Chapter 407: Number One in Popularity Surge?

When Li Yu’s thoughts reached this point, he already had a plan: he wanted to keep that Resurrection Card in his possession.

When it comes to life-saving items, the more, the better.

Although, as of now, if Li Yu were to carefully count his life-saving trump cards, there are as many as seven or eight types.

For instance, the True Soul Body can still be released twice.

The "Secret History of All Spirits" and the "Spirit Venerable Doll" gifted by the Spirit Venerable can also count as two.

The Toad God and the Buddha Mother have both promised that he can summon their avatars to descend once at any time.

Even the promise given by that "Blue Ring Daoist" can be included; after all, although he is only a demigod, he can summon countless "Secret Lords," with combat power comparable to the Sovereign level.

If one adds the authority of the Demon Star Token, his friendship with the Master of the Furnace and the Buddha, and his ability to shamelessly sponge off the power of the [Earth Mother]... and other miscellaneous means.

It would be no exaggeration to say he has over ten life-saving methods.

However, even so, Li Yu still does not feel secure.

If he can add a few more, he will try his best to do so.

The Boundless Spirit Realm is simply too dangerous.

"Not to mention anything else, in the upcoming [Third Stage] of the battle royale mode, I will have to face the pursuit of an avatar projection of the Ancient Saint."

"Since the venue is within the Gate of All Worlds, means such as calling the Blue Ring Daoist, the Furnace, and the Buddha, I fear, will be unusable."

"Therefore, this Resurrection Card might not necessarily be kept; let us see how the situation unfolds."

"Furthermore, given my current penchant for mischief, if I don't hoard more life-saving means, I fear I will sooner or later die from my own recklessness."

"If I can reach the level of the Spirit Venerable and the Toad God sooner, then no matter how I pry into secrets or join in the fun, I will have nothing to worry about."

Li Yu reflected on himself in this manner.

Meanwhile, he continued to digest that so-called Sage.

Takros!

Li Yu had no interest in this fellow’s genes or divinity; they were all inferior goods.

What truly concerned Li Yu was that portion of the Ancient Saint’s inheritance, and more importantly, the [World Coordinates].

Normally, Li Yu could not easily obtain either of these.

Because even if Takros were dead, these "fundamental secrets" would remain in a sealed state.

Only if the source—the Ancient Saint—gave the nod would he have the opportunity to devour them.

What True God would open up their inheritance after the other party killed their beloved follower?

This time, there actually was one.

As Li Yu’s heart and soul immersed themselves, an extremely vast and alluring inheritance surged over, and along with it, waves of intense divine origin.

Without any reservation!

It was baffling.

But the next moment, Li Yu understood exactly what the Ancient Saint intended.

Because within this generous "bestowal," there was hidden a price he could not afford to pay.

"The Ancient Saint is playing an open scheme."

"He considers his status higher than the [Vortex God], so he is sending Takros, along with his divine origin, to me in their entirety to devour... As long as I am willing, I can seize them and directly ascend to the demigod level."

"The price is that the power within my body will no longer be pure."

"I will possess the power of both the Ancient Saint and the Vortex God as divine entities, which is to say... a dual divine choice."

"But once I leave the Gate of All Worlds, without the cover of narrative authority and the space-time barrier, I will be forced to make a choice. At that time, because I have the Ancient Saint’s divinity as a medium within me, he could even make the choice for me. After all, the Vortex God is almost completely countered by the Ancient Saint."

"In other words!"

"Is this old thing targeting me?"

"He thinks that in terms of life proliferation, transformation, and evolution, I have talent far exceeding that of Takros."

"So he wants to snatch me away from the Vortex God, change my allegiance, and make me the new Ancient Saint’s divine choice?"

"That is a well-calculated plan."

Li Yu blinked and saw through the Ancient Saint’s thoughts.

Immediately, he accepted everything.

If he were truly just a simple Vortex God divine choice, or a follower of another deity, he would not hesitate to refuse this gift and only take the superficial benefits, such as the three divine artifacts.

Unfortunately, Li Yu is not.

More importantly, he is not afraid of any divine corruption at all.

Once this portion of "Ancient Saint Origin" enters the body, most demigods cannot resist it; even if they can suppress it temporarily, they will gradually be corrupted by it and inevitably develop disloyalty toward their main god.

Only Li Yu is least afraid of this tactic.

Not to mention that his soul is immune to all distortion and corruption.

Just speaking of that so-called disloyalty.

Li Yu is rebellious all day long, and his thoughts are all about how he could replace them; isn't that a hundred times more serious than developing disloyalty?

Thus, at this moment, Li Yu began to unceremoniously eat the "sugar coating" and toss the cannonball aside.

"Hahaha... the more, the better."

"I am already looking forward to the [Third Stage], when this old thing’s avatar projection comes in to hunt me down, thinking he can harvest a new, more talented Ancient Saint divine choice, only to find he has gained nothing."

"It will surely be spectacular."

With such self-destructive thoughts.

Li Yu instantly refined this portion of the Ancient Saint’s inheritance, then blinked, a strange look appearing on his face.

He and the Ancient Saint’s faction could be called mortal enemies.

Yet, one after another, the Ancient Saint’s divine choices and followers are like gift-giving boys, rushing to deliver benefits.

Now, the means he possesses are more than enough to even impersonate a "Son of the Ancient Saint."

Just as he was mocking this!

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something; his expression shifted, and a hint of joy emerged.

"Found it!"

"Sure enough, the Ancient Saint refined the [World Coordinates] into the deepest part of Takros’s soul, right within his true spirit origin."

"In this way, even if the Son of the World dies in the present world, it does not hinder him from activating the coordinates, guiding those world engines, and dragging planets and worlds over to smash into things."

"Now I have become a new Son of the World."

"The difference is, I know where the coordinates are, and I have the ability to control them."

In Li Yu’s heart, thoughts flickered, and he also tried hard not to laugh out loud.

Previously, he did not dare to be certain whether he was qualified to meddle in the fun of that final decisive battle.

Now he is certain!

He is.

If Li Yu were willing, he could even sway the outcome of the battlefield.

After all, most of the Sons of the World have already been hooked by Li Yu.

"I cannot yet exert powerful control over those [Sons of the World]... but if I let the bait threads within them grow and hatch a 'Void Li Yu,' and steal the world coordinates, turning to influence those world engines, these things do not seem difficult."

"The Ancient Saint wanted to snatch me from the Vortex God, so he opened the permissions and let me devour them, but he did not expect that I could ignore the corruption and only take the benefits, allowing me to glimpse the deepest secrets. Fate is truly mysterious; every drink and every peck is predestined."

When Li Yu realized all this.

He finally found the time to deal with the other spoils of war.

As for those minor items, he just threw them all into his storage pouch.

The only things that truly concerned Li Yu and brought him joy.

Were only four items!

The Philosopher’s Stone, the Cup of Corrupted Life, the Pseudo-Holy Scepter, and the most important Resurrection Card.

As for the divine divinity of the Wicked God and the ownerless plane given by the Master of the Curtain when he cleared the first stage, those would be settled after the dust settled on the grand competition.

The Resurrection Card belongs to the category of instant item rewards.

However, it is currently fixed above Li Yu’s head and is in a state of "uncertainty." Only when entering the third stage will this strange object collapse from a non-existent state into an observable and usable state due to narrative authority, so at this moment, he cannot use this item to pry into the authority of the Master of the Curtain.

Fortunately, the other three items gave Li Yu a great surprise, and he expressed his contempt for Takros in his heart, as he really did not know how to use good things, which could be called a waste of heavenly treasures.

The utility of just the first item, the [Philosopher’s Stone], made Li Yu ecstatic, and then he felt depressed:

"This item follows the iron law of 'equivalent exchange.' In other words, as long as one can pay the price, this treasure can realize any miracle, although for every additional time, the price increases exponentially."

"For example, saving a life!"

"Based on the principle of a life for a life, the price Takros paid to escape my control twice using it was the souls of everyone in his hometown, stored in the Holy Cup of Corrupted Life."

"If triggered a third time, the Philosopher’s Stone will shatter, and Takros will be severely injured and near death."

"It’s good that it left me one time—well, I should say half a time."

"As for the price?"

"I can just choose any one of the big fish I’ve hooked."

"It is truly a pity that such a precious life-saving item was wasted on Takros’s cheap life."

"But then again, if he hadn't abused it, relying only on the Vortex God divinity and the Space-Time Demon Compass, I really wouldn't have been able to deal with him."

"The Holy Cup of Corrupted Life is a wish-granting divine artifact."

"It also requires the consumption of large-scale sacrifices to activate, and the wishes granted will ultimately head toward dark distortion, often making the wisher suffer immensely, and in such repeated cycles of misfortune, the power of the Holy Cup will continue to grow."

"In other words, this thing is actually strengthening itself by fooling those who make wishes."

"If it weren't already confirmed to be a [Creation of the Ancient Saint], just looking at this behavior, one would think it was something cooked up by the Myriad Changes."

"So, the correct way to use it is actually... to resist the subtle corruption of the Holy Grail, and then make the opposite wish? Or deliberately make a wish to trap one's opponent?"

"Hmm?"

"Trying to escape?"

"Hahaha."

Li Yu’s two thoughts regarding how to use it were deliberately muttered aloud by him to ensure the artifact spirit of the Holy Grail of Corrupted Fate could perceive them.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the Holy Grail trembled frantically, wanting to flee.

Its movement naturally confirmed Li Yu’s guess completely.

The next moment!

Li Yu released the divinity of the Vortex God to charm and suppress it, while simultaneously striking at the heart of the artifact spirit:

"As expected, you aren't a divine artifact forged by the [Lord of Myriad Changes]; you are truly too stupid."

"If you were a Myriad Changes wonder, even if I spotted a loophole, the artifact spirit would choose to remain silent and wait for an opportunity to backstab me."

"Although the Ancient Saint is paranoid, twisted, perverted, and disgusting... he isn't as cunning as the Myriad Changes, and the wonders he forges are honest things."

"Therefore, even if I have seen through your loophole, you will still honestly execute my commands from now on."

"Right?"

When Li Yu spat out the last two words.

It was unclear whether the charm divinity had taken effect or the Holy Grail of Corrupted Fate had given up the struggle, but it no longer moved.

Most likely, it was the former.

Because Li Yu was frantically insulting and blaspheming the Ancient Saint; no matter how honest it was, it would have resisted otherwise.

The divinity of the Vortex God was indeed heaven-defying; even an artifact could be charmed just the same.

Satisfied, Li Yu put away the Holy Grail and grasped the scepter. As the basic information surfaced in his mind, a series of crafty operations involuntarily emerged:

"This pseudo-divine artifact has a large number of forbidden arts fixed within it by the [Ancient Saint], covering both offense and defense. In some worlds or planes dominated by magic, it could be called a top-tier divine artifact—a fully automatic super-turret with invincible firepower."

"This item also completely compensates for my lack of 'conventional attacks.' In future battles, if I hold this scepter and stand perfectly still, it will be enough to blast my opponents until they doubt their own existence."

"If I layer on my other divine abilities... tsk tsk, so what if they are demigods? I can fight them."

"Come to think of it, that old thing, the Ancient Saint, is a famously omnipotent master among the gods. He is all-encompassing, possessing every attribute, and has even successfully dabbled in the Dao of Machinery. It is said that in his divine kingdom, he has already bred related subsidiary gods."

"Gathering thousands of forbidden arts into one body—no wonder he is so arrogant, doing whatever he pleases."

"His influence is vast, and his foundation is deep."

"So this scepter has great utility. It can perfectly serve as the signature artifact of the Ancient Saint. If I want to impersonate an [Acolyte of the Ancient Saint] in the future, it couldn't be more convenient."

"Or, I could use the scepter to do some evil deeds, leave behind obvious evidence, and frame the Ancient Saint."

"Diverting disaster, sowing discord, borrowing power to bully others... there are too many things I can do."

As Li Yu’s thoughts flickered to the end, he almost laughed out loud.

It was fortunate that the Ancient Saint could not glimpse Li Yu’s thoughts, otherwise, he would be shocked and annoyed right now.

Of course, he also did not expect Li Yu to be able to hide so deeply, truly believing him to be the son of the Vortex God. Even now, he was still thinking of taking him as a disciple during the third round, so he had no reaction to the three divine artifacts falling into his hands.

If the Ancient Saint knew Li Yu’s true identity—a True Monarch of Baiting—

His reaction could be imagined.

Toward the Spirit Venerable and practitioners of the Spirit Venerable path, the Ancient Saint would only have one way of treating them: extreme vigilance, and hunting them to the death.

Obviously, the Ancient Saint and the Spirit Venerable were also a famously deadly combination of enemies.

Well, in this regard, the Spirit Venerable is compatible with everything.

When Li Yu finished summarizing and completely refined the three divine artifacts.

The second round!

Also entered its final stages.

Except for a few who were locked in bitter struggle, the winners and losers of most arenas had already been decided.

Although Li Yu could not see the specific details, he could determine the results through the popularity rankings.

And very quickly, he saw a situation that was very unfavorable to him:

"Daoist Yang, First Head of Corruption, Morning Star, Undying Blade... and the God of Slaughter, Martial Saint, King of Time-Stop, Lady Moon, and others—six of them have also advanced."

"Huh?"

"As of now, except for me, all the qualifiers are demigod-level powerhouses?"

"So when the third round of battle royale begins, besides facing the pursuit of an Ancient Saint avatar, I also have to compete with this group of brutal demigods."

"It looks exactly like a newbie stumbling into a high-end match; the odds of winning aren't high."

Just as he muttered this sentence.

Li Yu suddenly realized that his popularity ranking was surging again without any warning.

Previously in the top ten, it was now heading toward the top three, and even the first place.

(End of chapter)