Chapter 156
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Chapter 156: Title
Ye Linlang’s tone remained utterly composed, devoid of even a flicker of irritation. She found herself intrigued that the man before her could perceive her presence.
Though the spell she had cast earlier was simple—merely causing others to overlook her—it shouldn’t have been breakable by ordinary people. His ability to see through it made him curiously exceptional.
When Jiang Nan heard her inquiry, the last shreds of sobriety in his alcohol-fogged mind stirred faint bewilderment.
The little girl before him, he dimly realized, must have misunderstood something.
A chill wind swept through the alley, sharpening his awareness momentarily. He curled into himself like a wounded animal and howled with pathetic defiance:
“—I’m cursing Heaven’s Will! Unfair! They claim cosmic justice reigns, but I see only celestial tyranny!”
Ye Linlang (currently disguised as a child): …
_Denies cursing me? "Wretched heavens," "garbage," "unjust cosmos"—direct insults to my face. This mortal has astonishing audacity._
She resolved not to dignify a drunkard’s ravings, yet couldn’t ignore this unprecedented affront. Since deities had manifested in the mortal realm, never had she witnessed such brazen sacrilege against divine order.
Jiang Nan’s brief clarity dissolved as he sank back into alcoholic despair, his shouts dwindling to broken mutters.
“Five years…my girl left me for my best friend. Biggest green hat ever. Lost the month’s deals…got fired…and they call this the golden age? Lies, all lies…”
His voice cracked. The grown man wept openly now, tears cutting through grime-streaked cheeks.
“Why…why can’t I cultivate when everyone else can? Heaven’s Will? Divine providence? Worthless crap! Show yourselves and I’ll curse you till—"
“Who cares about blasphemy? I’ll blaspheme!”
“…do it then…strike me dead…useless…utterly useless…”
Ye Linlang flexed her fingers, lightning dancing at her whim. One spark could erase this wretched soul—yet his litany of woes gave her pause.
A spiritual pariah in an era when even Blue Star’s lowliest creatures could harness Spiritual Energy. Betrayed, unemployed, loveless. Her divine calculation revealed his cruel paradox: among ten billion lifeforms, this Spiritual Energy void had stumbled into her presence.
_The cosmos balances loss with gain,_ she mused. _His blindness to magic becomes sight beyond mortal limits._
Jiang Nan flopped fish-like on cold pavement, alcohol numbing his thoughts. The persistent child seemed part of some drunken hallucination. He took another swig, oblivious to bystanders retreating from the raving drunkard.
As darkness swallowed his vision, a crystalline voice pierced the haze—sweetly childlike yet layered with primordial detachment:
“Your insults reach their target, mortal.”
“You rail against cosmic injustice for your defect. Very well.”
“What would you trade…for cultivation?”
Through alcoholic stupor, Jiang Nan turned toward the sound. Some dormant instinct made him rasp:
"If I could cultivate, I’d trade my life for it!"
"No need for your life. Simply pay an equivalent price."
Through blurred vision, Jiang Nan glimpsed a little girl tilting her head with adorable curiosity as she addressed him. His lips parted to respond, but before any words emerged, his eyes rolled upward and he passed out drunk.
Ye Linlang materialized a translucent parchment pale as cicada wings, inscribed text shimmering into existence before settling into a signature at its base:
—Jiang Nan.
*
Jiang Nan awoke with glassy eyes and muddled thoughts, a stranger’s voice echoing in his ears before full consciousness returned. "Rise now that you’re awake. Duties await."
Though unfamiliar, the voice carried haunting familiarity. His searching gaze froze when it landed on the surreal surroundings. Where… was this?
Swirling mists enveloped everything except the clear circle where he stood. The white vapor coalesced into cloud-like shapes that dissolved through his probing fingers. His attention shifted to the silver-haired child nearby – no older than seven winters, her elaborate dress embroidered with shadowed patterns, petite leather shoes gleaming.
…Why did this scene feel so recognizable?
The girl stared impassively. "Recall your actions. Reflect thoroughly."
Memories cascaded – liquor-fueled rants against cosmic forces, a child’s apparition, reckless bargaining. His expression stiffened. Divine witnesses above, how he wished to throttle his intoxicated self.
Swallowing dryly, Jiang Nan rasped, "This isn’t… a dream?"
A snap of tiny fingers summoned floating parchment before him. "It’s written in black and white. Would you renege?"
Blood drained from Jiang Nan’s face as he read the damning contract. Any plea died when he met her gaze, frost creeping up his spine. Certainty struck – protest meant annihilation.
Sudden realization widened his eyes. Since when did children radiate such menace? Wait – hadn’t she referenced his blasphemous tirades? Could this truly be…?
"Neither celestial sovereign nor deity," the girl preempted, reading his panic.
"Then what manner of being are you?!" The words escaped before he could cage them.
Silence thickened. Beads of sweat formed as Jiang Nan backpedaled, "N-not that you’re some… I mean, you’re clearly… not that existence itself…"
Unmoved, her voice crystallized the air. "I am the manifested spirit of the Heavenly Law Battleground. You currently stand upon my corporeal form."
"My deepest apologies!" Jiang Nan sprang up as if scalded, soles suddenly burning where they touched the ground.
The next moment, he jolted to awareness. Wait—this little girl claimed to be the Battleground’s spirit?? He vaguely remembered cursing the Heavenly Law Battleground as trash… Jiang Nan’s stomach dropped with sudden apprehension.
The little girl paid him no mind, snapping her fingers to dissolve the floating parchment. "As per our agreement," she announced, "you’ll receive cultivation opportunities in exchange for compensation."
"The price you must pay is…"
Jiang Nan’s throat tightened. Though suspicion lingered, he reasoned—what value did he possess to justify such elaborate deception? The tension seeped from his shoulders.
Nothing could be worse than his current wretched state anyway.
"One hundred billion Heavenly Law points plus a century of service." The cherubic-faced girl delivered this verdict with terrifying nonchalance, morphing into a devil in Jiang Nan’s eyes.
Confusion swirled through his mind, yet instinct screamed this debt would crush him. "A hundred billion… what even are points?" he choked out.
"Ah." The little girl tilted her head, moonlight glinting in her unblinking eyes. "The Heavenly Law Battleground’s prolonged absence made human cultivators forget." Her fingers flicked dismissively. "Explanations waste breath. Let’s use modern parlance."
Before Jiang Nan could process this, she muttered something indistinct. A crystalline chime resonated in his skull:
[Heavenly Law Battleground System initializing… Installation complete. Direct inquiries to system interface.]
"What sorcery is this?" Jiang Nan pressed palms to his temples. "Some system? Wait—Heavenly Law Battleground System?" Were it not for the girl’s composed presence, he’d think this one of those web novel "golden finger" scenarios. Cough—not that he read such trashy fiction. Much.
The girl materialized a glowing phone, scrolling with bored detachment. "Shouldn’t you recognize your own species’ inventions?"
Jiang Nan’s face contorted through seven expressions before settling on numb acceptance. Delusion—this must be sleep-deprived hallucination. He collapsed backward, concrete cold against his neck. Wakefulness would restore normalcy.
As electronic battle cries ("Slay!" "Double kill!") erupted from the phone, Jiang Nan’s last shred of sanity unraveled. The world had clearly snapped its cosmic leash.
"Four hours remain."
Her monotone warning froze Jiang Nan’s blood mid-flow.
"When the Battleground activates," she continued, inspecting neon-painted nails, "failure means your lineage mines the abyssal chasms or sweats in Another World’s slave pits."
He rocketed upright—but found only empty air where she’d stood.
Long minutes passed before Jiang Nan rasped bitter laughter. "If this is dreaming, it’s certifiably nightmarish."
Nightmare? Perhaps.
After wallowing in despair, he inhaled sharply. "An extraordinary opportunity," he declared to the vacant alley. "Can’t waste it… Let’s see what this ‘job’ entails."
Unaware of looming tribulations, Jiang Nan focused on one truth: incompetence meant family chains clinking in abyssal darkness.
The girl’s parting threat coiled around his heart. No deity she—that sweet-faced harbinger reeked of brimstone and broken oaths.
The abyss? For mortals? And interdimensional enslavement? Collective punishment for individual failure?
By all heavens, that creature wasn’t just a demon—she was the archetypal devil from mankind’s deepest primordial fears.
