It really had been a long time since Yan Xiaoxiao last saw Lin Jun.
Ever since Gu Nan took the latter to Star Realm as a substitute for Yan Xiaoxiao, the two had never met again.
"So the family you're in is behind the Yan Dynasty? Then what about the Celestial Fortune Sect?" Yan Xiaoxiao finally learned some secrets after chatting with Lin Jun for a while.
The three forces had been fighting against each other for so many years, so she naturally knew a lot about the two enemy organizations. But the specific identities of the masterminds behind them wasn't something a person from Immortal Demon World could know.
Lin Jun was a very strange existence. Although much time had passed, her cultivation hadn't changed at all, always lingering at the peak of Innate Realm. Even her appearance remained unchanged.
It was as if time couldn't affect her at all, regardless of whether she wanted it or not.
"The mastermind seems to be someone from another planet."
"Planet? The upper world really is interesting."
"Yeah, it's very big there, and there are many incredible people."
"How enviable…"
In front of Lin Jun, Yan Xiaoxiao no longer seemed like the monarch who ruled half of the continent. She hugged her knees to her chest and crouched in her seat. Her posture was very graceless, but her smile was very brilliant.
After chatting for a while, they both fell silent at the same time.
Then Lin Jun asked while staring at her, "Have you ever thought about leaving everything here behind and departing with me?"
Yan Xiaoxiao was silent for a while and finally shook her head gently. "I don't want to go there."
"Is it because of… your teacher?" Lin Jun revealed a faint smile, tilting her head slightly.
"No," Yan Xiaoxiao answered without much hesitation. "Back then, I just wanted to see what it feels like to stand at the top of the world."
"And now?"
"Now it has already become an obsession."
...
When a person pours an enormous amount of time into something but never receives the expected return, some will stubbornly insist on seeing it through to the end, disregarding everything else around them.
Yan Xiaoxiao was like this, and Gu Nan was also like this—trying to understand the principle behind Immortal Demon World's half-soul exchange had practically become his obsession.
Even if he knew that this was an insignificant matter—even if his subordinates weren't absolutely loyal, it still wouldn't hinder his leveling progress—Gu Nan still wanted to understand it thoroughly.
It was just like when a top player encountered a trashy map with an insanely high difficulty. Either he'd refuse to touch it from the beginning, or he'd clear it. Once he had invested time into it, he couldn't help but want to clear that map.
Meals can be skipped, sleep can be lost, and even libido can be ignored, but this map must be cleared.
Gu Nan was now in this semi-crazed state. Fortunately, he hadn't completely lost his mind, so he would still handle some serious matters while researching this.
Somewhere in the sky of Immortal Demon World, a figure directly tore open the void and slowly descended.
The only one able to do such a thing was naturally Gu Nan, who had already stepped into Tier 4.
The repulsive force from the world arrived as planned as soon as Gu Nan stepped foot into Immortal Demon World, but he didn't meekly endure it like usual.
He froze on the spot for an instant, and a glimmer of light flashed out from his heart. An indescribable force immediately circulated throughout his whole body.
The sense of rejection from Immortal Demon World actually dissipated by half under the gradual light given off by that mysterious power, and only a small portion remained.
"As expected, the repulsive force of the world also exists in the form of a law, so it's also affected by the law nullification crystal." Gu Nan showed a satisfied smile.
The law nullification attribute could nullify all laws. Although it wouldn't have any effect on existences at or above Tier 6 due to the limitations of the crystal's grade, it was clear that Immortal Demon World had yet to reach that level.
The current Gu Nan had already fully absorbed the law nullification crystal into his own body and even used his heart as the vessel.
For the crystal that Luo Fei only dared to use her arm to absorb part of its power, Gu Nan dared to fuse it directly with his heart. This was the difference between their physiques.
The higher his level, the greater advantage the Evil God physique would bring Gu Nan.
After cleaning up the world's repulsionary force, Gu Nan felt that the maximum time he could stay here was extended by at least a month. Only then did he land on the ground with satisfaction.
"My Lord, we've prepared everything you ordered." San Wei was already waiting there and hurriedly stepped forward as soon as she saw Gu Nan descend.
Red Tail had to oversee Heaven and Earth Star, so only a portion of White Mist's members were here. San Wei was one of them.
"Good." Gu Nan nodded as he followed San Wei and quickly reached the lab he requested.
There was already an unconscious man ready here. This wasn't a vessel for a reincarnator; this was just a normal person.
Because it was a given that all reincarnators in Immortal Demon World world only had half of their souls, they held absolutely no value as experimental material. He could only experiment on the natives.
"Let's start," Gu Nan casually said after a simple check of the equipment.
"Separating the outer layer of the subject's soul…Complete."
"Infusing the power of shadows…"
"Beginning to infect the subject's soul…"
"Drawing the third exchange array. Transferring the soul…"
"Abnormality… Abnormality…"
After a series of familiar procedures, Gu Nan was stunned by the results. His attempt to infect the subject's soul was neither a success nor a failure. Rather, it entered a strange state.
Unlike this world's origin, the power of shadows didn't displace half of the subject's soul and then enter the target's body as a separate force.
While Gu Nan's power did enter the experimental subject's body, it was in a winding and twisting manner, and the power of shadows had fully fused with the subject's soul.
"Did it work?" Gu Nan wasn't sure either. He could only say to San Wei beside him, "Wake him up."
Stimulants were quickly injected into the subject's bloodstream, and he began to stir faintly.
The second the man woke up, Gu Nan felt a wondrous sensation—he seemed to have become another person, easily reading the other party's thoughts and emotions.
He could see everything the other party saw and perceive everything the other party felt. Gu Nan was like an omniscient god who knew this person even better than the person knew himself.
'Isn't this just the status window in the game?' Gu Nan sensed all the information about this man in his mind, and his heart was frantically roasting.
Players themselves had no status windows in the Evil God game, but after establishing their own Divine Kingdoms, players could check the status windows of individual units within the Divine Kingdom.
Those status windows also appeared in the same form as the one right now. They presented all information directly inside the player's mind rather than through the rather ancient "stats breakout" method.
The advantage of this method was obvious. The conclusions drawn from a large amount of data were far more complete than a few dry words, and it was impossible for players to mistake the identity of any NPC.
'But… Why would the game's way of showing the status windows of units inside a Divine Kingdom appear in Immortal Demon World?'
'And why would Immortal Demon World's half-soul exchange method be the same method as players pulling up status windows of units inside their Divine Kingdoms?'
Gu Nan frowned as his brain slowly connected several pieces of information. He seemed to have drawn a somewhat bizarre conclusion.
'If we say that the essence of the half-soul exchange using this world's origin is the same as the essence of players viewing a unit's status window, then…'
'Perhaps this place was once a Divine Kingdom, but it's now fragmented.'