Regarding the woman named San Wei, Gu Nan knew at first glance that she was bound to be related to his mission.
He didn't need any notifications from the Evil God Temple or any clues to guide him. Just the keen observation skills of a high-end player was enough to spot the clues from her face.
Although San Wei was dressed in a bewitching manner, it didn't match her temperament at all. A woman who truly intended to seduce people would never make such a mistake.
So there was only one possibility—she dressed like this for other reasons.
Based on such a conjecture, it was much easier to find a clue from her face. For example, underneath the layers of decorative tattoos, there was actually a natural pattern at the center of San Wei's forehead.
It was a delicate little eagle. Ordinary people might think nothing of it, but Gu Nan had seen its original form.
That was Maes.
This woman's blood was required to activate Maes—Gu Nan immediately realized the game designer's intention.
…Although there's no game designer in this world.
San Wei was completely immobilized by the power of shadows and could only watch herself being bled. She stammered, "M-Mr. Gu…"
"Something the matter?" Gu Nan looked up in confusion, but his hand movements didn't stop, having collected almost half a bottle of the light golden blood.
For a while, San Wei didn't know what to say.
The objective of her trip was to investigate why people from White Mist wanted to meet Gu Nan, but how could she directly ask the target of her investigation? Even if he gave an answer, she still wouldn't dare to trust it.
Feng Lun, who was watching from the side with a dumbfounded look, finally reacted. He shouted angrily, "Gu Nan! Release this young lady right now. So what if you're on the Star Ranking? My father is also…"
Bang!
A shadowy hand directly slapped him away, uncaring whether he lived or died—Gu Nan had never been lenient to worthless NPCs.
When Gu Nan's small pill bottle was basically filled, Gu Nan nodded in satisfaction and said to San Wei, "Just now, you said that you want to know why people from White Mist are looking for me, right?"
San Wei sensed that she could finally move again and hurriedly stopped the bleeding while nodding repeatedly.
"Then you can follow me around for the time being. I'll take you with me when I meet White Mist." After Gu Nan said this, he picked up San Wei without giving her any chance to refuse.
He shook the medicine bottle in his hand, feeling that it was just enough to produce a dozen units of Maes.
'If this route is indeed the correct route to complete the mission, then I can't let this woman escape.'
He quickly took San Wei and left. From beginning to end, he never planned to talk to Qin Xuanji at all, so that the latter had been in a daze the entire time. Even after Gu Nan disappeared, she still didn't react for a long time.
...
"Hey, don't you and Qin Xuanji know each other?" On the way back to the residence, San Wei asked Gu Nan this.
Qin Xuanji had recounted her previous experience when she first entered the organization that San Wei belonged to. Although she didn't go into detail, she still mentioned Gu Nan's name. This was why San Wei came to ask Qin Xuanji for help this time.
But unexpectedly, Gu Nan never had any intention of talking to Qin Xuanji.
Gu Nan stared blankly, then replied, "You might be related to the mission, so of course you're more important. I don't have the time to care about others."
A player's logic had always been like this. They liked to chat with all the NPCs when they had nothing better to do, but when they had a mission, of course they'd head straight to the mission-related NPCs. Those who actually stopped in the middle of a mission to talk to completely irrelevant NPCs were simply idiots.
"What mission?" San Wei showed a curious look. The trick she just used on Feng Lun was once again used on Gu Nan.
"It's still unclear, so I'm going to test it out with some of your blood," Gu Nan replied in a serious manner.
San Wei: "I…"
...
Gu Nan took San Wei directly to the lab. Professor Lu Ming, who was leading the experiment today, was also there, so Gu Nan asked him directly, "Professor Lu, is there anything abnormal about the target's data?"
"It's basically normal." Lu Ming, an old man with white hair, spoke calmly, "The optimal feeding ratio shows that the target is tending towards frequent meals in smaller quantities."
Gu Nan nodded and took out a bag of pink crystals. "Try feeding her this."
This was exactly the drug he secretly created by feeding San Wei's blood to Maes.
Lu Ming agreed and took Gu Nan's bag of crystals away to analyze how its composition differed from the previous drugs in order to keep a record.
"That girl… What's going on with her?" San Wei continued to remain curious.
Gu Nan didn't care whether she was fishing for information or not and answered frankly, "A large amount of internal energy has accumulated inside her body. This drug can help her absorb her internal energy and even improve her cultivation."
Then San Wei gave a surprised yelp. "Is she like this from the moment she started cultivating?"
"You recognize her situation?" Gu Nan's eyes narrowed slightly. 'As expected. A fellow who has a Maes mark on her forehead can't possibly be unrelated to the mission.'
San Wei gritted her teeth. "Everyone who possesses our clan's bloodline is like this, but…"
She added some suspense, hoping Gu Nan would react, but when she glanced at Gu Nan, the latter still had an expressionless look, so she could only continue, "But the situation usually isn't this serious, and the accumulated internal energy will generally resolve itself on its own and expedite our cultivation."
Gu Nan nodded but didn't rush to take out the golden eagle. It was clear that Lin Yunyun's situation wasn't simply triggered by a bloodline mutation. Otherwise, it wouldn't be this severe.
When the crystals made from San Wei's blood were thrown into the room and fed to Lin Yunyun, a sudden change occurred.
Lin Yunyun seemed to have eaten too much tonic at once. She began to roar and scream, madly pounding everything around her with her fists and destroying everything she could see.
Bam!
The specially-made glass in front of Gu Nan, which was strong enough to block the attack of a peak Innate Realm warrior, was actually blown apart by her boundless internal energy.
Without the glass separating them, even San Wei could sense the terrifying aura emanating from Lin Yunyun. She was shocked to discover that this little girl actually had way more internal energy than her.
Lin Yunyun's internal energy had accumulated unhindered for over ten years, starting from childhood, so the amount of her internal energy far exceeded that of ordinary cultivators. And right now, all that internal energy was circulating throughout her body.
Lin Yunyun rushed over with a strange roar and lunged at Gu Nan.
The latter's expression remained unchanged as he reached out his right hand to gently grasp the air. Lin Yunyun was immediately gripped in midair by a huge hand of shadows, unable to move.
Only then did Gu Nan slowly step forward, gazing at the young girl's face with a faint smile. His expression contained a hint of relief that the puzzle had been solved.
A blue dot of light flickered on her forehead.
"So that's it."
...
The two Lan siblings were walking side by side. The younger sister, Lan Si, was saying some playful words when her body suddenly shook, and the exact same blue light lit up at the exact same spot between her brows.
Lan Ta's eyes widened, brimming with tears of excitement. "It appeared! This is… the godling's aura!"
...
Not far away, Qin Xuanji stopped and took out a blue crystal from her clothes. A fragment was embedded deep inside the crystal, and a faint blue light was emanating from the fragment.
Then she smiled lightly and put the crystal back while sending out a message:
[The target has appeared.]
...
Near Qin Xuanji's residence, Feng Lun crawled out from the rubble. Gu Nan's slap had almost overwhelmed him, and he was still coughing up blood uncontrollably from his mouth.
His blood flowed down his neck right into the pendant on his chest, and a round blue stone at the top of the pendant seemed to be attracted by something as it began to emit a faint light.
Feng Lun lowered his head in confusion, only to find a coolness coming from the round stone, instantly spreading to all his limbs and bones, making his whole body incomparably comfortable. His injuries also began to gradually recover.
"It's so refreshing! What kind of treasure is this?" Feng Lun looked at the round stone with indescribable pleasant surprise. "As expected of an item my old man brought back from an ancient ruin!"
In his surprise, Feng Lun didn't notice the three small gaps at the top of the round stone, which seemed to be missing three pieces.
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: Inside the villa given by Lu Zhanyu's family, Heavenly Enterprise Star
Current Soul Location: N/A
Status: ⟪ Evil God ⟫
Advancement Direction: Agility Type
Current Evil God Rank: Tier 3
Equivalent/Current Martial Art: Prodigious Realm
◈ Comprehension of Innate ability: Domain Stage
Chosen Core Skill: The Law of Shadow
Current Evil God Temple Quest:
→ Main Mission Objective/s:
-— Evil Event: N/A - Evil God Temple Issued
◈ Status: Pending
→ Side Quest Objective/s:
-— None. - N/A
◈ Status: N/A
Current Evil Points: 100
Overall Evil Points: 3875, Overall Evil Value: 130
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:
— Resistance. [ Passive Ability ] ｢Your body will resist damage, and any damage taken will be reduced by 50%｣
— 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 3 ] ｢Allows the players to activate the skill "Hidden Shadows" at LVL 1 and unlocks the skill "Shadow Form" at LVL 2. If the 'Power of Shadows' reached LVL 3, the player will be able to use the 'Law of Shadow' to a much finer degree.｣
▸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
-— Blade of the Sanguine King. ｢High attack. Ignores external defense. Enhanced sharpness. Triggers the effect "Curse of Blood" on hit.｣
◈ Curse of Blood. ｢This is a cursed divine weapon. Whenever your attack hits your opponent, you will take equal damage.｣
→ 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:
→ Four Element Crossbow. ｢Was used in Chapter 9-104.｣