Chapter 883: Lifting the Curse

This single green dragon pearl, as tall as a man and perhaps freshly excavated from the suanni's body, emitted an energy field spanning dozens of miles—several times stronger than that of any other marvel.

With just this one item, Li Yi could forge another immortal warship.

After stowing it inside the Crimson Gold Five-Element Bracelet, his gaze turned deeper into this strange land, searching for signs of other mythic beasts, for once, when he had appeared here, he had seen a true dragon roaming the nine heavens, its aura surpassing even that of a demon king.

Now another suanni had emerged.

Clearly, this place was far from simple—perhaps its depths connected to some unknown and terrifying world.

"It seems my luck has run out for today."

After observing for a moment, Li Yi finally withdrew his gaze; he had hoped to hunt a second mythic beast, but such things were rare and unpredictable, and he sensed no others.

"Continue your cultivation—ignore me. I also need to consolidate my cultivation base. If any danger arises, notify me—I can handle it if I'm nearby."

He then spoke to the other cultivators training in this place.

"Thank you."

Everyone immediately expressed heartfelt gratitude to Li Yi—had he not slain the suanni, all of them would have been in peril, not to mention that he had later given each of them a large portion of its meat.

Li Yi nodded slightly, then stepped onto auspicious clouds and returned to his previous cultivation spot.

His primordial spirit flower had only just bloomed; his cultivation base was still unstable—he needed to stay at least a few more days.

Soon.

Li Yi reentered the area enveloped by temporal power. As he felt time flow, his magic power and blood qi rapidly depleted, yet correspondingly, his newly bloomed primordial spirit flower grew even more luminous, gradually shifting from ethereal to tangible.

Fortunately, he had hunted a suanni and regained his strength; after eating several pieces of meat, Li Yi even felt his physical strength had slightly increased.

"True dragon bloodline power?" he mused inwardly.

Too bad he couldn't hunt a true dragon—if he bathed in dragon blood, his body might undergo a transformation.

Soon, several days passed.

Li Yi's primordial spirit flower was now fully stabilized, and his strength had steadily improved; yet he did not continue to seclude himself, for next he intended to bloom his magic power flower and life flower.

These two Dao flowers could not be refined merely through time—they required opportunity.

Thus, Li Yi left this strange land, ending this phase of cultivation, and stepped once more onto auspicious clouds as he returned to Tianchang City.

Though only a few months had passed, he could already see many areas rebuilding cities—rapidly and efficiently, aided by the power of cultivators and technology.

Raising an entire city from nothing was no longer difficult.

"Many cultivators have returned; Tianchang City is far livelier than before. Clearly, great changes have occurred here during my cultivation." Li Yi scanned the city.

He then flew toward the Dao Mountain beyond the city.

Once a danger zone, it had now been transformed by a group of high-level Daoists into a celestial paradise, with all dangers cleared within hundreds of kilometers.

Moreover, many evolutionists came here to seek masters, hoping to study Daoist arts.

These cultivators from the End-Dharma Dao world sought to rebuild sects and continue their lineage, and naturally, they would select disciples wisely.

Li Yi did not oppose this—he actively encouraged it.

He even saw martial artists from the Four Seas and Eight Provinces appearing on Dao Mountain—clearly, they had passed trials and been accepted as disciples by some third-flower master, now seated in meditation, refining qi and cultivating Daoist methods.

"Good. Everything is moving in the right direction," Li Yi thought inwardly: "Though Daoists from the End-Dharma world regain their strength upon arriving on Earth and become combatants, that is merely drinking poison to quench thirst—only by cultivating Earth's own elite can we ever hope to stand against the strong from other worlds."

He arrived at the highest peak of the Dao Court.

There stood a grand hall.

Gilded with gold, carved with jade, dazzlingly splendid, extravagantly magnificent—the plaque above bore three characters: Taiyi Hall.

Clearly, these Daoists had not forgotten Li Yi; they had reserved the finest, most honored location for him and built this hall as his residence.

Though Li Yi preferred staying in his Peace Financial Tower, he did not refuse—and these Daoists could not fail to show their respect.

As Li Yi landed, someone inside Taiyi Hall immediately sensed his arrival.

Xuan Yuezi floated down on auspicious clouds, her expression a mix of surprise and delight: "I just thought some great master had descended—yet it's you, Taiyi! Months have passed—what changes have occurred in you? Why does your aura now blend seamlessly with heaven and earth, so impossibly strong?"

"Wait—Taiyi, have you not already entered the Third Flower Realm?"

She suddenly realized something, her face filled with shock.

Li Yi said: "Your divine sight is piercing—I have indeed bloomed my primordial spirit flower and entered the Third Flower Realm. But I must admit, I took a shortcut: I harnessed temporal power from a strange land, achieving breakthrough in just over two months."

He briefly recounted his experience.

"Such a miraculous place? Under this world's collapse, truly nothing is impossible—temporal power, one day equaling two years." Xuan Yuezi's eyes gleamed, astonished.

"Yet this cultivation method has flaws, doesn't it? One day passing as two years severely drains lifespan and inflicts heavy damage on the body—without matching methods, temporal power is poison."

As a Great Perfection cultivator, she immediately recognized the method's weakness.

Only Li Yi, with his ultimate treasure—the Crimson Lotus nurturing his primordial spirit form—could fully exploit that place.

"You're right, Immortal Lady. If other Daoist elders are interested, they may try that place too—but beware of danger. Mythic beasts dwell there, powerful enough to threaten lives if disturbed."

Li Yi then gave Xuan Yuezi the coordinates of that location.

Xuan Yuezi did not hesitate; she pulled out a smartphone and had her AI record the coordinates.

It seemed that during this time, the Immortal Lady had kept pace with the times, embracing artificial intelligence—after all, AI was undeniably convenient; while spell-cast crane messages took time, a smartphone powered by AI could assist in countless ways.

"Immortal Lady, now that I've entered the Third Flower Realm, I can act boldly. I plan to begin preparing for war—seeking an opportunity to invade the Demon God Realm and the Xuan Immortal Continent, eliminating key enemies once and for all." Li Yi voiced his inner intent.

"Taiyi, what exactly do you intend to do?" Xuan Yuezi immediately asked, ready to support him no matter what.

Li Yi said: "I need you to return once to the End-Dharma Dao world and bring as many Daoist masters as possible here. Last time I crossed over, I left Ziyu True Person in charge—now is the right time. I'll give you a cross-realm device and the coordinates. As for marvels—"

"Don't worry about marvels—during your absence, those on Earth's defense line delivered six complete marvels, now entrusted to me."

Xuan Yuezi instantly waved her hand, and six marvels floated midair, radiating terrifying energy fields.

"Zhao Yongshan still keeps his word. Then I'll take three of these six marvels for myself, and leave three for you." Li Yi took three marvels and handed Xuan Yuezi two cross-realm devices with preset coordinates.

"One cross-realm device should be enough," Xuan Yuezi said.

Li Yi replied: "Better safe than sorry—I've been burned before."

"I see," Xuan Yuezi nodded and accepted both devices.

"The Daoists crossing over this time must still be bound by the Self-Sacrifice Curse. Unlike you and your kind, they didn't come willingly—they were lured. Meanwhile, I will lift the previous Self-Sacrifice Curses and restore their freedom." Li Yi spoke.

He now possessed demon king-level power and no longer needed such methods to control others' lives and deaths; moreover, these Daoists had fought alongside him in Earth's defense war, enduring life and death together.

Out of both sentiment and principle, he owed them this repayment.

Xuan Yuezi nodded: "I know what to do. But can you even lift the Self-Sacrifice Curse?"

"I cannot. But I believe you can," Li Yi said.

He had studied Daoist arts for too short a time to know many of its common practices.

"Then I'll teach you how to lift the Self-Sacrifice Curse," Xuan Yuezi smiled, then gently touched his forehead with her pale finger—a stream of magic power carrying knowledge flowed into Li Yi's mind.

Instantly.

Li Yi mastered the method to lift the Self-Sacrifice Curse—this curse could only be undone by the one who bore it, and was far too complex for anyone else to forcibly remove; attempting to do so would trigger backlash and possibly kill the cursed.

He did not hesitate, immediately activating the lifting technique.

As the Self-Sacrifice Curse unraveled, the inscribed markings on Li Yi's body vanished, leaving only the lightning totem representing divine bloodline.

With the curse's disappearance, the original caster immediately felt it.

In a grand hall on Dao Mountain.

Shen Xu Daoist, instructing disciples, suddenly froze, then turned toward Taiyi Hall, a faint smile forming on his lips—he bowed respectfully in sincere admiration.

In another hall, the Bald Daoist also felt a sudden surge of insight—he exclaimed: "The Self-Sacrifice Curse is lifted?"

Yet he then sighed: "Taiyi truly is a man of his word."

Other Daoists felt the same—all sensed their Self-Sacrifice Curses gone. From now on, Taiyi would no longer bind their lives or deaths.