Daily Life After Striking It Rich, the Eye of the Abyss's Gaze

Early on a weekend morning, in the shantytown of Linhai City's old district.

Su Bai pushed open the door to his home, carrying bags of supplements and fresh ingredients. Sunlight streamed through the narrow window into the house. Though it was shabby, it had a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Mom, I'm back." Su Bai set everything down and walked over to the bed.

His mother was propped up against the headboard, knitting an old sweater. After taking Heart-Clearing Life-Prolonging Powder for some time, her complexion was no different from that of a healthy person, and she could even get out of bed and walk around.

Seeing her son return, she put down her knitting, her eyes full of affection. "Xiao Bai, where have you been these past few days? Isn't school on break? And why did you buy so many expensive things? How much did all this cost?"

Su Bai pulled up a chair and sat down. Taking his mother's somewhat rough hand, he smiled and said, "Mom, I have good news. I came first in the school's secret realm test, and the school gave me a big scholarship. I've also been hired as an outside consultant for the City Appearance Bureau. I'll get a salary every month."

Su Bai said nothing about the Gu Family or the assassins. He didn't want his mother to worry.

"Really?" His mother's eyes widened in delighted surprise, and her eyes reddened slightly. "That's wonderful... If your father knew, he'd be so proud of you."

At the mention of his father, Su Bai's eyes dimmed slightly, but he quickly hid it.

"Mom, I came back today because I want to move you to a new home." Su Bai took the crystal card with fifty million on it from his pocket and waved it in his hand. "The pollution in this shantytown is too heavy. It's no good for your recovery. I found a large apartment with a purification array in an upscale deity community downtown. We're moving there today."

His mother was startled and waved her hands repeatedly. "A home downtown? How much would that cost? Xiao Bai, I'm happy you've made something of yourself, but you need to save that money to build your divine kingdom later. I'm fine here. I'm used to it."

"Mom, I've already taken care of the resources for my divine kingdom, so don't worry about that. This money is for giving you a better life." Su Bai was firm and left no room for refusal.

After Su Bai coaxed and insisted, his mother finally agreed.

That afternoon, Su Bai spent fifteen million to buy a three-hundred-square-meter apartment outright in Linhai City's most luxurious community, the Cloudtop Heavenly Palace. Not only was the environment beautiful, but a miniature purification array also covered the area around the clock. The concentration of spiritual energy in the air was extremely high, bringing great benefits to ordinary people's health.

After settling his mother in, Su Bai stood before the spacious floor-to-ceiling window, looking down over the entire bustling city.

"Money is a good thing, but in this world, fists have the final say."

Su Bai took a deep breath and sank his consciousness into the wasteland divine kingdom within him.

The sixty-square-kilometer divine kingdom was undergoing earth-shaking changes. Su Bai had already thrown the ten tier-three, top-grade spirit vein cores Gu Qingshan had given him as compensation into the Forbidden Hospital's flesh-and-blood production line.

Although the spirit vein cores and dark matter pollution had mutually opposing properties, the Forbidden Hospital's transformation abilities were overwhelmingly powerful. It forcibly extracted the pure energy from the spirit vein cores and set off a frenzied fusion reaction with the pollution origin left behind by the Mist Lord.

Rumble!

Deep within the divine kingdom, the Forbidden Hospital's main building rose higher once more. A layer of eerie dark-gold patterns had appeared on the surface of the originally sinister building.

[Ding! The Forbidden Hospital has successfully fused with tier-three, top-grade energy sources!]

[Hospital core pollution index increased! Production line capacity doubled!]

[Tier-four, beginner-level exclusive BOSS "Specially Appointed Attending Physician" (formerly the Mist Lord) has completed preliminary transformation. New abilities acquired: "Pollution Suturing Technique," "Mind-Hallucinating Mist."]

Su Bai looked with satisfaction at the terrifying monster standing at the hospital entrance. It was over twenty meters tall, wore a gigantic white coat, and held a chainsaw in each hand. With this big guy holding down the fort, anyone who dared invade his divine kingdom in the future would definitely be thoroughly taken care of.

"Hongdou, the Thirteen Steps, and the school bus. Add this hospital, and my 'four-piece ghost story set' has started to take shape."

Su Bai withdrew from the divine kingdom, in high spirits.

Meanwhile.

Thousands of miles from Linhai City, in a vast black fortress buried deep underground.

This was the headquarters of the Eye of the Abyss, the most mysterious and dangerous illegal organization in the entire Great Xia Nation.

In a gloomy hall, twelve enormous black high-backed chairs stood in a circle. A figure shrouded from head to toe in a black robe sat in one of them.

"Has the news from Linhai City been confirmed?" The black-robed figure's voice sounded mechanically synthesized, without a trace of emotion.

In the center of the hall, a man in black wearing a Gu Family badge knelt on one knee, trembling all over. He was the secret envoy Gu Canghai had sent to request aid.

"R-reporting to you, my lord. It's confirmed. The diversion array our Gu Family set up in Mist Canyon was destroyed, and the Mist Lord mysteriously disappeared after awakening. All of this is connected to a high school student named Su Bai."

The man in black swallowed and continued, "According to the intelligence we've gathered, Su Bai awakened an F-rank wasteland divine kingdom, with a pollution index as high as 99.9%. But not only did he not lose control, he can even wield all kinds of strange rule powers. We suspect... he holds the core secret to controlling dark matter!"

"99.9% pollution, rule powers..." Two balls of scarlet light suddenly burst from the black-robed figure's eyes beneath the hood.

"Twelve years ago, a man named Su Qingshan stole a sample of Pollution Source Zero from our experimental base. We hunted him for so long, and in the end, all we found was an empty shell."

The black-robed figure slowly rose. A pressure a hundred times more terrifying than that of a tier-three Anomaly instantly forced the Gu Family envoy flat on the ground, stopping even his breathing.

"I never expected that twelve years later, his son would have perfectly fused with Pollution Source Zero, and even embarked on a path of 'becoming a god through rules' that we've dreamed of."

The black-robed figure let out a chilling, low chuckle.

"Tell Gu Canghai that Su Bai is under the Eye of the Abyss's protection... Oh, no. We're taking over."

"Send Shadow Blade to Linhai City. Don't kill him. I want him alive. I'll take him back to the laboratory, cut open his divine kingdom, and see what perfect work of art is hidden inside!"