Chapter 88: Greedy Li Yan
...…
Inside the Nature Dome, time passed like a warm spring breeze.
A total of 5 hours flew by in the blink of an eye.
"So, little benefit creator, how is that Mid-Sky Rank Qi Gathering Formation Array coming along?"
Lucifer peeked over the small shoulder of a short goth girl. Seeing that she was hard at work, he patiently waited for the end result to come into being.
Fortunately, it didn't take long before Li Yan put down the brush and inscription tool she had in her small hands.
Looking up at the greedy look on her brother's face, happiness overwhelmed the feelings in her heart.
For the first time in her life, she was useful to somebody…
This made her beyond overjoyed, but it also forced her to remember everything that she had experienced to make it this point.
They say that a child truly starts to remember things after turning around 6 years old. But for Li Yan, she could recall everything from the very first moment she came out of the womb.
For most, this could be seen as a fortunate miracle. But for her, it was nothing more than a constant reminder of things that she wouldn't have had to remember if she were normal…
Even though her life was not a good or even decent one, Li Yan didn't hate life.
After all, for one to hate life, they would need to have some form of attachment to it. And she just didn't possess such a thing…
At least, that was the case until a black-haired devil appeared in her life and took her away from that monotonous, tedious, and tortuous life of hers.
Li Yan didn't know what exactly had changed for her. But the moment her big brother killed the Devilduke and his wife, something began to change.
For some reason, she no longer felt like life or death were just two sides of the same coin.
The urge to live on slowly but surely bubbled up inside her!
Although Li Yan didn't know how long this feeling would be around for, she still wanted to see that greed on her brother's face. If not for just a second longer…
-
"Ayo! This is really good stuff, Little Squirt. With a Formation Array like this one, my cultivation speed should increase by at least 10 times. As opposed to my previous Early Sky Rank Qi Gathering Formation Array, this one is leagues ahead!"
While ruffling Li Yan's soft black hair, Lucifer marveled at the activation of the Mid-Sky Rank Qi Gathering Formation Array.
Even though the colorful Qi within the 'Cave Abode' made for a sublimely beautiful sight, the one who indirectly caused such a phenomenon seemed to only be focused on one thing.
'Big Brother… Smile… My smile…'
Li Yan seemed to claim another part of Lucifer as her own, not paying any attention to the qualitative increase of Qi Density inside the Cave Abode.
After a few seconds of the Qi within the Cave reaching its absolute peak, Lucifer patted his sister's head a couple more times before getting right down to the act of cultivation.
While this was happening, Li Yan watched as multiple versions of her big brother materialized from thin air.
Seeing them leave the Cave Abode and guard the area outside, she became even more curious about how mysterious her big brother actually was.
'Big Brother… Mysteries… Only my mysteries…'
Following this possessive train of thought, Li Yan returned to practicing the art of Formation making.
Of course, she did so while sitting right next to her big brother…
"Hmm?" Lucifer opened an eyelid at the little squirt. But upon seeing that she was trying her hardest to improve her Formation mastery, he let her be.
'With Li Yan helping me improve my cultivation speed, I can put more focus on the work of my clones.'
'When the Fire Emperor receives word of the failed assassination attempt, he will surely send even stronger Dipshits. And if I wish to continue the Eternal Grind, I will need to become way stronger than I am.'
'Completely discarding that crap mission, we can just stay in the Water Nation's territory and slowly amass strength and resources.'
'Of course, the Water Nation will soon realize that something is up, and they will also try to send experts in order to kill me.'
"In other words…'
'I have two passive providers of loot!'
As Lucifer's greedy thoughts swirled around inside his head, a few system notifications rang out free of charge.
[Ding! Your Body Cultivation has just advanced from '99.9% of the Late Bronze Rank' to '0.01% of the Peak Bronze Rank']
[Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]
[Ding! While passively making use of Elusive Ascension, your Qi Cultivation has advanced into the 'Peak Foundation Establishment Realm']
[Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!]
[Ding! Your Battle Power has made a jump into the 'Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Early)]
"Umu?" Lucifer curiously glanced at the most recent system notifications.
He completely forgot that his Battle Power broke through into the Middle Nascent Soul Realm…
He was getting quite used to having a few thousand Early Nascent Soul Realm Clones. But with the most recent advancements in strength, it was now time to do an upgrade-
"10,000 CE² per clone!? What the fuck, system!! Are you trying to rob me blind and then fuck me sideways at the same time!?"
Making sure to only scream out inside his head, Lucifer let the system have it!
[Ding! The Host does not like the prices? Then how about you make a system and create the prices for yourself, I.D.I.O.T.]
"Hey, what the hell is that snarky tone I hear?? Aren't you supposed to be completely neutral??"
[Ding! The system does not have a single clue what the host is talking about! A recommendation would be to go and rub the last of your brain cells together. Maybe a fire will be created and your intelligence will spark up in brilliance!]
Tick!
If not so as to disturb his little benefit-making midget, Lucifer surely would've already destroyed everything in a radius of tens of miles.
"...Just tell me how much Clone Essence I now have…"
[Ding! Very well!]
[Clone Essence Bank: 125,000 CE²]
"Enough for 6 clones if I only spend half… Maybe I will switch things up this time and buy a little more than half."
Putting this thought into action, Lucifer clicked the clone purchase button seven times.
FWIP! FWIP!
7 clones with strength in the Middle Nascent Soul Realm formed from nothing.
Watching more than half his clone essence go up in a puff of smoke, Lucifer gritted his teeth before tasking the clones with the scouting of the Water Nation's territory.
Utilizing the Element of Mist and Alacrity, he would actively move his birdhouse-like cave abode deeper and deeper into the Water Nation.
Though this method wasn't a permanent one, it would work well enough for forcing the Fire Nation deeper into enemy land. Through which, Lucifer could elicit the rapid escalation of the war that was already at peak levels of tension.
With this goal in mind, he could swoop in and kill everyone on both sides, just like he did with the Devilduke Family and the small force of Water Nation cultivators.
'That father and family of mine… I still feel that something is off… Why were they all so weak…?'
'What is actually going on here?'
With perplexed thoughts, Lucifer passively gathered cultivation and waited for the next sequence of events to commence.
.....