Chapter 417: Homecoming And Black Cards
The Myriad Heavens Universe.
Inside a frontline plane, several youths were slowly walking onto a starship in a neat formation, and standing in front of them was none other than Lan Si.
"Lord Lan Si, all arrangements have been finished on that side. A guide will take you to Lord Gu Nan as soon as you reach the World of Gods," a Daoist informed Lan Si with a smile from next to her.
"Which plane is he in?" Lan Si nodded.
"The Luxuriant Blossoms Divine Kingdom."
……
On the starship, Lan Si gazed at the scenery slowly sailing by on both sides, lost in thought for a while.
Gu Nan planned to transport a group of seedlings to the World of Gods, and as one of the Divine Kingdom’s administrators, Lan Si was bound to be the one leading that group.
Because these seedlings either grew up in the Divine Kingdom or were gathered from outside, Lan Si and Yan Xiaoxiao initially managed them.
So only the two of them had enough prestige among these people to lead them.
There were a total of nine seedlings heading to the World of Gods this time. Every single one was the elite of the elite, and every single one walked to their positions by stepping over piles of corpses and bones. How could ordinary people control them?
And Yan Xiaoxiao was connected to the Divine Kingdom’s origin. As she continued her cultivation all these years… In Lan Si’s words, Yan Xiaoxiao seemed more and more inhuman.
In short, the only one who could run out to lead the team was her. But initially, Lan Si didn’t know that she was actually heading to the Luxuriant Blossoms Divine Kingdom.
That… was her hometown, the place where she grew up.
Many years had passed, and she’d long since stopped being the ignorant young girl from back then. She was afraid the number of people who died at her hands even exceeded the number of people she’d seen in the Luxuriant Blossoms Divine Kingdom.
"Lord Lan Si." Liang Ruxin appeared beside Lan Si. When he saw her slightly melancholy profile, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Lan Si turned back, all traces of emotion vanishing from her face. She just said calmly, "Of the nine of you, you have the greatest potential, and your origins are also clear. When you reach His Lordship’s side, you must perform well."
After saying this, she gave Liang Ruxin another meaningful look. "I believe you are a smart person."
"Of course." Liang Ruxin revealed a faint smile. "These days, the sentence I hear the most from people around me is that that one's existence is supreme and cannot be opposed."
Lan Si nodded and was about to respond when Liang Ruxin continued, "But I feel that there will always be existences as supreme as that one in this world.”
As he said this, Liang Ruxin watched Lan Si’s expression closely. This might be his only chance to learn more about that one before meeting him.
To Liang Ruxin's surprise, Lan Si didn’t show any anger or annoyance from the offense. She only had a mocking smile.
"If you are an ambitious person, then following that Lord is the best choice for you."
……
When Lan Si led her group to meet Gu Nan, he was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, with no image to speak of whatsoever. In his hands were cards full of decorative patterns.
And sitting across from him was Sylvia. At this time, she seemed to be scratching her cheeks out of frustration. She also held some patterned cards in her hands, but they were few in number.
What they played was called Black Cards, a card game that was quite popular within the World of Gods. It was used to simulate Divine Kingdom Wars.
This card game was also quite popular among players and later even had a dedicated game server just for that, independent from the Evil God game.
Not many gods liked to play cards, but Sylvia, a god with a lot of free time, just happened to be one of them and just happened to run into a bored Gu Nan, so they started a card fight on the spot. In any case, there was still a lot of time until the duel.
The result, of course, was that the Shadow Goddess lost ten out of ten rounds and didn’t even manage to force out any of Gu Nan's trump cards.
Knowing that she was about to lose this round as well, Sylvia jumped at the chance to leave after seeing Lan Si bring people over. Regardless of whether she recognized them or not, she flung her cards away and got up. "You have guests, so I'll leave now!"
After saying this, her figure disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye. Not even Gu Nan could catch her this time—after all, she was still the Goddess of Shadows, so she was quite skilled at running away.
Gu Nan’s gaze revealed a trace of mockery. He picked up the cards she dropped and placed them outside the field, then restored the field she just messed up to its original state… so that she can get ready for her eleventh consecutive loss on her next visit.
Then Gu Nan thought about it and took a passing glance at Sylvia’s cards.
Liang Ruixin trailed behind Lan Si, his eyes lowered.
He never judged people by their appearances and had also seen many ambitious and formidable characters who acted unrestrained, so he certainly wouldn’t underestimate the one in front of him just because of some trifling matters.
"My Lord, it’s these nine," Lan Si said meticulously, as if she didn’t see anything just now.
"Good." Gu Nan also put the cards down and nodded. "It's not easy to come back here. Have you seen Rolensia yet?"
Lan Si was slightly taken aback. She thought Gu Nan would skirt around this topic, but who would’ve thought…
But then she shook her head with a bit of helplessness in her eyes. "That one… probably doesn't remember me anymore, or rather, she probably never even knew me."
Rolensia was already a powerful Tier 10 god when Lan Si first left, and how many apostles were there in her Divine Kingdom?
Not to mention the fact that Lan Si and her sibling weren’t even considered apostles back then. At most, they could only be considered Rolensia’s fanatics, so of course the god wouldn’t remember them by name.
They originally ran to the Myriad Heavens for the sake of the most basic water attribute Godhead. It may have seemed very powerful at that time, but in reality, in Rolensia’s eyes, it wasn’t something worth her time at all.
If she really wanted a Godhead, she could simply kill an enemy god.
So back then, the one who assigned this mission to Lan Si and her brother was Rolensia’s apostle, who might even be weaker than the current Lan Si.
"Still, you should go back for a stroll. Maybe you can trigger some event… Mm, maybe you can meet some acquaintances." Gu Nan beamed at her.
Lan Si’s heart shook slightly, but she still nodded. "Yes."
Only after Lan Si left did Gu Nan look at the nine people who she brought over. "You’ve all been sent on missions to smaller planes before, right? What I need you to do in the future is the same thing."
After a pause, Gu Nan added, "Work for me and complete the missions I give you, and as reward, you will receive… power."
After a moment of silence from the nine, one of them finally spoke up. He looked like a young teen. "Do we have the right to refuse?"
"Of course," Gu Nan answered graciously. "But that would upset me, and when I'm upset, I will kill the person who upset me."
The teenager fell silent, and a young girl next to him couldn't help sneering, "Isn’t that the same as not having the right to refuse?"
"Not at all." Gu Nan corrected earnestly, "You have the right to refuse, and I also have the power to kill you. I respect your right, and you also have to respect my power. That's always the truth of this world."