Chapter 173 : Ye Jingchen’s Ending
Chapter 173: Ye Jingchen’s Ending
【System Task: Participate in the Sect Grand Competition — Completed】
【Soul Lamp Value Obtained: 6 points】
【Side Quest Completed: Searching for the Destiny Luck Thief. Obtained 1 point of Soul Lamp Value】
【Side Quest Completed: Investigate the Destiny Luck Thief and prevent him from stealing the Destiny Luck of the Child of Destiny Nan Yuchen. Obtained 8 points of Soul Lamp Value】
【Current Soul Lamp Value: 46 points】
Long Tao had not expected that after being dragged to such a bizarre place, the System would still methodically report his task results.
Fortunately, this System had not been his boss in his previous life.
Otherwise, even if he had run to the far side of the moon or the Mariana Trench, he probably would have still received work messages at two in the morning.
Just as he was about to carefully examine the rewards this time, the entire platform suddenly trembled.
An existence impossible to describe in its vastness and terror slowly emerged like an ancient primordial beast awakening from slumber, silently enveloping this space.
Its will was cold and indifferent, devoid of the slightest emotion, as though it were the very rules suspended above the Nine Heavens.
Long Tao could not see this existence, yet he could clearly sense the presence of such a colossal being around him.
It felt like how an ant’s visual system could not perceive the full form of a human, yet could still sense the enormous body looming above it.
Above the platform, within the endless void, that existence seemed to slowly open its “eyes,” casting an indifferent “gaze” downward.
An ancient consciousness, seemingly woven from countless laws, resounded throughout the space with unquestionable authority.
“The sacrificial Destiny Luck… is insufficient.”
“The offering you have presented…” The consciousness seemed to “sweep” over Long Tao, carrying a faint ripple of near disdain. “…possesses meager Destiny Luck and scant spiritual vitality. Even the totality of all he owns is insufficient to pay the price for opening the gateway and drawing you here, much less… to be sacrificed unto me.”
“W-What?!” Ye Jingchen felt as though struck by lightning. The madness and fury on his face were instantly replaced by boundless terror. “No! Star Lord! You cannot! I… I can find more! I’ll go find a better sacrifice! I—”
Ye Jingchen was nearly driven insane. In his original plan, the sacrifice had been Saintess Yaxi.
With her absolute status as a Daughter of Destiny, her Destiny Luck combined with that of True Person Mingzhu would have been enough to pay the price of requesting the Star Lord’s intervention.
But… everything had been thrown into chaos. Long Tao’s Destiny Luck was so pitifully small that it was not even enough to fill the teeth of the Star Lord of Fate.
And the most fatal point was that the one who had signed the contract with this Star Lord was himself.
If the offered Destiny Luck proved insufficient, the other party would not seek compensation from Mingzhu or from Long Tao. Instead, it would fix its gaze upon him, the contractor.
He frantically tried to beg the Star Lord for another chance, but that icy will did not waver in the slightest.
“The contract… once established, the price… must be paid.”
Before the words had fully fallen, the runes beneath Ye Jingchen’s feet abruptly lit with a dim glow.
Countless black chains like writhing tendrils shot out from the void and instantly bound him tightly!
“No!! Star Lord, spare me! Give me one more chance! I am willing to be your slave for eternity! For eternity!!!”
Ye Jingchen let out a scream of utter despair. Long Tao watched in horror as Ye Jingchen’s body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His cultivation, his vitality… even the stolen Destiny Luck he had relied upon so heavily were all being madly siphoned away by those black chains!
But it was still not enough.
That cold will seemed extremely dissatisfied with such “harvest.”
At last, after all his power had been drained, the chains suddenly pierced into the center of Ye Jingchen’s forehead!
“Urghhh—!!!”
With one final short and desperate wail, Ye Jingchen’s body convulsed violently, and the light in his eyes went completely dark.
A blurred, twisted phantom filled with unwillingness and venomous hatred was forcibly torn from his shriveled shell.
Long Tao, who stood watching at the side, was utterly stunned with fear. Ye Jingchen’s Divine Soul was torn from his body by that mysterious existence with effortless ease.
He could not even struggle before it was shredded by the strangling chains into the purest energy, absorbed into the void. Only a wisp of remnant soul remained, swept away like dust by a passing wind, disappearing into emptiness.
Soul Scattering and Dissipation! Long Tao had never imagined he would witness the legendary Soul Scattering and Dissipation with his own eyes.
For a moment, he did not even know how to react. He only knew that with a single thought from that mysterious existence, he too would vanish.
Upon the platform, only a lifeless corpse remained, shriveled like dried meat. The face was frozen in extreme terror and disbelief at the moment of death.
Yet that existence did not even seem to bother glancing at Long Tao again.
Soon, the immense will that had enveloped the platform receded like a tide, as if it had never appeared.
While Long Tao was still bewildered, another figure suddenly fell from above onto the platform.
When he focused his gaze, he saw that perfect figure and immortal-like beauty—it was True Person Mingzhu!
He hurried over to help her up, only to discover that her complexion was only slightly better than Ye Jingchen’s had been earlier. Her entire body was weak and languid, like that of a sick and frail mortal.
“True Person! How did you also—?”
True Person Mingzhu looked up at him and forced a bitter smile.
“As expected… you were dragged here as well. Heh. Still, being alive is already fortunate.”
“T-This… what exactly happened? What was that existence just now? It directly captured us from within the sect!”
……
True Person Mingzhu sat cross-legged to regulate her breathing for a moment. Her pale complexion improved slightly before she slowly recounted her earlier confrontation with Ye Jingchen.
The more Long Tao listened, the more alarmed he became. He had thought Ye Jingchen was merely a lecher skilled in Charm Technique, but who would have imagined he was a calamity capable of stealing Destiny Luck?
He had believed handing him over to the sect would allow them to rest easy, yet behind him lurked a terrifying existence that even the sect’s great figures were unprepared for!
No wonder the side quest to investigate him had offered richer rewards than the main task… Now that he thought about it, the few points of Soul Lamp Value the System gave him felt like alms tossed to a beggar.
“But, True Person,” he asked, “that terrifying existence just now—was it truly the legendary… Star Lord of Fate?”
“Most likely.” True Person Mingzhu sighed softly. “Before Ye Jingchen opened the gate, the name he cried out in desperation was precisely that.”
“How powerful is this Star Lord?”
“I do not know in detail. I have only learned from fragmented ancient texts that he was an orthodox god of the Ancient Heavenly Court who governed fate. Even in that era filled with great beings, he would likely have been considered among the strong.” She paused, a trace of bitterness curling at her lips. “A Golden Core cultivator like me is no different from you in his eyes—both are as ants.”
“Then why did he not deal with us completely, as he did Ye Jingchen?”
“After the heavens and earth shattered, these so-called great beings who barely cling to existence are themselves unstable.” True Person Mingzhu explained,
“You and I were born in the Uncircumvented Heaven World. Our lives, Destiny Luck, and even our cultivation are tightly bound to this world. If the Star Lord of Fate merely takes a portion of Destiny Luck, it may not matter. But if he dares to kill outright and plunder the root, he would inevitably incur the backlash and hostility of the world’s will. For him, such a transaction would be far too unprofitable.”
“Then why was Ye Jingchen…”
“He must have signed some kind of contract with the Star Lord of Fate.” True Person Mingzhu said with certainty. “Once he voluntarily offered his body and soul to an existence beyond the world, the world’s will would no longer protect him. What happened to him just now was most likely the consequence of that contract.”
Long Tao suddenly understood. “So every one of us out there can be considered as having ‘backing’?”
“Reluctantly, yes.” True Person Mingzhu nodded faintly. “Those ancient relics from antiquity are far from as omnipotent as legends claim. As long as one is not tempted by their conditions, they find it difficult to harm those within each world. Unfortunately…” Her gaze dimmed. “There will always be people like Ye Jingchen who cannot resist temptation.”
At this point, she suddenly let out a soft laugh, tinged with teasing.
“Still, he truly was unlucky. If the one captured had been Saintess Yaxi, with her vast Destiny Luck, it would have been enough to pay the price for summoning the Star Lord’s intervention. Yet instead, it was you.”
“Wait!” Long Tao suddenly seized upon the key point. “Then True Person, your Destiny Luck—?”
“Yes, quite a bit was taken.” Her tone was so calm it seemed she spoke of someone else’s affairs. “But it does not matter. Once one reaches the Golden Core Realm, Destiny Luck is no longer a decisive factor. To trade the cost borne by me alone for an ancient Heavenly Court key for the sect…”
A resolute light flashed in her eyes. “It is far too worth it! I believe even True Lord Luohong had been prepared for sacrifice.”
“Please don’t speak so pessimistically!” Long Tao said anxiously. “We can still salvage this somehow, can’t we?”