101: Chapter 101 World's Malice? Hot Pot is the Priority!

Gu Fan fished the last piece of tripe out of the boiling red oil pot and rolled it in a dish of garlic and sesame oil.

Seven up and eight down, the timing was just right—crispy, tender, and refreshing.

He stuffed the tripe into his mouth with satisfaction, his eyes narrowing in happiness.

To Hell with S-rank World Malice, or some massive horror descending.

In this world, nothing is more important than eating.

"Can you wait until I finish this piece of tripe before talking?"

Gu Fan muttered to the System in his heart; he felt the System had been a bit too fussy lately, seriously affecting his appetite.

Xiao Fan sat opposite him, having just finished his eighth bowl of rice. He was currently holding his stomach and burping. Hearing the System's warning, which sounded like an air-raid siren, he was so startled that a burp got stuck in his throat, making his face turn red.

"Pre... Pre... President, am I... am I... am I hallucinating because I ate too much?"

Lin Xue instantly entered a combat state. She put down her chopsticks, her eyes scanning vigilantly out the window, one hand already touching the short blade hidden behind her waist.

Only Xiao Hei seemed to have heard nothing.

He was using a piece of sterilized nanofiber cloth, focused on wiping a drop of hotpot oil that had just splashed onto the corner of the table. His expression was as solemn as if he were dismantling a nuclear bomb.

The boss had said that letting a stain stay for more than ten seconds was an insult to his professional integrity.

Just then, the flame crystal core, which was being used as a heat source under the pot, suddenly flickered violently.

The red crystal, which was originally as warm and smooth as jade, was now flickering like it was having a heart attack.

Most bizarrely, the wisp of black Qi deep inside the crystal core seemed to come alive, expanding and twisting frantically like a venomous snake imprisoned for a thousand years, trying to burst out of its cage.

Almost at the same time.

An invisible, cold mental shock, filled with endless despair and madness, centered somewhere deep beneath Tianqiong City and swept across the entire city like a tsunami!

Buzz—

All electronic screens in Tianqiong City flickered simultaneously at this moment and then turned into static.

On the street, a young man looking down at his phone suddenly screamed, clutching his head and kneeling on the ground, his eyes bloodshot.

"Ah! Get out! Get out of my head!!"

In office buildings, the corporate drones working overtime wailed in unison. They seemed to see their most terrifying visions; some huddled under desks clutching their heads, while others frantically slammed their heads against the walls.

In the academy dormitories, countless students woke up from their dreams, letting out heart-wrenching screams as fear spread like a plague.

For all Martial Artists and Ability Users with low cultivation, their mental worlds felt like they had been thrown into a blender at that moment.

The agonizing pain of their Souls being torn apart caused them to lose all reason.

Within just a few seconds, the entire city turned into a living Hell.

However, in this ocean of wailing, Dormitory 404 was a peaceful island.

The mental shock, powerful enough to give even Grandmaster-level experts a splitting headache, hit an invisible wall the moment it approached Dormitory 404.

Gu Fan's "Lazy Domain."

This destructive mental power was rapidly filtered and weakened as it penetrated the Domain. By the time it reached Gu Fan's ears...

It had turned into a "buzzing" noise, like a mosquito flying around his ear.

"Hmm?"

Gu Fan was about to pick up another piece of fatty beef when he was slightly annoyed by the noise.

He didn't even look up, just impatiently waved his hand by his ear as if shooing away an annoying mosquito.

*Slap.*

A soft sound.

The mental shock that was enough to paralyze Tianqiong City was... slapped away by him.

Immediately after, the lights of the entire Tianqiong City seemed to have their master switch flipped.

From the skyscrapers in the city center to the streetlights in the suburbs, all light vanished in an instant.

The power grid and the psionic network were completely destroyed in the invisible shock just now.

The city fell into a deathly silent darkness.

"Holy crap! Who pulled the main breaker?!"

Xiao Fan cried out as the dormitory suddenly went dark, "I haven't even seen if that piece of luncheon meat in the pot is cooked yet!"

In the darkness, the only light source was the bubbling hotpot.

The flame crystal core was no longer flickering, but the wisp of black Qi became even denser, moving within the crystal core as if it had a life of its own.

"The power's out. It's seriously affecting my mood for hotpot."

Gu Fan's complaint rang out in the darkness.

As soon as he finished speaking, the dormitory suddenly lit up.

The light didn't come from anywhere else but from the Spirit of the Secret Realm, the "light bulb," which Gu Fan had casually placed on the corner of the table as a decoration.

It seemed to sense its master's dissatisfaction and automatically increased its brightness tenfold, emitting a soft and bright white light that illuminated the entire dormitory as if it were broad daylight.

"Hmm, that's more like it."

Gu Fan nodded with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, ten thousand meters beneath Tianqiong City.

On a massive altar built of bones and obsidian, strange runes were carved everywhere.

In the center of the altar, a pool of blood was boiling frantically.

Dozens of cultists from the Guixu Cult, dressed in black robes, were kneeling on the ground, fanatically chanting ancient incantations.

As they chanted, the blood in the center of the pool began to swirl, forming a massive vortex.

"Welcome, our God! The God-Summoning Ceremony... is a success!"

The leading black-robed man laughed, his voice hoarse and crazed.

In Dormitory 404, inside Gu Fan's mind, the System's notification sounded again. This time, it lacked the piercing alarm and instead carried a hint of mockery, as if watching a show.

[Concentration of World Malice is rising sharply. The Guixu Cult's 'God-Summoning Ceremony' has entered its final stage.]

[Suggestion to host: Add a spoonful of sesame paste, eat your fill, and then head out to enjoy the show.]

Gu Fan curled his lips, about to complain that the System was even more of a thrill-seeker than he was.

Suddenly, the previously silent Lin Xue stood up abruptly, pointing out the window, her voice carrying a hint of unprecedented shock.

"Look... at the sky!"

Gu Fan lazily looked up, following her finger.

Outside the dormitory window, in the sky above the darkness-shrouded city.

A gargantuan black vortex was silently opening.

The vortex was as black as ink, slowly rotating as if the sky had been forcibly torn open, revealing a wound leading to the abyss.

It was also like an eye of destruction, coldly watching the silent land.