TN: Siming refers to an ancient Chinese deity who governed the fate of all humans, not directly, but through fine adjustments. There have been various translations of this deity's name, such as Master of Fate, Controller of Fate, Deified Judge of Life, Arbiter of Fate, Director of Allotted Life Spans, and Director of Destinies.

--------

Killing the Myriad Deities.

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Gu Qing Shan calmed down.

Since he had decided on this, there was no need to consider any other strategies, he only needed to continue thinking with this as the basis.

Of course, there were also many issues with this idea.

For example, exactly what kind of organization was the Pantheon?

Why would they choose to descend during the advent of the Apocalypse?

Who exactly is inside Reneedol's body right now?

How should I kill her so that the three Great Laws of Reality wouldn't reconstitute themselves?

Gu Qing Shan placed the bottle down next to him and leaned on a nearby tree.

Issues are only issues when you think of them as such, I can simply tackle them one by one.

What I need to do now is to gather information.

Gu Qing Shan's gaze turned towards the void of space to read the glowing text:

[In two minutes and one second, the Apocalypse will descend!]

The Apocalypse is coming.

Gu Qing Shan suddenly spoke telepathically to Shroud:

"Shroud, don't turn towards me, I'm speaking with you privately right now. Are you currently the Overlord of Radiance?"

Sure enough, Shroud didn't turn towards him and simply replied: "You can say that, but my capabilities are quite limited, I wouldn't be able to achieve a lot"

"Can you act as an Overlord to form a covenant with mortals?" Gu Qing Shan asked.

"I can, but I'm currently still very weak, I'm not sure if anyone would be willing to form one with me" Shroud wryly laughed.

"It's because you're still weak that you need someone to help you, and I think Epta is quite suitable for the job" Gu Qing Shan said.

"Epta?" Shroud asked.

"That's right, Radiance and healing are very closely related to one another, so if she forms a covenant with you, she would be able to increase the potency of her healing. The next time we run into battle, she might even become our final insurance"

Gu Qing Shan continued: "Furthermore, the previous Overlord of Radiance only had you as their only covenant bearer, if you later become a true Overlord and have every expert in the world form a covenant with you…"

Gu Qing Shan didn't continue.

Shroud pondered: "It's worth a shot"

"Great, but if anyone asks, don't tell them it's my idea" Gu Qing Shan said.

"Why not?"

"Because that would appear like I pay a specific kind of attention to her, that would only cause misunderstandings"

"Ah, that's true. Even I thought that you liked her before you said that------ alright, I'll say that it was my idea"

Gu Qing Shan stopped talking.

There was less than a minute left.

He walked behind a tree to look for Scarlet.

Scarlet was sitting crouched on the ground while wiping her tears.

Gu Qing Shan also crouched in front of her and smiled: "How are you feeling? Scared by Atley's words?"

Scarlet shook her head.

"Then why did you cry?" Gu Qing Shan asked again.

"I'm now the walking avatar of Death on the mortal realm, so I'm afraid that I'll carelessly kill those who are innocent-----"

Scarlet dejectedly said: "Their family members would surely feel sorrowful, and I would blame myself forever because of it"

Gu Qing Shan was surprised, his gaze slowly becoming gentle.

"Scarlet"

"Hm?"

"When you kill people, just come with me, I'll make sure that you won't kill any innocents" Gu Qing Shan told her.

"Are you sure?" Scarlet doubtfully asked.

"I can guarantee it" Gu Qing Shan replied.

"But then, who gave you the right to decide who deserves to live or die?" Scarlet looked straight into his eyes and asked.

"I naturally don't have the right to determine anyone's life or death, but I have experience. I can tell regular people from devils in human skin" Gu Qing Shan replied.

"Then, you only kill devils?" Scarlet asked.

"That's right" Gu Qing Shan didn't dodge Scarlet's gaze and faced her head-on: "When I act, it will be at the moment when the devil must die, you can simply act with me"

"Would that be considered as both of us sustaining the Overlord of Death?"

"It will"

Scarlet tilted her head for a bit in thought, then said: "Very well, then I'll be with you from now on"

Perhaps feeling those words to be a bit suggestive, she blushed and added:

"When killing people"

Gu Qing Shan nodded.

Lines of glowing text were quickly scrolling across the War God UI:

[3]

[2]

[1]

[The Apocalypse had descended]

[Prepare yourselves well]

At the same time, the entire world noticed it.

The mountains, the grassy meadows, the deserts, the wilderness, the cities, the towns, countries, even the World of Laws, the insects, the birds, the wild animals, humans, all sentient creatures including the Law Behemoths saw the unnatural phenomenon in the sky.

"What is that?" Shroud loudly called out.

Only to find the sky suddenly turning dark as numerous stars manifested in the sky.

These stars gave off a blinding frigid glow.

Following that, strands of indigo threads manifested out of thin air, connecting those millions of stars together to form a vast net.

A blank and emotionless voice resounded in everyone's minds:

[Everyone, the legendary game has finally managed to sneak over to arrive in front of you]

[We welcome all to experience Apocalypse: Siming!]

[To commemorate the descent of the Apocalypse, let us begin the very first round of our game]

[Anyone can be first, each of you must describe a connection between yourself and all things, or with any living beings, then be recognized by the game]

[The first round is about to begin, you will need to prove at least two kinds of connection between yourselves, no repetitions]

[Those who succeed, congratulations on winning the right to prolong your lives]

[For those who cannot prove even two connections…]

[They will be ended!]

[The game-------]

[Shall now begin!]

The starlight glowed brightly like the middle of the day, illuminating every living being.

Everyone felt stunned.

Immediately after that, everyone felt a deep sense of fear arise from the very depths of their hearts.

This fear had surpassed even Death itself; it was suffocating enough to make anyone instinctively grasp at any chance of survival.

And so.

Those who were quick to react swiftly followed the instructions of the voice.

Like Gu Qing Shan--------

He had witnessed many Apocalypse already, so he immediately called out: "Regardless of now or the future, Shroud and I are good brothers!"

An indigo thread manifested out of nowhere to connect him and Shroud.

"Hurry!" Gu Qing Shan urged.

Shroud immediately continued: "Scarlet and I are disciples of the same realm"

An indigo thread connected him and Scarlet.

Scarlet also realized what was happening and spoke: "Epta and I are also disciples of the same realm"

They were connected as well.

Having seen three examples, Epta also realized what was going on.

She hurriedly turned to Atley: "Atley and I are also disciples of the same realm"

A short moment later.

No indigo thread had manifested.

No connections were formed!

Shroud exclaimed in shock: "That's impossible! Why!?"

Atley's expression also changed.

He turned to Shroud, then at Gu Qing Shan, then at Scarlet, his expression clearly filled with despair.

Suddenly, he shouted: "I am friends with Rhode"

No indigo threads formed either.

A second later, their vicinity abruptly turned dark.

Two columns of red light abruptly enveloped Epta and Atley.

Epta was stunned, but before she could even say a word, she had melted into the red column of light.

Atley abruptly unleashed a massive green glow and shouted angrily: "NO! I AM THE MASTER OF THE WIND, THE WIND DEITY, HOW COULD I BE---------"

The red glow gradually became darker, now appearing like fresh blood.

Atley's flesh melted within the column of light, leaving only his skeleton behind------

Even while he only had his skeleton left, he was still madly struggling to resist the red light.

But it was useless.

A moment later.

Both his body and soul had disappeared without a trace.

Gu Qing Shan, Shroud, and Scarlet were all stunned.

A frigid and emotionless voice resounded by their ears:

[Two living beings have been ended]

[The game shall continue]

[Please complete your second connection within ten seconds, or you will be ended]

Gu Qing Shan suddenly slapped his own face, forcing himself to calm down.

Atley's soul had been substituted, so he naturally didn't fulfil Epta's connection.

That was why both of them had died!

Gu Qing Shan quickly continued: "The Law of Death I wield, as well as the Law of Radiance Shroud wields, are both the most special ones within this world, we are Professionists of the same level"

The second thread appeared to connect him and Shroud.

Shroud turned to Scarlet, thought for a bit, then loudly declared: "The Law of Radiance I wield, as well as the Law of Death Scarlet wields, are both the most special ones within this world, we are Professionists of the same level"

Another thread appeared to connect him and Scarlet.

Scarlet swiftly followed: "The Law of Death I wield, as well as the Law of Death Rhode wields, are both the most special ones within this world, we are Professionists of the same level"

The frigid voice resounded again:

[The game is over]

[You've completed the simplest introductory game]

[Please continue to live for now]

[You may live for another twelve hours]

After that, the voice disappeared.

Only the three of them remained blankly staring in the wilderness.

A few moments later.

Scarlet's legs went limp as she collapsed on her bottom, her tears silently flowed out.

"Epta…" she called out.

No one answered her.