World version update

Chapter 328 A big gift

"What...just happened?"

A titled Reincarnator, shrouded in a shadow cloak, spoke in a dry voice, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. The deep-seated fear was clearly discernible even through the heavy cloak.

“It seems like something… has disappeared…” Another giant, as burly as a mountain, was also pale-faced, with fine beads of cold sweat on his forehead. His heavy breathing sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silent spacetime rift.

"Where did the Witch Lord and the others go?" someone asked in a trembling voice, their gaze sweeping back and forth over the spot where the Witch Lord and the others had stood.

The place was completely empty, without even a trace of residual energy, as if the four once invincible titled powerhouses were merely a collective illusion.

"It seems something... has happened!"

As titled reincarnators whose strength is comparable to that of a Void Refinement stage expert in the cultivation system, their senses are extremely sharp.

Even though Lu Yan sealed off time and space with the divine order, he was unable to completely erase their vague memories of that brief moment.

They vaguely sensed that, in that instant, something majestic beyond their comprehension had briefly descended upon this distorted spacetime rift.

The oppressive aura rendered them utterly incapable of resisting, as if before a true god, these so-called strong individuals were as insignificant as dust.

Immediately following was the overwhelming aura of destruction and annihilation that swept in like a tidal wave, completely erasing the four beings of the same level, including the Witch Lord, from this world without leaving a trace.

But when they tried to trace the source of this horrific event and look for any trace left by that great being, they were horrified to find that everything was like a mirage, leaving no trace.

The cause and effect were completely severed, as if the Witch Lord and the other three titled reincarnators had never set foot in this space-time from beginning to end, and their existence was denied at the root.

Yet, deep within their memories, vivid images of the Witch Lord and others remained clear, along with a vague perception of the great being's arrival.

The intense contradiction and conflict between reality and memory is like two invisible hands tearing at their nerves, causing the fear in their hearts to grow wildly like weeds, almost completely devouring their reason.

If the power of the Eye of God—which is traceable, observable, and analyzable—is indeed despairing, it is at least still within their comprehension.

To some extent, it can even ignite the rebellious desires deep within these desperate criminals, prompting them to try every means to destroy the heavens and find a glimmer of hope.

The scene of the divine kingdom's phantom descending and the judge's pen annihilating the powerful enemy was completely beyond their comprehension.

The unknown is often more terrifying than the known; the more incomprehensible something is, the more fearful it becomes.

In a mere instant, all the surviving titled reincarnators completed a fierce exchange through divine thought.

In the end, they all turned their gazes to the Blood River Demon Lord, the only one in the arena who remained relatively calm.

"Demon Lord! Just who was that deity?"

"You must know something! Tell me!"

"What secrets does this world... what secrets does this world hold?"

A barrage of urgent questions rained down on Blood River Demon Lord like cannonballs.

Some of the more cunning titled reincarnators even recalled how the Blood River Demon Lord had humbled himself and groveled before those natives.

Even just now, the scene of Blood River Demon Lord turning against four powerful figures of the same level in order to protect the interests of those natives made a sudden realization flash across his eyes.

They realized that the Blood River Demon Lord's performance was not unfounded; the fact that he could fight against four equally powerful individuals must have a greater benefit hidden behind it.

Faced with the crowd's questions, the Blood River Demon Lord abandoned his previous humble demeanor, and the aloofness and arrogance of a demonic giant reappeared on his face.

He snorted coldly and said in a condescending tone, "There are many things that you are not qualified to know at your level. But there is one thing I can tell you clearly."

He paused, his gaze slowly sweeping over each of the titled reincarnators present, his voice carrying a strange undertone:

"This world may seem small in size, far smaller than many of the worlds we have experienced, and even its native supernatural power system is not strong."

If any fellow Daoist has ever attempted to trace the origin of this world, they will surely discover that this world is completely different from the world system we are familiar with.

In fact, the status of this world is probably higher than any of you can imagine.

Otherwise, why would even a being like a supreme god be so eager to seize power, even going so far as to launch such a large-scale reincarnation invasion?

"This is a chessboard where certain great beings are playing their games, and whether we like it or not, we are nothing more than pawns on this chessboard, at the mercy of those great beings."

The Blood River Demon Lord's tone carried a hint of self-mockery, as well as a complex emotion that was difficult to describe.

"As fellow reincarnators struggling to survive under the control of the Supreme God, this is all the advice I, Blood River, can offer you."

As for whether you continue living in a daze or face reality, that depends on your own fate.

As soon as he finished speaking, Blood River Demon Lord ignored the various titled reincarnators and casually slashed his right hand through the void, creating a pitch-black spatial rift out of thin air.

He strode inside, his figure vanishing instantly, leaving behind only a short, cold sentence that echoed slowly in the distorted spatial rift:

"Receive the Heaven-Covering Talisman here again in three days. No exceptions!"

Numerous titled reincarnators watched as the Blood River Demon Lord's figure disappeared into the spatial rift, and for a moment, the entire spatial rift fell into a deathly silence once again.

This time, no one dared to speak up and stop them, not even daring to entertain the slightest thought of disrespect.

They are beings who have struggled through countless cycles of life and death, accumulating a vast amount of knowledge and experience.

Instinctively, they wanted to deny the Blood River Demon Lord's sensational words.

How could there possibly be a being in this world that is comparable to or even surpasses the supreme god?

This completely overturned their preconceived notions!
However, the strange and unbelievable aspects of this world, especially the terrifying scene just now that seemed like divine punishment, seemed to be ruthlessly confirming the Blood River Demon Lord's guess, plunging them into unprecedented confusion and bewilderment.

Whether they believed Blood River Demon Lord's words or not, at least for the time being, no one dared to easily covet the Heaven-Covering Talisman. Even if they wanted to obtain it, they could only do so through a mission issued by Blood River Demon Lord.

They could only wait anxiously for the three-day deadline to arrive, awaiting the next move from fate.

……

The figure of the Blood River Demon Lord emerged silently from the void like a ghost and landed outside the parliament building.

The surging bloodthirsty demonic energy around him receded rapidly upon contact with the invisible defensive barrier of the parliament building, as if it had encountered its nemesis, and finally transformed into a faint, almost imperceptible blood shadow that lingered on his magnificent robe embroidered with intricate demonic patterns.

He straightened his slightly disheveled clothes, took a deep breath, and forcibly calmed down the turbulent emotions he had experienced earlier due to Lu Yan's ruthless methods in the space-time rift.

Although it wasn't the first time he had witnessed Lu Yan's unfathomable strength, the scene of him effortlessly annihilating four powerful individuals of the same level still sent chills down his spine.

This young speaker was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

He walked to the office door that gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen, raised his hand to knock, but then paused slightly.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally lowered his hand and bowed slightly in an extremely respectful manner, speaking in a humble tone: "Reporting to the Speaker, your subordinate Blood River has important matters to discuss with you."

The door did not open; only Lu Yan's calm voice rang out.

"You leaked the mission ahead of time. Considering this is your first offense, you will be allowed to join other reincarnators in destroying the three Soul Towers in three days."

Upon hearing this, the Blood River Demon Lord showed no displeasure, only the relief of surviving a calamity. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly and respectfully agreed.

"Thank you, Speaker!"

Inside the office, Lu Yan withdrew his gaze from the spatial rift, completely unconcerned about the Blood River Demon Lord's petty schemes.

Now that he had decided to use the Heaven-Covering Talisman as bait to lure these titled reincarnators into attacking the global giant's defense system, he naturally couldn't sit idly by and watch a troublemaker like the Witch Lord disrupt his plans.

The Divine Court's order sealed off space and time, then condensed the Yin and Yang energies, which contained the rules of world destruction, into the Judge's Pen. With a single strike, it completely erased four titled reincarnators, including the Witch Lord, whose strength was comparable to cultivators in the Void Refinement stage, from the level of existence.

This seemingly casual but swift and decisive action left an indelible psychological scar on the many titled reincarnators present.

But in reality, this is already close to the maximum combat power that Lu Yan can exert without using his last trump card.

To ensure a fatal blow and create a sufficient deterrent effect, he even subtly incorporated a trace of the Emperor's Dharma Image's power into the Judge's Pen's attack.

"Ultimately, there is still a considerable gap in absolute cultivation level." Lu Yan sighed inwardly.

He looked inward and saw that his mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation was already at the very top of the pyramid in this cyberpunk version where technology was highly advanced and the psionic system was still in its infancy.

In addition, with all the incredible trump cards and methods he possessed, dealing with these reincarnators from different worlds was quite manageable.

However, Lu Yan knew very well that these reincarnated beings were merely appetizers.

Behind them stands the unfathomable supreme god, and the various conspiracies he has laid against this world.

What he feared even more was the intelligent God who controlled the operation of the entire world and possessed near-omniscience and omnipotent power.

Faced with such a powerful enemy, a cultivation level of only the mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm is far from sufficient.

"If we can find a way to make the underworld undergo a complete upgrade, we might be able to use the enormous feedback power generated during the upgrade to break through the current realm shackles in one fell swoop, break through several major realms in succession, and thus make up for the lack of cultivation in a short period of time."

A bold idea gradually took shape in Lu Yan's mind.

"Now, I can just wait patiently for those chess pieces to put on a spectacular show for me."

As he whispered, Lu Yan's consciousness sank into the Human Emperor Banner, into the ever-evolving and expanding Netherworld.

Within the magnificent city of Fengdu, countless armored and weapon-wielding ghost soldiers and generals, under the personal guidance of the five great ghost gods, were carrying out a massive project day and night.

Their task was to memorize the Heavenly Dao code issued by Lu Yan and inscribe it onto specially made talismans formed from the ghostly energy of the underworld in a unique way.

Relying on the inherent isolation and self-contained nature of the Underworld, it can effectively shield the stability of the Heavenly Dao code from the constantly changing constants of the external cyberpunk world.

This ensures that the Heavenly Dao code contained within these talismans created in Fengdu City can maintain its most original and pure form before being activated.

After the Heavenly Dao code is written on each talisman, the five ghost gods who have already gained some authority over the divine order will personally use their divine thoughts as pens and the power of the netherworld as ink to carefully draw intricate and profound arrays of Daoist characters on the surface of the talisman.

These Daoist inscriptions are not only intended to further conceal the essence of the Heavenly Dao code and prevent it from being assimilated by external rules too early after leaving the Underworld, but also to use the power of the Divine Court's order to seal and empower it at a deeper level.

In this way, it can be guaranteed to the greatest extent that the Heavenly Dao code inside these Heavenly Shroud Talismans will not be affected in the slightest by external constant corrections before they are activated.

Only when it is truly activated will the true Heavenly Code contained within it fully erupt, revealing its miraculous effect of shielding the perception of an intelligent God.

Thousands of ghostly soldiers and generals, like the most precise assembly line, carried out this tedious but important task day and night.

In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, tens of thousands of Heaven-Covering Talismans can be produced.

These treasures, which are considered lifelines by countless reincarnators within City Fourteen and are extremely rare, are here treated like worthless consumables, piled up like mountains and seen everywhere.

However, Lu Yan knew very well that even such a large number was still far from enough.

His ambitions go far beyond simply uprooting a few towers of souls.

He needs more Sky-Covering Talismans, so many that they can obscure an entire realm, transforming into a fog of war that confuses the perception of the intelligent God.

With these massive amounts of Heaven-Covering Talismans, we offer that high and mighty intelligent God a grand gift that he will never forget.

(End of this chapter)