Ling Jing did exactly what those Observers expected: she didn’t cut a single frame from the footage, but slapped on a torrent of captions and uploaded the short video in record time.
“Even when decapitated at the Golden Core stage, you can survive for quite a while, let alone as a Nascent Soul cultivator.” She made sure to add glittery effects to these words, then wrapped up with, “Cultivators are powerful, but there’s really nothing so impressive about them.”
Unsurprisingly, the clip went viral again, but after having crashed and burned so many times before, the social platform already had plenty of experience, and to everyone’s surprise, it weathered the surge without a hitch.
After determining they themselves had no innate talent for cultivation, several executives—who had recently gobbled up four or five Evil God hatchlings—could more or less guess at the motives behind “Director Zhang and Mrs. Zhang’s” actions.
Once they finished watching the video, they fell silent for a moment. After a brief huddle, they immediately blasted the video to various ad placements, “regardless of reason,” force-pushing it to all users.
Meanwhile, the entire Taiyi Sect watched the video as well. After all the bluster about “so what if it’s soul seizing, let them find out what it means to know their place,” none of those words manifested into action. The Grand Elder did not return.
However, the Grand Elder’s life plaque remained perfectly intact, so he had apparently succeeded in recovering his head. He wasn’t back only because he was simply too embarrassed right now.
The sect leader convened the elders and Neimen Disciples for an emergency imperial meeting, mainly to discuss the true intentions of those two soul-seizing powerhouses.
The sect leader said helplessly, “Allow me to start us off… I suspect those two simply mean to teach us mortals that Heaven is always watching…”
A hot-tempered Grand Elder scoffed, “Who is Heaven anyway? Him? Is he even qualified?”
Another elder replied in an even tone, “Qualified or not, that’s not up to us. Those two obviously favor the ordinary people. Should we consider treating mortals and those new Outer Sect Disciples a bit better?”
The sect leader nodded slightly, “Taiyi Sect is being monitored by those two. Unless another force steps in, it would do us no harm to keep a low profile for now.”
The leading Neimen Disciple exchanged a glance with the senior sister he still loved. Their shared smile was quite bitter. Although the two of them both knew that even without their involvement, those two big bosses would still find an excuse to knock Taiyi Sect down a peg—after all, Taiyi Sect was the number one righteous sect.
Still, the whole mess began because of them. Even though the sect didn’t hold it against them, their position became awkward. They even developed a slight heart demon over it, which could lead to all sorts of complications during future advancement.
After the meeting, the pair muttered between themselves, making their way to the cave residences set aside for Neimen Disciples undergoing closed-door cultivation. After discussing a bit more, they decided to get in touch with “Director Zhang’s” foster son, He Jiuping.
Previously, He Jiuping had jumped through a lot of hoops and contacts to reach the two of them. He’d never asked for anything, just that they pass along information they deemed useful.
He Jiuping really was the real Director Zhang’s foster son, and even after being soul-seized, the “Director Zhang” of now couldn’t shake off this karma. After turning it over and over, the two of them finally decided that He Jiuping himself might be the key to breaking the deadlock.
Otherwise, why would two top disciples of a leading sect even bother with an Evil God priest? Even if that Evil God was someone special—
The little couple whipped out their phones and messaged He Jiuping, telling him that the sect didn’t plan to retaliate. After that, they washed their hands of it.
When He Jiuping received the message, he laughed softly.
“So, one Golden Core and one Foundation Establishment, and you naturally think you’re above everyone else…” In fact, he was more than happy to see the soul-seized “Director Zhang” knock a bit of sense into those arrogant sects and organizations.
If he weren’t the actual Director Zhang’s foster son, he would’ve gladly sold out his Evil God in exchange for a place under this soul-seizing powerhouse.
He drew a deep breath. With an Evil God’s blessing, his combat power rivaled Golden Core stage, but even Nascent Soul cultivators had been slapped senseless by that being. All he could do was try using his Evil God to attempt contact with those otherworldly creatures.
The reason the Evil God He Jiuping worshipped had awakened first, had the greatest strength, and boasted the largest following among its kind, was because it wasn’t all that insane—or at least, most of the time, wasn’t insane.
It didn’t care in the slightest if the ordinary people of this planet hunted its weaker kin to extinction. It only cared about that ultra-high-level cultivator who could crush it with a slap. It had thought that with the revival of spiritual energy, the gap might shrink—but in the end, it hadn’t budged at all.
It could clearly sense that being’s gaze locked onto it.
So, when its priest prayed for aid from beyond the world, the Evil God seriously considered it—and agreed.
Its parents were currently not far from this world.
Of course, summoning its parents was risky, for they might eat it, their own well-developed child, the moment they arrived. But as long as there was someone or something in this world that seemed even stronger or “tastier” than it was, its parents’ attention would not fall on it first.
After this revelation, the Evil God was somewhat sullen. It swallowed one of its priest’s legs in anger before cutting the connection.
He Jiuping didn’t even have time to cry out.
He watched, wide-eyed, as his Evil God clawed off and devoured his left leg. Three seconds later, a blob of half-translucent matter sprayed out of the stump and started solidifying, morphing into a tentacle covered in suckers.
He rolled up his sleeve. As expected, barely-visible suckers multiplied along his arm, ten or so new ones at a glance.
He let the sleeve fall, sighing. He was being assimilated by the Evil God more and more every day. He needed to find someone to slow it down—and soon.
Unlike the East, and especially Hua Country, where people instinctively rejected Evil Gods, the West was far more accommodating. Even though regular Westerners were just as fervent and savage when hunting Evil God hatchlings, as long as the foreign Evil God bestowed enough benefits—or, to put it bluntly, allowed believers to grow stronger or achieve immortality—then a faith-switch was barely an issue.
The ordinary folk were like this, and the Extraordinaries were no different.
Thanks to several of his ex-girlfriends, He Jiuping had met plenty of noble heirs whose families possessed supernatural inheritances.
He snapped a photo of his arm and sent it directly to the descendant of a grand mage and a mage apothecary.
Western Extraordinaries stayed well-informed. They all knew He Jiuping and the Evil God behind him had drawn the attention of that foreign powerhouse, but so what? Business was business—they could still make a deal.
More importantly, the world’s only priest of a true High Evil God… was invaluable for research.
He Jiuping traded that mutated left leg, taking three days—and got hold of a bottle of magic potion in exchange.
Biting down on the pain, he carefully applied the potion to his arm, and as expected, the faintly-visible suckers faded to near-invisibility.
At the same time, he felt a little clearer in his mind. Very bluntly, he told the grand mage and mage apothecary in front of him, “The Evil God I worship wants to summon its parents. In the East, there’s a saying: when you beat the old, the young shows up. I didn’t expect this also applies to Evil Gods.”
The mage and apothecary were brothers. At his words, they locked eyes, becoming visibly grave.
The grand mage pressed his pocket watch. “You’re not lying… This could be a problem. According to your Eastern proverb, when gods go to war, mortals suffer. We’re not mortals anymore, but faced with a fully-grown Evil God, we’re just as powerless.”
He Jiuping was promptly detained. When the grand mage had gathered enough allies, He Jiuping repeated his Evil God’s plan in front of a gathering of grand mages, potion masters, and high-ranking knights, all about the Golden Core stage in power.
Their collective expression read, “I always knew this day would come, but now that it’s here, I still can’t accept it.” They began a serious, urgent discussion.
Their solution—was simply to hide.
Legless, He Jiuping purposefully cleared his mind, but the Evil God still overheard the grand mages’ discussion through him.
That night, the Evil God pierced through several spatial rifts in succession, found the nobles hiding out in a secret location, and devoured them in a single bite.
And, in passing, took along its favorite priest, He Jiuping.
The next day, when the Western Extraordinaries discovered the carnage at the secret site, they finally realized just how little tolerance that ancient Eastern nation had towards Evil Gods.
Yet it was too late for regrets. Even if the Evil God had consumed so many of their outstanding juniors, the summoning of its parents was no lie.
Once the Evil God had eaten, summoning really was just that simple.
When the Evil God’s father tore open the sky, revealing even just a third of his vast and twisted body blotting out the sun, the entire world fell into panic—including the cultivators who’d always looked down from above.
In that moment, all people, Extraordinaries and ordinary alike, understood the real meaning of “never face an Evil God directly.” Just a glance brought a ceaseless stream of whispers to everyone’s ears: Come, let me devour you, become one with me, you will obtain immortality.
Those with naturally low spiritual power, especially ordinary folk who hadn’t eaten any Evil God hatchlings, went mad on the spot, clutching their heads and dashing toward the Evil God in the sky—they couldn’t possibly reach it, of course.
As for the Extraordinaries—Evil God whispers acted on ordinary people and Extraordinaries at entirely different levels. Most withstood the first wave of mental attack, but plenty still grew disoriented or even suffered a crack in their sanity.
Official authorities in Hua Country moved instantly, deploying heavily-fortified Blade Squads who had been repeatedly strengthened by the “Evil God Dietary Program.” Anyone could tell at a glance that sending regular people would’ve been suicide.
The cultivation world in Hua Country was not lacking in courage or integrity either. Practically as one, the cultivators arranged arrays and reached out to the authorities in a show of solidarity.
All the major Western mage alliances and organizations also leapt swiftly to action, laying down defensive arrays to protect their territories and surrounding civilians to the utmost of their abilities.
It was obvious that those who stood up to fight were the minority.
Most Western Extraordinaries, and more than a few Eastern cultivators, chose to keep their heads down. Escape and hiding were their priorities… As for an even smaller group among the Extraordinaries, and “well-informed” ordinary people—they threw their lot in with He Jiuping and, by extension, his Evil God.
Those ones realized that the true Evil God, the one threatening to devour the world, was actually the father of the Evil God worshipped by He Jiuping.
About half a day later, the real Evil God, having smashed through most of the world’s spatial barriers, slowly lowered one sucker-covered limb from the heavens, poised to pry up a swath of land—when suddenly, a plain and unremarkable silhouette appeared before its maw.
“The big boss finally shows themselves!”
At this moment, people watching the “True Evil God Invasion” from their homes or shelters were overcome by the urge to weep with joy.
The Evil God was delighted. Its speech was chillingly strange, but everyone could somehow understand it.
It said, “You smell delicious. You are the most delicious thing in this world.”
After speaking, the Evil God slowly lifted another massive limb.
Qin Jingzhou lifted a hand and landed a slap across its face.
Every person focused on the “True Evil God Invasion” stared, dumbstruck: This… This slap feels so familiar! The Evil God’s head is gone again—!
Qin Jingzhou turned around, looking at Ling Jing hovering behind him, and grinned. “We could really get an Evil God breeding operation started.”
Ling Jing beamed. “Great! But… isn’t this Evil God male?”
Qin Jingzhou explained, “Evil Gods can live just fine headless. Even males can lay eggs and give birth.”
Ling Jing put a hand to her forehead. “So that’s it. All this time, I’ve just been suffering from cultural ignorance.”
Whether present at the scene or glued to the livestream, everyone: …