Chapter 542: Cultivation Promotion is Too Fast, The Body Cannot Keep Up
“Commander, something feels off.” After a long silence, Cang Xu finally spoke.
“I've never heard of divine favor being given in excess.”
“And such a large amount!”
“Typically, only when a believer makes significant contributions to the church or the deity would they receive such substantial divine favor.”
“Yet your prayers haven't involved any such contributions.”
Ever since the fishman youngster performed the blasphemous ritual, Cang Xu had analyzed the situation repeatedly. But the fact that the Charming Blue Goddess was actively bestowing divine favor upon the commander was something he simply couldn't make sense of.
“In fact, the content of the divine blessing during the second prayer was also rather peculiar.”
"You weren't even in your hybrid bloodline form at the time, lacking the ability to cast undead spells. Yet the divine spell included that specific set of missionary divine spells."
“If we attribute all this solely to the god level bloodline, isn't that a bit self-deceptive?”
The fishman youngster fell silent, deep in thought.
Cang Xu looked at him, his tone grave: “Every gift bestowed by fate carries a hidden price.”
The fishman youngster nodded slightly, his expression also clouding with doubt.
He murmured thoughtfully, “What you say is precisely what troubles me.”
"I witnessed your entire blasphemous ritual. So, I know how things should normally unfold."
“Ordinary prayers cannot obtain divine blessings.”
“But here, with figures like Zhou Zhang conducting blood sacrifices and the arrangements of the Ocean Mother Nest, prayers consistently receive divine favor.”
“Divine blessings primarily depend on three factors.”
“The first is innate potential, essentially, the gods recognizing a believer's future value and making an early investment.”
"The second is depth of faith. Within the organization, this means assessing a member's loyalty."
"The third factor is divine favor. It's known that expending divine favor can guarantee the content and quality of divine blessings within certain limits. In essence, this evaluates a believer's past contributions and merits."
The fishman youngster spoke of his own situation: “I prayed three times consecutively, and each divine blessing I received was greater than the last. This defies all logic.”
“The scale and quality of the divine blessings far exceeded normal levels.”
“According to the intelligence you gathered, even gold level figures like Zhang Yu Wan and Jiu Hua Bi didn't receive as much as I did.”
“If we were to attribute this solely to the god level bloodline, I wouldn't be very confident.”
“Because my current Surging Wave bloodline is only at 11%.”
"There must be some secret information we're unaware of. "
“Or some other crucial factor we haven't considered?”
Silence fell between them once more.
When it came to divine spells and church, Cang Xu couldn't offer much assistance either.
After pondering for a while, the fishman youngster still had no clue.
Yet his expression hardened with resolve: "Even if we can't find answers or the truth right now, and even if the Charming Blue Goddess has some scheme, we still have to keep praying, right? "
“Only when our clerical position reaches a certain level will we find a way, perhaps we can use the Mermaid Fairy Tale to teleport out again.”
Cang Xu stared at the fishman youngster, shaking his head slowly.
His expression grew grave: “Commander, don't let the third divine blessing sway your heart.”
“If this is the enemy's lure, have you already fallen for it, your Lordship?”
“Advancing our clerical position to transmit our message is indeed the optimal plan we envisioned.”
“But it is not the only way to escape.”
“We could also destroy this Ocean Mother Nest, using the Deep Sea Monster Fish, the Deceptive Disguise spell, and other means to leave this place.”
“Currently, our tests indicate the Deceptive Disguise spell cannot fool the Charming Blue Goddess, but it remains effective against figures like Zhou Zhang.”
The fishman youngster's expression stiffened slightly.
Cang Xu's words prompted him to immediately examine himself.
“I cannot deny I was tempted.”
“But my desire to continue adventuring isn't mere impulsiveness. Don't forget, I still possess my Bloodcore.”
With that, the fishman youngster activated his Bloodcore, initiating its manifestation.
A crimson glow enveloped his entire body before slowly fading.
The fishman youngster vanished, replaced by the dragonman youngster.
"Bloodline, at its core, is life information. The soul is also part of life."
“When I transformed from fishman to dragonman, both my body and soul underwent profound changes.”
“Divine power can reshape believers, making them more aligned with the divine power of the deity they worship.”
“But by altering my own life form, I can significantly sustain myself and counteract the slow, gradual transformation of my body and mind wrought by divine power over time.”
Cang Xu perked up. “Commander, you're absolutely right.”
“I nearly forgot, the Bloodcore can be used this way too!”
The dragonman youngster sensed his own state.
After his partial transformation, the Surging Wave bloodline no longer flowed through him. The divine power's efficiency in reshaping his body and soul was noticeably lower than in his fishman form.
The youngster activated the Bloodcore once more, reverting to his fishman form.
The divine power's nourishment of his flesh and soul instantly surged a hundredfold, progress nearly visible to the naked eye!
The fishman youngster's face hardened with resolve: “Charming Blue Goddess has slumbered for years. This opportunity must not be missed.”
“We've delayed long enough. For the redemption plan, we need greater strength to safeguard our safety and interests.”
“As the commander of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, I have no reason to retreat.”
“I previously had you lead the charge only because I am not a magician, while you are.”
“Now, I am better suited than you!”
“Truthfully, I relish this kind of adventure.”
“Lord Commander...” Cang Xu sighed deeply, gazing at the fishman youngster and sensing the sincerity in his heart.
It was precisely this kind of courageous and selfless leader that Cang Xu was willing to follow and pledge his loyalty to.
“For the fourth prayer, I intend to ask directly: why the goddess had bestowed such bountiful blessings.”
“Secondly, I intend to attempt using divine favor to elevate my life level. Even if it consumes all the divine favor, I shall not hesitate.” The fishman youngster declared his intentions.
Cang Xu nodded, preparing to draft the prayer for the fishman youngster.
Yet he also offered his own suggestion: “If the life level cannot be elevated and the divine favor remains untouched; you might instead want to pray for the deity to directly grant you the corpses of specific fishmen.”
“The gods are omnipotent. If they could transform an ordinary statue into a silver level one before, why couldn't they grant fishman corpses?”
What Cang Xu truly sought, of course, wasn't the corpses themselves, but the higher concentration of Surging Wave bloodline.
The fishman youngster swiftly accepted this sound suggestion: “Right, we can try that.”
Time was limited.
Off the Deep Sea Monster Fish, the Snow Pear Octopus had already examined nearly half of the believers. Countless Charming Blue believers had been devoured by it.
This meant this was the fishman youngster's final blasphemous ritual.
For Cang Xu was about to depart, returning beyond the Mother Nest.
Without Cang Xu's presence to hold the line, the fishman youngster dared not perform the blasphemous ritual alone. This was a safety measure they had long planned, their agreed-upon limit!
Yet, just as the fishman youngster stepped into the cabin, his legs suddenly gave way. He nearly collapsed on the spot!
“Lord!” Cang Xu cried out.
Fortunately, the fishman youngster caught himself against the wall.
He turned to face Cang Xu, his expression grim.
The next moment, unable to support himself against the wall, he collapsed and sat down.
Cang Xu was horrified and rushed forward to check the fishman youngster's condition.
“His physical condition is excellent!” Da Dou couldn't help but laugh.
Lying before him was the big guy.
He was snoring loudly, fast asleep.
Da Dou withdrew his gold battle qi, gazing at the sprawled giant as he took a deep breath.
His eyes burned with intensity, fixed on the big guy as if he were a priceless treasure.
“He devoured my specially seasoned fluttering boat fried rice, then consumed all those transcendent dishes from Ci Hai Shen...”
“Kid, your bloodline level is exceptionally high. You have a real shot at reaching the saint level!”
“Hehehe, the arena's packed with contenders, but who knows giants better than me?”
“They'd only guess you have gold level potential. None of them expected me to snatch you away.”
At this, Da Dou burst into a triumphant laugh.
Losing that gold level Meat Eye? No big deal.
Skipping the Ice Sculpture Kingdom's ceremony? No big deal either!
This was a future saint level expert!
After bringing him back to the island, the entire clan would see Da Dou in a whole new light. No one would think what he did was wrong!
“In the future, when this kid becomes a saint, I'll be the greatest hero of the entire clan. Ahahaha!”
As Da Dou laughed, the big guy slowly opened his eyes.
“You're awake.” Da Dou hurried to the big guy's side. “Look! What do you see?”
He held up a pot of transcendent level fluttering boat fried rice.
The aroma filled the air. Having just woken from hunger, the big guy instinctively snatched the silver level iron wok, tilted his neck back, opened his massive mouth wide, and dumped the entire contents inside.
The pot possessed spatial properties, holding far more rice than its outward appearance suggested.
The big guy ate a third of it and wanted to keep going, but Da Dou snatched the iron wok away.
The big guy glared at him.
Da Dou soothed him, "Stop eating. You've had way too much in that eating contest. All that energy is piling up inside you; it hasn't been properly digested yet."
The big guy turned his head and looked around, realizing he was stranded on a deserted island.
The barren island held no vegetation, only yellowish-brown earth and rocks.
The big guy jumped to his feet in shock. His elevated view still offered no sight of familiar ships, people, or belongings.
On the entire island, besides him, there was only Da Dou before his eyes.
“Home... take me home.”
“Xiao Guai wants to go home!” the big guy shouted.
“I'll take you home, to your real home,” Da Dou continued soothingly.
But the big guy suddenly glared back at him. “Bad guy! You're a bad guy!”
He remembered Da Dou suddenly appearing, attacking the mercenaries, and knocking him unconscious.
Bam!
The big guy swung his fist, landing squarely on Da Dou's chest.
Da Dou laughed heartily, stepping back without retaliating.
He wanted to gauge the big guy's fighting strength.
The big guy lashed out wildly, landing numerous blows on Da Dou, who just laughed heartily, showing no intention of retaliating.
After a short while, the once-vigorous big guy suddenly felt his legs give way, collapsing to his knees.
His eyes blazed with fury as he tried to rise and attack again, but in the next instant, his muscles convulsed violently. He fell face-first to the ground, utterly defeated.
Da Dou slowly approached him, looking down at the big guy with gentle eyes. "Your bloodline is too exceptional. After consuming so many dishes, your battle qi cultivation has surged dramatically. But your body hasn't adapted yet. After all, nourishing the body with battle qi takes time."
The big guy let out muffled grunts.
His jaw muscles trembled, distorting his roar into an eerie sound.
Da Dou crouched down, patting the broad, powerful back of the big guy, "So, you'd better stop messing around. You're definitely not going back home. Just come quietly with me back to Eruption Island!"