Chapter 246: A Heaven-Shaking Transformation

Judging by the conclusion provided by Hongdou, the Demon Star Decree and the Heavenly Web of Reincarnation have both completely spiraled out of control.

Their respective states are just like the Main God Space Li Yu knew of in his past life.

Although this means future conquests will be more dangerous, there is an upside: things will become fairer.

"Demon Star!"

"Have there been any changes to the prices related to merit points?"

Asking this question, Li Yu naturally hoped to hear a "yes."

Unfortunately, he did not get his wish.

"No changes!"

"However, the quantity of items redeemable with merit points has doubled."

The first answer left Li Yu very disappointed.

But the next sentence was solid good news.

"Good fellow, it looks like the Demon Star Decree and the Heavenly Web of Reincarnation have made the same choice."

"They each played dirty, swallowed the goods of the two major camps, and likely won't be offering tribute anymore."

"Wonderful."

Li Yu knew very well that this was actually a good thing.

At least for a cultivator like him who lacks a "True God" as a backer, it is a huge benefit.

Something immediately occurred to him, and he spoke again:

"Demon Star!"

"Based on the merit points I possess, show me redeemable curios or fragments of curios that involve world secrets or ancient history."

"They must be undeciphered and untraceable."

"Merit points have been deducted!"

"Displaying now."

Li Yu's detailed requirements were naturally for the bad deeds he intended to commit next.

Forgery, pulling off a big stunt, and then silencing witnesses afterward.

It was an indisputably villainous course of action, but in a place of demons like Wanfu City, who isn't a villain?

He currently possessed over seventy thousand merit points and had expected more than one page of results, as the Demon Star Decree had swallowed the treasures meant for the various evil gods, causing its controlled resources to skyrocket.

Yet, the next moment, only a lonely, single page appeared in Li Yu's mind.

On it, there were only two items.

It was no wonder; the restrictive conditions he set were too numerous, and finding items that fully complied was not easy.

When Li Yu finished looking at those two curios, even before seeing the detailed information, the names alone left his face full of astonishment.

"Fragment of the Tablet of Destiny (Fake)"

"Fragment of the Ring of Creation (Fake)"

If it weren't for the special "fake" label behind both curios, Li Yu's hand would have trembled and he would have redeemed them immediately.

The names alone were terrifying enough.

Destiny, Creation—they sounded more frightening than the last.

Li Yu had a very clear self-positioning: he was still a small fry.

What right did he have?

To obtain curios of this level.

Fortunately, after reading the notes, he understood why they were so cheap that even he was qualified to view and redeem them.

"The Tablet of Destiny is a legendary 【Divine Object】 that even the gods coveted immensely, but it disappeared long ago in the long river of history... However, since the most ancient eras, various entities have attempted to forge the Tablet of Destiny, so the number of fakes in existence is vast and continues to grow."

"The originals of these fragments are also fakes."

"The difference is that some fakes were forged in very ancient times, traceable to billions of years ago."

"The materials themselves are also extraordinary, having survived the erosion of time without being destroyed."

"These fragments themselves also possess certain properties."

"But because these fragments are blank scraps from the original fakes, they contain neither handed-down secret arts nor special secrets; other than being ancient, they are useless."

"Ring fragments, same as above."

"So, they are actually ancient fakes, and they are incomplete, just blank scraps."

"It does indeed perfectly meet my requirements: containing the truth of the world, and being authentic."

"After I get them, I will use the 【Demon-Carving Compass】 to carve words onto them. It will be a perfect integration; in their haste, even the gods might be fooled by me."

Li Yu blinked, and almost instantly, he made up his mind.

He then looked at the price.

The price for each fragment varied, but as long as it was over a million years old:

Any type of fragment required ten thousand merit points.

This price made Li Yu suddenly feel that the Demon Star Decree had likely not only broken free from the control of the evil gods but had also developed a clearer sense of self-will, clearly possessing the traits of a profiteer.

Li Yu even suspected that the Demon Star Decree was fleecing him.

Useless fake fragments, and they cost ten thousand merit points each?

However, he was in a hurry to stir up trouble. If he had to forge something from scratch, it would take a long time, not to mention whether he would even succeed.

With these ancient fakes, it was different; his chances of success would increase greatly.

So, Li Yu did not delay any further and thought:

"Redeem!"

"Seven tablet fragments, request same piece, same era."

Li Yu's reasoning for his choice was simple and crude: tablets were easier to carve.

The moment his thought fell, his merit point balance was nearly wiped out.

Then, a void rift opened, and seven palm-sized, extremely ancient-looking tablets fell out.

Li Yu reached out and caught them all; they felt cold and rough to the touch.

They were pitted and uneven, yet there wasn't a single character on them, as if they were truly just ancient tablets molded at random.

But at this moment, because of the appearance of these tablets, the entire Immortal Fortress seemed to be soaked in ancient history.

A very special "Qi Rhyme" was permeating the air.

As a Longevity Daoist with extremely abnormal high inspiration, Li Yu felt it most uniquely at this moment.

"Although they are fakes, their historical existence is enough to crush the entire Wanfu City."

"This eternal, unchanging property—I don't know what material was used to cast them; it would have been enough to forge powerful curios, yet some long-forgotten powerhouse used them to create fakes..."

"Hmm, excellent, excellent."

Halfway through his grumbling, Li Yu remembered his goal.

Next, he too would engage in artifact forgery.

A more perfect forgery, building upon the foundation of those unknown predecessors.

He called for his maid and asked her to provide the "copy."

Although Li Yu possessed quite a bit of ancient knowledge and had mastered some special scripts,

compared to Hongdou, he was illiterate; after all, she could both peek at the Tiangong headquarters' data and borrow supercomputing power.

With her directing, there wouldn't be a single flaw.

Li Yu himself held the 【Demon-Carving Compass】 to cast spells and carve the characters.

Although he was somewhat of a figure now, he was still not wealthy, and among the curios and weapons he possessed, none could leave even the slightest mark on the tablet fragments.

Only the Demon-Carving Compass was an exception; this curio had, to a certain extent, conquered "time." After Li Yu poured his lifespan into it, it quickly etched the copy Hongdou had compiled.

Before long!

Inside the Immortal Fortress, Li Yu was already holding tablet fragments that looked far more ancient than before.

On them, some ancient characters resembling ghost-drawn talismans or twisted lines had appeared in a very chaotic manner.

Even the dullest person, upon seeing the tablet fragments, would immediately judge: these are curios that are unimaginably ancient and contain extraordinary secrets.

And cultivators proficient in this field would not have the slightest doubt, only infinite greed.

Hongdou's new assessment rang out at this moment:

"Based on the exclusion of original cognition, starting scan and assessment of the target... Complete!"

"Material and Qi Rhyme completely conform to the ancient characteristics of billions of years."

"The characters on it have been identified as 【Desolate Script】, consistent with the era of the tablet material."

"The content cannot be fully deciphered due to the scarcity of characters; only a few words can be deciphered, namely: Eternal, Supreme, Origin... and so on."

!. Read

"After summarizing the above clues, it can be inferred: this item is suspected to be a fragment of the ancient divine object 【Tablet of Destiny】."

With every word Hongdou spoke, the smile on Li Yu's lips grew more intense.

Success!

The "historical artifact" he had forged with his own hands had perfectly fooled Hongdou's assessment.

One must know that she is a Tiangong Seed with absolute rationality and extremely high authority.

Even she cannot distinguish them, and the same goes for the various powerhouses within Wanfu City.

As for a True God?

Li Yu believes that ancient evil gods such as the 【Ancient Saint】, the 【Lord of Myriad Changes】, the 【Merciful Father】, and so on, could distinguish the real from the fake if given a little time.

But that would require setting up altars with great fanfare and summoning an avatar of the evil god to descend into the world for research.

Li Yu is certain: the major factions will not do such a thing.

After snatching the clay tablet fragments, they will at most offer prayers and have the evil god verify them from afar, in which case there is a high probability they will all be verified as genuine.

Then they will all issue oracles, ordering their subordinate sects and organizations to continue snatching the fragments.

In this way, the entire Wanfu City will be set aboil.

Li Yu envisions this for a moment, and the Qi within his body stirs restlessly.

Without a doubt, a major upheaval—or one could say a historical event—is being pushed and brewed into existence by him.

Li Yu does not care about the final outcome.

Even if it is exposed in the end, it does not matter.

All he needs is the initial great chaos.

This result is enough for him to solve his subsequent cultivation progress as if cheating.

"Clay tablet fragments containing the truth of the world... excavated in the 【Boundary Land】... it wouldn't be excessive for the entire Wanfu City to fall into a chaotic war because of this."

"It is also quite reasonable for me to therefore perfect my Longevity Daoist path and charge toward the Food-Bait True Monarch realm."

"Hmm, while I haven't turned in the mission yet, I will make one more trip back to the Boundary Land to place these fragments in a remote corner that hasn't been fully recorded by the map, but is very safe."

Involving his own advancement, coupled with the terrifying sense of crisis brought about by the shocking upheaval of the two great magic treasures.

Li Yu's drive is extremely strong; after giving an order, he immediately left the Immortal Fortress again and returned to the Wanfu Boundary Land.

Fortunately, he had blessed himself with a Great Divine Ability, and his speed was far greater than before.

And this time, his luck was excellent.

There were no accidents on the way or within the Boundary Land.

He successfully placed the seven fragments quietly into some small corners of the Boundary Land and used the Universe Demon Luo Pan to conceal and disguise them.

While Li Yu was acting, the entire Wanfu City was also becoming increasingly restless due to the upheaval of the two great magic treasures.

Amidst the chaotic situation, there were countless organizations and cultivators of all sizes attempting to stir up trouble.

Inside the city, East District.

In a secret cellar of a residential house, a group of mysterious people is gathering.

These people are all cultivators, all wearing black robes that cover their entire bodies, with only their palms exposed; each person's hands are wearing eerie gloves made of rotting human skin dyed with green pus.

They each have identities that are not weak, although they cannot be considered high-sequence powerhouses, nor can they be mentioned in the same breath as the city's human heroes and geniuses, or those God-Chosen.

But every one of them is in a powerful sect or organization.

This even includes the 【Holy Nest】.

Those who worship the Ancient Saint are also fanatical about secret knowledge, and are likewise easily corrupted by another evil god, the Lord of Myriad Changes.

For example, the second member of this Rotten Green Hand, whose name is "Di Bai Sheng," is one of the few cultivators within the Holy Nest organization who still insists on not undergoing mechanical modification, publicly denouncing the faction where Brother Brother Shang Yang is located as heretical.

However, because the Holy Nest is an extremely open-minded organization in this regard, he did not receive any punishment even though he could be considered as having offended his superiors.

Yet he still became alienated and corrupted; when the avatar of the Lord of Myriad Changes was walking in the city, it inadvertently corrupted him.

Together with other members, he established this evil god organization focused on stirring up trouble, the Rotten Green Hand.

Tonight!

The entire membership of this organization, which is not yet very large, has been gathered here to listen to the teachings of the leader they dream of.

Although this "leader" did not descend in his true form, but sent a mechanical construct instead.

But the extremely intense aura of Myriad Changes attached to it could not be fake.

Not to mention, this construct, which appeared as a bronze chicken, knew every one of them like the back of its hand.

If it were not the "leader" chosen by the Lord of Myriad Changes, but some other faction.

Then what would await them would be annihilation.

Instead of a mission that sounds very exciting and is bound to trigger great chaos, dragging all factions into it:

"You are to find your own way to enter the 【Wanfu Boundary Land】."

"Afterward, no matter what method you use—be it killing each other or inciting infighting—you must take the seven strange objects, suspected to be fragments of the Fate Clay Tablet, out of the Boundary Land in a reasonable way that attracts everyone's attention."

"In the process, if it is necessary, you may also actively go to your deaths."

"After each person dies, they will receive my blessing and will be able to successfully ascend into the divine kingdom of our great Lord."

"Are you willing?"

"Of course!"

In the cellar, the group of mysterious people responded fanatically.

No matter what their original identities were, after being corrupted by the Lord of Myriad Changes, they were all qualified "fun-seekers."

With twisted and fallen souls, actively going to their deaths to achieve their goals was not something unacceptable.

What's more, the great leader in their hearts had also given an extremely tempting promise.

Entering the divine kingdom of the Lord of Myriad Changes after death?

This was enough to make every one of them not want to live anymore.

Just as this group of poor new believers of Myriad Changes was being thoroughly hoodwinked by Li Yu, who had just returned from the Boundary Land.

Inside the Immortal Fortress, he still had one more layer of insurance to apply.

"The prelude is all arranged; whether it succeeds or not depends on the subsequent brewing."

"However, before the situation completely erupts, I need to establish an alibi for myself; after all, on the surface, I am still the only Myriad Changes God-Chosen in the city."

After the thought settled.

Li Yu entered his sea of consciousness directly and opened the star cluster of the Genius Assembly.

Once again, he took the initiative to speak within it and provoke his mortal enemy, the Wisdom Star Order Master, the Ancient Saint God-Chosen, Brother Brother Shang Yang.

The star cluster was already lively at this time, and his speaking added even more fuel to the fire.

(End of chapter)