Chapter 82: The Path of Life

As the black cage exploded, Chen Shi Jin saw the restaurant in front of him and the people around it begin to uncontrollably show mosaic-like grey spots.

Everything around them became unstable, as if the skyscrapers they were in would collapse the next second, and the people in front of them would vanish into thin air.

However, these instabilities eventually stabilized.

But after stabilizing, they transformed into an entirely different appearance—

The golden and splendid restaurant walls turned into nauseating, black and red meat walls, the elevator disappeared entirely, and the staircase leading to the exit resembled a bumpy, gigantic blood vessel.

The previously normal-looking remnants of souls now appeared like terrifying, decayed zombies that had rotted for years.

They no longer had the appearance of ordinary humans, with rotting bodies, missing heads, and skeletal hands dripping with flesh, they roared like monsters as they charged towards Chen Shi Jin and Yue Feng.

Chen Shi Jin was thoroughly disgusted by such transformations, but still, enduring the revulsion, he pressed hard against the meat wall beside him!

A huge hole appeared, and Chen Shi Jin glanced at Yue Feng, knowing he would be alright but still urged, "What are you waiting for?! Run!"

Yue Feng, seeing the urgency and concern in Chen Shi Jin's gaze, suddenly felt a different kind of pleasant willingness.

With just a gentle wave of his hand, the dozens of crazed zombies rushing towards them disintegrated into dust.

Only then did he leisurely follow Chen Shi Jin in jumping down from there.

Yet, even after escaping the suddenly bizarre, meat-walled cavern of a hotel, Chen Shi Jin's expression upon landing did not improve much.

Apart from keenly feeling the ground under his feet, which had been firm, turning into something indescribably soft, his gold and gemstone-encrusted phone vibrated at this moment, receiving a message—

[A traitor of the Path of Life has emerged! Survival task, world mission nullified! Reissuing new survival task:

Kill the exile No. 16, Chen Shi Jin, who is incompatible with the world's life! All exiles participating in his elimination will receive a level-four artifact and pass through this devouring world directly!

Current surviving exiles: 39.]

Hesitation

Besides this secretly received message, the now level-four gold and gemstone phone automatically popped up another message.

[Please open the unprincipled map! The unprincipled navigation will now mark all enemies rapidly approaching you!

Be advised: from the west at ten o'clock and from the east at four o'clock, two exiles are rapidly approaching you, both detected as level-four hunters.

Combat assessment: Master facing two has no issue whatsoever.]

Chen Shi Jin's expression turned somewhat numb.

Although he agreed with this combat assessment, compared to the townspeople of this Path of Life world, who could also easily be dealt with, thus in another sense liberating them, these approaching exiles were not so easily handled.

It wasn't that he was too kind-hearted to act against them, but since everyone here was a fellow traveler who hadn't died yet, if possible, it was better to support each other through hardships than to slaughter each other and let the world benefit from their loss.

So, when those two exiles charged out with a killing intent to complete their mission at all costs, Chen Shi Jin stood his ground without moving, yet he blocked all attacks directed at him.

"Gentlemen, with your current strength, you cannot kill me. How about we turn foes into friends and discuss how to counter-devour this world?"

"And I advise you not to attack again, or all attacks will rebound onto yourselves, leading you to inadvertently kill yourselves."

Initially, upon hearing the first part, the two exiles who had launched a stealth attack from the shadows did not respond to him, nor did they show any intention of becoming allies with Chen Shi Jin.

However, after hearing the second part, a muffled grunt echoed from the hidden bloody shadows in the woods.

Chen Shi Jin speculated that one of them might have hastily retracted their attack, causing it to backfire on themselves, which sounded quite distressing and frustrating.

"…We are not like you."

"You are already a dominator-class exile. Even without completing the survival task, escaping by force or seeking survival is not without chances and possibilities."

"But we…"

The exile in the shadows didn't finish his sentence, but Chen Shi Jin understood what he meant.

They lacked the power to resist this world; defying the world's will could easily lead to their death.

Even if Chen Shi Jin wanted to protect them, it was futile; he was just one person and couldn't possibly look after them at all times, whereas the world could present unpredictable dangers at any moment.

Feeling the ground under his feet becoming increasingly soft, as if it was about to swallow him, Chen Shi Jin agreed they were absolutely right.

He looked at the small red dots on his phone indicating the positions of the two exiles, nodded, and then slightly bent his knees and bowed, before softly uttering, "Instant!"

In an instant, he teleported in front of the speaking exile.

Under the incredulous gaze of the other, who had yet to react, Chen Shi Jin reached out and grasped at the void in front of him!

And once again, he pulled out the "Path of Life" that belonged to this exile, which had accompanied him since birth.

Hum—

A second black cage devourer appeared abruptly and terrifyingly before the exile and Chen Shi Jin!

Compared to the cage devourer that Chen Shi Jin had previously shattered, this one, belonging to exile No. 22, seemed even more powerful and fearsome.

Even as it was summoned, invisible black chains locked onto the horrified No. 22.

"What is this?!"

Exile No. 22 yelled uncontrollably as his body was dragged towards the black cage by the black chains, unable to resist.

"Knife."

At that moment, Chen Shi Jin slowly materialized a pale golden curved knife in his hand, and in the next instant, he turned around and viciously chopped one of the chains.

"This is the cage that wants to control you forever, forcing you to follow the path of life set out for you!"

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing was somewhat deafening, and one of the black chains broke under the strike.

Chen Shi Jin, looking at the still astonished No. 22, laughed: "You don't really think that, in this situation, you could still get out alive, do you?"

Exile No. 22 remained silent.

Yet, he also silently began to gather his energy, preparing to counterattack.

But as he prepared to act, he still looked at the cage devourer that Chen Shi Jin had summoned with a guarded and complex expression: "Such a thing..."

Such a fierce and brutal entity, existing within my body!

And yet, I was completely unaware of it.

"But how did you discover it?"

If the existence of such a monster was known earlier, why wait until now to take action?

At that moment, Chen Shi Jin swung his blade towards the black cage's main body, adorned with many iron chains.

Only after destroying one of the cage's pillars did he sigh.

"As a child, my power was not fully restored, and my body hadn't grown enough, how could I fight against the world?"

Clang!

He chopped down another iron pillar.

"I once tried to modify my attributes on the Path of Life map, but it was unsuccessful at that time."

"Afterwards, I began to suspect that this thing might very well be the core devourer of this world."

Clang, clang!

"After all, I am now a ruler; why shouldn't I be able to cheat, to modify a value?"

At this point, the black devouring cage had been mostly shattered by Chen Shi Jin's golden curved knife.

Yue Feng even found it interesting that this golden curved knife, which caught his eye, actively absorbed the energy emanating from the destroyed devouring cage monster after tearing it apart.

It was essentially a... knife that came with its own energy replenishment and vampiric abilities, a murderer's blade.

Hearing the answer, No. 22 looked incredulous:

"You based your judgment that it's the core on just this?!"

"What else?"

"Even if this place seems like a real world, it's ultimately just a dominator-level monster. As a fellow dominator, nothing else in this world should be a match for me, apart from its core."

"And then, I drew it out."

No. 22 watched as Chen Shi Jin completely shattered the devouring cage he had pulled from him into dust, his expression indescribable.

But ultimately, he silently convinced himself, thinking about it, there was nothing wrong with this reasoning.

After all, Chen Shi Jin is a ruler.

Indeed, only a ruler can discover and overcome another ruler.

Just as exile No. 22 was showing a grateful expression, preparing to say something.

Chen Shi Jin suddenly spoke again:

"Initially, I didn't plan on doing this; after all, I've always taken a more gentle approach. Plus, the core is always elusive."

"But then..."

Chen Shi Jin took out his phone and noticed another red dot lurking around suspiciously but not leaving.

The next second, he abruptly appeared in front of exile No. 88, and with a fierce grab in front of him, he caught the roaring devouring cage.

[Imprisonment—]

[You, this damned... human!!]

Chen Shi Jin gathered the energy in his hand to its limit and then violently slashed down with his knife!

Boom!

The third devouring cage shattered before him once again.

Then, the youth flicked his pristine golden curved knife.

"But this time, No. 1 is too much of a headache, and those two fake parents always trying to manipulate me. Enduring until university graduation was my limit."

"At twenty-three, in the prime of youth, it's the perfect time for those who've persevered bravely to face life head-on."

"Regardless of a troubled past or being born in mud and thorns, as long as you've grown up and are still breathing, the future can change."

What life is like depends on what you want it to be.

[New message!! Another 37 exiles are rapidly converging! They are about to gather together!]

Chen Shi Jin smiled at this new alert popping up on his phone.

See, isn't this forcing the real world's big boss to come out?

After the life maps of those 36 exiles merge, the entire world will probably turn into an endless cage.

Only No. 1 remains.

This battle is likely going to be a fight for survival.