Chapter 1 After the Door

Behind the door, corpses littered the ground—even with Shao Qiming's exceptional talent, when he first saw the ground covered in blurred flesh and blood, and internal organs, a place filled with corpses and festering blood, he couldn't find any other fitting adjectives.

Rather, anyone in modern society who could see this scene and not vomit, and still have the energy to think, possessed remarkable courage.

"...What happened?!"

He dry heaved, unable to stop himself from asking, "How could so many people die?!"

The divine voice did not answer this question, but continued to guide.

[Forward, 3 o'clock.]

Forced to, even though Shao Qiming was terrified, he could only pinch his nose and stagger through the piles of corpses and remains—truthfully, this was the first time he had seen so many corpses outside of horror movies. His chest and abdomen churned, and he felt like he wanted to vomit, but he was too weak to even do that. His white clothes were stained with black blood as he walked.

Shao Qiming felt his feet stepping on flesh and bone, and the squelching sounds came one after another, mixed with a strange sensation. But even with this disgusting experience, he forcibly endured it, half-closing his eyes to avoid the stench... Yet even so, the more he walked in that direction, the more he saw faces contorted in agony, eyes wide open in death. The fear and trepidation in his heart grew greater and greater.

He was afraid that in the next moment, he would see Su Zhou's corpse.

Until that voice sounded.

[Look down, open your eyes.]

The young man opened his half-closed eyes. With his keen mind, he had already guessed what he would see, but when he saw the person before him, he couldn't help but exclaim.

"A’Zhou!"

Shocked, he knelt down. Shao Qiming immediately saw the heavily injured Su Zhou—even without his left ear and left hand, his face and body covered in blood, he could clearly recognize that this was his friend—and strangely, his bulletproof vest was slashed open by swords, and he was clutching a gun in his hand.

But there was no time to worry about these trivial matters!

"He's still breathing!"

Even if Shao Qiming was left to guess, he wouldn't be able to figure out what his friend had done, but he must have done something extremely dangerous to end up like this. Gritting his teeth, Shao Qiming didn't even think about the 'cause'. He immediately took action, taking off his long-sleeved shirt.

Shao Qiming didn't have the strength to tear strips of cloth, so he planned to use the sleeve from his arm as a band to tie off the blood vessels in Su Zhou's upper left arm to prevent further blood loss from the wound.

[No need for such trouble. Listen to what I say, and you can save your friend.]

The divine voice sounded again, but this time it only made Shao Qiming pause for a moment, not stopping the action in his hands. He had already taken off his outer shirt and tied it around Su Zhou's upper arm. Shao Qiming's voice trembled slightly as he said, "Tell me your method. I'll stop the bleeding for him first."

[...First, arrange his right hand fingers into this mudra.]

As if paused for an instant, then, an extremely strange and complex mudra appeared in Shao Qiming's mind. At a glance, he exclaimed subconsciously, "Wait, is this a shape that human fingers can even make?!"

But now, he had no other choice. The voice in his mind indicated that this world did indeed have mysteries, and he had to accept the fact.

—Somewhat darkly humorous, now, the hidden mysteries finally descended upon the two who sought them, in a not-so-friendly way.

"But, can making this mudra really save people?"

Muttering softly, Shao Qiming reached out his hand, preparing to try. The divine voice echoed, as if coming from an ancient other side.

[This mudra, you can't do it, no one else can. But, if it's this little guy, I think he has the talent.]

[He has a high affinity with me, even higher than all the humans who trade with me, higher than the congregation—if he were my high priest, what need would there be for rituals and offerings.]

Shao Qiming had no energy to listen to this sentence, to analyze its meaning. If he had the energy, he would have no other choice anyway—Shao Qiming didn't unconditionally believe this voice, but according to human common sense, Su Zhou's injuries would be fatal without emergency treatment, and he didn't want Su Zhou to die. So, he could only entrust his hope to the mysteries.

He wanted Su Zhou to live!

Gritting his teeth, enduring the stifling feeling of nausea in his chest and abdomen, trying to remain as calm as possible, Shao Qiming twisted Su Zhou's fingers little by little according to the strange mudra that appeared in his mind. He could sense that his friend's strong fingers were surprisingly soft, and could be bent into any shape, indeed different from ordinary humans... Sure enough, just as the holy voice said, the secret mudra was quickly completed. It was a mudra where four fingers intertwined, like snakes coiling together, both sacred and strange.

[Not bad, rare to see, a very sincere friendship, saving me a lot of words and guiding thoughts.]

[Have to say, you are friends, it is both your luck.]

Just after Shao Qiming helped Su Zhou arrange the mudra, a gentle force, carrying large swaths of 'prayers', like 'revelations', flooded his mind.

[Chant it.]

Before Shao Qiming could digest the prayers in his mind, the voice appeared again, and Shao Qiming sensed the 'words' in his mind, and couldn't help but feel a trace of tremor and confusion.

Chant it? Chant… this thing?

Those words were not any words used by humans. In his mind, they twisted, changed, and were constantly being annihilated and reincarnated into other forms... But even so, even with its strangeness, Shao Qiming could tell what it meant at a glance.

This was 'divine language' higher than human language and common sense!

But he could only believe—even if he called the best doctor, he couldn't save Su Zhou now. Shao Qiming only had this one choice.

So, he began to chant, and a feeling of finally being able to see strange news, of being able to see 'true miracles', appeared in his heart.

Suppressing the surging emotions in his heart, the worry for his friend, trying to maintain as much calm as possible, Shao Qiming concentrated with the help of a mysterious force, and quietly chanted, emitting this spiritual sound that should not have been made by an unawakened human.

"Om—Praise the Holy Spirit! Om—Praise the Holy Serpent!"

Om—the initial sound, linking the aura of the distant past, causing the stars to shake and transform into divine light.

"Lord of Time, Root of Sun and Moon!"

—It could be vaguely seen that there were dragon and snake phantoms rising and falling, their eyes opening for day, closing for night, exhaling for summer, inhaling for winter, the phenomena of heaven and earth turning over in their hearts.

"Creating Worlds, Saving Worlds, Balancing Ten Thousand Worlds!"

—It could be vaguely seen that there was a giant ouroboros turning, it was the soul of the world, the principle of circulation, holding the power of immortality, the complete body, and the king of all mysteries.

"Following the Arrayed Stars, Existing to Destroy the World!"

—It could be vaguely seen that there was a thousand-headed divine serpent coiling, its heads dominating the endless stars, supporting the boundless earth, its existence itself was the definition of constancy, even if it spewed out flames that could destroy the heavens, it would not change in the slightest.

"Homage to the Celestial Teacher, Granting Wisdom!"

—It could be vaguely seen that a perfect and flawless fruit fell from a gorgeous divine tree, wrapped by a snake's tail, it gently sent this fruit symbolizing 'wisdom' into a hand that was clearly 'human', and then came a chuckle.

Not the voice of a mortal, but the divine voice of a saint from higher, higher up—this holy hymn chanted by a friend thus broke through the defense of instinct and was transmitted to the ears of the dying boy.

When a person is about to die, all senses are closed, the eyes cannot see, the ears cannot hear, the mind is silent, and returns to the body.

But in that hazy, silent darkness, a little bit of spirituality shone with a purplish-blue light, struggling not to go out.

Then, there was a greater light, infinite brilliance descending.

[Do you want to live?]

[Do you want to obtain true transcendence?]

[Do you want to see miracles, witness the scenery at the highest point?]

[If you want to, then sign the contract.]

And the congealed spiritual light turned, following instinct, the instinct that had always been rejecting, attacking, and denying, he subconsciously replied: "No."

"I refuse."

[...?]

The divine voice was silent for a while.

But soon, the purplish-blue spiritual light reacted, it trembled slightly in embarrassment, seemingly thinking, "Cough...Although I refused..."

"But, you can force me!"

Even the unknown divine existence was stunned at this moment, and then laughed wildly.

[Good idea!]

[Interesting person—give your blood, your life, your destiny, your future!]

[And I will give you wisdom, power, authority and glory; and, a new life, a new destiny, and a new future!]

"Blood? Life? Destiny? Future?"

The spiritual light no longer trembled, it regained its self-will, the dying Su Zhou looked up and stared at the brilliance, he also laughed wildly, pointing to his chest and said: "What are you babbling about—aren't they all here?!"

"Want them? Then reach out and take them!"

Then, came a voice of relief that something had finally been completed, something had finally been confirmed.

[This is the agreement I made with you.]

Boom!

In this instant, the spiritual energy that came from nowhere suddenly gathered and exploded!

In this instant, Su Zhou saw countless phantoms, countless phantoms of celestial gods and exotic beasts—the myths and legends that had disappeared a thousand years ago, the existences in epic songs, flickered past his eyes one after another, like shadows in time.

Originally, a winged dragon phantom should have rotated to the front of Su Zhou, but a shining chaos star serpent came from a high place, pressed it down, and replaced it, condensing in the depths of his soul.

And the solemn holy voice, proclaimed here.

[With this blood, this life, this destiny, this future as proof, no matter where you go—I, will be with you!]

The huge but condensed spiritual energy impact only echoed in the hall, setting off a violent gale. Shao Qiming could see that a cyan-purple light suddenly leaped out from the body of his friend, who should have been gradually dying. It enveloped the boy's body, and then, the excessively intense impact caused the already weak him to fall into a coma.

But in the end, he could vaguely see that in that light, Su Zhou's hand began to regenerate, flesh and blood squirming, light condensing, causing it to return to completeness.

And at this moment, surging power was stirring. In the dark spirit, the cyan-purple spiritual light was struggling not to be extinguished in the excessively large, seemingly earth-shattering light. He felt that an extremely ancient, extremely vast, extremely majestic and wise force was connecting with him—He came from outside this heaven and earth, outside this planet, outside this world!

Outside, the brilliant light only bloomed for an instant, and then it rotated and transformed, and suddenly retracted, like a receding tide, all returning to Su Zhou's now intact, even more perfect body.

All the anomalies disappeared—only it could be vaguely seen that on the spine of the boy's back, a black circular mark like an ouroboros appeared, and then disappeared into the flesh.

The next moment.

Su Zhou opened his eyes.

Fleeting, were pupils like those of a dragon or snake.