Everything happened so fast that Yue Chenxing and Tang Xuan didn't even have time to react, but Ye Zhiyu had already fallen to the ground.
What they didn't expect was that Gu Nan had already appeared sometime when they were talking.
With a foot on Ye Zhiyu's head and a light smile on his face, he looked down on them and asked, "What happens if I don't obey?"
"Gu Nan, you..." Tang Xuan looked at Gu Nan, who suddenly appeared, and couldn't speak for a while.
The current Gu Nan was too different from her impression of him.
Tang Xuan hadn't actually met him in person after he left, so her impression of him was still that of a somewhat talented but weak junior.
Yet the young man in front of her was dressed in a moon-white robe embroidered with gold. His black hair was scattered at random, and his eyes were cold. His entire person was like a sharp arrow drawn from the quiver, so intense that people didn't dare to meet his eyes.
'Is this the real him?' Tang Xuan inexplicably remembered Gu Nan's calm expression when she took him to test his talent in the past.
Setting aside Tang Xuan's complicated emotions, Ye Zhiyu finally came back to herself and immediately fell into a rage. "Gu Nan, you're courting death!"
A strong wave of flames surged up, and Ye Zhiyu's entire body began to emit a red glow. The red glow possessed a terribly high temperature, and even the surrounding air became roasted and distorted.
This was Ye Zhiyu's innate ability—Flame Ripple. If given enough time, she could release flame rays at extremely high temperatures, with each ray being fatal and hard to defend against. It was a very powerful innate ability.
"Trivial skill." Gu Nan chuckled lightly. The shadows on the ground quickly covered Ye Zhiyu. Countless fine black threads shot out. Each thread just happened to hit the ripples.
The Flame Ripple went out at a speed invisible to the naked eye until Ye Zhiyu's whole body was covered with shadows, without any hint of red.
"He really is at the 'Infinitesimal Stage!' Moreover, this is... shadow innate ability!" As the only Infinitesimal Stage master among the three, Yue Chenxing saw through Gu Nan's cultivation realm at a glance and was shocked.
The so-called Infinitesimal Stage meant that cultivators had a perfect grasp of their own innate abilities and could freely adjust the intensity of their attacks, smoothly controlling their own powers. It was just like Wen Changfeng back then, using air explosions to bomb someone or lift himself up with air pressure.
Gu Nan's method, which perfectly neutralized someone else's innate ability, was a high-difficulty skill, even among Infinitesimal Stage masters!
Ye Zhiyu, being trampled underfoot by Gu Nan, was also dumbstruck right now. She never thought that her innate ability would be defeated so easily like this...
Her Flame Ripple had always been famous for its high attack power. It would still be normal if her opponent dodged the attacks, but the other party forcibly suppressed her with his own innate ability.
This sense of powerlessness suffocated Ye Zhiyu's heart.
...
In the end, Gu Nan didn't issue a killing blow. Under Yue Chenxing and Tang Xuan's persuasion, he offhandedly let Ye Zhiyu go.
Ye Zhiyu also didn't have the face to stay here any longer. She turned around and left without another word.
"No matter. I'll inform her of our course of action later." Yue Chenxing wasn't worried about this. Instead, he looked at Gu Nan and said, "Brother Gu, many thanks for having mercy."
Gu Nan had a good-natured expression as he waved his hand. "I've never liked senseless killing."
Yue Chenxing and Tang Xuan both felt their lips twitch. They had some knowledge about Gu Nan's past achievements...
Gu Nan felt no such feelings about that. From the start, he thought of himself as a normal person. He only killed to obtain rewards. Why would he kill someone if there were no rewards to be gained?
It was just like coming here to kill that monk. He wouldn't have come if Tang Xuan didn't mention that the other party had already joined the demon path.
"Based on our organization's information, Monk Jing Nan is a famous independent reincarnator. He lives in Star Realm's Sixth Region and rarely intervenes in the missions of large organizations. I don't know what Satsuma Heaven used to convince him this time."
Radiant Tower had been here for several years now, so of course they had long since uncovered the identity of the opposing reincarnator organization.
Satsuma Heaven was a reincarnator organization that only began to flourish in the past few decades. It mainly operated in the Sixth Region, so it wasn't strange that Satsuma Heaven could get in touch with a person like Monk Jing Nan.
"What's Jing Nan's level?" Gu Nan asked this key question.
"At least Infinitesimal Stage. Some people say that the core of his domain has already formed, so it's only a matter of time before he steps into Domain Stage," Yue Chenxing answered in a subdued voice.
Gu Nan couldn't help rolling his eyes. "The four of us are going to kill an opponent like that? Forget it, let's just go home and sleep."
"Of course it's not that simple... Listen to us first," Tang Xuan interrupted.
"We dare to attack Jing Nan because he already has serious injuries..."
After hearing Yue Chenxing's explanation, Gu Nan finally understood the source of their confidence.
Jing Nan himself had nothing to do with the world mission this time and didn't intend to help Satsuma Heaven. The relationship between the two of them was more like cooperation. Satsuma Heaven would provide information, while Jing Nan came here to complete a different mission.
A heavily injured Jing Nan would at most still keep his cultivation realm, but his strength had almost deteriorated to Origin Stage.
In that case, attempting to kill him with the lineup of two Infinitesimal and two Origin Stage cultivators wouldn't be an impossible task.
Gu Nan understood their intentions a little more and asked, "Is his mission related to that saint and saintess?"
"To be exact, it's related to a treasure from the demonic path."
...
"Master, thank you for saving us."
Yin Pagoda Sect's saint and saintess were both surnamed Zhang. He and his sister were Yin Pagoda Sect's last remaining descendants now. Jing Nan led them out of the dense forest, and they fled all the way to Luo City. Only then did the saint feel relieved after surviving the calamity.
"Amitabha. The Buddha enlightens all the people in the world. How can this humble monk not save someone at death's door?" Jing Nan folded his hands together in prayer, although his face held no expression.
The saint was still thanking him gratefully, but the saintess beside him, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "What did Master come here for?"
Jing Nan's gaze turned slightly and fell on the saintess, showing a trace of approval. "Benefactor, may I ask for your name?"
"My name is Zhang Yao. This is my older brother, Zhang Tianxu." Zhang Yao, the saintess, looked calmer than her brother. Her tone and expression didn't show any vexation, and no one would be able to tell that she had just escaped from death's door.
Monk Jing Nan nodded slightly. "This humble monk has come here for an item called the Disc of Demonic Mysteries."
"The Demonic Disc!" Zhang Tianxu's expression shook, and he hurriedly spoke, "Master, I know this treasure. Its last owner is a senior from my Yin Pagoda Sect!"
"Oh? Benefactor, do you know where it is?" A smile appeared on Jing Nan's face.
"I know... eh? But it's a demonic path treasure!" Zhang Tianxu was about to answer, but he realized something halfway through.
'Why does this Buddhist master want to find a demonic path treasure?'
Without waiting for Zhang Tianxu to speak, Saintess Zhang Yao directly revealed the treasure's whereabouts without any hesitation, "It's here in Luo City. It was seized by Jin Country's royal family a few years ago, but they can't activate it. It should still be inside the royal family's secret treasury right now."
Zhang Tianxu turned his head and looked at his younger sister in confusion. A trace of helplessness flashed through his eyes.
In his opinion, since this master wants that treasure, they could use it as the price for asking this master to help them kill the Polis Witch...
Jing Nan nodded. "Benefactor, thank you."
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: Somewhere at the Ruby Fish Star
Current Soul Location: Luo City at the capital of Jin Country, Immortal Demon World
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 3
Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm
◈ Comprehension of Innate ability: Infinitesimal Stage
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
→ Side Quest Objective:
-— Kill the six demonic factions Innate Realm and above cultivators. - External Source
◈ Status: On Going
Current Evil Points: 350
Overall Evil Points: 2625, Overall Evil Value: 60
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. [ Passive Ability ] ｢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.