Chapter 209: Win or Lose
Coming back to her senses, Gu Qiqi bent down to pick up the metal bat that had fallen to the ground. As she straightened up, her gaze swept across the bloodied face of the First Generation Miracle Saint and the pair of eyes exposed by the gnawed eyelids. Their eyes met, and her heart trembled violently.
Then came the continuous apologies.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I just can’t take you with me. At most, I can… when it’s your seventh day, I’ll gather the villagers to burn some paper money for you?”
“If that doesn’t work, how about this? You tell me your name, and I’ll make a tablet for you to offer as compensation for my earlier intention to smash your head.”
Although Gu Qiqi felt pity for that golden figure, he was so badly injured that his internal organs seemed nearly hollowed out, and part of his brain was gnawed away—taking him with her would likely be hopeless.
Hearing Gu Qiqi, the First Generation Miracle Saint seemed to think of something. The muscles exposed on his face twitched at the corner of his mouth, revealing a grim yet relieved smile. Then he struggled to raise his hand and lightly waved at Gu Qiqi.
Go, do what you need to do!
May the miracle guide your direction, straight to the bright and pure beyond…
Though he said nothing, Gu Qiqi genuinely felt this meaning from his gaze and actions.
Thus, without any hesitation, after picking up the metal bat left on the ground, she quickly headed off into the chaotic ruins near Zawen Temple.
Gu Qiqi was a girl who cried when she was unhappy, sought revenge when wronged, and even ate from a bowl, so since the person she wanted to help didn’t need her assistance, she wouldn’t be overly sentimental.
Moreover, she had something very important to do.
She had come to Yumen Pass with the system, disguised as a calamity, to rack up all the various Spirit Energy organizations gathered in the Gobi Desert, all in order to wait for the opening of Yumen Pass, sneak in, and seize the operational center of Yumen Pass to claim as much as she could.
The Bamboo Slips Illusion, used by the Great Serpent God to eternally imprison traitors, was indeed a highly complete realm. However, as a cage, both its internal space and various functions were very limited and could even be described as harsh.
Assuming that the God Realm Prototype controlled by Luxianbei was a high-end computer, the Bamboo Slips Illusion was like a low-spec computer.
The difference was that the God Realm Prototype had no power supply or network cable, while the Bamboo Slips Illusion was connected to both but was limited by insufficient configuration, only able to process files and offer simple entertainment, unable to run large software.
But if they could seize some key components for constructing the God Realm from the operational center of Yumen Pass, then they could perform an upgrade.
Not to mention playing AAA masterpieces; at least playing some smaller independent games would be completely feasible!
By then, accompanied by an almost exponential optimization within the Bamboo Slips Illusion, the villagers’ admiration for Gu Qiqi would surely reach a new peak, advancing to Cataclysm Grade, a matter that would only require her to tiptoe slightly to achieve…
If they could also receive a few “refugees” from Yumen Pass, that would be even better!
Unfortunately, there was not a single human presence worthy of mention inside Yumen Pass… the system thought.
————
Near Zawen Temple.
Pressed by two enormous stone lions, Fang Ji felt his internal organs groaning in pain, his vision restricted to a narrow gap between the lions.
However, as he eagerly awaited Gu Qiqi to steal the First Generation Miracle Saint’s flesh and bl**d to call back her friend for his rescue, a familiar, dreamy fragrance wafted into his nostrils.
Was that… the scent of the Miracle Flower?
Could it be that the First Generation Saint had regained the ability to move?
Fang Ji thought, and in the next second, his face turned pale.
Gu Qiqi’s figure, surrounded by the radiance of the Miracle Flower, was bouncing and hopping, flashing past from fifty meters away.
“Hey! Gu Qiqi, don’t go! Did you forget something? b*stard!”
Fang Ji tried to shout a couple of times.
But perhaps the wailing, mad laughter, and gnashing sounds from afar drowned out his voice, or maybe Gu Qiqi was too excited and completely forgot he existed…
In short, Gu Qiqi didn’t even glance at Fang Ji and ran far away, her back gradually becoming smaller, just like a flicker of hope in his heart.
————
Advancing towards the small palace in the center of Yumen Pass, the system pondered the bright future of Gu Qiqi seizing the key components for constructing the God Realm Yumen while listening to her recount what had occurred during its slumber.
Gu Qiqi had just immersed herself in the guilt of not being able to help that golden figure, but by now, she finally came back to herself, recalling her recent experiences.
“Ah-ha—! System, I’ve had such a rough time, boohoo, you must never leave me alone again…”
“Okay, okay! Just this once, there won’t be a next time!”
“Boohoo, I almost did something bad.”
“Isn’t that still undone? Let’s be gentlemen; we judge by actions, not intentions. Stop crying!”
“…”
After a while.
When the system finally managed to console Gu Qiqi and heard her say, “The calamity locked me inside the God Realm, if it weren’t for Miss Ji Yunpei’s help, it wouldn’t have been easy for me to escape!” it froze for a moment and then growled fiercely.
“d*mn, that b*stard Calamity! How dare she! Doesn’t she have a conscience… no, she has no conscience at all!”
So many times, why wouldn’t Calamity let Ji Yunpei go? Didn’t she have to eventually find her?
And imprisoning… someone like her in the God Realm? How can this be tolerated?
“Where is Calamity? I want to k*ll her!”
Gu Qiqi was startled by the system’s sudden rage, remained silent for a while, and then weakly said, “System, why are you angry all of a sudden?”
“I…” the system stammered, “Well, I just heard that person is harming innocent girls again, so I’m indignant!”
“Oh, that makes sense. Miss Ji Yunpei is indeed a good person.” Gu Qiqi nodded.
Of course! Listening to Gu Qiqi, the system’s mood was fine, but in the next moment, it plummeted and directly fell into an abyss.
“But, the Void is with Calamity, and there’s also a super fierce woman; we can’t defeat them!” Gu Qiqi said worriedly.
System, “????”
Calamity plus Void…
Had Gu Qiqi been to hell recently?
Based on the timeline, Nightmare was currently either in the Great Pyramid of Giza or Yumen Pass. If Nightmare was also there… the system thought of this and couldn’t help but shiver.
What kind of world-destroying strongest combination was this?
One creates calamity and chaos, annihilating civilizations and severing the future.
The other fundamentally devours the past and destroys the birth of life.
The last one leads the entire world into a realm of illusion.
With three-pronged strategies, a destroyed world wouldn’t even have the chance to recover after countless years; just thinking about it was chilling.
After a moment of silence, the system spoke, “Wait! What did you just say?”
“I said, the Void and Calamity are together, and there’s also a super fierce…”
“Not that sentence, the previous one.” The system interrupted.
“I asked why you were so angry?” Gu Qiqi said softly.
“The one before that!”
“Um…” Gu Qiqi recalled seriously, “I said I was locked in the God Realm by Calamity, and if it weren’t for Ji…”
“Exactly that sentence!” The system interrupted.
“What’s wrong with that?” Gu Qiqi tilted her head.
“A bit strange.” The system said, “However, I’m unclear about the specific situation, and I can’t explain it to you for now.”
In its view, it wasn’t surprising that Calamity had a God Realm, but it was very strange that there were actually living people in Calamity’s God Realm, and so many of them.
In fact, in its memory, Calamity had initially never intended to construct a God Realm.
Calamity once said, “With a God Realm, everything inside it becomes a burden.”
But later, Calamity still somehow found a realm that could be considered “dead.”
Compared to a normal God Realm, it was nothing but a useless ornament and even required a lot of spirit energy to maintain, lest it collapse.
In such a God Realm, no living person could survive.
It had curiously asked Calamity, “Why would you do such a thankless job? Putting a few people inside, collecting faith, wouldn’t that enhance your power? Even if just using it as a warehouse, you could store some odds and ends!”
Yet, Calamity simply smiled at her, gazing into the distance in silence, her expression surprisingly gentle, as if missing someone.
But how could Calamity have such feelings as longing?
She fundamentally had no “heart”!
It was probably that she whimsically found a God Realm out of the thought, “If others have it, I must have it too, even if I don’t use it, I can’t be without it!” after all, that’s just who she was, the system thought.
“Though it’s a bit strange, I guess Calamity is probably also aiming for the operational center of Yumen Pass… Gu Qiqi, we need to accelerate our pace; otherwise, we’ll have to prepare for a direct confrontation with Calamity.”
As soon as the words fell, a mission prompt sound rang in Gu Qiqi’s ears.
[Optional Mission: The Lost God Realm beneath the Yellow Sand·Part Two…]
————
“Dang—Dang—Dang—!”
The sound of heavy iron boots colliding with the ground echoed in the air. The First Generation Miracle Saint turned towards the source of the sound, seeing a towering figure clad in pitch-black armor.
The exposed muscles twitched slightly, and a smile crept across his bloodied and battered face.
“Did you see? I won!”
Shaman Queen, “…”
“In this world, not everyone can be bewitched by you… as long as there are people like her, there is… there is meaning…”
Seemingly annoyed by what the First Generation Miracle Saint said, the Shaman Queen didn’t wait for him to finish and gripped the darkness tightly, piercing through his chest, pinning his body firmly to the ground.
Thus, the words halted abruptly, and only the chilling cries lingered in the air above Zawen Temple…
