On the mountain path, Lu Chen’s form moved like lightning, darting through the treetops with his clothes rustling loudly in the wind.
After taking down the [Lord of the Mountain], he summoned the Plague Howl Pearl to check on it. He noticed that the karmic calamity energy churning inside had visibly diminished by a noticeable margin.
“Looks like A-rank missions really deliver. The karmic calamity energy in the Plague Howl Pearl has dissipated quite a bit. As long as I keep the missions coming, I should have at least a ninety-five percent chance of success within seven days!”
“Congratulations, General!”
The four underworld enforcers beside him shouted in unison.
A grin spread across Lu Chen’s face as his motivation surged. “Alright, let’s keep moving! It’s dark now, the perfect time for us to really stretch our legs!”
“Yes, sir!”
“At your command!”
Behind the four enforcers, a hundred nether soldiers manifested, radiating a dense, sinister aura.
The entire entourage stirred up a chilling wind as they swept toward their next target with overwhelming momentum.
…
That night, a short video spread like wildfire, instantly igniting the internet.
In the footage, a black-clothed youth dashed forward, fleeing at full speed, while behind him, a ferocious tiger demon capable of transformation gave relentless chase, its roars shaking the heavens.
Yet a greenish haze, like a miasma, billowed from above the youth’s head. Within moments, the once formidable transformed great demon had its flesh dissolve, its bones rot to mush, eventually collapsing into a pool of filth.
Even more shocking was the glimpse of the tiger demon’s cave as the camera panned across it.
The inside was a complete mess, clearly eradicated entirely.
In just over a minute of footage, the sheer volume of information left tens of millions of netizens dumbfounded.
First, a single person solo-clearing an A-rank dungeon.
For ordinary spiritual cultivators, an A-rank dungeon was as difficult as reaching the heavens. Forget soloing—even a team of seven or eight third-rank cultivators, when facing a transformed great demon like this,
would be lucky to have even a fifty percent chance of victory.
Second, the black-clothed youth had actually employed the dreaded [Plague] divine ability!
In this day and age, there was actually someone out there who worshipped the [Calamity Bringer]?
Even more alarming was how bizarrely powerful and chilling that plague ability turned out to be.
According to the streamer’s description in the video, from start to finish, the entire transformed demon dungeon was cleared by this black-clothed youth alone in just ten minutes.
Absolutely terrifying!
Within just one hour of being posted, the video’s likes skyrocketed past a hundred thousand.
The comment section was instantly flooded with emojis of “shock” and “horror.”
However, that wasn’t the only video of its kind.
Shortly after, several more videos featuring the same black-clothed youth appeared online.
In every clip, wherever Lu Chen went, green miasma spread, accompanied by the wails of ghosts and the howls of spirits.
Missions that ordinary spiritual cultivators treated with extreme caution were sliced through by him like chopping vegetables. Demons and monsters alike were utterly decimated, leaving nothing behind.
Some netizens couldn’t help but ask the uploaders: Didn’t the poisonous miasma affect humans?
The answers they received were surprisingly consistent: This plague seemed to target only demons and evil spirits, leaving humans completely unharmed!
This revelation once again upended everyone’s understanding.
—”Hold up, the plague can tell friend from foe?”
—”My worldview is shattered! Plagues are now meta for clearing dungeons?!”
—”My head is spinning!”
Lies don’t hurt—the truth cuts like a knife!
Instantly, on the backend of search engines, terms like “How to worship the Calamity Bringer,” “Precautions for worshipping the Calamity Bringer,” and “Calamity Bringer’s divine title” exploded onto the real-time trending charts, dominating the top spots with no signs of dropping.
…
Qianjiang City, One Manor.
The tablet screen that Secretary Fan had handed over slowly dimmed.
Zheng Changguo sat by his sleeping wife’s bedside, silent for a long time.
The eerie green-tinged evil energy on his wife’s body had completely dissipated. Her face looked peaceful, as if she were merely in a deep sleep.
“My dear, don’t rush…” he murmured, gently stroking her hair, his voice hoarse. “I believe in young friend Lu. He’ll definitely succeed. Just rest a few more days, and you’ll be fine…”
His gaze drifted back to the screen, where that tireless figure rushed about relentlessly. All Zheng Changguo felt was gratitude, pure and simple.
He knew full well that this young man was pushing himself so hard for his wife’s sake.
Even if the other party always frankly admitted he was doing it for himself.
That didn’t diminish Zheng Changguo’s gratitude toward Lu Chen in the slightest.
…
Elsewhere in One Manor, in another study.
The mayor of Qianjiang City, Huang Yaowu, held a cigarette between his fingers, his brows deeply furrowed as he repeatedly watched the video, his emotions a tangled mess.
The aftermath of the Plague Emperor’s “descent” during the day hadn’t even settled, and now this kid had used his plague abilities to sweep through Qianjiang City’s various dungeons like a hot knife through butter, unstoppable and invincible.
His gaze inadvertently fell on a specially classified confidential document on his desk.
—Lu Chen, male, eighteen years old. From Jiangcheng City, Jiang Province. Attends Jiangcheng No. 3 High School. Status: commoner. Previously unknown, but rose to prominence in the past week. Has successively worshipped Lord Wealth God and the Yama of the Underworld. On the day of the system reform, accepted an S-rank mission: Dragon-Tiger County rain-summoning. Built an altar, used a miraculous ceremonial procession to worship the Well Dragon King, was later visited by the Four Seas Dragon Kings as immortals passing through, and summoned the manifestation of Lord Wealth God. Ultimately completed the S-rank mission successfully, was promoted to Special Class, becoming the nation’s first…
When he first read this report, Huang Yaowu had gasped several times in succession.
His very first thought was: This kid must have received divine favor. That’s why he’d been quiet until now, and then burst onto the scene with such force.
He’d seen similar chosen ones before, but never one who rose so swiftly or with such overwhelming dominance.
“The gods he worships are all obscure and niche, yet the results are so outstanding…”
Huang Yaowu pondered all night but couldn’t figure out the key.
As for the matter of Madam Zheng’s heavenly killing intent, Huang Yaowu naturally knew the inside story.
But even the imperial physicians had been powerless against such a hopeless situation.
And now, this kid had managed to carve out a sliver of hope with his bare hands.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a remarkably capable kid. Such a shame he’s not in my Qianjiang City! Otherwise, his rise could’ve been even faster!”
Huang Yaowu sighed, picked up his phone, and replayed the videos several more times.
He had a feeling that from now on, quite a few people would follow this kid’s example and start worshipping the [Calamity Bringer].
After all, bounty hunters were the most pragmatic bunch.
Whatever method worked, they’d flock to it!
Who wouldn’t want an easy way to scoop up generous bounties and military merits?
Even he himself had felt a moment of temptation just now.
Let alone those who made their living this way.
“Once this trend takes off, I really don’t know if it’ll be a blessing or a curse…”
Huang Yaowu couldn’t help but smile wryly.
…
The internet knew no boundaries. While this storm swept through Qianjiang, it also blew back into Jiangcheng City with equal ferocity.
…
“Good lad! You’re a damn genius!”
In Jiangcheng City’s mayor’s office, Yu Feng, who had returned two days prior, was now watching the video of Lu Chen chasing down evil creatures and unleashing poison everywhere. He was laughing so hard he could barely stand straight.
He never would have dreamed that one day, this dreaded plague ability could be used like this!
What others went out of their way to avoid, this kid turned into a miraculous weapon of unmatched effectiveness.
Thinking back to Lu Chen’s previous jaw-dropping feats, Yu Feng, now plopped on the sofa, suddenly had a thought: “These obscure gods work so well? Maybe… I should give it a try too?”
He genuinely felt that this kid had opened up a completely new path for everyone.
Popular and unpopular gods were never destined to be that way; it was all the result of choices made over the ages.
But times change. Who’s to say what’s popular today will stay popular, and what’s niche will remain niche?
“At this rate, one day, these forgotten, obscure gods might just turn the tables and hold their heads high!”
With that thought, and seeing Lu Chen in the video chasing demons until they cried for their mothers and ran for the hills, Yu Feng burst into another hearty laugh: “These demons and monsters in Qianjiang must have pissed off the universe to run into a calamity bringer like him!”
…
South of the city, the Sun Family Estate.
Still heavily guarded.
In a second-floor bedroom of the villa.
Sun Yourong, dressed in silk pajamas, lounged lazily against the headboard.
The glow of her phone screen illuminated her delicate features, playing footage of Lu Chen charging across the battlefield, miasma billowing everywhere.
Staring at that familiar figure on the screen, Sun Yourong’s expression grew peculiar and silent for a long while.
Then, she suddenly raised a hand and lightly pressed it against her eyes with a soft pat, letting out a resigned yet amused sigh.
“This guy…”
