Chapter 38: Divine Path Retreat

Amidst the vast expanse of wind and snow, a figure in a black trench coat walked slowly forward.

Black boots left one footprint after another in the snow, while blood traced the hem of the coat, dotting the snow like a delicate, long red thread.

The sparks from the flint lit his cigarette. He took a deep drag from the thick smoke and slowly exhaled...

"The purge is nearly complete, with only a few remnants left," he murmured to himself. "This time, let's finish them off in one go."

Four silver patterns gleamed faintly on the blood-stained hem of his trench coat.

Just then, in the grey-white sky, two stars lit up simultaneously, and an ethereal divine light descended upon a distant mansion.

Seeing this, his eyebrows rose slightly.

"Divine Favor?"

"Judging by the direction, it must be Ma Zhong's residence," he mused. "A divine-favored individual emerged from that group of remnants?"

As he murmured to himself, another star lit up, and a third stream of divine favor poured down...

"Favored by three divine paths?" His surprise finally turned to shock. "What kind of prodigy is this...?"

He unconsciously quickened his pace.

The snow swirled, the cold was biting, and the distant mansion's outline appeared indistinctly.

One minute passed.

Two minutes.

Three minutes...

His brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

No matter how he walked, the mansion remained hazy and indistinct, showing no signs of getting closer... It was like a mirage in the heavy snow.

Finally, he seemed to realize something and looked back.

At some unknown point, his footprints from before had completely vanished.

The cold wind wailed, echoing in his ears. In the vast, white world, it was as if he was the only one left.

"Who's there?" he asked coldly.

His voice dissipated amidst the swirling snowflakes, as if devoured by some monster. An eerie silence enveloped his surroundings.

"...Playing tricks," he muttered. A hint of killing intent flashed in his eyes as his right hand gripped the pistol hilt at his waist, and an invisible domain suddenly spread out!

He closed his eyes, the cigarette at the corner of his mouth burning silently, as he seemed to be sensing something intently.

Suddenly, he raised his gun with lightning speed, aimed it at a spot beside him, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!

Bang—!

The power of deconstruction tore through the void, shattering all the snowflakes in its path.

At the same time, everything around him seemed to ignite like rolled paper – the ground, the sky, the snowflakes, the outline of the distant mansion... It was as if he had been encased in a giant cocoon, and with the gunshot, the cocoon shattered.

The illusory feeling around him receded like a tide, and the distant mansion became clear once more.

"Huh?" A soft exclamation came from beside the bullet's path.

He turned to look and saw a boy with a white paper covering his face. Half-kneeling in the snow, he held a tree branch in one hand, his eyes peering through poorly cut holes in the paper mask, looking at him in surprise.

On the snow in front of the boy was a large circle outlined with the tree branch. The man's figure was now confined to the center of this circle.

However, at the spot where he had fired his gun, a gap had been torn in the large circle.

"I thought it would take you a few more minutes to notice," the boy said with a shrug. "It seems I underestimated you... You truly are the legendary genius enforcer."

"Who are you?"

Han Meng frowned, staring at him. He could feel that the boy's aura was even stronger than his own, indicating he had likely reached the Fifth Tier!

But he was already twenty-five... The boy in front of him looked to be at most fifteen or sixteen!

"A Fifth Tier at fifteen or sixteen?"

He had never heard of such a genius in the Aurora Realm.

"I've covered my face, how can I tell you who I am?" The boy pointed at the white paper covering his face. Then, as if feeling a little breathless, he casually poked another hole for his nose and continued softly,

"You're getting on in years, why isn't your mind sharp?"

Han Meng's face instantly turned ashen.

"Do you know what crime you'll be charged with for obstructing an enforcer's mission?"

"Enforcer? Is that impressive?"

The boy chuckled, and with the tree branch in his hand, casually drew on the snow. A square pattern instantly appeared beneath Han Meng's feet, trapping him within it.

"When you can get out of that, I'll admit you're a bit impressive... maybe about one-tenth as impressive as me." A smile appeared on the boy's face beneath the white paper.

Han Meng looked down. At some unknown point, a giant playing card had appeared in the snow beneath his feet...

Eight of Clubs

The moment he saw the playing card, Han Meng seemed to realize something, and his pupils contracted sharply.

"...Twilight Society?!"

***

**The Mansion**

Chen Ling stared blankly at the third star that had lit up, a puzzled look in his eyes.

He didn't recognize this star, nor did he understand why he had attracted it... If killing had drawn the attention of the 'Path of the War God', then what had brought the other two divine paths?

Chen Ling couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. For him, choosing which divine path to embark on was the immediate problem he faced.

As long as he stepped onto a divine path, he would gain extraordinary power... Perhaps one day, he could use his own strength to escape the "Audience"!

A person cannot embark on multiple divine paths simultaneously, just as a person cannot be split to walk two different roads. Chen Ling looked at the three divine paths and made his decision with almost no hesitation... After all, among the three divine paths, he only recognized the 'Path of the War God'.

Moreover, Han Meng's Killing Dance had left too deep an impression on him; he even felt that the 'Path of the War God' might be the most combat-proficient among all divine paths.

Just as he was about to choose the 'Path of the War God', a sudden change occurred!

In the void behind him, pairs of crimson eyes suddenly opened, like a surging sea of shadows!

The "Audience" began to interfere with the performance!

Boom—boom—boom—boom—

In the theater, countless "Audience" members watching the performance simultaneously began stomping their feet. The dull roar was like continuous thunder!

Countless gazes projected from the theater towards the three stars in the sky. At this moment, "world-destroying" power emanated from the crimson eyes, like an invisible, immaterial super-beast silently roaring at the three stars!!

They were rejecting the divine paths;

They were intimidating the divine paths!

The next moment, the three stars in the sky trembled violently!

The divine light enveloping Chen Ling shattered inch by inch, like a divine path reaching to the heavens, beginning to collapse from its very base...

The divine paths were afraid.

They saw the monster behind Chen Ling. Originally favoring Chen Ling, they began to fear his existence. They didn't want that monster to step onto their paths... just as no one would willingly invite a fierce tiger into their home as a guest.

Therefore, they severed their divine paths and retreated from the threat.

The three streams of divine light that enveloped Chen Ling shattered, and the paths to godhood rapidly receded. At this moment, both Chen Ling and Qian Fan, along with others present, were utterly stunned...