Your Powerhouse Has Arrived

The Soul Beasts enveloped in black mist discovered that their life force was draining away. They began to shriek and scream. Those with the weakest cultivation began to melt into blood water. Before long, the several Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts still locked in battle sensed that something was wrong. Humanlike terror appeared in their eyes, as though a mountain were pressing down upon them.

They roared several times and prepared to flee this cursed place.

The man lay on the ground, wanting to laugh but producing only a faint sound. His hoarse voice rang out. "Run... Enjoy your final moments."

He had found this bead in a place filled with corpses. He had originally wanted to see whether there were any Soul Bones there, but the bloody aura had been overwhelming. The deeper he went, the more a strange low hum rang against his eardrums, and his mind gradually grew muddled. He did not dare delay, grabbing the bead and leaving.

He had never known what it did until blood dripped onto it while he was being hunted. The bead drained every living thing present dry, leaving not even a drop of blood behind.

Even he had paid an enormous price. For years, his Soul Power had not advanced an inch! He had searched for a solution like a madman. He had been on the verge of success today, only for it to be destroyed by these beasts. How could he not go mad?

It was fine, it was fine... As long as he survived today's ordeal, he could continue. Seeing the Soul Beasts present about to be destroyed, the Corner of Mouth Curved Up into an exaggerated arc—only for a cudgel to interrupt it.

His interrupted smugness remained frozen on his face as his body slammed heavily into a tree. His vision began to warp, and his ears buzzed as if ten thousand bells were ringing at once. His bones cracked sharply.

The man struggled to raise his head, wanting to see who had violated the rules of martial conduct and launched a sneak attack on him. His blurry vision swayed back and forth before finally stopping on a short figure approaching him... Short?

Shen Ranxi carried the Golden Cudgel over her shoulder and looked at the man with a half-smile. "Uncle, stop fantasizing. Your powerhouse is here."

The girl stood with her cudgel held horizontally, dressed in a crimson fitted outfit, looking carefree and dashing.

Shen Ranxi did not waste words. Had she read all those novels for nothing? She knew how important it was to finish someone off. Villains died from talking too much! The way she killed without blinking was no different from a villain's anyway.

She finished him off in two strikes. Although she had killed a Soul Ancestor, Shen Ranxi was not happy. She knew full well that she had merely picked up the scraps and ambushed him. His battle with several Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had already left the man half-dead, and he had activated that strange, evil bead. He was practically slightly alive already.

That was how she had managed to kill him.

The girl spun a cudgel flower, its tail trembling lightly and splashing a ring of blood blossoms.

Blood Beads rolled down the cudgel body like a string of shattered stars, falling silently to the ground.

The countless wailing souls seemed to be soothed in an instant. A breeze passed by, circling Shen Ranxi's face and gently brushing against it.

Shen Ranxi said, "Fei Ya, loot his Soul Tool." She did not want to loot a body herself. It would be a waste not to use free labor.

Fei Ya turned away tsunderely. "How dare you make the great Lord Fei Ya handle such a trivial matter!"

...That sounded a little too chuunibyou, Shen Ranxi complained inwardly.

"I'll make you delicious food when we get back, I promise you've never eaten it before!" she promised helplessly.

Fei Ya crossed its claws over its chest and accused her, "You already promised me the delicious food from the biggest restaurant in the city."

"Food that even restaurants don't have."

Fei Ya darted over at once and quickly found the items.

Her eyes glanced at the bead that had fallen to the ground after the man's death. She did not dare touch it. It was far too sinister.

Shen Ranxi said, "Fei Ya, have the Soul Returning Tree use its vines to put the bead away."

Fei Ya saw the bead on the ground radiating an ominous aura, and its eyes lit up. It snatched it up at incredible speed and tossed it into the storage space.

"Move! Someone's about to arrive!" Shen Ranxi threw the man's corpse to the system she had awakened.

Shen Ranxi put away the Golden Cudgel and kicked off the ground. The tree shadows on both sides raced backward. She truly did not want to encounter a Third Person right now.

The forest at dusk was like a lamp slowly being dimmed. The last trace of orange-red sunset glow fell through the gaps in the tree crown. Unnamed birds cooed, "Coo—coo—," adding a hint of liveliness to the quiet surroundings.

Shen Ranxi sat atop a big tree. She took out two portions of food, handed one to Fei Ya, and quietly ate the other herself.

If she slept on the ground alone, who knew whether she would wake up inside some Soul Beast's stomach? Up in the tree was safer.

As she ate, she bickered with the system.

"System, I completed my mission. Where's my reward? Don't think you can swallow it just by keeping quiet. I have proof."

Thinking about how she had brought the man's corpse with her before leaving, she could not help praising herself for being clever. Hehe.

[System:...]

[Host, give me that bead.]

"System, isn't that unethical? What did we agree on at the start? The mission you issued was to kill the man, and I killed him. You never said you wanted that bead. I killed the man, so everything he had is my loot!"

Facts proved that the system simply could not play mind games better than Shen Ranxi. When treasures were involved, Shen Ranxi's sense of smell was sharper than a shark's.

Shen Ranxi knew this thing was dishonest. It wanted the bead, yet tricked her into killing the man, thinking that because she could not recognize its value, it could quietly take the treasure away!

Hmph, hmph. It had miscalculated.

[Host, you cannot use that bead. It is an evil object from another plane.]

"Then tell me how it's evil." Shen Ranxi had just witnessed its strangeness, but she knew nothing beyond that.

She took the bead from Feifei. Its surface was black as night, but upon closer inspection, blood-colored light veins seemed to pulse within it like a heart, as if it endlessly craved more.

Shen Ranxi stared at it, her eyes going unfocused for an instant. Once she came to her senses, she immediately covered it with her clothes.

[This object is a magical artifact of the Abyss Lord from a place called the Holy Demon Continent. It is called the World Devouring Bead: Nether Blood Amber.

It was formed from the first drop of "Dark Matter" that seeped out of the Chaos Abyss at the dawn of the universe. Anyone who touches this bead will hear Erebus's whispers—the sound like the wails of countless dead souls.

It entices its holder to feed upon their own life or the lives of others.

When the life force absorbed by the bead reaches a Critical Point, Erebus will awaken completely. At that time, all life in the entire world will be drained away and turned into nourishment for its emergence from the cocoon.

The bead in your hand is that living Eye of the Abyss. When it is quiet, it is merely the abyss's gaze; when it begins to pulse, it is the prelude to the end of all things.]

Holy crap, it was that powerful? This tiny little thing was that sinister? Shen Ranxi leaned back tactically.

Perhaps sensing her fear, the system began tempting her.

[Host, you cannot control this thing. If it grows into its final form, this continent will be destroyed. I can give you 500 Merit Points.]

Shen Ranxi sneered inwardly. Even when tempting her with benefits, this thing was reluctant to offer anything good. It wanted to fob her off with that little? What a cheapskate!

Shen Ranxi said, "It's fine. I'll use it as my ultimate move. It's so powerful that even if a Titled Douluo comes, I won't need to be afraid! What does the world being destroyed have to do with me? Maybe I won't even live that long."

The system's tone finally grew anxious.

[Host, tell me what you want. We can negotiate!]

Shen Ranxi smiled teasingly. "That depends on how much you think it's worth."