Chapter 19: The Demon Man Arrives

“What kind of ridiculous four great joys? I’d rather have an Ode to Joy!”

Upon reading the description on the fragmented information page, Li Si was so angry he laughed. Could it be that even this remnant page had been corrupted?

But then again, he had never expected that the Divine Ability he seized would not only be incomplete, but also carry such a high cost for purification.

White Fortune? He hadn’t even heard of that. It probably only dropped as White Firewood from slaying Evil Spirits.

Although he was known as the top of the Four Heroes of Floating Cloud and the future number one expert of the Floating Cloud Sect, at this stage, only the Old Madam was truly qualified to face Evil Spirits. That was the reality.

So, Li Si didn’t hesitate at all and made his decision.

He would keep the Divine Ability [Demon Soldier Command] for now. In the future, if he had the chance, he would use one portion of Black Fortune to purify it into the Dao Technique [Lord of Hundred Weapons], as that was more practical.

As for the seized Divine Ability [Seven Emotions Command], he would dismantle it into Fortune Fuel.

This wasn’t because the Divine Ability was weak. Based on its description, it worked by manipulating emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, fear, thought, terror, and surprise to lure targets into illusions and defeat them.

The problem was, this world was already utterly corrupted by the power of the Evil God. Whether it was Evil Entities, Evil Spirits, or Evil God Cultists, which of them was normal?

Only normal people were bound and affected by the seven emotions.

If Li Si had a surplus of Fortune, more than he could use, then mastering it wouldn’t matter. But right now, he wished he could split one portion of Fortune into two. How could he afford such waste?

Given the circumstances, it was better to dismantle this Divine Ability and turn it into more resources.

With a mere thought from Li Si, the seized Divine Ability [Seven Emotions Command] was instantly tossed into the Fate Forge for dismantling. Perhaps because this Divine Ability was quite valuable, it actually yielded 5,000 portions of Gray Firewood in one go. If refined, that would become 50 portions of Gray Fortune.

But he chose not to refine it, because the Deserted Village was in sight.

Currently, whether it was his progress in cultivating the Heaven-Turning Scripture or his mastery of various Dao Techniques, it was all hard to detect. After all, he consistently maintained his Alienation Contamination Degree around 30%, and kept only one portion of Fortune.

However, if he returned with thirty portions of Fortune, the situation would definitely be different. The Old Madam might notice something.

Therefore, he also decided to use the remaining portion of Black Fortune he had to upgrade the Dao Technique [Heart Cleansing Curse]. This decision was based on his overall consideration of the cost-effectiveness of other Dao Techniques, especially the gains and losses from the recent battle.

The Heart Cleansing Curse was truly important.

Firstly, the Mind-cleansing Aura could reduce the illusions of the Seven Emotions Mushroom.

Secondly, the Steadfast Mountain Seal could neutralize enemy control and possession attempts, and even counter-control enemies.

Lastly, the Mind-cleansing Aura could lower the Alienation Contamination Degree.

Just this last point alone was sufficient.

“Because the essence of future battles will hinge on who can suppress the contamination! Everything else must revolve around this core.”

That was Li Si’s belief. Right now, he seemed to be in his element because he could use Fortune to enhance the evolution progress of his Bloodline and Bone Foundation, thereby suppressing the Alienation Contamination Degree.

But what if one day in the future, his Bloodline and Bone Foundation evolution suddenly hit a bottleneck?

What other methods would he have to lower the Alienation Contamination Degree?

As the saying goes, he who gives no thought to the future is sure to have immediate worries.

Advancing the Heart Cleansing Curse from a Dao Technique to a Divine Ability was his first line of defense against risk.

His second line of defense was to stockpile as much Fortune Fuel as possible.

Carrying too much Fortune on his person made it easy to be discovered. Moreover, Fortune itself was too mysterious; even without consuming it, just having it could automatically emit unknown influences.

Fortune Fuel, however, didn’t have these troubles. Especially the Fate Forge, which could store large amounts of Fortune Fuel. He could refine as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted, without worrying about simplistic issues like ‘throwing everything into the same pot’.

For instance, the 5,000 portions of Fortune Fuel obtained from dismantling the [Seven Emotions Command] were his lifeline reserved for critical moments, not to be used lightly.

At this moment, as Li Si willed it, that portion of Black Fortune instantly surged towards the crown of his head. In an instant, he felt as if countless insights, experiences, and battles flooded his mind like a tide. After the waves washed away the sand, they transformed into mysterious and profound runes, rearranging themselves in his heart, repeating over and over again.

When Li Si finally firmly memorized the sequence of these runes, he suddenly experienced an epiphany. The Dao Technique Heart Cleansing Curse truly broke through its limits, upgraded to a Divine Ability, and was completely imprinted in his heart.

[Heart Cleansing Curse: Primary Divine Ability]

[Required Realm for Activation: Foundation Building True Cultivator]

[Magic Power Required for Activation: 1000 points]

[Upon activation, automatically forms a Heart-Clearing Domain, lasting twelve hours. In this state, comprehension and cultivation speed are greatly increased, the success rate of demonic invasion is greatly reduced, and the Alienation Contamination Degree is greatly reduced.]

[Upon activation, automatically generates three Steadfast Mountain Seals.]

[Can be cast on enemies, with a certain chance of restoring the sanity of deranged Demon Men.]

Li Si was satisfied. Even if he couldn’t activate this Divine Ability for now, it was fine because he could still use the Dao Technique level Heart Cleansing Curse.

In the future, he would focus on improving his cultivation progress in the second layer of the Heaven-Turning Scripture, striving to achieve Foundation Building as soon as possible.

“Junior Brother! Junior Brother!”

Li Si was thinking while traveling. Just as he was only a few hundred meters away from the Deserted Village, a voice suddenly came from behind him, sounding strained and deliberately hushed, and it was less than ten meters away. Although he could tell it was Ji Chang’s voice, the guy’s appearance was just too sudden.

Who knew if there was some trick involved?

So he didn’t dare look back at all. He just took off running, swift as the wind, until he saw Xu Shen emerge from behind some ruined houses at the west end of the village. Only then did Li Si stop. But then, out of nowhere, Ji Chang’s odd, mocking voice sounded again from just ten meters behind him.

“Goodness, Junior Brother, your raging vitality and blood make even me, your senior brother, envious. Did you perhaps encounter some rare fortune?”

Li Si slowly turned around, confirming that the person behind him was indeed Ji Chang. While he felt a bit relieved, his heart also pounded nervously. Damn it, why had this guy unexpectedly left the village this afternoon? Didn’t that mean his encounter with the three Evil God Cultists was exposed?

However, Ji Chang didn’t continue with his previous line of questioning. His attention wasn’t on Li Si either; instead, he was vigilantly observing the surroundings.

“Let’s go, don’t stop. It’s very dangerous around here.”

Before he even finished speaking, Ji Chang had already drifted past Li Si like a mouse, swiftly entering the Deserted Village. Faint light with mysterious runes flickered on his legs. Wow, he was using a Divine Movement Talisman.

Li Si quickly caught up, confused and still feeling uneasy.

“Hurry! Hurry!”

Xu Shen at the west village entrance urged in a low voice. As soon as Li Si entered the village, Xu Shen immediately took out an unfamiliar Array Control Disk and operated it rapidly. In an instant, a completely unfamiliar Formation Array rose out of nowhere, enveloping the Deserted Village.

This clearly indicated something major had happened. Had the Old Madam deduced the matter of the three Evil God Cultists?

Li Si grew even more apprehensive, mentally debating whether to confess everything later or come up with a different story.

Fortunately, at that moment, Senior Sister Jiang also emerged from the Stone House fully armed and on high alert. When she saw Li Si, she sighed in relief. “Junior Brother, it’s great that you’re alright. I was so worried. You didn’t encounter anything outside, did you?”

Li Si was stunned and could only play dumb, shaking his head. “No, I just killed six Alien Trees over at the Western Mountain. Then I went for a stroll in the valley to the north before coming back. What happened?”

He subtly mentioned his itinerary, just in case Ji Chang, who had also been outside the village, had seen his movements.

But Senior Sister Jiang clearly didn’t care where he had been. She just said, “Good, good. Junior Brother, don’t leave the village for the next few days. This afternoon, a Fallen Demon passed by the east end of the village and headed north. Thankfully, our village is surrounded by concealment arrays, so the Fallen Demon didn’t discover us, and you didn’t run into it either.”

“Fallen Demon?”

Li Si was shocked. He immediately thought of the deformed Demon Man he had seen earlier through the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl. That guy did go north, but… what if he had inadvertently attracted it back?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard Xu Shen and Ji Chang running back quickly, diving headfirst into the Stone House as if a great disaster was imminent.

“Not good! That Demon Man has turned back and is circling around again!”

“Quick, get into the Stone House!”

Senior Sister Jiang pulled the still-dazed Li Si, and they also rushed into the Stone House. The entire Floating Cloud Sect instantly descended into chaos.