Meeting an Old Acquaintance

Corpse King Qi Yulan is one of the Four Great Ghost Kings under the [Paranormal] Apostle. Although she is not yet at her Peak, she is highly regarded for her ability to control puppets and is one of the most troublesome Polluter in the [Paranormal] Yuan Cultivation Society.

Generally, to deal with a summoner-like character, you have to bypass her puppets and go straight for her vulnerable main body. But those who tried to do so before all perished before this Corpse King.

Few people know that this seemingly fragile, withered old woman's defensive capabilities are likely to be the highest among the Four Great Ghost Kings!

Because her puppet ability has a derivative skill: Life Sharing.

The life force of the puppets she controls is bound to her Qi, forming a shield. The more puppets she controls, the stronger their life force, and the higher the defensive power of her Qi. When attacked, she will first consume the life force of the puppets to resist. Theoretically, as long as her puppets are not all dead, the shield will not be broken!

However, this skill, originally intended for self-preservation, has found a new application in this world under the rule of deducting points for murder.

Puppet Technique, in essence, is a technique that uses spirits to modify and control humans. It can be understood as possession by a ghost. Theoretically, this process is reversible; as long as the possessing spirit is removed, the person can return to normal, albeit weakened. Therefore, if someone kills a puppet controlled by her, the points deducted will ultimately be credited to that person.

However, the nature of Life Sharing is different. The Corpse King discovered through testing that if someone attacks her shield and causes the puppet to die, the points deducted will be shared equally between her and the attacker.

Therefore, the reason why the Corpse King acted so tough when Luo Jun captured her was because she was confident in her defensive capabilities. Moreover, the Corpse King herself possessed a magical artifact capable of resisting the Annihilation Program, so she even actively provoked Ye, hoping that he would hit her hard and deduct all her points directly. If she could escape, Ye would have to undergo Annihilation Program with a slim chance of survival.

But to her utter surprise, Luo Jun's hammer blow actually killed all the thousands of puppets she was bound to, causing their protective energy to collapse. She didn't even have time to trigger the Annihilation Program before she was hammered to death!

Luo Jun, because of these thousands of lives lost, had all his points deducted, triggering the Annihilation Program!

Luo Jun was unaware of the intricacies of the situation, but he had no time to think about it further. High in the air, he was stunned for a few seconds by the sudden news, and when he came to his senses, there were only five seconds left on the Countdown!

The score is reset to zero... Can it ever be raised back up? Luo Jun glanced down at the residential area on the ground. Zhuge Lan had just mentioned that there were two Polluter on the fifth floor of that building...

With his exceptional eyesight, Luo Jun locked onto the building and then swung the hammer in his hand.

Four seconds left!

Once he reached sufficient speed, the weight suddenly increased, and the immense inertia propelled him downwards!

Three seconds left!

The distance of several hundred meters was covered in an instant. Luo Jun smashed through the floor slab, adjusted his speed and direction with the hammer in time, and landed accurately in the room!

Two seconds left!

Two monsters stood in the room. Although they largely retained their human-like qualities, horns, scales, claws, and fur could be seen beneath their loose clothing, clearly indicating that they were Polluter from the [Savage Wilderness]!

How did the "Savage Wilderness" become associated with the "Paranormal"?

No... judging from their ramrod straight posture and blank expressions, they're not cooperating; they've been controlled or brainwashed by the Corpse King through some means!

Anyway, these two guys seem to be alive, killing them should get me some points!

"The Dice of Heavenly Secrets!"

"Escaped the Annihilation Program!"

"Ding! This event is Mandatory Event and cannot be determined!"

The moment this result appeared, Luo Jun was stunned...

If Mandatory Event is not guaranteed to succeed, then it is guaranteed to fail?

This means that even if he kills the two people in front of him, it will be to no avail...

Since the outcome was already decided, there was no need to take two more lives. Luo Jun glanced through the broken wall at Ling Xin and Zhuge Lan on the rooftop in the distance and noticed that the two women were also looking in his direction.

One second left...

In that final second, Luo Jun pointed at them, then at the two [Savage Wilderness] Polluter standing there dumbfounded behind him, and finally waved his hand.

Then, Luo Jun's figure slowly faded and disappeared completely...

When he came to his senses again, Luo Jun found himself in a pristine white room.

Is this the site of the Annihilation Program?

Luo Jun looked around, and suddenly, several lines of words appeared on the wall.

"You have been eliminated due to violations of the relevant rules during the mission, and the Annihilation Program will now be initiated."

"The specific details of the Annihilation Program will be determined by the contestants through a randomly selected Death Challenge. Upon successful completion of the challenge, they will return to the Main World and receive a failing grade for this Chaos Mission, with all rewards already obtained in the Chaos Mission being reset."

"During the Death Challenge, all Noble Phantasms are disabled."

"Now, please draw your Death Challenge."

"If you do not draw a challenge within five minutes, the challenge with the lowest success rate will be locked for you."

Below this text, a screen appears, with a lever next to it.

So you're giving me the highest difficulty level without me having to draw it myself?

Although Luo Jun Luo Jun somewhat curious about what the challenge with the lowest success rate was, he didn't see the point in pursuing any difficulty since it meant certain death if he lost and no reward if he won.

Dice of Heavenly Secrets!

"I drew a challenge that I can pass."

The results showed that the conditions were unclear. After all, whether or not it would pass depended on Luo Jun's performance, and it couldn't be determined solely by a single dice roll.

After thinking about it, I'll change my wording.

"I've drawn a challenge that suits me."

Whether he can pass the test is a conclusion, determined by a variety of factors and full of variables. But whether he is suitable depends solely on Luo Jun's own objective conditions, which can still be determined.

Sure enough, the dice started spinning. Two pairs of dice, one pair with three dots, the other pair with two zeros, a maximum of one hundred!

(ノ⊙ω⊙)ノJust kidding! What a polarized result...

Luo Jun raised his hand and selected 100 points, and a notification sound rang in his mind.

"Ding! Event Difficulty 37 points, Final Points 100 points, event Great Success!"

Great Success? That's a pleasant surprise... But considering the difficulty is only 37 points, it seems that with Luo Jun's current abilities, most challenges are quite suitable. It looks like he'll likely pass even with a normal draw.

Now that we've had Great Success, it seems like we're almost certain to get through... We should be able to return to the Main World alive. It's just a pity that such Large Recruitment Mission good start and so many rewards have all gone to waste.

Luo Jun walked forward with regret, pulled the lever, and the content on the screen began to spin rapidly up and down. After about a minute, it gradually slowed down and finally stabilized into four words:

"Doomsday Escape!"

Then, the screen changed to an animated short film, which introduced the challenge in conjunction with the visuals.

"Once the challenge begins, the contestants will enter a post-apocalyptic world on the verge of collapse. They must run forward frantically, dodging various disasters, until they reach the Teleportation Gate at the finish line to leave this terrifying world."

The scene is filled with various disasters, including earthquakes, lightning, meteor showers, and hurricanes. A small animated figure can be seen running at top speed, dodging the attacks from all directions. Behind the figure, Luo Jun sees a black void that seems to devour everything, like annihilation; if the figure slows down even slightly, it will be swallowed up and killed...

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

Good heavens, this is an obstacle course race in the apocalypse... But with Luo Jun's mobility and powerful qi, he should have no problem sprinting through these disasters. It is indeed a challenge that suits him quite well.

At the same time, the notification sound of the Dice of Heavenly Secrets rang in Luo Jun's mind.

"The event Great Success. Basic Experience Points: 37; Severity Coefficient: 12; Final Experience Value: 888!"

Twelve times?

This Severity Coefficient truly startled Luo Jun. Did it mean that if the Event Failed, he would die?

It can't be that serious... With his current level, Luo Jun is confident that even without his Noble Phantasm, his Master shouldn't be a match for him. His Master himself claims to have survived multiple Annihilation Program; there's no reason he should have a one-in-three chance of dying, right?

Moreover, this Annihilation Program is designed for Rank A contestants. Although his current level is not as high as Feather Transformation's, he is still top-tier among the Peak and fully capable of being ranked as a Special Grade contestant. How could he possibly die so easily in a Rank A challenge?

Besides, he only judged challenges that suited him. Even if they weren't suitable, it wouldn't necessarily mean he'd die, right? Did he really skip the entire challenge process?

No matter how he thought about it, Luo Jun felt that the Severity Coefficient was not quite right, but the Death Challenge wouldn't give him time to analyze it properly. The surrounding environment had already begun to change. Soon, the white walls began to become transparent, the sky turned a burning red, the ground beneath his feet began to shake, the surrounding scenery was upside down and chaotic, mountains collapsed, buildings crumbled, Meteor Fall From Sky, resembling a scene from the apocalypse.

The most terrifying thing was behind them. Dozens of meters away, a huge black shadow could be seen... It was pure black, unable to project even a ray of light, and it kept expanding, devouring everything around it!

That is the void; once you enter, there is absolutely no chance of survival!

Luo Jun's mission was to get as far away from it as possible! As for the destination... a pillar of light had already appeared in his field of vision, located beyond the distant horizon. That was the location of the Teleportation Gate!

He must traverse the many calamities of the apocalypse to reach that place before being swallowed by the void!

With a clear goal, things became easier. Luo Jun watched as the color of the wall faded, the structure of the challenge world was constantly improving, and at the same time, the Midnight Mask on his face began to become transparent, about to be forcibly sealed away...

Luo Jun slowly bent down, ready to start running. Once everything was ready, he would rush out at top speed, leaving that terrifying void far behind.

But at that moment, the world around them suddenly stopped...

Luo Jun was certain that although the process of him being teleported to this apocalyptic world was complicated, it actually only took a few seconds. The surrounding scenery was changing rapidly every moment, but just now, at the very moment when the world was about to be completed and the challenge was about to begin, everything around him stopped, as if time had stood still!

What happened?

Luo Jun subconsciously straightened up and found that he could still move normally, as if he were in a different time and space from everything frozen around him.

What exactly happened?

Luo Jun walked curiously to the almost transparent wall and reached out to touch it, but the moment he touched it, the wall suddenly began to flicker...

The feeling was somewhat similar to the screen flickering and distorted display on a computer, but what made it all up wasn't mosaic-like colored spots, but countless strange and chaotic patterns. Although Luo Jun didn't recognize them, he instinctively sensed a powerful aura, as if these patterns represented some ancient and mysterious being.

This is definitely not normal; something is interfering with his Death Challenge!

Luo Jun was shocked and instinctively took a few steps back. But then, he felt a strange sensation on his face. He reached out and grabbed it, only to find that the Midnight Mask, which hadn't completely disappeared, was constantly changing shape. He immediately took it off and discovered that the mask, like the wall, was constantly flashing, faintly revealing those ancient patterns...

What exactly is going on...?

Just as Luo Jun was in shock, a soft laugh suddenly came from behind him.

"Hehe, we finally meet again..."

Luo Jun immediately turned around and found a woman standing behind him.

The woman was tall, wearing wooden clogs, almost as tall as Luo Jun, perhaps even a little taller. She wore a long purple robe, seemingly without any other clothing underneath, the hem of which was casually draped over her shoulders, revealing glimpses of her long legs. Above her slender neck was a flawless face, and her long, floor-length hair was loosely draped, partially concealing her body with the askew robe, giving her an air of natural languor...

"Who... are you?"

Luo Jun's body surged with Gathering Origin Protective Qi, and he became extremely vigilant, inquiring about the other party's identity, even though the Midnight Mask he held in his hand had already given him a vague guess...

"You've forgotten so quickly?"

The woman tilted her head slightly and chuckled softly, "According to your calendar, it's only been a little over half a year since we last parted, right?"

As she spoke, she beckoned to Luo Jun. Luo Jun immediately felt the Midnight Mask in his hand begin to struggle violently. Then, suddenly, his hand went empty, and the mask seemed to become ethereal, flying through his fingers and into the woman's hand.

"Have you been wearing it all this time? It seems you really liked the souvenir I gave you..."

"It really was you..." Luo Jun took a deep breath. "Midnight..."

How could Luo Jun not remember? It was the first time he stepped into the extraordinary world and encountered that bizarre being!

At the time, he only felt that the eeriness of the basement of the Midnight Hotel was terrifying, but he didn't have a concrete idea of what it was like. But now it's different...

Regardless of the oppressive feeling the woman in front of him evoked, the information about Midnight Mask alone was enough to explain the situation.

Before them stood a powerful being, shrouded in mystery!

(End of this chapter)