Chapter 194: Pen Spirit (35) [Arc 6 - END]

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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Ele3 for the donation! ^^

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However, the system was already too late to stop it.

The speed at which the young man flipped through the pages with his fingertips slowed down, two-thirds of the way through. Finally, it stopped on a particular page.

That page recorded the Grand Purification Technique, capable of purifying all resentment and impurity.

The young man evidently intended to purify the remains and soul of the pen spirit.

However, everything about the pen spirit had long been intertwined with the ghost domain. ‘He’ was the ghost domain, and the ghost domain was ‘him.’

Purifying ‘him’ meant purifying the entire ghost domain simultaneously.

The required power and mental strength were immensely colossal.

Ordinary people would undoubtedly fail because they lacked the necessary strength. Still, the young man was different.

The young man didn’t have such power at the moment, but his identity was exceptionally unique. The book also contained powers specifically belonging to him, which could potentially have been induced to awaken prematurely.

The system wanted to rush in to stop it, but was a step too late.

At the moment the book came to a stop, a massive white light suddenly illuminated, unstoppable even by the immense yin energy, and it outshone the radiance of the sun and the moon.

It was as if the world had returned to daylight.

Even more dazzling than daylight, making it difficult for people to keep their eyes open.

After witnessing this scene, the system’s blood seemed to freeze, and the fear and dread in his eyes reached their peak.

Even his brain went blank.

As the white light emerged, it enveloped the young man closest to it. His entire body floated in the air.

The youth’s hair instantly grew longer, and his clothes had transformed into an exquisite and magnificent white robe. The edges of the robe were adorned with patterns woven with golden threads, making him look incredibly dignified.

At this moment, the young man had closed his eyes, his features as exquisite and radiant as a painting. So radiant that the entire world seemed to pale in comparison at this moment.

Yet, between his delicate brows, there was a hint of sorrow and melancholy, as if grieving for some unknown reason.

Even with closed eyes, he exuded a gentle and non-aggressive tenderness.

It was like having a warm ray of sunshine in a hopeless and frigid, snowy landscape, softening the entire world.

It made people unable to resist yearning.

As if he was the only redemption in a world of despair.

The white robe on the young man fluttered slightly in the wind, his silky long hair dancing with the breeze. Faint white dots surrounded him, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

The beauty was beyond description in words.

It’s as if a god had descended into the mortal realm.

Not “as if”; if this continued, the young man was truly about to awaken.

However, the fragile soul of the young man was utterly incapable of withstanding any power, let alone an awakening.

The floating book at the young man’s fingertips seemed to realize its mistake and instantly closed, dropping straight to the ground.

But it’s already too late.

The light surrounding the young man in mid-air showed no signs of dispersing. Blood began to seep from the corners of his mouth, and his figure became unstable. Even his breath weakened slightly.

Even those unaware could see that if this continued, the young man would be in serious trouble.

The worst-case scenario was not being able to endure and dying.

Not just dying in the dungeon, but a true, genuine death.

Perhaps, in the next moment of awakening, he would vanish.

Truly dissipate into the heavens and earth, leaving no trace behind.

Unless the awakening of the young man was stopped.

But the system didn’t have enough power to seal the young man. The only way to prevent his awakening was...

...to kill him.

The system’s eyes show a hint of determination as it tightened the grip on the knife.

Just as the system was about to step forward, a figure suddenly appeared not far from the young man.

It’s Qi Yunshen.

Yet, it’s not Qi Yunshen.

Because the aura was entirely different. The former Qi Yunshen was gentle as jade, but now he exuded a powerful and terrifying presence, full of oppression.

That was... the supreme ruler of the infinite horror game.

The main system of the game.

The main game system possessed the power to seal the young man’s awakening.

The system slightly loosened his grip on the knife, but the tension in his eyes didn’t dissipate.

The main gaming system arrived, and it would be best for him to leave Qiao Nuo’s body and hide himself.

After all, he had betrayed the main game system.

But at this moment, the system couldn’t care less about exposing himself. He stared intently at ‘Qi Yunshen,’ fearing any unexpected developments.

Upon appearing, ‘Qi Yunshen’ didn’t pay attention to the system but reached out towards Qi Muran.

In the next second, Qi Muran appeared in front of him.

Without mercy, ‘Qi Yunshen’ reached through Qi Muran’s chest, extracting the heart.

The heart was extremely eerie, entirely black with yin energy swirling around, giving it a dangerous and ominous appearance.

Even after being taken out, it continued to beat incessantly, faster and not at all like a human heart.

More like the heart of a devil.

‘Qi Yunshen’ exerted considerable force; his fingertips pierced into the heart, damaging its surface.

Yet, the heart didn’t resist; it obediently remained in ‘Qi Yunshen’s’ grasp.

As if the heart itself knew the current situation was highly perilous.

As the heartbeat, the blood-red figure beside it, the small black cat, and the yin energy on the system quickly merged into the heart.

After the yin energy from ‘Qi Yunshen’ entered the heart, without even glancing at it, he expressionlessly crushed the heart.

The heart offered no resistance. In the instant of being crushed, the pitch-black heart turned into yin energy, merging into ‘Qi Yunshen’s’ body.

After seven years, the heart finally became whole again, and the power returned to its most formidable state.

However, it was a willingly voluntary fusion, with no part expressing dissent.

After the yin energy completely merged into his body, ‘Qi Yunshen’ extended his fingertips, drawing several black rays in the air.

With a powerful oppressive force, the yin energy alone made it difficult to breathe.

All the rays seemed to form a special pattern. After completing the pattern, it enlarged and integrated into the ground. The light then radiated from the pattern, forming a massive array.

Then, ‘Qi Yunshen’ half-knelt on the ground, placing his hand on the array, infusing all his power into it.

The array instantly began to rotate rapidly, yin energy gushing out from it. With a world-shattering momentum, everything in its presence became insignificantly small.

The entire world seemed to dim, with even the light being directly swallowed up by the yin energy, as if it were a gigantic black hole.

It could devour everything in the world, including light and time.

The yin energy spread rapidly, binding all the dispersing white dots of light.

In that moment, black and white intertwined tightly.

Seeming like an eternal moment, as if spanning countless lifetimes.

“Seal.”

After ‘Qi Yunshen’s’ voice fell, time froze in that second, and the formation swallowed all the white light.

The young man in the air finally returned to his original state, but he looked even weaker than before.

His face was as pale as death, even carrying a hint of transparency.

In the instant of being sealed, the young man was like a butterfly with broken wings, falling straight down from the sky.

‘Qi Yunshen’ reached out and gently caught the young man, then wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth with an extremely gentle touch.

The next moment after ‘Qi Yunshen’ wiped it away, he looked expressionless in the direction of the system, his voice calm but chilling.

“Explain.”

The system, relieved to see the young man unharmed, let out a sigh of relief. The extreme fear and panic just now left him powerless, and he slumped to the ground.

After hearing Qi Yunshen’s words, he lowered his head, neither speaking nor explaining.

Because it was his fault.

Because of his selfishness and negligence, he almost killed the young man.

Having been with the young man for too long, he had long forgotten his original intentions and purposes.

He was just a subsystem of the main game system sent to lead the young man to die in the instance. (T/N: Not real death, just death of his NPC character in the instance.)

The young man was not weak due to heart disease, but because his soul was too weak.

To prevent him from hurting himself, he was made to believe he had heart disease.

The fragile soul of the young man couldn’t withstand any setbacks or any force.

Otherwise, the main game system wouldn’t keep withholding his props from him.

It was solely because the young man’s soul couldn’t bear it.

Because even the power belonging to the young man himself was too much for him to bear, let alone the dark forces in the horror game that were completely opposite to the youth’s nature.

Within half a day of receiving those props, the immense power would erode and disperse the young man’s soul.

Naturally, they wouldn’t risk it.

In fact, it’s best for the young man to die in the instance. This way, his fragile soul could be nurtured again without encountering any danger. The main game system would create a relatively safe environment for him, just like in the beginning.

Yet, he wasn’t willing to kill him.

Even though the main game system designed deaths multiple times, he couldn’t bring himself to do it in the end.

Because... he couldn’t bear to.

Killing the young man would be so simple. If the young man lost all his power, just throw him into a team-based escape instance where everyone showed no reverence for gods, and he might not survive the first day.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He couldn’t bear to see him in pain, couldn’t bear to see him suffer, and even couldn’t bear for him to witness the evils of humanity and the separations caused by life and death.

‘Qi Yunshen’ could tell what’s going on just by seeing the state of the system.

This sub-system had developed an inappropriate thought, betraying him.

But fearing that he might find out, the other concealed everything.

‘Qi Yunshen’ smiled, a condescending and mocking smile. “You’re quite audacious.”

Even something he wouldn’t dare to do, this small sub-system dared to think about.

After laughing, ‘Qi Yunshen’ ruthlessly reached out to directly reclaim the system.

The system didn’t try to escape, quietly awaiting his own demise.

The main game system would never allow him to retain his consciousness upon being reclaimed.

No one would let a sub-system retain consciousness because it would have too much influence on oneself.

At most, they would only read the sub-system’s memories.

Indeed, that’s what ‘Qi Yunshen’ planned to do. He intended to erase the sub-system’s consciousness and only read its memories.

But the next moment, he froze.

He was under a restriction. That person wouldn’t allow him to approach the young man.

Even if he was a part of that person, it was not allowed.

Because that person felt that the separated avatar did not belong to the original self.

He didn’t allow anyone to covet the young man, not even his own avatar.

However, the entire Infinite Horror Game needed a controller, and the young man needed a protector.

That’s why he was separated.

But he was also forbidden to approach the young man.

Unless the young man was in danger, otherwise, he would suffer backlash, his memories would reset, and he would return to the very beginning.

That person did not allow him to harbor any inappropriate thoughts.

If it weren’t for the young man unexpectedly awakening this time, his heart wouldn’t cooperate to serve him.

He wouldn’t even be able to see the young man.

Although the sub-system possessed less than one percent of his power, approaching the young man wouldn’t trigger the restrictions imposed by that person.

‘Qi Yunshen’ lowered his gaze to the young man in his arms.

This was actually the first time he had seen the young man in person; in the past, he could only see him through the live stream.

‘Qi Yunshen’ withdrew his hand, gently stroking the young man’s disheveled hair, his eyes filled with tenderness and affection.

The next moment, he lowered his head and lightly kissed the young man’s forehead.

Without a hint of oppression, without a trace of aggression, not even a hint of ambiguity.

Instead, it carried unparalleled sincerity and reverence.

As if the young man was the most precious existence to him.

‘Qi Yunshen’ gently placed the young man on the ground, and then his figure slowly dissipated in the same spot.

[Congratulations, player, for completing the instance <Pen Spirit>.]

[Key NPC missing in the <Pen Spirit> instance, adjustments are being made, please stay tuned.]

T/N: End of another arc! ^^ It seems like we're finally getting a glimpse into Ruan Qing's identity. (・・?) Anyway, thank you to everyone who had been donating so far. ^^ 

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