After that, there's really nothing much to say.

When the sun rose again, Duanmu Huai had already descended the mountain back to the small town and met with Shajuye. The latter was obviously terrified by the dreadful earthquake and even wanted to go back up the mountain to find Duanmu Huai. Fortunately, Duanmu Huai returned in time to calm Shajuye.

As for others asking what happened on the mountain, Duanmu Huai said he didn't know. He was just planning to go into a cave to check things out, but then suddenly the earthquake happened, and he ran all the way back.

No one questioned this, after all, the earthquake was so strong that the situation on the mountain must have been worse. The fact that Duanmu Huai survived and returned was considered lucky, and the rest they weren't particularly concerned about.

Duanmu Huai wasn't worried about being exposed either, even though there were traces of his battle with the Burrowing Demon Worm all over the place. But so what? The main culprit had completely dissolved, not even leaving behind a single hair. And those traces could easily be blamed on the earthquake, as no one would generally think otherwise, right?

What if someone found out?

That's a joke—could mortals even understand the confrontation between two mythical creatures? Better just label them as crazy without explanation.

From there, it was simple. The outside world naturally discovered the situation here, quickly cleared the roads, and started transporting supplies and post-disaster reconstruction—of course, this had nothing to do with Duanmu Huai and the others. After clearing the roads, Duanmu Huai drove with Shajuye away from there and back to their residence.

This trip had left Shajuye physically and mentally exhausted, and upon returning home, she went straight to her room to rest, while Duanmu Huai went back to his room, closed his eyes, and began to reflect.

To be honest, if Duanmu Huai were to evaluate himself, he'd say he didn't do well this time.

But Duanmu Huai also felt aggrieved, because if you look into the matter, the cause wasn't really him.

Duanmu Huai, as The Ancient Dominator, only mastered a few abilities: reading the past acquired in the World of Mary, shadow copying and control from the Ancient Dominator devoured on Hidari Island, and then there were the unique tentacles and spiritual pollution of the Old Days, along with Thousand Roars, Thousand Eyes, and Thousand Whiskers gained from devouring C'Thun, etc., in Azeroth.

Among these abilities, Duanmu Huai used Shadow Copy more, as it could directly read others' information and memories. The others, Duanmu Huai basically used casually. So from this perspective, Duanmu Huai wasn't exactly a competent Ancient Dominator.

But he never planned to be!

If that idiot Magnus hadn't slid in by himself, Duanmu Huai's Profession of the Old Days wouldn't have triggered enhanced trials!

Further proof that the red-skinned, one-eyed Oga is just a useless fool.

That one's always been like this anyway.

By the way, being an enhanced trial naturally has its perks. In fact, after defeating the Burrowing Demon Worm, Duanmu Huai received a prompt, gaining an Ancient Essence. Duanmu Huai had three choices regarding how to use this Ancient Essence.

One option was to use the Ancient Essence to enhance his existing Old Day abilities, like Thousand Roars, Thousand Eyes, or Shadows, etc.

Another option was to absorb the Ancient Essence to gain its powers. Since Duanmu Huai defeated the Burrowing Demon Worm this time, if he absorbed this Ancient Essence, he could gain the ability to burrow and cause earthquakes like the worm.

The final option was to sacrifice the Ancient Essence to learn a skill and increase its value to the maximum. It would also add a background item.

These skills are mostly Investigator skills, like stealth, lockpicking, anthropology, and so on.

But what excited Duanmu Huai the most was seeing Charm in there, with a value that could increase to 95%!

Ah, if this were another world, Duanmu Huai would definitely be over the moon, Charm, wouldn't that surely mean he's a handsome guy? The kind women can't take their eyes off? Wouldn't that be thrilling?

However... damn, this is a world of Evil Gods!

Especially with his enhancement still being a Divine Position of the Old Days, this "Charm" raises questions.

What exactly are you charming?

So, system, what do you mean by this? My 3 points of Charm Value can only add up to an unspeakable charm, huh?

Are you charming your damn self? Is this charm or brainwashing?

Duanmu Huai recalled a similar mission he had encountered in the game, where a husband suspected his wife of cheating and hired players to investigate. The player followed and discovered she indeed cheated because she was charmed by Nyar, and the two got involved. But when the player rushed in to catch them, all they saw was the woman holding a wriggling, indescribable big white worm with a fascinated look...

So, was the woman charmed?

She was charmed.

Charmed, right?

Charmed.

But is it desirable?

Let's just... think about it some more.

Duanmu Huai felt he wasn't as shameless as Nyar, at least he had to make some effort and couldn't let himself sink to the level of a big white worm!

After all, the "Charm" of the Old Day Evil Gods was generally such indescribable brainwashing stuff. Duanmu Huai felt he didn't need to stoop to the level of these monsters with faces like shoehorns.

Sadly, if you take out Charm, there aren't many with value boosts over 90. Skills like Combat and Melee Weapons already have Duanmu Huai at a hundred percent, so they don't need any boosts.

As for that "Prosthesis Striking"... let's pretend we didn't see it.

Actually, Duanmu Huai originally wanted to use this opportunity to enhance his Shooting Technique, but perhaps because these skills are based on his original values, even using Ancient Essence the Shooting Skill only adds 10, which is a waste.

With Duanmu Huai's Shooting Technique, this 10 makes no difference, you know.

Similarly, scientific skills like Anthropology, Archaeology, and Astronomy were also abandoned by Duanmu Huai, with boosts not even reaching 20.

Statement beforehand, he's just too lazy to think!

Duanmu Huai looked around, and there were only a few skills that could boost his skill value to over 90.

One is [Animal Taming], which can be increased to 90, used for taming animals — hm, as for whether those animals are obedient because they like him or fear him, Duanmu Huai doesn't even bother to think about it.

Next is [Photography], perhaps because Duanmu Huai's background setting this time includes photography, so his initial photography skill is 60, plus a 30-point bonus to reach 90. But this skill, in Duanmu Huai's eyes, is basically useless, unless, maybe, it could be... used for sneaky photo stealing?

But he has a Thousand Eyes, isn't it more convenient to look at whatever he wants directly?

In interaction skills, Duanmu Huai's [Persuasion] and [Speechcraft] are all at 0, while [Intimidation] is 100, no need to add at all. [Charm] offers a 95-point bonus, but out of pride, Duanmu Huai decisively gave it up.

After all, whether this charm is proper or not is hard to say.

Scientific skill bonuses are too low, so he gave them all up.

Apart from photography, the other art-related skills also have nothing to do with him, with bonuses below 20, can be abandoned.

The third skill that can reach 90 is [Demolition], probably because Duanmu Huai likes to play around with thermite bombs the most... although he just cares about the explosion and not the burying...

[Driving] could have been a good skill, but unfortunately, due to Duanmu Huai's physique, he can't drive most vehicles, like yachts and helicopters; it's lucky if he can even squeeze in, let alone drive?

As for [Lockpicking], in Duanmu Huai's view, it's even more of an unnecessary skill. What's the point of picking locks when there's no door in front of him that can't be hammered open? Time spent on lockpicking would be better spent blowing it up directly!

Then there's [Hypnosis]... hmm, like [Charm], this [Hypnosis]... okay, don't need to think, it's definitely not proper, after all, hypnosis and brainwashing are standard features of the Evil God.

Duanmu Huai has also appreciated many works in this field, like "Mind Control Technique""Hypnotic Garden""Hypnosis Game""After Class Hypnosis Club""Lady Commander's Hypnosis", etc...etc...

Hmm... should I choose it?

For a moment, Duanmu Huai really wanted to click it, but fortunately, he held back.

Sigh... almost fell for it, this must be an Evil God's temptation.

...No, I'm the Evil God, aren't I?

Then there's no problem.

Duanmu Huai hesitated for a long time between [Demolition] and [Hypnosis], and eventually chose [Demolition], after all, this was one of the few little hobbies he had since crossing over; watching everything turn to dust in explosions was truly delightful, especially considering the exploding targets were often cultists or Evil Gods, that made it even more satisfying.

Moreover, in Duanmu Huai's judgment, if in doubt, blowing it up is never wrong.

[Old God Essence Sacrificed, Explosion Skills Increased to 95]

As the system message flashed by, the next moment Duanmu Huai felt a surge of knowledge in his mind, including how to assemble, disassemble, make bombs, and ratios, ingredients, and wiring, etc. It seemed that these were the benefits the system brought to him. If it were scientific knowledge, it would probably be the same — although Duanmu Huai didn't regret it. The reason is simple, he doesn't like to think in the first place, so even if he learned it, he might not use it.

It's like everyone learns geometry, but unless necessary, who uses it?

Duanmu Huai is even less likely to do so.

So even if he's given knowledge of anthropology or archaeology, Duanmu Huai wouldn't use it, and over time, it would be like college students tutoring elementary students in math, completely forgotten.

Those are more suited for Mary, although Duanmu Huai can't see Mary's panel, he feels Mary's archaeology skill should be above 90... though mentioning this now is pointless anyway.

On the contrary, this skill that can blow anything up at any time is truly useful for Duanmu Huai.

After all, if in doubt, just blow it up.

After Duanmu Huai made his choice, the next system prompt quickly appeared.

[Please Select Background Reward]

[A: Good Luck in Business (Your photo studio has been renovated and will open soon)]

[B: Fame Rising (The heroic deeds of you and your sister have spread, attracting attention from interested parties)]

Photo studio... hmm...

Duanmu Huai did want to open a photo studio, after all, he heard stories about photographers and photo studios that couldn't be ignored, but unfortunately, considering his current state, whether it's for proper or improper photography, no one would likely hire him.

So... Duanmu Huai silently chose B.

Next, let's see which rabbit comes to the door.

After finishing, Duanmu Huai stood up and stretched, walked to the window, and looked out at the scenery. This trial is completely different from Journey to the West. Maybe it's because of the Divine Position, as the God of Destruction, naturally, destruction is the main task, simple and straightforward. But the Old Days aren't that simple, Duanmu Huai isn't sure when his journey in this world will end. After all, in Journey to the West, everyone knows as long as you get the scriptures, it's considered a pass, the means don't matter.

But here...

Forget it, let's see how it unfolds.

Duanmu Huai shook his head and yawned again.

Let's rest for now, then see what comes next.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.