First Encounter

"How are you still alive..."

Chen Guan pressed his foot down on Yue Teng's wrist. He lowered his head, the cold gleam of his scythe sweeping across Yue Teng's bloodshot eyes.

"Is this the extent of your last words?"

Chen Guan's voice was flat.

Yue Teng convulsed in agony, staring into Chen Guan's indifferent eyes, letting out a neurotic, eerie laugh.

"Last words?"

"At the dawn of this great era, you're talking to me about last words."

A guttural sound came from his throat as he tried to force himself up, only to be stomped back down harder by Chen Guan.

"Just watch."

Yue Teng's gaze shifted toward the top of the temple.

His face, twisted with extreme excitement, looked grotesque.

"Where you stand is the vessel of the ruling power."

"When I sacrifice this body, a black tide will drown everything here."

As he chanted the incantation, the air in the temple warped, and the black sludge seeping from the cracks in the stone pillars began to boil.

Countless black lines shot up from the ground, blotting out the light above the temple.

Looking at the scene before him, Chen Guan actually believed now that the man lying at his feet was some kind of scion of a believer.

Chen Guan hesitated. There was much he wanted to ask about the Lord of Nothingness, but with An Changqing and the others present, how could he bring it up?

Long Ao's right arm crackled with thunderous lightning as he prepared to charge at Chen Guan.

"Don't go over there."

An Changqing raised a hand, holding Long Ao back by the shoulder.

Su Yuehe stood behind the two of them. She could feel everything here was crazily converging toward Chen Guan. "Can he handle it alone?"

Watching Chen Guan's back, she asked quietly.

"If it's him, maybe."

An Changqing frowned, remaining on high alert.

The black energy on the altar expanded to its limit.

It formed menacing tentacles in the air, lunging straight at Chen Guan.

The scene was earth-shattering, as if it would level the entire temple in the next second.

The moment the black energy touched the hem of Chen Guan's robe, it suddenly stopped.

Three meters away from Chen Guan, all the black energy ground to a halt.

The oppressive feeling in the air vanished.

Then, an eerie silence spread through the temple.

Chen Guan maintained his stance, one foot still pressing down on Yue Teng, his expression unchanged.

Those black lines that had been about to attack now trembled wildly in the air.

On Chen Guan's retina, comments scrolled at breakneck speed.

[I told you Old Demon Chen was cheating—he can even borrow the boss's skills.]

[This is his home turf; this underground temple was already his domain.]

[Right now, Yue Teng's mood is probably, "I hired bodyguards, and they just turned around and tied me up."]

Chen Guan tilted his head. Old Demon Chen? Some new nickname?

At the edge of the altar, Yue Teng's smile froze on his face.

He watched the power he had summoned, the black energy capable of destroying everything, slowly drooping.

They weren't gathering for another attack.

They were bowing their heads to Chen Guan.

Chen Guan slowly released his foot from Yue Teng's wrist.

He reached out, his fingers gently parting the black energy blocking his view, and the black energy behaved submissively under his touch.

"So this is your so-called master?"

Chen Guan turned his head, fixing his gaze on Yue Teng, who was sprawled on the ground.

"Is this all the trump card you're so proud of?"

Yue Teng's fingers dug deep into the stone slabs.

"No."

"Impossible."

He couldn't accept what was happening.

He had prepared for this moment for centuries. Generation after generation of his family had struggled on, just to revive their master.

And now, it had all crumbled in the wave of a young man's hand.

"This black energy is mine!"

Yue Teng roared in mad desperation, trying to command those threads again with his bloodline incantation.

The black energy no longer obeyed any of his commands.

It didn't even ripple. It just hovered quietly at Chen Guan's side.

In Yue Teng's despairing eyes, countless black threads simultaneously changed direction.

Their target was clear.

It was Yue Teng's body.

The black energy coiled up his limbs, burrowing into his skin and bones.

"Aaaaaah!"

Yue Teng's scream echoed throughout the temple.

His muscles, once swollen with excitement, rapidly shriveled under the gnawing of the black energy.

The intense pain sent him rolling wildly across the metal floor, his flesh sloughing off, exposing the white bone beneath.

An Changqing watched the scene, involuntarily turning his head away.

This kind of scene was indeed brutal.

Chen Guan blinked, his back to the others.

Don't look at me... What's happening isn't my fault...

Uh oh, I really have become Old Demon Chen.

Just as Yue Teng was about to die, a scroll slowly unfurled before everyone's eyes, and a delicate young woman stepped out from within.

"Am I late?"

The girl said softly. Then, with a wave of her hand, all the black energy covering Yue Teng vanished.

"Who are you?" An Changqing watched her warily.

"My name is Santai, just an ordinary passerby who lost her way."

Santai said with a smile. Su Yuehe's expression shifted, suddenly remembering something, and she tensed up. "You're the one who was wanted back in Jiangcheng?"

Her tone was certain, and Santai looked at her with surprise. This young woman she'd never seen before could name her wanted status on the spot.

Truly, heroes come from the young. None of them were simple.

Santai didn't deny it. She simply replied, "I'm here to take back what's mine. Don't get in my way, and I have no desire to crush you future rising stars."

With that, she didn't wait for any of them to respond. She turned and walked straight toward the center of the altar, and with a flick of her wrist, a scroll fell into her hand.

Santai turned back and casually waved her hand. "Alright, big sister won't keep you company. Do as you please."

Then, she vanished—just as she had appeared, with no trace.

Yue Teng was left where he lay, his fate unknown.

Long Ao hadn't spoken at all. He thought he was probably the only one among them who knew who that woman really was.

Was her coming here a coincidence? Long Ao thought carefully. It must have been a coincidence, since those animated paintings earlier did match her abilities.

Thinking about it that way, it wasn't strange. Just an ordinary chance encounter, Long Ao told himself.

An Changqing was the first to break the silence between them. "Things have gone too far for us to handle. Take Yue Teng with us. Let's get above ground and report to the Association first."

No one objected. Long Ao hoisted Yue Teng, who was limp as a dead dog, over his shoulder, and the group retraced their steps, back to the surface.

Chen Guan was the last to leave. He paused, glancing back at the scene behind him.

Lord of Nothingness, those black energies, Yue Teng... what's the connection between us all?

This damn system of his was useless as always. It had long since abandoned him, and Chen Guan was now completely on his own.