Chapter 155: Developing a New Use for Rolled Paper

Lightning is the bane of all creatures of darkness, and it deals bonus damage to the Undead.

In fact.

Few creatures are immune to lightning.

If Li Ye had cast this lightning bolt at point-blank range using the Magic Power stored in his body, taking out a Forbidden Mage instantly would have been no problem.

However, the power of the Magic he cast remotely depended on the concentration of the surrounding Magic Elements, so the bolt wasn’t very powerful.

But the lightning appeared so suddenly that the Skeleton Monarch had no time to react.

And so, the lightning struck its crown.

The thin bolt of lightning merely produced a shower of sparks on the Skeleton Monarch’s crown before dissipating into thin air.

Evidently, the Skeleton Monarch’s crown was some kind of treasure.

Once the lightning vanished, the Skeleton Monarch realized Li Ye was weaker than it, and its Soul Fire began to flicker rapidly.

It instinctively rose, intending to come over and kill the two of them.

But just as it began to rise, the corners of Li Ye’s mouth curled into a slight smirk. He quickly suppressed it, his expression shifting to a frown and a flicker of imperceptible panic. At this, the Skeleton Monarch’s Soul Fire instantly stilled. The creature feigned a casual stretch and settled back onto its throne.

‘A cunning human. It was a feint to lure me out.’

‘I almost fell for it.’

The Skeleton Monarch looked at the deadpan Li Ye, and a hint of a sneer seemed to cross its fleshless skull.

With a wave of its Magic Staff, a tall Teleportation Gate materialized before the Lava Giant.

The next moment, the Lava Giant, molten rock streaming from its body, plunged headfirst into the portal…

…

Phew!

Li Ye let out a sigh of relief.

‘This guy really is a cautious one!’

The monarch had opened a Teleportation Gate, obviously to test his strength.

If he had done nothing, merely dealing with the troops it sent, the Skeleton Monarch would have, in all likelihood, charged over to attack.

So.

Li Ye had counterattacked without hesitation.

But a counterattack that was too weak would have also lured it over.

Therefore, by framing the counterattack as a provocation, he should be able to bluff the monarch. At the very least, it would create the illusion that they were evenly matched and that he was not afraid to fight.

If even a single step in this process had gone awry, Li Ye would have likely been forced into a final showdown with the Skeleton Monarch right here and now.

‘Thank you, empty fort strategy. Thank you, Zhuge Liang. Thank you to all my acting teachers…’

Since the Skeleton Monarch hadn’t taken the bait, it was time for him to show his true strength, not continue to feign weakness.

‘It’s just a psychological game, right?’

‘Who’s afraid of who?’

Li Ye glanced toward the Skeleton Monarch. The toilet paper suddenly changed direction, snaking toward Shabei, Peter King, and the other high-level human combatants whom the Skeleton Monarch had converted into Undead.

These guys had been no match for Li Ye when they were alive.

They were even less of a match for him now that they were dead.

The Skeleton Monarch had only boosted their combat power by twenty percent. Li Ye, on the other hand, had genuinely spread the paper’s influence across the world and increased his Divine Power by the equivalent of three complete Divine Formats of Michael…

One could say that.

Aside from the Skeleton Monarch, Li Ye could instantly kill any other being in this world.

SWOOSH!

The paper tore through their defenses, wrapped them up like mummies, and delivered them to Fiona.

Fiona, who had been struggling to hold her own, excitedly lashed their faces with her whip, awakening their consciousness.

Shabei and the others had died only recently, their flesh and bones still intact. Li Ye could clearly see that under the paper, their bodies had also been “awakened” by the excitement.

It had to be said.

The Spring of Joy truly was a miraculous skill.

“Aragon?” Peter King regained his senses, his memories from after his death returning in an instant. He looked around. “Heavens, what have I done? I actually raised my Magic Staff against my former comrades?”

“Am I alive again?” Shabei looked bewildered. He frowned at Fiona before him, at the whip in her hand, a trace of fascination flashing in his eyes. “What did you do to me? Elves are rarely stirred to passion. Perhaps you should visit the elven lands and help us improve our fertility rate…”

“Shabei, what nonsense are you talking about? This is a battlefield! We should be helping Aragon,” Peter King said.

“Who’s Aragon?” Shabei asked in confusion. “I seem to have lost many of my memories, but I like the feeling of being whipped by that… whip…”

“…” Peter King was speechless for a moment. But when he saw the whip, a flicker of anticipation involuntarily crossed his eyes. He couldn’t help but say, “You’re right. That whip is indeed magical. It reminds me of my younger days… I never thought I’d get to enjoy such extreme pleasure even after death…”

Li Ye had no time to deal with the few awakened Undead. He sent the Lava Giant to Fiona as well.

If the Skeleton Monarch dared to send them, he dared to take them.

The Skeleton Monarch had already fallen for his bluff. The more outrageous his actions, the more the monarch would hesitate to attack…

Li Ye watched the flickering of the Skeleton Monarch’s Soul Fire, using it to run an Inference on its mental state.

The hardest thing for a person to fake is their eyes. For the Skeleton Monarch, the Soul Fire was its eyes. The skeleton seemed to lack the ability to hide its thoughts; all its intentions were written in its Soul Fire.

The Soul Fire would flicker quickly one moment and slowly the next, making it even easier to read than a person.

At least its current intention was obvious: it wanted to use a large number of Undead to test his and Fiona’s strength.

Of course, perhaps it also wanted to use this cannon fodder to deplete his and Fiona’s Demon Qi…

…

After being struck by Fiona’s whip.

The Lava Giant roared, head thrown back. Large amounts of lava spewed from its facial features and the holes all over its body, igniting the shattered skeleton fragments on the ground and turning many zombies to charcoal.

Then.

It looked eagerly at the whip in Fiona’s hand and let out another roar.

Fiona had no choice but to strike it with the whip again.

No living creature could resist the temptation of ultimate pleasure…

“Follow me, and I can let you enjoy this kind of pleasure every day,” Fiona said, lifting her head and lecturing the Lava Giant haughtily.

Its answer was another roar and a giant hand reaching for her whip…

…

The Skeleton Monarch witnessed what was happening on Fiona’s side. Its Soul Fire flickered and jumped, seeming to show a trace of apprehension.

“Lord Ling, it would be great if you could evolve a control-type ability,” Li Ye sighed.

“Binding is a control-type skill, and the strongest kind at that. True strength comes from within…” the paper huffed. “Without me, that vixen would have been dead long ago.”

‘Binding?’

Li Ye froze for a second, then targeted a Bone Dragon Knight flying through the sky.

The paper flew out.

It neatly stripped off its armor, bound it in a traditional turtle-shell tie, and delivered it to Fiona.

And its Bone Dragon too.

What Li Ye was after were Derived Skills.

He had killed so many skeletons without getting a single offensive skill. He had to change his approach.

The paper’s predecessor was the Chaotic Heaven Silk.

The Chaotic Heaven Silk had the same effect as the Immortal Binding Rope. He had developed curse and cleaning functions, but he had never developed its original properties.

Of course, after it became toilet paper, the skills belonging to the Chaotic Heaven Silk had long since disappeared.

But now, its toughness was more than enough to be used as a rope.

It seemed that ropes had many uses. He shouldn’t let his thinking be constrained by the paper’s surface-level characteristics.

Influenced by Fiona’s Spring of Joy, Li Ye had subconsciously used the paper to create the effect of rope art. The way the Ancient Immortal Gods used the Immortal Binding Rope was just simple binding—it was too unartistic…

“Li Ye, what on earth is going on in that head of yours? If Nezha had had your ideas back then, my achievements would have definitely gone beyond just being the Chaotic Heaven Silk,” the paper said languidly in Li Ye’s mind.

Ever since Li Ye had developed all sorts of abilities for it, the paper’s mindset had become increasingly open. It couldn’t care less what form it was molded into.

“Huh!”

Seeing the bizarrely-bound Bone Dragon Knight delivered before her, Fiona stared in stunned silence for a moment before lashing out with her whip.

WHOOSH!

Under the stimulation of the Spring of Joy, thick Death Qi sprayed from the Bone Dragon’s nostrils. The Soul Fire in its eyes flickered violently a few times, then instantly dimmed…

Immediately after, a second Bone Dragon Knight was delivered to Fiona.

This time, Li Ye changed things up, using a behind-the-back tie.

Fiona watched Li Ye’s back, a flicker of recognition in her eyes as if seeing a kindred spirit. The corners of her lips curved up slightly as she joyfully coordinated with Li Ye, cracking her whip.

‘Sure enough, men all over the world are the same. It has absolutely nothing to do with their age.’

…

As if he’d discovered a whole new world, Li Ye became engrossed in binding the Undead sent by the Skeleton Monarch, having the time of his life.

Indeed.

You never know when something you’ve learned in life will come in handy.

Peter King and the others were dumbfounded. The rotting flesh on his face fell off in chunks from his excessive expressions. “What in the world does Gandalf usually teach his disciples!”

“It was probably passed down from the Divine Spirits!” Shabei said quietly. “I’ve heard the circles of the Divine Spirits are very messy. God King Zeus once turned a goddess into a swan while he himself became an eagle. Compared to him, what’s a little bit of bondage?”

“Shabei, didn’t you lose your memory?” Peter King asked in surprise.

“I did lose my memory, but these memories still exist in my mind, probably because they’re interesting!” Shabei said, looking at the bound Bone Dragon Knight in the sky. “Elves have almost no desire, and our birth rate is too low. We should use this method to… stimulate things a bit.”

“…” Peter King.

Li Ye, his senses sharp enough to see in all directions and hear from all corners, overheard the conversation between Peter King and Shabei.

‘That’s right!’

‘How much influence can I really have doing this stuff to the Undead?’

‘I shouldn’t be trying to dig up Derived Skills here.’

“Fiona, that idiot Skeleton Monarch doesn’t dare to show its face. We’ve reaped enough for today. It’s time to head back. We’ll come again tomorrow. I refuse to believe the Skeleton Monarch will just stand by and watch all its subordinates become ours.”

Li Ye called out to Fiona with a smile.

He brought out the paper, tied up all the captives, and strung them up behind him, returning to Hoshan Canyon in a grand procession.

This included Peter King and the others, who had not yet fully decomposed.

The Skeleton Monarch watched the two of them leave. It propped up its jaw, a flicker of doubt in its Soul Fire, as if it could no longer tell whether this was all part of Li Ye’s plan to lure it into a trap.

In the end.

It still decided to wait.

That fellow called Aragon could sense it from Thousands of Miles Away, and the density of the Divine Power on his body far surpassed its own. It wouldn’t do to fall into his hands without first figuring out his true strength.

It had just barely managed to escape from Pandora’s Box and had yet to enjoy more than a few days of freedom. It had no desire to perish just like that.

‘But oh, what a tempting prize!’

‘If I devoured Aragon’s Demon Qi and Divine Power, I could probably even conquer the Ocean World!’