Chapter 158: Borrowing One More Minute from Heaven

The Artist possessed a Killing Rule within its body: if it heard someone call its name, it would fly over and kill them.

If this were a standalone rule, it would be quite sinister. Impossible to guard against.

The problem was that the Artist's true body was currently locked in a fierce battle with a ghost hunter outside. It was just one step away, a hair's breadth from killing Xia Country's strongest ghost hunter, Old Man Sun.

Hearing someone call its name at a time like this... if it were Xu Yuan, or anyone from the Ghost Cave with half a brain, they naturally wouldn't pay it any mind.

At the very least, they would ensure Old Man Sun was dead before flying into the Mirror World to kill the living person who called out.

But this was the Artist's bug. Its tens of thousands of brains lacked any concept of priority. Every Killing Rule, once triggered, would absolutely activate. It didn't consider sequence or timing.

Standing in the Mirror World, Gao Tian finished shouting. He had no idea if the Artist would actually fly in.

Given Xu Yuan's intelligence, it was highly likely he had already patched this bug.

But it was also possible he hadn't. The Artist bore far too many Killing Rules—tens of thousands of them—and it constantly devoured new Fierce Ghosts every day. There was definitely more than just one bug.

If Xu Yuan had to check them one by one, he probably wouldn't finish fixing them before the end of the world.

Now, standing in the Mirror World, Gao Tian was terrified that the Artist wouldn't come in, but he was even more terrified that it would.

Long before he called out, Gao Tian had already released all of his Ghost Luck, firing on all cylinders.

The world outside the Mirror quieted down for a moment.

Rumble, rumble.

Throughout the Mirror World, the long white path stretching into the distance began to tremble slightly.

Gao Tian looked up. At the far end of the path, the severed head of a middle-aged man slowly materialized.

It hovered unsupported in midair.

Then came a second, a third, a fourth. They piled up one by one, forming the shape of a pyramid.

In the blink of an eye, the number of heads completely exploded, spiraling out of control. They multiplied like a torrential downpour. Slowly, the terrifying, mountain-like monster from outside completely manifested within the Mirror World.

Only by standing at its feet could one truly comprehend just how massive this entity was. Countless tens of thousands of heads were stacked together, forming its head, torso, and limbs. Every single head seemed to still be alive, wearing distinct expressions as their collective gaze shifted down to Gao Tian.

It was a sanity-shattering sight. Gao Tian had no doubt that if an ordinary person laid eyes on this thing, their mind would instantly snap and they would go completely mad.

It worked.

The Artist really had been forcibly dragged into the Mirror World by this superfluous rule.

This also trapped them in a battle to the death. After having its name called, the Artist couldn't leave until it killed him.

Gao Tian's mission was to survive for one minute. He had to buy Old Man Sun one minute of one-on-one time.

Just in case only a clone had entered, Gao Tian checked outside the Mirror from the corner of his eye. Only when he confirmed that the terrifying, mountainous figure had vanished from the blood-soaked plaza in Shanghai City did he relax.

He had truly succeeded. He had pulled the actively fighting Artist right into the Mirror World.

He had done everything he possibly could. He did what was in his power, and he pushed himself to do what wasn't. For a high schooler who had only been dealing with supernatural events for a few months, he was completely burned out.

If Old Man Sun still couldn't beat Xu Yuan in a one-on-one fight, that was entirely on him.

Turning his head to look at the violent, terrifying behemoth before him, Gao Tian knew that pulling the Artist in was only the first step. His true trial had just begun.

He had to hold out for a minute. Just one minute. Less than three seconds had passed so far—why the fuck was time moving so slowly?

It was highly likely that Xu Yuan had left this bug unpatched on purpose. In all of Shanghai City, apart from Old Man Sun, anyone else who dared summon the Artist wouldn't even last five seconds before being slaughtered.

The end result would be exactly the same.

Every second delayed was a second earned. If he really couldn't hold on, he would activate the Black Card and flee back to the Living Apartment.

But if he did that, the Artist would likely lose its aggro target and return to the battlefield to kill Old Man Sun.

Didn't that mean he could retreat to the Living Apartment and just stand right at the edge of the doorframe?

Step out, shout the Artist's name.

Once it was summoned, step back into the Living Apartment to reset its aggro.

Then, just as the Artist turned to head back to the battlefield, he could take another step out the apartment door and shout its name again.

He could kite the thing back and forth like he was walking a dog.

For the first time, Gao Tian realized he was actually pretty smart.

How had he and Old Man Sun discussed this for so long without coming up with such a clever method? Perhaps when a person was on the brink of death and their life flashed before their eyes, their brain worked several times faster than usual.

However, he wasn't sure if this bizarre tactic would actually work. If he messed up and failed to hold its aggro, Old Man Sun out there would be completely screwed.

It was safer to remain in the Mirror World himself, using his own physical body to firmly hold the creature's aggro. He couldn't let it go back.

With a mere thought, Gao Tian directly activated his fishing hook ability. Eight gleaming hooks appeared in the darkness, floating toward the Multi-Headed Ghost's massive body.

The Fishing Ghost's abilities could be used in the Mirror World just the same.

Of course, Gao Tian wasn't naive enough to believe that a mere Fishing Ghost could take down the true King of All Ghosts standing before him.

At the same time, he directly opened the Urn containing the Woman in the Rain. He released the Woman in the Rain that had been imprisoned at the entrance of the Living Apartment.

Once the Woman in the Rain was free to move, she would inevitably start claiming people and ghosts alike, refusing no one. And between the Artist and himself, the Woman in the Rain would definitely target the Artist first.

The reason was simple: his Ghost Luck was invincible. Every situation would absolutely develop in the direction most favorable to him.

Thus, after releasing the Woman in the Rain, Gao Tian's second Urn was emptied as well.

He now had one more item capable of imprisoning the Artist.

He wasn't sure if the Urn could forcibly drag the Artist into its game. He decided to hold onto it for now, keeping it as a trump card to catch the entity off guard.

Almost simultaneously, he rolled the Supernatural Die again. Two of its good-luck faces had already shattered, leaving only one final effect beneficial to its master—

Rolling a 6 meant absolute immortality for a single day.

This was Gao Tian's ultimate and greatest trump card, the very reason he dared to accept this mission.

He wouldn't die. It was that simple. No matter how many times the Artist killed him, as long as he held on tightly, he could survive this minute.

The die fell to the ground, the face with the 6 resting steadily facing up.

This was an inevitable outcome. No matter how many times Gao Tian rolled in another parallel universe, he would always roll the exact number he wanted.

After granting its blessing, the Supernatural Die's third face thoroughly shattered as well. It was now completely useless, a discarded prop.

Having gained an immortal body for a day, Gao Tian didn't stop for a moment. He immediately drew the Terror Blade. This time, the sacrifice he chose for the blade was—himself.

And because of his immortal state, the moment his flesh and blood burst apart, they were forcibly shoved back together by an invisible force.

The violent, tearing agony of this process was horrifyingly unbearable. Gao Tian gritted his teeth hard, but it didn't matter. As long as the combo was achieved, that was enough.

He could activate the Terror Blade without needing to sacrifice anyone else. It meant the blade effectively had no cooldown.

Gao Tian had realized something early on.

The Terror Blade's "dismemberment" effect was incredibly pronounced against stitched-together, composite ghosts like conjoined twins and the Multi-Headed Ghost. The damage it dealt to them was vastly greater than to other ghosts.

It was possible this blade had been specifically designed to counter abominations like them.

Once the charge was complete, Gao Tian raised the red-hot Terror Blade, aimed at the distant Artist, and unleashed a slash.

When the massive wave of blade energy struck the Artist's mountainous body, it was like tossing a small pebble into a lake.

Dozens of heads screamed as they sprayed wild torrents of blood. Swept by the Terror Blade's energy, they fell directly off the Artist's body, plummeting into the endless dark abyss beneath the long white path, lost to the emptiness of the Mirror World.

Their voices grew fainter and fainter until they vanished entirely. Who knew where they went.

Going ruthless, Gao Tian sacrificed himself to the blade again and unleashed another slash, severing dozens more heads from the Artist's body.

This wasn't going to work. The thing's health pool was far too massive. If he kept slashing like this, who knew how many years it would take to chop off all tens of thousands of its heads.

It seemed he could only rely on the Woman in the Rain, the Fishing Ghost, and the Urn.

Then, a bizarre scene unfolded.

After being dragged into the Mirror World, the Artist looked as though it were contemplating the meaning of life. Its tens of thousands of heads simply stood quietly on the long white path. It allowed Gao Tian to chip away at its health blade by blade with minimal reaction. It didn't take any defensive posture, nor did it strike out to attack him.

A few thousand heads on its body did seem to sense something, glaring at Gao Tian with seething resentment. But the vast majority of the heads just stared off into the distant void of the Mirror World, paying the tiny human no mind.

This wasn't right. Didn't the Artist have a Killing Rule that allowed it to sense malice?

Why was it taking so long to attack him?

Gao Tian didn't know what this meant. He could only chalk it up to the Ghost Luck hovering over his head taking effect.

Excellent. Another fifteen seconds successfully wasted. Even though the Terror Blade couldn't deal much damage to the Artist, Old Man Sun never expected him to kill it in the first place.

At this rate, he just needed to keep things steady.

The Woman in the Rain, having been released from the Urn, held up her wide White Umbrella. Just as expected, she didn't so much as glance at Gao Tian. Following the long white path, she walked straight toward the Artist without looking back and offered it an umbrella.

These two S-Level Fierce Ghosts were about to slaughter each other. This Woman in the Rain would definitely give the Artist a run for its money.

The Fishing Ghost's hooks seemed utterly incapable of reeling in a massive mountain of flesh like the Artist. They merely circled it, randomly snagged a few heads, and yanked them away from its body.

Its efficiency at depleting the Artist's head count was even worse than the Terror Blade.

Right at that moment, the Artist standing in the distance seemed to be provoked by the Woman in the Rain's actions. It began to move.