"Caw! Caw!"
As the Spirit Fire gradually extinguished, Corvus, the bloodthirsty spectator, let out a joyful cry.
It had been so many years, and finally, someone had once again sacrificed death to him.
An entire village of people plus a small evil god, this was truly worth the price of admission.
To witness such a magnificent fated death, he would be willing to see rivers of blood every day!
In a great mood, Corvus, while siphoning off the power of death, also bestowed a small reward upon the hardworking streamer.
The moment his power was drained, Mo Di experienced the feeling of kidney deficiency for the first time in a long while. Coincidentally, he released the book page at that moment, almost needing a Frostblood Abomination to help him walk.
This feeling of emptiness persisted until he discovered a one-handed axe in his hand.
"This is... the axe of living sacrifice? It dropped so easily?"
As a veteran player of the Eternal Realm, Mo Di was very familiar with this Demon God Artifact.
So-called Demon God Artifacts were divided into Lower-tier, Mid-tier, and Upper-tier, with varying abilities.
Essentially, these were weapons forged by a Demon God splitting off a small portion of its power.
For example, the Lower-tier Demon God Artifact, axe of living sacrifice, could ignite Spirit Fire and was especially effective against undead creatures.
Each time a death was offered to Corvus, it could also restore some of the user's energy, which was essentially killing to restore mana.
"Good stuff, Boss Corvus is generous."
Feeling the gaze of the Upper-tier existence dissipate, Mo Di's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile as he caressed the axe head.
Cold, heavy, and imbued with the aura of death, just one touch and his hand could no longer leave this one-handed axe.
He even disregarded the greatsword stuck in the ground.
Indeed, for a veteran player like him, quest rewards and collecting items were much more interesting.
Finally, having had his fill of touching the Demon God Artifact, he fastened the axe of living sacrifice to his waist, pulled out the greatsword and carried it on his back, then looked around.
Aside from the Frostblood Abominations still awaiting orders, all that remained was the ruins of Lianxin Village, covered in white snow and frost.
In the distance, mist still enveloped Lianxin Village, but it seemed to have dissipated somewhat.
"I need some blood packs," Mo Di said, looking at the Frostblood Abominations.
They didn't understand what he meant, but they still obeyed the command, kneeling on the ground, allowing blood thorns to pierce their bodies.
One mummified corpse after another fell, buried by the ice and snow.
Retracting the blood thorns, Mo Di drank until he was half full; at least he wouldn't sway as he walked.
'No wonder so many Blood Mages moonlight as Necromancers; they can raise some blood packs for emergencies.'
He thought as he walked towards the Earth God Shrine on the outskirts.
At the Earth God Shrine, everyone had been waiting for a long time.
"I never thought you'd actually do it," a mix of emotions—sighs, joy—was on Earth God's face. "Thank you, cultivator from an unknown world."
"It was nothing," Mo Di said humbly. According to custom, shouldn't he be receiving quest rewards next?
..."What's with that expectant look on your face? Although I do have something to give you."
Earth God retreated a few steps without changing his expression, then pulled out a small booklet from his embrace and handed it to him.
"This is the cultivation technique I practice, the 【Earth Deity Qi-Devouring Method】. It's only a common Divine Dao cultivation technique, but you can certainly take it if you need it."
Mo Di took it, flipped through it, and with the help of 【Language Comprehension】, understood its contents.
'Perhaps it can fill the gap of the 【Mengel Spirit Fusion Ritual】,' he thought, then thanked Earth God.
Beside them, Long Yutian asked:
"Black Sky Buddha Mother is dead, and Lianxin Village no longer exists, old man. What do you plan to do next?"
Fanning his tattered cattail fan, Earth God shook his head, "As the Earth God of Lianxin Village, enfeoffed by the Great Xuan Dynasty, I have been weakening since I left the Great Xuan Dynasty.
Black Sky Buddha Mother is dead, and now it should be my turn."
After he finished speaking, Mo Di and Long Yutian finally noticed that his figure was much dimmer than before.
Barring any accidents, he would soon disappear; this was a limitation that Incense Gods found hard to escape.
Long Yutian opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Earth God interrupted him:
"You don't need to prepare incense for me. I've lived long enough, I think it's sufficient."
Moreover, this was not the Great Xuan Dynasty; his obsession had dissipated, and even more incense would be useless.
"I see," Long Yutian could only swallow his words, sighed, and remained silent.
Outside Lianxin Village, the mist dissipated, and a road leading to Greenlawn City appeared before Mo Di.
He still didn't understand the mechanism of the mist's formation, but he had some guesses regarding its dissipation.
As long as the corresponding strongest monster in the mist, like Black Sky Buddha Mother, was eliminated, the mist would dissipate.
Of course, if the monsters inside escaped, the mist would also disappear, like the Frost噬 Giant Spider in Red Cedar City.
"It seems our Greenlawn City is quite lucky; at least the monsters in the fog aren't as difficult to deal with as that giant spider," Long Yutian said, feeling fortunate.
"Wait...!" He suddenly looked up, realizing a blind spot.
Whether monsters were eliminated or emerged from the fog, the mist would dissipate. Didn't that mean Greenlawn City would eventually come into contact with other monsters?
"The mist outside Greenlawn City has already begun to dissipate, which means we'll be in contact with the mist surrounding the neighboring city... Thankfully, it's not Red Cedar City."
He comforted himself, recalling information about the mist in the surrounding cities.
"Let me think... zombies, carnivorous plants. We should be able to handle them."
As long as it wasn't a monster like the Frost噬 Giant Spider, the Ling Corporation could generally resolve it.
"Why think so much? If anyone should worry, it's your father-in-law, it's not your turn yet."
Mo Di slapped him on the back of the head. To this, he retorted:
"I'll inherit the Ling Corporation sooner or later and become the Grand Commander of Greenlawn City. It's perfectly normal for me to plan ahead for my Greenlawn City, isn't it?"
Ling Tianfeng was still alive and well; had this kid already entered the 'my Greenlawn City' phase ahead of time?
When would he declare 'my Blue Star' to the world?
The Claws Squad members around them, upon hearing this, all looked at their noses, not daring to speak.
Although these words were somewhat bold, strictly speaking, they were a unit directly under Long Yutian. If he truly inherited the Ling Family, they would also rise in status.
"It might be difficult for you to inherit the Ling Corporation," Mo Di said with a smile. "Not to mention your father-in-law is still very robust; just the other members of the Ling Family won't let you ascend easily."
Long Yutian, however, looked indifferent:
"No matter. When Uncle Ling decides to abdicate and hand over power, if anyone with poor judgment dares to oppose me, I'll physically eliminate them.
If most people oppose me, even better. It means I've hit a nerve with them. I'll eliminate them all, making it easier for me to wield sole power."
"You're a bit extreme, but I think the same way."
The two exchanged glances, sharing a knowing smile.
Play power games with those insects? They weren't that idle.
From Greenlawn City up to the entire Blue Star, all were continuously threatened by the mist, leaving no room for them to quibble.
If the higher-ups were still bickering over petty gains, then Long Yutian wouldn't need to pretend to be a good person. For the sake of the common people below, he would just have to send them to their deaths.
Having already broken through to the Innate First Realm, though he couldn't compare to his teacher, killing a few people was still very easy... After the mist dispersed, the cursed creatures within the fog rioted, pouring out en masse and surging towards the nearest Greenlawn City.
As if making their final struggle.
"Where did all these cursed creatures come from? How much did the mist devour?"
Before them, a tide of monsters surged, and Long Yutian's expression was grim as he and the others aimed their guns and fired.
They were on their way back to Greenlawn City when, unexpectedly, a large group of cursed creatures suddenly sprang out, heading straight for them.
"Not many bullets left, Teacher, what do you think?"
When faced with difficulty, seek the teacher. Long Yutian felt no shame in this.
"No matter, I will act."
Mo Di gazed in the direction from which the monsters came. If he remembered correctly, that was the direction of Red Cedar City.
Between Greenlawn City and Red Cedar City, there was only one city, which should still be surrounded by mist.
'Why did 【Danger Perception】 detect danger from that direction?'
He had no clue. Could it be that the Frost噬 Giant Spider had come out to hunt?
Snapping back to reality, he exhaled a sheet of ice mist, blowing it towards the beast tide.
The cursed creatures crashed into the ice mist, instantly freezing into ice sculptures.
'This technique of mine, relying on the Wendigo Bloodline and Frigid Blood True Qi, is almost a self-created spell. Unfortunately, no one else can practice it besides me.'
Dragging the greatsword in one hand and gripping the one-handed axe in the other, Mo Di walked leisurely towards the ice sculptures.
Inside the ice sculptures, the cursed creatures struggled incessantly. Before they could break free from the ice, a greatsword met them.
Like a wolf entering a flock of sheep, Mo Di massacred freely, the axe of living sacrifice and the greatsword alternating, smashing the ice sculptures like breaking ice pops.
Before long, a large pool of blood appeared on the ground.
"The casting conditions are met. Now I don't need to do it myself."
He retrieved the axe of living sacrifice, plunged the greatsword into the ground, and a mixture of Frigid Blood True Qi and magic flowed into the blood pool.
Centered on him, the surrounding blood pool transformed into a swamp-like entity, with blood-flesh tentacles emerging from underground, binding the ice sculptures and dragging them down.
"Teacher's self-created 【De Wei An's Bloody Touch】 has a decent range and is great for clearing trash, it's just a bit heavy-handed."
Tentacle play wasn't something he was into.
Once the blood-flesh tentacles had swallowed the entire beast tide, Mo Di's path ahead was clear.
"Let's go, it's time to head back."
They encountered no more beast tides on the remaining journey and successfully returned to Greenlawn City.
However, upon his return, Mo Di received bad news.
"That 'Frost噬 Giant Spider' you mentioned has moved," Ling Tianfeng said, too troubled to rejoice over Black Sky Buddha Mother's death, his face filled with worry. "It's moving towards Nanfeng City."
Mo Di raised an eyebrow. Nanfeng City, wasn't that the city between Red Cedar City and Greenlawn City?
If the Frost噬 Giant Spider was hunting for food, its next target was very likely Greenlawn City.
He had a way to deal with one Black Sky Buddha Mother, but how could he fight an Eternal-level Frost噬 Giant Spider?
"Senior, do you have any other usable rituals? I can accept even higher risks," Ling Tianfeng said, on the verge of tears.
"It's not a question of high risk; the problem is I'm not sure if the ritual's target would even help."
Rubbing his temples, Mo Di thought, he couldn't possibly go to Corvus again, could he? That bloodthirsty spectator might not even take this job.
For now, the only option was to see if the various aristocratic families and financial groups entrenched in each city had any black technology.