In the sky, millions of stars continuously moved around while they gave off an intense blinding light.

A frigid and emotionless void resounded:

[Everyone]

[There are still 11 hours left until the official game begins]

[But you should understand clearly, the official Siming game is extremely difficult, capable of ending your lives at any moment]

[In consideration of this dangerous situation, we will immediately commence the warm-up round for the game]

[The rules of the warm-up round are as follows:]

[Every entity, regardless of who you are, must describe your connections to all things, or the living beings of this world, and be recognized by the game]

[You all must prove that there are at least three kinds of connections between yourselves, no repetition]

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

[For those who cannot prove even three connections…]

[They will be ended!]

[The game-------]

[Shall now begin!]

The Grand Elder's expression changed.

Three connections!

"Oh no, why did it prematurely------ Reneedol!" he hurriedly shouted.

Gu Qing Shan looked at him and calmly stated: "She won't come"

"Why not?" the Grand Elder shouted back.

"Because Shroud, Scarlet, and her have all formed at least three layers of connections, they will be able to calmly and stably survive-----"

"Furthermore, even if she came, do you really think she'd reveal the secret relations between the two of you? I'm the covenant bearer with the Overlord of Death, before I died, I'd easily be able to ask them to help me send my words" Gu Qing Shan stated as if pondering.

The Grand Elder's expression completely changed.

"And also-------" Gu Qing Shan shrugged with his palms open, "[Siming] had already deceived everyone once, who knows what else it could do? What if Shroud dies when she leaves?"

Gu Qing Shan smiled, but the smile caused the Grand Elder's heart to completely freeze over.

"In this dangerous moment, the best thing for her to do is ensure her own survival as well as Shroud's safety"

As he spoke, two columns of red light silently appeared, hovering above their heads.

"Rhode, this is for both of our survival! Hurry, accept me as your master!" the Grand Elder shouted.

Gu Qing Shan shook his head and didn't answer him.

A person abruptly appeared in front of him.

It wasn't truly a 'person' either, as it was a cluster of burning black flames that was attached to a black cloak.

The Overlord of Death.

A column of red light had also manifested above its head!.

-----so even an Overlord was under the threat of [Apocalypse: Siming]!

Gu Qing Shan quickly spoke: "We have a covenant with one another"

A line of burning text appeared in front of the Overlord of Death: [I grant you power, you provide me sustenance through the death of living beings]

An indigo thread appeared to connect Gu Qing Shan and the Overlord of Death.

The first connection had been recognized!

Gu Qing Shan casually searched himself and tossed a spirit stone to the Overlord of Death, then swiftly continued:

"I'm your creditor"

Another line of burning text immediately appeared in front of the Overlord of Death:

[I recognize it, I am indebted to you]

Another indigo thread appeared to connect the two of them.

The second connection had been recognized!

Gu Qing Shan didn't even pause and continued: "Can you be my friend?"

Another burning line of text appeared in front of the Overlord of Death:

[I can!]

Another indigo thread continued to appear and connect them.

Three connections had been formed!

Hoh------

The column of red light above Gu Qing Shan's head disappeared.

The red light above the Overlord of Death had also vanished.

Gu Qing Shan turned to the other side.

The column of red light grew even brighter to fully envelop the Grand Elder.

The Grand Elder angrily roared: "Rhode, who exactly are you!?"

Gu Qing Shan didn't say anything and simply stared coldly at him.

The red light slowly turned a bloody color.

The Grand Elder's mouth continuously moved, apparently cursing something.

But his voice couldn't be heard at all.

Almost instantly after that, his entire body, including his soul, vanished without a trace.

------he was ended as well.

Gu Qing Shan and the Overlord of Death silently observed this.

A line of burning text appeared in front of Gu Qing Shan:

[Rhode, it's fortunate that I have you]

Gu Qing Shan shook his head: "Without you, I would have ended the same way, we're mutually saving one another"

He then curiously asked: "Were you all affected by [Siming] as well?"

The burning text changed to form new text:

[Indeed. We were all able to pass the first two connections because each of us had two relations with the world Origin, but now that the rules have turned into three connections, that didn't work anymore------ some Overlords had already fallen as well----- look at the sky!]

Gu Qing Shan looked up, only to see countless sprites of light flying away from the earth towards the stars in the sky.

"Such power… this is the world Origin power contained within the Law Behemoths…" Gu Qing Shan muttered.

Quite a few Law Behemoths had just been killed, so their Origin power was being absorbed by [Siming].

Millions of stars in the sky glowed even brighter as they were reinforced by the world Origin power, illuminating the earth like it was midday.

[Apocalypse: Siming] is growing stronger.

It will continue to grow stronger.

And there isn't anything in this world that could resist its power.

Not even the Law Behemoths!

Reneedol came from the Pantheon and managed to avoid the destruction of the previous era, but she had no choice but to learn cooking from me just to survive [Siming]!

Gu Qing Shan was feeling an increasingly stronger sense of danger.

This surely isn't a Sealing or Unsolvable Apocalypse, it must be at least Unlivable rank!

Unlivable.

No one can survive it.

Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath to force himself to calm down.

Suddenly, someone appeared behind him.

Reneedol.

Reneedol looked around and instantly understood the situation.

"The Grand Elder------" she said.

"Was killed by the Apocalypse" Gu Qing Shan suddenly collapsed on his knees and heavily struck the ground with his fist.

Boom!

A large hole was burnt away by the black flames.

"How detestable, it killed the Elder, I couldn't do anything to help him!"

Gu Qing Shan sorrowfully roared.

Reneedol looked at the Overlord of Death and muttered: "Rhode, were you saved by the Overlord of Death?"

"I was" Gu Qing Shan answered with a dejected tone, "They had several connections with me that allowed me to survive, but the Grand Elder-------"

He didn't continue.

Reneedol was still feeling fearful from the previous transgressions.

-----among the Myriad Deities, I didn't have that great of a relationship with Water Deity, we normally didn't talk much either.

Instead, it was because I formed several real connections with Shroud, Rhode, and Scarlet that I successfully survived [Siming] this time.

The situation is growing increasingly more severe.

-----I need to summon more manpower into the Realm of Life immediately!

Reneedol silently thought.

At this point, Shroud and Scarlet also arrived.

Learning of what had just transpired, they also sighed regretfully.

This Apocalypse was truly frightening.

Despair-inducingly frightening.

"What do we do now?" Scarlet asked.

"We need to reach someplace with a lot of people!" Reneedol replied.

"But the Law Behemoths are still searching for us" Shroud said.

Reneedol coldly chuckled: "A large number of them have just died, they don't even have the strength to protect themselves right now, let alone find you"

"Very well, then we're going to head towards a place with many people, only then would we be able to form more relations" Shroud agreed.

Gu Qing Shan had stayed silent for the entire time, but now he abruptly followed up: "This Apocalypse is too terrifying, we can't hesitate any longer, let's head to a place with a lot of people right away!"

He then turned his head towards Reneedol: "I know that you're easily embarrassed, but this isn't the time to be stubborn or prideful. I'm older than you by a few years, so let us pledge ourselves as siblings"

Reneedol was surprised.

Gu Qing Shan patted Shroud's back and said: "Help me convince her as well, this isn't a laughing matter"

Shroud immediately stepped forward and held Reneedol's hand: "Rhode is my best friend; you can consider yourself his younger sister------- one more layer of connection is an additional layer of protection and hope for survival"

Reneedol couldn't help but agree.

Wind Deity is dead.

Water Deity is also dead.

I didn't even have time to devour the Law Behemoths before they were harvested by the Apocalypse.

Our circumstances are terrible.

------I need to ensure my safety first before thinking of anything else.

Reneedol looked at Rhode, her lips twitching, but still couldn't really say it.

Suddenly, all the stars in the sky went dim.

The frigid, emotionless voice once again resounded throughout the world:

[Congratulations, you've successfully passed the warm-up round, you may now peacefully survive for another 11 hours until the game officially begins]

[However…]

[There might be another surprise waiting for you all during the upcoming 11 hours]

[Everyone, look forward to it]

The voice slowly faded away.

The world went dark again.

What will happen from now on?

No one could say for sure.

Gu Qing Shan looked at Reneedol and urged her again: "Hurry! Everything is for the sake of survival!"

This time, Reneedol didn't hesitate at all and called out: "Brother"

"Hm, sister" Gu Qing Shan replied.