Chapter 64: What Is Going On Here?

After finishing his act, Liu Zhi glanced back at the massive red stone where Leif had sat earlier. A sudden thought flashed through his mind, as if he had forgotten something.

He walked a few steps further, then abruptly stopped, raising his longsword nervously. The Soul Naga, influenced by Liu Zhi’s alertness, also became wary.

“Something’s not right. Why hasn’t the ritual completion prompt appeared? Could it be that Leif isn’t dead yet? Stay alert, and if there’s an enemy, strike immediately.”

Just as Liu Zhi spoke, the red stone began to melt like wax. Red points of light flew out from within, heading straight towards Liu Zhi.

The Soul Naga, already prepared, blocked Liu Zhi’s path.

Yet, no matter how fast she was, it was futile—the red points moved at the speed of light, reaching them in an instant. The Soul Naga managed to intercept roughly a third, but the rest struck Liu Zhi directly.

Seeing this, the Soul Naga immediately turned toward Liu Zhi.

But Liu Zhi raised his hand, “Stop—I’m fine. Damn it, I can’t believe I was tricked again.”

He pressed his hand to his head. Though he claimed to be unharmed, his mind felt as if it were about to explode.

At that moment, chaotic memories poured incessantly into Liu Zhi’s mind, making him feel as though he were experiencing another transmigration.

Fortunately, the volume of memory this time was not overwhelming. He quickly pieced together the cause and effect.

It turned out that the man known as Leif Erikson was not truly called by that name; like Sandru, he was a cross-plane game player. His true name and origin were absent from the memories.

The only thing Liu Zhi learned was that Leif’s strength surpassed Sandru’s, following the demon path, and had reached level ten.

Centuries ago, he projected himself into a body in the cross-plane game, seeking to seize the divine essence of the Feathered Serpent God to elevate his own power and break into the demigod tier.

But at the time, he underestimated the Feathered Serpent God’s might, was destroyed by the deity in alliance with the three great empires of the Americas, and sealed beneath the pyramid of the Golden City.

Ever since, he had no chance to escape, only awakening when someone arrived to complete a quest, relying on deception to influence certain arrangements in the Golden City.

But as the three empires fell and the Golden City faded into legend, his power dwindled to almost nothing.

Liu Zhi’s appearance in the Golden City gave him hope of escape.

He used Liu Zhi’s presence to set up arrangements in the pyramid. After sacrificing the native warriors who had fled there, he devised a ritual-like challenge for Liu Zhi.

To make Liu Zhi believe, he even mimicked system prompts, guiding and deceiving him.

If Liu Zhi had followed his plan, he would have died in Leif’s hands, allowing Leif to escape by possessing Liu Zhi’s body.

He would also seize the Feathered Serpent God’s divine essence, returning to his world and breaking through to demigod, level eleven.

But he had met an unpredictable Liu Zhi, someone who always chose the highest difficulty in games, eschewing all help and spells.

In the end, not only did he fail to take over Liu Zhi’s body, he lost his own life instead.

Understanding all this, Liu Zhi let out a long sigh. “Some people really do dig their own graves.”

Despite his words, Liu Zhi had gleaned advanced combat insights from Leif’s memories. Had it not been for centuries of sealing and battles over the divine essence, which depleted Leif’s power, Liu Zhi would have had no chance at victory.

But ultimately, he had won.

Liu Zhi lowered his gaze to his attribute panel, where several new prompts had appeared:

[Ding! You have defeated a sealed hostile player. PVP mode activated ahead of schedule. You gain 347 battle points. Faction tendency: Order.]

[Ding! Player XXX now has you in his sights. From now on, he is your mortal enemy...]

[Ding! You have acquired knowledge of the Demon profession from player XXX’s memories. You now know the requirements and advancement criteria for the Demon profession.]

[Demon profession requirements: Master Demonology (0/1), transform body into demon flesh (0/1), slay 10 demon infants of the same kind (0/10) (minimum requirements).]

[Demon profession advancement: Demon Infant (level 1) - Demon (level 6) - Greater Demon (level 11) - Demon Lord (level 16) - Archdemon.]

[Ding! You have obtained 1 unit of Feathered Serpent God’s divine essence. Essence tendency: Sun, Rain, Harvest, Death.]

[Ding! You are completely unable to assimilate the divine essence. Essence is escaping...]

[Ding! Would you like to activate emergency measures?]

[Ding! Escaping essence has been retrieved and is now fusing with your Underworld Palace. Please check upon entering the palace.]

[Ding!...]

Faced with this long string of notifications, Liu Zhi was stunned.

From these prompts, it was clear that Leif was dead. However, he must have other ways to revive—he had finally escaped the prison that had held him for untold years.

Liu Zhi hadn’t released him in a friendly manner, so now they were mortal enemies.

Liu Zhi didn’t much care. After all, the name he used wasn’t his own; the mysterious Leif was after Sandru, not Liu Zhi.

With this in mind, Liu Zhi happily glanced through the remaining prompts, most of which pertained to the divine essence.

Though unsure of its use, the fact that a high-level player had traveled so far to snatch it meant it must be valuable.

Now, the essence had fused into his Underworld Palace, becoming part of him. That was enough—Liu Zhi could pursue this path, ignoring the Demon profession requirements.

As Liu Zhi excitedly examined the prompts, the Soul Naga suddenly moved, gliding softly to his side as if she wished to ask something.

Liu Zhi looked up and met her gaze. He noticed that her eyes no longer held the dead, empty look they once did; instead, they shone with a hint of vitality.

He quickly realized that when the red light struck earlier, the Soul Naga had intercepted part of it, meaning she had absorbed a small portion of the divine essence.

Though not enough to reach a full unit, it was sufficient to awaken her intelligence, elevating her to an upper-ranked undead.