｢The dungeon's main mission has been completed.
Main Mission Evaluation: B
Side Story Development: D
Map Exploration: C
Sin Value: B
Comprehensive Evaluation: B｣
+
｢Accumulated points: 100
Accumulated Evil Value: 3｣
+
When Gu Nan returned to Star Realm, the messages from the Evil God Temple gradually emerged.
Despite some unexpected developments, overall, Gu Nan was satisfied with this mission to "Protect the White Dew Goddess." Not only did he successfully obtain the reward, but he even met a "reliable" fellow he can cooperate with.
That's right. Although Lu Zhanyu's way of handling matters wasn't proper, and although she was even willing to sell out teammates to monopolize the rewards, Gu Nan didn't mind!
To be perfectly honest, he had seen even more immoral and outrageous things inside the game in his past life. It could be said that the vast majority of "Evil God Cultivation" players didn't have any kind of three views. This kind of thing was simply too common of an occurrence.
If the players in a dungeon truly cooperated sincerely, then it either meant that there was no benefit from selling out their teammates, or the mission was simply too difficult that it couldn't be cleared if they were missing even a single person.
As for whether or not Lu Zhanyu will sell him out in the future… Gu Nan wasn't afraid of that. He'd always been on his guard against everyone around him, so being vigilant against one more person wasn't such a big deal.
But the most important thing was… he was about to advance to Tier 3 soon. Would he still fear Lu Zhanyu's betrayal once he reaches Tier 3?
After receiving the rewards from this mission, Gu Nan already held 1,010 points and an Evil Value of 51, which just happened to meet the advancement requirements!
As his consciousness entered the Evil God Temple, Gu Nan sat quietly on the Evil God's throne for a while. He gradually calmed his mood, then issued the command.
> ｢Advance Tier｣
｢Exchanged item: Evil God Advancement. The player is currently a Tier 2 Evil God. Advancement requires 1,000 points and an Evil Value threshold of 50｣
｢Requirements met. Beginning advancement｣
｢The player is about to become a Tier 3 Evil God. Please select the core skill｣
> ｢Shadow｣
Naturally, Gu Nan chose the "shadow" route that he was most familiar with in his previous life.
"Shadow,"or more precisely, "the law of shadow,"was one of the highest-ranked laws in the game. It was opposite to the law of light and was also considered top-quality among all the core skills out there.
Of course, the higher the skill's rank, the higher the requirements to control it, but a top player like Gu Nan certainly wasn't worried about this.
An inexplicable force entered his body. Gu Nan seemed to be back in the endless void, while darkness approached from afar and swallowed up the entire night sky little by little.
'Is this… the 'power of shadow'?' Endless insights directly poured into Gu Nan's brain, making him feel a splitting headache for a moment.
After all, reality was not a game. The body could be strengthened, but when Gu Nan began to enter Prodigious Realm himself, it was impossible for him to master the so-called "innate ability" without any foundation.
Unless he fully comprehended these insights and enlightenment, his power wouldn't be able to keep up with his cultivation realm.
Of course, this wasn't hard for Gu Nan.
For a high-end player like him, his comprehension was already top-tier to begin with, and his understanding of "shadow" was also far beyond that of ordinary people—he knew every single usage of the "power of shadow" like the back of his hand, so all that he lacked was the theory behind the "law of shadow."
And those insights from the Evil God Temple precisely existed precisely to help him comprehend this law.
After this, even without the existence of the Evil God Temple, Gu Nan would still be able to comprehend the "law of shadow" on his own.
Gu Nan stood alone in the center of the empty palace, and the pitch-black shadow gradually spread out from underneath his feet until the whole palace was covered by it.
But at a certain moment, the shadow's rate of expansion suddenly slowed.
In Gu Nan's eyes, it seemed that some distant force inexplicably descended upon him and tried to stop his advancement.
However, this force was too weak and disappeared in the blink of an eye as soon as it was washed away by the "law of shadow," which was one of the primordial laws.
'Could this be karma? I deliberately left some unresolved karma in Langya World, but I didn't expect it to be so useless.' Gu Nan washed away that force and shook his head a little inside his mindscape.
After a long time, Gu Nan slowly opened his eyes, and the shadow under his feet suddenly expanded, then retreated back into him.
"Shadow Form."
He stretched out his right hand and gently grasped something. A pitch-black longsword gradually condensed. The sword was slender and narrow, glittering with a faint black gleam.
The familiar touch made Gu Nan smile. He held the sword and lightly stabbed it forward, causing a strange ripple to echo throughout the palace.
The successful advancement to Tier 3 not only strengthened his body to an unprecedented height, but it also gave him the genuine "Power of Shadows" core skill.
Based on the cultivation theory in Star Realm, advancement from Innate to Prodigious Realm was a process of spiritual transformation.
Although the advancement principle behind the Evil God Temple was different, the final result was nonetheless similar. Gu Nan's spirit had been greatly strengthened, and the strength of his skill had also reached Tier 3. Now, he no longer needed to rely on the inferior version of the skill that required equipment to be equipped.
More importantly, due to the effect of "Shadow Earring," his current "Power of Shadows" evolved into Level 2!
As a core skill, "Power of Shadows" at Level 1 unlocked the "Hidden Shadows" skill, while Level 2 unlocked "Shadow Form."
The function of "Shadow Form" was to manipulate shadows into creating things. Not only could it create an incomparably handy weapon that could change shape at any time, but it could also turn into armor for defense. At the highest level, it could even create a humanoid clone.
"Shadow" was truly worthy of being one of the top-core skills. Not only was it a powerful skill, but it was also ridiculously difficult to control. Ordinary players would need at least three to five years of practice to reach the level where they can create a clone.
But of course, this wasn't anything difficult for Gu Nan.
After practicing all the variations of "Shadow Form," Gu Nan's consciousness returned to his body.
'The next step is to pay a visit to Immortal Demon World. With my current strength, it's no longer hard to hunt down Prodigious Realm cultivators, so I can earn a large amount of Evil Value and points this way.' Gu Nan considered his next moves.
Although he had already advanced to Tier 3 and his Evil Value had also reached 50, this wasn't enough by far.
Next, at the 100, 200, and 300 Evil Value thresholds respectively, he would unlock three more normal skill slots. Thus, he'd be able to buy and use normal skills, and even his core skill would be upgraded.
But if he wanted to advance to Tier 4, he'd need a full 500 Evil Value.
The points he required would be astronomical, not to mention Gu Nan must still set aside some points to buy some Tier 3 equipment.
Equipment like the Observer Eyepiece and even the Four Element Crossbow had already reached the end of their useful lives. They were just waiting for Gu Nan to buy better items to replace them.
'But before that, I have to visit the "Reincarnation" club first.'
Gu Nan didn't forget that he had accepted the combat coach job in order to buy enough star iron to communicate with Astral Gate.
There were many powerful individuals in Star Realm. Gu Nan didn't have enough power to act recklessly in Star Realm just yet, so he must abide by the rules there for the time being.
...
...
Just when Gu Nan was about to head to the Reincarnation club, two people secretly arrived outside Azure Dragon Hall's headquarters.
"Master, this is Azure Dragon Hall's new headquarters," A young man with a strong body stood beside a white-haired middle-aged man and spoke as he bowed.
"To change headquarters 5 times within the span of three days… The leader of this Azure Dragon Hall is also a cautious person," The white-haierd man smiled with interest and said softly.
He then turned towards the young man. "The murderer who killed your Martial Uncle Han may be inside. Don't you want to take revenge on him?"
Du Mian's face suddenly twisted into a ferocious expression, but he soon calmed down. "I'm no match for that person, so I have to ask for Master's help. Otherwise, I might not be able to catch up to him all my life."
"Hahahaha!" The white-haired man laughed heartily. His laughter was full of joy as he slapped Du Mian on the shoulder with great force.
"That's right. You should know when to bow and when to stand tall." The white-haired man said meaningfully, "If you were unwilling to admit defeat, you would always lose. Master is very gratified that you have learned to retreat!"
When Du Mian heard this, he was silent for a long time. Finally, he breathed out a long sigh and said, "I'll have to trouble Master to kill this person."
"There's no hurry." The white-haired man waved his hand lightly. "Their leader won't be able to escape. Why should we expose ourselves in advance before the other party even shows up?
"The right way to go about this is to suppress the enemy by force."
Devotee's Game System Inspired Note
» This section of the chapter is a Fan based created system to mock-up or simulate the 'Status Information' of our MC - Gu Nan. This implies that you are free to skip reading this and continue your journey onto the next chapter.
» All catalog data below is a summary of various information achieved by Gu Nan that corresponds till the end of the related chapter and is compiled into a singular 'Status Screen.' Additionally, the invented system below would continue to evolve as we progress and learn more about the novel itself.
MC's Status Information
Name: Gu Nan
Current Location: In a hidden cabin, Ruby Fish Star
Current Soul Location: N/A
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 2
Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm
Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow
Current Evil God Temple Quest:
→ Main Mission Objective/s:
-— Eliminate the six demonic factions. - External Source
◈ Status: On Going
-— Evil Event: Bai Luoluo's Blackening. - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: On Going
-— Help the White Dew Goddess survive for five days. - External Source
◈ Status: Cleared
→ Side Quest Objective:
-— Kill the six demonic factions Innate Realm and above cultivators. - External Source
◈ Status: On Going
Current Evil Points: 10
Overall Evil Points: 2285, Overall Evil Value: 51
Core Skill Acquired
— Shadow. ｢Also known precisely as 'The law of Shadow' - its one of the highest-ranked laws in the game. Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Normal Skills Acquired:
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
— Locked ｢N/A｣
Exclusive Skills Acquired:
— Deceitful Steps. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Movement Speed increased by 30%. Attack Speed increased by 50%｣
— Power of Shadows. [ LVL 2 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1, and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2..｣
▸Hidden Shadows. ｢The power to manipulate shadows to a fine degree.｣
▸Shadow Form. ｢An incomparable handy skill that allows the player to manipulate shadows to create things, like weapons and armor. At the highest level of mastery, it could even create a humanoid clone.｣
Equipment being worn
→ Armor
-— Dawn Sage's Robe. ｢Basic level defense. If you are not attacked within 3 seconds, you will receive the "Praise of Dawn" effect.｣
→ Weapon
-— Four Element Crossbow. ｢A Tier 2 crossbow weapon that can generate four types of elemental arrows—earth, water, wind, and fire—based on the user's needs and does not need to load arrows.｣
→ Accessories - Facial Accessories, Necklace, Earrings
-— Observer Eyepiece. ｢An eyepiece that have a fixed Tier 2 magic 'Insight' inscribe in it.｣
-— Dragon Heart Pendant. ｢Allows players to activate the skill "Dragon Power". This skill cannot be upgraded｣
-— Shadow Earrings. ｢Skill 'Power of Shadows' LVL +1｣
Equipment Skills Acquired:
-— Insight. ｢Ability to obtain high-precision data analysis when looking at people or objects.｣
-— Dragon Power. ｢Greatly enhances the player's strength and physique. Duration: 5 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes｣
-— Praise of Dawn. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Increases self-healing ability by 300%｣
Item/s owned:
→ None.