Chapter 6: Confirming the Immortal Identity

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Confirming the Immortal Identity

"After acquiring the Dragon Emperor Spell, Shi Xiang has been traveling by night and sleeping by day. He should pass through Cangsong Ridge around midnight tonight," Fan Jie said. "As for our original plan, with so many of our men injured, we can’t use it anymore. However, with Lord Li joining us now, taking down Shi Xiang shouldn’t be a problem."

"How strong are Shi Xiang’s martial arts?" Li Ye asked.

"Shi Xiang is the final disciple of Grandmaster Huaiyi. Although he hasn’t reached the Innate realm, he is still a top-tier expert in the Martial World," Fan Jie replied.

"How strong exactly?" Li Ye pressed. "Compared to me?"

Recalling Li Ye’s insidious moves that could hardly be considered martial arts at all, the corner of Fan Jie’s mouth twitched involuntarily. "It’s hard to compare. Legend has it that Shi Xiang has mastered Huaiyi’s Sevenfold Force up to the third stack. He can unleash and retract his Inner Strength at will, and his techniques are flawless."

Unleashing and retracting at will—that description was far too broad!

Li Ye smiled, glancing sideways at Fan Jie. "You couldn’t even beat me, yet you dared to provoke a Grandmaster’s Disciple?"

Fan Jie chuckled. "As long as he hasn’t reached the Innate realm, no matter how powerful he is, he can still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. With so many of us, we could simply exhaust his Inner Strength."

"Since he is a Grandmaster’s final disciple, aren’t you afraid of the Grandmaster’s revenge if you kill him?" Li Ye asked again.

"Shi Xiang is merely a Grandmaster’s Disciple, not the Grandmaster himself," Fan Jie said. "Grandmasters hold a transcendent status and generally don’t intervene personally. Once they enter the fray, it inevitably draws out other Grandmasters, and the Martial World would be plunged into a bloodbath. What’s more, we are going to offer the Dragon Emperor Spell to the Celestial Dao Alliance after snatching it. We’ll naturally have the Celestial Dao Alliance’s protection then."

"You’re snatching a Secret Manual not to use yourselves, but to offer it to the Celestial Dao Alliance?" Li Ye asked in astonishment.

"Everyone has different aptitudes and comprehension levels, meaning everyone has a martial art that suits them best." Fan Jie paused for a moment, then spoke with a self-deprecating tone. "Even if we got our hands on a profound martial art like the Dragon Emperor Spell, we might not necessarily be able to master it. We might even ruin our foundations trying. It’s much better to offer it to the Celestial Dao Alliance in exchange for a Cultivation Technique or two that actually suits us.

"Lord Li, your skills are impressive, and your background is extraordinary," he added, pausing to offer a smiling piece of advice. "Why struggle on your own? You’d be better off joining the Celestial Dao Alliance. With the merit of retrieving the Dragon Emperor Spell, you’d definitely secure a good position there."

Heh!

If his identity as a Time Traveler hadn’t been exposed, he could indeed have taken that route. It would have been a safe and steady path. But joining the Celestial Dao Alliance now would probably result in him being locked up in some sort of imprisonment play! Li Ye didn’t trust anyone; he much preferred building a team that belonged entirely to him.

"Old Fan, it seems you don’t believe in me!" Li Ye looked at Fan Jie and shook his head. "Very well. It’s time to let you all see just how powerful a higher-level civilization can be. Old Fan, pick ten people."

Forced by circumstances to yield, Fan Jie didn’t know what Li Ye was planning to do, but he still followed his instructions and selected ten people, including himself.

The football club Team Emblem possessed a team-buffing effect. When there were exactly eleven people, the more united they were, the better the buff would be. This was the conclusion drawn by previous users of the Team Emblem. This was Li Ye’s first time using the emblem, and he figured he might as well test it out on this group.

Among the ten selected individuals, aside from Fan Jie and Liu Guangsheng, the others either looked defiant, mocking, or utterly sullen. Not a single one of them gave Li Ye a pleasant look.

Li Ye stood in front of them, his gaze sweeping across their faces. "Everyone, you heard what I just said to Old Fan. I know you don’t believe my words, and you might even be harboring resentment because I injured your men. You probably want nothing more than to kill me.

"But right now, we have a common goal. If you have grievances in your hearts, hold them in. If you hold animosity toward me, put your hatred aside.

"After all, your lives are in my hands now. The only reason I’m keeping you alive is because I am new here and need manpower. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even bat an eye at a ragtag bunch like you..."

The crowd broke into a commotion. Martial artists were full of vigor, and someone immediately tried to voice a retort, but after receiving a fierce glare from Fan Jie, they forcefully swallowed their words back down.

"Do you know why I only picked ten people?" Li Ye chuckled lightly. "It’s because I’m heavily injured, and the Spiritual Power on my body is only enough to cover the ten of you. For a bunch of country bumpkins from a Level 1 civilization to have the chance to enjoy a Spiritual Power buff, you should be thanking your lucky stars."

Seeing how serious Li Ye sounded, Fan Jie couldn’t help but ask, "Lord Li, what is Spiritual Power?"

Li Ye took everyone in with his gaze and explained, "Spiritual Power is a higher-tier energy. It sits on a higher level than Magical Power, Magic Power, Buddhist Power, and the Inner Strength inside you. In a way, Inner Strength is considered the lowest grade of Energy Body."

He stretched out his hand, palm facing down. "You won’t understand if I just explain it with words. Come, place your hands over the back of mine and experience the profoundness of Spiritual Power for yourselves. Old Fan, you go first."

Fan Jie skeptically reached out and pressed his hand onto the back of Li Ye’s hand. A surge of Demon Qi transmitted directly into his body through the Team Emblem, causing his eyes to widen uncontrollably. "This... This..."

As Fan Jie was being eroded by the Demon Qi, an identical strand of Demon Qi invaded Li Ye’s own body. Through this Demon Qi, a faint, almost imperceptible connection seemed to form between him and Fan Jie.

Li Ye smiled and looked at Liu Guangsheng. "Old Liu, you come too. We are a team. The more people we have, the stronger the effects of the Spiritual Power."

The old man, Liu Guangsheng, followed Fan Jie’s example and stacked his hand on top of theirs. Instantly, his expression mirrored Fan Jie’s—full of absolute shock. "What... What is going on?"

"This is Spiritual Power." Li Ye looked at the rest of the group and beckoned them over. "The rest of you, come."

With Fan Jie and Liu Guangsheng taking the lead, the remaining people skeptically placed their hands over the growing stack. Then, everyone held their breath.

After the palms of all eleven people were stacked together, the Demon Qi seemed to undergo a qualitative transformation. Li Ye’s strength suddenly spiked significantly, and his five senses were correspondingly enhanced.

The sky had already turned completely dark. Looking out from the cave entrance, it was pitch-black outside. However, with his physique now enhanced by Demon Power, the blurry scenery began to gradually brighten in Li Ye’s eyes. In the end, he could see every blade of grass and leaf crystal clear. Even the chirping of insects outside transmitted sharply into his ears.

If the erosion of Demon Qi brought such incredible effects, who could possibly resist it!

Li Ye mused internally. Being out here in the wild with no instruments to measure the degree of Demon Qi erosion—being a Time Traveler was just too hard. However, he could safely and boldly absorb the Demon Qi for now. There had never been a Time Traveler who lost their mind shortly after crossing over...

Eleven people stacking their hands triggered the team Attributes of the football Team Emblem, allowing Fan Jie and the others to benefit simultaneously.

Deng Wei, who had constantly been at odds with Li Ye, exclaimed in astonishment, "Why is my Inner Strength flowing so quickly?"

Yu Fei from Huaguo Village blurted out, "I can see things much clearer now."

"My hearing has improved too."

"It feels like my strength has grown as well..."

"Is this Spiritual Power?"

The crowd chattered all at once, recounting the changes in their bodies, each one of them thoroughly amazed and delighted. At this moment, the way they looked at Li Ye completely changed.

It was true! He really was an Immortal...

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

In that instant, everyone’s heartbeats uncontrollably accelerated.

WHOOSH!

The people who hadn’t been selected were originally just watching the spectacle, but upon hearing the commotion here, they immediately crowded over.

"Old Deng, what’s going on?"

"What happened?"

"What’s wrong with you guys?"

"Is Spiritual Power real?"

Questions rose and fell one after another, making the cave as noisy as a bustling market. But the ten lucky individuals paid no mind to the external situation. They were deeply immersed in the process of their bodies being transformed by the Demon Qi. They had already elevated Li Ye to a divine figure in their hearts, casting all their previous prejudices beyond the highest heavens.

"Do you believe me now?" Li Ye asked, a smile lingering in his eyes.

"We... We believe you," Fan Jie stammered, his face glowing red. He had yet to fully recover from his shock.

"Lord Li, from this moment on, I am your subordinate. I will serve at your command without a single word of complaint." As the oldest and most slick of the bunch, Liu Guangsheng thought far ahead. His imagination had already raced toward the prospect of immortality. He quickly adjusted his mindset, the title of ’Lord Li’ rolling off his tongue with unparalleled smoothness.

"Me too."

"Same here."

"From this moment on, we will follow Lord Li’s every lead," Yu Fei said in sheer excitement. Since Spiritual Power was real, then Li Ye’s identity had to be real as well. He didn’t understand what a higher civilization was, but this was a serendipitous encounter with an Immortal—something straight out of storybooks that could only be wished for!

With an Immortal falling into the Mortal World, who even cared about the Celestial Dao Alliance anymore?