But Chen Zhou wasn't too worried because his level-up was already complete.
【Breakthrough mission complete!】
【Current Level: Calamity Grade (fifth symbiosis contract)】
Progress required for next level:
【Forging Bones Progress: Eighth-stage flesh and blood 0/1】
【Painting Skin Progress: Eighth-stage blood 0/1】
【Refining Body Progress: Eighth-stage soul 0/1】
【Any Godhead: 0/1】
...
【Your White Bone Ghost Domain has leveled up】
【New Ability — Festering Calamity】
【Your Ghost Domain can now be released outside your body, allowing you to designate an area (up to a hundred miles in radius) to trigger a Festering Calamity.】
【Within the range of the calamity, all living beings not belonging to the Evil God faction will be marked with a Festering Brand, which cannot be dispelled or purified. The brand will continuously devour the target's vitality, spiritual power, and fortune, converting them into the Evil God's death qi and the vitality/death qi of the Evil God's subordinates.】
...
【Your primary godhead has successfully absorbed all the divine authority of the God of Fortune and Land. You have obtained a blank godhead.】
【Your Domain of Defiled Earth, Withering Venom, and Festering Calamity have received godhead amplification and can now take effect against a ranked god.】
...
【Congratulations on successfully reaching the peak of the Calamity Grade! One more step and you will become a great horror of the Deserted Grade!】
【Please keep working hard to become an Evil God who destroys the world!】
【^_^】
【You have gained one opportunity to enter the fallen deep dream.】
...
It was another leap in level, jumping directly from the third symbiosis contract to the fifth. Combined with the boost from the Faith Conferment, Chen Zhou’s cultivation temporarily reached the initial phase of Siming.
Chen Zhou felt an unprecedented surge of power filling his body.
His HP and MP bars were instantly filled to the brim.
The death qi that had been nearly exhausted now gathered within him like a rushing black river. It was incredibly docile, feeling like an extension of his own arm that he could mobilize to any corner of his body at will.
“So, this is what the eighth-stage feels like...”
Chen Zhou slowly clenched his fist, feeling a surging power that seemed capable of crushing stars.
One's fate is determined by oneself; I am destiny.
A wondrous realization welled up in his heart.
He seemed to have control over his own life and death, capable of completely expelling the death qi from his body.
For a typical eighth-stage Siming powerhouse, this was a realm they dreamed of. it allowed them to seek fortune and avoid calamity, better control their own death qi, and draw closer to becoming an evil spirit.
Unfortunately, he was already an evil spirit—an upender of order and a rebel against fate. He had absolutely no need for such things.
Boom!
The death qi suddenly became incredibly abundant. The nearly shattered White Bone Ghost Domain instantly stabilized as Chen Zhou’s strength skyrocketed.
Countless bone hands, thicker and more hideous than before, surged frantically from the defiled earth. They layered over one another to reinforce the domain, deathly suppressing that destructive azure light. No matter how it collided, it could no longer shake the domain in the slightest.
“This... how is this possible?!”
Within the Ghost Domain, the light of Qing Lu’s divine sense trembled violently in disbelief and shock.
Crossing two stages at once?
In just a short moment, he had reached the eighth-stage?
Is this the creation named Judge that Zhu Pan has been hiding all this time?
Qing Lu had to admit he was jealous, a feeling that for a moment even surpassed his killing intent toward Chen Zhou.
How long had it taken him to cultivate to the eighth-stage back then?
Three thousand years? Or was it five thousand?
Qing Lu’s thoughts couldn't help but drift back.
He had come from humble beginnings, relying on his innate talent for danger intuition to struggle his way up from the bottom.
His path had been filled with hardships and obstacles. He had hovered on the brink of death countless times, barely making it to where he was today by devouring the fortune and opportunities of others.
Even after joining the Sky-Monitoring and becoming one of the high-and-mighty Four-Direction Envoys, things hadn't always gone smoothly for him.
For example, he had spent ten thousand years of painstaking effort tracking the legendary Ancestral Dragon, only to have his success snatched away by something unknown right at the final moment.
He often told himself that the Heavenly Dao was perfectly fair—every gain came with a loss.
Possessing such a powerful sensing talent was itself an act of defying heaven. Therefore, it was only natural for his luck to be poor and for him to suffer the trials of the Three Handicaps and Five Deficiencies.
If not for that, he likely would have died long ago in the Battle of Qingtian that swept through the heavens.
So, a little bad luck was fine.
But now, the creed he had used to comfort himself all this time had collapsed.
Why?!
Why could a mere creation of Zhu Pan cross two stages so easily right before his eyes?
Why was the opponent's talent even greater than his own?!
No wonder! No wonder Zhu Pan was willing to grant him such a rare high-level godhead like that of Nüba!
No wonder he had the nerve to tear off the mask and attack him directly in Tianchi Province!
Qing Lu’s expression turned cold as he spoke chillingly, “Stop for a moment. How about we make a deal?”
He reined in his frantic assault, switching to a softer strategy.
“I admit your potential is indeed beyond imagination.”
“But you must also understand that the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be blown down by the wind. The internal struggles within the Sky-Monitoring are far more brutal than you can imagine. By ruining my plans, you have thoroughly offended me. If I choose to target you in the future, a thousand lives wouldn't be enough for you to survive.”
“However, if you release this wisp of my divine sense now, swear to sever ties with Zhu Pan, and join my side instead...”
“I can promise not only to let today’s events slide but also to invest all my resources into cultivating you in the future!”
“Whatever Zhu Pan can give you, I can give you double! I can even help you shed your status as a creation and become a truly independent being. What do you think?”
Chen Zhou acted as if he hadn't heard a word, not even bothering to give him a glance.
He was merely looking at his own hands with great interest, feeling the new ability he had gained after the breakthrough.
【Festering Calamity】.
A large-scale ability for continuous damage and sustainability.
Within the range of the Ghost Domain, all hostile targets would be marked with a Festering Brand, which would continuously devour their vitality, spiritual power, and fortune, converting them into his own death qi.
The more people there were, the stronger he would become.
It was the perfect embodiment of sustaining battle through battle.
It was just a pity...
Chen Zhou looked up at the trapped ball of azure light and thought with a hint of regret that there was currently only one hostile target.
Well, I’ll use you to test this out first.
With a shift of his heart-intent, Chen Zhou activated his newly acquired ability.
Buzz—
An invisible and intangible wave of extreme malice instantly swept through the entire White Bone Ghost Domain.
Qing Lu, who was in the middle of his long-winded attempt to persuade Chen Zhou to surrender, suddenly stiffened.
He felt a bizarre, pitch-black brand that was constantly twisting and writhing being forcibly struck onto his divine sense origin!
Like a greedy parasite, it began frantically gnawing at his divine power the moment it appeared.
Qing Lu was instantly filled with absolute horror!
“This... what kind of monster is this?!”
He himself possessed a secret technique called the Evergreen Seal, specifically used for marking and tracking sacrifices.
Such techniques were sinister and malicious; once marked, the brand was like a parasite clinging to the bone. There was no hope of escape no matter where one went, leaving the victim with no choice but to submissively turn into his energy.
But now, he had actually been marked by someone else using a similar, yet even more domineering and malicious method?
Rate on N.U.
