Chapter VI

[23:58]

Li Jun ended up hiding behind the pillar on the large, curvy red bridge that was masterfully constructed. Not only that the architecture itself was artistically appealing, it was surrounded by nature; centered around trees and water. 

With no artificial light, it was dark at that time and only the stars and the fireflies were the only painters of the sky. No signs of civilization could be felt, and no sound of humans could be heard. Soft fragrance of Chinese herbal smell engulfed the atmosphere along with the faint chirp of the nightingale. 

Jun peaked his head out from the piller, and In front of his very eyes was a man, a living embodiment of elegance, drowned in the moonlight. He sat there on the wooden floor of the bridge, extending one of his legs. One hand was placed on his knee, and another on the damp wood. Even from a distance, Li Jun could clearly see his glacial white eyelashes that were emphasized by the moon. 

As Jun was absolutely mesmerized by the sight, a gentle and cool breeze brushed past his face, making him shiver a little. 

The Venus knew that coming here has a high chance of getting himself killed, but his excuse was that he needed to investigate this Ryuusei guy's power, so he knows how to deal with him in the future. 

I'm never confronting him one-on-one though. Talk about deathwish. 

The distance from where Li Jun was hiding and where Ryuusei was sitting was very far, so it would be very difficult for Ryuusei to notice him. 

But honestly, I shouldn't have came, there is no benefit from just staring at this guy at all, I'll just go back, 

As Li Jun hesitatingly turned back to walk away, the air around him went abruptly cold, especially the area around his neck… so he looked down.

What the?!

A thin and sharp circular object was spinning at a deadly rapid speed as it trapped his neck. It was small and its position was fixed, so if he had just moved, it would cut his body into two parts.

Its temperature was cold and had a greenish-brown color. It floated there, ready to cut through anything like a pizza cutter. Li Jun couldn't move an inch; it would mean gory. 

"!!...This is-" 

"The Saturn's ring."

Ryuusei completed his sentence after suddenly appearing next to him with a small smirk on his face. Jun couldn't even move, not to mention running or fighting. 

Damn it. Am I really going to die this early?

The white ponytail swung closer and closer.

I don't want to die

Li Jun never wanted to harm anyone, and he considered himself as somewhat a good person. He often ponders why so many horrible things have to happen to him, although he knows, for a fact, that whatever happens in the world is uncontrollable. 

But he was only nineteen. He didn't want his life to end so early.

So many questions were not answered and science had not yet revealed all the truth about the world. He wanted to know the truth behind the God system and whether all of this is true or just a fantasy. Curiosity drove him to live, and knowledge will still be the meaning to his life. 

Basically, he really wanted to survive. 

Li Jun tried to think, he had to find something to get rid of this deadly spinning ring in a span of a few seconds. He faintly remembered that he just got a new skill as a reward for the last evaluation. 

What was it? Elemental… manipulation?

He sensed that the Saturn ring was cold, it was made out of ice and rocks,

And Venus was the hottest planet in the solar system.

That's it! 

"Elemental manipulation has been activated."

"Poison Resistance has been automatically activated."

This is disgusting. But this or die, Li Jun. 

He waited a few seconds then spat on the ring with his saliva. It immediately fizzled into bubbles and disappeared into thin air.

Elemental manipulation was a skill that can turn one element into another, and he assumed that water would be the best compound to manipulate into an acid. Hence, he used the skill to turn his saliva into a poison, and easily destroyed the ring.

 As expected, Hydrochloric acid was an exothermic chemical that can release heat in contact with ice. Along with the corrosion properties, the chemical reaction was strong enough to dissolve the ice and rocks that the Saturn's ring was composed of. 

"What- Where did it go?! How did you do that?!" Ryuusei stopped and stared in complete shock after his mighty weapon was destroyed easily and strangely by some…saliva.

Since Ryuusei seemed to have the intention of killing him, he paused for a moment and considered if he should just fight him now. However, he realized how stupid that decision would be, and how he would definitely lose. 

"Um, can we pause the fighting for now? I uh… don't have intention to fight you" Li Jun made sure there were no rings around my neck, then stepped closer to him. This was probably one of the dumbest solutions to a problem Jun ever encountered, but he couldn't think of any other way. Jun felt like he was trying to tame a big fluffy beast. 

"What I'm saying is: let's be allies. Let's finish this evaluation together. Two heads are better than one, right? With each other, we'll finish the quest easier, and we'll be ahead of the other candidates." Jun was really nervous and he accidentally talked too much. , so I probably talked too much. 

"I…" Maybe because he was tired, or maybe because he was drunk in the atmosphere, "really don't want to die. And I don't want to kill anyone either."

Ryuusei stepped closer and looked at Li Jun whose eyes seemed to be glowing for him. His tone was sincere, yet painful for Ryuusei to listen to. 

"So um… No killing?" Li Jun extended out his hand, but he still had another arm prepared to fight in case this guy rejected his offer. Better to be safe than sorry,

He slowly tilted his head up, white hair slowly revealing his colorful eyes. They seemed glossy and damped, weirdly as if he was crying…

"You didn't intend to kill me?" The delicate lips moved, and his crystal clear voice trembled. 

"What? You thought I wanted to kill you?"

"Isn't that the point of this God candidate thing? Like, you have to kill each other…" Ryuusei explained, he looked as puzzled as Jun did. 

Jun shrugged, "I mean, or you can just complete all the evaluations, right?"

"Ah," Ryuusei stared at the man in front of him, he suddenly smiled, "you're right. Another God Candidate tried to kill me yesterday so I was super cautious. Sorry, Jun."

"Oh-" Li Jun was surprised by how understanding this guy was. He was reminded that the God Candidates were not monsters; they were just normal human beings being dragged into this huge mess. A lot of people in this world are worse than others, and this guy seemed to be on the whiter side. 

Jun believed that his judgment of people was quite good, but he could not trust him just yet. 

Ryuusei stepped closer, revealing his glossy earrings that resembled Saturn and suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Li Jun flinched and almost punched him in the face before he said "You are a good guy, Jun."

Just like that, he turned back and disappeared like a snowflake blown by the wind. Li Jun looked toward the direction that the breeze blew, and there, he could see a small light. A small feeling of doubt lingered in his chest; that guy was genuine, but too genuine for him to believe. He remembered the last time he trusted someone and… it didn't go very well. 

I definitely can not trust that guy.