You further unleashed the power of the Flames of Suyang, using large-scale illusions to provoke humanity's most primal fears.
Some saw the hull splitting apart, the depths of space about to devour everything.
Some saw hideous monsters crawling out of the walls, choosing their prey and tearing into them.
Some saw their family and friends suddenly become twisted and unfamiliar, revealing venomous smiles.
In an instant, the cruise ship fell from a luxurious paradise into a bloody hell.
Everyone exposed their ugliest side.
These people who normally held themselves so high above others were no different from beggars on the street in the face of death.
To seize the limited survival supplies, they began attacking one another, blades drawn.
A brutal, bloody battle royale began inside this massive metal cage.
You swam through this sea of negative emotions... To you, these intense feelings were more delicious than any material sustenance.
Your Flames of Suyang grew at a visible rate, its color shifting from jade-green to something ever deeper and more sinister, like flames burning in hell.
Watching the madness you had personally created, you felt nothing but exhilaration.
Battle royale successfully created! Villain Points +500!
Becoming an Emissary
The Queen's disastrous state quickly alerted the Interstellar Peace Corporation.
They could not tolerate their most luxurious flagship ending up like this, much less the devastating blow it dealt to the corporation's reputation.
An armed fleet was urgently assembled from nearby star systems and rushed toward the area with great momentum.
The golden threads clearly detected the fleet's movements, force deployment, and estimated arrival time.
You calculated coldly.
You had absorbed almost enough energy.
It was time to make your exit.
Through the golden threads, you had already selected your next vessel.
He was an Interstellar Peace Corporation executive who had just killed several people aboard the Queen. He was preparing to board his private escape vessel and flee amid the chaos.
You infiltrated his escape vessel. Just before he started the engines, your powerful consciousness violently surged into his body.
Possession complete.
At the same time, the puppet crew in the Queen's control room pressed the preprogrammed self-destruct button.
Not long afterward, just as the Interstellar Peace Corporation fleet arrived and prepared to clear out this cruise ship that had become a ghost vessel—
BOOM—!!!
A thunderous explosion shook the stars.
The Queen, the luxurious flagship that symbolized the Interstellar Peace Corporation's wealth and power, transformed into the most dazzling—and most expensive—firework in the universe before countless horrified eyes.
The massive shockwave from the explosion even made the distant fleet shudder.
Meanwhile, controlling that executive's body, you blended in with the survivors who had escaped by sheer luck and vanished into the vast sea of stars.
The grand spectacle of the Queen's fall, directed by you, far exceeded your expectations in scale, cunning, and devastating impact.
It not only inflicted massive material losses upon the Interstellar Peace Corporation, but also dealt an irreparable blow to its reputation.
Countless eyes across the universe focused on the destruction of this "ghost ship."
Then, suddenly.
A gaze carrying the will of destruction locked firmly onto you from the dark side of the universe.
The feeling was impossible to describe, as though the weight of the entire universe had pressed down upon the depths of your soul.
You knew that some incomparably terrifying existence had set its sights on you.
But unexpectedly, that sensation was not fear alone.
There was also a strange... sense of being acknowledged?
Before you could think further, an irresistible force abruptly seized you.
Everything around you became blurred and warped.
When you came back to your senses, you found yourself cast into a vast space filled with antimatter flames.
This was the legendary War Furnace.
Within the furnace gathered countless souls and monsters from across the universe, all burdened with sin and longing for destruction.
They slaughtered and devoured one another, while violent, chaotic destructive energy filled the entire space.
A vast, cold will carrying an air of scrutiny echoed throughout the furnace.
It was the will of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction.
He declared that only those who passed the cruelest trials and displayed the purest, most unique "aesthetics of destruction" could become his apostles.
A trial in the name of destruction had begun.
Within the War Furnace, survival was the only law.
You fought and devoured the other beings thrown into this place in an endless struggle.
Mad monsters and twisted souls surrounded you, every one of them trying to tear you apart and consume you.
Fortunately, you were strong enough to barely survive within the furnace.
You avoided those beings who were too powerful and focused on relatively weaker opponents.
Every victory came with the devouring of the defeated.
At 1,900 years old, your Flames of Suyang began undergoing a strange transformation as it devoured destructive energy.
You discovered that you could combine the power of the Flames of Suyang with the destructive energy drawn from the furnace.
Your flames began burning with a deep, sinister black radiance.
The illusions woven from these flames were no longer merely false images.
They could directly attack their targets' minds and even distort reality to a certain extent.
You could create the most realistic fears in your opponents' minds, causing them to destroy themselves within the illusion. Or, as their minds collapsed, you could reduce their bodies to ashes with your antimatter flames.
At 2,000 years old, this method of perfectly combining illusion and destruction made you stand out amid the slaughter in the furnace.
Many monsters that tried to devour you ultimately turned to ash in the terrifying illusions you wove, consumed by utter despair.
You were no longer merely a Suyang. You were evolving into a higher, more terrifying existence.
Time seemed to lose all meaning within the furnace.
You only knew that the slaughter had never stopped, and neither had the devouring.
At 3,000 years old, you finally became one of the survivors of this brutal trial.
That immense will of destruction descended once more.
He examined you—examined your unique path of destruction: "leveraging reality through illusion, dismantling all things on a spiritual level, and inducing self-destruction."
Then, he extended an olive branch to you.
Nanook invited you to become an Aeon of Destruction Emissary, one of the Lords of Ruin.
You chose?
1. Accept.
2. Refuse.
At this point in the simulation, Jiang Mo was left with nothing but wild joy.
An Emissary!
A Lord of Ruin!
Wasn't that one of the most elite villain identities in the universe, second only to the Aeons?
And it was an Emissary of the Aeon of Destruction, no less!
That was way more satisfying than being some pathetic Tinder Emperor!
He had to accept!
I choose 1!
You chose to accept the invitation of Nanook, the Destruction Aeon.
An unimaginably vast power poured into your core.
Your form of existence was elevated.
You no longer needed to rely on any host. You could condense a stronger, more sinister form out of thin air.
You were elevated to Lord of Ruin and granted the name Phantylia.
You felt stronger than ever before.
You became an Aeon of Destruction Emissary. Villain Points +500!
Jiang Mo froze for a moment.
What? I'm Phantylia? Seriously?!
He had originally thought he was merely simulating some insignificant Suyang that was not even human. He had not held out much hope, yet it turned out to be Phantylia, one of the Lords of Ruin?
This simulation was really generous.
But Phantylia seemed to have ended up much like Brother Zhou Tian, getting beaten up by the Astral Express Crew, right?
Hmm... He had to find a way to change that outcome.
Right, was Phantylia female...? Oh, Suyang had no gender.
That meant it could be male or female?
Jiang Mo suddenly thought of a certain evil plan.
Hehe... Trailblazer, you're doomed this time.
Revenge on the Xianzhou
At 3,100 years old, as a newly promoted Lord of Ruin, you were quickly granted command over an Antimatter Legion.
Nanook's first mission for you was to destroy an interstellar alliance protected by the divine power of Xipe, the "Harmony."
This alliance was famous for its internal harmony and unity, and was regarded as a model of the "Harmony" ideal.
But you scoffed at this false harmony.
True destruction was not merely physical annihilation.
You did not choose to lead the legion in a frontal assault.
That would have been too boring.
Instead, you personally infiltrated the alliance.
You began searching for cracks in the alliance's collective will.
Using mental manipulation, you lurked among them and slowly magnified the exclusiveness hidden deep in their hearts, along with their fear of "outsiders."
You wove illusions that made them distrust one another, making them see their "companions" plotting betrayal.
You whispered in their minds, inciting them.
Very soon, this alliance once regarded as a model of "Harmony" began to rot from within.
The purges began.
Before you continue