Chapter 96 The Truth of Eternal Night "The target of the operation... Long Yuan...
In the first year of the Aura Recovery, late at night on September 21st, the demiplane, the burial place of the gods, the headquarters of the Eternal Night Society.
In the dim secret room, the Phoenix's fingertips rubbed lightly, a spark jumped, and the candle was lit, dispelling the surrounding shadows.
As the candlelight flickered, light was projected onto the mural, revealing an awe-inspiring giant beast.
It spews fire from its mouth, its breath is like smoke, its teeth are as sharp as knives, its body is covered with hard scales, and its belly is lined with spikes, making it very intimidating.
The phoenix stared at the mural with its golden eyes, then turned its head and said softly: "...Leviathan."
"Yes, our old friend." The devil beside him responded with a low laugh, flames dancing in his eyes.
Leviathan is the demon that represents "jealousy", one of the seven deadly sins, and symbolizes endless desire and dissatisfaction.
"It's good to be famous among people. If I hang my portrait, I'm afraid no one will recognize it." The devil with fiery eyes, Hao Ruishi, sighed with a hint of self-mockery.
Horus is the 64th of King Solomon's 72 demons. He is ordered to destroy the enemies of the summoner, but will not be an enemy of other demons.
——This alone makes him an excellent target for flattery, not to mention his other unique habit.
Ning Changkong, who was wearing the appearance of a phoenix, asked concisely: "When will the believers arrive?"
Holtstedt leaned on his scepter and corrected him, "I've said before that I don't like to call them believers. They are just... followers."
The concept of creating a religion is simply too incompatible with the fallen devil.
"Oh," Phoenix paused, "When will your sermon begin?"
The fire in Hao Ruishi's eyes seemed to dim a little: "I already said no - hey, someone is coming."
As the sound of a deep and long bell echoed in the night sky, a group of mysterious figures in black robes and various shapes rushed into the room silently like ghosts.
The passion that was surging within them could not be completely concealed even by the thick black robes.
The fiery-eyed demon touched the ground with his staff, and the candlelight seemed to dim for a moment, as if even the light was afraid of the secret that was about to be revealed.
The surrounding walls dissipated like smoke, revealing the vast sky. In the air, illusions were suspended one after another. They were the link between reality and myth, emitting a soft and sacred light, like a mysterious path leading to the realm of God.
However, in the interweaving of light and shadow in this strange fantasy, there are also some dark shadows with the breath of death floating around, adding a gloomy color to this dreamlike scene.
"Well, it's time to continue telling the story of the past."
The vast Swiss territories can understand the past and present and predict the future.
He will speak to the Summoner of things in the beginning, of the beginning of the Holy Spirit, and of the fall of the gods and the fall of the angels.
September 25, the first year of the Reiki Recovery, at the Tiangong Technology Headquarters.
The early morning sunlight shines through the glass curtain wall and onto the busy corridor.
"Good morning, Mr. Chu."
Chu Qingge walked briskly with her bag, smiling and greeting every colleague she met.
A veteran employee who has worked at Tiangong Technology since its inception asked half-jokingly, "Mr. Chu, when will the new dessert reviews be posted? I don't know what to buy when I'm craving sweets lately."
Chu Qingge slowed down and said with an apologetic smile, "Maybe it will take some time. I just can't spare the time recently."
Miss Bluebird's figure quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor, and behind her, the simple discussions among her colleagues could be heard:
"Is Miss working on new products again? She seems to be busy all of a sudden."
"The last time I encountered this kind of battle was when I was developing the array solving system..."
"Um, the second prototype of the 'Tianheng' hasn't been built yet? Is it because of this?"
"I don't know..."
What could it be? In the office, Chu Qingge placed her hands expressionlessly on the desk. But with the subtle control of her spiritual power, the laptop flew out of the briefcase, and the keyboard began to type rapidly.
For a moment, the only sound in the office was the clacking of keyboards, which sounded like a sign of venting anger.
It’s because I need to record intelligence for someone!
Ning Changkong explained guiltily in the telepathic connection: "I am busy collecting intelligence, and after being missing for a week, I still have to do some make-up work..."
"..." Chu Qingge responded with silence.
It was missing for a week without being discovered. It was obvious that Baril was very confident in his brainwashing ability and did not put the Phoenix under full surveillance.
Ning Changkong added tentatively: "Well, as you know, the demiplane is not connected to the Internet..."
Chu Qingge was heartbroken: "Excuses, all excuses."
Baril probably also knew the nature of the artificial intelligence of the Phoenix and did not assign too many routine tasks to Phoenix.
Phoenix, on the other hand, is more likely to get first-hand information because he is known to be Baril's confidant.
Chu Qingge pressed the Enter key and sighed, with a hint of helplessness in his tone: "The action plan for the next large-scale cultivator riot has been sent to the mailboxes of the self-defense organizations in the corresponding areas. I hope it will be useful."
Again, not all countries and regions have a rich reserve of practitioners like China, and are able to organize effective violent agencies to maintain order against practitioners.
It is precisely these vulnerable links that are easily targeted by organizations like the Evernight Society.
Ning Changkong couldn't help but sigh: "Just stopping some large-scale incidents planned by the Evernight Society intermittently is only a temporary solution. We must think of a way... It would be best if we could wipe out this gang of demons in one fell swoop."
Hunting down demons one by one is not a good idea either... planning actions and creating opportunities are too cumbersome and can easily arouse suspicion. Is there a more efficient way? Ning Changkong fell into deep thought.
Chu Qingge calmly analyzed: "First of all, we still need to figure out their purpose."
"At this point, I think it's pretty clear what they want." Ning Changkong sighed:
"--Confused."
The birth of the title "Solomon's Seventy-two Demons" signifies that these seventy-two demons have signed a contract with King Solomon.
In the Devil's Contract, humans use the power of demons to achieve impossible or extremely difficult goals in order to satisfy their own desires.
The devil uses these transactions to try to lead humans to depravity and evil, and ultimately demands humans' souls and lives as rewards after the transactions are completed.
"Maybe they are a bit like us?" Ning Changkong said jokingly, "Don't fast travelers also fulfill the wishes of the original owner, and then take the original owner's soul or some other power as a reward?"
It's just that we didn't lure them into the evil path. As the second party, their principle is to fully respect and realize the wishes of customers.
"But here, actively creating wishes is against the rules and will be punished," Chu Qingge commented.
She went on to analyze: "As of now, the most direct reason why those unorganized and undisciplined demons gathered together to form an organization like the Evernight Society is to increase their business volume - they hope that more people will make wishes to them."
Ning Changkong pondered and continued: "To do this, they need chaos."
His body was currently in Phoenix's bedroom—or more precisely, in the waiting room. He sat on the bed, rubbing his fingertips together, the evil spirit dancing on his fingertips.
Phoenix said that Feng Qingwu used his heart as raw material, divided it into two halves, and made two keys.
One of the keys is used to connect and control the machine that extracts spiritual energy [Tianluo], and can control energy [Tianshu] - or the predecessor of evil spirits. This key was taken away from the Kiriyama illusion by Phoenix himself under the instruction of Baril.
The other key carries a backup of the phoenix's spiritual power, which has the power to dispel evil spirits. This may be because Feng Qingwu personally designed [Eclipse], so his spiritual power has this unique effect.
Baril, who hopes to create chaos with evil energy, obviously wants the Phoenix spiritual power to disappear from this moment, so that the evil energy can become a perfect energy that cannot be eliminated. So he ordered Phoenix to take only the specific key, intending to let the other key disappear with the Kiriyama illusion.
Unexpectedly, due to a series of coincidences, the key actually came to Ning Changkong. Now, with both keys, Ning Changkong can freely control and eliminate evil spirits.
He stared at the evil aura lingering around his fingertips, carefully distinguishing the original structure of [Eclipse] designed by Feng Qingwu, as well as the evil aura that was artificially added to confuse the mind.
The most notable feature of the modified version of evil is that it can arouse people's deepest desires - those desires that are suppressed by reason and social norms.
Just like when Su Yunyao attacked Yan Xiaoling, he forgot Lao Shizi's "Practitioner's Covenant", forgot the mutual benefit between humans and demons, forgot his parents' teachings, and forgot the original intention of cultivation...
Just simply following the bloodthirsty desire in my blood.
If Chiyou's ambition was to use evil spirits to intensify conflicts between practitioners and ordinary people, disrupt the existing order, and use this as a springboard to build a new social order, then the demons' plot was more direct - they wanted human desires to be infinitely magnified and openly exposed in broad daylight.
Ning Changkong couldn't help but complain: "What a straightforward villain. If only his strength was also that straightforward."
Solomon's seventy-two demons are just the tip of the iceberg. Once the war officially begins, there will be countless people who want to wade into the water - isn't there a legend that "demons are as numerous as gravel"?
Even if we only count the famous demons, there are demon lords like Leviathan and Beelzebub who are not included in Solomon's 72 Demon Gods... Ning Changkong gets a headache just thinking about it.
At the beginning, Ning Changkong's understanding of the word "eternal night" was very simple:
After the dusk of the gods, came the eternal night of mankind.
Gods can no longer intervene in the struggles among humans. Humans are like children who have lost their protection and must grope their way forward in the dark wilderness alone.
Now that I think about it, there might be another explanation.
Ning Changkong couldn't help but think of Leviathan
What was human society like before the establishment of nations, or any form of tribe?
Humans live like animals, without any moral constraints other than blood ties. Due to the selfishness in human nature, this state leads to hostility and war between people.
In order to escape this state, for their own safety and peaceful life, people choose to give up part of their natural rights and jointly designate an individual or a group to represent their collective personality.
A group of people united in a single personality is called a "state," and from this the great "Leviathan" was born.
Leviathan is able to exert its intimidation through the power and strength given to it by everyone in this country. Domestically, it can maintain order and ensure stability; internationally, it can unite forces to resist foreign enemies.
——That is, under the eternal God, the "God" on earth was born, and it is in charge of our peace and security. [1]
"State", this man-made god, created order, ushered in the dawn of mankind, and ended the chaos and war in the natural state.
So the devil's intention... is to "bring back the eternal night", or to "return to the eternal night".
Return to the eternal night of ignorance before the establishment of order, the natural state without order and full of struggle.
In this age where the strong prey on the weak and the stronger are right, human beings fight each other without any bottom line, venting their inner desires without restraint, and their selfish desires expand infinitely.
So inflated that he even resorted to the power of the devil.
Even in this modern age, it is more suitable for the devil than the primitive society of ancient times, because human desires have become unprecedentedly rich and complex.
Primitive people who lived a hunting life had no wish other than to have enough food and clothing, while modern people's desires are varied, from wealth, power to fame, love... providing the devil with more opportunities for transactions.
Ning Changkong sighed in his heart.
His expression was precisely controlled, without any fluctuations, but his body was tense due to tension and stress, and every breath required extra effort to maintain stability.
Chu Qingge said softly: "You are a little nervous."
"It would be strange if I wasn't nervous. Every day feels like a stolen day now." Ning Changkong replied in a desolate tone, with a hint of anxiety in his voice, "I'm just afraid that Baril will come looking for me now."
Baril hasn't contacted the Phoenix for a whole week. This gap is too long, making Ning Changkong, the fake Phoenix, extremely nervous.
Right at the door of Phoenix's bedroom, the light that had been extinguished was suddenly lit up by black flames. Ning Changkong was very familiar with this signal - Phoenix had already told him what it meant.
Speak of the devil and he will appear.
Ning Changkong resisted the urge to jump up from the bed. He tried to keep a steady pace as much as possible and walked to the door.
Baril is going to give him a task.
On that day, the headquarters of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Bureau.
The intelligence officer in charge of the public reporting mailbox poked his head at the door of Chi Zhaoming's office and said excitedly, "Director, there is new intelligence."
Chi Zhaoming raised his eyes from the documents and motioned for the other party to enter the office: "Is it still the mysterious informant?"
The intelligence department member nodded: "Yes, this time there were no traces left behind."
Recently, a mysterious informant provided key intelligence, helping the Bureau of Special Affairs to successfully destroy an important base of the Eternal Night Society in China.
The other party's intelligence was extremely detailed, but no identity information was left, making it difficult for other departments to express their gratitude.
"Let me see." Chi Zhaoming stretched out his hand and took the printed email from the other party. His eyes quickly scanned the paper and read ten lines at a glance.
As he read deeper, his brows gradually wrinkled. Chi Zhaoming read the eye-catching words in astonishment:
"The target of the operation is... the Treasure House of Longyuan Academy?"