The Ancient Gods' Whisper

This was an irresistible force of neglect, as if forcibly erasing this person from the world.

You know he exists, you know his name, and even clearly understand what he intends to do.

But you just can't help but ignore him!

This is the Mythical Weapon, the reliance that the Joker has always lived by!

"I told you, you'll pay the price for your actions."

The Joker's lips curled into a sinister smile as he prepared to activate the Instant Teleportation Technique. "I'll take my leave first. Later on, whose family member should I deal with first?"

As he finished speaking, his pupils contracted for a fleeting moment.

For Gu Jianlin, expressionless, had taken out a folded square tissue from his pocket.

He held the tissue between both hands, and at his fingertips, a pale Ghost Fire suddenly ignited!

"Haven't you always been curious about which Inheritance Path I belong to?"

He whispered softly, "Curse."

The word, saturated with murderous intent, reverberated in the silence, as the boy's pupils suddenly manifested dark and eerie spell-like patterns that spread out like living creatures, crawling over his entire body in an instant.

His body trembled painfully, almost convulsing, as if a sinner cursed by some divine retribution, bearing the brunt of heavenly punishment!

The fundamental ability mastered in the Divine Path—Ghost Curse!

Its current effect was to use the enemy's body tissue as a medium to inflict curses on both life and soul!

Mutual destruction!

Although the curse inflicted by Zero-tier Divine ranks deals limited damage,

Gu Jianlin was different. Despite being Zero-tier, he possessed Dual Core Drive.

Twice the damage!

A splattering sound echoed as blood splashed out violently.

Gu Jianlin bled profusely from his seven orifices, looking like a vengeful Evil Spirit crawling out from Hell.

Almost simultaneously, blood sprayed from the Joker's seven orifices as well, interrupting the Mythical Weapon he was activating!

"I never said you could leave."

Gu Jianlin panted heavily, drawing a Desert Eagle from his waist with one last bullet in the magazine!

Raise. Aim. Pull the trigger!

BANG!

At the very last moment, the Joker's expression turned murderously grim. Behind him, a dense mist of foul-smelling blood sprayed out, followed by eight steel-like spider legs bursting from his body, crossing defensively in front of him.

With a crisp clang, the bullet collided with one of the steel limbs, falling to the ground!

"I didn't want to use this, but you're asking for it."

The Joker was truly enraged, his entire body trembling and convulsing, spider-like hairs sprouting on his face, with his pupils transforming into terrifying Compound Eyes.

"Deep deformation... As expected, a spider!"

Gu Jianlin stood motionless, his pupils slightly contracting.

A massive shadow lunged at him, accompanied by a nauseating stench.

The Joker leapt high into the air before crashing down like a thunderbolt.

"In the face of absolute power, what tricks do you have left?"

A lethal strike.

Gu Jianlin watched the shadow descend, yet displayed no trace of panic.

Judging from the timing, it should be about now.

·

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The moment the Joker landed, the tightly closed cafeteria doors exploded with a deafening crash.

Gu Jianlin stood motionless as a massive arrow whisked past, grazing his disheveled hair!

With a sharp crack, the sound of flesh being torn echoed.

The Joker, caught completely off guard, was pierced by the enormous arrow and pinned alive to the wall.

In the next moment, an iron spear tore through the air, impaling his left arm.

Another fleeting, frigid shadow of a Tachi pierced through his right arm.

The Joker was pinned to the wall, blood streaming down.

The first to break in was a masked man carrying an obsidian sniper rifle on his back, wielding a massive iron bow with a quiver of arrows hanging at his side.

"Reserve Investigator Gu Jianlin, your mission is complete,"

he declared sternly, his tone harsh as he commanded, "As the leader of the action team, Zhang Cheng, I order the raid to begin! Medical unit, tend to the wounded. Everyone else, attack at full force!"

He nocked an arrow onto the bowstring, which emitted a high-pitched strain as if near snapping, and fired three steel arrows in succession.

Gu Jianlin leaned against a table, glancing at him. The man before him bore the striking image of an ancient warrior holding a giant bow!

Overlord Path—Second Rank—Hunter!

In just an instant, the Joker's abdomen swelled visibly, and he spewed forth a mass of sticky white threads from his mouth!

Spider silk!

A torrent of spider silk surged forth like waves. Each strand was incredibly durable, forming a defensive web in midair that blocked the whistling arrows, sticking them securely in place.

"Prepare the flames!"

Zhang Cheng ordered.

Two nearly identical young men stepped up beside him, looking like twins carved from the same mold. Both began forming seals with their hands, their chests contracting sharply. Then, with puffed cheeks, they exhaled!

A blast of hot air erupted into roaring flames, consuming the crisscrossing spider webs in midair!

Heavenly Master Path—Second Rank—Magician!

Meanwhile, four Hunters of the same rank squatted at the doorway, their hawk-like eyes fixated on the spider-like creature pinned to the wall. They aimed their massive bows and loosed arrows simultaneously!

A total of twelve steel arrows tore through the air with piercing cries.

The two Magicians continued to seal, and the twelve arrows ignited mid-flight, blazing as they tore into the spider's deformed body!

"ROAR!"

The Joker let out a horrific wail as his body was engulfed in flames.

Watching this, Gu Jianlin suddenly remembered the old man's hint from the grocery store.

Nanli Shengmen: the Life Gate is fire!

At the same time, three figures cloaked in hoods stepped in. They examined the ground meticulously before stooping to touch the blood on the floor, their pupils glowing with the same dark, eerie spell-like patterns.

With a loud bang, blood spewed from their bodies.

Ghost Curse Technique!

Divine Path—Second Rank—Junior Fate Officer!

The Joker's flame-devoured body spewed blood once again, his wails diminishing to whimpers.

In quick succession, two women wielding Tachi swords dashed forward, their blades shimmering frostily as they slashed across the air!

Samurai Path—Ranger.

Gu Jianlin had once read about this on the Deep Space Network—it was a branch of the Ancient Martial Path!

With a sharp crack, the Joker's eight spider legs were severed cleanly at their bases!

The last to rush in was a rotund man whose loud and brazen laugh was all too familiar.

Cheng Youyu!

"Move aside!"

This hefty man was clearly from the Ancient Martial Path as well. With a powerful leap, he charged forth like a battering ram, shrouded in an invisible torrent of Qi Force that radiated like a primed explosive!

BOOM!

The wall crumbled, and the explosive force of Qi erupted.

The Joker's entire body crackled with the sounds of fracturing bones as he was violently smashed into the rubble.

Ancient Martial Path—Second Rank—Qi Refiner.

Cheng Youyu's fighting style was utterly distinct from the others. If the others were disciplined specialists, he was a street brawler through and through, relentlessly stomping on the enemy after knocking them down.

"Fuck your mother!"

"Fuck your grandmother!"

"Fuck your ancestor!"

This portly man spat profanities as he stomped ferociously on the rubble.

The cafeteria quaked under the onslaught, and the Joker's entire ancestry was thoroughly cursed.

Not until the rubble lay completely still did Cheng Youyu finally pause, spitting into the debris for good measure.

The rest of the action team averted their gazes, pretending not to know him.

Though their target was subdued, Gu Jianlin didn't lower his guard—he knew it couldn't be this simple.

The Joker still had at least one Mythical Weapon that hadn't been used yet.

Gu Jianlin wasn't fearless.

Ever since receiving the Joker's love letter, he had been formulating countermeasures.

His first thought was about why the Deep Space Network had given him an assessment mission that seemed doomed to fail. If it was merely to make things difficult for him or block his entry into the association, they could've just found another excuse to reject him.

After all, he was, supposedly, the son of a Fallen.

But later, Lu Zicheng's reaction made him realize there was more to this than met the eye.

Until he had systematically identified those investigators disguised as students at school.

At that moment, he understood the real purpose behind the assessment.

The Joker was a Second Rank Fallen, capable of high-level Deformation, and wielding two Mythical Weapons.

Gu Jianlin, by contrast, was just a Zero-tier rookie.

The Ether Association couldn't have known his true capabilities and thus wouldn't expect him to complete the hunt on his own.

At most, they thought of him as bait.

So he had to exploit this, turning it into his own ace in the hole.

From the very beginning, he had calculated everything precisely.