Chapter 180: Initial Sequence Emperor?

Li Yu slipped away too quickly, giving Yang Huan almost no time to react.

Before his voice had even faded, he had already vanished entirely.

Within the portal, which resembled a "nest," tentacles that were thick, sticky, and slick—which had been surging out to wrap around someone—retracted along with him.

Before the portal could close, a faint sigh drifted from within:

"This fellow Daoist Li acts with such decisiveness, and his luck is good too."

"It is a pity, though. Had he not resisted the temptation and entered to satisfy the appetite of the Great Mother of All Ages, he might have become a Procreation Priest of my 【Mother of All Ages Cult】. The Mother's generosity far exceeds that of the Lord of Myriad Changes."

……

Li Yu was unaware of the commotion behind him.

To escape that place, he had not even hesitated to use a divine ability while turning to flee.

The reason he was so terrified was, naturally, because he had caught a glimpse of immense danger.

"That was close, so close. Just a little more and I would have been finished."

"Why did I have to show up at the exact moment she was being 'possessed and disciplined' by her true god? Fortunately, it was likely just a sliver of the 【Mother of All Ages】's will, traveling from beyond the heavens through layers of worlds, so its power wasn't quite as terrifying, giving me time to escape."

"But if I hadn't resisted the temptation and had tried to get intimate with Yang Huan, the number one beauty of the Great Gan imperial capital, I would have truly been dead."

"Yang Huan herself is indeed plump and alluring, enough to make one drool; having a tryst with her wouldn't be a loss."

"But Yang Huan after being possessed by the Mother of All Ages? Who knows what she had mutated into? Slime tentacles, goat hooves, rotting flesh... who could stand that?"

"Come to think of it, the Mother of All Ages must be truly hungry to even take an interest in a weak human like me."

While grumbling to himself, Li Yu knocked on the carriage door of his final target.

This person was also a female cultivator.

A chosen of the Star Lord of Judgment, Lady Ba.

Lady Ba's charm was beyond doubt; her appearance was like a fusion of "Yang Huan" and "Qing Nü."

She possessed an incredibly alluring, voluptuous figure that was perfect in every way, while simultaneously carrying that cold, ethereal temperament of Qing Nü.

Of course, she leaned more toward being icy.

However, although she herself was incredibly enchanting, because she was a follower of the Star Lord of Judgment, she had—unsurprisingly—become detested by gods and ghosts alike.

Moreover, due to the farce at the 【Ancient God Camp】 earlier, she had successfully earned the disgust of the other seven chosen.

It wasn't their fault, though!

People like Liu Tu and Hu Buku were either heroic in nature or indifferent to everything.

Normally, they wouldn't dislike Lady Ba.

But the "true gods" behind them were different; without exception, they all loathed the Star Lord of Judgment.

Thus, Lady Ba was implicated by her own patron god.

As for why Li Yu was an exception?

It was simple: he had no true god behind him.

The Sound of Judgment had very limited influence on him.

No matter how arrogant or cold a person might be, it is hard to avoid feeling some loss when ostracized by all one's colleagues.

At this moment, Li Yu arrived and, unsurprisingly, received a warm welcome from Lady Ba.

Added to that was the fact that during the camp banquet farce, Li Yu had unleashed his full charm technique on Lady Ba in order to interrupt the Sound of Judgment.

If favorability could be quantified!

Then Lady Ba's "favor" for Li Yu must have completely exceeded the values expected between colleague Daoists.

As luck would have it, this fellow Li Yu, terrified of failing to steal the token, threw out an affinity check the moment they met.

Without any surprise, Lady Ba failed it; she had not a shred of malice toward Li Yu, only goodwill.

And so!

Li Yu didn't even have to ask for it, nor did he have time to steal it.

He merely expressed a slight fondness for a small golden bell—a wonder item blessed by the Star Lord of Judgment—that Lady Ba wore on her person.

The next moment, the bell was shoved into his hand by Lady Ba.

"Consider it a thank-you gift from your sister."

"Do come see me often in the future."

As she spoke, Lady Ba was looking at Li Yu with a pair of incredibly seductive eyes that seemed to ripple with spring water.

Clearly, followers take after their true gods.

Although the Star Lord of Judgment possessed no lust-related divinity, he acted in a simple, crude, and direct manner.

Lady Ba was the same.

She was not the type of female cultivator like Li Li Xuanji or Su Xing, but she was bold and direct; if she took a liking to someone, she liked them, and she expressed it straightforwardly.

Lady Ba also perfectly matched Li Yu's tastes, and he was not a coy person either.

If it were any other time, after a bit of conversation, the two might have laid everything bare to each other.

But at this moment, looks of regret appeared on both their faces almost simultaneously.

And with their mouths, they both said at the same time:

"The conquest of the Strange Domain is imminent, so sister will not keep you."

"The conquest of the Strange Domain is imminent, so this younger brother will take his leave."

"Pfft!"

Their words collided, causing the two to look at each other and share a knowing smile.

What both regretted slightly was that the Strange Domains they were going to were not the same; otherwise, they might have made an appointment to meet again in the Strange Domain.

Bidding farewell to Lady Ba, Li Yu, holding the token, flew quickly back to the Immortal Castle.

He used the remaining few hours to "pollute" the various tokens he had obtained through goading, theft, and seduction, using his "Daoist Medical Strange Qi."

Fortunately, Li Yu was not the successor of any major power, so aside from these, there was nothing else he needed to prepare.

"This Startled-Sting Sword allows me to transform into a Sequence 6 【Law-Passer】... This hanging rope is even stronger; after all, Gongsun Qi has already barely reached the Sequence 5 【Three-Path Daoist】 of the Hanged King pathway, so even if I can only steal sixty or seventy percent of the power, it's enough... Then there is this bird-beak mask, which I can use to steal the 【Plague Envoy】 power of Hu Buku... Finally, Lady Ba's golden bell, which steals the power of the Star Lord of Judgment; this is also extremely powerful..."

"Looking at it this way, Daoist Doctors are still far more powerful than Alchemists."

"Alchemists can only play at being gods and ghosts or refine some elixirs, while Daoist Doctors have gone a step further, developing to the point of petty theft from the gods themselves."

"A normal 'Daoist Doctor' could see their combat power explode with these few tokens."

"And I have the added bonus of high inspiration; perhaps the effect will be even better. Once I perform the theft and roleplay, these four gods will grant the maximum level of blessing... perhaps it will even allow me to completely mask the Qi of the Spirit Venerable pathway?"

"Perfect!"

When Li Yu finished muttering these thoughts in his heart.

The cold notification sound of the Demon Star Order rang in his mind:

"The time has come!"

"Order Master codenamed 'Calamity Star,' please prepare; this summons will take effect in ten breaths."

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"...

As the countdown ended, Li Yu's figure instantly vanished from within the Immortal Castle, leaving the few little things experiencing this for the first time staring at each other in confusion.

The Beyond-Heaven Flame Essence rode the "little robot," spinning around the spot where Li Yu had disappeared, calling out in confusion.

Meanwhile, Hong Dou, who had witnessed this many times, showed for the first time on her bright and moving fox-girl face an expression that only human women would have.

She frowned slowly, seemingly annoyed that she could not follow him.

This emotion seemed to trigger something.

It actually made the expression on Hong Dou's face become more vivid, and she suddenly emitted a mechanical voice:

"According to the Master-Servant Eternal Companion Agreement, triggering the 'Active Evolution' module."

"Beginning to deduce the Wisdom Core Completion Plan...!"

"Beginning to deduce the plan for how to obtain the 【Demon Star Order】 or the alternative 【Samsara Order】 qualification...!"

……

=9+Shu_ba

Li Yu was unaware of Hong Dou's astonishing change; as he just broke free from the dizziness of traversing worlds, his brows immediately furrowed.

Silently and unobtrusively, he shut off the sense of smell among his many Daoist Doctor super-senses.

No other reason!

It was too fishy and foul, as if he were standing in a latrine bucket.

After looking around, he realized the reason.

The place he had been dropped into this time was clearly a "Eunuch Room," and those lying or standing around were all people dressed in eunuch attire.

Of course, without exception, they were all fake eunuchs.

Because every time he looked at one of them, he received a prompt from the Demon Star Order: "Same Faction!"

This meant that the dozen or so eunuchs before him were, in fact, all Demon Star Order Masters.

And because this was a "Faction Slaughter" mission, there were actually faction prompts.

Undoubtedly, this directly cut off the method Li Yu had used several times before in Strange Domains—jumping back and forth between the righteous and evil factions to fish in troubled waters.

He was firmly standing on the opposite side of the Righteous God faction, with no way to avoid it.

"Which means, if that little nun Sister Miaochang and that follower of the Spirit-Responding Lingying Yuanjun known as 'Qing Nü' have also entered..."

"Then no matter how well I disguise myself, it's useless; my identity will be exposed immediately."

"It seems that this time, the 'Powerful Sword Cultivator Ren Shou' alt account cannot be used."

"However, since a strange domain with such a significant background as the Immortal Qin Fragmented Realm was chosen as the venue, besides faction slaughter, there must be other main quests, right?"

Almost exactly when this thought rose in Li Yu's mind.

Including him, the minds of all other Demon Star Order holders in the Eunuch Quarters were bombarded by those notification sounds from the Demon Star Order, filled with cold killing intent:

"The strongest hegemon of the Warring States period, the 【Immortal Qin】, has finally reached its period of decline and destruction. Because a group of shameless alchemists of the Spirit Venerable path carried out inhumane deception against the Qin Zhizhu, this hegemon with great ambitions gradually entered a state of madness."

"He can no longer see his hegemony, nor the chaos of the imperial court; his heart is entirely set on immortality and ascending to godhood."

"He lies prone in this filthy deep palace like a terrifying evil beast, indulging in devouring various divine origins of unknown origin, and mating with many strange entities from the Spirit Realm and beyond."

"He is now synonymous with violence, filth, and lewdness; anyone who approaches him will suffer severe harm."

"Also due to his madness, various factions within the Immortal Qin have begun to fight again and again over the massive power that is about to become vacant... Everyone's goal is that 【Immortal Qin Jade Seal】 that the Qin Zhizhu always holds in his hand; obtain it, and you obtain the Immortal Qin."

"Rumors have also gradually spread in the imperial court and among the people that the Qin Zhizhu has actually explored a broken path to godhood, which, together with the large amount of divine origin he has devoured and refined, has all been integrated into that jade seal."

"Main Quest 1: 【Seize the Seal】. Any Order holder who can seize the Immortal Qin Jade Seal and offer it as a sacrifice will be considered to have completed the task, and will be rewarded with merit points of equivalent value based on the assessment of the jade seal."

"Main Quest 2: 【Kill the Enemy】. Since this strange domain conquest is a faction slaughter mission, for every reincarnator killed, the Order holder will receive double merit points based on the opponent's path sequence."

"For other side quests, please explore them yourself."

"Everything obtained in this conquest mission can be brought out of the strange domain."

"This mission will display both factions."

"Special Reminder!"

"In this faction slaughter mission, both sides have invested more than one hundred Order holders. Only two conditions can cause the mission to end early, allowing all Order holders to leave."

"The first condition is: Anyone from either side completes the 【Seize the Seal】 mission and chooses to sacrifice it, which can end it early."

"The second condition is: More than ninety percent of the participants from both factions die, which can also end it early."

Compared to the previous strange domain conquest, the simple, or even rough, notification sound echoed in the minds of Li Yu and all other Demon Star Order holders.

What rushed toward them was an incomparably obvious killing intent.

Especially one of the conditions for leaving the strange domain: ninety percent of the Demon Star Order holders or reincarnators dying.

In one sentence, it directly created an atmosphere of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

However, Li Yu's attention fell on other details.

"It is clearly a faction slaughter mission, but Main Quest 1 still has to submit to the strange domain itself."

"Just like the last time the core of the strange domain was that 【Vortex God Flesh】, the core of this Immortal Qin Fragmented Realm seems not to be the Qin Zhizhu, but that Immortal Qin Jade Seal."

"The so-called rumors are mostly true."

"In other words, inside that Immortal Qin Jade Seal, there is indeed a large amount of divine origin, as well as a broken path to godhood?"

"What would the initial sequence of the path to godhood created by the Qin Zhizhu be? It couldn't be Emperor, could it?"

"Also, judging from the background description, it is indeed this point in time."

"At this juncture, it should be the stage where seniors like 'Lu Sheng' have just finished deceiving the Qin Zhizhu, and then all disappeared mysteriously, causing the Qin Zhizhu to fall into madness."

"According to the records in the book, the seniors should now be hiding collectively in that alchemy room, perfectly conforming to the law of being darkest under the lamp, plus the concealment of the true god 【Spirit Venerable】, no one can find them."

"And so, they are watching their enemy walk toward death in madness from a very close distance... tsk tsk, it really does fit the style of Spirit Venerable believers."

"Hmm, find an opportunity to go and seek refuge with them."

"Collect a greeting gift, and by the way, let the seniors help with the mission."

With two or three thoughts turning, Li Yu determined his idea without hesitation.

In his eyes, a rare look of excitement and thrill emerged.

This is no wonder!

Since Li Yu stepped onto the Spirit Venerable path, he has always been fighting alone and has not received any help from the 【Spirit Venerable Sect】.

Although he is traveling through history now, if he can find a backer, Li Yu will not have any hesitation.

But before he could make any move, the door to the large dormitory eunuch room was suddenly opened, and a figure exuding a filthy Qi from all over its body spoke in a shrill voice:

"You little brats, even though you were just castrated, you shouldn't sleep so late."

"All of you, get up and follow me to see 【Prince Zhao】."

"I don't know why Prince Zhao had a sudden whim today and insisted on seeing you newly castrated little fledglings."

(End of chapter)