Seized by the System

Before the Divine Gate, Zheng Dao spoke smoothly to the representatives of the various clans, a wide smile never leaving his face.

“Thanks to the Venerable Dragon God’s usual valor and boldness, we were saved from the impending disaster that awaited us,” chimed everyone in gratitude.

The entire incident that had happened just now was witnessed by everyone present. The spectral silhouette just now was obviously trying to interfere with their climbing of the Stairway to Heaven and the Divine List.

The other party was just much too strong. They had two Lake-level Powerhouses on their side, and yet the pair of them could only defend passively without even landing an offensive hit at all.

When the other party had fused with the full moon to form a blood moon, everyone present had started examining their own conscience—if they were the ones present on the battlefield, the only thing that awaited them was death.

Hence, when Zheng Dao went around asking about the battle they had witnessed, everybody revealed all that they knew without reserve. They wanted to reveal as much as they could, and even went as far as to reveal some clues from the past that may be relevant as well.

Zheng Dao did not possess the ability to tell the difference between truth and lies, but he had a Psionic Ability, which meant he was good at sensing the emotions and moods of others. As long as the other person was not stronger than he was, he would be able to tell if they were being genuine or being insincere.

As Zheng Dao’s questioning progressed onto more and more people, his eyebrows only furrowed further.

The Wicked Lunar Devil was good at hiding, since they had never heard of it before this at all.

From what was told to him by the witnesses, Zheng Dao now knew that it had left traces of its appearances behind before, but those were buried by a multitude of other things.

This was to be expected of course, since countless secrets have been buried in the same way, be it during the olden days or in this current era.

Besides, they were smack in the midst of the Era of Vitality now, which meant that various mysterious things were currently hidden deeper than ever before; the increase in unexpected events was the best proof.

If it were not for the Venerable One’s existence, who would know just how many Demons would come out to play and how many devils would proclaim themselves rulers.

After pondering things for a bit, Zheng Dao decided to conduct a thorough investigation once more.

Only a few great forces existed currently, and no matter how deep the Lunar Devils went into hiding, if they wanted to grow stronger, there was no way for them to avoid not being connected to these great forces. After all, these forces occupied most of the territories on Earth.

Furthermore, other than the Devil clans that had left early because of ulterior motives, most of the greater clans were still hanging around before the Divine Gate. It was the perfect opportunity for an investigation.

They would definitely cooperate too…

If they did not, they would have to worry about being labeled with “Traitors and their instruments are not allowed entry,” after passing through the Divine Gate.

Although the Heavenly Axiom has never done something like that, it could merely be due to the fact that it cannot do something like that directly. However, it is no longer the indifferent Will of Nature from before, since it has been quite active recently.

During a time like this, those that did not cooperate in the Great Annihilation of Devils would just be dealt with by the green frog that guarded its son, the Divine Monument. After all, influencing the frog to do its bidding would be a simple task.

Zheng Dao immediately approached Ren Ruofeng, who was also busy investigating the origins of the new Devil that had just popped up.

“Senior Ren, I would like to borrow some of your people. Since all these important representatives are still here and are still in shock, they’ll definitely answer as asked. I want to send out a survey on matters relating to that new Devil.”

At this, Ren Ruofeng immediately nodded his head. This was something that he wanted to do and should do, so why would he stop Zheng Dao?

He immediately replied, “That’s amazing news for my kidneys, so I’ll lend you one more person too. I’m sure you know Xie Dong, I think he’ll cooperate with your investigation the best. He’s been stuck deep in the ocean for quite a long time now, so it’s time for him to return home for some fresh air before he goes back once more.”

Ren Ruofeng’s expression was one of pity as he said this.

Zheng Dao hastily answered, “Thank you so much for your help, Senior Ren. You really are someone with a lot of sympathy, it’s no wonder they obey your orders so well.”

“Haha, you’re exaggerating. I could never compare to the Venerable One. Even when faced with such danger, he didn’t ask for support from any of you at all. How merciful of him,” sighed Ren Ruofeng. Now that a troublesome matter was no longer being handled by him, he no longer needed to hurt his kidneys by burning the midnight oil, so he was in a cheerful mood.

Zheng Dao replied in a slightly abashed tone, “Our qualifications are mediocre at best, so we could never compare to the Venerable One. Being unable to fight alongside the Venerable One is most shameful for us.”

“Haha, there’s no need to feel that way. If you will, think of it as shouldering different obligations instead. We’re all working towards the same goal, which is upholding justice and order…” comforted Ren Ruofeng simply.

Zheng Dao could only nod his head in response.

…

In a deep-sea trench somewhere, a cottage emitted a dim light.

Xie Dong’s face was ghastly pale and devoid of color as he read the novel in his grasp. Occasionally, he would glance up from his book to stare out into the ocean through the windows.

However, all he could see would be unending darkness. When the occasional light shone through, some places would be lit up before it went dark again.

It was a truly bleak and desolate place, with its murky seawater and the occasional clam or prawn, which would disappear as quickly as they appeared.

Would any new Descended Ones from the Upper Realm really be lured into this place?

He had already been here for about a month, and had long since stopped hoping for anyone to show up. It was nothing more than tedious waiting now.

Various miscellaneous items littered the area surrounding him,

Suddenly, his expression shifted into one of surprise before it morphed into another inexplicable one; as it turned out, he had received a special telepathic message.

A few moments later, his face lit up with joy. Finally, he could leave this endlessly dark place. Officially, he may have been posted here as a sentry, but really it felt more like being locked away into prison. Sure enough, the Department did not forget him at all!

Boss Ren was not heartless after all… He still remembered Xie Dong a whole month later.

Xie Dong hastily cleaned up before he muttered a movement spell that enabled him to control the floating cottage. It floated up towards the surface of the ocean and was promptly kept away before Xie Dong rushed towards the Divine Gate by following the given coordinates.

As he flew towards the Divine Gate excitedly, he thought that something good must have finally happened.

He would never become the representative for the Divine Gate, so the most that he could do once he arrived would be enjoying the breeze and the gorgeous scenery while watching the competition at the same time. It would be like a free vacation.

He naturally knew about the whole matter with the Divine Gate of course, and he also knew that the Stairway to Heaven would be open for a whole month. However, he had been stationed away deep in the ocean, so the whole thing did not concern him at all.

However, he would say that he had managed to get there in time, it was not too late for him yet. Now, he was not only getting a free vacation, but he would also be gaining a bit of merit too, how wonderful.

Right after Xie Dong left, the deep-sea trench was suddenly abuzz with unrest as vague movement loomed.

Could it be a complete coincidence, or did the formation that entrapped the Descended Ones from the Upper Realm in the deep-sea trench actually possessed intelligence?

…

A few hours later, the Truth Department’s temporary office on a cloud somewhere before the Divine Gate.

A few tables and benches were arranged together to form a temporary workplace.

Xie Dong was seated behind one of the tables, his face devoid of color once more.

A few different survey forms were placed on the table before him. The questions were tricky, and each stack was piled high.

In front of the table, demons, devils, monsters, and ghosts of all types and sizes queued up in long lines, with each line ending in the thousands…

‘I knew Boss Ren was cruel, but I had no idea he was this cruel…’

As this thought echoed in his mind, he flipped open one of the survey forms and asked a ghost of a hanged person, “You said that you saw some people worshipping the Moon while you were out in the plains?”

“Yes, Sir. The first time I was out wandering around in the plains, I saw a bunch of people surrounding a high sacrificial platform. Somebody was saying something along the lines of ‘The lackeys of the Heavenly Axiom will soon die out, and this impure land will soon be purified.’ I was too lazy to report it to the chiefs the first time around…”

“You’re speaking the truth,” said Xie Dong while he nodded his head, before continuing, “Now move to the left, and look for a guy with a kind face.”

The ghost of a hanged person nodded their head and turned to leave, their long tongue dragging behind them. They floated away slowly, and the sight sent a chill down Xie Dong’s spine.

Although he had seen his fair share of monstrosities, who would want to constantly see something so unsightly?

Once he thought of this, he lifted his head and glanced at the long line before him; although many looked quite ordinary, most of them actually looked quite terrifying…

When the Era of Vitality first dawned upon them, the demons and ghosts native to Earth did not have a unified aesthetic yet. Be it taking form or evolving, they did everything subjected to their strength.

The human form, to most of these creatures, was not the most efficient form for them to improve their strength.

An extra pair of claws, or an extra horn, would boost their combat power by a lot. In comparison, if humans did not rely on any tools, they would not even be able to fight a wolf.

The only ones that would willingly take on a human form were either from the Upper Realm or had been influenced by those from the Upper Realm and knew the benefits of taking on a human form…

Xie Dong continued with his task, going through each creature in the queue one by one.

As the information piled up, the origins of these new devils—the Lunar Devils, gradually surfaced.

The reason nobody noticed them in the past was because they were not Devils in the first place…

Just as what Anderson said, they were originally humans from Earth called “Lunar Spirituals”.

These people used to live privileged lives, so they have never been treated unfairly by the Heavenly Axiom. However, perhaps due to the fact that they saw a lot of negative news on Earth, their mentalities were distorted as a result.

They started drastically hating Earth, and instead started worshipping the distant Moon, believing that the latter signified purity and innocence while the former was dirty and impure and should be replaced.

They would always describe the Earth as an “impure land” while they described the Moon as a “land of splendor”.

“The impure land would be destroyed and a land of splendor would descend” was their slogan.

Their sudden appearance started when the Moon started nearing the Earth, as they were merely good-for-nothings before. They did not practice cultivation and only knew how to run their mouth, which did not put them on the radar since a variety of people like them already existed on the Internet anyways.

However, when the whole Moon crisis started, this group of people seemed to gain sudden support as their strength drastically increased. They became just like those that cultivated the path of godhood—as long as they had enough faith and as long as nobody had the strength to subdue them, they would be able to recover easily.