The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

But.

Su Qi was not in a hurry, he had his own path in mind, and he had been silently laying down various anchor points that were now beginning to sprout in all aspects.

And now, he just needed to play the part of a Venerable.

However.

When Su Qi stepped into the grand hall,

the atmosphere did not seem as good as he had imagined. The many Venerables, each with distinct appearances, were sitting calmly, indifferently, and proudly in the hall.

Each one of them radiated a subdued aura unlike that of ordinary people; some completely ignored the latecomer Su Qi, while others simply calmly sized him up.

Within the Venerable plan, although they were all selected as eccentric geniuses, they were also in competition with each other, each wanting to become... the Descender to receive the Evil God's power.

There was also a Venerable, whose aura emitted from his body, revealed tremendous strength, with purple long hair, his eyes filled with a bit of strangeness.

The surrounding Venerables did not approach him, their eyes showed indifference, wariness, and a bit of defiance.

He glanced at Su Qi for a moment, and after finding nothing particularly special, he indifferently retracted his gaze.

Jin Sanyuan, although aware of the tense atmosphere, was still at ease, with a gentle smile on his face, "Lord Yi Jue, please take a seat over here."

There were about thirty Venerables present, each with their own title; to distinguish among themselves, they naturally addressed each other by their titles.

Moreover.

These were just the Venerables received by the Hidden Killing Association; there were other top powers from the Abyss Camp... all of whom were gathering other Venerables at this very moment.

"Alright," Su Qi narrowed his eyes and walked toward his own seat with an unresponsive face behind his mask.

But in reality, Su Qi had already noticed a Venerable staring at him, and after he had taken his seat, the Venerable spoke up with a slightly hoarse voice:

"Are you Yi Jue?"

Not cool, man, who are you.

Su Qi, wearing his mask, nodded slightly, his voice deep, "...And you are?"

"Don't you remember me?" he narrowed his eyes.

Drat.

There was an acquaintance; Venerables generally operated alone and did not meet, but this situation had occurred.

Su Qi still calmly replied, "Should I remember you?"

He instead let out a light chuckle:

"Should I say you have a large forgetfulness, or is it arrogance..."

Following that.

He just slowly closed his eyes and said no more.

And Su Qi, narrowing his eyes, was looking at the question mark above the other's head, the other's silence giving him more time to gather information.

He had many weaknesses now.

Without the Power of Pollution, like the tattoo-like Evil God Totem, and various other things... that were different from the other Venerables.

So.

Su Qi had to get a handle on things as soon as possible, to reduce weaknesses.

After all.

Looking around at the shadows, there were many projections slowly appearing from distant places.

He glanced and saw.

[The connection of an Abyss Apostle of Sequence 6 is in progress]

[The connection of an Abyssal powerhouse of Sequence 5 is in progress]

The space of this grand hall had been arranged by an Abyss Ceremony, establishing a connection with the higher echelons of the Abyss Church.

This was an internal meeting of the Venerables, which was likely to outline subsequent actions and reveal important strategies.

"It really is like walking on a cliff's edge," Su Qi appeared unflappable, but he was internally gathering all sorts of information at full force and had even prepared various contingency plans, including escape plans should he be exposed.

After all, he was at the heart of the Venerable plan, and he had now stepped into this most secretive meeting!

The host, Jin Sanyuan, although a Sequencer of Rank 6, could only wait outside the main gate at the moment.

More and more phantoms were slowly appearing, and images of other Venerables also began to gather in various grand halls, all waiting for the meeting to commence.

And about half an hour later.

The number of phantoms had reached a terrifying amount, and from beginning to now they had been utterly silent, with eerie and powerful auras faintly being emitted.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for something.

And the many Venerables also unconsciously sat up straight and serious, their expressions solemn. Although they were all very arrogant, the appearance of so many senior powerhouses naturally... brought with it a certain wariness.

Venerables might have limitless potential, but unrisen Venerables were just disposable pieces within the church.

And... Someone was even busier than them, that was Su Qi.

"Damn it, that damn Apostle, they didn't say there would be so many powerful beings," spoke Su Qi, though outwardly leaning back in his seat with a casual demeanor, his heart was already swearing.

He wasn't making much movement; right now, more actions meant more mistakes. Once he was exposed, there would be big trouble.

The many phantoms continued to wait in silence.

And another half an hour passed.

A strange energy enveloped the area, and everyone felt an eerie oppression coming from all around.

"Boom!"

Every Venerable shuddered, including the many illusory figures who began to bow, exhibiting an attitude of utter submission.

Su Qi's pupils slightly contracted as his Spiritual Eyes quietly pulsed.

What was thought to be a small gathering now appeared to be a top-secret meeting with substantial import.

For the arriving illusory figures…

Were the most powerful forces of the Present World.

"Welcome, Undying Priest!"

The Venerables prepared to bow and kneel on one knee, but the Undying Priest extended a hand, and a powerful force stiffened everyone's bodies.

A calm voice came.

"Each of you may potentially be chosen by the great one… as a vessel for the Descent, so you must not kneel."

The Venerables slowly straightened themselves.

Su Qi narrowed his eyes, gazing at the figure before him, the terrifying strength of Sequence 2, this direct and unique sense of oppression was different.

And,

Behind this Undying Priest was another figure, face unclear, very mysterious.

Su Qi was about to continue scrutinizing the figure carefully, knowing that one must be extremely cautious in such situations.

Such terrifying beings, even the slightest of your movements could hardly escape their eyes.

Of course,

It would not be a big problem just looking along with the other Venerables.

But as Su Qi lifted his head, he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.

For he found… the mysterious figure behind the Undying Priest seemed to be looking at him.

This chill that came in an instant caused a myriad of thoughts in Su Qi's heart to burst forth.

But the next moment,

That gaze disappeared as quickly as it came, as if it had returned to silence, or perhaps it was just an illusion.

However, from beginning to end, Su Qi remained perfectly still, his masked face betraying no emotion.

Just that inside, he was experiencing a few… changes.

He had also seen the question mark above this mysterious figure's head.

[Youhai Spirit King]

The Undying Priest slowly raised his head:

"Now,"

"All of you here must be ready."

"Amidst the grand tides of the recovery of the old era."

Its voice seemed to come from the Abyss: "To welcome the arrival of the new era!"

-----------------

At this very moment,

On a faraway Floating Island, Bai Yilin and others were already verifying qualifications for recruitment, and the Evernight Commerce was very strict.

From Strength, traits, and so on, they took careful consideration.

Their Strength was quite formidable among Ordinary Sequencers, so there were no issues.

Shandian was directly treated as a portable mechanical dog and entered alongside Bai Yilin and the others.

"The wristwatch is your identity, communication, and other tools, and it will also record your Points, among other things," a Commerce employee was leading them to familiarize themselves with the regulations.

Shandian whispered softly:

"The employees of Evernight Commerce, all of them wear various prosthetics… It's incredible, some of them are very powerful to have developed to this extent."

"And everyone is very strong," murmured Jiang Zhi: "It's no wonder they are a top commerce guild, even the registration employees have the strength of Seventh Rank."

They walked further inside, and there was still some time before they would enter the Dark Zone.

Naturally, they needed to familiarize themselves with this place.

And once they entered the Evernight Pioneer Group, each of them would receive a set of Equipment.

Various… active prosthetics, able to perfectly meld with the body, weapons and equipment capable of unleashing the body's potential.

"By the way, big brother," Jiang Zhi couldn't help but inquire of the employee before him: "I've noticed something… why are there so many people queuing up for Evernight Commerce, and even though many don't seem strong, they appear distinguished?"

Bai Yilin paused slightly.

He had also observed this, many looking like rich second-generations, Young Masters, scions of powerful families queuing at Evernight Commerce, gathering.

Different from other powers.

The employee paused, looking at them strangely: "It seems you're new here."

He looked towards those queuing outside: "At least two fifths of these people... they've come for star-chasing."