Chapter 99: One Second (First Update)

Chapter 99: One Second (First Update)

Before it was known as the God of Perception, it was merely considered a low-level monster in the Land of the Exiled.

Because it was only adept at moving beneath the ground, and the spiderweb it could weave was only effective for hunting underground, the God of Perception spent a long time as just a cave spider, cautiously surviving beneath the surface of the Land of the Exiled.

There are too many larger monsters in the Land of the Exiled that could easily devour it, so it dared not and could not easily leave its cave.

But every monster possesses a strong innate desire to survive and an urge to evolve and become more powerful.

So, over many years, the God of Perception developed the ability to parasitize—

If its web touched its prey, it could gradually siphon off the prey's energy and vitality.

But this only evolved the cave spider from a low-level creature to a higher-level one, securing a territory where it could live in peace.

Compared to other naturally powerful monsters in the Land of the Exiled, the cave spider remained weak.

Until humans appeared.

Initially, humans who fell into the Land of the Exiled were too weak, mere insects to the monsters there.

Any low-level monster in the Land of the Exiled could easily kill them and devour them.

And the energy levels of these humans who arrived in the Land of the Exiled weren't very high either.

Thus, in the beginning, the monsters of the Land of the Exiled merely considered the humans who occasionally fell into their realm as optional snacks.

Only the cave spider discovered something different.

As a result, it had the opportunity to drastically level up over thousands of years.

The cave spider found it exceptionally easy to wrap its web around humans and absorb their energy, much simpler than absorbing energy from other monsters in the Land of the Exiled.

Due to humans' insensitivity to energy, it could even snatch away up to thirty percent or half of their energy directly.

Because of this, the cave spider would sometimes even offer aid to humans on the brink of death, allowing them to live longer so it could parasitize and siphon off more power.

Gradually, the number of humans parasitized by the cave spider increased.

Then, to the spider's surprise, it discovered that humans could level up.

Humans could also become increasingly powerful.

And as the humans leveled up, the energy it could gain also increased.

Thus, the exiles who came to the Land of the Exiled had, after three hundred years, their first "Guide".

It's unclear how the Guide first appeared, but it always managed to find the humans who fell into the Land of the Exiled in a timely manner, offering them friendly guidance.

Although initially some humans were skeptical of the Guides, suspecting malicious intent and manipulation, it's undeniable that more people survived because of the Guides.

Gradually, people accepted this form of "mutual benefit."

By the first hundred years of the Guides' appearance, the cave spider had leveled up from a high-level monster to a mid-level Devourer.

During these hundred years, it did nothing but continuously spread its web outward for parasitism.

By the three hundredth year of the Guides' presence, the cave spider upgraded to a high-level Devourer without any harm or combat.

Meanwhile, it nearly monopolized all communication and interaction among human exiles.

It was first called "God of Perception."

The God of Perception found this feeling exhilarating; from a lowly creature shunned by daylight, it had become a god!

Even though it hadn't become a god yet, it had a strong intuition that one day it would.

Thus, by the six hundredth year of the Guides' emergence, as more humans arrived and leveled up, it ascended to "king" status.

After becoming a king, everything changed; it could roam freely across the Land of the Exiled.

The monsters that once could easily devour and kill it were easily slain by it; a roar within its cavernous kingdom could cause the entire Land of the Exiled to tremble with tension.

However, it was precisely by becoming a "king" that the God of Perception realized how difficult it was to ascend from a king to a god.

This was an evolutionary shackles, not something that could be achieved by merely accumulating energy and spending a vast amount of time.

It required its own direction of evolution, and an endless, boundless supply of energy.

Thus, it chose the Lord of White Moon City and built a city for humans.

On the surface, this city of humans would serve as a sanctuary for humanity, but from the inside out, the city was an energy pack belonging to it.

Nearly a million humans provided it with energy daily, nearly a million lives depended on its guidance to survive!

This way, its ascension to godhood would be greatly accelerated, perhaps becoming a super Devourer who achieved godhood in just over a thousand years!!

Satisfied, the God of Perception waited, and during its wait, it saw the All-Seeing Eye, which also exploited humans.

Thus, a cooperation formed naturally, both striving to shorten the time to achieve godhood.

Time quickly passed, and in four hundred years, countless humans from various worlds entered and died in the Land of the Exiled; some were so weak they were easily devoured or died within the Devouring Worlds.

Others, however, were so powerful that both the God of Perception and the All-Seeing Eye would take notice and watch.

But even those powerful individuals ultimately could not withstand time and fate.

No human, no matter how resilient, could become a god in this world that was not theirs to claim.

It wasn't that humanity was incapable.

It was that this world would not allow it.

Or rather, they, do not permit it.

In the Land of the Exiled, no one can become a god.

Only they, the monsters born and bred in the Land of the Exiled, can achieve godhood.

As it approaches a millennium, the God of Perception's sensitivity grows keener.

It senses that it is on the verge of becoming a god.

This fills it with immense excitement and agitation, and then, at that moment, it encounters that damned human.

The God of Perception emerges from its burrow, not too large in form, roughly the size of three to five hot air balloons.

But the endless spider silk trailing behind it makes it seem boundlessly large.

It arrives above White Moon City almost instantaneously, countless black threads and webs directly aiming for Chen Zijin.

It doesn't even bother with Le Yue and Yao Qin.

Its target has always been Chen Zijin.

Because the moment this human appeared, it sensed a subtle friction and obstruction.

It initially thought this was just another very potential, special, and powerful human.

Until this human forced its avatar to answer a question.

In that instant, the path to godhood was severed.

A human who had just fallen into the Land of the Exiled, a human who had just awakened their power, could actually pose it a question.

And forcefully obtain an answer.

Even though what attached to that human was merely a segment of its silk, it was on the verge of becoming a god!

It was already at the king level!

Yet it was forced to respond by a newly awakened human who didn't even have a rank.

Then, the silk attached to the human was crisply and cleanly removed.

For nearly a thousand years, no one has been able to remove its parasitic sensory silk so decisively and effortlessly.

Then things sprinted towards the worst direction like a rampaging monster.

The God of Perception, watching Chen Zijin, whose power level had already surpassed the dominator level and was almost at the king level, felt an indescribable surge of rage and jealousy.

Why! Why! Why!

Why was this human so favored?! He arrived in the Land of the Exiled less than a year ago and was already about to become a king!

It took almost a thousand years to become a king!

Just as it was about to become a god, this damned human even wanted to steal its power and take its place!

The thought that it was just one step away from godhood, yet the energy that once flowed to it continuously had plummeted in the last six months to almost none!

The God of Perception wished it could tear Chen Zijin into ten thousand pieces.

This human, just as he said, severed its path to godhood.

Therefore, the God of Perception had no intention of allowing Chen Zijin to enter its devouring world. It planned to crush Chen Zijin to death with its near-divine level of formidable energy.

To completely obliterate this human on a physical level!

This human might possess some special ability that always allows him to precisely locate the core in a devouring world and then secure victory.

The devouring world can torment humans for a longer time, generating various negative energies, but it also indirectly weakens the true power of the devourer.

The God of Perception wasn't about to expose its core to this seemingly indestructible human.

Having been the God of Perception for so long and controlling White Moon City for as long, it had learned a thing or two from humans —

Villains die from talking too much.

Take action directly, no idle chatter.

Thus, on this day, Chen Zijin faced the most dangerous and desperate chase of his life.

The arrival of a near-god level being rendered all exiles below the dominator level prostrate on the ground, unable to move even slightly.

Though Chen Zijin could still move, he felt a terrifying energy pressure coming at him from all directions.

The moment he saw the huge spider bearing countless threads appear, his pupils contracted as he spoke sharply.

He vanished from his spot a second before the threads could pierce through his body.

Yanzun's expression was stern as he delivered a full-force strike with his silver-white knight's sword at the God of Perception through the air.

Yet, his all-out strike only managed to sever one-third of the God of Perception's threads, slowing down its pursuit for merely two seconds.

After those two seconds, Yanzun was enveloped and flung away by the endless threads, disappearing from sight.

He could protect himself but was powerless to stop the God of Perception.

Then, the God of Perception faced off against the man draped in a magnificent silver-gray cape.

[Those who obstruct me, die.]

Countless black threads surged towards Le Fun like a giant net.

In an instant, they enveloped him completely.

Just as the God of Perception was about to teleport and pursue Chen Zijin, it felt as if its leg was momentarily tugged...?

Delayed by a second, the God of Perception thought it was an illusion and in the next moment, it had caught up to Chen Zijin.

This delay of three seconds prevented the God of Perception from killing Chen Zijin immediately.

But this time, the human was undoubtedly doomed.

Chen Zijin didn’t need to look back to sense that the God of Perception was already teleporting to kill him.

He took a deep breath, his face turning momentarily pale: “Ten thousand li!”

His previous teleportation was over a thousand li away; this time, he aimed for even farther.

Even though he wanted to turn back and confront that spider, he wasn’t foolish. Entering the God of Perception’s devouring world, he would almost stand no chance against it.

So, the first plan was to flee.

At least until he reaches the king level.

However, after Chen Zijin’s second teleportation, his expression turned even grimmer. Despite covering a greater distance this time, the God of Perception caught up even faster than before.

Distance could not impede the God of Perception’s pursuit!

He must think of another way!

On the third teleportation, Chen Zijin's energy was nearly depleted, and upon landing, he could barely stand.

The pursuing God of Perception also felt terrible. It unconsciously moved its four hind legs. What's going on? Why did it feel like a hand was pulling its leg every time it pursued through teleportation?!

If not for this hindrance, it would have caught up to that damned human long ago!

But there was nothing entangling its legs, right?!

No matter, this time it must succeed!

Just as the God of Perception furiously decided that even if several legs were pulled, it would use its utmost speed to kill Chen Zijin, its body suddenly surged with malevolence.

It raised its eight legs and sped up as fast as possible, but it was still a second too slow.

Another second!!!

It was blocked.

The one blocking it was another king-level being.

"You have been devoured by the Devourer!"

A second before being devoured, Chen Zijin happily turned around and gave the God of Perception the middle finger.

Roar—

The land of the Devourer King trembles.

"Release him! I will kill him—"

Another king-level devourer in front of the God of Perception responds with an even more terrifying roar.

"You mere parasitic spider, he is my prey! I will devour him completely!"

God of Perception: "......"

Damned, hindering, one second!!

Fool with no brain! Just wait to be killed and devoured by that human!!!