Chapter 182: Partial Truth of the Strange Domain

As Li Yu sighed, his mind naturally recalled the first cultivator he had killed after being reborn into this world.

An elegant and powerful aged man-eater, Yi Ya.

If not for his excessive arrogance and carelessness, treating Li Yu merely as a forbidden egg to be harvested, it might have been Li Yu who died instead.

"King Xi is like an upgraded version of Yi Ya, with countless patches applied, whether in appearance, temperament, or cultivation base."

"He must have already skipped sequences with the help of the 【Forbidden God】; as for which sequence he is now?"

"At the very least, he is above sequence four. After all, he and his King Xi Mansion are evidence of the Forbidden God Sect's heavy investment in Wancheng."

"If I were to expose my past right now, even if I exhausted all my stolen divine abilities, I wouldn't be able to survive under his hand."

"Even if the King Xi before me is not his true self, but a will carried by a high-sequence strange object."

"Fortunately, there are over a hundred Demon Star Order Holders here, and it is bustling with activity. As long as I don't stir up trouble, a dignified King Xi shouldn't care about a mere sequence like me."

Li Yu's mind stirred, and his actions followed suit.

Mingling among the Order Holders, he restrained his Qi and perfectly transformed into an ordinary Order Holder whom no one would notice.

And King Xi, who had finished his meal at the head of the hall, indeed did not notice Li Yu.

He merely raised his head and looked at the crowd.

Li Li Xuanji, a smile that made everyone feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze appeared on his refined and handsome face.

He rose slowly like an elegant king and spoke directly:

"Everyone!"

"I am Zhao Xi. For this camp slaughter mission, our Demon Star Order camp shall be led by me."

"Those who wish to survive and earn some merit points may stay and follow my arrangements."

"Those who do not wish to may leave now."

"And you may rest assured; we are all Demon Star Order Holders, and we all have powerful True Gods behind us. I will only let those who leave fend for themselves; I will certainly not strike at my own people."

"However, if you choose to stay, you must obey my arrangements for all subsequent actions, otherwise, do not blame me for being ruthless."

If someone else had said these words, it would have seemed arrogant and overbearing.

Yet, as King Xi spat out each word, it did not cause any resentment; people even felt it was only natural, and King Xi's voice was very refined and charming.

At the same time, they also developed infinite trust in his promise.

But it seemed that because of this, it conversely triggered the vigilance of some Demon Star Order Holders.

Being controlled has always been the greatest taboo in the Evil God camp.

That means one would easily become alienated and fall into depravity.

Almost immediately, the Qi in the hall surged, and people spoke up one after another:

"Is King Xi's word true?"

"Since King Xi has said so, I believe it. Although I am willing to follow King Xi, unfortunately, the True God I follow does not allow me to follow a powerhouse of the Forbidden God path, so I must act alone."

"This is the 【Immortal Qin Chao Capital】, the largest capital of the Warring States period. If I don't take the opportunity to explore it properly, wouldn't that be a waste?"

"I also cannot take orders from a heretic. Farewell."

"The only ones who can receive my loyalty and complete obedience are my own True God. Although King Xi is strong, he is still far from qualified."

……

Among these voices, about twenty or thirty Demon Star Order Holders stood out.

And the number was still increasing.

These people objecting naturally meant that the remaining Order Holders chose to agree and hang around with King Xi.

Li Yu's original plan was to play the invisible man first and listen to see what method this camp leader, who had possessed Zhao Zhao Qiansui, would use to exterminate the Reincarnators—who also likely had a similar leader and numbered over a hundred.

But he didn't expect King Xi to not give him the chance.

Before revealing a single word of his plan, he started chasing people away.

Li Yu did not deliberate further; after following the crowd and shouting, "King Xi is mighty, but sorry, the True God I follow does not agree," he joined the group leaving.

His reasoning was very clear, one could say simple and crude:

"After leaving, I indeed cannot enjoy King Xi's protection, but it also reduces a major danger. After all, the closer I am to him, the greater the possibility of exposure. I dare not gamble that a high-sequence Forbidden God Sect cultivator definitely won't discover some of my secrets; that is unrealistic."

"As for killing his own people, King Xi indeed would not do that."

"Firstly, it would offend many Evil Gods. No matter how strong the Forbidden God is, he cannot block such a massive amount of malice."

"Secondly, people like Li Yu who leave can completely serve as 'bait,' letting the Reincarnators eat some benefits first before being wiped out in one fell swoop."

"It's a pity; if someone else were the leader, I really would have stayed."

"In such a dangerous camp slaughter mission, hanging around with a big shot, although there is a possibility of being used as cannon fodder, the situation is likely better than being a lone wolf."

"But fortunately, I still have many thighs I can hug."

With these thoughts, Li Yu and about thirty other Order Holders turned and left the luxurious palace.

The ostensible reason was that they did not catch the eye of "Zhao Zhao Qiansui" and were to be sent to various places to serve.

In the last moment before leaving the palace, Li Yu and the others could still hear that almost demonic, soft voice of King Xi: "You are all outstanding people. After this pleasant cooperation, you are welcome to visit my King Xi Mansion in the real world; just say the word and there will be generous gifts... For now, taste the beauty's liver and brains I cooked myself; the taste is excellent, and I think you will all like it."

……

Not far outside the palace, the old eunuch, reeking of filth, showed a sinister expression toward the thirty little eunuchs who hadn't pleased Zhao Zhao Qiansui.

Just as he was about to speak and assign everyone some disgusting and dangerous chores, such as serving before the Lord of Immortal Qin,

Li Yu suddenly stepped forward and said with a smile:

"My lord, I have always been fond of alchemy and boiling evil, could you let me serve in the alchemy room?"

As he spoke, he naturally cast an affinity judgment.

The old eunuch was covered in filth and grime; it was impossible for him to pass, and he could not feel even the slightest bit of malice toward Li Yu, the Daoist doctor.

And so, his pale, old face turned into a smile, and he nodded readily:

"You may!"

"Many thanks!"

Li Yu took the alchemy room token and headed straight for where the "thighs" were located.

Seeing it go so smoothly, as soon as he left, another Demon Star Order Holder with a lecherous face, clearly a cultivator of the Lust Sect, immediately stepped forward and said to the old eunuch:

"My lord, I have always been fond of serving women, could you let me serve in the harem? I guarantee to keep the ladies happy and smiling."

"Is that so? That's perfect. The Imperial Guard captured a 【Female Beast】 from the Spirit Realm that contains the origin of divinity. It is wild and untamable, and insists on eating a thousand human beings with talent and tender skin before it is willing to mate with His Majesty and surrender its origin. Since you are skilled in this, go serve in that beast room."

"Ah?"

……

The alchemy room, while called a room, was actually a massive complex of buildings.

Palace after palace, used as warehouses and filled with a large amount of filthy but high-grade strange objects and resources, surrounded a huge palace in the center called the 【Ten Thousand Elixir Palace】.

Even before getting close, Li Yu could already feel the boundless heat Qi surging from within.

An eye-dazzling array of strange objects and resources were being sent inside.

Inside the palace were one towering, massive alchemy furnace after another.

A large number of laborers and alchemists were busy, working like an assembly line to refine elixirs of various sizes, which were then sent into the deep palace.

Although the filth everywhere made Li Yu very uncomfortable, when he saw those elixirs and the refining process, a strong sense of familiarity emerged.

"Every single one is the handiwork of the Spirit Venerable path."

"There is almost not a single beneficial elixir; they are all tiger-and-wolf drugs that bring benefits initially but are highly toxic if taken long-term. Senior Lu Sheng was indeed very frank, stating that these elixirs were a group crime committed by that generation of Spirit Venerable path cultivators, all contributing to conspire against the Lord of Immortal Qin."

"With such a grand setup, I wonder how heart-stopping this game of chess was in real history?"

Li Yu muttered in his heart while also beginning to search for his seniors.

Lu Sheng, the sequence four 【True Monarch of Food Bait】, stated: When he led the Lord of Immortal Qin astray and made him terminally ill, he took his fellow practitioners and hid in the alchemy room, and under the cover of the great Spirit Venerable, they each disguised themselves as laborers, alchemists, water and fire boys, and other servants in the elixir recipes.

In other words, the Lord of Immortal Qin was frantically searching for Spirit Venerable believers while also crazily popping pills.

And the pills he was popping were still the ones refined by Lu Sheng and the others.

This revenge and mockery were truly ruthless.

Li Yu originally thought that with this clear self-account, the subsequent recognition and gaining of trust would be very smooth.

However, when his gaze began to scan, a feedback that shocked him appeared immediately.

Not one person matched the description!

The seniors were not there at all.

=9+Shu_Ba

"This is impossible!"

Li Yu's face froze, and under the cover of the infinite filth, elixir poison, and fire Qi here, he suddenly opened his Daoist Doctor's Eyes.

He examined everyone in the elixir palace again, and the result disappointed him even more.

Still, he did not find a single senior.

Li Yu didn't believe it; he ran to other palaces and warehouses one after another to identify and search for them.

In this environment, which was almost the home turf of Spirit Venerable path cultivators, no one could pass Li Yu's affinity judgment, and he moved unimpeded, as if the Lord of Immortal Qin himself had arrived.

In just half an incense stick of time, he had looked at hundreds, if not thousands, of people in this area.

Let alone "Senior Lu Sheng," who was famous in history, there wasn't a single other practitioner of the Spirit Venerable path.

Gradually, Li Yu's expression turned from shock and disappointment to confusion.

His brows furrowed tightly, and his thoughts flashed frantically:

"This is not right!"

"The book compiled by Lu Sheng came from the Demon Star Order and cannot be wrong. Every detail and description inside also perfectly fits logic; at least I cannot see a single problem, so it must be history that truly happened."

"The fact that Lu Sheng deliberately took care of those on the path of the Spirit Venerable in the book explains everything."

"So, in real history, the seniors were indeed hidden in the alchemy room, but they aren't here. Why?"

"If the seniors are not here, does it mean this place might not be the real one...?"

At this moment, Li Yu wondered what he had just thought of.

In his mind, it was as if a thunderclap had resounded.

A "truth" regarding the Demon Star Order and the Cycle Heavenly Net's conquest of the Strange Domain was abruptly realized by him.

"Demon Star!"

"This isn't the Immortal Qin Chao Capital from actual history, is it?"

"Is it a replica? Or perhaps a space-time fragment derived from a high-level divine object?"

"Is that why some details are wrong?"

"It must be the Immortal Qin Imperial Seal, right?"

"This Strange Domain is actually condensed from the Immortal Qin Imperial Seal, or perhaps combined with the corpse of the Immortal Qin Qin Zhizhu... Although it perfectly replicated the Immortal Qin at that point in time, if there were details that even the Immortal Qin Imperial Seal and the Immortal Qin Qin Zhizhu were unaware of back then, they naturally could not be replicated."

"That is why the seniors are not here."

"Rumor has it that after the fall of the Immortal Qin, the Imperial Seal and the corpse of the Immortal Qin Qin Zhizhu mysteriously disappeared, remaining ownerless for years. So it turns out they condensed into a Strange Domain attached to some place in the present world. The Demon Star Order and the Cycle Heavenly Net have only one goal: to subdue this Strange Domain and swallow the Immortal Qin Imperial Seal and the corpse of the Immortal Qin Qin Zhizhu?"

"Are all Strange Domains in a similar situation, or is it just some of them?"

Li Yu's questioning received no reply from the Demon Star Order.

But that no longer mattered, because Li Yu knew his guess was correct.

He was not only asking the Demon Star Order in his thoughts, but also whispering these words aloud.

Yet Li Yu discovered: every sentence could not be uttered; they were all erased by an invisible, immense power.

In other words!

It is fine for Li Yu himself to know this truth and secret.

But he cannot reveal it to anyone, nor does he have the ability to do so.

"If it is like this in the Strange Domain, I suppose I won't be able to reveal this truth even after I return to the present world."

"If that's the case!"

"I only know the truth because I accidentally compared it to the hidden secrets in real history; there must be no shortage of similar lucky ones."

"So, is it highly probable that other Order Holders know, but are simply unable to speak of it?"

"Or perhaps, for some high-sequence Order Holders like the 【Joy King】, this is simply common knowledge."

"Conversely, the old pervert Joy King wasn't chosen by the Demon Star Order to be a faction leader at all... It is highly probable that he entered on purpose, and his true goal is also that Immortal Qin Imperial Seal and the corpse of the Immortal Qin Qin Zhizhu?"

As thoughts flashed and whispers of speculation continued, all the chains of detail were linked together by Li Yu.

The truth regarding this Strange Domain conquest was fully grasped by Li Yu.

It was also at this moment that a brilliant smile immediately appeared on Li Yu's lips.

In his field of vision, the seventeenth Truth Bubble, which had been slowly flashing and charging, surged forward in an instant and became complete.

The eighteenth Truth Bubble began to flash in relay, charging and also surging forward by a small margin.

This was even more ironclad proof.

The Truth Bubbles had recognized the truth Li Yu had deduced; there was naturally no need to say anything else.

Li Yu, having relied on himself to gain insight into part of the mysteries of the Strange Domain.

At this moment, he was quite excited.

Even though his current situation was actually extremely dangerous.

Having become a lone wolf without the seniors' thighs to cling to, once the righteous and evil sides began their great slaughter, he and other isolated Demon Star Order Holders would likely be the first wave to perish.

If his strength were very powerful, it would be another matter, and there would be a possibility of survival.

Unfortunately, among the hundred Demon Star Order Holders, Li Yu's strength was in the upper-middle range.

Using those stolen "sequences" could squeeze him into the top tier, but it still wasn't safe.

Yet even so, there was not a trace of fear in Li Yu's eyes.

What he felt was, in fact, excitement.

"Now I possess the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth Truth Bubbles, giving me a full three chances to cheat."

"Using one up to satisfy my desire to pry, while incidentally seizing the initiative, is quite reasonable, isn't it?"

While thinking, Li Yu walked out of the Myriad Alchemy Hall and began to measure the distance between the deep palace where the Immortal Qin Qin Zhizhu resided and the palace where Zhao Qian-sui, who had been possessed by the Joy King, was located.

That's right, he was very greedy; he didn't want to waste the Truth Bubbles and wanted to kill two birds with one stone by prying into both.

PS: With a thick skin, I ask for the guaranteed monthly tickets for December. As for updates, just watch my performance.

(End of chapter)