Facing an Ancient God for a Year

In his view, the idea of seeing oneself as the center of the world was boring and stupid.

Everyone could at most be the center of their own universe, and even then, many failed to achieve that.

The advantage of this mindset was that Fu Qian rarely expected something for nothing; if he encountered a pie falling from the sky, his first reaction would be to suspect a conspiracy.

Take, for example, if a beautiful woman suddenly kissed him on the street, Fu Qian’s first thought would definitely not be that his charm was irresistible, but rather that she must have eaten something disgusting!

Therefore, confronted with a situation that seemed to label him a Chosen One, he became even more cautious.

Of course, the Priest Baroness seemed extremely excited, practically dragging him out in a hurry.

A crowd had already gathered outside.

After the Priest announced the verification results with great enthusiasm, the scene instantly erupted.

As an auspicious sign, Fu Qian saw undisguised envy in the eyes of the onlookers.

If what the Priest said was true, indeed in this place, only by becoming a member of a Sequence could one gain a true sense of security.

After all, no one wanted to wake up to face those Expediters of Demise!

And here he was back at the same question.

Fu Qian glanced at the Priest and Baroness beside him.

Did these people really not care how he got out?

Though he was now seen as a beacon of hope and probably wouldn’t face much trouble if discovered, their lack of questioning was still abnormal.

At that moment, the sound of the clock tower chiming the hour reached them.

Fu Qian noticed the Baroness momentarily froze before a strange look came over her as she looked at him, as if she had realized something.

Finally noticing something was wrong?

Fu Qian thought silently but then saw the Baroness bend down and whisper something in the Priest’s ear.

The latter also appeared momentarily stunned before giving a few words of encouragement to the crowd and then dispersing the enthusiastic onlookers.

They took Fu Qian along to a small room, where the Priest hesitated as he looked at him.

“Is there anything wrong with you?”

“What could possibly be wrong with me?”

Fu Qian had thought the two were going to confront him about the jailbreak, but instead, they seemed concerned about his well-being.

“The cost,”

the Baroness said, shaking her head and looking at Fu Qian with disbelief.

“Every blessed by light shall cast a shadow, every Sequence has its intrinsic cost.”

“And the cost of the Dragon Feasting Sequence…”

the Priest said, frowning.

“…is intermittent control over chaos, which normally occurs once every hour.”

“It’s been enough time for an hour since then, but you’ve shown no signs of disturbance, which in itself is an anomaly.”

The Priest and the Baroness went back and forth, finally clarifying the situation.

So that was the confusion.

Fu Qian thought to himself.

Of course, he was not without anomalies; in fact, he had just experienced one a while ago.

But thanks to his practice during this period, he could now control his limbs to perform normal actions even when in a state of chaos.

Although he could not exert much strength, he managed not to fall to the ground.

However, Fu Qian did not rush to answer, instead looking at the two people in front of him and asking in return,

“I haven’t seen your costs, have I?”

Ours?

The two exchanged glances, and the Priest shook his head with a sigh.

“You really don’t remember anything.”

“The costs of different Sequences manifest in various ways.”

“Dragon Feast is the most offensive among all the Sequences, and its anomalies are the most conspicuous.”

“My allegiance is to the Spire Sequence, whose anomaly is a constant presence.

The specific manifestation is an overwhelming desire to kill, which must be constantly restrained. In fact, that’s why I’m here.”

“And her?”

Fu Qian then looked at the Baroness.

“The Baroness belongs to the Celestial Sequence, her cost is somewhat similar to yours,”

the Priest mused.

Similar?

“Excuse me for a moment,”

said the Baroness out of the blue, interrupting Fu Qian’s confusion as to what it was, and without waiting for a reply, she promptly turned and left the room.

“What is it?”

Fu Qian looked at the Priest.

“Periodic strong desires.”

Taking advantage of the other party’s absence, the Priest quickly said.

No wonder!

Fu Qian remembered the Baroness’s face was a bit odd before she left.

The Baroness had delicate features, but her entire demeanor could be described as having an innate halo, the kind that absolutely wouldn’t make someone think of lustful desires.

Unexpectedly, that was the price to pay.

At that moment, the Priest exhaled.

“Within the Sequence, the more one ascends in ability, the more severe the abnormalities become. In fact, many from the Celestial Sequence need to resort to self-harm to alleviate them.”

Understood.

Fu Qian nodded.

“I remember you mentioned earlier there are three Sequences, what about the other one?”

“You’ve already met them before.”

Those prison guards!

Fu Qian suddenly understood the Priest’s meaning.

“Correct, they are from the Luminous Stone Sequence.”

“The benefit of the Luminous Stone Sequence is their extreme defensive capabilities and significant lifespan extension; the cost is sluggish reactions and a sensitivity to light.”

No wonder those people were wrapped up so tightly.

“That’s why they almost all live underground.”

“I see now, my anomaly hasn’t actually disappeared.”

Having clarified the situation, Fu Qian spoke outright.

Considering his own mission, he would inevitably have to deal with these people later on, so it was better to dispel any unnecessary suspicions.

“I still intermittently lose control, it’s just that through practice, I’ve been able to handle it a bit better, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to come out of the prison.”

Having gotten out of prison…

The Priest seemed to realize something.

“How did you get out just now?”

“Fought my way out.”

Fu Qian said nonchalantly.

Being the beacon of hope now, he was quite confident that the Priest wouldn’t harm him, so there was no need to conceal anything.

…

“Actually, it wasn’t necessary to resort to violence. If you had communicated with them and they confirmed that the Discoloration Curse was gone, they should have let you out.”

After a long gaze at Fu Qian, the Priest finally spoke.

I don’t think so.

My strength at that time was basically like tapping on the shoulder, yet that guy immediately took up arms, showing no signs of friendliness.

“I did communicate, but they seemed to prefer physical language.”

“…Alright, you don’t need to worry about this, I’ll handle it when the time comes.”

The Priest shook his head.

“What’s going on?”

After a while, the Baroness, now showing no trace on her face, returned and noticed something amiss in the expressions of the two.

The Priest was not planning to hide anything from her and recounted both the cost and the prison escape.

So that’s how it was!

The Baroness was visibly shocked after hearing.

“Don’t worry about the prison… Did you really manage to resist the anomaly purely through willpower?”

“Barely.”

“That’s already very impressive!”

The Baroness expressed rare praise.

“Going forward, we need you to make appearances as much as possible, which will have a very positive effect on morale.”

“No problem, in fact, I have a better idea, such as joining your team.”

Fu Qian looked at the Baroness.

“Rather than being just a mascot, I’d prefer to investigate the Discoloration Curse.”

His latest mission was to investigate the truth behind the increase of the Discolored Ones, which aligned perfectly with the Baroness’s work, making joining her an ideal move.

Join the team?

The Baroness was clearly surprised by Fu Qian’s proposal, but after a few seconds of hesitation, she agreed.

“That would indeed be better.”

“In fact, we have a target in mind right now.”