Chapter 45: Decrypting the Truth

Sui State, Corpse City.

Li Yu was using a combination of Spirit Foot Pills, Flame Burst Pills, and pill fire to kite the immortal medicine corpses, harvesting them one by one, while occasionally taking time to eat a Hundred-Flavor Meatball to replenish his Qi and blood.

With ease and grace, his accumulated merit points had already swelled past one hundred, which made him unable to help but fantasize about the harvest after this Strange Domain mission ended.

"Although this is my first time entering a Strange Domain, I haven't been able to find any secrets related to the [Spirit Venerable Path]."

"But not being erased, and having merit points coming in, I should be content."

"More than a hundred points should be able to exchange for quite a few things, right?"

"Strange objects, secret medicine formulas, weapons... or exchanging for some items that can help Hongdou recover."

As he thought this, he was completely unaware of some strange changes occurring within the city.

The imperial palace, completely shrouded in poisonous mist, seemed to be disturbed because Wen Feifeng and Shang Yang had broken in.

An invisible, fragrant breeze suddenly blew out.

In a fleeting glimpse, a graceful, tall, and voluptuous figure appeared in the wind.

Wherever the fragrant breeze passed, the zombies throughout the city began to die; they withered in unison, their bones crashing down.

In a very short time, all the zombies were dead, and the originally noisy Corpse City suddenly became as silent as death.

And Li Yu, at this very moment, realized something was wrong.

He had habitually harvested the last prince medicine corpse, incinerated it with a mouthful of pill fire, and as the spirit root light spots surged into his body, he was about to turn to look at the imperial palace area when he suddenly saw the bones piled up everywhere.

The medicinal fragrance permeating the capital became incomparably thick, all gathering behind... Li Yu.

"Hmm?"

"What the hell is this?"

A star of ill omen seemed to flicker in his mind, and Li Yu's reaction was fast to the extreme; while his upper and lower teeth collided and pill fire smoke rolled out, he quickly dug a Compassion Pill from his sleeve to stuff into his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Three pairs of snow-white, jade-like palms reached over from behind; one covered his mouth to prevent the pill fire from erupting, one pair covered his eyes, and the remaining palms stroked his body, actually triggering Li Yu's inner desires with ease, causing a strange reaction.

At the same time, a strange and soft sensation arose on his back; was he trapped in the embrace of a voluptuous woman?

Beside his ear, a gentle, seductive voice that hit his preferences perfectly rang out: "Don't resist, I can make you ascend to immortality; let's practice dual cultivation together."

Then, the next moment, every inch of skin on Li Yu's body from top to bottom felt a special sensation.

As if being kissed and bitten by countless moist lips, his body was, after all, that of a hot-blooded youth, and it naturally had instinctive reactions; soon, he felt a sense of pleasure more wonderful than ascending to immortality, surging up like a tide.

Li Yu considered himself a person with a lot of imagination, but he could not imagine what kind of situation he was currently in.

He only knew that along with the pleasure came fear.

Because he realized he was being "sucked dry."

The strength of a Pill Disciple's body was far greater than that of a mortal, but with the kisses of those countless moist lips, the Qi and blood in his body poured out like a floodgate opening.

Although this feeling was truly insignificant compared to the pleasure.

Yet Li Yu perceived it keenly and fell into a rage.

"What kind of shitty thing is this? Do you know how hard it was to trade for this Pill Disciple body, this body of Qi and blood, and this life?"

"You want to harvest me without even showing your face? Keep dreaming."

Before this thought had even finished, Li Yu, completely disregarding that the un-erupted pill fire would burn himself, desperately opened his mouth, his lips splitting and bleeding; then, with a crunch, as he bit off a piece of the other's flesh, the unprecedentedly intense pill fire erupted.

Sure enough, with a scream, all the arms were retracted, and Li Yu took the opportunity to break free.

But he did not turn around to fight that strange thing; instead, he fled forward while forcibly twisting his head, pill fire churning in his mouth to prevent another sneak attack.

It was also at this moment that he saw what the thing was.

Its lower body was shockingly a giant exotic flower, with incomparably gorgeous and thick-scented petals, and flower feet formed by several tangled vines and flowers.

And her upper body was a beautiful, dignified woman wearing a phoenix crown; other than a luxurious phoenix robe, there was no other clothing on her, so naturally, those ravines and other things were generously left for Li Yu to behold.

But at this moment, there was not a trace of desire left in his body.

What remained was only a kind of horrific disgust.

Because under this woman's ribs, there were actually four extra arms, and from her back, vines protruded, each with an enchanting flower at the tip; in the middle of the petals, there were tongues, teeth, and other things, and it could even secrete saliva, dripping out in threads.

Li Yu suddenly realized what it was that had kissed his whole body earlier.

"I f***..."

Unable to hold back, Li Yu was already cursing in his heart.

In his mind, a prompt from the Demon Star Order suddenly arrived:

"Congratulations to the Order Master with the code name 'Calamity Star' for triggering the side mission again: Collect Spirit Demons."

"Discovered [Immortal Spirit Demon], this is a flower demon grown after a spirit root sprouted, it is a pistil."

"Recovering it will grant one hundred merit points."

"Congratulations to the Order Master with the code name 'Calamity Star' for triggering the side mission: Decrypt the Truth."

"The pistil spirit demon knows the truth about the corpse of the Penglai Female Immortal and the destruction of the Sui State; if it can be uncovered, one hundred merit points can be obtained."

"Two consecutive side missions?"

"Phoenix crown and phoenix robe, a pistil; could this thing be the Empress of the Sui State?"

"Not staying in the imperial palace to help her husband guard the corpse of the Penglai Female Immortal, why did she run out alone to ambush me?"

Although he had triggered side missions again, and two at once, Li Yu showed no joy on his face.

He had just recovered from his shock and quickly saw his own arms, covered in kiss marks and as thin as sticks.

Needless to say, his entire body was in this ghostly state.

If there were a mirror right now, Li Yu would see his body as if he had been battling on a bed for ten days and ten nights.

Taking advantage of the fact that the terrifying "Pistil Empress" in front of him hadn't chased him down, Li Yu, ignoring the risk of overeating, grabbed the yellow-skinned gourd and, regardless of the blood spraying, tore his mouth to his earlobes, opened his blood-filled maw, and tilted his head back to pour the meatballs inside.

One by one, the Hundred-Flavor Meatballs tumbled down, and in the blink of an eye, his belly was rounded.

Under the coordination of the "Ingestion" technique, they were quickly digested.

Before long, he returned to his normal physique.

Although his movements were fast, they were by no means fast enough to prevent the nearby Pistil Spirit Demon from attacking.

She did not move, however, but stayed in place, staring straight at Li Yu with a gaze that seemed to have found something she cherished.

Just as he was puzzled in his heart, he suddenly felt something in his body.

It was that when he broke free earlier, he had bitten off a piece of flesh from her palm; although he spat it out immediately, some blood remained, and in his haste to heal, he hadn't dealt with it, so he ate it along with all the Hundred-Flavor Meatballs.

Until the Hundred-Flavor was fully digested, the "taste" of this blood slowly emerged.

"Hmm?"

"Milky scent... intense unsatisfied desire... longing for freedom?"

Li Yu felt as if he wasn't eating blood, but the other's heart and emotions. But thinking about it, if the essence of this Sui State Empress had already turned into a pistil, it was normal for him to taste these pheromones.

As he tasted the other, this Empress suddenly swayed her "pistil flower body" and spoke:

"Outsider, I presume you have already guessed my identity."

"That's right, I am the Empress of this state."

"I can spare your life, but you must promise me one thing."

"If you can do it, not only will you not die, but you will also receive great benefits."

"What thing?"

After tasting those pheromones, Li Yu was not at all surprised that this Pistil Empress had intelligence and asked directly.

At the same time, in his mind, he began to consider what to do next.

Whether to flee or to kill.

=9+Shu_ba

Before he could make a decision, an answer that left him speechless came:

"I will teach you the 'Penglai Bedchamber Arts,' as long as you can make me conceive and give birth to a child with intelligence."

"I can then parasitize the child's body and leave with you."

Although the Sui State Empress's voice was seductive and gentle, these two sentences still made Li Yu feel it was absurd.

I came to clear a dungeon, but the dungeon boss wants me to help her have a baby.

But thinking that this is a crazy, strange world, nothing is surprising.

So he took a few steps back and asked again:

"Why me?"

"I turned into this ghost, trapped here for many years, and have negotiated with some outsiders, but they were all useless; for various reasons, they couldn't make me conceive and couldn't take me away."

"But you are very different; through the children, I feel an aura on you similar to that of the [Penglai Female Immortal], that is the scent of pills and medicine; perhaps you really can take me away."

"If you succeed, I will not only teach you the Penglai Bedchamber Arts, I can give you all my secret techniques, and even I... will be yours."

"Believe me, there is no one in this world who can make one feel more pleasure than my spirit demon body."

As the Sui State Empress spoke, her four arms slowly parted the extremely gorgeous petals below her waist.

Li Yu once again grinned and retreated silently for a few steps.

At this point, he had guessed that those one hundred immortal medicine corpses dressed as princes and princesses were most likely born of the Empress before him.

Although they had no intelligence, they could serve as her eyes and ears outside.

So that was how she could detect Li Yu's "specialness," and why she snuck out when Wen Feifeng, Shang Yang, and others went to attack the palace, intending to elope with him?

From the perspective of the Sui State Empress!

This was, perhaps, a golden opportunity bestowed upon her by the heavens.

With this thought, Li Yu seemed to have a plan forming in his mind, and he asked again:

"The Penglai Female Immortal?"

"I heard it was her corpse that caused the fall of your Sui Kingdom."

"Could it be that the Penglai secret arts you possess came from her?"

Seeing that the outsider before her was changing the subject and stalling for time, the Empress was quite displeased.

Yet, she was unwilling to easily burn bridges and lose everything, so she suppressed her impatience, gave a cold laugh, and explained:

"Hah, what does the fall of the Sui Kingdom have to do with that female corpse? It was clearly the work of that dim-witted monarch."

"Back then, when she was presented as an auspicious omen, there was spirit within her corpse. She appeared in the dreams of my husband and me, secretly teaching us a scroll of Penglai secret arts, and demanded that we bury her remains, letting dust return to dust and earth to earth."

"But that dim-witted monarch, having gained the benefit, was overcome by lust. Not only did he refuse to comply, but he also secretly communicated with an evil god known as [Kind Father], requesting the evil god to cast a spell to bring the female immortal's corpse back to life so she could become his new Empress."

"Unfortunately, on the night it was about to be accomplished, a massive amount of poisonous mist and medicinal clouds leaked from the female corpse's remains, intending to poison him to death... To save his own life, that dim-witted monarch offered everything to the evil god, but who would have thought the evil god's solution was to spread the poisonous mist, forcing all the commoners in the capital to be buried with her."

As the Empress finished speaking, a new notification sound immediately rang out in Li Yu's mind.

"Congratulations to the Order Master with the codename Disaster Star for completing the side quest: Decipher the Truth."

"One hundred merit points have been obtained."

Before he could show his joy, the Empress ahead suddenly moved like a ghost, swaying her floral body as she lunged toward Li Yu.

With this movement, the beauty of her chest was exposed without reservation.

And she said quite urgently:

"Enough!"

"Hurry and dual cultivate with me. If we delay any longer, I fear that dim-witted monarch will have already killed both groups of invaders, and then there will be no chance left."

In all fairness, although this Sui Kingdom Empress's floral body was a bit terrifying, her allure was indeed not insignificant.

Especially for those with particular tastes, she was simply top-tier.

Within the territory of Wanfu City!

If she were to appear, she could absolutely become a top-tier courtesan.

Unfortunately, Li Yu did not admit to being that kind of person.

He directly spoke to stop her, providing an extremely legitimate reason:

"No!"

"My lady, you may not know this, but even if I were to submit to you, I would be unable to take you away."

"We invaders all come with missions; either one side's faction must be completely wiped out, or someone must seize the [Corpse of the Penglai Female Immortal], otherwise none of us can leave this place."

When Li Yu said the final sentence, a thick sense of resentment could not help but appear on his face.

What he said was truly the rules of the Demon Star Order and the Samsara Heavenly Net.

At least, that was the case for the novice dungeon.

There were two main quests, and only by completing one would it end.

If not for this, Li Yu would have intended to return right now.

It was unclear whether this Sui Kingdom Empress was a bit naive from being imprisoned in the strange realm for too long, or if she could determine whether Li Yu was lying through things like pheromones.

Upon hearing this, she actually stopped, frowned, and said:

"Is that truly the reason?"

"No wonder those invaders in the past would desperately charge into the imperial palace to snatch that female corpse... Every time they seemed on the verge of failing the snatch, they would suddenly turn on each other and kill, and those who luckily survived would inexplicably disappear."

"However, this is easy to handle; those two groups of invaders will soon be slaughtered by that dim-witted monarch."

"While he is busy with the slaughter, we can just happen to do our business here. Since there is some distance, you can be as fast or as slow as you like, and it will be convenient for you to take me away then."

Seeing the Sui Kingdom Empress find a logical loophole in Li Yu's words in the blink of an eye and once again open her floral petals to extend an invitation to him,

Li Yu withdrew the thought of her being naive and immediately gave a rebuttal:

"My lady, the mission is not calculated that way."

"I must either kill someone from the opposing faction or snatch the female corpse."

"If I do neither, not only will I be unable to leave, but I will also be erased afterward."

"The best plan now is for you to take me into the imperial palace, and while they are busy fighting, help me steal that female corpse..."

Only one four-thousand-character update today; tomorrow will be two updates as usual.

(End of chapter)