novelHome Chapter 921: Making a Wish
Chapter 921: Making a Wish
Tang Er's defeat came too quickly.So quick that the audience was still in a frenzy, and the host was still commentating.
One moment he was brimming with confidence, the next he was a corpse.
The madness and bloodlust in the spectator stands came to an abrupt halt. The host, Brother Roast Goose, slowly stiffened, a strange smile gradually curling at the corner of his mouth.
He announced loudly, "One-Finger Killer Star wins!
This is One-Finger Killer Star's 99th consecutive victory!
Congratulations on becoming the supreme king of our Demon Tower City Colosseum!"
Li Qingran, bathed in the cheers, felt no joy or honor. Watching the chaotic spectacle around her, an ominous premonition welled up in her heart.
"Now, Miss One-Finger Killer Star, you may make a wish to the great City Lord."
Brother Roast Goose bowed deeply, then stepped back towards the edge of the arena step by step, maintaining his bowed posture with his head lowered.
And the entire colosseum's atmosphere changed drastically the instant those words fell.
*Hum—!*
A terrifying pressure poured down like a colossal tidal wave.
Darkness and blood-red devoured all color, instantly dragging the entire colosseum into a filter reminiscent of doomsday. This was a Domain, its aura completely identical to the God of Death's Domain Tang Er had just used, yet it was not a half-finished product, but a fully mastered and controlled Domain power.
Within this Domain.
The frenzied Battle Masters in the spectator stands knelt one by one. The eyes beneath their silver masks stared unblinkingly at the dark shadow slowly descending from the air, their gazes filled with unresolvable worship and fanaticism.
Li Qingran and Chen Huaian also noticed that figure.
It was a tall, imposing figure completely shrouded in a black robe, his face hidden within the hood, indistinct, as if shrouded in a patch of mist.
Beneath the hem of his robe, a hand with distinct knuckles was revealed, pale fingertips gripping a massive scythe, resting effortlessly on his shoulder.
As the dark shadow landed.
The entire colosseum fell into complete silence.
Only the faint, rustling whispers, like demonic murmurs, echoed from an unknown source.
This appearance... was very similar to the God of Death from the West of Earth Star.
Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes, muttering to himself internally.
How strange.
Why would a divine being with such distinct Earth Star characteristics appear in the Canglan Realm?
When he sensed the vast aura emanating from the dark shadow, he finally understood why Tang Er had been different earlier—Tang Er had gained a trace of divinity compared to before, and the source of that divinity was the same as the dark shadow before him.
Including that mysterious person who had intercepted him and Li Qingran a few days ago.
The reason he couldn't see through that person's identity was also because of a wisp of such divinity protecting them.
The aura of the dark shadow before him was very similar to that of the previous mysterious person.
Chen Huaian felt it was the same person, yet he couldn't be certain.
After all, the mysterious person's aura was insignificant compared to the one before him now.
Li Qingran silently met the dark shadow's gaze.
And the dark shadow, seemingly having never seen anyone dare to stare at him so directly, fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, with a voice as cold and sharp as packed ice, he spoke, "Congratulations on achieving 99 consecutive victories. As a reward, you may make a wish to me, or leave Demon Tower City."
The gazes of the Battle Masters in the spectator stands grew even more fervent.
Everyone who entered Demon Tower City had their own reasons.
To make a living, to seek revenge, to become stronger...
They had all heard the legend of Demon Tower City.
As long as one could stand here as the king, any wish could be granted.
Upon hearing this, Li Qingran's cold, clear eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of doubt knitting between her brows:
"Making a wish and leaving Demon Tower City... are two completely different options?
You mean, once I choose to make a wish, I can never leave this city?"
The tall dark shadow, hidden within the churning dark mist, gave a slight nod and sneered:
"Leaving Demon Tower City is, in itself, a supreme boon."
"All who enter this city are tempered on the edge of life and death.
To walk out alive, what you take with you is not just the resources plundered within the city, but combat and slaughter techniques far surpassing ordinary people, a complete comprehension of Domains.
Returning to the outside world with these skills, gaining high office and noble rank, amassing wealth rivaling nations—these are as easy as taking something from a bag. How can this not be considered a reward?"
He paused. The mist beneath his hood churned even more violently, as if two eerie lights pierced directly into Li Qingran's mind: "And making a wish... is to receive my gift.
Mortals are greedy, their wishes bizarre and varied. If someone were to go mad and wish for the annihilation of all living beings under heaven, and I granted it, wouldn't that throw everything into chaos?
Therefore, to receive my gift, the price is to nail your remaining life, even your soul, forever within Demon Tower City."
Li Qingran listened quietly, a faint, almost imperceptible arc curling at the corner of her mouth.
"I understand." She met those two eerie, cold gazes without hesitation. "Then I choose to make a wish."
The dark shadow's pale, bone-like fingers gently stroked the scythe: "State your wish."
Li Qingran took a deep breath, enunciating each word clearly and with resounding force: "I want... a Million-Year World Ring!"
As these five words fell.
The air in the entire colosseum seemed to freeze in an instant.
The dark shadow fell silent.
The suffocating silence lasted for a long, long time, so long that Li Qingran even began to think the other party would go back on his word.
But then, the dark shadow moved.
He slowly raised the black scythe resting on his shoulder.
In the utter silence, only a chilling, sinister pressure spread throughout the colosseum.
"As... you... wish."
As these four words fell, a gravitational force erupted violently from the dark shadow as the center.
In the spectator stands, the hundreds of thousands of Battle Masters who had been kneeling on the ground, their faces filled with fanaticism, suddenly stiffened.
Immediately after, countless streams of wretched, bloody light were forcibly ripped out from the crowns of their heads, as if being peeled and drawn like silk from cocoons!
Those were their souls!
The Battle Power they had painstakingly cultivated for half their lives!
The entire sky was dyed a despairing crimson.
Countless twisted faces gathered and intertwined in mid-air, like a river of the underworld formed from vengeful spirits and bloody energy, swirling and roaring above the dark shadow's head.
This slaughter was more like a grand sacrifice.
The bloody streams of light frantically compressed, condensed, and finally transformed into a dark red, ring-shaped phantom in mid-air, emanating overwhelming baleful energy.
Just as this World Ring was about to fully form, the scythe in the dark shadow's hand suddenly pointed forward.
The tip of the blade precisely touched the center of the blood-soaked, sinister World Ring.
"*Hum—!*"
With a soul-shaking hum, the wretched wails of the countless wandering spirits were instantly and forcibly severed, all shrinking back and sealed within the World Ring.
The originally illusory ring-shaped object solidified completely into substance.
"This is the Million-Year World Ring you desired." The dark shadow withdrew his scythe, allowing the ring emitting terrifying pressure to slowly float towards Li Qingran. "Accept it, and you will be the next master of Demon Tower City. This endless darkness and slaughter will be your eternal abode."
Li Qingran looked at this supreme treasure now within reach, but her frown deepened.
"I am the next City Lord..." She stared coldly at the dark shadow. "Then what exactly are you?"
"I am the former master." The dark shadow's voice carried an aloof indifference. "As for where I will go, a mere mortal like you is not yet qualified to know."
He shifted the topic, seemingly unwilling to elaborate further, merely murmuring in a low voice:
"Come... absorb it. Feel this power sufficient to rend heaven and earth... Is this not precisely what you have been desperately seeking, what you crave to the extreme?"
Li Qingran's gaze involuntarily fell upon that blood-red World Ring.
*Thump, thump.*
Her heart began to beat wildly, betraying her.
Greed and delusion, like wild grass, grew rampant in the depths of her heart.
Her mouth felt parched, and only one thought occupied her mind: seize it, devour it, make it her own!
Unconsciously, she raised her hand, her fingertips trembling slightly as they reached towards the World Ring.
But deep within, Li Qingran felt a strong sense of dissonance and horror.
*Wrong!*
Her World Ring slots were already full. This Million-Year World Ring was needed precisely to restore her Master's strength!
Why was she feeling such an intense, even somewhat twisted, desire for exclusive possession?
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the World Ring.
"Ahem."
An extremely light cough abruptly sounded within her Divine Soul.
Chen Huaian's Golden Immortal Divine Soul merely trembled slightly, and Li Qingran's mind, submerged in chaos, instantly cleared.
She sharply withdrew her hand, cold sweat already breaking out on her back.
That was close!
For that brief moment,
Her reason had almost been completely devoured by that delusion.
She had been bewitched!
"Master..." On the surface, Li Qingran remained expressionless, still gazing at the World Ring, but she secretly inquired of Chen Huaian, "Has this World Ring been tampered with by this... thing that's neither human nor ghost?"
"Correct." Chen Huaian's low voice replied. "Tampered with, of course. It contains a wisp of highly polluting divinity fragment.
If absorbed without any defense, your soul would be subtly rewritten, becoming his puppet—provided that your Master is not here."
In other words, as long as he, Chen Huaian, was present, this dark shadow's plan could not proceed.
A chill ran through Li Qingran's heart: "Then can this World Ring still be absorbed? It won't affect your body, will it..."
"Absorb it, why not?" Chen Huaian snorted with disdain:
"Setting aside those cheap tricks, this is indeed a genuine Million-Year World Ring.
Since someone is so generously delivering it to our doorstep, wouldn't it be a waste of their kindness not to devour it completely?"
"As for the little tricks he hid inside..." Chen Huaian's voice suddenly turned icy, killing intent hidden within. "Playing tricks before this Venerable One? He's still too green!"