Chapter 37: The Descent of Divine Favor

"A Sacrificial Artifact?!"

The two enforcers beside him stared in shock at the sight.

As the finger bone was exposed, an inexplicable, stifling heat spread through the house and yard. The swirling snow was blocked outside the courtyard, as if an invisible domain had been erected.

Qian Fan gripped the finger bone, his eyes flashing with murderous intent as he watched the red-clad figure wreaking havoc in the distance.

He had bought this Sacrificial Artifact two years ago at a black market in District 5, spending most of his savings. It was said to come from the corpse of an Enforcer contaminated by the Gray Realm. For years, it had been his trump card for survival, one he had never dared to use.

But this time, he had no choice.

"Catch him for me!!" Qian Fan roared, driving the finger bone into his own palm.

As blood flowed onto the bone, it seemed to come alive, ravenously devouring Qian Fan’s flesh. At the same time, a shadow flickered across the surface of the bone.

In the courtyard, the snow-covered ground suddenly began to tremble!

Chen Ling’s vision blurred. The snow beneath his feet suddenly exploded, and a pale, jagged spike resembling a giant’s rib shot out from the ground, piercing his shoulder like lightning!

Even though Chen Ling had vaguely tracked the trajectory of the rib, its appearance was too sudden to react in time. In desperation, he instinctively twisted his body to avoid a fatal blow.

The agonizing pain of flesh being pierced radiated from his shoulder, stalling his movements. Immediately after, a second and third rib erupted from the ground!

With his body already pinned by the first rib, Chen Ling had almost no room to dodge. He could only barely shift his body to graze past the ribs, but this left him with less and less space to move.

As the fifth rib appeared, Chen Ling was completely locked in place, like a prisoner trapped in a cage of bones, unable to move.

"What is this thing..." Chen Ling looked at the finger bone in Qian Fan’s hand, his expression grim.

As his flesh was continuously devoured by the bone, Qian Fan’s frame shrank by half, making him look like a malnourished scavenger. But as the ribs stopped appearing, his body stopped wasting away.

Seeing this, Qian Fan pulled the bone from his body, trembling as he stuffed it back into the oil paper, a smile playing on his pale lips.

Judging by the effect, the money was well spent... This was destructive power equivalent to the second stage of a Divine Path.

Seeing Qian Fan subdue Chen Ling so easily, the other two enforcers were secretly awestruck. Under their worshipful and fearful gazes, Qian Fan slowly moved into the courtyard.

"How about that?" Qian Fan sneered. "Was the killing fun just now?"

Corpses lay scattered across the snow in the courtyard, their blood staining the ground a dark red...

Chen Ling, trapped in the bone cage, looked coldly at Qian Fan, his eerie, blood-stained face showing no trace of emotion.

"Is obtaining [Divine Favor] something to be proud of?"

"Even if you’re a quasi-Enforcer, didn't you end up in my hands in the end?"

"Kid, I don't care what grudge you have with Ice Spring Street, you’re dead... Do you have any idea how many people’s interests you’ve harmed?"

Qian Fan slowly drew his gun, the black muzzle aimed at Chen Ling’s forehead. As he spoke, his gaunt face was filled with malice.

"Oh no, we can't let him kill Chen Ling."

Seeing this, the shadowed man watching from outside the courtyard darkened his expression and prepared to intervene.

"Wait." Chu Muyun spoke suddenly. Beneath his lenses, his eyes flickered with a strange light. "Something isn't right..."

The shadowed man paused. "What do you mean?"

Inside the courtyard.

With the muzzle pointed at his head, Chen Ling remained unmoved, his eyes as calm as an abyss.

Just as Qian Fan was about to pull the trigger, two stars in the firmament suddenly shone brilliantly. A magnificent, vast divine light, like a giant pillar descending from heaven, shattered the curtain of snow and enveloped Chen Ling within the bone cage!

Boom—!!

The surging aura of the Divine Path swept out in ripples through the void, forcibly pushing Qian Fan back several steps until he stumbled to the ground.

He stared in disbelief at the two divine pillars descending from the sky, his eyes filled with shock!

"[Divine Favor]?! How is this possible?? Hasn't he already received [Divine Favor]?!"

"The black one is the 'Path of the War God', and the purple one is... the 'Path of the Witch God'?" The other two enforcers were equally stunned.

"Being offered an olive branch by two Divine Paths at once—what kind of monster is this kid?"

Under their stunned gazes, the blood-covered Chen Ling looked up slightly at the two stars extending ribbon-like divine radiance above him, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes...

He had already prepared himself to die once more. After all, his [Expectation Value] was high enough that even if he died, he would likely resurrect directly... But he never expected to trigger [Divine Favor].

And two of them, at that.

Come to think of it, when he killed the bone-blade user earlier, he did have a strange feeling—not joy or disgust, but a sense that... he was born to do this.

According to what Chu Muyun said earlier, this was his first time killing, and he had triggered the favor of the "Path of the War God," making him a peerless genius of that path.

But Chen Ling didn't understand: what was that second, purple star?

Just as Chen Ling was puzzled, a third star slowly lit up in the firmament!

It was a vermilion star, dotting the sky, shimmering like translucent glass. Ribbon-like divine radiance pierced through the void, joining the other two paths to envelop Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was stunned.

"Another Divine Path??"

"Three Divine Paths descending at once—how is this possible?!"

"Wait, which Divine Path does this star represent? I feel like I've never seen it before..."

The three men were completely bewildered.

Meanwhile, the two people outside the courtyard were equally taken aback.

"The color of cinnabar, the shape of glass... there’s no mistake, this is the 'Path of the Playwright'." The shadowed man mused.

"'Path of the Playwright'? That’s extremely rare." Chu Muyun frowned slightly. "But what connection does he have with the 'Path of the Playwright'?"

"Is he very good at acting, or singing opera?"

"As far as I know, no... but the younger brother he hallucinates is."

"Three Divine Paths descending at once—in normal times, he would be a top-tier genius. Unfortunately..." The shadowed man shook his head. "Unfortunately, he’s an Assimilator, destined never to walk the Divine Path."

"With three Divine Paths appearing simultaneously, someone in Aurora City must have noticed. They will definitely send people over."

"No need to wait for Aurora City..."

The shadowed man slowly turned his head to look in a certain direction in the wind and snow. "An Enforcer has been approaching this place, and he’s almost here."

"We can't let him interrupt this. I’ll go stop him." Chu Muyun turned to head that way.

"No need."

"Why?"

"...Someone is already stopping him."