Chapter 403: Kuabada! You've Been Tricked!

Seeing Ange instinctively sidestepped, letting the other's fist pass under his armpit, then seized the opportunity to clamp down, grabbing the opponent's wrist. Instead of retreating, he advanced, using the precision honed over a thousand years—hitting exactly where he aimed—to press the Pure Face Technique right onto the other's face.

Such a refined technique left Rock completely stunned. He thrust his elbow, but before he could exert force, he felt a push on his face; his entire body leaned backward, lost balance, and instantly became powerless.

When she finally stabilized herself by engaging her waist, she discovered the other's palm was still pressed against her face, with holy light enveloping her entire field of vision.

Her hands instinctively gripped the other's arm bones, and immediately a tremendous force surged forth. She was lifted entirely, like a bundle of straw tied into a ball, then thrown to the ground.

Uh, what happened? Where am I?

Rock remained stunned for quite a while before suddenly propping himself up, looking at Seeing Ange in shock.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si and Du Luo Ken were equally shocked. Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked within the soul: "Martial technique? Is this a martial technique? Kuabada, when did you learn such a refined martial technique?"

Seeing Ange tilted his head and said suspiciously, "No, moving straw."

"Pfft! You say such a refined martial technique is just a skill for moving straw?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si spat blood, but upon careful thought, it did look exactly like that: bundling the rice stalks after harvest, turning around, and tossing them onto the cart behind.

Seeing Ange nodded.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Who are you?! Those who can defeat my God-Striking Sword Saint are certainly not nameless people. Quickly state your names! Why did you ambush me!?" Rock's reaction was even stronger than being thrown to the ground; he suddenly jumped up and roared.

Defeating him was one thing, but making snide remarks, talking about skills for moving straw? Wasn't that insulting?

Du Luo Ken smiled and said, "Alright, alright. We haven't even settled the score for your offense against my lord. Look at your face again."

Prompted by Du Luo Ken, Rock suddenly remembered why the two sides had come into conflict. Was it because of the holy light?

Rock instinctively touched his own face while thinking suspiciously: Why doesn't the holy light hurt? It was clearly pressed against my face, so why can't I feel any pain?

When his fingers touched his face, there was a bouncy sensation.

Liches have no sense of touch, but this rebounding feeling upon pressing down could be felt even without tactile sensation.

Rock shockedly extended his consciousness onto his own face and saw a moist, tender, smooth, and Bai Xi face.

Rock was struck as if by lightning, frozen in place.

As a native undead creature, Rock originally had no feelings about appearance.

However, after prolonged contact with humans, especially those innocent and cute children who didn't know how to hide their emotions, seeing Rock would make them afraid and very resistant to contact with her, which caused Rock great distress.

After awakening the Soul Armor, Rock discovered that while children were still afraid of her when she wore the Soul Armor, once they became familiar, they were less resistant to contact with her; over time, they would even seek her out to play and even ride on her shoulders.

So Rock got used to wearing the Soul Armor. As time passed, many young people under a hundred years old in the town no longer remembered what she looked like without the Soul Armor.

With this subtle change, Rock's aesthetic gradually shifted toward the human direction; she also came to like fresh, white, and tender living things. Seeing her own face now, a thought involuntarily arose in her heart: This woman is truly beautiful...

Rock's thoughts were interrupted. Du Luo Ken said, "Do you see? This isn't holy light, right? Don't mistake Bai Guang for holy light and make a fuss. Only my master's strength is formidable enough; otherwise, you would have been injured. Regarding your offense, we feel very angry."

"It... it is indeed not holy light. I misunderstood. I apologize sincerely." Rock, both agitated and excited, offered a sincere apology.

Du Luo Ken wouldn't accept that. With deep meaning, he said, "You offended someone here, and you think an apology is enough? No compensation or anything like that?"

"Ah!? Yes, yes, yes, compensation, compensation." Rock called a maid, and within moments, a pile of specialty products was brought out.

Rock smiled apologetically and said, "These lake snow juice and dried goods are all specialties of this town. A small token of our appreciation; we hope the honored guests won't disdain them."

Du Luo Ken rolled his eyes and gave up. He realized he and this Rock were not on the same frequency; she was completely out of touch.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si also noticed a problem and couldn't help but speak up: "The secret method materials for activating oneself are very expensive. Mayor Rock, do you have money?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Rock took out her wallet and said, "I have six hundred Soul Crystals. Is that enough?" While asking, she puzzledly shifted her gaze to the Brass Book in Seeing Ange's hand.

The moment Rock took out her wallet, Lord Nai Ge Li Si knew the other party was a pauper. Such a bag, opened casually, showed no spatial fluctuations; even if full, it would hold only a few hundred Soul Crystals.

However, in Meishencheng, the full-body activation package for a lich started at three hundred thousand, and adding things like manicures and hair growth would push it up to five hundred thousand.

The exchange rate between Soul Crystals and Demon Crystals varied, generally between two to three times. Even at a one-to-three ratio, it would still require over a hundred thousand Soul Crystals, far more than this small bag could hold.

If there were only a few hundred Soul Crystals, then this mayor was poorer than Seeing Ange; Seeing Ange could casually pull out more than six hundred Soul Crystals.

It seemed Du Luo Ken's plan to deceive a mayor into paying for the construction of a teleportation array had gone bankrupt before it even began.

Thinking of this, Lord Nai Ge Li Si couldn't help but complain: "This little money of yours isn't even enough to pay for the activation of your face."

"This... is it this expensive? Six hundred Soul Crystals are enough to buy a year's worth of food for our entire town! Also, why does this book talk?" Rock finally couldn't help but ask.

Rock was a lich; the moment she spoke, Lord Nai Ge Li Si knew he couldn't hide it. Now that she had seen through him, he simply flew up and said:

"Because food is the cheapest thing in the world. It is not priced according to the wealthiest people, but according to the poorest; otherwise, the poorest would starve to death."

Rock looked blank. Although she didn't fully understand the meaning, she did understand the word 'poor'.

Seeing her expression, Lord Nai Ge Li Si knew saying more was futile, so he simply said directly: "Do you have any other assets or treasures? Full-body activation requires over a hundred thousand Soul Crystals. Even if we only charge the cost price, it would still be forty or fifty thousand, unless you can provide the materials yourself, in which case we would only charge a labor fee."

Upon hearing 'over a hundred thousand Soul Crystals', Rock's legs already went weak, showing signs of sliding to the ground. She had never in her life seen more than ten thousand Soul Crystals, but hearing 'forty or fifty thousand', this drop in price gave her a feeling of having found a bargain.

Regardless of whether she could afford it, seeing a forty or fifty percent discount made her feel as if she had earned a profit.

"Assets, assets, I thought of it. Can these things work? Come, I'll take you to see them. They're too big for me to carry out. I don't know how much they're worth." Rock said excitedly.

Her demeanor was exactly like that of the noble ladies in Meishencheng who had witnessed the beauty effects and were preparing to mortgage their husbands to get cosmetic treatments.

Following behind Rock, everyone walked deeper into the castle.

Walking inward, they discovered this castle was extremely large; it wasn't just built against the mountain, but the mountain itself had been hollowed out, containing a very large area inside.

"Only because you are undead creatures am I bringing you in." Reaching the deepest part, they arrived before an iron door. Rock took out a key to open the iron door, saying as she opened it:

"This is a place where gods once lived. If people found out, they would definitely come and cause chaos." Rock said.

"God Domain? Cause chaos?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said in surprise. He wasn't shocked that someone would come to cause chaos, but rather shocked that it would only be 'causing chaos'? Shouldn't it be 'plunder'?

A God Domain, yet this Rock's strength didn't seem capable of protecting a God Domain.

"Plunder? They dare not. This is my territory, and I have the certificate. Whoever dares to plunder my land, I'll just shout at the Undead Council, and immediately over a dozen Black Knights will come to help me kill people." Rock said with full confidence.

After Rock's explanation, everyone learned that all villages and cities in this world belonged to someone. Their owners had to be certified by the Undead Council; once confirmed, no one could take them away.

Whoever dared to invade another's territory would be met with the Undead Council upholding justice.

"Even undead creatures cannot plunder your territory?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"Of course not. The Undead Council governs all the deceased." Rock said.

"But is the Undead Council still in existence now? Shouldn't they have followed the King to attack the Star Explosion Formation in the sky?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

Everyone felt Rock, who was leading the way, stiffen all over, and her steps became unsteady.

Now that the high-ranking undead of the Undead Council have all gone with the Monarch to attack the Sorcerers' stronghold, who is left to uphold justice?

Realizing this, Locke's entire soul was burning with cold flames — what to do, what to do?

Seeing that he had startled the others, Lord Nai Ge quickly said, "Just kidding, just kidding. How could we possibly rob you? You're so poor."

Yeah, right. Locke's entire soul and body tensed up — three parts of his attention on leading the way, the remaining ninety-seven parts on guarding against Seeing Ange's group.

Going down all the way, they entered a flight of stairs, descending step by step, until finally arriving before a massive, heavy door.

This door was a full six meters wide and ten meters high, extraordinarily thick. Carved upon it were a shield, a sword thrust diagonally through it, and a pair of outstretched hands shielding them both.

"Is this the divine domain of the Goddess of War and Peace?" Lord Nai Ge asked.

But there wasn't much doubt in his tone — he had already made the connection upon entering. After all, Seeing Ange had just picked up the War God Seal; who else could it be but the Goddess of War and Peace?

Seeing Ange tilted his head. After entering this place, those scattered specks of faith all around had grown more and more numerous.

"Yes." Locke tried to push open the door, pushed once but it wouldn't budge. He turned back with an awkward laugh and said, "Haven't opened it in ages, probably rusted shut. Can't move it — come give me a hand."

Nai Ge Li Si walked to the door, wedged his Midas Touch Rod into the door seam, then gave a gentle push. With a creak, the door swung open easily, revealing an empty underground space within.

"When I was building God Fall Town, one day I accidentally dug through to here, and that's how I discovered this place. Later I just went with it and built a castle here, claiming the spot. But aside from a few statues, an altar, and some coins and gems, there's nothing of value." Locke led everyone into the underground space, pointing at the lonely statues and altar as he spoke.

Lord Nai Ge looked around and exclaimed, "Didn't you say there were coins and gems? Where?"

"Spent them long ago — how else would I have had the money to build God Fall Town? All that's left are the statues and altar. Are these things worth anything? Can they be traded for beauty materials?" Locke asked.

Lord Nai Ge really wanted to grow huge and slap her on the head — a few broken god statues and an altar of unknown function, and she actually thought they could be traded for a beauty package?

If they were really worth money, would this penniless lich not have found a way to sell them?

"Forget it, let's go. We'll have to think of another way." Lord Nai Ge turned and said to Nai Ge Li Si and Seeing Ange, but turning back, he discovered Seeing Ange staring intently at some corner.

Thump! Lord Nai Ge immediately realized Seeing Ange had discovered something, and quickly flew over to whisper, "Did you find something?"

Seeing Ange nodded. "Divine domain."

"Right, divine domain — this is the Goddess of War's divine domain," Lord Nai Ge replied.

Seeing Ange scratched his head, thought for a moment, then said, "Redemption, divine domain."

"What do you mean? You're saying there's a divine domain hidden here, just like the one at the Goddess of Redemption's place — separated from space, independent of this stretch of space?" Lord Nai Ge guessed aloud.

Seeing Ange nodded rapidly. Talking to Lord Nai Ge really saved effort.

"Hiss—" Lord Nai Ge shot a quick glance at Locke and found her face blank — she hadn't heard their conversation.

Could this guy really not have discovered the independent divine domain?

The Goddess of Redemption's divine domain had one side as natural environment and the other as divine domain, with a clear boundary between them. Essentially, this was a kind of spatial stacking, just like a farm barrier.

If a god hid their domain, it would be very hard for ordinary people to discover it.

"Can you open the divine domain?" Lord Nai Ge asked.

Seeing Ange nodded and patted his own chest. There, a godspark inscribed with the mark of the Goddess of War resided — as long as he walked over, that divine domain would naturally open.

Nai Ge Li Si, who had been listening, drew out his Midas Touch Rod and asked quietly, "So what do we do now? Kill to silence the witness and claim it for ourselves?"

"Ugh, what are you thinking? The principle of equivalent exchange — how could we just snatch someone else's stuff?" Lord Nai Ge scolded.

"But then again, she hasn't discovered this divine domain, so it's not hers. Whoever finds it, owns it. At most we'll give her a little guide fee." Lord Nai Ge said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Nai Ge Li Si immediately broke into an understanding smile.

Lord Nai Ge floated over and said amiably, "I've studied the things here, and they seem to have some value. How about this — let's buy up 'all' the things here." On the word "all," Lord Nai Ge put special emphasis.

Locke immediately agreed, saying, "Give me one full-body beauty treatment, and 'all' the things here will be yours." Locke also put special emphasis on the word "all."

"Good — all, the seen and the unseen, all belong to us. Swear a soul oath," Lord Nai Ge said.

"Fine, I swear!" Locke swore the soul oath, and Lord Nai Ge immediately swore a corresponding soul oath in turn.

The fire of the oath sank into both their bodies, and only then did Lord Nai Ge reiterate, "Alright, the oath is established. No matter what we find in here, you're not allowed to go back on it."

"I won't, I won't — how could a soul oath be broken? Even if you find other things in the hidden divine domain, I won't go back on it." Locke smiled slyly.

Dammit! Tricked!