Chapter 15: Valley Upheaval
Chapter 15: Valley Upheaval
Around one in the afternoon, the bright daylight that had lasted half an hour rapidly dimmed. A shadowy presence gathered from all directions, silently corroding Li Si’s body and soul despite his active Mind-cleansing Aura.
“Something feels off.”
Li Si didn’t dare look up at the sky, cautiously scanning his surroundings instead. Yesterday, without the Mind-cleansing Aura’s protection, he hadn’t felt this way. It was like the temperature had suddenly dropped ten degrees.
“Could it be related to the calamity the Old Madam mentioned?”
Li Si recalled Senior Sister Jiang’s vague warning earlier and decided it was highly possible.
But he’d already reached the base of Western Mountain. He had ample Magic Power, four Dao Techniques, and two portions of Gray Fortune in reserve. With this strength, running back scared would be unforgivable.
“Head north.”
Gritting his teeth, Li Si circled away from the mountain’s main path and walked north. Alien Trees covered Western Mountain, but he had no interest in them; their low profit made them hardly worth the effort.
At this stage, only gathering Anomalous Weeds was truly easy.
Western Mountain wasn’t large. A Northern Mountain stood opposite it, separated by a valley hundreds of meters wide. At a glance, the valley held no treacherous terrain or suspicious Evil Entitys.
Moreover, the soil here was visibly fertile, making it prime territory for Anomalous Weeds.
This valley, Li Si had noted long ago, was his ideal farming spot. He’d coveted it for ages.
His assessment proved spot-on. This valley was indeed a legendary spawn point for Anomalous Weeds—far more than at the base of Western Mountain.
Often, over a dozen Anomalous Weeds leapt to attack simultaneously. In less than a minute, the Evil-Warding Aura created by the Evil-Warding Talisman from Senior Sister Jiang shattered, having only managed to kill 34 weak Anomalous Weeds.
Finally, Li Si switched to his self-cast Evil-Warding Aura. Instantly stronger, it lasted nearly ten minutes, slaying a whole 458 Anomalous Weeds before collapsing.
With the Alienation Contamination Degree only accumulating by 0.229%, the payoff was fantastic.
After recasting the Evil-Warding Aura, Li Si swiftly refined Gray Firewood into Gray Fortune. He now held seven portions of Gray Fortune. Keeping one portion always in reserve and another to exchange for Magic Power, he had five portions free to use.
After brief thought, he invested all five in strengthening the Dao Technique Heart Cleansing Curse. Ever since learning the true skill levels of Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and Jiang Ying, Li Si had resolved to maximize his four Dao Techniques: full power at six times strength plus a special effect.
That meant spending seven portions of Gray Fortune for seven upgrades.
Next, Li Si continued moving north through the valley, harvesting the abundant Anomalous Weeds like the free experience they were.
Another ten minutes passed. He’d ventured nearly a mile deep but reaped good rewards. Two portions of Gray Fortune were refined as his second Evil-Warding Aura shattered after killing 439 Anomalous Weeds.
He immediately spent this: two portions maxed out the Heart Cleansing Curse, two upgraded Iron Prison Discipline.
The double-upgraded Iron Prison Discipline didn’t show much improvement yet, but the maxed Heart Cleansing Curse felt explosively powerful.
—
Heart Cleansing Curse: Requires 180 Magic Power to cast. Effective range: 100 meters. Can be cast on self or allies. Grants Mind-cleansing Aura. For two hours, effectively thwarts encroachment of evil/demonic energy. Effect: Basic Barrier Defense + 600% extra barrier defense.
Simultaneously forms Steadfast Mountain Seal. Automatically activates. For three seconds, grants immunity to all forms of control, illusion, interruption, and possession attempts from entities up to two realms higher.
If used on an Evil Entity, causes target to briefly lose attack capability. The Steadfast Mountain Seal forms a Steadfast Mountain Aura around the target. For three seconds, all ally attacks have 100% hit chance on the target and deal 500% extra damage.
—
“Holy—!”
An expression of disbelief escaped Li Si. Clearly, the Heart Cleansing Curse had a higher quality than the Demon Slaying Thorn or Evil-Warding Curse.
Without hesitation, he recast the Heart Cleansing Curse on himself. This maxed version differed instantly. Li Si’s mind cleared sharply; the dim world seemed twice as bright.
It wasn’t actually brighter, just the aura enhancing his senses. His thoughts became faster, sharper, more precise. He could even vividly recall the exact route he’d taken over the last twenty minutes and every detail he’d seen along the way.
Calling this awesome wasn’t enough; it was like Awesome Plus!
But after the initial awe faded, Li Si sensed something wrong. His senses were hyper-alert now, yet moments before, he’d felt nothing amiss.
However, he didn’t stop immediately. Maintaining his rhythm, he recast his Evil-Warding Aura and continued deeper into the valley, gathering Anomalous Weeds.
Only moments later, out of the corner of his eye, the mountain ridges flanking the valley appeared to undulate suddenly. They looked endless at first glance. With his sharpened perception, he instantly recognized them – he’d seen them before.
Darn, had I walked into a ghost wall?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he saw the mountains on his left squirm like giant steamed buns. Focusing hard, everything seemed normal again.
Except the temperature dropped another notch.
Li Si stayed calm, pretending ignorance as he cleared more Anomalous Weeds. It wasn’t courage or strategy; he needed to collect more Gray Firewood to refine Gray Fortune. He knew he’s caught. Turning back was useless. Better play along while gathering as much Fortune as possible for a fight.
The sky darkened unnaturally quick. Dark Mist seemed to creep in the distance, though barely ten minutes had passed. Li Si succeeded in gathering five hundred Gray Firewood – a bounty owed entirely to the valley’s dense Anomalous Weeds! They treated him like kin!
Expressionless, Li Si rapidly refined all five portions of Gray Fortune. Without pause, he maximized the Dao Technique Iron Prison Discipline.
—
Iron Prison Discipline: Requires 180 Magic Power to cast. Effective range: 100 meters. Cast on a hostile target to form an Imprisoning Iron Prison. Duration: 18 days maximum, 3 seconds minimum, depending on target’s strength.
Simultaneously forms a single Purgatory Flame, controllable by caster. Subjects the imprisoned target to a 3-second Purgatory Trial. Result determined by target’s strength:
Judgment One: Utter Incineration (Body & Soul).
Judgment Two: Crippling Injury.
Judgment Three: Seal the target’s most potent ability for one incense stick’s worth of time.
—
“Incredible power!”
Li Si’s eyes swept the maximized Iron Prison Discipline’s effects. Confidence surged. Without another thought, he spun and ran – no need for pretense anymore.
After only few steps, Li Si froze. This wasn’t the path back to the village.
Looking back, the way home lay behind him.
For that single instant, despite his fierce self-control, he hesitated.
That chink in his mental armor didn’t go unnoticed. An icy sensation, sharp and malevolent, slammed into his Mind-cleansing Aura.
It didn’t break the aura, yet it planted an uncontrollable, paralyzing terror deep within him. Every hair stood on end. No wind blew. Only his own heartbeat and footsteps echoed – except suddenly, even those vanished. The Anomalous Weeds stopped attacking.
He couldn’t hear his heartbeat. All faded into a disorienting void. He felt trapped in a grainy, black-and-white photo. Crushing dread seized him, pushing him forward violently.
It felt horrible. Then, his Evil-Warding Aura shattered.
Three notifications flashed before him:
“Alienation Contamination Degree +0.3%!”
“Alienation Contamination Degree +0.6%!”
“Slayed the Evil Entity: Terror Mushroom. Obtained 200 portions of Gray Firewood.”
—
“Holy—!”
Li Si was truly stunned. An actual Terror Mushroom existed. And it was vicious! It attacked head-on despite his Evil-Warding Aura and Mind-cleansing Aura. Its curse felt stronger than the Joyous Mushroom or Sorrowful Mushroom.
No. Something else was wrong.
Then, Li Si heard a peculiar sound, like chanting. Turning his gaze far back towards the valley entrance, he spotted three faintly visible figures silhouetted hundreds of meters away.
Reason screamed at him to flee from extreme danger. But a strange, deep-seated force wrested control, forcing him to slowly turn fully toward them. His thoughts numbed. Resistance evaporated. If commanded to die, he’d comply without hesitation…
Until, in the next moment, a glowing, arcane symbol burst brilliantly above Li Si’s head and shattered – simultaneously repelling some immensely powerful compulsion.
Instantly, relief washed over Li Si. It felt like being unbound, surfacing from suffocating depths into freedom.
His Steadfast Mountain Seal had activated! It blocked an attempt at total bodily and mental control!
“Crap! Evil God Cultists!”
Li Si understood suddenly. They were sneaky ambushers targeting him. Without the Steadfast Mountain Seal, he’d have been caught!