Chapter 858
Chapter 858 - 844 Favor of Destiny
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Lu Ping’an’s "Life Illustration" was a gift following his fated brush with death.
In various aspects, it compensated for Lu Ping’an’s inability to design the "animal" aspect of the life system... in Big Cat’s words, this was the foundation for Lu Ping’an’s "Ascension."
Later, due to its excessive strength, Lu Ping’an even grew somewhat neglectful of his Gardener’s duty requiring time and resource accumulation.
After all, compared to slowly farming, even needing to collect materials, templates, and relying on luck for a "botanical garden," his "Magic Pets" started with Silver-tier combat power and could grow on their own without any oversight...
"Babies, work hard, and in a few years, Daddy will have Rule-level combat power," Lu Ping’an had once proudly declared, before Zhi Xi pinned him down and hammered away at him.
But the fact was, Lu Ping’an’s "combat platform" was simply a combination of several Silver-tier combat powers, ultimately reaching far beyond the usual Silver-tier combat power.
And as the Magic Pets "self-improved," his power naturally compounded.
Only, things didn’t go smoothly, and the book itself represented Lu Ping’an’s limit.
It was an Upper Silver being, although it had the potential for higher levels, the "Sophist" materials used were top-notch Silver-tier, and no matter how much "Life Page" content he initially collected, it couldn’t transform quantity into quality.
Thus, Lu Ping’an’s Life Illustration was of the Upper Silver, and no matter how many resources he put into it, it was hard to progress further without an "outsider’s" assistance.
"...Mortals will always be mortals, and new ’rules’ are needed to advance further." This was the consensus reached by Big Cat, Fang Wen, and even Lu Ping’an.
Simply by assembling, he had reached the limit of Lu Ping’an’s Life Illustration.
But now, in Lu Ping’an’s eyes, "Abyss Evolution" could possibly be the foundation of "Life Illustration" for Ascension!
And the most direct and fastest way to "Ascension" was "Slayer God"... At that moment, Lu Ping’an had a thoughtful expression, knowing he had only one chance, this was the opportunity for the Life Illustration, as well as his own.
Only if the Snake King died by his hand could he receive that "favor of destiny."
"It’s here."
Finally, as the Snake Shedding began to change, Lu Ping’an picked up his book.
The Snake Shedding started trembling, as if something was resonating with it, Lu Ping’an’s "eyes" told him it was flickering, jumping, resonating, turning into "someone."
"But at this moment, you’re still ’something’...."
With a snap of his fingers, Lu Ping’an covered the Snake Shedding in a pale red light, turning it into "material."
At the same time, two other materials were directly activated. Human Bone and Human Blood were literally the "Bone Flesh Foundation" and "Blood Essence"... Clearly, unlike the other Magic Pets, these materials were not meant to enhance, they were unmistakably weakening.
Human Blood and Human Bone brought together was precisely the highly malicious "Human Change" Curse.
With two "purely human" mortal materials brought down, could you still remain extraordinary?
Having confirmed the Bone Flesh Foundation and Blood Essence, the Snake Shedding naturally became the remaining "Core of Wisdom."
It was responsible for providing intelligence, soul, thought, and also the limits for magical and supernatural techniques...
The three materials fused together, but compared to the Snake Shedding, the other two were too fragile and were directly absorbed, not even showing significant changes... However, the malicious "Human Change" Curse had already started to take effect.
The tail of the Snake Shedding began to retract, vaguely shaping into human legs...
The Snake Shedding remained intact, and the recently awakened spirit body even felt a slight ease, as if her pains were healed at that moment.
Remembering she was being pursued, she instantly became alert and opened her eyes to look.
At that moment, she raised her head, somewhat astonished.
Where did this Giant come from? When had it arrived? Such a massive Giant, was it also an Abyss Lord?
"...No, the environment around me has changed. Have I become smaller!?"
Since when had she become so short? No longer taller than a Tree!
Coming to her senses, the Snake King was startled and then, fell straight to the ground.
She looked down to discover a pair of beautiful legs... well, at least from a human perspective, they were indeed a pair of long, beautiful legs.
At this point, instead of a Snake-man, she was more like a sub-species of human with some snake traits. Except for her just over two meters in height and the scales on her body, no other obvious snake characteristics could be seen.
"What have you done to me!!"
In an instant, Didirona became furious.
The earth dried up with her wrath, and the enraged Abyss Lord summoned a dreadful aura, blowing away Lu Ping’an and his companions across from her.
"Going to die, we’re all going to die!"
Feeling the strength of the pressure, Lu Ping’an felt quite terrible.
"How is it still Rule-level...."
Despite almost reaching the Rule-level previously, this death still hadn’t dropped him below Rule-level?
But at this time, Lu Ping’an knew he could not retreat anymore.
In that moment, Lu Ping’an’s Codex flipped open again, its pages rapidly turning until reaching the last one.
There was a "Human" in the process of forming...
Lu Ping’an clenched his teeth as the page ignited without flame.
The Life Illustration had no power of direct control, its only threat being the final measure of "Life Erasure."
But was it that simple?
"Cough cough!"
The "Snake King," about to kill someone, suddenly fell, coughing up a large amount of blood, clearly weakened and starting heavily injured.
Did the erasure not take effect? No, it did, it just wasn’t lethal.
Was it because she was still above the rule level, exceeding the "limit" of the Life Illustration, or because she was not a complete creation of the Life Illustration, her soul still relatively independent, not sculpted, nurtured, or controlled from the root by the Life Illustration?
In that instant, Lu Ping’an felt both reasons were probably at play.
If "Ascension" were that simple, it would not be considered as a choice of destiny and the world.
Didirona, writhing in pain on the ground, her breath weak as she neared death, was still alive...
At this moment, even though she seemed powerless, the oppressive force of a Rule-level still loomed, and once she recovered...
"...Opportunity."
Heroes win when enemies meet on a narrow road. Lu Ping’an gritted his teeth and drew the Abyss Beheading Sword, intending to end it in one decisive strike.
He was fast, but someone was faster.
At the moment the Snake King fell, a figure leapt from the shadows.
An assassin holding the Sword of Ice had been waiting for this moment for a long time and could not possibly miss this opportunity.
The assassin of justice, silent, having just leapt from the shadow of Lolo Dinah, delivered a righteous backstab.
That Rule-level God Soldier, the "Wings of Water" which had brought ruin to countless lives, glimmered with a peculiar gray light under the "Path of Revenge" and the blessing of the "Justice Evil God."
Even the Snake King, if really stabbed, could potentially meet her end.
But she was the Snake King, once a phoenix even though she had fallen to a chicken’s plight...
"Blasphemy!"
These eerie, silent words emerged from her lips, and the entire world reverberated with the deathly "Profanity True Words" symbolizing "Degeneration."
In that moment, everything around her was enveloped and devoured by the black light with her as the core.
"Brother Meow!!"
Meow was alarmed, but Lu Ping’an directly restrained it.
Lu Ping’an saw, in the last moment as the gray light devoured everything, that he, quick and full of Reflex points, actually leapt back into the "Mirror."
Even though half of his body was stained with the light and likely not unscathed, the feedback from the Eye of Truth still indicated he was alive.
"...Can’t fight this, can we?"
At this moment, Lu Ping’an felt even more helpless.
Although still heavily injured and her breath so weak she was almost dying, she was still a Rule-level Magic King.
And her being able to use the Abyss True Words probably meant they were still not able to handle her...
"Escape, huh..." At this time, Lu Ping’an felt some regret.
"Hehe, this girl dares to use the Profanity True Words, interesting."
But at this time, the Spectator Big Cat laughed out loud.
"What do you mean?"
No answer was needed, for the single eye that opened in the sky gave all the answers.
"Blasphemy!"
Upon discovering its power being used by an "unqualified mortal," the source of the power became instantly enraged.
The same Degenerating True Words were hurled downwards, this time targeting the Snake King herself!
— End of Chapter 858 —