The lotus statue rotated, and the mountains withered.
A large amount of vitality was stripped away and forcibly poured into the girl’s weak body. The girl’s entire body was covered in cracks, like a porcelain doll about to shatter.
“Mom! It hurts!”
Meanwhile, in mid-air, the Daoist priest’s tilted head glowed red, his topknot fell off, and three fleshy growths, resembling both flowers and fruits, began to sprout from the back of his head.
“It’s done! I’ve succeeded!”
“Xiaoxi!”
The Miko cried out in anguish, smashing her Kagura Bell.
The next second, her face rapidly aged, and her black hair turned withered and yellow.
Immediately after, another sinister aura burst from her body.
A giant, spiky fox phantom leaped out of thin air and bit into the Daoist priest’s head.
The Daoist priest’s laughter abruptly ceased, and his headless body plummeted from the sky.
The Miko also lost her strength and collapsed to the ground.
Yuquan Youxi sensed her body was no longer restrained, so she endured the pain throughout her body and crawled to the Miko’s side.
“Mom!”
At this moment, the Miko’s face was covered in white fox fur, and even her eyes had turned a eerie green.
But even in this state, the gentleness in her eyes remained unchanged.
She gently stroked the girl’s face and instructed:
“Take your father’s and my material, and leave this place… Go find your aunt… Absolutely… absolutely do not cultivate…”
After speaking, her hand fell weakly to the ground.
“Mom!”
Youxi’s heart was torn, and tears welled up.
But the next second, the Miko mother’s body suddenly trembled a few times, then her green eyes widened.
“Mom?”
Youxi was stunned, and before she could feel joy, she saw the fox Miko laugh eerily and maniacally.
“Heh heh haha…”
“I see it! I see it! My husband was right! It’s real! They’re here to pick me up! Hahaha…”
The fox Miko’s face began to contort, and clusters of reddish spider lilies grew from her skin, spreading over her entire body.
Youxi recoiled in fear, but her back hit a pair of human legs.
She looked up and saw her father, the Daoist priest.
Her father’s head was held in his hands in mid-air, grinning slightly, directly meeting her gaze, and blood from his severed neck dripped onto her face.
“Xiaoxi, don’t be afraid… Our family, we’ll ascend together! Hahaha…”
“No, don’t!”
Yuquan Youxi’s face was filled with terror, her mind collapsing, and the cracks on her body rapidly increased, dense and covering her entire body.
But just as she was about to shatter, the cracks suddenly stopped.
Yuquan Youxi froze for a few seconds, her expression gradually becoming dull, and her eyes becoming unusually indifferent.
Immediately after, her body quickly repaired itself, and strange mutations appeared.
Her dark hair turned snow-white, and her delicate eyebrows were covered in frost.
Her temperament became cold and sacred, as if infinitely distant.
Her voice also became exceptionally ethereal, devoid of any human emotion.
“Good… We… will become immortals…”
As she spoke, the Miko and the Daoist priest’s faces filled with fear.
Their bodies suddenly shrank, transforming back into a swarm of tiny illusory evil spirits, scattering and fleeing.
However, before they could escape far, they were swept by an invisible force, instantly turning into nothingness, leaving only the lingering echoes of their screams.
“What happened?!”
Things changed too quickly, and Sophia was still bewildered.
Li Andy frowned, somewhat taken aback:
“Half-feathered ascension? This ability can only be activated in the third act, why is it appearing now?”
The so-called ‘Half-feathered Ascension’ is a self-destructive self-rescue mechanism that the protagonist can activate in the third chapter of the game after completing several key quests and achievements.
In this state, Youxi acts like a radiation source, disintegrating all souls around her!
Whether they are spirits of the dead or living beings!
The damage inflicted on disembodied vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts is even greater.
Moreover, the “radiation range” will continuously expand over time, and the description states that this characteristic has infinite growth potential.
If the state persists for too long, she can even decompose her own soul completely, leading directly to a Game Over!
It’s a kind of self-destructing, table-flipping tactic.
It can only be used once per chapter.
If game time were converted to reality, it would probably require a cooldown of several years.
From a certain perspective, Yuquan Youxi is an extremely dangerous humanoid relic!
“Andy… My head… It’s so dizzy…”
Sophia swayed, leaning against Li Andy, and after enduring for a few seconds, she slid down and collapsed at his feet.
Li Andy stared blankly at all the changes, and a butterfly flapping its wings flashed through his agonizingly painful mind.
Because of his arrival, perhaps all predetermined fates could be changed.
This also means… game strategies are no longer necessarily correct!
One wrong step could lead to eternal damnation!
“Heh heh…”
Facing this “bad news,” Li Andy, as if possessed, grinned, his eyes gleaming frightfully.
No more strategy guides?
So what!
Which of the best strategy guides on the entire internet wasn’t written by him?!
If it weren’t for achieving all achievements…
One-life clear?
Basic operation, that’s all!
Besides, isn’t this much more interesting than following a set path?
Exploring all sorts of unknown possibilities, that’s the game life he pursues!
Li Andy laughed and moved forward, walking faster and faster, faster and faster.
The surrounding scenery shattered like glass.
His brain was in agony, his soul was being torn, his sanity was slipping away!
But he still smiled, and he smiled even more happily.
“Hahaha! This Crossing is truly great!”
At the moment the entire world completely shattered, he tackled Yuquan Youxi, clamping the ‘Jade Carved Longevity Lock’ onto the girl’s neck.
“Ping!”
The world collapsed, and they both fell into the abyss.
…
“Bang…”
In the blink of an eye, they both landed back on the ground.
Li Andy shook his aching head, and his uncontrolled emotions gradually calmed down.
He glanced around and found that they had returned to the basement.
The ritual blood on the magic circle had turned into black ash.
All the surrounding spiritual material had been purified.
Not far away, Sophia was curled up, holding a baseball bat between her legs, frowning in sleep, her breathing steady.
“Whew…”
Li Andy slowly exhaled, not realizing how crazy he had been after losing his sanity.
He looked at the girl beneath him; their posture was the same as when he had just transmigrated.
However, Yuquan Youxi was not crying or begging for mercy now, but had her eyes closed, sleeping peacefully.
Her long, snow-white hair was also slowly turning back to black, like moonlight quietly hidden away.
Looking at the girl’s face, Li Andy couldn’t help but smile.
“I think I was lured into this pit by your character art.”
Yuquan Youxi did not reply, still sleeping, only her long eyelashes seemed to tremble slightly.
Li Andy took a deep breath, and feeling that his brain no longer hurt as much, he got up and went to Sophia’s side, pulling out the baseball bat.
Without her weapon, the latter instinctively shifted her legs, frowning slightly in unease.
“There’s still unfinished business, I need to hurry…”
Li Andy shouldered the bat and quickly ran out of the basement.
As soon as he got outside, he saw Henchman Number One, whom Sophia had knocked out but not killed earlier, limping away.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Li Andy blocked his path with the bat.
Henchman Number One stiffened and pleaded:
“Andy! Let me go! We were all forced, if you don’t tell anyone about me, I definitely won’t tell anyone about you!”
Li Andy nodded, walked around Henchman Number One with the bat, and suddenly smiled:
“Stop pretending, my dear Father Director, I know it’s you.”
Henchman Number One’s expression changed, and his tone became grim:
“How did you know? I never told anyone I had this ability!”
Li Andy didn’t answer, pointing the bat at him:
“Understand your position. I ask, you answer.”
“You!”
The Director had just possessed Henchman Number One, and both his body and soul were extremely unstable.
Even a delicate weak woman could easily take him down.
Let alone a vigorous young man like Li Andy.
“Your relic, was it given to you by the ‘Original Cult’?” Li Andy asked. “How much do you know about them?”
In the game, there had always been an antagonist called the ‘Original Cult’.
They hid behind the scenes, seemingly committing all sorts of evil, secretly poisoning the entire world with an invisible hand. They were half responsible for the tragic outcome of the final ending.
But the official sources and in-game information only provided fragmented details about them.
The NPCs related to the plot were also riddle-speakers.
Therefore, the Original Cult was also jokingly called the background setting for the scriptwriter’s mother by players.
But Li Andy was not in a program-fixed game now, but a dynamic, real world.
So he had to figure out this hidden bomb beneath the surface!
Henchman Number One frowned tightly, looking at Li Andy with a strange expression:
“Aren’t you… one of the people sent by the Original Cult? Why are you asking me this?”
Li Andy was stunned; he had no memory of that!
“Bang!”
Li Andy struck Henchman Number One’s other leg with the bat:
“I ask, you answer!”
Henchman Number One shrieked, falling to his knees, his forehead covered in cold sweat:
“I don’t know much! I only know they are proficient in mysticism!
“Their doctrine… their doctrine claims that the world is a dream of His, and only by waking up can everything return to reality!
“Oh, and the name of the Benefactor, they told me that!
“But that book of ritual magic… you brought it to me!”