Yaxiu Heath

"[Mantuosi Qienuo has received the reward 'Honor Badge of Hemaila'.]" "[Honor Badge of Hemaila: Within the Hemaila region, the bearer's recovery rates for sorcery power, soul energy, and stamina are increased by 100%, and the bearer gains three chances to resurrect from the dead.]" "[The obelisk has received the reward 'Watcher'.]" "[Watcher: This structure cannot suffer wear and tear. Any living creature who gazes upon this structure receives a brief stamina recovery blessing lasting five minutes, which can be triggered only once per day.]" Without a doubt, the Honor Badge of Hemaila was an exceptionally powerful item. With the addition of three chances to resurrect from death, the holder could practically walk unchallenged throughout Hemaila. The "Watcher" reward was rather intriguing as well; rather than rewarding the obelisk itself, it was more like a blessing granted to the citizens of Hemaila. Yet no one in the living room was in the mood to discuss these rewards. The city outside had also fallen silent, as if everyone were waiting for the verdict of the Book of Gospel. "[Art Board #8: Demigod Body of the Thousand-Color Vow]" "[Summary: A sorcerer exhausts all sanity, all sorcery power, all sorcery spirits, their unique name, and traces of life to condense vibrant inks, painting them stroke by stroke onto their own body to leverage the power of the Void Realm, temporarily gaining power beyond the legendary rank.]" "[Creator: Alifeiya Kalia]" ..... "[Art Board #7: Five Thousand Blood Array Diagram]" "[Summary: 5,623 sorcerers used their own blood as ink, drawing ritual runes across an entire city overnight. Using themselves as bridges, they leveraged the power of the Void Realm to reinforce the city's architecture.]" "[Creators: Palisi Sasiding and 5,622 others.]" ...... ...... Reading through the list, Yaxiu and the others were relatively calm, but Annan and Banjie could barely breathe, their expressions stifled and grim. There was hardly any direct depiction of the world fifty years later on the Art Board, but every single ranked piece indirectly reflected just what a brutal catastrophe Gospel Country had endured. It was a great terror so brutal that sorcerers marched to their deaths, the nation crumbled, cities were extinguished, families were wiped out, and the 1,668-year history of Gospel was very nearly brought to an end! "What on earth happened..." Annan chewed on her fingernail. "If the future is doomed to be like this, do we even need to fight for the divine wish... Right, the divine wish!" Banjie caught on as well. "That's right! As long as we obtain the divine wish, we can ask the Omniscient Weaver to intervene!" "Oh? I take it you don't mean using the wish to save the world, do you?" Igola tilted his head. "Mr. Banjie probably won't have the chance to see the world fifty years from now. And after you use the wish to elevate your strength beyond legendary rank, Young Lady, even if you can't resist the calamity, you could certainly flee Gospel and live in another safe country—our homeland, for instance, is quite nice... There's no need whatsoever to squander the wish on such a grandiose proposition as saving the world, right?" Annan swept her gaze over them. "What if I feel like saving the world on a whim?" "Then I'd certainly be delighted that my employer is such a good person," Igola said with a shrug. "After all, I don't possess such a lofty moral plane." *They've exposed themselves,* Yaxiu thought. From start to finish, Annan had never revealed why she was willing to pay such an immense price just for an opportunity to seize the divine wish. Naturally, everyone wanted a wish, but what one intended to wish for upon receiving it was a world of difference. If Annan wanted to wish for immortality, eternal youth, or even to become a god, everyone could understand and collaborate smoothly. However, if Annan was pushing this plan forward for some noble ideal, then it would be very difficult for everyone to cooperate in earnest. Both Igola and Harvey were selfish people, so they knew that getting along with selfish individuals was the most comfortable—selfish people feared death. Those with weaknesses were the easiest to control. Idealists, however, were different. Apart from the fact that they could die, idealists had no weaknesses. They had only two outcomes: victory or death. Cooperation meant that neither party could afford the cost of breach of contract, so both had to abide by the rules of engagement. But if one side had no fear of breaking the contract, then so-called cooperation became a joke; the other party could overturn the table and renege on the deal at any moment. Sensing that the rift between them and their disposable tools had widened, Annan and Banjie fell silent, turning their eyes back to the Art Board's rankings. Soon, the Art Board reached the final entry. Unlike the gloomy scenes before, the setting for the first-place painting was wonderfully comfortable: a white-walled studio, soft sunlight streaming through the windows and pooling on the wooden floorboards, and indoor potted plants gently swaying, inducing a lazy drowsiness at a glance. As the shot zoomed in, a beautiful woman dressed in purple appeared, painting at an easel. Opposite her stood a plush armchair where a model seemed meant to sit, yet at this moment, the chair was empty. Even so, the beauty in purple continued painting normally. As the camera subtly turned, her face gradually appeared on the screen, and nearly everyone in the living room jumped up in shock! Though she looked more mature, charming, and glamorous, the artist was undoubtedly the head of the Funeral Agency—the "Purple Moth," Young Lady Annan! On the screen, Annan wore a melancholy expression. The hand holding the brush moved slowly and heavily, as if weighed down with lead. Though the brush came down upon thin paper, every single stroke felt as heavy as a thousand jin, making for an agonizing sight. When the final stroke landed, she stood up as though finally liberated. She snapped the paintbrush violently, grit her teeth, and yelled, "It's over!" *Snap!* With a crisp crack, the pristine studio, the soft sunlight, and all the peaceful tranquility shattered like glass. She was not in a clean, bright studio at all. Instead, she stood amidst burning ruins, surrounded by cracked and ruptured earth. The sky was an overcast, murky yellow, obscuring day and night. The world looked as if it had been devoured clean by an apocalypse! Now the perspective shifted behind Annan. Everyone noticed simultaneously that someone was now sitting on the plush armchair that had seemingly been empty just moments ago! Yet because the easel obstructed the view, they could only see his legs, unable to catch sight of his face directly! Not that it mattered. Because the parts concealed by the easel had already been painted onto the canvas by Annan. This was the piece ranked first on the Art Board. Amidst the broken, burning ruins of a city, a man wearing a dark red trench coat sat in a luxurious red leather armchair. With his legs crossed, his left hand propping up his cheek, a mask over his face, and untamed bangs casually hanging down, he gazed nonchalantly at the burning world, his eyes slightly narrowed, as though he were smiling. A spine-chilling cold shot straight from Yaxiu's spine into the crown of his skull. "[Art Board #1: Yaxiu Heath]" "[Summary: A portrait of Yaxiu Heath, ■■■■■■■■■, ■■■, ■■■■■, ■■■■■■■■■■■■■, ■■■■.]" "[Creator: Annan Doran]"