Chapter 107: Peace Talisman
Chapter 107: Peace Talisman
As Li Si willed it, a flame the size of a fist appeared before him. It felt very warm and could drive away the surrounding darkness.
He immediately understood why the Phantom Bride’s bloody light could illuminate the darkness—it was because she had many Soul Lamps. Even the lantern she lent him had a similar effect.
Moreover, the Soul Lamp could retain one Divine Ability, which was very important.
After a brief thought, Li Si imprinted Palm Thunder into the Soul Lamp. The reason was simple: while his other Divine Abilities were powerful, most were auxiliary, so he chose the strongest one.
As for why he did not choose the Divine Heaven Thunder Control Technique, he actually tried but found it could not be imprinted.
Next, Li Si repaired his Crystal Clear Dao Heart and Bedrock Dao Heart on the spot. It was a strange feeling, as if not only emotions could be finely stripped away here, but even his mental state could be affected.
Alternatively, one could say this place easily caused shifts in emotions and mental states. What might be a small ripple in the heart outside could become a raging storm here.
Thus, maintaining both Dao Hearts was crucial.
After confirming his condition was stable, Li Si continued forward. With three consecutive steps, three syllables rang out. At that moment, he suddenly felt as if he were playing with his own fate, like a black or white piece on a chessboard—once placed, there was no chance to take it back.
Just these fleeting thoughts nearly destabilized his two Dao Hearts.
This indicated the difficulty had increased. The three syllables he heard were extremely powerful.
Of course, as a reward for successfully taking the first three steps, he directly gained a 3% increase in his Soul Evolution Level, just like yesterday.
Then Li Si took his fourth, fifth, and sixth steps. Upon the sixth step, as the syllable sounded, he seemed to see his past and present lives—countless memories, countless images, and countless emotional shifts surged over him like a tidal wave.
For a moment, Li Si’s two Dao Hearts felt like small boats in a storm, on the verge of collapsing. At the critical moment, the Soul Lamp rose, allowing him to cling to the last shred of clarity and pass the challenge. However, the flame in the Soul Lamp diminished by one-fifth.
This was the cost.
In contrast, the reward for taking the step felt rather useless.
Li Si felt neither sorrow nor joy and did not stop. He took his seventh, eighth, and ninth steps. As the syllables sounded, he seemed to see his future—a vision of himself being beheaded by a fairy for betraying his master and ancestors.
The Crystal Clear Dao Heart was directly severed, and the Soul Lamp did not even have time to defend.
But he still passed the challenge.
Li Si took his tenth step. This time, he did not hesitate to summon the Soul Lamp for protection, because he knew that what the syllables at this level represented was beyond his capabilities and the limits of what his soul could endure.
No matter what, he had to protect the Bedrock Dao Heart.
In an instant, the Soul Lamp dimmed, and its flame decreased by another fifth.
He paid no mind. For the eleventh and twelfth steps, the Soul Lamp continued to dim. After successfully passing the challenge, only one-fifth of the flame remained in the Soul Lamp, and he himself was left with only the Bedrock Dao Heart.
He gained a 12% increase in his Soul Evolution Level.
Ahead, faint lights twinkled, and a strange, ancient melody began to play. Li Si felt a slight dizziness, and suddenly he found himself on a bustling street. At the same time, a line of information appeared.
“Soul Evolution Level +10%.”
This was likely the initial reward for reaching the third step.
Li Si roughly guessed the rules of the Palace Ruins Secret Realm.
Yesterday, when he took the first step, he only received the initial reward but did not clear the level, so he did not obtain the Soul Lamp reward. Then, when he returned today, the first level was gone and did not exist anymore—he had to start from the second level.
To exit, he had to clear the level first. Otherwise, that level would be wasted.
“Hey, buddy, you’re in the way.”
Just as Li Si was thinking this, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind. He remembered the lesson and absolutely refused to turn around, but it was useless. A gray rope tightened around his neck.
The next second, a line of information appeared.
“Soul Alienation Contamination +2%!”
Now he only had 250 seconds left. Li Si resisted the urge to look back or pull the rope from his neck, knowing it would be futile.
He began to observe his surroundings. There were 71 people on this street, and 22 more in the houses on either side. The neighboring streets looked blurry, as if shrouded in a layer of Mist.
How could he find clues from this?
Li Si remained silent for a few seconds, then withdrew his gaze and patted himself down. Surprisingly, he found twelve copper coins. This made it easier to choose a target.
The street was crowded with people, shops, and vendors, but the items he could buy with twelve copper coins were quite limited.
To the east of the street was a tea stall—one copper coin for a pot of tea.
To the west was a bun shop—three copper coins for a large meat bun.
Further ahead, at the entrance of a shop to the east, there was a beggar. Could he buy a blessing?
If he went back, at the entrance of an alley to the west, there was a flirtatious prostitute. Could he buy some happiness?
Moving forward, at the end of the street, a vendor was selling candied hawthorns—one copper coin per skewer.
Finally, not far from Li Si, another vendor was selling straw mats—ten copper coins each.
What should he buy?
He was certain that among these purchases, there were both traps and opportunities. But how should he choose?
After thinking for a second, Li Si decisively bought a straw mat. The mat was beautifully made and would be good for wrapping a corpse.
He then spread out the mat and whispered, “Brother, I was in your way, and that was my fault. Now I’m giving you this straw mat. Can we call it even?”
“Of course.”
A voice spoke, and then the rope around Li Si’s neck vanished. His Soul Alienation Contamination accumulated to 8% and then stopped increasing.
Li Si breathed a sigh of relief. This hanged ghost, like the evil head from the previous level, was unavoidable. By dealing with them, he gained enough time to solve the puzzle.
Most importantly, he did not waste his Bedrock Dao Heart.
This gave him one chance to avoid the final Boss.
Of course, this would definitely reduce his final rewards.
He still had two copper coins left. He needed to use these two coins to identify the final Boss; otherwise, he would fail. This logic seemed correct.
Li Si walked slowly, ignoring the tea stall, the prostitute, the meat buns, and the beggar. He went and bought one candied hawthorn skewer, then returned to the beggar and let him take a bite.
“Thank you, kind sir! May you live a long life, have many children, and be free from disasters!”
The old beggar shouted gratefully.
Li Si then walked away, and a line of information appeared.
“Obtained Peace Talisman (unique). Effective for the time it takes one incense stick to burn. Can resolve 500% Soul Alienation Contamination.”
“Unique” meant that only one Peace Talisman could be obtained from the old beggar.
Li Si continued walking slowly and took a bite of the candied hawthorn. Another line of information floated by.
“Soul Evolution Level +10%.”
What a great item! He counted and found he had six left.
Li Si resisted eating them. Although consuming all six would immediately push his Soul Evolution Level past 100% and possibly earn him another Soul Lamp, he had to consider that he only had one copper coin left.
The level Boss was definitely on this street and had to be activated using copper coins.
What could he do?
“Little brother, would you like a bite?”
Seeing a child passing by, Li Si smiled and offered the candied hawthorn. The child opened his mouth wide and devoured all of it in one bite, even eating the bamboo skewer.
Li Si stared in shock, almost thinking this was a hidden Boss. But the child just let out a burp and threw him a piece of snot-stained paper.
“Obtained Dao Technique [Peace Mantra]. Ensures peace and can be used to resolve Soul Alienation Contamination.”
Li Si quickly turned to look, but the candied hawthorn vendor had already disappeared from the street.
He still had one copper coin left.
It seemed he had no other choices, because he could only buy one pot of tea. It looked like he was going to fail this level.
Li Si walked back and forth along the street without showing any expression. Finally, he stopped in front of the prostitute.
“Sir, looking for some fun?”
The prostitute batted her eyes flirtatiously. She was not very attractive, with a bruise around her eye and footprints on her clothes. She huddled at the alley entrance, but even so, one copper coin was not enough.
“I don’t have any more money. With this one copper coin, I’ll treat you to some tea.”
Li Si smiled. Earlier, as he walked along the street, he noticed that this prostitute had a very low status, at least in terms of the storyline.
Instead of spending one copper coin to buy a cup of tea himself, he used it to test the moral background of this level—whether good deeds were rewarded, loyalty was praised, or wickedness made one stronger.
Also, by saying he would treat the prostitute to tea, he could theoretically test whether the tea stall owner was the final Boss.
At the same time, he was testing the prostitute herself.
After all, this was all Li Si could do.
The next second, the woman was stunned but did not erupt or trigger any illusions, so she was not the final Boss.
“Young man, thank you.”
The woman simply took the copper coin.
Li Si was baffled. Wasn’t he supposed to treat her to tea?
The next second, the woman resumed her smiling face.
“Sir, looking for some fun?”
At that moment, Li Si suddenly had an epiphany.
“Yes, but I have no money to give you!”
“Drop dead, you jerk!”
The woman exploded. Instantly, the entire street emptied, and all the pedestrians vanished. Only a giant centipede with a woman’s head remained, radiating overwhelming demonic energy!
In that instant, Li Si’s Soul Alienation Contamination skyrocketed!
800%!!!
Whoosh! A flame ignited on Li Si’s body, and the Peace Talisman vanished, but it resolved 500% of the Soul Alienation Contamination.
Immediately after, his Bedrock Dao Heart resolved the remaining 300%, and he survived.
The Soul Lamp emerged, and a Palm Thunder shot out.
Fortunately, even though the Soul Lamp had only one-fifth of its flame left, the power of Palm Thunder was undiminished. In an instant, thunder erupted from the ground, and a bolt of lightning struck down. The beautiful centipede screamed and turned into Gray Ashes—it was also a soul entity.
Almost simultaneously, specks of starlight appeared around Li Si, and everything returned to its original state. He had successfully completed the third step.
“Soul Evolution Level +100%. Total Soul Evolution Level is 153%. Would you like to consume 100% Soul Evolution Level to light a Soul Lamp?”