Chapter 392: Reverse Baiting, Taking the Field Personally

Li Yu’s current appearance and behavior can be perfectly described in one sentence: the addiction has kicked in.

To the ordinary citizens of Wanfu City and those transcendent beings cultivating the Path to Divinity, the city is currently in a state of dire misery, akin to a living hell.

The entire city is being toyed with by these incomparably powerful Boundless Prodigies.

But in the eyes of Li Yu:

Fish! They are all big fish!

The resources are just too good.

As arguably the most powerful True Monarch of Bait-Eating in history, Li Yu is also the most formidable angler.

Witnessing this scene, how could he possibly hold back?

He is itching to enter the city immediately and hook these perverted and terrifying "Boundless Prodigies" one by one.

Fortunately, he has never lost his reason and forcefully suppressed the impulse of his addiction.

Li Yu silently recited the Toad God’s honorable name in his heart, attempting to contact his top-tier patron to bestow some luck.

That’s right, his relationship with the Toad God has progressed with every encounter; it has now reached the point where he no longer needs tokens, mediums, or the recitation of hymns—he can get a response just by calling the honorable name directly.

In the past, whenever he said there was fun to be had, the Toad God would come running eagerly.

But this time, it was a rare exception.

It was only after more than a dozen breaths that a faint, obscure spiritual response appeared in Li Yu’s mind.

Once Li Yu finished deciphering it, his expression changed instantly, and his brows furrowed as he said:

"The Toad God says that outside the [Present World] at this moment, it is incredibly lively and dangerous."

"A host of brutal gods, such as the Lord of the Veil, the Ancient Saint, the Lord of Myriad Changes, the Foolish God, the Blood God, the Sinister God, the Forbidden God, the Hanging King, and others, have now surrounded the outside of the Present World, leaving no gaps."

"Some have even brought their true bodies over."

"The Present World is not like other worlds; the gaps are few and small. Even just peeking in is no easy task."

"The Toad God cannot come over for the time being!"

"However, He is unwilling to miss out on such excitement and asks me to wait for Him for a while?"

These spiritual responses, which could also be called intelligence, made Li Yu realize the dire situation of the Present World in an instant.

It looks stable enough!

But in reality, a War of the Gods could break out at any moment.

If the evil gods succeed, the Present World will inevitably be shattered, and the righteous gods will be unable to protect themselves.

As for the humans in this world?

They will undoubtedly face over ninety percent extinction.

As for which side will win?

Although Li Yu is likely the only cultivator in the current world who knows the intentions of both sides.

Both sides have grand and complex plans. While his sequence realm is indeed very, very high compared to his peers, and his insight crushes most of the same rank, it is still not enough to support him in judging the two great camps of True Gods.

In fact, let alone him, even those Sovereign-level True Gods cannot judge it either.

Only when the fighting is over and the dust has settled.

Will it be known.

Li Yu received the Toad God’s response but had no intention of waiting idly. Instead, he stared at Wanfu City, which was flickering with countless types of divinity and bustling with activity, his eyes burning and eager for action.

And soon, he made a decision.

"Now is the best time."

"While the evil gods are busy outside the Present World with no time to look elsewhere, and Wanfu City has become a playground for the Boundless Prodigies."

"When playing and enjoying themselves, their vigilance is naturally at its lowest."

"If I wait until that divine artifact called the [Gate of All Worlds], which is also the martial arts arena, is built, there will be no more opportunities."

The final thought settled.

Li Yu did not hesitate and directly contacted his "connection" in the City Lord’s Mansion, the puppet of Zuo Ci.

The latter was initially startled when hearing that Li Yu wanted to go into Wanfu City to spar with the Boundless Prodigies, who were all at least demigod-level powerhouses.

Are you kidding me?

How could his own opportunity for advancement be so recklessly thrown away at his own doorstep?

It wasn't until Li Yu revealed his legendary-level strength to the Zuo Ci puppet, and even proactively leaked some powerful divine abilities to prove that he had the power to protect himself even if he couldn't defeat those Boundless Prodigies.

At the same time, he explained his cultivation method: fooling the strong and collecting secret techniques to advance.

The current Wanfu City is an excellent place for cultivation.

To give the Zuo Ci puppet a "sweetener," Li Yu directly used his ability to let the puppet clearly feel that his own realm had increased.

That was, of course, an illusory delusion, but it felt incredibly real.

This left the Zuo Ci puppet feeling both shocked and delighted.

Not only did he agree to Li Yu’s request, but he also sent a significant gift.

"This strange object is called [Heavenly Evolution of Truth]. It is a treasure from my City Lord’s Mansion treasury; it was not easy for me to exchange for it."

"It carries a portion of my Lord’s authority within it and can turn stories into reality, even if the story is absurd and unreasonable."

"However, the more logical the story, the smoother the realization will be."

"Take this item into the city, and you will have one more means of saving your life."

"But this item is not without side effects and costs. The higher the intensity of the interference with reality, the greater the cost. It is very likely that the user will drop dead before the story they wrote even happens."

"Additionally, after using it more than three times, every subsequent use will cause it to uncontrollably add some unprovoked 'private goods' into the story, making the user experience some accidents, and these accidents will become increasingly severe until they lose their life."

Along with these words appeared a treasure that the Zuo Ci puppet had quickly sent over.

An antique, exquisitely crafted writing brush.

Li Yu hadn't expected such an unexpected joy.

With his discerning eye, he naturally saw that the strange object hanging before him was of a very high grade.

"It clearly carries some narrative authority and possesses the power to distort reality."

"Even if a mortal obtained this item, they could write a story of opportunity and adventure for themselves, allowing them to leap into becoming a powerful transcendent."

"Of course, the price is something that mortal could absolutely not afford."

"But for me to use it, it is just right."

"I don't need this item to interfere with reality at a high intensity; I only need to arrange some logical scenarios that allow those Boundless Prodigies to quietly swallow the bait I’ve left."

"Simply perfect."

"Zuo Ci, what a good person."

With this thought, Li Yu accepted the Heavenly Evolution Brush and went straight into Wanfu City.

After a long time, his first impression upon returning to Wanfu City was one of strangeness.

This was not surprising at all, as Wanfu City could be said to have been demolished and rebuilt once.

His second impression was chaos!

Anyone who enters will automatically look up at the sky, where the arena is being built and brewed using various divine artifacts—the great divine artifact called the Gate of All Worlds.

Afterward, one would be attracted by the "Boundless Prodigies" one by one.

Even though their strength was mostly sealed for the time being, they still displayed a pressure and aura that the prodigies of the past city could not compare to.

Even in their outward appearance, they seemed like gods, impossible to look at directly.

Yet, to the citizens of Wanfu City, these god-like existences were all nightmares.

The descriptions and characterizations from the star clusters earlier had now all turned into highly impactful reality. Even though Li Yu knew that few of the Wanfu City citizens were normal and most were perverts, he was still shocked.

But soon, he fell into a dilemma.

There were too many big fish that made him drool; which one should he choose to start with? What he wanted most, naturally, were the most tempting demigod-level prodigies like "Morning Star" and "Daoist Yang."

Taking down one would be a huge harvest.

The True Monarch of Bait-Eating sequence would also become more complete.

However, for the sake of caution, Li Yu carefully selected his first target fish:

It was a half-human, half-bird being. Its appearance was like a combination of a naked human woman and a bird; the feathers were incomparably gorgeous, the head was that of a bewitching woman, and key parts of the chest, abdomen, and lower body were embedded with feathers shimmering with seven-colored light.

Just looking at the exterior, it was exceptionally seductive and seemed to have no great threat.

But Li Yu could clearly feel the cold, fierce Qi within this prodigy from an unknown plane or universe; once exposed, it would likely be an extremely brutal demon.

And she was already the weakest among the group of Boundless Prodigies.

Below demigod level, just a bit above legendary level.

The basic information related to her floated into Li Yu’s mind:

"Colored Feather Demon!"

"She comes from a special world called the Hundred Bird Star. That world is completely ruled by various avian races. Apart from the avian races, all other races are blood-food and rations, with no status to speak of."

"This Colored Feather Demon is a powerful prodigy who fought her way out of the major avian tribes and is highly favored by the True God [God of a Hundred Birds]."

A few short sentences explained her origin.

Compared to the likes of Daoist Yang.

This bird demon was considered weak.

Although her realm was above Li Yu’s, it was now mostly sealed.

Li Yu was confident that even in a head-on fight, he could win.

Of course, that would be winning unfairly.

The most critical point is that it does not align with Li Yu's interests.

He is here to fish!

And the target must be a Child of the World.

"If there are no accidents, this [Colored Feather Bird Demon] must be a Child of the World."

"She was lured here by the Ancient Saint under the instructions of the God of One Hundred Birds behind her."

"As for the target she is aiming at?"

"Apart from the Earth Mother and the Spirit-Responding Primordial Sovereign, there is no second possibility."

Li Yu silently filled in the remaining information while using his perception and deductions.

At the same time, he directly called out to the Demon Star Order in his heart and soul, demanding it list exotic bait items that could form a fatal temptation for the Colored Feather Demon.

With a full four million merit points, the time had finally come to squander and spend.

Perhaps because the first target Li Yu chose was the weakest, there were quite a few bait options available.

Page after page appeared, truly a dazzling array.

And among them, there were even a few he was familiar with.

For example, the Bug of Light, and the [Heavenly Maiden Beast] that the Bug of Light evolves into.

If he hadn't finished reading the description.

Li Yu would not have been able to imagine it.

As a "Chosen of the Hundred Birds," the Colored Feather Bird Demon possesses extremely powerful dual-cultivation-style divine abilities, and she is indiscriminate regarding gender, taking both men and women.

If she were to dual-cultivate with a Heavenly Maiden Beast, she could increase her cultivation base significantly.

Li Yu was already curious about how much the Heavenly Maiden Beast of this world differed from the one in his childhood memories from his past life, and now he had even more desire to redeem one.

The only obstacle was that it was not easy to arrange.

"I must first redeem a Heavenly Maiden Beast, then refine it into my bait, add ingredients to it, and then let that Colored Feather Demon perform dual-cultivation... although with the help of 'Heavenly Evolution Manifesting Truth,' I can make it as reasonable as possible to dispel the bird demon's suspicions."

"But the process is still too complicated."

"How about I go myself?"

Who could have guessed that Li Yu would change his tune so abruptly.

And what gave him this idea was an exotic bait item before his eyes:

"Essence of Phoenix!"

"This is a special exotic item in the Boundless Spirit Realm that appears randomly anywhere, including inside the bodies of some living beings, or even within their souls."

"There are many theories about its origin, the most credible being: there was once an extremely powerful divine entity called [Phoenix] who fell for unknown reasons, and after its death, it left behind a large number of divine objects and exotic items; the Essence of Phoenix is precisely one of them."

"This exotic item contains a portion of Phoenix divinity and is a supreme opportunity for all avian creatures."

"As a devotee of the God of One Hundred Birds, the Colored Feather Demon absolutely cannot resist the temptation of the Essence of Phoenix."

"Whether she consumes it herself or sacrifices it to the [God of One Hundred Birds], she can obtain huge benefits."

"Redemption price: varies depending on the concentration of the internal divine Qi, 100,000 merit points for the lowest quality, and so on... the maximum limit requires ten million merit points."

After reading this information, it is enough to guess what Li Yu wants to do.

That's right!

He intends to redeem a piece of Essence of Phoenix, eat it himself, and then pretend to be a human male carrying Phoenix bloodline.

When the Colored Feather Demon sees him, how could she resist? She will definitely dual-cultivate with him, Li Yu.

And as a True Lord of Bait who possesses the "Vortex God Bloodline."

Let alone a mere devotee of the God of One Hundred Birds.

Even if a devotee of an Evil God who specializes in this path were to take the field, they would be unable to extract even a single wisp of essence from Li Yu's body.

On the contrary, it would be more likely for him to dual-cultivate with them.

"This has only just begun, it's better to spend sparingly."

"Demon Star, redeem one lowest-grade Essence of Phoenix."

As Li Yu's thought fell.

The merit points column was quite unobtrusively deducted by 100,000 merit points.

And in Li Yu's hand, there appeared a drop of essence blood that was entirely fiery red and possessed an unimaginably high temperature.

Time was tight and could not be delayed.

Li Yu swallowed it directly into his abdomen; after all, it was a drop of essence blood from a powerful divine entity, and very likely a Sovereign-level deity.

Even though the concentration was very low, at this moment it still made the blood in Li Yu's body boil, and some obvious changes appeared on his skin, such as fiery red hair, Phoenix patterns, and so on.

This meant he briefly possessed the Phoenix bloodline.

For avian creatures, whether they are ordinary beings, transcendents, or even deities, it has a very strong attraction.

To accelerate success!

Li Yu directly picked up the Heavenly Evolution Manifesting Truth brush, exhaled a breath of Qi, added longevity as a catalyst, and wrote a very short story in the void:

"While the devotee of the God of One Hundred Birds, the [Colored Feather Demon], was playing in the city, she accidentally discovered a human male with Phoenix bloodline, immediately grabbed him into her temporary nest, and performed the act of dual-cultivation..."

The fewer the words, the fewer the flaws.

And the cost would be smaller.

The most critical point is that the logic of this little story is impeccable.

Almost within a few breaths after Li Yu finished writing and the characters dissipated, this narrative power took effect.

(End of chapter)