Waymarks and the Class Change Certificate

When she took that step and transformed into a Hungry Ghost, she understood many things.

Why that little strip of dried beef could reach her in the Abyss of Despair, and why it could remain there.

Because Yu Ziqing had already been certain that the strip of dried beef in his hand could definitely break through the rules of the Abyss of Despair and reach her.

At that time, Yu Ziqing had known that one day, this thing would definitely pull her out of the Abyss of Despair. What he had given her then was a final safeguard—a hope, though under normal circumstances, she might never live to see that day.

This was something personally bestowed by the King of Hungry Ghosts, something known as a Class Change Certificate. As long as she was willing, no one could stop her from completing the class change. She simply did not want to use it up yet.

Because this thing was the waymark for the mindless, selfless King of Hungry Ghosts to return from the void.

Likewise, it was also the waymark for Yu Ziqing's return, before the King of Hungry Ghosts had completely advanced to the peak of strength through its ceaseless ascent, before everything came to an end.

She had watched Jinlan Mine fall into the void with her own eyes. At the time, she had thought Yu Ziqing would die sooner or later. She had once lived in the village and knew very clearly that an isolated island that was merely a mine could never sustain itself for long with the resources inside it.

Now, she understood everything completely. She also understood what she ought to do.

Because only she had possessed a self, her own reason, and her own emotions all the way until she transformed into a Hungry Ghost.

Precisely because she had everything, because she had remained clear-headed enough, she had been able to reach the most agonizing state in the Abyss of Despair, suffering endless torment forever.

The other Hungry Ghosts had all transformed from Starvation Ghosts. Before becoming Hungry Ghosts, they had already been driven mad by eternal hunger and lost their sense of self.

Even if those Hungry Ghosts possessed a waymark, they would not understand what they ought to do.

Cècè understood very well that Yu Ziqing had gone all in, flipped the table, and fought his way back from the brink of death by transforming into the King of Hungry Ghosts. He had not truly lost his reason completely.

He had never intended to let the King of Hungry Ghosts completely lose control, nor had he truly wanted it to grow madly powerful enough to destroy this world.

She had watched Yu Ziqing and the villagers practice Body Refining in the Abyss of Despair, and she had listened to their laughter, cursing, and banter. She believed that Yu Ziqing definitely knew that once the King of Hungry Ghosts grew to its limit, the village would also be destroyed by that mindless, selfless King of Hungry Ghosts.

Because she was here, the waymark had long since been delivered into her hands.

Yu Ziqing also believed that the moment she walked out of the Abyss of Despair, she would definitely take this step.

Once she took this step, she would naturally understand everything.

She had not let Yu Ziqing's trust down. Now, she was going to welcome her true king back.

After calculating the time, and considering what she had seen before entering, Cècè was not in much of a hurry. Counting from when Yu Ziqing had begun starving to death and transformed into the King of Hungry Ghosts, only a little over ten days had passed—not yet eleven.

Yu Ziqing had entrusted this matter to her and given her his complete trust. Then she had to think farther ahead: how to resolve what came next, and how to bring everything to a perfect conclusion.

She could sense that true experts from Great Zhen, Great Li, and Great Qian were already rushing over.

If Yu Ziqing returned now and the King of Hungry Ghosts dissipated, then once those true experts arrived, they would probably flatten this place directly, destroying everything. Even if they did not destroy it, this place would become a land of endless conflict, never again peaceful.

They would probably also do everything they could to seize this place and ensure that nothing escaped their control.

So there was only one way now: let the King of Hungry Ghosts continue growing, pin down all the experts currently rushing over and beat them soundly, then let the King of Hungry Ghosts dissipate after teaching them a painful lesson.

If you have never been beaten, you do not know what pain is.

As for whether the King of Hungry Ghosts could beat the arriving experts senseless, Cècè had never worried about it. The eleventh day was almost here. If necessary, they could simply wait another day. In any case, given the King of Hungry Ghosts' current state, no one could kill it in such a short time.

They might not even know how to kill it.

Taking a step back—no, ten million steps back—they could keep waiting until the twelfth day arrived. No matter who came then, they would all be ground into the dirt.

Only by making them believe that the King of Hungry Ghosts had merely fallen into a state of dormancy here, and that it would awaken again if anyone dared to force it or cause trouble, could they restore peace to this place.

Because they had not been driven into a desperate corner with nowhere left to retreat as Yu Ziqing had been. Nor did they possess Yu Ziqing's courage to stake everything on a single throw. They would not take the risk, and they did not dare to.

In fact, anyone who wanted to take the risk would most likely be beaten to death by the others first, lest they drag everyone else down with them.

Everything they did ultimately came down to profit, to seeking immortality and the Dao. Not one of them wanted to flip over everyone's dinner table and starve to death together.

Cècè held the waymark in both hands and waited quietly for those people to arrive.

To come and get beaten.

Just thinking about it made her want to laugh. It was a pity she could not witness those lofty figures being thrashed with her own eyes.

After thinking for a while, Cècè sighed.

What a pity.

The King of Hungry Ghosts' aura continued to grow stronger. Ever since it entered the Wasteland, the speed at which its aura increased had been several times faster than when it was in the void.

From the north, east, and southeast, streaks of escaping light were speeding over.

In the northern sky, leaden clouds piled up. A bolt of lightning darted through the black clouds, racing toward the Wasteland from the distant horizon.

When the lightning reached the Wasteland, it transformed into a burly man in a white robe, his body powerfully built. He reached out and grabbed, and a streak of lightning came surging down from the clouds like a great river. He seized one end in his hand while the other remained in the black clouds.

Standing in midair, he seemed to have grasped over a thousand li of thunder in one hand.

In the eastern sky, it was as though burning clouds had ignited. A great fire rose like the sun at dawn, sweeping over from the east.

The flames condensed in midair, transforming into a woman dressed in a phoenix robe and wearing ornate hair decorations. She floated in the air, while the flames behind her shifted into a gigantic Vermilion Bird with a wingspan of a thousand zhang. Its cries rang out as it guarded the woman in palace attire.

To the southeast, multicolored auspicious clouds left a long trail across the horizon. A golden bridge stretched across the sky from the southeast.

On the golden bridge stood an old man with a full head of white hair and beard, dressed like an ordinary scholar. His hands were clasped behind his back.

The three gazed from afar at the King of Hungry Ghosts, which towered ten thousand zhang high and whose aura was still continuously rising. All three wore solemn expressions.

The instant they saw the King of Hungry Ghosts, the words "Hungry Ghost" surfaced in their minds.

From the moment it was born, it had engraved its race name into the world. Anyone who saw it would know that this was absolutely no ordinary aberrant creature.

Moreover, its aura was stronger than theirs. More outrageous still, it was continuing to grow stronger.

After merely taking one look, the old man on the golden bridge said, "Tell everyone behind us not to come here to die."

The old man waved his hand, and a streak of light flew backward along the golden bridge. The other people from Great Qian who had come were all stopped, preventing them from entering the Wasteland.

The other two had merely seen the King of Hungry Ghosts before silently making the same decision.

The birth of the King of Hungry Ghosts had caused the national guardian artifacts to tremble and warn them that something terrifying, something capable of threatening them, had been born. The instant they sensed the great change in the Wasteland, they had immediately brought their national guardian artifacts there.

And now, they saw that their national guardian artifacts were faintly suppressed by the other party's might.

"We can't wait any longer. If we do, who knows how strong this King of Hungry Ghosts will become?" The burly man from the north, who held thunder in his hand, could no longer restrain himself.

He grasped the thunder and let out a furious shout. Lightning erupted from the leaden clouds behind him. Within the black clouds stretching over a thousand li behind him, all the thunderbolts converged into his hand. The flashing lightning grew more and more dazzling, while the rumble of thunder transformed into a long, shrill howl.

The people of Great Zhen made their move. The woman from Great Li and the old man from Great Qian also attacked in tacit understanding.

The Vermilion Bird soared into the sky. After spreading its wings and flapping them, the clouds and rosy light filling the heavens gathered upon its wings. The flames it stirred up seemed like a pair of wings spanning ten thousand zhang. Even the horizon was burned until it warped and changed color.

The old man from Great Qian reached out and grabbed at empty air. The golden bridge beneath him transformed into a ruler, which he cast out. At the same time, he shouted, "Punish!"

The ruler descended from the sky, transforming into a golden bridge that pierced through heaven and earth as it shot straight toward the King of Hungry Ghosts' head.

Around the King of Hungry Ghosts, waves of churning black, oily filth surged into the sky and transformed into a gigantic claw that reached for the dazzling lightning.

However, the lightning, which was no more than a hundred zhang long, pierced straight through the giant claw and continued toward the King of Hungry Ghosts' head.

The King of Hungry Ghosts neither dodged nor avoided it. It opened its mouth slightly, then suddenly clamped it shut. Countless sharp, interlocking teeth bit down on the flashing lightning right there and then.

With a crack, the lightning was forcibly bitten in two and shattered into a great river of lightning.

The river of lightning washed over its body, stirring the black oily filth that formed the King of Hungry Ghosts' body into ceaseless churning. But immediately afterward, those arcs of lightning were forcibly twisted apart by that terrifying distortion, crushed into nothingness.

Only two bolts of lightning flew back into the burly man's hands.

The burly man's face was as pale as gold paper, his vital essence, spirit, and energy plummeting. A purple Dharma Treasure shaped like lightning had appeared in his hand, but unfortunately, it had now been broken into two pieces.

The Vermilion Bird flying from the east looked as though it blotted out the sky and covered the earth, its momentum the most imposing of all. Yet two enormous manifested claws seized its wings, as if grasping a little chick.

The Vermilion Bird cried out furiously and spat out a mass of golden flames. The King of Hungry Ghosts glared, and blood-colored flames spewed from its eyes like waterfalls, instantly extinguishing the little golden flame the Vermilion Bird had emitted.

The blood-colored flames set the Vermilion Bird alight, making it shriek repeatedly.

The woman in the phoenix robe also grunted, formed hand seals, and caused a Rune to appear between her brows. The Vermilion Bird then turned to ashes and dispersed from the King of Hungry Ghosts' grasp.

Countless ashes gathered before the woman and transformed into flames. Within them, a Vermilion Bird only as large as a hen emerged. It floated there, listless and dispirited, most of its body bald, looking uncannily like an old hen that had only been half-plucked before being slaughtered.

The instant the golden bridge cast by the old man descended, countless chanting voices transformed into an immense will that shook heaven and earth. Before the attack itself arrived, that will had already reached its destination.

The King of Hungry Ghosts paused and looked up. In its blood-flame eyes, endless pain and despair met his gaze.

With that single exchange of eyes, the unwavering faith and the chanting of countless people abruptly fell silent, and the golden bridge shattered.

The old man reached out and grabbed at empty air, and a broken ruler appeared in his hand. His face was filled with pain, and his Primordial Spirit seemed to be burning. Demonic thoughts arose, and his Dao heart wavered. With merely one look, he had seen the endless pain and despair of the world. If he looked one more time, his consciousness would probably be completely submerged.

Deep underground.

Cècè held the waymark and closed her eyes, quietly sensing it. After a long while, she bent forward and gently placed the waymark into Yu Ziqing's hand.

She had not let Yu Ziqing's expectations down. In fact, she had far surpassed them. Now, she would wait for her true king to return once more.

Thanks to Zhao Xuezheng for the 11,500 coin reward, thanks to White Dog Fleeting Moment for the 10,000 coin reward, and thanks to everyone for your affection and support.