun was probably of great value to them and was only valuable while still alive.

    Time quickly passed by and it was soon time to go through another Challenge. Su Jin contacted the rest of the team and activated the next Challenge.

    Chug! Chug! The sound of a train moving resounded in Su Jin¡¯s ears.

    ¡°The train of death! Where is it going? Heaven or hell? Ghosts and spirits! Frantic passengers! Angels and demons! Gods and devils!¡±

 Chapter 177: Train of the Supernatural

    <h4>Chapter 177: Train of the Supernatural</h4>

    When Su Jin opened his eyes again, he found himself in a moving train carriage. He looked around at who else was part of this Challenge and his heart sank.

    The not veryrge train carriage was fully upied. Su Jin saw that there were actually 15 of them. The most number of owners in a Challenge he had ever experienced was the Level A Challenge, All Have Sinned. There were 14 of them spread across three teams.

    As far as his experience went, the more owners in a Challenge, the tougher the Challenge would be. Fifteen owners was the highest number of owners in a Challenge he had evere across, so this Challenge had to be at least a Level B one. Also, it most likely would involve the supernatural, the type where anybody could die at any time.

    The other owners looked around and they were also clearly stunned by how many owners were involved. Su Jin became even more uneasy now. The other owners were stunned, but they didn¡¯t look frantic and helpless, which meant that everyone here was probably an old timer.

    Everyone immediately whipped their Handbooks out and their faces fell.

    Su Jin stared at his Handbook. Besides the introductory text that the voice that sounded like it came from a demon hiding in the depths of hell, the next line read: Challenge ¡°Supernatural Train¡±, Level A Challenge.

    His heart skipped a beat in horror. It was a Level A Challenge. It was yet another Level A Challenge. Worse still, it involved 15 owners, so it was going to be even more terrifying than the previous Level A Challenge.

    ¡°The only mission is to stay alive until thest stop.¡±

    Just like All Have Sinned, there was only one mission, which was to stay alive until the very end. But where was thest stop in this Challenge? How long would it take for them to get there? Nobody had answers to these questions. And since this was a supernatural train, it meant that besides them, there had to be other passengers on the train. Those passengers were probably going to be their source of danger.

    Kano Mai and Chu Yi had equally dismayed looks on their faces. They looked toward Su Jin with some fear in their eyes. They had gone through All Have Sinned with him and knew exactly how terrifying a Level A Challenge could be. After all, the three of them were the only survivors of thest Level A Challenge.

    Furthermore, that was because Su Jin had managed to understand the rtivity of the Original Sins early on. If not for that, they would probably all have perished in that Challenge.

    This time around, there were even more people and it was probably going to be even harder. Besides, there were no restrictions on their powers or weapons or anything like that, so it was hard to say how this Challenge was going to end.

    The other owners had gathered together by this time. They were clearly split into two groups, which meant that there were a total of three groups in this Challenge.

    Wu Chen looked strangely at Su Jin and mumbled, ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be happening. Your team went through a Level A Challenge not too long ago. Why are you in one again?¡±

    ¡°Is there supposed to be a fixed period of rest between Level A Challenges?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Wu Chen shook his head. ¡°There isn¡¯t any I know of, but the chance of a Level A Challenge happening is already very low to begin with. I wouldn¡¯t say that it¡¯s exactly like winning the lottery twice, but¡­ getting a Level A Challenge so quickly after thest one is something that doesn¡¯t really happen.¡±

    Su Jin really had no confidence in his own luck. Ever since he was chosen to be an owner, he had only gone through a Level D Challenge once, while the rest were pretty much all Level B Challenges. And now, he was going to go through more Level A Challenges than Level D Challenges. Seriously, nobody had worse luck than him, in his opinion.

    Wu Chen paused to think for a moment before suddenly pulling a flower out. It was a pink flower that looked like it had just bloomed. One could even see the dew drop on the petals. There were a total of five petals, and they gave off a faint fragrance.

    He looked like he couldn¡¯t bear to do this, but he plucked each petal and gave one to every member. He said solemnly to them, ¡°Everyone gets one. Eat it now!¡±

    Chu Yi stared puzzledly at the petal in his hand and frowned. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good stuff. If this Challenge didn¡¯t look like it was going to be so hard, I wouldn¡¯t bear to take this out.¡± Wu Chen had a pained look on his face again.

    Since they were teammates and their lives depended on each other, they trusted the older man and ate the pink petal he had given them.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t much taste. It¡¯s not nice to eat.¡± Chu Yi shook his head in displeasure.

    Wu Chen red at him. ¡°If you want to eat something tasty, find yourself a fancy restaurant next time! I¡¯m not here to throw you a banquet!¡±

    Su Jin swallowed his petal and asked Wu Chen, ¡°What¡¯s good about this petal?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t say for sure now, but¡­ it might save our lives,¡± Wu Chen murmured in a shaky voice. He didn¡¯t seem too sure either.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t probe further since Wu Chen didn¡¯t seem to have a clear answer. The team leaders of the other two groups seemed to havepleted their discussion as well. They were going to go through the Challenge at the same time, so it was a good idea to get to know one another. Regardless of whether they decided to go through the Challenge on their own or join hands and work together, it was best to get to know each other.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m the team leader of Team High Mountains, Liu Bowen. I¡¯m a veteran.¡± A studious looking man in sses pushed his spectacles up his nose and introduced himself very naturally.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m the team leader of Red Dragon, Tai Shan. I¡¯m a veteran too.¡± The man who just spoke was as muscr as a mountain, like his name suggested. It wasforting to see someone strong like him on the team.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Su Jin, team leader of Team Boning Knife.¡± Immediately after Su Jin introduced himself, the other two team leaders stared strangely at him.

    ¡°Team Boning Knife? Wait, I remember there was a team thatpleted a Level A Challenge perfectly not too long ago. I think that team¡¯s name was Team Boning Knife!¡± Tai Shan spoke with such disbelief, as though he could hardly believe that the ordinary young man in front of him was the team leader of the team thatpleted a Level A Challenge perfectly.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We were the ones whopleted that Level A Challenge perfectly.¡± Su Jin was not trying to boast or anything like that, but confirming that his team was the one that aplished this feat helped to ease the fears of other owners, which gave them the false impression that they could get through this Challenge for sure.

    But this was only a false impression. The team had managed toplete this difficult Challenge perfectly thanks to a series of coincidences. Besides, only three out of 14 owners survived that Challenge, which was a terrible result. That was why Su Jin was actually not very confident of getting through this Challenge.

    At the same time, this fact would help the rest of the owners to remain calm. That was also helpful for increasing their chances of getting through this Challenge.

    ¡°Well, I guess we got lucky! We¡¯ve actually managed to be in the same Challenge as a team thatpleted a Level A Challenge perfectly. I suppose this Challenge is going to be easier than I expected.¡± Liu Bowen smiled and looked like he had just breathed a big sigh of relief.

    Su Jin groaned inwardly and quickly said, ¡°Everyone, listen. If you¡¯re going to let your guard down just because I¡¯m here, then I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to die very tragic deaths. This is a Level A Challenge. My team might havepleted one perfectlyst time, but¡­ that Challenge started with a total of 14 owners and only three of us survived. Those who died included two of my own teammates.¡±

    Not being so tense was a good thing, but being too rxed was definitely a ticket to hell. This was a Level A Challenge. One wrong move could cost you your life.

    Just as he expected, Liu Bowen and Tai Shan had grim looks on their faces immediately after they heard what Su Jin said. Su Jin was relieved to see their reactions. If the two teams were to feel overly rxed because they thought they could rely on his previous experience, the consequences would be disastrous.

    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t we discuss what we should do next? We¡¯re facing a Level A Challenge, after all,¡± suggested Liu Bowen.

    Su Jin and Tai Shan agreed. Tai Shan suggested that Su Jin share his previous Level A Challenge experience with the rest.

    ¡°Well, here¡¯s how it went. Thest Level A Challenge we went through was a Challenge called ¡®All Have Sinned¡¯, so it was a Challenge rted to the seven original sins. There were also three teams involved in that Challenge and a third of us were veterans. We were afraid that there might be a secret mission to kill other owners, so we did not join hands at first.¡±

    ¡°In the end, we were attacked individually. By the time we regrouped, there were fewer than half of us left. The enemies in that Challenge were really powerful. They were basically the type that made it impossible for the owners to defend themselves, so it¡¯s probably really difficult to use brute force to get through such a Challenge. The most important task is to think of a way out.¡± Su Jin did a quick summary of the previous Level A Challenge. If he hadn¡¯t found a way to outsmart the Original Sins, he wouldn¡¯t have managed to get through the Challenge with his physical strength alone.

    The two team leaders had nasty looks on their faces. If there was no way to fight the enemy with brute force, then this was a very difficult situation indeed. Not everyone was the thinking or analytical type, so if they were faced with an opponent they were unable to fight, they would start panicking easily. Thinking of a way out in such circumstances was practically impossible.

    ¡°A mission to kill off the other owners?¡± Tai Shan fell into deep thought with a grim look in his eye. His team had run into owners with such a mission before. He had suffered great losses back then, so he was very wary of this possibility.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what do you think of this Challenge then?¡± asked Liu Bowen with a frown.

    Su Jin paused to think for a while, then said, ¡°This entire Challenge is probably contained within the train. I observed the carriage for a while and it seems our carriage is the one in the middle. It¡¯s possible to move between carriages, but¡­ I¡¯m afraid that there are other passengers on this train besides us, and based on the name of this Challenge, those¡­ those passengers will be tough to deal with.

    They couldn¡¯t help but shudder when they recalled the name of the Challenge. It meant that the other passengers on the train were probably supernatural beings.

    Most owners agreed that the most difficult type of Challenge was one that involved the supernatural. This was the sort of Challenge that resulted in the greatest number of deaths. Nobody knew how many such supernatural beings were involved in this Challenge.

    ¡°I think it would be best for all of us to work together. This Challenge doesn¡¯t require us to kill anything or find anything, so if we can coordinate our efforts well, our chances of surviving should increase,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh, since cooperation meant very little if the enemy was a supernatural being.

 Chapter 178: Checking the Tickets

    <h4>Chapter 178: Checking the Tickets</h4>

    Cooperating didn¡¯t mean much in the face of such a Challenge, but it was still important to put whatever abilities they had together. Perhaps one of them would turn out to have something that could help them conquer this Challenge.

    ¡°I refuse.¡± Tai Shan turned down the suggestion immediately after Su Jin finished speaking. Before anybody could ask him questions, he said, ¡°Mr. Su, you said it yourself. There¡¯s a high possibility that a mission to kill other owners exists. Red Dragon is more than able to protect ourselves from the enemies in these Challenges. The threat from fellow owners is greater to us, actually.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Tai, please think about this carefully. This is a Level A Challenge and the supernatural beings on the train are probably real. If you¡¯re targeted by any of them, then you¡¯d be in great danger,¡± Liu Bowen tried to persuade Tai Shan.

    But Tai Shan seemed to have made a decision and said, ¡°Like I said, my team is able to protect ourselves. Besides, we¡¯re all in the same carriage, so there¡¯s no need to join hands or anything like that right? Or¡­ perhaps I should say that some other people have different ns for this Challenge.¡±

    Tai Shan¡¯s words stunned Su Jin for a moment. He was displeased by these words, but he didn¡¯t defend himself. Tai Shan was even more certain that his hypothesis was right when he saw Su Jin¡¯s reaction and scoffed.

    ¡°Hoho, Mr. Su doesn¡¯t seem willing to exin himself. So, I was right after all?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re willing to work as one team or not. If you¡¯re not willing to, I will not force you. As for those ¡®different ns¡¯ you mentioned, I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about,¡± snapped Su Jin in a displeased voice with an annoyed look on his face.

    ¡°Mr. Tai, we¡¯re all owners here. Even if you¡¯re not willing to work together with another group, you don¡¯t have to drive a wedge between all of us, right?¡± said Liu Bowen.

    But Tai Shan merely scoffed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t understand what I¡¯m talking about? Let me spell it out for you then. The only team with any experience in going through a Level A Challenge is your team. So, none of us have any idea if there is anything in a Level A Challenge that might trip us up that you didn¡¯t tell us about.

    ¡°Moreover, like you said, thest time you went through a Level A Challenge, it was made up of three teams and 14 owners in total, but only three survived. And these three¡­ are all from YOUR team. Mr. Su, can you exin the reason for that?¡±

    Liu Bowen¡¯s expression shifted when he heard what Tai Shan said. Su Jin sighed. This was just like that old saying about bad teammates being more of a problem than a powerful opponent. What Tai Shan just said made it impossible for the three teams to join hands and worse still, they would be wary of each other now.

    He sighed and said, ¡°Forget it then. Since both of you feel that this is an unsafe option, then we can move on our own. I hope that everyone¡¯s still alive at the end of the Challenge.¡± He then walked back to where the rest of his teammates were.

    Kano Mai noticed his expression and said, ¡°What¡¯s happened? Things didn¡¯t go well?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. One of them is afraid that someone among us might be on a mission to kill fellow owners and they find the fact that all the survivors of ourst Level A Challenge were from our team is suspicious in and of itself, so¡­¡±

    Su Jin shrugged. Team Boning Knife had four veterans, so even if they had to work by themselves, they were pretty safe.

    While they were speaking, the doors of the carriage suddenly opened. A man with a goat¡¯s head and dressed in a suit walked in. All the owners instantly tensed up. Was the Challenge going to ughter them all right from the start?

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, please show me your tickets. If you are on board without a ticket, you¡¯ll need to pay for them, and they will cost more since you¡¯ve paid for them here,¡± said the goat-headed man in an unfeeling voice as he looked at them expressionlessly.

    Everyone was stunned. Tickets? They clearly didn¡¯t have tickets for this train. But they knew that if they couldn¡¯t produce one, they¡¯d end in tragedy.

    The goat-headed man saw that nobody was budging, so two streams of ck smoke came out from his nostrils and his eyes became bloodshot as he scanned the group.

    ¡°Don¡¯t want to be cooperative?¡± He scoffed and pointed at one of the members of Red Dragon. ¡°I¡¯m going to check your ticket now!¡±

    The member who had been chosen was a beautiful woman who looked fairly unapproachable. But after the goat-headed man chose her, her expression turned to one of horror. Nobody dared to stop the goat-headed man as he walked toward her.

    He used his fingers to gently lift her chin and stared at her with his bloodshot eyes. ¡°Hello, gorgeous. Where¡¯s your ticket?¡±

    ¡°Let me¡­ let me try to find it!¡± said the woman in a trembling voice. She searched herself but couldn¡¯t find a ticket on her person at all.

    ¡°Heh heh! If you don¡¯t have a ticket, then you¡¯ll have to pay for it! Twice the price!¡± The goat-headed man cackled as he suddenly used a sharp nail to cut her chin. In that instant, she began to age before their very eyes.

    There was an old saying about how aging was the most obvious on pretty women, but nobody had ever seen anybody age this rapidly before. Her previously smooth and supple skin had be dry and wrinkly. Her watery eyes had also grown dim and cloudy.

    She panted heavily in pain during this process, and by the time he moved his finger away from her chin, she had be an olddy in her 70s or 80s.

    ¡°All done. You can move to one side.¡± The goat-headed man gave a pleased nod.

    The other members of Red Dragon helped her to one side with a look of horror in their eyes. The payment for not having a ticket while onboard the train had turned out to be years of one¡¯s life. The rate at which the goat-headed man literally sucked her life away was equally horrifying.

    ¡°You¡¯re next! Show me your ticket!¡± The goat-headed man turned to point his finger at a man from High Mountains.

    The man panicked and the goat-headed man appeared in front of him in a second. He grabbed the owner¡¯s throat but did not tighten his grip.

    ¡°Show me your ticket!¡± repeated the goat-headed man.

    The man patted himself down, but he didn¡¯t find anything that resembled a ticket either. When he saw a twinkle in the goat-headed man¡¯s eyes, he decided to try his luck and kicked the goat-headed man¡¯s waist.

    Everyone gasped, not because the man had suddenly tried to kick the goat-headed man, but because the man¡¯s legs went right through the goat-headed man¡¯s waist without facing any resistance. It turned out that this goat-headed man didn¡¯t have a real body, or at least he could switch between the two states.

    ¡°How disobedient! Pay for your ticket then!¡± The goat-headed manughed as he suddenly gripped the man¡¯s throat tightly. The man¡¯s face turned red, but he could not fight back at all.

    Just like the woman before him, the man started to age rapidly. But there was a difference. In no time, this man¡¯s skin and bones began to rot.

    The goat-headed man flung the dead owner onto the floor and licked his hand as though he was eating something tasty. He had a look of disappointment as he shook his head and said, ¡°He¡¯s not left with too many years to live, so he can¡¯t even afford to pay for his ticket. Next person¡­ you!¡± His finger was now pointed at Su Jin.

    Everyone instantly turned to look at Su Jin. Su Jin was also feeling a little anxious. It was obvious that the only way to pay for the ticket was by sacrificing your lifespan, and if you didn¡¯t have enough remaining years to spare, you would die on the spot. Everyone had tried searching themselves but none of them had found anything that resembled a ticket. So, they were either really supposed to have a ticket, or this goat-headed man was just using that as an excuse to rob them of their lifespan.

    The goat-headed man suddenly appeared in front of Su Jin and gave the young man a fake smile as he slowly said, ¡°I¡¯m not a robber. I work for the Train of the Supernatural, so everything I¡¯m doing is legal.¡±

    ¡°He can read minds?¡± Su Jin frowned. Only a short time had passed, but this goat-headed man had already disyed three of his abilities. He could deduct from one¡¯s lifespan, he could switch between a real body and an illusionary one, and he could read minds as well.

    Before Su Jin could sort his thoughts out, the goat-headed man grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s neck and his voice suddenly became very sinister sounding, ¡°I¡¯m here to check your ticket! Show me your ticket now!¡±

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and his expression didn¡¯t flinch, but the rest of his team members were so anxious, they nearly copsed. Suddenly, Su Jin took his Handbook out and passed it to the goat-headed man.

    The goat-headed man was stunned for a moment, and so were the rest. The entire carriage fell silent for a few seconds, then the goat touched the cover of Su Jin¡¯s Handbook. A string of red numbers appeared on the cover.

    ¡°Very good. This is your carriage and seat number, go there yourself.¡± He handed the Handbook back to Su Jin.

    Everyone was relieved when they saw that the ticket was actually the Handbook. Then again, that only made sense. As owners, the one thing all of them had regardless of where they came from was a copy of the Handbook. But nobody else thought of this, because the Handbook looked nothing like a train ticket.

    ¡°These are my friends. Can we sit together?¡± asked Su Jin calmly.

    The goat-headed man looked at Su Jin, then nodded. ¡°Yes, you can. But I need to check their tickets first.¡±

    There was a look of displeasure on the goat-headed man¡¯s face, as if he was unhappy that Su Jin had shown everyone what the ticket really was. The other four members of Su Jin¡¯s team gave their Handbooks to the goat-headed man and he marked the covers with their seat numbers.

    The rest breathed a sigh of relief as well. They had safely passed through the first stage. But losing someone at the first stage was something that the other two team leaders had not expected.

    After the goat-headed man had checked everyone¡¯s tickets, he left. All of thempared the numbers on their Handbooks to find that each team had been assigned to a different carriage. At least now, the other two teams didn¡¯t have to worry that Su Jin¡¯s team might be plotting against them.

    But Su Jin started frowning again. Kano Mai noticed his expression and asked, ¡°Jin, is there something amiss here?¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°There is. The reason why so many owners are assigned to a Level A Challenge at one time is likely because the owners need to work together to get through it. But now, the Challenge has purposely separated the owners. I think¡­ the rest of the Challenge might not ur entirely in the carriage we¡¯re assigned to.¡±

    This Challenge had only one mission, and that was to stay alive until the train reached itsst stop. But nobody said anything about what dangers they would face before arriving at thest stop.

    Meanwhile, the goat-headed man was now in the carriage at the very front of the train. He walked toward a pair of young men and smiled. ¡°Just like what you said, that boy is very interesting indeed, Mr. Mad Hatter!¡±

 Chapter 179: Pig-headed Demigod

    <h4>Chapter 179: Pig-headed Demigod</h4>

    Now that each team had been assigned to a different carriage, the other owners viewed the members of Team Boning Knife with much less hostility. After all, if Su Jin hadn¡¯t discovered the secret behind this supposed train ticket, how many of them would have survived the payment process?

    The Handbook didn¡¯t leave owners with a lot of time to move from one ce to another, so they had to hurry toward their own carriage. When the woman from Red Dragon who lost many years of her life earlier walked past Su Jin, she red at him with hatred in her eyes.

    Su Jin was certain that it was hatred. His psychokinesis had be stronger and stronger, so if anybody felt very strongly toward him, he could sense it now.

    But he didn¡¯t understand why she would hate him. After thinking about the possibilities, heughed sadly to himself. Was she angry because she thought that he already knew the Handbook was the ticket but purposely didn¡¯t tell her earlier, which caused her to end up in this state?

    He shook his head and scoffed. He had thought of this possibility only after the goat-headed man had pointed at him, so there was no way he could have told her. Besides, this was the world of the Hell¡¯s Handbook after all. Every owner had to take responsibility for their own life and death, and nobody was obliged to take care of another¡¯s life. And so what if he had known about this earlier and had deliberately held the information back? He was responsible for taking care of his teammates, but he wasn¡¯t responsible for other owners¡¯ teammates.

    Once he had straightened his thoughts out about this matter, he led his team toward the carriage they were assigned to. It was only two carriages away from the one they had first appeared in, while the carriage of Liu Bowen¡¯s Team, High Mountain, was right beside theirs.

    When Team Boning Knife walked through the first carriage to get to theirs, their hearts skipped a beat in fear. The other carriages were indeed filled with other passengers. But these other passengers didn¡¯t look human at all. Su Jin felt like he was looking at a 3D version of some of those folklore stories he read as a child. There were some creatures he had never seen before.

    The creatures sat quietly in their seats. Some looked up curiously to nce at them as they walked past, but they only took one nce.

    The five of them nervously passed through the first carriage and came to the second one. Just like the previous one, this carriage was also filled with strange creatures. A humanlike one would appear from time to time, but they were either ridiculously good looking, or so ugly, you instinctively wished you could gouge your eyeballs out.

    This was the carriage allocated to Team High Mountain. Their seats were located in one corner of the carriage. They couldn¡¯t help but look up when Team Boning Knife walked past them, but they dared not greet them or even make a single sound, because a monster with devilish wings was sleeping soundly right next to them.

    ¡°This is the Train of the Supernatural¡­ so, these are all creatures from those legends and folklore?¡± thought Su Jin. Just when they were about to get through the second carriage, a gigantic figure suddenly appeared and blocked their way.

    ¡°Goddess of the Harvest! How dare you trick me! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± The huge thing in their way turned out to be a monster with a pig¡¯s head. For a moment, they thought that this was Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West.

    The Goddess of the Harvest turned out to be a beautiful and elegant woman. She had a head of green, long hair and there were green stalks growing out from her shoulders and the tips of her ears, so she seemed approachable.

    ¡°Ennui! You might be a god from the Camishya civilization, but your powers are nothingpared to a real god, so don¡¯t you dare challenge me, or I¡¯ll let you know how terrifying a real god can be.¡± The Goddess of the Harvest did not seem the least bothered by the pig-headed creature¡¯s threat.

    The pig-headed creature called Ennui instantly flew into a rage and roared angrily, but he did not dare to go anywhere closer to the goddess, so perhaps the goddess had been correct in saying that Ennui was nowhere as powerful as she was.

    The Goddess of the Harvest looked at Ennui¡¯s ugly pig head in disgust. She tapped the air with her skinny branch like finger and a bright green stem instantly grew out of Ennui¡¯s nose, quickly filling his nostrils.

    ¡°No, no! Goddess of the Harvest, I was wrong! I admit to my wrongdoing! Please spare me!¡± Ennui apologized profusely and no longer had any of the pride a god should have. It seemed like this wasn¡¯t the first time he was doing something like this.

    The Goddess of the Harvest took back the stem from his nostrils and Ennui quickly took several steps backwards, causing him to ram straight into Su Jin.

    Su Jin had to admit that this Ennui was truly a god of a civilization. Su Jin¡¯s physique was almost invincible now, yet he still stumbled several steps backwards after Ennui bumped into him, and the rest of his teammates nearly fell as well.

    ¡°Where did this blind bate from? Are you tired of living?!¡± Ennui roared angrily at Su Jin and hispanions. The saliva spraying out of his mouth and nose were incredibly disgusting.

    Su Jin frowned but didn¡¯t say anything. It was better not to offend any of the creatures inside a Challenge.

    Ennui immediately became smug when he saw that Su Jin and the rest just bowed their heads without uttering a word. As they walked past him, he suddenly took a few sniffs.

    ¡°Wait! Stop right there!¡± There was a strange glint in his eyes as he walked to Kano Mai and kept sniffing her up and down.

    ¡°Ahhh! This smell¡­ you¡¯re very close to my strength, even though¡­ there¡¯s a tiny difference. But it¡¯s all good. I¡¯m taking this woman,¡± said Ennui as he moved to grab Kano Mai.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to let him take Kano Mai away just like that, so he dashed over to stand in front of her and snapped, ¡°Wasn¡¯t the lesson that the Goddess of the Harvest gave you just now enough?¡±

    Ennui was a little taken aback as he nced at the Goddess of the Harvest for a moment, then looked back at Su Jin and the rest behind him. He had never seen these fellows before. Could they really be actual gods?

    He decided to be careful and asked, ¡°Why? Are you all real gods too?¡±

    Su Jin fell silent for a few seconds, then insisted, ¡°We¡¯re not real gods, but¡­ we¡¯re spokespersons for real gods. Offending us is the same as offending our god!¡±

    Immediately after Su Jin said that, Ennui had a look of contempt in his eyes. How dare a bunch of spokespersons behave so arrogantly?

    Meanwhile, Liu Bowen and his team had turned to watch as well. Su Jin¡¯s team was the strongest among the three, so they wanted to see if he could handle this crisis in the train.

    ¡°Heh heh! Since you¡¯re not a real god, then I¡¯m not going to listen to your nonsense. I¡¯m taking this woman with me. If you want her back, get your god to talk to me.¡± Ennui reached for Kano Mai again.

    Kano Mai had a terrified look in her eyes. This pig-headed creature was very strong and wasparable to Prince Charming of the Fairytales of Horror Challenge. Su Jin and the rest were stronger than when they went through that Challenge, but it was still impossible for them to defeat a demigod easily.

    But Su Jin grabbed hold of the hand that Ennui had stretched toward Kano Mai. His expression was stern as he said, ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡±

    Ennui trembled slightly as he looked in surprise at Su Jin. The other passengers also looked up and the Goddess of the Harvest eximed softly.

    ¡°Goodness me! This poweres from a real god of the darkness and he is extremely powerful. More powerful than I am!¡± The Goddess of the Harvest gave an assessment in less than a second.

    Su Jin had used the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye that had reced his heart to unleash some of the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power. The only thing he could do now was to pretend to be more powerful than he really was, hoping that the Demon Lord¡¯s name would be enough to scare off this pig-headed demigod.

    Just like he had hoped, the pig-headed demigod hesitated before withdrawing his hand. The team breathed a sigh of relief and was about to move on when Ennui yelled at them to stop again.

    ¡°Young man, since your god is so powerful, I won¡¯t snatch her from you. But since we¡¯re both gods, then I¡¯d like to strike a deal with you. How bout that?¡± said Ennui with a cackle.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that,¡± Su Jin turned him down without hesitation. He didn¡¯t want to bring any unnecessary trouble to himself. He wanted to quickly get to the carriage he was supposed to be in, find his seat, and just sit down.

    But the demigod wasn¡¯t taking no for an answer. Su Jin immediately felt a terrifying energy gathering behind him. He turned his head stiffly to see that Ennui looked furious. Several sharp fangs had appeared in his mouth, and he looked ready to swallow them anytime.

    ¡°Just because your god is powerful doesn¡¯t mean you can speak to another god like this! I¡¯m informing you, not negotiating with you!¡± Ennui was like a demon in charge of meting out punishment in hell. He took a step forward and stared down at Su Jin from his height of more than three meters. If Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis wasn¡¯t strong enough, he would have buckled from the terrifying aura that Ennui exuded.

    There was clearly no choice but toply. Su Jin sighed inwardly, then nodded in agreement. ¡°How do we go about doing this?¡±

    Once Su Jin asked that question, Ennui stopped emanating that terrifying aura and the teeth in his mouth instantly shrank. He gave a pleased nod and said, ¡°I can give you an item in exchange. What do you want?¡±

    Su Jin frowned because it was really hard to deal with this demigod. But a faint smile spread across his lips almost immediately. ¡°I want a weapon that¡¯s made by a god. Do you have anything like that?¡±

    Ennui stared nkly at Su Jin and the other passengers looked like they couldn¡¯t believe their ears either. A momentter, Ennui red at Su Jin and said, ¡°Did you think it¡¯s easy for a god to make a weapon? Those who can do that are the most powerful among the real gods!¡±

    ¡°So¡­ you don¡¯t have any to offer?¡± asked Su Jin calmly.

    Ennui had a nasty look on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t have one, but¡­ tell you what. I¡¯ll use this guy in exchange. It¡¯s not a bad deal, I promise.¡±

    He took out a little figurine that resembled those used for ying chess. The figurine was a warrior with a long sword hanging from his side, and¡­ he had a pig¡¯s head for a head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need this. I¡¯ve already told you what I want, and if you don¡¯t have it, then¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Su Jin shook his head. He didn¡¯t care what the heck that figurine was. There was no way he was letting go of Kano Mai.

    Ennui was about to burst into a rage again when the Goddess of the Harvest said, ¡°Ennui, you need both sides to agree before you can strike a deal. You can¡¯t just force the other party to agree to a deal.¡±

    After she said that, he had no choice but to suppress his anger. He said to Su Jin in a muffled voice, ¡°I¡¯ll give you another chance. Let¡¯s do a gambling battle and if you win, you can have this thing. But if you lose¡­ she¡¯ll belong to me!¡±

 Chapter 180: Gambling Battle

    <h4>Chapter 180: Gambling Battle</h4>

    The pig-headed demigod pointed at Kano Mai with a frosty glint in his eye. It was clear that Su Jin could not refuse his challenge. If Su Jin refused, then even though Su Jin had the Demon Lord as his backer and the Goddess of the Harvest spoke up for them, Ennui was still going to snatch Kano Mai away by force.

    And if Ennui did that, the Goddess of the Harvest wasn¡¯t going to attack him for the sake of Su Jin and his teammates. The Demon Lord was stuck somewhere in this universe and couldn¡¯t possiblye out and help him, so the only thing Su Jin could do was to face this demigod himself.

    Team Boning Knife was a powerful team, but they weren¡¯t powerful enough to fight a demigod.

    Su Jin looked toward Kano Mai and she nodded slightly in return. She wasn¡¯t going to allow her entire team to be annihted just for her sake.

    ¡°How do you want to do this?¡± asked Su Jin in a deep voice.

    The demigod burst into a smile and walked over to a creature that carried a giant tortoise shell on his back. ¡°Turtle, lend me your shell for a while.¡±

    Before the turtle-like creature could respond, he felt a weight lifted off his back as Ennui took it away and walked back to where Su Jin was.

    ¡°Like I said, this is a gambling battle, so we¡¯ve got to go through a battle. I¡¯m going to fight with this thing. How about you?¡± Ennui threw his figurine into the air and the tortoise shell seemed to possess some sort of magical powers that instantly absorbed the figurine.

    The figurine came alive and cut its way out of the tortoise shell. It pulled out the two long sabers in its belt and adopted a fighting stance.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go then!¡± Su Jin took a step forward to walk into the tortoise shell. He figured that this tortoise shell was an alternate space of sorts, which was why Ennui wanted it for this battle.

    But Ennui stopped Su Jin from going near the shell. ¡°We¡¯re the onespeting here. Nobody sends themselves in such apetition. Find someone else!¡±

    Su Jin frowned slightly. He was the strongest when it came to physical battles since he had a strong body and he could use both psychokinesis and the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power. He also had the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow as his trump card. He had to do this in order to guarantee a win.

    ¡°Boss, I¡¯ll do it.¡± Chu Yi suddenly took a step forward and nodded at Su Jin to show that he was confident.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment. When Wu Chen introduced himself, he said that he wasn¡¯t a good fighter but was very good at keeping himself alive. Also, his Spirit Power was not suitable for fights like this. Situ Jin lost so badly to Chu Yi, so besides himself, the only other candidate for this was actually Chu Yi.

    With that in mind, Su Jin retrieved his Boning Knife from his Handbook and passed it to Chu Yi. He patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Be careful!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure nothing bad happens to Sister Mai.¡± Chu Yi gave Su Jin a look of confidence and Kano Mai gave him a grateful smile as well.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve decided, then hurry up! Stop wasting time! You¡¯re making me wait longer to enjoy my time with the pretty girl!¡± Ennui cackled, which made some of the passengers frown as though they were very displeased with him.

    Chu Yi took a step forward and jumped toward the tortoise shell. Once he got close enough, he immediately shrank in size and became only as big as the figurine on the shell.

    Once hended, the figurine looked up with a start. It waved the two sabers in its hands, then leaped up and pounced toward Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi held the Boning Knife backwards, gave a low shout and unleashed his internal energy. Chu Yi was now stronger than before, so white smoke rose from his body, which was a physical manifestation of the usually invisible internal energy.

    The figurine¡¯s sabers were extremely sharp, so they sliced right through Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy. Its strategy was very simple. It was going to use brute force to eliminate the internal energy.

    ¡°Now!¡± Chu Yi let out a loud shout and leaped toward the figurine, leaving a trail of white smoke behind him that resembled a pair of wings on his back.

    The white smoke continued to add significantly to Chu Yi¡¯s strength as he brought the Boning Knife down. The Boning Knife in Chu Yi¡¯s hands was also incredibly tough.

    The figurine rotated one saber and nged loudly against Chu Yi¡¯s knife. Sparks flew as the two des collided, as though a star had just exploded.

    After the two des collided, Chu Yi let go of the Boning Knife, causing it to fly into the air. At the same time he raised his arms and drew a circle with them.

    ¡°Taijiquan!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. Chu Yi was well versed in all sorts of martial arts and had be an expert after training himself within the Handbook¡¯s training arena. Chu Yi was a grandmaster in his own right in terms of martial arts techniques, so not even Su Jin couldpare to him.

    After all, Chu Yi¡¯s Spirit Powerplemented his martial arts abilities, while Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis had nothing to do with his physique. He was very good at fighting, but definitely not as good as Chu Yi was.

    Chu Yi¡¯s hands looked limp and slow as he drew arge circle with them, but that was merely an illusion. Chu Yi¡¯s palms were actually moving so quickly that the figurine was not able to block the attack with its other saber.

    Boom! Chu Yi¡¯s palmsnded one after another on the chest of the figurine. The two palms seemed to be glued to the figurine as Chu Yi shouted angrily, ¡°Triple Qi Thrust! Demon Tiger Emerges! Quadruple Qi Thrust, Billowing Sea Waves!¡±

    The figurine¡¯s chest exploded, and the qi from Chu Yi¡¯s palms blew a hole through the figurine¡¯s chest. But Chu Yi immediately paled because he realized that the figurine seemedpletely unbothered by the hole in its chest. Its body swayed a little from the impact, but that was about it.

    The figurine crossed its two sabers and ran toward Chu Yi. Its movements were as swift as ever, so it was clear that Chu Yi¡¯s attack had not affected it in any way.

    ¡°HAA!¡± Before the sabers could reach Chu Yi, he unleashed another burst of internal energy so that it formed a shield in front of him. It was enough to stop the sabers from piercing him, but the energy and momentum from the attack hit him in the chest anyway, causing him to cough blood out and dye his chest red.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Su Jin was equally dismayed. That figurine wasn¡¯t a living thing, so unless Chu Yi turned it to dust, no injury would affect its fighting prowess at all. The other team members paled when they realized this as well.

    The figurine was not affected by mortal wounds but Chu Yi was. At this rate, Chu Yi would eventually lose.

    Chu Yi retreated rapidly but the figurine kept running after him. It brandished its sabers continuously, slicing the white smoke of Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy into a thousand pieces.

    ¡°Baijiquan, Yama¡¯s Three Point Hit!¡± Chu Yi clenched his teeth and used his fists to send out three consecutive attacks despite how close those two sabers were to him. Chu Yi was really good at martial arts and each attacknded directly on the sabers, which helped to keep the figurine at bay.

    Once there was sufficient distance between them, Chu Yi leaped up and caught the Boning Knife that was descending from above after he had let it go earlier. One knife was better than no knife.

    All the passengers watching the battle were amazed by Chu Yi¡¯s level of technique. Fending this figurine off in such circumstances was no easy feat.

    ¡°Wind Chasing des, Slicing the Sky! Bringing Down the Wind!¡± Chu Yi yelled and let out streams of white smoke from his nostrils. The white smoke went down Chu Yi¡¯s arm and surrounded the Boning Knife.

    He waved the knife and made his internal energy expand outwards by more than 30 meters, effectively creating a knife formed from the cloud that almost filled the entire tortoise shell.

    The figurine was not able to hide from this attack and was sliced in half by the de. Everyone in Team Boning Knife was floored by this attack. They knew that Chu Yi was a powerful martial artist, but none of them had fought to the death with Chu Yi, so they had never known that Chu Yi was capable of such a ferocious move.

    Chu Yi panted heavily as he walked over to where the figuriney in two parts. The figurine couldn¡¯t move anymore and Chu Yi immediately raised both arms in victory.

    ¡°We¡¯ve won.¡± Su Jin let out a sigh of relief. It hadn¡¯t been a smooth victory, but a victory nheless.

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Ennui suddenly cackled again.

    Su Jin¡¯s eye twitched violently as he yelled, ¡°Chu Yi! Watch out!¡±

    But his exmation hade one second toote. The unmoving figurine suddenly leaped up from the ground and stabbed the two sabers into Chu Yi¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Ack!¡± Chu Yi let out a weird sound from his throat.

    ¡°Heh heh! Unless you grind my puppet into ash, he will not die! HAHA!¡± Ennui cackled loudly. Chu Yi was merely human, so Ennui was sure that Chu Yi was going to die after being stabbed through the heart.

    Just then, Chu Yi suddenly grabbed hold of the two sabers in his chest and pulled them both right out.

    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Ennui¡¯s eyes widened in shock. How could an ordinary human still do such a thing after getting stabbed in the heart?

    Chu Yi used the two sabers topletely mince the figurine. Once he was done, he panted heavily and nodded at Su Jin to show that he was perfectly fine.

    Su Jin was really shocked at first, but he remembered that Chu Yi had that Golden Pill. That Golden Pill was capable ofpleting incredible feats and had probably reced Chu Yi¡¯s heart by now. But he didn¡¯t think Chu Yi could hold up for long even with the Golden Pill in his body. Thankfully, Su Jin still had some leaves from the Tree of Life, so that would be good enough to help Chu Yi recover from his wounds.

    ¡°Ennui, you¡¯ve lost!¡± said Su Jin as he stared at the pig-headed demigod.

    The pig-headed demigod was indignant, but he was surrounded by many real gods who were at a higher level than he was, so he couldn¡¯t go back on his word.

    ¡°Fine, you¡¯ve won!¡± Ennui was clearly very unhappy with this result.

    The team members of Team Boning Knife finally smiled again. If this demigod decided to go against his word, their only option would be to fight him here. The owners from Team High Mountain also breathed a sigh of relief. They were also happy to see that Chu Yi managed to win.

    ¡°Yay!¡± Chu Yi waved his arms and cheered, while Kano Mai gave him a big thumbs up.

    ¡°HUMPH!¡± Just then, Ennui became enraged and waved his arm. The little Chu Yi on the tortoise shell instantly turned into ash.

 Chapter 181: Another Gamble, Another Fight

    <h4>Chapter 181: Another Gamble, Another Fight</h4>

    The entire carriage fell silent. Chu Yi had be nothing but ash within the confines of the tortoise shell arena, leaving nothing but the Boning Knife from Su Jin on the floor.

    Su Jin was too stunned for words, and so was the rest of his team. Nobody expected something like that to happen at all. Chu Yi had won, but Ennui had gone back on his word and turned Chu Yi to dust.

    Su Jin¡¯s face reddened as a rage boiled within him. He tried his best to remain rational. Should he avenge Chu Yi by engaging in battle with this demigod? He could do that, but that might cost him the lives of more teammates or even all their lives.

    But how could he just let this go like that? That would be letting Chu Yi down as well. Su Jin¡¯s body trembled slightly as he fought the inner turmoil in his heart. If he was here by himself, he would have attacked the demigod by now.

    The demigod let out a disdainful sneer when he saw how Su Jin was trembling all over. A mortal was merely a mortal after all. So what if Su Jin said he was a representative of a real god? He had no chance of even retaliating when faced with such a powerful being.

    ¡°Disgusting little worms. I can¡¯t believe I had to do this myself.¡± He wiped his fat and oily hands with a look of disgust, as though Chu Yi had dirtied his hands.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± Kano Mai finally snapped and retrieved her Soul Whisperer from her Handbook. Her entire body was emanating fury and grief as she aimed the gun at the demigod.

    The demigod was more than happy to see her do this. If Kano Mai actually tried to shoot him, that would give him a legitimate reason to fight back and take her for himself.

    ¡°Mai, stop!¡± Su Jin suddenly grabbed hold of the Soul Whisperer and he shook his head at Kano Mai with clenched teeth.

    ¡°Jin, he¡­ he¡­ he killed Chu Yi.¡± Tears streamed down Kano Mai¡¯s face as she wailed, ¡°And Chu Yi¡­ because of me, Chu Yi¡­¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s heart ached because of Chu Yi as well as how broken Kano Mai was. He pulled an arm around her shoulder gently and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m here, I¡¯m here.¡±

    Kano Mai buried her face in his chest as she sobbed. Her tears refused to stop flowing and his clothes were wet almost immediately.

    Both Situ Jin and Wu Chen had grim looks on their faces. They knew that this Challenge was going to be very dangerous right from the start, but if the passengers in the carriages could kill them at their whim and fancy, then there was no way they could get through this Challenge at all. There was no hope of surviving this Challenge.

    The team members of Team High Mountain had grim looks on their faces as well. If members of a team as formidable as Team Boning Knife were at such a loss and that pig-headed demigod was so powerful, then they were doomed. Never mind the demigod: they were certain that figurine the demigod had used to fight Chu Yi was enough to annihte the entire team.

    The demigod was disappointed to see Su Jin stop Kano Mai from trying to attack him. If these mortals did not initiate any attack on him, it was going to be hard to snatch this girl away in front of so many other gods. This made Ennui rather frustrated. If he hadn¡¯t suggested a battle earlier, then he could have just snatched her away and nothing much would have happened, actually.

    But now, he had lost the bet. So, if he tried to snatch her away despite losing, the other gods watching would have a bad impression of him and one of them might even step forward to help these pathetic mortals.

    Su Jin turned around to face the demigod. He red at Ennui and said frostily, ¡°Let¡¯s go for another round. Are you in?¡±

    Ennui was surprised for a moment. He thought that these humans would scamper off immediately. He didn¡¯t expect them to still have the courage to challenge him like this.

    Heughed maniacally. ¡°HAHA! You want another round? Sure! What are the stakes this time?¡± He rubbed his palms together.

    Su Jin took a deep breath and said, ¡°You lost thest bet,¡± then stuck his hand out.

    Ennui blinked in confusion for a while, then realized that Su Jin was demanding his prize from him. He was annoyed by this action, but in order to move onto the next round, he had no choice but to throw the pig-headed figurine to Su Jin.

    Su Jin caught the figurine and said in a deep voice, ¡°This time¡­ the prize will still be her.¡± He pointed at Kano Mai. Kano Mai did not protest and even nodded at him with a trusting look on her face.

    Ennui became wildly excited. The only thing he wanted from Su Jin was precisely Kano Mai. The powers she possessed were very simr to his, so if he could get her, then he might be able to ascend beyond demigod status and be a real god like the Goddess of the Harvest.

    ¡°Excellent.¡± Ennui nodded in agreement. This time, he took out a ck crystal and said to Su Jin, ¡°This is a Magic Energy Source Crystal and it¡¯s a rare thing even among real gods. It can increase the power of a god. If you win, you can have it.¡±

    The moment he took out that crystal, every passenger in the carriage sat up. That was something that was extremely treasured by even the real gods. They didn¡¯t expect Ennui to actually offer something like this in a fight. Then again, it made sense. Ennui was probably afraid that Su Jin might go back on his word.

    ¡°This time, I¡¯ll fight you myself. I¡¯ll allow you to attack me first and if I die, then I lose. But after that, I¡¯ll attack you and if you die, you lose!¡± Su Jin was really going all out this time and was actually putting his own life on the line. At the same time, he was also implying that he wanted to kill Ennui.

    Ennui was surprised, but he immediately began tough maniacally again. ¡°Haha! Sure, sure! You¡¯re really bold to challenge a deity, huh! That¡¯s a deal!¡± Ennui jumped onto the tortoise shell and waited for Su Jin.

    A look of panic shed in Kano Mai¡¯s eyes, but she calmed down again after she saw the look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. Her team leader had never disappointed her before.

    Su Jin leaped onto the tortoise shell as well and picked up his Boning Knife. The fury in his eyes intensified and he said to Ennui, ¡°You can go first!¡±

    Ennui nodded even as heughed at Su Jin for being foolish. After all, Su Jin was a mere mortal. Even if he were the representative of a real god, the difference in their powers was too great. Surviving an attack from a demigod sounded simply ridiculous to Ennui. How could a weak little mouse hold up against the attack of a Transformer?

    Situ Jin and Wu Chen looked equally horrified. They knew that Su Jin was formidable, but to challenge a demigod that could turn Chu Yi into dust with the snap of his fingers definitely sounded like a stupid idea. Had Chu Yi¡¯s death made Su Jin lose all rationality?

    Su Jin pped a hand on his Handbook and put on both the Protection of the Gods and his Gold Armor. Both of these items could protect his body against an attack. They couldn¡¯t do much, but it was better than nothing.

    ¡°Little minion, I hope you seed¡­ in reincarnating as a human in your next life,¡± cackled Ennui as he suddenly raised a fist. A ck mist solidified into a fist above his own. Ennui was smaller than life inside the tortoise shell arena, but this move still made everyone¡¯s hearts palpitate in fear, because it looked like this punch would probably be able to wipe out anything within the arena.

    ¡°Our team leader is doomed.¡± That was Situ Jin¡¯s first thought. This was a power that was way above what an owner could withstand. If Su Jin allowed himself to move around, he might be able to dodge it. But if he was going to just stand there and allow the attack to descend on him, then he was dead meat.

    ¡°Ster Streams Heavy Armor! Protection of the Gods!¡± shouted Su Jin. A colorful glow surrounded his body and seemed to fossilize him as he became as stiff as wood.

    BOOM! That fist made of ck mist came down hard on the colorful glow. The Protection of the Gods could protect Su Jin from an attack that was made from something that existed on Earth, but Ennui¡¯s attack didn¡¯t seem to be made from anything that already existed, so it went right through the colorful glow and hit Su Jin directly.

    Everyone from the two teams watched on in horror as their eyes widened. They were all certain that Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to survive this.

    The punch had stirred up a huge amount of dust, so it took a while for the dust to settle back down again. After the dust settled, everyone saw that Su Jin¡¯s outermostyer of skin had nearly disappeared andrge parts of his exposed flesh had been burned as well. But the thing that made everyone¡¯s hair stand on end in utter disbelief was the fact that Su Jin was actually still alive.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Ennui stared in shock at the human in front of him. He had put in everything he had into that punch, yet it hadn¡¯t been enough to smite a mere mortal.

    ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s called Ennui, eh? He truly lives up to his name!¡±

    ¡°What a joke! He can¡¯t even kill a mortal?¡±

    ¡°Goodness gracious! Has the power of his worshippers dwindled this much?¡±

    None of the passengers onboard had opened their mouths, but the members of both Team Boning Knife and Team High Mountain could hear mocking voices that were disdainful of Ennui and felt that Ennui had embarrassed himself.

    Su Jin was on the verge of copsing actually. That blow from Ennui had been very powerful, and being able to survive it was indeed a miracle in itself. Thankfully, he had received that bottle of wine from the boss of Hell¡¯s Bar and he had almost finished drinking it all himself. His physical body was now even stronger than after he had consumed the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir. He had also used the Ster Streams Heavy Armor to further fortify himself, which brought his resilience to an even higher level than humanly possible.

    Even so, he had survived that blow by a stroke of luck. He initially thought that the Protection of the Gods would have helped to cushion a bit of the impact, but to his dismay, Ennui¡¯s punch was made from something that could go through his defenses, so the Protection of the Gods was useless. He had no choice but to use his own body to hold up against the punch. This punch shattered his Gold Armorpletely, leaving no trace of it behind.

    He stuffed a few leaves from the Tree of Life into his mouth and his body began to recover rapidly. But his injuries were way too severe, so unless he could return to his Hell Domain right now, waiting for his body to recover fully was going to take too long. Eating these leaves was only enough to help him regain the ability to move.

    ¡°It¡¯s my turn,¡± said Su Jin frostily.

    Ennui stared at Su Jin disdainfully. He had to admit that Su Jin was better at defending himself than he had expected, but he didn¡¯t think Su Jin could do anything that could hurt him since Su Jin was so badly injured. In fact, even if Su Jin weren¡¯t injured, Ennui was sure that Su Jin would have no way of causing a deity like himself any harm.

    Su Jin retrieved the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow from his Handbook. Sparkles formed an arrow and he aimed it at Ennui.

    Ennui shuddered as he stared at Su Jin in disbelief and yelled frantically, ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a weapon made by a god! How?! How could you have something like that?!¡± Ennui turned and tried to escape.

 Chapter 182: Killing the Demigod

    <h4>Chapter 182: Killing the Demigod</h4>

    Ennui turned to run, only to find that he couldn¡¯t move at all. His eyes darted about to see a man with a goat¡¯s head staring down at him from above with his bloodshot eyes.

    ¡°Mr¡­ Mr. Diablo! Wh-why?¡± Ennui asked the man with a goat¡¯s head fearfully.

    Diablo snorted. ¡°What an embarrassment you are to deities. You agreed to a bet with a mortal, yet you are hoping to escape?¡±

    ¡°But Mr. Diablo, that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s a weapon made by a real god! It has the power to actually kill a deity! Please spare me, please!¡± Ennui had fallen to his knees and kept kowtowing to Diablo. The pride andcent attitude he had toward Team Boning Knife earlier was gone.

    ¡°You¡¯re truly an embarrassment to the deities.¡± Diablo frowned, his bloodshot eyes filled with disgust.

    At the same time, Su Jin had released his grip on the arrow. The Roar of the Demon Lord was able to destroy anything, turning everything it touched to powder. Back in the Fairytales of Horror, the demigod Prince Charming was not able to withstand the attack of the Roar of the Demon Lord either and tried to hide from it.

    But now, Ennui was controlled by Diablo and he could not move at all, so he had no choice but to face this attack head on. This weapon was also Su Jin¡¯s trump card.

    When it came to defense, he had his resilient body and the Ster Streams Heavy Armor. When it came to offense, he relied on the virtually invincible Roar of the Demon Lord.

    The sparklespletely consumed Ennui. After the sparkles had disappeared and the dust had settled, the demigod had also disappeared. He had been wiped out entirely. Su Jin had killed a demigod.

    The passengers in the carriage either looked shocked or they nodded their heads slightly. Many of them felt that Su Jin must have a trump card of sorts, otherwise there was no reason why Su Jin would have suggested another battle without any fear. Unfortunately for Ennui, he had been too blinded by the prospect of winning Kano Mai for himself and agreed to Su Jin¡¯s challenge without hesitation. From that moment onward, Ennui¡¯s chances of being defeated were actually more than Su Jin¡¯s.

    Su Jin took a few steps forward and picked up the ck crystal that was lying quietly on the floor. That was his prize, the Magic Energy Source Crystal. He kept it inside his Handbook.

    Diablo waved his hand, and Su Jin was taken out from the arena and reverted to his original size.

    He looked curiously at Su Jin and asked, ¡°Did you know if you¡¯d be able to withstand a blow from Ennui right from the start?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°No. Ennui was a deity. I had no idea if I could hold up at all.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Diablo was rather surprised. He could see that Su Jin was telling him the truth, so he asked another question, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why¡­ did you ask to go for another round?¡±

    ¡°I did that for my teammate, for my brother,¡± said Su Jin before heading toward his team¡¯s carriage with Kano Mai¡¯s help.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Just then, the Goddess of the Harvest suddenly broke her silence. She pointed a finger at Su Jin and a green mist entered his body. In just one second, any part of his skin that had not healed instantly healed up and his hair grew out normally again.

    ¡°Thank you so much, O merciful Goddess of the Harvest,¡± Su Jin thanked the goddess. This deity was definitely in the camp of the good deities, so she was kind even to mortals.

    The Goddess of the Harvest nodded slightly in response, and the four of them went to their own carriage. After they left, Diablo stroked the goatee on his chin and suddenly burst into a smile.

    The team members of Team High Mountain werepletely floored by what they just saw. It was already unbelievable that Su Jin had managed to survive an attack from a deity, but that was nothingpared to the fact that Su Jin had killed a demigod with just one arrow.

    ¡°He¡¯s really powerful. It¡¯s little wonder he can be the team leader of Team Boning Knife,¡± marveled Liu Bowen. He started to regret not joining hands with Team Boning Knife. Being allies with such a formidable team would definitely make going through this Level A Challenge a lot easier.

    ¡°That Chu Yi was really formidable as well. If that demigod hadn¡¯t pulled such a dirty trick on him, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d have died that easily either,¡± said the fresh faced girl sitting next to Liu Bowen. Compared to Su Jin, who could kill a demigod with a weapon made by a god, she had a deeper impression of Chu Yi instead. He had fought valiantly, but died a wrongful death.

    After receiving the blessing from the Goddess of the Harvest, Su Jin¡¯s body went back to being in top form again. But everyone was still in low spirits. So what if he had avenged Chu Yi? The dead had already gone, and the living could only remember them in their hearts.

    They soon found their seats in a corner of the carriage. Just like the previous carriage, the passengersprised all sorts of weird creatures. Next to them was one that was covered in feathers, but even though it had wings and a head like a bird¡¯s, the rest of its body was human, so it was probably some sort of bird god.

    ¡°Don¡¯t dwell too much on it. We¡¯re in a Handbook Challenge after all, so¡­ it¡¯s really normal for people to die here,¡± Wu Chen tried to counsel Su Jin. He had gone through a few dozen Challenges and had seen countless owners die before him, so he wasn¡¯t too affected by losing a teammate.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t want to talk. He knew that any of them could leave at any moment, and nobody knew how many of them could even survive this current Challenge. But when faced with actually losing someone, he still needed time to get over it.

    ¡°Jin, we¡­ we still have the Key to Immortality, so we might still be able to get Chu Yi back,¡± said Kano Mai suddenly. Her gaze was very solemn, as if she was making an oath.

    Su Jin looked back at her in surprise for a moment before a smile spread across his face. She was right. Wu Chen told them before that Hell¡¯s Handbook had a way to revive the dead. They had the Key to Immortality, which was an item that was needed to possibly bring Chu Yi back to life.

    At the same time, Wu Chen¡¯s eyes widened. He was sure he had just heard the words ¡°Key to Immortality¡±. He immediately asked Su Jin and Kano Mai, ¡°Did you two just¡­ just say the Key to Immortality?¡±

    Su Jin decided there was no point in keeping this a secret from Wu Chen anymore, and he had more than one Key to Immortality anyway. He nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. We have the Key to Immortality, the item that¡¯s needed in a Gods¡¯ Ceremony to revive the dead.¡±

    Su Jin took one out from his Handbook and Wu Chen¡¯s eyes grew as wide as saucers. If they weren¡¯t already team mates, Wu Chen was certain he would have made a grab for it.

    He started breathing heavily and his eyes turned red as he asked Su Jin, ¡°How much are you selling this for? I want one!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t put a price tag on it. As long as we all get out of this Challenge alive, I¡¯ll give you one. How¡¯s that?¡± said Su Jin very generously. He had a number of these things, so he didn¡¯t mind giving one to Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen was ecstatic and suddenly seemed like a different person as he said confidently to Su Jin and Kano Mai, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m going to go all out to make sure all of you get through this Challenge alive.¡±

    .

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°If we all help each other, I think we¡¯ll be able to survive, even if it¡¯s a Level A Challenge.¡±

    Time slowly passed and the brightness outside the train windows slowly dimmed. They couldn¡¯t see anything else, however, so they had no idea where they were going at all.

    In no time, everyone started feeling very sleepy. This puzzled Su Jin. His body was so strong now, he could go an entire month without sleeping, never mind just a few hours. It was the train that was problematic.

    After a while, none of them could keep their eyes open anymore and they fell into a deep sleep. Team High Mountain and Team Red Dragon were in the same predicament in their respective carriages. None of them could hold up against the sleepiness they felt.

    Meanwhile, Diablo was sitting with the Mad Hatter and Pinhio in the frontmost carriage. He nced at Mad Hatter andughed. ¡°You¡¯re truly a free fellow. Even the powers of the Challenge don¡¯t affect you anymore.¡±

    The Mad Hatterughed as well. ¡°Lord of the demons, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got a way to break free too, right? I really want to know why you¡­¡±

    ¡°No, no.¡± Diablo shook his head and sighed. ¡°Mr. Mad Hatter, you underestimate the power of Hell¡¯s Handbook. As gods, we can sense his presence but we cannot fight back. I¡¯m not affected only because I¡¯m someone in your Challenge who can ignore the change in day and night. I¡¯ve got to maintain order in this Train of the Supernatural, after all.¡±

    ¡°Besides, you¡¯ve also underestimated your own power as well as the power of the World of Fairytales. Among the worlds you already know about, there aren¡¯t a lot who have so many gods and treasures like the World of Fairytales does. Also, the worlds that remain have a problem: opposing forces,¡± said Diablo as he sighed again.

    ¡°Every world has opposing forces, like the World of Mythology I belong to. Light versus darkness, or angels versus demons are the most obvious example of opposing forces. We will never allow the other party to make use of our own powers. But the World of Fairytales is different. That is an almost perfect world where everybody is willing to sacrifice themselves for another. That¡¯s how you were able to take control of so many godly treasures and you¡¯ve got the innate ability to move between dimensions too. That¡¯s why you were able to break free.¡±

    The Mad Hatter nodded. He knew that Diablo was right. The World of Fairytales used to be a wonderful ce. Everyone was willing to sacrifice themselves for their world, which was how he was able to break free after obtaining several godly treasures.

    But other worlds were different. Even for the sake of breaking free, the light and darkness of the World of Mythology would never work together. That was something rooted deeply in their minds.

    ¡°Oh, night has fallen. The daytime that belongs to the gods has ended, while the night that belongs to the demons has begun.¡± Pinhio wasn¡¯t interested in the conversation between the other two. He was more interested in the changes happening inside the train right now.

    The deities in the dim carriages disappeared, reced by the smell of fresh blood and decaying flesh. The day had gone and the night was here!

 Chapter 183: Dependent On Oneâ€™s Beliefs

    <h4>Chapter 183: Dependent On One¡¯s Beliefs</h4>

    Su Jin felt exceptionally tired, and his eyelids were so heavy that he couldn¡¯t keep them open at all. After some time, this feeling of tiredness finally began to fade.

    ¡°What just happened?¡± groaned Su Jin quietly as he woke up from his groggy state. But his heart nearly leaped out of his mouth when he actually opened his eyes. The deities that had been seated around them earlier had disappeared, and they were reced by bloodthirsty and terrifying looking demons.

    ¡°What happened, Jin?¡± Kano Mai had woken up to see that Su Jin was seated stiffly next to her and looked like he was looking at something horrifying.

    Su Jin shook his head and motioned to her to keep quiet. Kano Mai checked what he was looking at and stiffened up as well. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t held her down, she might have jumped up in front.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make a sound,¡± Su Jin used his psychokinesis to speak to her, then used it to wake Situ Jin and Wu Chen up as well.

    ¡°You¡¯re both already awake, so listen to me. The deities that were seated around us have all turned into demons, so stay calm and don¡¯t attract their attention,¡± said Su Jin after he discovered that both of them had just regained consciousness and were about to open their eyes.

    The two men nodded and opened their eyes at almost the same time. They trembled slightly at the sight before them. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t warned them beforehand, they would probably have had a bigger reaction.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± thought Situ Jin. He knew Su Jin could sense his thoughts.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I think¡­ I think it¡¯s because day has turned into night. The train is called the Train of the Supernatural, after all, so since we only saw deities in the day, we only see demons in the night,¡± guessed Su Jin.

    ¡°Su Jin, I spot¡­ I spotted a familiar looking ghost,¡± thought Wu Chen. He looked in a particr direction, then continued rying his thoughts, ¡°That¡¯s a boss level monster I met in a Level B Challenge. It¡¯s very powerful and it has the power to control minds, so owners end up dying without even realizing it themselves.¡±

    ¡°Jin, those fellows over there¡­ look familiar too.¡± Kano Mai tugged at Su Jin and motioned to him to look in another direction.

    Su Jin turned to look, and his eyes widened. A family of four were seated not too far away from them. It was the family from the Ghostly Games Challenge. He didn¡¯t expect to run into them again so quickly.

    ¡°Damn it! Has this train summoned all the deities and demons of every Challenge?¡± Su Jin was puzzled. As far as he understood the Handbook¡¯s universe, each Challenge was self-contained and made sense within itself. Besides, most of the characters within the Challenges had no idea about the Handbook at all. They seemed to be trapped in a never-ending cycle of their Challenge and just kept waiting for new owners to enter.

    But this time, previously seen demons and ghosts had appeared here. Were these Challenges actually connected to one another?

    Just then, the family of four seemed to have sensed that Su Jin and Kano Mai were looking at them. They turned around with a start to stare back at the two humans.

    ¡°AHHH!¡± The family of four let out a screech that was like an rm clock that instantly woke everyone else inside the train carriage.

    In that instant, amotion ran through the demons. Su Jin and his team paled instantly. Every creature here was powerful enough to kill them on their own. If so many were going crazy at the same time, the team was doomed for sure.

    ¡°Rise up!¡± Wu Chen suddenly pped his hands and a green light rose from beneath their feet and turned into a green ball of light that covered all the members of the team.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°It¡¯s a weapon to ward off evil. I got it from one of the Challenges.¡± Wu Chen let out a sigh of relief and looked fearfully at the demon he had pointed out earlier, as if seeing that demon brought back very bad memories.

    Su Jin started to observe his surroundings and felt that something was amiss. While it was true that the chances of dying in a Level A Challenge was very high, the Handbook Challenges would never put the owners in apletely hopeless situation. The way out might be difficult to find, but it definitely existed.

    Bam! One of the demons mmed itself against the green ball of light and roared at the humans inside. Its roaring attracted the attention of other demons, and an entire group of them quickly ended up surrounding the ball of light.

    Every demon here was extremely powerful and were clearly no less powerful than deities. Otherwise, there was no reason why the deities would leave at night and give up their seat to these demons.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Wu Chen, remove this protective barrier. We must not put up a defense,¡± Su Jin shouted to Wu Chen quickly. He had been puzzled as to why the demons hadn¡¯t attacked them earlier and behaved as though they were invisible. Day had turned to night while they were asleep, and these demons must have appeared a long time ago already.

    Instead, the demons only started reacting when they started to look at the demons in the carriage. Even so, they did not try and attack the four of them. They were now attacking the weapon for warding off evil that Wu Chen had set up.

    Wu Chen was a little afraid to trust in Su Jin. Removing this protective barrier sounded suicidal, yet Su Jin looked very confident.

    He gritted his teeth and finally decided to go with what Su Jin said. In any case, even if he didn¡¯t retract it, this barrier wasn¡¯t going to hold up much longer. He pulled his palms apart again, and the ball of light disappeared as well.

    Everyone stiffened up as they saw the demons pounce toward them, which made Su Jin wonder if he had guessed wrongly. But just a momentter, the demons floated past them and did not try to attack them.

    Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He had guessed right. If Wu Chen had not kept the barrier and it had copsed instead, the demons might have gobbled them up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at them and don¡¯t think about them! To a certain extent, these demons are merely a construct. If you believe they exist, they exist. If you don¡¯t believe they exist, then they won¡¯t,¡± Su Jin said to his teammates using his psychokinesis as he shut his eyes.

    But doing this was easier said than done. For humans, the more they were told not to think about something, the more they would think about it unless you were some great Buddhist practitioner or something like that. But all of them were merely ordinary humans.

    The demons existed and became active because they were thinking about them, so they tried their best to not think about them. But this was not a long term solution, and they would eventually cave in after doing this for too long.

    Su Jin had no choice but to use his psychokinesis to barge into the minds of the other three and erase the concept of demons and ghosts from their minds, which made them calm down again. Their minds didn¡¯t know what these creatures were, so they couldn¡¯t be afraid of them anymore.

    The creatures around them slowly calmed down again, and Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He erased the concept from his own mind as well, otherwise there was no point even if he could do that for the other three. If he didn¡¯t have this Spirit Power, everyone would be in danger.

    Time slowly ticked by and they all kept their eyes shut. Su Jin warned them never to open their eyes and they trusted him.

    Finally, the night passed and it was daytime again. When Su Jin opened his eyes once more, the demons had disappeared and the seats were filled with deities again.

    The deities looked curiously at Su Jin and his teammates, clearly surprised that the four of them had survived. Diablo came around to check and make sure that none of the passengers had left or had barged in.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all still alive! How surprising! By the way, you have one hour of free time. All the carriages are open and you can go anywhere you like,¡± said Diablo before walking away.

    ¡°Is that giving us a chance to find a way to get out of this ce alive?¡± asked Kano Mai puzzledly. In reality, she didn¡¯t want to go anywhere because she didn¡¯t know if they¡¯d end up having to fight yet another deity. The demons the night before were scary, but at least they survived. On the contrary, Chu Yi had perished at the hands of a deity.

    Su Jin thought about it, then said, ¡°All of you stay here, I¡¯ll go out and take a look.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t I go with you? It¡¯s too dangerous for you to move around by yourself,¡± said Wu Chen as he got up from his seat. Moving around in this ursed train alone sounded like a suicide mission.

    .

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I think we¡¯re all safe during this time. I think the Challenge has given the owners this time to take a breather and search for a way out of this ce. In fact, if youe along with me, Mai and Situ will be left in a dangerous position instead.¡±

    He was certain that Wu Chen was a capable owner. The older man was a veteran who had survived a few dozen Challenges after all, so he was both capable and experienced.

    Wu Chen didn¡¯t insist any further and Su Jin left the carriage. The first thing he did was to go to the carriage that Team High Mountain was allocated to. He figured that something bad might have happened to them the night before.

    He walked past the connecting area between the carriages and immediately spotted the team¡¯s seats. But where there was once a group of four, only Liu Bowen remained.

    When he walked over, Liu Bowen looked up to see that it was Su Jin and his eyes instantly reddened. His hands were tightly clenched, and he didn¡¯t seem to feel anything even though his nails had dug into his own skin.

    Su Jin sighed heavily. He had no idea how tofort Liu Bowen. His team had nearly gone mad from just losing one team member, but this team had met a greater tragedy. Liu Bowen was the only one standing after just one night.

    ¡°Take care.¡± That was the only thing Su Jin could say to him. He was having trouble keeping himself alive in this Level A Challenge, so he really couldn¡¯t afford to do anything for someone else at this point.

    After passing through that carriage, Su Jin started walking to where Team Red Dragon was and got there in no time. Compared to Team High Mountain, this team was in a slightly better shape, but their team was also iplete. They were only left with Tai Shan and two others, including the woman who had lost years of her lifespan to Diablo.

    Su Jin walked toward them, but when he passed by the carriage¡¯s bathroom, the door opened and a hand reached out to drag him into the bathroom.

    He got a shock and quickly retrieved the Boning Knife, then brought it down on the other party without hesitation.

    But someone caught hold of his hand while it was still mid-air, and a man in a suit smiled faintly at him.

    ¡°Mad Hatter!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

 Chapter 184: Duplicated Universes

    <h4>Chapter 184: Duplicated Universes</h4>

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Su Jin was in shock. Back when they went through the Fairytales of Horror Challenge, the Mad Hatter had made use of his team. But the Mad Hatter was a deity as powerful as the Demon Lord, so Su Jin had no choice but to suck it up.

    The Mad Hatter rolled his eyes and said frostily, ¡°I should be asking you that question. I sensed your presence earlier on.¡±

    ¡°Me? I don¡¯t get a choice, you know?¡± Su Jin shook his head. The Mad Hatter knew the Handbook¡¯s universe very well, and he was at the same level as the Demon Lord, so there was no need for Su Jin to pretend to be ignorant or to hide anything from him.

    The Mad Hatter nodded and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right. You don¡¯t get a choice. But getting sent to the Train of the Supernatural definitely makes you one of the unluckiest ones.¡±

    If not for the fact that Su Jin knew he couldn¡¯t beat the Mad Hatter in a fight, he would have swung his knife at this irritating fellow. He sighed and said, ¡°Why did you drag me in here?¡±

    ¡°Why? Of course it¡¯s to save you! Otherwise, why would Diablo have appeared when you were fighting that pig-headed fellow? Diablo isn¡¯t a deity who stands up for justice or righteousness, you know,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a snicker.

    Su Jin paused for a moment. Back when he had fought Ennui, it was true that he had lost his cool and had failed to think rationally. When he thought about it now, everything he had done out of anger had not been the best of decisions and he could have died. If Diablo hadn¡¯t appeared and stopped Ennui from moving, he might have won the fight but would have failed to kill Ennui and thereby avenge Chu Yi.

    ¡°For that, I¡­ I owe you one,¡± said Su Jin. Since the Mad Hatter had indeed helped him out, he was willing to acknowledge it.

    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, how about you help me with something?¡± said the Mad Hatter to Su Jin with a big grin.

    Su Jin immediately became wary and took a step back. ¡°You¡¯re trying to trap me again?¡±

    The Mad Hatter looked a little embarrassed and gave Su Jin a gentlemanly smile. ¡°How could you say that? I¡¯m a god, after all. Why would I do something like that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit. Mai¡¯s soul is still very weak! Do you think I would still believe you even though you¡¯re supposed to be a god?¡± Su Jin snorted. Kano Mai still needed items that could replenish her soul power, and this all started because of what the Mad Hatter had done during that Challenge.

    ¡°Believe me. Helping me is the same as helping yourself. Otherwise, you¡¯re never going to make it to thest station alive,¡± said the Mad Hatter very confidently.

    Su Jin frowned. As an owner, he was supposed to keep to the mission given by the Challenge. But now that a deity as unreasonable as a gangster was involved, it seemed like he didn¡¯t have much of a choice.

    ¡°It¡¯s not as if I haven¡¯t gone through a Level A Challenge before,¡± said Su Jin in a grim voice.

    The Mad Hatter shrugged and said, ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I know that you¡¯re really capable and I admire that in you. When the Demon Lord told me about you, he thought that you were a rare talent who could achieve great things too. So, I¡¯m not surprised that you could survive a Level A Challenge.¡±

    ¡°You know the Demon Lord?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. If that was the case, then it was actually the Demon Lord¡¯s idea for the Mad Hatter to make use of him.

    The Mad Hatterughed hollowly. ¡°Of course. As fellow deities who have been sealed up, we do know each other.¡±

    ¡°Where is he now and how can I help him to break the seal on him?¡± asked Su Jin immediately.

    The Mad Hatter motioned to Su Jin to calm down. ¡°You seem very concerned about that fellow!¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so concerned if he wasn¡¯t holding onto my heart,¡± said Su Jin with a scoff. If the Demon Lord hadn¡¯t switched his heart for the Eye of the Demon Lord and held his life hostage, he wouldn¡¯t care about the Demon Lord at all.

    The Mad Hatter froze for a moment, stared at Su Jin¡¯s chest, and looked like he understood what was going on now. ¡°I was wondering why he just let you roam around like that. So, he¡¯s actually made ample preparations. He¡¯s the main deity of the evil camp alright.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t interested in hearing the Mad Hatterpliment the Demon Lord, so he turned around to leave. But the Mad Hatter flicked his fingers and the door that was once there instantly disappeared.

    ¡°Young man, you will be punished for being so rude to a god,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a frown.

    ¡°Staying here with you for so long is my punishment already. What do you want from me?¡± Su Jin was losing his patience. He didn¡¯t like this Mad Hatter at all. If the Mad Hatter weren¡¯t a god, he would have attacked him by now.

    The Mad Hatter could sense that Su Jin didn¡¯t like him one bit, so he just sighed and said, ¡°I already told you. If you don¡¯t help me, you won¡¯t get to the final stop.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ what do you mean? You said I won¡¯t reach the final stop if I don¡¯t help you, so¡­ you¡¯re going to sabotage something?¡± asked Su Jin carefully. He suddenly felt that there was more to the Mad Hatter¡¯s words than he let on.

    The Mad Hatter seemed very pleased by Su Jin¡¯s level of intelligence, so he smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course. I¡¯m going to bomb this train.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what did you just say?¡± Su Jin¡¯s mouth twitched and wondered if he was hearing things.

    ¡°I said, I¡¯m going to bomb this train,¡± repeated the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°What?!¡± Su Jin really felt like dying now. He had been right: staying here with the Mad Hatter for too long was a real punishment.

    ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, aren¡¯t you? You¡¯re just doing this on purpose! Why can¡¯t you just let me off? I¡¯m just an ordinary owner! I¡¯m just a young fellow!¡± Su Jin felt like even his logic was getting confused.

    The Mad Hatter grinned at Su Jin and waited for Su Jin to calm down before continuing, ¡°Rx. Things aren¡¯t as bad as you think.¡±

    ¡°Things are probably way worse than I think! What are you trying to do? Are you a Hell¡¯s Handbook terrorist? You want to bomb the train? Why don¡¯t you just fly straight to heaven?¡± Su Jin was furious. He was already upset enough to be sent into a Level A Challenge, but now, he had to deal with this crazy fellow on top of that.

    ¡°Flying to heaven is a lot easier than bombing the train. But that¡¯s why I need your help,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a straight face.

    Su Jin just wanted to go as far away as possible from this crazy fellow. The Mad Hatter was a literal walking disaster. If he bombed the train, what was going to happen to all the owners in it?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m no longer constrained by the Handbook, so there are many things I can do, including sending all of you back into your Personal Hell Domains and letting youplete this Challenge.¡± The Mad Hatter could see what Su Jin was worried about.

    ¡°Can I say no? Getting through a Level A Challenge is tough, but helping you to st this train sounds like a suicide mission to me.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t trust the Mad Hatter at all and was more willing to go through the Challenge the normal way instead.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know what the Hell¡¯s Handbook is?¡± asked the Mad Hatter suddenly.

    Su Jin froze for a moment and the Mad Hatter gave him a strange smile as he murmured, ¡°Of course, even if I don¡¯t tell you now, you¡¯ll end up finding out as long as you manage to stay alive for long enough. But if you know what it¡¯s all about ahead of time, I believe you¡¯ll mature and develop faster.¡±

    After noticing that Su Jin had remained silent for a while, the Mad Hatter went on, ¡°You¡¯re the leader of a small team, which means you¡¯ve understood the concept of multiple universes, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Besides the owners who have been newly chosen by the Handbook, almost every owner knows about this. It¡¯s not much of a secret,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. This was a secret only to those who had just entered the Handbook¡¯s universe, but it was public knowledge among all the owners who spent time in Hell¡¯s Bar.

    ¡°Then do you know the secret of the multiple universes? Or rather, do you know why there are so many in the first ce?¡± The Mad Hatter seemed more like he was here to ask questions rather than exin things.

    Su Jin shook his head. The Mad Hatter exined, ¡°All the universes are very simr to one another. They¡¯re so simr, it seems like they¡¯re all¡­ made from the same mould. Let¡¯s take owners for example. You could be a group of owners from various universes, yet they have almost no difference in terms ofnguage and culture. Do you know why?¡±

    Su Jin blinked and began to think about this. His eyes lit up after a while and he murmured, ¡°Are you saying¡­ these universes have been duplicated?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Tell me more.¡± The Mad Hatter was surprised that Su Jin had managed to grasp the main point so quickly.

    Su Jin sorted his thoughts out, then said, ¡°I did think about this question before. My guess is that there¡¯s one main universe among the multiple universes and the other universes are duplicates of this main universe. They are linked like a big tree. The main universe is the tree trunk, while the other universes are the branches that carry the same genes as the trunk.

    ¡°As for how ournguage and culture, and even the level of technology in each of our universes have been pretty much the same, I think¡­ when the universes were duplicated, certain foundations wereid¡­ in fact, they might not exist for very long. They might only exist for¡­ a few decades!¡± Su Jin was shocked by his own thoughts and instinctively shook his head. This sounded crazy, but Su Jin subconsciously also believed that his judgment was correct.

    This was a hypothesis he had held from a very long time ago, but nobody had confirmed or hinted at it, which was why he had just pushed it aside. Now that he had said it out loud, he couldn¡¯t take this idea back or ignore it anymore.

    ¡°My universe¡­ will onlyst for a few more decades¡­ everything else is but an illusion¡­ then¡­ then¡­ do I really exist? Am I nothing more than a living creature that has been duplicated?¡± murmured Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter was not surprised by Su Jin¡¯s reaction and said quietly, ¡°Young man, whether you¡¯re real or not isn¡¯t important now. I¡¯m more powerful than you are, but¡­ am I real to you? To an owner like yourself, am I real? To the Handbook, am¡­ I¡­ real?¡±

    The Mad Hatter¡¯s words seemed to thunder in Su Jin¡¯s ears and made him shudder. He was considering what the Mad Hatter was saying. As a Handbook owner, it was true that Su Jin had regarded an existence like the Mad Hatter as unreal. Even though the Mad Hatter was more powerful and even magical, he had never thought that these beings were real. He just treated them like NPCs in games.

    The Mad Hatter grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s shoulders and whispered into his ear, ¡°Of course, of course I¡¯m real!¡±

 Chapter 185: Temple Of The Living Dead

    <h4>Chapter 185: Temple Of The Living Dead</h4>

    What was real and what was unreal was a question that had been considered for centuries by humans. Countless philosophers had been unable to distinguish real from unreal with absolute confidence.

    But now, the Mad Hatter seemed to be trying to tell Su Jin that even these ancient humans and philosophers were actually not real. They never existed, at least not in his universe.

    ¡°What you consider reality is only real in your world. And now, I can tell you that your world and my world are not very different. We¡¯re nothing more than branches and vines that have been duplicated. How do you feel about that?¡± asked the Mad Hatter with a maniacal grin on his face. He seemed very amused by Su Jin¡¯s utterly shocked expression.

    It was difficult for Su Jin to ept this as fact, but after thinking about what the Mad Hatter said, everything made perfect sense.

    Based on how the owners shared the same culture,nguage, traditions and more despite being from different universes, it made sense that there was a main control somewhere. It would be crazier to say that these universes were the same purely by coincidence.

    Su Jin thought about the conversations he had had with Chu Yi and others from a different universe from himself. They had talked about a lot of things, including historical poems and songs. Everyone knew what each other was referring to and there was no difference in their knowledge of ancient history.

    He suddenly realized how dumb he had been. He should have realized this a long time ago.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to kick yourself for being stupid or anything like that. If nobody enlightened you in this aspect, most humans would have trouble reaching such a conclusion. It¡¯s just like the story of the frog in a well. If a bird hadn¡¯t told the frog about a world outside the well, the frog wouldn¡¯t have learned about the sky,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a smile.

    Su Jinughed sadly and said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t soundforting at all. It sounds like you AREughing at me for being stupid.¡±

    The Mad Hatter didn¡¯t respond to that, so Su Jin went on to ask seriously, ¡°Why are you telling me all this? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not just trying to enlighten a frog in the well.¡±

    The Mad Hatter burst outughing and a strange glint in his eye. Su Jin recognized this glint. It was the glint of anger. The Mad Hatter was very angry right now.

    ¡°Let me guess¡­ multiple universes, the World of Fairytales¡­ Are you saying that the destruction of the World of Fairytales has something to do with the concept of multiple universes?¡± Su Jin¡¯s face lit up. He felt like he had understood something.

    The Mad Hatter nodded and said in a grim voice, ¡°Like I told you before, helping me is helping yourself.¡±

    Su Jin stared at the Mad Hatter and considered his words for a moment before shuddering violently. He said in a horrified voice, ¡°Are you saying¡­ one day, my world will be destroyed like the World of Fairytales was?¡±

    ¡°That is correct. That is something unavoidable. It might be my world today and it could be your world tomorrow,¡± said the Mad Hatter as he pointed to Su Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression went through several changes. What the Mad Hatter just said held a lot of implications, and he had pretty much already stated the truth behind Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°Put all the dots together already? But there¡¯s no need to tell me. It¡¯s enough for you to know.¡± The Mad Hatter knew that Su Jin had pieced together the reason for the Handbook¡¯s existence based on his changing facial expressions.

    The two of them didn¡¯t speak for a long time. The Mad Hatter broke the silence first, ¡°How about it? Are you willing to help me now?¡±

    Su Jin frowned and kept tapping his nose with his finger. The Mad Hatter¡¯s words had contained a lot of shocking information, and he had gone from being ignorant to seeing his position in this world very clearly. But that didn¡¯t mean he had to help the Mad Hatter. It was very risky to do so, after all.

    ¡°I can help you, but I have a few conditions. You must agree to them first,¡± said Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter wasn¡¯t surprised that Su Jin wanted him to agree to certain conditions. Su Jin wasn¡¯t stupid after all. If Su Jin were stupid, he wouldn¡¯t ask Su Jin to help him.

    .

    ¡°Tell me what they are. If they¡¯re reasonable, I can consider them.¡± At the same time, the Mad Hatter understood that it would be easier to get Su Jin to work with him if he fulfilled these requests, so he nodded.

    Su Jin took a short while to think, then said, ¡°Three conditions. Firstly, because of the Fairytales of Horror, my teammate, Kano Mai, is stillcking in soul power. I hope you can help her to return her soul power to normal.¡±

    The Mad Hatter nodded slightly. ¡°There is a deity who controls souls in the train. This isn¡¯t a problem. I can make arrangements for that.¡±

    Su Jin immediately lit up. Kano Mai¡¯s failing soul had been his worry all this time. Being able to resolve it once and for all made him let out a big sigh of relief.

    ¡°Secondly, I¡¯ve lost my teammate Chu Yi in this Challenge. I hope you can revive him,¡± said Su Jin.

    This time, the Mad Hatter frowned and shook his head. ¡°If I were the one who killed him, I could make hime back to life. But I wasn¡¯t the one who killed him, so¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t fulfil this request.¡±

    Su Jin blinked in surprise. Chu Yi was his greatest loss in the Challenge so far, and he thought that the Mad Hatter would be powerful enough to revive Chu Yi.

    The Mad Hatter said, ¡°I can¡¯t revive him, but I could give you a few things that would help. You¡¯d need a couple more items to revive him, but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±

    ¡°Are they items for the Gods¡¯ Ceremony?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up again.

    The Mad Hatter nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Since you know what that is, I don¡¯t have to exin this whole thing to you.¡± He proceeded to take three items out from his top hat.

    Su Jin was a little disappointed, because he was still missing one item. But that was still a good sign, since that would save him the trouble of having to collect these three things.

    ¡°My third condition. Since you¡¯re going to stop this Challenge by force, then¡­ find a way to send the people from the other teams back first,¡± said Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter¡¯s expression fell and he seemed rather displeased as he said in a stern voice, ¡°You seem to have misunderstood something here. I¡¯m helping you because you¡¯re worth it. What are those other people worth? Or rather, did you think you still had the time and energy to worry about the lives of others?¡±

    Su Jin had a sad smile on his face. He knew he didn¡¯t have the right to negotiate with the Mad Hatter at all. In fact, the Mad Hatter could have held his entire team hostage and forced him to do what he said.

    Now, the Mad Hatter was willing to fulfil these requests only because the Mad Hatter was afraid that he would not do the work wholeheartedly or sabotage the work in order to rebel. But that didn¡¯t mean that he had real room to negotiate with the Mad Hatter.

    As if to console Su Jin, the Mad Hatter went on, ¡°Besides, if I send others out of this ce, I will have to leave with them. Once I leave this ce, it will be very hard for me toe back here.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. The Mad Hatter was right. He was in no position to worry about others and try to keep them alive.

    ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t have to be too worried. Once something goes wrong in a Challenge, the Handbook would usually choose to ensure the safety of the owners first. So, instead of spending the time worrying about others, you should be worrying about yourself first,¡± said the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°Worry about myself? So¡­ I can refuse to help you?¡± asked Su Jin with a hopeful look on his face.

    ¡°Young people these days are really¡­ of course you can¡¯t refuse. If you refuse, I¡¯ll ughter you right now,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a chuckle.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression became glum again. He asked, ¡°Then can you tell me why you want to bomb the train?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing it to look for mypanions and set them free,¡± said the Mad Hatter very solemnly. He exined, ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way. The Handbook Challenges have their own logic. Each time a Challenge is started, the correct characters will be ced inside in order to fulfil the premise of the Challenge, then owners will appear in the Challenge to resolve it.

    ¡°Once the Challenge is resolved and the surviving owners are sent away, the Handbook will take back all the characters it ced inside. However, these main characters are generally powerful beings. In order to keep everything safely under control, the Handbook would erase the memories of these people.

    ¡°But some of them are particrly powerful, so not even the Handbook is able to erase their memories. In order to make sure that the memories of these powerful ones are erasedpletely, the Handbook created two special Challenges, one of which is the Train of the Supernatural.

    ¡°The Train of the Supernatural is in charge of sending these powerful deities to another Challenge and that Challenge will be used topletely erase their memories. Given how the Handbook¡¯s general principle is to y safe and make sure that everyone¡¯s memories are erased even after an attempt had already been made, there would be some who still have their memories and others who don¡¯t have them anymore. My aim is to find those who still have their memories.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s head began to spin after listening to the Mad Hatter. It was obvious that the Mad Hatter was nning to go against the Handbook. But as a mere owner, he really had no idea what exactly would happen.

    ¡°Young man, you don¡¯t have a choice. Do what I tell you properly and I¡¯ll ensure your safety since you did such a good job thest time,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a big smile.

    ¡°Last thing. I need to find the Demon Lord and undo his seal. Also¡­ aren¡¯t you and the Demon Lord part of the Handbook Challenges? Why are both of you¡­¡± Su Jin tried to squeeze as much information out of the Mad Hatter as possible, since that could help to make up for any potential risk he was about to face.

    The Mad Hatter replied without hesitation, ¡°That¡¯s because we¡¯re even more powerful. Those at our level can guarantee that we will not be consumed, but at the same time, we cannot escape its constraints. As for undoing the seal on the Demon Lord¡­ I¡¯ll talk to you about that after this Challenge is over.¡±

    Bam! Bam! Bam! Immediately after the Mad Hatter said those words, someone started banging on the door loudly.

    ¡°What the hell is going on? Did you fall into the toilet bowl and get flushed away or what? Who¡¯s the inconsiderate fellow inside! I¡¯m about to shit myself!¡± bellowed the voice outside the bathroom.

    The Mad Hatter frowned and opened the door, only to see a huge piece of flesh that resembled a butt bouncing up and down outside.

    ¡°What the heck is this thing?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. It looked like someone¡¯s butt hade to the bathroom without the rest of the human it belonged to.

    The giant butt squeezed its way in and when it noticed Su Jin staring at it, the anus of the butt started saying in an annoyed voice, ¡°What are you staring at? You have a problem with me? I¡¯m the great God of Excretion, you know?¡±

    ¡°N-no, I don¡¯t have any problem!¡± Su Jin hurriedly shook his head. This was definitely this god¡¯s territory, so he wasn¡¯t going to anger this god now.

    ¡°Enough of this nonsense. We don¡¯t have the time for this. Let¡¯s return to your train carriage to settle our matter first.¡± The Mad Hatter grabbed Su Jin by the cor and dragged him out.

 Chapter 186: The Long River Of Time

    <h4>Chapter 186: The Long River Of Time</h4>

    Once Su Jin got back to the carriage where the rest of his team was, he exined what the Mad Hatter wanted to do to them. Everyone had shocked looks on their faces. If the Mad Hatter weren¡¯t sitting right in front of them to confirm this, they would have thought that Su Jin had gonepletely insane.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the situation now. I don¡¯t have a choice, but I wanted to hear from you guys. If you don¡¯t agree, I don¡¯t mind fighting this fellow.¡± Su Jin was still annoyed by how he had been forced into a corner and was determined to teach the Mad Hatter a lesson.

    The Mad Hatter didn¡¯t get angry and just smiled at the rest of the team.

    ¡°Jin, regardless of what you choose, I will support you,¡± said Kano Mai first.

    ¡°If we help him, we might die. If we don¡¯t help him, we¡¯d die immediately. I can¡¯t find a reason not to help him,¡± said Situ Jin calmly.

    ¡°So, we don¡¯t get a choice at all, right? Seriously though, I don¡¯t care if you want to find an aplice, but you don¡¯t have to force someone into it!¡± Wu Chen was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake in choosing to join Team Boning Knife. This team seemed to be excellent at dying in a particrly fancy manner.

    The Mad Hatter pointed at Su Jin and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I just need him to do the work. The rest of you are safe.¡±

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°Actually, aren¡¯t you a god? What could you possibly be incapable of doing yourself?¡±

    ¡°I might be a god, but I¡¯m only an elder god and I am still constrained by the Handbook. For example, for as long as I¡¯m on this train, I have to follow most of its rules and I can¡¯t even move around freely. I had to make use of the owner¡¯s free time that¡¯s part of the Challenge¡¯s design to talk to you,¡± said the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°Fine. What do you want me to do?¡± asked Su Jin as he sighed again.

    The Mad Hatter took a round wooden ball out from his hat.

    ¡°This is a Spirit Power bomb made by Pinhio. I need you to go outside the train and break the link between the front of the train and the rest of the carriages with the bomb.¡± The Mad Hatter held the bomb in front of Su Jin.

    ¡°This was made by Pinhio?¡± Everyone had a look of surprise as they stared at the bomb.

    ¡°Pinhio is the best scientist in the World of Fairytales, and he might even be the best in the Handbook¡¯s universe.¡± The Mad Hatter sounded very proud of hispanion.

    ¡°Good heavens. A scientist in the World of Fairytales? That doesn¡¯t sound particrly scientific to me,¡± grumbled Wu Chen.

    ¡°Why not? The World of Fairytales has plenty of scientific equipment.¡± The Mad Hatter then turned to Su Jin and said, ¡°You need two types of Spirit Power to detonate this bomb, so you¡¯re definitely the best candidate for this.¡±

    ¡°Wow, thanks for the honor,¡± said Su Jin sarcastically.

    ¡°Haha! Also, just a reminder, run as fast as you can once you¡¯ve detonated it. This thing is pretty powerful and even ordinary deities have trouble holding up.¡± The Mad Hatter patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulders.

    Su Jin took a deep breath. This was definitely a suicide mission now.

    ¡°Do you have more of these bombs? Give me another two,¡± said Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter asked puzzledly, ¡°Why do you want so many of them?¡±

    ¡°Have you bombed this train before?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter shook his head. Su Jin said, ¡°Then how do you know one bomb is enough to separate the front from the carriages? If it isn¡¯t enough to do that, I¡¯ll have toe back here and get another one from you and do it again. To save us the trouble, you could just give me however many you have.¡±

    The Mad Hatter snickered as he looked at Su Jin with an expression that seemed to say, ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking about.¡± Su Jin red back with an expression that seemed to say, ¡°And so what if you know? That¡¯s exactly what I mean to do.¡±

    The Mad Hatter proceeded to take out three more bombs from his hat.

    Su Jin took the three bombs and kept them inside his Handbook without hesitation, then said with an emboldened look on his face, ¡°We¡¯re on! How are you going to send me out?¡±

    The Mad Hatter got up, walked to a window and pulled the window open.

    ¡°Bon voyage!¡± The Mad Hatter bowed politely.

    Su Jin was now very sure that he had walked straight into another of the Mad Hatter¡¯s traps. This fellow was clearly making use of him but there was nothing he could do about it at all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave Mai¡¯s case to you!¡± said Su Jin as he red at the Mad Hatter. He could only hope that this fellow could at least keep to that promise and resolve Kano Mai¡¯s soul power issue.

    The Mad Hatter waved Su Jin toward the window impatiently, so Su Jin had no choice but to hop out of the train through the window. Immediately after he hopped out, the Mad Hatter let go and the train carriage¡¯s window came rolling down again.

    ¡°Why did you shut the window? If Jin runs into trouble, he won¡¯t be able toe back!¡± Kano Mai became anxious and tried to push the window back open again, but no matter how hard she tried, the window wouldn¡¯t even budge by even one millimeter.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do this!¡± Wu Chen ran over and swallowed a blue pill. His muscles suddenly swelled up and he quickly grabbed hold of the window handle and tried to push the window open. His face fell almost immediately. Just like Kano Mai, the window absolutely refused to budge no matter how hard he tried.

    A minuteter, the size of his muscles went back to normal. He panted heavily and said, ¡°What¡­what sort of window is this? My physical strength went up by ten times just now and I still couldn¡¯t move it at all!¡±

    The Mad Hatter shook his head expressionlessly and showed them his hands. Everyone¡¯s eyes widened because they saw that his hands looked like they had been severely burned, as though he had been holding on to a red hot iron rod and not a window.

    ¡°Where do you think you are right now? We¡¯re in the Train of the Supernatural, so these windows don¡¯t actually really exist in a way. I was only able to open up a passageway because I have godly powers. But even so, that took a lot of effort and I can¡¯t hold it up for long either,¡± said the Mad Hatter honestly. He didn¡¯t care if the rest of them got angry with his response.

    The three of them were angry, but the Mad Hatter was a god and they couldn¡¯t fight him. The Mad Hatter said, ¡°The free time you have is about toe to an end. Since I promised Su Jin that I¡¯d guarantee your safety, I¡¯ll keep my end of the bargain. Come with me.¡± He turned and started walking.

    They exchanged doubtful nces. Based on what they saw of the Mad Hatter so far, they didn¡¯t think this god was trustworthy. But Su Jin told them that the Mad Hatter would guarantee their safety. In the end, they had no choice but to follow the Mad Hatter.

    Meanwhile, outside the Train of the Supernatural, Su Jin was sitting in shock on the roof of the train carriage. His eyes were wide as he stared at the scenery outside the train. Instead of the train tracks and scenery he expected, he realized he was in a colorful and brightly lit tunnel instead.

    The colorful lights moved backwards as the train moved forwards and looked like shooting stars flying past. The beauty and brilliance of the lights mesmerized him.

    He quickly snapped out of his daze. The scenery was beautiful, but he had a mission toplete. He observed his surroundings for a while, then started moving slowly along the train.

    Immediately after he took his first step out, countless shooting stars shed by him. The shooting stars contained many faces, including men, women, the elderly, children, and some other odd looking creatures.

    Each one had their own story to tell. Some of their stories were sad, some were legendary, some were filled with kindness, and some were filled with wickedness. All of it surged into Su Jin¡¯s mind the moment he took a step, as though he had gone through their lives personally.

    ¡°AH!¡± Su Jin clutched his head in pain. Reading one book was an experience in itself, but reading someone¡¯s entire life could be difficult. And now, he was reading thousands of lives with every step.

    Someone once said that time passed differently for immortalspared to humans. One day in heaven was one year on earth. But on the roof of the Train of the Supernatural, each step he took was a century or even a millennia. Time passed scarily fast.

    ¡°Why am I seeing all this?¡± Su Jin wailed as he clutched his head tightly. After a while, he finally felt a little better, thanks to the fact that his Spirit Power was psychokinesis. After honing it for some time, his mental resilience had be a lot stronger, so he did not immediately go through a mental breakdown.

    He took another step out and simr scenes appeared in his head again, but they were different faces now. Their life stories surged into his mind again.

    ¡°AHH!¡± He let out another cry of pain. His eyes trembled, and his pupils were beginning to constrict. He finally realized that this train was no ordinary train. He was walking through the long river of time and watching everything go by from the sidelines. If he remained inside the train, he could be protected from all this. But once he went out of the train, he had to walk through this river alone.

    ¡°Is this why he wanted me to do this? I think only owners with psychokinesis can endure this.¡± Su Jin now understood why the Mad Hatter insisted on him. Only an owner with Psychokic Spirit Power could possibly withstand the terrifying weight of this river. Any other person would have gone mad and suffered a mental breakdown after taking the first step and being forced to go through the lives of thousands of people at once.

    Even so, it was still tough for Su Jin. He needed a long time to recover with each step he took, otherwise his mind would be on the verge of copse. At one point, Su Jin thought of Xu Ran. Would his psychokinesis be powerful enough for him to walk normally in this ce?

    Then again, Xu Ran was just too powerful. He was so powerful that Su Jin felt that he might be able to fight even a deity like the Mad Hatter. That was why the Mad Hatter wouldn¡¯t be able to use the same methods to force Xu Ran into doing his bidding.

    ¡°Being weak is really a sin!¡± sighed Su Jin. If he were strong enough, Chu Yi wouldn¡¯t have died and he wouldn¡¯t have been forced by the Mad Hatter to embark on this mission that might very well kill him.

    A long time had passed, but Su Jin felt that probably very little time had passed inside the train. Time passed differently for him and his team mates inside, just like how time passed differently inside and outside the Handbook.

    Su Jin only felt that he had gotten a lot weaker. The beard on his chin was unbelievably long and his eyes were cloudy and no longer as clear as before. But his footsteps had picked up speed. Those life stories were still flowing through his head, but they merely made him frown and nothing more.

 Chapter 187: In The Midst Of Time

    <h4>Chapter 187: In The Midst Of Time</h4>

    Each step that Su Jin took was basically time passing by. As he walked through the passage of time, his psychokinesis grew stronger and stronger. It had gone from being merely a small stream to a fountain, from a fountain to a river. This was his journey, an ordeal he needed to go through in order to be stronger.

    There was no guaranteed method of training one¡¯s psychokinesis, which was why many thought of it as a useless Spirit Power. If a veteran couldn¡¯t increase or improve their Spirit Power quickly enough over time, they were as doomed as those without Spirit Power.

    That was why, in order to survive, many owners who had awakened psychokinesis chose to give it up in hope of getting a different Spirit Power that could help them to stay alive for a longer time in the Handbook¡¯s universe.

    But while there was no sure way to increase one¡¯s psychokinesis, this was a Spirit Power that could grow by itself with time, which was something that almost none of the other Spirit Powers could do. The only problem was that this increase was extremely slow, and most owners couldn¡¯t afford to wait for it to grow. Many of them died in a Challenge before it could reach sufficient levels.

    But in the long river of time, time wasn¡¯t a problem. As Su Jin walked on, he looked through and experienced countless lives, which in turn helped him to grow.

    His physical body was rapidly aging, but his psychokinesis was rising like a mighty river. He could see the pattern of his hair without his eyes and he could hear his breathing without his ears.

    Even so, Su Jin¡¯s brows were furrowed even more tightly than before. He could also sense very clearly that he was about to finish using up his entire lifespan.

    ¡°My physical body is very strong and I¡¯m almost an immortal. If I just lived my life without ident, I would live for another few thousand years. But in this ce, a few thousand years is nothing. It¡¯s going to be fully consumed soon.¡± Su Jin sighed. If he could disconnect himself from Hell¡¯s Handbook, he would really be considered a deity in his world. But in this ce, that was nothing to boast about.

    He had the resilience of psychokinesis, a long life that came with his abnormally strong physical body as well as two types of Spirit Power. He was the perfect candidate for this mission, and there was probably nobody more suitable than him even if the Mad Hatterbed through the entirety of the Handbook universe.

    In other words, the Mad Hatter must have targeted him a long time ago and he was probably why his team ended up in a Level A Challenge so quickly after thest one. There was no logical exnation besides this.

    He sighed heavily. He was too weak to even refuse to cooperate with the Mad Hatter, so he had no choice but to carry on his way.

    Finally, Su Jin had be so old that he couldn¡¯t walk anymore. His previously ultra-powerful body had be weak, and his breathing sounded more like wheezing now. Everything had toe to an end eventually, and Su Jin felt like he had almost reached his own end.

    ¡°Is that how it ends?¡± sighed Su Jin. He was really tired. Even though his psychokinesis was incredibly strong now, it was hard for it to help him with this deep physical exhaustion he felt.

    He quickly shook his head. If he stopped now, he could be free of this terrible tiredness, but his teammates would be doomed. He was sure that if he failed toplete this mission, the Mad Hatter would not feelpelled to protect his teammates anymore.

    ¡°I can¡¯t rest now!¡± Su Jin looked to the front wearily as a silver light enveloped his body.

    Back inside the train, the Mad Hatter kept tapping the table with his fingers. He had forgotten how long it had been since he felt this anxious.

    Su Jin was very powerful, and if he managed to go up a notch, he would be able to go down the same path that the Mad Hatter took once upon a time. And the Mad Hatter was certain that Su Jin would definitely go down that path. It was just a matter of time.

    But Su Jin was still a mortal right now. What he had asked of Su Jin was actually almost impossible. But there was nobody else more suitable than Su Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis enabled him to walk through the long river of time without breaking down, while his strong physical body enabled him to walk further down this river.

    The Mad Hatter wished Su Jin was just a bit more powerful. If the situation wasn¡¯t so urgent, he was willing to give Su Jin a bit more time to grow or even help him in the shadows.

    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t have enough time.¡± The Mad Hatter shook his head.

    At the same time, apletely white skinned goddess sat in front of the Mad Hatter. She looked very strange and looked nothing like a human. Her four tentacles were wrapped around Kano Mai, and she looked like she was going to eat Kano Mai. Situ Jin and Wu Chen were both watching her warily.

    The white goddess ignored the two men and said to the Mad Hatter, ¡°Mad Hatter, you owe me one for this. It takes a lot out of me to restore an iplete soul. It¡¯s even worse than making one from scratch.¡±

    The Mad Hatter nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t lose out. Besides, I¡¯m doing this to help all of you to leave the constraints of the Handbook. It¡¯s only right for the rest of you to chip in when you can.¡±

    ¡°Mad Hatter, it¡¯s not that we don¡¯t trust you, but this is a really difficult matter. Counting on one owner doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯ll work,¡± said a deity with a tiger head in a grim voice.

    The Mad Hatterughed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty confident in this boy. When it happens, all of you are going to owe him a big favor.¡±

    ¡°As long as he can help us get out of this ce, owing him a favor is nothing.¡± The one who spoke was the Goddess of Harvest from before.

    Situ Jin and Wu Chen looked at the deities in the carriage and did not dare to move at all. These were deities whom the Mad Hatter had gathered from all the different carriages. All of them were sentient, and they knew about the Handbook. Also, they were all definitely characters from Level B or even Level A Challenges.

    Just then, the Mad Hatter suddenly turned to Situ Jin and frowned. ¡°There¡¯s even one fellow on his team who doesn¡¯t have Spirit Power yet.¡±

    Situ Jin felt a little embarrassed after the Mad Hatter pointed that out. It was true that he was the only one without Spirit Power, but that wasn¡¯t something he could do anything about.

    ¡°What sort of Spirit Power would you like to have?¡± asked the Mad Hatter.

    Situ Jin blinked in surprise at the question. Wu Chen understood the implications of that question faster and answered on Situ Jin¡¯s behalf, ¡°He wants a Spirit Power that can make him a good assassin.¡±

    ¡°An assassin type Spirit Power?¡± The Mad Hatter stroked his chin and looked at the other deities in the carriage. His gaze finallynded on a squirrel that was a meter in height.

    ¡°Fermos, if I remember correctly, your power lies in controlling shadows, right?¡± the Mad Hatter asked the squirrel.

    The giant squirrel didn¡¯t say anything. It flicked its fingers and a few smaller squirrels appeared on the table, except that they were merely silhouettes.

    These supposedly 2D silhouettes were like a 3D inky mass as they jumped and flipped about on the table.

    Fermos the squirrel pulled its fingers back, and the inky squirrel shadows jumped into Fermos¡¯ shadow and disappeared without a trace, like a drop of water in the ocean.

    After that, Fermos sank into its own shadow as well. Once it hadpletely disappeared into its own shadow, the shadow began to move on its own. When the shadow hid among other shadows, it was impossible to find.

    Situ Jin¡¯s eyes lit up immediately. This was the perfect skill for an assassin to have. Being able to control shadows and fade into a shadow was like a dreame true. If he had a skill like this, then nobody would be able to preempt his attacks. Even if he couldn¡¯t kill the other party, he could ensure that he would be able to escape.

    ¡°This Spirit Power should be quite suitable for you, but you have to be a believer in Fermos to get it. But since you¡¯re Su Jin¡¯s teammate, you don¡¯t have to be a believer. You can just be a protector of Fermos¡¯ believers,¡± said the Mad Hatter as though he could decide everything on Fermos¡¯ behalf. At the same time, Fermos didn¡¯t object and just looked at Situ Jin for a response.

    Situ Jin didn¡¯t care if he had to be a believer or not. He just wanted to possess a skill or power that could make him stronger. Besides, all he had to do was to be a protector of the believers and not an actual believer.

    Fermos could see that Situ Jin was agreeable, so it leaped onto Situ Jin¡¯s head and two ck crystalline tears flowed out of its ck eyes.

    The tears rolled onto Situ Jin¡¯s head and went right in. He could feel the power of the teardrops instantly.

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± said Situ Jin gratefully. It was so important for owners to activate their Spirit Power. If the Mad Hatter hadn¡¯t helped him today, he had no idea when he would get one, and there was no guarantee that the one he got randomly would be suitable for him either.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. I owe that fellow, so helping you is the same as making it up to him.¡± The Mad Hatter looked up at the roof of the carriage. The only thing he could do now was to pray that Su Jin seeded, but as a god himself, there was nobody higher for him to pray to.

    If Su Jin seeded, he could carry on with his ns. But if Su Jin failed, he had no choice but to leave with Pinhio and wait for the next time the Handbook erased these deities¡¯ memories.

    But if he waited for the next time, he wouldn¡¯t be able to get Su Jin here again. Owners were not allowed to go through the same Challenge twice.

    The white goddess let go of Kano Mai. She felt more rxed than ever before, and she could sense that her soul had been fully restored.

    She thanked the white goddess and the goddess nodded in response. Just then, the train suddenly shook violently.

    KABOOM! The loud st put a maniacal smile on the Mad Hatter¡¯s face. Su Jin had seeded! That mere mortal had actually seeded!

    ¡°Get ready, everyone! We¡¯re going to get out of this ursed cage soon! But the Handbook isn¡¯t going to just let us get away like that, so a big fight is unavoidable. Let¡¯s get ready to fight, my friends!¡± yelled the Mad Hatter loudly.

    Loud roars could be heard from all parts of the carriage, and the deities began to transform. The white goddess¡¯ four tentacles turned into spears, and a golden armor formed around her body. Fermos was also dressed in a deep ck armor, and the sword in its hand was nearly as long as itself.

    ¡°Everyone, fight with everything you have and we¡¯ll gather again once the battle is done!¡± cried out the Mad Hatter. The train shook violently again and the train derailed from the long river of time.

 Chapter 188: Battle Of The Deities

    <h4>Chapter 188: Battle Of The Deities</h4>

    Outside the Train of the Supernatural, Su Jin had enveloped himself with psychokinesis and had finally arrived at the point that connected the front of the train to the rest of the carriages just before he had run out of lifespan. His body had already deteriorated to the point where he had no energy left in him, and his blood had actually already stopped flowing. If his heart hadn¡¯t been reced by the Eye of the Demon Lord, it would have failed and he would have died by now.

    He wrapped the bomb with his psychokinesis and ced it in between the front of the car and the rest of the train. He thenmanded the Eye of the Demon Lord to give out the Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power and meld with the psychokinesis around the bomb.

    ¡°Done.¡± Su Jin smiled faintly. As long as he managed to do this, then at least Kano Mai would be safe. He believed that the Mad Hatter would keep his promise, since he was supposed to be a god.

    Boom! There was a terrifying st. The Spirit Power bomb was so incredulously powerful that not only did it break the connection between the front of the train and the rest of the carriages, it also sted a hole in the long river of time.

    Su Jin¡¯s body disintegrated the moment the impact of the bomb hit him. The only things that remained were his hard skull and the Eye of the Demon Lord.

    Most of the skin on his head had disintegrated. He was left with no hair, eyebrows or eyshes, and even his ears were gone. He looked like a skull prop that had random bits of skin stuck on it.

    But he was still alive. His physical body could almost match that of a demigod, so he managed to survive despite suffering this much damage. At the same time, he had lost most of his body, so he wasn¡¯t going to survive for long. Perhaps he would die after taking a few more breaths.

    Now that he hade so close to death, Su Jin suddenly didn¡¯t feel so afraid anymore. He looked on with no emotion on his face, yet the terrible fear of death made Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis increase again. This time, Su Jin felt like he had reached the maximum point of this Spirit Power. He believed that even if he faced Xu Ran now, Xu Ran would have to look up to him in amazement. But dying immediately after reaching his peak sounded like such a pity.

    The impact of the bomb caused Su Jin¡¯s head to fly backwards, and he realized that his body was recovering. The limbs, torso, internal organs and other missing parts were rapidly being restored. The further back he flew, the faster he recuperated.

    ¡°I see. This is the long river of life after all. Moving forward makes me old, because I¡¯m moving forward in time at a speed that others cannot imagine at all. Each step I took was a thousand or even ten thousand times the speed of time. But at the same time, as long as I move backwards, time would also move backwards. Time is recreating my body for me!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He hadn¡¯t thought of that earlier. He couldn¡¯t believe he had found a way to survive this ordeal.

    Moving along the long river of time was like using the fast forward and rewind functions of a video yer. If you choose to press the fast forward button, you could move through the video at a much faster speed. But if you pressed the rewind button, you would eventually reach the first second of the video.

    This was something that even the Mad Hatter hadn¡¯t considered. He was in a hurry to st this train, so he didn¡¯t have a lot of time to conduct research on the long river of time. At the same time, his attention was focused on moving forward andpleting this mission. He had no idea that the long river of time had the amazing ability to restore someone¡¯s body like this.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was restored in a matter of seconds, moving from old age to middle age, then from middle age to even younger. Just then, the train flew off the rails and the train carriages were sucked in by the hole in the long river of time.

    There was a bright sh that struck Su Jin¡¯s body. By the time he could see clearly again, he realized he was in a barrennd that was covered in smoke and heat.

    ¡°Where am I?¡± Su Jin used his tremendous psychokinesis to wrap itself around the area and was shocked to find that he was on an ancient that had no lifeforms on it at all.

    Boom! A sting noise filled the air. The train was not too far away, and deities were flying out from it. They had all regained their freedom and had gathered together with the Mad Hatter. Their expressions were nervous and high strung, as though they were about to face a major battle.

    ¡°What happened to Mai and the rest?¡± Su Jin used his psychokinesis to search for his teammates and he quickly headed in that direction. But before he could reach them, his psychokinesis informed him that the Handbook had taken them away.

    The Handbook in Su Jin¡¯s pocket gave off some heat, but it seemed to be affected by something and failed to teleport Su Jin away. All surviving owners of this Challenge had been sent away except him.

    ¡°Why is this happening?¡± Su Jin was puzzled. Could the Handbook be punishing him after finding out that he was the one who had done this.

    Before Su Jin could think about this further, the train was smothered in darkness. A pitch ck darkness instantly filled the air, and vengeful ghosts appeared in the darkness. Their howls and screams made one¡¯s hair stand on end.

    ¡°So, this is how you deal with this situation? You¡¯re going to use these vengeful ghosts and the deities who¡¯ve gotten their memories erased to fight us?¡± The Mad Hatter was floating in the air and he had a mocking look on his face. ¡°These ghosts are nowhere as powerful as deities, while the deities who got their memories erased are the weakest among us. Getting them to fight us has got to be a joke!¡±

    Neither the ghosts nor the deities with erased memories moved. One more person then emerged from the train: Diablo.

    The Mad Hatter frowned slightly. Diablo was truly powerful since he was a real deity. The Mad Hatter was on par with Diablo, but he had suffered some injury in the process of getting away from the constraints of the Handbook. Diablo, on the other hand, had assistance from the Handbook in this ce. The Mad Hatter was no match for Diablo now.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. You know I don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Diablo sighed and shook his head. He took a step forward to take his ce in front of the ghosts and the other deities on his side. A pair of dark wings spread wide and his body grew exponentially, turning him into a demon that was at least 30 or 40 meters in height.

    ¡°You¡¯re the lord of the demons alright! Being able to fight you is my honor.¡± The Mad Hatter put his hat on and a long sword appeared in his hand as he dashed toward Diablo.

    There was a big difference in their size, but they began to engage in a fierce battle. The deities behind the Mad Hatter and the army behind Diablo charged at one another as well. The war had begun.

    The Mad Hatter¡¯s sword could slice through almost anything. Every time he brandished his sword, a huge number of ghosts and deities would be sliced into pieces and were too injured to recover. Diablo was just as powerful. He spewed red mes from his mouth, burning up the deities he was attacking. At the same time, his dark wings helped to increase the strength of the ghosts.

    This was an extremely bloody battle, and deities were dropping like flies. Su Jin noticed that the Goddess of the Harvest was nearly drowning in ghosts. He had received kindness from her before, so he immediately chose to help her.

    His psychokinesis transformed itself into the Boning Knife and flew over, ughtering all the ghosts that had engulfed the Goddess of the Harvest. Not even Su Jin had expected his one strike to be this powerful. These were creatures that could have killed him very easily before, but they didn¡¯t even stand a chance against this psychokinesis knife at all.

    The Goddess of Harvest thought she was doomed and was shocked when the ghosts around her suddenly perished. When she realized that the person who had helped her turned out to be Su Jin, she was even more stunned and was nearly attacked by another deity with erased memories. Thankfully, Su Jin noticed that deity and yed it with one swing of his knife.

    ¡°Your growth is really unbelievable.¡± The Goddess of the Harvest approached Su Jin and stared at him in disbelief.

    Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis was now as deep as the ocean and was even able to wrap itself around the entire they were on, which made him no less powerful than a real god. That was how terrifyingly powerful psychokinesis was. When one reached a certain level of psychokinesis, that alone was enough to kill a god even if that person¡¯s body and other attributes were nowhere near a god¡¯s.

    ¡°I went through centuries as I walked down the long river of time, so my psychokinesis has reached a level so high, I can hardly believe it myself.¡± Su Jin scratched his head. It hadn¡¯t been easy to gain this power. If he hadn¡¯t gone through the torturous process of living through the lives of so many generations of people, he wouldn¡¯t have known how tough it was. Butpared to the experience that these deities had, his experience was nothing.

    The Goddess of the Harvest nodded slightly. She didn¡¯t have time to chat with Su Jin anymore. The battle was still ongoing and both sides were still suffering casualties.

    In the air, the Mad Hatter had a hardened look on his face. Diablo had the help of the Handbook and was beginning to gain the upper hand. But if he died here, Diablo was definitely powerful enough to kill everyone else here too.

    There were real gods among his team, but their powers had been greatly curtailed after they were sent onto the train and could notpare to him, since he was no longer constrained by the Handbook. There was also no way they could fight Diablo, since he had the help of the Handbook.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to split the battleground up. At least I must make it impossible for Diablo to kill everyone in one fell swoop,¡± thought the Mad Hatter. He suddenly retreated and stopped fighting Diablo.

    ¡°Mad Hatter, what are you up to?¡± Diablo knew the Mad Hatter well and immediately gave chase.

    ¡°Teehee¡­ Hello, Mr. Diablo! Since the Mad Hatter doesn¡¯t have the time to apany you, how about I apany you?¡± Pinhio had hopped out from nowhere with a wooden sword in hand, running after Diablo like he just wanted to y.

    Diablo took Pinhio seriously since Pinhio was also a god from the World of Fairytales. Pinhio and the Mad Hatter were exceptionally powerful, but since the Mad Hatter was no match for himself, he didn¡¯t think Pinhio would be impossible to defeat. He just needed more time.

    Meanwhile, the Mad Hatter took his hat off and stuck both hands in. He pulled a patch of darkness out from his hat, which quickly spread across the entire battlefield.

    .

    ¡°You¡¯re teleporting them?! You¡¯re trying to split everyone up!¡± Diablo immediately saw through the Mad Hatter¡¯s ns. The Mad Hatter was splitting up the entire group by sending them into different Challenges. That way, no matter how powerful he was, there was no way he could possibly enter every single Challenge and hunt these deities down.

    ¡°Move aside!¡± Diablo pped Pinhio away with a w as he anxiously ran toward the Mad Hatter. He was originally on pretty good terms with the Mad Hatter and he originally supported the Mad Hatter¡¯s idea. But there was a reason why he had no choice but to fight with the Mad Hatter and stop this operation from seeding.

    Su Jin was on the Mad Hatter¡¯s side for the time being. When he saw that Diablo was running after the Mad Hatter and Pinhio hadn¡¯t been able to stop him, he could only grit his teeth and try and do something about this. He needed the Mad Hatter to help him with undoing that seal on the Demon Lord, after all.

    A silvery wall of light appeared in front of Diablo and blocked his path. Diablo got a shock because he could tell that this wall was made from psychokinesis, but almost none of these deities had this sort of power and was at this level.

    ¡°It¡¯s you¡­ You think you can block me?¡± Diablo realized it was Su Jin, but he merely nced at Su Jin disdainfully. He used his devilish ws to shatter the wall immediately, which also injured Su Jin in the process.

    However, that was still sufficient to stall Diablo. The Mad Hatter managed to send everyone into a different Challenge and reappeared next to Su Jin.

    ¡°Young man, thank you so much!¡± He grabbed hold of Su Jin, then leaped into his own hat. Diablo tried to stop them but all he grasped was air.

    The barren was left with nobody but Diablo, but there was some relief in his eyes. He shrank back to his previous size as the man with a goat¡¯s head, then slowly made his way back to the train.

 Chapter 189: Sealing The Psychokinetic Spirit Power

    <h4>Chapter 189: Sealing The Psychokic Spirit Power</h4>

    Inside a city filled with demons, several owners were running for their lives. The people they ran past suddenly had bloodshot eyes and fangs, and it didn¡¯t take long for the owners to be trapped in a dead end. They were about to face an attack from at least a thousand humanlike demons.

    ¡°We¡¯re doomed, we¡¯re doomed! We can¡¯t get away this time!¡± One of the owners broke down. He clutched his head with both hands as he slowly squatted down and trembled violently, losing all hope of possibly escaping his fate.

    Just then, a crack appeared in the sky. A giant piece of flesh that looked just like a butt came falling from the sky, followed by innumerable vengeful ghosts.

    The owners werepletely stunned by the sudden turn of events and they lost all hope now. They were already trapped in a dead end, and now, they were joined by this weird creature and vengeful ghosts? Was this really a Level C Challenge?

    Just when the owners were at their wits¡¯ end, the butt-shaped creature killed off all the humanlike demons. It seemed like the ghosts and the demons weren¡¯t on the same side either. Any of the demons that tried to stand in their way would be torn to pieces. It was clear that the demons were no match for these ghosts and that butt-shaped creature.

    ¡°You pathetic spirits! How dare you fight with me, the God of Excretion! I¡¯m going to kill all of you and make sure none of you make it to the next life!¡± That butt-shaped creature was none other than the God of Excretion. It had been sent to this Challenge by the Mad Hatter along with these ghosts.

    The owners werepletely befuddled. Even though the God of Excretion sounded absolutely terrible, the truth was that this butt-shaped thing was extremely formidable. Along with those ghosts, they had wiped out more than half of the humanlike demons that had been running after them.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± The owners were really confused. Was the God of Excretion friends with the ghosts?

    Just when they were still trying to wrap their heads around what in the world was going on, a red beam of light appeared from their Handbooks and enveloped them.

    ¡°An unknown error has urred, so your Challenge will end now. There will be no point calction for this Challenge and any owners who died in this Challenge will be revived without condition,¡± spoke the frosty, sinister voice that usually did the introduction to the Challenges. This time however, the words that the voice had just uttered sounded like music to the owners¡¯ ears.

    Immediately after the voice had made that deration, the red light around the owners shed and they disappeared, leaving only the God of Excretion, the ghosts, as well as the humanlike demons to fight one another.

    At the same time, a simr scene was happening in various ces, whether it was an empty in, a dark haunted house, a dim sewage tunnel or a barren desert. These deities had barged into a variety of ongoing Challenges and the Handbook ended every single one of them by force.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and the Mad Hatter appeared at the top of the tallest skyscraper in a modern city filled with simr steel structures.

    The Mad Hatter sat on the edge of the roof and allowed his legs to dangle. He frowned at Su Jin, who was busy trying to find himself a ce to hide, and said in a mocking voice, ¡°You dare to fight deities but you¡¯re afraid of heights?¡±

    ¡°Deities are deities, heights are heights! They have nothing to do with one another!¡± Su Jin was pale in the face. It was harder for him to ovee his fear of heights than to bomb the Train of the Supernatural.

    The Mad Hatter burst outughing for a while, then grew serious again as he said, ¡°Thank you, though. If not for you, it would have been impossible to save my friends.¡±

    Su Jin waved it off and said, ¡°If you weren¡¯t holding my very life in your hands, I wouldn¡¯t care. Besides, that¡¯s not the end of this matter. I¡¯ll take revenge one of these days.¡±

    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re wee to take revenge any day! Besides, even if you don¡¯t intend to, we will definitely have to fight each other someday in the future. That¡¯s unavoidable. Whether we live or die, whether we win or lose, will be decided by this very fight!¡± said the Mad Hatter coldly as he stared at Su Jin.

    Su Jin was rather puzzled by the Mad Hatter¡¯s words. When he said he would take revenge, he was just saying it to sound tough. The Mad Hatter was already formidable enough on his own, and now, he had released so many deities. Put together, these deities were powerful beyond words. He had enjoyed a huge increase in his prowess, but he was definitely no match for a group of gods.

    But the Mad Hatter didn¡¯t look like he was kidding. You could even say that the Mad Hatter could see the future and already knew that they would eventuallye to blows.

    The Mad Hatter noticed the puzzled look on Su Jin¡¯s face and sighed. He said in a low voice, ¡°There are too many things that I can¡¯t tell you because it¡¯s a matter of life and death. But you¡¯ve helped me out before, so I could give you a hint.¡±

    ¡°Please enlighten me.¡± Su Jin became serious as well. The Mad Hatter had put him in dangerous situations more than once now, but it was clear that this fellow knew what he was doing. Something that could make him look this serious was certainly no small matter.

    ¡°I am an elder god,¡± he said while pointing to the sky, ¡°and a current god,¡± he said while pointing to himself. ¡°And you¡­ are a new god,¡± he said while pointing to Su Jin.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise for a moment, then furrowed his brows as he considered what the Mad Hatter just said. A momentter, his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but the Mad Hatter put a finger on his lips to tell him to remain silent.

    ¡°It¡¯s enough that you know. The great war of the future will happen sooner orter. We will be enemies, so don¡¯t hold back!¡± The Mad Hatter got up.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. He had finally understood what Hell¡¯s Handbook was essentially about, why it existed and why there were so many parallel universes.

    ¡°By the way, why did all my friends get sent out of the Challenge but I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m still here?¡± asked Su Jin. The rest of his team had been whisked away by their Handbooks, but he was the only one left behind.

    ¡°It¡¯s your level of power. Your psychokinesis grew way too much in the long river of time, which makes you equivalent to a deity. The Handbook¡¯s power can only control those below this level and can¡¯t do much to you,¡± exined the Mad Hatter.

    Su Jin was even more mortified now. What should he do? He stared at the Mad Hatter and his eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s right, why don¡¯t we use your hat? It can travel to other dimensions, right? Send me back!¡±

    The Mad Hatter shook his head and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not going to work. Your world is different and I can¡¯t go there at the moment.¡±

    ¡°What am I going to do then? Do I really have to just stay here until I die?!¡± Su Jin red at the Mad Hatter. ¡°You can¡¯t do this to me. I won¡¯t ept this.¡±

    ¡°Actually, there is a way to send you back, but I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re willing to take this option.¡± The Mad Hatter stared at Su Jin with a strange look in his eye.

    Su Jin felt like he was being watched by some weirdo and shrank back a little. The Mad Hatter exined, ¡°The problem now is that your psychokinesis has be too powerful, so the Handbook can¡¯t send you anywhere even if it tried. So¡­ the only way is to seal up your psychokinesis so that it goes back to the level it was at previously and I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯d be able to go back after that. But my seal will be very strong so that it doesn¡¯t loosen along the way as you head back to your world. If that happens, you will be shredded to pieces from the energy between dimensions.¡±

    This made Su Jin narrow his eyes. He snorted and said, ¡°You¡¯re hoping to pare down my powers in advance because I¡¯d be a formidable enemy in the future, aren¡¯t you? You can seal my powers up, but is there a need to make sure it goes all the way back down to the level it was at before?¡±

    ¡°To y safe, I¡¯d prefer to do that. You¡¯re too powerful right now, so if I don¡¯t do that, I¡¯m afraid something bad will happen along the way.¡± It was hard to tell if the Mad Hatter was sincere in saying this. He smiled and said, ¡°Of course, you can choose to remain here. You¡¯re invincible here and you¡¯re a real god here. You can do whatever you want here. This looks like a pretty technologically advanced ce, so I think you might get used to it pretty quickly.¡±

    Su Jinughed sadly. He didn¡¯t have a choice, really. This ce didn¡¯t seem bad, but he couldn¡¯t stay here. Ye Yun was still waiting for him, so he couldn¡¯t just remain in this ce.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it then! I can undo this seal, right?¡± said Su Jin with a frown.

    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s just a seal, so you can definitely undo it,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a snicker. That smile gave Su Jin a very bad feeling.

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll go ahead with the sealing process.¡± Su Jin nodded.

    A glint shed across the Mad Hatter¡¯s eyes as he nodded as well. ¡°Excellent. Do not resist my power, otherwise this process will fail.¡±

    The Mad Hatter ced one hand on Su Jin¡¯s forehead before he could even respond. An insanely powerful beam of energy surged into his body. The energy from the Mad Hatter was just as crazy as its owner and it gave Su Jin a very strange sensation. Su Jin felt that the Mad Hatter¡¯s energy was virtually uncontroble and for a moment he thought that the Mad Hatter was trying to harm him, so he nearly tried to fight back.

    The energy bumbled its way through Su Jin to find the source of the psychokinesis. It then gathered itself from various areas and enveloped Su Jin¡¯s energy.

    Thisyer was done in a haphazard manner, like how cheap courierpanies wrapped packages without caring to make it look pretty. Along the way, a lot of his psychokinesis flowed out. He had to force his psychokinesis to stop resisting. As long as he even just thought of resisting, his psychokinesis would immediately start ramming itself against the Mad Hatter¡¯s seal.

    A short whileter, Su Jin¡¯s incredibly formidable psychokinesis had turned into nothing more than arge purple ball that floated within his subconscious. There was some that managed to escape the seal, and even though it wasn¡¯t much, it was much more powerful than whatever Su Jin had before entering the long river of time.

    ¡°Oh my! What a surprise! I actually seeded!¡± The Mad Hatter looked so amazed by himself as he started apuding his own efforts.

    Su Jin stared at the Mad Hatter. So, this fellow wasn¡¯t even sure if this was going to work? What in the world? But Su Jin didn¡¯t have the energy or time to get angry with him, because a red beam of light shot out from his Handbook again and wrapped itself around Su Jin.

    ¡°Goodbye, young man. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll meet again soon.¡± The Mad Hatter bent at the waist to give Su Jin a princely bow.

    Before Su Jin could say anything, he vanished along with the red light. After he was gone, the Mad Hatter paused to think for a while, then smiled faintly. He threw his hat into the air, then leaped into his hat and disappeared.

    Instead of returning to his Personal Hell Domain, he returned to his world. He had a big grin on his face because on his way back, he had heard the frosty voice of the Handbook say that all owners who died in ongoing Challenges would be revived. That meant that Chu Yi would be revived too.

    He flipped his Handbook open to call all his teammates to meet inside Hell¡¯s Bar. But when it came to calling Chu Yi, he stared nkly at his Handbook for a long time. Chu Yi¡¯s information was still there, which meant that he had been revived, since any information concerning an owner would disappear when that owner died.

    The problem was, Chu Yi¡¯s information was no longer appearing under Team Boning Knife. In other words, Chu Yi had decided to leave Team Boning Knife.

 Chapter 190: The Resistance Army

    <h4>Chapter 190: The Resistance Army</h4>

    Su Jin was terribly shocked. He wasn¡¯t sure what had happened to Chu Yi. Was his death within the Train of the Supernatural too hard for him to take, so he decided to leave the team?

    ¡°No, Chu Yi is not so fragile,¡± muttered Su Jin as he shook his head. He didn¡¯t think Chu Yi would crumble so easily. From what he knew of Chu Yi, this young man was the sort who would never back down in a fight, even if he had been defeated a thousand times or even ten thousand times.

    ¡°Jin!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s voice resounded from behind him. Before he could look up, Kano Mai had already leaped into his embrace.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Su Jin got a shock. Did something bad happen?

    But before Su Jin could ask further, Kano Mai started sobbing uncontrobly, which made him panic. Besides his fear of heights, the other thing that terrified him was watching a woman cry, especially one who was crying in his arms.

    ¡°Jin, I thought¡­ I thought you weren¡¯ting back¡­¡± She raised her head and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. She must have been crying for quite a while already.

    Su Jin was a little embarrassed and he quicklyforted her, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. I¡¯m here now, right? Why would you think I wouldn¡¯te back?¡±

    Kano Mai realized she was in his arms and her face turned red, but she refused to let go of him, as if she was afraid that he might disappear if she did that. She hugged him even more tightly instead, which made him feel really awkward.

    ¡°I¡­ Mai! Can you¡­ can you let go of me?¡± Su Jin scratched his head.

    ¡°No!¡± She buried her face in his chest and shook her head.

    ¡°Wha¡­¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to respond at all.

    ¡°Jin, I¡­ I don¡¯t ask for much, but could you¡­ could you just pity me for this moment?¡± Kano Mai sounded really pitiful. From the first day she had met Su Jin, she had been silently staying by his side and like she said, she had never asked for much.

    Su Jin froze for a while because for some reason, Kano Mai was giving him an extremely pitiful sort of vibe. His psychokinesis was much stronger and more sensitive, so now that they were in such close proximity, he could sense the emotions inside her. There was a love and longing inside her, but behind thaty a deep loneliness. A loneliness so cold and so sad that he couldn¡¯t help but shudder a little.

    ¡°What exactly is Mai¡¯s story?¡± wondered Su Jin to himself. Kano Mai was definitely not just some ordinary Japanese person. She had a secret that nobody knew about.

    After he sensed her loneliness, he embraced her gently and stroked her hair with one hand as he said softly, ¡°Were you worried about me? You don¡¯t have to be worried anymore¡­ I¡¯m perfectly fine¡­¡±

    Kano Mai nodded slightly but didn¡¯t let go, so Su Jin awkwardly tried to probe further, ¡°So¡­ why were you so worried?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s been a week and you hadn¡¯t returned, so¡­ I¡­ I thought something had happened to you.¡± She began to sob again and held him even more tightly.

    ¡°A week?!¡± Su Jin was shocked. He had spent a bit more time in the Handbook¡¯s universepared to her, but time in the Challenges always moved way faster than time in the outside world. Even if he had spent more time inside, he wouldn¡¯t havee out so muchter than her.

    ¡°Could it be¡­¡± His eyes widened. He realized where the problem was. It was the long river of time. After he sted the connection between the front of the train and the rest of the carriages, the long river of time had been affected as well. So, for a long period of time, the time inside the Challenges and outside the Challenges flowed at the same rate, or had gone the other way instead. That would exin why he had only spent a little longer inside, but an entire week had passed by outside.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you so upset,¡± he apologized quietly. It was no wonder she was so scared. He hadn¡¯t returned after an entire week. That would have normally been a sign that he was dead.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s okay¡­ actually, your information is still inside my Handbook, so¡­ so¡­ I was just¡­ worried¡­¡± said Kano Mai embarrassedly as she pulled herself away from him.

    Mention of the information in the Handbook made Su Jin think of Chu Yi. He quickly asked, ¡°By the way, what¡¯s going on with Chu Yi? Why did he leave our team?¡±

    Kano Mai¡¯s expression shifted when she heard him mention Chu Yi, and she shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I checked Chu Yi¡¯s information the moment I got back here. There was nothing at first, but after a while, his information appeared again, except that¡­ he was no longer listed as a member of our team.¡±

    This really puzzled Su Jin. What in the world happened with Chu Yi? Was it because Chu Yi had died once, so he was automatically out of the group after he was revived? If that was the case, seeing him again was going to be really difficult. Chu Yi had not gone through enough Challenges for him to enter Hell¡¯s Bar, and without a team, he wouldn¡¯t be able to enter it for a long time toe.

    Under such circumstances, it was going to be hard to meet Chu Yi again. If they were unlucky, they might never cross paths again. But it didn¡¯t make sense for the Handbook to make such an error.

    ¡°Never mind that now. Call the rest, let¡¯s meet in Hell¡¯s Bar.¡± Su Jin activated their team¡¯s ess to the bar and used the Handbook to call Situ Jin and Wu Chen. They responded quickly and agreed to meet.

    Shortly after Su Jin and Kano Mai entered Hell¡¯s Bar, Situ Jin and Wu Chen appeared as well. They were all so d to see one another again. After exchanging a few words, they turned their attention to the problem of Chu Yi.

    ¡°I¡¯ve checked with other owners who also had teammates who were revived, but none of them have teammates who ended up getting out of the team, so I suspect Chu Yi¡­ has done this out of his own free will.¡± Wu Chen had a deep frown on his face. He often went around gathering information and had a lot of sources. He knew that if Su Jin returned, he would definitely want to know more about Chu Yi¡¯s situation, so he went to ask around immediately after his own return.

    ¡°His own free will.¡± Su Jin had a grim look on his face. That was what he had been most afraid of. That meant that something must have happened on Chu Yi¡¯s side.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly which universe Chu Yi is in, otherwise I could have found out more.¡± Wu Chen sighed heavily. There were way too many parallel universes. It was so hard to find out which universe one belonged to, and many owners themselves had no idea which one they were in.

    Just then, Su Jin¡¯s Handbook suddenly started glowing. The green glow looked so sinister, it made one¡¯s hair stand on end. Someone then walked over to Su Jin.

    ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯ve finally found you.¡± The one who had arrived surprised Su Jin, because it turned out to be the one who went through a Challenge with him not too long ago - Xiang Nan. Xiang Nan was holding onto a piece of parchment paper with strange runes on it, and it seemed like that was the item that helped him locate Su Jin. Behind him stood four others, including Zhang Shuhan and Tian Lili, original members of Team Wind and Rain.

    ¡°I see that Team Wind and Rain has regrouped. Congrattions,¡± said Su Jin to Xiang Nan. Their original team leader had already passed on, but at least the rest of the team hade back together again.

    Xiang Nan smiled, but his smile was very forced. ¡°There¡¯s something I need to ask you. Your team has a member named Chu Yi, right?¡±

    Su Jin blinked in surprise. They had just been talking about Chu Yi, and now, Xiang Nan was asking him about Chu Yi. He nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Chu Yi is part of my team. Did something happen?¡±

    Xiang Nan nodded and moved to one side to allow anotherdy to step forward. She was around 30 years old and had very pretty features.

    ¡°This is Han Linmei, a new member to our team. Linmei, this is Su Jin, the team leader of Team Boning Knife and our team¡¯s best ally,¡± said Xiang Nan as he introduced the two. He trusted Su Jin very much after going through two Challenges together. He felt very lucky to have met Su Jin. Furthermore, it was Su Jin who had encouraged him and gave him the courage to regather his old teammates.

    ¡°Mr. Su, I told my team leader about some things before this and he said that I must ry this information to you as well.¡± Han Linmei behaved extremely courteously to Su Jin, even bowing slightly before speaking. This wasn¡¯t because they were new to one another, but because after Han Linmei heard all about Su Jin from Xiang Nan, she admired this young man from the bottom of her heart. You could even say she was now a fan of Su Jin¡¯s.

    ¡°Information about Chu Yi?¡± Su Jin felt a little uneasy. He had returned a weekter than the rest of the team and it seemed like some things had certainly happened over this past week.

    Han Linmei nodded. She took a photo out and said, ¡°Mr. Su, my strength is in concealment as well as gathering information, since having information during a Challenge is very important. This is a photo taken with a special sort of film. Please have a look.¡±

    Su Jin took the photo from her with a puzzled look on his face. His gaze froze immediately. The point of this photo was very obvious. Chu Yi was in the middle of the photo and his hand was bloody from having just punched it right through another man¡¯s chest.

    ¡°This was taken within my universe. I forgot to introduce myself to you, Mr. Su. Not only am I a member of Team Wind and Rain, but I am also part of the Resistance Army in my universe.¡±

    Su Jin paused to think for a moment and said, ¡°You¡¯re from the same universe as Chu Yi? I remember Chu Yi telling me that there was a cult in his universe and their philosophy is that owners should rule over non-owners. Is this Resistance Army you¡¯re from going against this cult?¡±

    Han Linmei nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. There are ambitious people among the owners, or perhaps, I should say that some of them have been traumatized by the terror brought on them by the Handbook, so they seek self-satisfaction in abusing others. But there are some owners who have managed to stay strong and are willing to stand on the side of justice, so we have joined hands to fight against this cult.¡±

    ¡°Instead of saying you¡¯ve stayed strong, it¡¯s probably better to say that you¡¯re more intelligent. All of you know that owners were ordinary people to begin with. Having control over ordinary people might grant you satisfaction for a while, but once that feeling wears off, you¡¯d be left with only emptiness and brutality,¡± muttered Su Jin quietly, like he was talking to himself.

    But Han Linmei had heard his words clearly and nodded. ¡°Mr. Chu Yi was one of the owners that the Resistance Army had targeted and really wanted to get on our side. Of course, the cult was trying to get him on their side too. He was originally more inclined toward us, but just a few days ago¡­ he suddenly appeared and became part of the cult. He then went on a killing spree and many of our friends have been killed or hurt by him.¡±

 Chapter 191: Dealing With Chu Yi

    <h4>Chapter 191: Dealing With Chu Yi</h4>

    All the members of Team Boning Knife could hardly believe their ears. It was Chu Yi who had told them about this cult, and it was obvious that Chu Yi really disliked this group of people. It was true that someone from the cult had tried to invite him to join them, but he had turned them down.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Chu Yi turned down thest person who invited him to join them. Why would he end up joining them after that?¡± Kano Mai was the first one to raise her doubts. She and Su Jin knew Chu Yi the best. This young man was not the type who would go around killing the innocent for no reason, and he would certainly not kill innocent people for the sake of power.

    Su Jin shook his head at Kano Mai and said, ¡°Since something like this photo has happened, then there is a possibility that he has really joined them, but I¡¯m very certain that it wasn¡¯t out of his own free will. He must be facing certain difficult circumstances, or¡­¡± Su Jin looked toward Han Linmei.

    Han Linmei nodded slightly and exined, ¡°I agree. The Resistance Army has spoken to Mr. Chu before and all of us have a very good impression of him too. And that is also why we started to do a more thorough investigation on why this could be happening to him. Mr. Su, could I check with you if Mr. Chu has actually already died?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened a little. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes. He died in ourst Challenge.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense then.¡± Han Linmei sighed sadly and went on, ¡°Mr. Su, do you know why we consider that evil group of people a cult?¡±

    Su Jin paused to think, then asked hesitantly, ¡°You mean¡­ that cult has the power to revive the dead?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, you are a very clever person indeed. To put it simply, the cult uses feats that are impossible for ordinary people to attract believers. And the most impossible feat of all is reviving the dead.

    ¡°But the cult¡¯s way of reviving the dead isn¡¯t true revival. From the intelligence that we have gathered, the cult seems to trap the person¡¯s soul and enves it.

    ¡°The cult would first use all sorts of methods to get a piece of DNA from the owner. It could be hair, nails or even dead skin.

    ¡°After getting such an item, the cult would set up a magic circle. Once that owner dies in a Challenge, the magic circle will be activated immediately. Those who have been revived by this method will only listen to the orders given to them by the cult. They will be killing machines for the cult and the cult calls them Holy Warriors,¡± exined Han Linmei patiently.

    Su Jin and his team nodded. That would exin perfectly why Chu Yi was behaving so strangely, going on a killing spree even. At this juncture, Situ Jin raised a question, ¡°But the Handbook said that it was going to revive any owners who died in thest Challenge without exception. Are you saying that the cult is so powerful that even the Handbook is unable to go against their wishes and they had priority to revive Chu Yi?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what happened. When I set off the bomb on the outside of the train, it created a hole in the long river of time, which caused time within the Handbook and outside of the Handbook to flow at the same rate. Chu Yi died before this urred, which gave the cult enough time to revive Chu Yi first. By the time the bomb went off and the Handbook decided to revive any owners who perished in theirst Challenge, Chu Yi had already been revived. Since he wasn¡¯t dead anymore at that point in time, the Handbook didn¡¯t have to revive him.¡±

    Everyone nodded again. Su Jin looked at Xiang Nan with a puzzled look on his face. ¡°Mr. Xiang, you came looking for us because¡­?¡±

    ¡°Because we would like you to go get rid of some demons for us. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d like to watch this cult control Chu Yi in this manner, do you?¡± Xiang Nan smiled as he sat down next to Su Jin. ¡°I was thinking, if we kill Chu Yi, the Handbook mightpensate us somehow and revive Chu Yi properly.¡±

    Su Jin fell into deep thought. Xiang Nan was a very good strategist too, except that he was a much more cunning and ruthless one. In order to protect his team, he was willing to scheme against other owners, which was something that Su Jin really didn¡¯t like him for.

    But after going through more Challenges, Su Jin began to slowly understand why Xiang Nan made such decisions. Even though he was still unable to bring himself to sacrifice the lives of other owners to keep his own, he knew that when it came to Challenges, nobody was obliged to pay the consequences of your own foolishness. Each owner had to face the consequences of their own actions. If you were so dumb that you were made use of without realizing it yourself and died as a result, then nobody would feel bad for you.

    It sounded cruel, but this was really thew of the jungle, the survival of the fittest. The civilized world despised this and sought to rise above such values, but in the world of the Handbook Challenges, this was the rule that everyone lived by. Xiang Nan was one of the strategists who understood this the best, which was why Su Jin was pretty sure that Xiang Nan stood to benefit from all of this. Otherwise, Xiang Nan wouldn¡¯t care about some other owner out there.

    ¡°Mr. Xiang, we¡¯re not strangers to each other and I don¡¯t think we need to beat around the bush. You seem very concerned about this matter. Are you¡­ getting something out of this?¡± Su Jin asked Xiang Nang. They were on good enough terms for him to ask such a direct question.

    Xiang Nan had a sad smile on his face, but given his usual personality and methods, it wasn¡¯t surprising that Su Jin would think of him this way. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you. I¡¯m only doing this for Brother Yu¡¯s sake.¡±

    ¡°Brother Yu?¡± Su Jin was surprised. Yu Guangde died a long time ago. How could this matter have anything to do with him?

    ¡°The previous team leader was from the same universe as myself, and he was actually the previous head of the Resistance Army,¡± said Han Linmei.

    Su Jin felt his mind was about to explode. Yu Guangde was actually from the same universe as Chu Yi and was even the head of the Resistance Army before he died. If that was true, then it would make sense for Xiang Nan to be so invested in Chu Yi¡¯s matter.

    ¡°Chu Yi is pretty formidable, but I wouldn¡¯t think he¡¯s someone that¡¯s too hard for your army to subdue,¡± said Su Jin.

    Han Linmei had a saddened smile on her face. ¡°You¡¯re probably going tough at us, but the Resistance Army is¡­ really unable to do anything about Mr. Chu. The cult has paid a high price to make Mr. Chu even stronger than before, so his close rangebat skills are insane. We don¡¯t have many members to begin with and we¡¯ve already sent everyone who is skilled in close rangebat, but we still couldn¡¯t do anything about him.

    ¡°We checked through our past conversations with Mr. Chu and noticed that he mentioned before that the team leader of Team Boning Knife was better than him in this particr aspect.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. Chu Yi had spoken way too highly of him. His physical body was indeed very strong and with the help of his Ster Streams Heavy Armor, he had even been able to survive an attack by a demigod. But when it came to close rangebat, Chu Yi was definitely no weaker than him. In fact, Chu Yi could possibly be even better at it.

    ¡°Mr. Su, we¡¯re willing to provide the resources for you toe to our universe and kill Mr. Chu for us.¡± Han Linmei bowed deeply toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin sighed heavily. ¡°Like you said, Chu Yi has been made stronger by the cult, so even if you send me to fight him, I might not be a match for him now. You¡¯re asking for a lot.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s your teammate after all, so you need to take responsibility for him. Besides, thanks to the fight between the Resistance Army and the cult, the chances of an owner dying in Linmei¡¯s universe is as high as dying in a Challenge now and they really don¡¯t have anybody capable of doing this. Zhang Shuhan is our best fighter, but he¡¯s nowhere as skilled as Chu Yi.¡± Xiang Nan sighed too, but he really hoped to protect the universe that histe team leader once belonged to.

    Su Jin looked at his other team members and Kano Mai was the first to nod. ¡°We have a way to revive Chu Yi anyway, but we¡¯ve got to kill this puppet Chu Yi first before we can do that, so¡­ we don¡¯t actually have a choice.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it, but I can¡¯t go. You know I¡¯m always busy.¡± Situ Jin gave his support but he couldn¡¯t go along with Su Jin.

    ¡°I agree and if you need help, I can go with you,¡± said Wu Chen without hesitation.

    ¡°I think besides Mr. Su, the rest¡­¡± Han Linmei was in a difficult position. She meant for Su Jin toe by himself in the first ce because it was the Resistance Army who was sponsoring this whole thing. Moving one owner from one universe to another already cost a lot, never mind two owners.

    Su Jin smiled and said to his teammates, ¡°I¡¯ll go by myself. The rest of you can help me to investigate if what we did on the Train of the Supernatural had any impact on the Handbook.¡±

    Wu Chen nodded. He was best at gathering information, after all. Han Linmei let out a sigh of relief. If Wu Chen insisted, then she might have no choice but to allow him toe along.

    Su Jin became curious about this ability to travel across universes. ¡°As far as I know, travelling between universes seems to be something very difficult to do. How are you going to get me into your universe?¡±

    Han Linmei nodded and said, ¡°Mr. Su, do you know about a group of owners who go around robbing other owners of their resources?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. Of course he knew about those robbers, especially since Ye Yun was now being held hostage by Shen Wu. Han Linmei didn¡¯t need to go on. Since she mentioned them, it meant that she was going to use the same method as these robbers.

    ¡°I heard that group of robbers have some rare item that allows owners to move from one universe to another,¡± said Su Jin in a low voice.

    Han Linmei nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯re going to borrow this item.¡±

    ¡°You can borrow it?¡± Su Jin was surprised.

    Han Linmei had a sad smile on her face as she said, ¡°We¡¯re borrowing it, but it¡¯s not for free. In fact, we need to pay a very high price for it. The Resistance Army can only afford to pay for one person.¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then asked another question, ¡°How am I going toe back then? You¡¯re not just going to leave me inside your universe, right?¡±

    ¡°No, no, we¡¯re not. The robbers always get to go ande back, so you¡¯ll definitely get toe back,¡± exined Han Linmei hurriedly.

    ¡°Alright then. When do we go? Now?¡± said Su Jin as he got up from his chair. He was in a good state to engage in battle, so setting off now was a good choice.

    Han Linmei was delighted by Su Jin¡¯s proactiveness and nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes, we can go right now. I¡¯m so d you¡¯re able to go with us so quickly. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll be counting on you then, Mr. Su.¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then said to Kano Mai, ¡°I think you¡¯d better stay inside the bar for a while more. I¡¯m afraid that the real world isn¡¯t safe.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me,¡± said Kano Mai as she nodded.

    Su Jin then gave Wu Chen one of his Keys to Immortality with a smile. ¡°I promised you this thest time.¡±

    Wu Chen stared at the item in his hand for a second before realizing what it was and looked back at Su Jin with a huge grin on his face. Su Jin didn¡¯t wait for Wu Chen to thank him and left with Han Linmei.

 Chapter 192: A Different Universe

    <h4>Chapter 192: A Different Universe</h4>

    In one corner of Hell¡¯s Bar, a man with some questionable fashion choices sat to the side by himself. He was covered in gold jewelry, including a gold watch, gold rings and gold nes, as though he were made from gold himself.

    He was enjoying some fine wine and his server was a beautiful woman with deep red hair. All the other owners in the bar seemed unwilling to go anywhere near him, so the entire area around him waspletely empty.

    Xiang Nan and his other teammates did note along, so only Han Linmei and Su Jin were here. Han Linmei had told Su Jin earlier that this man in gold essories was actually from that robbery organization and stayed in the Level C section of the bar. If anybody wanted to use that rare item to move from one universe to another, they had toe here and strike a deal with this man.

    ¡°Hey, you! We want to move to a different universe. Here¡¯s what you wanted.¡± Han Linmei flung a bag toward the man unceremoniously.

    The man was not angry, since he knew that his identity as a member of such an unscrupulous organization would never get respect from other owners. But he didn¡¯t care about that anyway. From the moment he joined this organization, he only cared about getting more resources and the rest didn¡¯t matter anymore.

    He threw the entire bag into his Handbook, checked its contents and gave a pleased nod. He then ced a crystal on the table.

    ¡°Get someone from the destination universe to inject some traces of themselves inside, then once the crystal turns ck, it will teleport you to that universe. When you want toe back, crush the crystal,¡± exined the man before closing his eyes again and ignoring the two of them.

    Han Linmei didn¡¯t want to talk to him either, so she took the crystal and walked away. Once she and Su Jin had reached a quiet corner, she handed it to him.

    ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯m going to fill this crystal up, and because it¡¯s from me, you¡¯re going to appear at the headquarters of the Resistance Army,¡± said Han Linmei before sending him to her universe to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings. That could result in disaster.

    Su Jin nodded. He watched as Han Linmei injected some sort of energy into the crystal. It was definitely some sort of Spirit Power, except he couldn¡¯t identify it. <i>So, she¡¯s a veteran too</i>, he thought.

    The color of the crystal began to change. When it had turnedpletely ck, Su Jin felt like he was floating, as though he were in a vast world of nothingness.

    Boom! Before Su Jin could enjoy this surreal experience, he suddenly felt like he was falling rapidly, which was something that could really frighten someone, especially someone who was as afraid of heights as Su Jin. When he felt his feet hit solid ground, he immediately squatted down fearfully.

    ¡°This is the person you¡¯ve found? He seems¡­ a little cowardly, don¡¯t you think?¡± resounded a voice in Su Jin¡¯s ears. He looked around him and saw more than a dozen others staring at him like he was an exhibit in the zoo. Han Linmei was among the group.

    She smiled awkwardly at Su Jin, then red at the man who spoke earlier and snapped angrily, ¡°Li Jinpeng, if you have nothing nice to say, then shut up! Mr. Su is a respectable man who¡¯spleted a Level A Challenge perfectly before! You think you couldpare to that?¡±

    Li Jinpeng frowned and looked at Su Jin with some disbelief. ¡°This fellow? This little toyboypleted a Level A Challenge perfectly before? Are you sure you didn¡¯t get scammed?¡±

    Han Linmei was furious, but Li Jinpeng was one of the best fighters in the army, so she didn¡¯t dare to be too nasty to him. At the same time, it was precisely because Li Jinpeng had been regarded as one of their best fighters that he got really irritated that Han Linmei had gone to ask Su Jin for help with this matter instead. He felt like Han Linmei didn¡¯t trust him to get the job done.

    Su Jin touched his own face when he heard the way Li Jinpeng just described him. While it was true that he was an office worker before this and didn¡¯t see much of the sun or get much exercise, calling him a toyboy didn¡¯t sound quite right either. He didn¡¯t understand how Li Jinpeng reached that conclusion.

    ¡°Li Jinpeng, if you spout nonsense like that again, I¡¯ll have to punish you,¡± said Han Linmei angrily.

    Li Jinpeng¡¯s neck stiffened and he retorted, ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you get scammed like this. Okay, punk, show us what you¡¯ve got!¡±

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help butugh when he saw the expression on Li Jinpeng¡¯s face. It was obvious that Li Jinpeng had a crush on Han Linmei and was being unreasonably offensive because he saw Su Jin as a rival for her affection. This was one really sensitive fellow!

    Li Jinpeng thought that Su Jin wasughing at him because Su Jin despised him, which made him even angrier. It was bad enough that Han Linmei had chastised him in front of so many others along with Su Jin, and now, Su Jin was actuallyughing at him!

    ¡°How dare youugh! Look, the Resistance Army is not filled with people you can trifle with! If you dare to lie to us, I¡¯ll make sure you return in a body bag!¡± He retrieved arge sword from his Handbook and stabbed it fiercely into the floor.

    Han Linmei couldn¡¯t do anything about him, so she walked over to Su Jin and whispered, ¡°Mr. Su, it cost us a lot to bring you over, so there are some members who¡­ are rather unhappy about it. If it¡¯s alright with you, I hope you can show them why we wanted to get you to help us.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head inwardly. It seemed like besides Han Linmei, the other members of the Resistance Army didn¡¯t trust him. Then again, that made sense too. If Kano Mai had suddenly brought someone to the team randomly and just insisted that this person was amazing with nothing to show for it, he might not take her word for it either.

    ¡°How do you want me to do this?¡± asked Su Jin. He looked back at the rest of the people in front of him and said, ¡°I am Su Jin, team leader of Team Boning Knife. I¡¯vee here because of Chu Yi, one of my team members. Since all of you would like me to show you what I¡¯ve got, you need to tell me how you want me to go about doing that.¡±

    ¡°Simple. How about a round against me?¡± Li Jinpeng picked up the sword that looked like it weighed at least 50 kilograms without a problem and stuck his chin out at Su Jin in an antagonistic manner.

    ¡°Sure, as long as it makes you happy.¡± Su Jin stuffed his hands into his pocket. Since these were people who couldn¡¯t handle Chu Yi at all, it meant that they were really as weak as Xiang Nan had described them.

    ¡°Move aside!¡± bellowed Li Jinpeng. Everyone around him seemed to know that Li Jinpeng enjoyed a good fight and was also very good at fighting, so they immediately moved aside when he shouted and gave the two men a good amount of empty space to show off their moves.

    Li Jinpeng¡¯s moves were decisive as he charged at Su Jin with his sword in hand. He didn¡¯t have any fancy moves, and his sword did not have any special powers. He was just relying purely on his strength to fend off anything that came his way.

    Su Jin¡¯s defense was even simpler. He raised his hand, stuck one finger out and blocked the attack from Li Jinpeng. It just took him one finger to deflect the heavy sword that came swinging toward him.

    Li Jinpeng blinked in shock and almost couldn¡¯t believe what he had just seen. But that didn¡¯t stop him from simply pulling his sword back and attempting another swing with more strength this time.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t budge and used the same finger to fend off the attack. This time, he didn¡¯t even bother moving his finger and just held it where he knew the sword would strike.

    DANG! The sound of metal against metal resounded loudly, and Li Jinpeng ended up flying backwards from the impact. Su Jin inspected his finger and saw that it was perfectly fine. Li Jinpeng was probably as strong as he was after he had taken the Mid Level Body Strengthening Elixir. In fact, if he was still only as strong as when he had taken the High Level Body Strengthening Elixir, he might have been able to hold up against Li Jinpeng¡¯s attack, but he wouldn¡¯t have gotten away unscathed like this.

    What made him really as strong as he was right now was that bottle of wine from the boss of Hell¡¯s Bar. He had finished drinking the entire bottle now, so he felt like his body had be even stronger. But Li Jinpeng wasn¡¯t strong enough to help him test the limits of his physical body.

    Everyone watching just gaped in shock. Li Jinpeng was one of the best fighters of the Resistance Army and was especially excellent at close rangebat. When the cult sent Chu Yi to fight the Resistance Army, Chu Yi had killed arge majority of the team sent out to fight him and only a small group survived, thanks in part to Li Jinpeng. If Li Jinpeng and a few others hadn¡¯t managed to hold off Chu Yi long enough, these few wouldn¡¯t have gotten the chance to escape.

    Because of that, everyone believed in Li Jinpeng¡¯s capabilities and felt that even if Li Jinpeng lost to the person Han Linmei brought back, he wouldn¡¯t be defeated very easily. They didn¡¯t think someone at Li Jinpeng¡¯s level would be no match for just one of Su Jin¡¯s fingers.

    ¡°Are you done with your attack? It¡¯s my turn then!¡± Su Jin pulled his hand back, then thrust his finger out again with great strength. This finger was like a long spear to Li Jinpeng. It was so powerful and so fast that Li Jinpeng didn¡¯t even have the chance to dodge it.

    Whoosh! Su Jin¡¯s finger went past Li Jinpeng¡¯s ear and a hole appeared in the wall behind Li Jinpeng. Li Jinpeng¡¯s ear started bleeding, cut by the wind caused by the movement of Su Jin¡¯s finger.

    Su Jin put his hand down again. He hadn¡¯t used any special technique at all, like Li Jinpeng and his sword. The difference was that Su Jin¡¯s strength was greater and faster.

    ¡°Is that enough?¡± said Su Jin nonchntly.

    Li Jinpeng had an embarrassed look on his face. He was angry, not at Su Jin but at the fact that he had failed to even dodge that fingering so close to him just now. He flung his sword onto the floor and walked off without a word.

    Han Linmei sighed in exasperation and smiled apologetically at Su Jin. Su Jin shook his head to tell her that he wasn¡¯t offended. He could understand where the others wereing from. The army had paid a high price for him toe here. If he had turned out to be less capable than they had hoped, that would be a terrible loss on their part.

    ¡°Mr. Su, would you like to rest for a day? Or¡­¡± asked Han Linmei.

    Su Jin said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Where¡¯s Chu Yi now? Just bring me there, since we need to settle this matter urgently.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± responded Han Linmei. ¡°Gather everyone, we¡¯re setting off now,¡± she instructed the rest before running after Li Jinpeng and yelling, ¡°Li Jinpeng! Come back here right now!¡±

    An hourter, everyone set off from the headquarters. They got into cars and drove toward another city, but when they were about to enter it, they got out of their cars and walked in instead.

    There were ten of them, including Han Linmei and Li Jinpeng. Before entering, Han Linmei said to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, this city is the cult¡¯s territory and Mr. Chu resides here now. Before we reach our target destination, I hope that you can listen to my instructions. If the cult discovers us, we¡¯ll be in danger.¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. The group proceeded to enter the city.

 Chapter 193: Killing With Psychokinesis

    <h4>Chapter 193: Killing With Psychokinesis</h4>

    The city was extremely quiet, and there was barely anybody in sight. Han Linmei gave Su Jin arge linen cloak and told Su Jin to wear it. In fact, every one of them was given one to wear.

    ¡°This is a city controlled by the cult and the cult wants everybody who lives in such a city to be a believer, or they will be killed. This linen cloak is a symbol of a believer,¡± exined Han Linmei to Su Jin softly.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow and whispered, ¡°A linen cloak is enough to confirm one¡¯s identity? Isn¡¯t that a bit too simplistic?¡±

    ¡°Of course, the cloak isn¡¯t the only thing. The cult also requires all their believers to tattoo the symbol of the cult on their faces, but it¡¯s night time now, so if everyone just keeps their heads down, it should be fine,¡± said Li Jinpeng. He was quite upset for a long time after being defeated so soundly by Su Jin, but after he realized that there was really nothing between Su Jin and Han Linmei, he stopped feeling so depressed.

    Su Jin nodded and put the cloak on quickly. Han Linmei proceeded to split the team into two. One team of five would remain in the outer area of the city. If the team inside ran into problems, this outer team was in charge of creating chaos so that the inner team could make their getaway. The inner teamprised Su Jin, Han Linmei, Li Jinpeng and two others. Their mission was to go deeper into the city and find Chu Yi.

    ¡°Mr. Su, this gentleman here is Han Jun. He¡¯s an expert in explosives and he¡¯s also a veteran. His Spirit Power is willpower,¡± Han Linmei introduced a man in his forties to Su Jin. This man was very disciplined in the way he moved.

    ¡°Mr. Han is from the army?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Han Jun nodded and stuck one hand out. ¡°I used to be part of the army but I¡¯ve retired for a long time now. I learned about explosives from my time in the army.¡±

    They shook hands, then Han Linmei proceeded to introduce thest member of the team to Su Jin. ¡°Thisdy here is Lin Jiajia. She¡¯s not a veteran, but she has an item that is very suitable for doing spying work.¡±

    Lin Jiajia was very pretty and was even prettier than some celebrities. Her smile, in particr, was very mesmerizing. In a normal world, she would definitely be a rising star if she had a good managementpany to package and promote her.

    She shook Su Jin¡¯s hand as well, then took out a mask and put it on her face. Her face instantly looked identical to Su Jin¡¯s.

    Su Jin looked at the mask with some interest and saw that this mask was indeed able to replicate another person¡¯s face in great detail, which wasn¡¯t too bad. But it could only change one¡¯s face and not one¡¯s body, which made it inferiorpared to Wu Chen¡¯s Spirit Power. But it was good enough to fool someone in the darkness of night or under certain circumstances.

    ¡°Jiajia will lead the group. If we run into anybody from the cult, she will be in charge of handling them. Han Jun, you will be in charge of cing bombs along the way, Li Jinpeng will assist Mr. Su. Mr. Su, you just need to conserve your strength and get ready to fightter,¡± said Han Linmei.

    Su Jin was agreeable with this arrangement. Everyone in the team was useful in their own way, and the only ones who could fight at close range were himself and Li Jinpeng. To be fair, Li Jinpeng wasn¡¯t a bad fighter by any means, but he was definitely too weak to fight Chu Yi, whose internal energy made him stronger than most. In short, Su Jin was really the only hope the Resistance Army had to kill Chu Yi.

    It was probably going to be difficult to defeat Chu Yi in a fight, but killing him was going to be much easier. The Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow was enough to kill a demigod, never mind Chu Yi.

    The group continued moving through the city. The streetlights were on, but there were very few people walking around. The few they saw were also dressed in a heavy linen cloak, walking along hurriedly by themselves.

    Shortly after they had arrived at the inner part of the city, a group of people without that linen cloak appeared and stood in their way.

    ¡°Stop right there. Who are you people? Why are you still walking around at this hour?¡± There were seven of them in the group and they were clearly different from ordinary believers. Su Jin raised his eyebrow slightly. These seven people weren¡¯t ordinary people. They were owners too.

    Lin Jiajia immediately took a step forward and said reverently, ¡°Esteemed sirs, we are devotees who went for a gathering with other devotees that ended ratherte. We are now on our way home.¡±

    ¡°Lift your head up and let me take a look,¡± the leader of the group said to Lin Jiajia.

    Lin Jiajia dared not dy and lifted her head to reveal her face. A strange symbol instantly appeared on her mask.

    The group was blown away for a moment when they saw her face, because she was really very pretty. Han Linmei was quite pretty too, but her features weren¡¯t as delicate as Lin Jiajia¡¯s.

    The leader nodded, then looked at the other four and said, ¡°The rest of you, lift your heads too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s¡­ necessary?¡± Lin Jiajia¡¯s heart started to palpitate in fear. Without the aid of something like her mask, herrades would be exposed if they were to lift their heads. Sheughed quietly and said to the leader, ¡°Sir, these friends of mine are rather¡­ ugly looking and I¡¯m afraid that looking at them might give you nightmares. I think you¡¯d better not look at them.¡±

    ¡°Oh? We¡¯ll not look at them then. We¡¯ll just enjoy yourpany then, pretty girl,¡± said the leader as he grabbed hold of Lin Jiajia¡¯s arm with a lecherous smile on his face.

    Lin Jiajia immediately panicked. Li Jinpeng pressed his hand against his chest where he kept his Handbook and got ready to fight. Han Linmei and Han Jun had clenched fists as well.

    ¡°If they want to look at our faces, they can go ahead and do that,¡± said Su Jin suddenly.

    Everyone froze and cursed inwardly at Su Jin for ruining their ns. They were prepared tounch an attack on these people while they were distracted by Lin Jiajia. But now that Su Jin had suddenly spoken, the group¡¯s attention was on them and it was going to be too hard to make an attack. The other party had seven members and since they could walk around without a linen cloak, it meant that they were owners belonging to the cult. They could probably win a fight against these seven, but themotion would draw the attention of others from the cult.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had already taken a step forward and pushed his hood back to reveal his face. Han Linmei and the rest paled and wanted tounch an attack, only to find that they couldn¡¯t move at all.

    ¡°Well? No problem, right?¡± said Su Jin to the other group.

    The seven of them looked at Su Jin and nodded, then said to the remaining three, ¡°All of you, raise your heads too!¡±

    The other three were still stunned from being unable to move when their necks started moving upwards against their will to reveal their faces.

    The group of seven checked their faces, then nodded before saying to Lin Jiajia, ¡°You were right. Your friends are really fucking ugly!¡±

    All of them were surprised. Their faces had been revealed, yet the other party had not instantly tried to kill them. What was going on?

    ¡°Can we go now?¡± Su Jin put a hand on Lin Jiajia¡¯s arm to pull her back.

    ¡°As devotees of the cult, you are obliged to serve us. All of you can leave, except this woman,¡± said the leader.

    Lin Jiajia paled and immediately tried to pull her arm out of the leader¡¯s grasp. She gave Su Jin a pleading look. The owners in this cult were extremely wicked people. If she had to leave with them, she would meet an end worse than death.

    Han Linmei and the rest were equally upset. They didn¡¯t want to let these people take Lin Jiajia away either, but they couldn¡¯t move their bodies at all, so they couldn¡¯t even put up a fight.

    Su Jin frowned and sighed. ¡°I wanted to settle this peacefully, but it seems like that¡¯s not possible. In that case¡­ all of you can meet your maker.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± The group of seven were enraged, but before they could do anything, their eyes widened and they fell to the ground with a loud thud.

    After that, all of them realized they could move again and figured that it was Su Jin who had done something earlier. Han Jun checked the group of seven and said in shock to the rest, ¡°They¡¯re all dead.¡±

    All four of them were in shock. What in the world just happened? How did these owners just drop dead?

    ¡°Mr. Su, this was your doing right? You were the one who made us lift our heads and you were also the one who killed these owners, right?¡± said Han Linmei.

    Su Jin nodded but did not borate further. ¡°Let¡¯s clean this ce up and move on.¡±

    Han Linmei nodded and started helping to clear the dead bodies. They were excited but scared at the same time, because Su Jin was more powerful than they had imagined. If Su Jin suddenly turned against them, they would end up like these owners.

    Actually, what Su Jin did earlier was very simple. He had used his psychokinesis to affect the vision of the seven owners. So, not only did Su Jin and the rest look like they had the symbol of the cult on their faces, but they also looked terribly ugly.

    And if Su Jin had been allowed to handle this matter from the beginning, things could have been settled in a much easier manner. He could have used his psychokinesis to affect those owners such that they couldn¡¯t see his group at all. Unfortunately, Lin Jiajia had responded to their call and started talking to them, so it was difficult for Su Jin to do anything without looking suspicious. It would be worse if the other party sensed something amiss and attracted the attention of other owners belonging to the cult.

    As for how the seven of them had dropped dead, that was even simpler. Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis had cut off the nerves to their brain. It was hard to do this to veterans, but it was easy to do this to ordinary owners, except that it consumed quite a bit of his energy as well. If he didn¡¯t have to settle this matter as quickly as possible without raising amotion, he would rather settle this matter with his fists.

    After Li Jinpeng and Han Jun had dragged the seven corpses to a dark small alley, they went on their way and quickly found themselves in front of a skyscraper.

    ¡°Mr. Su, if our intel is correct, Mr. Chu is staying on the top floor of this building. However, there are arge number of owners who stay here too. We need to find a way to get past them,¡± said Han Linmei.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°I can affect the vision of ordinary owners so they won¡¯t be able to see us. But if we run into veterans, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to fight.¡±

 Chapter 194: The Cultâ€™s Formidable Fighters

    <h4>Chapter 194: The Cult¡¯s Formidable Fighters</h4>

    Han Linmei had her own ns for that. She got Han Jun to detonate all the bombs he had ced around the area. Han Jun was an expert in explosives, plus the Handbook had provided him with bombs that were more advanced in technology than the world today, so they were way more destructive.

    A few minutester, Han Jun detonated the bombs remotely. His willpower could actually be used to create timebombs that could be detonated when he wanted them. Some of his bombs did not explode immediately, but had a wisp of his willpower attached to them. If someone touched that wisp, the bomb would go off. The outer team of five were in charge of cing such bombs around the outer area of the city.

    If anyone got too close, even a veteran would not be able to hold up against the destructive power of such a powerful bomb. Su Jin had to say that Han Jun was really cut out to be a soldier. If a war broke out, Su Jin felt that he might not be as formidable as Han Jun.

    The explosions immediately attracted the attention of the owners inside the building and arge number of them immediately made their way toward different sections of the city. But once they got close enough, they set off the wisp of Han Jun¡¯s willpower on the bombs and caused new explosions to ur. Within moments, the entire city seemed to be embroiled in a war as explosions resounded from all directions.

    In no time, most of the owners within the skyscraper had left the building to try and calm the situation down. Su Jin nodded at Han Linmei, then disappeared in an instant.

    After Su Jin left, Han Linmei saw that Li Jinpeng had a dazed expression on his face. She frowned and used her knuckles to hit him lightly on the head. ¡°Still daydreaming? We¡¯ve got work to do!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just that¡­ this guy is really formidable,¡± said Li Jinpeng with a stiff smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re only saying that now? Didn¡¯t you get a taste of it earlier? You couldn¡¯t even make it past his finger.¡± She rolled her eyes at him.

    Li Jinpeng had a sad smile on his face as he turned to look at where Su Jin had gone and whispered, ¡°I¡¯ve met a formidable owner like that before in a Challenge. His physical body was also practically invincible. His name was¡­ Jiang Li? Or something like that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not important now! Let¡¯s go!¡± Han Linmei whacked his head harder this time and dragged Li Jinpeng away from the skyscraper. Their job was to stall the owners who had left the building and keep them from returning too quickly.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin kept going up the building rapidly, floating past everyone like a ghost. It was easy for him to avoid detection since he had psychokinesis and he could move faster than they could see.

    This building had a total of 28 stories and Su Jin finally ran into an obstacle on the 26<sup>th</sup> floor. An Indian man was sitting cross-legged on the floor. His eyes were closed, and his hands were pinched together in a strange manner. He seemed to be sleeping.

    Su Jin immediately stopped walking. He would be foolish to think this man was asleep and walk past him. This man was brimming with a dangerous aura and even someone like Su Jin felt that he had to be very careful around him.

    ¡°The Order has a visitor at this hour? An unfriendly one too, I see,¡± said the Indian man as he opened his eyes. He was very advanced in age and his face was covered in wrinkles, but there was a silver glint in his eyes.

    ¡°He has psychokinesis!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he realized that this man had psychokinesis like him. But he quickly realized that this man¡¯s psychokinesis was not like his. It was not a Spirit Power from the Handbook and seemed to be an ability he was born with.

    .

    ¡°You have a sharp eye, huh. So, are you going to walk out by yourself or¡­ do you need me to send you to the Holy Hell?¡± The man smiled faintly and floated into the air.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he responded, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect your Order to be such a friendly one! Someone has barged into your headquarters and you¡¯re actually giving him a chance to walk away just like that?¡±

    ¡°Our Order is a friendly and forgiving one that does not wish to make any enemies. If you leave on your own, I can take it that nothing happened today.¡± The Indian man nodded slightly at Su Jin, as if he were really a kind and peace-loving person.

    Su Jin merely snorted. ¡°Ha! I don¡¯t think it¡¯s because your religion is friendly. It¡¯s more because you feel that you can¡¯t defeat me in a fight, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    The Indian man froze for a moment before suddenly thrusting a palm forward, attacking Su Jin without warning.

    Just like what Su Jin just said, if he were confident of taking Su Jin down, he would have done so immediately instead of chatting with Su Jin. Now that Su Jin had seen through his thoughts, he decided to make a sneak attack.

    Su Jin felt his body fly backwards against his own wishes after the man thrust his palm at him. This wasn¡¯t because the Indian man had a lot of strength in his palm, but because that was a palm filled with psychokinesis. Psychokinesis was making him fly backwards.

    The Indian man had a gleeful look on his face. His psychokinesis was different from the Spirit Power given by the Handbook, but it was just as powerful. Once another person had fallen victim to his psychokinesis, it was going to be hard for them to fight back.

    Su Jin was mmed into a wall like a limp ragdoll, making a huge crater in the wall.

    That shocked the Indian man as he realized that this young man¡¯s body was very strong, since he could make such a crater in the wall. This was not caused by his psychokinesis. If he had used the same amount of strength to fling a piece of tofu against the wall, the thing that fell apart certainly wouldn¡¯t be the wall.

    The Indian man dared not rx for one moment and used his psychokinesis to fling Su Jin about again and again. Su Jin smashed and shattered everything on the 26<sup>th</sup> story in seconds. The man used his psychokinesis onest time to fling Su Jin toward the floor.

    BOOM! Su Jin smashed through floorboard after floorboard, falling through ten floors to finallynd on the 16<sup>th</sup> floor.

    ¡°Humph! That should kill him!¡± The Indian man¡¯s face was a little pale, and he was sweating profusely. He had sensed that Su Jin was dangerous, so he used all the strength he had. That series of attacks would definitely be sufficient to kill most owners.

    ¡°Aseem, is everything alright?¡± A beautiful woman came down from the 27<sup>th</sup> story. She was surprised to see how tired the Indian man looked, because Aseem was a man born with extraordinary powers to begin with. After bing an owner, he had be much more powerful than most owners. It was rare to find an opponent who could tire him out like this.

    ¡°Madam Peacock, it¡¯s been settled. I¡¯ve already dealt with the intruder, so you can go back upstairs to rest,¡± Aseem said respectfully to the beautiful woman.

    She nodded slightly before her expression turned to one of horror. She let out a shriek and soundwaves instantly surged past Aseem, shocking him in the process.

    Boom! The soundwaves shattered a giant rock that had been aimed at Aseem. She shouted, ¡°Watch out, that fellow isn¡¯t dead yet!¡±

    Aseem paled and used his psychokinesis to search for Su Jin. But immediately after he did that, he felt like his psychokinesis had been hit violently by a giant hammer. His injured psychokinesis flowed back into him, causing him to turn deathly pale as he spewed arge mouthful of blood.

    ¡°Born with psychokinesis, eh? You¡¯re pretty strong, but you don¡¯t really know how to control it and you just use it to attack another person with brute force. Is that the difference between someone born with psychokinesis and an owner with Psychokic Spirit Power?¡± said Su Jin as he rose slowly from the hole in the floor with a thoughtful look on his face.

    ¡°You¡­ you have psychokinesis too!¡± Aseem could barely stand. Having one¡¯s psychokinesis crash back on yourself caused a lot of damage to the body. Su Jin went through something simr when he used his psychokinesis to hold up the avnche thest time.

    Su Jin grinned, then turned to the beautifuldy next to Aseem and waved. ¡°Miss Peacock, was it? Those soundwaves were really impressive. I know how powerful anything I use my psychokinesis to throw can be, yet your soundwaves blocked it so easily. I see your position in this cult must be pretty high!¡±

    Peacock¡¯s expression fell. She hade down from the 27<sup>th</sup> floor because she was afraid that Aseem would have trouble dealing with Su Jin, but she realized that she shouldn¡¯t have done that in the first ce. It would have been better to just let Aseem die instead of having to fight a formidable fellow like Su Jin.

    ¡°You think too highly of me. All I did was to break the rock, which is a lot easier than blocking it.¡± She put on a pitiful expression, which made Su Jin feel bad for her when he saw her face.

    ¡°Oh, you have the power to mesmerize others? Is that your Spirit Power? Then what about those soundwaves?¡± Su Jin was a little puzzled. Peacock had done something in an attempt to affect his mind, but his psychokinesis was too strong for her to actually affect him. Perhaps only the legendary nine-tailed fox could affect him. Thisdy wasn¡¯t powerful enough.

    Her expression turned a little nasty and Su Jin suddenly found an answer to his questions. ¡°I see! So, the high positions of this cult are filled with people who are born with supernatural abilities. In that case, I suppose those soundwaves are your Spirit Power, while the ability to mesmerize others is your innate talent, am I right?¡±

    Sheughed hollowly. ¡°You are correct. My little antics must make me look like a clown to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh no, no, don¡¯t say that. Since Mr. Aseem gave me a chance to leave on my own ord earlier, I¡¯ll give both of you a chance too. If you leave now, I won¡¯t kill you. But if you don¡¯t¡­ you could apany each other on the way to hell!¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression turned frosty.

    Peacock looked hesitant as she sighed and said, ¡°You must understand that if we leave now, the Leader will kill us tomorrow. Our lives are all in the hands of the Leader, who can kill us anytime. We really wouldn¡¯t dare to go against the Leader¡¯s orders. We don¡¯t have a choice here.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t leave now, I¡¯ll kill you before your leader gets to kill you tomorrow.¡± Su Jin was getting a little impatient. If these two were to go all out to fight him, it would dy his efforts to get to Chu Yi. And if Chu Yi managed to escape as a result, all this effort would have gone to waste.

    Peacock still looked extremely hesitant, as though she was put in a very difficult position. Just then, Aseem suddenly let out a maniacalugh. ¡°Madam Peacock, we¡¯ve done it! It¡¯s time to kill this fellow!¡±

    Su Jin heard a crack in the ceiling boards above his head as they gave way. A figure hade down from above and was walking slowly toward Su Jin amidst the huge cloud of dust.

    After the dust settled, Su Jin could finally see the face of the person who had crashed through the ceiling. It was none other than Chu Yi.

 Chapter 195: A Fight Between Brothers

    <h4>Chapter 195: A Fight Between Brothers</h4>

    Chu Yi was wearing a ck cape and was dressed somewhat like the main character in the movie The Witcher. His frosty expression made him look unbelievably cool, and Su Jin was sure that he would attract a lot of young female fans if he went for a walk in the park looking like this.

    ¡°His soul exists, alright, except that it¡¯s been trapped deep inside his consciousness. Is it just to keep him alive?¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes as they glinted fiercely.

    ¡°You fool! You should have just left while you could! You¡¯d better kneel down and beg us for mercy now!¡± Aseem cackled maniacally. Su Jin¡¯s clearly superior psychokinesis had frightened him earlier on, but now that Chu Yi had joined the fight, he became confident again.

    ¡°So noisy,¡± muttered Su Jin as the silvery glint in his eyes shone. Aseem¡¯s face turned blue and he iled about in pain as he felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his throat.

    ¡°Attack him!¡± yelled Peacock. She let out a shriek and sent soundwaves rushing toward Su Jin¡¯s head.

    Su Jin casually waved his arm, creating a wind that picked up arge number of broken rocks and rubble. The rocks and rubble flew toward those soundwaves and prevented them from reaching him.

    But at the same time, Chu Yiunched an attack too. He started with his Triple Qi Thrust, Mountain Splitting Demon Tiger right away. He was being controlled by the cult, but his martial arts techniques were deeply etched into his subconscious and came to him naturally in a fight. There was no need for him to do too much strategizing.

    ¡°Argh! This fellow really doesn¡¯t hold back!¡± Su Jin dodged Chu Yi¡¯s attack swiftly.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use! I¡¯ve already given him the order to kill you, so he won¡¯t stop until you¡¯re dead! You can try to escape, but you¡¯re still going to die! HAHA!¡± Aseem cackled loudly like he had gone mad. The sense of failure he had felt after Su Jin fought back seemed to have made him lose a few marbles.

    ¡°I see. These revived bodies have souls, but these souls can¡¯t direct the body, so they need someone with psychokic powers to control them?¡± thought Su Jin. Chu Yi was still as good at fighting as he used to be, but he was now like a car without a driver, so he fought mindlessly. Aseem was actually the driver here.

    ¡°You seriously talk too much! Just die, will you?¡±

    Aseem suddenly felt dizzy before feeling like he was flying, except that the only thing that was flying was his head.

    Peacock stood by the side in shock. She had been watching Su Jin very carefully because she was afraid that Su Jin might try to kill Aseem. Despite being prepared for such a possibility, she had still failed to stop him from doing so. Su Jin¡¯s body had disappeared from her sight for a split second and that was enough time for Su Jin to kill Aseem.

    She couldn¡¯t help but take a step backwards. If Su Jin could kill Aseem in an instant, he could kill her that way too. But as someone with a high position within the Order, she couldn¡¯t just leave Chu Yi here and run off. Otherwise, like she said, the leader of the cult was going to make her life a living hell or kill her.

    Aseem had already been killed, but Chu Yi wasn¡¯t slowing down. Aseem had already given him the mission to kill Su Jin at all costs, so he wasn¡¯t going to stop until he hadpleted this mission.

    Chu Yi mmed a palm towards Su Jin and Su Jin used his arm to block the attack, which made his arm tremble violently. It was one of Chu Yi¡¯s usual moves, but thankfully, it was only a Double Qi Thrust.

    These Qi Thrust moves were a technique that Chu Yi had invented based on the various martial arts techniques he had learned within his Personal Hell Domain. It was a technique that didn¡¯t require him to fire up any momentum in order tounch an attack. His muscles could move several times in one second, so he could add a second, third or fourth attack immediately after the earlier one, hitting the target in waves.

    A Single Qi Thrust did not do much damage and did even less damage than some other ordinary martial arts attacks. A Double Qi Thrust was different, however. Chu Yi could pierce a piece of steel one-centimeter thick with his finger using this technique. Everything had a point where the pressure was great enough to cause a crack, and steel was no different.

    So, before the target could recover from the first Qi Thrust, a second one was made immediately afterwards, effectively stacking the attacks. That was why a Double Qi Thrust was more powerful than a Single Qi Thrust.

    When it came to a Triple Qi Thrust, there was a change in the quality of the energy. Chu Yi was strong enough to chop a van in half with a Triple Qi Thrust, which was why he named it Mountain Splitting Demon Tiger, because this was a move that could literally split mountains in half.

    Beyond the Triple Qi Thrust, Chu Yi could even do a Quadruple Qi Thrust, Billowing Sea Waves. Just like the name suggested, Chu Yi had the ability to actually create sea waves with the amount of energy he exerted. Even Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to take this move head on.

    The best part about this technique was that he could execute the moves as many times as he liked, as long as his body was able to take it. The technique itself didn¡¯t cause any harm to his body, unlike many ultimate martial arts moves that often severely injured or even killed the martial artist when executed.

    Chu Yi attacked Su Jin without stopping and Su Jin kept fighting too. His mission was to kill Chu Yi, so he didn¡¯t hold back at all. He held his Boning Knife in hand and brandished it powerfully.

    Meanwhile, Peacock had already hidden herself in a dark corner. Her heart was pounding in fear as she tried to think of who Su Jin could be, but she simply couldn¡¯t recall when the Resistance Army recruited such a formidable member. None of the members she remembered could possibly kill someone as powerful as Aseem just like that.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi were fighting each other so fiercely, the building was threatening to fall apart. The two of them fought from the 26<sup>th</sup> floor all the way to the first story, and finally moved out of the building.

    There were still some owners within the building and they hid themselves in a corner and kept their mouths shut, afraid that the two men fighting would discover their presence and kill them as well.

    The longer the fight went on, the more worried Su Jin became. Chu Yi didn¡¯t seem to feel any pain and because Chu Yi¡¯s soul couldn¡¯t control his own body, he just kept making attack after attack without caring if he got hurt in the process. His only goal was to kill Su Jin.

    Theirbating abilities were already more or less on par, and Su Jin was actually worse off because he didn¡¯t know martial arts techniques like Chu Yi did. Now that Chu Yi was going all out without caring about his own body, Su Jin was beginning to lose.

    ¡°This won¡¯t do. If this carries on, I¡¯d end up dead. I have to think of another way,¡± thought Su Jin as the silver glint in his eyes flickered and he sent his psychokinesis deep into Chu Yi¡¯s subconscious. Chu Yi¡¯s soul was trapped, but at least it existed.

    His psychokinesis found Chu Yi¡¯s soul very quickly. Chu Yi¡¯s soul looked really pitiful, since it was squashed in the depths of his own subconscious. It used to take up Chu Yi¡¯s entire body, but now, most of his body was out of bounds to his soul. He was like an elephant that had been forced into a standard home refrigerator.

    ¡°Boss?¡± Chu Yi¡¯s soul was trapped, but it wasn¡¯t asleep. He was overjoyed to see Su Jin.

    ¡°Living the good life, eh? This little bungalow of yours is¡­ rather fancy,¡± said Su Jin sarcastically.

    Chu Yi made a face andined, ¡°Boss, I¡¯m feeling really terrible right now. Are you here to save me?¡±

    ¡°Save you? I¡¯m here to kill you,¡± snapped Su Jin.

    Chu Yi scratched his head, then nodded. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just as well. Staying here is worse than dying, so it¡¯s probably better that you kill me. Please go ahead, Boss.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect Chu Yi to ept this idea so readily. He sighed and said, ¡°Even if I wanted to kill you, I can¡¯t. What you¡¯re seeing is actually just an illusion created by my psychokinesis. My actual body is still fighting your body!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re fighting my body? Didn¡¯t I get attacked by that stupid pigheaded thing?¡± Chu Yi was confused because he could only remember what happened before he was killed. He had no idea what happened to himself after that.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have the time to exin. ¡°That happened a long time ago already. Let me try to summarize this. Remember you told me about the cult in your universe?¡±

    Chu Yi nodded. Su Jin went on, ¡°They¡¯ve used some method to revive you after you died, trapped your soul here and made your physical body work for them.¡±

    ¡°My¡­ physical body?¡± Chu Yi paled and shuddered before growling, ¡°These bastards! How could they do that to my body!¡±

    ¡°Tsk, get your mind out of the gutter!¡± Su Jin sensed that Chu Yi had misunderstood what he meant and exined further, ¡°They¡¯ve taken control of your body to massacre the Resistance Army. Several of their members have already died at your hands.¡±

    Chu Yi could hardly believe what he was hearing, but he trusted Su Jin and took his words as truth. A few momentster, he finally digested all this information and his expression turned to one of dismay. ¡°What am I going to do now? I was on really good terms with the people from the Resistance Army too. How could I have done such a thing to them?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t want to either. The cult is in control of your body, that¡¯s why you ended up doing such a thing. The Resistance Army invited me to your universe to kill you and make sure you rest in peace,¡± said Su Jin.

    Chu Yi¡¯s eyes lit up a little. ¡°Boss, you¡¯re in my universe now? It¡¯s too bad that I can¡¯t get out of here and show you around.¡±

    ¡°Never mind that now. My problem right now is how I¡¯m going to kill you,¡± said Su Jin with a heavy sigh.

    Chu Yi scratched his head and said, ¡°If nothing else works, you can just shoot me with your Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he ought tough or cry at how Chu Yi was so objective about getting killed. He sighed again and said, ¡°I would love to do that too, but we¡¯re fighting at such close range now and I don¡¯t have the time to pull the bowstring back at all. I¡¯m certain that if I took the time to do that, you¡¯d seize the opportunity to strike me dead.¡±

    Killing Chu Yi with the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow was definitely one of Su Jin¡¯s options, but Chu Yi was formidable enough to dodge the Roar of the Demon Lord¡¯s attack and like he exined earlier, he didn¡¯t even have the time to ready the bow.

    ¡°But even so, you should be able to handle a close range fight with me,¡± said Chu Yi. As far as he knew, Su Jin was an excellent close range fighter and had a practically invincible physical body too, so Su Jin should not have any problem defeating him in a fight.

    ¡°Your body is now a killing machine and you¡¯re doing everything you can to kill me, so I¡¯m really having trouble killing you now. I¡¯m here to ask if your body has any weakness I can attack,¡± said Su Jin a little awkwardly.

    But after Chu Yi heard what Su Jin said, he froze for a second, then said anxiously to Su Jin, ¡°Boss, you¡¯d better run now, or you¡¯d die.¡±

 Chapter 196: The Leader Of The Order

    <h4>Chapter 196: The Leader Of The Order</h4>

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Su Jin was puzzled. Chu Yi didn¡¯t look like he was kidding, and it certainly wasn¡¯t the time to joke around.

    Chu Yi was extremely panicky and had to force himself to stay calm. ¡°Boss, you¡¯re not aware of this, but I actually have a Quintuple Qi Thrust which will hurt myself if I execute it. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t use it, since it¡¯s usually not worth that sort of sacrifice. But if you say that my body is now determined to kill you at any cost, there¡¯s a high chance that he¡¯d¡­¡±

    Su Jin had a bitter smile on his face. Chu Yi didn¡¯t need to finish the rest of his sentence. There was an almost 100% chance that Chu Yi¡¯s physical body was going to use that Quintuple Qi Thrust in a bid to kill his enemy. The problem was, each level of qi added to these attacks made them twice as damaging as thest. Su Jin was already unable to withstand a Quadruple Qi Thrust. If Chu Yi attacked him with a Quintuple Qi Thrust, his almost demigod status body would probably be severely injured.

    Outside of Chu Yi¡¯s consciousness, Su Jin had the same bitter smile on his face. It was easy for him to use his psychokinesis to fight Chu Yi and speak to him at the same time, but after he found out what Chu Yi was capable of, he immediately withdrew his psychokinesis from Chu Yi¡¯s consciousness. He was going to face a formidable opponent, so it was best that he focused all his energy on fighting Chu Yi and not allow himself to be distracted.

    ¡°Attack of the Demon Lord!¡± Su Jin executed that move before putting his Boning Knife back into his Handbook and retrieving ck Fire and White Ash, spraying bullets from both guns without pausing. Since he was here to kill Chu Yi, he had to pull out all the stops.

    But Chu Yi was an equally skilled fighter. He dodged the Attack of the Demon Lord and gave off a white smoke at the same time, which was the physical form of his internal energy. The bullets from both ck Fire and White Ash were trapped in the white smoke and were unable to reach Chu Yi at all.

    Chu Yi took this chance to charge at Su Jin. His arm trembled slightly, telling Su Jin that he was about tounch a Qi Thrust attack. Su Jin immediately backed away.

    .

    Boom! Chu Yi mmed a palm against the ground, which caused the soil to churn as though there were countless gigantic earthworms beneath. The churning went on for more than ten seconds before finallying to a stop.

    Su Jin was in shock. This attack had been a really powerful one. If that attack had struck him, he figured that his blood would end up churning like the soil earlier.

    At the same time, this attack had injured Chu Yi as well. Su Jin saw that the flesh on Chu Yi¡¯s arms had burst open, and he could see Chu Yi¡¯s intertwining veins, but Chu Yi didn¡¯t look like he was in pain at all.

    ¡°I¡¯m dealing with a robot that¡¯s highly skilled in martial arts!¡± thought Su Jin with a sigh. Just then, Chu Yi came charging at Su Jin again. He spread his arms like a crane, reaching Su Jin with one leap before thrusting his palm toward Su Jin¡¯s neck.

    At the same time, a ck item flew out from Su Jin¡¯s hand. He used his psychokinesis to use Rumor to move around his body as a way of protecting himself. It worked like a boomerang, so he could toss it again and again to keep it moving.

    Ding! Rumor blocked Chu Yi¡¯s attack and Su Jin immediately threw a punch, aiming urately for Chu Yi¡¯s already injured arm and broke it instantly. The broken arm flew off into the distance.

    Chu Yi¡¯s arm bled profusely but he did not back off at all. He charged at Su Jin and even made use of his broken stump of an arm to attack Su Jin. This was not surprising, given that Chu Yi was now a killing machine that did not know pain or fear, but Su Jin was still really horrified by Chu Yi¡¯s actions.

    The two of them continued fighting. If Chu Yi¡¯s soul hadn¡¯t warned Su Jin about a Quintuple Qi Thrust, Su Jin would have been hurt by the earlier attack. Su Jin was slowly gaining the upper hand.

    Peacock was feeling terribly anxious as she hid in the shadows. Chu Yi was a powerful weapon that had taken the Order a lot of effort to obtain, and each puppet they resurrected could only be resurrected once. If Su Jin killed Chu Yi now, the Order would suffer a terrible loss. At the same time, the only person who could control Chu Yi was Aseem, because he had psychokinesis. Now that Aseem had been killed, it was going to be impossible to stop and recall Chu Yi.

    ¡°Leader, the situation is out of control! Chu Yi has been badly injured, and at this rate, he will end up getting killed.¡± Peacock used her phone to call the leader of the cult.

    ¡°I¡¯m already on my way and I¡¯ll be there in ten minutes.¡± The line immediately went dead after that.

    Peacock felt much better. The leader was a really formidable person after all, and even that organization of robbers led by Shen Wu did not dare to make any trouble in this universe because apparently, this leader was someone who was actually on par with Shen Wu.

    Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis could cover an area of several kilometers, so he overheard Peacock¡¯s telephone conversation easily. He was quite wary of this leader, since he had also heard about how Shen Wu had given upunching any attacks on this universe because of this leader. That was enough to prove how powerful this cult really was as well.

    In fact, Su Jin was beginning to wonder how the Resistance Army had even managed to survive thus far. Of course, the people that Su Jin had met were only a portion of the Resistance Army. Apparently, the army had split into independent factions after Yu Guangde died, so even if the cult hadn¡¯t gotten hold of Chu Yi, the Resistance Army was doomed to fall sooner orter.

    Then again, Su Jin wasn¡¯t obliged to save this universe and it wasn¡¯t easy to save a universe either, unless Su Jin intended to stay here for the long term. Trying to unite the Resistance Army again, then train up a really formidable member were not easy tasks to carry out.

    ¡°Ten minutes, huh.¡± Su Jin frowned. He had to kill Chu Yi in ten minutes. If the leader came before he could do that, he would be in big trouble.

    While fighting, Su Jin continued to analyze the situation. Chu Yi¡¯s condition was worsening, so he would probably defeat Chu Yi if given enough time. But he didn¡¯t have enough time now, so it was going to be impossible to kill Chu Yi in just ten minutes.

    ¡°What about his soul?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. Since the cult needed to trap Chu Yi¡¯s soul inside Chu Yi¡¯s resurrected body, it meant that there was some use for Chu Yi¡¯s soul. This soul was likely to be the source of energy for this body, so if he killed Chu Yi¡¯s soul, the body would die as well.

    With that in mind, Su Jin charged toward Chu Yi. When they collided into each other, he grabbed hold of Chu Yi and mmed a palm hard against Chu Yi¡¯s forehead.

    A silver light rushed into Chu Yi¡¯s subconscious from Su Jin¡¯s palm. If the amount that Su Jin had used to go in a talk to Chu Yi earlier had been a small, investigative drone, this beam of psychokinesis was equivalent to an aircraft carrier barging into Chu Yi¡¯s head.

    Su Jin appeared inside Chu Yi¡¯s subconscious like a giant and said, ¡°Chu Yi, I don¡¯t have the time to fight your physical body anymore, so I¡¯m going to extinguish your soul right now. I hope you won¡¯t me me for it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I wouldn¡¯t me you. I¡¯d rather die than be ackey for the cult.¡± Chu Yi was calm and was very rational about this whole situation.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll revive you! I hope to see you again!¡±

    Chu Yi smiled and nodded. Su Jin immediately brought his foot down mightily on Chu Yi, crushing his soul in an instant.

    From the outside, Chu Yi¡¯s body shook violently before the light in his eyes went out. Just like what Su Jin had guessed, the soul was the source of the body¡¯s life, even though it was trapped and couldn¡¯t control the body. So, once the soul was destroyed, the body would lose any lifeforce and be a useless shell.

    Su Jin withdrew from Chu Yi¡¯s subconscious and sent a message to Han Linmei and the rest to tell them that he had already killed Chu Yi and they could retreat.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little toote to think about leaving now, don¡¯t you think?¡± The sound of rotors could be heard as a ck military helicopter appeared in the skies above.

    ¡°That¡¯s fast!¡± Su Jin was surprised, but did not hesitate to retrieve his Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow and fired a Roar of the Demon Lord at the helicopter.

    The ones in the helicopter did not expect Su Jin tounch such a quick and powerful attack, and the helicopter couldn¡¯t move away in time. The Roar of the Demon Lord hit it squarely in the middle and the entire helicopter turned into nothing but ck smoke. But Su Jin didn¡¯t think that would be enough to kill the leader of the cult.

    And just as he had feared, a ck figure flew down from the night sky andnded in front of Su Jin. To his surprise, the figure turned out to be a woman. She exuded a dangerous aura and made him shudder in fear.

    Su Jin dared not move because this threatening aura was all around him. He had sensed this aura on Shen Wu and Xu Ran before too. And since those two were extremely formidable owners, it meant that this woman was on the same level as them, since they all shared a simr aura.

    ¡°You¡­ have a strange smell about you. You¡¯ve actually awakened Psychokic Spirit Power and you¡¯ve actually reached this level? Very impressive.¡± The woman looked very ordinary, but her eyes were enough to capture one¡¯s soul and mesmerize a crowd.

    The silver glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes remained because he was using his psychokinesis to protect his mind. If he didn¡¯t do that, he realized that he would be unable to look this woman in the eye.

    ¡°Excellent. We might have lost a physically strong warrior, but gaining one with psychokinesis makes up for it.¡± She gave a pleased nod, then curled a finger at Su Jin.

    The silver glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes started to tremble violently, and his psychokinesis looked like it was about to crumble. Just then, therge ball sealed deep inside his subconscious started to shake as well.

    Boom! The silver glint in his eyes shone brightly again. This time, it looked like the woman had been severely injured, and she had a shocked and uncertain look in her eyes.

    ¡°How could this happen?¡± She paled in horror.

    Su Jin snapped out of his earlier daze and crushed the crystal in his hand, causing his body to fall into the void between universes again. The woman raised an eyebrow when she saw that Su Jin had disappeared.

    ¡°No wonder he smelled so strange. So, he¡¯s not from our universe,¡± she murmured to herself. She had a puzzled frown as she wondered, ¡°Besides those characters¡­ when did such a formidable owner appear within the Handbook¡¯s universe?¡±

 Chapter 197: A Chance

    <h4>Chapter 197: A Chance</h4>

    Su Jin reappeared in his own house in his own universe, shocking Kano Mai. But once she saw it was Su Jin, she immediately rushed over.

    ¡°Jin, are you alright?¡± she asked gently when she saw how pale he looked.

    He nodded slightly and was extremely relieved. If he hadn¡¯t gone through that experience in the long river of time and had that huge ball of psychokinesis locked away in his subconscious, he wouldn¡¯t have been able toe back now.

    That woman had been so terrifying. Her eyes were incredibly mesmerizing. Peacock¡¯s level of charm was at beginner level, but that woman had reached the highest level possible for this skill and had grasped the ultimate secret behind executing it well.

    He breathed a long sigh of relief. He had underestimated how formidable some of these owners could get. His universe had Xu Ran, another universe had Shen Wu, while Chu Yi¡¯s universe had that female leader of the cult. All of them were incredibly powerful. He was no match for them, unless he unsealed his psychokinesis.

    ¡°They¡¯re all very powerful, but they seem to have deliberately suppressed the upper limit of their powers, so that they can remain within the limits that the Handbook can ept,¡± muttered Su Jin to himself. When he thought about it further, he wondered if it was because Xu Ran, Shen Wu, and that woman had no way of increasing their powers.

    But he felt that the answer to that question was no. It seemed more like these formidable people had purposely kept their power within the Handbook¡¯s limits. Why would they want to do this?

    ¡°Is it in order to gain from the Challenges?¡± The answer was actually very obvious. Hell¡¯s Handbook was generally dangerous to most owners, but it was a treasure trove to a small minority. The things they could get from going through andpleting Challenges tempted them.

    ¡°Jin, about Chu Yi¡­¡± asked Kano Mai in a low voice.

    Su Jin smiled at her and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already killed him, so I¡¯vepleted my mission. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±

    Kano Mai breathed a big sigh of relief. She dragged him to the dining table and said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯ve worked very hard, so I¡¯ll go prepare some food to reward you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll be awesome!¡± After settling the problem of Chu Yi, Su Jin was feeling a lot more rxed. There was no reason to turn down a good meal.

    Kano Mai smiled and ran off to prepare a feast for him. Immediately after she walked away, Su Jin sensed that someone hade through the gate outside, and it was his own teammate, Situ Jin.

    He raised a finger and used his psychokinesis to open the main door of the house. Situ Jin had just reached out to open the door when the door opened on its own. He peeked inside and was surprised to see Su Jin seated at the dining table.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you here.¡± Situ Jin walked in and sat downfortably in front of Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯vepleted my mission, so I¡¯m back.¡± Su Jin shrugged.

    Situ Jin nodded, then said casually, ¡°How did it go? Since you¡¯ve returned so quickly, I assume everything went well? You managed to ughter Chu Yi?¡±

    ¡°Yup, everything went pretty well. But right at the end, a very formidable woman appeared and I nearly died because of her,¡± said Su Jin as his heart palpitated in fear at the thought of the leader of the cult.

    Situ Jin was curious. He understood Su Jin¡¯s prowess very well now, so if he nearly died at the hands of this woman, this woman must be truly formidable.

    ¡°Tell me more, tell me more. A woman who could make life so difficult for you must have been no ordinary woman,¡± said Situ Jin in a curious manner.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes at Situ Jin and frowned as he said, ¡°She¡¯s very powerful and is probably on par with Shen Wu and Xu Ran. Ordinary people will not be able to hold up against her and would immediately defect to her side. The Resistance Army really got me this time. They were probably afraid that I wouldn¡¯t go and help them if I knew about this woman, so they purposely hid this fact from me. That nearly cost me my life!¡±

    ¡°Defect to her side? She has an ability to hypnotize others or something?¡± Situ Jin was an intelligent man, so he could tell from Su Jin¡¯s words that this woman was probably capable of something like that.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. He eyed Situ Jin and asked, ¡°By the way, you couldn¡¯t have known that I¡¯d be back by now, so why did youe all the way here from B City? Are you trying to hit on Mai while I¡¯m not around? You wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing! So much for being a top civil servant!¡±

    Situ Jin merely scoffed at Su Jin¡¯s usations and said, ¡°Wu Chen received some news about how the boss of that organization of robbers, that Shen Wu you¡¯ve talked about, is currently embroiled in some infighting among his own members and has no time to worry about the other universes he invaded. I thought that this would be a good chance to get Miss Kano to help us destroy the little base that Shen Wu has set up in our universe.¡±

    ¡°Shen Wu¡¯s members are fighting among themselves?¡± Su Jin was surprised.

    ¡°ording to Wu Chen, the fight is so bad that they can¡¯t even keep it under wraps anymore, that¡¯s why Wu Chen even managed to hear about it in the first ce. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re back anyway, you shoulde with me too.¡± Situ Jin rubbed his palms.

    Su Jin fell silent. He didn¡¯t mind going along with Situ Jin. Besides, he needed to know more about Shen Wu¡¯s organization. If he could seize this chance to destroy the base that Shen Wu had inside his universe, he would be able to get the information that he wanted too.

    ¡°Sure. But we need to make some ns first. Shen Wu might not be able to assist the people here, but the owners left here are pretty formidable too. If we just barge in like that, we might suffer damages,¡± said Su Jin. He was anxious to go there as soon as possible, but after what he went through in Chu Yi¡¯s universe, he realized that having a good n was very important.

    Situ Jin nodded in agreement and got up. ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll go get ready and we¡¯ll head over in three days¡¯ time. If Miss Kano is willing toe along, please invite her toe with us too.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and waved his arm to motion to Situ Jin to leave. Situ Jin didn¡¯t get angry and just disappeared into the shadows.

    ¡°Tsk, what a show off!¡± Su Jin rolled his eyes. He had learned about Situ Jin¡¯s Spirit Power from the Mad Hatter and had to admit that this was a Spirit Power that was very suitable for Situ Jin.

    A short whileter, Kano Mai emerged from the kitchen with tes of delicious food. Su Jin ate heartily and told her what Situ Jin said earlier after he had finished his meal, and also invited her along to head for the organization¡¯s base in their universe.

    Kano Mai was agreeable, since there was nothing else to do too. Besides, as a Handbook owner, she had to fight in order to gain experience and strengthen her powers.

    After resting and getting prepared for three days, Situ Jin arrived in S City again. This time, he drove a really shy car with a license te with all 8s. Su Jin felt his head spin by just looking at it.

    ¡°Not bad! This vanity te alone is enough to buy this ce that I¡¯m renting!¡± eximed Su Jin.

    ¡°Tsk. We¡¯re owners, so neither of uscks money, for crying out loud. I needed to borrow a car and got this one since we¡¯re from the Department of Supernatural Affairs after all. Hurry up and get in,¡± said Situ Jin as he waved at Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    After they got in, the car drove straight for the airport. But once they arrived at the airport, Situ Jin led them to one of the airport staff and requested for a ne instead of boarding a ne like most normal passengers.

    The airport staff was an older bald man who thought that Situ Jin must be crazy. There were plenty of influential people in S City, but none of them would run to the airport and just ask them for a ne at thest minute like this. But after Situ Jin gave the staff a number to call and he made that call, the staff¡¯s expression changed dramatically and got the ne and pilot that Situ Jin needed in no time.

    After they boarded the ne, Kano Mai asked curiously, ¡°Situ, surely your department is ranked high enough for us to get a military ne, right? Why did you insist on getting a civilian ne?¡±

    ¡°Situ is afraid of alerting those people. If you flew a military ne there, you¡¯d be discovered before you even got close. But a civilian ne is different. They wouldn¡¯t care even if one flew over their heads.¡± Su Jiny in a first ss seat and stretched his armszily.

    This was a really luxurious trip. Including the pilot, the stewardesses and the three of them, there were only eight of them on the ne.

    ¡°Sir, Madam, would you like to eat now orter?¡± a stewardess asked the three passengers in a gentle voice.

    ¡°Eat now, of course! I¡¯ve never eaten from the first ss cabin¡¯s menu before,¡± said Su Jin with a big grin on his face. The stewardess couldn¡¯t help butugh when she saw Su Jin¡¯s excited expression, blushed and walked away to get him his meal.

    Situ Jin red at Su Jin and sighed. ¡°That¡¯s quite enough. If you like taking first ss so much, I¡¯ll get you a VIP pass that can be used on all airlines once we¡¯re done here.¡±

    ¡°Is that possible? You can actually do that?¡± said Su Jin with a chuckle.

    Situ Jin ignored Su Jin and didn¡¯t want to talk to him anymore. Kano Mai was amused as she watched these two men bicker like children.

    The ne soon arrived near an ind. ording to Situ Jin¡¯s intel, the organization¡¯s base in this universe was that ind.

    ¡°Alright, time tond!¡± Situ Jin handed one backpack to Su Jin and Kano Mai each, then said, ¡°This is thetest equipment in the country. It¡¯ll help us tond safely.¡±

    Su Jin sighed helplessly. He was terribly afraid of heights and he had been forced to fall from great heights so many times recently. Each jump was even worse than bungee jumping too. At this rate, he was going to die of fright while falling before a Challenge killed him.

    The cabin crew looked on in horror as Situ Jin opened the cabin door. But even after opening the door, nothing changed inside the ne. Doing that didn¡¯t even make a single napkin fly up.

    ¡°After all three of us jump out, please use your psychokinesis to close the door behind you,¡± Situ Jin said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded. Situ Jin jumped first, then Kano Mai. Su Jin licked his lips, turned to wave at the two stewardesses, then shut his eyes as he jumped out as well. The door shut behind him and everything returned to normalcy inside the ne.

    The three of them descended rapidly. They were still a distance away from the ind, which was in ordance with Situ Jin¡¯s arrangements. After all, if theynded directly on the ind, they would end up being target boards, so they had no choice but tond in the surrounding sea and approach the ind from the waters.

 Chapter 198: The Island Base

    <h4>Chapter 198: The Ind Base</h4>

    The weather at sea wasn¡¯t too bad, so the three of themnded without much problem. Just before they hit the surface of the sea, something from inside the backpack they carried protruded out from the bag. Green mes shot out from the bottom and pushed them upwards.

    They stopped falling for a second and the part that protruded earlier came out and formed a surfboard of sorts under their feet.

    ¡°This is a pretty interesting item,¡± remarked Su Jin. This item could bnce itself even as it travelled at high speed across the waves. The sea breeze against their faces and it felt so nice.

    ¡°This is thetest technology ourbs havee up with. I snatched these away before thebspleted their experimentation because I felt that they would be useful to our trip,¡± said Situ Jin smugly.

    ¡°Wait, they haven¡¯t been tested yet?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s face paled immediately as he felt himself sink into the water. Kano Mai and Situ Jin also suddenly began to sink.

    They were in the ocean, for crying out loud. If they didn¡¯t have any powers or items that could keep their heads above water, then they¡¯d still die even if they were owners. Su Jin quickly unleashed his psychokinesis to form three bubbles around them. They were floating in the water, but the water couldn¡¯t touch them at all, as though an invisible force was protecting them.

    ¡°Situ, can you wait until the equipment has been tested to be safe for use before bringing them along?¡± said Su Jin in an exasperated voice. Thankfully, psychokinesis was an excellent type of Spirit Power that could be used in many situations. The three bubbles he had created were also able to carry them in whichever direction Su Jin wanted them to go.

    Situ Jin was a little embarrassed now. It was true that he had been a little too rash this time. If the three of them ended up drowning here, that would be such a tragedy.

    Thankfully, everything turned out fine. Su Jin¡¯s psychokic bubbles not only moved them along rapidly, but also allowed them to travel beneath the surface of the water to avoid detection. An hourter, they found themselves near a secluded part of the ind, so they got onto the ind safely and without a single drop of water on themselves.

    ¡°What¡¯s the n?¡± Su Jin asked Situ Jin.

    ¡°Surround them, take them down and interrogate them,¡± Situ Jin exined very briefly.

    Su Jin felt as though he had walked into yet another trap. ¡°Situ, do you know what the words ¡®make a n¡¯ even mean?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really do a lot of nning, actually. The Department of Supernatural Affairs doesn¡¯t have to be too careful either, since everything can be covered up. If we really need to make ns, Bo Ya would help me, but I can¡¯t let anybody else in the department know about this mission, so¡­¡± Situ Jin¡¯s voice trailed off awkwardly.

    Su Jin pped his forehead. Come to think of it, Situ Jin and his team had also barged into his house back then without much of a n. They were armed with a few tricks, but those weren¡¯t enough to deal with him at all and he overcame them in no time.

    ¡°We need to at least find out how many people there are on the ind.¡± Su Jin nced at the ind. It wasn¡¯t veryrge, and he could see a small building in the middle. It was probably big enough to only house no more than 20 people.

    He sent his psychokinesis out in hope of finding out exactly how many people there were on the ind, but when his psychokinesis hit the area around the building, it seemed to run into a wall and his psychokinesis couldn¡¯t advance any further.

    ¡°Jin, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Kano Mai when she noticed the strange look on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t do this. There¡¯s something on the ind that can keep psychokinesis out.¡±

    ¡°Leave this to me then.¡± Situ Jin seemed to have suddenly found a good ce to use his powers. He hid himself in some shadows, then revealed half his body and said, ¡°Both of you, follow me. It¡¯s not safe to fight these people single handedly.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± There was something that kept his psychokinesis out, but it only kept it froming in and did not stop him from using it.

    Situ Jin disappeared into the shadows, while Su Jin left a wisp of psychokinesis on him so that he could track Situ Jin. Otherwise, it would be too difficult to find Situ Jin among the shadows.

    The outer area of the ind had no security of any sort, perhaps because they didn¡¯t think anybody would be bold enough to attack this ce. So, the three of them came very close to the middle in no time

    ¡°If there are so few people on the ind, it¡¯s not really possible to maintain that sort of security either,¡± thought Su Jin. At the same time, if they knew they had very few people on the ind at any one time, they would definitely find a way to secure the ind.

    It was logical for them to not bother themselves with the outer area, but they weren¡¯t so dumb as to leave the middle unguarded as well.

    Situ Jin soon emerged from the shadows and said to Su Jin, ¡°There are¡­ a lot of wild animals in the way ahead.¡±

    Su Jin noticed a strange look on Situ Jin¡¯s face and asked, ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with those animals?¡±

    ¡°Something very wrong. They aren¡¯t ordinary animals at all: they¡¯re a bunch of animals that should have gone extinct a long time ago, like dinosaurs and saber-toothed tigers. They¡¯re all apex predators,¡± said Situ Jin.

    It wasn¡¯t really impossible for Handbook owners to revive some of these supposedly extinct animals. Modern science had managed to aplish a bit of this as well.

    ¡°Just keep going and ignore us,¡± said Su Jin.

    Situ Jin disappeared into the shadows again. Su Jin and Kano Mai continued walking and it didn¡¯t take them long to see arge group of wild animals roaming around. They were all apex predators, but they were now living harmoniously with one another.

    An ordinary biologist would have eximed in shock and amazement at this, but Su Jin and Kano Mai remained unfazed by this scene. They had seen crazier things, after all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll handle this. You can save your strength forter,¡± said Kano Mai. She walked toward the animals and all of them immediately turned to look warily at her.

    But before they couldunch an attack, all of them began to look lethargic. Those nearer to Kano Mai just copsed and fell asleep on the spot.

    Su Jin walked over to Kano Mai and said, ¡°Mai, you¡¯re getting really good at controlling your slothful powers. Even I would fall prey to this power of yours.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nowhere near your psychokinesis. Besides, you understood the rtive principle of the seven sins, so you¡¯re immune to their powers,¡± said Kano Mai with a pout.

    Su Jin scratched his head awkwardly andughed. ¡°Mai, you¡¯re really good. At least with regard to these animals, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have done a better job than you.¡±

    ¡°How could that be? If you had to handle these animals, you could just use your psychokinesis to kill them on the spot, no?¡± Kano Mai didn¡¯t believe him.

    He said gravely, ¡°No. There¡¯s a special device on these animals, so never mind killing them: if my psychokinesis just touches them, everyone on this ind will know. Only a power that already exists within the natural desires of a living creature would be able to go undetected. That¡¯s why I said that you¡¯d do a better job.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, does that mean that the people here targeted you right from the start because they knew you would being to take revenge?¡± said Kano Mai in shock.

    Su Jin shook his head and chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I think they¡¯re actually defending themselves against a different owner with psychokic powers.¡±

    ¡°A different owner with psychokic powers? You mean¡­ Xu Ran?¡± She quickly thought of who it could possibly be.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. This organization seems particrly wary of Xu Ran, so I think Xu Ran and Shen Wu have fought before, and Shen Wu lost.¡±

    The two of them sauntered right through the wild animals and came to the centermost part of the ind. They went up a high ce and looked down, and could see the building where the robbers stayed.

    Situ Jin reappeared shortly after that. ¡°There are 23 people in total, but I don¡¯t know how many of them are veterans. Also, the two men who tried to attack your family members are here too.¡±

    ¡°Very good,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. He wasn¡¯t going to let off anyone who dared toy a finger on his family members.

    ¡°What do we do? Kill our way in?¡± Situ Jin asked excitedly.

    Su Jin summoned a chess piece from his Handbook. ¡°I¡¯m sending this thing in first. It can help us to check out the actual situation inside.¡±

    Kano Mai and Situ Jin narrowed their eyes. They knew what this thing was. Chu Yi had barely beaten this thing in a fight on the Train of the Supernatural. Just this one thing was as capable as Chu Yi was.

    Su Jin flung the piece forward and it instantly turned into a pigheaded warrior that stood at two meters tall. It held a long knife in each hand and stood respectfully in front of Su Jin.

    ¡°Go in and have fun ughtering them!¡± Su Jin gave themand and the warrior dashed toward the building without hesitation.

    When it was still 20 meters away from the building or so, the pigheaded warrior swung its knives at the building and two visible forces struck the building with a roar.

    Boom! Boom! A faint glow appeared around the building. It looked like a protectiveyer of sorts.

    But that didn¡¯t faze the pigheaded warrior. It had received themand to break into the building and ughter the people inside, so it was going to do just that. The knives in its hand were like an energy producing factory as itunched attack after attack.

    The protectiveyer was pretty solid, but it wasn¡¯t able to hold up against this continuous attack from the warrior. It cracked and shattered after a short time, but that was enough for the owners inside to realize there was trouble outside. They came streaming out of the building to see who would dare to make trouble here, but were stunned when they saw the pigheaded warrior.

    The one leading the group was the man with red eyes. He looked at the warrior and said, ¡°This is a puppet. Its owner is hiding somewhere.¡±

    Su Jin smiled faintly. This was an owner qualified to take charge of a base in a foreign universe, since he was still so calm in the face of such a strong adversary. But what Su Jin really wanted to know was how powerful the other robbers were.

    The warrior started attacking the owners immediately after the protectiveyer shattered. It was a strong fighter and wasn¡¯t afraid to die. It swung its knives several times and two owners were killed almost immediately.

    ¡°Damn it! How could there be such a powerful puppet in existence! It¡¯s almost as powerful as the Cerberus I gave to Mr. Alex thest time!¡± eximed the man with red eyes. The warrior had already shed its way to him.

 Chapter 199: Old Enemies

    <h4>Chapter 199: Old Enemies</h4>

    The pigheaded warrior was like a killing machine as it made its way through the owners. Each swing of its de could kill one owner. When the man with red eyes realized he was next, he stood on guard and shot out a red beam of light from his eyes.

    The warrior was forced to retreat in order to avoid the red light. The man quickly called his otherpanions to gather around him. It wasn¡¯t possible for them to deal with this warrior individually.

    ¡°If your powerful red eyes aren¡¯t enough to deal with this creature, maybe we should retreat!¡± One of the owners was clearly bing a little frantic. The pigheaded warrior had been forced to retreat earlier, but it remained unfazed and was now marching back toward them.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just leave. There¡¯s still arge number of teleporting crystals on the ind and they can¡¯t be kept inside the Handbook, so we can¡¯t take them with us. It¡¯s a great loss to us if we leave them behind,¡± said the red eyed man through clenched teeth.

    ¡°But if we die here, there¡¯s no use in keeping these crystals either!¡± piped up another owner. He too felt that retreating was the better choice.

    The red eyed man red at them and said sinisterly, ¡°If we abandon these crystals, then Mr. Shen Wu is going to kill us all. If we try our best to fight this thing off, we might still survive. But if we incur the wrath of Mr. Shen Wu, we¡¯re definitely going to die.¡±

    The owners instantly shuddered at the mention of Shen Wu¡¯s name. His name alone was even more threatening and frightening to them than this pigheaded warrior.

    Meanwhile, the warrior hade fairly close to them, so the red eyed man led the owners in fighting back. They still suffered casualties on their side, but things were better now that they were fighting back as a group. They even managed to push the warrior back several times.

    Su Jin and hispanions were standing at a distance and watching the fight. Situ Jin was surprised at how formidable the pigheaded warrior was and didn¡¯t think that Chu Yi would have been able to fight as well as this warrior even if he had been here with them. It wasn¡¯t to say that Chu Yi wasn¡¯t as skilled in fighting as this warrior, but the fact that this warrior did not fear death made it a lot more effective in a fight against so many at the same time.

    ¡°At this rate, the owners aren¡¯t going tost much longer than half an hour. Is that really all a base camp belonging to Shen Wu is capable of?¡± Su Jin was a little disappointed. He hade fully expecting to fight a tough battle, only to find that his opponents were a bunch of noobs.

    As the red eyed man watched the owners around him fall, he still did not dare to make a run for it, but he was beginning to panic inside. Just then, two beams of white light shed in front of the building and two figures appeared a few secondster.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Situ Jin raised an eyebrow and said to Su Jin, ¡°Those two are here. Those are the two who tried to hurt your family.¡±

    Su Jin turned to look at the two men who had arrived. The pigheaded warrior immediately swung its knives at them after they appeared.

    ¡°Damn it! How dare you try to attack me from behind!¡± roared one of them. A red mist around his body exploded and shattered the force from the pigheaded warrior¡¯s attack.

    ¡°Guiume, Andrew, you¡¯re finally back!¡± The red eyed man was overjoyed to see the two men who had tried to harm Su Jin¡¯s family thest time.

    Andre nced at the pigheaded warrior, then scanned the dead bodies of the owners strewn all over the ground. He was really surprised and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Someone has infiltrated the ind and let this creature loose. It¡¯s only a puppet, but it¡¯s insanely powerful and seems to be even more powerful than Cerberus. We had a lot of trouble fending it off and we¡¯ve lost a number of people,¡± exined the red eyed man.

    Guiume sneered at the dead owners on the ground and spat, ¡°They¡¯re a bunch of idiots who were going to get killed sooner orter, but¡­ we don¡¯t let our folks get ughtered without paying a price for it.¡± The red mist around his body surged toward the pigheaded warrior.

    The warrior seemed to have sensed that Guiume was a powerful foe, so it swung its knives to kill the two owners in front of it, then brandished them one after another in a peculiar manner without moving from its spot.

    When the red mist from Guiume came close enough, the warrior thrust its knives hard into it, which was the move that it had made on Train of the Supernatural that had nearly killed Chu Yi.

    The red mist was surprisingly unable to hold up against those knives as the knives pierced it immediately. Despite that, the knives only managed to pierce Guiume¡¯s skin by less than a centimeter and were unable to go any further.

    ¡°That¡¯s a knife made from demon remains! Incredible!¡± Guiume¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. He didn¡¯t expect the pigheaded warrior¡¯s knives to pierce through the red mist. But he soon sniggered and said, ¡°It¡¯s too bad that my body has been upgraded and it¡¯s covered entirely in a special sort of metal. You can¡¯t hurt me now.¡±

    He threw a punch at the pigheaded warrior¡¯s face, but the warrior reacted quickly and moved its head aside. However, it wasn¡¯t fast enough. Guiume¡¯s punch brushed past its ear and tore half of it off.

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Su Jin was surprised. He knew how powerful this warrior was. Yet, Guiume¡¯s punch had actually torn half its ear off just like that.

    ¡°That red mist must be fighting aura, which¡­ I guess you could consider it a high level Spirit Power. It¡¯s the best Spirit Power an owner specializing in close rangebat can have,¡± said Kano Mai suddenly.

    Su Jin asked, ¡°How does itpare to Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the same. Chu Yi¡¯s energyes from the inside and keeps regenerating without limit, so it¡¯s very suitable for long battles. Once it¡¯s been trained and honed to its maximum potential, it¡¯s almost as powerful as your psychokinesis.¡±

    ¡°Guiume¡¯s fighting aura, on the other hand, is the sort that just explodes powerfully on the outside. Even owners who have just awakened this power get a huge increase to their fighting prowess and I¡¯ve heard that owners with fighting aura are usually able to defeat opponents who are stronger than themselves,¡± said Kano Mai with a grim look on her face.

    After pausing to think, she went on, ¡°But it¡¯s not as good as Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy. The special characteristic of a fighting aura is that it¡¯s extremely powerful. But as the saying goes, it¡¯s the strong and stubborn ones who break, unlike the softer and more flexible ones. Owners with this power usually fight very extreme battles, so even though the owner with fighting aura might win by arge margin, they would also suffer from overusing their fighting aura and end up dying in the end.¡±

    Su Jin and Situ Jin exchanged nces. This power sounded like someone on steroids, except that the side effects were way too severe. How could one win a fight but end up dying? That was ridiculous.

    Guiume continued to fight the pigheaded warrior. He was a good fighter and his body could hold up against the warrior¡¯s knives because it was covered in that special metal. But he began to look more and more worried. Just like what Kano Mai had said earlier, such owners were not suitable for drawn out battles. If he couldn¡¯t win within a short time, he was going to lose.

    ¡°Andre, help!¡± yelled Guiume. He could sense that the fighting aura in his body was beginning to go into a frenzy. If this went on for too long, he was going to die.

    Andre immediately dashed forward and thrust a stream of freezing air toward the pigheaded warrior. The warrior was covered in the freezing air and turned into an ice sculpture within seconds. It couldn¡¯t move anymore.

    ¡°Ha! That was what I was waiting for! Time to die!¡± Guiume was excited to see this happening. This was his and Andre¡¯s bestbined attack. Andre would use his freezing air to freeze their opponent, then he would use his immense strength to shatter the ice sculpture. Even owners with special powers would all end up meeting their maker.

    Just then, the warrior suddenly became small and flew away. Su Jin could see that Guiume¡¯s next move was to shatter it, so he quickly recalled the warrior.

    ¡°Who¡¯s hiding there? Come out now!¡± bellowed Guiume as he threw a punch. His red fighting aura was like a dragon, churning the ground as it came roaring toward Su Jin.

    The three of them walked out from the shadows and Su Jin threw a punch as well. This punch collided with Guiume head on and shattered the aura. Su Jin¡¯s physical body was strong enough to ovee it without the use of other powers or items.

    ¡°The two of you have already met my family members, yet you don¡¯t know who I am?¡± Su Jin grinned. Since their targets had all arrived, there was no need to hide and wait any longer.

    Guiume and Andre looked puzzled, but their eyes lit up slightly when they saw Situ Jin. They recognized Situ Jin as the one who ruined their ns twice in a row.

    ¡°Intruders to the ind have to die,¡± spat Andre. He opened his mouth to breathe out a huge stream of freezing air. The air was so cold, any vapor in the air turned to ice and fell to the ground noisily.

    Su Jin did not move and just kept Situ Jin and Kano Mai safely behind him. There was a silvery glint in his eye as he created a wall with his psychokinesis to block Andre¡¯s freezing air.

    Andre¡¯s freezing air was really formidable, actually. Frost began to form on that wall, which meant that it was actually freezing Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis even though psychokinesis was something that had no shape and was usually undetectable. But after freezing the psychokinesis, it no longer had any power left to attack Su Jin and hispanions.

    ¡°You have psychokinesis? You¡¯re Xu Ran!¡± Andre recognized what this invisible wall was made from and his heart trembled in fear. He couldn¡¯t believe this young man had turned out to be the one person in this universe they had been told never to offend. Xu Ran¡¯s special characteristic was psychokinesis, and his psychokinesis was extremely powerful.

    But the red eyed man had walked over and he shook his head as he red at Su Jin. ¡°This fellow isn¡¯t Xu Ran. You¡¯re Mr. Su, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Su Jin, the one whose family was threatened by you guys! I¡¯vee to take my revenge!¡±

    Guiume burst outughing. ¡°HAHAHA! What an idiot! If you were really Xu Ran, I might have been more wary. But you¡¯re not! If you¡¯re not as blessed as Xu Ran, I¡¯d advise you to stop being so pretentious, or else¡­ you might die for it!¡±

    Su Jin made a face as the silver glint in his eyes reappeared. He muttered quietly, ¡°You¡¯re right. This sort of thing¡­ is going to get someone killed.¡±

 Chapter 200: Kill!

    <h4>Chapter 200: Kill!</h4>

    ¡°Watch out, this fellow may not be Xu Ran, but he¡¯s also very formidable. More than a dozen of ourrades died at his hands in S City.¡± The red eyed man had a very deep impression of Su Jin. That¡¯s why he got Andre and Guiume to deal with Su Jin.

    Guiume had a disdainful look on his face as he walked toward Su Jin. The red fighting aura around his body became more concentrated with each step he took, so ten stepster, the redness was enough to serve as a smoke signal. If a ne flew over their heads now, it would see this red smoke signal clearly.

    ¡°Mai, watch my back and don¡¯t let anybody disrupt me,¡± said Su Jin to Kano Mai. She nodded and ran off to find a vantage point where she could have an unobstructed view of the ce.

    ¡°Situ, they said that there are a lot of teleportation crystals in this ce. Can you help to look for them? The crystals should look like this,¡± said Su Jin as he used his psychokinesis to send a picture of the crystal to Situ Jin.

    ¡°That¡¯s the thing that can send a person from one universe to another?¡± Situ Jin was very interested in this item, so he nodded at Su Jin and disappeared into the shadows.

    ¡°Two of them have left, so you¡¯d better bring some people to follow them,¡± Andre said to the red eyed man.

    The red eyed man hesitated. ¡°Then this guy¡­¡±

    ¡°Just leave him to us. I¡¯d suggest you take a look at where you¡¯ve kept the teleportation crystals,¡± said Andre in an icy voice.

    The red eyed man widened his eyes, then called on all the remaining owners to head for where they stored the teleportation crystals. They were doomed if anything happened to those crystals.

    All of them hurried off in a panic, while Situ Jin smiled while hiding in the shadows. These idiots, he thought. After all, if they didn¡¯t lead the way, he wouldn¡¯t know where to start looking either.

    Only Su Jin, Andre and Guiume were left. Guiume had a nasty look on his face as he snarled, ¡°I suppose there¡¯s one thing you don¡¯t know about.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin had a puzzled look on his face as he asked innocently, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°People with psychokinesis like you must not appear within ten steps of experts in close rangebat like me, otherwise¡­ I can kill you before you summon your psychokinesis.¡± Guiume sniggered. ¡°And now¡­ you¡¯re already within ten steps of me.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression froze, while Guiume charged at him.

    An expert in close rangebat like Guiume could move more quickly and powerfully than someone with psychokinesis could start using it, so it was true that Guiume could kill someone with psychokinesis if they got too close to him.

    Buddha once said, the flick of a finger took 20 moments, one moment took 12 thoughts, and in one thought, 800 people could have died. Guiume hadpleted these ten steps in the same time as it took to make one thought. Before Su Jin¡¯s expression could even shift, Guiume¡¯s fist was already right in front of his eyes.

    Boom! Guiume¡¯s fist carried a frenzied amount of fighting aura as he brought it down on Su Jin¡¯s head. He was very proud of this punch, because it perfectly disyed his strength. He had reached his peak in that split second.

    The tremendous amount of energy in that fist and the red mist stirred up a giant cloud of dust and smoke. The redness of the fighting aura and the ckness of the dust and smoke mixed in with one another and made it look like the face of a demon.

    Guiume withdrew his arm after making that punch and cracked his neck joints. He turned and grinned at Andre as he said, ¡°Perhaps he was really formidable, just dumb. His only power is psychokinesis and he actually allowed himself to remain within ten steps of my reach. He was definitely going to get himself killed.¡±

    Andre nodded slightly. He knew what his partner was capable of. Su Jin was definitely going to die after getting hit in the head with that kind of force. But nobody would pity Su Jin even after his death. Su Jin knew that Guiume was an expert in close range fighting, yet he came so close anyway. He would have died purely from his own stupidity.

    Just then, Andre suddenly noticed something moving in the huge cloud of fighting aura, dust and smoke. That¡­ looked like the silhouette of a person.

    ¡°Guiume, watch out! He hasn¡¯t¡­¡± yelled Andre to warn Guiume.

    At the same time, Guiume could sense something amiss. But before he could turn around, he felt a pain in his waist as a mighty force struck him. The next thing he heard was a terrible cracking sound. His backbone had been broken by a kick.

    Su Jin emerged from the smoke with one foot on Guiume. He grinned and said, ¡°There¡¯s one thing YOU don¡¯t know either. Besides having psychokinesis, my ability to engage in close rangebat is actually better than yours!¡±

    There was a look of disbelief in Guiume¡¯s eyes as blood gushed out from his nose and mouth, but he didn¡¯t seem to feel it at all. He continued to roar hysterically, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! An owner with psychokinesis¡­ how could such a person have such a strong physical body?!¡±

    ¡°Is it very contradictory?¡± Su Jin made a face.

    Guiume knew that these two conditions weren¡¯t mutually exclusive, but it still didn¡¯t make sense to him. It was already rare enough to find someone with psychokinesis, and it took an incredible amount of time and effort to improve one¡¯s level of psychokinesis. It was already hard enough to improve one aspect, never mind improve one¡¯s physical body at the same time. This just sounded simply impossible to him.

    ¡°Let go of Guiume!¡± Andre realized that he had to do something. He summoned the freezing air from within him and shot icy cones at Su Jin.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t move or dodge the icy cones at all, allowing the sharp cones to hit him directly. Guiume could hardly believe his eyes. This young man¡¯s body was way more invincible than his. If Andre did this to him, he¡¯d have to use his fighting aura to block it. But Su Jin¡­ actually just relied on his physical body to block the cones.

    ¡°Freezing wave!¡± Andre knew that if he didn¡¯t put in his best efforts, there would be no way to defeat Su Jin, so he unleashed his most lethal attack.

    A white, icyyer began to spread from beneath Andre¡¯s feet as freezing air gushed out of his body. Anything it touched, whether it was an animal or a nt, froze instantly.

    ¡°Andre, no! Damn it! You¡¯re going to kill me!¡± Guiume¡¯s eyes widened as he struggled to get up. But his backbone was broken and he couldn¡¯t move at all.

    Andre ignored Guiume¡¯s cries as he continued to push the freezing wave forward. At the same time, Su Jin pressed a hand on his Handbook and a cloak appeared around his shoulders.

    The freezing wave froze everything in its way, quickly reaching Su Jin. Guiume watched in horror as he turned into an ice sculpture in seconds. His final expression was one of indignation. He could hardly believe his partner would kill him without hesitation.

    But it was soon Andre¡¯s turn to be horrified. After Guiume had been turned to ice, Su Jin remained unfrozen. It was as if the freezing wave had forgotten Su Jin and froze everything else but him.

    ¡°How can this be? Why is this happening?¡± Andre couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing.

    Su Jin removed his foot from Guiume¡¯s back and walked toward Andre while exining the situation slowly, ¡°Your freezing wave is essentially a high level technique that makes use of a basic element, water. This cloak of mine is able to protect me against any attacks that make use of basic elements.¡±

    His cloak, the Gift from the Gods, came with the skill, Protection of the Gods. It could protect him from any elemental attacks, except that it cost him a lot of Spirit Power. But that was the skill that enabled him to block Andre¡¯s attack.

    Andre immediately mmed his palms against the ground and a wall of ice instantly formed. This wall was enough to separate him from Su Jin. Once the wall was sufficiently thick enough, he started running for his life. He had lost all hope of defeating Su Jin. He was a veteran with freezing air as his Spirit Power, and it was everything to him. If Su Jin was immune to that, then it meant that he was of no threat to Su Jin at all.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t bother running after him. He used his foot to kick up a rock that had frozen over, then kicked it forward before it could fall back down on the ground again.

    The rock moved as quickly as lightning, piercing through theyers of the thick wall of ice. By the time it went through thestyer, it had lost most of its energy and crumbled. But while it crumbled, another rock flew right through the tunnel that the first one had made.

    ¡°Wha-?¡± Andre froze as he stared down at his chest in disbelief. A huge, bloody hole had appeared. He couldn¡¯t hear his heartbeat anymore, because his heart had exploded at the same time that hole in his chest appeared.

    Thud! Andre copsed onto the ground. Su Jin nced at the two formidable men who nowy dead on the ground. The two of them had been truly formidable. While it was true that Guiume had only been able to hurt the pigheaded warrior a little and had to team up with Andre to do so, plus he would have lost if the fight went on for too long, he was still one of the best fighters Su Jin had ever seen.

    Andre¡¯s freezing air was also a very powerful Spirit Power. If he didn¡¯t have the Gift from the Gods cloak, it would have been hard to deal with all that ice. Or even if he had the cloak but didn¡¯t have enough Spirit Power to use it, it would be useless to him as well.

    But there were no ¡°what ifs¡± in this world. Andre was just unlucky that he ran into an owner who had an item that could block his best attacks, so he was doomed to die.

    After the two men were dealt with, Kano Mai left her vantage point to meet with Su Jin again. ¡°I checked the ind and everyone has gone after Situ Jin. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone else on this ind.¡±

    ¡°Good, let¡¯s go see how Situ¡¯s doing.¡± Su Jin nodded and both of them ran toward the building.

    .

    Once they were inside the building, Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis was no longer affected. The item that could block his psychokinesis was only able to protect the building from the outside, but once he was inside, that item ceased to be effective.

    Su Jin used his psychokinesis to scan the building and he quickly located Situ Jin because he had left a small trace of it on Situ Jin. To his surprise, Situ Jin seemed to be in trouble and was running for dear life.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Su Jin was puzzled. Situ Jin was not as formidable as he was, but his Spirit Power enabled him to get away from attackers much more easily than the rest of the team. It was easy for any of them to defeat him in a fight, but it was hard to attack him because Situ Jin could just hide himself in a shadow. Once he did that, he was practically invisible.

    Su Jin continued to extend his psychokinesis from Situ Jin and his eyes immediately widened. He realized that the one running after Situ Jin was actually Shen Wu.

 Chapter 201: Fighting Clone

    <h4>Chapter 201: Fighting Clone</h4>

    Su Jin was shocked at first, but he quickly noticed something amiss. This Shen Wu didn¡¯t seem like he was the same as the Shen Wu he remembered. After scanning this Shen Wu, he realized that it wasn¡¯t really Shen Wu: it was a less powerful clone of sorts.

    Even though he looked exactly the same as Shen Wu from the outside, Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis could look beyond the surface and ascertain if this person was really who he looked like.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s not Shen Wu himself, this clone must be really formidable as well. Otherwise, Situ wouldn¡¯t be in this state,¡± thought Su Jin. He and Kano Mai quickly ran to regroup with Situ Jin, especially because he noticed that Situ Jin¡¯s vital signs were actually declining. In other words, despite being able to escape into the shadows, Situ Jin was still getting hurt.

    When they finally met with Situ Jin in a corner, Su Jin realized that everything behind Situ Jin, including the shadows, were covered entirely in frost. Shen Wu¡¯s powers turned out to be simr to Andre, since he could also control the cold. But this was only what the clone could do. Back then, Su Jin had watched Shen Wu gather all the frost from Cloud Mountain in order to freeze Ye Yun.

    But after analyzing this more carefully, Su Jin realized that there was a difference. Andre¡¯s body could generate frost, while Shen Wu seemed to have the power to control the temperature. He could shift the heat within an area away so that it would be frosty instead.

    Woong! Su Jin turned his psychokinesis into an arrow that hit Shen Wu. This was only a clone, so it moved several steps back immediately after it had been hit by Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis. Situ Jin immediately seized this chance to hop out from the shadows he was hiding in. He was covered entirely in frost as well, and his lips were turning purple from the cold.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Situ Jin shivered violently as he shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know! I¡¯m just cold! I¡¯m feeling cold from the inside and¡­ and it¡¯s only getting colder!¡±

    Shen Wu hade back to his senses by this time. He looked up at Su Jin and said expressionlessly, ¡°I recognize you. Ye Yun had been willing to let me take her away in order to protect you. She¡¯s paid such a high price to save you. Why didn¡¯t you cherish that?¡±

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes. This wasn¡¯t Shen Wu himself, but to a certain extent, it wasn¡¯t too far off either. It was a little weaker, but that only made a difference depending on who the opponent was. If the opponent was only equivalent to one-tenth of Shen Wu¡¯s power, then even this clone would crush the opponent just as easily.

    ¡°I will bring Ye Yun back! I swear I will!¡± spat Su Jin hatefully.

    Shen Wu remained expressionless. Perhaps this clone was incapable of showing expression. He merely shook his head and said, ¡°You can¡¯t. You¡¯re too weak. That day, it was just you, me and her, yet you failed to protect her. And now, you¡¯re still hoping to take her away from where I am? Don¡¯t you think that sounds absolutely ridiculous?¡±

    ¡°The difference between the weak and the strong,¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°Do you know what the difference between the weak and the strong is?¡±

    ¡°Oh? Tell me.¡±

    ¡°The strong are always strong. They stand at the peak and can oppress the world, but the weak¡­ will be strong one day!¡± yelled Su Jin. He might not have been strong enough that day, but for the sake of Ye Yun, for the sake of those he loved and those who loved him, he was determined to do anything to be as strong as possible, to be strong enough to protect those people.

    There was finally a slight mocking look in Shen Wu¡¯s eyes as he stared at Su Jin in silence for a few moments, then burst outughing. ¡°Haha! That¡¯s interesting. You remind me of how I used to be, so I agree with what you said. The best thing about being weak is that the weak have the chance to be strong.¡±

    Su Jin remained silent, but Shen Wu stoppedughing and the mocking look in his eyes turned murderous as he said coldly, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m going to kill you today and make sure you never get the chance to be strong!¡±

    Shen Wu was swift in his attacks. He thrust his hand out and Su Jin immediately felt cold all over. Just like Situ Jin, he could feel the heat leaving his body rapidly.

    ¡°So¡­ so your power is really the ability to control the temperature huh,¡± murmured Su Jin with a frown. He called out, ¡°Gift from the Gods!¡±

    He activated the cloak again. This was the best thing he got out of the Train of the Supernatural. His psychokinesis had been sealed up, but the upper limit had gone over 2,000, so he could use this sort of skill consecutively without having to wait for its cooldown.

    The Gift from the Gods gave off a five-color glow as it covered Su Jin¡¯s body. The chilly feeling in his body instantly disappeared. The temperature depended on the basic elements too, after all. Fire came with heat, and once there was too little heat, water would freeze to be ice. Ice was basically a result of insufficient heat. Since this was an element based attack, the Gift from the Gods could fend it off.

    Shen Wu was a little surprised to see that Su Jin wasn¡¯t affected by his powers, but he soon figured out what was going on and smiled. ¡°I see. You¡¯ve got an item that¡¯s helping you to do this. It must be consuming a lot of your Spirit Power, isn¡¯t it? Let¡¯s see how long you can hold out! And let¡¯s see¡­ how long <i>he</i> can hold out,¡± said Shen Wu as he pointed a finger at Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin couldn¡¯t stop shivering and his lips were a terrifying shade of purple. There was even frost forming inside his mouth.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart sank. He could sense that Situ Jin wasn¡¯t left with much time. Situ Jin was losing heat too quickly, and he didn¡¯t have anything to protect him from the cold either. If he couldn¡¯t do something about Shen Wu within the next five minutes, Situ Jin was going to die.

    ¡°Mai, take Situ away!¡± roared Su Jin as he charged toward Shen Wu¡¯s clone.

    Kano Mai quickly put her hands around Situ Jin to help him walk, but she instinctively drew back once she touched him. His skin was so terribly cold. If his physical body wasn¡¯t strong enough, he would have died by now. Even so, Situ Jin lost consciousness in no time.

    Shen Wu¡¯s clone wasn¡¯t as strong as Shen Wu himself, but he was still more resilient than Guiume. The fact that this clone could also execute the same ability to control temperatures made him even more powerful than Andre. This clone was pretty much a better version of Guiume and Andre merged together.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t scared of him. His physical body was as powerful as this clone¡¯s and he was protected from temperature changes as well. The only problem was that he didn¡¯t have a lot of time to fight the clone.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! It looked like a battle between Superman and Superman. Every blow could shatter buildings. Su Jin¡¯s punches kept getting faster, and he used the Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife, ck Fire, White Ash, Rumor: he had used everything but not a single one was able to kill this clone.

    The only thing he had that could do that would be the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, but while it was powerful, it was too hard to use on opponents who were too strong, because such opponents could dodge the attack easily. The Roar of the Demon Lord would fail as long as he wasn¡¯t able to entrap or keep his opponent in the same spot long enough.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t have enough methods to deal with my enemies. I have to do something to improve on that,¡± thought Su Jin with a sigh. It was no wonder that these extremely powerful owners would rather suppress their actual powers than to stop going through Challenges. Being so powerful made them almost invincible in a Challenge anyway, and they could gain so much from it. If given the choice, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t give it up either.

    Su Jin continued to attack Shen Wu¡¯s clone mentally with his psychokinesis as well as physically. Shen Wu¡¯s clone wasn¡¯t as powerful as Su Jin, but he could hold up for a while.

    ¡°Haha! Your friend is going to die but you still can¡¯t take me down! Looks like you¡¯re going to add one more regret to your life!¡± The clone had no expression whatsoever, but the maniacalugh he made was certainly enough to make Su Jin really angry.

    ¡°And who says I can¡¯t take you down?¡± Su Jin suddenly snickered.

    ¡°What?¡± Shen Wu was stunned as someone suddenly hugged him from behind. Su Jin had flung the pigheaded warrior out and it grabbed hold of Shen Wu immediately.

    ¡°The Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow!¡± Su Jin summoned the longbow and executed the Roar of the Demon Lord. He would rather sacrifice the pigheaded warrior than to sacrifice Situ Jin.

    Just as the sparkly arrow left the longbow, Kano Mai suddenly stuffed a purple pill into her mouth and her eyes turned cloudy.

    ¡°I¡¯ll use my slothful powers to stop him! Pull back the warrior!¡± she yelled at Su Jin.

    Su Jin immediately summoned the warrior back, while Shen Wu seemed to have stopped in time. His body could barely even move as the Roar of the Demon Lord covered him entirely, consuming him and turning him into nothing but powder.

    Elsewhere, a small spark in Shen Wu¡¯s eyes flickered and eventually went out. There was a faint smile on his lips as he thought, ¡°That fellow seems to have grown quite a bit. I really should have killed him back then.¡± But that thought stayed in his head for just one second before he turned to look back at the mess before him. He pointed his finger in one direction, and a powerful group of fighters were instantly turned into ice sculptures.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. There are many other ces that are still a mess,¡± said Shen Wuzily. The people behind him immediately nodded.

    Back on the ind, Su Jin turned his attention to Situ Jin and was relieved after scanning Situ Jin¡¯s body with his psychokinesis. After Shen Wu¡¯s clone was turned to nothing, Situ Jin¡¯s body temperature stopped falling and his incredibly strong constitution was able to return to normal fairly quickly.

    Kano Mai clutched her forehead like she was in pain, so Su Jin ran over to ask if she was alright.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine. I took a pill that could help me increase my Spirit Power temporarily, that¡¯s all. I¡¯ll be fine after taking a rest,¡± said Kano Mai with a smile.

    ¡°How could you do something like that! I don¡¯t care if I had to sacrifice the pigheaded warrior! I wouldn¡¯t know what to do if something bad happened to you,¡± said Su Jin as he frowned at her. It was true that this pigheaded warrior was a rare item toe by, but it wasn¡¯t worth sacrificing Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai stuck her tongue out at him yfully and said, ¡°Alright, alright, don¡¯t be so upset. I mean, there was a way to not sacrifice the pigheaded warrior, so why not? Otherwise you¡¯d have lost such a powerful item. That would be such a waste.¡±

    Su Jin sighed and shook his head. ¡°Thankfully, that clone had a small portion of his soul, which was why he was affected by one of the seven sins. If not, that wouldn¡¯t have worked out and we would have been in great danger.¡±

    Even though Situ Jin¡¯s body temperature had returned to normal fairly quickly, he was still feeling a little unwell. But he picked himself up, led his twopanions to where the teleporting crystals were, and they took everything.

    ¡°That¡¯s a total of 30 crystals. This is a huge fortune we¡¯re talking about,¡± marveled Su Jin. He remembered the pained expression on Han Linmei¡¯s face when she exchanged that bag for just one of these crystals. And now, they got their hands on 30 of them. How lucky!

    Su Jin then found the red-eyed man and the rest, but they were all nothing but corpses strewn all over the floor. ording to what Situ Jin saw, Shen Wu¡¯s clone had been ced inside the same room as these crystals. But after he had been awakened, he did not know that the red-eyed man and hispanions were on the same team and killed them all, since they arrived at this room first.

    The good part was that they hadn¡¯t died for too long, so Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis was still able to get some information out of their minds. But he was still disappointed in the end. These people were too low ranking in the organization, and the red-eyed man was the only one who was in a higher position. But he didn¡¯t know much about Ye Yun either.

    Su Jin went to retrieve Guiume and Andre¡¯s memories, but they weren¡¯t much better than the red-eyed man. They were only in charge of robbing and killing other owners, and they had no knowledge of anything else within the organization.

    Only one thing was consistent across all three men. Everything they snatched away from other owners would not be split among themselves, but given entirely to Shen Wu. Shen Wu would reward themter.

    ¡°Shen Wu seems to be looking for something.¡± Su Jin furrowed his brows. He guessed that Shen Wu had created this organization perhaps not out of simple selfish gain, but to use it to find something. But that was just his guess and he couldn¡¯t be sure.

 Chapter 202: Big Shakeup

    <h4>Chapter 202: Big Shakeup</h4>

    Once they were done on the ind, Situ Jin made a phone call and a cargo boat came to pick them up this time.

    Two dayster, they returned to their homes and continued with their lives while recuperating and getting themselves ready for the next Challenge.

    The time for the next Challenge soon arrived, and Su Jin contacted his teammates. He put his hand on the Handbook to start the next Challenge, but to his surprise, the Handbook didn¡¯t react at all.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is it because my psychokinesis increased by too much? But it¡¯s been sealed up, so why is this happening?¡± Su Jin blinked in surprise.

    Wu Chen soon had news for them. He appeared in front of Su Jin and Kano Mai via the Handbook like a hologram.

    ¡°Jin, are you unable to start the next Challenge?¡± Wu Chen asked immediately.

    Su Jin nodded and was surprised. ¡°So, I¡¯m not the only one facing this problem?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve been gathering information from Hell¡¯s Bar during this time and based on what I¡¯ve heard, ever since that incident with the Train of the Supernatural, all the Challenges have been stopped,¡± said Wu Chen.

    Su Jin was stunned for a moment and he began to think about why this could be happening. The train must have had a major impact on the Handbook¡¯s universe. Arge number of deities had been set free, and the Mad Hatter had sent them into different Challenges at random.

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook is unable to maintain control over all these deities, so¡­ it¡¯s temporarily unable to clear the various Challenges of its deities. And that¡¯s why it has just decided to put a pause on all the Challenges until this matter is resolved?¡± murmured Su Jin.

    He felt that this was very likely to be the case. The Mad Hatter and the other deities on his side were a force that even the Handbook had trouble controlling in the first ce. Now that they were littered everywhere in different Challenges, it was going to be very hard to clean them out of all the Challenges.

    ¡°In other words, does that mean that once we¡¯re able to go through Challenges again, the Mad Hatter and all the deities with him would have been dealt with?¡± Su Jin sighed. Time passed at a different rate inside and outside the Handbook. To the owners, only one month had passed, but that amount of time could be equivalent to centuries or even millennia inside the Handbook. This was enough time for the Handbook to gather its forces and fight the Mad Hatter and his allies.

    There was nothing else the owners could do but wait for the Challenges to start again. There were some owners who were delighted and thought that they were no longer bound by the Handbook and that they had regained their freedom. But those who were smart enough knew that was impossible.

    The Handbook itself was a supernatural item to begin with. Some owners had indeed sessfully left the Handbook¡¯s universe before, and once that happened, the Handbook they owned disappeared and they couldn¡¯t enter Hell¡¯s Bar anymore. But neither of these had happened to any owner.

    Also, the one thing that made them sure that the Handbook still had a hold over them was the fact that the Handbook had revived everybody who died in the Challenge they were in when the train had exploded. That was enough to prove how terrifyingly powerful the Hell¡¯s Handbook was.

    Time slowly ticked by. A weekter, a ck notice was put up in Hell¡¯s Bar. This was a notice that would appear in everyone¡¯s Handbook, even if you didn¡¯t have ess to Hell¡¯s Bar.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai immediately went to read the notice. The notice was very long, and the information was extremely shocking. This was an upgrade to the Handbook Challenges.

    <i>From today onwards, the Handbook Challenges will restart.</i>

    <i>The Challenges will be upgraded. Besides the types that previously existed, new types such as murder mysteries, adventure types, traversing to different eras and so on will be added. There will be more Challenges that pit teams against each other. A ranking of teams and individual owners will be put up, while the four levels for teams will no longer be used.</i>

    <i>In order to make the Challenges more interesting, the Spirit Power of all veterans and the strength of all owners¡¯ physical bodies will be weakened inside Challenges and there will be a limit on the items owners are allowed to use as well. Owners will not be affected outside of the Challenges.</i>

    <i>For Level A Challenges, the upper limit of veterans¡¯ Spirit Power will be reduced by 50%, physical strength will not be reduced, no limit on items.</i>

    <i>For Level B Challenges, the upper limit of veterans¡¯ Spirit Power will be reduced by 70%, physical strength will be reduced by 20%, limited to 5 items.</i>

    <i>For Level C Challenges, the upper limit of veterans¡¯ Spirit Power will be reduced by 80%, physical strength will be reduced by 40%, limited to 3 items.</i>

    <i>For Level D Challenges, the upper limit of veterans¡¯ Spirit Power will be reduced by 90%, physical strength will be reduced by 60%, limited to 1 item.</i>

    <i>The ranking list of owners and teams will be made publicly avable, but owners and teams can choose to show or hide their ranking. At the end of each calendar year, the Handbook will give out prizes ording to each owner¡¯s and team¡¯s ranking.</i>

    <i>The ranking score of owners will be based on the various criteria. Also, an owner¡¯s contribution during a Challenge will be added to their total ranking score after theyplete a Challenge.</i>

    <i>Introducing team battles. Each team can challenge another team within ten ces of themselves to a battle by using one Battle Dering Token. The battle will start in three days and you can choose between a Battle of Life and Death or a Battle of Win or Lose.</i>

    <i>The Battle of Life and Death will be decided by who lives and who dies. Once one team ispletely annihted or surrenders willingly after more than half the team has died, the battle wille to an end. The winning team will be able to revive any owners they lose in the battle. If the winning team was the one who posed the challenge, they will take over the ranking of the losing team and they can choose one item from each of the losing team¡¯s members. If the winning team is the one who was challenged, they can pick two items from each of the losing team¡¯s members.</i>

    <i>The Battle of Win or Lose will not result in any deaths. The battle wille to an end once one team has been annihted, and all dead owners will be revived. If the winning team is the one who posed the challenge, they will take over the ranking of the losing team and they can choose three items from the losing team. If the winning team is the one who was challenged, they can pick five items from the losing team.</i>

    This string of changes was apanied by clear numbers and exnations. The content was enough to stun every owner.

    Situ Jin and Wu Chen quickly called to discuss this with Su Jin. After thinking about it, Su Jin agreed to activate their ess to Hell¡¯s Bar so that they could sit down and talk about this.

    Hell¡¯s Bar was noisier than usual because almost every owner who had ess to this ce was here right now. Nobody cared if they knew each other or not and just sat down to talk about the new rules.

    By the time Su Jin got to his team¡¯s table, Situ Jin and Wu Chen were already there. They immediately got up when they spotted Su Jin.

    Su Jin motioned to them to sit down and Wu Chen said, ¡°Jin, what are your thoughts about these changes?¡±

    Su Jin took a while to sort out all the thoughts in his head, then said, ¡°One thing¡¯s for sure: the Handbook is putting limits on the owners¡¯ Spirit Power, physical strength and items purely to tackle the most powerful group of owners.¡±

    ¡°The most powerful group of owners?¡± Situ Jin didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Xu Ran, Shen Wu, the leader of the cult and myself, before my Spirit Power was sealed up, all belong to this group. Our powers have reached a level that¡¯s so high, not even a Level A Challenge is much of a threat to us. When my psychokinesis suddenly increased tremendously thest time, I did feel like I had control over the Challenge.

    ¡°If I had that sort of power when we went through the All Have Sinned Challenge, then the seven Original Sins and Archangels wouldn¡¯t have been a problem to me because my powers alone would have been enough to crush them.

    ¡°The Handbook must have noticed this and so, it has decided to impose limits on people like us. Or at least, it wants to make sure that this group will face a higher chance of suffering severe losses or even death in a Challenge.¡± Su Jin¡¯s thoughts became clearer as he spoke them aloud.

    His team members nodded, so he went on, ¡°As for the ranking of the owners and teams as well as the team battles, that¡¯s even easier to exin. It¡¯s very clear that the Handbook wants to increase the chances of owners dying while increasing the number of elite owners.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point in doing that?¡± asked Wu Chen with a puzzled look on his face.

    ¡°I think I know why it¡¯s doing this, but I can¡¯t tell you the reason for the time being. There¡¯s just one thing I can tell you,¡± said Su Jin before pausing to look at the other three. He continued in a grim voice, ¡°Everyone has to be as powerful as you can in the shortest time possible. I think¡­ I think we don¡¯t have much time left.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left?¡± Situ Jin and Wu Chen werepletely confused by what Su Jin was saying, but Kano Mai¡¯s expression fell when she heard these words. She knew what Su Jin was talking about, and she knew even more about this matter than Su Jin. She had a moreplete picture.

    ¡°Since the ranking is already up, should we go take a look at it first?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Su Jin nodded. They found the ranking inside their Handbooks and were thoroughly shocked. There were a few hundred thousand owners listed in the ranking. That was the total number of people within the Handbook¡¯s control across all the universes.

    Each person¡¯s Handbook showed that owner¡¯s ranking, so Su Jin found his position very quickly. He was the cream of the crop at #207, and this was his position with arge part of his psychokinesis all sealed up. If it weren¡¯t all sealed up, he wouldn¡¯t be so far down the ranking.

    Su Jin looked at the top of the list and found that almost everyone in the top ten positions had hidden their names and only a few had chosen to reveal themselves.

    ¡°Shen Wu, leader of team Court of Wrath, #8!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes. Shen Wu¡¯s position was extremely high up and he turned out to be part of the top ten. He scrolled through the list and tried to find Xu Ran¡¯s name, but failed to find it even after he had gone past #200. The man must have hidden his name.

    ¡°I¡¯m #571!¡± Wu Chen shook his head. He was an old timer who had gone through a few dozen Challenges, yet his ranking was so much lower than Su Jin¡¯s. At the same time, being part of the top 1000 out of hundreds of thousands of owners was a great achievement already.

    ¡°#3910!¡± Kano Mai¡¯s position was pretty low and she was nearly #4000, but she was definitely considered to be high ranking.

    ¡°#5213!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s position was lower than Kano Mai¡¯s by more than a thousand ces. His Spirit Power was a formidable one, but his physical strength, skills and equipment were much worse than the rest of his team. But given the total number of owners, the difference between #3910 and #5213 wasn¡¯t really that great. They were more or less within the same bracket.

    ¡°Let¡¯s look at the team rankings. Team Boning Knife is ranked¡­ #91!¡± Wu Chen was stunned. He didn¡¯t expect the team to be ranked so highly.

 Chapter 203: Huge Changes Arrive

    <h4>Chapter 203: Huge Changes Arrive</h4>

    Team Boning Knife had a surprisingly high rank. Even if a minority had understood the concept of multiple universes, the total number of teams should have been at least 10,000. After all, anyone who managed to survive Challenges was definitely no fool, so being ranked #91 among the best of the Handbook owners made them the cream of the crop.

    ¡°The points from the two Challenges that wepleted perfectly were very high.¡± Su Jin checked the team¡¯s total score for each Challenge and found that the scores for All Have Sinned and Zombie Frenzy were especially high. All Have Sinned, in particr, chalked up a score much higher than any of the Challenges before that.

    Su Jin¡¯s personal rank was #207, Wu Chen¡¯s was #571, while Kano Mai and Situ Jin were way beyond #1000. Logically speaking, the team should have been at around #1000 or so.

    ¡°Is the Handbook trying to encourage these adventure types of Challenges?¡± wondered Su Jin. The scores forpleting this Challenge perfectly was way too high. The Handbook was obviously rewarding owners who went through such Challenges more.

    These changes did not bode well to Su Jin. The Handbook was doing its best to increase the chances of owners dying. Limiting one¡¯s Spirit Power, physical strength and items were clear and very tant efforts to weaken the best owners.

    But Su Jin felt that these efforts were the most fatal to ordinary owners and low level veterans. For example, Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis¡¯ upper limit was now at 2300. If he were to be allocated to a Level D Challenge, he would have an upper limit of 230, which wasn¡¯t much lesspared to his powers when he went through Rubble Vige or Fairytales of Horror, yet he had been able to find a way to survive even under those circumstances.

    Now, he understood the Handbook better, so his chances of seeding were higher. Of course, limiting his items and physical body also affected him negatively. The chances of him dying had gone up.

    Compared to low level veterans: the upper limit of a veteran was normally around 500, while those who were more powerful had around 1000. Reducing that by 90% would reduce their Spirit Power to the same level as when they had just received their Spirit Powers.

    And with the limitations on the number of items and one¡¯s physique, these owners had truly entered dark times. Su Jin figured that the number of Handbook owners was going to reduce drastically over a short period of time.

    ¡°Our team is ranked so highly¡­ will anybody try to pick on us?¡± Situ Jin was a little uneasy. The teams close to their position were definitely extremely formidable teams, so if anyone decided to try and challenge them to a battle, they might end up getting wiped out.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re in any danger at the moment. The battles between the teams are probably going to start among the lower ranked teams, since they¡¯re closer in terms of prowess and would have more confidence in defeating other teams. The higher ranked teams, on the other hand, are all teams that are definitely formidable and would probably have some sort of trump card. Unless you know exactly what the team you¡¯re up against has, you wouldn¡¯t try to challenge such a high ranking team.¡±

    Even though Su Jin said there was no need to worry, he was actually just as worried as Situ Jin was. Team Boning Knife was not like the other high ranking teams, who had high rank scores from umting points over many Challenges. His team got this rank because of two perfectlypleted Challenges, so they were actually not as formidable as the teams around their rank. If any of these teams challenged them to a battle, things would end in disaster.

    Also, in order to make the inter-team battles more exciting, the rewards for the winning team were really good. Even if owners died during the battle, they would be revived as long as their team won and the prizes they would win were extremely enticing.

    That would be enough to motivate a team with powerful trump cards to initiate these battles in order to get the biggest reward. They just needed one really amazing owner to survive at the end, and the entire team would be revived. The promise of being revived would also encourage owners to fight with everything they had, including kamikaze types of attacks or using themselves as bait even if they ended up dying as a result.

    Under such circumstances, the strategist of each team became even more important than before. Using the lives of their teammates toy traps, scheme against others, deceive the enemy, and other simr tactics in order to secure the final victory would be needed, so formidable teams would try to invite owners with such capabilities to join their team.

    Before this, strategists were always wee in a team, but if these strategists were not also armed with any ability to defend themselves, they could end up dragging the rest of the team down. If the team found themselves in a Challenge that required sheer strength to survive, this strategist could very well cause the entire team to die in that Challenge.

    But with the introduction of team battles as well as the weakening of owners in Challenges, the weaknesses of strategists had also been reduced. In any case, almost everyone would suffer a significant reduction in power, so the difference between veterans and non-veterans was no longer as great as before.

    Since the new system helped to reduce the difference in fighting prowess, the benefits of having a good strategist would be more obvious. Teams would treasure their strategists more now.

    ¡°Strategists will be more important, and some of these owners might even get headhunted by other teams. Or crazier still, two teams might go into a Battle of Life and Death for the sake of such an owner.¡± Su Jin frowned deeply. The change in the system had made the Handbook universe full of dangers beyond the Challenges. These changes were really smart moves.

    ¡°Jin, what do you mean by that?¡± Wu Chen didn¡¯t quite understand.

    Su Jin paused to think, then exined, ¡°Let¡¯s say Team A¡¯s overall prowess is higher than, or rather, it¡¯s enough topletely overrun Team B. But Team B has an excellent strategist while Team A is in need of such a strategist. What do you think would happen?¡±

    His teammates thought about this hypothetical situation for a moment and their eyes widened in horror. What would happen was obvious: Team A could defeat Team B easily in a fight even without a strategist, so they could challenge Team B to a Battle of Life and Death to threaten the strategist to either leave Team B so that they would have the chance to surrender, or get annihted by Team A.

    If faced with such a choice, the weaker team was definitely going to end up losing their strategist. Their team leader was an excellent strategist who thought very quickly on his feet and was able to calmly analyze and deal with every crisis that came his way. More importantly, Su Jin was also a formidable fighter on his own. Su Jin was pretty much the perfect strategist.

    Team Boning Knife¡¯s position on the list was a false reflection of their true prowess. If another team found out about this, the hypothetical situation that Su Jin just presented to them might actually happen.

    With that in mind, Su Jin decided to make his ranking public. He was the leader of Team Boning Knife and his position was in the 200s, so that gave the impression that his team wasn¡¯t far off in terms of overall prowess. If the team leader was at #207 while the team was at #91, it would make it seem like there was an even more powerful owner in the team.

    ¡°The good part is that we haven¡¯t gone through a lot of Challenges, so there aren¡¯t many people who know about our team. We¡¯ll be safe for the time being,¡± said Su Jin to assure his team. He didn¡¯t expect himself to be someone that his team had to worry about.

    ¡°There could also be teams that have very few extremely powerful members, and more weak members,¡± said Kano Mai suddenly.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Mai is right. That is definitely going to happen.¡±

    ¡°Why would anyone want to form such a team?¡± asked Wu Chen puzzledly.

    Situ Jin nced at Wu Chen and snorted. ¡°Consider the changes from the point of view of that organization of robbers or people like that. The winning team can take any item they want from the losing team. Isn¡¯t that a great opportunity for them? They can join a new team, then crush a low ranking team with that one strong person and get items without working for it.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t that going to result inplete chaos? If the weaker teams keep getting robbed in this manner, then there¡¯s no hope for the ordinary owner,¡± said Wu Chen with a frown.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. There was mention of a Battle Dering token in the notice and I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be easy to get one of these. Those scenarios we talked about earlier are still going to happen, but these battles aren¡¯t going to ur at uncontroble levels.¡±

    Everyone nodded in response. Su Jin looked through the rankings again and quickly located Shen Wu¡¯s team. Court of Wrath was ranked at #6, which made Su Jin frown slightly. He wanted to rescue Ye Yun, which meant that he would eventually have to fight it out with Shen Wu as well as his team. Shen Wu was #8, but his team was at #6. That meant that he had other teammates who were also just as formidable. In fact, all of them were probably ranked above Su Jin.

    Su Jin sighed as he wondered how Ye Yun was doing. Even though he guessed that her life wasn¡¯t in danger since Shen Wu didn¡¯t seem like he wanted to kill her when he captured her thest time, nobody knew if things would change over time.

    ¡°Unless¡­ unless I break the seal¡­ but no, Shen Wu is very formidable too. Who knows if he¡¯s secretly as formidable as a god?¡± The more Su Jin thought about it, the more helpless he felt. While it was true that he had reached a stage where he could fight gods through apletely random chance encounter, Shen Wu and his team were considered the best of the best among the owners. It was hard to say if they had even greater powers than he did.

    Given the circumstances, he needed his team to be strong enough to fight gods as well. Otherwise, it was simply impossible to go up against Team Court of Wrath.

    Kano Mai seemed to sense what Su Jin was thinking about and tugged at his arm. She whispered, ¡°Jin, I will always stand by your side, no matter what!¡±

 Chapter 204: Starting A New Challenge

    <h4>Chapter 204: Starting A New Challenge</h4>

    Su Jin was very touched and was grateful to have Kano Mai by his side. But at the same time, he knew that as long as he was in love with Ye Yun, there was no way he could reciprocate Kano Mai¡¯s feelings for him. That made him feel bad for Kano Mai.

    Just then, Xiang Nan brought his team over. He waved at Su Jin and Su Jin nced at him. Han Linmei had an awkward look on her face as she stood behind Xiang Nan. She had not told Su Jin about the leader of the cult back then and nearly caused Su Jin to die in her universe. Meeting him again so soon after that incident made her feel very awkward indeed.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you still dare to show up here!¡± Kano Mai red furiously at Han Linmei. Su Jin had told her what had happened in Han Linmei¡¯s universe in full detail, so she knew about how Han Linmei had deliberately kept information about the leader of the cult from Su Jin.

    Han Linmei said apologetically, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯m really very sorry! We¡¯re not very sure about the cult leader ourselves either, actually. We didn¡¯t know that she was this powerful.¡±

    Su Jin snorted in disbelief. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? The Resistance Army has been fighting this cult for so long now, so it¡¯s impossible that you guys don¡¯t have anybody who can hold up against her. Otherwise, your organization would have been crushed by now. And if you guys have someone powerful enough to fight her, then¡­ how can it be that you didn¡¯t know she was this powerful?¡±

    There was a flicker in Han Linmei¡¯s eyes and Xiang Nan noticed it. He sighed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t y such games with Mr. Su. Even I wouldn¡¯t have been able to fool him like this, so stop making a fool of yourself. It¡¯ll be better if you could just tell him the truth.¡±

    Since Xiang Nan had put it that way, Han Linmei had no choice but to say awkwardly, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡­ I¡¯m really very sorry. The Resistance Army does have someone who can fight the cult leader, but¡­ for some reasons that I cannot tell you, the Resistance Army split ways a long time ago. Our faction doesn¡¯t have anybody who can fight the cult leader, and that was why I had no choice but to ask you for help.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t really believe what she said, but now wasn¡¯t the time to settle old scores with her either. In any case, that revived Chu Yi had to be killed. The process had been a dangerous one, but at least it had beenpleted sessfully.

    ¡°Xiang Nan, did youe here just so that she can apologize to me?¡± said Su Jin as he looked at Xiang Nan.

    Xiang Nan shook his head with a bitter smile on his face. ¡°Of course that¡¯s not the only reason. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve read the changes to the Handbook in detail by now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Su Jin nodded.

    Xiang Nan asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°The Handbook seems to be trying to reduce the number of owners, while increasing the number of elite level owners,¡± said Su Jin.

    Xiang Nan nodded and said gravely, ¡°The aims of these changes are too obvious. But beside the two points you mentioned, I think the Handbook is also trying to reduce the number of ultra powerful owners.¡±

    Su Jin agreed with him and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. The old Challenges were of no threat to ultra powerful owners. But now, there are limits on Spirit Power, one¡¯s physique and items, so even these ultra powerful owners will not be able to get through the Challenge as easily as before. Some of them are likely to end up dying.¡±

    ¡°But the most unfortunate group of all are the ordinary owners. In order to curb these ultra powerful owners, the ordinary owners are now in terrible danger,¡± said Xiang Nan with a sad smile. He looked at the rest of his team and said, ¡°And it¡¯s very clear that we are the ordinary owners here.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know how tofort Xiang Nan, so he could only say, ¡°Team Wind and Rain is already considered better offpared to the rest. Your team isn¡¯t too bad, really. But I¡¯d suggest that you¡­ had better be careful. We¡¯re going into an era where the strategists will be the most important.¡±

    Xiang Nan didn¡¯t get it for a moment, but he soon realized what Su Jin was driving at. He shuddered slightly, then licked his lips as his gaze lost focus.

    He murmured quietly, ¡°That¡¯s right. The strategists will be the most important. In that case, I¡¯m afraid that the new Challenges will include a lot more riddles and mind games. Come to think of it, the examples of the new types of Challenges given in the notice leaned toward this genre. These are not Challenges you can win by brute force.¡±

    Xiang Nan was a great strategist himself, so he quickly understood what was really happening. He nodded at Su Jin and thanked him, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Su, for the hint. In fact, because of that, I¡¯m more confident in my team¡¯s chances of survival.¡±

    After Su Jin helped Xiang Nan to understand that the most important thing for strategists was to have faith in their abilities during the Ghostly Games Challenge, Xiang Nan had be a lot more confident. And now that they hade to a time where a strategist could decide the fate of a team, he became more confident of the future.

    In general, Xiang Nan was a lot like Su Jin, except that he wasn¡¯t as calm and was a little more scheming and unscrupulous in his methods. But of course, there was no way he couldpare to Su Jin in terms of fighting abilities. Then again, he was better than many owners, since he was at least a veteran with Spirit Power.

    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s Team Wind and Rain¡¯s ranking?¡± asked Su Jin out of curiosity.

    Xiang Nan didn¡¯t bother keeping it a secret. ¡°It¡¯s very low and I think we¡¯re a little below average. We¡¯re now hovering at slightly past #5800. What about your team?¡±

    ¡°Around the same.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t tell Xiang Nan the truth, since Team Boning Knife was in a very precarious position right now. Even though he was on good terms with Xiang Nan, he didn¡¯t want to put his team in any danger. Besides, he had already hidden his team¡¯s ranking and only the teams ten ces ahead and behind him could see it.

    Xiang Nan didn¡¯t think too much about it either. Su Jin told him about how he felt that the bottommost teams might be cleaned out by the more formidable owners, which was something that had also urred to Xiang Nan. He said that he had no choice but to resign his team to fate. If someone really chose to challenge Team Wind and Rain to a battle like that, then his team was going to just surrender and allow the other party to take whatever they wanted.

    It sounded like a cowardly thing to do, but that was also a smart move. You had a chance to make aeback only when everyone in the team was still alive, after all.

    ¡°What about your personal rank?¡± asked Su Jin again.

    Xiang Nanughed sadly and pointed to himself. ¡°I hold the highest rank in the team right now and I¡¯m only at #4000 plus. They¡¯re worse off than me!¡±

    Su Jin nodded. Xiang Nan¡¯s personal ranking and his team¡¯s ranking were a lot more normal sounding. Xiang Nan looked at Su Jin and was clearly very curious about where Su Jin was on the owner ranking.

    ¡°Uh, 200 odd,¡± said Su Jin as he rubbed his nose awkwardly.

    Xiang Nan¡¯s eyes widened in shock. The rest of his team looked shocked as well, especially since they had heard from Xiang Nan that Su Jin had not gone through many Challenges.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan chatted for a while more after that. The things that two strategists analyzed together was more than what one person coulde up with, but their final conclusion was that it was still too hard to say where these huge changes were leading to, and they could only watch and wait.

    Xiang Nan took his leave and walked away with his team. Han Linmei gave Su Jin another apologetic smile and left with her teammates.

    Su Jin got his three teammates to remain at the table to rest, while he went to the bar counter by himself. The boss looked as gentlemanly as always. He nodded slightly at Su Jin when he spotted Su Jin approaching the bar, a sign that he remembered Su Jin.

    ¡°What would you like to have?¡± asked the boss.

    Su Jin nced at his points andughed sadly. ¡°Nah, I can¡¯t afford a drink this time. I¡¯m too poor now.¡±

    The bossughed and didn¡¯t say anything. Su Jin stared at him for a while, then asked, ¡°Boss, now that the team levels have been removed, does that mean that the various zones of the bar have also merged into one?¡±

    The boss shook his head and said, ¡°Even though team levels are no longer part of the Challenges, Hell¡¯s Bar is still able to see your team¡¯s level. So, in order to go to a higher level section of the bar, you still have to make sure your team gets to that level. It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t see the actual increase in your team¡¯s level anymore.¡±

    Su Jin was puzzled. ¡°Since I can¡¯t tell if my team¡¯s level has increased or not, how would I know if my team has be eligible to enter a new part of the bar? Also, why doesn¡¯t the Handbook allow ess ording to our team¡¯s rank?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very easy to tell if your team has gained ess to a higher level section of the bar. Once that door of light changes color, it means your team is allowed to go in. As for the rankings, that¡¯s just reflective of the team¡¯s current abilities. A team that is in the top 100 today might end up falling to a position beyond #1000 after their next Challenge, or even be turned to ashes. For the time being, it is not enough to use this to decide which part of the bar you can ess.¡±

    Su Jin made a face. It seemed like the boss of Hell¡¯s bar was able to see the team ranking and those words were clearly meant for him.

    As for who this boss actually was, Su Jin had made a few guesses himself. After going through the Train of the Supernatural Challenges and witnessing the fight between deities, he felt that this boss was likely to be a deity as well, and a very powerful one at that. Of course, this was all spection on Su Jin¡¯s part and he had no proof to prove that this was true.

    After Su Jin turned to leave, the boss¡¯s gaze followed after him. He had a strange twinkle in his eye, but his focus wasn¡¯t on Su Jin, but the one next to him: Kano Mai.

    Su Jin discussed the changes with his team a bit more, and decided that since the Challenges had restarted, their Handbooks could be used as well, so they got ready to go through their next Challenge.

    ¡°If everyone¡¯s ready, I¡¯ll start the next Challenge.¡± Su Jin wanted to confirm that everybody was in their best state to go through a Challenge.

    After getting a positive response, Su Jin opened his Handbook and confirmed that he wanted to embark on a Challenge. Everything went ck and they lost consciousness for a moment. Just like they had guessed, they could already begin on a new Challenge.

    In the darkness, Su Jin could hear some low voices in his ears. Those voices were filled with sadness, grievances, pain and despair, as though they belonged to a pitiful person who had gone through endless torture. But this voice quickly turned shrill and sounded exactly like the voice that always introduced the Challenge to them.

    ¡°The sky is too hot and burns everything. The ground is icy cold and nothing can grow. The furious dragon flies through the sky and uses its mes to set the world aze. The evil dragon steps all over the people¡¯s homes, freezing every lifeform. The brave warrior picks up his saber and sword to y that evil dragon. But now, the warrior has fallen, while the evil dragon lives!¡±

 Chapter 205: Dragon

    <h4>Chapter 205: Dragon</h4>

    The darkness before them disappeared and Su Jin exhaled deeply. He looked up at the people around him and saw that besides his three teammates, there were only four others. This was an eight person Challenge.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a lot of people.¡± Su Jin was a little surprised. The number of owners in a Challenge was proportionate to the difficulty level of the Challenge. A Level A Challenge could have three teams and 15 owners in total. There would be no newbies and the number of veterans could be as high as one third of the group or even more.

    Out of the other four, two of them lookedpletely bewildered and retreated warily when they saw the other six. These two were clearly newbies.

    ¡°Old timers, please raise your hands.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t want to waste time and raised his own hand. His teammates also raised their hands.

    After that, the two who looked unfazed by this situation also raised their hands. Only the two obviously new owners had confused looks on their faces, because they had no idea what Su Jin was talking about.

    ¡°It¡¯s your first time in a Hell¡¯s Handbook Challenge?¡± Su Jin asked the two new ones. One of them was a man who looked like he was in his thirties and was dressed smartly in a suit. The woman looked like she was in her twenties and looked even younger than Kano Mai. Her expression was extremely wary.

    The man hesitated and seemed distrustful of Su Jin and the others. He paused for a moment, then said, ¡°What is this Hell¡¯s Handbook Challenge you talk about?¡±

    Su Jin removed his own Handbook from his pocket and said to them, ¡°Check your pockets. You should have one of these as well.¡±

    They checked their pockets and did find their own Handbooks inside. Su Jin continued, ¡°Nobody knows who controls this universe. Maybe it¡¯s a deity, or maybe it¡¯s an alien. But we are people who own a copy of Hell¡¯s Handbook, and we¡¯re known as owners.

    ¡°In general, we think that we¡¯ve been chosen by Hell¡¯s Handbook to be owners. Once you¡¯re an owner, the Handbook will send you into a dangerous Challenge every month. To make it easier to understand, you can think of it like a dungeon in aputer game, but never, ever, think of the Handbook universe itself as a game. If you die in here, you¡¯re really dead in the real world.¡±

    The woman mustered up her courage and said, ¡°You¡¯re lying to us, aren¡¯t you? Have we¡­ have we been kidnapped or something? Is this some reality TV show you¡¯re filming?¡±

    One of the old timers who wasn¡¯t from Team Boning Knife was a man in his twenties. He said impatiently, ¡°Why do you bother saying so much to these newbies? If they die, then so be it.¡±

    The two newbies were taken aback by what he said, but Su Jin did not try to ay their fears. ¡°It¡¯s true that I don¡¯t have the time to tell you much else. Then again, there isn¡¯t much else to say either. Just remember, do your best to stay alive. That¡¯ll be enough.¡±

    After that, Su Jin ignored the two newbies and gathered his teammates to analyze this Challenge. The other two old timers immediately concluded that these four owners were a team.

    ¡°Jin, this Challenge isn¡¯t too hard, it¡¯s only a Level C Challenge.¡± Wu Chen had a small smile on his face. A Level C Challenge was indeed not very dangerous to the team.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t think anybody would get very high level Challenges at this point in time, since it¡¯s the first Challenge after those major changes were announced. The Handbook would give the owners some leeway, which is also a way for the Handbook to test the waters.¡±

    He then turned to look at the information inside his Handbook.

    Level C Challenge: Dragon

    Main mission: Sessfully y the dragon.

    Optional mission: Get rid of the dragon problem permanently.

    After chewing on it for a while, Su Jin just shook his head with a sigh. He said, ¡°Very little information has been given, but at least we¡¯re sure about who our enemy is.¡±

    ¡°The dragon mentioned here¡­ is it the European lizard-like type? Or the Chinese sort? Or¡­ a dinosaur of sorts?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    ¡°It¡¯s more likely to be the European sort, since the Chinese ones are usually a symbol of righteousness and are often depicted as a deity. The European ones represent evil and massacre the righteous without any reason. As for dinosaurs¡­ I think the chances of that are very slim,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°This Challenge should be less taxing, right?¡± mumbled Situ Jin.

    Su Jin shook his head andughed. ¡°Before this, such a Challenge wouldn¡¯t be too hard. The few of us put together would y a dragon pretty easily. But don¡¯t forget, our abilities will be greatly reduced in a Level C Challenge. Also¡­ there are limits on what items we can use.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s faces fell after Su Jin reminded them of the limits. Level C Challenges did limit them quite badly. Their Spirit Powers would be reduced by 80%, their physique weakened by 40% and they could only use three items.

    After Su Jin¡¯s Spirit Power was reduced by 80%, he was only left with 460 points. His body was extremely resilient, so even though his physique had been reduced by 40%, he was still basically invincible. He was quite sure that even if he had to fight the dragon head on, he would be able to hold out for a while.

    ¡°Damn it, my Spirit Power is only left with 800 points! This reduction is pretty severe,¡± sighed Wu Chen. But that really shocked the rest of his team. Wu Chen was an old timer who had gone through dozens of Challenges alright. Even after such a significant reduction, he was actually still left with an 800 point upper limit.

    Su Jin looked toward Kano Mai and Situ Jin. Their situation was way worse. Kano Mai smiled sadly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t even have a hundred points. Each of my bullets require at least five points to have any effect. If I have to shoot at something asrge as a dragon, it¡¯ll take at least ten times as many points. In other words¡­ I think my Spirit Power is practically useless here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only left with 30 points. If I have to hide myself in a shadow, I¡¯ll only be hidden for three minutes at best.¡± Situ Jin had a look of dismay on his face. He hadn¡¯t received this Spirit Power for long, and his first Challenge after getting it, it ended up being reduced to this pathetic state.

    ¡°We need to readjust our mentality. This is a Level C Challenge. Back when we didn¡¯t have Spirit Power, we survived it anyway, what more now?¡± Su Jin smiled at them. As their leader, he had to boost their morale when they were feeling down.

    The rest agreed with him. A Level C Challenge was considered Challenge on the easier side, and they had all gone through a time when they had toplete Challenges with no Spirit Power. They hadn¡¯t been afraid back then, so there was nothing to be afraid of right now.

    The other two old timers walked toward them. The man who spoke up earlier smiled at Su Jin and said, ¡°Sir, I suppose the four of you must be a team. Since we¡¯ve had the good fortune of being part of the same Challenge, do you think we could¡­ help each other out?¡±

    Su Jin was a little hesitant. He had received help from others before, but others had schemed against him before too. During the Temple of the Origin of Heaven, he and Kano Mai had nearly died because another owner plotted against them. Thetest slew of changes to the Challenges didn¡¯t say that missions that pitted owners against each other had been removed either.

    Wu Chen took a step forward and sneered. ¡°Go away! When ites to Handbook Challenges, those who are able will survive and those who aren¡¯t will die!

    His attitude was very nasty because he could see that Su Jin felt bad turning the two owners away, so he decided to y the bad guy. Besides, after going through so many Challenges, he had seen many of such scenarios. Refusing to work together wasn¡¯t the worst anyway. There were some owners or teams who would end up killing others depending on the Challenge, even without receiving any specific mission to do so.

    For example, some Challenges had limits on essentials like food and water, or had severe caps on certain items. In order to get more essentials to survive the Challenge, some owners would not hesitate to kill others. He had even gone through several Challenges where the owners went to war with one another immediately after the Challenge started.

    After Wu Chen snapped at him like that, the man¡¯s smile instantly faded. He yelled back, ¡°What the hell? I asked nicely and you give me this shitty attitude? I¡¯ll have you know that I¡¯m an expert who¡¯s ranked at 11000 something!¡±

    11,000 something didn¡¯t sound very impressive, but when you considered how many owners there were in total, this was a pretty high position, actually. Calling himself an expert wasn¡¯t an exaggeration.

    Situ Jin raised an eyebrow and said nastily, ¡°11000 something? I¡¯m the worst ranked in the team and I¡¯m at 5200 something.¡±

    ¡°Situ!¡± said Su Jin sternly to stop Situ Jin from saying more. Situ Jin looked back at Su Jin and realized that he had indeed said too much, so he shut his mouth again.

    The man immediately wiped the arrogant look off his face and quietly walked away from the group. Su Jin thought, ¡°Any person who¡¯s survived enough Challenges is definitely no idiot.¡± That man had behaved really arrogantly just now, but it had taken him only one statement to figure out how strong this team was.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t care, really. Situ Jin might have exposed their level of prowess, but at the same time, it was a good way to warn these two old timers. If they wanted to plot against his team, they¡¯d better think twice and see if it¡¯s worth doing something like that.

    The other old timer looked like he was in his forties, around Wu Chen¡¯s age. He walked up to Su Jin and said, ¡°I know you¡¯re worried that one of us might have a mission to kill other owners, but I think¡­ based on your prowess, the Handbook wouldn¡¯t include such a mission in this sort of Challenge. I hope you could reconsider working together.¡± He nced at the two newbies and said with a warm smile, ¡°It¡¯s hard on everybody, especially the two new ones. A Level C Challenge could very well kill them.¡±

    ¡°The possibility of such a mission is still there and it¡¯s simply too dangerous to trust others. I have to put my team¡¯s safety first.¡± Su Jin was in a dilemma. He didn¡¯t really mind working with others, but any decision he made would affect his team¡¯s safety, so he had to be very cautious.

    The older man sighed and said, ¡°Never mind then. Both of you can follow me. I¡­ I¡¯ll try my best to protect both of you.¡±

 Chapter 206: The Search

    <h4>Chapter 206: The Search</h4>

    The man left with the two newbies. When they left, Wu Chen started to feel like he had gone overboard with his reaction, but Su Jin became more cautious now. The other old timer also left, and Su Jin¡¯s team didn¡¯t stick around either.

    They had opened their eyes earlier to find themselves in a warehouse of sorts. When they walked out, they were shocked to find that they were actually in a valley. The entire valley was in shambles, as though it had just gone through a war. There was fresh blood and ck smoke everywhere.

    Su Jin observed his surroundings, then said to his team, ¡°This ce didn¡¯t get attacked too long ago. It was probably within thest hour.¡±

    The other owners weren¡¯t far from them and were clearly observing their surroundings as well. Ten minutester, some of them started walking away. This ce had just been attacked, and it definitely wasn¡¯t a safe ce to be in. Everyone knew that the attack must havee from that dragon. If the dragon suddenly decided toe back and attack this ce again, they¡¯d be in danger.

    All the other owners left except for Su Jin¡¯s team. He had purposely waited for everyone to leave before walking back into the warehouse.

    He looked around and finally fixed his gaze on this strangely ced wooden crate among the other goods. The crate was covered with cloth, which was weighed down by a bunch of rocks.

    ¡°Here?¡± Su Jinughed and walked toward the crate. He pulled the crate out from among the other boxes. Just like what he had expected, some sounds could be hearding from inside the crate. His acute hearing could also hear the sound of something holding back tears and the sound of bodies trembling. Whatever was inside the crate was alive.

    He removed one side of the crate and someone tried to move to the far end of the crate. He called out gently, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s safe now. You cane out.¡±

    His three teammates were surprised. It was clear that there were humans inside the crate, but this had never crossed any of their minds.

    Su Jin¡¯s words didn¡¯t seem to work at all, since the people inside the crate refused toe out. He could only give Kano Mai a pleading look to help.

    Kano Mai burst outughing, then approached the crate and said gently, ¡°It¡¯s really safe now! You can alle out! I promise it¡¯s safe!¡±

    Based on the noisesing from the people inside and the size of the crate, it was probably some children hiding inside. After Kano Mai said those words, one little head peeked out from the inside.

    That head belonged to an adorable girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She blinked several times as she looked at the adults in front of her, and she was so cute that anybody would melt from just looking at her.

    After she had stuck her head out, another four little heads peeked out as well. They were all about 11 or 12 years old, and they were looking at Su Jin and his team very cautiously.

    Kano Mai went closer and said softly, ¡°It¡¯s alright, all of you cane out now.¡± She reached out and helped the first girl toe out of the crate.

    Su Jin reached out to help the other children out as well. They weren¡¯t as afraid of them anymore, probably because Kano Mai was really amazing with children.

    The first girl¡¯s name was Natasha, and the other four were her friends. ording to her, the vige had been attacked by the evil dragon, so the adults hid them here.

    ¡°Where are your parents then?¡± asked Su Jin, because he had noticed that there wasn¡¯t a single dead body in the valley earlier. There weren¡¯t even that many bloodstains either. One possible exnation was that the dragon had eaten all the humans, but he had never heard of any legend where the evil dragons ate humans.

    Natasha pondered for a moment, then said, ¡°The vige chief and the other adults have gone to kill the dragon. The dragon keeps trying to destroy our homes and it hurts people too, so the vige chief said that we must get rid of this bad dragon.¡±

    The team was rather surprised. They thought that killing the dragon was their job. They didn¡¯t expect the people within the Challenge to be doing the same thing too.

    ¡°Will theye back?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Natasha nodded. ¡°They will, but it will take them a couple of days. Before that, we can¡¯te out of the crate, or else we¡¯ll be in danger.¡± Her friends nodded as well in agreement.

    Su Jin paused to think, then pulled his teammates to one corner to discuss. Situ Jin immediately asked, ¡°How did you know there were people inside this warehouse?¡±

    ¡°Easy. The valley looks like it¡¯s gone through some major bombing but only the warehouse remained perfectly fine. The Handbook universe is full of crazy things but it wouldn¡¯t give us a starting point that didn¡¯t make sense. I mean, have you ever found yourself in a Challenge where your starting point was some boat in the middle ofva?¡± said Su Jin. The rest of them shook their heads and realized that Su Jin was right. The Handbook always gave them a reasonable starting point that was not out of ce with the rest of the Challenge.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a good reason for leaving this ce behind. It¡¯s probably essential for our progress in this Challenge,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that this ce is protected by some special power?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded, thenughed and said, ¡°There¡¯s also a possibility that the dragon has deliberately avoided this ce, and so it¡¯s able to remain standing.¡±

    The rest didn¡¯t get it. Wu Chen asked, ¡°But why would it do that?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure now, but the vigers have the ability to go after the dragon, so this warehouse might have been their defense base. Or perhaps the vigers have some other way of making sure the dragon doesn¡¯te near to this ce,¡± said Su Jin casually even as he scanned Natasha and her friends unnoticeably. Nobody noticed at all.

    Situ Jin frowned and asked, ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    ¡°We have two options. The first is to stay here and wait for the vigers to return. We can ask them where the dragon is, then we¡¯ll go and kill it. The second option is to go after it right now. The dragon attacked this ce not too long ago, so if we want to go after it now, I think we¡¯ll be able to make it,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go after it then. If we catch up with it now, we might be able to team up with the vigers, which will make killing it easier.¡± Situ Jin felt that having more people to fight the dragon together would be best.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t object. He said a few words to Kano Mai and she went over to speak to the children. ¡°We¡¯re leaving now to help your parents and the other adults to kill the dragon. Hide here and don¡¯t run about unnecessarily, alright?¡±

    Natasha and the other children nodded and promised to be good. Kano Mai and Situ Jin helped them back into the crate and Su Jin pushed the crate back into its original position.

    After they walked out of the warehouse, Su Jin inspected the valley again, then said to Situ Jin and Kano Mai, ¡°Situ, Mai, don¡¯te along with us. Find a nearby ce to hide yourselves and keep an eye on Natasha and the other kids.¡±

    They stared nkly at him and Situ Jin asked, ¡°Why? You think there¡¯s a problem with those kids?¡±

    Su Jin nodded gravely. He nced at the warehouse, then whispered, ¡°Yeah. So, I¡¯ll count on you guys.¡±

    ¡°What do you need us to do? Just stay here and watch them?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Just watch them. Even if something happens, don¡¯t do anything. Just tell me everything that happened once we¡¯re back.¡±

    Situ Jin nodded, but he was still puzzled and wondered what Su Jin was up to. Kano Mai had always been supportive of any arrangement Su Jin made, so she just nodded obediently and went to look for a good hiding spot with Situ Jin.

    Su Jin and Wu Chen ran out of the valley. He asked Wu Chen if he had any tracking skills, and Wu Chen actually said that he did. This man was indeed an old timer who had gone through dozens of Challenges. He patted his own chest and said to Su Jin, ¡°You can count on me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you to track that dragon down, then,¡± said Su Jin.

    Wu Chen froze for a moment, thenughed awkwardly. ¡°Um¡­ Jin, that¡¯s something that can fly. I can¡¯t possibly track that! Ask me to track a human instead. I¡¯m good at that.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s track humans then. The vigers followed that dragon, so we can track them.¡±

    Wu Chen nodded and proceeded to track the vigers down. But after a long time with no results, Su Jin was getting impatient. Wu Chen finally came back and said in an embarrassed voice, ¡°Jin¡­ do you think there¡¯s a possibility¡­¡±

    ¡°A possibility of what?¡±

    ¡°A possibility that the humans in this Challenge aren¡¯t like us. Maybe¡­ they can fly?¡± Wu Chen was in a very awkward position because he couldn¡¯t find traces of any humans at all.

    ¡°Well, that¡­ that¡¯s possible. Since a dragon exists in this Challenge, then perhaps those capable of ying dragons have some special skill too. Being able to fly isn¡¯tpletely impossible,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    Wu Chen breathed a sigh of relief, then said very seriously to Su Jin, ¡°Jin, I¡¯m so d you said that. I can¡¯t track down those vigers at all. I can¡¯t find a single trace.¡±

    ¡°Wu Chen.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Next time, don¡¯t im that you have the ability to track people down when you don¡¯t have it. I can let it go, but not everybody is willing to.¡± Su Jin sighed heavily as he patted Wu Chen¡¯s shoulder.

    Wu Chen gritted his teeth and retrieved an item from his Handbook. Su Jin panicked and said, ¡°Don¡¯t use any item rashly! You don¡¯t know what sort of situation we¡¯d faceter, so if you use one now, you¡¯ll have one less to choose fromter.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care anymore! If I don¡¯t find those vigers, it¡¯d be so embarrassing! What¡¯s the most important thing to men? Pride!¡± Wu Chen proceeded to fling the item in his hand into the air. It floated for a while before shining a white light down on their surroundings.

    After a short while, Wu Chen pointed to one side and said, ¡°This way. Many signs of life just passed through this ce, so it¡¯s got to be the right way.¡±

 Chapter 207: The Village Attacked By The Dragon

    <h4>Chapter 207: The Vige Attacked By The Dragon</h4>

    Su Jin was quite curious about this item that Wu Chen just used and asked, ¡°What is this item? It looks like an eye of sorts.¡±

    The item that Wu Chen had thrown into the air wasn¡¯t veryrge and it was round, so it resembled an eye in the sky. And when Su Jin looked up at it, he noticed that the object looked back at him too, as though it were sentient.

    ¡°This is an Air Seeing Pearl, which is a pretty special item. But the air it¡¯s looking out for isn¡¯t the atmospheric air but the breath of living creatures,¡± exined Wu Chen. ¡°As long as it¡¯s alive, it¡¯ll have breath. Of course, different living creatures will have a slightly different sort of breath, but this pearl is able to see the breath left behind by any living creature within thest three days.¡±

    Su Jin pped his hands excitedly. Now that they had a clear target, they immediately headed in that direction. One was a formidable owner who had once reached deity level, while the other was an old timer who had gone through a few dozen Challenges. Each of them had their own way of moving around and could move at incredible speeds.

    Su Jin pped his arms and covered more than 10 meters with one leap despite the Handbook¡¯s limits on his strength in Challenges. From afar, he looked like arge bird taking flight.

    Wu Chen used a technique that Su Jin had never seen before. He looked like he was just running in spurts, but he never fell behind Su Jin, which was simply amazing to Su Jin.

    A few hourster, they both came to a stop. They had arrived at a vige, or rather, what used to be a vige. The entire ce was white from being covered in frost and ice. Arge number of people and animals in the vige had been frozen into ice sculptures, but the forest a distance away had been burned and reduced to ash.

    Everything else had also been destroyed. Houses and fields had been severely damaged as well. It looked like this vige had just gone through the apocalypse.

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯ve been heading in the right direction,¡± said Su Jin with a frown. Suddenly, he heard the sound of crying. The two of them immediately looked for where the sound wasing from and quickly realized it wasing from one of the houses. Everyone had been frozen solid, except for one young man who was hugging one of the ice sculptures helplessly and crying like a child.

    The two of them exchanged nces. Su Jin reached out to pat the young man on the shoulder and said, ¡°The dead have gone, the living must be strong.¡±

    ¡°Jin, he¡¯s not Chinese: are you sure he gets what you¡¯re saying?¡± whispered Wu Chen.

    The young man nodded at Su Jin and said, ¡°Thanks for the condolences, but¡­ my entire family has been killed by the evil dragon. The pain and sadness I feel is just too much for me to bear!¡±

    Su Jin gave Wu Chen a smug look, then turned back to the young man and said, ¡°Instead of wallowing in your sadness, why not take action on it? Your family has been killed by the evil dragon. What¡¯s the point in crying now?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The young man wiped his tears away.

    ¡°Take revenge! Wouldn¡¯t that make you feel much better?¡± said Su Jin matter-of-factly. Wu Chen tried not tough. His team leader was sounding more and more dramatic by the minute.

    But the young man agreed with Su Jin. He said to them, ¡°What about both of you? Are you also people who lost their homes to the evil dragon?¡±

    They nodded and the young man asked to go with them on their hunt for the dragon. Su Jin didn¡¯t mind letting him tag along. An ordinary person wasn¡¯t of much help in a fight, but he needed his help in other aspects.

    ¡°As the saying goes, if you know your enemy well, you can win any fight against them. Since we¡¯re on a mission to y the dragon, then it¡¯ll be best to find out more about it. Young man, do you know anything about this evil dragon?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The young man shook his head. Just when the two older men were a little disappointed, the young man piped up, ¡°Oh, but the vige chief has some books about the evil dragon. We could try to look for them.¡±

    Su Jin and Wu Chen¡¯s faces lit up. As the young man led them toward the vige chief¡¯s house, he said, ¡°My name is Fabian. How about you?¡±

    ¡°Su Jin.¡±

    ¡°Wu Chen.¡±

    Fabian went on, ¡°There was word that the evil dragon had appeared nearby, but¡­ the vigers didn¡¯t think much of it. I didn¡¯t expect¡­¡±

    There was a pained look on his face. Being able to pull himself together and move on shortly after losing his entire family was verymendable for a young man like him already. But it was still going to take his heart some time to recover from his grief.

    But after hearing what Fabian said, Su Jin immediately asked, ¡°Fabian, are you saying that the evil dragon doesn¡¯t stop at just one ce?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. The evil dragons travel to different ces around the world. They¡¯re terribly evil: they massacre the people and destroy everything we own. But there aren¡¯t a lot of them, so there are people who may never even meet them in their lifetime.¡± Fabian¡¯s eyes were brimming with tears again. The chances of running into a dragon weren¡¯t that high to begin with, yet his vige had been unfortunate enough to run into one and had beenpletely destroyed as a result.

    Su Jin was thinking about something else instead. He wondered to himself, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why did the previous vige prepare a warehouse in advance of a dragon attack? It can¡¯t be that they¡¯re extremely sensitive to imminent danger, right?¡±

    The three of them soon arrived at the vige chief¡¯s house. This was a slightlyrger house with its own yard, but other than that, it looked no different from the other houses in the vige.

    Fabian led them past the yard and into a small room, which looked like a storeroom of sorts. Several books were randomly stacked in one corner.

    They started looking through the books and quickly found a book that was as thick as a finger. Su Jin flipped it open and froze. The book was filled with words that he couldn¡¯t understand at all. They looked like English letters, but there wasn¡¯t a single word he had seen before.

    Wu Chen noticed Su Jin¡¯s reaction and took the book from him. He nced down at the pages and said, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a Magar Kham dialect. It¡¯s a bit different from what I know but I can still read it.¡±

    ¡°You understand thisnguage?¡± Even Fabian was shocked. He didn¡¯t expect Wu Chen to be able to read thenguage in this book.

    He eximed in surprise, ¡°The vige chief was the only person in the entire vige who could read these words. He said that these are words left behind by the gods and he only knew how to read them, but had no idea how to write them.¡±

    Wu Chen chuckled and whispered to Su Jin, ¡°How else do you think I made it through so many Challenges?¡±

    He proceeded to trante the content of the book in a low voice, ¡°Nobody knows where these evil dragons hail from, but they always bring death and destruction with them. Countless brave people have tried to y these dragons and perhaps many of them have seeded, but the number of evil dragons have never decreased and they continue to terrorize this world.

    ¡°The dragons bear very deep grudges. If a brave warrior has yed a dragon before, then once the warrior dies, other dragons wille forward for revenge. They will kill the family of the warrior and disappear. Strangely enough, their quest for revenge will never affect anybody besides the family of the warrior.

    ¡°Dragons are evil and greedy. Legend has it that if you y a dragon, you will be able to attain a wealth equivalent to a nation¡¯s riches. A poor man can be a rich man overnight.

    ¡°Dragons have many different powers. They can control mes, frost, lightning, poison and more. The breath of a dragon is rmingly fatal. Any ordinary person who gets breathed on will turn to nothing but bones in an instant.¡±

    The entire book was filled with details on the dragons¡¯ weaknesses and special characteristics, which were considered very detailed information in such circumstances. After they had finished reading the book, Su Jin started thinking through everything that had happened since the Challenge started and tried to connect it to what they had just read. He seemed to have a rough idea of what was going on now.

    By the time they were done reading, the sun had already set. Wu Chen thought of camping overnight in the vige, but Fabian absolutely refused because he said staying in the vige only made him sad.

    Su Jin could understand where Fabian wasing from, so he got Wu Chen and Fabian to set off first, while he went to deal with all the bodies. He didn¡¯t think it was appropriate to just leave the bodies like this.

    After the two of them had walked out of sight, Su Jin made a torch of fire for light, then gathered all the frozen bodies together and dug onerge hole. It wasn¡¯t possible to give them an individual grave, but he could still bury them properly.

    Digging arge hole wasn¡¯t a difficult thing for Su Jin. Given how strong his body was, he just needed to punch the ground and a fairlyrge crater would be made. It took him less than half an hour to dig a hole big enough for all the bodies.

    After he carried all the bodies into the hole, he looked at them and murmured, ¡°The evil dragon killed them but didn¡¯t take anything from them. This vige isn¡¯t the richest, but they¡¯re not dirt poor. Weren¡¯t these dragons supposed to be greedy?¡±

    Su Jin realized that some of the things he had discovered did not match the description in the book they had just read, but he just shook his head, filled up the hole, then ran off to catch up with Fabian and Wu Chen.

    The two of them did not walk very quickly, and when Su Jin caught up with them, he realized that they had stopped and seemed to be looking at something.

    Su Jin approached them and asked, ¡°What are you two looking at?¡±

    They moved aside to show Su Jin what they were looking at. Su Jin blinked in surprise when he saw what it was. It turned out to be a human, and it was the middle-aged newbie who had left with that old timer.

    His body was facing up, but his lower half had disappeared. Su Jin looked more closely and discovered that the lower body seemed to have been bitten off by something, since it wasn¡¯t a clean cut.

    ¡°Did his lower half get bitten off? It looks awful,¡± said Fabian as he pulled the dead man¡¯s clothes open. Su Jin and Wu Chen were even more shocked.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t bitten. Something¡­ something corroded his body.¡± Wu Chen was very experienced in this. Based on the blood vessels and the flesh around the wound, he could tell that it had either been burned or eaten away. This was not caused by a bite.

    ¡°It¡¯s the dragon.¡± Su Jin remembered that there was a section in the book that mentioned that the breath of a dragon could corrode a body. He immediately started looking around and noticed that several trees were broken. A gigantic creature must have attacked this ce and broke all the trees.

    Just then, Wu Chen called out to Su Jin, ¡°Jin, someone or something flung this fellow from a distance.¡±

    Wu Chen was standing behind arge boulder and motioned to Su Jin toe over. Su Jin walked over and Wu Chen pointed to something on the boulder. ¡°Look at that. It must have snagged onto this boulder when he was flung out here.¡±

 Chapter 208: Scum Of All Owners

    <h4>Chapter 208: Scum Of All Owners</h4>

    Su Jin looked in the direction in which Wu Chen was pointing and saw that some clothing fibers had caught onto a sharp part of the boulder. If you drew a line from the dead owner to the fiber, you could figure out where the man had been flung from.

    He looked around a bit, then touched the boulder. His eyes widened as he realized that the boulder was wet, but there was no source of water in the vicinity. He looked at the trees and other nts around him, and discovered that there was water on one side of the boulder but none on the other side.

    ¡°Was this done by a dragon that can control water or frost?¡± Su Jin nced at Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen nodded. He pointed at the dead owner on the ground and said, ¡°Based on what we¡¯ve seen, the three of them were forced toe here by a dragon that can control water or frost. Or perhaps, the dragon didn¡¯t know that they were here, but they panicked and to save themselves, they threw him down here to distract the dragon.¡±

    Wu Chen¡¯s analysis made sense and Su Jin¡¯s guess wasn¡¯t far from his. They had a sad smile on their faces as they shook their heads. There weren¡¯t many owners who were truly kind at heart, and the two newbies had actually walked into a trap.

    That old timer had not intended to help them at all. He wanted to make use of the two newbies for selfish reasons. In this case, if he ran into danger, he could just use the two newbies as human shields.

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen worse things before. There are owners who would groom newbies for their own pleasure. Some women don¡¯t even get a chance to go through their first Challenge: they get assaulted by such old timers and are killed in the end,¡± said Wu Chen with a heavy sigh. Handbook Challenges were a twisted universe in itself, so it made sense that there would be some owners who would be twisted after going through such a universe again and again.

    Su Jin immediately frowned when he heard what Wu Chen said. He didn¡¯t really care if newbies could survive Challenges, since most owners had trouble keeping themselves alive in the first ce. But he certainly did not condone the fact that some owners went around deliberately bullying and even enving newbies.

    ¡°Can we catch up?¡± Su Jin asked Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen looked at Su Jin¡¯s expression and could guess what Su Jin intended to do. He sighed and said, ¡°We could, but it¡¯s already night time and it¡¯ll take some time. That might dy our mission to find the dragon.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll definitely end up running into the dragon because of the way the Challenge is set up, so I¡¯m not worried about that. I believe that old timer should be running after the dragon as well, or at least he won¡¯t fall too far behind the dragon. If we find him, we might be able to find the dragon as well.¡±

    Since Su Jin put it that way, Wu Chen did not object to this n. They didn¡¯t consider what Fabian thought at all, and Fabian didn¡¯t say anything either. He was willing to follow them wherever they went.

    Wu Chen¡¯s tracking skills were not mere boasting. An hourter, they began to see more obvious traces. There were bloodstains on the ground. Either the old timer or the other newbie with him was injured.

    Su Jin was following the trail of blood when suddenly his hair all stood on end. He used his hands to grab hold of Wu Chen and Fabian, then moved backwards at high speed. Immediately after he shifted backwards, several thin beams of electricity shot up from the ground. If he had pulled them back just one secondter, then Wu Chen might be injured and Fabian would definitely be dead by now.

    ¡°That was a trap! Looks like the injured one is the old timer.¡± Wu Chen remained calm despite what just happened. That was also how he managed to survive so many Challenges.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. On the contrary, Fabian had been frightened out of his wits.

    Just then, they heard a maniacalughtering from afar. Su Jin and Wu Chen turned to look at where theughter hade from and immediately flew into a rage. The other newbie was in the old timer¡¯s embrace, her clothes mostly torn off, while the old timer was naked waist down.

    The newbie¡¯s gaze was empty, as though she had lost her soul, even as tears streamed down her face. When she saw Su Jin and Wu Chening toward her, she did not look hopeful at all and looked even more terrified instead. She had clearly assumed that Su Jin and Wu Chen were just like this old timer.

    ¡°Let go of her!¡± yelled Su Jin angrily. He was furious and would have charged at the old timer if the old timer weren¡¯t still holding onto the newbie.

    The old timer took one look at the expressions on Su Jin and Wu Chen and scoffed. ¡°Looks like you two are the chivalrous sort. You wanna save her? Let me give you a word of warning! If you kill me, she will die together with me, so you¡¯d better think carefully before you do anything!¡±

    Wu Chen frowned and said quietly, ¡°It¡¯s a dual cultivation sort of thing.¡±

    The old timer was surprised that Wu Chen knew what he was doing. Heughed loudly and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s something I obtained from one of the Challenges, and thanks to it, my strength has been increasing nonstop, as long as I have enough women to keep me going.¡±

    ¡°Any woman who has had rtions with me will enter into a pact with me temporarily. If I die in this Challenge, she will die as well. And if she dies, I will get injured as well. I said I was going to protect her earlier on, and this is a way to protect her. In order to make sure I don¡¯t get injured, I will do my best to make sure she doesn¡¯t die. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a filthy fellow and even your logic stinks. I¡¯m going to kill you! No pact of any sort will be able to save you.¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression hardened. He was ready to kill this old timer.

    The old timer was feeling nervous inside as well. He knew that since Su Jin had chosen to approach him in such a hostile manner, Su Jin was definitely someone who wanted to save this girl. In other words, as long as he held this girl as a hostage, he would be safe as well. But now, Su Jin looked like he was confident of killing him without injuring the girl whose fate was tied to his.

    But even though he was secretly panicking, he didn¡¯t show it. He retorted, ¡°A pact is a pact! If you¡¯re willing to kill the innocent as well for the sake of your so called righteousness, then go ahead!¡±

    Wu Chen was also a little hesitant as he nced at Su Jin, but Su Jin kept his eyes on the old timer. He said frostily, ¡°So what if you have a pact? I¡¯ll just annul it.¡±

    ¡°Annul it? What a joke! HAHA!¡± The old timerughed, but his gaze never left Su Jin and Wu Chen. He was prepared to escape or fight back at any moment.

    ¡°It is a little troublesome, but it¡¯s not impossible.¡± Su Jin flicked his finger and some wind flew toward the old timer.

    The old timer seemed surprised that Su Jin would attack so swiftly. He gave a low shout and ayer of lines started flickering around him. The wind that Su Jin shot at him hit theyer of lines and faded. It wasn¡¯t strong enough to go through theyer of lines.

    ¡°You¡¯re a veteran.¡± Su Jin did not expect this man to also be a veteran. Thatyer of lines looked very mysterious and resembled the emblem of a race of sorts. It was actually able to block his attack.

    ¡°You actually dared to attack me!¡± The old timer was surprised that Su Jin had attacked without hesitation. If he weren¡¯t prepared for an attack already, he might have gotten hurt.

    Su Jin was very annoyed because his physical strength had been reduced by 40%. If he had that additional 40%, then regardless of how incredible this old timer¡¯s Spirit Power was, he would have been able to cut through it with one finger. It didn¡¯t matter whether the old timer had been prepared for an attack beforehand or not.

    While the Handbook said that Su Jin¡¯s physical strength would be reduced by 40%, this 40% was not just a matter of the amount of strength. This additional strength would have also enabled Su Jin to reach a new level in the way he controlled and used his strength. Having more of something could sometimes make a difference in the quality produced.

    The old timer grabbed hold of the newbie¡¯s neck and snarled. ¡°Don¡¯t you daree any closer! And don¡¯t you dare try to attack me again! Or else, I¡¯ll kill her!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s heart tensed up. He was here to save her in the first ce. If he allowed the old timer to kill her, then he would have done all this for nothing.

    Su Jin and Wu Chen raised their hands and the old timer slowly rxed. Just then, Su Jin sent a very weak wisp of psychokinesis into the old timer¡¯s head. He wanted to confirm if the pact that the old timer mentioned was true or not, so that he wouldn¡¯t end up causing the death of the newbie.

    A few secondster, Su Jin located the old timer¡¯s memories. He didn¡¯t dare to go too far in, because that would draw the attention of the old timer. But based on the information he could get, the old timer had not been lying. If Su Jin killed the old timer, the newbie was definitely going to die as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a pact, right? I can annul that. But before the process ispleted, you must make sure that this girl doesn¡¯t get hurt, or else I¡¯ll get hurt too,¡± Fabian suddenly spoke up.

    Su Jin and Wu Chen were surprised that an NPC-like character like Fabian would actually know how to do something asplicated and high level as annulling a pact.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Su Jin a little worriedly.

    Fabian said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ve learned how to annul pacts from the vige chief before. The only problem is that it takes some time, and I must not be disturbed during the process.¡±

    ¡°How long will you need?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Ten minutes,¡± said Fabian confidently.

    Su Jin nodded. He exchanged nces with Wu Chen and they charged at the old timer at the same time. The old timer got a terrible shock because he really didn¡¯t expect these two crazy men to attack despite his warnings about how this might end up killing the girl.

    Just then, the old timer froze. Or rather, he couldn¡¯t move at all. Su Jin had used his psychokinesis on him. He wasn¡¯t left with much, but it was enough to stop this old timer from moving.

    Once the old timer froze, Wu Chen grabbed the newbie out of his arms like he was a gust of wind. The old timer paled and began to feel afraid. If these two men hadn¡¯t used a sneaky attack to curb his movement like that, he wouldn¡¯t have been afraid. Unfortunately, they decided against fighting him head on and he couldn¡¯t fight back at all.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had already raised his fist and threw a punch, causing the old timer to fly andnd so hard that he immediately lost consciousness. Su Jin rubbed his wrist and said, ¡°Fabian, I need you to work quickly.¡±

 Chapter 209: Getting His Just Desserts

    <h4>Chapter 209: Getting His Just Desserts</h4>

    Fabian¡¯s method was very reminiscent of European fantasy novels. He started chanting some strange words and two magic circles floated up from the bodies of the old timer and the newbie. These two magic circles were joined by a cloudy white light.

    Fabian¡¯s hands gave off a white light as well. He sent the white light in his hands into the light between the magic circles. The light joining the circles was agitated by the additional light and started shaking. A minuteter, the light shattered.

    The shattering of this light made Fabian vomit a mouthful of blood. This process was clearly not easy for him either.

    Wu Chen quickly ran forward to support Fabian as heplimented the young man, ¡°You actually managed to do such an incredible thing! You¡¯re amazing!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m a student at the Empire Magic Academy. I escaped the tragedy in my vige because I was at school. I didn¡¯t expect to find that my entire vige had been wiped out by the evil dragon after I returned.¡± Fabian had a saddened look on his face as he clenched his palms together tightly.

    Su Jin had removed his coat and passed it to the newbie. He dug a hole and buried the unconscious old timer inside, leaving only his head above the soil.

    When he turned to talk to Wu Chen, he noticed that Wu Chen was pestering Fabian. After listening to their conversation for a while, he realized that Wu Chen was trying to get Fabian to teach him the magic spell he had just used.

    ¡°Are you even able to learn it?¡± asked Su Jin doubtfully as he tapped on Wu Chen¡¯s shoulder.

    Wu Chen looked excited as he said, ¡°It¡¯s possible! The incantations he uttered just now are actually a very rarenguage that I¡¯ve learned before. And when I just repeated what he said, I did sense an energy within me, except that it seems to be missing a little something.¡±

    Su Jin was surprised, but he guessed that this had something to do with all the major changes that had urred. So, besides attaining Spirit Power, the owners were now also allowed to learn other powers that existed within Challenges. That would be a way ofpensating the owners after reducing all their other powers.

    Fabian seemed very unwilling to teach Wu Chen any magic, but he couldn¡¯t outtalk Wu Chen, so he finally sighed and said, ¡°Magic is a power that only the elites in the Empire are able to have. We hold students of magic to a very high standard and not everyone has the aptitude for it either. There are some people who are simply never going to be able to sense magic power.¡±

    .

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. I sensed magic power just now already.¡±

    ¡°Tell you what. If we manage to y a dragon this time, I¡¯ll teach you magic. How about that?¡± Fabian didn¡¯t know how else to shake Wu Chen off.

    Wu Chen frowned and said, ¡°Fabian! You don¡¯t know this, but actually, Su Jin and I used to belong to a veryrge family that has been ying dragons for years. But because of this, almost everyone in our family has died. Do you know why?¡±

    Fabian gasped because he was filled with admiration and respect for this family that had sacrificed so much for the sake of ying these evil dragons. At the same time, he didn¡¯t seem to think that two men with different surnamesing from the same family sounded weird at all.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Fabian.

    Wu Chen continued his little story, ¡°Because almost everyone in the family is an ordinary person and we have had to use our physical bodies to fight these dragons. Everyone says that the descendants of the Winchester family are unafraid of these evil dragons, fighting these forces of evil with great bravery. Their blood and lives will go down in history forever.¡±

    ¡°The Winchesters?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Wu Chen and Su Jin are our first names, while Winchester is ourst name. I am Wuchen Winchester, and he is Sujin Winchester. I¡¯m the older brother and he¡¯s my younger brother,¡± Wu Chen continued with his nonsensical story. He looked at Su Jin and said in an emotional voice, ¡°My dearest younger brother!¡±

    Su Jin felt grossed out and didn¡¯t want to respond, but Wu Chen red so fiercely at him, as if he was telling Su Jin that he had better cooperate and ruin things for him.

    ¡°My¡­ my dearest older brother!¡± replied Su Jin reluctantly.

    Fabian¡¯s eyes were brimming with tears, as though he were greatly touched by the bravery and self-sacrificing spirit of the Winchesters. He took Wu Chen¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Mr. Winchester, I¡¯ll teach you magic! I can¡¯t guarantee that you will be able to pick it up well, but I will do my best to teach you.¡±

    Wu Chen¡¯s eyes were also brimming with tears as he patted Fabian¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Thank you! Thank you so much! The Winchester family thanks you! Every person who has been ying dragons alongside us in this world will thank you too!¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. Fabian had clearly fallen for it. But if Wu Chen could actually learn magic from Fabian here, that was also a good thing for the team.

    He turned back to look at the old timer to see that he was still unconscious. There was no time to waste, so he used his psychokinesis to agitate the old timer and forced him to regain consciousness.

    The old timer immediately panicked when he saw that his entire body was buried except for his head. He said to Su Jin, ¡°Uh¡­ my friend, you don¡¯t actually have to be so angry, you know? We¡¯re in the Handbook universe and every owner has to find their own way to survive the Challenges. You know we don¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    Su Jin snorted. ¡°If this was about survival, then I wouldn¡¯t care what tactic you used. Even if I got killed in a fight because I just wasn¡¯t as strong as my opponent, I wouldn¡¯t get angry. But the fact that you¡¯ve attacked a defenseless woman in such a disgusting manner¡­ I will not stand by and do nothing. So¡­ you¡¯re in deep trouble.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡± asked the old timer quietly.

    ¡°What do I want? I¡¯m not the victim. You have to ask HER what she wants,¡± said Su Jin as he pointed to the newbie. After he reassured her earlier, she was feeling much better now. She still looked scared, but at least she wasn¡¯t scared of Su Jin anymore.

    Su Jin said gently to her, ¡°You decide what you want to do with him.¡± He retrieved his Boning Knife from the Handbook and handed it to her.

    She took the knife from him with shaky hands and her gaze kept moving between the knife and the old timer. The old timer started to get scared and yelled at her, ¡°Look, I agree that I¡¯ve done something to you that I shouldn¡¯t have, but even if this had happened in the real world, I¡¯d only be put behind bars for a few years at most, so¡­ so¡­ don¡¯t do anything crazy, you hear me?¡±

    ¡°You¡­ you are a demon! You were the one who killed Uncle Yang! An eye for an eye, a life¡­ for another!¡± Her voice suddenly became shrill as she swung the knife toward the old timer¡¯s neck.

    The old timer immediately activated his Spirit Power to block her attack, but Su Jin was already prepared for that to happen, so he used his psychokinesis to break through the old timer¡¯s Spirit Power. The incredibly sharp Boning Knife sliced right through the old timer¡¯s neck.

    The old timer¡¯s eyes widened in horror as his head tilted to one side and he breathed hisst. Until the moment he died, he was probably in disbelief that he would die at the hands of a woman, and worse still, at the hands of a newbie.

    The newbie was trembling all over after she had sliced the old timer¡¯s neck, as though she could hardly believe that she had just killed this demon of a man herself. Su Jin quickly walked over and took the knife away from her. He was afraid that she would identally hurt herself, since she seemed so shaken.

    ¡°The guilty has gotten his just desserts, so it¡¯s all over now,¡± said Su Jin as he just patted her shoulder. He really didn¡¯t know how to console others.

    ¡°What¡­ what do I do now?¡± She looked at Su Jin, her eyes filled with confusion, terror and despair. The fact that she hadn¡¯t suffered a mental breakdown despite being a young woman who had been newly selected by the Handbook and had to go through such a traumatic experience showed that she was a really resilient person.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t really know what to do with her either. He sighed and said, ¡°You can follow us for the time being. I will try my best to ensure your safety, but you have to be strong too. After all, nobody can protect you forever in this universe.¡±

    She froze and looked a little fearfully at Su Jin as she hesitated. The previous person who promised to protect her ended up leaving her with a nightmare she could never erase from her memories.

    Su Jin noticed her reaction and shook his head. ¡°Forget it. The aim of this Challenge is just to y a dragon. Once we manage to y one, the whole thing will end. You can try to find a safe ce to hide and just wait.¡±

    He then turned to walk toward Wu Chen and Fabian. She suddenly called out, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll go with you guys.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Xinyu. Zhou Xinyu,¡± she replied softly.

    He frowned slightly, then waved to her toe over. Fabian and Wu Chen were done talking about the earlier spell after a short while, so the trio turned foursome continued hunting down the dragon.

    Just like what Su Jin and Wu Chen had guessed, the old timer had been running after a dragon, and it was the same frost dragon that had tried to attack them earlier. That dragon had been moving around on its own, but they had done something while tailing the dragon that made the dragon notice them, which was how the other newbie whom Zhou Xinyu called Uncle Yang had died so tragically.

    They were now not too far from that frost dragon. Zhou Xinyu said that the old timer had chosen to stop here because he seemed to have discovered that the frost dragon had stopped nearby.

    Wu Chen¡¯s tracking skills were better than that old timer¡¯s, so it didn¡¯t take long for him to find the frost dragon¡¯s tracks. But because Zhou Xinyu couldn¡¯t move as quickly as the rest of them, they moved very slowly. Su Jin ended up carrying her on his back instead. His physical strength had been reduced by 40%, but carrying a small-sized youngdy wasn¡¯t a problem for him.

    They followed the tracks for an entire day, passing by more viges that had been destroyed. Just like Fabian¡¯s vige, all these viges were also covered entirely in frost. Fabian was very sure that this was the same dragon that destroyed his vige.

    The next afternoon, the four of them finally caught up with the frost dragon in a valley. The frost dragon was more than 10 meters long, and could create wind by pping its wings, quickly freezing everything inside the valley. The dragon kept making noises that sounded more like sad howls.

    ¡°All of you, stay here. I¡¯ll go in and take a look.¡± Su Jin walked into the valley by himself and found that everything around him was covered in frost. The deeper in he went, the colder it became.

    ¡°This might be a Level C Challenge, but if I can kill a dragon just like that, wouldn¡¯t that seem too simple?¡± Su Jin was puzzled. But when he reached the middle of the valley, he waspletely stunned. That frost dragon had disappeared.

 Chapter 210: Fighting The Dragon

    <h4>Chapter 210: Fighting The Dragon</h4>

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t find that frost dragon anywhere. Logically speaking, it should have been impossible for it to hide its long andrge body. He didn¡¯t know what else to do, so he used his psychokinesis to scan the valley and was even more surprised. He failed to locate the frost dragon, but he found a woman who waspletely naked.

    After pausing to think, Su Jin walked toward the woman. He walked through a forest and saw that the woman was howling away. The howls she made sounded like she was suffering terribly.

    He tried to go closer but identally stepped on a branch, resulting in making a crunching sound. The woman immediately turned to look at where Su Jin was hiding.

    That gaze was so cold, it could send shivers down one¡¯s spine. He felt like if he went any closer, he would be turned into an ice sculpture simply by her stare.

    He could sense that she had already discovered him, so he decided to just walk out of his hiding ce. He bowed at her and said, ¡°Miss, I havee to look for the evil dragon. Have you seen it?¡±

    The woman looked surprised that Su Jin had dared to show himself. She was sitting on the ground initially, and after Su Jin spoke to her, she slowly got up and didn¡¯t seem to care that she was standing in front of him without anything on.

    From a man¡¯s point of view, this woman¡¯s body was perfect. Every curve on her body looked like it had been carefully crafted and molded. But Su Jin was in no mood to admire her beauty, because he had figured some things out already. He was now ready for battle. If she tried to attack him, he was going to fight back without hesitation.

    But she didn¡¯t try to attack him. Instead, she looked a little curiously at Su Jin, while ayer of ice began to cover her body from her toes. The frost formed ayer over her body within seconds, as though she were wearing a white dress.

    ¡°The evil dragon? What are you talking about? I don¡¯t understand.¡± Her smile was very creepy.

    Su Jin smiled sadly to himself. He probably couldn¡¯t just walk away and expect to make it out of here safely now, so he just sighed and shook his head. ¡°I made a few guesses earlier, but spection and reality aren¡¯t always the same. I don¡¯t think a lot of people in this world know that evil dragons can actually morph into humans¡­ am I right, Miss frost dragon?¡±

    ¡°Haha!¡± She covered her mouth andughed gently. The frostiness in her gaze intensified, but she still didn¡¯t attack him. Instead, she justughed and said, ¡°Your guess is correct! Did you know? I really like intelligent people!¡±

    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, how about you let me leave? If we end up fighting each other, you¡¯d be on the losing end.¡± Su Jin shrugged as he secretly ced a hand on his Handbook.

    She shook her head and sighed sadly. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, but I can¡¯t let humans find out that dragons can morph into humans. And since you¡¯ve stumbled upon our little secret, you shall take it to the grave with you right now! Besides, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be on the losing end if I fight you.¡±

    Su Jin sighed. A fight was clearly inevitable. He said in a grim voice, ¡°Firstly, even though I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re in human form, I¡¯m very sure you¡¯re not at your best right now. You¡¯ve decided to hide in this valley because you¡¯re taking the time to recuperate. Secondly, I¡¯m very strong! I really am!¡±

    ¡°Haha! Young man, you¡¯re really very clever. You¡¯re right. I¡¯m rather tired, so I¡¯m not able to stay in dragon form. But¡­ as an esteemed dragon, killing a little worm like you is very simple to me,¡± she said with a heartyugh. Before she stoppedughing, Su Jin began to feel the temperature beneath his feet drop. She had already begun her attack.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± cursed Su Jin inwardly. He had been too focused on the woman and had not noticed that she had been pushing the frost toward him.

    ¡°Shatter!¡± yelled Su Jin. He made his calf shake violently and it shattered all the frost that had reached his leg. Once he got rid of the frost, he charged at her like a missile instead of quickly retreating.

    The frost dragon didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to be able to shake off her frost just like that, and she certainly didn¡¯t expect Su Jin¡¯s first reaction to be to fight back instead of escaping.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I came to the human world. Compared to how I was back then, the young people now are a lot more courageous!¡± She chuckled, then flicked her finger. Ice appeared from nowhere and flew toward Su Jin. Each piece was extremely sharp, so each one was like a knife.

    Su Jin remained unfazed. He wasn¡¯t kidding when he said that he was very strong. He thrust his palm out and there was a ringing sound as the ice shattered before they could get close to him.

    ¡°You¡¯re a martial arts expert!¡± The frost dragon was surprised at first, but she quickly shook her head again. ¡°No, you weren¡¯t using internal energy to counter the ice. You were just using your own bodily strength, which is what dragons do. Wait, are you a dragon too?¡±

    ¡°A dragon? HAHA! Even though dragons are able to morph into humans, I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m no dragon!¡± Su Jin had broken through all the ice and was closing in on her.

    ¡°How dare you! What do you think dragons are! How dare you speak of us with such disdain!¡± she roared as she charged at Su Jin and they collided into one another.

    BOOM! The tremendous force from the impact caused the ground beneath them to churn. Arge amount of soil rolled outwards from where they were, as though a bomb had gone off in the middle.

    Wu Chen and Fabian noticed themotion and dashed toward the valley, only to find that a gigantic wall of ice had sealed off the entrance to the valley.

    ¡°Crap, Jin is trapped in there,¡± Wu Chen cursed inwardly with dismay. Su Jin didn¡¯t have the power to control ice, so it was clear that it must be the frost dragon who made this wall. Usually, the stronger party would create a cage so that their prey wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. In other words, Su Jin was now prey to the other party.

    ¡°I can¡¯t break through it. This wall is made from very pure ice particles and it¡¯s such arge one too. It¡¯s even tougher than metal at the same thickness.¡± Fabian shook his head. He didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Wu Chen paused to think for a while, then summoned another item from his Handbook. He was a little reluctant to do so, since he could only use three items in this Challenge and this was the second one already.

    Meanwhile, inside the valley, Su Jin flew backwards and crashed heavily into a rock wall. The corners of his eyes were swollen and blood was flowing from his nostrils.

    ¡°It¡¯s a dragon, alright. She¡¯s so strong,¡± thought Su Jin with a bitter look on his face. This woman was an evil dragon who was supposed to be an expert at controlling ice and frost, but she was so strong, she was still able to thrash him even in human form.

    The dragon marched toward Su Jin and flicked her wrist. She was equally surprised by this human she was fighting. How could a human have almost the same physique as a dragon? Her hands were actually hurting from fighting him. At the rate she was going, even the best of grandmasters among humans should have been beaten to a pulp by now, yet Su Jin was only mildly injured.

    ¡°Again!¡± Su Jin charged at her again. He summoned his Boning Knife from his Handbook, which was the first item he was using in this Challenge.

    ¡°The Attack of the Demon Lord!¡± Su Jin swung his knife out. After the major changes to Challenges were announced, Su Jin was relieved to discover that his Demon Lord¡¯s Spirit Power was not curbed in any way, and the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye that had reced his heart was not counted against the total number of items he could use in each Challenge.

    The frost dragon didn¡¯t think much of the knife. To her, this was just an ordinary knife, so she used her hand to grab hold of it. But the moment the Attack of the Demon Lord collided with her palm, she realized that this was more powerful than she initially thought and pulled her hand back immediately. Even so, she still lost three fingers just like that.

    .

    ¡°What?!¡± The frost dragon quickly made use of her frost controlling powers to freeze her wounds, but her eyes were filled with disbelief. How could a human wield a knife so much strength that he actually managed to slice her fingers off? This fellow looked like a human, but his body was the same as a dragon¡¯s!

    ¡°I¡¯m off then!¡± After managing tond an attack, Su Jin immediately retreated. He wasn¡¯t going to stick around and fight her head on by himself. This was a Challenge with eight owners, which meant that it would take that many owners to y dragons. He was much stronger than the ordinary owner, but it was still going to be too difficult toplete this mission all by himself.

    He moved even more quickly when he retreated, which truly floored the frost dragon. Normally, high level human fighters and warriors would have pride and dignity, so even the dragons would respect them. Fights between the greatest human fighters and dragons were always the talk of the town in this world.

    But the frost dragon discovered that this human didn¡¯t have the sort of pride that most expert fighters had. This fellow had purposely moved slower than he was actually capable of. If he had done that in order to spring a surprise attack on her, she wouldn¡¯t have been so shocked. But this man had actually done it so that he could make his getaway.

    ¡°You shameless human! Did you think you could really get away?¡± the frost dragon roared as she drove a huge amount of frost toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin groaned inwardly. His Spirit Power had been reduced to less than 300 now, so he couldn¡¯t use the skill that came with his Gift from the Gods cloak. That would have made him immune to such elemental attacks and he would have gotten away without any trouble.

    At the same time, this amount of frost wasn¡¯t enough to stop Su Jin either. His Boning Knife was extremely sharp, so he could slice through all the frost in his way very easily. He moved at an astonishing speed and arrived at the entrance to the valley in no time, only toe to a sudden stop. He stared in horror and dismay at the thick wall of ice blocking the entrance.

    ¡°Run! Go ahead and run! Why did you stop?¡± the frost dragon called out from behind Su Jin in a tone that made it sound like she was some lecherous fellow targeting Su Jin.

    ¡°Jin! Over here!¡± Just then, Wu Chen¡¯s voice rang out. He had managed to make a hole in the ice wall, except that it definitely wasn¡¯t big enough for a human to fit through.

    ¡°Move aside!¡± yelled Su Jin. He pulled his arm back and punched the ice wall as hard as he could. The strength from his punch made the ice around the hole crack and widened it by a few meters.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Su Jin yelled at Wu Chen. He grabbed Zhou Xinyu with one hand and Fabian with the other, then ran like crazy without even turning back. The few humans disappeared within seconds, leaving behind one furious frost dragon in the valley.

 Chapter 211: Good And Evil Dragons

    <h4>Chapter 211: Good And Evil Dragons</h4>

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Su Jin was holding Fabian with one arm and running so fast that grass kept flying into his nose and mouth. That was a terrible feeling.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t have the time to stop and answer any of his questions. He ran continuously for more than two hours and only stopped to catch his breath after he was certain that the frost dragon wasn¡¯t running after them.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening, you said? Did you see the woman earlier?¡± asked Su Jin after he had caught his breath.

    All three of them nodded. Su Jin said, ¡°That was the frost dragon.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Fabian was the first one to raise his doubts. ¡°The frost dragon is a gigantic beast measuring more than ten meters long. How could that be a woman?¡±

    Su Jin threw Fabian a nce, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t care if you believe it or not. But these dragons are able to morph into humans and it seems like being in human mode is a way for them to reduce their energy consumption.¡±

    Fabian didn¡¯t buy it, but Wu Chen believed Su Jin as he had great faith in Su Jin¡¯s judgment. He whispered, ¡°What sort of strength does the dragon have?¡±

    ¡°What sort of strength? Let¡¯s put it this way. Being in human form is supposed to be the time when a dragon ought to be at its weakest. Despite that, it was still able to thrash me soundly,¡± said Su Jin with a sad smile on his face. The fact that these creatures were born with this sort of strength was terrifying to even imagine. He had strengthened his body so many times, yet he was still beaten so easily by a dragon at its weakest. At this rate, even if his strength hadn¡¯t been reduced by the Challenge, he was still going to have trouble fighting a dragon.

    Wu Chen¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then we will have to attack an injured dragon. There¡¯s no other way we could possiblyplete this mission.¡±

    Su Jin frowned at this juncture and said, ¡°When I was fighting with the frost dragon, I noticed something else. That frost dragon was probably injured, and the one who injured her¡­ was actually a dragon as well.¡±

    His words surprised the rest. He couldn¡¯t help but think of Fabian¡¯s vige. Besides the frozen areas, there was also arge patch of forest that had been burned.

    ¡°Is there infighting among the dragons?¡± murmured Su Jin. The more he thought about it, the more his face lit up. After connecting all the details together, the information in his brain became clearer to him.

    ¡°Is that why she didn¡¯te running after us?¡± Su Jin¡¯s gaze flickered. He got up and started walking back toward where the frost dragon was and Wu Chen immediately pulled him back.

    ¡°Jin, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going back there, but the rest of you shouldn¡¯te with me. Go back to where Mai is and don¡¯t do anything. Once you meet with Mai and Situ,e back here to look for me,¡± Su Jin instructed Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen was confused and pulled Su Jin back. ¡°Jin, what is going on? Can¡¯t you exin it to me first?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no time to exin. Just remember, do NOT touch those children. No matter what you guys see, do NOT touch them,¡± said Su Jin very solemnly.

    Wu Chen was even more confused now, but Su Jin had already run off, leaving him behind with Fabian and Zhou Xinyu. Fabian wanted to run after Su Jin, but Wu Chen held him back.

    ¡°Can you just calm down? One has already run off, so don¡¯t run off as well!¡±

    Fabian struggled and said, ¡°No! Let go of me! That frost dragon is a demon that killed my entire family! I have to avenge my family!¡±

    ¡°Avenge your family? Jin is already having trouble fighting that creature, so if you go, you¡¯re definitely going to die.¡± Wu Chen waved his hands dismissively. He knew what Su Jin was capable of. So, if even someone like Su Jin had to run away so frantically from the dragon, he imagined that Fabian would end up bing nothing more than dragon poop if he followed Su Jin.

    Fabian still wanted to run after Su Jin, so Wu Chen sighed and said, ¡°Okay, okay. Come with me to look for our otherpanions first. Su Jin can¡¯t y the dragon all by himself, so we¡¯ve got to gather everyone and help him. We¡¯ll still be fighting the dragon, so you don¡¯t have to worry about not avenging your folks.¡±

    After Wu Chen put it that way, Fabian finally stopped insisting on running after Su Jin and followed Wu Chen and Zhou Xinyu back to where Kano Mai and Situ Jin were. Throughout the journey back, Wu Chen was still wondering why Su Jin told him to never touch those children no matter what happened. It didn¡¯t make sense to him.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had gone back the same way he came. But this time, he didn¡¯t intend to fight the frost dragon. He climbed up the mountain overlooking the valley and used his psychokinesis to scan the valley. The frost dragon was still here, but she seemed to have gone into a deep sleep. As she slept, her injuries healed at a rapid pace.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t do anything and quietly waited. A nightter, something finally happened. A fiery red dragon flew into the valley. It flew around within the valley and let out very loud roars.

    At the same time, the frost dragon woke up. She let out a loud roar after waking up and her human body quickly ballooned. Her flesh looked like it was about to explode.

    Boom! The flesh around her waist exploded, or rather, they turned into a pair of icy wings. She reverted to dragon mode and pped her wings fiercely to lift her off the ground in an instant.

    ¡°us, you cruel evil dragon! How dare youe and challenge me!¡± bellowed the frost dragon. Even Su Jin could sense how angry she was.

    The dragon she called us was extremely arrogant and responded in an insulting voice, ¡°Oh, Angel thepassionate one! You¡¯re an insult to the draconic race! So what if you¡¯ve frozen all those ordinary people? You don¡¯t have the time to go back and unfreeze them now, so they¡¯ll eventually freeze to death.¡±

    ¡°I have a very good grasp on how to freeze them, so even if they¡¯re frozen for a long time, they won¡¯t die. Dragons like you are simply cruel! Why are you so bent on killing humans? They¡¯re part of this world too, so we should live in peace with them,¡± said Angel weakly.

    Su Jin blinked in shock as he hid in the shadows. What was going on now? The frost dragon had frozen those people in order to save them? Did that mean he had¡­ buried those people alive? But why would Angel want to save those people?

    ¡°HAHA! Angel, you¡¯re so funny! I¡¯m not surprised that you think that way, but you shouldn¡¯t have lied to me! I thought you had really frozen those people to death, but you didn¡¯t! I hate dragons like you! I¡¯m going to send you to hell today!¡± said us nastily.

    Angel yelled back loudly, ¡°us, have you forgotten the rules of the dragons? We dragons can fight each other, but they must not kill each other!¡±

    ¡°WE dragons? WE? Ha! Can a mongrel like you be considered one of us? I¡¯m going to make sure you die in this valley!¡± us pped his wings and spewed mes toward Angel.

    Angel wasn¡¯t going to back down without a fight. She spewed arge amount of ice to fight the mes, but she was clearly no match for us and quickly began to lose. The ice she was spewing was only able to keep us¡¯ mes no more than three meters away from her. That was too close.

    ¡°Ha! Pathetic mongrel dragon! Are you having trouble holding out? You managed to be a member of the noble draconic race thest time. I¡¯m going to see what bes of you this time!¡± usughed maniacally, as though he was having fun.

    Angel was indeed having trouble holding out. Her dragon body gave off a white glow and she returned to human form. The ice around her could barely keep us¡¯ mes a meter from her body. It wouldn¡¯t take long for her to be a roasted dragon.

    Su Jin snuck behind us and executed the Attack of the Demon Lord. The Attack of the Demon Lord was able to slice through almost anything, but us was very sensitive. The moment the Attack of the Demon Lord hit him, he moved his wings aside. But even so, the attack had left arge, bloody wound in his gigantic wings.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?! Who dares to ambush the almighty dragon!¡± us was furious as he turned around to look for the one who had attacked him from behind. But Su Jin had already run back to the other side, grabbed Angel and ran like crazy.

    Angel didn¡¯t expect someone to save her at this juncture. She was still in shock as she thought she was definitely going to die. But when she saw that the person who saved her was the one who fought her earlier, she became so angry that her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. If escaping wasn¡¯t her top priority right now, she would have punched him in the face without hesitation.

    Angel was still very tall even in human form, but she was a lot smaller than when she was in dragon form, so us didn¡¯t realize that two humans had run out of sight. By the time he realized Angel had disappeared, he was so angry that he set fire to the entire valley. But besides killing all the poor animals living in that valley, doing that couldn¡¯t hurt Su Jin or Angel.

    As Su Jin ran with Angel in his arms, it didn¡¯t take him long to realize that Angel in human form was naked like the first time he had seen her.

    ¡°Um, could you¡­ could you get yourself some clothes?¡± said Su Jin as he kept his head up.

    Angel didn¡¯t seem bothered by this at all, but she waved her hand and gave herself a long frosty dress. Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief after she did that. He had been carrying a gorgeous naked woman, but it wasn¡¯t enjoyable at all, because carrying her was like carrying a huge block of ice.

    Once he was certain they were safe, he put her down. They looked at each other and asked each other a question at almost the same time.

    ¡°Why did you save me?¡±

    ¡°Why did you save those vigers?¡±

    Their questions were almost the same, but Angel was clearly not going to be the first to answer. Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°I heard the conversation between you and that, uh, us. Since you saved humans, it¡¯s only correct for me to save you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s it? I thought¡­¡±

    ¡°You thought what?¡±

    ¡°I thought you¡¯d fallen for me.¡±

    ¡°Oh please! Do you know what gic istion is? We¡¯re not even of the same race! How could we possibly be lovers?¡± said Su Jin with a cheekyugh.

    Angel red at him and he asked, ¡°Alright, alright. Can you answer my question now? Why¡­ did you save those humans?¡±

    She scoffed. ¡°Did I say I was going to answer your question?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be? I¡¯ve got nothing else to do today anyway, so maybe I should y some dragons,¡± said Su Jin with a big grin as he polished the Boning Knife in his hand.

 Chapter 212: The Dragonsâ€™ Secret

    <h4>Chapter 212: The Dragons¡¯ Secret</h4>

    Angel stared straight into Su Jin¡¯s eyes and was shocked to find that Su Jin wasn¡¯t kidding. He really intended to kill her.

    ¡°You really want to kill me?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll be honest with you: I¡¯ve actuallye here to y dragons. You¡¯re not at your best now, so killing you would be the smart thing to do.¡± Su Jin smiled brightly at her. This was his best chance atpleting the Challenge, but since he had uncovered the secret behind this Challenge, he had the opportunity toplete the Challenge perfectly. But of course, it depended on whether Angel was willing to cooperate with him.

    ¡°You¡­ fine, I¡¯ll answer your question.¡± Angel could see the murderous intent in Su Jin¡¯s eyes and dared not agitate him. ¡°The reason why I saved those humans is simple. It¡¯s because I used to be a human.¡±

    ¡°Just like what I guessed.¡± Su Jin tapped a finger on his nose in a strange rhythm. He had guessed as much earlier, so Angel¡¯s admission was just confirming his guess.

    Angel was surprised by his reaction. ¡°Don¡¯t you find it ridiculous?¡±

    ¡°Ridiculous? Not at all. After I sorted out all the bits and pieces of information I had, I had already guessed that some dragons could possibly be humans before. You¡¯ve merely confirmed this as a fact,¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    Angel didn¡¯t believe him and said sarcastically, ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing! You said you guessed it earlier right after I said so! Incredible!¡±

    Since she didn¡¯t believe him, Su Jin tried to exin, ¡°Actually, it really wasn¡¯t hard to arrive at this conclusion. I got my hands on this book earlier on and I think you can read the words inside it.¡± He threw the book to Angel and continued, ¡°The book contains some information about dragons. For example, it says that there were brave warriors who yed dragons, but the number of dragons never went down. And every time a warrior died, a dragon woulde to take revenge on the warrior¡¯s family, but these revenge attacks never affected anybody else.

    ¡°That alone sounded really strange to me. The number of dragons didn¡¯t go down, there were warriors who yed dragons, and dragons who were very focused on their revenge ns.¡± Su Jin tapped his nose more quickly, then his finger paused. He looked at Angel and said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. If dragons got killed, they would go down in number. Also, dragons are recorded to be greedy and cruel. I saw the sort of temperament us had earlier. There¡¯s no way a dragon like him would care who died as long as he got his revenge.

    ¡°But even though none of this seems to make sense, I just need to add in an extra condition and everything will make perfect sense: those who have killed dragons will be dragons!¡±

    Angel¡¯s entire body froze and she stared in disbelief at Su Jin. He took note of her reaction and nodded. ¡°Your expression tells me that my hypothesis is correct.

    ¡°When a warrior kills a dragon, the warrior will be a dragon. One died, but one took its ce, so the number of dragons will never go down. But the warrior probably only turns into a dragon when their life is almosting to an end. That¡¯s also why a ¡®new¡¯ dragon woulde to take revenge only after a warrior dies. There¡¯s probably something thatpels all of you to take your loved ones away, and that¡¯s why the dragons who have supposedlye to take revenge never hurt anybody who¡¯s not from their family. Am I right to say that?¡±

    Angel was in a daze as she nodded. Su Jin had guessed everything right. It was unbelievable to her that Su Jin could have guessed all of this based on a few notes in this book.

    Su Jin looked at her a little curiously and was puzzled as he asked, ¡°Can you tell me now why you have to take your loved ones away? Why don¡¯t you tell them that you used to be that brave warrior who yed those dragons?¡±

    Angel scoffed. She clenched her teeth and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you very intelligent? You can keep guessing the reason why!¡±

    ¡°Oh, you prefer me to guess?¡± Su Jin began tapping his nose again andughed. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to guess, right? When ites to this sort of thing, you¡¯re either being threatened or you¡¯re being tempted. If the other party isn¡¯t that capable, they¡¯d just use either one. If the other party is more capable, they¡¯d use them both.¡±

    Angel was surprised by his guess again and was feeling pretty annoyed, but she couldn¡¯t help but feel sad inside as well. She nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. The lives of the warriors who be dragons no longer belong to us. The ancestralnd of the dragons have a Dragon Soul Crystal which can control the souls of those who became dragons after death. If the dragons want us dead, we will die immediately.

    ¡°Of course, the threat to our own lives isn¡¯t enough to actually threaten us, since we were prepared to die when we went forth to y the dragons. But¡­ this crystal is able to link us to anybody rted by blood to us, so it is also able to kill our family or torture their souls.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been told that we must never tell anybody who we really are. In order to cate us, the dragons have set aside a wonderful ce for our families to live in within their ancestralnd. As long as we don¡¯t die, our families won¡¯t die either.¡±

    ¡°Oh really? I suppose such benefits muste with certain limitations,¡± said Su Jin with a chuckle.

    ¡°Indeed. They need to make sure that we don¡¯t rebel against them and we can¡¯t let our family know that we¡¯ve actually turned into an evil dragon either, so we¡¯re not allowed to visit our family. We can only pray and hope that they live happy lives.¡± Angel looked more and more depressed as she spoke. Su Jin could practically feel it.

    But Su Jin shook his head at these words. ¡°Haven¡¯t any of you suspected something?¡±

    ¡°Suspected something? Like what?¡±

    ¡°That your families are already dead?¡± said Su Jin with a shrug.

    Angel froze for a moment, then snapped, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Our families¡­ our families are alive! I just used the magic mirror to see how they were doing and they¡­ they were doing well! They¡¯re happy and living worry-free lives!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you brave warriors would be so simple-minded.¡± Su Jin scoffed, then said quietly, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about this world, but¡­ does that sort of power really exist? Something that can tie a human¡¯s life to the dragons?¡±

    Angel started trembling. Su Jin didn¡¯t know much about this world, but as someone who used to be one of the most powerful humans in this world, Angel knew a lot more about this world. It was true that despite having magic and dragons, this world had never known such a power.

    ¡°But¡­ but they¡¯re dragons, and they¡¯re the most powerful creatures in this world. Perhaps¡­ perhaps they¡­¡± retorted Angel indignantly.

    Su Jin merely sneered at her. ¡°Is that so? If you were that confident of their powers, why are you getting so hysterical? Why do you look so uneasy?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that they¡¯ve lied to us, but¡­ why? Why would they do that? The Dragon Soul Crystal already has control over our lives, so there¡¯s no need for them to lie to us.¡± Angel stared intensely at Su Jin, as if she was going to slit his throat if he didn¡¯t give her a satisfactory answer.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Actually, I think¡­ perhaps this Dragon Soul Crystal doesn¡¯t even exist. The dragons don¡¯t actually have any control over your lives.¡±

    Angel raised her voice immediately after he said that, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Myrades have tried rebelling before, but they ended up dying at the hands of this crystal. The Dragon Soul Crystal definitely exists.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How does this crystal kill you guys then?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    ¡°The crystal will lead the souls of those who rebel to the graveyard for all dragons and kill them there,¡± replied Angel.

    ¡°The graveyard for all dragons? Have you been there before?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a ce where dragons go only when they¡¯re about to die. I wouldn¡¯t go there.¡±

    ¡°Then how do you know the crystal took their lives in that ce?¡±

    ¡°The head of the dragons threw their severed heads in front of us. That¡¯s proof.¡±

    Su Jin sighed heavily and looked at Angel with a sad smile on his face. ¡°Does your IQ go down after you turn into a dragon? Or are you warriors not intelligent people in the first ce? Hmm¡­ that actually makes sense. Anybody who would go all out to fight a dragon can¡¯t be thaaat smart.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?! What a rude fellow! How dare you disparage warriors like that!¡± said Angel furiously.

    Su Jin chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s definitely it! None of you have ever seen the Dragon Soul Crystal kill anyone, yet all of you believe it with all your hearts.¡±

    ¡°Even if the crystal can¡¯t kill us directly, it can control our souls. Isn¡¯t that the same as killing us?¡± said Angel.

    ¡°Is it really the same? There¡¯s a big difference, isn¡¯t it? How many dragons can this crystal control at one time? How long can it control dragons for? Is it possible to get out of its control? None of you have bothered to understand any of this properly and you¡¯ve just allowed yourself to be manipted like that?¡± Su Jin shook his head. These fellows were so simple-minded, he felt bad for them.

    Angel looked like she really hadn¡¯t thought so deeply about this matter. But after giving it more thought, her expression became grimmer and grimmer. She suddenly got up and growled, ¡°This damned draconic race! That¡¯s why they wanted us to bring our families to them. They were afraid we might discover their secret, so they used our families to stop us from thinking too much about this matter?¡±

    Su Jin started pping and looked surprised as he said, ¡°Wow! After teaching you a thing or two, you¡¯ve actually be so much smarter!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare take me for a fool! I was once the most powerful ice wizard in the empire!¡± Angel dered proudly. She nced at Su Jin and scoffed. ¡°Why are you saying so much anyway? What schemes are you up to?¡±

    ¡°Schemes? I guess you could call it that. But at least it¡¯s way better than the scheme you¡¯re currently part of. Oh, by the way, I found some children hidden in a storehouse in one of the valleys. Are they rted to you guys?¡± asked Su Jin casually.

    Angel¡¯s gaze turned frosty as she said sternly, ¡°Do not hurt them! They¡¯re¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the children of some of the warriors who turned into dragons?¡± Su Jin finished the sentence for her with a smile.

    She didn¡¯t say anything, but Su Jin was pretty sure he was right. He asked another question, ¡°Also¡­ I wanted to ask about those people you froze. If they¡¯ve been buried alive, I mean, like if they¡¯ve been buried in soil, will they be alright?¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? What do you mean by that?¡± Angel did not understand what Su Jin was talking about.

    Su Jinughed awkwardly and said, ¡°Well, I meant exactly that. I thought the people you froze were dead, so¡­ I buried all of them.¡±

 Chapter 213: Gathering The Dragon Slayers

    <h4>Chapter 213: Gathering The Dragon yers</h4>

    After listening to Su Jin¡¯s exnation, Angel also felt that her fellow human turned dragons had been lied to by the draconic race. She wanted revenge, so she was going to look for others like her, head for the draconic race¡¯s ancestralnd, and y the dragons again, except as a dragon herself.

    Su Jin let out a sigh of relief inside. The optional quest given by the Handbook was topletely annihte the dragon problem, but in order to do this, he would have to find a way to get to the ancestralnd of the dragons and get hold of that crystal.

    In other words, if he hadn¡¯t exined all of this to Angel, the crystal would continue to be able to have a hold over the lives of the dragons. But Su Jin was going to go all the way. He had found the perfect strategy, which was to ignite a fight between those born as dragons and those who became dragonster. This way, he would be able to destroy the dragonspletely, which would be the perfect way toplete this Challenge in his opinion.

    After Su Jin and Angel had formed their little alliance, they decided to return to the valley where the Challenge had first started. The secret behind that valley was now very clear to Su Jin. That was the valley where all these human turned dragons had gathered. Most of the time, they would live in their human forms, but they couldn¡¯t remain in this mode for too long. Once they reverted to their dragon form, the wild nature that came with the draconic race would erupt within them, giving them the urge to go on a rampage.

    The damage the owners had seen in the valley had not been caused by other dragons but by the warriors-turned-dragons themselves. In order to protect their own children and make sure the children would not find out that their parents were actually these monsters, they built that storehouse and hid the children inside. And even when they went on a rampage, they would avoid that storehouse so that it wouldn¡¯t suffer any damage.

    Butpared to the naturally born dragons, these humans turned dragons were more kind hearted. Even though they had turned into dragons, they still believed that they should not kill, and they never did any harm to other humans. This behavior was a joke to the natural dragons, and some of them even entertained themselves by creating trouble for these humans turned dragons. us was one of those.

    When the two of them walked toward the valley, Su Jin suddenly felt something tug at his heart. He had left a small trace of his psychokinesis on his team members, so since he could sense them, they had to be nearby.

    He followed his senses and quickly found his teammates. But besides them, Natasha and the other children had alsoe along.

    Angel immediately flew into a rage because she thought that Kano Mai and the rest were trying to hurt the children. Thankfully, Su Jin held her back in time.

    ¡°These people are my friends and they would never hurt the children. Besides, if they wanted to hurt the children, they would have done so a long time ago. They wouldn¡¯t wait till now,¡± said Su Jin to calm Angel down and reduce her anger. He turned to his team members and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Kano Mai knew what Su Jin was really asking. Wu Chen had ryed Su Jin¡¯s instructions about not going near the children to her. She looked a little upset as she exined, ¡°A fiery dragon came to attack the valley and that dragon¡¯s target was clearly these children, so I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Jin. I shouldn¡¯t have acted on my own.¡±

    Su Jin smiled sadly. Actually, he had predicted that this might happen. If these children were rted to Angel, then it was very likely that us would attack the children. And if us had really killed the children, then these humans turned dragons wouldn¡¯t back down without a fight. They would fight the natural dragons to the death.

    This was the first Challenge after that major announcement, so Su Jin wanted to get everything right as much as possible. That¡¯s why he told Wu Chen to tell Situ Jin and Kano Mai not to do anything no matter what happened. But now, he was actually relieved that Kano Mai had rescued the children.

    ¡°I guess if I had really done that, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to forgive myself, huh,¡± thought Su Jin sadly to himself. Being emotional was the one thing that made it hard for Su Jin to survive in the Handbook universe. Anybody who was too affected by their emotions would not be able to survive in this world. But while being cruel and emotionless might help him to survive for a while longer, his growth would be curbed as well. After all, it was clear that he could no longer get through the Challenges by himself anymore. Every owner needed a strong team.

    ¡°No, Mai, I should be thanking you for doing this. I¡­ I nearly turned into the sort of person I hate the most,¡± said Su Jin as he thanked Kano Mai. He looked at the children apologetically, but they had no idea why he was looking at them like that.

    ¡°us¡­ actually dared to attack my children!¡± roared Angel angrily.

    Meanwhile, Fabian¡¯s eyes were red with hatred. He suddenly leaped out and flung a ball of me at Angel. But that me couldn¡¯t even get close to her. The frost emanating from her body put it out when it came within half a meter of her body.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± Fabian had attacked her when she was already so furious, so she became even angrier and flung a sharp piece of ice at Fabian.

    Su Jin did not react in time, but Situ Jin did. He used his shadow powers to swallow the ice, which caused him to frown. Absorbing the damage from the ice had injured him as well.

    ¡°Both of you, calm down!¡± shouted Su Jin as he grabbed hold of Angel to stop her from doing anything rash.

    Angel red at Su Jin, so he started exining things to them, ¡°It¡¯s a misunderstanding between both of you, so I just need to exin what happened.¡± He proceeded to tell them that Angel had frozen the vigers in Fabian¡¯s vige in order to protect them from getting killed by us, and he also exined to them about how humans could turn into dragons.

    Fabian didn¡¯t really believe him, so he could only sigh and say, ¡°Let¡¯s unfreeze the vigers first then.¡±

    They went past one of the vigers that Angel had gone through and helped to unfreeze the people in that vige first. Angel had amazing control over her freezing powers, so the vigers quickly went back to normal after being unfrozen. This made Fabian extremely excited, because it meant that his family members were all still alive.

    ¡°Thank you, esteemed warrior. I am so sorry about how foolishly I behaved earlier.¡± Fabian realized his mistake and quickly apologized to Angel, afraid that she might not unfreeze his family members if he angered her.

    Angel could understand how he felt. Her family members had been living under the control of the dragons. And now that such a long time had passed, she feared that her family might actually be dead, like what Su Jin guessed.

    ¡°I will definitely help to unfreeze your family members, but I don¡¯t know if they¡¯d be able to survive being frozen and then being buried,¡± said Angel with a sigh.

    Fabian immediately threw Su Jin a nasty re. His eyes bulged angrily, making Su Jin feel really embarrassed about what he had done. He had merely thought that he ought to bury the bodies out of respect for them. He didn¡¯t expect such a turn of events.

    ¡°I think¡­I think they should be fine¡­¡± said Su Jin awkwardly.

    They soon came to Fabian¡¯s vige and pulled the vigers out of the hole that Su Jin had buried them in. Angel unfroze them all, and thankfully, everything turned out well. Fabian¡¯s family members were all alive and well, which made Su Jin breathe a huge sigh of relief. If Fabian¡¯s family had died as a result, he really wouldn¡¯t know how to make it up to Fabian. He couldn¡¯t possibly allow Fabian to kill him, after all.

    Now that Fabian¡¯s side was all settled, the next thing they had to do was to gather the other humans turned dragons and go to war with the natural dragons. Angel was well respected in hermunity, and Kano Mai had rescued their children, who were very precious to these humans turned dragons. So, Angel was very sure that once she called on them, all of them woulde together and fight those natural dragons.

    Angel left the children at Fabian¡¯s vige. Fabian promised her that the vigers would take good care of the children, especially since Angel was their benefactor.

    The rest of them returned to the valley where the Challenge first began. us had already left, and Angel reverted to her dragon form. She spread her wings and flew high above the valley, roaring angrily as she flew in the skies. Su Jin could sense an invisible force shoot out from her, which was probably how she called out to her fellow dragons.

    She then went back to human form and got everyone to wait patiently. A dayter, several dragons began to arrive in the valley. There were all sorts of dragons. Some were lightning dragons that could control electricity, some were ck dragons that possessed extremely strong bodies, some were water dragons that could control water, some were wind dragons that could move at astonishing speeds, some were fiery dragons like us, while some were earth dragons, who looked heavy and clumsy, but were extremely good at defending against attacks.

    There were so many different dragons, Fabian couldn¡¯t take his eyes off them. If all these dragons came together to attack a city, even the most majestic city in the empire would be turned to ash in an instant.

    ¡°My friends, we¡¯ve been lied to for thousands of years! We¡¯ve been enved for thousands of years! Today, we must fight against this unfair destiny! We had once yed a dragon, so now¡­ we shall y dragons once more!¡± Angel didn¡¯t need to slowly exin the situation to her fellow dragons. They had their own way ofmunicating their thoughts to each other.

    ROAAARR! All the dragons let out an agitated roar at the same time, and the valley nearly crumbled from their roaring. Beams of light appeared in the valley as all of them changed into their human forms.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s the great Aloysius of the Bright Sword!¡± Fabian could hardly believe his eyes when he noticed one of them. But when he saw who the rest were, he nearly fainted. ¡°Sir, are you¡­ are you the great arbiter, Mr. Evanson?¡±

    ¡°Oh my god! That¡¯s Kevin the Windrider! Sir Ash, the lord of Azure Waves! That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s¡­ the Soul Chasing Sword Lotus! These people¡­ these people are the most powerful fighters of the empire, the legendary warriors who have yed dragons!¡± Fabian looked like a diehard fan meeting his idols for the first time.

    Su Jin whacked his head and said, ¡°Pull yourself together! Didn¡¯t I tell you that these dragons were once those warriors? Why do you still look so starstruck?¡±

    Fabian remained terribly excited as he said, ¡°You don¡¯t understand. These great men and women are all legends of the empire! Each one represents part of the empire¡¯s history! They are all people who protected this world from the evil dragons!¡±

    .

    His words, however, did not make any of these legends feel any happier about themselves. Instead, they bowed their heads in shame. They had been protectors of the empire and this entire world, yet they had be ves to the evil dragons. This was their greatest pain and shame!

    Angel looked at herrades and called out loudly, ¡°We were wrong before, but now, we are going to right this wrong! We¡¯re going to head for Dragon Ind right now and y the dragons!¡±

    ¡°y the dragons! y the dragons!¡± Thunderous roars instantly filled the entire valley.

 Chapter 214: The Dragon Ancestors

    <h4>Chapter 214: The Dragon Ancestors</h4>

    The roars of the warriors who were once legends of this world resounded in the valley. Su Jin was very pleased with the way they were feeling. Perhaps it was the way this world was, or perhaps these legends who only focused on bing physically stronger were more brawn than brain: either way, it had been pretty easy to rile them up and make them turn on the draconic race. Doing that hadn¡¯t been much of a challenge to Su Jin.

    Fabian, on the other hand, was so happy he could die. Every person in this valley was a great historical figure, and even if they weren¡¯t, they were definitely some of the most powerful humans who had ever lived. As a student of the empire¡¯s magic academy, he felt as though he was in a museum for heroes.

    Su Jin nced at Fabian. This young man was the first person whom he approved of in this Challenge and didn¡¯t want him to die in this fight.

    ¡°Fabian, we¡¯re going to embark on a difficult warter, so¡­ I think you shouldn¡¯te along,¡± said Su Jin directly.

    Fabian blinked at him in surprise, then said excitedly, ¡°We¡¯re going to annihte the dragons! How could I miss that? I¡¯m going to fight even if I end up dying in the process.¡±

    Su Jin frowned. He wasn¡¯t really able to understand why the people of this world were so obsessed with ying dragons. In this world, as long as one could y a dragon, it didn¡¯t matter what sort of person you used to be. After you died, you would be a hero in history textbooks. That was why Fabian seemed so enthusiastic about ying dragons. Furthermore, they were on their way topletely eliminate the dragons, which would be something that would change this world.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t talk Fabian out of his enthusiasm and passion, so he gave up. Once Angel and the rest were ready to go, she invited Su Jin and his team to ride her back.

    He wasn¡¯t going to say no to that. They had no other way to get to the ancestralnd of the dragons. Angel turned herself into an icy dragon, then lowered her body.

    Su Jin looked at her and said awkwardly, ¡°Er¡­ could I sit on a different dragon instead? I might catch a cold this way!¡± Angel sprayed a mouthful of frost out and froze him immediately in annoyance.

    In the end, an earth dragon became their mode of transportation instead. Once they all got on his back, they flew into the air. Su Jin turned to look at an empty space beside him andughed. ¡°My friend, it¡¯s been quite a while now. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time you showed yourself?¡±

    The rest were puzzled by Su Jin¡¯s actions, but a figure slowly began to appear next to Su Jin. It was the old timer who had left the group first.

    The old timer smiled at Su Jin and asked curiously, ¡°You knew from the start that I was following you guys around?¡±

    ¡°No, I only guessed that you wouldn¡¯t stray too far away, but I didn¡¯t know you were right beside me. But when Angel and the rest started their journey toward the ancestralnd of the dragons, I was very sure,¡± said Su Jin casually.

    The old timer smiled faintly and said to Su Jin, ¡°My name is Zhao Kai. My Spirit Power is my aura.¡±

    ¡°Your aura?¡± Su Jin looked puzzledly at Zhao Kai.

    Zhao Kai did not say anything. He stood quietly in front of Su Jin, and slowly disappeared before reappearing again.

    ¡°You have the ability to be invisible?¡± asked Situ Jin curiously.

    Su Jin shook his head. He looked rather surprised as he said, ¡°It¡¯s not the ability to be invisible. Rather, you¡¯re able to adjust how much of your presence can be felt? You didn¡¯t conceal your presence, it¡¯s just that so little of it could be felt, everyone would naturally not notice you at all without even realizing it.¡±

    Zhao Kai pped his hands andplimented Su Jin, ¡°Very clever! Not many are able to understand the mysterious way my Spirit Power works after seeing it just once.¡±

    Su Jin rubbed his nose and said, ¡°I watched a TV drama once that featured something simr, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have guessed it so quickly. So, you¡¯ve stayed close to me all this while, but your aura was too faint for me to notice, is that right?¡±

    Zhao Kai nodded and smiled as he said, ¡°You seem pretty clever. I think one can only survive if you follow a clever person around.¡±

    ¡°Your Spirit Power is so formidable, so why do you still need to follow us around? You could just look for a dragon, get close to it without it realizing, then y it when you get a chance,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Zhao Kai shook his head. ¡°There are no invincible Spirit Powers in the Handbook. I am able to reduce my aura to the point where nobody can detect me, but once I have the intention to kill, my Spirit Power will no longer work. Besides, I don¡¯t have the ability to y a dragon by myself. So, your idea doesn¡¯t work for me.¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly. Just like what Zhao Kai said, there was no Spirit Power that was invincible in the Handbook¡¯s universe. Those with psychokinesis were considered one of the most powerful owners, but the problem was that it was too difficult for one to increase the upper limit of this Spirit Power. Most owners who received psychokinesis often either decided to get rid of it in hope of receiving another, or they would hold onto it and end up dying anyway because they simply couldn¡¯t be more powerful.

    But for Su Jin, his psychokinesis had grown significantly, and he was now at an advantage among veterans. He could deal with most situations now.

    ¡°Mr. Su, how did you know he would be nearby?¡± asked Zhou Xinyu curiously. She couldn¡¯t understand what Su Jin and Zhao Kai were talking about at all.

    Kano Mai smiled and exined to her, ¡°ording to the way the Handbook is set up, one cannot stray too far away from where the main action in the Challenge is happening, or you¡¯d be killed immediately. The Challenge hase to a point where the main action will move to the ancestralnd of the dragons. If Zhao Kai doesn¡¯t quicklye along with us right now, he¡¯s going to die.¡±

    Su Jin continued, ¡°That¡¯s right. Also, Mr. Zhao has proved to be very intelligent right from the beginning. How could such an intelligent person make such a rookie mistake?¡±

    Zhao Kaiughed and didn¡¯t say anything. But Zhou Xinyu had more questions. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then if you hadn¡¯t rescued me earlier, I¡¯d be dead meat?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head and exined patiently, ¡°When the action begins to move elsewhere, the Handbook will give you some hints. Your Handbook should have glowed and be pretty warm just now.¡±

    Zhou Xinyu looked enlightened and she nodded vigorously after hearing what Su Jin just said. ¡°You¡¯re right! I¡­ I thought that was the way the Handbook was. So, that¡¯s a hint to me?¡±

    ¡°Remember what I said at the beginning of the Challenge. The Handbook will decide on your fate, especially for a newbie. If you notice anything strange about your Handbook, you should open it and check immediately,¡± said Su Jin seriously.

    Zhao Kai remarked, ¡°Telling a newbie such detailed information is useless. They can only grow rapidly once they experience the cruelty and horror of the Handbook for themselves.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t refute that. Nobody told him anything about the Handbook when he was a newbie too. The harsh reality of the Handbook¡¯s universe taught him how to survive.

    Dozens of dragons continued to fly through the sky, flying over high mountains and crossing vast oceans before finally arriving at an ind far from their starting point. This ind was huge and looked like a small continent. There were mountains and rivers and all sorts ofndforms on this ind, as well as the sounds of dragons roaring.

    ¡°Let me reiterate the n. We will split into three teams. One team will search for the Dragon Soul Crystal. Regardless of whether it has powers or not, we¡¯ve got to rid ourselves of this threat before the dragons use it against us.

    ¡°A second team will go and search for your family members who have been locked away by the dragons. If they are still alive, you can decide if you want to continue with this rebellion. But if they¡¯re no longer alive, I don¡¯t think I need to say more. We will proceed with this battle.

    ¡°Thest team will follow Angel. You will all change into your human form and question the leader of the dragons so as to stall for time.¡± Su Jin hade up with a simple n for them. Since he wanted toplete this Challenge perfectly, he had to make sure he covered all areas. He didn¡¯t want anybody to have any regrets, or it might affect his point total at the end.

    All of them agreed with Su Jin¡¯s n. One team immediately changed back into their human forms once theynded on the ind. This was a strange sight on the ind, since this was the Dragon Ind. Even the humans turned dragons seldom appeared on this ind in their human form, and they never appeared in such numbers either.

    Arge group of dragons followed behind them because they had sensed something different in the air and hade to take a look at what was going on. The other two groups split into the teams that Su Jin had assigned them earlier, so one went to look for the Dragon Soul Crystal, while the other went to look for their family members.

    Angel led her team along with Su Jin and the other owners toward where the leader of the dragons lived. Her face was filled with fury, so all the other dragons that had been drawn to themotion knew that Angel was definitely here to create trouble.

    A fiery dragon quickly blocked Angel¡¯s way. He snorted and said, ¡°Angel, you¡¯ve brought so many of your fellow humans turned dragons to the Dragon Ind. What are you trying to do?¡±

    ¡°Move aside, us! I¡¯m going to tear you to pieces once I¡¯ve spoken to the leader!¡± yelled Angel angrily. The fiery dragon had turned out to be none other than us, who had tried to spring a sneak attack on Angel and also tried to attack the children in the storehouse. It turned out that he had actually returned to the Dragon Ind after his failed attempt.

    us became enraged and he bared his fangs and ws, ready to fight. Just then, an elderly voice resounded in everyone¡¯s ears.

    ¡°us, dragons are not allowed to kill each other on Dragon Ind. Are you going to go against the rules that I have set?¡± The elderly voice carried an authority that could crush everything in its way. When that voice spoke, all the dragons instantly fell to their knees out of respect for the owner of this voice. Zhou Xinyu was a newbie and her knees nearly gave way too, but thankfully, Kano Mai caught her in time.

    us was an arrogant fellow, but he didn¡¯t dare to disobey the leader either. He immediately fell to his knees and cried out, ¡°O great leader of the dragons! I wouldn¡¯t dare to go against yourmands!¡±

    The leader ignored us and said, ¡°Angel, my child. Why have you brought so manypanions back to Dragon Ind?¡±

    ¡°O great leader of the dragons! I would like to request an audience with you,¡± said Angel in a loud voice.

    ¡°Your request is approved,¡± spoke the elderly voice. He agreed to let Angel speak to him in private.

    us dared not stand in her way anymore. He reluctantly moved aside, mes spewing out from his nostrils angrily as he watched Angel and the rest walk on.

    Angel led the rest through the forest, a mountain and past a waterfall to finally stop at the foot of a cliff. The entire cliff was engulfed in a white mist, and it was impossible to see what was behind the white mist. Just then, the mist swirled and cleared itself, as though something had magically sucked it away.

    The view in front of them slowly became clearer. The one who had sucked away the mist was actually a giant dragon head. It was hard to tell exactly how big this dragon was. His head alone was almost asrge as Angel in her dragon form.

    ¡°All praise to the almighty leader of the dragons!¡± When faced with the leader of the dragons, even Angel felt fear and trepidation in her heart.

 Chapter 215: Making A Disciple

    <h4>Chapter 215: Making A Disciple</h4>

    The leader of the dragons opened his eyes. His eyeballs were like giant ck gems and seemed more alert and brighter than his wrinkly, aged head. His body was hidden in a deep crevasse, so it was impossible to see. But judging from his head, the size of his entire body was probably staggering.

    ¡°My child, can you now exin why you¡¯ve brought yourpanions to the Dragon Ind? Is something the matter?¡± asked the leader.

    Angel immediately responded, ¡°My lord, us tried to attack me secretly outside the ind and nearly killed me. After that, he tried to attack the children of my fellow humans turned dragons. Are the dragons just going to let such things happen?¡±

    The leader fell silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice, ¡°My child, I¡¯m already very old and I¡¯ve been living in this abyss for at least a thousand years now. But I will warn him and not allow him to do such a thing again.¡±

    ¡°Warn him? You mean you¡¯re only going to warn him after he has done such a thing?!¡± Angel raised her voice angrily.

    ¡°My child, you should know the rules that I have set. I said that the dragons shall not hurt each other, but your children are not dragons, so there¡¯s not much I can do about that. He might have attacked you secretly, but in reality, you did not die.¡± His voice sounded a little impatient as he said, ¡°Alright now, if there¡¯s nothing else, you may leave.¡±

    Angel¡¯s eyes were filled with fury, but she held herself back and went on, ¡°My lord, we have be dragons for a long time now and we miss our family. Could we please see our family members?¡±

    The leader narrowed his eyes a little, as though he were hesitating. But he eventually shook his head. ¡°No. I took great efforts to create the ce where they are now, but it is not very stable, so you cannot enter at will.¡±

    Angel had an icy smile on her face. She bowed her head and said, ¡°In that case, I shall take my leave. Thank you for allowing me to speak.¡±

    The leader nodded slightly and Angel led everyone out again. They came to a small mountain, which was where Angel lived in the Dragon Ind.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Angel asked Su Jin. She now treated Su Jin as one of herrades.

    ¡°We have to wait. We have to wait for the other two teams to return, then¡­ prepare for battle!¡± Su Jin wiped his Boning Knife. Actually, as owners, this battle wasn¡¯t very dangerous. If things got bad, they could just kill one dragon and they wouldplete the Challenge immediately. But Su Jin was still a little worried. He had sessfully turned the humans turned dragons against the natural dragons, but as long as they did not actually start to fight each other, Su Jin could not rx.

    This time of waiting made them all feel very uneasy. Zhao Kai and Zhou Xinyu kept ncing at Su Jin like they had something to say, but refused to actually say anything. Su Jin asked them directly, ¡°If you have something to say to me, you can just go ahead and say it.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I would like to join your team. Would you be willing to take me in?¡± said Zhao Kai.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise, but shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my team isn¡¯t taking in new members at the moment.¡±

    Zhao Kai nodded and didn¡¯t seem to mind Su Jin¡¯s response. Zhou Xinyu said timidly, ¡°I¡­ I was thinking the same thing as Mr. Zhao. I want to join your team too.¡±

    Su Jin felt sympathetic toward Zhou Xinyu because of what she had gone through, but Team Boning Knife was like a ticking time bomb that could explode anytime. Letting them join at this juncture might actually bring harm to them instead.

    ¡°Miss Zhou, please believe me. My team is really not taking in any new members now,¡± said Su Jin solemnly as he looked straight into her eyes.

    She was very disappointed when she heard how serious Su Jin was, but nodded quietly. Su Jin went on, ¡°I know why you want to join my team. That way, you won¡¯t have to worry about running into another asshole like that man during a Challenge, right?¡±

    Zhou Xinyu nodded. Su Jin said, ¡°Actually, as long as you¡¯re careful, it won¡¯t be too difficult to avoid douchebags like him. On the contrary¡­ my team is not in the best situation right now and we might be annihted anytime. If I let you, or even Mr. Zhao join us, that would be bringing harm to both of you. I hope you guys can understand.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t obliged to exin so much, but he decided to say it anyway. It was better to make a friend than to make an enemy, after all. Su Jin didn¡¯t want them to misunderstand and end up with two new enemies for nothing.

    Zhou Xinyu didn¡¯t seem to believe him at first, but when she thought about how he looked at her so seriously when speaking, she suddenly felt that Su Jin wasn¡¯t lying to her. She pursed her lips and nodded, then bowed deeply toward him.

    Su Jin was surprised for a moment, before a tiny smile appeared on his lips. *<i>Why do people help others?*</i> he thought. Was it because helping each other was to be expected? Or because we have been taught to do so as children? Probably not, as far as Su Jin was concerned. For him, showing a little kindness and getting some in return was enough to satisfy him.

    They were still waiting for the other two teams to return, so Su Jin took the time to give Zhou Xinyu a lesson on how to survive the Handbook¡¯s universe. He used his past experiences in Challenges to exin his general thought process when faced with a crisis.

    ¡°Shifu!¡± Zhou Xinyu bowed solemnly toward Su Jin, which stunned him for a second.

    ¡°Shi¡­ shifu?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡­ I really don¡¯t know how long I can survive this universe, but you¡¯re definitely part of the reason why I would be able to survive. So, regardless of whether you ept it or not, I¡¯m going to treat you as my shifu, my great teacher,¡± said Zhou Xinyu.

    Su Jin wanted to turn her down, but when he thought about how her experience in her first Challenge had been much worse than most, he decided against saying in the end. He just nodded slightly, then gave her a few things.

    ¡°This is an All Purpose Healing Pill, this is Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum, and I don¡¯t need this Tensan Silk Armor anymore, so I¡¯ll give them all to you.¡± Su Jin gave her a few items that he didn¡¯t need, hoping that these items could help her to survive a little longer during Challenges.

    His other team members followed suit. Situ Jin gave her his Demon Evoking Wand, since ording to him, he didn¡¯t need it anymore. Kano Mai gave her a very intricately designed handgun along with some special bullets. Wu Chen wasn¡¯t stingy either. He gave her a jade amulet and said that this item could defend her against an attack from supernatural forces.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect his team mates to give Zhou Xinyu these things. Kano Mai whispered to him, ¡°You didn¡¯t say anything, but you felt really smug inside when she called you shifu, didn¡¯t you? Since she¡¯s your disciple, it¡¯s only right of us to give her these things.¡±

    He rubbed his nose awkwardly. He had been extra nice to this youngdy, mostly because of what she had gone through during this Challenge. But since things hade to this, he wasn¡¯t going to refuse to be her shifu anymore.

    ¡°Alright now, my team members have already given you gifts as well, so if I don¡¯t take you in as my disciple, I¡¯d end up suffering a loss instead,¡± said Su Jin with augh. His expression grew serious again as he said, ¡°You might be my disciple now, but I¡¯m still not going to let you join the team. The reason is the same as before: if I let you join now, I¡¯d be bringing harm to you. The only thing I can do is to pray that you can survive your next Challenges. Once you¡¯re able to gain ess to Hell¡¯s Bar, you can look for me then!¡±

    Zhou Xinyu nodded. Just then, Angel suddenly got up. Her eyes bulged furiously as she yelled loudly, ¡°These damned dragons! It turns out that our family members died a long time ago!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Su Jin as he walked over to where she was.

    Her eyes brimmed with tears as she said to him, ¡°Mypanions found an area at a far end of the Dragon Ind where bodies had been buried. It¡¯s filled entirely with human bones and we can sense that they were once rted to us!¡±

    Su Jin had a saddened look on his face, but he was secretly cheering inside. This meant that a fight among dragons was definitely going to happen.

    Just then, a dragon flew over with a gem in his mouth. ¡°That¡¯s the Dragon Soul Crystal!¡± Angel¡¯s expression changed dramatically. The dragon spat the gem out of his mouth, then died on the spot. His back was mostly broken and half his body was severely wounded. Blood flowed down his tail as hey motionlessly. It was such a tragic sight to behold.

    ¡°That¡¯s a LOT of curse energy in there. If the energy inside the gem explodes, any parties connected to it will lose their ability to move for a long time,¡± Fabian suddenly spoke up.

    Everyone turned to look at him and he quickly exined, ¡°I¡¯m majoring in magic curses at the Empire Magic Academy, so I¡¯m very familiar with the energy within this gemstone.¡±

    ¡°Magic curses? I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡± Angel shook her head. She had been one of the best wizards around when she was a human, but she had never heard of such a thing.

    Fabian replied, ¡°This is a field of study that¡¯s only been avable over thest ten years, and the Empire Magic Academy is the only ce that offers it in the entire continent. I¡¯m not surprised that you¡¯ve never heard of it before.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you said that if the energy inside explodes, we could lose our ability to move?¡± asked one of the fiery dragons.

    Fabian nodded. ¡°If a bit of your energies are stored inside here, then once it¡¯s released, all of you will not be able to move for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Thankfully, this thing is with us now,¡± said Angel with some relief. She looked at the dead dragon who had brought the gem to her with a grieved look on her face. ¡°Thank you for doing this wonderful thing for us, my brother.¡±

    Fabian had an awkward expression on his face as he added on, ¡°Um¡­ having the gemstone alone is useless. As long as the other party knows the right incantations, then once they¡¯re close enough to the gemstone and chants the right words, the energy inside the gem is still going to explode.¡±

    Everyone was too shocked for words. If that was the case, there was no way they were going to win this battle against the natural dragons.

    ¡°What if we destroy it?¡± asked Angel.

    ¡°It¡¯s no use. Destroying it will make it explode,¡± said Fabian.

    Just when Angel and herpanions had lost all hope, Fabian piped up again, ¡°But that¡¯s nothing to worry about. I can get rid of the curse energy inside this gemstone. It¡¯s not difficult.¡±

    Everyone was stunned for a moment before ring furiously at Fabian, which made him take a step back in fear. He hid behind Su Jin and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s wrong with them?¡±

    ¡°Next time, don¡¯t just show off your knowledge without telling everyone you actually have a solution first. Otherwise, this showing off might get you killed instead!¡± Su Jin shook his head. Before this, he had tried to get Fabian to stay behind in his vige. He didn¡¯t expect that bringing the young man along would turn out to be the key to resolving the problem of the Dragon Soul Crystal.

 Chapter 216: Slay The Dragons

    <h4>Chapter 216: y The Dragons</h4>

    Actually, Fabian had demonstrated his ability to remove curses much earlier, since he had sessfully broken the pact between Zhou Xinyu and that old timer. In fact, that pact was actually rather simr to the way this Dragon Soul Crystal had control over the humans turned dragons.

    Just then, a whooshing sound could be heard outside Angel¡¯s residence. Several natural dragons had flown over and they had surrounded her ce, ready for a battle anytime.

    ¡°Everyone, prepare for battle! Fabian, I¡¯ll count on you to break this curse!¡± Angel asked Fabian very sincerely, making this young magic academy student feel incredibly excited as he nodded his head vigorously.

    The humans turned dragons reverted to their dragon forms, roaring as they flew into the sky. They did not try to talk the dragons out of fighting andunched an attack immediately. They wanted to stall for time so that Fabian could break the curse.

    ¡°Are you able to handle this?¡± asked Su Jin with a frown. This crystal was going to be the key factor in this battle. If Fabian couldn¡¯t remove the curse then this battle was doomed to begin with. It would be easier for the owners to then focus on killing one dragon and end the Challenge.

    Fabian nodded confidently and said, ¡°Magic curses are different from traditional magic. It¡¯s formed by magic incantations and not magic power. As long as I can find the core of the incantations, then even a mere student of magic would be able to undo it. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve learned.¡±

    Su Jin gave him a pleased nod. ¡°In other words, you can handle this, right?¡±

    ¡°No problem at all.¡± Fabian nodded confidently. He held the Dragon Soul Crystal in his hands and sat down on the floor as he focused all his energies on breaking the curse inside the crystal.

    Back in the sky, the dragons from both sides were busy fighting each other. Kano Mai and the rest were ready to join in the fight, but Su Jin stopped them from doing so. ¡°Now is not the time yet.¡±

    ¡°Not the time yet? I don¡¯t think so. We just need to kill one dragon and the whole Challenge will end,¡± said Zhao Kai as he narrowed his eyes slightly. A messy fight like this was the best for finding a chance to end this Challenge. He just needed to follow behind one of the humans turned dragons, then give his enemy onest fatal blow and it would do the trick.

    But Su Jin red coldly at Zhao Kai and said directly, ¡°I¡¯ve made them turn against each other in order toplete this Challenge perfectly. If you ruin my ns at this juncture, I will not hesitate to deal with you ordingly.¡±

    Zhao Kai red right back at Su Jin. ¡°You have no right to tell me what to do.¡±

    ¡°I know, but I¡¯m not asking you to do me a favor. You can take this as a threat,¡± said Su Jin nonchntly. If the Challenge had just started, he wouldn¡¯t care about what Zhao Kai wanted to do. But now that he had spent so much effort and the possibility ofpleting this Challenge was in sight, he wasn¡¯t going to let Zhao Kai ruin his ns.

    Zhao Kai wanted to say more, but Kano Mai, Situ Jin, Wu Chen, and even Zhou Xinyu began to re at him too. Zhao Kai was stunned for a moment before heughed sadly and shook his head as he murmured,¡° I hope¡­ I hope this doesn¡¯t end up killing us all.¡°

    Just then, a beam of light shot out from Fabian¡¯s hand. A huge number of mysterious runes surged from within the Dragon Soul Crystal before dissipating before their eyes.

    Fabian¡¯s eyes flew open and he turned to say excitedly to Su Jin and the rest, ¡°I¡¯ve broken the curse! I¡¯ve broken the curse inside the Dragon Soul Crystal, so the humans turned dragons will not be curtailed by any external forces! They¡¯re free!¡±

    Su Jin smiled and nodded at Fabian. ¡°Wait here and don¡¯t go anywhere. Xinyu, stay here with him. Mr. Zhao, you can do whatever you like.¡± He turned to his team members and said, ¡°Alright! It¡¯s our turn now! Let¡¯s go y some dragons!¡±

    Kano Mai and the rest nodded in response. Su Jin dashed out and his team members followed behind him. Zhao Kai hesitated for a moment, but eventually chose to stay put.

    Su Jin, however, had not dashed out and leaped into the sky to join that battle. Instead, he was running away from where they were.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to y dragons?¡± yelled Wu Chen from behind Su Jin.

    ¡°Of course we are! But our target won¡¯t be these dragons. Our target is the leader of the dragons!¡± replied Su Jin in a loud voice.

    ¡°The leader of the dragons?¡± His three teammates were all a little taken by surprise by that answer. Situ Jin called out, ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too dangerous? That¡¯s the leader of the dragons, which means he¡¯s the best of the entire race. Creating trouble for him would be putting ourselves in too much danger.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not true. When we went to see the leader earlier, I had scanned his energy levels and found that he¡¯s very weak now.¡±

    ¡°Weak?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. If a human¡¯s body is like a bottle, then our energy is like the water inside this bottle. A normal human or living creature should have a bottle full of water. But when they¡¯re badly injured, weak, or close to death, the water inside will keep decreasing, because his energy levels are weakening over time. The leader of the dragons¡­ is in this situation now,¡± exined Su Jin.

    After Su Jin exined these things to them, his team members did not raise any further objections. They followed behind Su Jin, and they quickly came back to the cliff where the leader of the dragons lived.

    Su Jin and his team had justnded at the cliff when the white mist started swirling rapidly. The gigantic head belonging to the leader quickly appeared in front of them again.

    ¡°Are you trying to challenge my authority? I¡¯ve given you strength, life, freedom, yet you¡­ wait a minute!¡± The leader suddenly paused. His ck gem-like eyes widened with a start. ¡°You are not dragons! You aren¡¯t humans turned dragons! You are humans!¡±

    ¡°Your eyesight¡¯s not bad,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. He kept his hand on his Boning Knife, then summoned the Gift from the Gods and the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow.

    ¡°You people are the ones who caused this fight among the dragons.¡± The leader¡¯s voice suddenly calmed down.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± asked the leader.

    ¡°If I wanted to look good, I¡¯d say I¡¯m doing this for freedom and for justice,¡± said Su Jin with augh before his expression grew serious. ¡°But in reality, I¡¯m doing this toplete my mission.¡±

    ¡°Mission? What mission do you have? Who gave you such a mission?¡± the leader continued to demand answers.

    But Su Jin¡¯s response was oneunch of the Attack of the Demon Lord, which was apanied by Su Jin¡¯s voice in the leader¡¯s ears, ¡°To y a dragon!¡±

    Immediately after Su Jinunched his attack, Kano Mai, Situ Jin, and Wu Chenunched their attacks too. Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer started spewing bullets in all sorts of colors, while Situ Jin and Wu Chen summoned guns to shoot at the leader. They didn¡¯t have a lot of long range weapons, so guns were their best option, since they did a lot of damage with each bullet.

    A slew of attacks instantly hit the leader in the face, but while the Attack of the Demon Lord had sessfully left a wound on his face, the attacks from the other three had failed to hurt him in any way.

    Even so, these attacks were enough to anger the dragon. He was the strongest creature in this world, and you could even say that he was like the god of this world. But now, these lowly humans were trying to attack him. They had to be punished.

    ¡°You lowly worms! Angering me is the one thing you should never do!¡± roared the leader of the dragons. He rammed his own skull hard against the cliff with a tremendous amount of strength.

    Su Jin motioned to the rest to retreat and they quickly moved out of the range of the leader¡¯s attack. Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up at the same time. Since the mighty leader of the dragons, the most powerful creature of this world, had actually used nothing else but his own head to ram the cliff in an attempt to fight back, it meant that Su Jin was right in his assessment of the leader. The leader of the dragons was weakening day by day, and he was about to die.

    ¡°Attack with everything you have! He won¡¯tst long!¡± Su Jin leaped onto the leader¡¯s head. His psychokinesis was constantly keeping tabs on the leader¡¯s energy levels, so he could clearly see how the leader was doing as they fought. The leader¡¯s energy levels were slowly decreasing right now.

    Situ Jin mmed both palms against a shadow. Two shadows that looked just like him instantly jumped out from the ground and leaped onto the leader¡¯s head like Su Jin. One of the shadows suddenly transformed into Situ Jin, and if you looked carefully, you would notice that Situ Jin had exchanged ces with the shadow.

    The leader was slowly beginning to have trouble holding up against the bullets fired by Kano Mai and Wu Chen. These humans possessed a different sort of power from him, but it was equally powerful. Kano Mai¡¯s bullets, in particr, would make him feel more and more tired each time one hit him. But the most frustrating of all were the two men on top of his head.

    Su Jin held the Boning Knife and attacked the leader in a barbaric fashion. He stabbed the knife into the leader¡¯s head, then held the handle tightly and started running.

    The special thing about this knife was that it was extremely sharp. So, it was able to slice through the leader¡¯s skull even though it was incredibly hard. Meanwhile, Situ Jin focused on attacking the leader¡¯s weak point, which was his eyes.

    The leader spread his wings, using one to block the shots from Kano Mai and Wu Chen, while using the other to try and chase Su Jin and Situ Jin off his head.

    Su Jin mostly ignored these attempts. If the wing came too close, he would just use his knife to sh at it. That would slice a hole in the dragon¡¯s already injured wings.

    Situ Jin was having an even better time. He would keep changing ces with the other two shadows nimbly and looked like he was a constantly leaping shadow.

    The battle did not take long to end. Su Jin had torn apart a lot of the leader¡¯s head, while Situ Jin had also caused irreparable damage to the dragon¡¯s eyes. It was as though these four mere ants were about to kill an elephant with their continuous biting.

    The leader panted heavily. He knew he was going to die soon. He never imagined that the ones who would eventually smite him would be humans, a creature as pathetic as a worm. He felt indignant about this, but he didn¡¯t have the energy to fight back at all.

    Actually, the leader of the dragons shouldn¡¯t have been killed this easily. He had a lot of dragons guarding him, but because the humans turned dragons had initiated a war, those dragons guarding him had to help in the war and couldn¡¯t guard him anymore. Also, the Dragon Soul Crystal that had been able to control the humans turned dragons had been rendered useless as well.

    The leader of the dragons had roared angrily in hope of attracting the attention of the dragons toe back and guard him, but the dragons were all too busy to do so. There were a lot of humans turned dragons, andpared to the natural dragons, these humans turned dragons were true warriors. They were once humans who had been able to y a dragon, after all.

    Now that they had the body of a dragon, they were able to fight even more fiercely than before. They quickly gained the upper hand, so it was impossible for any of the natural dragons toe back and protect their leader.

    The dragon smashed his head weakly against the cliff, and he was running extremely low on energy. Just then, Su Jin pulled the bowstring of the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow back. He aimed it at the leader¡¯s head and let go of the string. A roar wasunched from the bowstring and made a huge, bloody hole in the leader¡¯s head.

    Everything went ck immediately after that, and the voice signaling that the Challenge waspleted rang in everyone¡¯s ears.

 Chapter 217: What It Means To Be A Team

    <h4>Chapter 217: What It Means To Be A Team</h4>

    Level C Challenge ¡°Dragon¡±pleted perfectly: 3000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 4, 400 points

    Participation and Extent of Contribution: A+, 1000 points

    Completed Optional Quest to Destroy Entire Draconic Race: 1000 points

    Points Received: 5400

    Total Points: 5500

    Su Jin gave a pleased nod when he saw the calctions inside his Handbook. He was sure that he¡¯dplete the Challenge perfectly. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have put in so much effort to ignite a fight among the dragons.

    He looked through the list of items offered carefully. Equipment wasn¡¯t his first choice, since one had to choose to use them extremely cautiously with these new rules in ce. For Su Jin, the Boning Knife, the Gift from the Gods, the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow, ck Fire, and White Ash were the items he used the most. Most of them were meant for attacking an opponent, and the only defense item he had was the Gift from the Gods. Then again, Su Jin¡¯s physical body was already extremely strong. With the addition of the Ster Streams Heavy Armor, he didn¡¯t really need such a good defense item anymore.

    ¡°If only I could get more defense items that could defend me against the supernatural,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. But such items were very rare to begin with, which was why he was so surprised when he saw Wu Chen give Zhou Xinyu such an item.

    There were actually two items in the catalog that could defend one against the supernatural, but the price for these items were jaw dropping. The cheaper one already needed 3,000 points, which was enough to exchange for a Spirit Power weapon.

    In the end, Su Jin decided against exchanging his points for either of these. He nced at the Lucky Draw Bags and was unable to resist the temptation yet again. He used 1,400 points to exchange for them, and sadly, he was still unable to escape disappointment.

    Out of the 14 Lucky Draw Bags, he ended up with 12 that just contained a note to thank him for trying. Only two of them actually contained something.

    ¡°An All Purpose Healing Pill.¡± Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched in annoyance. He had just given hisst one to Zhou Xinyu and another box of it appeared in this bag. Just like thest box he had, there were a total of three pills inside.

    At the same time, he wasn¡¯t too upset about it, since this item was quite rare. He had gone through several Challenges now, but it had only appeared in his catalog once. To be able to get one of these in one out of 14 Lucky Draw Bags was considered enough for him to break even.

    But the other item really left him speechless. It was a priceless painting: the Mona Lisa.

    The writeup on the item was very simple as well: A priceless piece of art and one of the best art pieces in human history! It seems this one is genuine!

    Su Jin sighed heavily as he looked at the painting. This waspletely useless to him. Even if it were really the genuine Mona Lisa, he couldn¡¯t possibly exchange this for money. He couldn¡¯t possibly let this surface in the real world.

    He put away the All Purpose Pill and the Mona Lisa, then proceeded to the team¡¯s Hell Domain. The other three were already there. They stood up and walked over when they saw him enter the ce.

    ¡°Challengepleted perfectly! That¡¯s amazing!¡± Wu Chen immediately gave Su Jin apliment with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve gone through so many Challenges and I¡¯ve only managed toplete one Level D Challenge perfectly. And that was possible only because I had met a really incredible strategist. I didn¡¯t expect toplete a Level C Challenge perfectly not long after joining the team.¡±

    Kano Mai smiled and said, ¡°Our team leader is a really incredible strategist!¡±

    Su Jin quickly interjected, ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a hurry topliment me. Actually, this Challenge wasn¡¯t that difficult to begin with. The way topleting this Challenge had some oveps with the optional quest, so you can say we had a lucky streak!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being a little too modest?¡± said Kano Mai with augh.

    But Su Jin responded solemnly, ¡°I¡¯m really not being modest. I suppose the Handbook was trying to help everyone get used to the changes in future Challenges, so I think many others would be able toplete their Challenges perfectly too.¡±

    The other three felt that he really wasn¡¯t just trying to be modest after he had responded so solemnly. After giving it some thought, Wu Chen said, ¡°Are you saying that¡­ this Challenge isn¡¯t difficult enough?¡±

    ¡°Of course there¡¯s some level of difficulty, but the entire process seems to have beenid out in front of us, including how I found out the difference between natural dragons and humans turned dragons, how a fight among the dragons started¡­ Fabian¡¯s appearance looked pre-arranged even. I felt like I was ying a first person shooter with an NPC specially designed to help us. We just needed to follow the system¡¯s instructions,¡± said Su Jin with a glum face.

    The other three were a little stunned. Wu Chen smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Jin, could you¡­ could you not make it sound like it was so obvious? We didn¡¯t notice any of this at all.¡±

    Su Jin blinked in surprise and burst outughing when he saw the annoyed looks on his teammates¡¯ faces. ¡°I can¡¯t me you guys. You guys aren¡¯t in charge of strategizing, so it¡¯s alright if you didn¡¯t notice this. But if I failed to notice this despite being the team¡¯s strategist, I would have failed at my job as well.¡±

    Kano Mai suddenly piped up, ¡°Jin, if¡­ I¡¯m just putting this out there¡­ if there¡¯s anything we could help with, could you tell us directly?¡±

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t understand what Kano Mai was trying to say.

    ¡°I know what Mai is trying to say. Going through a Challenge with you is a worry-free experience, but it also makes us feel¡­ somewhat useless. It¡¯sfortable to live without having to think about how to survive, but give us something to do whenever possible, will you?¡± said Wu Chen with a smile.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t realize that his actions would make the rest feel this way. He smacked his forehead after thinking about the way he behaved during Challenges.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I didn¡¯t consider this part! It¡¯s true that I shouldn¡¯t be the one deciding on everything. We¡¯re a team, so we ought to y our part and work hard together,¡± said Su Jin very seriously.

    Before this, he had already thought about how he had to have a team of very formidable members because he had to fight Shen Wu in the future. But once a Challenge started, he subconsciously started to take on every responsibility. While this didn¡¯t really matter in low level Challenges, such behavior would end up killing the rest if they ran into another high level Challenge like All Have Sinned.

    It was true that doing everything himself could help his team to get through a Challenge safely. But if they were faced with a situation where Su Jin was unable to resolve it by himself, his teammates might end up being at a loss because they didn¡¯t have any experience in handling crises. That would most certainly get all of them killed.

    The other three allughed merrily after getting Su Jin to promise to include them. They weren¡¯t being cheeky: they knew deep down that as a team, they had to use their abilities to their fullest potential. That would make the teamplete and truly formidable.

    They then turned their attention to the item catalog in the Team Hell Domain. As they slowly flipped through the catalog, Wu Chen suddenly gasped and stared at one of the items in disbelief.

    ¡°The Heart of a Traveler!¡± Wu Chen¡¯s eyes were round and wide, as though he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing.

 Chapter 218: The Heart Of A Traveler

    <h4>Chapter 218: The Heart Of A Traveler</h4>

    The Heart of a Traveler was a ck gemstone that was only about the size of a pigeon¡¯s egg. If you looked carefully at it, you would realize that the ck color wasn¡¯t the actual color of the gem but a wisp of ck mist that kept swirling about on the inside of the gem, which made it look very mysterious indeed.

    ¡°What is the Heart of a Traveler?¡± asked Situ Jin curiously.

    Wu Chen licked his lips and kept his eyes on the gem, as though he were afraid that it might grow legs and escape. He took a moment to sort his thoughts out, then said, ¡°Over the past few years, in order to find out more about the various treasures required to revive the dead, I put a lot of time and effort into finding out more. As a result, besides finding out a lot about the items I was particrly interested in, I also understood more about other types of treasures.

    ¡°ording to the way the Handbook ssifies weapons and equipment, the Heart of a Traveler isn¡¯t even as good as the lowest ss of items. But¡­ this item is able to fully metamorphosize during a special Challenge, and this is a Challenge that any owner would be able to use points to exchange for ess to this Challenge.¡±

    ¡°What? You can exchange points for a Challenge?¡± Su Jin was surprised and Situ Jin looked equally stunned. Kano Mai, on the other hand, fell into deep thought.

    Wu Chen nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s called a Challenge, but it looks a lot more like a newbie tutorial. The owner will not be able to move at all throughout the Challenge and will only be allowed to move during the final minute before the Challenge ends. This is where the Heart of a Traveleres into the picture.¡±

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told us exactly what sort of item this Heart of a Traveler is,¡± said Su Jin with a pained smile.

    Wu Chen pped his forehead. He was simply too excited. He said to Su Jin, ¡°The Heart of a Traveler has a very simple use. It¡¯s basically a single person inter-universe teleportation device.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin was stunned as his eyes flew open and he grabbed hold of Wu Chen¡¯s arm.

    Wu Chen couldn¡¯t endure the pain at all. His face paled and he yelled at Su Jin, ¡°Ow ow ow! My arm¡¯s going to break! My arm¡¯s going to break!¡±

    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Su Jin apologized profusely to Wu Chen after quickly letting go of him.

    Wu Chen smiled sadly, then said with a frown, ¡°I heard that the leader of that organization of owner robbers has an item that can allow owners to travel from one universe to another. That¡¯s how they managed to rise so quickly within ourmunity, and that¡¯s the main reason why they¡¯ve been able to get so many owners to join them. The Heart of a Traveler is nothingpared to that item, since it only allows one person to travel. But that¡¯s already very valuable in itself.¡±

    Su Jin rubbed his palms and nodded gravely before turning his attention back to the Heart of a Traveler. For an item that couldn¡¯t even make it into the lowest ssification of items, this ck gemstone was actually very expensive, since it cost 1,000 points. But if it was able to fully metamorphosize, then its value would be worth a hundred times more.

    ¡°It looks like an ordinary gemstone. Is it really that incredible?¡± Situ Jin was still doubtful.

    Wu Chen exined, ¡°To be honest, everything I said earlier is ording to the information I gathered before. Whether it can really be such an item or whether it can still be such an item¡­ is anybody¡¯s guess.¡±

    ¡°Where did you get this information from?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°I got it from a much more senior owner. He was once one of the best and most famous owners, but he eventually became tired of this life, so he exchanged his points for freedom from the Handbook. I met him half a month before he left the Handbook¡¯s universe and got this information directly from him,¡± said Wu Chen in a serious tone.

    The other three immediately had a look of admiration in their eyes when they heard it was a senior who had freed himself from the Handbook. It might not be difficult for some to survive one Challenge and there were also many who made it past the ten Challenge mark. But to survive enough Challenges to get out of this cycle was almost unimaginable.

    It was very hard to save up points, after all. As owners went through more and more Challenges, owners would need more and more power along the way. Points were the currency for getting more power, which was why owners had to constantly use their points onrge amounts of equipment, skills, tools, and more, even if they hoped to leave this ce.

    To umte 100,000 points meant that an owner had to collect several times more points in order to have this much leftover. In short, an owner probably had to earn a few million points in order to have an unused bnce that was sufficient for leaving this ce.

    Besides needing points, the owners needed to want to leave too. Many of them didn¡¯t want to leave anymore after experiencing the powers that the Handbook could give them.

    ¡°That¡¯s really amazing. He actually managed to get out of this ce. What happened to him in the end?¡± asked Su Jin after giving somepliments.

    Wu Chen snorted. ¡°What else could possibly happen to him? After he lost the support of the Handbook, he became much weaker than before. He was hacked to pieces by his enemies three monthster.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened. They didn¡¯t expect such an ending for that senior.

    Su Jinughed and shook his head after thinking about it for a moment. ¡°That sounds about right, though. Which famous owner in the Handbook¡¯s universe wouldn¡¯t end up with a pile of enemies? Without the aid of the Handbook, one would be greatly weakened. Getting killed by your past enemies shouldn¡¯te as a surprise.¡±

    The others fell silent. All of them had their own reasons for remaining as owners, but all of them did hope that they could get out of this cycle one day. They were dismayed to hear that one who actually made it out of this cycle ended up this way.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not think about such things now, since they¡¯re not useful to the current situation. What must we do in order for the Heart of a Traveler to metamorphosize?¡± Su Jin asked Wu Chen after he emptied his head of all these negative thoughts.

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. When the Challenge is about toe to an end and the owner is able to move freely, you just need to throw the Heart of a Traveler into a spring, then pull it out again,¡± exined Wu Chen.

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± They were all a little surprised.

    Wu Chen nodded. ¡°It sounds simple, but if you didn¡¯t know about this beforehand, you wouldn¡¯t throw a seemingly useless gemstone into a spring and take it out again.¡±

    They nodded in agreement, but they also started wondering why that senior had done such a thing back then. But it wasn¡¯t the time to make wild guesses now. Su Jin spent 1,000 points on the Heart of a Traveler, and so did Wu Chen, Situ Jin ,and Kano Mai. An item that could teleport one from one universe to another was extremely rare after all. And if they got into trouble in their own universe, they could use this to escape to another one.

    Besides that item, there was nothing else worth exchanging for in the catalog. Su Jin gave Inverted Scales, the Guiding Object forpleting the Challenge perfectly, to Wu Chen. Wu Chen had learned some magic and the short Challenge wasn¡¯t enough for him to learn everything there was. This Guiding Object was perfect for him to return to the world of dragons to learn more.

    Wu Chen¡¯s face lit up when he saw the Guiding Object. He hadn¡¯t been able to learn much from the short time he had with Fabian, so it was good for him to return right now and continue learning.

    The other three exchanged their points for personal training and went separate ways. Before this, they could help to train Situ Jin together, but now that Chu Yi was gone, this activity had be meaningless and nobody was interested anymore.

    After leaving the training area, Su Jin got himself a hot towel and put it over his face before letting out a long sigh of relief. His time in the Handbook was a very short time in the real world, but it felt like a long journey to him.

    Kano Mai returned to the real world at almost the same time as him. She had a special way of relieving stress, which was to cook all sorts of delicious food. While satisfying her own appetite, Su Jin benefited from living in the same house as her.

    After they finished a sumptuous meal, they said goodnight to each other and went to bed. Time passed by just like that until seven dayster. Kano Mai suddenly came to Su Jin with an upset look on her face.

    ¡°Mai, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Su Jin concernedly. It was clear from her expression that something bad had happened.

    She hesitated for a while, then said quietly to him, ¡°Something¡­ something¡¯s happened back home, so I have to go back for a while.¡±

    ¡°Back home? You mean your home in Japan?¡± He was quite surprised to hear this. He had been living under the same roof as Kano Mai for about a year now, but he had never heard her mention anything about her home back in Japan.

    Kano Mai nodded. Su Jin nodded and noticed that there was a suitcase next to her. She was already prepared to leave. But the more she behaved this way, the more Su Jin felt that it wasn¡¯t right to let her go back all by herself.

    ¡°Mai, what happened? Can you tell me exactly what happened?¡± Su Jin tried his best to make his expression look gentler.

    She hesitated for a while, but perhaps because she trusted Su Jin, she nodded slightly and said, ¡°It¡¯s like this. My family is a very influential family in Japan and we own a lot of assets. My grandfather just passed away and¡­ and before passing away, he arranged for me to marry someone. I need to go back and settle this.¡±

    ¡°An arranged marriage?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He didn¡¯t expect such a thing to be still around in this day and age. Even the rural areas in this country had already stopped doing this. He was surprised that the modern city Kano Mai was from still practiced this.

    He held his emotions back and asked, ¡°What are your thoughts?¡±

    ¡°Me? I don¡¯t know. But since it¡¯s arranged by my grandfather, I have to handle it properly. After all¡­ Grandpa was the one who saved my life back then,¡± said Kano Mai with a sad smile.

    Su Jin was getting confused. Did this mean that she was actually thinking of returning and getting married? It would have been alright with him if that man was someone she was truly in love with. But this was an arranged marriage with someone she had never seen before and she was seriously just going with it? That wasn¡¯t the Kano Mai he knew!

    ¡°Are you serious? You¡¯re just going with it? Mai, that¡¯s not the sort of person you are,¡± said Su Jin.

    Her gaze dimmed and she said in a low voice, ¡°What else am I supposed to do? I heard that this was thest instruction Grandpa gave before passing away. Unless¡­ unless I can find a better boyfriend than the man he¡¯s arranged for me to marry, I don¡¯t have any good reason to turn down this arrangement.¡±

    ¡°Why do you need some other reason? You don¡¯t like the man and that¡¯s a good enough reason! I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anybody in the world who can force you to do something you don¡¯t want to! They haven¡¯t asked me either!¡± said Su Jin with his eyes bulging.

    Kano Mai was stunned by his reaction before her face reddened in anger. ¡°And why should they bother asking you? Who are you to me anyway?!¡±

    ¡°Take it that I¡¯m your older brother! Will that do?!¡± Su Jin yelled back.

 Chapter 219: The Unfriendly Kano Family

    <h4>Chapter 219: The Unfriendly Kano Family</h4>

    In the end, Su Jin allowed Kano Mai to return to Japan, as long as he went everywhere with her. He initially contacted Situ Jin to ask him toe along as well, but Situ Jin was too busy to leave his post now. There were a lot of things waiting for him to attend to.

    ¡°You can¡¯te along, but surely you could send some folks over, right?¡± snapped Su Jin in a displeased voice.

    Situ Jin was now following a man who seemed to be an owner. He whispered into an earpiece, ¡°What sort of people do you want?¡±

    ¡°Someone from the government. I want her family to know that Mai¡¯s under our protection!¡± said Su Jin.

    Situ Jin was silent for some time, and he only started speaking again several minutester. He also sounded like he had just been moving about very quickly.

    ¡°Someone from the government? You¡¯re someone from the government. Why should I send you anybody else?¡± Situ Jin was losing his patience. This wasn¡¯t a good time for Su Jin to call.

    Su Jin paused and realized that Situ Jin was right. He was now an official member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, and he carried special papers given to him by Situ Jin. He could bring these papers to the embassy, and they would certify that Su Jin was really who he said he was.

    ¡°Then forget about sending people to me. Let me think about how else you could help me.¡± Su Jin stopped to think for a while, only to realize that Situ Jin was actually useless to him. There was nothing else he needed Situ Jin¡¯s help with.

    Su Jin had plenty of money, since it took very few Handbook points to exchange for a lot of actual money. If Su Jin exchanged all his remaining points for cash, he would be a millionaire.

    As for status, he was now an official member of the prestigious Department of Supernatural Affairs. If he wanted a sports car, he could use a few points to exchange for one. He didn¡¯t need to worry about security either. Even if he were faced with the best mercenary soldiers, he would still be able to defeat them all in a minute.

    ¡°After thinking about it, I realize you¡¯repletely useless!¡± Su Jin shook his head in disappointment and hung up, leaving one furious Situ Jin hanging on the other side.

    Once they boarded the ne, Su Jin closed his eyes to rest. Kano Mai couldn¡¯t help but look at Su Jin. She had allowed him toe along because he had promised to act as her boyfriend. It sounded childish, but¡­ she was happy to be his girlfriend, even if it was just for a few days.

    A few hourster, the nended in Tokyo¡¯s international airport. As a top cosmopolitan city of the world, Tokyo was quite simr to S City. But of course, that was only on the surface. S City had be one of the world¡¯s top cities now, and Tokyo wasn¡¯t as majestic inparison.

    There were people already waiting for Kano Mai after they had gotten off the ne. Just like what she told him, the Kano family was an influential one in this country. They had a foot in manufacturing, finance, and even the entertainment industry. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that they owned nearly half of Tokyo.

    ¡°Most people are picked up at the arrival hall, but your familyes to pick you up straight from the tarmac?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t think he was being old fashioned here. This was pretty unusual.

    Kano Mai replied awkwardly, ¡°Well¡­ the family funded the building of this airport, so nobody would stop them froming all the way in here. Nobody would dare to.¡±

    ¡°You guys are really rich,¡± remarked Su Jin. His points could be exchanged for a lot of money, but it certainly wasn¡¯t enough to build an entire airport of this size.

    ¡°Wee home, Miss.¡± An old man whose skin resembled dried orange peel bowed respectfully toward Kano Mai.

    She sighed and said, ¡°Uncle Ishida, there¡¯s no need for you to be so formal toward me, right?¡±

    ¡°We are on close terms, but I should not make use of that. There are some formalities that must be observed, no matter what.¡± Even though the old man said that, it was obvious from his expression that he was really happy that Kano Mai favored him.

    Kano Mai shrugged and introduced the old man to Su Jin. ¡°This gentleman here is Mr. Ishida Shouichi, who has been taking care of me since I was a child. Uncle Ishida, this is my boyfriend from China. His name is Su Jin.¡±

    Ishida Shouichi¡¯s previously genteel gaze suddenly hardened when he turned to look at Su Jin. He was clearly not going to be as friendly to Su Jin.

    ¡°Mr. Su, wee to Japan.¡± Ishida Shouichi stretched a palm out to shake Su Jin¡¯s hand.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t give it a second thought and reached out to shake the old man¡¯s hand. But once he did that, the old man suddenly increased his grip strength. This was a very strong grip. If Su Jin were an ordinary person, this would have been enough to break his palm.

    Su Jin raised his eyebrows slightly. If the man in front of him were a young man, then he might have assumed that the young man had something for Kano Mai and was doing this out of jealousy. But he didn¡¯t understand why an old man would do such a thing.

    His expression did not flinch and he did not even try to pull his hand back, which surprised Ishida Shouichi instead. The old man knew how strong his grip was. He could even crush a rock with his bare hands. Yet, Su Jin had no reaction whatsoever. If this was truly Su Jin¡¯s hand and not a fake hand, then it meant that this young Chinese boy was no ordinary person.

    ¡°Mr. Ishida¡¯s grip is really firm, just slightly sweaty,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He flicked Ishida Shouichi¡¯s palm with one of his fingers and made the old man feel like he had been poked by a spear, so he immediately pulled his own hand away first.

    ¡°Are you a martial artist?¡± asked Ishida Shouichi instinctively.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t say anything and just smiled faintly. Kano Mai quickly cut in, ¡°Alright now, Uncle Ishida. I think the rest of the family must have been waiting for a long time, so let¡¯s go home first.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, Miss is right. Let¡¯s go back now,¡± said Ishida Shouichi with a friendlyugh. But he would nce at Su Jin from time to time, and was clearly very wary of the young man.

    Su Jin walked alongside Kano Mai in a rxed manner. He found Ishida Shouichi¡¯s reaction very strange. Logically speaking, there was no reason for the old man to treat him like an enemy. It wasn¡¯t as if Kano Mai were his own daughter. And even if he was actually romantically interested in Kano Mai, he was really too old for her. In that case, there must be some other reason why the old man was treating him like this.

    ¡°Does it have something to do with the man whom Mai is supposed to marry?¡± wondered Su Jin. But it didn¡¯t really matter to him. None of the family¡¯s schemes could possibly be a threat to him. If threatened, he would just fight them off.

    Ishida Shouichi had brought along a few dozen people, so there were more than ten cars in total. They were all Japanese cars, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure what model these cars were. Before bing an owner, he couldn¡¯t afford a car. And now, he didn¡¯t need one, so he never bothered looking into them.

    The old man led Kano Mai to the luxury car right in front. Su Jin took a step forward but was stopped immediately.

    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m sorry but this car is specially meant for Miss Mai. Please take that car instead,¡± said the bodyguard who stopped Su Jin in a very solemn voice as he pointed to a rickety car that looked ready to be scrapped anytime.

    Meanwhile, Kano Mai had already gotten into the car, followed by Ishida Shouichi. She said to the old man, ¡°Uncle Ishida, leave some space for my boyfriend too.¡±

    ¡°The Kano family has more than one car and it¡¯s not appropriate to make a guest squeeze into a car. That would not look good on us as the host. He will take another car by himself,¡± said Ishida Shouichi with a friendly smile. Kano Mai epted his response without much thought and had no idea that Su Jin had been stopped from getting into the car.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow, but since he was here to lend Kano Mai support, he figured that it was alright to lie low for the time being. So, he turned around and got into the rickety car that the bodyguard had pointed to.

    ¡°What a lousy fellow. I can¡¯t believe trash like him even dreamt of getting together with Miss Mai. He can dream on,¡± muttered the bodyguard after leading Su Jin to the rickety car. He spat violently on the ground and red disdainfully at Su Jin.

    Thankfully, the engine of the rickety car could still start. The only problem was that it couldn¡¯t go as quickly as the other cars and was soon left behind. If Su Jin were a passerby looking at this line of cars, he wouldn¡¯t have thought that this car was actually part of the same fleet.

    Half an hourter, Su Jin finally arrived outside a Japonesque estate. The cars at the front of the fleet had clearly arrived quite some time ago, since they were all parked neatly and there wasn¡¯t a single person inside them. There were several other luxury cars parked around the estate and Su Jin¡¯s sharp hearing could pick up the sounds of a dance party happening inside the main building. It was probably a party to wee Kano Mai.

    Su Jin got out of the car and walked toward the main gate, but was stopped before he could even get past the main gate.

    ¡°Sir, the Kano family is having a private party inside. We cannot let you in without an invitation.¡± Two men stood in his way in front of the main gate, and Su Jin was pretty sure they were doing this on purpose, because he could see the disdain and mocking look in their eyes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who told you to block my way, but I would like to warn you guys that letting me go in would be the better choice,¡± said Su Jin calmly. ¡°Otherwise, you¡¯re going to have trouble exining things when the family¡¯s Young Mistresses out.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Please go ahead and call the family¡¯s Young Mistress to let you in then!¡± said the two men with a snort.

    Su Jin was in a bit of a difficult situation. He was at Kano Mai¡¯s home, so it was not nice for him to get into a fight here. He used his phone to call Kano Mai, but there was no signal.

    ¡°Phone signals have been blocked?¡± Su Jin was a little surprised. He scanned the building in front of him and figured that some equipment to block phone signals must have been installed somewhere nearby.

    But he didn¡¯t panic and just shut his eyes. The two men immediatelyughed at his actions and said, ¡°Sir, are you too embarrassed to face the world after your lies have been exposed?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just calling on the family¡¯s Young Mistress toe out and let me in,¡± said Su Jin with a shrug.

    The two of them sniggered. They didn¡¯t care who Su Jin was. He was a foreigner in a foreignnd, after all.

    ¡°Aha! Someone¡¯s here!¡± said Su Jin with a smile as he suddenly looked toward the main gate.

 Chapter 220: Kano Yuuko

    <h4>Chapter 220: Kano Yuuko</h4>

    The main gate opened and Ishida Shouichi came out with a smile on his face. He continued smiling as he apologized to Su Jin, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Su. I actually forgot all about you. It is an oversight on my part, I am very sorry.¡±

    Ishida Shouichi made himself seem very apologetic and humble as he immediately said sorry to Su Jin and looked very sincere about it, but Su Jin merely scoffed inwardly. If he hadn¡¯t used his psychokinesis to contact Kano Mai and Kano Mai hadn¡¯t told Ishida Shouichi toe out and fetch him, he was probably going to stand out here all day.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Can I go in now?¡± Su Jin smiled nonchntly. He was here to support Kano Mai, so even though her family wasn¡¯t nice to him, he was willing to look past that. Of course, there was a limit to how much he was willing to look past. Ishida Shouichi and all these other people could continue pushing the boundary and pressing his buttons. Once he lost patience with them, they were going to be beaten so soundly so quickly, they wouldn¡¯t even have the time to cry.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Ishida Shouichi smiled. His smile was so gleeful, as though he was happy to have made Su Jin¡¯s life difficult.

    The two men at the gate moved aside to let him pass, but before he could take his first step forward, more trouble came his way.

    ¡°Who said he could go in?¡± said an agitated voice in Japanese. The voice belonged to a youngdy. Su Jin turned to look and saw a 17 or 18 year old girl staring disdainfully at him.

    ¡°Miss Yuuko.¡± Ishida Shouichi walked over immediately and introduced her to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, thisdy is the third daughter of the Kano family, Miss Kano Yuuko. She said¡­¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to trante what she said for me. I can speak Japanese too,¡± said Su Jin in Japanese. He had undergone foreignnguage training in his Personal Hell Domain and had learned Japanese a long time ago. He just hardly used it since he always spoke to Kano Mai in Mandarin.

    Ishida Shouichi was a little surprised by this. To him, Su Jin was just some lucky gigolo whom Kano Mai had taken a fancy to. He didn¡¯t expect this young man to actually learn to speak Japanese so fluently in order to gain his Young Mistress¡¯ affection.

    Su Jin had no idea that the old man thought of him as nothing more than a gigolo. If he found out, he wouldn¡¯t know whether to be happy or sad. Su Jin wasn¡¯t considered handsome. At best, you could just say his facial features were proportionate. But after going through so many Handbook Challenges and everything he had experiencedtely, there was a strange change in the way he carried himself.

    In particr, his psychokic powers made him seem a little flippant and somewhat carefree. It wasn¡¯t surprising for Ishida Shouichi to mistake him for a gigolo.

    ¡°Miss Yuuko, this is Mr. Su Jin. He¡¯s from China and he¡¯s Miss Mai¡¯s¡­ friend, so it would be a little inappropriate to not let him go in.¡± Since Su Jin turned out to be able to understand Japanese, Ishida Shouichi wasn¡¯t going to stupidly say something awful in front of Su Jin.

    Kano Yuuko nced at Su Jin. She agreed that this young man gave off a different sort of aura, but so what? It took more than aura to be a son-inw of the Kano family. As far as she could tell, this weak looking fellow wasn¡¯t up to standard.

    ¡°A son-inw of the Kano family doesn¡¯t have to be particrly capable right now, but he ought to have a minimum level of ambition and boldness. After you were barred from entering, you just stood out here and waited for my older sister to fetch you. Such a useless man doesn¡¯t deserve my sister.¡± Kano Yuuko spoke very directly and made it clear that she thought of him as a useless weakling.

    Su Jin rubbed his nose and smiled. ¡°And what do I have to do in order to meet the standard? If I had fought those guards, wouldn¡¯t you say that I¡¯m a rude barbarian from the countryside who doesn¡¯t deserve your sister?¡±

    He could tell immediately that Kano Yuuko was just trying to make things difficult for him, so no matter what he did or said, she was going to paint him in a negative light.

    She scoffed and said, ¡°If you fought those guards? The Kano family guards are the best fighters in all of Japan and they¡¯ve all undergone very strict training. And you think you¡¯re a match for them?¡±

    Su Jin shrugged and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to stand here and argue with you all day. The eldest daughter of the Kano family has invited me in. Are you really going to stand in my way?¡±

    ¡°The eldest daughter of the Kano family? I¡¯m a daughter of this family too. Mai¡¯s instructions are valid, but aren¡¯t my instructions valid too? I¡¯m going to say it right now: the Kano family does not wee you.¡± Kano Yuuko sneered at Su Jin. To her, Su Jin was nothing more than a piece of trash who was weak, shameless ,and was hoping to gain reputation, wealth, and power through her older sister. Such a man was not qualified to even walk into her house.

    Su Jin shook his head. Was this girl stupid or something? She had made the situation so awkward now, but if he got Kano Mai toe out now, this youngdy was definitely going to end up apologizing to him instead. The more she made things difficult for him, the more embarrassing it was going to be for her.

    ¡°Of course, you couldin about me to my sister. That¡¯s what a weak man does best, right?¡± said Kano Yuuko in a mocking voice.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched. This youngdy wasn¡¯t all that stupid after all. It had only taken her one sentence to throw him into a dilemma. He could go ahead and call Kano Mai toe out and resolve this situation, but if he did that, he would be the weak man that this girl spoke of. Being mocked by this girl made Su Jin very annoyed indeed.

    ¡°So, what do you think would be the best way for me to join this party without looking like a weakling?¡± asked Su Jin half-jokingly.

    ¡°Do you really have to ask me? Didn¡¯t you say you could fight the guards?¡± Kano Yuuko took a step backwards and got the two guards to take a step forward.

    The two guards immediately got into a fighting stance. They were employed by the Kano family, and Kano Yuuko was considered a high ranking family member. Her instructions were the same as an order from the family.

    Su Jin shook his head. He had hoped to quietly and calmly apany Kano Mai during her trip home, but clearly, things were not going the way he had hoped. Sometimes, it was easier to solve a problem with violence.

    ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t hold back anymore.¡± The look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes hardened as he charged at the two guards.

    Kano Yuuko and Ishida Shouichi followed Su Jin, but by the time their gaze caught up with Su Jin, the two guards were already lying on the ground and Su Jin was dusting his hands off.

    ¡°It¡¯s over?¡± Kano Yuuko could hardly believe her eyes. How could the fight end when it hadn¡¯t even started? How did the two guards end up sprawled on the ground? The Kano family guards were the best fighters in Japan, and they could fight ten men by themselves. How could such a weak looking man like Su Jin have knocked them out in an instant?

    Su Jin didn¡¯t care about what Kano Yuuko or Ishida Shouichi thought of him. He marched past them and walked into the estate, leaving both of them to stare at the two guards in shock.

    ¡°What just happened? They¡¯ve both fainted.¡± Ishida Shouichi squatted down to take a closer look at the two men and confirmed that the two guards had been knocked out cold.

    Kano Yuuko was in a state of disbelief as well. After thinking about what could have happened, she said, ¡°Could he have used a drug of sorts, so the two of them lost consciousness immediately?¡±

    Ishida Shouichi froze for a moment before nodding. ¡°That is extremely possible. I myself know of several drugs that could make an ordinary fighter faint instantly.¡±

    Kano Yuuko felt a little more assured after Ishida Shouichi agreed that her guess was usible. *<i>So, he¡¯s just a clown who¡¯s used some underhand methods. But how dare he use such shameless methods in front of me*,</i> thought Kano Yuuko. *<i>This fellow is definitely a gigolo who¡¯s just hoping to make use of my older sister. I cannot allow him to stay by my sister¡¯s side.*</i>

    Meanwhile, Ishida Shouichi¡¯s gaze kept flickering. He had inspected the two unconscious men again and noticed that some digested food had shot out from their mouths, which meant that their stomachs could have been hit just before they lost consciousness. If Su Jin had drugged them, then even if this drug caused them to vomit, the food would dribble out of their mouths, not shoot out like this.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Could it be¡­ that this young fellow is really some expert Chinese martial artist?¡± Ishida Shouichi looked puzzled for a moment, but his gaze quickly became steady again. So what if Su Jin turned out to be a martial artist? This was the Kano family after all. Unless Su Jin was some outstanding grandmaster, a martial artist would still be defeated easily.

    By this time, Su Jin had already made his way into the party venue. He located Kano Mai easily since he had left a trace of psychokinesis on her, but she was now like a superstar, surrounded by arge group of elegant and ssy looking members of high society trying to butter up to her.

    He did not walk over to bother her and just found a ce to sit down with some food and drink. Kano Mai noticed him and was relieved to see hime in. She threw him an apologetic nce, but he just smiled and motioned to her that he was fine and she need not worry about him.

    Kano Yuuko and Ishida Shouichi entered the hall shortly after him. They both nced at Su Jin, but walked away from him. They didn¡¯t want to get into a conflict with him at the party itself.

    Instead, Kano Yuuko started walking toward another part of the hall that had gathered a lot of attention as well. A man in a ck hakama was standing there. A wooden sword hung from his belt, and he looked especially handsome. A lot of the wealthy youngdies kept looking at him, but he only smiled politely in return and did not do anything else.

    ¡°Tooru-kun!¡± called out Kano Yuuko affectionately as she approached him.

    He nodded and smiled at her. ¡°Miss Yuuko.¡±

    ¡°Tooru-kun, my sister is over there. Why aren¡¯t you going over to say hello?¡± asked Kano Yuuko with a big smile on her face.

    He smiled faintly and said, ¡°I heard that Miss Mai has brought her boyfriend back as well, so¡­ disturbing her at this time seems a little inappropriate.¡±

    Even though he had put it so nicely, there was nothing but contempt in his eyes. He had just received news that the man that Kano Mai brought back was merely a weak and bulliable young fellow.

    ¡°Humph, he¡¯s just a loser who lives off women. He can¡¯t bepared to Tooru-kun from the Miyamoto family. Besides, my sister will naturally go with the marriage arranged by Grandpa before he passed away. You are a son-inw of the Kano family!¡± said Kano Yuuko resolutely.

 Chapter 221: The Star Of Japan

    <h4>Chapter 221: The Star Of Japan</h4>

    Miyamoto Tooru was the most outstanding young man of this generation of the Miyamoto family. Japan split their martial artists into three different levels: the warriors, the masters and the grandmasters. In general, talented martial artists needed to train for ten or so years to qualify as a warrior, while bing a master would depend on how gifted they were and what sort of opportunities they had to develop further.

    Those who had the gift and opportunity could be called masters after about 30 years or so, and bing a grandmaster was even harder. One needed talent, hard work, opportunity, and excellent teachers, and yet, having all of these things still did not guarantee that one could be a grandmaster.

    Miyamoto Tooru started his training since he was seven, and even though he hadn¡¯t even trained for 20 years yet, he was already extremely formidable. Five years ago, he became master in kendo and was named the youngest master in Japan in thest century. He was also thought to be the one with the highest chance of bing a grandmaster in kendo in the future.

    The Miyamoto family¡¯s status in Japan was extremely high as well. They did not dabble in business nor politics. The thing that allowed them to enjoy such high status was kendo. The Miyamoto family was also called the guardians of the country. They had defended the martial artsmunity of the country and were loved by all citizens.

    Miyamoto Tooru was a kendo master as well as the brightest in his generation, so all attention had been on him since he was a child. He was their pride and joy and was well loved everywhere he went. That was also why Kano Mai¡¯s grandfather had chosen him to be her future husband.

    Kano Yuuko whispered, ¡°Tooru-kun, perhaps I shouldn¡¯t be saying this, but as my older sister¡¯s future husband, I think it¡¯s only right for you to help her deal with some of the troublemakers around her.¡±

    Miyamoto Tooru nodded slightly and smiled. ¡°Indeed. There are some situations that would be more appropriate for us men to handle.¡±

    Kano Yuuko did not have any of the rudeness or unreasonableness she showed Su Jin earlier. Her smile was adorable and sweet, so nobody would ever think she had any ill intentions.

    Miyamoto Tooru immediately headed straight for Su Jin, but Su Jin did not react at all. Su Jin had already overheard their entire conversation. Given his current levels of hearing, there was no way any conversation this close to him could escape his ears.

    He knew that the young man was here to create trouble for him, but he wasn¡¯t worried. This world valued strength and power. Once one had both, one became invincible.

    Su Jin had strength, and now that he was part of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, he had power too. Or at least given the current political situation in this world, there were times when a Chinese government official¡¯s words carried more weight than a Japanese government official¡¯s.

    Miyamoto Tooru stood in front of Su Jin and said arrogantly, ¡°Hello, sir. I hear you¡¯re Miss Mai¡¯s friend.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not her friend. I¡¯m her boyfriend.¡± Su Jin did not go around making trouble, but he was certainly not afraid of troubleing his way. Since this guy was here to bully him, he wasn¡¯t going to back down without a fight. So, Su Jin decided to go on the offensive.

    Just as he expected, Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s expression fell immediately after Su Jin called himself Kano Mai¡¯s boyfriend. He said in a frosty voice, ¡°Humph! I¡¯m Miss Mai¡¯s boyfriend. Who do you think you are?¡±

    ¡°Your words alone don¡¯t mean anything. Why don¡¯t you ask Mai if she thinks you¡¯re her boyfriend or if she thinks I¡¯m her boyfriend?¡± said Su Jin with a smirk, as though he was looking at an idiot.

    Miyamoto Tooru was angered by the look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes, but he held his temper down. As a member of the Miyamoto family, he had to have the resilience of a fighter but also the aura of an aristocrat. After all, the family had taken several generations to go from being just a family of martial artists to bing a family of high social standing.

    ¡°Like you said, your words alone don¡¯t mean anything. I am the one chosen by the Kano family, so Miss Mai will only marry me in the future,¡± said Miyamoto Tooru frostily, while his eyes were on the verge of spewing mes.

    Su Jin merely shrugged back at him. Just then, Kano Mai walked over. Miyamoto Tooru straightened his clothes and put on a warm smile.

    But Kano Maipletely ignored him. She took a paper napkin and started helping Su Jin to wipe his mouth, then said gently, ¡°Just look at you, eating so messily.¡±

    Miyamoto Tooru felt like he had just been humiliated. His fianc¨¦e had actually helped another man to wipe his mouth during such a party. That was no different from catching her cheating on him.

    ¡°Psst! You¡¯ve gone too far! This fellow is already on the verge of hacking me to pieces with his sword! What if your behavior agitates the wild beast inside him and he ends up slicing me into pieces?!¡± Su Jin used his psychokinesis to send a message to Kano Mai immediately. While Kano Mai was usually a sweet and considerate girl, she would never do something so intimate with Su Jin. She was clearly doing this to anger Miyamoto Tooru.

    ¡°Why does it matter? The only person in this universe who can defeat you is probably Xu Ran. He¡¯s not crazy enough toe all the way here just to make life difficult for you,¡± replied Kano Mai.

    Su Jinughed sadly. It was true that there weren¡¯t many in his universe who couldpare to him in terms of strength, but he didn¡¯t dare to im that Xu Ran was the only one who could defeat him. There were some people who liked training themselves up in secret, and the Handbook had been grouping them with owners from the same part of the world as them. There were definitely owners in other parts of the world, and he had no idea what their situation was like.

    ¡°Miss Mai, please watch your behavior. What you are doing now will damage the reputation¡¯s of both the Miyamotos and the Kanos,¡± said Miyamoto Tooru in a grim voice.

    ¡°He¡¯s right, Sis! You¡¯re Tooru-kun¡¯s future wife, so how could you behave like that around another man?¡± Kano Yuuko chimed in.

    Kano Mai red at both of them frostily, then focused her gaze on Kano Yuuko. ¡°Yuuko, back then, you felt that my presence here was affecting your development and blocking your spotlight. To repay Grandpa for bringing me up, I chose to move to China. Do not take my tolerance as fear. The Kano family grew to what it is today in my hands, so I can make it fall the way I made it seed.¡±

    Kano Yuuko was stunned for a moment before a look of anger glinted in her eyes. Just like what Kano Mai said, Kano Mai had been the brightest star in Japan and everyone only had eyes for her. That hurt Kano Yuuko deeply. She wasn¡¯t any less than Kano Mai. Why was everyone¡¯s attention only on her sister?

    The aggrieved Kano Yuuko had challenged and antagonized her older sister several times, and as the older one, Kano Mai knew what was making her younger sister so angry. So, she chose to take a step back and moved quietly to China so that the spotlight on her in Japan would dim quickly. That way, Kano Yuuko would be the new star in the eyes of high society like she wanted.

    But while it was true that humans were often forgetful and shifted their attention easily, some people and their achievements were simply too outstanding for them to forgetpletely. Even though they had turned their attention to something else while this person was away, their return would trigger something in their hearts and they would be obsessed with this person again.

    Kano Mai was one of those people. Her glorious achievements and aura were deeply embedded in the heads of the members of high society, so even though they had forgotten her temporarily while she was away, she instantly attracted attention upon her return.

    Kano Yuuko felt rage and indignation inside, but she froze when she heard Kano Mai talk about how the family had seeded because of what she had done.

    Why was Kano Mai always in the spotlight? Was it because she was pretty? But beauty faded with time. What made everyone focus on her was her capabilities, the way she worked.

    The Kano family was actually a third-rate family that barely made it as part of high society, and they were nearly chased out at one point in time. But all of this changed after Kano Mai came of age.

    Aftering of age, Kano Mai was put in charge of one of the Kano family¡¯spanies by the head of the family back then, which was Kano Mai¡¯s grandfather. Thatpany¡¯s sales shot up like a rocket within half a year.

    Kano Mai¡¯s head for business starting garnering attention. The head of the family slowly passed more and more businesses to Kano Mai, and in the end, regardless of the type of business, its performance would be outstanding as long as she was in charge. This made her the most powerful member of the family besides the head himself.

    As the family¡¯s status and position in society began to rise, Kano Mai¡¯s own status as the princess of the family also rose and she soon turned into the brightest star of the country. Moreover, she was very pretty, so there were a ton of men from rich and powerful families who wanted to be her partner. But because she was in a position of power in the family, she also had the right to choose her marriage partner. As long as she did not give anybody the green light, nobody could force her to do otherwise.

    This time, even though it was her grandfather who decided on this marriage just before passing away, it was actually only a suggestion. But her grandfather had passed away a little too suddenly, so his children¡¯s generation became very anxious to make this happen.

    At the same time, Kano Mai also understood where her family wasing from. A family of high standing needed not only money and influence, but they also needed fighting prowess to protect their family. In other words, they needed fighters like Miyamoto Tooru to keep anybody with ill intentions at bay.

    Every top family in the country had sufficient martial artists working for them, and having a kendo master was a must. Besides, if Kano Mai and Miyamoto Tooru really got married, then the Kano family would not only get a kendo master, but several other high level martial artists from the Miyamoto family, including a kendo grandmaster. If that happened, the Kano family would truly be the greatest family in the country.

    Kano Mai was well aware of all this and she wasn¡¯t angry about it. She was just disappointed. The generation above her was really not as good as her grandfather. What did they think was at the root of the Kano family¡¯s sess? Those businesses? Of course not. It was her. If the Kano family wanted to maintain their current position, what they needed wasn¡¯t Miyamoto Tooru. It was Kano Mai herself.

    At this point, Miyamoto Tooru suddenly withdrew the wooden sword on his belt and said to Su Jin, ¡°Sir, martial artists in this country value the path of an individual and strength. I don¡¯t care what sort of rtionship you have with my fianc¨¦e, but you have insulted my path today, so¡­ I will use my strength to take revenge. You shall pay for your arrogance with your blood!¡±

 Chapter 222: Before The Duel

    <h4>Chapter 222: Before The Duel</h4>

    Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s wooden sword was no ordinary sword. This was a sword made from a special sort of wood, then soaked in exclusively made tung oil before going through a great number of other processes. This was a wooden sword, but its price was even heftier than a good sword made from metal. Also, only the Miyamoto family knew how to make one of these, so you couldn¡¯t buy one even if you had the money.

    He pointed his sword at Su Jin, and the anger in his eyes was about to spew right out. If the hall weren¡¯t filled with aristocrats, he would have disregarded any manners required and attacked Su Jin by now.

    Su Jin nced at Kano Mai, but she only gave him an apologetic look in return. She didn¡¯t mind the fact that Miyamoto Tooru had just challenged Su Jin to a fight. No matter how talented an ordinary martial artist was, there was almost no way they could possibly evenpare to a veteran of Hell¡¯s Handbook. The sort of training and resources an ordinary martial artist had was nowhere near what an owner had ess to.

    ¡°So, if I defeat you, you¡¯d cancel your engagement to Mai?¡± Su Jin asked Miyamoto Tooru.

    Miyamoto Tooru hesitated for a while. His marriage to Kano Mai was a very important matter to both families. The Kano family would gain a powerful private army of sorts, while the Miyamoto family would stand to gain financially. They needed money to continue developing as martial artists too.

    However, the look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes agitated him. Su Jin didn¡¯t look the slightest bit worried about losing. Or rather, Miyamoto Tooru felt that Su Jin was certain he wasn¡¯t going to lose.

    He refused to allow another person to step all over his pride as a martial artist, so he clenched his teeth and nodded. ¡°Sure. If you can defeat me, then I will cancel my engagement to Miss Mai immediately. But¡­ I also want to draw up an agreement to fight to the death! The survivor of this duel shall be the winner, and the winner cannot be prosecuted or held ountable for the loser¡¯s death.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier? If I had known it was going to be so simple, we wouldn¡¯t have needed to go through all that bullshit earlier,¡± said Su Jin with a heartyugh. The solution to Kano Mai¡¯s problem turned out to be such a simple one.

    Kano Mai rolled her eyes at Su Jin, but Su Jin had just spoken in Mandarin and very few in the hall could understand it. At least Miyamoto Tooru didn¡¯t. But he could see from Su Jin¡¯s expression that Su Jin was definitely looking down on him.

    Kano Yuuko had great confidence in Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s prowess, so she immediately got someone to draw up an agreement. In less than 15 minutes, an agreement was ready. It was very detailed, including Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s request to add in the part about fighting to the death. In order to make sure Su Jin fully understood the agreement, it was also tranted into Mandarin.

    Su Jin nodded after looking through it once and signed it. But he asked in a puzzled voice, ¡°Why is the duel one dayter? Can¡¯t we start the duel right now?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, what an uncultured fellow you are. Tooru-kun is the most outstanding master among his peers in Japan, so he needs time to get ready before a duel and let everyone in this circlee here to watch the fight. All outstanding martial artists have to take a bath and change before a duel so that their minds and bodies are in their best state. You don¡¯t have basic knowledge and you¡¯re hoping to defeat Tooru-kun? Looks like I¡¯ve got to prepare a coffin for you in advance,¡± said Kano Yuuko as she threw Su Jin a disdainful nce.

    Kano Mai frowned slightly. She was clearly on a different side from Kano Yuuko, so she wasn¡¯t going to y nice anymore. She said frostily, ¡°Yuuko, please watch your attitude. When you speak to my boyfriend, I hope you can have some basic respect for him.¡±

    Kano Yuuko gritted her teeth. Deep down, she was actually still quite afraid of Kano Mai. Comparatively speaking, her jealousy, envy, and hate looked more like her way of covering up the fear in her heart.

    Just like what Kano Mai said, she could make the Kano family seed, and she could also turn the family back into that failing, third-rate family it once was. She could even cause the family to be kicked out of high society. Also, everything that Kano Yuuko had today was all thanks to Kano Mai¡¯s efforts.

    No matter how much the Kano family members disliked Kano Mai, they were unable to change the fact that Kano Mai was the family¡¯s pir of support. All of them had to rely on her to live.

    ¡°Let him get himself prepared then. We can start the same time tomorrow, right?¡± said Su Jin as he waved it off. When they fought didn¡¯t really matter anyway.

    Miyamoto Tooru red fiercely at Su Jin, then nced at Kano Mai before leaving the party without even looking back. After he had left, the party couldn¡¯t go on anymore either. This party was meant for him and Kano Mai in the first ce. Since one of them had already left, then it was time to end the party.

    The guests slowly took their leave and Kano Mai got Ishida Shouichi to prepare a room for Su Jin. It was very clear that Kano Mai was on Su Jin¡¯s side, so none of them, including Ishida Shouichi, dared to trip Su Jin up anymore. And based on Su Jin¡¯s behavior at the party, this young man didn¡¯t seem to be quite as cowardly as they had initially imagined him to be.

    ¡°He¡¯s actually dared to ept a challenge to a duel from Miyamoto Tooru, so that¡¯s pretty bold of him,¡± said Ishida Shouichi quietly.

    Kano Yuuko scoffed. ¡°He¡¯s bold? I think he¡¯s just dumb. He doesn¡¯t know how formidable Tooru-kun is. I saw with my own eyes how Tooru-kun trained at a huge waterfall. He could part the waters with just one hack of his sword! That¡¯s superhuman strength!¡±

    Ishida Shouichi nodded andughed. ¡°If the previous head of the family wasn¡¯t the one who arranged for this marriage, nobody else would know what to do with Miss Mai.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s just an abandoned baby that my grandfather picked up. Doing all these things to repay the family for saving her and bringing her up is only the right thing for her to do. But now, she¡¯s actually trying to take over a family that wasn¡¯t hers to begin with and spoke to me as though she¡¯s the head of the family. She has no idea¡­ the family is already prepared to wipe her name out. Bing Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s wife will be herst contribution to this family.¡± A fierce glint shone in Kano Yuuko¡¯s eyes.

    Kano Mai was an amazing woman who had made the Kano family powerful and enabled them to be the most influential family in the country, but she was not biologically rted to the family at all. She was merely a baby who the previous head of the family had picked up one day. When he was still alive, the family trusted Kano Mai and was willing to let her remain as part of the family. But now that the old man had passed on, the family had other ns.

    For example, the family wanted to make sure that the family¡¯s assets were always in the control of a real member of the Kano family. They made use of a passing remark made by the old man before dying to make up the current situation with the intention of marrying Kano Mai off to the Miyamotos. Once that happened, Kano Mai would be a member of the Miyamoto family, so she would have to give up any control she had over the Kano family assets, while the Kano family gained the support of the Miyamoto family. This was a great n to kill two birds with one stone.

    The news that a youngster from China was going to fight the most outstanding fighter of the Miyamoto family¡¯s younger generation spread like wildfire among the members of high society in the country. In fact, Miyamoto Tooru could even be considered the most outstanding fighter of his generation in this country. It only took half a day for people to even start collecting bets.

    Kano Yuuko had made sure that the duel was only going to be held a dayter precisely to allow time for these arrangements to be made. This was normal practice here, since martial artists held a rather awkward status in their society. They were good at fighting, so they were highly valued by the aristocrats but also despised at the same time. Yet when martial artists wanted a showdown, their duels were entertainment for the aristocrats, especially a fight to the death like this one.

    ¡°The Miyamotos are definitely going to win, right? A master this young is a genius that only appears once in a century after all. How could a youngster from China be his match?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. China is where martial arts started and they have produced many masters as well, even in this day and age. We might have a genius like Miyamoto Tooru, but there¡¯s no guarantee that China doesn¡¯t have someone like him too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity we were given such short notice, so there¡¯s no time to find out more about the opponent!¡±

    Simr conversations could be seen among members of high society. Everyone was looking forward to this duel. One was a genius from the reputable Miyamoto family, while the other was a mysterious young man from China who could possibly be an expert in martial arts.

    Meanwhile, inside the Miyamoto dojo, Miyamoto Tooru had just gotten changed into a brand new set of clothes. His expression was solemn. The family was doing very well and there was more than one kendo master in the family. But he was the youngest and the genius who had the highest chances of bing a grandmaster.

    Kano Yuuko was kneeling by his side. ¡°Tooru-kun, everything has been prepared. I¡¯ve also invited TV stations to do a live broadcast of the duel, so once you win the fight, that fellow will definitely be too embarrassed to cling to my sister!¡±

    Miyamoto Tooru nodded slightly. Kano Yuuko spoke again, ¡°Tooru-kun¡­ you don¡¯t have to take this so seriously. He¡¯s just an ordinary fellow. Given your prowess, defeating him would be a piece of cake!¡±

    Miyamoto Tooru had no expression on his face. He was a martial artist and the genius of the family, but the first words his father had for him on his first day of learning kendo was to never look down on any opponent. Putting all his effort into a fight and defeating an opponent that way was the right thing to do on his part and a show of respect to the opponent.

    Besides, throughout his conversation with Su Jin, he had never seen even the slightest bit of panic in Su Jin¡¯s eyes even though he was being challenged by a genius in martial arts. Assuming that Su Jin wasn¡¯t aplete fool, that meant that Su Jin had a trump card of sorts.

    So¡­ was Su Jin a fool? Miyamoto Tooru had no idea. But as a formidable martial artist, his instinct was to believe that Su Jin had a trump card. He believed in the words that his father taught him.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Kano Mai were chit chatting. They weren¡¯t very concerned about the duel that was happening the next day, not because Su Jin wascent and full of himself, but because they were no longer at the same level as an ordinary human. This was like a duel between a human and an ant. Surely the human didn¡¯t have to analyze and predict what the ant would do, right?

    ¡°Miyamoto Tooru is a kendo master, so he¡¯s definitely going to use a sword tomorrow. What about you? What weapon are you going to use?¡± asked Kano Mai with a smile.

    Su Jin scratched his head, then his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°You guys have boning knives too, right? Get me one!¡±

    ¡°A boning knife?¡± Kano Mai was stunned for a moment before nodding andughing. ¡°Sure, I can get you a boning knife, no problem. But Miyamoto Tooru is going to use a really good sword. Do you need me to make a boning knife out of some special metal?¡±

    ¡°Nah. If you want to focus on what the weapon is made of, then the one I always carry around is definitely the best one,¡± said Su Jin as heughed and shook his head.

 Chapter 223: Fight To The Death

    <h4>Chapter 223: Fight To The Death</h4>

    A martial arts arena was quickly filled with spectators. All the spectators were extremely important characters, members of Japanese high society. Any one of them was able to stir up a storm no matter where they went. But today, they weren¡¯t the stars. They were just spectators.

    Su Jin arrived at the arena first. Kano Yuuko was the one who decided on the venue and, neither Su Jin nor Kano Mai raised any objections. The venue itself wasn¡¯t really important, anyway. The more important part was the prowess of thepetitors.

    Su Jin changed out of his suit and into appropriate attire for a duel that the arena provided. The ck attire made Su Jin look more energetic, and he also found that this attire made it easy for him to move his limbs.

    A few momentster, Miyamoto Tooru arrived as well. His wooden sword had been reced by an actual samurai sword. The handle of the samurai sword looked extremely old, as though it had been fished out from a pile of antiques.

    Miyamoto Tooru walked toward Su Jin, then bowed slightly toward his opponent. Su Jin put one palm over his other fist in return. One used a traditional Japanese way of greeting while the other used a traditional Chinese way of greeting, but they both showed equal amounts of respect for their opponent.

    ¡°Mr. Su.¡± Miyamoto Tooru suddenly drew his sword from its sheath. The temperature in the arena mysteriously went down immediately after the de was exposed.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Su Jin was a little surprised. That samurai sword gave off the same aura as a Spirit Power weapon, except that it was probably a low level weapon. Could this samurai sword have been taken out of the Handbook?

    ¡°This sword is called Shuusui, or Autumn Water. ording to legend, this was brought to Japan during the Tang Dynasty and it is a family heirloom of the Miyamoto family. Even after it has gone through so many centuries, it remains extremely sharp. Cutting through skin and hair is nothing to it. May you be able to experience its sharpness today!¡± Miyamoto Tooru gently ran a finger down the blunt side of the de, making the sword ring at a pleasant pitch.

    ¡°That¡¯s Shuusui? I heard someone offered to pay ten billion yen for it but the Miyamoto family absolutely refused to sell it.¡±

    ¡°An excellent sword is a warrior¡¯spanion. No outstanding fighter would betray their ownpanion for the sake of money.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a really beautiful sword. I wonder if it¡¯ll look even more beautiful after being stained with blood¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s from the Tang Dynasty, so this sword was originally in the hands of the Chinese? Using this to kill someone from China couldn¡¯t be more appropriate!¡±

    The spectators in the arena were even more excited than the twopetitors. This sort of primitive, diator-style fight really got the crowd excited. That was why these members of high society were willing to pay any amount for a spot in the spectator stands.

    Su Jin motioned to Kano Mai and she brought over a boning knife wrapped in a white cloth. Miyamoto Tooru immediately furrowed his brow when he saw her present the weapon to Su Jin personally, but did not say anything. As a martial artist, the only thing he ought to focus on was his opponent and not someone else.

    Su Jin pulled off the white cloth around the boning knife and said calmly, ¡°This is a boning knife that I got just yesterday. It doesn¡¯t have any special history and hasn¡¯t gone through centuries either, but¡­ it¡¯s also very sharp.¡±

    ¡°Haha! He thinks he can use a boning knife meant for ughtering pigs to fight a prized sword of the Miyamoto family? This guy definitely has a death wish!¡±

    ¡°Sheesh! I was looking forward to this fight because I thought the opponent was an amazing martial artist from China. I¡¯ve ced a lot of money on this duel!¡±

    ¡°Representative Yamazaki, I warned you earlier, didn¡¯t I? This young man is just a Chinese fellow whom nobody knows anything about, but you went ahead to bet heavily on him? That¡¯s really¡­ HAHA!¡±

    ¡°A boning knife?! Is this a joke to him? Is he trying to insult Miyamoto Tooru?¡±

    When the crowd saw Su Jin hold up a boning knife, they instantly went into an uproar. Other outstanding members of the Miyamoto family were watching from the front row as well, including Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s father, Miyamoto Takeshi, who was also the current head of the family. Miyamoto Tooru was the son he was proudest of, yet his son¡¯s opponent was going to fight with a mere boning knife. This made Miyamoto Takeshi frown deeply, since using such a weapon was certainly an insult to a kendo master.

    Miyamoto Tooru frowned as well. He was clearly a little surprised that Su Jin was going to fight him with a boning knife. He said in a frosty voice, ¡°Mr. Su, are you joking with me? If you are, I will give you a chance now to switch weapons.¡±

    Su Jin shook his head slightly and replied, ¡°When ites to things like weapons, you can use whatever feels best in your hand. Your Shuusui is a famous sword of historical significance and it¡¯s worth a fortune, while my boning knife is cheap: but the damage both of these weapons inflict are no different, don¡¯t you agree?¡±

    Miyamoto Tooru was too stunned to speak. He looked straight into Su Jin¡¯s eyes to find that Su Jin was serious about this. He decided against saying anything and took a step backward as he held his sword at waist level.

    ¡°It starts now!¡± dered Miyamoto Tooru in a deep voice.

    Immediately after he said those words, he raised his sword and swung it down. The force from the de swept across the floor of the arena. The difference between a warrior and a master was that a master was able to gather de qi, but not for long. If he wanted to injure his opponent, he would have to make sure the opponent was no further than three meters away.

    Su Jin was a little surprised. He didn¡¯t expect an ordinary person to be able to gather actual de qi from just cultivating long enough. But he just had to shift himself slightly and he avoided the de qi from Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s sword. In reality, Su Jin didn¡¯t even have to move. Even if de qi at this level hit his body, it would only have as much effect as wind hitting his skin.

    But in the moment that Su Jin took to move aside, Miyamoto Tooru took the chance to move closer to him. The weak de qi from his first move was actually to distract Su Jin. His truly fatal move was this close range attack while Su Jin was distracted.

    DING! Miyamoto Tooru used all his strength to swing his sword down. That was a move that was strong enough to lop the head off a rhinoceros. But he didn¡¯t hit his target. Su Jin stood in a very awkward stance and held his boning knife in front of him, sessfully blocking the attack.

    <i>That was fast!</i> Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s expression shifted. The way Su Jin had blocked this attack told him that this young Chinese man was no ordinary fellow who didn¡¯t know any martial arts. In fact, this young man was very formidable.

    After Su Jin blocked the attack, his next move was to instinctively swipe it at his enemy. He had gone through many, many hours of practice in his Personal Hell Domain, so if a martial artist challenged him to a fight with only martial arts, most martial artists in the real world were no match for him. You could even say that martial arts ran in Su Jin¡¯s veins now.

    <i>What?!</i> Miyamoto Tooru did not expect this attack from Su Jin at all. Su Jin¡¯s attack hade from a very odd angle and Miyamoto Tooru wasn¡¯t sure how to defend himself.

    ¡°HA!¡± Miyamoto Tooru let out an angry shout and did a somersault on the floor away from Su Jin¡¯s knife in order to get away from him.

    All the spectators in the stands were too stunned for words. This wasn¡¯t the first time they were watching such a duel, but it really wasn¡¯tmon to see one somersault like that.

    Miyamoto Takeshi widened his eyes. The sword fighting techniques that the Miyamoto family practiced emphasized on constantly attacking, so they didn¡¯t have a lot of defense techniques. But as far as he could see, Su Jin¡¯s attack looked pretty ordinary. Why would his son have to resort to tumbling on the floor in such an unmorous fashion so as to get away?

    He had no idea that his son actually had no choice but to do that. The angle Su Jin had chosen had made it impossible for Miyamoto Tooru to defend himself in any way. If he had tried using his sword to block the attack, he wouldn¡¯t have seeded and Su Jin would have seeded in stabbing him instead.

    In fact, Miyamoto Tooru was a genius indeed. Somersaulting away like that was pretty much the only way to get out of this unscathed.

    Su Jin did not pursue Miyamoto Tooru and waited for his opponent to get up and catch his breath. After Miyamoto Tooru got up from the floor and caught his breath, goosebumps appeared all over his body. That somersault had been an instinctive reaction, and that same warrior instinct told him that Su Jin¡¯s attack had been incredibly terrifying.

    ¡°Is this a coincidence? Or is he really that capable?¡± Cold sweat appeared on Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s forehead. It had to be a coincidence, he told himself. That attack had looked so casual, yet it had been so fatal. That wasn¡¯t a calcted attack. There was no school of martial arts that could allow one to immediately detect every angle of defense their opponent had in that instant. There would be some angles that were missed.

    With this in mind, Miyamoto Tooru began to calm down again. That was just a lucky attack, and he had merely been unlucky.

    ¡°You wanna continue?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s calm state of mind was riled up again. He realized that he couldn¡¯t go on like this. He had to be on the offensive. Regardless of whether that was a lucky attack earlier or not, he had to corner Su Jin and not give Su Jin any chances.

    With that, Miyamoto Tooru leaped out again. He increased his alertness to its highest level and unleashed a dazzling number of attacks, as though he were a video game character doing a special move.

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing! He¡¯s truly the genius of the Miyamoto family!¡±

    ¡°What terrifying speed! What terrifying technique!¡±

    ¡°Miyamoto Tooru is definitely going to be a grandmaster in the future!¡±

    The spectators were in a frenzy and were floored by Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s torrential attacks on Su Jin. They were certain that if they were standing in front of Miyamoto Tooru right now, they would have been hacked to pieces.

    Kano Yuuko was even more excited. She didn¡¯t think that anybody could possibly survive Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s storm of attacks raining down on them.

    But as time passed, their expressions began to shift. Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s attacks were violent, swift and destructive, but the person he was attacking was dodging each and every attack very calmly. He looked more like a teacher testing his student on the moves he had learned.

    ¡°Right from the start, all of you thought that Miyamoto Tooru was definitely going to win. None of you have any idea that¡­ the result is going to be the exact opposite,¡± said Kano Mai with a sigh. Her gaze was filled with confidence in Su Jin. Then again, it wasn¡¯t really confidence. To her, this was a given.

    ¡°Humph! Tooru-kun is Japan¡¯s best¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only Japan¡¯s best. But the one he¡¯s up against is not someone whom tiny, tiny Japan can contain,¡± Kano Mai cut her sister off.

    Back in the arena, Su Jin shook his head in disappointment. From the start of the duel until now, the only thing that had surprised him was that wisp of de qi that Miyamoto Tooru had demonstrated right at the beginning. The rest was just disappointing.

    ¡°It¡¯s time this ended,¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    Miyamoto Tooru suddenly felt all his hair stand on end as he felt something in the air that made him terrified. He desperately tried to retreat, but his feet bumped into something.

    ¡°A fight to the death, was it?¡± Su Jin had suddenly appeared behind Miyamoto Tooru and whispered these words with a smile, as he put a palm on Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s back and pinned his opponent¡¯s hand down.

 Chapter 224: Disappointment

    <h4>Chapter 224: Disappointment</h4>

    Miyamoto Tooru felt a numbness down his spine, then felt a terrifying aura burst from inside him, like an angered panther.

    ¡°Huh? He¡¯s going to break through now?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s talent in martial arts was really remarkable. He could actually make a breakthrough from kendo master to grandmaster at this point where his life was in grave danger.

    ¡°He¡¯s about to make a breakthrough?¡± Miyamoto Takeshi had an ted look on his face. He didn¡¯t expect his son to be able to make a breakthrough at this juncture. His son was able to go past his limits and reach a higher level because he was faced with a very powerful opponent.

    If his son could finish this process, he would be the most astonishing genius in all of Japan in the past millennium. A grandmaster below 30? That was the making of a legend.

    But Miyamoto Takeshi knew that this process wasn¡¯t going to be easy. Making a breakthrough while fighting was dangerous because the enemy wouldn¡¯t give you the chance toplete this process. Besides, Su Jin¡¯s hand was already resting on Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Ha!¡± Miyamoto Takeshi gave a low shout and raised his sword as he leaped into the arena and charged at Su Jin.

    Everyone around him was shocked. The Miyamoto family was the representative of martial arts in Japan, so the most important thing wasn¡¯t the level of martial arts within the family, but the reputation and image that the family had built over the years. By springing a surprise attack on Su Jin like this, Miyamoto Takeshi was essentially sullying the name of his own family.

    And of course, Miyamoto Takeshi knew that. He knew that doing this was a great embarrassment to the family, but pride was worth nothing next to the possibility of having a grandmaster below 30 in the family. As long as Miyamoto Tooru could survive and make this breakthrough sessfully, the family would only grow in glory after this.

    Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s sword was more powerful than Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s. As the current head of the Miyamoto family, he was almost as powerful as a grandmaster. He just didn¡¯t expect his son to be one before he did. At the same time, Miyamoto Takeshi remained more formidable, since his son hadn¡¯t be a grandmaster just yet.

    His sword glinted and a ferocious wave of de qi came hurtling toward Su Jin¡¯s wrist. Miyamoto Takeshi wasn¡¯t so shameless as to actually kill Su Jin. He just wanted Su Jin to back off so that his son would be able to safely make a breakthrough. To him, as long as his son was able to be a grandmaster, he wouldn¡¯t have any trouble defeating Su Jin.

    ¡°That de qi is really powerful. That¡¯s so many levels higher than Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°The de qi seems as real as an actual sword. Is that man the current head of the Miyamoto family?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a renowned Japanese martial artist, alright! Not even China might have such a formidable one, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Su Jin kept one hand on Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s arm, while he swung his other hand suddenly. There was a loud cracking sound as the boning knife in that hand gave off an even more powerful wave of de qi, which shattered Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s de qi. After doing that, his de qi did not be any weaker. It continued moving until it crashed into a wall in the arena and made a giant hole in it.

    ¡°What in the world?!¡± Miyamoto Takeshi couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He couldn¡¯t believe how formidable Su Jin had turned out to be. Not even a grandmaster would have been capable of conjuring this sort of de qi!

    All the spectators gasped. They were already impressed and filled with praise for Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s de qi attack, and they were even more in awe of Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s skill. But after seeing Su Jin¡¯s, their hearts were filled with terror and wonder.

    ¡°Springing a surprise attack while others are fighting? You¡¯re pretty shameless huh,¡± said Su Jin with a scoff. He pressed harder on Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s palm, which made Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s expression change immediately. Su Jin had forcibly suppressed the breakthrough process and he was unable to continue.

    Miyamoto Takeshi was furious, but he was worried inside for his son. He could see that his son¡¯s progress had been paused and he wasn¡¯t sure what to do now.

    The spectators were also waiting for Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s response. Reputation was very important to them, after all. It was hard to justify Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s sneak attack during a duel like this one.

    The other martial artists from the Miyamoto family exchanged nces. They didn¡¯t have the exposure that Miyamoto Takeshi did and had no idea that Miyamoto Tooru was having a breakthrough, so they didn¡¯t understand what Miyamoto Takeshi was trying to do either.

    Miyamoto Takeshi had no choice but to get up reluctantly and boy slightly at Su Jin. ¡°I know that doing that earlier is against the rules, but¡­ my son is having a breakthrough right now. As a fellow martial artist, I think you should give him a chance!¡±

    ¡°A fight is only meaningful when both sides are at their strongest and their most perfect states. That is the pride of a martial artist. I believe you will be able to understand.

    Su Jin had a strange smile on his face as he snorted. ¡°Is that so? Your son is already about to lose, but I have to give him the chance to turn the tables on me because of this pride of a martial artist you talk about? And if I don¡¯t give him a chance, then I¡¯m being unreasonable? I don¡¯t think that makes sense.¡±

    Of course it didn¡¯t make sense. If this was an ordinary friendly match, then it would be fine to give the opponent a chance. But this was a match to the death. A duel that only ended when one side died. Perhaps there would be some martial artists obsessed with martial arts etiquette who would give Miyamoto Tooru the chance toplete his breakthrough, but that didn¡¯t mean it was the rule. Su Jin was not obligated to do exactly as Miyamoto Takeshi said.

    Miyamoto Takeshi didn¡¯t know what to say to that. After a few moments, he bowed solemnly to Su Jin and said, ¡°Mr. Su, do you really have no pride of a martial artist at all? Our martial arts originated from China, so we believe in budou, or thebination of martial arts and ethics. Japan continues to respect this concept, but¡­ I¡¯m not so sure about China?¡±

    These words were trying to push Su Jin into a corner. If Su Jin did not give Miyamoto Tooru the chance to make a breakthrough, that would mean that he wasn¡¯t behaving like an ethical martial artist. Worse still, his behavior was representative of his country, so it would mean that all Chinese martial arts no longer held these values.

    Miyamoto Takeshi was using Su Jin¡¯s identity as a Chinese to force him to carry this responsibility on his shoulders. If he were elsewhere, the effect might not have been so great. But Miyamoto Takeshi was on home ground and the spectators were all fellow Japanese. None of them wanted to watch a foreigner kill a genius of their own.

    Especially after the crowd found out that Miyamoto Tooru was actually making a breakthrough, and they realized that the doomed duel might actually have a chance of making aeback, all of them started yelling loudly at Su Jin and called him an hical fellow.

    The smile on Su Jin¡¯s face did not disappear throughout this entire conversation. He looked mockingly at the spectators even as they berated him. This sort of smile made Miyamoto Takeshi feel especially uneasy. While his words might result in Su Jin letting his son off, they might also agitate Su Jin and make him kill his son too.

    Su jin looked at Kano Mai, who was seated right in front. She had never been worried about Su Jin at all. She had grown up in this country and knew what her fellow countrymen were capable of. Even if the entire Miyamoto family came together to fight Su Jin, he would still win the fight.

    ¡°Alright then. Since you¡¯ve put it that way, then I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all going to be indignant if I don¡¯t give him the chance to make a breakthrough and defeat him right now,¡± said Su Jin as he pointed at the spectators. He knew that some of them had ced bets on this duel, but very few thought that he would win.

    Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s heart leaped for joy. As long as his son was able to be a grandmaster, killing Su Jin was going to be as easy as killing an ant. He couldn¡¯t believe this stupid young man was really going to do something that would end up killing him just because he had said a few grand words. How adorable, thought Miyamoto Takeshi.

    Su Jin let go of Miyamoto Tooru and Miyamoto Tooru realized that the thing blocking his breakthrough was gone. His energies began to increase rapidly and ayer of white mist rose from his head in no time.

    Ten odd minutester, there was a quiet popping sound. All the martial artists of the Miyamoto family became extremely excited, because that was a sign that Miyamoto Tooru had made a breakthrough.

    And just as they had expected, Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s gaze was different after he opened his eyes again. If his gaze earlier was as sharp as samurai swords, then now, his gaze was likeke water. One could not tell how deep it was and it was freezing cold.

    ¡°Thank you for giving me this chance. In order to thank you, I¡¯ll let you be the first person to die at a grandmaster¡¯s hands!¡± said Miyamoto Tooru with a mighty shout. His voice was thunderous. If an ordinary person stood before him, he would have fallen to the ground and be paralyzed from fear, never mind fight.

    ¡°Why are Japanese people always like this?¡± Su Jin sighed and shook his head. But then again, Miyamoto Tooru was the one who wanted to fight to the death in the first ce, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that he had to kill Su Jin. At the same time, Su Jin had given Miyamoto Tooru the chance to make a breakthrough only because he was curious to see the difference between a master and a grandmaster.

    Miyamoto Tooru moved his wrist and shot several beams of de qi out. This speed was much faster than before he had be a grandmaster and actually couldn¡¯t bepared to his capabilities from before. Each beam was very real and was as powerful as the one that Miyamoto Takeshi had sent toward Su Jin earlier.

    ¡°The genius of the Miyamoto family! HAHA! This young man is the genius of my family! My son shall y a Chinese martial artist and he has be a grandmaster! It¡¯s time for a celebration!¡± said Miyamoto Takeshi merrily.

    ¡°Of course, of course. Let me congratte you on Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s sessful journey to bing a grandmaster!¡±

    ¡°Congrattions! The Miyamoto family has a new grandmaster who will bring glory to our nation in the future!¡±

    Many of the spectators came forward to congratte Miyamoto Takeshi because they were certain that Miyamoto Tooru was going to win. The young man had be a kendo grandmaster, after all, and was at the pinnacle of martial arts. Every grandmaster, no matter which part of the world they were from, was considered to be a highly esteemed figure. The reason why the Miyamoto family had been able to maintain their current position and have control over the other martial arts families was that they had one grandmaster in the family. And now, the Miyamoto family had a new grandmaster. Moreover, this grandmaster wasn¡¯t even 30 years old yet!

    ¡°That¡¯s all? I¡¯m a little disappointed.¡± Just then, Su Jin shook his head with a displeased look on his face. He touched Miyamoto Tooru with one finger and Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s entire body shook. He had a look of disbelief in his eyes as he opened his mouth and spewed arge mouthful of blood. Some pieces that looked like they belonged to his heart covered the floor before he copsed with a loud thud.

    ¡°What just happened?!¡± Miyamoto Takeshi looked like someone was strangling him as his eyes bulged out in shock. His son had just be a grandmaster and everyone was certain that he would definitely win this match and be the most highly respected figure in the country. Yet, at this very moment of glory, he lost his life in a duel.

 Chapter 225: The End Of The Matter

    <h4>Chapter 225: The End Of The Matter</h4>

    Su Jin had shattered Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s heart with just one finger. Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s fighting prowess had indeed improved after he had made it to grandmaster level, but he was still weaker than Chu Yi in the Fairytales of Horror Challenge, so he was definitely no match for Su Jin right now.

    Every spectator in the stands was utterly shocked by what just happened. They were all prepared for a victorious Miyamoto Tooru and were ready to witness the birth of a new grandmaster in the country. There might even be a banquet thrown in honor of the young man this very night and every member of Japanese high society would be in attendance.

    But now¡­ the banquet wasn¡¯t going to happen and those members of high society could save their trouble. And it was all because of one Su Jin.

    If one could describe the feelings of the spectators as shock, Miyamoto Takeshi was pretty much on the verge of losing his mind. His son had reached grandmaster status before the age of 30 and he was definitely going to take the Miyamoto family to the pinnacle of the country or even the entire world. How¡­ how did he die just like that?

    Miyamoto Takeshi and the other fighters from the Miyamoto family had threatening looks on their faces and all of them red fiercely at Su Jin. Su Jin merely raised an eyebrow in return and said icily, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You want to avenge him?¡±

    Those words made all the members of the Miyamoto family shudder. Avenge the young man? How? Miyamoto Tooru had been killed so easily despite being a grandmaster. How were any of them going to avenge him?

    ¡°This was a battle to the death, after all. Since Miyamoto Tooru has lost, the Miyamoto family will not raise any objections. But¡­ one day, the family will challenge you once again, Mr. Su. When that dayes, I hope you won¡¯t turn our challenge down!¡± Miyamoto Takeshi had a resolute look in his eyes as he ced the de of his samurai sword in one palm and cut his palm as a way of taking an oath.

    Su Jin frowned. He didn¡¯t want anybody from the Miyamoto family to create trouble in China because of him, otherwise Situ Jin was definitely going to throw a fit.

    He picked up Shuusui from the floor and said, ¡°You want to challenge me in the future? Sure, but I hope all of you will behave yourselves until then.¡± He suddenly tightened his grip and unleashed arge amount of knife qi. He then used his psychokinesis to control the qi, making it even more terrifying and powerful.

    Boom! There was a loud explosion as one of the walls of the building crumbled from the force that Su Jin had exerted. The sharp knife qi did not stop at the wall. It continued moving forward and sliced an entire path through the forest behind the wall.

    Everyone in the arena gasped. What sort of inhuman strength was this?!

    Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s body trembled and he nearly fell to the floor. Before this, he thought that Su Jin was also a grandmaster, except that he had been a grandmaster for a longer time. That was how he could have killed Miyamoto Tooru so easily when Miyamoto Tooru had just reached grandmaster level, especially since his condition was most unstable in between stages. But after Miyamoto Takeshi saw what Su Jin just did, he realized that this was something that even the oldest grandmaster in the family wouldn¡¯t be able to aplish. This Chinese young man was actually someone way more powerful than a grandmaster.

    Su Jin ignored the looks of disbelief on the spectators¡¯ faces. He walked over to Kano Mai and smiled. ¡°The problem¡¯s considered settled, right?¡±

    ¡°Nope, the problem¡¯s just started,¡± said Kano Mai with a sad smile. If Su Jin had killed Miyamoto Tooru when he was still just a kendo master, that wouldn¡¯t have been a problem. But Miyamoto Tooru had gotten to grandmaster level, which made his position in society, his importance and the value of his life very different from before.

    The Miyamoto family would definitely me Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s death on the Kano family. Kano Yuuko¡¯s face was already deathly pale. She didn¡¯t expect Miyamoto Tooru to actually die in this fight. He was supposed to be the most formidable fighter among his peers in the country, after all.

    Su Jin¡¯s smile froze awkwardly and he was about to say something when Kano Mai turned to her sister and said, ¡°Yuuko, I know that what you want is the power and status of the Kano family. Su Jin has killed Miyamoto Tooru, but you don¡¯t have to worry. I will be solely responsible for what has happened today.¡±

    ¡°Solely responsible? The Kano family is still going to suffer in the end,¡± grumbled Kano Yuuko softly through gritted teeth. She didn¡¯t dare to speak too loudly because she was afraid of what Su Jin was capable of.

    Kano Mai then turned to look at everyone else in the arena and said, ¡°From today onwards, I, Kano Mai, will officially leave the Kano family. I will give up all the assets under my name. If the Miyamoto family feels that Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s death is my fault, please go ahead and exact revenge on me.¡±

    The entire crowd went into an uproar. Nobody expected Kano Mai to do such a thing. It didn¡¯t even make sense. Logically speaking, if she had a killing machine like Su Jin on her side, she should seize this chance to take all of the Kano family¡¯s fortune for herself. Why did she suddenly withdraw from all of it?

    Kano Yuuko¡¯s eyes were as wide as saucers and she couldn¡¯t believe her ears. Kano Mai nced at her and said, ¡°You¡¯ve never liked me and it doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t like you either.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ you think that¡¯s the end of things just because you say so? You¡¯re not the heir to the Kano family, so your words don¡¯t carry any weight! Did you think the Miyamoto family would let the Kano family off just because you say you¡¯re going to take sole responsibility?¡± yelled Kano Yuuko like she had gone mad, as though she was venting all the frustration and unhappiness she had felt over the years. ¡°Besides, did you think you could leave the family just because you say you¡¯re going to? After creating this mess, you think you could just walk away from it just like that? The family¡¯s going to discipline you for this!¡±

    ¡°Discipline her? I would like to know which one of you is going to try disciplining Mai!¡± said Su Jin with an emotionless smile on his face.

    Kano Yuuko trembled all over. She didn¡¯t dare to shout like that anymore in front of someone who could kill a grandmaster with one flick. She lowered her voice and pretended to be calm as she said, ¡°Mr. Su, Kano Mai is a member of the Kano family, so you will not be able to protect her. Even if you report this to the government, the government will support the family!¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Su Jin shook his head. He took out a special badge and showed it to her. ¡°My name is Su Jin and I work for the Department of Supernatural Affairs in China. If the Japanese government wants to, they can look for me here!¡±

    The crowd went into an uproar again. Even Miyamoto Takeshi¡¯s face was pale now. If Su Jin were merely some random martial artist, he coulde up with some other way to deal with the young man even if nobody could actually defeat him in a fight. He didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to work for the Chinese government. That made the situation veryplicated.

    Kano Mai smiled as she hooked an arm around Su Jin¡¯s and said a little tiredly, ¡°Let¡¯s go! I don¡¯t owe the Kano family anything anymore.¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and led Kano Mai out of the arena. Nobody dared to stop them from doing so. Nobody was capable of doing that anyway.

    They came to a small stream and sat down quietly by its side. Kano Mai dipped her feet in and swung them gently in the water as she murmured, ¡°You already know this story by now. I¡¯m not biologically rted to the Kano family at all. Back then, Grandpa, Kano Hideo, found me along a small stream like this one. He adopted me and brought me up as one of his own.

    ¡°After I grew older, I started taking over several of the family¡¯s businesses to repay Grandpa for taking care of me and I did my best to grow and develop these businesses. Later on, I was chosen to be a Handbook owner and with the newfound power I had, these businesses grew even faster. But besides my Grandpa, the rest of the family didn¡¯t like me, especially when my abilities became more and more apparent. The more sessful I was, the more they hated me. Or rather, the more they were afraid of me.

    ¡°It¡¯s been many years now. Grandpa has already passed away and I¡¯ve repaid the family for bringing me up. Taking full responsibility for what happened today will relieve the Kano family of this burden, so we should be even now!¡±

    Su Jin nodded and smiled. ¡°Actually, your decision to leave the Kano family is their biggest problem. If there¡¯s nobody in the family who¡¯s outstanding enough to take over, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d be able to retain the wealth and status you¡¯ve brought them.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. And actually, the elders of the family know this too. That¡¯s why they still respect me even though they don¡¯t like me. But the younger generation doesn¡¯t have this sort of maturity and foresight, so they focus on driving me out of the family. I¡¯ve granted their wish now. Whatever happens to the Kano family in the future is no longer any of my business,¡± said Kano Mai with a smile.

    ¡°Alright! We¡¯ve settled all the problems here, so let¡¯s go home!¡± said Su Jin gently.

    Kano Mai got up and stretchedzily like a little kitten that had just woken up. She hooked her arm around Su Jin¡¯s again and said in a merry voice, ¡°Let¡¯s go home!¡±

    Meanwhile, Kano Yuuko had returned to her family home. She was the one who had nned today¡¯s duel, except that she hadn¡¯t expected things to end this way. The older ones in the family had already heard all about what happened earlier.

    Ishida Shouichi stood outside the gate and shook his head helplessly when he saw her approaching the house. Kano Yuuko¡¯s heart trembled at his actions. Ishida Shouichi¡¯s standing in the family was even higher than some members of the family. If he had such an expression on his face, it meant that the family was very unhappy about what happened.

    ¡°Uncle Ishida, my father and the rest¡­¡± asked Kano Yuuko a little hesitantly.

    Ishida Shouichi sighed and said, ¡°Miss Yuuko, how could you allow Miss Mai to leave just like that?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to either. That little bitch made a mistake like that, so it¡¯s only right that she gets disciplined by the family. But she has that Chinese guy to protect her, so there was nothing I could do,¡± exined Kano Yuuko.

    Ishida Shouichi sighed again. ¡°Miss Yuuko, you¡¯re mistaken about one thing.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°The family is never going to discipline Miss Mai. The rise of the Kano family happened entirely because of her and this marriage of convenience was arranged because the family just wanted to try and take back some of the power she had. But at the end of the day, everyone in the family knows that the family still needs to rely on her,¡± said Ishida Shouichi.

    ¡°But why?¡± asked Kano Yuuko. She couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Wealth and power aren¡¯t things that are yours forever once you have them. You must be capable enough to earn them and you¡¯ve got to be capable enough to retain them. Without Miss Mai to lead the family, I¡¯m afraid¡­ the family will have to give them away the way we earned them back then!¡± The old man shook his head again.

    Kano Yuuko stood at the gate nkly. She still couldn¡¯t understand how Kano Mai could possibly be this important to the family. She suddenly clenched her fists and muttered, ¡°So what if she¡¯s gone? It can¡¯t be that every young person in the family is a useless piece of trash, right?¡±

    At the same time, a group of people had carried the dead Miyamoto Tooru to a very secluded shrine. The one leading the group was Miyamoto Takeshi, but he was very respectful toward an old man by his side.

    ¡°Grandfather, Tooru has already died, so¡­ what¡¯s the point in bringing him here?¡± Miyamoto Takeshi was very depressed. His grandmaster son had been killed but he couldn¡¯t even take revenge.

    The old man whom Miyamoto Takeshi called Grandfather closed his eyes for a while, then opened them again. He looked at the quiet shrine ahead and said in a low voice, ¡°Grandmasters are not like ordinary people. Even if their heart has been shattered, they are still able to retain one breath of life. Tooru¡­ cannot be considered dead yet.¡±

    ¡°One breath of life? What good does that do? Even if I could find a heart and do a transnt right now, it wouldn¡¯t work. The heart of a grandmaster is different from the heart of an ordinary person,¡± said Miyamoto Takeshi.

    ¡°One breath of life is enough. The deity in this shrine will help us!¡± The old man shut his eyes again and motioned to the rest to carry Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s body into the shrine, then led the whole group away immediately.

    Miyamoto Tooru was left in the shrine all by himself. Just then, a red beam of light shot out from the well inside the shrine. That beam of light carried a small, ck handbook.

 Chapter 226: Incapacitating The Grandmaster

    <h4>Chapter 226: Incapacitating The Grandmaster</h4>

    Before leaving Japan, Kano Mai brought Su Jin to the family cemetery. Even though Kano Mai had already announced that she was no longer part of the family, she was still allowed to enter the family cemetery. She had led the family well for many years, after all.

    Kano Hideo¡¯s grave was very deep inside and they walked past the gravestones of generations of family members. Kano Mai should have been buried here after her death, but of course, if she had really married into the Miyamoto family, she wouldn¡¯t be buried here.

    Kano Hideo¡¯s gravestone wasn¡¯t veryrge and there was a low mound right behind it. The fresh flowers strewn all around it made this frigid ce of eternal rest somewhat warm again.

    There was a photo of the old man on the gravestone. Instead of a serious ck and white photo, the man in the photo was actually sticking his tongue out and making a cheeky face.

    Kano Mai¡¯s eyes were bloodshot but she still smiled when she saw the photo. She said to Su Jin, ¡°Grandpa was someone who loved being cheeky like this. He didn¡¯t look like someone who was the head of an influential family at all. Sometimes, he seemed more like a child, but¡­ he¡¯s one of the most intelligent people I¡¯ve known.¡±

    ¡°More intelligent than me?¡± asked Su Jin cheekily.

    Kano Maiughed even as tears flowed down her cheeks. She said quietly, ¡°It¡¯s not the same sort of intelligence. You¡¯re very clever, so clever that you¡¯re able to find a way out of seemingly hopeless and fatal situations. Grandpa can¡¯tpare to you in that aspect. His intelligence was in the way he¡¯s chosen to live. He was always cheerful, optimistic and broughtughter to the people around him.¡±

    Su Jin could sense how much Kano Mai missed Kano Hideo, so he whispered, ¡°If you really can¡¯t bear to let him go, we can¡­ revive him.¡±

    But she shook her head. She wiped her tears and took a deep breath, as though she had pulled herself together. She had a bright smile as she said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to do that.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Grandpa was never afraid to die. His understanding of life is way beyond us. He often said that if there¡¯s a beginning, then there must be an end. The continuation of life is not in his physical body but in us.¡± Kano Mai pointed to herself. ¡°His descendants are the continuation of life.¡±

    Su Jin was beginning to feel some admiration for Kano Hideo now. There were many who dared to risk their lives, but very few were really unafraid of dying. He didn¡¯t think he would be able to really be unafraid to die.

    ¡°I¡¯ll just let Grandpa sleep peacefully forever. I hope he¡¯ll have wonderful dreams.¡± Kano Mai started tearing up again. It was obvious that part of her still didn¡¯t want to let go.

    She ced a white chrysanthemum in front of his grave and closed her eyes as she chanted a string of low and unintelligible sounds, as though she were praying for him.

    Just then, some people began to approach them from afar. Su Jin had left some psychokinesis at the entrance, which was now a habit of his that was as natural as breathing. The psychokinesis he left at the entrance had picked up the presence of these people the minute they walked in.

    ¡°They¡¯re from the Kano family.¡± Su Jin could sense that Kano Yuuko and Ishida Shouichi were among this group approaching them, so he was very certain. Most of them did not give off a powerful aura, which meant that they were ordinary people and didn¡¯t include any formidable fighters like those from the Miyamoto family. The only exception was Ishida Shouichi. He gave off an exceptional aura, which meant that he knew some powerful moves.

    ¡°Miss Mai!¡± Ishida Shouichi called out to Kano Mai with as much respect as before.

    Kano Mai turned around and was a little surprised. There were more than a dozen of them and they were all the elders of the Kano family. The one leading the way was Kano Hideo¡¯s son, Kano Hajime, who was the current head of the family in name.

    ¡°Uncle!¡± Kano Mai had announced her departure from the family, but she still called Kano Hajime ¡°Uncle.¡± After all, he had also taken fairly good care of her. Even though his attitude had changed dramatically after taking over the reins from Kano Mai, he was still supportive of her.

    Kano Hajime looked a little conflicted as he stared at Kano Mai. He eventually let out a long sigh, then red at Kano Yuuko as he said sternly, ¡°Yuuko, apologize to her!¡±

    Kano Yuuko¡¯s expression was sullen as she took a few steps forward reluctantly. She gave Kano Mai a quick and low bow, then said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sis. I didn¡¯t know my ce before this. I¡¯m willing to ept any punishment from you. Please forgive me.¡±

    Kano Mai frowned slightly, while Su Jin watched from the side with a smirk on his face. It was obvious that Kano Hajime was here to convince Kano Mai to stay after learning that she was serious about leaving the family.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to rake up the past. I didn¡¯t take it to heart,¡± said Kano Mai very honestly. After Kano Hideo passed on, she didn¡¯t feel any attachment to anybody else in the family. People like Kano Yuuko were meaningless to her, so she wasn¡¯t going to get angry over what Kano Yuuko did.

    Kano Hajime stepped in at this point. ¡°Mai, Yuuko was at fault, so I will definitely punish her for it. But you saying that you¡¯re going to leave the family is going a little too far, don¡¯t you think? We¡¯re all one family after all. Why make things so ugly?¡±

    Kano Hajime was speaking very humbly right now, which showed how important Kano Mai was to the family. If this was just an ordinary family dispute, Kano Mai would be satisfied with their change in attitude and return to the family to continue her life as the princess of the Kano n.

    But her decision had nothing to do with any family dispute. She just wanted to leave, so she bowed slightly toward Kano Hajime and said calmly, ¡°Uncle, I am very grateful for everything the Kano family has done for me all these years, but¡­ there is no longer any reason for me to remain in the family.¡±

    Kano Hajime was a little stunned by her response. He furrowed his brows and sighed. ¡°Mai, you¡¯re the one who brought the family to where it is today. If you just leave it like this, it won¡¯t take long for everything the family has to turn to nothing. And worse still, we¡¯ve now offended the Miyamotos.¡±

    Kano Mai couldn¡¯t help but scoff inwardly. She had guessed it right. The Kano family wanted her to stay not because they had any emotional attachment to her, but because of the negative economic and social impact they would suffer if she left. She was even more determined to leave now.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. With regard to the Miyamotos, I¡¯ve already said that I would take sole responsibility for what happened, so I wouldn¡¯t think that a family that believes so strongly in the way of martial arts would do anything to harm the Kano family. As for the other matters¡­ that¡¯s the Kano family¡¯s own business.¡± Kano Mai hooked her arm around Su Jin¡¯s and turned to leave.

    ¡°Kano Mai! We¡¯ve been very polite but you¡¯re so unappreciative! Do you really still think you¡¯re some princess after leaving the Kano family? Who do you even think you are? You¡¯re just some bastard child whom nobody wanted!¡± Kano Yuuko started screaming her head off like a mad woman. She had been forced to apologize to Kano Mai earlier and was already feeling very humiliated by that. Despite going through that, Kano Mai was still insistent on cutting off ties with the family. It was little wonder that she snapped on the spot.

    Kano Mai¡¯s expression turned frosty, but she didn¡¯t say anything. She tugged at Su Jin to motion to him to leave. The Kano family without her Grandpa was really just a bunch of people who disgusted her.

    There was a murderous glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes, and that was precisely why Kano Mai tugged at him to leave. She didn¡¯t want him to end up attacking anybody from the Kano family.

    After Kano Yuuko finished giving Kano Mai a piece of her mind, the rest of the group did not try to stop Kano Mai from leaving. She had clearly decided to cut off all ties with them. Since there was no way to salvage the situation, the group wasn¡¯t going to grovel at her feet anymore.

    When Kano Yuuko saw that nobody in the group was holding her back or bothering to plead with Kano Mai, she felt emboldened and continued yelling insults, ¡°You¡¯re an ungrateful and uncultured bastard child who leaves after you¡¯ve had your fill! You little bastard! Little bastard! Little bastard! Little¡­¡±

    PAK! A crisp sound resounded loudly and Kano Mai realized that her arm was holding onto nothing. Su Jin was now standing in front of Kano Yuuko, his palm still in midair and his re so fierce that Kano Yuuko was too scared to even feel pain.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly and scanned the group as he warned them, ¡°This p is to help all of you remember for the rest of your lives that I don¡¯t want to hear you utter anything that makes me unhappy. If this happens again, you¡¯re not getting away with just a p, you hear me?¡±

    ¡°How dare you! You¡¯re in Japan and this is the Kano family¡¯s territory, yet you dare to hit someone like that!¡± Ishida Shouichi suddenly shouted in anger. He was a retainer of the Kano family, a truly formidable fighter who was loyal only to those who truly belonged to the Kano family. He had been respectful toward Kano Mai all these years but had never been loyal to her, because she wasn¡¯t really a Kano to him.

    .

    ¡°Oho, he¡¯s half a step to grandmaster,¡± thought Su Jin with some surprise. Ishida Shouichi was actually almost as powerful as a grandmaster. Perhaps he was actually a grandmaster in his younger days, but after growing older and weaker, he dropped one stage.

    Ishida Shouichi suddenly moved forward and reached Su Jin in less than a second. He thrust his palm at Su Jin¡¯s eyes like a venomous snake and the energy in this palm suddenly went from half step to grandmaster level to actual grandmaster level. This old man was actually more formidable than Miyamoto Tooru.

    He had increased his energy to its maximum suddenly because he had been hoping to catch Su Jin off guard. If Su Jin had only been at grandmaster level, he might have suffered a hit. But Su Jin was way above grandmaster level. Such a move was a joke to him.

    It looked like Su Jin hadn¡¯t moved at all, but just when Ishida Shouichi¡¯s finger was about to touch Su Jin, the old man¡¯s body shook violently as though he had been electrocuted before flying backwards and smashing one of the gravestones to pieces.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Kano Hajime eximed in shock. He was the only one in the family who knew that Ishida Shouichi was practically invincible and had been protecting the family all this time. If not for the fact that Ishida Shouichi had grown older and weaker and might pass on anytime, they would not have had to think of a way to make Kano Mai marry Miyamoto Tooru.

    Yet, grandmaster level Ishida Shouichi had not been able to exchange blows with Su Jin even once. That had greatly surprised him.

    ¡°That was an aggressive attack. Were you hoping to make me go blind?¡± Su Jin marched over to Ishida Shouichi, whoy weakly on the ground.

    ¡°Jin!¡± Kano Mai suddenly called out quietly to him and gave him a conflicted look.

    Su Jin nodded as though to tell her not to worry. He looked at Ishida Shouichi for a few seconds, then looked away before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve taken away your martial arts abilities, so you¡¯ll be an ordinary old man from now on. Enjoy the years you have left!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve taken away my martial arts abilities? Who do you think you are?! You¡­¡± Ishida Shouichi¡¯s first response was to scoff at these words. Su Jin¡¯s attack had knocked him to the ground, but he wasn¡¯t dead yet, which meant he could still get up and fight Su Jin. But before he could finish what he wanted to say, he froze in shock. He realized he couldn¡¯t feel any qi moving through his body anymore and it felt like he no longer had control over his internal energies. That meant that¡­ Su Jin had really incapacitated him.

    Su Jin scanned the group once more and said, ¡°Mai has already said that she will have nothing to do with the Kano family from now on. If any of you still want to stop her from leaving, don¡¯t me me for getting nasty!¡±

    Nobody in the group was capable of fighting Su Jin and the bravest one turned out to be the spoiled Kano Yuuko. None of them dared to even make any noise now. Even Kano Hajime just stared sullenly at Su Jin, but dared not speak.

    Su Jin walked back to where Kano Mai was, then they left without even turning back.

 Chapter 227: A New Sort Of System

    <h4>Chapter 227: A New Sort Of System</h4>

    Actually, Su Jin did not really take away Ishida Shouichi¡¯s martial arts. He had merely used his psychokinesis to make changes to the old man¡¯s memories. He removed Ishida Shouichi¡¯s foundational knowledge and reced it with an incorrect way to harness one¡¯s internal energies. Even if someone like Chu Yi tried using this method, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use his internal energy anymore.

    On the ne, Kano Mai fell into a deep sleep. It wasn¡¯t that she was tired though: given the state of her physical body right now, she wouldn¡¯t feel tired even if she didn¡¯t get to sleep for a few days. It was Su Jin who used his psychokinesis to make her fall asleep. He was afraid that she would be tormented by her grandfather¡¯s death and the betrayal of her family, so he made her sleep so that she could get a good rest.

    Nobody tried to stop them on their journey back to China from Japan, mostly because Su Jin had defeated a grandmaster and also because he turned out to be a high ranking government official. As a result, neither the legal nor illegal parties dared to do anything to Su Jin.

    .

    Once they got back to S City, they found Situ Jin waiting outside their door. Situ Jinughed and said, ¡°Not bad, huh! You went to Japan for just a few days and I got a call from the embassy to check your credentials.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re doing well too! There¡¯s nothing left for you to do in B City, huh! Is that why you keeping to S City to haunt me?¡± said Su Jin with augh as well. Situ Jin had beening over very frequently recently, as though he couldn¡¯t bear to use his points to make use of Hell¡¯s Bar or something.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to haunt you. I was already informed of your return when you bought your tickets in Japan, so I¡¯ve only arrived 10 minutes earlier than you,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Su Jin unlocked the door and they walked into the house before Su Jin said, ¡°The S City Special Police can¡¯t wait any longer, I suppose? B City and S City share almost equal status to the top brass, so the Department of Supernatural Affairs is actually not that much superior to the Special Police, right?¡±

    Situ Jin had an awkward look on his face when Su Jin mentioned the Special Police. He frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s true that they¡¯re getting a little troublesome now. Yang Tianzheng has been pressuring the top brass and I won¡¯t be able toe here as often anymore.¡±

    ¡°Thank god!¡± said Su Jin as heughed and pped.

    Situ Jin rolled his eyes, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s head to Hell¡¯s Bar first. Wu Chen has been working very hard these few days, but I didn¡¯t contact you guys because I didn¡¯t want to interrupt what you were doing in Japan.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and entered Hell¡¯s Bar after contacting Wu Chen. The three of them hadn¡¯t arrived for long when Wu Chen arrived as well. He sat down, ordered a ss, drank it down in one shot and exhaled deeply.

    ¡°Ahhh! That felt great! Hell¡¯s Bar has the best alcoholic drinks in the world: the ones in our universes are as good as horse piss,¡± said Wu Chen with a heartyugh. The rest of the table agreed. The drinks at Hell¡¯s Bar were really the best in the world. Once you got used to that standard, the usual drinks became hard to swallow.

    ¡°Situ said that you¡¯ve gathered quite some information recently. Tell us about it,¡± said Su Jin after Wu Chen was done drinking.

    Wu Chen¡¯s expression became serious as he said, ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ve gotten quite a bit of information recently. One piece of information also affirms what you talked about in our Team Hell Domain.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What did I say?¡±

    ¡°You said that many teams would be able toplete their first Challenge after the major announcement perfectly. Based on the information going around, more than ten teams have managed toplete their first Challenge perfectly,¡± said Wu Chen as he gesticted wildly.

    ¡°Ten odd teams? That¡¯s not a lot.¡± Su Jin tapped his nose with his finger. Even though this wasn¡¯t the actual number, it was probably representative of how many had actually done it. His estimate had been much higher than this.

    Wu Chen widened his eyes and snapped, ¡°Not a lot? Listen. Before this major announcement, any team who couldplete a Challenge perfectly was practically a legend, regardless of what level the Challengepleted was. Back when Team Boning Knifepleted a Level A Challenge perfectly, the team had caused an uproar. Besides yourselves, almost all the high level owners could hardly believe that it happened.¡±

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°I know. But this first Challenge is different from the Challenges before. The Challenge was leading the owners, so it was obviously trying to help everyone familiarize themselves with the new system. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult for aplete team to get through this Challenge, and if you¡¯ve got a reliable strategist, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising for the team toplete the Challenge perfectly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say. But finding a reliable strategist¡­ don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little too much to ask for?¡± Situ Jin piped up.

    Su Jin shrugged. He suddenly thought of Xiang Nan. Besides the announcements about the owner rankings and changes in the Challenges, there were other small changes. If owners weren¡¯t observant, they might miss it, but the Handbook could now allow owners to have a friends list of sorts.

    So, besides the owners that belonged to your team, you could add an owner outside your team to this list and page for them through the Handbook. This function only worked within Hell¡¯s Bar, and both Su Jin and Xiang Nan had added each other to their lists.

    Shortly after Su Jin sent a message, Xiang Nan responded. He told Su Jin to just wait for him in Hell¡¯s Bar.

    A momentter, Xiang Nan appeared before them. He hade alone and was dressed casually, so he looked a lot more cheery.

    ¡°Hello!¡± Xiang Nan greeted everyone at the table, then sat across from Su Jin.

    ¡°How are things? I suppose you managed the most recent Challenge well,¡± said Su Jin.

    Xiang Nan nodded and said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t too bad at all. I got a Level D Challenge and wepleted it perfectly.¡±

    ¡°Congrats!¡± said Su Jin as he put a palm over his fist as a show of respect to Xiang Nan. He proceeded to say casually, ¡°Us too. We got a Level C Challenge and wepleted it perfectly as well.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you guys think these two seem to bepeting?¡± Situ Jin sent a message to Kano Mai and Wu Chen via his Handbook.

    ¡°Clever people are always like this. After they¡¯ve aplished something great, they¡¯d just mention it casually as though it doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s worse when they¡¯re equally clever. They won¡¯t sit down andpare cars, houses or women like everyone else, but they¡¯d beparing who did something cleverer!¡± replied Wu Chen.

    ¡°There¡¯s a Chinese phrase about how schrs often don¡¯t think highly of one another. Can that phrase be used on these two?¡± Kano Mai asked.

    Su Jin and Xiang Nan had no clue that the other three at the table were talking about them at all. Xiang Nan asked, ¡°Do you feel like thisst Challenge was a little too simple? It felt like¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­ying an RPG game with hints on how to get through the stage,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head.

    ¡°What hints?!¡± screamed Kano Mai, Wu Chen and Situ Jin simultaneously inside their heads.

    Xiang Nan nodded in agreement. He even looked a little disappointed as he said, ¡°I guess you could say that the Handbook was trying to help owners get used to the new things in Challenges, but by doing this¡­ it makes the Challenges a lot less fun!¡±

    ¡°Trying your best to freaking survive has NEVER been fun!!¡± yelled the other three in their hearts once more.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement and murmured, ¡°It was indeed a lot less fun.¡± The two team leaders suddenly exchanged a knowing nce, which only sent shudders down the spines of the other three at the table.

    ¡°Since the first Challenge after the major announcement was this simple, we¡¯ll have to be very careful for the next one. There¡¯s a possibility that the Handbook will increase the difficulty in increments, but given how the Handbook also enjoys trolling the owners, it might also spring a huge surprise on us,¡± said Su Jin with a serious look on his face.

    Xiang Nan nodded. ¡°I agree. By the way, something happened during our Challenge and I would like to ask for your opinion on it.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°During the Challenge, Tian Lili somehow ended up bing a disciple to one of the characters inside the Challenge. This character taught her how to control her medium powers. Do you think it¡¯s a coincidence?¡± asked Xiang Nan.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise and burst outughing. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Something simr happened to Wu Chen as well. He¡¯s learned some sort of magic from a character in the Challenge.¡±

    Xiang Nan was shocked and turned to stare at Wu Chen. Wu Chen nodded and affirmed Su Jin¡¯s words. Xiang Nan then said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it means that the Handbook has begun a new sort of development system!¡±

    ¡°Looks like that¡¯s the case. I think the Handbook has realized that if the owners rely solely on awakening their Spirit Powers, they¡¯re going to take too long to be more powerful and their chances of dying are very high. There are some owners who are outstanding in various aspects, but end up dying in a Challenge purely because they haven¡¯t received a Spirit Power.¡±

    ¡°By having a different way to develop, these outstanding owners will have an alternative way of growing stronger before they awaken their Spirit Power,¡± said Su Jin slowly. The other three nodded in agreement as well.

    But Xiang Nan understood what else Su Jin was implying and said, ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that Spirit Power is still going to be the main thing in the future?¡±

    ¡°Yup. Based on the current situation, you can be more powerful through picking up these additional skills in the Challenges, but the types of skills are more fixed and I don¡¯t think they¡¯d have a very high upper limit,¡± said Su Jin confidently.

    ¡°Oh? They won¡¯t have a very high upper limit? Why are you so sure¡­ OH! I get it.¡± Xiang Nan realized why very quickly. ¡°It¡¯s the amount of time. You won¡¯t be able to learn much during the short time in the Challenge, so it¡¯s not going to be possible to fully grasp a skill in such a short time. Even if youplete the Challenge perfectly and get a Guiding Object to return to the same Challenge, you still won¡¯t get a lot of time.¡±

    Wu Chen nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. The sort of magic I know is only at an average level, so even if I be amazing at everything I know right now, I won¡¯t get very far. And I reached this level only after I was able to return to the same Challenge.¡±

    Su Jin continued, ¡°So it¡¯s safe to conclude that learning these skills will definitely have a problem with a low upper limit, unless the Handbook has some way to make up for this.¡±

    Xiang Nan nodded, then asked puzzledly, ¡°Based on what you¡¯ve said, it seems like the Handbook is trying to choose the most powerful of owners. But¡­ why?¡±

    Su Jin was stunned for a moment. Xiang Nan was truly an intelligent person, since he was able to reach this conclusion from casual conversation. But there were some things that Su Jin couldn¡¯t tell him. Whether Xiang Nan could arrive at the truth of the matter would depend on his encounters in the future.

    After they left Hell¡¯s Bar, the team went through a rxing period again. But Su Jin¡¯s heart was going through greater and greater turmoil, because he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Ye Yun.

    Finally, the day came for them to enter their next Challenge. The four members of Team Boning Knife contacted one another and started their next Challenge.

 Chapter 228: Alien Invasion

    <h4>Chapter 228: Alien Invasion</h4>

    ¡°The universe is deep, vast, mysterious, and dangerous!¡±

    ¡°The boundless universe represents life, but it also represents death. A spaceship in the middle of the universe is definitely a refuge for life.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ when the spaceship bes a ce of death, what are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°You cannot use Spirit Power for this Challenge!¡±

    ¡°You cannot use any items in this Challenge!¡±

    ¡°Topensate for the above, the reduction in physical strength will be reduced!¡±

    That was the voice of the Handbook, the voice that was the nightmare of all owners. It was hard to forget it even after a Challenge had ended, and it always made one feel afraid.

    Su Jin slowly opened his eyes. He had a look of dread on his face. Since this Challenge did not allow them to use their Spirit Power and items, it meant that even if the Challenge level wasn¡¯t high, it was bad enough to kill a majority of owners.

    He had run into a simr situation before, which was the Ghostly Games Challenge. But that Challenge was the supernatural type, while this one looked like the sci-fi type.

    ¡°A new type of Challenge?¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. After the major announcement, the types of Challenges had increased in variety, so it wasn¡¯t surprising to find himself in a sci-fi one. But the limitations on the owners was certainly worrying.

    They were now in a cockpit of sorts. There were a total of nine owners, five owners besides the four members of Team Boning Knife. The five of them had huddled together already, so they were likely to be another small team as well.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± thought Su Jin as the uneasiness in his heart grew. Their abilities were restricted, there were no newbies, and only owners with teams were involved. How hard was this Challenge exactly?

    Su Jin ignored the rest and opened his Handbook immediately to read the details on this Challenge.

    Challenge: Alien Invasion; Level: B

    Main quest: Clear the spaceship of all aliens and ensure at least one human inside the spaceship survives

    Optional quest: Try and keep every human in the spaceship alive

    Reduction in physique: 10%

    Su Jin¡¯s expression fell. The main quest looked simple, but it was split into two parts. On one hand, you had to get rid of the source of danger on the spaceship, but on the other hand, you had to make sure that one of the humans stayed alive. The humans referred to were definitely not owners, but characters within the Challenge. This was the first time he had seen a two part main quest.

    Just then, the team leader of the other small team came walking toward Su Jin. He scanned Su Jin¡¯s team and said in an unfriendly voice, ¡°This is a Level B Challenge. I don¡¯t think any of you are newbies, right?¡±

    Su Jin and his team shook their heads and the team leader sighed before continuing in that same tone, ¡°That¡¯s good. All of you shall listen to my instructions for everything, otherwise¡­¡±

    ¡°Otherwise what?¡± Situ Jin scoffed. He didn¡¯t expect to be threatened by a fellow owner right at the beginning of a Challenge.

    ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯ll kill you right now, so that you won¡¯t cause my team any trouble.¡± The team leader purposely mentioned that the rest of the owners present were part of the same team, hoping to use this to scare Situ Jin.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. He had heard from Wu Chen about how some owners would massacre other owners right from the start of the Challenge, which would reduce the chances of other owners affecting their own progress. But he had never actually run into such a situation before.

    ¡°You¡¯d kill me right now? I don¡¯t think you¡¯re capable of doing that.¡± Situ Jin now sounded equally unfriendly. Several shadows behind him rapidly formed into human shapes. They were still within the safe time before the Challenge actually started, so their Spirit Powers had not been restricted yet.

    ¡°You¡¯re a veteran?¡± The other team leader looked stunned for a moment and was now a lot more wary of Situ Jin. Owners would be much more powerful once they got their Spirit Power, so most owners would not want to offend a veteran if they could help it.

    But the other team leader had already made those threats. If he couldn¡¯t make Situ Jin listen to him, there was no way he was going to be able to make the rest listen to him. So, he clenched his teeth and said, ¡°So what if you¡¯re a veteran? I¡¯m a veteran too. My team, Team Volcano Mountain, is a strong team standing at #20131 on the ranking. Killing a veteran like you wouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    ¡°#20131?¡± Su Jin looked surprised.

    The other team leader had a smug face when he noticed Su Jin¡¯s reaction and scoffed. ¡°Humph! Are you scared now?¡±

    But Su Jin¡¯s surprise wasn¡¯t because he thought that this team was strong. He was surprised that there were more than 20,000 teams in the Handbook universe and perhaps even more than this number. In other words, more than 20,000 people had understood the concept of multiple universes.

    However, he shook his head again after reaching that conclusion. While the pioneer of the team had to understand that concept, not all small teams existed in this manner. One could inherit a small team too. Xiang Nan was an example of this. He inherited Team Wind and Rain because he was one of its members when the pioneer of the team died. Majority of the existing teams probably came about this way.

    Situ Jin grinned and said, ¡°You¡¯re at 20,000 or so? Oh my, I¡¯m so scared.¡±

    The other team leader was shocked. It was clear that Situ Jin wasn¡¯t frightened at all. Could this man really be someone unafraid to die?

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°Situ, that¡¯s quite enough. The Challenge is more important.¡±

    Situ Jin shrugged. This team¡¯s ranking meant that their team leader was probably the only veteran in the team. If they ended up fighting, Situ Jin alone would be able to smite all of them.

    The other team leader realized that Su Jin and Situ Jin knew each other. Which meant¡­ they were also a team.

    Su Jin went ahead to introduce his team, ¡°The four of us are also one team. If you don¡¯t want to work together for this Challenge, we can work separately. Of course, for as long as it doesn¡¯t affect thepletion of the Challenge. What say you?¡±

    The other team leader hesitated for a while, but nodded in the end. It was true that he didn¡¯t want to join hands with Su Jin¡¯s team. While two teams working together usually made for a stronger team, the weaker team was usually on the losing end unless the two teams had enough trust between them, which was impossible.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t try persuading them to work with his team either. Such temporary alliances weren¡¯t very reliable to begin with and they ran a high risk of someone betraying another in times of crisis, which could lead to fatal consequences. If both teams were unwilling to work together, then it was better to just go their separate ways and make their own decisions.

    Once they had decided that they weren¡¯t going to work together, they moved into two separate corners to discuss. Su Jin said to his team, ¡°This Challenge is definitely very dangerous. I¡¯m afraid that our team¡­ might lose someone too.¡±

    The other three did not react to these words. Ever since they became part of this universe, they knew they could die anytime during a Challenge. They didn¡¯t need Su Jin to remind them of this fact.

    ¡°Jin, you don¡¯t have to be so burdened by this. Nobody can guarantee that every member of their team will make it out alive. We have to be responsible for our own lives too,¡± said Kano Mai to console Su Jin. She realized that as they went through more and more Challenges, Su Jin was beginning to see this more and more as his responsibility.

    Su Jin smiled sadly, then continued, ¡°There isn¡¯t much I can glean from the introduction, so I¡¯ll just roughly go through my thoughts.

    ¡°This is a Challenge about aliens in a spaceship. I believe the first thing thates to your mind is the movie, Alien, right?¡±

    Everyone nodded and he went on, ¡°So, my guess is that this Challenge will be simr, but the aliens¡­ might be more powerful.¡±

    ¡°Would they? As far as I know, those aliens are very strong fighters and even their blood is corrosive. We can¡¯t use our Spirit Powers and items now, so it¡¯s already going to be hard enough to fight off monsters that are like those in the movie. If they¡¯re more powerful than those¡­¡± said Situ Jin with a frown.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°But the reduction of our physical strength is very little. A reduction of 10% is as good as no reduction. If the aliens are only as strong as the ones in the movie, then someone with my physique would have been able to just smash right through them. Yet, this Challenge has been ssified as a Level B Challenge.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that¡­ the Handbook has already taken your physical strength into ount, so it would be hard or even fatal for yourself to take the aliens out? And that¡¯s why the Challenge is at Level B?!¡± said Kano Mai.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. Situ Jin and Wu Chen gasped. They knew full well how strong Su Jin¡¯s body was. He was as strong as a demigod and had already surpassed the limits of a human! Even a missile wouldn¡¯t be able to kill him anymore. For most of the Challenges, as long as they didn¡¯t run into any supernatural creatures, Su Jin was able to fight them head on with just his body. So, if the aliens on this spaceship was a threat to Su Jin, then killing them would be as easy as killing ants to the aliens.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± cursed Wu Chen.

    Su Jin quickly assured him, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be too fearful. My guess is that these aliens are strong in one particr aspect, so maybe they are very strong in attacking, so they can break through my defense. Or they¡¯re very strong in defense, so they can hold up against my attacks.¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s some turtle with an iron shell!¡± said Wu Chen as heughed and shook his head. If the aliens were strong in defense, then they might be able to run from the aliens. But if the aliens turned out to be killing machines, then they were doomed.

    ¡°Also, because we¡¯ve been told to protect the people on the spaceship, I¡¯m pretty sure the humans mentioned here aren¡¯t owners. My guess is that we¡¯ve been allocated identities so that we are legally allowed on the spaceship. So, once the Challenge officially begins, I hope all of you can get along well with whoever you meet, so that if anything dangerous happens, we won¡¯t have anybody obstructing us unnecessarily,¡± said Su Jin gravely.

    The other three nodded, so he went on, ¡°Try not to separate from one another. Even if it goes against the instructions of the crew, we have to avoid being separated from one another. This is of utmost priority. Also, we must look for viable weapons immediately after the Challenge starts because we can¡¯t use any of our own items. Otherwise, we¡¯d be on the losing end if we get attacked.¡±

    After he had given out all these instructions, the cabin where they were was suddenly opened. A ck man stood on the other end of the cabin and said to them, ¡°Alright, hyperspaceplete. Everyone, please go ahead with your own work and start working on any repairs necessary.¡±

 Chapter 229: Fearless

    <h4>Chapter 229: Fearless</h4>

    The ck man was dressed in a special white armor and it looked like it could serve as an astronaut suit once the helmet part was sealed. It didn¡¯t look heavy and was probably not made from metal.

    Everyone was still in a daze when the ck man became impatient and snapped, ¡°Damn it, is this a side effect from being in hibernation for too long? Have your memories been affected?¡±

    All of them were still confused, and Su Jin was the first to speak, ¡°Sir, my head feels really heavy and dizzy. Could you tell us where we are and what we¡¯re supposed to be doing?¡±

    The ck man smacked his forehead and grumbled, ¡°Damn it. They¡¯re seriously having side effects from hibernation.¡±

    He looked back at them and asked puzzledly, ¡°So¡­ none of you remember anything?¡±

    All of them shook their heads immediately. Even though they had agreed not to work together, this was a situation where everyone was going to y along with Su Jin. Everyone desperately needed all the information they could get.

    The ck man mumbled, ¡°Is the hibernation period too long? Looks like we¡¯ve got to wake the crew up from time to time, or it¡¯s going to be chaos.¡±

    He looked at them again, sorted his thoughts out, then exined, ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m the third captain of this ship, Fearless. During this time, I will be in charge of managing the ship, so I¡¯ll introduce everything to you right now.

    ¡°Fearless is the greatest thing mankind has produced ever since we entered the Space Age. Warp drive has enabled our speed of travelling in outer space to exceed that of light for the first time, so space travel has be reality.

    ¡°After that, the world government trained a group of the most outstanding humans, including botanists, historians, geographers, linguists, sociologists; the most excellent of spacecraft operators, the best artisans, and the bravest fighters. In short, the world government has prepared a group of elites to live on Fearless.

    ¡°Fearless has begun its journey based on the calctions of cosmologists, so you could say that we¡¯re the first batch of humans in space. Our mission is¡­

    ¡°To find energy sources! Find a new suitable for human inhabitation! Search for extraterrestrial lifeforms!¡± said one of the members of Team Volcano Mountain excitedly. He looked like he was in his twenties and wore a pair of gold rimmed spectacles, which made him look rather studious, or rather, very nerdy. He seemed very interested in stuff like that.

    But the ck man shook his head and said, ¡°Based on the dark forest hypothesis that our ancestors havee up with, humans have no right to conduct such a search expedition until our technology reaches a high enough level.¡±

    ¡°Dark forest hypothesis?¡± Some of them didn¡¯t understand what this was.

    The man in gold rimmed spectacles immediately exined, ¡°The total amount of resources in the universe doesn¡¯t change, but the development of any civilization requires resources. In order to fight for resources, once a civilization discovers another and finds that it is a weaker one, they would kill the weaker one off. Thus, every civilization views the universe as a dark forest, where everyone is both the hunter and the hunted, so they tremble in the darkness and tread very carefully.¡±

    The ck man nodded slightly and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. To a certain extent, the dark forest hypothesis has some biases, but it¡¯s still something that¡¯s very likely to happen. Our ancestors used their own imagination to write science fiction stories based on this hypothesis. My favorite one makes this concept a beautiful and magnificent one, yet something extremely thought provoking.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about the Remembrance of Earth¡¯s Past series? It was pretty good. I liked it very much too,¡± blurted Su Jin. The man in gold rimmed spectacles nodded immediately to express his agreement.

    The ck manughed and said, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re all beginning to regain your memories.¡±

    Su Jin smiled and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s still in bits and pieces, so we¡¯ll still need you to continue exining things to us.¡±

    The ck man nodded and went on, ¡°Our journey is not for the sake of those things mentioned earlier. We are looking for God!¡±

    ¡°God?¡± Everyone had a strange look on their faces. They didn¡¯t expect a sci-fi rted Challenge to mention the Creator from folklore.

    But there was a glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. ¡°This God you¡¯re talking about is¡­ referring to a species, right? It¡¯s not the existence of one particr being but¡­ the existence of a species that¡¯s as good as God to humans.¡±

    The ck man nodded slightly and Su Jin looked even more puzzled. This matched the storyline of the movie Prometheus almost perfectly, plus the title of the Challenge was Alien Invasion too. Did this Challenge merge all the Alien movies together? Was the Handbook actually copying movie scripts now?

    ¡°Are we close to our target now?¡± asked the leader of Team Volcano Mountain.

    The ck man shook his head and said, ¡°No, we¡¯ve already found God!¡±

    The entire ce fell silent and Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°Damn,¡± he thought. ¡°If this is going ording to the plot of Prometheus, then it means that the aliens are already on the spaceship. But if that is so, why does he look like he hasn¡¯t been attacked yet?¡± Su Jin was very puzzled.

    ¡°We¡¯ve found God?¡± asked Wu Chen quizzically as he raised an eyebrow.

    The ck man smiled as he looked at them and said, ¡°Of course we haven¡¯t found the real God yet, but we¡¯ve found God¡¯s book of Genesis!

    ¡°Based on the folklores from different races and historical records analyzed by historians, sociologists and linguists, astrologers and cosmologists have calcted a position in outer space. That position is called the Hiding ce of God!

    ¡°Arge number of historical records and antiques have left clues that show that the ancient deities talked about in history disappeared in the same part of space, and that is the Hiding ce of God.¡±

    He licked his lips and looked like he was having trouble staying calm. ¡°This is Fearless¡¯ only mission: we must get to the Hiding ce of God and find the truth behind the folklore from ancient times.¡±

    ¡°The best case scenario would be for us to find some deities, while the worst case scenario would be for us to return to nothing. We started travelling at the speed of light toward the Hiding ce of God, and after we started doing that, all of us automatically went into hibernation mode because that will help to extend our lifespan.

    ¡°And finally, 132 yearster, we arrived at the Hiding ce of God. That was a giant that was very simr to Earth. Or rather, it looked more like a magnified version of Earth.

    ¡°The gravity pull, theposition of the air, the timing of the¡¯s rotation etc. were identical to Earth¡¯s and it even had the same vegetation as Earth. This was truly a miracle, especially since this was only a little more than a hundred light years away. Yet, humans had failed to notice the existence of this and had to discover it from calctions and by going there.¡±

    Everyone listening knew that this was merely a Challenge, but they were still rather surprised. A copy of Earth actually existed more than a hundred light years away? That was really interesting.

    ¡°What about animals? Did you discover any living animals? Were they simr to the ones on Earth too?¡± asked the man with gold rimmed sses excitedly.

    But the ck man¡¯s expression faltered at this point. He nodded and said, ¡°We did discover some animals, but¡­ perhaps they were once closely rted to the ones we know on Earth, but they¡¯re very different now.

    ¡°For safety, the main spaceship did notnd on the. Instead, we sent a smaller survey ship with arge number of fighters and schrs out. Immediately after theynded, they attracted the attention of the creatures on the. The creatures got into groups and attacked us at once. There were so many different sorts of creatures, we didn¡¯t even have the time to record everything. Also, they were very good at fighting, so we lost a lot of people on first contact.

    ¡°There were gigantic insects, birds that resembled fighter gets, fog-like creatures that could appear and disappear at will. Our fighters were getting ughtered. In order to win and to stay alive, the nuclear bombs on the survey ship were detonated. This cleared somend and they were able to take this chance to get out of there.¡±

    .

    Everyone was really shocked. If a simple survey ship carried nuclear bombs, the main ship would definitely be even more powerful.

    The ck man continued, ¡°Given the circumstances, it would have been impossible for us to survey this at all. But that wasn¡¯t the end of our journey. We discovered a satellite orbiting the, which resembles our moon. Everywhere that the moonlight shone on, the creatures would avoid immediately, which created a giant area of nothingness.

    ¡°And after testing, the moonlight seemed to contain a hidden energy that was able to kill the creatures, but this hidden energy waspletely harmless to us. So, we continued our mission based on the movement of the moon. That was how we were able to conduct our survey normally.

    ¡°The survey process was very smooth. We discovered some relics built by intelligent creatures as well. But the is toorge. If we wanted to finish exploring the entire, it would take way more than one tiny Fearless. Even if all of mankind moved to this, you would still need a few centuries or more to do that.

    ¡°As we went through the survey, we understood more and more about this. The shocking part was that this was actually a dead. A deity-like being came to this and transformed it so that this dead was able to be a livable. That¡¯s almost like creating the world, so I think calling these beings ¡®God¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration, would it?¡±

    Everyone nodded. Pulling off something like this was as good as creating the world. These beings were creators like God, so it made sense for the ck man to say that Fearless was here to look for God.

    ¡°Butter on, we realized that this species was able to transform this not by their own abilities, but by relying on a book, which is the Book of Genesis that I mentioned earlier.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t find a lot of relics, but introductions to the Book of Genesis were everywhere. The linguists on board Fearless did their best to decode thenguage in hope of unravelling this mystery, but we didn¡¯t have enough resources to do so. Fearless is merely a spaceship after all. It¡¯s too hard to support their work in understanding the full mystery behind this book. Also, this was a heavy burden on Fearless as well. That is very simr to Earth, but without any means to manufacture and all that, it¡¯s too hard for us to maintain a steady supply of resources to the people on the.

    ¡°We were disappointed and pained because we felt like we had let our fellow humans down. But luckily¡­¡± The ck man suddenly became excited as he started pressing some buttons on a watch-like item on his wrist. A beam of light shone from the watch like a projection. ¡°Luckily, we got ourselves a copy of the Book of Genesis!¡±

    Su Jin and the rest couldn¡¯t help but gasp when they saw the projection of the Book of Genesis. The words inscribed on the cover were in anguage that none of them could understand, but based on the book¡¯s design and color, that¡­ that was definitely a copy of Hell¡¯s Handbook!

 Chapter 230: Space City

    <h4>Chapter 230: Space City</h4>

    Everyone was shocked. Why would the Hell¡¯s Handbook appear within a Challenge? In general, only the gods would know the existence of the Handbook. And even so, they only knew about it but they couldn¡¯t possibly own a copy. Yet, one existed on Fearless.

    Su Jin¡¯s gaze shifted again and again. They didn¡¯t know what the words on that Handbook meant, but based on the appearance, as well as what the ck man had said about how those mighty beings had transformed the with the help of this book, this book was definitely a Handbook.

    The ck man didn¡¯t notice the expressions on their faces and went on, ¡°We¡¯re now on our way back to Earth, but we can¡¯t go on hyperspace for too long and it has a cooldown period. So this is a good time for everyone to check the spaceship and carry out any necessary repairs. But since your memories have been damaged, there¡¯s no way we can proceed with the repairs.

    ¡°You can all head for the cafeteria first. Computer, shut off everyone¡¯s hibernation systems. We¡¯re not far from home and I can¡¯t afford any slip ups at this point.¡± The ck man shook his head and sighed as he told Fearless¡¯ AI to deactivate all the hibernation equipment on board. The fact that Su Jin and the rest had lost their memories clearly worried him.

    ¡°Captain, we still don¡¯t know how we should address you! Also¡­ where is the cafeteria?¡± Su Jin called out after him.

    The ck man pped his forehead and said, ¡°You can just call me Jefferson. As for where the cafeteria is, you just need to turn right over there. If you can¡¯t find it, just ask Fearless directly. The AI will respond.¡± He quickly walked away after that.

    The nine of them exchanged nces but did not speak to one another. Since they had agreed from the start not to work together, there was no need to discuss anything at this point.

    They followed Jefferson¡¯s directions, but there were many turns on board the ship and it wasn¡¯t that easy to find the cafeteria.

    ¡°Fearless, we can¡¯t find the cafeteria. Can you help?¡± said Su Jin to nobody in particr.

    Immediately after he asked that question, part of the spaceship wall lit up. Fearless was made from a screen-like material that could be controlled by its AI and used as a monitor.

    ¡°I have lit the way to the cafeteria, you just have to follow the glowing arrows.¡± The monitor showed what could be described as a perfect female, except that even though she looked beautiful, her gaze was lifeless.

    Once she had finished saying that, the monitor faded and a glowing arrow appeared in its ce. The group followed the arrow and every time they took one step forward, a new arrow would appear to show the way. As long as they weren¡¯t blind, they wouldn¡¯t get lost at all.

    Even though Jefferson said that Fearless was a spaceship, as the group walked on, they felt like Jefferson had been too humble in his description. Fearless was practically a moving city.

    Su Jin had no idea which part of the spaceship he was in, but when he looked up, he couldn¡¯t see the roof of the spaceship at all. He felt like he was in a city filled with skyscrapers.

    The cafeteria turned out to be the size of five football fields. It looked more like someone had removed the stands in a stadium and put in rectangr dining tables instead.

    Team Volcano Mountain automatically kept their distance from Su Jin and his team. They only trusted the members from their own team and felt that anybody else was unreliable. If this were a regr Challenge, they might not have minded working with Su Jin, since Team Boning Knife actually had veterans. But this Challenge did not allow veterans to use their Spirit Power at all, so there was no need to bother themselves with doing this.

    After Su Jin sat down with his team, the table lit up. Just like the rest of the spaceship, this table was also made from that same screen material, so the table was like a huge tablet. Various food items were disyed on it and crew members of the ship could choose anything they wanted.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t select food to eat. Instead, he whispered, ¡°Fearless, can you give me a map of the spaceship? I want the one with the most details.¡±

    ¡°Verifying identity¡­ Maintenance Crew Member Su Jin, Level 2 ess, Level 1 ess to spaceship information, allowed to see map of spaceship,¡± rang the voice of Fearless before a full blueprint of the spaceship appeared before them.

    This map not only showed the various parts of the spaceship but also showed them where they were right now. Just like what Su Jin had guessed, Fearless was like a city floating in the middle of outer space. It was gigantic.

    At the same time, Su Jin fell into deep thought. The Handbook had given them the identity of the maintenance crew on board the Fearless. That was probably a deliberate arrangement on the Handbook¡¯s part, since being this sort of crew member would allow them to have aplete picture of the spaceship¡¯s situation easily.

    Su Jin quietly started studying the map. Fearless consisted of a hibernation system, a power system, a control system, living quarters, an exercise area, the cafeteria, a skills area, a fighting area, and more. There were a total of 380 crew members on board, which surprised Su Jin and his team.

    There were 380 people on board, of which some of them were elite fighters with sufficient weapons on hand. It was pretty difficult to kill this many people at once, even if their opponent were an alien.

    But the main quest of this Challenge was for the owners to make sure that at least one crew member survived. In other words, was the Handbook expecting a massacre of sorts to happen right from the start?

    Su Jin¡¯s analysis of every Challenge was very simple. He always started with the introduction of the Challenge and the quests it gave. If you observed these things very carefully, you could glean a lot of useful information from them. Su Jin could even say that the Handbook already had a fairly clear description of the overall situation of each Challenge right from the start.

    But getting such information from the bits that they had depended on how clever the team¡¯s strategist was. At the same time, the information hidden in these areas was actually very simple. Anybody could uncover them if they thought about the implications of these words carefully enough. The main quest needed at least one person alive, so besides Su Jin, his three other team members had also sensed how dangerous this quest could be

    ¡°Jin, is a massacre going to happen?¡± asked Kano Mai in an uneasy voice.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to give her a definite answer since he wasn¡¯t sure, so he said, ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about that. Our first mission is to ensure our own safety. We need to find a way to get our hands on weapons, otherwise all of you are going to suffer if a fight breaks out.¡±

    His brows were furrowed as he said these words. He had an almost indestructible body and was more useful than many ordinary weapons avable. But his team members didn¡¯t have such a body, so they had to think of a way to keep themselves alive first.

    ¡°Fearless, are there weapons in the fighting area?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Yes, there are. The fighting area is an area that Fearless opens up to fight any invasion from outside the spaceship. All sorts ofrge sized weapons, from nuclear bombs to high grade explosives are avable, but you need five Level 1 crew members to gain ess to high level weapons,¡± replied Fearless without withholding any information. This AI was the core of the spaceship and its first instruction after it was built was that it must never lie to humans.

    ¡°Five Level 1 crew members? The captains?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    ¡°That is correct. There are eight people on board the Fearless who have Level 1 ess, including the five captains and three of the best schrs. As long as any five of them agree to use therge or high level weapons, ess will be granted,¡± replied Fearless.

    Su Jin frowned and asked, ¡°What sort of weapons are avable to us at our ess level then?¡±

    ¡°Checking in progress¡­¡± The table flickered before the voice continued, ¡°You are a Maintenance Crew Member with Level 2 ess. To ensure your own safety when doing maintenance work outside the spaceship, a Level 2 Maintenance Crew Member can choose from the following weapons within the weapons zone.¡± The table instantly lit up with a catalog of various equipment, including the armor that Jefferson was wearing earlier.

    ¡°What do we need to do to get these items?¡± asked Su Jin without hesitation.

    ¡°You can collect them once you¡¯re at the fighting area,¡± replied Fearless.

    Just then, Su Jin felt like something was clinging onto one of his legs. He got a shock and looked down to see that the one hugging his leg was a little girl, who was apanied by a timid little boy.

    The two children looked like they were only around five or six. The little girl had blonde hair and blue eyes, and while the little boy had blue eyes as well, he had ck hair. They looked like specially made dolls and were terribly adorable.

    ¡°There are children on the spaceship?¡± Wu Chen was extremely surprised, but he quickly smiled at the two children and said, ¡°Come over here, I¡¯ll give you candy!¡±

    The two children not only ignored Wu Chen but looked like they were terribly frightened and ran off. Wu Chen felt very embarrassed but he could onlyugh and shake his head.

    .

    Several people started entering the cafeteria at this time. They were all crew members of Fearless, including formidable elite fighters and professors in various fields. They had all been woken from hibernation and many of them still seemed a little dazed.

    The two children ran toward Jefferson and he immediately carried them both with a gentle look on his face. Heughed and said, ¡°You can¡¯t remember? These two fellows were born on Fearless, so they¡¯re truly the children of outer space!¡±

    ¡°They were born on Fearless?¡± Situ Jin was rather surprised.

    Jeffersonughed again and said, ¡°Why is that so strange to you? Fearless isn¡¯t some church that practices celibacy. Their parents fell in love on our way to the Hiding ce of God and had these two children. But it¡¯s not easy for the spaceship to support additional people on board, so this sort of thing was banned. Otherwise, the entire spaceship would be filled with children and we wouldn¡¯t have enough food to go round. Humans can reproduce at an astonishing rate, you know?¡±

    He patted the two children¡¯s heads, whispered a few things to them and they ran off happily. All the crew members who saw them had gentle smiles on their faces.

    As the cafeteria began to fill up, everyone also began to wake up from their sleepy state. Just then, the AI controlling the spaceship suddenly paged for Jefferson.

    ¡°Captain Jefferson, I¡¯m not able to wake Captain Reginald and Mr. Arkas from their hibernation mode,¡± reported the AI to Jefferson as it appeared at the table in the form of a person.

    ¡°Second Captain Reginald? Come to think of it, Fearless was the one that woke me up but I didn¡¯t see Reginald anywhere,¡± mumbled Jefferson puzzledly to himself.

 Chapter 231: The Missing One

    <h4>Chapter 231: The Missing One</h4>

    Jefferson was a little unsettled, so he got up and said to Su Jin and the rest, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    Nobody in the group objected to this, of course. Team Volcano Mountain stood up as well, so Jefferson said to them, ¡°Check out Mr. Arkas¡¯ side. Fearless will direct you.¡±

    The team had already seen how Su Jinmunicated with Fearless, and they just needed to follow the directions given by the spaceship to get to Arkas, so they nodded in agreement without hesitating.

    Jefferson walked out of the cafeteria, and Su Jin¡¯s team followed after him. The other team went in the direction given by Fearless.

    Su Jin¡¯s team and Jefferson soon came to a ce that resembled a beehive. It was a giant beehive made up of several hexagonal modules. Most of them were already open. This was where everyone had been hibernating.

    There were mobile teleportation devices all around the beehive, so they watched as Jefferson did something with his watch, and they were all quickly teleported to a module that wasn¡¯t open.

    ¡°Fearless, open up the hibernation pod door,¡±manded Jefferson.

    The door to the module moved a little after Jefferson gave orders, but did not open. Fearless responded, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain Jefferson, but the door¡¯s shape is slightly off and the mechanism is unable to function.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Jefferson was stunned to hear this. He touched the door and found that its shape was indeed slightly off. If the Fearless hadn¡¯t said so, nobody would have noticed, unless you had an extremely sharp eye.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± cursed Jefferson. He had a bad feeling about this.

    Su Jin walked up to him and said, ¡°Let me try!¡± He ced his hands on the two ends of the door, then exhaled quietly. There was a cracking sound as Su Jin pulled the door right off its own frame.

    Jefferson stared at Su Jin in disbelief and eximed, ¡°My goodness! How are you so strong?¡±

    Su Jin grinned and said, ¡°That¡¯s not quite what happened, Captain. Even if I were the strongest man in the world, I couldn¡¯t possibly be stronger than a machine. But this door is already out of shape, so pulling it off just requires a little technique. You don¡¯t actually need a lot of strength.¡±

    Jefferson had an enlightened look on his face, and he thanked Su Jin for opening the door. White mist had surged out after the door was removed, and once the mist had cleared, everyone stood in stunned silence at what they saw.

    There was absolutely nobody inside. Su Jin frowned, then asked, ¡°Captain Jefferson, are you sure Captain Reginald stepped into this pod?¡±

    Jefferson couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. He took a step back in horror andnded on his butt as he muttered inaudibly to himself. Nobody could hear what in the world he was saying. He just kept shaking his head.

    Situ Jin stepped forward to help him up, but Jefferson suddenly lunged straight into the pod as though he was looking for something. He was just sprawled on the floor and looked like he had lost his mind.

    But when Su Jin and the rest tried to approach the pod, he suddenly yelled, ¡°Don¡¯te in! None of you are allowed toe in!¡±

    All of them froze in their steps and Jefferson continued to mumble to himself, except that the rest could hear him clearly now. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The hibernation pod can only be activated from the inside. Reginald must be inside here. He must be inside here!¡±

    Kano Mai tugged at Su Jin¡¯s sleeve and said, ¡°Jin, there¡¯s something wrong with Captain Jefferson. He looks like he¡¯s on the verge of a breakdown.¡±

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t use his psychokinesis, or he would have scanned this entire ce and found out what happened.

    ¡°Those were just nightmares, just dreams¡­ they can¡¯t be real¡­¡± Jefferson copsed weakly onto the floor, as if all his energy had been sapped out of him.

    Su Jin cautiously walked into the pod. Jefferson wasn¡¯t as agitated anymore. He looked at Su Jin apologetically and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡­ I got a little too worked up earlier.¡±

    Su Jin patted his shoulder to assure him, then scanned the inside of the pod. The white mist had beenpletely eradicated after Jefferson had searched the pod, so he could see the inside very clearly.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± said Kano Mai quietly. She remained outside the pod and pointed out one corner of the pod to Su Jin. There was a pile of white powder there. It wasn¡¯t arge pile and the pod itself was also painted white, so Su Jin hadn¡¯t noticed it. Kano Mai¡¯s eyesight had been strengthened before, so she was the only one who saw it.

    Su Jin squatted down to take a closer look, and Wu Chen came in as well. He reached out and swiped a bit of it with his finger, then sniffed it. He looked like he was making a drug deal of sorts.

    ¡°How¡¯s the goods? Pure enough for ya?¡± asked Su Jin with a chuckle.

    Wu Chen nodded. ¡°You bet it¡¯s pure. It¡¯s ultra pure calcium powder. Even purer than calcium supplement pills!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Su Jin blinked in confusion.

    ¡°Make a wild guess. What in this pod could possibly produce calcium?¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t stupid. He immediately realized what Wu Chen was suggesting. His expression fell as he said, ¡°Are you saying¡­ this was left behind by Captain Reginald?¡±

    ¡°Uh huh. Unless the humans on this spaceship have evolved to a point where they can extract the calcium directly from their bodies like this, I have no idea how else this could happen,¡± said Wu Chen with a shrug.

    ¡°He might not be able to do it himself, but¡­ I¡¯m not so sure about those things.¡± Su Jin frowned. He was now pretty sure that those aliens had begun their attack. Why else would a hibernating Captain Reginald go missing all of a sudden?

    Jefferson was still in a daze, and his expression was still nk until Su Jin helped him up. And in that moment when Su Jin helped him to his feet, he suddenly felt like all his hair was standing on end, as if someone was pointing a gun at him.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± bellowed Su Jin. He flicked his fingers, and a tremendous force was unleashed, forcing the air in front of his fingers to move in a particr direction.

    There was a muffled noise as Su Jin¡¯s attack hit the ceiling on the inside of the door frame, making a hole in it. But when he walked over to look, he did not find anything there.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± asked Jefferson puzzledly. He had heard Su Jin¡¯s shout, but he hadn¡¯t noticed that Su Jin had made a hole in the pod by driving air into it.

    ¡°Nothing, I was just a little overly paranoid,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head. They walked away from the pod, since there was nothing inside it at all. They were now more concerned about how Arkas was doing.

    After they left, a green liquid suddenly started flowing from the hole that Su Jin had made. It seemed like something had crawled away from that ce.

    By the time they returned to the cafeteria, the other team was already waiting for them. Jefferson asked them immediately, ¡°Is Mr. Arkas alright?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s fine, he just fainted, that¡¯s all,¡± said the leader of the team as he took a step to the side. An old white haired man was standing behind him with a rather tired look on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. It was probably an after effect of the hibernation. Sorry to make everyone worry,¡± said Arkas apologetically.

    Jefferson shook his head and told the old man it was alright. He then said to Fearless, ¡°Call for a meeting with everyone with Level 1 ess. Our ship has run into a strange matter beyond our imagination.¡± He turned to Su Jin and the rest and said, ¡°You guys shoulde along too. You belong to the batch of people who woke up first, so there are some things we need to ask you.¡±

    Everyone nodded, so Jefferson said to the rest of the people in the cafeteria, ¡°Everyone, have a good rest and recover from any difort brought about by the hibernation process. Once we¡¯re done checking the warp drive, we¡¯re going home!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going home!¡± All the crew members in the cafeteria started cheering loudly. It was clear that even though they spent most of thest 100 years sleeping, they still missed home terribly.

    The group of owners followed Jefferson and Arkas out of the cafeteria. Arkas was also granted Level 1 ess and was one of the three top academics on board. Su Jin suddenly said to Jefferson, ¡°Captain Jefferson, I would like to ask you something.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± Jefferson nodded.

    ¡°Nobody brought back any of the specimens, offspring, or gic material of the aliens found in the Hiding ce of God back onto the Fearless, right?¡± asked Su Jin solemnly.

    Jefferson paused for a moment, then shook his head confidently. ¡°We definitely did not do that. We¡¯re not so foolish as to do that. We know very well how dangerous those things are, so how could we have¡­¡±

    He suddenly cut himself off and his expression faltered as he mumbled, ¡°Unless¡­ damn it! Those damned biologists wouldn¡¯t have done such a thing, right? That would bepletely insane of them!¡±

    ¡°Fearless, tell the biologists to meet with me. Also, send everything that they brought on board, including their personal items, to me. I want to request that everything be sealed for the entire journey and nobody is to touch those things.¡± Jefferson was a very decisive man.

    A few momentster, they arrived at a ce that looked like a meeting room. There were others already waiting inside, and they all bowed politely as Jefferson walked in. They were of differing races, and there were three men and two women. The five of them, plus Jefferson, Arkas, and the missing Reginald made up the eight Level 1 ess crew on the Fearless.

    Jefferson bowed back in response but did not say anything. After waiting for a while more, four biologists arrived. Out of the two men and two women, one of them was older, while the other three were young people. Of course, that was their body¡¯s current age: if you added the 100 odd years of hibernation, they would all be centenarians.

    ¡°Captain Jefferson, we¡¯re all here now. Can you finally tell us what happened?¡± asked one of the captains.

    Jefferson nodded and said in a somber voice, ¡°After we turned off the hibernation pods, Captain Reginald¡¯s pod did not give any response at all. I brought a group over to check his pod, only to find that the pod was still in operation not too long ago. But after we opened the pod, we discovered that¡­ Captain Reginald had disappeared.¡±

 Chapter 232: Losing Members

    <h4>Chapter 232: Losing Members</h4>

    Everyone in the meeting room couldn¡¯t believe what they just heard. One of the captains said, ¡°That¡¯s not possible. The pods can only be activated from the inside. Unless¡­ Fearless overwrote his authority and activated and did something.¡±

    ¡°Captain Reginald was the one who activated his hibernation pod. I did not overwrite his ess,¡± responded Fearless.

    Everyone exchanged puzzled nces. Su Jin piped up, ¡°Captain Reginald¡¯s pod wasn¡¯tpletely empty. We discovered some white powder and it looks like purified calcium.¡±

    ¡°Su, you¡¯re the best inspector on the ship, but I didn¡¯t know you were able to tell exactly what a powder was by just looking at it,¡± said one of thedies with augh.

    Su Jin smiled back. ¡°That¡¯s just my guess. You could send it for testing.¡±

    ¡°Fearless, scan Captain Reginald¡¯s pod now and confirm what that white powder consists of,¡± said Jefferson.

    A few secondster, Fearless responded, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I did not find any powder inside Captain Reginald¡¯s hibernation pod.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin frowned slightly. He looked at Wu Chen and their hearts both sank a little.

    ¡°Mr. Su, can you exin what¡¯s going on?¡± asked thedy from earlier on. The other Level 1 ess crew members were looking at him too.

    Su Jin rubbed his head and said apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, but I think we¡¯re all suffering from some after effects of hibernation. All of us have been badly affected and parts of our memories are still missing. Maybe I got it mixed up with some other memory¡­¡±

    Jefferson nodded slightly and confirmed this to be true. ¡°He¡¯s right. All of them have been affected by the after effects of hibernation.¡±

    Since Jefferson corroborated this exnation, nobody raised any further questions. But Su Jin was getting even more uneasy now.

    That white powder wouldn¡¯t disappear by itself, but there was nobody else who would havee into contact with that pod besides himself and the group of people with him. Team Volcano Mountain had headed toward where Arkas was, while the other crew members were resting in the cafeteria.

    ¡°The only possibility was that my senses were right just now. There was something hiding in the shadows and it cleaned up the powder after we left,¡± thought Su Jin.

    If that was really the case, it meant that not only had the alien begun its attacks, but that these aliens were fairly intelligent as well.

    Jefferson furrowed his brow as he asked the biologists he had called for, ¡°I need to ask all of you about some things, I hope you can answer me honestly.¡±

    ¡°Captain Jefferson, you can ask anything you want, we will answer you honestly,¡± said the oldest among them in a sincere manner. He looked like he was in his 80s and was much older than Arkas.

    Jefferson nodded. He scanned the four biologists in front of him, then said in a deep voice, ¡°I want to know: when we returned from the Hiding ce of God, did any of you bring those monsters back onto Fearless?¡±

    ¡°What? Someone brought those things back here?¡±

    ¡°Who would be crazy enough to do that?! You just need one of those creatures to kill us all! Who did that?!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! I thought we gave strict instructions to everyone not to do such a thing!¡± The Level 1 ess crew members became extremely uneasy. They had seen how powerful those creatures were with their own eyes. They could still remember everything vividly.

    Jefferson quickly calmed them down, ¡°This is just a suspicion. It has not been confirmed.¡±

    Everyone quieted down after hearing what Jefferson said, but they continued to stare worriedly at the biologists in the room.

    ¡°I, Abbas, will swear on my own reputation that none of the four of us ever did such a thing,¡± said the oldest biologist very solemnly.

    Everyone trusted Abbas greatly, since he was a distinguished and respectable man. They started wondering if they had overreacted after all.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin observed the other three biologists. All of them looked angry, but one of the female biologists had subconsciously taken a few steps backward.

    ¡°Mr. Abbas, we trust you, of course, because you have proved to be a man of integrity all these years. But¡­ I cannot be as sure about the rest,¡± said Jefferson in a slow voice.

    The eyes of the other three bulged in anger at these words. One of the male biologists said furiously, ¡°Captain Jefferson, this is nder! You are questioning our integrity!¡±

    ¡°I am just being responsible for the safety of the spaceship,¡± replied Jefferson with an icy look on his face. ¡°Fearless, scan all their luggage and personal items. I want the most detailed scan to be done.¡±

    All their items were already gathered in the room. A red beam of light rose from the floor and covered all the items.

    A few secondster, Fearless reported back, ¡°Scanningpleted. I did not find any prohibited items.¡±

    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at this result, including the four biologists. They were now cleared of any suspicion.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for doing this, but I hope you can understand. I am responsible for the safety of everyone onboard the ship,¡± exined Jefferson in a serious voice.

    The four of them nodded to show that they understood, then they left with their belongings. Jefferson told Su Jin and the rest to take a break as well.

    They had no choice but to listen to Jefferson¡¯smands and left the room. The meeting inside continued, because Jefferson felt that Reginald¡¯s disappearance was a problem, so they had to find out exactly what went wrong.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and the rest were allocated different rooms to rest, but they weren¡¯t too far from one another. Su Jin and Wu Chen¡¯s rooms were even just next to one another.

    The rooms were really just a small space measuring about ten square meters with a bed and bath. This was a space that was sufficient for one to rest and rx, but Su Jin was very amused by it. Fearless was merely a spaceship, yet the room he was allocated was actually stillrger than the basement apartment he had before bing an owner.

    Wu Chen quickly made his way over to Su Jin¡¯s room. He plonked himself down on Su Jin¡¯s bed and said, ¡°Jin, if the biologists weren¡¯t the ones who brought the aliens on board, then¡­ how did those things get here?¡±

    Su Jin washed his face and said, ¡°No, I actually think that Captain Jefferson¡¯s suspicions were valid. When their things were being scanned, one of the female biologists had a strange look on her face, as though she were worried about something. That¡¯s not the reaction that someone innocent would have.¡±

    ¡°Her reaction was strange? Maybe she¡¯s just a more timid person, or she was worried that one of herpanions had really done such a thing. Besides, the scan didn¡¯t find any aliens among their things,¡± said Wu Chen with a shrug.

    Su Jin said, ¡°The scan wouldn¡¯t find anything. If the disappearance of Captain Reginald does have something to do with those aliens, it means that the aliens are already on the move. Why would it stay with the biologists?¡±

    Wu Chen froze for a moment, then said, ¡°You¡¯re right! Then¡­ what do we do now?¡±

    ¡°We wait.¡±

    ¡°We wait?!¡±

    ¡°Yup. We can¡¯t prevent the aliens from appearing, so we just need to wait. But while waiting, we need to get ourselves ready. Like I said earlier, we need to befriend the crew and get ourselves some weapons. That¡¯s what we should be working on now.¡± Su Jin knew that they couldn¡¯t stop the aliens from appearing, so the only thing they could do would be to prepare for battle and ensure their survival.

    After thinking about it for a while, he said, ¡°Tell you what. Both of us will head to the fighting area to get weapons, then Mai and Situ will find a way to befriend some of the crew, preferably those who can fight.¡±

    Wu Chen nodded, then looked back at Su Jin with a saddened expression. ¡°But which rooms are the two of them in? This ce is like a maze: I can¡¯t find my way around at all.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re such an old man.¡± Su Jin shook his head, then called out, ¡°Fearless, help me to contact Kano Mai and Situ Jin.¡±

    ¡°Connecting you to them¡­ connected!¡± The Fearless worked extremely quickly, making Wu Chen feel like he had been left behind by the times.

    Kano Mai and Situ Jin appeared as a projection on the wall. Su Jin told them what he and Wu Chen had discussed. After the other two agreed to the n, they went on their way.

    Su Jin and Wu Chen left their rooms and followed the guiding arrows to their destination.

    Wu Chen suddenly piped up, ¡°Jin, do you think those biologists might have hidden the aliens in some unique way?¡±

    ¡°For example?¡±

    ¡°Youughed at me earlier at the way I tested the white powder in the pod, because it looked like I was inspecting drugs. That made me think about some ways in which drug peddlers hide drugs,¡± said Wu Chen.

    There was a glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Are you referring to how some of them hide drugs in their bodies? You could be right. The scan only scanned their personal items, but nobody suspected that there could be anything wrong with their bodies. If a biologist was the one who brought aliens on board, this is a usible method.¡±

    Su Jin called out, ¡°Fearless, contact Captain Jefferson for me.¡±

    ¡°Connecting you¡­ connected!¡±

    Jefferson appeared as a projection on the wall. ¡°Su, what¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Captain, please scan the biologists immediately. I am referring to scanning their bodies, and not their personal items,¡± said Su Jin directly.

    Jefferson was a clever man and it didn¡¯t take him long to realize what Su Jin was trying to say. ¡°You suspect they¡¯ve hidden the aliens in their own bodies.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a possibility, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Okay. Thanks for telling me.¡± Jefferson disconnected the call immediately. He was clearly going to check those biologists right away.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Wu Chen felt that the situation might change drastically anytime now, so they moved rapidly toward their destination. But just when they were about to enter the fighting area, Su Jin suddenly stopped in his tracks. The feeling of his hair standing on end crept over him again.

    It was the same feeling he had when they were in Reginald¡¯s hibernation pod.

    ¡°Wu Chen, be careful, I feel¡­ I feel like something dangerous is very near us,¡± warned Su Jin.

    Wu Chen nodded slightly and was about to say something when he felt a sharp pain in his throat. Something sharp had pierced right through it.

    ¡°kkkk!¡± Wu Chen tried to raise his hand to pull that thing out from his throat, but his body no longer had the strength to do so.

 Chapter 233: Massacred By Worms

    <h4>Chapter 233: Massacred By Worms</h4>

    Wu Chen copsed heavily onto the ground. A worm-like creature was sucking his blood rapidly like a leech.

    ¡°NO!¡± Su Jin roared angrily and made a grab for the worm, but the worm was even faster than him and wriggled further down Wu Chen¡¯s throat.

    Su Jin was furious but he didn¡¯t want to dig into Wu Chen¡¯s throat. At the same time, Wu Chen¡¯s head began to swell up unnaturally.

    PFFFFT! It was like the sound of a watermelon being smashed open. Wu Chen¡¯s head exploded and turned into nothing more than a huge cloud of blood.

    A thin and long shadow shot out from the bloodied mist. It moved extremely quickly and Su Jin couldn¡¯t stop it from getting away at all.

    He stared down at the headless Wu Chen on the floor and felt a little lost. Death had happened just like that. A man who had gone through dozens of Challenges had died in an instant, and as his team leader, he had been unable to do anything to stop it from happening.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart ached, but he knew that this wasn¡¯t the time to me himself. He gritted his teeth as he got up and said, ¡°Fearless, connect me to Kano Mai and Situ Jin.¡±

    The connection was made quickly. Kano Mai and Situ Jin seemed to be speaking to some others, so they had to turn to look at the screen on the wall.

    ¡°Jin, what¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips moved, but he couldn¡¯t seem to get the words out at all. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, then said, ¡°Wu Chen¡­ is gone!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s gone? Where did he go?¡± asked Kano Mai without thinking. But she quickly realized what Su Jin was actually saying and her expression fell.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too hard on yourself. When going through Handbook Challenges, everyone has to be responsible for their own lives.¡± Situ Jin was now familiar with Su Jin¡¯s character, so after disying a rare show of constion, he continued, ¡°It¡¯s begun? Those aliens have appeared?¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°I will report this to Captain Jefferson so that he can tell everyone to keep a lookout. Take this chance to gather more people, I¡¯ll bring some weapons back.¡±

    He disconnected the call, leaving a silent Situ Jin and Kano Mai on the other end.

    Su Jin proceeded to call Jefferson and showed him what had be of Wu Chen.

    ¡°Aliens! There really are aliens!¡± Jefferson was practically shouting. Su Jin was certain that this had something to do with the nightmares that Jefferson was talking about earlier. Otherwise, it was hard to imagine a well-trained captain going berserk like this.

    ¡°Captain Jefferson, I think the most urgent matter at hand is to tell every crew member to be on the lookout. Also, please allow everyone ess to the weapons in the fighting area so that we can all be prepared to fight,¡± said Su Jin.

    Jefferson was an outstanding captain and he quickly understood what Su Jin was getting at. ¡°You¡¯re right. Those aliens are formidable, but our weapons are still capable of destroying them. I¡¯ll tell the other captains to open the ess to weapons.¡±

    ¡°Fearless, connect me to all the Level 1 ess holders,¡± said Jefferson.

    In no time, all the Level 1 ess crew appeared on different screens. Two of the captains were with a professor at the ce where the biologists stayed. They seemed to be conducting inspections on the biologists.

    ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡± asked Jefferson.

    ¡°Everyone¡¯s been cooperative, but Miss Tracy has refused to allow us to inspect her,¡± said Arkas with a frustrated sigh.

    Su Jin¡¯s pupils constricted. That was the samedy who had reacted oddly earlier.

    ¡°I refuse to be checked! You don¡¯t have the right to do this to me! This is an invasion of my privacy!¡± yelled Tracy loudly.

    Jefferson frowned and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t have any rights like that. All of you signed an agreement to listen to everymand given by the captain in charge on the Fearless when you boarded this spaceship. I am the captain in charge right now, so I am ordering you to let yourself be inspected.¡±

    Tracy¡¯s expression turned to one of horror and shock, while Jefferson had lost all patience. He called out, ¡°Fearless, scan her right now and broadcast the results at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain Jefferson!¡± said Fearless.

    A red beam of light rose from the floor and covered Tracy in it. She frantically leaped aside, but several more beams appeared and she had nowhere to run to.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do this to me! This is an invasion of privacy!¡± she continued to yell.

    But nobody cared about protecting her privacy anymore, because everyone was shocked by what they were seeing.

    A scan of the inside of her body was projected on the walls of the spaceship. Her body no longer had any human organs. They had been reced by worm eggs that were jumping about.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± someone eximed. They had clearly been terrified by this sight.

    ¡°Miss Tracy, we need you to give us a reasonable exnation on what¡¯s going on,¡± said Jefferson with a stern look on his face.

    Tracy knew that it was pointless to continue hiding, so she suddenly started yelling hysterically, ¡°An exnation? Why do you need one? It¡¯s all because us biologists have been treated unfairly!¡±

    ¡°Treated unfairly?¡± Everyone went into an uproar.

    Jefferson shouted angrily, ¡°Miss Tracy, please do not make baseless usations like that. When did we treat you unfairly?¡±

    The elderly professor, Abbas, was trembling as he said, ¡°Tracy, what¡­ what are you talking about? You are my student! How could you do such a thing?¡±

    Tracy remained hysterical as she said, ¡°Prof, you have been so wise all these years! How did you be so foolish?¡±

    ¡°We gave up everything we had in human society to explore the Hiding ce of God. We gave up our families, our lives, our friends. For what reason? To go deeper in our understanding of biology.¡±

    ¡°But what did we get in return? Compared to the others, we seem to havee all the way here just to watch a blockbuster movie with really realistic special effects. We¡¯ve gotten nothing else in return.¡±

    ¡°The historians and archeologists have seen ancient relics about deities, the linguists have found a few dozen newnguages, the physicists have proved dozens of hypotheticalws of physics. Even the philosophers and sociologists have gained some knowledge.¡±

    ¡°What about us biologists? We couldn¡¯t even bring a specimen back with us onto the ship. If we bring these incredible creatures back to Earth with us, we could attain vast amounts of knowledge from them. We would have a deeper understanding of these lifeforms.¡±

    When Abbas saw how hysterical yet passionate Tracy was, he suddenly felt like he could understand where she wasing from. Like the old Chinese saying went, if one understood the truth in the morning, one wouldn¡¯t mind dying that very same night.

    But Jefferson remained rational. ¡°This is not a good reason for you to go against orders and put the Fearless in danger. Two people have already lost their precious lives because of your foolishness.¡±

    Tracy froze, then shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not impossible. I¡¯ve hidden them in my body. There was a little problem at first, but things have always been within my control. I have used a special drug on them, so they can¡¯t even leave my body, never mind kill another person.¡±

    ¡°You crazy woman! Do you think anybody would still trust you after what you¡¯ve done?¡± yelled Arkas. He said to Jefferson, ¡°Captain Jefferson, I suggest that we imprison Miss Tracy immediately and use medical means to remove all the aliens in her body.¡±

    Jefferson hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Arkas marched over and grabbed hold of Tracy.

    Tracy struggled violently in protest. Abbas and the other two biologists were Tracy¡¯s fellow biologists and were close to her, so they immediately blocked Arkas¡¯ way and hoped that Jefferson could show Tracy some leniency.

    Things became more and more chaotic. Just then, Abbas grabbed hold of Arkas¡¯ arm and exerted a little strength.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Arkas¡¯ arm broke right off.

    Abbas stared in shock at the arm in his hands and blurted out, ¡°He doesn¡¯t have bones?¡±

    ¡°No bones?¡± Su Jin was stunned for a second before he yelled, ¡°Run! RUN! Arkas is an alien in disguise!¡±

    Unfortunately, Su Jin¡¯s warning came toote. A worm-like alien burst out from Arkas¡¯ broken arm.

    The worm wriggled into Abbas¡¯ throat. It looked just like the one that killed Wu Chen.

    Arkas had a creepy smile on his face as several more worms came spewing out from his broken arm. In an instant, the small room belonging to the biologists turned into a ughterhouse.

    The worms massacred everyone inside the room except Arkas and Tracy. It took no more than a minute for all of them toy strewn all over the floor, their heads exploding like watermelons.

    Arkas walked over to thepletely stunned and horrified Tracy. His finger gently pulled her chin up and he said in a grating voice, ¡°Be good, my children. Don¡¯t be afraid, I will make sure all of you grow up well!¡±

    ¡°Fearless, cordon off all passageways leading to Zone G and tell all the crew in the surrounding areas to move to a safe area,¡± barked Jefferson furiously.

    The sound of a mechanism whirring could be heard through the screens as steel doors came down from the top and trapped Arkas inside.

    Fearless sounded the rm, while Su Jin saw that Arkas hadmanded the worms that hade out earlier to corrode the steel doors. Also, these worms had gone through a change after consuming the humans¡¯ blood. Their meaty worm shaped bodies now had an additional metal w.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to count on the steel doors to protect him for long.

    ¡°Captain Jefferson, please allow us ess to weapons! We need the best one you¡¯ve got!¡± yelled Su Jin from the other end.

    Jefferson looked shaken as he said, ¡°No, it¡¯s not possible anymore. There are now fewer than five people with Level 1 ess so we can¡¯t get the weapons. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll just have to settle for some ordinary guns.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Su Jin punched a hole in the wall. Arkas was trapped for now, but there was one more who wasn¡¯t trapped.

    Captain Reginald was the real headache!

    Su Jin immediately said to Jefferson, ¡°Captain, get everyone to hide as best as they can!¡±

 Chapter 234: Evolution

    <h4>Chapter 234: Evolution</h4>

    Jeffersonmanded Fearless to open up the shelter below the rest area. This was originally created to store any special items they might discover.

    Because the shelter had a passageway connected directly to part of the rest area and it didn¡¯t need one to open any steel doors, it was a fast and safe ce for everyone to get to and use as a shelter. After all, there was still a Captain Reginald atrge out there.

    ¡°Fearless, get me all the weapons I can get. I want weapons that are easy to carry and with as much fire power as possible,¡± said Su Jin.

    He wanted to get the most destructive weapons avable, but such weapons required approval from at least five Level 1 ess holders. Three of them had died at the same time and Reginald had gone missing, so it was impossible to get five people to approve this request.

    Besides, they were now cruising in outer space, so he didn¡¯t really dare to use something that was too powerful. If he destroyed the entire spaceship as a result, everyone was also going to die.

    By this time, Su Jin had already dashed into the fighting area and Fearless had already listed all the weapons he had asked for. All sorts of weapons were avable, since the Fearless had gone through a fierce battle at the Hiding ce of God previously and had even used nuclear missiles there. It wasn¡¯t surprising that they had weapons that could be handled by just one person.

    Each weapon came with a manual, but Su Jin didn¡¯t have the time to read all of them, so he could only get Fearless to continue filtering the weapons for him.

    ¡°Fearless, prioritize fire power, time it willst in a battle, and how convenient it is to carry. Also, I need single man-portable defense equipment.¡±

    ¡°Filtering the items¡­ filteringplete.¡± Fearless had sorted through the items avable and had finally picked out two weapons of attack and the white wearable armor that Jefferson was wearing.

    One of the weapons resembled a submachine gun, but it used aser instead. It was able to hold two energy sources andst through a small battle.

    The other weapon was a long knife made from a special sort of metal. It looked like a katana, and the de gleamed brightly.

    The only armor was an extremely lightweight one that was made from a special sort of material. It was easy for even thedies who didn¡¯t have to fight to wear and be well protected.

    ¡°Fearless, get me as many as you have of all these.¡± Su Jin was pleased with this weapon selection.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but your level of ess will only allow you to have five items,¡± replied Fearless.

    Su Jin blinked in shock and asked, ¡°What if I get Captain Jefferson to authorize me?¡±

    ¡°When Fearless wasunched into space, a policy was made to guard against anyone with ill intentions or any other unforeseen situations to hurt the ship and its crew. You cannot retrieve anything from this area with another person¡¯s authority. Even if Captain Jefferson gives you orders, he has to request for these items himself, and he has a limit of 50 items,¡± exined Fearless.

    Su Jin punched the wall in frustration. Was this actually a way in which the Handbook could prevent the owners from joining forces? In other words, the Handbook already had other preventive measures in ce and did not allow owners to make use of other weaponry and the like avable in the Challenge.

    He got Fearless to hand him the maximum number of items he could get, found a box, stuffed everything in, and ran out again.

    While he was running as quickly as he could to the rest area, the shelter was already in chaos.

    Arkas was trapped in his part of the spaceship, but he was getting through the ship very quickly. The worms he controlled were terrifying. The corrosive liquid they produced could eat through steel easily.

    ¡°We need to get to the fighting area! There are weapons there! Once we get a hold of weapons, we¡¯ll be able to defend ourselves!¡± yelled the leader of Team Volcano Mountain loudly. Since the Handbook disallowed them from using their own items, he had to think of another way to defend himself.

    A lot of people inside the shelter agreed with him. They unlocked the doors and ran out from the rest area to the fighting area in groups.

    If Su Jin were here, he would have cursed that team leader for being despicable. Arkas was trapped in a ce they knew about, but there was a missing Reginald who was nowhere to be found now. Bringing so many people out of the locked shelter was basically allowing these people to be an easy target.

    But that was exactly what the team leader was hoping for. The higher the number of targets appeared in front of the aliens, the lower the chances of himself being targeted.

    Meanwhile, Jefferson got a shock when he saw what was happening. He used Fearless to tell the people leaving the shelter to remain in the shelter since it was still safe at the moment.

    But only a small minority chose to return to the shelter. Most of the panicking crew weren¡¯t going to listen to the instructions of someone hiding in some unknown ce, or worse still, someone who could possibly be hiding in a ce a hundred times safer than themselves.

    Their only aim was to get their hands on some weapons. Doing that was the only way they felt safe.

    Everyone started running rapidly toward the fighting area and Team Volcano Mountain hid themselves in the middle.

    Just then, chaos suddenly erupted. A ck shadow shot itself into the crowd like a bullet. That was one of those worms.

    The worm urately stabbed itself into one man¡¯s throat. Human skin couldn¡¯t stop it at all. Its corrosive liquid could eat through everything in an instant, including human flesh and blood.

    Pfft! That man¡¯s head exploded like a smashed watermelon just a secondter.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Screams and shouts could be heard as everyone became frantic and tried to run in all directions. The worm hadnded more or less in the middle of the crowd, causing the people to escape in various directions instead of in just one direction.

    At the same time, more worms started appearing. Each of them were able to leap onto a person¡¯s throat urately and kill them in seconds.

    The crowd ran like they had all lost their minds. None of them had the time or energy to think about which direction the fighting area was in. All they knew was that they had to get out of this ce right now.

    The worms were dry and skinny when they killed their first victim. But after that, they would be fatter and grow ws of iron.

    These fattened and moistened worms would evolve faster and faster after that, making them kill at a higher rate.

    A one-sided massacre was now happening along the corridor. The nearly 200 strong crowd realized that they couldn¡¯t even defend themselves against their attackers. Also, the worms continued to evolve as time went on. After it killed a certain number of people, it would change in shape and its efficiency in killing a person would increase. The only thing they could do was to run while the worm was busy killing someone else.

    Team Volcano Mountain lost two members in the chaos too. One of them had their head cut off by a worm that had evolved to a stage where it resembled a cockroach, while the other member had been stampeded to death by the panicking crowd. Only the team leader, the member wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and a middle ageddy survived.

    They were Handbook owners after all, so they didn¡¯t feel too flustered by what happened and continued moving toward the fighting area. They knew that they had to have weapons in order to survive.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was still on his way back to the rest area. He had no idea that the crowd had been shifted to the shelter.

    But he suddenly froze in his steps even as he ran at top speed toward the rest area. He braked so hard, a cloud of white smoke rose from the floor.

    ¡°Show yourself! I know you¡¯re here!¡± Su Jin called out. All his hair was standing on end again as he sensed danger near him.

    Shortly after he said these words, a strange looking man stepped into the light.

    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t urate to call this fellow a man anymore. He looked more like a lump of moving flesh that had a human head fixed on top of it. And even that human head was problematic, because he hadpound eyes like an insect.

    ¡°Captain Reginald!¡± Su Jin could guess the identity of this monster in no time.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! You are no ordinary person, alright. No crew onboard the Fearless can run at the speed in which you were running at earlier. I checked the boarding records just now and I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not someone else impersonating as you. So¡­ I¡¯m very curious about you!¡± Reginald¡¯spound eyes reflected a strange glint as they focused on Su Jin.

    Su Jin was rather surprised. His eyes widened as he said, ¡°You¡¯re actually still sentient? Or rather, you still have a personality.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m just evolving: I never lost myself,¡± said Reginald proudly.

    An anger burned in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. He said angrily, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, why did you bring harm to your own kind?¡±

    Reginald paused for a moment beforeughing loudly. ¡°HAHA! I think you¡¯re a little mistaken. If you evolved from apes, would you still think of the apes as your own kind? I¡¯ve already be a higher lifeform, so what do you mean by ¡°my own kind¡±? What a joke! And actually, I¡¯m helping all of you by doing this, but you¡¯re all just unable to appreciate the beauty of evolution, so you can¡¯t understand, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Oho! So, I actually have to thank you for killing my friend?!¡± Su Jin flung the box he was carrying on his shoulder to the floor and grabbed hold of a long knife made from a special alloy.

    Reginald nodded without hesitation. ¡°Of course. You will thank me for this. Once I make you one of us, you will thank me!¡±

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes, and an arrow made from water suddenly shot out from Reginald¡¯s mouth. The arrow moved at a very high speed, but Su Jin¡¯s reaction was faster. He wielded his knife and sliced through the arrow while moving toward Reginald.

    Reginald did not panic and was very pleased with Su Jin instead. Heughed and said, ¡°Hoho! What a wonderful body you have. I can¡¯t believe a normal human body has been able to evolve to this extent. I evolved by changing my body, so I¡¯m envious that you¡¯ve managed to keep yours. If you became myrade, I wonder how much stronger we could be!¡±

    Su Jin ignored Reginald¡¯s words. He brandished his knife so many times and so rapidly, it was as though he had a few dozen knives. The glint of the de covered Reginald and he had chopped the fellow into several pieces within seconds.

    But even after he was done chopping Reginald up, Su Jin did not feel the slightest bit more rxed. That sense of danger nearby was still there. He watched as the pieces started merging together again like a liquid and formed Reginald once more.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise and immediately brought the knife to his nose to take a whiff. His eyes instantly lit up. <i>So, that¡¯s how Captain Reginald restored his body.</i>

 Chapter 235: Immortal Body

    <h4>Chapter 235: Immortal Body</h4>

    In order to preserve the shine of the de that Su Jin used, ayer of oil had been applied to it. Upon closer inspection, Su Jin realized that theyer of oil was still intact. This sort of oil adhered to any surface it came into contact with, so even if one only lightly scratched the surface, you would take quite a bit of oil with you.

    ¡°You split your body before I actually cut you, so it looked like I was the one who sliced you to pieces. But actually, you¡¯ve merely shapeshifted,¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    Reginald looked at Su Jin in surprise and eximed, ¡°Your intelligence inbat is pretty high! You actually realized this almost immediately. I¡¯m amazed!¡±

    ¡°So, as long as I manage to slice you before you split yourself, you¡¯d still get hurt, right? After all, it¡¯s one thing to choose to split yourself and another to be split by the de of a knife!¡± Su Jin swung his knife again, but this time, a powerful wave of air sprayed out as he swung it. It resembled knife qi, but this was actually just a different way of using his immense strength. It was different from the energies that Chu Yi and Miyamoto Tooru used and required one to be extremely strong physically. But that was the only way he could get around the limitations ced on him by the Handbook.

    Reginald was about to say more, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to give him the chance to do so. It was hard to say if this fellow was purposely stalling him in order to allow Arkas more time to attack everyone else.

    Su Jin moved as quickly as lightning. The one meter de was able to cause damage within a five meter radius because of the technique he had used. This made it hard for Reginald to estimate how far he had to be from Su Jin in order to remain safe.

    The energy that burst from the swinging of the de was so strong that it seemed to slice through the air and flew as it formed a vacuum. This time, Reginald could not move aside in time, so his slug-like arm was sliced right off. But after that arm fell to the floor, it was still alive and flew toward Su Jin¡¯s throat.

    ¡°HAHA! Do you even know what it means to evolve? This is what it truly means to evolve! Life must reach a higher realm, and from then on¡­ death will be unable to touch me ever again!¡± Reginaldughed maniacally and worms shot out continuously from where his arm once was. These worms were much smaller than the one that killed Wu Chen, but they were shooting out of his arm like bullets, so it was hard for even Su Jin to dodge them all.

    ¡°Hakkesho kaiten!!¡± yelled Su Jin pretentiously. Of course, he wasn¡¯t some character in Naruto, but he understood the principle behind that particr move. If he spun himself, he could generate a centrifugal force that would make everything around him spin away from his body. The only problem was that he had to spin extremely quickly.

    Su Jin started spinning like a tornado, making all the little worms flying his way spin away from him. But he soon realized that he couldn¡¯t keep this up for long. Spinning like this made him terribly dizzy!

    ¡°Close rangebat!¡± Su Jin stopped himself from spinning and flew out. Since he couldn¡¯t spin himself, he was going to let the knife in his hands do the work. The gleam of the de as it spun looked like a screen of light. It was definitely going to be so fast that not even a droplet of water could get in, never mind these worms!

    Just then, Reginald¡¯s broken arm came flying toward his back, making it difficult for him to protect himself or make an escape.

    ¡°HA!¡± Su Jin suddenly turned around and bellowed furiously. A mighty cloud of air surged out from his mouth and struck the worm wielding the arm. The sheer force from his shout had turned the worm into minced meat.

    But at the same time, Su Jin felt a pain in his hand. Reginald had seized this opportunity to aim some worms at the hand that Su Jin used to brandish his knife. Despite how tough his skin was, the worms were still able to corrode his skin in no time and started burrowing into his flesh.

    Su Jin did not hesitate. He swung his sword to force Reginald to move backward, switched his sword to the other hand, and then proceeded to chop his right hand off at the forearm.

    It sounded extreme, but Su Jin had seen what these worms could do. If he let them reach his head, it might explode like Wu Chen¡¯s.

    The part of the arm that Su Jin had hacked off only bled a little. His superhuman body had allowed his wound to heal in mere seconds. Meanwhile, his chopped off hand was also polished off in the same amount of time by a few worms. Those worms started growing in size rapidly and began to evolve.

    In just a few moments, they became the size of mini poodles. There were three of them in total. They started fighting and biting each other, a winner emerging just a few secondster. The winner ate the other two that lost and continued its evolution process.

    Everything had happened in no more than five seconds. The three mini poodle sized worms had be one ugly worm that was the size of a Doberman. This worm resembled a human, except that it had four arms that looked like insect legs. They were very long and thin and were covered by a hardyer.

    ¡°My goodness! How much energy does your palm contain? I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s allowed the worms to evolve to this extent, and evolve almost perfectly. Are you really human?¡± Reginald stared at Su Jin in disbelief, but it wasn¡¯t a look of admiration. He was staring at Su Jin like Su Jin was some furnace that could produce miracle pills.

    Su Jin nced down at his arm. He was very strong, but he didn¡¯t have the ability to regrow a limb. His enemies hadn¡¯t reduced in number and now he had one more. Reginald didn¡¯t seem to have grown any weaker, and there was a worm that had actually grown stronger from eating his own flesh. The situation was only getting worse.

    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about escaping? I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t allow you to get away. If I consume all of you, I think I might be able to metamorphosize again!¡± There was a maniacal look in Reginald¡¯spound eyes as he raised his broken arm and kept shooting tiny worms out. The evolved worm also came pouncing toward Su Jin at high speeds.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes. This was how hard a Level B Challenge was. If he was allowed to use his Spirit Power, he would have ovee all these creatures easily. But it was going to be hard for him to survive this ordeal without such powers.

    ¡°Escape? I never thought of doing that. After all, if I allow you to remain alive, you will be a huge headache! Besides¡­ I still need to avenge my friend!¡± said Su Jin with a sneer. He wasn¡¯t in the most ideal situation, but his time in the Handbook hadn¡¯t all gone to waste either.

    He punched the metal box carrying his weapons with one fist and it broke into several pieces. He caught the pieces as they broke and sent them flying. Shadow after shadow shot out, each one striking a worm and turning it to mush.

    At the same time, his left hand raised his knife and brandished it such that Reginald had to find a ce to hide himself and didn¡¯t have the time or energy to shoot worms out anymore. The problem was that there was that evolved worming at him as well. The worm spread its four arms out and came flying at Su Jin.

    ¡°Triple Qi Thrust! Demon Tiger Emerges!¡± yelled Su Jin as he thrust one palm out. This was Chu Yi¡¯s best move, the Triple Qi Thrust!

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t as well trained in martial artspared to Chu Yi, but it wasn¡¯t as though he couldn¡¯t learn. His body was strong and nimble, so he could learn any form of martial arts very quickly. He had also learned this Qi Thrust technique, but because he did not understand it as well as Chu Yi, he was only able to execute up to the Triple level.

    But Triple Qi Thrust was enough, since Su Jin¡¯s body was able to unleash more energy, so his Triple Qi Thrust was much more powerful than Chu Yi¡¯s. The worm had no idea how powerful this move was and mmed right into Su Jin¡¯s palm.

    Craaack¡­BOOM!

    There was a muffled sound before an explosion urred. The impact of the Triple Qi Thrust exploded from inside the worm like a bomb, turning the worm to nothing but mush.

    Reginald was in disbelief. That was the worm he was the most pleased with, since its evolution was almost perfect, as he had said earlier. He didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to be able to kill it with just one move.

    He turned and wanted to run, but there was no way Su Jin was letting him get away. Immediately after that evolved worm fell to pieces, Su Jin¡¯s left hand flicked every piece of worm flesh rapidly toward Reginald, striking the captain like bullets.

    Reginald kept splitting himself again, hoping to avoid any damage to his body before getting hit, but Su Jin was flicking way too many flesh bullets at him. There was no way he could dodge them all, so several parts of his body ended up getting badly injured. He looked so pathetic now.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as he swung the knife in his left hand horizontally, which sliced Reginald into many pieces. Then, he suddenly stopped moving and watched Reginald piece himself back together again.

    ¡°What an idiot! You actually gave me the chance to revive myself! You¡­¡± Before Reginald could finish his sentence, Su Jin swung his de again. He sliced Reginald into several pieces, then stopped to watch Reginald merge the various parts of his body into one again.

    Once he had be one whole piece, Su Jin sliced him into pieces once more. Then, he said quietly, ¡°Your rate of revival is slowing down. It started with just a few seconds, then more than ten seconds, and the third time took nearly half a minute. This time, it¡¯s going to take a minute or so, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    .

    ¡°In other words, your revival method isn¡¯t like what you described. You don¡¯t have an immortal body at all. Once your energy is consumed beyond a certain point, you¡¯re going to die, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Reginald felt terror in his heart. Just like what Su Jin had just said, he didn¡¯t have a body that couldn¡¯t be killed. If he was killed enough times, he would reach a point where he could no longer revive himself.

    ¡°I get it now. You need to hunt to get more energy, right? If you have enough energy, you¡¯d be able to continue reviving yourself. And because you were searching for a source of energy, you attacked Wu Chen!¡± Su Jin¡¯s gaze turned frosty as he snorted and said, ¡°Despite your desperation, your senses were still very strong. You could sense that I wasn¡¯t someone easy to deal with, so once you had sessfullyunched a sneak attack on Wu Chen and got what you wanted, you made a run for it. That¡¯s what happened, isn¡¯t it?

    ¡°Right. I¡¯ve mostly understood everything now, so it¡¯s time for you to die!¡± Su Jin mmed a palm against one of Reginald¡¯s pieces of flesh and vibrated his hand so quickly, he turned the flesh to air in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°NOO!¡± Reginald howled. He was really scared now, because Su Jin was able to destroy one section of himself so easily. Su Jin would just need a little bit of time and he would be able to vaporize all the other pieces.

    Of course, Su Jin ignored his cries. His palm continued to vaporize all the pieces around him. Once he was sure he had vaporized everything, he grabbed all the equipment that had been scattered all over the floor and went on his way.

    After Su Jin walked away, one of the least destroyed pieces of the evolved worm that Su Jin had turned to mush suddenly started moving. A few secondster, it turned into a worm that was about the size of a finger.

    ¡°Stupid thing. Did you really think you could kill me like that?¡± rang out Reginald¡¯s voice from that tiny worm.

    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know you could do this too. Well, I guess this time, it¡¯s really goodbye,¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in the corridor again. He had returned and sneered at the worm as he raised the gun in his hand and shot the worm to pieces.

 Chapter 236: Battle In The Corridor

    <h4>Chapter 236: Battle In The Corridor</h4>

    Su Jin was not too pleased with the fire power of theser gun. It could be pretty lethal, but its main strength was in boring holes through stuff. It was hard for it to do much damage to these evolving worms. The worm that Reginald had be earlier was only the size of a finger, so theser gun had barely managed to make a hole in its body that was sufficient to kill it. If that worm had been bigger, Reginald might have had the chance to revive himself again.

    He only walked away after he was certain that Reginald had been killed. As he continued on his way, he asked Fearless about how everyone else was doing.

    ¡°The crew has been moved to the area below the rest area, but a number of them have chosen to head for the fighting area instead and have run into the enemy,¡± replied Fearless.

    Su Jin was stunned by this turn of events. ¡°Connect me to Kano Mai and Situ Jin!¡±

    A momentter, Fearless replied, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but mymunications system has been locked and I cannot connect you to anybody now.¡±

    ¡°Did Captain Reginald do that?¡± mumbled Su Jin to himself. Reginald was still very much sentient and was one of the spaceship¡¯s captains. He had the authority to lock the ship¡¯s systems, and it would make sense for him to do such a thing as well.

    ¡°Are you able to connect me to Captain Jefferson?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but your level of ess is too low. You are unable to unlock themunications system,¡± replied Fearless.

    Su Jin frowned. Actually, the solution was simple. He just needed to have a sufficiently high level of ess and this problem would go away. Fearless was an AI, but it was still aputer at the end of the day. Without the relevant programming, it was unable to decide when it needed to overwrite authority in order to prioritize urgent matters. Regardless of what Reginald had be, he remained someone with Level 1 ess. There was nothing Su Jin could do about that, so he could only hope that Jefferson would notice that there was a problem with themunications systems and unlock it.

    He followed the directions that Fearless gave and headed for the shelter. By this time, the inside of the shelter was already in chaos. There were people outside desperately begging the people inside the shelter to open up the steel doors, but because themunications system had been locked, they were unable to see for themselves what was going on outside and nobody dared to open the steel doors.

    On the other side, Arkas was getting closer and closer to them. Fearless had already informed everyone about 15 minutes ago that Arkas was no longer containable, so everyone could only hope that Arkas wouldn¡¯t find the shelter so quickly. But such thoughts were futile. The Fearless was arge ship, but it didn¡¯t go on forever. Arkas would eventually find them.

    ¡°I wonder how Jin is doing.¡± Kano Mai was terribly worried. Su Jin had only contacted once after Wu Chen had died, so they had no idea if Su Jin was dead or alive.

    Situ Jin consoled her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! If even he can¡¯t survive this damned Challenge, then even formidable characters like Xu Ran and Shen Wu wouldn¡¯t have a good time either. In fact¡­ I have more confidence in that team leader of ours.¡±

    Kano Mai suddenly felt a boost in confidence after hearing these words. They were talking about Su Jin, the leader of Team Boning Knife after all!

    Situ Jin scanned the people who remained in the shelter. There were about a hundred of them or so, but they were mostly the weak and elderly. He had faith in Su Jin, but he knew this wasn¡¯t the time to just sit around and wait for Su Jin to save them. He had to find a way to make use of even the weak and elderly here to survive this ordeal.

    ¡°Everyone! Listen to me! We can¡¯t just sit here and wait to die! Let¡¯s get ready to fight our enemies!¡± yelled Situ Jin loudly. There was a good reason why he was the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, after all. He quickly began giving everyone instructions on how to set up the shelter for a battle ahead. He knew that everyone had to fend for themselves.

    Inside a dim corridor, Arkas had one hand in his pants pocket as he strolled forward. The arm that had been broken off had turned into a giant worm made from flesh. The flesh worm had a terrifying mouth. It had teeth in a circle around its mouth, and if you looked carefully, you would see even moreyers of teeth within that circle.

    ¡°Rx, rx! I¡¯m looking forward to that flesh feast too!¡± Arkas had a chilling smile as he caressed the arm that had turned into a worm and spoke to it like he was chatting with a girlfriend. Behind him, a number of people followed him meekly like they were mere ves.

    The steel door standing in the way between himself and the rest of the ship had been fully corroded. But he frowned slightly when he got to the rest area because there wasn¡¯t a single soul inside.

    ¡°Have they been shifted elsewhere?¡± Arkas snorted. ¡°Fearless,¡± he asked, ¡°where have the crew been shifted to?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Arkas, but Captain Jefferson has locked your current level of ess and you will not be able to affect operations of the ship until the next change of duty,¡± responded Fearless¡¯ emotionless voice.

    Arkas made a face but he didn¡¯t seem surprised by this answer. He suddenly opened his mouth and retched, then raised his head. A ck thing the size of a palm was climbing out of his throat.

    He finally managed to spit it out. It was something that resembled adybird. Once it had climbed out of Arkas¡¯ throat, itnded on the floor and its wings kept trembling.

    ¡°My good child, find out for me where those lowlifes have gone,¡± whispered Arkas after squatting down.

    The strange bug¡¯s wings trembled more and more rapidly, then suddenly flew up from the floor and toward Arkas¡¯ mouth. Arkas did not try to dodge it and allowed the bug to fly back into his mouth. He swallowed it with a pleased look on his face.

    ¡°So, they¡¯re downstairs, huh.¡± Arkas had a weird grin on his face. The sticky liquid in his mouth looked especially gross.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was still moving rapidly along the corridor. But he suddenly seemed to sense something and came to an abrupt stop. He narrowed his eyes slightly, then cupped his ears to listen carefully.

    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± Su Jin¡¯s narrowed eyes opened again. He grabbed aser gun and aimed it at the corner. Cries and howls slowly resounded from behind.

    Several people dashed out and Su Jin¡¯s eyes were like an eagle¡¯s as he observed them. He didn¡¯t care about these people. He was waiting for the hunters behind these people.

    ¡°Hurry up and run! Behind us are nothing but monsters!¡± The first ones to dash out were the three surviving members of Team Volcano Mountain. When they saw that Su Jin was just standing there and not moving, their first instinct was to warn him.

    But Su Jin ignored their warning, so the three of them didn¡¯t bother pulling him away with them. After they ran past him, a number of physically fit crew followed closely behind them. But the ones after the crew were a bunch of monsters without any heads. If you looked carefully, these monsters were actually the crew that had been attacked and had their heads explode. The ce where a head should have been were now fat and strong worms.

    It looked as though these worms had been nted into these crews¡¯ necks. Their faces had a screw for a mouth and a pair of ckpound eyes.

    ¡°Help!! Save us! Save us!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯te any closer! Don¡¯te any closer!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to die!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die here! I want to return to Earth!¡±

    The cries echoing down the hallway sounded like they were in hell itself. The worms imnted into the dead crew would spit out corrosive liquids, which would corrode the flesh of anybody it hit. At the same time, a bunch of other bugs that looked like cockroaches were also running after the other crew members.

    Su Jin felt that these weird worms and bugs were moving very strangely. They seemed to have gonepletely insane, and the way they killed the people was very chaotic, unlike the worms that Reginald controlled earlier. Those worms knew the exact timing to attack him.

    ¡°Is it because I killed Captain Reginald, so now there¡¯s nobody to control their movement?¡± Su Jin made a face, then suddenly yelled out, ¡°You guys! You¡¯re going to end up dead if you continue running like this. I¡¯ve got some weapons here, so let¡¯s work together to kill off these worms!¡±

    The three members of Team Volcano Mountain couldn¡¯t help but stop when they heard these words. There was a look of hesitation in their eyes. Staying here meant that they had to face these crazed, mutant worms head on. That didn¡¯t sound like a great idea either.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we don¡¯t intend to wait to die here,¡± said the team leader before running off. The middle aged woman followed behind him immediately, but the man in gold rimmed sses paused to think for a while more before joining Su Jin instead.

    Su Jin looked at the bespectacled man with some surprise, then threw one set of armor and aser gun to him. The man was clearly very afraid and kept looking toward where his team leader and the other woman had run off to.

    After the team leader realized that one of his members hadn¡¯t followed behind him, he did not stop or even hesitate. He just continued running, because he was no longer thinking about getting weapons to fight back. He was now trying to think of a way to simply stay alive.

    ¡°If you¡¯re scared, you can always leave!¡± said Su Jin with a smile as he started shooting at the worms like crazy with theser gun in his hands. These worms were unable to revive themselves like Reginald, so theser gun worked pretty well on them.

    The man with gold rimmed sses had clearly gone through shooting practice himself as every shot he fired hit a worm urately. He said through gritted teeth, ¡°So what if I¡¯m scared? This Challenge requires us to get rid of all the aliens. Retreating again and again is definitely going to get us killed instead.¡±

    Su Jin was surprised to hear him say something like that and gave him a look of approval. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Lv Ming!¡± He was still extremely nervous and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and they continued to shoot at the aliens. When it came to shooting skills, almost every owner was an expert. The two of them shot and retreated at the same time, while gathering all the crew that were still alive. Su Jin gave the few weapons he had left to any crew member who was good at shooting, but continued to carry the remaining armor on his back and refused to let anybody use them.

    Thankfully, even though they were high in number, these worms were not as big of a threat anymore now that Reginald was no longer around tomand them. After killing a certain percentage of them, they were no longer a problem. Su Jin protected all the crew and the numbers didn¡¯t decrease anymore.

    When the battle finally ended, the bodies of dead aliens and crew had pretty much blocked the entire corridor. Su Jin had no choice but to use his hands to push them aside to get through. He said to Lv Ming, ¡°Go to the fighting area and arm yourself! Once armed, don¡¯te back here! Just guard the fighting area!¡± He then dashed off without waiting for a response from Lv Ming.

 Chapter 237: Doesnâ€™t Make Sense

    <h4>Chapter 237: Doesn¡¯t Make Sense</h4>

    Su Jin continued moving forward until he came to the steel doors leading to the shelter. He was stunned by the sight before him. A huge number of bodies and bones were piled up high, and several worms were weaving in and out of the pile, consuming the flesh of these people in order to metamorphosize. The only thing that brought himfort was the fact that the doors to the shelter were still shut.

    He moved toward the pile withrge strides, and the worms emerged from the pile immediately when they sensed a personing toward them. They began to charge maniacally toward him.

    Su Jin tied one knife to his wrist, and held one in his remaining palm before charging forward without hesitation. His des sparkled brightly in the light, like white flowers in the midst of fresh blood. It was a mesmerizing sight to behold.

    After fighting so many of them off, Su Jin understood a lot about these aliens. They were very good in attacking, healed pretty quickly, but very poor in defense. As long as they didn¡¯t have a leader like Reginald to guide them, it wasn¡¯t difficult to kill them.

    The worms and bugs were quickly sliced to pieces by Su Jin. No matter how aggressive they were, they couldn¡¯t even get close to Su Jin¡¯s clothes. It was as though the two sides belonged to two different dimensions.

    But halfway through, the aliens suddenly paused, abandoned Su Jin and made their way back to the steel doors to the shelter instead. They started attacking the doors fiercely and it looked like the doors were about to give way anytime.

    ¡°What in the¡­ It¡¯s Arkas!¡± Su Jin immediately thought of Arkas. Just like Reginald, Arkas had clearly retained his own personality, which was how he had managed to hide this change in himself so well and fooled everyone on board. If things hadn¡¯t gone awry and exposed them as the aliens, everyone would still probably be in the dark. Thinking about what could have happened if they hadn¡¯t discovered this early gave Su Jin the chills.

    If someone as formidable as Reginald had remained hidden in the crowd and suddenlyunched an attack, the result would have been nothing short of a tragedy. Perhaps his team members would not be able to deal with it either.

    Su Jin knew that Arkas had to be nearby, so he too dashed toward the steel doors. He mmed the worms off the door just before they made it through and ran into the shelter first.

    Immediately after he stepped into the shelter, a bright glint came toward his head. That was a sharp pole of sorts that had been sharpened by some other object and the person wielding it was pretty good at this. The pole hade at Su Jin at a very strange angle and he couldn¡¯t dodge it at all.

    ¡°Gosh!¡± Su Jin eximed as he tensed up. The pole stabbed his arm, but only made it less than one centimeter in.

    ¡°Su Jin!¡± The person who had attacked Su Jin turned out to be Situ Jin. He thought that Su Jin was one of those aliens, but thankfully he realized it was Su Jin and reacted quickly. Otherwise, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t get away with such a light injury even though his arm was pretty tough.

    ¡°Jin!¡± Kano Mai came running toward him but he pushed her aside.

    ¡°There are a lot of worms behind the door!¡± said Su Jin before turning around to execute a Triple Qi Thrust, causing all the worms outside the door to fly backwards.

    ¡°Put this on!¡± Su Jin passed two pieces of armor to Situ Jin and Kano Mai, then turned back to the steel door. If a worm appeared, he would p it to pieces immediately.

    .

    However, the people inside the shelter became even more panicky. Before this, they were afraid of being attacked, but at least they felt that they were in a safe ce. Now, the worms had managed to reach this ce. The more timid ones among them were getting extremely frightened.

    ¡°Mai, take this. Shoot any worms that try to get in! Situ, take this.¡± Su Jin gave hisser gun to Kano Mai, then pulled the knife off his wrist and gave that to Situ Jin.

    Out of everyone inside the shelter, the cries of the only two children onboard the Fearless were especially piercing. These were the children whom Jefferson called the ¡°children of the universe.¡±

    Su Jin saw that he had two more sets of armor left, so he held them out to the children and said gently, ¡°I¡¯ve read the instructions for this armor, it¡¯s made from a special material that will adjust to whatever size the wearer is, so it¡¯ll definitely fit you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± the little girl thanked Su Jin timidly. The carefree expressions they once had were gone and reced with deep seated terror.

    Su Jin sighed. This shelter was definitely not a good ce to be in. Situ Jin had helped to transform it into a defense bunker of sorts, but they were basically just trapped here now.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to find a way out of here! If not, we¡¯re more likely to be trapped here and die as a result. We need to get to the fighting area where there are sufficient weapons and ammunition, which will make defending ourselves a lot easier,¡± Su Jin addressed the crowd. But these were the people who had chosen to stay behind earlier on in the first ce. And now that they had also witnessed what those worms were capable of, they were even more unwilling to budge.

    ¡°Mr. Su, a lot of people ran out from here earlier. How are they now?¡± someone asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin frowned and shook his head. ¡°Arge majority have died, and the rest have all gone toward the fighting area.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t we end up dead if we leave this ce now?¡±

    ¡°I knew it! We can¡¯t escape! We¡¯re all going to die!¡±

    ¡°What should we do? What should we do? Have our actions offended the gods? Is this our retribution?¡±

    The people trapped in the shelter had suffered from a lot of emotional turmoil and seemed to have lost all hope. All of them seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown, so Su Jin felt that it was almost impossible to take any of them with him.

    ¡°Forget it! If none of you want to leave, we won¡¯t force you to. Good luck, guys!¡± Su Jin knew this wasn¡¯t the time to slowly counsel these people and help them ovee their fears.

    Just then, a loud sound came from the ceiling. Everyone looked up and watched as someone fell from the ceiling.

    Immediately after that personnded, his body waspletely twisted and looked like a pile of y. After that, several othersnded inside the shelter as well. These were all people whose bodies were now under the control of worms. Judging from their clothing, these were actually the biologists and the Level 1 ess crew who were with Arkas.

    ¡°Run! Run now! Don¡¯t stay here anymore!¡± Su Jin knew exactly who the first one whonded was now.

    ¡°Run, run, run! HA! None of you will be able to get away, so just stay here!¡± Arkas cackled as his body reverted to human form again.

    ¡°Jin, they don¡¯t have any bones, so how do they move about?¡± asked Kano Mai curiously.

    Su Jin replied, ¡°They move by air. The worms keep exhaling huge amounts of air inside their bodies, which is why the worms shoot out from the inside whenever they attack others.¡± He had understood this very well when he fought Reginald.

    Arkas seemed very impressed by Su Jin¡¯s level of observation and gave him a pleased nod. ¡°Not bad, young man. Your observation skills are verymendable. Since you¡¯re so outstanding, I will help you to evolve to be someone like myself.¡±

    Su Jin snorted and said, ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. There was another guy who was just as excited about doing that as you, and now¡­ he¡¯s beenpletely destroyed!¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about Captain Reginald?¡± Arkas chuckled and nodded. ¡°That fellow is pretty good at fighting. If I had to fight him one on one, I would be no match for him. But now that I have be an evolved human, fighting someone one on one is a joke. We ought to bemanders!¡±

    Immediately after he finished speaking, the steel doors came down and all the worms outside rushed into the shelter. But they did not begin a massacre immediately. Instead, they gathered behind Arkas like a bunch of obedient guard dogs.

    ¡°Damn it, this system can be used by everyone!¡± cursed Su Jin. The worms left behind by Reginald had be Arkas¡¯ inheritance.

    ¡°Let the feast begin!¡± Arkas raised his arm and all of them charged toward the humans like rabid dogs.

    Su Jin held a long knife in his hands and allowed the two children to cling on to him. He quickly retreated to meet with Kano Mai and Situ Jin. The number of bugs here weren¡¯t too high, so Su Jin figured that he would be able to kill them off without much problem. The problem was actually the surviving humans behind him. Each of them was equivalent to a reserve soldier. Once killed by an alien, they would be one themselves.

    ¡°Jin, what¡¯s the n?¡± asked Kano Mai in a low voice.

    ¡°Very simple. Make a run for it!¡± Su Jin passed the two children to Kano Mai and Situ Jin, then gave a low shout before dashing out of the shelter. He didn¡¯t intend to save anybody else. Trying to save others at this juncture was a dumb thing to do. It was more important to keep the few of them alive first.

    He helped to part the way while Kano Mai and Situ Jin followed closely behind him. Su Jin was like a tank bulldozing through everything, smashing a path right through the worms. Anything in his way turned into nothing but mush.

    Arkas clearly had not expected that such a formidable character was on board the Fearless. He immediately shot several tiny worms out from the worm that had reced his arm.

    The moment those tiny worms hit any of the surviving crew, they would freeze, then start to transform to resemble Reginald before running out to chase after Su Jin and hispanions.

    ¡°What is going on?¡± Su Jin was shocked by the rate at which these people had transformed. It was impossible to exin what just happened. These people transformed immediately after they were just touched by those little bugs, which meant that they had to make sure they never came into contact with those bugs, or they were doomed!

    The crew left inside the shelter had all transformed into aliens within a few minutes. Thankfully, Su Jin and his friends had already made it out of the shelter. But the crew turned aliens were hot on their heels, and there was no time to even catch their breath.

    ¡°Something¡¯s not quite right! There¡¯s no way out of this. How could something like that happen? That doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± thought Su Jin. He could sense that something was amiss, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what it was. The only thing he could do was to get to the fighting area first. At least he would be able to gather a proper group of people to fight back once he got there.

 Chapter 238: Two Ways Out

    <h4>Chapter 238: Two Ways Out</h4>

    Su Jin, Kano Mai, and Situ Jin made their way toward the fighting area with the two children in tow as quickly as they could. Thankfully, Su Jin had already cleared the way when he went to the shelter earlier on, so they didn¡¯t run into any obstacles along the way. The mutated crew behind them couldn¡¯t catch up with them after a while. It seemed like they couldn¡¯t run very fast for too long, and were only slightly faster than an ordinary human. It was definitely impossible for them to catch up with owners like Su Jin.

    This was probably one way in which the Handbook allowed for owners to survive. If the enemies could attack so aggressively, could restore their bodies, AND run incredibly quickly, an ordinary owner was dead meat.

    At the same time, Arkas was busy transforming all the crew left in the shelter. He wasn¡¯t too bothered by the few who got away. Or perhaps he wasn¡¯t bothered because everyone was stuck on a spaceship that was still floating in outer space, so even if Su Jin and his friends could run, they couldn¡¯t hide forever. He could still capture them eventually.

    The children in Kano Mai and Situ Jin¡¯s arms were terribly frightened and were trembling nonstop. They were children born on the Fearless, so they were even more innocent and shelteredpared to their peers on Earth. They had been born into a world with no worries and were surrounded by adults who cared dearly for them. That resulted in them being even more helpless than usual in the face of danger.

    Su Jin suddenly stopped running. His mind was still thinking about what just happened. Kano Mai and Situ Jin also stopped when they saw him stop.

    ¡°Jin, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin was silent for a while. He kept running through everything that had happened again and again, putting them together and hoping to find useful information he could work with.

    ¡°Something¡¯s not right. If this is really the case, then this can¡¯t be only a Level B Challenge. Unless you change the conditions for passing the Challenge to how much time we can stay alive, everyone¡¯s definitely going to die at this rate. This doesn¡¯t sound right,¡± murmured Su Jin.

    ¡°It is very strange, alright. That scene earlier looked like buddha shining his light down on everyone to turn them into buddhas. Everyone transformed in an instant. There¡¯s no way you can fight that,¡± said Situ Jin angrily as he punched the wall.

    But these words made Su Jin¡¯s eyes light up. He stared at Situ Jin and murmured, ¡°You¡¯re right. The light of buddha shining down on humans to save them: those people didn¡¯t transform into some new species. The worms already hiding in their bodies were activated and Arkas merely started the process!¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Kano Mai and Situ Jin were both astounded by this idea.

    Su Jin only became more certain that his conjecture was correct. ¡°That¡¯s definitely it. We got the premise wrong right from the start. We thought that Reginald and Arkas, as well as that biologist, were the source of the worms and were spreading it to the others. But¡­ they were all crew onboard the Fearless. Why were they the only ones infected?¡±

    ¡°Why? You mean¡­ it isn¡¯t just the way the Challenge was designed?¡± Situ Jin was a little confused.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°After going through so many Challenges, I¡¯ve confirmed that all these Challenges are happening within the multiple universes we live in, so this is a real thing that¡¯s actually happening. The Handbook is just making use of its tremendous power to intervene a little, then ce us here. The Handbook might interfere with some of the details in the setting, but¡­ it¡¯s not going to interfere with the general situation.

    ¡°Right from the start, there was no hint to tell us that Reginald and Arkas were carriers of these aliens. They were merely the first batch of mutants.¡±

    Situ Jin furrowed his brows and asked, ¡°But¡­ why was it just the two of them of all people?¡±

    ¡°Think about it carefully!¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Kano Mai¡¯s eyes widened as she eximed, ¡°It¡¯s because the two of them¡­ were the two who woke up thest time. The Fearless will wake some of the crew up at fixed intervals to check on the ship, and it woke just two people up thest time. The second captain Reginald, as well as Arkas!¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s the only thing they have inmon. In other words, the worms had already started to take over their bodies from thest time they awoke. But they just felt that there was something odd about their bodies, so they went back into hibernation. The low temperature is probably a way to stop the mutations from happening. But this time round, Captain Jefferson turned off everybody¡¯s hibernation pods, so their mutation was able to continue and they eventually became what they look like right now.¡±

    The other two finally realized what was happening and their expressions quickly turned to one of horror. Su Jin smiled sadly and nodded to confirm their fears. ¡°Yup. If things are exactly as I guessed, then even if the crew aren¡¯t infected, they¡¯ll still mutate.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then there¡¯s no way we can get through this Challenge,¡± said Situ Jin with a frown.

    Su Jin sighed. ¡°We realized this toote. If we got the crew to return to their hibernation pods when the mutations first started, we would be able to control this situation. But now¡­ it¡¯s going to be hard.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean there¡¯s no way out for us now? I mean, if all the crew onboard will eventually mutate, then the mission to keep at least one human onboard alive will be impossible! The other condition of the same mission is to kill all of the aliens. That¡¯s a contradiction in itself.¡± Kano Mai was at a loss.

    But Su Jin¡¯s thoughts were bing clearer and clearer. He looked at the two children they had brought along and suddenly asked, ¡°Why do you guys think all the crew got infected with those worms? What¡¯s the thing they have inmon?¡±

    The other two began pondering his question and Situ Jin was the faster one this time. ¡°I get it now! The Challenge seems to have cornered us into a dead end, but¡­ it¡¯s actually left two possibilities for us.¡±

    ¡°I know the first one. If we realized that everyone was already infected and low temperatures could stop the worms from bing active early on, we just needed to find a way to get everyone back into their hibernation pods and we¡¯d be able to survive this. Two of them had already mutated, but no matter how dangerous they were, we would still be able to defeat just two and we¡¯d have plenty of humans left alive. But aplishing this was almost impossible in the first ce because we had too little information on hand. Not even our team leader managed to understand this so early in the Challenge. So¡­ what¡¯s the second one?¡± Kano Mai ran through her thoughts but couldn¡¯t think of what the second possibility was.

    ¡°The second one is in our arms right now!¡± Situ Jin patted the head of the little boy he was carrying with a smile. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what our team leader said? The thing inmon that all the crew have is that they once traveled to the Hiding ce of God. They were infected during the exploration process. So, who else hasn¡¯t gone to the Hiding ce of God and is onboard this ship besides us owners?¡±

    Situ Jin had a faint smile as he spoke. This was the first time he was actually referring to Su Jin properly as his team leader. He normally just used Su Jin¡¯s name or called him ¡°that fellow,¡± but it was clear that Situ Jin now truly trusted Su Jin.

    It finally dawned on Kano Mai. It was these two children. The Hiding ce of God was extremely dangerous, so there was no way these two young ones would have been allowed to go there. They were the key to the owners¡¯ survival.

    The two children shrank back fearfully. They knew that these three adults were talking about them, but they didn¡¯t know exactly what else they were referring to. They just knew that they were extremely important to the adults.

    ¡°I see. What do we do now?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°To y safe, let¡¯s get them back into their hibernation pods. We¡¯ve got an ugly battle ahead and it would be too dangerous to bring them along.¡±

    The other two nodded in agreement. They couldn¡¯t change the situation now and they would have to fight to the end. Carrying two children to a fight was equivalent to bringing two burdens along. It was not a wise choice that would benefit either party.

    The three of them changed course and headed for the hibernation pods. The hibernation pods were scattered across various areas, so they followed the directions given by Fearless to the ones closest to them.

    ¡°Okay both of you, have a good rest here and wait for us toe back, alright?¡± said Kano Mai gently. They nodded obediently in response to the words of this prettydy speaking so sweetly to them.

    ¡°Fearless, activate the hibernation pods,¡± Su Jin said to Fearless.

    ¡°Understood. Please enter the hibernation pods and they will activate immediately.¡±

    The two children walked into the pods. They didn¡¯t reject the idea of hibernation at all. After traveling through outer space for so long, going into hibernation was as natural to them as any human on Earth going to bed.

    After the pods were activated, the two children¡¯s vital signs slowed down and they seemed like they were about to die. But that was the only way humans could possibly travel in outer space.

    Even after all that was done, Su Jin was still unsettled because he was afraid that the big fight would eventually reach this ce. He thought about it for a moment, then began to pull a lot of things apart. Arge number of hibernation pods were quickly dismantled with his bare hands.

    ¡°Are you¡­ trying to take the spaceship apart with your bare hands?¡± asked Situ Jin in shock.

    ¡°I want to block off this entire area. So, even if the worms discover this ce and get to the children, they¡¯re going to have a hard time!¡± Su Jin quickly took arge number of hibernation pods apart, but he was still not satisfied and continued dismantling some of the other equipment around them. As long as they didn¡¯t affect their hibernation, he was going to take it apart.

    A few minutester, it was impossible to see the hibernation pods of the two children. They were like the snake spirit and scorpion spirit trapped inside Cbash Mountain in the animation series, the Cbash Brothers[^note1].

    [^note1]: Chinese animation from the 80s that was extremely well loved .

    They left the area once they were done fortifying the ce. Their target destination was still the fighting area. The crew there might not have mutated yet, so if they could team up and form a proper defense system, they could wear out the worms on Arkas¡¯ side.

    When they got close, Su Jin stopped again. He pricked his ears up and a smile spread across his face. He could hear the sound of people fighting, so the crew in the fighting area probably hadn¡¯t mutated yet, and they were fighting Arkas and his little army.

    ¡°Do we join the fight?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Su Jin shook his head and said quietly, ¡°Let¡¯s wait for a while. Let¡¯s wait until both sides have been worn down a bit more. They¡¯re both our opponents after all!¡±

 Chapter 239: The Female Biologist

    <h4>Chapter 239: The Female Biologist</h4>

    The fight sounded really intense. One side had ess to plenty of weapons, while the other side had almost indestructible bodies. It was only natural for the battle to be a fierce one.

    The sounds slowly died down after about half an hour. There were only two possibilities: either one side had been defeated, or the crew had started mutating. That way, the fight woulde to an end.

    ¡°Listen up, both of you. This is my battle, so you just have to take care of yourselves. If the situation looks bad, just leave,¡± Su Jin said to his two teammates.

    Situ Jin and Kano Mai both knew themselves well. They would have been somewhat helpful in a less difficult Challenge, but not helpful at all in a Challenge with so many limitations like this one. So, they both nodded obediently.

    Immediately after they nodded, Su Jin suddenly struck them with the back of his palm and knocked them out. He sighed, then found a safe ce to hide them. He knew that if they managed to get through this Challenge, they were going to give him a piece of their mind, but¡­ getting scolded was definitely better than losing them. The two of them weren¡¯t even as formidable as Wu Chen was. Wu Chen had beenpletely unable to defend himself against the attack of those worms at all and died from a sneak attack. There was practically no way these two were going to survive.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, but¡­ I don¡¯t have much of a choice.¡± Su Jin smiled sadly, jammed the entrance shut and left.

    By the time he arrived at the fighting area, the entire ce had be a mess of blood and flesh. It was clear that a major battle of life and death had just urred. It was hard to believe that this ce had been as clean and neat as the cafeteria not too long ago.

    Su Jin slowly made his way through the carnage and found Arkas quite easily. The old man was now like the research professor he was supposed to be. A group of worms were gathered around him as he dissected one of the humans.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong now? You don¡¯t fully understand your own body, so you need to cut up one of your own to take a better look?¡± said Su Jin in a sarcastic voice. He had tied the long knife around his right arm again and had another one in his left hand.

    Arkas wasn¡¯t surprised by Su Jin¡¯s arrival. As he dissected the body, he said, ¡°You are right to say that I don¡¯t fully understand. I don¡¯t understand how there could be anyone here who remained uninfected by the worms. It¡¯s so strange.¡±

    Su Jin was now near enough to see that the person that Arkas was dissecting was none other than the team leader of Team Volcano Mountain. Except that now, the man was dead.

    The middle ageddy and Lv Ming were hanging on a pole by the side. It was hard to tell if they were alive or dead, but Su Jin felt that they were probably dead.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t understand! We¡¯re the same in terms of physical make up, so¡­ are there hidden antibodies inside their genes? I¡¯m going to need more experiments to test my hypothesis, so I¡¯ll need more specimens. Why don¡¯t you stay here and be a specimen?¡± Arkas suddenly spun around and smiled sinisterly at Su Jin. He hadn¡¯t been using a scalpel to dissect the body at all. Instead, he was using a worm with a knife-like feeler growing out of his own hand.

    He noticed that Su Jin was staring at his hand and smirked. ¡°How about that? That¡¯s what I mean by evolution. The body transforms ording to what the situation needs. That¡¯s the perfect way to live!¡±

    Su Jin snorted. ¡°No, thank you. I don¡¯t have the habit of bing a specimen for others, and¡­ I also don¡¯t like watching anybody do such a thing to my fellow humans. I¡¯d much prefer it if you were dead.¡±

    ¡°Hoho! They don¡¯t like bing specimens either, but they didn¡¯t have a choice. Did you think you had a choice in this matter?¡± Arkas cackled, then waved his hand slightly. ¡°Children, kill him!¡± After giving those orders, he went back to his own research. The worms hiding inside the dead flesh came hurtling out in huge numbers.

    Su Jin took a deep breath and began charging toward Arkas. He started slow, but gained speed rapidly, eventually moving at the speed of lightning.

    But just before he got to Arkas, a number ofrge worms blocked his way. These worms had merged their bodies with the armor of several crew members, making their defense very strong.

    ¡°Die!¡± bellowed Su Jin. He was able to tear the full armor apart with his bare hands, so he wasn¡¯t threatened by thesebined armor and worm bodies. He mmed a palm toward one of them and unleashed his Qi Thrust technique, which smashed it instantly. But the time taken to kill one allowed for more toe toward him.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill all of you! Did you think you could stop me?¡± Su Jin was like a killing machine now. Regardless of what sort of alien came his way, they would be smashed to bits once they came close enough.

    More and more aliens turned into corpses before him, and they started piling up into a tiny hill. Su Jin was killing them so rapidly that the previously innumerable numbers seemed like they were really going to be wiped out.

    This time, even Arkas was rather surprised. He was already quite surprised by how formidable Su Jin was before this, but he was able to exin it away by assuming that Su Jin was probably some martial artist who had learned all this from an older civilization and had been allowed to join the expedition with a special hidden identity. But now, he realized that this young man had surpassed the limits of a human. It seemed more like Su Jin had limitless strength, which was truly mind boggling.

    Arkas hesitated for a moment, then made a shrill whistling noise with his mouth. A woman approached him slowly with a few crystals floating around her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave him to you,¡± said Arkas very solemnly.

    The woman nodded with a faint smile. While Su Jin was busy fighting all the worms, her body fell apart like she was merely made from sand, then regrouped again right behind Su Jin. She threw a punch at Su Jin and sent him flying.

    ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± Su Jin had been so focused on fighting, he hadn¡¯t even noticed the appearance of a new person. He looked up and was stunned for a moment. This woman turned out to be that female biologist.

    ¡°It seems you¡¯ve mutated to a pretty high level.¡± Su Jin stretched his back. That had been a pretty hard punch.

    ¡°Hoho! There are different levels of evolution. There are king level worms like Professor Arkas, which means that everyone else can only evolve into worm subordinates. But I¡¯m not like them. I¡¯ve evolved in a different way, so I¡¯m not affected by Professor Arkas,¡± said the biologist with a light chuckle. The worms that had attacked Su Jin earlier on retreated immediately when they saw her, as though they were terribly afraid of her.

    Su Jin nced at her and figured she might be higher up the food chain or something. But this situation wasn¡¯t too bad either. It was easier to fight one on one than face an army.

    He didn¡¯t say anything and swung his knife at her. Immediately as it struck her, she split her body in half. This was the same move that Reginald had.

    ¡°Slicing me is not going to be of any use!¡± said the biologist coquettishly.

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Su Jin gave a low shout, then swept up some of the sted parts of the worms he killed earlier from the floor. He flicked them out rapidly like they were bullets.

    The biologist quickly split herself again and again to dodge the attacks, but she had the same problem as Reginald: she couldn¡¯t keep splitting and merging fast enough for too long. The way Su Jin rained attacks on her like this was already too hard for her to handle.

    Just then, the four crystals floating around her merged into one crystal shield that helped to deflect the oing pieces temporarily.

    Once the pieces stopped flying her way, she moved the crystals aside in hope ofunching a counterattack, but Su Jin appeared in front of her immediately after the crystals moved aside.

    ¡°Crap!¡± she yelped and tried to move the crystals back in ce. But she was toote. Su Jin¡¯s fist went right in between the merging crystals and his punchnded squarely in her face.

    Boom! She was sent flying from the impact, but he knew that this wasn¡¯t enough to kill her. Just as he had expected, she got up immediately, but part of her skin had been torn from the punch, revealing a grayish ckyer under her skin that looked like it was made from straw.

    ¡°Muscle?¡± Su Jin looked at his fist. That feeling had been really weird, as though those ck, straw-like things were not really human flesh. They seemed to be a group of muscles and were extremely resilient.

    ¡°Why, you¡­!¡± roared the biologist angrily. She waved her hand and the four crystals flew toward Su Jin like flying swords.

    Su Jin did not move and waited for the crystals toe closer. Just before the crystals hit him, he suddenly hopped over them and ran toward the biologist with all his might.

    The biologist paled and summoned the crystals back, but the crystals couldn¡¯t move as quickly as Su Jin. In other words, there was no way she could use something else to defend herself against Su Jin. She had to face his attack head on.

    ¡°She¡¯s pretty strong and the innate skills her evolved bodyes with are not bad, but she¡¯s terrible at actual fighting. Then again, I guess I shouldn¡¯t ask too much of a research scientist who¡¯s recently evolved,¡± thought Su Jin to himself. This biologist had a lot of good techniques at her disposal after evolving, but she didn¡¯t know how to strategize or preempt her enemy well and certainly didn¡¯t have much fighting experience. Just hoping that her new superhuman abilities could kill him was never going to work right from the start.

    To a certain extent, this biologist was more formidable than Reginald. Just like him, she could split herself, but she could also control these four additional crystals that worked like flying swords. Unfortunately, she was much worse at fighting than Reginald, because Reginald was a fighter to begin with. His evolution had only given him better control of the strength and abilities he had.

    Boom! The biologist crashed into the wall behind, showing that the wall made from special materials were no stronger than a wafer crisp in the face of Su Jin¡¯s incredible strength.

    ¡°How can it be? You¡¯re just a lowly lifeform! How is this possible?!¡± shrieked the biologist as she charged out from the wall. But now, her face was no longer covered by human skin. Her face made from ckened muscle looked terrifying.

    ¡°A lowly lifeform? You¡¯re just too confident, aren¡¯t you?¡± Su Jin threw her another punch immediately as she started shrieking. This time, he punched upwards, sending her flying toward the ceiling instead.

    BOOM! She smashed through several panels along the way, but came back down in no time. If there was one thing you could say for sure about these evolved bodies, it was that they were real hardy.

 Chapter 240: Going Solo

    <h4>Chapter 240: Going Solo</h4>

    The female biologist no longer had the demure demeanor she once had. Her entire head was made from ckened muscle and looked so gross, one would puke from just looking at her.

    And she didn¡¯t seem to like looking like this either. Maybe it stemmed from a woman¡¯s natural instinct to care about her appearance.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t care about how she felt. Regardless of whether she was a great beauty or a monster, she was nothing more than his opponent now.

    The fight continued and the biologist improved herbat skills. She was no longer as caught by surprise by Su Jin¡¯s attacks, but she was still on the losing end. The difference between them was simply too great.

    Arkas pushed his sses up as he marveled at how formidable Su Jin was. He and the biologist were both supposed to have evolved to a higher level. How was an ordinary human thrashing them this badly?

    Arkas suddenly opened his mouth and spat a worm the size of a finger out. As it flew out, it shrank itself into a conical shape before hurtling toward Su Jin¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple.

    Su Jin was busy fighting the biologist and did not notice that Arkas hadunched a sneak attack. The biologist wasn¡¯t great at fighting, but she was very good at defending herself, so it was taking him quite a long time to defeat her.

    But just when that conical worm was about to stab into his throat, aser suddenly shot out from the side and shattered the conical worm.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± roared Arkas furiously.

    ¡°Mr. Su! Are you alright?¡± A man walked out from a dark corner. It turned out to be Jefferson.

    Su Jin was surprised for a second before retreating quickly to where Jefferson was. He eximed with a smile, ¡°Captain Jefferson, I was just wondering how I could locate you! I didn¡¯t expect you¡­ toe knocking on my door instead!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Jefferson looked confused before his eyes suddenly bulged.

    Su Jin brandished his knives so quickly it was impossible to see how he even did it. He hacked Jefferson to pieces and arge number of worms emerged from every piece.

    ¡°You wanted to pretend you were helping me as a fellow human, then give me a final fatal blow when my guard was down? Well, too bad! Everyone on the spaceship has mutated, so there¡¯s no way you¡¯re still human too.¡± Su Jin had no emotion in his gaze at all. He knew there was a problem from the moment Jefferson appeared.

    As Jefferson¡¯s heady on the floor, it suddenly smiled icily at Su Jin.

    ¡°How arrogant! Since you already noticed something amiss about me, why didn¡¯t you make sure I waspletely dead so that I wouldn¡¯t be able to attack you? Leaving my head in one piece is going to be the biggest mistake of your life.¡±

    A silver gleam suddenly shot out from Jefferson¡¯s eyes. Su Jin¡¯s body shook violently as his eyes widened. He could no longer move.

    ¡°HAHAHA! Arrogance is one of humanity¡¯s worst traits!¡± Jeffersonughed maniacally.

    Arkas and the biologist both looked terribly relieved. Su Jin had been a threat to them since he appeared and dealing with him had been very stressful.

    ¡°Just kill him. I wouldn¡¯t dare to use someone like him in an experiment. It will just take one wrong move for a disaster to happen, like ying with fire,¡± said Arkas.

    The biologist walked toward Su Jin and a creepy smile spread across her ckened head full of muscles. ¡°Captain Jefferson is still able to survive after his head got chopped off. What about you? Will you still be able to live once I chop your head off? HAHA!¡±

    She snatched a knife from Su Jin¡¯s hand and had a fierce glint in her eye as she swung the de toward Su Jin¡¯s neck.

    Just then, Su Jin¡¯s lips curled into a faint smile. The supposedly immobile Su Jin suddenly moved as swiftly as lightning.

    Su Jin pierced the biologist¡¯s chest with one palm. He vibrated his palm extremely quickly as it went through her, which shattered all the worms that had reced her internal organs.

    ¡°Eghhhh!¡± The biologist could hardly believe what was happening to her. Su Jin¡¯s movement was supposed to be within Jefferson¡¯s control.

    ¡°If I lost my head, I wouldn¡¯t be able to live anymore, but¡­ you know, I normally wouldn¡¯t give anybody the chance to lop it off.¡± Su Jin pulled his hand out, took his knife back and hacked her to pieces.

    The core of the biologist were the worms inside her that had reced her internal organs, so she died once Su Jin had shattered all the worms inside her body. But to y safe, he decided to slice her thoroughly.

    Only a few seconds had passed between the time the biologist tried to decapitate Su Jin until Su Jin killed her. Everything happened so quickly, the other two could barely wrap their heads around what happened.

    Jefferson eximed in disbelief, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! That¡¯s impossible! How were you able to escape my grip?¡±

    Su Jin snorted. ¡°You¡¯ve got psychokinesis, huh. I¡¯m way better at this game than you are!¡±

    Even though Su Jin wasn¡¯t allowed to use his Spirit Power in this Challenge, it hadn¡¯t really disappeared. Jefferson was someone who had acquired these skills very recently, so he was no match for someone with such a deep understanding of how it worked like Su Jin was. Even if someone with psychokic powers as formidable Xu Ran tried, it would be hard to control Su Jin with such powers now.

    Su Jin raised a foot above Jefferson¡¯s severed head. Jefferson had a horrified look on his face and the silver gleam in his eyes kept shing in an attempt to stop Su Jin but to no avail.

    PFFT! Su Jin brought his foot down and Jefferson¡¯s head exploded. Several earthworm looking creatures were coiled up inside, but they had all been trampled to death by Su Jin¡¯s foot.

    In just ten seconds, Su Jin hadpletely annihted Jefferson and the female biologist. Arkas was thest one left.

    Su Jin looked up at Arkas and found it strange that this fellow didn¡¯t seem panicky at all. It wasn¡¯t like Arkas didn¡¯t have the chance to save Jefferson. Su Jin had been watching out for him, but he didn¡¯t do anything at all and just watched on. This fellow possibly had some trump card that Su Jin still didn¡¯t know about.

    ¡°That¡¯s really impressive. I underestimated humans before this. I didn¡¯t think a human body would be capable of unleashing such a terrifying level of strength. That was truly incredible,¡± said Arkas in amazement.

    ¡°Are you regretting the fact that you look like a monster now?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow.

    Arkas shook his head without hesitation. ¡°No, no, you¡¯re mistaken. To me, improvement in strength is not the most important. The most important is the mind. Compared to humans, I am already able to view the world from a different angle. I¡¯m able to abandon these useless emotions, while you¡­ aren¡¯t there yet.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean you¡¯ve gone from being human to bing an animal? We normally call this regression, not an improvement,¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    Arkas didn¡¯t get angry. He said slowly, ¡°Do you know the aim of evolution?¡±

    ¡°To survive,¡± said Su Jin without thinking.

    Arkas gave him a nod of approval. ¡°That¡¯s right. For living creatures, the aim of evolution is for the sake of survival. And these meaningless emotions are only going to be an obstacle to survival.¡±

    ¡°Emotions are the defining characteristic of higher beings. A civilization without any emotions is a twisted one,¡± snapped Su Jin in contempt.

    Arkas put the things in his hands down and suddenly broke into a smile. ¡°Very well, let¡¯s see if emotions will help you to live, or be the death of you.¡±

    He pped his hands and some worms in human form walked over. They had evolved quite quickly and looked like the worms that had eaten Su Jin¡¯s palm. They had four limbs and a giant sting growing from their butt.

    They were holding two people: Kano Mai and Situ Jin. The two of them were conscious and were struggling nonstop, but they were no match for these human-shaped worms at all.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart palpitated in shock. He did not expect Arkas to pull such a stunt on him.

    ¡°My worms have excellent senses, including their sense of hearing and smell. Trying to y hide and seek around them is not a very smart thing to do,¡± said Arkas with a chuckle before his expression turned solemn.

    He raised his voice, ¡°Su Jin, you think emotions are very important, don¡¯t you? Now, I want you to exchange your life for theirs, otherwise¡­I¡¯ll kill them both.¡±

    ¡°Jin, don¡¯t listen to him! If you die, we¡¯re definitely doomed!¡± yelled Kano Mai.

    ¡°Su Jin¡­ you little asshole! If you want me to forgive you for punching me just now, then you¡¯ve got to kill these fellows!¡± yelled Situ Jin.

    Arkas did not stop them from having a conversation. He seemed to be enjoying all of this, like a cat ying with a mouse.

    Su Jin looked like he was conflicted, but he had actually already made his choice. Regardless of whether it was for the sake of Kano Mai or Situ Jin, he could not let himself die. If he died, they would lose any chance to turn the tables.

    There was only a chance if he, and he alone survived. Even if the other two died, he could still find a way to revive them.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Su Jin charged forward without warning. He ran as quickly as he could, hoping to save the two of them.

    But Arkas had been on guard all this time, even though he was a little surprised at how decisive Su Jin was. He tapped his fingers quietly and one of the human shaped worms took the two hostages away, while the other one blocked Su Jin¡¯s way.

    ¡°Haha! So much for all that talk about emotions! When your life is at stake, you chose your own survival without hesitation and disregarded their safety. What happened to all those emotions?¡± Arkasughed maniacally.

    ¡°I am respecting the wishes of mypanions, that¡¯s the camaraderie we have! I¡­ I will bring them back! I will bring them home!¡± yelled Su Jin as he smashed the worm blocking his way to pieces. But more worms swarmed over immediately after that.

    ¡°Is that so? What touching words! In that case, kill them,¡± said Arkas.

    The worm who was holding onto the two hostages became excited. It swung its tail and stabbed its sting straight into Situ Jin¡¯s chest.

    Situ Jin looked up at the worm, then hung his head lifelessly.

    ¡°NO!¡± yelled Su Jin angrily. He kicked a pile of worms dead and tried to get to Kano Mai, but more worms quickly filled the empty space.

    Kano Mai had a weak smile on her face as she opened her mouth slightly and said something to Su Jin. Unfortunately, the fight between Su Jin and the worms was too noisy and Su Jin did not hear what she said.

    ¡°I¡­ love you, stupid.¡± Kano Mai smiled before the human shaped worm¡¯s sting pierced her chest as well.

 Chapter 241: Last Man Standing

    <h4>Chapter 241: Last Man Standing</h4>

    ¡°No¡­ no¡­ NO!!!¡± Su Jin started yelling uncontrobly. Hispanions were dying one by one before his very own eyes. First it was Wu Chen, then Situ Jin, and now, Kano Mai.

    All of this was because he was a lousy leader. He was the leader of the team, yet he had failed to protect his teammates.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going to kill you!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes were bloodshot. He was like a wild beast that had been provoked and went on a massacre.

    Any moving creature that appeared before him would be smashed to pieces in a second, so before long, the aliens started to have difficulty holding him back.

    ¡°Did I go a little too far?¡± Arkas smiled and didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by how Su Jin had gone berserk.

    He looked at Su Jin from afar and said, ¡°Do you know why I dare to agitate you? It¡¯s because¡­ the way I stay alive has changed. After evolving, I can even survive in outer space. But as an ordinary human, you can¡¯t!

    ¡°Evolution is for the sake of survival and I think you have an even deeper understanding of this phrase. So what if you¡¯re really formidable? I just have to leave this spaceship and you won¡¯t be able to catch me anymore. A great white shark might be the top predator in the sea, but it¡¯ll never be able to hurt even the weakest rabbit because it can¡¯t survive onnd.

    ¡°These are the rules to survival. You can only continue living if you have the ability to survive.¡±

    Su Jin ignored Arkas¡¯ smug words, since he was focused on getting rid of all the worms in front of him. But even though the worms were formidable, they were killed easily when faced with Su Jin on a rampage.

    In fact, Su Jin no longer cared if the worms would hurt him or not. He only wanted to kill them all.

    Arkas behaved like he was watching an exciting action film, pping and cheering from time to time. Su Jin couldn¡¯t wait to tear the old man to pieces, but every time he tried to get closer, his path would be blocked by more worms who didn¡¯t seem to fear death at all.

    After some time, the worms were nearly all killed by Su Jin. Arkas slowly got to his feet, straightened his clothes, sneered at Su Jin, then walked out of the fighting zone.

    A few minutester, Su Jin finally finished killing all the worms in his way. He wasn¡¯t sure if there were more hiding in the shadows, but he knew that his priority was now to stop Arkas from leaving.

    Just like what Arkas had said earlier, Su Jin was unable to survive in outer space. So, if Arkas managed to leave the ship, then he would fail the Challenge and any hopes he had of surviving would be dashed.

    Su Jin gave chase, and thankfully, Arkas hadn¡¯t left for long. Also, because of therge pools of blood all over the floor, he could see a pair of clear footsteps in the blood. He just needed to follow them.

    It didn¡¯t take long for him to hear Arkas¡¯ voice.

    ¡°Fearless, send out all the small spaceships and leave none of them behind in the main ship.¡± Arkas was afraid that Su Jin would use one of the smaller spaceships to chase him down.

    ¡°Mr. Arkas, I would like to remind you that if all the small spaceships are sent out, the Fearless will have one option less if it runs into danger,¡± said the ship.

    ¡°I know. Enough of this nonsense. Send them all out right now and open the airlock,¡± snapped Arkas a little impatiently.

    Su Jin immediately spoke up, ¡°Fearless, cancel the instructions to send the spaceships out and do not open the airlock.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry but Mr. Arkas has a higher level of authority than you do. It is not possible for you to override his instructions,¡± responded Fearless.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± cursed Su Jin. ¡°What¡¯s the point of having an AI like you?!¡±

    Arkas was less than 300 meters away from Su Jin, but the airlock had already been opened, so he snorted at Su Jin, then leaped out.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have time to think. He was like an arrow as he covered the distance of 300 meters in two seconds and leaped out of the airlock as well.

    Arkas was just beginning to enjoy his new body that could survive in outer space when he felt something grab him. Su Jin had run fast enough tounch himself far enough to grab hold of him.

    ¡°You¡¯re really crazy! You¡¯re going to die like this!¡± Arkas burst outughing. To him, Su Jin was nothing more than a foolish madman. It was impossible for a mere human to fight his evolved body in outer space. Su Jin was definitely going to die.

    Su Jin too, knew that it was foolish to fight Arkas in outer space, but he didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Also, he had to get this over and done with as fast as possible. Otherwise, even if Arkas didn¡¯t do anything, Su Jin was going to die from asphyxiation first.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of Arkas¡¯ leg, pulled him back and punched him in the stomach. But in outer space, Su Jin¡¯s punch was nowhere as powerful as it usually was. He threw his best punch, but Arkas only moved less than an inch back.

    Arkas grinned at Su Jin. He knew he didn¡¯t have to worry about this stupid human.

    A thin pair of wings suddenly emerged from his back and several stingers emerged from his underarm, like those found on the crew members who had turned into worms.

    Arkas used these stingers to attack Su Jin, and Su Jin had no choice but to defend himself. But Arkas¡¯ stingers were too numerous for him. Furthermore, Su Jin was only left with one arm.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Su Jin to be covered in injuries. But the bigger problem was that he was running out of oxygen.

    Arkas stopped attacking Su Jin when he noticed that Su Jin was going to run out of air soon. He wanted to take the time to watch Su Jin die a painful death.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it feel terrible? I¡¯ve always felt that asphyxiation is the worst way to die. That despair you feel despite being fully conscious, unable to do anything about the situation¡­ HA!¡± said Arkas with a cackle.

    Su Jin was in great pain but he was now too far from Fearless, so it was impossible for him to get back to the spaceship. He was going to lose thisst battle after all.

    He felt indignation and fury, but none of it was going to help his situation. The Handbook¡¯s universe was a cruel one. Every owner who died in a Challenge felt the same way after all, except that it was now happening to himself. There was nothing for him to be angry about, really. He was considered lucky to have met good people who had joined his team, just that he had let them down.

    Just then, a giant shadow covered him. In his delirium, Su Jin realized it was the giant Fearless.

    Fearless had moved toward them and adjusted its body such that the airlock faced both of them.

    ¡°Damn it, what¡¯s going on?¡± Arkas began to panic. Why was Fearless suddenlying toward them?

    He struggled and tried to get out of Su Jin¡¯s grasp, but Su Jin managed to find onest burst of energy and held onto Arkas tightly.

    Arkas tried to move his wings and fly further away, but Su Jin was holding onto those too.

    While Arkas was still struggling, Fearless hade much closer and sucked the two of them back into the ship.

    Once they were both inside, Fearless shut the airlock and air flowed into Su Jin¡¯s lungs once more.

    ¡°Gasp! HOOO!¡± Su Jin panted heavily. He had never realized how delicious oxygen was until now.

    ¡°Mr. Su, I think you should understand the reason why AI exists now,¡± Fearless suddenly spoke.

    Su Jin blinked a couple of times before bursting out inughter. ¡°Indeed, I understand now! Thank you so much, Fearless!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me. It is my job to ensure the safety of all crew onboard in the first ce.¡± Fearless¡¯ voice was still just as robotic and emotionless, but it sounded like the most beautiful voice in the world to Su Jin.

    ¡°Fearless, Imand you to¡­¡± Arkas started shouting amand but Su Jin punched him in the mouth before he could finish his sentence.

    ¡°And now, round two has begun! Okay, little bunny! You¡¯re now in great white shark territory!¡± This time, Su Jin was grinning.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mr. Arkas. Please repeat your instructions. I am unable to carry out your instructions if you do not speak clearly,¡± said Fearless. It was a standard response, but it sounded sarcastic now.

    Arkas didn¡¯t have the time to repeat hismands at all, because Su Jin was tearing him apart.

    Su Jin channeled all his anger into his fist, and each punch was so powerful that they felt like bombs exploding on Arkas¡¯ body.

    Arkas wasn¡¯t very good at fighting and was on the same level as the female biologist. His strengths were in the rearing of the worms and using them, but he couldn¡¯t make use of these strengths now.

    In just a few minutes, Su Jin had torn Arkas apartpletely. A dragonfly-like creature quietly crawled out of what used to be his mouth and was hoping that Su Jin wouldn¡¯t notice it as it tried to make its escape.

    ¡°You think you could escape me like that?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to give Arkas any chances.

    Su Jin had noticed it from the moment it started moving, so before the dragonfly could do anything, Su Jin pointed a finger at it. The pressure from Su Jin¡¯s finger was so great, it hit the dragonfly like a bullet and turned it to powder.

    Immediately after that, everything went dark. Su Jin knew that meant that he hadpleted the Challenge, but he didn¡¯t feel any joy in his heart at all.

    After some time, Su Jin opened his eyes again. He was back in his Personal Hell Domain.

    He stared nkly at his surroundings, then copsed onto the floor in a daze. He remainedpletely silent and didn¡¯t even ask for his missing arm to be restored.

    He felt lost for a while, then the deep emotional pain hit him. He hadpleted the Challenge, but the price he had paid was way too high. Everyone in the team except himself had perished.

    That was as good as saying that the team was gone. While it was true that he was still alive and could possibly revive them in the future, those were just words to console himself. He hadn¡¯t even gathered all the items needed to revive Chu Yi yet and now he wanted to revive the other three as well? Was that even possible?

    Hey on the floor in agony and didn¡¯t care how much time had passed. After a long time, he finally got up.

    The road to reviving them was going to be a tough one, but as long as there was hope, he was going to make sure it happened.

    With that thought in mind, he felt a little more energized. He ced his Handbook on the usual stand and said, ¡°ckie, calcte my points.¡±

    Several lines of data quickly appeared on the page. He read the words in his Handbook and was utterly stunned. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.

 Chapter 242: All Hail Wu Chen

    <h4>Chapter 242: All Hail Wu Chen</h4>

    Level B Challenge ¡°Alien Invasion¡±pleted: 1000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 4, 400 points

    Participation and Extent of Contribution: A, 700 points

    Completed Optional Quest: 100 points

    Points Received: 2200

    Total Points: 5100

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes were glued to the line about how many team members had survived and thought he must be hallucinating. Otherwise¡­ why would it say that four of them had survived?

    He had witnessed Wu Chen, Situ Jin, and Kano Mai dying before his very own eyes. How did this happen? Did the Handbook make a mistake? But that wasn¡¯t possible! Yet¡­

    Su Jin¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t process the information at all. The words on the page clearly stated that four members of his team were still alive. He rubbed his eyes hard, shut them, then opened them again wide. The number on the page hadn¡¯t changed.

    He couldn¡¯t think anymore and dashed into the Team Hell Domain. If they were still alive, he would know once he got to the Team Hell Domain.

    Once he entered the Team Hell Domain, he saw the three members of his team standing and chatting with one another. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He stood in a daze and just stared at them in disbelief.

    The other three quickly noticed Su Jin and smiled at him. Kano Mai waved at him excitedly like she was greeting an old friend she hadn¡¯t seen in a long time.

    ¡°Well, going through that Challenge was worth it since we actually get to see our usually calm and clever team leader look like aputer that¡¯s just hanged,¡± said Situ Jin gleefully. But he also looked touched by Su Jin¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°Jin, we¡¯re alright. All of us survived,¡± said Kano Mai with augh.

    ¡°You guys¡­ what in the¡­ how did this happen?¡± For the first time in his life, Su Jin felt like his brain wasn¡¯t functioning properly anymore. And it didn¡¯t help that Wu Chen was smirking so hard at him.

    ¡°How did this happen? Ever heard of the phrase, ¡®having an elder in the house is like having a piece of treasure in the home¡¯? Young people these days are always so emotional! If not for me, the oldest member of the team, all of us would really have perished this time,¡± said Wu Chen confidently. He raised his arms and said, ¡°Come on! You¡¯re supposed to praise me! Say your words of admiration now! Don¡¯t be so stingy with your worship of me! Where¡¯s your passion?¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey, you¡¯re going a little overboard, don¡¯t you think?¡±ughed Situ Jin as he shook his head.

    ¡°All hail Wu Chen!¡± Kano Mai was the only one willing to y along and bowed, which made Wu Chen very pleased.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, still had no idea what in the world was going on. The three people who had died in front of him were all still alive. Wu Chen, in particr, died because his entire head exploded. How was he still alive?

    ¡°You still don¡¯t get it, huh?¡± said Wu Chen cheekily with a grin.

    Su Jin shook his head vigorously and proceeded to ask Wu Chen in a respectful manner, ¡°Good sir, please enlighten me. What is going on?¡±

    ¡°Ahem!¡± Wu Chen cleared his throat, then said, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s all very simple. One of my items came in useful!¡±

    ¡°But¡­ the Challenge forbid us from using any items, equipment, and Spirit Power. Even if you had something that could protect the three of you, the Handbook would never have let you use it since it had already stated clearly from the start that you were not allowed to use anything.¡± Su Jin shook his head and became even more confused. But when he saw the smiles on the faces of the other three, he realized that even though he kept saying it was impossible, the reality was that all three of them were indeed alive and well.

    Wu Chen exined slowly, ¡°It really isn¡¯t veryplicated. The Handbook did forbid us from using any items for this Challenge, but¡­ it didn¡¯t forbid us from allowing a previously used item to continue its effect in the next Challenge.¡±

    ¡°A previously used item?¡± Su Jin stared nkly at Wu Chen. He understood what the older man was saying. Wu Chen had used an item before the Challenge that had some special characteristics which allowed it to continue being effective even after it was used. But Su Jin didn¡¯t remember his team using anything¡­

    A thought suddenly struck him and his eyes lit up.

    ¡°When we went through the Train of the Supernatural Challenge, you gave us a petal each to eat.¡± Su Jin finally remembered that Wu Chen had reluctantly parted with this flower he had and got them to eat one petal each but didn¡¯t tell them what it was for. But because a lot happened after that, including major changes in the Handbook Challenges, everyone forgot about it.

    ¡°Our team leader is a smart man indeed! You¡¯re right!¡± Wu Chen nodded gravely and said, ¡°That Challenge was a Level A Challenge and I didn¡¯t want the team to perish, so I gave you the one thing that was most precious to me!¡±

    ¡°Can you not put it that way? You have a daughter, so I don¡¯t think you still have that ¡®most precious thing¡¯ anymore,¡± said Situ Jin as he raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°Young man, stop being so dirty minded. Only someone at my age can crack dirty jokes whenever I want,¡± said Wu Chen with a heartyugh.

    ¡°Please, both of you! Can you finish exining the whole thing first and crack your dirty jokester?¡± asked Su Jin with a pained expression on his face.

    Wu Chen continued, ¡°I don¡¯t think I went too far in my description. That flower was really the most important treasure to me. I got it from another Level A Challenge. Thirteen owners were part of that Challenge and I was the only one who survived. That flower was the best thing I got out of it.

    ¡°The Next Life is a flower that¡¯s supposedly specially grown by a deity. It blooms once every 1,000 years and each petal has the power to revive a dead person. But whether that power is activated or not depends on the person.¡±

    Su Jin took a few seconds to absorb the information, then let out a sigh. ¡°Chu Yi¡­ was very unfortunate then.¡±

    ¡°Uh huh. It was bad enough that the petal he ate didn¡¯t have any effect after he died in that Challenge. But when the Handbook proceeded to revive all the owners who died during that period, the cult revived him first but took control over his body. Seriously, Chu Yi is the unluckiest person I¡¯ve ever met,¡± said Wu Chen with a sigh.

    Su Jin moved back to the previous topic, ¡°So, the petal took effect when you died in thisst Challenge because we ate it during the Train of the Supernatural Challenge and so the Handbook allowed it to continue taking effect?¡±

    ¡°Yup. That¡¯s basically what happened.¡± Wu Chen nodded.

    Su Jin sighed. ¡°You guys were really lucky then. It¡¯s so hard to count on probability, yet the petal took effect in all three of you. Your luck is really¡­ man, Chu Yi would have been so upset to hear about this.¡±

    Kano Maiughed and said, ¡°We weren¡¯t thaaat lucky. Situ and I didn¡¯t die. Wu Chen pulled a little stunt and saved us both.¡±

    ¡°Wu Chen? You were there?¡± Su Jin was confused. He hadn¡¯t noticed Wu Chen¡¯s presence at all. If he had, he wouldn¡¯t have been so upset.

    Wu Chen said, ¡°Of course I was there. And I was definitely the leading role in that scene. I should have been a character so brilliant, you couldn¡¯t take your eyes off me. Seriously, you definitely saw me.¡± He grinned cheekily at Su Jin.

    Su Jin started recollecting what happened at that time but he simply couldn¡¯t remember seeing Wu Chen there. He couldn¡¯t possibly have missed Wu Chen if he had been there.

    ¡°Hold up¡­ were you¡­ wait, no way! You were that worm? The worm that killed Mai and Situ?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he asked this question a little hesitantly. But based on everything that Wu Chen had said, he had to be that worm.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it such a surprise? Isn¡¯t it?¡± Wu Chenughed merrily.

    But Su Jin still had questions. ¡°I know your Spirit Power is shapeshifting, but the Handbook did not allow us to use our Spirit Power during the Challenge. It can¡¯t be that the rules get thrown out after you¡¯re revived within the Challenge, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, the flower¡¯s called The Next Life, and has two effects: one is to revive you from your previous life, and the second is to let you choose what you want to be in your next life. In other words, the owner gets one chance to choose their outer appearance after being initially revived. At that time, I thought that if I chose to remain looking like this, I might still end up getting killed in that sort of situation. So, I had an idea and decided to look like those worms instead. Wasn¡¯t that clever?¡± said Wu Chen.

    Su Jin nodded in admiration and said, ¡°Clever! Very clever! From today onwards, you are the smartest member of Team Boning Knife and I can only take second ce!¡±

    ¡°Young man, you really know how to behave at the right time!¡± Wu Chen was pleased with Su Jin¡¯s attitude and said, ¡°The two of them have already sung my praises, so it¡¯s your turn now.¡±

    ¡°Ah! It¡¯s true that having an elder in the house is like having a piece of treasure in the home!¡± eximed Su Jin.

    ¡°I was the one who said those words earlier! Did you think you could get away with thisck of originality? Try again!¡± Wu Chen pretended to be upset with Su Jin.

    Su Jin quickly pleaded with the most pitiful look he could muster, ¡°O highly esteemed senior! Please, give me a chance! Do you know how it feels like to go through pure depression before experiencing pure happiness? The fact that I didn¡¯t gopletely insane is testament to how strong I am emotionally.¡±

    Kano Mai piped up, ¡°It¡¯s true that we did give you a terrible scare this time.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me, I was the one who got a terrible scare. After I dragged the two of you away, I was so scared that this boy would suddenly go berserk and somehow make it through all the worms in two seconds and kill me! Someone like me would be turned to dust in his hands!¡± Wu Chen patted his chest in fear. But he was right. As a worm, his greatest enemy wasn¡¯t the other worms but Su Jin.

    Su Jin scratched his head a little awkwardly, then nced at Kano Mai as he suddenly asked in a curious voice, ¡°By the way, Mai, I think you tried to tell me something right at the end, but it was too noisy and I couldn¡¯t hear what you said.¡±

    ¡°Wha? I¡­ I didn¡¯t say anything!¡± There was a slightly panicked look in her eyes.

    Situ Jin sniggered and said, ¡°It¡¯s better that you don¡¯t know what she said. Those were some naaaasty words. Wu Chen, don¡¯t you agree? You STUPID person?¡±

    Wu Chen sniggered as well. ¡°Indeed, so STUPID!¡±

    The two of them emphasized on the word ¡°stupid¡±, so after thinking about it, Su Jin¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up and he said, ¡°Mai, there was nothing more I could have done in that situation. You¡­ didn¡¯t have to insult me like that.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? When did I insult you?¡± Kano Mai was confused.

    ¡°They¡¯ve made it so obvious. You called me stupid, didn¡¯t you?¡± said Su Jin with certainty.

    Kano Mai red at him and said angrily, ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s right! I called you stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Jin, you¡¯re so stupid!¡± She turned and marched back to her Personal Hell Domain after that.

    .

    ¡°Gosh! Look at her! She insulted me, so how could she get angry with me?¡± Su Jinined to Situ Jin and Wu Chen.

    The two of them just stared back at Su Jin in silence for a moment, then Situ Jin snorted, ¡°Naaaasty!¡±

    ¡°That was nasty, alright. But seriously, in some aspects, you¡¯re really stupid,¡± said Wu Chen as he shook his head and sighed.

 Chapter 243: Sudden Visit

    <h4>Chapter 243: Sudden Visit</h4>

    Neither Su Jin¡¯s Personal Hell Domain nor the Team Hell Domain had anything suitable for him, so he just took a quick look and didn¡¯t bother getting any items. He was now focusing on improving his physical body and psychokinesis, but these were areas that were really hard to upgrade.

    His psychokinesis was a little easier to deal with. After the Train of the Supernatural incident, he had be a top user of psychokinesis, and he had let the Mad Hatter seal it up so that he could return to the real world. But it was just a seal after all. Su Jin would eventually be able to break it someday.

    Getting an upgrade in his physical body was the more difficult part. Even among owners, he had one of the strongest physical bodies around. Wu Chen also confirmed that he had never seen any owners with equivalent strength either. But if you looked at it from a different angle, Su Jin was nothingpared to the monsters he hade across in Challenges.

    ording to Wu Chen, Su Jin had probably reached the limit for owners. If he wanted to improve further, he¡¯d have to find some way during a Challenge or see if any opportunities presented themselves there.

    After he returned to the real world, he hadn¡¯t even had the time to take a breath when he saw Kano Mai staring at him with a horrified look on her face. His heart skipped a beat in fear when he realized that she wasn¡¯t staring at him but behind him.

    Su Jin immediately did a roundhouse kick. Given his level of strength, even if Optimus Prime were behind him, he was sure he could send him flying.

    But the person behind him was more formidable than Optimus Prime. He actually caught Su Jin¡¯s leg in midair.

    At the same time, Su Jin had really used a lot of strength, so the force alone caused the person behind to slide backwards. The tiled flooring turned into mere dust as well.

    ¡°Good heavens! Is this how you treat your guests, Mr. Su?¡± The person who had been pushed backward by Su Jin shook his head. He then bowed slightly toward Su Jin in a gentlemanly fashion.

    ¡°Mad Hatter!¡± Su Jin was surprised. His visitor had turned out to be Mad Hatter, whom he hadn¡¯t seen in quite a while now.

    The Mad Hatter was smiling, but it seemed a little forced. Su Jin then noticed that his shoulder was bleeding and was rather puzzled. ¡°You caught my leg with your right hand, so why is your left shoulder bleeding instead? I don¡¯t remember learning some martial arts move that could strike a person on one side and injure the other side instead.¡±

    The Mad Hatter touched his bleeding left shoulder and sounded a little annoyed as he said, ¡°I came to your world a while back and wanted to visit you, but I didn¡¯t know where you stayed. So, I used the simple method of searching for the person with the highest level of psychokinesis in this world, then¡­¡±

    Su Jin burst outughing. ¡°And you found some guy with the surname Xu? And he beat you up?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what his surname was, but he doesn¡¯t stay too far from here and he¡¯s also a fellow human like you. Good god, what sort of world is this? It¡¯s bad enough that someone as ridiculously strong as you exists, but there¡¯s actually another person whose psychokinesis is almost at god level.¡± The Mad Hatter was very displeased indeed. He was pretty much a deity to this world, yet he was thrashed by a mere human shortly after he set foot here.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t stopughing. He turned around and said, ¡°Mai, could you get us some tea, please?¡±

    Kano Mai knew that Su Jin had some things to discuss with the Mad Hatter, so she nodded obediently and walked to the kitchen. Su Jin then invited the Mad Hatter to take a seat while stillughing heartily.

    ¡°That person¡¯s name is Xu Ran and he is extremely formidable. He¡¯s one of the top ten owners of the Handbook. But¡­ you¡¯re a real god: how in the world did you get hurt by an owner to this extent?¡± Su Jin knew what the Mad Hatter was capable of. Someone who could seal his massive amount of psychokinesis should havee out of a fight with Xu Ran unscathed, not injured like this.

    The Mad Hatter leanedzily against the couch and sneered. ¡°I¡¯m not a god of this world, so I do face some limitations when I¡¯m here. Furthermore, I was already injured and I didn¡¯t expect this guy to be this formidable. Besides¡­ his injuries are worse than mine. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be able to walk for a while.¡±

    Su Jin felt bad for Xu Ran, since he had been beaten up by a god from a different world for absolutely no reason. In terms of poor luck, he was probably right behind Chu Yi.

    ¡°So, why are you here? Didn¡¯t you say you couldn¡¯te to the real world?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    ¡°Before this I couldn¡¯t, but after such a long time, I did find a way. I¡¯m here to return you the favor. You said you needed to look for the Demon Lord, didn¡¯t you?¡± said the Mad Hatter calmly.

    Su Jin sat up straight. His heart was still with the Demon Lord and the Demon Lord said before that he didn¡¯t have much time left. Even if the Mad Hatter hadn¡¯te to visit him, he would have to start thinking of a way to look for the Demon Lord soon.

    ¡°Are we going now?¡±

    ¡°You have something else to attend to?¡±

    ¡°Nope. Let me tell Mai I¡¯m going out for a while and we can leave.¡± Su Jin got up to look for Kano Mai.

    ¡°Hey. You¡¯d better be prepared. The Demon Lord¡­ is a deity from the dark side, so be careful. He mightunch a sneak attack on you or something,¡± said the Mad Hatter out of the blue.

    ¡°Sure, thanks for the warning,¡± said Su Jin without looking back.

    He found Kano Mai making tea in the kitchen and said, ¡°Mai, I need to attend to some matters with the Mad Hatter and I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯d be gone. If anything happens, you decide what to do, okay?¡±

    She didn¡¯t know anything about what was going on between him and the Demon Lord, but she knew that the Mad Hatter was a dangerous character, so Su Jin might be in danger if he was alone with the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°Then¡­ take care of yourself, alright?¡± Kano Mai didn¡¯t have any reason to stop Su Jin from doing this, but after Su Jin nodded and turned to leave, she called out, ¡°Actually¡­ I can go with you.¡±

    ¡°Uh, there¡¯s no need for that,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He was going to pay the Demon Lord a visit, so he preferred not to implicate anybody else.

    Su Jin came back out and the Mad Hatter immediately threw his hat into the air. He jumped in and Su Jin jumped in after him.

    Once they were inside, Su Jin got a shock. The inside of the hat was apletely empty space with various little sparks floating about.

    ¡°Those are fallen spaces. They were once bustling with life, but now¡­ to put it simply, those are Challenges where the owners made it,¡± the Mad Hatter exined simply.

    Su Jin stared in wonder at the different sparks floating around him. So, he had gone to these sparks toplete those Challenges. His mind started running wild and he asked, ¡°Then¡­ if I leap into one of those sparks right now¡­¡±

    ¡°You will be shredded to bits by the forces of space. What sort of ce do you think you¡¯re in? This ce can be considered the most dangerous part of the universe. The outside of each spark is surrounded by a powerful force and even people at god level can¡¯t move around freely inside here. Only people with special powers like myself can. I¡¯m warning you, don¡¯t try anything funny here. Otherwise we¡¯re all going to end up dead,¡± the Mad Hatter warned Su Jin sternly.

    After the Mad Hatter said that, Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to do anything. He obediently held onto the Mad Hatter¡¯s coat and followed him. The two of them walked for a long time before the Mad Hatter suddenly stopped in front of a ck cloud.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± said the Mad Hatter quietly.

 Chapter 244: Deal With The Demon Lord

    <h4>Chapter 244: Deal With The Demon Lord</h4>

    The ck cloud was a very strange one. It sparkled sometimes and was misty sometimes. It kept twisting and changing, as though it were alive.

    The Mad Hatter sped his hands together and his incredible strength gushed out. It was like a pair of huge hands that pushed themselves into the ck cloud and pulled hard to reveal a small gap.

    ¡°Now!¡± The Mad Hatter looked like he was having a hard time and barely managed to utter that one word.

    Su Jin moved as quickly as lightning and dragged the Mad Hatter through the gap immediately after he gave themand.

    The ck sparkly mist was a very thinyer, so the whole ce was as bright as day shortly after the two of them had dashed in. A little house and front yard that Su Jin would never forget stood right in front of them.

    The Mad Hatter panted heavily and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this space to be so unstable now. It didn¡¯t take that much effort to get here thest time.¡±

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t be bothered to respond to the Mad Hatter¡¯sints and just stared quietly at the little house where his journey alongside death all started.

    Creak! One of the doors opened and a frail, olddy with only one eye walked out. She was a lot older and weaker than thest time Su Jin saw her. Just like what the Demon Lord said thest time, he didn¡¯t have much time left.

    ¡°Wee, wee. I was afraid that this day might nevere,¡± said the Demon Lord brightly. Anybody who saw her would think that she was just a genial olddy. No one would imagine that this olddy was actually a deity.

    ¡°As promised, I¡¯vee to take my heart back,¡± said Su Jin directly.

    ¡°Of course, of course. I¡¯ve been taking very good care of it. After all, this is a precious thing that can save my life.¡± The Demon Lord gave him a mischievous smile.

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°You want me to get you out of here. It¡¯s time you told me what needs to be done.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. I need a body. A powerful body that¡¯s almost as strong as a god¡¯s. Only such a body would be able to protect me as I leave this ce,¡± said the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin was taken aback. It was obvious that the Demon Lord was eyeing his body.

    ¡°I have to give up my body to get my heart back? That doesn¡¯t sound like a fair deal,¡± said Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord shook her head and said, ¡°No, no, you¡¯re mistaken. I¡¯m not trying to take over your body. I just want to borrow it. You just need to temporarily give me control over your body and I¡¯ll give it back to you once we¡¯re out of here.¡±

    Su Jin snorted. It was hard for him to believe a promise made by a character like the Demon Lord.

    ¡°Since you just need a body, why didn¡¯t you ask the Mad Hatter for help? Why me?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Two gods cannot share one body. We¡¯d explode like fireworks,¡± interjected the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°He¡¯s right. We¡¯re both real gods, so if I enter his body, we¡¯d both be sted to ashes. I need someone with a powerful enough body but isn¡¯t an actual deity to help me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry! I¡¯m very weak now, so even if I wanted to take your body away from you, I couldn¡¯t. You, on the other hand, have reached such a high level of Psychokic Spirit Power. I should be worried that you¡¯d take my godhood away,¡± said the Demon Lord with a sad smile. He used to be so powerful, yet he had to stoop to asking a human for help now.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have much of a choice, actually. His heart was still with the Demon Lord. If they refused to trust each other, they would both end up dead.

    ¡°I can let you use my body, but¡­I hope you can agree to help me with something,¡± said Su Jin suddenly.

    ¡°Let me hear it first.¡± The Demon Lord was being cautious. If Su Jin wanted him to be his servant, then he¡¯d rather die.

    ¡°I have a friend who¡¯s stuck in a different world and the person who¡¯s imprisoned her is very powerful. I hope that you can help me to rescue her once you¡¯re safely out of here,¡± said Su Jin. This was a good chance to get real help and he didn¡¯t want to miss this opportunity.

    ¡°Very powerful? How powerful?¡± asked the Demon Lord with disdain.

    ¡°He¡¯s a top ranking owner right now and I also suspect that if he wanted to, he can be a new god anytime!¡± Shen Wu was very formidable indeed. What he did at Cloud Mountain proved that his powers were almost on par with a god.

    But Su Jin¡¯s words made both the Demon Lord and the Mad Hatterugh. He could sense the contempt in theirughter, as if they were mocking him for his ignorance.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have sufficient reverence for the gods. What do you think a god is? When you were going through the Fairytales of Horror, you saw how crazy Prince Charming was, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°He had reached the level of a demigod but failed to make the next step and died a demigod. While it¡¯s true that owners have a supernatural advantage, there is no shortcut to bing a god. Or rather, it isn¡¯t the time for a new god to appear yet,¡± said the Demon Lord very confidently.

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then said, ¡°He might not be a god now, but he definitely has the potential. He¡¯d definitely have a ce among the new gods of the future.¡±

    The Mad Hatter whispered, ¡°How does hepare to that Xu Ran?¡±

    ¡°About the same. But that man controls heat. I¡¯ve seen him melt all the snow on a snow capped mountain and turn it into a giant ice cube in order to imprison a human being,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°He has a Spirit Power that can control a force of nature? That¡¯s not easy to deal with, alright,¡± said the Demon Lord with a snort. ¡°But as long as he hasn¡¯t be a god, he¡¯s no match for us.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®us¡¯? This has nothing to do with me,¡± said the Mad Hatterzily.

    The Demon Lord threw him a nce, then said, ¡°I¡¯ve been stuck here all this time but I¡¯ve gotten my fair share of the news too. This young man has done you a big favor and those old fogeys managed to break free thanks to him, yet you¡¯re not willing to help him with this small favor? You gods always talk about morals and all that, but you¡¯re actually all so ungrateful!¡±

    The Mad Hatter couldn¡¯t be bothered to talk to the Demon Lord. It had been difficult enough for him to work with the Demon Lord to get Su Jin to help thest time and there was no way he wanted to work with the Demon Lord again.

    At the same time, the Demon Lord was right. He and the other gods owed Su Jin a huge favor and they ought to repay it no matter what Su Jin asked for.

    ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s not possible to ask the other deities, because we¡¯d be in trouble if the Handbook universe bes chaotic, so Pinhio and I will go with you,¡± said the Mad Hatter. Back when he nned the sabotage of the train carrying the deities, he had dragged Team Boning Knife into his n which resulted in the death of Chu Yi. Also, he managed to get out of the Handbook¡¯s control over him because of what Su Jin did in the Fairytales of Horror. He did owe Su Jin a big favor and it would only be right of him to repay it now.

    Su Jin¡¯s heart leaped for joy. He had three gods on his side, so even someone like Shen Wu would have trouble fighting them and his chances of rescuing Ye Yun would be much higher. Most importantly, he didn¡¯t need anybody from Team Boning Knife to go with him, so he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about them.

    Now that the three of them had reached an agreement, Su Jin moved on, ¡°What do I do now?¡±

    ¡°Very simple. Retract your psychokinesis, let go of your thoughts, hypnotize yourself, then I¡¯ll take over from there,¡± said the Demon Lord calmly.

    Su Jin was a little puzzled as to how to go about doing this, but he quickly figured it out. He used his psychokic powers frequently and was very familiar with hypnotism, but this was the first time he was doing it to himself. Also, doing this sort of thing was very dangerous. If the Demon Lord really coveted his body, he would be unable to fight back at all.

    He proceeded to let go of his thoughts and pushed his psychokinesis out of his body, which was very much like pushing his very soul out. He cut off his connection to his body, which turned the body into an empty shell. Any ghost or spirit could now take control of it.

    The Demon Lord gave a pleased nod and wiggled a finger at his body, making his body walk into the front yard. A beating heart suddenly appeared in her hand. There were special lines drawn all over that heart and Su Jin felt a personal connection with it.

    He began to get worried. That was definitely his heart and it was clear that the Demon Lord had done something to it. But what had she done? Was this some scheme of sorts?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! You have a very strong physical body but it¡¯s still not as strong as a deity like myself. During this time, I¡¯ve been refining your heart. With this new heart, it¡¯s only a matter of time before your body bes a god,¡± exined the Demon Lord. She knew what he was worried about.

    She stretched her hand toward his chest and it went right through as though it wasn¡¯t a real hand. She took a ck, round stone out, which was the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye that had been recing his heart during this time.

    ¡°It¡¯s time I got it back!¡± The Demon Lord stuffed the eye into her vacant socket and the stone immediately gleamed mysteriously.

    She then stuffed Su Jin¡¯s heart back into his chest very roughly, which made Su Jin feel ufortable as he watched the entire process. She had been so careful when taking her own eye out, but so callous with his heart.

    Ba-thump! Ba-thump! His heart started beating inside the body again. His heart was healthy and strong, and it was possibly stronger than the rest of his body. This was now something that had been refined by the Demon Lord, so it was a treasure like the Demon Lord¡¯s Bow.

    The Demon Lord was very pleased with his body and walked toward it. It looked as though she was some ghost possessing his body as she walked into his body and disappeared.

    A momentter, his body began to tremble violently. He looked like a balloon that was about to be inted beyond its maximum size and was about to burst.

    Su Jin started to worry, but thankfully, the trembling stopped after a few minutes. Steam rose from his body, as though it had gone through a terrible ordeal.

    Two secondster, his eyes flew open. His gaze waspletely different now. If one described Su Jin¡¯s gaze as a gentle and kind one before, it was now ambitious and domineering.

    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s still a little weak, but I¡¯m already grateful that it didn¡¯t just explode.¡± The Demon Lord gave a pleased nod. She stretched her limbs out and started cackling. ¡°I haven¡¯t had a real body in so long! I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll be willing to give it back to you!¡±

 Chapter 245: New Tenant

    <h4>Chapter 245: New Tenant</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s heart nearly stopped and the Mad Hatter raised an eyebrow. He owed Su Jin a huge favor, so if the Demon Lord was going to rob Su Jin of his body, he would have to use violence to prevent that from happening. At the same time, if he did manage to get Su Jin¡¯s body back, he would have repaid Su Jin any favor he owed the young man.

    Thankfully, the Demon Lord burst outughing as well. ¡°HAHA! Don¡¯t be so nervous, young man, I¡¯m just kidding. Besides¡­ this body of yours isn¡¯t really suitable for me.¡±

    After that, the Demon Lord sauntered out of the front yard. A bright sh of lightning struck him the moment he set foot outside the yard but that didn¡¯t stop the Demon Lord from continuing his way out. But by the time he had made it far enough from the yard, Su Jin¡¯s body was ck all over getting burned. It was as if he had been left inside an oven for too long.

    ¡°What the hell?! Look what you¡¯ve done to my body! I¡¯ve changed ethnicities at this rate,¡± yelled Su Jin¡¯s soul angrily. If he went back looking like this, his teammates were going tough at how badly toasted he looked.

    ¡°Tsk, what are you afraid of? Your body is almost invincible now. It¡¯s able to recover from such minor injuries instantly,¡± said the Demon Lord with a scoff. He shook himself gently and the ckenedyer of skin fell right off, revealing ayer of smooth, new skin. Unfortunately, the lightning had also burned Su Jin¡¯s clothes to ashes and that fell off as well.

    Su Jin was very displeased with this situation, but he decided to let it go since the only people here were all male.

    The Demon Lord was clearly very excited about leaving the house and yard behind, but he quickly chose to leave Su Jin¡¯s body. To him, this body was just barely usable but very ufortable to remain in. It was like how ufortable it would be for someone at 1.8 meters tall to wear clothing meant for someone measuring only 1.5 meters.

    Su Jin immediately returned to his body once the Demon Lord had left it. His psychokinesis allowed him to leave his body temporarily, but the longer he spent outside the body, the more dangerous his situation could be. If he left for too long, his body might die, or it might start to reject his spirit and turn him into a wandering ghost.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Su Jin let out a sigh of relief. Everything had happened quite quickly, but he was still worried inside. After all, the Mad Hatter had warned him beforeing that the Demon Lord was an evil deity and might behave unreasonably.

    The Demon Lord created a body for himself on the spot. He was a deity and was able to find some way to exist physically even without an actual body. Su Jin¡¯s body had only been needed to get out of that house without injuring himself, that¡¯s all.

    But Su Jin got a shock when the Demon Lord created a body for himself, because the Demon Lord created a tall, busty female body with long ck hair for himself.

    ¡°EH?!¡± Su Jin felt like there was someone strangling him as he choked in astonishment.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked the Demon Lord in a displeased voice when he noticed that Su Jin was staring strangely at him.

    ¡°You¡­ didn¡¯t say you were female,¡± said Su Jin awkwardly.

    ¡°Female? HAHA! It is foolish to view deities like human beings. I can turn into anything I want, but this was what I looked like before bing a god, so I¡¯m just used to it,¡± said the Demon Lord with contempt.

    But Su Jin still felt really awkward, plus he didn¡¯t have any clothes on right now. Then again, the Demon Lord had chosen to present herself as a woman before this, so it made sense that she was a woman to begin with.

    Thankfully, the Mad Hatter had some sense and waved his hands to cover Su Jin with a simr suit to the one he was wearing. That resolved Su Jin¡¯s awkwardness.

    ¡°Well, well, well. I¡¯ve managed to break free from my shackles, but my strength hasn¡¯t recovered fully yet, so I¡¯ll stay with you for the time being,¡± the Demon Lord said to Su Jin.

    ¡°Why do you have to stay with me?!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t very willing to take her in. She was a deity after all, so if she decided to do anything crazy, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about it at all.

    The Mad Hatter threw the Demon Lord a nce, then snorted. ¡°Besides going to your universe, she doesn¡¯t have anywhere else to go, since she has to hide from the Handbook. Besides, the rest of us¡­ don¡¯t really like her.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin asked curiously, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because she¡¯s an evil deity, a chaotic evil character. No matter which era you¡¯re from, she¡¯s definitely one whom everybody would get angry with and she¡¯s not wee anywhere. Would you believe me if I said she might suddenly feel like watching some fireworks and decided to just st your universe to pieces?¡± The Mad Hatter had never been on good terms with the Demon Lord. If she hadn¡¯t asked him for help first, he wouldn¡¯t have wanted to work with her.

    The Demon Lord wasn¡¯t too offended and shrugged it off. ¡°Don¡¯t judge me based on who I used to be. It¡¯s been such a long time and I¡¯ve changed. Now¡­ well, I¡¯m still evil, but at least I¡¯ve begun to understand the importance of keeping order. Back then, wecked order and that¡¯s how we were defeated by people like you. But hriously, none of you ended up much better than us.¡±

    The Mad Hatter raised an eyebrow and Su Jin realized that the Mad Hatter was about to blow his top, so he quickly stood in between them and said, ¡°Alright, alright, you cane and stay with me, but I want you to sign a contract to say that you will listen to everything I say when you¡¯re living in my world.¡±

    The Demon Lord red at him, but he quickly added, ¡°If you¡¯re not agreeable to that, then you¡¯ll have to take care of yourself. While it¡¯s true that I would love for you to help me with rescuing my friend, I¡¯m not going to risk my entire universe blowing up just to get your help.¡±

    ¡°Why, you!¡± The Demon Lord¡¯s eyes bulged from how angry she was, but she eventually caved in and said, ¡°Fine, I promise to listen to everything you say while I¡¯m in your world.¡±

    ¡°Excellent! Let me help you two to set up the contract.¡± The Mad Hatter seemed very pleased to witness the Demon Lord having to eat humble pie. He gave a big wave and a silver magic circle appeared in the air.

    ¡°I just need you to beam a bit of your spirit into this and the contract will beplete,¡± said the Mad Hatter.

    Su Jin sent a wisp of psychokinesis into the circle immediately. The Demon Lord was very reluctant but she didn¡¯t have a choice and did the same. Once they had both done so, Su Jin could sense a mysterious force at the back of his mind.

    ¡°Great! Mad Hatter, please send us back,¡± Su Jin said to the Mad Hatter.

    But the Demon Lord suddenly said, ¡°Wait! You¡¯re done but I¡¯m not! Return my things to me?¡±

    ¡°Your things?¡± Su Jin was confused.

    ¡°Tsk, don¡¯t y ignorant with me. The Demon Lord¡¯s Bow and the Demon Lord¡¯s Boning Knife are both items that I made. I lent them to you but I didn¡¯t say I was giving them to you,¡± she reminded him.

    Su Jin took them out immediately. These were items that could only be activated with Demon Lord Spirit Power, but he didn¡¯t have any source of that now that she had taken back the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye, so it was pointless keeping these items in his possession.

    The Demon Lord took the Demon Lord¡¯s Bow back, but hesitated when she looked at the boning knife. She sighed and said, ¡°Forget it, I was interrupted at a crucial point in sharpening its de, so it¡¯s not suitable for me anymore. It¡¯ll be better if I just made another one instead. You can have this.¡±

    Su Jin stared at the knife in his hands and wasn¡¯t sure what to do either. It was useless to him too. He didn¡¯t have the right Spirit Power to activate its special skill, so it was just an extra sharp knife now.

    The Mad Hatter took the knife from Su Jin and said with a smile, ¡°You can¡¯t use it to its fullest potential if it¡¯s left like this, right? Those other gods owe you a favor, so I¡¯ll get them to help you with this!¡±

    Su Jin was a little surprised by the offer, but nodded anyway. The Mad Hatter had a lot of deities on his side, so it wouldn¡¯t be too hard for them to do something about this knife and turn it back into a good weapon that he would be able to use.

    The Mad Hatter kept the knife, then unleashed his unbridled power to pull open the sparkly ck mist again. After they had made their way out of that world, the Demon Lord stood in the void for a while to look back at that tiny space she used to live in with a lost look in her eyes.

    Back in Su Jin¡¯s world, Kano Mai had just put the teapot down when the three of them suddenly appeared. She was a little surprised but remained unfazed. She got another cup and poured tea for all three of them.

    The Demon Lord¡¯s eyes widened when she saw Kano Mai and the Mad Hatter snorted. ¡°Surprising, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ very surprising,¡± she replied with augh. She then turned her attention back to Su Jin. ¡°Where do I stay?¡±

    ¡°Where else? There are several rooms upstairs, pick anyone you like,¡± said Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord frowned and huffed, ¡°Where I used to live, every pce was an entire! I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re making me stay in such a tiny ce.¡±

    ¡°Oh please! Where am I going to find you a? If you really want to, Mars isn¡¯t very far from here, you can check it out yourself.¡± Su Jin was already getting a headache. This Demon Lord was definitely going to get into some sort of trouble at this rate.

    The Mad Hatter bid Su Jin farewell and said, ¡°I¡¯lle again after she¡¯s recovered a bit more.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and thanked him, ¡°Thank you so much.¡±

    ¡°No need to thank me. You can save that for the time we rescue your friend.¡± The Mad Hatter grinned, then threw his hat in the air and leaped into it, leaving just one hand on the brim of the hat so that he could pull it in after him. The whole scene looked straight out of a cartoon.

    The Demon Lord ended up living in Su Jin¡¯s house just like that. She behaved like a queen around his house and berated Su Jin as and when she liked. But she was much friendlier toward Kano Mai.

    Su Jin felt frustrated and gave Situ Jin a call. ¡°Situ! Don¡¯t visit me for the time being and don¡¯t send anybody from the department or the Special Police. Don¡¯t me me if anyone ends up dead if you try!¡±

    ¡°Why do you say so?¡± Situ Jin couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. He was now in the same team a Su Jin, so he helped to make sure that nobody gave Su Jin any trouble.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a guest and this person is very¡­ formidable and unreasonable at the same time. I¡¯m afraid that if this person discovers one of yours sneaking around the house, they¡¯d end up getting killed,¡± said Su Jin frankly.

    Situ Jin snorted. ¡°Formidable? How formidable could this person be? The most formidable one in this country would be me, because I¡¯ve got the power of the government behind me. Do you know the full identity of this person living with you? Would he be a threat to the people around you? I think it might be necessary to get him to register himself with the nearest Special Police department as soon as possible before we decide our next course of action.¡±

    In response to Situ Jin¡¯s domineering voice, Su Jin replied, ¡°If you¡¯ve got the guts, you can get her to register. I¡¯ll just put it this way: this person is a real deity and one of the best in the universe. Also¡­ she¡¯s a deity from the evil side.¡±

    DUU! Situ Jin immediately hung up on Su Jin, leaving Su Jin to wonder if he had merely imagined that phone call just now.

 Chapter 246: Everyday Life Of The Demon Lord

    <h4>Chapter 246: Everyday Life Of The Demon Lord</h4>

    The Demon Lord¡¯s moving in made Su Jin feel rather unsettled every single day. She was supposed to be a goddess, but there was nothing about her that could be described as such.

    She would sleep until the sun had set, then she would get up and visit nightclubs. You read that right: the Demon Lord learned everything quickly since she had supernatural powers, and she had learned how to go clubbing from the inte, no less. The thing that really angered Su Jin was the fact that she brought girls home every night.

    Sometimes she brought home an innocent one, a coquettish one, a sexy one, or a wild one. In just one week, Su Jin felt that he had seen every type of woman in the world. But he could only look at the girls. The Demon Lord, on the other hand, used the fact that she was a woman to pick thesedies up. ording to her, as a woman, she could understand women better and wouldn¡¯t seem threatening to them.

    If that was all she did, Su Jin might have chosen to just turn a blind eye and pretend he hadn¡¯t seen anything. But the Demon Lord also tried to flirt with Kano Mai, which made Kano Mai run away in terror whenever she saw the Demon Lord.

    One evening, the Demon Lord woke up, stretched herselfzily, then randomly put on a T-shirt. This one even belonged to Su Jin.

    She wasn¡¯t very much shorter than Su Jin, so when she put his shirt on, it only took a little stretching for her to be indecently exposed. But she didn¡¯t seem to care at all. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t insisted that she dress decently in the house, she might not even bother wearing anything at all.

    Su Jin had a scowl on his face as he sat on the couch in the living room with his arms crossed and red at the Demon Lord, who had just walked past and gone to get herself a cup of milk from the kitchen fridge.

    She poured herself a cup, then drank it down within seconds. She liked human food very much, especially the drinks. She loved anything from milk to tea, but she really loved alcoholic drinks the most. Kano Mai liked red wine and had some really good bottles in the house that were meant to be slowly consumed over time. But once the Demon Lord found out about them, she drank it all in no time.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here. I think I¡¯ve woken up a little too early, I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡± The Demon Lord scratched her messy hair, gave a big yawn, then started walking back to her room to continue sleeping.

    Craack! The marble coffee table in front of Su Jin crumbled and turned into powder instantly while his eyes turned bloodshot in anger.

    ¡°There¡¯s a murderous qi in the air!¡± shouted the Demon Lord before flinging something onto Su Jin¡¯s face.

    Su Jin shook in anger and stood up with a start when he realized whatnded on his face. This crazy deity had actually pulled her bra off and used it as a weapon on him.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s enough!¡± bellowed Su Jin so loudly that even the couch he had been sitting on turned to dust.

    The Demon Lord grinned at Su Jin. His angry outburst seemed to have made her very happy. He forced himself to remain calm and said, ¡°I think it¡¯s time we had a good talk.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the time for that. I promised a sexy youngdyst night that we¡¯d go on a journey to heaven today,¡± said the Demon Lord with a shrug.

    Su Jin rammed a fist into the wall and roared, ¡°You said you were going back to bed just now!¡±

    ¡°Time is like a sponge that¡¯s soaked with water. If you squeeze it hard enough, you¡¯d always get some out no matter how dry it feels. Besides, you should know how important sleep is to a woman. If we don¡¯t get enough sleep, we¡¯ll age very quickly,¡± said the Demon Lord very matter-of-factly.

    The veins on Su Jin¡¯s forehead were about to burst. ¡°You¡¯re a deity, so something like sleep ispletely useless to you! Besides, you¡¯re supposed to be a deity from the evil side! What do you mean by you¡¯re going with someone on a journey to heaven? More like you¡¯re going there to destroy heaven!¡±

    The Demon Lord frowned and said disdainfully, ¡°You don¡¯t know anything. The word ¡®heaven¡¯ is just what people call a ce they want to be in, so you could call it paradise or Shangri, whatever you like!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched as he tried to hold his anger back. ¡°Please, we really need to talk. I can¡¯t take this any longer.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Has this woodblock finally been enlightened by secretly peeping on me whenever I bring a girl home? If you really can¡¯t take it anymore, I can help you,¡± said the Demon Lord with a wink as she looked him up and down.

    Su Jin shuddered and said, ¡°Firstly, I didn¡¯t peep on you. There¡¯s no need to, anyway, since you¡¯re just short of doing it in the living room itself. Secondly, I¡¯m not a woodblock. And even if I had that sort of concern, I wouldn¡¯t want your help. I don¡¯t want to die so young.¡±

    ¡°What did you just say?!¡± The Demon Lord red furiously at him.

    Su Jin was still wary of her after all. She hadn¡¯t recovered her full strength yet, but she was still a deity. If they ended up fighting, she was probably still going to defeat him easily. Based on what the Mad Hatter told him, the Demon Lord was an official recognized major deity. To draw a parallel to fairytales and folklore on Earth, she was equivalent to the King of Hades or Satan.

    Given how powerful she was versus how powerful the strongest people in his universe were, it would require Su Jin to unseal his psychokinesis, then join hands with more than ten others at Xu Ran¡¯s level to fight her. And even then, only one or two of them might survive such a fight.

    ¡°Whatever. I just think we need to talk. Look, I¡¯ll fork out the money for you to rent an apartment, alright? If it¡¯s not enough, I¡¯ll buy you a bungalow of your own and you can do whatever you want. Deal?¡± Su Jin finally backed down. He had to find a way to get rid of this Demon Lord, since she was wreaking havoc in his house all day. For as long as she remained here, this home didn¡¯t feel like home anymore.

    The Demon Lord was someone who was excellent at observing others and differentiating between the truth and lies. She took one look at Su Jin, then chuckled. ¡°No, no¡­ I¡¯ve been a little wild, but I¡¯ve kept my ce most of the time. You¡¯re chasing me out because¡­ of our dearest Mai-chan, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Mai is a good girl, so she really doesn¡¯t appreciate how you behave around her. She hasn¡¯t even dared toe home because you¡¯re here. So please, I¡¯m begging you, move out asap and you can be as wild as you like.¡±

    ¡°A good girl?¡± The Demon Lord blinked in surprise, then burst outughing. ¡°HAHA! That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve heard anyone think of a primordial deity as a child.¡±

    ¡°Huh? A¡­ primordial deity? What¡­ do you mean by that?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow. She was definitely using that term to describe Kano Mai, but why?

    But the Demon Lord just smiled back and waved a hand. ¡°You don¡¯t have to get me a house or anything like that. I¡¯ll move out right away. Have fun cohabiting.¡±

    Su Jin was so angry and was about to rify matters when the Demon Lord suddenly looked toward the door and smiled as she said, ¡°Young man, you¡¯ve got a guest, but he doesn¡¯t seem to be friendly!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin suddenly felt a familiar wave of psychokinesis hit him. This wave was very strong and the only person who was capable of such a strong wave of psychokinesis in this country was Xu Ran.

    ¡°Su Jin, I think we need to have a good talk,¡± said Xu Ran in a rather icy voice.

    The Demon Lord burst outughing. That was what Su Jin had said to her just minutes ago and now someone else was saying the same thing to him.

    Su Jin used his psychokinesis to open his door, which was the same as weing Xu Ran in. Xu Ran marched in angrily, but was surprised to see that there was another woman in the house before looking a little horrified.

    ¡°My, my, this young man seems to be a rather intelligent one!¡± The Demon Lord smiled faintly. She knew that Xu Ran was surprised initially because he didn¡¯t expect another person to be in the house, but that was quickly followed by a look of horror because he realized he hadn¡¯t been able to sense her presence at all.

    Xu Ran¡¯s psychokinesis was probably the most powerful in the world, as long as Su Jin¡¯s full potential was sealed up. He was also among the highest ranking owners. Yet, he hadn¡¯t sensed anybody else in the house besides Su Jin, which only meant that this woman was more powerful than himself. She was so powerful that she could conceal her presence and make it impossible for him to sense her. And besides the few owners right at the top of the ranking, the only ones who could do this were probably gods!

    Su Jin sighed when he noticed Xu Ran¡¯s expression and said, ¡°Don¡¯t bother yourself with her. She¡¯s just staying here temporarily. Why are you here?¡±

    Xu Ran behaved a little more unnaturally since such a powerful character was around, so he smiled stiffly and said, ¡°Um, well¡­ a week ago, someone suddenly appeared next to me and I thought he was here to attack me, so we got into a huge fight. I was badly defeated but¡­ after he had attacked me, he just said that he had gotten the wrong person and left. I just recovered and decided to look for you because after thinking about it, if he came to this country and said that he had gotten the wrong person, then the only other person he could be looking for would be you, since we both have psychokinesis.¡±

    Su Jin had an awkward smile on his face. The Mad Hatter did say that he had injured Xu Ran pretty badly, but Su Jin hadn¡¯t thought very much about it. He didn¡¯t expect Xu Ran toe knocking on his door to talk about this matter.

    ¡°Uh¡­ yes, that¡¯s the situation, alright. A very formidable person wanted to take revenge on me but I was in Hell¡¯s Bar at that time. I didn¡¯t expect you to be an unlucky victim instead. How are you? Are you alright now?¡± Su Jin quickly tried to show concern before adding, ¡°If you want to take revenge¡­ I can¡¯t help you at all. That guy appears as and when he likes and nobody knows how to locate him at all.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Xu Ran looked disappointed, which made Su Jin think to himself, ¡°Good heavens, this guy is a really fierce one. I wouldn¡¯t dare to take revenge on someone like the Mad Hatter¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡­ were really hoping to take revenge?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised.

    Xu Ran shook his head. ¡°Take revenge? I¡¯m definitely not capable of doing such a thing. But that gentleman was really powerful. I never knew such a powerful character existed in the Handbook. I was hoping¡­ to ask him for some advice.¡±

    Su Jin stared at Xu Ran in shock. Xu Ran had been defeated so badly that he now looked up to the Mad Hatter instead.

    ¡°You want to ask him for advice? Hmm, you do look like your capabilities have reached a bottleneck and you¡¯re having trouble improving. Well, that guy¡¯s not around, but I am! I promise my rates are reasonable,¡± piped up the Demon Lord suddenly.

 Chapter 247: Situ Jin Calls For Help

    <h4>Chapter 247: Situ Jin Calls For Help</h4>

    The Demon Lord spoke like she was trying to cut a deal with Xu Ran and Xu Ran was actually taking interest. From the moment he set foot into the house, he knew that this woman was incredibly powerful. She was way more powerful than he was.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d be willing to supply you with anything you want,¡± said Xu Ran.

    The Demon Lord smiled faintly. She paused to think, then said, ¡°Anything I want? I want a huge house, a really huge one. And¡­ I don¡¯t want to be disturbed by anybody. And I mean ANYBODY. Simple, right?¡±

    ¡°It sounds simple, but it¡¯s pretty much impossible for anybody in this world to go through life without being disturbed at all. Luckily for you, I¡¯m good at achieving the impossible, so¡­ it¡¯s a deal,¡± said Xu Ran without hesitating.

    The Demon Lord gave a pleased nod, then said to Su Jin, ¡°I prefer this fellow to you.¡±

    ¡°The feeling is mutual. After all, nobody would turn their benefactor¡¯s house into aplete mess,¡± muttered Su Jin. He pulled her to one side, set up a wall of psychokinesis to keep their conversation private, then said, ¡°You¡¯re sure you want to leave with him?¡±

    ¡°Aha, I remember this expression! Whenever I shifted my favor and attention to a different believer, the one I used to favor would have this exact expression,¡± said the Demon Lord merrily as she poked at Su Jin¡¯s chin.

    Su Jin was even more convinced now that sending her away was the right thing to do. But he left her with a warning anyway, ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you: this man is someone very closely connected to the leaders of this country and this country doesn¡¯t believe in gods.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m not a god now. I¡¯m this young man¡¯s psychokinesis mentor!¡± The Demon Lord seemed very excited about this prospect.

    .

    Su Jin had nothing more to say, so he gave her his phone and said, ¡°I¡¯ve blocked all the other numbers in this phone and I¡¯ll get a new one for myselfter. In any case, I¡¯m the only person who can call this number now and I¡¯ll give you my new number once I get one. If you run into any trouble, call me, okay?¡±

    The Demon Lord made a face andined, ¡°This model is so ugly. I prefer the¡­ oh, forget it. I¡¯ll just use this.¡± The Demon Lord decided not to argue when she noticed the scowl on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    Su Jin¡¯s head hurt from just talking to the Demon Lord. He removed the psychokic wall and walked toward Xu Ran. Xu Ran smiled and said, ¡°You treat your guests really well, huh. You put up a wall of psychokinesis right in front of me, which was clearly meant to keep me out. You were just short of telling me that I¡¯m not wee around here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about that, I have my reasons for doing so.¡± He put up another wall to keep his conversation with Xu Ran private and said, ¡°Just a friendly reminder: this woman is not someone you can afford to offend. If you insist on living with her, then¡­ you¡¯d better be prepared for anything.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that¡­ she might suddenly go crazy?¡± asked Xu Ran.

    ¡°Uhhhh¡­ you could put it that way! But trust me, if she goes insane, the only thing you can do is to yell for help,¡± said Su Jin with a snort.

    Xu Ran was a little perturbed by Su Jin¡¯s reaction and said with an awkward smile, ¡°You¡¯re¡­ just joking, right?¡±

    ¡°Haha! I wish I were, but I¡¯m not. I¡¯m trying to warn you, so you¡¯d better take it to heart. If something really happens, get in touch with me as soon as possible. For now¡­ you can take your psychokinesis mentor away with you.¡± Su Jin was basically asking him to leave now.

    Xu Ran was a top notch user of psychokinesis and having irvoyance was something that he told Su Jin about himself. And now, he had a bad feeling about this. But he tried to console himself, believing that perhaps he had begun to feel something special for people more powerful than himself after he had been bashed up by that crazy intruder a week ago.

    ¡°Let me ask you onest question. Does she¡­ have anything to do with Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡± asked Xu Ran puzzledly.

    Su Jin patted Xu Ran¡¯s shoulder and gave him a look as if to say, ¡°What do you think?¡± before removing the psychokinesis wall.

    The Demon Lord walked toward them and said to Xu Ran, ¡°Can we leave now?¡±

    Xu Ran was beginning to have second thoughts, but after considering how his capabilities had reached a standstill and he needed someone to help him make a breakthrough very urgently, he felt that it was only right for him to take this risk.

    ¡°Of course.¡± He waved a hand to open the door and motioned for the Demon Lord to take the first step out of the house. He said to Su Jin, ¡°Call me anytime.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have your number,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have it soon,¡± said Xu Ran before leaving. Immediately after the door closed, a phone number appeared in Su Jin¡¯s mind.

    When it came to Xu Ran, Su Jin was still filled with gratitude for what he had done. If he hadn¡¯t appeared in time back then, he and Kano Mai would be dead by now, so they were friends in that sense. On top of that, Situ Jin and Xu Ran were old friends, so they were all actually on very good terms. Of course, this was if you ignored how Su Jin and Situ Jin had snuck into Xu Ran¡¯s temple and did some things they shouldn¡¯t have. Other than that, Xu Ran was considered a friendly force and it would be best if they could all continue being on good terms.

    After Xu Ran and the Demon Lord left, Su Jin could finally have a good rest. His heart had been on tenterhooks all this time because the Demon Lord was basically like having a time bomb in the house.

    Just a few minutester, Kano Mai came rushing back into the house. Su Jin couldn¡¯t help butugh as he said, ¡°What¡¯s going on? You heard that the Demon Lord has moved out and so you came rushing home?¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? The Demon Lord has moved out?¡± Kano Mai was surprised to hear this, but she quickly shook her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not the time to talk about this. Take this phone call first.¡± She passed her phone to Su Jin.

    Su Jin was puzzled but put the phone to his ear anyway. ¡°Hello? This is Su Jin speaking. Who¡¯s on the line?¡±

    ¡°Situ Jin. Do you have time now?¡± It was Situ Jin¡¯s voice, but he sounded a little tired.

    ¡°Yeah, I do. How did you end up calling Mai? Were you looking for me very urgently?¡± asked Su Jin. He had passed his own phone to the Demon Lord and blocked all other numbers, so Situ Jin had probably called Kano Mai out of desperation. But why?

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t get through to your phone. And I wouldn¡¯t call you guys if it wasn¡¯t urgent. To put it simply¡­if you can¡¯t find us within the next seven hours, it means we¡¯re all dead.¡±

    ¡°We? Your Department of Supernatural Affairs?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Yep. Our entire department, besides yourself of course, has been cornered by someone. By my most optimistic estimates, we¡¯ll be able to hold up for no more than seven hours. So, if you only arrive after that, you can help to bury our bodies,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Su Jin was rmed and said, ¡°Who¡¯s cornered you guys? And where are you now?¡±

    ¡°Initially I thought this guy was some psycho serial killer, but he turned out to be an owner and he¡¯s a very powerful one too. I¡¯m no match for him and I¡¯m just stalling him now. If I were here by myself, I could have snuck off. But my entire team is here and I can¡¯t just abandon them like this.¡± Situ Jin¡¯s voice was a little weak, as though he had been wounded. ¡°We¡¯re in W City, but I¡¯m not really sure exactly where we are either. We moved quite a bit while fighting this guy but I think we¡¯re in the suburban area.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Hang in there, we¡¯ll go over immediately!¡± said Su Jin. After giving it a thought, he called the Demon Lord and she picked up very quickly. ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been an hour and you miss me already? If you beg me, I might consider returning to your ce!¡±

    ¡°Pass the phone to Xu Ran,¡± said Su Jin. Since Situ Jin was in trouble, it was only right for Xu Ran toe and help his friend out. He also hoped that the three of them could also take this chance to rify their rtionship and strengthen it.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± asked Xu Ran.

    ¡°Your friend, Situ Jin, has been cornered somewhere in the suburbs of W City and it seems like his entire department is about to die. I¡¯m going to help him right now. What about you?¡± Su Jin went straight to the point.

    Xu Ran was a smart man and understood more or less what Su Jin was thinking about. He nodded and said, ¡°Sure. I¡¯m done over here as well, so I¡¯ll go over right now. See you in W City!¡±

    ¡°See you!¡± Su Jin nodded, then hung up and left the house with Kano Mai. He was now a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so he went straight to S City¡¯s airport and got himself a small ne and pilot that set off for W City immediately.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin was in the suburbs of W City, covered entirely in wounds as he hid in a shadow. Suddenly, the shadow over him disappeared, revealing the others who were hiding in the shadow with him. These were all members of his department, including sses, General, Grandmaster, Bo Ya and so on. All of them were badly injured.

    ¡°Damn it, am I running out of Spirit Power?¡± Situ Jin¡¯s hands trembled slightly, which was a sign that his energy was running low. He had really tried his best, but his opponent was way more powerful than himself and he also had a lot of colleagues to protect. The only thing he could do was to keep escaping and hiding.

    ¡°Hoho! What a surprise, what a surprise! A guardian of this country, a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, actually turns out to be a Handbook owner as well! What a shocker! At this rate, not only will I be able to wipe out the entire Department of Supernatural Affairs, but I¡¯d also be able to kill a powerful owner! What a happy day it is for me!¡± a raspy voice resounded from a spot not too far from Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin nced at hispanions, then grit his teeth as he shifted them to a dark corner before dashing out all by himself.

    ¡°Over here!¡± Immediately after he dashed out, a red beam of light came for him. But just before the red light could hit him, he leaped into a shadow and the red light hit the ground instead.

    ¡°What a sneaky little loach.¡± The owner of the raspy voice was an old man who looked fairly advanced in age, skinny and frail. He folded his hands behind his back and walked around casually as he said quietly, ¡°Let¡¯s see how much longer you can hide from me.¡±

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin reappeared in another patch of darkness. His face was even paler now, but at least he had managed to stall the old man for a little while more.

    ¡°Heh heh! So, my little loach is hiding right here!¡± Just then, the old man suddenly appeared behind him and cackled.

 Chapter 248: The Helpless Situ Jin

    <h4>Chapter 248: The Helpless Situ Jin</h4>

    <temte x-if="showContent">

    The skinny old man was like a chimpanzee. He looked old and wrinkly, but he was exceptionally nimble in movement. As he swung his arm, his nails grew longer and looked like knivesing toward Situ Jin¡¯s head.

    ¡°Now!¡± Situ Jin mmed a hand on his Handbook and a bright white light covered his entire body.

    Bam! Crack! The sound of a collision and something breaking urred at the same time. The white light was a defense item that had only held up for one second, but that was enough time for Situ Jin to escape into yet another shadow.

    ¡°Haha! What a yful fellow you are! But¡­ how much more Spirit Power could you possibly have? You¡¯ve been doing this for a long time now. I think you must be running out soon!¡± The skinny old man seemed to be enjoying this hunting process. He wasn¡¯t in any hurry and even hoped that Situ Jin could hold up for a bit longer.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin fell from a shadow inside an empty room. His sleeve was stained with blood. He had escaped pretty quickly from the old man¡¯s attack, but had failed to get awaypletely unscathed. His shoulder was still injured in the process.

    ¡°Damn it! Why did we end up running into an owner like that?¡± Situ Jin clenched his teeth. He had to find a way to distract the old man and move the battle elsewhere. Then only would his colleagues be able to leave safely.

    He ced a hand on the handgun hanging from his belt. This wasn¡¯t a weapon he had exchanged points for from the Handbook¡¯s catalog. He had used the Department of Supernatural Affairs¡¯ authority to get the military to custom make this gun for him.

    This gun wasn¡¯t capable of anything special, except that it was a very high powered one. The bullets themselves were able to fire at extremely high speeds and could also spin at rapid rates, plus the gun also had a special firing mechanism. Once hit by a bullet, even someone like Su Jin would be injured.

    Actually, Situ Jin had made this gun to deal with Su Jin. Or rather, it was for Su Jin, Kano Mai, Xu Ran, and any other people Situ Jin knew were also owners. But because he was in the same team with Su Jin and Kano Mai, he really didn¡¯t want to use this weapon on them, as long as they never crossed the line.

    Even so, Situ Jin continued to use his department¡¯s resources to not only think of new ways to deal with these owners, but to also find out more about what owners were capable of. The owners he kept closest tabs on were none other than Su Jin and Xu Ran.

    He knew what these two were capable of, especially Su Jin, since they were in the same team. After going through a few Challenges with Su Jin, he was very familiar with how formidable Su Jin was.

    One had a physical body as powerful as a god¡¯s, while the other had an extremely high level of psychokinesis. If both of them joined hands, they would be a terrifying force that could destroy even the most fortified of cities within a short time. To prevent such a thing from happening, Situ Jin needed to be prepared in advance.

    Situ Jin had made this gun based on how imprable Su Jin¡¯s body was. This gun was able to not just prate the skin but was alsoced with certain drugs. He hoped that even if it couldn¡¯t kill Su Jin with one shot, it would be able to injure him significantly.

    Unfortunately, this gun was still being tested and Situ Jin wasn¡¯t too happy with its capabilities yet. If his opponent right now was Su Jin, this gun wouldn¡¯t be of much use. And if he found out that Su Jin¡¯s body had be even more formidable than before after getting his own heart back, he would probably just abandon the idea altogether.

    But the gun was still an extremely powerful weapon nheless. Perhaps it could help him to kill this skinny old man.

    Situ Jin had almost run out of Spirit Power and he couldn¡¯t even do a quick run into the shadows now. If he couldn¡¯t defeat this old man with one hit, he was definitely going to end up dead instead.

    He put on a special pair of goggles that were issued only to special troops. These goggles could use heat to detect the enemy. But the one that Situ Jin had was an upgraded version. It had been specially modified such that it could not only detect exactly where the enemy was, but it could also analyze the enemy¡¯s speed and vital signs.

    Several objects with a much higher temperature than their surroundings appeared on his goggles. That was where his colleagues were at. And the old man was slowly approaching them.

    His heart palpitated when he saw this. He had tounch an attack soon. If his colleagues were to be discovered by the old man, he wouldn¡¯t be able to save them.

    His palm was covered in sweat even as he gripped the gun tightly. There was only one bullet in this gun, so he didn¡¯t have a second chance. Whether they lived or died¡­ depended on this shot.

    As he waited, he adjusted his breathing such that it was at the same rate as his heart. The sound of his breathing was now merged with the sound of his heart beating. That was very important for any marksmen to do well, because any sound or movement could affect one¡¯s performance.

    Once the two had merged into one, he had one less possible distraction, which would help him to aim more urately.

    Just then, the old man turned the corner. Situ Jin was sure that the old man had spotted his colleagues, and this was the moment he was waiting for because the old man would be distracted for a moment by the discovery of new prey.

    Bang! The special bullet flew out from the gun and began spinning. The mechanism inside the bullet fell off immediately after it had enabled the bullet to spin to give sufficient momentum while not weighing the bullet down with unnecessary weight.

    Situ Jin smiled. He knew he had made it. This bullet was going to go right through that old man¡¯s chest and the whole thing would be over.

    Just then, the old man suddenly turned toward Situ Jin. His facial features looked like they had merely been drawn on.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s smile turned to a look of despair. That wasn¡¯t the old man at all. That was just a puppet controlled by the old man.

    Bang! The bullet went through the puppet¡¯s body and caused its chest to explode. Any remaining hope that Situ Jin had exploded along with it.

    ¡°Trying tounch a secret attack on an old man like me? You¡¯re not very kind to the elderly, huh!¡± The skinny old man appeared behind Situ Jin again. This man was like a ghost or something and Situ Jin simply couldn¡¯t track his movement at all. Every time his position was exposed, the old man would find him immediately.

    ¡°Die!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eyes turned bloodshot as he spun around and wrapped his arms tightly around the old man. He didn¡¯t know what else to do. He was probably going to die at this rate, but at least he would be able to save his colleagues.

    ¡°Fall into the darkness with me!¡± There was a crazed look in Situ Jin¡¯s eyes as he used thest bit of Spirit Power he had left and barely managed to open the way into a shadow. His n was simple. He was going to drag the old man into the shadow with him and because he had run out of Spirit Power, there was no way for him to open a way out after that. All he wanted was to trap the old man inside the shadow. That way, even if he died, he would be the only casualty.

    ¡°You fool! I can¡¯t believe you still think you have the ability to hurt me!¡± said the old man with a sneer. His feet seemed to be nted in the ground and Situ Jin couldn¡¯t move him at all.

    The old man put one fingertip on Situ Jin¡¯s back and his fast growing nails pierced through Situ Jin and went straight into the ground. Situ Jin could feel that one of his lungs had been punctured and the pain made him shiver all over.

    Pfft! Situ Jin spewed a mouthful of blood out and his eyes bulged as he did everything he could to exert more strength. Even if he had to die, he was determined to pull the old man into the shadow. He had never wished so hard for strength before. He just wanted pure strength. Enough strength to get the old man into the shadow.

    ¡°As I said, you¡¯re too dumb!¡± The old man sneered again as he raised a finger once more. He cackled and said, ¡°This time, I¡¯m going to stab it right through your heart!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Let go of Mr. Situ!¡± Just then, the sound of gunshots resounded as the previously unconscious Bo Ya regained consciousness and fired three shots at the old man. All of them hit the old man and were aimed at vital areas.

    She shot him in the heart, the back of his head and the back of his neck. If the old man were an ordinary human, any one of those shots would have killed him. But he wasn¡¯t an ordinary human. The only thing that the three bullets did was to cause him a little bit of pain.

    ¡°Birds of a feather flock together: the friend of a fool is equally stupid!¡± The old man suddenly turned his head 180 degrees as though he were an owl and stared at Bo Ya.

    Bo Ya was clearly terrified by how this man didn¡¯t seem human, but her years of training enabled her to keep shooting until she ran out of bullets.

    ¡°Run! RUNN!!!¡± Situ Jin yelled hoarsely as he continued to hang onto the old man.

    But the old man ignored Situ Jin. He turned his arm the other way and pointed a finger at Bo Ya, shooting a long nail toward her.

    ¡°Eck!¡± Bo Ya made a strangled sound as she stared down at her chest in disbelief. That nail had pierced right through her heart.

    ¡°No¡­ NOOO!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in horror. He let go of the old man and ran toward Bo Ya like he had gone mad, catching her as she fell to the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to be okay, you¡¯re going to be okay¡­¡± muttered Situ Jin frantically as he pressed a hand over her wound. But as he pressed the front of her wound, blood gushed out from the back of the wound. At the same time, her pupils were already dted and her body was convulsing slightly.

    Her heart had been pierced and was falling apart inside her chest cavity. She died almost instantly.

    ¡°Young man, there¡¯s nothing to be sad about. She didn¡¯t suffer much and died in an instant,¡± said the old man with a chuckle when he saw how Situ Jin had lost it. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re going to join her soon. You don¡¯t have to cry so miserably.¡±

    But Situ Jin couldn¡¯t hear a single thing the old man was saying. The emotional pain he felt had ovee any rationality he had. The old man was rather annoyed by this and felt that this whole situation wasn¡¯t fun anymore.

    ¡°Well, since I¡¯m not having any fun with you, I¡¯ll send you to meet your maker!¡± The old man pointed a finger at Situ Jin and sent a fingernail shooting toward Situ Jin¡¯s heart.

    Strangely enough, the fingernail stopped just one centimeter away from Situ Jin¡¯s back and remained that way without moving.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± The old man was shocked for a second before looking around in horror.

    ¡°How dare you hurt my friend! Time for YOU to meet your maker, old man!¡± Two figures fell from the sky, as though they were deities descending from heaven. </temte>

    The skinny old man was like a chimpanzee. He looked old and wrinkly, but he was exceptionally nimble in movement. As he swung his arm, his nails grew longer and looked like knivesing toward Situ Jin¡¯s head.

    ¡°Now!¡± Situ Jin mmed a hand on his Handbook and a bright white light covered his entire body.

    Bam! Crack! The sound of a collision and something breaking urred at the same time. The white light was a defense item that had only held up for one second, but that was enough time for Situ Jin to escape into yet another shadow.

    ¡°Haha! What a yful fellow you are! But¡­ how much more Spirit Power could you possibly have? You¡¯ve been doing this for a long time now. I think you must be running out soon!¡± The skinny old man seemed to be enjoying this hunting process. He wasn¡¯t in any hurry and even hoped that Situ Jin could hold up for a bit longer.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin fell from a shadow inside an empty room. His sleeve was stained with blood. He had escaped pretty quickly from the old man¡¯s attack, but had failed to get awaypletely unscathed. His shoulder was still injured in the process.

    ¡°Damn it! Why did we end up running into an owner like that?¡± Situ Jin clenched his teeth. He had to find a way to distract the old man and move the battle elsewhere. Then only would his colleagues be able to leave safely.

    He ced a hand on the handgun hanging from his belt. This wasn¡¯t a weapon he had exchanged points for from the Handbook¡¯s catalog. He had used the Department of Supernatural Affairs¡¯ authority to get the military to custom make this gun for him.

    This gun wasn¡¯t capable of anything special, except that it was a very high powered one. The bullets themselves were able to fire at extremely high speeds and could also spin at rapid rates, plus the gun also had a special firing mechanism. Once hit by a bullet, even someone like Su Jin would be injured.

    Actually, Situ Jin had made this gun to deal with Su Jin. Or rather, it was for Su Jin, Kano Mai, Xu Ran, and any other people Situ Jin knew were also owners. But because he was in the same team with Su Jin and Kano Mai, he really didn¡¯t want to use this weapon on them, as long as they never crossed the line.

    Even so, Situ Jin continued to use his department¡¯s resources to not only think of new ways to deal with these owners, but to also find out more about what owners were capable of. The owners he kept closest tabs on were none other than Su Jin and Xu Ran.

    He knew what these two were capable of, especially Su Jin, since they were in the same team. After going through a few Challenges with Su Jin, he was very familiar with how formidable Su Jin was.

    One had a physical body as powerful as a god¡¯s, while the other had an extremely high level of psychokinesis. If both of them joined hands, they would be a terrifying force that could destroy even the most fortified of cities within a short time. To prevent such a thing from happening, Situ Jin needed to be prepared in advance.

    Situ Jin had made this gun based on how imprable Su Jin¡¯s body was. This gun was able to not just prate the skin but was alsoced with certain drugs. He hoped that even if it couldn¡¯t kill Su Jin with one shot, it would be able to injure him significantly.

    Unfortunately, this gun was still being tested and Situ Jin wasn¡¯t too happy with its capabilities yet. If his opponent right now was Su Jin, this gun wouldn¡¯t be of much use. And if he found out that Su Jin¡¯s body had be even more formidable than before after getting his own heart back, he would probably just abandon the idea altogether.

    But the gun was still an extremely powerful weapon nheless. Perhaps it could help him to kill this skinny old man.

    Situ Jin had almost run out of Spirit Power and he couldn¡¯t even do a quick run into the shadows now. If he couldn¡¯t defeat this old man with one hit, he was definitely going to end up dead instead.

    He put on a special pair of goggles that were issued only to special troops. These goggles could use heat to detect the enemy. But the one that Situ Jin had was an upgraded version. It had been specially modified such that it could not only detect exactly where the enemy was, but it could also analyze the enemy¡¯s speed and vital signs.

    Several objects with a much higher temperature than their surroundings appeared on his goggles. That was where his colleagues were at. And the old man was slowly approaching them.

    His heart palpitated when he saw this. He had tounch an attack soon. If his colleagues were to be discovered by the old man, he wouldn¡¯t be able to save them.

    His palm was covered in sweat even as he gripped the gun tightly. There was only one bullet in this gun, so he didn¡¯t have a second chance. Whether they lived or died¡­ depended on this shot.

    As he waited, he adjusted his breathing such that it was at the same rate as his heart. The sound of his breathing was now merged with the sound of his heart beating. That was very important for any marksmen to do well, because any sound or movement could affect one¡¯s performance.

    Once the two had merged into one, he had one less possible distraction, which would help him to aim more urately.

    Just then, the old man turned the corner. Situ Jin was sure that the old man had spotted his colleagues, and this was the moment he was waiting for because the old man would be distracted for a moment by the discovery of new prey.

    Bang! The special bullet flew out from the gun and began spinning. The mechanism inside the bullet fell off immediately after it had enabled the bullet to spin to give sufficient momentum while not weighing the bullet down with unnecessary weight.

    Situ Jin smiled. He knew he had made it. This bullet was going to go right through that old man¡¯s chest and the whole thing would be over.

    Just then, the old man suddenly turned toward Situ Jin. His facial features looked like they had merely been drawn on.

    ¡°Crap!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s smile turned to a look of despair. That wasn¡¯t the old man at all. That was just a puppet controlled by the old man.

    Bang! The bullet went through the puppet¡¯s body and caused its chest to explode. Any remaining hope that Situ Jin had exploded along with it.

    ¡°Trying tounch a secret attack on an old man like me? You¡¯re not very kind to the elderly, huh!¡± The skinny old man appeared behind Situ Jin again. This man was like a ghost or something and Situ Jin simply couldn¡¯t track his movement at all. Every time his position was exposed, the old man would find him immediately.

    ¡°Die!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eyes turned bloodshot as he spun around and wrapped his arms tightly around the old man. He didn¡¯t know what else to do. He was probably going to die at this rate, but at least he would be able to save his colleagues.

    ¡°Fall into the darkness with me!¡± There was a crazed look in Situ Jin¡¯s eyes as he used thest bit of Spirit Power he had left and barely managed to open the way into a shadow. His n was simple. He was going to drag the old man into the shadow with him and because he had run out of Spirit Power, there was no way for him to open a way out after that. All he wanted was to trap the old man inside the shadow. That way, even if he died, he would be the only casualty.

    ¡°You fool! I can¡¯t believe you still think you have the ability to hurt me!¡± said the old man with a sneer. His feet seemed to be nted in the ground and Situ Jin couldn¡¯t move him at all.

    The old man put one fingertip on Situ Jin¡¯s back and his fast growing nails pierced through Situ Jin and went straight into the ground. Situ Jin could feel that one of his lungs had been punctured and the pain made him shiver all over.

    Pfft! Situ Jin spewed a mouthful of blood out and his eyes bulged as he did everything he could to exert more strength. Even if he had to die, he was determined to pull the old man into the shadow. He had never wished so hard for strength before. He just wanted pure strength. Enough strength to get the old man into the shadow.

    ¡°As I said, you¡¯re too dumb!¡± The old man sneered again as he raised a finger once more. He cackled and said, ¡°This time, I¡¯m going to stab it right through your heart!¡±

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    ¡°Let go of Mr. Situ!¡± Just then, the sound of gunshots resounded as the previously unconscious Bo Ya regained consciousness and fired three shots at the old man. All of them hit the old man and were aimed at vital areas.

    She shot him in the heart, the back of his head and the back of his neck. If the old man were an ordinary human, any one of those shots would have killed him. But he wasn¡¯t an ordinary human. The only thing that the three bullets did was to cause him a little bit of pain.

    ¡°Birds of a feather flock together: the friend of a fool is equally stupid!¡± The old man suddenly turned his head 180 degrees as though he were an owl and stared at Bo Ya.

    Bo Ya was clearly terrified by how this man didn¡¯t seem human, but her years of training enabled her to keep shooting until she ran out of bullets.

    ¡°Run! RUNN!!!¡± Situ Jin yelled hoarsely as he continued to hang onto the old man.

    But the old man ignored Situ Jin. He turned his arm the other way and pointed a finger at Bo Ya, shooting a long nail toward her.

    ¡°Eck!¡± Bo Ya made a strangled sound as she stared down at her chest in disbelief. That nail had pierced right through her heart.

    ¡°No¡­ NOOO!¡± Situ Jin¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in horror. He let go of the old man and ran toward Bo Ya like he had gone mad, catching her as she fell to the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to be okay, you¡¯re going to be okay¡­¡± muttered Situ Jin frantically as he pressed a hand over her wound. But as he pressed the front of her wound, blood gushed out from the back of the wound. At the same time, her pupils were already dted and her body was convulsing slightly.

    Her heart had been pierced and was falling apart inside her chest cavity. She died almost instantly.

    ¡°Young man, there¡¯s nothing to be sad about. She didn¡¯t suffer much and died in an instant,¡± said the old man with a chuckle when he saw how Situ Jin had lost it. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re going to join her soon. You don¡¯t have to cry so miserably.¡±

    But Situ Jin couldn¡¯t hear a single thing the old man was saying. The emotional pain he felt had ovee any rationality he had. The old man was rather annoyed by this and felt that this whole situation wasn¡¯t fun anymore.

    ¡°Well, since I¡¯m not having any fun with you, I¡¯ll send you to meet your maker!¡± The old man pointed a finger at Situ Jin and sent a fingernail shooting toward Situ Jin¡¯s heart.

    Strangely enough, the fingernail stopped just one centimeter away from Situ Jin¡¯s back and remained that way without moving.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± The old man was shocked for a second before looking around in horror.

    ¡°How dare you hurt my friend! Time for YOU to meet your maker, old man!¡± Two figures fell from the sky, as though they were deities descending from heaven.

    <temte x-if="!showContent"> <h4>Mature Content</h4>

    Are you 18+?

    <button ss="inline-flex items-center justify-center px-4 py-2 rounded border border-primary-700 text-xs font-semibold text-primary-700 hover:text-highlight hover:border-highlight">Yes</button> <button ss="inline-flex items-center justify-center px-4 py-2 bg-red-600 text-white rounded border border-primary-700 text-xs font-semibold text-primary-700 hover:bg-red-500">No</button> </temte>

 Chapter 249: Bo Ya

    <h4>Chapter 249: Bo Ya</h4>

    <temte x-if="showContent">

    The skinny old man grew several timesrger in an instant like he was an intable, turning into a muscr man in no time. But he didn¡¯t feel any safer after that, because the two people who had just appeared felt even more dangerous than some of the creatures he had run into during Challenges.

    ¡°Situ, are you alright?¡± Su Jin immediately stuffed a leaf from the Tree of Life into Situ Jin¡¯s mouth. He scanned Situ Jin¡¯s body with his psychokinesis and discovered that his lung was badly injured. If he hadn¡¯t strengthened his body as an owner, he would have died by now.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother about me! Save Bo Ya! Save Bo Ya!!¡± Situ Jin grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s arms and yelled hysterically as his eyes bulged. He was gripping Su Jin so hard that some of his nails broke.

    Su Jin shook his head with a sigh. He had scanned Bo Ya earlier as well, but unlike Situ Jin, her heart was damaged beyond repair and she had already passed on.

    Situ Jin was at a loss for a moment before he let go of Su Jin and ran toward Xu Ran. He pleaded, ¡°Xu Ran, I¡¯m begging you¡­ you¡¯re very powerful, so I¡¯m sure you have a way to save Bo Ya, right?¡±

    But Xu Ran shook his head with a sigh as well. ¡°I¡¯m good at fighting but not good at healing. Besides, Miss Bo Ya¡­ is already dead.¡±

    Su Jin and Xu Ran both confirmed that there was nothing more they could do for Bo Ya. Situ Jin clutched his head in agony and med himself. If he hadn¡¯t gotten his team to capture this guy before getting sufficient information about him, Bo Ya wouldn¡¯t have died.

    After bing an owner, Situ Jin had realized that he wasn¡¯t as calm as before. His newfound strength had made him believe that he was now able to deal with any trouble that came his way.

    .

    Su Jin and Xu Ran exchanged nces. They had tried to get here as quickly as possible already. In order to save time, Xu Ran had taught Su Jin how to use his psychokinesis to fly. So, once they arrived at W City, they flew into the sky and used their psychokinesis to search for Situ Jin, but they were still a little toote.

    Situ Jin walked back to Bo Ya¡¯s body and hugged her with a dazed look in his eyes. Su Jin and Xu Ran turned their attention to the old man, who looked like he was going crazy. He wasn¡¯t some low level owner, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have had such an easy time torturing Situ Jin. He knew how powerful owners with psychokinesis could be.

    Any owner who could use their psychokinesis to fly was enough to kill him, and now, two of such owners had appeared. He couldn¡¯t believe it at all. Owners with this Spirit Power were very rare in the first ce, yet two of them had appeared at the same time in his own world, and they were now about to attack him.

    ¡°Gentlemen, are you a friend to this man?¡± The old man¡¯s gaze was shaky, but he didn¡¯t dare to let his guard down at all, afraid that these two formidable owners might suddenlyunch an attack.

    ¡°No, he¡¯s my brother.¡± Xu Ran had a nasty look on his face. He was a close friend of Situ Jin¡¯s and was on good terms with Bo Ya as well. Now that Situ Jin was injured and Bo Ya had lost her life because of this old man, there was no way Xu Ran was going to maintain a friendly look on his face.

    ¡°Yep. He¡¯s my brother too,¡± said Su Jin with a frosty voice. Situ Jin was a member of Team Boning Knife and they had gone through all sorts of dangers together. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to call him a brother.

    The old man had a pained look on his face. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s no way I can make peace with the both of you, but¡­ I hope you can give me a fair chance. Why don¡¯t you let me fight just one of you? If I win, then you let me go. If I lose, then¡­ I¡¯m basically dead.¡±

    Xu Ran nodded immediately and said to Su Jin, ¡°I¡¯ll leave him to you. It¡¯ll give you a little more fighting experience.¡± He turned and walked back to where Situ Jin and Bo Ya were.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t turn the offer down and marched toward the old man.

    ¡°He¡¯s approaching me just like that? Did this young man just attain this Spirit Power?¡± The old man was rather surprised. While psychokinesis owners were formidable, they were veterans who worked best from a distance and were usually still wary of fighting owners with strong physical bodies like himself at such close range. A physically strong owner was able to move very quickly and kill a psychokinesis owner faster than they could use their psychokinesis.

    The old man¡¯s heart leaped for joy. He thought he was definitely going to die and didn¡¯t expect there would be a way out of this sticky situation. As long as he could kill this psychokinesis noob, he would get the chance to survive this.

    He kept his gaze on Su Jin as Su Jin came toward him. Once Su Jin set foot within his reach, the old man suddenly leaped up. Ayer of air around his body seemed to propel him as he came very close to Su Jin and brought his two fists down hard on Su Jin like they were a pair of hammers. He used all the strength he had, believing that as long as he struck Su Jin, Su Jin was definitely going to die.

    But Su Jin merely looked up at the two fistsing down on him. He didn¡¯t put up any defense and just allowed them to hit his head.

    ¡°What?!¡± The old man¡¯s eyes bulged, and his huge muscles suddenly tensed up. But they weren¡¯t tensing up because he was making them tense. A force from nowhere had entered his body and had control over all his muscles.

    ¡°He¡¯s taken a Mid-level Body Strengthening Elixir and knows some technique to make his body a little stronger, so he¡¯s just a little less powerful than someone who¡¯s consumed the High-level elixir. But that¡¯s a rare sight already.¡± Su Jin analyzed the old man as he felt the forcee down on his head. If he hadn¡¯t gotten back his reinforced heart, he would have put up some sort of defense. But now, this attack was ridiculously weak to him.

    ¡°How¡­ how are you perfectly fine?!¡± The old man couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He had felt the force of his two fists hit Su Jin squarely in the head, yet this young man didn¡¯t even flinch.

    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m stronger than you are,¡± said Su Jin indifferently as he waved his arm casually and turned back to walk toward Situ Jin.

    At the same time, the old man¡¯s muscles started shaking. They were now like rope on a winch that was being pulled tighter and tighter. His muscles were pulled to a point where they twisted and slowly lost their strength.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ AHHHHH!¡± The old man began wailing in pain.

    Bam! Bam! Suddenly, the sound of something snapping echoed loudly. The old man¡¯s muscles snapped at the same time and he copsed onto the ground. He was like a marite, except that this marite¡¯s strings had all been snipped off, so he looked more like a broken rag doll.

    Even so, the old man was still alive. He couldn¡¯t stop shrieking and wailing from the pain as he looked pleadingly at Su Jin. He wasn¡¯t pleading with Su Jin to let him live, but to kill him quickly.

    Su Jin frowned and waited until he was no longer angry before flicking his finger at the old man. The light in the old man¡¯s eyes slowly went out and he finally breathed hisst.

    Situ Jin was silent as he just held onto Bo Ya, but Su Jin and Xu Ran could sense the deep, excruciating pain Situ Jin must be feeling.

    ¡°Is there really nothing we can do?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Xu Ran shook his head. ¡°Owners aren¡¯t miracle workers, and we¡¯ve always been especially helpless when ites to death. If she were still breathing, I could do something about it. But the problem is¡­ there are no more signs of life in her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true. For people like us who can split our souls from our bodies, life is not determined by whether our hearts are still beating or not,¡± said Su Jin quietly as he looked at Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran understood what Su Jin was saying and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. If you look at it from that angle, Bo Ya isn¡¯tpletely dead. But even if her spirit were still alive, it¡¯s useless. Her physical body is dead.¡±

    ¡°What a pity. If we had a Handbook right now, she could still be saved.¡± Kano Mai had finally arrived and made this remark after looking at what happened to Bo Ya.

    Situ Jin¡¯s eyes lit up at these words. He looked at Xu Ran and said, ¡°Xu Ran, you were the one who gave me the Handbook back then. Could you get another one?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I happened to discover that Handbook and when I passed it to you, I wasn¡¯t even sure myself if it was going to work, never mind find you another one.¡± Xu Ran shook his head apologetically.

    The hopeful look in Situ Jin¡¯s eyes dimmed again, but he didn¡¯t give up thinking along these lines. He paused to think for a moment, then said, ¡°If¡­ if I kill myself right now, could I give my Handbook to Bo Ya?¡±

    The other three were shocked by these words. They didn¡¯t expect Situ Jin to be willing to do something like that for Bo Ya¡¯s sake.

    But Xu Ran shook his head again. ¡°In theory, after an owner dies, their Handbook will disappear immediately. I have no idea why that Handbook I gave you did not disappear. So, even if youmit suicide, your Handbook will probably end up disappearing along with yourself.¡±

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°If only we had gotten our hands on that Handbook in the Alien Invasion Challenge. But that Challenge nearly got all of us killed and we really didn¡¯t have the energy to think about looking for something like that.¡±

    But Su Jin¡¯sment made Kano Mai¡¯s eyes light up. She said to him, ¡°Jin, that¡¯s hard to say. Wu Chen was running around the Fearless as a worm for quite a long time, so¡­ chances are slim, but given how Wu Chen loves collecting stuff, he might very well have found that Handbook and kept it for himself.¡±

    Su Jin tapped his nose with a finger. Kano Mai had a point. Situ Jin immediately said, ¡°Call Wu Chen now. Call him now!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll call him now.¡± Su Jin used his Handbook to contact Wu Chen and he responded fairly quickly.

    ¡°Why are you calling me so randomly? Are we going to Hell¡¯s Bar for a party?¡± asked Wu Chen with augh.

    ¡°Wu Chen, I need to ask you something. Did you get your hands on the Handbook that appeared in the Alien Invasion Challenge?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Wu Chen blinked in surprise and said, ¡°I did. But that¡¯s for my personal collection. What about it?¡±

    ¡°We need it to save someone¡¯s life!¡± said Su Jin immediately after he confirmed that Wu Chen had really gotten his hands on that Handbook. Situ Jin looked up with a start and his eyes were filled with excitement and joy.

    ¡°Save someone¡¯s life? Whose?¡± asked Wu Chen puzzledly.

    ¡°We need to save Situ¡¯s woman!¡± said Su Jin.

    Situ Jin dashed over and said to Wu Chen, ¡°Wu Chen, give me that Handbook. You can ask for anything in return. Even if I can¡¯t give it to you now, I¡¯ll make sure I make it up to you somehow.¡±

    Wu Chen got a shock when Situ Jin¡¯s face suddenly appeared in front of him. He had no idea what in the world was going on, but after seeing Situ Jin¡¯s expression, he said, ¡°No problem. It was just a collectible to me anyway. Jin, let¡¯s meet in Hell¡¯s Bar then.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and activated his team¡¯s ess to Hell¡¯s Bar. He nodded at Situ Jin and left to meet Wu Chen. </temte>

    The skinny old man grew several timesrger in an instant like he was an intable, turning into a muscr man in no time. But he didn¡¯t feel any safer after that, because the two people who had just appeared felt even more dangerous than some of the creatures he had run into during Challenges.

    ¡°Situ, are you alright?¡± Su Jin immediately stuffed a leaf from the Tree of Life into Situ Jin¡¯s mouth. He scanned Situ Jin¡¯s body with his psychokinesis and discovered that his lung was badly injured. If he hadn¡¯t strengthened his body as an owner, he would have died by now.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother about me! Save Bo Ya! Save Bo Ya!!¡± Situ Jin grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s arms and yelled hysterically as his eyes bulged. He was gripping Su Jin so hard that some of his nails broke.

    Su Jin shook his head with a sigh. He had scanned Bo Ya earlier as well, but unlike Situ Jin, her heart was damaged beyond repair and she had already passed on.

    Situ Jin was at a loss for a moment before he let go of Su Jin and ran toward Xu Ran. He pleaded, ¡°Xu Ran, I¡¯m begging you¡­ you¡¯re very powerful, so I¡¯m sure you have a way to save Bo Ya, right?¡±

    But Xu Ran shook his head with a sigh as well. ¡°I¡¯m good at fighting but not good at healing. Besides, Miss Bo Ya¡­ is already dead.¡±

    Su Jin and Xu Ran both confirmed that there was nothing more they could do for Bo Ya. Situ Jin clutched his head in agony and med himself. If he hadn¡¯t gotten his team to capture this guy before getting sufficient information about him, Bo Ya wouldn¡¯t have died.

    After bing an owner, Situ Jin had realized that he wasn¡¯t as calm as before. His newfound strength had made him believe that he was now able to deal with any trouble that came his way.

    Su Jin and Xu Ran exchanged nces. They had tried to get here as quickly as possible already. In order to save time, Xu Ran had taught Su Jin how to use his psychokinesis to fly. So, once they arrived at W City, they flew into the sky and used their psychokinesis to search for Situ Jin, but they were still a little toote.

    Situ Jin walked back to Bo Ya¡¯s body and hugged her with a dazed look in his eyes. Su Jin and Xu Ran turned their attention to the old man, who looked like he was going crazy. He wasn¡¯t some low level owner, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have had such an easy time torturing Situ Jin. He knew how powerful owners with psychokinesis could be.

    Any owner who could use their psychokinesis to fly was enough to kill him, and now, two of such owners had appeared. He couldn¡¯t believe it at all. Owners with this Spirit Power were very rare in the first ce, yet two of them had appeared at the same time in his own world, and they were now about to attack him.

    ¡°Gentlemen, are you a friend to this man?¡± The old man¡¯s gaze was shaky, but he didn¡¯t dare to let his guard down at all, afraid that these two formidable owners might suddenlyunch an attack.

    ¡°No, he¡¯s my brother.¡± Xu Ran had a nasty look on his face. He was a close friend of Situ Jin¡¯s and was on good terms with Bo Ya as well. Now that Situ Jin was injured and Bo Ya had lost her life because of this old man, there was no way Xu Ran was going to maintain a friendly look on his face.

    ¡°Yep. He¡¯s my brother too,¡± said Su Jin with a frosty voice. Situ Jin was a member of Team Boning Knife and they had gone through all sorts of dangers together. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to call him a brother.

    The old man had a pained look on his face. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s no way I can make peace with the both of you, but¡­ I hope you can give me a fair chance. Why don¡¯t you let me fight just one of you? If I win, then you let me go. If I lose, then¡­ I¡¯m basically dead.¡±

    Xu Ran nodded immediately and said to Su Jin, ¡°I¡¯ll leave him to you. It¡¯ll give you a little more fighting experience.¡± He turned and walked back to where Situ Jin and Bo Ya were.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t turn the offer down and marched toward the old man.

    ¡°He¡¯s approaching me just like that? Did this young man just attain this Spirit Power?¡± The old man was rather surprised. While psychokinesis owners were formidable, they were veterans who worked best from a distance and were usually still wary of fighting owners with strong physical bodies like himself at such close range. A physically strong owner was able to move very quickly and kill a psychokinesis owner faster than they could use their psychokinesis.

    The old man¡¯s heart leaped for joy. He thought he was definitely going to die and didn¡¯t expect there would be a way out of this sticky situation. As long as he could kill this psychokinesis noob, he would get the chance to survive this.

    He kept his gaze on Su Jin as Su Jin came toward him. Once Su Jin set foot within his reach, the old man suddenly leaped up. Ayer of air around his body seemed to propel him as he came very close to Su Jin and brought his two fists down hard on Su Jin like they were a pair of hammers. He used all the strength he had, believing that as long as he struck Su Jin, Su Jin was definitely going to die.

    But Su Jin merely looked up at the two fistsing down on him. He didn¡¯t put up any defense and just allowed them to hit his head.

    ¡°What?!¡± The old man¡¯s eyes bulged, and his huge muscles suddenly tensed up. But they weren¡¯t tensing up because he was making them tense. A force from nowhere had entered his body and had control over all his muscles.

    ¡°He¡¯s taken a Mid-level Body Strengthening Elixir and knows some technique to make his body a little stronger, so he¡¯s just a little less powerful than someone who¡¯s consumed the High-level elixir. But that¡¯s a rare sight already.¡± Su Jin analyzed the old man as he felt the forcee down on his head. If he hadn¡¯t gotten back his reinforced heart, he would have put up some sort of defense. But now, this attack was ridiculously weak to him.

    ¡°How¡­ how are you perfectly fine?!¡± The old man couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He had felt the force of his two fists hit Su Jin squarely in the head, yet this young man didn¡¯t even flinch.

    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m stronger than you are,¡± said Su Jin indifferently as he waved his arm casually and turned back to walk toward Situ Jin.

    At the same time, the old man¡¯s muscles started shaking. They were now like rope on a winch that was being pulled tighter and tighter. His muscles were pulled to a point where they twisted and slowly lost their strength.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ AHHHHH!¡± The old man began wailing in pain.

    Bam! Bam! Suddenly, the sound of something snapping echoed loudly. The old man¡¯s muscles snapped at the same time and he copsed onto the ground. He was like a marite, except that this marite¡¯s strings had all been snipped off, so he looked more like a broken rag doll.

    Even so, the old man was still alive. He couldn¡¯t stop shrieking and wailing from the pain as he looked pleadingly at Su Jin. He wasn¡¯t pleading with Su Jin to let him live, but to kill him quickly.

    Su Jin frowned and waited until he was no longer angry before flicking his finger at the old man. The light in the old man¡¯s eyes slowly went out and he finally breathed hisst.

    Situ Jin was silent as he just held onto Bo Ya, but Su Jin and Xu Ran could sense the deep, excruciating pain Situ Jin must be feeling.

    ¡°Is there really nothing we can do?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Xu Ran shook his head. ¡°Owners aren¡¯t miracle workers, and we¡¯ve always been especially helpless when ites to death. If she were still breathing, I could do something about it. But the problem is¡­ there are no more signs of life in her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true. For people like us who can split our souls from our bodies, life is not determined by whether our hearts are still beating or not,¡± said Su Jin quietly as he looked at Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran understood what Su Jin was saying and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. If you look at it from that angle, Bo Ya isn¡¯tpletely dead. But even if her spirit were still alive, it¡¯s useless. Her physical body is dead.¡±

    ¡°What a pity. If we had a Handbook right now, she could still be saved.¡± Kano Mai had finally arrived and made this remark after looking at what happened to Bo Ya.

    Situ Jin¡¯s eyes lit up at these words. He looked at Xu Ran and said, ¡°Xu Ran, you were the one who gave me the Handbook back then. Could you get another one?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I happened to discover that Handbook and when I passed it to you, I wasn¡¯t even sure myself if it was going to work, never mind find you another one.¡± Xu Ran shook his head apologetically.

    The hopeful look in Situ Jin¡¯s eyes dimmed again, but he didn¡¯t give up thinking along these lines. He paused to think for a moment, then said, ¡°If¡­ if I kill myself right now, could I give my Handbook to Bo Ya?¡±

    The other three were shocked by these words. They didn¡¯t expect Situ Jin to be willing to do something like that for Bo Ya¡¯s sake.

    But Xu Ran shook his head again. ¡°In theory, after an owner dies, their Handbook will disappear immediately. I have no idea why that Handbook I gave you did not disappear. So, even if youmit suicide, your Handbook will probably end up disappearing along with yourself.¡±

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°If only we had gotten our hands on that Handbook in the Alien Invasion Challenge. But that Challenge nearly got all of us killed and we really didn¡¯t have the energy to think about looking for something like that.¡±

    But Su Jin¡¯sment made Kano Mai¡¯s eyes light up. She said to him, ¡°Jin, that¡¯s hard to say. Wu Chen was running around the Fearless as a worm for quite a long time, so¡­ chances are slim, but given how Wu Chen loves collecting stuff, he might very well have found that Handbook and kept it for himself.¡±

    Su Jin tapped his nose with a finger. Kano Mai had a point. Situ Jin immediately said, ¡°Call Wu Chen now. Call him now!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll call him now.¡± Su Jin used his Handbook to contact Wu Chen and he responded fairly quickly.

    ¡°Why are you calling me so randomly? Are we going to Hell¡¯s Bar for a party?¡± asked Wu Chen with augh.

    ¡°Wu Chen, I need to ask you something. Did you get your hands on the Handbook that appeared in the Alien Invasion Challenge?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Wu Chen blinked in surprise and said, ¡°I did. But that¡¯s for my personal collection. What about it?¡±

    ¡°We need it to save someone¡¯s life!¡± said Su Jin immediately after he confirmed that Wu Chen had really gotten his hands on that Handbook. Situ Jin looked up with a start and his eyes were filled with excitement and joy.

    ¡°Save someone¡¯s life? Whose?¡± asked Wu Chen puzzledly.

    ¡°We need to save Situ¡¯s woman!¡± said Su Jin.

    Situ Jin dashed over and said to Wu Chen, ¡°Wu Chen, give me that Handbook. You can ask for anything in return. Even if I can¡¯t give it to you now, I¡¯ll make sure I make it up to you somehow.¡±

    Wu Chen got a shock when Situ Jin¡¯s face suddenly appeared in front of him. He had no idea what in the world was going on, but after seeing Situ Jin¡¯s expression, he said, ¡°No problem. It was just a collectible to me anyway. Jin, let¡¯s meet in Hell¡¯s Bar then.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and activated his team¡¯s ess to Hell¡¯s Bar. He nodded at Situ Jin and left to meet Wu Chen.

    <temte x-if="!showContent"> <h4>Mature Content</h4>

    Are you 18+?

    <button ss="inline-flex items-center justify-center px-4 py-2 rounded border border-primary-700 text-xs font-semibold text-primary-700 hover:text-highlight hover:border-highlight">Yes</button> <button ss="inline-flex items-center justify-center px-4 py-2 bg-red-600 text-white rounded border border-primary-700 text-xs font-semibold text-primary-700 hover:bg-red-500">No</button> </temte>

 Chapter 250: Newbee Bo Ya

    <h4>Chapter 250: Newbee Bo Ya</h4>

    Wu Chen was already waiting inside Hell¡¯s Bar by the time Su Jin entered. He handed a book with a ck cover to Su Jin and said with a sigh, ¡°I had specially gone looking for it because I wanted it as part of my personal collection. I didn¡¯t expect to have to give it away so soon.¡±

    ¡°Situ owes you a huge favor now. It¡¯s a matter of life and death this time, so you have to put aside your collector¡¯s dream for now,¡± said Su Jin with a sad smile.

    Wu Chen frowned, then passed a note and some hair to Su Jin as well. Su Jin was rather puzzled by this gesture.

    ¡°There¡¯s information about my daughter on the note and the hair belongs to my daughter as well. After thest Challenge, I thought about a lot of things and I realized that there¡¯s a possibility that I might not be able to hold out until she¡¯s been revived. But¡­ if I give up now, I wouldn¡¯t be able to rest in peace either, so I¡¯m counting on you guys.¡± Wu Chen had a slightly gloomy and resigned look on his face.

    Su Jin did not refuse and kept the two items properly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Situ owes you a really huge favor, so even if you die, he¡¯ll do everything he can to revive your daughter and take good care of her.¡±

    Wu Chen red at Su Jin and said, ¡°Just reviving her will be enough. As for her living expenses and all that, I¡¯ve already made preparations in advance. Even if I¡¯m dead, she¡¯ll still be able to live on without worries.¡±

    Su Jin sighed inwardly. Every Handbook owner had something that they wanted out of being an owner, which served as their motivation. But there were many who clung on and persevered despite the difficulties for the sake of their loved ones like Wu Chen too.

    ¡°Actually¡­pared to Situ, I have greater confidence in you,¡± said Wu Chen suddenly as he scratched his head a little awkwardly. He felt bad saying this because it made it sound as though he was despising Situ Jin, but the reality was that the one who was most likely to live the longest in the team was Su Jin.

    Su Jin burst outughing and got up to leave as he said, ¡°Well, that¡¯s a deal then.¡±

    Wu Chen blinked in surprise before breaking into a smile. He could have a peace of mind since Su Jin had agreed to do this for him.

    After Su Jin left the bar, he reappeared in front of Situ Jin and the rest. He took the Handbook out and ced it gently on Bo Ya¡¯s body.

    The words ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook¡± slowly began to appear on the ck cover of the book, then several thin red lines shot out from the pages and covered Bo Ya¡¯s body entirely. By the time the red lines disappeared, Bo Ya had disappeared as well.

    Situ Jin started getting anxious. Based on this situation, Bo Ya was now going through a Challenge. But she had to survive the Challenge too.

    At the same time, he had faith in her. This girl was a very talented one and she was known as a genius when she first joined the Department of Supernatural Affairs. If she had spent the past few years focusing on her career instead of assisting him, she would have be a high ranking government official by now.

    However, having faith was one thing and being worried was another. What if Bo Ya¡¯s luck was poor? What was she going to do if her first Challenge turned out to be a high level one? The Handbook never promised that it would only assign low level Challenges to newbies.

    Before he had the time to worry too much, Bo Ya appeared in front of them again. Time moved at a very different rate inside the Handbook¡¯s universe, so the time she spent going through a Challenge was just a few moments to the people in the real world.

    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Since she was back with them, it meant that she had survived her first Challenge. Bo Ya, on the other hand, was shocked to see the rest.

    ¡°Mr. Situ, Mr. Xu, Mr. Su, and Miss Kano?¡± Bo Ya stared at them nkly. All she remembered was that the skinny old man had pierced a weapon through her heart and she vaguely remembered Situ Jin hugging her and crying before she lost consciousness. Then, she started her first Handbook Challenge and barely made it back alive.

    ¡°Wee back!¡± Situ Jin hugged Bo Ya gently.

    Kano Mai couldn¡¯t help but smile at this sight, while Xu Ran grinned and said, ¡°Situ, are you quite done? I want to hug our dearest Bo Ya too. I was so frightened earlier.¡±

    Kano Mai red at him and pulled him back. He gave her a confused look and she whispered, ¡°Tsk! Let the lovers have some time with each other.¡±

    ¡°Lovers? What lovers?¡± Xu Ran looked like he had a hundred question marks written all over his face.

    ¡°Yeah, what do you mean? Are you referring to Situ and Miss Bo?¡± Su Jin came closer as well and looked like he had just learned something new.

    Kano Mai felt like she was talking to two numbskulls and didn¡¯t want to talk to them anymore. She grumbled to herself, ¡°Are all psychokinesis ownersplete idiots when ites to affairs of the heart?¡±

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin hade to realize his own feelings as well. He had always thought that he had dedicated his life to his country and his people, so he didn¡¯t need a girlfriend or anyone like that. Bo Ya was always by his side every day and he thought he only saw her as a family member. But from the moment Bo Ya died, he realized that she actually had a very important ce in his heart.

    Bo Ya¡¯s face waspletely red by this point. She had never been this intimate with Situ Jin before. But¡­ she didn¡¯t mind staying like this forever.

    Thankfully, Situ Jin hadn¡¯t lost all rationality and eventually let go of her with an awkward look on his face. He didn¡¯t know what to do or say, and it was Kano Mai who helped to break the awkward air by stepping in to exin how the Handbook worked.

    Bo Ya was alive again because of the Handbook, so some of Situ Jin¡¯s secrets now came to light. She understood immediately why Situ Jin was so sneaky recently and why he often did things that didn¡¯t seem to make sense.

    Kano Mai also told her what happened earlier, including how Situ Jin begged Wu Chen for the extra Handbook in order to revive her, which made Bo Ya feel really touched all over again.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Bo Ya! I know that using the Handbook to revive you is like rescuing you from the wolves only to throw you to the tigers. But¡­ I really had no choice. I promise I¡¯ll protect you!¡± said Situ Jin with a very solemn expression on his face. If other options were avable, he would never have used the Handbook to revive her.

    But Bo Ya shook her head and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I think things are pretty good now, because¡­ this way, I can continue fighting alongside you. To be honest with you, all of us were always worried whenever you suddenly disappeared. But now, I understand everything and that feels wonderful.¡±

    After she mentioned the rest of the team, Situ Jin looked at the rest of them lying unconscious on the ground. Earlier on, he had knocked all of them out but hit Bo Ya a little lighter than the rest because she was a girl and he didn¡¯t want to hurt her. But that decision had caused her to wake up much earlier than the rest and she ended up losing her life as a result.

    He hadn¡¯t been so careful with the rest and knocked them out with a really hard blow. And it had worked very well indeed: all of them were still unconscious.

    ¡°Jin, I¡¯ll need you to help me with editing their memories. If not, once they wake up¡­¡± Situ Jin said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded, then used his psychokinesis to scan everyone¡¯s brains and quickly changed part of their memories. Their memories no longer had any record of the skinny old man and it was reced by a sudden traffic ident.

    Bo Ya spun around and suddenly said to Situ Jin, ¡°Have you used this method to edit my memories in the past?¡±

    Situ Jin blinked in surprise, then quickly exined, ¡°No, no, Bo Ya, let me exin. Editing memories is a veryplex process and an owner at my level will not be able to do such a thing. Only psychokinesis owners like Xu Ran and Su Jin are able to do such things. Even if I wanted to, I couldn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Hey, did you say this guy¡¯s been your friend for a few decades? He¡¯s betrayed you real quickly,¡± said Su Jin as he shot Xu Ran a nce.

    ¡°This guy¡¯s supposed to be a teammate who¡¯s gone through thick and thin with you? Gosh, he¡¯s sold you out without batting an eye,¡± replied Xu Ran with a snort.

    ¡°What an animal!¡± spat the two of them at the same time. But Situ Jin pretended not to have heard anything and continued to ask if Bo Ya was hurt during her first Challenge.

    Su Jin went close to Kano Mai and asked her puzzledly, ¡°Mai, do you think that old man gave Situ some drugs to make him fall in love so quickly?¡±

    Kano Mai red fiercely at Su Jin and said, ¡°Nonsense. Situ became aware of his own feelings, that¡¯s all. It¡¯s a good thing.¡±

    ¡°Is it though?¡± Su Jin scratched his head. He turned around to find Xu Ran squatting next to the old man¡¯s limp body and checking something.

    He went over and asked, ¡°Looking for something?¡±

    Xu Ran flipped his Handbook open to the owner ranking, moved his finger down the list until he came to #312.

    ¡°Shen Chao, ranked #312. That¡¯s a pretty high position. No wonder he was able to corner Situ like this.¡± Xu Ran shut his Handbook again, then flicked his finger. Shen Chao¡¯s body was instantly turned into microscopic pieces by Xu Ran¡¯s psychokinesis, which disappeared in the wind.

    Su Jin was surprised to hear that Shen Chao was so highly ranked, because it hadn¡¯t taken him much effort at all to kill the old man. He could have killed him way faster if he wanted to, in fact.

    ¡°#312 is so weak?¡± Su Jin frowned.

    Xu Ran, who had turned to walk away, suddenly stopped in his footsteps and turned around again to look at Su Jin with an amused smile. ¡°Weak? Didn¡¯t you see how he tortured Situ? He¡¯s weakpared to how strong you are, that¡¯s all. You¡¯re ranked in the top 100 among owners. Of course it was easy for you to kill him.¡±

    He continued in a curious voice, ¡°Seriously though, I have to say that you¡¯ve be strong really quickly. When I first met you, you were just a newbie with great potential. It hasn¡¯t been a long time since then and you¡¯ve managed to get into the top 100. I almost couldn¡¯t believe it.¡±

    Su Jin just smiled in return. It was true that he had be strong a little faster than the usual owner, but he had fought tooth and nail to get here, so he didn¡¯t think there was anything unbelievable about his progress.

    ¡°But there¡¯s one more thing that¡¯s even more unbelievable than that. Back then, I had only asked you to spare Situ¡¯s life. How did the two of you end up in the same team? Also¡­ someone with psychokinesis barged into my temple not too long ago. That was you, wasn¡¯t it?¡± said Xu Ran with a strange smile on his face.

 Chapter 251: International Mercenary Exchange

    <h4>Chapter 251: International Mercenary Exchange</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t flinch, and Xu Ran didn¡¯t need an answer from him either. Xu Ran went on, ¡°I know Situ¡¯s character quite well. He¡¯s quite paranoid to begin with and it got worse after he became a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs. So, I¡¯m not surprised if he asked you to check my background.¡±

    .

    ¡°Also, as fellow Handbook owners, I think you guys can understand me better in certain aspects, so I don¡¯t intend to pursue this matter. But¡­ let me warn both of you very sternly here: if you barge into my territory without my permission again, I will not let you off.¡±

    Xu Ran¡¯s voice was murderous, and he clearly wasn¡¯t joking. If Su Jin and Situ Jin tried to do something like that again, he was prepared to kill Situ Jin even though they were as close as brothers.

    ¡°Oh? Then¡­ can you tell me what exactly are you protecting? What is this thing that¡¯s precious enough for you to be willing to kill your brother over?¡± asked Su Jin in a frosty voice.

    Xu Ran¡¯s indifferent eyes met Su Jin¡¯s, and neither was willing to back down. Eventually, Xu Ran was the first to look away. He said quietly, ¡°You don¡¯t have to know the details. You just have to know that¡­ I¡¯m not your enemy. And so, I hope that the both of you will not be my enemies too.¡±

    With that, Xu Ran turned to leave. He said to Situ Jin, ¡°Since everything here is settled, I¡¯ll be on my way. I¡¯ll call when I have the time.¡±

    A silver beam of light covered Xu Ran¡¯s body, and he shot into the night sky like a shooting star, disappearing in seconds. Situ Jin watched Xu Ran leave and quietly murmured, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s mind was filled with even more questions now. Before this, he was just curious, or rather, worried about how powerful Xu Ran was. But now, he was someone who was no less powerful than Xu Ran, and if his psychokinesis was unsealed, he would be even more powerful than Xu Ran. He could sense that Xu Ran was hiding something, and it was likely to be something terribly important.

    As he decided to stop thinking about these questions for the time being, Situ Jin walked over and said, ¡°Jin, if possible, I¡­ would like Bo Ya to join Team Boning Knife.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°No problem. We have space for more team members. Besides, Bo Ya is someone familiar, so I don¡¯t have to worry about her.¡±

    In reality, the one who Su Jin was worried about wasn¡¯t Bo Ya but Situ Jin. Situ Jin was a more old fashioned sort of person and ced a lot of emphasis on seeding in everything he did, but of course, he wasn¡¯t a bad guy, and he wasn¡¯t the sort who would abandon hispanions. The members of Team Boning Knife were capable, but more importantly, they were people who never abandoned or gave up on their teammates.

    Su Jin got Bo Ya to ce her hand on his Handbook, gave her a drop of blood, and in no time, the boning knife tattoo appeared on her arm.

    ¡°Wee to the team. I hope that we can all help each other in future Challenges.¡± Su Jin held a hand out to wee Bo Ya, and she shook it gently.

    She smiled and said, ¡°Team Leader, I¡¯m still not very familiar with Hell¡¯s Handbook, so could you exin it in further detail to me?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll leave that to Mai.¡± Su Jin got Kano Mai to do it not because he found it troublesome to do so, but because he felt that it would be easier for a female to speak to another female.

    As for the matter at hand, Su Jin didn¡¯t need to worry about it at all. Situ Jin had plenty of resources which could wipe out this incident in its entirety. The fact that Shen Chao even existed would be deleted entirely, including details as small as a supermarket purchase. It would be as though there had never been such a person in this world.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai returned to S City, and before they could even spend an hour in the house, Tang Ning suddenly came knocking on their door. Su Jin waspletely stunned as he was informed that he had been chosen to represent thepany at the International Mercenary Army Exchange.

    ¡°What? The International Mercenary Exchange? Aren¡¯t we a security firm? What do we have to do with mercenaries?¡± Su Jin was utterly bewildered. ¡°Besides, I¡¯m considered a high ranking employee, right? Why do I have to do this?¡±

    ¡°Firstly, yes, we¡¯re a security firm, but we can¡¯t only focus on doing business locally. In the international market, security guards, bodyguards, and mercenaries are more or less within the same industry. If we want people to hear about ourpany, we have to be part of this international exchange.

    ¡°Secondly, you are indeed a high ranking employee of ourpany, and that¡¯s why we need you to lead the team personally! I can¡¯t possibly give this job to any Tom, Dick, or Harry, right? Besides, we don¡¯t need you to do any of the fighting. We¡¯ve hired several local martial arts experts, so you just need to go along,¡± Tang Ning exined to Su Jin.

    But Su Jin shook his head again. ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to go. I don¡¯t even know what this event is for.¡±

    ¡°I can tell you that! This International Mercenary Exchange is basically the Olympics of the mercenary world. You know about the Olympics, right? It¡¯s a chance to bring glory to your country!¡± said Tang Ning brightly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. I¡¯m not an athlete anyway, so this isn¡¯t for me.¡± Su Jin refused to go.

    ¡°Let me put it more clearly then. This is like an international martial artspetition. If you make it past the preliminary rounds, you¡¯ll be well-known internationally. Does that sound tempting enough now?¡± Tang Ning continued trying her best to convince him.

    This time, Su Jin didn¡¯t even bother speaking and just shook his head again.

    Tang Ning¡¯s face fell as she sneered, ¡°Humph. If you¡¯re going to be like this, I¡¯m going to tell my uncle that you¡¯ve lost my cousin.¡±

    A shiver ran down his spine as he gave her a pained look. ¡°Miss Tang! That¡¯s being unreasonable! She ran off by herself: you can¡¯t just say that I lost her!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! I¡¯m going to tell my uncle and you can deal with the aftermath yourself.¡± Tang Ning picked up her bag and turned to leave. She wasn¡¯t backing down.

    ¡°Hold it! The International Mercenary Exchange, you said? Fine, I¡¯ll go for it.¡± Su Jin sighed and pped his forehead. He wasn¡¯t afraid of Tang Ning¡¯s threat, since he could use his psychokinesis on ordinary people like her to manipte their thoughts. If he wanted to, he could make her forget her own name. And if he were to be more evil than that, he could get himself a sweet looking maid without any problems.

    Even though it wasn¡¯t his fault, he still felt guilty about what happened to Ye Yun. He felt that if he had been more careful to watch her, this wouldn¡¯t have happened. He had been hired to watch her after all.

    Tang Ning started smiling again when Su Jin agreed, but a gloomy look spread across her face soon after. ¡°This cousin of mine is really terrible. Why did she enroll herself in some school in a foreign country? There are more than enough elite schools here for her to choose from! And worse still, I have to keep this a secret for her and not allow my uncle and aunt know her exact whereabouts. My life is so hard!¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, so he could only switch the topic back to work. ¡°Who else is going besides me?¡±

    ¡°You remember Thor Security Services? Thomas, the ck guy who caused amotion thest time? Remember him? He has more experience with this exchange, so he¡¯ll be there as your assistant.¡± After pausing to think, she continued, ¡°Besides Thomas, there will be five local experts from reputable martial arts schools. They¡¯re all young and extraordinarily capable. I spent a lot of money to get them to work for us and they¡¯re going to be human testimonials for thepany in the future.¡±

    Su Jin took a moment to recall who Thomas was. That was one really epic character. After he and Ye Yun taught him a lesson, he started moring to learn Chinese martial arts. Later on, they crossed paths again at the Special Police.

    ¡°I have to go with him?¡± Su Jin could feel a headacheing already.

    Tang Ning got up and said, ¡°I¡¯ve informed you of this matter already and the flight¡¯s scheduled for tomorrow. Thepany has already arranged for your ticket. I hope you and the team can work hard and bring glory to thepany!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try¡­¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I¡¯ll aplish my mission.¡± Su Jin rolled his eyes at her.

    Since the exchange was being held in a different country, he thought it¡¯d be a good idea to bring Kano Mai along and treat it as a nice holiday overseas, since he had never gone overseas for a holiday before. He had gone to Japan with Kano Mai before, but they had spent all their time fighting and quarreling with other people, so they didn¡¯t have any fun there at all.

    ¡°Mai, how about we go overseas for a holiday?¡± Su Jin said to Kano Mai, who was reading a book.

    ¡°Sure! Where are we going?¡± Kano Mai was quite interested in going on a holiday too. Besides waiting for the next Challenge, all she did was read some books and cook a delicious meal. She had never really gone on a proper holiday before either.

    ¡°Good heavens I totally forgot to ask! Give me a minute, let me ask her.¡± Su Jin pped his forehead and quickly texted Tang Ning to ask where the International Mercenary Exchange was going to be held.

    Tang Ning didn¡¯t take long to answer. Her text only had a few words: A grassy in in North Africa!

    ¡°A grassy in in North Africa¡­ does that sound appealing to you?¡± Su Jin stuck his head out and asked Kano Mai.

    The next morning, Su Jin and Kano Mai were ready to go. Actually, they didn¡¯t need to prepare anything. They didn¡¯t even bother bringing a change of clothes and headed straight for the airport.

    Once they arrived at the airport, they saw that Thomas and the other martial arts experts that Tang Ning hired were already there. Thomas approached Su Jin excitedly the moment he saw him. He tried to hug Su Jin but Su Jin stopped him quickly and said that shaking hands was enough.

    ¡°It¡¯s been such a long time, Mr. Su!¡± said Thomas with a big smile.

    Su Jin nodded and smiled back. ¡°It has been quite a while. Aren¡¯t you going to introduce the others to me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s necessary. We¡¯re just a part of the same group. Mr. Su, just focus on what you need to do and don¡¯t bother us with anything else,¡± said a man among the five of them who looked like he was in his forties.

    Su Jin was a little taken aback, but wasn¡¯t offended, so he just gave them a polite smile. Since they weren¡¯t interested in getting to know him, he wasn¡¯t going to insist on it and end up getting the cold shoulder. Besides, the man was right. They all just needed to focus on their work.

    Thomas was a foreigner, but he too, could sense the pride in that man¡¯s tone. His first reaction was to frown unhappily, but Tang Ning had told him beforehand that these were experts whom she had taken a lot of effort to hire and asked him to take care of them, so he did not say anything in the end.

    It was soon time to check in and board the ne, and before long, they were all on their way to North Africa.

 Chapter 252: A Twisted Owner

    <h4>Chapter 252: A Twisted Owner</h4>

    Once on the ne, Su Jin shut his eyes to rest. Tang Ning had made sure that they all got first ss seats, since that amount of money was nothing to Ster Skies. Kano Mai wasn¡¯t an employee, so her seat wasn¡¯t paid for. But the price of a first ss air ticket was nothing to Su Jin and Kano Mai anyway.

    After the ne stabilized, most passengers closed their eyes and took a nap like Su Jin, while some went to the bathroom or upied themselves with their own activities.

    ¡°Sir, do you need to change into a pair of slippers?¡± an air stewardess asked Su Jin politely.

    Su Jin shook his head but thanked her anyway, ¡°Thanks for asking but I don¡¯t need that. Could you get me a ss of water?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll get it for you in a moment.¡± She nodded and turned to check with the other passengers. Kano Mai wanted a ss of water too, while Thomas and the rest ordered other things. But when she got to a Caucasian passenger, he gave her a clearly irritated look.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± he yelled at her. He looked rather ill-tempered, and there was a violent glint in his eyes.

    Su Jin was surprised by the sudden shout and looked toward the man, but Thomas whispered, ¡°Mr. Su, it¡¯s best that you don¡¯t offend this man.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why?¡± Su Jin was very curious. Thomas was someone who had survived some pretty bad situations, yet he was actually being cautious of someone now.

    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the look in his eyes,¡± said Thomas with a frown.

    ¡°The look in his eyes?¡±

    ¡°Yup. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s killed more than one person before and he kills for fun. This sort of person is extremely dangerous. You might be stronger than him or know better techniques than he does, but when pushes to shove, you might not be a match for him,¡± exined Thomas patiently.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. He trusted Thomas¡¯ judgement. He had gone through many fights to the death because of the Handbook, but it was mostly with a bunch of monsters and supernatural beings. Compared to Thomas, he didn¡¯t have that much experience fighting other humans, especially dangerous ones.

    ¡°Thomas, what about the look in my eyes? What sort of person do you think I am?¡± asked Su Jin curiously. He was now interested in what Thomas had to say about him.

    Thomas looked into Su Jin¡¯s eyes, and besides seeing the almost ck eye color that most Chinese had, he also saw a tiny hint of silver. But when he took a closer look, the silver glint seemed to have disappeared.

    A few momentster, Thomas shook his head and smiled sadly. ¡°I can¡¯t tell.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t tell, or you¡¯re afraid to say it?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just tell me what you see, I won¡¯t me you for it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a rock,¡± said Thomas a little fearfully.

    ¡°A rock?¡± This time, even Kano Mai was curious. She couldn¡¯t understand why Thomas would use such a word on Su Jin.

    Thomas nodded. He exined in a hesitant voice, ¡°After I came to China, I went to visit the temples and saw a lot of Buddha statues and the like. The look in Mr. Su¡¯s eyes¡­ are very simr to those statues.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that I look unfeeling?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. Based on his understanding of his own character, he was a warmhearted and sentimental person. Yet, someone was now saying he was like an emotionless piece of rock.

    Thomas shook his head. ¡°Not unfeeling, more like¡­ indifferent! That¡¯s right, the look in your eyes is indifference. Or at least, that¡¯s what it looks like when you look at me. Ordinary people have such a look in their eyes too, especially when they¡¯re looking at people or things that do not pose a threat to them or do not benefit them, like when they look at dust.

    ¡°But in this world, I¡¯ve never met anybody who would look at me this way, not even powerful and reputable people, because I¡­¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re also a very powerful person,¡± Su Jin finished the sentence for Thomas. He felt that Thomas¡¯ description was a more urate one. The only ones who posed a threat to him now were higher ranked owners and creatures he met in Challenges. The real world pretty much didn¡¯t pose any threat to him now. Perhaps a nuclear missile would, but he had never been faced with one before. Also, now that he had this god-level body, he might actually be able to hold up against one.

    The only ones in the real world who could make him sit up and pay attention were Xu Ran and other powerful owners hiding in this world like himself. But such people were a rare sight. Everybody remained where they were and lived their lives quietly. Having to deal with their monthly Handbook Challenges was bad enough, so if there was no need to, they wouldn¡¯t fight each other.

    Thomasughed sadly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think you see me as someone powerful at all, so I¡¯ve been thinking all this time, exactly how powerful are you? Also¡­ I really look forward to having a match with you!¡±

    Su Jin looked at Thomas with some surprise. He had taught him a lesson thest time and thought that he would have given up trying. To his surprise, Thomas had the spirit of a warrior inside him. Instead of shrinking back in the face of someone more powerful, he took it as a challenge instead.

    At the same time, the five martial arts experts on board with them had looks of contempt on their faces. They felt that Thomas and Su Jin must be really shameless characters to be boasting about themselves like this. The five of them were top martial artists of the country, after all. If Su Jin were also an expert, they would have heard of him by now.

    Su Jin could sense their expressions very clearly. His psychokinesis had reached a point where he could sense immediately if anybody¡¯s attention was on himself. He had reached a level where he couldunch a sneak attack and most people would not be able to detect anything.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by their reactions. Just like what Thomas said earlier, these people did not pose a threat to him and weren¡¯t of any extra benefit to him. They were just like dust to him. Why should he bother himself with what dust thought of him?

    Su Jin was interested in the Caucasian man who raised his voice earlier, however. He sent a beam of psychokinesis into the man¡¯s head and was shocked almost immediately. This man was actually an owner like himself.

    ¡°He¡¯s about to start a Challenge?¡± Su Jin frowned. From his scan of the man¡¯s thoughts, he found out that this man was about to embark on a new Challenge very soon. But it would be a terrible idea to do it on the ne, because owners would suddenly disappear when they entered a Challenge. They didn¡¯t disappear for a long time, but it was long enough for someone to notice. Also, owners whose actions caused others to realize the existence of the Handbook would end up suffering severely for it.

    That was why most owners would look for a private area before heading into a Challenge to prevent any unforeseen circumstances from happening. But this man had a dangerous idea. He was going to kill everybody on the ne to create such a space for himself.

    ¡°What a troublesome fellow,¡± thought Su Jin with a sigh. Governments around the world did not know who owners really were, but they all had an official term for everyone they suspected was an owner. Regardless of what term they used, all governments treated owners as very dangerous people.

    And owners were treated as dangerous people precisely because there were owners like this man here. This man used his supernatural powers to create chaos for the world he lived in, and Situ Jin was hunting down such owners for the same reason.

    Of course, Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to let this sort of thing happen. His sense of justice was one reason, but the bigger reason was that they were in the freaking sky. Su Jin had a fear of heights, so he didn¡¯t want to end up having to jump from the ne if he didn¡¯t have to.

    Su Jin flicked his fingers slightly, and everyone in the cabin, except the man and Kano Mai, fell into a deep sleep. Kano Mai was surprised when she saw this happening.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked Su Jin.

    He pointed at the Caucasian man and said, ¡°He¡¯s an owner and he¡¯s about to massacre everyone on the ne so that he can start his next Challenge.¡±

    Kano Mai nodded and shut her eyes to rest as well. She could leave something like this to Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled, got up, and walked toward the man, who had not noticed anything strange about the people around him yet.

    ¡°Hello there, could I talk to you about something?¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± yelled the man as angrily as before. He didn¡¯t even bother looking up.

    Su Jin made a face and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not going anywhere. I have a fear of heights, so I¡¯m not going to watch you kill everyone on the ne.¡±

    The man¡¯s eyes widened and he looked up at Su Jin with a start. ¡°How¡­ how did you know that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not important,¡± said Su Jin with a shrug.

    The man said, ¡°You¡¯re a Handbook owner as well!¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and the man quickly said, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, just pretend you didn¡¯t know about this. I won¡¯t get in your way and you won¡¯t get in mine. How about that?¡±

    But Su Jin shook his head, so the man red fiercely at Su Jin and shouted angrily, ¡°I¡¯m trying to be polite here, so you¡¯d better appreciate it. You might be an owner too, but it doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m afraid of you. If we end up fighting, this ne is definitely going down. You¡¯d better think twice!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. As long as I don¡¯t allow you to fight back, nothing will happen to this ne.¡± Su Jin shrugged. He could kill this man without anybody noticing, but that would be too disrespectful to his opponent. More importantly, though, it was better to confront him at a closer distance to make sure this man didn¡¯t pull any stunts. This way, even if his psychokinesis failed for some reason, he could kill the man with a punch instead.

    The man started breathing more heavily and was clearly ready to fight. But after Su Jin stared a little harder at him, the man couldn¡¯t move anymore.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± The man paled in horror and struggled with all his might, but it was useless.

    ¡°Ah, now I don¡¯t have to worry.¡± Su Jin gave a pleased nod, then pressed a finger on the man¡¯s heart, causing it to implode.

    The man¡¯s eyes flew open, as though he couldn¡¯t believe something like that could happen. He was a Handbook owner, a person who was more powerful than the ordinary human and could torture them in any way he liked. How did things end up like this?

    Su Jin withdrew his hand, then sat back down in his seat. He closed his eyes slightly, then sent a bit of psychokinesis into the man¡¯s body. They were still in a ne and he didn¡¯t want any unnecessary trouble, so he had left the man¡¯s body in one good piece. That way, nobody on board would realize that this man was actually already dead.

 Chapter 253: The Exchange

    <h4>Chapter 253: The Exchange</h4>

    When the other passengers woke up from their deep sleep, none of them remembered having even fallen asleep. They thought they had merely spent the time daydreaming.

    The air stewardess came round with everyone¡¯s orders from earlier on, while that Caucasian man was covered with a nket and looked like he was asleep. There was no visible wound on his chest, since Su Jin had used the Qi Thrust technique to implode the man¡¯s heart. And so, to everyone else, he was merely sleeping. Even if someone thought something was amiss, Su Jin could use that bit of psychokinesis he had left inside the man¡¯s body to control his actions, so nobody would suspect anything.

    Killing an owner right from the start of the trip was something that Su Jin hadn¡¯t expected. He hoped that the rest of the trip would go smoothly, since all he really wanted was a fun holiday in Africa.

    The nended safely and Su Jin got up to get off the ne. At the same time, he made sure to make the dead man get up and get off the ne as well, since it would be troublesome if someone found that someone had died on the ne. Su Jin made the man¡¯s body walk all the way out of the airport and to a secluded corner before taking the bit of psychokinesis back from the body.

    Meanwhile, a team of formally dressed ck men hade to pick up Su Jin and his team. They smiled brightly and came forward when they saw Thomas, and Thomas smiled as brightly in return. They seemed to have known each other for a long time.

    ¡°Mr. Su, this gentleman here is a local mercenary, Mr. Kassimo of Firebird. We¡¯ve known each other for many years now,¡± said Thomas to Su Jin. His actions made the martial arts experts with them rather unhappy. They felt that Thomas was really this foreigner who didn¡¯t understand how things worked at all. Su Jin was the person in charge on paper, but the ones who would actually do the fighting were them. They felt that they were way more important than Su Jin.

    ¡°Kassimo, this gentleman here is Mr. Su Jin, from China. You¡¯ve got to make sure you get on good terms with him, because you will learn what real strength is from him.¡± Thomas was surprisingly fluent in Mandarin and wasn¡¯t stingy with his praise at all. He praised Su Jin to the skies as he spoke to the leader of Firebird, which also drew snickers from the martial artists in his own team.

    Kassimo held a hand out to Su Jin and said in a friendly voice, ¡°Anybody who can impress Thomas like that must be someone very capable indeed. Mr. Su, I hope you¡¯ll give me an eye opening experience this time. We are really looking forward to getting to know Chinese martial arts better.¡±

    Su Jin smiled and replied, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to have to disappoint you, Mr. Kassimo. I¡¯m only in charge of leading the team. My fellow countrymen here will be the ones at the actual exchange.¡±

    ¡°Oh! What a pity! But I¡¯m sure your countrymen must be extraordinary people as well. I¡¯m really looking forward to the show!¡± said Kassimo with a big smile on his face.

    But Su Jin and his team were a little taken aback. Kassimo said that he was looking forward to the show like it was a performance. Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but smile sadly to himself. It was true that Chinese martial arts had not done very well on the international stage in recent years, and many people thought it was just something performed for the movies or a dance of sorts, instead of being treated as actual martial arts.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t a martial artist, so even though he didn¡¯t particrly like the way Kassimo had put it, he wasn¡¯t very bothered by it. But the five martial artists behind him didn¡¯t feel the same way. They were all properly trained disciples from some of the most reputable schools of martial arts in the country. Tang Ning and Ster Skies had spent a lot of effort, money, and used every connection they had to hire them for this event.

    Meanwhile, Kassimo passed a stack of silver cards to Thomas and said with a smile, ¡°Thomas, you¡¯re no stranger to this ce. I have to receive other groups as well, so I¡¯ll have to trouble you to bring your team to their ce of amodation. Really sorry about that.¡±

    Kassimo spoke politely, but his actions weren¡¯t polite at all. Even Thomas¡¯ expression fell. Just then, the oldest martial artist in the team took a step forward.

    ¡°Hoho, you seem to despise Chinese martial arts. As a disciple of such martial arts, I hope to learn a few moves from you,¡± said the man in an equally polite voice. But his words showed his anger.

    Kassimo didn¡¯t seem very surprised by what the man said and just smiled back. ¡°How may I address you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Yun Tianye, trained in Flying Cloud Hands!¡± The man¡¯s palms shook slightly and a faint wisp of white mist flew out from it.

    Kassimo¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly before scanning Su Jin and his team. Then, he said to Thomas, ¡°West City, Central Building. We¡¯ll go there.¡±

    Thomas sighed and shook his head as he muttered, ¡°I just knew something bad was going to happen. This isn¡¯t a very peaceful ce, for crying out loud.¡± He said to everyone, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡±

    A few small pickups came to a stop in front of them, and Su Jin¡¯s team got into one of them. Yun Tianye nced at Su Jin and Kano Mai, then said quietly, ¡°Mr. Su, I would advise you and yourdy friend to stand further backter on. If you get injured in any way, it would be hard for me to exin things to Miss Tang.¡±

    Su Jin nodded with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us. Just focus on showing these people what Chinese martial arts is all about. We will not be of any distraction to you.¡±

    After Su Jin said that, Yun Tianye didn¡¯t bother speaking anymore. He shut his eyes and began to meditate and regte his body. He was able to do that, but the other four weren¡¯t. The other four were around the same age as Su Jin and Kano Mai, andprised two men and two women. The women were doing pretty okay, but the two men had been staring at Kano Mai ever since she and Su Jin arrived.

    Kano Mai was definitely one of the prettiest women around, and she carried herself with an elegance that few women were able to, which made her irresistible to these two young ones. In fact, even older ones who had seen a lot more in life were always unable to stop their hearts from palpitating or their imagination from going wild when they saw her.

    And now that they were all squeezed into a narrow pickup, these young men¡¯s hearts were beating even more quickly than usual. Su Jin was amused but he didn¡¯t say anything. These men were young and trained in martial arts no less. It would be strange if they didn¡¯t feel anything after seeing Kano Mai. They could take this as a test of their mental resilience!

    Luckily for them, the journey wasn¡¯t too long. When they got to Central Building of West City, Su Jin felt like he had been lied to. He thought they would be going to a proper building, but they had topped in front of a veryrge warehouse instead.

    After Kassimo led them inside, they realized that this was actually a ce that had been divided into several smaller fighting arenas. There weren¡¯t a lot of people present, just a few small groups practicing.

    ¡°Wee to Central Building. This is where the International Mercenary Exchange will be held, so you can have a feel of the ce before the actual event.¡± Kassimo then waved his arm at a young ck man next to him, and the young man leaped onto the nearest arena.

    ¡°This is my disciple, ck Leopard. When he was born, he was chosen by the witch of his vige. She used some sort of sorcery to merge the soul of a leopard with his body. I brought him out of his vigeter on and taught him all sorts of fighting techniques. Unfortunately he hasn¡¯t mastered everything yet, so I can only offer him as a sparring partner.¡± Kassimo had a big smile on his face as he introduced this disciple of his. ck Leopard remained in the arena and just nodded at Su Jin¡¯s team. He couldn¡¯t understand Mandarin, but that wasn¡¯t important. He just had to focus on what he needed to do.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do this.¡± A young man next to Yun Tianye suddenly spoke up, then somersaulted onto the arena very easily.

    ¡°This is my disciple, Zhou Zhenghe. He is also trained in Flying Cloud Hands like myself and he¡¯s also not fully mastered it yet. It will be good for him and ck Leopard to learn from one another,¡± said Yun Tianye calmly.

    As agreed, Kano Mai and Su Jin moved a fair distance away from them. They managed to find two stools and sat downfortably, as though they were here to watch a movie.

    ¡°Zhou Zhenghe, practitioner of Flying Cloud Hands. I look forward to learning from you.¡± Zhou Zhenghe was a muscr young man and looked rather strong, yet not so strong that it affected his speed and agility. He got into a stance and slowly pushed his internal energies downward.

    ¡°Oh? Not bad. He really knows how to do this,¡±mented Su Jin. Zhou Zhenghe had already learned how to control and use his internal energy, which made him stronger than when Chu Yi first became an owner.

    Of course, Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s internal energy was nowhere near Chu Yi¡¯s level. It was like if they were both vehicles, Zhou Zhenghe was a simple bicycle while Chu Yi had a fully modified Batmobile. You couldn¡¯tpare the two.

    ck Leopard gave a nod, then suddenly became a blur. He had moved so quickly that all anybody could see was the after image of his body.

    Zhou Zhenghe did not expect ck Leopard to move so quickly, so he was stunned for a short moment. But his reaction was excellent. Instead of taking a step backward, he leaned forward.

    This was a sign that Zhou Zhenghe had quite a lot of experience in fighting others. When faced with a speedy opponent like ck Leopard, he did not just move away. Moving away would not only be useless in escaping from the opponent¡¯s attack, but you would also lose the chance to attack. The best way to handle this situation was to move forward instead and shorten the distance. That way, the opponent would not be able to reach their maximum speed and the force of the attack would be lessened as a result.

    After ck Leopard realized what Zhou Zhenghe was trying to do, he had no choice but to fight him head on. He suddenly froze in his footsteps, then mmed one palm on the floor before kicking one leg out fiercely as though it was a leopard tail.

    Pak! ck Leopard¡¯s attack was filled with both speed and power, so it crackled loudly like a whip. If an ordinary person were hit by his leg, they would definitely break a few bones.

    Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s reaction was a rather exciting one as well. He turned his body to the side, then moved toward his opponent¡¯s outstretched leg. His palm was raised like it was a knifeing to slice ck Leopard¡¯s thigh.

    ck Leopard¡¯s legs could move very quickly, and he could have moved aside to dodge Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s attack if he weren¡¯t this close to Zhou Zhenghe, but it was a little toote now. At the same time, if he just went ahead and insisted on attacking Zhou Zhenghe with this kick, then Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s palm was definitely going to strike his thigh.

    Could just one attack of his leg defeat Zhou Zhenghe? ck Leopard had no idea. But he knew that as someone who relied on his quick leg movements, if he were to get injured in the thigh and Zhou Zhenghe was still able to fight even after getting kicked, then he was going to lose this fight.

    And so, the leg that ck Leopard had stretched out suddenly whipped backwards, defying physics as he pulled his entire body to one side and managed to dodge Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s palm.

    ¡°Very interesting.¡± Su Jin watched the duel with some interest. The two men had not really exchanged blows since neither of their attacks seeded, but it was enough to prove that they were extremely capable fighters.

 Chapter 254: Stealth Move

    <h4>Chapter 254: Stealth Move</h4>

    Zhou Zhenghe wasn¡¯t going to let ck Leopard get away just like that. He stroked his palm gently, but wisps of white mist began to rise rapidly.

    ck Leopard felt all the hair on his body stand on end. Perhaps it was because he had been merged with the soul of an animal: he was extremely sensitive and sensed how dangerous Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s palm was immediately.

    ¡°HA!¡± He gave a loud shout like an angry leopard as he rolled over to dodge his opponent¡¯s palm, then remained on all fours and swung himself back and forth. He really looked like a leopard in human form.

    Zhou Zhenghe broke into a smile and ran toward ck Leopard like lightning. The white mist from his palms whooshed out, leaving a trail behind him. Just before he reached ck Leopard, his palms suddenly whipped to the front like it had been shot from a tightened bow.

    KABOOM! The sound of thunder made everyone else in the building turn to look, only to see a Chinese man m two clouds at ck Leopard.

    ck Leopard¡¯s pupils contracted and he let out a mighty roar as he leaped from the floor and grabbed hold of Zhou Zhenghe with all four limbs. This was the ultimate move a leopard had when capturing prey. Once the prey had been held onto by the leopard like this, it wasn¡¯t far from death.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai couldn¡¯t help but frown when they saw this scene. The two of them had bothunched their best killing moves on each other. If nobody stood up to stop them, both of them would end up getting badly hurt, which wasn¡¯t what either side would want.

    His finger moved a little and he was about to intervene when he saw two people rush into the arena. These two were Kassimo and Yun Tianye.

    Kassimo pointed a finger at the area between Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s brows like it was a needle and just stood there with his arm outstretched, but Zhou Zhenghe didn¡¯t dare to move an inch forward. He wasn¡¯t as sensitive as ck Leopard was, but he knew well that if he took another step forward, this finger was going to pierce his forehead.

    At the same time, a whirlwind of white mist spun rapidly around Yun Tianye, which engulfed ck Leopard entirely as well. ck Leopard let out a muffled sound as he was shocked by the sudden turn of events.

    The two older men hadunched an attack, but they had also prevented one of the younger men¡¯s attacks from doing harm to the other. They were basically trying to protect their own disciples from the opponent. Su Jin had a better impression of Yun Tianye now, since he too, was the type to protect the people closest to him.

    ¡°Oho, my boy couldn¡¯t stop attacking once he started, I¡¯m so sorry about that.¡± Even though Yun Tianye spoke apologetically, there was clearly a look of approval in his eyes toward Zhou Zhenghe.

    Kassimo smiled too and replied, ¡°Exactly. They¡¯re not mature enough and don¡¯t know when to hold back. So¡­ why don¡¯t the two of us older ones take each other on?¡±

    ¡°That sounds good!¡± Yun Tianye smiled.

    Thomas was a little perplexed. Kassimo was very formidable, and that was something anyone in the mercenary world knew. He felt that only Su Jin would be good enough to fight an experienced killer like Kassimo, and he didn¡¯t like Yun Tianye¡¯s attitude from the start because he didn¡¯t think much of the old man. He was nice to him only because Tang Ning treated them with respect. He didn¡¯t think much of Yun Tianye and the rest because after Su Jin and Ye Yun had taught him a lesson thest time, he had tried to hunt down experts within China to teach him. Yet, he had failed to find one who really knew how to fight. All of them only knew how to do a few fake moves like the ones in movies.

    It surprised him to find that the people Tang Ning had hired for this event had turned out to actually know what they were doing. ck Leopard wasn¡¯t as immature nor did he have as poor of judgement as Kassimo made it seem. That young man was the best that Kassimo had and was very important to Kassimo, yet Zhou Zhenghe had been able to keep him under his thumb so easily, which meant that Zhou Zhenghe was more capable than ck Leopard.

    Despite knowing that, Kassimo was now challenging Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s teacher to a fight. It had been a long time since Kassimo even did something like that. Thest time was probably more than ten years ago, when he helped Firebird be the winning team during that year¡¯s International Mercenary Exchange to be the top mercenary army in the world.

    ¡°Jin, what do you think of this uing showdown?¡± Kano Mai asked Su Jin curiously.

    Su Jin gave the two men a nce, then smiled faintly as he said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ve underestimated Uncle Yun Tianye before this. He¡¯s¡­ actually at grandmaster level.¡±

    ¡°What about Kassimo?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    ¡°If you¡¯re judging him based on just his level of martial arts, then he¡¯s at master level at best. But he¡¯s gone through some form of strengthening process, so his body¡¯s speed, strength and resilience are at extremely high levels. So if you take all that into consideration, you could say he¡¯s also a grandmaster.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t as well versed in martial arts as Chu Yi, but he had a good eye. In fact, after training with Chu Yi for so long, he could analyze all these people very urately now.

    ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± she asked again.

    ¡°If the fight goes on for a long time, Kassimo will. If it¡¯s a quick one, Yun Tianye will,¡± said Su Jin without hesitation. He added, ¡°So everything will depend on whether Kassimo is able to drag the fight on long enough.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Why do you say so? Isn¡¯t Kassimo an expert in sudden bursts of speed and strength?¡± Kano Mai was surprised by his analysis.

    ¡°He is, but¡­ Yun Tianye¡¯s white mist should be very good at defending against such attacks. However, Yun Tianye is quite advanced in age and nobody has infinite amounts of internal energy. Once his body runs out of internal energy, he will definitely lose. So, if Kassimo wants to win, the only way is to drain Yun Tianye of his internal energy. And if Yun Tianye wants to win, he has to think of a way to defeat Kassimo while he still has plenty of internal energy,¡± Su Jin exined in detail to Kano Mai.

    While they were speaking, Zhou Zhenghe and ck Leopard leaped off the arena. They continued to re at each other hard, as though they wished they could carry on the duel.

    At the same time, Kassimo and Yun Tianye had begun their fight. Kassimo¡¯s arms were like two spikes that shot continuously at Yun Tianye like bullets.

    Yun Tianye, on the other hand, was like a rock statue. He surrounded his body with ayer of moving white mist which absorbed the attacks from Kassimo, so the impact was gone before it could even reach a meter or two of his body.

    Zhou Zhenghe¡¯s eyelids twitched nonstop when he saw this. At the rate Kassimo was going, he was sure that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold up for long. In other words, if Kassimo wanted to kill him, he would only need a few seconds to do so.

    ck Leopard was equally shocked by the white mist around Yun Tianye¡¯s body. He knew how formidable his own team leader was, since he was often made to train and spar with Kassimo. And yet, Kassimo¡¯s attacks weren¡¯t able to get through thatyer of white mist at all. If he were the one trying to fight Yun Tianye, he could forget about winning.

    Kassimo kept moving from side to side like a ghost of sorts. But strangely enough, he didn¡¯t seem anxious to really attack Yun Tianye. He just kept moving about quickly.

    Yun Tianye was an expert in fighting himself and knew what Kassimo was trying to do. If he were to let Kassimo continue like this, he would be too ashamed to even hold his head up. So, he moved his palms and activated his technique. He took control of the white mist and made it swirl toward Kassimo.

    Actually, fighting on a stage like this was advantageous to Yun Tianye, because this arena wasn¡¯t veryrge. Yun Tianye could cover the entire area with his white mist within seconds. But once he did that, nobody around them could see what was happening on the inside. It would feel like one was sitting in a sauna filled with steam.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai weren¡¯t affected by this at all. One could see any movement with just his psychokinesis, while the other had super vision, so it wasn¡¯t a problem for either of them to continue observing the fight.

    Yun Tianye¡¯s Flying Cloud Hands technique was a pretty good one and would have cost quite a number of points if it were avable within the Handbook. And if Kassimo were fighting Yun Tianye in an open space, his speed would definitely have been able to drain Yun Tianye of all his energy. Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t in an open space at all.

    But Kassimo continued to put his best foot forward. He continued to aim his attacks at the white mist, dissipating any that came near to him. But doing so didn¡¯t make much of a difference to the amount of mist around him.

    Yun Tianye seized this chance to get closer to Kassimo, and eventually they were so close that Kassimo could no longer keep running around Yun Tianye and had to fight his opponent head on.

    ¡°Yun Tianye¡¯s going to win!¡± said Kano Mai with a faint smile.

    But Su Jin¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted, and he dashed out of his seat like a bolt of lightning. A ck shadow suddenly burst through the white mist, which shocked everyone.

    By the time the white mist dissipated, Kassimo was already on the edge of the arena. He had an extremely deep wound on his shoulder, and the one facing him was not Yun Tianye but Su Jin. In fact, Yun Tianye was just staring in shock at Su Jin.

    Everyone else outside the arena was even more confused because nobody knew what had just happened. Only two people were supposed to be on the arena, but a third person had suddenly appeared, and this third person looked like he had the right to be there.

    ¡°Mr. Kassimo, I want an exnation for what you just did.¡± Su Jin red fiercely at Kassimo. As mentioned earlier, Su Jin was someone who was protective of those in his team.

    Meanwhile, in an old castle somewhere in Europe.

    A man dressed in a suit hung up the phone then called out to the man lying tiredly on the couch behind him.

    ¡°Murray, Keith¡¯s dead. His body was found by someone in a small African nation.¡±

    The man named Murray frowned, then sat up reluctantly. ¡°What the hell? Didn¡¯t that twisted guy go to Africa specially to create trouble? I can¡¯t believe he got himself killed. So much for being a Handbook owner.¡±

    ¡°Ha! That fellow was stupid in the first ce. But we can¡¯t just let someone from the Dark Council just die out there like that, can we?¡± said the man in a suit.

    Murray ran a hand roughly through his messy hair. He had an aggressive glint in his eye as he snorted and said, ¡°Of course. No matter what any member of the Dark Council does, these ordinary people will have to just ept their fate. Anyone who dares to kill a member¡­ will suffer our revenge a hundred, or a thousand times over.¡±

    ¡°So, can I book tickets to Africa now?¡± asked the man in a suit with a grin.

    ¡°Sure. Three tickets. You, me, and Tracy,¡± said Murray after grabbing a cup on the table filled with some liquid and drinking it down.

    The man in a suit frowned at this. ¡°Is that necessary? Keith¡¯s dead, but he wasn¡¯t a very formidable guy in the first ce. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re making a mountain out of a molehill?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried that I can¡¯t defeat the killer. Tracy likes to go missing very often, and by bringing her along to kill someone now and then, it¡¯ll bring glory to the Dark Council. I think it¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Murray with a smile.

    ¡°Sure, if that¡¯s what you want,¡± said the man in a suit as he sighed inwardly.

 Chapter 255: Protective Su Jin

    <h4>Chapter 255: Protective Su Jin</h4>

    Back inside Central Building, Su Jin stared frostily at Kassimo. This man had used something that didn¡¯te from his own body at a crucial point in the fight earlier. It was a round ball about the size of a pigeon¡¯s egg.

    Kassimo was shocked by how powerful Su Jin was. He had activated that ball and it was something that had sufficient power to st any living creature to pieces. How was Su Jin still standing before him in one good piece?

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to reply? You need me to repeat myself?¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice was void of any emotion. If Yun Tianye was going to lose because he wasn¡¯t as skilled as his opponent, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t have intervened. But he could not stand the fact that Yun Tianye was going to lose because a weapon had been used unfairly against him.

    Kassimo finally snapped out of his daze. After a quick thought, he smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡­ don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°What did you use just now?¡± asked Su Jin again. If his voice was as cold as a winter sun earlier on, then it sounded like the freezing Siberian winds right now.

    Kassimo felt like his heart had nearly stopped for that moment. He licked his lips nervously, but ended up repeating himself, ¡°I said, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°I see. You can die now.¡± Su Jin pointed a finger at Kassimo without hesitation, much like how Kassimo had pointed one at Zhou Zhenghe during the earlier fight. The difference was that this finger wasn¡¯t just for show. Kassimo¡¯s head exploded like a broken watermelon immediately.

    Everyone in the hall waspletely stunned. That was Kassimo, a legendary figure from Firebird. He was nicknamed ck Dragon by the mercenary world and he had been the one who had brought Firebird to the top of this industry singlehandedly. It had been many years since then, but nobody dared to discount him and think he was old and weak now. In fact, the good fighters knew well that Kassimo would only be stronger as time went by. He was nowhere near his decline.

    But nothing mattered now. His head had just exploded with the point of a finger. He hadn¡¯t been able to hold up against that attack at all and didn¡¯t even get the chance to blink before losing his life.

    Thomas waspletely floored as well. Kassimo had been sent by the organizers to pick them up, but now, Su Jin had sted his head to pieces with just one finger.

    ¡°Mr. Su is really more powerful after all!¡± blurted Thomas.

    Su Jin looked at the people who had apanied Kassimo and his gaze finallynded on ck Leopard. But ck Leopard didn¡¯t have any reaction at all, as though the person who just died had no rtion to him whatsoever.

    ¡°If you wish to take revenge, I wee you anytime,¡± Su Jin said to ck Leopard in English.

    ¡°Why should I do that?¡± ck Leopard suddenly asked.

    Su Jin was a little surprised by this answer. He frowned and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to avenge your teacher?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not his disciple. I¡¯m just a tool he bought. Have you ever seen someone buy a wrench that will avenge its owner after the owner has been murdered?¡±

    It was Su Jin¡¯s turn to be in shock. While the analogy made sense, surely a human was different from an actual tool, right? But since ck Leopard wasn¡¯t willing to take revenge, that saved Su Jin a lot of trouble.

    ck Leopard added, ¡°Mr. Kassimo failed to defeat an opponent in a duel and lost his life as a result, so Firebird will send some people to collect his body. Could I invite everyone in your team to follow me to your amodation now?¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and leaped off the arena. Zhou Zhenghe and the rest instinctively took a few steps back. Even though Su Jin had killed Kassimo in order to save their teacher, the fact that Su Jin could kill such a formidable person with just one finger stirred up fear in their hearts.

    Su Jin, however, didn¡¯t care what they thought of him. ck Leopard was much more respectful toward thempared to Kassimo. He politely led them to their ce of amodation personally and didn¡¯t suggest anything like getting Thomas to bring them there.

    Their ce of amodation was a standalone bungalow and the scenery around them was very pretty. Also, Su Jin was pretty sure that this wasn¡¯t the amodation that was initially allocated to them, because he had noticed that ck Leopard used a card shaped like a diamond to open the door just now.

    ¡°By the way, Thomas, killing someone here won¡¯t bring us too much trouble, will it?¡± asked Su Jin casually.

    Thomas burst outughing. ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re asking this question a little toote?¡±

    ¡°Oh no, so we¡¯re going to get into a lot of trouble? Alright then, I¡¯ll go back there and kill them all. That way, there would be no witnesses and nobody can do anything to me,¡± said Su Jin jokingly.

    Thomasughed along and said, ¡°Well, I think some of them have left by now and you won¡¯t be able to find them. But you don¡¯t have to worry. Affairs within the mercenary world will be taken care of by the people within it. The local government will not intervene.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. He was most afraid of unnecessary trouble. He wasn¡¯t really going to kill all the eyewitnesses, but he could use his psychokinesis to edit their memories a little. He had left a tiny bit of psychokinesis with everybody in the hall earlier, so unless they left the country immediately, they would still be within range and he could still track them down if he wanted.

    After returning from Central Building, Yun Tianye and his disciples seemed afraid to go anywhere too close to Su Jin. Su Jin didn¡¯t really care, but they were all supposed to live in the same bungalow, so if the atmosphere in the house remained like this, things were going to be so awkward.

    ¡°So, tell me, what exactly is going through your minds?¡± asked Su Jin calmly as he tapped the ss coffee table with his knuckles lightly.

    Yun Tianye gritted his teeth, then put a palm over his other fist politely as he said, ¡°Before this, we were blinded by our pride, yet we still hope that you will forgive us. But if you¡­ if you¡¯re still angry with us, I, Tianye, is willing to ept any punishment on behalf of my disciples.¡±

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure whether tough or to cry at these words. He shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I¡¯m saying that, since we¡¯re all staying here now¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll move elsewhere right now!¡± said Yun Tianye without hesitation.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes and went straight to the point, ¡°I¡¯m saying that, since we¡¯re all going to stay in the same ce, we can¡¯t just act like strangers all the time, right? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s high time you guys introduced yourselves?¡±

    All five of them breathed a sigh of relief. Yun Tianye took a step forward first and said, ¡°Please forgive me for being rude. I am Yun Tianye from the Yun family in China. I train in the Yun family¡¯s technique, Flying Cloud Hands.

    ¡°This is my most senior disciple, Zhou Zhenghe, who trains in the same technique as myself. He is currently the youngest master level martial artist of the Yun family.¡±

    Zhou Zhenghe quickly got into the same stance as his teacher as a show of respect to Su Jin. Su Jin nodded slightly at him to return the greeting.

    ¡°This is my second disciple, Sang Qiu¡¯er. She¡¯s my disciple, but she¡¯s trained in the Heart Sword technique of the Qiu family.¡± Sang Qiu¡¯er also put a palm over her other fist respectfully. She was a small sized youngdy and looked very adorable, but there was a glint in her eyes that could not be hidden. Su Jin had seen this glint in Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s eyes before as well. It was something that appeared in one¡¯s eyes after reaching a certain stage in their sword training, but Sang Qiu¡¯er¡¯s glint was nowhere as bright as Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s.

    ¡°The youngdy¡¯s not bad. You¡¯re around the same age as Japan¡¯s Miyamoto Tooru, but I think you might stand a chance against him,¡± Su Jinplimented her. He was now talking to the best martial artists of the country, so even though he didn¡¯t have much dealings with them, it was never a bad thing to maintain good rtions with them.

    Sang Qiu¡¯er quickly said, ¡°You¡¯re too kind. I¡¯m nowhere near Mr. Miyamoto¡¯s level. Mr. Miyamoto is Japan¡¯s youngest grandmaster and he¡¯s already agreed toe to China soon to have an exchange with the best martial artists of the country. I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°Miyamoto Tooru is going to visit China?¡± Su Jin was rather shocked. He had shattered Miyamoto Tooru¡¯s heart thest time. Was Japan¡¯s medical science so advanced that they could still save someone in such a state?

    ¡°That¡¯s right! He¡¯sing in about a month or so. At first, my teacher was afraid that there would be nobody in the younger generation who could fight against him and we¡¯d be overshadowed by Japan¡¯s martial arts circle. But now that we¡¯ve gotten to know about you, we don¡¯t have to worry about this anymore.¡± Sang Qiu¡¯er was very good with her words. She wasn¡¯t sure if Su Jin was more formidable than Miyamoto Tooru or not, but she happily put him on a pedestal anyway.

    Su Jin¡¯s brows were still furrowed and Kano Mai was equally shocked. Su Jin asked Yun Tianye, ¡°Mr. Yun, do you know that Miyamoto Tooru was severely injured in Japan not too long ago?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we know about that. We heard that he was very badly injured, so his family sent him to a very old Shinto shrine and asked the priest there to heal him, and that¡¯s how he managed to healpletely. I heard that the person who defeated him then was a martial artist from China, but it was a blessing in disguise for Miyamoto Tooru, since that fight enabled him to be a grandmaster,¡± said Yun Tianye with a sigh. It was hard to tell if Yun Tianye was sighing because he wished Miyamoto Tooru had died in that fight or if he was envious of how lucky Miyamoto Tooru had been.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched. Shinto shrines were a feature of Japanese culture, but very few were still standing in modern society. Even Kano Mai had no idea such an incredible shrine still existed.

    He was very curious to find out more about how Miyamoto Tooru had essentiallye back to life, but he didn¡¯t have the time right now to think about this. Miyamoto Tooru was heading for China quite soon and based on what he was hearing, he was probably indignant about his loss. He imed to be visiting China for a sparring session and exchange of ideas, but it was very likely that his real intention was to take revenge on Su Jin.

    ¡°This is my third disciple, Wei Wu. He¡¯s still young, so he¡¯s still working on his foundation and hasn¡¯t started training in any technique in particr,¡± said Yun Tianye as he pointed to the other young man who looked around 20 years old or so. But if one looked carefully, you would realize that he might be younger than he looked. As a martial artist, he was used to training under tough weather conditions and most guys didn¡¯t take good care of their skin, so they often looked a little older than they really were.

    Wei Wu also ced a palm over his fist and said excitedly, ¡°Senior! Please teach me martial arts!¡±

    Su Jin stared nkly at the young man. He wasn¡¯t a martial artist, but he knew the rules as well. Asking someone else to be his teacher right in front of his own teacher was definitely inappropriate. Yun Tianye started fuming at these words.

    ¡°Haha¡­ I¡¯m just kidding, just kidding.¡± Thankfully, Wei Wu noticed his teacher¡¯s reaction quickly andughed it off while awkwardly scratching his head. Yun Tianye sighed in exasperation, as though he was already used to this disciple shooting his mouth off, and just red angrily at him for a while.

    ¡°Mr. Su, this youngdy here is my youngest disciple, her name is Yun Han. She¡¯s an orphan and I found her in the wilderness, so I adopted her as both a daughter and a disciple.¡± Yun Tianye¡¯s eyes sparkled with pride as he spoke about Yun Han. This youngdy clearly made him very proud.

 Chapter 256: The Dark Council

    <h4>Chapter 256: The Dark Council</h4>

    Yun Han¡¯s gaze was constantly void of emotion. Her eyes didn¡¯t even flicker when she looked at Su Jin. Su Jin curiously tried to use his psychokinesis to find out what she was thinking about, but her eyes instantly widened just as his psychokinesis came close to her, as though she had been startled.

    Everyone was rmed by her change in expression and Yun Tianye started to gather his internal energy as he said to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s someone nearby who intends to harm us.¡±

    Su Jin felt a little embarrassed as he said, ¡°No, no, I released some internal energy just now and it might have frightened her.¡±

    He was really surprised. Yun Han turned out to be someone born with psychokinesis and it was at a pretty high level too. It was clear that she didn¡¯t really know how to use it, but she had premonitions. She had sensed Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis approaching her, which was why she had reacted so violently.

    Yun Tianye was still a little wary, but he did not pursue this matter. He then asked Su Jin, ¡°Which school or n are you from, Mr. Su?¡±

    Su Jin waved his hand andughed. ¡°I¡¯m not from any school or n, I¡¯ve just randomly learned stuff. I¡¯ve also been hired by Miss Tang toe here, but your team will be the ones participating in the event, so I¡¯m just here to watch.¡±

    Even though Su Jin had described himself like a nobody, nobody in Yun Tianye¡¯s group of five dared to view him the same way they did before. Nobody was going to make enemies with someone who could kill a grandmaster with just one finger.

    The next few days was a time of rxation for Su Jin and Kano Mai. Yun Tianye and his team were able to handle the International Mercenary Exchange by themselves. After all, Yun Tianye was a genuine grandmaster, so it was hard to find someone at the event who would be able to defeat him easily. There might have been some who thought of using some underhanded means to win, but after Su Jin had literally made the leader of the best mercenary army¡¯s head explode with just one finger, nobody was going to be stupid enough to pull off such a stunt and get themselves killed the same way.

    Beforeing, Su Jin had promised Kano Mai that this would be a holiday, so he wasn¡¯t going to go back on his word. The one thing that North Africa was full of was plenty of majestic and beautiful natural scenery.

    But while they were busy touring the area, another group had arrived in North Africa.

    The International Mercenary Exchange was being held in a small country in North Africa, and three people were now standing side by side in a public mortuary, exchanging words as they looked down at a white man¡¯s dead body.

    ¡°Miss Tracy, can you tell us exactly what¡¯s going on?¡± The man in a suit with Murray was getting impatient. Tracy had been standing here without moving for a long time and spent the time just staring at Keith¡¯s cold corpse.

    Tracy was a Caucasian woman who looked like she was in her twenties. Her makeup was immacte and she was dressed in a blue floral dress and arge sun hat, which made her look more like a tourist.

    ¡°I believe Mr. Keith died at around 10:15 am,¡± said Tracy as she turned to look at the man in a suit.

    He shrugged. ¡°And so?¡±

    ¡°But that flightnded at 1:30 pm, and based on both eyewitness statements and footage from the surveince cameras, Mr. Keith had gotten off the ne himself and went through immigration and security checks like everyone else,¡± Tracy continued.

    Murray¡¯s face was pale and had very severe dark rings around his eyes, so he looked like he wasn¡¯t awake. But when he heard what Tracy said, he piped up, ¡°Are you saying that¡­ after Keith died, his corpse managed to walk out of the ne?¡±

    ¡°Yup. It sounds crazy, but that¡¯s exactly what happened,¡± said Tracy with a nod.

    Murray fell silent for a moment, then broke into a smile. ¡°Who cares if it sounds crazy? So, what do you think could possibly make this happen?¡±

    ¡°There are many possibilities, especially if the other person is an owner. In fact¡­ I found out that Mr. Keith¡¯s twisted and empty brain has a record of containing a consciousness that doesn¡¯t belong to him,¡± said Tracy with a faint smile as she touched Keith¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s a really good discovery. So, our enemy is someone with psychokinesis? I guess we can more or less confirm he¡¯s probably a Handbook owner?¡± Murray pped as a glint shed in his eyes.

    Tracy nodded. She took her phone out and fiddled with it for a while before showing Murray and the other man a photo. ¡°I¡¯ve checked through the information of everyone on board the same flight and a few have caught my attention. I believe one of them is the killer.¡±

    Murray looked through the photos on her phone, which included Su Jin and his team of eight.

    ¡°Jack, I¡¯ll leave this to you.¡± Murray threw the phone to the man in a suit. He rubbed his temples and said, ¡°I really hate this part of the world. The sun here is way stronger than anywhere else. I need to go back and get a good nap. If you guys discover anything, let me know.¡±

    ¡°Sure. You¡¯ve got both Miss Tracy and myself, so you can sleep without worrying.¡± Jack waved the phone in his hand and Murray nodded in response. He then transformed himself into a colony of bats and flew off at top speed.

    ¡°I¡¯m always so amazed when I see Mr. Murray disy his abilities,¡± Tracy said to Jack with a smile.

    Jack chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be envious of him. Psychokinesis owners like yourself are the ones who should be envied. Murray¡­ well, he just got lucky during one of the Challenges and was able to transform himself into another type of living creature, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Psychokinesis owners¡­ there are a number of owners who get this power, but not everyone can get it to a high level. There¡¯s a good reason why some consider psychokinesis a useless sort of Spirit Power after all,¡± said Tracy with a sadugh.

    Jack nodded in agreement. Psychokic Spirit Power was often called a useless Spirit Power because it was so difficult to raise it. Many Handbook owners were given this Spirit Power, but most of them gave it up in the end. Very few were able to reach the next level and use it to increase their fighting abilities.

    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s an owner from China named Xu Ran. His psychokinesis is at some insane level and he¡¯s also a top ranking owner among all owners,¡± said Jack in response to Tracy¡¯s remark. He had heard of Xu Ran before.

    Tracy¡¯s eyes lit up. She had Psychokic Spirit Power and knew better than Jack how difficult it was to bring it to the next level. Yet, the legendary Xu Ran had managed to do so. She had never seen Xu Ran before, but she had a deep impression of him. You could even say that Xu Ran was like her idol.

    ¡°Damn it! Some of the passengers you suspect are from China! Since the person we¡¯re looking for is an owner with psychokinesis, do you think¡­ could it be Xu Ran?¡± Jack suddenly straightened up and asked Tracy.

    Tracy blinked a few times as she realized that this could be a possibility. She took the phone back from Jack and looked through all the photos again, before finally stopping at a photo of Su Jin.

    .

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, Xu Ran looks like he¡¯s in his twenties¡­ could this be him?¡± murmured Tracy as she continued staring at Su Jin¡¯s photo.

    ¡°Shit! What if it¡¯s really Xu Ran? What are we going to do?¡± Jack felt rather frustrated now. The Dark Council was a powerful organization, but there were still some people out there they could not afford to offend. The legendary owner with psychokinesis who ranked among the top spots in the owner ranking, Xu Ran, was one of those people.

    ¡°I¡¯m hoping it¡¯s him, actually.¡± A smile spread across Tracy¡¯s lips. She gently touched the photo of Su Jin with her slim fingers and said quietly, ¡°I¡¯ve been hoping to meet you for a very long time now. If I can kill you¡­ I¡¯d be able to make a breakthrough with my psychokinesis, right?¡±

    Jack stared at Tracy like she had lost her mind.

    She stared back at him and scoffed. ¡°You think I¡¯m insane, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re serious about trying to kill Xu Ran, then yes, I think you¡¯re insane,¡± said Jack with a look of disbelief on his face. ¡°He¡¯s a master in psychokinesis and he¡¯s way more advanced than you are in this aspect. How in the world are you going to kill him?¡±

    ¡°I have psychokinesis too. As a fellow owner with psychokinesis, I know their weaknesses better, so I¡¯d know how to kill him better too.¡± There was a crazed and delirious look in her eyes as she squeezed her legs together subconsciously, seemingly turned on by this idea.

    Jack wasn¡¯t charmed by her behavior at all. He really, really hoped that the person they were looking for wasn¡¯t actually Xu Ran. Otherwise, the Dark Council wasn¡¯t just going to lose Keith, but the three of them as well.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and Kano Mai had just returned from a day of sightseeing and saw Yun Tianye with his disciples and Thomas. They all seemed to be in high spirits.

    ¡°How did the Exchange go?¡± asked Su Jin as he opened a bottle of mineral water and threw one to Kano Mai as well.

    Thomas was full of excitement as he said, ¡°Mr. Su, you really should have gone to take a look this morning! Mr. Yun was totally the star of the show and defeated a dozen challengers in a row! That was crazy! Also, somedies among the mercenaries went crazy for him!¡±

    Yun Tianye¡¯s face turnedpletely red when Thomas mentioned this, because that was exactly what happened. When he was done with all his opponents,dies from several different countries had pounced on him and wished they could drag him into their own rooms so that they could see for themselves how this not very muscr Chinese man could be this formidable.

    His disciples chuckled silently to themselves by the side. This was the first time they saw their teacher at such a loss. The way he ended up running away from them for dear life looked nothing like his usual grandmaster self.

    As they chatted andughed, the doorbell suddenly started ringing. Wei Wu opened the door to find ck Leopard standing outside.

    ¡°ck Leopard? What¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Thomas when he saw who it was.

    ck Leopard nodded slightly at him, then said to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, Firebird has discovered that there is a group of Caucasian men and women who have been trying to investigate you. As part of the organizing team for this event, I felt that it was necessary to inform you about this.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Do you know who these people are?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

 Chapter 257: Taking The Rap AGAIN

    <h4>Chapter 257: Taking The Rap AGAIN</h4>

    ck Leopard shook his head. He was only a member of Firebird, and he knew about this only because the local government had special ties with Firebird. He didn¡¯t know much more than this.

    Su Jin thought about why this could be happening but couldn¡¯t think of anything, so he decided to ignore it for the moment. If someone was looking for him, they would meet sooner orter.

    He thanked ck Leopard politely, and hearing this upset ck Leopard. To him, Su Jin was a powerful man. How powerful? Definitely more powerful than Kassimo. If you had done such a powerful person a favor, getting a nod from them would already be a great honor, never mind hearing them thank you.

    ck Leopard felt that powerful people should not behave like this, but it was hard to me him for thinking this way. In the mercenary world, the strongest person was seen as the leader. If you were just the slightest bit polite, you would be seen as a weakling. The leader had to hold their head high at all times. Even if there was a rock ahead of them, they had to just bash right through it. Otherwise, they¡¯d be seen as cowardly or useless.

    Of course, Su Jin had no idea that such thoughts were going through ck Leopard¡¯s mind. After chatting for a while, they all went back to their rooms to rest. The International Mercenary Exchange was going to continue the next day, but Su Jin and Kano Mai didn¡¯t have to do anything about that, so they weren¡¯t worried about it at all.

    After returning to his room, Su Jin hadn¡¯t slept for long when he felt a beam of psychokinesising toward the bungalow he was in.

    He remembered what ck Leopard had said earlier and wondered if this wasing from the ones who were investigating him. But he didn¡¯t expect the other party to have psychokinesis. He had met two people with psychokinesis over thest two days, which made it seem like psychokinesis was some cheap power that everyone could have.

    Since these people hade knocking on his door, he couldn¡¯t possibly just go on hiding like this. He did not wake anybody up, choosing instead to open the window on his balcony and leap out. He also released a bit of his psychokinesis to tell the other party that he had discovered them already.

    Once he did that, the other party immediately followed Su Jin and moved away from the bungalow, since their target was Su Jin.

    Su Jin moved all the way to a deserted area and stood with his hands folded behind him. He was curious to find out who hade all the way to North Africa to make trouble for him. Could it be someone from Firebird who was indignant that he had killed Kassimo? But if that was the case, then why would ck Leoparde to warn him?

    Before long, three people emerged from the darkness. It was a group of two men and one woman: Murray, Jack, and Tracy.

    Murray was much more energetic than he was in the day, and the glint in his eyes was practically lighting up the ce. Jack, on the other hand, looked rather tired. It was bedtime for most people right now, after all.

    ¡°The three of you are the ones who have been trying to investigate me?¡± Su Jin nced at the trio.

    Murray nodded and said, ¡°Mr. Su, was it? We have only one motive ining here. We want to know if Keith¡¯s death has anything to do with you.¡±

    ¡°Keith?¡± Su Jin paused for a moment before remembering the Caucasian man on board his flight here. Heughed and said, ¡°Are you referring to the madman on my flight? The one who wanted to kill all the passengers on my ne?¡±

    Murray nodded. ¡°Looks like Mr. Su has admitted to being the murderer. We will need you to pay the price for doing such a thing.¡±

    ¡°I do admit to being the murderer. After all, there is a limit to how much I can tolerate assholes and you guys have also crossed the line now,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Since the three of them were here because of that crazy guy on the ne, then they were definitely Handbook owners as well. And since they dared to make trouble for him, then they had to be prepared to pay the price for doing that.

    Su Jin¡¯s tough stance made Murray and Jack wary inside. This made them even more certain that this man who called himself Su Jin was actually that master in psychokinesis, Xu Ran.

    Tracy, on the contrary, was very excited. She had hoped to meet Xu Ran for ages and had already decided on how she was going to attack him. She believed that she had found a way to increase her level of psychokinesis, a method to make that happen for herself alone, which was to swallow up the power of a formidable psychokinesis owner.

    Her idea was a little crude and was simr to how some Chinese believed that you could nourish a particr part of the body by eating the same part of an animal. But this had actually worked for Tracy. She had previously tried swallowing the powers of owners who had just awakened their Psychokic Spirit Power and her own would grow in size. So, when she guessed that Su Jin was actually Xu Ran in disguise, she became especially excited.

    Su Jin had taken note of the expressions on their faces and was rather puzzled. He could understand why the two men looked wary, but why was this woman so excited?

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve admitted to it, why do you continue to hide your true identity?¡± said Murray in a deep voice.

    ¡°Hide my true identity?¡± Su Jin wondered if they had gotten the wrong person, but he did not react otherwise and just kept smiling at them.

    ¡°You¡¯re from China, male, Handbook owner and you possess a high level of Psychokic Spirit Power. If you put all this information together, only one person fits this bill. You¡­ are actually Mr. Xu Ran, aren¡¯t you?¡± said Jack confidently, thinking he was clever for putting two and two together.

    Su Jin nearly burst outughing. He felt so apologetic toward Xu Ran. Then again, Xu Ran had himself to me for being so famous. Xu Ran had taken the rap for Su Jin a few times now. Back then, the organization under Shen Wu who went around robbing other owners made this mistake, then the Mad Hatter had also mistaken Xu Ran for Su Jin. And now, these three had gotten it wrong again.

    He wondered if he ought to give Xu Ran an award for being the most helpful person in the world, since Xu Ran had helped to take the rap for him way too many times. And based on the way this confusion usually happened, this wasn¡¯t going to be thest time either.

    ¡°Whether I am or not isn¡¯t the point. How do you intend to settle this?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Murray frowned and said, ¡°An eye for an eye. I¡¯m sure you understand what this phrase means.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I do. An eye for an eye, huh. Who among the three of you is going to take my eye?¡± Hisst three words thundered loudly in the ears of the trio. Who among them could possibly kill him?

    This was the problem that all three of them had been worried about in the first ce. To them, this man was Xu Ran, a top expert in using psychokinesis. Even if an army of members from the Dark Council fought him at the same time, they still might not win the fight.

    ¡°Damn it, even the best psychokinesis owner can¡¯t possibly be invincible!¡± cursed Murray under his breath. His arms shook violently and he transformed into a colony of bats that flew straight for Su Jin.

    Su Jin unleashed his psychokinesis and the silver light from his eyes turned into arge that caught all the bats. Murray immediately changed his form and turned every bat into a red beam of light that shot out from the gaps in the.

    In the same way, Su Jin turned his psychokinesis into a silver bowl that reached the ground, so the red beams couldn¡¯t get out at all.

    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying!¡± Jack couldn¡¯t help but remark in horror. Psychokinesis was a force that could take any shape or form, so no matter what Murray transformed himself into, Su Jin had a way of dealing with it.

    ¡°Argh!¡± The red beams converged to form Murray¡¯s body again. He let out angry yells as he smashed fist after fist against the silver bowl of psychokinesis on top of himself, but his punches only made the silver light shake and ripple. He couldn¡¯t get through at all.

    Su Jin remained silent. Murray was able to transform himself into two different states and his physical body was quite strong too, so that was considered not bad for an owner. He was probably around the same level as that skinny old man in W City and an average psychokinesis owner would have been no match for him. Unfortunately for Murray, he had run into Su Jin.

    ¡°Shrink!¡± Su Jin was like a wizard as he gave themand and made the bowl over Murray shrink. There was no need for him tounch any other sort of attack on Murray. Once the bowl shrank beyond a certain size, it would pretty much crush Murray into a meatball, unless Murray was able to stay as red beams of light for a long time.

    But it was clear that Murray wasn¡¯t able to do that and he was beginning to fear for his life. Just then, a high-pitched noise resounded suddenly, which echoed inside Su Jin¡¯s brain and caused his focus on his psychokinesis to fall apart.

    ¡°I have psychokinesis too, so I understand you more than anybody else,¡± said Tracy with a charming smile. She held a hummingbird-like creature in her hands, and that was where that sound hade from.

    Su Jin clutched his forehead with one hand. That sound hade too suddenly, and he had been badly impacted because he hadn¡¯t been prepared for it at all. His entire head was spinning, and he couldn¡¯t pull his psychokinesis together at all.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± Murray seized this chance to dash toward Su Jin. One of his fists was covered in a dark mist that turned his hand into what resembled a demon¡¯s w. He used it to punch Su Jin squarely in the face.

    Su Jin was like a shooting star as he flew backward and crashed heavily onto the ground, creating arge crater as a result.

    Murray¡¯s face lit up and he said to Tracy, ¡°Your method¡¯s really effective! I can¡¯t believe how easy it was to cut through his psychokinesis. Once a psychokinesis owner can¡¯t use psychokinesis, he¡¯s nothing more than a useless bum.¡±

    Tracy smiled prettily and said, ¡°I told you before, a psychokinesis owner knows another psychokinesis owner best. But I can¡¯t use this method more than once. If he¡¯s prepared for it and can retract his psychokinesis quickly enough, it won¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°HAHA! And what¡¯s the point of having psychokinesis if you have to keep it inside you the whole time?¡± Murrayughed merrily. He had been prepared for the worst after he had been trapped in that bowl, so now that he had defeated Su Jin, he was especially ted.

    Jack said, ¡°That¡¯s¡­ it? The most formidable owner of the East, Xu Ran, a master in psychokinesis, was defeated just like that?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an old Chinese proverb that says that a good attack is one that¡¯s surprising and is targeted at an area where the opponent is not prepared for. You might find it simple, but this was a risky move. If this tactic didn¡¯t work, guess what would have be of us by now?¡± said Tracy to Jack with a smile.

    Jack thought through her words and shuddered immediately. He had seen how Murray had been trapped in that huge bowl earlier. If Tracy¡¯s method hadn¡¯t worked on Su Jin, then the three of them would probably end up under their own bowl.

    Tracy licked her lips greedily and was prepared to absorb the powers of a mighty psychokinesis owner. Just then, someone suddenly stood up in the middle of the huge crater in the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got pretty good moves up your sleeve. Let¡¯s start on round two?¡±

 Chapter 258: Indecent Woman

    <h4>Chapter 258: Indecent Woman</h4>

    Su Jin stood in the crater and casually dusted himself off. Murray¡¯s punch had been pretty strong, but that was about it. There was no way that amount of strength could hurt him at all. If the rest weren¡¯t able to carry on the fight, then this crater was definitely big enough for him to bury all three of them.

    The trio stared in disbelief at Su Jin, while Su Jin shrugged and said, ¡°I know, novels often portray wizards and the like as people who cannot handle close range battles and can¡¯t hold up against something like a good old punch in the face. But guys, we¡¯re not in a novel. Are you prepared to face my wrath now?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to attack together and not let him have time to catch his breath. He can¡¯t use psychokinesis, so he can¡¯t be that hard to fight!¡± roared Murray as he transformed himself into a colony of bats again and flew toward Su Jin.

    Jack and Tracy had no choice but to agree with Murray. In any case, they had to quickly kill Su Jin first and not allow him any time to rest. Once Su Jin regained his ability to control his psychokinesis, they were definitely doomed.

    Jackunched an attack too. A pair of bat wings emerged from his back with a loud whoosh, and frightening fangs grew out from his mouth. His situation was simr to Murray¡¯s, except they had chosen to evolve a little differently from each other.

    Murray had inherited the agility and creepiness of vampires, while Jack had inherited their strong body and incredible ability to heal. The two of them had be like this after going through a particr Challenge, and this transformation had enabled them to get through a lot of Challenges.

    Tracy was in a bit of a pickle. She only had psychokinesis and had no other way of attacking her opponents. Su Jin had trouble controlling his psychokinesis, but it didn¡¯t mean that it was gone. If she used her psychokinesis to attack Su Jin, she might end up killing herself instead.

    Murray was faster and had already reached Su Jin. The bats he had turned himself into were all able to suck blood out of any living creature very quickly, and their fangs wereced with a powerful numbing substance. Anything that was bitten by these bats would be immobilized instantly.

    When Su Jin saw all the batsing his way, he suddenly thought of how he had handled the multiple worms shooting at him during the Alien Invasion Challenge, so he decided to try the same stunt again.

    His rapid spinning created a tremendous centrifugal force. The bats that came closest to him were hit by the wind Su Jin had created and turned into minced meat instantly.

    Murray was horrified and quickly made all the bats retreat. Every bat was made from his own blood, so if Su Jin killed too many at once, he would be greatly weakened.

    But after Su Jin spun several times, he had to stop because he felt like vomiting. As he realized that he couldn¡¯t spin anymore, Jack had reached him and heunched an attack that carried more energy than Murray¡¯s. His fists were like a cannonball just fired from a cannon as they hit Su Jin in the chest.

    Su Jin was still feeling nauseous and immediately puked everything out when hit by Jack¡¯s fists. Jack wanted to maximize the strength in his fists, so he had lowered his body to lower his center of gravity, but this resulted in Su Jin¡¯s puke getting all over his head.

    Jack almost lost it. They were engaged in battle, so why was saliva involved? Besides, the stuff on his head wasn¡¯t even saliva!

    ¡°Thanks!¡± said Su Jin a little embarrassedly. He had been feeling really awful earlier and Jack¡¯s punch had been just enough to make him puke and feel better.

    ¡°I want you to die! I want you to die!¡± Jack seemed to have gone mad as his arms were suddenly covered in ayer of scales, and he swung them violently toward Su Jin.

    ¡°Hey, hey, watch it! You¡¯re going to spray all that stuff on your head on me at this rate!¡± said Su Jin with a look of disdain.

    Jack¡¯s eyes bulged angrily. The stuff on his head came out of Su Jin¡¯s own body, for crying out loud. How could he say something shameless like that? Jack was even more determined to kill Su Jin now.

    Jack¡¯s attacks became more and more ferocious, which surprised even Murray. But that wasn¡¯t a bad thing anyway. What was more puzzling to Murray was how this ¡°Xu Ran¡± merely puked after Jack punched him that hard earlier.

    Su Jin had no idea that Jack and Murray thought he had puked because of Jack¡¯s punch. But he didn¡¯t have to exin himself. He continued to nimbly dodge all of Jack¡¯s attacks. This man was very strong but didn¡¯t n his strikes at all. He was like a strong man who was just swinging an axe randomly at another person. If that person was hit by the axe, the person would be badly hurt. But if he continued to swing the axe without hitting anyone, he was going to hurt himself in the long run.

    Murray joined in the fight again, while Tracy gave up the idea of using psychokinesis altogether. She retrieved a sniper gun and used it to shoot at Su Jin. Even if an owner wasn¡¯t really very capable, the one thing they were good at was shooting. Almost every owner knew how to use a gun.

    The trio quickly worked together to fight Su Jin simultaneously. While Jack was throwing punches at Su Jin, Murray turned into either bats or red beams of light to assist him, and Tracy kept shooting away. The problem was that the sniper gun she was using wasn¡¯t an ordinary gun and its bullets could cause more damage than usual. They still couldn¡¯t get through Su Jin¡¯s skin, but it still hurt.

    ¡°ying with guns, huh? I¡¯ve got them guns too!¡± Su Jin started to get annoyed, so he pressed a palm against his Handbook and retrieved ck Fire and White Ash.

    He held onto the two guns and started spraying bullets at his attackers. The two guns could turn its owner¡¯s Spirit Power into bullets that carried any specific attribute, so Murray and Jack felt the impact of these bullets immediately.

    The bullets shooting out of White Ash contained saintly attributes, which was like covering ice with mes to the two men who were evolving into vampires. Jack retreated with a loud howl after getting hit and he was trembling all over.

    Murray and Jack¡¯s first reaction was to escape. The two of them flew into the sky and abandoned Tracy, who couldn¡¯t fly. If Su Jin were an ordinary owner with just some saintly weapon, they were still confident of defeating him. But Su Jin without those guns was already very hard to fight. With the help of those bullets, he had be impossible to fight.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t bother chasing after the other two men, since he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up anyway. They could fly and he could fly too, but he needed psychokinesis to fly. Even if he used the Protection of the Gods to help him, that would still require arge amount of psychokinesis, which was difficult for him to produce right now. ck Fire and White Ash required a lot less, so he was still able to use them. Protection of the Gods required too much for him to handle for too long.

    But even though two of them had escaped, one had been left behind. One could even say that Tracy had brought this upon herself. If she hadn¡¯t caused Su Jin to be unable to gather his psychokinesis, he would have gone after Murray and Jack by now and she would have had the chance to escape. But now, she could only wait to die.

    Su Jin gave up running after Murray and Jack, and smiled brightly as he walked toward Tracy. He nced at her and said, ¡°You have psychokinesis, huh. Excellent, excellent¡­ your method was very effective and I admit defeat, but¡­ I hope you can admit defeat now too.¡±

    Tracy had a look of fear in her eyes as she responded immediately, ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me! I can be your servant and obey yourmands! I¡¯ll do anything!¡±

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. This woman was good at adapting in order to survive. After thinking about it, he figured that it was a good idea to keep this woman alive. He still had many questions about the other two who could turn into bats and he could get answers from this woman.

    ¡°Come with me,¡± Su Jin said to Tracy. Then he suddenly spun around and said, ¡°If you dare to pull any funny tricks, I¡¯ll kill you immediately. You hear me?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Got it!¡± said Tracy frantically. She seethed inside at how Murray and Jack had just abandoned her like that. <i>This damned Dark Council</i>, she thought. She was going to make them pay for doing this to her.

    Meanwhile, Jack and Murray flew as quickly as they could. After they were sure that Su Jin hadn¡¯te after them, they slowed down a little. Jack sighed and said, ¡°We just left Tracy behind¡­ Her father will not let us off.¡±

    ¡°Humph, so what? The Dark Council may not be afraid of him. If we hadn¡¯t done that, you and I might be dead by now,¡± said Murray in a frosty voice. But the thought of Tracy¡¯s father gave him a headache. He was a famous owner among the ones on their side of the world and rumor had it that he was one of the top 100 owners on the owner ranking.

    If he found out that the two of them had abandoned his daughter, he wasn¡¯t going to let them off easy. After giving it some thought, Murray said, ¡°Let¡¯s think of a way to rescue her then. If we can¡¯t, then¡­ just kill her. Nobody would know what really happened. We¡¯ll just tell her father that Xu Ran killed her and that we did our best to rescue her. Even if we still get punished for that, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be too harsh.¡±

    Jack nodded slightly. That was the only thing they could do now. He sighed heavily and said, ¡°Exactly how powerful is this Xu Ran? He¡¯s a psychokinesis owner, yet he was still so formidable after being unable to use his psychokinesis. I think his physical body is stronger than ours after evolving.¡±

    Murray sighed as well. He had miscalcted his opponent badly this time. But it didn¡¯t matter. Xu Ran was all by himself, while the Dark Council was a bigger group. Even if it was going to take a long time to slowly wear Xu Ran down, he was certain they could eventually wear him down to death.

    At the same time, Su Jin brought Tracy back to the bungalow. By the time he got back, all the lights inside were on. It was clear that his disappearance had been discovered.

    Since that was the case, he didn¡¯t have to go through the window he left from and marched through the front door. Kano Mai was the leader and the rest were gathered in the living room, talking among themselves. Their faces lit up when they saw Su Jin enter the house, but their expressions differed when they saw that he had brought home not just a woman, but a very beautiful one.

    ¡°This stupid womanizer,¡± thought Kano Mai.

    ¡°Mr. Su is a senior in every aspect. He¡¯s even able to snag himself a foreign beauty so easily. I really admire him,¡± thought Yun Tianye.

    ¡°Mr. Su is a martial artist alright. He¡¯s still energetic evente at night, so he went looking for a woman. Where in the world did he find such a beautiful woman?¡± thought Thomas.

    ¡°She¡¯s so pretty!¡± thought both Zhou Zhenghe and Wei Wu.

    ¡°She must be some indecent woman!¡± thought Sang Qiu¡¯er and Yun Han.

 Chapter 259: Bringing The Father Trouble

    <h4>Chapter 259: Bringing The Father Trouble</h4>

    Su Jin knew from the expression on their faces that their minds had gone into the gutter and hurriedly exined, ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand: this woman is an unwee guest. Remember ck Leopard mentioned someone was going round investigating me? She¡¯s the one.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes widened in horror as they recalled ck Leopard¡¯s earlier visit. Kano Mai asked, ¡°Did you ask her why she was trying to investigate us?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. I fought with her and herpanions, but the other two got away,¡± said Su Jin.

    Yun Tianye and the rest were shocked by this revtion. They knew what Su Jin was capable of. He was able to kill a grandmaster with just one finger, yet someone had been able to escape him. These people were certainly formidable fighters.

    Su Jin motioned to Kano Mai to go to the room with him. They had to interrogate this woman.

    After they left, Wei Wu remarked, ¡°While we were asleep, Mr. Su was actually engaged in battle with a few others. It¡¯s such a pity we weren¡¯t able to watch it.¡±

    Yun Tianye, however, frowned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. This is not a matter any of you can afford to be mixed up in. Mr. Su¡¯s fight with those people wasn¡¯t that simple.¡±

    ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t. Two people actually managed to escape, so they must have been experts among experts,¡± Zhou Zhenghe chimed in.

    Yun Tianye nodded. ¡°Did you notice that Mr. Su¡¯s clothes were damaged?¡±

    His disciples looked confused, while Thomas said very confidently, ¡°Those were bullet holes, and the diameter of the holes were quiterge. Those bullets must have been fired from a modified gun of sorts.¡±

    ¡°Oh no! Are you saying Mr. Su is injured? Should we call for a doctor?¡± said Sang Qiu¡¯er worriedly.

    Yun Tianye smiled and said, ¡°No, no. His breathing is even and his blood cirction is excellent. He¡¯s in very good health.¡±

    After he said that, Zhou Zhenghe, followed by Thomas, then Wei Wu, Sang Qiu¡¯er and Yun Han realized what Yun Tianye was trying to say.

    ¡°You mean¡­ Mr. Su¡¯s body can hold up against bullets?¡± asked Zhou Zhenghe in disbelief as he swallowed hard.

    Yun Tianye nodded slightly. His gaze was a little dreamy as he said, ¡°Legend has it that at the peak of martial arts, one can reach saintly levels. Once you reach that level, your body would be like it was made from metal. Your blood moves like ocean waves and youring and going would be like lightning! So, Mr. Su has actually already reached this level. No wonder he could kill Kassimo, a man close to grandmaster level, with just one finger.¡±

    His disciples still couldn¡¯t figure out what level Su Jin was even after their teacher had praised him to the skies. Zhou Zhenghe asked directly, ¡°Master, so¡­ what level is Mr. Su at right now?¡±

    Yun Tianye stroked his beard, then a glint shone in his eyes as he said, ¡°Those whose bodies have reached saintly levels are called Martial Saints!¡±

    ¡°Martial Saint!¡± Everyone took some time to let those words sink in.

    ¡°Master, besides Mr. Su, are there any other Martial Saints in the world?¡± asked Yun Han.

    Yun Tianye shook his head at first, then nodded. As everyone looked puzzledly at him, he exined, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have anybody at this level right now, but we had a few before. There¡¯s Zhang Junbao from ancient times, then Li Wenshu in more modern times. They should have both been Martial Saints.¡±

    ¡°The great senior of the Wudang Sect, Zhang Sanfeng, as well as the God of Shooting, Li Wenshu!¡± Wei Wu had a dreamy look in his eyes as well. These two characters were legends in the martial arts world and had been leaders in their generation. But what made him really excited was the fact that someoneparable to them had appeared now, and this person was right by his side.

    Zhou Zhenghe suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked, ¡°Master, is there more beyond Martial Saint?¡±

    Yun Tianye gave his most senior disciple a pleased look and said, ¡°Legend has it that there¡¯s more.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± All of them were shocked. They couldn¡¯t believe a normal human being could possibly go any further than this, since Su Jin¡¯s case was already almost impossible to believe.

    ¡°Those whose physical bodies have reached saintly level are called Martial Saints, and once you¡¯ve reached this stage, training your physical body bes meaningless. The only road ahead for Martial Saints is to go from being a saint to bing a god,¡± said Yun Tianye.

    ¡°From sainthood to godhood?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. This is referring to your consciousness. Your thoughts have to reach a higher level, and once they reach a godly level, your physical body will evolve once more. But by that time, you won¡¯t be human anymore. You¡¯d be a Martial God, an actual deity!¡± said Yun Tianye with a hopeful look in his eyes.

    Everyone was too stunned for words. An ordinary person could be a god? That sounded impossible.

    But Yun Tianye shook his head and said, ¡°Too bad, that¡¯s just a theoretical level. How many experts in the history of martial arts have made it there?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps¡­ Mr. Su can,¡± said Yun Han suddenly.

    Yun Tianye turned to look at Su Jin¡¯s room. He didn¡¯t respond to Yun Han because he had no idea if Su Jin could reach that stage or not.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was getting ready to interrogate Tracy. He had no idea that Yun Tianye had actually managed to clearly describe the road he was on in such simple terms.

    But Yun Tianye had underestimated Su Jin. He thought that Su Jin was only a Martial Saint without realizing that based on Su Jin¡¯s body, he was already a Martial God. If the psychokinesis kept within the seal that the Mad Hatter had created were to be fully unleashed, then Su Jin would be an actual Martial God.

    Su Jin flung Tracy onto a chair, then sat down with Kano Mai across from her.

    ¡°Now, tell me everything about yourself, and the two men who escaped,¡± said Su Jin.

    Tracy scowled, paused to think, then said, ¡°Mr. Xu, it is our fault for attacking you, but I¡¯m willing topensate you for it.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Xu?¡± Kano Mai blinked in surprise, then said to Su Jin, ¡°They¡¯ve mistaken you for Xu Ran?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s an old Chinese saying, people are afraid of bing famous like how pigs are afraid of bing the right size for ughter. Clearly, Xu Ran¡¯s the right size now,¡± said Su Jin as he burst outughing.

    Kano Mai burst outughing as well. ¡°Gosh, it¡¯s not the first time Xu Ran¡¯s taking the rap for you too.¡±

    Su Jin shrugged in response, while Tracy realized something was amiss and said, ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re not Xu Ran?¡±

    ¡°I never said I was Xu Ran. You guys just assumed I was,¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    Tracy immediately flew into a rage when she heard his response and yelled, ¡°Let me go! You idiot! Do you know who my father is?¡±

    ¡°Who? Li Gang? (In 2010, two girls were knocked down in front of a university, one died and one was injured. The driver didn¡¯t care about them and drove in to send his girlfriend to her dorm. When he drove out, security stopped him but instead of asking after the victims or admitting his crime, he told security to bring charges against him if they dared, and that his father was Li Gang. He turned out to be the son of the deputy chief of a police station in the city, and the words ¡°My father is Li Gang!¡± became a meme referring to the children of the rich and famous in China who often use their parents¡¯ influence and wealth to get away with everything.)¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow. ¡°Miss, let me remind you: regardless of whether I¡¯m Xu Ran or not, I can kill you by just pointing a finger at your head.¡±

    Tracy¡¯s expression shifted but she puffed her chest out and said, ¡°You won¡¯t be able to take my father¡¯s wrath! He will tear you to pieces!¡±

    ¡°If Xu Ran can take it, I can take it too. So, stop beating around the bush.¡± Su Jin was losing patience. He should have been sleeping at this hour, not interrogating the stupid kid of some supposedly powerful individual.

    Tracy retorted, ¡°My father is ranked #97 on the owner ranking and he¡¯s really powerful! If you dare to be disrespectful to me, he will make you pay!¡±

    ¡°So much bullshit¡­ you know what psychokinesis can do. If you keep this up, I¡¯m going to get information directly from your memories,¡± said Su Jin in an irritated voice.

    Tracy had a look of disdain in her eyes as she said, ¡°We both have the same Spirit Power after all. I admit that you¡¯re stronger than me, but as long as I solidify my psychokinesis into a ball, you won¡¯t be able to¡­¡±

    Su Jin unleashed his psychokinesis before she could finish her sentence. Most of it was still sealed away, but the amount he could use now was more than enough to keep this woman under control.

    Tracy¡¯s attitude immediately changed after she felt Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis crash on her like a mountain. She became more cooperative and answered all his questions.

    ¡°Now, tell me about yourself,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°My name is Tracy, I¡¯m from France, and I¡¯m the top psychokinesis owner of the Dark Council,¡± replied Tracy without hesitation.

    ¡°The Dark Council? What a childish name. Is it some interest group or something?¡± asked Su Jin with a chuckle.

    ¡°The Dark Council is an organization set up by owners in the western part of the world. Our philosophy is that ordinary people should allow themselves to be ruled by owners and that they should look to owners like the gods and deities they used to worship,¡± replied Tracy.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai looked rather horrified. This Dark Council sounded almost identical to that cult from Chu Yi¡¯s world.

    ¡°What about the two guys who got away?¡±

    ¡°Murray and Jack evolved into vampires after going through a Challenge. They are also members of the Dark Council and they hold high positions.¡±

    ¡°How many members does the Dark Council have?¡±

    ¡°24. But there are at least 30 people who are as capable as the members. The chairman of the Dark Council is also as capable as my father, so you¡¯ve offended two terrifyingly powerful people at once. You¡¯re doomed!¡± Tracy stared down at Su Jin, certain he was going to die.

    But Su Jin merelyughed. ¡°Let me guess. Since you¡¯re all so afraid of Xu Ran and you only take in people from your side of the world, does that mean¡­ Xu Ran taught you guys a hard lesson before?¡±

    ¡°Humph! If you were Xu Ran, I wouldn¡¯t say anything more and I¡¯d plead with you for mercy. But you aren¡¯t him!¡± said Tracy.

    Su Jin tapped his nose with a finger. If he wanted to live in peace in this world, he needed to be famous enough. He had to make a victim out of the Dark Council and tell the world that Xu Ran wasn¡¯t the only person in the east whom they couldn¡¯t afford to offend.

    ¡°From time immemorial, many stupid children have brought trouble to their fathers for nothing. Since all of you thought I was Xu Ran before this, then¡­ you shouldn¡¯t have tried attacking me in the first ce.¡± Su Jin shook his head, unable to understand why these three would have chosen to do something so crazy.

    ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s because we didn¡¯t know you were so good at close range fights! If you were really Xu Ran, then once we curb his ability to use his psychokinesis, we would¡­¡±

    ¡°The real Xu Ran would not be defeated this easily either. In fact, you¡¯d die a more terrible death,¡± sneered Su Jin. Someone with as much experience and power as Xu Ran would probably have a way to defend themselves against unforeseen attacks. After this experience, Su Jin himself had already started thinking of a few ways to defend himself in the future too.

    Tracy was still useful to him, so he kept her alive for the moment. He believed that as long as he kept her here, the Dark Council woulde looking for him. But he couldn¡¯t continue staying here with Yun Tianye and the rest, because he might be putting their lives in danger as a result.

    The next morning, Su Jin and Kano Mai moved out of the bungalow. They got ck Leopard to find them a new residence and the young man got everything prepared within the next half an hour. Su Jin exined it away by telling the rest that he and Kano Mai wanted more couple time.

    Time slowly ticked by and Su Jin was surprised that the Dark Council was able to hold their anger in. They still hadn¡¯t appeared even after he had waited until he had to start a new Challenge.

 Chapter 260: The Exorcist

    <h4>Chapter 260: The Exorcist</h4>

    In the darkness, Su Jin could hear the sounds of frantic breathing. He could vaguely see a dark shadow moving in the dim light. The figure ran, then let out a shriek.

    ¡°The witch shrieks, the werewolf howls, the flying vampires spray blood at the humans. The shapeshifters are right next to you, the ogres hide in the wilderness. Little children, better run and hide! Or else you might be a delectable meal for the monsters¡­¡±

    A strange children¡¯s song resounded in Su Jin¡¯s ears. It was the usual terrifying voice that made all his hair stand on end, and he couldn¡¯t help but shudder.

    Light flooded the ce, making Su Jin squint a little. After he got used to the brightness, he looked around him to find that there weren¡¯t a lot of owners involved this time. Besides the five members of his team, there were three other owners.

    ¡°Eight people, huh.¡± Su Jin took his Handbook out to read the introduction to the Challenge.

    Challenge: The Exorcist; Level: D

    Main quest: Rid the city of all monsters within three days

    Optional quest: Find the monsters¡¯ nest and destroy it

    Reduction in Spirit Power: 90%

    Reduction in physique: 60%

    Maximum number of items: 1

    The Challenge this time was a Level D Challenge, which actually surprised Su Jin. The number of Level D Challenges he had gone through were so few. The only one so far was Zombie Frenzy. On the contrary, his team had gone through two Level A Challenges. It was possible that out of all the teams, Team Boning Knife was the only one that had gone through fewer Level D Challenges than Level A Challenges.

    After reading the introduction, Su Jin checked himself over. It was easy for him to tell how much his psychokinesis had been reduced by, since he could actually see the upper limit number. But he would have to throw a few punches to know how much this reduction in physique was.

    Whoosh! Su Jin threw a punch and immediately started frowning. The reduction this time was only 60%, but the actual reduction couldn¡¯t be calcted with simple math. The overall reduction was definitely more than 60%. If hepared his current body strength to his usual body strength, his usual self would be able to defeat a few dozen of his current self easily even if they all attacked together.

    As for items, Su Jin decided that he would probably use White Ash. Going through an exorcism type of Challenge with a weapon that had holy attributes would definitely be very useful.

    He proceeded to turn his attention to the owners besides the ones in his own team. To his surprise, the three of them all looked like newbies. It was obvious, because they were all trembling and staring at Su Jin¡¯s team like they were kidnappers.

    ¡°Three newbies?¡± Su Jin was stunned for a moment. Then again, his first Challenge had five newbies and only two old timers, even though both old timers were veterans as well.

    ¡°Hello there, how do I address you guys?¡± Su Jin tried his best to sound as gentle as possible. He didn¡¯t want to scare them.

    The groupprised two women and one man. The two women looked like they were in their twenties, while the man looked like he was in his thirties. They were just as terrified as one another, which was something that Su Jin and any other owner could understand. When one started their very first Challenge, they would suddenly be transported to apletely new and strange ce. It was natural for them to react like this.

    After a while, the only male spoke up first, ¡°My¡­ my name is Kang Ze. Have we¡­ have we been kidnapped?¡±

    The twodies immediately teared up when they heard him mention the word ¡°kidnapped.¡± If Su Jin said anything threatening, they were probably going to burst into tears.

    Thankfully, Su Jin wasn¡¯t that sort. He said patiently, ¡°Please don¡¯t be afraid. Take some time to recall something about Hell¡¯s Handbook, and I¡¯ll exin things to you after that.¡±

    The three of them felt that Su Jin didn¡¯t seem like a bad guy, so they started trying to recall what he asked them to. Their faces paled in no time. The Handbook always inserted a terrifying memory in their minds to prevent newbies from disbelieving the exnations given by old timers. But of course, there were some who were bolder or some who refused to believe, so there wasn¡¯t anything anybody could do about that.

    Su Jin saw that they were ready to listen to his exnation, so he said very directly, ¡°The Handbook will make every owner go through Challenges. If you pass the Challenge, you will receive rewards beyond your imagination. If you don¡¯t, you die. Do you understand?¡±

    They nodded, so Su Jin went on, ¡°Very good. Right now, we¡¯re going through a Challenge that¡¯s titled ¡®The Exorcist.¡¯ You can find a summary of the Challenge in your Handbooks. Also, you don¡¯t have to be too scared. I would say that you guys are very lucky, actually.¡±

    ¡°Very lucky? I hardly think so,¡± said Kang Ze with a sadugh. He was faring better than the other twodies. He was older and had experienced more things in life after all, so he was able to speak and behave more calmly for now.

    Su Jin let out a sadugh too. It was true that being selected by the Handbook to be an owner was terrible luck. He exined, ¡°It¡¯s all rtive. So, firstly, the Challenge you¡¯re about to go through is only at Level D, so your chances of surviving are already much higher. Secondly, the five of us are members of the same team and we have good teamwork. As long as the three of you don¡¯t create any trouble along the way, your chances of surviving will be even higher.¡±

    This was a Level D Challenge, so Su Jin wasn¡¯t as anxious. Based on the abilities of his team, even with the restrictions ced on them, surviving this Challenge should not be too difficult.

    ¡°What about the both of you? What are your names?¡± Su Jin asked the other two women.

    ¡°My name is Ma Xinyu.¡± Ma Xinyu was a cute and petite youngdy, but her eyes were bloodshot and there were tear stains on her cheek. She had clearly been crying out of fear earlier on.

    ¡°My name is Zhang Yueyue.¡± Zhang Yueyue was much stronger than Ma Xinyu. She was a little taller than 1.7 meters, had a well-proportioned figure, and most importantly, she was actually quite muscr, so she probably worked out frequently.

    ¡°My name is Su Jin, the four of them are my teammates, Kano Mai, Situ Jin, Wu Chen, and Bo Ya.¡± Su Jin briefly introduced the other four members of the team.

    Four members of the team were veterans, while Bo Ya was considered new. So, this was actually a Challenge with four veterans and four newbies. That wasn¡¯t too bad for a Level D Challenge.

    After they got to know each other, Kano Mai said, ¡°Jin, look at our clothing.¡±

    All eight of them were clothed in a long white robe and a ck piece over the shoulders. Most strikingly, a cross was embroidered on the chest on the white robe.

    ¡°The Handbook has given us the same clothes, so¡­ the story¡¯s about to start?¡± Immediately after Su Jin said that, arge door opened and they felt a jolt. The eight of them were now seated in arge horse-drawn cart.

    The driver was an unkempt Caucasian man. He stopped the cart, hopped off, then stood respectfully in front of the cart and said to Su Jin and the rest, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at Mo City!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s begun.¡± Su Jin nced at the rest, then hopped off the cart first. Before him stood a typical European medieval era city wall, except that this one looked intimidating because it was covered in a thickyer of fog.

    As they approached the gates of the city, the gate opened. Arge group of people walked out from inside and they were led by a head priest.

    ¡°Wee, esteemed exorcists. I am grateful that the Light has sent you to us.¡± The priest bowed politely to Su Jin and his group. He looked really exhausted, as though he had been troubled by something for a long time.

    ¡°Thank you, Father. Right now, we need to know exactly what has been happening and what you need us to do,¡± Su Jin asked directly. The most important thing to do now was to understand the actual situation at Mo City.

    The priestughed hollowly but did not answer Su Jin¡¯s question. Instead, he said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯ve traveled a long way and I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all very tired. Please enter the city and take a rest first.¡±

    Su Jin, Wu Chen, and Situ Jin exchanged nces and nodded slightly at each other. Su Jin then replied, ¡°We¡¯ll have to trouble you to lead the way.¡±

    They followed the priest into the city, and as they walked, the ones who had apanied the priest fell to their knees and bowed devoutly to the group. Either exorcists enjoyed a very high status in this world, or this city needed exorcists very urgently.

    After entering the city, Su Jin realized that there was almost nobody on the streets. It was still some time before nightfall, so it didn¡¯t make sense for the residents to turn in so early.

    The priest brought them to a church, and some people were already waiting inside. They were all very well dressed, so they were probably the aristocrats of the city.

    Su Jin nced at the priest, and the priest immediately exined, ¡°This is the casten of the city, the top officials of the city and their families.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re here to wee us?¡± said Su Jin teasingly, even though he had figured out what was probably happening by just looking at these people.

    The priest wiped away the sweat on his forehead and said rather awkwardly, ¡°Of¡­ of course.¡±

    ¡°Father, you¡¯ll go to hell for telling lies,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not lying. They are here to wee you, except that¡­ they¡¯re living in the church as well,¡± said the priest with an embarrassed smile.

    Su Jin figured that out already. All these people were carrying several bags of things. They looked more like they were moving house rather than weing guests.

    A man with arge pot belly ambled over, bowed reverently toward Su Jin and the rest, then said, ¡°Most respected, powerful, and merciful exorcist, sir! Please! Please save this city!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we¡¯re here. But¡­ all of you shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± said Su Jin in a frosty voice. He red fiercely at the priest and said angrily, ¡°Father, what sort of ce do you think the church is? This is a ce of worship, a ce of repentance. It is not meant to provide protection to the rich and powerful. I want everyone to leave the church right now, or else¡­ we will leave.¡±

    Everyone in the church began to panic after Su Jin said those words and the priest tried to pacify him as well, but Su Jin insisted that the aristocrats had to leave. In the end, there was nothing else they could do but to listen to Su Jin. They couldn¡¯t let the exorcists leave, or Mo City was doomed.

    After the aristocrats were chased out, Situ Jin asked Su Jin curiously, ¡°Why did you insist on chasing all of them out?¡±

    ¡°I think¡­ Mr. Su wants to go fishing,¡± Bo Ya suddenly piped up.

    Su Jin smiled faintly and gave Bo Ya a pleased look.

 Chapter 261: Parishioner

    <h4>Chapter 261: Parishioner</h4>

    ¡°Bo Ya, it¡¯s such a waste for you to be Situ¡¯s subordinate. I think it¡¯s more appropriate for both of you to exchange roles,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Bo Ya cupped her mouth andughed quietly as she rolled her eyes at Situ Jin, then said sweetly, ¡°Actually, our boss is very intelligent too. It¡¯s just that he¡¯s better at the big picture stuff. The developments that the Department of Supernatural Affairs has made over the past few years have been nned and executed by him alone. And based on our current situation, his ns have worked out very well!¡±

    Situ Jin red nastily at Su Jin, then looked back at Bo Ya lovingly. Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but p his own forehead and wail, ¡°Oh nooooo my amazing Final Fantasy team has lost yet another great mage! What a tragedy!¡±

    ¡°Stop it, will you? Bo Ya said you were going¡­ fishing? What¡¯s that about?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Su Jin exined, ¡°Bo Ya has already put it very clearly. To the people of this city, those people we chased out are officials and aristocrats, but to owners like ourselves, they¡¯re nothing more than bait. If we don¡¯t throw them out, then who would these monsters target?¡±

    Everyone nodded in agreement. Just then, the priest had returned from chasing the officials and aristocrats out. He said to Su Jin and the rest, ¡°What is next on your n?¡±

    ¡°Information. We needplete information, and the more detailed the better. I need to know exactly what I¡¯m facing here,¡± Su Jin said to the priest.

    But the priest slumped his shoulders and said, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about this. The church did have information on those monsters, but¡­but a parishioner named Sherva borrowed it and he never returned it after that.¡±

    ¡°A parishioner? Where does he live?¡± asked Su Jin. Even though the monster they were going to face was a Level D Challenge monster, he felt that they should proceed cautiously, and it would be best to get as much detailed information as possible. It would be worth it even if they had to spend a little more time to gather more information.

    The priest paused to think, then said, ¡°He lives in the west of the city. There¡¯s a slum there that¡¯s so dark, even the lowest of thieves in the city refuse to go anywhere near there. The people who live there have been cursed by the devil. They eat the worst food and drink polluted water, so they¡¯re people who might die at any time.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just say that they live in hell?¡± snapped Wu Chen impatiently. He couldn¡¯t believe how this priest managed to find so many words to say.

    The priest nodded in agreement. ¡°You¡¯re right. That ce is basically hell on Earth. Only soldiers who escaped from war or people who havemitted unforgivable sins would live there. In the whole of Mo City, our church is the only one who would give them food sometimes.

    ¡°A parishioner who lives there was suddenly very interested in the legend of the monsters, which the church has records of, so he borrowed the information from the church. After that, the crisis hit the city and everyone has been living on tenterhooks. It¡¯s been a long time since Ist went to the slum myself, so I didn¡¯t get the chance to get the information back.¡±

    Su Jin exchanged nces with the others. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that they would definitely run into the monsters if they went to that slum. Based on what the priest said, he was quite certain that the monster crisis had started from the slum.

    ¡°Father, do you have any weapons here that could injure those monsters? We came here in a hurry so there are a number of things that we didn¡¯t bring along.¡± Su Jin not only wanted information, but he also wanted equipment. It was definitely a good idea to get everything he could out of the ce right from the start.

    To their dismay, the priest shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry but the church is a ce to alleviate the troubles of the people and a ce to worship God, so we wouldn¡¯t keep any weapons here. But¡­ if you have some patience, we can make some holy water and it will be useful to bring along.¡±

    ¡°Holy water? Sounds like it¡¯s quite troublesome to make,¡± said Su Jin when he heard the priest mention having patience.

    The priest nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We need to hold onto a cross made from silver, pray before the statue of God for one day and one night, then ce the cross into water to produce holy water.¡±

    ¡°Got it. In that case¡­ I¡¯ll have to trouble the four newbies,¡± Su Jin said to the four newbies, including Bo Ya. They weren¡¯t able to fight much, so it would be too dangerous for them to go to the slum. But getting them to make holy water was a job well suited for them.

    ¡°The rest of us will head to the slum to get the information. Three days isn¡¯t a short time, but it¡¯s best not to dy if we don¡¯t have to. If Team Boning Knife ends up dying in a Level D Challenge, we¡¯ll be the biggest joke of the century.¡±

    ¡°I object! What if the four newbies get attacked by the monster while all of us are away?¡± asked Situ Jin with a frown.

    Su Jin, Kano Mai, and Wu Chen burst outughing. Su Jin patted Situ Jin¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°I just knew you would object to it. So, you can stay here and watch things. If anything untoward happens to them despite that, you can end your own life! You¡¯re no longer the great mage of my team anymore anyway.¡±

    Situ Jin gave him an awkwardugh in return. Su Jin proceeded to walk out with Wu Chen and Kano Mai, but the priest ran after them and said, ¡°Won¡¯t you at least rest for one night?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. We¡¯ll have trouble sleeping if we don¡¯t settle some of these things properly.¡± Su Jin waved the priest off.

    So, including Situ Jin, the five left in the church began the process of making holy water, while Su Jin and his twopanions moved toward the slum in the west of the city. They had spent too much time at the church, so the sun hadpletely set by now. Compared to how they had a whole group of people to wee them when they arrived, Mo City was now as quiet as a ghost town.

    Once they reached the west part of the city, it wasn¡¯t difficult to locate the slum because this ce was simply too obvious to miss. It was so filthy and so smelly. Just like what the priest had said, this ce was like hell on Earth. Yet, to their surprise, there were still a lot of people moving around the area.

    Compared to the rest of the city, this ce was as filthy and chaotic as hell, but it was actually the only ce where people were still moving about freely. They did look pretty much like zombies though. All of them seemed so terribly exhausted.

    The arrival of Su Jin and hispanions clearly also surprised the residents of the slum. However, they did have a good impression of the church, since the priest hade here often to give them essentials and teach them about the bible before the crisis urred. Some people even saw the priest and other acolytes as a way to gain emotional relief, so when they saw the three of them wearing clothing that bore crosses, some of them immediately swarmed toward the trio and greeted them politely.

    ¡°Esteemed and highly respected soldiers of the Lord, praise be! What brings you to the ugly, lowly slum today?¡± An older woman bowed deeply to the trio. She was very polite toward them, but she had very ugly features indeed. Her facial features were not of the right proportions, and she was covered in many scars that had been left behind by illness.

    Su Jin had no idea how to reciprocate her greeting, so he simply ced a fist on his chest and bowed slightly. ¡°We are looking for a parishioner named Sherva. He has borrowed something from the church and we need it very urgently now, so we must take it back today.¡±

    ¡°Sherva? He¡¯s not appeared for some days now.¡±

    ¡°If you guys hadn¡¯te looking for him, I¡¯d have thought he was already dead.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a real loner and just hides himself in his nest. He doesn¡¯t really go anywhere.¡±

    Several others murmured such words among themselves.

    Su Jin scanned their faces, then said in a bright voice, ¡°Is there anyone who can tell me where Mr. Sherva lives?¡±

    ¡°Esteemed sir, I can tell you where he lives and I can bring you there too,¡± said the older woman respectfully.

    ¡°That would be wonderful,¡± said Su Jin gratefully. This seemed to make the older woman very excited, as if she had made a wonderful contribution.

    The trio followed the older woman and quickly found themselves¡­ in the sewers of Mo City. The slum was located right above the sewers in the first ce, and many of them made their home in the sewer itself, including the man whom the trio was looking for.

    Thankfully, the sewer was rather broad, reaching a height of more than three meters. Only the smell was a little unbearable. Also, one could spot the dead carcasses of animals that died within the sewer. The fact that the people living here didn¡¯t end up with a ton of terrible diseases was a miracle in itself.

    The older woman led them to a section that connected three pipes, which made this area especially spacious. There was a little door on a pipe here, so it was clear that someone had imed this one as their own.

    ¡°Esteemed sir, this is where Sherva lives,¡± said the older woman politely.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Thank you so much!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re too kind. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll leave you here.¡± The woman was so happy to receive a word of thanks from Su Jin, she looked like she had just won the lottery. Even the scars on her face trembled from her smile.

    After the woman left, Su Jin noticed that Wu Chen was touching some of the pictures drawn on the pipe. He asked curiously, ¡°Found anything?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. This diagram looks like something I¡¯ve seen before. It should be some special sort of diagram that can control or drive away demons. If this was drawn by the person living here, then the person who drew it must be that Sherva we¡¯re looking for,¡± said Wu Chen solemnly.

    Su Jin chuckled. ¡°Thanks, Captain Obvious, for that analysis.¡±

    ¡°Ahem! I¡¯m not that good at deduction, that¡¯s all. Everyone has their own gifts,¡± said Wu Chen as he red back at Su Jin.

    Su Jin shrugged, then walked into the pipe. The moment he set foot inside the pipe, a shrill sound hit their ears. This ce seemed to be a different world from outside the pipe.

    ¡°Be careful, everyone,¡± said Su Jin before summoning White Ash from his Handbook, in case it came in handy.

    The shrill sound was ear piercing and a terrible wind was rushing through the tunnel as well. In the dim light of the tunnel, all they could see was a man seated on a rattan chair. He was wearing a red coat and was searching his body for something.

    ¡°Mr. Sherva!¡± yelled Su Jin loudly.

    But the man did not react at all. He continued to search his body and seemed to be mumbling something to himself.

    Su Jin motioned to Kano Mai and Wu Chen to stay where they were before slowly moving toward the man by himself. But when he got close enough, he realized that the man wasn¡¯t wearing a red coat. The red wasing from countless cuts all over his skin.

 Chapter 262: A Demon

    <h4>Chapter 262: A Demon</h4>

    The man sat on a rattan chair, his head bowed and his arms folded. One of his hands was searching for something on his upper body. After getting closer, Su Jin realized that this man was covered entirely in bleeding cuts.

    The cuts were actually strange little symbols, and they covered almost every inch of the man¡¯s skin. There were so many and so close to one another, Su Jin had mistakenly thought it was the man¡¯s clothing.

    The hand that kept moving about on the man¡¯s upper body was actually holding onto a sharp stone that was probably chipped from a rock and was using it to etch those strange little symbols on whatever little skin was left untouched.

    ¡°When the lightes, the darkness must leave! When the lightes, the darkness must leave! When the lightes, the darkness must leave!¡± murmured the man repeatedly.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to go too close and said from a distance, ¡°Mr. Sherva, we¡¯re from the church and we¡¯re here to take back the file you borrowed thest time.¡±

    Immediately after Su Jin spoke, the hand stopped carving more symbols into the man¡¯s skin and the man suddenly lifted his head.

    He had an extremely twisted face that looked more like an abstract painting. Half of it was the face of an honest looking man, while the other half was a twisted, maniacal face that resembled that of a demon.

    ¡°When the lightes, the darkness must leave!¡± yelled the honest half of the man¡¯s face in pain as perspiration rained down the side of his face.

    ¡°Haha! The light cannot remain in the world forever. Once darkness arrives, pathetic followers of the light like you will be burned to death in the mes of hell!¡± The twisted maniacal half of the face cackled and mocked its other half.

    ¡°Get out of here as quickly as possible! Darkness¡­ is here!¡± the honest half yelled desperately at Su Jin. He used his hands to press down on the twisted half, as though he was trying to stop it from doing something.

    ¡°Find that file, hurry!¡± Su Jin shouted to hispanions. There was something very wrong with this man, and he seemed to be going through some sort of mutation. If they allowed the mutation to reach itspletion, it might be harder for them to deal with the man then.

    Kano Mai and Wu Chen immediately started searching the tunnel, while Su Jin kept his eye on the man. He aimed White Ash at the man¡¯s head, ready to fire anytime.

    ¡°Heh heh!¡± The man suddenly let out a weirdugh. The palm covering his face parted its fingers slightly to reveal an eye that looked like a broken ss ball. It gave off a very eerie gleam.

    ¡°Sir, letting out that sort ofughter makes my gun fire!¡± said Su Jin with a sneer as he fired three shots from White Ash.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    The three shots hit the man¡¯s arms and the shoulder of one arm. Once these shots with holy elements were fired, the man¡¯s cackling instantly turned to shrieking.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you: thatughter really makes my gun go off.¡± Su Jin scanned the man¡¯s body to look more closely at the three bullet holes. All three had hit the man¡¯s body on both sides, one that belonged to the honest face¡¯s side and one that belonged to the twisted face¡¯s side.

    The two bullets that had gone into the twisted face¡¯s side had green smokeing out of it, while the one bullet on the honest face¡¯s side was bleeding. That proved that this man wasn¡¯t suffering from some split personality disorder, but that there were two different souls living inside his body right now.

    ¡°Heh heh! Since you¡¯ve walked into the devil¡¯s den, then you can forget about leaving! Time to be my food!¡± cackled the twisted side. He suddenly removed the hand over his face to reveal a face that was already rotten and covered in several ck tendons.

    Su Jin¡¯s finger moved slightly and nearly pulled the trigger, but he stopped himself in time. He raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°You¡¯re trying to agitate me? In that case, this is no devil¡¯s den. You¡¯re nothing but a pathetic little fellow trapped here. If my guess is right¡­ this man has used some information he gleaned from the files to trap you here. And if you want to leave, you need an external force to break this shell that¡¯s trapping you, am I right?¡±

    The twisted face froze for a second before snarling nastily, ¡°Nobody can trap darkness! Like I said, none of you are getting away! You¡¯ll be food for me!¡±

    Su Jin kept White Ash and shrugged. ¡°Sure, whatever makes you happy.¡± He then turned and walked away, ignoring the manpletely.

    Actually, even if the man hadn¡¯t purposely tried to agitate Su Jin, Su Jin would have connected the dots himself. The diagram outside the tunnel as well as the weird symbols on his skin were probably how he trapped this demon in the first ce.

    One possibility was that this man had been possessed by this demon for some reason, but the demon had not been able to take over his body fully at the beginning. In order to save himself, Sherva borrowed the information from the priest and used a method in the files to trap this demon inside him.

    But these methods only allowed him to trap the demon and did not help to save himself. But as long as he kept himself alive, the demon would not be able to escape. That was why the demon had tried to agitate Su Jin in order to get Su Jin to kill the body so that it could escape, but Su Jin saw through that ploy.

    ¡°Jin, we found it!¡± yelled Wu Chen as he held a book up.

    ¡°Great! Let¡¯s go!¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    Wu Chen immediately ran toward the entrance, but Kano Mai didn¡¯t budge at all. Su Jin frowned and yelled, ¡°Mai, let¡¯s go!¡±

    But Kano Mai still didn¡¯t respond at all. Her arms were slumped limply by her side, and her head was bent as well, as though she were sleepwalking or something.

    ¡°Mai?¡± Su Jin could sense that something was wrong with her.

    ¡°Heh heh¡­ your friend¡¯s name is Mai? Too bad, she can¡¯t hear you anymore.¡± The twisted face cackled, then nced at Mai. ¡°What a beauty! Unfortunately for you, she¡¯s mine now!¡±

    Su Jin and Wu Chen had looks of horror on their faces. Su Jin snapped, ¡°Let go of her!¡±

    ¡°Sure! Destroy this body and I¡¯ll let her go!¡± said the twisted face as he tried to negotiate with Su Jin.

    Su Jin flew into a rage and pressed White Ash against the twisted face, but Wu Chen pulled him back. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything rash! If you let him escape, then Mai would be really doomed.¡±

    Su Jin knew that Wu Chen was right. Striking a deal with a demon was a dumb thing to do. He kept White Ash again, then suddenly smiled as he nced at Kano Mai. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but my friend doesn¡¯t y with naughty children.¡±

    He walked over to Kano Mai and said, ¡°Mai, wake up!¡±

    Kano Mai¡¯s eyes flew open and she stared at Su Jin in confusion. ¡°I¡­ fell asleep?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t. Something nasty hypnotized you, but too bad, he chose to mess with the wrong guy,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He had been a little too angry at first, but after calming down and thinking about the situation more carefully, he realized it was impossible for a demon to control Kano Mai while being trapped in a different body. The only possibility was that the demon had hypnotized her, and hypnosis was something that his psychokinesis could break within seconds.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here first,¡± Su Jin said to hispanions. There was a demon here, after all. Nobody knew what he would do next.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go! Please! Let me out of here! I can give you strength! Riches! Status! Anything you want!¡± the twisted face started pleading with them, his threats suddenly bing pleas. An ordinary person might have been tempted, but the three of them were owners.

    They walked out of the tunnel even as the demon continued to plead with them. Once they stepped out, the voice of the demon disappeared. Just like how they felt when they first walked in, the inside of the tunnel and the outside were twopletely different worlds. The diagram and other symbols on the outside were what made the difference.

    After thinking about it, Su Jin said, ¡°Seal this ce off. We can¡¯t let ordinary people enter the tunnel, otherwise we might create unnecessary trouble for ourselvester on.¡±

    Wu Chen and Kano Mai agreed. They took apart some things in the vicinity and blocked the entrance. Once they were sure that it was properly blocked, they left the sewers.

    But shortly after they had left, the older woman who led them there suddenly appeared again. She looked curiously at the blocked entrance, then made several other turns in the sewer before gaining ess to that blocked tunnel from a different section that was broken.

    A few momentster, the things blocking the entrance were suddenly pushed away from the inside. The older woman came walking out with a crazed look on her face as she carried Sherva¡¯s lifeless body.

    Meanwhile, the trio rushed back to the church. It was already midnight, and the silence around them was deafening. Not even the sounds of insects could be heard here. They could hear their own heartbeat very clearly.

    ¡°Be careful, there¡¯s something that smells fishy,¡± Wu Chen suddenly warned the other two.

    ¡°Something smells fishy?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    Wu Chen nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve got way more experience than you guys. When I sense this sort of atmosphere, something bad is usually about to happen. It¡¯s just like when the background music of a horror movie starts to get really thrilling: the chances of getting through the next few minutes unscathed is pretty low, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Wise words from the old man!¡± Su Jin and Kano Mai nodded. Su Jin gave Wu Chen a thumbs up, only for Wu Chen to roll his eyes back at him.

    .

    ¡°AH!¡± Just then, a shriek broke the silence of the dead night.

    The trio exchanged nces, then rushed toward where they had heard the shrieke from. When they got there, they saw a dead woman on the ground, while two men and one woman were crying next to her.

    The dead woman looked like she was in her twenties, and the other three were probably her husband and her inws. The three of them immediately got up and bowed when they saw Su Jin¡¯s group.

    ¡°What happened?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Sir, my wife has been harmed by a shapeshifter! Please seek justice for her!¡± said the man through his tears. His parents hugged each other and sobbed miserably.

    Su Jin nced at them, then snorted. ¡°Hey shapeshifter, can¡¯t you even wipe your mouth after eating? I can still see the bloodstains on your lips!¡±

    The three of them instinctively touched their lips when Su Jin said that and instantly realized they had been fooled. But by the time they looked up again, they were met with three bullets fired by White Ash.

 Chapter 263: Darkness Arrives

    <h4>Chapter 263: Darkness Arrives</h4>

    The three bullets hit one person each. They started howling, and a foul smelling ck smoke rose from their bullet wounds.

    Su Jin immediately ran and mmed the young man against a wall. He punched the man in the chest, but the ce where a heart ought to have been waspletely empty.

    ¡°If it¡¯s not the heart, then it¡¯s the brain?¡± murmured Su Jin before raising his arm to punch the man in the head and causing it to explode. This time, the young man stopped moving altogether.

    Wu Chen and Kano Mai had attacked the other two at the same time as Su Jin. They took down one each by punching their opponents hard enough for their heads to explode.

    This Level D Challenge had reduced their physical strength by 60%, but the three of them had gone through some form of body strengthening before, so they were still way stronger than ordinary humans even with the reduction.

    Wu Chen gave Su Jin a thumbs up. ¡°That was amazing! You noticed something amiss so quickly!¡±

    Su Jin nced at Wu Chen and scratched his head awkwardly. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t notice anything wrong with them, actually.¡±

    ¡°What?! Then¡­ why did you attack them?¡± Wu Chen was stunned.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there some phrase that says something like ¡®hit the branch even if you can¡¯t tell if there are dates on it¡¯? So, I thought I¡¯d try hitting the branch,¡± said Su Jin with a shrug before squatting down to take a closer look at the man¡¯s body.

    ¡°Try hitting the branch? What if you hit the wrong one¡­¡± Wu Chen stopped himself mid sentence. Who cared if Su Jin attacked the wrong person by mistake? These were all people who only existed in a Challenge.

    He had met many owners over the years, and some of them were crazy enough to kill even the ordinary people in any Challenge they were in. While part of it was to reduce as many uncertainties as possible, part of it was also to satisfy their murderous desires. He just hoped Su Jin wouldn¡¯t be someone like that.

    Kano Mai could tell what Wu Chen was worried about, but she smiled and said, ¡°Wu Chen, take a look at where Jin fired his shots.¡±

    Wu Chen took a closer look and his eyes lit up. Su Jin had fired the three of them in the arm.

    ¡°White Ash has uses holy bullets, so if these guys were monsters, even a hit in the arm would give them away immediately. And even if they turned out not to be monsters, Jin could use his psychokinesis to wipe their memories out. It¡¯s not a serious injury,¡± said Kano Mai.

    As Su Jin continued to scan the dead bodies on the ground, he nodded and said, ¡°Mai¡¯s really smart. I realize the women in our team are smarter than the men. Situ¡¯s not as smart as Bo Ya.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! You¡¯ve got an intelligent, mature man right here!¡± Wu Chen patted his own chest.

    Su Jin sighed. ¡°If I were alone, I could easily surpass the twodies, since my average is higher than theirs. But thanks to you, the average among the men has gone down.¡±

    Wu Chen red fiercely at Su Jin and snapped, ¡°You ungrateful youngsters! Have you already forgotten? If I hadn¡¯t been so smart in thest Challenge, would you still be standing here,ughing and boasting?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, Wu Chen is the greatest! Wu Chen is the best!¡± Su Jin and Kano Mai repented immediately.

    After checking all three bodies, Su Jin realized that they had be extremely soft after dying, as though they were a lump of mud. Their faces also changed. A unique human facial feature would disappear. For example, one¡¯s nose would disappear and be reced with a dark gray piece of skin.

    ¡°Shapeshifters?¡± Su Jin made a guess. Based on the information given at the start of the Challenge, these things were probably shapeshifters. They were able to turn themselves into humanlike creatures and kill humans.

    ¡°Do we just leave them here?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    .

    ¡°No, we can¡¯t. It¡¯s best to burn such monsters,¡± said Wu Chen. His expression was grim as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve run into simr evil creatures in an earlier Challenge before. They look like they¡¯re dead, but they¡¯re actually still alive. If they are left alone for a long enough time, they might actually revive.¡±

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. They found some mmable objects in the vicinity, piled them up, and threw the three monsters as well as the dead woman onto the pile. Kano Mai summoned her Soul Whisperer. This gun of hers had multiple uses, so it was very useful in a Challenge that had limits on the number of items.

    She switched the gun to fire mode and mes instantly shot out of the barrel like a methrower. The mes were so strong, they instantly covered all four bodies.

    ¡°Gosh, with something like that, why did we bother gathering other mmable objects?¡±ughed Su Jin. Soul Whisperer was a really excellent weapon to have. It could switch to several modes that could help the owner deal with most situations in a Challenge, so it was extremely useful.

    But Wu Chen took a look at Soul Whisperer and said a little puzzledly, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong¡­ this gun is still iplete?¡±

    ¡°Iplete?¡± Su Jin was puzzled now.

    Kano Mai smiled and nodded. ¡°Wu Chen is really the most knowledgeable of us all. This gun of mine can still be upgraded and unlock more uses in the future, so yes, it¡¯s currently at an iplete stage.¡±

    ¡°You got a weapon that can be upgraded further? Wow, you¡¯re so lucky, Mai,¡± said Wu Chen in amazement. He looked in awe of the sniper gun.

    While they spoke, some screeching could be hearding from the bonfire. Just like what Wu Chen had mentioned earlier, these creatures might seem dead at first, but they were actually still alive. If they had just left these shapeshifters alone, their efforts would have gone to waste.

    Once they were certain that the shapeshifters had been reduced to ashes, Su Jin¡¯s group continued their journey back to the church. When they stepped in, they saw Situ Jin and the other four newbies holding silver crosses and praying fervently in preparation for making holy water.

    The priest rushed up to the trio and said, ¡°Did you manage to get the information back?¡±

    ¡°We did, but¡­ we saw someone in the slum who had strange symbols drawn all over him. He just sat in a rattan chair and didn¡¯t move at all.¡± Su Jin described how they found Sherva extremely briefly to the priest.

    The priest paled and nearly copsed onto the floor as he murmured, ¡°It¡¯s the affliction demon. They¡¯ve managed to make it back to this world after all.¡±

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow at these words, and so did Kano Mai and Wu Chen. Su Jin asked, ¡°So, it¡¯s a demon? Too bad then. I should have killed him right there and then.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! You¡¯ve missed such a good opportunity! If you had done so, you might have prevented the demon from entering the world and you could have saved this ce!¡± The priest let out a sigh, then knelt before the statue of God and started praying. A momentter, he got up and said, ¡°Sir, perhaps it¡¯s not toote. For the sake of all the living creatures here, I beg you to help us. Kill the affliction demon and stop him from wreaking havoc here.¡±

    Su Jin looked even more suspiciously at the priest now. Kano Mai and Wu Chen looked even more horrified as well. The priest looked puzzledly at Su Jin and was about to ask him what was going on when Su Jin raised his arm and shot the priest.

    ¡°Ah!¡± the priest yelped in pain. He asked in a confused voice, ¡°Sir, why¡­ why did you shoot me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not a priest.¡± Su Jin shook his head. The words that the priest said sounded righteous and logical, but they ran contrary to the clues that they had gotten when they met Sherva and the demon in him. This priest seemed more like he was trying to get Su Jin to release the demon.

    The priest stared at him in a daze. ¡°Why¡­ why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°Sherva used his body to create a seal of sorts that trapped the demon inside him. If we kill Sherva, the affliction demon will be set free. And you¡­ are now telling us to kill him, which is very strange indeed,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head.

    The priest looked frightened as he said, ¡°Oh, I see¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but¡­ I¡¯m just an ordinary priest. I thought that since the demon possessed Sherva¡¯s body, you would be able to kill the demon if you killed Sherva. My ignorance has caused a misunderstanding, please forgive me for my foolishness.¡±

    ¡°Oh? And when did I mention that Sherva has been possessed by the demon?¡± Su Jin had a cheeky smile on his face as he pointed White Ash at the priest¡¯s head.

    Kano Mai and Wu Chen also took their positions to surround the priest. Situ Jin quickly pulled the four newbies further back so that they wouldn¡¯t get hurt if a fight broke out.

    The priest froze for a moment, then wiped the frightened look off his face. This man could really act: if he hadn¡¯t been careless with his words, Su Jin couldn¡¯t be sure if this man was really the priest or not.

    ¡°Tsk, so in the end it¡¯s because I slipped up?¡± The priest shook his head disdainfully and looked straight into Su Jin¡¯s eyes. Su Jin looked right back and he could see that the priest¡¯s eyes now looked like a ball filled with shattered ss that gleamed eerily.

    ¡°You¡¯re a demon!¡± Su Jin remembered these eyes. The twisted half of Sherva¡¯s face had such an eye too.

    ¡°Holy bullets, eh? You¡¯re exorcists, alright. You¡¯ve even got such weapons on hand.¡± The demon nced at his arm. A gigantic scar had formed over the wound. The scar suddenly burst open, and a terrible stench filled the air. It turned out that after Su Jin had shot him, he had used his body to not only cover the wound, but also cover up the stench that came with the corrosive effect of the holy bullet.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Aren¡¯t you surprised? Tell me who you are, or I¡¯ll kill you right now.¡± Su Jin pressed White Ash against the head of the demon. If the demon moved even an inch, Su Jin was going to shoot him in the head without hesitation. He was more willing to kill this fake priest and reduce the danger they were in than to keep him alive and get more information.

    But the demon merely burst outughing. ¡°Haha! Just like Sherva, this body is merely a tool to me. You can kill it if you want. I can always find another body to use, including yours!¡±

    ¡°Is that so? How about now?¡± A silver light shed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes.

    The demon¡¯s expression shifted dramatically as he eximed, ¡°No! No¡­ you can¡¯t do this!¡±

    ¡°No, no, I CAN!¡± said Su Jin with a smirk.

 Chapter 264: Incident After Incident

    <h4>Chapter 264: Incident After Incident</h4>

    The demon was terrified. His eyes were as wide as saucers and he stared at Su Jin as though Su Jin were the demon instead.

    ¡°Jin, what did you do to him?¡± asked Wu Chen curiously.

    ¡°Nothing much. I just created a tiny cage out of psychokinesis. If he puts in a little effort, he can break out of it within a second. But¡­ if I fire six shots within this one second, I guarantee you that all six shots would be fatal to him.¡± Su Jin smiled faintly. Psychokinesis was considered a high level Spirit Power because it had a million and one uses. As long as the user was sufficiently skilled in using it, such a Spirit Power could deal with most situations.

    A small psychokinesis cage was very useful in dealing with something like a demon, since it resided in a living thing in spirit form. This was something that Xu Ran had taught Su Jin how to do not too long ago. He was pleasantly surprised that it came in handy so quickly.

    The demon began to panic because Su Jin was right. It was very easy for him to break out of the cage and one second would definitely be enough. But those holy bullets that Su Jin had were enough to reduce him to ashes within that one second.

    ¡°Now, I will ask you some questions and you are to answer me. Otherwise, you¡¯ll get sted right away. Understand?¡± Su Jin tapped the demon¡¯s head with the barrel of his gun and smiled warmly at him.

    Cold sweat ran down the demon¡¯s forehead as he nodded obediently. He could sense that Su Jin was very calm and confident. If he tried anything funny, Su Jin was definitely going to retaliate.

    Su Jin was very pleased with the demon¡¯s response. He went straight to the point, ¡°Your name, address, and reason foring here.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t act stupid now! I said, your name, address and reason foring here!¡± Su Jin suddenly raised his voice and pressed White Ash much harder against the demon¡¯s face. It looked like the gun was about to stab the demon in the eye.

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯re acting now?! Don¡¯t go too far: you might stab the suspect to death at this rate,¡± Wu Chen reminded Su Jin when he saw the terrified expression on the demon¡¯s face.

    ¡°That¡¯s what he gets for ying games.¡± Su Jin threw the demon a nasty nce, then smiled creepily as he asked again, ¡°Your name, gender, address and reason foring here!¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask about gender just now!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m asking now.¡±

    ¡°My name is Artoris. Demons don¡¯t have a gender, so I¡¯m genderless. I originally lived at the border of hell, but because the Top Devil returned, all the demons who betrayed him in the past like myself had no choice but to run from the border. I just wanted to find a ce where I could be safe!¡± Artoris started crying as he spoke, so much so Su Jin wondered if he was being too mean to this demon.

    ¡°Artoris, what do you mean by the Top Devil?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°That¡­ that refers to the leader of hell. But I¡¯m just an ordinary demon and the Top Devil is just a term of address to me. I only know that he has returned again after a thousand years, cast an item into the sea of mes in hell, and also chased away all the demons there. I betrayed him before, so I have no choice but to run away,¡± said Artoris honestly.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t think this matter had much to do with this Challenge, so he didn¡¯t ask for more details and moved on. ¡°How many of such evil creatures are currently within Mo City?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± replied Artoris without hesitation.

    ¡°You¡¯re a loyal one huh! But that won¡¯t help you in any way,¡± said Su Jin frostily.

    ¡°I really have no idea. It¡¯s not as if all evil creatures belong to the same family. Even with regard to the affliction demon, I only know he¡¯s here but he¡¯s been trapped. I don¡¯t have any contact with the other creatures,¡± exined Artoris.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t think he was lying, so after pausing to think, he asked, ¡°Is that affliction demon very powerful?¡±

    ¡°If I were as powerful as him, I would have torn all of you to shreds by now,¡± snapped Artoris. He was held hostage by Su Jin, but it didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t get angry.

    Su Jinughed. Now he looked more like an evil creature. The way he looked like he was about to copse from fear earlier on would have disappointed some of those deluded believers in the power of darkness.

    ¡°You¡¯re too humble. The fact that you¡¯ve been able to possess the body of a priest and enter the territory of God is already shocking for a demon,¡± said Wu Chen. He had gone through several Challenges and was no stranger to evil creatures like this demon, but he had never seen any creature possess a priest within a deity¡¯s territory.

    Artoris scoffed. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but it¡¯s really because the Righteous God isn¡¯t in this world. His powers have been taken away as well as a result, and that¡¯s how I was able to do this.¡±

    <i>This background story doesn¡¯t sound like it belongs to a Level D Challenge</i>, thought Su Jin. <i>Is this something that¡¯s actually happening in this world?</i> Mention of the Top Devil and the Righteous God couldn¡¯t possibly have anything to do with this Challenge, but judging from the way Hell¡¯s Handbook worked, it was hard to say if the Challenges would change ordingly, so he decided not to pursue this matter further.

    ¡°Moving on. Does the affliction demon have any weaknesses?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Artoris shook his head before curling his lips into an icy smile. ¡°He¡¯s a high level demon, so none of you are his match. Once he breaks free, all of you are definitely going to die. Holy items can hurt him, but they can¡¯t kill him. He¡¯s invincible here!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t kill him, so I can only seal him up?¡± murmured Su Jin.

    ¡°You¡­!¡± Artoris¡¯ eyes widened. Sealing him up was indeed the only way to deal with the affliction demon, but Artoris had no idea how this man managed to guess that.

    Su Jin nced at Artoris and said matter-of-factly, ¡°It¡¯s pretty obvious, right? Sherva was able to use his body and some symbols to trap him, so if nothing goes wrong, we might not even have to deal with him at all.¡±

    Wu Chen and Kano Mai, who were initially a little worried about what to do, realized that Su Jin was right. Sherva had trapped the affliction demon inside his own body. He had paid a great price, but he had managed to do it. As long as they didn¡¯t break the seal, there was no need for them to face this demon.

    Artoris¡¯ expression didn¡¯t look too good now. ¡°I¡¯ve answered your question, so let me go like you promised!¡±

    ¡°Like I promised? I only got you to answer my questions. Did I promise to let you go after that?¡± Su Jin looked confused. At that exact moment, the look in Artoris¡¯ eyes changed. He had been waiting for Su Jin to let his guard down, and now, Su Jin seemed to be distracted. He just needed one second and he could escape.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    But just when he was about to run out from Su Jin¡¯s little cage, Su Jin¡¯s fingers pulled the trigger as steadily and urately as a robot, firing eight bullets straight into Artoris¡¯ head, which destroyed him just as he was about to make a breakthrough.

    The rest watched as the priest¡¯s body trembled several times before copsing heavily to the floor. ck smoke rose from the eight bullet holes in his face. Or rather, it was more like there were some facial features among eight bullet holes.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Situ Jin asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin paused to think, then turned and asked Wu Chen, ¡°You¡¯re the senior here. How would you handle such a Challenge?¡±

    ¡°Catch some sleep!¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?!¡±

    ¡°Why are you so surprised? This is a three day Challenge. So many things happened within the first day because we took the initiative to get so much done. If everything could be settled within half a day, why would we be given a three day time limit? What we need to do now is to get ourselves prepared for the road ahead. More enemies will slowly appear as time goes by,¡± said Wu Chen as though this was allmon knowledge.

    The rest quickly realized that he made sense, so Su Jin decided to get everyone to rest for the time being. But everyone had to sleep in the main hall of the church. That way, if an attack urred, everyone could help out. There was no way they were going to let each person find their own room like the way horror movies did. That was a sure way to die.

    Everyone settled down to rest or to calm their minds down. Su Jin volunteered to keep watch for the night. His physical strength had been reduced by 60%, but he was still way stronger than ordinary people. Even if he had to fight for three days without sleeping or resting, he wouldn¡¯t feel tired, so there was no need to take a break now.

    He sat on the roof of the church and flipped open the book they had retrieved from Sherva. This book did contain information on evil creatures, including how to kill them. One of the pages featured the same symbols on Sherva¡¯s body. ording to the book, it was a special symbol that was created by the Righteous God that could trap all energies that did not exist as physical entities.

    ¡°The weakness of shapeshifters are their heads, alright, but that will only kill them temporarily. The weakness of vampires is their heart. You need to chop off the head of a werewolf to kill them. You kill witches by throwing them into a fire.¡± Su Jin continued flipping through the contents of the book, only to find that they weren¡¯t too far off from the myths he had heard in his world.

    Just then, Wu Chen stepped onto the roof and asked Su Jin, ¡°Do we still make holy water?¡±

    ¡°Of course! Of course we do!¡± said Su Jin.

    Wu Chen didn¡¯t understand why. ¡°That priest turned out to be fake. So why do we still have to make holy water?¡±

    ¡°We only found out he was a faketer on, and he didn¡¯t know we were fakes earlier too, so the method he mentioned definitely works. Tell Situ and the rest to continue,¡± said Su Jin confidently.

    Wu Chen agreed with his logic, so he turned and left. A short whileter, Kano Mai hopped onto the roof as well to give Su Jin some water.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Su Jin with a nod. The church was the highest building in Mo City besides the casten¡¯s residence. As he looked down from above and scanned the city, he could vaguely see a faint ck mist wafting through the streets.

    ¡°It will take some time before dawn breaks. But will the light reallye?¡± murmured Kano Mai. She looked a little worried, since Team Boning Knife¡¯s luck was always rather poor. Even a Level D Challenge might feel like a Level A Challenge as a result, so she continued to worry.

    After working together for so long, Su Jin knew what Kano Mai was worried about. He rubbed his nose nervously as well. He didn¡¯t know if it was because of the team or because of himself, but it was true that the Challenges they had gone through hadn¡¯t gone very well at all.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll be f-¡± Before Su Jin could console her, his eyes widened as he spotted the older woman from the slum standing at the entrance of the church, looking up at himself and Kano Mai with a creepy smile on her face.

 Chapter 265: Stephen Chow

    <h4>Chapter 265: Stephen Chow</h4>

    ¡°Mai, go back in and tell everyone to be on guard. If there¡¯s anything that I can¡¯t help to handle, get Wu Chen to make the decision. Also, bring this back!¡± said Su Jin without hesitation as he passed the book back to Kano Mai. He was a good distance away, but he could still see that the older woman had eyes that resembled broken ss.

    Kano Mai did not say anything and quickly returned to the church. Su Jin stared straight at the older woman, then took a step off the roof with his hands in his pockets. He kept eye contact all the way until he hit the ground with a loud thud.

    It wasn¡¯t because Su Jin wanted to look cool or anything like that. He had kept eye contact because that helped to alleviate his fear of heights.

    ¡°You¡¯re the affliction demon?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The older woman grinned, revealing her yellow teeth. The height of her teeth was uneven, and there were loads of yellowish gray que trapped in between her teeth.

    ¡°It¡¯s me. Aren¡¯t you pleasantly surprised?¡± asked the affliction demon as she looked into Su Jin¡¯s eyes with a cheeky glint.

    Su Jin made a face and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about the pleasant part, but I am surprised. I didn¡¯t think you could escape this quickly.¡±

    ¡°Do you know the phrase, ¡®curiosity kills the cat¡¯? I like cats. What about you?¡± said the affliction demon with a smile.

    ¡°Cats? I prefer dogs, really, because I¡¯m not a very secure guy. I always feel like cats might attack me in my sleep,¡± said Su Jin as he scratched his head and looked like he was replying to her seriously.

    The affliction demon looked at Su Jin with some surprise and said, ¡°What an interesting man you are. I¡¯ve made my escape, yet you¡¯re still so calm. Let me guess what gives you the courage to remain like this¡­ is it because you managed to insult me earlier and it¡¯s increased your ignorance?¡±

    She let out a nasty roar and sent a mouthful of foul smelling spit toward Su Jin. He quickly turned his face away to dodge the spit before looking back at her with a sigh.

    .

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you know basic oral hygiene?¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Humph! Stop pretending that you¡¯re confident! What have you done to Artoris?¡± she asked.

    Bang! Bang! Su Jin suddenly pulled White Ash out and fired rapidly at the affliction demon. The holy bullets made her stumble backward but couldn¡¯t kill her. Just like what Artoris told him, the affliction demon was a high level demon, so holy bullets wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill her.

    The affliction demon stumbled more than ten steps backward, and once Su Jin stopped firing, the bullet holes on her face instantly healed. Su Jin could see the fury on her face, but he didn¡¯t give her the chance to speak at all. He pulled his shirt off with one smooth movement, threw it aside, then ran toward the affliction demon like a car driving at its maximum speed.

    Before the affliction demon could regain her bnce, Su Jin rammed into her. As a high level demon, it should have been impossible for the strength of a human to be anywhere near hers. But just when she was about to teach Su Jin a good lesson, she quickly realized that her opponent was no ordinary human.

    This human exorcist didn¡¯t look very strong, yet he was able to exert strength like an angry dragon. Before she couldunch an attack, Su Jin had smashed her against a wall.

    Bam! Bam! Bam!

    Su Jin¡¯s fists moved so quickly, they were a blur. The damage his fists did was even more severe than the bullets from White Ash. All his punchesnded on her head, and almost every punch was able to turn her head into mush.

    Her head didn¡¯t have enough time to recover and remained mush throughout, and Su Jin didn¡¯t look like he was going to stop anytime soon. Eventually, arge mouth appeared at her stomach.

    ¡°Enough! There¡¯s no point in doing this! I can¡¯t die, so once your attacks stop, I¡¯ll be able to recover immediately,¡± yelled the affliction demon. Her head had been hit so rapidly that it didn¡¯t have time to recuperate at all, so she had no choice but to create a mouth at the stomach area to speak.

    Su Jin seemed to be done hitting her as well, so he flicked his wrists and took a leap back. There was actually white smoke swirling around his fists. That was how quickly he had been throwing his punches.

    The affliction demon¡¯s head quickly returned to normal again and she scoffed. ¡°I told you, once your attacks stop¡­¡±

    But before she could finish her sentence, Su Jin pounced toward her again and started his close range violent attack on her. There was no break in between his punches and every punchnded on exactly the same spot.

    ¡°Are you an idiot or a lunatic?! I already told you, there¡¯s no point in hitting me like this! I won¡¯t die because I¡¯m a high level demon. A mortal like you cannot do anything about me!¡± the mouth at her stomach started yelling again.

    Su Jin stopped and waited for her to recover, and once she had recovered, she opened her mouth to curse angrily at him. But that only made him start punching her rapidly again. This cycle went on and he ended up going on his punching rampage at least five or six times.

    ¡°What¡­ what the hell are you trying to do?! You should know by now that you can¡¯t kill me.¡± The affliction demon stared at Su Jin as though she were looking at a madman.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°Of course I know I can¡¯t kill you.¡±

    ¡°Have you lost your mind then? Since you know, why do you still try to attack me? Why are you wasting your time and energy?¡± asked the affliction demon in disbelief.

    Su Jinughed. ¡°It¡¯s true that I can¡¯t kill you, but at the same time, since you can¡¯t even defend yourself from my attacks, it¡¯s telling you that you can¡¯t kill me either!¡±

    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re a mere mortal. Even if your body doesn¡¯t die, your soul could die. I have plenty of ways to kill you,¡± said the affliction demon with a snort.

    ¡°If you were capable of doing that, you would have done so by now, no?¡± said Su Jin disdainfully.

    ¡°Since you prefer death, then¡­ I¡¯ll make sure you die a slow and miserable one!¡±

    The affliction demon narrowed her eyes, then the body of the older woman suddenly copsed onto the ground. A ck smoke came out from her nose and rushed toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t dodge and allowed the ck smoke to enter his nose and mouth. The process was quite ufortable but still bearable. Once the affliction demon had entered his bodypletely, his eyes began to change to look like broken ss as well.

    But halfway through, the transformation paused and he reverted to normal again. Su Jin grinned and said, ¡°Gosh, I can¡¯t believe you really tried!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! What¡¯s going on? Your soul¡­ how is your soul this powerful? This¡­ this is a soul at the same level as a god¡¯s!¡± eximed the affliction demon in horror. She had originally hoped to defeat his soul and take control of his body, but things had not turned out the way she had imagined.

    ¡°No, wait, your soul isn¡¯tplete. There¡¯s something controlling it. That way¡­ you shouldn¡¯t be able to trap me here for too long, but¡­ but how is this happening?¡± The affliction demon was very puzzled and didn¡¯t understand why Su Jin¡¯s soul was like this.

    But of course, Su Jin knew that the thing that was supposedly controlling his soul was really just the power of Hell¡¯s Handbook. Even a real god like the Mad Hatter wasn¡¯t able to fight against the power of Hell¡¯s Handbook, never mind himself.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I can¡¯t keep you here for long. But so what?¡± said Su Jin nonchntly as he turned to walk back into the church. Everyone had heard the terrible sounds of fighting earlier and were relieved to see that Su Jin had returned safely. But they also remembered that Artoris had said before that the affliction demon couldn¡¯t be killed, so they were curious to know how Su Jin managed to deal with the demon.

    ¡°Jin, are you alright?¡± Kano Mai was worried that he might be injured.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happened to the affliction demon? You managed to chase it away?¡± asked Wu Chen curiously.

    Su Jin shook his head again. He pointed to his head and said, ¡°Nope. I captured him and trapped him inside here.¡±

    Everyone was puzzled for a moment before they reeled back in horror. His team mates became terribly anxious. Locking a high level demon inside his head sounded as good as a death wish.

    Wu Chen¡¯s lips twitched nervously. ¡°This¡­ I feel like I¡¯ve seen something like this before. Are you¡­ are you going to be like Stephen Chow in that movie? Are you going to suddenly turn into a madman and hack us all to death?!¡±

    ¡°You like that movie too? We can talk about it once all of this is over. But now, that thing is more important.¡± Su Jin pointed to the book in Kano Mai¡¯s hands.

    Wu Chen gave him a nod, then dragged the three newbies besides Bo Ya over. While they were still confused about what was going on, he made a cut on one of their hands.

    ¡°Since the three of you can¡¯t fight, you can contribute some blood then!¡± said Wu Chen before turning to Su Jin. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the other things written inside are of any use, so it¡¯s best to use fresh blood.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s so special about fresh blood?¡± asked Su Jin curiously. At the same time, all of them had noticed that Su Jin¡¯s left eye had transformed rapidly to look like a ball of broken ss.

    Wu Chen had noticed it too, but he remained calm as he exined, ¡°Humans aren¡¯t considered the highest lifeform for nothing. From one of the Challenges I went through, I found out that human blood originates from God and has holy attributes. That¡¯s why human blood has always been one of the bestponents for all sorts of ceremonies, magic circles and the like.¡±

    Su Jin looked like he had learned something new. After Wu Chen got quite a bit of blood from the three newbies, he told Su Jin to take off all his clothes. Su Jin blinked and frowned slightly. It was getting a little difficult to hold the affliction demon down.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Wu Chen a little worriedly.

    ¡°Jin, hang in there!¡± Kano Mai chimed in.

    Su Jin nodded, then used a hand to tear his clothes off. He had to focus in order to hold the affliction demon down, and taking his clothes off properly would be a form of distraction.

    ¡°If you end up having trouble holding up, what should we do?¡± asked Wu Chen as he used a finger to draw the strange symbols in the book on Su Jin¡¯s skin.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyelid began to tremble. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Run!¡±

    Wu Chen nodded slightly to acknowledge the instruction.

 Chapter 266: Trapping The Demon

    <h4>Chapter 266: Trapping The Demon</h4>

    Wu Chen¡¯s hand was very steady and he was able to draw the symbols urately on Su Jin¡¯s skin, even though half of Su Jin¡¯s face now looked terrifying. He looked like what Sherva looked like when they first found him, as though he might suddenly pounce on Wu Chen and bite his neck or tear him to shreds.

    Wu Chen had been through a lot, way more than Su Jin and the rest. In order to revive his daughter, he had witnessed many horrors. There were even a few times where he walked on the brink of death, but he managed to survive each time. If you had to choose which member of Team Boning Knife could remain the calmest in the face of death, that member would be Wu Chen and not Su Jin.

    It wasn¡¯t like Wu Chen had never joined a team before. On the contrary, he had joined a team more than once before, but¡­ not everyone was as lucky as him. The death rate in these Challenges was simply too high. A team could beplete after one Challenge, thenpletely wiped out in the next. It was a verymon urrence.

    Wu Chen was no longer affected by the death of his teammates. At most, he would observe a minute of silence.

    But this time round, Wu Chen really hoped his team leader would make it. Even though Su Jin wasn¡¯t really considered an old timer in Hell¡¯s Handbook, he had given Wu Chen a confidence that he had never felt before. In fact, he felt that perhaps Su Jin himself had no idea how powerful he had be.

    ¡°Stop, you asshole, stop! Stop drawing! I¡¯m going to kill you, I¡¯m really going to kill you!¡± Half of Su Jin¡¯s face waspletely twisted, and his left eye now looked like a ball of broken ss.

    ¡°Save your breath! My teammate isn¡¯t someone who feels threatened so easily.¡± The other half of Su Jin¡¯s face was perfectly fine and even managed to mock the affliction demon.

    ¡°No¡­ you¡¯re a mere mortal¡­ how is this possible? How are you able to trap a high level demon like myself? Why is your soul like a god¡¯s? Why? WHY?¡± roared the affliction demon hysterically. He couldn¡¯t ept the fact that he had been trapped by a mortal, and worse still, this wasn¡¯t a weak trap like Sherva¡¯s had been. He felt like he might not be able to escape this time.

    Su Jin ignored the shrieking of the affliction demon. As the number of symbols drawn on him increased, the twisted and terrifying half of his face slowly reverted to normal and it was calm again after just a few seconds.

    Wu Chen looked at Su Jin as if to ask if everything was alright. Su Jin checked himself internally, then nodded. ¡°Yup, everything¡¯s fine. His power has been suppressed and I¡¯ve sealed him with my psychokinesis, so he can¡¯te out anymore.¡±

    Everyone let out a big sigh of relief when they heard these words. Wu Chen frowned and said, ¡°There¡¯s one more problem. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d have to go through this Challenge in the nude. Otherwise, if these bloodied symbols get wiped out¡­ you know what¡¯s going to happen.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. It wasn¡¯t a problem for him anyway. His body was strong enough to still feelfortable even if you threw him into a freezer. Temperature was not much of a problem to him at all.

    Wu Chen sniggered. ¡°And of course, thedies here get to benefit. That¡¯s part of your responsibility as the team leader.¡±

    Su Jin froze before breaking into an awkward smile. But the fewdies were quite happy to stare at Su Jin, including Bo Ya. They didn¡¯t look the slightest bit embarrassed.

    Besides, Su Jin¡¯s figure was truly excellent now. His muscles were well defined, but they weren¡¯t toorge and bulky. Every line on his body looked like they were drawn by one of the finest artists in the world. He was pleasant to look at, filled with strength and beauty at the same time.

    But Su Jin did feel a little ufortable from the way thedies were staring at him. It was usually men who harassed women, but now he felt like he was the one being harassed.

    ¡°Jin, were you nning to do this all along?¡± asked Kano Mai a little angrily. Su Jin¡¯s method had worked, but it was also too dangerous. If the affliction demon had managed to take control of his body, then not only was the team going to end up dying, but he would die as well.

    Su Jin knew that his method had been rather risky, so he could only apologize to her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. That wasn¡¯t my n actually, but I realized that his mental strength wasn¡¯t very strong, so even if I couldn¡¯t control him, I figured that I could chase him out.¡±

    Kano Mai nodded slightly after hearing this exnation to show that she had forgiven him for doing something like that. To every member of the team, whether dead or alive, Su Jin was someone they trusted with their lives, even if they were in a very dangerous situation. Kano Mai chided him, but she was always supportive of him as well. She just hoped that Su Jin could discuss his ns with them next time.

    ¡°Make sure you discuss your ns with me before taking such risks!¡± said Kano Mai very sternly. The rest nodded in agreement.

    Su Jin replied, ¡°Of course I will. Things happened very suddenly this time round, so I had no choice but to make a decision myself.¡±

    But the rest of his team rolled their eyes at his response. This wasn¡¯t the first time he had done something dangerous like that. The team wasn¡¯t hoping that he would really discuss everything with them, but rather, they hoped that he wouldn¡¯t do anything this dangerous anymore.

    Now that this matter was settled, Situ Jin asked, ¡°The mission is to rid the city of the monsters. You¡¯ve trapped the demon, but I don¡¯t think that counts, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it counts either, but there¡¯s a way around that. I just have to leave the city when the Challenge is about to end,¡± said Su Jin.

    The rest concurred with his line of logic. After all of this had happened, it wasn¡¯t long until dawn. They decided not to take a rest and just sit down together and wait for the sun to rise.

    ¡°We¡¯ve killed three shapeshifters, but I don¡¯t know if there are anymore in the city,¡± said Kano Mai with some frustration in her voice.

    Everyone sighed and nodded. This Challenge was difficult not because there was a lot of fighting to do, but because they didn¡¯t know exactly how many monsters they had to get rid of. If they left out a monster or two by the time the Challenge ended, they were doomed.

    ¡°There must be some way to confirm how many monsters there are. We just don¡¯t know how at the moment,¡± said Wu Chen very confidently. He had experience in Challenges that required the owners to exterminate certain creatures. The Handbook contained a lot of surprises all the time, but the one thing that remained consistent was that there was definitely some way for the owners to survive the Challenge. It was just a matter of whether the owners managed to find it or not.

    ¡°Erm, could I ask¡­ is this the number of monsters?¡± Ma Xinyu held up her Handbook. There was a string of words and numbers in her book, including the word ¡°shapeshifter¡± and the numbers 7/10 behind it.

    ¡°Oh my!¡± The members of Team Boning Knife blinked in shock. They imagined that this number would be hidden and difficult to find, but it turned out to be written clearly in the Handbook.

    Su Jin immediately flipped through his own Handbook, but there was no such information recorded in his copy. He pped his forehead and said, ¡°The Handbook always gives newbies some advantages. I didn¡¯t think it would be this. In that case¡­ is this to make sure that we protect the newbies?¡±

    The Handbook had protective measures for newbies in ce, including providing them with additional information in their Handbooks. This additional information was very important to the old timers, so the old timers would usually try to help the newbies in exchange for this extra information. But of course, there were always old timers who didn¡¯t care for this and killed newbies very quickly. They had other reasons for doing that.

    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, Situ, I¡¯ll leave their safety in your hands. You¡¯re the vige chief of our noob vige,¡± said Su Jin as he patted Situ Jin¡¯s shoulder.

    Situ Jin rolled his eyes at Su Jin. ¡°What do you mean by vige chief of the noob vige? What am I, a nanny?¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped. Your Spirit Power is very suitable for hiding people, which is very useful in keeping everyone alive. You¡¯re born a nanny! If I don¡¯t put you in charge, then who should I choose? Let¡¯s have a show of hands. Whoever thinks Situ should be in charge of the newbies, raise your hands now,¡± said Su Jin.

    Wu Chen, Kano Mai, and Bo Ya raised their hands without hesitation, and the three newbies followed suit. Situ Jin sighed as though he was resigned to his fate. After all, like Su Jin said, his shadow Spirit Power was really good for keeping people alive. Not just himself, but other people at the same time.

    ¡°Can I have another look?¡± Su Jin said to Ma Xinyu.

    Ma Xinyu passed her Handbook to him and he took a look at the numbers. Ten shapeshifters, five vampires, 11 werewolves, 20 ogres, three witches, and two demons. The total number wasn¡¯t really that high.

    ¡°Next time, we should check the numbers every time we kill any monsters to make sure we really got rid of them,¡± Su Jin said to the rest. These evil creatures probably had some way of protecting themselves, like the shapeshifters earlier. The surest way to confirm that they had gotten rid of those monsters would be to check the numbers listed in the Handbook, since that would have the most urate information. That was also why Su Jin still wanted to protect the newbies even after noting that the total number of monsters was not high.

    Everyone nodded in response. There was still some time before sunrise, so Su Jin and his team started telling the newbies about Hell¡¯s Handbook. Bo Ya was a newbie too, so it was good for her to hear more about it. Of course, nobody could guarantee a smooth journey through the Challenges just by listening to the experiences of others. How long they could survive in this universe still depended almost entirely on their own abilities.

    ¡°Spirit Power: those with Spirit Power are known as veterans, and your chances of surviving will increase once you¡¯ve be a veteran. The Handbook has a lot of limitations on the use of Spirit Power now, but having it is better than not having it.¡± Wu Chen had the most experience among them, so he was qualified to be their lecturer.

    ¡°Of course,pared to having Spirit Power, your ability to discern and make decisions is more important. Your ability to think rationally even in the face of danger is vital. In general, being intelligent is more important than having Spirit Power. Spirit Power is just a weapon that can aid you along the way. Your brains will be the thing that truly helps you to survive.

    ¡°There are a lot of different types of Challenges too. After a major incident happened, the number of types have increased and I can¡¯t list them all either. I can only tell you the ones I¡¯ve been through.¡± Wu Chen summarized all the Challenges he had gone through, and Su Jin suddenly realized that this little lecture wasn¡¯t only beneficial to the newbies, but it was also good for the other members of Team Boning Knife.

    ¡°Out of all the different types, the supernatural type is the most terrifying, because this sort of Challenge includes things like ghosts. A key feature of such a Challenge is how death oftenes without warning. You could die from just doing one wrong action. But simrly, once you find the way to survive, your chances of surviving will increase exponentially.¡±

 Chapter 267: The Witch

    <h4>Chapter 267: The Witch</h4>

    Dawn broke as Wu Chen wrapped up his lecture. Su Jin believed that as long as they weren¡¯t too unlucky, the newbies would be able to survive future Challenges better after Wu Chen had exined his experiences. Of course, like what Wu Chen said, the thing that would help them to survive was really their own brain.

    As the sun lit up the sky, the previously dead city came back to live. After a night of rest, the people did not look energetic at all. Instead, they looked incredibly exhausted, because they were living under tremendous stress and fear.

    Su Jin left the church once more with Kano Mai and Wu Chen, but this time, they brought a newbie, Kang Ze, as well. They needed his Handbook to confirm if they had gotten rid of any monsters that they might run into. Situ Jin stayed behind to protect the other newbies as the person in charge of their safety.

    It was daytime, but Su Jin¡¯s group wasn¡¯t taking any chances. Some evil creatures did fear the sun, but some didn¡¯t. The werewolves, ogres, shapeshifters and witches didn¡¯t fear the sun, so they had to be careful even in the day.

    The residents of the city looked curiously at Su Jin because he wasn¡¯t wearing anything and had a lot of bloodied symbols drawn all over his skin. But once they found out that these were the exorcists sent by the Righteous God, the curious look in their eyes changed to one of respect. To them, even if the actions of the exorcists looked strange, there must be a reason for doing so.

    The four of them headed straight for the casten¡¯s residence. The casten immediately came to wee them when he heard the exorcists were here. He led them inside politely and even threw a banquet.

    The three old timers were good with not eating, but Kang Ze was famished. He ate like he hadn¡¯t eaten in decades, which reminded the old timers that the newbies in the church were probably faring no better.

    ¡°Sir, could you send someone to bring food to the church? My otherpanions have not eaten,¡± Su Jin said to the casten, who was smiling ingratiatingly at Su Jin.

    ¡°Oh! Of course, of course! I apologize for the oversight. I¡¯ll send some food over right now,¡± said the casten apologetically. He called a servant over and gave him instructions.

    Su Jin turned to say to Kano Mai, ¡°Mai, go back with the people that the casten is sending to the church. Also¡­ be careful.¡±

    Kano Mai met Su Jin¡¯s knowing nce and nodded slightly. The two of them could practically read each other¡¯s minds now, so they could understand each other without having to spell it out clearly.

    After the casten was done buttering up Su Jin, he moved on to Wu Chen. Kang Ze had just returned with a te of food and said to Su Jin, ¡°Mr. Su, why don¡¯t you eat a little something?¡±

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow, then had a naughty look in his eye as he said, ¡°Mr. Kang, there are some shapeshifters that we haven¡¯t gotten rid of yet. Aren¡¯t you afraid that a shapeshifter might have morphed into the casten and poisoned the food?¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Kang Ze paled in horror. He stuck a finger into his mouth in an attempt to try and vomit everything back out again.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of his arm and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Out of the four of us, you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s been eating. If I were a shapeshifter, I wouldn¡¯t poison the food, since that would look way too obvious. That would draw unnecessary attention to them.¡±

    Kang Ze was a little assured, but he still decided to put the te of food away and didn¡¯t dare to touch it anymore. He also quietly remained by Su Jin¡¯s side.

    Wu Chen approached Su Jin after he had chatted with the casten for a while. ¡°How¡¯s it? Are there any monsters here?¡±

    ¡°I think there must be some, but we¡¯ll need the cooperation of the casten if we want to find out who it is,¡± said Su Jin with a grin. Wu Chen nodded and grinned back. He knew what Su Jin wanted to do, so he went to get the casten.

    ¡°Sir, we need to announce some things to everyone, so please ask everyone in this house to gather here. And I mean every single person,¡± Wu Chen said to the casten.

    The casten agreed immediately and told his servants to gather everyone immediately, including even the gardeners. Before long, the banquet hall was filled with people.

    Su Jin stood at the entrance to block anyone from getting out. Wu Chen said in a loud voice, ¡°Everyone, Mo City has been invaded by evil creatures and any person here could be an evil creature in disguise. To ensure the safety of the casten¡¯s residence, we seek your cooperation to undergo a test.¡±

    A crystal appeared in Wu Chen¡¯s hands, which was the one item that he had chosen to use for this Challenge. This item could not attack, but it was extremely sensitive to any evil energies in the air. He had already discussed this matter with Su Jin earlier on, and had chosen this crystal as his only item for the Challenge.

    Everyone immediately exchanged nervous nces. There was fear in their eyes and they quickly moved further away from the people around them, afraid that the person next to them might be an evil creature. For the same reason, nobody objected to being tested.

    Wu Chen smiled and said to the casten, ¡°Sir, why don¡¯t you be the first one?¡±

    ¡°My pleasure.¡± The casten nodded without hesitation. Wu Chen ced the crystal on the casten¡¯s arm and nothing changed after waiting for a few seconds. Wu Chen nodded and thanked the casten.

    Now that even the casten had gone through the test, nobody had any reason to refuse. Wu Chen began to test everybody and in the end, all of them proved to be normal humans. That surprised Su Jin and hispanions.

    Su Jin paused to think for a moment. Was Wu Chen¡¯s item ineffective? If that was the case, he was going to have to shoot every single person here.

    He scanned the crowd, and a thought suddenly hit him. He asked the casten, ¡°Sir, are you not married?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, you have got to be kidding. How could a man my age still be unmarried?¡± said the casten with augh.

    Su Jin said curiously, ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ nobody here looks like they might be your wife.¡± Su Jin scanned the crowd again. There were some women in the crowd, but they were all dressed like servants, so they were definitely not the wife of the casten.

    The casten turned to scan the crowd as well, then asked a maid puzzledly, ¡°Where¡¯s my wife?¡±

    ¡°Master, Madam said that she doesn¡¯t feel well, so¡­ she¡¯s still resting in her room,¡± replied the maid as she bowed her head.

    Su Jin exchanged nces with Wu Chen. Wu Chen said, ¡°Sir, for your own safety as well as the safety of Mo City, could you¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get her toe over right now,¡± said the casten.

    But Su Jin stopped him. ¡°No need. Since she¡¯s not feeling well, let¡¯s go over to her instead. Her room is within the residence, so that¡¯s just a short walk for us.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for being understanding,¡± the casten thanked Su Jin, then led the trio toward his wife¡¯s room.

    When they reached her door, the casten called out, ¡°Alinda, the three exorcists heard that you¡¯re not feeling well, so they¡¯vee to see you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much, but I¡¯m really feeling very unwell today. I¡¯ll make up for it once I get well, but I really can¡¯t see anyone today¡­¡± responded a female voice from inside the room. She sounded very frail indeed.

    But Su Jin took a step forward and kicked the door open. Everyone was shocked to see that the room waspletely empty, except for a crystal ball floating in the air.

    ¡° A witch!¡° said Su Jin immediately.

    ¡°She¡¯s run off already.¡± Wu Chen frowned. The other party had been very careful and seemed to have realized what they were doing in the house, so she made her escape before they even arrived at her room.

    ¡°She hasn¡¯t run far!¡± Su Jin was very sure. Even if she had escaped before they arrived, she wouldn¡¯t have run too far in such a short time. Or perhaps she had hidden herself somewhere instead of running.

    With that in mind, Su Jin raised his gun and shot the floating crystal ball.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± A scream came from somewhere in the house when the crystal ball shattered. The crystal ball turned out to be still connected in some way to the witch. She had left the crystal ball behind so that it could broadcast her voice and stall for time, but if the crystal ball was destroyed, it would still end up injuring her.

    Su Jin could detect where the voice wasing from immediately and flew out like a bolt of lightning. The casten and his servants had still not fully realized that the casten¡¯s wife was actually a witch.

    Su Jin moved at an extraordinary speed and discovered the witch in mere seconds. The witch seemed to be shocked that Su Jin hade for her so quickly and looked terrified. But that look of terror disappeared in a sh as she suddenly threw pink powder at him.

    The pink powder exploded in midair and turned into a wall of mes that blocked off Su Jin¡¯s ess to her. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by these mes. He drew White Ash out and fired a shot. The holy bullets passed through the mes without any problem and hit the witch urately.

    The witch stared at him in disbelief and slowly fell onto the ground. The mes in the air were extinguished shortly after that as well. Wu Chen and the rest hade just in time to witness this. The casten looked in shock at the woman lying dead on the ground, then sighed heavily. It was hard to say if he was sighing from sadness or anger.

    Su Jin said to Kang Ze, ¡°Mr. Kang, check your Handbook and see if we¡¯ve gotten rid of the witch.¡±

    Kang Ze nodded and flipped open his Handbook. The number next to the witch category had be 2/3, which confirmed that this witch was dead.

    ¡°No problem, she¡¯s gone,¡± said Kang Ze as he held out his Handbook to let Su Jin see the numbers.

    Su Jin nodded and was ready to walk away when the witch¡¯s corpse suddenly stood up. She pounced onto Su Jin, hugged him tightly, then exploded with a loud boom.

 Chapter 268: The Ogre

    <h4>Chapter 268: The Ogre</h4>

    The corpse of the witch suddenly leaped up from the ground and hugged Su Jin tightly. It exploded violently before anyone realized what was going on, and the impact of the st was bigger than they imagined.

    As her body exploded, her blood rained down on everyone there, and even Wu Chen did not manage to dodge it. But that didn¡¯t bother him. He kept his eye focused on Su Jin.

    Su Jin stood where he was without moving, as though he were injured. Wu Chen had a worried look in his eyes. He wasn¡¯t worried that Su Jin would be injured, since such a st wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt Su Jin at all. He was worried that this st would affect the demon trapped inside Su Jin¡¯s head.

    A momentter, Su Jin started moving again. He casually pulled away the parts of the witch¡¯s body that were still stuck to him. She had hugged him really tightly, so her arms and legs were still stuck to him despite the st, as though he had been attacked by an octopus.

    After he made sure there were no more broken pieces of flesh on himself, Su Jin said to Wu Chen, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to trouble you again. Some of the symbols are smudged.¡± He pointed to the symbols on his skin that had been smudged or erased because of what the witch did.

    Wu Chen exhaled deeply and got some rags from the casten. He cleaned up the parts of Su Jin¡¯s body that got the witch¡¯s blood on it, then used the blood from the witch to draw those symbols on Su Jin again. He didn¡¯t need anybody to contribute blood this time.

    Su Jin checked himself to make sure everything was alright. He had been a little fearful earlier on as well. If the witch erased too many of the symbols on his body that served to suppress the power of the demon inside his head, then all of them were doomed. Thankfully, only the section on his chest was smudged, which didn¡¯t affect him too much.

    Once Wu Chen was done redrawing the symbols, he said to the casten, ¡°Did you not know at all that your own wife was a witch?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ actually, I¡¯ve only married her for less than a month and I really had no idea that she was actually a witch.¡± The casten had a panicked look on his face. He was supposed to be the lord of this city, yet he married a witch. If the people found out about this, he could forget about remaining the casten.

    ¡°Sir, when you married her, did she have any sisters or close female friends?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The casten didn¡¯t even pause to think. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes, yes. When I married her, I knew she had two older sisters. I even built a house in the north of the city specially for both of them. Are you saying that¡­!¡±

    ¡°Birds of a feather flock together,¡± said Su Jin with augh. This was good news. There were three witches in total, of which they had just gotten rid of one, and now they knew where to find the other two.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not waste anymore time! Since we¡¯ve gotten these clues, let¡¯s head there right now!¡± Wu Chen rubbed his palms together.

    The casten said, ¡°I¡¯ll get a guard to bring you there!¡±

    ¡°Yes, please. Find one who knows the twodies,¡± said Su Jin. He was afraid that the two other witches might have gotten the news and run away, and it would be difficult to find them among the people by themselves. Of course, it would be great if the two of them left the city, but he didn¡¯t think that was going to happen.

    The casten quickly found a guard who knew the two women and also gave them horses to ride on, which pleased Su Jin greatly.

    The horses galloped along swiftly within the city. Su Jin was terrible at horse riding, so he shared one with Wu Chen. Kang Ze turned out to be pretty good at horse riding, so he got his own horse. This made Wu Chen very unhappy and he keptining and cursing throughout the journey, saying that Su Jin should have been the one who sent the food back to the church, because he would rather share a horse with a beauty like Kano Mai than one naked Su Jin.

    Su Jin just kept quiet, afraid that Wu Chen might throw him off the horse if he made Wu Chen unhappy. If that happened, he would have to run after the horses instead. While he was more than capable of running as quickly as a horse, a naked man running after a horse was a really terrible look.

    The horses quickly arrived at a newly built house in the north of the city. The knight with them got off his horse, bowed to the other three and helped Wu Chen and Kang Ze to hold their horses.

    ¡°Sirs, this is the ce,¡± said the knight politely.

    ¡°Thank you. Please wait here for us,¡± Wu Chen said to the knight. Su Jin had already walked toward the gate. He grabbed hold of the gate and pushed hard against it, causing the nks nailed to it from inside to break into two.

    ¡°The nks were nailed from the inside, so there are probably people inside,¡± Su Jin said to Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen threw the crystal into the yard and the crystal immediately gave off a weak glow. The two of them exchanged nces, then Su Jin marched into the yard first. His ears trembled slightly as he listened to every sound in the yard.

    ¡°Don¡¯te in!¡± Su Jin suddenly yelled, forcing Wu Chen to stop in his tracks.

    Wu Chen turned and ran far from the house without hesitation, because he had watched Su Jin scan every corner of the yard, including the areas that he couldn¡¯t see from his position. He had noticed a figure reflected in Su Jin¡¯s eyes, which meant that someone was already lying in wait for them here.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply when he saw that Wu Chen had run with all his might. Monsters in a Level D Challenge were no match for him, with the exception of the affliction demon. As long as he didn¡¯t have to worry about hispanions getting hurt, he wasn¡¯t worried about having to fight these monsters himself.

    ¡°It was foolish for you exorcists to choose to enter Mo City.¡± A tall andrge man walked out. His eyes were narrowed slightly and he held a giant bone in his hands.

    Su jin scanned the people in the yard and murmured, ¡°1, 2, 3, 4¡­ plus the women, there are a total of 22 of you. You guys are¡­ogres.¡±

    ¡°I heard long ago that exorcists had the ability to detect our superhuman powers, but you¡¯ve failed to detect our trap. It¡¯s too bad that a few have managed to escape, but it doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s more fun to kill you one by one!¡± The man grinned widely, revealing remnants of flesh and blood stuck between his teeth. It seemed like he had just finished eating.

    ¡°So, you think this is a cat and mouse game? But I think you¡¯ve gotten our roles reversed.¡± Su Jin stretched his neck and arms. He was very pleased with this situation, actually, since he would be able to wipe out all the ogres and witches in one go. That was perfect.

    Two extremely gorgeous women sat down next to the ogre and leaned against him. They both had a look of hatred in their eyes. One of them said to him, ¡°My dear, I think you must have tasted all sorts of people before, but I¡¯m sure the taste of an exorcist would be quite different, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course! This is possibly the meal that we¡¯re looking forward to the most!¡± The ogre cackled, then shouted, ¡°My brothers, let¡¯s go!¡±

    The other ogres roared as they dashed out from various corners of the yard. All of them had a bloodthirsty look in their eyes, and they seemed especially excited because their target was an exorcist.

    Su Jin made his move too. He came face to face with an ogre whose clothes were already stained red from blood. It was clear that this was an ogre who didn¡¯t have very good eating etiquette. Then again, even if it were clean, it was going to be stained with blood soon.

    There was a crunch as Su Jin¡¯s arm pierced through the ogre¡¯s body like a spear, and he retracted it quickly after that. Only his arms did not have any symbols drawn on it, so he just needed to make sure the rest of his body wasn¡¯t affected when he fought.

    Within a moment, Su Jin turned into the angel of death in the yard. Ogre after ogre crashed heavily onto the ground. Their bodies were muchrgerpared to humans, yet they were unable to defend themselves against Su Jin¡¯s attacks. They were like giant ragdolls as Su Jin pierced their hearts with his bare hands.

    The leader of the ogres did not expect an exorcist to be able to massacre his fellow ogres just like that. He roared and pounced toward Su Jin. The two witches realized that they were losing, so they took out their crystal balls, held them up and began chanting. Before long, a red light shot out from the crystal balls and covered the ogres entirely. The ogres immediately went berserk, and their fighting abilities improved.

    Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t enough. Just like how an ant could not fight a human even if it became asrge and strong as a beetle, these ogres were no match for Su Jin at all. He continued killing them at the same rate. In fact, because the ogres were so obsessed with killing him, they kept charging at him without dodging any of his attacks. That only helped him to kill them even faster.

    The leader of the ogres brandished the bone in his hand and swung it mightily at Su Jin¡¯s head. Su Jin raised a hand and caught it immediately. His hand trembled slightly, and the entire bone was turned to powder. He had made use of the Qi Thrust method to do that.

    ¡°Die!¡± After Su Jin had shattered the bone, he charged toward the leader of the ogres. The leader sensed danger, so he grabbed hold of two ogres and threw them at Su Jin, with the hope of slowing Su Jin down. But before they could even hit him, he swiped them away with his hands.

    Su Jin¡¯s hand grabbed hold of the leader¡¯s head, and the leader felt like he hadnded in the hands of a demon. He was terrified and opened his mouth to plead for mercy, but before he could say anything, his head burst like a balloon.

    The leader of the ogres was considered just a high level monster, and based on the categorization that Jiang Li had of Challenges, this leader was like a special forces soldier, or a top mercenary. As long as the owner was not careless, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to kill such a monster.

    The 20 ogres didn¡¯t evenst three minutes. Su Jin even felt like he ought to thank the witches for using those strange chants to make the ogres go berserk. If the ogres hadn¡¯t just charged at him brainlessly and refused to even try escaping, then it would have taken him more time to kill them all.

    The two witches were already too frightened to even stand steadily. They never knew such a powerful exorcist existed. That was a group of ogres which were able to defeat a whole team from the church. Yet, they had been massacred by just one person.

    ¡°Those symbols on his body¡­ those are symbols to trap demons. What¡¯s inside his body?¡± One of the witches actually recognized the symbols on Su Jin¡¯s skin and copsed weakly onto the floor. She was so frightened that she peed herself.

    Su Jin nced at the two women, took White Ash out and fired twice.

    The gate opened and Su Jin walked out. At the same time, the two witches walked out behind him. He didn¡¯t kill them.

 Chapter 269: Great Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 269: Great Rewards</h4>

    Wu Chen and Kang Ze immediately guessed that these two women were the witches, but they were puzzled as to why Su Jin did not kill them and brought them out instead.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Wu Chen.

    Su Jin knew what he was really asking, so he exined, ¡°I meant to kill them, but they said they could help us to find the other evil creatures, so I spared them for the time being.¡±

    Wu Chen and Kang Ze didn¡¯t look puzzled anymore. It was true that their biggest problem right now was to hunt down those evil creatures. If these two witches were able to help them do that, that would make their job a lot easier.

    ¡°I fought 20 ogres just now. Mr. Kang, could you check your Handbook and confirm if they¡¯ve really been killed?¡± Su Jin said to Kang Ze.

    Kang Ze quickly opened his Handbook, checked the numbers, then nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. All 20 ogres have been taken out.¡±

    In order to make sure his efforts didn¡¯t go to waste, Su Jin had made sure to crush the hearts of each ogre earlier on. It seemed like the weakness of ogres was indeed their heart.

    ¡°Ogres, witches, demons. We¡¯re left with shapeshifters, werewolves, and vampires.¡± Su Jin rubbed his chin. Vampires and werewolves were usually creatures of the night, ording to legend. Based on how the Handbook usually conducted Challenges, it was probably too hard to locate them in the daytime even with the help of the witches. So, he was only left with the shapeshifters.

    When it came to such evil creatures, Su Jin felt that shapeshifters were the most difficult to deal with. Once they had hidden themselves in a crowd, it could be almost impossible to locate them. That¡¯s why he epted the witches¡¯ offer to help his group instead of killing them.

    ¡°Shapeshifters. We want to locate shapeshifters now. Help us to find them,¡± Su Jin said to the witches.

    The two witches quickly whipped out their crystal balls and a bag of green powder. When they noticed the suspicious look in Su Jin and Wu Chen¡¯s eyes, they quickly exined, ¡°This is powder made from the bodies of shapeshifters. With this, we will be able to find out exactly where they are.¡±

    Su Jin and Wu Chen were rather taken aback. Witches really had the craziest things on hand: these two even had powder made from the bodies of shapeshifters. They were evil creatures, alright.

    The witches poured the powder onto their crystal balls and started chanting mysterious words. In no time, the two crystal balls showed a ce and seven faces.

    ¡°Shapeshifters can change their outer appearance as they wish, so it¡¯s not very helpful to only show us their faces, right?¡± said Kang Ze.

    The witches replied, ¡°Shapeshifters can change their outer appearance to whatever they wish to, but there are limits. They can only change their appearance once every hour, so we just need to get to them as soon as possible. Even if they change their appearance again, they¡¯ll not be able to change again within the next hour, so if we help to search for them again¡­¡±

    ¡°Then the shapeshifters¡¯ advantage is as good as useless.¡± Wu Chen nodded.

    ¡°Do you know what ce this is?¡± Su Jin asked as he looked at the image reflected in the crystal balls.

    ¡°That looks like the central market, which isn¡¯t too far from here,¡± replied the knight who came with them.

    They quickly made their way to the market, and once they arrived, Su Jin got Wu Chen to guard the exit with the two witches and Kang Ze, while he went in with the knight.

    The market wasn¡¯t too busy. After the evil creatures had attacked the city, the market was no longer as crowded as before. Most people preferred to hide themselves at home rather than risk going out, unless they really didn¡¯t have enough food to eat at home.

    Su Jin and the knight took their time to stroll through the ce, like they were choosing what to buy. Su Jin quickly arrived at a shop selling rice. The shop front made Su Jin raise an eyebrow. He remembered seeing this shop in the crystal ball earlier. There were supposed to be two shapeshifters here.

    Once they walked into the shop, two people nodded and smiled at them. One of them looked like the boss and came forward to wee them as he said politely, ¡°Wee to the shop, sirs. How can I help you?¡±

    ¡°Besides selling rice, what else does this shop sell? Shapeshifters?¡± Su Jin smirked at the boss.

    The boss froze for a moment, then scowled at Su Jin. ¡°So, you¡¯re not here to buy rice. You¡¯re here to make trouble.¡±

    Su Jin wrinkled his nose and frowned. ¡°The smell of blood was so strong, I thought this shop sold fresh meat. Or¡­ is the rice you sell blood vored?¡±

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± The boss gave a low shout, grabbed a pole used for carrying rice by the side and swung it toward Su Jin¡¯s head. The other shapeshifter turned and ran toward the back of the shop in a clear attempt to escape.

    Su Jin thrust a finger through the boss¡¯ throat and the boss started convulsing violently. Su Jin grabbed him by the cor and dragged him as he ran to the back. The other shapeshifter had climbed up the wall behind, but Su Jin took White Ash out and fired several shots at his back.

    The shapeshifter fell from the wall and let out a screech. Su Jin ignored his screeching and punched his heart so hard that it exploded. Then, he picked up that second shapeshifter by the cor and dragged them out of the rice shop.

    When the shapeshifter screeched, the other shapeshifters in the market quickly changed their appearance and got ready to run.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t bother trying to find them in the market. Instead, he walked out and said to the two witches, ¡°Help me to find them again.¡±

    The witches didn¡¯t dare to refuse his request, so they quickly repeated the chants they did earlier and the faces of five shapeshifters appeared in the crystal ball. Just then, thick smoke billowed out from the market, followed by shouts and screams as people started running out from the market.

    ¡°Hoping to escape in the chaos?¡± Su Jin and Wu Chen both chuckled. Su Jin threw the two shapeshifters to Wu Chen, then held up White Ash as he kept his eye on the only exit. He had memorized the faces of the five shapeshifters, so once they came running out, he would be able to find them immediately.

    Bang! As one person dashed out from inside, Su Jin pulled the trigger and hit that person in the heart. That person fell to the ground and stopped moving. Su Jin and Wu Chen ignored him and continued watching the exit.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    Su Jin fired three more shots and each shot took his target down immediately. Everyone else stared at Su Jin in horror, afraid that he might shoot them. That thing in his hands that fired white light seemed very formidable indeed.

    ¡°There¡¯s still onest one. Is he so scared that he¡¯s going to let himself burn to death inside the market?¡± said Su Jin with a snort.

    ¡°Could he have escaped from elsewhere?¡± asked Wu Chen.

    The knight said, ¡°That¡¯s not possible. The casten was the one who wanted this market to be built, so the design includes extremely high walls around the entire ce, and this is the only exit. Unless¡­that person knows how to fly.¡±

    ¡°Or he could also climb!¡± Wu Chen red at the knight like the knight was dumb.

    But those remarks made Su Jin look up at the surrounding wall of the market. Just like what the knight said, the wall was very high and looked like it was at least ten meters high. It would be impossible for an ordinary person to climb such a wall, but could that shapeshifter have transformed itself into something that could climb a wall?

    Su Jin decided not to take any chances and jumped onto the wall from the ground. The eyes of the knight, witches, and Kang Ze were as wide as saucers as they watched him do that. They couldn¡¯t believe a human could be capable of jumping that high up. Unfortunately, the thick smoke from inside the market made it too hard for Su Jin to see. He couldn¡¯t really see anything.

    He leaped off the wall and shook his head sadly. The witches¡¯ crystal balls also showed that thest shapeshifter wasn¡¯t here and had run a long way off.

    ¡°That was a clever one. He might have tricked hispanions into starting a fire so that they could escape amidst the chaos, but turned around and went over the wall himself,¡± said Su Jin.

    Wu Chen agreed that that was a possibility. They both sighed deeply. Now that one had managed to get away, it was going to be difficult to catch him again. They just hoped that the shapeshifter would be too frightened and leave Mo City.

    They proceeded to throw the bodies of the six shapeshifters they caught into a bonfire. Before long, the creepy howls of the shapeshifter could be heard from within the mes. These shapeshifters were a really strong race. Despite having their hearts damaged beyond repair, they didn¡¯t die. They had to be burned to ashes to be considered truly dead.

    Kang Ze¡¯s Handbook also showed that there was only one shapeshifter left to wipe out. Su Jin instructed the knight to return to the casten¡¯s residence, while he returned to the church with Wu Chen, Kang Ze and the two witches. He decided to chase them out just before the Challenge ended. He had made a deal with them earlier and they had been of great help, so he decided to offer them a way out, assuming they didn¡¯t try anything funny along the way.

    Once they set foot inside the church, Su Jin and Wu Chen froze in shock. The church was aplete mess, as though a huge fight had broken out here.

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®as though a huge fight had broken out¡¯?! There WAS a huge fight here just now. That servant you sent here with food turned out to be a werewolf who started wreaking havoc the minute he got here. It took us quite a lot to take him down,¡± snapped Situ Jin before pulling the werewolf¡¯s body out to let Su Jin have a look.

    The werewolf¡¯s head was detached from its body and the newbies¡¯ Handbooks indicated that he was already dead. The werewolf was three meters tall and muchrger than the ogres. His bulky limbs had muscles bulging from them, and arge part of his torso looked like it had been burned. That was probably Kano Mai¡¯s doing.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to get so much out of today¡¯s battles. If everything goes well, we might be able to end the Challenge tonight,¡± said Wu Chen with a smile. The only ones that were a threat to them were the remaining vampires and werewolves.

    ¡°We¡¯re very hungry!¡± Bo Ya and the other twodies called out to Su Jin. They had gone an entire day without food. At least Kang Ze managed to eat quite a bit at the casten¡¯s residence.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the food that was delivered?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai took the food out. There were five boxes of food in total and they were filled to the brim. But Su Jin put the boxes in front of the witches and said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have to trouble the both of you, since you¡¯re my human-shaped poison testers!¡±

 Chapter 270: Murder Kungfu

    <h4>Chapter 270: Murder Kungfu</h4>

    To a certain extent, witches had human bodies, but after many years of training in witchcraft, they had turned into creatures of evil.

    ¡°Jin, they might look like humans, but¡­ they have already turned into monsters and some poisons are no longer effective on them,¡± Wu Chen reminded Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded and grinned widely. ¡°Of course I know that. But that doesn¡¯t matter. In any case, if something untoward happens to anybody in my group after eating these things, I¡¯ll kill them.¡±

    Unfortunately for the two witches, the words of the one in power was thew. Su Jin was behaving like some dictator now, but his priority was protecting his group. The two witches had seen how Su Jin killed the other evil creatures. Shapeshifters and ogres seemed like innocent sheep in the hands of Su Jin. The harmless looking human named Su Jin was the real evil creature to them.

    The two witches checked through all the food in each box and confirmed that some items did contain poison, so they got rid of the poison before letting the rest eat. Also, while they were eating, Su Jin kept White Ash aimed at the two witches. He didn¡¯t need to tell them why he was doing that.

    The two witches were extremely nervous as they watched the group eat, afraid that theirte sister might haveced the food with some poison they didn¡¯t know of. As long as just one of these people was poisoned, both witches were going to end up dead.

    Everyone finally had satisfied smiles on their faces after they had finished eating. It was hard for newbies to go an entire day and night without eating or drinking anything, after all. If any of them had a poorer constitution, they might end up fainting or even dying from their own hunger.

    ¡°What do we do next?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Su Jin paused to think for a moment, then said, ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of creatures left to get rid of, just vampires and werewolves. Let¡¯s try to settle them all tonight! It¡¯s only a Level D Challenge, but if we wait for too long, I¡¯m afraid things will change over time.¡±

    The rest shared simr sentiments. They had been given three days toplete the Challenge, but the owners didn¡¯t want to really spend a full three days in this sort of ce. If possible, they would rather leave as quickly as they could.

    ¡°Tonight, Situ will continue to be in charge of protecting the newbies. Mai, myself, and Wu Chen will go on a hunt. Mai will be one team with Wu Chen, along with one of the witches. I¡¯ll be on my own team along with the other witch. Situ, you haven¡¯t used any of your items yet, so pick a weapon for him,¡± Su Jin started giving instructions.

    Situ Jin had no objections. He nodded and retrieved a spear from his Handbook. It turned out to be a Spirit Power weapon.

    ¡°I got this before joining the team. It¡¯s a Spirit Power weapon too. I don¡¯t think Wu Chen¡¯s Spirit Power works with this weapon, but the spear itself has holy elements, which makes it suitable for this Challenge.¡± Situ Jin threw the spear to Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen checked it over and looked incredibly surprised. Su Jin asked curiously, ¡°Wu Chen, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°This thing¡­ this is the Lance of Longinus!¡± said Wu Chen with a strange look on his face.

    The rest were surprised too. The Lance of Longinus was also known as the Spear of Destiny. In the real world, it was a sacred object and it was supposed to be the spear used to pierce the side of Jesus¡¯ body.

    ¡°This has got to be some amazing weapon, right?¡± said Su Jin curiously.

    Wu Chen threw the spear to Su Jin. Su Jin caught it and wasn¡¯t sure whether tough or cry after he had checked out its characteristics. This was indeed supposed to be the Lance of Longinus, and the words ¡°Spear of Destiny¡± were in parentheses. But its effect was very different from what he had imagined.

    ¡°The Lance of Longinus was a weapon that had pierced the body of a holy man, and because it has been stained with the blood of the holy Son, its attack contains holy elements.¡±

    ¡°This itemes with one skill, the Spear of Destiny. Activating the skill requires 100 points of a holy type of Spirit Power in order to deliver a stab that can destroy heaven and earth. It can cause tremendous damage to an evil opponent. After the skill has been activated, the Lance of Longinus will shatter from expending too much energy.¡±

    It was a good weapon, and the skill that came with it was a pretty powerful one. But it was an item that could only be used once. Of course, as long as you didn¡¯t activate the skill, this item was quite solid.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I guess. You don¡¯t have a holy type of Spirit Power, so you won¡¯t be able to activate the skill.¡± Su Jin threw the weapon back to Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen nodded as well. They were very lucky to have an item like that when going through such a Challenge, since it wasn¡¯t easy to find equipment with holy attributes.

    Everyone rested in the church until night had fallen. At the same time, the holy water was ready. After one day and night of preparation, the holy water began to sparkle faintly.

    Situ Jin got a little on his finger, then wiped it on the hair of one of the witches. The strand that he had touched immediately stood up and turned into nothing but green smoke.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Situ Jin gave a pleased nod. The effect that this water had on evil creatures proved that his hard work behind the scenes throughout this Challenge had not been in vain.

    Su Jin filled a bottle with a little of the holy water, then left the rest with Situ Jin. The people left inside the church were mostly newbies, and Situ Jin was the only one who could fight, but he had handed his only item to Wu Chen. The newbies needed something to protect themselves with.

    Once they walked out of the church, Su Jin looked up at the sky. The moon shone brightly in the high sky, and it would have been lovely to invite a few friends to bring along some snacks and tea and have a little party. Unfortunately, they were now in the midst of a Challenge. What they were about to face was blood and murder.

    Su Jin split the two witches, then said to Wu Chen and Kano Mai, ¡°I don¡¯t think the two of you will have any trouble dealing with the monsters in a Level D Challenge, but I think it¡¯s best to remind both of you to run away without hesitation if you meet any danger. Understand?¡±

    Wu Chen was very annoyed by the way Su Jin kept harping on this matter. He red at Su Jin and said, ¡°It¡¯s as if you are the one who went through a few dozen Challenges. Look, before joining your team, I went through way more terrifying Challenges than this one, but I still survived them all.¡±

    Kano Maiughed as well. ¡°We¡¯re going to be fine, Jin. If we can¡¯t fight them, we¡¯re well capable of running too.¡±

    They made it sound easy, but Su Jin remained worried. He even decided to slow down so that he could stay at the same speed as the other two, since it would be safer to travel as a group of three.

    Just then, the spear in Wu Chen¡¯s hands started moving. It sparkled brightly as the spear came toward Su Jin¡¯s vital body parts.

    Su Jin instinctively tried to dodge the attacks but failed. Wu Chen¡¯s attacks were very crafty ones. His technique wasn¡¯t a mystifying one and probably couldn¡¯t even be considered any sort of martial arts. That was simply a technique that disyed an excellent control of speed, strength and uracy. This was a technique meant for killing a person.

    There were five sparks as the spear hit Su Jin¡¯s throat, heart, lungs, stomach and the area between his brows. But the spear merely touched that part and was pulled back before it could do any damage.

    ¡°Now you will stop saying all those useless things, right?¡± said Wu Chen with a scoff.

    Su Jin scratched his head embarrassedly. Wu Chen was a powerful character who had gone through a few dozen Challenges after all, yet he had often underestimated the older man¡¯s prowess. But that disy of skill alone showed that besides himself, nobody else in the team would have been a match for Wu Chen. Besides, Su Jin was able to defend himself only because his physical body was extremely strong and wasn¡¯t afraid of such attacks. If he didn¡¯t possess such a body, he was probably going to get killed by Wu Chen within seconds.

    ¡°Wu Chen, what kungfu was that?¡± asked Su Jin rather curiously.

    Wu Chen nced at Su Jin, and Su Jin could see that Wu Chen had nearly rolled his eyes. But the older man answered him anyway, ¡°Kungfu? This is murder kungfu: if you want to learn it, then when you return to your Personal Hell Domain, set up a battlefield and kill nonstop for a few decades. You¡¯ll get it eventually.¡±

    Su Jin and Kano Mai were both a little shocked. Kill nonstop for a few decades on a battlefield? Back then, in order to build up his physique, Su Jin had trained himself in his Hell Domain for a few years. When he got out of it, he nearly suffered a breakdown. And his training had been done under rtively subdued circumstances.

    But Wu Chen was different. In order to train up these killing techniques of his, he killed nonstop in a battlefield and finally attained this level after spending a few decades doing so. That was a hundred or even a thousand times harder than Su Jin¡¯s training back then. Then again, anyone who could survive a few dozen Challenges was definitely no ordinary person.

    Wu Chen ignored Su Jin¡¯s and Kano Mai¡¯s shock. He held the spear tightly in one hand, grabbed hold of one witch with the other hand, then hopped onto a horse, galloping off without waiting for Kano Mai. Kano Mai quickly ran after him.

    Su Jin scratched his head awkwardly. He couldn¡¯t ride a horse, so he had no choice but to walk. He motioned to the other witch to walk next to him and they slowly made their way out.

    The night was dead silent again. The little life in the air they experienced in the day seemed to have disappeared with the night wind, leaving behind nothing else but the icy moonlight.

    ¡°The werewolves you¡¯re looking for are at this tavern.¡± The signboard of a tavern appeared in the witch¡¯s crystal ball. That was one of the few ces in the dead night of Mo City that was actually still bright.

    Actually, Su Jin felt that even without the help of the witch, he would notice something amiss once he spotted the tavern, because that ce was abnormally livelypared to the rest of the city.

    He walked toward the tavern with the witch and pushed the doors open. The noisy people inside immediately stopped what they were doing. They continued to hold onto their beer sses, but their gazes were focused on Su Jin and the witch with him.

    Su Jin ignored the strange look in these men¡¯s eyes. He walked to the bar counter, sat down, and motioned to the bartender to pour him a drink.

    ¡°What would you like?¡±

    ¡°The strongest drink you have.¡±

    ¡°You get drunk easily if you take something too strong. But that¡¯s not a bad thing. If you die when you¡¯re drunk, you won¡¯t feel any pain!¡± The bartender grinned, revealing his sharp wolf fangs.

    Su Jin nced up at him and smiled. ¡°Looks like you have a lot of experience in this area. But let me buy this drink for you instead. If you die when you¡¯re drunk, you won¡¯t feel any pain!¡±

    The bartender narrowed his eyes slightly and his pupils began to constrict. The other muscr men in the bar kept their eye on both of them, as though they were waiting for the signal from the bartender.

    Su Jin sat at the bar counter and ced his arms casually on the countertop. He held one hand out to invite the bartender to have a drink.

    ¡°I don¡¯t treat others to drinks often, you know,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡­ don¡¯t have the habit of taking drinks from others so¡­ you can save this drink for yourself!¡± The bartender pushed the ss of alcohol toward Su Jin. In that instant, the entire tavern echoed with ear deafening roars.

 Chapter 271: A Trap

    <h4>Chapter 271: A Trap</h4>

    The witch hid in a corner in fear. Any person in this tavern could tear her to pieces easily.

    Werewolves were the most violent of all evil creatures, especially on the night of a full moon. The moon was able to carry the blessings of their ancestors from ancient times to them.

    Their strength, defense, speed, and resilience would increase by several times on the night of a full moon. Any living thing that dared to appear in front of them at a time like this would face the same fate: they would be a delectable meal for the wolves.

    But now¡­ a human had a crazed smile on his face as he pinned the leader of the werewolves to the floor even as a whole group of werewolves charged at him. He poured a ss of strong drink into the leader¡¯s mouth, then pulled the leader¡¯s head off his neck like he was plucking a ripe tomato off its vine.

    This scene was almost unreal. Not even a high level demon would be capable of doing something like this. The leader of the werewolves was a creature that was almost on par with a high level demon and was actually more powerful than a demon in certain aspects. Such a creature was certainly a king among evil creatures.

    The witch didn¡¯t want to believe her eyes, but she had to because all of this was happening before her very eyes. The human had kicked the leader¡¯s severed head toward another werewolf like it was a ser ball, and that werewolf had been sent flying.

    Su Jin seemed to have gone mad, and he felt that perhaps the atmosphere here was contagious. Any werewolf in this tavern had the ability to kill an entire team of ogres. These creatures were true warriors. They were strong, yet well versed in hunting techniques.

    Bam!

    .

    Su Jin kicked a hole through yet another werewolf. But another werewolf took this opportunity to ram into Su Jin, sending him flying. A werewolf came pouncing toward his throat once hended.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± roared Su Jin. He was like a god of war from hell as he leaped up from the floor, pressed the werewolf that was trying to bite him down on the floor, and then used his other hand to grab hold of the werewolf¡¯s neck. He pulled hard and pulled the werewolf¡¯s head right off his neck.

    Blood ended up spraying onto Su Jin¡¯s face as a result, but it didn¡¯t bother him. He spun around to kill another werewolf, breaking his arms and crushing his chest.

    Su Jin continued on his rampage and wasn¡¯t worried that any of the werewolves would escape. Under the influence of blood and the full moon, these werewolves would keep attacking until either party died.

    Blood sttered across every inch of the tavern¡¯s floor. Even the witch hiding in a corner wasn¡¯t spared. She looked like she had just bathed in the blood of werewolves.

    This terrifying massacre didn¡¯tst long, since there weren¡¯t that many werewolves to begin with. Besides the one that Situ Jin and the rest in the church had killed, Su Jin was only left with ten more to go. Theserge and muscr creatures were pretty good fighters, but they were just pretty good. To Su Jin, they were still not good enough. If there were a hundred of them, he might have taken a bit more time to take them all down.

    After he had pulled off the head of thest werewolf, he frowned. He had been dirtied by some blood again, but thankfully most of the symbols on his body were still intact, so there wouldn¡¯t be any issue for now.

    ¡°Werewolves have the strongest physique among evil creatures. In order to kill them, I just need to sever their heads,¡± murmured Su Jin as he scanned the tavern and made sure that every werewolf¡¯s head was separated from their body.

    The witch was covered entirely in blood and she was trembling violently in a corner. She didn¡¯t look like what anybody would imagine an evil creature should look like.

    ¡°You can go now. Make sure you leave Mo City right away, otherwise¡­ don¡¯t me me for being merciless.¡± Su Jin was one who kept his promises. Since he had agreed to let her go as long as she helped him to find the other creatures, then as long as she held up her end of the bargain, he would hold up his end too.

    The witch nodded vigorously. Just then, her crystal ball suddenly flickered. Her eyes kept widening in horror, as though something terrible was happening.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but ask when he noticed the strange expression on her face.

    She hesitated for a while, then said with a pale voice, ¡°Sir¡­ yourpanions have walked into a trap and they¡¯ve fought a very difficult battle. The woman¡­ has died. The man has managed to escape and he¡¯s headed this way right now.¡±

    Su Jin felt like his head just exploded. How could Kano Mai have died in a battle? He had told them earlier that if they couldn¡¯t defeat their opponents, they had to run for it immediately. And since these were Level D Challenge monsters, as long as his two teammates were determined to escape, they would definitely be able to escape without problems.

    The witch could see that Su Jin didn¡¯t believe her, so she cautiously held up the crystal ball in front of Su Jin. The scene reflected in it showed Kano Mai¡¯s corpse lying quietly on the ground. Some vampires were greedily biting her neck, while the other witchy dead next to her.

    ¡°These crystal balls have been made in a special way, so once my sister dies, her crystal ball would send images to me so that I can ascertain exactly how she died and escape any impending dangers. When you destroyed my younger sister¡¯s crystal ball, we were unable to see exactly what happened, but we knew that something bad must have happened, and that¡¯s why we were able to n an ambush,¡± exined the witch quietly.

    Su Jin¡¯s breathing grew heavier and his eyes bulged in shock. Just then, a haggard figure appeared outside the tavern. Wu Chen was covered in bloodstains and one of his arms looked like it had been ripped off.

    ¡°Wu Chen!¡± Su Jin immediately ran over to catch Wu Chen, who nearly fell onto the floor.

    Wu Chen had an apologetic look in his eyes and he opened his mouth to speak, but Su Jin realized that Wu Chen¡¯s tongue had been cut off and he couldn¡¯t speak at all.

    Su Jin¡¯s head began to spin when he saw how Wu Chen looked like he med himself for everything that happened. He had been careless after all. He had underestimated a Level D Challenge and was suffering retribution for it.

    Wu Chen forced himself to stand up, but his waist couldn¡¯t take the pain of straightening up, so he stumbled into Su Jin¡¯s arms. Su Jin instinctively pulled his arms around Wu Chen, but he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not Wu Chen!¡± yelled Su Jin. At the same time, he felt a terrible pain in his chest. A dagger made from an unknown metal had been stabbed into his chest.

    Su Jin let out a muffled yelp as he tried to grab hold of Wu Chen¡¯s neck, but Wu Chen leaped backward at that moment and dodged his hand.

    ¡°Haha! We¡¯ve finally managed to trick you! Foolish humans! Once their close friends or family have been hurt, even the most intelligent of humans will make mistakes.¡± The witch next to Su Jin cackled maniacally. She stared at Su Jin and said, ¡°But evil creatures like us will not make such a mistake. To me¡­ as long as I can kill you, even if I end up losing a fewpanions, I¡¯d still have won the battle.¡±

    Su Jin clutched his chest. The sharp dagger had actually pierced his heart. The dagger gave off an evil sort of energy, but thankfully, Su Jin¡¯s heart had been refined by the Demon Lord, whose energy was also evil. So, not only did the evil energy from the dagger fail to inflict additional damage, it actually gave his damaged heart some added strength. But even though Su Jin had a physical body that was close to a god¡¯s, the fact that his heart had been pierced was still going to kill him eventually.

    ¡°I¡­ was really foolish! Wu Chen would never have abandoned Mai and run away by himself. And even if he did, he couldn¡¯t possibly have found out where I am so quickly.¡± Su Jin coughed up a mouthful of blood. His injury was very serious. If he didn¡¯t get treatment soon, death was just a matter of time.

    ¡°You were very stupid indeed!¡± The shapeshifterughed heartily. He sneered at Su Jin and said, ¡°Exorcists are all fairly muscr fellows, but I¡¯ve really never seen one as strong as you. If I told others that I killed an exorcist like you, would they think I¡¯m just boasting?¡±

    ¡°Hoho, what are you worried about? My sister and I will be your witnesses,¡± said the witch with augh. She walked over to the shapeshifter and pulled her arms around his waist as she said coquettishly, ¡°From now on, we¡¯ll share this city that¡¯s about to turn to darkness!¡±

    ¡°Of course, my beautiful darling!¡± said the shapeshifter with a smirk.

    Su Jin was a little unsteady, but there was still a mocking look in his eye. ¡°I was stupid, but¡­ no matter what, I¡¯m going to get rid of both of you! Even if I end up dying, I¡¯m still going to make sure I leave a smooth journey behind for them!¡±

    ¡°Get rid of us? In this state¡­¡± said the witch in a mocking voice. But before she could finish her sentence, a shocked look spread across her face. Su Jin had suddenly appeared right next to her.

    Without any warning, Su Jin¡¯s finger pierced her skull. He hooked the end of his finger and pulled, destroying her brainpletely.

    The shapeshifter paled. He never thought that Su Jin could still fight even after his heart had been pierced like that. He couldn¡¯t understand: was this fellow a human or a werewolf? But this was impossible for even a werewolf. That dagger was no ordinary dagger. The evil energy it contained should have drained Su Jin of all his energy.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t leave him time to be surprised. He grabbed hold of the shapeshifter¡¯s shoulders and pulled them apart, tearing the shapeshifter into two.

    The shapeshifter¡¯s blood came pouring down like a spring, covering all the symbols drawn on his skin. He could sense the restlessness of the affliction demon inside his head as the affliction demon struggled toe out.

    ¡°No! Not now!¡± Su Jin shook his head. He grabbed hold of the oilmp within the tavern and set the entire ce on fire. Then, he stumbled out and started walking toward the city gates.

    At the same time, Kano Mai and Wu Chen had just finished clearing all the vampires. The vampires were just as difficult to handle as the werewolves, but since Kano Mai and Wu Chen were working together as a team, they didn¡¯t pose a threat to the two humans.

    Just then, the witch with them had a look of horror in her eyes. Kano Mai saw a scene reflected in her crystal ball. She watched as Su Jin killed the other witch, and also noticed that a dagger had been stabbed into his chest.

    ¡°Damn you!¡± yelled Kano Mai. The fact that this witch hadn¡¯t been involved didn¡¯t matter to her. She punched the witch and killed her immediately, then ran toward where they could see smoke and mes.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had arrived at the city gates of Mo city. He had to endure the pain of a failing heart while doing his best to keep the affliction demon from escaping. Just when he was about to step out of the city, everything went ck and he copsed onto the ground with a thud.

 Chapter 272: Reviving The Dead

    <h4>Chapter 272: Reviving The Dead</h4>

    Once inside his Personal Hell Domain, Su Jin slowly opened his eyes and breathed a long sigh of relief. He thought he was going to die when he took that step out of Mo City. He thought he was going to end up dying at his first Level D Challenge.

    Then again, perhaps he was just lucky. He had stumbled out of Mo City just as Kano Mai and the rest had also yed the vampire and thest witch. If they had left out either of them, he would definitely have died.

    ¡°I was really lucky,¡± said Su Jin with a bitter smile. He had a new understanding of how dangerous the Challenges could be now that the rules had changed.

    If he had gone through this Challenge before the rules had changed, his own and his team¡¯s prowess would have breezed through a Level D Challenge as though it was merely a holiday. He could have used his own capabilities to crush all these enemies. But after the rules changed, his physique was greatly weakened, and the Challenges were made more difficult. All of them had to be very careful when going through Challenges now. Death followed them like a shadow and could take their lives at any moment.

    He climbed to his feet and touched his chest. His Hell¡¯s Domain had restored his body the moment he had arrived. If he had been dyed by just a few more minutes, he would probably have died out there. The feeling of nearly dying was simply awful.

    ¡°ckie, calcte the points.¡± Su Jin walked to the pedestal and put his Handbook on it.

    ¡°Sure. Before doing that, I¡¯d like to remind you that you¡¯ve received a special item from the Challenge and I¡¯ve already converted it to a tangible form,¡± responded ckie.

    ¡°A special item?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t remember receiving any special item. Could it be that dagger? But that was a Spirit Power weapon at best and couldn¡¯t be considered a special item.

    ¡°What is this special item?¡± asked Su Jin.

    A light screen instantly lit up. A wisp of ck smoke could be seen struggling nonstop. Upon closer inspection, he saw a face with two horns in the ck smoke struggling like crazy and roaring away. It was the affliction demon that Su Jin had trapped within his own consciousness.

    ¡°The affliction demon?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t expect this special item to be the high level affliction demon. It was true that this demon had not been able to break free of his seal even after the Challenge hade to an end. It was a matter of time before the demon could break free, though. He didn¡¯t think he would end up bringing the demon back to his Personal Hell Domain and be a tangible special item.

    ¡°A Demon¡¯s Soul: within the dark depths of hell, besides the devil himself, only high level demons have their own souls. And the soul of each high level demon is an extremely precious treasure.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. The item description was very simple, but it was thest few words that made Su Jin feel so excited, he started trembling.

    ¡°It is one of the items required for the Ceremony of the Gods.¡±

    Su Jin clenched his fists tightly. He already had four items needed, including the Key to Immortality. This Demon¡¯s Soul was thest item he needed. He could now revive Chu Yi. And Su Jin believed that reviving Chu Yi was only the first step. If he continued to work hard, it was possible to revive the other members. Ning Meng, Yang Mo: they were all members of Team Boning Knife. Su Jin believed he could bring them back to life someday.

    Level D Challenge ¡°Exorcist¡±pleted perfectly: 2000 points

    Guiding object obtained: Badge of a Laborer in Holiness

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 5, 800 points

    Participation and Extent of Contribution: A-, 500 points

    Completed Optional Quest: 500 points

    Points Received: 3800

    Total Points: 8700

    Su Jin was a little surprised when he saw the badge that had a cross as part of its main design appear in his Handbook. He hadn¡¯t nned toplete this Challenge perfectly. The Challenge required them to chase these creatures out of Mo City, so he thought that he would have to kill all of them if he wanted toplete the Challenge perfectly.

    The evil creatures weren¡¯t very powerful, but if they became agitated and determined to get away from them, Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he could really destroy them all either. He didn¡¯t think they would end uppleting the Challenge perfectly by some ident. Then again, when he thought about it, he had killed one witch, and since hispanions had finished the Challenge within that short amount of time, they must have also killed the other witch. If that was the case, then it was true that every evil creature still within Mo City had been killed at the end of the Challenge.

    When he arrived in the Team Hell Domain, everyone else was already there. It was clear that they were all very worried about his safety. Their Handbooks had stated that all five of them had survived, but they still felt uneasy. They were relieved when they saw Su Jin appear in front of them in one good piece.

    ¡°Jin, what happened on your end?¡± asked Wu Chen.

    Su Jin was a little embarrassed, but he recounted what happened at the end of the Challenge to his teammates. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but gasp in horror. Even someone like Su Jin had nearly died right at the end of the Challenge. This was supposed to be a Level D Challenge too!

    ¡°It¡¯s that shapeshifter that got away earlier!¡± Wu Chen frowned and went on, ¡°Usually I¡¯m the one who uses my shapeshifting abilities to plot against others. This time, we got tricked by a monster in a Challenge in that way instead.¡±

    ¡°Emotions can make someone stop thinking straight. Otherwise, I don¡¯t think you could have fooled Su Jin like that, given how observant he usually is,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Everyone agreed. Su Jin nodded as well. The image of Kano Mai dying in battle had clearly affected his judgement. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have noticed a problem with the shapeshifter sote.

    Kano Mai had a slightly different look in her eye, however. Actually, everyone in the team, including Bo Ya, their newest member, knew exactly how Kano Mai felt toward Su Jin. And even Su Jin himself knew too. But matters of the heart were sometimes like this. It wasn¡¯t that one party was not good enough or anything like that, but that their feelings hade toote or were expressed toote, so things turned out very differently.

    Su Jin retrieved the Demon¡¯s Soul that he had received and said, ¡°This is the soul of the affliction demon from the Challenge. It was somehow brought back with me to this ce and turned into a tangible item. Also¡­ it¡¯s one of the items required for the Ceremony of the Gods.¡±

    Besides Bo Ya who didn¡¯t know about this ceremony, the rest froze for a moment. They all knew that Su Jin had four of the items needed, and this would make up the final item required. That meant that they could proceed with the ceremony now.

    The most excited among them was Wu Chen. He had four items too. He had spent all these years making all sorts of deals within Hell¡¯s Bar, so he had amassed these items quite easily too.

    But he did not ask Su Jin for the Demon¡¯s Soul. There were several reasons why he couldn¡¯t do that. Firstly, Su Jin and Chu Yi were friends who were willing to die for each other, and Chu Yi had sacrificed his life fighting for the team. On the contrary, his own daughter had no rtion whatsoever to Team Boning Knife.

    Logically speaking, Chu Yi was excellent at fighting, so once he was revived, the team would have another good fighter and be an even stronger team. The chances of the team getting through future Challenges alive would increase as well.

    Su Jin nced at Wu Chen and was relieved when he saw Wu Chen nod slightly at him. He had been worried that Wu Chen might demand the Demon¡¯s Soul from him. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t end up happening.

    After they ced the five items for the Ceremony of the Gods together, a beam of light shot out from in between the items. Everyone held their breaths.

    Suddenly, a glow burst from the beam of light, turning into a misty, colorful screen. A voice started speaking from the screen.

    ¡°Congrattions on activating the Ceremony of the Gods. Based on the items you have put together, you have three choices. One, you can revive someone who has already died. This person can be an owner or an ordinary person. Two, you can get an item that is at least at Earth Grade. Three, I can help you to bring up your physical body or Spirit Power by one level,¡± said the ethereal yet authoritative sounding voice.

    The five of them were dumbstruck when they heard the options. This was a Ceremony of the Gods alright. Every option was amazing and almost impossible to attain otherwise.

    The benefits of the first one was obvious. The second one offered an item at least at Earth Grade. What did that even mean? Su Jin had an Earth Grade item, which was the Gift from the Gods. But since this item was at least at Earth Grade, it meant that if you were lucky, you could get something that was way more powerful than the Gift from the Gods.

    The third option was something that made high level owners like Su Jin salivate. This was an option to bring up one¡¯s physique or Spirit Power by one level. If Su Jin chose this option, then he was going to god level, regardless of whether he decided to use it on his body or on his psychokinesis.

    But Su Jin had already decided. He wanted to revive Chu Yi. So he said to the light screen without hesitation, ¡°I want option one. I want to revive someone.¡±

    ¡°No problem! You just need to think of the person you want to revive now!¡± said the voice in the screen.

    Su Jin started chanting Chu Yi¡¯s name in his head. As he did that, a human shape began to form on the screen. The shape stabilized after a few moments and came walking out from the light.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Boss! Sister Mai! Uncle Wu! Situ!¡± Chu Yi was the one who had walked out from the light screen. He started running toward the team when he saw the people in front of him. Once he had walked out from the screen, the entire screen disappeared. The five items on the floor also turned to ash within a short time and were blown away by a wind that appeared from nowhere.

    Everyone surrounded Chu Yi and stared at him strangely, which made him feel very weirded out. ¡°What¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s going on? Why are all of you staring at me like that?¡±

    Su Jin patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder, then said to the rest, ¡°Yup, he¡¯s real. He¡¯s made of flesh and blood.¡±

    ¡°Boss! What¡¯s going on? What do you mean by that?!¡± Chu Yi was getting more and more confused.

    Kano Mai said to him gently, ¡°Chu Yi, do you still remember¡­ what happened before this?¡±

    ¡°What happened before this? OH! That stupid pigheadunched a secret attack on me! That shameless thing!!¡± Chu Yi immediately rolled his sleeves up angrily, as though he was going to get revenge on that pighead.

 Chapter 273: Welcome Back

    <h4>Chapter 273: Wee Back</h4>

    Based on Chu Yi¡¯s response, everyone was sure that his memories had stopped at the moment the pigheaded demigod mmed him to dust.

    But Su Jin still asked him in a patient voice, ¡°Do you remember the cult?¡±

    ¡°What cult?¡±

    ¡°What about how you massacred the resistance army?¡±

    ¡°Massacred who?!¡±

    ¡°And what about the huge fight you had with me? You don¡¯t remember any of it at all?¡±

    ¡°Waaaaaait a minute. Boss, when did I have a huge fight with you?¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes had gone wide. He was so confused. His current health was fine, but he couldn¡¯t seem to understand a single thing Su Jin was saying.

    Su Jin nodded his head slightly and said, ¡°Looks like even though the cult had revived his soul along with his body, their methods were still problematic. Chu Yi¡¯s soul was probably in hibernation mode or something like that, so he doesn¡¯t have any memory of what his body did. So, it¡¯s more urate to say that they had revived a zombie rather than they had actually revived Chu Yi.¡±

    Everyone agreed with Su Jin¡¯s analysis. The revived body had the same strength and techniques as Chu Yi, but it didn¡¯t contain a soul. These abilities were purely muscle memory.

    Meanwhile, Chu Yi waspletely bewildered by this time. He felt as though he had taken a short nap and woken up to apletely different world.

    ¡°Did the whole world get reprogrammed while I slept or what?¡± grumbled Chu Yi.

    ¡°While you slept? Did that feel like you¡¯d merely slept?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°If not?¡± Chu Yi nodded with a dazed expression on his face.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re really something. To put it urately, you¡¯ve actually already died once.¡±

    ¡°I died once?¡± Chu Yi was stunned for a moment, before flying into a rage. ¡°WHO DID IT?!¡±

    ¡°Who do you think?¡± asked the rest at the same time.

    ¡°That pighead? Shit! That despicable, scheming, shameless asshole!¡± cursed Chu Yi angrily. He turned and asked Su Jin, ¡°Boss, did I die a terrible death?¡±

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe Chu Yi was in the mood to ask such a question. He said gravely, ¡°It was terrible. So terrible that we couldn¡¯t look at you. We could only put up a gravestone for you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You were smashed to dust by that fellow. And you¡¯re asking why?¡± said Su Jin huffily.

    ¡°The fuck?!¡± Chu Yi cursed angrily again, then asked, ¡°And what¡¯s all this about a cult, a resistance army and having a big fight with you?¡±

    ¡°Well, what happened was that there was actually a chance to revive you not long after you died. But at the same time, the cult in your world revived you first. A person can only die once, so they can only be revived once after that. You get that logic?¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Chu Yi nodded.

    Su Jin went on, ¡°But the cult¡¯s method of reviving people was problematic, so they only revived your body and trapped your soul inside your consciousness, so you were like a zombie.

    ¡°But because your body had already turned your fighting abilities into an instinct of sorts, the cult made use of these abilities to attack the resistance army within your universe, and so you ended up killing quite a number of people.¡±

    An apologetic look shed in Chu Yi¡¯s eyes. He was originally on good terms with the resistance army and even thought of joining them at one time.

    ¡°After that, someone from the resistance army came looking for me, saying they didn¡¯t know how to deal with you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The resistance army isn¡¯t as formidable as the cult, but they¡¯ve got plenty of highly skilled fighters. It¡¯ll be hard to deal with me but definitely not impossible,¡± said Chu Yi.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes and said, ¡°I discovered that for myselfter on. But in any case, if we wanted to revive you, we had to kill the version revived by the cult. And so I didn¡¯t really have a choice.

    ¡°So, I epted their invitation to your universe, then had a big fight with your revived body.¡±

    ¡°And what happened in the end?¡±

    ¡°In the end I beat you to death, obviously. How else would we have revived you?¡± snapped Su Jin.

    ¡°I was¡­ beaten to death!¡± Chu Yi wasn¡¯t sure if he ought tough or to cry now.

    ¡°If not? Would you rather continue being a ve to that cult?¡±

    ¡°Of course not! But I want to know if I was a formidable enemy! Was this a neck and neck fight?¡± Chu Yi was looking forward to the answer as he asked this question that came naturally to him as a martial artist.

    Su Jin burst his bubble. ¡°I killed you with my psychokinesis.¡±

    Chu Yi immediately looked sorrowful.

    ¡°Haha! It doesn¡¯t matter anymore. Wee back to the team, Chu Yi!¡± Su Jin hugged Chu Yi.

    ¡°Wee back to the team, Yi!¡± Kano Mai hugged him too.

    ¡°Wee back!¡± Wu Chen and Situ Jin took turns to hug him too.

    Chu Yi felt a little awkward and scratched his head as he said, ¡°All of you look so serious, but I really just felt like I woke up from a good nap, so I really can¡¯t match your emotions!¡±

    ¡°Also¡­ is thisdy here¡­ new?¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes lit up when he spotted Bo Ya.

    ¡°This is Bo Ya, who joined us after thest Challenge,¡± Su Jin introduced her to Chu Yi.

    Bo Ya held her hand out to Chu Yi with a friendly smile. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Bo Ya. Please take care of me!¡±

    Chu Yi hurriedly shook her hand and grinned as he said, ¡°Hello! Do you have a boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°She does, and he¡¯s standing right in front of you. Don¡¯t you think you ought to let go of her hand now?¡± snapped Situ Jin in an annoyed voice.

    Chu Yi blinked in surprise, then wailed, ¡°Why are you guys doing this to me?! We should just change the name of the team to Team ¡®Let¡¯s Make the Singles Feel Miserable¡¯! Don¡¯t you think so, Wu Chen?¡±

    ¡°What has this got to do with me?¡± asked Wu Chen in a confused voice.

    ¡°Sister Mai and Boss are a pair, Situ and Miss Bo Ya are a pair, so we¡¯re the only miserable singles in this team!¡± said Chu Yi matter-of-factly.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s expressions flinched very slightly, but neither said anything. It was best not to engage Chu Yi on this topic.

    ¡°You can go ahead and be miserable! I¡¯m doing very well in my universe, so I don¡¯tck women,¡± sneered Wu Chen with disdain.

    ¡°In that case¡­ I¡¯m the only miserable single here?¡± Chu Yi had a look of disbelief. He wailed at Su Jin, ¡°Why did you have to revive me? Why didn¡¯t you just leave me to dieeee¡­¡±

    With Chu Yi around, the atmosphere of the team was a lot more rxed. Su Jin and the rest recounted what happened during this time, especially the three Challenges they went through without him.

    ¡°The team was nearly wiped out and Boss nearly died?¡± Chu Yi could hardly believe his ears. He grinned and said, ¡°Looks like I¡¯m still very important! If I were around in these Challenges, they wouldn¡¯t have been so tough.¡±

    They all nodded slightly. It was true that Chu Yi was very formidable indeed. When it came to fighting prowess, Su Jin was the best in the team. But if you took Su Jin out of the picture, Chu Yi was probably the next best.

    Wu Chen was formidable too, but he was not suitable for sustaining through tough fights. This was a weakness that came with his Spirit Power. Wu Chen was a powerful figure in general, but his actual fighting abilities were no match for Chu Yi¡¯s. At the same time, his survival skills and adaptability levels were way higher than Chu Yi¡¯s.

    If Chu Yi had been around for the Alien Invasion and the recentlypleted Exorcist Challenges, they would have had an easier time. But without Wu Chen, they might have died.

    Chu Yi had just been revived and had to get used to a lot of things. The changes in the rules alone were enough for him to chew on for quite a while.

    After they were done celebrating Chu Yi¡¯s return, they moved their focus back to their Hell Domain. The most important thing to settle now was to decide which area Bo Ya ought to be strong in.

    ¡°I would like to choose a healer¡¯s path. Team Boning Knife has plenty of fighters, but you don¡¯t have enough backup and support.¡± Bo Ya was able to analyze the team¡¯s makeup very well.

    The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Yang Mo had also chosen this path before, but he ended up dying in the Level A Challenge, All Have Sinned, before he could really take on this role in the team. After that, nobody in the team specialized in this, so Bo Ya¡¯s choice was a very suitable one.

    Since everyone was agreeable, Bo Ya¡¯s role in the team was decided.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re going to be the medic, then you¡¯ll probably find this useful,¡± said Wu Chen suddenly. He retrieved a badge from his Handbook.

    This badge had a shield as its main design and the shield had a pair of angel wings attached to it. The mostly white color of the design also made one feel assured by just looking at it.

    ¡°Honor of a Medic, A Grade Spirit Power item. Option 1 requires 10 points per minute of any non-dark type Spirit Power. Item will multiply the effect and speed of the user¡¯s healing skills by three.

    ¡°Option 2 requires 100 points per minute to multiply the effect and speed by ten times.

    ¡°Option 3 requires 1000 points per minute to multiply the effect and speed by 20 times.¡±

    Everyone stared with their mouths wide open when they read what the Honor of a Medic could do. They just needed Bo Ya to activate her Spirit Power and this item would enable her to be the super doctor of the team.

    ¡°An A Grade Spirit Power item, gosh,¡± remarked Su Jin. This item in the hands of a medic would have an even more incredible effect than his Gift from the Gods.

    ¡°This¡­ this is too precious, I can¡¯t ept it.¡± Bo Ya was new, but she could tell how valuable the item was by just looking at the expressions on the faces of the other members.

    Wu Chenughed and said, ¡°It is very precious, but I don¡¯t have any use for it. It¡¯s only of use to me if I give it to you.¡±

    Everyone knew what Wu Chen meant. If Bo Ya could be a super doctor with this item, the ones who would benefit were her teammates.

    Since that was the case, Bo Ya didn¡¯t refuse it anymore. She gratefully epted the Honor of a Medic badge.

    After that, everyone looked at the catalog of items and exchanged their points for a few things.

    But Su Jin was reminded that he had one more item from thest Challenge, which was the dagger that the shapeshifter had used to secretly attack him. Su Jin tried to see what this dagger was capable of, only to discover he needed to spend points to authenticate it.

    ¡°Since it could actually hurt me, this thing can¡¯t be trash, right?¡± muttered Su Jin to himself. But his eyes flew open immediately after that, because authenticating this dagger was actually going to cost him a whopping 5,000 points.

 Chapter 274: Tooth Of A Demon Overlord

    <h4>Chapter 274: Tooth Of A Demon Overlord</h4>

    This thing was going to cost 5,000 points to authenticate. That wasn¡¯t too far from the cost of an Earth Grade item. In other words, this small dagger in Su Jin¡¯s hands was probably an item equivalent to his Gift from the Gods.

    Su Jin decided to go ahead and pay the necessary number of points. A bright light rose from the dagger and a description appeared on his Handbook.

    ¡°Tooth of a Demon Overlord, Earth Grade item. A dagger made from the sharp teeth of a demon overlord. Carries an evil type corrosive effect, so even if it makes a shallow cut in the skin, it will eventually be a severe wound that turns fatal. Not even a god can escape this fate.

    ¡°Requires 100 points of a dark type of Spirit Power to activate its skill, Bite of the Demon Overlord. It can pierce through any enemy within a 20 meter distance in front of the user.¡±

    The description wasn¡¯t long but it was shocking. The fact that even gods could be affected by its effect was enough to prove that it was indeed an Earth Grade item.

    ¡°No wonder it was able to pierce through my body so easily. This is one insane weapon.¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but gape at it. The only problem was that it required a dark type of Spirit Power. If his Demon Lord Spirit Power hadn¡¯t been taken away by the Demon Lord, he could have used it. But now, he could only sigh sadly.

    ¡°Situ, what type is your Spirit Power?¡± Su Jin asked Situ Jin, who was helping Bo Ya to pick her items.

    ¡°My shadow Spirit Power? Of course it¡¯s a dark type,¡± said Situ Jin casually.

    Su Jin broke into a grin. This Earth Grade weapon wasn¡¯t going to waste after all. He threw it to Situ Jin.

    ¡°Great. This item is suitable for you to use.¡±

    Situ Jin caught it instinctively, but he froze in shock once he read the description of the item. A few secondster, he threw it back at Su Jin without hesitation.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t ept this item. It¡¯s too valuable,¡± said Situ Jin as he shook his head vigorously.

    Su Jin burst outughing. Situ Jin and Bo Ya made a good couple, alright. Even their reaction to receiving items from others was the same.

    Everyone looked over curiously and Su Jin immediately showed them the description of the Tooth of a Demon Overlord.

    ¡°Woahhh¡­ this thing can kill gods!¡± Wu Chen couldn¡¯t help eximing.

    ¡°Damn it! Why does it need dark type Spirit Power¡­¡± said Chu Yi with a sad sigh. He looked like he wanted to get rid of his current Spirit Power.

    ¡°A weapon that can kill gods!¡± said Kano Mai as a glint shed in her eyes. But she spoke very softly and everyone¡¯s attention was on the Tooth of a Demon Overlord, so nobody heard what she said.

    Su Jin said to Situ Jin, ¡°Just ept it! There¡¯s nobody else in the team who can use it besides you!¡±

    ¡°You could just keep it in your Handbook for now, or you could exchange it for other items with other owners. I think it¡¯ll be worth a lot,¡± said Situ Jin as he shook his head.

    But Su Jin¡¯s expression became serious as he said, ¡°Situ, the most important thing right now is to increase the team¡¯s prowess. I agree with what you said. If I put this item up for exchange, I¡¯d definitely get a good item in return.

    ¡°But¡­ actually, my own capabilities are at a very awkward stage right now. Spirit Power items are able to increase my abilities, but it¡¯s not enough to increase them significantly. That degree of improvement is as good as none at all and it won¡¯t be helpful to the team either.

    ¡°But things are different for you. With this weapon, your range will increase significantly. I¡¯m sure you understand the bucket theory, right?¡±

    Situ Jin nodded and said, ¡°The amount of water a bucket made from wooden nks can hold depends on how long the shortest nk is, not the longest one.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. These words aren¡¯t pleasant to hear, but besides our newbie Bo Ya, the shortest nk in the team is you.¡±

    Situ Jin smiled sadly. Su Jin¡¯s words weren¡¯t pleasant to hear, alright. But sometimes the truth hurt, yet it was often necessary to be said. It was true that he was the weakest link in the team besides Bo Ya, who was very new to all of this.

    ¡°Besides, you¡¯re a member of my team. At most, you can take it that I¡¯m loaning this weapon to you,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Situ Jin was finally willing to ept it. He said in a grave voice, ¡°Alright then! I¡¯ll borrow the Tooth of a Demon Overlord from you for now, and you can have it back if you need it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a deal!¡± Su Jin threw the dagger to Situ Jin and Situ Jin kept it this time.

    ¡°Sister Mai!¡± Chu Yi suddenly turned to Kano Mai with a pitiful look on his face.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Kano Mai looked back at him puzzledly.

    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t have some amazing item for me?¡± Chu Yi looked at her hopefully.

    Everyone burst outughing. Kano Mai grinned and said, ¡°Aww, it¡¯s too bad! I¡¯m a penniless owner, not like those two millionaires!¡±

    ¡°How disappointing! I¡¯m so disappointed!!¡± Chu Yi pouted, which made everyoneugh even harder.

    After chatting for a while more and evaluating the Challenge they justpleted, they returned to their Personal Hell Domains.

    Su Jin scanned through the new items in his catalog and could only sigh sadly. He had used up 5,000 points to authenticate the Tooth of a Demon Overlord, so he only had 4,000 or so points left.

    He refused to get himself more Lucky Draw Bags. Those things were addictive and drew one in easily. He did get some useful items out of them, but some of them were really pointless.

    After he stepped out of the Handbook¡¯s universe, he exhaled deeply. Kano Mai had returned at the same time and they exchanged smiles.

    But Su Jin¡¯s expression suddenly froze, because he realized that the two of them were the only ones left in the house. Tracy from the Dark Council had disappeared.

    Su Jin immediately sent his psychokinesis out of the house and found his targets very quickly. While they were busy with a Challenge, Murray and Jack had actually taken this chance to rescue Tracy.

    This time, even Su Jin felt likeplimenting them. These two did not only have sufficient patience, but they were clever too.

    Even though very little time passed in the real world while they were going through a Challenge, it still took at least a few minutes. As owners themselves, the two men knew that better than anybody else.

    They had used some way to watch Su Jin, so once they realized he had disappeared into the Handbook, they came in to quickly take Tracy away. These two were bold but meticulous at the same time.

    ¡°Can we still catch them if we run after them now?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin smiled and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Take it as a reward for thinking of such a method! We¡¯ll have to cross paths again sooner orter anyway.¡±

    Right from the start, Su Jin had not taken the three members of the Dark Council very seriously. Unless a real expert from the Dark Council appeared, these three were no match for him and he didn¡¯t have to bother himself with them.

    Of course, these people had different ideals from him, and it was only a matter of time before they crossed paths again. But he would deal with it when the time came. Right now, he just wanted to take a rest since he had justpleted a Challenge.

    A dayter, Murray, Jack, and Tracy had arrived back in Europe after travelling nonstop.

    ¡°That man isn¡¯t Xu Ran and the Dark Council actually doesn¡¯t have any information on him? That¡¯s unforgivable!¡± Tracy was fuming.

    Jack and Murray merely exchanged pained expressions. Had they failed because of theck of information? Clearly that hadn¡¯t been the case. They all knew deep down that they had failed because they had overestimated themselves.

    A psychokinesis user that nobody had even heard of had thrashed them so badly. If they had really run into the famous Xu Ran, they would be dead by now.

    Tracy didn¡¯t seem to understand this. The two men felt like she was just trying to find an excuse for her failures.

    After all, when they first guessed that this young man could be Xu Ran, the two men¡¯s first reaction was to retreat. It was this youngdy who boldly imed that she had a way to deal with psychokic owners and that was why they had taken the risk in the first ce.

    But since they had returned alive, there was no need to offend her, especially since she had powerful backers. Besides, she was also right to say that it was unforgivable that the Dark Council had no information on such a formidable person. Their next step would be to investigate this person thoroughly.

    After Tracy got back home, she went to look for her father. This was a man ranked within the top 100 owners and had high standing in the Dark Council.

    He wasn¡¯t actually part of the council, but he was on good terms with the chairman of the council. He was like an advisor and additional assistance to the council.

    ¡°Daddy!¡± Tracy immediately put on a pitiful look on her face when she spotted her father.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened, my little princess? Did someone bully you?¡± asked the man jokingly. He said these words jokingly because he knew that very few would be able to bully his daughter, and very few dared to bully her even if they could, because of him. It was more likely that his daughter bullied other people.

    But to his surprise, Tracy actually nodded and whined sadly, ¡°Daddy¡­ I¡­ I nearly died in Africa.¡±

    ¡°What? What do you mean?¡± He frowned as his voice suddenly grew stern.

    Tracy quickly took the chance to recount what happened.

    ¡°What?! You actually dared tounch a sneak attack on Xu Ran?!¡± eximed the man loudly when he heard the part where they had mistaken Su Jin for Xu Ran.

    Tracy was shocked by his exmation and asked puzzledly, ¡°But Daddy, I have a way to control psychokic owners, so I don¡¯t have to be afraid if I run into Xu Ran, right?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid? You¡¯re really too na?ve. He¡¯s ranked among the top ten owners, so whatever methods you have won¡¯t work on someone like him,¡± said the man with a scoff.

    Tracy felt a little frightened now that he had put things into perspective, so she quickly changed the topic. ¡°Later on, we confirmed that the man really wasn¡¯t Xu Ran.¡±

    ¡°The three of you managed toe back alive, so that¡¯s a clear sign that that man wasn¡¯t Xu Ran. If it were Xu Ran, he would have struck you dead on the spot, given his temperament,¡± remarked her father in a displeased voice.

    ¡°But¡­ since he¡¯s not Xu Ran and he dared to attack my daughter, then I have to do something about it. If I, Abbas, just take this lying down, I would be too ashamed to face other owners in the future.¡± He stood to his feet and asked Tracy, ¡°He¡¯s still in Africa, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they seem to be part of some International Mercenary Exchange,¡± said Tracy with a nod.

    ¡°International Mercenary Exchange, huh¡­ in that case, I¡¯ll get the Dark Council to contact their mercenary army and tell them that I¡¯m going to have a little fun there,¡± said the man with a wicked smile on his face.

 Chapter 275: The Dead Man, Liu Qiansheng

    <h4>Chapter 275: The Dead Man, Liu Qiansheng</h4>

    Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s African holiday wasn¡¯t over yet. The International Mercenary Exchange was supposed to take an entire month and they were finallying toward the end of it. During this time, Yun Tianye and his disciples had truly made a name for themselves. Rumor had it that some of the mercenaries had already decided that the team from Ster Skies was the champion in their hearts.

    Su Jin and Kano Mai were also getting bored, so Su Jin thought of having a gathering in Hell¡¯s Bar so that the members could have fun together and throw a wee party for Chu Yi.

    But Yun Han came looking for them first thing in the morning. When Su Jin opened the door for her, he noticed that she looked very anxious, as though something serious had happened.

    ¡°Yun Han? What¡¯s wrong? Did something bad happen?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Her eyes were red as she nodded. She tried to keep calm and held back her emotions as she said, ¡°Senior Su, my father has been injured in a fight and he¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s not going to make it.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Su Jin was shocked. Yun Tianye¡¯s level of martial arts was pretty high and he would have made it through a standard Challenge if he were an owner. How could he have been injured so badly in a fight?

    ¡°Take me to see him,¡± said Su Jin. Thomas hade with Yun Han and was waiting in a car outside the bungalow. When he saw Su Jin, Yun Han, and Kano Mai emerge from the house, he quickly started the car again.

    ¡°Thomas, what happened?¡± asked Su Jin with a frown.

    Thomas drove as he replied, ¡°Mr. Su, to be honest, we¡¯re really sure ourselves. The round scheduled this morning was between the ck Cross Mercenary Army and Mr. Yun, and in the end¡­ Mr. Yun lost and was thrown off the arena.¡±

    ¡°ck Cross?¡± Su Jin paused to think. As the person in charge of the team for this event, he had done some basic research on the other participants.

    This ck Cross Mercenary Army was based in Europe, and they were apparently very closely affiliated with some veryrge and influential financial organizations. They had been around for a long time now. And because they were fellow Europeans, they were able to get their hands on some of the best weapons through the organizations they were affiliated with, so they were also one of the best mercenary armies in the world.

    ¡°If he had been hurt by someone from ck Cross, my father would notin, since that would be a fair fight. But¡­ but Mr. Su, the person who injured my father is definitely not from ck Cross,¡± said Yun Han without hesitation.

    ¡°Oh? Why are you so sure?¡± Su Jin was puzzled now. Like she said, if Yun Tianye had been injured by someone from ck Cross, then there was nothing anybody could do, since that was just part and parcel of thepetition they were in. If he tried to take revenge, Yun Tianye might even object violently, because to martial artists like himself, getting hurt by someone more highly skilled in apetition was to be expected. If one tried taking revenge for this, that would be going against the rules.

    .

    But if the person who hurt Yun Tianye wasn¡¯t from ck Cross but someone whom they had hired at thest minute, then that would change things. It wasn¡¯t right for Su Jin to take revenge per se, but Su Jin could request to fight that person.

    ¡°Because I know that person and my father knows him too,¡± said Yun Han confidently. ¡°That man was an expert in martial arts from the Wudang Sect, and his name is Liu Qiansheng!¡±

    ¡°Liu Qiansheng from the Wudang Sect?¡± Su Jin had no impression of this name at all. He didn¡¯t know anything about martial arts, so he wouldn¡¯t know even if the person was the best martial artist in the world.

    ¡°Is it possible that he¡¯s now part of the ck Cross Mercenary Army?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Yun Han shook her head resolutely and said, ¡°That¡¯s impossible, because¡­ because Liu Qiansheng died ten years ago. My father even went to the funeral and witnessed his burial!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Everyone had strange looks on their faces upon hearing these words. The person who injured Yun Tianye was supposed to be dead? This sounded ridiculous.

    After pausing to think, Kano Mai asked hesitantly, ¡°Is it possible that¡­ he faked his death back then? Or this man is closely rted to Liu Qiansheng so they just look alike but aren¡¯t the same person?¡±

    ¡°No. Perhaps you don¡¯t understand, but Senior Su would know that the aura of a martial artist is as unique as one¡¯s fingerprints. No two martial artists exude the same aura. My father is very certain that man was Liu Qiansheng. Besides, after Liu Qiansheng was buried, the ground was covered with a one-ton gravestone and the funeral went on for many days. Even if he were somehow still alive, he wouldn¡¯t have survived being buried for so long. Most importantly, Liu Qiansheng was a very highly respected person in the martial arts world. He wouldn¡¯t need to fake his death or do anything like that.¡±

    ¡°If you say he might have done it to get away from his enemies, that wouldn¡¯t make sense either. He was at such a high level of martial arts that nobody could defeat him. He was also someone seen as an equal by world leaders, so nobody could use their status to pressure him either. It¡¯s impossible that he would fake his death.¡±

    Yun Han was very certain that this man was supposed to be dead. But sometimes one had to see it for themselves to be sure: no matter how confident Yun Han was, there were other possibilities. For example¡­ Liu Qiansheng might have been pulled into the Handbook¡¯s universe for some reason.

    Thomas drove at top speed, and it didn¡¯t take long for them to arrive back at the bungalow that was originally prepared for the team. A strong smell of blood instantly hit their noses as Su Jin and Kano Mai stepped into the house. Su Jin scanned the ce with his psychokinesis and could sense that Yun Tianye¡¯s energy levels were very weak and he was on the verge of death.

    He was even more shocked when he saw the state that Yun Tianye was in. The section between his right arm and chest was one huge wound. It looked terrifying.

    When Yun Tianye saw that Su Jin hade, he tried to move his body to greet Su Jin with a bow. Su Jin quickly held him down, then used a hand to retrieve one leaf from the Tree of Life from his Handbook when nobody else was looking. Thankfully, while Yun Tianye¡¯s injuries looked scary, none of his vital organs had been hurt badly. Otherwise, not even this leaf could save him.

    ¡°Eat this.¡± Su Jin held the leaf in front of Yun Tianye.

    Yun Tianye hesitated for a moment, not because he didn¡¯t trust Su Jin but because he was confused as to why Su Jin was asking him to eat a leaf. But out of respect for Su Jin, he did not ask any questions and put the leaf into his mouth. He chewed it a few times, then swallowed it.

    After he had consumed the leaf, Yun Tianye immediately felt the change within his body. The energy that was flowing out of him had returned. He could hardly believe what was happening. He knew best what had happened to him. The injuries he suffered hadn¡¯t killed him immediately, but he had a lot of hidden injuries all over his body and medicine no longer had any effect, so he was just waiting to die.

    Everyone was shocked to see the color return to Yun Tianye¡¯s face, but their expressions soon turned to dismay. All martial artists knew that when a person was about to die, their energy levels would suddenly return for a short period of time. To them, this was a sign that Yun Tianye was really going to die very soon.

    ¡°Father!¡± Yun Han was Yun Tianye¡¯s adopted daughter and was the first one to break down. Tears rolled down from her bloodshot eyes. The rest started sniffling as well. Only the most senior among them, Zhou Zhenghe, was clenching his teeth and trying his best to hold his tears back.

    Su Jin stared at them in confusion and snapped, ¡°Why are all of you crying? You should have been crying earlier on! Why are you crying now that he¡¯s fine? Hey, this is not the way to pretend that you care about him, you know?¡±

    Yun Tianye¡¯s disciples were stunned when they heard what Su Jin said. Their teacher was fine? But how could that be?

    Yun Tianye exhaled deeply at this point. The huge wound had closed up during this time and left a scar about the size of a fist. But such a scar was nothing to an old man like him.

    ¡°I, Yun Tianye, am eternally grateful to Senior Su for saving his life!¡± Yun Tianye got up and fell on one knee before Su Jin.

    Su Jin grunted in response and did not refuse his gratitude. He had saved the old man¡¯s life, so epting this show of respect and gratitude was not considered a loss of pride to the old man. In fact, if he refused the old man¡¯s gesture, that would make things difficult for Yun Tianye, since it was really hard to return such a favor.

    ¡°I¡¯ve epted your gesture, so that¡¯s enough to return the favor. Now, tell me about this Liu Qiansheng. Yun Han tells me that he¡¯s supposed to be dead. What¡¯s this all about?¡± said Su Jin.

    Yun Tianye didn¡¯t dare to hold back any information. ¡°Senior, I still don¡¯t get what happened either. Ten years ago, Liu Qiansheng reached the furthest point of his cultivation in martial arts. He was indignant about this and tried to forcibly find a way to make a breakthrough, but he ended up getting consumed by it and died as a result. Many fellow martial artists were greatly saddened by this matter. Even Priest Qiu Chan went for his funeral. Priest Qiu Chan is also a great expert in our country and if even he could confirm that Liu Qiansheng was dead, then it¡¯s impossible for Liu Qiansheng to still be alive right now. But¡­ the person who injured me this morning¡­ was definitely Liu Qiansheng.¡±

    Yun Tianye looked terribly confused. He simply couldn¡¯t wrap his head around what happened. Su Jin pursed his lips as he listened. He had seen Qiu Chan himself. That was Xu Ran¡¯s shifu and was now dead, yet still alive at the same time.

    ¡°Dead but also alive¡­!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. If Liu Qiansheng had died ten years ago and the man who injured Yun Tianye this morning was truly Liu Qiansheng, then the best exnation for this phenomenon would be that¡­ this Liu Qiansheng was in the same state as Qiu Chan.

    Qiu Chan was in this state because Xu Ran had inserted his powerful psychokinesis into the old man¡¯s body and was able to control his actions as a result. So, it was more urate to say that Qiu Chan was now a second Xu Ran rather than Qiu Chan himself. But what about this Liu Qiansheng?

    ¡°Could it be Tracy?¡± Su Jin was a little puzzled now. He didn¡¯t think Tracy could do this even though she was also a psychokinesis owner. She was a very low level user and was nothingpared to himself or Xu Ran. Besides, she had definitely already left Africa by now. Could it be that this ce had another psychokinesis owner and a very powerful one at that?

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t draw any conclusions, so he said, ¡°Never mind that now. The Exchange continues tomorrow, right? I¡¯ll go up and fight tomorrow and see what¡¯s going on for myself!¡±

 Chapter 276: Going Up To Fight

    <h4>Chapter 276: Going Up To Fight</h4>

    In northern Africa, in the area outside of the arena where the International Mercenary Exchange was being held, stood a three story office building. A mercenary army was using this building, and that army was one of the oldest and most famous ones in Europe, the ck Cross.

    On the highest floor, a man sat on a couch and scanned the people around himzily. Every person heid eyes on felt a chill down their spine. Despite being warriors who had been in battle for a long time, they had never felt so terrified even in the face of impending death.

    ¡°All of you can go downstairs for now. Remember, without my permission, none of you are allowed toe up to the third story. If you try¡­ you¡¯ll die.¡± This man was none other than Tracy¡¯s father, Abbas. Immediately after he gave those instructions, all the leaders of the ck Cross felt like a great burden had been lifted from their backs and they quickly took their leave.

    Abbas lit a cigar, took a deep puff, then exhaled the smoke out of his nose. He had a frosty smile on his lips as he nced at Liu Qiansheng standing next to him as stiff and straight as a spear. He suddenly pped the man¡¯s face.

    Pak! His palmnded on Liu Qiansheng¡¯s face, but he did not flinch and maintained the same position. Abbas burst outughing.

    ¡°HAHA! You used to be one of China¡¯s top martial artists, but now¡­ you¡¯re nothing more than a dog to me!¡± Abbas patted Liu Qiansheng¡¯s face with a smirk. There were several more bodies quietly standing behind him without moving, their bodies covered entirely in a ck cloth.

    The next morning, Su Jin went to visit Yun Tianye first. The effect of the leaves from the Tree of Life was truly amazing. In just one night, Yun Tianye had not only fully recovered from his injuries, but his body seemed to have been rejuvenated as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s the essence of a demigod after all. It¡¯s too bad that I don¡¯t have many left.¡± Su Jin sighed to himself. These leaves were great for saving lives, but he and Chu Yi hadn¡¯t been able to take a lot with them back then and they had used most of them already. He had been very reluctant to use the remaining pieces he had and was very careful to only use them when absolutely necessary.

    ¡°Senior Su, let¡¯s head for the event hall now.¡± Yun Tianye could feel this seemingly endless amount of energy surging through his body, and he knew that it came from that magical leaf that Su Jin gave him the day before.

    Su Jin nced at Yun Tianye, then frowned as he said, ¡°Remember, I don¡¯t want anybody else to know about that leaf I gave you.¡±

    Yun Tianye blinked in surprise for a moment, but quickly realized why Su Jin wanted to keep it a secret. He patted his chest and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Besides the people in the room that day, nobody else will know about it.¡±

    Su Jin gave a pleased nod. As the saying goes, you could be a target not because of who you are but what you had: if the martial arts world found out that he had something that was practically nature defying, he could forget about living in peace. This was something that could not only heal one from fatal injuries but also rejuvenate a grandmaster¡¯s already strong physical body, after all.

    Of course, if others did find out and tried to make trouble for him, he didn¡¯t mind killing them all. But he wanted to avoid trouble as much as he could, and he wasn¡¯t some psychopath who got a kick out of killing others.

    By the time they arrived, the hall was already packed. Su Jin and Kano Mai hade to take a look a few times before this, since he had to turn up now and then as the person in charge of his team.

    The number of people in the hall had increasedpared to when the event first started. But this wasn¡¯t surprising. They were reaching the end of the event and many were here to watch the best of the best fight. Some of the spectators were also important and influential characters who were hoping to find a suitable bodyguard among the fighters.

    Right now, a man in ck clothing and white hair stood as straight as a spear on the fighting arena that was in the middle of the whole hall. He looked like he was in his forties, but his head of white hair made him seem very old.

    ¡°That¡¯s Liu Qiansheng?¡± murmured Su Jin.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s Liu Qiansheng, one of the best martial artists in the country while he was alive. After you leftst night, I made a call to someone from the Wudang Sect and got them to check Liu Qiansheng¡¯s grave. Guess what they found?¡± said Yun Tianye with a grim look on his face.

    Su Jinughed. ¡°It¡¯s been dug up?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Someone had dug it up half a year ago, and they had done it very discreetly. They had actually dug a hole a good five kilometers away from the grave and made a tunnel leading to the grave itself. But¡­ I still can¡¯t understand. So what if you dig his body out from the grave? He¡¯s already been dead for ten years!¡± Yun Tianye was stumped and couldn¡¯t understand the logic behind these actions.

    Su Jin thought to himself, ¡°Of course you can¡¯t understand how this is happening, since this is like a miracle to you. The person who did this must have used some miraculous method, and Hell¡¯s Handbook represents that sort of supernatural power.¡±

    ¡°Ten years? Wouldn¡¯t he have turned into dry bones by now? Why bother digging his body out?¡± said Thomas quizzically. He felt that this conversation didn¡¯t even make sense.

    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have be dry bones yet, since he was a top grandmaster in China before that. Even after death, his physical body can remain undecayed for at least a few decades,¡± exined Yun Tianye.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in just talking. Let me get up there and confirm this personally,¡± said Su Jin before slowly making his way to the arena.

    A staff member standing at the foot of the arena immediately walked over to stop Su Jin when he saw that he looked like he was about to get into the arena. But Thomas and Yun Tianye followed behind him and told them that Su Jin was from Ster Skies, which qualified him to fight on behalf of thepany.

    The staff member froze in shock when he saw Yun Tianye. He remembered clearly that Yun Tianye had a huge open wound in his chest when he fell off the arena. Could this man be his twin brother?

    Su Jin ignored whatever was happening behind him and walked onto the arena. He looked straight at Liu Qiansheng and surrounded the man¡¯s body with his psychokinesis to scan it.

    ¡°Hmm. He¡¯s dead, alright.¡± Su Jin frowned. Liu Qiansheng did not possess the slightest bit of consciousness and was as good as a piece of rock. This man was definitely not alive at all. Or rather, he didn¡¯t present any signs of life at all.

    Just when Su Jin was about to scan Liu Qiansheng further, Liu Qiansheng suddenly made a move. His white hair flew in the wind like a white-haired yaksha. His first move was a very powerful cannon punch!

    Su Jin reached out to grab hold of Liu Qiansheng¡¯s fist, but the moment he caught the man¡¯s fist, his sleeve suddenly burst open. That was because Liu Qiansheng had packed a lot of energy into this punch. Su Jin¡¯s body was able to withstand the impact, but his clothes weren¡¯t, so they tore from the sheer force of the punch.

    ¡°What a strong body!¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. Liu Qiansheng was a top grandmaster, alright. His body had been trained to a terrifying level. If he was able to make a breakthrough, he would be able to defeat even owners who had consumed a Mid-level Body Strengthening Elixir. It was hard to imagine how anyone could achieve such a feat outside of the Handbook¡¯s universe.

    Liu Qiansheng¡¯s attacks were simple, and his steps followed the standard routine. These came naturally to his body after practicing these moves day and night for so many years. In fact, Liu Qiansheng was now like Chu Yi¡¯s body under the control of the cult, except that Liu Qiansheng didn¡¯t even have a soul.

    Su Jin casually blocked Liu Qiansheng¡¯s moves, since they were predictable. If this man were still alive, he would have been able to alternate his moves ordingly, which would have made Su Jin fight more seriously. But now, Liu Qiansheng was merely reenacting whatever muscle memory he had. These moves were enough to defeat anybody weaker than himself, but useless when fighting Su Jin.

    ¡°That¡¯s incredible! This guy is so incredible, I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s human!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Liu Qiansheng defeated Yun Tianye yesterday, and Yun Tianye is practically a superhuman himself! Yet this man¡­ he looks like he¡¯s fighting a child!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Seriously though, is this guy human at all? I watched how Liu Qiansheng smashed the concrete floor to powder with one punch yesterday, yet this guy just catches Liu Qiansheng¡¯s fist with his bare hands!¡±

    Those who had witnessed how formidable Liu Qiansheng had been the day before were utterly floored by how Su Jin looked like an adult fighting a child¡¯s futile attempts. After Liu Qiansheng had defeated Yun Tianye the day before, they all saw Liu Qiansheng like a god of sorts. Yet now, the man whom they saw as a god was seen as a child by this young man.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t care about what the others thought of him. His psychokinesis was following Liu Qiansheng¡¯s aura to search the premises. He was certain that someone was controlling Liu Qiansheng and he was trying to locate that person.

    It didn¡¯t take long for him to find that person. His psychokinesis detected a supernatural power that clearly should not belong to an ordinary human. Most importantly, this power resonated with Liu Qiansheng¡¯s aura in a very special way, so Su Jin was sure that was the key to controlling Liu Qiansheng.

    ¡°He¡¯s here, huh.¡± Su Jin¡¯s lips curled into an icy smile. Since that person was right here, he wasn¡¯t going to let this man get away. Not especially after he turned out to be an asshole treating his fellow countryman like a mere puppet.

    He turned and pushed Liu Qiansheng against the floor with one hand. The impact of doing that caused the concrete floor of the arena to crack. He looked up with a start and a silver glint trembled in his eyes as he looked at a man hidden in the crowd.

    ¡°Found me already? You¡¯re not bad!¡± That man smiled as he waved a hand. Several figures wearing ck hoods over their heads suddenly leaped out from behind him, dashing onto the arena and surrounding Su Jin.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happening¡±

    ¡°Are they all going to gang up against that one guy? That can¡¯t be happening! Where did these people even appear from?!¡±

    ".

    The spectators were also in shock.

    Su Jin used one hand to keep Liu Qiansheng down so that he couldn¡¯t get up and scanned the people who had suddenly leaped onto the arena. They all pushed their hoods back at the same time to reveal their faces.

    ¡°These people¡­!¡± Yun Tianye¡¯s pupils constricted and Thomas¡¯ face paled as well, because he had spotted people he recognized among this group. The only problem was that¡­ these people were supposed to be dead for a long time now.

    Including Liu Qiansheng, there were a total of seven people against Su Jin. These seven people had no soul in their eyes but their bodies were able to disy their bestbat moves as they attacked Su Jin at the same time.

    ¡°Very interesting!¡± Su Jin smiled.

 Chapter 277: Abbas, The Corpse Controller

    <h4>Chapter 277: Abbas, The Corpse Controller</h4>

    Su Jin moved as nimbly as the branches of a willow tree. The seven people in the arena kepting at him, but no matter how fierce, powerful or strange their attacks were, none of them even came close to touching Su Jin.

    Meanwhile, several of the older ones among the fighters had pale faces. The seven men in the arena were all famous people in their lifetime, experts in their field. But¡­ they were all supposed to be dead.

    ¡°That¡¯s Seth Rays, who used to be known as the king of underground boxing. He holds the astonishing record of defeating 300 people without suffering injuries, but he should have died 15 years ago!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not the only one. Look at the rest! That¡¯s Safi Mohammed, a martial artist and trainer employed by the royal pces in West Asia!¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s Ballistic Bear Kant, top special forces soldier from Russia! And that¡¯s Sanjay Singhi, top yoga grandmaster from India! Also, that¡¯s Greg Tony, once Europe¡¯s top assassin! And that¡­ that¡¯s ck Dragon, Kassimo!¡± Some among the crowd could name all the men who had leaped out of nowhere immediately.

    Six of the men were not known to everyone in the crowd, but thest one was a truly shocking revtion. That was the man who had died not too long ago at the hands of Su Jin in this very same arena, the legend of the Firebird Mercenary Army, ck Dragon Kassimo!

    The crowd was in an uproar. How could these men havee back from the dead? Saying that someone else was impersonating these men was an invalid argument. Each of these men had a very special way of fighting, so even their own disciples might not be able to reproduce these special characteristics despite learning the same moves.

    ¡°So, they¡¯re all supposed to be dead? But they were already no match for me when they were alive, never mind now that they¡¯re dead,¡± thought Su Jin in his heart. These dead men were very good at fighting and were the best among their peers in their day, but these were moves that ordinary people were capable of and could not bepared to someone like Su Jin. If the man controlling all these dead people was only capable of doing this, Su Jin was going to be sorely disappointed.

    Read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing tranted novels from the original source at [  ]

    ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got?¡± Su Jin thrust a palm at Kassimo and mmed him into the concrete floor. Kassimo¡¯s head went through the floor like a drill bit. Now that Su Jin knew who was controlling these people, he used his psychokinesis to send that message over.

    ¡°You¡¯re a psychokinesis owner, alright. But these moves are already more than enough to make your life hell. The core of psychokinesis is the fact that it affects one¡¯s consciousness, but these dead people don¡¯t have any of that. Your Spirit Power is useless on these people.¡± Abbas sat in the crowd and watched Su Jin with a mocking smile on his face. He was very interested to see how this unknown guy was going to deal with his army of the dead.

    ¡°These guys? It¡¯s true that psychokinesis doesn¡¯t work on them, but¡­ I can smite them even without using psychokinesis!¡± Su Jin¡¯s expression turned grim. His muscles trembled slightly as he finally disyed what he was truly capable of. His almost godlike body instantly beat the royal martial artist from West Asia to a pulp.

    ¡°Gosh! He can¡¯t be human!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying! He¡¯s more like a ferocious beast!¡±

    ¡°He can take on seven expert martial artists at the same time! That makes him even more frightening than a ferocious beast! Even a beast would have been crushed to pieces from thisbined attack, yet he managed to kill one of them!¡±

    The voices of the spectators grew louder and louder. After all, none of this made sense. They couldn¡¯t even have dreamt this up.

    Abbas sat in the spectator seats and observed with some interest how Su Jin dealt with these dead people. He nodded quietly and murmured, ¡°He really has a very strong body. Possibly only the chairman of the Dark Council could rival him. But if that¡¯s all you¡¯re capable of, I¡¯m going to kill you today!¡±

    Su Jin had his psychokinesis locked on Abbas, so he was very sensitive to Abbas¡¯ reactions and he could sense the older man¡¯s murderous intentions.

    ¡°The Dark Council¡­ so you¡¯re connected to Tracy and those guys?¡± Su Jinunched a sidekick and kicked the head of the underground boxing king off his neck. He crushed the man¡¯s head with one foot, then punched his fist through the top assassin¡¯s abdomen.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Tracy is my daughter!¡± Abbas stood up and red at Su Jin with a murderous look in his eyes. ¡°How dare you lock my daughter up! I¡¯ll give you two choices. One, you be my servant for ten years and I¡¯ll let you go after that. Two, you die right here!¡±

    Su Jin scoffed. He proceeded to ughter the rest of the dead men, then pressed a finger into Liu Qiansheng¡¯s forehead to pin him to the arena. After that, a ck beam shot out of the arena and flew toward Abbas.

    Abbas seemed prepared for the attack. A ck smoke rose from his chest and formed a shield that blocked the ck beaming toward him. That ck beam was none other than Rumor, controlled by Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis. But Abbas didn¡¯t know the special characteristics of Rumor. After he blocked Rumor¡¯s first attack, it made a second attack immediately after that, then another attack and another attack. The attacks didn¡¯t seem to end at all.

    By this time, Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis and Rumor had merged perfectly. To him, Rumor was like a part of his body that wouldunch the most efficient attacks with just onemand.

    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

    Abbas was shocked by the countless attacks that Rumor was capable of making. He turned to make a run for it. If he stayed in such a small space with a weapon that could keep attacking him so quickly, he would have no way of fighting back. He had to find arger space that would make it easier for him to hide from these attacks. And there were plenty of such spaces in North Africa.

    He dashed out of the hall and Su Jin followed suit. The organizers would clean up the mess he¡¯d left behind, so he needn¡¯t worry about that.

    Abbas moved very quickly and was practically flying, since his feet were supported by that ck smoke he produced. Su Jin wasn¡¯t slow either. He was able to keep pace with Abbas by just running. If he used his psychokinesis to fly, he would be able to go faster. But he knew that Abbas was trying to find a big and empty space to fight, which was what Su Jin wanted as well.

    The two of them finally arrived at a barren piece ofnd. Abbas stopped running and turned around, as though he were waiting for Su Jin. Su Jin stopped about 50 meters or so away from Abbas. They stared warily at each other.

    ¡°Let me introduce myself. My name is Abbas and I rank #100 among Handbook owners. Some call me the corpse controller!¡± Abbas said all this very politely, but after he introduced himself, he lifted both hands and all the bones buried beneath the ground around him came up to the surface.

    This ce was heaven for wild animals. The safari represented freedom, but it was also a ce where only the fittest survived. That meant that there was constant hunting and death in this ce. Countless skeletons were buried beneath the ground here, regardless of whether it belonged to a human, an elephant, a rhinoceros, a lion, or a bull. This ce was a natural cemetery.

    And a cemetery was where Abbas¡¯s powers could shine. His power was derived from the dead, so the closer he was to corpses, the stronger he became.

    ¡°This energy, death, iciness¡­ so, your Spirit Power isn¡¯t some sort of necromancer power, but it¡¯s just an ability to control the dead?¡± Su Jin was a bit puzzled. There were so many different types of Spirit Powers avable and some were extremely rare and unknown. Su Jin couldn¡¯t really figure out what sort of Spirit Power Abbas possessed.

    ¡°No, no, no, I have the Spirit Power of awakening! So, instead of calling it death, I call it life!¡± said Abbas proudly as he sniffed the freshly dug up soil with a delirious look on his face.

    Su Jin nodded slightly as a silver glint shed in his eyes. He said quietly, ¡°Since you¡¯ve introduced yourself, then I should too, even though you already know some things about me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Your name is Su Jin and you¡¯re Chinese. You¡¯re considered a newish owner, but you¡¯re quite powerful and you¡¯re a powerful psychokinesis user. But based on my information, your strength is mostly in your physique. Besides that, you seem to have worked with the Chinese government, which is something rare among owners.¡± Abbas had made use of the Dark Council¡¯s resources to get hold of fairly detailed information on Su Jin within a short period of time. But he was still unable to get information on some of Su Jin¡¯s secrets.

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then added to this summary of himself, ¡°My name¡¯s Su Jin and I¡¯m ranked #91 among Handbook owners. I have Psychokic Spirit Power!¡±

    His introduction was a lot simpler and shorter than Abbas¡¯, but a few words sent shockwaves down Abbas¡¯ spine. He looked uneasy as he said, ¡°You said¡­ you said you were ranked¡­¡±

    ¡°You can check for yourself.¡± Su Jin smiled as he temporarily allowed his ranking to be seen by other owners.

    Abbas immediately flipped his Handbook open. He started trembling when he saw that Su Jin was indeed at #91. He himself was ranked at #100, so he knew better than anyone else what these rankings meant. Even the person ranked one ce above him could be a lot more powerful than he was. And Su Jin was nearly ten ces higher than he was.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re done with introductions, so let¡¯s fight!¡± Su Jin immediately catapulted himself toward Abbas.

    Abbas was still in shock, but he was a highly ranked owner after all. He was at a position way higher than even Wu Chen. So, he immediately reacted to Su Jin¡¯s attack and turned all those bones he raised from the ground into a wall of bones to block Su Jin.

    ¡°Break, all of you!¡± yelled Su Jin as he punched the wall hard with his Qi Thrust technique. A series of cracking sounds could be heard as the wall of bones shattered. The ground was covered in bits of broken, yellowing bones.

    Abbas knew that he had still underestimated how strong Su Jin¡¯s body was. At the same time, he realized that he had to keep fighting. Su Jin had the upper hand, so if he didn¡¯t have a good n for escaping, then running away right now would get him killed too.

 Chapter 278: Developing Psychokinesis

    <h4>Chapter 278: Developing Psychokinesis</h4>

    Abbas¡¯ Spirit Power was a strange one and he had developed it really well. Su Jin had to admit that he hadn¡¯t done such a good job of developing his own Spirit Power. At the same time, psychokinesis was much harder to develop inparison, and even Xu Ran himself was still trying out various methods.

    To a certain extent, whether a Spirit Power was a powerful one depended on what level of development the user was at. For example, when it came to Spirit Powers that could control others, psychokinesis was generally more powerful than hypnosis, but that wasn¡¯t always the case. Some owners were very good at developing their Spirit Power and had explored the potential of their Spirit Power in great detail. Doing that could make a seemingly ordinary Spirit Power a force to be reckoned with.

    Or for example, when it came to Spirit Powers rted to water, a veteran who just awakened their powers would probably only be able to control the flow of water and basic things like that. But the geniuses would be able to develop their Spirit Power and could even reach a stage where they could suck all liquids out of a living creature. That would be a very powerful skill to have in a battle.

    Abbas was the sort of owner who had developed his Spirit Power almost to perfection. The vast ins of northern Africa were especially helpful to Abbas, because there were so many skeletons buried in the ground that he could make use of. So, even though Su Jin¡¯s ranking was higher than Abbas¡¯, in this particr situation, Abbas might actually have the upper hand instead.

    ¡°This is going to be a fight to the death. If I run now, I¡¯ll end up dying a terrible death instead!¡± Abbas knew very well what sort of situation he was in right now. He had no choice but to fight Su Jin to the death. Besides, the conditions here were favorable to him, so he had a chance of winning this battle.

    Piles and piles of bones came to the surface, making the ins look more like a valley of bones. The countless bones came flying toward Su Jin in various ways. Some turned into spears, some turned into swords. Some came together to form giant skeletons. Their aim was to do everything they could to block Su Jin from getting close to Abbas.

    The silver glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes kept shing, but he still felt very frustrated. There were simply too many bones. He didn¡¯t have enough psychokinesis to control so many of them, unless he unleashed all the psychokinesis that the Mad Hatter had sealed away.

    Thankfully, besides his psychokinesis, his body was also very strong, so the bones could strike him without causing much damage. They could only temporarily stop him from advancing.

    ¡°He¡¯s an owner in the top 100, alright. His control over his own powers is really incredible,¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but exim in wonder. The innumerable bones that came at him from all directions made him feel as though he were in hell. It made sense for Abbas to be at #100 since he had the power to control such a vast volume. But at the same time, it made Su Jin wonder, if Abbas was already so powerful at #100, exactly how powerful was Shen Wu and Xu Ran?

    Actually, Su Jin could make a rough guess based on the fight between Xu Ran and the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter was a real deity, so even though the real world suppressed the extent of his powers, it was just a suppression and not a removal. So, even in the real world, he would still probably be more powerful than a full fledged demigod.

    Yet, Xu Ran still managed to injure the Mad Hatter in that fight. Goodness knows what happened then: perhaps all of B City had turned into absolute chaos. Xu Ran was able to deal with the mess, anyway. At most, he could just brainwash the entire city¡¯s poption simultaneously.

    As for Shen Wu, his ability to control heat was really terrifying. All living things were affected by heat. Any movement consumed energy, and heat was the most important source of energy for living things. Shen Wu could easily control any living creature¡¯s body temperature and even their surroundings. Very few could fight something like that.

    Su Jin¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t too bad. The skill that came with the Gift from the Gods gave him immunity from any attacks based on basic elements, and heat seemed to be part of this list. But just like what was mentioned before, the ability to control water could eventually lead to one being able to control the amount of water in a living thing¡¯s body. He wasn¡¯t sure what Shen Wu¡¯s control of heat was in its original state.

    ¡°Control and change!¡± Su Jin shattered a giant skeleton to powder with one punch. He looked at the sea of bones before him and began to understand how important it was to explore every possibility his Spirit Power had.

    ¡°The bones rise like the ocean! Su Jin, your ranking is higher than mine, but it¡¯s hard for you to win when the conditions are in my favor!¡± Abbas saw that he was in control of the situation, while Su Jin was trapped among all the bones and could barely move. His confidence began to grow and his initial fears transformed into a belief that he was going to win this battle.

    Su Jin seemed to have gone into a daze. The silver gleam in his eyes dimmed and his gaze seemed empty now. His body stopped fighting back and he allowed the never ending bones to bury his body.

    In just one minute, the sea of bones had flooded the previously empty ins. The bones had stacked themselves into a mountain in the centermost part of the in, a mountain that was no smaller than one that was naturally formed. Su Jin was buried beneath this very mountain.

    ¡°I like Chinese literature and one of them, Journey to the West, is well loved all over the world. In that book, Buddha traps the Monkey King under a mountain for 500 years. Su Jin, you could be as powerful and versatile as the Monkey King, but I am like Buddha who can crush you under a mountain and make sure you never make aeback!¡± Abbas had a maniacal smile on his face. So what if Su Jin was ranked #91? Abbas was still able to defeat him.

    Just then, Abbas sensed something amiss with the mountain of bones. He could see a silver light flickering through the gaps in the bones. It was as though¡­ it was about to explode.

    SSHIING!

    There was a loud sound that pierced the air as a dazzling silver beam of light shot out from the bottom of the mountain. That was a sharp de without any handle, a de made purely from psychokinesis!

    The psychokic de split the mountain in half and Su Jin walked right out. There was a look of understanding in his eyes. Psychokinesis was a high level type of Spirit Power and was not a derivation of any other Spirit Power, so how powerful it was depended on how an owner learned to use it.

    ¡°I¡¯m not Xu Ran, so I have a path of my own. Besides psychokinesis, I also have an almost godlike body. In that case, I¡¯m going tobine both the mental and physical and find a path that truly belongs to me!¡± The silver light in his eyes looked like it was about to flow out. He flicked his fingers gently and a sharp knife made from psychokinesis floated in front of him.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of the knife and brought it down, turning all the bones blocking his way into ash. The knife was merely a manifestation of his psychokinesis. The knife¡¯s characteristics were controlled entirely by Su Jin¡¯s thoughts, so it could be just enough to cut a strand of hair, or it could be mighty enough to break the ground.

    Abbas¡¯ expression turned to one of horror. He could sense that Su Jin wasn¡¯t the same as before. If this man was a knife inside a sheath before this, he was now out of the sheath and had been sharpened. Abbas was going to be a stone for testing this knife now.

    ¡°He¡¯s made a breakthrough! Why did he make a breakthrough now of all times?!¡± Abbas was furious, but it was toote to run now. He pressed a hand against his Handbook and five figures appeared in front of him.

    ¡°Kill him! Let¡¯s kill him together!¡± shouted Abbas. He pointed a finger at the bones around him and they all shattered. The marrow of the bones sparkled as they flew into the air and fused together around the bodies of the five figures, dressing each of them in a full armor of bones. But the bulk of these bones gathered around Abbas, giving him a threatening and bulky armor.

    ¡°My Armor of Death!¡± This was Abbas¡¯ most powerful defense skill, an armor made from the marrow of bones. This skill could only make so many in a ce like north Africa, since each set of armor required ten tons of bones. But Abbas felt that this amount was worth it, because these sets of armor were extremely resilient and were equivalent to an Earth Grade armor.

    Su Jin slowly made his way forward, like he was taking a stroll around his own house. As long as an object made from bones came at him, he just had to wave his hand slightly and the psychokic knife in his hand would shatter it.

    ¡°These people¡­ are dead owners!¡± Su Jin was surprised when he noticed that each of the five figures held a Handbook. He didn¡¯t expect Abbas¡¯ powers to be this terrifying. He could even control owners who died. If he was allowed to continue developing this power, then¡­ would he be able to control a dead deity?

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have any answers to that, but he knew that Abbas wouldn¡¯t have the chance to explore that possibility. Abbas had a formidable Spirit Power and he had developed it well, but he had picked a fight with the wrong person at the wrong time. Since Abbas dared to attack him and his friend, then Abbas had to suffer the consequences of doing so.

    Boom! Su Jin brandished his psychokic knife and the bones in front of him exploded as though he had thrown a bomb at them. But Su Jin¡¯s target wasn¡¯t them, but the five dead owners controlled by Abbas who were hiding behind the wall of bones.

    The five owners moved at around the same speed initially, when suddenly a prettydy among them sped up. She made her way to the front of the rest and came straight toward Su Jin¡¯s psychokic knife.

    Boom!

    A shield made from air appeared in front of her, because this woman¡¯s Spirit Power could control air. She gathered the air around her and pressed it into a defensiveyer to defend herself against Su Jin¡¯s knife.

    ¡°Barbara died before the rules changed, but if she were still alive, she¡¯d definitely be ranked among the top 200 owners. Also, she¡¯s very good in defense, so I¡¯m going to see how you¡­¡± Before Abbas could finish boasting about this woman, his eyes flew open. He watched as Barbara¡¯s air shield suddenly shattered after holding up for just a few seconds. Su Jin had punched a hole into the shield and the knife had sliced Barbara into two, causing her body to copse onto the ground.

 Chapter 279: Thousand Bone Cage

    <h4>Chapter 279: Thousand Bone Cage</h4>

    Barbara copsed and did not move, so Su Jin did not continue attacking her and paused to observe the situation. He noticed that the other four owners were stilling toward him, but Abbas seemed to have given up on Barbara.

    ¡°So, in order to control a dead person¡¯s abilities, the person¡¯s corpse cannot be iplete, or there¡¯s a limit to how iplete the body can be before it¡¯s no longer usable?¡± Su Jin got it now. This limitation made more sense to him. Otherwise, Abbas could have just gone around to dig up the bodies of every formidable person in history and he¡¯d have be unimaginably powerful.

    ¡°Humph! You have such an invincible body, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll still be in one good piece even after you¡¯re dead! I¡¯ll turn your body into my new toy and you shall be my ve forever!¡± hissed Abbas.

    Su Jin¡¯s lips curled upward slightly, which confused Abbas. He had just said some really nasty things, yet Su Jin still seemed very happy about it. But just one secondter, he felt a terrible sense of dangering his way. He frantically summoned all the bones to protect him, but in that same instant, the bones were shattered to powder by some powerful force. After they shattered, he saw another man who looked just like Su Jin, except that this man was made entirely from psychokinesis. This was the person who made that attack from behind.

    The psychokic Su Jin held White Ash and ck Fire and fired away. The holy and evil bullets from the two guns poured down like rain but disappeared after a short while.

    ¡°Not bad.¡± Su Ji gave a pleased nod. His psychokic clone wasn¡¯t as strong and nimble as himself, but it was able to use his items. But he had expected that. His psychokic self was the same as his actual self, except that it didn¡¯t have flesh and blood. It was a body-less Su Jin. The Handbook recognized owners by their souls and not their bodies, so even his psychokic self could use White Ash and ck Fire.

    During this battle, Su Jin became very familiar with the improvements in his psychokinesis. He could make psychokic weapons and a psychokic clone of himself, which were vast improvements in his overall capabilities. Psychokic weapons could be used when he was not allowed to use actual weapons, plus they appeared at hismand, which was easier to hide than retrieving an item from the Handbook.

    The psychokic clone was an even bigger surprise. This was a clone that could use his weapons as well. This might note in very handy during Challenges, but it would definitely be an unexpected move in other battles such as those between teams.

    Abbas was terrified. What in the world was this young man made of? Was he really a newbie who had only gone through around ten Challenges or so? How was he able to improve his capabilities in a desperate battle like this one? Wasn¡¯t this the sort of thing you¡¯d expect to see only in one of those shounen manga? Or perhaps¡­ Abbas had never been a real threat to Su Jin at all, which was why Su Jin could take his time to slowly improve and adjust his powers.

    In fact, Su Jin was very pleased with what Abbas had done. Abbas had not done anything that could threaten Su Jin¡¯s life initially, because he didn¡¯t want to pull out his trump card right from the start. But if he had summoned those five owners right from the start andunched an aggressive attack, Su Jin might not have emerged victorious.

    By the time Abbas executed this move, Su Jin had already discovered how to create psychokic weapons and psychokic clones of himself, so the appearance of these five owners was no longer a threat to him. Clearly he had never heard of the saying, a lion ought to use all of its strength even when fighting a rabbit.

    Su Jin was hoping that Abbas could bring him more surprises, but it was clear that Abbas was going to disappoint him. Abbas proceeded to summon more bones and control the four owners. He didn¡¯t have anything else to offer besides that.

    The four dead owners were actually quite formidable and would have ranked among the top 5,000 if they were still alive. It must have taken Abbas a lot of effort to get hold of these owners¡¯ bodies.

    But the dead were dead and had lost any will of their own. Their actions were entirely based on their muscle memory and Abbas¡¯ instructions. Such a person couldn¡¯t be much more formidable than a puppet, right? Or rather, Su Jin was very sure that these bodies were just puppets with greater detail.

    ¡°We¡¯re all Handbook owners and we¡¯ve sacrificed a lot in order to survive, so I won¡¯t call you out for being disrespectful to the dead or anything like that, because those who¡¯ve never been in Challenges will never understand how we must use any resources we have in such desperate and hopeless situations.¡± Su Jin took a big step forward. He nced at the dead owners and his psychokic clone suddenly appeared next to one of them. Rumor surrounded the dead owner¡¯s body, humming as it flew back and forth. It struck the owner so many times that he was filled with as many holes as a beehive and the owner fell weakly to the ground.

    ¡°Hmm, using this clone with Rumor gives me even more room for flexibility.¡± Su Jin nodded slightly. Rumor automatically returned to the user, while his clone could appear from absolutely nowhere, so this allowed him tounch an attack from any angle.

    ¡°It¡¯s already so hard to survive, so why do you attack owners in the same difficult situation as yourself? I¡¯m not one who would hurt others just like that,¡± Su Jin continued speaking to Abbas. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m beginning to sound a bit more noble than I really am¡­ I know that everyone has different ways of dealing with the same situation depending on their personality, so I can¡¯t say that the way you do things is definitely wrong. But I can safely say that there¡¯s one thing you did wrong.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Abbas immediately.

    ¡°You¡¯ve offended someone you shouldn¡¯t have!¡± said Su Jin in an icy, unfeeling voice as his expression turned frosty.

    At the same time, three psychokic clones of himself appeared. Rumor, ck Fire and White Ash appeared in the hands of each clone, sting thest three dead owners to smithereens.

    In just a few minutes, the trump card that Abbas was so proud and confident of waspletely torn to shreds by Su Jin. This was proof of the difference in their capabilities, but it was also the sad result of Abbas underestimating Su Jin when they first started fighting. If he had used everything he had to fight Su Jin right at the start, then even if he didn¡¯t win, he might have had the chance to escape. But now¡­ he didn¡¯t even have the chance to escape.

    Abbas¡¯ eyes widened and cold sweat poured down his face. He clenched his teeth tightly and let out a mighty roar, but it only resulted in more bones pouring down. If he were fighting an ordinary person or even an ordinary owner, the number of bones could bury his opponent alive.

    ¡°You¡¯re feeling indignant: are you indignant that you¡¯ve lost, or indignant that you¡¯re going to die just like that?¡± Su Jin gathered his psychokinesis once more, but this time, he created a pair of angel wings on his back. Each feather was made from pure psychokinesis and its silvery glow carried pretty blue sparkles.

    From afar, Abbas in his frightening looking armor made from bones looked like the lord of hades looking down at the living.

    Su Jin in casual clothing as he pped his silver angel wings gently looked like a harmless angel walking among humans while calmly observing the beauty of life.

    One was the lord of hades, the other an angel among humans. Two opposing images were on the same drawing canvas, which meant that one of them had to be wiped out so that the drawing would be in perfect harmony.

    ¡°I¡­ will not fail, and I definitely will not die!¡± roared Abbas furiously. ¡°You think you¡¯re definitely going to win? You think I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s underestimated his opponent? You¡¯re guilty of this too!¡±

    ¡°Thousand Bone Cage! Explode!¡± Abbas¡¯ eyes were bloodshot as the sea of bones instantly gathered around himself and Su Jin. From the outside, it looked like a giant ball made from bones with the two men inside it.

    .

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    Each of the bones suddenly exploded. The energy contained within seemed capable of destroying the world and the sts tore through the air. The nearest residential area a few hundred kilometers away wasn¡¯t worried or frantic, since wars in this area were somon. They merely thought that this was a fight between two armed groups that had used highly destructive weapons. Only Kano Mai and herpanions paled slightly, because they suspected these wereing from Su Jin¡¯s end.

    In the middle of the sting bones, the angel wings made from psychokinesis surrounded Su Jin as he kept his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked like he was watching a 3D film with excellent special effects as the angel wings protected him perfectly from the sts.

    As the explosions continued, the people within earshot began to feel like something wasn¡¯t quite right. Even if two armed groups were fighting, they couldn¡¯t be shooting such destructive weaponry at each other constantly for such a long time. The sts did not stop at all, and if one did not listen to them carefully, one might think it was just one long st.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin started frowning. The sts were too violent and they had gone on for too long. They weren¡¯t enough to break through the protection of his angel wings, but he didn¡¯t have enough psychokinesis to hold these wings up anymore.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jinughed sadly as his angel wings shattered and became mere silver sparkles. The violent sts instantly swallowed Su Jin up.

    ¡°HAHA! Even if I have to die, I¡¯m making sure you go down with me!¡± Abbas was controlling the bones, so he tried to stay as far from the bones as he could. But there were simply too many bones and the impact from the chain explosions had gone out of his control. He was inevitably hurt in the process and he was badly injured in several ces. But he clenched his teeth and held on because he was determined to make sure Su Jin died with him.

    The stssted a full 20 minutes, and the people in the nearest towns finally panicked. They packed all their things and started running away from the sts frantically. The local government sent special troops out to find out what was the cause of these nonstop explosions, but before they could get anywhere near the explosions, they were killed by members of the Dark Council.

    By the time the explosions finally stopped, Abbas was like a broken ragdoll. His lower half was broken by the sts and his upper half was badly injured in many ces. He was definitely going to die, but he didn¡¯t regret doing what he did. As long as he could drag one down with him, this wouldn¡¯t have been for nothing.

    Just then, he saw a figure standing straight where the explosions had been the most concentrated. The figure spotted him and started walking slowly toward him.

    ¡°No¡­ no¡­!¡± Abbas let out an indignant roar. He couldn¡¯t ept an ending like this. That young man was actually still alive!

 Chapter 280: Reasoning Things Out

    <h4>Chapter 280: Reasoning Things Out</h4>

    Su Jin looked aplete mess. His entire body was covered in soot and his clothing was in tatters. He wasn¡¯t afraid of the sts, but his clothing was a different story. They were already tattered from the first wave of sts, and he was pretty much naked right now. But there was enough soot and ash on his body to cover him adequately.

    When he got to Abbas, he was surprised that this man was still stubbornly hanging on. But he wasn¡¯t doing well at all. Every injury he suffered was enough to kill him. Unless he went into a Challenge right now and used the power of the Handbook to restore his body, he was definitely going to die.

    But one could not just start a Challenge as and when one wanted to. If this man had just gone through a Challenge recently, then he could forget about this option. And even if he was able to go through a Challenge, Su Jin could just wait here and then smite him the moment he emerged.

    Abbas stared at Su Jin in despair. He simply couldn¡¯t imagine how Su Jin could have survived that explosion. Exactly how tough was this man¡¯s body? Even the chairman of the Dark Council, that person with the body of a demon, would definitely die if they were trapped in this cage of exploding bones. Yet, Su Jin seemedpletely unscathed.

    ¡°You¡­ you¡­¡± Abbas¡¯ throat was badly damaged and he couldn¡¯t articte himself well anymore. But Su Jin didn¡¯t need to listen to him to guess what he wanted to say.

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s right! My body is so tough that all those explosions can¡¯t do anything to hurt it. I think I might not die even if you hurl a nuclear missile at me, unless you¡¯ve got some other special methods up your sleeve.¡± Su Jin casuallybed a hand through his hair to shake out the bits of bones stuck in it.

    Abbas let out a bitterugh. He didn¡¯t stand a chance right from the start. This was a man who could even withstand a nuclear missile, so he was probably immune to his attacks all this time. He was never going to win this.

    Abbas looked puzzledly at Su Jin and Su Jin looked like he understood what Abbas wanted to ask him. ¡°Ah! About that! I used my psychokinesis to make those wings not because I was afraid of your explosions and wanted to protect my body, but because¡­ Mai bought these clothes for me, so if I ruin them then¡­ I¡¯m going to get a dressing down when I get back.¡±

    Su Jin was quite upset about this. Kano Mai had bought him these clothes and he promised to take good care of them. But in the end¡­ they were reduced to pieces that were even smaller than ashes. Kano Mai probably wasn¡¯t going to actually say anything to him, but she was definitely going to give him the cold shoulder for a while.

    Abbas fell into utter despair now. The defense that Su Jin had put up was merely because he wanted to protect the clothes he was wearing. Abbas hadughed at Su Jin for underestimating him, but he was the one who had looked down on Su Jin the whole way.

    Su Jin plonked himself down on the ground and said, ¡°You¡¯re not bad yourself, really. I¡¯ve consumed all the psychokinesis I¡¯ve got. If my body weren¡¯t this strong, you¡¯d have won this battle.¡±

    Abbas looked a little moreforted by these words, but that feeling onlysted for a moment. His expression fell again after thinking about it more carefully. There was no reason for Su Jin to say something like that at all. If Su Jin knew that his body wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand such attacks, he would have chosen to fight a different way and Abbas wouldn¡¯t end up draining him of all his psychokinesis.

    ¡°Actually, I find it very strange. Your daughter was the one who came to make trouble for me in the first ce. I did teach her a lesson, but I let her go in the end. And don¡¯t you dare tell me that it was the members of the Dark Council who rescued her. If I didn¡¯t intend to let her go, there¡¯s nobody in this world who can take her away!¡± Su Jin¡¯s words sounded arrogant, but the truth was that if Su Jin wanted Tracy dead, then there would have been no way anyone could get her out of the house alive. He had ways to make even powerful owners like Xu Ran have no choice but to watch Tracy die before their very eyes.

    ¡°And despite that, you, her father, came to make trouble for me as well. Is there something wrong with your brains? You have to either bully someone or be bullied? And even if you trace this matter all the way back to the start: it¡¯s true that I killed that guy from the Dark Council, but was it wrong of me to kill an idiot who was going to get me killed?¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head.

    Abbas didn¡¯t have the energy to argue back and he knew that even if he had the energy to, he didn¡¯t have any response to give. At the end of the day, actions were worth more than words and he only valued who turned out stronger. He only admitted defeat when his opponent was more formidable than he was.

    If he were the type who was willing to reason things out, he wouldn¡¯t have started a fight right away. He had no choice but to admit defeat now.

    ¡°Look at how much better us Chinese are! Everything can be negotiated at the table first, so why did you decide to get violent immediately? If you apologized right at the start, I could have pretended that nothing happened at all. We could have been friends even. What a silly thing to do!¡± Su Jin rambled on.

    Abbas was a little stunned and there was a strange look in his eyes as he struggled to squeeze a few words out of his throat, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry!¡±

    Su Jin blinked at him in surprise and stared at Abbas for a while before saying, ¡°What the hell? Do you take me as a fool? You¡¯re the one who came to make life difficult for me and you¡¯re also the one who¡¯s apologizing now? The one who suffered from your attacks is my friend! What¡¯s the point in apologizing? If apologies could resolve conflicts, we wouldn¡¯t need the police anymore! Just die now!¡±

    Su Jin proceeded to throw a punch at Abbas¡¯ shocked face, making his head explode immediately.

    ¡°Tsk!¡± Su Jin snorted disdainfully. Of course, he didn¡¯t mind epting an apology. But that had to happen before this huge fight broke out. He wasn¡¯t going to ept an apology only after he hadunched an attack like that. Since Abbas had started this conflict with violence, Su Jin was going to end it with violence as well.

    He looked down at the soot all over his body and thought of finding a source of water to wash himself. But he didn¡¯t need to look for one. The explosions had created deep trenches in the ground and groundwater was trickling out from the soil.

    After he washed the soot off, Su Jin was still stark naked and he didn¡¯t have any extra clothes stored in his Handbook either, which made him very perplexed. One option was to use his psychokinesis to change the way anyone he met on his way back looked at him, so he could walk past them like he was invisible. But the idea of that still made him feel ufortable. He felt like he would still feel vited.

    ¡°No, but wait¡­ I¡¯ve used up all my psychokinesis already and it¡¯ll take at least one night to replenish enough of it to get me back to the bungalow. Oh no¡­ do I have to end up camping out here?¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart sank. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d end up in such a predicament at all.

    Meanwhile, some members of the Dark Council had started moving toward the center of the explosions. They had settled the local authorities already, and now that the fight between Abbas and Su Jin had ended, they were here to help Abbas clean up the mess. But from afar, they could see Su Jin cleaning himself, while Abbas was a broken and severely injured corpse on the ground.

    ¡°Abbas¡­ has failed!¡± The members of the Dark Council couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. That man who enjoyed equal status with their chairman and was a heavyweight among the high level owners on their side of the world¡­ ended up losing a battle like this. He didn¡¯t even get the chance to escape and was now nothing but a dead body. So much for being the Corpse Controller.

    None of them dared to make any noise. They quickly retreated and went as far away from the ins as they could. They were certain that if Su Jin discovered their presence, they¡¯d only add to the body count on the ins.

    Actually, Su Jin had already noticed them when they came closer. He did think of killing them, but the idea of running out stark naked to kill these people was too much for him to take. Besides, he needed these people to go back and tell the Dark Council that there were some people out there that they couldn¡¯t afford to offend. Also, after creating such amotion, he needed someone to clean the mess. The Dark Council was clearly the best candidate to do that.

    As he stood in the empty battlefield, Su Jin continued trying to think of a way to get back to the bungalow. He couldn¡¯t possibly camp here for the night, right? He wasn¡¯t going to catch a chill, but if Chu Yi and the rest found out about this, they were going tough at him for the rest of their lives.

    ¡°Should I just run back? Based on my speed¡­ no, no, I¡¯m not The sh, I can¡¯t run that quickly. And once I reach a crowded area, I¡¯d be seen.

    ¡°Or¡­make something out of tree leaves? But everything around here has been reduced to ashes. Where am I going to find leaves?

    ¡°Damn it! Why didn¡¯t I keep an extra set of clothes in the Handbook?¡± wailed Su Jin sadly. He used tough at Kano Mai and Ning Meng for keepingrge amounts of clothing in their Handbooks. Now, it looked like they had been the intelligent ones while he was the dumbass.

    Just when Su Jin was still wondering what other options he had, he heard the sound of a jeep driving at full speed. He found this sound very familiar. It sounded like Thomas¡¯ car. This came as a pleasant surprise to Su Jin. Thomas was a true bro! He didn¡¯t expect Thomas to appear when he needed help the most.

    ¡°I¡¯m here! I¡¯m here!¡± Su Jin happily waved his arms when he spotted Thomas¡¯ jeep. The jeep threw up a lot of dust as it approached him. There were too many crushed bones on the ground, so it was pretty difficult to drive on this terrain. If the jeep weren¡¯t so hardy, it would have broken down at this rate.

    The jeep drove a little unsteadily toward Su Jin but Su Jin felt that it was still driving too slowly, so he ran toward it at the same time. It didn¡¯t take long for both parties to finally meet. But when the jeep door opened, Su Jin was too stunned for words. He suddenly felt like running away, and the urge to do this now was even greater than when he was facing a deity like the Mad Hatter.

    When the jeep door opened, someone got out of the car. But the one who came out wasn¡¯t Thomas. It was Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai was in a white dress and a pretty sun hat decorated with flowers found only in this region. Her outfit made her look sweet and charming. Anybody in the world would have thought of her as one of the most beautiful women they had ever seen.

    Su Jin, on the contrary¡­ there¡¯s no need to say too much about what he looked like. He stood there, sparkling clean andpletely naked. At least hisplexion wasn¡¯t too bad!

 Chapter 281: Crafted By The Gods

    <h4>Chapter 281: Crafted By The Gods</h4>

    Whenever anybody mentioned Africa, the first thing that most people would think of was the heat. And in reality, the continent of Africa was indeed hotter than the other continents.

    A hot wind blew over Su Jin¡¯s body and he could feel sweat dripping down his face. But besides actually feeling warm, he was also feeling a heat inside him.

    Kano Mai stood in stunned silence in front of Su Jin. She was even more stunned than Su Jin was. Earlier on, once the explosions had stopped, she had forced Thomas to hand his keys over and drove over at top speed without even thinking. She was afraid that things could get troublesome if Thomas saw the aftermath of the sts and how unscathed Su Jin was. She didn¡¯t expect to see this. The situation was so awkward now.

    Su Jin¡¯s face was all red and he really regretted washing himself so well. At least if he were still covered in soot, it would have helped to cover some of him¡­

    ¡°I uh¡­ I¡¯ll get into the car¡­¡± said Su Jin awkwardly.

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­ get into the car!¡± Kano Mai looked like she had been startled and quickly nodded before opening the door and diving back into the car.

    Su Jin leaped into the back seat and did not say anything. He just hoped to get back to the bungalow as quickly as possible so that he could get some clothes on. They were too embarrassed to speak on their journey back, so they remained silent all the way until the car arrived back at the bungalow.

    Meanwhile, both the local authorities and the residents were in chaos. As long as you had a working pair of ears, you would have heard those violent explosions. A slight earthquake apanied those sts too. On top of all that, the authorities had lost contact with all the soldiers they sent out to check out what happened, so they thought that an enemy country had disregarded their treaties andunched a secret attack on them.

    But people from the Dark Council arrived in no time. They were thergest organization of owners in the western hemisphere and had tremendous influence over both owners and the world in general. Their philosophy was very simr to the cult in Chu Yi¡¯s world, but their methods were a lot gentler and they were more willing to control ordinary people in secret instead of conqueringnds like the cult.

    The chaos was suppressed before long. Su Jin and Kano Mai continued to stay in the bungalow and Yun Tianye and his group had gathered here as well. They had not witnessed the fight between Su Jin and Abbas, but the hugemotion had urred not long after the two men left the hall, so they were sure that the noise had something to do with the two men. But as long as Su Jin didn¡¯t talk about it, they dared not ask either.

    .

    ¡°The Exchange has ended, right?¡± Su Jin asked Thomas.

    Thomas pulled an exaggerated long face and said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s ended. Your performance in the arena was so shocking! Nobody¡¯s going to dare to fight with Ster Skies anymore!¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. Let¡¯s pack up and go home then.¡± Su Jin rubbed his temples. He didn¡¯t think that this working holiday would end up causing such a bigmotion.

    Thomas nodded and went to make some phone calls to arrange for the team¡¯s return. Yun Tianye, however, kept ncing at Su Jin as though he wanted to ask him something.

    ¡°Mr. Yun, do you have a question for me?¡± Su Jin asked when he noticed Yun Tianye¡¯s ncing.

    Yun Tianye hesitated for a moment, then nodded gravely. He put a palm over his other fist and said in a very serious voice, ¡°Senior Su, your junior here has a question and I would like to ask you for an answer.¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead and ask,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    ¡°Senior, I have been training in martial arts as a young child and I was able to detect qi in my body at the age of ten. I debuted as a martial artist at the age of 15 and I was one of the best among the younger generation of Chinese martial artists by the time I was 20 years old. I became a master by 23 and a grandmaster at 37. This journey is nothing short of the road that a genius would walk,¡± said Yun Tianye slowly, as he recounted his martial arts journey.

    Su Jin nodded along the way. Yun Tianye wasn¡¯t an owner, so he had earned everything through sheer hard work. Bing a grandmaster before the age of 40 did make the man a genius. After all, if Chu Yi hadn¡¯t be an owner, he wouldn¡¯t have detected any qi yet, never mind continue developing as a martial artist.

    ¡°But¡­ but I¡¯m 46 this year and I¡¯ve already be a grandmaster. I was hoping to go further in my journey but the chances of going further are very low and it seems like I¡¯ve reached the end of my journey. But after I saw what you were able to do, I realized¡­ I can still go further!¡± Yun Tianye had a gleam in his eyes and his disciples looked just as hopeful.

    Su Jin knew what Yun Tianye was going to ask, but there was no way he could give him the true answer. In fact, Yun Tianye¡¯s sense was correct. Under normal circumstances, most martial artists could not go further beyond the grandmaster stage. That was the end.

    ¡°Mr. Yun, I¡­ know what you would like to ask me, but I¡¯m afraid my answer is going to disappoint you. The road before you¡­ is a dead end and there¡¯s no way you can move forward from here,¡± said Su Jin quietly as he shook his head.

    Yun Tianye¡¯s body shook as though he had received a terrible blow. His entire body seemed to have lost a great amount of energy suddenly. He looked pleadingly at Su Jin. It was rare to see a grandmaster have such an expression on their face. But Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to lie to him just tofort him. Doing that would harm Yun Tianye and not help him.

    ¡°Yun Tianye, you have reached the end of the road and you have to stop here,¡± said Su Jin resolutely.

    But Yun Tianye continued to look pleadingly at Su Jin. He knew that even if there was a path in front of him, he might not be able to walk down that path, but¡­ as long as there was hope, he could go on! But Su Jin seemed to have given him a death sentence, a death sentence on his martial arts journey.

    ¡°No! You¡¯re so formidable! So much more formidable than I am! You¡¯ve managed to move on, so why¡­ I¡¯m not asking you how to move on, I¡¯m just asking if there¡¯s anymore ahead of me! Senior Su!¡± Yun Tianye¡¯s internal energy suddenly started shaking. His gaze went from pleading to aggressive.

    Su Jin smiled slightly in return. At the same time, a white mist swirled around Yun Tianye. He thrust his hand out as though he were throwing a spear. The white mist formed the shape of a spear and flew toward Su Jin¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°Oh no!¡± Yun Han, Thomas and the rest eximed in horror. Only Kano Mai looked on indifferently.

    Pfft!

    The white mist stopped right as it hit Su Jin¡¯s forehead. But it wasn¡¯t Yun Tianye who had stopped the mist. The mist was enveloped by a silver glow, and the silver glow was the thing that had stopped Yun Tianye¡¯s white mist from advancing.

    ¡°Happy now?¡± murmured Su Jin.

    Yun Tianye sighed heavily. He dissipated the white mist, put his palm over his fist again to greet Su Jin respectfully, then turned and left. In that instant when Su Jin held the white mist with his psychokinesis, he had sent a message to Yun Tianye¡¯s consciousness. Su Jin had told him very clearly that his powers did note from training in martial arts, but from going down apletely different path altogether.

    Yun Han and the rest had no idea what happened, but they were relieved that Su Jin did not seem to be angry with Yun Tianye for doing that. After all, while Su Jin was on friendly terms with them, this man was the same one who had been able to defeat seven others at the same time. And these seven others had been formidable foes who were on par with grandmasters. If they made such a man angry, they¡¯d probably end up dead.

    Of course, Su Jin wasn¡¯t a cruel man. Yun Tianye had made an aggressive attack, but he really just wanted an answer. That was a move made by a man who just wanted to know if there was more ahead of him as a martial artist, even if the answer killed him. Su Jin couldn¡¯t possibly kill a person with such a pure and innocent motive.

    After everyone left, Su Jin sighed to himself. He felt that if someone like Yun Tianye got the chance to be an owner, they would never give up on finding ways to improve themselves.

    People could be so troublesome like this. Some people were desperately trying to find ways and means to leave the world of the Handbook, while some were willing to stay at all costs, as long as the Handbook was able to satisfy every want they had.

    ¡°Aww, that¡¯s a lot of sighing!¡± A voice suddenly resounded in Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s ears. Their expressions flinched slightly, but they quickly realized who was here.

    ¡°Mad Hatter? Why are you here?¡± A man in a ck suit and cane suddenly appeared in front of Su Jin and grinned at him.

    The Mad Hatter said to Kano Mai with a smile, ¡°Miss Mai, could I get a cup of tea?¡±

    Kano Mai smiled and nodded. She made some tea and ced a cup in front of him. He looked satisfied after taking two sips, then pulled something out from his top hat.

    ¡°My Boning Knife?¡± Su Jin was a little hesitant when he firstid eyes on the item, because this knife with a long de looked really different from the one he owned before this.

    Su Jin¡¯s boning knife looked very ordinary in the past and was no different from the ones used by butchers. But this one here had special runes carved into it and gave off iridescent sparkles.

    The Mad Hatter noticed Su Jin¡¯s puzzled expression, so he patted the knife gently and it returned to the way it normally looked. But if you looked carefully, you could still see very faint traces of those runes on the de.

    ¡°It¡¯s been modified ordingly and so it¡¯s time for it to be returned to its owner.¡± The Mad Hatter pushed the knife toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin picked it up, then put it inside his Handbook. A description of the knife immediately appeared in the Handbook. One look at the description made Su Jin¡¯s eyes widen in shock.

    ¡°Boning Knife, God Level Spirit Power item. A weapon made from thebined powers of gods. It can be used on every element that exists, so there is nothing it cannot hurt, nothing it cannot kill!¡±

    ¡°Skill 1 Judgment: Requires 1000 Spirit Power points to activate a vicious attack. Anything within its attacking range will be destroyed, even space itself.¡±

    ¡°Skill 2 Punishment: Requires 10000 Spirit Power points to punish any creature with a soul. Their physical bodies and souls will perish and not even deities will be spared.¡±

    ¡°Skill 3 The Name of God: Passive skill. The one who wears the Boning Knife is a god.¡±

    Su Jin stared at the knife. This thing couldn¡¯t be simply called a boning knife anymore. This was a God Level Spirit Power item. That meant that besides Earth Level and Heaven Level, Spirit Power items had a higher level than that: God Level!

 Chapter 282: God Level Spirit Power Item

    <h4>Chapter 282: God Level Spirit Power Item</h4>

    For a long time, Su Jin had seen Hell¡¯s Handbook as an MMORPG of sorts, except that once you died, the game was over for good. That made it easier for him to understand the different weapons and items made avable in the Handbook. But this Boning Knife looked like something that only the gamemaster would have given to the yer. It was too unreasonably powerful.

    ¡°What in the¡­ this thing¡­¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure what to say even.

    The Mad Hatterughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s shocking, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s a weapon forged by many deities, after all. There were more than ten alone when I sent it to hell. It¡¯s been refined in many types of hellfire, blessed by holy ces that resemble heaven, and given energy by the runes of ces of worship. All the elder gods on my side have had a hand in making this weapon. It¡¯s not too bad, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about that¡­ is this thing¡­ is this thing just an illusion of sorts?¡± Su Jin sensed something amiss. Hell¡¯s Handbook would never allow something like this to exist in its universe. With such a weapon, the Challenges wouldn¡¯t be a problem to him anymore. He could literally hack his way through them.

    The two skills required a lot of Spirit Power, but each skill caused significant damage. If he were in a Level A Challenge, he could use Judgment at least twice. Launching two ridiculously destructive attacks would make such a Challenge no longer challenging.

    The Mad Hatter was still grinning as he said, ¡°Of course, you can forget about bringing this knife into a Challenge. Hell¡¯s Handbook wouldn¡¯t allow it. But it¡¯s very useful in the many real worlds and universes you go to!¡±

    .

    ¡°I knew it!¡± Su Jin felt like he had just been trolled. But the value of this boning knife was certainly a lot higher than the old one. At the very least, with such a weapon in hand, the difference in ability between himself and Shen Wu would decrease by a lot.

    ¡°The one who wears it is a god? What does that mean?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    ¡°You can take it as an honor! Just like how your worlds have things like an honorary chairman, this will allow you to have a say among us gods,¡± replied the Mad Hatter.

    Su Jin¡¯s gaze flickered as he looked quizzically at the Mad Hatter. ¡°And what¡¯s the reason for that? Wasn¡¯t this just to return the favor for what I did? I don¡¯t think you¡¯d have to go this far, right? I remember you said before that we would eventually end up fighting each other, so if that¡¯s the case¡­ why are you giving me the chance to be stronger just like that? What do you hope to gain from this?¡±

    ¡°You!¡± said the Mad Hatter without hesitation.

    ¡°Saying that in this flirtatious manner really doesn¡¯t convince me at all.¡± Su Jin rolled his eyes. He didn¡¯t think a god would fall for him, and he didn¡¯t think a god would spend so much time and effort to create a weapon that was as good as a bug in the system.

    But the Mad Hatter¡¯s expression became serious and he said to Su Jin, ¡°It¡¯s really you. To put it simply, if the future new gods and the elder gods have to go to war someday, I hope the one we fight will be you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Su Jin was still confused.

    ¡°I see a possibility in you. If the ones we fight are people like Shen Wu or Xu Ran, then¡­ the result will be obvious right from the start. But with you¡­ something else might happen.¡± The Mad Hatter got up after saying these words. ¡°About going to save that girl: I¡¯m more or less ready to go. Once you¡¯re ready, crush this thing.¡±

    The Mad Hatter passed Su Jin a small wooden block that was the size of a thumb. He bowed slightly at Su Jin and Kano Mai, then leaped into his top hat and disappeared.

    Su Jin looked at his new boning knife and the wooden block and went into deep thought. Long ago, the Mad Hatter had already told him that the new gods and the elder gods would eventually have to go to war. But he had forgotten, or rather, he had purposely left out talking about current gods. Su Jin believed that if that day really came, the current gods would definitely be part of it. Did this boning knife mean that the new gods could be the knife in both current and elder gods¡¯ hands?

    ¡°I have some idea about the secret of the universe, but if that¡¯s really the case¡­ why does it end in a battle and not an alliance?¡± Su Jin sighed and shook his head. Most of his ideas were just guesses. He needed a lot more information to confirm if these were true. But he was confident that this information would slowly surface over time.

    In an empty void, the Mad Hatter sat across from Pinhio. They were fiddling with some things that resembled toys, but if anybody treated these things as toys, they¡¯d end up dead.

    ¡°A God Level item? Ohoho¡­ even when we ruled the world, that was something very rare. If I remember correctly, only a few top deities had God Level items,¡± said Pinhio with a grin as he continued fiddling with the toys.

    The Mad Hatter nced at him, then said quietly, ¡°If we want something, we have to give something first. I think that¡¯s quite obvious.¡±

    ¡°But why him? I mean, he¡¯s not bad, yes, but he¡¯s not betterpared to people like Natasha, Durand, Shen Wu, or Xu Ran. Those people are truly impossibly powerful, powerful beyond belief.¡± Pinhio couldn¡¯t understand the logic behind this decision.

    But the Mad Hatter smiled back. ¡°You¡¯re right, but these impossibly powerful characters are all very mature. Mature fruit tastes better, but there¡¯s very little you can do to change them. Only people like Su Jin, who has tremendous potential yet not mature enough, would be able to give us more surprises in the future.¡±

    ¡°So, we¡¯re going to help him to deal with Shen Wu and take away some woman who¡¯s in Shen Wu¡¯s hands?¡± said Pinhio with a frustrated sigh.

    The Mad Hatter stopped smiling and said in a stern voice, ¡°You don¡¯t know what that woman is holding onto? If Shen Wu gets his hands on what she has, then everything will go out of control within a short time and we won¡¯t be able to do anything in time to stop it.¡±

    ¡°That woman is holding onto something that could have such severe repercussions? What could it be? Something useful to Shen Wu? You mean it¡¯s a¡­ no, wait, what?! Are you¡­ are you serious?¡± Pinhio had been quiteid back before this, but once he thought of what it could be, his entire body trembled and he nearly dropped what he was holding.

    The Mad Hatter nodded slightly. ¡°Shocking, huh. After escaping from the Fairytales of Horror, I received some news and spent a long time investigating. I eventually confirmed that that item is now in the hands of Ye Yun. If Shen Wu gets his hands on that, we¡¯re doomed.¡±

    ¡°Shit! I get it now!¡± Pinhio immediately continued fixing the toy in his hands.

    In the real world, Su Jin and Kano Mai had returned to China. They had caused a hugemotion at the International Mercenary Exchange, but everything had concluded well. Or at least Tang Ning felt that everything had ended the way she had hoped.

    Su Jin activated his team¡¯s ess to Hell¡¯s Bar and invited everyone in. He wanted to throw a party for Chu Yi some time back, but couldn¡¯t because of what happened in Africa. Now that he had free time on his hands, he decided to go ahead with it.

    Everyone quickly responded to the call. Chu Yi was the most eager of them all. He was already there by the time Su Jin and Kano Mai arrived, which meant that he had gone in before Su Jin had even sent the invitation out.

    ¡°Boss! Sister Mai! You guys are here!¡± Chu Yi greeted them. Situ Jin and Bo Ya came over shortly after that, while Wu Chen came inst.

    ¡°This party is for you, so go ahead and order anything you want! It doesn¡¯t matter how much it costs! As long as I¡¯ve got the points, I¡¯ll pay for it!¡± said Su Jin boastfully, as though he were some millionaire.

    Chu Yi wasn¡¯t particr about his drink, so he casually ordered something. Everyone started chatting as usual, but Kano Mai looked like she was worried about something. Wu Chen noticed it and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Wha-?¡± Kano Mai snapped out of her daze. Actually, the rest had noticed the expression on her face as well.

    ¡°Mai, what¡¯s bothering you? Are you okay to share with us?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai hesitated for a while, then finally decided to say it. She looked at Su Jin and said ¡°Jin, the Mad Hatter said you were going to save someone. Who is it? Is it¡­ Ye Yun?¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect Kano Mai to be worrying about something rted to himself and wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. Chu Yi piped up, ¡°Where is this happening?¡±

    ¡°In Shen Wu¡¯s universe, a different universe from ours,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. Since Kano Mai had mentioned it already, there was no point in hiding it from the rest. Doing that would only make them even more worried.

    ¡°Shen Wu?¡± Situ Jin¡¯s expression immediately fell. After what happened at Cloud Mountain, he had done a thorough investigation. Once he put together his investigation and what he had heard about Shen Wu from Su Jin, he had a good idea of how powerful this Shen Wu really was.

    Su Jin told everyone about what happened to Ye Yun and how he would be going along with three deities, so they need not worry about him.

    ¡°Jin, have you ever thought about¡­ why those gods are willing to help you with this? Do you think it¡¯s really just to return the favor? Of course, if that¡¯s really the case, then I don¡¯t have anything to say to that. But at the same time¡­ have you also thought about why Shen Wu wants to capture Ye Yun so badly?¡± said Wu Chen quietly.

    Su Jin paused. He hadn¡¯t thought so far. His only focus had been to rescue Ye Yun. But now that Wu Chen mentioned it, he did notice something a little fishy about the whole thing.

    ¡°Are you saying¡­ that Ye Yun is holding onto something that is very important to both the gods and Shen Wu?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t stupid. On the contrary, he was supposed to be the strategist of the team. He had been a bit overly focused on Ye Yun¡¯s matter, but now that he thought about it more carefully, he noticed the link between these matters.

    Wu Chen nodded slightly, then suddenly smiled as he said, ¡°Jin, can I sign up for this alternate universe trip?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Su Jin was surprised at first, but he shook his head immediately and said, ¡°No, this matter has nothing to do with the rest of you, and it¡¯s too dangerous for you to go. You have no way of protecting yourself in Shen Wu¡¯s universe.¡±

    Wu Chen shook his head sadly and said, ¡°Alright then. If that¡¯s the case, I won¡¯t insist. But if you need any help, let me know!¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

 Chapter 283: Shen Wuâ€™s Universe

    <h4>Chapter 283: Shen Wu¡¯s Universe</h4>

    Back in the real world, Su Jin gave the Demon Lord a call. She finally picked up the phone when the line was about to be cut off.

    ¡°Su Jin?¡± Her voice waszy, like she had just woken up. Su Jin looked out at the sky and saw that the sun was about to set. Waking up at this time did sound like the Demon Lord¡¯s usual routine.

    ¡°It¡¯s me. You agreed to help me save Ye Yun from Shen Wu before this, so I¡¯m calling in that favor now,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Oh¡­ no problem, I¡¯ll go over to your ce now.¡± The Demon Lord did not dy and appeared in Su Jin¡¯s house shortly after hanging up. She wore a qipao with a high slit, which really showed off her perfect figure.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Su Jin thanked her, then crushed the wooden block that the Mad Hatter had given him. The crushed pieces spun in the air, then disappeared into thin air.

    A few secondster, the crushed pieces reappeared and spat out the Mad Hatter and Pinhio. It had been ages since three deities had appeared in the real world at the same time like this.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re ready, let¡¯s go then.¡± The Mad Hatter didn¡¯t waste any time. He threw his hat into the air, then leaped in first. The other three took turns to leap in as well.

    After all four of them had left, Kano Mai walked out from the shadows. She took her own Handbook out and paged her teammates.

    ¡°Wu Chen, Su Jin¡¯s left for Shen Wu¡¯s world already. What ns do you have?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Wu Chen burst outughing. ¡°Why are you asking me such a question? Didn¡¯t we promise Jin not to interfere in this matter?¡±

    ¡°Oh please¡­ we¡¯re both on the same side, for crying out loud. Besides, I¡¯ve got quite a number of these.¡± Kano Mai revealed a small pile of teleportation crystals in her hand. These came from the time she went with Su Jin and Situ Jin to secretly attack Shen Wu¡¯s base in their universe.

    Wu Chen¡¯s eyes lit up. Heughed and said, ¡°Oh my! We were still wondering how we could get enough teleportation crystals for all of us to use! That would have cost us a lot of money!¡±

    Kano Mai smiled. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve already prepared enough for us all. Let¡¯s meet at Hell¡¯s Bar!¡±

    ¡°Of course! See you there!¡± Wu Chen nodded without hesitation.

    Su Jin had arrived on Earth, but this was not the Earth that Su Jin was from. The atmosphere on this Earth was heavier. Or rather, there was an oppressive air over the entire.

    Soldiers wearing the same uniform and the emblem of Team Court of Wrath could be seen everywhere. It looked like Team Court of Wrath had be the sole ruler of this. Nobody could rise up against them because the entire world had be their property.

    ¡°Chu Yi¡¯s world has that cult, but they¡¯re still trying to attain world domination. My world has the Dark Council, but they¡¯re happy to enjoy themselves in secret and hide themselves from the world. I didn¡¯t expect Shen Wu to have already be the sole ruler of his world. So, everything he says is thew now?¡± remarked Su Jin. Handbook owners could not tell ordinary people who they were, but there was no need to. As long as they had the power, they became thew.

    Shen Wu¡¯s organization of robbers covered a lot of universes. They had bases in almost every universe and they had countless owners on their side. He could use all these owners to form a functioning government. The ordinary people in his world didn¡¯t even have the right to speak to the owners.

    ¡°Great. Now, we need to confirm where Shen Wu is and where the girl you need to save is,¡± the Mad Hatter said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin felt his head spin. The Mad Hatter had told him before that he knew where Shen Wu was, but it turned out that the Mad Hatter only knew which universe he belonged to and didn¡¯t know exactly where in this universe he was.

    ¡°Let¡¯s grab someone and ask.¡± Su Jin sighed. He didn¡¯t have the time to go around and gather information. They were here to literally fight their way in because he felt that they were strong enough to do that now.

    A ck mist appeared in the Demon Lord¡¯s eyes for a second. A group of patrolling soldiers immediately froze. She used a finger to motion to them toe over and all of them obediently walked toward them, as though they were her pets.

    ¡°What do you want to ask them?¡± said the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Where is Shen Wu right now and who are the people with him?¡±

    ¡°Heard that? Those who know can answer him,¡± the Demon Lord said to the soldiers.

    One of them, who looked like their leader, immediately responded, ¡°The great Shen Wu is in God¡¯s City. He is apanied by nine others from Team Court of Wrath.¡±

    ¡°Team Court of Wrath has ten members?¡± Su Jin was shocked at first, but it made sense after he thought about it. Team Court of Wrath was one of the strongest teams around and was probably very highly ranked even before the rules changed. Based on the current rules, the maximum number of people a team could have would increase with their rank, so it was indeed possible for a team to have ten members.

    ¡°How do we get to God¡¯s City?¡± asked the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°That way.¡± The leader suddenly pointed toward a ce in the distance. A structure that resembled the pyramids of Egypt could be vaguely seen.

    ¡°An altar! This man¡­ is very ambitious!¡± The three deities were all taken aback.

    Su Jin asked, ¡°What¡¯s this about an altar?¡±

    ¡°To put it simply, an altar is the gathering of the faith of believers. There are many ways to be a god. Some attain godhood by forcibly pushing past their limits and thereby bing a god. Some absorb the faith of their believers and use that power to rebuild their bodies and be a god. An altar in this context is the structure that deities build before turning into gods. Theye in all shapes and sizes but they are used for the same purpose, which is to be a sacred object in the eyes of the believers, which will help the deity to absorb and store the power of their believers¡¯ faith,¡± the Mad Hatter exined patiently.

    Based on what the Mad Hatter just said, Shen Wu was probably trying to attain godhood through the faith of his believers. He had built this altar and conquered this, making every person in this world a worshipper of himself. This was a pretty good option, but Su Jin was surprised that Shen Wu had already prepared everything necessary to be a god.

    The Mad Hatter, Pinhio, and the Demon Lord flew into the air. Su Jin too, used his psychokinesis to fly. The four of them flew straight for the altar. Given the way this world was being governed, it was going to be impossible for them to infiltrate the lower ranks andunch some sneak attack on Shen Wu. Besides, the three deities felt that doing something like that was beneath them. Their n for today was very simple: they were just going to force their way in and snatch Ye Yun from Shen Wu.

    Su Jin felt that this n was a little too simple, but since he had three gods on his side, he agreed to it. It was going to be impossible to smuggle Ye Yun out of here without raising the rm anyway, so they might as well fight!

    The four of them soon arrived outside the city. The Mad Hatter said to them, ¡°We still need a basic n, so Pinhio and the Demon Lord will be in charge of distracting Shen Wu and his subordinates, while Su Jin and I will go and find the girl. Okay?¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Pinhio patted his chest. He carried a backpack and nobody knew what was inside, but his confidence probably came from the contents of the bag.

    The Demon Lord was good with the n as well and nodded at the rest. The Mad Hatter flew off with Su Jin, then signalled to them to go ahead.

    The Demon Lordunched the first attack. She grabbed the air with one hand, and the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow appeared in her hands. The longbow seemed to have metamorphosized. A ck arrow as thick as an arm appeared on the bowstring, which turned into a demon¡¯s face that kept growling furiously.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The Demon Lord released her fingers and the Roar of the Demon Lord flew out. Compared to when Su Jin activated this skill with his Spirit Power, the Demon Lord¡¯s version carried a real divine power. The moment the arrow hit the pyramid looking altar¡¯s peak, the entire pyramid exploded and disappeared into thin air.

    Shen Wu reacted very quickly as well. Less than a minute after his altar was attacked, huge numbers of soldiers came running over from all directions. Su Jin and his group could sense that several owners were among these soldiers.

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave this ce to them. We¡¯ve got to go.¡± The Mad Hatter motioned to Su Jin to follow him and they quickly disappeared out of sight. Meanwhile, the Demon Lord and Pinhio had excited looks on their faces as theyunched their attacks wherever they fancied. They were like two wolves pouncing into a pen of sheep.

    sts resounded nonstop in God¡¯s City, while the Mad Hatter and Su Jin hid in the shadows as they watched and waited. They were waiting for Shen Wu toe out and deal with this mess. Shen Wu didn¡¯t make them wait for too long. Two gods were attacking his city, which was not something he could tolerate. He didn¡¯t know where these two lunatics hade from, but since they dared to make trouble in his territory, they¡¯d better be prepared to die.

    Shen Wu flew into the sky and quickly got close to the Demon Lord. He had just gotten close to them and he was able to turn both the Demon Lord and Pinhio into blocks of ice. This was his special Spirit Power, the ability to control heat. That was how he killed others.

    But before Shen Wu could congratte himself on trapping two gods, the two blocks of ice shattered. Pinhio grinned cheekily as he pped his thigh and threw a lollipop at Shen Wu.

    Shen Wu instinctively dodged it and Pinhio looked very displeased. Shen Wu looked puzzled, wondering where these two hade from and why they were here. Just as he was still trying to figure things out, something exploded behind him. That lollipop that Pinhio had thrown at him justnded on the ground and exploded. That was obviously no lollipop. That was one of Pinhio¡¯s special bombs, and that st razed a tall building to the ground.

    ¡°Who in the world are you people?! Why are you making trouble in my city?!¡± yelled Shen Wu furiously.

    ¡°People? You¡¯re a person! We¡¯re not people!¡± snapped the Demon Lord in response.

    Those words made Shen Wu think again. He narrowed his eyes at the two in front of him and suddenly said, ¡°You¡¯re right. You¡¯re not people. You¡¯re¡­ gods!¡±

 Chapter 284: The Jade Dragon King, Natasha

    <h4>Chapter 284: The Jade Dragon King, Natasha</h4>

    ¡°Of course we¡¯re gods. We¡¯re here to judge mere mortals like yourself! How dare you build an altar and even name your city as God¡¯s City!¡± The Demon Lord red at Shen Wu with disdain in her eyes. She was a real deity, while Shen Wu was an ant who was only on the road to bing one. As long as the ant wasn¡¯t a god yet, it remained an ant.

    Shen Wu was expressionless as he said in a low voice, ¡°I did hear that some deities managed to escape the control of Hell¡¯s Handbook when that major incident happened which changed all the rules. Looks like you¡¯re one of those. If we were in a Challenge, I¡¯d certainly avoid getting in your way. But now¡­ as long as you¡¯re in my city, then even if you¡¯re real gods, I¡¯m going to kill you today!¡±

    The Demon Lord and Pinhio looked like they were sneering at him, but they weren¡¯t really all that nonchnt about the whole thing. Shen Wu was one of the few owners who was really close to bing a god, and they were on his home ground too. Also, despite being real gods, their powers were being suppressed by thews of this universe and they could not utilize their powers to the maximum. Because of that, it was hard to say for sure that they would defeat Shen Wu.

    Shen Wu clearly knew this limitation as well. He blew a shrill whistle and beams of light shot out from around the city. That was a defense mechanism that Shen Wu had set in ce for the city he lived in.

    ¡°Oh? A Heaven Level Formation! That formation coupled with his powers will make for a tough battle indeed,¡± said the Demon Lord with a frown as she looked at the beams of light.

    But Pinhio continued to grin cheekily as he said, ¡°We¡¯re not here to spar with him, we¡¯re just here to have fun!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right! So¡­ let¡¯s go have some fun!¡± A wicked smile spread across the Demon Lord¡¯s lips as her body suddenly trembled and a few dozen clones appeared. All of them looked just like her and they ran in different directions.

    Pinhio cackled mischievously as he poured out countless little toys from his backpack, which exploded at different times in different ces.

    Shen Wu¡¯s eyes were wide and burning with anger. He looked like a child, but his expression was terrifying now. This was what he had been most afraid of. Instead of fighting him head on, the two gods had decided to y this whack-a-mole game.

    ¡°Team Court of Wrath, stop these two right now! All members of other teams are to do the same! I want them to die in this city today!¡± yelled Shen Wu. All the owners in the city slowly raised their heads and ran to carry out these instructions. The nine owners leading the way exuded an authoritative pressure that weighed down on the city. If Su Jin saw them, he would have recognized one of them. That was the old friend that Ye Yun had seen during the fight at Cloud Mountain, Alex.

    ¡°They¡¯re gods?¡± murmured Alex to himself. A maniacal look appeared in his eyes as he said, ¡°Excellent. If we can kill them, then what we¡¯ll receive in return will be enough to satisfy us all.¡± With that, Alex led the other eight owners to chase after the Demon Lord and all her clones, while Shen Wu went after Pinhio himself.

    Su Jin and the Mad Hatter watched on in the shadows, and once both Shen Wu and his team were upied with the two gods, the two of them made their move. Their target was the center of the city where a group of buildings that formed a pce stood. That was clearly where Shen Wu himself lived. Since Ye Yun was so important to him, she was probably somewhere in there.

    Meanwhile, in another corner of Shen Wu¡¯s, Kano Mai, Situ Jin, Bo Ya, Chu Yi, and Wu Chen appeared. They could sense something wrong immediately. The soldiers nearby immediately surrounded them when they saw the group appear out of nowhere.

    ¡°Jin seems to have created quite themotion!¡±mented Kano Mai. The ear piercing sirens and these fully armed soldiers made it obvious that something terrible must have happened.

    But Kano Mai just needed to stretch her palms out and the soldiers running toward them copsed weakly onto the ground with a sleepy look on their faces. Kano Mai was very good at controlling her sloth inducing abilities and was developing the effects of the other six deadly sins.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked Chu Yi. There was another Chu Yi next to him, but this Chu Yi looked emotionless and did not speak.

    Situ Jin eyed the second Chu Yi and couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Are you sure this clone of yours is reliable? It¡¯s something that used to be in the control of that cult after all. If it betrays us suddenly, we¡¯re all doomed.¡±

    Chu Yi scratched his head and wasn¡¯t the most confident as he replied, ¡°I think it¡¯s reliable? But this guy¡¯s really formidable. His entire body, including his dantian, is exactly the same as mine. When I was training in my world, I actually resonated with him. It felt¡­ I felt like he¡¯s a second me.¡±

    It turned out that this second Chu Yi was the Chu Yi that the cult revived. Back then, Su Jin had not destroyed the body but only killed the soul within, leaving this empty shell behind.

    After that, the cult just randomly threw this empty shell into a storeroom. They didn¡¯t know that after Chu Yi was properly revived, he would be able to sense this body while training in his own world. On top of that, Chu Yi was able to move both bodies with just one soul, so it was as though he had a backup body now.

    Wu Chen waved his hands to tell everyone to keep quiet. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s work in pairs to gather information. Regardless of whether it¡¯s about Ye Yun or how Jin is doing, every piece of information is important. We¡¯ll gather back here in one and a half hours.¡±

    ¡°In pairs? But there are five of us,¡± said Chu Yi puzzledly.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t there two of you? You¡¯re considered a pair!¡± said Wu Chen. He ignored Chu Yi¡¯s annoyed expression and said to Situ Jin and Bo Ya, ¡°You two will work as a pair, so be careful out there. I¡¯ll pair with Mai. Use everything you¡¯ve got!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± Situ Jin assured Wu Chen with a confident look, then expanded his own shadow to epass himself and Bo Ya. The shadow quickly camouged itself among the shadows of the surrounding buildings and disappeared.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Wu Chen said to Kano Mai. He grabbed the head of the leader of the soldiers that had surrounded them earlier and transformed himself to look like that leader in one second. Even his clothes were exactly the same. He then left with Kano Mai.

    Chu Yi blinked a few times as he started thinking about what he could do. He wasn¡¯t good at collecting information, so he decided to create some chaos so that the other two pairs could get a chance to gather information.

    ¡°Chu Yi No. 2, let¡¯s go have some fun!¡± Chu Yi rubbed his palms, then led his clone into the busiest part of the city. Booms and sts quickly started resounding all over the city, wearing the soldiers down as they tried to quell the chaos.

    Su Jin and the Mad Hatter arrived at the entrance to the pce. Su Jin had managed to use his psychokinesis to control the guards, but he had nearly failed to do so initially. These guards all had a Spirit Power item that could defend themselves against psychokinesis, which meant that these people were not only owners but veterans as well.

    ¡°Using owners as pce guards? What a luxury,¡± muttered Su Jin as he clicked his tongue. Handbook owners were people who could enjoy very opulent lives in their own universes after all. They didn¡¯t need to be mere guards.

    The Mad Hatter scoffed at his words. ¡°So what if they¡¯re owners? You¡¯re all nothing but a bunch of worms in the universe of Hell¡¯s Handbook. In the face of absolute power, they have no choice but to bow to it. Shen Wu has already taken full control of this universe. If they don¡¯t be one of his ves, do you expect them to take Shen Wu on themselves?¡±

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. But just as they were about to enter the pce, they ran into an invisible wall.

    ¡°It¡¯s a formation!¡± The Mad Hatter touched the invisible wall with some interest.

    ¡°A formation? Which sort are you referring to? The magic circles of the west? Or the formations of the east?¡± Su Jin knew a thing or two about formations but he wasn¡¯t an expert in them.

    The Mad Hatter ced his hands on the wall for a while, then said, ¡°It¡¯s a magic circle, which is good news for us. You can smash through magic circles if you¡¯re strong enough. They¡¯re not like those formations you¡¯re talking about. If you run into those and you can¡¯t figure out the exact steps needed to undo them, you¡¯ll get trapped in them for the rest of your life.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ what do we do? Smash through it?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter shook his head. He threw his hat in the air, then jumped in. Su Jin quickly followed suit. When they leaped out again, Su Jin realized they were now on the inside of the invisible wall.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy to smash through a magic circle, but once they¡¯re broken, they¡¯ll cause a hugemotion. We¡¯re supposed to be in stealth mode now,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a smile.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes immediately. Clearly, they didn¡¯t need to figure out what this wall was at all in the first ce. But this wasn¡¯t the time to argue with the Mad Hatter about this.

    ¡°It¡¯s your turn now.¡± The Mad Hatter patted Su Jin¡¯s shoulder.

    Su Jin nodded in response. A silver light shed in his eyes as he spread his psychokinesis throughout the pce. He searched every corner of the pce, as well as the minds of all the owners inside the pce, so that he could locate where Ye Yun was.

    In no time, his eyes widened as he detected a familiar presence in one part of the pce. He was sure that Ye Yun was right there.

    ¡°I found her!¡± Su Jin¡¯s face lit up.

    But immediately after he said that, a few people stood in his way. They exuded a powerful aura and were clearly not people to be trifled with. The one leading the group, in particr, was a woman who actually made Su Jin feel like he was facing a deity.

    ¡°Shen Wu¡¯s subordinates are so useless! They¡¯ve allowed two little worms to wriggle their way in! I¡¯m supposed to be his guest, yet I¡¯ve got to help him clear the trash!¡± The woman had dark red hair and her green eyes were hypnotizing.

    ¡°Ah! Miss Natasha, ranked #2 on the Handbook owners ranking!¡± said the Mad Hatter with a slight smile as he bowed in a gentlemanly fashion.

    Natasha was surprised that the Mad Hatter knew who she was. She asked a little curiously, ¡°You know me?¡±

    ¡°The Jade Dragon King, Natasha!¡± The Mad Hatter raised his eyebrows slightly and said, ¡°It is my honor to meet you!¡±

    Natasha was even more curious now. It wasn¡¯t too surprising that someone knew that she was Natasha, but no more than ten people knew her as the Jade Dragon King. These people were either her closest friends, or the owners with extremely high ranks. She didn¡¯t remember this person to be among them.

    ¡°Who in the world are you?¡± asked Natasha.

    ¡°I¡­ I am a god!¡± said the Mad Hatter with a smile.

 Chapter 285: Reunited

    <h4>Chapter 285: Reunited</h4>

    Natasha and her threepanions were stunned for a moment. Natasha sniggered nastily and said, ¡°That¡¯s a novel way to boast about yourself! A god? Are you disillusioned or something? Then again, since you¡¯ve dared to barge into Shen Wu¡¯s home, I suppose your condition must be pretty serious.¡±

    But the Mad Hatter didn¡¯t get angry with her despite the insults. Instead, he smiled and said, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a little difficult for you to believe me so easily. But in order to show you that I wasn¡¯t lying¡­ let me show you my true self!¡±

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Su Jin was stunned this time. But the Mad Hatter looked ready to fight and didn¡¯t look like he was joking.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stall them, you go in and rescue her!¡± The Mad Hatter took his jacket off and Su Jin realized that the Mad Hatter was actually very muscr.

    The Mad Hatter loosened his tie and a maniacal smile spread across his lips. His top hat started shaking violently, then made a loud bang as it suddenly extended in length and turned into a ck foil.

    ¡°EGHHHH! UGHHH!¡± A weird growling came from the Mad Hatter¡¯s throat, then two giant ram horns grew from the top of his head. His white dress shirt was consumed by ck mes and strange runes appeared on his skin.

    VOOM!

    The ck mes surrounded his body and fangs grew inside the Mad Hatter¡¯s mouth. There were a few threads left behind by his shirt on his shoulder, and because of the ck mes, his skin also turned ck. After that, he started to grow rapidly. He turned from a Caucasian man standing at around 1.8 meters tall to a ck demon standing at 10 meters in height.

    ¡°Woohoo! It¡¯s been such a long time since I broke free from my shackles. This feeling¡­ is simply wonderful!¡± The Mad Hatter stretched his arms and legs. His demonic body hade with a strength that made him feel like he had been reborn. He was like a person who had been trapped in a drawer for a long time and was finally able to straighten his body out again.

    Natasha¡¯s expression changed dramatically and she eximed, ¡°You¡¯re really a god¡­ that¡¯s interesting. I thought you guys would only appear in Challenges. Looks like that major incident before the rules changed does have something to do with you deities!¡±

    ¡°Beautiful Miss Natasha, please forgive me for sounding rude, but¡­ normally, I would kill the womenfolk first, because that way, thedies wouldn¡¯t have to go through unnecessary fear.¡± The Mad Hatter grabbed the air and the top hat that had transformed into a ck foil immediately grew in proportion to the Mad Hatter¡¯s current demonic body.

    Natasha nodded slightly. She touched a piece of jade hanging around her slim neck. In the next instant, she began to transform like a monster as her body grew in size and changed in shape. Scales and ws appeared in no time, and it didn¡¯t take long for Natasha to turn into a giant jade dragon.

    ¡°So that¡¯s what he meant by Jade Dragon King!¡± Su Jin gasped. The power that Natasha exuded was no less than a deity. Was this what the #2 among the owners was capable of?

    Su Jin dared not stick around any longer. Unless his sealed up psychokinesis was fully unsealed, there was no way he could join in the fight. He had to leave this battle to the Mad Hatter.

    Natasha knew that it was going to be tough for her to fight the Mad Hatter already, so she didn¡¯t bother trying to block Su Jin from leaving. Her three subordinates ran after him instead.

    Su Jin moved very quickly, but so did the three chasing after him. Also, they came toward him from three different directions, so they were able to corner him.

    ¡°Guys, this matter has nothing to do with the three of you, so there¡¯s no need for you to get involved, right?¡± Su Jin scanned them frostily. These three were definitely tough ones to fight. Natasha wouldn¡¯t have them by her side otherwise.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but Miss Natasha is going through a negotiation with Shen Wu. If we can take you down, then we¡¯ll have more bargaining power,¡± said a man in sparkling armor. His hair was blond and he held arge sword, which made him look like a real knight.

    ¡°In that case¡­ let¡¯s fight!¡± Su Jin pressed his hand on his Handbook. His Boning Knife, the Gift from the Gods and Rumor appeared at the same time. Su Jin dared not hold back in his fight against three opponents. Any of these people could be even more powerful than Abbas.

    The blond man made the first move. The giant sword in his hand glowed white, then Su Jin saw a light that was the same shape as the sword shoot upwards, then fly toward his head like a high tower crashing onto him.

    Su Jin moved to the side quickly and just managed to miss the boundary of the attack. He dashed toward the person who looked the least proficient in close range battles. That person was in a ck robe and held a magic wand in his hand. When he got closer, Su Jin realized this man was a ck, elderly man.

    ¡°Illusion! Weightlessness! Weakness! Flicker! mes!¡± the elderly man uttered these words in quick session. Each one represented a spell.

    Illusion allowed the man to split into eight of himself and each one looked as real as each other. Weightlessness and Weakness were spells targeting Su Jin. They made Su Jin suddenly float into the air and made his limbs feel weak. Flicker was used to impair his vision by making a bright light sh again and again in his face. mes was an attack spell that sent a ball of mes toward Su Jin¡¯s head.

    A silver light shone in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t need his actual eyes to locate the old man. Psychokinesis provided him with the most urate information, so the Illusion and Flicker spells lost their effect.

    The Gift from the Gods glowed dimly as the Protection of the Gods skill was activated. All elemental attacks were no longer effective on Su Jin, so mes was useless. Su Jin¡¯s body was very tough, so Weightlessness and Weakness didn¡¯t bother him too much. As long as he had other means of attacking besides his own body, that was good enough for him.

    ¡°Boning Knife, Judgment!¡± Su Jin¡¯s Boning Knife sliced through the sky as he activated its skill. Immediately as he did that, the blond man¡¯s sword crashed down on his body. The third person made his move too. He held a longbow and shot an arrow of light toward Su Jin¡¯s back, where his heart was.

    The Boning Knife¡¯s attack did note with any special effects. It didn¡¯te with any glow or waves and looked like Su Jin had just waved a normal knife about. That made the elderly man less wary of the attack, since he thought Su Jin had not been able tounch one in time.

    Pfft! There was a muffled sound as the elderly man was ripped apart like a painting. His body and the space around him instantly shattered and disappeared into thin air.

    His other twopanions were shocked. They wanted to help him but had no way of doing so. They could only watch as the elderly man disappeared before their very eyes. The two of them were a little frightened now. Su Jin hadunched that attack so silently, they hadn¡¯t detected it at all. If Su Jin had done that to them, they would have met the same fate. Thankfully¡­

    Swoosh! Su Jin leaped up again after the dust had settled. That sword attack had been pretty powerful and Su Jin had gone into a momentary daze. But that arrow turned out to be an elemental attack, so it was destroyed like the mes attack from the elderly man. If not for that, it was going to be quite difficult for Su Jin to suffer simultaneous attacks from all three of them.

    The two men stared in disbelief at Su Jin. The elderly man had died, but they were sure that their attacks had hit Su Jin. How could Su Jin still be standing after that?

    While they were still in shock, Su Jin seized the chance to dash toward the archer. But the two of them reacted quickly. The blond man made a horizontal swipe with his sword so that Su Jin couldn¡¯t get close to them. To his surprise, Su Jin immediately turned and ran. He didn¡¯t intend to kill these two at all.

    He had been able to kill the elderly man only because Judgment packed a powerful punch. But activating that skill cost him 1,000 Spirit Power points and he only had enough to do that four times. That was enough to kill them, but he couldn¡¯t possibly consume everything he had just to kill them and not leave any for himself in case of emergencies.

    The two of them did not expect Su Jin to just make a run for it. They were about to give chase when they suddenly felt dizzy. Su Jin had seized the chance to hit them with a bit of psychokinesis while they were confused and distracted. By the time they regained their senses, Su Jin was nowhere to be found.

    Su Jin continued to follow his psychokinesis to the ce he had detected earlier and came to a ce that was a rtively luxurious living space. That surprised Su Jin a little. He was initially afraid that Ye Yun would have to live in poor conditions, but it seemed like Shen Wu treated her decently.

    As he walked further in, Ye Yun¡¯s presence became clearer to him. After running past corridors and yards, he finally saw the person he had been thinking about day and night.

    Ye Yun was sitting quietly at a stone table. She cupped her face with both hands and looked terribly bored. But when Su Jin appeared in front of her, she clearly looked very stunned.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to bring you home!¡± Su Jin held his hand out to her.

    Bang! Su Jin¡¯s gesture was met with a gunshot instead. The bullet hit him in the chest, which made him take a step backward. This was no ordinary bullet either. It had probably been modified to be more powerful than an ordinary one. What was she trying to do? Some people believed that couples always fought, but this wasn¡¯t the sort of fighting those people were referring to!

    ].

    ¡°Shen Wu, just give it up already! You¡¯vee up with such illusions quite often in recent days and they¡¯ve clearly been useless,¡± said Ye Yun as she wrinkled her nose and red triumphantly at him.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he ought tough or cry. He couldn¡¯t believe he was being taken as an illusion created by Shen Wu. If his body weren¡¯t this resilient, she might have ended up murdering him.

    ¡°I¡¯m really Su Jin, I¡¯m not an illusion.¡± Su Jin scratched his head. He had no idea how else to convince her.

    Bang! Bang! Bang!

    All he got in return was a flurry of bullets, which made him jump up and down to dodge them. The bullets weren¡¯t enough to kill him, but they still hurt.

    ¡°Are you seriously trying to kill me?! It¡¯s really me! I¡¯m really here to get you out of here!¡± wailed Su Jin miserably. But Ye Yun ignored everything he said.

    He had no choice but to force his way over. And when he reached her, he could see her begin to panic.

    He grabbed hold of her shoulders and hugged her tightly as he whispered, ¡°It¡¯s really me. I promised you that I¡¯d bring you back, so I¡¯m here to fulfil that promise.¡±

    Ye Yun initially tried to struggle free, but when her senses identified him as Su Jin, she froze and stared at him in disbelief.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s really you!¡±

 Chapter 286: Big Fight Breaks Out

    <h4>Chapter 286: Big Fight Breaks Out</h4>

    Su Jin would have loved to spend the time catching up with Ye Yun, but this was probably not a good ce to do so. He said to her, ¡°We can¡¯t stay here. We have to leave now.¡±

    Ye Yun was still shocked that Su Jin had reallye to rescue her. But she also knew that he must have braved a lot of dangers to get here, even though she had no idea how he got here.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t leave. You¡¯d better leave now before someone finds you!¡± Ye Yun pulled her hand out from Su Jin¡¯s and shook her head at him helplessly.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you leave?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Shen Wu has nted a bug inside me. If I leave this area, the bug will immediately send a message to Shen Wu. Even if I run to a different world, the bug will still be able tomunicate with Shen Wu and he will eventually locate me again,¡± said Ye Yun sadly. If it were so easy for her to leave, Shen Wu wouldn¡¯t have allowed her to roam freely like this.

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°A bug? As long as it¡¯s a living creature, I¡¯ll be able to get rid of it.¡±

    ¡°You?¡± Ye Yun was a little doubtful.

    Su Jin said gravely, ¡°We¡¯ve got to give it a shot!¡±

    His n was simple. He was going to scan her body with his psychokinesis. If that bug was a living thing, it would have a consciousness that his psychokinesis could detect. He just needed to crush its consciousness and the bug would be useless.

    A powerful silvery glow surrounded Ye Yun as Su Jin used his psychokinesis to look for the bug. Just like what she had said earlier, if they didn¡¯t get rid of the bug, there was no way they could escape.

    Su Jin quickly detected a faint consciousness besides Ye Yun¡¯s. Just like what he had expected, as long as it was a living thing, it would have a consciousness. It was just a matter of how obvious or faint it was.

    He suddenly increased the intensity of his psychokinesis and crushed the bug¡¯s consciousness in an instant. He was so relieved. This bug was really small and was almost as tiny as a human cell. If he wasn¡¯t already so well trained in the use of his psychokinesis, it would have been very difficult to even detect it.

    And immediately after Su Jin had crushed that bug, Shen Wu, who was still running after Pinhio outside, suddenly froze. He red furiously at his pce and growled, ¡°This was a distraction!¡± He immediately turned and flew toward his pce like a beam of light.

    Pinhio blocked his way and cackled. ¡°Our little game hasn¡¯t ended yet! Whoever leaves first will be the loser!¡±

    ¡°Go away! Or I¡¯ll break you into pieces of firewood and set you on fire!¡± yelled Shen Wu angrily. Ye Yun was holding onto something he wanted very badly and it was very precious to him. If he allowed her to escape just like that, the next person who might get ahold of her would be Natasha.

    Pinhio, however, froze as he murmured, ¡°Firewood¡­ set on fire¡­! You¡­ you are angering Pinhio! You are a bad guy!¡±

    BOOM!

    Pinhio¡¯s body grew rapidly in size. A sprout grew out from his head and sharp splinters grew from his skin. From afar, he looked like a wooden sculpture of a demon.

    Shen Wu didn¡¯t expect his words to anger Pinhio like this. This was trouble indeed. He wasn¡¯t afraid of getting killed by a deity in his own city, but if this deity was bent on blocking his way, it was going to take him a long time to fight Pinhio off.

    ¡°You can leave this to us!¡± Alex and three others appeared. These three were also members of Team Court of Wrath, so their capabilities were above average.

    Shen Wu¡¯s face lit up as he nodded at them. ¡°You just need to stall him. Once I settle the problem within the pce, I¡¯lle back and deal with him.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Alex nodded.

    Shen Wu ran off, but Pinhio wasn¡¯t going to let him leave just like that. However, before he could give chase, Alex stretched his palm out and several walls of light appeared around Pinhio, trapping him inside.

    God¡¯s City was a ce that belonged to Shen Wu and his team, so the entire city was designed to strengthen Shen Wu and his team. Not even a deity could cause too much chaos here.

    Pinhio scoffed at the walls around him. A splinter on his shoulder grew longer and shattered one wall.

    Alex smiled faintly as he touched the ring on his finger. The ground beneath him opened and revealed several mirrors, which created reflections of his walls of light. These reflections strengthened the walls several times and trapped Pinhio once again.

    ¡°Go away!¡± Pinhio was furious, but it wasn¡¯t so easy to break through the wall this time. Besides, Alex wasn¡¯t the only one here. Alex¡¯s three teammates were no less powerful than him. But for as long as Alex¡¯s walls of light were good enough to trap Pinhio in ce, they didn¡¯t need to risk fighting Pinhio themselves.

    Meanwhile, Wu Chen had led everyone to the AI control center in the middle of the city. He had taken on the shape of a middle aged man, who actually held the highest rank in the city they were in. This man had been pretty formidable, but Wu Chen was more powerful than him. After killing him, Wu Chen transformed himself into this man and was given admin ess to the AI.

    ¡°How do I use this thing? I¡¯ve never been trained in this before!¡± Wu Chen pped his forehead and looked at hispanions. After searching the city for information, they had just gathered back together again.

    ¡°Based on what Bo Ya and I found out, the AI can teleport people from here to other ces. God¡¯s City, where Shen Wu is, is connected to this teleportation function. We just need to find a way to activate this function and we¡¯ll be able to get ourselves to God¡¯s City,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Kano Mai piped up, ¡°From what I gathered, it seems like God¡¯s City is inplete chaos, and that¡¯s why travelling to the city is prohibited worldwide. It¡¯s probably something to do with Jin.¡±

    ¡°That means we have to get to God¡¯s City in order to meet with Jin. That¡¯s pretty obvious now,¡± said Bo Ya.

    Wu Chen nodded, then sighed. ¡°But how do we activate this thing? This AI is too technologically advancedpared to theputers of my world. I can¡¯t even find the power switch.¡±

    Nobody knew what to do either. Judging from what they had seen, this seemed to have made a great technological leap. Shen Wu had probably used some high-tech thing from the Handbook to help the people here make a breakthrough, which improved their levels of technology.

    ¡°Let me take a look!¡± Bo Ya stepped forward bravely. But she didn¡¯t have ess rights, so she could only attempt to give Wu Chen instructions.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Chu Yi anxiously.

    Situ Jin patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Bo Ya is the tech genius of our department. She¡¯s a real expert in programming.¡±

    Bo Ya did not disappoint Situ Jin¡¯spliments at all. She quickly understood how this AI worked and gave Wu Chen the right instructions to activate the teleportation function.

    ¡°Wow¡­ all of you are great, and I¡¯m so useless¡­¡± Chu Yi felt rather embarrassed. He had gone round the city too, but failed to aplish anything.

    ¡°Never mind that now! Get in here!¡± Wu Chen waved at Chu Yi to hop in. A bright white sh enveloped them and they were teleported to God¡¯s City.

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun and Su Jin had left the area she was in. But immediately after they stepped out of the main door, they ran into Natasha¡¯s two subordinates. Instead of returning to help their superior, these two were bent on capturing Su Jin.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± cursed Su Jin under his breath. He pulled Ye Yun behind him and got ready to fight his way out.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not some child who¡¯spletely useless, you know? I¡¯m ranked #113 among owners!¡± said Ye Yun proudly.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise, then grinned stupidly as he pped his own forehead. Just like what she said, she wasn¡¯t some useless child who couldn¡¯t fight. They could probably take these two down if they joined forces.

    The four of them looked at each other menacingly, but just when they were about to fight, ck mes fell from the sky and burned Natasha¡¯s two subordinates to ashes.

    Su Jin and Ye Yun were shocked by this sudden turn of events. The Mad Hatter¡¯s voice resounded in Su Jin¡¯s head, ¡°Run! Shen Wu has returned to the pce, while Pinhio and the Demon Lord are fighting other members of his team. I¡¯m stuck here with Natasha as well, so you¡¯ve got to find a way out yourselves.¡±

    The Mad Hatter sounded rather anxious. He probably hadn¡¯t expected things to turn out so badly when they first arrived.

    And in reality, Su Jin was pretty unlucky. The power of three deities was definitely supposed to be more than enough to get the job done, but an owner powerful enough to fight a god like Natasha turned out to be here at the same time, so things became tougher than expected.

    ¡°Woah!¡± Ye Yun had discovered the now gigantic Mad Hatter and Natasha, who were engaged in a fierce battle. The Mad Hatter managed to help Su Jin with the two roadblocks earlier, but Natasha had also seized the chance to swipe him with her tail.

    ¡°That¡¯s Natasha!¡± said Ye Yun as she pointed at the dragon.

    Su Jin nodded, grabbed Ye Yun¡¯s hand and started running. ¡°Yup! That¡¯s her! But now¡¯s not the time to fangirl! We¡¯ve got to get out of here!¡±

    Before she could say anything, Su Jin dragged her toward the exit. He had a few teleportation crystals with him, which he had prepared just in case the Mad Hatter abandoned him halfway. They turned out to be useful after all.

    But he quickly realized that while they were within the pce grounds, these crystals couldn¡¯t work at all. These crystals were made by Shen Wu after all, so he had probably designed the pce such that nobody would be able to teleport themselves straight into his own house.

    There was no other choice but to run out of the pce. But they hadn¡¯t run for too long when Shen Wu came crashing in from above. Nobody in the pce could escape his detection.

    ¡°Ye Yun, hand that thing over and¡­ I can let you go.¡± Shen Wu realized that things were getting a little out of hand, so he was willing to make a smallpromise. He had three deities causing chaos here as well as the Jade Dragon King Natasha, who was almost equivalent to a god herself. He had to stop this mess as quickly as possible.

    But Ye Yun shook her head and refused. ¡°I¡¯m never giving it to you. If I give it to you, then¡­ this will not be the only world destroyed by you.¡±

    Shen Wu¡¯s eyes glinted. He sighed and shook his head, then said in a nasty voice, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, you can go to hell! I¡¯ll still be able to get it from your corpse!¡±

    The surrounding temperatures started falling rapidly. Su Jin immediately activated the Protection of the Gods so that he would be immune to the change in temperature, then picked Ye Yun up and ran for it. But this wasn¡¯t a long term solution. He had already used up a lot of his psychokinesis. If the three deities didn¡¯te over to help him, he was going to end up dead pretty soon.

 Chapter 287: Help Arrives Late

    <h4>Chapter 287: Help Arrives Late</h4>

    Su Jin ran quickly, but so did Shen Wu. Within his pce, he moved in shes, appearing suddenly in his next position. Su Jin guessed that the pce itself was built to support a skill like this.

    Su Jin could see that they wereing to the edge of the pce walls, so he wanted to punch right through the invisible wall from earlier on, but Shen Wu put his palms together and walls of ice appeared from nowhere.

    Bam! Su Jin threw a punch at the ice wall and it shattered, but the impact was reduced to nothing before it could reach the invisible wall.

    ¡°Put me down!¡± Ye Yun tapped on Su Jin¡¯s head.

    ¡°Why?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Shen Wu¡¯s Spirit Power is useless on me and I can transform myself into mist, so you just need to take care of yourself,¡± exined Ye Yun.

    Su Jin paused and realized that she was right. He put her down and they stood facing Shen Wu together. He said to her, ¡°I¡¯ll stall him, you find a way to get out of here first.¡±

    ¡°No, you can¡¯t stall him by yourself.¡± She shook her head immediately. She knew Shen Wu¡¯s powers better than him and this was his home ground no less. She didn¡¯t think Su Jin would hold up by himself, even though he was much more formidable than she had initially imagined.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t confident either. Shen Wu was someone that even the Mad Hatter and the rest found difficult to deal with. But the problem was that his full psychokinesis potential had been sealed off. Otherwise, with the new Boning Knife in hand, he might not lose in a head on fight with Shen Wu.

    ¡°Like I said before, hand that thing over and I¡¯ll let both of you go!¡± Shen Wu red icily at them. Ice formed all around him, making him look like he was very determined.

    But Ye Yun shook her head. Su Jin took a deep breath when he saw her reaction. The Protection of the Gods¡¯ effect was going tost for a little over ten minutes. He was supposed to be able to activate this skill only once a day, but Su Jin knew that it was very useful in a battle against Shen Wu, so he begged the Demon Lord to think of a way. In the end, she managed to do something such that he could use this skill twice a day. But he had already used it once earlier and now, he wasn¡¯t left with much time. He had to use these ten odd minutes to deal with Shen Wu somehow.

    ¡°Trust me!¡± Su Jin nced at Ye Yun.

    Ye Yun looked back at him anxiously but Su Jin had already dashed toward Shen Wu. She tried to hold him back but she was toote.

    Shen Wu didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to charge toward him. But he guessed that Su Jin¡¯s confidence was in that Spirit Power item that made him immune to his Spirit Power.

    So, Shen Wu still felt that Su Jin was foolish to attack him like this. Relying on an item could only protect Su Jin for a while, but not for long.

    He saw Su Jin throw a punch at him and reached one hand out to block it. But when Su Jin¡¯s fist hit Shen Wu¡¯s palm, Shen Wu realized it was stronger than he had expected. He quickly tried to use all his strength to defend himself, but he was toote.

    Boom! Even without the help of Spirit Power, Su Jin had a deity-level body. Shen Wu flew backward like a cannonball from the impact, causing a row of buildings to fall like dominoes.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Su Jin exhaled, then turned to throw another punch at the invisible wall, sessfully shattering it at once.

    Ye Yun was utterly floored by how strong Su Jin was. She never imagined that Su Jin could send Shen Wu flying with just one punch. How strong did one have to be to aplish that?

    ¡°How did you be so strong?¡± asked Ye Yun instinctively.

    Su Jin dragged her and started running as he said, ¡°I haven¡¯t been sitting around and waiting to die, you know? You said you were at #113? I¡¯m more than 20 ranks above you!¡±

    Ye Yun had a strange glimmer in her eyes. Thest time Shen Wu caught up with her, she was cornered and was ready to give up. But this fellow appeared in front of her and tried to save her. He had failed to save her then, but she was very grateful toward him. She did have feelings for him but she didn¡¯t dare to tell him. Or rather, she was afraid that even if she did, they would both end up regretting it. But after what happened thest time, she knew for sure that she had really fallen for this guy.

    But Ye Yun didn¡¯t think that Su Jin would seriously fight his way into Shen Wu¡¯s territory to take her home. Her lips couldn¡¯t help but curl upwards into a smile. This time¡­ even if she couldn¡¯t get away, or even if she ended up dying, she didn¡¯t have to be afraid. She had a reliablepanion by her side now, so no matter where they went, as long as he was here, that was good enough for her.

    Of course, Su Jin had no idea what was running through Ye Yun¡¯s mind. He was focused solely on taking Ye Yun away from this universe. But just then, a humming noise resounded.

    .

    Woong! ck beams shot toward him from all directions. His reaction was quick as he turned and twisted to dodge the beams, but two still managed to hit him. One hit his abdomen and the other hit his right thigh.

    ¡°Ow¡­¡± Cold sweat appeared on Su Jin¡¯s head from the pain. His first reaction was to look for Ye Yun, but thankfully, she had transformed into particles in time and wasn¡¯t hurt.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t so lucky. The ground around him had turned to ash from the beams and his wound suddenly started bleeding profusely. Those ck beams were very much like the Roar of a Demon Lord. They disregarded your level of defense and destroyed whatever it hit.

    ¡°Su Jin!¡± eximed Ye Yun as she ran over to support him.

    Su Jin told her that he was fine as he stuffed a small leaf from the Tree of Life into his mouth, which quickly stopped his wounds from bleeding. He looked up to see Shen Wu walk toward him from afar.

    Shen Wu was severely injured from Su Jin¡¯s punch. He hadn¡¯t be a powerful owner because he had a tough body after all, so not dying from the punch of an owner with god-like strength was already a miracle in itself. That was only because he had designed a magic circle in the pce that reduced most of the damage.

    ¡°A god-like body¡­ excellent. I need a body like that, so that my journey will be even smoother once I be a god.¡± Shen Wu¡¯s body was badly damaged and some of his bones were out of shape. He had avoided a lot of the impact, but that punch had still hit him hard.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. The Protection of the Gods wasn¡¯t left with a lot of time. Once he lost immunity against the elements, he was going to be powerless to face Shen Wu.

    ¡°Seven minutes left, huh.¡± Su Jin checked how much time he had left. He was badly injured, but he was sure that his body could withstand this amount of damage better than Shen Wu, so he was still at an advantage.

    With that in mind, Su Jinunched another attack. But one of his legs was injured, which affected his speed. Meanwhile, Shen Wu raised a finger and the surrounding buildings started shooting those ck beams again.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t dodge them in time, so he punched the ground to create a huge hole. He sank below ground level quickly and barely managed to dodge the ck beams.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Cold sweat continued to drip down Su Jin¡¯s face. He finally understood why Shen Wu was so confident. Shen Wu was in his own territory after all. Even the Mad Hatter and the other gods had to be careful here.

    ¡°Go on! Within my pce, I can kill you a hundred times or even a thousand times if I liked!¡± Shen Wu cackled maniacally as he raised another finger. Countless steel ws extended from the buildings around them, grabbing Su Jin from inside the hole he had created and raising him up.

    Su Jin tried to fight back, but there were just too many ws. Each time he broke one, another one woulde out from the buildings. He couldn¡¯t do anything else but focus on destroying these ws.

    Woong! The ck beams rose from the buildings again and Shen Wu aimed them at Su Jin, but he didn¡¯t make the beams kill him immediately. Instead, he said to Ye Yun, ¡°Look, I¡¯m not a bloodthirsty person. Hand over what I want and I¡¯ll let go of him as well as yourself. How about that?¡±

    Ye Yun trembled. If she were the one whose life was in danger, she could still stand up against him. But when the one in danger became Su Jin, she couldn¡¯t be so stubborn anymore.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give it to him!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t know what Shen Wu wanted from Ye Yun, but he knew that since it was something that made Ye Yun rather die than hand it over, it was definitely something that Shen Wu must never obtain.

    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± Ye Yun looked like all her energy had left her. She looked helplessly at Su Jin and said quietly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re going to be the world¡¯s biggest sinners.¡±

    A smirk spread across Shen Wu¡¯s lips. There was nothing he wanted that he could not get. As for his promise to Ye Yun¡­ if Su Jin didn¡¯t have this god-like body, he would really have let them go. But now, Su Jin¡¯s body was not worth that much less than what he wanted from Ye Yun.

    Ye Yun retrieved a gem that was about the size of an apple from her Handbook. Shen Wu¡¯s eyes immediately lit up greedily as he stretched his arm toward her. ¡°Give it to me!¡±

    Ye Yun reluctantly held it out, but just then, Su Jin suddenly brandished his Boning Knife while still fighting the steel ws.

    ¡°Judgment!¡± Whatever Spirit Power Su Jin had left could only activate this skill once, so he had to use it at the most suitable time.

    Shen Wu¡¯s entire body trembled as though he could sense danger. He let out a shriek and retreated quickly, moving out of danger¡¯s way just before Judgment could strike him.

    KABOOOOM!

    As he watched all the buildings within a few kilometers¡¯ radius turn into ash, Shen Wu showed fear on his face for the first time. He knew that if that attack had hit him, he would have been reduced to ashes as well.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jin sighed. That was his trump card. He didn¡¯t expect Shen Wu to be able to dodge itpletely.

    Shen Wu paused to catch his breath and noticed that the glow around Su Jin¡¯s body was slowly fading away. It meant that the item that gave Su Jin immunity had lost its effect.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve been so difficult to deal with, I¡¯ll make sure you suffer for a bit!¡± Shen Wu activated his Spirit Power and a white frost immediately gathered on Su Jin¡¯s skin.

    Su Jin could sense that he was losing heat rapidly, but just before he lost consciousness, the heat returned to his body again.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Besides Su Jin, Shen Wu looked equally confused.

    ¡°Oho! This power¡¯s not bad!¡± A second Shen Wu stood behind Ye Yun and waved at the trapped Su Jin with a big smile. ¡°I came to save you in time, didn¡¯t I?¡±

 Chapter 288: Going Home

    <h4>Chapter 288: Going Home</h4>

    Not only was Su Jin surprised that there was a second Shen Wu, but even the real Shen Wu was confused. This second Shen Wu did not only look exactly like him, but also possessed the same powers as himself.

    Just then, a figure suddenly appeared behind the real Shen Wu. He was extremely quick and was apanied by a huge wave of white air.

    ¡°Quintuple Qi Thrust, Song of the Immortals!¡± That figure was none other than Chu Yi. He mmed his palms hard on Shen Wu¡¯s back and the white air around him turned into a whirlwind that trapped Shen Wu within and did not allow Shen Wu to move away.

    ¡°PFFT!¡± Shen Wu threw up a mouthful of blood. He tried to hold himself up and there was glint in his eye as he tried to use his Spirit Power to burn Chu Yi to ashes. But immediately after he activated his Spirit Power, the second Shen Wu neutralized it, so he couldn¡¯t achieve the effect he wanted at all.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± the second Shen Wu yelled to Su Jin.

    Immediately after he said that, a shadow on the ground expanded. Situ Jin, Bo Ya, Kano Mai, and Chu Yi leaped out from inside. Su Jin was even more confused to see a second Chu Yi as well. What was going on? Was it International Twins Day or something?!

    ¡°Boss, don¡¯t just stand there! Come over!¡± Chu Yi waved Su Jin to join them.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand what was happening at all, but he trusted his own folks, so he led Ye Yun into Situ Jin¡¯s shadow, then saw the second Shen Wu hop in as well, leaving the second Chu Yi to fight with Shen Wu.

    Once the second Shen Wu had entered the shadow, the real Shen Wu no longer had limits on his powers. He let out an angry roar and bubbles appeared on the second Chu Yi¡¯s skin. He was covered almost instantly in blood before evaporating and disappearingpletely.

    Everyone gasped. Shen Wu¡¯s powers were simply terrifying. He could change the temperature so easily and could kill in a second.

    Shen Wu didn¡¯t want to let Su Jin and Ye Yun go just like that, so he thrust a palm toward the shadow in order to capture the entire group, but Situ Jin shut the entrance to the shadow, sealing the group in a dark space.

    Kano Mai¡¯s Soul Whisperer gave off a faint light, which was enough to illuminate everyone¡¯s faces. Su Jin watched as the second Shen Wu¡¯s body went out of shape for a few moments before turning into Wu Chen.

    ¡°Oh my god! I can¡¯t take it! I can¡¯t take it! This monster¡¯s body would kill me if I went on!¡± Wu Chen looked like he was aching all over. He had transformed himself into Shen Wu earlier.

    ¡°Wu Chen¡­ after transforming into another person, you¡¯d also get the powers of that person?¡± said Su Jin in surprise. He knew Wu Chen had a Spirit Power that could make him look like anybody he wanted, but he didn¡¯t know that Wu Chen would also take on the powers of target as well.

    Wu Chen nodded proudly and said, ¡°Did you think my Spirit Power was so useless? Wouldn¡¯t that make me nothing more than one of those shapeshifters we saw in thest Challenge? After transforming myself to look like my target, I will get their Spirit Power too. But the stronger my target¡¯s powers, the shorter the time I can remain as that person. If I force myself to continue, I¡¯ll fall apart and die. I could only be Shen Wu for a minute or so. If I had to do that any longer, I¡¯d be gone by now.¡±

    Su Jin then turned to Chu Yi. ¡°And that was you just now?¡±

    ¡°Yes and no. To put it simply, after I returned to my own world, I was able to connect to the body that the cult had revived and I realized that I could control that bodypletely. But now¡­ well, it¡¯s all gone.¡± Chu Yi was quite upset about this. Having a body that was exactly like his own was like having an extra life.

    ¡°Jin, if I were you, I wouldn¡¯t spend time here thinking about how all of this happened. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time we returned to our universe?¡± Situ Jin said to Su Jin. He knew that Shen Wu couldn¡¯t attack him while he was in a shadow, not even with that incredible Spirit Power of his. That was how he had managed to survive Shen Wu¡¯s clone¡¯s attacks on that ind back then. But there was a limit to how long he could use his Spirit Power and hiding so many people at once consumed a lot. He couldn¡¯t do this for long.

    ¡°The Mad Hatter and the rest¡­¡± Su Jin hesitated. The other three gods were still fighting out there. It seemed mean of him to just run away by himself.

    ¡°Jin, they¡¯re real gods after all. Even if they can¡¯t fight off their opponents, they¡¯d definitely be able to find a way to escape, so don¡¯t worry about them anymore!¡± Kano Mai persuaded him.

    Su Jin nodded and Kano Mai immediately fished out a bunch of teleportation crystals. She smiled at Su Jin and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got the goods.¡±

    Everyone took one and Su Jin said, ¡°Let¡¯s go home!¡±

    ¡°I wanna visit Boss¡¯ house!¡± yelled Chu Yi.

    ¡°After doing you such a big favor, it¡¯s not too much to ask you to treat me to a meal, right?¡± Wu Chen piped up as well. These teleportation crystals were good for two journeys anyway. Even if they went to Su Jin¡¯s universe now, they could use it to get back hometer.

    Su Jin was very touched. He knew that Chu Yi and Wu Chen had just made up random excuses toe over. They were actually afraid that Shen Wu might invade Su Jin¡¯s world, so they wanted to be around to help.

    It was true that Su Jin¡¯s original n was to make use of Team Boning Knife to save Ye Yun. But as time passed, he felt that he was running out of time. If he were to wait until all his teammates were good enough to fight, Ye Yun might be dead by then. Moreover, since the Mad Hatter, Pinhio, and the Demon Lord had agreed to help, he decided not to involve his team anymore. But in the end, it was his team who ended up saving him when he needed help the most.

    ¡°Thank you, all of you!¡± Su Jin nodded, then injected a little of his aura into the crystals. The seven of them were surrounded by a spatial energy that brought them to Su Jin¡¯s world in a sh.

    Upon returning Su Jin immediately gave everyone ess to Hell¡¯s Bar so that they could hide in there for the time being. He wanted to make sure the coast was clear beforeing out again. If Shen Wu really did not let them off and came to his world to seek revenge, he could just keep staying in Hell¡¯s Bar.

    Everyone, including Ye Yun, was transported to Hells Bar, while Su Jin chose to wait in the middle of a barren piece ofnd in his world. Ye Yun wanted to stay with him, but Su Jin refused to let her stay.

    If Shen Wu came over, his target would definitely be Ye Yun. Nobody knew if Shen Wu had other means to locate Ye Yun, so if he did, then remaining in this world would be as good as waiting to get killed. But if Su Jin stayed here alone, he could escape into Hell¡¯s Bar whenever he wanted.

    Su Jin stayed there for three whole days, but nothing happened at all. He returned to his bungalow in S City, only to find the Mad Hatter, Pinhio, and the Demon Lord seated inside.

    ¡°Are the three of you¡­ alright?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The three of them sneered at him. The Demon Lord said, ¡°I¡¯m a Demon Lord, so nobody expects me to be loyal in the first ce. Butpared to you, I seem fiercely loyal to mypanions!¡±

    ¡°We fought so hard for you, but you escaped all by yourself?!¡± yelled Pinhio furiously.

    ¡°I¡­ please, calm down! I didn¡¯t have a choice! Shen Wu cornered me and I trusted in your abilities. As long as you¡¯re determined to escape, there¡¯s no way those people could have held you back,¡± said Su Jin with an ingratiating smile. Regardless of why these three had helped him, they had really done him a great favor, so he ought to be grateful to them.

    The Demon Lord and Pinhio were ready to berate him further, but the Mad Hatter waved a hand and said, ¡°Su Jin is right. If he didn¡¯t escape at that point in time, then he would have died and all our efforts would have gone down the drain. He had only made the best choice in that situation.¡±

    ¡°You are very wise indeed, O great Mad Hatter,¡± Su Jin quickly buttered up to him.

    The Mad Hatter red at Su Jin, then said quietly, ¡°We¡¯ve helped you as promised, and when we returned, I helped to create a special barrier around your world. Besides those originally from your world, nobody from other worlds can enter.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Su Jin froze for a second, then asked, ¡°I have two friends from other universes, so¡­ they can¡¯t go back?¡±

    ¡°Going back isn¡¯t a problem. I¡¯ve made it such that you can only leave and you can¡¯t enter. Take it as myst favor to you,¡± said the Mad Hatter as he shook his head.

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Su Jin thanked the Mad Hatter sincerely. This was a really big favor. If he hadn¡¯t done that, then even though Ye Yun was able to return to this world, they¡¯d probably have to continue wandering the worlds and keep running for their lives.

    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll make a move. Whether we¡¯ll meet again¡­ depends on fate!¡± The Mad Hatter bowed slightly toward Su Jin, then threw his top hat into the air and jumped in with Pinhio, disappearing in an instant.

    Su Jin blinked a few times as he turned to look at the Demon Lord who was still sitting on his couch. He asked cautiously, ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­ leaving with them?¡±

    ¡°The Mad Hatter and I are not from the same camp, so we will never go down the same path. Besides, I¡¯ve got a disciple in this world. Why should I leave?¡± The Demon Lord nced disdainfully at Su Jin.

    Su Jin sighed inwardly. What was going on between her and Xu Ran? The Demon Lord seemed determined to make full use of him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it, there are some things you should not know.¡± The Demon Lord got up, then stared intensely at Su Jin. She broke into a smile and said, ¡°You¡¯re not bad, but you¡¯re not my type, so I can¡¯t bet all my treasures on you.¡±

    ¡°What treasures are you betting?¡± Su Jin was confused and was about to say something when the Demon Lord suddenly grabbed his head and kissed him on the lips.

    Su Jin was enraged by her actions and pushed her aside. But before he could scold her, she let out a cheekyugh and disappeared suddenly.

    ¡°Bye bye, young man!¡± came the Demon Lord¡¯s voice from afar.

    Su Jin frowned. He knew the Demon Lord hadn¡¯t fallen for him or anything like that. She had done that purely to annoy him. But he was very concerned about what she said about betting her treasures on someone.

    ¡°These deities¡­ what are they plotting?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t have enough information to confirm his guesses, so he felt like he was still in the middle of a thick fog. Some parts were slowly getting clearer, but it would take a lot more to blow all the fog away for good.

    ¡°I hope that when we meet again, it¡¯s not because we¡¯re going to war with each other.¡± Su Jin sighed, then entered Hell¡¯s Bar.

 Chapter 289: Awkward Situation

    <h4>Chapter 289: Awkward Situation</h4>

    Inside Hell¡¯s Bar, the group of seven sat together. Ye Yun looked curiously at Su Jin¡¯s friends. She wasn¡¯t the introverted type in the first ce, so she had be very familiar with all of them while Su Jin had been away the past three days.

    ¡°You guys are amazing! Besides Uncle Wu, the rest of you have gone through fewer than 20 Challenges and you¡¯re already so formidable! That¡¯s amazing!¡± said Ye Yun admiringly.

    Wu Chen red at her. ¡°Hey! Are you saying that I¡¯m not as good as them? I¡¯m very formidable too!¡±

    ¡°Of course! The fact that you rendered Shen Wu helpless is something that even the top ten owners might not be able to do!¡± Ye Yun quickly gave Wu Chen a hugepliment to butter him up.

    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right! No wonder Su Jin likes you so much!¡± Wu Chenughed heartily. His ranking wasn¡¯t high, but if he was put in a desperate situation, Wu Chen was confident that if he used his trump card wisely, he would be on par with the top 100 owners.

    Su Jin¡¯s face reddened at thisment, but Ye Yun was still full of smiles. Kano Mai, on the other hand, had a sad smile on her face.

    Chu Yi noticed her expression, but he could only scratch his head awkwardly. Everyone knew that Kano Mai liked Su Jin, and even Su Jin himself knew that. But sometimes, rtionships worked out like this. Being just a little toote could mean having to give up altogether.

    ¡°Situ¡¯s shadow powers should be considered a high level Spirit Power, while Sister Mai has the powers of the seven deadly sins and Chu Yi has internal energy. These are all pretty good Spirit Powers to have. So¡­ only Sister Bo Ya doesn¡¯t have Spirit Power?¡± Ye Yun knew their current status like the back of her hand.

    Su Jin said, ¡°Bo Ya has not been an owner for very long, so I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s going to take her a while before she can activate her Spirit Power.¡±

    Ye Yun nodded. She took her Handbook out and retrieved a bright green sprout from it, then said to Bo Ya, ¡°Sister Bo Ya, this is a Guiding Object that can bring you to the Land of Elves. If you¡¯re sure about bing a medic, then this might be helpful to you.¡±

    Bo Ya was a little surprised. She nced at Situ Jin and she only epted Ye Yun¡¯s gift after he nodded, and also thanked Ye Yun.

    ¡°No need to thank me. If all of you hadn¡¯te to help, I would be dead by now. Take it as my gift of gratitude!¡± said Ye Yun with a smile.

    Su Jin took his Handbook out as well and said to Ye Yun, ¡°Join my team! We can move together as a team from now on and help each other.¡±

    Ye Yun didn¡¯t turn his offer down and nodded slightly. She ced her hand on his Handbook, and once they hadpleted the process, the symbol of a boning knife appeared on her arm as well.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply. He felt like he was in a dream. After going through so much, searching and chasing after Ye Yun, the one he had been looking for was now sitting right next to him. None of this felt real to him yet.

    Ye Yun noticed Su Jin just staring at her in a daze and burst outughing. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­ nothing!! Oh! By the way, isn¡¯t it time you went home and contacted your parents and Tang Ning?¡± Su Jin quickly switched the topic.

    Ye Yun immediately bowed her head low and nodded vigorously. She then said to everyone, ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯ve got to go now. It¡¯s been a very long time since I contacted my family.¡±

    Everyone was understanding and bade farewell to her. After she left, all of them stared at Su Jin and Kano Mai.

    The atmosphere became super awkward, so Kano Mai immediately stood up and said, ¡°I, uh¡­ I¡¯m boiling some soup at home, so I¡¯d better go now.¡±

    Everyone felt upset when they saw how Kano Mai had run off so desperately. Compared to Ye Yun, whom Su Jin liked, they preferred to stay on Kano Mai¡¯s side, since she was someone who had gone through many Challenges with them.

    ¡°Jin, how do you really feel?¡± asked Wu Chen as he rapped the table with his knuckles.

    Su Jin was confused at first, but he quickly realized what Wu Chen was asking him. He frowned and said, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to hurt Mai, but¡­ I fell for Ye Yun first.¡±

    ¡°Aha! All of you heard that, right? He said he fell for Ye Yun first, which means you don¡¯t deny having feelings for Mai.¡± Wu Chen immediately picked up on Su Jin¡¯s words and continued to grill him mercilessly.

    Su Jin knew that after going through so much together, he did see Kano Mai as more than a friend. But like he said earlier, he didn¡¯t want to hurt her.

    ¡°Boss, is your world strictly monogamous? There are some areas in my world that allow polygamy,¡± said Chu Yi.

    Situ Jin scoffed. ¡°Too bad, in our world, our country only allows monogamy. I¡¯m afraid he can¡¯t have two.¡±

    ¡°Who cares about thew? Given Su Jin¡¯s current standing and powers, he could even marry 200 if he wanted! If your government made Su Jin angry, he could be a dictator like Shen Wu. Nobody would be able to stop him,¡± said Wu Chen with an impatient wave of his hand.

    Situ Jin burst outughing. He looked at Su Jin and said, ¡°Well, Wu Chen¡¯s not wrong. I¡¯d fight you to the death if you tried to pull off something like that, but I won¡¯t be able to defeat you at all. But¡­ you wouldn¡¯t do something like that just so that you could have more than one wife, right? I mean, if you really want to, I can always raise a special request to the authorities.¡±

    Su Jin red at them. These guys were clearly egging him on for their own entertainment. He had watched dramas and movies with such scenes and never thought it would apply to him. Now that he was stuck in such a conversation, he realized everything he said could be used against him. How terrifying!

    ¡°I¡¯m warning you, both of them are good girls. If you really don¡¯t know what to do, then¡­ I guess you could just cut your dick off? Then they don¡¯t have to fight over you,¡± said Wu Chen with a stern face before bursting intoughter at the end.

    Situ Jin and Chu Yi were both sniggering as well. Only Bo Ya was more serious and red at them. She said to Su Jin, ¡°Jin, don¡¯t listen to them spout nonsense. If you don¡¯t want to hurt either of them, you should make things clear to both of them and confirm your rtionship with them. That way, they don¡¯t have to harbor hope unnecessarily and keep waiting in vain.¡±

    Su Jin was so d to hear proper advice and nearly started crying. ¡°Bo Ya, you¡¯re the best! You¡¯re a real friend! These guys are nothing but animals!¡±

    The three men made a face at Su Jin. They were clearly displeased with what he just said about them.

    After all that, they decided to leave Hell¡¯s Bar and go to the bungalow where Su Jin and Kano Mai lived. Kano Mai had already whipped up a table full of dishes to help Su Jin to thank everyone for their help.

    But her actions only made Su Jin feel even more guilty toward her. Bo Ya was right. He had to rify his rtionship with Ye Yun as soon as possible so that Kano Mai would stop waiting and doing things unnecessarily for him.

    The team sat down to feast, and everyonemented that Kano Mai would make an excellent wife and mother. Su Jin was certain that all of them were saying such things on purpose to tease him. He had lost all authority over them as their team leader.

    Ye Yun had gone to look for Tang Ning. Tang Ning could hardly believe that this cousin who was constantly disappearing would actually appear before her. After getting over her initial shock, she scolded Ye Yun harshly and warned her never to do something so worrying ever again.

    But what happened next was not what any of them had expected. Shen Wu had put up a notice inside Hell¡¯s Bar. It was a wanted notice for Su Jin and his team.

    ¡°Anyone who kills one member of Team Boning Knife will get an A Grade Spirit Power item. Anyone who kills the team leader Su Jin will get three A Grade Spirit Power items. If you capture Su Jin alive, you will get an Earth Grade item. If you capture Team Boning Knife member Ye Yun, you will get three Earth Grade Spirit Level items!¡±

    Su Jin read the contents of the notice and felt enticed himself. He said to his team, ¡°Gosh, do you think he¡¯d give us those items if I turn myself in?¡±

    Chu Yi was even more upset. He pped his thigh and said, ¡°Damn! If my clone hadn¡¯t died, I could have just sent him over and gotten an A Grade item in return!¡±

    Everyone turned to stare at Chu Yi like he was an idiot. Situ Jin sighed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that clone of yours is better than having an Earth Grade item?¡±

    ¡°Huh? I¡­ oh, you¡¯re right.¡± Chu Yi nodded and became even sadder over the loss of his clone.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t very surprised that Shen Wu had put up a notice like that. It would have been even stranger if Shen Wu hadn¡¯t done anything at all even after the team had wreaked so much havoc in his home.

    ¡°Thankfully, the Mad Hatter has added a barrier around our universe. Otherwise, I really wouldn¡¯t know what to do.¡± Su Jin was really d for that. If the Mad Hatter hadn¡¯t done that, he would have immediately gone on the run with Ye Yun and wouldn¡¯t have dared to stay anywhere for too long.

    ¡°What do we do now? Since we¡¯ve be fugitives, we¡¯ve got to be more careful from now on,¡± said Situ Jin.

    Wu Chen didn¡¯t seem too bothered. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. At most, I¡¯ll change my face and name. It¡¯s impossible to capture me if you only know my current name and face!¡±

    ¡°To y safe, all of us should just stay at my ce if you don¡¯t have anything urgent to attend to. We¡¯ll wait a few months for everything to settle down, then you can go home,¡± Su Jin said to the group.

    Everyone was agreeable. It was just a few months, so they took it as a holiday. They didn¡¯t have anything urgent to attend to in their own worlds.

    A few weeks flew by in no time and it was time for everyone to enter a Challenge again. Su Jin gathered everyone, and once they were ready, he started their next Challenge.

    But the usual darkness did not engulf them. Instead, a group of people appeared in front of them. It was a veryrge group too. Su Jin did a rough count and realized there were at least 20 or 30 of them gathered. And in the middle of the group sat a clown in a straitjacket, the sort used in old psychiatric hospitals to physically restrain patients.

 Chapter 290: You Are All Mistakes

    <h4>Chapter 290: You Are All Mistakes</h4>

    The clown wore a straitjacket that was reminiscent of those used in old psychiatric hospitals. The white foundation on his face, the lipstick that was drawn beyond his lips and the ck rings around his eyes were stereotypical of a clown, yet it also made him look hysterical.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but feel fear in his heart. He knew that some people had a phobia of clowns, which could be considered a psychological phobia, but Su Jin was certain that he had never been afraid of clowns. However, when faced with this clown, he felt a genuine fear deep in his heart that sent chills down his spine.

    ¡°36 people, six teams!¡± Su Jin scanned the crowd of owners around him. There were 36 of them in total and they were standing in their groups, so it was clear that they formed six small teams.

    Su Jin had never gone through a Challenge with this many people before. Wu Chen and Ye Yun looked horrified as well. They were old timers who had gone through dozens of Challenges, but they had never seen so many people being involved at once either.

    ¡°Hello everyone, we¡¯re old friends now, but this is the first time you¡¯re seeing me.¡± The clown sat on an adjustable swivel barstoolmonly seen in a bar. His eyes werepletely red with no differentiation between his iris and pupils, so he looked really creepy. But what terrified all of them was his voice.

    There was no owner among the 36 present who didn¡¯t know this voice. Or rather, there wasn¡¯t a single person here who would forget this voice. This voice was their greatest nightmare, the beginning of their nightmarish lives¡­ this was the voice of death that narrated the introduction of each Challenge, the voice that carried all the negative emotions of the world.

    Su Jin took a step forward and instinctively stood protectively in front of his team. He was the team leader of Team Boning Knife and he had slowly grown this instinct to protect his team members.

    All 36 owners seemed to be pretty resilient people. Even after hearing the clown¡¯s voice, nobody went into a panic and most of them became extra wary and ready to fight, ready tounch an aggressive attack.

    The clown didn¡¯t care about their response to him and just went on, ¡°I¡¯m able to appear in front of all of you today thanks to one person. That person is¡­ the team leader of Team Boning Knife, Mr. Su Jin!¡±

    The clown pointed a finger at Su Jin and a beam of light shone down from above, highlighting Su Jin and causing everyone to turn to face him.

    Read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing tranted novels from the original source at [  ]

    All members of the team felt their hearts tighten and Su Jin gathered his psychokinesis together. He didn¡¯t know what this clown was up to, but¡­ he had to be prepared for anything.

    ¡°Oh no, no, don¡¯t be so nervous. In theory, I will not kill any owners.¡± The clown wagged his finger from side to side, then used one hand to hold his chin as he took a good look at Su Jin. After a few moments, he said, ¡°But you are pretty dangerous, so¡­ I have to ensure my own safety.¡±

    The clown snapped and to the other owners, nothing had changed. But Su Jin¡¯s expression fell because he could sense that his psychokinesis had disappeared.

    It wasn¡¯t the feeling of having his Spirit Power sealed away. It was gone. It was as though he had never activated Spirit Power at all. He couldn¡¯t sense even the tiniest bit of it.

    ¡°What¡­ what did you do to me?!¡± Su Jin immediately cried out in protest.

    ¡°Nothing, really. Everyone will go through the same thingter, you just went first,¡± said the clown with a shrug. He smiled at Su Jin and said, ¡°Let me exin! You can take me as a manifestation of Hell¡¯s Handbook, a spokesperson, like the game master of a game or the one in charge of the server.¡±

    ¡°My role was originally just to introduce the Challenges to all of you and decide on a few key areas. If things continued on like that, I would never have met all of you. But¡­ someone has done something they shouldn¡¯t have, so it can¡¯t be helped! I had to give up my leisurely life ande here to y a game with all of you.¡±

    ¡°My new Boning Knife!¡± Su Jin¡¯s thoughts flew quickly. The clown said that his appearance had something to do with himself, and then said that someone had done something they shouldn¡¯t have. The only thing Su Jin could think of was the Boning Knife he had just received.

    ¡°Bingo! You¡¯re right! Just like I said, I¡¯m just in charge of running the game and I¡¯d appear only if those who shouldn¡¯t be here appear, and things that shouldn¡¯t be here appear.¡±

    ¡°The Boning Knife is the first God Grade Spirit Power item in the Handbook, and based on the way the Handbook has developed so far, it is not time yet for such an item to appear. The Handbook has always operated in a mode where everything applies to all owners in all universes, so the appearance of a God Grade Spirit Power item is also connected in some way to Hell¡¯s Handbook. You could say that Mr. Su is both a beneficiary and a victim at the same time.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that Hell¡¯s Handbook is going to punish me?¡± asked Su Jin in a grim voice. He didn¡¯t feel nervous anymore. If the Handbook had decided to kill him, then there was no point in even trying to fight back. Even gods like the Mad Hatter had trouble fighting against the power of the Handbook and barely managed to escape the control of the Handbook after pulling several stunts. For a mere owner like him, being anxious was pointless.

    To his surprise, the clown looked surprised by his words. He shook his head and said, ¡°Why would I do that? Like I exined earlier, the appearance of a God Grade Spirit Power item is also partly the fault of the Handbook. Why would we punish Mr. Su alone?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ then what do you want? Do you want me to hand the Boning Knife over?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    The clown shook his head and smiled. ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook will not interfere with the owners directly, so since you¡¯ve received a God Grade Spirit Power item, that¡¯s yours. But¡­ a God Grade Spirit Power item was supposed to only be made avable after the Handbook started Earth and Heaven Level Challenges. These have not started for the current owners, but a God Grade Spirit Power item has already made an appearance. In that case, the Handbook has no choice but to start Earth and Heaven Level Challenges.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s heart sank. He now knew why there were so many owners here. They were all going to be involved in a very difficult Challenge.

    The faces of the other owners changed dramatically. This whole thing was targeted at Su Jin, but since they had been chosen for the Challenge, they wouldn¡¯t be able to avoid the dangers involved.

    The clown scanned the crowd, then suddenly sneered, ¡°Does everyone feel that they¡¯ve been unfairly implicated in a matter that¡¯s caused by Mr. Su alone?¡±

    Nobody said anything, but it was clear from the look in their eyes that they thought that way.

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook is fair, especially when ites to human lives. I have chosen 36 people, six small teams, all of whom have used some special methods to get through Challenges in the past. In short, all of you have cheated before,¡± said the clown calmly.

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! I¡¯ve gone through 31 Challenges and I¡¯ve never cheated!¡± retorted a muscr owner who looked like he had a pretty bad temper.

    The clown turned to look at him and said, ¡°Mr. Kevin, team leader of Team ck-headed Gull. During your seventh Challenge, you should have died. But¡­ you made a deal with an elder god of the Challenge, became their believer and activated your Spirit Power as a result!¡±

    The man was taken aback and his eyes widened, but he did not say anything in the end, because the clown was right. He had made a deal with an elder god during that Challenge and became a worshipper of that god.

    ¡°What about us? Our team has only been around for two months and most of us are newbies too. Who among us cheated?¡± asked another woman.

    ¡°Miss Lin Yu¡¯er, your team is a new one, but if I¡¯m not wrong, the strategist of Team Poseidon, Mr. Zhang Tiankai, obtained his Handbook through illicit means. A friend of yours did something in order to transfer their Handbook to you, which is not allowed by Hell¡¯s Handbook. To put it simply, you are not a registered user of the Handbook. It¡¯s as if you¡¯re using a different person¡¯s ount to login.¡±

    The clown scanned the crowd and continued, ¡°Someone in each of the six teams here has done something like that. As long as just one person has done such a thing, then I¡¯m sorry, but the entire team will have to be punished. There might be some among you who arepletely innocent, but don¡¯t me me¡­ me those who didn¡¯t follow the rules!¡±

    Team Boning Knife had grim smiles on their faces. They might very well be the team whomitted the most offences here. Besides the fact that Su Jin had made a deal with a whole bunch of gods, Situ Jin and Bo Ya¡¯s Handbooks were obtained through illicit means as well.

    The clown went on, ¡°But you¡¯re all pretty lucky, since Earth Level Challenges haven¡¯t been made avable yet. It¡¯s a punishment, but you¡¯re given some grace here. All survivors of this Challenge will have their previous wrongs written off. Also, even though it¡¯s an Earth Level Challenge, it will still be a little easier than usual.¡±

    The clown waved his hand and a little ind appeared in the darkness beneath his feet. Everyone looked down to see the ind.

    ¡°Mistakes should be punished by mistakes. This ind is situated in the middle of all spaces and it¡¯s a cage that is impossible to escape from. This ce holds a series of mistakes that have appeared in the development of the Handbook and you will be transported into this ind. You will be given three days¡­ to survive the Challenge!¡±

    ¡°Also, a small treat for all of you: every time you kill an owner, you will get one point. For every ten points, you get to revive someone, and this person has to be someone who died in this Challenge.¡±

    The owners started cursing inwardly. The Handbook was making owners turn against each other, which could end up getting all of them killed.

    ¡°One more thing. Anyone who dies in this Challenge¡­ cannot be revived with the Ceremony of the Gods!¡± The clown looked at Team Boning Knife as a creepy and sly smile spread across his face.

 Chapter 291: Mere Mortals

    <h4>Chapter 291: Mere Mortals</h4>

    Some teams had no idea what the Ceremony of the Gods was, but that wasn¡¯t the case for everyone. Team Boning Knife was obviously horrified. In short, anyone who died in this Challenge would be dead for good.

    The clown held his hands out in a shrug and smiled at everyone. ¡°So finally, wee one and all, to an Earth Level Challenge, the Ind of Mistakes! The only goal is to survive three days on the ind. The side quest is to kill other owners, and you will get one point per person. Use of Spirit Power and items are all prohibited. Your physical bodies will be restored to its state before you became owners.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ have a good trip, everyone! Oh, by the way, each of you will be randomly sent to a different part of the ind, so you can¡¯t work in teams this time.¡±

    Immediately after he said that, the floor beneath their feet suddenly broke apart like it was merely a piece of ss. They started falling rapidly toward the Ind of Mistakes.

    ¡°Damn it! We¡¯re just mere mortals now! If we fall from such a height, we¡¯re definitely going to die when wend!¡± muttered Wu Chen. Most of them had a look of despair in their eyes as well. But most of the strategists remained calm. They knew that the Handbook wouldn¡¯t kill them all before the Challenge really began.

    And just as they had expected, after free falling for a short while, their bodies were enveloped in a bright sh before disappearing. They were being teleported to the ind itself.

    When Su Jin opened his eyes again, he found himself in a forest.

    The first thing he did after getting to his feet was to find a ce to hide. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was in a safe ce, and he didn¡¯t have all those abilities he used to have anymore. Any monsters that existed in the Handbook could kill him easily.

    He had just hidden himself for a few seconds when he heard screams from afar. A few more followed after that, but they stopped in no time. It was clear that some unlucky ones had been teleported to a dangerous ce and died almost immediately after that.

    ¡°Are they serious about killing us all this time?¡± A rare look of helplessness appeared in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. Surviving this ind as a mere mortal for three days was impossible. And even if he was lucky enough to survive, what about the rest of his team? He had three women in his team, so they were in a more dangerous position.

    ¡°I hope everyone survives!¡± Su Jin clenched his fists. He wasn¡¯t going to give up, no matter what happened. He had been separated from Ye Yun for so long and had just been reunited. He didn¡¯t want to be separated from her again.

    In a different part of the ind, a man appeared. Immediately after he appeared, a few swift and aggressive monsters appeared. In most cases, this man would be considered an unlucky one, and he was definitely going to die.

    But the man didn¡¯t panic. He used his palms like knives and struck the monsters a few times. The monsters quickly copsed and breathed theirst. The man had actually killed them all within seconds.

    ¡°Su Jin¡­ excellent, we meet again.¡± The man had a cruel look in his eyes, but a maniacal smile on his lips.

    Meanwhile, killings were happening at different parts of the ind. Out of the 36 owners that had descended on the Ind of Mistakes, a certain number were destined to die immediately. The most unlucky one fell straight into the mouth of a volcano. They were burned up before they could even figure out what was going on.

    Su Jin moved slowly through the forest. He initially thought of hiding in the forest, but he realized that the forest was definitely a bad ce to hide. The forest was filled with many predators, and the screams he heard earlier were probably the sound of owners being caught by these predators.

    The monsters here came in weird shapes and forms, but they were all very formidable fighters. But what frightened Su Jin the most were the bugs in the forest. He figured that he could still hide from those monsters or fight them, but there was no way he could deal with the bugs in the forest.

    There were centipedes that looked more like bullet trains, mosquitoes that were asrge as helicopters, carnivorous cockroaches that resembled tanks: every one of these were enough to break Su Jin both physically and mentally. That made him quickly realize that if he stayed in the forest any longer, he would end up like those screaming owners in no time.

    Thankfully, the forest wasn¡¯t that big. He climbed up arge tree and discovered that the forest was surrounded by a rocky area. If he could find a cave around there and camouge himself, perhaps he could seek shelter there for a period of time.

    He moved very carefully and dared not do anything to raise suspicion. But being careful did not guarantee his safety. He soon realized that the path he was on was blocked by a group of bees that were all asrge as motorcycles, and that was the only path he had.

    These bees did not live in a beehive, and upon closer inspection, he realized that these things weren¡¯t really bees. These monsters resembled bees, but where their legs should have been were human arms and hands.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes and noticed that the bees were crawling about on the ground. A human corpse was among them, and it was none other than Kevin, the man who had questioned the clown earlier.

    ¡°Those screams just now¡­ was he one of them?¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to do now. These bees were blocking a path that had probably been cleared by some giant monster before this. If he didn¡¯t go down this path, he would have to go through the densely forested areas. He did consider doing that, but after taking one look at those areas, he realized he could never get through them. Those areas were exactly where all sorts of monsters lived and bred. If he walked through those areas, he was going to end up dead in less than ten minutes.

    He had to think of a way to get these bees out of the way. He was already very close to the rocky area. Taking a roundabout route would be a waste of time and too dangerous as well.

    Su Jin did not act rashly and patiently waited to observe the bees some more. He quickly noticed that these bees seemed to be blind. They did not have anything that looked like eyes on their bodies, but he couldn¡¯t be too sure. Their eyes could very well be in somepletely unexpected location.

    He picked up a stone and flung it toward the front of one of the bees. After the stonended, the bee immediately dashed over and swallowed it in one mouthful.

    ¡°Was it the sound? Or the vibration?¡± Su Jin was now sure that the bees were really blind. When the stone flew over, the bee did not react at all. But once the stonended, the bee had dashed over.

    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s set up a trap.¡± Su Jin removed his jacket, picked up several stones, wrapped them in his jacket and hung it on a tree.

    He tied the sleeves into a butterfly knot, then tied a long vine to one end of the knot. He held the other end of the vine and moved in the opposite direction. Once he was sure he was far enough from the jacket filled with stones, he licked his lips, then pulled on the vine hard.

 Chapter 292: Death Arrives

    <h4>Chapter 292: Death Arrives</h4>

    As the vine moved, the knot came untied and the stones wrapped in the jacket fell to the ground. Su Jin had also ced several rocks at the bottom where they wouldnd. The collision made not just one bright sound, but several in a row.

    The bees were quickly attracted to the noise and ran toward the stones. Su Jin seized the chance to run out, but just when he was about to get past where the bees were earlier, something grabbed hold of his ankle.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart pounded in horror. He looked down to see that it was Kevin. The man wasn¡¯t dead yet, and he had grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s ankle as Su Jin was running past.

    ¡°Save¡­ me¡­!¡± Kevin uttered with great difficulty. His body seemed to be numb and his cheeks were trembling slightly.

    Su Jin nced at where the bees had gone. He could hear theming back here. He could have chosen to kick Kevin¡¯s hand away, but¡­ he decided to pick Kevin up and carry him out.

    Before this, one Kevin wouldn¡¯t have affected Su Jin¡¯s speed at all. But things were different now. If he still had his previous abilities, he wouldn¡¯t have to go through so much trouble just to avoid a bunch of monster bees either.

    Kevin was a typical muscr Caucasian man and was much heavier than Su Jin. Su Jin used to work out regrly as well, but carrying someone heavier than himself was still hard on him.

    ¡°Damn it, why are you Caucasians naturally so much bigger,¡± spat Su Jin through clenched teeth. He was on the verge of just throwing Kevin aside already.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ sorry¡­¡± said Kevin very softly. He didn¡¯t want to lose his chance to survive.

    The sound of the bees grew louder. Su Jin knew that if the bees discovered them, they were both going to die. He carried Kevin up a small slope and the bees had returned to their original spot. They walked through the forest, and the two men were within their line of vision.

    Su Jin felt like his heart was about to stop, but he remembered that these bees couldn¡¯t see, so all wasn¡¯t lost just yet.

    He continued to walk carefully, but with 100 kilograms on his back, walking carefully was much harder than walking quickly. If he wasn¡¯t careful enough, he might end up tripping and falling, which was definitely going to get them killed.

    As he continued to inch his way up, he finally managed to move past the peak of the hill and clenched his teeth as he soldered on. He could see the rocky area ahead and could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

    He started moving faster and left the forested area. He quickly found arge rock for them to hide behind, then threw Kevin onto the ground and panted heavily.

    When he had great strength, facing such terrifying bugs would not have been stressful or frightening to him. But when he didn¡¯t have that sort of strength, he couldn¡¯t help but feel all these negative emotions.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Su Jin wiped away the sweat dripping down his face and turned to look at Kevin. Kevin still couldn¡¯t move, but he could speak better now.

    ¡°Thank you for saving me!¡± Kevin thanked Su Jin sincerely.

    Su Jin waved it off and let out a sadugh. ¡°I was afraid that if I left you there and you called out after me, we¡¯d all be dead meat.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to worry about that. It was too hard for me to even utter one word, never mind call after you.¡± Kevin smiled with great difficulty, then said, ¡°I¡¯m Kevin, team leader of Team ck-headed Gull.¡±

    ¡°Su Jin from Team Boning Knife.¡± Su Jin nodded in return. They were now fellow sufferers on this ind.

    Kevin said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of Team Boning Knife before. Your teampleted a few Challenges perfectly and you guys are pretty famous.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re a team now, right?¡± asked Kevin a little nervously.

    Su Jin knew what Kevin was afraid of. Kevin couldn¡¯t move at all, so if Su Jin wanted to, Su Jin could kill him easily and easily gain one point from that. But Su Jin did not intend to kill him at all.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill you. Given our current situation, keeping more of us alive is more important. These points are meaningless,¡± said Su Jin as he shook his head. ¡°The Handbook is just trying to use these points to get all of us killed. We¡¯re supposed to be able to revive one person with ten points, but there are only 36 of us and some of them have died at the hands of monsters immediately afternding on the ind. It¡¯s hard enough to ensure that half of us are still alive, and if owners start trying to kill each other, it¡¯s impossible to get ten points.¡±

    Kevin nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s exactly the case. But I¡¯m afraid that there would be some who arepletely insane, or some who are too dumb to realize this and try to kill everyone.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Actually, if all of us were on the same page, we could help each other out and we might survive the next three days. The owners are the most precious resource in this Challenge!¡± Su Jin nodded as well.

    The both of them were in agreement, so they could both breathe a sigh of relief. They rested for a while more and Kevin was finally able to move his limbs.

    ¡°Very good. Looks like the venom from those bees doesn¡¯t affect one for too long.¡± Kevin was delighted when he realized he could move now.

    ¡°Yeah, about that. How did you get attacked by those weird bees?¡± asked Su Jin curiously. He didn¡¯t have anything else to do anyway.

    Kevin sighed and said, ¡°There was a bright sh and when I opened my eyes, my body was numb all over and I couldn¡¯t move at all. I think I was teleported straight into their nest.¡±

    Su Jin sighed inwardly. In other words, the Handbook did not actually have any protections for the owners, not even for the first few minutes of the Challenge. If the Handbook could send owners straight into the mouths of these monsters, then the chances of owners dying immediately was extremely high.

    ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this ind. What do we do with the rest of the time?¡± Kevin wore a mechanical watch, so he could tell the time very urately.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try to gather more people,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh.

    Kevin hesitated, then said to Su Jin, ¡°If¡­ it¡¯s just the two of us, wouldn¡¯t it be easier to get through this Challenge by finding a good ce to hide ourselves?¡±

    Su Jin looked at Kevin and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. This ind is filled with monsters, so it¡¯s impossible for just two people to survive. Besides, did you think the Handbook would allow for such a loophole? If we stay in one ce for too long, I¡¯d argue that doing that is the most dangerous thing to do. Besides, my teammates need me, so I will not try to survive on my own.¡±

    Kevin nodded after giving it some thought. He stretched his legs out, then nodded at Su Jin. ¡°Give me a little while more. I should be able to move soon.¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly, and the two men did not speak anymore, choosing to close their eyes for a while to rest. Su Jin didn¡¯t really trust Kevin and had saved him almost instinctively. If he was allowed to choose again, he might not have chosen to save him.

    After a short while, Su Jin suddenly got up. He suddenly realized that something was amiss. Their surroundings were very quiet. Too quiet, perhaps. He finally took a good look at the rocks around them and gasped. The rocks looked like they had been carved into a simr shape by humans. These were¡­ gravestones.

    ¡°This is a graveyard!¡± Su Jin was horrified. The most dangerous type of Challenge was the one that contained ghosts and other such supernatural beings, because this was the type of Challenge where owners could lose their lives without knowing when and why.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Su Jin pulled Kevin to his feet. They couldn¡¯t stay here any longer.

    Kevin had no idea what was going on but managed to stand up. He asked Su Jin, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°We need to leave right now! This ce is a graveyard, so we can¡¯t stay here anymore!¡± said Su Jin to Kevin as he observed his surroundings.

    Kevin was horrified as well and quickly made sure he followed Su Jin closely. Su Jin knew he couldn¡¯t return to the forest, since that ce was no safer than this ce. The forest was north of the rocks, so he had to choose to go either east or west.

    He eventually chose to head east, since he would be able to move further from both the forest and the graveyard. But a white mist blocked their path after they had walked a short distance.

    ¡°Damn it,¡± cursed Su Jin. It wasmon for such things to happen in those supernatural Challenges.

    ¡°Mr. Su, let¡¯s turn back! If we keep going, something bad will happen.¡± Kevin¡¯s expression was equally grim. He had gone through more Challenges than Su Jin, including the supernatural ones. He knew that they were in a dangerous situation.

    Su Jin stopped walking. Turning back was a good idea, but what if this situation urred even after they changed directions?

    ¡°AHH!¡± Kevin suddenly let out a shout and pointed at something behind Su Jin in horror.

    Su Jin felt all his hair stand and ducked. But immediately after he had squatted down, a terrifying face appeared in front of him.

    Thud! Su Jinnded on his butt. He meant to move backward, but his body was no longer that strong and couldn¡¯t move the way he wanted, resulting in himnding on his butt instead.

    The terrifying face was veiled by the mist, but the thick mist turned into a pair ofrge hands that grabbed Su Jin¡¯s neck. Kevin kept moving backward in fear. His own legs were weak, so saving Su Jin was out of the question. Su Jin himself was slowly finding it harder and harder to breathe.

    Su Jin¡¯s tongue stretched outward helplessly from inside his mouth and his eyes rolled upward. Kevin screamed as another pair ofrge mist hands dragged him into the thick mist.

    ¡°AHHHH!¡± A terrible shriek came from the mist, followed by a spray of warm blood. It sprayed onto Su Jin, who had already stopped breathing, and into his eyes that had rolled upward.

 Chapter 293: A Meme

    <h4>Chapter 293: A Meme</h4>

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened as he jumped up with a start. His hands rubbed his eyes in a frenzy, as though he was about to dig his own eyeballs out.

    ¡°Mr. Su! Mr. Su! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kevin¡¯s voice rang in Su Jin¡¯s ears as Kevin tugged on his shirt.

    Su Jin froze immediately. He saw Kevin staring in shock at him, but¡­ but how was this happening? Didn¡¯t he die?

    Su Jin panted heavily. The terrifying feeling of death oveing him made his body tremble. This was a feeling he didn¡¯t have even when he went through his very first Challenge, because he had never had such a close brush with death before.

    ¡°Mr. Su, are you alright?¡± Kevin looked confused. He had no idea what was going on with Su Jin.

    Su Jin slowly calmed down again. He looked around and realized that he was still in the same ce as they were before. It was as if they had never moved at all.

    ¡°Mr. Kevin, have we¡­ have we been here all this time?¡± Su Jin asked Kevin.

    Kevin looked even more confused, but he nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. I still haven¡¯t fully regained feeling in my body, so it¡¯s not possible for us to move elsewhere.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this ind. What do we do with the rest of the time?¡± said Kevin as he looked at the mechanical watch on his wrist.

    .

    Su Jin was still reeling in shock from what happened earlier, but he instinctively replied, ¡°Let¡¯s think of how to get out of here and find our teammates first.¡±

    Kevin hesitated, then said to Su Jin, ¡°If¡­ it¡¯s just the two of us, wouldn¡¯t it be easier to get through this Challenge by finding a good ce to hide ourselves?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I¡­¡± Su Jin stopped himself mid sentence, because he felt like he had heard this very same answer not too long ago.

    He looked a little puzzled as he said quietly, ¡°That¡¯s impossible. This ind is filled with monsters, so it¡¯s impossible for just two people to survive. Besides, did you think the Handbook would allow for such a loophole? If we stay in one ce for too long, I¡¯d argue that doing that is the most dangerous thing to do. Besides, my teammates need me, so I will not try to survive on my own.¡±

    Kevin nodded after giving it some thought. He stretched his legs out, then nodded at Su Jin. ¡°Give me a little while more. I should be able to move soon.¡±

    That was the same response Kevin had given him before. Su Jin remembered that clearly. Both his answers and his movements were something that happened just minutes ago. It was as if¡­ this scene was being reyed.

    ¡°Is this¡­ a meme?¡± Su Jin frowned. He was very sure that everything that happened earlier wasn¡¯t a dream. It had felt too real. Adding that to how Kevin had seemingly reyed all his responses, there was only one possibility. The graveyard they were in was beginning to show how dangerous it was.

    A meme in this context referred to a small distortion of the dimension they were in. It was something seenmonly in Challenges, especially those involving the supernatural. Most memes were not able to directly kill owners, but they were able to cause their deaths.

    That was because memes often trapped owners in very specific illusions, like the nightmare that Su Jin just went through. If the owner could not find a way to break the meme, they would be trapped inside forever and go through the same nightmare again and again. And because this distorted dimension was not technically in the same dimension as the Ind of Mistakes, even if Su Jin and Kevin went through this again and again for three days, they wouldn¡¯tplete the Challenge.

    While Su Jin was still hesitating, a white mist had begun to surround them. He knew that even if he stayed here, he wouldn¡¯t be able to tear this meme apart. The way to resolve this was by observing, searching, and experimenting.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We can¡¯t stay here any longer. This ce is a graveyard!¡± Su Jin said to Kevin as he helped Kevin to his feet. But this time, he chose to head west, instead.

    The two men did not walk quickly, and Kevin could sense Su Jin¡¯s cautiousness. He could vaguely sense that Su Jin seemed to be hiding something from him.

    After walking for about ten minutes or so, the white mist around them grew thicker. Just then, Kevin pointed to something behind Su Jin in horror, but Su Jin didn¡¯t duck this time. He turned to face the thing behind him. Just like before, it was a horrifying face that used its hands made from the white mist to strangle Su Jin¡¯s neck.

    The veins on Su Jin¡¯s forehead bulged, but he did not intend to fight back. He was going to observe this vengeful ghost carefully and try to find a way to break the meme.

    But Su Jin¡¯s efforts were futile. Everything went ck as he stopped breathing, while Kevin was dragged into the mist. It was quickly followed by shrieking, then Kevin¡¯s blood sprayed on Su Jin.

    ¡°Woahhh!¡± Su Jin¡¯s body shook violently as the same bright light from before hit him and he returned to the same ce where they were resting. Kevin was still seated next to him like before.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Kevin saw that Su Jin¡¯s eyes were wide and looked unwell, and that prompted him to ask after Su Jin.

    Su Jin shook his head. He shut his eyes and recalled everything he had observed, but could not reach any conclusion. That face had been terrifying and grotesque, but there was nothing significant about it.

    He hadn¡¯t discovered anything that could help with breaking the meme. Just then, Kevin spoke again, ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this ind. What do we do with the rest of the time?¡±

    Su Jin sighed. Going through a rey of events at this rate could really drive one mad. After some thought, he purposely changed his response and said to Kevin, ¡°Uh huh. Do you still need time to rest?¡±

    ¡°That would be best. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve fully regained feeling in my body yet.¡± Kevin smiled apologetically at Su Jin.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t deny him the extra time and just nodded slightly. The two didn¡¯t speak anymore and continued to rest. But after some time, the white mist began swirling around them again. This time, Su Jin didn¡¯t get up and leave. Since he was going to die if he walked away, then what would happen if he just stayed here?

    ¡°Mr. Su, something¡­ something seems strange around here! Don¡¯t you think we should get away from here?¡± Kevin looked around cautiously. He could sense dangering.

    But Su Jin said calmly, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s just some mist.¡±

    ¡°No, there¡¯s a problem with the mist. There¡¯s definitely something wrong about this ce, so we need to go!¡± Kevin was very certain, so he forced himself to stand up and dragged Su Jin away from their rest spot.

    <i>He¡¯s the one who wants to leave this time, so let¡¯s give this a shot</i>, thought Su Jin. He walked out with Kevin, and Kevin chose to walk toward the east where they could move away from both the forested and rocky areas, like Su Jin did the first time.

    They walked for a while and Su Jin remained behind Kevin. Suddenly, Kevin turned to say something to Su Jin, but when he turned around, his expression turned to one of horror.

    Su Jin knew that terrifying face was back. This time, he shut his eyes. Not only did he not turn around, he also refused to look at that face.

    But in no time, Su Jin felt like he was suffocating and losing strength. His eyes flew open instinctively and the veins on his forehead bulged again. About ten secondster, Su Jin stopped breathing again. The ghost flung him to the ground and dragged Kevin into the mist. That was followed by shrieks and spraying of warm blood again.

    Just like the previous two times, Su Jin saw a bright light again after a while. When he awoke this time, he remained calm and quickly inspected his surroundings.

    But he was disappointed yet again. He was still behind the same rock as before and Kevin was still next to him. The cycle had not stopped at all. After dying, he was transported back here to wait for the next cycle.

    ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this ind. What do we do with the rest of the time?¡± Before long, Kevin repeated this line as though he were a machine programmed to do so.

    ¡°Mr. Kevin, could you lend me your watch?¡± Su Jin said to Kevin.

    Kevin didn¡¯t refuse and passed his mechanical watch to Su Jin very nonchntly. Su Jin looked at it and was sure that this watch must cost a ton. Diamonds adorned the watch face and a world renowned brand¡¯s logo was imprinted on it as well, proving its high value.

    Shortly after Su Jin put the watch on, the mist started gathering again. Su Jin immediately looked at the watch. He wanted to calcte how long it took from the mist rising to his death.

    Just like thest time, without Su Jin saying anything, Kevin suggested moving away. Su Jin did not refuse and walked behind Kevin.

    Suddenly, Kevin turned and pointed at something behind Su Jin. Su Jin kept his eye on the watch. Eleven minutes had passed.

    The ghost grabbed hold of Su Jin and strangled him to death. Until he lost consciousnesspletely, Su Jin¡¯s eyes never left the watch.

    He had stopped breathing, but his open eyes could still see the movement of the watch needle. He only lost sight of everything after Kevin died in the mist.

    When he woke up again, he could still remember the time taken for everything to happen. It had taken a total of 12 minutes and 37 seconds. He muttered to himself, ¡°I could still see even after I died. Why?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this ind. What do we do with the rest of the time?¡± Kevin piped up again.

    ¡°Mr. Kevin, could I borrow your watch?¡± Su Jin said to Kevin.

    Kevin nodded without hesitation and passed his watch to Su Jin. After he put it on, he said quietly, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go again.¡±

    The mist rose once more, and Su Jin started calcting the time it took. But this time, besides counting the seconds, he also silently did something else.

 Chapter 294: Cracking The Meme

    <h4>Chapter 294: Cracking The Meme</h4>

    This time, the two men chose to walk toward the forest in the mist. But a journey that should have only taken them a few minutes toplete seemed to have no end in sight. It was as if the mist had extended the distance before them indefinitely.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t surprised by this. This meme couldn¡¯t be cracked so easily, and the space within the meme¡¯s boundary was a distorted dimension, so the direction they chose to walk in didn¡¯t really matter. They were like an ant walking along a Mobius strip. They were never going to get off the strip.

    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± When the watch came to the ten minute mark, Kevin turned around as expected. He had that look of horror and Su Jin felt that incredible strength gripping his neck again.

    Just like thest few times, it took 12 minutes and 37 seconds from the appearing of the mist until Su Jin¡¯s vision waspletely cut off. When he opened his eyes again, he was back at their resting spot.

    He checked himself over and there was a glint in his eye. His guess was possibly correct, but he needed to do a few more experiments to confirm it.

    ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour and we have to survive 72 hours on this ind. What do we do with the rest of the time?¡± It didn¡¯t take long for Kevin to repeat these words.

    ¡°Let¡¯s find a way to gather more people first!¡± said Su Jin with a smile. Since the meme wanted to y, he was going to y along.

    Kevin hesitated, then said to Su Jin, ¡°If¡­ it¡¯s just the two of us, wouldn¡¯t it be easier to get through this Challenge by finding a good ce to hide ourselves?¡±

    Su Jin looked at Kevin and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. This ind is filled with monsters, so it¡¯s impossible for just two people to survive. Besides, did you think the Handbook would allow for such a loophole? If we stay in one ce for too long, I¡¯d argue that doing that is the most dangerous thing to do. Besides, my teammates need me, so I will not try to survive on my own.¡±

    Kevin nodded after giving it some thought. He stretched his legs out, then nodded at Su Jin. ¡°Give me a little while more. I should be able to move soon.¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then asked to borrow Kevin¡¯s watch again. Just like before, Kevin handed his watch over without question and the whole thing happened all over again as the two men walked into the mist. Butpared to before, Su Jin was a lot calmer. He was certain that he could crack this meme.

    ¡°It¡¯sing.¡± Su Jin looked at the watch. The ghost came punctually at the ten minute mark and strangled Su Jin. But this time, Su Jin didn¡¯t care how long it took. He was simply waiting to wake up again.

    When he opened his eyes again, Su Jin took a deep breath. The first thing he did was to ask Kevin for the mechanical watch on his wrist.

    ¡°Mr. Su, how did you know I have a mechanical watch?¡± Kevin was rather surprised.

    ¡°Oh! I noticed it when I carried you just now,¡± Su Jin exined it away simply and took the watch from Kevin even as Kevin looked at him puzzledly.

    ¡°I knew it! So, this isn¡¯t a rey at all. This is simply my imagination.¡± Su Jin had a gleam in his eye. He had figured this meme out now.

    ¡°Mr. Su, what are you talking about? I¡­ I don¡¯t understand.¡± Kevin lookedpletely confused.

    Su Jin nced at Kevin, then smiled calmly and said, ¡°You don¡¯t understand? Really? As a figment of my imagination, I¡¯m sure you know what I¡¯m thinking about.¡±

    ¡°A figment¡­ of your imagination? Mr. Su, have you¡­ gone mad? I¡¯m Kevin, the team leader of Team ck-headed Gull. I¡¯m not some imaginary person!¡± said Kevin sternly. He looked slightly upset now.

    But Su Jin raised an eyebrow and said slowly, ¡°Is that so? Then how do you exin this?¡±

    Su Jin threw the watch to Kevin and Kevin caught it. He took a look at the watch and confirmed there was nothing wrong with it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the watch? It seems perfectly fine to me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem. During thest round, I left a scratch on its surface. But after this round started, it¡­ disappeared,¡± said Su Jin as he kept his eye on Kevin.

    ¡°Thest round? Mr. Su, what in the world are you talking about? I don¡¯t understand at all.¡± Kevin shook his head in frustration.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. ¡°Of course, if you¡¯re not real, then it makes sense. All people and items that aren¡¯t real will be reset when the next round begins, just like your watch.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, you keep saying that I¡¯m a figment of your imagination. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a terrible thing to say? I know best whether I¡¯m real or not and I don¡¯t need you to decide on that!¡± Kevin became even angrier and forced himself to his feet. ¡°I¡¯m very grateful that you saved me, but I don¡¯t think we should continue working together at this rate. If we meet again on this ind, I will certainly find a way to repay your kindness.¡±

    But Su Jin remained calm and steady as he said, ¡°Why are you anxious? Even if you leave now, 12 minutester¡­ oh wait, no, you¡¯re only left with ten minutes. Ten minutester, we will meet each other again right here and you will not remember what happened earlier.¡±

    Kevin frowned, then shook his head. ¡°Mr. Su, I don¡¯t know what happened, but¡­ can¡¯t you exin things to me?¡±

    ¡°You want an exnation? Very well. To put it simply, in your head, we¡¯ve just escaped from the dangerous bees with human hands ande here to rest. But to me¡­ both of us have died several times already. We¡¯re trapped in a meme but you don¡¯t seem to notice it at all.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about whether what you¡¯re saying is true or not for the time being. Let¡¯s say I really don¡¯t remember the things you mentioned. You¡¯re so sure I¡¯m not real?¡± asked Kevin.

    Su Jin nodded without hesitation. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure at first, of course. Until I conducted a small experiment.¡±

    ¡°Your experiment¡­ you mean making a scratch on my watch?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. But before that, I already did an experiment on myself. Take a look at this.¡± Su Jin held part of his sleeve up. There was a hole torn into it.

    ¡°Every time we go through one round of this, I would tear this hole a little bigger. But every time we returned to this ce, it didn¡¯t return to its previous state. So, I used your watch to do the same test, and in the end¡­ it was restored.¡± Su Jin kept his eyes on Kevin and went on, ¡°But that isn¡¯t really surprising. After all, I¡¯m the only one who remembers what happened thest round, while you have no memory of it at all. So, my guess is that you never existed. You¡¯re just an illusion from my memory, so whenever we start the next round, you get retrieved from my memory again and you arepletely unhurt.¡±

    Kevin fell silent for a while, then said, ¡°Everything sounds logical, but¡­ if I¡¯m not real, then where¡¯s the real Kevin?¡±

    ¡°The real Kevin? Ha! There is no real Kevin. Right from the start, I never met you. In fact, I might still be in the same ce where Inded in the forest, or perhaps the forest itself is just my imagination.¡± Su Jin shook his head.

    Kevin broke into a faint but frosty smile. He wasn¡¯t angry anymore and seemed a little curious as he said, ¡°Even if everything you¡¯ve said is true, then¡­ then why me? Out of the 36 owners, why did you end up imagining me of all people?¡±

    Su Jin shrugged. ¡°Simple. Among the 36 owners, besides my own teammates, I only know your name and the name of one more other owner. I¡¯m too familiar with my own teammates, so if the meme uses them to create an illusion, I would eventually notice something amiss. Between the two owners that I know the names of, I know more about you.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Kevin, the team leader of Team ck-headed Gull, you were the most suitable candidate. You came with some information, but there was space for the meme to do what it wanted. It¡¯s too bad¡­ a fake is a fake. There were just too many loopholes.¡±

    Kevin suddenly got up and started pping. He didn¡¯t have any expression on his face as he said calmly, ¡°Not bad, not bad. You were able to notice all of this so quickly, so¡­ there¡¯s nothing more for me to say. You may leave now.¡±

    Immediately after he said that, he turned into wisps of mist and disappeared. The scenery around Su Jin melted away like it was made from snow and revealed what it actually looked like.

    .

    ¡°I was right.¡± Su Jinughed sadly to himself. He hadn¡¯tnded in some forest at all. He hadnded next to arge gravestone. This was where he hadnded right from the start, but the meme here had captured him at once and that was how all of this started.

    Su Jin was d that he got lucky. Just like what the clown had said, this was the Ind of Mistakes. All the monsters and ghosts trapped here were wed to a certain extent, and that was why he had been able to understand and crack this meme so quickly.

    If it were aplete meme, Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he could get past it so quickly. He might have been trapped in it forever.

    He checked his surroundings and realized he was in an open area. Besides thisrge gravestone, there was absolutely nothing else in sight. But that made Su Jin breathe a sigh of relief. If arge number of dangers were gathered here, he would be in trouble.

    He took a rest where he was and left after making sure he wasn¡¯t there for too long. He had just resolved the meme and a new one wouldn¡¯t appear for a while toe, but if he stuck around for too long, something else might happen.

    Su Jin had asked other owners about their experiences before. Hell¡¯s Bar itself was a ce where everyone could exchange their experiences, plus Team Boning Knife had Wu Chen, a very experienced old timer. Based on what he had heard from many other owners, memes did not disappearpletely after it had been resolved. After some time, most of them would reappear, so it was best not to stick around for too long even after resolving one.

 Chapter 295: Individual Battles

    <h4>Chapter 295: Individual Battles</h4>

    On the Ind of Mistakes, Chu Yi¡¯s hands were covered in blood. He kept a hand on his calf because there was a rather serious pierce wound on it.

    ¡°Damn it! I thought that even if my body were restored to what it used to be, I would still be more than capable of fighting. I didn¡¯t expect to run into such a formidable enemy,¡± cursed Chu Yi in his head. He didn¡¯t dare to utter a single sound, because that monster-like man was still hunting him down.

    A few momentster, a man came walking over. He scanned the area with a cruel glint in his eyes and frowned. This prey had been very difficult to catch and was very experienced. Despite injuring his prey¡¯s leg so severely, the prey still managed to get away.

    ¡°Show yourself! I remember that you were one of Su Jin and Kano Mai¡¯s teammates, so I will not let you off. But if you show yourself now, I¡¯ll kill you with one shot. If you continue hiding, however, and I find you, I¡¯ll make yourst moments a living hell,¡± said the man in a calm manner.

    Chu Yi had no idea how this madman was rted to Su Jin and Kano Mai, but he knew that this man was not kidding. If the man found him, he was going to end up in a worse fate than death.

    The man continued lingering around for a few more minutes, then gave up and moved in a different direction. Chu Yi remained in the darkness without moving, and after a few minutes, the man reappeared. Like what Chu Yi had predicted, the man hade back again after a while. If Chu Yi hade out of hiding earlier thinking he was safe, he would be dead meat.

    The man finally gave up on this area for good and ran off quickly. Chu Yi also breathed a huge sigh of relief. He ended up fighting this man because he spotted the man trying to kill another owner. Chu Yi¡¯s first instinct was to try and just stop him from killing the other owner, but to his horror, this man was very stubborn and incredibly formidable. It had only taken him one beam of sword qi to pierce his calf.

    Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t some newbie martial artist without any experience. He used his experience to find a way to shake him off, then created a few red herrings along the way to mislead him, earning him a bit more time to run.

    But this guy was really terrifying. Despite being misled by his clues initially, the man realized he was being misled very quickly and started running toward Chu Yi again. The good part was that Chu Yi had gained sufficient time earlier and had continued to put more misleading clues along the way. That was how he managed to get through this crisis.

    ¡°He¡¯s a grandmaster. He¡¯s definitely a grandmaster. I used to think that my teachers had pretended that such people existed in order to motivate us. I didn¡¯t expect a grandmaster to really exist!¡± Chu Yi tore his sleeve and bandaged his calf. He had used up quite a bit of his blood to make it look like he had escaped in a different direction, but if he continued letting himself bleed like that, he was going to die from the loss of blood even if that madman didn¡¯t catch up with him.

    ¡°Boss! Where are you guys?¡± Chu Yi sighed helplessly.

    Just then, he saw something in the ground in front of him move. This made Chu Yi break into a cold sweat and he grabbed a rock next to him. It was going to be too hard for him to dodge any attacks, since the wound on his calf made it hard for him to move quickly. If his attacker was a dangerous character, trying to run with his injury might kill him even faster, so¡­ he figured it was better to try fighting instead.

    As he grumbled to himself about how unlucky he was, he gripped the rock more tightly. He was going to give whatever came out of the ground the most aggressive attack he could muster the moment it surfaced.

    Just then, the surface of the soil broke open and a muddy figure appeared in front of Chu Yi. He swung his arm hard.

    ¡°Chu Yi!¡± Just then, the figure suddenly called out to him.

    Chu Yi stopped his attack halfway and found this muddy figure rather familiar. When he took a closer look, he realized that this muddy fellow was actually Wu Chen.

    ¡°Uncle Wu! Why¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡± Chu Yi was a bit confused and couldn¡¯t figure out why Wu Chen would have appeared from underground.

    Wu Chen stared at the rock in Chu Yi¡¯s hand and widened his eyes. ¡°Good heavens! I¡¯m so d I yelled your name in time, otherwise you¡¯d end up killing poor ole me.¡±

    Chu Yi threw the rock aside immediately andughed sadly. ¡°You were about to suddenly emerge from underground, so I had to get myself prepared. But why were you underground in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t underground. I merely dug myself a hole and buried myself in it.¡± Wu Chen rolled his eyes.

    ¡°WHAT?! Why did you try to kill yourself?!¡± eximed Chu Yi.

    Wu Chen rolled his eyes again and sighed, ¡°And who said I was trying to kill myself?¡±

    ¡°You buried yourself alive.¡±

    ¡°Does burying myself alive mean I¡¯m definitely going to die? I managed to climb out of the hole by myself in the end, didn¡¯t I?¡± said Wu Chen. ¡°Earlier on, I ran into a mad man who seemed to know Jin and Mai, but this guy refused to stop trying to kill me! Luckily, I have amazing disguise skills. If not, I¡¯d have died at his hands.¡±

    ¡°You ran into him too?¡± Chu Yi was surprised. He was quite sure the man who tried to kill Wu Chen was the same one who came after him as well.

    Wu Chen was surprised. ¡°Too? You mean¡­ you¡­¡±

    Chu Yi showed Wu Chen the wound on his calf and said, ¡°That guy is super vicious. He just kept running after me to kill me. A few monsters tried to block his way and he literally tore those things apart.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Who in the world did Jin and Mai offend?¡± Wu Chen punched the ground, then said, ¡°We can¡¯t stay here any longer. Which direction did he leave in? We¡¯ll go the other way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Chu Yi without hesitation. They supported one another and hobbled off in the opposite direction.

    Meanwhile, Situ Jin had just run out of a haunted house while holding Bo Ya¡¯s hand. The two of them were very lucky to have been sent together to a haunted house. A total of five people had been sent to the same ce, but he and Bo Ya were the only survivors.

    ¡°Thank you, Bo Ya! If you hadn¡¯t solved that riddle just in time, we¡¯d have both died,¡± said Situ Jin as he panted heavily. That haunted house had been terrifying. If it were a Challenge in itself, that would have made for a Level B Challenge involving supernatural beings. And they had been thrown into such a ce without any additional powers or items.

    Bo Ya had been terribly frightened as well and her face was pale. ¡°I was just lucky. Mai and I went through some riddle solving training earlier on. I didn¡¯t think it would turn out useful either.¡±

    Situ Jin immediately responded, ¡°Looks like if we¡¯re able to get out of this ce alive, I¡¯ll make sure to train myself in those areas that seempletely useless on the surface!¡±

    Bo Ya nodded. ¡°What do we do now? Do we look for our teammates?¡±

    ¡°Yep. We¡¯d be safest once we all get together. But before that happens, let¡¯s rest here and recuperate for a while first.¡± Situ Jin looked concernedly at Bo Ya. He began to wonder if he did the right thing by allowing Bo Ya to be an owner back then.

    At the same time, Ye Yun and Kano Mai were fighting against a burly, ck man. Initially, the manunched a sneak attack on Kano Mai, and while getting away, she found Ye Yun, who hadnded nearby. And of course, Ye Yun was going to help her.

    ¡°Watch out, Miss Ye! This man is well versed in all sorts of fighting techniques and he¡¯s very formidable!¡± Kano Mai wiped away the blood on her lips. Without the help of anything from the Handbook, her physique was no match for a man. And it didn¡¯t help that her opponent was a muscr, taller man trained in mixed martial arts.

    The ck man had a disdainful smile on his face as he said to them, ¡°I thought I was only going to get one point, but you¡¯vee with apanion and I¡¯m going to get two points now.¡±

    ¡°I hope I can make this clear to you: fighting among ourselves is meaningless. There aren¡¯t that many of us in the first ce, so even if you kill us and get two points¡­ think about it. How possible will it be for you to get eight more from the remaining numbers?¡±

    ¡°umting points is only meant for reviving anybody who dies in this Challenge. But if we join forces, the chances of all of us surviving will be much higher. You might get two points now, but if you don¡¯t get another eight, then none of your points will be worth anything. I think working together will go a much longer way than trying to get these meagre two points from us,¡± Ye Yun said to the man calmly.

    But the man shook his head immediately and grinned maniacally at her. ¡°umting points? I think you¡¯re mistaken. umting those points is just a bonus to me. What I want is that¡­ exhrating feeling from killing both of you.¡±

    ¡°A psychopath, huh.¡± Ye Yun frowned. If this man was a psycho, then there was no point in talking. She called out to Kano Mai, ¡°Mai, help me to keep him in check! I¡¯ll deal with him!¡±

    Kano Mai was a little stunned. She didn¡¯t know how this small-sized youngdy was going to fight the muscr ck man, but while she was still in a daze, Ye Yun had already charged toward the man.

    The man cackled and said, ¡°You¡¯re very bold, but that¡¯s about it! Killing someone like you makes me even more excited!¡± The man threw a punch toward Ye Yun.

    <i>Oh no</i>, thought Kano Mai. The ck man was very good at fighting and was both very quick and strong. If that punchnded on Ye Yun, she was going to be badly hurt.

    But to both Kano Mai and the ck man¡¯s surprise, Ye Yun moved to the side just in time to dodge the man¡¯s fist, then used her fingertips to jab upward, urately jabbing into the man¡¯s armpit.

    ¡°Ow!¡± yelled the ck man in pain. He angrily tried to raise his arm to tear Ye Yun to pieces only to find that his arm seemed to be broken or something. He couldn¡¯t raise it at all.

    ¡°How on earth¡­¡± eximed the man in shock. At the same time, Ye Yun swung her leg like a whip and kicked the man in the neck.

    Pfft! The man sprayed a mouthful of blood after getting kicked, and was sent flying and rolling like a gourd.

    Kano Mai was too stunned for words. Ye Yun¡­ was amazing.

    The ck man struggled to get up. He stared at Ye Yun in disbelief and muttered, ¡°You¡¯re able to release your internal energy, you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re a martial artist at master level!¡±

    ¡°Oh? You know what a martial artist at master level is? You¡¯re not some dumb gym rat after all! Tell me now, between the two of us, who do you think is the hunter and who is the hunted?¡±

    A look of terror appeared in the man¡¯s eyes. He was very good at fighting, but¡­ he was no match for a martial arts master, unless he regained the powers that the Handbook had given him.

 Chapter 296: Worshippers

    Chapter 296: Worshippers

    Ye Yun was a really good fighter. She was pretty small-sized, but her body seemed to explode with strength. The ck man was not her match at all. When he realized this, he immediately pounced toward Kano Mai. Even if he didnt dare to kill Kano Mai in front of Ye Yun, he could at least take Kano Mai hostage and force Ye Yun to let him go.

    He moved pretty quickly too. He had just been sent flying by Ye Yun, so they were a distance from each other now. So, he figured that if he captured Kano Mai right now, Ye Yun wouldnt be able to stop him in time.

    But just when he was about to grab hold of Kano Mai, he felt a terrible pain in his abdomen. It made his entire body shake before he copsed onto the ground, howling in pain.

    Not too far from him stood Ye Yun in a kicking stance. A wound about the size of a finger in the mans abdomen was bleeding profusely.

    It turned out that Ye Yun had kicked a small stone toward him quickly. Her master level strength turned this stone into a bullet that pierced right through the mans abdomen.

    The ck many on the ground and clutched his abdomen in pain. He was clenching his teeth tightly and things didnt look good for him.

    Ye Yun called out to Kano Mai, Sister Mai, lets go! Lets go look for Brother Su and the rest!

    Kano Mai was still in a daze. Everything had happened too quickly, and she hadnt had the time to even figure out how all of this happened. But she knew that Ye Yun had definitely saved her.

    Ye Yun, youre youre amazing, Kano Mai couldnt help butpliment the younger woman. Before this, everything she knew about Ye Yun hade solely from Su Jins description of her. She had often heard about Ye Yun but did not know everything about her, so she certainly had no idea that even without the powers given by the Handbook, Ye Yun was still such a formidable fighter.

    Ye Yun grinned back. Its nothing! Dont worry, Sister Mai! As long as Im here, I wont let you get hurt.

    Ill be counting on you then, my little sister. Kano Mai felt a little more rxed now. She was relieved to have such a formidable person with her.

    So what do we do about him? asked Kano Mai as she nced at the ck man wailing in pain on the ground.

    Ye Yun frowned and said, The stone I kicked through his abdomen went through his internal organs as well, so even if I dont do anything now, he wont be able tost long.

    Theres a Chinese saying, good begets good and evil begets evil, it will definitely happen, just that sometimes itste. I guess you can say that he got his just desserts. Kano Mai shook her head. It wasmon for owners to turn against each other in Challenges, but it wasnt somon to find someone who killed for fun like this man. Such owners were pretty much an enemy of all owners, so his death was definitely good news to anybody.

    They left him alone and walked away, but shortly after they had left, Ye Yun paused for a moment. She said to Kano Mai, That guys dead. Ive just received one point.

    On the other side, Su Jin had walked away from where the huge gravestone was. He continued to advance carefully, since this Ind of Mistakes was where memes, ghosts and monsters were gathered together. One wrong move could result in his death.

    He was now trying to get to the edge of the ind, which was basically the beach. That was the outer perimeter of the ind and was safer inparison. Or at least, it was an easy destination for other owners to head for. As long as they moved in one direction, they would eventually reach the beach.

    I hope Ye Yun and the rest think of this and get to the beach safely. Su Jin sighed. He was very anxious. It was hard to say how many out of the 36 who hadnded on the ind would eventually survive.

    Su Jin hid himself behind a group of small monsters. These monsters were vicious and dangerous, but they were able to avoid memes and ghosts. If they werent able to, they would have been wiped out by those supernatural beings by now.

    But he didnt dare to follow too closely behind or for too long. Most of the time, once he found a monster, he would make sure it was headed in the same direction as himself, then run faraway to hide. After the monster had left, he would proceed to go through the same path the monster did. His priority was to ensure his safety.

    This time, Su Jin spotted a monster that looked like a qilin, a Chinese mythical beast. This monster looked a lot like a qilin, but it was covered in boils and certainly did not look like the symbol of luck and prosperity that the qilin was supposed to be. It looked more like a dead qilin that was rotting.

    The dead qilin was very vicious. As it made its way forward, any monsters that tried to block its way would be torn to pieces. The path of this beast was essentially covered in the blood of others. But it was also thanks to the dead qilin that Su Jin was able to travel very safely. Nothing came toward him at all.

    Just when Su Jin was ready to keep following this beast, the dead qilin suddenly stopped in its footsteps. It turned to look in Su Jins direction with a start and made a weird noise.

    Su Jin did not think this was a coincidence. The dead qilin must have discovered him, but he didnt know how that could happen, since he maintained a good distance of a few hundred meters all the time.

    Just then, a gentle breeze blew past Su Jins face and he got it immediately. Its the wind. This thing has a very sensitive nose and the wind has blown my smell toward it. Thats how I was discovered.

    He had been discovered, but he didnt dare to move at all. He had watched how this dead qilin had killed those other monsters. This beast moved at a speed that even a cheetah was no match for, never mind Su Jin as a mere human. If he tried to run and the dead qilin came after him, he wouldnt be able to get away at all. If he remained here, he still had a chance.

    The dead qilin approached Su Jin slowly and Su Jins palms were all sweaty already. But just when they were only about 30 meters apart, the dead qilin suddenly stopped moving, then turned and ran at top speed.

    Su Jin did not feel happy at all when that happened. Anything that could make this dead qilin turn and run like that had to be even more dangerous than the dead qilin.

    Su Jin slowly turned around to see a few people quietly standing behind him. They were all dressed in blood red cloaks, and their faces were hidden by their hoods.

    They did not move at all, as if they were just statues. Su Jin could even smell the stench of blooding from them. The stench seemed toe from their red cloaks.

    Su Jin swallowed hard. Since this group could scare the dead qilin, they were definitely a force to be reckoned with. But he was a mere mortal now. What should he do now?

    Just then, one of them suddenly pushed his hood back to reveal a frightening face. He was bald, had wounds all over his face and his eyes glowed red. His mouth was filled with teeth that had not been brushed in ages. The gue stuck between his teeth smelled gross enough for anyone to vomit.

    ROAAR! The man let out an animal-like roar and Su Jin immediately felt dizzy. He tried to keep himself from fainting, but copsed with a thud anyway.

    By the time he woke up, it was nightfall. He found himself tied to a rock. The thing tying him to the rock wasnt a rope, but the intestines of some animal. The bloody intestines went several rounds around him. The smell alone was enough to almost kill him, never mind try to break free.

    A short distance away, those red cloaked men sat around arge cauldron, and something inside the cauldron was struggling and screaming away.

    Su Jin looked more carefully and sweat immediately started rolling down his face. Water was boiling inside that cauldron, and the thing struggling and screaming inside was actually an owner. Su Jin remembered seeing this owner earlier. He didnt know the name of this owner, but he was sure that that was an owner.

    The owner did not scream for too long, because the boiling water had boiled him alive. The owner slowly sank to the bottom of the cauldron and the red cloaked men seemed rather excited. They began to walk round and round the cauldron as they prayed and growled weird chants.

    Cannibals? Or some cult? Su Jin was dismayed. He didnt die at the hands of the meme, but it looked like he was going to end up as food for these guys instead.

    As Su Jin thought, after these men were done with their ritual, they hauled the cooked owner from inside the cauldron and used a knife to cut him into sections. Su Jin could see clearly that the knife used was a boning knife. It was used to carefully slice all the meat off the owners bones.

    It didnt take long for the owner to be left with nothing but bones. The strange men gathered in a circle again and began to enjoy their food.

    As he watched them eat, Su Jin actually started feeling hungry as well. It wasnt because Su Jin was into cannibalism or anything like that, but he hadnded on this ind for some time and used up a lot of energy by this time. He was genuinely hungry.

    After eating for a while, the men started to mumble something to each other. They had taken more than an hour to eat, and once they were done eating, they washed the boning knife with great care and respect, then bowed to it to worship the knife. It was as though the boning knife was some totem to them.

    Su Jin felt that he was probably safe for the time being, unless these guys ate every hour or something. But his happiness was short-lived. Just a few minutester, the men walked toward him and surrounded him.

    Su Jins heart sank. The men just stood around him and did not say anything. They just stood there and stared quietly at him. Su Jin felt like this was some sort of ritual as well.

    Can we uh, talk? said Su Jin. He didnt want to just let these fellows kill him without even trying to do something about his situation.

    You are not a believer you are food. We are acolytes acolytes do not need to talk to food. One of the strange men spoke to Su Jin in a very stilted manner.

    I can convert to your beliefs, said Su Jin with an awkward smile.

    Immediately after he said that, another man grabbed his neck. He held up that same boning knife from before and was about to bring it down toward Su Jin.

    In that moment of crisis, Su Jins eyes lit up. He suddenly called out, My god, Sheeveh!

    After Su Jin made that exmation, the man suddenly put the knife down. He looked puzzledly at Su Jin and the rest exchanged nces.

    These people these people are really her believers! Su Jin grinned to himself. The feeling of having just escaped death made his heart pound wildly.

 Chapter 297: Envoy Of The Goddess

    Chapter 297: Envoy Of The Goddess

    Sheeveh! That was the name of a deity, and a deity whom Su Jin was very familiar with. She was that Demon Lord who was now having her way with Xu Ran in the real world.

    Su Jin had heard the Mad Hatter mention her name before in a conversation. She was a very famous evil deity among the elder gods and had been one of the most powerful deities in her heyday. She had been way more powerful than gods like the Mad Hatter and Pinhio.

    The top deities were very powerful not only because their own bodies carried great power, but because they had enough followers who believed in them. The faith of their followers fed these deities.

    In the Fengxi Town Challenge, the Demon Lord had made an appearance to punish the people of the town who no longer worshipped her. But she had been unlucky and ended up getting trapped in the town, bing a part of a Handbook Challenge instead.

    After the Demon Lord disappeared for a long period of time, the number of her worshippers dwindled as well. While it was true that religion was handled by mortals, signs from the god they worshipped made these believers even more loyal. But after the Demon Lord got herself trapped within a Challenge, the religious organizations that used to worship her were no longer able to continue, so they eventually faded altogether.

    Su Jin was surprised to find her worshippers on this ind. If not for that boning knife and the eye of the Demon Lord carved into it, Su Jin would not have put two and two together.

    The strange men exchanged nces and were clearly shocked that Su Jin had been able to utter the name of their god. After arriving on this dreadful ind, besides themselves, they had never heard anyone mention this noble name.

    Sheeveh, the almighty Demon Lord! The god we both worship! said Su Jin slowly.

    You are a fellow believer? You are a believer in our god? asked the same man from before in an excited voice. He was so excited, his stilted speech actually flowed more smoothly now.

    Su Jin let out a sigh of relief inside. He calmed down and said to them, Thats right. I am a worshipper of your god, a servant of the greatest and most beautiful goddess, Sheevah. Everyone ought to worship her!

    The men were still a little suspicious earlier, but now, they were very sure that Su Jin was a believer of the Demon Lord just like themselves. That was because very few of them, even within the religion, knew that this great Demon Lord was actually a goddess.

    Goddess Sheeveh didnt abandon us! Did she send you here to rescue us? asked one of them excitedly.

    She must have! Its been so many years, weve forgotten who we are. But as her devotees, weve never forgotten the name of the great goddess Sheeveh! howled another one.

    Su Jin didnt dare to burst their bubble and just nodded along. Goddess Sheeveh has escaped her difficult situation and she sensed that there was still a group of believers who were still alive. There are reasons why she cante here herself, so shes sent me here to check if youve really not forgotten your belief.

    All the cloaked men fell to the ground with a thud and kept bowing toward Su Jin when they heard these words. The one who seemed to be their leader cried and wailed, O great goddess! O great envoy! We have never thrown our faith away and we remain her loyal believers, even though we are on this Ind of Mistakes. O great envoy, you are our witness!

    Yes! O great envoy, I have forgotten my own name, but I have never dared to forget the great name of our esteemed goddess!

    Never dare to forget and will never forget! I am willing to use my life to prove my faith! yelled another one fervently as he grabbed the boning knife from another man. He looked like he was ready to kill himself to prove that his faith in the Demon Lord had never changed.

    Thats right, our faith remains the same! We can use our lives to prove it! The rest seemed inspired by the one who wanted to kill himself and started trying to snatch the boning knife for themselves. The few of them started fighting each other before long.

    Su Jin didnt realize how much power a religion could have over their believers. But he also didnt want these people to die just like that, so he yelled at them, Stop this nonsense right now! Did you think the goddess sent me here just to watch all of you die? Did you think the goddess would be so cruel toward her loyal worshippers?

    All of them froze when they heard Su Jin, then formed a row and knelt on the ground, wailing for mercy and crying inconsbly at the same time, as though they were touched beyond words by the goddess grace.

    O great envoy, please tell us, is the great goddess doing well? asked the leader of the group as he looked hopefully and concernedly at Su Jin.

    Su Jin didnt expect these worshippers to be this devout. The first thing that came to their mind was actually concern for that heartless deity.

    Well shes not too good. She was trapped for too long and the number of people who still worship her have gone to almost zero. So, when she sensed your presence, she was very happy and got me toe here. Su Jin started making up stories, since it wasnt possible to verify what he was saying and he could say whatever he liked.

    The cloaked men immediately started weeping again when they heard that the Demon Lord was not doing well. Su Jin immediately piped up, The goddess was hoping that I could bring all of you back, buting here consumed all my energy and I nearly died trying to locate you. And worse still, you guys nearly boiled me alive.

    The group had awkward looks on their faces. It was true that they had nearly boiled and sliced him just now. They quickly turned to apologize to Su Jin. The leader said, We didnt know you were the great goddess envoy, so there was a misunderstanding earlier we hope that you will forgive us, and thank you so much for searching for us despite all the dangers you had to go through.

    Su Jin waved a hand and said with a confident air, Its alright. The goddess gave me the instruction, so I have to do my best to carry it out. Its just that given the current circumstances, its going to be hard for me to take the next step, never mind bring all of you back with me.

    Great envoy, dont worry, on this ind, your safety will not be a problem as long as we are here to protect you. But as for the great goddess we have let her down again. The men started crying all over again, making them seem like a group of innocent children getting bullied by Su Jin.

    You dont have to be like this. Ive lost my strength, but Ivee here with somepanions. As long as we can find them, the goddess can use something that she nted in each of us to carry us back. Well have a way to bring all of you back then, Su Jin continued to spout nonsense.

    The group immediately started shouting excitedly. After they had calmed down again, Su Jin said, Dont you think its time you untied me?

    Oh no! We are sorry for being so slow! The group immediately untied the intestines around Su Jin and helped him to take a seat.

    Gururu Su Jins stomach suddenly let out a strange noise, which made the cloaked men freeze.

    Hurry up and get the remainder of the food from earlier so that the great envoy can eat! Go hunt for more food and dont let him wait too long! the leader quickly realized what noise that was and gave the rest instructions.

    Of course, Su Jin couldnt stomach eating the flesh of the cooked owner from earlier. He waved his hand and said, After going through much tribtion, the goddess has gained new insights and has changed some of her ways. She no longer condones the eating of humans, so as her servant, I cannot go against that.

    We did not know about this and we have gone against the great goddess ways! O great envoy, please punish us for doing so! The entire group fell to their knees and confessed their sins before Su Jin.

    There was no way Su Jin was going to punish them. These people were the best bodyguards he had in this ce. It would be a pity if they were hurt.

    You did it unknowingly, so it will not be counted against you. But dont do it anymore, Su Jin warned the group sternly. After seeing that they merely nodded and didnt do anything else, he frowned and said, Why are all of you just standing there? We are not allowed to eat fellow humans, but it doesnt mean we cant eat anything else! But Im very exhausted, so cook me something in! Do you get what Im saying?

    Got it! Got it! The group nodded vigorously and ran off to hunt, leaving only the leader behind to apany Su Jin.

    There were a total of five people in this group and they looked very androgynous, so Su Jin wasnt quite sure if they were male or female. But that didnt matter. He didnt want to create any unnecessary trouble and just wanted to make use of their abilities to survive this ce.

    By the way, the goddess was able to sense your groups presence, but she couldnt identify who you guys were exactly. Can you tell me more about yourselves? Su Jin was very curious about who these people were. Based on what the clown had said about the Ind of Mistakes, this ind imprisoned anything that was considered a mistake, a source of chaos or deemed unsuitable for Challenges. The fact that these guys were trapped here meant that they were someone significant.

    But Su Jins question stumped the man. After pondering for some time, he shook his head and said, Im really sorry but I really dont remember anymore. Its been too long and there are times we dont even remember that were human. If we didnt have the power of our faith to keep us going, Im afraid we would have be no better than wild beasts.

    You really dont remember anything at all? Su Jin continued to ask.

    The man thought for a while more, frowned, then stopped frowning. He said hesitantly, I cant really remember that much, but I remember I Ive met the great goddess before. She knighted me and I was called First Generation.

    In that case, the rest of them are Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Generation? Su Jin couldnt help but make a snarky remark, since these terms reminded him of Naruto.

    As they spoke, the other four returned with food. Su Jin immediately froze when he saw what they had brought back. These guys were a little too enthusiastic. Each one brought a gigantic monster back as well as enough corn to make a hill. Su Jin could hardly believe what he was seeing.

 Chapter 298: One Tiger One Man One Bow

    Chapter 298: One Tiger One Man One Bow

    Su Jin now realized the full extent of these worshippers abilities. If he still had his old powers, he would be able to defeat them in a fight. But besides himself, probably only Chu Yi might hold up in a fight with these people. The rest of his team members were probably going to lose even if they fought them one on one.

    As for the food they brought back, Su Jin wasnt going to let it go to waste. Given that he had an ordinary body now, he was going to have a lot of issues if he didnt eat for three days in a row. He wouldnt starve to death, but he would definitely be very weak. If he ran into danger at that point, he wouldnt be able to defend himself at all.

    Thankfully, these monsters actually tasted pretty good. Once they were cooked, they tasted no different from pork and beef.

    After he was done drinking and eating, he got the five of them to apany him on his journey. These worshippers treated Su Jin as a real envoy of their god and believed everything he said.

    Before getting trapped on this ind, these guys were probably very important people. The leader said that the Demon Lord had knighted him before, so that was probably some ceremony to ordain him or something. He was some very high ranking person in the order, thought Su Jin.

    His target destination was still the beach. This time, he had five people who could make even a monster like the dead qilin turn around and run, so he was in much safer hands now. But even so, he dared not be careless.

    Do you guys know this ind well? asked Su Jin.

    The leader replied, Nobody can know this ind well, because it keeps changing.

    It keeps changing? What do you mean? asked Su Jin immediately. He felt like there was very important information he needed to know.

    The leader was honest and said, Because strange monsters or dangerous items are constantly being sent here. If the inds area was fixed, the ind would reach a point where it bes too full. But this ind is an ind that can grow.

    An ind that can grow? Su Jin blinked for a moment, then realized what the leader was saying. You mean, every time new monsters or dangerous items get sent here, the ind would grow an area specially to house them?

    That is correct. Almost everything on this ind is dangerous and unstable. If all of us were to be mixed together, we would end up destroying each other. And if the most powerful ones fight, the entire ind will sink. Luckily, most stay within their own zone, so weve been able to survive safely until now, exined the leader.

    Su Jins heart pounded with fear. Those with the power to destroy an entire ind had to be on par with gods like the Demon Lord. He asked again, The most powerful ones? Who who are they?

    We dont know either, but I know three of them. One tiger, one man, one bow, piped up another worshipper.

    One tiger, one man, one bow? What does that mean? asked Su Jin.

    One tiger refers to a monster that resembles a tiger. He calls himself the god of beasts and hes very formidable, so even we shudder in front of him. But he respects boundaries and we will not get attacked as long as we dont enter his territory.

    One man refers to the owner of Clomo Asylum, who looks like a clown. Hes also very formidable. Weve witnessed how someone as formidable as a deity got sent to this ind and started making trouble from his very first day here. He had killed off nearly half the living creatures on this ind, yet the clown had managed to subdue him. After that, the mans screaming could be hearding out from Clomo Asylum from time to time, and that went on for a good 300 years.

    The clown! Su Jins eye twitched a little. He could guess who this clown was. But never in their wildest dreams would these worshippers realize that the clown wasnt someone sent to this ind and trapped here. That clown was someone who called the shots around here.

    As for one bow, thats referring to Chimimoryo! A look of fear shed in the worshippers eyes. He seemed very afraid of this bow.

    Chimimoryo? Is that the name of the bow? asked Su Jin. The term chimimoryo was a generic term referring to all sorts of ghosts, ghouls, demons, and other evil monsters. It seemed strange that a bow would be called by this name.

    Thats a bow that eats ghosts. There are many ghosts wandering about the ind, but any that run into Chimimoryo will be swallowed up immediately. A formidable one coveted Chimimoryos power and tried to subdue it, but the moment it came close, Chimimoryo unleashed a lot of monsters on it and swallowed it entirely. Apparently, even the clown of Clomo Asylum dares not go near it, said the leader.

    Su Jin nodded. This was something that even the manifestation of the Handbook dared not go near. He was really curious about what this thing could be.

    But you dont have to worry. The ind hasnt gone through any changes for a long time since thest one, so we are familiar with the territories of the ind. At the very least, we wont have trouble avoiding that tiger, man, and bow, the leader consoled Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded to express his gratitude, then continued walking with the five of them. He was hoping to get to the beach as quickly as possible. He might find members of his team there.

    The sky over the ind had no sun, but the difference between day and night was clear. Once it was night time, the sky would grow dark.

    The worshippers worked together to kill a monster that resembled a mammoth. That monster was enormous, yet it moved at an astonishing speed. Also, it gave off a yellow beam of light that fossilized anything it hit, but the formidable five worshippers were still able to kill it. However, even after defeating the monster, they still had looks of dismay on their faces, which puzzled Su Jin.

    You guys seem to have noticed something? asked Su Jin.

    The five of them exchanged nces, then the leader bowed slightly and said, O great envoy, we seem we seem to have moved away from the path we were originally on.

    Huh? Su Jins eyes widened. How? Arent you guys very familiar with the ind?

    Were very familiar with the ind before it changed, and based on the current situation, it looks like the ind changed again not too long ago. We dont know why either. The five of them shook their heads helplessly.

    But Su Jins heart skipped a beat in horror. Is it because we came to the ind? 36 of us came together, so based on the way this ind works, it grew 36 new territories?

    36 people?! All five of them were shocked. The leader said, Great envoy, if that is true, then Im afraid the ind is definitely no longer the way we remember it to be. Our experience is now useless.

    Su Jin cursed inwardly, then shook his head. Thats not your fault. I didnt expect things to turn out this way either.

    The Ind of Mistakes would always grow new territories when something new was sent to the ind, but Su Jin thought that since they had been sent here as owners for a Challenge, they wouldnt trigger this change. But he was clearly mistaken. The ind did not differentiate between actual mistakes and owners. As long as something new arrived, it would expand itself.

    But one thing is for sure  as long as we keep going in one direction, we will definitely reach the beach, said one of them confidently.

    Su Jin nodded as well. But while that worked in theory, just walking without knowing what was ahead was dangerous. If they ran into monsters, they could turn back or run. But if they walked into the territory of a meme or ghosts, then while the five of them were probably strong enough to fight those off, he was probably going to end up dead first.

    While Su Jin was still thinking, a ck beam suddenly came shooting toward them and hit the mammoth that the five of them were slicing up. While they were still reeling in shock, a distorted silver glow was sucked out from the mammoths head.

    Thats the mammoths consciousness! Su Jin was shocked. The ck beam had sucked out the monsters consciousness. Had they run into a monster that targeted the souls and consciousness of others?

    Its its Chimimoryo! eximed the leader as he took several steps backward.

    Su Jins eyes widened as he looked in the same direction as the leader. About 100 steps away, a uniquely designed longbow was suspended in the air. The ck beam had extended from its body and it was taking the silver glow back to itself.

    The silver glow was struggling like crazy, but that did nothing to help its situation. When the silver glow came near to the bow, ripples appeared on the bow, making it look like a mouth that swallowed the silver glow.

    The bow remained in the air for a few moments, as though it was enjoying its meal. Then it suddenly shot into the distance and disappeared.

    Phew! Su Jin was relieved, and so were his fivepanions. The group of five could be seen as beings at the top of the food chain, but this food chain certainly did not include terrifying things like Chimimoryo.

    Im so d Chimimoryo isnt interested in the living, said the leader.

    But Su Jin was still puzzled by this whole thing. Psychokinesis was his Spirit Power, and even though he couldnt use it now, he had a greater understanding of itpared to others.

    Psychokinesis was the use of ones psyche, an energy that came from ones psyche. Having a psyche meant being alive. Once a living creature died, its psyche would split into two. One would be the physical aspect, which would disappear with the death of the body. The other was the spiritual aspect, or the soul.

    The soul and the mind existed together, but it was not the same. The mind helped the soul to think, so once it was gone, the soul would be unable to process thought, which was how we got wandering ghosts.

 Chapter 299: Clomo Asylum

    Chapter 299: Clomo Asylum

    In general, once a living creature died, its psyche would disappear very quickly. Tracy from the Dark Council had a way to absorb the psyche of other living things in order to strengthen her own, but to experts in the way the psyche worked like Su Jin and Xu Ran, doing so would actually get her killed.

    The psyche seemed fragile, but it was actually extremely resilient. A body with a powerful psyche could even do something that could go beyond the bodys physical limits.

    So, by absorbing the psyche of other living things, Tracy was just gathering the energy from their minds to use as her own, but she did not integrate them into her own. As someone with psychokinesis, she possessed relevant skills to control her psyche and hers were quite strong, so everything looked fine for now.

    But if one day, Tracy absorbed enough psyches, so much that it exceeded her own, she would discover that she could no longer control the energies she had absorbed previously. Once that happened, she was going to die a terrible death. If her psyche were to be attacked by a hundred or a thousand other psyches, then she was going to suffer a fate worse than death.

    Chimimoryo, on the other hand, was different from Tracy. The psyches that Tracy absorbed came from ordinary life forms which did not have very strong psyches in the first ce, while Chimimoryo was absorbing the psyches of formidable creatures on the Ind of Mistakes. Even just one such psyche was going to be way more powerful than all the psyches that Tracy had absorbed.

    But Chimimoryo couldnt be absorbing these psyches for the sake of gaining strength like Tracy was. Su Jin didnt think a longbow could possibly have psychokinesis either. So what was it trying to do?

    Is it trying to evolve itself into a different life form? Su Jin narrowed his eyes. He felt that Chimimoryo was finding a way to evolve, to go from being a bow to bing an actual living thing.

    Su Jin stopped thinking about Chimimoryo for the moment and kept moving with the five worshippers. But they were moving much slower than before. The worshippers could not predict what sort of other changes the ind had gone through, so danger and death could hit them at any time. But Su Jin was already considered lucky to have these five bodyguards by his side. The other owners on the ind were terrified and helplesspared to him.

    Chu Yi and Wu Chen supported one another as they moved along. Wu Chen picked some herbs, crushed them, then smeared the crushed herbs on Chu Yis calf. It helped his wound to recover significantly in a short time.

    Uncle Wu, you you know Chinese medicine? Chu Yi scratched his head. He was a martial artist, and because martial artists often got hurt, they knew some herbs that were helpful for recovering from injuries. In fact, many of those who owned medicinal halls supplying such herbs were martial artists themselves. But Chu Yi realized that he didnt recognize any of the herbs that Wu Chen had picked.

    You dont know anything! Im trained in potion making. Did you think you could get ordinary herbs used in Chinese medicine from this ind?! Only magical ones exist here, like this grass here. If you eat this one, you will be groggy. And if you eat enough of it, youd be delirious. Wu Chen red impatiently at Chu Yi.

    Potions? Thats thats from Harry Potter, isnt it? You mean that stuff really exists? Chu Yis eyes lit up. As a young man, he loved watching movies and he had definitely watched famous ones like Harry Potter.

    Its simr, but not rted. Im not trying to brag here, but among all the owners who are familiar with potions, besides Miss Sophia whos known as the Master of Potions

    Youre the only other person who knows?! Chu Yi finished the sentence for him excitedly.

    But Wu Chen rolled his eyes again as he said slowly, there is no one else!

    Wait, what?! Then what about you? Chu Yi was confused.

    I didnt say I was familiar with potions! I learned some from a previous Challenge but didntplete the course. If you werent so severely injured, I wouldnt have put my skills to the test, said Wu Chen matter-of-factly.

    Chu Yi was bbergasted and said with a sigh of relief, Im d this stuff isnt like western medicine, where you could kill someone if you inject them with the wrong thing.

    Actually this stuff is even worse. If Id used the wrong thing, Id be helping to saw your leg off by now, said Wu Chen with augh.

    Uncle Wu, promise me something!

    What?

    If I get injured again, just just leave me behind! I wont me you for it!

    The two of them looked like they were not taking this Challenge seriously, but that was really just their way of trying to relieve their fears. They had lost their former powers and could die at any moment. The fear they felt now was actually even more acute than when they went through their very first Challenge.

    As they hobbled along, they suddenly spotted a hospital. They froze and Chu Yi shuddered. He said to Wu Chen, Uncle Wu, Im not so badly injured that I need the hospital. How about we walk around it?

    I agree, said Wu Chen immediately as he helped Chu Yi to turn around and walk the other way. But after they turned around, they found themselves facing a number of nurses.

    Gulp! Chu Yi swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The nurses standing in front of him had curvaceous bodies, but their faces were terrifying. Arge mouth grew from the middle of their faces, and their mouths were filled with sharp teeth. They had one beady, ck eye on either side of the mouth.

    What the hell? This is the first time I find uniform fetishes terrifying, cursed Wu Chen. They took a small step backward slowly, hoping they could escape. But once their feet moved backward, the nurses would move a little forward.

    Uncle, lets run! Chu Yi suddenly yelled. Before he could even take the first step, he felt something tighten around his legs and he fell onto the ground. The same thing happened to Wu Chen. Chu Yi saw that Wu Chens legs were bound by a bandage and that bandage was wrapping itself higher and higher up the body. Chu Yi was certain the same thing was happening to himself.

    Once they were fully wrapped in the bandage, the monster nurses grabbed hold of one end and dragged them into the hospital. As they passed through the entrance of the hospital, therge words Clomo Asylum flickered mysteriously above the entrance.

    The two of them were wrapped like a pair of dumplings and dragged along like they were tied up in gunnysacks, so they lost consciousness after a short while. By the time they regained consciousness, they felt something moving on their bodies.

    Chu Yi was a martial artist after all, so he leaped up like a fish jumping out of the water, then fell from an elevated position, which caused the bandages around him to split open.

    He struggled to tear the bandage apart, and once he had done that, he started panting heavily. These bandages were almost airtight and all that movement had left him pretty breathless. By the time he caught his breath again, he was stunned by what he was seeing.

    Chu Yis eyes widened. Before him were all sorts of monsters, vampires, werewolves, bugs, aliens that resembled ET, goris with dog heads  they were all staring straight at him.

    UNGHH! The other bandaged dumplings started making a lot of noise and Chu Yi remembered that Wu Chen was still all bandaged up. He ignored the stares from the monsters and set Wu Chen free in no time. Once he was free of the bandages, Wu Chens expression was just as shocked and terrified as Chu Yis.

    Do you think you could wrap me back in there? Wu Chenughed nervously. In Chinese, dragonirs and tiger dens were considered dangerous ces. But this ce was probably even more dangerous than those.

    Strangely enough, the monsters didnt seem interested in attacking them at all. Their eyes were zed over and they looked like they were in a constant daze, as though they were wooden puppets.

    Uncle Wu, dont you think their clothes look familiar? A thought hit Chu Yi as he tugged at Wu Chen to make him look at the clothes that these monsters were wearing.

    Wu Chen nodded slightly. Of course these clothes were familiar. A clown in the same clothes was the one who had thrown them onto this ind.

    Do you think that clown has something to do with them? asked Chu Yi.

    Wu Chen shook his head, since he had no idea. He whispered, I dont know, but the most urgent thing at hand is to think of a way to get out of here.

    Chu Yi nodded vigorously in agreement. The two of them quickly ducked and moved away from the monsters, but the monsters didnt react to their movement at all and just sat where they were without moving.

    Uncle Wu, they look like patients in a psychiatric ward whove been administered tranquilizers. I had an uncle who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and he always looked like that, Chu Yi said to Wu Chen.

    Never mind that! said Wu Chen.

    Just when the two of them were about to leave the ward, a giant monster suddenly shook violently. He let out an angry roar and swung his arms.

    Chu Yi and Wu Chen happened to be within his attacking range, so they quickly dropped to the floor and managed to dodge the monsters arms. Every other patient within range was sent flying, but after they crashed onto the floor again, they continued to sit there like wooden puppets and didnt get up to fight back at all.

    Wu Chen and Chu Yi were d that they had reacted fast enough. Just then, the door to the room suddenly opened and three monster nurses walked in. Two of them grabbed hold of one arm each.

    The giant monster was furious and struggled in protest, but after the two much smaller nurses caught hold of his arms, he couldnt break free from their grip at all. The third nurse then injected him with a ck liquid.

    After injecting him with the ck liquid, they did not leave, but started scanning the other patients in the ward. A fox with many tails suddenly flew up in hope of escaping through the open ward door, but a nurse moved faster than the fox and caught him. She proceeded to inject him with that ck liquid even as he looked on in horror, and he slowly started behaving like a wooden puppet again.

    The three of them then looked toward a stone tform, which was where they had left Wu Chen and Chu Yi. The two of them started getting nervous. If the nurses spotted them, they wouldnt be able to get away and that ck liquid would be injected into their bodies as well.

    Chu Yi, lets try this out. Eat this! Wu Chen hissed at Chu Yi.

 Chapter 300: Unexpected

    Chapter 300: Unexpected

    Chu Yi took one look at the nt in Wu Chens hands and grabbed it without hesitation. That was the one that Wu Chen said would make one groggy. He chewed it a few times, then swallowed it. He immediately started feeling dizzy, as though he were drunk. He could see the monster nurses walking toward him, but he couldnt find the will to run away from them.

    Thankfully, the nurses just stared at him for a few minutes, then walked away, as though they had concluded that both Chu Yi and Wu Chen had already taken the medicine.

    About ten minutester, Chu Yi and Wu Chen regained normalcy. Chu Yi clutched his head in pain. He could think properly now, but his head hurt terribly. This was even worse than a hangover.

    Uncle Wu, this stuff is really strong, Chu Yiined to Wu Chen.

    But Wu Chen was also clutching his own head while leaning weakly against the wall. Its a bit too strong damn it, my head feels like its about to explode.

    The two of them rested for a while and their heads didnt hurt that much anymore. They now had the energy to discuss how to get out of here. Fighting their way out of here was not going to work, since these nurses were so formidable. Even if they had the same powers as before, they werent confident that they could fight their way out either.

    If only Boss were here. Hes the one who would tackle all these intellectual problems. Chu Yi really missed Su Jin now.

    When youve got someone to rely on, rely on that person. But when theres nobody to rely on, youve got to rely on yourself. If you dont think of a way out yourself, then what are you going to do? Wu Chen red at Chu Yi, then whispered, Ive gone through dozens of Challenges and survived, and I didnt just get lucky, okay? I dont think this Ind of Mistakes is going to be enough to kill me.

    Wow, you sound like youre really reliable. Ill be counting on you then! But I think youd better not speak too confidently, in case you have to eat your wordster said Chu Yi even as he gave Wu Chen an encouraging thumbs up.

    Wu Chen pped his forehead. Of all the people to run into, he had to work with the least reliable member of the team.

    What do we do now? asked Chu Yi.

    Wu Chen paused to think, then said, This ce is simply too creepy. The patients here are clearly residents of the ind, and many of them are formidable characters. A few monster nurses cant possibly hold all of them down. There must be someone even more powerful keeping them in check.

    So lets make a little chaos! Wu Chens eyes lit up. It was too hard to run out of the door just like that, so they had to create a mess and sneak out through the mess.

    Youre hoping to get away in the mess? Chu Yi wasnt stupid and immediately understood what Wu Chen was trying to do.

    Wu Chen nodded. Chu Yi said, But how do we do that?

    Just like I told you earlier, Im a master of potions! Potion ingredients dont just refer to nts  parts of various monsters can be used to make potions too, said Wu Chen with a smug smile.

    He looked at the monsters in the ward. Some of them would definitely be considered a game boss in a Challenge, and it was very hard to get their body parts. You might not get your hands on them from anyone in Hells Bar even if you had the money. But now they were all in a defenseless daze, so he could take whatever parts he wanted easily.

    Wu Chen instructed Chu Yi to start searching for the parts he needed. He needed the fangs of vampires, the ws of werewolves, the wings of demonic bugs, the bandages of mummies and so on Before this, Wu Chen never even got the chance to get hold of these ingredients. But now, he could just take whatever he wanted.

    After gathering a whole pile of stuff, Wu Chens eyes shone as bright as the stars. He rubbed his palms greedily and said, I can finally let my amazing potion skills shine! Chu Yi, watch the door for me. Dont let those monster nurses disturb my potion making.

    Got it. Chu Yi gave Wu Chen a thumbs up.

    Wu Chen got really excited. The Handbook had prevented the owners from essing their additional skills, weapons, and other tools, but there were some skills that it could not take away from the owners. Potion making was like chemistry in the real world. As long as the things on this ind worked the same way as everything else in the Handbooks universe, then he was going to get something out of these ingredients.

    He used blood to draw a magic circle, then ced the ingredients inside in a particr order. Potion making did not require the maker to have any special powers. The powers came from the ingredients themselves.

    The magic circle glimmered faintly for a few seconds before fading. A few pills the size of green beans were left behind in the magic circle.

    I got it! Wu Chen became even more excited. He didnt think that things would go so smoothly. He didnt stop there and continued turning the rest of the ingredients into the magic pills he wanted.

    After more than an hour, Wu Chen had finally finished turning all the ingredients into pills. He sorted the hundreds of pills into different bags.

    Chu Yi,e over here! He called Chu Yi over, then passed him a few bags, saying, Remember which is which carefully. There are three types of pills here. One is a super strength pill, one is a void pill, and thest one is a berserk pill. Super strength pills can increase ones strength greatly, void pills can help us to temporarily enter a different dimension, and the berserk pills make one go crazy.

    Theyre all for me? asked Chu Yi.

    The void pill is for you. The berserk pills and super strength pills are meant for the monsters in the ward. When they start going crazy, well take the void pills and seize the chance to run for it, understand? exined Wu Chen patiently.

    Chu Yis eyes lit up and he said admiringly, Gosh, I was right to rely on you! But if we have void pills, then why do we have to escape in the chaos? Why cant we just walk right out?

    If I could do that, I would have! But the effect of these void pills can onlyst 30 seconds and Im only able to make two of them. Thats not enough for us to just saunter out! So, we still have to create a ruckus here, said Wu Chen.

    Got it! Chu Yi nodded. He then followed Wu Chens instructions to stuff the berserk pills and super strength pills into the mouths of the monsters, then hid in a corner to wait for the pills to take effect. It was better to be careful, since a punch from any of these monsters after they had gone berserk could send them flying through the clouds.

    A few minutester, the pills started taking effect. The dazed monsters suddenly started bing restless and some of them started attacking the door. The monster nurses clearly took notice and they opened the door with the intention of reverting these monsters to their previous groggy state.

    But to their surprise, not just one monster was being violent. The entire ward had gone insane. And just like what Wu Chen guessed earlier, these monster nurses werent able to take on so many monsters at a time, so they were torn to shreds almost immediately.

    The monsters dashed out of the ward and Wu Chen motioned to Chu Yi to follow them. As they trailed behind the monsters and left the ward, they realized that this ward was only a very small one in the entire hospital. There were dozens of simr wards and all of them housed a group of equally formidable monsters.

    Oh my god! Who in the world built this hospital? These monsters if theybined forces, theyd be powerful enough to kill a deity, I think! remarked Wu Chen in shock. Some of the monsters he spotted were some of his greatest nightmares. He had run into them during Challenges, and they had been so powerful back then. But now, they were all trapped inside a small room like a pet of sorts.

    Uncle Wu? I think Ive got the answer to your question. Chu Yi tugged on Wu Chens sleeve as he stared in disbelief at the entrance of the hospital. A clown in a straitjacket was grinning menacingly at the monsters trying to flee.

    Damn it, Wu Chen cursed under his breath. Even though he and Chu Yi had noticed that the clothes on the monsters here were simr to the clown, they didnt think that the clown was the owner of this ce.

    The clown strolled further into the hospital. The monsters had gone berserk, but even then, they were still terrified of the clown. They moved backward and didnt dare to fight the clown.

    What a troublesome bunch. The clown shook his head with displeasure and flicked his finger gently at one of them. That monster instantly exploded, leaving flesh and blood everywhere.

    Wu Chen and Chu Yi shuddered at the sight. The hope they had earlier turned into despair.

    Chu Yi, take this. Wu Chen stuffed a pill into Chu Yis hands. This is my void pill. Taking two pills will increase the effects duration to one minute, which will be enough for you to escape.

    What about you? asked Chu Yi.

    Wu Chen shook his head. You go first. At most, Ill just return to the ward. Ive got an infinite amount of ingredients here, so I can always just take some time to make more pills. Ill be fine.

    His words made sense to Chu Yi, so he patted Wu Chens shoulder and said, Ill wait for you outside!

    Got it. Wu Chen gave Chu Yi a thumbs up, just like how Chu Yi always did. Meanwhile, the clown was slowly walking in their direction. Wu Chen said to Chu Yi, Leave now!

    Chu Yi immediately consumed one void pill. His body shook violently and disappeared, as though had been transported to a different dimension.

    He carefully avoided the clown and walked toward the entrance of the hospital. The clown did not notice his existence and continued ying the monsters.

    When Chu Yi was about to reach the entrance, he saw that the clown had killed all the monsters that had run out from the ward. Wu Chen was the only one left.

    <em>Why didnt he return to the ward?</em> Chu Yi was surprised. But when he looked carefully, he realized that the door to the ward had been shut fast. Wu Chen couldnt go back in at all.

    The clown looked at Wu Chen and smiled. I remember you. Youre a member of Team Boning Knife!

    Haha since we know each other, do you think we could

    BOOM! Before Wu Chen could finish his sentence, the clown flicked a finger at him. Wu Chen exploded and his blood and flesh flew everywhere.

    Chu Yi couldnt believe his eyes. He couldnt believe that the confident Wu Chen had died just like that.

 Chapter 301: The Hunter And The Hunted

    Chapter 301: The Hunter And The Hunted

    Chu Yi felt like his heart had just been crushed. He didnt expect Wu Chen to die just like that. Wu Chen had been so confident just moments ago. But the clown was the Handbook in human form after all. Wu Chen didnt even get the chance to speak and was blown to pieces.

    The thought of taking revenge didnt cross Chu Yis mind at all. The difference in prowess between himself and the clown was way too great. If he tried to take revenge, he wouldnt be considered a loyal friend or a brave person. Hed be considered a fool for basically walking into a death trap.

    Chu Yi gnashed his teeth. He swallowed the second pill and ran quickly toward the entrance of the hospital. Hisrade had died, but he had to keep living.

    But immediately after Chu Yi stepped out of the hospital, he couldnt help but shudder. He turned back to see the clown giving him a very strange smile.

    He didnt dare to think too much about it and ran as fast as he could. The clown didnt chase after him, turning back to walk leisurely around the hospital as though nothing had happened.

    Meanwhile, in a different part of the ind, Situ Jin was vomiting like crazy, while Bo Ya was punching him in the stomach with a pained look on her face. The consecutive punches made Situ Jin puke so hard, he was beginning to puke bile, but Bo Ya didnt stop.

    Jin! Bo Ya looked like she really didnt want to keep punching him, but Situ Jin motioned to her to continue.

    Bo Ya had no choice but to punch him even harder, and Situ Jin finally spat a ck object out. Immediately after it flew out of his mouth, Situ Jin and Bo Ya leaped back as though they had been electrocuted. After the ck objectnded, it spun around and came flying toward Situ Jin again.

    Thankfully, Bo Ya reacted quickly enough. She grabbed hold of a tree branch and whacked it aside. The ck object seemed to have lost all its energy after itnded. They were able to take a closer look at it now. It was actually a bug of sorts that looked like a tadpole, except with a huge mouth filled with sharp teeth.

    The half-dead bug writhed a few times, and the water in its body dried up rapidly. It took only a few seconds for it to turn into an empty shell that was no longer a threat.

    Cough! Cough! Situ Jin was pale and looked weak. Even though his body was quite strong, he had just gone through a good beating, so he felt like he was about to copse. He squatted down and looked like he was about to die.

    Jin! Are you alright? asked Bo Ya worriedly.

    Situ Jin waved his hand and said to Bo Ya with a tired smile, Bo Ya, Im so d you go to the gym regrly. Otherwise I really wouldnt have been able to get this bug out of me.

    Bo Yas face was all red. She felt a little embarrassed to be capable of such violence despite being a woman.

    But Situ Jin wasplimenting her sincerely. He exhaled deeply and felt much better. He and Bo Ya had been very thirsty and hungry earlier, so they were looking around for some edible fruit. Most importantly, he noticed another creature eating this fruit.

    To his horror, after he had already taken a bite, that creature howled in pain and died in no time. A bug like the one that flew out of him came crawling out from the creatures mouth, which horrified Situ Jin. That was why he immediately told Bo Ya to punch his stomach repeatedly.

    The Ind of Mistakes is really filled with dangers! Situ Jin sighed as he shook his head. He was so d that he managed to spit that thing out. Nobody expected a fruit to turn into a bug in their stomach.

    Im really hungry now though Bo Ya felt a little bad bringing this up now, but she was really hungry. It had been nearly a day since they had arrived on this ind, and they were on high alert at all times. That really took its toll on the body.

    Situ Jin nodded. He walked over to the dead creature and cut a bit of its flesh off. The two of them had picked up some knives while going through the haunted house and they could be put to good use now.

    Starting a fire wasnt a problem. There were plenty of ways to start a fire in the wild. Situ Jin piled up some dried-up nts, then started a fire with a flint before setting up a barbeque.

    Bo Ya was initially a little revolted by the creatures flesh, because the creature looked really gross. It looked like a collection of tumors. But she wasnt someone who couldnt adapt. She was already fortunate that there was something to eat on this ursed ind.

    Even though the flesh of the creature looked really weird, it was actually quite delicious. The two of them quickly forgot what the creature originally looked like and continued eating it inrge chunks in order to restore their energy levels to their maximum.

    After a short rest, Bo Ya said to Situ Jin, Will everyone really head for the beach?

    Im sure of it. Under such circumstances, if everyone wants to gather together, theres no other way. The beach will be the only choice. Su Jin would definitely think of it, Mai and Ye Yun are both clever women, and you definitely wont have to worry about Wu Chen. The only one who might not go along with this logic would be Chu Yi. Situ Jin sighed as he talked about Chu Yi.

    Ive not had much interaction with Chu Yi, but Su Jin says that hes the strongest in the team besides himself. Is he stronger than you? asked Bo Ya curiously. She was certain that Su Jin was, without a doubt, the strongest in the team. But Situ Jin was strong too  could he really be weaker than Chu Yi?

    Situ Jin nodded without hesitation. He recalled how Chu Yi had beaten him to a pulp while they trained in the Team Hell Domain and still felt a little traumatized from it. But he had to admit that Chu Yi was truly very strong. Even Su Jin had said so before when it came to martial arts and physical fights, Chu Yi was definitely the best in the team.

    Chu Yi doesnt use weapons and doesnt need equipment because hes been honing his martial arts skills all this time. Such a person might not be very useful in a lot of circumstances, but when ites to just fighting with his bare hands and body, hed be way more terrifying than anybody else, said Situ Jin.

    Then you dont have to worry about him anymore. Such a person wouldnt die so easily, said Bo Ya with a chuckle. Situ Jin realized that Bo Ya was actually trying tofort him.

    He was about to say something when he suddenly heard a noise. He immediately leaped up and narrowed his eyes as he scanned his surroundings.

    Bam! Before he could find his target, a roughly made wooden boomerang came flying toward him. But he was very focused, so he moved slightly to the side and managed to catch hold of the boomerang.

    Then, five figures appeared from five different directions. Bo Ya immediately moved closer to Situ Jin and they stood with their backs facing each other.

    The five people did not immediatelyunch an attack and just surrounded the couple. Situ Jin then realized that these five people werent strange creatures of thend. They were owners who had been sent to this ind like themselves.

    Whats going on? asked Situ Jin in a frosty voice.

    Is it very difficult to understand? We want points and there are two of you here! The leader of the group had long, wavy hair, and the knife wound on his face looked like a fairly recent one. It also made him look really aggressive.

    Situ Jin scanned the five of them. Nobody had extra powers from the Handbook, so it wasnt a problem for the two of them to fight these five. They were from the Department of Supernatural Affairs, after all. In order to deal with some really nasty criminals, they were both very well trained in fighting. Without the training Chu Yi had from the Handbook, he wouldnt be able to defeat Bo Ya for sure.

    Were all owners, so it would be best to join forces and survive for three days, dont you think? said Situ Jin in a grim voice.

    Im really sorry, but if you had said this to me at the start, I might have agreed with you. But now weve lost someone we cant afford to, so we have to kill you two now, said the leader as he shook his head.

    Situ Jin frowned and said, You have five people? If all of you need points, killing us both wouldnt be enough for you to share.

    Hoho, you can forget about trying to talk us out of this. The five of us belong to two different teams and weve already agreed to split everything we get in half. Thats fair, isnt it? said the leader with a smile.

    Situ Jin didnt know what else to do. The ind itself was already filled with more than enough dangers, and now, he had to deal with owners trying to kill each other. He whispered to Bo Ya, Be careful, just kill them.

    Bo Ya nodded. The five intruders knew immediately what the two of them must have said to one another, so the leader gave a signal, and they charged toward the couple in the middle at almost the same time.

    Situ Jin and Bo Ya leaped away from each other. If the five of them attacked them like this, it would ce too much pressure on them. It was better to split the group and fight two or three people each instead.

    The leader and two others charged at Situ Jin, while the other two charged at Bo Ya. Situ Jin threw the boomerang in his hand out, which was something he had been an expert at since he was a child. The boomerang hit one of his attackers in the shoulder and caused him to be badly hurt.

    Situ Jin seized this chance to quickly charge toward the threeing for him. He had a knife in hand, so he was a real threat now. As long as he could find a good opportunity, it wouldnt take him long to kill three people.

    And the result turned out as Situ Jin had hoped. Immediately after he charged at them, the leader instinctively took a step backward, but the other uninjured one did not step back in time, crashing into Situ Jin and allowing Situ Jin to stab his knife straight into his heart.

    The man didnt even struggle. He copsed and started writhing immediately. He wasnt going to make it.

    Situ Jin did not hesitate and ran toward the one who was already injured by the boomerang. He was already injured, so his face paled when he saw Situ Jining for him.

    He swung his knife horizontally and sliced his opponent across the throat. The injured man clutched his throat and copsed onto the ground as well. Meanwhile, Bo Ya was still fighting the other two, and it was hard to tell who was winning.

    Situ Jin paused and did not immediately charge at the leader. The leader had the chance to save the other two, but he could clearly sense that the leader had purposely held back and just watched as he killed hispanions.

    Why? asked Situ Jin quietly.

    Oh! You could say theyre hunting dogs! The job of a hunting dog is to help the hunter to find its target, and not to share in the rewards. These two arent from my team anyway. Sorry for making you help me clear them out! A frightening smile spread across the leaders face.

 Chapter 302: Death Like A Shadow

    Chapter 302: Death Like A Shadow

    Im not going to waste my saliva on you  since youd prefer to die, Ill grant your wish! Situ Jin was not some gentle guy. He gripped his dagger and dashed toward the leader before using his left leg to kick his opponent.

    The leader was very good at fighting as well and did not immediately engage Situ Jin in a fight. His feet did not leave the ground as he slid aside and dodged Situ Jins scope of attack.

    Not bad. Situ Jin couldnt help butpliment the man. If the man had tried to fight back, then his kick would turn into many other sorts of attacks. If the man had moved back and his feet had left the ground, Situ Jin would have made a different attack that could kill him.

    The leader had chosen to slide in an unusual way. His feet had not left the ground, but his heels were a pivot. His upper body did not move, but his lower body moved on the heel, as though he were a calligraphy brush moving on paper.

    This move cut off any chance of Situ Jin making another move smoothly after his first one, and he had no choice but to adjust his stance, thenunch another attack. This leader was definitely a martial artist. Thats why he was able to ignore the death of the other two guys and was brave enough to fight Situ Jin one on one.

    Situ Jins center of gravity had shifted because he was kicking with one leg, but he was very experienced and quickly moved himself forward so that the leader wouldnt be able tounch an attack while his bnce was off. He then spun around and came toward the leader again.

    The leader seemed surprised that Situ Jin was moving so quickly. He put his arms in front of his chest to protect his vital organs. If Situ Jin were attacking him with his bare hands, he could protect himself for the time being. But Situ Jin had a knife.

    Immediately after he got close enough, his dagger was like a cats ws as he pulled it out from his sleeve and stabbed it into his opponents chest.

    The leaders eyes widened and looked like he was going to fight back, so Situ Jin wrapped his arm around his back and the knife went further into the mans chest.

    The leader had a pained look on his face, but one of his hands reached for Situ Jin and gently stroked his cheek. This action made Situ Jin shudder. He seemed to have gotten something wrong somewhere.

    Why is his gaze so so gentle? Situ Jin was confused. The look in the leaders eyes was not wicked at all. In fact, they seemed full of love.

    No wait, somethings not right! Situ Jin felt like the scene before him was flickering. His instinct told him that something was wrong, but he couldnt put his finger on it.

    No, that cant be true! It cant be! An overwhelming sense of horror welled up in Situ Jins heart as he seemed to realize what might have happened, but he refused to confirm his guess.

    He turned to look at Bo Ya and the other two owners, but when he looked a little harder, the three of them turned into shes of light and disappeared without a trace.

    At the same time, the leader of those five owners had transformed into Bo Ya. Her chest was covered entirely in blood, and that was caused by the dagger in his hands.

    Jin, please wake up! Bo Yas expression was filled with grief and her eyes filled with helplessness. Then she slowly closed her eyes.

    Situ Jin was too stunned to do anything. He felt like his soul had been sucked out of him. He withdrew the arm that he had used to hold her in disbelief, but when she was about to hit the ground as a result, he scrambled to catch her.

    How did this happen? How this cant be truethis cant be true Huge tears rolled down Situ Jins cheeks and sshed onto the ground.

    His instinct had told him earlier on that this was the truth. There were no other owners and all of that had merely been his imagination. If two groups of owners had reallye to kill them, then why would that leader just allow him to kill those two other owners? They were from two different teams, but those two owners represented points as well. The leader could have killed them himself to gain those two points.

    The whole situation actually didnt make sense, and it was filled with loopholes, but Situ Jin did not notice early enough. The leader he had been attacking was actually Bo Ya, which was why he did not choose to save hispanions and kept backing away from Situ Jin when heunched his attack.

    AHHHH! Situ Jins screams of agony echoed through the forest. Next to himy the bug that had be nothing but a dry shell. But the inside of the bug was still emanating wisps of ck mist, which had been influencing Situ Jins mind all this time.

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun and Kano Mai were no longer travelling alone. They found three more owners, and they had the same opinion  they must never fight each other, and they had to help one another to survive these three days.

    Out of the three, two of them were Europeans and thest one was Japanese. That surprised Kano Mai. She didnt expect to run into a fellow countryman.

    Ogawa Hideko its really rare for me to run into a fellow Japanese. Kano Mai felt like this name seemed very familiar to her.

    Perhaps its because youre based in China. I always run into Japanese in Challenges. The strongest member on our team is called Miyamoto Tooru and his prowess is extraordinary. If we find him, well definitely be safe. Ogawa Hideko was a Japanese woman in her thirties who spoke to everyone with a big smile on her face. But her smile seemed a little fake to the rest of the group.

    Miyamoto Tooru? Kano Mai was taken aback. She told herself that it could just be someone with the same name, but she decided to check with Ogawa Hideko. Hideko, this Miyamoto Tooru was he a grandmaster in martial arts before he became an owner?

    Oh? You know Tooru-kun? Ogawa Hideko looked surprised.

    Kano Mai was even more shocked. She didnt expect Miyamoto Tooru to have be an owner. The Miyamoto family must have done something to obtain a Handbook for him and saved him in the process.

    But what surprised Kano Mai was Miyamoto Toorus capabilities. Without any extra help from the Handbook, Miyamoto Tooru was definitely the strongest among the 36 owners on this ind. He was a grandmaster, after all, so even Ye Yun was no match for him. The difference between master and grandmaster level wasnt just the word grand.

    Ye Yun noticed the perturbed look on Kano Mais face, so she pulled her aside and asked, Sister Mai, whats wrong? You look a little disturbed.

    Kano Mai didnt feel the need to hide this from Ye Yun, so she told her all about what happened when Su Jin went to Japan with her and what transpired between Su Jin and Miyamoto Tooru.

    So, in other words Miyamoto Tooru not only did not die, but he also became an owner, and because of the way this Challenge is set up, he could be the most formidable of the 36 owners here? asked Ye Yun after she finished listening to Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai nodded. Thats right. And given how he has a feud with Jin and myself, if we run into each other, he will definitely try to take revenge and nobody will be able to stop him.

    Ye Yun was a martial artist too. She was from a well-to-do family who had the money to find her good teachers, plus she liked martial arts and was talented in this aspect. Otherwise, she wouldnt have been at master level before bing an owner. She knew how terrifying a grandmaster could be.

    You dont have to be too worried either. Were on the Ind of Mistakes, and it can be hard even for a grandmaster to stay alive. If he gets stuck in some meme of sorts, we might not even run into each other, Ye Yun consoled Kano Mai. Just then, Ogawa Hideko suddenly called out to them.

    Everyone, watch out! The trap weid earlier has been triggered, so somethingsing toward us! Before she could finish her sentence, everyone could hear a rustling noise. Something was indeeding near them.

    In a different part of the Ind of Mistakes, Miyamoto Tooru was covered in rotting flesh. After he had walked into this swamp, he felt like he had been possessed by a demon. Numerous dead bodies of monsters and other strange creatures were all around him and they stank terribly, but his body refused to stop moving and kept heading for the deeper part of the swamp.

    Arghhhhh arghhhh! Miyamoto Tooru clenched his teeth tightly. He tried to take back control of his body, but all his attempts were futile.

    The swamp was full of mud, so if he walked too far in, he might not be able to walk out again. But none of this was up to him. He watched as creatures walked past him mindlessly like a bunch of puppets, then exploded about five or six meters from where he was right now. Their flesh and blood would spray everywhere andnd all over him.

    Stop! Stop!! roared Miyamoto Tooru. The insects in the swamp bit him and feasted on the parts that were rotting, which almost drove him insane.

    He didnt know how long he had been walking for. There were several moments when he would feel a heat rise from within him and threaten to explode, but he managed to use his willpower to keep it from doing so.

    The mud of the swamp had reached his thighs, but it couldnt stop him from moving forward. Some parts looked impossible to pass, but the mud would suddenly move in opposing directions and open a path for him.

    Whats going on? Miyamoto Tooru felt fear in his heart. He soon realized that there were suddenly more creatures around him now. These creatures resembled humans.

    One of them looked like an empty piece of armor that didnt have anything living inside it anymore. One was a strange person tied up in bandages with a lot of strange symbols on them. Another was a skeleton with some rotting flesh on it, but with an eagles head. There were many more simr creatures.

    These are all human-like creatures! Miyamoto Tooru was a clever man and quickly realized there was amonality across all of them  they were all more or less shaped like humans.

    And just when he was still trying to figure out the situation, every creature in the swamp stopped moving. So did he. All the creatures in the swamp had entered the swamp from different directions and were now surrounding something.

    He squinted and saw that in the centermost part of the swamp stood a skeleton holding a sword that glowed as red as blood.

    The winner shall be my ve!

    The blood red color of the de suddenly grew bright, and all the creatures, including Miyamoto Tooru, were no longer being controlled by another force. They immediately started trying to kill each other. All of them knew that only one of them would be allowed to live.

 Chapter 303: Meeting Members

    Chapter 303: Meeting Members

    Miyamoto Tooru was like a hungry wolf as he started fighting everything else in the swamp. He was a grandmaster, so he could defeat even some very powerful monsters. The monsters here were not only human-like monsters, but they were all experts in martial arts.

    Kill! Kill! Kill!!! Miyamoto Tooru emptied his mindpletely and the only thought he had left was to wipe out everything before him and turn into the ve of that blood-red sword, to serve the sword for all eternity.

    The sword kept shaking while everyone was engaged in battle, as though it was very excited. The skeleton it was on fell apart from how hard it was shaking.

    The sword glowed brightly as it flew around the battles to choose the one he liked best. By this time, Miyamoto Tooru was on the ground and his arms had been torn off, but he refused to stop fighting, and there was a piece of flesh in his mouth that he himself did not know where he tore it from.

    When the blood-red sword got around to Miyamoto Tooru, it suddenly hummed loudly. It was extremely excited and seemed to have found itself its perfect ve.

    Its me! Youve chosen me! Me!! A maniacal smile spread across Miyamoto Toorus face. He knew the sword had chosen him.

    The sword suddenly flew into the air and sliced the air. The creatures engaged in battle were sliced into half at the waist, causing blood and internal organs to spill everywhere. Some of the hardy ones were still able to move and crawled through the mud, but the sword sliced the air again, and this time, all the creatures were dead. Only Miyamoto Tooru was left lying alive on the ground.

    He panted heavily as he did his best to get to his feet, swaying unsteadily as he moved closer to the sword and fell on one knee.

    My Master! said Miyamoto Tooru without hesitation.

    The sword seemed very pleased, and two red beams of light shot out from its de. They touched the ce where Miyamoto Toorus arms were missing and quickly turned into a pair of blood-red arms.

    ck veins ran through his arms, and his two hands were like the ws of a demon. Miyamoto Tooru was delighted as he looked at his new arms and reached for the sword.

    The sword hummed loudly, and the voice he had heard when he first got here rang in his head.

    Bring me back! Bring me back to the real world! Take me away from this Ind of Mistakes!

    Your wish is mymand, my Master! Miyamoto Tooru nodded slightly. There was a strange smile on his lips.

    Jin? Brother Su! Kano Mai and Ye Yun were pleasantly surprised. They didnt think the rustling approaching them would turn out to be Su Jin.

    Ye Yun! Mai! Su Jin was equally delighted. He had been moving toward the beach with the five Demon Lord worshippers, only to discover a manmade trap. The trap wasnt for hunting and looked more like a warning system of sorts. Su Jin figured that most creatures on the ind wouldnt do such a thing and it was more likely that owners set this up, so he came over to take a look.

    He had five excellent fighters on his team, so any creature that needed to put up a warning sort of trap wouldnt be a threat to him. But he didnt expect to find Ye Yun and Kano Mai either.

    Watch out, both of you! The ones behind him are monsters! yelled Ogawa Hideko in horror. The other two owners with her looked just as horrified. Ye Yun and Kano Mai immediately became wary. It was not surprising for creatures like shapeshifters to exist on this ind.

    When Su Jin saw their reactions, he hurriedly exined, Dont worry! Theyre worshippers of the Demon Lord! Ive already found them and as long as we can get back, the almighty Demon Lord will wee them!

    Ye Yun and Kano Mai were a little stunned. They knew all about the Demon Lord, since she had helped to save Ye Yun, and Ye Yun had met the Demon Lord before too. So, when Su Jin mentioned her, they knew that this was the real Su Jin.

    Great envoy, are they also fellow believers? asked the leader of the worshippers.

    Su Jin nodded. Thats right. They were sent to this ind with me. But the almighty Demon Lord did not tell them why they had toe here, since there are so many powerful characters here. She was afraid that if something went wrong and others found out about our mission, we would attract unnecessary trouble.

    The five worshippers nodded and epted the exnation. They began praising the Demon Lord for having great foresight and also thanked the other owners profusely for being such faithful and brave followers. The owners were so confused.

    Su Jin threw Kano Mai a nce, and she immediately pulled the owners aside. She whispered to them, Im not sure exactly whats going on, but my team leader has probably taken control of those five monsters and you guys just need to go along.

    But those are monsters we have to just go along? Then if he slips up, wouldnt we Ogawa Hideko shuddered. She clearly did not believe that Su Jin would be able to maintain control of these monsters for long.

    Kano Mai frowned and said to her, Since thats the case, we wont force you toe along. You can choose to stay with us, or you can choose to leave.

    Im sorry, Mai, but I really cant ept the idea of moving with monsters. I will leave, said Ogawa Hideko without hesitation. After giving it some thought, the other two owners chose to leave with her as well.

    Kano Mai didnt try to persuade them further and just said, Alright then. I wish you guys all the best, and hopefully we can still meet at the beach.

    You too. Ogawa Hideko hugged Kano Mai gently, then left with the other two owners.

    Kano Mai walked back to where Su Jin was and nodded. Great envoy, the three of them have a special mission to carry out, so they have to leave for the time being and wont be journeying with us.

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then gave Kano Mai a look topliment her for getting into this role really quickly. If their behavior wasnt seamless enough, it would be hard to gain theplete trust of the worshippers again.

    The eight of them journeyed on and it was soon dawn. That meant that they had gone through their first day on this ind. Su Jin was worried about the rest and wondered how they were.

    The five worshippers guarded the three of them so that their envoy could rest, and Su Jin thanked them. Actually, there wasnt anything wrong in calling Su Jin the Demon Lords envoy. Once he got back, he would definitely tell her about these worshippers. But what she did with the information was none of his business. He would have done what he ought to and he wouldnt feel guilty or anything like that.

    The three of themy down together to rest, which made Su Jin feel a little awkward. But there was no time to think about anything else now. Making sure his mental and physical state was at its best was the most important.

    The short period of rest helped them to recover some strength. They continued walking and it didnt take long for them toe across three bodies. They belonged to Ogawa Hideko and the two owners who had left with her.

    Did they run into monsters? Su Jin sighed. It was very normal to run into monsters on this ind, and if they werent prepared for it, it was only natural for them to end up dead.

    Brother Su! Sister Mai! Take a look, Ye Yun called out to the other two as she bent down to look more closely at the bodies.

    They walked over to see that Ye Yun was looking at Ogawa Hidekos face, and they were just as surprised as Ye Yun was. The expression on Ogawa Hidekos face was actually one of delight, and it looked like she had been killed before her expression had the chance to change.

    Is it an illusionary spell or a meme of sorts? Su Jin was immediately on high alert. If there was a meme here, they were all in danger.

    Great envoy, I dont think its anything like that. I do not spot any movement like that. A red light shed in the eyes of the leader of the five worshippers.

    The Demon Lords Eye! Su Jin was surprised. He didnt think the Demon Lords worshippers would have this ability. He knew very well how it worked. That eye was able to see through many, many things, so it would be easy for it to ascertain if these three had died from being affected by some spell.

    If its not an illusion or a meme, then what could they have seen that made her so happy? Su Jin was puzzled.

    But a thought suddenly struck Kano Mai. She said to him, Jin, theres something I havent told you. This Ogawa Hideko has a teammate and hes Miyamoto Tooru!

    Miyamoto Tooru?!? Su Jin stared nkly at her. Hes not dead yet?

    Its true. The Miyamoto family seemed to have found a way to turn him into an owner, said Kano Mai with a nod.

    Su Jin furrowed his brows. If that same Miyamoto Tooru was on this ind, then they were in trouble. He was a true martial arts grandmaster, and he was probably the most formidable of the 36 owners here.

    But Su Jin didnt think too deeply about it. He had these five worshippers with him and these five were very formidable. Even if they did run into Miyamoto Tooru, the one on the losing end was Miyamoto Tooru.

    We all have to be a little more careful, make sure we dont get separated, instructed Su Jin. Regardless of whether they ran into Miyamoto Tooru or not, it was best to be careful at all times.

    They continued making their way forward and Su Jin could vaguely smell the sea breeze, which meant they werent far from the beach now. A shadow continued to hide in the forest and followed them.

    After walking a little more, the five worshippers suddenly stopped and turned to look at the same ce in the forest. A shadow suddenly leaped out.

    The five worshippers instantly went into battle mode, but Su Jin stopped them from taking action. That shadow was none other than Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi! Chu Yi! Su Jin and Kano Mai were pleasantly surprised. About half the team had gathered now.

    Chu Yi initially smiled brightly when he saw the three of them, but his face fell soon after and he looked absolutely exhausted. He said to Su Jin, Boss, Uncle Wu Uncle Wu has died.

    The three of them were shocked before fallingpletely silent. Su Jin had figured that he might lose a couple of team members on this ind, but Wu Chen was definitely one of thest few he thought hed lose.

 Chapter 304: Bloody Sakura Sword

    Chapter 304: Bloody Sakura Sword

    The four members of Team Boning Knife continued their journey with depressed looks on their faces. Even though everyone knew that death was inevitable in such Challenges, they still needed some time to process it when someone actually died.

    I hope Situ and Bo Ya are fine, said Kano Mai quietly.

    Su Jin sighed and patted Chu Yis shoulders. Wu Chen had died in front of him and that had a great impact on the younger man. Moreover, Wu Chen had sacrificed himself so that Chu Yi would get the chance to live. That made Chu Yi feel even worse.

    Great envoy, said one of the worshippers as he approached Su Jin with a deep frown, as though he had something important to say.

    You can go ahead and say whatevers on your mind, said Su Jin.

    The worshipper nodded and said, Im not very certain, but I can sense that someone is following us right now. They appeared near our group at almost the same time as this other envoy.

    Chu Yi immediately shuddered violently and said, Its the clown. Its the clown! I just knew he had discovered me! No wonder he didnt kill me then  he wanted to use me as bait.

    Su Jin looked at the worshipper, but the worshipper shook his head. He said, I dont know what it is, but its definitely not the clown. If it were the clown, wed be dead long ago. That guy isnt the sort who likes ying cat and mouse games.

    Then who could it be? asked Su Jin.

    The worshipper shook his head and said, I dont know, its just a feeling I have. There is a powerful force right next to us and once it reveals itself, we might not be able to handle it.

    Su Jin was surprised. If we might not be able to handle it once it reveals itself, then why is it remaining in the shadows? Waiting for a chance?

    Thats possible. There are some formidable characters on the ind that can unleash their maximum powers only if theyre in the right sort of ce or at a certain time. That fellow might be waiting for a chance like that, said the worshipper with a nod as he agreed with Su Jins analysis.

    Su Jin started getting worried now. Since the other party dared to follow behind his team and the five worshippers, then they were definitely no weaklings. If they attacked, then even if his group could defeat them, they might lose some lives along the way.

    Jin, what should we do? asked Kano Mai.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, The best way is to split up. Even if the other party attacks, they can only target one group. The group they target is doomed for sure, but at least we can ensure more people survive. If we continue moving together, we might alle out alive, or we might all die together.

    Then lets move together! I dont think anybody would agree to give up on anybody, so the first option is meaningless. Ye Yun was more clear-headed on this matter.

    Su Jin exchanged nces with the rest. Just like she said, after going through so much together, there was no way they would allow any of them to be bait or to sacrifice themselves.

    In that case, well just have to huddle together and hope for the best, said Su Jin with a resigned smile. They just wanted to get to the beach as soon as possible and meet with Situ Jin and Bo Ya.

    As time ticked by, the enemy that the worshipper had identified did not appear. They remained safe until nightfall. They ran into a few monsters along the way, but the worshippers were able to protect them and nothing bad happened.

    Once it was nighttime, they decided to stop walking for the day. Their journey in the daytime had been smooth because this section of the ind was still simr to what the worshippers remembered of it, but nobody knew if the road ahead would suddenly be strange to them. If the road ahead was no longer the same, then travelling at night would be even more dangerous.

    The moon here looks so sinister. I cant believe its a bloody red color, said Chu Yi listlessly as he looked up at the sky.

    The moon?! Su Jin was surprised to hear this and looked up as well. Just like what Chu Yi said, a full, blood-red moon hung high and bright in the sky.

    Thats odd. Su Jin felt something was amiss and immediately asked the worshippers, Do blood moons appear in the night sky of the ind?

    No, the Ind of Mistakes is cut off from all other universes and is shrouded in nothingness. Theres no outer space, so theres no moon either, replied the leader very confidently.

    Su Jins pupils constricted as heughed sadly. If thats the case, then that means weve walked into someone elses territory.

    Immediately after he said that, the moon in the sky shifted slightly and a beam shot out from the moon. The five worshippers reacted quickly enough by letting out an angry roar. A ck mist that resembled the Roar of the Demon Lord sprayed from their mouths and shattered the beam.

    Everyone, be careful, Su Jin reminded his team. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked up at the sky, but the blood moon had disappeared. Instead, a man with blood-red arms fell from the sky with a blood-red sword in his hands.

    Its the Bloody Sakura Sword! The leaders eyes flew open in shock. He immediately shouted at Su Jin, Great envoy, run! Well hold the fort here!

    Nobodys going anywhere! Nobody! Su Jin, its time we settled our feud. The man hadnded on the ground by this time, and Su Jin and Kano Mai had dismayed looks on their faces when they saw who it was. Like the saying goes, when theres a cause, theres an effect, and these things are a never-ending cycle. It seemed to ring true for the two of them right now.

    Miyamoto Tooru! Su Jin took a deep breath and took a step forward. Our matter has nothing to do with the rest of them, so let them leave!

    Nothing to do with them? In my opinion, as long as they are connected to you, Su Jin, then they are connected to me as well. Im going to kill all of you! Miyamoto Toorus eyes were entirely red. It was more urate to say that he was an evil spirit whom the Bloody Sakura Sword had given the power to seek revenge. He wasnt really Miyamoto Tooru anymore.

    Youre also an owner, so why do you get to use an item? asked Chu Yi when he saw the sword that Miyamoto Tooru was wielding.

    What do you think? Miyamoto Tooru grinned. There was actually a bloody glow inside his mouth as well, and it made him look really creepy.

    Thats not an item. Its something he got from the ind itself. Su Jin had seen Chimimoryo before, so he could guess where this sword hade from. And since the worshippers recognized it, it had to be something from the ind.

    Thats right. Miyamoto Tooru nodded slightly, then turned to look at Su Jin. He said in a frosty voice, Su Jin! I was defeated by you back then, but Id bet you never imagined that not only did I not die, but I also became a Handbook owner like you!

    I am a little surprised. Su Jin nodded honestly.

    Miyamoto Tooru went on, After I became an owner, I knew that you were definitely an owner too. That way, the sort of terrifying strength and prowess you had would make perfect sense.

    Su Jin nodded again. As long as you werent aplete idiot, it was only normal for one to guess that he was definitely an owner. It was pretty obvious.

    But what really caught me by surprise is the fact that Miss Kano Mai, the queen of the Kano family, turned out to be a Handbook owner as well. Looks like its true that I was thinking too highly of myself back when I wanted to marry you, said Miyamoto Tooru with a weird chuckle as he stared at Kano Mai with his blood-red eyes.

    Kano Mai responded in an equally frosty voice, Im no longer part of the Kano family, so dont call me the queen of the Kano family and things like that.

    Miyamoto Tooru shrugged his shoulders nonchntly. To him, both Su Jin and Kano Mai had to die today. They could speak as boldly as they liked now.

    I know that Im now on the same ying field as both of you, and I believe that as long as our starting point is the same, I am no weaker than another and I will be able to seek revenge someday. You know something, Su Jin? Ive been praying every day, praying that you dont end up dying in some Challenge. Otherwise, all my hard work would have gone to waste! Miyamoto Tooru red nastily at Su Jin, as though he was about to skin Su Jin alive.

    So thats why Ive been feeling some difort recently. Its because youve missed me so much. Su Jin knew that Miyamoto Tooru wasnt going to let any of hispanions off, so he stopped trying to plead with him. Even if they had to die today, his team was going to die in glory.

    Shut your trap! Once I ughter you, Ill pull all your teeth out, turn them into a specimen and keep it in my room. They will be the best memories of the rest of my life. Miyamoto Tooru scoffed disdainfully, then suddenly brandished the blood-red sword in his hands, sending a bright red beam toward Chu Yi.

    Su Jin didnt expect Miyamoto Tooru to be so despicable andunch a sneak attack on Chu Yi without any warning. Luckily, one of the Demon Lords worshippers was standing right next to Chu Yi. The worshipper opened his mouth to let out a roar and the ck mist that spewed from his mouth shattered the beam.

    Looks like youve gained something from the ind too! snickered Miyamoto Tooru. He brandished the sword again, sending out beam after beam. The worshippers quickly got to work, letting out continuous roars to block the beams. Unfortunately, their roars were a little too slow and it was getting harder and harder to keep up with Miyamoto Tooru.

    Great envoy, run!! The five of us will not be able to hold up against the Bloody Sakura Swords host, so if you stay here, youll end up dying! the leader yelled to Su Jin.

    Su Jin didnt have the time to hesitate. He yelled at the rest, Split up! At least some of us will make it!

    There was no time to think of a better n now. They were ordinary humans now, so if they dealt with the Bloody Sakura Sword as a group, it could kill them in one fell swoop. They had to run in different directions to ensure that at least some of them survived.

    Su Jin felt terribly frustrated. He had been too nave earlier on. From the moment the worshippers had sensed Miyamoto Toorus presence, they should have split up already. Even if everyone disagreed, he should have insisted that they do so. He was the leader of the team, so while the others could allow their emotions to affect their decisions, he shouldnt.

    His team members hesitated for a moment, but decided to listen to him in the end and ran in different directions.

    But when Miyamoto Tooru saw them run in different directions, he didnt get anxious at all. Instead, there was a strangely excited gleam flickering in his eyes.

 Chapter 305: Become A Slave

    Chapter 305: Be A ve

    The five worshippers of the Demon Lord surrounded Miyamoto Tooru, then pped their hands. A boning knife appeared in the air. Their leader grabbed hold of the knife and swung it, killing the other four instantly.

    Miyamoto Tooru looked a little surprised, as though he didnt expect anybody in this group to kill his ownpanions. But the four worshippers who were killed turned into wisps of ck mist that gathered on the de of the boning knife.

    Bloody Sakura Sword, youre probably the most formidable thing on this ind besides Chimimoryo, but the boning knife given to us by our god is not weak either. Id like to find out today if youre stronger or if my gods boning knife is stronger! said the only worshipper left as he held the knife up.

    Miyamoto Tooru was about to speak when he felt his body shake violently. The blood red color of his eyes deepened and he said, If the god who gave you the knife were to attack me with that knife, Id have no choice but to retreat. But you? Dream on!

    Even though it looked like Miyamoto Tooru was the one speaking, the worshipper knew that the one actually controlling this body was the sword the man was holding.

    Im not going down without a fight! There was a maniacal look in the worshippers eyes. He was a worshipper of the Demon Lord, a goddess with no boundaries and no regard for anything in the world, so he was no different.

    ng! The sound of the knife hitting something resounded as he used it to cut through the trees surrounding them. Those ancient trees were so wide it would have taken several people to stand around their trunks and hug them. Yet, they all broke with ease and exploded in the air.

    What a low level move! Miyamoto Tooru scoffed. He brandished his sword and a red beam flew out, blocking any impact the boning knife had. None of it even got close to him.

    The worshipper was a little stunned. He was indignant, but he had to admit that after the Bloody Sakura Sword took over this ordinary humans body, it was able to wield a strength much greater than his.

    My four brothers have already sacrificed themselves, so no matter what I have to do this for the sake of the almighty Demon Lord! The worshipper let out a maniacal roar, then charged at Miyamoto Tooru with his knife held high.

    You fool! The difference in our prowess is so great! Did you think you could ovee it by just being unafraid to die?! Miyamoto Tooru smiled mirthlessly as he ran toward the worshipper with his sword. The two des collided in the middle of an empty field.

    CLANG! In the instant the two des collided, a force field exploded, turning all the trees and everything else into ash. The worshipper exploded as well, leaving only the boning knife floating in the air. But before the knife couldnd on the ground, a crack appeared in the air and took it away.

    Miyamoto Tooru looked at the lump of flesh that was once the worshipper and scoffed. So, its not that youre unafraid of death. You have a body that cannot die and itlle back to life eventually!

    The remains of the worshipper was slowly writhing on the ground, which was a sign that this body could regenerate itself. He could make sure this fellow couldnt regenerate, but that would require a lot of time.

    Damn it, this bodys only wish is to seek revenge. If I dont let him have his way, Im afraid hell give me trouble next time. Miyamoto Tooru shook his head in annoyance, then ignored the worshipper who was slowly regenerating and ran toward where the members of Team Boning Knife had gone.

    While running, Miyamoto Tooru had regained some of his senses, and the blood red color in his eyes had faded significantly. The Bloody Sakura Sword had temporarily returned control of the body to him.

    Thank you, Master! Miyamoto Tooru thanked the sword respectfully and the sword hummed in response.

    With the help of the sword, Miyamoto Tooru was able to run extremely quickly. He was a grandmaster too, so regardless of who he ran into first, they were going to die.

    In no time, Miyamoto Tooru could sense someone running away ahead of him. He had an excited grin on his face as he suddenly increased his speed and caught up with that person. That person turned out to be Kano Mai.

    When Kano Mai saw that he had caught up with her, she had a look of despair in her eyes. Given the circumstances, there was no way she was getting out of this alive. There was no way she could defeat him.

    Well, are you prepared to give up and wait for death to befall you? Miyamoto Tooru smiled frostily at her. Actually, the person he hated the most wasnt Su Jin. It was Kano Mai.

    He always felt that it started with Kano Mais rejection of his advances, and worse still, she brought Su Jin along to humiliate him. She was the cause of everything. If not for her, he would still be the super genius of the Miyamoto family who enjoyed a life of his own, unlike how he now had to worry about dying in a Challenge once a month.

    Kano Mai took a deep breath. She knew that Miyamoto Tooru really hated her. And perhaps he wasnt wrong to do so. If not for her, none of this would have happened to him. But Miyamoto Tooru wasnt the only victim, and it wasnt as if he didnt have the choice to withdraw. He had chosen to fight Su Jin to the death.

    Its just death, really. But did you think your unhappiness is really because of me? Kano Mai didnt think she was going to survive, so she gave up trying. But she hoped to stall Miyamoto Tooru for as long as she could, hoping to gain more time for the rest of her team to escape. Even an extra minute would help.

    Miyamoto Tooru did not speak. He merely gripped his sword a little more tightly and red even more aggressively at Kano Mai.

    Miyamoto Tooru, ask your conscience! If you werent greedy for the wealth and status of the Kano family, would things really have turned out this way? asked Kano Mai in a grim voice.

    Miyamoto Tooru frowned a little as he snorted. I admit that I did covet you, but was that wrong of me? The strongest ought to have the best.

    The strongest? Kano Mai suddenly burst outughing. You think youre strong? If this Challenge hadnt suppressed our powers, Jin wouldnt be the only one in the team who would be able to kill you.

    That has nothing to do with me! Kano Mai, I know what youre trying to do. I know youre trying to stall for time! said Miyamoto Tooru icily as he raised his sword. Im sorry, I still have other people to kill, so I dont have the time to chat with you. With that, he brought his sword down.

    Just then, two figures shot out from the side. Ye Yun kicked Miyamoto Tooru in the back. She wasnt as formidable as he was, but she was at master level herself. This sudden, unexpected attack made Miyamoto Tooru lose his bnce slightly.

    Meanwhile, the other figure punched Miyamoto Tooru in the ribs. This punch was as powerful as an explosion, and thats because Chu Yi had consumed a super strength pill before delivering it.

    Sis Mai, are you alright? Chu Yis body was trembling slightly. That was a sign that his body had delivered an attack too much for it to handle. But if he wanted to rescue Kano Mai, he didnt have any other choice.

    What are both of you doing here? Kano Mai was stunned. She didnt expect Ye Yun and Chu Yi to appear. She was very touched, but not the slightest bit happy. Because that meant that she wasnt the only one who was going to die  all three of them were doomed now.

    HA! Youve actuallye to me instead! How foolish! Miyamoto Tooru stretched his limbs and felt perfectly fine. If Chu Yi and Ye Yuns blows hadnded on an ordinary person, that person would be broken by now. But he felt like he had merely been tickled.

    I dont care about that whatever sword youre holding! I wont let you bully my Sister Mai! Chu Yi swung his fists angrily.

    Oh? I wont bully her then, Ill just bully you. He delivered a kick without using any of the strength that the Bloody Sakura Sword gave him. He used his own ability and strength as a grandmaster to attack Chu Yi because he felt that doing so made him more excited. He was going to torture the members of Team Boning Knife and make Su Jin wallow in misery!

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had stopped running. He sat down cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes. He knew that it was pointless to keep running. Everyone was going to end up dying at Miyamoto Toorus hands that way. If he wanted to turn the tables, there was only one way to do that.

    Dont you yearn for life? Dont you also want to leave the Ind of Mistakes? Also, I know about how youve been hoping to use psychokinesis to train yourself up! So,e to me! I can give you everything, as long as you lend me your power! Su Jin did not say any of this out loud. He just kept calling out in his mind. He wasnt sure if this was going to work, but he had to try.

    One minute passed, then two, then three Su Jins calls seemed useless and he was about to give up when he felt a voice enter his consciousness.

    He didnt even dare to breathe too loudly. He listened carefully to the voice and was finally able to hear what it was saying.

    If you want my power, you still have to pay the price. I want your body and I want you to be my ve!

    Thats what you want? Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief and said without hesitation, Ill give it all to you!

    Deal!

    Immediately after that, a beam of light shot toward him and floated in the air in front of Su Jin. That was a longbow, that was Chimimoryo, one of the most formidable characters on the ind!

    Su Jin took hold of Chimimoryo and energy surged into his consciousness. He knew that energy was from Chimimoryo. It was taking hold of his body.

    A few momentster, Su Jins eyes opened again. His eyes were no longer separated into ck and white sections but just one cloudy color.

    Bloody Sakura Sword, huh. Su Jin stretched his arms, then shot into the sky and made his way toward where Miyamoto Tooru was.

    By this time, Chu Yi had lost his four limbs andy on the ground like a gunnysack. Ye Yuns face was covered in blood as well. Until now, Miyamoto Tooru had not used the power of the Bloody Sakura Sword and was fighting them with nothing else but his prowess as a grandmaster. And in the end the difference between them and Miyamoto Tooru was simply too great for them to ovee. Regardless of whether it was master level Ye Yun or medically strengthened Chu Yi, they couldnt fight back at all.

    Alright now, Im done ying with you guys. Its time to die! Miyamoto Tooru had a rxed smile on his face as he raised his sword and aimed at Ye Yun.

    Ye Yun closed her eyes and was prepared to die, but suddenly, a pir of grayish mist flew in from afar, blocking the Bloody Sakura Swords attack.

 Chapter 306: Painful Farewell

    Chapter 306: Painful Farewell

    Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events. Nobody thought that Ye Yun could be saved at this point in time. At the same time, the Bloody Sakura Sword in Miyamoto Toorus hands started shaking violently.

    My Master! Miyamoto Tooru was horrified. He could sense terror in the Bloody Sakura Sword, as though it was afraid of something.

    Ye Yun and the rest were also holding their breaths. That grayish mist had saved Ye Yun, but they werent sure if this mist was friend or foe, until someone appeared before them.

    Boss!! Chu Yi was overjoyed. The grayish mist was actually Su Jin holding a longbow.

    But both Kano Mai and Ye Yun looked a little puzzled. Su Jin marched over and nced at Miyamoto Tooru as he said sternly, You cant kill these people. Leave now.

    Miyamoto Tooru froze for a second, then yelled back angrily, I cant kill them just because you say so? Im not only going to kill them, Im going to kill you too!

    Im talking to your Master, not you. Su Jin red icily at Miyamoto Tooru, then looked at the Bloody Sakura Sword in his hand.

    Thats not Jin, said Kano Mai without hesitation.

    Uh huh. Thats not the way he behaves, said Ye Yun with a nod.

    Chu Yi was confused. He asked Su Jin, Youre not Boss?

    Su Jin looked at them and replied, Ive epted his body and he is my ve from now onwards. He has exchanged his body for your safety, so all of you just have to stay here and watch. I will make sure you leave this ind safely.

    What?! The three of them paled in horror. Su Jin had actually given his own body in exchange.

    Who are you then? Miyamoto Tooru understood now that Su Jin had chosen to exchange his body for a higher power just like he had, and it seemed like even the Bloody Sakura Sword was afraid of this higher power.

    He is Chimimoryo. The blood red color in Miyamoto Toorus eyes intensified and his tone of voice changed. Chimimoryo, youre one of the most formidable characters on this ind, but you ought to know the rules. This fellow has also given me his body and I have to grant his wish. Otherwise, I wont be holding up my end of the deal.

    That has nothing to do with me. Ive also promised to protect his friends. Are you telling me to let this deal fall through? said Chimimoryo with a disdainful snort. Just like what the Bloody Sakura Sword had said, Chimimoryo was one of the most powerful ones on this ind. The sword was very powerful too, but it wasnt powerful enough to fight with it.

    But I found a ve first! argued the sword.

    Find another one then. Otherwise, Ill have to kill you! said Chimimoryo through Su Jin.

    The Bloody Sakura Sword was silent for a moment, before it suddenly sliced through the air. It was hoping to kill the three team members while Chimimoryo wasnt paying attention. That way, it would be able to fulfil Miyamoto Toorus wishes, while foiling Su Jins ns. Even if Chimimoryo got angry after that, it wouldnt be able to change anything.

    You must be tired of living! Chimimoryo was furious as he pulled the bowstring back. Before the string could be released, howling, angry ghosts and monsters appeared around the bow, and they shattered the attack from the Bloody Sakura Sword.

    Chimimoryo pulled its bowstring back again once more, but this time, the gray mist it shot out turned into a terrifying demon that yanked the Bloody Sakura Sword right out of Miyamoto Toorus hands.

    NO!! You cant do that! The sword shrieked in horror, but the bloody glow on its de was torn away by the demon and rust started growing on the de.

    Miyamoto Tooru could also sense that the energy that had filled his body earlier had disappeared. He wasnt sure if the sword had been killed or just sealed by Chimimoryo.

    Su Jin had a faint smile as he nodded at his teammates. His eyes slowly turned cloudy as he handed control of his body over to Chimimoryo now that it had done what it promised.

    But just then, Miyamoto Tooru suddenly started cackling. HAHAHA! Su Jin, youre one lucky guy! I cant believe you managed to turn the tables even when the situation looked impossible! But do you really think this is the end? Did you think Id be so stupid as to just torture them for so long and give you the chance to make aeback?

    Go to hell! Miyamoto Toorus eyes were wide as he clenched his fists tightly. Kano Mai and Ye Yuns bodies stiffened suddenly and they started struggling.

    NOOO! Su Jins eyes were clear again as he roared angrily and charged at Miyamoto Tooru. His punch went through Miyamoto Toorus chest and shattered his heart.

    Cough! Cough! Miyamoto Tooru had a contemptuous smile on his face as he ignored the arm that had pierce his chest and said to Su Jin, You thought youd won? This is the best oue to me! Ive killed these two women, Ive seen the pain in your eyes, and I dont have to be the Bloody Sakura Swords ve anymore! Thats the best

    Su Jin didnt wait for him to finish his sentence and pulled his arm back out. Miyamoto Tooru sprayed a mouthful of blood out before falling to the ground with a loud thud. He was dead, but he still had a smug smile on his face.

    Su Jin quickly spun around and ran toward Ye Yun and Kano Mai. The two of them were on the brink of death and they both had a helpless smile on their face when they saw Su Jining toward them.

    Im sorry! Im sorry!! Su Jin apologized profusely, the pain nearly tearing his heart to shreds. He looked up with a start and said, Ill save you guys! There must be a way to save both of you!!

    No need, Brother Su. Ye Yun shook her head and said to him, Miyamoto Tooru inserted some internal energy into our heart meridians and now, that meridian is broken nobody can save us now.

    There must be a way!! bellowed Su Jin. He shouted to Chimimoryo, Please, save them! Save them and youd be able to fulfil your side of the deal! My body will be yours!

    Chimimoryo flickered slightly, then Su Jins eyes turned cloudy as he used his own mouth to respond to him, I cant save them. I am Chimimoryo, a weapon designed to kill. I can only kill others, I cant save anyone!

    Brother Su, after I was chosen to be an owner, Ive been living in constant fear, so this is actually a release for me! And to have met someone who truly loves me toward the end was wonderful too Im really happy. The light in Ye Yuns eyes slowly faded, but she still had a satisfied smile on her face.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of her hand, but no matter how hard he held it, he couldnt hold on to her life. Ye Yun slowly lost any sign of life, and her previously warm body slowly grew cold.

    No no!! Su Jin howled in pain. They had gone through so much and they could be a happy couple why why did things turn out like that

    Boss, Sister Mai said Chu Yi through his tears.

    Kano Mai didnt say anything and just smiled as she looked at Su Jin. She nodded slightly, as though this was just an ordinary goodbye and she would see him the next day. She stopped breathing and looked like she had merely fallen asleep.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of Kano Mais hand as tears covered his face. Ye Yun was gone and Kano Mai was gone too. He had failed to protect both of them. So what if he was almost as powerful as a god in the real world? In the Handbooks universe, they were as small as ants. A change in just one rule was enough to wipe all of them out.

    Su Jin knelt on the ground in shocked silence as he felt like his soul had disappeared along with the deaths of the two women. He only slowly snapped out of it when light started to shine on the surface of the ind again.

    He was like a zombie now. But just then, the voice of Chimimoryo appeared in his consciousness again.

    Theres nothing to be sad about. Dont you know what sort of power the Handbook has? Reviving the dead is nothing. Chimimoryo seemed very familiar with Hells Handbook and couldnt stand the way Su Jin was behaving.

    Revive the dead? But this Challenge none of the people who die in this one can be revived. Su Jin shook his head. If they could be revived, he wouldnt be in such despair. He had been able to revive Chu Yi, so he could revive Kano Mai and Ye Yun the same way. But the rules of this Challenge specifically said that this method would not work.

    You just cant use the power of the Handbook to do so, right? But if youre powerful enough, you can just use your own power, said Chimimoryo disdainfully.

    Use my own power? What do you mean? Su Jin blinked in confusion. Could one revive owners even without the power of the Handbook?

    You just need to be a god. Gods have the ability to control life. As long as youre powerful enough, you can revive them, said Chimimoryo without skipping a beat.

    Are you serious?! Su Jin was rather shaken by this new revtion. He hoped it was true, but he was afraid that it might not be.

    Of course! After my previous owner became a god, he revived all his friends and family. Is it that shocking? asked Chimimoryo in return.

    It wasnt really shocking so to speak, but he had never heard about this possibility. However, Chimimoryos words had given him hope. As long as he worked hard to be a god, there was a chance that he could reverse this situation.

    Thank you for telling me this! But but why did you do that? asked Su Jin. The deal had fallen through since the fact that Ye Yun and Kano Mai died meant that Chimimoryo had failed to do its part. Chimimoryo was very powerful, but it was unable to change this reality. Since it couldnt have Su Jins body, Su Jin couldnt understand why the longbow would still offer him useful advice.

    This isnt the end of the deal. You bring me to the real world, and as long as you be a god and revive them, Id still have done my part, right? said Chimimoryo.

    Su Jin was a little surprised. He didnt expect Chimimoryo to be this quick-witted. But it wasnt so easy to outsmart Su Jin.

    We can continue with the deal, but we need to amend the conditions, said Su Jin.

    Chimimoryo hesitated for a moment, then said, What changes do you want to make?

 Chapter 307: A New Deal And The Beast God

    Chapter 307: A New Deal And The Beast God

    Its very simple. From now on, we will work together. I will take you away from this ind, but you have to lend me your power as well, said Su Jin.

    Chimimoryo did not hesitate and agreed to it. Thats a simple deal, alright. Its a deal then. But dont you dare try anything funny, or youd regret it.

    Of course. Su Jin nodded.

    Boss, are you done talking yet? Im about to die, Chu Yis weak voice resounded. He was a short distance away and was covered in blood. His limbs had been torn off, so he was nothing more than a head and torso now.

    Su Jin got a shock. He had been wallowing in grief earlier and did not register anything else around him. He had forgotten that Chu Yi was still here.

    Chu Yi! Are you alright?! Su Jin hurriedly ran over to Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi red back at Su Jin and sighed. Look at the state Im in. Do I look like Im alright to you?

    I cant believe you didnt bleed to death despite your injuries. Su Jin was very surprised. Logically speaking, Chu Yi should have bled to death from such severe wounds by now.

    I actually have to thank that Miyamoto Tooru for that. He seemed bent on torturing me, so every time his sword sliced through my flesh, he sealed off my blood vessels. Otherwise, Id have been dead long ago. Chu Yi looked sadly at the bodies of Ye Yun and Kano Mai. He wished he had died instead.

    Su Jin sighed and they both fell silent as sadness overcame them. But after a few moments, Su Jin said, Dont worry, Ill bring them back to life. I swear I will!

    Bring them back to life? Chu Yi could hear what Su Jin said earlier, but he couldnt hear what Chimimoryo said, so he had no idea that deities had the power to overwrite the Handbook and revive the dead.

    I have to be a god! Chimimoryo told me that as long as I be one, Id get the chance to revive them, said Su Jin.

    Chu Yis gaze flickered and he nodded vigorously. Su Jin tried to carry him but Chu Yi shook his head and refused. He felt that he was a burden, so if Su Jin carried him along, he would only drag Su Jin down.

    What nonsense is that! Do you think Id just leave you here? Besides, I have the help of Chimimoryo now, so wed definitely survive this ind, said Su Jin as he patted Chu Yis shoulder.

    Chu Yi nced at the Bloody Sakura Sword. I dont think Miyamoto Toorus arms were his own. Did this sword give him those arms?

    Thats right. The Bloody Sakura Sword is not as powerful as I am, but its still very powerful. As long as its given enough time, it will reach my level one day. Su Jins eyes turned cloudy as Chimimoryo used Su Jins body to speak to Chu Yi. It didnt mind showing itself in front of Chu Yi.

    In that case, can I use its power? At least Id be able to move about on my own on this ind, said Chu Yi as he looked up at Su Jin.

    Sure. Take it aspensation for not being able to fulfil my part of the original deal! Su Jin walked over to the sword and used Chimimoryo to gently touch the sword.

    The rust on the Bloody Sakura Swords de fell off immediately and turned bright red again. The sword instantly floated in mid air once the seal around it was broken.

    Chimimoryo, youve won! The voice of the Bloody Sakura Sword rang in Su Jins head and it sounded very indignant.

    That doesnt matter. Bloody Sakura Sword, Im going to give you a chance. Be this fellowspanion and he will be able to at least take you away from this ind. Youd be able to leave this dead, abandoned piece ofnd, said Chimimoryo through Su Jin.

    The sword hesitated for a moment. You just want to use my power to restore his body, right?

    Thats the price you ought to pay. You must understand that the price you pay is proportionate to the reward you receive. The ve you chose is already dead, so you can either choose to be hispanion, or you can stay on this ind, said Chimimoryo.

    The Bloody Sakura Sword didnt have much of a choice. Actually, it was just looking for someone to take it away from this ind. It had originally chosen Miyamoto Tooru only because he was closest to it earlier.

    Alright then, youre my ve now! the Bloody Sakura Sword dered proudly as it flew toward Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi was stunned for a moment before protesting, I dont want to be your ve!

    The Bloody Sakura Sword didnt expect that. Chimimoryos voice resounded again, I said you are to be hispanion, so you are equals, not master and ve!

    Impossible! I am the Bloody Sakura Sword! How can an ordinary human be on equal standing as me?! sneered the sword.

    Chimimoryo nced at it and said frostily, The ones who made both of us were ordinary humans too, and as I already said earlier, you dont have a choice unless you prefer to stay here. You decide.

    The blood red glow of the swords de flickered for a while, but it eventually gave in. Fine, Ill agree to that for the moment.

    Chimimoryo did not continue to speak, while Chu Yi no longer protested since the Bloody Sakura Sword was willing to be hispanion and not his master.

    The Bloody Sakura Sword sent a red beam toward Chu Yi that transformed into his four limbs, giving him arms and legs that resembled a demons. But Chu Yi didnt mind. As long as he could make it back to his Personal Hell Domain, he could restore his body.

    Chu Yi stood up, took hold of the sword and nodded satisfactorily. He and Su Jin proceeded to carry Kano Mai and Ye Yun. They didnt want to leave them here just like that.

    With both Chimimoryo and the Bloody Sakura Sword, the ind didnt really pose any danger to them now, unless the tiger and clown tried to attack them. But the chances of that happening werent high.

    The two of them managed to get to the beach without any problem, only to find that there wasnt a single person here. Su Jin and Chu Yi both sighed. This ind simply held too many dangers. The chances of all 36 owners surviving was almost zero. But perhaps some had chosen to hide themselves and did not head for the beach.

    Night fell once more and they continued to wait. Finally, some people appeared within their line of sight. That was a seven person group, but they were very panicky because there was an enormous, ferocious tiger right behind them.

    Damn it! Su Jin immediately got to his feet and wanted to run over to help them, but Chimimoryo flickered slightly and Su Jin wasnt able to move at all.

    Dont go there. That fellow is a beast god and no less powerful than I am. These people are his prey, so if you go over, you will be entangled in a fight with the tiger and I wont be able to protect you, Chimimoryo warned Su Jin.

    While they spoke, the tiger swept all seven people into its mouth. Broken limbs and shrieks were mixed together as the tiger swallowed them all.

    Su Jin and Chu Yi were both rather saddened. After all, those people were owners just like themselves. Yet, they had been eaten in just seconds.

    Just then, another figure appeared from a different side. That figure was carrying another person on his back too. Su Jin narrowed his eyes to look and lit up. That was Situ Jin and Bo Ya.

    The beast god noticed Situ Jin at the same time and leaped toward him. Situ Jin was going to make a tasty snack.

    But Su Jin let out an angry shout and dashed out, ignoring Chimimoryos warning. Chu Yi charged at the beast god with the Bloody Sakura Sword in hand as well. They managed to stop the tiger before it got to Situ Jin.

    The beast god looked down at the two men with disdain and scoffed. Move aside! Chimimoryo has chosen you, so I will not kill you. But if you dare to block me from hunting my prey, thats as good as dering war against me!

    Theyre just two owners, so thats nothing to you! Why dont you let them off? Chimimoryos voice rang out. Since Su Jin insisted on saving Situ Jin, it had to help Su Jin, otherwise it would lose its chance to leave the ind. Who knows how long it would be before another batch of owners came to this ind?

    Humph! Because youre just an item, you get the chance to leave this ind. But I dont have that chance! To me, my greatest enjoyment is in gobbling up these humans! Theyre very tasty! And youre trying to stop me now?! roared the tiger furiously.

    Great beast god! Lets strike a deal! shouted Su Jin suddenly.

    The beast god threw Su Jin a contemptuous nce, but Su Jins boldness seemed to have piqued its interest. A deal? What sort of deal?

    If I be a god, I will set this ind free and I will restore your freedom! shouted Su Jin loudly.

    The beast god was surprised by these words for a moment before bursting intoughter. You? A mere mortal? Did you think bing a god is very easy? Out of all the Handbook owners, the chances of one bing a god is less than 10%!

    Id definitely fall into that 10%! said Su Jin without hesitation.

    The beast god saw the confidence and resolution in Su Jins eyes, and suddenly felt like this mans words could be believed. It nced at the depressed Situ Jin and suddenly turned to leave.

    Young man, remember what you said! The beast gods voice echoed loudly, but it had already gone a great distance away.

    Su Jin breathed a big sigh of relief. Like what Chimimoryo said, if they got into a fight, then he and Chu Yi were definitely going to die, even if Chimimoryo wasnt afraid of the tiger. Situ Jin would perish too, so settling this peacefully was the only way all of them could get out of this situation alive.

    Situ, are you alright? Whats happened to Sister Bo Ya? asked Chu Yi in a low voice as he approached Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin raised his head with a dazed expression on his face. He finally realized that the people standing in front of him were Su Jin and Chu Yi. His lips were so dry and cracked, his mouth was covered in dead skin.

    Su Jin Bo Ya is dead It seemed to take all of Situ Jins strength to take a step forward, only to stumble.

    Chu Yi and Su Jin quickly caught hold of him. At the same time, they could now clearly see the lifeless Bo Ya on his back.

 Chapter 308

    Chapter 308

    Su Jin and Chu Yi had saddened looks on their faces. They found arge rock for Situ Jin to lean against and rest, then carried Bo Yas body over to where Kano Mai and Ye Yuns were.

    More than an hourter, Situ Jin slowly woke up again. He was extremely exhausted and goodness knows how hard it must have been for him to carry Bo Yas body all the way here. Su Jin and Chu Yi felt that the fact that he made it here was a miracle in itself.

    Su Jin Bo Ya is dead Situ Jins eyes were bloodshot. This was a man seemingly made from steel, a man who never shed a tear no matter how much he had to suffer in order to protect his country. But now, he seemed to havepletely fallen apart.

    Su Jin patted his shoulder, then moved aside enough for him to see Ye Yun and Kano Mais bodies. His voice was grim. Not only Bo Ya. Mai and Ye Yun too.

    The three men fell silent. They felt so guilty for failing to protect the women in their team. They felt indignant that this ind had taken so many lives.

    Su Jin consoled Situ Ji by saying, All is not lost. I now know that as long as we be gods, well have the chance to revive them. We can rely on our own power to revive them without using the power of the Handbook.

    Situ Jin took a moment to process these words before his face lit up. He grabbed Su Jins shirt and asked, Are you serious? Are you serious?

    Hes serious, but we have to be gods, said Chu Yi.

    A tear ran down Situ Jins cheek, but this was a tear of joy. No matter how hard the road ahead was going to be, as long as he had a goal and a chance, that was going to be his hope. He believed that he would definitely be able to revive Bo Ya.

    After some time, Situ Jin calmed down. He asked the other two, Its just us? Wheres Wu Chen?

    Chu Yis face fell as he said quietly, Hes dead. He died in order to save me.

    Situ Jin sighed and patted Chu Yis shoulder. Revive him in the future, okay? I believe in you.

    Chu Yi nodded vigorously and gave Situ Jin a grateful smile.

    The three of them continued to wait by the beach but no other owners appeared. After the third day passed, everything went ck and they left the Ind of Mistakes.

    Earth Level Challenge Ind of Mistakespleted: 1000 points

    Number of Surviving Team Members: 3, 300 points

    Participation and Extent of Contribution: A-, 500 points

    Points Received: 1800

    Total Points: 5300

    The Challenges of Hells Handbook were always like this. No matter how difficult the Challenge was, the basic number of points you could get remained the same. If you wanted more, you had to perform better during the Challenges. But Su Jin wasnt in the mood to think about what he had gotten. He skimmed through the list of items quickly and didnt find anything useful, so he went straight to the Team Hell Domain.

    He waited for a while by himself before Situ Jin and Chu Yi appeared. The three of them looked at one another and didnt know what to say. The seven member group had lost half its members. This was the greatest loss to the team ever.

    An Earth Level Challenge is as good as an owner massacre. Su Jin sighed. Under such circumstances, even formidable ones like Shen Wu, Xu Ran, and Natasha would have trouble dealing with this Challenge. Everyones lives were hanging by a thread, like a light in the wilderness that could be put out anytime.

    After some time, Chu Yi finally broke the silence. Boss, Situ, I I would like to withdraw from Team Boning Knife.

    Su Jin immediately looked up at Chu Yi with a start and Chu Yi exined, Boss, its not because Im unhappy here or anything like that. I just feel that as long as I have all of you taking care of me, Ill never be able to be a god. Ill always be the child who relies on everyone else, the one who hands over the heavy burden to other people. Someone like that will never be a god, and doesnt deserve to be one either.

    Su Jin didnt know how to react to that. Chu Yi wasnt wrong in saying that. As their team leader, he had been overly protective of his team. While he had not rendered thempletely useless, he had inadvertently curbed their growth.

    Handbook owners only became more powerful after close brushes with death. The owners who wanted to be deities had to train themselves in bloody battles and the fires of danger.

    I understand. But if you run into any problems, youre wee to talk to us. Su Jin smiled tiredly at him. He had no reason to deny Chu Yis request.

    Chu Yi nodded slightly and didnt speak anymore. Situ Jin then said, If thats the case, then I think I ought to leave the team too.

    Is that so? Su Jin smiled bitterly.

    Situ Jin said gravely, Jin, thanks for taking care of me all this time, but just like what Chu Yi said, if I want to be a god I dont have any other choice. I have to bear my own burden and find a way to be one through that journey.

    Su Jin nodded. Just like how he wasnt going to stop Chu Yi from leaving, he wasnt going to stop Situ Jin either. Each person had their own opinions on things and each person had their own missions to aplish. He had no right and no reason to stop them from doing what they wanted to do.

    Then from today onwards, Team Boning Knife is disbanded. Su Jin exhaled deeply. Team Boning Knife was once a seven member, top ranking team. Yet, after just one Challenge, four members died, two members had chosen to leave and the team had fallen apartpletely. Just three days ago, nobody would have imagined this would happen.

    Chu Yi said, Boss, can you pass me the things Wu Chen gave you thest time? I might not be able to revive Wu Chen, but Id like to revive his daughter. Then I can give him a big surprise once I revive him.

    Su Jin nodded and gave the note that Wu Chen handed to him to Chu Yi. Information about Wu Chens daughter was written on this note. Wu Chen had prepared this in case he ended up dying before he could revive his daughter, and it had actuallye into good use now.

    Su Jin didnt know what else to say at this point, so he could only force himself to smile and said, Well, since were about to disband, then lets not waste thest time we benefit as a team from this Team Hell Domain. There might be something useful to us in the item catalogue.

    He walked over to the pedestal and ced his Handbook on it. A list of items appeared in front of them. The list was long and varied, but very few items were helpful in upgrading their skills right now. And most of the things that were really useful were too expensive.

    But the three of them still selected some items anyway. These served as mementos more than actual equipment for use. They would use this to remember the time they fought together for their survival.

    Everyone bid each other farewell and returned to their Personal Hell Domain. Su Jin suddenly felt very tired and wanted to just sleep. He wished he could sleep for ten days, or maybe 20 days, or maybe until the next Challenge started!

    At this juncture, Chimimoryo suddenly started speaking. It was rather delighted as it said, Your psychokinesis how is it so bountiful its as though its as though youre a god.

    Like I said before, Im very confident of bing a god. Su Jin smiled. The number of owners who were close to bing a god werent many, but he was definitely a top contender. His psychokinesis was powerful, and his body was as resilient as a deitys. He just needed onest push.

    I intended to leave you immediately after getting out, but now how about I be an aid to you? said Chimimoryo suddenly.

    Su Jin was stunned and a little puzzled. Aid? You mean

    Companion! I think Id be better able to achieve what I want through staying with a formidable person like you. So, from today onwards, you can use my powers and well fight side by side, said Chimimoryo.

    Su Jin was rather surprised. He had also thought that Chimimoryo merely needed him to take it away from the ind. But now, it seemed like the longbow was happy to join forces with him.

    Of course, Su Jin wasnt going to turn Chimimoryo down. Having such tremendous power was definitely a good thing. And he could vaguely sense that he was going to face a lot of battles ahead. His new boning knife was made by deities, but Su Jin was still a little worried about it. That was why finding a suitable weapon remained extremely important to him.

    Its a deal then. Well fight alongside each other in the future. Su Jin nodded and agreed to this deal.

    After returning to the real world, Su Jin didnt rest. He called the Demon Lord, who was still with Xu Ran. The Demon Lord was surprised by his call.

    My, my! Youre actually calling me! What a rarity! Is it because you need my help? asked the Demon Lordzily.

    Su Jin cut to the chase. I went to the Ind of Mistakes for myst Challenge. You know that ce, dont you?

    The Ind of Mistakes?! eximed the Demon Lord. She clearly knew what ce this was. What in the world?! Thats not a ce for Challenges. How did you end up there?

    You can say it was a form of punishment. Anyway, I met some of your worshippers there. Five of them were trapped on the ind but I think someone hacked them to death. The Demon Lords worshippers had been a great help to Su Jin during his time on the ind, so he was repaying the favor by telling the Demon Lord about them.

    But the Demon Lord said, No issue there. Ive personally blessed them, so they all possess immortal bodies and there isnt anything on the ind that can really kill them. Its just going to take some effort to recover.

    Uh huh. It seems theyve never stopped their worship of you. Well, Ive passed on the message I was asked to, so you can decide what you want to do with it. Su Jin was ready to hang up.

    Hello? Hello? Wait! You went to the Ind of Mistakes, so did something happen there? asked the Demon Lord curiously.

    Su Jin remained silent for so long, the Demon Lord nearly thought he had hung up. Just when she was about to ask him again, he replied sullenly, Team Boning Knife has disbanded.

 Chapter 309

    Chapter 309

    The Demon Lord was shocked. She had seen the prowess of Team Boning Knife. No owners who could rescue someone from Shen Wu and escape unscathed were useless people, and the fact that they risked their lives to help Su Jin meant that they were on very close terms. Why would they just disband like that?

    More than half the team lost their lives on the Ind of Mistakes. Even if we didnt disband, its meaningless to continue as a team. Su Jins voice was low and he felt very depressed.

    The Demon Lord could understand. She had heard about the Ind of Mistakes in great detail from other deities before, so it wasnt surprising that the team would lose so many people there.

    Can I ask you something? asked Su Jin suddenly.

    Thats also very rare. Go ahead and ask what you want. Ill answer you if I can. The Demon Lord was a little surprised. The rtionship between the Demon Lord and Su Jin went a long way back now. Without Su Jin, she would have perished with the little world she belonged to, and simrly, without her help, Su Jin would have died in a Challenge a long time ago.

    The two of them were wary of each other and had good reason to be so, but Su Jin was really the person who got along best with the Demon Lord. She was on good terms with Xu Ran now, but she was on much better terms with Su Jin.

    How can I be a god? asked Su Jin gravely.

    The Demon Lord blinked in surprise, then burst outughing. HAHA! Be a god? I thought you didnt care for that! Why do you suddenly want to be one now?

    I want to revive my dead team members! said Su Jin immediately.

    She responded, Ah, I see! Well, its true that you can revive the dead after you be a god, but not every god can do that. Only top deities have this ability. I used to have it but as my era passed on, I no longer have this power.

    I will be the greatest god! Su Jin was very confident. Or rather, he had to be this confident. If he wanted to bring his team members back to life, this was the only way.

    The Demon Lord was silent for a moment before sighing. Honestly speaking, from the day I struck a deal with you, I had a feeling that as long as you didnt die prematurely in some Challenge, you would eventually begin your journey to godhood. Since youve asked, then I wont troll you like I troll Xu Ran. Ill tell you straight  you have to go along with the Handbook. You can only be a god after you experience its trials and tribtions. This is the road that every god must go down.

    Su Jin was a little taken aback. He already guessed as much, but he was still surprised when he heard it directly from the Demon Lord.

    Regardless of whether they were elder gods, current gods, or new gods, they were once Handbook owners before they became gods. He still wasnt sure of what really happened in between, but that part was definitely true.

    Thank you so much, Su Jin thanked the Demon Lord sincerely.

    No need. If theres nothing else, Im hanging up. Ive got plenty of activities lined up for the night! The Demon Lord hung up without even waiting for a response, much to Su Jins annoyance.

    But after she hung up, she did not actually go out to y like she had implied. She sat down in her room for a long time in silence. An aggressive glint shed in her eyes.

    Its begun it has begun! murmured the Demon Lord.

    A few minutes after Su Jin hung up, his phone rang again. It was Tang Ning. His heart trembled a little and his instinct was to ignore the call, but he picked it up in the end.

    Hello? Su Jins voice was a little hoarse.

    Su Jin? I dont know whats going on with Ye Yun, but shes not picking up my calls at all. Can you tell her that her parents areing home in two days and she needs to pick them up from the airport? Tang Ning said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin was quiet for some time, and Tang Ning thought the reception was poor or something. But after a while, Su Jin said, Tang Ning, do you have some time now? Id like to meet.

    Now? Tang Ning was a little confused.

    Yeah, now, replied Su Jin.

    Come to the office then. Im still working, but dont take too long, I shouldnt work till toote either, said Tang Ning in an exhausted voice.

    Ill be there in a second! Su Jin hung up. A silvery glow encapsted his body, then he flew into the sky. He arrived at Ster Skies headquarters in less than a minute. He blocked the vision of everyone in the building and flew into Tang Nings office through her window.

    Tang Ning was massaging her eyes. Years of handling documents and staring at the screen had worsened her eyesight. She nced at a man envelope on the side of her desk with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

    Tang Ning. Su Jins voice suddenly resounded from behind her and startled her. When she turned around and saw it was Su Jin, she eximed in surprise, My goodness! We were talking on the phone less than two minutes ago! Were you already downstairs?

    Thats not important. Su Jin shook his head.

    Tang Ning was confused for a while, then suddenly stared at him in shock. Wait did you just did youe in from the window?!

    Yep. Su Jin nodded.

    What in the world?! This is the 19<sup>th</sup> floor! Tang Nings eyes were as wide as saucers. Ster Skies didnt own a very high building in the city, but a 21-story building wasnt a short building at all, and her own office was on the 19<sup>th</sup> floor. She continued to stare at him in shock as she said, I did hear from Yun Tianye that youre a true expert in martial arts, but I didnt expect I didnt expect your level to be this high? What sort of kungfu was that?! Something that can make you fly?

    Su Jinughed and nodded. You can say so!

    Tan Ning could see that Su Jin didnt seem very happy, so she asked, Whats wrong? You look a little unhappy.

    Its true. Some things happened and some close friends of mine have passed away. Im feeling pretty upset. Su Jin scratched his head awkwardly.

    But Tang Ning smiled sadly and said, Most of life doesnt go the way you want it to, so look on the bright side. Youre luckier than me.

    What do you mean? Su Jin could tell that she was implying something.

    Tang Ning shook her head and squeezed a smile out Nothing. By the way, you were looking for me urgently? I dont think you were hoping I could be your therapist or something, right?

    Su Jin knew that Tang Ning was trying to change the topic, so he muttered, Sorry about this, as a silver light shed in his eyes and he used his psychokinesis to scan Tang Nings brain. He now knew why she was unhappy.

    Late stage cancer? Su Jin was surprised as well. Tang Ning hadte stage cancer. He had never heard her talk about it before.

    Tang Ning only saw that some light shed in Su Jins eyes and then he was able to reveal her secret. She eximed, You can read minds?!

    Tang Ning, why didnt you tell us about this? asked Su Jin.

    Tang Nings expression fell. It waste stage by the time I found out, so whats the point in telling you guys? Ill only make everyone unhappy.

    Of course theres a point! Su Jin retrieved his All Purpose Healing Pill from his Handbook and ced it in front of Tang Ning. Tang Ning, do you trust me?

    Duh! Ive already entrusted my cousin to you. Would I do that if I didnt trust you? Tang Ning red at Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled. Thats great. Swallow this pill then.

    Whats whats this? Tang Ning was a little hesitant, but she was suddenly no longer worried when she saw how sincere Su Jin looked. Sheughed self-deprecatingly and said, Then again, I dont have to be afraid. Im about to die, anyway. She then swallowed the pill.

    Su Jin gave her a pleased nod, then said, You called me earlier to pass a message on to Ye Yun Im afraid I wont be able to do that for the time being.

    What? That girls so wild that even YOU dont know where she is? Tang Nings eyes widened. She didnt know what to say about this cousin of hers. Previously, she had disappeared for months. Then aftering back for a few weeks, she had run off again?!

    Su Jin didnt know how to exin things to Tang Ning. He didnt know when he could bring Ye Yun back to life, and it was going to be too hard to hide this from her for long.

    With that in mind, the silver glint in his eyes reappeared. He said to Tang Ning, Tang Ning, look at me.

    Tang Ning looked straight into his eyes and went into a daze. Several secondster, the silver glint in Su Jins eyes disappeared and he smiled at her. Manager Tang, thats the situation. My familys situation is a little difficult now, so I have no choice but to resign.

    Tang Ning paused for a moment, tapped her pen against the table a few times, then sighed as she shook her head. Alright then. Since youve already decided, then Ster Skies can only wish you all the best for the future.

    Su Jin held his hand out. Thank you so much, Manager Tang. If theres a chance in the future, I hope we can still work together.

    Tang Ning magnanimously shook his hand with a smile. Of course. I hope so too.

    Su Jin withdrew his hand, then shook his head apologetically at Tang Ning before leaving her office. At the same time, he took her medical report away and destroyed the documents. Inside the office, Tang Ning rubbed her temples tiredly. The resignation of an ordinary worker did not mean much to Ster Skies, but he was someone she thought had some potential.

    Su Jin felt apologetic toward Tang Ning, but in order for everyone to continue living their lives normally, he had modified her memories. He had removed all her memories of Ye Yun, and at the same time, he had left behind a little psychokinesis trigger. From now on, anybody who interacted with her would have their memories of Ye Yun erased, as long as they werent owners. That included Ye Yuns parents.

    Im really sorry, but perhaps doing this will help all of you live happier lives. Su Jin walked into the distance. He knew he had many things to do and a long way to go. It was probably going to be a difficult path, but it was one he would never regret.

 Chapter 310

    Chapter 310

    Su Jin rested for a week. He took a real rest this time. He slept all day in his house for the whole week. He switched off his phone and locked his room door. He had to get a good rest because he might not be able to do so for a long time ahead.

    After he woke up, Su Jin realized that the seal that the Mad Hatter had put in ce was a little damaged. He had gone through several major battles recently and drained his psychokinesis a number of times. That caused the psychokinesis within the seal to move as a result and made the seal crack.

    30,000? Su Jin frowned. This was probably still within the eptable boundaries of the Handbook, and he didnt think he would be able to affect the running of the Handbook at the moment.

    He went into Hells Bar and was prepared to get himself a nice drink. He was seldom in the mood or had the time, after all. His team had been disbanded, so the teams table was no longer avable. He had no choice but to sit at the bar and order a drink.

    The boss seemed to still remember Su Jin, or perhaps he could recognize every owner that had been to Hells Bar before. He nced at Su Jin, then ced a drink in front of him.

    Drunken Dreams. Just drink this down and your troubles will disappear. The boss smiled and tapped on the side of the ss.

    Su Jin smiled sadly. He pushed the drink back toward the boss and shook his head. Thanks, but now I cant just stay depressed and not do anything. This drink hase a little toote.

    Then what about this thing? The boss put down a nicely packed package in front of Su Jin. There was an envelope attached to it too.

    Su Jin was very puzzled. Someone had sent him something? He picked up the envelope and his eyes instantly flew open. The sender was none other than Ye Yun. He tore the envelope open and started reading the letter carefully.

    Hello Brother Su! By the time you read this letter, I must have left this world. How can I be so sure? Because I made arrangements for this letter to be sent to you only after I died. Never would have guessed, right? My silly Brother Su?

    Come to think of it, Brother Su is really silly. You actually went to Shen Wus universe just to rescue me and nearly lost your life in the process, but I really like how silly you are, and I really like how youre willing to sacrifice everything for my sake. But I dont know if I deserve your sacrifice.

    Oh man, Im getting a little emotional! Im supposed to be the bold and fearless Ye Yun! Since Im already dead, I think there are some things I ought to exin clearly to you. That is, why Shen Wu was so bent on capturing me and what he was hoping to gain from me.

    The answer is in the package. But do not open it in Hells Bar, the item inside might cause amotion because its a Badge of Godhood!

    Youre not seeing things. Its really a Badge of Godhood. I got it during a Level A Challenge. Ive not been able to find a way to use it, but its a genuine item. It can help an ordinary owner be a god!

    By this point, Su Jins eyes were nearly falling out of their sockets. This was definitely not a reason he would have ever thought of. Then again, it made perfect sense. What else would make someone like Shen Wu, a top ranked owner with full dominion of his universe, go to such lengths to obtain?

    Im already dead, so if Shen Wu or anyone else tries to make trouble for you, just tell them that it died with me. All things that still belong to the owner will perish with the owner after all. This badge brings trouble, but its also a rare and precious treasure. I dont know if its useful to you or how to use it even, but theres nothing I can do about that now. Its yours. You decide if you want to broil it, steam it, deep fry, or stir fry it.

    Also, thank you for taking care of me all this time. Yours sincerely, the ever worrisome super beauty, Ye Yun.

    Su Jins heart began to ache terribly as he stared at the letter in his hands. The badge was very precious, but it was nowhere as precious as this letter. It was nowhere as precious as any of the words written here.

    I see your emotions have been affected. Do you need this now? The boss pushed Drunken Dreams toward Su Jin again with a scheming smile on his face. He whispered, Ill sell you at a good price. Just 1,000 points.

    Su Jin smiled sadly, then took hold of the ss. But just when he was about to throw his head back and drink everything in one shot, his Handbook suddenly gave off a blue glow. Someone was calling for him.

    He opened his Handbook to find that it was a call from Situ Jin. The team had disbanded, but it only meant that they didnt have to go through Challenges together. They continued to keep in touch since they hadnt be enemies as a result or anything like that.

    Situ, whats up? Su Jin picked up Situ Jins video call.

    Situ Jins face appeared in his Handbook and his voice was anxious, Come to N Ocean, now!

    N Ocean? Whatever for? Su Jin was puzzled.

    Situ Jin continued, Some folks from the Dark Council have arrived by boat and they insist on making trouble for you. I cant hold up for long damn it there are more than 20 of them and theyre all expert fighters, so hurry up ande over!

    Su Jins expression fell and he pushed the drink back to the boss. Looks like I wont be able to drink this today. Well talk another time!

    The boss just nodded and didnt say anything. Su Jin grabbed hold of the package. This carried a Badge of Godhood! Good heavens  no wonder Shen Wu had gone insane over it.

    After he left Hells Bar, Su Jin enveloped his body with psychokinesis, then flew into the sky and headed for N Ocean. It didnt take long for him to arrive. The bit of psychokinesis he had left on Situ Jin was still intact and acted as a GPS of sorts. As long as Su Jin did not connect to it, it did not consume any of his energy, so he could keep it there for an extremely long time.

    Over there? Su Jins body moved like a sh of silver light, travelling several miles in a second. He reached Situ Jin in less than 30 seconds.

    Situ Jin was standing on one of many warships, but nobody from the navy was allowed to take down any records from this incident. Also, Situ Jin was the only person from the Department of Supernatural Affairs who was present.

    Facing Situ Jin were 20 people in ck priest robes. Among them were three people who had made trouble for Su Jin in Africa earlier on. But they were clearly not in high positions within the Dark Council, so they had to stand toward the back of the group.

    The leader of the group was an old man withpletely white hair. He looked rather genial, but when Su Jin looked at his eyes, he saw nothing but aggression in them.

    Thats a tough one, mumbled Su Jin before flying toward Situ Jin. As he approached, all the weaponry on the warship turned to aim at him.

    Situ Jin shook his head as a signal. The weaponry did not move away, but Su Jinnded safely next to Situ Jin anyway. Of course, the weaponry didnt bother him at all. The weapons of this age couldnt hurt him, besides a nuclear bomb.

    The person youre looking for is here. You can talk to him, shouted Situ Jin very loudly. Then he whispered to Su Jin without moving his lips, They came looking specifically for you. Im afraid these guys arent friendly.

    Thats kinda obvious. Theyvee in such arge group and they dont mind falling out with someone from the Chinese government. Theyre definitely not here for a friendly visit, said Su Jin with a faint smile.

    The old man leading the group from the Dark Council said, Youre Su Jin?

    Thats right, Im Su Jin. Su Jin nodded slightly, then asked, Do we just start fighting? Or you wanna talk a little before that?

    The members of the Dark Council immediately felt that Su Jin was simply too arrogant and their expressions darkened. Then again, this was also the one who managed to defeat Abbas the corpse controller, an owner who was ranked among the top #100. Su Jin had every right to be arrogant.

    Hello, Mr. Su. I am the chairman of the Dark Council, Satan! said the old man to Su Jin in a loud voice.

    Satan? The name of the devil? This old man has a serious case of chuunibyou. Both Su Jin and Situ Jin couldnt help but crack a smile. Regardless of whether this was his given name or a name he had given himself, it sounded weird either way. Goodness knows how many in the western hemisphere would snort or roll their eyes at such a name.

    Hello, Mr. Satan. Im not sure why youve brought so many people to my country, said Su Jin in a grim voice.

    I am here for one simple reason. I hope that you can join the Dark Council and be one of our members, replied Satan.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. He didnt expect that response. Situ Jin remarked, They cant defeat you, so theyre asking you to join them instead?

    Are you trying to co-opt me into the organization? asked Su Jin with a smile.

    Satan smiled as well and said, I wouldnt consider it that. We dont know what the world will look like in the future, and Im sure Mr. Su would be able to foresee that only people like us can be the leaders of this world, not ordinary humans. Youre very powerful  the fact that you managed to kill Abbas is proof of that  and I dont want to see a formidable character like yourself die in a conflict. So, joining us is your best choice.

    Su Jin nced at Tracy, who was standing right at the back of the group. He said calmly, Im not convinced about how sincere you are, especially since Ive killed that womans father. Miss Tracy, are you sure you dont have any ns to take revenge?

    Tracy shuddered slightly and red at Su Jin with a vengeful and furious look in her eyes, but her speech was calm and deferential, I was the one who offended you first and my father died because of my ignorance. All of this is my fault in the first ce, so there is no reason for me to seek revenge on you.

    p p! Su Jin apuded her andughed. Haha! How interesting, how very interesting! For the sake of gaining more power, youre willing to suppress your true emotions. But Tracy, I think youve forgotten that I have psychokinesis just like you do. And for people like us, its super easy to find out what others are thinking about, right?

    Tracy was puzzled for a moment when she noticed a tiny silvery spark on her shoulder. It turned out that Su Jin had already read their minds earlier and found out that these people werent interested in recruiting him at all. They were trying to trick him into entering a cage they had specially built for him. They failed to kill him, so their next n of action was to just trap him forever.

    Enough of this nonsense! Only one of us will live to see tomorrow! Its either the Dark Council or myself! said Su Jin calmly.

 Chapter 311

    Chapter 311

    After the Challenge on the Ind of Mistakes, Su Jins perspective had changed dramatically. He slowly realized that if he wanted to eventually be a god, then he would have to also face much bloodshed. So, instead of being forced to face such situations, it was easier to take the initiative.

    Mr. Su, I hope you can understand one thing  its true that youre ranked at #91, but were not pushovers either. We wont allow you to tear us to pieces just like that. Satans expression was grim. He thought that Su Jin would obediently agree to their terms once he saw how many formidable owners there were here. He didnt expect Su Jin to immediately refuse.

    We just need a test and well know if youre steel or if youre mud. Su Jin then said to Situ Jin, Get your fleet to move away. The further, the better.

    Got it. Ill leave these people to you. Situ Jin wasnt worried about Su Jin. These guys looked fierce, but they werent good enough to kill Su Jin.

    Situ Jin immediately instructed all the naval ships in the area to move as far away as possible, like what Su Jin said. The 21 owners here were all extremely formidable characters, so any fighting that arose wouldnt be any less than an actual tsunami.

    Mr. Su, I would like to remind you onest time that Im also ranked among the top #100, so if you include the members standing behind me, Im afraid you dont stand a Before Satan could finish speaking, Su Jin cut him off.

    So, you still think Im at #91. Its not your fault either, its been a long time since I made my ranking public, said Su Jin evenly. Look again. Whats my ranking?

    Satan was stunned for a moment before he whipped out his Handbook to take a look. Cold sweat immediately started dripping from his forehead, because when Su Jins name reappeared in the ranking inside, he was no longer at #91. He was now at #7!

    Youre youre #7?! How can this be? How? How could your ranking rise this quickly?! Satan couldnt believe his own eyes.

    Ah, Ive been doing a bit more exercisetely! said Su Jin with a smile. Of course his ranking had risen quickly. Quite a bit of his previously sealed psychokinesis had leaked, which had increased the total amount he could use. Having Chimimoryo to assist him had also increased his capabilities. Furthermore, he had discovered a new potential in his psychokinesis during his battle with Abbas. All these aspects added to his overall prowess and therefore ranking.

    The owners from the Dark Council were terrified beyond words. They hade in hope of forcing this man to be one of them, but now they were actually faced with a formidable owner almost on par with Shen Wu and Natasha.

    Mr. Su, this this has been a misunderstanding Satans face twitched awkwardly a few times. Besides backing down, there was nothing else he could do.

    A misunderstanding? Su Jin wasnt going to ept any exnation. It had been difficult enough for him to keep the anger and pain he felt down, and the Dark Council had chosen such a time to make things difficult for him. He was going to vent his frustrations out on them, as well as help the ordinary humans of the world get rid of a pile of troublemakers.

    Run! Satan knew they were in trouble the minute he saw the expression on Su Jins face. The members of the Dark Council reacted very quickly, escaping in different directions within seconds. Some traveled on a beam of light, some grew wings, some transformed themselves into bats, and some leaped directly into the ocean.

    Su Jin didnt bother chasing after them and just watched them run. A few minutester, a silver glow flickered before a loud thunderous boom resounded. The members of the Dark Council who had tried to escape immediately came running back from the sky and the sea. Not a single one made it out. Their faces were pale as they stared in terror at Su Jin. They were all surrounded by a giant ball of psychokinesis.

    The giant silver ball of psychokinesis was like a gigantic cage. Su Jin had set it up from the moment he arrived. The moment the Dark Council members tried to run, he started to shrink it toward himself. Psychokinesis was a lot more resilient than most Spirit Powers, and how resilient it was depended on the owner wielding it.

    Su Jins psychokinesis was as resilient as the toughest thing in the world, so there was no way any of them were going to break through it.

    Mr. Su, are you forcing us into a fight to the death?! roared Satan angrily. He knew that since backing down didnt work, then there was no room for any negotiation. Just like what Su Jin had said, only one of them could remain standing.

    Like I said, only one of us will live to see tomorrow! Su Jin immediately flicked his fingers. Twenty Su Jins made from psychokinesis appeared in the ball of psychokinesis. Each of them carried a weapon that was also made from psychokinesis, including the boning knife, the Longbow of the Demon Lord, and Chimimoryo.

    Satans heart was already in despair when he saw this, but he was an owner too, after all. Even if he had no hope of winning this battle, he wasnt going to go down without a fight. He roared and charged at Su Jin. Even if he had to die, he was going to make sure he got his blood all over Su Jin.

    Dark Angel! bellowed Satan. A ck pair of wings immediately grew from his back. Su Jin could feel a tremendous amount of indignation, hatred, and grief. That was a pair of wings made from vengeful souls.

    Su Jin flipped his palm and Chimimoryo appeared in his hand. He whispered, This should be a tasty meal for you. He pulled the bowstring back slightly, and an evil spirit made from ck mist appeared immediately. That was one way Chimimoryo presented itself.

    Once the bowstring was released, the evil spirit whooshed out. It made Satan suddenly feel like turning and making a run for it. He could sense that his wings were actually afraid of this evil spirit.

    Kill it!! The ck angel wings were Satans treasure, so once he gave themand, the wings went head to head with Chimimoryo.

    But the ending did not turn out like those in fairytales, where the weak wins against the strong. Chimimoryos ck mist instantly enveloped Satan, and he disappeared instantly before he could even let out a shriek.

    Su Jin released the bowstring, then proceeded to watch the battle from the sidelines. He watched as his 20 clones fought the members of the Dark Council. The members were slowly weakened over time as they fought on.

    These members were very formidable and were high ranking owners, so they managed to fight the clones for a rtively long period of time, bringing utter chaos to N Ocean. But they were humans at the end of the day. And as long as they were humans, they could be injured, and once they were injured, they were weakened, and they would eventually die.

    But Su Jins clones could not get hurt, could not die, did not fear anything, and carried out Su Jinsmands without question. Su Jin told them to kill these members, so thats what they did.

    In no time, the clones had killed nearly half the members. Murray, Jack, and Tracy were still barely hanging on, not because they were more powerful than the other owners, but because Su Jin was keeping them forst.

    Weve got to kill him first, or were all going to end up dead! There was a fierce glint in Murrays eyes as he wed at the clone he was fighting to push it aside, then flew straight for Su Jin.

    The faces of the other Dark Council members lit up when they saw that Murray had made a dash for Su Jin. To them, the fact that Su Jin was watching on without doing anything showed that he was toocent. Su Jin would never expect that Murray would actually still find the strength to attack him at this juncture.

    DOONG!

    Murrays punchnded squarely on Su Jins chest, and his expression immediately turned to one of horror. Su Jin looked at him quietly and said, Youre kinda stupid, arent you? After thest battle, didnt you already realize that my body is not my weakness at all?

    Murray smiled sadly. Su Jin was right. Back in Africa, Su Jin had thrashed them so badly that they had to flee for their lives. This time, he had been stupid enough to attempt a close rangebat again. He was very stupid indeed.

    The other members of the Dark Council had looks of despair on their faces. The punch that Murray had thrown was theirst hope, but that wasnt enough to make Su Jin even dodge.

    Two of Su Jins psychokinesis clones appeared behind Murray, and two boning knives were aimed at Murrays neck. The force of their arms thrusting the knife was so great, Murray could feel the wind it stirred up.

    If you dont kill us, we could still be useful to you! said Murray suddenly just before the knives struck him.

    A silver glint shed in Su Jins eyes. The two clones had disappeared the moment the knife hade within millimeters of Murrays neck and returned to Su Jins consciousness.

    What do you mean by that? asked Su Jin.

    The Dark Council controls the underworld in the western hemisphere. While its true that weve enved ordinary humans for our own pleasure, at the same time, weve brought order to the underworld. If we all die here today, then the underworld will definitely be thrown into utter chaos. I can see that youre not like us and youre not willing to hurt his world, so please let us off. Murrays heart was beating very quickly. He had no idea if he could persuade Su Jin with these words, but that was the only hope any of them had right now.

    Su Jin tapped the bridge of his nose. He had a much kinder attitude toward the world and he wasnt a very barbaric person to begin with. Moreover, he wanted to revive his teammates so that they could continue to live in this world in peace and security. If he allowed chaos to reign in the western hemisphere, the world was going to be a much darker ce to live in.

    What youve said makes some sense, but I know some Handbook owners myself and I could get my own friends to take over. It might get messy for a while, but at least I know I can trust them. Dont you think so? replied Su Jin calmly.

    Murray nced at the owners behind him, then suddenly bowed low before Su Jin. I, Murray, am willing to be your servant. I pledge my allegiance to you from today onward, and if I go back on my word, I shall be punished for the rest of my life!

    Su Jin was stunned for a moment as he saw Murray retrieve his Handbook, then tear off the page with his own name on it and hand it to Su Jin.

    This represents my sincerity! Murray said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled. This fellow was a decisive one. The first page of every owners Handbook was printed with the owners name. If this page was destroyed, then the owner would also die. But as long as it remained inside the Handbook, this page was very safe, unless the owner tore it out themselves. Such an instance was called pledging ones allegiance to another owner  in other words, once Su Jin epted this page, then as long as Murray did anything that displeased him, he could end Murrays life with very little effort.

    After Murray had done that, all the other surviving members of the Dark Council tore the page with their name on it and bowed to Su Jin.

 Chapter 312

    Chapter 312

    Su Jin did not expect this at all. He had hoped to vent the anger boiling inside him out on these people, but he ended up taking them in like new disciples instead. It was true that in most cultivation novels, the MC just had to show off his true prowess and dozens of people would flock toward him and ask to be his disciple. But somehow this situation felt a little different.

    Alright, alright, Ill ept the pages. I will not interfere in anything you guys do, but you must remember two things, said Su Jin as he scanned the surviving members. Firstly, if any of you dare to make trouble within China, I will kill you! Secondly, make sure you do things within reason. I will kill anybody who makes this world a mess. If there are owners in the western hemisphere harming others in the real world, all of you are responsible for maintaining order. You hear me?

    Got it. Murray had a bitter look on his face. The Dark Council was set up to suppress others for their own enjoyment, but now, Su Jin was making them maintain order in the world. Wasnt that turning them into social justice warriors? Was the Dark Council now the Justice League?!

    You can leave now. Su Jin waved his hand and the ball of psychokinesis surrounding them disappeared.

    The members dared not stick around and quickly left with sullen looks on their faces. Su Jin came to the warship that Situ Jin was on. Situ Jin said, You killed quite a number of them?

    About half. But you dont have to worry anymore, they wonte here and make trouble ever again, said Su Jin.

    Situ Jin nodded. Thanks so much.

    You dont have to thank me. This started because of me, anyway. Besides, even if I didnt do anything, youd end up contacting Xu Ran. Su Jin chuckled before they both fell silent for a moment. They were no longer teammates and they still werent really used to it yet.

    After bidding Situ Jin farewell, Su Jin returned to S City. He had only just reached home when he received a call from Su Qing. She was on holiday and wanted to visit S City for fun. Since Su Jin was her older brother, she expected him to bring her around.

    Sure, juste over anytime. Let me know when youre about to arrive so that I can go and pick you up, Su Jin agreed to host her readily. She was going to sit for her high school examinations soon, and it was good to take a nice break before the examinations.

    The next morning, Su Qings flight arrived at S City. Su Jin headed for the airport immediately after he got the call. He didnt buy a car since he didnt need one, so he took a cab instead.

    The nended shortly after he had arrived at the airport. She had hoped to hide in the crowd and give her brother a surprise, but Su Jins psychokinesis had located her the moment she got off the ne, so this surprise was never going to happen. Instead, Su Qing got a shock when Su Jin suddenly appeared behind her.

    Oh my god! I didnt even hear your footsteps! I got such a shock! Su Qing was so shocked, she kept patting her chest.

    Su Jin rubbed her head gently. He hadnt seen her for a year and she had grown into such a pretty youngdy, plus she was almost his height now. That wasnt too bad for a girl.

    Come along with me! Ill bring you to eat good food! said Su Jin with a heartyugh. Su Qings eyes were filled with delight. She hadnt seen her older brother in a year and she missed him very dearly.

    But when they walked out of the airport, Su Jin suddenly realized something. He wanted to bring Su Qing around to enjoy herself, but he didnt know what was good in S City. That put him in a bit of an awkward situation, since he had been based in S City for quite some time now.

    Even after pausing to think, he couldnt think of anything. He didnt have any friends to ask either. Tang Ning would have had plenty of rmendations, but he had just altered her memories, so he couldnt possibly call her about this.

    Oh, what about her? Su Jin pped his forehead. He did actually know someone who would know about such things  Han Mengyao from the special police. He didnt like dealing with the department, but he figured it would be alright to just give one of them a call about something like that.

    With that in mind, Su Jin gave Han Mengyao a call. She was sleeping when he called her, so she got up with an angry pout on her face and her hair messily over half her face. But when she saw that the caller was actually Su Jin, her eyes couldnt help but light up.

    Hello, Mr. Expert. Why are you calling me?

    Su Jin was a little taken aback. She sounded rather annoyed. Did someone make her angry?

    Miss Han, I, uh my younger sister is in S City for a visit and I wanted to take her out to a good meal and help her to rx. But Im not very familiar with S City, so do you have any good rmendations? Su Jin was asking for a favor, so he had to sound as friendly and polite as possible.

    Your younger sister? If you just want to eat, there are a few restaurants near the jetty that arent too bad. Theres a shopping street nearby too, so you can go there and take a look. Of course Han Mengyao was upset. After the incident at Cloud Mountain, Su Jin did not contact her again. Even though that was to be expected, for some reason, Han Mengyao felt like she had been abandoned.

    Thanks! Su Jin thanked her cheerfully, then hung up before she could even say anything in response. He didnt want the conversation to suddenly veer toward anything to do with the special police.

    Hello? Hello?! ARGH! What an asshole! Han Mengyao sprang up from her bed in anger. She pouted even more angrily now.

    Su Jin had no idea what her expression was like. He said to Su Qing, Alright! Im going to show you the morous side of this city!

    Su Qing got excited too. She trusted her brother regardless of what he said. Even if he said he was bringing her to the moon, she might actually believe him.

    He hailed a cab and told the driver to head for the jetty. At the same time, he asked the driver for some rmendations. The driver was a chatty man, so he couldnt stop talking once he started.

    Somewhere to eat? Then youve got to head to Eight Tastes Restaurant! I heard that they cook meals with herbs and they only use the most expensive and rarest of herbs. Its not cheap, but everyones into healthy eating these days, isnt it? Besides, their food is really tasty. Ive also heard that before you order, a doctor will take your pulse and check your bodys condition. The doctor would work with the chef to ensure that you get food thats most suitable for your body.

    Jin, forget it, it sounds really expensive. We can just settle for something simple. Su Qing knew that her brother had worked very hard in order to make ends meet all these years, but he just didnt tell his family. So, when she heard that it wasnt cheap, she immediately refused to go.

    Su Jin patted her hair and said, Dont worry, I can afford to feed you, at least.

    The driver drove them straight to the doorstep of Eight Tastes Restaurant. They felt that this ce was definitely no ordinary ce the moment they got out of the car. The restaurant was housed in an old Chinese building, but it wasnt just a building that was designed to look like an old building. It looked like someone had removed an old building from elsewhere, then moved it here and spruced it up. That alone was a lot of effort and money.

    Once they stepped in, a waiter approached them. Su Jin wanted to treat his sister to a meal, so he wasnt going to stinge on any expenses and immediately requested a private room. The waiter seemed to think that based on Su Jins dressing, he wouldnt be able to afford much, so after hesitating for a moment, he said that there werent any more private rooms left.

    But any waiter who could hold a job in such an expensive restaurant wouldnt be a stick in the mud. Even after he told Su Jin that he couldnt get a private room, the waiter still allocated a fairly quiet spot for the two siblings.

    Su Jin knew what the waiter was thinking about, but he just wanted to have a nice meal with his sister, so he decided not to pursue this matter further. Just like what the cab driver had told them on their way to the restaurant, once they sat down, a middle-aged man who looked like a traditional Chinese medicine doctor approached them and offered to check their pulses.

    Su Jin motioned to let Su Qing go first. The doctor checked her pulse, narrowed his eyes slightly, then let go of her hand after a minute. He grabbed the nk sheet of paper prepared for him and started writing furiously on it before passing it to the waiter, who would hand it straight to the chef. The customers here did not get to order their own food at all. The doctor did that for them.

    The two siblings thought this was a very new and interesting idea. The doctor said to Su Qing, Miss, youve been rather tired out recently and youve lost a lot of energy. If this goes on, you may fall ill. Ive gotten the kitchen to prepare some food to replenish your energy. However, food can only serve as a supplement. If you want to get rid of this problem at the root, you need to rest more, stop staying up at night and make sure you arent feeling too stressed.

    This doctor wasnt too bad after all. Su Qing had been studying day and night to prepare herself for her high school examinations, so she was more than a little exhausted.

    Got it! Thank you so much, Doctor, Su Qing thanked the doctor politely. The doctor smiled back and nodded slightly.

    Sir, its your turn. The doctor turned to look at Su Jin.

    Uh its alright, Im pretty healthy. Su Jin didnt think his health needed a check, so he just simply made up an excuse.

    But the doctor continued to insist, Youre a customer, and since youre spending at Eight Tastes, then it is only right for us to provide the service weve promised all our customers.

    Alright then! Su Jin smiled. The doctor only checked ones pulse anyway, so he didnt really mind that.

    Su Jin stretched his arm out and the doctor ced his fingers on Su Jins wrist. But a few secondster, he shifted his fingers slightly, then did that again a few more secondster.

    Su Jin felt likeughing when he saw what the doctor was doing. Doctor, are you having trouble locating my pulse?

    The doctors expression was a little perplexed, not because Su Jin was teasing him but because he felt that this young mans pulse didnt seem human. Su Jins pulse was so strong and fit, not even an elephant could match up to him.

    He said to Su Jin, Sir, do you mind if I check your eyes?

    My eyes? Su Jin frowned. This meal was getting a little too troublesome now.

    Jin, just let the doctor take a look! Su Qing started getting worried. She thought that the doctor detected some illness and wanted to do more checks on Su Jin.

    She was very insistent, so Su Jin had no choice but to agree to it. The doctor immediately sat down in front of Su Jin and told Su Jin to open his eyes wide. But when he stared into Su Jins eyes, he immediately froze, then fell to the floor with a loud thud a few secondster and stopped breathing.

 Chapter 313

    Chapter 313

    Su Jin and Su Qing were shocked when the doctor suddenly copsed. One of the waitresses shrieked because the doctors eyes had rolled upward.

    The manager in charge of the main dining area of Eight Tastes Restaurant immediately came running over to ask what happened. When he discovered that the doctors heart was no longer beating, he was too stunned to speak.

    Su Jin was a little embarrassed by this point. What happened to the doctor was actually very simple. His psychokinesis had overwhelmed the doctor. His eyes were an outlet for his psychokinesis, and he had forgotten to suppress it when the doctor stared directly into them earlier. The doctors consciousness copsed, resulting in this situation.

    Doctor! Someone, call the doctor! yelled the manager frantically.

    Hes the doctor! The waitress was very panicky and pointed at the man lying on the floor instead of getting another doctor.

    Su Jin sighed quietly and said, Theres no need to panic. This gentleman is justsuffering from acute dizziness. Stand aside, let him have a little breathing space. Su Jin then squatted down and ced his hands on the doctors chest as though he was performing CPR. But in reality, he sent his psychokinesis into the doctors consciousness via his palms to help reconstruct his psyche.

    Several secondster, the doctor slowly exhaled, then opened his eyes to look confusedly at the people crowding around him. The crowd slowly walked away when they saw that he had regained consciousness.

    Thank god! Dr. Xu, you really gave us a scare just now! The manager was so relieved to see the doctor get to his feet. If something untoward happened to this doctor within the restaurant, then the restaurant would have to bear full responsibility.

    What what happened to me just now? The doctor was still confused.

    Dr. Xu, you copsed earlier and if not for this gentleman here, you might have been beyond hope, said the waitress to the doctor.

    The doctor turned to look toward Su Jin and shuddered suddenly. He was about to say something when he saw a silver glint in Su Jins eyes. That frightened him and he immediately kept his mouth shut, wondering if Su Jin was a monster who wanted to silence him.

    Alright, since everythings turned out fine, send us our food as soon as possible! Su Jin smiled. He could have erased the doctors memories, but it didnt really matter. If the doctor hadnt been so curious, this wouldnt have happened.

    The doctor quickly nodded and scrambled to get the food prepared. His heart continued to pound wildly after he left the main dining hall. When he checked Su Jins pulse, Su Jins ridiculously strong and healthy pulse had already given him a shock. Then when he looked into Su Jins eyes, he felt like his brain exploded and he couldnt remember anything after that.

    Xu, why are you just standing here? The chef paired with this doctor noticed that he was just hiding in the staff-only area. The chef walked toward him and said, There are many people waiting for their food, so could you move a little faster?

    The doctor nodded vigorously. He didnt dare to take too long with Su Jins food, so he got their food ready in no time.

    Su Jin and Su Qing tried the food, and it did taste pretty good. As for whether it was truly beneficial to the body, Su Jin didnt really care. As long as Su Qing enjoyed it, he was happy.

    They were enjoying their food when a young man in his twenties suddenly marched up to their table and said with a snobbish expression on his face, You two were the ones who caused trouble earlier?

    Su Jin put a piece of food into his mouth, nced at the young man, then said grimly, Did you say I caused trouble? I only remember saving someone, I dont remember causing any trouble.

    It was obvious that the young man had been drinking because his breath reeked of alcohol. He immediately flew into a rage when he heard Su Jins response and cursed, Stop being so fucking pretentious with me! Dont you know who owns Eight Tastes? How dare you cause trouble at MY restaurant?! You must be fucking tired of living!

    Su Qing was terribly frightened. She had just arrived in S City, and within the span of one meal, she had seen someone copse, and now, someone else was here to make things difficult for them. Her impression of this cosmopolitan city deteriorated significantly.

    Su Jin furrowed his brows and said to the young man, Apologize.

    What did you say? The young man was stunned for a moment before he burst outughing. HAHA! Are you telling me to apologize? You must be a dumbass!

    Very well then. Su Jin nodded. A silver glint shed in his eyes, then the young man trembled and copsed with a loud thud, just like what happened to Dr. Xu earlier.

    The manager couldnt believe his eyes. This young man was none other than the son of the boss of the restaurant. The young man had been drinking with his friends in a private room and was already drunk when he heard there had been amotion in the main dining hall. In his drunken state, he came out to confront the person causing themotion. The manager quickly came running over to stop the young man from doing so when he heard about it, but he was toote. The young man was already lying on the floor by the time he arrived.

    Young Young Master! The manager ran over to help the young man get up, but when he ced a finger under the young mans nostrils, he was horrified to discover that the young man was no longer breathing. He bent over to listen to the young mans heartbeat, but there wasnt any. That meant the young man was dead.

    The entire restaurant started getting restless. In less than half an hour, two people had copsed in the main dining hall. Was the ce cursed or something?

    Su Qing was even more stunned. What was going on with the people in this city? Why were they just copsing in public like that? And it happened one after another too. Was this S Citys special way of weing a person from out of town?

    Ignore him. Eat more of this, its good for you, Su Jin said to Su Qing. The young master of this restaurant had been asking for it, so there was no point in keeping such a trashy person alive.

    The manager looked at Su Jin pleadingly, but Su Jin did not budge and continued eating with his sister. The manager had no choice but to quickly call for an ambnce. The doctors in the restaurant were capable doctors, but they werent trained in emergency services like the western medicine doctors were.

    In no time, the ambnce came. After that, a very well-dressed couple entered the restaurant. The woman ran in with tears streaming down her face. That was probably the young mans mother.

    The man was much calmer, but he kept saying to the medical team, Doctors, can you hurry up? Hows my son? Hows he?

    The doctor who came with the ambnce checked the young man over, then shook his head. Mr. Lin, please calm down. Based on what I can see, your son no longer has any vital signs. Of course, if you insist on trying to save him, we will still try our best.

    The parents of the young man were stunned. Ack of vital signs basically meant their son was dead. The woman immediately fainted.

    Mr. Lin forced himself to remain calm as he grit his teeth and said to the doctor, Save him! No matter what, weve got to try whatever we can!

    The medical team didnt refuse. Regardless of whether the young man was revived or not, the parents were going to pay for their services, so everyone got the young man into the ambnce as well as his unconscious mother.

    The ambnce drove off quickly, but Mr. Lin did not leave the restaurant. He found out what happened from the manager, then walked over to Su Jin and Su Qings table. He red at Su Jin and said, Sir, dont you think you owe me an exnation regarding my son?

    Su Jin looked at him and couldnt help but break into a smile. This father and son were two of a kind. He said quietly, Exin things? What sort of exnation do I owe you? I merely came to have a meal at your restaurant and your son came to make trouble for me. I didnt even touch him. What exnation do you want?

    My friend, stop pretending. My son just said a few things to you and he died? You didnt do anything to him at all? I wont believe that! said Mr. Lin through gnashed teeth.

    <em>This mans quite smart</em>, thought Su Jin. He smiled and said, Whether you believe me or not doesnt have anything to do with me. If you think Im the problem, then go ahead and prove it. If you cant prove it, then please stop interrupting my meal.

    Su Qing was a little nervous as she watched her brother argue with Mr. Lin. She felt that her brother was in the right. It was true that they hadnt done anything to the young man. It was the young man who had tried to give them trouble.

    Mr. Lin was so angry that his hands were shaking. He red nastily at Su Jin and said, Dont you dare think you can rely on the police for everything in the world young man, if you actually did something, youd better apologize right now and tell me exactly what you did. If you do that, I might let you walk out of here alive.

    Sure. You can call anybody you like, I dont care if they work for thew or not. Su Jin didnt want to waste time arguing with him. But immediately after he finished speaking, another person entered the restaurant.

    He looked up and realized that this person was actually Han Mengyao. Had shee because the special police was alerted to this case? He never knew the special police was this efficient. And if she wasnt here because of that, then was she here to give him trouble?

    Miss Han! Mr. Lin immediately bounced up when he saw Han Mengyao, as though he just saw a ray of hope in the darkness. He quickly said, Miss Han, you already know what happened? I just know this fellow must have done something! Capture him! Capture him and save my son!

    Han Mengyao lookedpletely confused. She wasnt here to work. Today was her day off, and she was here to look for Su Jin. She didnt know what she was going to do once she found him, but she felt like looking him up. Or rather, Han Mengyao wasnt even sure if she would find Su Jin here in the first ce. She behaved more like a fan who heard that her idol was in the vicinity.

    Mr. Lin, I I dont understand whats going on, said Han Mengyao with a confused look on her face.

    Mr. Lin wasnt expecting that response. He quickly exined, My son spoke with this man for a while, then then he copsed and died. I suspect this man has done something to him. Miss Han, I know what department you work for. Youre the only one who can save my son now.

    Han Mengyao nced at Su Jin, then asked Mr. Lin, Youre sure its him?

    Thats right, its him! One of my restaurants doctors spoke to him and copsed, then the same thing happened to my son, so its definitely him. This Mr. Lin was capable of putting two and two together. He was certain that Su Jin was the problem.

    Han Mengyaos lips curled into a faint smile. She said gravely to Mr. Lin, Dont worry, Mr. Lin. Protecting the residents of S City is my responsibility. I will take him back with me right now.

 Chapter 314

    Chapter 314

    Su Jin frowned while Su Qing got even more anxious. She and her brother were merely here for a meal. Why were these people bullying them?

    Jin! Su Qing looked at Su Jin anxiously.

    Su Jin started getting angry. He red at Han Mengyao and said, Miss Han, Im here to have a meal with my younger sister and I dont want to be interrupted unnecessarily. Also Im part of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so the special police cannot do anything about me!

    Initially, Han Mengyao felt bad when Su Jin said he was here to eat with his younger sister. She threatened to take him back to the headquarters as a joke at first, but when Su Jin used his identity as a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, she got pissed off. S City was under the jurisdiction of the S City special police, not the Department of Supernatural Affairs.

    Humph! So what if youre from the Department of Supernatural Affairs? Youre within the jurisdiction of the special police, so pleasee with me right now. If not, dont me me for ignoring our previously peaceful working rtionship. The prideful side of Han Mengyao started acting up and she was determined to bring Su Jin back to the special police headquarters.

    Enough! A silver glint shed in his eyes as everyone in Eight Tastes were frozen on the spot. But what Su Qing could see was that Su Jin and Han Mengyao were having a pleasant conversation and all the other patrons had left, leaving only herself and Su Jin eating.

    Su Jin sighed inwardly. He really just wanted to have a rxing time with his younger sister, only for something like that to happen. He didnt like using his psychokinesis on his friends and family, but he had to use it now so that this matter wouldnt dampen Su Qings mood.

    Just when she was about to finish eating, a car arrived and parked outside the restaurant. Su Jins eyelid twitched slightly. He knew the people who had just arrived. It was Yang Tianzheng and Lv Jincheng. The two seemed to have rushed over after getting information of sorts.

    Su Jin shook his head. But since they were pretty much done with the meal, he said to Su Qing, Your flight took quite a while and I guess you must be tired. Why dont you go home and take a rest first? I need to attend to some matters.

    Okay! Su Qing nodded obediently. Just like what Su Jin said, she did feel rather tired, which was very strange. She wasnt feeling tired at all just moments ago.

    One of my friends is nearby, Ill get him to drive you home. Su Jin smiled as he helped her to gather her things. He then flicked his finger slightly and Yang Tianzheng and Lv Jincheng were finally able to enter the restaurant. They had been walking round and round the building earlier, but failed to find the entrance.

    Mr. Lv, please help to send my younger sister back to my ce. Watch her safety and watch your words, said Su Jin as he nced at Lv Jincheng.

    Lv Jincheng felt a shudder go through his body and his emotions heaved when he saw the sight before him. Unlike Su Qing, he could see that every person in the restaurant was frozen on the spot, as though someone had hit the pause button.

    He looked at Yang Tianzheng and Yang Tianzheng nodded. So, he said to Su Qing, Miss Su? Ill send you home now.

    Su Qing nodded, then turned to say to Su Jin, Ill wait for you at home, dont stay out toote!

    Yup, Ill head home once Im done. Su Jin smiled at his younger sister until she had left the restaurant. He then turned to say frostily to Yang Tianzheng, Mr. Yang, are you here to interrogate me?

    Yang Tianzheng had a bitter smile on his face. He used to be the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs after all. He was certainly someone who knew all about people with supernatural powers, so he also understood how terrifying Su Jin must be.

    Mr. Su, Ive always seen you as someone very important, but now I think Ive underestimated you after all. Thankfully, Situ has treated you with even greater importance, so Im relieved! Yang Tianzheng smiled and said calmly, Dont you think its time you allowed them to return to their original state?

    Them? Id prefer to leave them like that for the time being. Otherwise, theyd affect our conversation. Su Jin nced at the other people in the restaurant. He had only used his psychokinesis to put them in a daze. That had no adverse effects on their health or life.

    Yang Tianzheng did not protest and said, Mr. Su, Im still not entirely sure what happened, so could you tell me more? As an enforcer of thew, I do have the responsibility to find out what happened.

    Su Jin nodded and flicked a finger. A beam of silver light entered Yang Tianzhengs head and everything that happened from Su Jins perspective reyed in the older mans mind.

    Yang Tianzheng looked a little surprised, then after watching what happened, he sighed. Mr. Su, they were in the wrong, but you see he was just a rash young man who had a little too much to drink. Its alright to punish him a little, but I hope you can spare his life!

    The way Yang Tianzheng spoke to Su Jin had subconsciously be more polite. At the same time, Su Jin wasnt a bloodthirsty man. He only wanted to teach the young man a lesson, actually. If he meant to kill the young man, he would have done so without leaving any traces behind.

    Dont worry, Im not into killing people. Hes perfectly fine now, said Su Jin nonchntly.

    Yang Tianzheng immediately made a phone call and the person on the other line told him that the son of the Lins had fully recovered. The other party kept saying that it was nothing short of a miracle. The young man had clearly shown no signs of life, yet he could recover fully in one second. He wasnt even drunk anymore by then. It was simply unbelievable.

    After Yang Tianzheng hung up, he became even more wary of Su Jin. This was a man who could revive the dead from such a distance. That was almost no different from being god.

    Mr. Su, youre youre in really deep trouble now. Yang Tianzheng kept his eye on Su Jin as he said, I am not trying to threaten you or anything like that, but I think I should tell you that the world is now watching those with superpowers like yourself very, very closely. It was a smart move to live your own life quietly before this, but this time, youve caused such a hugemotion. Im afraid youve already attracted the attention of the higher ups in this country.

    Su Jin couldnt help butugh when he heard Yang Tianzheng say these things. He snorted and said, Mr. Yang, saying all these things to me now is meaningless. Since the day we met, youve never stopped watching me. Those neighbors of mine have followed me around for a long time now.

    It was no secret that the special police was wary of Su Jin. Or at least it wasnt a secret to Su Jin. If a psychokic owner couldnt even detect ordinary humans with ill intentions toward himself, he would have died in a Challenge a long time ago.

    The difference was that Su Jin didnt care about this surveince in the past. The special police was watching him closely because they were afraid. They were afraid that this wild tiger that should have stayed in the mountains would suddenly go on a rampage in the city and kill all the small, defenseless animals living inside.

    Later on, because of Situ Jin, Su Jin joined the Department of Supernatural Affairs. That made Yang Tianzheng watch him a little more loosely because he thought that he was now on the governments side. But even so, his surveince was just a little rxed. He continued to watch Su Jin nheless. That was how cautious Yang Tianzheng was.

    And now, for some reason, the wild tiger that was Su Jin, had bared his fangs and ws. This made Yang Tianzheng very uneasy. If Su Jin lost control, then how many people would he have to sacrifice in order to take him down? Back inside the warehouse, Su Jin had fought 18 others singlehandedly. Lv Jincheng was the one who wrote the report on how Su Jin had killed them all, so Yang Tianzheng had a good understanding of how formidable Su Jin was as a fighter. Or at least he thought he had a good understanding.

    However, after seeing how Su Jin was able to freeze every single person in the restaurant and had a godlike ability to kill and revive a person, Yang Tianzheng realized his understanding hadnt been good enough. If they were to fall out with Su Jin, how were they going to defend themselves against him when he was so powerful?

    Mr. Su, youre still a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, right? said Yang Tianzheng with a smile. What youre doing right now will make things very difficult for the department.

    Su Jin smiled as he stared straight at Yang Tianzheng. Mr. Yang, to be honest, after such a long time, Im getting a bit annoyed now. Ive been very respectful of the authorities that govern this world and Ive kept to thews of society, but a person will not always be bound by the rules of ants, especially when these ants be so arrogant, they think they are powerful enough to order people around.

    Cold sweat kept dripping down Yang Tianzhengs face. He had seen many terrifying scenes in his life and had nearly died several times too. He thought he was someone who could remain calm even in the face of death, but when he stood facing Su Jin he was overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of terror.

    Mental resilience was the basis of ones person. Those who were resilient were often brave and fearless. Those who werent were naturally timid and weak.

    Yang Tianzheng was considered very resilient among ordinary people. Even those who were born with psychokinesis would have trouble affecting someone like Yang Tianzheng if they had not trained their psychokinesis first.

    But Su Jin was different. His level of psychokinesis was able to crush Yang Tianzhengs level of mental resilience without any problems. Arge boat could remain fearless in a small river, but when it faced the boundless ocean, it would be reverent and afraid. That was the situation Yang Tianzheng was in right now.

    Mr. Su Im sure you know that as long as you live among humans, regardless of whether youre superhuman or not, you have to follow thews. Otherwise we will have to carry out our duties. Blood was dribbling out of Yang Tianzhengs lips and his entire body was trembling. He was able to speak purely because he sincerely believed in this concept.

    Su Jin merely chuckled. He looked up and sensed the presence of several formidable characters outside the restaurant. Each of them were no less formidable than Yun Tianye. Su Jin could not help but chortle. My goodness. It looks like Mr. Lv was still worried about his mentor and sent so many fighters here. Mr. Yang youre forcing me to kill at this rate!

 Chapter 315

    Chapter 315

    Yang Tianzheng felt like he was going to suffocate. The pressure weighing on him felt like there was a mountain on his body. If he didnt hang in there, he would be crushed to pieces immediately.

    Su Jin flicked a finger, and all the fighters outside the restaurant who had failed to locate the entrance earlier immediately found it. Some of them knew that what they experienced earlier was something unusual and was definitely a manmade phenomenon.

    Watch out, everyone! An expert in illusions blinded us earlier! a woman in her twenties warned the rest in a loud voice.

    Lets go in! Mr. Yang has been stuck in there for quite a while now, so if we dont go in now, something bad might happen to him, said a woman in her fifties. In front of her stood arge man in ck. The man looked like he was made from iron, and if you looked closely, you would see very fine threads connecting the man to the woman behind him.

    Grandma Wu, your puppet has no fear of illusions. How about you let him go in and check out the situation first? suggested someone.

    The woman nodded slightly. Her puppet wasnt alive and did not use his eyes to search for enemies, so he wasnt susceptible to illusions either.

    The womans fingers trembled slightly and the man in ck dashed toward the main entrance of the restaurant. But just when he was about to crash right through, a young man walked out.

    Be careful, dont hurt someone innocent! called out someone else.

    Grandma Wus control of her puppet was so highly calibrated, she could move him by the millimeter. The puppet suddenly stopped less than a meter away from the young man.

    But the young man merely smiled. He grabbed the air with his hand and the puppet bounced forward again. Just when Grandma Wu was puzzled as to how this was happening, the young man raised his leg and brought it down on the puppets head.

    CRAAACCK!

    There was an odd crushing sound as therge puppet was ttened like aluminum cans under a machine press. That young mans foot had turned the man-sized puppet to nothing more than a sheet of metal.

    Oh my god All the fighters couldnt help but gasp. That puppet wasnt made from flesh and blood, but from refined iron mixed with another metal that was specially manufactured by the government. Not only was it as tough as refined iron, but it was also resilient and could absorb a lot of impact. In short, not even a grandmaster would have been able to destroy him, never mind the foot of a young man.

    Everyone fell silent. Yang Tianzheng and Han Mengyao walked out of the restaurant after the young man with nasty looks on their faces. Of course, the young man in front of them was Su Jin.

    Su Jin scanned the area. There were a total of 13 fighters, some exposed, some hiding. All of them were at the same level as Yun Tianye, and three of them seemed even more formidable, so they were probably grandmasters.

    Mr. Yang, tell them to leave. If I spot any of them after the next ten seconds, I will kill them without question, said Su Jin frostily. He was getting really annoyed after being disrupted time and again by these people. Or rather, this was something he was destined to go through because of the change in his identity. Su Jin was no longer able to remain part of society like he used to. He now needed a lot more freedom than before. He couldnt afford to be stopped and checked every time he did something.

    He was still willing to respect some rules of this world, and he was also willing to be punished if he did something wrong. But that didnt mean just anybody was allowed to challenge him.

    All of you, leave within the next ten seconds! No one is allowed to stay behind! said Yang Tianzheng nervously to the fighters through hismunication device. All these people were precious to the government, so if Su Jin ended up killing them all, it would be a terrible loss to the country.

    The fighters exchanged uneasy nces, but Yang Tianzheng was their leader after all. Since he told them to leave, they did not protest and left immediately.

    Mr. Su, Ive followed your instructions and gotten them to leave. I guess we can put an end to this matter! Yang Tianzheng had a bitter smile on his face. Before this, he thought that no matter how extraordinary Su Jin might be, the young man was like the Monkey King in the novel, <em>Journey to the West</em>, and he was like the Buddha in the same novel who could trap the Monkey King beneath a mountain with ease. But now, he realized that while Su Jin was just like the Monkey King, he wasnt anything like the Buddha.

    Su Jin paused to think, then smiled and said, Lets go to B City!

    B City? Why? Yang Tianzheng was puzzled at first and couldnt figure out why Su Jin would want to go there. But he immediately thought of a possibility and shuddered.

    Its better to clear up some matters with those in power, then you guys will stop making things difficult for me next time. Su Jin smiled and didnt wait for a response from Yang Tianzheng and Han Mengyao. He engulfed them in a silver light and flew into the sky toward B City.

    In less than 20 minutes, Su Jin had arrived in B City with the two of them. He shut his eyes slightly and unleashed his psychokinesis throughout the city. He didnt know where the leaders of the country were right now, so he had no choice but to scan the city. But the first one to react was Xu Ran.

    In less than a minute, Xu Ran appeared in front of him. Yang Tianzheng and Han Mengyao were especially delighted to see him.

    Who was the guardian of China? In the past, that would have been the Department of Supernatural Affairs and the special police, but those in the know would say that Priest Qiu Chan was the one. And those who knew more would switch from Priest Qiu Chan to Xu Ran.

    The two of them were high-ranking officials in the special police, so they knew that Xu Ran was now the true guardian of the nation. To them, Xu Ran hade to stop Su Jin, the great demon who was here to destroy the world.

    Its you? Xu Ran broke into a smile when he saw that it was Su Jin. I was just wondering who in the world would have enough psychokinesis to actually cover the entire city! But thats a little over the top, dont you think?

    Su Jin made a face and said to Xu Ran, Im sorry about that. Im trying to locate our countrys leaders but I dont know where they are, so I had to search for them.

    Xu Ran blinked at him in surprise. Why are you looking for them?

    Hes trying to make trouble! Mr. Xu, please stop him! Dont let him get his way! Han Mengyao yelled loudly at Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran looked at Han Mengyao and Yang Tianzheng and chortled. Why did you bring these two along with you? Besides, if you wanted to know where the leaders were, you could have just asked these two? Why cause such amotion?

    Haha! I was hoping to get your attention so that you coulde with me to discuss something, said Su Jin with augh. Bringing Xu Ran along was something he had thought about earlier on already. He wanted Xu Ran to apany him and he figured that Xu Ran would oblige.

    And as he had expected, Xu Ran paused to think for a moment and agreed. Alright then, Ill go with you. But first things first. If you dont have to do anything extreme, dont.

    Of course. Su Jin nodded.

    Meanwhile, Yang Tianzheng and Han Mengyao were too stunned for words. What was going on now? Their guardian, Xu Ran, didnt seem like he was going to stop this demon at all. Worse still, they seemed to be on good terms. Or at least they were already acquainted before this.

    With Xu Ran around to lead the way, Su Jin didnt need to scan the city anymore. They arrived at the residence of the countrys leaders, Zhongnanhai, and before they could enter, they saw another familiar face. It was Situ Jin.

    Hope arose in Han Mengyao and Yang Tianzhengs hearts again. Han Mengyao called out, Mr. Situ! Su Jins gone mad! Hes here to make trouble for our leaders! Youve got to stop him!

    But Situ Jin ignored what Han Mengyao was saying and said to Su Jin, I got news that Xu Ran had brought a young man to Zhongnanhai. I figured it was you. Whats going on?

    Oh! Ive just been feeling a little frustratedtely with the things your folks have been doing, so I thought Id clear the air with the higher-ups today. Itd be terrible if we end up falling out in the future, said Su Jin nonchntly.

    He did not purposely lower his volume so all the guards in the vicinity could hear him clearly. They looked in surprise at Su Jin, wondering to themselves where this young man hade from and how he could be saying such boastful things.

    But Situ Jin nodded in agreement and said, Good idea. Since were going on this path, we will need to make things clear to the people of this world. Otherwise, even though were not afraid of them, well end up getting distracted by all these unnecessary disruptions.

    The group of four became a group of five, and the guards discovered that four of them belonged to special agencies of the government. The fifth one was not familiar to them, but he had a pass issued by a special agency too, so this was a pretty formidable group of people.

    After entering Zhongnanhai, Situ Jin made a call with his specially issued phone. Yes, thats right, Commander-in-chief. I hope you can take some time out of your busy schedule, I need you to be present here. Yes, I know youre very busy right now. You can turn down the delegate from that small country youre supposed to be meeting or send someone else to meet them. I can promise you that the person you need to see in your office is much more important than that.

    Yes, theres myself, Superintendent Yang and Mr. Xu Ran. Thats right. Were already outside your office, so I hope you cane back right away. Yes, yes, Im not trying to order you about, you can take this as ordinarymunication. I guarantee that if you donte back, youll regret it. Situ Jin hung up immediately after saying these words and said to Su Jin, Thats how it is when youre talking to these leaders. They need you to be polite and respectful at all times!

    Su Jin nodded. Yang Zhengtian and Han Mengyao werepletely bbergasted. The way Situ Jin had spoken to the Commander-in-chief had been so audacious. The Situ Jin they knew would never have behaved like this in the past. What in the world happened? The world seemed a little strange to them now.

    In no time, someone informed Situ Jin that his group could enter the office and that the Commander-in-chief was already waiting for them. Situ Jin nodded at Su Jin and Xu Ran, then led the way into the office.

    Three very elderly men sat inside the office. But as long as you were a Chinese citizen, you would recognize these three instantly. All the nationwide schemes and policies over the past few decades had basicallye from these three.

    Situ Jin, Yang Tianzheng, Han Mengyao as well as Mr. Xu. So, thisst young man is our guest? asked one of the old men with a merry smile.

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316

    The three old men exuded an air of authority by just sitting there. They were the top decision-makers of the country, so you could say that everything they said was thew. The country had advanced tremendously both in terms of its economy and its standing in the world because of the contributions of these three men.

    Hello! Ive known your names and faces for a long time now, but this is the first time Im seeing the three of you! Su Jin smiled at the men. Nobody in China would dare to say they didnt know who these three were.

    The Commander-in-chief looked at Su Jin and was struck by how this young man seemed to be as still as the waters of a pond, as lifeless as a dried-up well, and seemingly void of life, yet when he spoke, signs of life instantly sprung up and the old man felt like he was now facing a vast forest filled with all sorts of fascinating flora and fauna.

    Young man, you must be someone extraordinary, since youre nked by Yang, Situ, and Mr. Xu. What is your purpose ining here? asked the Commander-in-chief with a smile. He looked very friendly and didnt put on any airs at all.

    But Su Jin did not trust his friendly exterior. These three men were very intelligent people, so he believed that if they were to be owners, they would be able to rise up the ranks. These men were true experts in the game.

    Nothing, really. The three of us just want some freedom. Freedom that cannot be curtailed by thew, said Su Jin calmly.

    The three old men were stunned, then exchanged nces, then looked at Yang Tianzheng. Yang Tianzheng looked confused as well. He thought that Su Jin wanted to be pardoned for his rash act and maybe ask for a benefit or two. He didnt think Su Jin would ask for something as big as being allowed to be above thew.

    Young man, how should I address you? asked one of the old men with a chuckle.

    Su Jin, said Su Jin with a smile.

    Mr. Su your request is a little too much to ask! No matter who you are, as long as you live in this world, you are part of society. While you enjoy the benefits thate with modern civilization, you also have the responsibility of upholding thews within it. Im sure you understand that, dont you? said the Commander-in-chief slowly. He did not look the least displeased with Su Jins audacious request.

    Su Jin nodded and replied, Of course I understand. But like you said yourself, when people enjoy the benefits thate with modern civilization, it bes their duty to uphold thews governing it. But thats only for ordinary people, isnt it?

    The old man nodded and the way he looked at Su Jin became fiercer now. His voice was grim as he said, Thats why I need to remind you that regardless of whether youre a grandmaster in martial arts or youre a superhuman you may not be ordinary in this aspect, but to us, you are still an ordinary person.

    Thats right. I agree with you, since some of those people are not at a very high level. Su Jin smiled. A silver glint shed in his eyes and the three old men suddenly looked horrified.

    They could see piles of dead bodies and extreme bloodshed. They could feel how powerful Su Jin was. That was a pressure they felt from deep inside their consciousness. Su Jin had only unleashed a small part of his psychokinesis and that was already enough to mortify these ordinary people. If he did not hold back, then he was a walking nuclear bomb. Anybody just standing next to him could lose their lives.

    Within ten seconds, the three old men were covered in cold sweat. They wanted to scold Su Jin for using some illusion spell on them but they dared not say so. The three of them were intelligent and mentally resilient people, so they could vaguely sense that what they just saw wasnt some illusion. Otherwise, it wouldnt have had such a strong impact on them.

    What what was that? asked one of them.

    Thats the end of the world. The end of this world, replied Su Jin without hesitation. I dont want to waste time differentiating one from the other, and I dont really care if you dont agree to my request. But the future could very well go in this direction.

    The three old men frowned. They looked toward Xu Ran and Situ Jin, and Situ Jin said, Gentlemen, I think that Ive worked hard all this time and all the time and resources spent on grooming me have not gone to waste. But I hope that you will be able to ede to Mr. Sus request, and also I would like to resign from the Department of Supernatural Affairs.

    You want to resign? The three old men could hardly believe their own ears. They knew Situ Jins temperament well. Ever since he became the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, he had been passionate about his job and had carried out his duties well. Why did he suddenly want to resign?

    Thats right, sirs, the world is not quite the same as what you think it is. There are some things you will understand only when you see it. Situ Jin didnt exin too much. It was true that he didnt have the time and energy to oversee the Department of Supernatural Affairs anymore. Since he wanted to be a god like Su Jin, then he had to focus on training himself in that direction and not distract himself with other duties.

    One of the old men looked at Xu Ran and sighed. Mr. Xu what do you think?

    Hoho, just like the two of them, I need that sort of freedom too. After all, I might do some very dangerous things in the future. If I dont tell you about it now, then things will be very troublesome when the timees, said Xu Ran with a heartyugh. His case wasnt the same as Situ Jins, though. He was seen as the guardian of the country, but unlike Situ Jin, he wasnt doing it because he had dedicated his life to guarding the nation. He just wanted a status that could allow him to do what he needed in the real world without being disturbed.

    As for helping the government to maintain order, that didnt require a lot of effort, so he just treated it as part of his training. But now, things were different. The road to godhood had begun and he didnt want to waste his time on mundane matters. Concentrating on his training to be a god was what he wanted to do.

    But when he saw that the three men were still hesitating, he said, I can see that you are all still very undecided on this matter. Since thats the case

    A silver glint shed in Xu Rans eyes as well. He was getting impatient now. Since the three were so difficult to convince, he was going to use his own methods to resolve this issue.

    Xu Rans psychokinesis quickly left a mark in the minds of the three old men. They would immediately co-sign a document to indemnify the three of them and grant them the greatest freedom within the country.

    Su Jin sighed. He thought this matter could be settled through negotiation. He didnt think that they would end up having to do it this way. After all, these were ordinary people who had no feud with Su Jin. He didnt want to use his psychokinesis like that on such people.

    Well, you have to understand that this matter is a very troublesome one, and Im just trying to do away with some of it. Xu Ran smiled and shrugged. Coming with Su Jin to negotiate with the leaders was already apromise to him. His idea was to just control the thoughts of the leaders directly and make them do what he wanted.

    Su Jin just sighed and shook his head. He looked at Yang Tianzheng and Han Mengyao, then said with a sad smile, Since things havee to this, Im afraid you guys will have to suffer the same fate.

    Before Yang Tianzheng and Han Mengyao could wrap their heads around what was happening, two beams of silver light shot out from Su Jins eyes. By the time they snapped out of their daze, Su Jin and the other two had already disappeared and meeting the three owners was no longer part of their memory. The two of them hade here because the three Commanders-in-chief wanted to co-sign a document and they needed to implement it. They had merely been distracted while the document was being signed.

    Alright, go and get this done, said one of the old men as he passed a freshly drawn-up document to Yang Tianzheng.

    Yang Tianzheng instinctively looked through the document and was shocked by what he read. He quickly said to the three leaders, Sirs, you must not allow this document to go out. By indemnifying them to this extent, it means that they cannot be punished by thew regardless of what they do. Thats insane!

    Yang Tianzheng was practically shouting by this point, but the three Commanders-in-chief did not even bat an eye. They just looked calmly at Yang Tianzheng and said, Do not doubt our decision. Just go and get it done.

    After he was certain that the three leaders werent joking, Yang Tianzheng had no choice but to leave in dismay and carry out the instructions in the document.

    Once Yang Tianzheng had left, Su Jin and the other two reappeared in the room. Actually, they had never left at all. The vision of the three leaders and the two special police officers had been altered by psychokinesis. After they saw that things had gone the way they wanted, the three of them quietly left the office without saying anything. But Su Jin had already nted a wisp of psychokinesis inside the minds of the three leaders to prevent anyone from realizing that these three had once forgotten that they were the Commanders-in-chief and that they had signed a document with tremendous implications without realizing it.

    Su Jin didnt take up too much of Situ Jin and Xu Rans time after they left Zhongnanhai, since they were all very familiar with one another already. He said to Xu Ran, Some things have happened recently, so I might visit you soon. I hope you wont refuse to see me!

    Haha! Dont worry, the number of people who can hold a conversation with me are dwindling by the day, and you happen to be the one most qualified to do so. I might refuse to talk to others but Im definitely talking to you. Xu Ran spoke so animatedly, even Situ Jin took notice.

    They bid each other farewell and Su Jin flew back to S City. He didnt bring the special police officers back with him, since they were now here on official business and their flight back would be paid for. They could just take this as a short holiday. He had already left some psychokinesis inside their minds which would give them a reasonable exnation for everything that happened. At the same time, if anybody who knew what happened that night came into contact with them, their memories would be erased. It had a simr effect to the one he nted in Tang Ning.

    By the time he returned to his house, Su Qing had already fallen asleep, which was a good thing. She had taken a long flight here and so many things happened today. It was best that she took a good rest.

    Meanwhile, a figure appeared in a vast void

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317

    That was the figure of a woman. She had no actual body, just a faint gathering of lights that floated in the middle of a void. She seemed to have slept for a long time and finally woke up just now.

    A beam of light shone through the void. That was an angel with wings of light. He looked at the woman with a humble expression on his face.

    You have finally returned. It has taken longer than I had expected, said the angel respectfully.

    The woman sighed and shook her head. I had hoped that this day would nevere, but since it has, then well go ording to our agreement. Bring me to the God of Light. After going through so many rounds, Im sure he must have gathered quite a lot of energy, right?

    That is correct. But this energy can only be manifested with you around, because you are a living creature from the beginning, a creator in the past, our great primordial deity! The angel fell on one knee, then opened a door of light before directing the woman to walk through it.

    Before walking through it, the woman suddenly stopped in her footsteps. She looked at the void behind her, as though she couldnt bear to leave it. There was a sad look on her face as she quietly said, Jin, I hope we can meet again!

    Meanwhile, back in Su Jins universe, Xu Ran had used a primitive but simple method to make sure that the three of them could act with impunity. Yang Tianzheng came early the next morning to give Su Jin a ck card.

    Keep this properly. With this thing, you are basically above everyw enforcement agency in this country. I really dont know what the Commanders-in-chief are thinking about. How could they sign something like this? Yang Tianzheng had an annoyed expression on his face. Like how Situ Jin was before, he was a guardian of the nation and hated the idea of anybody being above thew. Yet, Su Jin, Xu Ran, and Situ Jin were not just untouchable by thew, but they also essentially disregarded the entire concept.

    Thanks. Su Jin stuffed it into a random pocket and thanked Yang Tianzheng.

    Yang Tianzheng opened his mouth to speak but didnt say anything. He turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, he stopped and turned to say to Su Jin, I dont know what happened, but my instinct tells me that none of this is making sense. If I were to ask you, would you tell me the truth?

    Su Jin smiled and shook his head. Believe me. There are times when the truth is meaningless. Perhaps because the truth is not within your scope of understanding in the first ce.

    Yang Tianzheng was so annoyed by Su Jins words, he snorted. But he didnt say anything, choosing to leave in indignation instead. What happened at Eight Tastes Restaurant had caused quite themotion, but the special police had managed to keep it down. They exined the Lins sons condition as alcohol poisoning, and he had made a miraculous recovery only because the medical team had been excellent, so the medical team that night became heroes overnight for no reason.

    Su Jin didnt care about any of this. He brought his younger sister around town to have fun and enjoyed his time with Su Qing. It had been a long time since the siblings spent quality time together like this and Su Jin didnt know if hed ever get the chance to do so again.

    Su Qing was about to take her high school examinations, and if Su Jin wanted to, he could fill her mind with all the knowledge she needed. Or he could use his current authority to get her a spot in the school of her choice.

    But he did not want to. He wanted Su Qing to live a peaceful, ordinary life. He wanted her to experience happiness and sadness, to meet like-minded friends, to experience youth, to go through ups and downs in life.

    In short, Su Jin wanted his sister to enjoy life, and not end up like himself. He had to use whatever time he had left to challenge an existence that could possibly be even more terrifying than the universe he lived in.

    For about half a month, Su Qing felt as though she was the happiest person in the world. Su Jin could sense how happy she was, and that was all he asked for.

    At the end of the holiday, Su Jin sent Su Qing to the airport. He patted her hair and smiled as he said, Alright now, were done ying, so once you go back, youve got to focus and get into the university of your choice. Dont let all your years of studying go to waste, okay?

    Su Qing nodded vigorously, then tugged at Su Jins arm as she whined, Jin Ill miss you

    Ill miss you too. Su Jins heart trembled. He didnt have much attachment to this world anymore, and Su Qing was one of thest but important ones left. But this could actually be thest time he was saying goodbye to her, and that made him choke up a little.

    But Su Jins mental resilience was one of the best among owners after all, so he suppressed his emotions and sent his sister off. He only left the airport after he watched her flight take off.

    Once he got back to his house, a phone call came in. It was an unknown number, but it looked like it was a call from overseas. The caller turned out to be Murray from the Dark Council.

    Hello? Why are you calling me? asked Su Jin.

    Sir, weve done everything ording to your instructions and the underworld in the western hemisphere is now very peaceful and stable. Weve also been working hard to keep troublemaking owners in check and Ive called you today just to report our progress. Also, weve opened an ount for you and this months funds have been transferred in already. Murray spoke very politely to Su Jin, mostly because he really didnt have a choice. He had even given the first page of his Handbook to Su Jin in order to survive, so if Su Jin was even the slightest bit displeased with what they were doing, he could kill them in seconds.

    But to Su Jin, actually Murray and the rest of the members had been very clever to do such a thing. Giving that first page to him sounded like a very risky thing to do, but in reality, even if they didnt do that, Su Jin could have killed them in seconds anyway. Doing this both guaranteed their survival and a connection to someone powerful. It was a good deal.

    Funds? Su Jin was a little surprised. No owner needed to worry about having money in the real world, since they could get a lot of it from the Handbook. He was surprised that the Dark Council was still raking in money from the real world.

    Murray sent an ount number to Su Jin, which was opened under his name. And when Su Jin checked the bnce, his eyes were nearly crossed from seeing how many zeroes there were.

    Sir, it is a total of $31,800,000,000 USD. Some of it is from Satans ount, and all of the Dark Councils funds are inside here except for some necessary expenses, exined Murray.

    Su Jin didnt know what to say. Owners didntck money, but $31.8 billion was no small number.

    Alright then, good job, continue to work hard. Su Jin had no interest in what Murray and the rest were doing. As long as they didnt create any trouble, Su Jin wouldnt even remember them.

    But Murray and the rest of the Dark Council were relieved. It seemed like their master was satisfied with what theyd done, so their lives were not in danger now.

    Su Jin didnt want to spend too much time talking to Murray, so he hung up after making a fewments. He stared at the ount bnce and went into a daze. This money was as good as trash to him.

    Maybe Ill donate it to charity? Su Jin scratched his head and finally made a decision. But he wasnt going to give it to just any charitable organization, since not all of them were trustworthy. If he wasnt careful, who knew if his money might be a Ferrari or a Chanel bag?

    Su Jin called Han Mengyao immediately. She had brought him some trouble before this, so it was time she made up for it. She was eating when his call came in and her eyes lit up when she saw it was Su Jin calling.

    Hello, Su Jin? Whats up? asked Han Mengyao.

    Ive got some money and I would like to donate it to charity, but I dont have any experience in this aspect. You know more people, so I thought Id ask you about it, said Su Jin.

    Some money? How much? If its a lot, you could set up your own foundation. If its not much, you can just donate it to anyone you want directly, replied Han Mengyao.

    Ive got 31.8 billion. How do I go about setting up my own foundation? asked Su Jin nonchntly.

    Han Mengyao froze for a moment. She wasnt sure if she had heard him right. How much did you say you have?

    31.8 billion, said Su Jin.

    Are you is this a prank? Han Mengyao couldnt believe it. Who would give $31.8 billion all to charity? Not many people even had this much money lying around, and as far as her information on Su Jin went, he didnt have this much either.

    Do I look like Ive got the time to prank you? Su Jin chuckled. But its in US dors, so will that cause any problems when I set up the foundation?

    You have more than $30 billion and and its in US dors?! Han Mengyao couldnt believe it. She was even more certain that Su Jin was just pulling her leg and she felt like just hanging up on him.

    Tell you what, Ill get the bank to transfer the money to you tomorrow and you can do whatever you want with it. My only request is that the money must go to charity. If you run into any issues, just give me a call, said Su Jin.

    Han Mengyao made a face. She didnt believe him at all. Besides, she was a high-ranking special police officer. Even if she ran into issues, she could solve it herself. She didnt need to call him.

    Su Jin got her bank ount number from her and she gave it to him, thinking he just wanted it for fun. But after hanging up, Su Jin called Murray and told him to transfer everything to Han Mengyao. Murray had no idea what was going on, but since Su Jin said so, he obediently carried out Su Jins instructions. When the bank called Han Mengyao the next morning to verify her identity, she waspletely bewildered.

    She quickly called Su Jin, but his response was simple. He said that the money had been passed to her, so she just had to channel it to charity like he exined the night before, and if she ran into trouble, she just had to give him a ring. He hung up after saying that, leaving her still in a state of shock.

    He handed over more than $30 billion to someone else just like that? How much trust does this guy have?! Han Mengyao wasnt sure whether tough or cry.

 Chapter 318

    Chapter 318

    Su Jins peaceful life continued until it was time for him to enter a new Challenge. Besides the first Challenge, he had always gone through Challenges with someone else. From having Kano Mai in the Challenge at the Temple of the Origin of Heaven until now, he had gone through each of these Challenges with a teammate. He never thought he would have to go through a Challenge alone again.

    As with the start of every Challenge, Su Jin was engulfed in darkness as the terrifying voice of the clown echoed in his ears. It was still just as horrifying as before.

    Darkness hase upon the clean and white hospital. The hospital is filled with the murmurs of patients. One can possibly treat an illness, but how can one save the soul? Can the one seeking help save themselves?

    A bright white light appeared before him. He saw a figure swaying in front of him as the voice in his ears continued to describe the Challenge.

    Level B Single Person Challenge, Hospital of Horrors! Your main quest is to escape the hospital! During the Challenge, the owner will not be able to use any skills or equipment!

    The figure in front of Su Jin continued to sway left and right. He sighed inwardly when he heard thest sentence. The Handbook was deliberately increasing the difficulty of the Challenges and kept using all sorts of methods to handicap him. But then again, he knew that he had been cklisted a long time ago.

    Since he knew that this Challenge was called the Hospital of Horrors, he figured that he was going to wake up on a hospital bed and he would be surrounded by doctors and nurses.

    He tried to move his body, but he couldnt move at all, as though the body didnt belong to him. He couldnt even move one finger.

    Whats whats going on? A bright light shed before him and he lost consciousness.

    By the time he regained consciousness, he could see clearly. Just as he had guessed, he was in a patient ward and there were two other patients to his left and right.

    Because the Handbook had said this was a single-person Challenge, Su Jin understood that these other people were all NPCs in the Challenge. Such single-person Challenges were actually very well known among owners.

    It meant that only one owner was involved in this Challenge and every other human was just an NPC. Such Challenges were usually more difficult than usual because he wouldnt have any interaction or help from other owners. And in many instances, the Challenge was not only a test of ones ability, but also ones mental resilience.

    Hey, bro! You want one of these? This is my favorite bun! My wife makes them herself and theyre delicious! On Su Jins left was a man covered entirely in bandages. When he noticed how Su Jin was staring strangely at him, heughed and said, I was very unlucky! I got drenched in boiling water and Im undergoing skin grafting now!

    Gosh, bro, youre amazing, Su Jin couldnt help but gape. Doing a full-body skin graft sounded way too difficult to be true, and this man was still able to eat so merrily despite his condition. He didnt seem like someone who was badly injured at all. But Su Jin took note of him more because he felt that this might have something to do with the Challenge.

    Dont mind me then. Su Jin reached his hand toward the man in bandages and the man gave him a bun without holding back.

    Su Jin did not eat the bun immediately. Firstly, he wasnt sure if the food was problematic or not, and secondly, he wasnt hungry yet. He didnt know how long this Challenge was going to take, so it was best to store up things like food.

    Now that he had some food, his instinct was to find water next. There were several hot water sks on the bedside table of the patient on the right, but the patient had covered themselves entirely with the nket.

    Bro, can I get some water from you? Su Jin asked the patient on the right, but the patient did not respond.

    Dont bother wasting your breath. Hes not in a good mood and just hides himself under the nket all day. I heard hes been here for nearly half a year and hasnt been allowed to be discharged yet, said the man in bandages in an annoyed voice. He clearly didnt like the patient under the nket.

    Maybe his issue is moreplicated? It would make sense for him to stay here longer. Su Jin needed information the most right now, so since the man in bandages was willing to talk to him, he was happy to converse with him. He wanted to try and get more useful information out of this man.

    The man in bandages made a face and nced at the patient on the right before saying, The recovery rate at this hospital is miraculously high. Ive almost never heard of anyone who cant get discharged in more than a week. Im going to stay here for just one more night and I can remove these bandages and be discharged. Youve been here for five days already, so I suppose youre almost all healed up, right?

    Su Jin just smiled and nodded. Yup. Im just staying longer to make sure my condition is really stable before leaving.

    Thats good. But you really dont have to be so worried, this hospitals pretty reliable, said the man in bandages with a merryugh.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. He had gotten quite a bit of information from the man in bandages. Most patients in this hospital were discharged within seven days, and he had been here for five already. In other words, he only had two more days in the hospital, so he had to get out of here within the next 48 hours.

    Su Jin got out of bed. He didnt notice anything wrong with himself and wasnt even suffering from flu or cough. Perhaps the Handbook hadnt gone that far in setting the stage.

    He walked around the ward twice. This was a three-bed ward, so it was now fully upied. He walked to the corridor and saw that it was very busy. The doctors and nurses kept going in and out of the wards.

    He continued walking down the corridor for a while and discovered something very strange. The ss pane of the main door to each ward was covered by a white linen cloth, so it was impossible to look inside.

    He walked to one ward and took hold of the linen cloth, intending to pull it up and take a look inside. But before he could do that, arge hand caught hold of his, which startled Su Jin.

    Youre Su Jin from ward seven. Why are you walking about outside instead of staying in your ward? The doctor was a blond Caucasian man with a wooden clipboard in hand. A stack of patient case files were clipped to the clipboard.

    Oh, I was bored in my ward, so I thought Id take a walk. Su Jin smiled and nced at the name tag pinned to the doctors coat. His expression did not flinch as he said, Dr. Thomas, my illness is going to be alright, right?

    Dont worry, its a small problem. Youre putting too much stress on yourself. Just go back and rest, and youll be fine. Dr. Thomas seemed very easygoing.

    Su Jin paused to think, then asked, What about the other two patients in my ward? Their case looks more serious than mine.

    Theyre fine too, they just need to rest. Dr. Thomas patted Su Jins shoulder and said, Youd better go back to your bed to reset. There are many people walking up and down here, so if you wander about like that, youll get in the way of the doctors and nurses.

    Su Jin just yed along and went back to his ward. As he sat down on his bed, he began thinking about all the things that were strange about this hospital. The strangest part was how there were only doctors and nurses walking up and down the corridor all the time, but no patients at all.

    Every wards door was covered with a linen cloth, and his ward was the only one without such a cloth. It was as if the three of them were the only patients in the hospital.

    He then asked the man in bandages, Bro, Im a bit hungry. Do you know where the cafeteria is?

    The cafeteria? I think its in the west of the hospital. I dont go there because my wife sends me food all the time. The man in bandages seemed very in love with his wife.

    Got it, thanks! Su Jin proceeded toy on his bed and did not move. From the looks of it, the hospital wasnt dangerous for the time being. The real danger was probably going to ur after 48 hours if he couldnt leave the hospital by then. He would probably just die here.

    For the rest of the day, Su Jin justyzily on his bed. The man in bandages was very chatty and he would just tell Su Jin everything he knew without Su Jin prompting him.

    Su Jin was already starving by lunchtime. Just when he was considering whether he should eat the bun the man in bandages gave him, a nurse finally came in with lunch.

    The nurse had no expression on her face as she threw the meal onto the table attached to Su Jins bed, then walked away without any change in expression. Su Jin couldnt help but say to the man in bandages, The nurses attitude is terrible.

    Yeah, and the food here is terrible too. I dont eat it, anyway. The man in bandages shook his head and didnt even look inside the bento box. Just then, there was a ttering sound as the patient on Su Jins right pulled the entire bento box under the nket.

    The man in bandages seemed used to it and just shrugged at Su Jin. Su Jin justughed as well, then proceeded to open his box. But he immediately closed it again, because the box contained a dead rat that had been smashed beyond recognition.

    Bro, I dont think your description is urate! This stuff this stuff isnt just terrible, its not fit for human consumption! Su Jin said to the man in bandages.

    The man in bandages leaned over curiously and motioned to Su Jin to open the box. Su Jin opened the box and the man in bandages nearly vomited when he saw what was inside.

    Oh my god Bro, did you offend the nurses here or something? Is this a prank? said the man in bandages in an exaggerated manner.

    You mean the food here isnt normally like that? asked Su Jin as he tapped his nose.

    The man in bandages red at him. Of course not! This is clearly not meant for humans to eat!

    Su Jin left the box on his table and didnt eat anything. It was fine for an ordinary person to skip a few meals anyway. He would rather wait to see what was served for dinner.

    If youre not eating that, you can eat mine! My wife sends plenty of food anyway. The man in bandages gave Su Jin some and Su Jin epted it. The first few bites were pretty tasty, but immediately after that, his body froze and he fainted.

 Chapter 319

    Chapter 319

    When Su Jin woke up again, the sun was already setting. He clutched his head. What was in the other mans food? Was that made from sleeping pills or what?

    The man in bandages was gnawing at a cob of corn. He frowned and said to Su Jin, I still prefer the buns that my wife makes. This corn isnt nice to eat. You can have it!

    Su Jin shook his head immediately. What was in the food you gave me just now? Sleeping pills?

    No, no arge part of my skin was scalded, so I often have trouble sleeping and I added a lot of tranquilizers to my food. Ive always been the only one eating the food, so I totally forgot about that! The man in bandages held up his hand to apologize.

    Su Jin was still doubtful. He knew there had to be something wrong with this man, but he needed more time to find out what the problem was. The man then ced a bento box in front of Su Jin.

    The nurse came with your dinner just now. Open and see whats inside! The man in bandages had an excited look on his face, as though he were a child waiting to unwrap his present.

    Su Jin opened the box and looked inside, then moved aside to let the man in bandages take a look. A dissected frogy inside and Su Jin even saw one of the frogs legs wiggle.

    Oh maaaaan youve definitely offended the nurses. Theres no other reason for them to treat you like this, said the man in bandages.

    Su Jin just put the box aside and said with a smile, Its just two more days, I wont starve to death. Ill just take it as Im going on a diet!

    The man in bandages nodded, then held out the cob of corn again. Im not eating it, so why dont you eat this to stave off your hunger for the time being?

    Su Jin hesitated, then took it from the man. He didnt know what was going to happen next, so it was best to maintain his level of energy as far as possible.

    This one doesnt have tranquilizers, right? asked Su Jin cautiously.

    He only started eating it after the man in bandages told him confidently that the corn was fine. The corn didnt knock him out this time but for some reason, Su Jin felt hungrier with each bite.

    They chatted for a while and the sky outside grew darker and darker. Su Jiny on the bed and pulled the nket over him, so he looked like he was asleep. But he didnt actually dare to fall asleep. The Hospital of Horrors couldnt possibly just trap him here for two days, then kill him, right? Since nothing happened during the day, maybe something would happen at night.

    Su Jiny on the bed soundlessly. There was a digital clock hanging on the wall inside the ward, and when it rang at midnight, Su Jin could sense that something had changed.

    He opened his eyes with a start and looked around him. He saw that the man in bandages was sitting on his bed and making strange noises.

    Su Jin got up and turned the lights on, and the sight before him stunned him. The man in bandages was chewing on one of his arms as he sat on his bed. The man noticed Su Jin once the lights came on and he pounced toward Su Jin like he had just spotted a tasty meal.

    Su Jin immediately ducked to the side, and as he did so, one of the mans bandages got caught and unraveled. Under that bandage wasnt scalded skin at all. It was a shiny bone.

    I want to eat! Im hungry! I want to eat! The man in bandages was starving and pounced toward Su Jin again. Su Jin did not fight him and just moved toward the door, ready to open the wards door. But his face fell when he turned the knob, because the door had been locked from the outside and he couldnt open it at all.

    Damn it! cursed Su Jin. The man in bandages had alreadye pouncing toward him. He was very strong, so he pinned Su Jin against the wall easily and gulped.

    Su Jin noticed the bento boxes beside his bed, so he kicked the man in the chest, causing him to stumble backward. Su Jin immediately leaped onto his bed, then opened one of the boxes. It was the one that contained the rat.

    The man in bandages immediately froze when he saw the rat. He stared at the rat and said hungrily, Im hungry give it to me!!

    I can give it to you, but you must tell me how to get out of this hospital! The man in bandages didnt seem to have gonepletely berserk, which was very strange. If the Challenge wanted to use the man in bandages to create trouble for him, then the man should have lost his mindpletely, no?

    But since the man still had a shred of rationality left in him, that meant that Su Jin could still gain some information from him. There was no guarantee, so he could only try.

    Key fragments. If you have the key, you can get out. The man in bandages really wanted the dead rat, so he gave Su Jin the answer immediately.

    Where are the fragments? asked Su Jin.

    Theyre here. The man in bandages suddenly pulled out four pieces of metal from under the bandages around his abdomen. Those were four fragments and it did look like they would form a key-like object once they were put together.

    Give it to me! Su Jin stretched his arm out while holding up the bento box. Give it to me and Ill give this box to you!

    One food item for one fragment! said the man in bandages with great effort.

    Su Jin blinked for a moment, then pped his own forehead. So thats what all that was for! He had received four food items today. Two were from the nurse, which were the dead rat and dead frog, while the other two were from the man in bandages, which were the bun and the corn. If he had kept everything, he would be able to exchange them for all four fragments. But he had eaten the corn.

    Can I use something else to exchange for the fragments? asked Su Jin with a bitter smile on his face.

    Food, I only want food! Im hungry! said the man in bandages agitatedly.

    If you want food, then I have to head to the cafeteria. Su Jin shook his head. Going to the cafeteria at this hour was probably going to be very dangerous, but he didnt have a choice. Snatching it from the man was impossible. The man was much stronger and bigger than him.

    Ill take three fragments first! Su Jin handed over the bun, the frog and the rat.

    The man in bandages kept his word despite being so desperately hungry and gave three fragments to Su Jin. He then went back to his bed to enjoy his feast.

    Su Jin frowned and looked at the main door of his ward again. He had to find a way to get out, but he couldnt open it himself. He had to find some other special way of opening it.

    With that in mind, Su Jin looked at the man in bandages again. Opening the door should be no problem for someone as strong as him.

    Bro, lets strike a deal. You help me open the door and Ill find you something to eat. Su Jins smile made him look like some suspicious man at the yground tempting children with lollipops.

 Chapter 320

    Chapter 320

    Su Jin believed that there was no Challenge that led to a dead end. No matter how difficult it was, an escape route existed. It was just that many owners became panicky after they started a Challenge, so they could hardly even think straight, never mind try and find the solution to the problem at hand.

    The man in bandages opened the ward door very easily. After he opened the door, he returned to his bed to feast on the three food items he had obtained.

    Su Jin kept the three fragments carefully, then walked out of the ward. The lights from the ward were dim, and the corridor wasnt lit with white fluorescent lights either. They were incandescentmps that glowed a dim yellow and made the atmosphere more horrifying than it should.

    Under such circumstances, it was hard for Su Jin to even differentiate one direction from another. Thankfully, there was a map of the hospital along the corridor, so Su Jin quickly confirmed which direction he should take.

    The corridor waspletely silent, so each of Su Jins footsteps sounded thunderous to him. He tried his best to tread lightly. Given the nature of the Handbook, there was no way it would let off an owner during such a time. Danger could strike anytime.

    He walked past a fire emergency box and noticed an axe inside. He did need a weapon right now, so he wasnt going to just walk past the axe.

    After opening the box, he picked up the axe and tried swinging it. The weight was perfect. Just then, he heard a ttering noise from somewhere further upfront.

    His heart skipped a beat as he ducked into a nearby toilet and peeked out to see what was making that weird noise.

    In no time, he spotted it. It was a very skinny monster that looked like a spider. Or rather, it looked like a human who grew a spider body. The lower body resembled a spider, but with only four legs, while the upper body was a human body wearing a nurses uniform.

    The monster would stop at every ward, open the ward door, then stretch its upper body into the ward. The ttering sound was caused by the monster banging into the tungstenmps from being too tall.

    Su Jin dared not even breathe too loudly as he slowly moved backward. That monster was definitely not a friendly one, so retreating temporarily was the best thing to do now.

    Clonk! As Su Jin moved backward, he identally knocked into a small pail next to the sink. The pail was only as high as his calf and had been ced in a corner, so Su Jin didnt notice it.

    The moment he hit the pail, Su Jin cursed inwardly. The monster had clearly heard the noise as well. Loud ttering sounds came from the corridor as the monster made its way to where Su Jin was at high speed.

    Su Jin kicked the door of the female toilet, then turned and ran quietly into the male toilet. He hoped the noise would mislead the monster.

    He opened the door to the male toilet by just a crack and leaned against the wall as he peeked through the crack. He needed to know where the monster was headed. By this time, the monster had already dashed over. Itsrge body was very nimble, and its upper body was muscr, but its face looked like a crickets and there was a sharp bone in its mouth.

    Su Jins kick worked. The monster ran straight into the female toilet and Su Jin immediately ran out from the male toilet, and ran as fast as he could. Hiding in the male toilet could stall for some time, but it was dangerous. If the monster realized it had been tricked and proceeded to run into the male toilet, he would have nowhere to hide. He would be doomed if that happened.

    His footsteps were especially loud in the quiet corridor. The monster dashed out of the female toilet again when it heard Su Jins footsteps, but luckily, its body was bulky and it had more trouble running along the narrow corridor than Su Jin, its head constantly mming into themps above it. At the same time, Su Jin ran like a dog gone mad and didnt even care which way he was running, as long as it was clear. In less than a minute, he shook off the creature.

    He ran and hid himself in another toilet, panting heavily as he clutched the door handle. After bing an owner, it had been a long time since he felt so physically exhausted. He felt like his lungs were on fire.

    After waiting for a while, he made sure it was safe and came out from the toilet. He cautiously walked down the corridor to find the map of the hospital and confirmed where he was before letting out a long sigh of relief. He had been pretty lucky. If he had run in the opposite direction, he would have to run a long way back.

    He was now not too far from the cafeteria, but knowing that did not make him happy at all, because he could see that he had to cross an open area to get to the cafeteria.

    If I run into a monster like that in an open area, itll be too hard to get away. Su Jin frowned. That monster moved very quickly and was merely hampered by the narrow, turning corridors, and that was how he managed to escape. But if he ran into the same monster in an open area, he wouldnt be able to outrun it.

    Su Jin looked at the axe in his hand and licked his lips. There was no other choice but to just go for it. He couldnt possibly just sit around and wait to die.

    He walked down the corridor and came to a door. He gripped the axe more tightly, then held his breath as he stepped out of the building. The hospital was veryrge and the wards were about a hundred meters or so from the cafeteria. If he ran with all his might, he would probably need 15 seconds or so, since he was carrying something.

    He had two options. One was to hold his breath and slowly make his way across, while the other was to just make a run for it. If he made his way across slowly, he might avoid unnecessary battles with monsters, but if he took too long to do that, other dangers would pop up. Dashing across would reduce the time needed by a lot, but it would attract the attention of those dangerous monsters hiding in the darkness.

    While he was still weighing his two options, he suddenly heard a familiar ttering behind him. That monster had actually caught up with him. He didnt have a choice anymore. He had to just make a run for it.

    Once he had decided, he didnt hesitate and dashed right out. But the moment he left the building, his body shuddered all over. The open area was so cold, he could see his breath as he exhaled. At the same time, the horizon turned red.

    Su Jin looked up to see a blood-red moon in the sky. Thest time he saw one like that, it was on the Ind of Mistakes when Miyamoto Tooru appeared as a host for the Bloody Sakura Sword. He had a bad feeling about this.

    He didnt get too much time to think. A man wearing an apron appeared in front of the entrance to the cafeteria. He wore a white mask with a strange expression, like a piece of abstract art.

    But what made Su Jin wary of this man was the knife and frying pan in his hand. It seemed like if he went too close, the man would attack him.

    At the same time, he didnt have any other choice. The monster behind him was not easy to deal with either. He raised his axe, thinking that if the man tried to stop him, he was going to just swing the axe at the man.

    However, just as Su Jin came close, the man suddenly threw some sort of powder at him. The red powder gleamed in the red moonlight as it flew toward Su Jin, and a spiciness hit his nose.

    Its chili powder! Su Jin was caught off guard. He needed a lot of oxygen to sprint, so his mouth was wide open as the powder hit his face. Tears and mucus immediately covered his face as a natural reaction to the spiciness of the powder.

    He endured the awful effects of the chili powder and told himself that he had to make it across the open area. The sound of the monsters footsteps behind him were closing in.

    He forced himself to open his eyes, confirmed where the man was standing, then raised his axe and swung it at the man. He didnt think he could possibly kill the man like this, but he just hoped it would buy him enough time to run past.

    But Su Jin had been a little too nave. As Su Jins axe came toward the man, the man raised his knife. Su Jin felt the weight in his hands decrease as the knife sliced through the axe cleanly and the head of the axe flew a good distance away.

    Su Jin gasped and wondered if he was going to die just like that in a single-person Challenge. He had made it through so many difficulties, yet this was how everything was going to end.

    <em>No,</em> he refused to give up. He stopped running, because he realized that the man had not moved a single step toward him. Perhaps the man was not able to move out of a certain area by design. If that was the case, then his only threat was actually that monster behind him.

    By the time he thought of this, the monster had caught up. The hurried and heavy footsteps of the monster sounded like it was going to shatter the ground, but Su Jin did not move. He was waiting, waiting for the monster toe closer.

    Now! Su Jin rolled to one side and he could feel a strong wind blow past his ear. The chili powder made it hard for him to open his eyes, but he was sure the monster had pounced toward him.

    Pfft! There was a muffled sound, followed by what Su Jin felt was rain, except that this rain smelled a little foul and it was warm. The rain washed away the chili powder on his face and he was able to somewhat open his eyes a little more. The first thing he saw was that the monster had been sliced into two.

    The monster had been sliced into half horizontally, so while the lower half was lying motionless on the ground, the upper half was struggling to crawl toward Su Jin. Its insect-like mouth kept opening and closing and it looked really gross.

    This monsters will to live was really strong. Despite being sliced into two, it still managed to get to Su Jin, grabbed hold of Su Jins leg, and opened its mouth wide.

    Su Jin gripped the broken handle of his axe and stabbed it into the monsters mouth. He used all the strength he had and the handle pierced right through the monsters head.

    Screeech! Screeech! The monster convulsed in agony as it held onto Su Jins leg and tried to climb upward to attack Su Jin. But Su Jin kicked it in the chest and it flew backward.

 Chapter 321

    Chapter 321

    The monster struggled for a few moments before finally dying. Su Jin couldnt stop panting as he tried to recover from what just happened. His idea had been a risky one. He had hoped to use the strange man in front of the cafeteria to kill the monster, but he wasnt sure if the man would attack the monster. If the man hadnt, then he would be the one lying lifelessly on the ground now.

    Su Jin was not the type who liked taking risks, because taking risks usually meant that he had no other options and was in a situation where he was desperate to find a way out. Only a lunatic would seek risks out.

    Luckily for him, Su Jin managed to survive this. He looked up at the man, who was still quietly standing where he was without moving. But the abstract looking mask on his face shifted such that his eyes were now staring at Su Jin.

    Su Jin was quite sure that if he crossed the line, the man would definitely hack him to death. The chili powder that was thrown at him was possibly a hint from the Handbook, and Su Jin believed that such a hint wouldnt happen a second time. The Handbook could forgive one for being rash, but not for being stupid.

    Now that the monster was dead, Su Jin had the time to catch his breath. But he couldnt stay here for too long. If he couldnt get thest fragment of the key, he was going to end up dead sooner orter. He had to get into the cafeteria, but getting in meant having to battle this man standing in his way. It looked like an impossible situation.

    Su Jin knew there had to be a way around this. The Handbook would never force an owner into a dead end. But he wasnt sure how he could get around this puppet-like man.

    He got up and said to the man, I want to go into the cafeteria.

    The cafeteria is closed during this time, replied the man immediately. His voice was shrill, as though someone was squeezing his throat.

    Su Jin quickly asked the next question, What are the cafeterias opening hours?

    6am to 8pm. If you miss this window, there will be nothing to eat, replied the man.

    Su Jin paused to think. He had 48 hours in this hospital, so he could afford to wait until the next day. But Challenges in the Handbook did not remain as they were as time went by. The Handbook was now allowing him to obtain the key through the man in bandages, but if he didnt get everything from the man in bandages now, the next day something would change and the Challenge would be harder toplete. If that wasnt the case, he wouldnt insist oning out given how dangerous it was.

    Then is there a way to enter the cafeteria outside of its opening hours? asked Su Jin.

    The man was silent for a few seconds before nodding slightly. Yes, there are two ways. One is to kill me. You can go in and out of the cafeteria freely after that.

    Su Jin had a pained expression on his face. That was definitely not possible, so he waited for the man to exin the second method.

    The second way is to look for a seasoning and give it to me. As long as it is something that can be used in cooking, it will be epted, said the man.

    Su Jin frowned. Finding a seasoning didnt sound hard, but he was in a hospital. Where else besides the cafeteria would have something like that?

    Seasoning does alcohol count? asked Su Jin as his eyes glinted.

    The man nodded. Of course. There are many types of cooking from all over the world that require alcoholic liquids. If you can find some for me, I will let you in.

    Su Jin nodded. It wasnt going to be easy to find something like cooking wine in a hospital, but finding actual alcohol wasnt difficult. He could dilute it with some water and it should pass.

    If I need to get my hands on alcohol that ce should have some. Su Jin turned to look at a nearby low building. The word Pharmacy was written on it. There ought to be alcohol there.

    He then looked at his axe. The head had been sliced off the handle, and the handle was stabbed into the monsters mouth. If he carried just the head, he couldnt do much damage with it, but he decided to bring it along anyway. Any weapon at this point was better than nothing. It mighte in useful.

    He turned to walk toward the pharmacy building, its sign made more eerie by the red moonlight. Thankfully, there was nobody guarding the building, so Su Jin got in easily.

    But once he got in, he sighed inwardly. There were a lot of rooms inside. Besides the counter with a window where people could collect their medicine, the other rooms were all storerooms. But he didnt know which storeroom contained what. If he had to search the rooms one by one, itd take forever to find what he wanted.

    There should be a map of sorts, right? murmured Su Jin to himself. There had to be a map, or at least some record of what each room stored, so that the pharmacists could find the medicine they wanted. That sort of thing was probably at the counter.

    Su Jin decided to give it a shot. He got to the door leading to the counter, only to find that the door was locked with a copper lock.

    Im d I brought this along! Su Jin used the head of the axe and smashed it against the lock, and it gave way after just a few tries. He walked in and ran toward the office desk, then opened each drawer in hope of finding what he wanted.

    His luck wasnt too bad and he found what he wanted quite quickly. Everything was recorded in a small notebook and he figured that the one keeping records was possibly a woman, since there were cute drawings on the cover.

    He started flipping through the numerous pages and didnt take long to find what he was looking for.

    Disinfectants, room 302. The room that stored disinfectants probably included alcohol. Room 302 meant that it was on the third story.

    He walked out of the room behind the counter and found the stairs, then started walking up. But he soon noticed something amiss. Based on the design of the staircase, he just needed to climb four flights of stairs to reach the third floor. But he had climbed at least six or seven flights, yet he hadnt even reached the second floor.

    Damn it, is this a meme? Su Jin frowned. He was most afraid of running into such a situation. Firstly, memes were pretty dangerous, and secondly, it took time to crack a meme. If he wasnt lucky, he could be trapped here for days.

    Su Jin shook his head and continued heading upward. He had to climb a few more flights to find some sort of pattern. As he went up, Su Jin kept making a mark on the stairs. He discovered that he would see the mark he made the next time he turned to take the next flight of stairs, which meant that he had been climbing the same flight again and again.

    It looks like a Z-type staircase but it doesnt turn? I keep going up the same flight of stairs, muttered Su Jin to himself. It was supposed to be a Z, but he would arrive at the bottom of the Z when he was supposed to be at the halfway mark again and again.

    The head is the tail, the tail is the head, Su Jin continued to murmur. He came to the staircasending and stood with one foot next to each of the two flights of stairs. He tapped his nose as he said, If thats the case, does that mean Im appearing at both the upper side and lower side of the staircase?

    He suddenly felt like something was tearing through his body, but nothing happened to his actual body. It was just something he could feel.

    Woong! There was a loud humming noise as his world began to spin. He immediately grabbed hold of the banister, and when everything stopped spinning, he found himself at the second floor.

    So its that sort of meme, Su Jin smiled. This sort of meme would disappear once Su Jin understood how it worked.

    Actually, this was a very simple meme. The flight of stairs he was walking on was the second flight of stairs that had been trapped in its own dimension. The ne he was on was round, which was why Su Jin said that the head was the tail and the tail was the head.

    Once he understood this concept, the dimension walls disappeared and he appeared on the second story. He did not stop there and continued heading upward. The meme didnt exist anymore, so he reached the third story without any trouble.

    Room 302 was right next to the staircasending and he found it once he got to the third floor. The door was also locked with a copper lock and he smashed it easily with the axe.

    A pungent smell hit his nostrils once he opened the door. This room stored disinfectants, so it was normal for the room to smell like this. The storeroom didnt have lights and the red moonlight seeping in from outside provided very little light. He had no choice but to feel his way around. He would open any container he found and put his finger in it.

    Alcohol was a chemical that could remove a lot of heat, so when it was applied onto the skin, it felt cold. Su Jin soon found what he was looking for. He got himself a three-liter bottle of medical-grade alcohol.

    Su Jin picked it up and walked out of the room, then got out of the building and returned to the hospital wards. He poured out most of the alcohol inside the bottle, then filled the bottle with water from the tap and shook it hard. He then brought the diluted alcohol to the cafeteria and handed it to the man guarding it.

    The man took the bottle from Su Jin, unscrewed the cap and held it in front of his face, as though he were smelling it. But Su Jin couldnt figure out which part of that twisted face of his could possibly be the nose.

    Its alcohol. You may go in now. The man moved aside and motioned Su Jin to go in.

    Su Jin let out a sigh of relief. He cautiously walked past the man, then entered the cafeteria. It waspletely silent, but at least it was well lit, so he didnt have to use the tables and chairs to find his way around.

    His target was the kitchen, since he would probably be able to find what he wanted there. He walked through the dining hall and found his way to the kitchen. Unfortunately, there were no ingredients lying around as Su Jin had hoped. The kitchen was empty except for arge number of kitchen utensils.

    He scanned the ce for a while before his gazended on a refrigerator.

 Chapter 322

    Chapter 322

    The refrigerator was ced in a very conspicuous part of the kitchen and Su Jin was quite sure he would find food inside. But given the circumstances he was in, a fridge in in sight was actually pretty scary to him.

    Amon plot device in horror stories and movies was to kill a character when they opened something. It wasnt just opening a door to an unknown ce, but also opening a drawer to look at whats inside. He had to open the fridge in order to get food, which made for the perfect horror movie scene.

    I cant open it just like that, I need to find some other way to do so. Su Jin refused to just walk over and open it. He looked around and found some twine. He tied the twine together, then tied one end to the handle so that he could pull the door open from a distance.

    Once he was a good distance away, he pulled hard on the twine and the door opened. A ck liquid immediately sprayed out, and any part of the twine that got the liquid on it was instantly corroded.

    Su Jins mouth twitched nervously. He was so d he hadnt gone to open the door with his own hands. It would have been impossible to avoid that ck liquid and that would have killed him.

    He waited for a while before approaching the fridge. He opened the door a little wider and saw that the fridge was full of ingredients.

    His initial n was to just grab an ingredient, then go back and exchange it for thest fragment. But he hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a few other things from the fridge and got ready to cook.

    The man in bandages had a very clear request. He wanted food, not just ingredients. While Su Jin didnt think the frog and rat that the man epted was considered food, he didnt want to risk it. If the man in bandages was going to insist on getting something fit for eating and Su Jin only brought back some raw meat, it might not be epted.

    And if that happened, all his efforts would go down the drain and he would have wasted so much time. So, he decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

    The kitchen had everything he needed, so he fried some vegetables, packed them into a stic bag and got ready to go. At thest minute, he turned back to grab a few knives. It was better to arm himself if possible.

    After walking out of the cafeteria, he carefully walked around the man guarding the entrance, then returned to the wards. The silence in the corridor could really send one into a panic.

    ng!

    Just then, a familiar ttering resounded, causing Su Jin to shudder slightly. Was there more than one of that monster nurse? He quickly ducked into the nearest toilet and peeked from behind a corner.

    He soon discovered that the monster walking along the corridor wasnt the monster nurse, but a male doctor with gold-rimmed sses. Several syringes were stabbed into his body, and his hands were giant scalpels.

    Just like the monster nurse, he would open the door of every ward, walk in, then walk out again soon after.

    Su Jin held his breath as he timed how long the monster doctor took in each ward. Once he was sure that the doctor took about a minute, he walked out of the toilet once the doctor walked into the next ward. This time, Su Jin dared not make any noise and walked very carefully. The problem was, walking like that was very slow.

    31, 32, 33 Su Jin counted in his head. He had to reach the stairs before getting to 60, otherwise he might be discovered by the monster doctor.

    50, 51, 52 Sweat began to appear on his forehead. The corridor was simply too long, and he didnt dare to walk any faster. He was only left with a few seconds, but he didnt think he would make it to the end of the corridor at this rate.

    He didnt have a choice. He nced at the ward next to him and decided to hide inside until the doctor went into the next ward.

    With that, he pressed down on the handle of the door and pushed it open, then slid into the ward. The doctor came out just as he did so.

    Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. If he had hesitated just that bit longer just now, he would have been discovered. The monster doctor had a simr body shape and size to an ordinary human, so he wouldnt be hampered by the narrow corridor like the monster nurse was. It would have been much more difficult to get away from this monster.

    What in the Su Jin turned to look at the ward he was in and was too stunned to speak. This ward didnt have any beds at all, so there were no patients to speak of. Instead, it had fixtures that looked likerge freezers. The cover was made of ss, but it was covered in mist and it was impossible to see what was inside.

    There were three such fixtures in the ward, so Su Jin picked one and used his hand to wipe away the mist on the ss. He could see there was something inside but he wasnt sure what.

    Whats inside here? Su Jin frowned as he stered his face onto the ss, hoping to get a clearer view.

    Bam! A face suddenly mmed into the ss from the inside. That face was twisted, filled with pain and his eyes were shut fast. It seemed like he had been dreaming  the person froze for a moment before falling back into the fixture again.

    This thing stores living people? Su Jin was very surprised. This ward had living people, but they were locked inside these fixtures instead of lying on beds.

    He took a step back and took a quick look at the fixtures, but he didnt make any useful discoveries. He only noticed something that resembled pipe connectors on two sides of each fixture.

    He wanted to take a closer look, but he didnt have a lot of time to spare. If he waited any longer, the monster doctor might find him, so he had to leave this ce for the time being.

    The sound of a ward door being opened echoed in the corridor. Su Jin immediately opened the door, then walked out after he was sure that the monster doctor had walked into another ward. This time, he managed to get to the end of the corridor and made his way back to his own ward.

    He walked in to see the man in bandages tugging hungrily at the bandages on his body, exposing even more bones. He immediately came pouncing over when he saw Su Jin return.

    Su Jin immediately handed over his bag of cooked vegetables and said, Here you go. Give me thest fragment!

    The man in bandages gave Su Jin thest fragment without hesitation, then started gobbling down the vegetables he got from Su Jin. Su Jin went back to his bed and put the four fragments together.

    It was supposed to be a key, but the four pieces looked like they fit together to form a triangle. But as long as it could open a door that could help him escape this hospital, the shape didnt matter.

    He tried to put them together and just like he had guessed, the four pieces did form a triangr piece that was about the size of his palm.

    The man in bandages had finished eating the vegetables and he patted his tummy as though he was very satisfied. But just then, a ttering sound echoed in the corridor outside and the man in bandages immediately clutched his head and trembled in fear.

    The monster doctors going to enter this ward too? Su Jin froze as he remembered what happened when he first began this Challenge. He had been in a daze and he vaguely remembered there had been someone next to his bed, looking him up and down.

    The sound was now just outside Su Jins ward. He quicklyy back down on the bed and caught sight of the patient on his right who had covered themselves entirely with the nket.

    Is that a hint? Su Jin proceeded to cover himself entirely with his nket.

    The ward door creaked open, followed by heavy footsteps. The monster doctor had clearly entered the ward and the man in bandages started sobbing.

    Su Jin peeked through a small gap in the nket to see that the monster doctor was standing next to the man in bandages. The doctor scanned the man and said, Not bad, not bad. Youll make it very soon!

    The doctor then suddenly removed one of the syringes on himself, pressed the man in bandages down, then stabbed the syringe into the mans arm.

    Su Jin stared in shock. The man was nothing but bones, but the needle was still able to stab right through. After the injection was administered, the man became groggy and copsed onto the bed.

    The doctor gave him a pleased nod, then walked toward Su Jins bed.

    Su Jins brows were furrowed. He had figured it out now. The Handbook had set the scene such that he had just been injected, so he could only vaguely remember seeing something before cking out.

    I have to be injected again? thought Su Jin uneasily. But he wasnt too scared. Getting a dose of tranquilizer wasnt going to kill him, but it would be best if he could avoid it altogether.

    But when the doctor got to his bed, he didnt say anything. Su Jin dared not move at all and didnt even dare to peek out. He tried to hold his breath and make sure he didnt make any sound.

    Time ticked by slowly as Su Jin counted the seconds silently. The doctor had been inside for less than a minute, but it felt like he had been here for a thousand years.

    Just then, arge handnded on Su Jins nket and exerted a lot of force on Su Jin. Was that a sign that he wasnt going to escape this injection after all?

 Chapter 323

    Chapter 323

    Unlike what Su Jin had been afraid of, the monster doctor did not pull his nket back. The monster doctor only patted Su Jin, then let out a grunt when Su Jin did not respond.

    Not bad, not bad! After saying that, the doctor left Su Jins bedside and walked over to the third bed. Just like what he did with Su Jin, he patted the patient and said the same thing.

    Not bad, not bad! The doctor then left Su Jins ward. Su Jin did not emerge from his nket immediately, but waited for some time to make sure the coast was clear before finally uncovering his head.

    Hes really gone. Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He looked to his left and saw that the man in bandages had fainted. The tranquilizer used by that doctor was a really strong one.

    He then looked to his right. The nket had clearly moved a little just now. Su Jin had been able to dodge this injection because of this fellow.

    Hey, the doctors gone, you cane out now, Su Jin said to the patient under the nket. But the patient merely moved a little and did note out.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment. He had to know who was on this bed. This patient knew how to avoid getting an injection, so they might know something else too.

    He got off his bed, walked to the bed on his right, took hold of one corner of the nket, then suddenly pulled on it. The patient did not expect this to happen at all, so they nearly jumped out of the bed as though Su Jin had stepped on their tail.

    Rx, rx! Its alright! The doctor has already left our ward and wont being back for a while, Su Jin consoled the patient.

    The patient remained high strung for some time before slowly calming down. Su Jin realized that this patient was actually a woman.

    She was in her twenties and was very pretty, but she also looked extremely exhausted. The dark rings around her eyes showed that she hadnt rested well during her time in the hospital.

    Dont worry, the doctor has already left. I dont think hell being back soon, said Su Jin quietly.

    The woman licked her lips and said uneasily, Thats right, he wont being back soon, but hell stille back.

    Take a deep breath, calm down can you tell me whats going on? asked Su Jin.

    She looked up at him and said puzzledly, You you dont know whats going on?

    Do I look like I know? I was injected immediately after being warded, so I have no idea whats going on, said Su Jin with a sigh.

    The woman felt that he wasnt lying, so she said, Theres a problem with this hospital. It turns into a world filled with demons and monsters after the sun sets. They walk in and out of the wards and harvest the lives of patients.

    Harvest the lives of patients? You mean they kill them? asked Su Jin.

    She shook her head. No, I I dont know how to exin this. This ce this ce isnt a normal hospital at all. Do you know about the rumor that says every patient whoes here will recover within seven days?

    I heard that from this guy here, said Su Jin as he pointed to the man in bandages.

    She smiled bitterly and said, Thats not the case at all. Nobody recovers here. The people who leave the hospital are the monsters after theyve transformed. They theyre recing us, taking over our lives, our families, our friends! Meanwhile, we get locked in here forever as they suck our lives away.

    Su Jin more or less got it. She was saying that this hospital never discharged any of their patients. Those who were supposedly discharged after recovery were actually the hospital monsters in disguise.

    Why are they doing this? Just to take over our identities? asked Su Jin.

    She nodded, then shook her head. Not just that. Have you seen the other wards?

    Yeah, I saw them just now. There are strange fixtures I dont understand inside, but there are humans inside those things, replied Su Jin honestly.

    Those are the patients who get their identities swapped after seven days. Once those monsters leave the hospital as us, we will be locked inside those fixtures. Inside there, we cannot move and cannot fight back, but we are able to produce an amazing chemical that makes the monsters stronger and more energetic after consuming it, while the patient bes weaker by the day and will eventually die, she exined to him.

    Su Jin nodded. He now understood why the monster nurse and doctor entered the wards, and what those pipe connectors on the fixtures were. The monsters were using those connectors to suck in the vitality of the patients.

    We are the newest patients of this hospital, but weve been here for almost seven days already. After that, we will be food for those monsters, just like how humans keep pets. Her eyes were filled with terror as she pointed to the man in bandages. Like him. Hell be locked inside one of those things tomorrow and a monster will inherit everything he has.

    Su Jin frowned and asked, Why do you know so much? Arent you just a patient like me?

    The woman froze for a moment, thenughed sadly. A patient? I wish I was just a patient. If I were just a patient, I wouldnt know any of this until the day I die and I wouldnt live every day in fear. But but I already know all of this.

    In that case, youre not just a patient. Su Jin narrowed his eyes. The information she just shared couldnt be something a patient could get their hands on. She might have been able to find out that the monsters were sucking the lives out of the patients by observing their behavior in the hospital, but how would she know that the monsters were impersonating the patients and living among ordinary humans out there?

    She nodded. Thats because I applied to be a nurse here before.

    A nurse? Isnt this a hospital filled with monsters? How could an ordinary human like you be a nurse here? asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    This is a hospital controlled by the monsters, but thats only at night. The monsters cannot appear as they are in the day, so so they recruit arge number of doctors and nurses, use a simr method to lock them up, then assume their identities in the day.

    When I came to apply for the job, I walked the wrong way and got to the basement of the hospital. I saw a proposal with the details of the monsters ns. I meant to escape, but the monsters found me and so I was brought here, said the woman in a despairing voice.

    Su Jin wasnt sure if thest bit was true, but the information she provided before that was probably urate. The monsters made themselves look like humans and took over the lives of the patients here while imprisoning the patients in order to suck the vitality out of them.

    No, no I cant keep waiting. I have to escape from here! The woman suddenly ran out of the room like she had gone mad.

 Chapter 324

    Chapter 324

    The woman ran out of the ward like she had gone insane. Su Jin didnt want her to leave now. She knew a lot about this hospital of horrors, so if he could get more details from her, his chances of surviving would increase.

    He dashed out after her, but the moment he set foot outside the room, he felt a terrible pain in the back of his neck, as though something had stabbed into him. He didnt even have the strength to turn back and simply copsed onto the floor.

    In his groggy state, Su Jin felt like he was being dragged along before losing consciousnesspletely. By the time he woke up, the sky was already bright. He was still on his own bed and the man in bandages next to him was eating. The man greeted Su Jin when he saw Su Jin wake up.

    Su Jin sat up and turned to his right. The woman was gone. Had she sessfully escaped the night before? He had left the ward at almost the same time as her, so she might have been the one who knocked him out. Of course, it could also be that the monster doctor discovered him.

    Whats wrong? asked the man in bandages when he noticed that Su Jin looked a little out of sorts.

    Su Jin shook his head and asked the man, Do you know where the person who was here has gone?

    Oh, it seems shes fully recovered and her family came to pick her up this morning, said the man in bandages as he stuffed a bun into his mouth.

    Su Jin frowned. Did that mean that the hospital had actually captured her? If so, then perhaps both of them had been knocked out by the monster doctor, but because she had been here long enough, she was taken away earlier. He hade in one dayter, so he was allowed to stay in the ward. But of course, Su Jin still felt that it was more probable that the woman was the one who knocked him out.

    Im only left with one day, huh. Su Jin frowned even harder. He turned to his left and asked, Do you remember what happenedst night?

    Last night? I slept very earlyst night. Did something happen? The man in bandages looked puzzled.

    Su Jin looked him over. ording to what he saw the night before, this guy was left with nothing but bare bones under his bandages, yet he looked just like any normal human being. That didnt make sense.

    Do you mind letting me look at your wounds? asked Su Jin.

    The man in bandages was surprised by the question and looked like he was going to refuse, but he merely paused for a moment and nodded with a smile. Sure, you can take a look! Theyre almost all healed up anyway.

    Su Jin was quite surprised, because he thought that the man wouldnt let him take a look. But since he was fine with it, Su Jin immediately went over to take a look.

    The man undid the bandage around his arm and Su Jin was stunned at what he saw. Under those bandages werent bones. It was a freshyer of skin, and it looked especially smooth and supple.

    How is this happening? Su Jin was a little confused now. He went through what happened the night before and was sure of what he had seen. And if his eyes werent ying tricks on him, it meant that the problemy with the man himself.

    Perhaps perhaps thats the case? Su Jin started making some conjectures. The man in bandages would lose his senses every night and the flesh on his body would disappear. The injection that the monster doctor gave him wasnt just ordinary tranquilizer. Perhaps it was something that could help the man to have normal flesh in the day, and that thing could possibly be the vitality of a human.

    The female patient on his right told him the night before that the hospital was keeping human prisoners and sucking their vitality out of their bodies. If vitality could be removed from a body, then it could be given to another person, right? That might be why people continued to send their sick and wounded to this hospital.

    No matter how severe an illness was, it would get significantly better once the bodys vitality levels were boosted. Ordinary people would only notice the tremendous improvement but did not know whaty behind this effect. Once they saw the effect of the treatment given by this hospital, they would rmend it to others, and the hospital would have more patients and therefore more sources of vitalitying in all the time.

    Su Jin shook his head. This wasnt what he ought to be thinking about right now. It was more important for him to think about how to leave the hospital. The rest had nothing to do with him.

    With that thought, he got up and walked out of the ward. The corridor was still extremely crowded and all the doctors and nurses looked very busy. But Su Jin could now see a tinge of impatience and fake kindness in their busyness.

    They were like farmers breeding animals for sale. The animals were their money makers, but the farmer would never look at the business from the point of view of the animals, and they wouldnt be overly concerned for the animals either.

    He hadnt walked far when he spotted the doctor he saw the day before. This doctor was wearing a pair of gold rimmed sses, which reminded him of the monster doctor with several syringes stuck into him. Who would have thought that monster doctor would be a well respected human doctor by day?

    Why did youe out here again? Sir, please dont make things difficult for us, said the doctor as he shook his head and approached Su Jin to bring him back to the ward.

    An idea hit Su Jin and he cried out, Doctor, when something like that happens, it makes us all very fearful!

    The doctor was a little taken aback and looked slightly displeased. He said to Su Jin, Dont worry, the nurse was not careful when she made her roundsst night and died from falling down and hitting her head. Its not as terrifying as the rumors youve heard. Go back to your bed and rest.

    Su Jins lips curled into a smile as he nodded. I knew it couldnt be that scary!

    Of course, of course. Our hospital is definitely a safe ce. You should go back to your bed. The doctor escorted Su Jin back to his ward.

    Doctor, I can be discharged soon, right? The man in bandages looked especially excited to see the doctor.

    The doctor smiled and nodded. Youre recovering well, so you can be discharged today.

    Su Jin nced at the doctor. The doctors smile was super fake, and he also had a look of anticipation in his eyes, as though the man in bandages were a fat hog on the weighing scales that was ready for sale. The doctor was probably thinking about how much he could sell this hog for.

    After the doctor left, Su Jin sat silently on his own bed. He was merely trying his luck just now, and he didnt expect to get something useful out of the doctor. The monster nurse had died at the hands of the man guarding the cafeteria, and the doctor confirmed that a nurse had indeed died. That was good news to Su Jin, because that meant this Challenge wasnt a supernatural one.

    Right from the start, this hospital of horrors seemed like the supernatural sort, but the monsters here could be injured and killed. And as long as the monsters could be killed, then it made the Challenge a little easier to deal with.

    Su Jin checked his pockets where he had kept the things he took from the cafeteria, including a few knives and a lighter. He had to get out of here, so he would inevitably face a few battles along the way. These were the things he was going to rely on.

    Im so used to having a strong body, its so hard to get used to being an ordinary person. Su Jin smiled sadly as he shook his head. But he was still in a better position than an ordinary person. After facing dangers as someone formidable for a long time, Su Jins mental resilience had increased significantly. So, even when he was pushed into a corner, Su Jins first reaction was still to find a way out. He did not resign himself to his fate like many ordinary people would have.

    That didnt sound like much, but Handbook owners often found themselves in desperate situations, and being determined to survive could help one turn the situation around. It also helped Su Jin to think more calmly.

    The man in bandages was still excitedly getting ready to be discharged. Su Jin smiled as he suddenly said to him, My friend, since you gave me some food yesterday, I think I ought to warn you youre about to face dangers.

    The man in bandages froze for a moment, then smiled and asked, What do you mean?

    What do I mean? Think about it carefully. Ever since you were admitted, how much do you remember of what happens at night? Su Jin gave the man a cunning smile. He didnt think he could possibly convince the man to believe the real situation he was in, but he wanted to sow the seeds of suspicion in the mans head so that when the monsters tried to imprison him and noticed something amiss, he might try to fight back.

    His struggles might not save Su Jin, but he would introduce more chaos. The man might even turn out to be a pleasant surprise.

    The man in bandages paused to think for a while, then said, I have to take my meds every day, and I would be pretty drowsy after that, so its not surprising that I dont remember much.

    Is that so? Su Jin smiled and said quietly, Its good that you dont remember. Not being able to remember might be a blessing.

    Su Jins smile was so creepy, the man felt all his hair stand on end. He sat down on his own bed, then approached Su Jin again a few minutester. Friend, what exactly do you mean?

    Su Jin continued to smile without saying anything. Just then, a few nurses entered the ward. They were full of smiles as they said to the man in bandages, Sir, you can be discharged.

    The man was puzzled as he looked behind the nurses, but failed to see any of his family members. When a patient was discharged, wasnt it usual practice for family members toe to the hospital to pick them up?

    Hoho! Congrattions! You can finally be discharged! Su Jin reached out to shake the mans hand, and took the chance to hand him a knife as well. Stay safe out there!

    Su Jin then withdrew his hand and patted the man on his shoulder. The mans eyes were slightly narrowed as he hesitated for a moment, then hid the knife he received from Su Jin in his sleeve before leaving with the nurses.

    After the man left with the nurses, Su Jiny back down on his bed, got into afortable position and closed his eyes. He was going to take a nap to recover some strength. It was now daytime, and the best time for him to make his escape.

 Chapter 325

    Chapter 325

    Time slowly ticked by and Su Jin continued to sleep. His eyes only opened when the nurse came with lunch. He opened the box and was d that the food was normal. There were a few buns and a ss of milk.

    He polished off everything without hesitation because he needed as much energy as he could get. Even if the hospital gave him frogs and rats, he would finish it without a second thought.

    After that, he got up and walked out of the ward. A nurse immediately approached him with a robot-like smile on her face.

    Im having a bit of a headache, so Im looking for the doctor, said Su Jin to the nurse as he pretended to look unwell.

    Wait here, Ill call one for you, said the nurse with a smile.

    Thanks! Su Jin looked at her gratefully and turned around as if to return to his room while the nurse left to get the doctor. But of course, Su Jin wasnt going back to his room. He turned and said to another nurse, Miss, I identally pushed my food to the floor because my head hurt just now, could you bring another portion of food over?

    Sure, give me a few minutes! Another nurse left the corridor.

    Su Jin didnt have a lot of time because the two nurses would be back soon, but there was still one more nurse making her rounds. He called out to thest nurse, Miss, could youe over for a while?

    The nurse immediately approached him and asked, Sir, whats the matter?

    Oh, I dropped something and it went under the bed, but I cant seem to find it could you help me to look for it? asked Su Jin with a frustrated but also embarrassed look on his face.

    The nurse agreed and walked into the ward with Su Jin. Su Jin pointed at his bed and said, I think it rolled in that direction. Thank you!

    Sure, let me help you find it. The nurse bent down to look under the bed as a murderous look shed in Su Jins eyes. He pulled a knife out and approached the nurse. He didnt know if the nurses vital points were the same as an ordinary humans, so he could only try to stab her in the heart.

    Pfft! Su Jin no longer had his superhuman strength, but he had been well trained to be a killer. The knife was stabbed urately into the nurses heart. She convulsed violently for a while, then copsed motionlessly onto the floor.

    He breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly gathered the nkets of the three beds to tie them together in a special way. He lit one end of the nket, and once it reached a certain point, the mes would spread to the rest of the room and anything mmable would catch fire.

    After that, he dashed out of the ward and ran toward the outside of the building. He had memorized the entire map of the hospital the night before and he could visualize the buildings in his head.

    Based on the map in his head, he quickly made his way out of the wards. But he was shocked when he stepped out of the building. While he was inside, he could see that it was sunny outside. But now all he saw was darkness. Night had fallen. Or rather, the night never ended.

    Su Jin took a deep breath as he started analyzing the situation and came to a conclusion quickly. It wasnt that night had fallen, but that it had never ended. It hadnt struck him before because he had been fooled by the two times he slept.

    Humans needed to draw reference from other things in order to have a sense of time. If the things they were referencing changed or were removed, ones sense of time would be greatly affected.

    Some people were able to calcte time with other methods, such as silently counting the seconds or using their pulse rate as a guide. But those who did not think of such methods would have a gross miscalction of time.

    Su Jins two periods of sleep urred once when he first started the Challenge and was injected with tranquilizer, then again when he was knocked out. These two urrences had been involuntary, and they had made his consciousness think that the night had passed while he was unconscious. And the fact that the hospital provided a day meal after he woke up further solidified this misconception.

    But why dont they want me to know if its day or night? Su Jin was puzzled. Was it really necessary for the monsters to do that? Regardless of the time, the hospital was fully within their control.

    While he was thinking about these things, the fire in the wards was zing as his entire ward caught fire. Meanwhile, he heard shoutinging from another building. He recognized that voice as the man with bandages. It seemed like he had noticed something amiss and was fighting back now.

    There was no time to think so much about this. Regardless of the time, he had to get out of here. He turned and started running toward the main entrance ording to the map in his memory.

    The blood red moon in the sky helped to light the way, but the hospital didnt only have just a few people working inside the buildings. Su Jin was eventually discovered and several nurses with human upper bodies and spidery lower bodies started shouting as they ran toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin cursed inwardly and turned to run down a narrow passageway. These narrow paths worked to his advantage when it came to these giant monsters.

    The monster nurses werent agile enough, so even though Su Jin was in danger, he could still maintain a good distance between himself and the monsters behind. After taking a detour, he got back on his original route, except that he had already shaken off all the monster nurses.

    He ran as fast as he could, but he was slowly getting more and more tired. Without any added strength, his body was so much weaker than he remembered. But he didnt have the time toin. Getting out of here alive was of utmost importance.

    ording to what he remembered, he just needed to make two more turns and he would see the main entrance to the hospital, so he persevered despite his exhaustion. But after he made it round the first bend, he stopped in his tracks as a skinny person appeared in front of him.

    Youre alright?! The one blocking his way was the woman who was in the bed on his right in the ward. It turned out that the monsters hadnt captured her, which meant that the person who knocked him out was probably her.

    Dont go in that direction, there are monster doctors guarding that side! she called out to him.

    Su Jin frowned and cursed under his breath. The monster doctors seemed to know what he was nning and were guarding the main entrance. Meanwhile, the woman came closer to him and pulled at his arm. Come with me! I know another side road that can lead to the outside of the hospital!

    Ill count on you to lead the way then. Su Jin had no choice but to follow the woman.

    She led the way without hesitation and turned out to be extremely familiar with the hospital like Su Jin was. They made seven or eight turns and sessfully avoided all the monsters toe to a high wall.

    The wall around the hospital is only about three meters high, so we should be able to climb over it, said the woman as she pointed at the wall. Like she said, the wall was only about three meters high. One just needed to start running from a sufficient distance and you would make it.

    The woman ran toward the wall, made a leap and got to the top of the wall. She then reached out to Su Jin and said, Hurry up! We can get out in no time!

    But Su Jin shook his head and looked at her perplexedly as he asked, Why did you knock me outst night?

    My mind was in a mess and I was afraid that you were going to stop me from escaping, so I I didnt have a choice, Im sorry! she apologized to him.

    Youve been hiding in the hospital for the past 20 odd hours and nobody discovered you? he continued to ask.

    She nodded, then got a little anxious as she said, Hurry up! If the monsters catch up, you can forget about leaving this ce!

    But Su Jin merely scoffed and tapped his nose as he said, You knocked me outst night and its night time again, so you should have left the ward for more than 20 hours by now. I dont know how long Ive been sleeping for, but Im sure its not more than 20 hours.

    What are you talking about? I knocked you outst night and its night again, so of course youve slept for more than 20 hours. You cant feel it because of the meds. Theyve injected you with meds, so you are able to sleep longer than you usually do, she exined.

    He shook his head again and said, I say its impossible because of the way my body is. If I sleep for more than eight hours, my eyes would be very swollen when I wake up, but I dont feel like that now, so I think I didnt sleep for more than 20 hours, but more like just one or two hours. So it makes sense that its still night time.

    The woman frowned and did not say anything, while Su Jin went on, But you readily admitted that youve been hiding for more than 20 hours. I was unconscious, so I couldnt keep track of time well. But what about you? Youve been awake all this time. Even if you dont have anything to take reference from and you cant calcte time urately, the difference between two hours and 20 hours is way too great.

    And when I think about it now, you were hiding under the nket all the time in the ward and didnt eat anything at all, so you should be very weak. But based on your movement just now, you dont look anything like someone who hasnt eaten or moved much in days. I was very close to the exit when you suddenly appeared to tell me that monster doctors were guarding the area, which makes me even more suspicious. You were trying to foil my ns! said Su Jin as he stared straight at the woman. He asked in a low voice, Who in the world are you? Or what are you?

 Chapter 326

    Chapter 326

    A smile spread across the womans face. She shook her head slightly and said, I knew you were going to be difficult to fool, but I thought Id try anyway. As for who I am see for yourself.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. The woman was still sitting on top of the wall and swung her legs, but she was morphing like a shapeshifter and a few secondster, the person sitting on the wall was none other than himself.

    You are me! Su Jin shook his head. His head was a little confused, but he told himself that this wasnt real. The woman was just using a shapeshifting technique to confuse him.

    I am you. The Su Jin on the wall was certain and she pointed to someone behind him. That one too. Whos he?

    Su Jin turned to see that the man in bandages was standing not too far from him. He held a bloody knife in his hand as well as the dead body of a doctor.

    You Su Jin was surprised that the man had been able to kill a doctor.

    Me? The man in bandages burst outughing as he brought the knife closer to his face, then cut through the bandages around his head to reveal Su Jins face.

    No how could it be? Su Jin couldnt help but take two steps back. His eyes were wide. The face of the man in bandages was exactly the same as his own. That man was another him.

    You arent going to acknowledge us? But we are you without a doubt, said the Su Jin on the wall loudly.

    No! yelled Su Jin. How can you be me? Youre just characters in this Challenge and youre just trying to keep me inside the hospital.

    Im trying to keep you inside the hospital? Dont forget, Im the one who gave you the fragments of the key. The Su Jin in bandages sounded a little displeased, but he had a weird smile on his face.

    Thats right! And if not for me, how would you have known that you could avoid getting injected by the monster doctor by hiding under the nket? asked the Su Jin on the wall with a smile.

    Su Jin didnt know how to respond. He had the key, so he didnt need to talk to these two. He just needed to open the gate to the hospital, get out and everything would be over.

    He turned to run and ran past himself in bandages. His bandaged self did not try to stop him at all and continued grinning weirdly at him.

    Haha! Heh heh! The two other Su Jinsughed gleefully as Su Jin ran from them. The mocking in theirughter could be heard clearly.

    Su Jin continued running ording to the route he could remember and finally got to the gate. He fished out the triangr key and tried to find a ce to insert it, but after searching for a long time, he couldnt find a slot where it could fit.

    Could it be that this key doesnt work like an ordinary key? mumbled Su Jin to himself as he continued to search the gate. His failure to find any suitable slot was slowly making him more and more anxious.

    Nope nope cant find it is there even one where is it? Where is it? Su Jin was getting very anxious and his hands couldnt help but tremble.

    ARGH! Su Jin finally stopped trying and yelled angrily at the sky. But the moment he looked up, he noticed his two other selves looking at him from afar. Their smiles were getting wider and more annoying.

    I have to kill you I have to kill both of you, then only can I escape! Su Jin looked like he was possessed as he pulled a knife out and charged at the other two Su Jins.

    Kill me? How could you possibly do that? said one of them with a cackle as he puffed his chest out. Go ahead and stab me! Lets see if you can kill me!

    Su Jin stabbed it deep into the other Su Jins chest and blood immediately sprayed all over Su Jins face. The blood was still warm too.

    But that Su Jin remained perfectly fine. He shook his head in disappointment and said, See? I told you, its not possible!

    Oho! How interesting! You cant kill him, so why dont you try killing me? Come and stab me! Come and stab me! The other Su Jin puffed his chest out and seemed to look forward to this.

    Su Jin rushed at the other Su Jin and stabbed that Su Jin urately through the chest, but this Su Jin didnt die either and could still grab hold of Su Jins hand.

    You cant kill me! You cant kill me! As long as youre still alive, I cant die, because I am you! This Su Jin burst outughing, his words ringing in Su Jins ears like a hypnotic chant as it delivered shocking words to Su Jins brain.

    Su Jin moved several steps backward and stared at the two Su Jins whom he had just stabbed in the chest. Their smiles were mocking and filled with contempt for him.

    Su Jin suddenly fell on his back onto the ground. He could hear the sound of his own heart beating, and less than a secondter, he could also hear two other hearts beating in his ear.

    Ba-thump! Ba-thump-ba-thump! That was the sound of the hearts of the other two Su Jins. Like they said, as long as Su Jin didnt die, they wouldnt die. They were also Su Jin, so if Su Jin was still alive, they would stay alive. If Su Jin died, they would die too.

    So many of your teammates died, so why didnt you?

    Su Jin, youre such a pitiful man! You wanted to protect everyone, but in the end, you cant even protect yourself!

    You fear death too, dont you? Thats not surprising, were all afraid to die, because were all Su Jin!

    Why do you bother to work so hard? Were powerful no matter where we go now, so stop thinking about who you want to revive! Think about how you can make your life better!

    The two Su Jins squatted by his side and kept saying such things into his ear.

    But these two voices helped to snap Su Jin out of his confusion. He became even calmer than before as he listened to what these two Su Jins had to say about himself. Since they were himself, he was more interested in what they had to say.

    You can have so much! As long as you want it, you can get it!

    Stop making life difficult for yourself! You need to live a life of your own!

    Beautiful women, money, power you can get any of these at the snap of your fingers!

    Guarantee your own safety! You have to survive these crises in order to have a future!

    The two Su Jins went on and on like two flies that refused to go away, but the look in Su Jins eyes grew calmer and calmer. He finally said, The two of you are me.

    Of course!

    Were definitely you!

    The two of you are not me.

    Were you!

    Definitely you!

    Su Jin sat up and crossed his legs. He looked at the two Su Jins, then said to the one in bandages, Youre me. Youre my greed, youre my desires.

    The Su Jin in bandages was a little startled and looked shocked before he let out a sigh. The bandages on himself began to fall apart and his flesh slowly disappeared. He was eventually nothing more than a pile of bones on the ground with wisps of green smoke rising from it.

    Su Jin turned to the other Su Jin and said, Youre me too. Youre my frailty, youre my timidness.

    The other Su Jin was also stunned for a moment. He smiled bitterly, got up and took a step back. A strong gust of wind blew past and he turned into powder, disappearing with the wind.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply. He didnt understand at first, but everything was clear to him now. The two of them hadnt been lying. They were really him. The man in bandages loved to eat and was always eating when he interacted with Su Jin. Even when he was nothing but bones, he still wanted to eat, and even lost his senses for the sake of getting more food. That was greed.

    The other one hid himself under the nket right from the start in order to run away from impending death. Later, he chose to run away and didnt have the slightest bit of courage to face the problem. That was timidness.

    After thinking about it, he didnt find it strange anymore. The personification of these two emotions sounded silly, but they were basically two strong feelings that Su Jin had suppressed ever since he became an owner. Inside the ward of the hospital, he had turned into three. One was his greed, one was his fears, and thest one was himself, where his consciousness resided. Thisst one worked hard to survive, so he was his will.

    Greed was desire, fear was self-defense, the will was the determination to live. These were the basic emotions that made up a human. Su Jin now recalled the face inside the fixture in the other ward. That was himself too.

    Thats right, the face that came up from the inside of the fixture had been his own face, but because he was in such danger and the face had only appeared for a short time, he didnt take note then. But when he recalled what he saw, he clearly remembered that the one lying in that fixture was himself.

    So, youre not the key to the gate of the hospital. Youre my heart. Su Jin smiled as he looked down at the triangle in his hand.

    Greed was desire, and it came from deep inside ones heart. That was why the Su Jin in bandages, who represented Su Jins desires, was the one who held onto this key.

    Su Jin pressed the triangle against his own chest. There was a bright glow as the triangle went into Su Jins chest with ease and became one with his body.

    He felt a warmth pass through his body and opened his eyes with a start. A ss panel was in front of his eyes and he knew where he was now. He was in one of those fixtures in the ward and was now trapped here.

    He struggled to break free. Tubes were stuck into his nose and mouth to provide him oxygen and nutrients. That was how he was able to survive in this machine. Without these, he would have suffocated to death by now.

    Su Jin gathered all his strength and kicked the machine. He could feel the machine shake slightly, but after that, the tube providing oxygen retracted.

    Without oxygen, Su Jin had to quickly leave this machine, or he would die from asphyxiation. He kept kicking the machine and the cover slowly began to loosen. Su Jin used all his strength to give it onest kick and the cover flew off. Everything then went ck.

 Chapter 327

    Chapter 327

    Level B Challenge Hospital of Horrorspleted perfectly: 2000 points

    Guiding object obtained: Psyche Key

    Points Received: 2000

    Total Points: 7000

    Su Jin sat inside his Personal Hell Domain. This Challenge hadnt been the most difficult in terms of its level, but it had been extremely dangerous. The Challenge didnt provide him with a lot of information, and the main premise of the Challenge was actually the owners own psychological state, which the owner did not know at the start.

    He figured that he would have been able to get through the Challenge if he had only figured out the psychological part without figuring out the sort of world the hospital was set in, but then he wouldnt havepleted the Challenge perfectly.

    The weakness of humans, huh. Su Jin sighed and shook his head. After bing an owner, he had several brushes with death, but because he always had sufficient powers and other trump cards, he seldom felt a sense of despair. He had formed Team Boning Knife very early on, which had added to his burden. That made him hide the darker side of himself, or rather, the vulnerable side of himself. He didnt expect it to rear its ugly head in this Challenge.

    He took a look at the guiding object he got from the Challenge. It was the triangr key he had pieced together during the Challenge. He guessed that if he used it, he would probably appear in the actual world that the hospital was in. After he had understood the psychological puzzle he was in, he broke out from one of the fixtures he had seen in the other wards, which meant that this hospital actually existed in that universe.

    But the hospital had probably already been destroyed and the monsters no longer existed. Otherwise, he wouldnt have been able toplete the Challenge once he got out of that fixture. Even so, those machines were very valuable ones. They were able to extract vitality from humans and give it to others, which was an amazing thing in itself. If he could get one of those things inside his Handbook, he would have tremendous use for it.

    Su Jin yed with the key for a while, then threw it into his Handbook and set it aside for the time being. He looked through the catalog and eventually stopped at a skills manual.

    The Preacher, murmured Su Jin as he read the cover of the manual out loud. Information about the skill appeared in front of him.

    Passive skill, the Preacher. The targets are those of the same race within the real world and Challenges. When a target worships the owner who uses this skill and bes devoted to the owner, the preaching process will be considered a sess and the target will provide power of belief to the owner.

    Su Jin was quiet for a moment. This skill turned out to be tied to the power of belief. He had talked to the Mad Hatter about this before. The power of belief was the key to converting a smaller and weaker god into a full-fledged god. The weaker ones werent able to be a god by their own strength, so they needed to rely on their believers to increase their powers.

    But the power of belief did not only help one be a full-fledged god. The Demon Lord, for example, was already a very powerful deity and she had relied on herself to be a god. But she needed this power from her believers too. To put it simply, the power of belief was like a battery to a god. It gave them energy.

    This is good stuff! Su Jin was amazed. It had been a long time since something really good appeared in his catalog. He was not expecting something so powerful at all.

    But when he saw how many points it cost, his lips twitched. The manual was actually going to cost him 20,000 points.

    Too bad, Ill just bookmark it for next time. Su Jin smiled sadly and shook his head. It was going to take him at least two or three more Challenges to earn enough to get this item. The item currently bookmarked in his catalog was the Lucky Draw Bag. If he wanted to bookmark the Preacher manual, he would have to remove the bookmark on the Lucky Draw Bag.

    Su Jin didnt think it was a pity to remove his current bookmark. The Lucky Draw Bags did give him something good from time to time, but the chances of that happening were too low. The price he paid for empty bags or lousy bags were almost equivalent to what he would have paid for the item he got, so he was fine with not having it anymore.

    He reced the Lucky Draw Bag with the Preacher manual, then exchanged points for some training. At his stage, it was hard to see any improvements, regardless of whether it was his psychokinesis, his physical body, or his fighting techniques.

    When it came to his psychokinesis, Su Jin was already almost on par with a deity. The time he had spent in the river of time had helped him to evolve greatly.

    As for his physical body, Su Jin pretty much had a godlike body. It was even harder to strengthen his body with anything the Handbook could offer, so he had no choice but to leave things as they were.

    The only thing that could increase Su Jins overall capabilities was to find new ways to use the abilities he already had, like how he had discovered that he could create clones of himself with his psychokinesis. He had to do more research on his own abilities.

    Su Jin ended up spending an entire year in training before returning to the real world. On the surface, he looked like he was training himself up, but deep inside, Su Jin was trying to seize this chance to keep himself busy so that he would forget the people he had lost and the time spent with them.

    But when he returned to the real world and reappeared in his house, he realized that the time he had spent was meaningless. The house and the things inside reminded him of those people.

    After spending two days at home doing nothing, Han Mengyao called him. The first thing she did was toin about how irresponsible he was.

    Gosh! Thats tens of billions of dors you transferred to me! Youre not going to ask or care about it at all?! Han Mengyao was practically yelling at the top of her lungs. The money he had transferred to her had nearly gotten her into big trouble. She was a government official, but so much money suddenly poured into her ount from nowhere. Yang Tianzheng immediately called her into his office, but after he heard it was from Su Jin, he let her off in the end.

    Oh, that. Ive given the money to you, so you can decide how best to handle it. Su Jin scratched his head. Money was meaningless to him. If he wanted to, he could transfer the worlds fortunes to his own ount. It wouldnt be difficult, but it wouldnt be meaningful either.

    Surely you have some sort of rough idea, right? What sort of charity do you want me to do? Put it toward infrastructure like mending roads and building bridges? Help the poor? Or what?! Han Mengyao felt that talking to Su Jin was really tiring.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, Give it to children then. Use most of it on children. I remember theres an orphanage in the outskirts of S City that used to be managed by a friend of mine. My friend is not able to manage it anymore, so I hope the children there can be well taken care of.

    The children that Ye Yun had saved back then were housed safely on the outskirts of S City, and both he and Ye Yun often visited them. But now that Ye Yun was dead, he simply couldnt bring himself to face the children. He didnt want to tell them what happened to Ye Yun, nor did he want to wipe out their memories like what he did with Tang Ning. It was better to let Han Mengyao take charge of this instead.

    Han Mengyao asked him for more information, then agreed to help the children. She asked him about a few more details, but Su Jins only answer was that she could make the decision herself and hung up.

    Over the next few days, Su Jin didnt have anything to do besides sitting around in his house. But one day, an unexpected guest appeared.

    Mad Hatter? What brings you here? Su Jin frowned. After saving Ye Yun, the Mad Hatter said that they would probably not see each other for a while, yet the Mad Hatter was here again so soon. And he clearly wasnt here with good news.

    Im here to inform you of something. The Mad Hatter poured himself a cup of tea, then nced at the house and asked, Whats happened to your two girlfriends?

    Su Jin froze, then bowed his head. Theyre dead.

    Dead? The Mad Hatter was shocked. He asked cautiously, They died in a Challenge?

    Yes, on the Ind of Mistakes. Su Jin had a gloomy look on his face.

    The Mad Hatter shuddered at the name of the ind and looked terrified. That ursed ce still exists?

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow at the Mad Hatter. You seem very scared.

    The Mad Hatter licked his lips and frowned as he said, That ursed ce Hoho Im surprised it still exists, and Im even more surprised that it would be used as a Challenge venue.

    It was an Earth Level Challenge. Su Jin shook his head.

    The Mad Hatter nodded. Perhaps its because the boning knife, a God Level weapon, appeared. The Handbook often makes changes to the way it operates when such things happen.

    By the way, before bing gods, you and Pinhio were also Handbook owners, right? asked Su Jin suddenly.

    The Mad Hatter nced at Su Jin, then chuckled. I knew youd realize this sooner orter. Thats right. Its not just myself, but every god was a Handbook owner before they became gods.

    So, the elder gods, the current gods, the new gods they were all merely shortlisted by the Handbook? Su Jin smiled sadly to himself. The control that the Handbook had was greater than he had imagined.

    Thats right. Were all just dogs, dogs bred by the Handbook. The Handbook is to pick out the fiercest ones of all. Su Jin I said before that we would end up in battle, but we are not going to end up fighting over who gets to be the best pet, said the Mad Hatter in a frosty voice.

    Can you tell me about everything today? Su Jin tried asking.

    But the Mad Hatter shook his head immediately. This is for your own good. Knowing things too early is definitely a bad thing to you. Just wait a while more! Youve got to be patient. When the timees, you will understand everything.

    Alright then. So, what are you here to inform me about? asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    Im here to tell you to be careful. The ones opposing us have already begun their hunt, said the Mad Hatter with a grim look on his face.

    The ones opposing you guys? Hunt? What do you mean? Su Jin didnt understand.

    The elder gods arent all that united and we belong to different factions. Some of the ones we saved thest time did not agree to be part of my faction, and some of them have differing ideals, and they think that its safer to get rid of the people who have the potential to be new gods, exined the Mad Hatter solemnly.

 Chapter 328

    Chapter 328

    Your generation of Handbook owners are in grave danger right now, said the Mad Hatter with a frown.

    Su Jin still had no idea why the elder gods had to fight the new gods, but he did have a few conjectures in mind. But what puzzled him was not only the elder gods, but the current gods. Did they represent the Handbook? Or had they not even made a move yet?

    The current gods do they represent the Handbook? Su Jin suddenly asked the Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter was the only one who could answer this question of his.

    The Mad Hatter stared back at him, as though he hadnt expected Su Jin to ask such a question. He hesitated for some time, then said, I can only say be careful of them.

    Oh? Su Jin taped his nose. The Mad Hatter didnt answer him directly, but telling him to be careful was equivalent to saying that the current gods certainly did not represent the Handbook. Otherwise, it was pointless for Su Jin to be careful of them.

    The Handbook held absolute power over the owners, but so far, it seemed to exist purely to pick the best of the owners. After all, it was so easy for the Handbook to kill the owners.

    In that case, the current gods couldnt possibly represent the Handbook. They were probably still in hiding, or perhaps for whatever reason, they hadnt made a move yet. But they were definitely going to do so, it was just a matter of time.

    Ive brought you the news I was supposed to, so watch out for yourself. The Mad Hatter stood up and looked ready to leave.

    Didnt you already seal off my universe? They can still get here? asked Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatterughed bitterly and nodded. You really think too highly of me. Im only considered a mid-level god. Having the ability to alter space is rare, but Im not the only one with it. Im not even the only one in my faction. The other side naturally has some who have this ability too.

    My seal works against owners who rely on items to move between worlds, but its useless against gods at the same level as myself.

    Su Jinughed bitterly too, but he wasnt too worried. Xu Ran and himself existed in this universe, plus the Demon Lord was staying here at the moment too. As long as the gods did not appear in huge numbers, they could deal with one or two.

    Deities will face a suppression of their powers when they enter my universe, and Xu Ran and I canbine forces to fight them. As long as they dont attack as an army, I think we can defend ourselves, said Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter nodded, but said worriedly, Youd better be careful, though. If you get one of those few high level deities, youre going to die even if youbine your efforts.

    You mean gods at the same level as the Demon Lord? asked Su Jin.

    The Mad Hatter shook his head. No, no. The Demon Lord used to be a high level deity, but she had been trapped for too long and has been greatly weakened. Returning to her peak is almost impossible. So, if a high level god manages to get here, Id advise you not to rely on the Demon Lord. Run immediately and find a way to hide yourself in Hells Bar.

    Got it. Su Jin nodded. The Mad Hatter did not say anymore. He leaped into his own top hat and disappeared.

    Su Jin did not waste any time and went straight to B City to look for Xu Ran, who was training with the Demon Lord. He didnt ask to speak to Xu Ran privately and said, The Mad Hatter came to visit me with some news. He said the deities opposing his faction are now thinking of killing off all the owners with the potential to be gods, so you need to be careful.

    Xu Ran looked at the Demon Lord and said with a smile, I should be fine, but you why dont you move over? We should be fine if the three of us look out for each other.

    The Demon Lord red at Xu Ran. Dont count on me, I have my own problems if other deitiese here, the most I can do is to provide information about them. I wont be able to handle anything else.

    Xu Ran and Su Jin exchanged disappointed nces. They were going to be a lot weaker without someone as powerful as the Demon Lord with them.

    Why dont we join hands and see how strong we are together? Then at least when danger arrives, we wont panic or take too long to react ordingly, said Xu Ran.

    Su Jin nodded. He and Xu Ran had no conflict of interest, and after what they had experienced together, they were actually sort of friends. Now that they were both going to face great dangers ahead, it was best if they could build some trust between them.

    The Demon Lord excused herself and walked away. The two men were about to face deities, so it was only right for her to let them fight by themselves. After she left, Xu Ran motioned to Su Jin toe with him. He led Su Jin to the edge of the training arena, then flicked his finger and made a psychokinesis clone of himself appear in the arena.

    Do you need me to teach you how to do that? asked Xu Ran.

    Su Jin shook his head. He nced at the arena and a beam of silver light instantly turned into Su Jin and stood opposite Xu Rans clone.

    Not bad, I didnt expect you to understand this technique so quickly. Xu Ran gave him an approving nod, then pressed a hand on his Handbook. An ancient looking longsword floated up and flew to his clone.

    Alright! If we want to know how capable each other is, we need to fight each other. But now is not the time to fight to the death, so well just use our clones to fight.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement as he pressed a hand against his own Handbook. The boning knife floated up and flew toward his clone.

    The Vast Skies Sword is an Earth Level Spirit Power weapon. A swing of the sword makes the vast skies shake! It has two skills. Split costs 100 Spirit Power points to clone itself without any upper limits. Shocking the Skies costs 300 Spirit Power points. It creates a hundred-meter longsword of air that can slice through anything, Xu Ran introduced his swords properties to Su Jin.

    Su Jin calmly said, The Boning Knife is a God Level Spirit Power weapon. It is a weapon jointly created by several gods and works with every element in the world. There is nothing it cannot injure and no living creature it cannot kill. Ites with two skills. Judgment costs 1,000 Spirit Power points and anything within a certain radius will be destroyedpletely with one strike, including space itself. Punishment costs 10,000 Spirit Power points and it punishes any living creature by destroying their body and soul. There is no escape, not even by a god.

    Xu Ran was stunned for a moment before he asked, Did you say God Level

    Yes, its a God Level item. Su Jin nodded.

    Xu Ran burst outughing and dispelled his clone immediately. He made a face and said, Then whats the point in having a duel? You just need to activate one of these skills and the fight will be over! Is teasing me very fun?

    Su Jin realized that he had been unfair to Xu Ran indeed, so he said, Or why dont we skip the weapons and fight barehanded?

    Fight barehanded? Im not the one whos trained my body to the point its as strong as a demon. Fighting with you barehanded is as good as telling you to kill me. Xu Ran sighed. Su Jin had be an ownerter than himself, but he seemed to have surpassed him in every aspect. Perhaps the most formidable person in this universe was no longer himself but Su Jin.

    You might be the most formidable person in this universe in no time, Xu Ran was generous in hispliments and told Su Jin exactly what he thought.

    Su Jin did not think so, however. On the surface, he seemed to be more formidable than Xu Ran, but it was hard to say how many more trump cards Xu Ran was holding on to. Besides, Xu Ran had reached a point where he had to ask the Demon Lord to help him make a breakthrough. That meant that Xu Ran was definitely not someone who was weaker than himself.

    Besides, Xu Ran had probably gathered a lot of data about himself, while he knew very little about Xu Ran. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy well will result in a favorable battle result. It was the same with owners who were at a simr level. If they really had to fight to the death, Su Jin wasnt sure if he could defeat Xu Ran.

    Its too bad that my team, Team Blue Skies, isnt here. Otherwise, they would be able to help. Xu Ran shook his head sadly. He was unable to get his teammates toe over because of the seal that the Mad Hatter had ced around his universe. But Xu Ran didnt know about the seal and had no idea why his teammates couldnte in anymore.

    Su Jin had no intention of breaking the Mad Hatters seal. Otherwise, they would end up facing not only deities, but Shen Wus subordinates as well.

    So were not going to fight? asked Su Jin.

    Xu Ran waved his hand and grumbled, Your weapon is so powerful, so theres no point in fighting. Ill find you a ce to stay, and we can interact more over time. Were both psychokinesis users anyway, so if we really have to team up and fight, we just need to send thoughts to each other.

    Su Jin thought about it and agreed. He was the only one left in his house in S City, so whether he went back or not didnt matter. He decided to just stay in B City with Xu Ran.

    The next morning, he heard explosions. He sent his psychokinesis toward where the sounds wereing from to find that Xu Ran and the Demon Lord were engaged in a fierce battle. Or rather, the Demon Lord was teaching Xu Ran a lesson.

    My goodness me! Why dont you get it! When youre fighting a god, you dont just need pure strength! You need experience and technique too! Remember this, young man  every deity is a genius in fighting. If you keep this attitude up, you are going to die a horrible death.

    Xu Rany on the ground, his body covered in burn marks. He panted heavily as he gave up and said, Got it. Let me rest for a while, then we can try again.

    Sure! Its been such a long time since Ive thrashed someone, so you cane at me as many times as you like, said the Demon Lord with a snicker.

    Since hes resting, how about we have a round? Su Jin walked into the arena, stretched his limbs and got into a fighting stance.

    Ohhh! Today is my lucky day, since Im getting a one for one deal! I love punching bags, especially human punching bags! The Demon Lords eyes were filled with excitement.

 Chapter 329

    Chapter 329

    The days went by like this. The Demon Lord taught Su Jin and Xu Ran a lesson every day. She was no longer as powerful as during her heyday and her powers were reduced by this universe, but she was still able to thrash the two men like they were merely babies.

    BAM! Su Jin flew backward and crashed heavily into the rocks on the ground. Before he could get up, a figure came hurtling toward him.

    BAM! There was another loud crash as Xu Ran smashed directly onto Su Jin. Heughed and said, Oh great, Ive got someone to cushion mynding.

    Can you at least get up first?! hissed Su Jin through gritted teeth. Xu Ran hadnded quitefortably because he served as a mattress.

    They both got to their feet and the Demon Lord shook her head at them with a displeased look on her face. The two of you are really waaaay too weak. At this rate, you wont even be able to defeat the lowest of deities.

    Use a weapon if you dare, then, spat Xu Ran indignantly.

    The Demon Lord red fiercely at him and scoffed. Did you think you two are the only ones with Spirit Power weapons? Do you really want me to use my Demon Lords Longbow to shoot an arrow at you?

    Xu Ran immediately raised a white g when he heard what she said. He had seen what that longbow could do. It wasnt the effect it had when Su Jin was using it, but the effect it had when the Demon Lord herself used it. That was a power that could destroy anything. Nothing could hold up against it.

    The Demon Lord was about to say more when she stopped herself and looked into the distance. A deity is here.

    What?! Both Su Jin and Xu Ran were stunned.

    Yep, its a deity, and its not the Mad Hatter or his friends. This aura its Azer! I cant believe its him! The Demon Lord furrowed her brows and said to them, Hes here to look for both of you, so you deal with him yourselves. If you die, Ill reserve two gravestones for you in my temple.

    What do you mean by youd ce two gravestones in your temple if we die?! Is that amon practice in your religion? said Su Jin in annoyance.

    You should at least tell us more about who this Azer guy is, right? Besides, how do you know hesing for us? asked Xu Ran.

    Azer is the god of war of a small civilization. You can say hes a weaker god. But because hes a god of war, hes one of the best at fighting among the low level gods. Also this guy used to worship me. Her voice grew softer and softer.

    Wait, what?! Su Jin and Xu Ran were shocked.

    If my understanding is correct, this worship youre talking about is actually you guys were in a rtionship, right? Xu Ran sounded a little excited now.

    If youd rather be missing a limb or two before engaging a deity in battle, you can go ahead and talk to me like that, said the Demon Lord with an icy smile on her face.

    Xu Ran shuddered and ran to hide behind Su Jin. He didnt look anything like a top ranking Handbook owner.

    Ahem Ill apologize on his behalf. But could you provide us with some information? Is there anything we should take note of in terms of how we should fight him? asked Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord looked at the two of them and paused to think for a second before saying, Make sure he doesnt strike a hit. Not even once. That fellow is good atunching multiple attacks, so if he manages to hit you, then even a mid-level god might not be able to defeat him.

    Su Jin and Xu Ran both frowned. This was a god they were talking about. It was easy to say that they had to avoid getting hit, but exactly how were they supposed to do that?

    Also, gods are able to sense the presence of different people. Thats how he managed to locate both of you immediately after getting to this universe. So, if those psychokinesis clones of yours dont carry a greater presence than your own body, Id advise you to forget about using them as a distraction. She patted their shoulders and said, Im off!

    She disappeared before they could even respond. They exchanged nces, then Xu Ran said, Lets move to the ocean. If we have to fight him in B City, I think the entire city might copse.

    They flew into the sky and headed straight for N Ocean. Shortly after they arrived, a man with blond hair and blue eyes appeared. His body was very muscr, his muscles as hard as quenched metal. He wore ck metallic armor and exuded a very dignified air.

    Youre Azer? asked Xu Ran.

    The man looked at them and said sternly, You know my name, very good since you already know who I am, then I dont have to waste my breath introducing myself. I now use my godly authority to pronounce judgment on both of you! Su Jin, Xu Ran, your journey of life shall end today!

    Azer shook his arms and two balls of fire rose from his clenched fists. Hebined the two balls of fire, then pulled them apart mightily, transforming the mes into a long, fiery spear.

    Youre really a rather unfriendly god! Xu Ran made a face as he grasped the air and the Vast Skies Sword appeared in front of him.

    Su Jin did not watch and wait, and drew a weapon too. But instead of retrieving his boning knife, he chose Chimimoryo. That was because Chimimoryo had requested to be part of the fight once it found out that Su Jin was about to fight a god. It turned out that Chimimoryo had to y a god in order to be one.

    Prepare to die! Azer brandished his spear and a long stream of mes zed in the sky, then flew straight for Su Jin. The heat of the mes were so terrifying, even someone with Su Jins body would be burned to ashes.

    Protection of the Gods! Just then, a cape appeared on Su Jins shoulders and pped in the wind behind him. The mes immediately fizzled out when it came close to Su Jin and did not hurt him at all.

    Cover me! yelled Su Jin. He was now immune to any element and he was better at close range battles than Xu Ran was.

    Xu Ran did not hesitate and threw his sword into the air as he shouted, Split! The sword trembled as it made a few dozen clones of itself and flew toward Azer, leaving just enough space for Su Jin to attack as well.

    Su Jin moved as quick as lightning as he fit into the space that the Vast Sky Swords left for him, flew toward Azer and punched the god in the chest.

    Is that all youve got? Azer had a look of disdain on his face as he remained exactly where he was. Su Jin realized that the reason why onepared an extremely tough body to a gods or a demons was precisely because being a god meant having such a body, and Azers body was clearly tougher than his own.

    BAM! Azer punched Su Jin in the face, making him fly backward like a kite whose string had snapped. Su Jin felt like his entire brain was shaking inside his skull and the punch sent him straight into the sea. He plunged more than a hundred meters into the water before stopping.

    Hes a god, for crying out loud. Getting into a fist fight with him is a dumb thing to do, Chimimoryo immediately mocked Su Jin.

    I dont have any experience fighting one Su Jin grinned as a silver glow enveloped his body and he flew out of the waters. When he emerged from the waters, he saw a buddha-like figure that was controlled by Xu Ran had caught hold of Azer and looked as though it was about to crush Azer, but Azer had nothing but contempt written on his face.

    Xu Ran, move aside! shouted Su Jin. Chimimoryo drew its bowstring back. The sky instantly darkened and the winds began howling wildly. Su Jin felt like he could hear the roaring of evil spirits.

    Xu Ran had a bad feeling about this, so he released Azer and quickly flew away from him. Immediately after he released Azer, Chimimoryos ckish-gray arrow came roaring toward Azer. As the mist whooshed past a corner of Xu Rans buddha-like figure, it corroded that corner entirely.

 Chapter 330

    Chapter 330

    The ckish-gray arrow gave off a roar that made every living creature tremble. That was an arrow formed by countless evil spirits and vengeful spirits. Not even a deity would dare to allow that arrow to hit them directly.

    There was a look of shock in Azers eyes as he let out an angry roar. The spear of mes in his hands dissipated before gathering once more to be a shield of mes in front of him. After that, he started moving backward at high speed in hope to increase the distance between himself and Chimimoryo, because he knew his shield of mes would not be able to block that arrow entirely.

    And as he had expected, the arrow got through the shield almost immediately. Only a thin outeryer of the arrow was burned off, so most of the arrow remained undamaged and it continued flying at full force toward Azer.

    Chimimoryo! This longbow should have been destroyed a long time ago and should not be here! Azer looked both shocked and afraid. He wasnt bothered by Su Jin and Xu Ran, but he could not ignore Chimimoryo.

    It was just like if a human  a high level martial artist too  was faced with two monkeys, they wouldnt be afraid. But if these two monkeys had a gun and they knew how to shoot it, then the martial artist was in apletely different situation altogether.

    Azer kept shouting in order to gather more mes to protect himself. The temperature of the mes was high enough to dry up an entireke. Su Jin and Xu Ran had to move further away because they couldnt take the heat.

    Azer was surrounded by mes and spewed them out of his nose and mouth. Every pore on his skin seemed to be connected to the mes, so when he thrust his arms forward, the mes surrounding his body immediately shot toward Chimimoryos ckish-gray arrow.

    BOOM!

    An explosion resounded. The arrow continued on its journey forward, leaving only a hole in the mes that had blocked its way. But Su Jin could see that the ck arrow was slowly weakening. The mes were burning off some of its energy with each second. It wasnt much, but it was still something.

    What do we do? Su Jin asked Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran shook his head and said, Theres nothing more we can do. Anything we try will be burned cleanly by those mes. The clones of my sword immediately melted when they came within range of those mes. My psychokinesis cant go too near either, or Id end up with a splitting headache. We can only wait and see how far this arrow of yours can go.

    Su Jin also tried sending his psychokinesis out, but just like what Xu Ran said, he would get a terrible headache once his psychokinesis got too close. Those mes were not ordinary mes at all.

    It suddenly became a battle between Chimimoryo and Azer. The ckish-gray arrow continued moving forward but it had slowed down. As it flew closer to the core of the mes, it faced more and more resistance.

    Su Jin and Xu Ran were both getting very antsy. Before this, they were sure that they wouldnt have any trouble fighting a god if theybined forces. But now, they finally realized that they had been too nave. Gods were powerful characters that transcended humans, after all. For as long as they remained mere mortals, there was no way they could fight a god.

    Pfft! Pfft!

    The energy from the evil spirits and vengeful ghosts attached to the arrow had been greatly reduced, but Azers mes were having trouble holding up too. The mes surrounding him burned white hot and the two sides finally collided. One let out a howl of pain, while the other burst into a bright white sh of light.

    The howling stabbed straight into Su Jin and Xu Rans consciousness, causing them immense pain. It turned out to be terrifyingly powerful. If their psychokinesis wasnt strong enough, their consciousness would have copsed and they would have fainted or even died.

    The sh of light stung them terribly as well, causing them to lose their sense of sight and making their eyes tear up involuntarily.

    Damn it, my eyes! bellowed Xu Ran angrily. His eyes were as red and swollen as two peaches and they hurt badly.

    Su Jin was no better off than him. He yelled to Xu Ran, Use psychokinesis!

    They immediately activated their psychokinesis, because losing their sight during a battle of such proportions could prove to be fatal. Luckily for them, their psychokinesis could make up for their eyesight. Once they spread their psychokinesis out, they could see what was happening in front of them again.

    They saw that the arrow had made it past Azers white hot mes, stabbing through Azers chest and making the god cry out in pain.

    Both of them were delighted to see this, but before they could start celebrating, their expressions fell. Azer looked like he was in pain, but there was also a mocking smile on his face.

    The impact of Chimimoryos arrow has been reduced by too much, so it cant inflict significant harm on Azer, said Su Jin with a sigh. That arrow had pierced Azers skin, but it wasnt able to cause much damage. Azer would probably consider this nothing more than a superficial wound.

    You foolish things! If this is your best move, then youre doomed for sure! Azer mmed a palm against his chest and the hole that Chimimoryos arrow had made immediately healed up.

    He pped his hands and a new weapon of mes appeared in his hand. This time, it was a saber made from mes. He held the saber up and brandished it toward Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran moved so quickly, he seemed to have teleported to a new location as he dodged the attack. At the same time, he shook his arms and butterflies flew up from his arms. The butterflies looked ethereal as they swarmed toward Azer and surrounded himpletely.

    Illusion Butterflies! These are pretty rare! Azer scoffed in disdain before spewing mes out from his eyes, which burned up all the butterflies instantly.

    Xu Ran grimaced when he saw the butterflies burn up. Just like what Azer had said, the butterflies were hard toe by. He had gotten them by chance from a Challenge and these butterflies could immerse a person in an illusion. It was supposed to be one of his trump cards, yet it had no effect whatsoever on Azer.

    Foolish ant! Azer got to Xu Ran in less than a second and his body was still covered in mes. Xu Ran tried to move away again, but failed to do so.

    HAHA! You have a skill that allows you to move through space, but I am able to burn and twist the space around me, so your teleporting will not work! Azer was the god of war of a civilization and he was once a Handbook owner too, so his fighting techniques and experience in battles were way beyond either of them, and he immediately figured out how Xu Ran had managed to switch locations so easily and how to prevent Xu Ran from using this skill going forward.

    Azer swung his saber of mes at Xu Rans head, but Xu Ran did not summon any other items from his Handbook. He grit his teeth, let out an angry roar and shot a beam of silver light out to deflect Azers saber.

    Now! Su Jin seized the chance to pull the bowstring of Chimimoryo back and sent another arrow toward Azer. But this time, Azer just smirked and did not bother moving aside.

    Azer stretched his arm out and caught hold of the arrow before setting the arrow on fire and burning it to ashes.

    Humph! Did you really think that it could keep shooting arrows capable of destroying gods without any limit? snorted Azer.

    Hes right. I can only shoot such a powerful arrow once every ten days. An ordinary attack will not be able to hurt him, Chimimoryos voice echoed inside Su Jins head.

    Su Jin almost broke Chimimoryo into two at this point. It should have said so earlier!

    Azer decided to leave Su Jin alone for the time being because Su Jin was able to fend off elemental attacks, which reduced the damage he could cause. He decided to kill Xu Ran first, then deal with Su Jin.

    Azer made a grab for Xu Ran, but even though Xu Ran couldnt teleport, he still had other ways of getting away. A gold glow flickered beneath his feet and he shot out like a shooting star.

    Why, you little rat! How very slippery! Azer was extremely displeased as the mes on his body intensified and he chased after Xu Ran at a speed higher than Xu Rans.

    When Su Jin saw the situation they were in, he said to Chimimoryo, Well talk about killing a god another time, then retrieved his boning knife from his Handbook. If he wanted to kill Azer, then this knife was the only thing that could.

    Su Jin held the boning knife up. He didnt have enough psychokinesis to use Punishment, so he could only use Judgment. But Judgment was a very powerful skill as well, so as long as he didnt miss, it would probably be able to injure Azer severely.

    Azer immediately sensed the presence of the boning knife and he turned to stare in disbelief at the knife in Su Jins hands. He spat, Those idiots! So, the weapon they forged was for you!

    Judgment! Su Jin activated Judgment and he could sense that an area in front of him was locked down, and Azer was within this area.

    All of Azers hair stood on end. He could sense the ferocity of the boning knife, the terrifying power it possessed. He let out a roar in hope of dealing with Su Jin before the attack hit him, or at least deflect the attack.

    BOOM!

    But unfortunately for him, Su Jin moved too quickly. Judgment immediately took effect at the same time he tried to charge at Su Jin. A ck beam swept through the area in front of Su Jin and Azer ran as fast as he could, but the beam still hit half his body.

    PFFT! Azers body was sliced into half at the waist and his lower half turned to ashes. His upper body barely managed to escape the scope of the attack and floated in the sky, surrounded by mes.

    Gotta kick him when hes down! Xu Ran suddenly appeared with the Vast Skies Sword in hand. The sword created a gigantic sword from the air and came crashing down toward Azers head.

    Azer was badly injured and couldnt escape, so he could only watch as Xu Rans sword came hurtling down from above. But just when the sword was about to strike his head, the sword of air suddenly braked, then disappearedpletely.

    What the hell? Suddenly lost your boner?! Su Jin couldnt believe Xu Ran. They couldnt afford to let Azer catch his breath if they wanted to kill him. But Xu Ran merely smiled sadly and shook his head, then pointed at something behind Su Jin.

 Chapter 331

    Chapter 331

    Su Jin didnt need to turn around to know who was behind him. Not that it would have helped anyway, since both his and Xu Rans eyes were still hurting. But he was very familiar with the aura of the Demon Lord.

    Why are you here? Su Jin asked the Demon Lord.

    Ivee to make sure you dont embarrass me. Is that a good enough reason? The Demon Lord sounded a little resigned, and she seemed conflicted. She looked at Azer, who was only left with half his body. Azer, on the other hand, looked excited to see her.

    You fool! Youre not here to kill them. Youre here to look for me, arent you? The Demon Lord walked toward Azer. She waved her arm, and the lower body that had been destroyed was restored.

    Azer was even more excited. He smiled and said, It was only a rumor but I wanted to try my luck.

    What the heck is going on? A fight has suddenly be a romance? What?! snapped Xu Ran in annoyance.

    The Demon Lord red at him, then said, He didnt intend to kill you two at all and was just trying to force me toe out. I didnt think the low-ranking god of yesteryear would have actually grown to reach mid-rank!

    Su Jin and Xu Ran looked confused. Azer nodded at the two of them and said, The both of you are pretty capable, even though youre still too reliant on equipment. But youre still growing and developing. Im sure youll achieve great things in the future.

    Are you saying we just got yed? asked Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord nodded without hesitation. If he were just a low-ranked god, the two of youbined would have stood a chance to win the fight. But hes a mid-ranked god, so the difference between your powers is tremendous. The fact that he didnt smite both of you in one second can only mean that he didnt intend to kill you two right from the start. She turned back to Azer and said with a sigh, Why are you looking for me? Dont tell me its because of what happened in the past.

    Azer sighed when he saw the look on her face and said, I know emotions are meaningless to you. Im here to persuade you to join us. As long as youre willing to join us, we will let these two fellows off.

    Join you guys? The Demon Lordughed. Is there any meaning to doing that?

    Of course. Having a top-ranking deity on the team is very important to either side, said Azer without hesitation.

    But the Demon Lord shook her head and said, Thats all in the past. Im not a top-ranking deity anymore. After all these years, Ive lost almost all my believers, so my powers have also declined

    Its just a decline. As long as youre willing to join us, the rest will definitely be willing to help you recover, said Azer before the Demon Lord could finish what she wanted to say.

    The Demon Lord stared at Azer with a pitiful look in her eyes as she said, Azer, do you really think theres hope? Whatever you guys are doing, whatever the Mad Hatter and the rest are doing do you really think theres any meaning to it?

    Meaning! Meaning! When did you be the sort who cares about meaning? We dont have any other choice! For the sake of our former glory, for our future we have to fight even if we dont want to! Azer was practically bellowing by this point.

    But the Demon Lord remained as calm as before. She said quietly, Fight? Back when we became new gods, the elder gods and the current gods fought too. What happened in the end? When we became current gods, we fought with the new gods too. But look at what happened. Were now elder gods, and whatever happened in the past will definitely happen again whats the use in fighting?

    She sighed and said tiredly, Azer forget it. Just live as well as you can and wait for new gods to appear our task here will alsoe to an end.

    Azer stared at the Demon Lord in disbelief. He shouted, Shiveh! Even if things are really like you said, that were going to die whether we fight or not given what I know of your temperament, even if you have to die, you would want to die fighting! What what in the world changed you?

    What changed me? Nothing can change me. I just understand how all of this works now, thats all, said the Demon Lord with a bitter smile. Go back! Leave this universe to me. Even though the gods might not have a long time left, if we can all live peacefully, well leave pretty good memories behind.

    Were going to die! Who cares about memories when youre dead?! Azer was very indignant. He knew he might have to put in some effort to invite the Demon Lord to join their faction, but he didnt expect her to turn him down without hesitation.

    Shiveh, if you would just go back with me you will understand that our efforts are not in vain! As long as you and me Azer grabbed hold of her arm.

    Shiiing! ck sparkles shed across his hand, and it immediately turned to dust. The Demon Lord said frostily, Ive already told you to go back! Or do you really think that you or the people backing you can force me into doing anything?!

    The moment she said that, Su Jin and Xu Ran felt like the whole world around them had fallen into ruins. It was a force that made one feel pure despair. Their psychokinesis could only shrink and hide in the depths of their consciousness. It dared not show even the tiniest bit of itself in the face of this force.

    A top ranking deity! Azer looked terrified for a moment, before smiling sadly. He used his remaining hand to punch a ck passageway into the air before saying to the Demon Lord, You know that I would never force you. But if you ever change your mind, then youre always wee to join us! With that, Azer leaped into the dark passageway he had created. The passageway mended itself within seconds and disappeared without a trace.

    After Azer left, the Demon Lord slowly weakened her aura again. Once it had returned to normal, her body suddenly went limp and she started freefalling into the ocean.

    Su Jin and Xu Ran didnt realize what was going on until the Demon Lord had plunged into the water. Su Jin immediately jumped in. Thankfully, his psychokinesis was enough to help him find her.

    After he fished her out of the water, he asked, Whats going on? Your aura is now just like any ordinary human. Where did your powers go to?

    Send me back first back to your house. Ill talk about the restter, she whispered into his ear.

    Su Jin nodded and said to Xu Ran, Theres some issue with her body but shes left her medication at my ce. Ill bring her back with me first and Ill contact youter.

    Xu Ran hesitated, then nodded to say that it was fine with him. Su Jin flew back to S City with the Demon Lord, while Xu Ran returned to the temple in B City.

    Once they were back in his house, Su Jin ced the Demon Lord on her bed and pulled the nket over her before asking, Whats going on?

    She smiled bitterly, then said in a slow voice, Its not anythingplicated. Im no longer a top-ranking god, but I wanted to still look like one. Its like using a credit card to pay for stuff thats above your ie in advance  thats how I ended up like this. Im afraid itll take some time for me to restore my powers.

    Su Jin was stunned to hear this. When he thought about how she wanted him to bring her back here but did not want to tell Xu Ran about it, he asked, You dont trust Xu Ran?

    Theres a bit of that. Hes very powerful and if he can be a god in the future, hed be a top-ranking one. But his personality makes me ufortable. Hes someone whos willing to sacrifice everything in order to seed. If he knows that Im no different from an ordinary person now, that fellow might kill me and rob me of my godhood for all I know.

    Su Jin fell silent for a while. He wasnt too sure about Xu Ran himself either. They behaved like old friends, but they had not actually gone through a lot together. Just like what the Demon Lord said, Xu Ran was definitely a sessful person, but some of the things he did in order to seed were a little questionable. Priest Qiu Chan was his teacher, but he was now in aatose state and his body was being controlled by someone else. Someone capable of doing such a thing it wasnt hard to understand why the Demon Lord did not trust him.

    But you trust me so much? asked Su Jin with augh.

    She red at him and scoffed, There are only two of you, so Ive got to trust at least one of you, right? I would just say thatpared to him, youre not as much of a threat.

    Heughed, then asked, Azer asked you to join his faction, and the Mad Hatter did mention before that the elder gods have split into different camps. Could you tell me more details about whats happening?

    The Demon Lord hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. I can only tell you that the elder gods are not your greatest crisis. You should actually be thinking about the current gods. They havent made any moves yet, but once they do, they wille down very hard becausepared to the abandoned elder gods like us, the current gods still stand a chance for the sake of that chance, they will definitely do anything they can to stop any new gods from rising up.

    I have a guess in mind  if the Handbook is a tool used for selecting people, but the one controlling it isnt the gods, it means that the one controlling it is an even greater being than the gods. So what is it? Heaven? Su Jin asked suddenly.

    The Demon Lord stiffened in shock. She furrowed her brows and said, I cannot answer your question. I can only say that youre very close to the truth. But my advice is before you be an actual god, its best that you dont think too much about this. If you keep pursuing the truth like this, then the moment you find out the truth is the same moment you turn into dust.

    Su Jin nodded. He had made a few guesses based on what the Mad Hatter and the Demon Lord had told him, but it wasnt enough to understand the whole truth. But he believed that since both of them had refused to tell him the truth, then it was definitely true that he would meet a terrible end if he pursued the truth with his current abilities.

    He went on to ask if she needed anything, but she said she just needed to rest, and she also told him not to tell Xu Ran about what happened to her, in case he got any bad ideas.

    After Su Jin left the room, a frosty expression spread across the Demon Lords face. She muttered to herself, Stupid Azer, you nearly ruined my ns. But if I can make use of those idiots, then that would be pretty useful to me. With that, ck sparkles shot out from her fingertips, creating a hole in the void. She entered the hole and disappeared.

    Su Jins eyes were half closed, but when that happened, his eyes opened again. That doesnt seem like something a god whos lost their godly powers would be capable of doing. This Demon Lord why does she continue to linger in our universe? What in the world is she waiting for?

 Chapter 332

    Chapter 332

    Life suddenly became really uneventful. After Azer left, no other gods came to make trouble, perhaps because the power that the Demon Lord had exhibited had been enough to keep them at arms length.

    Why dont the top-ranking godse instead? Su Jin asked the Demon Lord.

    The Demon Lordy limply on the bed. After she had frightened Azer away, she continued to look like she was in very poor health and didnt even go to those nightclubs she used to patronize anymore. But that was definitely a good thing for Su Jin. He didnt have to tidy up the house so often if she didnt have all these hookups. Besides, he knew that Kano Mai didnt like having these people in the house either.

    Since you ask, Ill give you three reasons why, said the Demon Lord as shey on her bed and enjoyed fine wine and fruit. Her voice was rxed as she went on, Firstly, its very hard for a top-ranking god to move through spacetime. Its like trying to shoot a ball through a hoop  a ping-pong ball would fit without any issues, and a ser ball would fit fine too. A basketball would require a bit of skill. But if you had to fit an exercise ball how should I go about doing that?

    Er release some of the air inside first? guessed Su Jin.

    She pped her hands andughed, Clever boy. Thats exactly it. Top-ranking deities are like an exercise ball. If they want to enter this universe, they will have to suppress their powers by a lot, perhaps even to the point where their powers are even weaker than an ordinary god. If they have to do that, then even if theye here, they wouldnt be able to make much of a difference. They could even endanger themselves that way instead.

    Im able to travel easily because my powers have already been greatly reduced. Otherwise, I wouldnt be able to get here either.

    Su Jin nodded, then asked, Whats the second reason.

    Secondly, there are very few top-ranking deities in the first ce. Actually, nobody knows if the faction against the Mad Hatter has any top-ranking deities on their side or not. Thats why Azer was so eager for me to join them, exined the Demon Lord patiently.

    Then the third reason?

    Thirdly who do you think you are? No top-ranking deity would bother smiting small fry like you personally. Have you seen anybody try to kill a chicken with a missile? sneered the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin grinned awkwardly. Just like what she said, while he and Xu Ran were considered powerful among owners, they were nothingpared to all the other existences in therger universe. They were no more than two pieces of dust among the gods right now. They had to be gods themselves first.

    After getting used to walking on the edge of death all the time, Su Jin found himself surprisingly annoyed with mundane life. He used to think that he was a person who didnt mind living a routine and unexciting life all the way until he died. But perhaps it was because Su Jin had other things he wanted to achieve in life, so the fact that he wasnt getting any closer to his goals made him more unsettled.

    But of course, this didnt carry on for long. The Handbook was neverte in delivering a Challenge. In no time, Su Jin embarked on a new Challenge by himself.

    In the darkness, he could hear whispering all around him. It resounded in his mind, and it gave him a very strange sensation. It was like part of his body was extremely itchy, but he couldnt reach it to scratch. He felt very ufortable.

    Theyre here! Theyre here! Another fresh body that makes one hungry.

    Theyre here! Theyre here! Another pitiful soul that makes one salivate.

    Theyre here! Theyre here! Another ignorant lifeform that makes one feel sympathetic.

    No equipment can be used for this Challenge. Spirit Power will be capped at 200.

    The voice faded and Su Jins world lit up. He was now in a wooden hut with five others next to him. The first thing he did was to flip his Handbook open.

    Level B Challenge, Haunted House.

    Level B Challenge, huh. And a supernatural one too, thought Su Jin with a frown. Everyone knew that supernatural Challenges were the most dangerous sort of Challenge, because many owners died in these Challenges without even knowing what hit them.

    Only one mission  survive the haunted house for three days.

    The mission was simple, but the simpler the mission, the harder the Challenge usually was. A supernatural, Level B Challenge with a total of six people. They could all die anytime, especially since there were limits on the owners powers and equipment.

    I only get to use three things and my Spirit Power limit is 500?! Damn it! Thats a limit on top of the existing limits! cursed one of the owners out loud. Su Jin looked a little confused.

    What was going on? Was there a difference in limit for each owner? Didnt that mean the Handbook was picking on him? Su Jin was confused because this seemed way too ridiculous. Was the Handbook going to be so obvious in making things difficult for him?

    Let me introduce myself. Im Xu Ge, Ive gone through seven Challenges and Im a veteran. Xu Ge was the one who cursed out loud just now. He scanned the other people in the hut with a look of disdain in his eyes. Are any of you veterans?

    Su Jin didnt speak up because he didnt trust this Xu Ge. This guy literally had the face of a bad guy, plus the contempt he had for other owners was written all over his face.

    He silently used his psychokinesis to scan Xu Ges consciousness, since he had reached a stage where he could use extremely little psychokinesis to do this.

    It was as he had expected. This Xu Ge was the sort who was willing to sacrifice other owners whenever he wanted to, plus he had an item that could protect him from supernatural forces for a period of time by just killing someone. This guy was even more dangerous than a ghost in such a Challenge.

    Im Su Jin, Ive been through three Challenges. Su Jin purposely hid his real experience. If that Xu Ge tried anything funny, he was happy to give him a big surprise.

    Ning Ran, Ive been through one Challenge, said one of thedies. Su Jin stared at her for a moment. This girl looked a lot like Ning Meng and shared the same surname too.

    Dont mind me asking, but do you know someone called Ning Meng? asked Su Jin.

    Ning Ran blinked in surprise, then she grabbed Su Jin and asked, You you know my younger sister?

    Your younger sister I just knew it, muttered Su Jin with a sad smile. He never thought he would run into Ning Mengs older sister. He had always felt bad about Ning Mengs death even though it wasnt really his fault at all, but Ning Meng had been his teammate before, and he had always wanted to revive her.

    Yes, I know her, Su Jin nodded.

    Ning Ran immediately asked, Do you know where she is? Ive been looking for her for a long time, and I found this Handbook among the things she left behind.

    Su Jin nced at the Handbook in Ning Rans hands. He guessed that after Ning Meng died, the Handbook had chosen Ning Ran and manifested itself among Ning Mengs things, but Ning Ran did not find it immediately after her sisters death.

    Im sorry, but Ning Meng Su Jin wanted to tell her that her sister was already dead, but when he saw the hopeful look in Ning Rans eyes, he couldnt help but lie, Shes now in a secret ce and she wont be able to meet with you for the time being.

    So, shes still alive? Ning Ran sighed a breath of relief.

    Su Jin nodded, Thats right. Shes still alive.

    Okay, thats quite enough. If you want to chat, you can do that after were done with this Challenge. How about we focus on the Challenge first? said Xu Ge in an annoyed voice. He turned to the other three and said, Your turn.

    Im Zhang Yang, Ive been through four Challenges. This was a man in his twenties. He looked quite calm and was ying with a dagger like he had practiced doing this a lot.

    Im Yu Wenkuo, Ive been through five Challenges. Yu Wenkuo was a man in his thirties with an ingratiating expression on his face. He said to Xu Ge, Mr. Xu, Ill have to count on you for help!

    Xu Ge smiled back. He seemed to like Yu Wenkuos attitude. Thest girl introduced herself, Im Qian Yingying, Ive been through two Challenges.

    After everyone had introduced themselves, Xu Ge said in a pleased voice, Looks like Im the only veteran here. In that case, all of you shall listen to my instructions throughout this Challenge. Any objections?

    Everyone exchanged nces. Yu Wenkuo was the first one to nod with a smile as he said, Of course not. Youre the only veteran among us, so its only right that you instruct us. I dont have any objections.

    The rest nodded as well. After all, having a veteran was a good thing for them. Listening to the instructions of a veteran was also something to be expected during Challenges.

    Very good. Alright now, take a look around this ce. We have to stay here for three days, so we need to know the ce as best as we can,manded Xu Ge with the p of his hands, as though he was used to giving instructions.

    The group immediately split up to investigate the house. Su Jin threw Ning Ran a nce to motion to her to follow him. He had decided to protect her as a way to make it up to Ning Meng.

    This ce turned out to be a ratherrge house. After checking out the whole ce, the group gathered again. Su Jin reported, This seems to be a three-storied bungalow. Were in the living room of the first story. On one side is the storeroom, the other side is the kitchen.

    The second story has bedrooms and washrooms. I checked every bedroom and didnt find anything unusual, said Zhang Yang as he fiddled with his dagger.

    We cant get to the third story because its locked. As the only veteran of the group, Xu Ge had taken the initiative to go to the highest floor, but he couldnt get there because a locked door was in the way.

    I think we shouldnt explore anymore. Lets stay here and see how things go first. We dont have a lot of information and we dont know whats going on with this haunted house, said Xu Ge.

    Su Jin nodded and said, I agree. Staying together is probably the best thing we can do now. Does anybody have any items that can be used against supernatural beings? Could you take them out first so that we have a better idea of what we can use?

    Everyone exchanged nces but didnt say anything. Xu Ge put on a worried look as he said, Items that can fight supernatural beings are very rare in the first ce and its very hard to get your hands on them. Im not surprised that none of us have any.

    Su Jin snorted inwardly. If the Handbook hadnt purposely prevented him from using any items at all, he could retrieve Chimimoryo and they would sail right through this Challenge. But he figured that that was probably the reason why he wasnt allowed to use anything.

 Chapter 333

    Chapter 333

    Nobody headed for the bedrooms on the second floor and got ready to spend the night in the living room together. After all, the smaller the space in a supernatural Challenge, the more frightening it was. Arge living room like this was actually safer.

    What are we going to do about food? Did anyone bring food along? asked Yu Wenkuo. If they were going to be stuck here for three whole days, they would need food and water.

    Even if someone has some in their Handbook, they wouldnt take them out now. That would be a waste of our item limit, said Zhang Yang sarcastically.

    Yu Wenkuo red at him, but he dared not say anything when he looked at the dagger in Zhang Yangs hands and just sat back down again.

    Xu Ge said, Isnt there a kitchen over there? Mr. Su, did you find any food and water in there just now?

    Theres water, but I didnt see any food. Su Jin had checked and confirmed that the tap in the kitchen could be turned and clean water came out, but he didnt see any food in the kitchen.

    At the same time, that also made sense. This was a haunted house that had not been inhabited for a long time, so there couldnt be any food left. The tap was connected to a natural source, so the water wasnt cut off.

    There should be some food. No Handbook Challenge would drive owners into a dead end. We can look aroundter. Im sure well find something, Xu Ge consoled the group.

    Su Jin didnt think so, however. As long as they had water, they wouldnt die without food for just three days. He felt that it was much more likely that this house didnt have any food at all.

    Mr. Su, lets go get some nkets or something. Its kinda cold around here and I dont want anybody to catch a chill, Zhang Yang suddenly said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin was a little puzzled, but when he spotted the look in Zhang Yangs eyes, he got up and said to Ning Ran, Miss Ning,e along with us. Well need some help to carry everything down.

    Ning Ran didnt suspect anything and got up to follow them. The three of them went upstairs and Zhang Yang opened one of the bedroom doors and walked in. He shut the room door immediately after Su Jin and Ning Ran had alsoe in.

    Mr. Zhang, you have something to say to me? Su Jin nced around. Hiding themselves in a bedroom like this during such a time was not a wise thing to do.

    Zhang Yang smiled and said, Dont worry, Mr. Su. This ce is safe, at least for the time being.

    Oh? How do you know? asked Su Jin puzzledly.

    Zhang Yang said with a smile, Because Im not an ordinary person. Im a medium. If there are ghosts around here, Id be able to detect them immediately.

    Su Jin blinked a few times. Tian Lili from Team Wind and Rain had been a natural medium as well, so it wasnt the first time he had met one. But he didnt expect to run into another one.

    Oh, I see! Why dont you tell Mr. Xu about your abilities instead? Im sure hed protect you, said Su Jin.

    Zhang Yang looked intently at Su Jin, then stabbed his dagger into the bed before saying sternly, If I want to be protected, Id want the strongest person in the group to protect me. Mr. Su youre much more formidable than that Xu Ge, arent you?

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly but broke into a faint smile. Im afraid youre mistaken. Mr. Xu is a veteran, after all. Compared to him, Im just an ordinary owner

    Mediums are much more sensitive than ordinary humans, and Im one of the best out there. I can hear the heartbeat of other people. If Xu Ges heart beats like an Olympic champion, then yours is like the heart of a gigantic beast from ancient times. You said that youve only gone through three challenges, but thats a lie, isnt it? Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes, Its impossible for someone to be as strong as you are after just three Challenges. Moreover, you really give me the goosebumps, which is something that not even a veteran like Xu Ge gives me.

    Su Jin broke into a smile as he decided toe clean. He nodded and said, Thats right, Ive lied about some things, and your senses are indeed sharp, but its already hard enough for me to survive a supernatural Challenge. Why should I protect you too?

    Zhang Yang frowned, then said frankly to Su Jin, Mr. Su, youre very formidable, but not even the best of owners can guarantee theyd survive a supernatural Challenge. You need someone to help you, and Im your best choice. As long as youre willing to protect me in times of danger you can make use of my abilities as much as you want.

    Su Jin was quite tempted by this suggestion. Having a medium during such a Challenge was very valuable, plus Zhang Yang was smart enough to make good guesses based on his senses and was also clever enough to quickly stand on Su Jins side. If Su Jin had a partner like him in such a Challenge, then even if Zhang Yang couldnt help, at least he wouldnt be a burden.

    Su Jin fell silent for a moment, then nodded. No problem, but I want Miss Ning to be part of this team too. Is that okay with you?

    Zhang Yang nodded without hesitation and said, Of course thats okay. The only help I can offer is my ability tomunicate with spirits, so the number of people with us doesnt matter to me.

    Ning Ran looked gratefully at Su Jin and thanked him, Thank you, Mr. Su.

    Youre wee. I was good friends with your sister, so I cant just leave you alone here, said Su Jin with a smile. He then said to them, Wed better bring the nkets down.

    They gathered some nkets and went back downstairs, only to find that there were only two people in the living room. Su Jin immediately asked, Wheres Miss Qian?

    Shes gone to the washroom, replied Yu Wenkuo.

    Su Jin frowned and said in a low voice, Letting her go to the bathroom by herself in a ce like that is too dangerous.

    It cant be helped. You cant expect two guys to follow her into the bathroom, said Yu Wenkuo nonchntly.

    Su Jin and Zhang Yang exchanged nces. It was more likely that these two men were using Qian Yingying to test if the bathroom was safe rather than having concerns over her privacy.

    AHH! Just then, a shriek came from the bathroom on the second floor. Su Jin and Zhang Yang immediately ran back upstairs. Su Jin kicked the door open to see Qian Yingying hopping about inside like she had gone mad.

    Calm down! Su Jin grabbed hold of her and pulled her out of the bathroom. He scanned her with his psychokinesis but didnt find anything unusual.

    Calm down! Whats happened? asked Su Jin in a loud voice.

    Qian Yingying was a little calmer now. She held Su Jin tightly and said, Theres a cockroach! A cockroach!

    Su Jin looked inside and saw a cockroach crawling about on the toilet seat. He wasnt sure whether tough or cry. It was merely a cockroach, but he thought something bad had happened and wasted psychokinesis on her.

    Mr. Su, watch out! Zhang Yang suddenly eximed as he pointed at Qian Yingying, who was still hugging Su Jin tightly.

    Su Jin suddenly felt like he was caught in a pair of iron pincers. Qian Yingyings arms became very strong as they not just hugged him tightly but also began crushing his body.

    Ungh! Su Jin let out a snort and tried to push back, but it was useless. Qian Yingying was actually stronger than him, so it was too hard for him to push her aside. Plus it was bing harder to breathe because of the pressure on his chest.

    Get lost! A silver beam suddenly shot out from Su Jins eyes. Qian Yingying was sent flying off him and exploded.

    But not a single drop of blood was sttered despite that. She was like a piece of paper that had caught fire as she turned to nothing but dust and disappeared.

    Phew! Su Jin panted heavily and looked inside the bathroom again. There was one more Qian Yingying inside, but she was unconscious.

    He hesitated a little, but carried her out anyway. Zhang Yang immediately helped him with carrying her too. Meanwhile, Yu Wenkuo and Xu Ge had made their way upstairs and asked what happened.

    She was attacked by a spirit, exined Su Jin very simply. He and Zhang Yang carried her downstairs because he wanted to ask her what happened and why she fainted in the bathroom.

    It didnt take long for Qian Yingying to regain consciousness. She stared at everyone in confusion for a moment before a look of horror spread across her face. She eximed, A ghost! A ghost is here! A ghost is here!

    Calm down, calm down, youre alright now. Su Jin patted her shoulder and injected a tiny bit of psychokinesis into her to calm her nerves.

    With the help of his psychokinesis, Qian Yingying slowly calmed down. Once she was calm enough, Su Jin asked, Miss Qian, why did you faint after going into the bathroom? Did you see something?

    She nodded and said in a terrified voice, I immediately after I sat down on the toilet bowl, I felt a nasty chill, as though something was staring at me. I looked up to see to see a half-rotting face, and I passed out.

    The rest exchanged nces. Qian Yingyings observations did not provide any useful clues and sounded more like a typical horror movie, where characters would be attacked when they were in small, enclosed spaces. But what puzzled Su Jin was why Qian Yingying did not die.

    The strength of that ghost earlier on was no joke. If not for his psychokinesis, he wouldnt have been able to deal with it at all. Yet, Qian Yingying did not die. Su Jin did not think this was purely due to luck.

    Everyone gets a nket. Zhang Yang handed out the nkets and specially gave Qian Yingying an extra one. She had just gone through a bad scare, and a warm nket might help her feel better.

    Lets take turns to stand on guard. If five of you take half an hour each, well get through the night, said Xu Ge.

    Ning Ran piped up unhappily, Why just five of us? Arent there six of us? Besides, Miss Qian is still recovering from what happened just now.

    Xu Ge stared at Ning Ran and said frostily, Of course, I can do it too, but as a veteran, I need sufficient rest. Otherwise, how can I protect all of you in times of danger?

    When Miss Qian was in danger just now, the one who protected her was clearly Mr. Su, retorted Ning Ran.

 Chapter 334

    Chapter 334

    Su Jin did not think that this was the time to get into an argument. He waved a hand at Ning Ran and said, Miss Ning, Mr. Xu is right. Hes a veteran and he will only have enough strength to protect us if he gets enough rest. You guys go ahead and sleep, Ill wake you up if I cant take it anymore.

    Ning Ran couldnt believe that Su Jin was speaking up for Xu Ge, but Xu Ge burst outughing and said, Mr. Su is a big-picture person and he knows whats best for us all. Ill go to bed now then.

    Su Jin didnt really care, anyway. His body strength and physical condition werent limited by the Challenge, so even if he had to go three years without eating or sleeping, it wouldnt affect him too much. Moreover, he didnt want to sleep now. He was worried about what this Xu Ge might be up to.

    The rest of the group wrapped themselves tightly in the nkets, as though it would bring them away from the ghosts in this house. As time passed, with the exception of Su Jin, the rest began to feel hungry. Xu Ge, Yu Wenkuo, and Zhang Yang were the most hungry, while thedies, Qian Yingying and Ning Ran, were actually holding out better.

    This wont do. If we go hungry like this, we wont be able to fight back even if an evil spirit attacks us. Xu Ge was really hungry. After looking at everyone in the group, he said to Yu Wenkuo, You go search the kitchen and see if theres anything to eat.

    Yu Wenkuo was terrified and he immediately shook his head. Mr. Xu, dont you think its a little too dangerous to go to the kitchen at this hour? Can we can we wait till sunrise? Ill go once the sun is up.

    Xu Ge hesitated, and even though he had an annoyed look on his face, he nodded and kept quiet. Su Jin piped up, Dont think too much, everyone  sleep if you can. Sleeping consumes the least energy, so once you sleep, you wont feel hungry anymore.

    Wow, Mr. Su still has the energy to speak like that? How impressive, said Xu Ge with a weird snigger. But when Su Jin ignored his remarks, he didnt speak anymore, and the living room fell silent again.

    Time slowly ticked by. The lights in the living room suddenly flickered a few times before going outpletely. It was already around midnight, and once the lights went out, it was impossible to see anything in the living room.

    AH! Just then, Ning Ran suddenly screamed.

    Su Jin was still able to see in the dark, so he immediately turned toward Ning Ran to find her squatting alone on the floor and shaking violently.

    Anyone have a lighter or something like that? asked Su Jin immediately. Xu Ge was so frightened at this point that he had already retrieved that precious item of his. It was an incense stick. Besides holding that, he was also holding onto a lighter.

    Su Jin dashed over and said, Lend me that lighter!

    He snatched it out of Xu Ges hands without waiting for him to agree and set a couch on fire. He didnt have a torch or candles or anything like that, so he had no choice but to set a piece of furniture on fire to illuminate the room.

    The couch cover was made from linen, so it caught fire very easily and instantly lit up the living room. Su Jin quickly asked Ning Ran, Miss Ning, why did you scream?

    She looked around and said with a shudder, Mr. Su were were missing one person!

    Were missing one? Su Jin spun around and gasped quietly. Just like what she said, one person was missing. It was Yu Wenkuo.

    I was sitting with Mr. Yu just now when he suddenly grabbed at my arm, as though he was being dragged away, which was why I screamed. She was trembling all over, and her eyes kept darting about, afraid that a monster might suddenly appear out of nowhere.

    Damn it! That idiot! Did a spirit take him away? cursed Xu Ge angrily. But he didnt look like he was about to look for Yu Wenkuo and moved closer to the burning couch instead.

    Su Jin nced at Zhang Yang, but Zhang Yang shook his head slightly to signal that he hadnt felt anything earlier on. And if a medium like Zhang Yang hadnt felt anything, it meant that a spirit hadnt appeared just now.

    Su Jin took a stool apart, wound some cloth around the leg, and lit it to use it as a torch. He walked around the living room and found Yu Wenkuo unconscious under a table in no time.

    After dragging him out from under the table, they took quite a bit of effort to help him regain consciousness. But after waking up, Yu Wenkuo remained in a daze. Even when Xu Ge spoke to him, he didnt respond at all.

    Whats going on? asked Xu Ge with a frown.

    Zhang Yang paused to think, then made a guess, Is it possible that when the lights went out, Mr. Yu was so frightened that he tripped and fell, then hit his head?

    Su Jins lips twitched. That was definitely possible, but this wasnt Yu Wenkuos first Challenge, so surely he had more guts than that, right? But since Zhang Yang confirmed that he hadnt sensed any spirits, then the possibility that a spirit did this to Yu Wenkuo was not very high.

    Damn it! Its only the first night and so many things have already happened. The next two days arent going to be easy, spat Xu Ge. There was a murderous glint in his eye, but it was hard to say if it was targeted at the other owners or the spirits.

    Nobody could sleep anymore after what happened. They were all in a cautious and jittery state. The couch was almost entirely burned up after a few hours, but they had more than an hour to go to sunrise. Su Jin had no choice but to take some furniture apart and set them on fire. Without any light in this haunted house, their situation would be more dangerous.

    When they finally managed to hold out until daybreak, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone got up to stretch themselves, except for Yu Wenkuo. He had not recovered at all and still looked like he was in a daze.

    Weve got to get something to eat. Otherwise, the hunger will drive me mad before the spirits do, said Xu Ge as he gritted his teeth. He scanned the group, then pointed at Ning Ran and said, Come with me to the kitchen to look for food.

    Xu Ge was a veteran, so it was theoretically safe to stay with him. Ning Ran hesitated for a while before finally deciding to follow behind Xu Ge. Su Jin gave a reassuring nce too. Since he had decided to protect her, he would make sure to do just that.

    After Xu Ge and Ning Ran had headed for the kitchen, the only sensible ones left in the living room were Su Jin, Zhang Yang, and Qian Yingying. Qian Yingying was very grateful that Su Jin had saved her, and she kept staring at him again. She looked more like the big bad wolf eyeing Little Red Riding Hood, and Su Jin felt really awkward.

    More than ten minutes had passed, and Xu Ge and Ning Ran still hadnte out of the kitchen. Su Jin had a bad feeling about this, so he patted Zhang Yangs shoulder and ran for the kitchen. Zhang Yang quickly followed behind him.

    Su Jin kicked the kitchen door open, but what he saw next wasnt a spirit at all. Instead, Xu Ge was forcibly trying to remove Ning Rans clothes, while Ning Ran was desperately defending herself with tears in her eyes, but she seemed too scared to really fight back.

    A sense of disgust welled up in Su Jins heart. He took a step forward and kicked Xu Ge in the butt, making Xu Ge nearlynd in the sink.

    Su Jins strength was no joke, after all. When Xu Ge turned around and saw that it was Su Jin, he clenched his teeth and hissed, How dare you ruin things for me! Youre not interested in getting through this Challenge, I see!

    Shut up! Su Jin didnt care about what Xu Ge was saying and pped him across the face. Xu Ges face turned to one side, and he opened his mouth to vomit from the impact. A few teeth fell out as well.

    Why you!! How dare you do this to me! Im a veteran, so if you offend me, I wont protect you! Prepare to die! Xu Ge yelled at Su Jin as though he was trying to frighten Su Jin.

    Su Jin paused for a moment, then frowned as he bent over to say to Xu Ge, who was on the floor, Well, Im so sorry, Mr. Very-powerful-veteran! Im the sort who doesnt think before acting, so if Ive offended you then fight back if youve got the guts!

    Xu Ge flew into a rage and leaped up to pounce at Su Jin, but the moment he came close to Su Jin, Su Jin pped him again. While Zhang Yang and Ning Ran were still trying to wrap their heads around what was going on right now, Su Jin had already smashed Xu Ge into the floor like he was a poster on the wall.

    Su Jin held Xu Ge down with one foot on his chest, and he said icily, Enough is enough. Im already very disappointed with the way youve led the group. Ill take over from here. If you say no, Ill kill you.

    Ill kill you first! Xu Ge was still unwilling to admit defeat. A green beam shot out from his body as though he was ready to fight to the death, but Su Jin merely scoffed. A silver spark glinted in his eyes, and the green beam from Xu Ges body dissipated.

    How can that be? My my Spirit Power! Xu Ge couldnt believe his eyes. The Spirit Power that had never failed him all this time had just been defeated so easily by this man.

    Su Jin had not worked with owners other than the members of Team Boning Knife for a long time now, so he felt that he had to take time to understand the other owners with him on the same Challenge. But it had turned out to be such a disappointing process. Xu Ge had probably gained Spirit Power not too long ago and was very bad at using it. Moreover, his mentality was twisted. He thought that once he became a veteran, he would be able to survive Challenges for sure. That was why he was so confident and lorded it over the other owners.

    A veteran? Im one too. The silver spark glinted in Su Jins eyes again as he said, You have two choices. Either you get out of here and cooperate with everyone to get through the Challenge, or I kill you right now. Its a bit of a waste to kill someone useful, but I prefer to get rid of any unstable variables early.

    Xu Ge chose to cooperate with the group without even having to think. He finally realized that when everyone was introducing themselves, Su Jin must have lied. This guy was definitely more formidable than he had said he was.

    Very good. Give me that stick of incense. Su Jin held his hand out to Xu Ge.

    Xu Ge was very reluctant to give that item up. He didnt know how Su Jin knew about it, but Su Jin was clearly more powerful than he was, and he might really end up dead if he didnt hand it over, so he had no choice but to hand it over.

 Chapter 335

    Chapter 335

    Su Jin fiddled with the incense stick. He had found out what this was from Xu Ges memories. You had to kill someone, and the item would transform that persons spirit into a shield against attacks from supernatural creatures. This was a powerful item to have, but it also endangered the lives of those around the person who had it.

    So, this was what you were relying on all this time, right? You were prepared to kill us if a spirit attacked us so that you would live on, right? said Su Jin frostily.

    Xu Ges forehead was covered in cold sweat. That was exactly what he had intended to do. The only living beings in this entire house were the owners, so if he wanted to stay alive, he would have to kill them.

    Zhang Yang was also covered in cold sweat. He didnt know about this thing earlier, unlike Su Jin. But he could imagine what would have happened if Xu Ge needed to kill him to activate this item. He would be dead meat. No matter how weak a veteran was, their superpowers were enough to kill an owner who didnt have Spirit Power.

    Su Jin threw the incense stick back to Xu Ge, which made both Zhang Yang and Ning Ran exim in shock. This was as good as releasing a tiger back into the wild!

    Xu Ge himself was surprised that Su Jin would return the item to him. But Su Jin said, You can keep this for the time being. If were attacked by spirits and one of us dies, I will allow you to use this item. But if I find out that youve tried to kill one of us, I will make sure that the incense stick is activated with only your spirit.

    Xu Ge shuddered. He had to take Su Jins warning to heart, since he could see the murderous look in Su Jins eyes. This was a man who could kill and would kill when necessary. Xu Ge felt thatpared to himself, Su Jin was probably a hundred times more aggressive.

    Su Jin sighed as he nced at Ning Ran. Why didnt you call for help?

    Ning Ran bowed her head and murmured, He said if I made any noise, he wouldnt protect us anymore and hed let us all die.

    Su Jin sighed again. She was so much like Ning Meng. They were both kind but a little weak at the same time. If you run into danger again, just yell for help, you hear me?

    Ning Ran nodded, and Su Jin turned to leave the kitchen. After the four of them returned to the living room, they saw Qian Yingying saying something into Yu Wenkuos ear.

    What are you saying to him?

    Qian Yingying shrugged and said, I thought Id try whispering to him to see if hed have any reaction, but hes still like that. Its like hes in a permanent daze or something.

    Hes probably traumatized, said Su Jin with a sigh. They all got some water from the kitchen to drink. There was still no food in sight, so they could only drink water to settle their rumbling stomachs.

    Xu Ge didnt dare to say anything after Su Jin had beat him into submission, so he sat quietly in the living room and behaved himself. But when it hit noon time, amotion came from the third story and it shocked everyone.

    Nobody moved, but themotion from the third floor did not stop. After some time, themotion finally stopped, but before they could breathe a sigh of relief, noise starteding from the second story and they could hear the sound of doors being opened and shut.

    At this rate, its going toe to the first story, isnt it? asked Ning Ran as she trembled.

    Su Jin nced at Zhang Yang, and Zhang Yang nodded. I can feel it. That thing ising toward us!

    Immediately after he said that, the dazed Yu Wenkuo suddenly leaped up. The veins on his face were bulging as he grabbed hold of Ning Rans neck as though he had gone mad.

    Su Jin reacted very quickly. He grabbed hold of Yu Wenkuos hand and flicked a finger at his tendon, hoping that it would force Yu Wenkuo to let go. But Yu Wenkuos arm seemed to be made from steel, and inflicting damage on his tendon did not make any difference.

    He had no choice but to use his psychokinesis to calm Yu Wenkuo down. But when his psychokinesis entered Yu Wenkuos body, he couldnt find Yu Wenkuos consciousness at all. The man was like an empty shell.

    By this time, Ning Rans eyes were rolling backward from being strangled. If he couldnt save her now, he would have to offer her incense at her gravestone instead.

    There was a fierce glint in his eye as he used his palm as a knife and brought it down hard on Yu Wenkuos arm, severing it immediately. But Yu Wenkuos expression didnt even flinch as he pounced toward Ning Ran again.

    Hurry up and help! Su Jin roared at Xu Ge. Xu Ge did not want to, but he had no choice but to do his best to hold Yu Wenkuo back.

    Ning Ran wasnt out of the woods yet. Yu Wenkuos hand had been severed from its arm, but the hand was still able to exert force, and Ning Ran was still on the brink of asphyxiation. Su Jin had to peel his fingers off one by one to save Ning Ran.

    Immediately after Ning Ran was saved, Yu Wenkuo copsed onto the floor. His body was convulsing slightly but still breathing. Su Jin helped Ning Ran to her feet and asked, Miss Ning, are you alright?

    Ning Ran panted heavily, and her face was still pale, but she nodded and said, Thank you for saving me, Mr. Su. I Im fine now.

    Heehee! Haha! Just then, a burst of sinisterughter could be hearding from the second floor. The sound went up the stairs to the third story, then disappeared.

    Everyone exchanged nces. The spirit that possessed Yu Wenkuo was on the third story, and it was just trolling them.

    There are spirits on the third story, they can move wherever they like, whenever they like what are we going to do? Xu Ge had gone into a panic. He wasnt a good leader in the first ce, and now that Su Jin had taken over, his true personality wasing out.

    Su Jin also felt that they were in a pretty bad situation. At the moment, the spirits seemed to be just ying with them, but that was exactly why he was so perplexed. If they were already having trouble holding up when the spirits were only having fun, then once the spirits decided they really wanted to kill them, they were doomed for sure.

    Lets keep looking. There must be something in this house that can keep us safe for the time being. The Handbook will not drive us into a dead end, said Su Jin through gritted teeth. This was one thing he understood well after going through so many Challenges. The Handbook would never design a Challenge that the owners involved could not get through, and the key to passing the Challenge was usually not far from where the owners were.

    Su Jin kept tapping his nose as he recalled what he saw when he checked out the ce, hoping to find something useful. But try as he might, he couldnt seem to think of anything.

    Why dont we go upstairs to the second floor? said Zhang Yang all of a sudden.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, Are you saying the Challenge is to survive this ce for three days, and were in a house with three stories so, the Handbook wants us to ascend one story a day?

 Chapter 336

    Chapter 336

    Zhang Yangs guess did make sense. They stayed on the first floor for the first day, and even though some things did happen, everyone survived. But once the second day started, Yu Wenkuo was possessed and nearly killed one of them. If Su Jin hadnt made the hard decision to chop Yu Wenkuos hand off, they would have lost Ning Ran.

    Lets go upstairs! Su Jin did not hesitate any longer. They were in a very dangerous situation now, so instead of waiting to die on the first floor, it was better to give the second floor a shot. Perhaps there were new ways to survive up there, or at least the situation wouldnt be so bad once they went up.

    Once they went up, they found a bedroomrge enough and went in. They werent going to split up, since that was as good as killing yourself in such a Challenge.

    Actually, things arent too bad. At least nobody died on the first day, said Zhang Yang with a sadugh, as though he had hoped such words would console the rest. But these words only made everyone look even more glum than before.

    Everyone knew that when it came to supernatural Challenges, the closer they came to the end of the Challenge, the more dangerous the situation would be. This Challenge was meant tost three days, so thest day would be the most dangerous. Not having anyone die on the first day wasnt really that surprising. Besides, even though all six of them were technically alive, Yu Wenkuo was like a lifeless puppet, so he was almost as good as dead.

    Bandage Yu Wenkuos arm. Otherwise, hes going to die from excessive bleeding before any spirits even get to him, said Su Jin with a sigh.

    Yu Wenkuo did not have any response to his wound at all, as though that arm didnt belong to him at all. He just continued staring nkly into space. If he wasnt still breathing, everyone would have thought he had already died. To prevent Yu Wenkuo from suddenly going berserk and hurting everyone again, they tore some bedsheets into long strips to tie Yu Wenkuo up tightly. Yu Wenkuo didnt fight back and allowed them to tie him up.

    Once they had settled Yu Wenkuo, they sat in a circle to rest. Nobody felt like sleeping at all, since Yu Wenkuos outburst earlier had made them feel like danger was right beside them. Their hunger seemed to make them feel more alert too.

    Take a good rest, everyone. Save your energy to deal with any unforeseen circumstances, said Su Jin to the group. Everyone nodded in agreement, but nobody was able to fall asleep. They shut their eyes, but they were still awake.

    Mr. Su, you should rest too! You havent even closed your eyes since the day before, Ning Ran whispered to Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled and shook his head. Im fine. You guys go ahead and rest. If Im tired, Ill get one of you to switch with me.

    Ning Ran continued to insist, Mr. Su, I think its best that you rest. Youre the most formidable among us, so if you dont rest enough, you wont be able to protect us.

    Xu Ge couldnt help but re at her, since that was the logic she protested against the day before.

    Su Jin wanted to tell her that he was fine, but when he saw how insistent she was, he nodded and said to the group, Ill take a short nap, wake me up if you need anything.

    The rest nodded in response. But Su Jin wasnt feeling tired at all, since his physique was not affected by the Challenges limits. He agreed to take a nap only to assure the rest of the group. Just like what Ning Ran said, he was now the protector of the group. If he did not keep himself in good shape, the rest would worry.

    Even after he had shut his eyes, Su Jin continued thinking about the Challenge. So far, they had just been reacting to everything that came their way, and they knew nothing about this haunted house. They knew that some clues could probably be found on the third floor, but it was still locked and they couldnt go in. Also, Su Jin felt that when it was time for them to enter the third floor, it was probably time for them to fight for their very lives.

    As time went by, Su Jin suddenly started yawning, which surprised him. His surprise soon turned to horror, since it was impossible for him to feel tired at this point in time, yet he honestly felt rather sleepy. That could only mean that the spirits had started attacking him.

    He wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids grew even heavier. His head started spinning, and he quickly lost consciousness.

    After some time, he finally regained consciousness to find himself lying on the bed. At first he thought that someone ced him on the bed after he had fallen asleep, but when he sat up and looked around, he realized that he was the only person in the room.

    Did everyone go out? Su Jin was a little puzzled. He got out of bed and walked to the door to open it, only to find that he couldnt open it at all, as though it was locked from the outside.

    Open up! bellowed Su Jin as he punched the door. But besides a loud thud, nothing changed. The door of the bedroom seemed to be made from some special material that didnt budge or even dent after getting punched.

    Whats going on? Su Jin had a bad feeling about this. He looked at the room more carefully and was certain that he was no longer in the same room as before.

    Have I been sucked into some other dimension? wondered Su Jin. But he quickly threw that thought out, because he realized that he had suddenly woken up after he had felt sleepy. Did that mean he could be in a dream?

    When he had nothing else to do, Su Jin would often watch horror movies in order to deal with future Challenges. To put it simply, he was looking out for stereotypical situations that could be used in these Challenges. He had watched a famous one where the monster killed people in their dreams, and anyone who died in their dreams would die in reality.

    If Im really in my own dream, then to get out of here doing something thats very shocking to a human like jumping off a building or an explosion should help. But after giving it some thought, he threw that idea out. These were terrifying situations to ordinary humans, but they weremon situations to Handbook owners. It was clearly not going to be enough to scare him awake.

    Su Jin started getting a little antsy, but just then, he suddenly felt tired again, which confused him. Why would he feel sleepy in his own dreams?

    But before he could think about it some more, he fell asleep on the bed again. Just like before, he woke up after some time to find himself on the bed again, except that he had taken his jacket off.

    Did I take it off in my dreams? He was even more bewildered now. He clearly remembered falling onto the bed just before losing consciousness and had not removed his jacket at all. There were two possibilities. Either he had been sleepwalking, or something had removed it for him.

    I was already dreaming, and now Im dreaming again? How is this happening? He was so confused. He was certain that the spirits in this haunted house were the ones dragging him into his dreams, but what were they trying to do? Instead of attacking him directly, they were making him dream within a dream.

    While he was still pondering, he felt tired again. This time, he fell back onto the bed and lost consciousness once his eyes closed. When he woke up again, he was still on the bed, but he was under a nket. The biggest problem was that he was now topless.

    What is going on? Su Jin pped his head lightly a few times. He wasnt in the habit of sleeping like this, yet he had clothing removed in his dreams. What did this mean?

    Wait a minute I spend very little time awake in each dream, so does that mean I cant stay awake in a dream for too long, otherwise Id wake up from it? As a child, Su Jin had woken up from his dreams after he had realized he was dreaming. This could be a simr situation. He might wake up if he became very aware of what was going on, so the ones controlling this process kept making him fall asleep again and continue dreaming in his dreams.

    Su Jin felt like he had figured it out, but just then, he fell back onto the bed again. His eyes kept turning as he tried to stay awake, but he failed to control his own consciousness and everything went dark again.

 Chapter 337

    Chapter 337

    When Su Jin woke up again, he found himself without any clothes this time. He looked around, but there wasnt anybody in the room. Just then, he suddenly felt the bed move. It hadnt moved violently, but Su Jin was certain that something under the bed had tried to knock into him.

    He licked his dry lips. What could be under the bed? Then again, the answer was pretty obvious, given that the Challenge involved the supernatural and wasnt some sweet romance.

    Hiding under the bed, huh, Su Jinughed sadly to himself. It was amon scene in horror movies, but it was also something that affected a lot of people. That was why so many horror movies continued using this trope.

    Su Jin stuck his head out and slowly bent over as he used one hand to pull up the bedsheet. But just when he was about to look under the bed, that feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed him again. His arm went limp, and he lost consciousness yet again.

    When he woke up, he was still lying on the bed, but he was on his side and there was something leaning against his back.

    Is it here? Su Jin wasnt afraid of spirits, but if a spirit really appeared at this point in time to kill him, he wasnt really able to defend himself in this state. At the same time, trying to dodge his attacker wasnt going to do him any good.

    So, he clenched his teeth and turned around. He froze when he realized that the thing leaning against him was a spirit, but Ning Ran.

    Ning Ran didnt have any clothes on either, but Su Jin was in no mood to enjoy the scenery, because her neck waspletely twisted and she was bleeding from every orifice. She was clearly dead.

    Su Jins lips twitched, but he didnt know what to say. He was a little dejected because he had promised to protect Ning Ran, yet she had died before he even had the chance to save her.

    Im sorry Im really sorry sighed Su Jin. He looked at Ning Rans angry, bulging eyes and felt like she was demanding to know why he had failed to protect her despite promising to do so.

    He reached out to shut her eyes, since dying with ones eyes open was usually a sign of a wrongful death, a death filled with regrets and helplessness.

    But just when he stretched his arm out, Ning Rans hand suddenly shot up and grabbed hold of his hand. He got a shock and was about to shake her hand off when exhaustion hit him again. He quickly tried to bite his tongue, but before he could mp his teeth down, he lost consciousness.

    Just like thest few times, Su Jin woke up in the same bedroom. But this time, he wasnt on the bed. He was leaning against the wall, and two dead bodiesy on the bed. They were Ning Ran and Qian Yingying.

    But Su Jin ignored their presence. He put a finger in his mouth and bit down hard on it. He wanted to use the pain to make sure he woke up from his dream. He realized that each time he fell asleep, his dreams only became worse. If he couldnt pull himself out from his dreams, he might get stuck inside forever.

    Blood flowed down his chin and the pain he felt was probably the only real sensation he had. When the exhaustion started attacking him again, he bit himself even harder, as though he was going to bite his flesh off. The pain did help him to fend off the exhaustion.

    He wasnt sure how much time had passed, but he was certain that the exhaustion was slowly disappearing. By the time it disappeared, the wound on his finger disappeared too. He looked at the bed to see Ning Ran sitting on it. She stared straight at him, then pounced toward him.

    Su Jin was happy inside, because this meant that he had gone back to the previous dream. He had been consumed by his dream earlier and had not realized that it was just a dream at first. The Ning Ran who died in his dream wasnt the same person in reality!

    But you could hardly me Su Jin. People usually lost the ability to think logically in a dream, and certain circumstances could even make the personpletely forget how the world truly worked, and they would get lost in their dreamworld.

    Ning Ran grabbed hold of Su Jins neck, but he ignored herpletely. When exhaustion hit again, he bit his tongue really hard, which hurt even more than when he bit his finger. After a while, the pain disappeared, and the dead Ning Ran was gone from the room too.

    But Su Jin kept his eye on the bottom of the bed. Based on the order of his dreams, there had to be something under the bed.

    He ran over and flipped the bed over, instead of just pulling the sheets aside. He was determined to face whatever was there head-on.

    After flipping the bed aside, he saw that there was neither person nor ghost underneath, and only a blood-red piece of cloth. He picked it up to take a closer look, only for exhaustion to strike him again. He quickly tried to bite his tongue, but he was too slow this time, so he lost consciousness again.

    When he woke up again, Ning Rans eyes appeared in front of him. Her hands were still around Su Jins neck, trying to strangle him as though she had lost her mind.

    If I manage to hold up against the exhaustion, the dreams will move toward consciousness. But if I cant, Ill fall into yet another dream. Su Jin finally understood what was going on now. He pushed Ning Ran aside, then ignored her and waited for the feeling of exhaustion to hit him.

    The moment he felt it, he stuffed his arm into his mouth and bit down hard. This time, he endured the feeling of tiredness and returned to the previous dream. The bed was overturned, just like how he had left it.

    Su Jin picked up the piece of red cloth and noticed some ck words on it. After touching it, he realized that these werent words written in ck ink, but someone had written something on the cloth with their own blood. The blood had dried up, so it looked ck against the red cloth.

    He put it against the light to take a closer look and realized that most of it was actually a drawing of three people, tworger and one smaller, like a family photo. But when he tried to look at the words, exhaustion hit and he quickly bit his tongue to ovee it.

    Perspiration began pouring down his forehead as the exhaustion weighed more and more heavily on him. Just when he thought he was not going to make it, the pain finally disappeared.

    Phew! Su Jin panted heavily. He noticed that the nearer to consciousness he went, the harder it became to ovee the exhaustion.

    He looked around him, and based on what he was actually wearing, he was sure he had returned to the second dream. He overturned the bed to look for the red cloth, since he didnt get to read what was on it earlier, but there was nothing under the bed.

    Does it only appear in the third one? Su Jin sighed. It wasnt hard to return to the third dream, but it was going to be very difficult to get out of it if he did that.

    With that thought, he felt the exhaustion hit him yet again. He bit his tongue with all his might, as though it didnt belong to him. His tongue bled like crazy as he struggled to fight the exhaustion. And just when he was about to give in, the pain in his tongue disappeared. He was back in the first dream.

    The second dream was almost impossible to ovee, so how am I going to cope with the first one? Su Jin was rather frustrated. If he couldnt hold up against the exhaustion of this firstyer of dreams, all his earlier efforts would go to waste.

    He proceeded to pull a stool apart, then pulled out the nails from the bedframe. He drove the nails into one leg of the stool such that the sharp tip stuck out. Then, he hit himself with the stool leg of nails, which made him wince in pain. He was sure the pain was sufficient to get him through this dream. And when he pulled the leg out, the pain doubled.

    Just then, exhaustion began to attack him once more.

 Chapter 338

    Chapter 338

    Exhaustion overcame Su Jin like a flood. He knew he must not hesitate, so he immediately hit himself with the nail-ridden stool leg. The nails stabbing into his skin helped him to wake up a little, but it wasnt enough. The exhaustion that came with the first dream was even stronger than the previous ones!

    Su Jin leaned against a wall as he sat down and panted heavily before punching himself in the calf, which broke his bone.

    AHH! Su Jin clutched his calf as he shouted in pain. He pulled at his fracture, creating a wound. His eyes were red as he stabbed the stool leg hard into his own wound.

    AHHHHHH! he screamed. Humans had an upper limit to how much pain they could take, so they would faint once they hit their limit. It was a safety mechanism of sorts, like the circuit breaker of an electrical box.

    Su Jin was definitely one of the most powerful electrical boxes in the world. The pain limits of ordinary humans were meaningless to him, but that was a good thing to him. The fact that his pain limit was way above ordinary humans meant that he could use extreme pain to keep him from falling deeper into his dreams, and this was the only ce where he could feel such pain.

    Wake UP!!! Su Jin roared. The pain made his pupils dte continuously, and when the pain had reached an almost unbelievable level, his entire world suddenly shook.

    The pain disappearedpletely, and Su Jins face was covered in sweat. He was panting heavily, but there was a smile on his face. He had returned to reality.

    He was still in a bedroom, but he was no longer alone. Ning Ran and the rest were lying randomly in the room, but they clearly werent doing very well. Just like him, they were all trapped in their dreams.

    Su Jin furrowed his brows. Among the other five, Yu Wenkuo was still in a daze, while the other four were struggling. Their expressions kept changing, and it was obvious that they werent having pleasant dreams.

    He went to sit next to Ning Ran and took hold of her hand. A silver glint flickered in his eyes. He wanted to enter her dreams and lead her out. If he didnt do that, she might die.

    His psychokinesis quickly entered her consciousness and opened a path into her dreams. It didnt take long for him to find himself in Ning Rans dream. She was standing face to face with another woman.

    Sis why why are you fighting back? Why wont youe with me? The other woman was familiar to Su Jin as well, because it was Ning Rans younger sister, a former member of Team Boning Knife  Ning Meng!

    Ning Mengs hair was a mess, and she was crying tears of blood. Her body had started to rot, and maggots were wriggling and crawling around the rotten parts of her face.

    Ning Ran looked terrified, but she also looked grieved. She kept shaking her head as she said, No, my younger sister isnt dead! Shes shes still alive! Shes still alive!

    Still alive? Are you trying to fool me or fool yourself? Sis, Im already dead. How else would you have gotten Hells Handbook? That that was mine! Ning Ran broke into a creepy smile as she stretched a rotting arm crawling with maggots toward Ning Rans face.

    Ning Ran shuddered and wanted to dodge, but she felt bad trying to dodge her own sisters arm. She burst into tears and said, No, no! Ning Meng, Ill find you someday! Ill definitely find you!

    You dont have to search for me. Im right here, Sis. Youve already found me. Besides, well always be together from now onward! Ning Mengs hand was almost within reach of Ning Rans face.

    Enough! Even if youre really dead, Ning Meng would never treat her older sister like this! said Su Jin frostily as he marched over and grabbed hold of Ning Mengs arm.

    Ning Meng looked up at him and smiled. My team leader! I didnt expect to see you in such a ce. Its been a long time since west met. Wheres everybody else? Hows Sister Mai and the rest?

    Su Jin got a shock and could hardly believe his ears. How how did this evil spirit know about Kano Mai? They were in Ning Rans dream, so it ought to contain only things that Ning Ran knew about.

    Ning Meng smiled at Su Jin and said, Are you very puzzled? Theres no need to be. I know all this because Im Ning Meng herself!

    No, no, you arent! Su Jin shook his head. He said in a grave voice, Ning Meng was a lovely girl, so even if she died, she would never try to haunt anyone like this. She knows she knows I tried my best. Shes a very kind person! You youre nothing! roared Su Jin. The silver glint around him shed brightly, causing Ning Meng to explode.

    No! Ning Ran screamed as her world shook a few times. The pieces of Ning Mengs body had disappeared.

    Weve gone one dream closer to reality! Su Jin was stunned for a moment. Watching him kill Ning Meng had been too shocking for Ning Ran, so she woke up from that dream, but it only helped her to enter her previous dream, and she did not reach reality yet.

    No, no! Ning Meng! Ning Ran fell to her knees and started crying uncontrobly.

    But her reaction gave Su Jin an idea. Most people would wake up when something terrible happened in their dream, but that didnt work on him because he had gone through too many terrifying situations. However, Ning Ran was still considered a newbie to the Handbook world, so she wasnt much better off than an ordinary human. Traumatizing her at this level still worked on her.

    With that in mind, he walked over to where she was. She sensed him approaching her, so she looked up at him. But he gave her a smile and asked, Miss Ning, have you ever felt despair?

    While she stared at him in confusion, he reached out and broke her arm. To him, her arm was no harder than a piece of chalk, so he broke it really easily.

    AH! she screamed in pain. She had a terrified look in her eyes as she stared at Su Jin. She couldnt understand why the person who promised to protect her would turn into a demon all of a sudden. She clearly had not realized she was dreaming.

    He continued torturing her in this manner, and the pain drove her from one dream to another, pushing her closer and closer to reality. But doing this also made her so terrified of him, she didnt know how to hide from him.

    Im really sorry! Su Jin squatted down in front of Ning Ran, who was trembling violently in a corner of the room. He shook his head and said, I think were almost there. Im doing this for your own good, I promise!

    No, no! Please stop! Please stop! Ning Ran wailed miserably as she pleaded with Su Jin. He had tortured her again and again, and each time she was about to die, everything would revert to normal. The only thing that didnt change was how Su Jin would appear in front of her and abuse her again.

    He ignored her pleas and dug one of her eyeballs out of its socket, then squeezed it so hard that it burst.

    Ning Ran leaped up in shock inside the bedroom of the real world, her eyes widened in horror. In her dreams, she had been torn slowly from limb to limb. Su Jin had even torn her skin off, and watching her internal organs jiggle beneath her rib cage had been too much for her. That was how she got out of her dreamworld and returned to the real world.

    Alright, alright, its over, its over, Su Jin quickly tried tofort her.

    But Ning Ran stared at Su Jin like he was a monster. She moved away from him as quickly as possible, trembling as she tried to keep her distance. She was probably more afraid of Su Jin than the spirits of this Challenge by now.

    Su Jin knew why she was behaving like this, so he sighed and exined, Dont worry, I wont do anything to you. Were back in the real world, so were back to reality.

    Reality? Ning Ran was confused.

    He sighed again. To be honest, he felt that rescuing Ning Ran was not the most meaningful thing to do. If it were Ning Meng, she would have eventually realized that she was trapped in her own dreams. But not Ning Ran. Ning Rans sense of danger and observation skills were way too poorpared to her sister. Such an owner would notst long in Challenges.

    Calm down and think. What happened just now? Did any of it make sense? How could you possibly remain unhurt after I tried to kill you so many times? Su Jin dropped her a few hints. Thankfully, she managed to figure it out. She wasnt that hopeless after all.

    All that was the work of the evil spirits here? asked Ning Ran.

    He nodded and said, The spirits dragged us into dreamworlds. If one did not realize it and kept falling deeper into these worlds, you might not wake up again. I forced my way into your dreams, but the only way to get you back to reality was by causing you great pain, which was why

    Thank you, Ning Ran thanked him in a gentle voice. She knew that Su Jin must have taken a great risk to enter her dreams and save her. If not for Ning Meng, there was no way Su Jin would have taken this risk.

    Su Jin smiled. Just like what she suspected, he wouldnt have done such a thing if not for Ning Meng. He had managed to wake up from his dreams by inflicting pain on his body. But he wasnt sure if that would work on another persons dreams.

    What about them? asked Ning Ran worriedly as she looked at the rest in the room.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, Theyll have to deal with it themselves. Its already hard enough to keep yourself alive in a Challenge, after all. Since youre Ning Mengs sister, let me leave you with a piece of advice In the real world outside of this Handbook, you can go ahead and be a nice person all you want. But when youre in a Challenge mind your own business.

    The change in Su Jins mentality was great. In the past, he might have tried to save Zhang Yang and the rest. But things were different now. He had a higher goal, and he would not allow himself to die in a Challenge. Ning Ran nodded with a slightly confused look on her face.

 Chapter 339

    Chapter 339

    Su Jin felt that he had be unfeeling and selfish, and he had taken the time to sit down and think about this change in him before. But his final conclusion was that he hadnt be unfeeling and selfish. It was the way to fight and ovee Challenges, which became characteristic of owners.

    The seemingly unfeeling and selfish nature of owners was really more of a way for them to protect themselves, and there were some who were only like this during a Challenge, and were not like this in their everyday lives in the real world.

    Zhang Yang, Qian Yingying, and Xu Ge were still trapped inside their dreams. Su Jin nced at Zhang Yang. He didnt want to enter his dream, but he didnt mind using his psychokinesis to throw Zhang Yang a few hints.

    He managed to connect to Zhang Yangs consciousness briefly with his psychokinesis, but he cut off the connection immediately because Zhang Yang wasnt panicking at all. In fact, he wasnt even dreaming. He had already woken up.

    Since youre already awake, why are you putting on a pretense? asked Su Jin gravely.

    Zhang Yang opened his eyes and grinned at Su Jin. Ah, so you have psychokinesis! If I had known earlier, I wouldnt bother pretending.

    It isnt toote to find out now. I would like a good exnation for this. Su Jin pulled Ning Ran behind him to protect her. Since Zhang Yang had pretended to be dreaming when he was already awake, it meant that this man had other ulterior motives.

    Zhang Yang made a face, then stood up andughed. Exining is so troublesome!

    Getting into a fight would be even more troublesome, said Su Jin as he stretched his arms and legs. He could sense that Zhang Yang wasnt behaving like this because he had been possessed by the spirits. There was an unmistakable sly glint in his eyes, as though he was feeling very smug about what he had done. That expression made Su Jin really want to give him a tight p.

    Alright, alright, Zhang Yang nodded and looked serious as he said to Su Jin and Ning Ran, Let me introduce myself again. Im Zhang Yang and Ive gone through 37 challenges.

    Youre a veteran? Su Jin realized why Zhang Yang had that expression earlier. This fellow had intended to fool everyone right from the start. He was an old timer, yet he had pretended to be a newbie and asked Su Jin to protect him. That wasnt the most ethical thing to do.

    But Zhang Yang shook his head. Im just an old timer. As for being a veteran its too bad, but Ive not gotten any Spirit Power, so Im not a veteran.

    Su Jin frowned and said, An old timer whos gone through 37 Challenges still isnt a veteran? Do you think anybody would believe that? Su Jin had always felt that every owner would be given a fair chance to get Spirit Power after theypleted a certain number of Challenges.

    Zhang Yang smiled and said, Why not? Ive just chosen to evolve in a different way from everyone else. I gave up the chance to get Spirit Power in exchange for other benefits.

    A silver glint shed in Su Jins eyes as he attempted to read Zhang Yangs thoughts, only to find that he couldnt do it at all. He was surprised as he said, Your thoughts are protected by something special. Its not some sort of force field, its a machine?

    To be honest, I really hate psychokic owners like yourself, because you guys always pry into the thoughts of others without getting permission. In fact, thats kind of why I chose to do this. I can defend my thoughts from people like you, said Zhang Yang as he threw Su Jin a look of contempt.

    Su Jin paused to think about what Zhang Yang just told him, then said, I see. So, youve turned your body into a machine and only your consciousness has been left behind. Your consciousness, or your soul, has been stored within your body in something that can cut off psychokinesis, which is why I cant read your thoughts at all.

    The legend that many psychokic owners are clever people is true, after all. So, why dont YOU introduce yourself again too? said Zhang Yang as he stared curiously at Su Jin.

    Su Jin shook his head. I dont have anything else to share about myself.

    You dont? Ill help you then! Youre Su Jin, the team leader of the now-defunct Team Boning Knife. I dont know why you disbanded the team, but that didnt affect your capabilities, and you seem to have be even more formidable without your team. Youve recently ranked #7 among owners, so your prowess is greater than anyone can imagine, and youre definitely an up-anding owner, said Zhang Yang calmly.

    Su Jin was not surprised that Zhang Yang knew all this about him. Zhang Yang had gone through so many Challenges, which meant that his ranking was probably not low, and it wasnt strange for him to take note of the higher-ranked owners. But this guy seemed to be trying to emphasize that Su Jin was an up-anding owner.

    Before Su Jin could respond, Zhang Yang continued, Dont worry, Im not a peeping tom like you psychokic owners. I know so much about you because one of my friends has met you before.

    A friend of yours has met me before?

    Jiang Li. You went through your very first Challenge with him, didnt you? When he came out of that Challenge, he was full of praise for you. After you started climbing the ranks, he continued to watch your progress. And because he kept talking about you, I took notice too. I have to say, this fellow had really good judgment. Your growth is beyond everyones imagination, said Zhang Yang quietly.

    Su Jin did not expect Zhang Yangs friend to be Jiang Li. He recalled how formidable Jiang Li had been to him as a newbie, killing off monsters left and right in Fengxi Town.

    Youre a friend of Jiang Li I think Ive heard about you from him too. Su Jin remembered that Jiang Li mentioned Su Jin reminded him of a friend who was also the strategist type. Jiang Li had also said that this friend of his was very annoying, which did match the sort of person Zhang Yang was.

    Oh, did he now? He praised me? asked Zhang Yang curiously.

    Ha he said he had a friend who was very irritating, said Su Jin without bothering to sweeten his words. Zhang Yang was not a likeable character, after all. Challenges seemed more like a game to this guy, and he didnt seem to care if he lived or died. Jiang Lis description of this friend of his was urate.

    Tsk! He called me an irritating fellow? Humph! Zhang Yang looked very displeased.

    Hows Brother Jiangtely? asked Su Jin.

    Hes dead, said Zhang Yang tly.

    Su Jin froze, and Zhang Yang said, Is that very surprising? Were talking about Handbook Challenges here, so never mind him  even an owner in the top ten like yourself often finds Challenges tough to get through, right? Take this Challenge, for example.

    Zhang Yang was right. That was the way the Handbook was. No matter how powerful you were out there, your life was always on the line once you began a Challenge.

    Brother Jiang mentioned that you are the strategist type of owner. Whats your opinion of this Challenge? Su Jin put aside his emotions and focused on the Challenge first.

    Zhang Yang repliedzily, Im not really bothered by it. Given the current state of my body, supernatural Challenges arent difficult for me. Besides, this Challenge is the survival type. I just need to stay alive for three days.

    Su Jin made a face. Zhang Yang was a robot now, and his consciousness was protected by a special mechanism. So, like he said, supernatural Challenges were of little threat to him, unless the spirits were able to attack his mechanical body.

    Fine, you can take a rest then. Su Jin didnt want to talk to Zhang Yang anymore. This guys temperament was seriously unpleasant.

    But Zhang Yang wasnt letting Su Jin walk away just like that. He ambled over and asked, By the way, given your prowess and the fact that youre a strategist youve probably sensed the secret of Hells Handbook by now, havent you?

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Nope.

    Oh, really? Zhang Yang chuckled, then said in a secretive voice, I thought of exchanging information, since I discovered some historical text inscribed on a monument when I went through a previous Challenge, and deduced some basic information about the Handbook from there. I thought of talking about it to someone who might find it useful.

    Su Jin nced at Zhang Yang and narrowed his eyes as he shook his head again, Im sorry, but I dont trust you.

    You dont trust me? Looks like I have to show a little more sincerity. Actually, some of it could be seen after you became an owner, and the most important part is the fact about parallel universes! Great emphasis was ced on thosest two words.

    Su Jins heart skipped a beat. Parallel universes was the direction in which Su Jin was investigating the secret behind Hells Handbook. Since Zhang Yang had been able to identify this main point, perhaps he did know a thing or two about the secret behind Hells Handbook.

    Just when he was about to ask more, Xu Ge suddenly let out a yelp, then leaped up from the floor before copsing again.

    Hes awake? Both Su Jin and Zhang Yang were a little surprised. Neither of them liked Xu Ge, because his character was too seriously wed. He was a veteran with Spirit Power, and his egoistical side shone the brightest during Challenges where he believed he was the most powerful owner. And any owner who became arrogant and thought his capabilities were sufficient to get through any Challenge wasnt far from death.

    Xu Ge seemed to have used up a lot of energy, so hey weakly on the floor as he panted heavily. Su Jin, Zhang Yang, and Ning Ran even smelled something foul. They looked at Xu Ges lower body and realized he had peed himself.

    Im Im still alive? Xu Ges body was still shaking, but a look of joy spread across his face. He seemed surprised that he was actually still alive.

    Just then, Qian Yingying let out a sound, and she too, opened her eyes slowly and stared in confusion at the people around her.

    Theyve all actually managed to escape their dreams? Su Jin was very surprised.

 Chapter 340

    Chapter 340

    Su Jin was very surprised by what just happened. Besides the dazed Yu Wenkuo, everyone else had actually sessfully escaped their nightmares. Also, Yu Wenkuo clearly hadnt been dreaming at all.

    Theres something rather strange about all this. Zhang Yang stroked his chin. He had also begun dreaming, but unlike everyone else, as long as he wanted to wake up, he had a mechanism that could help him do that. Dreams were not dangerous to him at all.

    But that wasnt the case for most people. A dream with severalyers could trap owners for a long time, and even a psychokic owner like Su Jin could get trapped. And once you were stuck inside, you had to get out of it with your own effort. Su Jin had helped Ning Ran get out of hers, but that had been a very risky thing to do.

    What time is it now? asked Su Jin.

    Its nighttime now, and were about to hit midnight, said Zhang Yang. His mechanical body could calcte time, so he could tell time without any other reference.

    One dream a day, huh, Su Jin exhaled deeply. Since it was almost midnight, it meant that they had safely gotten through the second day. There was only one more day left, so the chances of them surviving had gone up.

    Mr. Su, I wonder if this thought has crossed your mind, Zhang Yang suddenly said to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nced at him. What thought?

    If we have to enter the third story on the third day are you sure wed definitely be able to get there? asked Zhang Yang.

    Su Jin frowned. He knew what Zhang Yang was driving at. Getting into the third story itself was possibly a problem in itself. If the third story were a ce that did not open up by itself and required them to find a key or something along those lines, then something simr to what happened on the morning of the second day would happen again the next morning. If they could not get to the third story quickly enough, one of them might be possessed by the spirits and they might get injured or killed.

    What are your thoughts on this? asked Su Jin.

    Based on time alone, were actually almost on the third day of the Challenge, so we could try to see if we can now open the door to the third floor. If we cant, then we can start thinking about what we need to do, said Zhang Yang.

    Su Jin nodded. Zhang Yang was indeed a good strategist, otherwise Jiang Li wouldnt have made special mention of him. His suggestion was a good one.

    But who will try the door? said Xu Ge suddenly. When he saw both Su Jin and Zhang Yang stare at him, he immediately shrank back and said, Its veryte at night now who would dare to leave the room at this hour? What if they run into a spirit? Isnt doing this now as good as courting death?!

    Xu Ge wasnt wrong to say that. Moving around by yourself at midnight during a supernatural Challenge was indeed dangerous. Su Jin smiled and said, Did I say were picking just one person to go? Since we feel that doing that is dangerous, lets all go together then.

    Im not going, Im not going! Xu Ge immediately shook his head. It had been hard enough for him to get out from his dreamworld, and he had been so scared that he peed himself. His pants werent even dry yet  he wasnt going to get himself killed at this point in time.

    Su Jin shrugged and said, Suit yourself. You can stay here if you want. The rest of us will go and take a look, you can look after Yu Wenkuo.

    After Su Jin put it that way, Xu Ges face paled. The one who got possessed earlier was Yu Wenkuo, so if he had to stay here alone with Yu Wenkuo, that would be even more dangerous than leaving the room.

    No, no, no if everyones going together, then I dont mind. Lets go together. Xu Ge nced at Yu Wenkuo and moved as far away as possible from the dazed man.

    Su Jin looked at Ning Ran and Qian Yingying. What about both of you?

    Ill go with you. Ning Ran trusted Su Jin with her life, especially after Su Jin had saved her from her dreams. But at the same time, she was a little afraid of him, since she also remembered him as that demon from hell who had used all sorts of ways to torture her.

    Qian Yingying said, Ill go too. I dont want to be alone with him. She pointed at the dazed Yu Wenkuo. Su Jin had broken off one of his hands, and despite being bandaged, his arm was still bleeding, but he didnt have any response at all. That alone was enough to make ones hair stand on end.

    Since they were all in agreement, they walked out of the bedroom together. They went up the stairs and quickly reached the entrance to the third floor. It was a small door that nted upward. They called it the third floor, but it was probably an attic of sorts.

    Su Jin led the way, and when he saw the door, he noticed a shadow slip through the door into the third story, which made him pause for a bit. Could it be that doing such things at this hour was truly a bad idea?

    But nothing happened after that shadow slipped in. Zhang Yang walked to the front and said, Spirits cant really hurt me, so Ill do this.

    Ill have to trouble you then. With great power came great responsibility. Since Zhang Yangs robot body held up much better against the supernatural, he was the best person to investigate this door.

    Zhang Yang walked up to the door, grabbed hold of the handle, and pulled at it a few times. But the door seemed to be merely a drawing on the wall. Pulling at the handle didnt do anything.

    Try pushing it? suggested Su Jin.

    Zhang Yang tried pushing it with his hands, then he leaned against the door and gritted his teeth as he pushed it with all his might, but it didnt budge. Zhang Yang knocked on the door, then said to Su Jin, Its not working, but Im certain theres a space behind the door, just that I cant get the door to open. We probably need some special key.

    Su Jin walked over and noticed that the door handle did have a keyhole. It looked like a lock from ancient times. When he tried to look through the keyhole, he suddenly took a step back. A blood-red eye had met him when he looked through.

    Su Jin had been through a lot, and he was considered very bold, so something like that should not have frightened him. But when his eye met that blood-red eye, he could clearly sense an evilness from that gaze, which was what made him take a step back.

    Youre right, Mr. Zhang. Looks like we need to find a key. The situation was just as Zhang Yang had guessed. They had to find the key before daybreak, or face dire consequences.

    Do we split up to look for it? asked Ning Ran a little timidly.

    Su Jin nodded and said, We were chased up to the second story from the first story, so the first story probably doesnt have the key. If were looking at only the second floor, then the key is probably somewhere in one of the bedrooms. But there are 12 bedrooms on the second floor, and it will take too much time for all of us to search them one by one, so we should split into at least two groups.

    Oh, so you and I will take one group each? Zhang Yang understood what Su Jin was saying.

    Ill take Ning Ran and Miss Qian, you can take Xu Ge, said Su Jin. This was an arrangement that favored Zhang Yang, since he got the veteran, while Su Jin had to take the two newer and weaker girls.

    Zhang Yang nodded in agreement, then said, Let me say this first. If were searching for something, wed better search as thoroughly as possible. Check the drawers, the closets, or even under the sheets. If we miss it because we were searching too carelessly the first time, we wont find it even if we try searching a second time.

    Everyone nodded, and then they split up to search the bedrooms. Su Jin brought his team to a different bedroom, while Zhang Yang and Xu Ge went back to the one they were in earlier.

    After entering the bedroom, Su Jin turned on the lights and began searching the ce. This bedroom was furnished differently from the one they were in earlier. There were several messily ced shelves, so it took quite some time to search each one.

    Be careful, both of you. If you sense anything amiss, just give me a shout. Alert us as quickly as you can, you hear me? said Su Jin to the two girls, and they nodded.

    It took some time to search the bedrooms, since they had to search each one as thoroughly as they could. Thankfully, everything went quite smoothly, since nothing strange befell them.

    Su Jin and the two girls had finished searching five bedrooms, and there was only one more left to go on his side of the corridor. After they entered thest bedroom, Su Jin turned on the lights, and they automatically started searching the various furniture.

    Mr. Su, take a look at this, Ning Ran suddenly called out to Su Jin.

    Su Jin walked over to see Ning Ran standing in front of a dresser. She was looking at the dresser a little fearfully because the mirror of the dresser was covered with fresh blood.

    He walked over cautiously. A lot of the mirror had been covered with fresh blood, and he was about to take a closer look when he heard Qian Yingying scream.

    He immediately turned to find Qian Yingying standing wide-eyed in front of a closet before copsing in fright to the floor.

    He dashed over and took a look at the closet, but it waspletely empty, and there was nothing there that could hurt a person. He couldnt understand why Qian Yingying was so terrified.

    Its nothing really, a rat ran across just now which gave me a shock, said Qian Yingying a little embarrassedly with a pale face.

    A rat? Su Jin was puzzled for a moment. Why would a haunted house have rats? He shook his head and turned to look at the dresser again, but got a shock. Ning Ran had disappeared.

    Damn it! cursed Su Jin as he marched over to the dresser and looked around it for her but didnt find her. She couldnt have left the room.

    Where did Miss Ning go? Qian Yingying looked equally befuddled as she began pulling therge drawers of the dresser open, but none of those drawers were big enough to hide a person.

    Thats really weird, how could she justjust go missing? Qian Yingying got a little anxious and identally bumped into the dresser. The mirror of the dresser immediately fell out of its frame.

    Watch out! Su Jin yelled at her as he leaped toward the dresser and caught the falling mirror.

 Chapter 341

    Chapter 341

    Su Jins physique was unaffected by the Challenge, so he moved at lightning speed. Once the mirror started falling, he caught it with no problem.

    Thank goodness, said Su Jin with a sigh of relief after catching the mirror. He felt that there was something strange about this mirror, and because Ning Ran had disappeared in front of it, he felt that her disappearance was connected to the mirror. If the mirror was shattered, he didnt know what would happen to Ning Ran, so he thought it was best to be careful around it.

    Im sorry! Im so sorry! I nearly did something terrible! Qian Yingying apologized to Su Jin.

    Its alright, but youd better be more careful when going through Challenges. The slightest mistake could cost you your life. Su Jin wasnt particrly bothered. He held up the mirror and got a shock when he looked at it. Ning Ran was right behind him.

    Where were you hiding just now? said Su Jin as he turned around, only to find that Ning Ran wasnt behind him.

    Whats going on? Su Jin immediately turned back to the mirror and saw Ning Ran in the mirror. He got it now. She wasnt behind him. She was inside the mirror itself.

    Ning Ran, are you able to speak? Su Jin asked Ning Ran.

    She opened her mouth, but Su Jin couldnt hear anything. Su Jin tapped on his nose to think. Ning Rans reaction meant that she could hear him, but he couldnt hear her.

    Ning Ran was pacing anxiously inside the mirror and knocked into the dresser on her side. The dresser shook a little, and the dresser on Su Jins side shook too.

    This A thought shed in Su Jins head. He went to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. The same drawer of the dresser in the mirror opened at the same time. The dimension inside and outside the mirror were almost identical.

    Lets go, Su Jin said to Qian Yingying, and they left to look for Zhang Yang and Xu Ge.

    Did you find something? This is the key? Zhang Yang looked strangely at the mirror in Su Jins hands.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, It isnt, but take a look at this. He showed Zhang Yang the mirror, and Zhang Yang blinked in surprise when he saw Ning Ran in the mirror.

    Miss Ning is trapped inside the mirror? asked Zhang Yang.

    Su Jin nodded. The space inside and outside the mirror seem to be connected. Ning Ran knocked into a dresser inside the mirror, and the dresser outside the mirror moved at the same time.

    A glint shed in Zhang Yangs eyes as he smiled and said, Interesting. In that case, that thing can be opened like this.

    What thing? asked Su Jin.

    Come with me. Zhang Yang did not answer Su Jins question and led him to one of the bedrooms instead. There was a study table inside, and all its drawers were open except for one. Zhang Yang tried to open it, but no matter how hard he tried, it would not budge.

    I see. Ning Ran, try opening this drawer, Su Jin said to Ning Ran.

    Ning Ran looked a bit scared, but she nodded and reached out to pull at the identical drawer on her side. She didnt have to use much strength to open the drawer on her side, and at the same time, the drawer that Zhang Yang had struggled to open earlier popped right open. A key was lying inside the drawer.

    Thats the key. Everyones eyes lit up. Su Jin was secretly d that it was Ning Ran who had entered the mirror. Otherwise, it might have been difficult for them to think of finding the key in this manner.

    Wow, thats pretty evil. If we werent lucky, then even if we knew the key was here, we wouldnt be able to open it, remarked Zhang Yang.

    Su Jin retrieved the key from the drawer, then said, Weve got one more problem. How do we get Miss Ning out of the mirror?

    Why should we get her out? Zhang Yang nced at Su Jin with a smile. Miss Ning is well and alive, isnt she? In my opinion the world inside the mirror is the safest, as long as you dont break it.

    Su Jin immediately understood what Zhang Yang was saying. You mean this is a prize of sorts for finding the key?

    You could say that, I guess. Of course, theres a possibility that if an evil spirit appears, it will kill the person in the mirror first, said Zhang Yang with a cheeky grin. He was clearly trying to scare Ning Ran on purpose.

    Ning Ran paled immediately. The world inside and outside the mirror were identical, but she was alone inside the mirror. If an evil spirit appeared on her side, she wouldnt be able to fight it.

    Su Jin was already well aware of how annoying Zhang Yang could be, but scaring a clearly helpless woman was definitely worse than just being irritating.

    Teehee you dont have to be so scared. In fact, I think your current status will prove usefulter on, so theres no hurry toe out! said Zhang Yang with a gleefulugh.

    Su Jin did agree with that part, so he reassured Ning Ran, Dont be too anxious. We dont know how to get you out at the moment, but I dont think youre in any danger for now.

    These were just words to try tofort Ning Ran, since nobody knew what this mirror really was. But making her antsy and worried like Zhang Yang did wasnt appropriate either, so the only thing Su Jin could do was to try and reassure her.

    Now that they had found the key, they returned to the first bedroom they had been in. They knew that they had to enter the third story immediately after daybreak. Nobody knew what was in there, but judging from that blood red eye Su Jin saw, he was certain it was no safe ce.

    Until now, the first story had been rtively safe, but Yu Wenkuo had been possessed. Then, shortly after arriving at the second story, everyone fell into their own dreamworld, and even though all of them eventually escaped their dreams, everyone was probably still very tense, with the exception of Zhang Yang.

    Mr. Zhang, earlier on you said that you were a medium. Was that

    That was a lie, said Zhang Yang without hesitation.

    Su Jin smiled and shook his head. He had guessed as much. Did you do that purely to get protection? Dont you think youd getpletely abandoned if your lies were exposed?

    Gosh, it wasnt really to be protected. I just thought that this Challenge wasnt very interesting and I didnt want to have to work too hard on it, said Zhang Yang as he waved his hand about.

    Then from now on, I hope you will do your best to cooperate with me so that all of us will get through this Challenge alive, Su Jin said to Zhang Yang.

    But Zhang Yang paused for a bit, then saidzily, Do my best? That sounds kinda troublesome. Actually, youre not too bad yourself. I think as long as you do your best, well all be fine.

    Mr. Zhang, youre counting on the fact that your body isnt affected by evil spirits. But nobody knows if the third story only has evil spirits or if they can control something that can attack us physically. Also, if youre going to maintain this sort of attitude then before we die, Ill make sure I take your body apart and I guarantee youd die in front of us, said Su Jin in a slow voice. Everyone had awkward looks on their faces, because Su Jin was clearly threatening Zhang Yang.

    And of course, Zhang Yang caught the threat. He stroked his chin, then said with a smile, Youre threatening me?

    You can say so. If this Challenge had nothing to do with you, then I wouldnt treat you like this. Even if I ended up dying, I wouldnt me anybody for it. But this is a six person supernatural Challenge, and the Handbook has taken into ount the abilities of every owner it has chosen for the Challenge. Your presence alone signifies a proportionate increase in the difficulty, so since thats the case I hope that you will at least do what you ought to, said Su Jin without holding back.

    Zhang Yang chewed on these words for a while, then stretched his hand out with a smile, Alright then! I hope well work well together.

    Su Jin shook Zhang Yangs hand, but when he did that, Su Jin felt something against his palm.

    He raised an eyebrow, then took his hand away, to see a thorn on his palm. But that thorn hadnt pierced through Su Jins skin at all.

    Zhang Yang looked shocked. You must have some monster of a body. That was a B-grade Spirit Power weapon, the venomous fangs of a snake god. Yet it didnt even pierce your skin?!

    Su Jin crushed the fang while Zhang Yang continued mumbling, Its a weapon that can collect enough venom over the course of one calendar month and the venom can kill almost any living thing!

    Are you trying to take revenge on me? Su Jin made a face. Zhang Yang hadunched a fairly aggressive attack, but unfortunately for him, Su Jins physique had not been affected, so something like that did not work on him at all. And even if the venom did get into Su Jins body, his body was probably strong enough to get rid of it without causing any issue.

    Zhang Yang nodded and said, I hate it when others threaten me. But dont worry, I only exact revenge once. If it doesnt work the first time, I dont bother trying again. So I hope to work well with you! He stretched his palm out toward Su Jin once more.

    Su Jin nodded, then shook Zhang Yangs hand. But just like before, he felt something in his palm. He pulled his hand away and saw a bright red drop of liquid. It wriggled on his hand and gave off an awful smell. This was probably something very corrosive, but it didnt get through his skin either.

    Crap, even the saliva of a venomous dragon didnt work? Zhang Yang looked very annoyed.

    Su Jin wasnt too bothered by Zhang Yangs attacks, since he seemed more childish rather than malicious. If you really want to take revenge, then you can get your chance after were done with this Challenge. Also, Id like to remind you that youve already used two out of the three items youre allowed to use.

    Zhang Yang nodded nonchntly and said, Yup. Except that Im only allowed to use two, and Ive used them all up now.

    What the

 Chapter 342

    Chapter 342

    Su Jin didnt know what to say to Zhang Yang, since he clearly just did only what he liked and wasnt affected at all. As long as Zhang Yang was able to help, he could do whatever he wanted!

    The group stayed inside the bedroom to recharge, and when some light shone in through the windows, they knew it was daybreak. Su Jin opened his eyes slightly and nced at Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang nodded back.

    Alright, everyone. Whether we survive or not depends on what we do today. Su Jin took a deep breath, carried Yu Wenkuo on his shoulder, then started walking up to the third story. Even though Su Jin was no longer the sort who would sacrifice himself to save someone else who was hopeless, carrying one extra immobile person required barely any effort from him and he was happy to do it.

    Once they reached the top of the stairs, Su Jin took the key out, rotated it in his hands, then stuck it into the door leading to the third floor. After turning it, Su Jin heard a loud click, which meant that the door was now open.

    It wasmon for someone to get killed by opening a door in horror movies, and it was the same for such Challenges. Opening this door was going to be very dangerous, so Su Jin channeled his psychokinesis to his eyes. If something happened after the door opened, he could use it to protect himself as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for him, the limits on his Spirit Power were too strict, so after he had used it a few times over thest two days, he was left with less than 100 points and had to be more careful with the bnce.

    He pushed the door open hard, then took several steps back. The door mmed shut and opened again twice from the force, but nothing strange happened.

    Su Jin licked his dry lips. The door was wide open, but he couldnt see what was inside at all. In front of themy absolute darkness, as though the third story was covered in ck smog.

    Mr. Xu, please get us some bedsheets, Su Jin said to Xu Ge.

    Xu Ge blinked and wanted to refuse to go, but he didnt dare to say anything in the end and went downstairs to get a few bedsheets for Su Jin.

    Su Jin tied the bedsheets into a rope, then tied it to each person. It was impossible to see inside the third story, so to make sure that nobody got lost and attacked by the spirits, this was the best thing he coulde up with.

    Zhang Yang burst outughing. Arent you afraid wed all get attacked at once?

    Compared to that, Im more afraid that one lost soul will devour us all, said Su Jin as he shook his head. He was certain that evil spirits would appear today, so it was safer to move as a group rather than let the spirits kill them one by one.

    Su Jin took the frontmost position, then walked cautiously past the door. The moment he walked in, he froze, which worried everyone. Had Su Jin already been attacked?

    Come in, everyone. They felt a yank on the bedsheet around them, followed by Su Jins voice, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

    After entering the third story, they were equally stunned. The third story wasntpletely pitch ck at all. The darkness was just to prevent the owners from seeing what was really inside when they stood outside the door. Once they got in, they found themselves in a massive space. A gigantic maze stood before their eyes.

    A maze? Su Jin tapped his nose. The aim of this Challenge was to stay alive for three days, so what was the point of constructing a maze? Stalling the owners didnt make sense, since the owners were the ones hoping to stall for time to get through the Challenge.

    Could it be A possibility struck Su Jin. If that was the case, then this maze was a huge threat to them. With that thought in mind, he turned to look at Zhang Yang, who was deep in thought. When he sensed Su Jin staring at him, he drew a circle in the air.

    Are we thinking about the same thing? Su Jin nodded at Zhang Yang. It seemed like the same thought had hit Zhang Yang. The Challenge required the owners to survive three days here, but what was the Challenges definition of one day? Was it based on when it turned dark and bright outside the house?

    The mirror from the second floor had turned out to be a different dimension that had sucked Ning Ran in, which meant that the house could control space. In that case, did this maze represent time? To put it simply, did it mean that for as long as they could not make it through the maze, the third day would never end?

    The circle that Zhang Yang had drawn in midair represented the sun and moon. He had thought of the same thing, and figured that this maze could dy the ending of the third day.

    Does anyone have experience getting through mazes? Su Jin asked the group. He and Zhang Yang were strategists, but as the saying went, three not-so-bright ones can outsmart a bright one. Hearing from others wasnt a bad idea.

    But Xu Ge, Qian Yingying, and Ning Ran in the mirror all shook their heads. Su Jin had no choice but to look back at Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang did not im to not know anything and replied, Ive been caught in mazes before, but those were simple ones, so even if you didnt have any good way of solving them, youd eventually walk out of them. This maze isnt going to be so easy, so I have two ideas on how to get through it.

    Two ideas? asked Su Jin.

    The first one is a very basic method, the rule of lefts. Every time you run into a fork, pick the left side. That way, youd eventually go through every fork and youd eventually find the exit, said Zhang Yang. Its a simple method, but if were facing a superrge maze, wed need a lot of time. If time does not move while were in the maze, were giving the spirits a lot of chances to kill us.

    The second idea is quick and simple, but that depends on whether the Challenge would allow us to do this, Zhang Yang went on. We are supposed to get through this maze, but we arent given any rules, so we can solve this with a bit of violence. If we can shatter every wall in our way, wed definitely find our way out.

    Su Jin agreed with Zhang Yangs ideas. He had also thought of these two ideas. Unless you were able to gain a vantage point and look down at the maze from above it, you pretty much only had these two options. The space in the third story was immense, and the walls of the maze were at least five or six meters in height. Looking down from above wasnt an option.

    Su Jin walked to one wall of the maze, then punched it hard. But while there was a flicker of green light, the wall remainedpletely unscathed.

    Looks like doing that isnt possible. Su Jin shook his head. That punch of his was definitely strong enough to even break through a steel wall, so this wall was definitely protected in a special way such that it could not be destroyed with sheer brute force.

    Well have to explore it properly then, said Zhang Yang with a sigh. He sounded disappointed, but Su Jin could sense that he was secretly excited, like an elementary school kid going on an excursion.

    Since they could see well here, Su Jin untied the bedsheets around everyone. But they did not throw the bedsheets away and kept one piece tied around their waist. There were limits on how many pieces of equipment they could retrieve from their Handbooks, so even a simple rope like this mighte in handy.

    Su Jin continued to carry Yu Wenkuo on his shoulder as they entered the maze. In most cases, there were two types of mazes. One was just a confusing set of walls, and you just had to find your way out. The other type was the sort that had traps along the way. This maze was more likely to be the second sort.

    Just as they had expected, they hadnt gone too far before running into a wall that suddenly spewed mes. Thankfully, Su Jin had reacted fast enough and his retreat had pushed everyone back as well.

    That was close! Su Jin could feel how hot those mes were. Besides himself and Zhang Yang, anyone else would have been burned to a crisp.

    Ill walk in front. Zhang Yang volunteered to lead the way because his body was built different, but that still surprised the rest of the group.

    But Zhang Yang walked on confidently, and it turned out that he was a better leader in this maze than Su Jin because he had some other gear in his body that could detect the traps in the wall early.

    After a long time of walking, Xu Ge and Qian Yingying both looked rather exhausted. Su Jin and Zhang Yang, on the other hand, had grim looks on their faces. After they exchanged nces, they started drawing on the floor and they soon drew out a map of the maze. They checked against each others drawings and they were identical.

    Looking at this, weve only covered about a quarter of the maze, said Zhang Yang with a frown. Su Jin nodded in agreement. This maze was probably circr in shape, and their map was currently in the shape of a quadrant.

    Weve only covered a quadrant and weve already run into so many traps even though weve just started. Itll get worse once we get close to the exit, Im sure. Su Jin started getting worried. The traps had been progressively getting more and more aggressive in nature, so the traps near the exit were probably going to really endanger their lives.

    Mr. Su that Qian Yingyings gone! Xu Ge suddenly raised his voice.

    Su Jin and Zhang Yang turned to look, and found that Qian Yingying had indeed disappeared. They were both puzzled, since they had just seen her seconds ago. Where did she go?

    Lets not get all worried now. Maybe she had to pee? said Su Jin. He called out loudly, Miss Qian, can you hear me? Holler if you hear me!

    But no matter how loudly Su Jin shouted, he didnt get any response. Zhang Yang chuckled and said, Thats quite enough. As long as shes not an idiot, she wouldnt just leave the group on her own. If shes gone, it means the spirits are probably on the move.

    What do we do now? Do we look for her? asked Xu Ge frantically.

    Su Jin frowned, then said in a resolute voice, Come along, well continue searching for the exit.

    Wait, what? Xu Ge was surprised. He thought Su Jin would try to save her.

    This is not the time to save another person. If the evil spirits came intending to kill her, then shell probably be dead by the time we find her. The important thing now is to get through this maze, exined Su Jin without hesitation.

 Chapter 343

    Chapter 343

    Su Jin was not a cruel person, but he was no saint either. Choosing to save Qian Yingying now would definitely throw everyone off course. Besides, if she disappeared because the spirits wanted to kill her, she would be dead by now.

    Xu Ge was definitely no saint. In order to keep himself alive, he was willing to ignore the well-being of others. He was actually relieved that Su Jin didnt want to save Qian Yingying.

    Zhang Yang had no opinion on this, since he shared the same sentiments as Su Jin. Only Yu Wenkuo and Ning Rans opinions were left, but both of them could hardly keep themselves alive, never mind care about another person.

    Since they were decided, they continued moving along. But Su Jin and Zhang Yang quickly noticed a problem. Zhang Yang was puzzled as he said, Theres something wrong here. The maze seems to be getting smaller.

    Su Jin nodded. He too, had been memorizing the maze paths along the way, and now, he realized that the maze was getting smaller and narrower. If the quadrant theypleted earlier looked like the entire maze was a circle, it now seemed more like the entire maze was a cone shape.

    If the maze isnt the problem, then it means were about to reach the exit. Even though Su Jin said that, he didnt think so. It would be surprising if this maze turned out to be so easy to navigate.

    They kept walking and they soon found themselves in front of a dead end. This wasnt the first time they were faced with a dead end, but the difference was that they could just choose to walk down the other path. This time, they did not have a different path to choose from. If they went back into the maze and chose other paths, theyd still end up in a dead end.

    Its not because we were reaching the exit, but because this maze is really problematic, said Su Jin confidently. A maze was supposed to have an entrance and an exit. What sort of maze only had an entrance?

    Dont jump to conclusions so quickly. Lets go back down the other paths first. Zhang Yang no longer had that cheeky grin on his face and looked a lot more serious now. Su Jin did not raise any objections and they walked back ording to their memory. But it didnt take long for them to realize that the path they took before had changed too.

    Damn it this is this is a moving maze, said Su Jin through clenched teeth.

    To a certain extent, a moving maze was basically unsolvable, unless one was really very lucky. Because the exit kept shifting due to the movement of the maze, even those who were really lucky would only be able to escape small mazes. Luck wouldnt really work on a huge maze, since the number of things that could change were way too many. Counting on luck to solve arge maze was like betting on the lottery.

    That doesnt make sense. If this huge maze were a moving maze, then wed almost definitely be trapped here forever. Zhang Yang shook his head. He didnt think something like that would appear in a Challenge. That was as good as killing them.

    Su Jin had a grim look on his face. He didnt think the Handbook would do that either, but the truth was right in front of him. During this time, Qian Yingying had gone missing, so who was next? For as long as they could not get out of this maze, then they were all in danger of dying here.

    Su Jin put Yu Wenkuo down and looked more closely at the maze walls. He suddenly sensed movement next to him, and he turned to see that the dazed Yu Wenkuo had suddenly leaped up and dashed away from the group.

    Huh?! Su Jin was taken by surprise. Yu Wenkuo had been in a daze since he was possessed by a spirit. Why was he suddenly running around now?

    In the blink of an eye, Yu Wenkuo turned a corner. Su Jin chased after him, but after he turned the same corner, the road in front of him had be a dead end.

    Damn it! Su Jin smashed a fist into the maze wall. What just happened? Was a spirit controlling Yu Wenkuo again?

    Is that the spirits strategy? Attacking the weakest first? muttered Zhang Yang in a sullen voice. They had entered the maze for quite a long time now, perhaps for even half a day, and they had lost two teammates. Those evil spirits had not beenzing around at all.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was staring puzzledly at the dead end that was once a fork. A thought hit him as he immediately raised the mirror in his hand and turned it to face the dead end.

    Look! A look of joy spread across Su Jins face. The maze wall inside the mirror had a button about the size of a palm.

    Is this how did you realize this? asked Zhang Yang in surprise.

    Su Jin walked to the wall and pointed to a faint mark on it as he said, I punched this part and noticed that this area looked like it used to have something ced here, but its now left with the depression where that thing once was. I didnt think much of it at first, but when I remembered how this wall was able to hold up even under my punch, I began to wonder how part of it could have been damaged.

    I see. Zhang Yang nodded. He said to Ning Ran, Miss Ning, please try to use that button.

    But what should I do with it? asked Ning Ran.

    Up to you! You can turn it, press it, pull it  anything that makes it move, Zhang Yang said to Ning Ran.

    The image in the mirror only changed depending on what was reflected in it, so Su Jin turned the mirror to face that new wall, while Ning Ran went to toggle the button. When she touched the button, both the mazes inside and outside the mirror began to change.

    BOOOOM!

    There was a loud noise and a pathway appeared before them. It turned out that they needed the world inside the mirror to get through this maze.

    I see. Su Jin said to Ning Ran, I had hoped to protect you, but it looks like we need you to save us now.

    Ning Rans face turned red as she replied, No, no, youre the one who realized this connection. If you hadnt done that, my existence in the mirror would still bepletely useless.

    The youngdy really knows what to say at the right time! said Zhang Yang as he chuckled. Alright guys, leave theplimenting for after the Challenge. We need to get out of here asap.

    Su Jin nodded and they continued walking. Now that they knew how to get through the maze, the path ahead was much easier. Su Jin and Zhang Yang also understood that the difficulty in solving the maze did not lie in trying to solve the maze itself, but realizing its connection to the mirror.

    On top of that, they also discovered that they could see all the traps clearly in the maze inside the mirror, and Ning Ran could defuse every one of them before they got there. This increased their speed tremendously and they reached the end of the maze in less than half an hour.

    Just then, Xu Ge suddenly stopped walking. There was a puzzled look on his face, followed by a hesitant expression, but neither Su Jin nor Zhang Yang had noticed this.

    The end of the maze was arge door, and just like the door to the third story, Su Jin couldnt get it to open no matter how hard he tried. He needed Ning Ran to open it from inside the mirror.

    Ill have to trouble you, Ning Ran, Su Jin said to her.

    No, no, thats the only thing I can do to help everyone. Ning Ran walked toward the same door in the mirror, but just then, Xu Ge suddenly made a move.

    He opened his mouth to let out a mighty roar, which filled the entire maze. His voice kept getting louder and louder, and the pitch kept getting higher and higher, so the mirror in Su Jins hands was beginning to crack.

    Crap! Su Jin didnt know what hade over Xu Ge, but he couldnt let this go on. If the mirror broke, then not only was Ning Rans life in danger, but all of them would be trapped here forever.

    Shut up! yelled Su Jin as he swung his palm toward Xu Ge. But someone suddenly sprung out from the shadows and took the hit for Xu Ge.

    Pfft! Blood flew everywhere. That person had turned out to be the one who had suddenly run off just now, Yu Wenkuo. Su Jins palm had struck his head so hard that it burst. The insides of his head sttered everywhere and he died instantly.

    Su Jin had no idea why Yu Wenkuo had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but he continued aiming for Xu Ge. There was a terrified look in Xu Ges eyes. He had just witnessed how terrifying Su Jins palm could be, so he immediately started backing away in the hope of getting away.

    But he couldnt outrun Su Jin. Su Jin caught up with him in the blink of an eye, but just then, another shadow flew out from nowhere. This time, it was Qian Yingying.

    Qian Yingying grabbed hold of Su Jin with superhuman strength, causing the frame of the mirror to also crack. Su Jin knew that the one grabbing him wasnt Qian Yingying at all. It was one of the spirits. At the same time, he also understood what the whispering at the beginning of the Challenge meant.

    Theyre here! Theyre here! Another fresh body that makes one hungry.

    Theyre here! Theyre here! Another pitiful soul that makes one salivate.

    Theyre here! Theyre here! Another ignorant lifeform that makes one feel sympathetic.

    The fresh body referred to Qian Yingying. From the moment she ran into a spirit in the bathroom on the first day, perhaps the real Qian Yingying had already died, so they had been interacting with a spirit all this time. Her act of banging into the dresser and nearly breaking the mirror wasnt an ident at all.

    The pitiful soul referred to Yu Wenkuo. His soul had disappeared when he got possessed, turning him into an empty shell that could be used by the evil spirits in the maze.

    The ignorant lifeform clearly referred to Xu Ge, who had agreed to work with the evil spirits and was about to destroy the mirror. Who knew what had tempted this idiot into agreeing to such a thing.

    The mirror is about to break! Su Jin was getting desperate. More and more crack lines were appearing on the mirror, and Ning Ran was forced to hide in a corner.

    Qian Yingyings eyes were blood red and she licked her lips as she stared at Su Jin, as though he was going to be her next meal.

    You guys think Im dead or what?! Zhang Yang suddenly leaped out. His index finger turned into a sharp de that stabbed fiercely through Xu Ges throat, ending the loud shrieking abruptly.

 Chapter 344

    Chapter 344

    Zhang Yang had moved so quickly, it was almost unbelievable. Even Su Jin finally realized that Zhang Yang had misled everyone right from the start. Regardless of whether it was the ones who knew who he was like Su Jin and Ning Ran, or the ones who didnt know like Xu Ge and the spirits, everyone had assumed that Zhang Yang was just a clever dude with little fighting skills.

    This was a perfect disguise. Both Su Jin and Zhang Yang were some of the best strategists among owners like themselves, but Su Jin was also great at fighting, so some of his setups and strategies were based on his physical strength and abilities.

    Zhang Yang, on the other hand, was clearly not as skilled in fighting as Su Jin. He presented himself as more of a quirky and unpredictable character, like wasting the two items he was allowed to use on exacting revenge on Su Jin.

    But while Zhang Yang wasnt as skilled as Su Jin, it didnt mean he wasnt skilled at all. Or rather, there werent many owners who were more skilled at fighting than Su Jin in the first ce.

    Either way, Zhang Yang had made good use of Su Jins incredible strength to hide his true prowess, and only revealed it when absolutely necessary.

    Xu Ges eyes were round and wide, because he hadnt noticed Zhang Yanging toward him at all. By the time he realized what was going on, Zhang Yangs finger de was already in his throat.

    Xu Ge copsed onto the floor with a loud thud, kicking up arge cloud of dust. Zhang Yang wiped the de before it turned back into his finger again.

    Good job, said Su Jin as he breathed a sigh of relief. The spirit hesitated for a moment, then turned into a cloud of smoke that vanished immediately. The spirit clearly felt that it was too hard to fight Su Jin and Zhang Yang together.

    After it had vanished, Su Jin checked the mirror. Thankfully, Zhang Yang had killed Xu Ge in time, so the mirror was only cracked on the perimeter and wasnt badly affected.

    I was so scared Ning Ran was obviously the most frightened. She was now inside the mirrors world, so if the mirror were shattered, she would probably die too.

    Thank you so much, Su Jin thanked Zhang Yang.

    Zhang Yang threw Su Jin a nce and sneered, Ive realized that youre a really weird guy. Were all Handbook owners and our aim is to survive this Challenge and get out of here. I did that because I didnt want to die, but you why are you thanking me? You make it seem like this whole things about you.

    Su Jin burst outughing when he saw Zhang Yangs annoyed expression. This was probably a habit left behind from being with his teammates all the time. He couldnt help but thank them every time they did something to help.

    They turned the mirror to face the exit of the maze again. Ning Ran carefully opened the door on her side, and the door on Su Jin and Zhang Yangs side opened as well.

    The two men exchanged nces, then walked out of the maze together. The moment they set foot past the door, Ning Ran appeared in front of them. Su Jin checked the mirror and she was no longer inside it.

    Im out? Ning Ran was very happy. The mirror was no longer of use to the Challenge, so Ning Ran was allowed toe out of the mirror.

    Watch out, though, Zhang Yang reminded her. This was not the time to celebrate, since the Challenge had clearly note to an end yet. The dangers they would face right at the end would be even more terrifying.

    Su Jin immediately pulled himself together and observed his surroundings cautiously. They discovered that they were in a small room, and this was probably the real third story of the house. When they turned back, they saw a model of a maze, which was probably what they had walked through earlier on.

    There werent a lot of things in the room. A small bed, a study table, a light on the table, some papers, and a paintbrush. They walked over to the table to look and saw that there were many drawings on the papers.

    This this is a drawing of what happened to us during the Challenge, Zhang Yang said to Su Jin after looking through a few pieces.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. The drawings looked like they were done by a child, but the content was definitely what they went through so far.

    The first one was about them when they first entered the house, then Qian Yingyings mishap, then Yu Wenkuo getting possessed, then their dreams on the second floor and their search for the key, then what happened in the maze after they entered the third floor. One of them showed a spirit whispering into Xu Ges ear. Xu Ge represented the ignorant lifeform, and that was a drawing of how he had been persuaded by the evil spirit.

    But what surprised Su Jin was that there was more after that. Thest piece showed the three of them trying to kill each other, and only one person survived. But thest person standing was just a silhouette, so they could not tell who it was.

    Is this an oracr drawing? said Ning Ran as she trembled in fear.

    An oracr drawing, huh. Su Jin and Zhang Yang both frowned. This was amon trope in novels, and it usually referred to people with supernatural powers or techniques who could use their words or art to control what was going to happen in the future.

    Su Jin nced at Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang immediately shook his head and said, Thats impossible. If the ending has already been fixed, then the struggle of the owners in this Challenge would be a joke. I wouldnt call this an oracr drawing. I think the spirits are trying to use this drawing to affect how we act.

    But the front drawings were things that really happened. Ning Ran was very uneasy.

    Zhang Yang scoffed. Ha! I think those spirits have just been observing us all this while and drew what happened, then left thatst picture behind to subconsciously hypnotize us.

    Does that mean if we just ignore it, nothing will happen? asked Ning Ran curiously.

    Su Jin considered this, then shook his head. No Im afraid this drawing does possess some powers that we cannot understand. The drawings on these papers will happen.

    Zhang Yang opened his mouth to retort, but he paused for a moment, then said, Are you saying that the drawings here will happen not because it is a prophetic vision of what will happen, but because the drawings themselves can control what we will do?

    Youre smart. Su Jin nodded and said, But if thats the case, then we can just tear it up.

    Su Jin was about to tear it up when Ning Ran suddenly reached out to snatch the drawing from him. Su Jin initially thought that Ning Ran was under the control of a spirit and was about to attack her when she shouted, No, Mr. Su, no!

    If its already been drawn, it means that this ending already exists if destroying the drawings ends up being unable to change what happens, then then we wont have any other way out, she exined.

    Su Jin froze. Ning Ran didnt exin it very well, but he got what she was saying. She was saying that since the drawing had already been made and they had already seen it, then destroying the drawing would not make any difference. Doing that would cast their fates in stone instead.

    Ah, I was too rash. Su Jin pped his head, then thanked Ning Ran, Thank you, Ning Ran. If not for you, I might have done something terrible!

    No, no I just said what I was thinking, but thats all that came to mind, said Ning Ran a little embarrassedly.

    But Su Jin and Zhang Yang exchanged nces, and Zhang Yang said, Then theres only one way to go about doing this.

    Well treat it as an unfinished drawing! Su Jin smiled. He and Zhang Yang had thought of the same thing again. Since this drawing could affect the future, then they had to add some things to this drawing.

    Su Jin and Zhang Yang started searching the desk, but they only found one paintbrush and no paint. Su Jin looked at Zhang Yang.

    He shook his head, Dont look at me. My body doesnt have any blood in it.

    My body has reached a level where its impossible for me to squeeze any blood out without the use of some high-grade Spirit Power item too. Nothings going toe out even if I hit myself, said Su Jin in frustration. He had a body that wasparable to a gods now, so it was impossible to hurt him unless one had very high-grade Spirit Power weapons.

    They had no choice but to turn to Ning Ran, who did not hesitate and stretched her arm out. Zhang Yang grinned as he said, Sorry about that! and turned his finger into a de before making a cut on her wrist.

    Just then, a sinister air filled their surroundings, making Su Jin and Zhang Yang tense up. Su Jin handed the paintbrush to Ning Ran and whispered, Finish the drawing. You know what to draw, right?

    Yep! Ning Ran wasnt stupid. She knew by now what she ought to draw.

    Meanwhile, a ck smoke suddenly arose in the room, which turned into an evil spirit with a face that kept switching between Xu Ge, Qian Yingying, and Yu Wenkuos. The three dead owners kept howling at Su Jin and Zhang Yang.

    Get lost! bellowed Zhang Yang as he shot a bolt of electricity out from his body which struck the spirit urately, but the smoke merely dissipated to dodge the attack and gathered again within seconds. This time, it charged toward Ning Ran, who was still drawing.

    I wont let you get your way! yelled Su Jin as the silver glint in his eyes turned into a shield that blocked the spirits way.

    But the spirit hit the shield with a w, which made Su Jin tremble violently all over before causing him to actually vomit blood.

    Damn it, so much for boasting about my godlike body  I just puked blood from getting bashed, thought Su Jin with a bitter smile on his face. His psychokinesis was running out fast and it was probably going to run out in less than a minute.

    Zhang Yangs body had some resistance against these supernatural things, so he ran toward the spirit to attack it, but the spirit sent some of its ck smoke into Zhang Yangs nose, and Zhang Yang stood still, unable to take the next step forward.

 Chapter 345

    Chapter 345

    What the hell? His body hanged?! cursed Su Jin under his breath. He couldnt believe Zhang Yangs body was acting up at such a time.

    The evil spirit turned around to continue mming itself against the protective force field made from Su Jins psychokinesis and growled loudly. Cold sweat dripped down Ning Rans forehead, but she did not allow herself to be distracted. She knew that their lives depended on her.

    Su Jins protectiveyer of psychokinesis couldnt hold up much longer. After the spirit struck it a few more times, the silvery glow disappeared.

    He leaped in front of the spirit to block it, but it was able to pass right through him.

    Crap! cursed Su Jin. He turned to see the spirit stab a w into Ning Rans chest.

    Su Jins eyes widened as he watched Ning Ran fall to the floor. But she smiled at him, because the drawing on the paper had changed. It now showed the three of them raising their arms joyfully as if to celebrate, while the two humans originally drawn lying on the floor had been changed to be defeated evil spirits.

    The evil spirit let out a mighty roar, then fell into two pieces onto the floor just like the drawing and did not move anymore.

    Su Jin ignored the defeated spirit and ran to help Ning Ran up as he asked, Are you alright? Are you badly hurt?

    Im pretty alright, I dont think I dont think any of my internal organs are hurt at all! she responded with a smile. The w looked like it had stabbed her rather deeply, but it was only because her clothing was oversized. The w had only hurt her superficially.

    He let out a sigh of relief. Her life wasnt in danger at the moment. He turned to kick Zhang Yang in the butt and grumbled, How could you hang at such a critical moment?

    That kick made Zhang Yang suddenly tremble a little and he snapped out of his daze. He stared at his surroundings with a confused look on his face, then noticed that both Su Jin and Ning Ran were still alive. Whats going on? I seemed to have

    You hanged, said Su Jin in an annoyed voice.

    Zhang Yang shrugged nonchntly. He noticed that Ning Ran was bleeding, so he leaned over to ask, You think youd be able to survive?

    If you dont have anything nice to say, then dont say anything! Su Jin red at Zhang Yang. This guy really deserved a beating at times.

    Shortly after they had this conversation, everything suddenly went ck. They realized the Challenge hade to an end, and they were sent back to their Personal Hell Domains before they could bid each other farewell.

    Level B Challenge Haunted Housepleted: 1000 points

    Points Received: 1000

    Total Points: 7800

    Su Jin checked how many points he had received. He had just gone through a Level B Challenge, yet he received so few points. That was also proof of how important having a small team was. You could only get more resources from being part of a team.

    After he sighed at the results, he suddenly realized that he was still holding onto something. It was the mirror that he had found in the haunted house. He was surprised that he had been able to take this out of the Challenge.

    Does that mean this mirror can be used in other Challenges? Su Jin immediatelymanded ckie, ckie, whats this?

    A light screen appeared in front of Su Jin with information on this cracked mirror.

    Cracked Mirror of Reality: can be used once every 24 hours, allows user to see any supernatural beings, and gives the owner the ability to attack these beings during this time, murmured Su Jin as he read the information on this mirror. This was a pretty good item that woulde in very useful in supernatural Challenges.

    He kept it inside his Handbook with a pleased smile, then looked through the catalog of items, but didnt see anything he needed. It wasnt really hard to find something that was useful to him, but he had raised his standards and didnt think very highly of most things anymore.

    After that, he spent a bit of time practicing in his Personal Hell Domain before returning to the real world. The Demon Lord was still as weak as before. But since she had helped him earlier, he allowed her to be as unreasonable as she liked and gave in to her whims and fancies.

    Time went by slowly. Su Jin was feeling bored, so he decided to pay Hells Bar a visit. A waiter immediately approached him after he arrived.

    Mr. Su Jin, heres a letter for you. The waiter handed a letter to Su Jin, which surprised Su Jin. For most owners, if they got along well, they could add each other as a contact on their Handbooks. Writing a letter like this meant that the sender knew who he was, but didnt know any of his real friends, so they couldnt get them to pass on a message. Sending him a letter like this via Hells Bar would have cost them quite a bit too.

    He opened the envelope curiously and the first line told him who the sender was.

    Shifu, its been several months since west met. Then again, I cant really say that, since that was the one and only time we met.

    So, its Zhou Xinyu. Only one person in Su Jins life would call him Shifu, and that was Zhou Xinyu. He had taken her in as his disciple, only because he had taken pity on her back then. At the same time, he had indeed promised her that she could look for him in Hells Bar if she ran into any trouble, but he thought that would happen a lotter in the future. He didnt expect her to gain ess to Hells Bar in a matter of months.

    He continued reading: Shifu, Ive really run into trouble this time, and the only person I could ask for help from is you. If you receive this letter within seven days from the time I sent it, then please look for me at Team Vast Oceans table. Someone will be waiting for you every day.

    Su Jin did not waste any time and asked the waiter, Where is Team Vast Oceans table?

    Pleasee with me. The waiter bowed slightly, then led Su Jin to one corner of the huge bar.

    The waiter brought Su Jin to a bar table, where a man in his twenties was dozing off with a bored look on his face. He didnt notice Su Jin at all.

    Is this Team Vast Oceans table? asked Su Jin.

    The young man suddenly straightened up when he heard Su Jins voice, but when he turned and saw that it was someone around his age, he looked visibly disappointed. However, he still nodded and smiled at Su Jin.

    Yes, this is Team Vast Oceans table. How can I help you? Besides the disappointed look earlier, the young man remained polite.

    Su Jin held up the letter he received and said, Miss Zhou Xinyu got a waiter to give this to me. She asked me to look for this teams table, so Im here.

    Youre Su Jin? The young man looked at the letter, confirmed that it was the same one sent by Zhou Xinyu, then said, Hello, my name is Meng Hong.

    Su Jin nodded and smiled as he said, Its been a while since Ist saw Xinyu. How is she now?

    Xinyu is doing well. Shes the strategist of our team and is very precious to us. Weve managed to get through several Challenges thanks to her quick wit, and Ive managed to survive thus far because of her too. Meng Hong became bubbly when he talked about Zhou Xinyu, and looked like he had loads to say.

    Su Jin smiled. He could see that this Meng Hong probably had a crush on Zhou Xinyu, but that was none of his business. He asked, Can you ask her toe over? Or tell me why shes looking for me?

    Oh! Right! Ill get her toe over right now. Meng Hong got his Handbook out and started contacting Zhou Xinyu. Judging from his actions, Su Jin figured that he was contacting more than just her.

    Before long, a few people started walking toward the table. Su Jin immediately noticed Zhou Xinyu. Compared to how pained she looked thest time, she looked much more energetic, like how someone her age ought to be.

    Shifu! Zhou Xinyu ran over and gave Su Jin a big hug. Her actions not only shocked Su Jin, but it also shocked her teammates. They had never seen her behave so boldly before.

    Haha, this is Su Jin, the person Xinyu told us about who could help us, said Meng Hong in a slightly awkward voice as he forced himself to smile and introduced Su Jin to his teammates.

    Alright, alright, why dont you introduce your friends to me first? Su Jin smiled. He could sense that Zhou Xinyu was attached to him, not because she was in love with him, but because she seemed to really treat him as her teacher and mentor, like a father figure of sorts.

    She stuck her tongue out cheekily, then introduced her team members to her, This is Team Vast Oceans team leader, Miu Zhengtao. He specializes in fighting and is a veteran.

    A man in his thirties nodded at Su Jin with a faint smile. Im the team leader of this team. When Xinyu said you were her Shifu, I thought you would be an old man!

    Su Jinughed and said, Im sorry, Im always full of surprises.

    This is Ni Jing, the medic of the team. Shes an old timer whos gone through more than ten Challenges already and shes a veteran too, said Zhou Xinyu as she looked toward anotherdy in her twenties.

    Hello, Ni Jing nodded at Su Jin.

    Ke Tong is a newbie who has only gone through two Challenges, but hes a highly skilled martial artist in the real world, so hes pretty amazing, said Zhou Xinyu as a man in his thirties nodded at Su Jin.

    Meng Hong is the sniper of the team, and hes really amazing too, she introduced Meng Hongst.

    After she was done introducing the team, she turned to her teammates and said, This is my shifu, Su Jin, who really awesome and has his own team!

    Oh? Whats the name of your team? Miu Zhengtao asked Su Jin with a merryugh.

    But Su Jin smiled sadly and shook his head. My team has disbanded, so the name isnt important anymore.

    Disbanded? Everyone seemed surprised to hear this.

 Chapter 346

    Chapter 346

    Su Jin didnt want to exin what happened with Team Boning Knife, and it wasnt easy to exin what happened either. Part of it would probably sound like a tall tale to ordinary owners.

    Lets not talk about me anymore. You wrote a letter to me and asked for my help. What happened? Su Jin changed the topic. He still didnt know why Zhou Xinyu had written to him.

    Zhou Xinyu quickly piped up, Oh yes! We need your help with something! Or rather, we need you to save us!

    So serious? Whats going on? asked Su Jin with a smile.

    Miu Zhengtao, the team leader of Team Vast Ocean, stepped forward and said, Mr. Su, this might sound a little offensive, but could you have a friendly match with us?

    A friendly match? Su Jin was even more confused. Werent they in need of help? But Su Jin could also see that Miu Zhengtao, or rather, everyone in the team except Zhou Xinyu, did not seem to believe in his abilities. To put it simply, this friendly match was basically a test for him. But Su Jin wasnt obliged to let them test his abilities.

    Well, itll just be a simple duel. You can choose to fight any member of the team. We will need everyone to cooperate to resolve the issue at hand, so we need to have a good understanding of your abilities, Miu Zhengtao exined with a smile.

    But Su Jin shook his head. I think youre a little mistaken.

    A little mistaken? Everyone in the team was confused by his statement.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, Im asking you why youre asking for help, and Ive not agreed to help, so Im not obliged to go through a test of any sort.

    The team wasnt sure how to respond. Those were their exact assumptions, but the fact that Su Jin said it out loud made them look bad.

    Forget it then. Since Mr. Su is not willing to help, then we shouldnt force him to. Dont you think so, Zhengtao? said Ke Tong in a displeased voice.

    Su Jin chuckled. This guy was a prideful one. Miu Zhengtao looked a little displeased too. It was true that they were in need of help, but if the one helping them was an arrogant and uncooperative person, then it might make their troubles worse, since they werent facing some low level enemy.

    Zhou Xinyu knew from Miu Zhengtaos expression that he was going to give up, so she said anxiously, Zhengtao, my shifu is really very capable, so theres no need to test him.

    Xinyu as the strategist of the team, you should know very well that if Mr. Su is not used to cooperating with others, that might get us all killed, said Miu Zhengtao with a frown. He didnt have to get Su Jin to help. He had other connections too, or he could spend some money to hire someone else. Doing that was better than getting someone he didnt know at all who also refused to be tested.

    But Su Jin was bing more and more curious about the problem Zhou Xinyus team was facing. He rubbed his chin and said, You just want to test me, right? Fine, Ill do it.

    Miu Zhengtao and his teammates were a little confused. Wasnt Su Jin against this whole thing? Why was he agreeing to it now? Miu Zhengtao hesitated too. He had initially decided not to get Su Jins help anymore, but since Su Jin was agreeable, he felt that he ought to test Su Jin out since he was a friend of Zhou Xinyu. If he wasnt pleased with the test results, he could always find another reason to reject Su Jins help.

    That would be great! Pleasee with me, Mr. Su. A smile spread across Miu Zhengtaos face as he led Su Jin and the team to the bar counter.

    He said to the boss, Please open up a training arena for us.

    Training arena? Su Jin didnt know what that was.

    Zhou Xinyu exined, Training areas are a new thing. Its meant for owners who arent part of a team to spar, and its a recent update.

    Su Jin nodded. He hadnt taken note of these updates, since Team Boning Knife had just disbanded, then he was attacked by a god, which kept him very busy.

    The boss waved his arm and a portal door appeared before them. Miu Zhengtao walked in first, followed by the rest.

    After walking through the door, Su Jin found himself in a vast, empty space. Besides grass on the ground that resembled the type found in ser fields, there was nothing of note around him.

    Shifu, the training area can be customized ording to the desires of the one who opens one. Any sort of terrain or environment can be created instantly. Also, as long as the sparring mode is chosen, then you wont die even if the other person tears you to pieces, exined Zhou Xinyu to Su Jin patiently.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. This was the same with the training area in the Team Hell Domain, but this one was publicly avable to all owners and not exclusively for members of one particr team.

    Miu Zhengtao smiled brightly as he said to Su Jin, Mr. Su, which mode would you prefer?

    Which mode? Were going with sparring mode, arent we? Su Jin couldnt believe this was even a question. He wasnt going to die for a mere test.

    Of course, of course. Silly me, said Miu Zhengtao with an awkwardugh.

    Coward, muttered Ke Tong quietly out of nowhere. It was only fair to assume that a test would be conducted in sparring mode, and it wasnt as if the team had a feud to settle with Su Jin either. But Ke Tong despised Su Jin for making this choice only because he was annoyed with Su Jins attitude earlier and not for any other reason.

    Su Jin did not bother to respond to that. There were all sorts of people in the world, and there were some people who had more brawn than brain. If such a person could not control their temper as a Handbook owner, they wouldnt survive for long. There was no need for Su Jin to waste time arguing with him.

    Miu Zhengtao selected the mode they wanted, then asked Su Jin another question, What about the terrain? Do you have any requests regarding that? Is there a particr terrain you fight best in?

    No need, this terrain is fine with me, said Su Jin with a shrug. It would be a joke if he needed favorable terrain to spar with owners of this level.

    Choose an opponent then. You can choose any of us, but I wouldnt suggest that you choose Xinyu, since shes our strategist and isnt very good at fighting, said Miu Zhengtao.

    Su Jin scanned the team members, then stared straight at Ke Tong and said, How about you, Mr. Ke?

    Ke Tong was a little surprised, but snorted soon after. To him, Su Jin was definitely a coward for choosing him, the member who had gone through the least number of Challenges. He assumed Su Jin thought that he would be the weakest member besides Zhou Xinyu, but did not realize how highly skilled he was as a martial artist in the real world. Ke Tongs fighting abilities would have surpassed the rest of the team if they werent veterans.

    Im good. <em>Since this guy has the guts to look down on me, Im going to teach him a lesson</em>, thought Ke Tong.

    Once all the necessary selections had been made, the rest moved to one side and left Su Jin and Ke Tong to fight. Ke Tong got himself into a fighting stance, then wiggled his finger at Su Jin with a look of contempt on his face, to signal to Su Jin to bring it on. He was actually giving Su Jin the chance to make the first move.

    Su Jin snorted. Thanks!

    Instead of stepping forward, Su Jin suddenly threw a punch. The strength that someone with a body like his was way beyond anything most people could understand. The wind from just swinging his arm felt like a typhoon, and Ke Tong found it difficult to even stand properly.

    But this was only the first wave from the punch. The actual impact came a littleter. Ke Tong felt like something incredibly heavy was weighing down on his body. He gradually found it hard to breathe, then felt a tremendous pain shoot through his body. He watched as blood and flesh separated from his bones before finally losing consciousness.

    By the time all the dust settled again, the vast field had lost most of the grass on it and a lot of soil had gone flying. Ke Tong was nowhere to be found, because Su Jins punch had turned Ke Tong to ashes.

    Su Jin retracted his fist. The entire team was too stunned to speak. Only Zhou Xinyu smiled proudly. That was what they deserved for looking down on her shifu!

    Miu Zhengtao was really shocked. He was so shocked that he couldnt believe Su Jin was capable of doing this by his own strength and thought that Su Jin might have used a weapon or two. Owners were free to use weapons in the training arena and there were no limits on them, so they would use this space to get used to using powerful weapons or figure out how tobine their weapons.

    Was that done by a weapon? blurted Miu Zhengtao.

    Zhou Xinyu red unhappily at her team leader, while Su Jin merely stretched his neck and said, Thats it? Thats not very exciting. How about everyone in the team fight me at the same time?

    Thats thats not necessary. Even if you used a weapon, we recognize that you are indeed very formidable. After all, this weapon is enough to give us a huge advantage in the uing fight against our enemies. Youve passed, said Miu Zhengtao. Those were words from the heart. That punch had been truly terrifying, after all. Nobody could deny that.

    But Su Jin burst outughing at these words. Weapons? Thats definitely the sort of attitude a weakling would have. But you dont get to decide if this ends here. Come at me all at once! I want to find out the true abilities of Team Vast Ocean.

    Su Jin purposely spoke in a provoking manner. He initially wanted to take this as a form of exercise, but Ke Tong had proved to be way too weak. He wasnt satisfied with just one punch, and he also wanted to find out if this team was able to protect Zhou Xinyu, since she was his disciple. He didnt care if the team was willing to fight him or not. They had no choice but to fight him!

    Miu Zhengtao had a nasty look on his face, because he felt that Su Jin was way too full of himself. Su Jin had merely defeated the newbie of the team, and had done so with the help of weapons, yet he was speaking so boastfully. He decided that it wouldnt be hical to outnumber such a person in a fight.

 Chapter 347

    Chapter 347

    Miu Zhengtao nodded at Su Jin, then said in a frosty voice, Since youve made the request, my team will grant your wish. Everyone, lets go!

    By this time, Ke Tong had already been revived. His eyes were bloodshot with anger, since that defeat earlier had been humiliating to him. Moreover, just like Miu Zhengtao, he too, assumed that Su Jin must have used some weapon of sorts. To him, it was impossible for anybody to have this sort of strength. Not even a veteran could achieve this.

    Besides Zhou Xinyu, everyone else in Team Vast Ocean charged at Su Jin. But they werent that dumb. They were afraid that Su Jin would use the same weapon as before, so they scattered themselves, then came at Su Jin from different directions.

    Su Jin scanned the group and frowned as he shook his head. These people were simply too weak. Even Situ Jin or anyone else in his ex-team would have yed them within seconds.

    Too weak, Su Jin shook his head. As he shook his head, silver beams flickered around him, causing the members bodies to copse to the ground while their heads went flying. He had used psychokinesis as a de to slice through their necks, leaving only Zhou Xinyu in one good piece.

    Zhou Xinyu knew that Su Jin was very formidable, but she didnt expect her team to bepletely helpless. Her team was ranked at around 5,000 and had two veterans among them. How could it be that not a single one could fight back? And worse still, the entire team perished within one second.

    A momentter, the team had been revived and they stared at Su Jin with their eyes wide and mouths gaping. They barely even understood what just happened. Su Jin was still standing where he was and hadnt even moved. There was nothing different about their surroundings either.

    Did you did you just use another weapon? asked Ke Tong.

    Su Jin flicked his fingers slightly and a de made from psychokinesis appeared in midair, floating for a moment before slicing Ke Tongs head off. He said calmly, Its not a weapon. Im a veteran too, and this is psychokinesis, my Spirit Power.

    Psychokinesis?! Thats impossible! Psychokinesis is a Spirit Power thats very difficult to increase or improve, and its been called a useless Spirit Power. It cant be this formidable, said Miu Zhengtao immediately.

    Su Jin shook his head and said in a disappointed voice, The Handbook never gives out any useless Spirit Power. Xu Ran is an expert in psychokinesis, and hes ranked highly among the best owners. As long as you can find a suitable method, psychokinesis can be increased and improved. But the problem now is that none of you can hold up against even one move of mine. Im worried about Xinyu following you guys around.

    How how can that be? Ive met psychokic owners before. The best they can do is to read the thoughts of others, and they can only read the minds of those who arent strong enough to fend them off. Its impossible for Before Miu Zhengtao could finish speaking, a silvery beam appeared before his eyes. But this time, Su Jin did not slice his head off. He allowed the de made from psychokinesis to stop right in front of Miu Zhengtaos face so that he could get a good look.

    Miu Zhengtao had a bitter look on his face. That de was indeed made from actual psychokinesis, except that it was psychokinesis manifested in physical form. The fact that it could be altered ording to ones will and wishes probably made it way more dangerous than a Spirit Power weapon.

    Su Jin stopped giving Team Vast Ocean any more attention, since they were too weak and their attitude was too poor, so it was very difficult for them to level up. He turned to Zhou Xinyu and said, Xinyu, can you tell me what happened now?

    Zhou Xinyu nodded and said, Its like this  another team is targeting us and has challenged us to a death match.

    An inter-team challenge? Su Jin frowned. Inter-team challenges were something that was implemented after major changes were made to the Handbook Challenges. Team Boning Knife had never been challenged before, but that was only because the team was too highly ranked. Teams that were ranked highly wouldnt try to challenge each other unless they were certain they could defeat the other team. Living in harmony was preferred.

    Based on the rules for inter-team challenges, I would imagine you guys are good enough to fight the other team, no? asked Su Jin. Team Vast Ocean was clearly not very confident of winning, which was why they were looking for help.

    Zhou Xinyu had a sad smile as she exined, Team Flying Clouds has an owner whos very highly ranked, and it seems like he enjoys joining low ranked teams in order to dominate weaker teams like ours.

    I see, Su Jin nodded. He and Xiang Nan had predicted that something like that could happen. It had turned out to be true.

    Back out from Team Vast Ocean then, Su Jin said to Zhou Xinyu. He didnt have high hopes for this teams future. Zhou Xinyu was a strategist with great potential, so if she were given a chance to develop steadily, she would achieve much in the future. She shouldnt be stuck with this team and wait for death to fall upon her.

    After seeing the sort of attitude her teammates had toward Su Jin, she felt disappointed in them too. It had been hard enough for her to ask Su Jin for help, since she had hoped to be formidable before meeting him again, and not begging desperately for help. She was willing to set aside her dreams for the team, but the team started off by underestimating Su Jin, and worse, failed to evaluate themselves after being defeated. The first thing they did was to actually suspect Su Jins methods.

    In a death match, the other persons methods didnt matter. If they won, they won. You were dead. But her teammates clearly didnt understand that part. Such an attitude would only cause them to lose out and suffer in future Challenges.

    Shifu, I know my team has been pretty rough, but even if I have to leave, Id like to leave only after this. Zhou Xinyu bent her head and looked like she wasnt sure of what to do.

    Su Jin sighed, looked at the rest of the team, then nodded. Alright then. Ill help you guys to get through this crisis, then Ill rmend you to another team and you can join that team.

    Zhou Xinyu nodded and immediately thanked Su Jin for being willing to help. The rest of the team stared at Su Jin in disbelief. This guy was actually poaching their teammate in front of them!

    Su Jin only needed to scan them with his psychokinesis to find out what was going through their minds. He said to them, If youre angry about this, you cane to me directly. You can bring along as many people as you like.

    A silver glint shed in Su Jins eyes and the rest of the team felt like they had just been struck by a giant hammer. A terror gripped their hearts instantly, and they felt that they had to make sure they never stepped on this guys toes, otherwise they would face a worse fate than dying in a Challenge.

    We understand. Miu Zhengtao was feeling indignant, but the terror in his heart forced him to put that indignation aside and bow to Su Jin.

    Su Jin knew that if he didnt nt a seed of psychokinesis in the hearts of these people that could control their actions, these people would forget how he had mercifully let them off today once they became powerful enough to fight him, and would go crazy trying to take revenge. But that didnt bother Su Jin. In fact, he kind of hoped that would happen someday.

 Chapter 348

    Chapter 348

    Team Flying Clouds has six members and their capabilities are so-so, with only one veteran among them. An original member died a few months ago, so a newbie reced him and proved to be extremely formidable. We did some investigations and found out that this newbie wasnt a newbie at all. Hes an expert whos ranked #321, Miu Zhengtao gave Su Jin a rundown on the team that had challenged his.

    #321? Su Jin nodded. An owner ranked that high could be considered an expert, since the total number of owners was beyond anyones imagination. Being ranked among the top 1,000 would already make you an expert. Team Boning Knife alone had three owners among the top 1,000, Su Jin, Wu Chen, and Chu Yi. After Ye Yun joined, she became the fourth member to be ranked among the top 1000.

    Their existence was enough to push Team Boning Knifes ranking into the top 100. It was very rare to find top ranking owners elsewhere.

    That experts name is Zhou Ying. Hes a veteran, has a strong physique, and is an all-rounder whos able to take on almost every role in a team. He can fight, he can be a sniper, he can gather information, and it seems he can even be a medic. His Spirit Power is to steal Spirit Powers, Miu Zhengtao went on.

    Steal Spirit Powers? Su Jin was stunned. He hadnt heard of this Spirit Power before, but to have something like that must make this guy pretty incredible. It was little wonder he was ranked so highly and could take on so many different roles without problems.

    His Spirit Power is very formidable. Legend has it he can store three different Spirit Powers for his own use, and some say he can temporarily give the Spirit Powers he has stolen to other people, so some people call him Magician Zhou Ying. With his help, Team Flying Cloud now looks like a team with three veterans.

    Su Jin was speechless for a moment. This guy was as incredible as he had expected. Being able to steal Spirit Powers from others was already amazing enough, but he was actually able to pass them on to other people. With a teammate like that, it would indeed feel like the team had gained a few veterans at the same time.

    There has to be a limit of sorts, right? No matter how you look at it, this soundspletely crazy, so there must be limits on either his stealing, and/or his giving of the Spirit Powers, said Su Jin calmly. The Handbook didnt give out useless Spirit Powers, but neither did it allow anybody to be OP overnight and be an undefeatable owner. Even his own Spirit Power, who was treated as one of the best Spirit Powers by true experts, came with a limiting factor, which was that it was very difficult to increase and improve.

    Miu Zhengtao shook his head and said, Im not too sure about that. Team Flying Cloud has challenged many other teams before us, but all the other teams were killed, so nobody can provide any urate information on him.

    Is that so in order to prevent information on his abilities from spreading, he decided to kill everyone he fights? Su Jin frowned. He now guessed that this Zhou Ying belonged to a powerful organization of sorts. No owner would do something like this if he were working solo.

    Doing something like this was to make himself an enemy to all owners weaker than himself, which made the majority of owners. Besides, he was so merciless in killing others, which would make these weaker owners wary of him. But which owner wasnt friends with other owners? Even top ranking experts could feel like they were in a dilemma if their friends were in danger or if their friends wanted them to exin their actions. So, Su Jin guessed that this fellow was backed by a very powerful group.

    Can you do it or not? Hes someone ranked among the 300s, after all. If you insist on fighting someone more powerful than yourself, then were all doomed, grumbled Ke Tong. He was still very unhappy about Su Jin.

    Whens the fight? Su Jin ignored Ke Tong and asked Zhou Xinyu a question instead.

    Tomorrow, replied Zhou Xinyu.

    Thats fast! Su Jin chuckled. These people probably couldnt find anyone to help them at all, especially since their opponent was someone ranked among the top 1000. If they could find someone, they wouldnt have waited till now. Also, Su Jin guessed that they must have run out of ideas and people, so they agreed to let Su Jin have a shot just because Zhou Xinyu rmended him.

    Id like to ask though if Im just saying, if I didnt agree to help you guys, or if you couldnt find anyone to help you, what would the team have done? Wait to get killed? asked Su Jin curiously. Also, I remember that if one team ends up losing more than half their members, they can choose to surrender. So, why didnt those people surrender and allow that owner to kill the entire team instead?

    Most teams would choose to surrender, of course, and that was our n too. If we couldnt fight him, we would choose to surrender. But not too long ago, we heard that none of the teams that Team Flying Cloud challenged ever surrendered, said Miu Zhengtao as he shook his head.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow. Are you saying Team Flying Cloud is able to make their opponents have no way to surrender?

    I think thats what happened, Miu Zhengtao nodded.

    Su Jin paused to think, then smiled. There was a big loophole in this inter-team challenge thing in the first ce. Once a powerful owner joined a team weaker than themselves, the challenge would turn in favor of that powerful owners team, which would make the fight unfair right from the start. But Su Jin felt that the Handbook was doing this on purpose. From a long time ago, Su Jin noticed that the Handbook was using a very special method of filtering the owners, or rather, it was purposely grooming the best of owners.

    To put it simply, the Handbook was creating gods. As long as it could select and groom just one top owner, sacrificing countless weaker owners in the process was fine. This inter-team challenge was proof of that. The weaker owners had be targets of the stronger owners.

    If he did not agree to participate, Zhou Xinyus team would be the team that would be defeated. But since he was going to participate, then the other team was going to lose for sure, unless they had an owner at Xu Ran, Shen Wu, or Natashas level, which was almost impossible.

    See you tomorrow then. Su Jin waved at the team, added Zhou Xinyu to his Handbooks contacts, then left Hells Bar.

    He returned to the real world to see that the Demon Lord was walking around the house. Su Jin rolled his eyes, because she was walking around stark naked. She probably did not care about the line between men and women, or perhaps she never saw Su Jin as a man in the first ce.

    You can look all you want. Why are you shying away? Im giving you special permission, said the Demon Lord with a grin as she plonked down on the couch to watch TV.

    Su Jin plonked down on the couch too and asked her, I want to ask you something.

    Go ahead, she nodded.

    The aim of the Handbook is to create gods. Or at least, thats one of its aims. Am I right? asked Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord nodded without looking the least surprised. Yep. Thats not hard to guess, is it?

    Its not hard to guess, since its clear that the Handbook is happy to sacrifice a huge number of weaker owners in order to create gods. But what I want to know is, how many people can be gods in the end? asked Su Jin.

    She poked at the remote control a few times, then turned to look at him with a smile. Let me put it this way. During my time, out of the top 1,000, less than ten became gods!

    Only ten? Su Jin was shocked. That number seemed way too small. He asked another question, What happened to the rest?

    The rest? They all died. I can tell you now  if an owner cannot be a god, then theres only one ending for them, which is to be fertilizer for those who have be gods, said the Demon Lord with a serious look on her face. Do not think that you will definitely be a god just because youre in the top ten. When I was an owner, my ranking was past #400, and only three of the top ten became gods

    That shocked Su Jin even more. He paused to think for a few moments before saying, Do you mean that another period of chaos will strike again? And during this time, arge number of owners will die regardless of whether theyre weak or strong?

    You can think of it like that. After saying that, she returned to her room without saying any more.

    After resting for the night, Su Jin returned to Hells Bar. Zhou Xinyu was already waiting for him with the team. They seemed a little anxious, as though they were afraid that Su Jin was noting. They all let out a sigh of relief when they saw him.

    Am Ite? asked Su Jin when he noticed their expressions.

    No, no, youre just in time, said Miu Zhengtao as he nodded. He didnt dare to offend Su Jin now. Regardless of how capable Su Jin was, he was now their only hope. Just like what Su Jin had guessed, they hadnt been able to find any other sufficiently powerful owners to help them.

    Miu Zhengtao retrieved a jade token and broke it. A door of light appeared in front of them and Miu Zhengtao held his Handbook out to Su Jin.

    Mr. Su, we need to go through the proper process first.

    Got it. Su Jin nodded before cing his hand on top of Miu Zhengtaos Handbook. A drop of Miu Zhengtaos blood fell on his hand after that. Su Jin was very familiar with this process, except that he was usually the one providing this drop of blood.

    The symbol of Team Vast Ocean soon appeared on his arm, which was a blue droplet. Miu Zhengtao then walked through the door of light first.

    This door of light was very simr to the one that the boss of Hells Bar had provided them the day before. After entering, they saw that Team Flying Cloud was already waiting for them. One of them was obviously more celebrated and well taken care of than the rest, so that person had to be Zhou Ying.

    Since everyones here, lets start. Zhou Ying got up and snapped his fingers. A screen appeared in front of everyone and there were options for terrain and buildings for one to choose from. Zhou Ying said to Team Vast Ocean, You can pick what sort of terrain you want.

    Miu Zhengtao immediately turned toward Su Jin and allowed him to make the choice. Su Jin was the most powerful member of their team now, so they had to go with whatever was Su Jins preference. But to their dismay, Su Jin hit cancel and confirmed the default choice, which was an open field.

    You Team Vast Ocean was stunned by his choice, and Ke Tongs eyes bulged from his anger. To weaker owners like themselves, the terrain was very important to them. If they had chosen something moreplex, they could use it to escape and hide from their enemies. But now that option had been destroyed by Su Jin.

 Chapter 349

    Chapter 349

    What the heck are you even doing? Ke Tong yelled at Su Jin. The rest of Team Vast Ocean had simr disapproving looks on their faces. Zhou Xinyu was the only one who continued to look supportive of Su Jins decision.

    Theres no point in making such choices. Once your opponent reaches a certain level, the terrain itself does not matter to them. In fact, they could even turn it against you, making you suffer and run around like lost mice, said Su Jin as he nced at the team.

    Oh? Weve got someone who knows his stuff! Youre not originally from this team, right? Youre here to help them? What a pity, said Zhou Ying gleefully as he stared at Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded and said, Yup! Zhou Xinyu is my disciple, so since shes in trouble, as her shifu, I ought to help her out.

    Wow, youre a loyal fellow too! In that case, tell me your name first, since youre about to die. Itd be so sad to die without anybody knowing your name, said Zhou Ying as heughed merrily. There was no respect in his eyes at all. They were filled with nothing but contempt.

    Oh, thats true! My name is Su Jin, said Su Jin with a nonchnt smile. The skies grew dark, which was a sign that a death match was about to start.

    Zhou Ying flicked his fingers and three beams of light shot out. The beams struck the bodies of the three owners next to him, then disappeared. But the faces of the three owners immediately lit up excitedly.

    Hes given them Spirit Power? Su Jin looked curiously at Zhou Ying. He had given the people around him Spirit Power with very little fanfare.

    The three owners with newfound Spirit Power immediately charged at Su Jin and his team. The members of Team Vast Ocean retreated in horror. The team had two veterans, but they were clearly not as formidable as their opponents. Besides, they intended for Su Jin to defend the frontline by himself. They had no idea how Team Flying Cloud was able to force the owners to fight and not surrender, but they hoped that they would have better luck with that option. If Su Jin died, then they just needed two more to die for the rest of them to choose to surrender and survive this ordeal.

    Su Jin nced briefly at the rest of his new team. Only Zhou Xinyu remained standing next to him. She had a stubborn expression on her face, but she did look scared as well.

    Only the weak would hope to survive because the stronger one has made a mistake. Xinyu, listen up. If you want to survive, you have to be stronger. If your enemy is also strong, then you have to be even stronger. Dont end up like them and leave your life in the hands of others, Su Jin said to Zhou Xinyu. She nodded in response.

    He gave her a pleased nod, then waved his hand. Several silver beams of light appeared out of nowhere, hurtled toward the three owners that were charging at him and sliced them into two. Their heads were cut off in just one second, flying into the air even while their lower bodies were still running.

    Three bloody puddles appeared on the field and Zhou Ying felt like he had just been hit in the heart. He couldnt believe his eyes. Those three were veterans, and he couldnt have done that himself.

    Who is this guy? He said his name was Su Jin? Su Jin SHIT! Could he be that guy?! Zhou Ying stared at Su Jin in horror as he shouted, Youre youre the one whos ranked #7 among owners?! The leader of Team Boning Knife?! THAT Su Jin??!

    Thats me! came Su Jins response, except that it was in Zhou Yings ear.

    Zhou Ying became even more terrified and he opened his mouth to surrender, only to find that his body was getting smaller. He soon realized it wasnt his body that was getting smaller, but that he was looking down from a higher point than before. His head had flown into the air.

    He was gone in a second. Regardless of whether they were ordinary owners, or an expert ranked in the 300s like Zhou Ying, they were all gone in a second when faced with Su Jin. There was no way they could have fought back at all.

    So, he had one more Spirit Power that could turn him into mist, but he wasnt able to use that in time. Su Jin pulled his psychokinesis out from that flying head. He had searched Zhou Yings consciousness just before he died and understood what his Spirit Power really was.

    The remaining two members of Team Flying Cloud almost fell to their knees in fright. What was going on? Hadnt the battle just begun? How did so many of their teammates be headless bodies in just seconds?

    Su Jin looked toward them and they retreated in fear. But he said quietly to them, So! Arent you two gonna surrender?

    Surrender? Surrender! Of course, we surrender! yelled the two of them without hesitation. As they shouted frantically at the sky above them, the gray skies cleared up. The match had ended.

    Once the match was over, a screen appeared again with a list of all the items owned by the members of Team Flying Cloud. As the team who was challenged to a fight, Team Vast Ocean could take two items from each member of the losing team.

    Su Jin turned toward Miu Zhengtao, but the dazed Miu Zhengtaos first response was, You can decide on how all of this is distributed!

    Miu Zhengtao had been too shocked for words. He thought that he would die during this battle, but in the end Su Jin had ughtered the best members of the other team within seconds, and the other party had mentioned who Su Jin was Su Jin was actually ranked #7 among owners. There was no way he would dare to fight for these items with someone as highly ranked as that.

    Su Jin nced quickly at the items. There wouldnt be anything amazing among the items belonging to owners at their rank, so he gave everything to Zhou Xinyu. She needed these things to help her be stronger.

    Zhou Xinyu did not refuse the things. These were gifts from her shifu, so she had the right to have them. She kept them in her Handbook, then chose to pull out from Team Vast Ocean.

    Miu Zhengtao and the rest did not dare to protest. They could only regret how they treated Su Jin before this. Su Jin also left the team officially and left the space with Zhou Xinyu.

    After they returned to Hells Bar, Su Jin patted Zhou Xinyus head and said, Dont be too sad. The whole point of a team is to have people who can look out for one another and help each other. Your teammates dont have to be super powerful, but having each others back is the least they ought to do.

    Zhou Xinyu nodded. This incident helped her realize that her teammates were a little shortsighted. If they were in a situation where she really needed them to have her back, it was more likely that they would have pushed her into the fire instead.

    Helping them to get through this crisis is enough to repay them for taking care of me thus far, said Zhou Xinyu with a sad smile.

    Su Jin used his Handbook to contact Xiang Nan, and Xiang Nan appeared in no time. He nced at Su Jin, then nced at Zhou Xinyu before asking with a puzzled look on his face, I noticed that Team Boning Knife has disappeared from the team ranking. Whats happened? I thought you guys died.

    Some things happened, and I did lose some teammates. But Im not here to talk about that. Im hoping you could do me a favor. Su Jin didnt want to talk about what happened to Ye Yun and the rest, so he went straight to the point, This is my disciple, Zhou Xinyu.

    Disciple? Xiang Nan looked curiously at her, then said, Judging from your expression you want me to help be a kindergarten teacher?

    Dont put it like that! Xinyu is very capable, and shes a good strategist. I think shed be able to learn a lot from you, and she could help you guys too, said Su Jin with augh.

    Zhou Xinyu made a face. She didnt like being called a kid, but since this man was a friend of her shifu, she didnt protest.

    Xiang Nan sighed and shook his head. Bro, youve got to be kidding. Youre a top strategist yourself, so why dont you let her follow you instead? You dont need me to teach her.

    Su Jin shook his head and sighed too. Im not in a good ce and I have to face many dangers. The chances of Xinyu dying if she sticks with me are way higher. Help me out, wont you?

    Xiang Nanughed and nodded. Alright then! But I cant guarantee that she will live long or anything like that. You know that very well yourself. Not even someone like you could guarantee that.

    Yep, got that. Su Jin nodded in agreement. Nobody could guarantee the survival of another person when it came to the terrifying Challenges of the Handbook. In fact, they could barely keep themselves alive. If they had been able to ensure the safety of another person, Su Jin wouldnt have lost so many teammates.

    Xiang Nan took his Handbook out, then motioned to Zhou Xinyu toplete the process of bing a member of Team Wind and Rain. Zhou Xinyu was a little unwilling to do it, but she did it since Su Jin insisted. She would rather stick with Su Jin.

    After the whole process wasplete, Su Jin motioned to them to sit down, then paused to think for a moment before saying, Let me put this simply. Because of certain reasons, the Handbook is no longer the same as before. Its no longer just something thates up with Challenges for owners to survive.

    These certain reasons have something to do with you? Xiang Nan picked up the main point immediately.

    Su Jin made a face, but nodded. Yes, yes, it has to do with me. I am now on the road to bing a god.

    Woah! Thats pretty big news. Xiang Nans eyes widened, but he believed what Su Jin said. He was sure that this old friend of his wouldnt say something like this as a joke.

    Yep, its big news, alright. But what Im going to say next is even bigger  I hope both of you be gods too, said Su Jin.

    Us? No, no, you know very well that not everyone can reach your level. Just surviving the Challenges is good enough for us, said Xiang Nan with a shake of his head.

    But Su Jins expression was grim as he said very solemnly, No. You must do this. Just like you said if you want to survive, you have to be a god.

    Xiang Nan froze as he chewed on Su Jins words, then got up with a start. Wait, youre saying only gods will be allowed to live? The rest of us are doomed?

    Su Jin looked at Zhou Xinyu and said, See? I told you he was one of the best strategists around.

 Chapter 350

    Chapter 350

    Xiang Nan did not spend too long speaking to Zhou Xinyu. They both left with worried looks on their faces. It had been hard enough to survive the Challenges, and now, they had to go from just surviving to bing a god. That made everything so much harder. But Su Jin had faith in their abilities. When humans were determined to survive, they would suddenly disy immense strength.

    Now that Zhou Xinyu was part of Xiang Nans team and could learn from him, Su Jin was certain that she would progress much faster, as long as she didnt die, that is.

    Su Jin was about to leave Hells Bar when yet another waiter stood in his way. The waiter had another letter for him, which stunned Su Jin. Was having a pen pal a new trend or something?

    But he was even more stunned when he pulled the letter out. Never mind the content  the sender alone was enough for his eyes to widen in surprise. The sender was the Dragon King, Natasha.

    Natasha was ranked #3 among owners, and her capabilities made her way more powerful than Su Jin. She was a true expert in the game. ording to the Mad Hatter, she was only half a step away from bing a god. Or perhaps she wasnt even half a step away. Only a thin paper window screen stood in her way, and once she could sh through it, she would be a god.

    Theres something I need to talk with you face to face? Su Jin was very puzzled. Besides running into her on Shen Wus, he had no other dealings with her. Why was she asking to see him?

    A stone came with the letter, and the letter said that Su Jin just had to crush the stone and she would know that he had read her letter and to wait for her in Hells Bar.

    Su Jin hesitated for a while, but eventually decided to hear what Natasha wanted to say. She was ranked #3 after all. She wouldnt want to talk to him about some trivial matter, would she?

    After he crushed the stone, a beam of light shot out and disappeared into the distance. Su Jin sat down at the bar counter and decided to order a drink since he had nothing else to do. It didnt take long for someone to approach him.

    Hello, are you Mr. Su Jin? asked the person politely as he stood next to Su Jin.

    Su Jin looked up to see a Caucasian man in his thirties with a warm smile on his face. He looked like a butler or something.

    Thats right. You work for Natasha? asked Su Jin after nodding.

    Yes. Miss Natasha has asked me to lead you to her table. He smiled and nodded, then led the way.

    Su Jin followed behind him and noticed that this man was actually walking at the same speed as himself. If he went faster, the man would walk faster. If he went slower, the man would go slower. This man was constantly adjusting his pace to match his.

    Before Su Jin could make any further observations, they came to a table. Su Jins eyes trembled and his pupils constricted immediately when he saw who else was at the table, only because the other person at the table was someone Su Jin knew  Shen Wu!

    Shen Wu gave Su Jin a fake smile, while Su Jin kept his eye on Shen Wu as he said in a frosty voice, Whats going on? Is this a trap?

    Hoho, Mr. Su, you dont have to panic. Were in Hells Bar, so we cant do anything to you regardless of how powerful we are, said Natasha with augh as she stood up.

    Of course, Su Jin knew that. Otherwise, he would have run for it immediately. If Natasha and Shen Wu joined hands, he wouldnt be able to defeat them even if the seal around the rest of his psychokinesis were broken.

    I have to say, the fact that you managed to rescue Ye Yun from my hands is impressive, since that was my. I know best how fortified that ce is, and I myself might not have been able to take away a heavily guarded prisoner on such an ind either. But of course, you also used the power of gods. Shen Wu didnt seem angry about the incident and even praised Su Jin.

    You kept my friend prisoner, so its only natural for me to rescue her, said Su Jin.

    Shen Wu made a face, then asked, Hows Ye Yun now? She should be very happy now that shes gotten away, right?

    Su Jins heart skipped a beat and his gaze lost focus for a moment. Shen Wu noticed and immediately asked puzzledly, This expression of yours you mean Ye Yuns dead?

    Su Jin was feeling angry inside, but he wasnt sure if he was angry with Shen Wu or angry with himself for being useless. His silence only confirmed Shen Wus conjecture.

    Humph, I put in so much effort back then to get my hands on the item she possessed. To make sure she didnt suddenly die in a Challenge, I sent my best with her to Challenges. To protect her, I even lost one of my best subordinates. And now the one who rescued her actually let her die? Shen Wu sneered at Su Jin. What about her things?

    Her things? Su Jin looked a little puzzled. Of course he knew what Shen Wu was talking about. Shen Wu was talking about that Badge of Godhood. But he didnt dare to look like he knew about it at all. If he became Shen Wus new target, he would have to fight a long, bloody battle.

    Shen Wu stared at Su Jin, then shook his head with a sigh. They all disappeared with her?

    Alright, thats quite enough. Were not here to talk about your little feud. There are more important things to settle. Natasha cut in when she realized that these two were not going to stop talking if she didnt step in. She looked at Su Jin and said, Mr. Su, Ive invited you here because I would like to ask you to join us for a Challenge. Would you be interested?

    Join you for a Challenge? That was something that Su Jin would never have thought of. Is there a point to doing that?

    I guess I didnt exin myself clearly. The Challenge were going to go through isnt the one we face once a month, but a specific Challenge, said Natasha with a smile.

    A specific Challenge? Su Jin was even more puzzled now. He had an idea of what she was talking about, but wasnt sure if he was right.

    Natasha went on, A specific Challenge is basically the Challenge that you enter with a guiding object. The content of the Challenge is already fixed, so we also call them specific Challenges.

    Why do you need me to be part of the group? asked Su Jin. Natasha and Shen Wubined were already formidable enough, so it didnt seem necessary for them to look for anyone else.

    But Natasha said in a matter-of-factly voice, Because its very difficult. We need highly ranked experts like yourself.

    Me? Im not considered one, said Su Jin.

    Youre ranked #7 among the owners. You only revealed your ranking for a short while, but I saw it. Moreover, youre a psychokic owner, said Natasha with a big grin.

    Oh, you need a psychokic owner? Look for Xu Ran then, said Su Jin.

    But Natasha shook her head. We tried, but he turned us down. Xu Ran is a very formidable character, but hes too cautious.

    You cant deny hes an intelligent man. He must have had good reasons for turning you down, and I believe the same reasons would apply to me. Su Jin got up to leave.

    Dont be in such a hurry to leave. Unless youre not interested in bing a god, said Shen Wu out of the blue.

    Su Jin froze as he spun around to stare at Shen Wu. Shen Wu said calmly, The Challenge were about to embark on can give one the power to be a god.

    Be a god? Su Jin was shocked inside. These two werent fools and were definitely not people who didnt know what they were talking about. If they dared to say such things with such confidence, then this was probably reliable information.

    Thats right. To make sure we dont screw anything up, five of us will embark on this Challenge, and every person is the best we could find. Weve got #1 among the owners, Durand, myself, Shen Wu whos at #4, Oscar whos at #5, and I hope thest member who will join us will be you, at #7.

    Su Jin took a deep breath. The #1, #3, #4, #5, and #7 forming a group soundedpletely insane. As long as their powers were not limited, they would breeze through even a Level A Challenge. In fact, they would probably pass an Earth Level Challenge with ease too.

    What sort of Challenge are we going to face? asked Su Jin in a low voice.

    Natasha had a pleased smile on her face when she heard Su Jin use the word we. She opened her Handbook and took a guiding object out so that Su Jin could take a look.

    The guiding object was a key with the words Grave of the Gods on it.

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351

    The Grave of the Gods Challenge was originally an ordinary Level B Challenge. One of mine obtained this key afterpleting the Challenge, and it is able to restart the Challenge. He said that after hepleted the Challenge, he discovered that as long as you can get through one of the contraptions in the Challenge, apletely mind-shattering change could ur.

    So, after getting this key, I put in a lot of work to gather information from various Challenges, and based on everything Ive heard from arge number of owners, I have finally confirmed that once you get through that contraption, not only would the grave itself change, but the change would be absolutely terrifying. We would begin the Handbooks very first Heaven Level Challenge, Natashas own voice began to tremble slightly. She clearly found her own words incredulous.

    Su Jins eyes widened. Heaven Level Challenges? He had gone through several extremely difficult Challenges, and he was also the first one to go through and survive an Earth Level one. But he simply couldnt imagine what a Heaven Level one would be like. He couldnt imagine what sorts of dangers it would contain.

    Shen Wu continued where she left off, Ive done research on Heaven Level Challenges too apparently, once these Challenges begin, it means that someone has be a god. The owners will be able to find a way to be gods, and can be gods right away. Thats why were looking for high-level owners to join us on this journey. Youve heard the lineup. Are you willing to join us now?

    Su Jin did not hesitate and nodded slightly as he said, Alright then. You guys do need a powerful psychokic owner.

    Natasha broke into a smile as she stretched her hand toward Su Jin. Excellent. Just like you said, we do need a powerful psychokic owner. So, everything that happened between us before this is settled, right?

    Su Jin looked at Shen Wu, and they both said at the same time, No.

    Neither wanted things to be settled just like that. Su Jin wanted to avenge Ye Yun, so Shen Wu could forget about living a peaceful life after what he had done to Ye Yun. Shen Wus thinking was even simpler  anyone who dared to attack his had to be punished.

    Natasha sighed as she looked at the both of them and said, That wont do. You must understand that we are about to face a Heaven Level Challenge. If the two of you cannot put your differences aside and work together, the only thing awaiting us will be death.

    Su Jin and Shen Wu continued to stare at each other, but Shen Wu broke his silence first, I know how to judge what is more important at any time. I promise to fully cooperate with Su Jin during this Challenge, and I will put away our differences for now. But once its over were still going to fight to the very death!

    Su Jin smiled. He realized that he suddenly had some admiration for Shen Wu now. So, he said, I will promise the same. I will promise to do everything within my means to work with Shen Wu, but after the Challenge ends, we will still not be friends.

    Natashaughed sadly and made a face, I really dont get you men, but I believe both of you are men who stick to your promises. I can trust both of you, right?

    Of course, they replied in unison.

    Natasha still felt like she was ying with fire. These two men were definitely powerful, but if they decided to turn on each other during the Challenge, then they were doomed. The good part was that they could leave anytime during a Challenge started by a guiding object, but the bad part was that if they missed this chance, they might miss their best shot at bing gods.

    But Natasha didnt have a better n. This was the best lineup she could get. The ones ranked at #2 and #6 never revealed their whereabouts and she simply couldnt find them, which meant that the five here were the most formidable ones she could gather.

    They had to make a lot of preparations before facing this Heaven Level Challenge, including understanding each others battle techniques and forming strategies, so Natasha deliberately left her own team and formed a new team she called Team Road to Godhood.

    Before long, Durand and Oscar appeared as well, and the five of them together formed the full team. The team ranked at the top of the list was originally Durands Team Infinity, but it fell from first ce immediately after Team Road to Godhood was formed.

    That was a really terrifying thing in itself. The ranking of teams was not only based on the capabilities of each owner in the team, but also the cooperation between them and the Challenges they had gone through together. Team Road to Godhood had never gone through any Challenges together, yet it imed the top spot instantly. That meant that the team could ignore all other teams. Other teams were no match for them.

    Natasha opened a training area, then called everyone together and got each one to introduce themselves. But before that, she said, Let me just say a few things first. Our aim is the same, which is to be gods. So, I hope we dont hide anything from each other, otherwise it could be a hindrance to achieving our aim.

    Everyone nodded in agreement. But of course, everyone also knew that was merely an ideal. Anybody at their level would have a couple of ultimate moves that they would not tell anybody about unless they absolutely had to.

    As the owner ranked right at the top of the list, Durand introduced himself first. He was a Caucasian man in his thirties, with a dominance in his eyes that was possible only because he had been standing at the top of society for a long time. Such a person might not have experienced failure before, and his life was only filled with victories.

    But Durand was also definitely not the sort who would lose all hope immediately after experiencing failure. He had already understood the meaning of life, and to a certain extent, Durand had been hoping to fail once. Not on purpose, of course  he hoped to use this one failure to experience the full spectrum of life. And Durand also believed that as long as he had gone through that experience and felt it for himself, he could be stronger and could even use that to be a god without the help of anything else.

    I am Durand, my Spirit Power is an immortal body, said Durand as he took a knife and stabbed it into his own heart. But the moment he pulled it out, his wound healed by itself. After that, he used a knife to lop his own head off. The decapitated head started rotting immediately after it hit the floor, but a new head grew from his neck. Su Jin didnt even notice it had already grown.

    My Spirit Power weapon, Sword from the Rock! Durand retrieved a sword from his Handbook. Everyone could see a powerful wave inside the sword, as though a mighty spirit lived in the de.

    After that, Durand said, There are a few other aspects that would require us to practice together, or rather, you will understand better after a little sparring.

    Everyone understood and nodded. Natasha went next, Im Natasha, and everyone calls me the Dragon King because Im able to turn into the legendary Jade Dragon King. Natashas body started growing exponentially after she said those words, and transformed into a gigantic dragon within seconds.

    After that, Natasha reverted to her usual state and retrieved two daggers from her Handbook. These are my Spirit Power weapons, Double Dragon Teeth. Just like Durand, youll understand the rest after we exchange a few blows.

    Im Shen Wu, my Spirit Power is the ability to control heat, said Shen Wu. He tapped the air randomly and a chilly wind started to blow. He tapped the air again, and the wind began to heat up. In just one second, Shen Wu had been able to change the temperature around them drastically.

    I dont use Spirit Power weapons, because Im the best weapon. Theres no need for me to use anything else, said Shen Wu in a matter-of-fact manner.

    Oscar saw that Shen Wu was done and said, Im Oscar, my Spirit Power is controlling shadows.

    Controlling shadows? Su Jin was interested.

    Oscar nced at Su Jin, then asked, Why, have you seen someone with a simr Spirit Power before?

    Yup, one of my friends has the same Spirit Power, Su Jin nodded.

    Oh, I see. We can talk about itter, Oscar seemed rather chatty.

    Su Jin was about to nod when he suddenly felt someone behind him. He turned to see that it was Oscar, but he was also sure that there was one Oscar in front of him. After that, one Oscar appeared beside each person.

    Thats my Spirit Power. Each one has 80% of my capabilities, said Oscar.

    Su Jin was stunned. Situ Jin had a simr skill, but his clones only carried 30% of his capabilities. Oscars had a whopping 80%.

    After that, Oscar retrieved a spear and said, Blood Shadow Spear, an Earth Level Spirit Power weapon! He then looked at Su Jin to show that he was done and Su Jin could start introducing himself.

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352

    Everyone turned to look at Su Jin. The other four had been famous for a long time now, so they had interacted with one another before and were not strangers to each other, so it wasnt even necessary to introduce everything about themselves. But Su Jin was new to this circle of high ranking owners. He had suddenly risen the ranks over the past year or so.

    Even Shen Wu, the one who had met Su Jin the most number of times among the other four, did not really know much about Su Jin. If Su Jin hadnt barged into his and taken Ye Yun away, he wouldnt even have bothered about him.

    But when Su Jins name appeared seventh on the owners ranking, everyone couldnt help but watch this new person in their circle. The ranking was the easiest way to understand how formidable an owner was, since the ranking could not be faked.

    Im Su Jin, Im a psychokic owner, said Su Jin calmly as silvery sparks glowed around the group and arge number of psychokinesis clones appeared. These clones instantly transformed into weapons, disying Su Jins powerful psychokinesis and how good he was at controlling it.

    Another psychokic owner I didnt know there was another insanely formidable psychokic owner besides Xu Ran. Oscar expressed surprise, and Su Jin could understand why he was so surprised. Psychokic owners always held a special ce in the hearts of the high ranking owners.

    When it came to owners around the same ranking, a psychokic owner was usually ranked higher in terms of fighting ability. That was because psychokinesis could be used in arge variety of situations with few limitations.

    Su Jin retracted his psychokinesis, then retrieved Chimimoryo from his Handbook. He didnt intend to tell them about the Boning Knife, even though Shen Wu and Natasha would be wary of it, since he had shown how powerful it could be when he invaded Shen Wus.

    My Spirit Power weapon is Chimimoryo, a Heaven Level Spirit Power weapon. Su Jin pulled Chimimoryos bowstring back and a grayish ck mist instantly gathered.

    Everyones expression shifted slightly. They could sense the terrifying power that Chimimoryo exuded, and the seemingly harmless mist that had gathered actually contained extremely hateful and poisonous emotions. If one were hit by that mist arrow, they would be pretty much destroyed. Not only would their body be destroyed, but they probably wouldnt be able to keep their souls either.

    Actually, Chimimoryo was not ssified like a regr weapon, and to a certain extent, it was at a higher level than the Boning Knife. This was a weapon that could evolve on its own and wanted to be a god, so it was certainly more formidablepared to a weapon that was not sentient.

    At the same time, Chimimoryos attacking power was a little less than the Boning Knifes. But Su Jin figured it was probably because of the difference in the way the two weapons were made in the first ce. The Boning Knife had been created by the Mad Hatter with the help of a whole bunch of gods, while ording to Chimimoryo, it had been created by a god. A whole bunch of gods and just one god would clearly have a significant difference in the things they could create.

    A Heaven Level Spirit Power weapon?! Everyone was stunned to hear this. They proceeded to look at Shen Wu, because while he imed that he didnt use Spirit Power weapons, they had heard that he had something that was a Heaven Level Spirit Power weapon. There were rumors that it was only at Earth Level, but either way, they had heard something like that.

    Shen Wu knew why they were all staring at him, but he did not say anything. His weapon was himself, but he had no reason to exin anything in detail to them, as long as they continued to benefit him.

    Natasha then said, Weve briefly introduced ourselves, so we have an idea of each others prowess. I think we should try to actually fight each other now. After all, it feels weird for owners at our level to gather and not fight.

    Nobody had any reason to object, so Natasha selected a few options and created a random selection system. The system would pair the five of them randomly, with one person sitting out each time.

    The first round of names were picked. Shen Wu was going to sit out this round, while Oscar was paired with Durand, and Su Jin was paired with Natasha. Su Jin was quite pleased with this oue, since he had a rough understanding of Natashas capabilities, so even if he was no match for her, he didnt think hed get thrashed.

    The arena automatically split into two halves. Shen Wu sat in a resting zone in the middle of the two halves. They were now teammates, but once this Challenge was over, they would go back to being rivals again. It was best if they could take this chance to understand more about each other.

    The two battles were to be held concurrently. Durand and Oscar had known each other for a long time, so they started attacking each other immediately without trying to test the waters.

    Meanwhile, Natasha wiggled her finger at Su Jin and smiled flirtatiously as she said, Come on, newbie! Show me what an up-anding highly ranked owner is capable of!

    Your wish is mymand! Su Jin nodded, then appeared right in front of her less than a secondter. Natasha was surprised that Su Jin had chosen to do a close-range fight instead of using psychokinesis, which was supposed to be his strength.

    Youre asking for it! Natasha was a little annoyed. She was the Jade Dragon King, yet this guy dared to fight so close to her. He was definitely asking to get thrashed.

    Shortly after they started fighting, Natasha realized she had underestimated this new kid on the block. This young mans physical body had turned out to be extremely tough, and they were on par for some time.

    Not bad, little guy! Natasha looked pleasantly surprised.

    Hey, dont call a guy little! Su Jin was annoyed, because Natasha looked like she was no older than himself.

    Ha! Dont be so offended by that! Im definitely the oldest among all of you. My outward appearance is merely one of the advantages I enjoy after bing the Jade Dragon King, said Natasha in a smug voice. But before Su Jin could respond, she went on, I think weve been fighting for a little too long, Durand and Oscar are almost done, so little guy, its time for you to lie down!

    Its better not to be so coquettish around a younger man, olddy! Su Jin snapped back.

    You prefer to die, huh! Jade Dragon, transform! shouted Natasha. Her body suddenly swelled up, and scales and ws began to appear. In the blink of an eye, she went from an ordinary youngdy to the gigantic Jade Dragon King.

    Woah! Su Jin eximed in amazement. He suddenly broke into a smile as a silver glint leaped out of his body and instantly turned into a silver monster in front of him. It was as if he had just used his psychokinesis to create a Gundam.

    Psychokinesis is really incredible, said Shen Wu with an envious sigh as he watched them fight from afar.

    Natasha immediately let out an angry roar when she saw that Su Jin had actually created a psychokinesis mecha around the same size as herself. She wed at the waist of the mecha and sessfully knocked a chunk out of the mecha.

    Su Jin was in the middle of the mecha, but he didnt panic when that happened. Heughed merrily as he yelled, Up, up, down, down, left, left, right, right, shoot! Shoot! Shoot!

    If you want to y video games, go home and y them by yourself! Natasha became a lot more hot tempered as the Jade Dragon King, and she swung her tail fiercely at the mecha.

    But Su Jin wasnt going to let the tail smash into him just like that. With one thought, the mecha leaped backward as a silver sword appeared in its hand, and it swung the sword at Natashas tail.

    Boom!

    The tail and the sword collided, and quickly became an arm wrestling match. After a while, Su Jin found it difficult to hang on, because he was using psychokinesis and not his own strength. If he could fight her with his own strength, he wouldnt be worried. But his psychokinesis was being consumed too quickly, and it wasnt suitable in a fight that required endurance.

    Su Jin made another mecha appear behind Natasha, pulling her backward and giving Su Jin the chance to move forward and swing the sword toward her neck.

    Natasha paled as she used her arms to push away the mecha behind her, then tried to put them in front of her neck again, but Su Jin was a step faster than her. His silver sword dodged her arms and came closer and closer to her neck.

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353

    Just when the silvery de was about to hit Natasha, both the silvery de and the mecha made from Su Jins psychokinesis shattered in an instant, turning into nothing but silvery sparkles.

    I admit defeat! Su Jin raised both hands.

    Not only Natasha, but Durand and Oscar, who were done fighting, plus Shen Wu, who had been watching the fight thus far, lookedpletely confused.

    Why did you admit defeat? asked Natasha puzzledly. She had clearly been cornered earlier and Su Jin was about to win the fight.

    Su Jin shrugged and said, Ive used up all my psychokinesis. Whats the point of fighting when the psychokic owner has run out of the very power that he needs to win?

    Everyone rolled their eyes at him. They now realized that while Su Jins moves had been really powerful and cool, and those two mechas seemed like celestial beings that had descended to Earth, they had consumed a huge amount of Su Jins psychokinesis.

    But Su Jin was very pleased with what he had done. Before this, he had been limiting his psychokinesis very carefully, so even if he created clones of himself, he made sure they were only about as capable as his own body. But when he saw how Natasha had transformed into such a huge and invincible dragon, he decided to try making a huge mecha that was muchrger and more powerful than himself. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it had worked out pretty well.

    However, this move was not in preparation for his current state, but in preparation for what he would be like once the seal around his psychokinesis waspletely broken. When that happened, he was sure that making mechas could be something he could do anytime and anywhere.

    What Su Jin had done only amazed the group for a short moment, since a technique that couldntst more than a minute was kind of useless.

    Over the next few days, the five of them continued dueling in the arena non-stop. It was the first time Su Jin could give it all he had and use every bit of energy he possessed, because the other party could still fight back.

    After three days, even though none of them actually said it out loud, their capabilities had all improved. Each of them were extremely formidable, but that was also why it was hard for them to find someone whom they could actually fight and they werent really sure where their own limits were. But now, every person in the arena was just as formidable or more formidable, so it forced them to push themselves beyond their current limits, and they were able to grow further.

    Among the five of them, Su Jin was obviously the one who had the lowest chance of winning any fight. The ranking of the owners was very urate because it took into ount every aspect of each owner. But despite that, Su Jin did not lose miserably, and he even defeated Durand once.

    And it was when he defeated Durand that the rest officially epted him as one of them. Being able to defeat Durand meant that Su Jin did have some of the best skills in fighting, so none of them had the right to belittle him.

    They were pretty much done with sparring, so Natasha decided it was about time they could embark on the Challenge. Sparring in this arena could only do so much, so they would have to wait for the Challenge itself to further hone their skills.

    Natasha gave them one day to get themselves ready, so Su Jin returned to his world. But he didnt need any time to get ready or make any arrangements, since he was all by himself now. He was just going to wait until it was time to gather again.

    The Demon Lord saw that Su Jin had returned and immediately went over to ask, Where have you been these past few days? I didnt see you at all.

    Ive been training with a few folks, were gonna do something real big, said Su Jin with a grin.

    Real big? How big could it be? The Demon Lord threw him a disdainful nce. She had gone through everything Su Jin had been through, and it was now nothing to her.

    A Heaven Level Challenge. Big enough for you? said Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord was stunned for a moment, then she frowned and asked, Which one? The Nest of the Past? The Fabricated World? The Grave of the Gods?

    Oho! It is the Grave of the Gods! Su Jin nodded. He didnt expect her to know about the Grave of the Gods.

    She frowned even harder and hesitated before saying, Given your current capabilities, you could give it a shot. But if youre going there alone, you can forget about it.

    No, five of us are going together, and Im actually the weakest of the lot, said Su Jin as he rubbed his nose awkwardly. It was a bit embarrassing to admit that he was the worst of the group.

    But the Demon Lord nodded and said, That sounds more like it. The chances of seeding are still low, but at least its not zero anymore.

    O Great Demon Lord, since you know so much, could you give me a few tips before I go? Su Jin grinned cheekily as he started massaging her shoulders. If he could get some information from her, his journey ahead would be easier.

    But she pped his hands away and scoffed, Stop trying to think of shortcuts or anything like that. Doing that will only lead you to death in a Challenge. Besides, its rumored that the Grave of the Gods has 796 entrances and the situation at each entrance is different. Even if I told you what I went through back then, the chances that itll be useful to you are very low.

    If that was really the case, Su Jin agreed that her experience wouldnt be useful to him. He paused to think, then asked another question, Then could you tell me what we can get out of this Challenge?

    That I can, she nodded, before looking very seriously at him, You will get the chance to be a god.

    Wha-? Su Jin blinked, then grumbled, Thats it? I know we get the chance to be a god too. What Im asking is, what does that chance look like?

    How would I know? Every persons chance looks different, and youre only likely to get a chance. Its also possible for you to find nothing in there and return with your tail between your legs, said the Demon Lord matter-of-factly.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes and thought about what else he could ask. I heard that you can get a Badge of Godhood. Is that true?

    Its true. Back then, finding something like that in the Grave of the Gods wasnt something strange, anyway, the Demon Lord nodded.

    Su Jin continued, So, if Im just saying, if I got hold of it, what can I do with it?

    She pressed one finger on her temple as she considered this question, A Badge of Godhood? If you can get it, give it to me! Of course, Chimimoryo would probably need it quite badly too.

    Oh? Why should I give it to you guys? asked Su Jin.

    If you give it to me, I will be able to restore my capabilities and be a top tier god again. If you give it to that longbow, it would be able to take itsst step to evolve into a god, said the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin eyed her and asked, So why dont I use it for myself?

    Two reasons. Firstly, there are very strict requirements regarding the use of the Badge. If you want to use it now, you will need to spend a huge amount of time and energy. Secondly, if you want to be a god that can revive the dead, its impossible to do that with the Badge. Those who use a Badge to be a god will have to depend on the power of the Badge.

    The Badge from a top tier god will be able to help you to get to the second level of godhood, a Badge from a second tier god will get you to the third level, a third tier Badge will get you into the fourth level, and a fourth tier Badge will only barely get you into godhood, and youre going to be the weakest of all gods, she exined.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. If that were truly the case, then this Badge of Godhood would be useless to him. Shen Wu probably didnt know about this, otherwise he wouldnt put in so much effort just to get this item.

    A day passed by quickly, and Su Jin returned to Hells Bar. He and Natasha arrived first, followed by Oscar, then Durand and Shen Wu. Each of them had their own faction and people to take care of, so even though they would only disappear for a very short period of time while going through a Challenge, if someone found out they would definitely be gone during this time andunched an attack or ambush, that short period of time could be detrimental to them. That was why they needed time to get ready before embarking on the Challenge.

    Once everyone had gathered, Natasha asked, Were all here, so Ill begin the Challenge? Everyone nodded, so Natasha took the key from her Handbook and mmed it hard between her palms. Everything went ck before their eyes.

    When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a vast, empty wastnd. There were no nts, as if this ce did not allow any forms of life to exist. In the middle of the wastnd stood a gigantic bronze door with chaotic and random drawings carved into it. Each drawing gave off an ancient and mysterious air.

    But when Su Jin looked more closely, he suddenly realized that these drawings were more jumbled rather than random, like a pile of jigsaw puzzle pieces.

 Chapter 354

    Chapter 354

    The messy drawings on the bronze door clearly made up onerge drawing. Su Jin tried piecing them together and realized that it probably wasnt too difficult to put it together.

    This is a jigsaw puzzle, right? said Durand. Noticing this wasnt something mindblowing, really. Anyone who took a close enough look would realize it.

    Natasha nodded slightly, then said to the group, This bronze door is our entrance to the Grave of the Gods. We just need to piece the puzzle correctly and well be able to open the door.

    That shouldnt be too hard. If we work together, well get it pieced together in no time, said Oscar.

    But Natasha shook her head. Everyone watched puzzledly as she transformed herself into a dragon, then lunged at the door to grab it. But instead of grabbing hold of the door, her entire body went right through it.

    She reverted to human form and said, See that? You can see the door, but you cant touch it. We cant use our hands to put this puzzle together.

    Su Jin smiled faintly and said, Thats why you wanted a psychokic owner, right?

    Natasha smiled and nodded, I thought of many methods, and the most likely method is to get someone who can use psychokinesis or some sort of telekinesis. Its been hard to find a high ranking telekinesis owner, instead, weve got two insanely high ranking owners  you and Xu Ran. So, well have to trouble you, Mr. Su.

    Su Jin didnt refuse, of course. He stood before the door, stared at the various pieces that made up the door, then closed his eyes as he started to mentally piece the jumbled pieces together.

    Half a minuteter, Su Jin suddenly opened his eyes. The silvery glint in his eyes flickered, and the pieces on the door began to move.

    Su Jin already had the final picture in mind, so the pieces kept moving and eventually formed the correct picture after a minute. The pieces formed a drawing of a huge war between thousands of gods, and at the same time, it began to slowly creak open.

    Everyone, weve got to tread carefully from now on! Natashas eyes lit up as she entered first, followed by Su Jin and the rest.

    The five of them looked shocked after they entered. They were surrounded by clouds and were stepping on irregrly shaped rocks, as though they were on the peak of some mountain. Creatures flew freely among the clouds and let out loud, angry roars.

    Look over there! Oscar suddenly pointed at something in the distance, which turned out to be a gigantic building in the clouds. Compared to that building, the five of them looked like they hade from Lilliput. They werent even as big as just one tile of that building.

    Lets go over and take a look, said Durand.

    Just as everyone nodded and got ready to head over, Natashas expression shifted and Shen Wu noticed it. He asked, Natasha, whats wrong?

    Natasha nodded slightly and said with a sad smile, The option to exit the Challenge has disappeared.

    For Challengesunched by guiding objects, owners could choose to exit the Challenge if they found themselves in a situation they could not handle and they would be brought back to the real world safely. That was the biggest difference between an ordinary Challenge and a Challenge linked to a guiding object.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, Theres nothing strange about that. Opening the bronze door was the same as starting a new Challenge, so the option that came with the guiding object disappeared. If weplete this Challenge, I dont think wed appear back in Hells Bar but in our own Hell Domains.

    The rest nodded in agreement. Shen Wu scoffed and said, Its not like we werent prepared for something like that, right? Theres no need to look so shocked.

    While that is true, having the exit option removed does make one feel less secure, said Natasha as she sighed and shook her head.

    Durand paused for a moment, then suddenly retrieved something from his Handbook. He gave them out to each of them and said, I got this from a Challenge, its a Death Substitute puppet. If youre in a situation where youd definitely die, smash this and you will be spared once. Im giving you guys one each, dont use it unless absolutely necessary.

    Everyone was surprised that Durand was giving them something so precious. Each one of these was a chance to live! But that was also how seriously Durand was treating this Challenge.

    Since youve been so generous, I cant be too stingy either. Everyone gets one too, Oscar took out a few wooden boxes with one purplish gold pill in each box.

    This is a Nine Rotation Return Pill that can restore your energy and Spirit Power to its maximum level instantly after swallowing it. But you can only take one at a time and you have to wait a long time to take another one. The item Oscar was giving them was also very precious. This was almost as good as giving them a second chance to live too.

    Shen Wu pulled out a few crystals and gave them out as he said, These are teleportation crystals, but unlike ordinary ones, you can make a marking in any ce you like, so if youre in danger and you activate these crystals, itll bring you to the ce you marked out previously.

    Since everyones giving away such precious items, itll look bad if I didnt give you guys stuff despite being the person who started this whole thing, Natashaughed before giving each person some soft armor. She exined, These are armor made from real dragon scales, and even though they arent officially given any grading, theyre as tough as an Earth Level Spirit Power armor.

    The items that the four of them had given away were real treasures that others would have fought tooth and nail to get their hands on. But now, they were giving them away in order to maximize their chances of getting through this Challenge.

    Everyone now turned to look at Su Jin, making him scratch his head awkwardly. He smiled bitterly and said, Im not some big boss like you guys are, so I dont have anything really valuable I guess you guys can have one of these!

    What Su Jin offered them was the Super Oxygenated Chewing Gum, which was something he had gotten from the Lucky Draw Bags thest time. This was also the only thing he had extra to give away. He didnt have anything else on hand.

    Everyone was a little lost for words. Compared to what the rest had offered, this item looked like a joke. But Shen Wu was the first to take one piece, even as he grumbled, Im not the sort to turn down something free.

    Su Jin awkwardly gave out the rest of the gum. He didnt expect this extremely dangerous Challenge to include a segment where everyone could unt their wealth. Of course he was going to look bad.

    Thankfully, the rest werent bothered by this. They put on the armor, then started making their way toward the gigantic building. Each of them had their own method of getting there.

    A pair of dragon wings grew from Natashas back, so she used those to fly. Durand summoned a flying board, while Oscar also grew a pair of shadow wings. Shen Wu was the most showy. A long piece of ice grew beneath his feet as he walked, connecting the ce where he started to where he was now, as though he was building an ice bridge across the mountaintop.

    Things were even simpler for Su Jin. His psychokinesis could help him fly. In short, travelling among clouds was no problem for these five.

    They maintained the same speed and did not leave too much of a distance between each other. This was a Heaven Level Challenge after all and they really had no idea what dangers could lie ahead.

    But just when they were about halfway there, Natasha suddenly trembled and looked around fearfully, as though something terrible was about to happen. Durand immediately asked, Natasha, did you discover something?

    I dont know but I sensed a frightening powering toward me, somethings trying to kill me! Natashas hair was standing on end and her pupils had constricted, which showed that she really wasnt joking.

    Just then, Su Jins psychokinesis detected a huge thinging for them. He warned the rest, Watch out, something huge is approaching from the seven o clock direction!

    Everyone turned to look in that direction, but they couldnt see or sense anything. Just when they were about to ask, Su Jin suddenly shouted, Itsing!

    The clouds suddenly spun violently, as though something was flying upward from under the clouds. A resounding angry roar hit their eardrums at the same time.

 Chapter 355

    Chapter 355

    The sea of clouds billowed like an angry ocean, and both Su Jin and Shen Wus expressions turned grim when they heard the furious roaringing toward them because they had guessed what creature it was. Durand, Oscar, and Natasha, owners from the western hemisphere, still had no idea what was about to hit them.

    But it didnt take long for them to realize what creature hade their way, because a gigantic head burst through the clouds  it was a dragon! The mythical Chinese dragon!

    Damn it! Su Jins eye twitched. No wonder Natasha had sensed it first. This dragon had probably aimed for her because she had the blood of the dragons of the west.

    Natasha could sense the Chinese dragons fury clearly, so she could also sense its immense power. That was why she had felt so fearful.

    What do we do? asked Oscar. They had to work together, otherwise this dragon was going to kill them all just minutes after they had started the Challenge.

    Kill it! Weve just started the Challenge, so we cant afford to lose anyone now, otherwise well be in big troubleter on! As the highest ranked owner, Durand was quick to make a decision. So what if they were facing a mighty dragon? The five of them were all equivalent to demigods, so they would be able to kill it if they joined forces.

    Everyone nodded slightly, while Natasha gave a low shout as she suppressed the fear in her heart. Scales and ws grew on her body as she instantly transformed into a dragon the same size as the Chinese dragon, then dashed toward it.

    Durand summoned his sword, then bit his finger so that a drop of blood fell onto the de. Giant mes engulfed the de as Durand pounced onto the dragon with the sword in hand.

    Oscar created a whole bunch of shadows which he stretched and used to tie around the dragon. Shen Wu did not do anything immediately, because his powers were more likely to hurt the team, so he watched from the side first.

    Su Jin charged at the dragon without hesitation as well. He wasnt asrge as Natasha, but he was about as strong. And because he was smaller in size, the concentration of his strength was like hammering nails into the dragon, so he was able to hurt the enemy even more.

    The battle in the clouds stirred up a huge storm, and several peaks were crushed and shattered by Natasha in dragon form and the other dragon. With Su Jin, Oscar, and Durands help, the dragon began to lose ground.

    Roaar! The dragon let out a roar as it spewed fire. The mes were incredibly hot and Su Jin and Durand were in its line of fire.

    Just when the mes were about to strike the two men, the mes suddenly turned to smoke. Shen Wu nodded at them from afar. He was going to deal with any fire the dragon spewed.

    With Shen Wu helping in this aspect, the four of them went ahead to attack the dragon without having to worry about that. Oscars shadows held the dragons ws together, Natasha held onto the dragons body tightly, Durands sword chopped off the dragons tail, while Su Jin picked at each of its scales.

    Finally, the dragon seemed to realize it couldnt defeat these tiny things. It let out an angry howl as its entire body began to turn red. Su Jin scanned it with his psychokinesis and yelled, The dragons going to implode!

    Implode?! Everyone had some understanding of mythical creatures, but they had never heard of dragons imploding before. Then again, many things in a Heaven Level Challenge could not be exined with normal logic, so they just had to deal with whatever came!

    Dont let it implode! I want its blood! Its all mine! Natasha shrieked like she had gone insane. She really wanted the blood, because she had sensed a special power in its blood that waspatible with her body.

    Dont worry, it wont be able to do that, Shen Wu scoffed. He mmed his palms together hard, and the redness in the dragons abdomen faded, causing the dragon to let out a howl in despair.

    Shen Wus powers were able to control temperature, and it was powerful enough to even change the temperature of the dragons fire, so he was also able to dispel the heat that the dragon had tried to use to implode itself.

    As the dragon whimpered sadly, Natasha used one of the wounds created in the scales by Su Jin to absorb arge amount of the dragons blood.

    The dragons huge body convulsed a few times before life slowly drained out of it, and it stopped moving. Natasha let out an excited howl, because she had consumed a huge amount of the dragons blood, and her body actually began to glow brightly.

    Excellent! I feel like Im about to reach the next stage! Natasha reverted to human form and closed her eyes as she relished her new powers. She could sense that she had be a lot stronger than before.

    So you still cant get to the next stage, then? asked Su Jin.

    Natasha nodded and said, Im just a tiny bit short of reaching the next stage. But I can sense that Ill definitely be able to be a god during this Challenge!

    None of them chastised Natasha for her confidence, because they actually felt encouraged by it. If Natasha had been able to obtain the chance to evolve just after they started this Challenge, it meant that all of them stood a chance too.

    But Su Jin had a troubled look on his face. After flipping through his Handbook, he said to the rest, Im not trying to be a wet nket here, but how are we supposed toplete this Challenge?

    His Handbook waspletely nk. There was no introductory paragraph on the Challenge, no quests, and no main mission. In other words, they had no idea what they had to do in order to end this Challenge.

    Everyone hurriedly opened their own Handbooks to find that they didnt have any information either. They were stuck here.

    What now? Does that mean we cant leave this Challenge until we be gods? asked Durand puzzledly.

    Su Jin paused to think, then nodded and said, Im afraid thats the case. Ive researched information on the Grave of the Gods and you guys know a thing or two too. Im sure all of you know that each time the Grave of the Gods opens, someone will definitely be a god.

    If the people who stepped into this ce also did not have any information or missions toplete like us now, but we can confirm that some of them did manage to get out of this space, plus some became gods, doesnt that mean the mission here is for at least one of us to be a god?

    The rest agreed with this analysis. Their strength was mostly in fighting, and while they were quite intelligent too, they were not as smart as Su Jin, who had been his teams strategist for a long time.

    So, we can get out once we be a god? Thats great, isnt it? Isnt that why were here? Oscar grinned widely. They had risked their lives toe here precisely because they wanted to attain godhood!

    Lets go! I hope that building has what we want! Durand licked his lips. His desire made his entire body tremble.

    They continued moving toward the building and came close in no time. Now that they were closer, they could see how luxuriously built this building was. The entire ground was made from the best jade, while the building itself was made from diamonds. But these expensive materials were meaningless to the five of them. If they wanted some, they could exchange points for a whole pile of it.

    The building was dark inside, but they could vaguely hear the sound of chanting. They stepped onto the jade ground and white lotus flowers instantly appeared beneath their feet.

    Lotuses growing with each step? Su Jin and Shen Wus eyes lit up.

    But just when they were about to go further, Durand suddenly held them back and said, Somethings not quite right. Do you see the two statues in front of the main door?

    Theyre alive, said Shen Wu.

    Everyone was a little confused, so Shen Wu exined, Their temperature. I can sense their body temperature. Its definitely not the icy cold temperature a stone statue ought to have. Theyre more like living creatures that resemble stone.

    Su Jin immediately used his psychokinesis to test them, but the moment his psychokinesis covered the two statues, two extremely loud voices boomed in his head.

    A demon!

    Get lost!

    Pfft! Su Jin vomited a mouthful of blood. Those two voices were like two giant hammers that hit him directly on the head. The pain nearly knocked him right out.

    Theyre alive! Su Jin struggled to spit those words out.

 Chapter 356

    Chapter 356

    Su Jins injuries were not severe. He spat out blood only because his consciousness had been violently shaken unexpectedly. But that also proved how powerful these two stone statues were. If someone who had nearly godlike levels of psychokinesis could get hurt, then these two statues were probably quasi gods, which was a stage slightly more powerful than demigods.

    Su Jin had only run into demigods before, one of which was the Prince Charming in the Fairytale of Horrors Challenge. But Prince Charming had been trapped in a space within the Challenge, so even though he had reached the demigod stage, he was clearly a lot less formidable. The other one he met with was that pig-headed demigod in the Supernatural Train Challenge. That pighead had been a lot more formidable, since he had managed to kill the already formidable Chu Yi with just one move.

    As quasi gods were more formidable than demigods, these stone statues were almost at god stage, but had been unable to reach that stage for some reason. Su Jin and the other four in the team could be considered quasi gods of sorts.

    They were all able to kill demigods, but unable to be gods. They were supposedly at the same stage as these stone statues, yet the statues were a little more powerful than them.

    Do weunch an attack directly? said Shen Wu.

    Natasha shook her head. She had just been nourished by the dragons blood earlier and she could sense that her capabilities had gone up by another level. She felt that the most formidable one in the team was no longer Durand, but herself. But that was also precisely why she could sense how powerful these two statues were. They might be able to kill the statues if they joined forces, but something told her that doing that would result in casualties on their side.

    These statues are very powerful. If we choose to attack them just like that, I sense that we will definitely suffer casualties. Thats not worth it, said Natasha without hesitation.

    Su Jin nodded and chimed in, I think so too. Weve only just started the Challenge and were already running into such powerful enemies. If we have to keep killing enemies like that, were all going to die in no time. So I think we should try and think of something else.

    They were all formidable characters, but they werent brainless, or they wouldnt have made it thus far. They were happy to explore ways of getting around the statues rather than attack them.

    Let me try! Oscar suddenly turned himself into a shadow, then leaped toward the space in between the statues. He moved very quickly and got to the statues within the blink of an eye.

    But just when Oscar came close, the two statues moved too. One of them raised a foot toward Oscar in shadow form. In most cases, Oscar was immune to physical attacks when he was in shadow form. Everyone in the team was well aware of that after dueling each other over thest three days.

    But Oscar still chose to dodge the foot, as though he had sensed something. The shadow turned sharply, but the other statue started moving too, its hands thrusting a long sword toward the shadow on the floor.

    Only Oscar knew best what was going on. He could sense the forceing from the statues and knew that he would definitely die if he was struck by either one.

    But even though he knew that, there was very little he could do about it, because he discovered that his speed had decreased drastically. Once he came within a certain radius of the statues, he felt like he was moving in water, and his movements kept getting slower and slower.

    As the glint of the sword came closer, Oscar did his best to change the shape of his shadow. He managed to dodge the sword from the second statue, but the first one grabbed hold of him immediately after that. Everyone watched in horror as the statue picked Oscar up despite remaining in shadow form.

    Oscar looked like a ck snake that kept writhing in the statues hands. The statue exerted great force in both hands and Oscar broke in several ces in an instant.

    Everyone stared in shock. Oscar disappeared after he was broken into pieces, and the rest of the group was at a loss. What should they do now? Was Oscar dead? Had the #5 owner in the world died just like that?

    Just then, a white sh rose in front of them and Oscar appeared before thempletely unscathed.

    Im so d youre fine, Durand let out a sigh of relief as he patted Oscar on the shoulder. He was friends with Oscar before this, after all.

    But Oscar looked glum and not relieved at all. He opened his palms to show the rest a crystal and a puppet that were wrecked beyond repair.

    Oh no! Everyone gasped. One was a teleportation crystal, while the other was the Death Substitute puppet. Oscar had used both items in one go in order to survive that ordeal.

    You didnt get a chance to escape at all? asked Durand with a frown. He was more formidable than Oscar, but Oscar was no weakling. If even Oscar needed two such items to survive, the rest were not going to get past the statues alive.

    I dont know if itll be the same for the rest of you, but when I came within a certain radius of the statues, my speed was greatly affected. Those two statues seemed able to attack me even though my body was not solid, so bing a shadow doesnt make any difference to them. Oscars face was pale. He was still recovering from the ordeal.

    Everyone exchanged uneasy nces. What were they to do now? These two statues had turned the building into a dead end.

    Su Jin quietly stared at the two statues while Shen Wu turned to him and said, You were the strategist for Team Boning Knife, werent you? Dont you think you need to contribute at a time like this?

    But Su Jin did not respond to Shen Wus sarcasm and continued staring at the statues as he recounted what he saw earlier from the moment Oscar charged at the statues until he was killed, making sure to recall every detail about every second.

    Hey, did you hear what I just said? said Shen Wu in an annoyed voice.

    They moved! said Su Jin suddenly. His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face as he turned to say to the rest, They moved!

    What does that mean? asked Durand with a confused look on his face.

    Oscar looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes lit up too. He looked at Su Jin and said, Youre referring to the moment when they attacked me. The statues shifted when they attacked me.

    Su Jin smiled and nodded, Yep. When you charged at them, they didnt move much, but they did move. In other words we could use a different way to enter this building.

    You want to distract the lion away from the mountain? As a fellow Chinese owner, Shen Wu immediately figured out that Su Jin was hoping to use one of the strategies in Sun Tzus Art of War. But he frowned and said, But how are we going to distract these two statues? If even someone like Oscar cant defeat them despite attacking as a shadow, the rest of us are going to die if we try, right?

    Su Jin turned to look at Durand and smiled as he said, That doesnt matter. Weve got someone here who isnt afraid to die. Mr. Durand well have to count on you now.

    Durands lips twitched as he nced uneasily at the statues and asked, Mr. Strategist, do you have any other options to offer the team?

    Im afraid thats the best option right now. Besides, you still have a Death Substitute and a teleportation crystal, so if you cant handle it, you can use those, Su Jin grinned. It felt pretty good to be telling the top owner in the world to do the dirty work.

    But Durand was the most formidable owner after all. He didnt need to prepare himself and immediately ran toward the statues. Su Jin yelled from behind, Mr. Durand, pick a further ce to die, please! The further the better!

    The other three stared at him, but Su Jin merelyughed and said, Simple and direct is best, isnt it? If I put it in a roundabout way, he might not get what Im trying to say.

    Durand clenched his teeth as he ran toward the statues. Just as he came within reach, one of the statues raised its foot to step on Durand. Durand did not bother dodging and allowed the statues foot tond on him, which turned him into a human patty.

    Wow, fierce. But I already said he should pick a further ce to die, grumbled Su Jin. He couldnt believe the top Handbook owner would have such poorprehension skills.

    Just when Su Jin was beginning to fume, the human patty suddenly started wriggling and it turned back into Durand within the blink of an eye. Durand immediately ran toward the side.

    The statues seemed surprised that Durand could revive himself, so they moved toward Durand and used their foot to turn him into a human patty again.

 Chapter 357

    Chapter 357

    Durands ability to resurrect was truly impressive, and he really did have an invincible body. However, he still suffered quite badly as the two statues chased after him. He would get stomped on every 20 or 30 meters, but that was also how he managed to draw the statues a few hundred meters away from the building in no time.

    Lets go! shouted Su Jin. The four of them made a mad dash toward the main entrance of the building. The statues were still chasing after Durand and it was toote for them to get back to the building in time.

    Shen Wu! shouted Su Jin once more. Shen Wu mmed his palms together and a sheet of ice suddenly appeared, turning the statues into two mounds of ice. Durand seized this chance to start running toward the main door as well.

    But the ice that Shen Wu created could barely hold the statues back for even one second. That didnt bother him, however, and he just kept freezing the statues again and again to buy time for Durand.

    Durand made it through the main door and they entered to see beautiful lights and majestic, colorful pirs inside the ce. Meanwhile, the two statues were roaring angrily outside the building, but they did not dare to enter the building at all.

    Our battle n worked! said Su Jin as he patted Durands shoulder.

    Durand red at Su Jin. The n worked, but his reputation as the top owner had been tarnished from the way he had to be treated like a whack-a-mole by those two statues. He was so annoyed.

    Everyone proceeded to look at the inside of the building. This ce seemed surreal as the walls gleamed with an iridescent glow. Liquid fell in drops from certain parts of the wall and exuded a lovely fragrance.

    This is pure energy liquid! Natashas face lit up with delight. She said to the rest, Lets stop here for a while This stuff is very good for us, because it can train and quench our bodies regardless of how strong our physical bodies are now. Its the best stuff for making one physically stronger.

    Theres no need to do that, right? We can just collect some in bottles, said Oscar.

    But Natasha shook her head and said, We cant. Pure energy liquid is most effective immediately after its generated, so we have to use it the moment we can.

    The rest nodded in agreement after listening to Natashas exnation. They did agree that this would be a precious resource that was difficult to find elsewhere, plus there was no time limit on this Challenge, so they could stop here for a while.

    Several parts of the building was able to generate this liquid, so they found their own little corner and bathed in it. Su Jin could sense its benefits immediately upon contact with it. ck toxins instantly seeped out when it came in contact with the liquid.

    His physical body was already extremely strong, and his body could be said to be as pure as jade. Yet, this pure energy liquid was still able to extract toxins from his body. That was amazing.

    Time slowly ticked by. Su Jins body had gone from a normal flesh color to transparent ss, like a human sculpted from jade. If his chest werent still moving up and down as he breathed, nobody would believe he was a living human being.

    And just when everyone was enjoying their soak in the pure energy liquid, a giant eyeball suddenly floated into the building. The eyeball immediately started sucking in the iridescent air in the building, but it also immediately detected Su Jin and his teammates. It flew into a fury and sent out a whiteser beam that reduced Natasha to ashes.

    Everyone became rmed and got up to run when Su Jins voice rang in their heads, Everyone, dont move. This is a being with psychokinesis, so escaping is pointless.

    Su Jin had detected this the moment the eyeball appeared because he could sense a familiar energy exuding from the eyeball. It was not very powerful, but it was pure psychokinesis that was extremely concentrated. The whiteser beam it shot out was also made from pure psychokinesis.

    Dont move? Then? Wait here to die? thought Oscar to himself, but he obediently listened to Su Jins instructions and did not move. This was very risky for him because he had already used his teleportation crystal and puppet. If that eyeball attacked him, he was definitely going to perish.

    I have psychokinesis too, so I understand this eyeballs powers well. Ive constructed a psychokinesis screen around you guys, so as long as you dont move, it cant see you, Su Jins voice resounded in their heads again.

    Su Jin had carefully set up a few psychokinesis screens, which was a technique that wasnt difficult, but one that required arge amount of psychokinesis. If he used just a little less, the screen would not be perfect and that could cost someone their life.

    Natasha did not die. She had used her puppet in time and managed to survive this ordeal. She too, was protected by Su Jins psychokinesis screen.

    The eyeball was clearly surprised that the people it had sensed earlier had suddenly disappeared. It continued trying to search for them and finally floated away after about half an hour.

    Everyone breathed a long sigh of relief. Oscar thanked Su Jin, Thank you so much!

    No worries. Were teammates now, so its only right for us to help each other when we can, Su Jin shook his head. This Challenge was going to be very difficult, and each person was invaluable to the team. He was going to do his best to protect everyone.

    Looks like this is not a safe ce at all. If a simr creaturees along again, we might all end up dying, said Natasha as cold sweat dripped down her face.

    Su Jin nodded. They had gotten lucky this time, because the creature had psychokinesis and was weaker than Su Jin. If that hadnt been the case, they might have gotten killed here.

    Lets move on then. Weve already absorbed a lot of the liquid, so thats enough, said Durand to the group. His entire body was bright red, and it was clear that he had benefitted greatly from this soak.

    Earlier on, they had made some observations about the structure of the building. They were now on the lowest floor, so they just had to keep climbing upward. A spiral staircase was the only way to the second story, except that this staircase was gigantic, and climbing it was as good as climbing a mountain.

    The good part was that climbing a mountain was as easy as pie to these people. They could destroy a whole mountain if they wanted to. The size of this staircase was the least difficult thing in this Challenge so far.

    As they made their way up the stairs, Natasha noticed something and said to the group, No wonder this ce is called the Grave of the Gods look at what this building is made from.

    They looked at where she was pointing to and saw that a nearby wall was made from gigantic skulls. The skulls were of all shapes and sizes, but they definitely used to belong to very powerful creatures which could have very well been gods.

    Thats not the only part. Look at the stuff below our feet, said Su Jin as he pointed downward.

    Everyone looked down and discovered that these werent really steps at all. The staircase was actuallyrge femur bones stacked to resemble a staircase.

    Oho this grave is pretty interesting! Shen Wu snickered. He was probably the one who got the most out of the pure energy liquid bath earlier on, because he had the weakest physical body among the five of them. Su Jin had a body equivalent to a demon, Natasha could transform into a dragon and had drunk more dragon blood earlier, so she was incredibly strong. Durand had an immortal body, so he was invincible, while Oscar had also specially done something to fortify his physical body before. Shen Wu was the only one who had not really done any physical strengthening at all.

    So, when he bathed in the liquid earlier, his body had transformedpletely. He had sensed the change in himself as even his bones had be stronger and gave off a warm glow.

    In no time, they were able to see the second story. Compared to the first story that was filled with iridescent colored air, the second floor wasnt as enchanting. It was filled with the stench of blood and it made them feel like puking before they even entered the second story proper.

    Watch out, everyone, this ce doesnt seem too peaceful, said Durand cautiously. Just before he stepped into the second story, a jade piece he ced in front of his chest suddenly glowed brilliantly.

 Chapter 358

    Chapter 358

    Durands gaze flickered as he said to the rest, The second story is filled with the energy from supernatural beings. These are all the angry ghosts of gods who died!

    Angry ghosts of gods who died! Everyone gasped. It was already hard to deal with nasty ghosts. If their powers were not suppressed, they would not be afraid. But their powers were usually suppressed to a certain extent when going through Challenges, so even they had to escape when they encountered such ghosts. Worse still, these were the dead spirits of gods.

    They exchanged nces, unsure of what to do next. Getting through the second story had be something impossible suddenly. Durand tried to take one step forward, and the jade piece exploded and turned into nothing but powder.

    Oh no, Durand eximed as cold sweat dripped down his forehead. This will not do. The way ahead is too dangerous. That piece of jade was an A Grade Spirit Power item, and it could hold up for a long time against even the most aggressive ghosts. But before I had even gone near to the ghosts of the second floor, it exploded Im afraid these ghosts of dead gods are no weaker than living gods, and because of their current state, theyre going to be more aggressive than gods and theres no way tomunicate with them.

    The five of them seemed to be stuck. They had to keep going upward, since staying here was pointless. They couldnt possibly stay in this building forever.

    Su Jin, your psychokinesis should have some effect on ghosts, no? Natasha asked Su Jin.

    But Su Jin smiled sadly and shook his head as he said, I can deal with ordinary ghosts and killing them isnt a problem. But these are ghosts of dead gods, so you could say theyre immortals of sorts.

    Su Jin admitted to being unable to handle these ghosts. Even if he had be a god and had god levels of psychokinesis, he might be able to handle one or two such ghosts. But he wasnt a god, and there were definitely more than one or two such ghosts on the second floor. These ghosts were having a party on the second floor!

    Just then, Oscar suddenly piped up, Why dont I give it a shot?

    You? Everyone turned to look at him.

    To a certain extent, my shadow Spirit Power is an ability to move into a different dimension. While ghosts are not the same as humans, they belong to this world. Ive been able to hide myselfpletely from ordinary ghosts and escaped by hiding in the shadows, but Im not sure if that works with these god level ghosts, exined Oscar.

    Durand immediately stuffed his teleportation crystal into Oscars hand and said, Mark this ce as your return point ande back immediately if you face any danger!

    Oscar took a deep breath, then nodded gravely. He transformed into a shadow and moved along the floor of the second story. The results delighted everyone, because the ghosts really did not notice Oscar in shadow form at all.

    Once Oscar was certain everything was fine, he returned to the team and nodded at them before using his powers to hide everyone in his shadow. This was nothing new to Su Jin, since Situ Jin had hidden him in his shadow before too.

    Oscars shadow moved slowly across the floor, and when they were about halfway through, new people entered the second story. The group was stunned to see who had arrived. These people were not owners, but a group of monsters  vampires, werewolves, and mummies!

    These monsters were enveloped in a peaceful glow apanied by the low sound of religious chanting. The ghosts on the second story seemed to hate the glow and moved away from it, so the group of monsters were able to head for the third story without any trouble.

    Whats going on? Everyone was confused. Where did those monsterse from? Did this ce allow monsters from other Challenges to enter the building too?

    Ignore them, lets concentrate on our journey and get through this ce alive first, Natasha said to Oscar. This was not the time to get distracted.

    Oscar agreed that they certainly had no time or energy to think about anything else now, so he refocused and continued moving toward the stairs that would bring them to the third story. Oscar did not dare to move too quickly, so it took a good ten minutes to cross the entire second story. That group of monsters probably took less than a minute.

    Once they got to the staircase, the pressure they felt from the ghosts immediately disappeared. The staircase between each floor seemed to be a safe zone. They would be fine as long as they remained on the steps.

    They noticed that the group of monsters were also resting on the steps. Oscar hid the group in a dark corner and asked, What do we do now? Run over and kill them all?

    Dont be rash, lets watch and wait first. Im afraid these monsters are not as simple as we think they are, said Durand calmly.

    After giving it a thought, Su Jin asked Oscar, Can my psychokinesis travel through your shadow?

    No problem, I just need to crack open a small hole for you. Oscar did just that and Su Jins psychokinesis was able to move out through the hole.

    He sent his psychokinesis to travel around the monsters to take a closer look. There were also five monsters in total, and they also seemed to be from the same team. Su Jin was about to scan one of them when one of the vampires widened his eyes and let out a low shout.

    Su Jin instantly sensed an equally powerful beam of psychokinesising at him and he cut his psychokinesis off immediately. Thankfully, he had cut it off quickly enough, so the vampire could not locate his group.

    After the psychokinesis was cut off, the vampire looked puzzled, while a werewolf next to him seemed to have said something to tease him, except nobody in Su Jins group understood whatnguage they were speaking.

    Hows it? asked Shen Wu.

    Su Jin had a grim look on his face as he replied, These arent monsters. Theyre just like us. Theyre owners, Handbook owners.

    Thats impossible, said Shen Wu immediately. Wait, are you saying there are owners whove transformed themselves into monsters before entering the Grave of the Gods? Thats ridiculous. Any other owners besides those at our level are courting death if theye in.

    Su Jin eyed Shen Wu, then said frostily, I did not say they transformed themselves. I said, theyre owners, just like us. Theyre Handbook owners too.

    Natasha got it first and rified, Mr. Su, are you saying that vampires, werewolves and mummies have also been chosen by the Handbook?

    Su Jin was silent for a moment before nodding slightly. I dont really know exactly whats going on, but these monster owners dont seem to belong to the same system as us. I had a peek at their Handbooks just now, and theyre pretty much the same as us, except that none of the words are in anguage that exists anywhere on Earth. I think theres more than one of Hells Handbook in the universe.

    Everyone had a look of disbelief on their faces and were about to argue some more when Su Jin said, Ive seen gods, a lot of them. Im the one who caused the mess that made the Handbook change so many rules. I was going through a Level A Challenge, but everything got messed up because an elder god interfered with the Challenge.

    During that Challenge, I ran into all sorts of gods. Gods that are human shaped are just a small group of gods, so Ive always guessed that Earth might be just one of the many ces that have been chosen by the Handbook, and that there are many, many other ces in the universe that are being controlled by the Handbook, except that they are popted by creatures from other races.

    Su Jin made all of them pause. They realized that they all had indeede in contact with elder gods and even current gods. It was true that human shaped gods formed a very small portion of the gods they hade in contact with, while therge majority were actually all sorts of creatures. They hadnt given it much thought before, but Su Jins words had enlightened them. Humans were only a small poption of owners, and only formed one of the many ces selected by the Handbook!

    Durand couldnt help but lick his lips. If that was really the case, he could already foresee a war between races in the future.

 Chapter 359

    Chapter 359

    What was a god? Initially, gods were something that represented a being that possessed greater powers than ordinary humans, a being that was not constrained by the limits of mortality.

    Because humans were fragile, most of their hopes of bing a god remained just something in their minds. But when they put these thoughts together and created a god ording to what they wanted, that was a manifestation of what they really wanted out of life.

    But for Handbook owners, godhood was merely the next stage they would evolve into and they kept doing everything it took to reach this next stage. They didnt know how many would seed, but they knew that some would. Even if they couldnt be gods, they would witness its possibility.

    All of this was based on the idea that humans were the only intelligent race in the universe, the only group that had been chosen by the Handbook to go on this journey of evolution. But Su Jins spection had shattered this basis. Humans were not special at all. They had not been specially chosen and were not the favorite child. They were just one of many children, and might even be one of the most insignificant ones.

    For powerful characters like Su Jin and his team, they were going to be gods because they were confident that they could. If they didnt even have the confidence to be a god, they would have been eliminated right from the start.

    In the future we might have to set aside any grudges we have with one another, said Durand.

    Shen Wu threw Su Jin a nce and let out a snort. Su Jin snorted back. There were some feuds that could not be put aside permanently, but they did not mind making use of each other as long as they had the same goal.

    This is a chance to be a god, so the Grave of the Gods is a Challenge open to every Handbook in the universe. Any race picked by the Handbook will gather in this ce, and the chance to be a god is this what the Demon Lord and the rest were talking about? That one has to go through much bloodshed in order to be a god? murmured Su Jin to himself.

    Bing a god was very difficult, and now, it seemed like it was impossible to do it by yourself. Every person needed a strong team to increase their overall ability. Perhaps a really powerful lone ranger stood a chance, but that was definitely a very small chance.

    And since they had to get into teams, then most would naturally choose to form teams with those from their own race. This was an odd opinion that was embedded deeply in every living creatures genes. It wasmon for people to believe that those from a different race would not be of the same mind. If the battle was restricted to Earth, then a different race would refer to groups from either different countries or of different skin color. But if the battle was extended to the entire universe, then different races would refer to different lifeforms.

    Humans should join forces with one another. If we can be gods, we should be happy to help fellow human owners, Durand said to the group.

    They knew what Durand was talking about. He was talking about the fight between the elder gods, current gods, and new gods.

    Gods were split into these three categories. In other words, gods went through a recement process. The newer gods would rece the older gods, then get reced by even newer gods. Once they became the newest generation of gods, they would need allies. Choosing allies from the same kind would naturally be the best choice, because everyone had simr experiences. Joining forces was certain.

    And when a new generation of gods starts leading the world, gods from different races would definitely fight each other. Gods had disputes too, including how many believed in them, resources, territories, and so on. In order to get as much benefit as possible, helping your own kind to be new gods was the best action to take.

    Su Jin started to feel a little lost. He wanted to be a god purely to revive Ye Yun and his other dead teammates, and didnt think too much about other implications, so he also did not think it was necessary for him to be allies with Shen Wu and the rest. Besides, after what happened to Ye Yun, Su Jin didnt intend to be friends with Shen Wu at all. This was a man who only cared about himself, so he was the sort of ally who would betray his friends for his own benefit.

    While they were still thinking about the fact that there were owners of different races from their own, the team of monster owners had already headed for the third story and had entered it without hesitation.

    Oscar immediately moved the entire group to the edge of the third floor, and they were shocked by what they saw again. In front of them was not the floor of a building, but several volcanoes covered in moltenva.

    Lava flowed everywhere, and the ground was covered entirely by the red hot moltenva. It looked like a scene from the apocalypse. The strong smell of sulfur made all of them frown.

    The team of monster owners were nowhere to be seen. Natasha suddenly pointed at the most majestic volcano among the volcanoes and said, I think we should head to that one!

    The rest nodded in agreement. That volcano was way bigger than the rest. It was at least ten timesrger than a regr volcano and it looked like it went all the way up into the sky.

    Its too far, I cant remain in shadow form for that long, plus high temperatures affect my Spirit Power a lot. It will distort my shadows dimensions, said Oscar to the rest. It was not possible for him to continue hiding them in his shadow to get to that volcano. It was too far.

    Su Jin turned to look at Shen Wu and said, Dont we have a walking ice machine here? This is no problem for you, right?

    Shen Wu snorted as he stepped straight onto theva of the third story. But before theva could burn him, it had be as cold as a rock. Shen Wus Spirit Power was the ability to control temperatures, and the heat of theva was clearly within his control.

    Come with me, said Shen Wu very coolly as he led the way. The other four followed behind him and they made their way to the volcano really quickly, because any scorching heat from theva around them was also made cooler by Shen Wu, so they were not affected at all.

    Meanwhile, a new team of five had arrived on the first floor. The leader was a woman wearing a veil, and the other four were of different shapes and sizes. Only one of them was human like her, while the other three were mythical creatures.

    Humph, we were sealed up back then, and now weve been revived at a time when new gods have arisen. Do those idiots really think they can do whatever they like now? Theyre just a bunch of new owners. I cant believe they can handle it, said the man with contempt.

    But the woman sighed quietly and said, Jing Hua, you were one of the strongest owners back in your day, but this era the new owners are no weaker than the four of you. If you underestimate them, you will stand to lose out. Also, I think you should know that the wheels of time are controlled by the Handbook. Once it has decided it is time for a new era, nobody can stop it from happening. Even if a god dares to stand in front of that wheel, the wheel will keep rolling and crush that god to smithereens.

    Youre different from us. Youre one who will never die no matter what happens. Why do you still want to go through these dangers with us? a woman with phoenix wings on her back suddenly asked.

    The woman fell silent for a moment, then shook her head as she said, You dont understand. Not being able to die is not necessarily a good thing. Ive gone through round after round of reincarnation and Ive always had to go through this journey alone. Im very tired of it. This time, I think I have the motivation to do this.

    As she spoke, the psychokic eyeball that had attacked Su Jins team earlier suddenly appeared. It discovered the five person team immediately and shot out a whiteser beam.

    Jing Huas eyes glinted frostily as he flung a white crystal into the air. The crystal exploded and transformed into a gigantic creature that grabbed hold of the eyeball and crushed it.

    Its a ce they passed through before, so theyre really familiar with it, said Jing Hua with a snort. He was clearly very displeased with those who had made theme here.

    Jing Hua why bother getting so angry? They stole our right to be gods, but that didnt turn out to be a bad thing for us. At the very least, if we be gods now, wed be new gods. We wouldnt have to constantly live in fear of being killed or sealed away by new gods, said another team member. He had a dogs head, an extremely muscr body, and a giant sword on his back that would require two hands to hold.

    Jing Hua eyed him, then snorted, Do you think theyd let us be new gods so easily? I dare say that even if we be gods, we wont be able to escape them. From the beginning of thest era we were already ants in their hands. We cant fly, and we wont be able to escape!

    His words made everyones expression shift slightly. Only the woman in a veil did not speak as she kept walking. The group did not care for the pure energy liquid at all and headed for the second floor.

    When they got to the second floor, the ghosts immediately rushed at them, causing the team to have looks of horror. Only the woman in a veil waspletely unbothered as she continued to move through the second story.

 Chapter 360

    Chapter 360

    The woman in a veil was not bothered at all by the ghosts before her. She kept walking and allowed the ghosts to pounce at her, while her fourpanions did not seem worried about her at all.

    Just when those ghosts were about to strike her, countless shadows surged from her back. Upon closer inspection, those shadows were really arms that resembled wings as they stretched out from inside her body.

    The arms pulled all the ghostsing toward the woman into the wings, which was followed by the sound of howls and screams from the ghosts, before everything quieted down again.

    Impressive. Youre someone with the powers of the primordial deities after all. Not even god level ghosts can do anything to you, remarked Jing Hua. He was both shocked and uneasy about how powerful this woman was.

    Whats the point of having powers? the woman suddenly stopped and asked Jing Hua.

    Whats the point? Its to be strong, to be unbeatable, to make others shudder in fear, replied Jing Hua without hesitation.

    But she shook her head and sighed as she said, Those are just some of the things thate with having powers. The point of having powers is to protect. It could be to protect yourself, or to protect someone else. Thats the true meaning of having powers.

    But in my case my powers were gained at the expense of the deaths of my own race. Whats the point in having powers like that? She seemed depressed as she stopped talking and started walking again, allowing the ghosts toe near her because they were all turned to nothing but smoke.

    With the woman in a veil leading the way, the second story did not pose any danger to the group and they made their way through easily. Toward the end, thest of the ghosts sensed that this woman was dangerous and stopped trying to attack her.

    Meanwhile, back on the third story, Su Jin and his team followed behind Shen Wu and quickly ran into the team of monster owners again. But this time, they were already dead. Their bodies were floating in theva and slowly being burned to ashes.

    A team that was around the same level as us has been ughtered just like that? Oscar couldnt help but make thisment. This team of monster owners was definitely no weaklings. Any team that could get through the stone statues at the front door and walk through the second story without any issue could not be a weak team. Yet, they had all died here, leaving behind nothing but their lifeless bodies.

    They made it this far, though. So, they must have had some way to get across this terrain, right? said Natasha.

    Su Jin squatted down to look at the body of the monster closest to him. Half of the body had holes in it, and its bones had clearly been broken by some strong force. Su Jins eyes immediately widened as he said to the team, They died from getting hit by something. Theres something dangerous around here.

    Immediately after he said those words, theva nearby suddenly started boiling and a gigantic man made fromva appeared before them, raining a dense spray of fireballs at them.

    Humph! Shen Wu snorted as the fireballs were extinguished in mid air and no longer carried any heat. But while the mes were extinguished, the rocks that were surrounded by the now extinguished mes were stilling at them like grenades.

    Roar! Natasha let out an angry growl as she instantly transformed into dragon. Her giant wings helped to protect the rest from the flying rocks.

    Even as she did so, she howled sadly as her body kept moving downward. The velocity of those rocks was extremely high, and the force of theirnding made it hard for even Natasha to hold up. Some of the rocks even made holes in several parts of her dragon wings. No wonder those monster owners ended up dying here.

    Natasha, let me step on you! shouted Su Jin.

    Natasha raised her wings a little to give Su Jin enough space to leap out and jump onto her head.

    He pressed his hands down hard on her head and silver armor appeared around her body with a loud hum. This was armor made from Su Jins psychokinesis, and while it was easier to createpared to a mecha, it still consumed a lot of psychokinesis.

    Everyone, hurry up and defeat that thing! yelled Su Jin.

    With the psychokinesis armor in ce, Natasha no longer feared the rocks and flew toward theva giant. Shen Wu used his powers to surround her with ayer of frost to protect her.

    Natasha smashed hard into theva giant, her dragon ws tearing one of its arms off. Su Jin stretched his arms out and used his psychokinesis to give her an extra pair of psychokinesis dragon ws.

    His psychokinesis ws held onto the giants head, while Natasha turned to whip her tail against the giants neck to lop the giants head off.

    Lets go! Durand leaped toward the giant as he yelled at Shen Wu, Give me some frosty armor too!

    Got it! replied Shen Wu.

    Durand leaped into the giant from its open neck and began attacking the giant from its insides. As Su Jin, Natasha, and Durand joined forces to attack the giant, it began to lose strength and copsed back into theva.

    But immediately after it hit theva, the giant began to recuperate rapidly. Su Jin noticed this and said, Weve got to separate the giant from theva, or it will be able to revive itself again and again!

    Leave that to me! yelled Oscar after remaining on the sidelines. His body turned into a shadow that wrapped itself around the giant.

    The shadowyyer separated the giant from theva, but Oscar couldnt do this for too long. His Spirit Power was very adversely affected by high temperatures.

    Time to die! Shen Wu leaped into the shadow and used his Spirit Power to put out all the mes on the giant and force its temperature to go down very quickly. In less than a minute, the giant had lost all signs of life and became an icy rock.

    Boom! Durand burst out from the giants stomach and Natasha smashed her w against the giant, turning it into powder.

    Oscar immediately reverted to human form. Being a shadow that covered such arge area had been tough on him, especially since it was simply too hot here. The extremely high temperature had really affected Oscar badly.

    The five of them had managed to kill the giant in about three minutes. It seemed easy, but that was only because the five of them had managed to coordinate their attacks really well. If just one of them failed in any way, they could end up all dead like that team of monster owners.

    The giant couldnt rise up again because it had been smashed to smithereens, but Su Jin had a bad feeling that this giant wasnt the only enemy on this floor. They had to hurry toward the volcano they saw earlier.

    Its not safe to stay here, so wed better hurry along, Su Jin called out to the team. He pulled Natasha, who had reverted to human form, to her feet, then continued walking.

    Their expressions were grim, because while they hadnt lost anyone thus far, they were almost reaching the limits of their powers. If this went on, they feared that at least one of them might not survive the Challenge.

    Durands body had sustained a lot of burns, since Shen Wus frosty armor did not seem very useful against the inside of the giants body. But his immortal body could recover very quickly, so the burns scabbed over almost immediately, then the scabs fell off to reveal smooth skin again.

    The three of you have energy types of Spirit Power, so youve used up a lot of it thus far, havent you? Are you guys still alright? asked Durand.

    Su Jin frowned. Durand was asking probably because he had used up a lot of his Spirit Power. His body could recover from fatal injuries, so it was often described as an immortal one, but it wasnt true that Durand could not die.

    I can go through one more such battle, but I still have that pill from Oscar, so I think Ill be fine, said Shen Wu first. His Spirit Power was not energy based. It was a technique to control the environment, so it did not consume as much as it seemed.

    They all turned to look at Su Jin and Oscar. These two were the ones with energy based Spirit Powers.

 Chapter 361

    Chapter 361

    Oscar spoke up first, Im good. As long as we dont find ourselves in a ce thats so hot, Ill be fine for a few more days. Shifting shadows about doesnt consume a lot.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, shook his head a little sadly as he said, Ive used a little more than half, of which creating the armor for Natasha in dragon form consumed the most, while my own dragon ws didnt take up much. But I can handle another battle like that one more time.

    He now found the fact that his psychokinesis had been sealed up a very troublesome thing. If it wasnt sealed up, he could handle another ten more of such battles without any issue. More importantly, he was only able to execute certain techniques if there was more avable.

    Everyones doing better than I thought then, said Durand with a smile. But his smile didnt exude any happiness.

    As they talked, they continued walking. To y safe, Su Jin covered a 500-meter radius around them with his psychokinesis. Theva giant had suddenly risen because they hade within about 300 meters of it. Su Jin felt that this was the distance that would activate these monsters, so he added another 200 meters on top of that.

    His method was eventually proven to be a good one. He detected several lifeforms that resembled theva giant, and the closer they came to the lifeform, the more active the lifeforms would be. Su Jin directed Shen Wu around these areas, so they didnt run into anotherva giant, which gave everyone time to catch their breath.

    Meanwhile, the woman in a veil had led the team to the third story. A look of nostalgia appeared in her eyes when she saw theva-filled third story.

    I heard that a faction of the primordial deities were turned intova giants. Is that true? the woman with phoenix wings asked the woman in a veil.

    The woman in a veil nodded slightly and said, At the end of the first cycle, the primordial deities tried several methods in order to survive. Bingva giants was only one of those ways. In fact, all of you have the genes of primordial deities to a certain extent. You could say that every living creature in the universe has been created based on the genes of primordial deities.

    Including flies and mosquitoes? asked Jing Hua jokingly.

    But the woman in a veil nodded and said seriously, Of course. Not all living creatures are the same, because they have differing amounts of primordial deity genes in their bodies.

    Jing Huas expression fell. He didnt want to admit that his practically perfect body shared the same original genes as flies and mosquitoes.

    Phoenix, Ill leave this ce to you, the woman in a veil said to the woman with phoenix wings.

    Phoenix nodded and took the first step onto theva covering the third story. But not only was she unhurt by theva, the wings on her back glowed more brightly and brilliantly before they suddenly grew by almost 50 meters.

    Hop on! said Phoenix to the rest. She lowered her wings slowly and allowed herself to be used as a mode of transportation.

    The four split into two pairs, one pair on each wing. Phoenixs wings lifted once they were securely on her wings, like two fiery clouds.

    She loved theva very much, since she was born out of mes. The stronger the mes, the more precious. If she were given mes strong enough, she could use that alone to be a god.

    But after she had walked a few kilometers, theva began to boil and ava giant suddenly emerged. Everyones hearts trembled because they could sense how powerful theva giant was.

    The woman in a veil motioned to the rest to remain calm, then stretched a hand toward theva giant. The agitatedva giant suddenly stopped moving, and looked at her as though it was wondering why this tiny creature felt so dear to it.

    Im sorry I failed in the end The woman in a veils face was covered in tears. Even the other four with her could feel her sadness clearly.

    Theva giant suddenly began to panic and felt equally terrible as it watched the woman cry. It reached a hand toward her face to wipe her tears away, but drew back immediately. It didnt know why, but it sensed that doing that would hurt this tiny, precious creature.

    Im sorry, Im Im really sorry! murmured the woman in a veil as the shadow hands surged out of her back again and grabbed hold of theva giant.

    Theva giant did not fight back and allowed the shadow hands to pull it into its fold. Its gaze was filled with tenderness toward her.

    After theva giant disappeared into her shadow wings, she fell to her knees on Phoenixs wing and allowed her tears to flow freely. The rest didnt know what to say, so they could only watch her release her pain in silence.

    Theva giant and the woman in a veil were truly of the same race. Everyva giant was once a primordial deity who had tried to live on in the form of ava giant. But even though they managed to survive, they lost their memories as primordial deities.

    Are you going to kill them all? asked the man with a dogs head suddenly.

    The woman in a veil nodded slightly and said, Im sorry, this might take a bit of your time, but I really dont want my people to live like this anymore. Theyve already gone through so many cycles its time they wereid to rest.

    Tsk, thats not a problem to us. Its just that are you sure you can handle killing your own kinsfolk one by one like that? Jing Hua had a disdainful expression on his face, but he was actually worried for her.

    After so many rounds of reincarnation my heart has already be as tough as steel. The woman in a veil broke into a smile, then stood up as she pointed to somewhere in the distance, Phoenix, we need to head that way next, thank you.

    Got it. Phoenix nodded, then headed in that direction.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin and his team had finally arrived at the foot of the volcano. Unlike theva that covered the rest of the third story, there were actually signs of life here.

    Oh my goodness! Thats Dragon Fire Grass! And thats thats Phoenix Fire Grass! These are all top-grade fire element treasures. If one is training in fire rted techniques or has a fire element Spirit Power, this would be enough for them to be a god, wouldnt it? Oscar stared at the nts growing at the foot of the volcano in amazement.

    Are these very precious? asked Natasha.

    Shen Wu said expressionlessly, Of course. If you were able to transform into a fiery dragon instead of a jade one, then all this Dragon Fire Grass could make you a god now. One of mine stole a de of this grass before, and his ranking went from over a thousand to the top 500.

    Durand smiled and chimed in, These are indeed very precious. Ive seen the Phoenix Fire Grass in my points catalog before. They are Earth Grade items and they cost 20,000 points.

    Lets pick some then! Theyre growing wild anyway. Natasha got excited from their descriptions. These nts were as good as points! Each one costs tens of thousands of points.

    But a silver glint filled Su Jins eyes and he shook his head. Dont bother. These belong to someone else, so you cant pick them.

    Belong to someone else? How can that be? Natasha didnt believe him and reached for one of the nts. But just as her hand got close, the nt turned into a green mist that flew straight into the volcano.

    Gosh! Everyone got a shock, except for Su Jin, who had already predicted something like this would happen.

    Whats going on with that? Durand turned to ask Su Jin.

    Su Jin pointed to the bottom of the nts and said, You cant see it with your naked eye, but my psychokinesis can detect it. There is a magic circle set up below each nt. Once someonees too close, the nts will be teleported elsewhere.

    Does that mean that theres a sentient being inside the volcano? asked Natasha uneasily.

    Su Jin wished it wasnt true, but he had no choice but to nod as he sighed and said, Based on what I can see so far, thats probably the case. Everyone still needs to be very careful. This ce still seems safe for now, so I would suggest that we rest here for a while.

    They nodded in agreement. Just then, the volcano suddenly spewedva, and several burned corpses came flowing out with it.

 Chapter 362

    Chapter 362

    Theva spewing from the volcano was filled with dead bodies that were all charred and burned, like a burned piece of pork. Some didnt even have any skin or flesh left, leaving only crystal clear bones. These victims physical bodies had clearly reached a very advanced stage of refinement, or they wouldnt have had such bones.

    Whats going on?! eximed Oscar in horror.

    Su Jin immediately scanned the area with his psychokinesis. He wanted to check if there was anything useful among the bodies, or if there were any survivors.

    The other four could see the silver glint in Su Jins eyes and knew that he was using his psychokinesis to scan the ce, so they kept quiet and waited for him to finish scanning.

    I got something! Shen Wu, nine o clock, bring that fellow back here! Su Jinmanded Shen Wu.

    Fine, Ill listen to you for now, snapped Shen Wu as the view of what was happening in that direction appeared in his mind and he rushed over immediately. There was a lot ofva over there, so he was the only one who could possibly get in there ande back safely.

    You? Shen Wu waded through theva and found an area where theva was boiling. He reached out and picked a ck lump out of it.

    Shen Wu brought the lump back in no time and threw it at Su Jin as he snapped, You want this thing? Whatever for?

    Su Jin ignored Shen Wus annoyed questioning, his heart thumping nervously as he squatted down and ced a hand on that ck lump. He held on and didnt care that theva was burning his hand.

    My friend, I know youre feeling indignant. Tell me what happened to you, murmured Su Jin as his palm gave off a silvery glow. The ck lump gave off a brilliant silvery glow, as though it was responding to Su Jin.

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    This thing has psychokinesis too! eximed Natasha in surprise.

    A rather unclear image appeared in Su Jins mind a momentter, but it was definitely the inside of the volcano. There were many others inside too, but one white dot stood in the middle and sniggered as though it was mocking the one staring at it. Then,va gushed out and almost everyone inside was covered inva. This psychokic lump did not manage to escape this fate.

    After that, it remained trapped inside the volcano for several days before it was finally spewed out, then it was found by Su Jin.

    Su Jin let go of the ck lump and narrowed his eyes slightly as he sighed heavily. He waved his hand and a silvery glow tore the ck lump apart, and the pieces flew away.

    How did it go? Durand asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin sighed and said, Like me, this fellow had formidable levels of psychokinesis. So formidable that if we were to fight it out, itd be hard to foresee who would lose.

    The rest looked rather surprised. Psychokinesis was a power that was the most difficult to develop, and the fact that Su Jin and Xu Ran got this far was already a miracle among miracles. They didnt expect to find other owners who could match their level. The other Handbook worlds had way more high-level owners than they realized.

    Did you get any information? asked Natasha curiously.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, I got some, but its not much. It seems theres a very powerful being inside the volcano and hes in charge of testing every person who enters the Grave of the Gods. Only those who pass the test can move on. Those who fail will end up like that ck lump, dying from theva before getting spewed out.

    So that powerful thing didnt make it? Natasha was very shocked.

    Su Jin nodded and said, Yup. He failed pretty miserably. The others with him failed and died too. They were apparently the most highly ranked owners of their world, and they all perished.

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    This information made everyone feel rather anxious. They were the most highly ranked owners of their own world, but if the entire universe consisted of other worlds with their own Handbook system, then it wasnt strange to find beings more powerful than themselves among these non-human creatures. Yet, a formidable owner that was on par with Su Jin had perished, along with everyone else who came with it. That was not encouraging at all.

    Feeling scared now? If you are, you can wait here for me to be a god and bring you back! said Shen Wu confidently as he stared disdainfully at the rest of the group.

    Gosh, youre not a likeable character at all, remarked Durand with a sigh. Each of them led a faction of sorts in their own worlds, but Shen Wu had the worst reputation among them because of that organization of robbers he led. This was a man with an audacious, obsessive, and egoistic personality. The group simply couldnt understand how someone who embodied all sorts of terrible characteristics could have made it this far.

    Scared? Not even death can stop me, never mind a mere test! said Durand in an annoyed voice as he started marching toward the top of the volcano.

    Young man, Ill be the one saving you, not the other way round, said Natasha as she walked up to Shen Wu, tapped him cheekily on the head, and made her way toward the top of the volcano as well.

    Im the one wholl be a god, mark my words, said Oscar as he rolled his eyes and followed behind Natasha. Only Su Jin and Shen Wu were left.

    Youre not going to say anything? asked Shen Wu with a smirk as he threw Su Jin a nce.

    Su Jin frowned and said, Even if the whole thing with Ye Yun didnt happen, both of us would still never be friends. But we ought to help one another now. He started making his way up the volcano as well, and Shen Wu followed behind him with no expression on his face.

    The road to the top of the volcano was a lot safer, as though it was meant to let the climbers catch their breath. But that made everyone feel even more uneasy.

    After walking for about half a day, they realized that they were still a long way off from the peak. The volcano was simply too huge. The ash spewing out from inside formed thickyers that resembled rainclouds. At the same time, the ash falling from the sky looked like ck snow.

    Argh, this is so troublesome! Everyone, get on my back, Ill fly you guys up. Natasha was getting impatient, so she transformed into a dragon after saying that to the rest of the group.

    Thanks! said Durand with a big smile. He was happy to save as much energy as he could. They all hopped onto Natashas back, and she soared into the sky.

    But when she reached less than a hundred meters from the ground, a white light began shing nonstop among the clouds of ash, and Su Jin had a bad feeling about it.

    As Natasha continued ascending, Su Jin kept his eye on the shing white light. He noticed that the higher she flew, the more brilliant the light became.

    Natasha, stop! Stop going higher up! Su Jin shouted to Natasha. There was something really off about that white light. He had a feeling that it would strike them like a bolt of lightning if they kept going up.

    But she was ascending too quickly, so his voice was lost in the wind, and Natasha couldnt hear him at all. He decided tomunicate with her via psychokinesis, but before he could do that, the white light suddenly came crashing down on them.

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    So, instead of using his psychokinesis to talk to Natasha, he sent out even more to form a wall over Natashas head, which shattered instantly as the white light hit it.

    Su Jini vomited blood, but it wasnt because he was badly injured, but because he had suffered quite the shock. The rest finally noticed the white light.

    Oscar, hide us in a shadow! Durand shouted at Oscar.

    But Oscar paled as he shook his head and said, I cant just make a shadow appear in mid air like this! I need an object to create a shadow!

    Immediately after he said that, the white light came crashing down again. It hit all of them before they even got the chance to hop off Natasha.

 Chapter 363

    Chapter 363

    When the white light hit them, the group felt like their bodies were about to explode, then they fell from the sky. Natasha was forcibly transformed back to human form.

    The five of them fell andnded in different ces. Su Jin had already suffered a blow earlier, and this freefall only made things worse. He thought of using his psychokinesis to help him float, but when he tried, a tremendous force weighed on him, as though the white light was able to curb all use of Spirit Power. The pressure and the impact as hended on the ground caused him to faint immediately.

    Their predicament did not go unseen. The woman in a veil and herpanions who were still killing theva giants one by one on the third story saw it. Then again, the brilliant white light striking the group in mid air was simply too bright to be missed. Moreover, Natasha in dragon form was humongous, so one could still spot her despite howrge the volcano was.

    What just happened? Jing Hua frowned as he looked into the distance. Themotion clearly bothered him as he ced a hand at his belt where he kept his sword.

    The Ten Thousand Year Mountain has a special rule  all who wish to ascend to the peak must walk their way up. If anyone tries to take a shortcut, like use their ability to fly or teleport, the mountain will bring down a bolt of celestial lightning to punish them, exined the woman in a veil.

    Will it kill the person? asked the man with a dogs head.

    The woman in a veil shook her head and said, It wont kill you the first time, since its only a warning and a punishment. But if you try again, then youll definitely die, unless youre a deity.

    Its just a bolt of celestial lightning. Surely there are many with Spirit Powers that can dodge that attack, no? asked Phoenix curiously.

    But the woman in a veil shook her head again and said, No, that celestial lightning bolt is actually called the Spirit Quelling Lightning Bolt. It doesnt matter how amazing your Spirit Power is. Your Spirit Power will not work against that lightning bolt at all. So, when we go up the mountainter, make sure you dont do anything that could break the rule. Otherwise youre responsible for your own deaths.

    As she spoke, the woman in a veil killed thestva giant she could find. The shadow hands from her back pulled it into its fold and it disappearedpletely. She wiped away the tears on her face and said to the rest of them, Come along, were going up the Ten Thousand Year Mountain too.

    It didnt take them long to get to the foot of the mountain. None of them dared to go against her instructions and use any powers, so they had no choice but to continue solely on foot. The good part was, all of them were elites among owners and were incredibly strong. They could climb ten of these mountains if they had to without any problem. It would just take a little longer than if they were allowed to use other methods.

    Thats a Phoenix Fire Flower! Phoenix stared in surprise at one of the flowers. That was a precious item to her. She was named Phoenix precisely because she had phoenix blood running through her veins. These nts were very suitable for her.

    The woman in a veil turned to look as well, then shook her head at Phoenix as she said, Dont bother, its not yours, and you cant get it anyway.

    Why not? Phoenix wasnt going to give up so easily. These nts had the power to transform herpletely. She reached out to grab hold of one, but before she could touch it, the flower turned into a fiery beam that flew straight into the volcano.

    Like I said, its not yours and you cant get it. The woman in a veil sighed as she shook her head, then exined, Someone has specially nted these herbs here and has also marked them with a magic circle. If anyone else besides this person tries to pick the nts, the nts will fly straight into the volcano.

    A magic circle? Thats not something any ordinary person can create and use, said Jing Hua in shock.

    The woman in a veil nodded slightly and said, Of course. After all the God of Sins is a god too!

    The God of Sins? Everyone was rather curious about this, including the fifth person in the group who had remained silent all this time. He was a gnome who was half the height of a human and looked very timid as he held the hand of the man with a dog head throughout the journey.

    But the woman in a veil did not seem to want to exin this to them, and they couldnt force her to, so they just continued making their way up the mountain.

    They had walked for a long time when the gnome suddenly pointed at some grass nearby and said something to the man with a dogs head. The woman in a veil looked at him and he replied, Tiny says theres someone over there. A living person.

    A living person? Could it be one of the idiots who got struck by lightning just now? Jing Hua looked toward the grass with some interest and said to the gnome, Bring me there to take a look!

    But the gnome seemed very afraid of Jing Hua and immediately hid behind the man with a dogs head. Jing Hua grumbled, Hey! Am I that scary?

    Phoenix pulled Jing Hua away and said, Hey, thats quite enough! Tiny is very timid in the first ce and hes afraid of everybody besides the Dog God. You know that!

    The Dog God red at Jing Hua, making Jing Hua scratch his head awkwardly as he said, Im not trying to bully him. But hes really too timid for his own good. How is he going to be a god like that?

    Humph! Once Tiny gets himself into battle mode, not even someone like you might be able to defeat him. He just needs the right opportunity and hell definitely be a god, snapped the Dog God.

    Meanwhile, the woman in a veil had already made her way toward the grass patch that Tiny had pointed to by herself. She soon saw the person lying unconscious in the grass and she froze when she saw who it was.

    The one lying in the grass was none other than Su Jin. His eyes were shut, and his entire body was limp, but he wasnt badly hurt and would regain consciousness soon.

    Her body trembled slightly as tears rolled down her cheeks again, and she reached out to wipe the ash on his face away.

    I didnt expect us to meet again so quickly. But you shouldnt havee here. Someone like you would have had an easier way to be a god. Even if a new cyclees, you wouldnt have any trouble well definitely meet again in the new cycle. Her eyes were red as she murmured in a self-deprecating voice, Looks like Ive cried too much today and Ive finally run out of tears. Or is it becauseseeing you gives me more joy than grief? More than all the grief from the countless cycles Ive been through?

    Su Jin! Su Jin, are you still alive?

    Mr. Su, if you can hear me, please respond!

    Mr. Su, where are you?

    Su Jin! Are you dead yet? I bet youre dead! Thats great!

    Just then, several voices resounded from afar.

    When the woman in a veil heard those voices, she got up slowly and smiled as she said to Su Jin, Our reunion was short, but thank you this is probably the best thing thats happened since I was reborn!

    She bowed slightly toward him, then walked away just before Shen Wu and the rest of the team got to him. Su Jin could hear the voices of the team and had begun to regain consciousness. His eyes opened slowly, and he vaguely spotted a familiar back view walking away.

    Mai Su Jin uttered hoarsely.

    The woman in a veil shuddered slightly, but she did not turn back and kept walking, disappearing into the distance quickly as though Su Jin had merely been hallucinating.

    Su Jin pped himself on the cheek, and the pain helped his foggy mind gain rity. But the woman in the veil was nowhere to be seen, and he couldnt find her no matter how he tried to search for her.

    Was that just a hallucination Su Jin was in a daze as he stared at where hest saw her.

    Damn, hes still alive! How disappointing, resounded Shen Wus voice from afar. He stared at Su Jin with an annoyed look on his face, as though he was really upset that Su Jin hadnt died from the fall.

    But Su Jin was still in a daze, so Oscar said, Did he hurt his head or something?

    Im alright! Su Jin shook his head and turned to look at them. Is everyone okay?

    Of course were fine! If we didnt have to look for you, we might have reached the peak of the mountain by now, Shen Wu grumbled. He had a feud to eventually settle with Su Jin, so he didnt think it was necessary to be too polite with him.

    Su Jin wasnt bothered by Shen Wus poor attitude toward him and said, Im d everyones alright. Lets keep going.

    As the group continued their journey to the peak, the woman in a veil covered her team within the wings made from the shadow hands in her back. Jing Hua asked curiously, You know him?

    Hes just a friend, said the woman in a veil in a low voice.

 Chapter 364

    Chapter 364

    This time, the group had learned their lesson. They knew that white light wouldnt strike them for no reason. Regardless of whether they thought the white light was trying to restrict them or there was some other reason, it definitely had something to do with the fact that they had flown earlier on.

    That white light was a real nasty one! After it hit me, I was no longer able to use my Spirit Power, grumbled Oscar. He thought that he could use his own shadow on the ground to catch himself when hended, but that totally didnt happen. He couldnt use his Spirit Power at all when the white light hit him and crashednded on a rocky patch. If his body hadnt gone through extra strengthening on the first floor, this crash might have injured him very severely.

    I feel like that white light is a warning of sorts. Thankfully were all okay, otherwise itd be such a waste if we lost a member because of something like that, remarked Durand as well. He was still concerned about that white light.

    Im sorry, its my fault, Natasha apologized.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, Its not your fault. Anybody in the same situation would have thought of doing the same thing. Now that we know such methods dont work, well better just stick to walking.

    The group took almost two days to finally arrive at the peak. The heat wave from the spewingva was enough to turn all of them into human jerky, and the actualva inside the volcano was even worse.

    What do we do now? asked Oscar. They had reached the peak, but what were they supposed to do next?

    Go in, of course. Those who went through the test were spewed out from the inside of the volcano, so we dont have a choice, said Su Jin in a matter-of-fact voice.

    We have to go in, thats pretty obvious. But how? Just jump in? Not even Shen Wu would be able to protect us from this much heat, right? said Durand as he frowned.

    Shen Wu was frowning too as he gave a direct answer, No, I cant. Theva keepsing up from the bottom of the volcano and the temperature just keeps rising. I cant handle this. My Spirit Power has a limit, but this volcano doesnt seem to have one.

    Su Jin used his psychokinesis to scan the volcano, and he found a path in no time. It was a spiral passageway along the face of the volcano, and they could get to the bottom if they followed this path.

    This way! Su Jin called out to them, then walked in first. The heat hit them immediately as they walked in, and even though they were able to withstand the heat, Shen Wu still made use of his Spirit Power to make the temperature more bearable.

    Its better for just one person to expend some energy than for the heat to sap the energy out of every person here, said Shen Wu.

    They nodded in agreement. Tiring themselves out from the heat along this path was a foolish decision, especially since they had someone who could control temperature with them. This was a tough Challenge, so they had to keep their bodies in their best condition at all times so that they could handle any emergency situations that came their way.

    Walking downward was much easier than climbing, but they did not move too quickly because they had to be wary of dangers that might appear any moment. Su Jin was not stingy with his psychokinesis, so his job wasnt any easier than Shen Wus. The scene before them shocked them greatly. Theva in the volcano would spray upward from time to time, but it would nevernd inside the spiral pathway they were on. It was as if there was a giant, transparent wall around them to keep theva out. If not for that, theva spraying would have posed a terrible threat to them.

    These Halfway down, their path was blocked by a pile of bones. These bones didnt look like they had been burned, since any flesh left on them was still fresh. It looked more like the flesh had been eaten by something.

    Just when they were still puzzled by this, Su Jin suddenly turned to look toward theva. Theva shook, and a fiery fox leaped out andnded in front of them.

    Both sides stared at one another for a while. Nobody in the group dared to look down on this fiery fox, even though it looked very cute. This creature was definitely something that could gobble you up and leave no traces behind.

    The fiery fox suddenly smiled strangely at them. The mes around its body engulfed it, and the team immediately got ready for a fight. But the fox didnt attack them. The mes only engulfed the fox for a while before disappearingpletely. An elegant man in red now stood before them, except that he had a pair of fox ears.

    Wee, pioneers of the new cycle. You will be tested in this ce, and those who pass will have the chance to be a god. Just the chance. But dont worry, even if you dont be a god here, you will still have the chance to do so after you return to your own worlds. But if you dont pass the test, you will definitely die. So, now, I will give you an opportunity to make a choice. If youre not confident, you may return right now, the man with fox ears said to the five of them.

    The team exchanged nces. None of them wanted to return. They hade this far precisely because they wanted to be a god. The chance to be one was right before them. There was no way anyone was giving up at this juncture.

    Are you sure none of you want to back out? the man asked again. All five of them shook their heads to show that they werent going to back out.

    The man smiled faintly, then pped his hands as he said, Very good, very good! I nearly panicked just now, because if you chose to back out, then those fellows behind you are proof of what would have happened to you. He pointed to the bones on the ground.

    Everyone raised an eyebrow. This was one nasty character. But they believed what he said. Every creature in this building was scarier than thest. If a fox said he could kill them, he was definitely able to.

    Alright now,e with me! The man waved an arm, and a path appeared in the middle of theva.

    Wait! Su Jin piped up suddenly.

    The man paused, then turned to grin at Su Jin before saying, What is it? You want to back out now? I dont mind letting you do that!

    No, Su Jin shook his head, then said quietly, you said something about us being from the new cycle. What what is this new cycle?

    The man was surprised by the question, but he smiled and said, This universe was originally a dot, and I call it the first beginning  its the first, and also the beginning! Centuries and generations cannot escape it, and each era is like a cycle, each millennia is like a cycle. What has passed is the old cycle, so what is toe will be the new cycle.

    A millennia is like a cycle, the old cycle has passed and a new cycle emerges elder gods, current gods, new gods is that the answer? Su Jins eye twitched, and the seal around the psychokinesis in his consciousness suddenly shattered. It wasnt because he had undone the seal himself, but it was because he had figured out what was going on with Hells Handbook. Or at least he understood it at a surface level, like finding the thread that could unravel a ball of yarn. It was just a matter of time before he figured everything else out.

    Once the seal was broken, the silver glow in Su Jins eyes became too bright for anyone to look directly at him. It slowly dimmed a few momentster because he was able to control this amount of psychokinesis without issue now. The Handbook would not throw him out anymore.

    Oh? Ive not seen someone gain enlightenment at such a time. The man stared at Su Jin curiously, but he quickly noticed something amiss. His eyes widened as he said, Wait a minute. This amount of psychokinesis whats going on with you? Someone with this much cant possibly exist!

    Su Jin did not exin himself. The amount of psychokinesis he had now was truly astonishing, but it was from the training and refinement in the long river of time he went through. Some might think that Su Jin was just lucky, but that period of time had not been easy for him at all. The grief, pain, helplessness, joy, and bliss he went through were very real. He had earned every bit of the psychokinesis he had now, so he didnt think he merely got lucky.

    Arent we supposed to be heading down that way? Lets go then, said Su Jin as he ignored the surprised man.

    The man was still really astonished, but he nodded in response and turned to walk down the path. Su Jin and the rest followed behind him.

    Once they walked past theva, they came to a giant cave. Compared to the volcano that was spewingva everywhere, this seemed like apletely different ce. It was cool and refreshing. Nobody would think this ce was actually in the heart of a volcano.

    Alright everyone! Let me introduce myself! They call me the God of Sins! said the man with a grin as he pointed to himself.

 Chapter 365

    Chapter 365

    The man with fox ears who had called himself the God of Sins stretched his arms wide. The yful look in his eyes became authoritative. So authoritative that all five of them subconsciously wanted to avoid his gaze.

    Dont avoid his gaze! If you do that, youll lose! Su Jins voice echoed inside their minds. They quickly understood and made sure to look straight at the man instead of avoiding eye contact.

    The God of Sins scanned each one of them, then looked a little curiously at Su Jin, Youre a strange fellow. Not even the rare ones who became gods through psychokinesis have such powerful levels of psychokinesis. Im looking forward to seeing how you do.

    Im looking forward to it too, Su Jin stared straight at the man. So what if this guy was a god? They were going to be gods in the future too. If they were to fear this god now, or hide from him, then how were they going to fight other gods in the war that was toe? Would they have to cover their eyes and fight for their lives? That would be ridiculous.

    The other four had figured this out as well, so they nodded slightly at Su Jin as a sign of their gratitude. Even Shen Wu gave Su Jin a nod. They had been in a really dangerous situation just now. If they had avoided the God of Sins gaze, they might have almost failed the test.

    The God of Sins observed them again, then said to Durand, A body that cannot die. Thats a pretty good ability to have. But if I were to smash you into bits as small as ash, would you still be able to revive?

    Durands expression faltered. He supposedly had a body that could not die, but it was impossible to actually possess such a body. Even deities did not dare to im they were immortal. Having a body that could not die was really just having a greater ability to recover from injuries and illnesspared to others, and there was a limit to it too. Just like what the God of Sins said, if he were to be crushed into extremely small pieces, he would not be able to revive himself. But those who knew that were very few, and those who could possibly do that to him were even fewer.

    The God of Sins then looked at Natasha and chortled, Jade Dragon? Youre just an extrarge scorpion. But youre good when ites to anything that requires strength, and your thick skin is good enough to defend against most attacks. Its just that you dont have a lot of space to develop further, so out of the entire group, your chance of bing a god is the smallest, unless you give up the ability to transform into a dragon!

    Natasha scowled at these remarks. The ability to turn into a jade dragon was something she was extremely proud of, yet this god made it sound so pathetic. At the same time, the guy was a real god, so she couldnt argue with him. Also, she knew what he meant by having little room for development. Her transformation was not very useful when it came to very difficult battles, since there were times she couldnt gain any advantage for herself, and was even an easier target due to herrge size.

    The God of Sins moved on to Oscar. He made a face and snorted, One who only knows how to hide in the shadows. You cant hide in ces where theres nothing but light. But at least you can transform your shadows into a lot of things, so as long as you pick the right path, you can achieve what you want.

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    Oscar frowned. His ability seemed magical with its many transformations, but there were actually a lot of limits. His ability had been curbed so many times since they started on this challenge. The stone statues outside the building had been able to ignore his ability and hurt him; theva was too hot, so he could not control his shadows well; the part where they fell out of the sky was the absolute worst because he couldnt even use his abilities. The God of Sins was not spouting rubbish at all.

    After thements about Oscar were done, Shen Wu turned to look at the God of Sins. He knew that the God of Sins wouldnt forget him. And just as he expected, the God of Sins took one look at Shen Wu and spat in a disgusted voice, The ability to control temperature? I hate powers like that! Heat is everything!

    Shen Wu was a little stunned. The God of Sins had made astute remarks about each persons powers, but when it came to his, the god just said he hated it for no good reason. That wasnt what he expected at all.

    After he was donementing on everyone, the God of Sins said calmly, Im not trying to pick on you guys. On the contrary, Im trying to help you. You might finally grasp what Im saying at the moment you get the opportunity to be a god.

    Thanks in advance, Su Jin chuckled. He stared with interest at the God of Sins and said, Dont mind me asking, but why are you called the God of Sins? Based on your title, I would assume youre either a god in charge of sins and punishment, or youre a god whosmitted a lot of sins.

    The God of Sins frowned, because he felt that this psychokic owner didnt seem afraid of him at all. He snapped, Young man, one ought to be fearful and filled with reverence before a god. If you continue being so arrogant, I might end up killing you before you even start the test! His index finger suddenly grew longer and resembled a sharp sword.

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    But Su Jin didnt seem bothered and said, Im afraid you cant do that. If my guess is right, the second description suits you better. Youre stuck here because youve done something terribly wrong, right? And all of us here is an atonement of sorts for you.

    Humph, you make it sound like youve guessed something right, spat the God of Sins with contempt.

    Su Jin tapped his nose and said, I heard a story once about a man who did something wrong and he was trapped somewhere to atone for his mistake. He had to repair fiss for the fishermen to make up for what he had done, and he had to repair more than 100,000s to atone fully for his sins.

    In other words, were like your fiss. Unless we fail the test, you cant do anything to us owners who might be new gods, right?

    The God of Sins twitched his mouth and said in a displeased voice, Humph! If you think so! But dont say I didnt warn you  if you guys dont pass the test, I will definitely tear all of you to pieces as a punishment for yourck of reverence!

    But Su Jin chuckled and said, If we were allowed to live even after failing the test, I might have regretted my actions. But in reality, if we fail, were definitely going to die, isnt it?

    Ha! You seem to understand that part really well! Cherish your time now! Once you fail, I swear I will shred you to pieces within just one millisecond! snapped the God of Sins through gritted teeth.

    Su Jin nodded. He already knew that failure would definitely result in death, so the God of Sins threat meant nothing to him. In fact, dying within one millisecond might actually be a blessing.

    The God of Sins waved his hand and fiverge doors appeared in front of the five owners. He said, These five doors will send you to different parts of the Grave of the Gods, so from now on, you have to fight on your own. Your mission is to get the gravestone of a god, and you will pass once you get it. Those who dont get it prepare to die!

    He then waved impatiently at them to hurry up and get out of his sight. The five of them exchanged nces for just a moment and then walked into the door closest to them. They didnt bother to pick and choose since it was pointless to strategize when they didnt even know whaty ahead of them.

    They disappeared once they walked through the door. The God of Sins scowled and muttered, Those with psychokinesis are so irritating. These people think they can see through everything, but theyre really just a bunch of egoistical, disgusting idiots!

    But his anger didntst long, and he calmed down again in no time. He murmured to himself, Forget it. The test is going to kill him soon. Once he fails the test, Ill get my chance to vent my frustrations.

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    Just when he was dreaming about this wonderful moment in the future, he sensed more people entering the volcano. He remarked with surprise, A new group of owners so fast? Looks like Im gonna have loads of fun today! Before he could walk out from his little private spot, several people came toward him.

    Youve actually managed to reach this ce by yourselves? Not bad, not bad. Wait, this aura A primordial deity? Theres actually a primordial deity whos still alive?! The God of Sins could hardly believe it, but the feeling that came from deep in the soul was very clear to someone like himself.

    God of Sins, long time no see. How have you been? said the woman in a veil quietly.

    Meanwhile, in a world that was filled with destruction, Su Jin travelled alone. This was a strange world, because it looked like an apocalyptic film from the days of ck and white TV. There were destroyed areas everywhere. Some were surrounded by deep, bottomless abysses, some floated in mid air.

    This is the real Grave of the Gods, murmured Su Jin to himself as he scanned his surroundings.

 Chapter 366

    Chapter 366

    The seal around Su Jins psychokinesis waspletely broken, and the sheer amount of psychokinesis was enough to shock even a god. To a certain extent, Su Jins situation wasnt quite normal. He had not be a god, yet he had powers equivalent to one. That was a paradox in itself.

    A silvery glow encapsted Su Jin, and he flew up to a giant area floating in the air. Besides the huge piece of barrennd around it, there was nothing else but a lonely grave. The gravestone on the grave was very eye-catching because it was glowing dimly.

    So easy? Su Jin was rather surprised. He had randomly hopped onto an area floating in the air and he had already found a gravestone?

    He walked toward the grave, and once he stood still, several scenes shed before his eyes. A muscr figure in gold armor was in all the scenes, and this figure was not human, or any creature he had ever seen before.

    The gold armored god was on a rampage and killed countless living creatures. But the living creatures it killed werent soldiers or warriors, but ordinary old and weak creatures. They could not fight back at all and could only howl and beg for mercy.

    After those images disappeared, Su Jin furrowed his brows. He could sense fury and hurt from the scenes, but the fury and hurt did note from the old and frail who were being massacred. It wasing from the gold armored god.

    Thats rather odd, Su Jin scratched his head. But when he looked at the gravestone, he realized something else was amiss. He was in the Grave of the Gods. Finding a gravestone wouldnt be very hard in such a ce.

    I knew it! That God of Sins was trying to hoodwink us! Su Jin shook his head. The mission was probably not to find a random gravestone, but to find one that belonged to a god with a simr Spirit Power or simr characteristics to themselves.

    If the gravestone they took did not meet the requirements, the God of Sins would probably smite them without hesitation. And since he realized this, he wasnt going to let the rest of his team make this mistake.

    Everyone, dont simply pick any gravestone you see. Youve got to find one that matches your characteristics and Spirit Power. Su Jin had left a trace of his psychokinesis on each of them, so while it was too hard to locate them in the vast graveyard, it was easy to send a message.

    But immediately after he sent that message, he suddenly felt the trace he left on the others disappearpletely. The Grave probably had its own way of dealing with those who had psychokinesis.

    The message should have been sent across, sighed Su Jin. Being able to send a message was not bad already, since gathering the team in this ce was clearly almost impossible.

    Just then, Su Jin suddenly sensed a murderous aura charging at him. The aura was so strong, it came at almost the same time as the attack itself.

    A ck beam cut through the air, and Su Jin immediately used his psychokinesis to create a shield in front of himself. But when the ck beam hit the shield, it shattered the shield!

    This power is very much like the Demon Lords! thought Su Jin as he moved aside swiftly and dodged the attack. He sensed that his attacker had a Spirit Power that was simr to what the Demon Lord had, and was possibly from the same source even.

    Over there? Su Jin looked toward arge rock and pointed at it, causing it to fly to one side. A man with one horn on his head was standing there.

    *&$*#@! The horned man did not run and yelled a bunch of things at Su Jin, but Su Jin didnt understand a thing.

    An owner from a different system? Su Jin scratched his head, then shot a silver beam from his finger. The horned man wasnt sure if the silver beam was dangerous, but he let out a shout and got ready to fight back.

    Hold still! shouted Su Jin and the horned man could no longer move, allowing the silver beam to enter his consciousness.

    Dont worry, Im just trying to talk to you. We dont understand each othersnguage at all and I dont have anything that can trante what youre saying, so I have to use my psychokinesis tomunicate with you, Su Jins voice echoed inside the horned mans head.

    The horned man was a little stunned, then he asked cautiously, Youre not going to kill me?

    Kill you? Why would I do that? Su Jin lookedpletely confused for a moment, before he realized what the man was saying. Oh! Well, yes, attacking me from behind was a real sneaky move, so I guess its right for me to kill you.

    So, youre saying that if I hadnt tried tounch a sneak attack, you wouldnt kill me? asked the horned man cautiously again.

    Su Jin found this mans words very strange and got a little impatient, so he used his psychokinesis to scan the mans consciousness and realized where the man wasing from. I see. Youe from a cruel culture where if two persons disagree, one of them must die but thats also how you be stronger and stronger.

    The mans mind provided Su Jin with a lot of information, and because his level of psychokinesis was incredibly high now, he could analyze and retain a huge volume of information in very little time. This amount of information would have driven an ordinary person insane.

    This horned mans name was Carlo, and hailed from a ce known as Darkness. The men of that grew one horn each, while the women were exceptionally beautiful. Every person on this was a Handbook owner, since they would get their own Handbook after they reached a certain age. But the poption on the was very few. The entire only had around 10,000 people.

    Also, they were divided into different races at birth. Each race was an enemy to the others, and they did not believe in forming coalitions or alliances. If they ran into each other, a fight to the very death would ensue, which was why all of them were excellent fighters.

    Hmm that makes them seem like descendants of the Demon Lord! Based on the type of power and the characteristics of the races on this, Su Jin felt that they were probably rted to the Demon Lord in some way.

    Do you want this gravestone? Su Jin asked Carlo.

    Carlo nodded immediately and said, Yes, thats the gravestone I need. I need it to gain the chance to be a god.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. The owner of this gravestone did have powers simr to Carlo, and that confirmed Su Jins guess about the actual nature of the mission.

    Su Jin pulled the gravestone out of the ground and a look of helplessness and despair filled Carlos eyes. He shut his eyes tightly as though he was waiting for Su Jin to kill him, but the next thing he heard was a loud thud in front of him.

    Carlo opened his eyes to find the gravestone before him. At the same time, the force that had been restraining him disappeared. That made him even more confused, so he asked Su Jin, Why?

    Why? Su Jin paused to think, thenughed. Because it doesnt matter anymore. After seeing the graves of these deities I figured something out, so this is for you.

    Su Jin did not wait for a response and flew off with a silver glow around him. He disappeared before Carlo could even see where he had gone.

    What a strange person. Is he an owner from another system? I heard about that before, but I thought it was just a myth. I didnt expect to actually meet someone from another system, and one whos so foolish he would actually spare the life of apetitor, mumbled Carlo to himself. But when he stared at the gravestone, a pained look filled his eyes.

    If a person who doesnt belong to my race was willing to spare my life then why? Why do people of the same race as myself kill each other without hesitation?

    While Carlo was still asking these questions, Su Jin had arrived at another grave. He stood in front of the grave to experience the scenes left behind by the owner. This grave, this gravestone, and these scenes were proof that they once existed. But Su Jin merely watched the scenes and left to head for another grave.

    He continued moving from grave to grave, like a mourner. He was mourning the death of these characters who were once the most formidable among their peers, and mourned the events of the era they lived in. He walked from one grave to another like that, and did not seem like he intended to stop.

 Chapter 367

    Chapter 367

    Su Jin kept on walking through the Grave of the Gods and mourned at each grave he came to. Along the way, he also ran into several formidable owners of different races. Some ran away, some attacked, while some wanted to connect peacefully with him.

    Those who ran off were pulled back by Su Jin, those who attacked were subdued by him, and those who wanted a peaceful connection got it. Regardless of who they were, what ideals they had, or whether they were even willing or not, Su Jin didnt care. He wanted to talk to each of them first.

    After his seal was broken, his powers had exceeded those of an ordinary owner. And after he had understood more about this universe he was in, his powers increased even more. If he had to fight a god now, as long as they werent top tier gods, then even if he couldnt win the fight, he would be able to leave the fight unscathed.

    The owners going through the Grave of the Gods were no match for him at all. They were of different races, from differents and different worlds, but none of that mattered. They were all defenseless against Su Jin.

    In no time, a rumor began to spread among the owners going through the same test in the Grave of the Gods. There was a god-level mourner wandering the graves. There was no point in running from him because you couldnt possibly escape him, but there was also no need to fear, because all he wanted was to have a chat with you.

    Many guessed that Su Jin was thebination of remnants of gods souls, and that was why he was so powerful. They thought he was here purely to mourn the gods who had passed away.

    So youre that mourner? Natasha stared at Su Jin in disbelief. It had been about a month since their group entered the Grave of the Gods separately. After she got the message from Su Jin, she had spent her time carefully looking for a suitable gravestone.

    She wanted to find a god that had apatible Spirit Power with hers, as well as one that was powerful enough for her standards, then pick that gods gravestone, but most of the owners here had the same idea in mind, resulting in them fighting each other for the gravestones they wanted. Human owners had never really been the type who could withstand death matches, so until now, Natasha had not been able to find a gravestone for herself.

    But she had heard about this legendary mourner and had noticed a strange person moving from grave to grave to mourn the death of that god. When she came closer, she realized that this strange person was actually Su Jin.

    What are you even doing? I dont think anybodys looking for a gravestone like this, are they? asked Natasha in a confused voice.

    Su Jin smiled and said, Did you run into Durand and the rest?

    Nope. Its not that easy to run into them. This ce is simply too big. But I ran into many owners from other systems and I have a rough understanding of the truth behind Hells Handbook now. The gods of the countless cycles before us have all left their gravestones here. The size of this ce is almost beyond my imagination, said Natasha with a sigh.

    The truth? You think thats the truth? Su Jin shook his head and sighed.

    Natasha frowned and said, Do you know something that I dont?

    Yup. I know the ultimate answer, but its too bad, I cant tell you. You have to look for the answer yourselves, Su Jin smiled sadly as he shook his head. He couldnt tell others the answer he knew, because if one did not arrive at the answer themselves, the answer would be meaningless.

    Natasha knew that Su Jin was someone who knew what he was talking about. When she saw the saddened expression on his face, she asked curiously, You really cant tell me anything at all?

    Bing a deity was what we came here to do. But is that really the best option? Su Jin hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to tell Natasha, Ive decided to give up on bing a god.

    What?! Natasha was taken aback. She couldnt understand why Su Jin would do this, so she asked, But how could you do that? Im not trying to question your choices, but why would you want to give up? Youll regret it!

    I know it sounds silly, but since Ive decided to take this path, I will not regret it, said Su Jin resolutely. Then he went on, I know of a gravestone that would be very suitable for you. Come with me.

    Su Jin raised a finger and Natasha felt herself fly involuntarily along with Su Jin. They covered a great distance and went past several gravestones before stopping again.

    Good heavens, how how did your powers be so powerful? asked Natasha in shock. Su Jin was powerful, yes, but when they first got here, he definitely wasnt powerful enough to haveplete control over her movement. But when he dragged her along with him just now, she couldnt even lift a finger. Not even a god should have been powerful enough to do that to her. Furthermore, she had be stronger after entering this Challenge.

    No pain, no gain. Once I gave up on bing a god, I have to go on my own path. Su Jin smiled before pointing to the gravestone next to him. This one is very suitable for you. The owner of this grave was a dragon and a very high level deity. They were just a little short of bing a top tier deity.

    Natasha stared dubiously at the gravestone. It wasnt very fancy, and it actually looked a bit sad since it only covered a small area. But since Su Jin rmended it, she decided to take a closer look.

    She stood in front of the gravestone and shut her eyes, then opened them again with some shock, followed by ecstasy. Just like what Su Jin said, this gravestone was really very suitable for her. The owner of this grave had the bloodline of the very first dragon, making them one of the ancestors to all dragons. There wouldnt be a gravestone better for her.

    She pulled the gravestone out of the ground, then turned to Su Jin and said, What about you? You still have to get a gravestone, dont you? Otherwise you wont pass the test, and the God of Sins would, you know

    Kill me? Su Jin chuckled. He shook his head and replied, It doesnt matter anymore. If he kills me, so be it. He turned and started to walk away.

    Hey! Will we meet again? asked Natasha loudly.

    Su Jin stopped walking, then said, Well! If Im lucky, we should end up meeting again. But when that timees its hard to say what our stance will be.

    Huh? Natasha stared nkly at him, but before she could respond, the gravestone in her hands started giving off a faint glow. She hadpleted her test, so she was going to be teleported out.

    Su Jin continued on his mourning journey, running into Durand and Oscar along the way. Since they were all fellow humans, Su Jin did not mind helping them. He brought each of them to a gravestone that was suitable for them. Now that the only human owner left was Shen Wu, Su Jin decided to look for him.

    He went about asking every owner he met about Shen Wu, regardless of what race they were. It didnt take him long to find Shen Wu wandering about like a headless chicken.

    Still havent found a suitable gravestone for yourself? Su Jin asked Shen Wu.

    Shen Wu narrowed his eyes slightly and did not answer Su Jins question. Instead, he said, Youre here to kill me!

    Youve picked that up really quickly, Su Jin nodded. For some reasons I cant tell you, I dont know if I can get back to Earth, so after thinking about it, I decided to kill you first and think about the restter. I dont want to miss the opportunity to take revenge.

    Not sure if you would be able to go back? So youve realized the same thing too? said Shen Wu suddenly.

    Su Jin was caught by surprise. Youve realized it too?

    I have! Bing a god is something that every owner has be obsessed with, but many people dont realize that when we ept that position, were also giving up the opportunity to be someone with no limits. Its like epting a position from the king even if you be the highest official in the country, youll still be one lower than the king, said Shen Wu calmly.

    Yup, thats what I thought. Youre the type who wants to be right at the top all the time, remarked Su Jin.

    And here I thought you were the sort who just wanted a simple, secure, stable life,mented Shen Wu.

    Well, looks like we were a little misled, but none of that matters anymore. Lets fight! Su Jin stretched his arms and legs as a murderous look filled his eyes.

    Shen Wu sighed and said, Ive been trying to dodge you, especially after I heard about this mysterious human mourner walking through the Grave of the Gods. Sadly, I failed to avoid you after all. Since thats the case, let me fulfil my godly duties in advance!

    Prepare to die! Su Jin yelled as he flicked his finger and engulfed Shen Wus body with a brilliant, silver glow from all directions.

    Arghh! Shen Wu let out a yell as well as he charged at Su Jin. Cold and hot air surged all around him as he kept breaking through the wall of psychokinesis Su Jin had built around him, but just before he got all the way through, he couldnt keep it up anymore. He had used up all his Spirit Power.

    Haha! Damn it! Shen Wuughed loudly as he cursed before getting sliced uppletely by the silver glow.

 Chapter 368

    Chapter 368

    When the silver glow disappeared, Shen Wu, the dictator who had control over the entire he was from, disappeared as well.

    There was no change in Su Jins expression at all, as though killing Shen Wu was just something that was convenient for him to carry out. He continued wandering through the Grave of the Gods, leisurely choosing to stand in front of a grave and going through the memories left behind by the owners of the grave.

    The Grave of the Gods was a Challenge after all, so time passed differently from the real world. Even if Su Jin were to stay here for tens of thousands of years, it would merely be a few hours in the real world. He had more than enough time to go through every grave.

    Thats such a strange guy! I heard that he would only go past the graves, but not take any of the gravestones. Jing Hua inspected the gravestone closest to him, but it was not suitable.

    Dont bother to inspect the graves here. I know where the gravestones most suitable for each of you are located, so you just have to follow me, said the woman in a veil when she saw Jing Hua waste time on inspecting gravestones she knew he would not take. Then she added, As for that person youve heard about, hes not strange. Comparatively speaking, hes a lot more noble than all of you.

    Jing Hua made a face. He didnt know why she said those things, but it didnt matter. There were a million and one weirdos in the world, so one more didnt make a difference.

    They were soon led by the woman in a veil to a grave with a green gravestone. This was the gravestone meant for the Dog God. But when they got there, someone was already standing in front of it.

    The woman in a veil was a little stunned and she couldnt help but murmur, Jin

    Hey! Move aside! This ones ours! yelled Jing Hua arrogantly. The God of Sins had made an exception for them and allowed all five of them to travel as a group. As a result, most owners did not dare to offend them because if the five of them worked together, they would be able to defeat almost any owner.

    Su Jin let out a sigh when he heard Jing Huas voice and turned to leave. He didnt intend to take this gravestone away, and he didnt see any need to get into a fight with the person who wanted it. In fact, the only person he had killed in this ce was Shen Wu. He did get into a few fights with other owners along the way, but he did not kill them. He wasnt going to make an exception now either.

    But just when he was about to walk away, he noticed someone. His body trembled violently and he appeared in front of the woman in a veil almost instantly. Jing Hua and the rest of the team paled. They didnt even know how Su Jin got here so quickly.

    Back off! yelled Jing Hua as he tried to get the sword hanging on his belt, only to find that he couldnt move at all. The Dog God and Phoenix were in the same situation. It was as if an invisible hand was holding them down.

    Su Jin stared at the woman in a veil, but he quickly started frowning. In that instant earlier, he thought this woman was Kano Mai, but upon closer inspection, he realized that her aura was very different from Kano Mai.

    Do you do you know a woman named Kano Mai? asked Su Jin.

    The woman in a veil shook her head and said, Im very sorry but I dont know anyone by that name. Could you please let mypanions go?

    Su Jin flicked a finger and the group immediately regained control over their movement. But none of them dared to do anything, because Su Jin clearly had god level powers and they were no match for that.

    Im sorry, your aura is very simr to a friend of mine, Su Jin apologized to the woman in a veil.

    She smiled faintly and said, Her aura is simr to mine? Is she also a primordial deity?

    Thats right. Shes a primordial deity too, Su Jin nodded. His psychokinesis had scanned this woman thoroughly, including part of her memory. He concluded that this woman had nothing to do with Kano Mai, and carried a simr aura only because they were of the same kind.

    She was actually also a primordial deity like me can I ask, who was she to you? asked the woman in a veil with a smile.

    Su Jin smiled back and said, Someone very important.

    How important?

    More important than my life, responded Su Jin without hesitation. The deaths of Ye Yun and Kano Mai had thrown him into despair for a period of time, and the idea of bing a god had only urred to him after their deaths. If he had not realized the implications of bing a god after entering this ce, he would have be one by now.

    Her body trembled very slightly, but she quickly pulled herself together and said, She left you?

    She passed away, Su Jin shook his head sadly as a tinge of longing filled his eyes.

    Im sorry to hear that, she apologized. But Su Jin shook his head to tell her it was alright. She went on, Perhaps you might find me a busybody, but I want to tell you to give up on the path youve chosen. Many have chosen this path before, including some truly formidable people. Or rather, only the truly formidable have chosen this path, yet none of them have survived.

    Su Jin smiled and thanked her, Thanks for the advice, but this is the path Ive chosen, so Im going to make sure Iplete the journey even if I get battered and broken along the way. Sorry for disrupting you guys just now! He then disappeared into the distance in an instant.

    The woman in a veil had a saddened look in her eyes after Su Jin left, while herpanions felt cold sweat dripping down their foreheads. The Dog God asked, Who in the world was that? The sort of power he has is terrifying I couldnt help but feel so fearful!

    That was my team leader in the past, the core and strategist of Team Boning Knife. I had no idea that the strange person everyones been talking about was him. The woman in a veil removed her veil. If Su Jin were here, he would have recognized her. This woman was indeed Kano Mai.

    Tsk, he cant even recognize his own teammates? What an idiot, said Jing Hua with contempt.

    You dont understand. I have my own ways of concealing myself. Now that I have the power of a primordial deity again, as long as I want to hide myself, not even Hells Handbook will know where I am or who I am, said Kano Mai quietly.

    Everyone exchanged nces. But nobody thought she was bragging or anything like that. After all, she was someone whom even gods had to show reverence to, and the fact that she was a primordial deity gave her the right to say what she did.

    Go on, Dog God, that gravestone is very suitable for you. Its owner was a Sky Swallowing Magic Dog, one of the most powerful dog creatures in history. Kano Mai was very familiar with the Grave of the Gods because it wasnt her first time here.

    Just then, their expressions flinched, and they all turned to look at Kano Mai.

    She looked back at them strangely and asked, Whats wrong?

    Jing Hua swallowed his saliva and said, Hells Handbook just gave us a new mission. If we kill the man we saw just nowwe can be top tier gods.

    Kano Mai blinked in surprise, then frowned and shook her head, I thought the Handbook would reactter. Looks like Jin is really a threat to them.

    Meanwhile, every owner in the Grave of the Gods, regardless of race or which gxy they hailed from, received the same mission to kill Su Jin. The reward was unbelievably incredible, and it was something that not only owners, but even high level gods would have gone crazy over.

    Su Jin had no idea what was going on, but he did notice that there were more and more people in the vicinity. These people had purposely gathered around him, as though they were waiting for something.

    Given the situation I highly doubt these people are here to get my signature, Su Jin chuckled. He used his psychokinesis to scan the mind of one of the owners and got his answer immediately.

    My, my, I didnt know I was worth this much. But that also proves that my choice is the right one! Su Jin smiled even more brightly. The Handbook wasnt giving him any pressure. Instead, he was making the Handbook feel some heat.

    But does this group really think they can stop me now? What a joke! Su Jins expression grew serious as he scanned the owners around him and said in a frosty voice, I didnt kill the people I ran into just now, but that doesnt mean Im incapable of killing. And now, all of you are here, prepared to kill me together. So if I kill all of you, none of you willin about it, right?

 Chapter 369

    Chapter 369

    Su Jin spoke very loudly. He wasnt talking to himself, but he was warning the people who had gathered here to kill him. The owners who had gathered were not confident of killing him either, since Su Jin had been wandering the Grave of the Gods for a long time as that mysterious mourner. Some had tried attacking him earlier, only to find themselvespletely unable to.

    Su Jin knew that all these people were waiting for someone to make the first move, but nobody at this level was an idiot. Every person here represented the best and most formidable of their Handbook systems. They were the ones who were constantly scheming against others. It was going to be hard to scheme against them.

    Someone once told me that I have to step over the bodies of tens of thousands of people in order to be a god. I have given up on bing a god, but I dont mind racking up tens of thousands of dead bodies! Su Jins psychokinesis transformed into thousands of swords that went flying into the crowd.

    Nobody expected Su Jin to attack them so decisively. ording to what they had initially imagined, Su Jin would be struggling to survive as they tore him to tiny pieces. They were surprised that Su Jin had taken the first move despite being surrounded by so many formidable characters.

    The psychokinesis swords instantly pierced the bodies of many owners. Some had managed to use their Spirit Power or special techniques to survive, but some perished immediately.

    Su Jin had not killed a lot of them, not even 10% of the crowd. But that was enough to make the surviving owners tremble in fear. Su Jin had killed these owners instantly. It was really hard to kill someone at their level instantly.

    Some of the owners realized that something was amiss. Su Jin was like a game boss that was way above their level. If they tried really hard, they would probably be able to defeat him, but they would lose a lot of people in the process. Most of the owners would be nothing but cannon fodder, and none of them could be sure if they would be part of that.

    Many of them wanted to retreat now, but Su Jin wasnt going to let them go just like that. He wasnt going to be some passive game boss and just allow these people to attack and retreat as and when they liked. It was toote for these people already.

    A silver glint shone brilliantly in Su Jins eyes, and a huge number of clones appeared. In the past, he could only make a little over a dozen clones. But now, Su Jin could make as many as he liked andmanded them to attack the owners.

    The crowd that had gathered to attack Su Jin together were now being attacked by Su Jins clone army. Su Jin was like a general who couldmand his soldiers with just one thought and did not have to do the dirty work himself.

    Su Jins clones were very strong too. As long as he put in enough psychokinesis, these clones were able to do almost everything Su Jin could.

    In an instant, flowers bloomed all around Su Jin, except that these were the exploding bodies of formidable owners. Their bodies were like vines, their blood like petals. Each time a flower bloomed, an owner fell.

    There were nearly a hundred of them, and each one would have been equivalent to any owner among the top ten of his. But they were now dismembered before Su Jin, dying with nothing but hate and regret in their hearts.

    As Su Jin killed these owners, he continued walking. He had stayed long enough in the Grave of the Gods, so long that the Handbook had noticed the change in him. He was within a Handbook Challenge, after all, so this was not a safe ce to stay in. He had to find the exit and get to the God of Sins in order to leave the Challenge.

    Su Jins disy of power quickly made its rounds. Almost a hundred top owners had beenpletely ughtered within a very short time. Most of the owners left did not dare to go near him. Staying away from him was a true reflection of ones resilience.

    An owner who could y nearly a hundred owners who were good enough to get into the Grave of the Gods? How interesting. In front of a grave stood a man covered in ck, scaly armor. He had two horns growing out of his head like a demon and he carried a curved, longsword. He gripped the sword with his hands and sniffed the air, then said in a pleased voice, The marvelous smell of blood it seems like the source is on the move! Excellent! He then flew off and disappeared without a trace.

    Meanwhile, another man in white who looked like an immortal who had transcended, felt the white jade sword in his hand hum. He pressed down on the sword and said grimly, Stay calm, stay calm. I know you can be a god if you kill an owner like him. I will bring you to him.

    Along the border of the Grave of the Gods, the terrain was in worse shape than the rest of the grave for some reason. If one followed the ruins and moved further toward the border, they would notice a woman with green eyes.

    Humph! So what if theyre gods? After such a long time, gods that can leave behind an undamaged body are way too few. The reward foring here isnt as great as I had imagined. But thankfully, a monster has appeared here. If I can get hold of his body, this wouldnt be considered a wasted trip! She thrust a hand out and a grave suddenly exploded. Apletely naked man walked out of the grave and she leanedzily in his embrace.

    This ones considered fairly undamaged, not bad! Take me to that fellow! The woman touched the mans chin lightly and he flew off immediately.

    That was the top owner of the Demon, Morgan, right? I heard that he had ughtered gods with his bare hands, and hes definitely going to be a top tier god in the future! Looks like hes headed to where that monster is.

    I spotted Immortal Bai from the Immortal just now. He was born with an immortal sword in his belly and has been cultivating with the sword ever since he became an owner. Hes also a powerful character whos capable of killing gods, and I heard that if he bes a god, he will have double the power!

    Ha! I heard that the princess of the Undead Territories is going after that monster with the body of a god she dug out from one of the graves here. With those bodies to protect her, shes going to be even more formidable than the other two. The Grave of the Gods had be very noisy as the owners that previously did not interact with one another gathered together. There was only one thing they were concerned with, and that was Su Jin.

    At the same time, Kano Mai had an anxious look in her eyes. Even though she was probably the one with the most faith in Su Jins abilities, she couldnt help but feel worried for him. He was now the enemy of every formidable owner in the universe.

    Are you worried about him? asked Phoenix.

    Kano Mai nodded. There was no need to hide her true thoughts. If Su Jin was really in trouble, she was definitely going to help him. Herpanions would not be able to stop her.

    You dont have to be so worried. Thats someone who was able to restrain all four of us just now. That top owner demon and that princess are formidable, but they wouldnt be much more powerful than us. He wont lose to them. Jing Hua didnt like the fact that Su Jin was powerful, but he couldnt deny it.

    Kano Mai shook her head and said, Im not worried about those owners. Ever since he chose to take that path, these owners are no longer a match for him. Im worried that the Handbook is using them to stall for time, then gather powerful gods to attack him.

    Seriously?! He hasnt even be a god yet, but hes worth so much effort? Jing Hua was in disbelief.

    Kano Mai tried to exin, Its not about whether hes a god or not. The problem is that the path that Jin has chosen is too much of a threat to them. The chances of seeding are close to zero, but if he actually seeds, then theyd be destroyed.

    And so what if you go over? As long as no godse to attack him, hell be fine. But if they do, then your presence wont make any difference, Phoenix tried to persuade her otherwise. They were here to look for the most suitable gravestone, be a god immediately and assure themselves a spot among the gods of this era. They didnt want to involve themselves in any unnecessary trouble.

    Im the only one who can save him, and I know that well! Kano Mai ignored the words of herpanions. A bright sh of light flickered in her eyes and she flew off at high speed. The rest had no choice but to go after her, because a living primordial deity was simply too important to them.

    Su Jin scanned every nook and cranny of the Grave of the Gods with his psychokinesis because he was searching for a gap in the space that he could use to escape. But while he was still searching, three people stood in his way.

    Youre that mourner? Morgan stood at three meters tall and made Su Jin look like a gnome. He stared down arrogantly at Su Jin and spoke very domineeringly.

    Move aside, youre in my way. Su Jin was not bothered by Morgan and merely waved a palm. Morgans body exploded on the spot and rained blood everywhere.

 Chapter 370

    Chapter 370

    When Morgans body turned into nothing but a rain of blood in an instant, both Immortal Bai and the Princess of Undead Territories were stunned. The three of them were the most formidable among owners and they were capable of killing gods, so they could usually sense how powerful their opponent was. What shocked them was not the fact that Morgan had been blown to bits, but that they had not sensed Su Jins power at all. Su Jin was just standing there like an ordinary person to them.

    The raindrops in the air suddenly gathered together to form Morgans body again. But now, the domineering look in Morgans eyes hadpletely disappeared.

    An immortal body? Su Jin narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. This body was not truly immortal, just like how Durands wasnt either. Morgan had merely used a secret technique to split his body into small groups of cells to spread the impact out, then quickly gathered back together again. But to an ordinary owner, doing something like that would make it seem like he had a body that could not die.

    Youre very powerful indeed! Im not confident of killing you, but I would like to try! The sword in Immortal Bais hand hummed in unison, as though it was echoing Immortal Bais words.

    Su Jin stared at them, then said quietly, You have to stay alive if you want to be a god. If you end up dying then it doesnt matter how tempting the reward from Hells Handbook is anymore. Its meaningless.

    Immortal Bai smiled faintly and said, No, Im not interested in the reward from the Handbook. I will definitely be a god. I will be a top tier god by my own strength, thats for sure! But what Im looking forward to is a fight with a formidable foe, and you meet my requirements!

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then looked at Morgan and the princess and asked, What about both of you? You think the same way?

    Morgan from the Demon! I hope to learn much from you! Morgan was no longer arrogant. His sword glowed a bloody red and the de trembled as though it was really longing for such a battle.

    Ghostly from the Undead Territories! Im hoping to learn too! The princess of the Undead Territories spread her arms out and a few tall and strong figures appeared in front of her. There were a total of five corpses and they were all left behind by god level owners.

    Immortal Bai from the Immortal! Looking forward to this too! Immortal Bai put a palm over his other fist politely even as the sword in his hand spewed green gas several meters into the air.

    Su Jin scanned the three of them and nodded as he said, We can have this fight, but if you die, dont me me for it.

    Of course, responded all three without hesitation.

    Su Jin could sense that these three were sincerely just here for a good battle, and did not care for the reward offered, just like they had said earlier. The three of them were so formidable, bing a god was a certainty for them.

    Lets go! Morgan made the first attack. Su Jins attack earlier did not make him feel afraid, but it ignited his deep desire to fight instead. The demonic sword in his hands howled like ghosts as he brandished it.

    Su Jin did not move and waited as the sword came swinging toward him. Morgan did not think Su Jin was underestimating him, since no truly formidable person would underestimate their enemy. The reason why Su Jin was not moving was because he really didnt need to.

    Once the sword came close enough, Su Jin reached out and caught hold of the sword that burned with demonic mes with just one try. The ck air spewing out from the de was not able to make Su Jin back off at all.

    Its a good sword, what a pity, said Su Jin before the entire sword shattered. The mes and sword both shattered in an instant, and it was followed by a loud howl.

    Morgan had an immortal body, but his sword did not. But even when the de shattered, Morgans expression did not flinch and he did not look upset about the loss. Instead, he bit his own tongue and sprayed a mouthful of ck liquid out. Once the liquid hit the shards of the sword, the shards came to life and rushed at Su Jin like ck droplets of rain.

    Ghostly made her move too. She raised a finger and the five corpses started charging toward Su Jin. To his surprise, these corpses actually still had some of the godly powers they had when they were alive. They were able to use different Spirit Powers to attack Su Jin.

    Su Jin did not move. Regardless of whether it was the shards that were flying toward him or the corpses charging toward him, he did not move. He kept his eye on the one in front of him, which was Immortal Bai.

    Immortal Bai nodded slightly at Su Jin, then made his move. He did not have any fancy stunts, and only used his sword, or rather, threw a punch.

    Su Jin could sense that Immortal Bai and that sword were one in body. That was a sword, but it was also the mans fists. So, Immortal Bais swordy was also his boxing technique. Thrusting his sword was the same as throwing a punch.

    The three of them started their attacks at different times, but incredibly enough, their attacks reached their peak at the same time. These three were true geniuses, and were some of the few throughout the countless cycles of the Handbook who were worthy of this description. They knew well that they would definitely die if they fought him one on one, but if all three fought him at the same time perhaps they would be able to make this seemingly ordinary human back off. But it was just a possibility.

    The shards, the corpses, the sword punch!

    The three methods were different, but they all had the same aim, which was to kill Su Jin. But Su Jin wasnt going to let them kill him. He had a lot of ns ahead.

    He raised a finger and it gave off a crystalline clink. The shards turned to powder, the corpses exploded, and even Immortal Bais sword bent so hard, it looked like it was about to break.

    Why?! Hes hes not even a god!! roared Morgan angrily. He couldnt understand how Su Jin could be this powerful. This young man wasnt a god and was merely an owner, yet his powers were enough topete with a high level gods.

    Su Jin said softly, You still dont get it? Its precisely because Im not a god.

    I dont care what you are! Whether youre a mortal or a god, Im going to kill you! bellowed Morgan furiously as he waved his arms about, causing the powder from the shards to turn and fly straight into his nose and mouth. Im going toe out of this alive!

    Youre right! I want to win this fight! Ghostlys eyes flickered with a strange glint as she mmed a palm against her chest. Wisps of white light were suddenly sucked out from the consciousness of the exploded corpses and went into her body. One with the corpses, swallowing both yin and yang!

    These two dark creatures have actually be more likable now, Immortal Bai smiled faintly as his twisted sword shook violently. The sword itself had not changed, and had merely be a little sharper. It was so sharp, it was as though Immortal Bai himself had turned into a sword. If the sword broke, he would die.

    The three of them had gone all out to attack Su Jin a second time, but it didnt seem too different from the first time to Su Jin. It was just a little stronger this time. That was really what it was. Regardless of which technique was used, it was essentially just a stronger attack.

    Its not enough in fact, its nowhere near enough! Su Jin shook his head. He was feeling a little frustrated. These moves that could kill gods looked like childs y to him, but he was nowhere near the level of Hells Handbook. Exactly how powerful was the owner of Hells Handbook? Was he really going to be able to continue on this path?

    Just then, Su Jin suddenly felt pressure on his psychokinesis. It was being squeezed and shrunk!

    This was noting from his three opponents, since they did not possess this sort of ability. This wasing from Hells Handbook itself. It had decided to interfere personally and had begun to put in limits to Su Jins powers.

    Damn it even though the Handbook is unable to limit the sort of power I have, but if it finds the right timing to interrupt, I will be extremely vulnerable. Su Jin stumbled backward and thebined attack reached its peak at the same time, causing him to fly right out.

    Huh?! Immortal Bai and the other two were a little puzzled. They didnt understand how they could have hurt Su Jin so badly. Could it be that Su Jin was not actually as powerful as they had imagined?

    Phew Su Jin exhaled deeply and said, Looks like Ive got to finish this fight quickly!

    The three of them immediately grew tense when they heard these words from Su Jin, but before Su Jin couldunch any attack, a silver glow kept flickering around his body, as though it was attacking him.

    Damn it! Su Jin clenched his teeth. Hells Handbook wasing down very hard and very rapidly, and thebined attack from his three attackers had distracted him as well, making this additional interference even harder to handle.

    Su Jin frowned. Hells Handbook was being Hells Handbook  people like himself must have existed before in previous cycles, so Hells Handbook had more than enough ways to handle such characters. It was going to be difficult for him to wriggle his way out of this crisis!

    Just then, a familiar aura came closer. He lifted his eyes in confusion and realized that the primordial deity he spoke to earlier hade.

    His three attackers felt uneasy about the team of five who had suddenly appeared. They could sense how powerful this team was. Jing Hua and hispanions were as powerful as them.

    I hope the three of you dont mind leaving my friend alone! said Kano Mai to the three attackers with a faint smile.

 Chapter 371

    Chapter 371

    Kano Mais smile was very pretty and it was pretty enough to mesmerize most people. But none of the people here right now were most people. These were all very mentally resilient characters who were destined to be gods.

    Im sorry, but the battle has already begun, so it will only end when one side goes down! said Immortal Bai without hesitation. To him, once a fight had started, it was not right to stop it while both sides were still in good shape.

    Heh heh! In that case the side going down is yours! Jing Hua took a step forward to protect Kano Mai and said to her, Take him away, well handle the situation here.

    Kano Mai was stunned. You dont have to

    Never mind whether we have to or not, Im just very interested in these three fellows. Such formidable foes are worth fighting! said Jing Hua without holding back.

    The Dog God chimed in, I totally agree. Weve beenmanded to protect you, so if we do this, wed be both fulfilling our mission and getting the chance to fight people at our level. Thats a win-win situation!

    Kano Mai was still hesitant, so Phoenix smiled and said, Dont worry about us. Were now four versus three, plus weve already located gravestones suitable for ourselves and can leave anytime.

    Kano Mai only nodded after hearing what Phoenix said. She walked over to Su Jin, who was kneeling on one knee. Morgan bellowed, Who allowed you to

    How dare you shout at a woman so fiercely! Youre not gentlemanly at all! Before Morgan could finish speaking, Jing Hua appeared behind him with his sword in hand.

    The Dog God and Phoenix took on Immortal Bai and Ghostly respectively. Only Tiny was watching from afar. He looked frightened, but he did not run away.

    Kano Mai stood in front of Su Jin and helped him to his feet. Su Jin stared nkly at Kano Mai as a look of disbelief slowly filled his eyes.

    Youyou Su Jin didnt know what to say. The person in front of him was definitely Kano Mai, right? But but how could it be?

    Well talkter. We need to get out now. A white beam of light flickered in Kano Mais hands. Su Jin felt a warmth around him, then found himself in apletely different ce.

    Where are we? Su Jin was certain they were no longer in the Grave of the Gods. This was probably another world used for Challenges.

    This is my ce of refuge. Ive been able to survive the change in cycles because I can hide here safely, said Kano Mai with a smile.

    Su Jin looked confusedly at Kano Mai and asked hesitantly, Is it really you?

    It is! Kano Mai had no reason to hide her identity from him. They hade to a point where it was meaningless to do so.

    Su Jin didnt really know how to react. When he decided to give up on bing a god, the one thing he was most worried about was that he might not be able to revive Kano Mai and the rest of his deceased team members. Even though he told himself that Situ Jin and Chu Yi could also be gods and they could also help to revive these people, he was still filled with guilt because he felt he was the one who was to me for their deaths, so he ought to be the one responsible for bringing them back to life.

    Kano Mai smiled and said to him, Im sorry Jin I dont know how to say this, but Im no longer Kano Mai.

    Youre no longer Kano Mai? Su Jin was stunned for a moment before he made a guess, Is it because youre a primordial deity?

    She nodded and said, Im the only surviving primordial deity. Every time a new cycle begins, I will begin a new life at the same time. And when that life ends, I will not actually die, but return to my identity as a primordial deity.

    Exactly what is a primordial deity? asked Su Jin. When they were still teammates, he already knew that she was one, but he never asked her for more details. But now that he was going to embark on a different path, he had to gather more information in order to deal with possible dangers in the future.

    You can try and guess, she said with a chuckle.

    Su Jin gave it a shot, I suppose the most important part is not the deity part, but the primordial part, am I right?

    She nodded and said, Actually, if were going to talk about primordial deities, then we should start with this universe. Or rather, we should talk about the meaning of a cycle. Jin, are you sure you want to know about this?

    Of course. I dont really have a choice, do I? Su Jinughed. From the moment he gave up on bing a god, he had no choice but to be an enemy of Hells Handbook instead. The only way he could survive was to stay on this radical path.

    When Kano Mai saw him nod, she took a deep breath, then began, At the very beginning, the universe was just a dot. This dot exploded and kept expanding, and eventually lifeforms appeared.

    The big bang theory. Thats nothing new, said Su Jin with a nod.

    Kano Mai nodded too and went on, Thats right. When the universe exploded the first time, it gave birth to a universe, and that became the root of all universes.

    The root?

    Yes, the root. You can imagine the universe as a huge tree. The first universe is the roots of the tree. But as time passed, the universe evolved too. From roots grew branches and leaves, so the universes where Challenges ur, the universe where Chu Yi lives, the one where Wu Chen is from, and even the one where you live in, are just branches of this big tree.

    The first group of intelligent lifeforms on the root universe, or the first universe, the only group of intelligent lifeforms were us, the primordial deities, Kano Mai paused before continuing, That was a very long cycle. As the first and only group of intelligent lifeforms, we were able to develop and be extremely powerful. So powerful that we could kill any of the gods you know now with ease.

    In fact, the reason why they even called themselves deities was because they had taken inspiration from my people. They didnt dare to really consider themselves exactly the same as us, so they just made it a generic term and used the word gods as well.

    Su Jin did not interrupt and quietly listened to Kano Mai tell him the story of the primordial deities and the very first universe.

    After a long time, besides the first universe, the other universes began to develop. Just like the first one, intelligent lifeforms began to appear on the other universes as well. But the resources of these branch universes were nowhere as good as those of the root universe, and the intelligent lifeforms on these universes ended up starting wars.

    Different universes had different lifeforms and civilizations. We had be way more superior than them, so we became observers of these universes, until the root universe developed its own will  the will of the universe.

    The will of the universe? Su Jin frowned slightly.

    The will of the universe. You can see it as the physical representation of the first universe. In other words, the root universe now had its own will that was way above anybodys will. It was eternal, noble, and worthy of nothing else but worship.

    The will of the universe contacted us, the lifeforms who belonged to the root universe. He told us that the appearance and growth of the branch universes were a terrible burden on him. The branch universes were sapping energy from the root universe, and if this went on for too long, the root universe would weaken and even die.

    Just like how one needs to prune a trees branches, the root universe had to do that too in order to ensure that the branch universes did not drag it down and eventually destroy it.

    But the will of the universe was sympathetic toward the lifeforms that had grown on these branch universes and could not bear to destroy all civilization, so he decided to create a selection process of every branch universe. And as primordial deities, we were responsible for creating the tool that could do that.

    Hells Handbook! said Su Jin immediately.

    Kano Mai nodded with a sad smile and said, Thats right. We created Hells Handbook. We used our extremely well developed technology and magical powers as its basis, then added the powers from the will of the universe to finally create what you now know as Hells Handbook.

    Su Jin waspletely bbergasted. Hells Handbook had actually been a product of Kano Mais own hands. He asked puzzledly, Why didnt you tell me these things earlier?

    She shook her head and said, I couldnt. When a new cycle begins, I receive a new lease of life, but in exchange, arge part of my memories will be sealed away. I will only get these memories back after I revert to my primordial deity state. So, before I revert to my original state, I dont know whats going on either.

    I only remember myself going through countless cycles all by myself, dying again and again, then reviving again and again.

 Chapter 372

    Chapter 372

    The primordial deities of the first universe had created Hell¡¯s Handbook, but Kano Mai was the only surviving one now. She had died in countless past cycles, then was revived when a new cycle started. She technically never really died, but the continuation of her life was a form of torture to her.

    ¡°During this time¡­ you must have felt very lonely, right?¡± asked Su Jin in a low voice.

    But Kano Mai smiled faintly as she shook her head and said, ¡°I had forgotten how it felt like to be lonely, but you and the team¡­ reminded me again.¡±

    ¡°Oops, sorry!¡± Su Jinughed bitterly. Then he said, ¡°Since the primordial deities were the ones who created Hell¡¯s Handbook, why are you the only one left?¡±

    ¡°Because we were tricked by the will of the universe.¡± A fiery anger filled Kano Mai¡¯s eyes as she went on, ¡°The reason why the will of the universe wanted a selection process wasn¡¯t because he was hoping to preserve a few suitable civilizations. He was doing this because he was trying to find suitable lifeforms to rece the primordial deities!¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and continued for her, ¡°I get it now. The primordial deities had reached such a high point in their development, the will of the universe felt threatened, so he decided to destroy the primordial deities?¡±

    She nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. The primordial deities were a race that was superior to even gods, a race that could control Hell¡¯s Handbook, and a people who could even threaten the will of the universe. But the will of the universe understood that even if he destroyed the other branch universes, new ones would grow sooner orter. That was something he couldn¡¯t fight against.

    ¡°The will of the universe could not keep and gather all of the energy that was leaking out of the first universe. All he could do was to take back the energy of a new branch universe from time to time, which meant that he had to massacre arge number of intelligent lifeforms at once. He had the power to do that, but he was unable to do it perfectly, so there would be some incredible creatures that would escape the massacre, which became future, unseen threats. After enough cycles had passed, these lifeforms that had managed to escape death could gather together to form a faction that can threaten the will of the universe.¡±

    ¡°So, the will of the universe knew he needed help. He needed powerful lifeforms to help him get rid of the lifeforms that might have escaped the massacres. He needed Hell¡¯s Handbook to gather the lifeforms with the highest potential into the framework he had prepared. But the help he definitely didn¡¯t want was from the primordial deities!¡±

    She nodded and said, ¡°Right. Hell¡¯s Handbook had created the framework for making gods, so every genius with potential would automatically strive to get themselves into this program. But once you were in, you would have reached the endpoint. You would not be able to develop yourself any further, so you would not be able to be a threat to the will of the universe, which was the aim of the will of the universe in the first ce.¡±

    The aim of the will of the universe was very simple. He lured every lifeform that might be a threat to him into the trap he hadid early on, then filed their ws down, pulled their fangs out, before assigning them their godly positions. The owners would think they had reached the pinnacle of life, bing the lord over all forms of life.

    But they did not know they had lost the chance to be something more. These geniuses no longer had the chance to be a threat to the will of the universe.

    The will of the universe was able to destroy branch universes at will, so he would wait for the next time energy went out from the first universe to form a new universe, then massacre the universe before it could be a threat. The lifeforms chosen during each cycle would be the gods of the next cycle, to help the will of the universe manage the branch universes.

    But at the same time, the will of the universe was also using Hell¡¯s Handbook to create more new gods to prepare for the next cycle. The gods of the previous cycle would now bebeled as elder gods, trapped inside Challenges, to be used as instruments to train and groom new gods.

    Elder gods, current gods, new gods.

    They signified the start of a new cycle, its process, and its end. But from a broader point of view, they were really the same thing. The will of the universe treated all gods as trash to be eventually thrown out.

    ¡°My people did eventually uncover the will of the universe¡¯s n to destroy us, but we were unable to fight back by that time. The only thing we could do was to concentrate all our energies on one portion of the people.

    ¡°Our technological powers, our magical powers, our interdimensional powers¡­ we used everything within our means, including transforming some of our people into other races, like theva giants, for example.

    ¡°But when our final day came, we still fell into despair. Almost everything we had done had failed. Some of them had seeded, but the gods that the will of the universe had groomed targeted them, so after a valiant battle, they died too. Only I was left¡­ I had been transformed into an adaptive lifeform of sorts.

    ¡°My cells contain the most perfect regeneration system and the most perfect imitating system. I can live forever, and change my shape and form at the start of a new cycle. This method wasn¡¯t seen as a good one at that time, but it has helped me to escape the massacre on my people safely, making me one of the few primordial deities who have survived.¡±

    Su Jin asked puzzledly, ¡°So¡­ you weren¡¯t actually the only one who managed to survive back then?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Our poption was enormous back then, and each one of us was really powerful. Some survived the first massacre like me, but the will of the universe continued to track them down. They were killed one after another over this long period of time, and I¡¯m the only one left.¡±

    Su Jin was taken aback. The powerful primordial deities had been powerful enough to create Hell¡¯s Handbook, yet they had met such a tragic end, with Kano Mai being their only survivor.

    ¡°That is the secret of the universe, the secret of Hell¡¯s Handbook. Knowing all this¡­ are you sure you still want to go down this path?¡± asked Kano Mai with a sigh as she looked at Su Jin.

    Su Jin knew why Kano Mai was sighing. As a primordial deity that could respawn again and again, as long as she wasn¡¯t discovered and hunted down, she could survive cycle after cycle. But not him. If he went down on the path he wanted, he might die in a matter of days.

    If he didn¡¯t choose this path, he might be able to live for a longer time, but new gods would eventually be elder gods too. One day, he would get trapped within Hell¡¯s Handbook to be used as a tool to train and groom a new batch of owners from the new cycle.

    Either way, Kano Mai felt that she was going to have to watch her team leader head toward tragedy. Su Jin suddenly understood the sort of attitude the Mad Hatter and the Demon Lord had. Perhaps they were seeking life in a desperate situation, or perhaps they were trying to live theirst days in peace. Either way, they were destined to end in tragedy like himself.

    ¡°Others have gone down this path too, haven¡¯t they?¡± asked Su Jin with a faint smile.

    Kano Mai nodded. She waved a hand past Su Jin¡¯s face to create a screen of light that shed images of noble characters from the past.

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to discover this path in the first ce, and not everyone who discovers it has the courage to take it. The first one to discover it and go down this path was this man. His name at that time was Pangu!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a god to the Chinese!¡± Su Jin eximed.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Chinese on Earth are descendants of Pangu. But Pangu failed,¡± Kano Mai shook her head as the image on the screen flickered. She continued, ¡°The Yellow Emperor, Shennong, the Jiutian Xuann¨¹, Yu the Great all took this path, then¡­ failed in the end.

    ¡°Ah, God, Zeus¡­ Other civilizations had equally fearless, brave people. They came from different civilizations and spoke differentnguages, but they made the same choice in their pursuit of freedom. But in the end¡­ they all failed.

    ¡°Every person you see here was a great person who chose this path. Some made it quite far, some met their end shortly after they started. But either way, they all failed. The will of the universe still exists and he controls the start and end of every cycle. So many of such people havee and gone¡­ you are the newest one, but I¡¯m afraid¡­ you won¡¯t be thest.¡± Kano Mai was quite pessimistic about Su Jin¡¯s future. She had great faith in him, but she had seen how people stronger than Su Jin had also failed. That was the reality of the situation.

    Su Jin watched the images sh past. They included humans, other creatures, monsters ¨C just like what Kano Mai said, these brilliant lifeforms had chosen this path too, but they had all failed.

    Su Jin had felt fearful and helpless too, but after looking through the stories of the people before him, he felt at peace instead. He said to Kano Mai, ¡°These people had been forced to make the same choice as me when they decided to take this path. So¡­ I have decided to walk down this path like they did.¡±

 Chapter 373

    Chapter 373

    Su Jin was a stubborn man, and he had been like this from childhood, including the way he treated his own family. His family couldn¡¯t afford to send his younger sister, Su Qing, to school, so Su Jin scrimped and saved to put her through school. He refused to go home because he was unhappy with his parents, but if anybody tried to hurt them, he would be the most terrifying creature in the world. And once the problem was settled, he pretended nothing had ever happened and walked away quietly to continue his cold war with his parents.

    Su Jin was not the most lovable person and had never been. He wasn¡¯t even considered humorous. Given his obstinate nature, Kano Mai knew he was still going to choose to walk down this path. But for some reason¡­ his choice made her very happy. This obstinate fellow was precisely the man she liked so much.

    ¡°Sigh¡­ I knew you would choose to do this anyway, yet I still said so much to you.¡± She shook her head with a sad smile, then stood in front of him and stared very hard at his face.

    Su Jin started scratching his head because he was embarrassed from being stared at like that. ¡°Uh¡­ do you UNGHHH!¡±

    Kano Mai did not give him the chance to speak and kissed him gently on the mouth, as though she was afraid she would scare this stubborn guy.

    Su Jin did get a shock, but he quickly realized there was something wrong with this kiss. He could feel a mysterious pattern flickering on his skin.

    After her lips moved away from his, Su Jin asked immediately, ¡°Mai, what¡­ what did you do?¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve chosen to go down this path, I will naturally support you in any way I can. I¡¯ve given you a copy of the thing I¡¯ve used to evade Hell¡¯s Handbook¡¯s search, it¡¯s helped me a lot over the years,¡± said Kano Mai with a smile.

    ¡°You¡¯ve given me a copy? What about you?¡± asked Su Jin anxiously.She shook her head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve made more of them over the years just in case, but each one is still very precious! I¡¯m giving one away only because it¡¯s you ¨C I wouldn¡¯t give it to just anybody.¡±

    Su Jin still looked a little lost, so she exined in greater detail, ¡°This is like a backdoor of sorts. We were the ones who created Hell¡¯s Handbook, after all. With this thing, unless the will of the universe is deliberately trying to look for you, Hell¡¯s Handbook itself will not realize that you¡¯re on this alternative path and will treat you as an ordinary owner.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s pretty amazing!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. This was something really invaluable to himself. Not only would the Handbook not try to kill him, but he could continue to use it to strengthen himself.

    Kano Mai went on, ¡°But you must understand that while it can help to cover your tracks most of the time, it¡¯s not invincible. If you disy levels of power that are way above normal, you might end up exposing yourself.¡±

    Su Jin nodded to show that he understood, then let out a long sigh. ¡°Thank you so much, Mai. If not for you¡­ I would have gone down this path without any worries, but also without knowing how long I would live for.¡±

    ¡°No need to thank me. I really hope someone will be able to seed too. I really hope someone¡­ can rece the will of the universe,¡± said Kano Mai gravely.

    Su Jin nodded gravely too and said, ¡°I will make sure I rece the will of the universe!¡±

    ¡°Jin, once you rece him¡­ what would you do?¡± asked Kano Mai suddenly.

    Su Jin was a little stunned by the question. What would he do? Kano Mai went on, ¡°The will of the universe is an awful existence, but he is one of thews of nature. The old has to be destroyed in order for a new one to be born. If you do eventually be stronger than the will of the universe and even rece him, what would you do?¡±

    Su Jin fell silent. He didn¡¯t know how to answer her question. The reason why he wanted to go down this path was to rece the will of the universe and break the shackles that Hell¡¯s Handbook had over all lifeforms. But Kano Mai¡¯s question was also an important one to answer.

    If the first universe remained intact, it could take back the energy used to create branch universes. But if the first universe ended up bing weaker and died because it no longer had any energy and the branch universes existed because of the first one¡­ then if the first one died, would the branches still survive?

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know yet, but I will do my best to find a way to resolve this. If I don¡¯t know what to do, then¡­ I will give the right to choose to all living creatures,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. There was no perfect situation in the world. The same situation could be a blessing to some and a curse to others.

    Of course, Kano Mai had faith in him, so she smiled and said, ¡°I look forward to your extraordinary performance.¡±

    ¡°But of course,¡± said Su Jin as he smiled back. Then he said, ¡°Hey! Since you¡¯re not dead,e back! Let¡¯s fight this together!¡±

    To his surprise, she shook her head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t do that at the moment because I have to settle some matters. It¡¯s not a road as noble as yours, but it¡¯s one that requires a lot of strength.¡±

    Su Jin was a little disappointed, but since that was what she had chosen for herself, he did not try to persuade her further. Kano Mai piped up, ¡°I¡¯ll send you back now. But be careful, I can only take you out of the Grave of the Gods, so you¡¯d probably have to face the God of Sins.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. Getting past the God of Sins could be tricky, but as long as Hell¡¯s Handbook didn¡¯t interfere with his powers, getting away should be no problem.

    ¡°Mai¡­ quickly finish what you need to do¡­ I¡¯ll revive Wu Chen and the rest and we¡¯ll all wait for you toe back,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Kano Mai smiled as she nodded, then she gently pulled at the air, causing the space in front of Su Jin to split open and sent Su Jin out of her hiding ce.

    She looked at where he was standing just seconds ago with a saddened look on her face. She sighed, then waved her hand again to walk out of her hiding ce and reappeared in front of Jing Hua and the team.

    ¡°Alright now, I¡¯ve sent him out, so let¡¯s end this meaningless fight,¡± Kano Mai¡¯s voice resounded as she pressed a hand down gently. Morgan and the other two were crushed as though a gigantic mountain had juste crashing down on them.

    After they had moved away, Kano Mai looked at her fourpanions and said, ¡°The matter discussed earlier between the current gods and that bunch of elder gods¡­ wasn¡¯t a joke, right?¡±

    Jing Hua took a moment to understand what she was saying, then said gravely, ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t a joke. But if you want to do a simtion like that, we need to be connected to the most powerful calction system of all time, which is the Handbook¡¯s. And the only person who can connect to it besides the will of the universe is¡­¡±

    ¡°Is myself, the primordial deity,¡± Kano Mai chuckled.

    Phoenix interjected, ¡°We¡¯d have to convert your soul into energy for the time being, but¡­ you¡¯d be able to revertter!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter. Since Jin wants to change our current situation, I can¡¯t just sit around and do nothing. We¡¯ve chosen different paths, but we¡¯re headed for the same destination,¡± said Kano Mai calmly. She looked at the other four and said, ¡°Oh! We¡¯d better get this done quickly! I¡¯ve given away the thing that hides me from Hell¡¯s Handbook, so if we don¡¯t get this done before it goes on its regr search, we might be in big trouble!¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Jing Hua got a shock. He immediately gave instructions, ¡°Damn it! End this Challenge immediately! Phoenix, tell those stupid gods that within the next¡­ oh never mind that, goodness knows how much time we really have¡­ in any case, we need to activate The Beginning! Now!¡±

    Phoenix did not express any displeasure with the way Jing Hua was instructing her. She immediately prepared to get in contact with the current gods and some of the elder gods who were hiding once the Challenge ended.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin reappeared outside the Grave of the Gods as Kano Mai had promised. But he had another problem at hand. Less than 30 meters away, the God of Sins was staring nkly at him.

    ¡°Damn¡­ I thought you¡¯d died in the Grave of the Gods.¡± The God of Sins couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. He mumbled, ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of talented folks who¡¯ve chosen the same path as you, but in general, they¡¯ve not been able to walk out of the Grave of the Gods.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s clear that I¡¯m more talented then,¡± said Su Jin with a chuckle. But at the same time, he went into fight mode, ready tounch a hard attack at any time.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever! Just hurry up and leave now! I don¡¯t know what are the chances of you surviving this, but¡­ do what you can!¡± grumbled the God of Sins. His reactionpletely baffled Su Jin.

 Chapter 374

    Chapter 374

    ¡°But¡­ but why? Aren¡¯t you a god who works for Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡± Su Jin simply could not understand why the God of Sins was actually letting him go just like that.

    The God of Sins was silent for a moment, then he raised his head to look at Su Jin as he said, ¡°What sin do you think Imitted back then?¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­ wait, you¡­¡± Su Jin realized what the God of Sins was talking about. He nodded slightly at the God of Sins and said, ¡°Thank you so much. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to really happen, but like you said, I will do what I can to survive.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± the God of Sins nodded nonchntly, then tapped the air with his finger to make a white door of light appear in front of Su Jin. ¡°If you¡¯ve got guts, use this door! It¡¯ll save you quite a bit of trouble.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and walked into the door of light without hesitation or making any preparations. The God of Sins watched as Su Jin disappeared, then sighed heavily as he let out a few sadughs. ¡°There are really so many fools like us! But I hope his luck¡¯s better than ours.¡±

    After passing through the door of light, Su Jin did not appear in his Personal Hell Domain, but appeared in his own bedroom. The God of Sins mentioned that taking this route would save him some trouble, and he was probably referring to this.

    Immediately after he returned, the Demon Lord appeared in front of him. She stared at him in disbelief and murmured, ¡°What¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s going on with you? The shackles in your genes are gone¡­ you¡¯ve¡­ you¡¯ve chosen to take that path?¡±

    Su Jin was surprised that the Demon Lord had realized this so quickly. He scratched his head and asked, ¡°Is it that obvious? You can tell with just one look?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s the powers I have. Do you remember the Demon Lord¡¯s Eye? I have the ability to see the true nature of everything, and the people who choose this path¡­ are too obviously different from everyone else. It¡¯s as if their genes have huge lightbulbs hanging from them, so it¡¯s impossible for me miss that!¡± exined the Demon Lord excitedly. But her expression faltered after that as she said, ¡°It¡¯s too bad. You¡¯ve been pretty good to me and I thought we¡¯d be able to live like this for a longer period of time. But since you¡¯ve chosen to take this path¡­ I guess I should prepare a nice gravestone for you. What sort of design do you prefer?¡±Su Jin didn¡¯t know if he ought tough or cry at that. ¡°I don¡¯t need a gravestone. In fact, I¡¯ve collected a bunch of them!¡± He stretched an arm and tore a hole in the space in front of him. Nearly a hundred gravestones from the Grave of the Gods were inside. He had collected all of them after he understood the path he wanted to take.

    Now that he was outside of the rules created by Hell¡¯s Handbook, Su Jin could understand powers even more clearly now. With his psychokinesis as his foundation, he was able to imitate all sorts of Spirit Powers. It was as though he had gone from being just a student to bing a professor. In the past, he only knew what was taught to him. But now, he could be an advisor to others.

    ¡°You have spatial powers now. Sometimes the people who choose this path are pitiful, but sometimes they make me feel so envious. It¡¯s so easy for you to learn and execute all sorts of powers,¡± said the Demon Lord with an envious look on her face.

    Su Jin ignored herment and searched through the space he had created, then retrieved one of the gravestones. He held it up in front of the Demon Lord and said, ¡°This one should be useful to you, right?¡±

    She took one look at the gravestone and shuddered all over. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she stuttered nervously, ¡°This¡­ this is the gravestone of the God of Destruction! How¡­ how did you bring this out with you? Even if you¡¯ve chosen to take that path, it¡¯s impossible to take anything out of the Grave of the Gods, no?!¡±

    Su Jin scratched his head and mumbled, ¡°You mean I wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to do this?¡±

    ¡°Of course not! The Grave of the Gods is a resting ce for gods! Besides the one who is the highest of all beings, nobody can take any of the gravestones in there out. What in the world is going on?!¡± The Demon Lord waspletely befuddled. As far as she knew, not even Hell¡¯s Handbook could achieve such a thing. The people who went through the test inside could only take the gravestones to the God of Sins, absorb the energy from the gravestones, then return the gravestones.

    Su Jin paused to think, then touched his palm. He had been able to do this probably only because of the thing that Kano Mai had given him. It had made him invisible to the Handbook, so it had also hidden all the things he carried with him, including these gravestones.

    ¡°I guess I got lucky?¡± Su Jin grinned. ¡°Anyway, the powers of this gravestone are a perfect match for you. It¡¯ll be useful to you, right?¡±

    The Demon Lord nodded immediately and said, ¡°It¡¯s not just a perfect match. This was the exact one I used to be a god back then. If you¡¯re really going to give this to me and I absorb the energy from it, I will definitely return to my peak. In fact¡­ I can even continue being a god in the new cycle. I will¡­ I would be a new god. Or rather, I would be no different from a new god.¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m going to give this to you,¡± said Su Jin without any qualms. ¡°But I have a suggestion, and I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯d like to consider it.¡±

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking about. You want to set up your own god army, right?¡± said the Demon Lord without waiting for Su Jin to borate.

    ¡°My own god army?¡± Su Jin paused to appreciate the term that she had used. He nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what it is. I need my own faction to fight against the will of the universe, so it¡¯s correct to say that I would need my own god army.¡±

    ¡°The will of the universe?¡± The Demon Lord looked confused.

    ¡°You know, that highest of beings you were talking about earlier. Don¡¯t you know who that is?¡± asked Su Jin curiously.

    She shook her head and said, ¡°I have no idea. That person¡¯s existence is a huge mystery and he¡¯s very powerful. Even when I had be a top tier god, I only caught a glimpse of him from afar. I have no idea who he really is.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s your choice? Do you want to just be a new god and get through one more cycle, or do you want to be part of my god army?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    The Demon Lord looked like she was having a hard time making a decision, so he said, ¡°You can take your time to think about it first.¡±

    She nodded, then grabbed hold of the gravestone Su Jin gave her and went to her room. Just when Su Jin¡¯s expression turned to one of disappointment, she poked her head out from the room and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to be part of your army. It¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯ve seen others take this path before, and every single one ended up getting hunted down by Hell¡¯s Handbook. If¡­ if you can survive and be someone even greater than a top tier god, I will join you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a deal!¡± Su Jin smiled and nodded. That condition wasn¡¯t too hard to fulfill. With that thing he received from Kano Mai, he had time to develop and grow.

    He went on to rest for a few days before Xu Ran came knocking on his door. Xu Ran¡¯s first words were, ¡°You came back alive?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Su Jin nodded. He knew why Xu Ran said that. ¡°I know Durand and the rest asked you to join them too, but you turned them down.¡±

    ¡°Yep. I¡¯m not really powerful enough yet. I¡¯m good enough to go, but it¡¯s simply too dangerous. I¡¯ve not seen them for a long time now and I thought all of you died in the Grave of the Gods, so I came over to check things out,¡± said Xu Ran.

    Su Jin nodded, then tried asking, ¡°Did you¡­ did you receive any mission about me recently?¡±

    ¡°Any mission about you? What do you mean?¡± Xu Ran didn¡¯t understand what Su Jin was trying to say.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. Just a casual question,¡± Su Jinughed it off quickly. Back inside the Grave of the Gods, every owner of every race had received the mission to kill him and the reward was to be a top tier god. But it now seemed like it was a mission only given to the owners inside the Grave of the Gods at that time. Other owners did not receive the mission.

    Xu Ran knew that Su Jin had a secret he wasn¡¯t willing to share, so he did not probe further. Instead, he asked curiously, ¡°What¡¯s the Grave of the Gods like?¡±

    Su Jin knew that Xu Ran would have been excited about the Grave of the Gods, but while Xu Ran was usually someone who never used orthodox methods to deal with anything, he wasn¡¯t a risk taker at all. Since Su Jin had returned unscathed, Xu Ran wanted to know how it could be done.

    Su Jin was hoping to get Xu Ran to be part of his army, but after thinking about it, he decided to leave that forter. Most people would not want to join him unless he could prove that he was powerful enough to fight Hell¡¯s Handbook. It was clear that he wasn¡¯t at that level yet.

    He went on to describe everything in detail to Xu Ran, since Xu Ran was considered half a friend to him. Su Jin was happy to help him in any way possible.

    ¡°Different races from other Handbook systems, you say¡­¡± Xu Ran stroked his chin. He didn¡¯t seem surprised, as though he already knew about this.

    ¡°You knew about this?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Nah, I just discovered a few traces from other Challenges. I couldn¡¯t figure out some things in the past, but I¡¯ve figured it all out now,¡± said Xu Ran with a smile. He ended up leaving after chatting with Su Jin for a while, because when he went to say hello to the Demon Lord, they found that she had gone gallivanting again.

 Chapter 375

    Chapter 375

    Not long after Xu Ran left, Su Jin decided to talk to Situ Jin and Chu Yi about his ns. He didn¡¯t mind hiding this matter from others, but he wasn¡¯t going to hide it from Situ Jin and Chu Yi.

    When he located Situ Jin, he found the man doing his part to serve the nation. He was chasing down a rogue Handbook owner and finally drove the owner into a corner and killed him off.

    ¡°Yo!¡± Su Jin waved to Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin was surprised to see Su Jin. He threw the owner¡¯s lifeless body to one side and walked over. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°I need to talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Let me tidy up things around here and we can sit down to have a chat,¡± said Situ Jin before calling the Department of Supernatural Affairs to clear the mess.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Situ Jin to Su Jin with the intention to find a nice ce to sit down. But after Su Jin nodded, he grasped the air with his hand and everything around Situ Jin became a blur. When the scenery around him settled again, he found himself in a city he didn¡¯t recognize.

    ¡°Where are we?¡± Situ Jin was a little lost.

    ¡°We¡¯re in Chu Yi¡¯s universe. I think it¡¯s best that we all sit down to talk about this,¡± said Su Jin flippantly.Situ Jin stared nkly at Su Jin as he asked puzzledly, ¡°You randomly grabbed the air and you were able to take me to another universe?¡±

    ¡°Yep. I¡¯ll exin things to you in a while.¡± Su Jin ced a finger on his temples and used his psychokinesis to cover the entire. His eyes opened again as he said, ¡°Found him.¡±

    In the middle of rubble, Chu Yi was having a meeting with the resistance army. He joined them after he was revived and became the leader of one team. When he wasn¡¯t stuck in a Challenge, he was fighting with the people from the cult. They were now preparing the strategies and manpower needed for the next day¡¯s battle.

    But when they were halfway through, Su Jin and Situ Jin suddenly appeared in front of them. The team with Chu Yi got a shock and immediately got ready to attack. Thankfully, Chu Yi had reacted quickly enough and stopped them from doing anything rash.

    ¡°Everyone rx, these are people on our side!¡± said Chu Yi to his team, before addressing the two men who had appeared, ¡°Boss, Situ¡­ why¡­ why are both of you here?¡±

    ¡°I need to talk to you about some matters, let¡¯s find a ce to sit,¡± said Su Jin.

    Chu Yi was okay with that, so he said to the person next to him, ¡°Miss Han, I¡¯ll leave the rest of the meeting to you.¡±

    Su Jin nced at the person Chu Yi was talking to and realized it was someone he actually knew. It was Han Linmei, the person who had first sent him to Chu Yi¡¯s universe. Han Linmei was surprised to see Su Jin as well. She nodded to acknowledge Chu Yi¡¯s instruction, then said to Su Jin, ¡°Hello, Mr. Su. It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    Su Jin returned with a polite smile. He didn¡¯t have a good impression of her, since she had effectivelyid a trap for him thest time. But none of that really mattered to him anymore. It was easier to just use this smile to end any feud between them.

    ¡°It has indeed been a long time. I hope I¡¯m not disrupting your meeting,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°No worries, go ahead and discuss what you need! I¡¯ll settle this meeting,¡± replied Han Linmei with a smile.

    Chu Yi brought Su Jin and Situ Jin to a fairly clean ce to sit, which was pretty hard to find among all the rubble of the city. Then again, the cult dominating this particr world, so even having a space of their own was a miracle.

    ¡°Boss, both of you have specially made a trip to my universe, so I suppose you¡¯ve got something really urgent to discuss?¡± asked Chu Yi puzzledly after pouring them some water.

    Situ Jin shook his head and said, ¡°Ask Jin. I was brought here, so I¡¯m just as clueless as you are.¡± He shrugged and threw his hands up.

    Su Jin went straight to the point, ¡°I went to the Grave of the Gods.¡±

    ¡°Whaaa?¡± Both of them were even more confused. They were considered rtively high ranking owners, but they had not reached the point where they would start looking for concrete ways to be a god. But as long as they didn¡¯t die in a Challenge, they definitely had what it took to be one.

    ¡°It¡¯s a Heaven Level Challenge, a Challenge that gives owners the chance to be a god,¡± exined Su Jin briefly.

    The look in their eyes shifted this time. They had improved greatly, and even though they knew they were no match for those ranked right at the top of the list, bing a god was definitely on their to do list.

    ¡°So, you became a god?¡± asked Chu Yi immediately.

    Su Jin shook his head andughed, ¡°Nope. Not only did I not be a god, I gave up the rights to be one forever.¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!¡± Both of them were utterly shocked. It was fine that he failed to be a god, but what was this about giving up the rights to be one forever? What happened?

    Of course, Su Jin knew they would be terribly shocked, so he began to exin to them about the will of the universe, the origin of gods, Hell¡¯s Handbook, as well as the path he had chosen to take. It took them a while to digest all the information, and they finally let out a long sigh after some time.

    ¡°Sister Mai isn¡¯t dead!¡±

    ¡°So, bing a god is actually meant to trap and shackle the owners, huh.¡±

    The most important part they drew from what Su Jin said was different for the two of them, but they had understood what he said.

    ¡°To put it simply, I¡¯m going to form my own god army to fight with the will of the universe in due course,¡± said Su Jin, ¡°What do the two of you think? Wanna join my army?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even need to ask. Of course I¡¯ll be part of it!¡± said Chu Yi without hesitation.

    Situ Jin nodded and said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to live my life only to be enved by someone else, so I¡¯m definitely joining you, but¡­¡±

    He trailed off at the end and Chu Yi immediately red at him as he demanded, ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°But¡­ if we join your army, how are we going to revive Bo Ya, Ye Yun, and the rest?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Chu Yi blinked a few times, then a frustrated expression spread across his face. He clearly hadn¡¯t thought about that. But Su Jin said, ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. Joining my god army basically means you guys have to be gods within the Handbook¡¯s system. As long as you¡¯re willing, I¡¯ll be able to change who you pledge your allegiance to, so reviving Bo Ya and the rest is still going to be possible.¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯m good,¡± Situ Jin nodded.

    Chu Yi rubbed his palms together. ¡°The will of the universe, huh! Fighting such an existence really makes me excited!¡±

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°I think you¡¯d better calm down first. Many other talented people have chosen to walk down the same path as myself before, but not a single one seeded, so¡­ I think it¡¯s better to be a little less hopeful.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least there¡¯s hope if we stick with you. If we end up bing enved by the will of the universe, then our situation would really be hopeless,¡± said Situ Jin immediately. He paused to think, then said, ¡°The members of Team Boning Knife would definitely support you, but there aren¡¯t a lot of us and I don¡¯t think that¡¯s enough, right? Like you said, there are many other Handbook systems in the universe with all sorts of owners out there. Even if we¡¯re made of steel, I don¡¯t think we can take that many hits.¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°I understand. That¡¯s why I will continue to participate in Handbook Challenges and gather more people and resources. We still have time to get ready.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯ve got a n for that,¡± said Situ Jin with a nod.

    Just then, a st suddenly resounded from afar. A warehouse belonging to the resistance army had been attacked by the cult, so Han Linmei came running over immediately.

    ¡°Mr. Chu, the cult has sent formidable fighters to fight us and we might not be able to hold up for long!¡± said Han Linmei anxiously.

    Chu Yi frowned, then he nced at Su Jin and Situ Jin and broke into a grin. ¡°Boss, Situ, why don¡¯t you be my temps for the day?¡±

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°Sure! Your faces some nasty foes, so let¡¯s settle this problem once and for all. Otherwise, you¡¯d have to worry about these things even when you¡¯re stuck in a Challenge.¡±

    Chu Yi smiled even more brightly at these words. ¡°That would be great! But the cult leader is a high ranking owner, so I¡¯m afraid they¡¯d be a bit difficult to handle.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll settle this in a minute!¡± Su Jin patted Chu Yi¡¯s shoulder, then walked out as he covered the entire ce with his psychokinesis and quickly located all the members of the cult.

    ¡°Unarm your weapons and surrender within ten seconds, or¡­ prepare to die!¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice rang inside the heads of the fighters from the cult, which horrified them. Someone who could send their voices directly into their heads had to be a formidable foe.

    ¡°Within ten seconds? I would like to find out who the resistance army has newly recruited! How dare you make such audacious ims!¡± the cult leader¡¯s voice also rang out in everyone¡¯s heads.

 Chapter 376

    Chapter 376

    Su Jin and the cult leader had both projected their own voices into the heads of others, but that alone was enough to differentiate them in terms of how highly skilled they were. Su Jin had managed to pick out only his enemies within an instant and sent his voice only to them, but the cult leader was clearly unable to do that and had no choice but to send her voice into every person¡¯s head.

    The resistance army and the cult¡¯s followers automatically moved aside to make space for Su Jin and the cult leader to fight. Both parties were too powerful for them to fight on their own.

    The cult leader wore a ck cloak, and a ck mist swirled around her as she marched into the empty space first and stared frostily into the distance.

    Su Jin stepped into the empty space as well, dressed simply in casual clothing. He came within about ten meters of the cult leader so that they could see each other clearly.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± The cult leader was rather surprised, and she seemed to have recognized Su Jin.

    ¡°Oh my, you actually still remember me? How touching,¡± chuckled Su Jin.

    But she shook her head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t remember what you look like, but your smell is very unique. It is a smell that does not belong to our universe.¡±

    ¡°Yep. And your Spirit Power is¡­¡± A silver glint shed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes, and he looked enlightened as he said, ¡°I see. You have the ability to interrogate souls. I didn¡¯t know such a powerful Spirit Power existed.¡±

    The cult leader was stunned and she asked puzzledly, ¡°How do you know my Spirit Power?¡±¡°I don¡¯t know how to exin it to you, but it¡¯s like reading a footnote that helps me to understand easily,¡± Su Jin shrugged. He was no longer part of Hell¡¯s Handbook¡¯s system, so besides the will of the universe, he was the only other person for this cycle who wasn¡¯t within the control and limitations of the Handbook¡¯s system.

    Su Jin was like a character in a book who had walked out of the book, so he could understand the book from a different perspective. When he was part of the book, as long as it wasn¡¯t written with him in it, he had no idea what was happening in the other parts of the story. But once he was out of the book, he became someone superior to the characters inside. When he looked at the characters, he was able to understand what the book was writing about easily. It was like how a lower lifeform could not understand what it was like to be a higher lifeform, except that higher lifeforms did not understand what it was like to be a lower lifeform either. But that didn¡¯t affect Su Jin because he had started as a lower lifeform.

    ¡°Humph! I don¡¯t care about how you found out. In any case, you should not have returned after you managed to escape thest time!¡± scoffed the cult leader. Her Spirit Power was a very rare and powerful one, since it could interrogate souls directly. It was very useful for dealing with all living creatures, and especially useful when dealing with supernatural beings. That had helped her to grow exponentially as an owner, and she had been able to create such a huge cult and dominate her because of this power. Nobody was able to go through her interrogation process and not surrender.

    ¡°I was no match for you back then, but things change, don¡¯t they? I¡¯ve actually be really powerful now,¡± said Su Jin with a big grin on his face.

    Of course, the cult leader knew he had be very powerful. They had not exchanged blows, but the difference in skill they had disyed earlier made it clear that she was not as formidable as he was.

    She remained silent, and both sides did not dare tounch any attack as long as the two parties did not do anything. They were waiting quietly when the cult leader suddenly took a step forward.

    ¡°If you leave now, I will take it that nothing ever happened.¡± Those words stunned everyone. The cult leader seemed reluctant to fight Su Jin.

    But Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but for as long as you remain a problem, we won¡¯t be able to do the things we need to do without worrying.¡±

    ¡°You think you and all these people can handle me? Who do you guys think you are?¡± spat the cult leader disdainfully.

    Su Jin shook his head again and pointed a finger at her as he said, ¡°It¡¯s not me and all these people here, but just me!¡±

    The cult leader suddenly felt like she had been thrown into hell. Her followers turned into nothing but piles of bones, and she was on a floating tform that was surrounded by nothing butva.

    ¡°This¡­ this is an illusion!¡± said the cult leader to herself with a snort. Her Spirit Power was the ability to interrogate souls, and this idiot was using illusions to fight her? She felt she had been overly cautious and had totally overestimated Su Jin¡¯s abilities after all.

    Su Jin stood in front of her and stared at her calmly. The cult leader said to him, ¡°Trying to use illusions to deal with me? What a joke! Watch as I tear your soul to shreds!¡±

    The ck mist around her flew toward Su Jin, but he did not budge. When the mist flew close enough, he grabbed hold of it with one hand, took a close look, then swallowed all of it.

    ¡°It¡¯s a high level Spirit Power, alright. How interesting. Thanks!¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s an illusion¡­ it must be!¡± The cult leader couldn¡¯t believe someone could possibly swallow her Spirit Power like that. Not even a god could do that.

    She immediately started charging at Su Jin, because she believed that Su Jin was the key to the illusion. Once he was dead, the illusion would disappear. But the moment she set foot in theva, a terrible pain shot through her body. She looked down only to see that her fair feet had been burned by theva, and the pain¡­ felt incredibly real.

    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ it¡¯s just an illusion! It¡¯ll go away once I kill you!¡± shrieked the cult leader as she struggled to reach Su Jin. But before she even managed ten meters, theva had burned her to ashes.

    ¡°Illusions¡­ there are many types of illusions in this world, including the tastes your tongue tastes, the scenery your eyes see, the sounds your ears hear, or even the textures your hands and feet touch. All these things could possibly be illusions¡­ but right now, everything is real. What you see¡­ is capable of killing you.¡± Su Jin seemed to be murmuring to himself, because the beautiful cult leader hadpletely disappeared. She was no longer able to hear what he just said.

    To the rest of the people, they only saw that the cult leader had stared at Su Jin for a few seconds before making her way toward him. But with each step she took, her body would be engulfed by even hotter mes, until the mes finally burned her to a crisp.

    Everyone was too stunned for words. They began to wonder if they were also seeing things, but they quickly realized that this was all real. The shackles around their souls that the cult leader had put in ce had disappeared. That was the real reason why they were loyal to her in the first ce. It wasn¡¯t because they believed that Handbook owners were the only people with the right to rule the world.

    Perhaps some did really think that way, but they were in the minority. Most of them were loyal because of the shackles around their souls. With those shackles in ce, the cult leader could kill them instantly, so they had no choice but to listen to everything she said. But now¡­ they could feel very clearly that those shackles had disappeared. Combining that with what they just saw, they figured everything out quickly. The cult leader¡­ was really dead!

    The resistance army was stunned too, but they quickly epted reality and began cheering loudly. They screamed and shouted for joy, not caring if their noises were intelligible or not, because they were simply too overjoyed.

    ¡°The cult leader¡¯s dead! She¡¯s dead!¡±

    ¡°Hurray! She¡¯s finally gone to meet her maker!¡±

    ¡°The war is over! We¡¯ll have peace again!¡±

    The resistance army was cheering, but so were the cult followers. They were cheering loudly to celebrate the fact that they had regained control over their own lives.

    The cheering from both sides confused Chu Yi for a moment, and Han Linmei was also a little bewildered at first. But soon after, she let out an excited squeal.

    ¡°Ahhhh!!¡± She screamed like she had gone mad as she hugged Chu Yi tightly with tears running down her cheeks.

    ¡°Gosh, the people on your are¡­ really weird,¡± Situ Jin didn¡¯t know what to say. These people were supposed to be fighting each other, yet they all started cheering after one person died.

    Chu Yiughed as he patted Han Linmei on the back, then said to Situ Jin, ¡°I don¡¯t know about the other side, but the resistance armyprises many people who¡¯ve lost family members to this cult. Miss Han¡¯s parents and one younger brother were all killed by these cult followers too.¡±

    Situ Jin then realized what was happening and nodded. If the same thing happened in his world, he would definitely have joined the resistance army too.

 Chapter 377

    Chapter 377

    ¡°What do we do with the rest of the followers?¡± Su Jin walked over to ask Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi nced at the followers who were cheering, then sighed in frustration and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. Some of these people had listened to the cult leader because they were only trying to stay alive and had no other choice. The resistance army doesn¡¯t really have anything against such people. But there are some among them who are bloodthirsty and kill for fun. These are the people we want to deal with, but¡­ it¡¯s impossible to tell who¡¯s who like this!¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that you want the real evildoers killed, and you¡¯ll let the rest off?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Chu Yi nodded, then scratched his head awkwardly as he said, ¡°Uh¡­ sounds a little impossible, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Not really, actually,¡± Su Jin shook his head. He turned toward the followers and a silver glint lit up his eyes. If one was observing Su Jin¡¯s eyes carefully now, they would notice that these weren¡¯t just random sparkles in his eyes. The sparkles formed special patterns and symbols.

    Just then, the head of an owner among the followers suddenly exploded. He had been celebrating with the rest ¨C the cult leader was dead and he couldn¡¯t kill at his whim and fancy anymore, but the person who had control over his survival was dead, so that was worth celebrating too. But just when he was still reeling from excitement, he cked out, because his head had exploded like a watermelon getting smashed. His head was nothing but a bloody cloud in the air.

    At the same time, other heads were exploding the same way among the owners who were part of the cult before. The only thing they had inmon was the fact that they had gone on merciless massacres while the cult leader had ruled this world.

    The resistance army stared at the exploding heads and suddenly became very terrified of Su Jin. Han Linmei let go of Chu Yi and moved away, her eyes filled with fear as she stared in horror at Su Jin.

    She didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to be so powerful in such a short time. None of them understood what in the world happened to the cult leader, but Su Jin was definitely the one who killed her. And just moments ago, Chu Yiined about how it was difficult to deal with the remaining followers, but Su Jin didn¡¯t look troubled by it at all. Then¡­ the heads of some of the followers started to explode just like that. If those were truly people who deserved to die, then this man¡­ was even more powerful than a god, wasn¡¯t he?

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not like the gods. If I were faced with extremely highly ranked owners, I would be in trouble too,¡± said Su Jin as he grinned at Han Linmei.

    She stared back at him in surprise for a while, then realized that Su Jin must have read her thoughts. He immediately added, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my body has gone through a lot of changestely and I¡¯m still unable to control them very well, so I identally overheard your thoughts.¡±

    Actually, Su Jin could have read Han Linmei¡¯s thoughts easily even if he hadn¡¯t chosen this path. He just needed to activate his Spirit Power and use his psychokinesis to read her mind. But now, everyone¡¯s thoughts were open to him and he could read them like a book. However, this ability could be a problem too. He had to make sure he got used to it and turned it from a passive skill to an active one.

    He then said to Chu Yi, ¡°The problem in your world has been settled, so you can focus your energies on the Handbook. I need both of you to be gods as quickly as possible!¡±

    ¡°Hey! We¡¯re not a mutant like you, so it¡¯s not as easy for us to be gods. I¡¯m not even sure if we can get through that Grave of the Gods you told us about in one piece.¡± Situ Jin was confident of his own abilities, but after hearing about how Oscar nearly died at the entrance despite having a simr Spirit Power, he couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy.

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the Grave of the Gods. I came out of there with some things, so you can get through it without a hitch. But¡­ while you get to avoid some risks, I need you guys to meet the criteria to be a god first. Otherwise, even if I could make you two gods immediately, you¡¯d only be low tier gods, which would bepletely meaningless.¡±

    Situ Jin and Chu Yi nodded in agreement. They were both aiming to be top tier gods. They didn¡¯t want to settle for anything less.

    Since the problem in Chu Yi¡¯s world was settled, Su Jin was going to leave the rest to the resistance army and return to his world with Situ Jin.

    Just when he was about to leave, Chu Yi remarked, ¡°Wow, Boss, you¡¯re really powerful now, huh. In the past, if you wanted toe here, you¡¯d have to beg that asshole, Shen Wu, to teleport you.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of Shen Wu, I killed him in the Grave of the Gods,¡± said Su Jin with a bright smile.

    Chu Yi and Situ Jin blinked in surprise. It hadn¡¯t been too long since they snuck into Shen Wu¡¯s world and were nearly killed as they tried to rescue Ye Yun. Back then, Su Jin had been barely able to fight Shen Wu. But now, Su Jin had managed to y Shen Wu and avenge Ye Yun.

    ¡°Boss, why not¡­ perhaps we should choose the same path as you?¡± said Chu Yi as he scratched his head.

    But Su Jin immediately shook his head. ¡°Firstly, if you want to go down this path, you have to understand what it means for yourself and I can¡¯t lead you there. Secondly, this path is way too dangerous. If I didn¡¯t get that item from Mai, I would probably be dead by now. So, I would advise you to give up that thought for the time being.¡±

    After saying goodbye to Chu Yi, Su Jin brought Situ Jin back to their world, then bid Situ Jin farewell too. When he got back home, Su Jin suddenly remembered something and summoned Chimimoryo from his Handbook.

    ¡°This power¡­ what¡¯s going on with you? You¡¯ve¡­ you¡¯re outside of the Handbook now!¡± Chimimoryo was clearly very surprised.

    ¡°Oho! You seem to know quite a bit,¡± said Su Jin curiously.

    ¡°But of course. I followed a top tier god back then and I witnessed many things for myself. But¡­ it¡¯s too bad. I thought you were a clever man, but you ended up choosing this path. You¡¯re not far from death,¡± said Chimimoryo without holding back.

    Su Jin made a face, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have my own means to make sure the Handbook can¡¯t tell. I¡¯m just an ordinary owner to the Handbook.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The Handbook knows everything. Your fate was sealed from the moment you chose this path.¡± Chimimoryo did not believe Su Jin at all.

    Su Jin shrugged. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether you believe me or not. Anyway, you said before that you needed a Badge of Godhood toplete your evolution process, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Unlike you, I am unable to be a god on my own, so I need a Badge toplete my transformation and be a true living being,¡± said Chimimoryo. ¡°That was why I was willing to follow you back then. I didn¡¯t expect you to be¡­ this foolish. How disappointing!¡±

    ¡°Aw, I¡¯m sorry for disappointing you. But I do have a Badge of Godhood.¡± Su Jin retrieved the Badge of Godhood from his Handbook. This was the reason why Shen Wu had been hot on Ye Yun¡¯s heels for such a long time. Both Ye Yun and Shen Wu were dead, and now, this Badge was in Su Jin¡¯s hands.

    ¡°A Badge of Godhood!¡± Chimimoryo became extremely excited when it saw the Badge, but it managed to control itself. It trembled nonstop, but it did not try to snatch it from Su Jin.

    ¡°Very good. If you had tried to snatch it from me, I would make sure it nevernds in your hands,¡± Su Jin gave a pleased nod. Chimimoryo was not something that only cared for its own benefit.

    But Chimimoryo sneered and said, ¡°Why should I bother snatching it from you? You¡¯re about to die, so once that happens¡­¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t get the Badge either. When an owner dies, everything in their Handbook will be taken back,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°Damn, when you put it like that, you really make me want to kill you and snatch that Badge from you!¡± snarled Chimimoryo.

    ¡°Haha! Believe me, doing that would not do you any good. But we could strike a deal. If you¡¯re agreeable, I¡¯ll give this Badge to you,¡± said Su Jin calmly.

 Chapter 378

    Chapter 378

    Chimimoryo was a little puzzled and said, ¡°Strike a deal? What sort of deal could you and I possibly strike?¡±

    ¡°I want you to be a god of the Handbook and leave me, so you can enjoy everything you¡¯ve been looking forward to for such a long time, but¡­¡± Su Jin paused, then stared at Chimimoryo, ¡°when I need you, I want you to help me just once. You have to help me, regardless of what I ask you to do.¡±

    ¡°Including telling me to kill myself?¡± snapped Chimimoryo.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Including that.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re asking for too much?¡± Chimimoryo was clearly very unhappy and felt that Su Jin was being unreasonable.

    But Su Jin said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Firstly, if you miss this chance that I¡¯m giving you, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t get the chance to be a god again until you are destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Humph! Are you saying that I¡¯d be useless without you?¡± Chimimoryo became even angrier.

    Su Jin stared at the bow and said frostily, ¡°No, I¡¯m not. But look at your circumstances. You don¡¯t want to follow someone who doesn¡¯t have the potential to be a god, and out of those who have the potential, very few need your help, especially since you¡¯re a weapon that could possibly attack them and rob them of godhood once they be one. I don¡¯t think there are many who have the confidence to say they can handle that. Of course, you could always pick a newbie with potential and groom them, but do you even have the time to do that?

    ¡°I sense that the current cycle is about to end. If you can¡¯t be a god before the previous cycle is destroyed, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t even get the chance to enter the next cycle.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s words made Chimimoryo fall silent. It knew that Su Jin was right. It was indeed in an awkward position right now. Most of the top tier owners had already formed their own factions and did not need to risk their future by epting its help, since that was as good as keeping a ticking time bomb by their side. And as for those owners with no potential, Chimimoryo wasn¡¯t going to stick with them even if they begged it to.

    ¡°Your conditions are too extreme and I don¡¯t think anybody would agree to them. You have to lower one of them,¡± said Chimimoryo.

    But Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°You are only focusing on how extreme my conditions are, but let¡¯s also look at it this way¡­ perhaps I might never need your help, or I might need your help, but it¡¯s not something that would endanger your life. I¡¯m just stating the worst case scenario here.¡±

    Chimimoryo began to waver. Bing a god was simply too hard, because it needed a Badge of Godhood to first transform it into a lifeform. Otherwise, it was not able to join in any fights between gods, never mind win the chance to be a god from owners at that level. This was a chance that it could have only dreamed about. Besides, Su Jin was right. It just had to agree to this deal and it might eventually only end up doing Su Jin a very small favor. If so, this would be a very favorable deal.

    While Chimimoryo was still struggling to make a decision, Su Jin went on, ¡°Thirdly, even with this agreement in ce, if I manage to rece the will of the universe and rewrite the rules of the universe, then Hell¡¯s Handbook must be destroyed. Arge proportion of the gods would not be able to escape destruction, but I can grant you an exception. You can switch allegiances and be a god in my new temple.¡±

    Chimimoryo was convinced now. While Su Jin¡¯s words sounded boastful at first, as the only one who had chosen this path and remained undetected by the Handbook, Su Jin¡¯s future seemed limitless.

    ¡°Deal!¡± Chimimoryo stopped hesitating. Everything Su Jin offered was too tempting to pass up. It might have to sacrifice a lot in the future, but the chances of that happening weren¡¯t high.

    If Su Jin failed, it might only need to do Su Jin a small favor and it could continue being a god of the new cycle. But if Su Jin seeded, it could be a god in Su Jin¡¯s new temple. And if it turned the deal down, then¡­ bing a god would be nothing more than a dream forever.

    Su Jin smiled faintly. He knew Chimimoryo would definitely agree, because the benefits were too hard to resist. As long as Chimimoryo wasn¡¯t stupid, it would definitely be tempted.

    ¡°How do we prove that this deal is on? Or this is merely an oral agreement?¡± asked Chimimoryo.

    Su Jin did not say anything and shot out a silver beam from between his eyes and into the bow. Chimimoryo¡¯s body began to tremble from fear. It never imagined that Su Jin would have be this powerful. Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis had literally pierced through its god-level body and left a mark on it.

    The mark Su Jin left behind would help to keep a watch on the agreement. If Chimimoryo ever thought about betraying Su Jin, Su Jin would know about it immediately, and he would kill Chimimoryo instantly.

    ¡°Why bother striking a deal with me if you¡¯re already this powerful? Isn¡¯t that extra work for nothing?¡± Chimimoryo couldn¡¯t believe it. Su Jin had powers above that of even a top tier god. It was a power that was beyond what the Handbook allowed, so it wasn¡¯t a matter of just bing stronger. One had to understand and work around the rules in order to attain this level.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°Of course, I could have done this by force and make you help me by threatening to kill you. But I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯d try your best to fight me if I did that and I might not be able to get the result I wanted. So¡­ it was better to make sure you were willing to do this.¡±

    Chimimoryo fell silent for a moment, then said to Su Jin, ¡°Alright then, since we¡¯ve already reached an agreement, give me the Badge of Godhood!¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll give it to you. And I¡¯ll give you extra help so that you¡¯ll be an even more powerful god than you hoped for.¡± Su Jin gripped the Badge of Godhood tightly, and a brilliant light shot out from it before he pressed it onto Chimimoryo.

    Chimimoryo felt a tremendous power enter its body. It was so powerful, it couldn¡¯t control it at all, never mind absorb it and use it to transform itself. This was like a super bomb that was going to blow it to bits.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just absorb what you can and I¡¯ll help you with the rest,¡± said Su Jin. Chimimoryo still wasn¡¯t too sure about this, but he had no choice but to follow Su Jin¡¯s instructions.

    A brilliant light glowed brightly and lit up the sky above the house. Not only could everyone in S City see it, but the neighboring cities could see it too. Everyone was staring at the light in fear as Su Jin did his best to help Chimimoryo absorb all the energy from the Badge of Godhood.

    After a long time, the light slowly faded. A huge number of people had gathered around Su Jin¡¯s house because they realized the light wasing from there.

    Su Jin tapped the air and a silver glow epassed the house. He turned his psychokinesis into specks of dust and sent them into the consciousness of everyone gathered around his house so that they would forget the reason why they were here, and it would also be passed on to anyone else who had seen the bright light. Nobody would remember seeing this bright light.

    Meanwhile, inside the house, the bow had fallen on its side, and apletely naked ck haired girly next to it. Her face was filled with excitement as she touched herself in disbelief. She had a real body, a real body with flesh and blood.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough, put some clothes on,¡± Su Jin¡¯s eye twitched as a dress that belonged to the Demon Lord flew and covered the girl. It was a little toorge, so with just one thought, Su Jin was able to alter it and make it fit her properly.

    The girl was still giddy with excitement, and it took her a long time to calm down. She was still in disbelief as she said, ¡°A high-level god¡­ I can¡¯t believe someone with my history could be a high-level god! This is crazy!¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, it was a little difficult, but I felt that you had to reach this level in order to be of any help to me in the future,¡± said Su Jin with a shrug.

    She bent over to pick up the bow, which was her old shell. She then looked at Su Jin and noticed that the palm he used to hold the Badge of Godhood was ckened, and his flesh was badly injured. The power of the Badge of Godhood was formidable, so such an injury was only to be expected.

    ¡°You made me into a high-level god, but aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯d go back on my word and kill you? That way, our agreement will no longer be effective!¡± said Chimimoryo with disdain.

    But Su Jinughed and said, ¡°I could make you a god, so¡­ I can destroy you just as easily. You can try and kill me if you like.¡±

 Chapter 379

    Chapter 379

    Chimimoryo trembled a little. This was the first time she was trembling as a real, living being. She knew that Su Jin wasn¡¯t trying to scare her. Someone with the power to create a high-level god would certainly not be afraid of what they had created.

    Su Jin could sense her fear, so he smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As long as you keep to our agreement, I won¡¯t do anything to you. Besides¡­ you¡¯ve already be a god, so it¡¯s time you left my side. Your previous owner was a god, so I don¡¯t think you need my help for anything else?¡±

    Chimimoryo nodded and used her own newfound powers to slice a hole in space. But before leaving, she said to Su Jin, ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to the time our deal ispleted, but to be honest¡­ I¡¯m not very optimistic about it. My previous owner was extremely powerful and I¡¯ve seen others like you before, but all of them eventually died, and none of them lived for long.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ well, I¡¯ll take that as a show of concern from you!¡± Su Jin smiled and waved Chimimoryo on. She stepped into the hole she had created and disappeared. But just before she stepped in, Su Jin vaguely caught a glimpse of a gloriousnd of gods inside.

    After Chimimoryo left, the Demon Lord suddenly appeared. She looked around several times, then said, ¡°I sensed the presence of gods just now. Someone became a god here?¡±

    ¡°Themotion in here was almost as great as a nuclear bomb and you JUST noticed?¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe his ears.

    She shrugged and said, ¡°Well, about that¡­ I got to know a pretty nice girl and¡­ had a lot of fun, so I slept exceptionally well. Never mind that ¨C who became a god? Or¡­ did some godse over and tried to kill you?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I helped Chimimoryo to be a god. Since she helped me before, I thought I¡¯d grant her wish.¡± Su Jin did not tell the Demon Lord about his deal with Chimimoryo. In fact, Su Jin still wasn¡¯t too sure exactly what in the world the Demon Lord wanted. And because she was a top tier god, he still couldn¡¯t read her thoughts.

    ¡°So generous? That fellow would need at least a Badge of Godhood to be a god. You mean you actually had one?!¡± asked the Demon Lord in disbelief.

    Su Jin grinned. ¡°I happened to have one.¡±

    ¡°You happened to have one? And next you¡¯re going to tell me you happened to kill off the will of the universe?! That was a Badge of Godhood, for crying out loud! Not a penny left on the floor that nobody wants!¡± The Demon Lord was annoyed that Su Jin was hiding the truth from her, so she went back to her room to get dressed so that she could continue having fun. But after looking through all her things, she couldn¡¯t find her favorite dress.

    ¡°Hey! Have you seen my dress? A bright red one, a fiery red one!¡± The Demon Lord hooked an arm around Su Jin¡¯s neck and pressed herself against him.

    She was dressed in very thin pajamas, but Su Jin was in no mood to appreciate her voluptuous figure. He only knew that if the Demon Lord found out that he had given away her favorite dress, he wasn¡¯t going to have a house anymore.

    ¡°Your dress? I wouldn¡¯t know anything about that. Did you end up leaving it somewhere out there after getting drunk?¡± Su Jin threw her a dubious look.

    The Demon Lord looked back at his seemingly genuine expression and suddenly wasn¡¯t sure if she had really done that or not. After pausing to think for some time, she waved her hand about and said, ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll just buy another one.¡±

    ¡°Good idea!¡± Su Jin quickly gave her a thumbs up andplimented her ability to look past these small details, then ran off before she could sense anything amiss.

    Meanwhile, in a broken space, Kano Mai and her fourpanions had walked into a giant meteorite floating in space.

    ¡°They¡¯ve molded the shards of an astronomical object with spatial abilities into a secret base. That¡¯s quite a lot of effort.¡± Kano Mai only needed to take one look at the scene in front of her to understand what must have happened. This giant meteorite had been dug out from the inside, and the meteorite itself was the essence of an astronomical object with spatial abilities after it was shattered.

    Such astronomical objects were very rare, and the limitless universe probably had no more than five or so. And to be able to find its essence after it had shattered was even harder. But there was an easier way to do this, which was to shatter the astronomical object yourself. Kano Mai guessed that was how this shard came about.

    ¡°Wait, no. This energy¡­ how is it so deep? Where in the world did this astronomical object sharde from?¡± Kano Mai was stunned as she set foot on the shard and couldn¡¯t believe what she was sensing. This shard was extremely old. So old, it couldpare to herself.

    ¡°O great primordial deity, don¡¯t allow prejudices to blind yourself. Did you really think¡­ the primordial deities were the only clever ones among all the living creatures in the limitless universe?¡± An old man stepped out of the entrance to the shard to wee Kano Mai.

    ¡°Greetings, O great primordial deity! My name is Carl,¡± said the old man to Kano Mai as he bowed.

    Kano Mai was puzzled and asked, ¡°Have we met before? Why do I feel like¡­ I¡¯ve seen you before?¡±

    Carl smiled faintly and said, ¡°Of course we¡¯ve met before. I am the first generation of new gods that was birthed before the universe was first destroyed. In fact, you can say that we¡¯re of the same age.¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡± said Kano Mai immediately. ¡°Besides myself, nobody could have dodged the destruction of the universe and live till now!¡±

    The smile on Carl¡¯s face did not fade as he said quietly, ¡°The primordial deities have only one w, and that is pride. Overconfidence in themselves. Your race was destroyed back then precisely because of your pride. That was how you walked into the trapid by the will of the universe!¡±

    Kano Mai was too stunned to speak for a while. She didn¡¯t want to admit it, but she couldn¡¯t deny it either. ¡°Fine! You said you¡¯re the first generation of gods birthed before the first destruction of the universe, but what proof do you have?¡±

    ¡°Proof? This shard is proof. Can¡¯t you sense how old it is? Or rather¡­ don¡¯t you find it very endearing?¡± said Carl with a smirk.

    Kano Mai had noticed it too. When she stepped onto the shard, an odd emotion had filled her heart. The energy of the shard wasn¡¯t just old and deep, but it also felt¡­ very dear to her.

    ¡°Wait, this is¡­¡± Kano Mai¡¯s eyes suddenly widened and tears rolled down her cheeks. She said in disbelief, ¡°This is from my! The primordial deity!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You still recognize it after all. I thought you might have trouble recognizing it after so many years had passed,¡± Carl smiled and nodded.

    Kano Mai couldn¡¯t stop crying. Of course she recognized it. Back before the first destruction of the universe, the will of the universe had led the new gods back then to her and smashed it to pieces. She didn¡¯t expect to be able to see it again.

    ¡°I can die without regrets now that I¡¯ve been able to see the primordial deity again. I don¡¯t remember you anymore, Carl, but I can sense that we¡¯ve met before,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Carl nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s only natural that you wouldn¡¯t remember me. At my highest point, I was only an ordinary high-level god.¡±

    ¡°Then tell me, how did you manage to survive until now?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    But Carl asked her the same question, ¡°And how did YOU manage to survive till now?¡±

    ¡°I have a treasure created by the primordial deities, which is the amalgamation of the intelligence of all primordial deities!¡± said Kano Mai proudly. Her race was always her pride and joy.

    But Carl said gravely, ¡°Sounds like my case. I have the amalgamation of the intelligence of every intelligent being in the universe. My dear, great primordial deity! You are not the only victim in this limitless universe, and protestors can be found everywhere. Compared to the primordial deities, we might seem small and insignificant, but our quest for freedom and yearning for life is no less than the primordial deities!¡±

    Kano Mai didn¡¯t know what to say. How did she fail to think of this? The intelligent beings of the limitless universe back then had actually managed to create someone who was able to escape destruction and dodge the radar of Hell¡¯s Handbook. The primordial deities had been too arrogant, alright. The other intelligent lifeforms in the universe were no less intelligent than themselves. The only difference was probably when they existed.

 Chapter 380

    Chapter 380

    Carl led Kano Mai into the inside of the shard, where they had built a gigantic pce. If ordinary humans had to build such a pce, they would have taken more than a hundred years, and it would be thergest structure on the. But for gods, building such a ce was nothing.

    Kano Mai and Carl walked in to find several people already waiting there for them. Almost none of them were gods, but every single one was extremely powerful and old. In fact, two of them actually gave Kano Mai the same feeling Carl had. In other words, they were also survivors from the first time the universe was destroyed.

    ¡°Let me introduce you to these two over here. Just like me, they¡¯re survivors from the first destruction, Arutus and Phyge,¡± Carl said to Kano Mai.

    Arutus was a ck, round ball that quietly floated in the air. It was a living creature from the same era as Kano Mai and was a very unique sort of creature. Most of his body was nothingness, and he was born with the ability to travel from one universe to another. Such creatures were extremely rare.

    Kano Mai thought that even if his race did not die in that first destruction, they would have gone extinct by now. She was surprised to see one of his kind here.

    Phyge, on the other hand, was arge bird. If Su Jin were here, he would have been very surprised, because Phyge resembled the Chinese mythical roc. His wings had feathers, but he had scales on his abdomen. And simr to the Chinese roc, Phyge was able to travel through both air and water. Perhaps the Chinese roc was actually based on Phyge¡¯s kind.

    ¡°O great primordial deity! I am very happy to be able to meet with you.¡± Arutus did not have a voice, but spoke via psychokinesis. Kano Mai could sense that Arutus¡¯ psychokinesis was terrifyingly powerful, even among all the psychokic people she knew since time immemorial. Su Jin¡¯s level of psychokinesis was a drop in the oceanpared to Arutus¡¯.

    ¡°What terrifying levels of psychokinesis. I can¡¯t imagine what could possibly destroy you, and you probably won¡¯t even be afraid of the will of the universe anymore,¡± Kano Maiplimented Arutus sincerely. She had really never seen such tremendous power before.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even if the will of the universe stood before me, I will not fear him anymore. But back then, I had be one of his gods, and from that moment onward, I had no ability to surpass the will of the universe. Any powers I had were only enough to keep myself alive,¡± said Arutus with a sigh. He was very powerful, but because of the choice he made back then, even though he wasn¡¯t afraid of the power that the will of the universe had and could defend himself, he was unable to go against the will of the universe. This was a regret he kept deep within his soul.¡°O great primordial deity, we wee you here. Our ns can only continue with your help!¡± said Phyge very respectfully to Kano Mai.

    ¡°Given how powerful both of you are, I¡¯m not sure if you actually need my help anymore,¡± said Kano Mai with a smile. She wasn¡¯t just being polite. She was truly in awe of their strength.

    Compared to Arutus, Phyge had an advantage in terms of his physique. Every muscle on his body, and even every strand on his feathers, flickered with the brilliance of a god-level creature. Kano Mai felt that this creature¡¯s body alone was invincible.

    She then turned her attention to Carl, who did not look that powerfulpared to Arutus and Phyge. Carl noticed her puzzled expression and could guess what she was thinking, so he smiled and said, ¡°Honorable primordial deity, my powers do note from my body itself. I¡­ am this shard. This shard is me!¡±

    Kano Mai got it now. What she was seeing was only a physical body for her to see and talk to. His real body was the shard itself. Of course, it wasn¡¯t that Carl was an astronomical object shard, but that Carl had abandoned his original body and transferred his soul to the shard. The benefits of doing that were very obvious.

    With a soul, the shard became a living creature. That way, it could move around freely and hide in any universe or broken space. That made it even safer for all of them.

    ¡°Your strength is truly impressive and I wasn¡¯t just trying to be polite just now. I really think all of you would be able to fight the will the universe head on!¡± said Kano Mai.

    But the three of them exchanged nces and shook their heads sadly. Carl said, ¡°Honorable primordial deity, do you know how many rooms are in this pce?¡±

    ¡°This ce is huge¡­ I suppose there must be at least 10,000 rooms here,¡± Kano Mai gave Carl a serious response even though she didn¡¯t know why he was asking her this question.

    Carl nodded and said, ¡°Besides therge hall we are in right now which we use for meetings, the rest of the space is used to create small rooms for resting in. I have a total of 78,000 such rooms in this pce. Do you know what that means?¡±

    Kano Mai paused to think carefully, then said, ¡°So¡­ you can house 78,000 people here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that we can house 78,000 people here, but that we DID house 78,000 people here. 78,000 of the strongest, cleverest, and most extraordinary living creatures to have lived before the first destruction!¡±

    ¡°We have formidable fighters, gods of the Handbook, outstanding schrs, charismatic leaders, skilled craftsmen, creative artists, all sorts of geniuses. Every single one was the pinnacle of the countless intelligent lifeforms that once lived!¡± said Carl in a loud voice.

    ¡°And now?¡± asked Kano Mai immediately.

    Carl had a bitter smile on his face as he sighed and said, ¡°Honorable primordial deity, we are not people who are barely holding onto life. Even as the old and new cycles go on and on, we have yed a very important role. Each time a new cyclees, some of those who lived here would leave and look for a way to stop these cycles from continuing. But every person who leaves would be discovered by Hell¡¯s Handbook, then wait for death after they are done with what they needed to do.¡±

    ¡°If this is a safe shelter, why don¡¯t they try to get themselves back here?¡± asked Kano Mai.

    Carl said gravely, ¡°That is not possible. This ce is thest safe ce for everyone. If Hell¡¯s Handbook and the will of the universe finds us, everything we¡¯ve done will go down the drain. So, everyone who should have passed on when thest cycle ended can only leave and they are not allowed toe back. Also, whenever anybody leaves, I would move this object to a different ce and make sure nobody can find it.¡±

    Kano Mai blinked in surprise. ¡°You mean¡­ you guys had started fighting the will of the universe even before the first destruction? And you¡¯ve never stopped?¡±

    ¡°That is correct. Also, in order to fight Hell¡¯s Handbook, we have also created The Beginning, which makes use of some techniques that the primordial deities invented, except that we have developed them and made them better. Once we activate The Beginning, we will have a system that is no poorer than Hell¡¯s Handbook. It can groom arge number of talents too. The Beginning¡­ will be our temple!¡± said Arutus.

    ¡°A new temple?¡± Kano Mai was stunned.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. In order to fight the will of the universe, I think apletely different temple of gods that is separate from Hell¡¯s Handbook is necessary. Only the talents we groom will have the chance to surpass the will of the universe and be even higher level beings,¡± said Carl.

    Carl and hispanions were basically doing the same thing as Su Jin, but they had been making preparations for a much longer time and used many more resources. On the surface, their chance of sess seemed much higher than Su Jin¡¯s, but Kano Mai didn¡¯t think so.

    ¡°You guys aren¡¯t the only ones who created The Beginning, right? I would think every creature from each of the past cycles would have helped you,¡± said Kano Mai.

    Carl nodded and replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ve absorbed every good thing from each past cycle. That¡¯s how we¡¯ve been able to be stronger.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what it looks like on the surface, but¡­ have you never considered the possibility that¡­ the things you absorbed were actually left there deliberately by the will of the universe?¡± asked Kano Mai.

 Chapter 381

    Chapter 381

    Carl and his twopanions fell silent for a moment. Kano Mai was asking an unnecessary question. These three had lived for as long as she had and there were so many more of them putting their heads together. Of course they had considered this question before.

    After a while, Carl said, ¡°That¡¯s something that can¡¯t be helped. The will of the universe is an omnipresent being, so when we chose helpers from the new cycle, we purposely chose those who hadn¡¯t been chosen by the Handbook and tried to avoid detection as much as possible. Based on our current situation, we¡¯ve done a pretty good job so far.¡±

    Kano Mai shrugged and smiled as she said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why do you still need me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s because the design of The Beginning is too perfect, and it¡¯s so perfect that our resources aren¡¯t good enough to activate it. We need you, a bonafide primordial deity. Only a perfect lifeform like yourself can be the core of The Beginning and put it into action!¡± Carl said reverently to Kano Mai, ¡°Honorable primordial deity, are you willing to be something even more perfect than Hell¡¯s Handbook and be the will and core of The Beginning?¡±

    Kano Mai remained silent for a moment, then nodded and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any other choice, do I?¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to, we will not force you. If you remain inside this shard, not even the Handbook will be able to find you,¡± said Carl in a peaceful manner.

    But Kano Mai shook her head resolutely and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. The primordial deity is very dear to me, but¡­ I don¡¯t want this ce to be my grave, even if my physical body is still alive.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re willing to be the will of The Beginning?¡± asked Carl.

    She nodded and replied, ¡°That¡¯s right. My race was massacred by the will of the universe, so I shall sing his requiem myself!¡±Carl and hispanions were ted as they gathered all the elites of the new cycle that had not been chosen by the Handbook. One of them had an unusual sparkle in their eye.

    Meanwhile, Jing Hua and the rest had been left outside, because they were not eligible to enter the shard. After Kano Mai had gone in, the shard moved elsewhere and they had no choice but to return to where the elder gods were hiding. None of them were gods, but they were from the same generation as these elder gods.

    The elder gods who had escaped the control of the Handbook were hiding in a damaged space as well. Some of them had gained freedom after what Su Jin had done to the Train of Supernatural Beings, but these gods did not share the same philosophy as the Mad Hatter and his group, so they remained in a separate ce altogether and refused to work together.

    This space was set up by the elder gods with the highest levels of spatial ability in the group. They believed that as long as they didn¡¯t do anything stupid, not even the Handbook would discover them easily. Besides, this space was actually a Challenge that they had forcibly remodeled, so even if the Handbook noticed something odd about it, they were confident that they could still fool the Handbook.

    Jing Hua and hispanions entered the space, and they were horrified by what they saw before them. Corpses were floating everywhere. The humongous mountain giant, the offspring of a god who was born with supernatural powers, the legendary celestial dragon - all of them had been elder gods. But they were now nothing but corpses floating in midair and covered in blood.

    ¡°How¡­ how did this happen?!¡± The group couldn¡¯t believe what they were seeing. Everyone was perfectly fine when they left. How could something like that happen in such a short time?

    A weak yellow ball of light floated toward them. That was a message left behind by a formidable god that had used telekinesis to be a god. Jing Hua grabbed hold of it and was able to see what had happened.

    Several of the most formidable current gods at the peak of their might hade to attack them. These current gods were all even stronger than even the strongest of the elder gods, so they had massacred every elder god in this space. They didn¡¯t even try to take these gods back with them and just ughtered them all.

    After the images of what had happened were done ying, Jing Hua spat a mouthful of blood and copsed. Phoenix quickly came over to help him up. He clenched his teeth and said, ¡°We have to be gods!¡±

    ¡°Be gods? Be Hell¡¯s Handbook¡¯s new gods so that we can y our friends?¡± The Dog God was indignant, and his eyes burned with anger, but he knew that the few of them were not capable of doing anything about this situation.

    Jing Hua said angrily, ¡°We have to be gods! We will only have the ability to do more after we be gods. The things we do might seem meaningless, but¡­ we¡¯ve got to try!¡±

    The four of them then disappeared from the space. They already had their own gravestones and had absorbed sufficient energy from them. The only thing left to do was to gather more energy and wait to be gods.

    Inside the shard, a brilliant light appeared before Kano Mai. That was The Beginning, which was an umtion of all the intelligence from the beginning of time, a legendary creature designed by Carl and hispanions. The Beginning had surpassed Hell¡¯s Handbook and was set to rece Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°Once you step in, your physical body will be destroyed, but your powerful primordial deity spirit will still exist and be The Beginning¡¯s will. So, to put it another way, you aren¡¯t actually going to die. You¡¯re just going to have a change in body,¡± Carl said to Kano Mai.

    Kano Mai smiled and said, ¡°The soul is what counts, and I understand all of that. But given the powers that The Beginning has, how much of my original soul can I preserve?¡±

    ¡°This might be a one-time sacrifice to you, but believe me¡­ you are not the only one who will be making a sacrifice.¡± Arutus came forward and said calmly, ¡°I will be fuel for starting up The Beginning, sopared to you, I will bepletely destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Is it worth it?¡± Kano Mai asked Arutus.

    ¡°For the sake of my people, for the sake of my universe!¡± yelled Arutus loudly. The voice that should have resonated only in the hearts of people was so loud that it became real and echoed in everyone¡¯s ears.

    Kano Mai watched as Arutus¡¯ ck outer shell spun rapidly and was engulfed in a silvery glow that stabbed into The Beginning, making the brilliant lighte alive.

    ¡°Honorable primordial deity, I wish both of us good luck!¡± Arutus¡¯st words rang in Kano Mai¡¯s head before he disappearedpletely. A formidable character powerful enough to fight the will of the universe had been willing to sacrifice himself.

    Kano Mai smiled faintly. She didn¡¯t say anything and slowly walked toward The Beginning. Her body was destroyed in the brilliance of the white glow, but at the same time, the brilliant glow grew smaller until it became a white ball of light floating in mid-air. It was no longer ring to look at, but had be very gentle. That was because The Beginning now had its own soul. The soul of a primordial deity.

    Back in the real world, Su Jin suddenly shuddered and his instinct was to ce a hand over his heart. In that instant, he had felt pain as well as a deep sadness.

    ¡°Good heavens, why do I suddenly feel like that?¡± Su Jin shook his head. That was a very strange feeling indeed. But he figured that his body might have changed somewhat after he had chosen this path.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t have anything to do. On the surface, he looked like any ordinary Handbook owner, so participating in Challenges was what he ought to be doing. Kano Mai had also advised him to use the powers of the Handbook to strengthen himself.

    But he wasn¡¯t sure if his powers would be limited once he started a Challenge. If there was no limit, then Challenges would be a ce for him to collect points, which would enable him to exchange them for more resources.

    But if his powers were curbed and he was unlucky enough to die in a Challenge, that would be such a tragedy. Then again, thinking about it was pointless, since he couldn¡¯t get any answers that way. He decided to start a new Challenge and take a look for himself.

    Several dayster, the time finally came for him to start on a new Challenge. He was very amused, because in the past, he always dreaded the start of a new Challenge. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that one day, he would actually wish it could start earlier.

    When he opened his Handbook, he was surrounded by darkness. Shrieks echoed in his ears, and after the shrieks faded, the strong stench of blood hit his nose.

    ¡°Daytime has gone and darkness hase. Living creatures should note close, since the demons move about at night!¡± These two sentences suddenly rang in Su Jin¡¯s ears as that same old terrifying voice led him into a new Challenge.

 Chapter 382

    Chapter 382

    The world around Su Jin slowly lit up. He was in a restaurant that looked like it was from ancient China. Everything around him was made from wood. The sky outside was slowly darkening, so it seemed it was evening time.

    Su Jin scanned the people around him. Sixteen people sat in the small restaurant and they looked rather nervous. Su Jin frowned slightly. Having so many participants meant that this was probably a Level A Challenge.

    Sure enough, the first thing Su Jin noticed when he opened his Handbook was that this was indeed a Level A Challenge.

    Level A Challenge: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

    Main mission: Survive until the sun rises

    Side quest: The demons are split into four ranks from A to D. You will get 500 points if you kill one rank D demon, 1000 points if you kill a rank C demon, 2,000 points for a rank B demon, and 5,000 points for a rank A demon.

    Su Jin let out a wow. This was the highest number of points he had ever seen the Challenge give to owners forpleting quests. But if any owner was going to count on this to gain extra points, they were probably going to end up dead.

    It was clear that none of them were stupid. Everyone¡¯s brows were tightly knit, and it was obvious that a Level A Challenge really frightened them.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t think it was that bad. To prevent the Handbook from noticing anything amiss about himself, he suppressed his psychokinesis to the levels he had before it was sealed. If needed, he could unleash everything in an instant. He was doing this only to prevent unnecessary trouble.He had powersparable to a high level god, so this sort of thing didn¡¯t mean much to him. His life would only be threatened if he was in a Heaven Level Challenge like the Grave of the Gods, and he was in danger only if he was being specially attacked.

    ¡°Hello everyone. This is a Level A Challenge, so my team, Team zing Sun, would like to work with you guys. What do you think?¡± Besides Su Jin, the remaining 15 people seemed to belong to three different teams. But that was to be expected. Su Jin felt that he had been thrown into this Challenge all by himself because he was still at a much higher level than most owners even after suppressing his true powers.

    The Handbook had deemed his powers to be equivalent to one team. But Su Jin thought that this situation wasn¡¯t too bad either. He would only be able to get useful resources if he participated in higher level Challenges.

    ¡°Team Sunday is good with that. This is a Level A Challenge, so we will only survive if we work together,¡± the leader of another team agreed to the arrangement.

    Team zing Sun and Team Sunday immediately turned to look at thest team. They too, did not hesitate and agreed, ¡°Team High Mountains are good with this idea too. Working together does seem like our best option right now.¡±

    After saying that, the leader of Team High Mountains nced at Su Jin and smiled faintly when their eyes met. What a coincidence!

    Team High Mountains was one of the teams in the Train of the Supernatural Beings along with Su Jin¡¯s team. Su Jin was also surprised to not just see someone familiar, but to meet with him again in a Level A Challenge.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Su. It¡¯s been a long time,¡± the leader of Team High Mountains, Liu Bowen, nodded slightly at Su Jin. His team had suffered terrible losses during that Challenge, but all his teammates had been revived immediately after that. They had no idea what had happened, but they guessed that it had something to do with Team Boning Knife.

    ¡°You guys know each other?¡± asked Team zing Sun¡¯s leader. Most teams had five to ten people, and based on Liu Bowen¡¯s greeting earlier, Su Jin was not part of his team. But Su Jin was sitting alone and very far from Team Sunday, so he probably wasn¡¯t from that team either.

    ¡°Ah yes, we worked together in a Challenge previously,¡± said Su Jin with a smile as he nodded back at Liu Bowen.

    The leader of Team Sunday suddenly piped up, ¡°I suppose you¡¯re not a member of any of the three teams here?¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve been sent here by myself.¡±

    All three of them were a little stunned. They could never truly understand how the Handbook assigned owners to Challenges, but sending a lone ranger to a Challenge with three teams made them suspicious.

    ¡°Is there a secret mission for an owner to turn against other owners? Or¡­ is he a demon disguised as a human?¡± All three teams became wary, and even Liu Bowen was unsure despite having interacted with Su Jin before.

    It was verymon for high level Challenges to give out such secret quests, and that was one way to make the Challenge harder. Su Jin himself had run into an instance where one of the owners was a monster in disguise. Such a monster had hidden itself among the owners right at the start of the Temple of the Origin of Heaven.

    Both of these were highly possible in a high level Challenge. If the owners were not careful and did not deal with such situations properly, they might end up dead.

    Of course, Su Jin knew what they were thinking about, so he smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I will move about by myself and keep a good distance from the rest of you.¡±

    The three teams were still very wary, so Su Jin just shook his head and walked out of the restaurant first. He didn¡¯t me them for reacting like that. Staying alive was the most important objective in any Challenge. Being overly cautious was not a bad thing.

    But when Su Jin walked past Liu Bowen, Liu Bowen suddenly asked, ¡°Mr. Su, Team Boning Knife¡­ is only left with yourself?¡±

    Su Jin stopped and sighed, then said, ¡°We¡¯ve disbanded due to some issues, so I¡¯m all by myself now.¡±

    Liu Bowen paused to think, then said, ¡°If we get out of this Challenge alive, I¡¯d like to invite you to join my team.¡±

    Su Jin was a little surprised. He didn¡¯t expect Liu Bowen to have any intention of taking him in. He scanned the members of the team and realized they were all the same people who were in the team during the Train of the Supernatural Challenge. In other words, Team High Mountains had made it through this time without losing a single member, which was proof of the team¡¯s capabilities and potential. No wonder Liu Bowen was confident that Su Jin would be interested in joining them.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m someone who¡­ is a jinx to my teammates.¡± Su Jin chuckled, then waved to the team before walking out of the restaurant by himself.

    Liu Bowen nearly burst outughing. A jinx to his teammates? Death during Challenges was such amon thing. If that made one a curse, then every Handbook owner was a curse. But Liu Bowen knew that Su Jin just didn¡¯t want to join his team and had merely found a nicer way to reject the invitation.

    After Su Jin walked out, he started looking around him curiously. They were in a small town, and arge number of residents were moving out at the same time.

    ¡°Sir, could I ask why everyone is moving house?¡± Su Jin caught hold of an elderly man.

    The elderly man was very anxious, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t walk away from Su Jin, so he said hurriedly, ¡°Young man, don¡¯t get in my way! It¡¯s the 15<sup>th</sup> day of the 7<sup>th</sup> month today and our town is built right in front of the gates of hell. When nightes, the gates will open and all the ghosts and demons will pass through our town. If any living person stays here¡­ they¡¯re doomed for sure, so you¡¯d better get moving too! Don¡¯t stick around and wait to die!¡±

    ¡°The 15<sup>th</sup> day of the 7<sup>th</sup> month? Ghost Festival?¡± murmured Su Jin to himself.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s the Ghost Festival! Hurry up and run!¡± said the old man.

    Su Jin bowed slightly and said, ¡°I have reasons for not being able to leave, so¡­ do you know if there¡¯s a way to stay here and still survive?¡±

    The old man stared at Su Jin as though Su Jin waspletely out of his mind. He said, ¡°Young man, nothing can be more important than staying alive! You¡¯d better go now!¡±

    ¡°I really can¡¯t¡­¡± said Su Jin with a frustrated look on his face.

    The old man could not understand why Su Jin didn¡¯t want to leave, but he still dropped a piece of advice, ¡°There¡¯s a City God temple in the east of the town, you can stay there tonight and you might be able to get through the night!¡± The old man pushed Su Jin aside and quickly made his way out of the town.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Su Jin thanked the old man, then said to himself, ¡°Sometimes, leaving the safe zone earlier can get you useful information.¡±

 Chapter 383

    Chapter 383

    In most cases, owners would not leave the safe zone immediately after the Challenge started, because doing that threw owners into danger right away sometimes. But there were also times like these, where leaving a little earlier could give owners a chance to gather some information and make ns before danger struck.

    In short, it was two sides of the same coin. If one was willing to take some risks, they would get the chance to gain more. But in order to gain more, one had to take higher risks too.

    Su Jin had information about that temple, but he did not head there immediately and went westward instead. The temple was in the east, and it was probably a rest stop for owners. Of course, anybody who really thought they could escape the demons by hiding in the temple was definitely doomed.

    As for leaving the town before the demons arrived, any owner with enough experience would know never to do that. The Handbook always set a boundary for each Challenge, so if any owner tried to cross that boundary, the Handbook would get rid of them before any monsters in the Challenge could get to them.

    The temple could not guarantee that the owners inside would be able to avoid all dangers, but that would definitely be of help to owners, so Su Jin guessed that the demons would be entering the town and heading away from the temple, and that¡¯s why he had headed west. He wanted to be in the demons¡¯ way, because he was rather curious about them.

    The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was an old myth from China and India, which waster made popr by the Japanese, who wrote many stories about this parade and turned it into a theme for many manga series and games. But this town looked like a typical Chinese small town from the past. Would the demons be of the Chinese variety, or the Japanese variety, or both?

    The sky continued to darken, and when all the residents of the town had left, the restaurant was no longer a safe zone. The leaders of the three teams had already decided on what to do, but instead of leaving the restaurant, all 15 of them gathered on the roof so that they could observe the town from a vantage point.

    At the same time, clouds of ck mist billowed through the west side of the town and covered everything, as if it was about to swallow the entire town. It was stressful and terrifying to watch.

    Su Jin was waiting on the roof of a small house, and when he saw the ck mist, he said quietly, ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±The three teams at the restaurant noticed the mist too. Liu Bowen said to the other two leaders, ¡°We¡¯re going with the n we discussed just now, right?

    ¡°Of course. We¡¯re all going together. The first wave of demons shouldn¡¯t be too powerful, so it¡¯ll probably be the only time we get to umte any extra points,¡± the leader of Team Sunday said to the rest.

    ¡°Alright!¡± the group responded before running rapidly toward the west of the town.

    Since the three teams were chosen by the Handbook to be part of a Level A Challenge, they were definitely fairly good fighters. They knew they were no match for the stronger demons, but they could probably kill some Rank C and Rank D demons. Moreover, the reward for killing these demons was simply too good to pass up. Killing the lousiest one, a Rank D demon, would already give them 500 points. A Rank C demon came with 1,000 points. That was as good as the points they would get frompleting a full Challenge.

    The three teams each had their own strategist, and after a discussion, the three strategists decided that all 15 of them would move together at all times. They were going to work as one team. Once they made an attack, they had to kill that demon. Once they were done with that demon, they had to move on. And if they found themselves in a fight with a demon that was too hard to fight, they were to retreat immediately.

    That arrangement would maximise the group¡¯s chances of staying alive, so it was a pretty good n.

    When the three teams arrived in the west of the town, some of the ck mist had already gone further into the town. Su Jin was still sitting on the rooftop and observing the ck mist, but the ck mist was as thick as ink and he couldn¡¯t see what was inside at all.

    ¡°The ck mist is meant to block one¡¯s view?¡± murmured Su Jin. A silver light flickered in his eyes as his psychokinesis went into the ck mist and he could see what was going on. He had a surprised look on his face as he muttered, ¡°It¡¯s a Level A Challenge, alright.¡±

    Meanwhile, the ck mist that was right in front suddenly shook. The ck mist faded and a few monsters appeared in the middle of the street. The strategist of Team zing Sun took one look at them and said, ¡°Tofu monk, drowningdy, flying head, dao demon!¡±

    ¡°You know them all?¡± asked Liu Bowen curiously.

    The strategist replied, ¡°Yep. I¡¯m very interested in the folklore of various countries about these supernatural beings, so I¡¯ve read a lot about them before. These four creatures are a mix of Chinese and Japanese demons!¡±

    ¡°Give us more specific details,¡± said the leader of Team zing Sun.

    The strategist nodded, then pointed to one of them and said, ¡°That¡¯s the tofu monk. You see that piece of tofu in his hand? ording to legend, if you knock that piece of tofu out of his hand, he¡¯ll go berserk and hunt you down.¡±

    ¡°Is it very formidable?¡± asked another person.

    ¡°Nope, not at all. Based on the Japanese folklore where it¡¯s from, it¡¯s probably no more powerful than an ordinary human. But I don¡¯t know if being in a Challenge changes anything.¡± The strategist went on to point at another creature and said, ¡°That¡¯s the drowningdy. ording to Japanese folklore, you might run into her at a hot spring. She¡¯s usually an extremely beautiful woman, but when she gets up from the water, you¡¯ll realize she¡¯s nothing but bones from her neck down.¡±

    ¡°The flying head is also from Japan, and it¡¯s literally a head that flies. Thest one is the dao demon from China, and it¡¯s probably the most dangerous of the four. It can spew poisonous air, and anyone hit by it will die after one day, then turn into a dao demon.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s like the Chinese version of a zombie,¡± remarked another person. The description did sound like a zombie, except that the victim was going to take an entire day to turn into a monster.

    ¡°Kill the tofu monk first, then drowningdy, then flying head, then dao demon! If we can¡¯t handle them quickly, we must retreat!¡± said the leader of Team zing Sun to the rest.

    Everyone nodded in agreement and charged at the tofu monk. All 15 of them were veterans, but they chose to use their weapons to fight first instead of using their Spirit Power. That was a good move, because it was stupid to use up their Spirit Power early on when they weren¡¯t sure what they might face next.

    Su Jin remained on the rooftop and did not move. The first batch of four demons were all Rank D demons, so even ordinary owners with sufficiently decent weapons would kill them easily, never mind this group of old-timers. Su Jin didn¡¯t have to help them either.

    And just as he had expected, the tofu monk was killed almost instantly by the group. To the surprise of the group, everyone who participated in the killing of the tofu monk got 50 points. A new counter even appeared in their Handbooks to reflect their additional points in real time.

    The results made everyone giddy with excitement. It had been so easy for 15 of them to kill a Rank D demon, so they figured that they would be able to kill even a Rank B demon if they worked together. They would earn so many points that way.

    Motivated by the prospect of gaining a huge number of points, they quickly dealt with the drowningdy, the flying head, and the dao demon. It took them less than three minutes to kill all four demons, and most importantly, they did not have to use their Spirit Power to kill the demons.

    Liu Bowen licked his lips and felt that something didn¡¯t seem quite right. It was impossible to gain points this easily from a Level A Challenge, so there must be danger nearby, but¡­ perhaps he could kill a few more Rank D demons before danger arrived? Killing these demons was merely a matter of minutes, after all.

    After the four demons were in, another cloud of ck mist faded to reveal eight new creatures. The strategist from before immediately spouted their names, ¡°Cat demon, hinoenma, the 1 am woman, hitodama, child demon, sleep demon, fetus demon!¡±

    Immediately after the strategist named them, the demons came charging at them before he could provide more details about them.

    ¡°Kill them all!¡± yelled Liu Bowen. There was no time to think. They had to quickly kill the demonsing at them first.

    The 15 of them put together made a very strong team, so even though they faced twice the number of demons this time, they were killed off fairly quickly.

    ¡°Not bad, but how many waves will you guys be able to handle?¡± murmured Su Jin.

    Liu Bowen panted for a moment and was pleased to see that he now had a good 6,000 points. But before he had time to celebrate, another cloud of ck mist had turned into more demons. This time¡­ there were 16 of them!

 Chapter 384

    Chapter 384

    Su Jin continued to watch the battle from the rooftop of one of the houses. A silver glow covered his body as he used his psychokinesis to form a protectiveyer around himself. This way, the monsters in the Challenge would not be able to detect his presence unless they were of a certain level and above.

    ¡°How foolish. There¡¯s no way a Level A Challenge would let you earn points this easily. Side quests are clearly traps to lead owners to their own deaths.¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. He could guess what the three teams were thinking by now. They had clearly decided to join hands to kill as many demons as they could, and to retreat once they ran into one they couldn¡¯t handle.

    If this were a Level B Challenge, that tactic might work out well. But this was a Level A Challenge. Level A Challenges were bent on killing the owners, which meant that even if you were in a rtively safe area away from monsters, there would be something else that could kill you.

    From what Su Jin could see, the strategists of the three teams were not stupid. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have managed to help the teams get to a point where they were worthy of a Level A Challenge. But they had too little experience with Level A Challenges, and their greed for more points had caused them to make a foolish decision.

    Meanwhile, Liu Bowen was panting heavily. The 16 demons were still all at Rank D, but it was getting harder to y them. The number of demons was about the same as the number of owners, so they weren¡¯t able to outnumber and ovee the demons like thest two rounds.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to retreat once we¡¯re done with these demons! Otherwise, we¡¯re going to die!¡± yelled the strategist from Team Sunday. He could sense the impending dangersing their way, and he was getting very frightened.

    The 16 demons were not very formidable, but they were fearless and didn¡¯t care if they died or not. Some of them could still fight even if their heads were cut off. To make sure they had really yed the demons, the owners had to hack them to pieces, which consumed more energy.

    But the owners were still stronger than the demons at this point, so they eventually managed to y all 16 demons. Immediately after thest one was killed, Liu Bowen shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s go! We can¡¯t stay here any longer!¡±

    Before they could run away, more clouds of ck mist transformed into demons.¡°There¡¯s 32 of them!¡± Liu Bowen trembled as despair filled his eyes. By now, everyone understood what was going on. The new batch of demons always had twice the number of demons that were killed.

    He could probably kill these 32 demons if he used Spirit Power, but what would happen after that? Of course, 64 more would appear. And even if he could kill those 64, another 128 would appear.

    Despair welled up in the hearts of the owners, and some looked like they were about to have a breakdown. Was this what a Level A Challenge was like? An illogical massacre that ignored whether the owners could handle it or not? The dangers they were facing were way too much for them. It seemed like the Challenge had only one aim, and that was to kill off all the owners.

    ¡°Everyone, pull yourselves together! We just need to make them back off enough so that we can run! We still stand a chance!¡± Liu Bowen was someone who had gone through a Level A Challenge before, so he quickly tried to encourage the rest, because he knew that if the owners gave up fighting, they were all doomed for sure.

    A little hope was ignited in their hearts. Liu Bowen was right. Even if they couldn¡¯t defeat the demons, they could always run. As long as they used Spirit Power and their weapons, they could get away from 32 demons.

    The entire group immediately either activated their Spirit Power or used weapons to sh their way through the demons. But 32 demons were no fun to fight. The demons surrounded them on all sides, and they didn¡¯t fear death, so the owners struggled to fight them.

    Su Jin shook his head and sighed again. If he went over, he would definitely be able to rescue them from this situation. But the chance of these people dyingter on was still very high.

    ¡°Help! Save me! Save me!!¡± screamed one of the owners. He was caught by one of the demons. The demon had a head of ck hair, and it was so long, it dragged on the ground. But if one looked closely, you would realize that each strand was alive and wiggling away. Su Jin could even see that there was a tiny mouth at the end of every strand.

    ¡°A demon with hair that eats, huh,¡± murmured Su Jin. It seemed there was no hope for that owner. The demons had pushed him away from the rest of his team, and his team was close to escaping the demons. If they went back for him, they¡¯d have to be surrounded by the demons all over again.

    ¡°Save¡­ save me!!¡± The owner was from Team zing Sun. He sank into despair because he could see his teammates running away without even turning to look at him. None of them were going toe and rescue him.

    Just then, a sh of silver flickered next to him and the hairy demon turned to powder. The owner who had left the restaurant by himself, appeared. If he remembered correctly, this man¡¯s surname was Su!

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Su Jin. He didn¡¯t want to help at first, but when he saw the owner in desperate need, he couldn¡¯t help but step in.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m alright! Thank you so much!¡± The owner was so grateful to Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled back, and the owner noticed something. After Su Jin appeared, the other demons quickly ran in the other direction. The owner knew it couldn¡¯t be because of him, so it had to be because of Su Jin.

    And because the demons had run away from Su Jin, they had gone for the bigger group of owners. The group was horrified to find even more demonsing for them, and the group that had nearly made it out was stuck again.

    ¡°Keep retreating and gather together before we attempt another attack!¡± Liu Bowenmanded the rest. The number of demonsing toward them had increased, so if they just kept fighting like that, they would suffer great losses. They had to gather and rethink their strategy.

    Liu Bowen prayed hard that they wouldn¡¯t lose too many owners in this process. Before the demons surrounded them, they could sh their way through by themselves. But now that the demons had fully surrounded them, that tactic wasn¡¯t going to work. He could only hope that most of them would be able to stay alive and uninjured so that they could try andunch abined attack.

    But when he was about to turn and run, he noticed a man engulfed in a silver glow was killing the demons around them. The demons resembled clouds as they vanished into the air instantly upon contact with the silver glow. More than ten demons had died in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Mr. Su!¡± Liu Bowen was surprised when he realized that man was actually Su Jin.

    ¡°Gather around Mr. Su!¡± This was a pleasant surprise for Liu Bowen. He knew that Su Jin was formidable, but he did not know that Su Jin was this formidable.

    The rest of the group didn¡¯t need him to give them that instruction. Everyone had already started moving toward Su Jin, and he had helped to rescue a few of them from the demons.

    The three teams quickly gathered around Su Jin. He said, ¡°I will create a path for you guys, run westward immediately and keep out of harm¡¯s way for as long as you can. If things get bad, there¡¯s a City God temple in the east of the town, you should be able to receive some protection there.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, you¡¯re noting with us?¡± asked the strategist of Team Sunday when he realized why Su Jin was giving them these instructions.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°I still have other things to do, so you guys just focus on running.¡±

    The group was shocked, but they had no right to say anything, since they were all counting on Su Jin to survive.

    Su Jin grabbed the air in front of him and a longbow made from psychokinesis appeared in his hands. He pulled the bowstring back, and a silver arrow appeared there. When he released the string, the silver arrow flew out and turned every demon in the way to powder.

    ¡°Now!¡± yelled Su Jin after he released the arrow. The 15 owners immediately ran after the arrow and disappeared into the distance quickly.

    The surviving demons immediately tried to run after the group, but Su Jin stood in front of them and said with a smile, ¡°Did I say I was going to let you guys off?¡±

    The demons were clearly frightened of Su Jin, and they were able to sense that Su Jin was very powerful. Just then, a wave suddenly moved through the mist and a gigantic figure walked out.

 Chapter 385

    Chapter 385

    A humongous figure that resembled a giant walked out from the ck mist. It used arge hand to fan away arge amount of mist to reveal itself.

    ¡°Gosh, it¡¯s¡­ the Silver Horned King?¡± Su Jin was a little taken aback, because this demon was one that his entire country would recognize. It was the Silver Horned King from Journey to the West.

    The Silver Horned King thrust the sword in his hand toward Su Jin, but instead of dodging, Su Jin stretched his arm toward it. Or rather, Su Jin raised one finger and sessfully blocked the swording his way.

    ¡°A Rank A demon?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if the Silver Horned King was a Rank A demon or not, but he had a good idea on how to deal with this demon. There was a sh and Su Jin disappeared.

    The Silver Horned King had appeared this early in the Challenge because it had sensed the powerful presence of Su Jin. Now that Su Jin had suddenly disappeared, he did not dare to take it easy. He pped his belt, and a purple gold gourd flew up from it.

    But before the Silver Horned King could use the gourd, he felt a heat in his chest. He looked down to see arge hole in his chest.

    Thud! The Silver Horned King copsed onto the ground, his eyes round and wide, as though he never expected anybody to defeat him so easily. Su Jin leaped onto the equally gigantic purple gold gourd, let out a snort, and the purple gold gourd fell toward the ground. It crashed hard and destroyed several houses.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. His Handbook did not reflect any increase in points. He turned back to the Silver Horned King and said with a smile, ¡°Get up! You don¡¯t seem to be moving anymore, but I have many ways to ascertain if you¡¯re really dead or not. I¡¯ll give you three seconds. If you don¡¯t get up within three seconds, you¡¯re dead meat!¡±

    Immediately after he said that, the Silver Horned King leaped up again. He stared at Su Jin in disbelief and horror, while the purple gold gourd beneath Su Jin¡¯s foot struggled nonstop, as though it wanted to return to its owner.Su Jin got annoyed with it and punched it hard as he yelled, ¡°If you keep struggling, I¡¯ll hack you to pieces and makedles out of you!¡±

    The purple gold gourd was clearly sentient, and Su Jin even suspected that this thing was a demon in its own right. After being threatened, it stopped moving.

    ¡°You¡­ cannot¡­ stop me! This is¡­ your fate!¡± said the Silver Horned King like he had a speech problem, but Su Jin felt that he spoke like that only because he wasn¡¯t familiar with thenguage that Su Jin spoke.

    Su Jin shook his head at the Silver Horned King and said, ¡°I don¡¯t really care about the Challenge per se, but I¡¯m rather curious about you guys. Why don¡¯t we sit down and have a chat?¡±

    The Silver Horned King fell silent. Meanwhile, the ck mist around him continued to transform into more demons that ran after Liu Bowen and his group.

    Su Jin waited patiently for a response, but it seemed more like the Silver Horned King was stalling for time and waiting for the demons to finish killing off the other group of owners. After a while, Su Jin said, ¡°Stalling for time like that is meaningless, because I just want to talk to you guys. You know very well that if I wanted to kill you¡­ it wouldn¡¯t take me a lot of effort.¡±

    The Silver Horned King put his sword back into its sheath and scoffed disdainfully, ¡°Owners¡­ are weak! I¡¯m going to kill¡­ all of you!¡±

    ¡°Haha!¡± Su Jinughed heartily. He looked at the cloud of ck mist behind the Silver Horned King and suddenly narrowed his eyes as he said, ¡°No wonder you¡¯ve suddenly be arrogant again. Your backup is here, I see! In that case¡­ get all of them to show themselves!¡±

    Immediately after he said those words, the cloud of ck mist changed in shape and came together to form five figures of differing sizes. The mist faded and revealed what they really looked like.

    ¡°The Golden Horned King!¡± Su Jin looked toward one figure that was small in size, but looked identical to the Silver Horned King, except that the horn on his head was gold in color. Compared to the Silver Horned King, the Golden Horned King was about the same size as an ordinary human. He leaped in the air andnded neatly on the shoulder of the Silver Horned King.

    ¡°The thunder god?¡± Su Jin looked at a giant figure and found that he resembled the Japanese thunder god. He had the demon face unique to the Japanese depiction of demons, surrounded by shing gray clouds and carried a taiko drum on his back. ording to Japanese folklore, the thunder god would strike the drum when there was lightning, and that¡¯s how they exined the sound of thunder.

    ¡°Bifang?¡± Su Jin turned to look at yet another figure, which looked like a giant bird covered in mes. Su Jin wasn¡¯t quite sure if it was Jinwu or Bifang, as they were both Chinese mythological birds, but given that this was supposed to be the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, he felt that it was more likely to be Bifang, as Jinwu was associated with the creation of the world, while Bifang was supposedly to me for disasters rted to fire.

    He turned again and saw yet another gigantic figure. This strange creature had a pair of wings, a red face, and a long nose. Many people would recognize this creature immediately.

    ¡°Daitengu!¡± eximed Su Jin before turning to look at thest one who had appeared.

    Thest figure was an extremely beautiful woman. Su Jin had never seen any human with features that were beautiful to this extent. Ye Yun and Kano Mai were certainly great beauties, but they had a realistic and lively sort of beauty, a beauty that moved one¡¯s heart, that made you smile and cry with them.

    But this woman was illogically beautiful, and her beauty struck one deep inside. Su Jin even felt his heart waver for a moment. He wasn¡¯t made from stone, so it was natural for him to be mesmerized by beauty. But he had sensed clearly that his heart trembled not because he was admiring her beauty, but because this woman had an iparable ability to charm others.

    ¡°Ah¡­ should I be calling you Tamamo-no-mae, or the nine tailed fox?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes glowed a brilliant silver. This woman¡¯s charming abilities were sufficient to take control of any owner and make them her ve. Su Jin could only think of two demons that would have such powers, and they were actually the same thing ¨C the nine tailed fox.

    Tamamo-no-mae was a demon from Japanese folklore who poisoned the mind of Emperor Toba and fled Japan after the famous medium, Abe no Seimei, detected her deeds.

    There was also another myth about her, which was that Tamamo-no-mae was a nine tailed fox from the Shang dynasty, and she fled to Japan because she was chased out of China.

    These five great demons, along with a sixth one, the Silver Horned King, surrounded Su Jin on all sides. Su Jin did not have any intention to fight them and escape, but took his time to observe these demons that should have only existed in folklore.

    ¡°You wanted to talk to us?¡± said the thunder god disdainfully before smiling nastily at Su Jin, ¡°Are you regretting it now?¡±

    ¡°Regret? A little. You guys are¡­ way weaker than I had imagined,¡± Su Jin shook his head. After seeing what the Silver Horned King was capable of, he had looked forward to seeing the other demons with him. But the Silver Horned King had turned out to be one of the strongest among them, and only the nine tailed fox was stronger than him.

    ¡°Weak? How dare you! I¡¯m going to crush you under my feet!¡± The thunder god immediately raised a foot and brought it down toward Su Jin. His eyes were filled with disdain for the owner so tiny, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to use him as a toothpick.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± yelled the Silver Horned King suddenly. Of course, he wasn¡¯t saying that to Su Jin, but to the thunder god.

    But the thunder god was too quick. His foot came crashing down with a loud thud and the entire town shook along with it.

    ¡°Humph! You can¡¯t even dodge my foot and you dared to be so arrogant? Gosh, I can¡¯t believe you were frightened of such a creature, Silver Horned King! HAHA!¡± the thunder god cackled loudly.

    Just then, the thunder god felt something cold on his neck, then saw a silver beam of light separate his head from his neck, then¡­ he lost consciousness.

    Su Jin stood on the thunder god¡¯s shoulder as he held up the thunder god¡¯s head with one hand. As the thunder god¡¯s body swayed unsteadily and was about to copse, Su Jin suddenly stomped hard to force the thunder god¡¯s arm bone to shoot out, pierce through his thigh, and pin the entire body to the ground.

    The other five demons stared in shock at what just happened. The thunder god was not the strongest among them, but he wasn¡¯t the weakest either. Yet, he had died in just seconds.

    ¡°Can we talk properly now?¡± Su Jin shrugged and cast the thunder god¡¯s head aside. He dusted his hands off and said, ¡°I think that all of you are very interesting characters. You¡¯re all very strong, and even though you¡¯re not as powerful as gods, you¡¯re almost there. And most importantly¡­ none of you are controlled by Hell¡¯s Handbook!¡±

    ¡°How did you know that?¡± the nine tailed fox spoke up first. She was the most powerful of the demons, and also the most intelligent.

    ¡°Because I¡¯m like all of you. I¡¯m not controlled by Hell¡¯s Handbook. We¡¯re all¡­ free.¡± Su Jin hopped off the thunder god¡¯s shoulder tond right in front of the nine tailed fox.

 Chapter 386

    Chapter 386

    The moment Su Jinnded in front of her, the nine tailed fox¡¯s pupils constricted as she let out a shriek and nine tails appeared behind her. There was a me on the end of each tail, and they came together to form a nine-colored me that flew toward Su Jin.

    The other four demons immediately moved aside. They were clearly afraid of this nine-colored me. Excitement spread across their faces when they saw that the me had hit Su Jin, because as far as they knew, this me was extremely lethal. Anyone hit by the me was definitely going to die.

    But their understanding of the me¡¯s powers had no effect on Su Jin. After being hit, Su Jin remained standing, and the me started shrinking instead. After it had shrunk considerably, the demons realized that Su Jin was actually consuming the me.

    ¡°What in the world?!¡± The nine tailed fox paled. She couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. That nine-colored me was powerful enough to kill gods, and that was how she managed to be the leader of the demons despite being a seemingly small and frail woman.

    Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly after he had consumed the entire me, then nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s a pretty good ability to have, but there¡¯s too little of it.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ who exactly are you? You¡¯re not a Hell¡¯s Handbook owner. It¡¯s impossible for any owner to have this sort of power,¡± said the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°Since you know about Hell¡¯s Handbook and its owners, I¡¯m sure you have even more information than that.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have as much information on hand as you think we do. We only know some things from our numerous battles with owners,¡± said the Golden Horned King as he remained standing on the shoulder of the Silver Horned King. He too, had a Seven Stars Sword, but the other item he carried was a Suet Jade sk.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Like I said earlier, I just want to talk to you guys. Of course, if you think it¡¯s important to specify how much you know first before we talk, I can wait.¡±The five demons were beginning to feel uneasy. Su Jin was someone who killed the thunder god within seconds, and the nine tailed fox¡¯s nine-colored me had done no harm to him. Even if they fought him together, they would probably end up dead, while Su Jin would still be standing.

    The nine tailed fox was standing very close to Su Jin and she couldn¡¯t stand the pressure Su Jin was cing on her, so she furrowed her brows and said, ¡°Fine! What do you want to talk about?¡±

    Su Jin smiled and flicked his finger, causing the main door of a house that hadn¡¯t been damaged to open. He said to the five of them, ¡°Let¡¯s go in and have a chat.¡±

    ¡°Humph, and you think someone of our size could get in there?¡± said Daitengu with a snort.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t think it was a problem. He stared at Daitengu and the creature rapidly shrank to be the same size as the nine tailed fox in the blink of an eye. He turned to look at Bifang and the Silver Horned King, and they too, became smaller within seconds.

    The three demons were too shocked for words. They could ept that Su Jin had incredible fighting abilities, but having other abilities such as this one was very frightening.

    Su Jin walked in first. The five demons exchanged nces, then walked in behind him too. There was arge wooden table and a few wooden stools inside the house.

    Su Jin cleared the table and put the stools around the table before motioning to the demons to take a seat. The demons dared not protest and sat down. Bifang, the bird covered in mes, suddenly spoke up, ¡°You¡¯re not worried about those other owners?¡±

    ¡°Worry about them? Whatever for?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°They are of the same race as you are, aren¡¯t they? They¡¯re being attacked by the demons under us now,¡± Daitengu chimed in.

    Su Jin shook his head slightly and said, ¡°Firstly, from the moment you be a Handbook owner, you have to protect your own life and you can¡¯t count on others to do that for you. Secondly, I¡¯ve killed one of the great demons, and the other five are seated right here with me. That¡¯s the most help I can give them. If they still can¡¯t survive despite that, then¡­ it¡¯s too bad.¡±

    The demons were taken aback by his words. They could sense that this man was different. He looked like an ordinary owner, but there was something different about him. Other owners had fear written all over their faces when they saw the demons, but this man was full of nothing but curiosity.

    ¡°Well, enough about them. Let¡¯s talk about you guys. You¡¯re all very powerful, and nearly as powerful as gods, but you¡¯re not under the control of the Handbook, which is a very strange thing,¡± said Su Jin calmly. He did think this was all very odd, because regardless of whether they were monsters or gods, every creature that appeared in a Handbook Challenge would be under the control of the Handbook in some way or another, regardless of whether these creatures realized it or not. But not these demons. These great demons were free. They were trapped in a Challenge, but they were not under the control of the Handbook.

    In other words, Hell¡¯s Handbook had to carve out the area where these demons passed through to create a Challenge out of it. This was unlike how it usually ced the monsters or gods it needed into a space that was designed to be a Challenge. The result was more or less the same, but the way it was designed made a lot of difference.

    In the past, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell the difference. But now, Su Jin had the ability to see the difference. He just needed to look at the demons, and he could sense that they were free beings.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± the Golden Horned King shook his head.

    Su Jin was not surprised by his answer, since it was true that some people truly had no idea what were the real circumstances they were in. Those who understood themselves and their situation were often noble characters, and these great demons were clearly not in that category.

    But just when Su Jin was about to say more, he suddenly froze. The demons also suddenly got up to look out of the house with puzzled expressions on their faces.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? The demons are being killed very quickly, and the speed is¡­ rather abnormal!¡± said Daitengu.

    Su Jin was just as puzzled as them, but he wasn¡¯t puzzled about the destruction of the demons. It was the group of owners. Liu Bowen and the rest seemed to have run into danger, and they had already lost a few people.

    ¡°Is it Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡± murmured Su Jin as he disappeared in a sh. The other five demons exchanged nces, then dashed toward where the problem was happening.

    Su Jin got there almost immediately and found that more than half the owners were dead. A group of five led by Liu Bowen was being protected by a powerful weapon, while the demons around them were all dead. Not a single one was still alive.

    ¡°What are those things?¡± Su Jin¡¯s gaze fell on three very strange looking creatures standing in front of Liu Bowen¡¯s group. If he had to describe them, he would say that they looked very much like Predator from the sci-fi movie franchise.

    ¡°Our mission is to¡­ kill everything in the Challenge. Our mission is to¡­ destroy the Challenge!¡± These three creatures were clearly not ordinary living things as they spoke with electronic sounding voices. One of them came charging toward Su Jin.

    Su Jin immediately went into fight mode. A silvery sword appeared in his hands with a sh. How sharp a weapon made from psychokinesis was entirely up to Su Jin. As long as he wanted it to be, his weapon would be invincible.

    He thrust the sword forward and split the creature in half. But before he could even feel happy about it, the creature healed itself again perfectly. And it healed up too quickly for anybody to even react.

    Pfft! A tongue-like object shot out from the creature¡¯s palm and hit Su Jin¡¯s shoulder. Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened, because his shoulder was like a piece of paper to this tongue. The tongue had pierced right through his shoulder.

    ¡°What?!¡± Su Jin was horrified. His physical body wasparable to a god¡¯s and because he was outside of the universe¡¯s control, anybody who could hurt him had to be at least equivalent to a high level god. And even a high level god would not be able to hurt him so easily. Yet, a random creature had been able to pierce his skin just like that. None of this made sense.

    The creature did not retract its tongue-like object, but shot out hooks to hold onto Su Jin. A simr tongue-like object shot out from its other hand, and this time, it was aiming for Su Jin¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 387

    Chapter 387

    Su Jin tried to dodge the attack, but the tongue holding onto him actually made it impossible for him to struggle free. Before the other tongue-like object could hit him, he could only move his body very slightly to make sure it didn¡¯t stab him in the heart.

    He let out a muffled grunt even as he continued to wonder what in the world this creature was. How could it be this formidable?

    One of the other two creatures noticed that the first one hadn¡¯t been able to take Su Jin down, so it started charging toward Su Jin too. Cold sweat began to drip down his forehead. These creatures were too difficult to handle, and he was going to die here at this rate.

    Just then, two des came from two directions and chopped off the tongue-like objects holding onto Su Jin.

    Su Jin quickly retreated far, far away when he was freed, but alsounched an attack on thest creature attacking Liu Bowen¡¯s group so that it backed off before the group copsed.

    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Su Jin thanked the Golden Horned King and the Silver Horned King. The two des that had sliced through the tongue-like objects had been these two demons¡¯ swords.

    ¡°These creatures aren¡¯t on your side?¡± the nine tailed fox asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°I have no idea what they are, but they¡¯re very strange, and very formidable! You guys have to be careful!¡±

    ¡°Watch yourself first!¡± Daitengu scoffed, then spread his wings violently to send out knife-like feathers that pierced the three creatures in many ces. But Daitengu was clearly still quite wary of Su Jin, so he made sure his attack did not hurt Liu Bowen¡¯s group.After the three creatures were hit, they did not stop. The holes on their body disappeared immediately, as if someone had used Photoshop to erase them.

    ¡°Our mission is to¡­ kill everything in the Challenge! Our mission is to¡­ destroy the Challenge!¡± muttered one of the creatures before it too, spread a pair of wings from its back.

    Su Jin and the rest paled as the same thought hit them. Could this thing be capable of replicating their abilities?

    The creature¡¯s actions gave them the answer. Just as they had feared, the creature had indeed replicated Daitengu¡¯s skill, and its knife-like feathers were just as powerful as Daitengu¡¯s.

    The nine tailed fox shrieked as she formed a nine-color me again and set it in front of the demons in order to block the creature¡¯s attack.

    But the creature¡¯s feathers flew right through the me toward the five demons. The Silver Horned King let out a low roar, and his shrunken body suddenly grew bigger again. He took a step forward to protect the other four.

    After the dust settled, Su Jin could see the Silver Horned King¡¯s body again, but his body was already like a ragdoll. He had been pierced in many ces and his body was swaying wildly.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill all of you!¡± The Golden Horned King was furious. He mmed the bottom of his Suet Jade sk, which sent it flying into the air to suck the creature into itself.

    The Suet Jade sk then flew back into the hands of the Golden Horned King. Anyone who dared to hurt his younger brother had to pay the price with their life!

    Pfft!

    But just then, the sk in his hands suddenly shattered. The creature leaped out and brandished a silver sword that lopped the Golden Horned King¡¯s head off.

    ¡°That¡¯s my skill!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. What in the world was this thing? It even managed to replicate his psychokinesis.

    In a matter of seconds, the Golden Horned King was dead and the Silver Horned King was probably not too far from death. Almost half of the most powerful demons were dead, and the most terrifying part was that the three creatures werepletely unhurt.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± The remaining three demons started to panic. The nine tailed fox¡¯s nine-color me was already their most powerful move, yet it did nothing to stop their enemies.

    ¡°Run!¡± yelled Su Jin suddenly. He waved a hand in the air, which created arge silver hand that grabbed hold of Liu Bowen¡¯s group. Then, he covered himself and the group in shadows and started running toward the border of the town. The other three demons immediately started running in three different directions away from Su Jin.

    ¡°We can¡¯t leave the town¡­ otherwise¡­ we¡¯ll die!¡± Liu Bowen was badly injured, but he still remembered the rules of the Handbook. If they stepped outside of the border of the Challenge, they¡¯d die without question.

    But Su Jin¡¯s response was, ¡°That¡¯s the point! We need the Handbook to notice us!¡±

    The group waspletely confused, but Su Jin didn¡¯t have the time to exin anything to them, and he threw one of them out of the town. If not for the fact that he wasn¡¯t under the control of the Handbook and might therefore not be noticed by it even if he left the town, he would have offered to throw himself out.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Liu Bowen was horrified. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t saved them from those creatures, he would have thought that Su Jin was one of those creatures in disguise.

    ¡°I¡¯m saving you guys.¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes as he watched what would happen to the owner he flung out. All of a sudden, everything around them shook violently. Liu Bowen and the other owners disappeared, leaving only Su Jin behind.

    ¡°I was right.¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He had found it strange that those creatures were not only killing the demons but also killing the owners. And when they continued to attack himself and the demons as well, he became certain of one thing.

    ¡°Those creatures aren¡¯t from Hell¡¯s Handbook!¡± Su Jin was very sure of this. Also, those creatures had also said that they were here to destroy the Challenge.

    Nothing created by Hell¡¯s Handbook would ever utter such a thing. Very few of the Handbook¡¯s creations ced inside Challenges actually knew about the Handbook or the existence of Challenges. If they did, they were either gods or creatures like the great demons in this Challenge. But they still had one thing inmon, which was that they were unable to go against the Handbook¡¯s arrangement.

    Back then, the Demon Lord had borrowed Su Jin¡¯s strength in hope of gaining a future. She had made a winning bet, but that also helped Su Jin to have a better understanding of the Handbook¡¯s control over the creatures within a Challenge. The fact that those creatures were able to attack anything in the Challenge so recklessly meant that they were definitely not something the Handbook controlled.

    Su Jin had purposely broken the rules of the Handbook because he believed that when the rules were challenged, the Handbook wouldn¡¯t just kill the owners without conducting any investigation. It would probably investigate what happened and find out what caused the breach in rules. That would make more sense.

    And Su Jin had clearly guessed it right. The owner he threw out had sounded the rm, which also made the Handbook scan the Challenge. Once it realized something was amiss, it took the owners away immediately. The fact that the rest of the owners who weren¡¯t thrown out also disappeared was proof of that.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, had changed his attributes, just like how someone could change the file extension of a file on aputer. To the Handbook, Su Jin was a character in the Challenge like the demons, so he was not affected.

    ¡°But that Liu Bowen is one really unlucky guy. He¡¯s gone through two Level A Challenges that didn¡¯t end properly,¡± Su Jin chuckled to himself, without any consideration for who caused all this trouble in the first ce.

    Su Jin turned and headed back. He had to find out exactly what those creatures were. Why would saboteurs suddenly appear within the Handbook¡¯s universe?

    ¡°Could this be the work of the Mad Hatter and his bunch?¡± Su Jin suddenly remembered them. The Mad Hatter was a revolutionist among the elder gods, so even though Su Jin couldn¡¯t really understand what in the world they were trying to do, he knew that they would not stay silent for long. They might be the ones behind these creatures.

    ¡°If that¡¯s really the case, I¡¯ve totally underestimated them,¡± thought Su Jin. These three creatures were seriously a force to be reckoned with.

    By the time he got back to where he had escaped from, he found nobody there except for the bodies of the Golden Horned King and the Silver Horned King lying quietly on the ground. He immediately checked where the other three had gone and flew toward the one that was giving the weakest signal.

    But when he got there, all he saw was Bifang with its mes extinguished and its wings torn and thrown aside. One of those creatures got up from Bifang¡¯s corpse. It noticed Su Jin¡¯s presence and stared at him with its creepy and unfeeling eyes.

 Chapter 388

    Chapter 388

    Su Jin had already moved as quickly as he could, but he wasn¡¯t quick enough to rescue Bifang. He was very interested in the demons of this Challenge, because the fact that they were not under the control of the Handbook already made them very interesting. But these creatures that had suddenly invaded the Challenge were also of interest to him.

    ¡°These creatures are really shocking,¡± Su Jin frowned. It wasn¡¯t going to be easy to deal with these creatures. The way they were able to replicate the skills of another person was insane. In other words, these creatures had a very high upper limit, as long as they had enough people to emte.

    ¡°My psychokinesis attacks are abination of energy and physics, but it has no effect on the creature. So¡­ could it possess the power of magic?¡± wondered Su Jin to himself.

    Su Jin was very powerful, but it was useless if his powers were unable to hurt his enemy. He was like an invincible martial artist in a TV drama who did not pose any harm to the viewers at home. Su Jin and the creature seemed to be in this sort of rtionship, but it was a one way rtionship. The creature could attack him anytime, which put Su Jin in a passive position.

    ¡°If it has magical powers, how about using this?¡± Su Jin waved a palm, and a six-pointed star magic circle suddenly came falling from the sky. He had learned this from Wu Chen, or rather, this was a skill that Wu Chen had learned from the dragons in one of the Challenges they had gone through together. Su Jin had not really learned it properly, but he could fully understand the workings of the Handbook, so he was able to analyze and recreate a skill that wasn¡¯t tooplicated with ease.

    ¡°Seal!¡± yelled Su Jin. This magic circle was meant purely for sealing things up.

    The magic circle fell onto the creature and came down hard on its head. The creature growled and tried to struggle free, but after it struggled for a while, the magic circle was able to keep it under control, and the creature slowly lost the energy to move.

    Su Jin heaved a big sigh of relief. He was so d this thing had a weakness and was so powerless in the face of magic. But before he could start celebrating, he saw ayer of patterns rise from the creature. The patterns kept flickering, and the magic circle that held the creature down was slowly being broken down.

    ¡°It¡¯s getting used to the magical powers of the circle.¡± Su Jin could barely believe it. While it was true that the magic circle had managed to hold the creature down, the creature immediately started adapting to its situation. It was like a lion that started growing gills shortly after it had been thrown into the ocean and could breathe normally underwater after that.The creature slowly broke free, then stared at Su Jin icily. Its emotionless eyes flickered a few times, then its electronic voice resounded once more, ¡°Our mission is to¡­ destroy the Challenge, destroy the target! Target identified!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the target now?¡± Su Jin frowned. The creature suddenly leaped into the air as the magic circle was no longer effective against it. Two silver swords made from psychokinesis appeared in its hands, and it brandished them at Su Jin.

    Su Jin did not move and allowed the two swords to strike him. The psychokinesis that formed the swords disappeared the moment they hit him.

    The creatures were aggressive fighters, but they didn¡¯t seem to have much experience in fighting. Using psychokinesis to attack Su Jin was akin to charging a phone with electricity. That tongue-like object it had was of a greater threat to Su Jin.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of the creature¡¯s neck and filled its body with psychokinesis in order to find the creature¡¯s memories and background.

    But Su Jin only ended up frowning even harder than before as he eximed, ¡°This is unlike any lifeform I know of. What¡­ what is this?¡±

    He was really confused. The creature was empty inside, with no internal organs or system mechanics. The only thing inside were some runes that shone with a bright and mesmerizing glow.

    ¡°What¡­ are you?¡± The silver glow in Su Jin¡¯s eyes grew brighter as he flooded the creature with his psychokinesis in order to analyze and understand every rune in its body.

    Finally, Su Jin saw an image. That was something hidden deep within the runes. It was not this creature¡¯s memory, but more like a video left among the runes for some reason. It was just like the nature of lifeforms within Hell¡¯s Handbook hidden inside their DNA.

    In the image, Su Jin saw a warm and gentle ball of light floating in the air. Countless runes flew about within the ball of light. Some leaped out from the ball and turned into these creatures.

    ¡°A new system outside of Hell¡¯s Handbook? This system¡­ contains information about Hell¡¯s Handbook, which is why the powers within the Handbook¡¯s system is unable to hurt the creatures created by this other system. If I want to kill them¡­ I have to use powers outside the Handbook¡¯s system,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. It was a short clip, but it was enough for Su Jin to pick up arge amount of information.

    ¡°Is it the Mad Hatter? Or someone else?¡± Su Jin had thought of Kano Mai. She was a primordial deity who had helped to create Hell¡¯s Handbook, so she was probably the one who knew the Handbook best besides the will of the universe. If she were willing to help, it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to create another system to fight against Hell¡¯s Handbook¡¯s powers. But having the ability to do it and actually doing it were two different matters.

    Hell¡¯s Handbook was created based on the powers of the will of the universe. If one wanted to create a simr system, the powers they would need would be tremendous. Su Jin couldn¡¯t imagine who in the world would possess such powers.

    ¡°Could it be a mini system? It has a full set of capabilities, but it covers a very small area?¡± That was the only exnation Su Jin coulde up with. But even so, the energy required toplete such a system was still terrifyingly high. Su Jin felt that only the elder gods put together would be able to umte this much energy.

    The creature in Su Jin¡¯s hands continued to struggle nonstop. Su Jin stared at the creature, then suddenly went into a daze. He released the creature, and the creature immediately attacked Su Jin. This time, the creature¡¯s arm bones suddenly popped out and came at Su Jin¡¯s throat like two sharp knives.

    And just before the creature¡¯s arm bones hit Su Jin, its body suddenly crumbled into a mess of runes that disappeared with the wind.

    In just a few seconds, the creature was gone. Su Jin snapped out of his daze, and he gave a pleased nod as he looked down at his hands with a smile. ¡°These rune creatures have enlightened me greatly. What shall I call this new power I have that is outside of the Handbook?¡±

    After pausing to think, Su Jin nced at Bifang¡¯s corpse on the ground. A light flickered in his eyes and Bifang¡¯s broken wings suddenly flew back onto Bifang¡¯s body as though he were rewinding the tape. Then, the mes on Bifang¡¯s body were rekindled.

    Bifang¡¯s body stiffened up, then it took in a deep breath and came back to life.

    After it was revived, the light in Su Jin¡¯s eyes faded. He nodded, then sighed as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll call this new power¡­ Maniacal Power! But there are still a lot of limits at the moment, and I¡¯ll have to develop it further to bring it past the limit.¡±

    Bifang immediately went into fight mode, only to find that its enemy was gone. Only that strange human who wanted to talk to the demons was left. It was confused for a moment, then said, ¡°Wait, was I¡­ was I dead just now?¡±

    ¡°Wow! What amazing observation skills!¡± Su Jinplimented Bifang.

    Bifang shook its head and said, ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of observation skills, it¡¯s my memory. I remember clearly that the fire of my core was put out, so I definitely died.¡± It nced at Su Jin and said, ¡°I know that owners possess all sorts of wonderful powers. So, were you the one who revived me?¡±

    ¡°I did revive you, but I didn¡¯t use the powers that an owner would have to do it,¡± chuckled Su Jin. He checked on the battles happening further away from them and said to Bifang, ¡°You¡¯d better hurry. Your two friends are having trouble holding up.¡±

    ¡°Damn it, I forgot about them!¡± Bifang flew into the air and started flying toward where one of the demons was. Its voice resounded, ¡°I¡¯ll leave the other one to you!¡±

    ¡°Treating me as a friend now? That¡¯s a little¡­ troublesome!¡± Su Jin shook his head, but he vanished almost immediately and appeared where the nine tailed fox was in an instant.

    Compared to Bifang, the nine tailed fox was doing pretty well, probably because she was more agile. But she wasn¡¯t going tost long, because as the creature chased after the nine tailed fox, it seemed like the creature was studying and picking up the patterns in her movement.

 Chapter 389

    Chapter 389

    Su Jin now had a basic understanding of what these creatures were trying to do. They chose to y everything in a Challenge, regardless of whether they were owners or monsters, because regardless of who they were, they were all people and things under the control of the Handbook.

    Also, ughtering everyone might not even be their main aim. Their main aim was probably to learn. These creatures were able to learn their opponent¡¯s moves in an extremely short time, so to look at it in another way, the monsters and owners in a Challenge were free coaches to these rune creatures.

    The way the nine tailed fox moved about was very special. The nine mes on her tails would explode when the tails came together, and she could use the impact to increase her speed and help her to make sharp turns. The creature chasing after her grew nine tentacles, then created an energy source that resembled the mes on the nine tailed fox¡¯s tails. If the creature wasn¡¯t very familiar with how to use it to increase its speed and make turns, it would have caught up with the nine tailed fox by now.

    Su Jin immediately grabbed the creature with one hand, and it was unable to move. Before this, Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to handle them, but he had now analyzed those runes, and he just had to erase the runes inside the body in order for the creature to disintegrate.

    That sounded easy, but very few in the universe were capable of doing such a thing. And even fewer were able to crack the code in such a short time like Su Jin.

    It wasn¡¯t really because Su Jin was smarter than others, but because he was no longer confined to the Handbook¡¯s universe. To a certain extent, he was very much like these creatures. Neither party was within the Handbook¡¯s system, so they were able to make observations outside the box. If any other owner ran into these creatures, they wouldn¡¯t think that these creatures refused to die because they were creatures that were outside of the Handbook¡¯s control. They would just think that these creatures were created with some ability to revive quickly.

    And once one was trapped in a particr line of logic, it would be hard to think outside of that. Su Jin was now already guessing that if these creatures had been made in bulk and sent into several Challenges, a tremendous number of owners were definitely going to die. More importantly, it was possible that the Handbook would not be able to revive the owners who were killed by these creatures.

    This situation was like two videos filmed and saved differently. Without the right yer or codecs, a program might be able to y one video and not the other. The owners killed by these creatures would be like a file that was converted to something another system could not read, so the Handbook might not be able to do anything about that.

    When the nine tailed fox saw that it was Su Jin who saved her, she did not thank him but said, ¡°Save my otherpanions!¡±Su Jin nodded slightly and flicked his fingers. The nine tailed fox watched as everything around her changed, and both Bifang and Daitengu appeared in front of her. Su Jin had teleported them with the flick of his fingers.

    While Bifang and Daitengu outnumbered the creature, they weren¡¯t winning the fight at all. The creature was very aggressive in its attacks and was not hurt by any of the two demons¡¯ attacks, which made it easy for the creature to gain the upper hand.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin sounded surprised, because he noticed that the creature was using the same method as the nine tailed fox to move about. In other words, the creatures could share information about new techniques they had learned with one another.

    ¡°Hurry up and save them!¡± the nine tailed fox shouted to Su Jin when she realized her two friends were having trouble holding up. She had seen how Su Jin was able to kill the creature very easily just now, so she knew that Su Jin was able to save them.

    Su Jin did not make things difficult for her and grabbed hold of the creature like thest time. The creature suddenly froze, then crumbled into those strange runes and disappeared.

    The nine tailed fox let out a sigh of relief after the creature was destroyed. Bifang¡¯s me covered body was transformed into a valiant young woman as she walked toward Su Jin and asked, ¡°Please help to resurrect my friends.¡±

    Su Jin looked at her and frowned before shaking his head. ¡°I will not do that.¡±

    ¡°What¡­ what are both of you talking about?¡± the nine tailed fox asked Bifang with a confused look on her face.

    ¡°This gentleman is able to resurrect the dead. I was killed by one of those creatures earlier and he revived me, so I¡¯m asking if he could do the same for the Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King,¡± exined Bifang.

    After she had exined things, Daitengu and the nine tailed fox immediately turned to look at Su Jin, but he shook his head again. ¡°I already said no.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± asked the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, but I was able to revive Bifang only because I found her immediately after she had died and I was able to use my powers. The Horned brothers have died for too long now, so to put it in a way you might understand, their souls have already dissipated. Even if I forcibly revived them, they would be two soulless zombies wandering about.¡±

    He was just telling them the truth. His way of reviving the dead was actually very simple. When someone within the Handbook¡¯s system died, their soul would be taken back by the Handbook. That was why conducting the Ceremony of the Gods was able to resurrect a dead owner.

    This was the same as how a file could be deleted but kept in the Recycle Bin instead of being deleted permanently, so the user could still restore the item if they needed it. For Ye Yun, Wu Chen, and Bo Ya¡¯s case, they were like password protected files, so he needed to fulfil a few more special requirements in order to revive them.

    But Daitengu and the other demons were different. They were not part of the Handbook¡¯s system, so once they died, their information would be deleted permanently, unless they had just died and their files were still being deleted. Su Jin was able to stop the deletion and pull the files back out, which was how he supposedly revived Bifang.

    He only discovered he could do this after studying the rune creatures. He used his psychokinesis as a blueprint to develop his maniacal powers, and that¡¯s what he used to revive Bifang. However, it had been too long since the Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King died, so their information would have beenpletely deleted by now, and Su Jin couldn¡¯t do anything about that.

    The three surviving demons believed what Su Jin was saying. There was no need for someone who had saved their lives to lie to them like this. They immediately felt rather depressed.

    Just like what Su Jin had said before, they were different because they were not under the control of the Handbook. They were free beings, but they were also lonely beings.

    ¡°I wanted to talk to you guys earlier, but I didn¡¯t expect this to happen at all. Can we continue our earlier discussion now?¡± Su Jin asked the three demons.

    The three demons exchanged nces, then nodded. After they settled down in the middle of some rubble, Su Jin started, ¡°Let¡¯s start with what¡¯s going on with you guys. As living creatures not under the control of Hell¡¯s Handbook, you¡¯re all very unique.¡±

    The nine tailed fox spoke up first, ¡°Actually¡­ we are also puzzled about our own existence, so we¡¯ve been moving from one space to another partly because we are trying to understand this.¡±

    ¡°And you have some understanding of this already, am I right?¡± asked Su Jin.

    She nodded, then suddenly stared into his eyes and said, ¡°Both of us already know about Hell¡¯s Handbook, but do you know¡­ the heroes who¡¯ve ovee their destiny?¡±

    ¡°Heroes who¡¯ve ovee their destiny?¡± Su Jin repeated her words quietly.

    She went on, ¡°Based on the information we gathered, the Handbook controls all the worlds and it is impossible to go against its will. The fate of every living thing is in its hands from the day they were born, except a few lifeforms called owners. They have a chance to change their fate.

    ¡°And out of these owners, some are formidable ones who refuse to bow to Hell¡¯s Handbook. They try to break free from the Handbook¡¯s control, to return freedom to all lifeforms. These people are called¡­ the heroes who¡¯ve ovee their destiny.¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s eye twitched. Of course he knew about these people. He had chosen to be one of them, in fact. But he didn¡¯t expect the nine tailed fox to talk about these people. Did they have any rtion to one another?

    The nine tailed fox continued, ¡°But none of these heroes have ever seeded. Hell¡¯s Handbook is more powerful than anyone could ever imagine, so their resistance always ends in their own destruction, disappearing into the innumerable universes and spaces. Those who aren¡¯t controlled by the Handbook, like ourselves, seem to be¡­ their descendants.¡±

 Chapter 390

    Chapter 390

    This was not the answer Su Jin was expecting at all. These demons had turned out to be the descendants of those who had chosen the same path as himself.

    ¡°ording to what we¡¯ve heard, once these heroes start their resistance, they would be killed eventually. But the punishment for their sins wouldnd on them alone, so their descendants and family are not hurt,¡± said the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. It was true that many formidable characters had chosen the path since time immemorial, but none of them had escaped the Handbook¡¯s detection and they were all eventually killed.

    But there were definitely some really amazing ones who managed to escape detection for a long enough time to have descendants.

    Su Jin had chosen this path for himself, so he knew very well what would happen to those who did the same. If these demons were truly the descendants of such people, then they must have been born only after these people had made their choice, because an owner¡¯s decision would change their DNApletely, and their descendants would carry these new characteristics. Not being controlled by the Handbook was one of those.

    ¡°Are there many such descendants?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The nine tailed fox sighed and shook her head. ¡°There are very few of us. We haven¡¯t met many who carry the bloodline of these heroes, and most of them have already forgotten where they came from. They just hide in one ce and rule it.¡±

    Su Jin nodded. That made sense. One needed not just courage to choose to fight the will of the universe, but you also needed to be a little crazy. You couldn¡¯t expect the descendants of these heroes to make the same choice.

    ¡°I got to know the Horned brothers when I was travelling through different worlds. We often get bullied when we¡¯re by ourselves, because despite our powers, we are often treated as symbols of disasters. We have no choice but to keep moving and we only started seeing things differently after we came together as a group. Then again, perhaps we are truly symbols of disasters, because no matter where we go, we¡¯d screw things up. Regardless of whether they¡¯re people we love, or people who love us, as long as theye close, they¡¯ll meet a terrible end.¡± The nine tailed fox had an extremely exhausted look on her face when she got to this part. It was clear that she still couldn¡¯t forget what had happened to her previously.Su Jin knew some of the legends behind these demons. It was true that all of them had a sad story to tell, and most of them were considered antagonists in their story. The nine tailed fox, for example. ording to legend, the emperor had loved her more than anything else, but he ended up losing his country in the end. The legend went on to say that she moved to Japan, but she continued to experience tragedy there.

    ¡°Symbols of disaster? Well, that¡¯s one way of putting it.¡± Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°But to me, it sounds more like discriminatory behavior.¡±

    ¡°Discriminatory behavior?¡± All three demons looked puzzledly at Su Jin.

    He nodded slightly and exined, ¡°Yup. To put it simply, all of you are outsiders who live in someone else¡¯s house, so it¡¯s natural for them to dislike you and discriminate against you. The sufferings you¡¯ve gone through are given to you by the Handbook.¡±

    ¡°Then why does it always hit the people around us and not ourselves?¡± asked the nine tailed fox in indignation.

    Su Jin exined, ¡°That¡¯s because all of you are lifeforms that are outside of the Handbook¡¯s system. Even though you aren¡¯t able to fight it, you¡¯re lifeforms that the Handbook cannot interfere with. Since it can¡¯t do anything about you, it will have to attack the people around you instead.¡±

    The three demons were too stunned to speak. They recalled their past and it was exactly like what Su Jin said. No matter how tragic and difficult their past was, they had never actually been hurt.

    Su Jin then suddenly said, ¡°Do you guys want to join me instead? I¡¯m going to create my very own space that¡¯s outside of the Handbook. Inside my space, you won¡¯t have to worry about tragedy befalling you again.¡±

    They weren¡¯t expecting that. The nine tailed fox spoke up first, ¡°Sir, you are very formidable, and I can see that you are somewhat rted to our ancestors. You¡­ are also a hero who wants to ovee your destiny, right?¡±

    Su Jin was really pleased with how clear-headed the nine tailed fox was. Of course, while one could say that perhaps she was more of a wily old fox than a smart one, Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered by that. She had remained rtively calm throughout this ordeal, and that was something a clever person needed to be.

    Su Jin did not try to hide his identity and admitted to it, ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve never met your ancestors before, but I am indeed walking down the path they had chosen before. I¡­ want to ovee my destiny, and help the entire world to change their fate.¡±

    The three demons exchanged nces, then Daitengu said, ¡°Well, we¡¯re very sorry but I don¡¯t think we can agree to join you, because¡­ based on what we know of our ancestors, they all¡­ died pretty quickly after choosing this path.¡±

    Su Jin smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right. The chance of dying is almost a hundred percent.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re someone who can¡¯t even guarantee your own survival. Why should we ept your invitation then?¡± asked the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin calmly replied, ¡°Your information is considered very urate. Everyone who has chosen this path, including your ancestors, have died. But I won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± asked Bifang.

    ¡°The reason is the fact that I¡¯m still alive,¡± said Su Jin matter-of-factly. ¡°Since you¡¯ve been gathering information about your ancestors, you know how they were killed too, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It seems to have something to do with Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± said the nine tailed fox with a nod.

    ¡°Of course it does. The one who operates Hell¡¯s Handbook was the one who killed them. Anyone who chooses this path will be a target of the Handbook, and the Handbook will do everything it can to hunt this person down and kill them. Never mind entering a Challenge ¨C even if they¡¯re hiding in some broken, forgotten space, someone will find them and kill them.¡± Su Jin scanned the three demons, then said, ¡°And I¡­ have the ability to hide from the Handbook.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not controlled by the Handbook, but after we¡¯ve spent so many years wandering the worlds, we know how powerful the Handbook is and we¡¯re being watched by the Handbook too. How could you possibly escape detection?¡± Bifang clearly did not believe Su Jin.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to believe me right now. I still have some time, so if you guys don¡¯t mind, we can stay together for a while and you can decide for yourselvester whether I¡¯m telling the truth or not.¡±

    The three demons didn¡¯t mind that. The nine tailed fox even jokingly said, ¡°Are you sure about that? Besides the other descendants of heroes like ourselves, anyone else whoes too close to us will meet a terrible end.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s great! I know a thing or two about terrible ends!¡± said Su Jin with augh.

    Su Jin was willing to remain with the three demons partly because he wasn¡¯t able to return to his own world now. He had used Liu Bowen and the other owners to raise the rm and force the Handbook to notice a problem with this Challenge, which also made the Handbook remove Liu Bowen¡¯s group from the Challenge. But at the same time, he had reprogrammed himself to seem like one of the demons in the Challenge, so the Handbook assumed he belonged inside the Challenge.

    The Challenge had already ended, so it was going to be too difficult for Su Jin to return to his own world. Of course, he was able to move easily from one world to another, but the Handbook controlled way too many worlds for him to search them and find his own manually. The Handbook might be controlling 100,000 worlds, 200,000 worlds, or even a million worlds.

    Without any other way to narrow down his search, he would have to go through the worlds one by one to find his own, which was highly inefficient. So, he thought of another way to do this.

    ¡°The demons are seen as part of a Challenge, which means that any world they appear in will eventually be a Challenge. I just need to move with them, then switch back to being an owner after a Challenge starts and I¡¯ll be teleported back after that,¡± thought Su Jin. That would make things much easier.

    ¡°By the way, when is the next Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts happening?¡± Su Jin asked the three demons.

    ¡°In about 20 years¡¯ time!¡± replied Daitengu very seriously.

 Chapter 391

    Chapter 391

    ¡°Dang, that wasn¡¯t what I had expected!¡± Su Jin mumbled again and again. Time went by differently in this universe, but 20 years was a long enough time for him to feel it.

    ¡°You can¡¯t have it any earlier?¡± he asked.

    Bifang shook her head and exined, ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to, but it takes time to birth the demons. Humans need a good nine or ten months to have a baby, right?¡±

    ¡°A baby? You mean these demons are your children?¡± said Su Jin in shock.

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m just using it as an example. In any case, we¡¯d need at least 20 years to have all these demons again. Thest batch have all been killed and there¡¯s nothing we can do about it,¡± said Bifang.

    Su Jin felt like crying. He asked again, ¡°Do you know of any other method to make yourselves participants in a Challenge?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps there is a way, but we don¡¯t know how. Whenever we lead the demons on the night parade, owners like yourself would suddenly appear. We¡¯ve not run into any other simr situation,¡± said the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin sighed and decided to give up. It was his fault for not checking first, so he would have to go through these 20 years. In any case, he knew that the universes used by the Handbook for Challenges were those where time flowed faster than usual. He could use these 20 years to think about what he should do next and draw up a proper n.

    Meanwhile, inside a damaged space, the Mad Hatter¡¯s brows were tightly knit. Pinhio had been severely injured and was no longer breathing, but there was a wooden puppet next to the Mad Hatter¡¯s Hand. The wooden puppet was moving its head about as though it was trying to get used to its body.¡°Oh my god, that was such a close shave. If I hadn¡¯t made this wooden puppet ahead of time and left it here, I¡¯d have died with those idiots,¡± said Pinhio as he patted his chest.

    The Mad Hatter nodded and said, ¡°That was a close shave, alright. I didn¡¯t expect Hell¡¯s Handbook to have yed all those gods with just one slew. That was a group made from elder and current gods working together, and they were way more powerful than we are.¡±

    Pinhio suddenly looked up at the Mad Hatter and asked, ¡°Hey, do you think¡­ do you think we might be watched by Hell¡¯s Handbook, then¡­ then¡­¡± Pinhio shut his mouth again because he felt like he was being too pessimistic.

    But the Mad Hatter shook his head confidently and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t end up like that.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± asked Pinhio curiously, as though he were an ordinary, curious, young boy.

    The Mad Hatterughed. ¡°Because we¡¯re weak.¡±

    ¡°What sort of reason is that?¡± Pinhio red at the Mad Hatter.

    But the Mad Hatter onlyughed again. ¡°The best sort of reason. Why do you think that group of gods got themselves killed?¡±

    ¡°You mean it wasn¡¯t because the Handbook had discovered them?¡± asked Pinhio puzzledly.

    The Mad Hatter sneered, ¡°Because they had been discovered? Gosh, Pinhio! You still haven¡¯t gotten this part straight. We¡¯ve never been able to hide from the Handbook. To the Handbook, we¡¯re like pawns on a chessboard. Have you ever heard of a genius chess yer who doesn¡¯t even know where his pawns have gone?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ why do we bother to hide?¡± asked Pinhio in an indignant voice.

    The Mad Hatter said quietly, ¡°We¡¯re hiding so that ordinary people will not discover us, and it¡¯s also to send a signal. If the chess yer finds that this game is boring, wouldn¡¯t you be afraid that the chess yer would just push everything aside and refuse to y?¡±

    ¡°So¡­ everything we do is being watched by the Handbook?¡± asked Pinhio.

    The Mad Hatter nodded slightly. ¡°We¡¯re all gods. The owners call us elder gods, but sadly, most of them never realize that they will be elder gods someday. And by the time they realize it, they would be left with very little time to do anything about it. That group of elder gods and current gods were idiots like these.¡±

    ¡°They had realized their inevitable fate and tried to fight back, but their methods were awful and worse, they made the Handbook angry, so¡­ they werepletely destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what are we going to do? What can we do?¡± Pinhio suddenly felt very lost. He had done many crazy things, some he regretted, some that made him happy. But now, he realized that he was actually very helpless.

    ¡°We need to make the chess game more interesting. As long as the chess yer thinks the game is worth ying, they will not abandon the game,¡± said the Mad Hatter very confidently.

    ¡°I¡¯m really curious¡­ if this is a game between two yers, where one side is Hell¡¯s Handbook, who¡¯s on the other side?¡± asked Pinhio curiously. He sounded a little excited as he said, ¡°Is it us?¡±

    The Mad Hatter wished he could say yes, but he could only smile sadly at Pinhio as he said, ¡°I really wished we were. But in reality, we¡¯re just a fairly useful pawn. The one ying against Hell¡¯s Handbook¡­ I think they¡¯re going to put their pawn down soon, and I think this is going to involve a lot of people.¡±

    Pinhio was disappointed. He wanted to be part of the game. But he also did trust what the Mad Hatter said most of the time. And if the Mad Hatter said they were pawns, he wanted to be the general, the Chinese chess equivalent of the king piece, and not the soldiers, equivalent to the pawn piece, that nobody cared about!

    ¡°Do you think¡­if those guys weren¡¯t in a hurry to start up that thing they call The Beginning, they wouldn¡¯t have died so tragically?¡± Pinhio asked the Mad Hatter again.

    The Mad Hatter nodded, then shook his head, which confused Pinhio. ¡°What does that mean? Why did you nod, then shake your head?¡±

    ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is that, if they hadn¡¯t activated The Beginning, of course they wouldn¡¯t have died. But they didn¡¯t have a choice. They had to activate The Beginning in order to hang onto the chess game and keep going.¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯re already dead,¡± Pinhio pointed out.

    ¡°They¡¯re dead, but they didn¡¯t lose. Until the veryst stage of the game, you won¡¯t know which yer will win and which yer will lose. These seemingly rash fellows might turn out to win.¡± The Mad Hatter still had respect for the gods who supported Jing Hua and hispanions. If they had not moved quickly enough, they wouldn¡¯t even have had the chance to activate The Beginning.

    The Mad Hatter did know that Kano Mai was a primordial deity, and after he sent Pinhio out to be a spy and Pinhio came back with information about The Beginning, the Mad Hatter realized that the fact that Kano Mai was a primordial deity was a very important factor. But he didn¡¯t know that Kano Mai had already given away the item that helped her to hide from the Handbook. If Carl and his group did not quickly activate The Beginning and waited until Kano Mai ended up dead, it would be toote.

    On the primordial deity, Carl was still looking at the operating The Beginning. A long time had passed since they activated The Beginning. It had been so long, Carl felt like his old bones were about to disintegrate and be dust.

    ¡°How long has it been? Since the first destruction of the universe,¡± murmured Carl.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember. But I know that beings simr to myself have appeared several times,¡± said Phyge.

    ¡°They only look like you. As long as they¡¯ve got simr genes, they¡¯d look somewhat like you,¡± said Carl quietly as he chuckled, ¡°But none with your level of strength has ever appeared before.¡±

    ¡°The strength I have was gained at the expense of the lives of 90% of my people, so I¡¯ve never seen it as anything good,¡± said Phyge without mincing his words. He didn¡¯t want this strength at all.

    But Phyge did agree with one thing Carl said. The three of them were simply too old. But now, it seemed that Arutus couldn¡¯t be any older than them. That fellow who had gone ahead of them had the power to fight the will of the universe, yet he had continued to hide in a corner.

    He was still a mighty creature, however. After watching so much time go past, he had finally used his life to activate The Beginning and had done a wonderful thing for all living creatures in the universe.

    ¡°By the way, three out of the ten rune warriors created by The Beginning have still not returned, and I think something bad must have happened to them,¡± said Phyge with a frown.

    Carl sighed and said, ¡°I hope they¡¯ve been blown to such small pieces, they¡¯re even smaller than powder. That way, we won¡¯t have to worry about the Handbook following their traces all the way here.¡±

 Chapter 392

    Chapter 392

    Carl and Phyge looked toward The Beginning once more, the white ball of light that floated above a pedestal. Their gaze cut through the outeryer of the ball to look at the moving light in its core. The light would sometimes gather to form the image of a woman.

    ¡°The Beginning is very perfect, and we can fight the Handbook with it. But we stillck someone who can fight the will of the universe,¡± said Carl calmly.

    Phyge sighed and said, ¡°If Arutus hadn¡¯t sacrificed himself, he might have been the best person to control The Beginning and go head to head with the will of the universe.¡±

    But Carl shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he said, ¡°No. Arutus was very powerful, and he was the most powerful being of his time, but he carries the mark of the Handbook. As long as he has this mark on him, he will never be able to surpass the will of the universe, never mind defeat him.¡±

    Phyge nodded slightly. Just then, several runes floated out from The Beginning. They came together to form a rune warrior.

    Immediately after the rune warrior took shape, a passageway through space appeared in front of it. It leaped in and disappeared.

    Carl said, ¡°We¡¯ll have to count on these rune warriors. Even if arge number of them are killed, as long as just one of them is able to rise above the rest, it will get the chance to control The Beginning and fight against the will of the universe!¡±

    But Phyge did not look as confident and said to Carl, ¡°These warriors are very formidable and they seem to be perfect beings, but¡­ how far can these creatures with no emotions or soul develop?¡±

    Carl was silent for a few moments, then he said confidently, ¡°Emotions will only be a hindrance. One has to focus on reaching one aim without any distractions in order to move past their limits. Haven¡¯t we seen so many incredible talents all these years? But so many of them have been destroyed by their emotions. This time¡­ let¡¯s take it as an experiment of sorts.¡±¡°But¡­ we¡¯ve also seen a lot of formidable characters rise because of their emotions. Without emotions, without a soul ¨C that means there¡¯s nothing they would want to protect. Do we really need such a character?¡± said Phyge without holding back. The two of them had spent too much time together already. To a certain extent, they were like the same person now. They would argue, but never hate each other. Arguments were more like a way to reflect on their own thoughts and hone each other.

    Carl paused to think, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s prepare some souls first then. We can experiment again once one of the rune warriors grows to be powerful enough.¡±

    Both of them were happy with that and fell silent again, their gaze still locked on The Beginning. That was their hope. They believed that The Beginning would eventually rece Hell¡¯s Handbook and be responsible for the running of the entire universe.

    In the real world, Chu Yi had justpleted a Challenge. He walked out from his Personal Hell Domain and smiled. He didn¡¯t have anything to do once he got back to his world anymore.

    Su Jin had cleared out the cult leader and her followers in one fell swoop, and any remaining members were those who had followed the cult leader¡¯s instructions because they had no choice. Now that the cult leader was dead, they did not fight back at all. Just like the resistance army that Chu Yi was from, they too wished that order would return to this world.

    So, as a member of the resistance army, besides helping to restore some of the infrastructure the world needed, he didn¡¯t really have anything to do.

    Chu Yi¡¯s home was a humongous estate spanning 3,000 square meters that originally belonged to a billionaire. The billionaire had been killed by the cult leader, and the house had no owner. Chu Yi had made significant contributions to the resistance army, so this estate became one of his rewards.

    But Chu Yi didn¡¯t really care for the house. He was someone who liked havingpany, and living all by himself in this huge house seemed so lonely.

    However, today was the first time he felt that having a quiet space was a good thing. He retrieved five items from his Handbook, and one of them was the Key to Immortality.

    The Ceremony of the Gods was centered around the Key to Immortality, and it could be used to revive a person. Chu Yi was an orphan and he often dreamed about resurrecting his dead parents. But now, the person he was bringing back to life was someonepletely unrted to him.

    ¡°Come back to life!¡± Chu Yi watched as the five items turned into a ck mist and disappeared as a young woman slowly appeared before him. She was around 15 or 16,pletely naked, and looked very confused.

    Chu Yi was already prepared for this, so he waved a hand and a cloud of white mist lifted a rug and wrapped it around the girl. She then realized that she wasn¡¯t wearing anything and shrieked at the top of her lungs.

    Chu Yi covered his ears and quickly exined, ¡°Listen to me! You were dead and you¡¯ve been brought back to life¡­ you don¡¯t have any clothes because resurrecting you doesn¡¯te with such services!¡±

    But she didn¡¯t care about what he was saying. Her shrieking did not reduce in volume and only grew louder and even more uncontroble. Chu Yi felt that if the Handbook chose her to be an owner, her Spirit Power would be sonic waves or something.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± yelled Chu Yi as white mist around his body exploded and the wind of the explosion went straight into the girl, nearly blowing off the rug around her.

    After he did that, she finally stopped screaming, but mostly because she got scared. As far as she knew, only characters on TV or cartoons were capable of such a thing. This man was a living, breathing person. Were they filming a movie here?

    Now that she had stopped screaming, Chu Yi quickly exined, ¡°Hello, Miss Wu Jingru! My name is Chu Yi and I¡¯m a friend of your father!¡±

    ¡°My father¡­ you know my father?¡± Wu Jingru was very cautious. She had taken the chance to look at her surroundings and found herself in an extremely luxurious room that was incrediblyrge, so it definitely did not belong to any ordinary person. If this wasn¡¯t a movie filming, then she must be in some inexplicable situation.

    Chu Yi nodded and said, ¡°Your father, Wu Chen¡­ is a very trustworthy and reliable man, an elder who deserves much respect!¡±

    Wu Jingru was even more puzzled now. This man did seem to really know her father. She remained cautious as she asked, ¡°You said¡­ you said I was dead, and you brought me back to life?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Chu Yi with a nod.

    ¡°Seriously? You think that¡¯s a convincing lie? You¡¯ve brought a dead person back to life? You think you¡¯re filming a movie? Or writing a book?¡± said Wu Jingru with disdain. She could believe anything else, but she wasn¡¯t going to believe that anybody could bring someone back from the dead.

    Chu Yi smiled faintly and said, ¡°Well, I think you can judge for yourself if I¡¯m lying to you or not. Think about what youst remember about your life. Think carefully.¡±

    Wu Jingru was a little stunned and couldn¡¯t help but try to recall where she was before this. Her eyes widened as memories flooded back. This man was right. She¡­ had died.

    Thest thing she could remember was herself lying on a bed in the hospital. Late stage cancer had drained her so badly, she barely looked like a human anymore. Her father didn¡¯t seem to be in any less pain than her. He sat by her bed and made phone calls to anybody whom he thought he might be able to borrow money from.

    ¡°Hello, Third Uncle? I¡­ I know I¡¯ve already borrowed a lot from you, but could you help me just onest time? Jingru¡­ yes, yes, I know that, I¡¯ll work my ass off to repay you, I promise! Hello? Hello?¡±

    As the other side hung up on him again, her father shut his eyes in despair. Wu Jingru knew how obstinate her father could be. He was never someone who would bow to others. But after she was diagnosed with cancer, that obstinate father disappeared. He bowed to everyone and begged everyone, even if all he got was a few hundred dors.

    When Wu Jingru couldn¡¯t sleep at night because of the pain, she had seen him secretly leave the ward. He had found a night shift job. He was afraid that his daughter would feel scared without him around, so he would sneak out at night to work after she had fallen asleep.

    But he didn¡¯t know that her illness had also made her mature. Even though she was still scared when he wasn¡¯t around at night, she never told him that she had found out about his secret. She didn¡¯t care about how much longer she could would for, but she didn¡¯t want to make things difficult for her father. His work was probably not enough to earn him enough money for her treatment, but perhaps it could help him to temporarily forget how helpless he was in this situation.

    ¡°Where¡¯s¡­ where¡¯s my dad?¡± asked Wu Jingru with tears in her eyes.

 Chapter 393

    Chapter 393

    ¡°Where¡¯s¡­ where¡¯s my dad?¡± asked Wu Jingru with teary eyes. Her question stumped Chu Yi, because he wasn¡¯t sure how to answer her.

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s already passed away.¡± Chu Yi did not like lying, and he was bad at it anyway, so he could only be honest with her.

    Wu Jingru went into a daze, then her knees suddenly buckled. Thankfully, Chu Yi caught her before she hit the floor, but she had already fainted.

    ¡°I¡­ I just brought her back to life! I didn¡¯t scare her to death again, did I?!¡± Chu Yi gave himself a p. It was not easy to get all the items needed for the Ceremony of the Gods. If he seriously shocked her to death, then his efforts would have gone down the drain.

    Luckily for him, Wu Jingru had only fainted from shock. He carried her onto the bed and waited for her to regain consciousness.

    A few hourster, she slowly opened her eyes again. She saw that Chu Yi was sitting next to her, and tears began rolling down her cheeks rapidly like a broken pearl ne.

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t cry! Don¡¯t cry!¡± Chu Yi panicked for a moment before saying, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so sad, actually. You were dead too and I managed to revive you. I can bring your dad back too.¡±

    Wu Jingru¡¯s eyes widened as she said, ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°And you think I would put in so much effort to revive you just to lie to you? Don¡¯t worry, Wu Chen died because of me, so I¡¯ll definitely bring him back to life,¡± said Chu Yi confidently as he patted his chest.Wu Jingru calmed down and suddenly stopped talking. She just kept staring at Chu Yi, to a point where Chu Yi was getting creeped out, so he asked, ¡°What¡­ what are you staring at?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, really. Can you tell me how you were able to resurrect me? Are you¡­ some celestial being? With supernatural powers?¡± asked Wu Jingru curiously as she blinked herrge eyes.

    Chu Yi scratched his head awkwardly and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t tell you. There are some things we have to keep secret, or we¡¯d all get into big trouble.¡±

    ¡°Oh oh! I get it! You have to keep everything a secret, so you¡¯re a secret agent for the country? Our country has invented medicine that can cure people withte stage cancer and I¡¯m one of the test subjects?¡± Wu Jingru came up with such a wild yet perfect story, Chu Yi felt that if he just agreed with everything she said, he would be able to get away with this.

    ¡°Something like that, I guess,¡± he scratched his head again.

    ¡°Then can you tell me how my dad died?¡± Wu Jingru brought the topic back to Wu Chen.

    Chu Yi¡¯s expression fell slightly. She continued, ¡°You said he died because of you, so are you¡­ his colleague? You guys are all secret agents for the country, right? My dad died protecting you during a mission?¡±

    ¡°Youngdy, why don¡¯t you write a book since you¡¯re so good at cooking things up?!¡± said Chu Yi.

    But Wu Jingru red at him and said, ¡°Who are you calling ¡®youngdy¡¯? You¡¯re not that much older than me!¡±

    Chu Yi didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. Based on physical age, it was true that Chu Yi wasn¡¯t that much older than Wu Jingru, and the two could be considered peers. But the things that Chu Yi had gone through during this time were way more than all the experiences of any person¡¯s lifetime. One could not measure the mental age of any owner purely by their physical age.

    ¡°Alright then, from now on, you¡¯re gonna follow your oppa right here! Before I revive your dad, your safety, your diet, your schooling, your work, your future spouse, and children will all be taken care of by me!¡± said Chu Yi as he patted his chest. He had matured greatly after going through Handbook Challenges, but he could be childish when necessary.

    He was unable to exin a lot of things to Wu Jingru, but for some reason, she trusted this young man greatly, even though he was only a few years older than her and sometimes went off tangent. It was because she could sense some¡­ fatherliness in him.

    In the midst of darkness, Su Jin had climbed to the top of a mountain to wait for the sun to rise. Before long, the sun rose from above the horizon and brought light back to the world.

    Su Jin had a sword fastened to his belt, but it wasn¡¯t a weapon fashioned from metal. It was made from Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis, but because he was so good at controlling his powers now, it was impossible to tell if this was an actual weapon or if it was made from psychokinesis.

    Eighteen years had passed ¨C Su Jin felt like he had lived a second lifetime. He had remained in this world for a good 18 years now. After their run-in with the rune creatures, the three great demons had gone into hibernation. ording to them, they needed to recuperate, and the best way to do so was to hibernate.

    But Su Jin couldn¡¯t sleep for that long, so he eventually decided to explore this world. He was going to take it as a little holiday in a different world, even though this holiday was a little too long.

    This world was very big, and it was much bigger than where Su Jin was from. But unlike his own world that had entered the age of technology, this ce was still stuck in medieval times. Kingdoms and aristocrats were a norm, while martial arts was considered the highest form of power.

    Chu Yi was the expert in martial arts, but learning it was even easier for Su Jin. He was able to understand the limits of martial arts instantly, like installing a patch for an operating system.

    So now, Su Jin was basically a wandering martial arts warrior. He wandered the world and had been given the title of Martial God. That was a title that was given to the strongest martial artist in the entire world, and it was given to only one person.

    He had only taken three years to gain that title, and had spent the next 15 years epting challenges from a number of martial artists, like a formidable character who stood in a lofty ce, guarding the title of being the strongest.

    But in reality¡­ Su Jin was bored to death, because the standards of the people here were simply too low and it was meaningless to duel with them. Besides, it wasn¡¯t that Su Jin was trying to defend his title. He couldn¡¯t lose a duel even if he wanted to.

    Seven years ago, Su Jin arrived at this mountain and went into seclusion at its peak. He could have enjoyed high status, women, and riches if he lived among people, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t interested in any of that. He just wanted to spend the remaining time on top of this mountain, then leave with the three demons.

    The winds here were cold enough to rattle bones, and there was snow everywhere. Su Jin had spent quite a bit of time doing nothing on this mountaintop now. Someone woulde looking for him every now and then, but few were actually capable of scaling such a mountain.

    After spending ten minutes on the peak to exercise, Su Jin pointed randomly and a plump, delicious fish suddenly came flying out from a deepke thousands of meters below the peak. If one looked carefully, they would notice a silvery threading out of the fish¡¯s mouth, and the other side was connected to Su Jin¡¯s finger.

    The fish quickly flew into Su Jin¡¯s hands. He pointed to another spot and created mes, which he used to roast the fish. It didn¡¯t take long for him to get a nicely cooked fish to eat. He had a lot ofints about this world, but he really loved the fresh ingredients.

    Just when Su Jin was about to take a bite of the fish, he paused and frowned slightly as he muttered in annoyance, ¡°What the heck? Someone¡¯s actually climbed up in this ridiculous weather? Are they tired of living?!¡±

    It was the middle of winter now, so the temperature on this mountain had dropped to a terrifying low, and it was impossible for any ordinary person to climb it. Martial artists stood a chance, but if they were unlucky, they would perish halfway up. But now, someone had actually almost reached the top, except that they were now in danger. In most cases, Su Jin would not bother, since anybody making their way up was well aware of the dangers here and it wasn¡¯t his business if they wanted to risk their lives.

    But this time, Su Jin frowned, which meant that he had already decided to save this person. He disappeared in a sh, then reappeared a thousand meters away, in a leeward area close to the peak.

    A man in a giant cloak was running desperately, and the one chasing after him was the one who originally ruled this mountain, a giant ape covered in white fur.

    The cloaked man was clearly no match for the white ape, so he had no choice but to keep running. And when he had no other ce to escape, two sword des suddenly stuck out from his abdominal area, as though they were protruding from his stomach.

 Chapter 394

    Chapter 394

    Just like how the two swords had suddenlye out from the person¡¯s stomach, two glints of light shot out from the des and forced the white ape to retreat.

    Su Jin was not surprised by this. He already knew there was more than one person in that cloak.

    The white ape was furious when it realized it had been tricked and moved even faster than before. The situation became even more difficult for the ones under the cloak, and it looked like they were going to get killed by the white ape.

    Just then, Su Jin made his move. He stretched his sword out and a silver glow shed in front of the white ape. It shocked the white ape, and after it looked up to see Su Jin, it gritted its teeth and ran off.

    Su Jin had fought several times with this white ape before. This white ape had been the king of this mountain, and it had been very unhappy about Su Jin¡¯s arrival.

    But for Su Jin, he was only a visitor and he felt that it was important to protect the environment he was in, so even if the white ape fought him, he would not kill it.

    After some time, the white ape realized it could not defeat Su Jin, and Su Jin did not take up too much space either, so the white ape eventually just allowed him to stick around.

    But today, this fellow had actually helped someone who didn¡¯t belong to the mountain, which made the white ape wary. It already had trouble fighting one of them, and it would definitely suffer great damage if it tried to fight two, so it decided to retreat for now and find another chance to get back at Su Jin.

    The ones whom Su Jin saved stood where they were without moving until they seemed sure that Su Jin was not dangerous, then said, ¡°Thank you so much for saving me! I will definitely repay you by¡­¡±¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. If a Handbook owner hase all the way here just to say hello to me, I¡¯d be damned,¡± said Su Jin with augh. Indeed, the one hiding under the cloak was not someone from this world, but an actual Handbook owner.

    That person froze for a moment, then bowed slightly as though they were about to say more, but ran off like the wind before saying anything.

    Su Jin burst outughing again. This person had tried to trick him. But he could understand where this owner wasing from. Anyone who could immediately identify an owner during a Challenge had to be someone who was at least a demigod, and this owner couldn¡¯t handle such a character.

    But Su Jin wasn¡¯t letting them get away. He grabbed the air, and the owner who had run out of sight came flying back toward Su Jin.

    ¡°Why are you running? I¡¯m not going to eat you,¡± said Su Jin with a chuckle. He flicked a finger and the cloak came off, revealing the people inside.

    There were a total of three people beneath the cloak. One of them was a fairly beautiful blonde woman, and she was carrying a boy and a girl in her arms.

    The two children were like a pair of dolls. The woman had made a sling of sorts around her waist so that she could carry one child on each side. The two des just now hade from these two.

    Su Jin was quite surprised to see someone who was presumably not Chinese go through a Challenge with two Chinese children. The Handbook usually sent owners of the same ethnicity to the same Challenge.

    In other words, the Handbook based its selection of human owners on Earth. It followed the geography of the Earth and picked owners from the same area for any given Challenge. That was why one seldom ran into owners of different races during a Challenge.

    But the two children were actually from this world. They were not owners.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, tell me what¡¯s going on and I will let you go. I can even help youplete your mission,¡± said Su Jin calmly.

    The woman was clearly a little confused. What was going on now? She knew that demigods knew about the existence of Handbook owners, but very few would take the initiative to interact with them like this.

    ¡°What¡­ what do you want from me?¡± asked the woman cautiously.

    Su Jin tapped his nose, then smiled as he said quietly, ¡°Introduce yourselves first? What¡¯s your name, and what are these two children¡¯s names?¡±

    The woman knew that she had to cooperate in order to survive, so she replied honestly, ¡°My name is Marsha, and they are Yun Shan and Yun Shui, siblings from Yun Hill.¡±

    ¡°Are you Su Jin, the martial god?¡± asked the little girl, Yun Shui, all of a sudden.

    Su Jin raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Su Jin, the martial god.¡±

    The two children instantly became very excited, even as tears welled up in their eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Su Jin was surprised by their reaction. He looked at Marsha and asked, ¡°Does your mission have something to do with me?¡±

    Marsha hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Su Jin was not surprised by that. He wasn¡¯t surprised that the two children knew his name. He had be very famous over the past ten odd years.

    He wasn¡¯t surprised that owners would be sent to this mountain either, since that white ape would make a good Challenge boss for a low level Challenge.

    But since both of these things were happening at the same time, then it had to have something to do with him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Marsha was scared of Su Jin, but she still spoke the truth, because she had a feeling that Su Jin would know immediately if she tried to lie.

    ¡°What¡¯s the mission?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Marsha¡¯s lips trembled a little, but she still managed to say, ¡°I have two missions. My main one is to get your Cicada Wing Sword, and the side quest is to get you to take in these two children as your disciples.¡±

    Su Jin was rather surprised now. After he had changed his characteristics, it seemed the Handbook had found him suitable to be part of a Challenge, and he was now a boss-like character that owners had to fight.

    ¡°It¡¯s a Challengepleted in parts?¡± A silver glint shed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as he scanned Marsha¡¯s memories. He was a little disappointed by that, because basically Marsha would not be teleported back to her world after shepleted her mission here, but she would be sent to another ce to continue the Challenge.

    The Handbook was testing him out to see if he was suitable to be the main character for a Challenge.

    If he killed Marsha right now and made it impossible for her toplete the Challenge, then he would definitely get the chance to be a final boss in the future, and not just one of the many stages that owners had to get through.

    But what disappointed him the most was that he would not be able to make use of her Challenge to send himself back to his world, since she would be teleported to another ce or another world after she was done here. He didn¡¯t receive the same mission, so he wouldn¡¯t be sent elsewhere with her.

    Marsha continued to look fearfully at Su Jin. She didn¡¯t expect the man with the title of Martial God to actually have the powers of a god. She couldn¡¯t believe someone like Su Jin existed in a mere Level C Challenge.

    Su Jin paused to think, then passed his sword to Marsha. It was made from psychokinesis, anyway, so he could make them in bulk if he wanted to. Besides, he did say earlier that as long as Marsha answered his questions, he would help herplete her mission.

    Marsha was clearly surprised that Su Jin was so cooperative. After she took the sword from him, she continued to look puzzled as she disappeared into thin air and was teleported to a different ce.

    Immediately after Marsha was transported, the two children lost their sling and began to fall, but Su Jin pointed at the two of them and they floated in mid air instead.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s start with why you want to be my disciples,¡± said Su Jin with some interest.

    The two children exchanged nces, then Yun Shui said, ¡°We want to learn martial arts and avenge our family.¡±

    ¡°Avenge your family?¡± Su Jin raised an eyebrow as he scanned the children¡¯s memories.

    ¡°Gosh, this is like some TV drama,¡± Su Jin shook his head. The Yun Hill where these two children were from had been razed to the ground. These siblings were the only survivors.

    Feuds between martial artists that resulted in the destruction of whole families were both prominent in novels and this world that Su Jin was living in now, so he wasn¡¯t particrly surprised by their situation. But he was going to be here for only one more year or so, so taking in disciples at this point would be a little irresponsible of him.

    Just when Su Jin was still thinking about what to do, the stomachs of both children rumbled at the same time. The two children were salivating at the sight of the fish in Su Jin¡¯s hand.

    Su Jin burst outughing and said, ¡°This one¡¯s cold already, so I¡¯ll make you two another!¡± He pointed at the air and another two fish from the sameke as before flew into his hands, much to the two children¡¯s amazement.

 Chapter 395

    Chapter 395

    A year passed in the blink of an eye. Su Jin felt that this was the most rxing year he had ever had in his entire life. Yun Shan and Yun Shui were very obedient children.

    Su Jin was a good teacher too. He taught them a pile of high level martial arts techniques, of which most of them were specially crafted with the siblings in mind, moves that were perfectly suited for their bodies. If they taught others the same moves in the future, their disciples would find it hard to reach their level.

    But for Su Jin, creating martial arts techniques was as easy as pie. He could even create a new power system if he wanted to.

    The white ape surprisingly got along very well with the siblings. But it would always bare its teeth at Su Jin. Clearly, it had not forgotten how it had been defeated by Su Jin in the past.

    ¡°Shifu, shifu! Look at the flowers I¡¯ve picked! Aren¡¯t they pretty?¡± Yun Shui carried some flowers and came running toward Su Jin to show him.

    Su Jin smiled bitterly when he saw the flowers, because he realized the little girl had picked the snow lotuses he had nted. These were one of the things he intended to leave for the siblings, because these would help them in life even after he had to leave.

    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah, they¡¯re pretty! Real pretty!¡± Su Jin sighed inwardly. He doted on Yun Shui dearly and didn¡¯t think it was worth scolding her over a few snow lotuses.

    But Yun Shui¡¯s expression fell, and she walked away with her head bent.

    Su Jin sighed out loud after Yun Shui had walked away. He knew what these two siblings were trying to do. These two children were very clever. They had found out in an earlier conversation that Su Jin would be leaving them soon, and would not be bringing them along. That was when the havoc started.They knew that the snow lotuses were prepared for them, so they thought that if they ruined these items, their shifu would not leave. They had no idea that Su Jin could make the entire mountain bloom with these flowers with just one thought.

    Su Jin had thought about bringing them with him, but he gave up the thought in the end. His world was too dangerous, and it wasn¡¯t necessarily a good ce for them to be. Perhaps living an ordinary life in this world was the best for them.

    Yun Shui walked out of the cave where Su Jin stayed and Yun Shan immediately approached her. He grabbed hold of his younger sister¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°Did shifu get angry?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t get angry at all¡­ is it because snow lotuses aren¡¯t valuable?¡± asked Yun Shui.

    Yun Shan scratched his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Father and Mother told me before that snow lotuses are worth a lot of money.¡±

    ¡°But shifu doesn¡¯t seem to care about them at all!¡± said Yun Shui in frustration. She blinked herrge eyes and wailed, ¡°Do you think shifu is leaving us behind because we¡¯ve been disobedient?¡±

    Yun Shan was only a little older, but his heart went out to his younger sister. ¡°No, no, you¡¯ve been a good girl. I¡¯m the one at fault. Shifu must have found out that I cked off thest time I was supposed to be practicing. I¡¯ll go and apologize and ask shifu to punish me, that way¡­ shifu won¡¯t abandon us,¡± said Yun Shan as he started walking into Su Jin¡¯s cave with his sister.

    Su Jin had already overheard their conversation. He sighed again, because he really didn¡¯t know how to exin things to them.

    Yun Shan and Yun Shui walked into the cave, but before they could say anything, Su Jin¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, and he motioned to them not to talk.

    A fiery me burst out from a volcano in the distance. It moved about and roared as though it was a deity, then it began hurtling toward where Su Jin was.

    The volcano was located in a great empire of this world, Great Yan. This phenomenon quickly caught the attention of the empire.

    The royal astrologer told the emperor that the fiery phoenix had ascended from the volcano, yet it had not hurt a single creature, which was a good sign. The emperor was delighted to hear this and pardoned everyone in the empire.

    In another peach tree forest, a pink glow began to spread through the forest. All the peach blossoms within 800 miles bloomed in the middle of winter. After this pink glow had gone around the forest for a bit, it too, came flying toward Su Jin.

    The peach tree forest was located in another empire, Tianming. Three dayster, Tianming interpreted this as a good omen as well, and their emperor pardoned thend too.

    In a mountain range elsewhere, an unusual whirlwind gained momentum, splitting mountains and leaving destruction behind as it made its way toward Su Jin as well.

    The mountain range was within another nation, Jiuxing. But unlike Great Yan and Tianming, the royal astrologer of Jiuxing thought that this was a warning from heaven to the emperor. The emperor had no choice but to write an official letter of apology for the mistakes his administration had made.

    The ones who caused all these problems had no idea what sort of effect they had on these three nations.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin¡¯s face lit up. These demons had really slept for a full 20 years.

    Yun Shan and Yun Shui had no idea what the change in their shifu¡¯s expression meant, but they could sense his joy and excitement.

    In less than an hour, the fire, the pink glow, and the whirlwind had arrived outside the cave and transformed back into their original selves.

    Yun Shan and Yun Shui stared in shock at the three demons for two seconds, then burst out crying. The two children were still young, after all. The nine tailed fox didn¡¯t look so scary, but Daitengu and Bifang did look pretty scary.

    But their crying had shocked the three demons too. Once they regained their strength, they followed Su Jin¡¯s scent and got here. They didn¡¯t expect to be met with the sound of two children crying.

    Su Jin had no choice but to coax the children and told them that these demons were his friends. That stopped their crying.

    ¡°What¡­ what is going on?¡± The three demons were puzzled. Had Su Jin gotten married and had children during their 20 year hibernation?

    ¡°They are my disciples, Yun Shan and Yun Shui. Greet your martial uncles!¡± said Su Jin to the two siblings.

    The three demons nearly burst outughing. They were demons who had lived for thousands of years now, yet they had be martial uncles to these two kids.

    ¡°Greetings, martial uncles!¡± The children were still scared of the demons, but they were obedient and listened to their shifu.

    The nine tailed foxughed and said to Su Jin, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would actually take in disciples. But since they¡¯re your disciples and they¡¯ve called me their martial uncle, then I ought to be generous! The two of you, take these beads and consider it my wee gift.¡±

    She put two nine-colored beads in their hands and said, ¡°They¡¯re not the best things in the world, but keep them with you at all times and they¡¯lle in useful if you run into danger.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, martial uncle!¡± The two children weren¡¯t really scared of the nine tailed fox. She had nine tails, but she was very pretty, unlike the other two fierce looking ones.

    Since the nine tailed fox had given the two children something, it would look bad if the other two did not give the children anything. They pulled some items out, but the two children shrank back and dared not go near them. They were very scared of the demons.

    Bifang put out the mes on her body and transformed into a handsome youngdy. Daitengu did the same and transformed into an elegant young man in a feather coat.

    ¡°These two things are called Heaven Burning Seals. When you hold it in your hand, you will be able to control fire. Use it to protect yourselves.¡± Bifang gave them two square shaped seals. Unlike what the nine tailed fox had given, this thing was for attacking enemies.

    ¡°Thank you, martial uncle!¡± the two children thanked her politely.

    Daitengu offered them two feathers. ¡°Keep this with you at all times. Grab it when you¡¯re in danger and you¡¯ll be able to fly.¡±

    ¡°Fly!!¡± The two little ones were clearly very interested in the prospect of flying and their eyes were shining brightly. But they remembered to thank Daitengu, ¡°Thank you, martial uncle!¡±

    After they were done giving away their items, Su Jin chuckled and said, ¡°One for attacking, one for defending, one for escaping. You guys already discussed this earlier?¡±

    The three demons burst outughing as well. The nine tailed fox said, ¡°We really didn¡¯t think too much about it.¡±

    Su Jin said to Yun Shan and Yun Shui, ¡°I need to talk to your three martial uncles, so run along.¡±

    The children hesitated for a moment, but walked out in the end.

    ¡°You intend to bring them along?¡± asked Bifang suddenly.

    Su Jin looked conflicted as he said, ¡°I think¡­ I¡¯d better not. This ce is home to them. If they stick with me, their lives will constantly be in danger.¡±

    ¡°Oho, looks like you care very much about them. But leaving them here is not necessarily a good thing either. They¡¯ve got a lot of good stuff on hand, and it looked like they¡¯ve used some sort of technique to refine themselves. Aren¡¯t you afraid that¡­ they¡¯d eventually be the target of owners?¡± asked Bifang with a smile.

 Chapter 396

    Chapter 396

    Su Jin had considered this problem before, but there was no perfect solution. If he wanted the Yun siblings to avoid this problem, he would have to make sure they remained ordinary people forever. But being an ordinary person in this world was dangerous too.

    This was a world that valued strength above all, so getting rid of entire ns was not a rare thing here. The siblings¡¯ parents died in such a feud too, and Su Jin had seen a lot of it over thest two decades here.

    If he let them remain as ordinary people, they would end up dying horribly. If they became strong, the Handbook would make use of them. If they remained weak, they would be bullied by the world they lived in. There weren¡¯t a lot of choices, and neither choice was a good one.

    The nine tailed fox saw that Su Jin was still conflicted, so she said, ¡°If you¡¯re really worried¡­ why don¡¯t you cut this world off from the Handbook¡¯s control? How about that?¡±

    ¡°Cut this world off?¡± Su Jin blinked in surprise. He had never thought of that before. But now that she mentioned it, doing that didn¡¯t seem too hard.

    ¡°I think you would be able to do it. The three of us are weak, but if webine forces, we¡¯d be able to cut a very small area off from the Handbook temporarily. You¡¯re much more powerful than us, so I don¡¯t think this would be difficult for you,¡± said the nine tailed fox with a smile.

    Su Jin nodded. He realized it really wasn¡¯t too hard. He just needed to change the characteristics of this particr. If it was an entire universe, he might have trouble doing this. But doing this for just one was no problem for him.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll cut this world off from the Handbook¡¯s control!¡± Su Jin punched his other palm. This would be the best solution to his problems. The two children were his disciples, so since he couldn¡¯t take them with him, he would give them a world where they could live in peace.

    Su Jin said to the three demons, ¡°Take care of things here for a while, I¡¯ll get this done right now.¡±¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take good care of the two children,¡± promised the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin nodded slightly. A silver glow suddenly appeared around his body, then he disappeared. It only took a thought for him to teleport himself anywhere within this tiny.

    In the extreme north of this,rge swathes of icy rivers covered thend. The natural weather phenomena Su Jin saw in his world urred here too, but this was much bigger, so a lot of the living creatures here seemedrger as well.

    He walked toward one of the ciers, took a few hundred steps, then suddenly stopped. There was a flicker in his eye as it reflected a ck orb that was flickering slowly.

    ¡°Rise!¡± growled Su Jin as the cier around him rose violently into the sky, then water flew upward as well, as though an invisible water pump was pulling water up.

    Water kept moving upward, and as the icy river flew higher and higher, it broke free of the gravity pull on the and went straight into outer space.

    But Su Jin¡¯s eyes were still focused on the ck orb beneath his feet, until it was finally sucked out. The ck orb had turned out to be a Handbook.

    ¡°That¡¯s how Hell¡¯s Handbook controls a?¡± Su Jin frowned. He didn¡¯t expect it to be this simple. Hell¡¯s Handbook just gave out a Handbook and it could control the?

    Su Jin paused to think, then pressed a hand against the Handbook. A light moved from his hand to cover the entire book. That light was not his psychokinesis, but his maniac power, the power that Su Jin had developed outside of the Handbook.

    Slowly, the Handbook began to transform. Its ck cover faded from ck to gray, then from gray to white. The words ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook¡± on the front were eventually erased too.

    ¡°I think¡­ that should do it.¡± Su Jin casually flung thepletely white Handbook back where it was.

    A momentter, Su Jin felt as though the had let out a long howl. This sound could not be heard by ordinary people, but Daitengu and the other two demons had heard it clearly.

    ¡°This world¡­ is free,¡± uttered the nine tailed fox in amazement. She was the one who had given Su Jin this suggestion, but it was only a suggestion. She didn¡¯t know if Su Jin was able to even do it, so it really surprised her when Su Jin was not only able to do it, but had managed to achieve it in such a short time.

    After Su Jin had thrown the Handbook back in ce, he did not return to his cave on the mountain. He used his psychokinesis to cover the entire, gaining control of it within seconds.

    ¡°Since Hell¡¯s Handbook was the one originally in control of this world, there must be a manifestation of itself somewhere. That manifestation might not know their connection to the Handbook, but as long as they don¡¯t die, the Handbook will eventually regain a connection to this world and take control of it again,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. His psychokinesis quickly located a mighty presence that no ordinary person would have. It was even mightier than the presence that the great demons had.

    ¡°Found you.¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes opened again. The scenery around him suddenly changed as he transported himself from the north pole to a ce with many pces.

    ¡°This is¡­ the royal pce of Great Qi?¡± Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis covered the entirety of this, so he instantly realized that he had reappeared in the royal pce that belonged to the greatest kingdom in this world, Great Qi.

    ¡°In that case, the person I¡¯m looking for would be the emperor of Great Qi,¡± murmured Su Jin to himself. The emperor of Great Qi was the manifestation of the Handbook¡¯s control over this world. That made sense. Based on Su Jin¡¯s understanding of this world¡¯s history, Great Qi was a failing nation 30 years ago, but after the current emperor ascended the throne, both the military and the civilians grew and prospered at an incredibly quick rate. The country had gone from teetering on the edge of copsing to bing the greatest nation in the world in just 30 years.

    Perhaps the emperor of Great Qi was truly an amazing ruler and extremely capable, but the rapid progress of the country was almost a miracle. But now, Su Jin didn¡¯t think it was a miracle anymore. If the Handbook had manifested itself in the body of an ordinary civilian, that person would have had riches enough to buy a country, and capabilities beyond anyone¡¯s imagination. And if the Handbook manifested itself as a king, then it only made sense that this person would rule the world and be the lord of everynd they set foot on. In other words, the manifestation of the Handbook would be like a game yer with a cheat code. That yer was bound to do well in the game.

    During the time Su Jin spent thinking about these things, the royal guards had already surrounded him and were pointing their swords at him. But Su Jin was not bothered by them. He nced at all these top martial artists around him and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the emperor of Great Qi? I want to see him.¡±

    ¡°Who do you think you are! How dare you barge into the Great Qi royal pce like that! That alone deserves death! Surrender now and listen to our instructions!¡± one of the guards barked at Su Jin.

    Su Jin chuckled and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right, a nobody asking to see the emperor would definitely end badly. And if you need to know if I¡¯m someone important enough¡­ how about this?¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s wrist trembled slightly as his psychokinesis formed a sword that looked just like the one he had given to Marsha. This Cicada Wing Sword could be considered Su Jin¡¯s ID in this world.

    The guards around Su Jin were surprised to see a sword suddenly appear in Su Jin¡¯s hands, while some of them immediately widened their eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s the Cicada Wing Sword! This man is the martial god, Su Jin,¡± eximed one of them. This sword was enough for him to recognize Su Jin.

    Su Jin was pleasantly surprised. He had not been living among civilization for more than ten years, yet people still remembered who he was. Then again, he had also spent a good ten years trying to live out his wuxia dreams, so he had caused quite a bit of trouble during that time. He rarely killed anyone, and anyone he did was definitely a bad guy, since he could use his psychokinesis to confirm that and was not afraid of identally killing someone who was innocent.

    Su Jin had be really famous during those ten years and he kept his title of martial god that way. But now, while people remembered his title, it didn¡¯t have such a great effect anymore.

    The guards had recognized him, but did not move away at all. People remembered who he was, but did not remember what he was capable of anymore.

    ¡°Even if you¡¯re the martial god, you can¡¯t just barge in and demand to see the emperor! Guards, capture him and allow His Majesty to decide what to do with him!¡±manded the leader of the guards. All the guards immediately charged toward Su Jin.

 Chapter 397

    Chapter 397

    Su Jin sighed. Reputation, if not maintained, deteriorated over time too. If he had appeared like this ten years ago, the royal guards, who were all martial artists themselves, would probably fall to their knees and idolize him, not attack him and try and capture him. Su Jin might have had a higher position in their hearts than the emperor at that time.

    Just like the saying, when one walks away the tea bes cold, reputation suffered in the same way. Bu Su Jin didn¡¯t need this title. He just thought it might have helped to save him some trouble.

    He ignored their attacks and just continued walking. The guards were frozen about a meter away from him, as though someone had hit the pause button.

    Just like that, Su Jin marched through the ce. He had locked down the location of that mighty presence, so he didn¡¯t need anyone to actually show him the way. The presence of that person was the best guide.

    Inside a luxuriously furnished hall, arge number of martial artists working for the pce had already gathered. All of them had tense looks on their faces. It was clear that news of Su Jin¡¯s arrival had spread through the entire pce as well as the emperor¡¯s ears.

    Su Jin nced nonchntly at the martial artists before him, then noticed a man in royal robes staring at him from behind the martial artists.

    ¡°Martial god, Su Jin! I¡¯ve heard about you from a long time ago!¡± This man was the emperor of Great Qi, the greatest ruler of this generation.

    ¡°Not you.¡± Su Jin frowned. Now that they¡¯d met face to face, Su Jin immediately realized that the manifestation of the Handbook he was looking for wasn¡¯t actually the emperor of Great Qi after all.

    ¡°Show yourself!¡± yelled Su Jin. In that instant, he could sense the presence flicker. The tense, ready to fight stance from that presence showed that the manifestation had also realized who he really was.The martial artists and the emperor were both shocked by Su Jin¡¯s shout. Just then, a ck beam shot out from behind the emperor¡¯s throne. It shot out so quickly, it hit Su Jin¡¯s chest in less time than it took for someone to even breathe. It also hit dozens of martial artists along the way, and every person who was hit exploded and left blood and flesh strewn all over the floor.

    When the beam came into contact with Su Jin, a silver glow surrounded his body. That was armor made from psychokinesis, which would react even if an attack was made on Su Jin that even Su Jin did not notice.

    The ck beam was shattered by the silver glow, and everyone in the pce finally realized what happened. They stared at the bloodied floor and many of them began to panic, but the martial artists immediately moved closer to the throne to protect the emperor.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother moving in that direction. The thing that can kill you is right behind you,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. The silver glint in his eye had seen through the darkness behind the throne. A beautiful woman was slowly making her way out from behind the throne.

    ¡°My empress, why did youe out here? Go back inside! It¡¯s too dangerous here!¡± said the emperor as he grabbed hold of the woman¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m tired of this game of being your empress. Let¡¯s¡­ put an end to this today,¡± said the woman with a faint smile. She gently kissed the emperor on the cheek and his skin immediately began to dry up and crack.

    And when he was about to be a mummy, his cracked skin suddenly regained its glow. Su Jin had appeared next to the man in time and grabbed hold of one of the emperor¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Leave this ce! I¡¯m borrowing your pce today!¡± Su Jin shook his wrist and a silver beam ran down the emperor¡¯s arm and toward the empress, so she had no choice but to let go of the man and retreated.

    After he had been saved, the emperor still looked stunned, but at least he remembered that the empress had tried to kill him. But he was also in utter disbelief. Why would the woman who had gone through thick and thin with him for the past 30 years, helped him to rule this country, and worked so hard all this time, suddenly want to kill him? Besides, when did the empress even gain such an ability? She was merely a frail woman.

    ¡°A frail woman? I¡¯m afraid there isn¡¯t anything stronger than her in this world.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t need to check what the emperor was thinking. The emperor¡¯s bodynguage alone spoke volumes.

    ¡°I¡­¡± The emperor was still hesitant.

    ¡°Go!¡± shouted Su Jin. A silver glow covered everyone else in the hall, and they immediately turned and ran out. Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, ¡°Psychokinesis is still very useful!¡±

    He then turned to look back at the empress. She did not stop the rest from running out, since it was more important to deal with Su Jin right now.

    ¡°Hello there, manifestation of Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± said Su Jin to the empress.

    She smiled faintly and said, ¡°Hello there, heresy.¡±

    ¡°Heresy? That does sound like a suitable way to describe me,¡± said Su Jin with a chuckle. His expression turned frosty immediately after that as he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I want to free this world, so I have no choice but to kill you. Or rather, not really kill you, but to make you leave this ce.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I can¡¯t actually die. Even if you destroy this body, I¡¯ll find a different way to continue living. Moreover, once this body is destroyed, I¡¯d be set free immediately and you won¡¯t be able to do anything about that,¡± said the empress with a smile.

    Su Jin nodded, but eyed her and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why are you trying to send a message to the Handbook¡¯s main body?¡±

    ¡°Humph!¡± she snorted.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying. I¡¯ve locked this entire down with my psychokinesis, so you won¡¯t be able to send any message out of this ce. And once this body of yours is gone, I¡¯ll go through all the information you¡¯re carrying and make sure you don¡¯t get to send any message out either,¡± said Su Jin calmly.

    The empress flew into a rage and bellowed, ¡°You will be judged for betraying the universe! Heresy, you shall pay for doing this!

    ¡°There¡¯s judgment? The first ones to be found guilty are you guys.¡± His sword glowed bright as he swung it at the empress, slicing her in half at the waist.

    The empress¡¯ body fell to the floor, but Su Jin remained cautious. The energy in this body had not weakened, but had strengthened. That slice had not only cut open her body, but also whatever was containing her.

    ck, sticky liquid jumped out of her body. Within seconds, the liquid quickly stuck together and multiplied, transforming into a muscr monster that resembled those inics, except that the head was still the empress¡¯.

    The monster was about three meters in height, and every muscle in her body was perfect for destruction. Her ck fingernails seemed to be made from ckened gold as they shone brightly.

    ¡°You wanna fight?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    White smoke exploded from beneath their feet. That was heat caused by the friction between their feet and the floor as they charged at one another.

    Boom! They both gave up on using non-physical methods to fight, throwing a punch at each other instead. Their fists collided and it was hard to see who was stronger. Su Jin¡¯s physical body was already as tough as a demon¡¯s or tougher, while the manifestation had somehow realized what she really was. That helped her to be much stronger than before.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Their punches struck each other again and again. If any of these punches struck the pce, it would instantly turn the entire pce to dust. That was how powerful they were.

    Boom! Su Jin hit her in the abdomen, causing her to curl up like a shrimp. Su Jin seized this chance to continue punching her and increased his speed to its maximum, punching her so quickly it was impossible for the naked eye to see.

    If an ordinary person were here, they would have thought Su Jin had only punched her once and stopped. But in the eyes of a truly high-level martial artist, they would see that in that same time, Su Jin had punched her a few hundred times. It was just too fast for most people to actually see clearly.

    Craaack!

    The empress flew backward, her muscles breaking in the process. They cracked loudly as they broke like bowstrings.

    The empress crashed onto the floor and did not move, but Su Jin did not rush over. He judged her condition purely based on her energy level. And her energy level still hadn¡¯t weakened at all. In fact¡­ it had strengthened again.

 Chapter 398

    Chapter 398

    The energy level of the empress didn¡¯t go down in the slightest, and actually went up by another level. That was definitely not a sign of a dying person.

    ¡°This thing¡­ can change its form?¡± Su Jin looked curiously at the fallen empress. The broken pieces of muscle and flesh started wriggling like earthworms, and in the blink of an eye, these wriggling pieces covered the empress¡¯ entire body once more.

    The new body covered by the pieces was extremely skinny, and the pieces covered the head as well. The only trace of the empress was her face, which remained uncovered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve be any more formidable than before.¡± Su Jin was in no hurry tounch any attacks and continued observing the change in the empress.

    ¡°Humph! You are very strong indeed, but the one person you shouldn¡¯t have angered is me! I am a manifestation, and I represent¡­ the power of the universe!¡± The empress let out a roar, and her skinny body suddenly grew in size like air had been pumped into it. Her previous three-meter body had grown to five meters, and she looked a lot more threatening now.

    ¡°The universe? No, you can¡¯t represent anything in the world,¡± said Su Jin frostily. He pressed his hand down in front of him, and the sounds of something exploding resounded in the air.

    Her expression turned to one of horror as she sensed that she had to make sure that Su Jin¡¯s hand did not stretch all the way down. It was a feeling that sent shivers down her spine, so she immediately charged toward Su Jin. But she had only managed a few meters before smashing into an invisible wall.

    ¡°What is this?¡± The empress waspletely puzzled. She was the manifestation of Hell¡¯s Handbook and ought to be the most powerful being in this world, a being that could do anything and knew everything. Yet, there was now something she could not see. That was something that should not have happened, but¡­ it was happening right now.

    ¡°Like I said, you can¡¯t represent anything.¡± Su Jin suddenly brought his hand down further. The explosions in the air crackled more loudly, as though it was about to hack the world in two.¡°Ahh!¡± The empress let out a shriek as the ground under her gave way. A round hole of about ten meters in diameter appeared in the floor, as though a giant stick had been jammed into it.

    Not only was Su Jin not happy about this, but he also began to frown. Her energy level did not decrease and increased yet again. This empress was like a Saiyan ¨C as long as he didn¡¯t kill her, a stronger iteration of herself would reappear.

    Bam! Arge hand appeared at the top of the hole. The empress had managed to climb out of a hole that was more than ten meters deep, so she was at least of that height.

    Just as he had expected, she climbed out in no time and her body had gone through another round of changes. The body that had been covered in flesh and muscle was now covered in bones. Her face was still there, but it was now in the middle of the bones. Her upper body was probably some sort of additional bony growth, while her actual body was probably connected to her face.

    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me! Nobody can kill the manifestation of the universe!¡± She cackled loudly, then raised a foot to step on Su Jin at an rmingly high speed.

    It seemed like Su Jin failed to dodge in time as her footnded on him. She broke into a smile, but before she could start celebrating, her foot wrapped in bones suddenly exploded. Su Jin leaped up from the explosion and appeared in front of her face.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you understand? You are nothing,¡± said Su Jin as he grabbed hold of her face and a strange glow appeared in his hands.

    ¡°What¡­ what is this? This power¡­ doesn¡¯t belong to Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± squeaked the empress in horror. She mmed her arms hard toward Su Jin, but Su Jin merely moved his hand back gently, and an invisibleyer covered his body such that her hands couldn¡¯t reach him.

    ¡°Of course it doesn¡¯t belong to the Handbook. I¡¯ve named it¡­ maniacal power!¡± Su Jin¡¯s hands suddenly started burning fiercely. The mes instantly gobbled up the empress¡¯ body, and she turned into a pile of ashes before she could even let out a scream.

    Maniacal power was Su Jin¡¯s power. It didn¡¯t belong to Hell¡¯s Handbook, and it didn¡¯t belong to the will of the universe. It waspletely outside of anything that existed in this universe.

    This time, the empress was unable to evolve. If Su Jin had tried to use something that existed within the Handbook to kill her, she would really be invincible. The empress was able to make use of absolutely any form of energy and power that existed within the Handbook, so using that to fight her was as good as feeding her more energy.

    And the empress¡¯ belief that she was all-powerful wasn¡¯tpletely groundless either. From the moment the rules, the powers, and lifeforms of this world existed, there was a rule carved into the DNA of all things. They were not allowed to hurt the empress in any way.

    Unfortunately for her, Su Jin was no longer bound by the rules of the Handbook, and wasn¡¯t even something that belonged to this particr world. That was why he was able to kill her.

    ¡°Trying to get away just like that? Not so easy.¡± Su Jin could sense the presence of the manifestation of Hell¡¯s Handbook. After her body had been killed, she tried returning to the main body. Of course, Su Jin could stop her, but if he did that, the main body would take notice and it would be hard for him to get away if the main body traced this to him.

    So, he decided not to keep the manifestation here and erased everything about himself from her memory. The manifestation tried to fight back, but she was helpless in the face of Su Jin¡¯s power. He let her go after he had erased arge amount of information.

    After the empress was killed, Su Jin disappeared in a sh. The emperor noticed that there were no more sounds of fightinging from inside the pce, so he sent some of his royal guards back in to check. The guards returned to report that both Su Jin and the empress had disappeared. This matter not only became aplete mystery to the empire, but it also became an event that world historians continued to specte about yearster.

    Thousands of yearster, many schrs had their own take on the matter. Some even spected that Su Jin and the empress were actually lovers who were separated by the emperor. Su Jin was badly affected by this separation and decided to be a great martial artist, and eventually became the martial god of his era. And once he was powerful enough, he barged into the pce to take the empress away.

    Of course, Su Jin knew nothing about the ridiculous rumors surrounding what had happened. After he left the pce, he went back to his cave on the mountain.

    The demons and the Yun siblings didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to return so quickly. The nine tailed fox asked with a smile, ¡°How did it go? All settled?¡±

    ¡°Yup. I yed the manifestation of the Handbook in this world,¡± said Su Jin with a nod.

    The three demons were too shocked to say anything for a while. The nine tailed fox said, ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re a fierce one. We thought¡­ we thought you merely sealed it away.¡±

    ¡°Seal it away?¡± Su Jin blinked a few times. That was actually a pretty good idea. Not only would it ensure that this world would remain unaffected by the Handbook, but it would make it impossible for the manifestation to return to the main body. That way, the Handbook wouldn¡¯t notice anything amiss.

    Su Jin nearly burst outughing at himself. He had been a little too violent ofte and used violence to resolve any problem that came his way. He had toe to terms with this sort of thinking. If he became too obsessed with his own strength, he could easily end up having trouble thinking of solutions and methods that did not involve the use of it. He was very convinced that it would take more than sheer strength to fight the will of the universe and Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve already set this world free, does that mean¡­ it¡¯s time for us to leave?¡± asked Bifang.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. ¡°Give me a bit more time. Those two children¡­ are a little too young.¡±

    The three demons were not surprised. They had all the time in the world to spare anyway, since they had already slept for a good 20 years. A few more wouldn¡¯t hurt.

    ¡°How long would you need?¡± asked Daitengu.

    Su Jin gave it some thought, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s give it six years! We¡¯ll leave this world after six years.¡±

    Six years was not a long time. Yun Shan would be 16, and could be barely counted as an adult. Su Jin would be less worried if he only left then.

 Chapter 400

    Chapter 400

    Twenty six years. Su Jin had spent a whole 26 years in this world. That was around the same time he had spent alive in his world, which made Su Jin feel a little disoriented.

    A town appeared before his eyes. This was a modern town, and the residents were getting ready for bed. They were going to make sure they got enough sleep for the work needed the next day. None of them knew they were about to be a meal for demons.

    Then again, there were some who knew. The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was a Level A Challenge, so at least three teams had been ced here by the Handbook. They had to survive until the next day in order to return to where they came from and continue their normal lives.

    ¡°Most of the time, we wouldmand the demons to start a massacre, but¡­ should we mix things up a little this time?¡± The nine tailed fox smiled charmingly at Su Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s gaze was fixed on the town in front of him, and he had not noticed her smile at all. He hadn¡¯t seen a modern city in more than 20 years, and wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about it.

    ¡°You¡¯re good with allowing the Handbook to keep making use of you guys?¡± asked Su Jin suddenly.

    The three demons exchanged nces. Daitengu scoffed and said, ¡°Humph, who would be good with that? But what can we do about it? All our ancestors were formidable characters, yet they all died horrible deaths. If even they weren¡¯t able to fight back, what can the three of us do?¡±

    ¡°Join me!¡± said Su Jin calmly as he looked straight at them.

    The three demons were a little stunned. Bifang spoke up first, ¡°That¡¯s a good suggestion, of course, but¡­ we¡¯re not as incredible as you are and we can¡¯t escape the Handbook¡¯s search. If we try anything funny, I¡¯m sure arge number of the Handbook¡¯s manifestations wille and smite us.¡±But Su Jin shook his head slightly and said confidently, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be sure to prepare a world where you will not be disturbed, a world that belongs to me.¡±

    ¡°A world that belongs to you? Are you talking about a world that you¡¯ve cut off from the Handbook?¡± asked Bifang.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°I need to find a sufficientlyrge, free it, and turn it into my world.¡±

    Su Jin wanted to find a ce that would be like a base of sorts, so a small would not be enough. He needed a huge that could support arge number of lifeforms.

    ¡°If you can find such a ce, I¡¯m willing to join you,¡± said the nine tailed fox without hesitation. Sheughed sadly and said, ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m getting quite tired of living in this never-ending cycle for so many years.¡±

    Daitengu and Bifang hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded and said, ¡°We are also willing to join you.¡±

    Su Jin smiled and nodded. The three demons were not considered top notch warriors, but they were lifeforms outside of the Handbook¡¯s control, so the Handbook would not notice even if they joined his side. Besides, if they were in his world, they would be allowed to improve and develop themselves, so they could be valuable help to him in the future.

    Su Jin was still too weak, or at leastpared to Hell¡¯s Handbook and the will of the universe. He had to carefully strengthen himself so that he would get the chance to unleash his rage in the future.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked the nine tailed fox.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Wait for sunrise. I have a way to take you guys with me.¡±

    The demons listened to Su Jin and kept their demons parked outside the town. ck mist surrounded them so they looked like dark clouds on the ground.

    The parade of demons were all formidable creatures. They were lifeforms that had developed their demonic powers while sleeping for the past few decades and were all sentient. But they treated the great demons like the way ants treated their queen. They listened to the instructions of the three great demons and did not do anything out of line.

    Meanwhile, the three teams of owners in the town were warily waiting for danger to arrive. They were in a Level A Challenge, so any change in the situation could kill them. They were certain that it was impossible for them to finish this Challenge with all three teams intact.

    But strangely enough, the ck mist they could see stopped outside the small town. Time ticked by slowly, and dawn was almost here, but that only made the owners feel even more uneasy. It didn¡¯t make sense for a Level A Challenge to be this easy to get through. Were the demons prepared to suddenly surge through the town just before dawn? If that was the case, that was bad news for the owners. A short but extremely powerful attack was tough for owners to handle.

    They continued to wait in fear, but when dawn came, everything went ck, and they were told that they hadpleted the Challenge. They werepletely confused. That¡­ was a Level A Challenge? Really?

    Meanwhile, the colors in Su Jin¡¯s eyes had changed constantly just before dawn arrived. He was changing his own properties to turn himself from being part of the Challenge to being an owner.

    The way the Handbook worked was to throw owners into a Challenge and give them the conditions for passing it. Once the Challenge came to an end, owners who had fulfilled the conditions would be like owners with a key to the door back to their world. But they also needed a pass to get through that door, and that pass was their identity as an owner.

    In other words, the Handbook did not care about the number of owners that made it in or out. Death during Challenges weremonce, and revival of owners was not rare either. Some Challenges provided the items required for the Ceremony of the Gods, and some Challenges even had beings that could revive owners. So, it didn¡¯t matter if the number of owners that finished the Challenge were more or less than the original number sent into one.

    Everything went dark and Su Jin appeared in his Personal Hell Domain. The three demons also appeared behind him. He did not change their characteristics into owners and turned them into summonable creatures. He could have done that, of course, but if he did that, he had no idea where the three of them would be sent to after the Challenge ended. They didn¡¯t own Handbooks either, so they would not have a corresponding Personal Hell Domain to return to either.

    ¡°No prizes forpleting the Challenge?¡± After cing the Handbook on the usual pedestal, he realized he did not get anything forpleting the Challenge. There were probably other conditions he needed to fulfil in order to get points. Perhaps there was a code that owners carried when they started a Challenge, and only owners with the same code could get points after they were done with the Challenge. That would prevent any revived owners from getting points withoutpleting any missions.

    But Su Jin didn¡¯t care for the points. Getting the three demons was his best prize. He chose to leave and returned to the real world. The three demons left with him too.

    Immediately after he returned to his world, the Demon Lord appeared in front of them. But unlike how she usually was, she was standing warily in front of them, ready tounch an attack anytime.

    The Demon Lord was covered in ck armor, and there was already a ck arrow on the bowstring of her Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow. The nonchnt and flirtatious look she normally had in her eyes was gone, reced with a fierceness instead.

    ¡°Gosh, what are you doing?!¡± Su Jin got a shock. Ever since he saved her and brought her back to his ce, she had been veryzy and unmotivated every day, and looked more like a woman who only cared about having fun, not a high and mighty lord of demons. This was the first time he had seen her like this.

    The moment she realized it was Su Jin, the armor disappeared and the fierce look in her eyes was gone too. She grumbled, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just you. I got a shock. These fellows¡­ what a strange presence they have. Are they great demons?¡±

    ¡°Oh my! I can¡¯t believe you recognized them! But surely they aren¡¯t enough to scare you like that, are they?¡± Su Jin burst outughing. To the Demon Lord, they had conversed not too long ago. But to Su Jin, they had not conversed for more than 20 years, and he felt like he had just met with an old friend.

    But the Demon Lord sighed heavily and plonked down on the sofa. She hesitated for a moment, then finally said to Su Jin, ¡°A lot of elder gods have been killed, so when I sensed the sort of powering my way, I thought they hade for me, so I reacted like that.¡±

    ¡°A lot of elder gods have been killed?¡± Su Jin blinked. ¡°Is it the Mad Hatter and hispanions?¡±

    She shook her head and said, ¡°Not them. It¡¯s the group that doesn¡¯t agree with them. Dozens of elder gods¡­ all wiped out. Not a single one survived.¡±

    Su Jin gasped. A few dozen elder gods would have been a force to be reckoned with, yet they all perished!

 Chapter 399

    Chapter 399

    In an ordinary city within the nation of Great Yan, two men and one woman stood next to each other. One of the men looked like he was in his twenties and had a calm andposed demeanor, as though he would not panic even if a mountain copsed right in front of him.

    The other two were around the same age. The man was handsome, the woman was beautiful, like the mythical Golden Boy and Jade Girl. They turned heads wherever they went.

    ¡°Shifu! Elder brother! Can we get some candied fruit please? Pleaaaase?¡± The girl held onto the arms of the two men and shook them gently as she whined cutely about eating candied fruit.

    ¡°Yun Shui, if you eat too much candy, you¡¯ll grow fat,¡± said Su Jin with a heartyugh. These three were Su Jin, Yun Shan, and Yun Shui.

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! I train every day, so I won¡¯t grow fat! Shifu¡­ candied fruit pleaaaaaase¡­¡± Yun Shui continued shaking Su Jin¡¯s arm, while Yun Shan just smiled as he watched on.

    ¡°Alright, alright, candied fruit it is!¡± Su Jin shook his head with an amused sigh. He was normally quite strict with the two siblings, but the date he had set with the three great demons was just around the corner, so he felt bad for reprimanding them when he was about to leave. He decided to just give in to their whims and fancies, since they weren¡¯t anything with severe consequences.

    There were stalls selling candied fruit in the city, and Yun Shui came back with several sticks in no time. She held some in her own hands to eat and even got Yun Shan to hold two for her while warning him, ¡°They¡¯re all mine, you¡¯re not allowed to have any!¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t eat your candy. I don¡¯t even like sweet stuff,¡± said Yun Shan with augh. He then turned to Su Jin and asked, ¡°Shifu, why did you bring us here?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon,¡± said Su Jin calmly.The three of them found an inn to stay the night. In the middle of the night, Su Jin suddenly woke the siblings up, then brought them to stand outside the residence of the city¡¯s casten.

    ¡°Shifu, why did you bring us here?¡± asked Yun Shan puzzledly. Yun Shui had an equally curious look on her face.

    Su Jin pointed at the residence and said quietly to them, ¡°As your shifu, this is thest lesson I¡¯m going to teach both of you. That is, to kill a person!¡±

    ¡°Kill a person?!¡± The siblings¡¯ faces paled. They had learned a lot of martial arts techniques as Su Jin¡¯s disciples, but he had never allowed them to kill anybody.

    ¡°Can¡¯t do it?¡± asked Su Jin with a frown.

    Yun Shan took a deep breath, then bowed slightly toward Su Jin and said, ¡°Shifu, is the casten a corrupt official?¡±

    ¡°No. He¡¯s not the cleanest of officials, but I wouldn¡¯t consider him a corrupt official. He¡¯s alright,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Then¡­ does this casten use his power to bully the people and oppress them?¡± asked Yun Shan again.

    Su Jin shook his head and smiled. ¡°This casten has a fairly good reputation, actually. Over the five years he¡¯s been in charge of the city, he hasn¡¯t done anything to make this city flourish, but he hasn¡¯t done anything to oppress or bully the people either.¡±

    ¡°So why do you want to kill him?¡± asked Yun Shan puzzledly.

    ¡°Of course I have my reasons for wanting to kill him. That¡¯s quite enough, go in there and kill him,¡±manded Su Jin with a frown.

    The two siblings were both taken aback. Yun Shan looked at the cruel look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes, then gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Shifu, if there¡¯s no good reason why the casten must die, I¡­ I can¡¯t bring myself to do it.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin scoffed. ¡°A reason why he must die? Many people die every day. How many of them deserved it? Do you mean there was a good reason why your entire family should have been ughtered back then?¡±

    ¡°It is precisely because the Yuns were unjustly killed, so I don¡¯t want anybody else to suffer the same pain and helplessness as I did,¡± said Yun Shan as he hung his head.

    Su Jin seemed unhappy as he shook his head and said to Yun Shui, ¡°Yun Shui, if your brother refuses to go, you can go instead. You¡¯re good enough to carry this out.¡±

    But Yun Shui stood next to her brother and said, ¡°Shifu¡­ my brother is right. If you want me to kill this casten, please give me a good reason to do so.¡±

    ¡°A good reason? I raised the both of you and taught you two martial arts. Now that I¡¯m telling you to kill someone, you¡¯re so hesitant about it? Is being grateful for what I¡¯ve done enough reason?¡± snapped Su Jin angrily.

    The siblings exchanged nces. Yun Shan said, ¡°Shifu, if you want us to kill someone to repay you for taking care of us, I will go and do it. Once I¡¯ve killed him, I will kill myself. That way, I would have both repaid you and atoned for my sins!¡± Yun Shan turned and marched toward the residence.

    Su Jin stretched his palm out and pulled Yun Shan back before he could leap over the wall. Yun Shan couldn¡¯t understand what in the world Su Jin was trying to do.

    ¡°Forget it. It seems like everything I¡¯ve done for you doesn¡¯t amount to much. I¡¯m only asking you to kill someone and you want to kill yourself over it,¡± said Su Jin with a scowl.

    Yun Shan fell to the ground with a thud and his eyes teared up as he said, ¡°Shifu, I respect you and I¡¯m very thankful for what you¡¯ve done, but I will not kill an innocent man. If you insist I do that, I will do it, but I must kill myself in order to stop the cycle of karma. That¡¯s the only solution I can think of.¡±

    Su Jin sighed heavily and said, ¡°Get up, get up. I hope you will always remember what you said today. We must not kill innocent people. Of course I know that.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ why?¡± asked Yun Shui.

    Su Jin nced at the residence, then murmured, ¡°It¡¯s true that as a casten, the man who lives in there has not done anything deserving of death. But before he became the casten of this city, he had yed the entire Yun n seven years ago on Yun Hill!¡±

    Yun Shan and Yun Shui¡¯s eyes widened upon hearing these words. Yun Shan trembled as he said, ¡°Shifu¡­ the casten¡­ is the enemy who killed my entire family back then?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Su Jin nodded, then went on, ¡°I¡¯ve brought both of you here to give you a chance for revenge. He killed your entire family back then, so today¡­ it¡¯s payback time!¡±

    Yun Shan and Yun Shui immediately leaped over the wall and entered the residence. Su Jin did not walk away and waited quietly. Less than a hundred breathster, Yun Shan and Yun Shui emerged from the residence and leaped over the wall. Yun Shan was holding a head in his hand.

    ¡°Only killed one person?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Yun Shan nodded. Tears welled up in his eyes as he said through gritted teeth, ¡°We will not kill innocent parties!¡±

    ¡°Excellent.¡± Su Jin gave them a pleased nod. The two children were very kind children to begin with, so even though they knew some of the most invincible moves in martial arts, they never saw themselves as superior beings to other people. And as long as they continued to have that sort of attitude, Su Jin was sure that they would not be a menace to this world.

    ¡°Strength has never been the source of evil or a threat to mankind. The hearts of man are the real problem. As long as both of you remember who you are, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have any problem in the future,¡± said Su Jin with a heartened look on his face.

    ¡°Of course I know who I am! I¡¯m Yun Shan! Su Yunshan!¡± said Yun Shan without hesitation.

    ¡°Me too! I¡¯m the young mistress of Yun Hill, Yun Shui, Su Yunshui!¡± Yun Shui chimed in.

    Su Jin stared at them. The two of them had actually ced his surname in front of theirs. Yun Shan noticed the expression on Su Jin¡¯s face and quickly exined, ¡°You¡¯ve been like a father to us, bringing us up and teaching us martial arts. You¡¯re also our only family, so¡­ you don¡¯t mind, do you?¡±

    Yun Shan and Yun Shui looked so nervous, as though they were afraid that Su Jin would not agree to this, but Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s just a surname. If it makes you happy, I¡¯m fine with it.¡±

    ¡°Yay! Shifu¡¯s the best!¡± Yun Shui cheered and jumped excitedly, while Yun Shan let out a sigh of relief.

    Su Jin¡¯s expression grew serious as he said gravely, ¡°Both of you have avenged your family today, and it is also time for me to say goodbye. I hope you will always remember what you said today, and to maintain that attitude for as long as you live.¡±

    ¡°Say goodbye?¡± Yun Shan¡¯s eyes widened, while Yun Shui went into a panic.

    ¡°Actually, we should have parted ways six years ago, but I was worried, since both of you were still children, and I insisted on staying here for another six years. Now, both of you are independent and there¡¯s no reason for me to stay any longer,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh.

    The two of them quickly realized what he was saying. Tears welled up in Yun Shui¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°Six years ago¡­ that¡¯s when our three martial uncles came to visit. And that¡¯s also when you were supposed to¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I should have left back then,¡± Su Jin smiled and nodded. He suddenly looked up at the sky and shouted, ¡°Alright, time to go!¡±

    Fire, a whirlwind, and a gust of fragrant air suddenly appeared in the sky. The already dark sky seemed even darker than before.

    A slit appeared in the darkness as the entrance to a different space was opened. Yun Shan and Yun Shui could see many demons in that space and it looked terrifying.

    Su Jin patted their heads and said, ¡°Live well and don¡¯t make me worry about you. If the fates allow it¡­ we might meet again!¡± Su Jin looked reluctant to leave, but he turned and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    The siblings searched for him anxiously, only to see him appear in that slit with Daitengu, the nine tailed fox, and Bifang. They walked into the slit and disappearedpletely.

    ¡°NOOOOO!¡± The siblings wailed in agony, but there was nothing they could do. Su Jin was gone.

 Chapter 401

    Chapter 401

    That was a few dozen elder gods, and they were elder gods that had managed to survive till now. Each one of them would have been extremely powerful, or they would have had some special ability of sorts. Yet, they had all been annihted.

    ¡°It was¡­ Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡± Su Jin gasped. The only force that could kill so many powerful entities like this would be Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    The Demon Lord nodded slightly. There was a glimmer of sadness in her eyes, but she wasn¡¯t feeling sad about losing the people she once knew. She was sad that the past was gone, she was sad that the gods that were once at the highest point of the world had been ughtered just like that, like a bunch of farm animals. She felt the indignation and despair from what happened.

    Su Jin was silent for a moment before he said to her, ¡°What are you going to do next? Continue to hide here?¡±

    ¡°Why, you don¡¯t wee me around here?¡± The sad look in her eyes faded as she smirked at Su Jin and drew a finger across his chin.

    Su Jin was no longer bothered by her teasing. He realized that she liked teasing others for fun. The more panicky he became because of it, the happier she was.

    ¡°Of course you¡¯re wee to stay, but¡­ did you think I would be so dumb as to not notice anything at all?¡± Su Jin made a mouth as he stared straight at her and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what your aim is, but I know you¡¯re definitely not just trying to hide. We¡¯ve known each other for a while now, so I really hope you will not let down the trust I have in you.¡±

    The Demon Lord was stunned for a second before she burst outughing. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for a while now? My goodness, talking about TIME with an elder god? I¡¯ve gone through centuries upon centuries and you¡¯re talking to me about TIME?¡±

    She seemed to have lost it as her chuckling turned into roaring. She slowly lost control of her emotions and the ck armor appeared around her body once more.¡°Watch out!¡± Daitengu suddenly shouted.

    Su Jin shook his head to say that it was going to be alright. He said to the Demon Lord, ¡°Fine. We were destined to battle it out one day anyway!¡±

    He mmed his palms together hard, causing a gap in space. The Demon Lord leaped in without hesitation, and Su Jin leaped in after her, leaving the three demons stuck outside.

    The two of them were now in an empty space surrounded by brilliant stars. This was no small space. Su Jin had teleported them directly into outer space where stars burned at a temperature too hot for humans, and thes that looked miniscule to people became humongous right now.

    ¡°Time to fight!¡± roared the Demon Lord. A ck me burst forth from her ck armor, which wrapped itself around the Demon Lord¡¯s Longbow before instantly solidifying into an arrow that was even more terrifying than the usual one she used.

    Whoosh!

    The arrow cut through the space, and the Roar of the Demon Lord was sent flying straight for Su Jin. This was definitely meant to be a fatal hit. The Demon Lord was not holding back at all. She had to vent her anger, and she was ready to kill something!

    Of course, Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to take this lightly. He leaped up and went straight for the arrow. At thatst moment before the arrow hit him, he thrust a palm at it, forcing it to change directionpletely.

    BOOM!

    The arrow turned away from Su Jin and hit a small instead. The instantly exploded. A spanning thousands of kilometers was blown to pieces like fireworks.

    BOOM! Both parties threw a fist at each other at the same time. Their tremendous energies pierced through the empty space which resounded in a huge st before they reached each other and threw more fists at each other as they fought with their bare hands.

    The battle grew more and more intense, shattering all the meteorites and more around them. They were like the greatest of demons or saints to that universe, the most powerful and strongest of beings. If the Demon Lord were at her peak, she might have been able to handle Su Jin easily. But now, she was beginning to lose.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Su Jin fought back by wielding his boning knife. He didn¡¯t make use of its skill, but just using it to slice through the air caused a ringing sound to fill the space.

    ¡°Trying to use my knife to kill me? Are you serious?!¡± roared the Demon Lord. But she did not dodge the attack and reached out to grab the air. The boning knife in Su Jin¡¯s hand seemed to have heard themand from her and was stuck in mid air.

    ¡°So what if it¡¯s your knife? I can even slice through your connection with the knife!¡± Su Jin was holding the knife with only one hand, so he brought his other hand down hard on the knife.

    WOOONG!

    The boning knife wailed as two opposing forces struck it at the same time. Su Jin was holding it and should have been able to control it fully, but while it was made from thebined forces of gods, the Demon Lord was a top tier god. The mark she left on the boning knife was something that not even all those gods who made it could erasepletely.

    ¡°Since it doesn¡¯t belong to me, then I¡¯ll destroy it!¡± There was a glint in her eyes as ck smoke poured out from the hand she used to control the knife.

    It was as though the ck smoke was glowing brilliantly. The ckness of the smoke was so deep, it was even deeper than the darkness of the universe. Any person would find themselves staring straight into it and would be unable to tear their eyes away.

    Screeech!

    The de of the boning knife trembled violently before suddenly exploding. The de became metal sand that flew and disappeared into the dark universe.

    ¡°The Demon Lord¡¯s boning knife has been shattered, so it¡¯s time for Su Jin¡¯s boning knife to make aeback!¡± A silvery gleam appeared in Su Jin¡¯s hand as the metal sand that had just disappeared gathered again as though the tapes were being rewound.

    ng! This was the sound of the boning knife being recreated. The mark left by the Demon Lord had disappearedpletely, and it now belonged to only one person ¨C Su Jin!

    ¡°Any ce without my existence is meaningless!¡± Her hair flew wildly like she was a celestial being descending on earth, while Su Jin felt the space around him starting to shrink.

    ¡°Am I¡­ in a ck hole?¡± Su Jin was surprised. The Demon Lord had actually managed to create a small ck hole. That was a testament to the powers of a top tier god.

    ¡°Close UP!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to let her create a ck hole just like that since he wasn¡¯t able to fight against one. But even though he couldn¡¯t fight one, he could close it up before it was fully formed.

    ¡°I¡­will¡­not¡­ALLOW¡­THAT!¡± shrieked the Demon Lord furiously. Her hair flew even more wildly, while her body started crumbling and turning into wisps of ck smoke.

    ¡°She¡¯s really gone berserk!¡± roared Su Jin. She had really lost her mind. She was actually using her own body to fuel the ck hole.

    Su Jin was really at a loss. He could sense the uneasiness and pain in her heart, and he knew that she needed a good battle to unleash all the negative energy within her. But he did not expect her to disregard her own life as a result.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to put an end to this!¡± Su Jin dashed toward her and reached his hands into her disappearing body. There was a silver sh before he withdrew his hands.

    After he did that, the Demon Lord¡¯s body stabilized and stopped crumbling into smoke. Everything grew quiet again after a few moments. Su Jin waved his hand so that the broken meteorites came back together and moved back into ce, as though a god-level battle had never happened here.

    The Demon Lord panted heavily. She had really lost control of herself just now. But it was a good thing to her. Going berserk was proof that she was alive. Otherwise, how could she call herself a demon lord?

    Being orderly and stable were characteristics of gods who weren¡¯t on the dark side. It was only right for someone like herself to bepletely unhinged.

    ¡°Satisfied?¡± asked Su Jin with a sigh.

    The Demon Lord nodded slightly. She nced at him, then said, ¡°Thank you so much.¡±

    ¡°You helped me right at the start, so take it that I¡¯m returning the favor!¡± Su Jin shook his head. If not for the deal he struck with her when he first became a Handbook owner, he wasn¡¯t sure if he would have made it till this day. Engaging in this crazy battle could be considered returning the favor.

    ¡°Tsk, that was a deal, so nobody owes anyone anything,¡± said the Demon Lord disdainfully. But there was a slightly emotional look in her eyes. She took a deep breath and said, ¡°Su Jin, perhaps the day mighte when¡­ I will be on the opposing side of the battle. If that day reallyes, I hope that¡­ I hope that you will put in every ounce of effort and not hold back.¡±

    Su Jin was a little stunned, but he smiled and said, ¡°What makes you think I¡¯d hold back? Of course I won¡¯t. My goals are very clear, so if there¡¯s anyone standing in the way¡­ I¡¯ll make sure to get rid of them!¡±

    She gave a pleased nod and said, ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go back. I don¡¯t like¡­ the coldness and darkness of this ce.¡±

    ¡°Wait, what? The Demon Lord actually doesn¡¯t like such stuff?¡± Su Jin teased her.

    ¡°Hey, the Demon Lord was once human too!¡± she responded with a sadugh. He thought he spotted something sparkling in her eyes, but before he could take a closer look, she suddenly pulled her hair to the front and blocked his view.

 Chapter 402

    Chapter 402

    After returning to the house in S City, neither Su Jin nor the Demon Lord said anything. Su Jin proceeded to assign rooms to the three demons. They had traveled to different eras and worlds during their night parades, but they didn¡¯t have much experience with normal everyday life, so they needed time to get used to things.

    Shortly after he had assigned them their rooms, the Demon Lord suddenly told him that she was leaving. He sighed deeply. One big fight that allowed her to gopletely berserk had clearly not been enough for her to fully vent all her negative emotions. He didn¡¯t intend to insist that she stay either, since that would only make both of them unhappy.

    ¡°My door will always be open for you toe back, as long as you¡¯re not back to try and make life difficult for me,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    The Demon Lord stared at Su Jin intently, then suddenly gave him a hug. After letting go of him, she too, smiled and said, ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ve been very happy during this time and I hope we¡¯ll be able to meet again in the future.¡±

    ¡°I hope we¡¯ll still be able to speak to one another peacefully like this the next time we meet,¡± said Su Jin.

    The Demon Lord didn¡¯tment on that and just said, ¡°Do me onest favor. Here are some spatial coordinates, send me to this location.¡±

    The Demon Lord pressed a finger against Su Jin¡¯s forehead, and aplex set of coordinates appeared in his mind. He did not refuse her request and waved his hand so that a gap in space opened in front of them.

    She did not waste any time either and leaped into the gap after waving goodbye to Su Jin. The other side of the gap was a temple in ruins.

    This should have been an extremely majestic temple set up by many elder gods. It was once upied by more than a dozen top tier gods like herself. But right now, the previous cycle had ended, the current cycle was alsoing to an end, and the universe of the previous cycle had been destroyed. The barely surviving elder gods were clearly not doing any better.¡°Perhaps¡­ I¡¯m also a problem left behind by the previous cycle!¡± The Demon Lord sighed. She hade to the remains of the universe from the previous cycle. Because she was not good at manipting space and time, even someone as powerful as herself should not have been able to return to this ce. But thankfully, she had Su Jin to help her.

    ¡°Hmm? Looks like someone came back before. But if you want toe back here, besides having the ability to travel through space, you¡¯ve got to at least be a high level god¡­ wait. This is¡­ these are traces of the Mad Hatter.¡± The Demon Lord had worked together with the Mad Hatter before, so she knew his presence well and was quickly able to identify who hade back here.

    But even if she couldn¡¯t identify the traces, she could still make an educated guess that it was the Mad Hatter. Among the few surviving elder gods, the Mad Hatter was probably the only one who was able to manipte space and was also a high level god.

    ¡°What is your aim? The treasures of the top tier gods? It¡¯s too bad¡­ as a high level god, even if you manage to get in here, you won¡¯t be able to find them, because¡­ those things were specially left behind by us!¡± The Demon Lord pped her hands together, and a bright light started flickering from beneath the ruins of the temple.

    In no time, a door of light appeared in the middle of the temple, and another brilliant light was flickering within. She quickly went in and came out again with a mirror in her hand.

    She input her energy into the mirror and another door of light immediately shot out from the mirror. The door was flung open, and she reached in to grab someone out of the door. That person turned out to be Jing Hua.

    Jing Hua lookedpletely confused and had no idea what in the world was happening. The Demon Lord continued reaching in to grab hold of Phoenix, the Dog God, and Tiny and pulled all three of them out as well.

    ¡°This sort of power¡­ you¡¯re an elder god?!¡± The four of them did not put up a fight because they realized how powerful the Demon Lord was. Putting up a fight would only result in their deaths.

    But she couldn¡¯t be bothered to entertain them. She pointed at the area where the treasures were hidden and said, ¡°From today onward, you¡¯re going to train with me here.¡±

    Jing Hua and the rest exchanged nces but did not dare to say anything. They obediently went to the ce she was pointing at, and their eyes widened once they set foot inside. This was like heaven for those who wanted to train themselves up. It was like being in the Grave of the Gods again.

    ¡°Is that¡­ are those weapons made by gods?¡± Jing Hua noticed a pile of weapons and other Spirit Power equipment. They were randomly lying in a corner, but they sparkled brightly.

    Jing Hua could hardly believe his own eyes, and hispanions looked equally astonished. It was all super high grade Spirit Power equipment, yet it had just been left to pile up in a corner like that?

    The Demon Lord ignored their shock and astonishment. She just needed these fellows to train themselves sufficiently and be gods, that¡¯s all. Meanwhile, she walked further in where there was a well.

    The well glowed with a gentle, warm, white light. It was impossible to see what was inside the well from above, but it felt like it was something extremely pure and sacred, something that gave one the urge to fall down and worship.

    ¡°Grow up quickly!¡± The Demon Lord stood at the well with a strand of hair in her hands. She threw the strand into the well and the glow of the well suddenly grew much brighter than before.

    She gave a pleased nod, and there was a sly smile on her face as she murmured, ¡°This will surprise that fellow when the timees!¡±

    Back in Su Jin¡¯s house, the three demons had already transformed into humans. To y safe, Su Jin gave Situ Jin a call, then teleported the man straight into the house.

    ¡°Can you respect my work for once? I¡¯ve got another operationing up!¡± Situ Jin snapped at Su Jin. He was very powerful now, but any powers he had were meant for protecting his country and not to lord it over others.

    Su Jin grinned and said, ¡°Looks like someone has been working hard, huh? I can see that you¡¯ve improved in many aspects.¡±

    Situ Jin was about to say something when he noticed the three demons standing behind Su Jin. The demons had morphed into humans, but they still exuded an extraordinary aura that was noticeable.

    Bifang was a handsome and confident woman, with an ambitious and almost crazed look in her eyes. That gaze alone was enough to make an ordinary person copse in fright.

    Daitengu was a handsome man whose every action oozed with elegance, which would make one wonder if he was royalty or something.

    But the one who caught Situ Jin¡¯s attention the most was the Nine-tailed Fox. Her charming face that could win the hearts of millions was simply too mesmerizing. Situ Jin was very resilient now, but even he couldn¡¯t help but stare at her for a few more seconds.

    ¡°Who are these three people?¡± Situ Jin asked Su Jin after he had calmed himself down.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t hide anything from Situ Jin and proceeded to introduce them, ¡°This is Miss Bifang.¡±

    ¡°Miss Bi Fang? We do have a family with the surname Bi, but I never knew the family had such an outstanding daughter.¡± Situ Jin knew everything about all the families in the nation. He was the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, after all.

    But Bifang smiled faintly and said, ¡°Of course you¡¯ve never heard of me. It¡¯s because I¡¯m not someone from this world in the first ce. Hello there, I am Bifang, the celestial beast of fire!¡±

    The hand she stretched toward Situ Jin burst into mes, which stunned Situ Jin for a moment. But he nodded and then shook her hand, disregarding the mes.

    Bifang was rather surprised by how bold Situ Jin was, but Situ Jin wasn¡¯t just being bold without good reason. He firstly believed that as a friend, Su Jin would not allow him to be harmed, and secondly, Bifang was supposed to be a celestial beast that could control all sorts of fire. If Bifang was unable to control a hand¡¯s worth of fire and hurt someone as a result, then there was no way she could call herself a celestial beast.

    ¡°This gentleman here is Mr. Daitengu,¡± Su Jin continued to introduce the next person.

    ¡°The tengu of Japanese myths, or the one in China who ate the moon?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    ¡°The Japanese one,¡± said Su Jin.

    Daitengu stretched a hand toward Situ Jin and said, ¡°Hello there. You¡¯re Mr. Su¡¯s friend, so you are my friend from now on too.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course,¡± said Situ Jin with a faint smile. He then turned to the Nine-tailed Fox and asked, ¡°What about thisdy over here?¡±

    ¡°Hoho¡­ as Chinese people, we should be very familiar with her. ording to our legends, she¡¯s from the Shang Dynasty, so¡­ guess who she is!¡± said Su Jin with some anticipation.

    But Situ Jin arrived at an answer immediately and said, ¡°Given how mesmerizing her facial features are and the fact that she¡¯s from the Shang Dynasty, then she must be¡­ the Nine-tailed Fox, correct?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got such a clever friend, Mr. Su! That is correct, Ie from the Shang Dynasty and I¡¯m the Nine-tailed Fox who enchanted the emperor back then.¡± One nce from her was enough to make a man die for her, but she did not use her enchantment skills on Situ Jin because she did not want to offend Su Jin, but Su Jin was actually secretly hoping otherwise.

 Chapter 403

    Chapter 403

    Su Jin secretly wanted to see if the Nine-tailed Fox would be able to enchant Situ Jin, because from what he knew about Situ Jin, besides having feelings for Bo Ya, he behaved like a stone in front of the opposite sex. So, he wanted to know if the Nine-tailed Fox¡¯s skills would be able to break his stony heart.

    ¡°Well, with a beauty like yours, I¡¯m not surprised that the emperor back then was willing to give up the entire empire for you.¡± Situ Jin seemed to beplimenting her, but there was an aggressive glint in his eye. Su Jin quickly realized what was going on. To Situ Jin, the Nine-tailed Fox was the bad guy who had caused the country to fall into war and famine, so she was not wee at all.

    Su Jin quickly interjected, ¡°Alright, alright, calm down. By now, you should have realized as a Handbook owner that a lot of the history that we know happened for many other reasons that aren¡¯t the one in our textbooks.¡±

    After hearing Su Jin¡¯s words, the aggressive glint in Situ Jin¡¯s eyes gradually faded. He looked at Su Jin and asked, ¡°You made mee here just to introduce these three heavyweights to me?¡±

    ¡°Well, I thought you guys should at least say hello to each other, because these three are not very used to living normally, so¡­ you know what I mean,¡± said Su Jin with a big grin.

    Situ Jin pped his forehead and sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to clean up after their mess all the time either, you know!¡±

    ¡°Just lend us a helping hand? Otherwise, if anything blows up, it¡¯ll be harder to clear up the mess. I¡¯ve got a free pass, but I don¡¯t want to use it all the time to get out of trouble,¡± Su Jin said to Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin paused to think for a while, then asked the three demons, ¡°Do you have any idea of what sort of life you¡¯d like to have?¡± He decided to ask the three demons for their opinions first, so that he wouldn¡¯t be at a loss in the future.

    Bifang said simply, ¡°I¡¯m not actually interested in living like an ordinary human. I¡¯d like to hibernate in a volcano, and Mr. Su can call on me if he needs me.¡±¡°A volcano?¡± Situ Jin frowned. There were volcanoes in China, but¡­ a smile spread across his face as he turned and said to Su Jin, ¡°Hey, do you still remember your Caucasian servants?¡±

    ¡°My Caucasian servants? You mean Murray, Tracy, and the rest?¡± Of course he hadn¡¯t forgotten them. But he didn¡¯t know why Situ Jin was bringing them up now.

    ¡°Yeah, them. They own several small inds, and based on the information I read thest time, some of them have active volcanoes on them. I think that would be a very suitable ce for Miss Bifang to hibernate. These are all inds in the middle of the ocean, so even if anything happens, it wouldn¡¯t cause any disturbance to civilization,¡± exined Situ Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He grabbed hold of Bifang, then disappeared in a sh, reappearing in a luxuriously furnished meeting room where a bunch of people were having a discussion.

    ¡°Good heavens! How did the two of them get in here? Security! Security! Throw these two out now! You useless things! How could you allow random people to appear inside the meeting room like that? What if they leak ourpany secrets?!¡± a Caucasian man started yelling at the top of his voice. But what surprised Su Jin was that the man was speaking in Chinese throughout.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± a woman¡¯s voice rang out. It was Tracy. Many in the room did not recognize Su Jin, but she definitely did.

    Tracy went up to Su Jin and fell on one knee before saying, ¡°O great master, do you need me to get something done?¡±

    All the well-dressed people in the meeting room were shocked and were about to say something when a silver glint flickered in Tracy¡¯s eyes and they suddenly froze in time.

    Su Jin gave her a pleased nod. He never intended to keep watch over this group of people, but since they were useful to him right now, he was going to make full use of this connection he had.

    ¡°I heard that you guys own several inds, of which some have active volcanoes, is that right?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Please wait here for a while, I¡¯ll check for you right now.¡± Tracy spoke very respectfully to Su Jin now. Her feud with Su Jin had beenpletely settled, or rather, nobody dared to even dream of taking revenge on Su Jin.

    The difference in power between the two sides was simply too great. It was so great that even if all of them teamed up and put in their best efforts, they wouldn¡¯t be able to even hurt one of Su Jin¡¯s fingers. What was the point of harboring vengeful thoughts when one was in such a situation?

    Tracy turned on herptop to check, then nodded and said, ¡°That is correct. We have several private inds in the Pacific Ocean that have active volcanoes.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. Give me the biggest one. I need it now,¡± said Su Jin.

    Tracy nodded and asked, ¡°Do you need me to transfer the ownership of this ind to yourself?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°No need. Just let the people on the ind know I¡¯m taking over, then give me the coordinates of the ind.¡±

    Tracy immediately generated the coordinates on herptop, and Su Jin and Bifang disappeared after seeing the numbers. Tracy wasn¡¯t surprised by that at all. She called the person in charge of that ind and told him to clear the ind of people.

    After Su Jin and Bifang arrived at the ind, Su Jin said to her, ¡°I¡¯ll leave you here then. Have a good rest, I¡¯ll summon you when I need you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much, Mr. Su,¡± said Bifang with a smile.

    Su Jin waved and said, ¡°I¡¯m off then!¡± He disappeared in a sh and reappeared in his house in S City.

    Situ Jin was chatting with Daitengu and seemed unwilling to talk to the Nine-tailed Fox. When he saw that Su Jin was back, he said, ¡°Daitengu wants to go for a little tour in Japan. Surely I don¡¯t have to send anyone with him, right?¡±

    ¡°You want to visit Japan?¡± Su Jin rubbed his chin, then nodded and said, ¡°Sounds good to me. Let me know if you need anything.¡±

    Daitengu nodded and said, ¡°Thank you so much, Mr. Su!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you there then,¡± said Su Jin.

    But Daitengu shook his head and smiled, ¡°Mr. Situ has already booked a ticket for tomorrow, so I¡¯ll fly there myself. I¡¯d like to experience what it¡¯s like being an ordinary human too.¡±

    Su Jin turned to the Nine-tailed Fox and asked, ¡°What about you? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I want to make my debut!¡± said the Nine-tailed Fox without hesitation.

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Su Jin thought he was hearing things. ¡°You want to¡­ what?!¡±

    ¡°I want to make my debut!¡± said the Nine-tailed Fox as though Su Jin ought to know what she was talking about.

    Su Jin spun toward Situ Jin and red at the other man. ¡°What kind of conversation were you guys having while I was away?! Why is she even thinking about making her debut?!¡±

    Situ Jin smirked and said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me! I just noticed that she seemed really bored, so I turned on the TV for her and she started watching one of those idol selection programs, and so¡­¡±

    The Nine-tailed Fox was still holding onto the remote control as she smiled sweetly at Su Jin and said, ¡°I want to join an idol selection program too!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to do. She looked determined to do this, so he had no choice but topromise, ¡°If you really want to be a celebrity, I¡¯ll get Situ to contact the best agency in the country and they¡¯ll put everything together for you.¡±

    ¡°No, I want to join apetition!¡± She refused to give in. Daitengu and Situ Jin turned their faces away to snicker secretly. Su Jin was already someone who gave in to anybody on his team, and her cutesy mannerisms were not making things any easier for him.

    ¡°Fine, fine, do whatever you want! Situ, find a way to register her for one of those programs!¡± snapped Su Jin as he grabbed hold of Situ Jin. If this guy hadn¡¯t turned on the TV for the Nine-tailed Fox, she wouldn¡¯t have gotten any ideas about bing a celebrity.

    But Situ Jin chuckled and said, ¡°She doesn¡¯t need help to do that. She can do it herself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d advise you to put in some effort! I don¡¯t care if thepetition includes people who might harbor ill intentions toward her, but aren¡¯t you afraid she might kill them all as a result?¡± said Su Jin with a simr chuckle.

    Situ Jin froze for a moment. He had heard many stories about the sort of people who worked in the entertainment industry. If this super¡­ wait, no, ultimate beauty were to be part of the industry, then those people would view her like fresh meat dangling in front of wolves. If she were an ordinary human, they would devour her without hesitation. But the problem was, the Nine-tailed Fox wasn¡¯t an ordinary human!

    ¡°Or maybe¡­ it¡¯s better if I just get an agency to put everything together for her?¡± said Situ Jin awkwardly.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want that! I want to join apetition!¡± The Nine-tailed Fox continued to insist on getting her way. It was Su Jin¡¯s turn tough at Situ Jin now!

 Chapter 404

    Chapter 404

    In the end, the two grown men simply couldn¡¯t do anything to persuade the Nine-tailed Fox to change her mind. Since she insisted on joining a talent show, they decided to let her have her way. Situ Jin went ahead to call a big shot from the entertainment industry and got him to fly all the way to S City immediately.

    The man whom Situ Jin had called was famous not only in China but in the rest of Asia as well. But when he saw the Nine-tailed Fox, he just stared at her in disbelief. He had seen all sorts of pretty women in his line of work, but when he saw the Nine-tailed Fox, he felt as though his very soul had been seduced out from his body.

    She really hadn¡¯t used any technique on him either. In reality, no ordinary person could possibly resist her beauty, unless they were exceptionally resilient mentally. And that was assuming she didn¡¯t use her technique on the other party.

    ¡°Wake up!¡± Situ Jin snapped his fingers loudly. The other party shuddered violently in shock as though an explosion just went off next to him and nearly peed himself.

    ¡°Thisdy¡­ she¡¯s the one who wants to join a talent show?¡± asked the man in a bewildered voice.

    Situ Jin nodded and said, ¡°What do you think, Lu Hang? You can get that arranged for her, right?¡±

    Lu Hang was a veteran in the entertainment industry and he preferred to go by his English name. Anyone who still called him by his Chinese name would get ashing from him, unless you were a big shot in the country. Situ Jin was definitely a big shot.

    The Department of Supernatural Affairs held tremendous influence. If Situ Jin was the type to use his position for his own benefit, he would certainly have been everyone¡¯s favorite government official. Nobody would dare to turn him down, besides those in the highest positions in thend.

    Lu Hang first got acquainted with Situ Jin after a supernatural incident, and from then on, he discovered that the young man held an extremely high position in the government. And so, when Situ Jin gave him a call, he took the first flight to S City.On the way to S City, Lu Hang was still wondering what Situ Jin could possibly need from him. He didn¡¯t expect Situ Jin to bring a beautiful woman to him, and crazier still, Situ Jin was telling him to sign this woman up for one of those talentpetition programs.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not just trolling me?¡± asked Lu Hang.

    Situ Jin shrugged and said, ¡°You think I would get you to fly all the way from Australia and introduce you to this prettydy just to troll you?¡±

    Lu Hang realized that Situ Jin couldn¡¯t be trying to be funny, but the more he thought about it, the more questions he had. ¡°But a beautiful woman like her wouldn¡¯t need to join apetition. If you entrust her to me, I guarantee that within one year, she¡¯d be the most famous female star in all of China¡­ no wait, in all of Asia!¡±

    ¡°No! I want to join apetition!¡± the Nine-tailed Fox continued to insist.

    ¡°What? Why?¡± Lu Hang couldn¡¯t understand.

    Situ Jin could only sigh as he said, ¡°I think it¡¯s best to just go with what she wants. If she wants to join one of thosepetitions, let her be. She¡¯ll be a celebrity either way, anyway.¡±

    ¡°While that¡¯s true, wouldn¡¯t it be pointless?¡± said Lu Hang with a wry smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine with us. I¡¯ll count on you to provide the necessary resources then. If you need anything or run into any issues, let me know and I¡¯ll resolve them for you,¡± promised Situ Jin.

    Lu Hang was shocked. How important must this woman be in order to make the head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs make such a huge promise? Could she be the daughter of the president or something?

    ¡°In any case, I¡¯m entrusting her to you. You¡¯d better make sure she doesn¡¯t face any of the usual ugliness of the entertainment industry, otherwise¡­ I might just wipe the entire industry out,¡± threatened Situ Jin.

    Lu Hang¡¯s lips twitched in fear, because he knew that Situ Jin was capable of doing such a thing. He sighed and said, ¡°Mr. Situ, you have to understand that while I¡¯m able to control what goes on in the entertainment industry, there¡¯s very little I can do about the gangsters and politicians. I can¡¯t afford to offend some of these people.¡±

    ¡°If those people dare to try and touch her, tell me who they are and I¡¯ll chop their hands off,¡± said Situ Jin without missing a beat.

    ¡°But sometimes¡­ your help mighte toote?¡± said Lu Hang.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. There is nothing in this world that¡¯s too much for thisdy to handle,¡± said Situ Jin with a smile. He was sure that anyone who tried to make trouble for the Nine-tailed Fox was probably doomed.

    ¡°In that case¡­ alright then! I¡¯ll take care of her. How should I address you?¡± said Lu Hang politely to the Nine-tailed Fox.

    Situ Jin tensed up. Surely she wasn¡¯t going to introduce herself as the Nine-tailed Fox, right? If she did that, Lu Hang was going to think that he was about to take care of someone with a few screws loose.

    Thankfully, the Nine-tailed Fox knew what to do. She shed Lu Hang a charming smile and said, ¡°Just call me Su Mei.¡±

    She had chosen this name because Mei meant attractive, so that was referring to herself. The surname Su was referring to Su Jin, so that was meant as apliment to Su Jin.

    ¡°Su Mei, you said? That¡¯s a good name,¡± Lu Hangplimented her.

    Since all the demons were settled, Situ Jin said, ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll leave her to you, take care of her for me. As for Miss Su¡­ I hope we can all work well together.¡± He stretched a hand toward the Nine-tailed Fox.

    She shook his hand and smiled as she replied, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not the type to create trouble.¡±

    Situ Jin could only smile awkwardly. ¡°I hope that¡¯s really the case.¡±

    After he had settled the Nine-tailed Fox and sent her off with Lu Hang, he gave Su Jin a call to update him and Su Jin thanked him.

    Now that the three demons had gone elsewhere, Su Jin suddenly felt like the house was very empty.

    Kano Mai wasn¡¯t around, Ye Yun wasn¡¯t around, the Demon Lord had left, and now, he had sent the three demons away. He was the only person left in the house.

    When was thest time he felt this lonely? It was probably during the time before he became a Handbook owner. That was the time he had worked tirelessly in order to make ends meet.

    Hell¡¯s Handbook had given Su Jin a different sort of life. It had brought him pain and despair, but it had also brought him heartwarming times and precious friendships.

    There were always two sides to everything, including the Handbook. But most people only received death and despair from the Handbook. Few were as lucky as Su Jin.

    He had rested all by himself in his house for about two weeks when his Handbook suddenly started glowing. Someone was trying to contact him. Su Jin thought it was Chu Yi, but when he flipped the book open, he realized it was Natasha.

    ¡°Natasha?¡± Su Jin was surprised for a moment, but he remembered that even though the team they had formed for the Grave of the Gods Challenge was disbanded, they had added each other to their friends list.

    ¡°Su Jin! Thank goodness, I thought you died!¡± After returning from the Grave of the Gods, Natasha had isted herself in order to train and reach the next level. The rest of the members had done the same thing, so none of them had tried contacting each other yet. Su Jin had caused a hugemotion in the Grave of the Gods, so Natasha wasn¡¯t sure if Su Jin had survived that.

    ¡°Yeah, I was pretty lucky, so I¡¯m still alive,¡± said Su Jin as he burst outughing. ¡°You¡¯re not calling me just to check if I¡¯m alive, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m calling you for something else. I¡¯m about to reach the next level, but¡­ the Handbook notified me that just before I reach the next level, creatures within the Handbook¡¯s universe will try to stop me from doing so. I¡¯ve got my own army, but I don¡¯t have a lot of formidable people in it. So¡­ I was hoping that you could help to protect me from these attacks,¡± said Natasha.

    ¡°Protect you?¡± Su Jin frowned. Any Handbook owner was now his enemy, but he quickly sorted his thinking out. The ones who would really stand in the way of his goal would not be Handbook owners. Not even the top tier gods would be able to stand in his way once he had grown powerful enough. His real enemies were the Handbook and the will of the universe.

    Also, if he did Natasha a favor this time, she might be willing to help him in the future. After all, before he started his actual war against the Handbook, he had to continue pretending to be an ordinary owner and use the Handbook to strengthen himself.

    ¡°What do I get out of this? Besides¡­ why don¡¯t you contact Oscar and the rest?¡± asked Su Jin, even though he had already decided to help her.

    ¡°I¡¯ve contacted them, already, and both Oscar and Durand are willing to help me. But you can never have too many highly skilled fighters, can you? Also, even though your situation is a strange one, you¡¯re a very good fighter, that¡¯s for sure. If I manage to really be a god, I¡¯ll owe you one and I¡¯ll repay you in the future,¡± said Natasha.

 Chapter 405

    Chapter 405

    What¡¯s the greatest benefit one could offer? For ordinary owners, Spirit Power equipment, special weapons and treasures that could increase one¡¯s strength would be good enough. But to the owners at the top of the list, a promise, or a favor was a lot more tempting.

    If everything went well, Natasha would be one of the first Earthlings to be a god, and she might very well be the very first person of the current cycle to be a god. A promise from someone like that was priceless.

    ¡°Deal!¡± Su Jin nodded and agreed to it without hesitation.

    ¡°In three days, I will get someone to go to Hell¡¯s Bar and pass you something that will allow you to reach where I am. It¡¯s been so hard to move from universe to universe after the death of Shen Wu,¡± said Natasha with a sigh.

    After their discussion, Su Jin arrived at Hell¡¯s Bar to find someone already waiting for him. The man presented him with a ruby-like object in a very polite manner.

    Su Jin noticed how fearful the man looked and asked curiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Am I very scary?¡±

    ¡°My apologies, sir, that was not my intention. Your aura is very overwhelming and it makes a miniscule existence like myself feel very terrified.¡± The man seemed really frightened and looked like he was ready to kneel before Su Jin at any moment.

    Su Jin frowned. He guessed that the owners of Natasha¡¯s world had already taken control and created a huge ss and power difference between owners. That was probably why this owner felt that he was nothing more than a miniscule existence in his own world.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t in the mood to, nor was he capable of making changes to Natasha¡¯s universe and its owners. Besides, having a strong and powerful way of governance was actually helpful to increasing the prowess of owners.¡°How do I use this?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°You just have to input Spirit Power,¡± replied the other man.

    Su Jin tried inputting some and he could sense a force that could bend space was forming, and it was responding to a set of coordinates that was already pre-programmed into it. But what surprised him was that this was not a single-use object. That made this thing extremely valuable.

    Once he had input sufficient Spirit Power, his body looked a little distorted before he disappearedpletely. He went through a quick tunnel of light and reappeared in front of a gigantic castle. A sculpture of an equally gigantic jade dragon stood in front of the castle.

    Su Jin¡¯s appearance did not cause any chaos because he had appeared on a tform that had been built specially to receive him. The guards surrounding the tform bowed respectfully to him when they saw him.

    He walked off the tform and asked the guards, ¡°Where¡¯s Natasha?¡±

    ¡°Sir, could we have your name, please?¡± asked one of the guards.

    ¡°I¡¯m Su Jin,¡± replied Su Jin.

    ¡°Mr. Su!¡± The guard quickly fell to one knee and said loudly, ¡°Please wait here, I will report your arrival to the Dragon King right away!¡±

    Su Jin frowned. This ce seemed overly militaristic and resembled the situation at Shen Wu¡¯s. Or perhaps Natasha had been inspired after spending time at Shen Wu¡¯s.

    Then again, Su Jin was just here to help, so he wasn¡¯t going to make any unnecessary criticisms. A guard showed Su Jin to a luxuriously furnished room to wait for Natasha or someone else to bring him to Natasha.

    Everything in the room was incredibly fancy. The couch that Su Jin was on felt really different from anything he had seen before, and it made even someone who didn¡¯t care for luxury items like Su Jin feel amazed.

    Almost his entire body had sunk into the couch as he asked one of the guards, ¡°You guys knew I wasing?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we did. The Dragon King told us that you would probably being today, but we did not expect you to be this early,¡± replied the guard.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°I see. Well, I don¡¯t like wasting time.¡±

    ¡°The Dragon King said before that a formidable person at your level is extremely resilient mentally,¡± said the guard like he was trying to butter Su Jin up.

    Su Jin smiled. ¡°It seems like all of you are very¡­ how do I put this? Very¡­ loyal to Natasha?¡±

    The guard¡¯s expression immediately grew serious as he responded, ¡°That is correct. The Dragon King has saved this world several times before, and has given ordinary owners like us additional protection and training. If not for the Dragon King, I would have perished in a Challenge a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°Training?¡± Su Jin was surprised. ¡°You mean¡­ in terms of handling Challenges?¡±

    The guard nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Dragon King would gather us, then let us go through a simtion of the Challenges and help us to analyze each one so that we can deal with them ordingly.¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to say. This was the first time he had heard about something like this. He had never even thought about doing such a thing. But it was a pretty good idea. Gathering all the owners of the same world to train and to group them ording to their style and strengths in order toplement each other was a great way to increase every owner¡¯s chances of survival.

    ¡°Nobody protested?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Of course there were people who protested, but they didn¡¯t live long,¡± said the guard with a smile.

    Su Jin nodded. He wanted to ask more when he suddenly felt a few powerful aurasing his way. He narrowed his eyes slightly and quickly recognized the people approaching him.

    ¡°After we parted ways at the Grave of the Gods, the three of us were very worried about you!¡± As the host, Natasha approached him first, while Durand and Oscar followed behind her.

    ¡°Thanks for your concern!¡± said Su Jin to the three of them as he stood up.

    Natasha waved a hand to tell the guard to leave. It was only after the guard had left that she frowned and asked, ¡°There were some issues surrounding yourself when we were in the Grave of the Gods¡­ is it all settled now?¡±

    ¡°Yup, everything¡¯s back to normal. But¡­ I¡¯ve lost my chance to be a god,¡± said Su Jin with a grin. He didn¡¯t look the least disappointed about losing this chance.

    The three of them exchanged nces. Durand asked, ¡°Is it because¡­ you didn¡¯t want to be a god?¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t want to lie to them. He nodded and said with a smile, ¡°I have my own reasons for making this decision. But that doesn¡¯t matter now. Let¡¯s go back to why we¡¯re here. What¡¯s all this about other owners from other systemsing to attack you?¡±

    The other three could only smile and move on since Su Jin clearly did not want to talk about his decision. They had a lot of trust in him, after all. Su Jin had been pretty much their leader when they went through the Grave of the Gods. If not for him, they might not have even reached the actual grave, never mind attain the chance to be a god.

    So, even though Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to be a god, they did not dare to look down on him. On the contrary, they felt that Su Jin was way more powerful than themselves. Someone who was willing to give up the chance to be a god would definitely have other better ns. All three of them needed others to protect them from attacks if they wanted to be gods, so they agreed to help each other. But they still felt that their powers were insufficient.

    Anything sent by Hell¡¯s Handbook to interrupt the final process they had to go through before attaining godhood had to be formidable characters, so the three of them dared not take this too lightly. That was why they tried their best to ask other good fighters for help, and the one they thought most highly of was Su Jin.

    Natasha paused to think about how to phrase this before saying, ¡°It¡¯s actually quite simple, if you think about it. Half a month ago, I absorbed all the energy from the gravestone and I could move onto thest step to attaining godhood. But just when I was about to start the final step, the Handbook sent me a warning.¡±

    She opened her Handbook and ced it in front of Su Jin. This was also to show how much she trusted him.

    Su Jin took the Handbook from her, and he could see that the warning was written very clearly.

    ¡°Warning: when embarking on thest step to godhood, Hell¡¯s Handbook will send non-earthlings to create disturbances, and their mission will bepleted only if they can stop yourst step from happening. You must go through thest step while these disturbances are happening. If you get through it sessfully, you will be a god. Otherwise, you will perish. When going through the final step, you may invite other owners to help defend against these disturbances.¡±

    ¡°If you seed, you be a god, but if you don¡¯t, you¡¯re dead?¡± Su Jin tapped his nose. The Handbook was pretty strict with the selection alright. But more importantly, how formidable were their attackers going to be? And how many wereing?

 Chapter 406

    Chapter 406

    Natasha was the straight talking type, and that was also probably why she was quick to get things done. Su Jin didn¡¯t even get the chance to look at her castle before Natasha had decided to begin herst step to bing a god.

    ¡°What do we need to do?¡± asked Durand.

    Natasha nced at her own Handbook, then said to the other three men, ¡°The Handbook has told me that these foreign owners will arrive in four groups and will arrive outside of a 100-kilometer radius from here, so the castle is safe for the time being.¡±

    ¡°My folks wille together to guard one region, but I¡¯ll have to count on the three of you for the three remaining regions.¡± Natasha put a map in front of them and pointed to the three areas she was talking about. ¡°I don¡¯t have any defense structures or systems in ce in these three areas, so I¡¯ll leave them to you guys.¡±

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°My, my, you really trust us!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really have a choice. The difference in power between owners at different ranks is vastly different. Any one of you would be way stronger than my entire army put together, and I¡¯m actually still notpletely certain that they¡¯d be fine even with all my defense mechanisms in ce. So, I¡¯ll have to count on the three of you for the other three areas,¡± said Natasha with a worried look on her face.

    ¡°No problem. Since we¡¯re here, we definitely have to help. We¡¯ll need your help in the future too,¡± said Durand as heughed heartily.

    Natasha nodded. She had promised to help the rest in the future too, so she didn¡¯t try to avoid imposing too much on them. She pointed to the western front and said to Durand, ¡°I¡¯ll leave this area to you. Guards! Please bring Mr. Durand to the western front!¡±

    A guard came to Durand and stretched his arm politely toward the door. Durand said to Oscar and Su Jin, ¡°I¡¯m off then!¡±The two men nodded and he left. ¡°The northern front has a lot of skyscrapers and the like, so there are many areas covered in shadows. I think it¡¯ll be the best ce for you to use your skills to the maximum!¡± said Natasha as she looked at Oscar.

    Oscar smiled and nodded, ¡°Sounds good to me!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Guards! Send Mr. Oscar to the north, please!¡± said Natasha.

    Another guard appeared. Oscar nodded at Su Jin, then left with the guard.

    Natasha looked at Su Jin, then said, ¡°The eastern front has thergest point of entry. This was originally a port, so to make it easy for trading, I did not put up defense mechanisms in this area, so it¡¯s possible that a lot of enemies might choose toe in from here. I¡¯ll have to leave this section for you!¡±

    ¡°Wait, seriously? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to leave this section to Durand? He¡¯s the strongest among us, isn¡¯t he?¡± Su Jin was in disbelief.

    Natasha smiled and said, ¡°He¡¯s the strongest? I don¡¯t think so. I think the strongest among us is you! Mr. Su, we might be stronger than you after we attain godhood, but for now¡­ I¡¯m really nowhere near your level.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve sensed something?¡± Su Jin smiled. Natasha was the genius of their era, after all, since she was about to be the owner who would attain godhood first. He had concealed a lot of his powers already, but the three other owners had still managed to sense it.

    It wasn¡¯t because they had sensed his actual ability, but because they couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of fear and reverence when they met with Su Jin. The presence Su Jinmanded was not one that could be attained through bing more powerful or by working hard to improve oneself. It seemed more like something he innately possessed.

    ¡°So, I¡¯ll leave the eastern front to you,¡± said Natasha grimly.

    Su Jin hade all the way here because he was willing to help, so he was also willing to go with what she had arranged for him. He nodded slightly and Natasha called for another guard to bring him to where he was supposed to be stationed.

    After Su Jin left, Natasha narrowed her eyes slightly. She was going to be the first one among earthlings to attempt to reach godhood. She believed that if she seeded, she would stand to gain enough to justify this tough process. But¡­ what were her chances of sess? She had no idea. She only knew that she was taking a huge risk. Even though she had done her best to prep herself for it, her chances were probably really low. But she still wanted to try. She knew she couldn¡¯t remain where she was right now. If she didn¡¯t even give it a shot, she might only be a mid-tier god. It would be impossible to reach the top.

    ¡°Humph, I¡¯m just going to give it a shot. After all, I¡¯ve been doing that ever since I was selected to be an owner. This is something I¡¯m supposed to be good at doing!¡± murmured Natasha to herself.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had arrived at his destination. Like what Natasha said, this was a port. But the port facilities had already beenpletely demolished. That way, it would be harder for any attackers to sneak in. So, it wasn¡¯t true that Natasha had done nothing to prepare this area at all.

    ¡°Sir, do you need anything?¡± asked the guard out of the blue.

    ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure what the guard was referring to.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just thinking that it¡¯s hard to say when the enemies will being, so I wondered if you needed anything to kill time. We have good wine, good food, pretty women¡­ as long as you need something, I can get it for you right now,¡± said the guard in a very respectful voice.

    Su Jin nearly burst outughing. This was definitely the good part about having absolute control over the world. But he shook his head and said, ¡°No need for any of that, it¡¯s best that you remain as far from this ce as possible. In fact¡­ make sure nobodyes near this area. If anyone dares toe too close, they¡¯ll have to bear the consequences!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The guard nodded, then disappeared within seconds. It didn¡¯t take long for Su Jin to sense that the lifeforms near him were retreating quickly. The guard had clearly ryed his instructions to everyone in the area and they moved immediately.

    ¡°How efficient!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help butpliment the system. Not even an extremely high ranking government official like Situ Jin could possibly get this done. You had to have absolute control over the world like Natasha did.

    Su Jin had prepared the battleground already, so all that was left to do was wait. He sat at the gigantic and wide jetty that was in front of the vast ocean and covered the area with his psychokinesis. Actually, if he really wanted to, he could cover the entire with his psychokinesis. But he wasn¡¯t the only person in charge of defending this world, so he didn¡¯t have to work so hard.

    He sat there quietly and his eyes looked zed over, like he wasn¡¯t focusing at all. But if you looked closely, you would notice a silver glint sh from time to time, like a sudden burst of lightning in the silent, dark universe.

    Time slowly ticked by, and finally, actual thunder resounded behind him. That st was so loud that Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but break his statue-like state and turn around. A huge ck cloud had gathered above the top of the castle and a golden glow flickered nonstop.

    ¡°What the¡­ this is like a scene out of a cultivation novel!¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. The cloud was billowing really fiercely, and resembled the ones described in cultivation novels that appeared when a character was about to hit the immortal stage.

    ¡°Aha! They¡¯re here!¡± Just then, Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis detected the presence of several formidable characters. These sources of life had appeared very suddenly, as though they hade from absolutely nowhere. Only Hell¡¯s Handbook could have made such a thing happen.

    Su Jin remained seated without moving, but light had returned to his gaze. He smiled as he murmured, ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing if these owners from other universes are truly powerful enough!¡±

    ¡°Wow, they¡¯re moving really quickly,¡± Su Jin nodded slightly. A total of five powerful sources of energy were moving toward him at an astonishing speed.

    Woong! Woong! Woong!

    Shortly after he had spoken, a silver beam shed nonstop behind him all of a sudden. He looked a little surprised and turned to mumble at the silver beam, ¡°Suddenly speeding up? Trying to break through the wall I¡¯ve built around this ce? That¡¯s a good idea, but you guys are too weak to actually seed!¡±

    He looked into the distance to see five figures struggling with the silver beam. The silver beam was obviously Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis. He hadn¡¯t been sitting here and doing nothing. He had used his psychokinesis to form an invisible wall, making him look like a sitting duck.

    The five figures quickly broke free from the silver beam. His psychokinesis was powerful, but these owners were a force to be reckoned with too. Even if the Demon Lord were here, she might not be able to take them down so easily!

 Chapter 407

    Chapter 407

    The five attackers were not of the same size. Thergest among them had a height of at least five meters or so and was a real giant. The smallest among them stood only at about 1.5 meters or so, with very delicate facial features, but it was impossible to tell if they were male or female. The giant was a lot less pleasant to look at. The giant was a monster with a face full of sharp spikes.

    Su Jin turned to look at them and said with a smile, ¡°Can you understand when I speak?¡±

    The five attackers exchanged nces, then the smallest among them came forward and said to Su Jin, ¡°Of course. We¡¯re not low level lifeforms like you humans. We know everynguage in the universe.¡±

    ¡°Low level lifeforms?¡± Su Jin was a little taken aback. He scanned the attacker¡¯s brain with his psychokinesis and there was a fierce glint in his eyes after he finished the scan. These guys actually came from a civilized that wasn¡¯t too far from Earth.

    Besides these monsters, there were actually humans on that. Or at least they looked like humans and didn¡¯t seem any different, except that humans were ves there and treated like livestock. They had no rights and their fates were determined right from the day they were born. They were to work and eventually be killed.

    In short, humans were like cattle on that. Or actually, cattle on Earth were of a higher ss than humans on that, because on that, the humans had to suffer any sort of abuse from their masters. The dignity of humans waspletely erased. They were treated worse than machinery.

    Intelligence was an important ingredient in one¡¯s ability to change the world. A race needed intelligence in order to grow, in order to understand the secrets of the universe. Even when Hell¡¯s Handbook selected owners, it would always carefully select the intelligent beings of the universe.

    On that, humans were intelligent too, but they did not possess strength anywhere near these monsters. Or at least to Su Jin, these guys were monsters.

    ¡°Truth be told, I really hate you guys!¡± Su Jin sneered at them. The first impression he had of them was poor, so he wasn¡¯t going to hold himself back. Killing them all was probably a good way to appease the anger boiling inside him.¡°Humph! You¡¯re just a lowlife and you dare to speak to us like that?!¡± said the giant in a deep voice. His arms did not grow proportionately to his torso and his fists could actually pound the ground without him bending down.

    ¡°Enough of this pointless talk. Your mission is to stop my friend frompleting herst step to attaining godhood, correct?¡± said Su Jin impatiently.

    The smallest attacker who had spoken earlier hesitated, which made Su Jin snort. ¡°You silly things, did you think you were on some secret mission? Hell¡¯s Handbook told us beforehand that you would being. I¡¯m the guardian of this side, so if you want to get in from here, you¡¯ve got to defeat me first!¡±

    Su Jin had a flippant look on his face initially, but he stretched his hand toward the five creatures and his gaze suddenly grew aggressive.

    The five creatures instantly sensed a terrifying aura hit them, which made them instinctively move backward. But the smallest one said, ¡°Don¡¯t allow yourselves to be frightened by him. He¡¯s just a low level lifeform, and ording to the experiments we conducted, even after we gave our best resources to the lowest lifeform on our, he was defeated almost instantly. This guy¡­ is just putting on strong front!¡±

    The other four agreed after hearing what theirpanion said. They had indeed done such an experiment back on their home before. Since humans were intelligent lifeforms that could evolve and level up, they had tried to provide a human with a lot of resources to strengthen all aspects of the human. Then they sent him to fight one of their warriors. But the human was killed within seconds. So, even with all the resources at hand, a human was unable to evolve to a point where they were their equal. And so, from that point onward, the monsters of that confirmed that they were indeed born superior, and that they were high level lifeforms, while humans were¡­ nothing more than cattle and sheep to them.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you, you arrogant thing!¡± bellowed the giant. Layers of bones rotated out of his arms and hands to form an armor of sorts. Then he swung a palm toward Su Jin to try and catch him. If Su Jin were to get caught by this palm, he could very well be crushed to pieces.

    But Su Jin merely stared calmly at the giant and watched as the giant not only reached for him but caught him sessfully. A smile spread across the giant¡¯s face as he thought that he was definitely going to win this battle. Then¡­ Su Jin flicked his fingers. The giant had a look of utter disbelief as his arms that were even tougher than any metal in the world exploded just like that!

    The silver beams around his arms were like the most powerful of explosives as they sted his arms into mere pieces. He wasn¡¯t even able to feel the pain because he was simply too shocked.

    ¡°So weak?¡± Su Jin was very displeased. These attackers hade with great fanfare, but had turned out to be such lousy fighters. He hadn¡¯t even used his psychokinesis to its maximum and the other party was already having trouble fighting back.

    ¡°There¡¯s something strange about this guy. We¡¯ve got to attack him together!¡± The rest startedunching attacks after hearing the instruction from the smallest monster.

    ¡°This is a customized Spirit Power! And this is¡­ a Grade A Spirit Power weapon, right? This one¡¯s not bad too, seems really high tech!¡± Su Jin scanned the attacks from each monster and was able to assess how powerful each one was. It was true that they were not bad, and would have been very high ranking among the human owners.

    But they were still too weak. Even his teammates like Chu Yi were stronger than these attackers. Sending such characters to stop Natasha from attaining godhood had to be a joke.

    ¡°Wait, something¡¯s not quite right. This is not what you¡¯re truly capable of. I¡¯m going to give you guys a chance to actually fight me with your actual prowess. Otherwise¡­ I¡¯m going to wipe all of you out right now!¡± The aggression in Su Jin¡¯s gaze intensified.

    The five creatures were rather surprised. The smallest one snapped back, ¡°I¡¯ll admit that we¡¯ve underestimated you. I¡¯m surprised that someone of your abilities could rise up from such low level lifeforms. Simply unimaginable!¡±

    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll do what you¡¯ve asked for. We¡¯ll let you see for yourself what sort of power the high level lifeforms of the universe holds!¡± The smallest one waved their arms and the other four monsters immediately came toward them.

    The smallest one opened their mouth wide and the size of the mouth grewrger andrger at an astonishing speed.

    The giant leaped into the smaller one¡¯s mouth, which wasn¡¯t what Su Jin had initially expected. But he soon figured out that this was somebination technique of sorts.

    Just as he had imagined, the smallest one swallowed the rest of the monsters, then started wriggling at high speed. Su Jin tried to scan the other party, only for his psychokinesis to be deflected powerfully before he even reached its body.

    ¡°Oh, they get new powers after theybine bodies?¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. They could increase their powers by just eating theirpanions. What a strange bunch of monsters.

    But Su Jin did not do anything to stop the process and quietly watched as the five monsters became one. More than ten secondster, a gigantic creature appeared before Su Jin.

    ¡°Onest adjustment ¨C to fight someone like you, I ought to make myself the same size as you,¡± said the monster with a chuckle as it let out white steam from its nose and mouth. Its body started shrinking until it was about the same size as Su Jin.

    The monster¡¯s face was still the same one as the smallest attacker earlier, so the monster had a face that could be both handsome and beautiful. And after shrinking, the monster¡¯s body exuded both strength and beauty. If this monster were an ordinary human on Earth, it would be a lot more popr than even the most popr celebrities right now.

    ¡°Your greatest mistake was to safely allow me to reach this state!¡± The monster walked up to Su Jin, then thrust it powerfully against Su Jin¡¯s chest, which shot Su Jin straight into the ocean.

    As Su Jin hit the water, the waves exploded, and a huge volume of seawater was forced upward. There was even one area that turned into a vacuum.

    The water fell back down after it had surged toward the sky, submerging Su Jinpletely. It was hard to say if Su Jin was dead or alive!

 Chapter 408

    Chapter 408

    The waves fell back down to fill up the empty space left behind by the initial explosion. The monster sneered disdainfully as it looked at where Su Jin had drowned and spat before turning to leave. But when it came to the psychokinesis wall that Su Jin had erected, it realized that the wall was still there.

    ¡°What? Not dead yet?¡± The monster spun around in surprise to see a lone figure walk out of the sea.

    ¡°Gosh, you guys have no manners at all! It¡¯s not nice to pee on someone, you know?¡± Su Jin emerged sopping wet. He slicked his hair back and said with a smile, ¡°Not bad, not bad!¡±

    ¡°Not bad?! Why, you¡­¡±

    BAM!

    Before the creature could finish speaking, Su Jin appeared in front of it in a sh and flicked his finger just like the creature had. The monster felt a force strike it in the chest before flying out violently.

    BOOM!

    The monster crashed into the psychokinesis wall, and the force of the impact had caused the wall to be covered in crack lines. If Su Jin had used a little more strength, he might have been able to shatter the entire wall.

    ¡°This¡­ this¡­ this is impossible¡­ what¡­ what in the world are you?!¡± The monster¡¯s jaw dropped at the impact. There was a huge wound in its chest, and its limbs had been sted off from the force.¡°Tsk, stop pretending. You¡¯re capable of more than this, aren¡¯t you?¡± said Su Jin frostily.

    The monster shut up, and its body began to recuperate rapidly. In just a few seconds, the four limbs that had been blown off grew back perfectly.

    The monster used its arms to push against the psychokinesis wall hard so that it broke free from the wall andnded on the ground. It made arge hole in the ground when itnded, which proved howpact and heavy its body really was.

    ¡°Hell¡¯s Handbook is a truly mysterious force. Even a low level lifeform like you could actually be so powerful,¡± muttered the creature as it maderge strides toward Su Jin.

    ¡°Oh, do humans get chosen by the Handbook in your too?¡± Su Jin was rather curious. Since the Handbook only selected intelligent lifeforms, and the monster had humans on its, then it made sense that the Handbook would also select humans on that to be owners.

    ¡°Hoho, of course they do. But those things are nothing more than food and ves to us. They don¡¯t get a chance to reach your level! So¡­ it¡¯s time for you to meet the same fate as them!¡± The monster clearly dared not look down on Su Jin and threw a punch that seemed capable of breaking mountains and rivers.

    ¡°I really think that creatures like you are downright disgusting!¡± Su Jin grabbed hold of the monster¡¯s fist. The energy from the fist went through Su Jin¡¯s body and hit the ground, which caused the ground behind him to shake violently and a lot of dust and smoke to rise.

    ¡°Now!¡± The monster moved away from Su Jin and detached itself from the fist that was in Su Jin¡¯s hand. The fist suddenly exploded as heat gathered within it like a nuclear bomb.

    ¡°Hee hee! The greatest difference between you and me is the fact that I know you humans too well, since I¡¯m surrounded by so many of them all day. But you know nothing about us!¡± The monster cackled loudly. As far as it was concerned, receiving such a powerful attack without any warning would definitely result in Su Jin¡¯s death.

    But the next thing it saw made it widen its eyes in horror. Su Jin took a deep breath to suck in all the heat from the st, then choked a few times, as though the bomb had been a little too spicy for him.

    ¡°The fact that you¡¯ve stooped to using such tactics means you¡¯ve run out of ideas, haven¡¯t you?¡± Su Jin was rather displeased. He had hoped that this monster could do something that might inspire him or blow his mind.

    This time, the monster really went into a panic. Su Jin could tell that the monster didn¡¯t really want to fight anymore, so he gripped the air and sent his psychokinesis toward the monster. The monster was still able to fend off psychokinesis, but Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to give up. He continued to increase the intensity and strength of his psychokinesis and was eventually able to wrap it around the monster.

    ¡°Die!¡± Su Jin shouted as the psychokinesis bubble he had formed around the monster shrank suddenly andpressed the monster into a patty as though it was a hydraulic press. He then used his psychokinesis to mince up the patty.

    After retracting his psychokinesis, Su Jin was really disappointed. This monster had been fairly powerful, but it had too few tricks up its sleeve. It relied too heavily on the advantage its physical body came with and did not develop its techniques sufficiently.

    Actually, Su Jin could have killed the monsters right at the beginning. As long as they weren¡¯t gods, his maniacal power could have killed them within seconds. But these owners were watched closely by the Handbook and Su Jin didn¡¯t want to expose his non-Handbook powers, so he had to use his psychokinesis to fight them.

    Su Jin sent his psychokinesis toward the other three areas. Durand and Oscar were still in the midst of battle. They were the best owners among humans, so even if they were outnumbered, they were not on the losing end. After all, the Handbook hadn¡¯t sent its best to attack them.

    ¡°Wait, no, something¡¯s not right?¡± A thought suddenly struck Su Jin. He looked at the huge cloud above the castle, then covered the entire with his psychokinesis to conduct a scan but came back with nothing!

    ¡°This is supposed to be the final obstacle to attaining godhood, but how could owners of this level possibly be a threat to an owner who¡¯s about to be a god? Hell¡¯s Handbook wasn¡¯t trying to warn the owner, it was¡­ trying to distract and upy any defenses the owner had!¡± Su Jin was horrified by this thought. There was no real evidence to back up this idea, but once this thought entered his head, he couldn¡¯t brush it aside.

    He quickly flew toward the castle where the cloud was. It was less than 100 kilometers away, so it took him barely more than a second to cover the distance. Natasha was in the middle of the castle, and a lot of colorful lights were surrounding her.

    ¡°Did I overthink this?¡± Su Jin froze. Natasha looked perfectly fine. He had probably been too paranoid.

    ¡°Help!¡± But just then, Su Jin heard a voice. Or rather, he sensed it. He knew for sure that was Natasha¡¯s voice. Natasha was calling for help!

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Su Jin loudly, hoping that Natasha could answer him. But Natasha¡¯s expression was peaceful and did not look like she was calling for help at all. However, Su Jin was very certain he had heard her calling for help. He was now too powerful to fall for auditory illusions, after all.

    He ignored the possibility that the Handbook might discover him and his eyes glowed brilliantly as his maniacal power surrounded him. He walked into the cloud to look down at everything like a god, and realized that¡­ the cloud was trying to take over Natasha!

    The Handbook was taking this opportunity to erase Natasha¡¯s consciousness, then fill her body with a new consciousness. In other words, the Handbook was trying to take over Natasha¡¯s physical body.

    ¡°Save me! Mr. Su¡­ save me!¡± Su Jin could finally hear Natasha¡¯s cries for help clearly under these circumstances. But before he could do anything, a bolt of lightning came crashing down and erased Natasha¡¯s consciousnesspletely!

    ¡°Toote!¡± Su Jin sighed heavily as he shook his head. He had discovered her situation toote. The lightning bolt had been continuously erasing her consciousness, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was simply toote.

    After her consciousness had been wiped out, Su Jin quietly observed her physical body. He watched as a new consciousness filled her body, and the cloud slowly faded as she slowly opened her eyes again.

    ¡°Thanks for the hard work, Mr. Su!¡± Natasha smiled at Su Jin, as though nothing had changed at all.

    But Su Jin did not respond to her immediately. He raised a hand to create a psychokinesis screen around them to make sure that nobody outside the castle could get in, then said in a grim voice, ¡°Stop pretending. You¡¯re not Natasha. Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, what a strange thing to say! Of course I¡¯m Natasha. Who else could I be?¡± Natasha smiled faintly.

    But Su Jin snorted in return. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know who else you could possibly be. But I witnessed the take over of her body very clearly just now!¡±

    ¡°Oh! You actually saw that! Then I guess there¡¯s no point in trying to hide the truth from you.¡± Natasha¡¯s expression shifted as her lips curled into a mocking smile.

 Chapter 409

    Chapter 409

    ¡°Judging from your expression, I suppose you¡¯re prepared to silence me!¡± Su Jin broke into a smile as he summoned his boning knife at the same time. The other party was clearly a god, so if they were going to fight, Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to take it lightly.

    Natasha had a look of surprise when she saw the boning knife and frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a really powerful weapon you¡¯ve got there. At least a few dozen deities have blessed it. That¡¯s not something you can get from Hell¡¯s Handbook.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re quite sharp!¡± Su Jin pointed the knife at Natasha, ready to fight any moment.

    But Natasha said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to be at each other¡¯s throats like that. Why don¡¯t we sit down and have a chat?¡±

    ¡°Sit down and have a chat? You just wiped my friend out and took over her body and you expect me to sit down and have a chat with you?¡± Su Jin made a face.

    Natasha smiled and said, ¡°Why are you so bothered? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have plenty of friends. But there are things that nobody else besides myself knows, so if you know about them now, it¡¯ll be beneficial to you in the future!¡±

    ¡°Well, that depends on what you want to talk about,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s about the questions you have. For example¡­what was that takeover all about and who I actually am,¡± said Natasha with a smile.

    Su Jin put the knife down and said in a low voice, ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about that. What was that takeover about? Who are you?¡±¡°Excellent. Let me introduce myself first then. I am Natasha, but of course, that¡¯s based on my current identity. I have all of her memories and all of her habits, so from a certain standpoint, I am her.¡±

    ¡°But unfortunately, you aren¡¯t at all,¡± retorted Su Jin without hesitation.

    Natasha could only continue exining herself, ¡°Well, yes, I do have other identities. If you count 317 cycles backwards, I was the Magu, the God of Darkness. Counting another 429 cycles backward from there, I was the God of War. Another 621 cycles back, I was the God of the Harvest. And another 907 cycles before that, I was the God of Storms. I don¡¯t remember what I was before that!¡±

    Su Jin was a little stunned, but quickly snapped out of it. ¡°You¡¯re saying that¡­you¡¯re an elder god, and you¡¯re an elder god who¡¯s¡­gone through thousands of cycles?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s obvious, isn¡¯t it?¡± Natasha¡¯s smile was just as bright as it had always been. Just like what she said, she had inherited every part of Natasha, including her smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The elder gods will be destroyed when the new cycle arrives. Countless elder gods are proof of this. How could you be an exception?¡± Su Jin could not make any sense of this. Based on what he knew, the elder gods would be dealt with by the Handbook regardless of who they were. The Handbook did not allow any of them to exist for too long, never mind one who had gone through thousands of cycles.

    Natasha smiled and said, ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I said earlier that you¡¯d stand to gain a lot by just talking to me!¡± She paused, then went on, ¡°To put it simply, there will always be a few geniuses among the gods, geniuses who appear only once every few thousand cycles. They are such geniuses, even the will of the universe would feel threatened by them. You know about the will of the universe?¡±

    ¡°I know some things about it,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Good. Then I have less to exin to you.¡± Natasha exhaled deeply, then continued, ¡°Even the will of the universe would feel threatened by a genius like me, so there are two ways to get rid of this threat. One is to kill me, and the other is to keep them happy.¡±

    ¡°There are some geniuses who start thinking of challenging the will of the universe because they are very powerful. The geniuses I¡¯m talking about aren¡¯t people like you. My definition of a genius is someone who can go against the control of the Handbook and break through the upper limits!¡±

    ¡°Someone who can break free of the Handbook¡­are you referring to those who choose that path?¡± asked Su Jin with knitted brows.

    Natasha shook her head and said, ¡°No. Those people are¡­brave warriors, heroes¡­but they are also fools. Such people have existed throughout every cycle, but they will all end in destruction. The geniuses I refer to are those who exist within the Handbook¡¯s system, but are able to do things that can bypass the system.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible. A drawing cannot be real,¡± Su Jin shook his head.

    Natasha looked intently at Su Jin and said disdainfully, ¡°Don¡¯t be so quick to deny this possibility. There are things in this world that you think of as the truth, but in a greater context are nothing but ridiculous theories. Real geniuses aren¡¯t like the people you¡¯re thinking about. They aren¡¯t people who happen to be more talented or more intelligent. True geniuses¡­you might not even get one after a thousand cycles. But every single one is a formidable character who can see through what Hell¡¯s Handbook is really all about!¡±

    Su Jin fell silent. Just like what she just said, it was true that he couldn¡¯t bepared to such a genius. Natasha went on, ¡°So, for those geniuses who remain arrogant and stubborn, the will of the universe will corner them and destroy them. Those who are willing to fall in line, the will of the universe will grant them almost unlimited freedom and allow us to continue existing from one cycle to another. But we are unable to keep a physical body together forever, so we have to take over the body of an owner from the new cycle. In most cases, the batch that manages to almost reach godhood are our best candidates. But there¡¯s still the element of luck. If the owner we¡¯ve chosen to take over has a physical body that¡¯s not strong enough, we might still fail. The owner¡¯s body would end up blowing up and we¡¯ll be unable to transcend into this cycle. But I got lucky this time. This girl¡¯s physical body is very strong!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s heart started pounding. He suddenly remembered what the Demon Lord and the Mad Hatter had told him before. The owners who eventually became gods were often not the owners who were right at the top of the list, and this was probably the biggest reason why. Most of the highest ranking owners would be the first ones of their cycle to be gods, but before that could happen, they were selected by these geniuses for a takeover. Many of them were probably not physically strong enough, so they ended up dying while trying to be a god. And for those who were sessfully taken over, the genius would take over everything that owner had, so it was impossible for anyone to find out what had truly happened.

    ¡°You said just now that this was important information for me? But it¡¯s too bad, I¡¯m not that sort of genius,¡± said Su Jin.

    Natasha smiled faintly. ¡°If you want to receive this sort of treatment, you don¡¯t have to be a genius. There are other ways of getting here. One is to be rmended by ten geniuses, while the other way is to contribute significantly to the Handbook. If you want, I can rmend you! I could find you nine other geniuses to rmend you too!¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. He stared at her and said, ¡°You¡¯re telling so much and you¡¯re so eager to rmend me for only one reason, right? You¡¯ve just taken over this body, so you¡¯re not able to fully utilize your powers. You¡¯re only able to execute what this body is already capable of right now, and you¡¯re also not able to use those powers to their fullest either. You¡¯re actually afraid of me, am I right?¡±

    This time, Natasha fell silent. But a momentter, she smiled and nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it right. That¡¯s why I hate smart owners like you.¡±

    ¡°So, what should you do?¡± said Su Jin as he kept his eye on her.

    ¡°We can discuss what you¡¯d like!¡± said Natasha with a flirtatious look on her face.

    Su Jin realized she wasn¡¯t getting it. ¡°Okay, let me continue with my guesses. You¡¯ve just gone through a takeover and you¡¯re not in the best or most stable state. If I try to kill you¡­you might be severely injured and unable to exist for many cycles in the future until you recover. Or¡­you might perish for all eternity!¡±

    A look of horror shed in Natasha¡¯s eyes. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go there. Like I said, I can give you anything you want. You can get treasures beyond your imagination from me! You don¡¯t have to¡­¡±

    PFFT!

    Su Jin did not wait for her to finish her sentence and brough the knife down. He activated the skill, Judgment, and Natasha disappearedpletely in the gleam of the de.

    ¡°Like I said, Natasha was my friend!¡± Su Jin shook his head. The other party¡¯s promise had indeed been very attractive, but firstly, Su Jin had already decided to go on a path to oppose Hell¡¯s Handbook and the will of the universe, so he wasn¡¯t going to settle for bing an ally of the Handbook. Secondly, Natasha and Su Jin had been on good terms all this time, so killing this genius was a way to avenge her.

    Su Jin looked around and sighed heavily. Natasha had been the first human owner to be powerful enough to attempt taking the next step to be a god, yet she met such a tragic end. For as long as the Handbook was in control, even the most formidable of owners were nothing to it.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Just then, Natasha¡¯s voice rang in Su Jin¡¯s ear once more.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Su Jin blinked in surprise as he snapped out of his thoughts and scanned his surroundings, to find a small wisp of Natasha¡¯s soul left behind where the boning knife had sliced through.

 Chapter 410

    Chapter 410

    That wisp of Natasha¡¯s soul was really nothing more than a wisp. It was barely even there. If the person standing here weren¡¯t someone like Su Jin, nobody would have noticed.

    ¡°Let¡¯s put you in a better ce.¡± Su Jin reached out and used his psychokinesis to wrap the wisp up. A soul was made from a very simr power to psychokinesis, so Su Jin could use his psychokinesis to nourish Natasha¡¯s soul so that she could be stronger. Once she was strong enough, Su Jin could think of a way to revive her properly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯re only left with a tiny bit of your soul, but thankfully you¡¯re strong enough, so this little bit is of extremely high quality and you¡¯ll recover soon. After that, you¡¯ll be able to be reborn,¡± Su Jin said to Natasha.

    Her soul rang out quietly in response. Su Jin hid her soul into the depths of his psychokinesis, then removed the psychokinesis screen he had put in ce earlier.

    Durand and Oscar immediately came dashing in. They were shocked to see that Su Jin was all by himself. Oscar narrowed his eyes slightly, then gasped, ¡°All traces of Natasha¡¯s powers¡­ are gone!¡±

    ¡°Did she fail to fight off her attackers after all?¡± Durand sighed. ¡°The first one to try has passed on, so¡­ let me try next!¡±

    ¡°No, Natasha did not fail because of that,¡± said Su Jin quickly. He told them everything he had heard from that genius who took over Natasha¡¯s body and they were too shocked to speak.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe something like that could happen!¡± Durand was in disbelief.

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m not like you guys because I¡¯m taking apletely different path. There are things that you can¡¯t see, but I can see them very clearly. Natasha hasn¡¯t beenpletely destroyed and I¡¯ve been able to salvage a small wisp of her soul. But if you two just go ahead and attempt bing gods now, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯d be as lucky as her.¡±¡°Sigh¡­ we¡¯ve worked so hard to get all the way to this point, only to be told that someone else could just swoop in and take over everything. It really¡­ it really makes me so mad!¡± Durand¡¯s eyes were filled with violence and his anger was almost able to manifest itself physically. His powers had clearly grown during this time.

    Oscar didn¡¯t say anything, but he had the same expression on his face. Su Jin patted their shoulders, then hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°If there¡¯s a chance, why don¡¯t you guys consider joining my side?¡±

    ¡°Your side?¡± Durand and Oscar were both puzzled.

    Su Jin smiled. ¡°There¡¯s a chance¡­ just a chance¡­ that I could make a new army of gods, that I could build up a new temple that could rival the Handbook.¡±

    ¡°Oho! If that day really does arrive, my brother, I¡¯ll definitely be there to fight for you!¡± Durand broke into a big smile and Oscar nodded in agreement.

    Su Jin was rather surprised. He thought high level fighters like Durand would be difficult to convince. Such people had been fighting to stand at the top of the owners¡¯ ranking for such a long time and had finally gotten the chance to be a god. He thought that Durand and Oscar would have clung onto that chance.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked the two men when they noticed the expression on Su Jin¡¯s face.

    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking¡­ if that chance materializes, you two would really be willing to join me?¡± asked Su Jin again.

    Durand nodded without hesitation. ¡°I¡¯m quite done with the Handbook. If there¡¯s a chance, I¡¯m definitely willing to choose a ce where I can live in peace and safety. Do you really think I¡¯m someone who¡¯s constantly seeking thrills and excitement at the expense of my own life?¡±

    Su Jin paused and realized that he was right. The Handbook had helped them be stronger than they could ever have hoped to be, but they were constantly in danger of losing their lives in the process. If they were offered the option to live a quiet and peaceful life, most of them would not turn it down.

    Su Jin had always thought very highly of the Handbook and felt that it was the most powerful thing in the world. There was nothing wrong with that, of course, but once you saw your opponent as an all powerful foe that you couldn¡¯t possibly defeat, then you were doomed to lose right from the start.

    ¡°It seems I have thought too highly of Hell¡¯s Handbook. Or perhaps I have looked down on myself,¡± said Su Jin with a bitterugh. He pulled himself together and said to them, ¡°I will build my own new temple and I¡¯ll wait for both of you toe!¡±

    ¡°My answer¡¯s the same ¨C if you can really raise a force that can fight the Handbook, I¡¯ll be there to fight for you!¡± Durand stuck a hand out.

    Su Jin stuck his hand out too and they shook hands firmly. Oscar and Su Jin shook hands too, then the three returned to their own worlds. Natasha had created a perfect system for her own world, so even if she was not around, it could continue to operate normally. In fact, that almighty Jade Dragon King could very welle back one day and lead the people here once more.

    After returning to his own world, Su Jin sent a message to Situ Jin, Chu Yi, and Xu Ran. After all, while Situ Jin and Chu Yi were his ex-teammates and he was obviously going to tell them everything he knew, he considered Xu Ran a friend too.

    Situ Jin and Xu Ran came to look for Su Jin after reading the message. Xu Ran looked absolutely furious. He was the closest to attaining godhood among the three of them, so hearing about what happened to Natasha was a terrible blow to him.

    ¡°Do you really have to be this angry? When ites to the whole thing about new gods, current gods, and the elder gods, you should know better than others about such things, Xu Ran,¡± said Su Jin.

    Xu Ran yelled back angrily, ¡°Knowing about them is one thing, but we will only be able to change the future after bing gods! And now¡­ if bing a god seems almost impossible, how can I¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough,¡± Su Jin interjected. ¡°Xu Ran, you¡¯re not stupid. There are things that Situ Jin might not have thought of, but you¡¯ve thought about them for a long time now.¡±

    ¡°Hey, have you ever thought about how I¡¯d feel about such remarks? Do you really take me as an idiot?¡± snapped Situ Jin in annoyance. But when they turned to re at him, he suddenly felt thatpared to these two, he was indeed the stupid one.

    ¡°I¡­ I understand, but¡­ I don¡¯t have a choice, do I?¡± Xu Ran suddenly became deted after Su Jin had challenged him with these words. He slumped down on the couch with a tired look in his eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that I¡¯m probably one of the first owners in our Handbook system to find out about some of these things, and I startedying the groundwork for what was toe. I wanted to be a god, to be a top tier god, then use the new cycle I had power over to umte, to fight for, to leave an escape route for myself. But now¡­ but now you¡¯re telling me that there¡¯s a group of geniuses I can¡¯tpare to out there, and these people are able to take over everything I¡¯ve worked so hard for without doing anything? That¡¯s really¡­¡± said Xu Ran angrily.

    ¡°You¡¯re feeling helpless?¡± Su Jin shook his head and said to Xu Ran, ¡°Xu Ran, I¡¯m officially inviting you to join my temple.¡±

    ¡°Your¡­ wha?¡± Xu Ran couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing.

    ¡°I intend to construct a temple of my own that can fight Hell¡¯s Handbook and the will of the universe. But I need help. Will you be willing to join me?¡± asked Su Jin in a serious voice. He was going into a new era, so he needed to gather as many powerful characters as he could in order to beef his army up. He wasn¡¯t only looking for people like Daitengu and the other demons. Those who hadn¡¯t attained godhood, those who had be gods, those who used to be gods ¨C he was willing to recruit them all.

    ¡°You¡¯re being ridiculous now. Su Jin, I thought you were an intelligent man, but now I realize you¡¯re totally ridiculous. Yes, I know a lot about fighting against the Handbook. I know that many people through the cycles have tried to fight the Handbook, fight the will of the universe. And I know what happened to all of them. Those incredible people with such resolve, such ambition, and such strength. They fought to rise to the top of their cycle, but what happened to them in the end?¡± yelled Xu Ran, culminating in a roar, ¡°They¡¯re all DEAD! Not a single one survived! Thousands, millions of years have passed! From the beginning of time! Since time immemorial! Not a single one made it out alive, Su Jin! Not a single one!¡±

    But Su Jin remained calm in the face of Xu Ran¡¯s roaring. ¡°And the next one to die could very well be me. If you join me, the next one to die could very well be you. So¡­ are you joining me or not?¡±

    Xu Ran panted heavily, his eyes burning like two mes as he red at Su Jin. Then, he suddenly burst outughing. ¡°HAHAHA! Fuck, we¡¯re both smart people, but you¡­ you¡¯re also a lunatic!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing? Sometimes we¡¯re too rational for our own good, so¡­ it¡¯s good to go a little insane from time to time!¡± said Su Jin with a grin.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± Xu Ran cursed again, then said, ¡°I¡¯m in!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Su Jin burst outughing. He looked at Situ Jin and said, ¡°Look! Our team has gotten stronger!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ congrattions? I can¡¯t believe you managed to recruit a soldier like this,¡± grumbled Situ Jin with a sigh.

 Chapter 411

    Chapter 411

    Inside the temple of the elder gods, the Demon Lord sat cross-legged in front of the sacred well. Her eyes were slightly closed, as though she were meditating, while Phoenix and the others glowed with a godly aura behind her. The four of them had already be gods.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done well, so you deserve to be rewarded!¡± Jing Hua had an arrogant look on his face, as though the creatures of the world were mere ants.

    ¡°It took quite a bit of effort to make that fellowe down,¡± said Phoenixzily. She looked at her surroundings and said with some disdain, ¡°Deities? They¡¯re just a bunch of fools who go around fooling themselves and others!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough. We went through this phase before this too, so you shouldn¡¯t be mocking others. Different people choose different paths, and no one has the right to say who was right and who was wrong.¡± The usually timid Tiny was surprisingly vocal.

    ¡°Cut it out ¨C I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still so critical of other people,¡± snapped the Dog God in annoyance.

    Just then, the Demon Lord suddenly opened her eyes. She took a step back as a bright light flickered from within the well and a person leaped out.

    The one who had leaped out of the well was a man. He had a muscr body and a brilliance in his eyes that looked like it consisted of thousands of stars. He shut his eyes to take everything around him in, then suddenly opened his eyes again. He gave a pleased nod and said, ¡°The wait was a little long, but it was well worth it!¡±

    ¡°So, O Great One, what about the thing you promised me?¡± asked the Demon Lord reverently.

    The man said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not someone who goes back on their word. Trickery is something that¡¯s unique to you living creatures. I don¡¯t need something like that.¡±¡°Indeed, O Great One! Praise be!¡± The Demon Lord knelt on one knee as her gaze flickered.

    In that moment when the man appeared, shockwaves were sent through the thousands of universes. They could feel his might and they could sense his presence.

    Inside the broken void, the Mad Hatter, who was ying chess with Pinhio, suddenly froze. He exchanged nces with Pinhio, then said, ¡°Our chance is here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right! Our chance is here!¡± Pinhio¡¯s hand trembled as it gripped a chess pawn. He was very excited!

    Inside Hell¡¯s Bar, the boss who had been busy serving his customers also stopped what he was doing. He narrowed his eyes slightly for a moment, then returned to his work as though nothing had happened.

    Woong!

    The man arrived at Hell¡¯s Bar and took a seat at the bar, while the Demon Lord and the other four randomly sat at another table. The man said to the owner, ¡°I want your most expensive drink.¡±

    ¡°Tsk¡­ I only serve owners here,¡± the boss replied without hesitation.

    ¡°Hoho, as someone from the first batch of rebels, your temperament really hasn¡¯t changed!¡± The manughed heartily.

    The boss frowned and said, ¡°To be honest with you, even though you look human now, your face still disgusts me. Get out of my territory!¡±

    The man was a little stunned before he smiled faintly and got up. He motioned to the Demon Lord and her table to follow him, but he had only taken a few steps before turning back to say to the boss in a grim voice, ¡°There are some matters in which I hope you will not interfere with.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m a man of my word,¡± murmured the boss as he wiped the ss in his hand.

    ¡°I hope I get a chance to try some of the drinks here, even though I don¡¯t know what¡¯s so good about them.¡± The man smiled and disappeared with the Demon Lord and the rest.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had brought Xu Ran and Situ Jin to Chu Yi¡¯s universe. They were clearly surprised to see Wu Jingru in the house.

    ¡°Not bad! You¡¯re still young but you¡¯ve already started dating? She¡¯s quite pretty too,¡± remarked Situ Jin as he gave Chu Yi a knowing pat on the shoulder.

    Chu Yi sighed and said, ¡°If you knew who her dad was and still said those things, I¡¯ll call you a real man.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s her dad? The Jade Emperor?¡± Situ Jin scoffed. Then again, even if the Jade Emperor really appeared in front of Situ Jin now, he might not be afraid.

    ¡°Her dad¡¯s a respected old man,¡± said Chu Yi.

    ¡°Of course he¡¯s an old man. Her dad wouldn¡¯t be a teenager, would he?¡± chuckled Situ Jin.

    But Su Jin put the pieces together quickly and gasped. ¡°She¡¯s¡­ Wu Chen¡¯s daughter?¡±

    Situ Jin spat out the water he just drank. ¡°Wait, what? <em>That</em> old man?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was trying to say earlier¡­¡± Chu Yi rolled his eyes at Situ Jin.

    Situ Jin saw that Su Jin and Xu Ran were staring at him like he was an idiot and said, ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯m the stupid one. Happy now?¡±

    Su Jin turned to Chu Yi and asked, ¡°When did you revive her?¡±

    ¡°Not too long ago. I got lucky and managed to obtain everything necessary for the Ceremony of the Gods, so I decided to revive her.¡± Chu Yi scratched his head, then whispered to Su Jin, ¡°It¡¯s so troublesome to have a woman in the house!¡±

    ¡°Why? Is she very difficult to handle?¡± asked Su Jin puzzledly. They all said hello to Wu Jingru earlier and felt that she had a fairly pleasant temperament.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s just too efficient with her hands,¡± Chu Yi continued scratching his head.

    ¡°She steals stuff?¡± Situ Jin was very surprised.

    ¡°Are you serious? I don¡¯t think Wu Chen would have raised a daughter like that.¡± Su Jin was doubtful.

    ¡°Honestly though, given Wu Chen¡¯s character, he might just have,¡± said Situ Jin as he made a face.

    Chu Yi quickly interjected, ¡°It¡¯s not like that! That¡¯s not what I meant! She¡¯s always helping to wash my clothes, to cook, to clean the house and all that, and I can¡¯t seem to stop her from doing all that, so she¡¯s very troublesome! If you refuse to let her do any of it, she¡¯ll pull a long face!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure¡­ you¡¯re not just trying to brag to us?¡± asked Situ Jin with a confused look on his face.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m serious,¡± said Chu Yi with a very annoyed look on his face, as though he really didn¡¯t like having Wu Jingru around.

    ¡°I can¡¯t stand you!¡± said not just Su Jin and Situ Jin, but Xu Ran as well at the same time.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Chu Yi didn¡¯t understand their reaction.

    The three older men were even more annoyed. Su Jin and Situ Jin had women whom they loved dearly, except they were now separated. Xu Ran had taken the vow of celibacy as a priest, so he was in the same boat.

    Jealousy was a good word to summarize their feelings, and they had nothing but disdain for Chu Yi right now. But Chu Yi¡¯s annoyance turned into frustration as he said, ¡°And I still haven¡¯t figured out how to tell her about what happened to Wu Chen.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that,¡± said Su Jin confidently. Wu Jingru had been stealing nces at them the whole time, so Su Jin waved to her toe over and she quickly came running toward them.

    ¡°Hello there, what¡¯s your name?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Wu Jingru. Are all of you my father¡¯s¡­ friends?¡± asked Wu Jingru curiously.

    Su Jin nodded, paused like he was in deep thought, then said, ¡°Your father¡¯s dead.¡±

    Wu Jingru didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?!¡±

    ¡°Boss, you¡­¡±

    ¡°Su Jin, couldn¡¯t you break the news more gently?!¡±

    The other three couldn¡¯t help but yell at Su Jin. Su Jin had been too direct with his words!

    Wu Jingru looked like she had just been struck by lightning, and Su Jin also realized he had been a little too brash. He quickly went on, ¡°But you don¡¯t have to worry. He¡¯ll be revived.¡±

    Wu Jingru still lookedpletely bewildered. She turned and said to Chu Yi, ¡°Er¡­ is there a problem with your friend¡¯s intelligence levels?¡±

    ¡°Hey! You can question anything else about me except my intelligence!¡± protested Su Jin very seriously.

    ¡°I think you¡¯d better just shut your mouth. If you go on like this, I¡¯m going to question your intelligence too. Do you have no idea how to speak to a girl at all?¡± said Xu Ran with a re.

    Su Jin scratched his head, organized his thoughts, and tried again, ¡°Miss Wu, do you know about Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡±

    ¡°What the¡­ he actually said it out loud?!¡±

    ¡°Are we allowed to talk about this?¡±

    ¡°Wait, even if he said it, she can¡¯t actually understand that part, right?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s¡­ Hell¡¯s Handbook?¡± asked Wu Jingru.

    ¡°Oh my god! She understood him perfectly!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ impossible, isn¡¯t it?!¡±

    ¡°Boss is amazing!¡±

    ¡°What are you guys? The peanut gallery?¡± Su Jin red at them. ¡°I¡¯m no longer bound by the rules of Hell¡¯s Handbook, unlike you. So there are certain things that you¡¯re not allowed to say, but I can.¡±

    Su Jin proceeded to tell Wu Jingru about Hell¡¯s Handbook and Wu Chen in its entirety, but even then, she refused to believe a single word he said.

    ¡°Are you talking about some fantasy world? Chu Yi, there¡¯s definitely something wrong with your friend¡¯s brains!¡± Wu Jingruined to Chu Yi.

    Su Jin figured that just talking about it was pointless, so he waved a hand and an entire building in front of them disappeared.

    ¡°Oh dear¡­ it seems like there¡¯s something wrong with my eyesight.¡± She stubbornly refused to believe him.

 Chapter 412

    Chapter 412

    Su Jin and the others could understand why Wu Jingru refused to believe anything Su Jin said. If someone came to them and said that they were Ultraman from some Ultraman, they wouldn¡¯t have believed it either.

    ¡°So¡­ are you guys filming some movie?¡± asked Wu Jingru as she stared at Su Jin with herrge eyes.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Su Jin shook his head. What he said didn¡¯t seem to matter anymore. She just simply refused to believe him and had concluded that Su Jin had just used some camera trick to fool her.

    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s another way to prove this.¡± Chu Yi came over and whispered something into Su Jin¡¯s ear.

    ¡°That¡­ could work too.¡± Su Jin nodded. Chu Yi¡¯s method was simple. He was due for a new Challenge soon, so he wanted Su Jin to dy the time it took for him to return from a Challenge. In other words, once Chu Yi was done with a Challenge, he needed Su Jin to stop him froming back to the real world for a while. He didn¡¯t need Su Jin to extend the time spent in a Challenge. He just needed Wu Jingru to be able to see that he had disappeared for a sufficiently long enough time.

    Chu Yi was a very formidable character now. He had reached the peak of his martial arts training and was on the verge of finding his way to godhood. So, as long as he wasn¡¯t terribly unlucky, he was still very likely to survive most Challenges.

    Of course, Handbook Challenges were difficult to any owner. Chu Yi and Situ Jn, and even Xu Ran, all began a new Challenge with heavy hearts. But they were already used to having to do this. After all, no owner who made it this high on the ranking was the type to fear death.

    Su Jin used his maniacal power to envelope Wu Jingru, and even after seeing the bright aura around herself that made her resemble a Pok¨¦mon of sorts, she still thought that this was some special effect.

    Once she waspletely encased in maniacal power, the Handbook would not be able to detect her existence. That way, she would be able to see Chu Yi disappear into thin air.When Chu Yi disappeared, Wu Jingru was clearly a little surprised. He had been sitting right in front of her just now. No special effects could make a full grown adult disappear like that, right?

    ¡°He¡¯s done,¡± muttered Su Jin. Time moved differently inside and outside of a Challenge. Only a few seconds had passed in the real world, but Chu Yi might have been fighting for his life for the past two weeks in a Challenge.

    Su Jin retracted his maniacal power and reopened Chu Yi¡¯s path back to the real world. Chu Yi copsed onto the floor immediately upon returning, his body convulsing non stop and covered entirely in blood.

    ¡°What¡¯s this all about? You didn¡¯t have to go this far to make her believe you, you know?¡± Situ Jin couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Chu Yi looked like he had been plucked straight out of hell.

    ¡°No, he¡¯s very severely injured, and it seems he¡¯s unable to recover from his injuries by himself.¡± Xu Ran narrowed his eyes as he realized what was wrong with Chu Yi.

    ¡°Even if he can¡¯t recover by himself, the Handbook should be able to restore him, no?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    ¡°Looks like even the Handbook wasn¡¯t able to do that,¡± said Xu Ran.

    While they were speaking, Su Jin had already grabbed hold of Chu Yi to take a closer look. Just like Xu Ran had guessed, Chu Yi was very severely injured, but the Handbook had not restored him, and Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy wasn¡¯t able to heal him either.

    ¡°This¡­¡± Su Jin enveloped Chu Yi with his maniacal power and found something familiar. It was the power of runes.

    ¡°This power came from those rune creatures!¡± Su Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. The energy he was sensing was clearly the same as the energy from the rune creatures he ran into during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. That was also why the Handbook and Chu Yi¡¯s internal energy were unable to help him recover.

    The Handbook could restore an owner because their injuries were all caused by powers that existed within the Handbook¡¯s universe. But the rune creatures existed outside of the Handbook, so the Handbook was unable to do anything about those.

    ¡°Damn it¡­ those weird things have reappeared?¡± Su Jin finally managed to use his maniacal power to eliminate the power of the runes, and Chu Yi was able to use his internal energy to heal his wounds.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Wu Jingru was too terrified for words. Chu Yi¡¯s situation was frightening, but that wasn¡¯t the reason why she was terrified. What terrified her was the incredibly rapid rate at which Chu Yi¡¯s deep wounds were healing up.

    Less than 20 secondster, Chu Yi waspletely healed up. He suddenly sprung up from the floor like an energetic animal.

    ¡°You¡¯re alright now?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Chu Yi nodded and exhaled deeply. ¡°I almost died!¡±

    ¡°What in the world happened? What could have thrashed you to this extent?¡± asked Xu Ran.

    Chu Yi paused to think, then said, ¡°I¡¯m not really sure how to describe them either. Basically, a group of strange creatures appeared out of nowhere. They¡¯re very strong and they used techniques that I¡¯ve never seen before to attack us. Most importantly, my internal energy was actually unable to heal any of the wounds they created.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not all, right? They were also able to replicate your techniques, right?¡± said Su Jin.

    Chu Yi¡¯s eyes widened and he nodded vigorously. ¡°That¡¯s right! Those creatures were able to replicate my Qi Thrust techniques, and I was really puzzled. How could these things possibly share the same martial arts master as myself?!¡±

    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s not the reason. It¡¯s a special power that these creatures have. I thought that the ones I ran into might have been the only ones with that ability, but it seems it¡¯s not unique to them.¡± Su Jin tapped his nose with a finger.

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not unique to them. These creatures have appeared a number of times already. Some people I know have run into them and they were severely injured as a result,¡± Xu Ran piped up. ¡°In fact, a lot of owners have already suffered at the hands of these creatures, and very few have been able to escape them. We¡¯ve actually lost a lot of Handbook owners.¡±

    ¡°Do you know where these creatures havee from?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    Xu Ran shook his head. ¡°I havepletely no idea. If I run into them myself, I could gather some information about them.¡±

    Su Jin said, ¡°I¡¯m not very certain, but these rune creatures might be part of another rebel organization.¡±

    ¡°Another rebel organization? You mean another group that¡¯s going against the Handbook?¡± asked Xu Ran.

    Su Jin nodded and Xu Ran asked another question, ¡°There are other groups besides yourself?¡±

    ¡°That¡­ I¡¯m not too sure, but the elder gods with Mai and the Mad Hatter and the others are all doing something like this, right?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t really certain either. Both of these groups were really mysterious.

    He didn¡¯t even know whether the group of elder gods that had been recently wiped out had anything to do with Kano Mai, which really worried him. But he didn¡¯t have any way to contact Kano Mai. He had thought about asking the Demon Lord to help, but he was afraid that their opinions would sh, so he decided against it.

    At the same time, a new team had been formed. But this team had exceptionally powerful members. It consisted of the Demon Lord, the four new gods with her, as well as the mysterious man.

    ¡°How interesting.¡± The man smiled brightly as he looked around him. Besides the six of them, there were three owners participating in the Challenge. He turned to them and smiled as he greeted them, ¡°Hello there!¡±

    ¡°Um, hello¡­¡± The three owners were a little stunned because this man didn¡¯t seem tense at all. He looked more like he was on a holiday than being part of a Challenge.

    The man said to Jing Hua, ¡°Are you certain those little things will appear during this Challenge?¡±

    Jing Hua nodded slightly and said, ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t think you need to question my calction abilities.¡±

    ¡°Of course. After all, you were the one who turned so many universes upside down with that ability of yours.¡± It seemed like the man had recalled a nasty memory. But he clearly also had great faith in Jing Hua¡¯s calction abilities.

    ¡°The few of us will do, right? Any additional people are trouble.¡± Tiny nced at the three owners, and before they could say anything, he waved his hand flippantly and the three owners turned to ash.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that. It¡¯s not easy for any living creature to live in this world. Killing too many of them is a waste,¡± said the man with a sigh.

    Tiny nced at him andughed. ¡°O Great One, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re the least qualified to make such a remark. I¡¯m nothingpared to you.¡±

    ¡°Things are different for me. It¡¯s part of my job,¡± said the man with a smile as he took confident strides out of the safe zone of the Challenge.

 Chapter 413

    Chapter 413

    The man seemed more like he was on a holiday rather than in a Challenge. His eyes were filled with curiosity and love for the things around him, but such leisurely times did notst too long. The rune creatures quickly descended on the Challenge and began to destroy and gobble up the world they were in.

    That¡¯s right ¨Cpared to the first time Su Jin had run into these monsters, the rune creatures had learned a new trick. They started gobbling up everything around them without caring what it was, and everything they gobbled became nothing but darkness. But nobody could go near the darkness. It was as though an invisible wall had been built there.

    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡± The man smiled brightly at the rune creatures, then said to the Demon Lord, ¡°Go see what they¡¯re good for?¡±

    ¡°Yes, O Great One!¡± responded the Demon Lord obediently before taking less than a second to appear in front of one of the creatures. She brought a palm down on it and the air around her hummed loudly. She had be so much more powerfulpared to the time when she left Su Jin¡¯s house. Just one m of her hand was enough to tear through space.

    Her palm had sliced the rune creature in half, but the creature did not die. Just one secondter, it healed itself and began charging at the Demon Lord. The conflict attracted the attention of the other rune creatures, so they too, started charging at the Demon Lord.

    The rune creatures weren¡¯t very powerful, but their structure was foreign and their behavior was unpredictable. The Demon Lord didn¡¯t know how to handle them at all. If there was just one of them, she could keep things within control. But now that there were so many of them, she found it difficult to fight them all. She was soon surrounded by rune creatures that kept attacking her nonstop.

    ¡°It looks like she might not make it. Should we help her?¡± asked Jing Hua.

    But the man grinned as he shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s watch and wait. I¡¯ve not seen something so interesting in a very long time now!¡±

    ¡°You call THAT interesting?!¡± muttered Jing Hua in shock. But all of them were obedient followers of the man¡¯s instructions. None of them tried to help and just stood there as they watched the Demon Lord get attacked by all the rune creatures.Ten minutester, the Demon Lord was definitely on the losing end. Twenty minutester, she could only keep trying to defend herself. Thirty minutes in, one of her arms had been torn and swallowed by a rune creature. Forty minutester, her body was cut in half. Fifty minutester, her entire body was covered in blood and the light in her eyes was about to go out.

    But the man still did not make any attempt to help her. He continued to watch this mass attack with great interest. Finally, after a full hour had passed, the Demon Lord was left with barely more than her head and even her head itself had been hacked into half, revealing the sparkly ckness within. She was about to breathe herst.

    ¡°Save her,¡± said the man. Jing Hua clutched the air in front of him with one fist and brought whatever was left of the Demon Lord¡¯s body back next to the man.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, as long as I¡¯m around, you won¡¯t die,¡± said the man with a smile as he ced a hand on thest half of her head.

    A brilliant cloud appeared and traveled from her head all the way down to the ground. Her body grew back and waspletely restored, and it was even stronger than before.

    The man let go of her and ignored her befuddled expression as he took a step forward and used a finger to tap the air. The roaring rune creatures suddenly froze, as though time had stopped.

    He stood in front of the frozen rune creatures, rubbed his chin, then waved a hand, which effectively dissected the creatures lengthwise. Everything inside them could be seen clearly.

    Phoenix walked over and began inspecting the creatures as well. A momentter, she nodded and said to the man, ¡°This is an incredible design that haspletely deviated from Hell¡¯s Handbook¡­ or rather, I should say that it was designed to go against every rule within the Handbook¡¯s universe, but it can still exist within the rules of the new cycle. That makes itpletely independent, yet able to have control over everything within the rules.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a design that even you wouldpliment? It must be a truly incredible design. After all, you were the one who designed all the living creatures of the Handbook¡¯s new cycle,¡± said the man with a smile.

    Phoenix scoffed, ¡°Well, I¡¯m definitely very capable, but I¡¯m not the only one who¡¯s able to do something like this. In fact, I sense that the one who made these creatures is even more capable than myself.¡±

    ¡°Such highpliments? I think I know who designed these things,¡± said the man.

    ¡°Oh? You know the designer?¡± asked Phoenix with some excitement in her voice.

    But the man shook his head and said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I know the designer, but¡­ I also can¡¯t say I don¡¯t. I don¡¯t know how to express it. But in the past, I called them primordial deities.¡±

    ¡°Primordial deities!¡± Everyone¡¯s gaze flickered. Many others did not know, but this group knew very well that the primordial deities were the true creators of Hell¡¯s Handbook. They were the most powerful of beings in any cycle, the highest in the order of beings.

    ¡°I heard that primordial beings are the most perfect among living creatures, and we can¡¯tpare to them at all. Is that right?¡± Jing Hua asked the man.

    The man smiled and nodded without hesitation. ¡°I can only say that they are a miracle of life. After they were all wiped out, I never saw such perfect beings again. Of course, all of you are very perfect too, but you are the minority of your race, or perhaps even the only one of your race who is like that. But the primordial deities are different. Any one of them is extremely powerful and equal or better than you!¡±

    Everyone fell silent for a while before the Dog God finally opened his mouth, ¡°There¡¯s at least one thing you got wrong.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± The man turned to look at the Dog God.

    ¡°The primordial deities did not really go extinct. It would be impossible to create these creatures otherwise, unless you¡¯re telling me that these existed right from the start,¡± said the Dog God.

    The man did not disagree and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. I thought they had all been wiped out, but it looks like some were missed. I hope that this time¡­ I can really wipe them all out!¡±

    ¡°But even if a primordial deity did this, they couldn¡¯t have created such a creature with their own abilities, right? I needed the power of the Handbook to create living creatures, so¡­ could it be that the primordial deities had managed to use the power of the Handbook without us realizing it?¡± Phoenix frowned deeply, then shook her head. ¡°No, that doesn¡¯t make sense. If Hell¡¯s Handbook was the basis of their existence, then such creatures could not possibly be created. In other words¡­¡±

    ¡°The primordial deities have created a new system. A powerful system that can rival Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± said the man calmly.

    Everyone exchanged nervous nces, because this soundedpletely insane. Hell¡¯s Handbook was created by both the will of the universe and the primordial deities. If either party were missing, it would not be possible to create such a system.

    ¡°Do not look down on the living creatures of the universe. That¡¯s the most important lesson I¡¯ve learned after so many cycles. The only fascinating thing about living things is their potential,¡± said the man with a faint smile before waving his arm and causing all the rune creatures to turn to dust.

    ¡°Alright now, we¡¯re done having fun here, so let¡¯s go back and rest.¡± The man stretched his arms, then flicked his fingers. The group left the Challenge and returned to the temple of the elder gods.

    When they returned, they found two people already waiting for them. The man wasn¡¯t surprised. He smiled and said to them, ¡°Looking for me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We have information that you need, and I think you will definitely pay us well for it,¡± said one of the ones waiting at the temple. He went into a little daze staring at the man, as though something had surprised him.

    The man looked at the one who had just spoke and seemed to be trying to recall something. His eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Ah! I remember you. Your name is¡­ the Mad Hatter! Am I right?¡±

    ¡°That really touches my heart. You actually remembered my name.¡± The Mad Hatter took his hat off and bowed as though he was truly touched, but there was nothing but iciness in his eyes.

    ¡°Well, I always have a deep impression of the ones who are interesting. You weren¡¯t the most powerful during your cycle, but you were very interesting. Very well, tell me what information you have,¡± said the man with a shrug.

    The Mad Hatter went ahead, ¡°Two things. Firstly, there are some elder gods who have joined forces and are trying to break free from their fate. I know where they are and can bring you there to destroy them.¡±

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s the group of elder gods that you gathered, right? Ah¡­ what do you creatures call this behavior¡­¡± the man tapped his knuckles against his head to think.

    ¡°Betrayal!¡± hissed the Demon Lord by his side.

 Chapter 414

    Chapter 414

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. You¡¯re betraying them,¡± said the man with a smile.

    But the Mad Hatter shrugged. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m guilty of a lot of things, and I¡¯m afraid betrayal isn¡¯t even the worst of the lot.¡±

    ¡°The consequences of this particr betrayal are very severe though. You know I will kill them all,¡± said the man while still smiling.

    ¡°I said, it doesn¡¯t matter!¡± snapped the Mad Hatter. ¡°Second piece of information. Those strange creaturese from a system called The Beginning. It¡¯s created by the gods who went missing from the first cycle, and they made this after going through countless cycles. The controller of this system is the one and only primordial deity that did not get wiped out. Her name is now¡­ Kano Mai.¡±

    ¡°It really was as I had expected. But at the same time, I¡¯m surprised that the ones who went missing from the first cycle actually managed to survive until now and even made a system that can rival Hell¡¯s Handbook. Like I said before, the potential that living creatures have is a really fascinating thing!¡± said the man as heughed heartily.

    ¡°So, where are they now?¡± asked the man.

    The Mad Hatter shook his head and said, ¡°I am unable to get their precise location. They¡¯re in control of a primordial. You know what that is, right?¡±

    ¡°I do indeed. No wonder I¡¯ve not been able to detect them even after so many rounds have passed. A primordial still exists¡­ I didn¡¯t even think of that,¡± said the man. ¡°Is that all the information you have?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And I think even these bits of information would be very important to you,¡± said the Mad Hatter tly.The man nodded and said, ¡°Like you said, this information is indeed very important to me. What would you like in return? I can give you anything.¡±

    ¡°I want to revive a person,¡± said the Mad Hatter.

    ¡°Alice?¡± The man already knew the answer before the Mad Hatter said it.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the Mad Hatter nodded. ¡°Looks like you did observe me for a while.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I like interesting lifeforms,¡± said the man with a chuckle. He then looked at Pinhio and asked, ¡°What about you, wooden puppet? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I want to revive someone too! My father!¡± said Pinhio loudly.

    The man nodded slightly, then stretched his arms out as he said, ¡°I will grant your wish!¡±

    A brilliant light shed between his palms, a white light too bright to look at. Two figures slowly appeared in the bright light, and when the light had faded, a woman with blonde hair and an old man with white hair stood in front of the Mad Hatter and Pinhio.

    ¡°Babbo! Babbo!!¡± Pinhio leaped into the old man¡¯s arms and burst into tears.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Pinhio? Did someone bully you?¡± asked the white haired old man puzzledly. He patted Pinhio¡¯s little head and smiled as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry. Big boys don¡¯t cry so easily.¡±

    At the same time, the Mad Hatter walked toward Alice. He gave her a gentlemanly bow, then smiled and said, ¡°Wee back, Alice!¡±

    Alice had a confused expression as she looked around her, then asked, ¡°Mad Hatter, I remember I should have¡­ passed away from old age. How¡­ how did I be so young?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to think too hard about that. In any case, wee back!¡± The Mad Hatter was only smiling faintly, but there was excitement and happiness glowing in his eyes.

    Alice walked toward him and embraced him, whichpletely shocked him. The usually flippant Mad Hatter actually started trembling slightly.

    After she let go of him, she frowned and said, ¡°Mad Hatter, you had to give up a lot in order for me to be revived, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Well, those things¡­ those things don¡¯t matter anymore. As long as you can be revived, everything I¡¯ve given up is worth it,¡± said the Mad Hatter without hesitation.

    But Alice said, ¡°But¡­ if possible, after I die again, can you promise me that you won¡¯t revive me again?¡±

    ¡°Wh-why?¡± The Mad Hatter looked confused.

    Alice tilted her head like she was thinking, then she smiled and said, ¡°I guess it¡¯s because¡­ my life was already perfect. I had you, I had my friends. I had people who loved me and I had people I loved. I was content with that life, and a life lived without regrets is the perfect life to me. I¡¯m a perfectionist, after all! So, if I had to live all over again, I¡¯m not sure if I could achieve that level of bliss again.¡±

    The Mad Hatter didn¡¯t know what to say. It never crossed his mind that Alice would be so unafraid of death, and that a blissful life was a fortunate one that she was very content with. Not even a god could have reached this point of enlightenment. Or rather, this enlightenment was probably the reason why Alice had failed to be a god.

    To Alice, whether she became a god or not wasn¡¯t important. She had been enjoying her life and the people around her.

    ¡°Hey¡­ don¡¯t look so upset. Aren¡¯t you happy to see me?¡± Alice noticed his perplexed expression and patted his shoulder as though she were consoling a child.

    The Mad Hatter couldn¡¯t help but break into a smile. This was the Alice he loved! She hadn¡¯t changed a single bit!

    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll forgive you this time. Since I¡¯ve got to live all over again, then I want to live happily!¡± said Alice as she took the Mad Hatter¡¯s hand in hers. Her perfect smile could melt even the hardest of hearts.

    Geppetto knocked on Pinhio¡¯s head too and said, ¡°You didn¡¯t have to put in so much effort for me too. Aging and dying is just part of life¡¯s natural cycle. Anyone who grows old will and should eventually pass away. There¡¯s no need to fight that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not natural at all! I¡¯ve lived for so long!¡± Pinhio retorted indignantly, only for Gepetto to knock him gently on the head again.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been blessed by a fairy before, so you¡¯re not human. Of course you¡¯re not like me!¡± Geppetto chided Pinhio.

    Pinhio stuck his tongue out cheekily. Even when he was getting scolded by his father, he felt so blessed. He felt even more blessed than when he became a god.

    ¡°Alright now, I¡¯ve given you what you wanted. Now, it¡¯s time for you to bring me to the ce where the elder gods have gathered,¡± said the man.

    The Mad Hatter nodded and bowed as he said to the man, ¡°O Great One, could you give us a little time to settle them somewhere suitable to live first? They are merely ordinary people and should not be part of this.¡±

    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll wait here for you.¡± The man did not seem to be afraid that the Mad Hatter would escape. He was very confident that the Mad Hatter wouldn¡¯t do that.

    The Mad Hatter and Pinhio led Alice and Geppetto out of the temple. Pinhio asked the Mad Hatter, ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll go to that ce,¡± said the Mad Hatter calmly as he threw his hat into the air and leaped in with the other three.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had just finished telling Chu Yi about why he should not attempt bing a god right now and returned to his own world. Immediately upon arriving home, he sensed the presence of the Mad Hatter and Pinhio.

    And as he had expected, after he opened the door to his house, he spotted the two of them with another man and woman on his couch. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. Having doors was pointless. Clearly, these people were able to enter his house anytime they liked.

    But when he looked more closely at the other two guests, he paused for a moment before saying, ¡°Are you two¡­ Miss Alice and Pinhio¡¯s father?¡±

    Alice was the first one to leap up from the couch. She said to Su Jin, ¡°Do you know who we are?¡±

    But the Mad Hatter pulled her back and stared at Su Jin in disbelief. ¡°Damn it! You¡¯ve chosen to take that path!¡±

    Su Jin shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t have to look that surprised.¡±

    The Mad Hatter shook his head and said, ¡°Of course I¡¯m surprised! Not only have you chosen to take that path, but you¡¯ve actually managed to get out of the Grave of the Gods in one piece. You¡­ I don¡¯t even know what to say about you.¡±

    ¡°You can just list every negative adjective in your vocabry,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He poured all four of them tea, then asked, ¡°What brings you here?¡±

    ¡°I was hoping to entrust Alice and Geppetto to you, but now¡­¡± The Mad Hatter hesitated, then suddenly smiled and went on, ¡°I guess I¡¯m still going to entrust them to you!¡±

    ¡°Is this some special way of speaking that¡¯s unique to the people from thend of fairytales?¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand what the Mad Hatter was trying to say.

    The Mad Hatter smiled, then said to Alice, ¡°Alice, I need to attend to some matters, so¡­ would it be alright if you stay here for a while?¡±

    Alice looked crestfallen as she clutched the Mad Hatter¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Do you really have to go?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± he nodded.

    ¡°Alice¡­ Alice will wait for you toe back,¡± said Alice.

    The Mad Hatter nodded. Pinhio bid farewell to Geppetto as well. They both said goodbye to Su Jin and leaped into the Mad Hatter¡¯s hat before letting Su Jin say anything.

 Chapter 415

    Chapter 415

    Su Jin was really speechless. He felt like his house was being treated like a hotel of sorts, since anyone was able toe and stay temporarily before leaving again. So, when Su Jin sat down to talk to Alice and Geppetto, he suddenly felt like he was the owner of an inn or something.

    ¡°The two of you¡­ look rather unhappy,¡± remarked Su Jin when he saw their glum faces.

    Alice nodded slightly and said, ¡°You¡¯re a friend of the Mad Hatter, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I guess so?¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure if he and the Mad Hatter were considered friends or not. The Mad Hatter had always insisted that they would eventually have to fight each other, but Su Jin guessed that the Mad Hatter had said that on the assumption that Su Jin would be a god. But now that Su Jin wasn¡¯t going down that path, the Mad Hatter¡¯s predictions weren¡¯t going toe true anymore. And given how the Mad Hatter had helped him previously, it was fair to say that they were friends.

    ¡°The Mad Hatter is going to die,¡± said Alice.

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Su Jin blinked in surprise.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid¡­ Pinhio is going to die too,¡± said Geppetto.

    ¡°What?!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe it. Were these two cursing their own loved ones now? What were they even saying?!

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Su Jin.¡°It was his expression. That¡¯s an expression I see only when he wants to do somethingpletely insane, something that might very well cost him his life,¡± said Alice grimly. ¡°He can¡¯t fool me. He¡¯s had that expression from the moment he revived me. He¡¯s going to do something that might get him killed.¡±

    ¡°Pinhio too. I brought him up. I know him too well,¡± said Geppetto with a sigh.

    Su Jin frowned puzzledly. ¡°Since both of you noticed it earlier on, why didn¡¯t you stop them?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because we know them too well. The Mad Hatter has the word ¡®mad¡¯ in his name for a reason. He wouldn¡¯t give up just because I tried to persuade him otherwise. He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s a very stubborn person,¡± said Alice with a heavy sigh.

    ¡°So, because you understand them, you gave up? You let them do something they insisted on doing?¡± thought Su Jin to himself. But he was still a little confused. Why would the Mad Hatter and Pinhio want to do something that could get them killed? As far as he knew, those two were very good at self-preservation.

    Meanwhile, the Mad Hatter and Pinhio had returned to the temple of the elder gods. The Mad Hatter smiled at the man and said, ¡°O Great One, we can head over now.¡±

    ¡°Good. Lead the way,¡± the man nodded.

    The Mad Hatter threw his hat into the air. The man nodded and said, ¡°You have the rare power of passing through space and you¡¯ve developed it to such a level too. You must have worked really hard at it.¡±

    ¡°This way, please,¡± the Mad Hatter motioned to the man to enter the hat.

    The man leaped into the hat without hesitation. The Mad Hatter then motioned to Phoenix and the rest to enter as well, so the five of them leaped in one after another without giving it much thought.

    After everyone had leaped in, the Mad Hatter patted Pinhio¡¯s shoulder, then leaped in as well. But after he leaped in, the hat didn¡¯t disappear like it normally would.

    Pinhio, the only one left outside the hat, suddenly started swelling up. His body went from the size of a child¡¯s to the size of an adult. He picked up the hat, opened his mouth so wide that it looked like he had dislocated his jaw, then swallowed the hat whole.

    ¡°To hell with you, will of the universe! You¡¯ve been had!¡± cursed Pinhio. He then suddenly turned to look into the distance as he murmured, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Babbo¡­ farewell, Babbo!¡±

    With that, Pinhio¡¯s body suddenly started swelling even more. He did not look like he was in any pain at all, and looked more like he was enjoying this.

    Boom!

    Pinhio¡¯s body exploded and became nothing but ash. At the same time, the man frowned slightly before his eyes widened as he looked around him. He said frostily, ¡°Not bad! You actually thought of a n like this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, O Great One. It¡¯s you we¡¯re dealing with, after all. If I didn¡¯t do that, I wouldn¡¯t be confident of trapping you,¡± said the Mad Hatter with a grin. His hat had been reduced to ashes along with Pinhio, and the explosive force from an imploding god like Pinhio had sessfully wiped out this space¡¯s exit.

    They were not in a different space at all. They were in the space of the hat itself. As long as the hat was destroyed, this space would be sealed forever and nobody would be able to leave it. Not even a god with the best spatial powers could do anything about it, because this was a space that the Mad Hatter had used thousands of years to create and develop. It was probably the only thing in this cycle other than Su Jin and The Beginning that did not follow the rules of the Handbook.

    ¡°You intend to merely trap me?¡± asked the man.

    The Mad Hatter shook his head. He undid the buttons on his sleeve and said calmly, ¡°Nope. I¡¯m also hoping to kill you!¡±

    ¡°Kill me? You know who I am, don¡¯t you?¡± said the man with a smile, as though he was mocking the Mad Hatter¡¯s ignorance.

    The Mad Hatter nodded. ¡°Of course I do. You¡¯re the most respected, most noble, the one above all ¨C the will of the universe. But from the moment you appeared in physical form, all the deities felt it. And the ones who were the most excited and most agitated were us!¡±

    He suddenly stretched his arms wide, causing his white sleeves to roll back slightly. In the darkness behind him, figure after figure began to appear.

    ¡°Asrael, the god of foolishness; Teredo, the god of ice and snow; Katoo, the sun god; Xu Hao, the god of the sword; Mirren, the god of speed¡­ you guys¡­¡± The Demon Lord stared in disbelief at the figures behind the Mad Hatter, because they were all gods from the same era as herself.

    Some of them were powerful, some of them were weak, and some of them were supposed to be dead. She didn¡¯t expect to see them again here, much less form an alliance.

    ¡°Aha! My deities! Have you gathered here because you think all of you put together would be strong enough¡­ to kill me?¡± The man¡¯s tone of voice went from slightly amused to extreme rage.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! We started preparing ourselves from the time we noticed that this cycle was about to end. We know that you mighte here physically, and you really did! That¡¯s the best part!¡± said the Mad Hatter with a huge smile.

    The man sneered, ¡°Just the few of you? If all of you here were really able to kill me, then I would have died so many times over all the cycles that have passed. The will of the universe is immortal. That¡¯s right, I cannot be destroyed!¡±

    ¡°If you were really indestructible, then why are you angry now?¡± shouted the Mad Hatter. His eyes were filled with rage as he continued shouting, ¡°For the sake of our world! For the sake of our world!¡±

    ¡°For the sake of our world!¡± The other gods began shouting the same thing as the Mad Hatter. At the same time, their bodies began to glow brightly.

    Each of them glowed brightly in different colors, then merged together to be one. The Mad Hatter stood in front of the bright light and said, ¡°You are the will of the universe, so none of the techniques, weapons, and powers within the system will be able to hurt you. So, we¡¯ve decided to give up on using those things. Instead, we will transform ourselves into the very first beam of light!¡±

    The man had a grim look in his eyes as he said quietly, ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good n. Using light to create a terrifyingly powerful st. Are you trying to mimic the big bang?¡±

    ¡°We are! I hope this will be a show that surprises you!¡± The Mad Hatter bowed slightly, then turned into an orb of light as well.

    The Demon Lord¡¯s eyes were filled with horror. She couldn¡¯t imagine the sort of power that would be contained within an explosion like the big bang. This would truly be a power that existed outside of the Handbook.

    BOOM!

    The light exploded and a terrifying energy st filled the entire space. The space that the Mad Hatter had spent years developing started to warp, then copsed on the will of the universe and hispanions.

    The ststed for a long time, and when the dust settled, the entire space was empty and devoid of any signs of life. The sacrifice of the Mad Hatter and the other elder gods seemed to have worked out the way they wanted.

    But then all of a sudden, there was a glitch in the space. Part of the space that was destroyed actually mended itself to form a round space. When the round space had stabilized, the face of the will of the universe slowly grew clearer and clearer, and the Demon Lord along with the other four gods reappeared as well.

    ¡°That was a pretty good show, alright. But a show¡¯s nothing but a show. Like I said, if these people were enough to kill me, I wouldn¡¯t have survived till today,¡± the will of the universe chuckled.

    ¡°Since you already knew that¡­ why did you get angry?¡± asked the Demon Lord puzzledly.

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t get angry, those fellows wouldn¡¯t have happily sent themselves to their deaths, would they?¡± The will of the universe burst outughing. He tapped the air with his finger to leave this ce, but his face fell immediately.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Jing Hua.

    ¡°Damn it. This ce is a little moreplicated than I had imagined, plus it¡¯s gone through some new changes as a result of the st. I¡¯m afraid¡­ it¡¯ll take us some time before we can get out,¡± said the will of the universe with a frown.

    ¡°In other words¡­ we¡¯re trapped?¡± Phoenix scoffed.

    ¡°Well¡­ that does seem to be the case!¡± the will of the universe shook his head with a sigh.

 Chapter 416

    Chapter 416

    Back inside Su Jin¡¯s house, Alice suddenly started crying uncontrobly at the dining table. Su Jin got a shock and asked hesitantly, ¡°Surely my cooking isn¡¯t THAT bad¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not you. Alice has a special ability. Whenever anybody from thend of fairytales dies, she will be able to sense it.¡± Geppetto sighed as sadness filled his eyes.

    Su Jin froze for a moment. Thend of fairytales was long gone, and out of the four lucky survivors, two of them were right here. So the ones who had died could only be the Mad Hatter and Pinhio.

    ¡°Something bad has happened to the Mad Hatter and Pinhio?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Alice buried her face in her hands and nodded slowly. She was crying too hard to speak and her tears kept falling onto the dining table. Her grief was somehow contagious, and even Su Jin felt terrible inside.

    Or perhaps it had nothing to do with Alice. Su Jin was genuinely feeling sad about losing his old friends.

    ¡°Mr. Su, now is the time for me toplete the task the Mad Hatter gave me before he left,¡± said Alice after she wiped her tears away.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t expecting that. ¡°The Mad Hatter needed you to do something?¡±

    ¡°He wanted me to pass you a message, and he told me to tell you only when the time was right. I think¡­ this is the time he was talking about,¡± said Alice as another tear rolled down her face.Su Jin remembered that the Mad Hatter did have a private moment with Alice before leaving, but he didn¡¯t think the Mad Hatter was actually leaving a message for him. He nodded and said, ¡°So, what¡¯s the message?¡±

    Alice nodded and replied, ¡°The Mad Hatter wants you to beware the will of the universe.¡±

    ¡°I know that very well. I¡¯ve always been very careful,¡± Su Jin nodded. He had been treading very cautiously because he knew that the will of the universe was the reason for everything that existed.

    But Alice shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not what he was trying to say. He¡¯s saying that¡­ the will of the universe hase here. He is now in human form and he¡¯s traversing the worlds.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He knew that the will of the universe would definitely make an appearance eventually, but he didn¡¯t expect the will of the universe to appear this early. He thought that the will of the universe would onlye when everything was about to reach the end.

    Alice said, ¡°You still don¡¯t get it. The Mad Hatter wants you to be careful because the will of the universe will appear in front of you in a form that you least expect.¡±

    ¡°Can you be a bit more specific?¡± asked Su Jin with a grimace. The way Alice was going round in circles even though she could have been direct was annoying him. Of course, Su Jin could have used his psychokinesis to scan her thoughts, but he wasn¡¯t going to do that to someone he considered a friend.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± Alice shook her head and exined, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be difficult. You have to understand who we¡¯re discussing right now. We¡¯re talking about the will of the universe. If I describe him too clearly, he might sense it and you¡¯d be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°That sounds a little¡­ over exaggerated¡­¡± Su Jin was a little surprised. Was the will of the universe really that powerful?

    ¡°I think it¡¯s better to err on the side of caution,¡± said Alice gravely.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. This possibility surprised him initially, but after giving it more thought, he realized that this was very possible. The will of the universe was the creator and controller of this entire system, so he stood above everything and definitely had powers way beyond the created ones within his system.

    At the same time, Su Jin simply couldn¡¯t imagine what sort of surprising form the will of the universe could use to appear before him. It was now more important for him to think about how to build his own temple and his own army of gods that could operate outside of the will of the universe and Hell¡¯s Handbook, so that he could give his friends, family, and anybody willing to join him some basic security.

    ¡°Gosh, this is giving me such a headache,¡± murmured Su Jin as he tapped his head with his knuckles. ¡°Where can I find a that¡¯s not within the control of the Handbook?¡±

    ¡°Why do you need such a?¡± asked Geppetto.

    ¡°I want to build a temple of my own that can act as a shelter for the people around me. That way, even if I lose this battle, I have a ce where my loved ones can live in peace,¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    ¡°I see. Something like that does exist. ording to what I¡¯ve heard, some stars possess spatial abilities right from the time they were created. Such stars break into pieces after they burn out or are destroyed, and these pieces continue to possess spatial abilities even as they float in the universe. But most of them would have beenpletely destroyed by disasters in space. But if you can find one of these pieces and use that to build a, the will continue to float in space on its own and the Handbook will not be able to detect it,¡± exined Geppetto in a slow voice.

    Su Jin said with some surprise, ¡°Oh my, Geppetto, you know a lot!¡±

    ¡°Pinhio was the scientist of our world, and everything he knew came from me.¡± Geppetto¡¯s eyes were filled with pride whenever he talked about Pinhio, except now, there was sadness mixed in as well.

    Su Jin remembered that he had indeed heard from the Mad Hatter that Pinhio was the scientist of thend of fairytales who had invented several things. Even the blueprint of the boning knife had been provided by Pinhio.

    ¡°A broken piece from a star with spatial abilities¡­ that sounds hard to find,¡± said Su Jin. Such stars were very few to begin with, and it would be even harder to find any remnants now.

    ¡°If you really need to find one, I can help,¡± said Geppetto.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t expect to hear that. ¡°You can?¡±

    ¡°Back in the day I did some research on this. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too hard to find one, but I will need something that can send a powerful enough signal out,¡± said Geppetto.

    ¡°How powerful is powerful?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°The more powerful, the better. The greater the area that the signal covers, the faster we¡¯ll find such a piece,¡± said Geppetto.

    Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°What about me?¡±

    ¡°You¡­?¡± Geppetto blinked at him and shook his head. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t understand what you mean.¡±

    Su Jin exined, ¡°My Spirit Power is psychokinesis, so I am able to send any signal into the world. At the same time, I believe I can receive any signal thates back too. Of course, that¡¯s just my spection at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡­ that¡¯s usible.¡± Geppetto hesitated for a few moments to think, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s just give it a shot! I can¡¯t be certain either.¡±

    The two of them started getting busy, and in just three days, Geppetto was done. He had used just three days to put aputer system together. ording to Geppetto, this thing was very simr to an AIputer he had built in the past, so it was like his oldputer but with a new interface.

    Geppetto used it to program a signal, and he just needed something to send this signal out. Su Jin used his psychokinesis to understand the structure of the signal, mimicked it perfectly, then used his psychokinesis to send it out.

    Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis was incredibly powerful. If he wanted to, he could cover the entire gxy. But psychokinesis was a power within the Handbook¡¯s system, so he tried not to use it if he didn¡¯t have to.

    The signal sent out by his psychokinesis traveled outward rapidly. He sent out a total of eight signals and did his best to make sure they covered as wide an area as possible. The only thing left for him to do was to wait. If he was lucky, he would be able to find what he wanted soon.

    Life returned to mundanity. Su Jin put everything down and took a trip back to his hometown. This was a ce that was special to him. Regardless of how distant his rtionship with his parents was, that was where his soul felt at peace.

    In order to fulfill his parents¡¯ materialistic dreams, Su Jin even took special effort to turn himself into a big shot. He made himself a director of sorts at Tracy¡¯spany, so even though he didn¡¯t know what sort of job scope that position entailed, it made him sound like a high flier.

    After they heard what Su Jin wanted, Murray, Tracy, and Jack brought a whole group of elites to China and informed Situ Jin ahead of time.

    ¡°So¡­ you guys are here to make Su Jin¡­ look like some really big shot?¡± Situ Jin stared at them in confusion.

 Chapter 417

    Chapter 417

    Su Jin felt like he had blown this thing a little out of proportion. His hometown was just a little town in the mountains, but now, all sorts of luxury cars had filled up the already not very wide mountain road.

    ¡°I understand what you guys are trying to do and I¡¯m very grateful, but¡­ all I wanted to do was to make my family happy for the day. There¡¯s no need to invest billions to develop this little mountain vige, is there? Is there even a point in doing so?¡± asked Su Jin with a tired sigh as he pped his forehead.

    ¡°Of course there is. This is your hometown, so it¡¯s definitely a good ce for development. We¡¯ve already made all the preparations. For the first phase, we¡¯ll pump in $27 billion to rece and upgrade the basic facilities here, then we¡¯ll decide how much to pump in for the second and third phase after that,¡± said Tracy with a straight face.

    Su Jin nearly threw up blood. He was frustrated as he said, ¡°Please guys, that¡¯s ridiculous. $27 billion is enough to buy not just this vige but all their ancestors before them! You¡¯re using it to rece and upgrade the facilities here? Even if you ced tiles on every square inch ofnd here, you would still have money leftover!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. If there¡¯s leftover, we could give it to the residents. How about $1 million USD per person? Or more?¡± suggested Murray.

    ¡°That¡¯s ENOUGH! If you¡¯re going to be like this, I¡¯m going to make all of you leave the country!¡± Su Jin warned them with a nasty re before walking away to deal with a different problem.

    Yup, Su Jin¡¯s problem wasn¡¯t only these owners from the other side of the world, but Situ Jin as well. Situ Jin made Su Jin some outstanding young entrepreneur of sorts and got him several ques and medals. There were so many along the lines of Top Ten Young National Talents, and while the local government didn¡¯t know what these medals were all about, they did not doubt Situ Jin and supported him in any way they could.

    Su Jin found Situ Jin and said, ¡°And what are YOU trying to do? I don¡¯t think the resources that a department assigned to protect the country from otherworldly forces was meant for such matters.¡±

    ¡°This is just to express the nation¡¯s gratitude to you. After all, if not for you, our country would have been overrun either by those owners from the other side of the world, or Shen Wu¡¯s robbers!¡± said Situ Jin with a big grin on his face.Su Jin waggled a finger at him, then turned to talk to Xu Ran who was right next to Situ Jin. ¡°And what about you? Why in the world am I an honorary elder of the Daoist order now?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just part of the fun!¡± Xu Ran spoke so confidently, Su Jin didn¡¯t know what else to do besides re fiercely at him.

    Su Jin then moved toward an elegant-looking man. This man was none other than Daitengu, who had spent barely more than a month in Japan. He had actually managed to get the CEO of a huge Japanese corporation to invest in Su Jin¡¯s hometown.

    ¡°Come here!¡± hissed Su Jin and Daitengu immediately came running over. Su Jin asked, ¡°And what¡¯s your deal? Just wanted to be part of the fun too?¡±

    ¡°Your hometown is important to you, so I¡¯ve got to show my utmost support too,¡± said Daitengu without missing a beat.

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°You haven¡¯t spent a lot of time in Japan, have you? How did you get this CEO to do this? I hope you didn¡¯t threaten him or something!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t do anything bad to him. I revealed my true self to a family that worshipped me, so they¡¯ve been willing to give me anything.¡± Daitengu looked so proud of himself, Su Jin felt the urge to p him.

    Daitengu went on, ¡°And I¡¯m not the only one here to support you. Bifang is hibernating, but Su Mei is here!¡±

    ¡°Su Mei? Oh, right! The Nine-tailed Fox!¡± Su Jin pped his forehead. How could he have forgotten about her? She had entered apetition recently and instantly became a hit. She had fans not only in China, but in Asia and even beyond this continent. Nobody could escape her charm and a lot of people had gone crazy over her. He also heard that her fanclub had exceeded 10,000 members, and this was only because the fanclub had extremely strict conditions for those who wanted to be a member. Without those strict conditions, who knew how many would have joined by now?

    Also, Su Jin had heard that Hollywood had made her several movie offers, and she was quite interested in trying them out. Su Jin felt that she might end up ruling the world in this manner.

    Just seconds after he had spoken, Su Jin heard shrieks and the sound of crying in the distance. He scanned his surroundings with his psychokinesis and realized that the Nine-tailed Fox had arrived.

    Within moments, many of the magnates and government officials at his door went rushing toward the Nine-tailed Fox. It turned out that a lot of them were huge fans of hers too.

    She was now known as Su Mei, and carried herself like a real superstar. And very surprisingly, while her fans were really crazy about her, they were all really rational. Or at least there was no fan who tried to pounce on her or try to harass her. Everyone actually automatically formed teams to protect her and helped her to make sure that everything was orderly.

    The Nine-tailed Fox walked through the crowd very easily, approached Su Jin and immediately hooked her arm around his with an adoring look on her face.

    That scene made so many hearts break. Su Jin didn¡¯t need to use his psychokinesis to figure out what everyone was thinking. But to his surprise, everyone quickly recovered from that moment and even looked like they were happy for her and willing to quietly protect her happiness.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to get me into so much trouble,¡± Su Jin sighed and shook his head.

    But the Nine-tailed Fox covered her mouth with one hand and giggled as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure that everyone will be giving us their blessing and nobody will give you any trouble.¡±

    ¡°And if they find out that their most beloved and revered celebrity isn¡¯t my girlfriend at all, would they think that I¡¯d abandoned you or that I¡¯m some jerk or something along those lines? Are you sure they won¡¯te after me if that happens?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The Nine-tailed Fox pointed at her own mouth and looked shocked as she said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that far ahead!¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright, just clean up your messter on, don¡¯t add to my troubles.¡± Su Jin sighed heavily. He had just wanted to show off a little to his parents, but things had gotten way out of hand, like he had flown too close to the sun.

    A huge crowd had been prevented from getting any closer to Su Jin¡¯s house, so the local government had no choice but to create some temporary rest zones or paid the surrounding neighbors to provide some space. It would be too crowded if they were all gathered right outside Su Jin¡¯s house.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin¡¯s parents were drowning in bliss. They had always hoped that their children would be sessful enough for them to boast about. Their dream hade true, and it seemed like¡­ their dreams had even been surpassed.

    ¡°Jin, what¡¯s going on?!¡± Su Qing just stared in disbelief at all the people inside and outside the house. And when she saw the Nine-tailed Fox next to her brother, she even instinctively took a step back in shock as she stuttered, ¡°S-Su¡­ Mei!!¡±

    ¡°Is it really THAT shocking¡­¡± Su Jin used his psychokinesis to say to the Nine-tailed Fox, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare use your charm skills on my friends and family, you hear me?¡±

    ¡°I never did that!¡± The Nine-tailed Fox felt aggrieved by that statement.

    Su Jin sighed, then used his psychokinesis to help Su Qing be more mentally resilient, and she calmed down a little. A smaller sized girl next to Su Qing timidly spoke up, ¡°Brother Su, long time no see!¡±

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s you, Mengmeng! It¡¯s been a really long time,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. The girl next to Su Qing was Yang Mengmeng. Su Jin had helped her before, but after that, they never saw each other again.

    Yang Mengmeng nodded excitedly as she said, ¡°Brother Su, my mother wants me to help her to thank you!¡±

    ¡°No worries. When I get the chance to, I¡¯ll visit her myself,¡± replied Su Jin with a smile. After that, Su Jin spent the rest of his time dealing with all the guests in the house, which totally made him regret the childish ns he had.

    He stayed home for seven days, and his parents dragged him to meet with every rtive they could. After he had finally satisfied their need to feel like they had made it in life, he had to leave.

    ¡°Dad, Mom, you don¡¯t have to scrimp and save anymore, I can provide well for the family.¡± Su Jin held his parents¡¯ hands tightly. Once he left this time, he might not have the chance to return, unless he won the final battle.

    ¡°With such a sessful son, your parents aren¡¯t going to be stingy with themselves anymore! Don¡¯t worry about that!¡± Su Jin¡¯s fatherughed heartily. He felt like this was the best day of his life.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. I don¡¯t have to worry about you guys then.¡± Su Jin chatted with his sister for a while, then left his hometown and returned to his house in S City.

    Aftering back to S City, Su Jin¡¯s emotions continued to go on a rollercoaster ride. It took him three whole days to finally calm himself down and prepare himself mentally. From now onward, Su Jin was going to put his heart and soul into the challenges of the future!

 Chapter 418

    Chapter 418

    As someone who had chosen a different path, Su Jin did not need to heed any calls from the Handbook. But when it did, he decided to enter the Challenge he was scheduled for in the end, because he needed some time to do some observations and research. He needed to find out more about those rune creatures, for example.

    Darkness enveloped him and he could clearly feel himself being teleported, and he could also sense that a particr world out there was being surrounded by the power of the Handbook. This was the power that Su Jin now possessed as someone outside of the Handbook¡¯s control. He stood as a character on the outside, so he could see everything that was happening inside.

    ¡°The mesmerizing moon makes one lose their soul! The moon shines bright, but there¡¯s panic within each one¡¯s heart!¡± that terrifying voice rang out, describing a frightening moonlit night in a few phrases.

    Everything around him brightened, and he could see again. He was seated in a pavilion with six others.

    ¡°A seven person challenge.¡± Su Jin nodded slightly. Based on the number of people involved, he figured that this Challenge¡¯s difficulty was somewhere in the middle.

    He opened his Handbook and saw the basic information that was provided for all owners.

    Level C Challenge: Hypnotizing Moonlit Night

    Main quest: Reach Moonlight Church or extinguish the moonlight before daybreak.

    Side quest: Find out Moonlight Church¡¯s history.A Level C Challenge wasn¡¯t too hard. It was considered an easier one among the Challenges that Su Jin had gone through. But this Challenge seemed to involve supernatural beings, so that pushed the difficulty one notch up. In other words, this Challenge might be equivalent to a Level B Challenge.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t really care about how difficult the Challenge was. He cared more about the process and what he needed to get out of it. But that didn¡¯t mean that the other owners didn¡¯t care about the difficulty level. The other six owners were already frowning at their Handbooks.

    One of them was an old man in his sixties, with white hair and a white beard. It was rare to see an owner at such an advanced age. The old man frowned as he said, ¡°Well, the Challenge has begun. Any veterans here?¡±

    The group exchanged nces and only Su Jin and the old man raised their hands. There were two veterans among seven people, which was not bad for a Level C Challenge.

    ¡°Hello there, my name is Li Yi, and my Spirit Power is explosions,¡± said the old man as he gave Su Jin a quick nod.

    Su Jin responded, ¡°Hello, Mr. Li. My name is Su Jin and my Spirit Power is psychokinesis. What do you mean by¡­ explosions?¡±

    ¡°Watched Naruto before?¡±

    ¡°Yep!¡±

    ¡°One Piece?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°My Hero Academia?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡±

    ¡°My, my, you¡¯re a real otaku!¡± Li Yi burst outughing.

    Su Jinughed along awkwardly. This old man was¡­ rather interesting. ¡°Are you saying that your Spirit Power resembles what we see in these anime series?¡±

    Li Yi touched a section of the pavilion with his hand and the part he just touched instantly exploded. The explosive force wasn¡¯t great, but the other five owners with no Spirit Power were astonished. They clearly envied the old man for having such a violent Spirit Power.

    Su Jini nodded slightly. Li Yi¡¯s Spirit Power was probably very useful in most Challenges, and he was quite sure that Li Yi could adjust how powerful he wanted each explosion to be. But such a power wasn¡¯t particrly useful in a Challenge that involved the supernatural.

    ¡°Young man, show me what you¡¯ve got!¡± Li Yi motioned to Su Jin to demonstrate as well.

    It was hard for Su Jin to refuse in such a situation, so a silver glint shed in his eyes as the rocks and splinters that had been sent flying from the explosion earlier flew up from the ground by the power of his psychokinesis.

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s like telekinesis?¡± said Li Yi in surprise.

    Su Jin nodded and smiled. ¡°Something like that!¡±

    Psychokinesis and telekinesis were very simr. Telekinesis could be described as a simpler form of psychokinesis. But telekinesis was easier to develop and it was something that was more popr among owners.

    ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have a slightly easier time with two veterans around,¡± remarked a youngdy among them. She introduced herself, ¡°My name is Lv Meng, I look forward to working well with everyone here.¡±

    ¡°Lv Meng?¡± someone else asked puzzledly.

    Lv Meng immediately replied, ¡°Not the one from Romance of the Three Kingdoms! My Meng is a different Chinese character that most girl names would use!¡±

    ¡°Oh! I see! I was wondering why such a pretty girl like you would have the same name as a famous military general,¡± said the same person with a heartyugh.

    Su Jin asked another question, ¡°Are there newbies among us?¡±

    The group shook their heads. In general, owners without Spirit Power were very reliant on owners with Spirit Power. They always hoped that the veterans would be able to take on greater responsibilities, but in the same way, they also gave veterans more authority. Su Jin had even heard of owners who were willing to use their bodies in exchange for greater protection from veterans.

    This cycle was about toe to an end, and the Handbook had chosen a lot of people to be owners. But veterans remained a minority among owners, the cream of the crop.

    ¡°Youngsters! Never mind the fact that we¡¯re veterans, or whether we are willing to protect you or not ¨C even if we are willing to protect you, if you rely too much on veterans, you will still meet a tragic end,¡± Li Yi shook his head. He found their naivety a joke.

    The five owners felt their hearts tremble. If these two veterans were unwilling to protect them, then this Challenge would be even more difficult.

    But Li Yi smiled and went on, ¡°You¡¯re lucky that I¡¯m normally nice to young people, so I will try my best to protect your guys. But I still stand by what I said just now. It¡¯s not a good practice to rely too much on veterans.¡±

    Su Jin chimed in, ¡°Mr. Li is right. It¡¯s best that you count on yourself as far as possible. It¡¯s not a good thing to rely on others too much.¡±

    The five of them were obviously not going to argue with the two veterans, but they all felt somewhat annoyed inside. These two men had Spirit Power, so it was easy for them to tell others not to rely on them. But they were ordinary owners and would have a much tougher timepared to them.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t need to use his psychokinesis to pick up their thoughts. He could sense the annoyance in their hearts. But he had already given them fair warning, so if they chose to ignore it, that was their problem.

    The light outside the pavilion slowly faded, which meant that the Challenge had really started. As they left the pavilion, one of them grumbled, ¡°We¡¯re supposed to extinguish the moonlight? But how? Are we supposed to whack the moon out of the sky or what?¡±

    ¡°Moonlight in this context is probably referring to something else, a term for something more tangible. Butpared to thinking about trying to extinguish an enemy, I think it¡¯s safer to head toward Moonlight Church,¡± said Li Yi.

    Su Jin realized that this old man wasn¡¯t just a veteran, but a fairly intelligent man too. It was little wonder he was able to awaken his Spirit Power. Su Jin supported the old man¡¯s strategy. Extinguishing the moonlight was definitely going to be harder than getting to a destination, so unless they really had to, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t advise attacking an enemy either.

    ¡°But which way should we go?¡± asked Lv Meng. The pavilion was in the middle of a huge in with absolutely nothing around it. No instructions on this matter had been given either.

    Su Jin looked around, then said, ¡°We¡¯re facing the moon, so would it make sense to head toward the moon?¡±

    Everyone paused for a while, then agreed with that reasoning. The Challenge¡¯s description and quests all mentioned the moon, so this was probably a hint in itself. Without any other hints or information, Su Jin¡¯s suggestion made perfect sense.

    Once they had determined which way the moon was, they began their journey. The in was huge and there was nothing in their way at all, which made them feel more and more uneasy as they continued walking. It felt as though they hadn¡¯t moved at all even though they had been walking for ages.

    After a long time, one of them finally couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Walking aimlessly like that could make one anxious, so it was necessary to stop and let everyone catch their breath.

    They randomly found a ce to sit down with heavy hearts. If they ran into an enemy and had something to fight, they might have felt a little better.

    Just then, the moonlight shone on the group.

    Su Jin and Li Yi sat up in shock, and Su Jin immediately said, ¡°Everyone, get up! Hurry!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± The other five were puzzled and couldn¡¯t understand why Su Jin was so agitated. Li Yi hurried them again, ¡°Hurry up and get up! We can¡¯t stay here anymore!¡±

    As the two veterans were yelling at the group, the first one to sit down and rest suddenly froze. His eyes were filled with the color of the moonlight, and his body suddenly began to swell.

 Chapter 419

    Chapter 419

    The man instantly turned into a monster that stood at around five meters in height. He glowed like the moon, as though an ambassador of the moon had descended on them, and charged toward one of the owners.

    The monster moved at an astonishing speed, and all anyone could see was the monster¡¯s fists moving slightly. The target owner was too frightened to remember to duck, but just then, a silvery wall of light appeared in front of him and saved him from the monster¡¯s attack.

    BOOM!

    A st resounded as Li Yi made it to the monster and ced one hand on the monster¡¯s side. His white hair flew in the wind from the impact of the explosion.

    The monster was instantly blown away. The other owners realized what was going on, but their first reaction wasn¡¯t to fight back but to run in all directions, afraid of being involved in the fight.

    ¡°Sigh, it¡¯s little wonder none of them have Spirit Power,¡± Su Jin shook his head. These people had nothing but fear in their hearts, and didn¡¯t even have the courage to face dangers. There was no way they would be able to awaken their Spirit Power, since that was usually awakened only when one was in a life and death situation and the owner disyed a tremendous will to live.

    Courage was vital for an owner to be powerful. It wasn¡¯t a courage to mindlessly charge at the things you feared, but for one to never lose your will to fight back and survive even in the face of death. But the owners who had just run off in all directions clearly didn¡¯t have the will to fight back at all.

    Su Jin had no idea if such owners could possibly survive long, but as far as he could tell, that was probably not very likely.

    The monster had been sent flying and was very badly hurt. Half his body had been sted right off. But the moon shone down brightly on him and his wounds began to heal rapidly.¡°I¡¯m going to st you to smithereens! Let¡¯s see if you¡¯d still be able to recover from that!¡± Li Yi was not young, but his temper was even shorter than a young person¡¯s. He bent his knees to lower his center of gravity, then charged at the monster and ced both hands on the monster this time.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    A series of sts filled the air asyers of mes covered the monster entirely. Su Jin scanned the monster with his psychokinesis and found that the monster had indeed been sted to smithereens. The explosion had blown the monster to bits.

    ¡°Phew!¡± Li Yi exhaled deeply as thepletelymbasted monster was no longer able to recover from that. Li Yi, however, sat down on the ground and started muttering something. Su Jin paused to listen and was surprised that the old man was chanting some Buddhist sutras for the dead owner¡¯s soul.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure what to say, but he was worried that the same problem would befall Li Yi. He understood what this moonlight was about now. It seemed like as long as they walked in the moonlight, their bodies would be affected by it. Once they stopped moving, the power that entered the owner¡¯s body via the moonlight would be stronger and turn the owner into a monster.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not an idiot. I¡¯ve initiated several micro explosions within my body, which makes my body work even harder than when I¡¯m exercising. The power of the moonlight won¡¯t affect me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± Su Jin did not make any furtherment. But he was rather impressed. This old man was really something. Not only was he able to think quickly and clearly, but he was very calm as well, which was something rare but necessary in such situations.

    After he was done praying for the dead owner, Li Yi got up. He called out to the four other owners who had run away, ¡°Come back! The danger has passed!¡±

    The four owners felt a little embarrassed since all they did was run while Su Jin and Li Yi fought the monster. But they forgave themselves quickly because to them, they were merely ordinary owners while the two men who fought were both more powerful veterans.

    ¡°The moonlight has been extinguished?¡± asked Lv Meng.

    Su Jin shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be that easy to do that. We probably only managed to extinguish an infected person. Also, we were probably wrong about the definition of moonlight earlier. It might be literally referring to moonlight itself.¡±

    ¡°What?! How can we possibly put it out then?¡± asked one of the owners with a perplexed expression on his face.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Su Jin shook his head, ¡°We can only try to gather information from the Challenge and find answers from there.¡±

    Everyone fell silent for a while. Lv Meng then asked, ¡°So, what happened to that guy just now?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Li and I are guessing that as we let the moon shine on us, the moonlight has entered the body and has filled our bodies with an energy of sorts. When we¡¯re moving, our bodies are able to break this energy down and get rid of it. But once we stop moving, this process also stops, and we will turn into monsters,¡± exined Su Jin. But this was just their guess and they could not be sure at this point.

    ¡°Murderers!¡± Lv Meng suddenly yelled. She red and them and said, ¡°He was an owner like us! And you two killed him just like that?!¡±

    ¡°If not?¡± Li Yi¡¯s tone turned frosty. He was obviously a little angry now.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you try to see if he could get rid of that energy? Maybe he could still be saved!¡± yelled Lv Meng.

    Su Jin and Li Yi didn¡¯t know whether tough at her or to chide her. Thest thing they needed was someone with such saintly ideals. Su Jin said, ¡°Given the circumstances, the only thing we could do was to fight off the danger and get rid of it as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I think all of you here would have turned into dead bodies by now. Of course if you think we did the wrong thing, then the next time something like this happens, Mr. Li and I won¡¯t do anything. I hope Miss Lv will be able to heal him with your love!¡±

    Su Jin had already put it as reasonably as he could. He wasn¡¯t an evil person, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have chosen to go against the will of the universe. But he wasn¡¯t a saint either. There was no clear way to save the owner and the owner was not only clearly trying to attack them, but the owner was very capable of killing them too. Killing him was the best thing to do in that situation.

    ¡°If I had your powers, I wouldn¡¯t be like you guys! You¡¯re just trying to selfishly justify your act of murder!¡± yelled Lv Meng indignantly.

    Meanwhile, Li Yi was too angry to even speak. He couldn¡¯t understand how a fairly pleasant youngdy could suddenly be so unreasonable.

    ¡°You sure about that?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Of course! I¡¯m not selfish like you!¡± said Lv Meng confidently.

    ¡°Mr. Li, could I borrow your powers?¡± Su Jin asked Li Yi.

    Li Yi stared nkly at him and asked, ¡°Borrow my powers? How?¡±

    ¡°I got a tool thest time that can duplicate one¡¯s Spirit Powerpletely and allow another person to use it temporarily. I¡¯d like to find out if Miss Lv would really protect the world if she had the power to do so,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Li Yi was rather surprised. He had heard about such tools before. But such tools were very hard toe by and it seemed like a waste to use it on someone like Lv Meng.

    ¡°Mr. Su, are you sure about that? Such tools are very precious,¡± said Li Yi.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine with me. I think it¡¯s worth it if it can be used to contribute to world peace.¡± Su Jin was clearly mocking Lv Meng¡¯s ideals.

    After Li Yi agreed to it, Su Jin, grabbed hold of Li Yi¡¯s arm as a silver light shed in his eyes. He let go of Li Yi, then grabbed hold of Lv Meng¡¯s arm.

    Of course, he wasn¡¯t using a tool, and he didn¡¯t own anything like that at all. He was using his maniacal power to duplicate Li Yi¡¯s Spirit Power and forcing it to ur in Lv Meng¡¯s body. But he had already set a timer, so that this Spirit Power would disappear from her body after a certain amount of time.

    Lv Meng was shocked to discover a new power within her, and even more shocked to discover that she knew exactly how to use it. Of course, Su Jin had given her that knowledge along with the Spirit Power.

    Once that was all done, Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°We¡¯re all set to go now. You¡¯ve got real powers now, so we¡¯ll hand the job of maintaining world peace to you.¡±

    Lv Meng looked a little hesitant at first, but she still felt that she was capable of doing so. If these two cold blooded creatures were capable of protecting those they wanted to, she was certain she could too.

    As the group continued their journey, Li Yi walked next to Su Jin and said, ¡°There¡¯s really no need for you to take that girl¡¯s words so seriously.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Li, sometimes, one¡¯s naivety doesn¡¯t just bring harm to themselves, but it can also bring harm to others,¡± said Su Jin quietly. He nced at Lv Meng, then frowned as he went on, ¡°This girl is simply too na?ve. The world isn¡¯t ck and white like she thinks, and the lines are even more blurred within a Challenge. So, instead of allowing her to build resentment and turn into a walking time-bomb, why not give her some powers? That way, even if she ends up dying, she would be able to ept her fate, no?¡±

    Li Yi just shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. Na?ve ones like her often me any misfortunes they encounter on other people. I don¡¯t think doing this is going to help. She¡¯s still a ticking time-bomb, and she¡¯s now an even more powerful bomb.¡±

 Chapter 420

    Chapter 420

    Humans have the capacity to be kind. So many people throughout history have disyed altruism, dying without regrets for justice and what they strongly believed in. Even if they were slowly skinned to death, they were still able to face it with a smile. Some were even able to leave behind encouraging words despite being at the verge of death, etching their names in history.

    Humans have the capacity to be evil. So many people throughout history have chosen profit over loyalty, shown bottomless greed, stooped to the lowest level in order to satisfy their desires. Even if thousands of people cursed at them, they continued to enjoy their lives. They continued to yearn for incredible power and unimaginable wealth even on their deathbeds, even if they left behind a nasty reputation for centuries toe.

    The heart of man is ever changing and difficult to predict. Even though Su Jin had psychokinesis, a power that could read the thoughts of others, he dared not im to be able to truly understand the hearts of people.

    He would rather let them disy their true beliefs instead. That¡¯s why he gave Lv Meng the ability to create explosions. She certainly had high ideals, but they were also way removed from reality. Su Jin wanted to know if she would really do what she said if she were given the power to do so.

    The group plodded on in the moonlight. Nobody dared to stop walking, because they were afraid that they would turn into a monster immediately. They had no choice but to keep walking.

    At the same time, strange emotions began to fill their hearts. They were the monsters of the Challenge, so did that mean there would be no more monsters if they killed the other owners?

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t the only one with such thoughts. Li Yi was thinking the same way too, except that this thought was thrown out very quickly. He was a veteran, so he knew that the other owners were relying on him. The sense of responsibility he felt made him get rid of that thought immediately. Compared to Lv Meng¡¯s idealistic and unrealistic thinking, Li Yi¡¯s sense of responsibility was a lot more realistic.

    But these thoughts grew stronger and stronger in the minds of the other weak owners, except that they weren¡¯t thinking about how to kill the other owners. They were wondering if Su Jin and Li Yi would kill them. They were terrified of that possibility. If two veterans decided to turn on them, they would die in an instant.

    Su Jin could even sense the fear of these people very clearly. He frowned slightly, but did not bother to talk about it. There was no point in doing so, since nobody would want to admit to having such thoughts. Even though he was a psychokic owner, none of these people would take his word for it.As time passed, Su Jin felt more and more uneasy about the situation. Based on how much time had passed so far, it should have been daybreak by now. But the moon in the sky did not look like it was going anywhere and remained right above them.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just keep walking like this. Are we going in the wrong direction or something?¡± asked Lv Meng.

    ¡°No idea. Maybe it really is the wrong direction,¡± said Su Jin with a light chuckle. There was no way to find out if this was the right direction or not. Unless they found the Moonlight Church right now, Su Jin had no way to prove if his initial conjecture was right.

    ¡°Let¡¯s split up,¡± said Li Yi all of a sudden.

    Su Jin was a little surprised. Li Yi exined, ¡°Based on the current situation, it seems like the danger of this Challenge ising from ourselves, so sticking together seems more dangerous.¡±

    ¡°But if we go separate ways, nobody knows how the situation will change. If any monsters appear, they might not be able to fight them,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°We¡¯re willing to split up!¡± the remaining owners suddenly piped up in agreement with Li Yi.

    Li Yi smiled sadly at Su Jin. Su Jin knew what Li Yi was trying to tell him. The old man knew that these owners weren¡¯t afraid of monsters now. They were afraid of Li Yi and Su Jin. And because of that, they didn¡¯t need the two veterans, or rather, they didn¡¯t dare to let the veterans protect them anymore. They were more anxious to get away from them.

    It was really ironic. At the start of the Challenge, these owners desperately wanted to stick to the two veterans. But now, they didn¡¯t want to be anywhere near the two men. The drastic change in their attitude was shocking.

    ¡°If all six of us go in different directions, we wouldn¡¯t run into each other, I¡¯m sure,¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°I want to go toward the moon!¡± said one of the owners. This was the same owner who had questioned Su Jin¡¯s guess about the moonlight earlier on.

    ¡°Hey! Cheater! I want to walk toward the moon too!¡± grumbled another owner.

    Lv Meng didn¡¯t say anything, but she clearly felt that Su Jin¡¯s guess made sense. The owners began to quarrel among themselves over this.

    ¡°If all of you want to go in the same direction, then there¡¯s no point in wanting to split ways, right?¡± Su Jin chuckled. After pausing to think, he said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we draw lots? We¡¯ll go whichever way our lot says.¡±

    Everyone exchanged nces. Su Jin¡¯s suggestion sounded a little childish, but it seemed like the best way to resolve this. Su Jin ended up writing on six pieces of paper and let everyone pick one.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± All of them were filled with jealousy when they saw that Li Yi had picked the lot to head toward the moon.

    They were jealous firstly because they felt that Su Jin¡¯s guess was the most likely to be correct, and secondly, they had already walked toward the moon for such a long time, so any other direction they took would force them to take a roundabout way for nothing. But no matter how disgruntled they felt, none of them dared to make anyment since Li Yi had picked it fair and square.

    After the rest had picked their lots, they left in the direction stated on their lots reluctantly. Su Jin was heading south, so after bidding Li Yi farewell, he started walking southward.

    ¡°Hey, young man!¡± Li Yi called out to Su Jin.

    ¡°Yes? What¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°You messed with these lots, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Li Yi.

    Su Jin nodded without hesitation. ¡°Yup. I prepared yours specially, because I still think that heading toward the moon would give you the best chance of surviving, so I left that one for you.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that they might realize that and create unnecessary trouble?¡± asked Li Yi with augh.

    Su Jin burst outughing. ¡°And did you think none of them realized at all?¡±

    Li Yi froze. Su Jin went on, ¡°And so what if they did realize it? Since they didn¡¯t want to believe our conjecture, then they have no reason to want to head in this direction. I was just giving them what they asked for.¡±

    The old man didn¡¯t know what to say to that. He could only thank Su Jin, ¡°Thanks then, young man!¡±

    ¡°No worries! We¡¯ll meet again if the fates allow it!¡± Su Jin waved and turned to leave.

    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t mind walking with you,¡± said Li Yi.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to. Actually, I was thinking that we ought to try a few different directions. The result might give us a pleasant surprise!¡±

    ¡°Alright then, since you¡¯ve already decided, I won¡¯t insist on walking with you. Like you said, we¡¯ll meet again if the fates allow it!¡± Li Yi did not hold Su Jin back and turned to walk toward the moon.

    After Li Yi left, Su Jin continued southward. He had taken a liking to the old man and sincerely hoped they would be able to meet again.

    He was travelling all alone, but Su Jin was not afraid that he would run out of energy and allow the moonlight to turn him into a monster. He was like a perpetual machine now, so this degree of movement was as good as resting to him.

    After a long time, he felt as though he had left the moon behind. And perhaps it wasn¡¯t just a feeling. He had really left the moon behind.

    ¡°In other words, this world doesn¡¯t go on infinitely. It¡¯s just way too big and the terrain looks about the same, so it feels as though it¡¯s never ending,¡± murmured Su Jin. With that thought in mind, he used his psychokinesis to envelope the entire world he was in.

    He quickly made an incredible discovery. The moon in the sky they had been following wasn¡¯t the moon at all. It was the fruit of an ancient tree. But because the ancient tree was gigantic, its fruit looked like a moon.

    Su Jin was really surprised. He had seen such a tree before. The Tree of Life in the world of fairytales had been equally huge, as though it was as big as this world itself. He didn¡¯t expect to see another ancient tree like that.

    ¡°So, Moonlight Church is actually on the moon, and the moonlight¡­ is actually this tree?¡± he murmured. He felt that he was probably really close to the truth now. And actually, if he wanted to, he could use his maniacal power to observe this world remotely, but he was afraid that he would attract the Handbook¡¯s attention by doing so and create unnecessary trouble for himself.

    He decided to start by taking a look at the so called moon they had been following. But when he was about to retract his psychokinesis, he sensed a violent presence. That presence felt like Li Yi¡¯s.

 Chapter 421

    Chapter 421

    Su Jin was surprised, because the vibes he was getting from Li Yi was very simr to that first owner after he had turned into a monster. In other words, Li Yi had turned into a monster too, which was not something Su Jin expected at all. Based on his observations, Li Yi had a very strong physique too, so the chances of him turning into a monster were supposed to be very low.

    ¡°Wait, I¡¯m not sensing just him. There are four others¡­ it¡¯s the other owners!¡± A fierce glint shed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. The other four people he had picked up were indeed the four other owners, including Lv Meng. Li Yi was now very close to the ancient tree, which meant that he had continued to walk toward the moon. The other four were just next to him, which meant that these four did not go in opposing directions like they said they would and had been following Li Yi all this time.

    ¡°What a pathetic bunch,¡± Su Jin sighed. Humans were always like this. One could go from being kind to being evil without much effort. He immediately made a dash for where Li Yi was.

    Since he was travelling at top speed, it only took him ten minutes or so to reach his destination. The other four owners had gained the upper hand and had surrounded Li Yi to beat him up.

    After Li Yi had turned into a monster, he could no longer use his Spirit Power, so he could only use his physical body to attack the rest. But his body was already very strong, and it only became stronger after he turned into a monster. Lv Meng could use the Spirit Power of explosions that was given to her earlier, but even so, she could only push him back and couldn¡¯t kill him or even fatally wound him.

    The other three owners didn¡¯t have Spirit Power, but they had exchanged their points for a number of weapons. With Lv Meng helping to keep Li Yi from attacking them, the others couldunch attacks on Li Yi easily.

    ¡°ROARRR!¡± Li Yi was covered in blood and didn¡¯t seem capable of feeling pain. He was clearly wounded all over, but each time he was shot down, he would get up and continue fighting. When Su Jin saw the situation, he couldn¡¯t help but feel an anger rise within him.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± Lv Meng was very talented and she was already able to use this new Spirit Power of hers very well. She ced both hands against Li Yi¡¯s chest and activated her Spirit Power.

    A plume of ck smoke instantly enveloped Li Yi, and Lv Meng broke into a smile. But when the smoke cleared, she saw ayer of silver light around Li Yi¡¯s chest.¡°Mr. Su!¡± Lv Meng froze. She recognized that as a sign of Su Jin¡¯s Spirit Power. She had seen it thest time Su Jin rescued them. But back then, Su Jin was doing this to rescue the owners. This time, Su Jin was saving the monster.

    Everyone looked a little awkward when they realized that Su Jin was here. But Lv Meng immediately said to him, ¡°Mr. Su, Mr. Li has already be a monster!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! I would like to see how you¡¯re going to save him!¡± Su Jin shrugged as he stared frostily at her.

    Lv Meng felt like screaming at him. She gritted her teeth and said, ¡°I can¡¯t save him, he¡¯s too strong for me. But I can save the rest! If I get rid of Mr. Li, the rest will live!¡±

    Su Jin started pping. Watching her say these words so shamelessly was so entertaining. He chuckled and said, ¡°Do you still think there¡¯s a difference between what you¡¯re doing now and what we did earlier?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ of course there¡¯s a difference! There were two of you earlier on, and both of you by yourselves are also stronger than I am! You guys had the power to do something! I don¡¯t!¡± Lv Meng continued to defend herself.

    ¡°You can use the power of love!¡± Su Jin chuckled again as he snapped his fingers to make the psychokinesis that was holding Li Yi back disappear. Li Yi charged at them like a dog whose leash was broken.

    Lv Meng felt all her hair stand on end. She dodged Li Yi¡¯s attack and yelled at the other three, ¡°Use your weapons! Shoot him! Shoot him!!¡±

    Her eyes were filled with fear. If she was only facing Li Yi, she might have been able to remain calm. But now, she had to deal with one more Su Jin, who was clearly not on her side and could attack her anytime. That would spell her doom immediately.

    She gritted her teeth and started running toward Li Yi. She used Li Yi¡¯s outstretched arms to jump up and grabbed hold of the old man¡¯s head. A smile spread across her face. She was confident that she could kill him now.

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± muttered Lv Meng as she prepared to unleash her Spirit Power, only to realize that she couldn¡¯t detect any Spirit Power in her anymore. Her Spirit Power had disappeared.

    Su Jin had snapped his fingers at that exact moment. He was the one who had given her Spirit Power, so he could take it back anytime.

    ¡°No! NO! Give it back to me!¡± shrieked Lv Meng in horror. She tried to get away from Li Yi, but Li Yi grabbed hold of her and stared at her with a maniacal look in his eyes, his mouth salivating as he opened it.

    Crack! Boom!

    There was an awful crunch as Li Yi gripped Lv Meng¡¯s head hard enough to burst it. The power of the moonlight had wiped out any of the gentleness he had before, and his gaze was filled with nothing but murder and bloodthirstiness.

    Without Lv Meng to hold the old man back, the other three owners were clearly visible to Li Yi now. They immediately started running for it. They knew that staying here would only result in their deaths, and even if they ran, at least one of them was going to die. It was too hard for Li Yi to run after all three of them at the same time, but picking one target was definitely doable.

    ¡°And you think you can get away?¡± Su Jin drew a circle in the air which turned into arger circle of psychokinesis that trapped everyone within it.

    ¡°No, no! Please, please let us off!¡± pleaded one of the owners. He shouted in fear, ¡°It was all Lv Meng¡¯s idea! She threatened us and we had no choice but to join her!¡±

    ¡°How disgusting.¡± Su Jin frowned and said grimly, ¡°You¡¯re on the brink of death, and you¡¯re still being so dishonest? Lv Meng was foolish, but she didn¡¯t intend to kill Li Yi at first. You were the one who put that idea in her head!¡±

    Su Jin had already scanned the brains of the other owners when he arrived and found out exactly what had happened. It turned out that after they had picked which direction they should go, Lv Meng had gone in the direction she was supposed to. But it didn¡¯t take long for this pleading owner to approach her with the other two owners.

    They told her about a possibility, a possibility that Li Yi mighte and kill them. The three owners were pretty good talkers, so they were able to paint Li Yi as a hypocrite who was just pretending to be a nice guy. They told her that Li Yi might have deliberately killed the owner who turned into a monster because he wanted to kill the rest of the owners without them realizing it.

    Lv Meng didn¡¯t just have saintly ideals, but she was also very gullible. She believed what they told her and helped them to scheme against Li Yi so that he would be a monster. Then they turned around and said that in order to survive, they had to kill him. They had clearly all forgotten how they had disapproved of Su Jin and Li Yi¡¯s actions earlier.

    If they had merely been following Li Yi and had no choice but to fight back after Li Yi turned into a monster, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t have reacted like this. But it was their fault that Li Yi turned into a monster, so Su Jin was happy to let Li Yi avenge himself.

    Because of the psychokinesis circle, it didn¡¯t take Li Yi long to run after the remaining three owners and kill them all. After he was done with them, he still looked dissatisfied and began charging at Su Jin.

    ¡°Watch yourself first, old man! It¡¯s not good for the elderly to exercise too hard,¡± Su Jin pointed a finger at him, and Li Yi was frozen in midair. He kept trying to reach for Su Jin but simply couldn¡¯t get to Su Jin.

    ¡°Let me try and see if I can save you,¡± Su Jin scratched his head. He had sensed Li Yi¡¯s presence earlier because it seemed like Li Yi had not beenpletely taken over by the moonlight. There was still a sliver of consciousness left in him, and that was why Su Jin had sensed Li Yi¡¯s presence even though he had already turned into a monster. Perhaps there was still hope for the old man.

    Su Jin initially wanted to use his maniacal power to restore Li Yi, but he was afraid that even if he wasn¡¯t discovered, the Handbook might target Li Yi instead. That was why Su Jin didn¡¯t want to do something like this to a friend within a Challenge, because doing that would bring harm to them instead. But if he couldn¡¯t find a better way, he was prepared to use his maniacal power.

    ¡°We¡¯ll see if the Moonlight Church has any way to save you first,¡± Su Jin shook his head. Of course, if they made it straight to the Moonlight Church, they wouldplete their mission and Li Yi could be sent back to his Personal Hell Domain since he still had some consciousness left in him that could be restored. But doing that was a little risky, so it was best to find a way to restore him during the Challenge.

 Chapter 422

    Chapter 422

    Su Jin¡¯s body glowed silver all over, then he flew up rapidly and took Li Yi with him toward the moon in the sky.

    The moon wasn¡¯t as high up as he had imagined and he got there pretty quickly. Just like what his psychokinesis had told him earlier, this wasn¡¯t a moon at all. It was a giant fruit.

    ¡°The vibes from this fruit are tremendous!¡± Su Jin could sense that if this fruit was allowed to ripen sessfully, it would be extremely powerful. It was probably something that was close to reaching godly levels of power.

    Su Jin was about tond on the moon when a red beam suddenly shot out from the moon. The beam was very fast and Su Jin was too near the moon to dodge it.

    Boom!

    Su Jin was hit by the beam and he looked like he was about to be crushed by the red beam. But the silver glow around him instantly brightened and repelled the red beam.

    A few secondster, the red beam faded. Su Jin looked a little tired. That was definitely a god-level attack and there was something special about it. Su Jin could feel his blood coursing quickly through his veins, as though he was about to turn into something else. If he wasn¡¯t able to fight it, he might be a monster like Li Yi.

    Li Yi got lucky too. He was now a few hundred meters below Su Jin and was just outside of the red beam¡¯s range. Otherwise, the red beam would have sted the old man to pieces and there would be no hope of reviving him.

    Su Jin looked at the moon-like fruit and smiled faintly as he said, ¡°You¡¯ve sensed my presence and you¡¯re very afraid now? You¡¯re truly a powerful creature, and a very sensitive one too!¡±A red beam rose from the moon and an old man in linen robes walked out. He looked extremely wise and he had an intelligent glint in his eyes as he stared at Su Jin.

    ¡°You¡¯re the incarnation of the tree! And you dare toe out and meet me!¡± Su Jin was rather surprised. This old man was the incarnation of the ancient tree with that moon-like fruit. This tree was certainly much more powerful than the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life was about the same size as this tree, but the fact that it couldn¡¯t present itself as a human proved that it was weaker.

    The old man sighed and bowed slightly at Su Jin. ¡°Powerful one, I am nothing more than an old tree and I dare not be enemies with you. Please allow me to live in peace.¡±

    Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. I do not intend to kill you at all. I¡¯m just looking for a way to revive him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easy.¡± The old man grabbed the air and a faint red glow began to flow out of Li Yi¡¯s pores. The red glow was quickly absorbed by the old man and the maniacal look in Li Yi¡¯s eyes slowly faded. His body also went back to normal.

    ¡°I¡¯ve given you what you wanted. Will you leave now?¡± the old man asked Su Jin again with a bow.

    Su Jin shrugged. ¡°I would like to leave too, but I have two conditions to fulfill. One is to extinguish the moonlight, and the other is to find the Moonlight Church.¡±

    The old man froze for a moment, then frowned and said, ¡°If I bring you to the Moonlight Church, will you leave then?¡±

    ¡°You should know better than me. I¡¯m quite sure someone at your level would know about Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± said Su Jin.

    The old man nodded slightly and said, ¡°Alright then,e with me.¡± The old man flew toward the moon and Su Jin followed behind him.

    This fruit wasn¡¯t an actual, but it was still incrediblyrge. Su Jin guessed that it was at least asrge as a mid-sized province in China.

    The old man led Su Jin to a mountain. This moon turned out to be merely the outermost shell of the fruit, while the fruit itself was inside this mountain. The old man had installed a lot of weaponry inside this mountain, and the red beam that attacked Su Jin earlier came from this mountain.

    ¡°The Moonlight Church is found within the moon itself,¡± Su Jin shook his head with a bitter smile on his face. That wasn¡¯t going to be easy for most owners to find. But since this was a Level C Challenge, there were definitely other hints elsewhere. If the owners were able to find these hints, there would probably be some other way to get up here, whereas he had chosen to fly here directly. If someone else had done the same thing, that red beam would probably have sted them to pieces.

    Li Yi had already fainted, so Su Jin had to use his psychokinesis to carry him along. The inside of the moon was veryplex, so if Su Jin had to go through this without the use of his psychokinesis, it wasn¡¯t going to be easy for him to find the church either.

    But he had the old man to lead the way, so he quickly spotted the church. Su Jin threw Li Yi into the church and Li Yi immediately disappeared. The Handbook had assumed that Li Yi hadpleted the Challenge.

    ¡°Powerful one, please leave!¡± The old man¡¯s face immediately fell when he realized that Su Jin did not look like he was going to walk into the church. Su Jin was the real threat here. The old man could sense the power that Su Jin had, which was a power even stronger than any of the deities he had seen before. He couldn¡¯t let Su Jin stay here, or his fruit would be in great danger.

    Su Jin nced at him and said slowly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I am not interested in your fruit at all. I know that¡¯s the new body you¡¯ve prepared for yourself. But I just want to remind you that you won¡¯t be able to be a god with just that new body.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± asked the old man instinctively. He had taken a long time to prepare for this transformation and he was very confident in bing a god. Yet now, Su Jin was telling him that he couldn¡¯t be one. That made him very unhappy.

    ¡°You have to understand one thing. Gods do not merely have powers, but they require you to be at a certain level as well. Your new body might be powerful enough to be god level, but you haven¡¯t reached the minimum level required. This is like allowing a child to control the body of an adult. It sounds like it¡¯ll work, but the fact that a child is unable to think like an adult will be the child¡¯s downfall. To most people, this adult body with a child¡¯s soul will seem more like a mentally challenged adult,¡± said Su Jin calmly.

    The old man wanted to argue back, but didn¡¯t know how to. Su Jin was right in saying that he hadn¡¯t met the level required. He knew that himself.

    ¡°In that case¡­ how can I be a god?¡± asked the old man respectfully.

    Su Jin nced at the old man and a thought suddenly hit him. ¡°I could give you the chance to be a god. But you won¡¯t be a god of Hell¡¯s Handbook, but a god of mine. Would you be willing to do that?¡±

    ¡°A god of yours? I don¡¯t understand¡­¡± The old man shook his head. He had no idea what Su Jin was talking about.

    ¡°To put it simply, I have a temple of my own. If you¡¯re willing to, I can let you join me and I promise you will be a real god. But¡­ you could very well be wiped out by the Handbook too,¡± said Su Jin.

    The old man stared in horror at Su Jin. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re the insurgent!¡±

    ¡°Insurgent?¡± Su Jin was a little confused. He had not heard this term being used before. ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ no, it¡¯s nothing,¡± the old man tried to cover it up.

    But Su Jin was no fool. ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to tell me, I won¡¯t force you. I¡¯ll find out myself.¡± He sent his psychokinesis into the old man to search for answers.

    A momentter, Su Jin retracted his psychokinesis and he looked a little surprised. The current gods had already sent out a wanted notice for him. They had sent it to every living creature that had the potential to be a god, and said that they had to find Su Jin and report to them, and they would reward the person generously. One of the rewards was to be a god!

    The only problem was that the current gods didn¡¯t know who the insurgent was exactly, so the wanted notice was kind of vague. But now that the old man had found out that Su Jin was the insurgent, he was filled with excitement. He now hoped to trap Su Jin here, then report to the current gods.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯ve now made us enemies!¡± Su Jin had no choice but to grab hold of the old man and st him to pieces. A demi-god exploded so easily from just being gripped by Su Jin, as though he were nothing more than a low quality balloon.

    Even until the moment before he died, the old man had no idea that Su Jin had read his thoughts and found the answers himself.

    Immediately after Su Jin had killed the old man, he sensed a few powerful beingsing his way. They were all headed for the core of this fruit which was the new body that the old man had prepared for himself.

 Chapter 423

    Chapter 423

    ¡°There are three sources of power, they¡¯re very formidable, and they¡¯re¡­ very familiar¡­ it¡¯s the rune creatures!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. He didn¡¯t think the rune creatures would appear at this juncture. His guess was that either they were waiting for the right moment, or they had been roaming this world all this time but his psychokinesis had failed to detect them because they were made differently. But the moment they started moving, they would reveal their presence.

    Su Jin moved at almost teleportation speed to appear in front of the rune creatures. His appearance did not seem to surprise them at all. Or perhaps, these creatures could not feel at all.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Su Jin blocked their way. He looked at them and found that these three looked vastly different from thest time he saw them. It was as though these creatures had gone through one round of evolution during this short period of time.

    The creatures had perfect bodies with perfect muscr formations that contained a strength that was enough to make any owner who was an expert at martial arts feel a chill down their spine. These creatures looked like they were made for close-range hand-to-handbat.

    The creatures immediately charged at Su Jin when they heard his voice. They didn¡¯t care about the fact that something had appeared out of nowhere. They only knew that once they started on their mission, they had to kill anyone in the way, regardless of who they were.

    Boom! One of them gave Su Jin a kick. Su Jin did not dodge, because he wanted to know if these creatures were as perfectly strong as their outer appearance made them out to be.

    The result was a resounding crack. The arm that Su Jin used to block the kick cracked loudly, then broke!

    He couldn¡¯t even remember when was thest time someone managed to break his bones with one attempt. A grim look filled his eyes. These creatures were even stronger than he had imagined.

    His arm had been broken, but it immediately healed up within the two seconds he took to retreat. If they wereparing whose body was more perfect, Su Jin didn¡¯t think he would lose to these creatures.Meanwhile, the three creatures had decided to attack him together. They were all made for close rangebat, so when theybined forces, they became an extremely formidable foe. But Su Jin was no pushover either and he was not losing even though he was going up against three attackers. And actually, Su Jin could have used his maniacal power to kill them immediately. But if he did that, he would lose the chance to understand more about these creatures.

    The battle went on and on. The four of them left every area they touched in ruins. If Su Jin had not purposely avoided the Moonlight Church, that building would probably have copsed by now. He had no choice but to use a bit of psychokinesis to form a protective shield around it. Of course, this shield wasn¡¯t enough to stop the rune creatures from destroying it, but at least it was enough to keep it from crumbling from the sheer shockwaves of their fighting. He was counting on the church to send him back to his world, after all.

    The four of them continued moving and colliding as they fought. Each time they collided, it sounded like a bomb had gone off and thunderous booms filled the air. Su Jin quickly began to understand these creatures.

    Each one of them was excellent at fighting, and their martial arts techniques were just slightly poorer than Chu Yi¡¯s. If it was Chu Yi versus just one of them, Chu Yi would be able to defeat the creature, but would not be able to kill it. If he had to fight two of them, he would be in danger. If he had to fight three of them, he was dead meat.

    ¡°This evolution process¡­ Their aim is actually to absorb the special characteristics of the creatures in every world. They¡¯re not here to fight. They¡¯re more like researchers,¡± thought Su Jin. He could sense that these creatures were a lot more advanced than thest batch he ran into.

    At the very least, these three creatures knew what they were doing with every punch and kick they delivered, and they coordinated their attacks very well. Their technique was a lot better than thest time, and Su Jin even felt like they were a little more sentient now. They were no longer as robotic as before.

    The rune creatures seemed to be installed with some AI program. They were still not human in nature, but they were a lot smarter than before. Also, Su Jin felt that they were really a lot more like researchers than fighters, because they were absorbing everything that could make them stronger. The creatures he ran into thest time were able to share and duplicate the techniques the creatures had learned individually. Did that mean all the rune creatures could do it?

    That thought made Su Jin¡¯s hair all stand on end. If that was the case, then these rune creatures were simply terrifying. A huge number of them were learning at the same time, then they could share the results of their learning. That would be like if one person tried to study English by themselves, they would take a long time to learn it. But these rune creatures just needed each one to learn one word or one grammar rule, and the entire group would be able to speak perfect English after that.

    With such a terrifyingly efficient learning ability, these rune creatures were on their way to bing terrifying beings. But Su Jin was more curious about who in the world created these things. He had previously suspected it was the elder gods, or perhaps the Mad Hatter. But they were now eliminated from his list.

    The elder gods were gone, since the Handbook had found them and wiped them out. The Mad Hatter had been killed not too long ago. Of course, there was the possibility that Alice had lied to him, but that would have been a little too difficult. Alice was clearly not someone with great powers. Lying to Su Jin was almost impossible.

    With that in mind, Su Jin finally came to a decision. He activated his maniacal power and tore one of the creatures to shreds. The creature that usually had the amazing ability to restore itself instantly copsed and was not able to heal itself anymore.

    The remaining creatures were clearly hesitant to continue their attacks. While they hesitated, Su Jin tore a second creature to shreds. This time, thest creature decided to make a run for it. A hole appeared in front of it, then it leaped in and disappeared.

    After it disappeared, Su Jin smiled. As thest creature made its escape, he attached a little maniacal power to it. That way, he would be able to track it down again.

    He was about to leave the Challenge when he remembered that even though the old man who lived here was already dead, he had left behind a god level physical body. Su Jin decided to get it before leaving.

    He came to the core of the moon. A giantke stood in the middle and the water was a bright green color. A young boy was swimming in theke like a fish.

    Su Jin was very surprised. This body seemed to have its own consciousness, which meant that the old man did not create a body, but created a person. His n was to wait until this boy¡¯s body had matured, then remove the boy¡¯s consciousness and rece it with his own.

    ¡°He¡¯s still so young,¡± remarked Su Jin. The boy had swum toward Su Jin and looked up at Su Jin without any trace of fear on his face.

    ¡°Come along, little boy. Come with me!¡± Su Jin eventually decided to take the boy with him. This little boy was like an animal. If Su Jin left him here, the boy would probably just keep swimming in theke. He might as well take the boy back with him and train him.

    This boy already possessed a god level body, so it would be great if the boy could be part of his god army. Compared to trying to recruit people from everywhere, picking up someone who already met the requirements without any work sounded like a better deal.

    Su Jin waved a hand and the boy¡¯s characteristics were changed to an item that Su Jin could summon. That way, he would be able to return to the Personal Hell Domain with Su Jin.

    After that, Su Jin reached out to the boy and the boy curiously took Su Jin¡¯s hand. Su Jin pulled him out of the water, then waved a hand to provide the boy with clothes. Su Jin made shoes for the boy as well, but for some reason, the boy hated the shoes and absolutely refused to put them on.

    There was nothing Su Jin could do about that, so he just gave up trying. Besides, the boy could go without shoes. He had a god level body, so he wouldn¡¯t get hurt even if he didn¡¯t wear shoes.

    He brought the boy into the Moonlight Church, and everything went dark immediately after they walked in. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in his Personal Hell Domain. The little boy was standing next to him and looking around curiously.

    Su Jin ruffled the little boy¡¯s hair. The boy¡¯s thick, ck hair was very soft, and the little boy seemed to like that gesture too, so he kept trying to rub the top of his head against Su Jin¡¯s palm.

    ¡°Let me give you a name! From now on, your name is¡­ Su Wen!¡± Su Jin casually gave the little boy a name. But actually, Wen was actually a nickname that Su Jin had, and now, he was giving it to the little boy.

 Chapter 424

    Chapter 424

    ¡°Only a thousand points?¡± Su Jin looked at the points tabtion on his Handbook. He only gained the minimum number of points for clearing the Challenge. Then again, these points didn¡¯t mean much to Su Jin anymore. He didn¡¯t have much use for the items in the catalog and the most powerful weapons needed more than a few thousand points. These points were redundant to him.

    After he returned to his world, he sat down to think carefully and finally decided to head to N City where the Nine-tailed Fox was participating in a reality TV show.

    Ever since she debuted, the Nine-tailed Fox had be more popr than anybody could imagine, and it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to consider her a goddess of the country. But Su Jin totally expected that. She was the Nine-tailed Fox, after all. If even someone like her couldn¡¯t get everyone to like her, then the problem definitelyy with the audience, not her.

    ¡°You said what? You want to meet Su Mei? HAHA! What a joke! There¡¯s a long line waiting to meet her! Who do you think you are?¡± A security guard in front of the N City TV station blocked Su Jin from entering.

    This was a rather awkward situation for Su Jin, who was there with a confused looking Su Wen. He tried to call the Nine-tailed Fox, but her phone was with her manager, so he couldn¡¯t get through even after calling her a few times.

    Just then, a luxury sports car parked in front of Su Jin. The man driving the car was a young and handsomed who greeted the security guard, ¡°Hello, Mr. Li! Which studio is Miss Su at now?¡±

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s Young Master Zhang! Miss Su is at Studio 7, you can follow the signs over there,¡± said the security guard with a huge smile on his face as he spoke to the young man in the car.

    The young man nodded, nced at Su Jin and Su Wen and frowned. ¡°Are they your friends?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. They¡¯re fans of Miss Su and I¡¯m trying to get them to leave,¡± said the security guard with a tired smile.The young man scoffed at Su Jin and said, ¡°No fan of Miss Su should be behaving like that. Hurry up and chase them away. Miss Su is a kindhearted person, so if she ends up giving in to such fans, these undeserving people would stand to benefit!¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course, don¡¯t worry, Young Master Zhang, I won¡¯t let them get inside,¡± the security guard smiled ingratiatingly.

    The young man nodded, then zoomed off into the TV station¡¯s parking lot. The security guard turned around to chase Su Jin away, only to find that Su Jin had disappeared.

    ¡°He walked away by himself? d he knows what¡¯s good for him!¡± muttered the security guard to himself. He did not see Su Jin and Su Wen walk away right in front of him.

    ¡°Sometimes, using my powers is easier than trying to exin myself,¡± Su Jin sighed. He had used his psychokinesis to alter the security guard¡¯s vision, which was a troublesome thing to do. Su Jin tried to avoid breaking any of the rules of the real world unless he really had to. Of course, if he really wanted to, he could take over the world in no time like Natasha.

    He followed the signs and they quickly reached studio 7. They walked in to see a reality TV program being filmed right in front of them. Such programs were all the rage among the cableworks recently, and the key to gaining viewership was in getting the most popr stars on the show.

    N City¡¯s TV station had excellent foresight and quickly signed a contract with the Nine-tailed Fox for their uing reality TV program when she just started getting popr. In the end, the Nine-tailed Fox became wildly popr in just a month¡¯s time, which really shocked the entire entertainment industry.

    Su Jin did not interrupt the filming and led Su Wen to where the live studio audience was seated. Su Wen had almost no understanding of this world, but he was very reliant on Su Jin and did not cry or throw tantrums. If Su Jin had the time to teach the boy, he didn¡¯t mind just letting him tag along every day.

    But after thinking it through, Su Jin decided that it was more appropriate to leave him with the Nine-tailed Fox. That way, Su Wen would get a chance to see the world and pick up some general knowledge andmon sense.

    Su Jin initially thought of leaving the boy with Situ Jin, but he didn¡¯t want to always trouble Situ Jin with everything. He also thought about Xu Ran, but Xu Ran was a priest and he was also extremely busy, so Su Jin gave up that idea. Bifang was still in hibernation, and actually, Daitengu was quite a good choice. But Su Jin felt that it was easier for a female to bring Su Wen around, and the only female he could leave the boy with safely was the Nine-tailed Fox.

    As they stood next to the live studio audience, they quickly started attracting attention. It wasn¡¯t Su Jin who was attracting the attention, but Su Wen. He possessed a body that had been specially created, so both his constitution and his looks were perfect. He was the most handsome little boy to anybody who saw him, and because he didn¡¯t know anything about this world, his expression was constantly dazed and slightly confused, which made him look even more adorable.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t those two the fans at the entrance earlier? Tsk, Mr. Li actually let them in! He can forget abouting in tomorrow for work,¡± grumbled Young Master Zhang, who was also in the studio. He immediately marched briskly toward them.

    ¡°There¡¯s a murderous aura in the air.¡± Su Jin was very sensitive to such things and he looked up at where it wasing from. His eye met with Young Master Zhang¡¯s with the same uracy and aggression as a sniper rifle, which actually frightened the young man instead.

    When Su Jin realized it was just the rich young man from before, he put aside his aggression and the young man calmed down as well. He walked over and said, ¡°How¡­ who allowed you toe in? Wait, did youe in while I was talking to Mr. Li?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! In fact, we should thank you,¡± Su Jin smiled before patting Su Wen¡¯s head, ¡°Wen, say thank you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Su Wen said to Young Master Zhang. Su Jin had used psychokinesis to put Mandarin into the boy¡¯s head, but he dared not impart too much to the boy because he was afraid it would affect his personality and life. So, even though Su Wen could speak fluently, his logic was not fully formed yet. But he had no trouble following Su Jin¡¯s instructions.

    Young Master Zhang couldn¡¯t help but do a double take. He suddenly felt that¡­ Su Wen was so cute! But he was immediately equally horrified by the feeling he had.

    ¡°Good heavens! How could I possibly think that a little boy is cute?! And¡­ and this kid is a boy, right? How are his features so perfect?¡± thought Young Master Zhang.

    ¡°This is a filming studio and they¡¯re filming right now, so you can¡¯t enter without prior permission. Please leave!¡± For some reason, Young Master Zhang¡¯s tone had suddenly softened and he couldn¡¯t help but steal a couple of nces at Su Wen.

    ¡°Wen, plead with Young Master Zhang not to chase us away,¡± said Su Jin with a cheeky smile on his face.

    ¡°Please, sir, don¡¯t chase us away? Please?¡± Su Wen¡¯s big eyes blinked as he pleaded with the young man.

    ¡°I¡­¡± Young Master Zhang couldn¡¯t help but take several steps back. He felt his heart rate increasing exponentially and there were goosebumps all over his skin. He couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°Did I¡­did I hurt the little boy¡¯s feelings? Oh no, how could I be so mean?!¡±

    ¡°The world is full of superficial people, alright,¡± thought Su Jin with a snort. Su Wen¡¯s perfect body included the ability to charm others, which was a little like the Nine-tailed Fox¡¯s ability. Initially, Su Jin thought that Su Wen had learned some skill of sorts, butter on, he guessed that the old man had included this aspect when creating this perfect body. The old man wanted perfection, and having the ability to charm ordinary people and make them do your bidding was a simple but valuable ability to have.

    While Young Master Zhang was still reeling from self-me and shock at his own emotions, the Nine-tailed Fox had finished filming. She took a ss of water from her manager, Lu Hang, and quickly spotted Su Jin after taking two sips.

    ¡°Why is he here?¡± She was pleasantly surprised and quickly ran toward Su Jin.

    Young Master Zhang was facing her and when he saw her running toward him with a smile, he thought she wasing to talk to him. He threw all his confused thoughts out of his head and said to Su Jin, ¡°Since you¡¯ve already made your way in, I¡¯ll let you stay here and meet your idol. But make sure you behave yourselves and don¡¯t try anything funny.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Thank you so much! We¡¯ll definitely behave ourselves!¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He chuckled and said to Su Wen, ¡°Wen, thank Young Master Zhang!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Young Master Zhang! You¡¯re such a nice guy!¡± said Su Wen in an adorable voice.

    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Young Master Zhang felt like his heart was about to stop. At the same time, the Nine-tailed Fox had reached them. She stretched her arms out and¡­hugged Su Jin.

    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Young Master Zhang waspletely bewildered!

 Chapter 425

    Chapter 425

    ¡°My dearest younger brother! What brings you here!¡± The Nine-tailed Fox used this chance to make it natural for her to hug Su Jin. Su Jin didn¡¯t mind, since he was definitely way younger than her, and calling him her younger brother had elevated his status. Of course, he wasn¡¯t going to tell her that he didn¡¯t mind this. Otherwise, she was going to take full advantage of the situation.

    ¡°Well, I needed to talk to you about something, so I came over to look for you,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. He said to Su Wen, ¡°Wen, greet your older sister.¡±

    ¡°Elder sis!¡± Su Wen immediately greeted her.

    ¡°Younger brother¡­ elder sis¡­ these people¡­ are siblings?!¡± Young Master Zhang finally snapped out of his confusion. These people were Su Mei¡¯s younger brothers?!

    ¡°This¡­ younger brother¡­ I mean, no¡­ Hello, sir! I¡¯m Zhang Yu, nice to meet you!¡± Zhang Yu hurriedly introduced himself to Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and smiled as he said, ¡°Thanks again, Mr. Zhang, for allowing us toe in!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Thank you so much for that, Mr. Zhang!¡± the Nine-tailed Fox smiled as she spoke to Zhang Yu.

    Zhang Yu felt like he was swimming in bliss. He nodded and beamed as he said, ¡°Haha¡­ it¡¯s nothing, really¡­ if uh, Mr. Su doesn¡¯t mind, let¡¯s have a meal tonight? The best restaurant in the city belongs to my family anyway, so let me give you guys a wee meal!¡±

    Su Jin wanted to turn him down, but the Nine-tailed Fox quickly said, ¡°We¡¯ll have to trouble you then, Mr. Zhang. By the way, my brother¡¯s just arrived and I need to talk to him about some matters, so¡­¡±¡°No problem! I get it! I¡¯ll get the ce ready, see you tonight then!¡± said Zhang Yu before leaving with a big smile on his face.

    After Zhang Yu left, Su Jin asked curiously, ¡°Why did you agree to dinner? Is there something special about that guy?¡±

    ¡°Something special about that guy? I¡­ don¡¯t think so. But it¡¯s true that his family owns the best restaurant in town. The food¡¯s really amazing. Take it as a wee meal from me!¡± said the Nine-tailed Fox cheekily.

    ¡°How very convenient!¡± Su Jinughed and shook his head.

    The Nine-tailed Fox asked, ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s with the little boy? There¡¯s something odd about him.¡±

    Her eyes were very sharp, since she had already lived for so many years. Su Wen looked like any other boy on the surface, but there was an emptiness in his gaze. He looked human, but he behaved more like a wooden puppet.

    Su Jin briefly told her what was going on and she remarked in surprise, ¡°A physical body prepared by a demigod? No wonder he looks so perfect.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to take care of him now, and I¡¯m surrounded by a bunch of guys, so I was hoping you could help me to take care of him for the time being, and to teach him some basics about the world. But don¡¯t you dare turn him into some twisted child,¡± Su Jin ended with a warning to her, afraid that she might do just that.

    She nodded and said, ¡°No problem. I love children!¡±

    Su Jin breathed a big sigh of relief inside after she agreed to take care of Su Wen. If she wasn¡¯t willing to take care of him, he wasn¡¯t going to force her to. If all failed, he would have to leave him with Tracy. But those people had weird values, so if he didn¡¯t have to, he didn¡¯t want to let Su Wen have too much interaction with them before Su Wen¡¯s worldview was stable.

    ¡°Su Mei, time to get ready! We¡¯re about to start filming again,¡± Lu Hang walked over. He nced at Su Jin, then his gaze got stuck at Su Wen.

    ¡°This little boy is so cute! Is he your son?¡± Lu Hang asked Su Jin.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure how to exin the situation, so he just went along with it, ¡°Yup, he¡¯s my son.¡±

    ¡°Would you be interested in letting him be a celebrity? He¡¯s really cute, so he would make such a great child star! Don¡¯t you think so, Su Mei?¡± Lu Hang felt like he had just found someone with great potential. The more he looked at Su Wen, the cuter he found the little boy.

    The Nine-tailed Fox smiled sweetly and said, ¡°My nephew is really suited to be a celebrity! I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll make so many people go crazy over him!¡±

    ¡°Your nephew? So, this young man here¡­¡± Lu Hang was surprised at first, but since Su Mei allowed Su Jin to talk to her for such a long time, they were definitely acquainted. He just didn¡¯t think they were family.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you think about it? I¡¯ll be here to take care of him, so you don¡¯t have to worry about him,¡± said the Nine-tailed Fox to Su Jin.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment, nced at Su Wen, then said, ¡°Wen is a little¡­ innocent. Are you sure he¡¯ll be alright?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This child¡­ will not have any issues,¡± said the Nine-tailed Fox confidently.

    Since Su Jin had agreed to let her take care of Su Wen, he was going to respect any decision she made for him. Bing a celebrity wasn¡¯t a bad thing either. This child had been swimming alone in thatke and was treated as a body for a demigod to take over in the future. He had nopanions, no memories of anything, and no emotions.

    Letting him be a celebrity would enable him to receive lots of love from so many people, which sounded like a nice way to make up for the time he had spent alone. And with the Nine-tailed Fox watching over him, he should be fine.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll leave him to you. But you¡¯d better watch him closely!¡± said Su Jin solemnly.

    The Nine-tailed Fox had an equally solemn expression on her face as she nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure he has a wonderful childhood!¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s exactly what it means to be a child!¡± Su Jin smiled as he ruffled Su Wen¡¯s soft hair. Su Wen rubbed his head against Su Jin¡¯s hand like a little cat.

    Lu Hang was even happier than them both. First, Su Mei had been entrusted to him from nowhere and took the country by storm within two months, and now, he had picked up another little one with great potential. The little boy was just as good looking as Su Mei, so as long as he managed the boy well, he would have another huge star on his hands. His position in the entertainment industry was going to skyrocket.

    Su Jin spent the rest of the time with Su Wen to watch the filming of the reality TV show, which ended up taking up the rest of the day. Once the filming wrapped up, Zhang Yu came punctually to pick them up for dinner.

    Zhang Yu was very generous in hosting them. He led them to the most luxurious private room in the restaurant, which was normally reserved for high ranking politicians and people of simr status. He also told the head chef to cook his best dishes.

    Su Wen had never eaten before, but his sense of smell worked perfectly fine. He didn¡¯t know that he was supposed to put food into his mouth, but he began to salivate involuntarily when he smelled the food.

    ¡°Er¡­ Mr. Su? I think Wen might be hungry? Do you want to let him eat first?¡± Zhang Yu thought that Su Jin might be a strict parent, so Su Wen did not dare to start eating if Su Jin did not say so.

    But this was really just Su Jin¡¯s oversight. He had forgotten that Su Wen didn¡¯t even know what food was. He smiled and nodded, then gently patted Su Wen¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°It¡¯s alright, if you¡¯re hungry, go ahead and help yourself!¡± At the same time, he put in the concept of food and eating into Su Wen¡¯s mind.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t want to influence Su Wen too much, but making a little boy learn basic things about the world as though he was a new born didn¡¯t seem right either.

    It was as though a switch had gone off in Su Wen¡¯s mind. He immediately began wolfing down all the delicacies before him at an insane speed.

    Zhang Yu got a terrible shock. How long had this boy gone without eating? But that wasn¡¯t the only problem. Even if the boy were hungry, he couldn¡¯t possibly eat like this! Even if his entire abdomen had no other internal organs except one huge stomach, there was only so much it could contain. Su Wen had already finished off as much food as five adult males.

    Su Jin tapped the air with a finger to alter Zhang Yu¡¯s thoughts slightly to make him think that all of this was normal. Zhang Yu was treating them to a good meal and was very sincere about it, so he was a nice guy and Su Jin didn¡¯t want to erase his memories, since that would be repaying his kindness with evil.

    At the end of the meal, Su Wen¡¯s stomach wasn¡¯t even bulging. His digestion system was so efficient, even if he had to eat a dragon now, Su Wen¡¯s god level body would digest it without any problems.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for the wonderful meal,¡± Su Jin thanked Zhang Yu.

    Zhang Yu smiled and replied, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so formal around me! Look for me the next time you visit N City!¡±

    Su Jin smiled and nodded, then he said quietly to Su Wen, ¡°Listen to your aunt and be good, okay? I want you to grow up well and happy, okay?¡±

    Su Wen seemed to sense something and suddenly grabbed hold of Su Jin¡¯s shirt. There was a little fear in his eyes, as though he was afraid that Su Jin would leave him.

    Su Jin patted his head and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you miss me, tell your aunt and we can meet anytime.¡±

    The Nine-tailed Fox took Su Wen¡¯s hand and said with a smile, ¡°He¡¯s right, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll bring you to see Daddy when you want to, alright? Be good, otherwise it¡¯ll make things hard for Daddy.¡±

    Su Wen reluctantly let go of Su Jin¡¯s shirt and Su Jin actually felt a little sad about it. He bid farewell to Zhang Yu, then said to Su Wen, ¡°Grow up happily and enjoy life, because you deserve it!¡±

    After that, he disappeared into the night, leaving Su Wen to hold the Nine-tailed Fox¡¯s hand tightly. Tears welled up in the little boy¡¯s eyes, even though he had no idea why he felt like crying or what it meant at all.

 Chapter 426

    Chapter 426

    A strange glimmer flickered in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as his maniacal power led him across endless space toward another wisp of maniacal power that existed within a different space time.

    ¡°It¡¯s moving?¡± Su Jin was surprised. The other wisp he was tracking kept moving nonstop, and kept breaking through the barriers of space and time without any intention to stop at all.

    He didn¡¯t give it too much thought and kept going, crushingyers of emptiness as he made his way toward that wisp. He moved extremely quickly, so the barriers of space were not able block his way at all. After going throughyers andyers, he finally caught up with that wisp. He was shocked by what he was seeing and didn¡¯t know what to say at first.

    ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡± In front of him, a gigantic was moving at high speed. This was not one that was naturally formed, since there were intelligent beings covering its entire surface. But what surprised Su Jin the most was the fact that this had spatial abilities. This was the sort of that Geppetto had talked about. A that possessed spatial ability ever since it existed.

    And the moment Su Jin appeared, the seemed to have detected him too. Rune creatures surged out of the like water and charged at Su Jin.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t want to get caught up with these creatures, so he moved at high speed toward the. The rune creatures that were charging at him were instantly reduced to ashes once they came close to him. The creatures were as weak as ordinary lifeforms when faced with his maniacal power.

    Meanwhile, a frightening glint appeared in the eyes of two people on the. They were the lucky survivors of the first cycle, gods from the first cycle ¨C Carl and Phyge.

    ¡°This powering toward us is incredibly formidable and the rune creatures are no match. Who could it be? Could the will of the universe have found us?¡± Carl started feeling uneasy. Su Jin¡¯s power was extremely destructive, but it was also beyond anything that could exist within the boundaries of the Handbook. It was even capable of killing the rune creatures without much effort. This immediately made them think that the intruder could be the will of the universe.

    ¡°We have to stop him from getting here. The Beginning isn¡¯t mature yet, so if the will of the universe discovers us, all our efforts will go down the drain!¡± yelled Phyge as he leaped up and shot out of the to meet with the unstoppable Su Jin.The gods of the first cycle were very powerful beings. Arutus, the one who had burned himself up, could challenge the will of the universe if he went all out. Phyge was not at Arutus¡¯ level, but he was definitely not that much weaker.

    Boom! Su Jin was hit by Phyge¡¯s fist, and his entire body tore into four or five pieces and each chunk went in a different direction. His god-like body was as weak as tofu to Phyge¡¯s iron fist. That was unbelievable.

    If his body had merely been broken apart, Su Jin wouldn¡¯t have been that surprised. What really shocked him was the fact that his body was having trouble putting itself back together again. He was having great difficulty connecting his flesh, and sometimes, a wound that just healed would burst open again.

    ¡°This sort of power is on the verge of exceeding the Handbook¡¯s, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Su Jin was really astonished. Phyge¡¯s power still carried the mark of the Handbook, but it seemed like it could surpass the Handbook soon.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to fight, I am not here with ill intentions!¡± yelled Su Jin loudly. He didn¡¯t want to be engaged in a fight for no reason. He hade solely because he was curious about where these rune creatures hade from.

    But Phyge couldn¡¯t understand what Su Jin was saying, and once he had gone into fighting mode, it was hard for him to stop. He stretched his hands out and a bright beam of light shot toward Su Jin.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± muttered Su Jin as a colorful glow rose around him to form a shield that protected him from the bright beam of light. That beam could cause immense levels of damage, and if he had been hit by it, he¡­ might have died.

    That¡¯s right, he could have died. That was Su Jin¡¯s first conclusion. His opponent was terrifyingly powerful and was capable of killing a top tier god.

    And actually, Su Jin was able to disy fighting abilities that were greater than a top tier god¡¯s right now, so his opponent was someone who was way above a top tier god.

    ¡°Where in the world could such a formidable persone from? Or could it be¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s heart nearly stopped beating. Could his opponent be the will of the universe? Or some fighter created by the will of the universe? That seemed to be the only way to exin why his opponent was this petrifying.

    Now that both sides had decided that the other party was the will of the universe, they decided to go all out in their attack. Phyge¡¯s strength had gone through years of refining, and his techniques were even more well-developed, so he was usually in a better cepared to Su Jin. But Su Jin¡¯s maniacal power was outside of the Handbook and was even more aggressive, so Phyge did not dare to push Su Jin too hard or get too near. The battle was at a stalemate for quite a long time.

    ¡°This is pretty terrible! I told myself that I would defeat the will of the universe, but now¡­ I can¡¯t even deal with a minion he¡¯s created?¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes were seeing red, and his maniacal power was glowing colorfully, as though there was a flickering rainbow in space.

    Phyge¡¯s attacks, on the other hand, were bright beams of light. Any that those beams hit would shatter in an instant. Nothing could hold up against those fists of his.

    Just then, a voice came from the primordial star, ¡°That¡¯s enough, Phyge. Get back here quickly, or else the Handbook will find you!¡±

    Phyge really wanted to continue the fight, but he had to retreat now. He had dashed out because the Handbook had justpleted a scan of the void and he had to return before the next scan started. Otherwise, if the Handbook found them, it would definitely destroy them.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t understand what Carl just said, but he sent his psychokinesis out and realized that the other party wasn¡¯t someone from the Handbook at all. These people were like him. They were insurgents too.

    That instantly brightened him up. If he could join forces with such mighty fighters, then his chances of winning the final battle would increase greatly. With that in mind, he immediately made a rush for the primordial star.

    Phyge instantly flew into a rage after he returned to the and started yelling angrily. Su Jin used his psychokinesis to analyze the yelling, and he realized that Phyge was yelling at him to go away from the.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any ill intentions! Could we sit down and have a chat?¡± Su Jin used his psychokinesis to send a simple message. Confusion slowly spread across Phyge¡¯s face and a momentter, he seemed to have received an instruction from elsewhere as he nodded at Su Jin and motioned to Su Jin to follow him.

    As Su Jin walked behind Phyge, he couldn¡¯t help but gasp inwardly at this. The entire had been honed into one invincible body, so unless you managed to make the entire explode all at once, it was impossible to damage any part of it. And the spatial abilities it contained was exactly what he had been hoping to find.

    Phyge was quite impressed with Su Jin, who was just following behind him without asking any questions. Phyge had no idea where in the world Su Jin hade from, and based on the fight earlier, he was certain that Su Jin wasn¡¯t the will of the universe in human form either. If that was the case, why did this person have a power that didn¡¯t belong to the Handbook?

    Also, this fellow didn¡¯t seem to be afraid that there was some trap lying in wait for him. Su Jin just followed behind him without even looking wary.

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach Carl. Carl took one look at Su Jin, then ced a hand over his own chest and said, ¡°Wee, insurgent!¡±

    ¡°Insurgent?!¡± Phyge was surprised at first, then he pped his forehead as he realized how dumb he was. Anyone who wasn¡¯t the will of the universe in disguise but also had powers outside of the Handbook had to be an insurgent But he had never heard of any insurgent who could escape being hunted down by the Handbook. How did this guy do it?

    Su Jin did the same gesture as Carl and returned the greeting. Then he asked, ¡°Could I ask¡­ who are you?¡±

    ¡°Who are we? We are the gods of the first cycle, the sad remnants of the very first universe,¡± said Carl with a bitter smile. But the words ¡°gods of the first cycle¡± really shocked Su Jin.

    He couldn¡¯t imagine how someone so ancient could have gone through the birth and death of so many cycles and survived until now.

    Carl seemed to know what Su Jin was thinking. He smiled and shook his head sadly as he said, ¡°We¡¯ve managed by being fearful tortoises who constantly hide in their shell. Almost all of ourpanions are dead, and the two of us are thest ones. The gods of the first cycle¡­ are about to be history!¡±

 Chapter 427

    Chapter 427

    Carl and Phyge led Su Jin on a tour of the primordial star. In order to allow as many gods from the first cycle to hide here, they had maximized the use of space on the. Besides therge hall in the middle, the rest of the was covered in little caves that resembled a slum. It was hard to believe that a god would live in such a ce.

    But now, these little caves had no gods in them. Throughout the years and cycles, they had left the one after another to collect resources and information for theunch of The Beginning. No god who had left the was allowed toe back. All of them would eventually be discovered by the Handbook and killed.

    The heartless flow of time seemed even more heartless to these gods from the first cycle. It tortured the lives of these people who were from the same era as the primordial deities and made it even harder for them to live day after day.

    Su Jin sighed. He couldn¡¯t imagine what he would do if he were one of them. Would he have made the same choice as them? Would he have agreed to sacrifice himself for the sake of a small chance of sess in a future he couldn¡¯t foresee?

    ¡°It sounds a little silly, but we¡¯re talking about the creatures that existed before the first destruction of the universe. They had much fewer desirespared to the creatures that exist today. In fact, I feel that when a new cycle has new creatures, the Handbook adds several negative emotions into them during the creation process. Perhaps it was because our resistance was too aggressive, so the will of the universe realized that lives had to be controlled,¡± Carl smiled sadly.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, ¡°I¡¯ve noticed that too. Us humans are considered more normal, really. The owners from some of the others are practically the embodiment of cruelty.¡±

    Carl nced at Su Jin, then asked, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about you. How did you escape the Handbook¡¯s detection and tracking?¡±

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know either. When I became an insurgent, I didn¡¯t attract the attention of the Handbook. Perhaps I got lucky!¡±

    Carl and Phyge exchanged nces. They knew that Su Jin was lying to them. The Handbook was a system that would not make any mistakes. It was probably easier to defeat the system than to introduce a bug into the system. Also, the Handbook would be even more sensitive to insurgents when a current cycle was reaching its end. Once discovered, the Handbook would target them continuously until they were dead. While they had heard of all sorts of miracles through the ages, they had never heard of any insurgent who couldpletely escape both detection and destruction from the Handbook.They continued moving along and came to the middle of the hall. A pure ball of light floated in front of Su Jin. Its brilliance was iparable, as though all the beauty in the world could not match up to it.

    ¡°This¡­¡± murmured Su Jin.

    ¡°This is The Beginning, a super system that canpare to Hell¡¯s Handbook that has been left behind by the gods of the first cycle. Only its existence can defeat the will of the universe and Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± said Carl proudly. And he had every right to feel proud.

    Su Jin stared in wonder at The Beginning. This brilliant ball of light was actually a system that could fight the Handbook? He couldn¡¯t imagine how anybody could create something like this.

    ¡°So¡­ those rune creatures?¡± Su Jin had to tear his eyes away from The Beginning for a moment to ask the other two.

    ¡°Ah, those are The Beginning¡¯s masterpieces. They are a lifeform that arepletely outside of the Handbook¡¯s powers, but all the power systems and biological systems that exist within the Handbook have been input into them. You could say that they are a nemesis to anything the Handbook could create,¡± said Carl confidently.

    But Su Jin fell silent. Those creatures were powerful, but it was a little too much of an exaggeration to say that they were a nemesis to anything the Handbook could create. The rune creatures had failed topletely destroy owners whenever they appeared, which meant that they were still too weak to do that.

    ¡°Thank you for letting me see so much,¡± Su Jin thanked Carl and Phyge.

    Carl smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. If it was possible for the both of us have a friend somewhere out there in the vast universe, you would definitely be our best choice.¡±

    ¡°Because we¡¯re both a thorn in the flesh for the Handbook and the will of the universe?¡± asked Su Jin with a chuckle.

    ¡°Haha¡­ the enemy of an enemy is a friend, no? That¡¯s something the people of your cycle say, right? And I agree. Regardless of what race you are or what status you hold, as long as you are against the Handbook and the will of the universe, you are our friend,¡± said Phyge.

    Su Jin nodded, then asked a different question, ¡°I¡¯m looking for a shard of a star with spatial abilities to create my very own. Do you have any information that could be useful to me?¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ are you going to create your own temple?¡± asked Carl excitedly.

    Su Jin nodded. Carl said, ¡°What a pity! You are probably the only insurgent with any hope of doing that, so we don¡¯t have any advice for you on that aspect. But with regard to the shard you¡¯re asking about¡­ we could be of some help.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Jin was pleasantly surprised. He didn¡¯t expect them to be able to help.

    Carl flipped his palm over and a rock about the same size as his palm appeared in front of Su Jin. Su Jin stared at the rock puzzledly for a moment, but he quickly sensed spatial abilitiesing from the rock.

    ¡°This¡­ this is a shard from a star with spatial abilities?¡± asked Su Jin brightly.

    Carl nodded with a faint smile, but he added, ¡°It is, but if you¡¯re looking to create a that can move like the primordial star, I¡¯m afraid this little thing won¡¯t be of much use. But you could use its frequencies to search for others like it, and I think you would find other such pieces much more easily.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t very discouraged despite what he heard. It was unrealistic to hope that he would get a suitable shard right away, so getting something that would reduce the time he needed to search for such a shard was more than good enough for him.

    He took the rock from Carl and thanked him, ¡°Thank you so much. If we get the chance in the future, let¡¯s help each other!¡±

    ¡°Of course! As the only other insurgent in the universe, it¡¯s only right for us to help one another,¡± Carlughed heartily. He was a magnanimous leader to begin with. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have be the leader of the gods from the first cycle and have absolutely nobody betray him until now.

    Su Jin did not intend to stay here for too long, since he had other things he wanted to do. Before leaving, he said, ¡°By the way, the rune creatures don¡¯t seem to have any emotions or much sentience, so I think it¡¯s best that you think about this part a little more carefully. It¡¯s very easy for them to be discovered from the way they gather information and all that.

    ¡°I was able to locate your after I discovered them, so if the will of the universe discovers them¡­¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t need to finish his sentence for them to know what he was trying to say.

    The two gods exchanged nces. They knew about this sentience problem, and they were also trying to figure out what to do with it. But they also had not fully decided how to develop these rune creatures, so they could only allow them to keep getting more and more powerful before running some sentience tests.

    A colorful glow surrounded Su Jin as he prepared to leave, and as he flew away, he suddenly remembered something and yelled back, ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve got a primordial deity friend named Kano Mai! If you run into her, please help me to take care of her!¡±

    With that, Su Jin left thepletely. Carl and Phyge were too stunned for words. They didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to know Kano Mai.

    ¡°Do you want to ask him to stay for a while? I think the reason why the Handbook hasn¡¯t discovered him has something to do with the primordial deities. If we let The Beginning analyze him, we¡¯ll definitely get some answers,¡± Phyge said to Carl.

    Carl hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. ¡°If we wanted him to stay, we should have said so before he left. We won¡¯t be able to catch up with him now. Besides, he¡¯s extremely powerful. If we end up getting into a fight, we might not get what we want.¡±

    ¡°If only Arutus were still around¡­¡± Phyge shook his head and sighed.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was feeling a little down. The elder gods had all been destroyed, and Kano Mai was still nowhere to be found. He was getting extremely worried.

    Just then, the image of an extremely brilliant ball of white light appeared in his mind. He shook his head, wondering why he would suddenly be reminded of The Beginning.

 Chapter 428

    Chapter 428

    After returning to the real world, Su Jin rested for two days, then started improving on the signaling machine with Geppetto. Geppetto alsomented that the work became much easier with this rock from a star shard.

    In order to make sure that Geppetto could work without interruptions, Su Jin created an ind in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He got all the necessary equipment from the Handbook itself so that they would definitely be the standard that Geppetto wanted.

    Geppetto and Alice ended up making the ind their home. Su Jin initially thought of keeping them by his side, but when he thought about what he was about to face next, he became worried and felt that it was safer to keep them further away from him.

    After Su Jin returned to S City, he suddenly stopped in his footsteps just before he entered his house. He furrowed his brows as he stared intensely at his own house. There was something amiss about it.

    ¡°Show yourselves! I¡¯m not letting you in here without a fight!¡± shouted Su Jin.

    Several figures leaped out from inside the house. A total of eight people surrounded Su Jin. They looked like perfectly normal humans.

    Some looked like office workers, some like homemakers, some like the elderly in the parks. But the look in their eyes didn¡¯t match their ordinary faces. Their murderous, fired-up stares proved that they were definitely no ordinary people.

    ¡°You guys¡­ are non-human owners!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened. He just knew there was something odd about their aura. These people weren¡¯t human at all. If that was the case, they could only be non-human owners.

    Out of the eight, a man who looked like an office worker took a step forward and said, ¡°Su Jin¡­ I would advise you against putting up a fight. We¡¯re all quasi god-level fighters, and there are eight of us, so there¡¯s no way you can defeat us!¡±Su Jin replied, ¡°You¡¯re here because of the wanted notice?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯d better not try to fight back, or I can guarantee that your entire world will end up going down the grave with you!¡± said the man with a sneer.

    ¡°You guys think you¡¯re good enough?¡± Su Jin was filled with disdain. Eight quasi god-level owners thought they would be good enough to make him surrender without a fight and even threatened to destroy Earth? They had clearly underestimated him.

    The leader snorted, ¡°Of course. Since Hell¡¯s Handbook has sent out a wanted notice across all universes for you, it means that you are very powerful, and that¡¯s why we made preparations beforeing. There are only eight of us here to round you up, but there are also another 40 quasi god-level fighters hidden all over this. If you try to fight back, those 40 fighters will destroy the, thene here to fight you!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s expression darkened. Who else on this could possibly fight off these 40 quasi god-level owners? Xu Ran, Daitengu, Bifang, and the Nine-tailed Fox, maybe. Even if he threw himself into the mix, they would only be able to fend off a dozen or so owners. Forty such owners would definitely be enough to destroy the.

    ¡°I want to know what sort of reward you¡¯d get if you kill me,¡± said Su Jin.

    The leader chuckled and said, ¡°The reward¡¯s pretty good. We get to be gods immediately, and we get to be high tier gods too. Most importantly, it doesn¡¯t matter how many people join this attack. As long as our group eventually kills you, all of us will get the reward!¡±

    ¡°Wow, the Handbook is really going all out just to get me,¡± muttered Su Jin. Hell¡¯s Handbook did not set any limiting conditions in order to motivate others to kill him. That was a very generous offer.

    ¡°So, just give up fighting and surrender! I know you must be very powerful and we¡¯d probably still suffer some injuries even with eight of us against you. But we¡¯d definitely win the fight at the end of the day, so your resistance is futile,¡± the leader tried to persuade Su Jin.

    Su Jin suddenly burst outughing, ¡°When you received the wanted notice from the Handbook, did the Handbook tell you in detail how powerful I am?¡±

    ¡°Is there a need to? No matter how powerful you be, you¡¯re still an owner of the Handbook. As long as you don¡¯t be a god, we¡¯ll be able to kill you,¡± dered the leader proudly.

    Su Jin¡¯s smile widened. So, the Handbook did not tell these people how powerful he was. That¡¯s why they hade excitedly to kill him.

    Actually, these owners were pretty powerful, but there was a difference in their core itself. This difference caused their understanding of powers to bepletely different. Even if there were 480 of them instead of 48, killing them was only a matter of time to Su Jin. He was only worried that they would destroy the, which would result in the deaths of so many innocent people.

    Su Jin suddenly took his phone out and nced at it, nodded and said to his eight attackers, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time to go.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve decided to surrender?¡± The leader breathed a sigh of relief inside. Engaging in battle with an owner that was actually wanted by the Handbook wouldn¡¯t be a walk in the park for sure. It would be best if he could scare the other party into surrendering instead.

    But Su Jin shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m saying that it¡¯s time¡­ to take you guys away!¡±

    ¡°Shit! Everyone, attack!¡± The leader realized Su Jin wasn¡¯t surrendering and decided tounch an attack. Even if they couldn¡¯t kill Su Jin, they could at least destroy the. But before he could do that, Su Jin snapped his fingers.

    Everything went dark, then turned into the beautiful starry outer space. Everyone had reappeared in outer space. Everyone, because the leader realized that the people around him were not just the other seven who had gone with him to confront Su Jin, but the other 40 hidden around the were here too.

    Su Jin looked at the group with some interest. He had used the time they spent talking earlier to send his psychokinesis around the globe, caught hold of all the owners who were in hiding, and sent them straight into space. If they fought out here, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about them destroying his.

    ¡°You think I would be afraid of you guys? You think you guys are able to defeat me? You think you had the right to invade my?!¡± Su Jin red at the group and shook his head slightly as he roared, ¡°You were wrong!¡±

    ¡°There are 48 of us and we¡¯re all at the quasi god-level! We can do anything!¡± shouted the leader loudly. He should have had great confidence when he said these words, since all 48 of them hade from various universes and were the best of their respective universes, so he was right to say that they were capable of anything. But for some reason¡­ when he met with Su Jin¡¯s eyes, the confidence he ought to have started dissipating.

    Su Jin snorted as he pointed at the leader and shook his finger slightly. The leader instantly exploded as Su Jin uttered quietly, ¡°No, you¡¯re not capable of that at all.¡±

    The rest of the group instantly paled. Su Jin had been able to kill one of them by just pointing at him. He just needed to point 47 more times to kill the rest of them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t back away! We¡¯ll die even faster if we try to run because he can target us one by one! Let¡¯s fight him together!¡± shouted one of them to stop them from going separate ways, since that would make things even worse for themselves.

    Anyone who could reach this level was smart, and they agreed with the one who shouted. They immediately got ready for battle.

    In order to get into their best fighting mode, they had to shed their human exteriors and had to reveal what they truly looked like. To Su Jin, this was a real Hundred Demon Night Parade, because there were really all sorts of creatures here.

    They charged at Su Jin andunched their best moves. Su Jin remained in midair, and regardless of which one came at him, he just had to point at them, and that creature would explode and die immediately without him moving at all. Some of them had some special weapons and shields that could keep them alive for a longer time, but these were useless when faced with someone like Su Jin.

    Within just a few minutes, all 48 owners had been in. Su Jin was even getting a little tired of such massacres. These owners were simply too weak. If they were actually gods, then they could possibly sustain a battle of sorts. But these owners weren¡¯t even gods, so they were like knives that were still in their sheaths. They werepletely useless.

    Just when Su Jin was feeling disappointed, the exploded chunks of the owners suddenly gave off a bright light that made Su Jin squint. The chunks of flesh suddenly gathered together regardless of what creature they originally belonged to and formed a gigantic body.

    That was a body created from the bodies of all 48 owners, and it looked really imposing. The body glowed brightly as it stabilized, then another force shattered the glow and walked out from that huge body.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Su Jin¡¯s hair instantly stood on end when he saw who had walked out from the huge body. He knew this person.

 Chapter 429

    Chapter 429

    This was a person Su Jin would never forget. Even his voice was unforgettable. The person who had appeared was a clown with a bright red nose, or the incarnation of the Handbook.

    The clown bowed toward Su Jin with a crazed smile on his face and spoke with that voice that could make a person lose their mind, ¡°Hello there, insurgent! And goodbye, insurgent!¡±

    The clown threw his giant fist at Su Jin. Su Jin tried to dodge, only to find that he couldn¡¯t move at all. The clown was basically the Handbook itself, so he could use any Spirit Power he wanted, including those that could immobilize an owner. That wasn¡¯t difficult.

    ¡°Move!¡± shouted Su Jin as a colorful glow surrounded him. He couldn¡¯t use any powers within the Handbook¡¯s system to fight the Handbook. Using maniacal power was the only choice he had.

    Once his body was filled with maniacal power, he could move again and he managed to escape the clown¡¯s fist. The fist did notnd on Su Jin, but it still managed to crack part of the space they were in. The clown was strong enough to make a hole in space with just one punch.

    ¡°Resistance is futile! You will eventually have to die!¡± The clown wore a revolting smile as he rushed at Su Jin like a beam of light. All sorts of Spirit Power enveloped Su Jin, making it impossible for him to escape.

    ¡°Whether I live or die is not up to you!¡± Su Jin used the colorful glow around him to break through theyers of Spirit Power. He retrieved his boning knife and swung it outward, lopping the clown¡¯s head off.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless! Regardless of where I am in the universe, I am immortal!¡± The clown¡¯s head started spinning in midair and turned into a huge whirlwind in space.

    Meteorites, big and smallary objects and even light were all sucked into the whirlwind. Su Jin was not spared either. The immense force created by the whirlwind sucked him in. This was not the work of some Spirit Power, but a pure force based on physics that was strong enough to destroy everything that was sucked into it.Su Jin felt his body slowly get crushed. Every drop of blood, every inch of flesh, every capiry. He couldn¡¯t fight back at all. Not even his maniacal power could get him out of this.

    His body waspletely crushed and not even a drop of blood was left behind. There were some owners that could regenerate from just one droplet of blood, like Durand. But if you didn¡¯t even have that left, even Durand would have to resign himself to death if this happened to him.

    Su Jin¡¯s physical body was truly dead now, but his soul was still around. His soul had be super resilient after being nourished by so much psychokinesis, so it was stronger than anything in this world.

    ¡°Destruction of the physical body confirmed! Next step, destruction of the soul!¡± The clown grinned as he pped his hands, as though he had done something incredibly noble. Then again, he had killed the only insurgent that had managed to escape detection, except that he hadn¡¯t killed all of Su Jin yet.

    Inside the whirlwind, Su Jin¡¯s soul was like a tiny wooden boat in the middle of the ocean that could be destroyed at any moment. He could sense that the clown had locked on him. The clown wanted to destroy himpletely. The clown wanted to destroy not only his physical body but his soul and consciousness as well!

    ¡°This is destruction, but it could be transcendence too!¡± Su Jin¡¯s consciousness solidified into a body, each wisp gleaming a brilliant silver. It was unaffected by physics at all, so Su Jin walked out of the whirlwind easily.

    ¡°Just nice!¡± The clown pped his hands and a long spear that glowed a bloody red appeared in his hand. He cackled and said to Su Jin, ¡°Do you like it? This is the Spear of Fate, and it¡¯s a limited edition piece! It killed the first, and the only god among the primordial deities!¡±

    The spear whooshed toward Su Jin like a red beam of light. Su Jin could sense the terrifying power emanating from the spear. He knew that his soul would immediately shatter if it struck him.

    Su Jin stared intently at the spear, then the silver glow around his body disappeared. He had given up his psychokinesis. From this moment onward, he no longer possessed any powers from the Handbook.

    The spear suddenly stopped midair, as though it had lost its target. The clown frowned and said, ¡°Very clever, huh. You¡¯re right, the Spear of Fate needs something in order to follow and find its target. You¡¯ve decided to give up the power I gave you, and I think it¡¯s such a pity!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s soul was like a candle in the wind, but he was filled with indescribable joy. His psychokinesis had be so powerful, he was on par with deities. If he was asked to give it up in the past, he would not bear to part to part with it. But now that he had given it all up, he realized that it was not a power that could help him, but a power that enved him.

    Using maniacal power to rece psychokinesis, Su Jin used it to envelope his soul and regenerate a physical body. Su Jin had been reborn, but he now had a body that was different from anything else in the world. A body that was not bound by the Handbook.

    The clown¡¯s gaze grew grim as he caused his own body to explode. The exploded flesh glowed bright red as they zoomed toward Su Jin. Su Jin frowned slightly because he knew he was not in the best shape to fight the clown now. He had just formed a new body and it needed some adjustments. But since he couldn¡¯t get away now, he decided that he¡¯d make those adjustments while fighting!

    Su Jin dissolved his body once more and turned into colorful beams of light that collided with the bright red onesing for him. The two lights fought each other and swallowed each other up. This was no longer a battle between two powers or two people, but a battle between twows of two different worlds.

    The Handbook represented the will of the universe, while Su Jin represented himself, and represented a transcendence from the Handbook. After some time, the red lights began to wane and die off. The clown was just a subset of the system, so it wasn¡¯t as powerful as the system itself. A battle between Su Jin and the will of the universe would have been more equal.

    After thest red light was killed off by Su Jin¡¯s colorful ones, he gathered the colorful light to form a body again, then closed his eyes slightly as he began to absorb the information from the red lights and analyzed everything.

    A momentter, Su Jin reopened his eyes. He shook his head slightly and said, ¡°He was really powerful. This clown was created by merelybining the core of those 48 owners, and he could already be this powerful. If he¡­ gosh, I can¡¯t even imagine!¡±

    Su Jin let out a long sigh. Compared to the Handbook, which had managed to run countless cycles, the clown was simply too weak. The Handbook had not been counting on those owners to do anything about Su Jin in the first ce. Those owners were meant to be sacrificial pawns right from the start.

    Sacrificing these owners had not allowed the clown to be that powerful, but the clown had be powerful enough to push Su Jin into a corner. If the clown had be more powerful than this, Su Jin might have had to really run for it.

    All theary objects within a few thousand light years were gone, leaving only the darkened universe, Su Jin, and that Spear of Fate.

    Su Jin grabbed hold of the spear and wisps of red light appeared in his eyes. This was the good part about defeating the incarnation of the Handbook. The red lights he had swallowed were like parts of the Handbook¡¯s data. Su Jin was now like a super hacker, because he could use these bits of data to connect himself to the Handbook¡¯s system without being discovered. He could even do a few minor tweaks if he wanted.

    ¡°The only god among the primordial deities, and also the very first god of the Handbook. Yet, they died by this spear,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. Darkened bloodstains could still be seen on the spear, and still carried traces of godhood despite the passage of time. That was a testament to how powerful such a god had been back then.

    But Su Jin was quickly stunned by his next discovery. This Spear of Fate was actually something that existed outside of the Handbook. It was made from a material that the will of the universe had specially extracted, and there wasn¡¯t any more of this material left in the world. It was no wonder the clown had tried to use this to kill him. Thankfully, he had quickly given up his psychokinesis so the spear could no longer track him. Otherwise, he would have died immediately without any chance of escape.

    A colorful glow appeared on his arm before enveloping the Spear of Fate. The spear disappeared, then Su Jin grabbed the air such that a wisp of ck stuff came together to slowly form a boning knife.

    The whirlwind created by the clown had shattered everything Su Jin had, but thankfully, the boning knife had been created by many gods and had Su Jin¡¯s mark, so he was able to forcibly put the shattered pieces of the knife together again.

    ¡°I have to build my own temple as quickly as possible. If I have to face such sneaky attacks again and again¡­ I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll hold up for!¡± Su Jin sighed. For as long as he didn¡¯t have his own temple, he would never be able to get away from the Handbook. He couldn¡¯t guarantee he¡¯d win the next fight against it.

 Chapter 430

    Chapter 430

    Su Jin did not return to his world, because that felt like a jail cell to him. Hell¡¯s Handbook could locate him and trap him there once, so it could do it again easily. So, Su Jin decided to keep moving between worlds until he had created his very own temple.

    He didn¡¯t have to worry about his friends, since the Handbook¡¯s only target was him. Only insurgents and transcendents were a threat to the Handbook. Anybody else was just like a fish in the Handbook¡¯s own pond, no matter how powerful they became.

    Su Jin, on the other hand, was basically trying to dig a new pond so that he could give those fish a new home. Of course he would be an enemy to the Handbook.

    Meanwhile, a crack appeared in another space. A hand reached out from inside the crack and took some effort to tear a huge hole in the space.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you guys.¡± The will of the universe and hispanions emerged from the crack. They had walked into the trapid by the Mad Hatter and Pinhio, and even the will of the universe felt that the Mad Hatter¡¯s ns had been pretty impressive, since he had been sessfully trapped inside the hat for quite a while. But even so, the will of the universe was still able to find a way to escape the hat.

    ¡°O Great One, what should we do now?¡± asked the Demon Lord.

    The will of the universe paused to think, then said with a smile, ¡°Before that fellow turned into an insurgent, he was bent on bing a god because he wanted to revive some people, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. His friends died in a Heaven Level Challenge, so not even the Ceremony of the Gods can revive them. He had to be a god to be able to revive them,¡± said the Demon Lord with a nod.

    The will of the universe tapped his nose with some delight and said, ¡°Revive them then!¡±¡°Wait, what?¡± The Demon Lord blinked in surprise, as though she hadn¡¯t heard him clearly.

    The will of the universe smiled and said, ¡°I said, revive them. After I upgraded your powers, you¡¯re able to do that, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡­ yes, I can do that!¡± The Demon Lord nodded. She had returned to the height of her strength, or actually, she had be even more powerful than she was back then. She was now even more powerful than a top tier god, so reviving a few people was no problem.

    ¡°Revive them,¡± repeated the will of the universe.

    The Demon Lord had no choice but to follow his instructions. She drew several magic circles in the air, which was her way ofmunicating with the Handbook. She needed information about Su Jin¡¯s dead teammates from the Handbook in order to revive them.

    The magic circles glowed a bright white, and after some time, Ye Yun, Wu Chen, and Bo Ya were resurrected one after another.

    ¡°O Great One, it is done!¡± said the Demon Lord to the will of the universe. ¡°I have not awakened them, however. Do I awaken them now?¡±

    ¡°No. We have to insert some things first. I¡¯m thinking of ying a fun game!¡± said the will of the universe as he flicked a few beams of light into the three bodies.

    ¡°What are you inserting into them?¡± asked the Demon Lord puzzledly.

    ¡°I¡¯m inserting a reversal program that¡¯s very simple but very interesting!¡± said the will of the universe as heughed heartily. ¡°After they awaken, the ones they love the most will be the ones they hate the most! I¡¯m going to give them the ability to move through space as well. I want them to return to their worlds and start killing each other. Let¡¯s see what that fellow does about that!¡±

    As the Demon Lord stared at him in stunned silence, the will of the universe snapped his fingers. The eyes of the three bodies flew open, and they looked strangely at the will of the universe. Hemanded them, ¡°Go forth! Don¡¯t waste the life I¡¯ve given you!¡±

    The three of them nodded, then left the space they came from. The Demon Lord was deeply conflicted as she watched the three of them leave. The will of the universe tapped his nose, then said, ¡°Before I returned in this manner, I remember the Handbook gave me some information about another interesting fellow. Revive him too!¡±

    At the same time, Su Jin had traveled to Chu Yi¡¯s world. He had a home he couldn¡¯t return to, so he hoped that Chu Yi¡¯s side would be safer.

    And he was right. The Handbook was not watching any of hispanions. Or perhaps none of hispanions were important to the Handbook at all.

    Chu Yi was d to receive Su Jin, but after hearing how the clown had tried to kill Su Jin, he frowned deeply. At the same time, he was thoroughly impressed by The Beginning, the system created by the gods from the first cycle.

    ¡°Boss, why don¡¯t we beg those gods from the first cycle to revive Wu Chen and the rest?¡± Chu Yi suddenly suggested out of nowhere.

    Su Jin rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Never mind that. The two systems carry twopletely different sets of information. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any shortcut to reviving Wu Chen and the rest.¡±

    ¡°What do we do then? We can¡¯t be gods now either, and I¡¯m afraid that things might change if we wait any longer,¡± said Chu Yi as he scratched his head. His capabilities had seen a significant increase as an expert in close rangebat, and he was seriously very close to bing a god now. That really surprised Su Jin.

    The two of them sparred before too, and Su Jin had discovered that he was no match for Chu Yi if he did not use any Spirit Power and relied solely on his physique even though his physique had been equivalent to a god¡¯s before it was destroyed. That was how incredibly skilled Chu Yi had be.

    ¡°What has the resistance army been doingtely? Order has returned to this world, and I doubt they¡¯ve decided to go into politics, have they?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°Nope. They¡¯ve all gone back to their own lives. Everyone is more concerned about surviving Challenges than to care about the society they¡¯re living in right now. Unless they intend to form another cult and rule over the ordinary people,¡± said Chu Yi.

    Su Jin nodded, then he suddenly shuddered as a look of shock appeared in his eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Chu Yi worriedly.

    ¡°Someone has passed through the space barrier to reach this world. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯re here for me!¡± Su Jin had to be on guard constantly. If another group of owners hade for him again, he would be in trouble.

    ¡°Wait¡­ it¡¯s just one person? And why does this person seem¡­ so familiar?¡± Su Jin looked puzzled. He could sense a very familiar presenceing toward him. A momentter, his puzzled expression turned to one of shock. ¡°This¡­ it¡¯s Wu Chen!¡±

    ¡°Who?!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°It¡¯s Wu Chen! It¡¯s his aura! I¡¯m very sure! It¡¯s exactly the same as before, but¡­ why is this happening?¡± Su Jin was very confused. Everything about humans could be altered or forged, from fingerprints to irises, and owners could change these easily. But there was one thing they couldn¡¯t change, and that was their own unique aura or presence.

    Some owners were powerful enough to hide it, but they couldn¡¯t change it. That was something that all high level owners knew. So, it wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how shocked Su Jin was when he picked up Wu Chen¡¯s aura.

    ¡°Jingru! Come quickly!¡± yelled Chu Yi before Su Jin stopped him.

    ¡°No, something¡¯s very wrong. Wu Chen¡¯s aura is boiling with rage, so he¡¯s very angry! Don¡¯t tell Jingru about this yet, let¡¯s check out the situation first.¡± Su Jin could sense that this person was indeed Wu Chen, but he did not dare to confirm it, and certainly did not dare to tell Wu Jingru about it. He didn¡¯t want to give Wu Jingru a rude shock if he had made a mistake.

    Chu Yi agreed, so he told Wu Jingru that they were going out and left with Su Jin. Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but tease him, ¡°You guys are as good as married, no? When are you registering your marriage?¡±

    ¡°Boss¡­ that¡¯s not funny¡­ besides, we¡¯re from two different worlds, so we can¡¯t register a marriage either,¡± whined Chu Yi.

    The two men quickly arrived at where Wu Chen¡¯s aura hadnded. They were at a mountain range. Su Jin scanned his surroundings and quickly spotted one man standing on top of one of the mountains.

    ¡°It¡¯s Wu Chen!¡± Su Jin was stunned. The man at the top of that mountain was definitely Wu Chen!

    A big smile spread across Chu Yi¡¯s face as well. They had just been perplexed about how they could revive their teammates, and the next moment, Wu Chen appeared. A cloud of Chu Yi¡¯s white qi thrust appeared behind them and propelled both of them toward the mountain where Wu Chen was.

    And just before reaching, Chu Yi sensed something wrong. Wu Chen¡¯s arm suddenly grew in size and turned into giant pliers that tried to grab hold of Chu Yi.

    Chu Yi reacted very quickly. A cloud of qi thrust exploded in front of him, pushing him out of Wu Chen¡¯s reach.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Wu Chen? Why did you attack me?!¡± yelled Chu Yi in confusion.

    But Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t bother yelling at him. There¡¯s something wrong with him. It seems like his consciousness¡­ has been altered.¡±

 Chapter 431

    Chapter 431

    A colorful glow flickered in Su Jin¡¯s eyes and he immediately discovered what was wrong with Wu Chen. The older man¡¯s consciousness had clearly been altered, and that was why he was attacking Chu Yi.

    ¡°What do we do then?!¡± asked Chu Yi.

    ¡°Um¡­ we¡¯ll talk about that after we subdue him!¡± Su Jin frowned. Whether he could restore Wu Chen¡¯s consciousness or not was a question that could only be answered after they got him under control.

    But Wu Chen was a lot stronger than they had imagined. The will of the universe had made the revived Wu Chen extra powerful, so his shapeshifting ability became almost invincible.

    It took Chu Yi a lot of effort to finally find a chance to get close to Wu Chen. He mmed a palm against Wu Chen¡¯s shoulder, only for Wu Chen¡¯s shoulder to disappear and dodge the attack.

    After that, spikes grew out of Wu Chen¡¯s back toward Chu Yi. Chu Yi summoned his Spirit Power to protect himself.

    The spikes on Wu Chen¡¯s back became something like a vacuum cleaner that sucked away all of Chu Yi¡¯s Spirit Power. Su Jin quickly pulled Chu Yi away, but Wu Chen¡¯s spikes spewed Chu Yi¡¯s Spirit Power at them.

    In that instant, the spikes transformed into guns that shot Chu Yi¡¯s qi at them rapidly. Su Jin quickly got out of harm¡¯s way.

    ¡°Oh my god, that¡¯s terrifying! He¡¯s be invincible!¡± Chu Yi wiped away the cold sweat on his face.Su Jin nodded in agreement. Before this, they did not think that Wu Chen¡¯s Spirit Power could be used so creatively, but now, they realized that his power could actually be truly terrifying. Of course, Su Jin did not think that Wu Chen was able to achieve this level of prowess based on the powers he had when he died. After all, Su Jin was someone who had surpassed godly levels, while Chu Yi was as good as a quasi god. There was no reason why both of them were having so much trouble subduing Wu Chen.

    ¡°Wu Chen¡¯s powers have been increased somehow.¡± Su Jin was very certain. Wu Chen¡¯s powers were probably at the pinnacle of what shapeshifting could achieve. He was able to constantly find the best way to handle each situation and make his opponents panic and scramble.

    ¡°I feel like I can¡¯t defeat him!¡± Chu Yi was indignant about that, but that was the harsh reality he had to face now. If Su Jin hadn¡¯t pulled him aside, he was going to suffer severe injury for sure.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take over!¡± Su Jin mmed a palm down. The colorful glow in the air transformed into a huge hand that smashed Wu Chen into the ground.

    Wu Chen was trying to find the best way to deal with this huge hand that hade out of nowhere, but Su Jin¡¯s powers came from outside the Handbook. His shapeshifting abilities were unable toe up with a way to fight back and he had no choice but to remain under that huge, colorful hand.

    ¡°Boss! Did you smash him to death?!¡± Chu Yi¡¯s eyes widened. Regardless of what had happened to Wu Chen before this, one thing was for sure ¨C Wu Chen had been brought back to life. If Su Jin ended up smashing him dead again, that would really be ironic.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can control my own strength,¡± Su Jin assured him. They walked toward Wu Chen and saw that his gaze was filled with hatred as he red at them with bloodshot eyes.

    ¡°Wu Chen, hear me out! Jingru and I believe in free love!¡± said Chu Yi as he scratched his head.

    Su Jin red at him. ¡°Shush!¡±

    He grabbed hold of Wu Chen¡¯s head and the colorful glow entered Wu Chen¡¯s consciousness. Su Jin realized what was going on now. He eximed, ¡°Someone¡¯s inverted what he loves and what he hates. What he loves the most bes what he hates the most, and vice versa. No wonder he tried to attack us like that.¡±

    ¡°Good heavens! I¡¯m so d we got here first. If he got to Jingru, she¡¯d be dead meat,¡± Chu Yi shuddered. Then he asked Su Jin, ¡°Can this be reversed?¡±

    Su Jin furrowed his brows. In theory, that could definitely be done. But Su Jin was still uneasy about the whole thing. Who revived Wu Chen? Why did they alter Wu Chen¡¯s consciousness? Was it just to make Wu Chen kill the people dearest to him?

    ¡°Cover me! Don¡¯t let anyone disrupt me!¡± said Su Jin to Chu Yi. Chu Yi immediately nodded to assure Su Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s hand was still holding Wu Chen¡¯s head. Wisps of his maniacal power entered Wu Chen¡¯s head via his fingers. Since the will of the universe could alter the consciousness of people, Su Jin could do the same. They were almost on par in terms of power, and once Su Jin could establish and build his own temple of gods, the difference between the two would decrease even further.

    Time slowly ticked by, and about two hourster, the crazed look in Wu Chen¡¯s eyes faded. He now stared at Su Jin and Chu Yi with joy in his eyes, which quickly turned to one of confusion.

    Su Jin let go of Wu Chen¡¯s head and asked, ¡°Wu Chen¡­ are you back to normal?¡±

    ¡°Am I back to normal? You make it sound like I wasn¡¯t normal before!¡± said Wu Chen with augh. Then he suddenly touched his face and asked, ¡°Wait, I¡­ I¡¯ve been revived?¡±

    ¡°You have! Congrats, Wu Chen!¡± said Chu Yi with a big grin.

    But Wu Chen was still puzzled. He asked Su Jin, ¡°You guys revived me?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°I wanted to ask you that. Who revied you?¡±

    Wu Chen shook his head. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t remember anymore. Thest thing I remember is the point where I died, and I don¡¯t remember what happened after that. But I vaguely remember¡­ seeing you?¡±

    Wu Chen pointed a finger at Su Jin, which surprised Su Jin. Su Jin paused to think, then said, ¡°Maybe¡­ that was because I was helping to restore your consciousness.¡±

    Wu Chen was still trying to wrap his head around the situation. He asked, ¡°How long has it been since the Challenge ended?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a very long time, and many things have changed.¡± Chu Yi looked so despondent, Wu Chen couldn¡¯t help but conclude that he must have been dead for a long time. Even Chu Yi had be so much more serious now.

    ¡°It has been quite a long time, and we¡¯ll fill you inter. But first, Chu Yi¡¯s prepared a surprise for you!¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s the surprise?¡± asked Wu Chen.

    ¡°I revived your daughter!¡± said Chu Yi.

    Su Jin pped his own forehead. Chu Yi was really bad at springing surprises. He couldn¡¯t believe the boy just spelled it out for Wu Chen.

    Wu Chen blinked a few times, then got up with a start and grabbed hold of Chu Yi. ¡°What¡­ what did you just say?!¡±

    ¡°I revived your daughter,¡± Chu Yi repeated himself.

    ¡°Where¡¯s she? Where¡¯s she!¡± Wu Chen got very excited.

    Su Jin used maniacal power to envelope all three of them and brought them back to Chu Yi¡¯s house. But before going in, he let Chu Yi go in to tell Wu Jingru about what was going on first. He was afraid that Wu Jingru might be too overwhelmed by the situation otherwise.

    Wu Chen suddenly felt a little panicky about seeing his daughter again and kept asking Su Jin if he looked alright, or whether he should get changed and so on. He only calmed down after Su Jin gave him full marks for his appearance.

    After he had calmed down, he asked Su Jin, ¡°By the way, was I the only one who died in that Challenge?¡±

    ¡°About that¡­ Team Boning Knife has already been disbanded,¡± said Su Jin with a sad smile. ¡°We disbanded after that Challenge. We lost a lot of people. Only Chu Yi, Situ, and myself survived it. Ye Yun, Bo Ya, and you didn¡¯t make it.¡±

    Wu Chen was stunned for a second, then he sighed. But he suddenly brightened up again, ¡°That¡¯s alright. Since I could be revived, they can be revived too!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Since you¡¯ve been revived, they¡­¡± Su Jin stopped himself as a terrible thought suddenly struck him.

    He sent Wu Chen right up to Chu Yi¡¯s doorstep and said, ¡°Take your time to reunite with your daughter, I¡¯ve got to attend to something else now!¡±

    Wu Chen could guess why Su Jin was in a hurry to leave and asked, ¡°Do you need my help?¡±

    ¡°No need. It¡¯s been a long time since you saw Jingru, and it¡¯s more important for you and your daughter to be reunited. I can handle the other side!¡± Su Jin grinned nervously, then used maniacal power to teleport himself.

    Once he was back in his world, he wrapped himself in maniacal power so that nobody could detect his presence. Thankfully, things in S City still looked peaceful, so it didn¡¯t seem as though any chaos had urred.

    He gave Situ Jin a call, and before he could say anything, Xu Ran yelled at him from the other end.

    ¡°Damn it! Where have you been! Come over right now!¡± shouted Xu Ran.

    Su Jin asked, ¡°What happened? Why are you picking up Situ¡¯s call?¡±

    ¡°Situ is on the verge of dying, so if you don¡¯te over now, you¡¯ll be in charge of his funeral!¡± yelled Xu Ran just as a loud explosion went off behind him.

    ¡°Is it¡­ Ye Yun and Bo Ya?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°You know what¡¯s going on and you¡¯re still asking me about it?! I have no idea how the fuck these two women became so powerful!¡± cursed Xu Ran before hanging up on Su Jin.

 Chapter 432

    Chapter 432

    Once Su Jin had determined Xu Ran¡¯s location, he appeared there immediately to see Bo Ya and Ye Yun in a fierce battle against the two men. The two women seemed to have lost their minds, and Xu Ran could only use his psychokinesis to protect himself and Situ Jin from further attacks and was unable to fight back. Situ Jin had already lost arge part of his abdomen from the st earlier.

    Su Jin dashed into Xu Ran¡¯s psychokinesis bubble and grabbed hold of Situ Jin so that his maniacal power could restore the man¡¯s physical body.

    When Situ Jin realized Su Jin was here, he quickly said, ¡°Something¡¯s happened to Bo Ya and Ye Yun! You have to watch out!¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and said, ¡°I know what¡¯s going on, don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Xu Ran added, ¡°You¡¯d better be careful. Not only have they lost their minds, but they¡¯ve be a lot more powerful. I can¡¯t believe they¡¯ve managed to corner me like this.¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then approached Ye Yun and Bo Ya. Bo Ya only stared murderously at Su Jin, but Ye Yun started charging at him like a bull seeing red.

    His colorful maniacal power turned into a cloud that wrapped itself around Ye Yun first, then flew straight for Bo Ya. Bo Ya realized that something wasn¡¯t right and tried to escape, but his power was faster than her and pulled her into the cloud as well.

    Xu Ran and Situ Jin were both shocked. They didn¡¯t expect Su Jin to subdue the two women so easily. Su Jin brought the two women back to where Xu Ran and Situ Jin were and noticed their expressions, so he exined, ¡°Their consciousness has been altered. What they loved has be what they hate. However much they loved that thing or person, they hate it to the same extent now.¡±

    ¡°So, Bo Ya loves me this much!¡± Situ Jin beamed from ear to ear. He wasn¡¯t sure what had happened to Bo Ya, but she had definitely been revived and that made him really happy.¡°In that case¡­ Ye Yun loves me?¡± said Xu Ran as he rubbed his nose awkwardly.

    Su Jin red at him and said, ¡°I think she just sensed the presence of psychokinesis and became agitated.¡±

    Situ Jin asked worriedly, ¡°Can Bo Ya¡¯s consciousness be corrected?¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I just came over from Chu Yi¡¯s world. Wu Chen has been revived too and he also tried to attack us, but he¡¯s back to normal now.¡±

    Those words put Situ Jin at ease and he hurried Su Jin to fix Ye Yun and Bo Ya¡¯s consciousness. Su Jin had experience restoring Wu Chen¡¯s consciousness, so he was better at it now and was able to fix the problem quite quickly.

    The two women looked just as confused as Wu Chen was after their consciousness was back to normal. They too, only remembered what happened when they died, and were stunned to see their friends standing before them.

    Su Jin told them what happened earlier on, and they were shocked to realize that they had been dead for so long already.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m d that we¡¯re all together again.¡± Situ Jin held Bo Ya¡¯s hand tenderly and didn¡¯t look the slightest bit like the aloof and emotionless leader he usually was.

    Su Jin was also holding Ye Yun¡¯s hand, and Xu Ran sneered at the two pairs of lovebirds before asking, ¡°The problem right now is, who in the world revived them? Do you guys know?¡±

    Su Jin shook his head, and so did Situ Jin. Su Jin frowned and said, ¡°There¡¯s definitely a problem here. You have to be at least a top tier god in order to revive people, and while I do know a top tier god, I know that the Demon Lord doesn¡¯t have the power to revive people.¡±

    ¡°I agree. The Demon Lord is a deity on the dark side. She¡¯s great at killing people, but she definitely can¡¯t resurrect anyone.¡± Xu Ran had spent a long time with the Demon Lord too. He didn¡¯t know her as well as Su Jin did, but he was very sure about this.

    Ye Yun and Bo Ya didn¡¯t seem to know anything about how they had been revived either. They only remembereding to this world with nothing but hatred in their hearts, but what happened was a blur to them, as though the two women fighting earlier merely looked like them but weren¡¯t them. They were only truly revived after Su Jin restored their consciousness.

    ¡°Since everyone¡¯s been revived, does that mean¡­ we¡¯re reinstating the team?¡± asked Situ Jin.

    ¡°Did the team disband?¡± Ye Yun and Bo Ya were both very surprised.

    Su Jin nodded, then shook his head at Situ Jin. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t do that anymore. Or at least, I can¡¯t be part of it. I just fought with an incarnation of the will of the universe, so I will only bring trouble to the team if I be a member.¡±

    Bo Ya, Ye Yun, and Wu Chen had been revived, so it did look like all of Su Jin¡¯s ex-teammates had returned. But Su Jin knew that his team wasn¡¯tplete yet. Ning Meng and Yang Mo had been gone for a long time, and he had to revive them too.

    ¡°I need two sets of items for the Ceremony of the Gods. I still have twopanions who haven¡¯t been brought back to life,¡± said Su Jin.

    Only Chu Yi had interacted with Ning Meng and Yang Mo before, since Situ Jin and the rest joined only after the two of them had died. But since Su Jin said he needed these items, the rest of them agreed to gather the items and did not question him.

    In the end, Ye Yun used her authority as a team leader to reinstate Team Boning Knife. Su Jin could not be one of them, but Xu Ran left his own team to join them, thereby recing Su Jin¡¯s position as the strategist of the group.

    Su Jin dared not stay for too long in this world. He immediately used maniacal power to bring them back to Chu Yi¡¯s world, and they reappeared in Chu Yi¡¯s house.

    ¡°Oh my! Sister Ye Yun! Sister Bo Ya! You¡¯re all back with us!¡± Chu Yi was a more expressive character and immediately ran over to give them a huge bear hug, making the two womenugh.

    Wu Chen walked over and nodded at them too. In front of his own daughter, Wu Chen was no longer a cheeky middle-aged man but a mature and reliable person. And everyone understood why.

    Everyone was delighted to see each other again and Wu Chen also rejoined the team. Su Jin said to Xu Ran, ¡°I used psychokinesis to alter the memories of Ye Yun¡¯s family, but since she has been revived, please help me to undo what I did.¡±

    Very few owners were able to undo what Su Jin¡¯s psychokinesis had done, but Xu Ran was one of them.

    Chu Yi¡¯s house was huge, so everyone decided to stay at his ce. Su Jin and Ye Yun, Situ Jin and Bo Ya, as well as Wu Chen and Wu Jingru, were three pairs who had not seen each other in a long time. Time had barely passed for the ones who had died, but it was a long period of suffering for those they left behind.

    Two pairs were lovers and one pair was family. It had been such a long time since they felt happiness from the bottom of their hearts. Su Jin and Ye Yun took one of Chu Yi¡¯s bedrooms, and they felt so happy even when they were just looking at each other without saying anything.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad we don¡¯t know where Mai is, or we could really have a proper reunion,¡± Ye Yun sighed. Those who died had been revived, but Kano Mai was still somewhere out there.

    Su Jin sighed too. ¡°Mai kept her identity as a primordial deity secret for a long time. If she had told us about it earlier, we might have been able to help her.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make it sound like it¡¯s her fault. She must have had her own reasons for hiding it from us. Think about it. She¡¯s been going through so many cycles all by herself, and exposing her identity might get her killed. I don¡¯t think you would tell others about your identity if you were in her shoes,¡± said Ye Yun as she poked at Su Jin¡¯s nose.

    Su Jin nodded in agreement. He already felt so tired from the heavy burden on his shoulders, so he could only imagine how tired Kano Mai had to be. He really wished she could be reunited with them so that the team could share some of the loneliness and fear she had.

    After spending three days in Chu Yi¡¯s house, Su Jin sent Situ Jin and the rest from his world back. Wu Chen and Wu Jingru didn¡¯t mind staying in Chu Yi¡¯s world. After Wu Chen saw how attached his precious daughter was to Chu Yi, he gave up trying to persuade her to leave and decided to stay behind with her.

    ¡°Contact me once you find any star shards!¡± Su Jin said to Xu Ran.

    Xu Ran nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will!¡±

    ¡°Be careful, okay? It¡¯s best that I don¡¯t return for a while, so go and get to know Daitengu and the Nine-tailed Fox. If you run into any trouble, they¡¯ll be very helpful,¡± Su Jin said to Ye Yun.

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes¡­ Hey, I¡¯m your senior, you know? Before you became an owner, I was going through Challenges all by myself. You are the one who needs to take care of himself. We won¡¯t be able to help you now, but we¡¯ll work hard and we¡¯ll be useful to you someday!¡± said Ye Yun quietly as she hugged Su Jin.

    No matter how reluctant they were to leave, they still had to say goodbye. Su Jin was no longer someone who only cared about his own survival. He had to work hard to protect a lot more than that.

 Chapter 433

    Chapter 433

    A wanderer ¨C Su Jin was now a wanderer. He couldn¡¯t return to the worlds he was familiar with because he was afraid that the Handbook would locate him, so he had to keep moving from one universe to another.

    He was now on a with an ocean. There were no highly intelligent beings on this and the entire was covered in water. All sorts of fish and other sea creatures swam freely in the water, so this was like heaven for aquatic animals.

    Su Jin sat cross-legged on a small ind, which was one of the few bits ofnd sticking out above the water on this. It was only a few kilometers across, so it wasn¡¯t veryrge.

    He raised one hand and a colorful beam shot into the ocean. He was basically fishing. Maniacal power was his fishing rod and line, but he had no idea what he could get out of the water.

    The light in his hand began to shake as something took the bait. He pulled his hand up and the line flew out of the water rapidly, bringing a huge dark shadow along with it.

    ¡°Oh my goodness, that¡¯s huge!¡± Su Jin looked up to see a gigantic fish pulled into the air. The fish looked like it was several kilometers in length, and if he allowed it tond on the ind, it would literally smash the ind to pieces.

    ¡°Stay there!¡± Su Jin pointed at the fish and the fish remained in midair.

    He stared at the fish for a while, then shook his head and pointed at the fish again, allowing the fish to fall back into the water. The fish was too big for him to feel any desire to eat it. He just wanted some ordinary fish that he would be able to stomach.

    Shortly after he let the fish drop back into the ocean, he suddenly looked up with a puzzled look on his face. He mmed his palm against the ground and the entire ind was quickly covered by maniacal power before it disappearedpletely from sight.Before long, several beams of light came down from the sky. Three lifeforms floated on the surface of the water and began observing the situation on the. They were of different races and looked very different from one another. Some resembled humans, while some just looked like monsters.

    ¡°Yup, not bad at all. There¡¯s enough of the element of water here, so we¡¯ll take this!¡± One of the monsters gave a pleased nod and each of them threw a little blue ball into the sky. As the three balls floated in the air, Su Jin watched the water of the gush wildly toward the balls.

    This was more than ten timesrger than Earth, so logically speaking, it should take decades or even centuries for three small balls to absorb all this water. But Su Jin could actually see the water levels go down, and they were going down really quickly too.

    ¡°This is already the 370th water, and we still need another 630 of them. I wonder when we¡¯ll get it all done,¡± said one of them with a sigh.

    ¡°My god has just reached god stage and he¡¯s a high level god too. Everything he says is a divine message, so we just have to focus onpleting it and there¡¯s no need to think too much about the rest,¡± said another one.

    ¡°Of course. He wants a thousands for each of the five elements, and while it¡¯s been quite easy to find the rest, finding water and wood ones have been really tough,¡± the third one sighed as well. But that wasn¡¯t surprising. There were plenty ofs that could be categorized into the elements of earth, fire and metal, but water and wood were very rare, because any with these two elements meant you could find life on it.

    370s ¨C in other words, the 369s with life on it that they found had already been destroyed.

    Su Jin continued hiding in silence as he wondered why someone who had just be a high level god would need the energy of so many suchs. He had ess to the database of the Handbook and knew what was required for anything within this universe, but he still couldn¡¯t figure it out.

    ¡°We just need to obey instructions and disregard everything else,¡± said one of them who looked like an alien. ¡°No matter how difficult the task is, we have to find them. The universe is huge, so we just need to cross to other gxies to locate the rest.¡±

    ¡°Boss, you were teammates with my god before, right? Don¡¯t you have any insider information at all?¡± asked one of them in a curious voice.

    The other party hesitated for a moment, then said quietly, ¡°I did hear that he wants to set up a formation he learned from the god of gods, and it needs the energy from 5,000s to locate a person.¡±

    ¡°Locate a person? Who?¡±

    ¡°No idea. Not even my god knows. He only knows that this person is very important to the god of gods. And our universe isn¡¯t the only one doing this. All the other universes are doing the same thing.¡±

    Su Jin had a rough idea of what they wanted. They were either looking for him, or the primordial star. Or perhaps they were looking for both at the same time.

    He came out of hiding and appeared in front of the group. They immediately sensed his presence.

    ¡°Who are you!¡± yelled the alien.

    ¡°Rx¡­ I just need a little help. First, I need some information from your brains,¡± said Su Jin as he pointed at them and countless streams of maniacal power entered their consciousness. They activated their Spirit Power to stop the maniacal power froming in, but they were no match for Su Jin¡¯s power.

    A split secondter, those streams came out of their consciousness and returned to Su Jin. His expression shifted as he narrowed his eyes. He had gathered a lot of information from them, but what shocked him the most was the fact that he saw the face of the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord was that god of gods they were talking about just now.

    ¡°Why?¡± Su Jin frowned. How did the Demon Lord be this god of gods, and why did she give instructions to all the universes to aid her in setting up this formation?

    ¡°Who¡­ who are you?¡± asked the alien in horror. All of them were the highly ranked owners of their own universe, yet they couldn¡¯t defend themselves against Su Jin at all. That really blew their minds.

    ¡°Me? You don¡¯t need to know. Return the water to this!¡± Su Jin grabbed the air with his hand, which caused the three blue balls to burst and caused the huge amount of water it had absorbed earlier to return to the ind.

    The group was furious but did not dare to protest. Su Jin nced at them, then pressed the air down with his hand. All of them instantly exploded and their flesh fell into the ocean, eaten quickly by a school ofrge fish.

    They had already destroyed more than 300s with water, and the number of lives they had killed would have been way more than that. Besides, these creatures were on the enemy¡¯s side. If he let them go and allowed them to continue their search for others, they would only bring him more trouble in the future.

    He narrowed his eyes slightly as he paused to think about what to do next, and he finally decided to search for the Demon Lord. He had to find out what she was trying to do. She had said before that they might eventually end up having to fight each other to the very death, but he didn¡¯t expect that time toe so quickly.

    The universe was vast, so it was impossible for ordinary owners to travel from one space to another. But it was easy for Su Jin. He used the coordinates from the group to locate the high tier god they had talked about.

    An extremely well-developed appeared before him, and it didn¡¯t take him long to search the and find that god.

    The god was covered in mes and was extremely powerful, but when he came face to face with Su Jin, he immediately knew there was something different about Su Jin.

    ¡°You are very different from others, and you are a different lifeform from me,¡± said the god. ¡°I am no match for you.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. Since you can see that for yourself, I don¡¯t have to put in the extra effort. Summon that god of gods and you can go, since this has nothing to do with you,¡± said Su Jin.

    The god nodded, then crushed a jade to pieces. A ck cloud gathered in front of them as a door in space was opened and the Demon Lord walked out of the door.

    She froze immediately when she saw it was Su Jin. Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°What¡¯s with the reaction? Aren¡¯t you looking for me?¡±

    ¡°What the hell? I¡¯m not looking for you! Hurry up and leave this ce! If you are discovered, you¡¯re dead meat!¡± hissed the Demon Lord.

    Su Jin stared at her nkly and asked, ¡°You weren¡¯t looking for me?¡±

    ¡°Of course not! I¡¯m looking for a primordial star! A moving that¡¯s based on the one created by primordial deities! Nothing to do with you!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re looking for a primordial star? Can you tell me why you¡¯re looking for it?¡± asked Su Jin.

    She screamed at him, ¡°I said, hurry up and leave! Are you having trouble understanding what I¡¯m saying?!¡±

    ¡°Why are you in such a hurry to chase me away?¡± Su Jin waspletely confused.

    ¡°Because she doesn¡¯t want you to die,¡± a voice resounded from behind Su Jin. The Demon Lord immediately bowed on one knee.

    Su Jin turned and got a shock, because he was met with a face that was more familiar to him than anyone else. That was¡­ his own face!

 Chapter 434

    Chapter 434

    Su Jin turned around and got a shock. The other party looked so much like him, he felt like he was looking into a mirror.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± asked Su Jin instinctively.

    The other party smiled faintly as he tapped his own nose. ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡±

    Su Jin fell silent for a moment, then gasped. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ the will of the universe!¡±

    ¡°See? You do know who I am. Are you surprised by my looks?¡± The will of the universe looked exactly like Su Jin. They were like twins or something. Even their mannerisms were identical.

    Su Jin remained silent for a moment, then turned to say to the Demon Lord, ¡°Looks like you weren¡¯t by my side for nothing, huh.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t have a choice. The will of the universe is the one that willst forever, after all. I don¡¯t want to be swept into the trash pile of history again, so I had no choice but to join him,¡± said the Demon Lord with a look of resignation in her eyes.

    Su Jin pped his hands andughed bitterly. ¡°Indeed. If you can¡¯t beat them, join them. That¡¯s exactly what a clever person would do.¡±

    ¡°What about you? Are you a clever person or a foolish person?¡± asked the will of the universe with a smile.Su Jin smirked and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m a foolish one. If I were a clever one, I would have joined your side a long time ago. Why would I have be an insurgent?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯ve always felt that insurgents are not foolish people. They just have an ambition that they should not have. If you are willing to join me, I will ept you and you will have the same special rights as the geniuses of history. Or actually, no¡­ you will have even greater rights than them. I can make you Hell¡¯s Handbook¡¯s number two inmand!¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re number one?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    The will of the universe hesitated, then shook his head. ¡°No. The god of the primordial deities is number one.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s already gone.¡±

    ¡°Because he did something he shouldn¡¯t have.¡±

    ¡°I might do something like that in the future too.¡±

    ¡°That¡­ I do not deny.¡± The will of the universe did not lie, or rather, he didn¡¯t need to lie. He wrote all the rules of this universe and he was the reason why this universe even existed. He could just say out loud what he wanted or what he wished to do.

    ¡°And if that¡¯s the case, then this conversation is pointless. I will eventually do something that you cannot tolerate, so the war between us will merely be postponed and not canceled. Besides¡­ once I be one of your underlings, I will never be able to win a battle against you,¡± said Su Jin.

    The will of the universe stared straight at Su Jin and grinned. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten it wrong. It doesn¡¯t matter whether you join my side or not. You didn¡¯t stand any chance of winning right from the start!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll only know if we try,¡± said Su Jin with a shrug.

    ¡°If you really thought that way, you wouldn¡¯t have sent a clone of yourself made from your power while hiding far from me,¡± said the will of the universe.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m still a lot weaker than you right now, so I have to protect myself.¡±

    ¡°Oh? And do you think your defense tactics have worked?¡± A bright light suddenly shot out of the will of the universe¡¯s eyes.

    Su Jin froze, then cursed, ¡°Damn it!¡± His clone threw the Demon Lord a disappointed look, then disappeared in a colorful cloud.

    The Demon Lord was silent for a moment, then she looked at the will of the universe and asked, ¡°O Great One, are you able to catch him?¡±

    ¡°Are you hoping I¡¯ll catch him? Or no?¡± the will of the universe suddenly asked her.

    She was too stunned by the question to respond immediately, but the will of the universe moved on like he hadn¡¯t asked that question. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be easy to capture this insurgent, but¡­ it won¡¯t be easy for him to run either. ying a game of cat and mouse is pretty childish, but if he wants to y, I¡¯m happy to y with him. After all, very few in the long passage of time are qualified to y this game with me.¡±

    Meanwhile, Su Jin was enveloped by maniacal power in the middle of a star, without any regard for the five-digit temperatures he was in. Nobody in their right mind would have thought a lifeform could hide themselves in such a ce.

    Jing Hua grinned as he looked at the star and murmured, ¡°Insurgents are truly incredible people. So, he¡¯s able to ignore thews of nature and possess superpowers?¡±

    Phoenix frowned and said, ¡°Even someone born out of the mes like myself wouldn¡¯t dare to enter the core of a star just like that, because we would end up bing one with the star and lose our own consciousness.¡±

    Tiny piped up, ¡°I agree. We¡¯re immortal and we¡¯ve been able to stay the way we¡¯ve always been, plus we have special rights. But we can¡¯t ignore thews of this universe and we have to abide by them.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s all this useless talk for? Everyone knows insurgents are extraordinary people. If they weren¡¯t, the will of the universe wouldn¡¯t see them as enemies. But we¡¯re not here to discuss all this. We¡¯re here to smash that star and force him out of hiding!¡± said the Dog God in an icy voice. A ck spear in his hands sparkled brilliantly as it struck the star that Su Jin was hiding in.

    The ck spear seemed even smaller than a microorganismpared to the gigantic star, but when the spear struck the star, the star suddenly started shaking violently as its light seemed to burn intensely. It shrank suddenly, then exploded.

    Phoenix transformed herself into zing mes and stood in front of her threepanions. The heat from the explosion came hurtling toward them, but she absorbed all of it.

    ¡°This is like a perfect supplement for my body. This body I have is a little too fragile for my liking, but now that it¡¯s charged with all this heat, I¡¯ll be able to execute my full potential temporarily!¡± Phoenix looked like she was really enjoying this process as the mes around her body grew twice asrge.

    ¡°He¡¯s about to run, isn¡¯t he?¡± Jing Hua withdrew the sword on his belt as he stared intensely at the bright core of the star. Most humans wouldn¡¯t be able to stare into the core of a star, but Jing Hua had no problem at all.

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Jing Hua eximed in surprise. But before he could tell the rest what he saw, a tremendous force struck him and blew him away. It turned out that Su Jin hadn¡¯t run away at all and was actually charging at them.

    Jing Hua¡¯s body was blown to pieces from the impact, but the pieces came together again immediately and his body was restored.

    ¡°That was a really good attack! Astonishing power!¡± Jing Hua had a crazed look on his face as ck scales began to cover his body and he turned into a demon in ck armor.

    Su Jin dashed out from the heart of the core. The explosion had caused a shockwave that turned everything it hit into nothing in an instant.

    ¡°Die!¡± roared Su Jin as his boning knife appeared in his hand. He swung it toward the Dog God as another ck spear appeared in the Dog God¡¯s hand, and he used it to block Su Jin¡¯s boning knife.

    ng!

    Both parties were pushed backward from the impact. The Dog God realized that his ck spear had shattered, but that wasn¡¯t the only thing that had shattered. His palm and arm had shattered too.

    ¡°What in the¡­¡± The Dog God was too stunned for words. This was not something that pure strength could do. His opponent had powers that did not belong to this universe.

    Su Jin¡¯s gaze burned fiercely. He named his power ¡°maniacal power¡± because it was a power that could get him what he wanted by just thinking about it, a power that existed because he thought of it. As long as he believed strongly in it, he could make it happen. But he wasn¡¯t the most familiar with it yet and his usage of the power wasn¡¯t the most stable either. But as long as he wasn¡¯t fighting against the will of the universe, it was good enough.

    The Dog God immediately chopped off whatever remained of his arm. He could sense that this otherworldly power was creeping into the rest of his body through his wound, and it would endanger him if he allowed it to continue.

    The arm turned to dust and disappeared, so the Dog God couldn¡¯t sense that power he felt earlier anymore. That power felt really numbing, like the energy that would be produced if the universe were to be destroyed.

    Meanwhile, Su Jinunched attacks on Tiny and Phoenix. Tiny instantly turned into a beam of light that pierced through Su Jin¡¯s chest. He moved so unbelievably quickly that even Su Jin didn¡¯t realize what just happened to him.

    ¡°That was fast!¡± Even though his chest had been pierced, Su Jin wasn¡¯t bothered. His body was no longer the sort of physical body he used to have, so he did not have to protect his vital organs anymore. He could even be sted to smithereens and it wouldn¡¯t matter. To put it simply, he wasn¡¯t quite human anymore.

    ¡°God Destroying Fire!¡± Phoenixunched an attack too. Large mes used the space they were in as fuel and everything in its way was burned to nothing, regardless of what it was made from.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was instantly engulfed in mes and turned to ashes in front of them. But immediately after Su Jin¡¯s body turned to ashes, a brand new Su Jin reappeared behind Phoenix.

 Chapter 435

    Chapter 435

    Su Jin¡¯s punchnded on Phoenix, who was now in me mode. She wasn¡¯t afraid of the punch, since she was now one huge me and in general, physical attacks didn¡¯t work on her. But Su Jin¡¯s punch made her stumble backward quite a bit as her body started breaking up and the mes were rapidly going out.

    ¡°You have to be careful! This insurgent has powers outside of thews of this universe!¡± the Dog God called out to her.

    ¡°Damn it, why didn¡¯t you say so earlier!¡± Phoenix quickly reverted to human mode. If she remained in me mode and all her mes were put out, she would die.

    ¡°It¡¯s our first battle with him, after all. It seems the only thing he¡¯s bad at is speed,¡± said Jing Hua to the rest of them.

    ¡°Leave him to me then!¡± Tiny charged at Su Jin at an rming speed. He reached almost the speed of light as he tore Su Jin¡¯s body into tiny fragments. Each time Su Jin pieced himself together again, Tiny would tear him apart once more. There was no chance for Su Jin to fight back at all.

    ¡°Even an insurgent will eventually run out of energy. Piecing himself together again at this rate requires a lot of energy,¡± said Jing Hua confidently.

    He was right. Su Jin had to consume a particr amount of energy each time he put himself back together again. While the amount consumed did not decrease Su Jin¡¯s energy levels significantly, the bigger problem was the fact that Tiny was moving way too quickly. Trying to keep up with him was too hard, and fighting back was simply impossible.

    ¡°I have to find a way to deal with him, otherwise I won¡¯t even get the chance to escape.¡± If this battle was just him versus the four of them, Su Jin was confident of winning the fight. But he would have to consume a huge amount of energy in the process, so if the will of the universe suddenly turned up, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hang on.

    While thinking about what to do, Su Jin stopped piecing himself together and floated in space as tiny molecules. But he couldn¡¯t remain like this for too long, because he wouldn¡¯t be able to put himself back together again.His maniacal power enabled him to do things that were beyond thews of this universe, but it didn¡¯t mean that he could ignore thosews altogether. Even hiding within the core of the star earlier required maniacal power. His body was also an amalgamation of maniacal power.

    As long as he used maniacal power, it woulde together to form his body. Or rather, one of thews of this universe was that power had toe from a physical object. If Su Jin wanted to ignore thews of this universe, he had to use maniacal power. But if he wanted to use maniacal power, he had to have a body first.

    ¡°Since I can¡¯t match his speed, I¡¯ll just make him slower!¡± A thought struck Su Jin. He gathered himself together again, but this time, there was a bright, flickering aura around his body.

    Immediately after his body was formed, Tinyunched an attack. But this time, he suddenly slowed down after he came within the aura around Su Jin¡¯s body.

    Tiny became painfully slow, his body wobbling as he made his way toward Su Jin like a feeble old man. Su Jin could just grab hold of him without any effort.

    In reality, Tiny was moving really quickly. The aura around Su Jin¡¯s body could make everything else move terribly slowly, so most things would end up freezing once they came within the boundary of the aura. The fact that Tiny still managed to move along slowly was proof of how quickly he was moving outside the aura.

    When Jing Hua, the Dog God, and Phoenix realized that Su Jin was about to catch hold of Tiny, they quickly charged at Su Jin and came within the boundary of his aura.

    Their bodies came to a sudden halt, because they couldn¡¯t move as quickly as Tiny. It looked like they were now immobile, but Su Jin¡¯s expression shifted immediately.

    ¡°Oh no, the four of them are too powerful and I can¡¯t keep this aura up for long,¡± thought Su Jin with a frown. This was something he had thought of on the fly, so it wasn¡¯t the most well nned strategy and it wasn¡¯t anywhere near perfect.

    He gave up the idea of catching hold of Tiny. It was only going to take him one second to do that, but doing so might cause the entire aura to shatter and he would be in bigger trouble then.

    He immediately withdrew from the aura, deactivated it and flew out of sight. His four opponents wanted to chase after him, but gave up in the end. So what if they could catch up? They were no match for him. Only the will of the universe could take Su Jin down now.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! The Great One didn¡¯t intend to get rid of him that quickly in the first ce anyway. He¡¯s now like an unripe fruit that doesn¡¯t taste so good now.¡± Jing Hua motioned to his threepanions, and all four of them returned to where they hade from.

    Su Jin traversed several universes and only stopped after he was sure that he was safe. He panted heavily even as he wondered what the will of the universe was trying to do. The will of the universe could have teleported himself over and kill him right there and then. But the will of the universe didn¡¯t do that. Why?

    ¡°Could it be¡­ oh no! The primordial star!¡± Su Jin stiffened in horror. The will of the universe wasn¡¯t only wary of him, but also of The Beginning, since it was a system that wasparable to Hell¡¯s Handbook. The will of the universe might have already started attacking the primordial star.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment. If he went over now, he and The Beginning might not be a match for the will of the universe. But if he didn¡¯t go over to help and The Beginning got destroyed, he would definitely have one less powerful ally.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± murmured Su Jin. Just then, the image of The Beginning, that brilliant ball of light, came to mind.

    ¡°If I die, so be it!¡± Su Jin clenched his fists as he started locating the maniacal power he had left on the rune creature thest time and found the primordial star¡¯s location in no time.

    ¡°I was right? It has already been attacked?¡± Su Jin could sense that the primordial star was no longer moving.

    He flew through space to get to the universe where the primordial star was and he saw the will of the universe standing in front of the. Phyge was nothing but a gigantic, floating dead body in space, while Carl was desperately fighting off the will of the universe.

    They didn¡¯t detect Su Jin, so he sent a message to Carl¡¯s brain: Su Jin here! Let me enter the primordial star!

    The primordial star was covered in a dazzling aura which was a protectiveyer designed by the gods of the first cycle. Not even the will of the universe could enter the star without breaking through thisyer.

    Carl was a little stunned at first, but he quickly made a gap in the protectiveyer, and Su Jin snuck in without allowing himself to be detected.

    ¡°Su Jin, take The Beginning away with you! You¡¯re our only hope now, so protect The Beginning!¡± Carl¡¯s voice rang out in Su Jin¡¯s head. Carl had already lost all hope. He was thest god from the first cycle standing, but he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to protect The Beginning.

    ¡°What about you? Or¡­ why don¡¯t you get in quickly and I¡¯ll take both of you away? The will of the universe won¡¯t be able to find us for a while,¡± said Su Jin.

    But Carl responded, ¡°No, once I head back to the star, the will of the universe will locate me immediately and nobody will be able to get away. I¡¯m going to distract the will of the universe now, so take The Beginning and run for it! You¡¯re an insurgent and you have special technology from a primordial deity, so the will of the universe won¡¯t be able to locate you.¡±

    ¡°How did you know that?¡± Su Jin was surprised to hear that Carl knew about this. He had never told Carl how he managed to hide from the will of the universe.

    ¡°Haha¡­ I think you¡¯ll hate me for telling you, but¡­ weren¡¯t you looking for a primordial deity named Kano Mai?¡± said Carl with a heartyugh. ¡°She¡¯s the core of The Beginning¡¯s system!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Su Jin was shocked by this revtion. He was now standing before The Beginning and its brightness looked like it wouldst forever. He had sensed something familiar about The Beginning before but couldn¡¯t ce it. Now he knew. It turned out that The Beginning was actually Kano Mai.

    Su Jin reached out to The Beginning and The Beginning¡¯s light flickered as it came in contact with Su Jin¡¯s hand, as though it were an obedient child.

    ¡°Take him away! He¡¯s the only thing that the gods of the first cycle have left behind and you will need him. An insurgent plus a system that¡¯sparable to Hell¡¯s Handbook ¨C that¡¯s the only way you can be powerful enough to fight the will of the universe!¡± roared Carl.

    Su Jin did not hesitate any longer. He enveloped The Beginning in maniacal power, then stepped back out into space and disappeared. When Carl sensed that Su Jin was no longer in the star, he looked relieved and started roaring at the will of the universe.

    ¡°My light will never go out! I will live for all eternity!¡± Carl turned into a light bright enough to illuminate the vast universe, even space that was a few hundred light years away.

 Chapter 436

    Chapter 436

    Light can never be for eternity. Only darkness can. But what humans love the most was the moment when light tore through darkness, even if that moment was awfully short-lived.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know if humans liked light because it was rare, or because light made humans feel safe, but Su Jin also felt that saying light made humans feel safe was not the right way of putting it. On the contrary, the thing that made humans feel uneasy was actually light.

    Light made humans able to see, and because they could see, they could feel joy or disgust, they could choose to get close or move away. Humans began to use one¡¯s looks or exterior to decide if they liked something or not, and most people ignored the soul.

    That was why, when light disappeared, humans were no longer able to make judgments the way they were used to. They became panicky and uneasy. They thought this uneasiness came from the darkness, but they had never considered the idea that¡­ it was light that brought this problem.

    When Carl caused himself to explode, the brilliance he created was almost impossible to imagine. Even a distance a few hundred light years away was illuminated. The darkness was gone and only Carl¡¯s brilliance remained. This was a brilliance that not even the will of the universe was able to erase.

    ¡°I was hoping to reminiscence with you guys about the past, but you decided to blow yourself up just like that. How boring,¡± the will of the universe shook his head. The primordial star continued to float in the void in front of him because he had purposely protected it. Otherwise, Carl¡¯s brilliance would have destroyed it.

    The will of the universe sauntered into the primordial star and immediately took a deep breath. ¡°How nostalgic. This used to be one of my vehicles.¡±

    He had once descended upon the paradise that belonged to the primordial deities and this star was just one small shard in that paradise. But it still gave the will of the universe nostalgia.

    He continued walking toward the core of the star and finally arrived at the main hall that was in the middle, but his expression instantly turned to one of absolute rage.¡°The only one who can take away The Beginning from under my nose is that insurgent!¡± The will of the universe narrowed his eyes slightly, then smiled faintly as he suddenly gripped the air and the sound of something cracking came from all corners of the star.

    The gigantic primordial star began to crumble and fall apart, as though some super bomb had gone off inside. The entire began to fall apart for seemingly no reason.

    About half a minuteter, the star began to expand rapidly and turned into many micro particles that flew into the universe. Each micro particle carried a terrifying power as it flew at the light of speed. There was enough energy for them to keep flying on and on, and they were probably not going to stop even after traveling thousands of light years. Everything they hit was destroyed.

    The will of the universe remained where he was and looked at his surroundings silently. ¡°Ah, I seem to have gone a little too far now. After taking on human form, I seem to have inherited those strange emotions as well.¡±

    He shook his head in amusement, then said to the void in front of him, ¡°Those fellows are geniuses, but it¡¯s true that they aren¡¯t very good at fighting. You are an old opponent of that guy, so please go and look for him!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be very difficult, but I will do my best,¡± an emotionless voice rang out as a child suddenly appeared before the will of the universe.

    ¡°As long as you do your best, that¡¯s enough for me.¡± The will of the universe nodded, then looked into the dark distance again with a thoughtful look on his face.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had brought The Beginning from one universe to another and finally came to a stop when he reached a very quiet and empty universe. This universe had almost nothing on it, and Su Jin couldn¡¯t sense the presence of any intelligent life.

    The Beginning was still giving off that dazzling light. Su Jin covered it with maniacal power to do a deep scan of The Beginning and breathed a sigh of relief.

    The method that the will of the universe had used could only detect the primordial star and not The Beginning. He didn¡¯t need to worry about the will of the universe finding them.

    He was filled with great sadness when he gazed at The Beginning. It had never crossed his mind that the core of The Beginning would actually be Kano Mai. No wonder he felt a sense of closeness when he firstid eyes on The Beginning.

    ¡°There¡¯s no turning back.¡± Su Jin bowed his head as pain filled his heart. He was no longer a Handbook owner who didn¡¯t know anything. His understanding of the world he was in had expanded greatly after he had ess to the workings of the Handbook. So, he also knew that since Kano Mai hadpletely be one with The Beginning, there was no way to separate them.

    Su Jin looked at The Beginning quietly for a long time, and when he snapped out of it with a start, The Beginning¡¯s dazzling light was still shining on him.

    ¡°I am an insurgent and I¡¯m also someone who has powers beyond the Handbook, so I will definitely find a way to separate you from The Beginning.¡± Su Jin took a deep breath. Was it really impossible just because the Handbook said so?

    He was an insurgent as well as someone who possessed powers beyond this world. His mission was to surpass any rules this world was bound by. If that was the case, then couldn¡¯t he create a way to separate Kano Mai from The Beginning?

    Once he had worked that out, he felt a little better inside. But he had a new problem now. What was he going to do with The Beginning? The Beginning was a dazzling light with a floating ball of light around it, plus it was at least ten meters in height or so and he couldn¡¯t keep it inside his Handbook. He couldn¡¯t possibly carry it everywhere he went, right?

    Just when he was racking his brains for a solution, a beam of light shot out from The Beginning and formed the shape of a woman. It was Kano Mai.

    ¡°Mai!¡± Su Jin lit up for a moment before he realized that there was no emotion in Kano Mai¡¯s eyes at all. She looked like a puppet.

    ¡°Checking permissions.¡± A beam of light shot out from her hand and scanned Su Jin¡¯s body before disappearing again. ¡°Permissions confirmed. Priority granted to Su Jin. Su Jin confirmed as only authority.¡±

    ¡°Carl gave the permissions to The Beginning to myself right at the end.¡± Su Jin guessed just as much. At that moment, Carl had already given up all hope, but The Beginning was still thest bit of light he could see even in his despair. He didn¡¯t want The Beginning tond in the hands of the will of the universe at all, so he chose to give The Beginning to Su Jin. At the very least, Su Jin¡¯s mission was aligned with the gods from the first cycle.

    ¡°What can you do?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Kano Mai, or rather, The Beginning stared at Su Jin, then shot a beam of white light into his consciousness so that he could immediately see what The Beginning was capable of.

    ¡°I have full control over those rune creatures. That¡¯s going to be very helpful,¡± Su Jin nodded. When Carl and Phyge were fighting the will of the universe, the rune creatures had not been involved. It turned out that right from the start, Carl had never thought that the rune creatures would be able to defeat the will of the universe at all, and so he hid them inside The Beginning. All the rune creatures were intact and undamaged.

    Using these creatures to fight the will of the universe or geniuses like Jing Hua and hispanions was definitely not going to work. But this was going to be useful against ordinary gods that Su Jin was going to deal with in the future, except that they needed to be improved.

    ¡°Continue to send the rune creatures into various Challenges, do not make any changes to the way they learn, but do not interact or fight with any owners. Just gather necessary items and information from the Challenge,¡± Su Jin said to The Beginning.

    While it seemed like the rune creatures would learn and improve faster if they fought with owners, Su Jin felt that this would expose them earlier to the Handbook¡¯s universe. If the owners somehow found a way to deal with these creatures early on, the creatures would not be as useful against them anymore.

    Of course, back then, Carl and the other gods had only one hope, and that was The Beginning and the rune creatures. So it made sense that they would want the rune creatures to be powerful as quickly as possible. But things were different for Su Jin. Carl and Phyge were no match for the will of the universe at all, but Su Jin himself was the greatest source of power that could fight the will of the universe head on. The Beginning was merely something to support him, just like how the will of the universe had Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°So, on the surface, it looks like we¡¯re on par?¡± Su Jinughed bitterly. But that was true only on the surface. When hepared himself to the will of the universe and The Beginning to Hell¡¯s Handbook, the former were both not quite mature enough. If they really had to fight one another, Su Jin and The Beginning were going to get thrashed for sure.

    What Su Jin really needed now was to set up his own temple of gods, but without a suitable shard for him to build his own, he couldn¡¯t set up a temple. He looked up and asked The Beginning, ¡°The Beginning, do you know where I can find some star shards? I need them to have spatial abilities.¡±

    The Beginning¡¯s eyes lit up, then she nodded and said, ¡°While the rune creatures were gathering information, they discovered seven such shards. Do you want me to send you the location of all seven shards?¡±

    ¡°Seven shards?!¡± Su Jin was shocked. This Carl¡­ he had information about star shards but he didn¡¯t tell him anything? But Su Jin didn¡¯t me him. Carl wasn¡¯t obliged to give him any information or help him to find anything, after all.

 Chapter 437

    Chapter 437

    Based on the location information provided by The Beginning, Su Jin traveled through several universes and got close to his first target after he was certain his surroundings were safe. This was the smallest shard out of the seven, but if Su Jin was able to get hold of it, he could use it as a core to create a that was a few hundred timesrger than Earth.

    After traveling through the universes for so long and seeing so manys along the way, Su Jin realized that Earth was a mere dwarfpared to most others. Some of them were tens of thousands of timesrger, or evenrger than that.

    Once he arrived in the universe where the shard was, he took a big leap andnded in front of the shard. This was a shard that was asrge as a few dozen football fields and entirely blue. The core of this star was probably something like a blue crystal of sorts.

    Su Jin used maniacal power to capture it and everything went well. Thepletely blue star was pulled back by maniacal power and quickly stopped moving, held still by Su Jin.

    ¡°Very good. The first step has beenpleted perfectly. Everyone loves a good start,¡± said Su Jin with a smile. The image of Kano Mai appeared behind him, but she was now merely a human image of The Beginning.

    ¡°Alright! Now, tell me, how can I build a?¡± asked Su Jin.

    The Beginning nodded slightly, then sent a white beam of light into Su Jin¡¯s consciousness. The primordial star was the first that was created from a shard, so The Beginning had a lot of experience in this aspect, and Su Jin had the ability to create a.

    After Su Jin received the information, he dragged the shard behind him as he went looking for suitable materials within this universe instead of traveling to other universes.

    He wanted to create a terrestrial, which was a that was simr to Earth. That required a lot of materials. It took him several months to finally collect all the materials he needed.A few dozens floated in front of Su Jin. Their gravitational pull ought to have torn each other apart, but Su Jin¡¯s maniacal power was helping to keep the peace between them.

    Then, Su Jin suddenly retracted his maniacal power as he flung the blue core into the middle of thes and watched all thes tug at each other, distort one another, and gobble each other up.

    The universe before him became a terrifying battlefield, and the warriors were severalrges that became entwined with one another immediately. His maniacal power turned into a huge hand that grabbed hold of all thes together, then he started to roll them up.

    Thes were like pieces of y as they were quickly rolled into a ball and became one.

    But that wasn¡¯t enough. Su Jin stepped onto the to take a look. The had all the basics, but if he allowed it to develop on its own, it would take a thousand years, ten thousand, or maybe even longer for life to appear. He had to speed up this process.

    Su Jin sat on the surface of the and allowed maniacal power to flow out from his eyes. Bit by bit, maniacal power covered the entire. Life began to appear in the areas that were covered by his power. nts appeared first, but these were not nts that belonged to any existing biological ssification. They werepletely new organisms that were calcted and designed by The Beginning based on Su Jin¡¯s knowledge.

    The nts did not stay that way but kept evolving. From the tall to the short, from the frail to the strong ¨C some survived, some perished. After they slowly stabilized, animals began to appear.

    Just like the nts, the animals were also evolving. They took more time than the nts, but Su Jin purposely stopped them from turning into any sort of intelligent lifeform, because this didn¡¯t need any.

    Time slowly ticked by. The ecosystem that should have taken tens of thousands of years to form stabilized within a few months.

    Su Jin exhaled deeply and opened his eyes. He scanned what he had made and gave a pleased nod. He proceeded to create a gigantic hall on the, which was something that he could create by just raising his arm.

    After the hall was built, he ced The Beginning inside. The Beginning was to take charge of the and maintain order here. This was like the primordial star and it was good to go.

    Su Jin moved the forward and headed for the second shard. He wanted all seven shards because he intended to create a chain ofs instead of a solo like the primordial star.

    Before long, yet another year passed by. Su Jin had found five shards and had created a chain ofs. He was left with onest shard and his temple would be consideredpleted.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to take charge of the temple, and I¡¯ll bring the shard back here.¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t want to take the risk, so he allowed the temple to continue traveling through the universes while he went to get thest shard.

    Su Jin left the temple, came to where thest shard was and captured it sessfully. Just then, his heart trembled. The trace of maniacal power he had left on Ye Yun and the rest had been erased.

    ¡°Damn it, they¡¯ve finally made their move on Ye Yun and the rest?¡± cursed Su Jin inwardly. He stopped to think for a moment, then returned to the temple, left the shard there, took a team of rune creatures out from The Beginning, and headed straight for Earth.

    When he got back to Earth, he let the rune creatures stay temporarily on the moon. He could sense that his friends were not hurt. The other party had merely erased his maniacal power from their bodies.

    Su Jin immediately disguised his maniacal power as psychokinesis, then went to look for Xu Ran first. But Xu Ran wasn¡¯t at the Daoist temple, and all the living dead in the temple were now lifeless.

    He went on to search for Situ Jin and Bo Ya, then finally Ye Yun, but all of them had disappeared. Traces of their presence were left where theyst were, but they had disappeared.

    Su Jin was very puzzled and ended up gathering any traces of their presence he could find, to find that it was actually a set of coordinates. They were coordinates for a, but it was notplete.

    He immediately traveled to Chu Yi¡¯s universe and just as he had expected, Chu Yi and Wu Chen had disappeared too. But Wu Jingru was perfectly fine. When she saw Su Jin, she burst into tears.

    ¡°Jingru, what happened here? Where¡¯s Chu Yi and your dad?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how it happened either! A child suddenly visited us one night, and my dad and Chu Yi told me to go out for a while. When I came back, both of them were gone!¡± Wu Jingru¡¯s eyes were all red and swollen from crying.

    ¡°A child came to visit you guys?¡± Su Jin was even more puzzled now. ¡°Jingru, I would like to take a look at your memories.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Wu Jingru immediately agreed to it.

    Su Jin poured his power into her memories and he quickly found the memories he was looking for. He paled immediately when he realized that the child that Wu Jingru was talking about was actually Shen Wu.

    ¡°Damn it! The will of the universe revived Shen Wu!¡± There was an aggressive glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as he took a deep breath. He said to Wu Jingru, ¡°Jingru, stay here and don¡¯t go anywhere. I will handle this matter, you hear me?¡±

    She trusted Su Jin wholeheartedly, so she nodded as she said in a cracked voice, ¡°You¡¯ve got to bring them back!¡±

    ¡°I will, don¡¯t worry!¡± Su Jin smiled at her, gathered whatever traces of Chu Yi and Wu Chen¡¯s presence was left, and finally got the full set of coordinates he needed.

    After he got the full set of coordinates, he did not travel to that ce immediately. Since Shen Wu had left these coordinates behind, it meant that he was prepared for Su Jin toe to that universe at any moment. Barging in without any preparation was not wise.

    One dayter, Su Jin headed for that universe. The moment he set foot inside, he sensed some familiar auras. Ye Yun and his other friends were all here, as well as Shen Wu, the one he had killed with his own hands.

    He approached Shen Wu immediately and Shen Wu wasn¡¯t surprised to see him at all. Shen Wu smiled at Su Jin and said, ¡°Life is really full of surprises. I didn¡¯t expect to get another chance to fight against you.¡±

    ¡°And you think you can defeat me?¡± Su Jin scoffed.

    Shen Wu made a face, then said, ¡°I agree that I was too weak back then. But that¡¯s why I¡¯ve made some preparations, and I hope they¡¯re to your liking!¡±

 Chapter 438

    Chapter 438

    Su Jin had fought many opponents before, but one of the toughest ones was definitely Shen Wu. Back when they were in the Grave of the Gods, Su Jin had managed to kill Shen Wu instantly because he had realized that there was a path outside of the Handbook. But Su Jin believed that if Shen Wu was given more time, he would still be a strong opponent.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Ye Yun and the rest?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Shen Wu snorted and pointed to the behind him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, all your friends are over there. I¡¯m not despicable enough to take my anger out on them.¡±

    ¡°Of course. If I thought you¡¯d do that, I wouldn¡¯t even bothering,¡± said Su Jin. Shen Wu wasn¡¯t his friend, but he understood Shen Wu¡¯s temperament. This was someone who had wanted Ye Yun¡¯s Badge of Godhood so badly, but never abused her or tortured her into giving it up.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get to the point then. Defeat me and you can take them away. Lose to me and you¡¯ll die together with them!¡± Shen Wu smiled confidently.

    Su Jin nodded, and the moment he nodded, Shen Wuunched an attack. Ayer of cold air surrounded Su Jin¡¯s body and froze around him instantly.

    ¡°The will of the universe has increased my powers to its maximum, so if you aren¡¯t careful, you¡¯re going to die a horrible death,¡± said Shen Wu with a smile, even though he knew it was going to take more than this to defeat Su Jin.

    ¡°Thanks for the warning!¡± As Shen Wu had expected, Su Jin couldn¡¯t be defeated just like that. The giant icy mountain shattered and Su Jin walked outpletely unharmed.

    ¡°Freezing doesn¡¯t do anything?¡± Shen Wu frowned. In that same instant, Su Jin suddenly appeared in front of him and he immediately created dozens of ice walls to block Su Jin.<em>He¡¯s so fast</em>, thought Shen Wu. His ice walls were of no use at all and failed to even slow Su Jin down as Su Jin moved through every wall.

    He did not smash the walls and merely went through them, as though he was walking through air. In fact, he was having an easier time than air, because he didn¡¯t seem to face any friction at all.

    ¡°What in the¡­¡± Shen Wu was bbergasted. He wasn¡¯t able to put up any defense or escape in time, so Su Jin¡¯s punch in the stomach made him fly straight into a star that was quite a distance away.

    mes engulfed Shen Wu and his entire body turned ck as though he was about to be burned to ashes. But one secondter, the burned ck color disappeared and it looked as if the mes were being blown away by a mighty wind. This sight wouldn¡¯t be strange if those were ordinary mes, but this was an actual star!

    The mes around Shen Wu were extinguished first, followed by the mes surrounding that area. In less than half a minute, the entire star had been extinguished and was covered in ayer of frost.

    ¡°That¡¯s terrifying,¡± Su Jin blurted out loud. The ability to freeze an entire star in such a short time was definitely a god level ability, and some gods probably couldn¡¯t do it either. If Shen Wu became a god, he would definitely be a top tier one.

    ¡°Damn it, that hurt!¡± Shen Wu turned around. Arge patch of broken ice in his armor at his abdomen was very obvious.

    ¡°So, I managed to get through his armor, huh.¡± Su Jin looked down at his fist and realized there was some ice on it.

    ¡°Again!¡± roared Shen Wu angrily. This time, the temperature around Su Jin began to rise rapidly and even the area around him began to tremble and be distorted from the heat. Since ice didn¡¯t work, Shen Wu decided to try using heat instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s pointless,¡± Su Jin shook his head. The space around him waspletely distorted, but he remained unaffected. His environment didn¡¯t affect him at all.

    Shen Wu stared at him in disbelief and murmured, ¡°Are you¡­ You can disregard the rules of this universe?¡±

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Hot and cold, light and dark, are all definitions given by this universe,ws of this universe. But thesews are meaningless to me because I¡¯m no longer part of it. It¡¯s just like how rules in your family are meaningless to people who aren¡¯t part of your family.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! You¡¯ve be an insurgent, but you¡¯re still a lifeform of this universe, you¡¯re a part of Hell¡¯s Handbook! Even if you¡¯re powerful enough to bepared to the will of the universe, you can¡¯t possibly disregard thesews!¡± roared Shen Wu indignantly.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t in the past, but now I can.¡± A light shone in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as the blurry figure of Kano Mai appeared behind him. The Beginning had been assisting him all this while.

    It was true that despite bing an insurgent, Su Jin was still a creation of this universe and had to follow itsws since he was born. As an insurgent, he could bend some of the rules, but there was a limit to how much he could do. That point was obvious when he fought against Jing Hua and hispanions.

    But after gaining The Beginning, The Beginning was able to correct the properties that made Su Jin subject to thews of this universe, giving him the ability to disregard thews of this universe and be the only person besides the will of the universe who could rise above the universe itself.

    Shen Wu grit his teeth angrily. He refused to let himself lose to Su Jin just like that. He couldn¡¯t ept the fact that the man who could only look up to him and wish he were that powerful, the helpless one who could only watch on as the one he loved most was taken away from him, the weakling who could only scream and shout in anger but couldn¡¯t do anything else, would actually be one level above him now.

    ¡°I will not allow this! I will not allow this!!¡± bellowed Shen Wu as steam rose from half his body and frost covered the other half.

    ¡°Sometimes, things don¡¯t always go the way you think they will. Just like you said, life is really full of surprises,¡± said Su Jin. He left Shen Wu alone and made a mad dash toward the where his friends were.

    ¡°I said, I will NOT ALLOW THIS!!!¡± Shen Wu¡¯s voice was followed by a tremendous burst of energy.

    ¡°Did he¡­ just attain godhood?!¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but turn back to take a look. He knew that Shen Wu was definitely eligible to be a god, but he didn¡¯t expect Shen Wu to be able to be one without going through any sort of attack or tribtion. Shen Wu had skipped that part altogether.

    ¡°Could it be that the will of the universe has allowed this to happen?¡± Su Jin was puzzled by this, but it was true that the will of the universe would be able to do something like that.

    Meanwhile, in a different universe, the will of the universe was seated on a throne as he casually picked up a pawn on the chessboard, with the Demon Lord as his opponent. All of a sudden, he dropped the pawn and looked a little puzzled.

    ¡°How did that happen? This has never happened before. He became a god without any tribtions?¡± murmured the will of the universe. He mmed a palm on the table and the incarnation of Hell¡¯s Handbook, the clown, appeared before him.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked the will of the universe.

    ¡°I have reached a conclusion based on my preliminary findings. A new presence that can go beyond thews of the universe has appeared, so thews of the universe have been bent. Moreover, Shen Wu has a very strong will and he was very close to that new presence, so that caused a loophole in the system and he was able to be a god without going through any tribtions,¡± the clown exined in detail.

    The will of the universe nodded slightly and smiled. ¡°I like change. That makes things interesting, don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    ¡°I agree, O Great One!¡± said the Demon Lord as she nodded obediently.

    The will of the universe gave a pleased smile, then stopped smiling just one secondter. His tone was chilling as he said, ¡°But it¡¯s not interesting when one doesn¡¯t follow the rules. Regardless of whether they¡¯re animals, humans, families, countries, or even a universe, rules are a must. It seems I naturally hate all these rebels after all!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to deal with him yourself?¡± asked the Demon Lord.

    But he shook his head and said, ¡°No. He¡¯s not mature yet. It¡¯s hard to keep waiting, but waiting is important. That¡¯s a rule too.¡±

    ¡°O Great One, you keep saying that Su Jin is not mature yet. At which point will he be considered mature?¡± asked the Demon Lord puzzledly.

    The will of the universe looked straight at her, which made her heart pound wildly in fear. He smiled and said, ¡°There are some questions you should not ask. It¡¯s very easy for me to misunderstand your intentions that way.¡±

    She immediately bowed her head and said, ¡°Yes, O Great One. I will not do that again.¡±

    ¡°Very good, let¡¯s continue with our game of chess. Do not purposely let me win, you hear me?¡± The will of the universeughed merrily as he picked up the pawn again. He looked gentle and harmless, but when he had looked straight at her just now, it had struck fear deep inside the Demon Lord¡¯s heart.

    The clown also disappeared and nobody cared about the battle that was happening in that other universe, as though nothing had happened at all.

 Chapter 439

    Chapter 439

    As Shen Wu attained godhood, his eyes were filled with a godly light and his aura was strengthened several times over, like a baby turning into an adult.

    ¡°It¡¯s meaningless. An increase in strength cannot change the essence of your being,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°We¡¯ll know only after we try.¡± Shen Wu let out a furious roar and the temperature around him started falling rapidly. He was actually making a huge part of the universe he was in freeze. The fact that he had been able to extinguish a star in seconds earlier was already incredible enough. But the area he was freezing now had at least a few thousand stars.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Su Jin didn¡¯t have to worry about the effects of the falling temperature on himself, but his friends wouldn¡¯t be able to take it.

    He immediately used his power to create a space that was unaffected by thews of the universe and made sure it contained that he was on. He quickly located his friends and they were happy to see him, but they also looked rather worried.

    ¡°This is clearly a trap. Can¡¯t you tell?¡± asked Ye Yun with a frown.

    ¡°Even if I have to climb a mountains of knives or swim through a sea of fire, it¡¯s worth it! Anywhere where you are is the best ce to be! Even if it turns out to be a trap, I¡¯m happy to leap straight into it myself!¡± said Su Jin with a big grin. He had never said sweet nothings to Ye Yun before, and he wasn¡¯t giving up any chance to do so.

    ¡°Teehee! What a glib tongue you have! I don¡¯t think I would have liked someone like that in the past, but now¡­ I love him to death!¡± Ye Yun hugged Su Jin tightly and had such a blissful smile on her face.

    ¡°AHEM! Nothing goodes from taunting the single, you hear me?¡± snapped Xu Ran.¡°Someone in this group is still single?!¡± Chu Yi looked surprised. He was now a couple with Wu Jingru, Situ Jin and Bo Ya were also a couple, while Wu Chen was excellent at picking women up. He didn¡¯t think there was still someone without a partner.

    ¡°Watch your words! I¡¯m a Daoist priest after all!¡± Xu Ran red at Chu Yi.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother with what he¡¯s saying, he¡¯s just been very unlucky with girls, and he keepsining about anybody who takes a fancy to him. Also¡­ I remember clearly that you¡¯re just a Daoist priest in name,¡± Situ Jin immediately exposed Xu Ran.

    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯m very happy to see everyone having so much fun, but let¡¯s save this conversation for after we get out of here, okay? We¡¯ve got a crazy man out there trying to freeze the entire freaking gxy,¡± said Su Jin.

    ¡°Are you referring to Shen Wu? You mean he¡¯s powerful enough to do that?¡± asked Xu Ran in surprise.

    ¡°For some reason, he managed to be a god just now and he¡¯s be a lot more powerful,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. Shen Wu¡¯s power was really terrifying. It wasn¡¯t as if Su Jin hadn¡¯te into contact with gods before. Jing Hua and hispanions were all geniuses who were more powerful than top tier gods. Yet, they seemed just a little weaker than Shen Wu. The prowess that Shen Wu was disying right now was much greater than theirs.

    ¡°How do we get out of here?¡± asked Xu Ran.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you guys away. Hold hands, everyone,¡± said Su Jin. The group quickly held hands and the colorful maniacal power shone in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as they were immediately brought to a space that contained sixrges in a chain formation.

    ¡°Theses are¡­?¡± asked Ye Yun curiously as she stared at the sixs. All six of them were extremely beautiful, filled with life and were ginormouspared to Earth.

    ¡°This is our home, my temple!¡± said Su Jin proudly.

    Meanwhile, Shen Wu¡¯s powers continued to extend. A huge part of the universe was frozen and all thes were covered in a thickyer of ice. Anything that entered this area was frozen instantly.

    Shen Wu had gone into a frenzy and did not care about how much of his godly power was being consumed. The he targeted had be several times bigger from the sheer amount of ice around it.

    Just then, a me appeared in the frozen universe. The small me slowly began to burn brighter and melted the ice in the universe. And when the mes grew to its brightest, Phoenix appeared.

    ¡°Gosh, I hate cold ces the most.¡± Phoenix was frowning in disapproval, but she continued making her way toward Shen Wu anyway. When she came closer, she got a huge shock as she murmured, ¡°That¡¯s really powerful. Surely he has exceeded the limits of thews of this universe, right?¡±

    Shen Wu sensed Phoenix¡¯s presence and instantly sent a stream of cold air her way. But her entire body was covered in zing mes, so not even Shen Wu¡¯s icy winds could freeze her.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough! I¡¯m not your enemy! Snap out of your daze!¡± Phoenix shouted at him.

    Shen Wu quickly realized that Phoenix wasn¡¯t Su Jin and snapped out of his enraged state. He suddenly also realized that Su Jin was no longer within this universe, so his icy tantrum was meaningless.

    ¡°You¡¯re one of those fellows by the will of the universe¡¯s side. He promised not to interfere in my matters,¡± said Shen Wu expressionlessly.

    Phoenix frowned and said, ¡°Of course, the Great One will not go back on his promises, but he sent me here to remind you that this excessive use of your energy is meaningless.¡±

    A rage burned in Shen Wu¡¯s eyes, but he knew that she was right. He nced at her and said, ¡°You¡¯re able to disregard my Spirit Power.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Everything in the world has something that perfectly opposes it. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m your natural nemesis,¡± said Phoenix with a faint smile.

    Shen Wu did not refute that. Phoenix was indeed like a nemesis to him. His icy powers could not freeze her, and using heat to attack her would only empower her. That annoyed him greatly.

    ¡°Leave this ce! You¡¯re a pretty impressive character, so I think the Great One will help you be even stronger,¡± said Phoenix.

    Shen Wu hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded. He did want to be even stronger, since his opponent, Su Jin, had be so much more powerful now. There was no reason to turn down a chance to be stronger.

    Back at Su Jin¡¯s temple, Su Jin sat above one of the giants. This was the made from thest shard he had found and it was thergest of the seven, so Su Jin transferred The Beginning and the temple grounds over to this.

    Ye Yun sat next to him with a sad look in her eyes as she murmured, ¡°Why did Mai decide to be the core of The Beginning? She¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s definitely not the type of girl who would resign herself to fate.¡±

    Su Jin sighed and responded in an equally grieved voice, ¡°Right? But the fact that she wouldn¡¯t resign herself to fate is exactly why she decided to be The Beginning¡¯s core. After I took over management of The Beginning, I discovered it has some special abilities that it didn¡¯t have before. When I think about it now¡­ Mai chose to be the core only after she knew that I had be an insurgent who could break free of thews of this universe.

    ¡°And I think that when she became the core, she started making preparations for me. She purposely locked up some of these functions and set it such that they would only be activated after I was given full permissions.¡±

    This was just his guess, but he had a feeling that he was right. It seemed like Kano Mai¡¯s consciousness no longer existed, but the closeness he felt to The Beginning made him believe that there was a tiny bit of consciousness left that was waiting for him.

    ¡°Is there really no way to release her?¡± asked Ye Yun.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have one at the moment, but I¡¯ll definitely think of a way. I¡¯ll find a way to let Mai return to our team. Team Boning Knife will beplete someday.¡±

    Ye Yun always believed what he said, so since he promised to do so, she didn¡¯t have to think about it anymore. She leaned against his shoulder and asked, ¡°What happens next? What should we do?¡±

    ¡°You guys need to be gods,¡± said Su Jin without skipping a beat. ¡°The temple isplete, and with The Beginning¡¯s help, I¡¯ve begun the process of perfecting thews of this ce. The temple is also equipped to help anyone be a god, so the next thing I need you guys to do is to be gods. That way, you guys will be able to protect yourselves better.¡±

    ¡°Protect ourselves better? I don¡¯t think being a god is of any use if we¡¯re faced with people like yourself or the will of the universe,¡± said Ye Yun in an annoyed voice.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°That may be true, but this battle is not going to be only between myself and the will of the universe. Many other factions will be involved as well, so by bing gods, you guys will be able to fight off these other factions.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re not at a level where we can be gods yet,¡± said Ye Yun.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. So for the time being, I can only get the ones at that level to be gods first. People like Xu Ran, Durand, and Oscar. The rest of you have to continue working hard.¡±

    ¡°Oh man! Sounds tiring already! By the way, since we¡¯re now a part of your temple, what should we do when the Handbook summons us to start a Challenge?¡± asked Ye Yun.

    ¡°You have two choices. Either you continue epting the summons, or I help you to cut ties with the Handbook and you won¡¯t have to worry about it ever again,¡± said Su Jin.

 Chapter 440

    Chapter 440

    Su Jin did not want to force Ye Yun or any of his friends into doing anything, because he wanted them to live happily in any way they liked. But right now, if they wanted to live with that sort of liberty, they needed to be stronger. The Beginning was not able to strengthen owners like the Handbook could, so until they became gods, his friends still needed to rely on the Handbook.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep doing Challenges then,¡± said Ye Yun without hesitation. She was a clever youngdy and Su Jin knew that right from the very first time he met her. He still couldn¡¯t forget her dirty blonde hair, her adorable smile, and her charming eyes from that day.

    After going through so many Challenges, Su Jin had met several women who were almost perfect, but even the Nine-tailed Fox who could charm the whole world couldn¡¯t bepared to the cheeky smile Ye Yun gave him that afternoon.

    ¡°Go ahead and do that then, I believe in you!¡± Su Jin gave her all his trust. He was certain that Ye Yun was no frail little girl. In fact, Ye Yun was such an impressive owner, most other owners wouldn¡¯t want to get into a fight with her at all. This was a powerful fighter who could kill so many of Shen Wu¡¯s best subordinates.

    Su Jin checked in with the rest of the group and everyone had the same opinion. Everyone had decided to attain godhood. Even Wu Chen, who had finally been reunited with his daughter.

    ¡°Are you kidding? Of course I have to protect my own daughter! How am I going to do that if I don¡¯t be more powerful?¡± sneered Wu Chen.

    ¡°My father-inw, you can leave that job to me, actually,¡± said Chu Yi as he came closer to Wu Chen, only to be kicked aside. Chu Yi was excellent at close range fighting, but he didn¡¯t dare to protest after getting kicked. Everyone sneered at him in disdain, but Wu Jingru was so happy to hear these words.

    Since his friends had all decided on what they wanted, the next step was to ask if Durand and the rest wanted in. Su Jin decided to personally invite them himself.

    ¡°The temple will travel through the universes by itself and The Beginning will protect it, so you don¡¯t have to worry about the will of the universe finding you guys,¡± said Su Jin to the group before leaving. The will of the universe had managed to locate the primordial star because he hade into contact with it before and knew a lot about it, so he was able toe up with a way to find it. But the same could not be said about Su Jin¡¯s temple, so the will of the universe would not be able to locate it the same way.Su Jin left the temple and tore through the walls of the universe to arrive at a blue where Durand lived. He searched for Durand¡¯s presence and eventually found him on an ind in the Pacific Ocean.

    Su Jin teleported himself to the ind and Durand instantly detected him. He didn¡¯t know that his visitor was Su Jin and only sensed that the visitor was extremely powerful.

    If Su Jin wanted to, he could have concealed his presence altogether and Durand wouldn¡¯t have noticed at all. But that would be like breaking into another person¡¯s house, and Su Jin thought it would be rude of him to do that.

    ¡°Oh my gosh, I got such a shock! When I sensed such a powerful presence, I thought I¡¯d pissed off some deity out there and they hade to finish me off!¡± Durand was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and casual shorts because he was actually holidaying here. Of course, if a huge tropical storm wasn¡¯t also happening in the waters at the same time, it would have felt a lot more like an actual holiday.

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°How could the highest ranked owner of Hell¡¯s Handbook be frightened by something like that?¡±

    ¡°The highest ranked owner?¡± Durand rolled his eyes with a scoff and said, ¡°It sounds hrious now, but there was a period of time when I was really proud of being in that position. But after going through the Grave of the Gods, I feel that this whole ranking thing is nothing but a joke. If someone else besides yourself said those words to me, I would think that they were trying to challenge me to a fight.¡±

    Su Jin smiled and shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t be too upset. Back then, none of us knew that there were so many other parallel universes. The fact that you were able to be the number one owner among the humans is still something you should be proud of!¡±

    Durand burst outughing. ¡°HAHA! You¡¯re right! I used to be an amazing man who was ranked even higher than an insurgent!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± said Su Jin as heughed along.

    After exchanging a fewughs, Durand asked, ¡°So, why are you here? I saw the wanted notice sent out by the Handbook to capture you. Gosh, you have no idea how many people were tempted by the reward!¡±

    ¡°Some were just tempted, but there was also a group that actually tried to kill me. They ended up walking into the Handbook¡¯s trap and became sacrifices in order for Hell¡¯s Handbook to be incarnated. That was one battle where¡­ I nearly died,¡± said Su Jin with a shudder. If Hell¡¯s Handbook had managed to gather more owners and absorbed all of their energy, he might really have lost his life back then.

    ¡°What the heck? Are you saying¡­ Hell¡¯s Handbook itself tried to kill you?¡± asked Durand in disbelief.

    ¡°Yup. An incarnation of Hell¡¯s Handbook,¡± Su Jin nodded.

    ¡°What did it look like?¡±

    ¡°Ugly. Real ugly.¡± Su Jin shook his head with a sigh. But he was telling the truth. That clown was ugly enough to make some people with particr phobias die from fright. Su Jin knew there were many who were afraid of clowns.

    Both of them sat down to talk about the Handbook as well as reminisce about their past. But a few hourster, Durand couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He had to find out why in the world Su Jin was here.

    ¡°Hey, you aren¡¯t here just to diss the Handbook, right?¡± asked Durand.

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Do you remember the conversation we had thest time?¡±

    ¡°The conversation we had thest time?¡± Durand stared nkly at him. ¡°Which one?¡±

    ¡°The one about me setting up my own temple and getting you to join,¡± said Su Jin.

    Durand blinked a few times in stunned silence, then stood up with a start. He red at Su Jin and said, ¡°What the hell?! You went round and round the bush for so long before talking to me about something so important?!¡±

    Su Jin scratched his head and said, ¡°I know it¡¯s important, but that¡¯s also why I wasn¡¯t sure how to approach the subject¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?! This is not the time to feel awkward about this topic! If I hadn¡¯t stopped to ask you, were you going to continue this small talk forever?!¡± asked Durand, only for Su Jin to actually nod in response.

    ¡°I mean¡­ you were bound to ask at some point¡­¡± said Su Jin with a nervousugh.

    Durand wasn¡¯t sure whether he ought to startughing or start crying. In reality, Su Jin really didn¡¯t know how to bring this topic up. After all, if he dered war on his own and chose to fight by himself, it didn¡¯t matter what he did. But by asking Durand to join him, it meant that he was asking Durand to fight his war as well. Most importantly, he couldn¡¯t ensure anybody¡¯s safety at all. Durand could join today and very well get himself killed the next day.

    It didn¡¯t take long for Durand to guess what Su Jin was worried about. He cackled and said, ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to overthink this whole thing. When Oscar and I agreed to join you at that time, we had already thought through this carefully. We¡¯re all adults anyway, so we¡¯ll take responsibility for any choice we make.¡±

    ¡°I had mentioned it casually and you guys agreed on the spot. You consider that thinking through carefully?!¡± Su Jin looked horrified, which made Durand re at him.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take your word for it. So, Mr. Durand, I am now officially inviting you to join my temple!¡± Su Jin stretched one hand out.

    Durand took his hand and said with a smile, ¡°Going up against the Handbook is going to be a great challenge. I ept your invitation!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Let¡¯s look for Oscar next,¡± said Su Jin as he breathed a big sigh of relief inside. He had been prepared for Durand to say no, since he had seemingly agreed without thinking thest time. But of course, even if they decided to say no despite giving it serious consideration, Su Jin could not force them to join him.

    Just the concept of going against the Handbook and the will of the universe already sounded insane, and he figured that he had a 99% chance of losing right now. He couldn¡¯t me anyone for not wanting to be part of this.

    ¡°When we get to Oscar¡¯s ce, I¡¯ll take charge of the conversation, otherwise I don¡¯t know how long you¡¯ll take to get to this topic,¡± said Durand impatiently while Su Jin gave him a silly grin.

    Durand got Su Jin to wait for some time, because he had to take care of some domestic matters first. He had his own faction here too, but he did not force them to join Su Jin¡¯s temple. Just like how Su Jin did not think it was right to force Durand, Durand did not want to force his subordinates.

    Three dayster, Durand had made all the necessary arrangements and headed for Oscar¡¯s universe with Su Jin.

 Chapter 441

    Chapter 441

    Both Su Jin and Durand got a shock when they approached Oscar¡¯s world, because the entire globe was covered in darkness. They knew Oscar¡¯s Spirit Power could create shadows, so the first thing that came to mind was that Oscar was the one who had done this on purpose.

    ¡°What the heck is going on? Everything is going to end up dead like that!¡± said Durand with a frown.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a closer look first. I¡¯m afraid something bad might have happened.¡± Su Jin felt uneasy as they bothnded immediately. Visibility was reduced significantly because the shadow around the globe blocked out the sun. But there were some robots with lights floating in the sky that temporarily reced the sun.

    ¡°Are you able to locate Oscar?¡± asked Durand.

    ¡°Give me a second,¡± Su Jin nodded. But he immediately went into shock. He had found not just one, but two Oscars. Oscar¡¯s aura had been split into two that existed simultaneously. One was in the middle of Europe, while the other was hiding beneath the ice in Antarctica.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± murmured Su Jin before turning to Durand, ¡°I¡¯ve found two Oscars. One is in Europe and the other is in Antarctica.¡±

    ¡°Two?¡± Durand was equally surprised. He paused to think, then said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we split up and look for one each?¡±

    ¡°Sure. If you run into any trouble, just yell for me. I¡¯ll nt a bit of my energy on you and I¡¯ll be able to get to where you are instantly,¡± said Su Jin. Durand agreed, so Su Jin gave him Oscar¡¯s coordinates in Europe, then headed for Antarctica.

    When he got to Antarctica, he felt like the area covered by ice had increased quite a bit. But that was only to be expected. The lights from the robots in the sky weren¡¯t actually the sun, so the effect was reduced somewhat.¡°He¡¯s in here.¡± Su Jin walked to one of the icy mountains, pressed a hand against it and pushed a door open. He called out, ¡°Oscar, it¡¯s Su Jin. I¡¯ming in, okay?¡±

    Su Jin could have teleported himself to where Oscar was, but since something so strange had urred to Oscar, he decided to be careful. He wasn¡¯t afraid that he might be in danger. He was more worried that he might hurt Oscar.

    ¡°Stop right there!¡± Oscar called out after Su Jin took a few more steps forward.

    ¡°Oscar, is that you?¡± asked Su Jin. ¡°What¡¯s going on? I realized your aura has been split into two. How did that happen?¡±

    ¡°Su Jin¡­ just leave! Regardless of why you¡¯vee, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to help you anymore.¡± Oscar¡¯s voice was filled with despair and hopelessness.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s happened?¡± Su Jin marched toward Oscar, and when Oscar came within view, he saw that one of Oscar¡¯s arms was broken from the shoulder. Also, he was wearing an extremely thick fur coat to keep the cold out, yet he was still shivering.

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. Oscar didn¡¯t possess the strongest physique, but his body was still stronger than most. The temperature here was definitely lower than normal, but he didn¡¯t think it would affect Oscar this badly. And what happened to that arm? He got injured? If that was the case, the Handbook could restore him. He didn¡¯t need to go around with a broken arm like that.

    ¡°What the hell happened here? What happened?!¡± asked Su Jin.

    Oscar sat on the ground listlessly. He shook his head slightly and said, ¡°Like I said, regardless of why you¡¯re here, I won¡¯t be able to help you anymore.¡±

    Su Jin pulled him to his feet and frowned. ¡°Never mind that now. I¡¯m asking you what happened here. I noticed a shadow covering the entire globe when I came, and look at the state you¡¯re in. Also, why is there another you out there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve been robbed.¡± Oscar had a look of self-deprecation as he fished out a bottle of beer and started chugging it.

    ¡°You were robbed? What does that mean?¡± Su Jin was even more confused.

    Oscar murmured, ¡°Those geniuses. I¡¯ve been robbed by those geniuses.¡±

    ¡°Geniuses?¡± Su Jin paused for half a second, then asked, ¡°You mean you tried bing a god and you were robbed? Damn it! Didn¡¯t I warn you thest time about this?¡±

    ¡°I discovered another method to prevent this from happening, plus a group of owners from another world were eyeing my world. I had to be a god in order to protect my world, so I decided to use that method. But in the end, I made a mistake and was taken over by a genius. The good part about using that method was that even though my identity, my Handbook, and my powers have been removed, I¡¯ve managed to survive.¡± Oscar threw the bottle in his hand on the ground and leaned against the side of the ice cave weakly. ¡°I¡¯m barely surviving now. I might as well die.¡±

    Su Jin frowned, then pulled Oscar to his feet again. ¡°We¡¯d better hurry. Durand is headed for that genius right now, so we need to save him!¡±

    ¡°Save him? You can go by yourself. I¡¯m too useless to be of any use.¡± Oscar shook his head. He had lost an arm and all of his powers, so he couldn¡¯t even defeat an ordinary strong human in a fight, never mind fight a god.

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°Fine, whatever suits you. So what if you¡¯ve lost your powers? Before bing an owner, you were an ordinary person too. But you¡¯re now throwing away something even more important than your powers!¡±

    Su Jin did not force Oscar to leave with him and left immediately. After he had left, Oscar¡¯s eyes reddened and his hands trembled as he picked up the bottle he threw to the ground just now and put it to his lips. But just when he was about to drink from it, his hands stopped trembling and he flung the bottle against the wall.

    ¡°Damn it, damn it, damn it!¡± cursed Oscar again and again. His voice grew louder and louder and eventually turned into ¡°fucking damn it!¡±

    Su Jin instantly reappeared next to Durand and found that he was on the roof of a skyscraper, quietly observing the building opposite his.

    ¡°Thank god,¡± Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief.

    Durand nced at Su Jin, then said, ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the guy in there. He has Oscar¡¯s aura, but that¡¯s definitely not Oscar.¡±

    ¡°You noticed too?¡± said Su Jin.

    Durand nodded and said, ¡°He looks like Oscar, but there¡¯s something not quite right about him. Oscar is¡­ a human. This guy isn¡¯t. The glint in his eye matches that of a wild animal.¡±

    ¡°Great instincts you¡¯ve got. That guy isn¡¯t Oscar at all. The one in Antarctica is the real Oscar.¡± Su Jin proceeded to tell Durand what happened to Oscar.

    Durand furrowed his brows and couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Fucking idiot! He should have asked us for help instead of using such a risky method!¡±

    Su Jin sighed and smiled bitterly. ¡°The problem with people like us is that we¡¯re all too proud. You have the pride that stems from being the top owner of our race, while Oscar is proud to be the guardian of his world. But I agree that he miscalcted this time.¡±

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked Durand.

    ¡°Of course we¡¯ve got to kill the fake one, then return the powers to Oscar,¡± said Su Jin matter-of-factly.

    ¡°You¡¯re able to return the powers to Oscar?¡± asked Durand with a shocked look on his face.

    Su Jin nodded. ¡°I can do that, but¡­ Oscar might not be able to take it back.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Durand puzzledly.

    ¡°It¡¯s his current mental state that¡¯s the problem. Oscar used to be strong not just because he had a lot of powers and techniques, but also because he was very mentally resilient. He¡¯s taken a really bad hit this time and he seems like¡­ apletely different person now. If he¡¯s not mentally prepared to take control of such great power, suddenly repossessing his powers might actually kill him instead,¡± exined Su Jin.

    Durand nodded in agreement. Su Jin was right. A strong person had to be strong not only externally, but also internally.

    ¡°Regardless, our priority is to get rid of the fake Oscar, yes?¡± said Durand.

    Su Jin smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll attack first and you deal with the rest!¡± Durand grinned back, then took a step back before leaping off the roof at high speed and smashing through a window of the building across from them.

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ seriously hardcore,¡± Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but mutter.

 Chapter 442

    Durand was a powerful character, of course. He was practically immortal and after going through the Grave of the Gods, he had be even more powerful than before.

    He flew across and smashed into the ss window, pouring shards everywhere and making an impressive entrance. He had arrived just as Oscar was speaking to some people in the room.

    ¡°Durand?¡± Oscar looked puzzled. ¡°What brings you here?¡±

    Durand nced at the others in the room and Oscar motioned to them to leave. After they left, Oscar smiled and said, ¡°What a strange way to visit your friend! Why didn¡¯t you use the door instead?¡±

    ¡°If you were really my old friend, Oscar, then I¡¯d definitely use the door. But you aren¡¯t!¡± Durand red steely at Oscar with a look of disdain in his eyes.

    Oscar was a little stunned by this answer at first, but he soon revealed a sinister smile as he asked, ¡°Oh? How did you know? Also, how did you manage to break through my seal and enter this world?¡±

    ¡°I have my own means, of course. How should I address you? Mr. Genius?¡± asked Durand.

    ¡°Looks like you know quite a bit, huh! But you shouldn¡¯t have said anything. If you continued pretending that you didn¡¯t know anything, I would still be your friend and I would still go through adventures and dangers with you,¡± said Oscar.

    Durand burst outughing. ¡°What did you just say? Go through adventures and dangers with me? You think you¡¯re even qualified to say that?¡±He emphasized all the words of hisst sentence that culminated in a shout, making Oscar¡¯s expression look nastier and nastier. He was an immortal genius who could make even the will of the universe give in to him. He hadn¡¯t suffered such humiliation in a long time.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Oscar transformed into a shadow that dashed toward Durand. He was excellent at using this Spirit Power and was able to cover the entire building and more within his own shadow, making this ce his own little world.

    Durand red at Oscar and just before Oscar got to him, a bright light suddenly exploded from inside him. The shadow that Oscar had created instantly dissipated like ice in a mighty fire.

    ¡°We¡¯re friends, you said? Then you should know that the closer friends are to one another, the more they know about each other¡¯s weaknesses!¡± Durand continued to shine brightly as he ran after Oscar. His physique was really incredible, so not even Su Jin would have dared to say he could defeat him while he was still an ordinary owner.

    Boom!

    His punch hit the shadow that Oscar had created and it flew backward like smoke that was blown away by a strong wind. But one main section continued to hang onto Durand¡¯s fist.

    ¡°Now!¡± Durand¡¯s arm shook, and a force whooshed out from his arm. As an owner that developed his physical body the most, he was very familiar with techniques rted to the body itself.

    Oscar¡¯s shadow kept shaking but refused to let go. After a while, Durand began to pant as he realized that his strength was waning, as though something was sucking it away.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re absorbing my energy!¡± Durand¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°Ha! Looks like you don¡¯t really know your friend well enough! Don¡¯t you know that this is something that this Spirit Power can do?¡± Oscar cackled.

    Durand grew weaker and weaker, and there a tinge of indignation in his eyes, but he had no choice. He called out, ¡°I can¡¯t do this anymore! I need your help!¡±

    ¡°Are you talking to me?¡± asked Oscar puzzledly.

    ¡°Nope, he¡¯s talking to me!¡± Su Jin¡¯s voice came from the office desk behind the two men. Su Jin was sitting on the swivel chair as he fiddled with the ornaments on the table.

    ¡°Su Jin! You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re that insurgent!¡± An icy glint shed in Oscar¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Su Jin nodded.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would dare toe here¡­ Now, I just need to¡­¡± Oscar started off strong, but halfway through his sentence, he suddenly transformed into a shadow and flew in the other direction. He clearly intended to escape and not fight Su Jin right from the start.

    Su Jinughed. He had guessed that this might happen, so after Oscar had flown a few hundred meters away, he found himself blocked by a gray wall of light.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in trying to escape. If I let you escape, then my friends would have suffered for nothing!¡± Su Jin got up and gripped the air, making Oscar fly right back against his will.

    The fake Oscar knew that he couldn¡¯t get away, so he decided to fight Su Jin with everything he had. He spread himself out in order to cover Su Jin with his shadow. But Su Jin did not dodge and casually grabbed hold of him. Oscar suddenly realized that he couldn¡¯t use his Spirit Power anymore.

    ¡°Damn it¡­ you¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re absorbing my Spirit Power!¡± Oscar paled in horror. It was just like how he had absorbed Durand¡¯s energy just now.

    As Su Jin sucked all the Spirit Power out of the fake Oscar, he said curiously, ¡°I see. I was wondering where you got this body from, since Oscar managed to dodge your takeover. So, it¡¯s that arm you took from him. You used the powers of the Handbook to recreate a full body for yourself.¡±

    ¡°Please, please¡­ let me off! You need very powerful assistants, don¡¯t you? I found out from this man¡¯s memories that you¡¯ve invited him to join your temple before! I¡¯m a lot more powerful than him and I¡¯m a real god too! I¡¯m willing to help you, so please, let me off!¡± pleaded the fake Oscar.

    But Su Jin ignored his pleas. While it was true that these geniuses that had survived many cycles weren¡¯t truly immortal, they had been given special rights because the will of the universe was wary of their powers. If these geniuses came together, they would be a terrifying force. And if Su Jin was surrounded by a good number of them, he was definitely going to lose. But killing just one of them wasn¡¯t a problem.

    Slowly, the fake Oscar¡¯s body melted into nothing but a pool of blood, while a grayish ball of light remained in Su Jin¡¯s hand. That was the Spirit Power of shadows, which was the power that belonged to Oscar.

    There was a small, bright spark outside the ball, which was the spirit of the genius. But his spirit was now in Su Jin¡¯s control. Su Jin could literally crush him with his hand.

    ¡°Do we look for Oscar now?¡± asked Durand.

    Su Jin was about to nod when he heard a whooshing noise that sounded like a fighter jet had just flown over the building. The two men exchanged nces, then leaped out of the window that Durand had smashed when he came. They looked up to see a very unique looking fighter jet above their heads.

    ¡°This guy! This isn¡¯t technology that this has!¡± Durand¡¯s eyes lit up with joy because he realized that the pilot of the fighter jet was none other than Oscar himself.

    A smile spread across Su Jin¡¯s face as well. Oscar was a top owner after all. He couldn¡¯t possibly lose all confidence in himself after going through a few setbacks.

    Oscar had clearly noticed the two of them andnded the ne on the roof. He jumped out and said to them, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for taking some time to be depressed. I hope I¡¯ve arrived in time!¡±

    ¡°Of course! You¡¯ll always be in time! Returning this to you!¡± Su Jin threw the gray ball in his hand to Oscar.

    Oscar instinctively caught the ball, but the ball was immediately absorbed by his body once it came into contact with him and disappeared from his palm.

    His body began to shake wildly and crackled loudly like he was peas in a frying pan. That was the sound of his Spirit Power filling up the cells in his body.

    A few momentster, Oscar opened his eyes again and it gleamed with the same confidence he used to have. But he also looked terribly surprised. He looked at Su Jin and asked, ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s your Spirit Power, so it naturally goes right back into your body. Oh, your arm too!¡± Su Jin took the spirit of the genius and pped it against Oscar¡¯s shoulder, causing an arm made purely from energy to appear.

    Oscar was really bbergasted. He stared at his new arm in disbelief and was speechless for a while.

    Su Jin said to him, ¡°Once you be a god, you won¡¯t be able to do Challenges anymore and you¡¯ll have to find another way to restore your arm. But I felt that since this guy took your arm away, it would be best if hepensated you with one.¡±

    Su Jin had used his immense powers to turn the genius¡¯s spirit into a physical arm for Oscar, and this arm would eventually be able to disy shocking levels of strength, since it was made from the essence of the spirit of a genius.

 Chapter 443

    Oscar and Durand went on to head for Su Jin¡¯s world. Su Jin didn¡¯t dare to return to his own world because he didn¡¯t know when the Handbook might suddenly send another batch of owners to ambush him, so he could only ask Oscar and Durand to help him. He wanted Daitengu and the rest to head for the temple with him so that they would have a connection to the temple. That way, they could use the power of the temple to teleport them safely to the temple if they ran into danger.

    This ordeal had turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Oscar. He was now a real god, and because it was a genius who tried to take his godhood away, he had be a top tier god. He was filled with tremendous amounts of godly energy, so even if he did not join Su Jin¡¯s temple and waited until the old cycle passed, he would definitely be one of the greatest gods of the new cycle.

    He had arrived at an ind in the middle of the ocean with volcanoes that billowed smoke, as though they were ready to erupt any moment. This was where Bifang was hibernating.

    ¡°A descendant of an insurgent? Gosh, Su Jin¡¯s really something for finding someone like that,¡± murmured Oscar to himself. He covered the entire ind with his energy but did not set foot on it. He just wanted to let Bifang know that someone hade to visit her.

    Bifang woke up soon after and detected Oscar¡¯s godly energy immediately. His energy was filled with so much vigor that Bifang knew she was absolutely no match for him.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to have any ill intent, though.¡± Bifang found this whole thing rather strange. If a god with evil intent came knocking on her door, she could understand. But this person didn¡¯t seem to have any ill intent. Her master was an insurgent, so wasn¡¯t a god an enemy?

    She didn¡¯t let Oscar wait for too long. She flew out of the volcano without transforming into a human and called out to Oscar, ¡°O great god, why have youe to disrupt my rest?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to disturb you, but Su Jin has finished building his temple and he¡¯s asked me to bring you there,¡± Oscar yelled back. He then released a bit of his aura that Su Jin had left on him so that Bifang wouldn¡¯t misunderstand his intentions.

    Once that aura was released, Bifang saw an image of Su Jin appear in the air, saying, ¡°Bifang, the temple is ready! You can follow the person I¡¯ve sent over.¡±After Bifang saw that, she nodded slightly and transformed into a human before going to Oscar. ¡°Thank you for making the effort.¡±

    ¡°No worries. Su Jin also sent me another set of coordinates and said that there are two people from the World of Fairytales on an ind. We need to pick them up too,¡± said Oscar before flying toward the ocean with Bifang.

    Meanwhile, Durand had arrived in Japan. This temple was very famous, and legend had it that Daitengu used to live here. A local conglomerate managed the temple and they did not let anybody tour the ce. However, starting from this year, political visitors were suddenly allowed toe anytime they liked, so there were people here to worship almost every day.

    But today, everyone realized they couldn¡¯t get close to the temple at all. If they came too close, their entire body would start shivering, as though no lifeforms were allowed within the temple grounds. Only one Caucasian man was able to stroll in. The temple guards couldn¡¯t even stop him from entering, and they could only watch on in fear as the man made his way deep into the temple.

    ¡°Daitengu, Su Jin has told me to call you toe out for a bit,¡± said Durand loudly into the temple. He wasn¡¯t a god yet, so if he were to get into a fight with Daitengu, he wouldn¡¯t be a match for Daitengu. All three demons were powerful characters who might not necessarily lose in a fight against gods, after all.

    Deep inside the temple grounds, Daitengu opened his eyes. He spread his wings and appeared immediately before Durand. Durand could instantly sense the strong auraing from Daitengu.

    ¡°My master sent you here?¡± asked Daitengu.

    Durand nodded and released Su Jin¡¯s aura. An image of Su Jin appeared before Daitengu and said, ¡°Daitengu, my temple¡¯s ready, so hurry up ande over!¡±

    A look of amazement lit up Daitengu¡¯s eyes as he murmured, ¡°My master has really managed to build his own temple!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve also joined it, so we¡¯re all one big family now!¡± said Durand with a smile.

    Daitengu nodded and gave Durand a kind smile. Durand went on, ¡°Su Jin also told me to inform the Nine-tailed Fox, but she doesn¡¯t seem to have a permanent address. Do you know where she is?¡±

    Daitengu nodded slightly and took his phone out to make a call. It didn¡¯t take long to go through and the Nine-tailed Fox¡¯s voice could be heard, ¡°Hey Big Dog, can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve got the time to call me. What do you need? Hurry up, I need to perform on stage very soon.¡±

    Daitengu sighed inwardly. The only one who dared to throw out the ¡°ten¡± in his name, or the ¡°heavenly¡± part, was the Nine-tailed Fox. And he seriously couldn¡¯tprehend how this fox got so hooked on living the celebrity life.

    ¡°Our master has sent someone to tell us that his temple is ready and he wants us to go over as soon as possible. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s more important than your performance,¡± said Daitengu with a chuckle.

    ¡°The temple is ready!¡± eximed the Nine-tailed Fox excitedly before she turned to Lu Hang and said, ¡°Lu, I¡¯m not feeling well, so I¡¯m not going to perform! Also, cancel all uing appointments for a month!¡±

    ¡°Daitengu, where do I meet you?¡± her voice grew louder again as she started speaking into the phone again.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the S City airport,¡± said Daitengu with a sigh before hanging up.

    The Nine-tailed Fox hung up as well, then pulled the adorable Su Wen into her arms as she kissed his cheek hard. Sheughed merrily and said, ¡°My little one, we¡¯re going to have our own home! A real home!¡±

    Su Wen looked up at her, then grabbed the bag of chips next to him and began to eat them with a big smile on his face. There were many things he still couldn¡¯t understand, but anything that could make his aunt so happy had to be a good thing.

    Oscar and Durand were extremely efficient in carrying out their assignments. After all, that was how they became top owners among humans. They quickly gathered Daitengu, Bifang, the Nine-tailed Fox, Su Wen, Geppetto, and Alice together. They could have gathered more people, like the owners under Tracy, but Su Jin would rather do without them. Those people were only fearful of what he could do to them and were not truly believers in his mission, so he didn¡¯t want to include them.

    Once they were all gathered in S City, Oscar protected them as they left the, then sent a message to Su Jin to say that they were ready. Su Jin stood in his temple and grabbed the air, causing a gigantic ck ball to appear out of nowhere.

    The ball opened up to reveal Oscar and the group. That ball was merely a container that Oscar had created to make it easy for Su Jin to bring them over all at once.

    ¡°My master!¡± Daitengu and the other two demons bowed as they knelt on one knee.

    Su Jin blinked in surprise before quickly pulling them to their feet. The three of them had never been this formal around him when they were on Earth. The temple must be very important to them, so important that they treated Su Jin with such great respect now.

    ¡°You guys don¡¯t have to be like this. The temple will be our new home and all of you are family to me. That¡¯s all,¡± said Su Jin. He didn¡¯t care about this master and servant sort of rtionship at all. If he wanted to be a master, he should have just followed the path created by the Handbook and he would have be a master to many in the future, including possibly several universes. He wouldn¡¯t have bothered going through so much trouble.

    The three demons had excited looks in their eyes. They were getting a new home. From the day they were born, they never had a home. Their unique identities forced them to be wanderers in the vast universe and they never thought they would ever have a home. The thought of having a home made them so happy.

    Geppetto took a look around the and gave a pleased nod. ¡°The is excellent. Looks like you¡¯ve put a lot of effort into making this ce!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d everyone likes it!¡± said Su Jin with a smile.

    Alice looked at the flowers around her and suddenly murmured, ¡°This ce looks so much like the World of Fairytales. If only the Mad Hatter and the rest were still around¡­¡±

    Su Jin fell silent. Throughout this journey, he had made friends and he had lost some. Some weren¡¯t even friends. But Su Jin never forgot them. All he could do was to remember them and be with them in spirit.

 Chapter 444

    Inside the temple, Su Jin¡¯s first task was to make sure that those who were powerful enough could be gods. The other thing he had to do was to alter Oscar¡¯s godhood. It wasn¡¯t difficult, but it needed a lot of time.

    Oscar had be a top tier god of the Handbook and his body had been snatched away by a genius before too, so his body and godhood were deeply connected to the Handbook, which would require a lot of hard work to disconnect.

    Su Jin went into seclusion with Oscar and did not concern himself with anything happening out there. He left the running of the temple to The Beginning and focused on altering Oscar¡¯s godhood.

    He couldn¡¯t help but gasp in admiration at the Badge of Godhood that a top tier god possessed. This was definitely the creation of geniuses. The badge was like a bottomless source of energy and it was stamped with the mostplex of the Handbook universe¡¯s rules. The badge was created specially for the Handbook and the will of the universe, a source of power to the gods.

    And since the gods had different tiers, their badges were of different tiers too. Oscar¡¯s badge was enough for Su Jin to understand the mystery behind it without having to collect more badges to refer to.

    Su Jin began to study every rule of the badge in great detail. He became obsessed with understanding how they were positioned, whether they could be improved and which parts he could adapt.

    Time slowly ticked by. One year¡­ three years¡­ five years¡­ ten years!

    Su Jin spent a grand total of ten years to fully understand Oscar¡¯s top tier badge, and that was partly because The Beginning had helped. Su Jin could not imagine what would have happened if The Beginning had not helped. He might have spent his entire lifetime trying to analyze this thing and still fail to fullyprehend it. He could forget about fighting the will of the universe.

    What was the strongest thing about the will of the universe? Almost nobody knew the answer to that before, but now, Su Jin knew that the will of the universe was made powerful by Hell¡¯s Handbook. That was also why he wanted the primordial deities to help him build this system, then went around conquering worlds only after the system was ready. Without this system, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to achieve this on his own.In other words, if Su Jin could not get his hands on a system that was at least as powerful as the Handbook, then the efforts of any insurgent would be aplete joke. You could even say it was merely wishful thinking.

    Once Su Jin came out of seclusion, Chu Yi and the rest gathered around with excited looks on their faces. None of them expected Su Jin to end up locking himself away from them for ten whole years.

    Su Jin stared at the people before him and went into a daze. Ye Yun looked as young as she was before, because she was an owner. Wu Jingru looked much more mature than before. She no longer looked like a teen and was now a young woman in herte twenties.

    The Nine-tailed Fox pushed Su Wen toward Su Jin. The little boy didn¡¯t seem to have grown much. During these ten years, he seemed to have only grown by two or three years and still had childlike features, but the look in his eyes was different. He no longer lookedpletely ignorant or like a doll with no mind of his own.

    ¡°You locked yourself away for ten years just like that¡­ I can¡¯t believe you were alright with that!¡± Ye Yun¡¯s eyes reddened. The pressure they had felt over the past decade was simply staggering. Thankfully, the will of the universe never came to make trouble for them. In fact, the will of the universe seemed to have disappeared altogether. Even the Handbook was operating normally.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Su Jin very apologetically as he gently hugged Ye Yun.

    Ye Yun made a face, but didn¡¯tin. She quietly whispered into his ear, ¡°We¡¯re all still alive and we¡¯re all doing well.¡±

    But that made Su Jin feel even more guilty. How many women would wait ten years for someone they loved? He suddenly gazed into her eyes and said, ¡°Ye Yun¡­ will you marry me?¡±

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Ye Yun was a little at a loss. ¡°I¡­ you¡­ You just emerged from a decade of seclusion and you haven¡¯t even brushed your teeth¡­ Ahhh! You haven¡¯t even brushed your teeth and you tried to propose to me?! Su Jin, you¡¯re gross!!¡±

    That was definitely not the response Su Jin was expecting. He looked at the rest around him and noticed that everyone wasughing.

    He burst outughing too as he let go of Ye Yun and said, ¡°Give me ten minutes!¡±

    Ten minutester, Su Jin had taken a bath, changed into suitable clothes for the asion, and held up a bouquet of flowers in rainbow colors.

    He walked up to Ye Yun, went down on one knee, and offered the flowers to her as he said with great seriousness, ¡°Beautiful Miss Ye Yun, I¡¯ve had many dreams about what my future could be, but the best one, the most blissful one, is a vision of myself bing your husband.

    ¡°I love you, Ye Yun! Won¡¯t you marry me?¡± The colorful flowers turned into butterflies as he held his hand out toward her with a pleading look in his eyes.

    Ye Yun¡¯s eyes were filled with tears and she wasn¡¯t sure what to do at first. They had spent more time apart than together, but she had reason to believe that their rtionship was solid.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Ye Yun nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks.

    Su Jin got up to hug her, then said quietly, ¡°I¡¯ll count on you for the rest of my life.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll count on you too,¡± responded Ye Yun.

    All sevens of the temple instantly let off fireworks. Ye Yun felt that this was the best moment of her life, and Su Jin felt the same way.

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Wu Chen congratted the couple.

    ¡°Teehee, you¡¯re years behind me, Boss! Jingru and I already got married three years ago.¡±

    ¡°Bo Ya and I are already married too,¡± said Situ Jin as heughed along with Bo Ya.

    ¡°Congrattions, my master!¡± The three demons continued to address Su Jin this way and seemed used to it.

    ¡°Congrattions, Dad!¡± Su Wen saw Su Jin as his father, so he naturally called him Dad.

    ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    ¡°Gosh, this is not a good ce for singles to be!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite enough, you guys!¡±

    Oscar, Durand, and Xu Ranined loudly, but their expressions were filled with joy too.

    ¡°Congrattions, Su Jin!¡± A transparent figure appeared. That was Natasha¡¯s soul that was recuperating in the temple. Her soul had stabilized, and she would be able to have a body again in no time.

    Right behind her was The Beginning¡­

    Su Jin and Ye Yun couldn¡¯t help but fall silent as they looked at The Beginning. A sadness filled their hearts. They would never forget how Kano Mai sacrificed herself for them.

    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s make a promise, shall we?¡± said Ye Yun to Su Jin.

    ¡°What sort of promise?¡± asked Su Jin magnanimously.

    ¡°Promise to bring Mai back, no matter how long it takes,¡± said Ye Yun sincerely.

    Su Jin nodded without hesitating and smiled. ¡°Of course. I will do that, no matter how long it takes!¡±

    Su Jin and Ye Yun¡¯s wedding was going to be the biggest event in the temple, so everyone started wracking their brains to think of the best way to hold it. They decided to start with giving the couple presents. Durand and Oscar retrieved all the precious items they had umted and managed to put together two sets of items for the Ceremony of the Gods. They knew that there were still some more members of Team Boning Knife that needed to be revived.

    Su Jin liked this present very much. It wasn¡¯t their wedding yet, but he decided to make use of this present first. He added two Keys to Immortality to the sets and revived Ning Meng and Yang Mo.

    The two revived individuals lookedpletely confused. They were stunned to see Su Jin and Chu Yi. Ning Meng asked puzzledly, ¡°Didn¡¯t I¡­ die?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! I remember¡­ I remember dying at the hands of one of the seven sins!¡± Yang Mo scratched his head in confusion.

    ¡°You did die, but you¡¯ve been revived. Wee back, Ning Meng and Yang Mo!¡± Su Jin was overjoyed. Besides Kano Mai, all members of Team Boning Knife had been revived. His next step was to bring Kano Mai back as well.

    As for Yang Mo and Ning Meng, after getting their opinion on the matter, he cut off their connection with the Handbook. They had fallen too far behind and there was no time for them to grow strong enough now. Besides, they really didn¡¯t enjoy the dangers that came with being an owner.

    Su Jin took some time to slowly tell them about what had happened over the past ten odd years. Neither could believe they had been dead for ten years, and they could hardly ept how many things had happened during this time.

    ¡°I would like to go back and look for my sister. She must be having a hard time living on her own.¡± Ning Meng really missed her sister and actually, Su Jin knew her too. They had met before during a Challenge, and her name was Ning Ran.

 Chapter 445

    Since that was Ning Meng¡¯s wish, Su Jin was happy to fulfil it. He retrieved his Handbook, which was something he hadn¡¯t taken out in a long, long time. He was a little nervous though, since a good ten years had already passed. Who knew if Ning Ran was still alive after a hundred Challenges?

    But he was surprised instead. Ning Ran¡¯s name was still in his Handbook. He had added her to his friend¡¯s list back then and it hade in handy today.

    He tried to call her and it got through easily. After ten years, Ning Ran looked more mature now. She was stunned for a moment when she saw Su Jin, then eximed, ¡°Mr. Su! It¡¯s really you! I thought there was something wrong with my Handbook!¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes! It¡¯s me! It¡¯s been ten years, and you¡¯ve actually be a god,¡± said Su Jin with some admiration. That was the biggest change he had noticed about her. That somewhat frail looking youngdy he had met then had managed to be a god, even if she was just a low tier god.

    Ning Ran smiled bitterly as she shook her head, ¡°I just seized the opportunity I had and barely managed to be a god. Not only have I lived nothing like a god for the past few years, but my life has also been extremely tough.¡±

    Su Jin sighed. There were many gods just like Ning Ran. In order to escape the monthly grind of the Handbook, bing a god was the best way out. There were some methods that could help an owner be a god quite easily, but they would be very weak gods. Powerful owners could still be a threat to them, so such gods were also called lousy tier gods.

    ¡°By the way, there¡¯s someone who wants to see you!¡± Su Jin moved aside to reveal Ning Meng.

    Bam!

    Ning Ran dropped her Handbook onto the floor, but she quickly picked it up again. Her hands trembled as she stared at the person she was seeing and tears began to flow as she eximed in disbelief, ¡°Sis, it¡¯s you¡­ it really is you¡­¡±Su Jin didn¡¯t want to interrupt their sisterly reunion, so he moved away and gave the sisters their own time and space.

    Things were even more exciting for Yang Mo. He had been away for ten years, but unlike Ning Meng, his entire family was still alive when he died, and they were probably still alive even ten yearster.

    After Ning Meng had finished speaking to her sister, Su Jin got ready to send them back to their own worlds. They were no longer Handbook owners, so they could return to their ordinary lives. Also, Su Jin wanted to return to his own world to tell his parents and younger sister that he was getting married.

    Back when he first went into seclusion, Su Jin did not expect himself to take such a long time. Then again, he had also thought about deliberately distancing himself from his family.

    He was going down a very different path, after all. If he seeded, all was well. But if he failed, then he was doomed. His family was nothing to the will of the universe. If he kept his distance from them, then even if he failed in his mission, they wouldn¡¯t be implicated. However, since he was about to get married and he couldn¡¯t hide some of these things from them forever, he decided to take a trip back home.

    He led the two of them through the wall that divided the universes and sent Yang Mo home first. Yang Mo could still remember where his home address was, since their memories were stuck at the point when they died, even though they had been dead for ten years.

    Su Jin and Ning Meng came to Yang Mo¡¯s home with him. His folks hadn¡¯t moved at all, but Yang Mo was still a little stunned when he stared at the door to his house. He murmured, ¡°It looks so much older now.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been ten years, after all,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh.

    Yang Mo reached for a set of keys that were hidden in the door frame without thinking, then unlocked the door.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that? Old man? You came back from somewhere?¡± a woman yelled from inside the house.

    ¡°Where would Ie back from? I didn¡¯t go out today at all!¡± a male voice yelled from a different room.

    Yang Mo froze instantly. His lips trembled for a moment, then blurted out, ¡°Dad¡­ Mom¡­ It¡¯s me, Momo! I¡¯m back!¡±

    Yang Mo¡¯s voice went from being hoarse to cracking. It had been ten whole years! It was just a moment to him, but thest decade had been a full ten, painful years to his parents.

    ¡°Get out, you scammer! My son¡­ my son¡¯s already dead!¡± yelled the man from earlier on. Su Jin and Ning Meng could hear the rage in his voice.

    ¡°Dad!¡± Yang Mo cried out as best as he could through his tears before running straight into the room. Su Jin and Ning Meng heard the sound of something dropping onto the floor, followed by the sound of crying. It was the sound of two men crying at first, then the sound of a woman crying joined in. They cried from the pain they had felt all these years but also the joy of reuniting.

    Su Jin left a credit card behind, then motioned to Ning Meng to leave with him so as not to disturb Yang Mo anymore. From that day on, this member of Team Boning Knife was quitting the team forever. Su Jin also hoped he never had to return to the team. It was better for him to live like this instead.

    After a long time, Yang Mo suddenly remembered that Su Jin and Ning Meng hade with him and were still outside. He quickly led his parents back outside to introduce them to his friends, only to find that Su Jin and Ning Meng had already left, leaving behind nothing but a credit card on the table.

    ¡°Mo, where are you friends?¡± asked Yang Mo¡¯s father puzzledly.

    Yang Mo murmured, ¡°They¡¯re gone¡­ my friends¡­ they¡¯re gone¡­¡±

    After sending Yang Mo home, Su Jin took Ning Meng to her universe. Ning Ran was already waiting for her there and they immediately embraced each other and cried their hearts out when they met.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t going to stick around and impose on them, but when he was about to leave, Ning Ran suddenly called out to him, ¡°Mr. Su!¡±

    He paused for a moment, then smiled as he said, ¡°Why, you¡¯re hoping to prevent me from leaving?¡±

    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m not capable of doing such a thing. It¡¯s just that¡­ you¡¯re now the entire Handbook universe¡¯s enemy, so¡­ please be careful,¡± said Ning Ran with a sad smile.

    He nodded and thanked her, ¡°Thanks for that. Don¡¯t worry, I still have some friends around.¡±

    After that, he bid farewell to the two sisters and headed back to his own world. He had no idea if he would be able to see Ning Meng again. Perhaps there was a chance.

    Once he left, Ning Ran looked a little guilty. Ning Meng noticed her expression and asked, ¡°Ning Ran, are you hiding something from me?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Elder Sis, you¡¯ve juste back, so I think you need a lot of rest!¡± said Ning Ran cutely, even though she looked a lot older than Ning Meng.

    But Ning Meng furrowed her brows and refused to let the topic go. ¡°No, I can tell from your expression that you¡¯ve done something against your conscience. You might be able to fool other people, but you can¡¯t fool me. Hurry up and tell me, or I¡¯ll get angry!¡±

    Ning Ran hesitated, then finally gave in, ¡°Alright, alright. In any case, as long as I don¡¯t tell Mr. Su about this, it¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s okay to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Something that you cannot tell my team leader? What is it?¡± asked Ning Meng anxiously.

    Ning Ran sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s the will of the universe. The one whom Mr. Su is going against, the head of Hell¡¯s Handbook and the ruler of the universes. Mr. Su might very well run into him.¡±

    ¡°Damn it! Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier!¡± Ning Meng immediately blew her top.

    Ning Ran shrank back and said, ¡°I don¡¯t really have a choice¡­ I¡¯m a low tier god of the Handbook and I have very little power, plus I wouldn¡¯t dare to do anything that goes against the Handbook or the will of the universe.¡±

    ¡°If I wanted you to do something, would you?¡± Ning Meng asked her sister as she took her hand.

    Ning Ran nodded immediately, and Ning Meng said, ¡°Go over to where Su Jin is and join his temple.¡±

    Ning Ran stared at her with widened eyes but didn¡¯t say anything. Ning Meng sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten days to think about it. If you¡¯re still unwilling to do that, then¡­ I won¡¯t force you to.¡±

    Su Jin had left his world for a full ten years and a lot had changed since then. For some reason, he actually returned to his bungalow in S City first, which had already been rented out to another person altogether. He only wanted to check the ce out for sentimental reasons, only to find that the new tenant was actually Han Mengyao.

    He didn¡¯t say hello to her. Some people in his life were meant to be nothing more than passersby. Interacting with them again would only cause them more hurt.

    When he got back to his hometown, he took a deep breath. He was also a little worried. He was worried that his parents might have already passed on from old age, or that something bad had happened to his family but he didn¡¯t know about it. But when he pushed the door open, he found Su Qing carrying a baby with a blissful look on her face.

    Su Jin wasn¡¯t sure how to react at first, but there was joy in his heart. The little one had simr genes to himself, so the baby was definitely his own niece.

    Su Qing noticed him in the doorway and said to the baby, ¡°Xiaoyan, look who¡¯s here? It¡¯s your uncle! Uncle¡¯s back!¡±

 Chapter 446

    Su Jin walked quickly toward Su Qing. His hands trembled as he took the baby from Su Qing¡¯s hands. The baby in his arms felt so warm but made him so happy.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Su Qing a little puzzledly.

    ¡°I¡¯m very happy!¡± Su Jin was really happy and there were even tears in his eyes. But he managed to control his emotions and said to his sister, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for leaving for such a long time.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t say! And you left me here to take care of the child all by myself!¡± She red angrily at him.

    ¡°By the way, where¡¯s Mom and Dad? Didn¡¯t you bring them to see a doctor?¡± asked Su Qing casually.

    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Su Jin stared nkly at her and finally realized that something wasn¡¯t quite right. The look in Su Qing¡¯s eyes was the first problem. Logically speaking, if he hadn¡¯t seen his sister in ten years, she ought to be very emotional. But she seemed¡­pletely calm, and even said that he had brought their parents to see a doctor? What was that about?

    ¡°Damn it!¡± His hair stood on end as he realized that someone must have impersonated him and lived with his family for the past ten years. It went without saying who that person had to be.

    ¡°Su Qing, listen to me! I¡¯M your older brother!¡± said Su Jin as he grabbed hold of his sister¡¯s shoulders.

    She stared at him in confusion and said, ¡°What are you talking about? Of course you¡¯re my older brother. I¡¯ve never questioned that.¡±Su Jin shook his head and said anxiously, ¡°Before that, tell me where did I bring our parents to, how long did I go for and what time would they be back?¡±

    Su Qing felt that there was something odd about her brother, so she yelled into the house, ¡°Sis-inw,e out for a while? I think there¡¯s something wrong with my brother.¡±

    After she said that, a woman came walking out from inside. It turned out to be Su Qing¡¯s ssmate, Yang Mengmeng. Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to react at all.

    Yang Mengmeng approached them, stared at Su Jin for a moment, then snatched the baby out of his hands before saying to Su Qing, ¡°He¡¯s not my husband!¡±

    Su Qing¡¯s eyes widened in shock. This was such a confusing situation! ¡°What¡¯s going on with both of you? What are you talking about?!¡±

    Su Jin took a deep breath, then said, ¡°She¡¯s right. I¡¯m not her husband, but I¡¯m your older brother.¡±

    The air instantly became extremely awkward and Su Jin didn¡¯t want to waste time exining things. He stretched his arms out and sent two beams of light into their heads to tell them what had happened to him over the past decade.

    A few minutester, the two women opened their eyes again and stared in horror at Su Jin, because it was too hard for them ept all of this suddenly. Su Jin said in a patient voice, ¡°I know it¡¯s very hard to ept it now, but that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happened. The man who¡¯s lived with you guys for the past ten years is not me, he¡¯s not the real Su Jin. He just looks like me and has my memories.¡±

    Su Qing took a step back with a horrified look on her face. She frowned and said, ¡°No¡­ I¡­ I can¡¯t believe this¡­ Elder Brother¡­ Elder¡­¡± She suddenly widened her eyes and murmured, ¡°Wait. You¡¯re right. The one who has been living with us isn¡¯t my brother.¡±

    ¡°What in the world are you going on about?! How can this be?!¡± said Yang Mengmeng.

    Su Qing looked at Yang Mengmeng and said, ¡°Mengmeng, think about it. If my brother was really that person who had lived quietly all these years slogging it out, how could he possibly have the power to save your mom? And after that incident, I¡¯ve always sensed that something bad happened to my brother. Our family received a huge amount of money and I traced it back to S City where my brother was supposed to be. But after that, my brother reappeared and married you, so I totally forgot about that. Also, I remember meeting a strange person during that time, yet I can¡¯t remember the details at all. It¡¯s all very, very strange!¡±

    ¡°That strange person is Situ Jin, the previous head of the Department of Supernatural Affairs in our country,¡± said Su Jin.

    Su Qing stared nkly at him for two seconds, then nodded slightly and said to Yang Mengmeng, ¡°That¡¯s right. I did go and investigate who he was. His name was indeed Situ Jin.¡±

    Su Jin went on, ¡°The will of the universe has been living as me for the past ten years. I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s trying to do, but it¡¯s a very dangerous situation for you guys.¡±

    Yang Mengmeng still didn¡¯t believe him, so she pulled her phone out to make a call. But before the other side picked up the call, someone sauntered into the house.

    ¡°Oh my, my, you came when I wasn¡¯t in! What a troublesome fellow! I¡¯d gotten so used to my current identity and I didn¡¯t mind continuing to live like this, actually.¡± The person who hade in was the will of the universe.

    Yang Mengmeng and Su Qing¡¯s eyes widened as they stared at the second Su Jin in disbelief. Su Jin¡¯s parents who had returned with the will of the universe were also equally confused. How did they end up having two sons now?

    Su Jin scoffed and said, ¡°You want to continue living as me? What strange hobbies you have!¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. It¡¯s boring to be the will of the universe, you know? Since such an opportunity came rolling along, I wanted to give it a shot and to my surprise, it turned out to be really interesting. To be honest, I think¡­ I¡¯m bing obsessed!¡± said the will of the universe with a heartyugh.

    The air around Su Jin¡¯s body turned into the colors of the rainbow as he pulled out his boning knife and swung it toward the will of the universe. The will of the universe did not dare to take him lightly, since Su Jin had powers outside of the Handbook and could do almost anything now. But just when his body was covered in a sh of white, Su Jin swung his de in the opposite direction.

    He had created a tunnel through space that was linked directly to his temple. He pushed Yang Mengmeng and Su Qing in, because letting them stay here was too dangerous. He had to send them elsewhere first.

    ¡°You think you can get away?¡± The will of the universe¡¯s eyes glinted frostily as he made a grab toward the tunnel. A ck gas and white gas formed tworge hands that tried to pull the two women back.

    ¡°Get away!¡± shouted Su Jin as he swung his de toward the two hands, shattering them and sessfully sending them down the tunnel.

    Su Jin proceeded to run toward his parents, but the will of the universe deflected him. His parents were already too shocked by everything to react. The will of the universe looked at the two old folks and chuckled, ¡°Thanks for taking care of me over the past ten years, you¡¯re free to go now!¡±

    With that, he snapped his fingers and Su Jin¡¯s parents immediately turned to ashes that disappeared in the wind.

    ¡°NO!¡± Su Jin bellowed angrily. The colorful rays around his body suddenly grew significantly stronger as he ran even more quickly toward where his parents were standing just now. But he failed to even catch one ash.

    The will of the universe and Su Jin were now so close to one another, they could touch each other if they stretched their hands out. The will of the universe smiled as he said, ¡°I like anger. Anger is strength, anger is a clear emotion and anger can be really charming!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Su Jin reached for the will of the universe. The colorful rays around him turned into zing mes that burned everything around it, transforming the space into a dark, empty ce. In the future, no spatial powers could enter it. It became a ce that was truly outside of this universe.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you!¡± The will of the universe waved his arm and all the houses in the vicinity exploded as gods came dashing out. All of them were current gods who would be dumped like trash once their cycle was destroyed. But the will of the universe had given them a chance. If they remained in this ce and killed Su Jin, the one who managed to do that would be treated like one of those geniuses. They would be granted immortality.

    Su Jin¡¯s rage continued to burn everything in his way. Colorful rays swirled around his boning knife as he swung it toward the will of the universe. But the will of the universe moved one step back and managed to dodge Su Jin¡¯s attack, as though he had taken a step that spanned for miles.

    ¡°Haha! Leave killing me to the future! I¡¯m still waiting for the day you¡¯re truly qualified to challenge me and I think it won¡¯t be long till that dayes. If you survive today, that is!¡± The will of the universe retreated and disappeared.

    Su Jin looked up at his surroundings. There were as many gods as the number of clouds in the sky. Low tier, mid tier, high tier, and top tier current gods were all gathered here. They had no feud with Su Jin. All they wanted was to survive.

    ¡°Mr. Su, you¡¯re someone we all respect and you had the chance to be a god in this cycle, but you chose not to ept your fate, so you¡¯ve be the person that we¡¯ve all wanted to be at some point. But today¡­ I¡¯m very sorry, but we¡¯re weaklings who simply¡­ wish to live!¡± said a god who was covered entirely in light. They respected Su Jin, but they could not avoid a battle.

    However, none of that appeased Su Jin. He raised his knife at the crowd of gods and dered in a frosty voice, ¡°Anyone who stands in my way shall die today!¡±

 Chapter 447

    It was time for a battle!

    What were gods? Gods were supreme beings! They decided if an ordinary person should live or die! They decided if the world they ruled over would prosper or perish! They were superior to the ordinary, they were¡­ immortal? No! Of course they would die. Before bing gods, they had been ordinary people too. They had ovee many difficulties in order to reach the position they were in now, and after they had finally reached the top, they were afraid that others would push them downward in order to ascend. And now, they were willing to kill another for the sake of their own survival.

    What color was the blood of gods? They came in all forms and colors. Perhaps Su Jin had seen every sort of blood there was and was soaked in enough blood that made it difficult to differentiate if the colorful patches on him were from him wielding his powers or from the blood of the gods he had ughtered.

    Su Jin brandished the boning knife, causing several low tier gods to shatter instantly. They wanted to avoid the knife, but they couldn¡¯t move quickly enough and were turned to dust before they could dodge the attack.

    The colorful glow around Su Jin was his maniacal power, and they did not have to care if it hit the gods in a fatal spot. As long as even just a tiny bit hit the god, it would be enough to shatter their bodies and destroy thempletely.

    The Earth was unable to withstand such a battle, and Su Jin remembered that despite how furious he was. His maniacal power created a shield around the battle to prevent the from blowing up instantly, but that was very taxing on Su Jin.

    Pfft! Su Jin spat out a mouthful of blood as a top tier god struck his back. The impact of the attack was so powerful that he couldn¡¯t help but vomit blood.

    There were simply too many gods. If Su Jin continued to use part of his powers to protect the, he would definitely die. These gods were the cream of the crop, so they were certainly extremely capable and powerful characters.

    ¡°I have to cut through the crowd and move the battle away from Earth, otherwise I¡¯m definitely going to die.¡± Su Jin understood his circumstances well. He gripped the air and another weapon appeared in his hand. That was the Spear of Destiny, a weapon that had killed the very first god.¡°Die!¡± yelled Su Jin as he brandished both his knife and the spear. He made his maniacal power even more terrifyingly powerful than it already was, sweeping through and destroying hundreds of gods, including some high-tier ones.

    Once a gap appeared, Su Jin flew through the gap and reached outer space in an instant. He continued fleeing away from Earth and the gods immediately gave chase. Some of them were capable of moving at very high speeds too, so they managed to follow Su Jin closely and did not give him another chance to escape through another gap.

    Both parties moved their battle to a deep part of outer space, to a silent gxy. There were no traces of life, and it was filled with nothing but a bunch of deads.

    ¡°Mr. Su, you can¡¯t get away this time! 370,000 gods of this cycle, regardless of tier, have gathered today. Our numbers are enough to even kill the will of the universe!¡± one of the gods shouted to Su Jin in an attempt to break Su Jin¡¯s will.

    Su Jin spat a mouthful of blood and saliva out as he scoffed. ¡°They¡¯re ALL gathered here? Do you mean there are no gods with any sense of pride at all? I know some elder gods who are willing to change their fate even at the expense of their own lives. You guys haven¡¯t even gone through one full cycle and life has already beaten everything out of you?!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su, you¡¯re someone who has risen above the mundane, someone who can do the impossible. But we¡¯re not like you. We just want to survive!¡± responded one of the gods.

    ¡°What a joke! You just said that there are so many of you that you could even destroy the will of the universe, yet you¡¯re pleading for your lives now? None of you will be good enough to kill the will of the universe, and you certainly won¡¯t be able to kill me!¡± Su Jinughed manically. How could the sheepdogs raised and fed by the will of the universe actually kill their owner? Regardless of how many of them were present, they would be ughtered without much effort.

    The battle continued. Su Jin and the gods caused an entire gxy to shatter. Everything that stood in their way instantly turned to ashes from how powerful their blows were and nothing could stop them.

    Fight! Fight! Fight!

    Su Jin wentpletely insane fighting the gods. His boning knife had shattered dozens of times, and he forcibly put the pieces back together just as many times. The Spear of Destiny had turned to dust, so it wasn¡¯t possible to restore it at all.

    The number of gods he was fighting was also rapidly decreasing. After ten days, the 370,000 gods had been reduced to only 210,000. He had managed to kill a good 160,000 gods in ten days.

    But he was reaching his breaking point too. He was injured in several ces, and even though he was able to recuperate almost instantly, it was too difficult to recuperate during a battle. His body was on the verge of falling apart.

    The remaining gods let out a sigh of relief. Su Jin was clearly about to break and it was only a matter of time before they would defeat him. They just had to continue torturing him and he would eventually surrender.

    ¡°Hoho¡­ I never thought that the current gods who had never shown themselves all this time would be the ones sending me to my grave,¡± said Su Jin with a sigh. He had fought really hard and had wiped out almost half the number of current gods, but there was a limit to how much power and energy one had. Even the most powerful person in the world would break once they reached their limit.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Mr. Su! We¡¯re willing to help you die in a dignified manner,¡± said a god as he took a step forward. His face was that of a buddha, and his expression was filled withpassion.

    ¡°Die in a dignified manner? That¡¯s definitely not it! You just know that I¡¯m a powerful being whom none of you are able to defeat even though you know I¡¯m running out of energy. You¡¯re just afraid that you¡¯ll be the next one to die! You¡¯re afraid of me! You¡¯re scared to death!¡± Su Jin scoffed. He was someone who had risen above the Handbook and an insurgent. He didn¡¯t care about whether he died in a dignified manner or not. He just wanted the old way of life under the will of the universe to disappear forever.

    ¡°Since you don¡¯t care for our offer, we aren¡¯t going to dwell on it. Everyone, prepare the death cannon!¡± The buddha shook his head as thousands of gods gathered and put their powers together. They were going to release an attack powerful enough to destroy the world. They didn¡¯t care if the universe was destroyed as well. They were just focused on killing Su Jin.

    The power gathered within the cannon had reached its peak, and just when they were about to fire it, a roar suddenly struck the gods and the channel between themselves and the cannon was cut off, causing the cannon to lose all its power.

    ¡°What?!¡± The gods were in disbelief. Su Jin had clearly run out of energy. How did he manage to destroy the cannon?

    ¡°Huh?¡± Su Jin was equally baffled. He didn¡¯t have that kind of energy at all.

    They got an answer almost immediately. A group of gods had joined the fight at this juncture, and the group leading the rest looked very familiar to Su Jin. As they came closer, he realized it was Xiang Nan, Ning Ran, his disciple, Zhou Xinyu, and a whole bunch of new gods he didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Team Wind and Rain is here!¡±

    ¡°Team Blue Skies is here!¡±

    ¡°Team Majestic Mountains is here!¡±

    ¡°Team Red Dragon is here!¡±

    ¡°Team Ultimate is here!¡±

    The new gods had arrived. Su Jin¡¯s old friends led the group which included Xu Ran, Durand, Oscar, and Natasha¡¯s previous teams.

    There weren¡¯t a lot of them and numbered just over 100, but they hade very suddenly and they had alsoe at a time when the opponent had almost used up all their energy too. They were able to create a gap for themselves and came toward Su Jin.

    ¡°You guys¡­¡± Su Jin could hardly believe his eyes.

    Xiang Nan grinned at Su Jin and said, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t just stand there and gape! We¡¯re no match for these gods, so hurry up and think of a way to get us to your temple first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing that already, but I want to know why you guys suddenly appeared.¡± Su Jin had already started opening a pathway to his temple the moment the new gods arrived.

    Ning Ran took a step forward and said apologetically, ¡°I knew the will of the universe was in your but purposely didn¡¯t tell you about it. My sister found out and was very unhappy, and I don¡¯t want my sister to be unhappy, so¡­ I contacted a bunch of people whom I knew were good people, so that¡¯s why we¡¯re all here.¡±

    She made it sound very simple, but Su Jin knew it couldn¡¯t have been easy. These people had be gods and could have enjoyed a life of luxury and power. Coming to save him was equivalent to giving everything up because they were now opponents of the will of the universe.

    ¡°Are you guys done talking?! We¡¯re not going to hold up for long!¡± The new gods had put up a defense barrier that worked in tandem with the remnant of Su Jin¡¯s maniacal power when they arrived, but it wasn¡¯t going to hold up for much longer.

    Su Jin had not gotten a lot of time to rest, but it was enough. When a crack appeared in space, Xiang Nan asked, ¡°Do we retreat now?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not going to retreat. Help has arrived!¡± Su Jin grinned.

    Everyone was puzzled, but they quickly sensed immense powering their way. Seven huges rolled out from the crack that appeared. Su Jin¡¯s temple had arrived!

 Chapter 448

    The sevens glimmered as they arrived.

    Su Jin¡¯s temple had broken the spacetime barrier toe here and a light from The Beginning began to shine on Su Jin. It restored Su Jin¡¯s maniacal powerpletely in an instant and even upgraded it!

    ¡°Everyone, get into the temple first. I¡¯ll settle things here,¡± said Su Jin to the new gods. Xiang Nan and the rest instantly flew toward the temple.

    The current gods weren¡¯t going to let these new gods enter the temple this easily. Many top tier gods immediatelyunched an attack to prevent them from doing so, but Su Jin was already back in business.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± Su Jin pushed his hands forward and his maniacal power deflected all the attacks, creating a new path toward the temple for his friends.

    After rushing in, they immediately saw that Chu Yi and the rest were already waiting for them. Xiang Nan said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys going to think of a way to save Su Jin?¡±

    ¡°No need for that. It¡¯s just a little more than 200,000 gods out there. With The Beginning and Su Jinbined, that¡¯s not a problem.¡± Xu Ran had a lot of faith in Su Jin and The Beginning, so he was certain they didn¡¯t have to do any rescuing. In fact, if they tried to help, they would end up bing a hindrance to Su Jin instead.

    And just like Xu Ran said, the gods were no match for a repowered and upgraded Su Jin. None of their attacks worked because The Beginning could give Su Jin a defense n against any of their attacks the moment theyunched one, so Su Jin was not hurt by their attacks at all.

    But whenever Su Jin brandished his knife, he would destroy a huge number of gods. If this happened before the temple came, these gods would have had a chance to y Su Jin. But now that the temple had arrived, the battle had turned into a ughterhouse. Su Jin was able to ughter them and they were unable to defend themselves at all.¡°No! How can things end like this?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s useless feeling indignant ¨C this is our fate, and this is how things are going to be!¡±

    Some gods began roaring angrily. They were indignant about the ending of this battle because they had fought really hard to get here. But reality was cruel. The path ahead led to nothing else but death.

    Su Jin paused his attacks and said frostily, ¡°None of you have ever made a choice. All of you have willingly be the will of the universe¡¯s ws and followed the path he had already set beforehand. You have nothing to feel indignant about!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right! We¡¯ve never made a choice because we don¡¯t even have one! If we don¡¯t agree with things, we¡¯ll have to die. Even if we be insurgents, so what? Since time immemorial, over the past thousands of years, you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s actually managed to get this far! The rest were all tracked down and killed by the Handbook!¡± wailed one of them, his voice filled with despair.

    Su Ji frowned. What these gods were griping about wasn¡¯t without reason. It was true that very few had the courage to even choose to be an insurgent, plus none of them actually seeded. Even among the new gods of his cycle, he was the only one who chose to be an insurgent. Following that logic, would that mean that Chu Yi, Xu Ran, and the rest with him were also a bunch of weaklings?

    ¡°Alright then! Since you say that you didn¡¯t have the chance to make a choice, I¡¯ll give you that chance now! You can choose life by joining my temple!¡± dered Su Jin loudly.

    Everyone exchanged nces for a moment. A top tier god took the first step forward and came toward Su Jin. ¡°Are you serious about this offer?¡±

    ¡°I am!¡± Su Jin nodded and raised a hand. ¡°Give me a high five and we¡¯ll seal the deal!¡±

    The top tier god was a little stunned, but a smile slowly spread across his face as he reached a hand toward Su Jin¡¯s and said, ¡°A high five to seal the¡­¡±

    BAM!

    Before the god¡¯s hand could reach Su Jin¡¯s, he suddenly shattered and turned to powder, which shocked Su Jin.

    ¡°The will of the universe!¡± roared Su Jin angrily as he looked into the distance. The will of the universe was standing there and smiling at them, along with a strange looking clown and Jing Hua and the rest.

    ¡°What a surprise! Not only have you managed to survive thebined attack of these useless things, but you¡¯re now trying to buy them over. I can¡¯t help but apud you for doing this! But¡­ anyone who goes against me has to die!¡± The will of the universe red icily at the rest of the gods. Every god his gaze fell on felt a terror that struck them deep in their souls. A terror they couldn¡¯t ignore or fight.

    ¡°Alright, alright, that¡¯s quite enough. If we continue ying this game like this, it¡¯ll be boring. After all, if the chess yer actually gets killed by the pawns on the chessboard, that would be a joke. So today, all the gods and Su Jin will¡­ return to dust together!¡± said the will of the universe, casually giving all 200,000-odd gods a death sentence.

    ¡°O great will of the universe! As you can see, we aren¡¯t able to fight the insurgent at all!¡± said one of the gods to the will of the universe.

    The will of the universe nodded and yawned. ¡°Yep, I can see that. That makes all of you nothing but trash, and why would I want to keep trash?¡± said the will of the universe before snapping his fingers and turning that god into ashes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get him! We¡¯re going to die either way, so the least we can do is to die trying to survive! Die while standing on our two feet!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right! We¡¯ve groveled at his feet for thousands of years, so we¡¯re not going to kneel anymore when we die!¡±

    ¡°Attack!!¡±

    The gods were furious and stopped targeting Su Jin, but started charging toward the will of the universe instead. But the will of the universe merely burst outughing.

    ¡°Haha! That makes things more interesting, but¡­ you¡¯re all nothing but a bunch of useless bums!¡± The will of the universeughed heartily, then said to the incarnation of the Handbook and Jing Hua¡¯s group, ¡°Get Su Jin and The Beginning and don¡¯t let them get away. I¡¯ll have some fun with these guys first.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± The group nodded, then the incarnation of the Handbook, the four geniuses and the Demon Lord made their way toward Su Jin and his temple, while the will of the universe attacked the other gods.

    The clown leaped toward The Beginning, transforming into a ck dragon whose body was almost asrge as thergest of the temple and swiped a w at the temple.

    ¡°Get lost!¡± bellowed Su Jin as he threw a punch at the dragon, causing it to fly away from the temple. But when he was about to throw another punch, the Demon Lord and her group stood in his way.

    ¡°Move aside, or I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Su Jin¡¯s gaze was burning with rage, but he was still willing to give the Demon Lord a chance because he was grateful to her for what she had done back then. Otherwise, he would have just punched her in the face and turned her to dust by now.

    The Demon Lord bit her lip slightly and shook her head as sheughed bitterly, ¡°Su Jin¡­ you know that I don¡¯t have the choice to move aside.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t push me!¡± Su Jin suppressed his rage. He didn¡¯t want to kill an old friend if he didn¡¯t have to.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste time talking to him! Attack him!¡± Jing Hua came charging with a sword in hand, which transformed into a brilliant gxy that targeted Su Jin¡¯s waist.

    ¡°You think you can really kill me?¡± Su Jin thrust his hand toward that gxy and shattered it upon impact.

    ¡°Fire God¡¯s mes of Fury!¡± Phoenix turned into mes and charged toward Su Jin, but Su Jin caught hold of her neck and the mes were instantly doused. Her face turned red and she could feel energy leaving her body at an rming rate.

    ¡°My sword, slice him!¡± The Dog God brandished his sword as well. His moves were not as elegant as Jing Hua¡¯s and even seemed clumsy, but he was able to slice through Su Jin¡¯s wrist so that Tiny could quickly save Phoenix from him.

    While there were probably a good hundred or more geniuses that survived thousands of cycles, the will of the universe only chose these four not because they were more capable than the others, but because they worked extremely well with one another. Compared to the other geniuses who were mostly loners who preferred to work on their own, this group of four were able to do a lot more by working together as a team.

    Meanwhile, the will of the universe was killing the gods at an even faster and more efficient rate than Su Jin. Once a god came close enough, they would be turned to smoke and did not pose a threat to him at all.

    ¡°If this goes on, they¡¯ll all end up dead,¡± thought Su Jin as he began to grow anxious. The godhood of these gods was something created by the will of the universe in the first ce, so he could destroy them as easily as someone having the right key to open the right lock.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take whatever I can!¡± Su Jin roared angrily as he grabbed the air. A huge hand made from his maniacal power grabbed hold of as many gods as it could and threw all of them toward his temple.

    The temple immediately created an opening to absorb the gods. But when Su Jin tried to grab more, he was already toote. The will of the universe had spun around to face him and shouted frostily, ¡°How greedy you are!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± shouted Su Jin. The Beginning obediently carried out Su Jin¡¯s orders and made the temple break through the spacetime barrier. The ck dragon incarnation of the Handbook immediately gave chase.

    ¡°Come back here!¡± Su Jin grabbed hold of the dragon¡¯s tail and pulled it out of the hole that the temple had created in the spacetime barrier. His maniacal power also covered Jing Hua and the rest so that they couldn¡¯t give chase either.

 Chapter 449

    ¡°I¡¯ll see how long you can block us for!¡± said the will of the universe icily as he dashed toward that gap in the spacetime barrier.

    ¡°Even if he can¡¯t block your way, he still has us!¡± One of the gods dashed toward the will of the universe. The will of the universe turned to look at him and the god suddenly stopped a short distance away.

    ¡°Ha! You suddenly realize it¡¯s useless? You¡¯re all trash! Just trash!¡± The will of the universe startedughing maniacally.

    ¡°We¡¯re not fucking trash! We¡¯re gods! We¡¯re a level above everyone else! And I¡¯m here to fuck you over!¡± That god suddenly grinned threateningly as his body turned into a bright ball of light and exploded.

    It turned out that the god knew he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to explode himself if he went too close to the will of the universe, so he chose to stop at a distance that was just far enough to avoid being destroyed by the will of the universe easily, then detonated himself.

    ¡°Humph! You think that¡¯s enough to stop me?¡± The will of the universe scoffed in disdain.

    ¡°That¡¯s not all you¡¯re getting! There¡¯s still the rest of us!¡± roared the crowd of gods. They dashed toward the will of the universe, then took turns to explode themselves. The gods turned into a brilliant disy of fireworks that surrounded the will of the universe.

    The will of the universe had no choice but to take a step back and rethink his strategy. The explosions of these gods were made from pure energy, so he wasn¡¯t immune to damage from these explosions either. If he had to face this amount of energy sting directly at him, even if he didn¡¯t die, he would be severely injured.

    With the gods stalling the will of the universe, the temple was able to escape that universe and move through the various universes again. Jing Hua and the rest couldn¡¯t help but gape when they saw the way those gods started exploding themselves. These people whom they had regarded as trash and weaklings had actually been brave enough to do this to themselves.¡°That is what it means to be a living, breathing creature¡­ there is no pure goodness or pure evil. Lifeforms might seem weak, but they can be brave!¡± Su Jin¡¯s eyes were filled with anger on behalf of the gods that had chosen to sacrifice themselves at the veryst moment so that the other gods would be able to escape.

    After the explosions had ended, the will of the universe wasn¡¯t in very good shape. The huge space was left with only the incarnation of the Handbook, Jing Hua and the other three geniuses, the Demon Lord, and finally the will of the universe and Su Jin.

    The will of the universe walked toward Su Jin and stretched his limbs with a displeased look on his face, then he said to Su Jin, ¡°That was a very memorable battle, but unfortunately you stillck the capability to go against me, so the game will end here!¡±

    Su Jin frowned and said to the will of the universe, ¡°The game will never end. As long as someone¡¯s still alive, the resistance will never stop. Today, I¡¯ve been unable to see this resistance to the end, but in the future, or in the next cycle, or maybe thousands of cyclester, a new insurgent will rise up and defeat you!¡±

    The will of the universe fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, ¡°No, this will not happen again. Nobody will be able to create anything that can bepared to Hell¡¯s Handbook like The Beginning. Even if a new insurgent rises up, they will end up getting killed just like all the insurgents before you.¡±

    ¡°The only thing you can be certain of in this world is the fact that¡­ you can never be truly certain of anything!¡± said Su Jin in a mocking voice.

    The will of the universe made a face, then said, ¡°Su Jin, I¡¯ve been really enjoying this game, so I don¡¯t mind giving you the chance to give up being an insurgent. Why don¡¯t you be an ally of mine? I¡¯ll give you the same benefits ¨C you can get to control the Handbook!¡±

    Su Jin was a little stunned at first, then burst outughing. ¡°HAHA! I think you¡¯re mistaken about this one thing. You think I¡¯m someone who¡¯s afraid to die? Or you think I¡¯m someone who¡¯s hungry for power? It¡¯s none of the above! What I want is freedom! That¡¯s the one thing you can¡¯t give me!¡±

    ¡°Freedom? I¡¯ve given you plenty, but you turned into aplete catastrophe. Fine, since you are so unwilling to join me, then you can go to hell now!¡± The will of the universe shook his head sadly and did not want to talk to Su Jin anymore.

    The incarnation of the Handbook and the four geniuses surrounded Su Jin. They were probably unable to stop Su Jin fromunching any attacks, but it was enough to stall him for a moment. That moment would be enough for the will of the universe to take Su Jin down.

    ck and white streams of air sprayed out from the will of the universe and shot toward Su Jin. Just then, the Demon Lord suddenly grabbed hold of the will of the universe¡¯s hand and begged, ¡°O Great One, I beg you¡­ please, give him another chance! I¡¯m certain he will change his mind! Let me try and persuade him!¡±

    The will of the universe stared icily at her and said, ¡°Let go of me. Do you think you have the right to ask me for anything?¡±

    She paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly, ¡°Of course I don¡¯t.¡± She turned to Su Jin and said apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Su Jin. You trusted me and treated me as a friend, but I¡¯ve betrayed you.¡±

    Su Jin sighed. Even though he had initially struck nothing more than a deal with the Demon Lord, they had eventually be friends. But he didn¡¯t know that the Demon Lord had been so determined to be like one of the geniuses that she was willing to create a physical body for the will of the universe and help him to descend on this world!

    ¡°You did see me as a friend¡­ didn¡¯t you? Or at least you did before this?¡± She looked pleadingly at Su Jin.

    Su Jin nodded without hesitation, then sighed. ¡°Not just before this. Even now, you¡¯re still my friend, even though we don¡¯t think the same way.

    She broke into a beautiful smile and nodded slightly. ¡°So, you will forgive me, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ will.¡± Su Jin nodded. At this point, he didn¡¯t want to me her for anything. They had a different opinion on things, but he had no right to force her to give up her dream of bing an immortal like those geniuses.

    ¡°That¡¯s wonderful, Su Jin¡­ getting to know you has been truly wonderful!¡± Her smile grew brighter as she also gripped the will of the universe¡¯s hand more tightly, which made the will of the universe frown.

    She red at the will of the universe and said, ¡°I really shouldn¡¯t have given you this body. You don¡¯t deserve it at all!¡±

    ¡°What did you just say?!¡± The will of the universe narrowed his eyes, his voice filled with rage.

    ¡°Su Jin!¡± The Demon Lord yelled Su Jin¡¯s name loudly.

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°RUN!!¡± roared the Demon Lord loudly as her body began to crack and a tremendous amount of energy shot out from the cracks.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± cursed the will of the universe. He tried to shake her off but simply couldn¡¯t. And because he had upgraded her godhood to genius tier, it was too difficult for him to take it away from her in an instant. It required a series ofplicated steps and he clearly didn¡¯t have the time to do that now.

    Su Jin¡¯s eyes widened as he felt the urge to rush toward her, but she turned back and stared at him with her lips pursed slightly, as though she was saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    A brilliant light enveloped the will of the universe as her pure and genius tier energy exploded. Not even the will of the universe would be able to escape this unscathed.

    Su Jin gritted his teeth, then turned to create a gap in space. The will of the universe roared furiously from the middle of the brilliant light, ¡°Stop him! Stop him!¡±

    Jing Hua¡¯s group and the Handbook¡¯s incarnation ran after Su Jin, but unlike the will of the universe, they were no match for Su Jin. They managed to stall him for just a while before Su Jin dashed ahead of them and disappeared into the gap.

    The light created by the Demon Lord¡¯s explosion finally faded. The will of the universe was burned in several ces, but his body restored itself within seconds. He red coldly at the four geniuses and they immediately hung their heads.

    ¡°Chase after him! I¡¯ve left traces of my aura on him and he won¡¯t be able to get rid of it for a while.¡± The will of the universe raised a finger, and the group was now able to recognize that aura.

    Meanwhile, Su Jin had managed to get away, but he quickly discovered that trace on himself. He couldn¡¯t possibly return to the temple now, otherwise the will of the universe would be able to track it. That would definitely spell disaster.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to find a way to get rid of this trace first.¡± Su Jin did not stop and rest at the universe he was now in but continued to move through universe after universe. It was like how someone being chased would suddenly turn at random corners in order to shake off the group behind them.

    It didn¡¯t take long for him to also discover that it wasn¡¯t going to be easy to get rid of this trace. He stopped to think and concluded that he had to find a world that wasn¡¯t within the Handbook¡¯s line of sight. That way, he would be able to escape any attempts by the Handbook to use this trace to track him down.

    There was such a ce, of course. It was a world that Su Jin had left more than ten years ago and left two disciples behind. But that world had been isted and thrown into the greater universe, which made time there pass faster than normal. It might have already been destroyed by now.

    ¡°Regardless of whether that world still exists or not, I¡¯ve got to give it a shot!¡± Once Su Jin had made his decision, he broke through the spacetime barrier and headed for that universe. Once he had reached that universe, it was easy to locate that. He had left traces of his maniacal power on that, so he could track down the without any problem.

 Chapter 450

    Su Jin quickly located that. When he arrived, he discovered that the power of time that the Handbook had over it had disappeared. Perhaps it had disappeared soon after he cut its connection with the Handbook off. As a result, time passed normally now.

    Even so, this might have been spinning for a few thousand years before that power hadpletely disappeared. His two disciples might have already turned to dry bones and no longer existed. Time was cruel, after all. Unless one could rise above their mortal bodies and be a god, they were definitely dead.

    The power to control the flow of time was something that not even the will of the universe possessed. That was how powerful the Handbook was. The Beginning was able to make incredible calctions, but it might not defeat the Handbook hands down. After all, the Handbook was created by the entire race of primordial deities.

    Su Jin felt a feeling of familiarity when he set foot on the. He had lived here for quite a while after all, so it was like a second home to him.

    But immediately after he arrived, he sensed two frightening aurasing straight for him from the peak of a high mountain. That was the snowy mountain where he had spent years in istion.

    ¡°These two¡­¡± Su Jin was shocked because he recognized these two auras without any doubt. It was Yun Shan and Yun Shui, the two disciples he had left behind.

    ¡°Who is this powerful being who dares to enter my world!¡± A handsome man holding a sword and a beautiful woman flew through the sky and appeared in front of Su Jin. They stared at Su Jin and their gaze flickered slightly.

    ¡°Yun Shan! Yun Shui!¡± Su Jin was really excited. Possibly thousands of years had already passed on this, yet these two little ones were still alive. But of course, they were both grown up now.

    But Yun Shan and Yun Shui were clearly not as excited. Yun Shan frowned and said, ¡°So, it¡¯s you! I didn¡¯t think you woulde back since it¡¯s already been a good 3,700 years.¡±Su Jin blinked, then said apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve been very busy during these years, so¡­¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± bellowed Yun Shan furiously with a look of rage in his eyes. Yun Shui, however, looked very conflicted. She was staring at Su Jin with a pleading look in her eyes.

    ¡°Su Jin¡­ who do you think you are? You think you¡¯re our savior because you gave us new lives? You did give us a new lease on life, but what about after that? You left and this ended up being locked up for more than 3,000 years. My sister and I have already reached the limits of our martial arts skills, but we can¡¯t move on from here and we can¡¯t get to somewhere new either. All of this is YOUR fault!¡± shouted Yun Shan angrily. He raised his sword and it was actually able to cut through space. That showed that he was almost as powerful as a god now.

    Su Jin dodged and Yun Shui wailed, ¡°Shi¡­ Shifu, I¡¯ll call you that onest time¡­ why did youe back?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± Su Jin¡¯s lips trembled slightly but couldn¡¯t find it in himself to tell them why he was here. Yun Shan was right. When he left, he had abandoned everything here. The two children had been abandoned by the only person they trusted, so he wasn¡¯t surprised that their disappointment in him had turned to hatred.

    Su Jin finally shook his head and said, ¡°Never mind. I¡¯m sorry, Yun Shan and Yun Shui.¡±

    He then turned to leave. He had left them back when they were helpless and needed to be protected, so what right did he have to ask them to protect him?

    He flew off and disappeared immediately. But after he disappeared, tears started flowing from Yun Shan and Yun Shui¡¯s eyes. Yun Shan turned back to look at his world and growled angrily, ¡°You cane out now! This world belongs to me, Su Yunshan! Did you think you could really barge in here without us knowing?¡± Yun Shui wiped her tears and stood behind her elder brother with an equally icy look on her face.

    ¡°Very impressive! I didn¡¯t expect a creature living in such a small ce to be able to be so powerful just by training in martial arts. I really can¡¯t help butpliment you for that!¡± A clown flew up and gave the two siblings a creepy smile.

    Yun Shan scanned the clown and said frostily, ¡°This world had been isted for 3,500 years when suddenly a crack appeared in spacetime. I went around and did some investigations, so¡­ you must be Hell¡¯s Handbook, right?¡±

    ¡°Heh heh! I didn¡¯t expect you to realize who I am so quickly. It seems like you were really excited to look around outside after my powers around this disappeared!¡± The clown snickered before his expression suddenly turned nasty. He said in a low voice, ¡°But I have to say that you are truly quite impressive. Immediately after you sensed my presence, you ascertained how wide my trap was and managed to chase your shifu away before he could set foot within the boundary of the trap. I must say¡­ you are extremely bold!¡±

    ¡°Haha! Both of us are the disciples of the incredibly bold insurgent, Su Jin! Of course we¡¯d be just as bold!¡± Yun Shan let out a maniacalugh as though he didn¡¯t care that the clown could smite them in an instant.

    ¡°Alright then! Since your shifu has left, then both of you can die on his behalf!¡± The clown grabbed the air with one hand and the two siblings felt the air around them weigh their bodies down. They tried to use all their might to fight back, but it was useless.

    Just when they were about to copse under the pressure, a colorful beam appeared from nowhere and headed straight for the clown. The clown¡¯s hands were surrounded by the colorful beam and instantly turned to ash. And to prevent it from getting to the rest of his body, the clown immediately chopped the rest of his two arms off.

    ¡°Shifu!¡± Yun Shan and Yun Shui¡¯s eyes widened as Su Jin appeared before them.

    There was no time to stand around and talk. Su Jin grabbed them both and they disappeared immediately. The clown roared furiously, not because he was venting his frustrations, but because he was calling the others. The will of the universe arrived almost instantly, but that tiny dy was enough for Su Jin to make his getaway.

    ¡°What happened here?¡± asked the will of the universe icily as he red at the clown with a displeased look in his eyes.

    The clown responded, ¡°The trap Iid was discovered by Su Jin¡¯s two disciples and they drove him away with hurtful words. But Su Jin suddenly decided to turn back and took them away with him!¡±

    The will of the universe frowned and gave orders, ¡°Find him! Mobilize every universe and get every sentient being to start searching! I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s Su Jin or the temple, I¡¯ll take it!¡±

    ¡°Yes, O Great One!¡± The clown would never question the will of the universe¡¯s orders. He would only loyally carry each order out properly.

    Meanwhile, Yun Shan and Yun Shui couldn¡¯t believe what just happened. Su Jin smiled faintly and exined, ¡°I know my disciples the best and nothing has changed even though a few thousand years have passed. I sensed something amiss, so I decided to turn back. I¡­ I really have to thank the both of you!¡±

    Both siblings burst into tears. While it was true that they had been upset by Su Jin¡¯s departure before, their love for him surpassed any unhappiness they felt. The only emotion they would feel if Su Jin returned was happiness. They wouldn¡¯t have tried to chase him away like that.

    Su Jin was relieved that he had returned. He had left with some guilt in his heart, but shortly after he left, he sensed something amiss. The two had given him pleading looks, as though they were begging him not toe in.

    He scolded himself for being an idiot as he started thinking about the situation from the will of the universe¡¯s perspective. If he were the will of the universe, what would he watch out for when chasing after Su Jin? Of course, he would go for the ces where he could not check on immediately. He would just keep a close eye on all such ces.

    Once he had thought of it this way, he was very sure that Yun Shan and Yun Shui had tried to chase him away like this for a good reason. That¡¯s why he went back. Thankfully, he had returned quickly enough and managed to save them.

    Su Jin had lost too much in this short period of time. His parents had been killed and the Demon Lord had killed herself. If he lost these two disciples too, he would go insane.

    He dared not stop at all. Since finding a world that had no connection to the Handbook was not a viable option anymore, he had to use speed to beat them. He would just keep moving and see if the will of the universe would be able to catch up.

    Half a monthter, Su Jin managed to get rid of the trace that the will of the universe had left on him. Even though the will of the universe had mobilized every world and race to hunt down Su Jin and his temple, it wasn¡¯t going to be easy to find them in this vast universe. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Besides, both himself and his temple were constantly moving through different worlds.

 Chapter 451

    After Su Jin managed to remove the trace left behind by the will of the universe, he returned to his temple. There was plenty of life in the temple now, but in order to ensure the safety of the temple, The Beginning locked up all the current gods that Su Jin had saved and sealed off their presence to avoid getting detected by the Handbook.

    Thankfully, these people became gods through the usual way and not through an alternative method that the will of the universe could track, like the way the will of the universe left a trace on Su Jin. Otherwise, the temple wouldn¡¯t have dared to take them in.

    Once Su Jin returned to the temple, Ye Yun and the rest immediately came to greet him. They had been worried and fearful for thest two weeks. If The Beginning had not assured them that Su Jin was definitely still alive, they might have gone to fight it out with the will of the universe.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re back, as long as you¡¯re back,¡± murmured Ye Yun.

    Su Jin gave her a smile to console her, then passed Yun Shan and Yun Shui to her. After that, he went to talk to his younger sister and Yang Mengmeng.

    Su Qing and Yang Mengmeng looked utterly depressed and cheered up a little when they saw Su Jin. But after Su Qing found out that her parents had been killed by the will of the universe, she nearly suffered a nervous breakdown and wailed miserably as she hugged her child.

    Yang Mengmeng did not say anything and Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to do. He could only say to her, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m really sorry about this whole thing.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be sorry, Brother Su¡­ even though it wasn¡¯t you, I¡¯ve lived a really blissful life during this past decade.¡± Yang Mengmeng had a stubborn look in her eyes.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, so he asked, ¡°In that case¡­ what do you intend to do now?¡±¡°Go home!¡± said Yang Mengmeng without hesitation.

    ¡°Go home?¡± Su Jin stared at her nkly for a moment, then shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea. The will of the universe is someone who kills as he wishes and is a cruel, unfeeling character¡­¡±

    ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m the one who lived with him for the past ten years, after all. My husband was a humorous man who took great care of me. I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s the will of the universe or some god or demon. I just want to return to my husband¡¯s side. I¡¯m begging you, please send me back¡­¡± said Yang Mengmeng obstinately as she implored Su Jin.

    Su Jin sighed. What happened over the past ten years? He had no idea. Perhaps the will of the universe had done a good job of pretending to be a good older brother, a good husband, and a good son, but he was just pretending after all. The will of the universe was pretty much ying a first person shooter game. He was having fun going through what the game had to offer and he was going through the game ording to how it was designed.

    But if one day, he loses interest in this game, he would immediately destroy the entire game, regardless of whether they were humans or things. Even an ordinary gamer might end up doing something destructive within the game once he starts to find it boring.

    At the same time, Su Jin couldn¡¯t possibly tell her that the will of the universe was merely treating her as an NPC, so she should stop her delusions about him.

    He really couldn¡¯t bring himself to say something like that, and even if he tried, Yang Mengmeng wasn¡¯t going to ept it. She had absolute faith in the man who had given her love and warmth over the past ten years.

    ¡°Brother Su, I¡¯m begging you! Perhaps I was in love with you in the past, but now¡­ I know who I¡¯m in love with¡­¡± Yang Mengmeng continued to plead with Su Jin to send her back.

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know how else to persuade her otherwise and could only nod slightly before speaking gravely to her, ¡°Mengmeng, I can guarantee you that this guy is no longer the same man who spent thest ten years with you. But since you insist on going back, I will send you back to the you came from.¡±

    ¡°No, Brother Su, that¡¯s not what I want and you know it. I want to return to his side,¡± said Yang Mengmeng.

    Su Jin paused, then grit his teeth and said, ¡°That¡¯s impossible. If I send you to him, you¡¯d probably get yourself killed. He is not a person who has any respect for human life or gets sentimental. In fact, he¡¯s destroyed countless lives over the past cycles!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m begging you!¡± Yang Mengmeng continued to plead with him. She smiled sadly and said, ¡°I have heard some things about him during my stay here, but I feel that¡­ you guys haven¡¯t been fair.¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t been fair?¡±

    ¡°Uh huh. He¡¯s the will of the universe and has been looking down at everything as a higher being. Yet he stayed here as a human for the past ten years. I believe that I can teach him what love is and I¡¯m willing to bet my life on it!¡± said Yang Mengmeng without holding back.

    Su Jin was silent for a moment, then he bellowed back at her, ¡°You¡¯re just being na?ve! Unbelievably na?ve! Mengmeng, you might seriously die!¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m willing to.¡± Yang Mengmeng remained as resolute as ever. The look in her eyes was the same one she had when she was younger. She continued to hope despite being in such a hopeless situation.

    Su Jin leaned against the wall weakly. He could only nod in response. He never liked forcing anyone to join his team and wouldn¡¯t stop anyone from leaving, so if this was what Yang Mengmeng wanted, he would allow it.

    ¡°Take this.¡± Su Jin grasped the air and a crystal appeared in his hand. He gave it to her and said, ¡°This is a precious item that The Beginning has created. If the will of the universe tries to do anything to you, you can call my name with this crystal in hand and I wille to your rescue.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Yang Mengmeng happily epted the crystal.

    Su Jin looked at her intently for a few moments, then attached a little of his aura on her, which was to help the will of the universe to detect her and take her away.

    He got her into a small spaceship, brought it to a vast area in outer space, released the spaceship and his aura, then left quickly.

    Within a few seconds, the will of the universe appeared with the four geniuses. He frowned when he spotted the spaceship, but revealed a little smile when he saw that Yang Mengmeng was in the spaceship.

    ¡°Hubby!¡± Yang Mengmeng opened the spaceship¡¯s door to let everyone in, then ran to the will of the universe and grabbed hold of his hand.

    The will of the universe smiled and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Su Jin?¡±

    ¡°He¡­ sent me here and left,¡± replied Yang Mengmeng.

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re the only one here?¡± asked the will of the universe, to which Yang Mengmeng nodded.

    A look of displeasure instantly filled his eyes and he snapped, ¡°What a waste of my time!¡±

    ¡°Hubby, stop trying to kill Brother Su, will you? Why don¡¯t we return to how we used to live simply? I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be happy that way,¡± said Yang Mengmeng as she held his hand.

    But he flung her hand aside and said impatiently, ¡°ying that game was quite interesting, but I don¡¯t want to keep ying. As for you¡­ you¡¯re quite irritating!¡±

    Yang Mengmeng¡¯s heart skipped a beat in fear. She watched as he pointed a finger at her and she knew what was about to happen to her. She immediately took hold of the crystal that Su Jin gave her, but¡­ when she saw a ck beam shoot out from the will of the universe¡¯s finger, she let go of it again because she remembered what she had said. Even if she had to die, she¡­ was willing to.

    She turned to ashes once the ck beam hit her. The will of the universe looked around casually, then said to Jing Hua and the rest, ¡°Continue looking for where that temple might be. I doubt they can keep running forever.¡± With that, he disappeared.

    The four geniuses exchanged nces, then Phoenix said, ¡°Do you guys find that¡­ there¡¯s something different about the Great One?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but something about him does seem a little different,¡± Jing Hua nodded. But he quickly put that aside and said, ¡°That has nothing to do with us. We just need to do what we¡¯re told!¡± The four geniuses then disappeared as well.

    Meanwhile, a wisp in Su Jin¡¯s hand suddenly disappeared. He trembled slightly as his expression fell, murmuring, ¡°Why¡­ why did you have to do that¡­¡±

    Su Jin did not tell Su Qing about Yang Mengmeng¡¯s death because he was afraid that she would not be able to take it emotionally.

    The Beginning told him that there were more than 78,000 current gods in the temple and they were the gods that he had saved previously. All of them were willing to join his temple and would be a powerful and important army for Su Jin, but he had to alter their godhood first.

    After taking ten years to understand Oscar¡¯s godhood, Su Jin and The Beginning had alreadye up with a n to create their own temple¡¯s brand of godhood. It would be essentially the same as what the will of the universe had created, but a few amendments would uncouple the god from both the Handbook and the will of the universe.

    However, trying to do this for nearly 80,000 gods was going to be a big project. This was going to take a lot of time.

    Moreover, he also needed Durand and the rest to be gods. During thest ten years, all of them were now good enough to be gods, but they were all waiting for Su Jin¡¯s instructions.

 Chapter 452

    The sevens of Su Jin¡¯s temple shone brightly as Xu Ran, Chu Yi, Situ Jin, Wu Chen, Ye Yun, Bo Ya, Daitengu, Bifang, the Nine-tailed Fox, Su Yunshan, Su Yunhui, Durand, Natasha, and the rest were all on the brink of bing gods. They were all just waiting for Su Jin to give them the finalmand.

    On this day, Su Jin had prepared everything. Everyone was going to be gods at his word. Su Jin sat down in the middle of thergest of the temple, looked at everyone in front of him, and said, ¡°All of you have been waiting to be gods. And now is the time!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± responded everyone as a celestial light burst through the skies and everyone received their own godhood, starting with Xu Ran.

    The Beginning gave them more energy in order for them to solidify their godhood. Three dayster, everyone opened their eyes again and found that all of them were top tier gods. In fact, they were even better than top tier, because they had an unexplored potential with no limits in sight.

    ¡°They¡¯re like the gods from the first cycle!¡± Su Jin¡¯s mind immediately went to Phyge and hispanions. Those gods were way more powerful than the gods that came after them, only because the will of the universe and Hell¡¯s Handbook had given them additional powers. The gods that came after them were no match for the ones from the first cycle.

    And now, Xu Ran and the rest were Su Jin¡¯s first batch of gods. With additional powers given by Su Jin and The Beginning, this group was no less powerful than the gods from the first cycle, plus they had a limitless future ahead of them.

    After they had be gods, everyone had a burning glow in their eyes, as though they had been given a new lease of life. But that was a fair description as well, since their biological makeup was no longer the same as before. If before this they were humans who were different from aliens and other races from others, then now, regardless of what they used to be, they were all gods and became a race of their own. There was no other division now.

    ¡°I feel that my body has be incredibly strong, as though I¡¯ll never feel tired or hungry again! I¡¯ve be apletely different being,¡± murmured Xu Ran as he sensed how powerful his godly body was.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what I¡¯ve be, as long as it¡¯s of use to Boss!¡± Chu Yi stretched his arms and legs out. He could sense the change in his own body, especially the existence of his godhood, but he didn¡¯t care for these things.Ye Yun approached Su Jin and took his hand. ¡°We¡¯ll always be by your side!¡±

    Su Jin nodded, then smiled at the group and said, ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s time to familiarize yourself with your newfound strength! If you have any questions, just go straight to The Beginning and he¡¯ll answer you. Also, take some time to really rx, because I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t get the chance to rx like this for a while.¡±

    Everyoneughed and nodded before going their separate ways. Ye Yun, however, took a walk with Su Jin first. She asked, ¡°By the way¡­ don¡¯t you think you should check in on your younger sister?¡±

    ¡°I want to, but¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say to her.¡± Su Jin felt really guilty. If he hadn¡¯t disappeared for ten whole years, things wouldn¡¯t have turned out this way.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too upset. There are many times when life doesn¡¯t go ording to n and we can¡¯t control what happens.¡± Ye Yun could see that Su Jin was feeling guilty, but the only thing she could do was to gently hold his arm and keep himpany.

    ¡°Also, you brought your sister here, but what about the child¡¯s father? Is it really alright to leave him on Earth?¡± asked Ye Yun.

    Su Jin froze for a moment, then realized that this was the very thing he had wanted to look into but kept forgetting. He realized he hadn¡¯t asked his sister about that at all.

    With that thought, Su Jin and Ye Yun quickly went over to where Su Qing was. After resting all this time, Su Qing was feeling better now. She had a young daughter to take care of, after all.

    ¡°Hello, Su Qing!¡± Ye Yun looked eagerly at Su Qing and said, ¡°Can I carry my little niece? I like children so much!¡±

    For some reason, Su Qing felt veryfortable with this woman who was about to be her sister-inw. She nodded slightly and passed her child to Ye Yun without hesitation, but looked a little conflicted when she met her own brother¡¯s eye.

    Su Jin sighed and said quietly, ¡°Su Qing, I¡¯m really very sorry¡­ I haven¡¯t shown enough concern for you all this time¡­ your sis-inw has already scolded me for it, I hope you won¡¯t be angry with me anymore.¡±

    Su Qing¡¯s lips quivered slightly before she let out a sigh. She shook her head a little and said, ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t me you either, but¡­ honestly, for not being able to recognize my own older brother¡­ it¡¯s my own fault that I was tricked.¡±

    Su Jin scratched his head and really didn¡¯t know how to continue this conversation. Ye Yun helped him out bymenting, ¡°Su Qing, your daughter is so pretty! Her father must be very handsome, right?¡±

    When Ye Yun mentioned her child¡¯s father, Su Qing finally perked up a little. She nodded and said, ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s got a strange name and he¡¯s rather aloof, but¡­ he was really good to me.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s his name?¡± asked Su Jin with a smile.

    ¡°His name¡¯s really weird and he¡¯s got a very rare surname. His surname is Shen, and his full name is Shen Wu,¡± said Su Qing with a happy twinkle in her eyes.

    CRACK!

    The stone floor beneath Su Jin¡¯s feet immediately cracked under pressure, while Ye Yun turned to stare in horror at Su Qing. Their reactions shocked and confused Su Qing, because she didn¡¯t understand why they were reacting like this. Ye Yun looked down at the child in her arms and realized that she did look a little like Shen Wu.

    ¡°Shen Wu!¡± Su Jin gritted his teeth as the veins on his forehead bulged. The will of the universe had actually done such a thing!

    Ye Yun quickly pulled Su Qing to one side and told her all about Shen Wu, including how he had imprisoned her at one time and how Su Jin had killed him before.

    Su Qing stared at them and looked like she couldn¡¯t ept this matter. Tears fell from her eyes and she went into a slight panic because she didn¡¯t know what to say or what to do now.

    Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright. None of this is your fault, and it¡¯s definitely not this child¡¯s fault. Shen Wu¡­ I¡¯m going to look for him now!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Ye Yun pulled him back. Su Jin was now wanted by the entire universe, so every intelligent being out there would try to imprison him if they saw him. If they failed to do that, the will of the universe would destroy their entire race.

    The will of the universe even got Hell¡¯s Handbook to create a whole bunch of weapons for new gods and got these new gods to take charge of one each, so they were ready to fight Su Jin at any time. If Su Jin left the temple and was discovered, who knew what might happen to him?

    Su Jin disregarded her protests and said, ¡°How can I leave this matter alone? It¡¯s my younger sister we¡¯re talking about here! Shen Wu owes my sister an exnation!¡±

    He turned to leave, but Su Qing grabbed hold of his arm. She stared at her brother with tears streaming down her face and shook her head as she said in a cracked voice, ¡°It¡¯s okay, you and Yuan¡¯er are my only rtives left, so I really don¡¯t want you to take this risk.¡±

    Su Jin just red at her angrily and disappeared in a sh, so Ye Yun couldn¡¯t stop him even if she wanted to. She was a top tier god now, but she was nowhere near Su Jin¡¯s level. Even if every top tier god in the temple tried to stop him at the same time, they wouldn¡¯t be able to seed.

    Su Jin did not leave the temple immediately but went to The Beginning first. He said to The Beginning, ¡°I need a physical body, one that canst for a day or so.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± responded The Beginning. A rune creature appeared in front of Su Jin. During this time, these rune creatures had evolved, but they had now hit a bottleneck. Su Jin felt that their only problem was that they had no soul. These creatures were very powerful machines, but even though they were able to fight well thanks to The Beginning¡¯s calctions, they were just not able to go further in certain aspects.

    A colorful aura glowed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as he packed himself into the rune creature¡¯s body. The rune creature¡¯s eyes gleamed a little brighter and his voice sounded hoarse from inside, ¡°This is stronger than I had imagined. It has 40% of my strength and it canst for around three days.¡±

    Su Jin returned to his own with this body and came back to the little mountain vige where he was born. He needed to pick up some of Shen Wu¡¯s aura in order to find him, so he figured he¡¯d find some here.

    After arriving, he stood at the door for a moment. This was where the will of the universe had turned his parents to ashes.

    His entire body was covered in a ck cloak because he didn¡¯t want the rune creature¡¯s look to frighten ordinary people on the streets. Unfortunately, these creatures couldn¡¯t cry, so even though Su Jin was heartbroken on the inside, he couldn¡¯t let it out through crying at all.

 Chapter 453

    Su Jin pushed his door open and walked in. But he hadn¡¯t gone far when he noticed a man cleaning up the ce. The man looked up at Su Jin and seemed a little confused.

    ¡°You are¡­ Su Jin?!¡± The man quickly realized who Su Jin was.

    ¡°You are¡­ Shen Wu?!¡± A nasty glint shed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes. This man was none other than the one he was about to hunt down. He didn¡¯t expect to find Shen Wu this easily.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my wife and daughter?¡± Shen Wu asked directly. He didn¡¯t look like how he did before Su Jin shut himself up for ten years. He no longer looked like a child who couldn¡¯t grow up but had be a tall and handsome young man.

    Su Jin was a little surprised, but he quickly snapped back, ¡°Why, you actually still care about them?¡±

    ¡°Of course! That¡¯s my daughter and my wife! Of course I¡¯d care,¡± said Shen Wu without hesitation.

    Su Jin raised his voice, ¡°You little bastard, how dare you lie to my sister! I thought that even though you weren¡¯t a good guy, you had some limits. But it turns out that you don¡¯t have any limits!¡±

    Shen Wu scoffed and red at Su Jin. ¡°What do you mean I lied to her? If I didn¡¯t love her and still married her and had a child with her, then yes, that would be lying to her. But I love her, I love Su Qing, and I¡¯m with her because we have a genuine rtionship. How could you call that lying!¡±

    Su Jin didn¡¯t know what to say for a moment. He frowned and replied, ¡°Do you think I would believe you?¡±¡°Is there a need for that?¡± Shen Wu didn¡¯t back down and went on, ¡°Su Jin, I hate you and I wish I could drink your blood and eat your flesh! But¡­ I love Su Qing and that has nothing to do with you. I love her for who she is and that¡¯s why I was willing to marry her and have a child with her. So please, please¡­ give my wife and child back to me!¡±

    Su Jin stared straight at Shen Wu and felt that the look in Shen Wu¡¯s eyes seemed sincere. More importantly, the look in his eyes had changed. In the past, Shen Wu always looked arrogant and unbridled, and he refused to bow to anybody in the world. Even when it came to the will of the universe, he seemed more like a partner and not a subordinate. Shen Wu behaved like he was born an actual god.

    But now, Shen Wu had be human. He still had that arrogant look in his eyes, but at least he had other emotions too. Su Jin could sense the gentleness in Shen Wu¡¯s eyes when he talked about Su Qing. Could it really be that¡­ his younger sister had managed to change this man?!

    After some silence, Su Jin said, ¡°You can see them if you want. You just have to join my temple and allow me to change your godhood. You¡¯ll be able to be with Su Qing for the rest of your lives after that.¡±

    Shen Wu frowned and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that after you arrived at this stage, you¡¯d be despicable too. Then again, at least I won¡¯t really have to worry about Su Qing and Yuan¡¯er, since despicable people generally live longer lives. Also, I¡¯m very sure that as long as you¡¯re still alive, they¡¯ll be well taken care of.¡±

    Su Jin paused for a moment. It was true that he was being underhanded now, but he wasn¡¯t going to let Shen Wu take his sister and her daughter away just like that.

    ¡°So, you¡¯re not willing to do that?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Shen Wu nodded and said, ¡°Of course not. But don¡¯t misunderstand, I¡¯m not willing only because I don¡¯t have trust in your temple. If I allow Su Qing and Yuan¡¯er to stay in your temple, I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯ll end up dying with you in the near future!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s lips started twitching. This part of Shen Wu hadn¡¯t changed at all. The way he spoke remained just as annoying. But Su Jin also knew that he was right. Even though he had managed toe this far, he was still a long way from the will of the universe and Hell¡¯s Handbook. Once their showdown began, the chances of him being victorious were still extremely slim.

    ¡°Su Jin¡­ I know you love them and that¡¯s why I¡¯m able to speak to you nicely right now,¡± said Shen Wu with a sigh. In this moment, he was no longer a god but just a husband and father. ¡°Entrust them to me, won¡¯t you? They¡¯ll be the safest with me. Even if you lose the battle in the future, at least I¡¯ll be able to protect them. And if the will of the universe loses, you will definitely take care of them¡­ so that¡¯s the safest choice, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Su Jin couldn¡¯t help but nod in agreement. Shen Wu was right. Both of them were on opposing sides, so if he passed the two of them to Shen Wu, he would be able to guarantee their safety regardless of who won the final battle.

    When Su Jin didn¡¯t respond for a while, Shen Wu went on, ¡°Su Jin¡­ we¡¯re enemies, but at the very least I know you weren¡¯t an idiot, and that¡¯s why I respected you as a strong opponent. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve left your brain behind after bing someone almost on the same level as the will of the universe?¡±

    Su Jin red at Shen Wu for his sarcasm and said, ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t disappoint me, or I¡¯ll throw you into the depths of despair.¡±

    ¡°Oh wow. So scary,¡± said Shen Wu with a scoff.

    Su Jin disappeared, then reappeared in less than a second. But this time, he reappeared with Su Qing and Yuan¡¯er. Su Qing and Shen Wu immediately embraced each other.

    Su Jin suddenly felt like he was a father watching his daughter get married and leave the house without turning back. So he called out to her, ¡°Su Qing, I¡¯m giving you the right to choose. Are you certain you want to stay with Shen Wu?¡±

    Su Qing nodded and said, ¡°Jin, I¡¯m not a child anymore. This is my choice¡­ you will support me, right?¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t support your decision, I wouldn¡¯t have brought you here,¡± Su Jin sighed. He didn¡¯t know how to express what he felt now. Su Qing told him that he and her daughter were his only rtives. But that was the same for him too.

    He looked at the three of them and suddenly let out a sadugh before turning around to leave, but Su Qing suddenly grabbed hold of his hand, then hugged him and burst into tears.

    Su Jin patted his sister¡¯s head. This silly girl.

    He said quietly, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, we¡¯ll see each other again, I promise.¡±

    ¡°You never keep your promises,¡± wailed Su Qing as she cried even harder.

    Su Jin rubbed his nose awkwardly. It was a little embarrassing to be exposed like that by his own sister. He looked toward Shen Wu and said, ¡°Shen Wu¡­ remember what I told you.¡±

    ¡°Of course. If I disappoint you, you¡¯d throw me into the depths of despair. I won¡¯t forget that,¡± said Shen Wu flippantly with a shrug. Shen Wu said that he would remember, but Su Jin felt like this guy wasn¡¯t serious about it. Perhaps he ought to just kill Shen Wu and alter his sister¡¯s memories. That way, he wouldn¡¯t have to lose two of his rtives!

    Shen Wu noticed the look in Su Jin¡¯s eyes and seemed to understand what Su Jin was thinking about, so he suddenly put on a solemn expression and said, ¡°Brother-inw, don¡¯t worry! I promise to take good care of them!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s your brother-inw?!¡± yelled Su Jin in response. But then again, there was nothing he could do about that, since that was a fact now.

    He took Yuan¡¯er in his arms and wanted to touch her little face, but his rune creature body was so rough and he was afraid of hurting her.

    A sadness suddenly filled his heart. He hade to a point where it had be too difficult to even touch someone he loved. Could the daye when¡­ he became like the will of the universe and he would have to be all alone in this world?

    Su Jin shook his head and threw that scary thought out of his head. He handed Yuan¡¯er back to his sister, then looked at her as his body slowly faded away.

    After Su Jin disappeared, Su Qing was stunned for a second before she anxiously tried to grab at him, only to grab a fistful of air. Shen Wu walked over tofort her, only for her to step hard on his toes.

    Shen Wu blinked in surprise before he noticed the sad but furious look in his wife¡¯s eyes. He quickly yed along and howled, ¡°Ow! Ow! That hurt! Spare me please, wifey!¡±

    Su Qing got even angrier at his clearly insincere performance and said, ¡°My brother told me about the feud both of you had! Did you try to get close to me back then because you wanted to take revenge?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! We did have a feud, but most importantly, I ended up getting thrashed all the time and he even managed to kill me! I¡¯m the victim here!¡± Shen Wu protested.

    Su Qing red at him, ¡°My brother is not the type who would go around killing the innocent. If he tried to kill you, it only means that you deserved it. What terrible things did you do?!¡±

    Shen Wu fell silent. He tried to think about his past, which wasn¡¯t really too long ago. It was just about ten years ago. Why couldn¡¯t he remember what happened before he met Su Qing? It wasn¡¯t that long ago.

    At that moment, Su Qing leaned against Shen Wu¡¯s chest as she said in a cracked voice, ¡°Shen Wu¡­ I¡¯ve lost everything already, I can¡¯t afford to lose you too¡­¡±

    He blinked in shock, then gently caressed his wife¡¯s face as he murmured, ¡°Don¡¯t let your imagination run wild. I¡¯ll always be by your side.¡±

 Chapter 454

    Back inside the temple, Su Jin stared at the 78,000 gods before him. They ranged from the lowest tier to the highest tier, and not all of them were from the same race.

    Some of them resembled aliens, some looked like humans and some didn¡¯t quite look like humans. Some of them were long-haired swordsmen, some were buddhas who chanted Amitabh all day, some were grandmasters in white robes, some were angels with a pair of brilliant, white wings, some were giant dragons that breathed ck clouds of smoke. This was like a gathering of mythical creatures.

    But to Su Jin, the only difference between them was how much they understood and used their powers. They looked different from one another, but that didn¡¯t matter. They all belonged to one race ¨C the god race.

    All of them were murmuring among themselves because Su Jin had gathered them without telling them why, so they all felt a little nervous and uneasy.

    Once they had all gathered, Su Jin went straight to the point, ¡°All of you were once gods of Hell¡¯s Handbook, so when you had to face the will of the universe, he could kill you with just a thought. And so, I want to help everyone to change your godhood so that you will no longer be under the control of Hell¡¯s Handbook and the will of the universe. That way, you will not end up being the first ones to die when we go to war with them.¡±

    ¡°Change our godhood?¡±

    ¡°Is that even possible? It¡¯s such aplicated thing, how could he do that?¡±

    ¡°But if it¡¯s Mr. Su, I think it might be possible!¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s Mr. Su, it sounds insane!¡±An uproar immediately ensued. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t have faith in Su Jin, but that their godhood had followed some of them for thousands of years or even longer. They knew that thing like the back of their hand. At the same time, they wanted to believe that Su Jin could do it, and that¡¯s why they were merely talking among themselves and not just walking out right away.

    Su Jin knew that they would definitely have questions and doubts, so he went on, ¡°Please take a look at the godhood of this temple.¡±

    A badge of godhood floated in the air and shone brilliantly, but it didn¡¯t look any different from the one they got from Hell¡¯s Handbook.

    ¡°You can use your Spirit Power to take a look,¡± said Su Jin.

    Everyone did just that and gasps quickly filled the room. They realized that this one was definitely different from theirs. It looked the same from the outside, but the small difference was enough to save them from being under the Handbook¡¯s control.

    ¡°That¡¯s incredible. That tiny difference is enough to cut off our godhood from the Handbook!¡±

    ¡°If our godhood can be like that, we¡¯d truly be free of the Handbook and the will of the universe¡¯s control!¡±

    ¡°But is it possible for us to truly be free?¡±

    Everyone stared at Su Jin and he knew what was going through their minds. ¡°There is no such thing as total freedom in this world. I created this badge of godhood, so I know its secrets, and after changing your godhood, I¡¯ll know how to destroy you in a split second. But I¡¯m not the will of the universe. Just because I know how to doesn¡¯t mean I will do that.¡±

    Everyone fell silent, so Xu Ran couldn¡¯t help but snort, ¡°What a joke. The will of the universe didn¡¯t give you a choice back then, yet you happily signed up to be his underlings. Right now, Su Jin is telling you upfront what to expect, yet you¡¯re having doubts? If you don¡¯t want to stay here, you are free to leave. Did you really think your presence is indispensable to the temple?¡±

    Xu Ran¡¯s tone of voice was sarcastic and it made everyone look more uneasy, but they knew that he was right, and so was Su Jin. Besides, Su Jin had indeed made it very clear to them what the consequences were.

    Su Jin then stepped in, ¡°If any of you are not willing to go through this, you may leave the temple. Of course, if you want to stay here, I¡¯m good. But you are not allowed to use any of your godly powers and disrupt the operation of my temple. Is that alright with you?¡±

    Everyone fell silent again. Not being able to use their godly powers was the same as bing mere mortals again. If they were willing to give up their godly powers, they wouldn¡¯t have fought so hard to be the will of the universe¡¯s underlings back then.

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve been very honest with us right from the start, I think you¡¯ve shown us sufficient respect already. I believe that you will not treat us like animals like the will of the universe did, so I¡¯m willing to let my godhood be changed and join your temple!¡± loudly dered one of the high-tier gods. He was willing to do this.

    After he set the ball rolling, the other gods started agreeing to it as well. In reality, they didn¡¯t really have any choice. If they left this ce, the new gods would find them within days and either tear them to pieces, or imprison them and turn them into characters in a Challenge.

    But if they stayed here, they could not use their godly powers, which sounded worse than dying to them. In that case, they had no other choice. Besides, there was almost no difference between the two. Also, the will of the universe was out to ughter them while Su Jin was treating them kindly. Changing their godhood would not be of any loss to them.

    Their hesitation had stemmed from being greedy. They had hoped for an even better result. But since this was the best they could get, they had no choice but to ept it.

    Changing the godhood of 78,000 gods was no small task, but with the help of The Beginning, they managed to do this at a fairly decent pace. Su Jin was hoping to get everything done within three years.

    He worked on trying to make this project go faster while the temple continued travelling through worlds and dimensions. But it was getting harder to dodge the will of the universe. A huge number of intelligent beings had joined the search for the temple, so they were pretty much trapped inside the universe.

    Xu Ran and the rest had taken the initiative to go out and get rid of any obstacles. They were top tier gods and the first gods of the temple, so they had a tremendous advantage, often getting rid of any obstacles before the temple was discovered.

    But as time passed, it became harder and harder to do this because Hell¡¯s Handbook had stopped time. In other words, it had stopped choosing new gods and had focused all its energy on hunting down the temple.

    After two years, arge majority of the gods had their godhood changed. They thought that with the increase in the number of gods within Su Jin¡¯s temple, the situation would improve. But because the Handbook had shifted its focus to the temple, things didn¡¯t be any better. Also, more than a hundred of the Handbook¡¯s geniuses had joined the search.

    Even though the will of the universe didn¡¯t want to make use of these geniuses, he had sensed the change in the situation and felt that Su Jin was bing a bigger threat by the day. If he didn¡¯t put a stop to Su Jin quickly, the situation could get worse for him.

    ¡°O Great One, I have scattered the geniuses across several dimensions and given them Spirit Power equipment they can use to travel between worlds. But there are too few of them and I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s hard for any of them to run into that temple.¡± In a silent and barren universe that looked like it had been ravaged before, the will of the universe sat in the middle of this one, lonely that remained. The was only a few hundred kilometers in diameter. The incarnation of the Handbook was standing next to him and reporting the problem it faced very politely, but it had no emotion in its face or voice.

    The will of the universe nodded slightly and said, ¡°They are very few in number, but my n wasn¡¯t for them to run into Su Jin or his temple in the first ce. They¡¯re like a. As long as they continue moving between the worlds, they act like the corners of a fishing that we can slowly shrink over time until the temple has nowhere to go.¡±

    The Handbook immediately understood what the will of the universe was driving at. ¡°Are you going to start destroying the universe again?¡±

    ¡°Of course. The worlds shall be destroyed one by one, like pumping water out of a pond. No matter how incredible the fish and shrimp inside are, they cannot live without water. My shall shrink from above the surface of the pond, until those little fish and shrimp are all caught!¡± said the will of the universe with a smile.

    The Handbook nodded slightly as a glint flickered in its eyes. It said to the will of the universe, ¡°O Great One, destruction of the first batch of worlds has begun. A hundred worlds have begun to shrink and copse. Besides the new gods of those worlds, the number of lifeforms with any chance of escaping stand at around 3,000,000.¡±

    ¡°Make those geniuses work. Just because they¡¯re immortal doesn¡¯t mean they don¡¯t have to work,¡± said the will of the universe with a scoff. Those geniuses were indeed impressive, since they managed to rise above the limits of their biological make up on their own. But did they think the will of the universe wouldn¡¯t kill them? The will of the universe was keeping them alive only because he wanted a bunch of more powerful fighters! Who cared if they lived or died?

 Chapter

    At the temple, Su Jin¡¯s expression grew frosty because the information The Beginning had given him was simply too mortifying. Xu Ran and the rest were seated around him and they didn¡¯t know what happened yet, but they knew from Su Jin¡¯s expression that it must be bad.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened, Su Jin? Hurry up and tell us,¡± Xu Ran hurried him.

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then pointed at the floor and said, ¡°The Beginning, bring me to the world you were reporting to me about.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± responded The Beginning emotionlessly. The temple travelled through the universe and came to a different one. They had arrived just in time to watch something that seemedpletely insane.

    Within this universe,s were shattering one after another. After they shattered, the shards would fly toward a particr spot in space. Nothing on theses was spared. It was as though there was a mouth in that spot that was able to swallow anything.

    It didn¡¯t take long for everyone to notice another problem. They sensed that this universe was shrinking rapidly. The edges of this universe shrank so quickly that some of thes on the border that hadn¡¯t shattered yet were pushed to the middle.

    ¡°This¡­ the universe is copsing and shrinking!¡± Situ Jin couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. He stared at Su Jin and said, ¡°The will of the universe has started to destroy the universes again?!¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and sighed. ¡°A hundred universes have started self-destructing. The will of the universe has begun to destroy the old cycle.¡±

    ¡°What about the lifeforms within this universe?¡± asked Ye Yun.Su Jin furrowed his brows and shook his head. ¡°The moment the universe started to copse, the lifeforms within it failed to endure the huge and sudden changes, so most of them have already died. Only a very small portion of races with extremely advanced technology or those with magical powers have survived that initial stage. But most of them have also died by now.¡±

    ¡°How did that happen?¡± asked Ye Yun with a bewildered look on her face.

    ¡°It¡¯s the geniuses. Those immortal geniuses have acted like the will of the universe¡¯s sword. The will of the universe gave them the order and they started hunting down all the lifeforms that had a chance to escape destruction.¡± Su Jin had not witnessed that for himself, but the information that The Beginning gave him was very clear and filled with details, so it was no different from seeing it with his own eyes.

    Everyone fell silent. The thing they had been resisting all this time was the destruction of the old cycle. That meant that everything they knew would disappear. Their family, friends, country, and even their race. Nothing could survive the destruction of the old cycle.

    ¡°Can we stop it?¡± Situ Jin was indignant. He used to be the guardian of his nation, but if the old cycle was destroyed, his country would cease to exist.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. ¡°There¡¯s only one way. Defeat the will of the universe and the Handbook. We could possibly stop the further destruction of the old cycle, but we won¡¯t be able to bring back what they¡¯ve already destroyed.¡±

    Xu Ran and his group were furious, while the current gods on board the temple had sad looks on their faces. They had watched as their worlds were destroyed too. They were new gods from the previous cycle that had be current gods of the current cycle. But if this current cycle was being destroyed, then what would they be?

    ¡°The will of the universe is forcing us to fight him!¡± Wu Chen frowned.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and sighed. ¡°He¡¯s not destroying everything at once but doing it in batches. He¡¯s just trying to push us toward our limit. Once we can¡¯t stand it anymore, we¡¯ll eventuallye out and fight.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just hang in there for a bit. Doing anything rash now might ruin our ns. You¡¯re like a tree with roots now, so one, two, ten, a hundred ringster, you¡¯ll grow into a huge tree. When that timees, you¡¯ll be good enough to fight your enemy,¡± said Xu Ran very calmly. He knew that it was pointless to get all agitated now. Being a hero required more than sheer passion.

    Su Jin was silent for a moment. He shook his head again and said, ¡°No, this battle has to end within this cycle. I have to fight him as soon as possible. If we can save the next cycle, that would be best.¡±

    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Xiang Nan couldn¡¯t hold himself back. He shared the same sentiments as Xu Ran. Since they were able to take their time to strengthen themselves, then rushing into a battle right now would be the epitome of foolishness.

    Su Jin smiled sadly and said, ¡°I¡¯m not insane. It¡¯s just that¡­ The Beginning is not going to make it.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± That really shocked everybody. The Beginning was the foundation of the temple. If The Beginning was about to copse, then that meant the temple would copse sooner orter.

    Su Jin quickly exined himself, ¡°It¡¯s not the way you imagine. If the temple remains nothing more than our shelter outside of a, then The Beginning can continue operating as it is. But if we want to upgrade The Beginning and rely on it to fight the Handbook and the will of the universe, then that¡¯s impossible. The Beginning has already reached its limits.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± asked Ye Yun.

    Su Jin exined, ¡°The Beginning is like a copy of Hell¡¯s Handbook¡­ but the ones who created it were not primordial deities. The reason why it¡¯s been able to keep going until now is because Mai gave herself up to be its core, thereby filling in the many gaps it had. But Mai¡¯s efforts are not sufficient to make The Beginning match up to Hell¡¯s Handbook.¡±

    The gods of the first cycle had built The Beginning, but they had been unable to activate it despite the countless cycles they had gone through. If Kano Mai had not sacrificed herself at that time, The Beginning would still be a pile of trash.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t that the intelligent lifeforms over the countless cycles were no match for the primordial deities, but they had been given too little time. The will of the universe had clearly ensured that no cyclested too long, so that no cycle would be long enough to allow a race on par with the primordial deities to emerge. The cycles were too short for anybody to even have potential.

    The primordial deities were the first race to develop extremely intelligent lifeforms within the very first universe. They started their very own advanced civilization even before the will of the universe was born. While nobody knew how long they had existed before then, they had definitely been around way longer than one cycle.

    ¡°What do we do now? If we fight them now, will you have any chance of winning?¡± asked Su Yunshan.

    Su Jin shook his head and let out a bitterugh. ¡°Any chance of winning? We had no chance right from the start. I¡¯ve never seen any spark of hope. Like the saying goes, I¡¯m just a roach trying to stop a car from moving forward.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯ve never given up!¡± added Su Yunshui.

    Su Jin chuckled and murmured, ¡°Give up? How could I give up? When the Mad Hatter died, I could have given up. But when my parents died, could I have given up? And when the Demon Lord died? Could I have given up? If the dayes when each of you die before my very eyes¡­ do you think I can give up?¡±

    There was no way for him to retreat now. Su Jin never had any grand dreams in the first ce. All he wanted was for the people he loved to remain by his side. If the will of the universe wanted to ruin that for him, then the only thing he could do was to fight back. Could he win? His opinion was to fight first and talk about thatter!

    The temple left the universe before it waspletely destroyed and traveled to a universe that hadn¡¯t begun to self-destruct. Su Jin dismissed the group and sat in front of The Beginning by himself.

    ¡°Mai, I want to ask you¡­ what sort of suggestions would you give me?¡± murmured Su Jin before suddenly breaking into a smile. ¡°You¡¯ve always trusted me so much, so I suppose you would just tell me to fight on.¡±

    He got up and looked into the distance. ¡°Since you want a fight, I¡¯ll fight you. But I don¡¯t like it when others try to take control of the situation. I¡¯m going to muddy the waters!¡±

    On that same day, Su Jin released all the rune creatures he had. Their mission was simple. They had to go out there and find a soul for themselves. Su Jin allowed the creatures to enter the universes that were being destroyed and search for the soul that felt the most emotional. The rune creature would be that soul¡¯s body, thus giving the rune creature a soul as well.

    Thest ones to die when the universe was copsing would definitely be the best of the lifeforms from that universe. They would be very suitable souls for these rune creatures.

    Within a month, all 36,000 rune creatures under Su Jin returned. This time, Su Jin did not allow them to engage in battle. They were just to find a soul and absorb it, so none of them were injured.

    After all 36,000 creatures had returned, Su Jin came to them and said, ¡°Everyone, I have given you new life.¡±

    The rune creatures did not respond. They weren¡¯t sure who they were right now. Were they a rune creature, or the elites of their universe that died, or abination of the two?

    ¡°I know you¡¯re rather confused right now. You are not rune creatures, neither are you those elites who have passed on. You are now The Beginning¡¯s Deities! The strongest fighters of my temple!¡± dered Su Jin.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 455

    Chapter 455

    At the temple, Su Jin¡¯s expression grew frosty because the information The Beginning had given him was simply too mortifying. Xu Ran and the rest were seated around him and they didn¡¯t know what happened yet, but they knew from Su Jin¡¯s expression that it must be bad.

    ¡°What¡¯s happened, Su Jin? Hurry up and tell us,¡± Xu Ran hurried him.

    Su Jin nodded slightly, then pointed at the floor and said, ¡°The Beginning, bring me to the world you were reporting to me about.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± responded The Beginning emotionlessly. The temple travelled through the universe and came to a different one. They had arrived just in time to watch something that seemedpletely insane.

    Within this universe,s were shattering one after another. After they shattered, the shards would fly toward a particr spot in space. Nothing on theses was spared. It was as though there was a mouth in that spot that was able to swallow anything.

    It didn¡¯t take long for everyone to notice another problem. They sensed that this universe was shrinking rapidly. The edges of this universe shrank so quickly that some of thes on the border that hadn¡¯t shattered yet were pushed to the middle.

    ¡°This¡­ the universe is copsing and shrinking!¡± Situ Jin couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. He stared at Su Jin and said, ¡°The will of the universe has started to destroy the universes again?!¡±

    Su Jin nodded slightly and sighed. ¡°A hundred universes have started self-destructing. The will of the universe has begun to destroy the old cycle.¡±

    ¡°What about the lifeforms within this universe?¡± asked Ye Yun.Su Jin furrowed his brows and shook his head. ¡°The moment the universe started to copse, the lifeforms within it failed to endure the huge and sudden changes, so most of them have already died. Only a very small portion of races with extremely advanced technology or those with magical powers have survived that initial stage. But most of them have also died by now.¡±

    ¡°How did that happen?¡± asked Ye Yun with a bewildered look on her face.

    ¡°It¡¯s the geniuses. Those immortal geniuses have acted like the will of the universe¡¯s sword. The will of the universe gave them the order and they started hunting down all the lifeforms that had a chance to escape destruction.¡± Su Jin had not witnessed that for himself, but the information that The Beginning gave him was very clear and filled with details, so it was no different from seeing it with his own eyes.

    Everyone fell silent. The thing they had been resisting all this time was the destruction of the old cycle. That meant that everything they knew would disappear. Their family, friends, country, and even their race. Nothing could survive the destruction of the old cycle.

    ¡°Can we stop it?¡± Situ Jin was indignant. He used to be the guardian of his nation, but if the old cycle was destroyed, his country would cease to exist.

    Su Jin hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. ¡°There¡¯s only one way. Defeat the will of the universe and the Handbook. We could possibly stop the further destruction of the old cycle, but we won¡¯t be able to bring back what they¡¯ve already destroyed.¡±

    Xu Ran and his group were furious, while the current gods on board the temple had sad looks on their faces. They had watched as their worlds were destroyed too. They were new gods from the previous cycle that had be current gods of the current cycle. But if this current cycle was being destroyed, then what would they be?

    ¡°The will of the universe is forcing us to fight him!¡± Wu Chen frowned.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and sighed. ¡°He¡¯s not destroying everything at once but doing it in batches. He¡¯s just trying to push us toward our limit. Once we can¡¯t stand it anymore, we¡¯ll eventuallye out and fight.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just hang in there for a bit. Doing anything rash now might ruin our ns. You¡¯re like a tree with roots now, so one, two, ten, a hundred ringster, you¡¯ll grow into a huge tree. When that timees, you¡¯ll be good enough to fight your enemy,¡± said Xu Ran very calmly. He knew that it was pointless to get all agitated now. Being a hero required more than sheer passion.

    Su Jin was silent for a moment. He shook his head again and said, ¡°No, this battle has to end within this cycle. I have to fight him as soon as possible. If we can save the next cycle, that would be best.¡±

    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Xiang Nan couldn¡¯t hold himself back. He shared the same sentiments as Xu Ran. Since they were able to take their time to strengthen themselves, then rushing into a battle right now would be the epitome of foolishness.

    Su Jin smiled sadly and said, ¡°I¡¯m not insane. It¡¯s just that¡­ The Beginning is not going to make it.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± That really shocked everybody. The Beginning was the foundation of the temple. If The Beginning was about to copse, then that meant the temple would copse sooner orter.

    Su Jin quickly exined himself, ¡°It¡¯s not the way you imagine. If the temple remains nothing more than our shelter outside of a, then The Beginning can continue operating as it is. But if we want to upgrade The Beginning and rely on it to fight the Handbook and the will of the universe, then that¡¯s impossible. The Beginning has already reached its limits.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± asked Ye Yun.

    Su Jin exined, ¡°The Beginning is like a copy of Hell¡¯s Handbook¡­ but the ones who created it were not primordial deities. The reason why it¡¯s been able to keep going until now is because Mai gave herself up to be its core, thereby filling in the many gaps it had. But Mai¡¯s efforts are not sufficient to make The Beginning match up to Hell¡¯s Handbook.¡±

    The gods of the first cycle had built The Beginning, but they had been unable to activate it despite the countless cycles they had gone through. If Kano Mai had not sacrificed herself at that time, The Beginning would still be a pile of trash.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t that the intelligent lifeforms over the countless cycles were no match for the primordial deities, but they had been given too little time. The will of the universe had clearly ensured that no cyclested too long, so that no cycle would be long enough to allow a race on par with the primordial deities to emerge. The cycles were too short for anybody to even have potential.

    The primordial deities were the first race to develop extremely intelligent lifeforms within the very first universe. They started their very own advanced civilization even before the will of the universe was born. While nobody knew how long they had existed before then, they had definitely been around way longer than one cycle.

    ¡°What do we do now? If we fight them now, will you have any chance of winning?¡± asked Su Yunshan.

    Su Jin shook his head and let out a bitterugh. ¡°Any chance of winning? We had no chance right from the start. I¡¯ve never seen any spark of hope. Like the saying goes, I¡¯m just a roach trying to stop a car from moving forward.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯ve never given up!¡± added Su Yunshui.

    Su Jin chuckled and murmured, ¡°Give up? How could I give up? When the Mad Hatter died, I could have given up. But when my parents died, could I have given up? And when the Demon Lord died? Could I have given up? If the dayes when each of you die before my very eyes¡­ do you think I can give up?¡±

    There was no way for him to retreat now. Su Jin never had any grand dreams in the first ce. All he wanted was for the people he loved to remain by his side. If the will of the universe wanted to ruin that for him, then the only thing he could do was to fight back. Could he win? His opinion was to fight first and talk about thatter!

    The temple left the universe before it waspletely destroyed and traveled to a universe that hadn¡¯t begun to self-destruct. Su Jin dismissed the group and sat in front of The Beginning by himself.

    ¡°Mai, I want to ask you¡­ what sort of suggestions would you give me?¡± murmured Su Jin before suddenly breaking into a smile. ¡°You¡¯ve always trusted me so much, so I suppose you would just tell me to fight on.¡±

    He got up and looked into the distance. ¡°Since you want a fight, I¡¯ll fight you. But I don¡¯t like it when others try to take control of the situation. I¡¯m going to muddy the waters!¡±

    On that same day, Su Jin released all the rune creatures he had. Their mission was simple. They had to go out there and find a soul for themselves. Su Jin allowed the creatures to enter the universes that were being destroyed and search for the soul that felt the most emotional. The rune creature would be that soul¡¯s body, thus giving the rune creature a soul as well.

    Thest ones to die when the universe was copsing would definitely be the best of the lifeforms from that universe. They would be very suitable souls for these rune creatures.

    Within a month, all 36,000 rune creatures under Su Jin returned. This time, Su Jin did not allow them to engage in battle. They were just to find a soul and absorb it, so none of them were injured.

    After all 36,000 creatures had returned, Su Jin came to them and said, ¡°Everyone, I have given you new life.¡±

    The rune creatures did not respond. They weren¡¯t sure who they were right now. Were they a rune creature, or the elites of their universe that died, or abination of the two?

    ¡°I know you¡¯re rather confused right now. You are not rune creatures, neither are you those elites who have passed on. You are now The Beginning¡¯s Deities! The strongest fighters of my temple!¡± dered Su Jin.

 Chapter 456

    Chapter 456

    The Beginning¡¯s Deities ¨C that was the name Su Jin gave them. The Beginning, with Kano Mai as its core, used its incredible calction abilities and created a race that could defy the rules of the universe. They were truly deities.

    ¡°I¡¯m furious! I still remember what happened and I want to take revenge!¡± roared one of the Deities. Their souls hade from the universes that had been destroyed, so even though they couldn¡¯t remember most of their life anymore, the hatred within them did not go away.

    ¡°Revenge!¡±

    ¡°I remember how my family was torn to pieces! They were helpless to do anything!¡±

    ¡°The sky turned ck as everything burned to ashes! I won¡¯t take that lying down!¡±

    One by one, the Deities shouted with anger in their voices. This was also why Su Jin wanted to reap these souls from the universes that had been destroyed. He didn¡¯t have to motivate them since they already possessed this level of anger and hatred within them.

    ¡°The war is about to begin. I need all of you to be familiar with your new bodies and work on them, then wash away your anger during the fight!¡± said Su Jin loudly. These Deities required some days to adapt to their current situation before he began his war officially.

    Three days was enough for the Deities to get themselves prepared. Meanwhile, Su Jin left the temple and got the Beginning to inform everyone that the war was going to begin in three days. Whether they lived or died would depend on this fight.

    Boom!A wall in space suddenly exploded. This was where the will of the universe was currently resting. Su Jin had arrived to tell him when he wanted to fight.

    ¡°Are you finally ready? I thought you intended to just keep running from me.¡± The will of the universe red icily at Su Jin, even though there was also a tiny smirk on his face.

    ¡°We have to fight sooner orter, so it¡¯s meaningless to drag this on any further. Three dayster, we fight!¡± shouted Su Jin.

    The will of the universe agreed with what he said. He replied in a grave voice, ¡°Three dayster, we fight!¡±

    With that, Su Jin turned and left. The will of the universe did not bother to stop him. They already agreed to a fight in three days, so there was no point in attacking Su Jin now.

    After Su Jin left, Shen Wu appeared next to the will of the universe and asked, ¡°If a fight really breaks out, how confident are you of winning, O Great One?¡±

    ¡°How confident am I? Would you believe me if I said ten out of ten?¡± The will of the universe gave him a strange smile, then disappeared.

    Shen Wu remained silent and went home. He looked at his wife and daughter with a rare glimmer of gentleness in his eyes, then called Su Qing over. He said to her very quietly, ¡°In three days, an inevitable war will break out. Regardless of how it ends, nothing will happen to you or Yuan¡¯er. But¡­ if something bad happens to me, you must not, no matter what, you must not take revenge.¡±

    Su Qing trembled all over and asked anxiously, ¡°My brother is¡­ about to go to war with the will of the universe?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Shen Wu nodded slightly.

    Su Qing became even more anxious. ¡°Hubby, why don¡¯t you join my brother¡¯s side? I don¡¯t want to end up watching both of you try to kill each other. You¡¯re both the people I love the most!¡±

    Shen Wu smiled sadly and shook his head. ¡°Your brother and I love you the most too, and that¡¯s precisely why we must not join hands. We have to make sure that regardless of which side wins, you and Yuan¡¯er will live well in the future.¡±

    Su Qing suddenly felt like she was a huge burden to them and couldn¡¯t stop crying. Shen Wu wiped her tears away and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry. In this life, the thing I love most is to see you smile, and the thing I¡¯m most afraid of is to see you cry!¡±

    ¡°What about your next life? You¡¯re already abandoning me and your daughter in this life, so I suppose we won¡¯t see you again in our next life?¡± said Su Qing through her tears as she bit her lip hard.

    Shen Wu went into a daze momentarily, then said, ¡°In my next life¡­ actually, I¡¯m already living my next life.¡±<hr>The temple stopped travelling through space and parked itself prominently in the middle of a vast universe. The Beginning took on the form of Kano Mai and stood respectfully by Su Jin¡¯s side.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you to fight Hell¡¯s Handbook during this war,¡± Su Jin said to The Beginning.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± responded The Beginning in its fairylike voice. It was nowhere as lovely as Kano Mai¡¯s voice to Su Jin, even though they were supposed to be the same voice.

    Ye Yun and the rest had also gathered around Su Jin. Xu Ran asked with a puzzled look on his face, ¡°Why are you splitting everyone up? The rune creatures are our best weapons against the new gods, but you¡¯re not bringing them with you? Why?¡±

    ¡°Because I won¡¯t have any use for them,¡± Su Jin grinned. He scratched his head and said, ¡°Saying this might hurt your self-esteem, but you guys are really not good enough for the fight between the most powerful in this war. The rune creatures are not good enough, and neither are our opponent¡¯s army of new gods.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re so brutally honest,¡± said Wu Chen with augh.

    Su Jin put on a serious face and said, ¡°But that¡¯s not to say that you guys are useless. I¡¯m splitting this war into three. The gods will fight the gods, the system will fight the system, and then us!¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to exin thatst one. Everyone knew he was referring to himself and the will of the universe. Both of them existed at the highest point of this world, above every other living creature. If Su Jin was willing to lower himself, he could be the will of the universe¡¯s second inmand, a position even higher than the Handbook. Yet, he still chose to rebel.

    Su Jin went on, ¡°So, for the fight between The Beginning and the Handbook, The Beginning has a high chance of losing, since its not as perfect as the Handbook and nowhere as experienced as the Handbook, so I¡¯m not cing my hopes on it. I just need it to stall the Handbook for time.¡±

    ¡°As for the battle between the gods¡­ I hope you guys will be able to win the fight,¡± said Su Jin with an awkward smile on his face. ¡°I know I¡¯m asking a lot from all of you.¡±

    ¡°You are,¡± Chu Yi nodded. He was not getting upset with Su Jin, but he was very clear about the situation right now. The temple still had thousands of gods whose godhood had not been fully converted, so they wouldn¡¯t have enough people to fight the tens of thousands of new gods on the opposing side. Even if they threw in the Deities, their chances of winning were still pretty low.

    ¡°But I still have to count on you guys,¡± Su Jin slumped his shoulders.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, leave it to us!¡± Wu Chen patted Su Jin on the shoulders. He nced at Su Jin and said, ¡°Then about your battle with the will of the universe¡­¡±

    ¡°I will uh, do my best,¡± said Su Jin as he scratched his head awkwardly.

    Everyone burst outughing. Was this guy reliable or not?! But even though he spoke so unconvincingly, nobody felt uneasy. They had managed to live well and protected thanks to the path that Su Jin had built for them, so now, they too, wanted to protect him.

    Three days passed in a sh. For someone who had gone through countless cycles like the will of the universe, three days was practically one second to him.

    The temple rushed toward the empty universe where the will of the universe was. He had been waiting for them. But he was a little surprised when he sensed Su Jin approaching him.

    ¡°Just you alone? The rest of yourpanions¡­ they¡¯ve gone to deal with my new gods?¡± The will of the universe was not stupid, and the Handbook gave him information about what was going on out there at all times.

    ¡°Just us is good enough, right?¡± said Su Jin.

    The will of the universe nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Just us is good enough!¡±

    ¡°Go on, The Beginning!¡± Su Jin patted The Beginning and it turned into a beam of light as it broke through the spatial wall and disappeared.

    ¡°You too, Hell¡¯s Handbook!¡± The will of the universe also gave the incarnation of the Handbook a nod and the Handbook ran after The Beginning and disappeared.

    ¡°One on one fight, eh? You¡¯re a bold one,¡± the will of the universe couldn¡¯t help butpliment Su Jin. He had seen the rise and fall of so many cycles and met so many characters. Some of them were truly inspirational, some of them did sincerely impressive things, and some shone brightly among the rest.

    But even if you added all those people up, the will of the universe felt that they were still no match for the man standing before him. Their battle was definitely going to go down the history books as the most epic battle of all time!

    Whoosh!

    The will of the universeunched an attack first. It wasn¡¯t colorful at all, but a stream of ck and white smoke that turned into huge dragons that made their way straight for Su Jin. The two dragons were like the dragons of all dragons, aggressive and unstoppable.

    ¡°Away!¡± yelled Su Jin as colorful beams of light shot out from his body, turning into tiny lotus flowers that became a wall between the monochrome dragons and Su Jin. No matter how they roared, they simply couldn¡¯t get past this wall of tiny lotus flowers. On the contrary, each time they tried to charge past the wall, they would lose some scales. They looked so pathetic.

    ¡°You call this power of yours maniacal power, huh. That¡¯s a good name,¡± said the will of the universe with a smile.

    Su Jin nodded slightly and smiled back. ¡°Of course. After all, only a maniac would try to rebel against you!¡±

    ¡°You must know that anybody who has tried to rebel against me, regardless of whether they¡¯re humans or ghosts, immortals or gods, have all met their deaths. I hope you realize whom you¡¯re fighting against!¡±

 Chapter 457

    Chapter 457

    ¡°I know, of course I know!¡± said Su Jin as he used both hands to grab hold of the ck and white dragonsing at him and extinguished them. He smiled at the will of the universe and said, ¡°The will of the universe? How could this withered world have any will or a king over it? That just sounds childish.¡±

    The will of the universe was a little surprised when he saw Su Jin¡¯s expression and said, ¡°Looks like¡­ you¡¯ve managed to guess who I really am. You are indeed someone on this path!¡±

    Su Jin tookrge strides toward the will of the universe and the boning knife suddenly appeared in his hand. He sliced through the air, causing the few hundreds the will of the universe was standing on to shatter.

    The will of the universe leaped away and dodged the slice. He red straight at Su Jin and said, ¡°Since you¡¯ve managed to guess my real identity, then were you also able to guess¡­ my final motive?¡±

    Su Jin continued shing away as he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve made a few guesses but I¡¯m not entirely sure.¡±

    ¡°Tell me what you¡¯ve guessed so far and I¡¯ll tell you what I can.¡± The will of the universe smiled as he casually fought off each of Su Jin¡¯s attacks, like a friendly senior helping his junior to practice his martial arts moves.

    ¡°Firstly, you¡¯re not the will of the universe at all. Like I said earlier, this universe is all withered and it¡¯s gone through the same thing over and over again. How could something like that have any will of its own? You are merely someone like me, an insurgent! Except that you¡¯re the first insurgent, one who¡¯se before me!¡± shouted Su Jin.

    The will of the universe gave a pleased nod and said merrily, ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it right! I¡¯m so d! I¡¯m so d to have met you!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ I¡¯m not sure if meeting me is a good thing or not.¡± Su Jin stabbed the boning knife into the body of the will of the universe like it was a spear, but it didn¡¯t damage his opponent¡¯s body at all.¡°Get me a knife!¡± Su Jin wasn¡¯t surprised by that and yelled for a knife. The quiet and empty universe was suddenly filled with sparkles that came together to form a knife which flew into Su Jin¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Taking from the rules of the universe! Good job!¡± The will of the universe gave him a pleased nod. This was something that only he used to be able to do. Being able to get anything you wanted by just saying the word was a sign that you were able to bend the universe¡¯s rules, to exist outside the rules of the universe. This man was now on the same path as himself, except that Su Jin had just arrived at the starting line, while he had been running down this track several times all by himself.

    Su Jin¡¯s knife grew sharper and the universe gave him more and more knives. Everything, visible and invisible, became knives. Every star was a knife. Such an attack would have made it hard for anyone to escape unscathed.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you fighting back? You think you can really defeat me for sure?¡± shouted Su Jin.

    The will of the universe nodded. He too, stretched an arm out and yelled, ¡°Give me a sword!¡±

    With thatmand, instead of the starsing together, ck smoke came together and solidified into a long sword. The sword¡¯s temperature was chilling, as though it had gathered the dark side of all creation.

    One¡¯s knife was bright white, the other¡¯s sword was ck, like the symbol for Daoism. But Su Jin supported life, while the will of the universe supported destruction.

    Everything the sword touched turned to nothing, creating a chasm in the universe. There was nothing inside that chasm, and you couldn¡¯t even fill it with space. It was a forbidden zone for all living things.

    Su Jin¡¯s knife was at work too. It sparkled brilliantly like fireworks, giving life to everything it touched. It seemed like it was trying to give life energy to this once withered universe again.

    ¡°Life and destruction has already been decided! Nothing will live without me! Su Jin, the battle hasn¡¯t even started and you¡¯ve already lost!¡± The will of the universeughed merrily with a gleeful look in his eyes.

    ¡°How could life and destruction be already decided? As long as I¡¯m around, anything could change! You¡¯ve been way too disdainful of life! You¡¯ve been controlling this universe and calling the shots, you¡¯ve used Hell¡¯s Handbook to create the rules; you¡¯ve decided when universes will be created and when they will be destroyed, you¡¯ve been standing in a high and mighty position while you decide the path that all lifeforms shall take. You really think you¡¯re the universe itself!¡± said Su Jin.

    The will of the universe burst outughing, ¡°HAHA! Is that true? Is it? From the day I rose above the limits of mortals, I knew that if nobody made ns and gave rules to this universe, it would eventually be utterly destroyed. All of you think I¡¯m the bad guy who kills all life, who destroys worlds as though everything is just a toy to me. But Su Jin, of all people, you would know that if I had not been watching over the world and making necessary adjustments along the way, the world would be like a neglected nt! The entire tree would be uprooted! It would die!¡±

    The will of the universe sounded as though it was justified, as though he had truly been misunderstood, that everything he had done was merely for the betterment of the world. He continued in a loud voice, ¡°At that moment, I realized that all the branch worlds were in chaos and they were sucking energy from the root world. And these branches were not under any control, so they would eventually suck the main worldpletely dry. Once that happened, the root world would die and the rest would eventually die since their source of energy was no longer able to supply them with anything. When that happens¡­ you tell me if I¡¯m the good guy or the bad guy!¡±

    ¡°If that were really the case, why did you bother killing one insurgent after another? If all of this was for the good of the world, nobody who reached this stage in life would try to go against you! You¡¯re trying to hide something!¡± said Su Jin.

    The will of the universe possessed the same face as Su Jin, but his expression was now one of mocking. He brandished his sword and said, ¡°What do you know? Having ambition is noble, but it is also dangerous! When too many strong and ambitious people are gathered, the chances of chaos or idents increase! I was trying to y safe!¡±

    ¡°What a wonderful way of putting it! Having ambition is noble but dangerous? You think you¡¯re noble, but it seems you refuse to see how dangerous you are to everything else in the universe!¡± Su Jin sliced through the air with his sparkling knife to meet with the will of the universe¡¯s sword.

    The way they took turns to make a move and counter the other didn¡¯t look like a fight to the very death at all. They looked more like they were having a friendly match and neither was better than the other.

    ¡°Humph! Su Jin, you¡¯re too full of yourself! The universe requires someone to n for it! I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve gone too far in calling myself the will of the universe. Besides, have you ever thought about what happens even if you win today? So what if you¡¯re in charge? What could you do? The branch worlds are sucking all the life out from the main world! Everything is about to dry up and wither! What should you do?¡± asked the will of the universe.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do about that! But I have one question: What¡¯s the meaning of this universe¡¯s existence? What¡¯s the greatest thing in this world? Of course, that¡¯s provided you don¡¯t say that you are the greatest!¡±

    The will of the universe immediately replied, ¡°Life and thought!¡±

    Su Jin nodded. If the will of the universe didn¡¯t even know the answer to this question, then he really wasn¡¯t worthy of being in control of the universe for so long. Su Jin went on, ¡°Since the meaning of the universe is life, then in order to preserve the universe, you end up killing all life? That sounds like the wrong way round!¡±

    ¡°After killing all life, new life is created. The cycle keeps going!¡± dered the will of the universe proudly.

    Su Jin let out a maniacalugh, ¡°HAHAHA! I¡¯m going to dieughing at this rate! Controlling the rules doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re its will! The lifeforms you¡¯ve created aren¡¯t life at all! They¡¯re just like chickens and ducks in a cage, cattle and horses in the barn. You¡¯re just repeating what life used to look like and you consider that having a will? Having life?¡±

    The will of the universe glinted nastily at Su Jin, but he brandished his sword more slowly now. He red at Su Jin sinisterly and said, ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question. If you were in my position, what would you do?¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be up to me,¡± Su Jin shook his head.

    The will of the universe was confused for a moment before he realized what Su Jin was saying. ¡°You mean¡­ you¡¯ll never take my position?¡±

    ¡°Never!¡± Su Jin nodded without hesitation.

    It was the will of the universe¡¯s turn to let out a maniacalugh, as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. He pointed his sword at Su Jin and said, ¡°That¡¯s bullshit! If that were true¡­ then why are you dueling me today? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you agreed to what I asked of you before this? Wouldn¡¯t it be better if you just became my right hand man? You have no wish to take my ce? What a joke!¡±

    Su Jin shook his head. There was a bright glint in his eyes as he said gravely, ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. All I want to do is¡­ open the doors of the cages. After that, the lifeforms of each world can decide what they want to do!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! It¡¯s impossible for everyone to be of the same mind! This will only bring about chaos and destruction! Your way of thinking is merely idealistic!¡± shouted the will of the universe.

    Su Jin stared at his opponent with puzzlement and frowned. ¡°Has war and destruction disappeared under your control?¡±

    The will of the universe didn¡¯t expect that question. He paused for a moment before saying, ¡°At least it¡¯s within my control!¡±

    ¡°Your idea of being in control is that¡­ when things go out of hand, you¡¯ll destroy it and start over?¡± said Su Jin with a snort.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 458

    ¡°Utter foolishness!¡± spat the will of the universe in disdain. He pointed at Su Jin and a sword flew through Su Jin¡¯s body. Su Jin also swung his knife and lopped one arm off his opponent.

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ very weak!¡± Su Jin looked slightly puzzled. The will of the universe had not been as difficult to handle as he had thought and actually seemed a little weak. The will of the universe couldn¡¯t be raising the white g now.

    The will of the universe¡¯s eyes glowed brightly as he bellowed, ¡°Weak?! How dare someone like you judge how strong or weak I am!¡± Thousands of swords came hurtling from all directions and pierced through Su Jin.

    Su Jin¡¯s body was practically shattered to pieces, but the colorful aura quickly helped him to recover. His eyes burned like fire as he said with greater certainty, ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re very weak. What¡¯s going on? Your powers are destructive, but they don¡¯tst long and disappearpletely in no time. Also, your body is recuperating very slowly.¡±

    Su Jin was very sure of this. The arm that he had lopped off the will of the universe only recovered after several seconds had passed. While that was impossibly fast for ordinary lifeforms, for the first person in the world to rise above the limits of his mortality, that was awfully slow.

    The will of the universe seemed riled up by this and started attacking more quickly now. But the quicker his attacks, the more Su Jin was certain that he was really weak now.

    ¡°I¡¯m right, you¡¯re very weak, like¡­ someone about to reach the end of their life! I should have thought of that!¡± A realization hit Su Jin. He had thought of the will of the universe as an incarnation of the universe itself initially, but after that, he became certain that this person was not the actual universe but someone like himself. He was nothing more than an ordinary lifeform like himself. It had failed to cross his mind that if this guy was just an ordinary lifeform, it meant that his life still had some limits.

    The will of the universe glowered at Su Jin and even ceased his attacks. He scoffed and said, ¡°That¡¯s right! Life has to eventuallye to an end, right? But there are ways to prolong one¡¯s life!¡±

    Su Jin blinked in shock as countless thoughts shed in his mind and he quickly grasped the most important one. He murmured, ¡°Damn it¡­ you killed every insurgent of each cycle not to get rid of thepetition, but¡­ to absorb them!¡±¡°That¡¯s right. Only a simr soul can be of use to me. I need insurgents like myself,¡± the will of the universe came clean.

    Su Jin immediately added, ¡°But¡­ you didn¡¯t absorb me immediately. Let me guess: Gobbling up the souls of insurgents is already of very little use to you at this stage. You need a new way to do this. You need an insurgent that¡¯s almost at your level. That¡¯s why you held back and did not kill me even though you had so many chances to do so. You needed me to develop further.¡±

    ¡°Clever boy!¡± The will of the universe smiled and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. My soul is too old, so even the souls of ordinary insurgents are not enough to keep it going. Also, insurgents don¡¯t appear every cycle, so I nearly died a few times waiting for one to appear. That¡¯s why I need a new method!¡±

    ¡°What method is that?¡± asked Su Jin.

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out, just not right now!¡± The will of the universe was very gleeful as he said, ¡°Once Hell¡¯s Handbook defeats The Beginning and everything¡¯s about toe to an end, I will tell you everything!¡±

    ¡°Once Hell¡¯s Handbook defeats The Beginning?¡± Su Jinughed and shook his head. ¡°Not so easy!¡±

    ¡°Humph! I¡¯d admit that The Beginning is a very outstanding system, but Hell¡¯s Handbook has evolved tremendously over time, so The Beginning is definitely no match for it. If you were hoping that The Beginning would defeat Hell¡¯s Handbook, then¡­ I can only say that you¡¯re a little stupid!¡± said the will of the universe with a smile. But he didn¡¯t smile for long before a stunned expression took over.

    ¡°Damn it¡­ what have you done?!¡± roared the will of the universe. He could sense that the Handbook had been severely injured and even the connection between them was getting hazy.

    Su Jin shrugged and said, ¡°Of course I know The Beginning is no match for Hell¡¯s Handbook. That¡¯s why I provided it with some help!¡±

    ¡°Help? You mean those rune creatures? Or those pitiful idiots who betrayed me?¡± The will of the universe frowned and said, ¡°But even if they joined the battle, they wouldn¡¯t be any match for the Handbook.¡±

    ¡°Then what if I say I¡¯m not trying to attack the incarnation of the Handbook but its actual body?¡± said Su Jin.

    The will of the universe was stunned for a second, but he quickly shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s even more impossible. No lifeforms cane near the Handbook¡¯s actual body unless I allow them to, or if they¡¯re my gods. But while my gods cane near to the Handbook¡¯s actual body, they cannot touch it, never mind attack it. Unless¡­¡±

    ¡°Yup! Out of those current gods that I saved, I converted the godhood of some of them, but not all. Those remaining ones are working together with The Beginning¡¯s Deities. The current gods helped to locate the Handbook¡¯s actual body, while the Deitiesunch the attack. Working together is always the best way forward!¡± said Su Jin calmly.

    The will of the universe looked rather upset. He could sense that the incarnation of the Handbook was losing to the incarnation of The Beginning. And he believed that as long as the Handbook could iste some energy, it would be able to defeat the Deities. But any excess energy the Handbook had was used to fight The Beginning. Without that, it would not be able to defeat The Beginning.

    ¡°Even if you have the upper hand when ites to the systems, as long as my gods kill your fake gods, then I will have an additional source of fighters that could kill off those things getting in the way of the Handbook,¡± said the will of the universe in an icy voice.

    But Su Jinughed. ¡°Is that so? The current gods betrayed you, and you think¡­ the new gods wouldn¡¯t?¡±

    The will of the universe¡¯s expression darkened further. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve got to settle this once and for all right here.¡±

    ¡°That is¡­ correct,¡± Su Jin nodded.

    They stopped talking and the shing of the sword and knife filled the universe once more. Everything within the universe had already beenpletely destroyed and even the space remaining was notplete. The power from the two insurgents was simply too much for it. ?

    The fight went on and on for a long time, and they couldn¡¯t even keep track anymore. Suddenly, a hole appeared in the remaining space and an iciness instantly surrounded them.

    ¡°Shen Wu!¡± Su Jin red at the person who had just arrived. This man had actually chosen such a time tounch a sneak attack!

    ¡°Good timing!¡± The will of the universe gave him a pleased nod. Shen Wu stood in front of Su Jin all dressed in white.

    ¡°You think I wouldn¡¯t dare to kill you?¡± asked Su Jin.

    Shen Wu shook his head with a sigh. Heughed bitterly and said, ¡°To ensure a safe and secure future for the twodies, I¡¯ve got to make some sacrifices. But it sucks to die at the hands of the same person twice!¡±

    Su Jin sighed as well before he raised his knife. Suddenly, the space around them shook again as Ye Yun, Wu Chen, Bo Ya, Chu Yi, and Situ Jin arrived as well.

 Chapter 459

    The members of Team Boning Knife had suddenly appeared, which really shocked Su Jin. These were people who did not have the ability to travel across universes independently, never minde to where he and the will of the universe were.

    ¡°You¡¯re behind this!¡± Su Jin stared at the will of the universe. If Ye Yun and the rest weren¡¯t able toe here on their own ord and he hadn¡¯t made them appear, then the only person who could have done this was the will of the universe.

    ¡°I¡¯m letting you see your friends and family onest time before you die, isn¡¯t that very kind of me?¡± The will of the universe cackled as he made a grab for Wu Chen. Wu Chen could not fight back and went flying toward the will of the universe.

    ¡°Humph!¡± Su Jin scoffed as he swiftly moved to where Wu Chen was and caught him. But Bo Ya started flying too, so Su Jin had to fly over and catch her too.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see how many you can catch!¡± said the will of the universe frostily as he aimed for Ye Yun next.

    Su Jin quickly stopped Ye Yun from flying further with his body. Then he looked at the will of the universe and snapped, ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being very childish by fighting this way?¡±

    ¡°Am I?¡± said the will of the universe before cackling loudly.

    Just then, Ye Yun, Wu Chen, and Bo Ya unleashed their most aggressive attack. Bo Ya¡¯s attack pierced right through Su Jin¡¯s throat.

    Wu Chen¡¯s attack struck Su Jin¡¯s head, while Ye Yun¡¯s went through Su Jin¡¯s heart. All three attacks were fierce and aimed at areas that could kill Su Jin immediately.Su Jin stared at them in disbelief as he took great effort to push them away before retreating a few hundred meters. He panted heavily in horror. Their attacks had nearly killed him.

    ¡°HAHA¡­ I can¡¯t believe you dared to keep the people I revived by your side. I¡¯m not sure if I should call you brave or stupid!¡± The will of the universe cackled some more, then said in a sinister voice, ¡°Our ability to recuperate is incredible only because we¡¯re prepared for attacks. It might look very severe, but the attack might not have even hurt our cells. There are only two ways for us to get hurt. Either our opponent is way more powerful than us, or we have to be caught off guard!

    ¡°But catching us off guard is not easy. Our bodies are always on guard. The only ones who can make you let your guard down are probably these people, right?¡± The will of the universe smiled even more brilliantly as he gave the three of them a pleased look. ¡°In order to avoid detection, I only left a very small trigger behind in their minds, and I could only use it once. But the effect has been better than I had thought.¡±

    Ye Yun, Bo Ya, and Wu Chen slowly came back to their senses. They were a little confused at first, then they noticed the blood on themselves as well as one very injured Su Jin.

    Ye Yun instantly flew to where Su Jin was and tears filled her eyes as she said, ¡°Su Jin¡­ we did this to you, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    Su Jin squeezed a smile out and caressed her face. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I was careless.¡±

    Wu Chen and Bo Ya were too horrified to speak. In that instant, they had lost their consciousness. But after they snapped out of it, they could remember what they just did to Su Jin. They could hardly believe themselves.

    The one who understood Su Jin best was not Ye Yun, Su Qing, or Kano Mai, but the will of the universe. The two of them were pretty much the same in terms of the way their bodies worked, so they knew each other¡¯s weakness very well. Su Jin had be very weak after this attack.

    He tried to force his wounds to heal, but it was of little use. He could feel his vision bing blurry, as though he might lose consciousness anytime. This was going to prove fatal in a fight with someone like the will of the universe.

    ¡°Help Boss to stall for time!¡± yelled Chu Yi. White air surrounded his body and filled an area more than a hundred meters in diameter. The white air formed a powerful sword that made its way toward the will of the universe.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re good enough for that?¡± The will of the universe scoffed as he snapped his fingers and instantly shattered that sword.

    ¡°Chu Yi, move aside!¡± yelled Su Jin. Chu Yi might have no issue fighting against top tier gods, but he wouldn¡¯tst even a few seconds against the will of the universe. One was a much superior lifeform than the other, so if Chu Yi tried attacking him, he would definitely end up dead.

    Chu Yi was indignant, but he was good at obeying his leader¡¯s instructions and quickly moved away. The will of the universe didn¡¯t seem interested in making things difficult for Chu Yi and walked straight up to Su Jin.

    ¡°Move aside!¡± The will of the universe flicked his finger and Ye Yun went flying backward. Su Jin immediately grabbed the air to slow Ye Yun down so that she could catch her bnce; otherwise, she wouldnd directly within the broken space behind her. Su Jin and the will of the universe would survive just fine within that space, but not Ye Yun and the rest. Once they entered that area, they would be torn to pieces.

    Su Jin looked up at the will of the universe and gritted his teeth, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re not trying to gobble up my soul but you¡¯re trying to¡­ be one with mine!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. My soul is too old and frail, so there¡¯s no way to patch it any further. But not yours. I¡¯ve sacrificed myself to upgrade your strength ¨C aren¡¯t you touched?¡± said the will of the universe with a big grin. He possessed the same face as Su Jin, but even Su Jin felt that he looked disgusting.

    ¡°Touched? Not at all!¡± Su Jin snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re going to do it, but you definitely need to take over control of my soul, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I just need you to give up control rights,¡± said the will of the universe with a smile.

    Su Jin nced at Chu Yi and the rest and frowned. ¡°How very despicable. So, this is what the noble hero who has been controlling the universe for so long has to stoop to in order to survive?¡±

    ¡°It seems pathetic, but it works,¡± the will of the universe shrugged. ¡°Hand over control over your soul, otherwise I¡¯ll kill them all!¡±

    Everyone was stunned by this threat. Chu Yi yelled angrily, ¡°Boss, tell him to go to hell! If you give him control over your soul, I¡¯ll kill myself!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! My usually stupid son-inw has finally said something clever!¡± Wu Chen burst outughing.

    Su Jin looked straight at the will of the universe and said, ¡°As you can see¡­ I don¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    ¡°Of course, but not everyone will make such an extreme decision for your sake. How about Xu Ran? Or Su Qing? Or your niece, Yuan¡¯er? Or the people from the Department of Supernatural Affairs? Or Alice? You care about a lot of people, but would they make such a choice for you?¡± The will of the universe snickered and went on, ¡°I¡¯m not going to just kill them. I¡¯m going to get the Handbook to start a most terrifying and despairing Challenge and throw them in. They¡¯ll face despair time and again before slowly dying. Haha! What name should I give such an interesting ce? How about the Death Club?¡±

    Su Jin clenched his teeth. Just like what the will of the universe said, he cared about too many people. That was his weakness. Having too many loved ones in a fight like this made him weak.

    The will of the universeughed merrily, then stretched a hand toward Su Jin. ¡°So now¡­ bow to me! Otherwise¡­ I¡¯m very capable of doing what I just said!¡±

    Su Jin clenched his fists tightly. He looked toward Ye Yun and the rest, but he had no choice but to lower his head. The will of the universe was pleased as he grabbed Su Jin¡¯s head, but just then, an icicle pierced through the will of the universe¡¯s body.

    The will of the universe¡¯s eyes widened, and he turned to see Shen Wu ring at him. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask me if you could do that to my brother-inw!¡±

    ¡°Ask you? You mean ask you if you¡­ had a death wish?¡± The will of the universe grabbed the air with his free hand and Shen Wu¡¯s body instantly exploded into a mess of blood and flesh that disappeared within seconds.

    Now that Shen Wu was dead, the will of the universe tightened his grip on Su Jin¡¯s head again. A gleam shone in his eyes before the light in his eyes went out. This body had be an empty shell. His actual soul had entered Su Jin¡¯s body.

 Chapter 460

    The will of the universe had given up his body and entered Su Jin¡¯s body. He wanted to be one with Su Jin¡¯s soul, then take over control of Su Jin¡¯s soul and use his body to keep living.

    But just then, a colorful glint shed in Su Jin¡¯s eyes too. A brilliant beam rushed out of his body and into the will of the universe¡¯s body.

    ¡°Ha! Trying to take over my body instead? You should know that every body is unique and they are made specially to match one¡¯s soul. Forcibly taking over my body will only weaken your soul,¡± the will of the universe mocked Su Jin.

    But the body that once belonged to the will of the universe opened his eyes once more and a mocking smile spread across his lips. ¡°Is that so? I think this body fits me just fine!¡±

    The will of the universe could hardly believe his eyes. Su Jin had actually taken over his body this easily, which meant that his soul was now stuck within Su Jin¡¯s old body. If he didn¡¯t have a body, his soul would be shredded by the winds in space. That was why he could only appear physically after securing a body.

    He had no choice but to use Su Jin¡¯s body for the time being. But like he said so himself, Su Jin¡¯s body was not a good match for him right now. His soul and his new body was not working well, so it could only be a shelter for now, and it would even weaken his soul.

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! That¡¯s a body that was specially made for me, so it can¡¯t bepatible with your soul! Why are you able to use it?!¡± bellowed the will of the universe.

    There was a nasty glint in Su Jin¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°This body was based on myself to begin with, and when the Demon Lord created it, she left a few backdoors behind. That old friend of mine¡­ isn¡¯t so na?ve as to trust you wholeheartedly!¡±

    ¡°That idiot! How dare she do such a thing to me!¡± roared the will of the universe.

    Su Jin kept his eye on his opponent as he said, ¡°I used to think that you were so powerful that it would be impossible to defeat you. But when I was finally forced to fight you, I realized that you weren¡¯t as strong as I had imagined, and that was probably because you¡¯d been too strong. It sounds strange, but when you think about it, it makes sense.

    ¡°You are the first insurgent of the universe, the first person to rise above the limits of your own body. You have strength way above any other living creature and you have the Handbook working for you as well. No matter what sort of enemy you¡¯ve faced, you¡¯ve never really had to use much energy. You¡¯re like a martial artist who hasn¡¯t sparred with someone at their level for a long time. You¡¯re¡­ wasting away!¡±

    The will of the universe flew into a rage as he roared, ¡°Who could possibly be at my level! Even you¡­ you¡¯re just a pawn I¡¯ve purposely kept alive! Do you really think you¡¯re about to win this fight?¡±

    Su Jin suddenly bent down and stared down at the will of the universe as he said calmly, ¡°You revived Ye Yun and the rest as a backup n and that looked like a really clever n that would have been quite effective on most people. But you have to remember that you¡¯re dealing with ME. If I were someone who could be injured by a simple backup n like that, then I can forget about going to war with you. At the moment you treated your enemy as an idiot, you became the biggest idiot of all.¡±

    The will of the universe was silent for a moment, then he took a deep breath and said, ¡°So, you¡¯d seen through everything already. You purposely allowed them to stay by your side, and you purposely allowed them to attack you just now!¡±

    Su Jin nodded and said, ¡°Yep. I was sure that when you left this body, I would be able to take over. I had to take the risk¡­¡±

    ¡°You took a huge risk! If you failed, that would be the end of you!¡± spat the will of the universe hatefully.

    Su Jinughed and said, ¡°You seem to have forgotten something. If I don¡¯t take any risks, what are my chances of winning? If I take the risk, I might increase my chances of winning. If I didn¡¯t, then I was definitely going to die. So¡­ clearly, taking this risk was of no loss to me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re taking a gamble!¡± said the will of the universe.

    ¡°Ah, indeed, I did. It¡¯s not a good habit, I agree, I will change my ways in the future,¡± said Su Jin with a straight face.

    ¡°You¡­ you could still have so much faith in that Demon Lord? She betrayed you once and she betrayed me once too ¨C weren¡¯t you afraid that she might lead you to your grave?!¡± asked the will of the universe indignantly.

    But Su Jin said confidently, ¡°I trust her.¡±

    ¡°Why?!¡±

    ¡°Because she¡¯s my friend,¡± said Su Jin in a matter-of-fact voice.

    The will of the universe simply could not understand. He continued angrily, ¡°But she betrayed you! If not for her, I wouldn¡¯t have appeared like this and you wouldn¡¯t have gone through all this or lost so many loved ones!¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Even if she didn¡¯t do that, there would be plenty of other people who would willingly provide a body for you. She had made a mistake once, but she had also used her life topensate for it. To me¡­ the Demon Lord was my friend. It¡¯s only right for me to trust her,¡± said Su Jin.

    Everyone around him smiled. That was the Su Jin they all knew and loved. If Su Jin had not trusted them all these years, if he had not trusted his friends, he would have died in some Challenge a long time ago and he wouldn¡¯t have gotten this far.

    ¡°Su Jin, you think you¡¯ve won?¡± asked the will of the universe out of the blue. He looked up at Su Jin and scoffed, ¡°This fight¡­ no, this war¡¯s true winner will always be me! You will always be the loser!¡±

    ¡°You really think so?¡± asked Su Jin in return.

    ¡°Of course!¡± The will of the universeughed heartily. ¡°Even if I die and disappear into nothingness, I¡¯ve already passed on to you what I wanted to. You shall be my sessor, whether you want to or not. You will be the next me! I wonder what sort of expression you will have when that timees!¡±

    ¡°I will not be the next you! I will never be you!¡± said Su Jin confidently.

    The will of the universe scoffed at him and said, ¡°Never say never. When that dayes, when the universe is about to faceplete chaos and destruction, you will know that I did not have a choice right from the start. When one will of the universe dies, another one will rise up. Perhaps you might be able to hold up for 10,000 years, or 100 million years, but you¡¯ll never be able to hold up forever.

    ¡°When your family is about to die, when your friends are about to die, when the races on your are about to die, when they need your strength to keep them alive, what will you do? Will you refuse to do so? Your friends would distance themselves from you and be your enemies!

    ¡°I can already see the end¡­ that day will certainlye. One day¡­ it¡¯s just a matter of time!¡±

    Su Jin fell silent, then he straightened up and said, ¡°What you¡¯re saying does sound usible, but¡­ it¡¯s not going to happen.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re really confident or you¡¯re thinking too highly of yourself,¡± sneered the will of the universe.

    Su Jin looked at him and said, ¡°When this battlees to an end, I will destroy Hell¡¯s Handbook and The Beginning. Without them, even if I wanted to do all that, I wouldn¡¯t be able to, right?¡±

    ¡°There will always be some other way,¡± said the will of the universe.

    ¡°I suppose! But arguing about this with you is meaningless. Time will prove my words,¡± said Su Jin before grasping the air, causingyers of darkness to envelope the will of the universe.

    ¡°What are you trying to do?!¡± roared the will of the universe furiously. ¡°You can¡¯t do this to me! You can¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°I can!¡± Su Jin gathered a few dozen destroyed universes together without hesitation and rolled them into an unimaginably thick cage that trapped the will of the universe within. This cage consisted of destroyed universes, so they contained no energy and no matter. The will of the universe was going to slowly weaken over time and eventually die with no chance of escaping at all.

    ¡°Everything¡­ hase to an end,¡± murmured Su Jin. He nodded slightly at the rest, then sent them out from this universe that was about to be destroyed. Then, he flew out and went to where The Beginning was.

 Chapter 461

    The Beginning was in shambles, but its eyes werepletely calm. It was a system, so it only took orders from the one authorized to give it instructions and carried those instructions out.

    Across from The Beginning was the incarnation of Hell¡¯s Handbook. That somewhat hrious yet horrifyingly terrifying clown. He was faring no better and was just floating in midair, his eyes zed over. The one controlling him was gone and only one person was allowed to control him. Once that person was removed, he didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Su Jin gave themand and a group of current gods and Deities appeared before him. They had suffered a lot of casualties too. The current gods were almost all dead. The Deities fared better, but even so, a good half of them had been wiped out. Another clown had been teleported to this space along with them.

    Hell¡¯s Handbook was much more powerful than The Beginning. Even though it was fighting with The Beginning, it managed to allocate some power to its actual body to protect itself. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough for it to fight a bloody war against the current gods and the Deities.

    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you guys.¡± Su Jin sighed. This was a victory at the expense of many people¡¯s lives. Many who had supernatural powers, many who had been considered gods by ordinary people, had lost their lives in this fight.

    As Su Jin sighed, the injuries of the Deities and the current gods healed up immediately, and they returned to their peak state. They bowed slightly toward Su Jin to thank him for everything he had done.

    The two clowns merged into one and he muttered, ¡°The authorized one has disappeared; permissions function is locked, Hell¡¯s Handbook will now go into hibernation mode.¡±

    After he said those words, he slowly shut his eyes and floated away. Su Jin nced at it, then grabbed hold of Hell¡¯s Handbook. This thing was too dangerous, so he couldn¡¯t just allow it float away just like that.

    ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard as well,¡± said Su Jin to The Beginning. The Beginning nodded slightly at him but there was no life in its eyes. Just like Hell¡¯s Handbook, it was nothing more than a system. If Su Jin had lost the war, its fate would be worse than the Handbook¡¯s.

    At the same time, several Su Jins appeared within the different universes. He stopped the fight between the current gods and the new gods, and announced the end of the war.

    Everyone was too stunned for words. The new gods felt like a weight was lifted from their bodies. Their badges of godhood had been liberated!

    In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. Su Jin was reunited with all the gods within his seven temple. While they no longer had a reason to fight, they were still worried.

    The will of the universe had used a violent way to rule the universe, but his violence had indeed prevented the main world from dying because the other branch worlds had taken too much energy from it.

    The new cycles and old cycles was the process by which the main world regenerated itself. Arge number of lifeforms were wiped out each time, but there were always some left behind. Now, Su Jin had defeated the will of the universe. How was he going to rule the universe?

    Su Jin looked at all of them, then said, ¡°Everyone, the previous era is over. This cycle will not be destroyed, so you can go ahead and enjoy the life you like.¡±

    ¡°My lord, what about¡­ the future?¡± asked a Deity loudly.

    Su Jin smiled and said, ¡°Time will create the future. Why should we worry about it?¡±

    ¡°But if the branch worlds continue to drain the main world of its energy and it really dies, then¡­ wouldn¡¯t all our efforts go down the drain?¡± asked one of the gods.

    Su Jin shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I¡¯ve found someone who can keep tabs on how much energy is flowing out of the main world and take back the correct amount each time.¡±

    ¡°Is there actually someone who can do that?¡±

    ¡°Someone who can watch over millions of universes? Only he can do that, no?¡±

    Everyone started whispering among themselves. Even Xu Ran and hispanions stared oddly at Su Jin.

    Su Jin tapped the air and a beam of light flew out from his fingertip. It was a clown grinning away, but he looked silly and cheery, not terrifying and sinister like he used to.

    ¡°Oh my god, it¡¯s Hell¡¯s Handbook!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t it already lock its system down?¡±

    ¡°Damn, this guy is way too dangerous, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    The gods felt their hair stand on end. They weren¡¯t as terrified of the will of the universe as they were terrified of Hell¡¯s Handbook, since they had way more contact with the Handbook. The Handbook was practically etched into their memories. Almost their entire life had been within the control of the Handbook.

    Su Jin noticed the horrified looks on everyone¡¯s faces and quickly exined, ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry, The Beginning has already reset his system, so from today onward, Hell¡¯s Handbook will change its name to The Start. He will watch over the main world and make sure he gets back any energy that leaves the main world.¡±

    ¡°What about the other branches?¡± asked another god.

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave that to nature. The development of life should not be constrained by the possibility of future destruction. From now on, no new branch worlds will be formed, but the existing ones will not disappear. Life will give us the best answer. Perhaps we will finally be able to judge if our decision today was right or wrong thousands of yearster,¡± said Su Jin quietly.

    Was the will of the universe wrong to do what he did? Not necessarily so. Was Su Jin doing the right thing? Not necessarily so either. Only time would give a fair answer. Butpared to the will of the universe, Su Jin was willing to wait for the answer, while the will of the universe wanted to make sure the answer was what he wanted.

    Su Jin went on, ¡°I will let everyone go their own way and this temple will cease to exist. Gods will no longer exist in this world. Everyone can go back to their own race, or travel from world to world. Or you could find a ce and create your own little country. You are the pioneers of a new civilization. Of course¡­ if anyone tries to be funny and brings trouble to others¡­ don¡¯t me me if Ie down hard on you!¡±

    Su Jin red at everyone to warn them. But in reality, it was impossible to erase all evil and desires. Su Jin himself had no idea what would happen in the future. He could only do his best to keep the peace.

    Everyone present was too shocked to speak. Su Jin had absolute authority over the universe, but he had decided to dissolve the temple. The Nine-tailed Fox said to Su Jin, ¡°My lord, what about you? What will you do now?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Su Jin smiled faintly as he took Ye Yun¡¯s hand in his. ¡°We¡¯re going to wait for an old friend toe back, and we¡¯ve got many old friends we need to meet.¡±

    With that, the sevens of the temple separated from one another, each bing the core of a gigantic neb. Su Jin and Ye Yun disappeared as well, but Chu Yi and the rest continued to smile because they knew where to look for them.

    Back on Earth, in the small mountain vige where Su Jin was born, Su Qing stood in the living room with reddened eyes. She had cried so many times. Shen Wu stood in front of her and tried to console her, ¡°My dear, I¡¯ve told you before that you can¡¯t discipline a child like that!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m the one who gave birth to her and not you, so only I feel the pain,¡± snapped Su Qing as she red at Shen Wu before caressing Yuan¡¯er¡¯s little head gently.

    But Yuan¡¯er pushed her mother¡¯s hand away and ran to her uncle instead. Su Jin sighed and said, ¡°Shen Wu, I managed to save your soul and allowed you to live one more time ¨C are you regretting it now?¡±

    Shen Wu burst outughing. ¡°Only an idiot would regret it! I killed so many people and did many evil things, but I made up for it during thatst battle. I deserve to live this new life!¡±

    Su Jin¡¯s lips twitched. This man was really annoying!

    Meanwhile, Ye Yun covered her mouth and giggled as she said to Su Jin, ¡°My cousin¡¯sing overter. She knows that you erased her memories back then, so¡­ you¡¯d better watch out!¡±

    Su Jin felt his head spin and quickly said, ¡°Dear, I have to attend to something else, so I¡¯m off!¡± He disappeared in a sh, leaving thedies behind tough.

    At night, a beautiful moon hung in the sky, but Su Jin held an equally bright moon in his hand. He looked into the distance and smiled as he said, ¡°It¡¯s very cold and foggy on the mountain, you¡¯ve got to take care of yourself.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?! You know well that even if you threw either of us into icy waters right now, our bodies would hold up just fine,¡± said Ye Yun as she made a face. She sat down next to Su Jin and sighed as she looked at the little moon in his hand. ¡°Jin, when can Sister Maie back?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. This was all that was left of her soul when I took The Beginning apart. I¡¯m afraid we might have to wait for a long, long time. But we¡¯ve got plenty of time. Even if we have to wait for an eternity, we¡¯ll wait for her toe back!¡± Su Jin smiled.

    Ye Yun nodded vigorously. Just then, several beams of light came shooting their way. Su Jin got up and said, ¡°Tsk! They¡¯re here for a free meal again! This ce seems to have be Team Boning Knife¡¯s personal dining hall or something!¡±

    ¡°Why, you don¡¯t like it when they do that?¡± asked Ye Yun as she hooked her arm around his.

    Su Jin smiled brightly, ¡°Oh no, no, I LOVE IT!¡±

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