Lin Bei's face was blank as he looked around the unfamiliar surroundings.
He'd been in the middle of an exhilarating slaughter when, without warning, the surrounding space froze and locked onto him.
A colossal black tentacle then thrust out from an unknown void and wrapped around his body.
By the time he regained his senses, he was already here.
All around was pitch-black darkness.
In front of him loomed a blood-red pupil the size of a planet.
Before it, Lin Bei felt like a speck of dust.
The pressure it exuded was immense.
He even felt that killing him would be easier for it than crushing an ant.
He didn't doubt his intuition.
After all, his God of War class had been forged from the Super Intuition and other Combat abilities he'd once possessed.
His intuition was extremely accurate.
Therefore, this giant blood-colored pupil absolutely had the power to insta-kill him!
"Damn, this aura… it feels kind of familiar."
"It seems to come from the same source as those World BOSSes' power."
"Could this massive pupil be the true mastermind behind the World BOSSes?"
"And this inexplicable nausea—it's identical to what I felt inside the Teleportation Array zone!"
"Crap, this is trouble."
Lin Bei ground his teeth, feeling awful.
His mind raced, searching for any way out.
Suddenly he sensed the other Death Avatars he'd left outside; finding he could lock onto their coordinates and Teleport instantly, he exhaled in relief.
With that trump card, even if he couldn't win, he could still escape.
With that worry gone, his nerves gradually calmed.
"Oh? Little Thief, your strength is nothing special, but your composure isn't bad."
From the boundless darkness came a teasing voice: "Still… you're caught."
"Tell me—who sent you to steal my origin power?"
"Answer honestly and I'll spare your life."
"Otherwise… I'll show you what the Abyss of Despair and a fate worse than death truly mean!"
Lin Bei was dumbfounded by Big Eyeball's interrogation.
Everything he'd done had been on his own initiative.
No one had ordered him.
"Wait—that's not quite right!"
Lost in thought, Lin Bei's eyes suddenly flashed as he recalled the string of missions the Lucky Faction had given him.
They all seemed aimed at one thing—world origin fragments.
And the only way for him to obtain those fragments was by killing World BOSSes.
In other words, without realizing it, he'd been neatly arranged by whoever pulled the strings of the "Lucky" Faction.
"Damn, that actually makes sense!"
Cold sweat poured off him. "These behind-the-scenes guys… they're filthy."
Had Big Eyeball not asked today, he'd never have thought it through and would still be in the dark.
"Heh, looks like you've figured it out."
A hidden smile flickered deep in the giant pupil. "I sense an old friend's aura on you; I suppose… all this is that person's doing."
Lin Bei stayed silent.
"Relax, I've got the answer I wanted. As for you… let's make a deal—stop stealing my origin power. Each bit is tiny, but like a mosquito bite, it gets annoying over time."
The anger in the colossal pupil had long faded, its tone turning relaxed.
Lin Bei's eyes flickered with doubt.
He clearly remembered that when he'd first been grabbed, its aura had been dead-set on killing him.
Yet now… Big Eyeball's attitude had flipped completely.
Could it be… because of the "old friend" it mentioned?
That was the only explanation he could think of.
"Enough, don't overthink; you're too weak to learn more."
"But I never imagined that guy actually succeeded—looks like I lost our bet back then."
A trace of reminiscence flashed in the giant pupil. "Alright, you can go. I'll leave a spatial mark on you; come chat whenever you have time."
"After so many years, I'm terribly bored."
Lin Bei was utterly bewildered.
He itched to curse at Big Eyeball's cryptic words, yet with his meager strength he could only swallow it.
"Uh… Senior, I have a presumptuous request."
"Speak."
"I need to grow stronger, so…"
"Sigh… kid, take it easy. Don't siphon that much power every time. I'm immortal, but even I can't handle your torment."
A helpless look appeared in the giant pupil. "I suppose my current form is that person's plan—so I can serve as your power source."
"It seems his predictions back then have finally come true."
"I can see you walk the ancient Path of the God of War, just like that man—yet you haven't mastered the corresponding breathing method."
"Since you're his chosen one, I'll pass on the breathing technique he once used."
"Consider it a gift that brings things full circle."
As the words fell, two beams of black and white light converged within the giant pupil, merging into a vast Taiji diagram.
The light enveloped Lin Bei, making his mind drift.
Ancient, obscure syllables echoed in his ears.
In an instant his gaze turned vacant as he sank into a dreamlike state of enlightenment.
He had no idea how much time passed.
When Lin Bei came to, he was no longer in the dark space but inside the huge blue Teleportation Array above the Abyss Sea.
He lay there, unsure how long he'd been out.
Outside, the periphery of the Abyss Sea was now packed with Survivors.
Several powerful auras had already locked onto him from afar.
Lin Bei snapped out of his daze and realized what was happening.
"So these are the experts the major factions sent to surround and kill me?"
"I've only barely scratched the surface of the Hunyuan Breathing Technique. It doesn't feel like much time passed—so why does everything feel… changed?"
"Could it be… a long time has gone by since I entered that state of enlightenment?"
He quickly opened the main screen of his Survival Bracelet.
It showed that the third Calamity Season had already begun!
And it was already the second day!
"What the—so much time has passed?!"
Lin Bei's face was first shocked, then turned colorful. "Crap—so I've missed tons of benefits!"
Putting aside everything else, just the Super Luck status could be activated twice per day; four days meant he'd missed eight chances to explode with luck!
And over so many days, how many World BOSSes had he failed to kill—and how many stats had he lost?
Add in the ranking rewards and Instance Dungeon resources of the Thirty-Six Main Cities and this loss was catastrophic!
"Damn! This is definitely Big Eyeball's revenge!"
Lin Bei finally caught on.
Time inside the abyssal space flowed at the same rate as the Survival World.
If he'd Teleported back to the Underworld to comprehend the technique, only half a day would have passed outside by the time he finished.
But now, everything was different.
"These guys… why is every single one of them so sneaky?"
"Just you wait—I'll make sure to 'entertain' you properly!"
Gritting his teeth, Lin Bei instantly formed a plan.
Though he'd missed a lot of resources, he still hadn't claimed his previous ranking rewards.
With thirty-six first-place finishes on the honor ranking, plus the Critical Hit effect, the number of World BOSS challenge tokens he'd end up with would be staggering!
At that time he'd let Big Eyeball know just how ruthless his methods could be!