Chapter 281: The Price of the Top-Tier Benefactor's Reward (Part 1)

The "help" from the Main Mansion and the Star-Playing Commandant Zuo Zuo Cikui allowed Li Yu to temporarily avoid the consequences of killing Shang Yang, sparing him from the pursuit of the Sacred Nest.

But a new price was born: he had to play along with Zuo Zuo Cikui, as this fellow intended to refine Li Yu into a puppet.

At the same time, the world's upheaval brought a suffocating sense of urgency.

"I fear that all high-sequence powerhouses capable of foreseeing the War of the Gods are currently, and will continue to be, filled with trepidation."

"Perhaps you are a Sequence 5 'Plague Envoy' of the Father of Mercy path, or a 'Saintess' of the Lust God path, or even a Sequence 4 'Filthy Father' of the Forbidden God path... all are mid-to-high sequence powerhouses capable of dominating a region, yet once swept into the 【War of the Gods】, they are no different from cannon fodder."

"Death could happen in a single instant."

"The stronger one is, the longer one lives, and the more one fears death."

"Conversely, it is the bottom-tier folk who are ignorant, yet full of hope, enjoying this twisted and strange prosperity."

"Although they are all somewhat warped, their joy is real."

What prompted this reflection from Li Yu were the dazzling array of entertainment projects gradually opening up on the Pioneer.

The Main Mansion clearly intended to build the 【Pioneer】 into a banner, making it one of the calling cards of Wanfu City.

The upgraded and evolved Ancient God train was not only massive and equipped with more carriages, but beyond its pioneering function, it had added a vast amount of entertainment and indulgence-related features.

The first batch of beneficiaries!

Naturally, were all the staff on the train, including the crowd of coal-shoveling laborers.

"I heard a new club opened in one of the upper carriages. Besides the usual Lust Sect practitioners, seductive nuns, and android dolls, there are many exotic goods—like elves from the Borderlands, female orcs, and something called 'female feather-folk,' rat-women, and the like. They're all very wild, a different kind of enjoyment."

"Can you even afford it? A single visit costs a month's wages."

"Stop staring at your own 'little brother,' you have no ambition. Follow me to the arena; there are exciting and dangerous death matches every day, and you can bet to win money. I heard they're even bringing in high-sequence powerhouses for exhibition matches."

"Vulgar. It's either sex or gambling all day. Better to follow me to the 'Red Dust Theater.' The performances are endless, and they're all free."

"Stupid as a pig. The free ones are the most expensive; you might end up being the ticket yourself, paying with your life."

"Better to go to the 【Prayer Carriage】. I heard it's full of various prayer altars, and many even have the offerings laid out in advance. Pay once, pick an altar to pray at, and if you're lucky enough to get a response from a divine entity, you can ascend to the heavens in a single step."

"That place is too dangerous. I've already saved up enough money, preparing to bribe the higher-ups to get transferred to the carriage of 【Demon-Slaying God-Chosen Liu Tu】 as a waiter. I want to gamble on his generosity."

"Heh, great minds think alike. But I've chosen 【Mother of All Things God-Chosen Yang Huan】. I'm quite handsome, after all. If she happens to take a fancy to me, that would truly be ascending in a single step."

Listening to these conversations, Li Yu was certain he had been forgotten by the world.

All the God-Chosen had been mentioned, including the newly added ones.

Only he was not mentioned by anyone.

Li Yu was not saddened by this in the slightest; on the contrary, he vaguely sensed that this was a good thing for him.

Of course, there was a prerequisite.

"Only by ascending to 【Bait-Eating True Lord】 can I turn this disaster into a blessing."

"The first element of becoming a powerful angler: don't let the fish discover you."

"If I can be forgotten, that is simply for the best."

Shortly after this reflection, Li Yu obtained what he wanted.

The Demon Dog Brain Matter!

The method of acquisition: the coal-shoveling laborer he was playing, while going to the club with his colleagues to pick a prostitute, chose one that didn't match his real aesthetic at all—a female android with overly large and distorted breasts and buttocks. Because of this, he was considered a pervert with strange tastes by his coworkers.

Li Yu naturally didn't want to choose it, but he had no choice.

The Demon Dog Brain Matter redeemed by Hongdou was inside this doll, and because it was a product of the Heavenly Craft Sect, it was easy to bring inside.

Yet, he had to follow the persona of a bottom-tier laborer.

Thus, he had to borrow and scrape together enough money to finally extract the brain matter from the doll's body.

With this, all four organs and curios containing devouring divinity were in hand, and the other auxiliary materials had long been stored in his Qi-Returning Treasure Pouch.

The secret medicine formula for Sequence 4 was complete.

But Li Yu could not begin to concoct or consume it for ascension.

Compared to the previous sequences, the ascension process for the Bait-Eating True Lord was overly dangerous, and the duration was unknown.

Moreover, Zuo Zuo Cikui could descend with his will at any moment.

If he didn't want to tear off the mask and let Zuo Zuo Cikui know his conspiracy had failed, he had to act in secret.

Fortunately, he only needed to wait another two or three days.

"The Pioneer will set sail in two days' time. Once it leaves Wanfu City and the Three Forbidden Lands, there will be several stations where Zuo Zuo Cikui's will cannot descend."

"The most suitable place to take the medicine and ascend is the 【Illusion Dream Station】. The flow of time there is inconsistent with the mundane world; it's as if it were tailor-made for me. I just need to wait patiently."

"Speaking of which, I still have an unfulfilled promise with that 'little nun Sister Miaochang.' If I have the chance to leave Wanfu City, I should find a way to meet her."

"This Pioneer's arrogant maiden voyage actually has a station in the Imperial Capital of the Qian Kingdom—the 【Gut of the Evil God Station】."

"This station is very special, involving a rumor suppressed by the Haotian Sect."

"It is rumored that the 'Haotian' worshipped by the Haotian Sect, who possesses infinite radiance and absolute justice, actually has a dark side, manifested as a world entwined with countless fallen blood-guts, filled with strange and terrifying divine monstrosities, hidden in the void."

"According to Zuo Zuo Cikui, the existence of the Gut of the Evil God Station actually verifies this rumor as true. I must see it for myself."

As these thoughts flickered, Li Yu's old habit flared up, his curiosity becoming intensely strong.

One of the major reasons he was willing to continue playing the bottom-tier laborer, stay on the Pioneer, and follow it on its maiden voyage.

Was precisely because of these strange and bizarre stations; he wanted to peek at every single one of them.

Of course, the most urgent matter was: ascending to Sequence 4.

Although the materials were ready, the terrifying risks and difficulties during the concoction and consumption process were still life-threatening.

Especially this time, he was still ascending at the peak level.

Li Yu, no matter how arrogant, wouldn't dare say he could definitely withstand those four types of devouring divinity and successfully refine them all.

Fortunately, he still had two days of leeway.

Beyond closely monitoring the many changes in the city and seeing if the little robot would cause any major trouble, he spent all his time studying the four divine curios, trying to devise countermeasures to ensure nothing went wrong.

Undoubtedly, all of them were extremely difficult, tasks that would be impossible for most practitioners to complete.

!

But Li Yu!

But the Spirit Venerable path!

Both were exceptions among exceptions.

One could say their specialty was stealing laws through various means.

Using any means necessary, with no taboos.

Very quickly, following the train of thought provided by Hongdou, in just a few hours, Li Yu devised targeted solutions for each.

"The difficulty of the Spirit-Nurturing Soil is the lowest. The standard method indeed cannot deal with the erosion of the Buddha Ancestor's divinity, but the alternative 【Strange Buddha path】 can, and I happen to know it."

"The subsequent three are none of them easy to deal with."

"Swallowing the 【Cursed Finger】 and stealing the power belonging to the Lord of Myriad Changes has the most common consequence: being possessed by the Lord of Myriad Changes and becoming a reserve vessel for his avatar."

"However, if I can keep its divinity permanently sealed in the Dan-Fire Furnace—that is, my stomach—I can naturally digest and steal it. My Dan-Fire, although upgraded and evolved many times, probably still isn't enough, so I'll have to go and fool the 【Lord of the Furnace】."

"Having a powerful evil god help me refine secret medicine is unthinkable, but if the target is the Lord of Myriad Changes, the Lord of the Furnace will definitely come. I won't need to pay any price or reward; he'd do it even if he had to pay me."

"Coupled with the Buddha light that suppresses all filth and curses, it should be foolproof."

"As for the Spider Queen's Silk Sac, after swallowing it, I will inevitably mutate into a 'small-scale Spider Mother.' Producing silk, laying eggs, weaving webs—it's just that overbearing."

"However, this divinity is countered by the Lord of Myriad Changes. After all, no matter how chaotic a ball of spider silk is, it cannot withstand the calculations of the Lord of Myriad Changes, who can calculate everything and solve all mysteries."

"Then there is the Demon Dog Brain Matter... and this divinity is countered by the Spider Queen's Silk Sac..."

"So in two days, the order of my refining will be: first refine the Spirit-Nurturing Soil, then call upon the Furnace to assist in subduing the hardest bone, the 'Cursed Finger,' then refine the Spider Queen's Silk Sac, and finally the Demon Dog Brain Matter."

After clarifying these points, Li Yu's mind settled.

He also remembered Hongdou's other suggestion: seek out the Daughter of the Vortex, Ige, and ask for higher-concentration Vortex divinity, which had more than one great use.

"Speaking of which, Sister Ige can also be considered my top-tier benefactor."

"That my Longevity Body is so perverted, far surpassing the predecessors of ancient times, is also thanks to her blessing."

"But I don't usually seek her out, and only go to chat when I need to ask for favors. Doesn't that make me seem a bit of a scumbag?"

As the saying goes, constant thoughts lead to a response.

As soon as Li Yu thought of this, he startled the Daughter of the Vortex far away in the heavens.

After all, they had shared divinity; to a certain extent, Li Yu had a part of Ige within him, and they had reached a state of resonance.

It was not as intimate as his union with Hongdou, but it was still mysterious.

Before he could even decide how to speak to Ige, she responded first.

She even had an instant perception of his thoughts and some of his experiences.

"I won't."

"I know you are in a dangerous place with no time to spare."

"I can give you the divinity and power you want, but this time there is a price."

"And, it is quite serious."

This thought came across the void. Hearing Ige's incredibly seductive voice, Li Yu's heart was filled with joy.

Even if he had to pay a price in the end, it didn't matter.

Clearly, he did not misunderstand Ige as trying to take advantage of him.

In the thoughts that followed, she seemed much more cheerful.

However, the price she described was also chilling.

ps: Two more chapters to come.

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