Chapter 46: Just One Glance in the Crowd, and You Chase Me to the Ends of the Earth

After that, there was no more trouble.

When daylight faintly broke, the Dark Mist outside the village reluctantly dispersed. Xu Shen, looking utterly exhausted, opened the door of the Quiet Room and handed Li Si a bundle of a black, gauze-like object.

“Junior Brother, last night I faintly heard thunder. Was there any incident?”

“Nothing major. Just a few ghosts came looking for death, and I killed them with Palm Thunder.”

Li Si spoke nonchalantly, appearing rather indifferent.

But Xu Shen was greatly shocked—not by the presence of ghosts, but by the fact that Li Si had mastered the Dao Technique of Palm Thunder in such a short time. It was one of the most difficult Dao Techniques to learn.

“It seems Master truly has exceptional vision. This Junior Brother Li is truly a one-in-ten-thousand prodigy in cultivation.”

With this thought in mind, Xu Shen felt even more reassured about Li Si’s water-fetching mission today. After offering a few more words of caution, he closed the door of the Quiet Room, intending to meditate and recuperate inside. After all, refining a top-grade magical artifact overnight was no easy feat.

Li Si stored the Black Fog Cloak, then went to knock on the Stone House door. He retrieved the Water Purification Pouch from Senior Sister Jiang Ying, which naturally prompted another round of questioning.

He did not hide anything, simply stating that the Black Soul Incense had attracted a few ghosts last night, and in his alarm, he had used Palm Thunder to kill them.

Hearing this, Jiang Ying and Ji Chang’s expressions turned quite peculiar. Because of this, Senior Sister Jiang Ying did not press further and only reminded him to return before evening.

Thus, Li Si, taking two Divine Travel Talismans and one Divine Concealment Talisman, set off in a hurry. Without water, they couldn’t even brew the Great Soul-Returning Broth.

Everyone was waiting for him to come home for the meal!

Li Si did not want any complications. He understood very well what priorities were.

Actually, the water in the Water Purification Pouch should have lasted seven more days. But yesterday, with Xu Shen’s breakthrough and the entire Floating Cloud Sect experiencing a renewal, the Great Soul-Returning Broth was brewed nonstop. Even the precious Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction was brewed three times. This was the most important method for restoring Magic Power.

It was also the foundation for the Floating Cloud Sect’s major construction efforts.

So, in just one day yesterday, the water in the Water Purification Pouch was completely used up.

If he couldn’t fetch water today, it wouldn’t just mean everyone going hungry; it would also mean there was no way to replenish everyone’s Magic Power. This would, in turn, cause all affairs of the Floating Cloud Sect to grind to a halt.

That was why, earlier, Li Si had strengthened both the Heart Cleansing Curse and the Calamity-Dispelling Curse to their highest levels. Firstly, he was truly afraid of death and didn’t want his Flawless Dao Body to suffer any loss. Secondly, fetching water was extremely important. Even if he had to wade through a river of blood to accomplish it, he would. Without some confidence, he himself would be too scared.

However, after leaving the village, Li Si paused for a while. He affectionately greeted the various Little Mushrooms and collected today’s share of profits.

Finally, after repeatedly confirming there were no stragglers, he applied the strongest Heart Cleansing Curse and the strongest Calamity-Dispelling Curse on himself. Then he headed south. The Wish-Fulfilling Pearl had already risen into the air ahead of him to scout the surrounding area. If necessary, he could take a detour.

Although it was dawn, the sky was filled with rolling Blood Clouds. Looking into the distance, the wilderness remained dim. Only by relying on the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl could he clearly observe his surroundings.

Li Si did not act recklessly. Unless he happened to encounter them, he wouldn’t go out of his way to kill Anomalous Weeds or Alien Trees. Today, fetching water was the sole important task.

Additionally, he paid attention to the traces he left behind and observed the surrounding mountainous terrain.

After watching for a while, he felt the biggest characteristic of this area was that it had no characteristics.

The Old Madam clearly had keen insight when she chose this place as a hiding spot. It certainly wasn’t any famous mountain or great river. The nearby terrain lacked towering mountains, mostly consisting of similar-looking, not very high but densely packed small hills. The highest were only about a hundred meters tall, one after another, with valleys winding between them. It was easy to get lost if one wasn’t careful.

For instance, as Li Si traveled south, he saw at least three hillocks similar to the Western Mountain.

The only notable change in this region had to be the river originating from the northwest and flowing southeast.

However, when he was still about three li away from the river, Li Si stopped. An indescribable sense of dread surged within him.

This was his Disaster Warding Aura giving a warning.

The images detected by the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl confirmed this. Downstream on the western bank of the river ahead, about six or seven li away, a village settlement was under construction. It seemed to have just started not long ago, but the area it covered was vast, almost occupying the entire alluvial plain on the western bank of the river.

But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that Li Si saw people—a large number of ordinary people.

He had always doubted whether there were any ordinary people in this world besides the Evil God Cultists. The scene before him now was enough to answer that question.

At that moment, the foundation there had been leveled. Judging by the scale, it was at least a small town, with plans for a dock as well.

Were they trying to develop this river?

Soon, Li Si found the source of his unease. It was a black statue at least three meters tall, placed by the riverbank, and not yet formally inaugurated.

Even so, offerings were laid out in front of the statue. Three people wearing strange attire knelt before the statue, fervently worshiping.

Outside a radius of fifty meters around the statue stood a team of thirty Evil God Cultists. They also wore strange attire, though with slight differences in detail.

As for the ordinary people building the town, they kept far away, at least a thousand meters distant. They didn’t even dare to look up at the statue.

These ordinary people wore ragged clothes; there were men and women, old and young. Without exception, each wore a small Divine Idol pendant around their neck.

After watching for less than a minute, Li Si suddenly felt as though the statue had come to life. It looked up at the sky. Its originally lifeless stone face suddenly seemed to surge with a bloody sea.

By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

The Wish-Fulfilling Pearl directly lost connection with him. Immediately after, a massive bloody wave truly materialized from the Illusory Void, crashing down towards him. It carried the aura of death, with the grim smile of a reaper, as if with just a snap, it could break Li Si’s neck.

Fortunately, before his neck broke, information appeared.

“Alienation Contamination Degree +300%.”

“You were gazed upon by the Evil God Idol in the Mortal Realm. You have suffered lethal Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your high-level Divine Ability, Heart Cleansing Curse, you have exempted the lethal Aberrant Corruption, degrading it to severe Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your high-level Divine Ability, Calamity-Dispelling Curse, you have exempted the severe Aberrant Corruption, degrading it to mild Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your Flawless Dao Body, you have completely exempted the mild Aberrant Corruption.”

——

In that instant, Li Si felt like a drowning person finally gasping for air. His whole body was soaked in cold sweat. Even though he hadn’t actually suffered any harm, this was absolutely terrifying.

Not daring to delay, Li Si quickly applied another high-level Heart Cleansing Curse on himself. Then, he frantically exchanged for Magic Power and applied another high-level Calamity-Dispelling Curse.

Just these two high-level Divine Abilities cost him a full 17,000 points of Magic Power. Combined with the previous ones, that was 34,000 points. Damn it, who did I offend? Just a peek?

And it directly hit him with lethal Aberrant Corruption.

But just as he replenished his status and Magic Power, chaos erupted by the riverbank. Especially the Evil God Cultists—they became like a stirred-up hornet’s nest.

The three leading Evil God Cultists acted decisively. They directly drew knives, stabbed their own chests, cut out their hearts, and simultaneously praised the Evil God, placing the hearts on the altar.

Immediately after, ten more Evil God Cultists stepped forward and offered themselves without batting an eye.

Instantly, as these hearts transformed into a streak of blood light and infused the Evil God Idol, a blood-red phantom actually rose from the thing, locked onto Li Si’s position, and delivered a true·deep gaze!

Damn it!

Li Si was going crazy!

But at this moment, he couldn’t even flee. Just one look from that blood-red phantom made his whole body go limp, rendering him incapable of resistance. He felt as if a blood-red sea surrounded him from all sides, swallowing him in one gulp.

However, in the next moment, life-saving information appeared again.

“Alienation Contamination Degree +300%.”

“You were gazed upon by the Evil God Idol in the Mortal Realm. You have suffered lethal Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your high-level Divine Ability, Heart Cleansing Curse, you have exempted the lethal Aberrant Corruption, degrading it to severe Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your high-level Divine Ability, Calamity-Dispelling Curse, you have exempted the severe Aberrant Corruption, degrading it to mild Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your Flawless Dao Body, you have completely exempted the mild Aberrant Corruption.”

——

It was, it was, it was over again.

Li Si was drenched in sweat, terrified out of his wits, weeping and sniveling. There was no other way; this was life-threatening. No time for talk—quickly replenish Heart Cleansing, replenish Calamity-Dispelling, replenish Magic Power. Nothing else mattered anymore; he just wanted to survive.

But while he was wailing like this, the situation at the riverbank seven or eight li away grew even more chaotic. When the Evil God Idol first showed anomalies, the ordinary people weren’t greatly affected.

But after two gazes were blocked by Li Si, the Evil God Idol actually developed hundreds of cracks on its surface, clearly on the verge of shattering at any moment.

Undoubtedly, this wasn’t because the Evil God was weak, but because its power was too strong, so the idol couldn’t withstand it.

In fact, without the sacrifice from the Evil God Cultists, the second wave of gaze might not have even been possible.

But this time, the Evil God Idol shed tears of bright red blood. As these bloody tears fell, the remaining Evil God Cultists immediately offered themselves without another word. Even a kilometer away, the Evil God pendants worn by hundreds of ordinary people suddenly transformed into streaks of blood light, instantly sucking all of them dry, turning them into desiccated corpses.

However, there was an exception. One young mother suddenly erupted with all her strength, frantically tearing off the Evil God pendants from the neck of the infant in her arms and a little girl of four or five beside her. Almost in the next second, she herself turned into a desiccated corpse, which then crumbled into dust and scattered in the wind.

“Boom!”

Another blood-red phantom rose from the Evil God Idol into the high sky, aimed at Li Si’s location, and unleashed a true·Evil God’s gaze.

Li Si instantly became paralyzed again, losing all ability to resist. Weeping and sniveling, he was once again engulfed by the crimson sea of blood…

Fortunately, the life-saving information came again.

“Alienation Contamination Degree +300%.”

“You were gazed upon by the Evil God Idol in the Mortal Realm. You have suffered lethal Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your high-level Divine Ability, Heart Cleansing Curse, you have exempted the lethal Aberrant Corruption, degrading it to severe Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your high-level Divine Ability, Calamity-Dispelling Curse, you have exempted the severe Aberrant Corruption, degrading it to mild Aberrant Corruption.”

“Due to your Flawless Dao Body, you have completely exempted the mild Aberrant Corruption.”

“Evil God Idol destroyed +1. You obtained 300 portions of White Fate Firewood.”