Li Xin flicked his fingers, and the two ravenous rats that attacked them fell silently. Despite walking steadily, Li Xin moved extremely fast, sometimes leaving the vagrants with the mere sensation of wind passing by.
It's been over six years since he left that eerie space and castle. Well, let's call it a castle. The thing within Li Xin's body wasn't calm, but fortunately, Li Xin had figured out a way to maintain balance.
The Dao Yuan Continent is a world that worships deities, where royal and divine powers coexist, and there exist items called Divine Relics, said to be left by the gods. If an Awakened can resonate with a Divine Relic, they can incorporate it within their body, and the relic can bestow a corresponding Blessing. Divine Relics of righteous gods are more controllable with lesser side effects, while those of Evil Gods often have large negative impacts, like the trait of slaughter, which might be why they're called Evil Gods.
Whether righteous or evil, all gods have hierarchies. Higher-tier gods wield powerful authorities and have their own Church Court and broad followers on the Dao Yuan Continent, backed by state support.
Additionally, there are Wild Gods and Wandering Gods. These gods don't have their own Church Court and system but possess some fanatical followers. Their divine status is not high; they belong to wild forces and have Divine Relics that are varied and dangerous, branded with high unpredictability.
For example, an affluent and powerful Main God wouldn't care for a follower's trifles, but Wild Gods and Wandering Gods might. Often, desperate times call for desperate measures, more dangerous than Evil Gods, since righteousness and evil are relative; an Evil God's status isn't inferior, they merely represent different authorities.
Li Xin's Divine Relic is a dice. According to the skeletal figure in the castle, this isn't a righteous god's relic but rather the only one that responded to Li Xin—he had no choice. This wasn't some divine selection, as the dice isn't picky; it had already eliminated five hosts the year before him.
This was also the first time he sensed a complicated emotion from the smooth-boned face of the skeleton.
The dice is lodged in the heart area, has nine faces, each marked from one to nine. They've been coexisting for six years. Li Xin gradually figured out its function: once thrown, it can, with certain probability, immediately predict the success rate of the impending event he thinks of.
The known side effects include severe headaches, disorientation, or a delayed and strong impulse for thrill-seeking. It could be any one of these effects, or all of them might occur.
Once a Divine Relic is incorporated, even if unused, it will affect the host's personality. Whatever the ability, letting it run rampant will make the host lose normal rationality.
Presumably, the Church and Secret Organizations have already developed mature methods of control.
Obviously, Li Xin, having left the castle, did not, but he had found his own clumsy method to eliminate emotional influences. The dice mainly accumulates the urge for adventurous gambles. By playing rock-paper-scissors with his left hand against his right to balance the urge to guess numbers, the losing hand does push-ups to exhaustion. The method is a bit straightforward, but it's effective so far, leading Aunt Fei to mistakenly believe he's diligently training.
Actually, he's not someone who enjoys putting in effort.
If he uses the dice and successfully predicts an event, even playing rock-paper-scissors won't help. Severe headaches will occur—sometimes immediate, sometimes delayed, but they never fail to appear. There's a probability of losing direction and feeling an adventurous urge for several hours, or even days. Faced with such situations, Li Xin typically heads to the forest for a few days of hunting, which usually relieves him.
Li Xin had once made a serious attempt to see if he could counter the side effects of the Divine Relic. For example, even with a complete map and a well-known route, he stubbornly passed the door three times without entering.
Hunting is Li Xin's main source of income. In the forests outside Celestial City are various fierce beasts. Humans can awaken Spiritual Abilities, and so can beasts. The bodies of awakened beasts contain Spiritual Ability, which can be used in the refinement of Hex-Tech and Alchemy. Although these are low-priced, some species look nice, and once trained after awakening, they become quite human-like and are beloved by the nobles for daily bragging and could serve as messengers. This is Li Xin's major income source. Of course, to be of value, they must be intact; the nobles desire nothing damaged or injured, increasing the difficulty of their capture.
Awakened creatures are quite dangerous and difficult to catch, let alone intact. Not just anyone can handle it. Those with status and ability disdain the task, making it suitable for Li Xin. Since reaching an understanding with Black Spade Boss, Li Xin could directly sell goods in the urban area. Prices rose, yet they couldn't change the essence of poverty.
There are rules everywhere, even more so in the city. Some monopolize the channels, and if they recognize one from the Underground City, they'll press the prices even harder, with the bulk of the profit going to others. The Underground City can use some tactics, but in the city, Li Xin doesn't want to cause trouble for Aunt Fei.
Carrying Xueyin, Li Xin ran swiftly. His ears twitched, and he sensed chaotic breaths following him—pursuers, all Awakened. Without pausing, he immediately quickened his pace, his form rapidly disappearing. Living in the Underground City, if one wishes to survive long, it's best to suppress curiosity.
At this moment, in the labyrinthine underground tunnels, a group was pursuing a... well, humanoid figure in women's clothing, let's say. It was hanging upside down on the sewer, its face bearing seven or eight eyes, and it uttered a low guttural "gagakaka" sound, full of hostility toward those behind as it quickly vanished into the darkness.