Piao wore a reassuring smile as she turned around, forcing herself not to linger on her nostalgia.
Her mother was still here, and her mother’s love remained. That was enough.
She needed strength—greater strength—to protect this hard-won home.
Taking a step forward, her form transformed into countless locusts that vanished from the spot, rushing straight toward the private cultivation chamber Chen Zhou had prepared for her.
The moment she entered, Piao could no longer suppress the energy surging within her.
A fierce glint flashed in her eyes as she took out the broken divinity — gluttony, chewed it up in two bites, and swallowed it.
The terrifying bronze light and the hunger-filled divinity of gluttony clashed violently. Piao's aura surged explosively one moment and plummeted the next.
Recalling the new character the Ugly Hag had taught her, she focused on curling herself into a ball to begin her metamorphosis.
Peace. She wanted peace!
Chen Zhou withdrew his divine sense from Piao.
He felt a hint of anticipation regarding what kind of monster would be born from the combination of the broken divinity — gluttony, the locust mother's origin, and the massive amount of copper poison.
Having handled these trivial matters, Chen Zhou finally had time to turn his attention to his own panel.
The system had reacted after he had left the final breach of the Living Dead Secret Realm to Piao.
With a thought, the system panel unfolded before his eyes.
【Congratulations on fully exploring the Living Dead Secret Realm】
【Secret Realm Exploration: 100%】
【You have identified the root of the Aspect of All Beings secret technique: using all beings as nourishment to seize flesh and blood, nurturing copper poison to resist eerification.】
【You have perfectly completed a side quest. You prevented the spread of the Aspect of All Beings secret technique, averting a catastrophe for countless living beings.】
【Reward: One-time access to a fallen deep dream.】
Seeing the contents on the panel, Chen Zhou snorted softly.
"Averting a catastrophe for countless living beings? Dropping the act now?"
"Weren't they all 'human livestock' I was supposed to be raising? Weren't they all just 'reserve rations' I was keeping?"
【...】
An ellipsis abruptly floated in the center of the panel before quickly vanishing.
Ever since Chen Zhou descended into this world, he had sensed that something was wrong.
In this world, gods and Buddhas did not exist, yet demons and fiends were everywhere.
There were even evil spirits—entities that completely transcended common logic, existing as the peak of both mechanics and power.
In such a desperate environment, the survival of the human race was already incredibly difficult.
Yet the high-level cultivators, who should have been the pillars of humanity, found their paths of cultivation blocked.
Whether it was the Sukhavati he had encountered before or the Aspect of All Beings.
These two seemingly orthodox Buddhist secret techniques shared a common trait: once a cultivator reached the sixth-stage, the only way to survive the eerification and mutation was to raise a butcher's knife against their own kind.
One used the bodies of all beings to nurture world-ending copper poison.
The other used the souls of all beings to nourish a false dream.
This wasn't cultivation; it was raising venomous insects.
Even more ridiculous was the fact that the Heavenly Dao showed no reaction to this. When Buddhist cultivators slaughtered all beings to seek transcendence, the Heavenly Dao did not send down lightning punishments.
In contrast, Mo Yuan—who had forced the use of a forbidden technique to protect the spark of humanity—was struck down by a heavenly tribulation after his success, resulting in the total destruction of his soul.
None of it made sense.
It was as if an invisible hand was deliberately driving humanity toward self-destruction.
As Chen Zhou's thoughts churned, the system panel before him suddenly flickered wildly.
【Congratulations on fully exploring the Living Dead Secret Realm】
【Secret Realm Exploration: 100%】
【You have perfectly completed a side quest. You successfully slew the Buddhist cultivators who coveted your human livestock, protected the integrity of your human pens, and defended your dignity as an Evil God!】
【Reward: One-time access to a fallen deep dream.】
Chen Zhou let out a laugh at this glaringly obvious attempt to cover its tracks.
"What, starting to mend the fence after the sheep have bolted?"
The system remained silent again.
【...】
Chen Zhou had actually noticed that this so-called Evil God System had been intentionally or unintentionally guiding him to protect all beings from the very beginning.
Whether it was the initial side quest to kill the snake demon in Shideng Village, the generous rewards for destroying the snake demon's nest in Fengdao County, or his recruitment of the scattered villages in Qudao County to build the City of the Wrongfully Dead—the system had always provided lottery tickets as rewards.
Even this time, although the system had hurriedly modified the description, the core reward remained unchanged.
Its goal had been the same from start to finish—
To guide him toward protecting all beings.
Whether it used terms like 'human livestock' as packaging or masked it behind his identity as an 'Evil God'.
At its core, it was always protection.
Just as Chen Zhou thought the system would keep playing dead, a line of text popped up on the panel.
【Please remember, you are the Evil God.】
【^_^】
After that, no matter how Chen Zhou prodded it, the system stayed completely silent, showing no further reaction.
"Fine. Evil God it is then."
Chen Zhou slowly rose from the Nine-Skull Throne, death qi swirling around him.
He walked to the edge of the altar and looked down at the vibrant yet eerily grim City of the Wrongfully Dead below.
He watched the residents working in the spirit fields, the netherflames drifting through the market, the paper people patrolling the streets...
He said, word for word, "Since the gods and Buddhas of this world will not grant salvation, then I, the Evil God, shall protect all beings."
"Nightmare," Chen Zhou called out.
"Hng-jee?"
In the distance, the pink nightmare, who had been sleeping soundly, jolted awake. It flipped over, scrambled up, and trotted to the base of the altar.
"Stop sleeping. It's time to work."
The nightmare let out a few grunts, twisting its body in dissatisfaction, but under Chen Zhou's will, it obediently channeled the dreamlight.
The Dream-Weaving Shuttle spun, drawing the dreamlight to envelop Chen Zhou.
His consciousness sank once again, entering that bizarre dream interlayer.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of reward this hard-earned task had provided.
The surroundings were still that grayish-white void, but unlike when he had explored Lantao City, a lonely fork in the road had abruptly appeared amidst the colorful light-ribbons representing the dreams of countless beings.
This path was not woven from dreamlight; instead, it seemed to be composed of a certain shadow, exuding an aura of ruin.
It was pitch black, as if it could swallow all light.
This was the entrance to the fallen deep dream rewarded by the system.
Without hesitation, Chen Zhou stepped into it.
The road was long and silent, seemingly endless, with churning black shadows on either side.
Within the shadows, misshapen monsters lurked indistinctly, emitting hair-raising low growls.
They were the dream remnants, monsters born from this fallen land.
"Hiss—"
A monster composed of pure shadow lunged at Chen Zhou from the darkness.
Chen Zhou didn't even bother to identify what they were; he merely released a sliver of death qi.
That refined death qi expanded outward, instantly sweeping through the entire passage.
There were no screams or struggles.
The monsters lurking in the shadows were bone-eroded, strangled, and then completely erased the moment they touched the death qi.
The path was instantly cleared.
Rate on N.U.
