A Bold Idea

In the past, Kookie had once witnessed how the lord of the abyss created a huge energy storm; it then began to look forward to gain power while it was shivering in fear.

Being one of the creatures of the abyss, distortion, chaos, killing, destruction and annihilation were the basic rules it had to follow in order to obtain the blessing from the will of the world. Only then could it advance and gain power in the midst of the howling souls!

Kookie had attempted to leave the magma territory to practice the Iron Laws of the Abyss!

However, he had chosen to give up in the end.

Given its elemental nature, it couldn't leave the element pool for a long period of time.

The magma gave it unparalleled power in its territory, but it was also a shackle which restricted its area of activity.

Although it was able to replenish its energy by drawing the fire element from its surrounding environment and snatching the vitality from its enemies' souls after leaving the magma, that was still not enough when considering what its massive body needed.

Once it took a hard hit, it would have to go into a deep sleep to regain its strength.

And going into a deep sleep in the abyss was without a doubt a very dangerous action.

After experiencing a few close calls, apart from obtaining some combat experience, Kookie's body had instead become weaker. It had to return to the magma.

It had given up on the idea of toughening up.

It remained in the magma zone like many of its predecessors, waiting for those who accidentally ventured in to slowly increase its strength.

Still, it felt that it wasn't any different from those dirty and petty mud-eaters that lived in the sludge.

It slept its days away once it had given up on itself.

But, everything was different at the moment.

If it was able to receive the Internet Deity's favor, it could then go further and break free of the magma's restraints to experience the charms of the abyss.

That was its ambition!!!

Yu Sheng'an's main body was sitting on the throne inside the castle. He suddenly had a bold idea as he listened to Kookie's prayers.

That idea was becoming even more tempting the more he thought about it.

Frankly speaking, he had never seen Kookie as his subordinate when he established a contract with it.

It was only one of its sources of life, a tool of the fire element, a soldier, laborer… etc.

Even when Kookie had been smashed to pieces earlier that day, he had only tried to save it half-heartedly because of being suddenly inspired by the vitality sharing incident of the dragon egg.

But Kookie's prayer made him realize one thing—it had a name. It was also a sentient being like many of the creatures he had established a contract with.

Although many of them weren't made of flesh and blood, they, too, had feelings and emotions!

To a certain extent, it wasn't wrong for him to simply classify them as "soldiers" and "disposable." As long as he had enough elementium, he could make them do anything under the restraints of the contract, including going to their deaths.

The abyss was immense; as long as he had enough elementium, he would have an endless supply of disposable soldiers.

What if he was a little more merciful?

For example, using his main body as a transit point, while all the contracted creatures and him were able to share their vitality.

What a magnificent scene that would be…

He could imagine that, as long as his contracted creatures weren't struck down by an instant devastating blow, they would be able to utilize their collective vitality to revive themselves.

They would thrive in their respective planes and even get increasingly stronger!

Someday, he, Yu Sheng'an, would become the subject whom they had to protect.

Because his death would mean the dissolution of the advantage that all the contracted creatures would have.

This would mean that he would be able to completely trigger the contracted creatures' subjective initiative!!!

Only benefits were eternal and permanent.

"Phew…"

Yu Sheng'an exhaled. He had already made up his mind as a gleam flashed through his eyes.

…

Kookie began to wait anxiously after praying.

It was extremely perturbed and its thoughts were running wild; it was excited for one moment before it became afraid again.

It was excited about the prospect of being favored by the Internet Deity; it would be able to break the magma shackles.

Then, it later feared that the Internet Deity would be angered by this, simply deciding to kill it off.

The latter wasn't impossible. It wasn't any different from an ant, according to the Internet Deity's perspective. To ask for a favor before showing its loyalty first was a big taboo.

Kookie suddenly froze during its tortuous wait.

It suddenly saw the contract document that was imprinted onto his soul appeared. The strings of words began to change right in front of its lava eyes.

After the change was completed, the contract document went back into its soul again.

Kookie was stunned.

After a moment passed, it prostrated on the ground and praised loudly, "Praise You, Great Internet Deity. Kookie swears on its soul that your glory will be spread all over the abyss!"

After a long time passed, it stood up and strode off without even taking a look at the magma behind it.

As if it had been reborn again at that very moment.

…

It was a rebirth for one, but a near death for another.

In a rocky ravine, Barlow the Syngenor was hiding within a crack and trying to suppress its breathing. Maggots could even be seen on its wounds, which were covered with feces.

It was going to die!

It had a tough battle, killing a balrog with a herculean effort, to later become the target of a demon-hunting spider.

It could only run.

But it knew it couldn't escape.

The balrog wounded it fatally when the former was at the brink of death, greatly decreasing its combat abilities.

Moreover, the demon-hunting spider was famous for eating demons in the abyss. It had an extremely keen sense of smell. Even covering its wounds with feces to conceal its scent might not guarantee its escape!

Barlow moved silently, trying to conserve its energy.

Being so close to its death had activated the extreme violence that was hidden in its heart.

Even if it was going to die, it was going to drag the demon-hunting spider to hell!

"Shhh…" A soft rubbing sound caused Barlow to tense up and he looked toward the source of the sound. Its sharps were ready to strike!

"Poof!"

The sound of a sharp blade stabbing into flesh made Barlow freeze up. The venom that was more than enough to numb its whole body had already frozen its thoughts in an instant.

It looked down and saw a part of the sharp exoskeleton by its chest, realizing that… it had been tricked.

The venom was rapidly spread in its body and its train of thought became more and more blurry.

The demon-hunting spider crawled over and spat out a sticky liquid to wrap it up before pulling it out of the crack.

Desperation flooded Barlow's maniacal heart.

Its heart was filled with anger, discontent and fear, even when it was already accustomed to death.

It had seen the prey that were killed by demon-hunting spiders before.

Their bodies would remain impeccable even after their death. Only their interior would be dissolved and absorbed.

Apparently, in order to maintain the prey's freshness, the process could take up to tens of days.

A demon-hunting spider in its incubation period could even maintain certain special prey for an entire dark calendar!

The toxins' erosion was getting stronger and stronger.

Barlow's will was also getting murkier and murkier. At that moment, it wished the deity whom it had signed a contract with would summon it out of there to fight in another world.

Even if it meant dying in another world.

It also didn't want to die by the demon-hunting spider's venom!

The deity seemed to have heard its silent cry for help. However, he didn't summon it away; instead, he was sending a surging vitality from an unknown dimension.

With the strong vitality influx, its seriously injured body began to heal on its own and endless power was born from its flesh.

Even the venom was diluted by that influx of vitality.

Barlow was stunned.

After a while, it closed its eyes.

When it reopened them, its sharp claws slashed through the sticky fluid and stabbed into the body of the demon-hunting spider!

A stab followed by another stab!

The demon-hunting spider began to struggle crazily, causing the rocks and sand to fly around them.

Once the dust settled, Barlow no longer cared if all those actions would attract the other predators.

It used its claws to carve out a mysterious magical engraving on the ground and doused it with the fresh blood of the demon-hunting spider. Finally, it placed the head of the demon-hunting spider on the magical engraving with a ceremonial attitude, before taking a few steps back and prostrating on the ground.

It said in a shaky and excited voice, "Oh Great Internet Deity, please accept the offering from your most loyal servant!"

The magical engraving that was filled with blood began to light up and the head of the demon-hunting spider immediately disappeared from the bloody array.