Chapter 170: Deity and Demon Strategy Guide
Chapter 170: Deity and Demon Strategy Guide
Grey clouds gathered on the distant horizon, looking like rain might fall.
The breeze blowing past carried a faint floral scent, and a beautiful butterfly fluttered dancing among the grasses. Li Si felt like a sage~
Or at least, something like one.
The Shendanzi opposite him was still sighing when Li Si asked one last question.
“You think, why does Ascension to the Land of Infinite Vastness require two hundred portions of Fortune of Heaven and Earth?”
Then Shendanzi gave him a look that screamed idiot.
“I thought you might understand, young brother.”
“Exactly because I understood, I needed to ask. Or I could phrase it this way: why must we Ascend to the Land of Infinite Vastness?”
“Because, we can gain eternal life, and advance to the Great Luotian Immortal rank,” Shendanzi replied. “Without going to the Land of Infinite Vastness, advancement is impossible. Well, not absolutely, but the necessary conditions would be missing. Things like follow-up cultivation techniques, or rarer resources exist only in the Land of Infinite Vastness. Even the realms beyond Great Luotian Immortal… after all, once you walk our path, who’d be content staying in place?”
Shendanzi sighed. “Nascent Soul Realm grants a thousand years. Divine Transformation grants three thousand. Void Refinement grants ten thousand. After the Heavenly Tribulation, Great Ascension grants thirty millennia. Achieving True Immortal rank bestows one hundred thousand. Young brother, sometimes, only when you stand at that height, in that position, do you grasp the meaning of paddling upstream – if you don’t move forward, you fall back.” (Data modified)
“So, it’s all about resources causing problems,” Li Si concluded. “Then do you think, within our current Mortal Realm, besides Jiuxuanzi and that Tribulation-Bearing Dragon, are there other Deities and Demons?”
At this, Shendanzi looked meaningfully at Li Si. “Young brother, that’s quite a bold question. But since you managed to impersonate Xu Changsheng and become the Calamity-Bearing Human King… how many Deities and Demons do you think lie hidden within this Mortal Realm? Let’s drop this topic!”
“One last question,” Li Si spoke again. “What exactly is the ‘Mortal Realm’? From your description earlier, it sounds like each Mortal Realm is an isolated island, with the Mist as the surrounding sea.”
Shendanzi scratched his head in exasperation. Oh dear, how many ‘last questions’ was this? Would it never end?
Still, he patiently answered, “Young brother, your question is rather strange. At least, before I advanced to the True Immortal rank, I never pondered it. Now, even if the thought crosses my mind, I don’t delve into it. Because what the Mortal Realm truly is, or what the Mist really is, has nothing to do with our immediate situation.”
“Knowing or not knowing, the Mist will still come. The Mortal Realm will still be destroyed. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time focusing on your cultivation?”
Li Si chuckled ruefully. Maybe this was a side-effect of being a transmigrator – always wanting to consider things from a grand, global perspective, or always believing the world must have some finite boundary.
“You’re right. I’m overthinking it,” Li Si conceded. “Then, Elder, I must ask you to deliver these fifty Spirit Nourishing Pills to my master without fail. I cannot visit the Hall of Fate for some time.”
“Of course! This old man is not the dishonest sort!” Shendanzi promised gravely, then hurried off.
Li Si watched him go, feeling deep down the old guy wasn’t very reliable. Ah well.
If the old geezer dared to pocket the pills, there would be no choice next time but to ‘add him as a friend’ for some… friendly chat.
However, his conversation with Shendanzi had yielded substantial gains. At the very least, it pointed out the direction for his next steps.
One path was Ascension to the Land of Infinite Vastness. Equivalent to getting accepted into a top academy and then securing the ticket abroad.
The other path was to flee, find the next Mortal Realm, develop there, amass strength, then Ascend to the Land of Infinite Vastness anyway. As long as Ascension succeeded, one’s personal fate was considered handled.
Because Li Si also wanted to advance to Great Luotian Immortal. No one didn’t.
Furthermore, he had confirmed that this Mortal Realm definitely harbored numerous hidden Deities and Demons. Some, like that Demonic Dragon, didn’t actively stir trouble.
Some resented their situation, like Jiuxuanzi.
And naturally, there were those Deities and Demons who aimed to prey on others, since that was the most profitable move.
“They are all quality potential allies,” Li Si thought to himself. “Too bad finding these old coins is incredibly hard. But if I can dig out just one old coin and add them to my contacts list, it would be a colossal gain.”
For a moment, Li Si brimmed with interest in this idea. He even made a guide chart.
“First: Not all old coins are Deities and Demons, but all Deities and Demons are old coins. Take that Demonic Dragon as reference.”
“Second: Not every Deity and Demon will take the initiative. He might stay silently hidden from beginning to end. Take that Demonic Dragon as reference.”
“Third: Deities and Demons seem to lack empathy for the living beings of the Mortal Realm. Maybe they once had it, but after drifting in the Mist for so long, it faded away. The death of billions is just fleeting smoke to them, having witnessed worse. Take that Demonic Dragon as reference.”
“Fourth: Some Deities and Demons stir trouble. Those who stir trouble mostly end up at a disadvantage, proving they are still relatively new. Though it doesn’t rule out some Deities and Demons who’ve lost the ability to stir trouble. Take that Demonic Dragon as reference.”
“Fifth: Even when some stir trouble, other Deities and Demons remain unaffected, hanging aloof and uninvolved. Take that Demonic Dragon as reference – its biggest action was using its dragon bloodline to breed a hundred thousand dragonkin…”
“Sixth: All Deities and Demons, even if they don’t stir trouble, will never refuse free benefits. So make bold assumptions, conduct careful inquiries: Could one or two Deities and Demons be hiding within my domain, simply watching the show? Take me, who’s reading the novel right now, as reference…”
Once Li Si thought this far, he stopped. He quietly transmitted back to the Yunhua Sect headquarters as if nothing had happened.
Then he summoned the Yunhua Law Seal. Having successively absorbed the divine authority of four World Guardian True Immortals and possessing eight thousand portions of Fortune of Heaven and Earth, its theoretical maximum suppression radius should have reached fifty thousand li.
However, Li Si actively suppressed it. Currently, it only suppressed an area of ten thousand li. This now proved correct: expanding too large a territory without sufficient population or substantial material production to anchor things meant the PPI would skyrocket.
Even so, without an increase in total population, the Yunhua Law Seal would have to inject ten portions of Fortune of Heaven and Earth into the market every future month to release inflation pressure.
After contemplating for most of the day, Li Si acted.
First move: Universal divine blessing distribution for everyone.
That day, the slightly over one million people within his domain, regardless of gender or age, Cultivators or ordinary folk, were all dazed by blessing packages raining down from the sky. Every single one.
Divine Grace Baptism delivered continuously, ten times over!
Then, Li Si simply cultivated diligently, as if he had nothing to do with the blessings.
Then, starting the next day at noon, he distributed universal blessings again. Whoever had a head counted and enjoyed the ten-round Divine Grace Baptism.
Everyone laughed even in their sleep.
Because this Divine Grace Baptism offered the most immediate benefits to life forms.
Everyone gained immensely. The aged felt younger. The ill recovered. Those lacking aptitude were now able to cultivate.
Those who could already cultivate experienced enhanced talent.
Many surged to Qi Refining within two short days. Numerous Qi Refining Cultivators advanced to Foundation Establishment.
But on the third day, again at noon, Li Si persistently distributed universal blessings, extravagant to the point of absurdity.
Still, Divine Grace Baptism ten times over.
Also on that day, Li Si used the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl to complete big data recording and analysis on all one million twenty thousand people. In other words, every aspect of a person’s life, from birth to death, was documented and cross-referenced. Each individual had at least a hundred witnesses.
Even if someone forgot who they were, they wouldn’t have to worry about finding their mother. Li Si was immensely satisfied with the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl’s efficiency. In a way, this was far more valuable than sending it to the frontlines.
Sadly, so far, Li Si hadn’t found anything more suitable as his vanguard scout than the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl.
For the entire next month, every noon brought a mandatory Divine Grace Baptism ten times over. People grew accustomed to it; a day without it felt uncomfortable.
The price Li Si paid: a clean hundred portions of Fortune of Heaven and Earth wasted away by him.
Yet the results were concrete.
Within that month, among his one million people:
Divine Transformation Realm Cultivators increased to seven.
Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators increased to one hundred four.
Golden Core Realm Cultivators increased to one thousand eight hundred ninety-two.
Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators increased to three hundred thousand.
The rest… all reached Qi Refining.
The Human Race’s ability to withstand danger had considerably improved.
Correspondingly, its capacity to shape the world also grew tremendously.
What once demanded arduous effort from thousands, even tens of thousands, to build a small city, now took mere hundreds of Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators. Guided by specialists, a small city took only half a month. Complexities stretched it to a month or at most two months.
Moreover, Li Si directly issued a Divine Decree with a policy: Build super cities.
Reward: Three Foundation Establishment Realm slots – specifically the World Transcending Dao Body – would be granted for each completed super city. Possessing the World Transcending Dao Body made advancing to Spirit Transformation significantly easier.
The super city standard: A radius of one hundred li, housing at least five hundred thousand people. Challenging at first glance, but easily achievable within a generation or two.
Li Si intended this method to prod the city lords, the elites. Anyway, within the next fifty years, transforming the one million population into five million wouldn’t be hard.
Even now, Li Si’s territory managed one super city. Formed by the Northern Alliance, spearheaded by Bai Chu, Divine Transformation Cultivator, merging several cities to create the first.
Beyond super cities, twelve new Cultivation Sects emerged this month. Added to the original seven, they totaled nineteen.
With strength increased, life stabilized, and future promising, land grabs and mountain-seizures for domain-building became frequent.
Numerous Cultivation techniques, secret manuals, and Dao Techniques surfaced. Mostly released by the Floating Cloud Sect, Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect, and Heaven-Mending Sect. While not their core techniques or Dao arts, given their vast repositories, this was straightforward.
Even this month, Ji Yuan of the Heaven-Mending Sect led an exploration team north. Comprising one Void Refinement Realm Cultivator, four Divine Transformation peers, and fifty Nascent Souls, their target: the former royal capital of the Sacred Raven Kingdom. Though motivated, their venturing outside the Yunhua Law Seal’s protective zone counted as a significant signal.
To shield them, Li Si had to extend the Yunhua Law Seal’s coverage five thousand li north.
Then, finally, at month’s end, the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl’s big data yielded his desired results.
An extra three individuals appeared within his domain. Yet, surrounding people had flawless, complete memories of them. If not for the original big data backups from the month’s first three days retained by the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl, even the Pearl itself would have been deceived.
Indeed, the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl had been deceived. These three clearly knew about the Pearl’s surveillance and employed some uncanny, undetectable method against it.
Fortunately, Li Si had backup big data.