Mirabelle felt that this was sowhat inconceivable.
He was a charm-S commander-type player, a forr veteran steam gas player, and one of the few who ca from a common background among the top-ranking players.
Not long after the war had started, he set his sights on the Third Tribe which lacked a substantive ruler and had successfully infiltrated it.
However, just as he was about to implent faith governance, an eerie situation arose.
In the western part of Qiongdi, centered around the twenty-ninth tribe, many tribes suddenly stopped contacting them, and even more bizarrely, so eerie slogans began to spread throughout Qiongdi.
Slogans such as "The azure sky is dead, the Lighthouse must stand," "Thousands of paths exist, Pursuing Light cos first," "The supre Lighthouse, the gemstone that slays the dragon, calls upon Qiongdi, none dare disobey," and "High-level Lighthouse, multi-player competition, top-tier Church, waiting for you to join"...
Various slogans that sounded quite compelling spread like an infectious disease throughout Qiongdi, with many people carrying kerosene lamps in broad daylight, shining them around, and calling to "praise the Lighthouse," "return to the embrace of the Lighthouse"...
At first, he couldn’t understand what these people were doing, but upon hearing the word "Lighthouse," both he and Atlanda showed the sa dawning realization.
"...What is the Number One Player playing at?" This was his first thought.
"...Is he really starting to propagate a cult?" This was his second thought.
"...No, he’s competing for faith, attempting to beco a deity!" He only ca to this realization with his third thought.
His mind experienced a short circuit for a mont, but he quickly grasped the intention of the Lighthouse Church—it was nothing but a process of collecting "faith."
He imdiately rushed to the city wall, only to see a troop approaching.
"They have co after all..." he muttered to himself.
In that troop, leading the way was a tall figure draped in a black robe, with Yamada Machiichi, whose arms were covered in scars, by his side.
The tribe mbers had received the so-called news that Bai Shen had awakened, but they didn’t believe it, and with the addition of players like Mirabelle stirring the pot, they were simply seething with anger.
They looked angrily toward the line of people below the fence, raising the stones and torches in their hands.
"—Scram! Impostors daring to pose as Lord Bai Shen!" soone shouted.
Luna raised her arm:
"—I have co to save you, poor believers."
She equipped a voice-changing prop, and her voice was pressed extrely low.
The amplified voice echoed across the city top and poured into people’s ears.
"—Stop being self-pitying fools. Are you even afraid to face your own faith?" She raised her hand, "I have awakened from my slumber, precisely for the peace of Qiongdi’s future. I will...drive away eternal calamity for you, just as I eradicate your curse. I...have never abandoned you."
"—Don’t listen to her! She’s a swindler! It’s an adventurer in disguise!"
"Kill her!"
Soone drew a bow to shoot, and a vigorous energy oscillated on the arrow.
However, with the brief shimr of an invisible ripple, the person who had shot the arrow suddenly seed to lose all their strength and fell straight down from the top of the wall.
Mirabelle was stunned.
He knew the person who had shot the arrow was the pinnacle of combat power for the tribe, and the people below hadn’t made any moves yet. How were they defeated in an instant?
What he didn’t know was that Su Ming’an’s Judgnt Skill could be activated as long as he was within sight range. It was an absurdly long distance that didn’t allow anyone a chance to react.
Behind Luna and the others, Su Ming’an, at an extrely remote distance, raised his hand, and the red scales flitted across the back of his hand.
With Emotional Value dropping from 900 to 400, he triggered the mass attack effect of "Judgnt."
A row of people on the city wall suddenly dropped like flies scorched by heat.
The tribe mbers watched in shock as this unfolded before them, seeing their prideful tribal elite falling like dumplings.
"...I told you so." Luna was quick to respond, speaking in ti, "Divine Defilers will receive such punishnt..."
Having said that, she imdiately began to perform the act of driving out the curse.
Mirabelle was unwilling to accept this; he didn’t want the tribe he had worked hard to establish to be easily robbed of its faith, and he was frightened by this mysterious debilitating skill.
He hesitated for a mont but decided to risk it all and make an attempt.
He was going to try... to kill the Lighthouse in front of him, Luna.
As long as Luna, posing as Bai Shen, was killed by him, this faith scam would collapse without a fight.
He pulled out a magic wand, loaded it with a black crystal stone, aid it at Luna below, and a warm current quietly rose at the tip of the wand...
He was concentrating intently on his target when he suddenly sensed a similar curse energy nearby, echoing his own.
...What was that?
He looked up and saw a figure erging from the jungle in the distance.
"It’s the Number One Player after all," he wasn’t surprised to see Su Ming’an. After all, everyone knows what Lighthouse stands for.
But the next mont, his expression changed.
He saw Su Ming’an, who had just erged, looked up, and made eye contact with him.
An extrely ominous and nauseating foreboding hit Mirabelle’s heart hard; his pupils shrank, and it was as though all the nerves in his brain had snapped at that mont.
It was as if a scalp-numbing sensation that tore through all his senses exploded suddenly, indescribable filth filled his mind, and his sanity points dropped abruptly by 20 under that gaze.
...What was happening?
Before losing consciousness and entering a self-protective state, Mirabelle still hadn’t figured out why rely making eye contact could instill such negative fear in him.
It was just a normal pair of eyes,
but the mont he locked eyes with the Number One Player,
...he felt as though he had seen the Evil God that should not be beheld, as the legends say.
...
Su Ming’an erged from the jungle and happened to see Mirabelle passed out in the distance.
"What’s going on?" he said, "The guy passed out just by looking at ?"
He had intended to pass judgnt on Mirabelle, but the mont he made eye contact with him, the man’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted, a classic giveaway.
If it weren’t for the Judgnt Skill notification that it could not be activated, he would have thought the man was faking death.
In the forefront, Luna had already finished her charade. With no players causing trouble and all the elite tribespeople unconscious, the remaining civilians imdiately prostrated themselves in worship.
The Third Tribe’s faith was smoothly brought into the fold, and the faith points successfully reached 8,000.
The tribe viewed Luna, dressed in a black robe, as Bai Shen and regarded Su Ming’an and the others as Divine Envoys.
Since today’s business was done and Su Ming’an was wounded all over from curse-inflicted injuries, they decided to recuperate for a day in the Third Tribe before heading to the First Tribe for the final battle tomorrow.
The won heartily welcod them, led them into the tribe, and offered fresh fruit.
In the awe of the Divine’s arrival, they finally got so much-needed rest.
...
Su Ming’an raised his head.
The enthusiastic greetings of the tribespeople reached his ears, and the sunlight fell into his eyes.
He walked down the pebbled path, bathed in the brilliant sunshine.
A warm aura enveloped him, comfortable like taking a hot bath, very soothing.
It had been a long ti since he felt so relaxed.
The instance was more than halfway through, and everything was going smoothly.
Even though the first half of the instance had been tense, now it was a rare mont of relaxation. Xiber’s favorability had been pushed to 85, and the Commander’s favorability was also a full 90 points. There was no longer any existence in Qiongdi that could threaten him.
The ntality Points, which had been stable at 65, hadn’t thrown him any curveballs. He had expected a situation similar to the ordeal in White Sand Paradise, where he was on the verge of collapse throughout.
Now, it seed that his will had been strengthened, and being in the Shadow State was different from before, so he had withstood the negative effects quite well.
Just when he thought of returning to his room to rest, he was stopped by Yuanyuan, who was floating nearby.
"Yamada and the others are over there drinking tea, aren’t you going?" she said.
"No, I am going back to ponder the clues," Su Ming’an said.
"It’s also important to balance work and rest," Yuanyuan remarked. "In instances like this, where there are ntality Points, overworking can cause problems. You shouldn’t take your ntal state lightly. That would be showing off."
Su Ming’an rarely argued with Yuanyuan, especially since she made sense.
He might encounter more Underworld business in the later stages of the instance, and during periods of rest like this, he needed to get his emotions back on track as soon as possible.
He turned around and walked towards the pavilion where Yamada and the others were.
This was one of the rare scenic spots in Qiongdi, with artificial hills and a clear spring, and the air was fragrant with the scent of jasmine.
The aroma of the tea was diffusing over the stone platform, and it seed that the group was still playing rock-paper-scissors.
"Ah, you actually ca," Luna said, glancing up at Su Ming’an who was slowly walking down the pebbled path.
She had thought that the Number One Player, who strived to the extre, would not waste ti with them.
After all, there could only be one final victor in the instance, and after seeing Su Ming’an’s determination, she had lost the desire to compete with him, simply wanting to take things one step at a ti.
Xiber looked up, a strip of paper stuck to her face—the result of losing at rock-paper-scissors.
Her eyes shifted subtly, unblinking as they fixed on him.
"Yeah, I ca," Su Ming’an said, sitting down on a wooden chair next to her and noticing Sha La busying herself with eating fruit.
This little girl from Qiongdi previously seed to have had a tough life; encountering fruit was like being possessed by a starving ghost—she stuffed them into her mouth one after the other.
The fruits looked delicate and were probably the best quality from the Third Tribe. The apple-like red fruits were crystal clear, resembling large red gemstones.
Set against the jade-like plate, they were like beads set against a bright moon—quite pleasant to the eye.
"Co on, do you want to play rock-paper-scissors or Truth or Dare? Losers have to face a punishnt," Yamada Machiichi invited Su Ming’an as soon as he saw him arriving.
Yamada seed to be in high spirits, his hands already filled with a pile of paper strips.
...He had actually cramd all these board gas and playing cards into his backpack, not worrying about taking up space.
"A few billion people in the live stream, and you want to play Truth or Dare," Luna said as soon as she saw Su Ming’an arrive, realizing the ga of truths was now impossible.
Once a truth is spoken, the whole world knows your heartfelt words—who would dare to play?
"How about Werewolf? I’ve brought the identity cards..." Yamada took out another board ga.
"Haven’t you had enough of the Fourth World?" Luna challenged, her tone cold.
Yamada Machiichi choked on his words and quietly put his things away.
But soon after, he fished out two boxes of playing cards, and various Chess Pieces were strewn all over the table:
"...Monopoly is also an option, and I have Flying Chess here..."
He spread out the Flying Chess board, seemingly very eager to play a board ga with Su Ming’an.
Luna was sowhat speechless; she couldn’t imagine them sitting around this small table, playing Flying Chess.
Other Players were likely still struggling and fighting in the Silver Star Replica, while here were several top-ranked Players, including the Number One Player, gathered around, rolling dice, playing Flying Chess...
Such a scene would surely make people question their intentions if it were broadcast on a large screen to hundreds gathered live.
"Alright, if we’re going to rest, we should really rest—not play these brain-engaging gas," she declared firmly, sweeping the ssy Chess Pieces from the table and receiving a sorrowful glance from Yamada Machiichi in return.
She lifted her gaze and saw the ethereal fragrance of tea drifting before her eyes.
After being worn out for six whole days, they could finally take a break and began to feel a bit more alive.
However, just to be safe, aside from Sha La, they didn’t touch the food brought by the tribespeople; they stuck to eating what they had brought on their own. She brought little cakes and desserts, and Yamada Machiichi even brought milk tea.
"It’s really not easy," she sighed. "Ever since the World Ga started, I’ve forgotten how long it’s been since I last had a proper rest."
Yamada Machiichi deeply agreed.
Ordinary players still had chances to relax in various worlds; so of them even turned the World Ga into "A Taste of Pulaya," "A Taste of Ming Hui," where each live broadcast felt like a travel vlog. They would savor all the local delicacies and scenery to their hearts’ content, then just scrape through the instance tis.
The landscapes of the Otherworld were, for people, a voyage of discovery through new worlds. This imrsive feeling of experience was unforgettable.
However, that was not the case for the players at the top of the rankings.
They were almost always caught up in fierce thinking and judgnt, eating only to replenish their concealed stamina bars—if they weren’t tired, they could even go on without eating, let alone rest just to enjoy food.
...It was almost a luxury.
For Su Ming’an, it was even more so. Every instance for him was a thrilling challenge. No matter how delicious the food, it wasn’t as important as a hint for passing the level.
...Because even just a second taken to enjoy food could cost him his life.
Su Ming’an turned his head and looked at Xiber, who sat up straight next to him, and passed her a plate of tiramisu.
"Try this," he said.
Xiber blinked.
"It looks so strange," her inherent wariness acted up again. "Why is the food this brown color? I don’t rember any grain that can dye food this color..."
Su Ming’an directly forked a piece of cake and offered it to her.
Xiber had a favorability of 85 points after all; she still took the fork.
Just one bite, and her expression changed.
Although too stubborn to say the words "delicious," she opened her mouth wide and devoured the entire piece of cake in a manner reminiscent of Zhu Bajie eating the ginsengfruit.
Su Ming’an silently offered another plate.
The cake on the plate disappeared.
As her entire head lunged for it, he almost thought she was going to eat the plate as well.
After tasting the flavor of cream and chocolate, Xiber surrendered completely to the deliciousness.
...She had never tasted such fine cuisine before.
In the past, she had eaten only dry sweet potato chips or mushy boiled potatoes and shriveled naan bread, never sparing even salt or sugar.
When hungry, she would even dig up soil and chew on tree roots to stuff everything she could into her stomach to fill it up.
She had never eaten food that was so thoughtfully prepared, where every bit of sweetness and smoothness was just right, as if the taste danced on her tongue.
"Delicious," she said as she ate, her voice almost choked up.
Feeling the sweetness in her mouth, which she hadn’t tasted in goodness knows how long, her eyes slowly reddened.
"...So delicious," she said.
...
...
[ Sky＆$...]
[...$Sky@...]
[％％Sky＆...]
[％$@Sky％]
[—— "Jiu Shen · Reincarnation Handbook"]
...
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