Seized by the System

The crowd quietened down when they heard Vigilante A’s announcement and proceeded to observe the large, golden gate that appeared on the mountain peak carefully.

The so-called Stairway to Heaven was hidden beneath the gloomy dark fog.

Nevertheless, why did it not show itself this time?

It was a red flag.

Those who were able to come to the Lunaette and participate in the Ascension of the Divine Gate were the best of the best among cultivators. Even if they might not be Pond-level powerhouses, they were at least Bucket-level and Basin-level experts…

Intuition told them danger lurked behind the gate.

Soon, people began to murmur among themselves.

“It looks really different this time…”

“Right, I feel like I’ll die when I step into that dark fog.”

“Better to wait and observe then, since we have a month to climb the Stairway to Heaven.”

Evidently, there were no fools among this group of high-level cultivators. In an unknown situation like this, it was natural they did not want to stand out from the crowd.

When it overheard this, Sir System said to Fang Ning, “Why didn’t you reveal the insider info just now? At least you won’t make them waste their time by guessing.”

“Hmph, I do want to make them waste their time, or else, how can our allies and us become stronger? Forget about those concepts of Utopia and universal values, I call bullsh*t on them!” Fang Ning scolded the System vehemently. “Since the dawn of time, humans have been ingrates that hold grudges. No matter how kindly you treat them, in the end, they’ll still betray you when the need arises. Only those allies and followers that are verified by our System Maxim can be trusted.”

“I see, no wonder you’re so mean to me all the time. Looks like you only hold grudges against me, too, and forget about the kindness I’ve shown you.” Sir System pondered.

“…You have such a vivid imagination. We share the same body. We live as one and we die as one. I was mean to you because I love you and I want to protect you,” Fang Ning defended himself.

“There you go with your bullsh*t.” Sir System did not believe a word of it.

“Dammit, this old System isn’t as adorable as the little System.” Fang Ning was frustrated.

Meanwhile, the Truth Department in China had received the full information and held a secret meeting at once.

“Venerable One has spoken. The difficulty is lowered once you pass the first three steps, so it looks like there will be many more people who can pass those stages with success.” Ren Ruofeng began to analyze the situation. “The fourth step, however, leads to a Realm of Terror. Since Venerable One used the word ‘terror’ to describe it, that place will surely be filled with danger. It’ll probably be ten times deadlier than the Land of Sanguinity. Staying by Venerable One’s side won’t guarantee one’s safety in there.”

Everybody was shocked when they heard that, but they calmed down quickly.

Joining the Truth Department meant that one had to face danger constantly. In the department’s early days when the members had to resolve special cases, the mortality rate was not low. Nevertheless, it was thanks to the Venerable Dragon God’s appearance who kept such dangerous situations at bay. There were only a few strange cases that were started by some retards which did not pose any great danger.

This time around, the circumstances were out of the Dragon God’s control.

However, did they have a choice to retreat?

Impossible, the Truth Department was a military organization, an official agency that was endorsed by the country. Deserting this mission was punishable on the spot!

If they became more powerful than the organization, this sort of restriction would be hard to maintain, but currently, no one had such power.

Ren Ruofeng scanned the people around him and secretly telepathized. “Within three days, we secured 18 quotas to enter the Divine Gate through a deal. We were supposed to divide the quotas according to Potential Points, Dedication Points, and Strength Points. At this point, we need to make some last minute adjustments.”

Expressions of uncertainty crossed the faces of some people.

These were the people who worked hard but who always remained average in terms of their potential or strength. It seemed that they were about to lose this second opportunity of ascending the Divine Gate.

Someone blurted out, “Can’t we just climb the Stairway to Heaven and not enter that Realm of Terror?”

Most people related to this person’s emotions, yet they could not help but cast a look of disdain towards him.

“Hmph, by your logic, isn’t it the same as telling the organization to let you enjoy the rights and ignore your duties?” Xu Rui, the dashing young man mocked him harshly.

The man was speechless and his face turned red with embarrassment.

“Alright, alright, I understand how you all feel, but your idea is absolutely impossible,” Ren Ruofeng said calmly. “Last time, a white fog appeared beyond the gate and there was no punishment for failing to climb the Stairway to Heaven. This time, there’s a dark fog and it’s obviously not a good sign. Moreover, from what I can see, if a person enters the Divine Gate and climbs the Stairway to Heaven but fails to enter the Realm of Terror and acquire something from that place, the lightest punishment will be abandonment by the Heavenly Axiom. From then on, that person’s cultivation base will hardly increase.”

The people nodded their heads in silence. It was the most plausible analysis.

One should be aware that the Heavenly Axiom was never a benevolent entity. Intrinsically, it did not have its own consciousness and when it existed in nature, it had never taken pity on any human or any living being. It was a matter of survival of the fittest, or else the whole clan would be extinct.

The present changes had definitely determined who the candidates were going to be. Instead of merely judging by diligence, the candidates must be those who possessed both strength and potential.

Although some people were dissatisfied about this, they also understood their own limits. How could they expect themselves to climb the formidable Stairway to Heaven when their own colleagues could hardly get selected?

Ascending the Divine Gate was not an easy endeavor.

“Most likely, we’re unable to fill up 18 quotas, so we’ll have to transfer them to others at the last moment. I believe there are people who’ll be willing to pay a high price for them.”

Ren Ruofeng felt helpless as he mentioned this. When they had limited quotas, everyone fought to secure a place. The rules have changed now and there were too many quotas. Paying those prices back in the day was a waste of effort. It was true that things did not always turn out the way one wanted.

…

At the devil clan base camp that laid in a corner.

The remaining devils on Earth, such as bull devils, goat devils, and Heliotropes, gathered here. Normally, these devils were well hidden and seldom came out.

Though gue to the halo of the Eastern Pharos, the devils who were allowed here had no blood on their hands. In spite of this, they did not regard this with shame. On the contrary, this proved how adaptive the devil clan was.

Claudia and Saki Yamanashi intended to give up this opportunity of ascending the Divine Gate. Saki Yamanashi was Fang Ning’s ally and knew about the Divine Gate’s secret. She was aware of the actual test, which was to enter the Realm of Terror and to acquire something from that place.

She only relayed this info to the white woman. The rest of the devils were oblivious to this fact.

The devils had their eyes on the two women and were eager to participate in the event.

A devil with a pitch black body spoke, “Our two leaders, the devil lord isn’t here and you can’t back off. We devils have a hunch that the dark fog is the place where our clan will shine! To the humans, it’s extremely scary, but to us, it’s nothing.”

Saki Yamanashi was at a loss for words and turned to look at Claudia.

Claudia began to hesitate. She used to be the witty one among her brothers and never made her own decisions. Now, she was supposed to make the big decision on either advancing or retreating.

Furthermore, she was aware that the Realm of Terror would not scare off the devils. However, the true enemies of the devil clan were not other people but the devils themselves.

If a devil was captured by a Buddha, it would most likely be tamed and enlightened; If it fell into another devil’s hands, the most probable outcome for it was to be devoured!

She was familiar with the nature of these devils under her watch. If they gained a great opportunity by entering that area, there would be mutiny and she would be devoured by them.

Now, the devil lord and Black Robe were no longer here, and she simply did not have the power to suppress these devils who were ready to stir up trouble.

She felt helpless without the presence of the two elders.

“If my brother is still around, I can give it a try, but there’s only two of us now and it’s too risky,” Claudia told Yamanashi in a low voice.

“Yes, Sister Claudia. The master and Uncle Black Robe have become monks and there’s no one to look after us, so we’d better wait and observe. If they keep insisting, we shall get Lord Azure Dragon to make the decision,” Yamanashi replied intuitively.

After their discussion, Claudia announced coolly, “We won’t make a move first and we shall discuss again after the others have investigated this matter. After all, the devil lord isn’t here and our powers are too weak.”

The devils felt displeased after hearing the announcement, yet they could only wait. Nonetheless, they had already planned something amongst themselves. Once they secured the right opportunity, they would sneak into the Divine Gate. Anyway, the devil clan had their own quotas and need not borrow them from other clans. Their two leaders were reluctant to enter the gate, but they were enthusiastic about doing so.

To these devils, death was not the scariest thing, but the weakness was…