Chapter 293: Our Association Is Thriving, Y’Know

As the tide crashed on the shore, the two men stared at each other wordlessly. One was brimming with enthusiasm and anticipation, while the other looked utterly dead inside, completely fed up with this nonsense.

After hearing what the Examiner had just said, Ji Jue was so annoyed he almost laughed. You’re not listening to a damn word I say, are you? And what the hell do you mean by “Go kill the Nethersea Worm”?

“Me?” He pointed at himself, utterly baffled. “You want me to fight the Nethersea Worm?”

Seriously?!

He had nothing on him right now, and worse, his upper limit had been locked, so he could not even advance. He didn’t have Pacifier nor Flawless Craft, and the Examiner wanted him to fight a calamity of the mortal world that had caused a large-scale disaster and left countless areas contaminated?

The Examiner might as well just tell him to go back to the Wasteland Assembly and start a manned space programme while he was at it. Hell, at least there was a chance he could actually get the whole gang to the moon!

“Think you can win?” the Examiner asked eagerly.

Ji Jue rolled his eyes. “I’ll die for sure! Besides, I’ve spent this whole damn exam on Leafway Island looking at all the pollution and filth the Nethersea Worm has left everywhere. I don’t even know what the damn thing looks like, let alone where it is!”

The Examiner nodded thoughtfully. “Mm. That part was indeed my mistake. Looks like there’s been a misunderstanding in how you interpreted the situation. You got so caught up in the usual way of thinking that even you failed to notice it.”

“What didn’t I notice?”

“‘Nethersea Worm’ is just a name. Just because we call it a worm doesn’t mean it’s literally a worm. But the ‘Nethersea’ part of the name is true.” The Examiner lightly clapped his hands. “It really can turn the sea into a Nethersea.”

The dazzling sunlight, blue ocean, and golden beach all vanished as an all-devouring darkness swallowed the world. Wind and torrential rain erupted, and waves of aberration contamination engulfed all there was.

The world once again descended into apocalypse. Everything fell into the depths of the netherworld.

Ji Jue, however, rose into the air alongside the Examiner. Like phantoms that did not truly belong there, they effortlessly broke free of gravity and looked down from the heavens.

In the span of a heartbeat, they had reached the outer space beyond the mortal world. The primordial darkness of the universe surrounded them, close enough to touch. A star drifted past Ji Jue’s eyes, twinkling brightly before continuing on its way and disappearing into the distance.

When he turned back and looked down at the world beneath his feet, he finally saw it. At the edge of the mortal world, over that vast blue sea, a pitch-black storm had spread across the surface. Like a sheet of black felt, it was slowly spreading in every direction. The apocalypse was creeping outward.

“It can corrupt the world, twist all things through aberration, and drag the vast sea down into the netherworld. What you’re seeing right now is the Nethersea.”

Beside Ji Jue, the Examiner slowly raised a hand. As casually as drawing back a curtain, he dispersed the mass of dark clouds covering the world, then flicked his fingers. The winds intensified, clouds churned, rain poured, and tides surged. As the key changes were highlighted before him, Ji Jue could clearly see every shift in the weather and the earth’s ley lines.

Endless darkness circulated through the world. The boundless aberrant spirit matter contamination flowed between sea and sky like an enormous network of blood vessels, spreading across everything. It looked almost like... a worm?!

A pitch-black worm slowly writhed within the storm, coiling around itself. It rooted itself into the earth, stretched across the heavens, and clung parasitically to the world itself.

All this time, Ji Jue and the others had been inside it without ever realizing it. The dark clouds overhead, the tides flowing from the Nethersea, and even the howling winds, all of them were part of the Worm!

“This entire Nethersea is its incarnation. If I had to make a comparison, the Worm is undergoing metamorphic development. It has essentially reverted itself to an embryonic state, and it has dispersed itself throughout the mortal world so it can gestate all over again.

“The creature itself is an amalgamation of countless massive evil creatures. The moment it was born from the Maelstrom’s projection into the mortal world, it was already powerful enough to be considered a Mortal World Abomination. Unfortunately, it was born incomplete. Because of its birth origins, it lacked purity. In terms of sheer quantity, it’s enormous, but in terms of quality, it’s still far from adequate. That was why it needed to gestate and undergo Metamorphosis again.

“When various factions joined forces to exterminate it, it was only one step away from completing its Elevation into a true apocalyptic calamity and attaining its Ultimate Form. If it had succeeded, it wouldn’t be called the Nethersea Worm anymore. It would be known as the Nethersea Dragon.”

The more Ji Jue listened, the more absurd the whole thing sounded. “You’ve spent all this time explaining how ridiculously powerful it is, and now you’re telling me I’m supposed to deal with it?”

The Examiner glanced back at him with a smile. “Well, it’s not like you have anything else to do, right?”

With that, he tossed over something that looked like a remote control. It landed in Ji Jue’s hand.

“What’s this?”

“One of the internal cores of Myriad Transformations, the Divine Creation. In other words, the remote control for the simulated world you’re in. Press the red button to rewind and return to a save point. Press the blue one to move forward and accelerate time.”

Ji Jue thought for a moment. “What happens if I press red and blue at the same time?”

“You exit,” the Examiner answered frankly. “Like I said, this is only a bonus question. If you don’t feel like playing along, you can leave whenever you want. I won’t stop you.”

Ji Jue gave him a sidelong glance and let out a cold chuckle. Suddenly, he kind of understood how Young Master Lou must have felt. “What gave you the impression that I’d just let you push me around however you want? I’d rather kill myself—”

Before he could finish, he decisively raised his hand.

Screw this. I’m done playing your game! I’m out!

“Oh, right,” the Examiner said as if something had just occurred to him. “If you cooperate with me, I won’t tell Ye Xian that you said you wanted to break away and establish your own legacy.”

Ji Jue’s hand froze in midair. He could no longer bring himself to press the buttons. Cold sweat beaded his forehead as he glared at the Examiner. You bastard...

Ji Jue genuinely did not want to drag Professor Ye into his troubles, but he knew his teacher better than anyone. If he went and made a decision like this on his own, there was no guarantee she would appreciate the gesture.

No. She absolutely would not appreciate it. And she would definitely string him up and beat him half to death, revive him, then keep beating him until even death started to look merciful.

Ji Jue hesitated. He took a deep breath, summoned his courage, and slowly lowered his trembling finger toward the buttons. Fine! If she kills me, then so be it! I’ll get out of here first, then—

The Examiner turned back, his smile growing even brighter. “Oh, right! There’s one more thing I forgot to mention! I just unlocked every material listed in the Association’s standard records for you, along with every blessing in the Encyclopedia of All Things. You don’t need points anymore. You can take as much as you want.”

The Examiner tapped his forehead, searching for the right term. “This is what you young people call... ‘Creative Mode,’ right?”

Ji Jue’s fingers were resting on both buttons, but he couldn’t bring himself to press them anymore. His heart sank. Damn it. I’m not getting out of this one.

Ji Jue could not help it. This guy was simply too good at playing him, and Ji Jue was no match for him. He still had no idea who the Examiner was or what he wanted, but anyone capable of bypassing the normal procedures and singling out Ji Jue right in the middle of the Association’s craftsman examination had to be someone important. He was probably part of the Association’s upper ranks, and at the very least, a council member.

If the man wanted to use Jian Yuan against him or make an issue out of their connection, there was no reason to go through all this trouble. He certainly wouldn’t need to jump through so many hoops and spend who knew how much just to give Ji Jue free rein over Myriad Transformations.

Right now, the man was dangling a carrot in one hand and holding a stick in the other, purely to mess with Ji Jue’s head. And the stick wasn’t even much of a stick. At worst, Ji Jue would only get beaten half to death by his own teacher. If the Examiner actually wanted to threaten him, wouldn’t it be much easier to just reveal who he was and crush Ji Jue outright?

But that carrot... Damn, that sweet carrot was tempting.

A simulated world with Creative Mode enabled, where Ji Jue could do whatever he wanted, freely experiment with every kind of blessing, and create anything he pleased? Under any other circumstances, there wouldn’t even be a discussion. Ji Jue would already be on his knees, kowtowing like crazy and calling the man his godfather.

So...

Screw it. I’ll have my fun first and worry about the rest later!

After waiting for quite a while, the Examiner smiled and waved goodbye. “Mm. Looks like you’ve made your choice. In that case, have fun!”

And just like that, he vanished with a whoosh.

Ji Jue jumped in fright, tensing up. “Holy shit, he dipped like a ghost... Fuck, don’t tell me the Myriad Transformations Tower actually gained sentience or something? Is he some alchemical ghost haunting the place? Why the hell did it latch onto me?!”

“Hm? Were you talking about me?” the Examiner asked in a puzzled tone from behind.

Ji Jue nearly jumped for real this time. He spun around in shock. “Didn’t you leave?!”

The Examiner spread his hands. “I didn’t go far. Besides, I wanted you to feel like you had complete freedom here. If you need anything, you can call me anytime.”

He patted his chest reassuringly, “I’ll be right there whenever you need me!”

Ji Jue finally lost it. “Man, what the hell do you even do?!”

“To put it simply, I’m just a part-timer who occasionally picks up shifts at the Association. If they need an examiner, I can fill in. If they need customer service, I don’t mind filling in either.” The Examiner flashed him a perfectly practiced smile typical of a service worker, showing exactly eight gleaming teeth. He almost looked sincere. “By the way, once this is all over, could you leave me a good review? My ratings have been pretty terrible these past few years. I’m almost embarrassed to show my face anymore.”

“Of course, of course.” Ji Jue’s face twitched as he forced out a smile. “With the Association doing this well, I’m sure you must get nothing but glowing reviews!”

Whoosh!

The Examiner vanished again. Ji Jue could not shake the chill running down his back, as though someone were watching him. He could practically picture the guy lurking somewhere just out of sight, secretly following him around and watching his every move. Hell, the guy could even spy on him while he took a dump!

“You don’t need to use the bathroom in a simulated world,” a voice chimed in at exactly the right moment.

“You really are spying on me!” Ji Jue exploded. “Spying is bad enough, why the fuck are you reading my mind too?!”

“The Myriad Transformations Tower can’t read minds. I just know you well enough to guess what you’re probably thinking,” the Examiner explained. “Don’t worry. I’m really not a bad person. I’m actually quite easy to get along with. Oh, and one more thing. If I were you, I probably wouldn’t call an innocent, kind-hearted person a ‘bastard’ in my head.”

Ji Jue’s smile twitched. “Don’t worry. I’m not like that. I don’t have to keep it in my head. I can call you a bastard out loud too. Do you mind?”

The Examiner chuckled. “Take a guess.”

Take a guess? I’m guessing that you’re a four-foot-seven blonde tsundere with twin tails, a flat chest, white thigh-highs, and the body of a loli despite being a perfectly legal adult!

Ji Jue refused to say another word, and the outer space before him faded away. He was back in the simulated world, standing on the aberration-ridden island beneath the gloomy sky.

As he looked around, a chill still ran through him. Yet at the same time, a rare spark of excitement began to burn within him.

“So I start with nothing and have to scavenge all my gear, huh?”

Muttering to himself, he headed off into the fabricated world with that bastard tagging along. He was ready to go all out.

***

Ten minutes later, Ji Jue blew himself up. Actually, it hadn’t even been ten minutes.