Chapter 113: Class
Chapter 113: Class
Inside the Hall of Fate, Li Si’s expression was quite subtle.
He left just like that?
Unknown?
Couldn’t he at least leave a name? I haven’t even started yet, and you’re already done?
So poor, only 1,000 bundles of firewood…
What? Golden ones? Oh, then never mind. Take your time leaving, Master, please come again soon!
Li Si allowed himself one second of pure delight, then tried to return to the Mortal Realm. This time it was safe.
“Divine Decree: Rebuild eight Divine Idols within Kaoshan City.”
“Divine Decree: I am in a good mood today, grant everyone one Divine Grace Baptism.”
“Swoosh!”
Kaoshan City became completely enveloped in the radiance of the Divine Grace Baptism. Everyone felt their bodies grow healthier, their moods lifted, and an overwhelming sense of happiness washed over them.
If even ordinary people felt this way, the cultivators felt it even more intensely.
Xu Shen: I feel like I have a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. But why is it that every time the Divine Idols are attacked, the Kaoshan Patriarch bestows Divine Grace Baptism, and on everyone at that? I think I have a bold idea!
Ji Chang: The Golden Core realm is within reach, the Golden Core realm is within reach! Ancestors, my sons, daughters-in-law, and little grandchildren, do you all see? I am about to break through to Golden Core!
Jiang Ying: No way, no way, no way! How can this Ancestor Kaoshan be so capricious? It’s as if Fate is as common as dirt to him!
Cheng Tianhao: Terrifying! A Divine Grace Baptism for everyone! This Kaoshan Patriarch is truly too mysterious. I’ve lived for eight hundred years and know all the sects, families, and rogue cultivators in the cultivation world, but how have I never heard of this Kaoshan Patriarch?
——
Outside, the entire city was celebrating. Inside the Quiet Room, Li Si summoned the Fate Forge. What had just happened was definitely related to the Fate Forge being repaired.
He was really curious. How did an Unknown Deity/Demon suddenly appear?
These days, could Deities and Demons be produced in bulk like cabbages?
He examined it and indeed found something different.
On the tattered scroll that recorded Li Si’s information, he discovered he had gained a brand new, passive effect.
It was very simple.
——Divination Misdirection, permanently active.
Description: As long as no very obvious traces are left, any well-intentioned or malicious divination will lose accuracy.
Description: If similar anti-divination Dao Techniques or Divine Abilities can be maintained consistently, the effect will be even better.
——
After reading it, Li Si felt relieved. There was no doubt that this permanently active anti-divination effect was obtained by repairing the Fate Forge. However, this Buff wasn’t invincible. Li Si needed to be careful with his daily words and actions.
Of course, he believed he was quite good at that. Ever since he mastered the Track-Finding and Trace-Erasing Curse, he had kept it active twenty-four hours a day.
Nine Annihilation Domains were lined up side by side.
Even if a True Immortal came, he wouldn’t be afraid. Unless they used torture and seduction…
Next, Li Si tried to summon the Hundred-League Law Seal, but he shamefully failed. Because it was currently suppressing the Fortune of Heaven and Earth, the Hundred-League Law Seal was bearing the full burden.
In other words, Li Si should have been the one being suppressed like the clay idol old man, but due to some unspeakable reason, the Hundred-League Law Seal had become the contact point for the Fortune of Heaven and Earth in the Mortal Realm.
Unless Li Si now possessed the strength of the True Immortal realm, he could never hope to control the Hundred-League Law Seal freely, smashing whomever he pleased.
He had lost a precious treasure, but similarly, the Evil God’s Blood Coffin couldn’t smash onto him anymore. Even if it did hit, it would land on the Hundred-League Law Seal. If worse came to worst, it could also land on a Statue Avatar.
Hmm, this humble Li might not have much else, but he had plenty of Statue Avatars.
Come on, let’s have some fun!
Ahem, I, Li Si, am not the kind of person who gloats over others’ misfortune.
The next moment, Li Si, relying on the Hundred-League Law Seal, entered the border between the Illusory Realm and the Mortal Realm. As soon as he arrived, he inwardly cursed. Just as expected, the massive true form phantom of the Phantom Bride was already suppressing this place. It was like the king and queen on a chessboard, facing off against the true form phantom of the cruel old woman.
“Why aren’t you spending time cultivating in the Mortal Realm? What are you doing here?”
The Phantom Bride noticed Li Si immediately.
“I… I came to see you. Are you tired?” Li Si greeted her with kindness. As everyone knew, he was not a heartless boss.
“Go back quickly. This place is dangerous. Don’t come here so casually. If you have any matters, go to the Qi Luck Hall and leave me a message using the Divine Idol.”
Right, rejected.
“What happened?” Li Si glanced around. Damn, where are my mushrooms?
“Nothing much. I just destroyed a Devil Mushroom avatar here. It was terrifying. It could devour cultivators at the Divine Transformation Realm as easily as eating. For you, it would be even more dangerous.”
“Any Remnant Exuviae?”
“What?”
“Remnant Exuviae, Mushroom Remnant Husk. The kind you can cook and eat.”
“Are you joking? This is the Illusory Realm. There’s no such thing as Remnant Exuviae here. Remnant Exuviae only appear when a Devil Mushroom enters the Mortal Realm and interacts with its laws, causing mutation.”
“I suggest you return to the Mortal Realm immediately!”
“With you here, I feel very safe.”
The Phantom Bride was silent for a moment. Then, Li Si was kicked right back to the Mortal Realm.
“Damn!”
His heart ached terribly. A promising deep-processing sunrise industry for Devil Mushrooms had just been brutally crushed. Was there any justice? Was there any law?
Life is so hard for me.
Favorability -1!
“Forget it, I’ll go brush up a couple of Soul Lamps first.”
Li Si turned and went to the Hall of Fate.
At the same time, in a certain part of the Illusory Realm, blinding light swept across ten thousand miles, suppressing the surrounding darkness into stillness.
This was because six World Guardian True Immortals had gathered their Immortal Spirits, plus the Idols of Fortune from five World Guardian True Immortals.
Among these six World Guardian True Immortals, two were Shendanzi and Lingjingzi. Opposite them were Chisongzi and three other World Guardian True Immortals who were on good terms with him.
“Brother Shendan, I simply can’t accept this!”
Chisongzi spoke up now. “What kind of background does that Kaoshanzi have? A mere Golden Core junior who couldn’t even withstand my mere voice before—and yet he gets appointed by the Herb Gatherer as one of the Twelve Major Deities? It’s simply a joke.”
“However, don’t think we don’t understand the bigger picture. Given the current emergency, we are willing to place our Idols of Fortune within the Qi Luck Hall. However, my disciple Mo Yi must secure a position in the Hall of Fate.”
Shendanzi smiled and said, “The Herb Gatherer has already opened the entrance to the Palace Ruins Secret Realm. Anyone with a cultivation level above the Golden Core Realm and possessing two types of Dao Heart can go there for the trial. As for positions in the Hall of Fate, aside from the Twelve Major Deities, there are no restrictions on other Deities. So, it’s not just Brother Chisong who has this idea. Even I have a disappointing disciple planning to join the fun.”
“Did the Herb Gatherer mention any other restrictions?” Chisongzi pressed further.
“No, the Herb Gatherer is currently acting on behalf of Comrade Kaoshan to suppress the Fortune of Heaven and Earth. She has already handed over her authority in the Palace Ruins.”
“Only then is it fair!”
The group of True Immortals laughed heartily and, without further delay, each took the Idols of Fortune they were suppressing and hurried toward the Hall of Fate in the Palace Ruins. This meant that a certain Deity/Demon Grand Formation, which had previously stopped functioning, would now begin operating again.
——
“Muan, what a pity.”
In another part of the Illusory Realm, Jiuxuanzi and Qingyunzi sought out Tianjizi and two other World Guardian True Immortals. This was another small group of True Immortals, and Muan had originally been one of them.
But now that Muan had fallen into demonic ways and gone deep into the Illusory Realm to fight the Devil Mushroom Evil God, their small group had become somewhat disadvantaged.
Of course, it wasn’t really that serious.
The main reason their small group gathered together was because, in the Mortal Realm, everyone lived relatively close by.
A thousand years ago, they all belonged to a powerful sect within a certain region.
“Yeah, what a pity,” another True Immortal, familiar with Muan, sighed with emotion, but he didn’t say another word. Muan was clearly ambushed, and the next one to be ambushed could very well be any one of them.
“Then we shouldn’t delay any longer. We need to activate the Deity and Demon Great Array as soon as possible. I believe Muan’s ambush is directly related to the collapse of the Hall of Fate,” Tianjizi said gravely.
When the Hall of Fate collapsed, the twelve True Immortals who were maintaining the array at the time felt unsafe, so they each moved their own Idol of Fortune away. This gave the unknown force a chance to take advantage.
Such a thing must not happen again.
However, everyone, as if by unspoken agreement, brought their most promising disciples along.
With that so-called backer Li Si setting the precedent, these gems no longer needed to hide their talents.
Even if they couldn’t secure one of the twelve chief god positions in the future, entering the Palace Ruins Secret Realm for training would still bring great benefits.
So, in less than half a day, not only were the Idols of Fortune of the twelve chief gods restored in the Qi Luck Hall, but there were also twelve additional lesser Divine Idols.
This wasn’t difficult at all. They didn’t even need to occupy a hundred miles of land or rely on a Herb Gatherer to bestow titles—the True Immortals themselves could do the conferring.
For a while, the Qi Luck Hall became quite lively.
When Li Si returned from the Palace Ruins Secret Realm after collecting two Soul Lamps, he found a bunch of small Divine Idols, only three or four inches tall, standing under the twelve huge idols—it was quite amusing.
Too weak. Back in my day, I was nine inches tall.
Wait, is that Xu Shen?
Wow, Old Madam, you’re too sneaky.
Watching the younger generation greet each other, Li Si curled his lip, uninterested in joining. Strangely enough, the sneaky old woman had changed her habits—she wasn’t addicted to the net anymore.
Now, in the Hall of Fate, he was the only big shot left; the other eleven True Immortals were nowhere to be seen.
Alright, time to hide and see what tricks the sneaky old woman was up to. With Xu Shen, the hard worker, gone from Kaoshan City, Li Si had to admit he was a bit worried.
But just as his mind returned to the Mortal Realm, he saw the sneaky old woman sitting right in front of him, staring at him expressionlessly!
Ghost!
Li Si was almost scared out of his wits before realizing he had been moved out of the Quiet Room—the old woman had teleported him over from a distance.
Big shot, 666! I have 999 respects for you, but should I say it?
“You obtained two Soul Lamps. Not bad.”
The sneaky old woman spoke, actually praising him. Wait, Old Madam, can’t you see I have four Soul Lamps?
Li Si blinked but said nothing. Was the Divination Misdirection that powerful?
“Li Si, you are the most outstanding cultivation talent I have ever seen. Don’t waste your gift,” the sneaky old woman continued, her tone unusually gentle.
“Young people are full of vigor, easily restless and distracted by appearances, getting carried away—it’s understandable. But the path of cultivation is long and full of obstacles. You must focus wholeheartedly on your practice and not forget your true path because of minor temptations along the way.”
“Heaven and earth are merciless, and so is the mortal world. All beings, all spirits, are struggling to cross over. Until you become a Great Luotian Immortal, you will never be free. The ancient sages said: ‘Painted beauties are but skeletons; fair appearances are but bleached bones.’ Don’t be obsessed. When you one day attain Great Perfection, you will realize that all infatuations in this world are but passing clouds.”
“The mistakes you made in the past, I can overlook. But from now on, you must devote yourself to cultivation. If you dare to err again, I will not spare you!”
The old woman reached out and tapped Li Si’s forehead. A shimmering spiritual light appeared, suggesting a powerful Divine Ability.
“This is the Seven Emotions Immortal Seal. I place it upon you today. If you dare harbor such filthy thoughts again, it will cause you unbearable pain. But if you wholeheartedly seek the Dao, it will aid your cultivation.”
“Take care!”
With that, the sneaky old woman waved her sleeve, and Li Si was sent back to the Quiet Room.
The whole process left Li Si in awe. Truly, the violent old woman—Oops! Li Si was shocked, and then—
“Sneaky old woman?”
“Net-addict old woman?”
“Soy-Sauce Crone?”
“Stop it. I am a righteous gentleman.”
Li Si halted the thoughts in his mind but immediately knelt down, facing the direction of the old woman. He performed three bows and nine kowtows, almost shedding tears, utterly convinced and prostrating himself in admiration.
Old Madam was so magnanimous, lecturing him without even blushing or her heart racing.
Where else could one find such a Master?