596: Chapter 596: The game is over, I'm taking it!

Space tore open, and an aura mixed with death and desolation rushed towards them.

Fang Yuan and Liu Lian's figures appeared on the withered earth of the Qingyun Realm.

The sky here was still that same gray and broken appearance, but due to the existence of Kunlun Immortal Mountain, the Spiritual Qi within a ten-thousand-mile radius had become far denser than on Earth.

Fang Yuan spread his hand, and the golden crystal core thrown by Dean Li Heng lay quietly in his palm, emitting a warm yet terrifyingly energetic glow.

He felt like this thing was hotter than a volcano.

"He really wants us to flip the table..." Fang Yuan muttered to himself, his voice mixed with shock, excitement, and a hint of fanaticism that he hadn't even noticed himself.

A chess game of a hundred and twenty thousand years!

What a grand undertaking, what a long timescale.

And the Dean's evaluation of this was "too long," and his solution was to "blow up the fish pond."

This way of thinking had already exceeded the scope of Fang Yuan's understanding.

Liu Lian didn't speak; he just calmly looked at his palm, where a pitch-black hair was also hovering.

This seemingly ordinary hair made him feel a terrifying power sufficient to sever Karma and reverse life and death.

Every time their understanding of the Dean's strength was refreshed, it felt like it was telling them that the limits of their imagination were still far from enough.

"Let's go, let's find those two security guards first." Fang Yuan put away the crystal core and flew towards Kunlun Immortal Mountain first.

...

Kunlun Branch Campus, Security Department.

This was a makeshift team set up by Xie Wangsheng, with just a bare sign standing on a hilltop.

The King of Eternal Night, this former primordial malevolent god, was currently wearing an ill-fitting security uniform, holding a small booklet, and muttering something.

"Security Department Employee Code of Conduct, Rule Number One: The Dean is always right."

"Rule Number Two: If the Dean is wrong, please refer to Rule Number One."

"..."

His expression looked worse than death.

Beside him, Xiao Zi was squatting on the ground, holding a spicy strips in her small hand and nibbling on it bit by bit, her purple eyes filled with satisfaction and happiness.

To her, even if the sky fell, it wouldn't be as important as the spicy strips in her hand.

Just then, two figures descended from the sky and landed in front of them.

The King of Eternal Night jolted and quickly stood up straight. After seeing that the newcomers were Fang Yuan and Liu Lian, he breathed a slight sigh of relief but still bowed respectfully: "Greetings, two Chiefs."

He had now completely accepted his identity as a "worker."

There was no choice; that shimmering golden labor contract was even more overbearing than a Heavenly Dao oath.

"Minister Eternal Night, don't be so polite." Fang Yuan waved his hand and got straight to the point, "The Dean has a new mission."

Upon hearing the words "new mission," the King of Eternal Night's face instantly turned three shades paler.

The last team-building exercise had almost made this immortal and indestructible being die once again.

What was it this time?

"The Dean has ordered," Fang Yuan looked around and lowered his voice, saying each word deliberately, "for us to awaken the remaining seven 'Kings'."

"Pfft—"

Before the King of Eternal Night could react, Xiao Zi, who was beside him, spat out the spicy strips in her mouth.

Her pure purple eyes went wide, and her small mouth formed an "O" shape as she stared blankly at Fang Yuan, as if she were listening to a fairy tale.

And the King of Eternal Night, this former Dominator of the Northern Border, began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.

He wasn't afraid; he was furious!

"Crazy! You're all crazy! The Dean is crazy too!" He screamed hysterically. "Awaken seven? Do you know what that means? The Seal of the entire Qingyun Realm will collapse instantly! Once the Nine Kings reunite, the 'burnout protocol' will be completely activated! This world... no, this entire Star Domain will be sacrificed!"

His voice carried unprecedented fear and despair.

"I... I quit! This job is impossible! I want to resign! I'll pay the liquidated damages! I'll even give you all my Origin!" The King of Eternal Night completely broke down. He would rather his Divine Soul be extinguished than continue playing with this group of lunatics.

However, Fang Yuan just looked at him calmly.

"This is the Dean's order."

Those simple words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the King of Eternal Night's head.

All his excitement, fear, and anger instantly froze.

Resign?

Resign to that existence?

He feared that as soon as he spoke, both the contract and his Divine Soul would be crumpled into a ball and thrown into the trash.

The color drained from the King of Eternal Night's face at a visible rate, and he finally slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant.

It's over.

I've boarded a pirate ship.

And it's a pirate ship heading straight for the Big Bang of the Universe.

"The Dean said he wants it to collapse," Liu Lian's voice rang out, cold and firm. "If the pond owner won't step onto the stage, then blow up the fish pond."

The King of Eternal Night suddenly looked up, finally grasping the suffocating madness and dominance behind those words.

He hadn't never seen someone arrogant, but he had never seen someone this arrogant!

Using a great world as a fish pond and using them, former primordial malevolent gods, as fish, just to lure out a rat that had been hiding for a hundred and twenty thousand years?

"Let's go." Fang Yuan patted the King of Eternal Night's shoulder. "Lead the way. Which one do we start with?"

The King of Eternal Night's face was ashen as he mechanically raised a finger and pointed south.

"Thirty thousand miles west of the Far South, there is a 'Rotten Swamp'... Sealed there is the 'King of Plague and Rot', Graso."

His voice was incredibly dry.

"That guy... is a pure lunatic. He has no reason and only knows how to spread rot and decay. Moreover, his power is the most effective against living beings."

"Very well, him it is." Fang Yuan nodded and looked at Liu Lian.

Liu Lian understood, reached out and tore open a spatial rift out of thin air.

"Xiao Zi, let's go," Fang Yuan called out.

Xiao Zi blinked, quickly stuffed the remaining half of the spicy strips into her mouth, and followed with her cheeks bulging.

The King of Eternal Night looked at the deep spatial rift, feeling like a death row prisoner about to be escorted to the execution ground.

He took a deep breath and finally followed, resigned to his fate.

...

Rotten Swamp.

The sky here was an eerie yellow-green, and the air was filled with a nauseatingly sweet stench of rot. One breath made it feel like one's lungs were rotting.

There wasn't a single living plant on the ground, only black sludge and murky poisonous water. Occasionally, one or two fist-sized pustules would bubble up and then pop with a "pop," splashing dark green liquid.

Fang Yuan frowned and activated his protective lightning light, isolating the filthy aura.

Xiao Zi hid behind him, her small face pale, clearly disliking this environment.

Liu Lian remained expressionless; his Sword Intent formed its own domain, impervious to all methods.

The King of Eternal Night was in the worst state. He himself was the Incarnation of the Law of Silent Extinction, which was naturally incompatible with the Law of Rot representing 'deformed proliferation' here. His face looked worse than the sludge in the swamp.

"This is the place." The King of Eternal Night pointed to a massive, heart-like, slowly writhing piece of fleshy land in the center of the swamp. "Graso's core is underneath."

"How do we wake it up?" Fang Yuan asked.

"Use... use that." The King of Eternal Night pointed to the golden crystal core in Fang Yuan's hand. "This thing shares the same Origin as the Nine Kings' source. As long as energy is poured into it, it can be forcibly activated."

Fang Yuan nodded, no longer hesitating.

Holding the golden crystal core in his hand, the Nascent Soul power within his body poured into it without reservation.

"Buzz—!"

The golden crystal core erupted with brilliant light, like a small sun, instantly illuminating the entire dark swamp.

Pure source energy transformed into a thick golden pillar of light, slamming fiercely into the writhing fleshy earth below!

"Glug... glug glug..."

The entire swamp was like boiling water, churning violently!

Black sludge shot into the sky, and countless white bones and rotten flesh surged up from underground. A giant ten thousand feet tall, composed of sludge, bones, and rotten meat, began to slowly rise from the swamp!

An aura even more chaotic, evil, and nauseating than when the King of Eternal Night awakened swept out, covering the sky and earth!

Xiao Zi's face instantly turned deathly pale, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The King of Eternal Night screamed and turned into a puff of black smoke, hiding behind Liu Lian.

The giant had no facial features, only a massive, constantly opening and closing void that emitted a deafening roar.

It seemed not to have fully awakened yet, its movements slow and stiff.

"It worked!" Fang Yuan was delighted.

However, just then, a sudden change occurred!

The ten-thousand-foot-tall rotten giant that had just formed suddenly paused.

Then, under the astonished gaze of Fang Yuan and Liu Lian, its massive body, like a deflated ball, rapidly shriveled and collapsed, turning back into a pool of mud and sinking into the swamp.

The surrounding boiling swamp also instantly calmed down.

Everything returned to a deathly silence.

It was as if the world-destroying scene just now was merely an illusion.

"What happened?" Fang Yuan was stunned and looked at the King of Eternal Night.

The King of Eternal Night was also dazed: "I... I don't know! It should have awakened!"

"Something's wrong."

Liu Lian's white hair moved without wind. He grasped the sword hilt behind his back, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, staring intently at the swamp below.

"It's awake."

"And, it's lying to us."

The moment Liu Lian's voice fell, a voice filled with mockery and malice rang out, not through the air, but directly in the depths of everyone's Divine Soul.

"Truly interesting guests. Not only did you bring delicious energy, but you also brought the 'key' along with you."

"Let me introduce myself. I am Graso. However, I prefer you call me..."

"...'The King of Deception and Lies'."

Before the voice could fade, the ground beneath Fang Yuan's feet had somehow turned into a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth, snapping shut!