On the vast grassland, countless cavalry arrived in an instant. They wore uniform armor and called themselves the Azure Dragon Army.
A cavalryman whistled past Gu Nan and was flattened into a pancake by him. The movement was a little loud and scared Lu Zhanyu.
She looked at Gu Nan's slightly gloomy face and wondered, "What's the matter? Is your karma very troublesome?"
Gu Nan shook his head. The original body's memories were still emerging slowly, informing him of the development of the world in the past twenty years and their current situation.
This was actually Immortal Demon World twenty years later!
The chaos in the world twenty years ago had now become a struggle between Southern Chen and Northern Jin; the war between the righteous and demonic paths twenty years ago had now become a war with the disciples of Four Gates all fighting against Azure Dragon Hall…
Too many things had happened in the past twenty years, and the changes made Gu Nan unable to react for a while.
But what puzzled him most was: 'Why did Immortal Demon World suddenly jump ahead by twenty years?'
Even if time passed faster compared to Star Realm, the change still shouldn't be so large. Moreover, the plane coordinates were also different from the original... 'Is this a similar but alternate plane?'
'That's not right either.' Azure Dragon Hall was personally built by Gu Nan, after all.
Gu Nan was still puzzled, but he heard a voice around him.
"What are you two staring blankly at? Quickly cover the Miss during her retreat!" A middle-aged man with a sharp mouth and cheeks, wearing ill fitting armor, scolded them.
Gu Nan slowly pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned to look at Lu Zhanyu. "The mission is to protect that Miss?"
"That's right."
Gu Nan nodded and looked back at the middle-aged man. "Lead the way."
"What did you say?!" The middle-aged man was suddenly infuriated. "As her bodyguards, how can you two not even know the location..."
Smack!
Gu Nan slapped him in the face, directly twisting his head 180 degrees. His body fell heavily.
"Looks like he doesn't know. Let's find the location ourselves," Gu Nan explained calmly, looking like he'd just done a trivial thing.
Lu Zhanyu was a little stunned. This was the first time she participated in this kind of mission with Gu Nan; the previous "tower defense" mission didn't give Gu Nan room to display his usual style.
'No wonder he isn't worried about working with me… Could this actually be his true face?' Lu Zhanyu looked at Gu Nan's profile and felt an unspeakable feeling in her heart.
They began to wander around in the chaos. Fortunately, Azure Dragon Hall's cavalry had a clear goal. As long as they judged the direction of the troops, it wouldn't be hard to find the goal.
「Main Mission: Protect Zhang Yueying for 30 days」
There was merely one lonely main mission from the Evil God Temple. Nothing else was included. Clearly, this mission didn't have many side quests, so there wasn't much to gain from exploring the storyline.
After running all the way, they soon approached the edge of the battlefield. For a war of pursuit, this was actually the core battlefield.
"Miss, please hold on for a little longer. Reinforcements from Four Gates will arrive soon!" An old man with white hair and beard was valiantly fighting the enemy. He was bleeding all over, but his words were full of confidence.
The "Miss" he addressed was a girl in plain clothes. She held a thin sword in her hand, but she frequently stabbed the precise chink in the enemies' armor, exhibiting a very high level of swordsmanship.
But in Gu Nan's eyes, this swordsmanship looked a little familiar.
"Zhang Yueying, you traitor of Azure Dragon Hall. You might as well just give up and wait for death!" Someone in the Azure Dragon Army shouted.
The slender sword in Zhang Yueying's hand didn't tremble at all. She calmly replied, "Azure Dragon Hall has committed all kinds of evil, bringing disaster to the country and the people. It's everyone's duty to eradicate it!"
"Hahaha, to think a prostitute still wants to set up a memorial archway [1]!" A powerful voice traveled over, and the Azure Dragon cavalry slowly stepped aside, revealing a man in blue armor.
The old man's face changed slightly. "Miss, it's Huo Mingda, the commander of the Sixth Army. He reached the peak of Innate Realm two years ago and is one of the few experts in this world…"
"Old Man Bai, there's no need for you to explain. Your family's Miss knows much better than you." Huo Mingda sneered, "Did you know that when she was in Azure Dragon Hall, she was actually one of the Five Saintesses..."
Slash!
Before Huo Mingda finished his sentence, a strange but light noise came from the battlefield, and he suddenly stopped speaking. In full view of everyone present, the head of the victorious general slowly slid down!
Everyone suddenly fell silent. Only then did they notice a figure standing behind him.
That person was dressed in white and had black hair. He looked indifferent, as if killing Huo Mingda was just like swatting a fly.
This was naturally Gu Nan. After he killed Huo Mingda, he kicked Huo Mingda's head away, where it landed right next to Lu Zhanyu—this person was precisely the target of her karma.
At this time, Azure Dragon Army's soldiers finally reacted and roared in anger one by one.
"He killed the commander!"
"Go, kill him and avenge the commander!"
"Kill!"
Gu Nan smiled coldly. The shadows under his feet suddenly expanded to include everyone around him, and sharp blades appeared out of thin air.
Countless soldiers only felt a pain under their feet. Their whole bodies were then pierced by shadow blades, and they lost all vitality.
With this move alone, hundreds of Azure Dragon Army soldiers died in Gu Nan's hands. The dead were sliced smoothly and cleanly, leaving only pieces of flesh. Unexpectedly, no one had an intact corpse.
A large space was cleared around Gu Nan, yet no one dared to move forward for a while.
"I-It's a grandmaster!"
"Retreat now! A grandmaster just attacked!"
Azure Dragon Army may be an army, but they were also martial artists. They had an unbelievably clear concept of "Prodigious Realm grandmaster", which wasn't an existence mortals could hope to oppose.
Perhaps Innate Realm experts could still be killed by an army, but once a cultivator entered Prodigious Realm, they'd be able to control the power of Heaven and Earth by activating their innate ability. After that, they wouldn't fear a massive army anymore.
So Azure Dragon Army's cavalry came quickly and also fled quickly. They scattered in a few minutes.
Old Man Bai and Zhang Yueying were still in a daze. 'The Four Gates doesn't have such a grandmaster… Is he someone who recently advanced to Prodigious?'
In any case, Old Man Bai hurriedly came up to salute and thank him, "Thank you for your help. Your Highness, may I ask which of the Four Gates you're from?"
Lu Zhanyu came up and played along with his question, "We are not from the Four Gates, but... Hey!"
Halfway through her sentence, Gu Nan had already punched Old Man Bai in the face. With one blow, his facial features were completely deformed and his face sunk inwards.
Zhang Yueying's expression changed. "You..."
However, the next moment, everything turned dark, and she lost consciousness.
...
When Zhang Yueying woke up again, she was lying flat in the carriage, and the man and woman who kidnapped her were sitting beside her and talking.
She dared not open her eyes immediately and simply eavesdropped on the conversation between the two.
"We need to protect her. Why are you so rough..." The female voice was complaining.
And the man's next words made Zhang Yueying torn with anxiety.
"The mission's only objective is to prevent her from dying. Wouldn't kidnapping her and hiding in the mountains be the easiest way?"
'I still have important information to hand over to Four Gates. How can I be kidnapped by these two?'
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: Gu family's residence, Ruby Fish Star
Current Soul Location: Unknown Mountain, 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:
-— Evil Event: Ruby Fish Star's Martial Arts Competition. - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: On Going
-— Protect Zhang Yueying for 30 days. - External Source
◈ Status: On Going
→ Side Quest Objective:
-— None. - N/A
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 1500
Overall Evil Points: 3775, Overall Evil Value: 97
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.