The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

He said, "Humans are inherently inclusive. I work among the Heavenly Destiny People, and it's also nice to deliver takeout to the Abyss."

"I can see everyone's colors, your identities, positions, and whether you are good or evil. I know them all. Most of those Heavenly Destiny People are white, possessing a sense of duty and responsibility."

"The Abyss Monsters, on the other hand, are purely black and red, evil, bizarre, bloodthirsty,"

Su Qi asked expectantly, "What about me?"

"Your color is..." Ma Liang fell silent, "There is a Divine Bird in the world that has vividly colored feathers, and each feather can split into different... personas, each with different personalities and abilities."

"And you... have surpassed it, your colors are heavily mixed, complex and blurry."

Su Qi muttered, "So does that represent good or evil?"

"Probably closer to... good..."

Ma Liang hesitated, using the word 'closer.'

He didn't say more, slowly plucking out one of his eyes, which was a glass eye.

"Take this, go to my place, find that brush, and try to paint the picture as best as you can, and that will open the gate to leave."

Su Qi reached out and took it, "But why don't you do it yourself since it's your painting and you also have so many clues?"

Ma Liang just smiled, his hollow eyes betraying a different emotion, "Because it's not time yet."

Su Qi paused slightly, wanting to ask more.

But Ma Liang pointed outside, "We don't have much time left. The longer we wait in this hide-and-seek game, the more powerful they will become, and the crazier."

Knowing Ma Liang would not answer further, Su Qi was not too bothered, the questions that appeared above his head were enough for him to digest.

One minute later.

He watched as Su Qi left the classroom, and Ma Liang's eyes revealed a strange contemplative hue.

"How odd, this little guy..."

His colors are chaotic, disordered, unfathomable; there's even a large mass of dense black that exceeds everyone else's.

That blackness is more evil than all the Abyss Monsters combined!

But...

Greater than this darkness is a color that shines like Starfire, even suppressing the very ink-black.

"Heavenly Destiny People, the Abyss Power has already entered the Ancient Gate."

"That means this strategy, spanning countless ages, is about to converge."

Ancient times...

beyond the dimensions of the Abyss and the Present World, the most horrific, most mysterious force, in that final battle.

The Abyss seeks to use its terrifying strength to utterly destroy the Present World.

At that last moment.

The World Tree's fire seed plan will activate.

It would release the Ancient times, along with numerous horrific gods, demigods, and extraordinary demons, to mutually annihilate.

Along with much of the Present World and the core forces, all submerge in the Ancient times, erasing all memories and traces.

It's akin to hitting the pause button, and upon restarting, countless ages will have passed.

They undoubtedly were... the defeated ones in this battle, seeing no hope.

And now, postponed to these later times, just for... that pitiful variable, and another chance to start over.

"Is it just prolonged despair at this moment, or... can we find a new hope?"

Ma Liang softly said, "This war is about to begin anew."

...

By the time Su Qi reached Ma Liang's residence, he had already avoided wave after wave of... Ah, not Abyss Elementary School Students, but Abyss Monsters.

The avoidance was simple.

Gan Wencui rose from the shadows on the ground, "Sect Hierarch, as per your instructions, the Shadow Army has sequentially mobilized, creating distractions in various places to attract the attention of Abyss Demons and record the incomplete pictures on their bodies."

"Okay, noted, remember to divert these to the locations of the followers, give them something to do."

"Understood."

Luo Shenfu watched Gan Wencui slowly disappear into the shadows again, his eyebrows tightly furrowed, "I'm getting more and more confused, what are these..."

"It's the power of the Immortal Path, it's normal not to understand."

"....." Luo Shenfu: "What the hell does this have to do with the Immortal Path!"

He sighed and did not probe further; by now, he had gradually realized that Daozi before him... possessed an unfathomable personality and various hidden abilities.

However, the problem was not significant, after all, Daozi was only Seventh Rank, and his strength limited the hidden things and the enemies.

He should be able to handle it.

"In any case, we already have a way to leave this door," said Luo Shenfu: "It should be simpler now."

"That's not necessarily true."

Su Qi, hidden within the compartments in Ma Liang's room, found a brush according to the method taught by Ma Liang.

The brush had a hint of divinity, and Su Qi looked at its information box.

[Divine Brush]

[Instance-specific effect: To outline the paintings of the god, Ma Liang.]

[After infusing Spiritual Energy, you can start painting at any location.]

"It really is a straightforward name," Su Qi muttered to himself.

And moreover.

He also saw a deep red warning beneath, which came from the Ancient Paradise system.

[Warning: When the Divine Brush begins to draw, all Abyss Monsters will enter a frenzied state]

[Warning: You are outlining a painting that does not exist, and once you successfully draw it, you will be tainted with the Ominous from the Old Days!]

[Note: Every individual who successfully leaves this Gate World will receive a reward key from the Black and White Bear, and the successful painter will receive a special reward]

Here it came.

The main quest of the Gate World seemed all too familiar.

Still.

Su Qi also noticed that Ancient Paradise mentioned the Black and White Bear.

Serving as both the punisher of Extreme Punishments and... the issuer of rewards, the Black and White Bear acted like a GM in this Ancient Gate.

The Old Days seemed to be a more mysterious and terrifying power higher than... the Abyss and the Present World, favoring neither side, much like a recycling bin, traces swallowed by the Old Days were like deleted files thrown into the recycling bin.

"This door should be left now," Su Qi, carrying the brush, walked towards the door.

From Ma Liang, he had already gotten a lot of information, not just in words, but also from the question mark above his head.

Ancient Gate.

It was a place where the Gods and the Abyss perished together, where traces were erased, buried coordinates slept, and was also the necessary route to the Core Land, part of what the World Tree and the Eye of Destiny were guiding...

Forget it.

Talking about these things is boring.

To put it simply, the Abyss is a virus, the part of the Present World that got infected, deleted by the Gods including themselves, stored in this USB stick, the Ancient Gate.

It seemed that the Evil God got hold of this USB stick, plugged it into the Core Land... and now the detection system of the Eye of Destiny and the protection system of the World Tree have all mobilized the Heavenly Destiny People to come and seal it again.

It might have been better not to explain, as it seems more confusing now.

But it doesn't matter...

Su Qi had already reached the rooftop of the school building, streams of information fed back from the Shadow Army, they were unsure if it was due to their own reason or... inherently special.

Even if they died, were slain, they would just return to their Spirit House space, after a certain time, they would be able to be summoned again.

And this time would extend with their growing strength and shorten with the increase of one's spiritual power.

Holding the Divine Brush, he began to outline directly in mid-air.

The patterns etched directly into the air.

And right when he made the first stroke, the Sky Dome underwent a change, a light hue piercing through the dark purple mist down!

At this moment, countless Abyss Demons began to emit frenzied roars.

The three Demigods had also revealed their forms, watching this scene with endless murderous intent in their eyes.

The entire school was swarmed with the aura of the Abyss!

Ma Liang stood in the corridor of that classroom, staring at the Sky Dome: "It has started."

His strength had also recovered somewhat, but his aura was weak, his body covered in fatal injuries.

In the final battle, he had been on the brink of death, dragged into the Old Days together with his foes, using the last bit of his strength to suppress these Abyss Demons.

"Now, let's help you out a bit."