Chapter 17: Seizing Divine Abilities

With one fallen out of three, the situation instantly shifted dramatically.

Her two companions were stunned, completely unaware of what had happened. But Li Si knew, because it was truly simple: the Rage Mushrooms and Terror Mushrooms in this area had closed up shop…

And as a Summoner capable of communicating with these Phantasmal Aberrations, having used triple leverage for her summoning, she had to pay a heavy price after losing everything in the crash.

This was exactly what Li Si had deliberately lured her into from the start. He knew all along that within a specific time and area, the number of Phantasmal Aberrations was limited.

Thinking of playing mind games with me? Couldn’t ask for more.

Just with this wave, though his Alienation Contamination Degree skyrocketed to 60%, he also accumulated a whole 52 portions of Gray Fortune.

He first spent thirty portions of fortune to reduce the Alienation Contamination Degree to 30%. During this process, by pushing his Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress from 14% to 17.5%, he gained an exemption of three percentage points.

Now, his Alienation Contamination Degree dropped to 27%, healthier than ever.

Because Li Si was preparing for a tough fight. It wasn’t that the two Evil God Cultists across from him were particularly formidable, but the cost of killing them was terrifying. He remembered what Senior Sister Jiang had said: they were under the gaze of the Evil God’s power.

So, Li Si immediately dropped his furious, suicidal demeanor. Instead, he turned tail and ran. Along the way, he exchanged for another 1000 points of Magic Power. The cost was high; they’d have to bear with it…

Right, escape was possible now. With the female summoning priest losing everything in the crash, the walls of the Evil God that filled the surrounding valley vanished too. He no longer had to worry about getting lost or being trapped by a ‘ghost wall’.

But the two men were furious and determined, actually charging back towards him. Did those Little Mushrooms give you that confidence?

Still, gotta say, these two actually had some skills.

The shield-man kept summoning Dark Mist monsters. Knowing they couldn’t harm Li Si didn’t stop him. In a short time, he summoned over twenty of them. They crashed towards Li Si, blocking his path. Even as Li Si repeatedly released an Evil-Warding Aura to blast them, maiming them, his momentum to escape was still halted.

The man wielding the crossbow occasionally shot an arrow. They weren’t ordinary bolts; each carried a plume of black smoke swirling with something like vengeful spirits – ferocious, evil, clawing wildly. Sadly, their level wasn’t high enough. They burst apart the moment they touched the Evil-Warding Aura.

Even the fine steel bolts couldn’t avoid being sent flying out of the way. It just showed how incredibly powerful a maximized Evil-Warding Aura was.

If it had been the auras of Ji Chang, Xu Shen, or Jiang Ying, they would’ve been dead long ago.

But Li Si quickly noticed something: the two men opposite had no intention of approaching within a hundred steps of him. They only wanted to use various Divine Abilities to trap and exhaust him to death while draining his Magic Power.

This was bizarre. At first, Li Si worried they might be preparing some big move. Then he suddenly realized: they wanted to capture him alive.

Because cultivation sects like the Floating Cloud Sect were practically hated vermin in the world now, hunted by all. A Cultivator clearly couldn’t survive alone. So, capturing Li Si meant they could force him to reveal the location of his rat’s nest.

To this, Li Si could only say, ‘Brothers, aren’t you overthinking it?’

Though surrounded by masses of Dark Mist monsters, and forced to discharge an Evil-Warding Aura roughly every second, he was actually incredibly relaxed.

Plentiful Gray Fortune ensured his Alienation Contamination Degree stayed around 30%.

Plus, he could continuously exchange for Magic Power, never worrying about running out of ‘mana’.

While those two were waiting to capture him after he ran out of mana, wasn’t he also just waiting for his moment?

So far, he hadn’t even been willing to unleash his three Dao Techniques: Demon Slaying Thorn, Iron Prison Discipline, and Heart Cleansing Curse.

He was afraid of spooking the prey.

Afraid his surprise attack wouldn’t be surprising enough!

Finally, the opportunity came. After Li Si unleashed twelve consecutive Evil-Warding Auras in one breath, the shield in the shield-man’s hands could no longer emit Dark Mist. He was the first to be completely drained of Magic Power…

“Your life is mine!” Li Si yelled furiously, first restoring another 1000 points of his own Magic Power, refreshing his Evil-Warding Aura and Mind-cleansing Aura. Then he charged out of the encirclement, still wearing that desperate kamikaze expression. What greeted him, however, was a bolt wreathed in black smoke, the head crowned by an oversized, floating skull!

The crossbow-man had finally unleashed his ultimate attack.

BOOM!

The bolt exploded against Li Si’s Evil-Warding Aura, shattering into pieces as it was obliterated by the purifying lightning. Only the massive skull remained, clamping down on his head and gnawing relentlessly.

Though it didn’t tear off a single shred of flesh, his Alienation Contamination Degree began to climb frantically.

+0.1% every second… if this continued for a few minutes, it would be terrifying. Most people hit by this ambush would be finished.

But Li Si didn’t care at all. He still charged forward with all he had, closing within a hundred steps. But before he could make his move, the shield brother gave him a sinister smile, as if Li Si was the fool walking into a trap.

Indeed, the man slammed bodily into his shield. The shield instantly blazed with bloody light, engulfed in billowing Dark Mist. Fist-thick sinews of flesh pulsed across its surface, and then, like a steam locomotive fueled to the brim, it came roaring and rumbling right at Li Si.

At the same time, the crossbow-man swiftly loaded another bolt and loosed it. The projectile instantly transformed into a giant boa constrictor, coiling around Li Si and pinning him perfectly in place. The coordination was flawless.

Dammit!

Utterly scummy.

Li Si couldn’t help but admire. These Evil God Cultists wielded far too many Divine Abilities. Blessed with the right timing, terrain, and manpower, and they were this cunning? No wonder the entire Floating Cloud Sect hid like frightened mice in a deep mountain Deserted Village.

Admiring aside, Li Si wasn’t scared at all. Watching the shield-man crash towards him, he decisively unleashed his Dao Technique: Iron Prison Discipline.

This technique, reinforced to its peak, didn’t disappoint.

In an instant, dozens of streaks of dark light solidified into a substantial prison cage. Complex, arcane sigils ignited upon each streak of black light, then shot like meteors into the flesh-covered shield.

SCREEEEECH!

It was like slamming on the brakes at three hundred kilometers per hour. The sinewy flesh on the shield’s surface turned to minced pulp instantly. Cracks spiderwebbed across it. After one final, futile struggle, it was firmly bound and anchored to the earth. The initial judgment showed this guy would be imprisoned for at least three hours.

But Li Si gave him no chance. He directly activated the Ball of Purgatory Fire, initiating a power judgment.

Judgment ended instantly. Shockingly, it wasn’t death or grave injury. Instead, one of the man’s ace-in-the-hole Divine Abilities was temporarily sealed.

What the…? Even in this state, he still had powerful Divine Abilities to turn the tide?

Li Si was stunned. Forgoing the crossbow-man for now, he slammed a Demon Slaying Thorn directly into the shield-man to send him straight to see his Evil God. But—

A supremely lethal Demon Slaying Thorn, amplified by six times its damage and carrying paralyzing lightning, failed to kill the shield-man.

Oh, he was critically injured. Yet some force stubbornly clung to his life force. This power was palpable, visible even; Li Si’s Alienation Contamination Degree spiked rapidly.

No need to say it: this was the power the Evil God bestowed upon its devout followers.

But Li Si didn’t care. He slammed an Evil-Warding Aura first, followed by two more Demon Slaying Thorns. Doesn’t matter where you came from. If I said I’d send you to see your Evil God, then I absolutely keep my word!

Did you think ‘Li the Liquidator’ was joking?

Yet when the shield-man died, his connection to the god he worshipped forcibly severed, Li Si got a huge fright. A shadowy gray silhouette ‘whooshed’ over him.

“Alienation Contamination Degree +20%. You have been noticed by the power of an Evil God.”

“Due to your Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress reaching 20%, you exempted 5% Alienation Contamination.”

“Due to your Mind-cleansing Aura and Steadfast Mountain Seal, you exempted 1% Alienation Contamination and the risk of being controlled.”

“For slaying an Evil God’s follower, you obtained one lump of Black Firewood. You seized a Divine Ability bestowed by an Evil God upon its follower. It can be purified through Fate or decomposed into Gray Firewood.”

“Because you chose to directly confront the Evil God’s power, killing its follower (executed immediately after being critically wounded, preventing the Evil God’s power from escaping) while under its watchful gaze, you obtained 99 lumps of Black Firewood!”.