No matter who had more kills, it wouldn't affect Gu Nan's rewards.
Based on Astral Gate's logic, even if Gu Nan killed his employer afterwards, it would still have nothing to do with his mission—unless his mission was to protect a target.
Of course, such behavior would also be recorded. If someone wanted to hire Gu Nan again in the future, the potential employer would be informed of this record.
But this was no longer important either, because 100,000 origin crystals were in hand now, so Gu Nan had no need for missions anymore.
When Gu Nan exchanged 100,000 origin crystals for active world origins all at once, even the spirit of Astral Gate Hall paused.
"Ying Ge's Next-Door Neighbor Uncle Wang, please confirm your exchange request."
In Astral Gate's entire history, there had probably never been such a strange exchange like Gu Nan's. He actually exchanged for 100,000 origin crystals' worth of active origins at one time.
It was hard for both Star Rulers and Void Cutters to use such a huge amount of world origins, and doing so in one exchange was even more inconceivable.
Active origins weren't collectibles. They would quickly lose their effectiveness if not used in time. Who could use up so much at once?
If he had the opportunity, Gu Nan would tell them that the Evil God Temple could.
The Evil God Temple swallowed the active origins exchanged from 100,000 origin crystals without hesitation, then began to slowly digest it.
So when Gu Nan looked at the Evil God Temple, from time to time, there was a notification of ｢Corrupting the divine fire｣ as his Evil Value slowly increased.
"It'll take around two or three days." Gu Nan glanced at the growth rate and immediately determined.
Active origins were divine fire, and the Evil Value gained from corrupting the same amount of divine fire would eventually slow down or even decrease—this was within Gu Nan's expectations.
In fact, even when players slew gods in the game's later stages, they would also experience a reduction in Evil Value earned if they killed too many gods of the same level.
This setting was made to urge players to constantly challenge new heights, and it could also be said to prevent players from taking advantage of loopholes.
Without this kind of design, it was definitely possible for players to raise gods in captivity to farm Evil Value.
But as a result, Gu Nan suddenly had a lot more free time for a short while. He stayed in his residence inside Zi Luo Heaven, quietly waiting for the day his Evil Value would reach 2,500.
However, he did receive a guest while waiting.
"What a rare guest!" Gu Nan looked at the Zi Dian in front of him and exclaimed with his face full of surprise.
Gu Nan's residence in Zi Luo Heaven was no secret. After all, he found it right under Ying Ge's eyes, and even Zi Yi could find it easily.
However, the fact that Zi Dian actually visited him alone still surprised Gu Nan.
"Did something happen to that brat Ying Ge?" This was naturally Gu Nan's first reaction. "I'm not interested in accepting another mission."
"She's fine." Zi Dian replied, "I'm just here as bait to attract some people's attention."
Gu Nan suddenly realized, "You two are finally willing to part."
Zi Dian smiled mildly. "Of course I learned a lesson after someone killed her right in front of my eyes."
He was referring to what happened in Dream World. Although it was a dream, it didn't mean that the two dreamers couldn't understand what happened after the incident, and they were able to clearly recall events from the dream.
This guy in front of him seemed to be a natural assassin. Even with Zi Dian's protection, Ying Ge still died without being able to fight back at all.
Afterwards, Zi Dian felt some lingering fear but also rejoiced that this person hadn't been employed by the enemy.
"You came all the way here just to talk to me about this?" Gu Nan didn't pay much attention to Zi Dian's statement and asked bluntly.
With his current strength, he no longer feared any Void Cutter cultivator, not to mention he also had Deity's Descent as backing.
Even after advancing to Tier 5, this transformation-type godly skill could still bring him great benefits. After all, it was his third law.
Zi Dian shook his head, then stood up. "I just came to confirm your allegiance, and now I've confirmed it."
As this sentence fell, Zi Dian's figure disappeared from Gu Nan's residence. Gu Nan shot him a curious glance. Not even he himself was aware that he had any allegiance. How could this person be so sure?
After Zi Dian left Gu Nan's side, his figure appeared next to Zi Yi.
"How is it? Is it possible for him to take Zuo Zuo's side?"
"Don't worry." Zi Dian shook his head lightly. "He doesn't seem to be interested in our fight. And now, he isn't even interested in origin crystals anymore."
...
No matter what Zi Dian confirmed, Gu Nan's advancement wouldn't be hindered by anyone.
Perhaps the Evil God Temple was still digesting a portion of the active origins it had "eaten," but his Evil Value had already reached 2,500, and he also had enough points.
Gu Nan's will sank into the Evil God Temple. His heart was calm.
｢Advance Tier｣
With Gu Nan's order, the Evil God Temple abruptly changed.
On Gu Nan's status panel, the three laws of substitution, resurrection, and Deity lit up one after another, finally surrounding "shadow" in the center and respectively connecting to it.
In the eyes of people from this world, the process of advancing to Tier 5 entailed the Void Cutter cultivator thoroughly refining their own laws and finally achieving perfection.
But in Gu Nan's case, it was the process of combining each of the three laws he selected with his core law of shadows.
Among them, substitution originated from the law of shadows in the first place, so it was naturally the easiest to combine; resurrection was also driven by the power of shadows, so it wasn't hard to fuse either; only the Deity law progressed extremely slowly.
However, a gradually weakening connection between the three laws and his core law was a deliberate move on Gu Nan's part.
No matter how slow the progress, there would always be a day when the laws finished merging. No matter how powerful the law, there was still no escaping the Evil God Temple!
When the Deity law was completely taken over by shadows, the golden body symbolizing the "Deity" icon had already turned jet black.
Gu Nan had no doubt that if he activated Deity's Descent right now, he would become a blackened version of a deity.
The moment the three major laws completely fused with the law of shadows, Gu Nan's Evil God physique immediately received another strengthening, and the strengthening effect was even greater than before.
An indescribable force erupted from within his body. Gu Nan felt like his entire body was swollen, as if he would explode instantly.
If normal people encountered this kind of situation, they'd probably be worried to death out of fear that they would explode, but Gu Nan remained calm.
He had experienced such a situation too many times. Once players reached a certain level, something heaven-defying like the Evil God physique would have such an effect every time players leveled up.
｢Advancement Complete｣
Two calm and emotionless words appeared on the Evil God Temple's notification panel. Gu Nan took a deep breath. He knew it wasn't over. Rather, it was just the beginning.
His consciousness returned to reality inside Immortal Demon World. Lan Si had worked her heart out but only managed to repair an embryonic form of the world's origin, which she called the "Stone of the World." It was currently floating in front of Gu Nan.
Even throughout Gu Nan's many years of gaming history, he'd never encountered such a good opportunity before.
The instant he advanced to Tier 5, a perfect Divine Kingdom had already been placed right before him.