[Formless]

"Reverse the era... restart the world?"

Chen Ling understood each of those eight words, but when put together, he had no idea what they meant.

"Exactly what they sound like." Chu Muyun spoke slowly. "Reverse everything from the Great Cataclysm to the present, and return human civilization to the day the Red Star descended..."

"You mean, turn back time?"

"Not turn back time—restart it... There's still a major difference between the two."

Chen Ling stared at Chu Muyun in disbelief. "Can... that really be done?"

"Haven't you already seen it?"

Chu Muyun pointed at the USB drive in Chen Ling's hand. "The result of our experiment."

Chen Ling immediately recalled the scene of plugging the USB drive into the snow and crossing back into his "previous life"... Without question, that had been the world where he once existed, the era when the Red Star had just descended.

And the Dusk Society had perfectly recreated it and sealed it inside this USB drive.

"How... did you do that?" Restarting the world was utterly fantastical to Chen Ling, yet he had personally experienced it.

"The process is quite complicated... Even after all our efforts, we've only completed this two-hour 'save file.' But we've found the method. One day, we'll use this save file to replace history and restart the world."

"But if the world can truly be restarted, then shouldn't you represent 'justice'? Why are you wanted by the nine Human Domains? Why not join forces with them?" Chen Ling asked in return.

Chu Muyun smiled.

He adjusted his glasses and spoke calmly.

"You'll understand someday."

Chen Ling fell silent for a moment, then nodded faintly.

"I've told you the Dusk Society's most fundamental principles." Chu Muyun's eyes fixed on Chen Ling. "Now... it's time for you to make a decision."

"Will you join us, become one of the most wanted criminals in the nine domains, spend your life drifting from place to place, scorned and feared by the world... or leave?"

Chen Ling's gaze flickered. After a brief pause, he slowly raised his head.

Then he spoke with certainty.

"I'll join."

Reverse the era. Restart the world.

To others, the Great Cataclysm was merely a line in the history books. But to Chen Ling, it meant the destruction of everything that belonged to him.

He didn't like this world or this era. He wanted to return to where he belonged, to honor his parents and live a peaceful life... More than that, he wanted to reverse the fixed course of history so that his father, relatives, and friends could all live well.

He wanted to go home.

Hearing those words, Chu Muyun smiled faintly. He took three playing cards from his coat and laid them on the table one after another.

Black Spade 6, Red Heart 6, Club 6.

"What are these?"

"For many of our members, joining the Dusk Society means completely cutting ties with their pasts, including their names, families, and identities... They use playing cards to represent themselves. You can choose one too."

"...Why are they all 6?"

"The number represents seniority. The earlier you join, the higher the number... By the time it got to your batch, it started with 6." Chu Muyun shrugged. "Actually, 6 isn't bad. I joined a few years before you, and I'm only a 7."

"Then why are there only three suits? Where are the diamonds?"

"Two months ago, another newcomer joined, and he chose diamonds."

"Fine..."

Chen Ling's gaze swept across the three cards, and he unconsciously touched his chest... Beneath the flesh, it was completely empty.

"I choose hearts. [Red Heart 6]."

Chu Muyun raised an eyebrow, nodded, and pushed that playing card in front of Chen Ling.

"Then, officially welcome to the Dusk Society... [Red Heart 6]."

The woman who had been silently sitting in the corner began clapping at just the right moment.

Chen Ling gave her a strange look. The woman yawned again and turned her head away.

"...Is she with the Dusk Society too? What card is she?"

"She has no Path to Godhood and no other abilities. She's just an ordinary person, so she's only an outer member... She's generally responsible for passing along information. There are members like her in basically every domain and every city."

"Then what card are you?"

"[Black Spade 7]."

Chen Ling nodded.

He looked at the [Red Heart 6] in his hand and suddenly felt unreal... He had merely drawn a playing card at random from a corner store, and now he had become a Dusk Society member wanted by the nine Human Domains... Just hours ago, he had been convinced it was a cult.

"There are only three copies of that save file in the entire Dusk Society. The Red King and Gray King each have one. Keep this one with you for now, but you can only open it once a month. Otherwise, the contents inside will be damaged."

"What am I supposed to do next?" Chen Ling asked. "Do I need to report somewhere, go through procedures, then live in some dormitory?"

"..." Chu Muyun shook his head speechlessly.

"The Dusk Society is an association. We're very loose when it comes to managing our members' personal lives. You can do whatever you want... As long as you complete any missions as quickly as possible, disguise yourself properly, and make sure the Human Domains don't discover you.

Speaking of disguises... that should be what you're best at."

"Me?"

"Haven't you stepped onto the Theater God Path? Disguising yourselves as different characters should be your specialty." Chu Muyun spoke as though it were obvious. "And your skill seems even more absurd than that of an ordinary Theater God Path."

"The Theater God Path... skills..."

As if remembering something, Chen Ling reached toward his chin. With a thought, he tore off his entire face in the next moment.

Under the woman's stunned gaze, two identical Chu Muyuns sat facing each other.

"That's right, exactly that." The Chu Muyun on the left nodded. "After stepping onto a God Path, every time you advance a rank, you'll automatically gain a corresponding skill. Skills vary depending on the path you choose... You've taken a twisted God Path, so your skills should be unique as well."

"So that's how it is..." The Chu Muyun on the right lowered his head to look at his body. Even his clothes and voice had changed.

If the woman had not known their seats beforehand, she would not have been able to tell which one was the real [Black Spade 7].

"As far as I know, the first-rank skill of the ordinary Theater God Path is called [Thousand Faces]. It lets you freely change your face and voice, but not transform into objects... Yet you can do all of that." Chu Muyun paused. "You're the only one to have taken this path. Aren't you going to give your skill a name?"

"[Thousand Faces]..." Chen Ling thought for a moment.

"In that case, my skill will be called [Formless]."

Formless and shapeless; form arose from the heart.

"Your God Path is very strange. Although its abilities are powerful, the side effects are obvious as well. Unless something unexpected happens, every advancement you make in the future will trigger a brief period of mental confusion. You need to be especially careful about that."

"Mental confusion? Did I have that when I advanced?"

"..."

Chen Ling did not remember at all the process of turning into a gun barrel and Chen Yan, then going on a rampage.

Chu Muyun briefly described it to him, then glanced at the dim night outside and slowly rose to his feet.

"It's about time. I should go."

"Where?"

"Back to Aurora City. I still have a mission there."

As he spoke, Chu Muyun took a letter from his coat and handed it to Chen Ling.

"What is this?"

"This is your mission." Chu Muyun answered seriously. "A mission personally assigned to you by the Red King... Perhaps only you in the entire Dusk Society can complete it."