Bold Idea

Once upon a time, as he watched the Abyssal Lord stir up an energy storm that swept across the heavens, Church had trembled in fear—and yet, a yearning had risen within him.

As one of the creatures of the Abyss, distortion, chaos, slaughter, destruction, and ruin were the fundamental laws here. Only by practicing them could one gain the favor of the world's will and grow stronger amid the wails of souls!

Church had tried to leave the Magma Territory and follow the iron laws of the Abyss!

But in the end, he gave up.

As an elemental creature, he was destined to find it difficult to remain away from the Elemental Pool for long.

Magma granted him peerless power within his territory, but it also shackled them, restricting the range of their activities.

After leaving the magma, he could still draw fire elements from his surroundings to replenish his energy and steal vitality from his enemies' souls. Yet compared to the needs of his enormous body, it would always be insufficient.

Once he suffered severe injuries, he had to fall into slumber to recover his strength.

And sleeping in the Abyss was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous act.

After narrowly escaping death several times, gaining little beyond experience and combat knowledge while his body instead grew weaker, Church had no choice but to return to the magma.

He gave up on tempering himself.

Like countless predecessors, he dwelled in the magma, waiting for unwary intruders and slowly accumulating strength.

He felt there was no essential difference between himself and those filthy, lowly Mud Eaters living in the sludge.

For a time, he had given up on himself and slept all day long.

But things were different now.

If he could gain the favor of the God of the Internet, he could go farther. Perhaps he could even break free of magma's shackles and behold the allure of the Abyss.

That was his ambition!!!

Yu Sheng'an sat upon the Divine Throne in Divine Palace Castle, reading Church's prayer when a bold idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.

The more he considered it, the more excited he became.

To be honest, when he had signed Church, he had never regarded Church as a subordinate.

Church was merely one of his sources of life, a fire-element tool, a source of combat troops, labor... and so on.

Even when Church had been blasted apart today, Yu Sheng'an had only attempted to save him after being inspired by "sharing Dragon Egg Vitality."

But Church's prayer made him suddenly realize—Church had a name. He was an intelligent being, as were the countless creatures Yu Sheng'an had contracted.

Though many of them were not made of flesh and blood, they still had emotions, joys, anger, sorrows, and pleasures!

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with defining them merely as "cannon fodder" or "troop sources." So long as he had enough Source Essence, bound by the power of the Contract, they would have to do whatever he commanded, including dying.

How vast was the Abyss? As long as he had sufficient Source Essence, his cannon fodder would be inexhaustible.

But what if he showed them a little kindness?

For example, what if he used his true body as a Transfer Station and shared the Vitality of all contracted creatures together?

What a magnificent sight that would be?

One could imagine that as long as his contracted creatures did not suffer instant, devastating destruction, they could survive by drawing upon the Vitality of the "collective."

They would live better and better in their respective planes, perhaps even grow increasingly powerful!

One day, Yu Sheng'an would become someone they had to protect.

Because if he died, all the advantages of the contracted creatures would cease to exist.

This meant he would fully awaken the "subjective initiative" of his contracted creatures!!!

Only interests were eternal and enduring.

"Huu..."

Yu Sheng'an exhaled. A glint flashed in his eyes as he came to a decision.

After praying, Church sank into agonizing anticipation.

His heart was filled with unease, his thoughts chaotic to the extreme. One moment, he was exhilarated; the next, he was seized by lingering fear.

He was exhilarated because, if the God of the Internet favored him, he would escape magma's shackles.

He was afraid because the God of the Internet might be enraged and casually kill him.

The latter was not impossible. What was he to the God of the Internet? Nothing but an ant. Before pledging his loyalty, he had already sought favor. That was a grave taboo.

Amid his torment, Church's body suddenly stiffened.

The Contract Document rooted in his soul abruptly floated out. Reflected in his molten eyes, lines of text twisted and changed.

Once the changes were complete, the Contract Document burrowed back into his soul.

Church froze.

After a long while, he prostrated himself on the ground and praised loudly, "Praise to you, great God of the Internet! Church swears upon his soul that he will spread your glory throughout the Abyss!"

After a long time, he rose to his feet. Without even looking at the warm magma behind him, he strode forward and left.

At that moment, he seemed reborn.

Some were reborn, while others stood on the brink of death.

Within a jagged canyon, the Demon Balo hid in a crack between rocks, desperately suppressing his breathing. Maggots could even be seen writhing through the wounds smeared with feces.

He was going to die!

After a brutal battle, he had exhausted every ounce of his strength to kill a Fire Demon, only to be targeted by a Demon-Hunting Spider.

He could only flee.

But he knew he could not escape.

Before dying, the Fire Demon had inflicted a fatal wound upon him, greatly reducing his combat strength.

Demon-Hunting Spiders were also infamous monsters in the Abyss that fed on Devils. Their sense of smell was exceptionally keen. Even if he smeared feces over his wounds to conceal his scent, he could only gamble with his life!

Balo silently circulated his power, gathering strength.

The approaching death instead awakened the most violent madness buried deep in his heart.

Even if he died, he would take the Demon-Hunting Spider with him!

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..." The faint sound of friction tensed Balo's nerves. He looked toward its source, his sharp claws already poised to strike!

"Pfft!"

The sound of a blade piercing flesh made Balo suddenly stiffen. A venom potent enough to paralyze his entire body froze even his thoughts within a single breath.

He lowered his head and saw a sharp section of exoskeleton protruding from his chest. He realized... he had fallen for it.

The venom spread through his body, and his thoughts grew increasingly blurred.

The Demon-Hunting Spider crawled over, spat out a viscous fluid, wrapped him within it, and slowly dragged him from the rock crevice.

Despair filled Balo's frenzied heart.

Even though he treated death as commonplace, his heart was still filled with anger, unwillingness, and even fear.

He had seen prey killed by Demon-Hunting Spiders.

They retained their intact outer skins until death, while their insides were corroded into liquid and sucked clean.

It was said that, to preserve the prey's freshness, the process could last dozens of days.

A Demon-Hunting Spider in its breeding period could even preserve certain special prey for an entire Dark Calendar!

The venom's erosion grew more severe.

Balo's will grew increasingly clouded. At that moment, he suddenly hoped the god who had signed a Contract with him would Summon him away to fight in another world.

Even if he were killed in another world.

He did not want to die beneath a Demon-Hunting Spider's venom!

The god seemed to hear the plea in his heart. Yet instead of Summoning him away, he sent a surging torrent of Vitality from an unknown dimension.

Stimulated by the immense Vitality, his grievously wounded, dying body began to heal itself. An endless supply of power was born from his flesh and blood.

Even the venom gradually weakened beneath the cleansing surge of this Vitality.

Balo froze.

After a while, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his claws suddenly tore through the slime and viciously plunged into the Demon-Hunting Spider's body!

Claw after claw!

The Demon-Hunting Spider struggled madly, sending sand and rocks flying everywhere.

When the dust finally settled, Balo paid no heed to whether the commotion would attract other hunters.

He used his claws to carve an abstruse Magic Rune into the ground, poured the Demon-Hunting Spider's blood into it, then solemnly placed the Demon-Hunting Spider's head atop the Magic Rune. Only then did he take several steps back and prostrate himself upon the ground.

In a twisted, excited voice, he said, "Great God of the Internet, please accept the offering of your most devout servant!"

The blood filling the Magic Rune lit up. Then, the Demon-Hunting Spider's head vanished from within the blood array.