Chapter 27: Front Page Headline

It was not until late at night that Li Yu returned home in a hurry, his face full of confusion.

After heading out to investigate, he confirmed one thing: Yi Ya was indeed incredibly brutal and gluttonous.

He had invited a total of eleven evil cultivator neighbors, ten of whom he had slaughtered and eaten, and at every crime scene, he had arranged symbolic displays that made his identity clear.

Without a doubt, if this fellow were truly allowed to grow, he might one day become one of the outstanding figures of Wanfu City.

Furthermore, it was fortunate that this took place in Wanfu City; although such tragedies caused some ripples of unrest, everything returned to tranquility in just a single day.

This was also what Li Yu had hoped for—it was best if no one cared and no one investigated.

However, there was one thing that left him deeply puzzled, and that was Zhu Mei.

When Yi Ya attacked while wearing the skin of Cui Yuan!

Li Yu had been certain that he could not kill Zhu Mei.

Facts proved this to be true; the host of the Pig Temple had not died. When he went to inquire, he was only told that Zhu Mei had been promoted to the main temple and should not be returning.

"Zhu Mei's strength is at least on par with Yi Ya's."

"The Fallen Buddhist sect as a backer is no weaker than the God-Forbidden Sect, so it is impossible for Zhu Mei to have fled out of fear of Yi Ya."

"He is also a glutton who loves spiritual food; he had just eaten a meal of mine."

"If there were no major emergency, how could he have left without saying goodbye?"

"Could it be that he went to advance to Sequence 7 of the Black Maitreya path, [Life-Demanding Walker]? But why such haste?"

Li Yu suddenly recalled the secret he had glimpsed from Zhu Mei, but this still could not explain it.

On his way back, he had indeed felt some restlessness.

The steam airships and tower ships above the city were also far more numerous than usual.

Li Yu had the mind to go and inquire, but as a completely bottom-tier cultivator, he could not find anyone to ask for information for the time being.

He could only guess in his heart: Is something major about to happen in Wanfu City? Is that why Zhu Mei left so suddenly?

Although he was a bit confused, this bizarre situation was actually a great stroke of luck for him, Li Yu.

All those who knew were dead!

The mark had been cleared!

At the same time, there was no longer any Forbidden Egg inside Li Yu's body.

He was now a genuine, flawless "Alchemist" of the Spirit Venerable path, pursuing the refinement of elixirs and medicine, consuming Qi for longevity, and having absolutely nothing to do with the brutal, cannibalistic God-Forbidden Sect.

The survival dilemma that had worried Li Yu for days and forced him to struggle with every means at his disposal seemed to have been resolved just like that?

This smoothness made even him unable to believe it.

"Could it be that Heaven's mandate is with me?"

"From now on, can I cultivate in peace and wait for an opportunity to flee Wanfu City?"

Because he had survived a disaster and it could be considered a joyous occasion, Li Yu was in a great mood.

While calculating his subsequent plans in his heart, he pulled his maid, Hong Dou, to study her mechanical body for the better part of the night.

In particular, the "Chainsaw Sword Art" she used to chase and hack at Yi Ya during the day left Li Yu incredibly amazed.

If not for Hong Dou warning her master that the spiritual energy stones in her body had been over-consumed due to the battle and that she would directly shut down if they weren't replaced within three days, Li Yu would likely have pestered her to demonstrate it a few more times.

Helpless, Li Yu could only study himself and ponder his future situation.

"I have quite a bit of money and strange items on me now; compared to cultivators of the same rank, I am already considered wealthy."

"But for a cultivator, what is the use of being wealthy?"

"Strength composed of strange arts, secret medicine formulas, path sequences, and so on is the foundation. Especially in this Wanfu City, Sequence 8 counts for nothing; one must keep advancing upward. Sequence 7 might not even be enough; Sequence 6 should be enough to be carefree."

"It's just that it's very difficult for me to do so. To save my life, I had to choose this path that seems to have no future. The gods who mastered the path have all fallen, so naturally, there is no backer to turn to, and I don't even know what the next sequence is."

"Unfortunately, there is no turning back once the bow is drawn; even if I wanted to switch paths, it is impossible."

As his thoughts reached this point, Li Yu suddenly remembered Yi Ya again.

During the day, he had regretted using alchemy fire to burn him, to the point that only a pile of ash remained after Yi Ya died, and he hadn't had time to extract and condense any spiritual strange items.

This was one of the common rules of the cultivator world!

Creatures like Jiao Qing and Sun Sanniang had highly toxic brains and activated blood intestines; Yi Ya's would surely have been far more astonishing.

Of course, he thought again: even if he had left Yi Ya's corpse intact, it might not have condensed anything good, because he had been corrupted.

The second common rule for cultivators: changing paths recklessly leads to a terrible state both in life and after death.

Generally speaking, once a cultivator chooses a path, they must walk it to the end; there is almost no room for turning back. Even the god-ascending paths under the same sect cannot be easily switched.

If the paths conflict in terms of spirituality or divinity, it is even more like a thunderbolt striking a fire—there is no outcome other than madness or sudden death.

This is why?

It was the reason Li Yu could trick Yi Ya to his death, and also the reason he could no longer harbor delusions about other paths.

Even though he still held a secret medicine formula belonging to a righteous god path: Wandering Soul.

"So be it!"

"Being able to keep my life is already a great fortune; how could I dare to ask for more."

"Besides, Alchemist is also an extraordinary sequence. Alchemy fire, consumption, medicinal cuisine... these three strange arts, if used well, can completely allow me to gain a foothold in Wanfu City."

"Furthermore, there may not necessarily be no opportunity to continue advancing; didn't the previous secret-peeking provide a hint?"

"If I can enter those places called [Strange Realms] or [Spirit Worlds], due to the rule of spiritual aggregation, I will definitely encounter everything related to the Spirit Venerable path."

"Before that, should I continue to be a rogue cultivator? Or should I find a decent power to rely on?"

=9+Shu_Ba

With these thoughts, Li Yu gradually fell asleep.

And the series of changes early the next morning finally let him know what the major event about to happen in Wanfu City was.

Before he had truly woken up, the already familiar sounds of gears turning and mechanical wings flapping arrived.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he indeed saw that cursed "Bronze Rooster" fluttering out of the coop and pouncing toward him.

"Master, Master!"

"Time to get up and sell meat!"

Following that was the choking smoke and fire.

Instantly, the main room was no longer fit for sleeping.

As Li Yu threw on his clothes and rushed out the door, he couldn't help but blame his maid: "Hong Dou, why didn't you stop this silly chicken?"

Who would have thought that Hong Dou would tilt her head, revealing a look of confusion, and reply in a mechanical voice:

"Why should I stop it?"

"The Bronze Dawn-Calling Rooster is the third most popular best-selling product of the Heavenly Craft Sect in Wanfu City, besides the Spring Dream Instrument and various prosthetic bodies, with a buyer satisfaction rate as high as ninety-eight percent."

"Hong Dou thought Master was keeping it as a pet, and even specifically performed maintenance on it to extend its service life."

This reply immediately choked Li Yu, making him feel deeply frustrated.

And before he could open his mouth to explain to Hong Dou, his courtyard gate was knocked on again.

The person who came seemed to have been drawn by the sound of the Bronze Rooster's dawn-calling, and laughed loudly from across the gate:

"The sound of the Bronze Cursed Chicken—it's here; truly a loyal customer of my Heavenly Craft Sect."

"The first issue of the 'Wanfu Daily' has arrived; please accept it."

The voice fell.

Without showing any intention of coming in, the person threw a bundled-up newspaper into the courtyard from over the wall.

Then, amidst puffs of pitch-black, low-quality steam, he shouted "Next house," "Where is the next house in this dog-shit place," and gradually drifted away.

It was not until Hong Dou thoughtfully flashed over to catch the newspaper, opened it, and handed it to Li Yu,

that he suddenly remembered he had indeed swindled a one-month subscription to the "Wanfu Daily" from that salesman, Meng Shenji.

These past few days, he had experienced too many terrifying and rich events, to the point that he had forgotten about this matter.

After all, it was a freebie he had forcibly demanded!

Li Yu didn't care much, until he casually glanced at the first page of the newspaper.

Instantly, just the headline alone made him completely sober.

"Front Page Headline!"

"Starting from today, Wanfu City will open its gates wide and impose martial law throughout the city."

Two completely conflicting terms, he didn't know why they were placed together.

Almost immediately, Li Yu recalled the inexplicable restlessness he had felt in Wanfu City when he went out to inquire last night.

If there were no accidents, the answer was right here.

(End of chapter)