Destiny's Crossroads

Looking closely, the one-meter-tall figures in red were not human at all; they were paper dolls. As for the three-meter-tall entities in front of them, their faces were pale, and their eyes were pitch black.

The bizarre entities beating gongs and blowing suonas passed seven or eight meters away from him, heading toward the opposite lane.

Terror gripped the young man as he realized he couldn't move.

A dark, bruised hand suddenly reached in through the window and grabbed his hand. A chilling voice whispered, “Since you received the joss paper, come join the bridal procession!”

The young man's terrified expression froze, and his eyes lost their luster.

His head slumped. Within the red-clad bridal procession ahead, a one-meter-tall paper doll had appeared out of nowhere. The paper doll's face was a ninety-percent match to the young man's.

The eerie bridal procession continued forward. Behind the paper doll were figures dressed in red, holding red plaques. Their skin was deathly pale, devoid of any signs of life.

The procession kept moving. In the middle was a red sedan chair carried by eight “people.”

Behind it followed a long line of red-clad figures.

Once the procession cleared the intersection, the white mist gradually dissipated. The vehicles that had been waiting at the red light had all stalled. Inside, the passengers stared wide-eyed, their skin turning blue-gray, completely devoid of life.

Ten thousand meters above the city, a massive, silvery dragon-man hovered in the air.

Atop the dragon-man's head, Zhao Jin sat cross-legged, watching the drifting white mist with great interest.

“To think this thing crawled out of an ancient tomb outside the city. At this growth rate, it won't be long before it becomes a massive headache for the world,” Zhao Jin said, a smile appearing on his face as he checked the feedback from his Heavenly Domain.

Beside him, the notebook lay open, automatically recording the details.

The entity below had already caused hundreds of deaths, and it had only just appeared.

Zhao Jin cast a casual glance in one direction and said calmly, “Let's go. Let's take a look elsewhere.”

Hearing this, the Lord of Evil asked cautiously, “Great Destiny, where shall we go next?”

It was now completely subservient to Zhao Jin, harboring not a single thought of resistance.

Zhao Jin glanced at the Lord of Evil and said indifferently, “Just wander around. I want to see how the world is changing.”

Although the Lord of Evil's physical body was recovering within the space, its Destiny Force did not recover as quickly. At this moment, its Destiny Force stood at only a few hundred thousand.

Hearing this, the Lord of Evil picked a random direction and flew off.

Watching the scenery flash past, Zhao Jin asked, “By the way, once you recover to your peak, can you still grant wishes?”

“No,” the Lord of Evil replied. “I was only able to grant wishes because I made an oath to the Rules back then. A trace of the Rules from my era attached itself to my consciousness. That was the entity controlling me back then. After forcibly converting my energy into a wish, it dissipated.”

Rules, huh? The Lord of Evil indeed lacks the ability to directly grant wishes. A thoughtful look flashed in Zhao Jin's eyes.

The Lord of Evil added, “Great Destiny, our current world doesn't seem to have the Rules of my era. Making an oath in this era carries no binding force whatsoever.”

Zhao Jin listened quietly without speaking.

The Heavenly Domain scanned the surroundings as the Lord of Evil moved.

After some thought, Zhao Jin made a mental command: Increase the range of the Heavenly Domain to cover the entire globe. Set the retrospective viewing time to one month. Expand the observable objects to include not just physical entities but also conceptual ones. Set the limit to one million Destiny Force!

He had been using this ability all along. Now that his Destiny Force had surpassed ten million, it was time to upgrade it.

The newly surpassed ten million Destiny Force flickered, leaving him with nine million.

Text appeared before Zhao Jin.

Heavenly Domain: Covers a radius of twenty thousand kilometers. You can freely observe anything that occurred within the Heavenly Domain over the past month. Nothing, whether existing or non-existing, can escape your gaze. You can appear anywhere within the Heavenly Domain at will, and even move any object within it!

The ability was greatly enhanced. Although the minor Hypnotize ability from before wasn't explicitly mentioned, it was still included.

More importantly, by observing non-existing things—since malice could birth consciousness—he wanted to see in advance if other conceptual things would also develop consciousness.

A massive amount of information flooded Zhao Jin's mind. He quickly filtered out ordinary humans, focusing solely on the supernatural.

Soon, the information narrowed down significantly. In his mind, excluding the Church of the Earth Mother, Tang Yongyun, and the others, there were actually 319 newly emerged supernatural entities.

So many have been born in just ten days? Zhao Jin observed quietly.

These supernatural beings, born from the changes in the world, were not incredibly powerful upon their emergence.

Some were statues that had existed for thousands of years, gaining sentience after receiving incense and faith day and night.

Others were humans and animals undergoing mutations, developing supernatural abilities within their bodies.

However, the emergence of these things was a far cry from the monsters Zhao Jin had personally created. They were more like the typical products of a spiritual qi revival found in novels.

The ones Zhao Jin had fashioned were more like entities that had crawled out of some hellish abyss.

This won't do. They're too ordinary. After observing them, Zhao Jin frowned slightly.

He was highly dissatisfied with this. Furthermore, under the scan of his Heavenly Domain, he could also see the upper limits of these supernatural beings.

Not a single one possessed the seed of godhood.

At this thought, Zhao Jin suddenly smacked the Lord of Evil on the head and said with some annoyance, “I really did overrate you. How could a mere minor evil god, even after sacrificing itself, allow the world to birth supernatural beings with the potential for godhood?”

Hearing Zhao Jin's words, a look of pure innocence appeared on the Lord of Evil's dragon face. “Great Destiny, I am no creator god. Honestly, being able to plant the seeds of the supernatural across an entire planet by my own strength alone is already incredible in my eyes. Back in my era, even the archmages would have had to wipe my boots.”

Zhao Jin ignored the Lord of Evil, his eyes reflecting deep thought. Since the seeds of the supernatural have already been planted, they must be fertilized. Otherwise, relying on the Lord of Evil alone won't achieve what I envision.

He began to chant in his mind: I want to possess a special ability that can deflect the evolutionary path of the world. Set the limit to five million Destiny Force!

For the sake of the world's upper limit, he decided to increase his investment.

【The Destiny Force required for the evolutionary deflection ability has exceeded the limit!】

Soon, the text appeared. It had failed.

Seeing the text, Zhao Jin wasn't surprised; he had only been testing the waters.

Since a permanent one is out of the question, let's try a one-time ability. He had never conceptualized this kind of single-use ability before.

He hoped that sacrificing permanence would satisfy the conditions to form the ability.

I want to possess an ability that can alter the evolution of the world. This ability can only be used once. Set the limit to six million Destiny Force! Zhao Jin quickly chanted in his mind.

Six million Destiny Force was deducted.

New text appeared before him.

Destiny's Crossroads: Using this ability, you can deflect the world toward a specific direction based on the materials you provide! (One-time ability. Automatically dissipates after use. The next time Destiny's Crossroads is used, the required Destiny Force will increase tenfold!)

A ten-centimeter diamond-shaped crystal shimmering with multicolored light appeared before Zhao Jin.

This was the item he had conjured up at the cost of six million Destiny Force. At the same time, the method to use it flashed in his mind: he simply needed to feed materials into it.

With a thought from Zhao Jin, his globally spanning Heavenly Domain gathered the blood or body parts of the monsters and supernatural beings he had created.

Inside Xichang City, Liu Wen, who was squatting in a secret room absorbing spirit, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eye.

One of his six eyes had vanished. Liu Wen gasped in shock, “Who's there?!”

However, no one answered him.

An injury like this would heal in no time for him.

On Goro Island, one of Tang Yongyun's crows vanished. In the city where the Earth Mother resided, a chunk of flesh was sliced from her face by an invisible slash and disappeared.

Besides them, even a corner of the Opera-Robed Puppet's robe and a wheel from the Grisly Carriage were seized by Zhao Jin.

The moment these objects appeared, they were all absorbed by the diamond-shaped crystal.

Having done this, Zhao Jin retrieved some bones, flesh, and blood of the Lord of Evil from his space and threw them in as well.

“Great Destiny, what are you doing?” the Lord of Evil below asked, sensing the various monstrous auras appearing above its head.

There was even an aura that filled it with dread.

Zhao Jin looked at the Lord of Evil and suddenly asked, “Working. By the way, how were you born from malice?”

The Lord of Evil paused, somewhat puzzled. “There was just too much malice in that world, so I was born. But when I emerged, a portion of the Rules also fused into my consciousness.”

Before Zhao Jin could speak, a faint golden light appeared before him. “This is the Rule that helped me form. Great Destiny, if you need it, please take half. Leave half for me, and I will still be able to live.”

It spoke with an obsequious tone.

Although this thing was important, it could no longer help it break through to higher levels. It could only sustain the existence of a unique entity like itself.

Hearing this, Zhao Jin did not hesitate. He grabbed half of the golden light and stuffed it into the diamond-shaped crystal.

The materials I've gathered are enough. No, there is one more. With this thought, Zhao Jin severed his left hand and threw it inside.

This was no ordinary flesh and blood.

“Activate Destiny's Crossroads!” Zhao Jin chanted silently, staring at the crystal.

The crystal trembled violently before shattering and dissolving into the air.

【The world's progression has been deflected. The upper limit of the supernatural has been completely unlocked. Henceforth, there will be no limit to the supernatural beings that emerge!】

Looking at the text, a sinister grin tugged at the corners of Zhao Jin's mouth.

That soft, fragile world from before was not what he wanted.

Now, he had added so many evil gods and bizarre, supernatural entities to the world, even using materials like the Butcher, who was said to have resurrected from Hell.

He was already starting to imagine just how exciting the world was about to become.