Chapter 191: Chapter 171: World Cleared, Five-Color Treasure Chest

At this moment, Jiya’s face twisted in pain. She suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a fist-sized ball of light.

The orb of light hovered in the air, radiating a starlit mist. A few moments later, a massive spatial rift ripped open from its center.

Starlit mist churned within the rift.

Music drifted out from the rift, growing louder and louder!

Suddenly, nine Monkey Kings flew out. The rift instantly tore open, expanding infinitely.

Or rather, it was as if an entire starry sky had descended.

Within the starry expanse, clouds and mist churned. One hundred thousand Celestial Soldiers stood atop the clouds, and the Four Heavenly Kings looked as though they could prop up the heavens and stand firm upon the earth.

In the blink of an eye, the starry sky vanished, the starlight faded, and the heavens filled with roiling clouds. All that remained were the one hundred thousand Celestial Soldiers completely surrounding Jiya, and the Four Heavenly Kings, who had once again set foot upon the earth.

Jiya’s eyes widened in utter shock.

She saw "Sun Wukong."

He was enveloped in a Golden Bell Shield. A radiant light flowed across the shield’s surface as if it were rotating, and the chiming of a bell echoed from it.

And beside Wang Yi was the little bald boy, Wang Bushi, tightly hugging his thigh with a cannonball strapped to his back!

"H-How is this possible? Why aren’t you dead!"

Jiya’s expression instantly twisted into one of terror.

Wang Yi shot Jiya a cold look, not deigning to answer her question. Inwardly, however, he was filled with emotion.

’I didn’t think I’d need the Golden Bell Protective Talisman. Looks like it’s a good thing I had this life-saving item, or I might have been sent back to Eggshell Village by now...’

Just moments ago, Jiya had knocked him into an unknown, star-filled space. All of his Fantasy Avatars were destroyed, as if the ability had been forcibly canceled.

An unknown power had pressed in on him from all sides, threatening to crush him with ease.

Fortunately, Wang Yi had already used the [Golden Bell Protective Talisman +5]. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Golden Bell Shield created by this talisman could withstand the full-force attack of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator without shattering.

The unknown power made the Golden Bell Shield ripple and chime, causing it to warp slightly, but it couldn’t break through.

Wang Yi was completely unharmed.

On the contrary, that unknown space soon seemed to lose its power source, starting to fade and collapse.

Wang Yi heard the server-wide announcement. After a brief moment of stunned silence, he decisively spent another 10,000,000 Chaos Energy and summoned his Ultimate Seventh Gear Fantasy Avatar.

The moment the Great Sage Avatars and the hundred thousand Celestial Soldiers appeared, the space collapsed completely, allowing Wang Yi to reemerge.

’So a Starry Sky God’s power level doesn’t even surpass that of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator!’

Wang Yi looked at Jiya without a word. With a point of his finger, the nine Monkey Kings lunged forward, and the hundred thousand Celestial Soldiers once again summoned a magnificent storm of thunder.

What followed was a brutal, one-sided beatdown!

The nine Monkey Kings attacked without pause. A ceaseless barrage of thunderbolts rained down, and the Magical Treasures of the Four Heavenly Kings began to reveal their might.

BOOM! RUMBLE! BOOM!

The very sky seemed on the verge of shattering. Jiya was completely overwhelmed by the endless onslaught, seemingly powerless to fight back or even utter a word.

Three minutes later, it was all over.

Jiya’s figure vanished, her body and soul seemingly annihilated.

At that moment, the system announcements that had enveloped the entire World of Suffering rang out once more.

"Ding! World Announcement: The Eco-source Body, Descender Jiya, the current ultimate BOSS of the World of Suffering, has been slain on the World Line by Sun Wukong! World-clear objective complete!"

"Ding! World Announcement: The current world has lost the supervision of its Source Body. The Jiya ecosystem has completely collapsed, the ecological network has vanished, ecological interconnection is terminated, and the entire world has entered a state of ecological freedom."

"Ding! World Announcement: Attention all Players in World of Suffering #356. This world has been cleared. The world’s story will be preserved. The Chaos Secret Realm has been dispelled. A 24-hour peace period will now begin. During these 24 hours, the ecosystem will recede, and all combat is prohibited."

"Ding! World Announcement: Attention all Players in World of Suffering #356. This world has been cleared. Secret Realm exits will now begin to appear across the world. You may return to your original world through any exit. You must leave this world within 24 hours. After that, the exits will close, and returning will become difficult."

At that moment, inside countless Towers of Suffering, the massive screens went dark. The innumerable spectating Players could no longer see a thing.

"The world... it’s been cleared!"

"Brother Monkey is the strongest, after all!"

"I almost thought Jiya was going to turn it around!"

"A Starry Sky God? Just some minor deity from an Otherworld!"

"Wait, the world’s cleared, so we all have to go back?"

"But the exploration on land has only just begun! The ocean and sky storylines have barely even started."

"I just got to the first level over here, I haven’t even fought an elite mob yet, and Brother Monkey just cleared the whole game! Is this the difference between a Mortal and a god-tier player?"

"So the ten years of exploration time is just gone?"

"Fine by me. What’s the point of starving and suffering here? I’d rather go back to my County Yamen and dote on my three wives!"

Countless Players sighed, each with their own thoughts and feelings on the matter.

In one of the Towers of Suffering, Xue Shentian and Li Mingli shook their heads with wry smiles. They both stood up, bowed to Bai Xianyi, and prepared to lead their soldiers back.

They were frustrated, envious, jealous, and worried, but at this point, there was nothing more to be said.

Bai Xianyi sighed.

Sun Wukong had finally succeeded in flipping the whole table.

’My exploration in this World of Suffering will be cut short, and I probably won’t be able to continue developing my ecological skills.’

’If I’d had ten years to explore, I could have perfected my ecological skills, but that’s impossible now... Sun Wukong killed so many King Incarnations and even defeated Source Body Jiya. He must have some ecological items, but I doubt it will be easy to trade for them...’

Bai Xianyi sighed once more.

In another Tower of Suffering, however, the Iron Sword Slave Xiang Tianchen had a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

Source Body Jiya was gone. The world’s ecology was free, the ecological network had disappeared, and he had actually received a system notification. The Sufferers were free, too! From now on, they had the opportunity to be reincarnated, reborn as an Earth Deity Beast, or to descend permanently.

’I can’t believe Sun Wukong took out the Eco-Dominator. To think we Sufferers would get a chance at redemption because of it! So, the Sufferers were also suppressed by the ecosystem. No, to be precise, the soul itself is part of the ecosystem. The ecosystem is symbiosis, cycles, and evolution!’

Xiang Tianchen made his decision. The opportunity for reincarnation or rebirth as a Divine being was rare. He decided to permanently descend into this Iron Sword Slave.

’From now on, I am the Iron Sword Slave. I can practice Cultivation, I can grow stronger. In the future, I might even evolve into an Iron Sword Immortal, or an even greater being.’

In a certain Tower of Suffering, Ma Changgui decided to wait for reincarnation.

’Why does this World of Suffering feel like the Underworld? In that case, who’s in charge of reincarnation? Where am I supposed to find this opportunity?’

Ma Changgui pondered silently. He just wanted to fight his way back and become a Player again.

At this moment, all the Sufferers scattered across the World of Suffering—people like Lu Hongyan and Duan Hu—had their own ideas. Most were thrilled and began to stir.

Many Sufferers felt a surge of gratitude toward "Sun Wukong," believing he had broken their chains and given them hope for a new life.

In a certain part of the ocean, a realm far vaster and more mysterious than the land, a lone humanoid figure sat cross-legged on the seabed beside a Dark Sea Trench, gazing upward.

’Jiya, where’s that arrogance now? You’re finished this time, aren’t you! I told you to take a step back, let that Sun Wukong have his win, and become an Abyss Gazer with me. But no, you wouldn’t listen. You just had to drag everyone down with you. And look at you now, off to be a Sufferer in some other world! I knew it. With that temper of yours, there was no way you’d survive to see the world’s fourth ecological Evolution! You’re a complete and utter idiot!’

This figure was an "Abyss Gazer," and his name was Luo Ye.

An Abyss Gazer is the husk left behind after a higher-dimensional being breaks through a world and returns to their own dimension.

If the World of Suffering were a video game, an Abyss Gazer would be like an abandoned player character, left behind after its owner beat the game!

Higher-dimensional beings are "higher-dimensional" because, like a gamer controlling a character, they never risk their true selves. They descend into the game by creating an "account," grind mobs to level up, grow stronger, and eventually beat the game.

When they’re done playing, they leave for a new game. The abandoned character becomes an Abyss Gazer, left to face the abyss of suffering. Perhaps one day it will be reactivated to clear this world all over again.

World of Suffering #356 had an Abyss Gazer storyline, and Luo Ye was its sole Abyss Gazer. He dwelled on the ocean floor, far from the continents, and no Player had yet discovered him.

’Can’t underestimate the little Players, but that Sun Wukong... he’s just too strong. Is he really a Player from this era? The most ridiculous part is that he’s a Chaos Lord, and he defeated Jiya without even deploying his troops!’

’It’s not unheard of for Chaos Lords to pursue personal power. Take those few Divine Kings, for example. A Divine King is both a Lord and the strongest fighting force in their domain. But most Chaos Lords still have to rely on their territory...’

’I wonder what Sun Wukong’s domain will become. Will he pursue the path of the Mystic, harness sci-fi, rule over Magic, or dominate ecology? There are too many powerful Chaos Lords out there; I wonder how far he’ll go. If I ever get the chance to meet him, I should definitely try to get on his good side. Maybe he can help me escape this Abyss Gazer status, so I don’t have to be the keeper of this empty shell forever!’

On the World Line, Wang Yi received another system notification: "Congratulations on defeating the Starry Sky God Jiya and clearing the world! You have received this world’s grand prize: one Five-Color Treasure Chest. You are also awarded exclusive travel rights to World of Suffering #356. Calculating..."

"Ding! Total clear time for the current Secret Realm was less than one year. You will enjoy ten years of exclusive travel rights to this world. As a reward, one Tower of Suffering will be bound to you as your exclusive travel structure! The architectural blueprint has been automatically delivered to your Chaos Warehouse. Please check for it."

Along with the system notification, a Five-Color Treasure Chest, wreathed in red, orange, blue, green, and purple light, appeared before Wang Yi.

’A Five-Color Treasure Chest? Is that a higher quality than a red one?’

Wang Yi’s heart skipped a beat.

Taking out Jiya and clearing the world seemed impressive, but it hadn’t come cheap for Wang Yi.

First, he had used his Ultimate Seventh Gear Fantasy Avatar twice, which cost a total of 20,000,000 Chaos Energy.

Then, six rivers and four mountains had been destroyed!

He had also used up a precious [Golden Bell Protective Talisman]!

’After spending so much, these spoils had better be worth it!’

With that thought, Wang Yi raised his arm and summoned the Galaxy Airship.

"The battle’s over. Time to finally relax! Let’s get on the airship and check out the loot!"