“What a scary node,” I said, reading the screen. “Good thing they didn’t get this one. Geez, the entire thing is only psychological settings.”
I poked around the node settings for a moment, the rest of my party peeking over my shoulder to assess it.
“Sanity drain?” Yang murmured, glaring at that. “Should we lower that?”
I scratched the top of my head. “Um, are you feeling a bit insane?”
“No, but doesn’t it sound quite bad?”
“If we have stronger mental resolution than the other parties, I think we should crank it up.”
“Keep it down,” Yue grumbled, leaning on my shoulder and resting her chin on top of my head. “That’s the stupidest thing you’ve said, Peijin. We’re all more crazy than Ruoming or Feiyu are.”
“Fine. What about the fear effect? We can crank that one up. I think it’ll get to Bohemian Grove quite a bit.”
[Set Fear Effect: 10/10]
My existing anxietities instantly tripled, but it wasn’t a serious hindrance to my thinking. It definitely would have had a large effect if my party hadn’t won the fight on the Arabian Coast or if I didn’t have as much spiritual energy. I looked around my party to check on their reactions.
Amelia was shaking her head back and forth. “Turn it down,” she whined.
Surprised, I immediately turned back to the screen.
[Set Fear Effect: [3/10]
“Are you okay?”
Amelia gave a shaky nod. “Can you lower it more?”
“Let’s keep it here.”
“Okay.”
Hopefully the other parties didn’t have such a severe reaction. If someone in Ruoming’s party did, they would have certainly realized that we’d gotten a hold of the psychological node, and that was always a reason for panic.
However, in the same way that Ruoming’s usage of the past node was rather conservative, I also had to use the Central American node conservatively. If I didn’t, the harm it would cause my party outweighed any benefits, which could be seen in Amelia.
I opened my bag and paid attention to the Central American node to the other three. Now, the cube was only missing two more faces. It was almost complete.
[ATTENTION: Bohemian Grove has entered the throne room!]
I stared at the notification. “Uh oh.”
Well, clearly I had startled somebody in Bohemian Grove.
There was no way Owl was stupid enough to sit on the throne, right…? Unless he thought the fight against Ruoming and I was pointless…
“Let’s go. No time to spare. We’ll make sure we grab the node in the throne room, and then we can make a run for the heart.
[Divinity Ears that Hear what Comes on the Wind says Song Ruoming will go for the heart node.]
[Diviniy Divinity Ears that Hear what Comes on the Wind says Disciple Peijin will need to pick which node matters more.]
I nodded, showing that I received his message. Shunfeng’er was such a minor character, that I was surprised to see any involvement at all. This help was extremely appreciated though, and if Shunfeng’er could help connect my party to Mazu, that would be the ultimate opportunity.
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Nodes says to go for the throne.]
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Nodes says Disciple Peijin has already defeated Disciple Ruoming’s party.]
“I appreciate the sentiment, but it was all of us against just Ruoming and Feiyu.”
[Demon Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas sponsors 1,000 stars for your humility.]
[Divinity Ears tht Hear what Comes on the Wind sponsors 1,000 stars for your humility.]
I shut my eyes and exhaled. I wasn’t trying to be humble, but I wasn’t going to complain about more stars.
“We’re going to the throne room,” I began. “First, we’ll need to break through the artificial sky. Then, we’ll need to ascend to the top floor as fast as possible. Our objective is to make sure Bohemian Grove does not sit on the throne, but we also have to make sure they don’t destroy the throne, either. It’ll be easiest if we get control of the node located there.”
Yue raised her hand. “What does the node there do?”
“The throne is alive. That’s the gimmick. The node there controls the throne’s activity. We’re going to jack it up to the max, and then we’ll destroy the heart using the nodes. That way we break down the entire citadel, and we technically win.”
“What’s stopping Ruoming from doing that?”
“The fact we have all the nodes. If you don’t have control of the nodes, then you can’t access the heart.”
I shuffled through the Boundless Bag again, slightly annoyed at the prospect of scouring for it all over again.
When I finally found it, I held it up for Yue to see. “Once we get all the nodes, it’ll form the heart.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Yue pouted. “If only I was a god, then I could do such cool things. How would I ever figure out these things on my own? It’s so unfair.”
“I’m going to make you a demon soon. Hopefully in the next arc.”
“Huh?!”
“Yang, use your staff to break through the ceiling and get into the next citadel level, since that’s where the throne room will be. I’ll take Yue and Qijing on Zhige. You take the rest.”
“Hey, wait—” Yue interjected, grabbing my shoulder. “You’re going to make me a demon? You really mean it, Peijin?”
I let go of Zhige, and the blade flew in front of me, instantly quadrupling in size until both Yue, Qijing, and I could fit on it. It floated parallel to the steps, making it easy for us to board it. I placed Qijing on top before I sat with my legs around her, ensuring she wouldn’t fall.
“Are you scared of heights?”
Qijing didn’t respond, but she didn’t get off Zhige either.
I tapped on the American node once more, opening it up.
AMERICAN NODE]
[Location: Ferris Wheel RN2938 — Gondola #19]
[Description: The American node controls the citadel’s spatial presence. Use the node’s artifact to toggle these settings regardless of the user's current location.
Alter Layout: [No]
Trap Frequency: 1/10
Location Size: 3/10
Location Firewall: 10/10]
Owner: Liu Peijin
[Set Location Size: 1/10
Set Location Firewall 1/10]
At once, Yang extended his pole; Wei and Amelia grabbed on as it shot into the sky. The golden staff tore straight through the artificial clouds and background like it was tissue paper.
Zhige soared up, though at a speed significantly slower than Yang’s staff, since it was wary of throwing us off at the steep incline.
I sat furthest down the sword, with Yue in front. I held onto Qijing tightly in front of me. Although she tried not to make it obvious, it was clear that Qijing was deathly afraid of heights. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, and she pressed against me to ground herself.
Yue spun around at the tip of the blade to face me. She slammed her hands down eagerly, and Zhige bounced unsteadily. “What did you mean earlier? You meant that in a good way, right? I’m getting a promotion?”
I crossed my arms stubbornly, not wanting her to feel too special. “Turning into a demon is never a good thing.”
“Sure, but you made it sound like a goal of yours. Do you have these big, crazy, and ambitious plans for me? Can I please hear about them?”
“Don’t put it that way,” I grumbled, my face turning a light pink color.
“So you do!”
[Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven shouts in delight.]
[Demon Abyssal Kraken of Black Seas sits up straighter.]
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts hesitates slightly.]
[Divinity Ears that Hear what Comes on the Wind reassures Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts.]
“Ah, wait, PR announcement,” I declared to the sky. “For full transparency, I have every intention of turning Yue into a powerful demon. Although I might be a divinity, I don’t think labels will divide my party.”
Yue’s eyes glimmered in excitement. “You really mean it?”
“Of course I do, unless you don’t want to.”
“I do!” Yue leaned forward even more, until Qijing was awkwardly squished between the two of us. “I can’t wait! Can you imagine? I’ll have thousands of temples built for me, all over the human and demon realm. And I’ll be wickedly powerful. I’ll even be able to shut you up when you’re rude.”
I sighed loudly.
“Is that why you were okay with the Bull Demon King sponsoring me?”
“Yes. I think it’s good for divine relations, too.”
[Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven is offended by your comment.]
“Why…?”
“Because Yang has Sun Wukong as his sponsor and the two of you get along exceptionally well. It’s hard for the rivalry between Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King to reveal itself when both their disciples work well together in the same party.”
[Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven screams at his screen in rage.]
[Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven stops picking his ears.]
[Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven screeches loudly.]
[Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven sends Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven a threatening message.]
[Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven reaches for his Ruyi Jingu Bang.]
[Divinity Great Sage Equaling Heaven reminds Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven who won their last battle.]
[Demon Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven screams until spit covers his screen.]
[Divinity Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts struggles to mask his apprehension.]
[Divinity Ears that Hear what Comes on the Wind tells Disciple Peijin to trust her judgement.]
There was still a bit more time until we would catch up to Yang. By now, his staff had retracted, and I figured they were already exploring the citadel.
I let out a loud and dramatic sigh. “Aren’t you so glad I saved you, Yue? I could’ve killed you right there on the bridge. I thought about it.”
“Should I really be thanking you for not killing me?”
I shrugged, a faint curve at the corners of my lip. “You’ve grown on me. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
Yue turned to me, a totally disgusted look on her face like she was about to be sick.
“What?! Should I call you a cunt instead?”
“You look even more ugly when you’re trying to be nice.”
“Maybe divinities and demons can’t get along after all…”
Yue’s eyes finally wandered down to smushed Qijing. “You,” she said, spinning her spear and pointing the tip at the girl's heart. “You should try to get along with Amelia more.”
Qijing opened her eyes just a sliver before shutting them again, ignoring Yue.
Yue huffed. “Peijin, why did you take such a liking to her? She’s so rude, even for a kid. The rest of Feiyu’s party came out to greet us except this girl. It’s bad if you and Feiyu spoil her too much.”
“I feel bad for all the kids stuck in the apocalypse.”
“Yeah, but you get all tender and sappy with her.”
“Well, she almost blew my head off a few hours ago. I think I should be nicer to her to save my own life.”
Qijing shifted forward, putting space between the two of us, and I snorted.
“Awww,” Yue cooed. “She’s like a mini me.”
“Don’t ever say that again.”
Zhige finally reached the top of the fake ceiling, approaching the small hole Yang’s staff made. Zhige instantly tilted vertically, and I hooked my legs onto the guards to stabilize myself and Qijing. Yue held on, already used to the drill given the extensive number of times she’s had to hang onto Yang’s staff.
We finally entered the throne room.
The throne room was a vivid red color. In the center was a large, luxurious golden throne. It had ornate golden carvings all around it in the shape of dragons and various swirls.
Beside it were carvings of various protective deities, protecting whomever sat on the throne. These gods served a similar role as Shunfeng’er.
Behind the throne was a large canvas and wooden wall. The top had two golden dragons who met in the middle; it was a symbol of incomprehensible wealth, power, and fortune. The stairs that led up to the throne were painted red, and the overall room was massive.
AMERICAN NODE]
[Location: Ferris Wheel RN2938 — Gondola #19]
[Description: The American node controls the citadel’s spatial presence. Use the node’s artifact to toggle these settings regardless of the user's current location.
Alter Layout: [No]
Trap Frequency: 1/10
Location Size: 1/10
Location Firewall: 1/10]
Owner: Liu Peijin
[Set Location Size: 3/10
Set Location Firewall 10/10]
At once, the hole we entered quickly shut behind us. I lifted Qijing and gently placed her back on the ground. She nervously reloaded her gun, instantly fearful of her new surroundings.
She was much more timid than Amelia, and that made me want to protect her even more. Although the two were around the same age, Qijing was more like a fish out of water.
Before I could say anything, I felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation travel up my spine. I perked up instantly, looking all around the room.
[Hindsight activated!]
