Chapter 4: Dark God Embryo
Seeing the approaching Large Rat Guard, Jiang Yan turned around and ran, dashing out the back door and sprinting desperately down the narrow corridor.
Before fleeing, he didn't forget to throw out a taunt:
"Commander Lu, you useless fool, I'm taking my leave now. If you want to kill me, you'd better first chop down this mischievous guard of mine!"
"Squeak!"
The Large Rat Guard wanted to give chase, but a slash swept out from the ruins, instantly tearing off its left arm.
Together with the Jade Ruyi, it fell to the ground with a "plop", turning into a pile of charred black rice.
In the piercing wind, there surged a boiling killing intent.
"To have caught your attention means that kid isn’t ordinary either—at the very least, a natural-born spiritual body…"
From the ruins, stones shattered apart, and severed hooves reached out.
They bent slightly like the legs of a spider, standing on the ground in a twisted posture, forcibly pulling Commander Lu out from within.
He waved his hand, and a great banner flew into his grasp.
Staring at the Large Rat Guard before him, his gaze was chilling.
As for Jiang Yan’s provocation, he didn’t take it to heart…
Yeah, right!
Just a mere southern barbarian—how arrogant!
"Squeak squeak!"
The Large Rat Guard lowered its head and let out a sharp cry.
It opened its massive mouth and devoured the chunk of fat it held in its right hand, gnawing fiercely, with grease splattering.
Clatter clatter!
In the next second, rice grains sprayed out from the severed opening of the Large Rat Guard’s arm and quickly converged together.
They formed a new arm and picked up the Jade Ruyi once more.
Regeneration of severed limbs!
Commander Lu saw this and sneered:
"Feeding on all living beings as rice and meat… this so-called Rice God of Wealth—how are we any different?"
"You all—go and catch that brat for me! We must use the flesh and blood of the living to anchor the coordinates. Otherwise, once time runs out, we’ll all be swept back by the river."
"Roar roar roar!"
As his words fell, a swarm of wild boar cavalry burst forth, climbing along the bluestone street and walls, charging into the depths of the street in pursuit.
On the other side,
Jiang Yan ran with all his might and finally rushed into a traditional Chinese medicine shop.
He found the underground chamber he had once visited and dashed inside, then locked it behind him.
But Jiang Yan knew that these monsters could smell his scent—being found was only a matter of time.
He just needed time…
He needed time to calmly think.
If witnessing the aberration of the long river of history meant having to face these monsters that were flushed out… then—
What was the way to break the deadlock?
Could it be that being chosen by the long river of history meant certain death?
No, that’s not right.
If that were the case, then the long river of history would have had no need to offer him a hint.
Just like how people don’t concern themselves with the death of ants—because ants hold no value to them.
But if one wished to gain attention, one had to prove their value.
So, where was the method to break the deadlock?
Jiang Yan's thoughts raced.
He could already hear the sound of approaching hooves, and the sound of houses being smashed apart.
The monsters were drawing closer.
"What exactly is it?"
Jiang Yan looked around the empty room, his mind blank—after all, it was his first encounter with a supernatural system.
The only supernatural power he had experienced up close—aside from those monsters—was the omnipresent, drifting historical dust…
Wait!
Jiang Yan froze.
He suddenly realized—why was that historical dust appearing in the underground chamber?
It was everywhere.
Could its only function really be to give him mission hints?
The long river of history was sick, not dead.
From its crying, it could be judged that it was unwilling to be infected, so it would surely try to save itself.
Thinking about how he had entered this bizarre world… the historical dust avoided him because of his rejection.
In other words…
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Feeling the increasingly close vibrations, Jiang Yan decisively made a choice.
He suppressed the repulsion in his heart and reached out to actively touch the historical dust.
Ssshhhhh!
At the moment of contact, the endless dust suddenly erupted, swarming in like a tide and engulfing him.
In the depths of Jiang Yan's consciousness, the noisy, sorrowful crying became clear once again.
The sorrowful emotions spread, making Jiang Yan irritable as he said, word by word:
“What’s there to cry about? If you’re sick, just get better!”
“If no one else can cure you, then I will!”
As soon as he spoke, the weeping of the long river of history abruptly ceased.
The endless historical dust surged, converging in the depths of his consciousness into a mass of rust-colored light.
At the same time, more information surfaced in Jiang Yan’s mind.
“So that’s how it is—this is…”
“The gift of the long river of history!”
Everyone who could actively enter the long river of history surely possessed a spirituality that surpassed mortals.
And the gift of the long river of history was the power of history intertwined with their own spirituality, birthing all kinds of miracles.
Some became special innate abilities.
Some solidified into historical skills, possessing all sorts of bizarre powers.
Some transformed into unique historical relics, like companion treasures or spirit pets from myths and legends…
But the specific strength depended entirely on one's own potential—or luck.
As for the price…
Once one accepted the historical dust, they would be marked by the long river of history and pursued by its diseased nodes.
Only by continuously growing stronger and curing the long river of history could one avoid…
What awaited otherwise was even deeper levels of mutation and being targeted by many twisted ancient beings.
In the long years of this sickness, no one knew whether They had already become comparable to immortal gods.
Or perhaps—
They were the immortal gods!
Correspondingly, solving each diseased node would earn rewards from the long river of history.
Unearthing truth from mutation.
The higher the completion, the greater the rewards!
Of course, it was all entirely voluntary.
“It’s like boarding a plane, and only after takeoff being told there’s no ticket refund—sure, the airline can ‘humanely’ let you off.”
Jiang Yan rolled his eyes, too lazy to complain about the long river of history’s forceful love.
If he refused now, he’d either be eaten by wild boar cavalry or beaten into Jiang Yan-brand rice by the Large Rat Guard.
Might as well take a gamble.
After all, he did enjoy this bizarre and fantastical world!
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have praised Commander Lu’s beautiful form!
Exploring mutated timelines, twisted history, and witnessing countless ancient beings—for a die-hard folklore enthusiast, wasn’t that a kind of reward?
“Then let me see—what is my historical gift?”
Jiang Yan smiled and let his consciousness touch the rust-colored light cluster, curious about what kind of gift he would awaken.
Hopefully it could resolve the current crisis.
However, just as he began to anticipate, endless streams of dark energy filled the depths of his consciousness.
In the blink of an eye, they formed into a giant mouth and devoured the historical gift.
Jiang Yan: ????
Before he could react, the world before him was suddenly swallowed by infinite chaotic currents.
His consciousness was drawn into the boundless dark and chaotic sea.
Here, there was no concept of space or time.
Jiang Yan became a vast and endless cloud of darkness.
Countless misty tendrils extended from his body like branches of a tree, causing the chaotic world to tremble.
From the ends of his branches, countless worlds and lives were born—and destroyed.
He birthed all things, yet also destroyed all things.
At this moment, Jiang Yan understood that this was the talent he had awakened, named…
Dark God Embryo!