88: Harvest Night

Chaos is a ladder, and it is also a feast.

Just as Ye Chen's killing intent boiled, ready to transform into a thunderous strike, that scream originating from Shi Meng brutally shattered all the established rhythms in this valley.

Ye Chen's movements had a slight, imperceptible stagnation.

His gaze was forced to divert a sliver from his prey, Lu Yuan, and cast it toward that humanoid monster rapidly deforming.

The sound of Shi Meng's bones dislocating was as dense as popping beans.

Beneath his skin, black curse patterns grew crazily, tearing through flesh and blood. Within a single breath, his aura fell from that of an Early Stage Golden Core Cultivator to a distorted devilish creature left with only the instinct for destruction.

“Roar—!”

It had lost its reason; its scarlet eyes locked onto the living creature with the most vigorous life aura in the arena.

Not its brother, Shi Zhan.

Nor Lu Yuan, who was “fleeing.”

But Ye Chen, who was radiating a majestic Devilish Qi like a devilish sun.

The distorted body moved.

Carrying the filthy power of the curse, it fiercely charged toward Ye Chen's hiding spot.

This was a variable outside of Lu Yuan's plan, yet it was within reason.

Greed is the best catalyst.

Ye Chen frowned deeply. He had to abandon this excellent opportunity for a sneak attack. His figure emerged from the shadows, and he struck out with a palm.

Devilish Qi surged, condensing into a giant hand that covered the sky, easily pinning the distorted creature to the ground, unable to move.

The disparity in suppressive power was clear at a glance.

But this brief moment of delay was enough for Lu Yuan.

Deep within his seemingly panicked eyes, there was not a trace of emotional fluctuation, only billions of golden data streams rushing frantically, finally settling into absolute coldness.

[Detected that the Karma fluctuation rate in the target area has risen sharply and has broken through the threshold!]

[Your ‘Long Option’ has been activated, performing profit settlement...]

[Settlement complete! Congratulations, you have obtained karma points: 3.6 million!]

A massive sum of wealth that would drive any Golden Core Cultivator crazy was injected into Lu Yuan's account silently.

This is the charm of volatility.

It does not ask about right or wrong, does not ask about victory or defeat; it only rewards those gamblers who dare to embrace chaos at the center of the storm.

Lu Yuan felt no joy.

His consciousness operated at high speed within the Exchange, issuing commands.

“Exchange all, [Karma Venom].”

[Exchanging... karma points have been deducted.]

[[Karma Venom] × 1 drop, has been deposited into your virtual warehouse.]

The next instant, Lu Yuan's footsteps stopped.

He turned around, looking at the distorted creature pinned by the giant hand of Devilish Qi, still struggling frantically, and also looking at Ye Chen, who had been forced to reveal himself with a sinister expression.

He gave a brief command to Yun Yao beside him.

“Prepare.”

Yun Yao's delicate body trembled slightly; she knew what “Master” was going to do.

It was a fear originating from the Soul, but more so, it was a morbid excitement of feeling honored to be part of it.

Lu Yuan opened his palm.

A drop of pure black liquid floated quietly in his palm.

It did not reflect light, was not transparent, and devoured all surrounding light, causing the space itself to produce subtle visual distortions.

[Karma Venom].

Feeding on Karma, using Law as poison.

This was the first time he had completely exposed his greatest trump card to his enemy.

“Go.”

Lu Yuan flicked his finger.

That drop of [Karma Venom] floated silently toward Yun Yao.

A flash of determination appeared in Yun Yao's eyes. She bit the tip of her tongue, sprayed a mouthful of Lifebound Essence Blood, and her hands formed a complex and eerie seal.

Behind her, the phantom of the [Hundred Flowers Illustrated Record] suddenly unfolded.

But this time, there were no thousands of spiritual flowers in the record, only a huge, enchanting black demon flower that seemed to be condensed from countless resentful Souls and curses, slowly blooming.

The [Karma Venom] fell into the pistil.

Hum—!

The demon flower trembled violently, and then disintegrated into black pollen that filled the sky.

This pollen quickly rose into the air and merged into the clouds.

The entire sky turned into an ominous leaden gray at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Rain, it came.

Not ordinary rainwater.

It was black, carrying the aura of withering Laws, the rain of judgment.

The first drop of black rain fell, landing on a hard rock.

There was no sound.

That rock weathered silently, turning into the most insignificant dust.

Ye Chen's pupils shrank.

He felt it.

A huge threat originating from the Origin of life, from the root of the Great Dao.

He released his suppression of the distorted creature, and majestic Devilish Qi formed an absolute defensive shield around his body.

At the same time, the star beacon on his body shone brightly, and profound power of time and space began to wrap around him.

He wanted to leave!

However, it was too late.

The black rain poured down from the sky.

“Ahhh—!”

The released distorted creature, Shi Meng, let out the final scream of its life.

Its Physical Body began to dissolve rapidly upon contact with the black rain.

It was not rotting, but disintegration; it was existence being erased, returning to the most primitive particles.

Its Soul, its Golden Core, everything about it was thoroughly liquidated in this terrifying poisonous rain.

In just three breaths, this devilish creature that even Shi Zhan found troublesome disappeared completely from this world, leaving not even a trace.

On the other side of the valley, Shi Zhan, who was engaged in a fierce battle with the war puppet, was also enveloped by the black rain.

He sacrificed his Lifebound Treasure, a primitive stone shield, to protect his body.

As the black rain fell, the spiritual light of the stone shield quickly dimmed, and the defensive formation patterns engraved on it quickly curled and collapsed.

Pfft!

Shi Zhan was hit as if by a heavy blow, spraying a mouthful of blood, his aura withering.

And his opponent, that war puppet, bathed in the poisonous rain, although the metal on its surface was also hissing from corrosion, its core, under Lu Yuan's command, perfectly avoided direct damage from the poisonous rain.

As one wanes, the other waxes.

The war puppet punched out, hitting Shi Zhan square in the chest.

Shi Zhan's protective spiritual light shattered upon impact, and he flew backward like a kite with a broken string, his life or death unknown.

At the center of the poisonous rain, only Lu Yuan and Yun Yao were unharmed.

The black demon flower driven by Yun Yao was the carrier of the poisonous rain, so it could naturally be immune to its damage.

And Lu Yuan, as the creator of [Karma Venom], was the only eye of the storm in this storm of death.

His gaze was cold, piercing through the rain curtain, firmly locking onto Ye Chen, who was wrapped in the power of time and space and about to escape.

Ye Chen's Devilish Qi shield was dissolving rapidly under the erosion of the black rain.

Although the power of the time and space beacon was desperately repelling the poisonous rain, a few drops still penetrated the defense and stained his arm.

An indescribable, excruciating pain came from the level of the Laws.

Ye Chen groaned, black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

He was injured.

Not his Physical Body, but his Dao, his Foundation, had been polluted by this bizarre poisonous rain.

“Lu Yuan!”

He roared with resentment, his voice full of unwillingness and madness.

He stared fixedly at Lu Yuan, as if wanting to carve this face deep into his own Divine Soul.

The moment before his body was completely swallowed by the power of time and space and disappeared, he pointed his fingers like a sword, and drew a line across the distant horizon, toward the direction of the Qingyun Sect.

An imperceptible black mark, filled with the aura of destruction and “breach of contract,” cut through the Void Realm and disappeared.

He left.

Carrying heavy injuries and endless hatred.

The black rain gradually stopped.

The entire valley turned into a dead, desolate land.

All vegetation, living creatures, and even the mountain rocks lost their original forms, turning into a gray powder.

Only where the distorted creature Shi Meng had dissolved, a crystal-clear rhombus crystal, seemingly woven from countless runes, was floating quietly, emitting a faint light.

[resonance core].

The core plug-in of the gemini stars System.

A smile finally appeared on Lu Yuan's pale face.

The harvest season had arrived.

He issued a command to the battered war puppet.

“Go, bring it back.”

The war puppet took heavy steps, walking toward the center of the poisonous rain.

With every step it took, the residual poison on its surface was eroding its structure, making harsh sounds.

But it did not stop.

The huge metal palm passed through the thin poisonous fog and steadily grasped that [resonance core].

The moment the core was in hand.

At the war puppet's chest, the [ten thousand gu furnace] that served as the power source suddenly burst into a dazzling red light.

It and the [resonance core] in its hand, like the two poles of a magnet, produced an incredibly strong resonance and attraction that almost tore it apart.

These two System plug-ins from different Candidates.

Seemed capable of... Fusion.