16: Chapter 16 The Balance of National Destiny and Global Consciousness?

"Shit, do these monsters have to be torn to pieces to be killed?"

Actually, hitting them directly in the head would kill the zombies instantly, but unfortunately, Blue Star did not have Resident Evil.

Colonel Rodell cursed under his breath and took out a grenade, completely blowing those monsters to pieces. Finally, he had killed over twenty of them. Monsters that could be killed with firearms were much easier to handle than running and hiding in the previous world.

Before he could even celebrate, more monsters rushed over.

Colonel Rodell felt his scalp go numb as he watched the monsters surrounding him from all directions.

"Fuck, I can't get out."

There must be even more outside. Before the monsters completely surround me, I can only go up and use the terrain to my advantage to kill them.

Using his professional military knowledge, Colonel Rodell made a decisive choice. He pulled out a bundle of grenades and threw them into the crowd of monsters, forcefully blasting open a path. Taking the opportunity, he ran toward the stairs, heading straight for the second floor.

Just as he stepped onto the second floor, more monsters chased after him. Looking at the tide of monsters flooding in and packing the entire first floor of the mall, even Colonel Rodell, with his potion-enhanced physical fitness, felt a chill run down his spine.

However, he still had stronger weapons. With a determined look in his eyes, Colonel Rodell took out a grenade launcher from his backpack. Aiming at the area where the monsters were most concentrated, he pulled the trigger repeatedly. With a loud bang, dozens of monsters were blown to pieces.

Colonel Rodell noticed that the mall had five floors in total. Fighting as he retreated, he headed toward the top floor. Reaching the third floor, he didn't stop but continued upward, taking the stairs all the way to the rooftop.

This way, he only needed to hold the rooftop entrance to be much safer.

Next, he took stock of his ammunition. Aside from two micro-nukes, he had plenty of grenades and launcher shells. Although he still had quite a lot of bullets, his preconceived notion made him believe that the monsters could only be killed by tearing them to pieces.

Over an hour later, he had killed more than ninety monsters.

This filled him with joy. With less than ten more, he would complete the mission.

The citizens of the United States shared his excitement.

"The Colonel is amazing! He actually held the line all by himself."

"To borrow a Chinese saying, 'One man at the pass keeps ten thousand at bay.'"

"This time, we can complete the mission and get the rewards again."

"This time, it's our United States' turn to see a massive surge in national destiny."

"My physical fitness will also increase by 10%. Praise Colonel Rodell!"

The Americans instantly began to gloat.

The Chinese people, however, were thoroughly unimpressed. "Is that it? Killing only dozens in over an hour? Our Daoist Ye can slap tens of thousands to death in one go, and did we brag about it?"

"These monsters are indeed weak; even firearms can kill them."

"Weak as they are, there are so many of them, and they run fast too. I must admit, this Colonel has some skills."

"It's only been a bit over an hour, and he's already killed over ninety. The United States will definitely complete the mission this time."

"Not just the United States, Japan is also about done. His playstyle is pretty much the same as the United States'. A ninja who doesn't use swords and shuriken, but starts using firearms instead."

"The son learns from the father, after all."

"Quite a lot of countries are completing the mission this time."

"Not just quite a lot—almost everyone is completing it. This mission is indeed simple."

"Holy crap, what on earth is that?"

Someone suddenly cried out in surprise.

On the live stream screen, where there was originally nothing behind Colonel Rodell, monsters had now appeared.

As the camera angle of the live stream panned upward, the viewers saw those monsters stacking on top of each other like a human pyramid, climbing all the way onto the rooftop.

"So disgusting, my trypophobia is acting up."

"Same here, person upstairs."

...

Seeing this, Colonel Rodell gritted his teeth, bound all his remaining grenades and launcher shells together, pulled the pins, and threw them into the densest crowd of monsters.

Why didn't he throw the nuke? Colonel Rodell wasn't stupid; the blast radius was larger than his throwing range, and he had no desire to commit suicide.

Following the deafening explosions, Colonel Rodell felt as though the entire world had gone quiet.

"Ding! Congratulations to the United States for successfully killing 100 monsters."

"Mission completed. Do you wish to continue? Continuing the mission requires killing 1,000 monsters. Yes/No."

"No, end the mission!"

Colonel Rodell breathed a sigh of relief. Another thousand? No thanks. Completing the basic mission and getting the reward was enough; there was no need to risk his life.

"Mission completed. Rewards are being distributed: United States' national destiny increased by 10%, physical fitness of all citizens increased by 10%..."

The same voice echoed in everyone's ears.

The Americans immediately erupted in cheers.

"Oh my god, we completed the mission! I can feel my body getting stronger."

"Let China see who the real boss of this planet is. They were just lucky before; this is our true strength."

The United States was truly letting it go to their heads this time.

But since they completed the mission, they indeed had the right to boast.

Many small nations began to flatter them, especially Japan and South Korea.

Japan: "As expected of our father, the lighthouse that guides us."

South Korea: "Father is indeed the light of human civilization. We must follow closely in Father's footsteps."

India: "Although I don't like the United States, I have to admit their strength is immense. China still has a long way to go to catch up with them."

...

The endless flattery from various countries made the Americans even more arrogant.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in China's live stream room was a bit strange.

Ye Qingxuan was seen wearing a moon-white Daoist robe, walking down the street with his hands behind his back. Countless Sword Qi swirled in a thirty-meter radius around him. Any zombie that entered this range was instantly shredded.

"Ding! Mission completed. Do you wish to continue? Continuing requires eliminating 100 million monsters."

"Continue." Ye Qingxuan chose to continue without the slightest hesitation. Although his Master had not answered his question, he had already guessed a portion of the truth.

Regardless of whether the purpose of the National Destiny Space was for the evolution of living beings or for raising Gu, in the last mission, China dominated completely while the other nations gained almost nothing. This did not align with the purpose of raising Gu or evolution.

That was why this mission existed. As long as a nation brought enough firepower, none would fail. It was just like those Reincarnation worlds used for farming points in the God's Space.

"The next mission won't be this easy. I must farm all the rewards." As Ye Qingxuan spoke, he waved his hand and summoned the human emperor banner.

The banner's head was a black iron ghost skull, its eyes embedded with deep blue Soul beads. The entire banner was dark blue, emitting a faint black light as if it wanted to suck in a person's Soul. Distorted phantoms of remnant Souls floated upon it, and it was carved with dark red runes, striking terror into the hearts of all who saw it.

The human emperor banner could continuously upgrade by devouring flesh and Souls. Although these zombies had no Souls, their flesh was still useful for the human emperor banner's ascension, so he might as well put them to use.

"With shallow roots and ignorance of the heavenly mandate, rather than plaguing the world, you might as well enter my human emperor banner and attain eternal life from now on."

With a single sentence, he sealed the fate of these zombies. Ye Qingxuan formed a hand seal, and the banner suddenly expanded in the wind to dozens of meters tall. A freezing black mist surged like a tide, instantly enveloping a thousand miles around.

The Soul beads in the black iron ghost skull's eye sockets burst with eerie light, and the Soul fire in its fangs flared up several yards high. The hanging tassels of yin spirits danced wildly, directly pulling up the flesh of all the zombies and the wandering remnant Souls in the city.

The dark red Soul-devouring runes on the banner's body lit up completely, weaving into an airtight cage of blood patterns. Within the banner, thousands of distorted Soul figures seemed to roar, and pitch-black chains wrapped around countless zombies like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.

"This... Fellow Daoist Yuanxin? Qingxuan... is a demonic Cultivator?!" A flash of horror crossed Master Kongming's face, his tone filled with anxiety.

"That... cough, cough. Fellow Daoist Kongming, you must be joking. That is my Disciple. He is absolutely not a demonic Cultivator. He is a proper Daoist Disciple, a Cultivator of the Righteous Path. How could he be a demonic Cultivator?" Master Yuanxin said, patting his chest.

"But his banner is emitting black Qi..." Master Kongming's eyes were filled with doubt.

"You old monk, didn't you hear Martial Nephew Qingxuan? That is the human emperor banner," Celestial Master Zhang chimed in. "A Genius of our Daoist sect, and you want to classify him into the Demonic Path with just one sentence? If this old Daoist says it's the human emperor banner, then it is."

"That is indeed the human emperor banner; didn't Daoist Ye say so? As for the black Qi? That is the human emperor's purple Qi. There's a saying, isn't there? 'Purple so deep it looks black.' Is that not the case?" The Director was as steady as ever, talking nonsense with a completely straight face.

"Right... that Magic Treasure... is the human emperor banner. Yes, the human emperor banner. That's not black Qi, it's the human emperor's purple Qi. Exactly, it's just purple so deep it looks black. Fellow Daoist, you can come closer and take a look..."

Master Yuanxin was also lacking confidence. By the end of his explanation, he didn't even know what he was saying. What the hell did 'purple so deep it looks black' even mean? He really didn't know how Qingxuan had refined this thing. It didn't look this ferocious the last time he saw it—unless he had suppressed its power back then?!

Master Kongming was dumbfounded. "You want this old monk to get closer and look? You ox-nosed Daoist really dare to say anything. And you, you thick-eyebrowed, big-eyed retired old man, is that 'purple so deep it looks black'?"

"That is black so deep it looks purple! He had sensed it just now; thank goodness they were separated by the National Destiny Space, otherwise, he would definitely have been swallowed by that banner, dying without a grave, with not even a shred of his remnant Soul remaining."

"So this is the human emperor banner? I remember when Daoist Ye first killed that Flood Dragon Snake, he said he wanted to refine a human emperor banner."

"What the hell do you mean 'human emperor banner'? This is clearly a ten thousand souls banner!"

"'If you don't work hard in immortal cultivation, you'll end up as brothers in the human emperor banner.' So that's what that phrase means."

"Person upstairs, do you understand what that phrase means?"

"Of course. It's written in the hundred solutions to immortal cultivation. Isn't immortal cultivation all for the sake of eternal life? Once you enter the ten thousand Souls... cough, human emperor banner, your Soul is controlled by the banner, and you will never be free. But as long as the human emperor banner is not destroyed, your Soul will never perish. Isn't that a disguised form of eternal life?"

"I definitely don't want this kind of eternal life. Wait, you've finished reading the hundred solutions to immortal cultivation, a book comparable to a dictionary?"

"Of course! Haven't you read it? ->_->"

"Brother, big bro, uncle, please don't pull this on me when you Cultivate in the future. Spare me!!!"

"Let's not even think about it. If Daoist Ye didn't have the favor of heaven's will, the Heavenly Dao would absolutely never allow it. If you dare to refine such a thing, the Heavenly Dao will strike you dead."

"...Can't I even think about it?"

"Sure, it's totally 'fine'. You can give it a try—try it and you'll die."

"Don't, I was wrong."

"I thought Daoist Ye was a law-abiding person of the Righteous Path, but now it seems he isn't."

"Where on earth did you get the idea that Daoist Ye is a law-abiding person?"

"I didn't expect Little Brother Qingxuan to have the potential to Cultivate the Demonic Path as well. Would you like to come to my Heavenly Demon Palace and be our Saint?" Yun Huan was still thinking of Ye Qingxuan.

"Shut up, you Rebellious Disciple! We in the Demonic Path aren't even this ruthless. Do you want him to stuff your Master into the ten thousand souls banner too?" This speaker was the Palace Master of the Heavenly Demon Palace, who was clearly terrified by the human emperor banner.

"Fellow Daoist, that is the human emperor banner," Master Yuanxin said with a deadpan expression.

"Yes, yes, that is indeed the human emperor banner."

"Agreed +1."

...

Ye Qingxuan had no idea what was happening in the outside world. From the moment he took out the human emperor banner, he had already prepared himself to be talked about.

In less than half an hour, Ye Qingxuan controlled the human emperor banner to sweep through all the nearby cities. At this moment, a loud rumble echoed from the sky, and the clouds and mist gathered together, forming a giant eye.

"Is this... the Heavenly Dao? No, it's not as powerful as the Heavenly Dao. It is the world will of this realm." Ye Qingxuan quickly calmed his mind.

"The world will has appeared!!" Master Yuanxin, Celestial Master Zhang, and Great Master Kongming all stood up at the same time.