CHAPTER 490: 049 FACE-OFF AGAIN

"Is it you again?"

Carl’s hands trembled as he fixed his gaze on the Fallen Angel darting toward him, anger involuntarily flashing in his eyes. It seemed that the creature had fixated on him, appearing several times whenever Carl left the Void City. Strangely enough, no one else encountered it when they left the city.

"Perfect!" Carl thought. "Let me show you the progress I’ve made during this time!"

Enlightenment from Divine Gifts and refinement of divine marrow had greatly increased his martial realm and spiritual power, boosting his strength as well.

Thousand Buddha Hands!

Great Bright Seal!

Infinite light burst forth from his palms, illuminating all directions and causing the Fallen Angel to instinctively halt.

Dragon and Tiger Seal!

The sounds of dragons roaring and tigers howling filled the air. The massive Buddha, carrying the authority to subdue dragons and tigers, charged toward the fiend with three sets of wings.

Previously, Carl knew he was no match and had fled without a fight during their first two encounters. Now, however, his strength had significantly advanced, making the outcome far from certain.

BANG!

CRACK...

The two figures crossed paths. Carl looked down at his chest, where a fist-sized hole had shockingly appeared. The hole was right where his heart was. If not for his unique Constitution, this strike would have been fatal, even for a Holy Knight.

Though constrained by the rules, forbidden from possessing strength beyond the First Order, this creature possesses traits of a Third-tier entity, Carl mused. An immortal body, Death Authority, control over space... My Holy Demon Transformation at the fourth level feels as fragile as paper and utterly vulnerable before it.

Luckily, there’s still a chance. He looked up toward his opponent. Fine streams of water, thin as hairs, had appeared on the Fallen Angel’s body at some point, tightly binding its limbs and wings. Several handprints were also visible on its body, quickly healing, but it had clearly been injured in their previous skirmish.

"Again!"

His muscles tensed, his heart rapidly regenerated, and Carl, cloaked in Thunderclap, dashed forward once more.

Thousand Buddha Hands!

Hundred Hands Realm—Wisdom Seal!

One-Circle Witchcraft—Tide’s Force!

His spiritual power, now seventeen-point-something, was significantly more potent than his previous fifteen-point-something, despite the seemingly small numerical increase. The power of his witchcraft had increased severalfold, with instant casting possible, and he could now cast two to three One-Circle Witchcrafts simultaneously. Not only that, but the increase in spiritual power also made Carl’s Thousand Buddha Hands more agile, each move continuously flowing into the next. If my spiritual power surpasses twenty, I feel certain my Thousand Buddha Hands could reach a higher level, achieving the Thousand Hand Realm!

The Fallen Angel beat its wings, vanishing instantly from the spot as if it had merged into the void. When it reappeared, its body was unscathed, and the witchcraft binding it had vanished.

BANG!

With merely a simple lift of its leg and a clap of its hands, the fearsome palm force heading its way dissipated.

Neutralization, Devouring, Forceful Counterattacks! These are inherent traits of a despair-level fiend, ones even the world’s rules can hardly suppress.

Carl’s expression tightened, his attacking speed becoming more frantic. He felt as though he was facing a former Third-tier strong person who had fallen to the First Order. Though their cultivation levels were the same, his opponent drew on past experiences from being a Third-tier strong person, gaining the upper hand. No matter how ferocious his attacks were, it was difficult to break through the opponent’s defense and truly harm its core.

"HMPH!"

With a grunt, Carl’s eyes suddenly gleamed darkly as three ghostly figures leaped from them, diving toward the Death Phantom.

Soul Killing Technique!

Though my six-star Soul Killing Technique isn’t completely mastered yet, these three Death Phantoms are still sufficient for combat. Moreover, the high Tier of these Death Phantoms means their lethality is not diminished.

SCREECH!

The piercing cries of the three Death Phantoms merged into an invisible spike targeting the Fallen Angel’s consciousness—if it even has one...

Carl didn’t stop there. Seals, witchcraft, and Holy Skills burst forth; his body even manifested its Abyss Giant Squid form to unleash a fierce attack.

But it wasn’t much use. The Fallen Angel’s body seemed bound by some rule, making it hard to truly injure unless a certain threshold was reached. And while that threshold isn’t far off for me, it’s that last tiny bit that’s unfortunately unreachable. Just a bit more, just a bit stronger would do! Alas... even just a bit is still not enough!

SWOOSH!

After tearing up two First Rank Late Stage Consecutive Fireball Seals to temporarily stall the opponent, Carl flashed towards Cloud Tower Void City. Midway, his hands reached out and firmly grasped a Death Phantom, pulling it into the depths of the fog.

"You guys go first!"

Taking a deep breath, Carl looked reluctant but then clenched his jaw and pulled out ten Consecutive Fireball Seals from his body. All were of First Rank Late Stage quality. This is most of the collection I’ve arduously created over the last few years! With that thought, he threw them all out in a swarm.

Instantly, dozens of massive fireballs appeared nearby. The extreme heat instantly evaporated all moisture and melted everything in its path. Even ordinary fiends were reduced to ashes in moments, and the despair-level fiend also issued a blood-curdling scream. After a series of explosions, the fiends besieging Cloud Tower Void City were wiped clean. Only the Fallen Angel chasing Carl flew into the distance, leaving the dumbstruck Cloud Three and Cloud Four brothers behind.

「The next day.」

A disheveled Carl returned to the Void City, receiving a warm welcome from Cloud Tower Void City.

"I’m fine." Waving his hand, Carl rubbed his temples, "I need to rest for a while; we’ll talk about everything else later."

Compared to the previous two times, he looked more disheveled now, but his spirits were high. The first time he encountered the Fallen Angel, he had fled swiftly just from sensing its presence. The second time, he tried to fight, then fled. This time, he had engaged in numerous confrontations with the Fallen Angel and only chose to flee—left with no other choice—after exhausting all his methods. Improving bit by bit each time was indeed worth celebrating.

「Half a year later.」

Carl once again hosted a trade fair. This time, aside from Mashi and a few others, there were nine new Divine Envoys from various places, one of whom even brought Divine Fire.

SWOOSH!

Two Flying Boats appeared at the venue. Carl operated a Flying Boat, demonstrating its capabilities in maneuvering and transforming to everyone present.

"A Curios—Flying Boat. It can carry up to a hundred people at a time, with medium flying speed and medium defensive power."

"Starting bid—eight Divine Cores!"

With the experience from last time, Mashi and the others had gotten used to Carl’s rhetoric and promptly called out their bids. Their bids were not high. They had been desperately accumulating Divine Cores recently, but it proved challenging due to their own poor mining veins and the difficulty of other acquisition methods. So, most were somewhat financially embarrassed.

Eventually, the two Flying Boats were acquired by Divine Envoys from other Void Cities, sold for fourteen and fifteen Divine Cores respectively.

"An improved breed of Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworms," Carl introduced the insect in front of him. "It can reproduce nine times, each time producing two to three offspring, with up to three hundred or more in the ninth generation. Each Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworm can survive for ten days. From the fifth day, its body begins secreting a meat-like gelatin; it reaches its peak on the eighth day. By the tenth day, when it grows to the size of a washbasin, it dies, and its corpse can also be consumed."

"Theoretically," he continued, "one Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworm mother can keep two hundred residents of a Void City from starvation for half a year. Price—five Divine Cores!"

As his voice dropped, the room immediately burst into whispers, many spectators’ eyes shining.

"Divine Envoy Carl!" someone spoke up, "After it reproduces nine times, will it definitely die?"

"No," Carl shook his head. "It will mutate, with a high likelihood of transforming into a Tier Two fiend, the Thousand-Eyed Poison Spider, or a Tier One fiend, the Ten-Thousand-Eyed Poison Spider. So, the three hundred-plus corpses left after the ninth reproduction cycle shouldn’t be kept, and they certainly shouldn’t be eaten."

"So you’re saying this is a one-time deal?" the questioner frowned. "If we want to rely on the Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworms to sustain the residents of a Void City, do we have to come back to buy more?"

"As it stands, that is correct," Carl nodded. "We are continuously improving the Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworms’ resistance to mutation. In the future, perhaps we can produce a type that can ignore mutation."

Actually, John had already cultivated Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworms adapted to this world. However, this breed did not produce the meat-like gelatin, nor were they edible, rendering them economically worthless.

"Fine then, I’ll take one."

"I’ll take one too."

Only two people chose to purchase the Earth-Eating Fatty Silkworms, while others hesitated, their gazes flickering without making a decision.

Poor! This was Carl’s systematic summary of these participants. Actually, this was quite normal. Individuals like Mashi and the others, who could navigate the chaotic environment of the Crash Divine Domain, were naturally highly skilled and daring. Moreover, they had a relatively substantial foundation.

As for other Void Cities... Take Divine Envoy Bo Wen, for example. His strength wasn’t poor, but he could only find two Divine Cores throughout his entire Void City. The situation with other Divine Envoys from Void Cities was much the same: some had a few more Divine Cores, some had fewer, but never too many.

"I heard Mr. Karl wants to experience the Divine Gifts of other Void Cities?" a white-haired elder inquired. "Our Void City’s Divine Gift is quite special. We can allow you a chance to comprehend it, but it would require exchanging it for a Flying Boat."

"A Flying Boat?" Carl didn’t outright refuse. Instead, he inquired, "What are the special characteristics of your Void City?"

"Hundred Wisdoms!" the elder spoke deeply and slowly. "It represents profound wisdom, comprehending all laws. Our Void City’s ancestors were once among the strongest in this apocalyptic realm."

"Oh!" Carl became interested. "Accepted!"

「Several hours later.」

After sending everyone away, Carl swept up the Divine Cores in front of him.

Source Material +0.1

Source Material +0.1

Source Material +0.1

...

With a thought, all the Source Material transformed into spiritual power. His spiritual power attribute shook, then climbed from 17.1 to 18.3, and his Spiritual Inner Sea expanded once again.

"HMM..." Carl groaned, enduring the pain and satisfaction brought by the surge in spiritual power, his eyes narrowing. Now, I should be able to construct the Second Circle Magic, Water of Life.

With this witchcraft, my Recovery Power will also greatly increase. Next, I can join forces with Divine Envoys to clear the nearby fiends, attracting more Divine Envoys from other Void Cities, and then collect more Divine Cores.

However, before that, I should check the two Divine Gifts I acquired this time.

The Divine Gift involving ’Wisdom’ was a stone book, and the one involving ’Hunting’ was a broken bow.

Looking at the two Divine Gifts before him, Carl pondered for a moment and first touched the broken bow.

"Mise!"

"Mise!"

A faint cry echoed in his sea of consciousness. Immediately after, Carl’s eyes brightened; he found himself in a Wilderness Forest.

He looked at his body. His robust limbs were filled with terrifying power, and he felt an incredible sense of control over the boundless jungle. Hunting! Keen senses!

With a thought, a Longbow appeared in his hand. He drew the bow, aiming at a distant, three-headed dog enveloped in black smoke. A Third-tier creature—the Hell Three-Headed Dog!

TWANG!

The bowstring vibrated. An arrow seemed to pierce through time and space, suddenly piercing the three heads of the Hell Three-Headed Dog, skewering them like candied fruit on a stick.