Several ten thousand years ago.
Within the phantom images of the parallel worlds.
Gu Qing Shan was standing above the Primordial Wraith Realm’s Chaos Demonic Sea, holding a Key of the Seal in his hand, discussing with [Kindling] whether or not he should go to the Eternal Abyss.
While he was doing that.
Several ten thousand years later.
The Strife Zones.
Within a certain world of crime.
A young man wearing sunglasses and a nice-looking black suit stepped into a bar.
He seemed incredibly tired with several wounds that still haven’t closed on his body, his steps occasionally staggered, as if he would collapse at any time.
But no one in the bar tried to cause any trouble with him.
“Decent killing intent”
“An expert”
“Hm…”
“Nothing but trouble, don’t mess with him”
Everyone took a short glance at him before whispering among themselves.
The young man walked straight up to the bar and greeted the barkeep.
“Give me a bottle of the best liquor you have, and call your boss out here”
He spoke with a calm tone while twirling a coin among his fingers.
As the barkeep saw the coin in his hand, he quickly poured him a glass of liquor and respectfully told him: “Please wait a moment”
The barkeep then placed a coin on the table.
The coin disappeared and turned into a pair of black curtains that completely obscured the area where the young man sat.
Seeing this, the others acted like they saw nothing and instinctively took distance.
The young man also ignored the black curtains around him and simply enjoyed his liquor.
The barkeep quickly left.
A few moments later, a drunk fat man followed the barkeep behind the counter of the bar.
He glanced at the young man’s face, showed a bright smile, and also went inside the black curtains.
No one on the outside would be able to sense anything in here.
“Esteemed guest, your presence here is an honor to his humble one”
“Esteemed guest?” the young man put the glass of liquor down and squinted his eyes: “This liquor right here is 70% water, that’s a bit much isn’t it?”
The fat bar owner slowly explained: “Normally we serve nothing but poison, because you’re a colleague, we would have to serve adulterated alcohol, and because of that coin, we served you genuine liquor”
“Then how should I get a glass of actual, non-diluted liquor here?”
“My apologies, that would ruin the evil reputation of his far, so we insist on never doing such a thing”
“Reasonable”
The young man drank the entire glass of diluted liquor in his hand and slammed the coin onto the table.
“This is the #791 coin, a rare article, you can check its authenticity first” he said.
The fat bar owner smiled.
Without him doing anything, the coin was already in his hands.
He squinted his eyes and carefully observed the coin.
All of a sudden, he squeezed the coin tightly.
The sound of numerous moving mechanical parts could be heard.
The coin directly turned into a pistol that gave off bright silver rays of light.
The fat bar owner observed the silver pistol and confirmed it: “The #791 coin, Gun of the Hitman, a genuine article indeed”
He unwillingly put the silver gun back onto the table.
As soon as it left his hand, the gun turned back into a coin.
Indeed, this was a #791 coin among the 1001 numbered coins forged by the Divinities.
It had the ability to turn into a pistol with unique capabilities.
The fat bar owner spoke in a satisfied manner: “Your offer was quite decent, coins with this number are quite rare so they’re worth quite a bit, you may issue your job here”
“No hurry” the young man calmly replied: “I heard that in this world, all the high-leveled assassination jobs are issued by your place here?”
The fat bar owner nodded: “Our services have always been the most professional, so our reputation goes far”
“That’s great then” the young man lightly sighed and continued: “I want to put a bounty on a certain person in this Crime World, as long as a hitman can kill him, the reward for them is this coin”
The fat bar owner carefully asked: “Then what’s the pay for our bar?”
“As your rules stated, take it from this coin” the young man replied.
The fat bar owner clapped his hand and smiled: “No problem, who do you want to be killed?”
The young man answered: “I want to kill a hitman”
The fat bar owner praised: “Hm, this job is certainly worth your coin, then please continue”
“That hitman is called Zhang Ying Hao, a human. His weight, height, and appearance are exactly the same as mine”
The fat bar owner memorized the young man’s appearance and replied: “Yes, I’ve memorized it”
“Very good, then the job will start, erm, let’s say tomorrow morning” the young man said.
“We can issue the job for you right now. That Zhang Ying Hao fellow won’t even live to see the sunrise tomorrow” the fat bar owner smiled and told him.
“No, no, no, that’s not going to work. I still have to drink some proper liquor and get a good night’s sleep first. That way I can deal with the pursuers starting tomorrow”
Saying that, the young man picked the bottle of liquor up, poured himself a glass, and downed it in one breath.
The fat bar owner’s smile froze on his face.
A certain unbelievable thought cross his mind and lingered there until he couldn’t help but ask:
“Esteemed guest, do you mean, you are issuing a job for every hitman in this world to go after your head?”
Zhang Ying Hao replied: “You didn’t understand it wrongly”
“I’ve been hungry for 5 days already” he told the barkeep: “Get me a portion of fried rice from that shop right in front of your bar, 5 extra eggs. After I’m done, I want 2 more of this same liquor, I’ll be sleeping here tonight”
The barkeep glanced at the far bar owner.
The fat bar owner nodded.
The barkeep quickly left.
The fat bar owner was looking at Zhang Ying Hao like he looked at some strange creature.
He pointed at his own head and asked: “Are you ok up here sir?”
Zhang Ying Hao shrugged: “After being a creditable hitman for over 10 years, my head is more or less not normal, but I can assure you I’m not as you think”
The fat bar owner’s expression became even more curious: “Then why do you have to issue a job to go after your own life? You should know that every hitman in this world will be trying to kill you and use your head to exchange for that coin”
Zhang Ying Hao lit a cigarette, took a deep drag from it, and replied: “Because there are too many hitmen in this world, it’s too troublesome to go to each of them. You should know, people in this business can’t give up on a job after they took it, so I’m issuing a job for them to come and kill me, that’s much more convenient”
“Convenient?” the fat bar owner asked doubtfully.
“Convenient for me to kill them, or be killed by them” Zhang Ying Hao laughed.
The fat bar owner was stunned.
He was an old fox who had been in this business for countless years and experienced all sorts of thick and thin, but right now, he felt that his head was completely rusty.
“Esteemed guest, I know I shouldn’t ask too much, but if you answer me, I shall provide the best room this place has to offer for you tonight, free of charge” the fat bar owner said.
“A free room? Then I won’t refuse, you can ask”
“Why do you want to bring all the hitmen in the world to kill you?”
“I’ve gone through 37 worlds, constantly comparing notes with my peers and raising my level through sparring with them”
Zhang Ying Hao took a sip of liquor and continued: “This is no exception”
The fat bar owner froze.
…
Let’s rewind time.
Back to a few ten thousand years ago.
Among the Age of Old phantom images.
Gu Qing Shan stood in midair with a hesitant expression on his face.
[Kindling] continued to try and convince him: [Your sword wasn’t wrong. Furthermore, as you reach a higher level, you will have countless demons and slaves to serve under you, there is no need for you to personally go through such danger]
“When will that be?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
[After I reach the Revolution stage]
“You’re currently [Kindling] and will soon evolve to become [Origin], then after that is [Revolution]?”
[Indeed]
“Alright, then I won’t enter the Eternal Abyss” Gu Qing Shan sighed and said.
[A wise choice] [Kindling] praised him.
“Now, I believe you should have gathered enough Soul Points and Life Mysteries, evolve already, I need you to become stronger” Gu Qing Shan said.
[Kindling] didn’t reply.
On the UI, lines of blood-red text appeared:
[All conditions have been met]
[Evolution will officially begin]
[Kindling will enter a dormant state until this evolution is over]
All the blood-red text disappeared.
The [Kindling] UI has completely vanished from Gu Qing Shan’s sight.
The [Demon King Order] had fallen dormant.
This was the same as what happened back in Triste’s collection world after the [Order] began its evolution, it would temporarily disappear from the demonized people.
It was also then that Gu Qing Shan took the chance to turn the tables.
Gu Qing Shan stood still for a while.
The [Order] still didn’t show any movement.
Seems like it’s actually evolving right now…
“Good, finally no one to babbler constantly in my ears” Gu Qing Shan mumbled.
He looked towards the faraway sea.
According to what the jade gourd pendant said, Lord of Total Distortion’s ship was heading in that direction.
Gu Qing Shan contemplated briefly, then tapped his Inventory Bag and released the jade gourd pendant Adorable.
Wu wu?
(What is it?)
The gourd asked.
“Bring me to where they did the transaction” Gu Qing Shan said.
Wu wu~ Xiu xiu xiu wu wu?
(Wait, didn’t you just say that you won’t enter the Eternal Abyss?)
The gourd curiously asked.
Gu Qing Shan expressed his agreement: “I’m not going to enter, I’ll just be strolling along the edge”
Xiu xiu xiu?
(Is there a difference?)
The gourd asked in confusion.
Gu Qing Shan explained: “I want to find out what the situation is. To search and to learn is an excellent way to change the future, so I have to make a trip there to see if there is any new intel”
“Furthermore, the Lord of Total Distortion is there. He treated me as a specimen to be sold to the demonic sea creatures, and this grudge isn’t going to settle itself”
