Chapter 660: Stealing Divinity!

Zi Di seemed to see through Ban Tu, saying, “Perhaps this is a loophole.”

“This formula for the sorrow-dispelling red wine, along with the specific method for using time ice cubes, are major secrets of the church.”

“But Lord Ban Tu, you currently have no knowledge of this fact.”

"Even if you sell it, should the sect pursue you later, you can easily shift the blame onto this point, no one told me this discovery couldn't be sold! "

“In other words, future transactions would likely prove difficult.”

“For tomorrow, the Intoxication Church might patch this oversight and declare it non-negotiable.”

“Thus, your opportunity is now, and only now.”

“It may well be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

Ban Tu, whose mood had been shifting like the weather, finally hardened at these words that struck his core. Slamming his palm on the table, he made his decision: “I'll sell it!”

Zi Di smiled, countering unexpectedly: "Are you truly certain? This is actually a very risky endeavor."

Ban Tu paused, then shook his head. “Enough talk. My mind is made up!”

“I might regret it someday.”

“But if I don't make this deal, I'll regret it right now.”

“Hand over the complete recipe immediately!”

Zi Di: “No rush. Let's formalize the contract first.”

Though Zi Di was given only three minutes to negotiate, the final deal took well over half an hour to seal.

With the complete recipe in hand, Ban Tu hurried away.

Zi Di was about to leave when the steward of the Li Jian Clan followed to see her off.

The steward said, "Magician Yao Ma, congratulations. Your gains this time are truly immense!"

Having observed from the sidelines, the steward knew full well that Zi Di had made a huge profit on this deal.

Zi Di smiled faintly.

How many who had their weaknesses exposed during her negotiations had ended well?

The most recent example was Elder Jiu Jin.

Even now, he was still risking everything to secretly leak exam questions to Zi Di.

The steward continued, “Actually, Magician Yao Ma, today brings you double good fortune.”

"We've just received internal news from the Alchemy Guild, the results of today's assessment have been finalized. Your performance was head and shoulders above the rest. You passed the first stage with a commanding lead."

“I never imagined your alchemy talent, Magician Yao Ma, to be so exceptional.”

"This truly surpasses my expectations. If I were in charge, how could I dare assign such an outstanding alchemist to travel afar?"

Zi Di's expression remained calm.

She knew full well these compliments didn't match reality.

She had cheated.

Having known the questions in advance, she'd secretly prepared for a long time, practicing relentlessly. She had even had the designed alchemy steps verified by Elder Jiu Jin.

Zi Di said, "To be honest, the difficulty of the Warm Snow Cup Competition has surprised me. I've only passed the first question so far. Many more challenges await me. It's too early to offer congratulations now."

The steward then remarked meaningfully, “Truthfully, Magician Yao Ma, you needn't have gone to such lengths.”

“Participating in the Warm Snow Cup isn't crucial.”

“Truthfully, your objectives are already within reach, aren't they?”

The steward slowed his pace: “Because our two parties continue to deepen our collaboration...”

Zi Di's expression shifted slightly, her demeanor transforming from calm to serious. She chose her words carefully: “Your family wishes to deepen our collaboration?”

“Precisely!” The steward promptly produced a thick dossier.

Unlike Zi Di's documents, this file was substantial, densely packed with intricate cooperation clauses.

Zi Di swiftly located the pivotal section.

A 30-70 split.

The Li Jian Clan voluntarily relinquished profit, pledging to take only 30% of future earnings from deepened collaborations, directly ceding the remaining 70% to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps!

What immense sincerity!

Beyond that, Zi Di saw the Li Jian Clan was willing to provide numerous alchemy techniques.

These represented the cutting edge of Ice Sculpture Kingdom's technology, items previously deemed non-negotiable in past transactions. Yet now, the Li Jian Clan was proactively offering them all.

“Sole partnership?” Zi Di raised an eyebrow slightly.

This was the most critical stipulation in the Li Jian Clan's demands.

The Li Jian Clan demanded that the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps must collaborate with them, and only them in all future business ventures!

Zi Di carefully tucked away the documents, her face breaking into a bitter smile. "This is far too significant a matter for me to decide. I must report back immediately."

She gave an excuse first.

The steward nodded. “As expected.”

Then, he smiled and bowed to Zi Di. “We shall await your good news.”

Zi Di nodded to him and walked away alone.

Walking through the bustling street, Zi Di spotted a magic projection at the corner.

It was an advertisement for the two potions she had produced: [Smooth Stride] and [Spirit Stimulation].

The ad was cleverly designed.

A dozen people were racing sleds. It was a speed competition, with no potions allowed.

One competitor fell behind, then fed his reindeer sled driver consecutive doses of [Smooth Stride] and [Spirit Stimulation]. The reindeer's speed surged, propelling him into first place before crossing the finish line as the victor.

“[Smooth Stride] and [Spirit Stimulation], potions crafted exclusively for mounts.”

“Such potent effects, such silky acceleration!”

“Keep you accelerating, step by step ahead, far ahead, far ahead!”

The slogan “far ahead” echoed through the streets, its reverberating effect seeming to burrow into people's minds.

Zi Di sighed inwardly. She knew the Li Jian Clan's tactics all too well.

The first time the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps collaborated with the Li Jian Clan, they introduced the dragon rider potion. In a market where most players were still clueless, they carved out a vast blue ocean.

The profits from this niche mount potion market astonished and thrilled everyone.

The second time, for Zong Ge, Zi Di introduced [Smooth Stride] and [Spirit Stimulation]. Any discerning eye could see the value of these potions. Armed with the success of their first venture, the Li Jian Clan executed production and sales with greater maturity and on a much larger scale this time.

Leveraging Long Fu (Zong Ge)'s public duel with Bing Yang, sales of the new potions ignited like oil on a raging fire, far surpassing those of the dragon rider potion.

Zi Di understood perfectly: "On the one hand, we were the first to launch these on the market with no competitors. On the other hand, most people use mounts primarily for speed. [Dragon Rider] boosts mount strength, while [Spirit Stimulation] and [Smooth Stride] increase movement speed. That's the real selling point."

“Two major successes are enough to make the Li Jian Clan take us extremely seriously.”

"And my performance on the first question of this alchemy competition was nothing short of astonishing. Combined with Commander Long Fu's popularity from the duel, if this trend continues, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps could completely break away from the Li Jian Clan and go solo."

Precisely because of this, the Li Jian Clan felt a sense of crisis.

They couldn't let go of the profits from their current partnership, yet they coveted even greater profits from future collaborations!

“The drawbacks of deep cooperation have become apparent.”

“What was once a helping hand is gradually turning into a hindrance.”

Zi Di sighed inwardly.

Delaying was merely a reluctant choice.

The reason the Li Jian Clan hadn't acted was simply because they were intimidated by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps' constant display of strength.

Of course, there was another crucial factor.

That was Zong Ge's decisive use of the pearl bubbles earlier, achieving the undeniable feat of defeating three gold level opponents in one fell swoop. The Li Jian Clan had long been aware of this.

“How much longer can we possibly delay this time?”

“Ultimately, it boils down to our own lack of strength.”

Zi Di missed the dragonman youngster intensely.

“If the Lord Commander were here, he could use the Red Wine Ice Cube combination to rapidly advance to gold level.”

“That would greatly alleviate the current situation.”

The situation continued to evolve.

The pressure from the duelists had lessened considerably as Zi Di and Zong Ge smoothly entered the royal capital, and as Mei Lin and the others were drawn into the national ceremony, pirate affairs, and Shuang Lian.

Bing Yang was the offensive they had brewed up.

Yet the external force Zi Di had brought in, the Li Jian Clan, was gradually opening its mouth, bristling with sharp teeth, lured by the promise of rich profits.

Meanwhile, the young commander Zi Di held dear in her heart was busy stealing.

He was stealing divinity.

Divine spell - Divine Artifact Mastery.

Divine spell - Deceptive Scheming.

Divine spell - Opportunistic Deception.

Divine spell - Distortion Filter.

Divine spell - Divine Power Channel.

Guided by divine revelation, the fishman youngster maintained five divine spells.

Practice makes perfect. Armed with the experience of deceiving the Main Earth Elemental God last time, his actions this time were far more composed. The pressure he felt was also significantly less than before.

“Perhaps it's because the purpose is different.”

"Last time, Xiao Guai had to be saved at all costs. This time, it's merely the death divinity."

Though the divinity stirred intense craving and temptation within him, companionship remained paramount in the fishman youngster's heart.

Compared to his previous deception, the divine spells he employed this time differed slightly.

First, the divine spell [Believer Perception] was absent. With Teacher Si Ling within sight, there was no need to sense his presence through this art.

Divine spells like [Deceptive Scheming] and [Distortion Filter] remained active. Both divine spells proved exceptionally potent. Notably, this iteration of [Distortion Filter] targeted not Teacher Si Ling, but the artifact [Truth Slate] he carried!

This time, adding in [Opportunistic Deception] made the effect even greater.

As for [Divine Power Channel], it was present both before and after, but its purpose had shifted.

Previously, when saving Xiao Guai, the Divine Power Channel served to deepen their connection, facilitating the release of divine spells upon the big guy or those near him. This time, however, the Divine Power Channel was for transporting death divinity!

“It's coming,” the fishman youngster murmured silently.

He kept a close watch on the outside world.

Within the magic formation personally controlled by Teacher Si Ling, the light sphere shrank steadily until it stabilized at the size of an infant's fist.

The fist-sized orb blazed with an intensity blinding to ordinary eyes.

Yet within mere breaths, the light vanished entirely.

The fist-sized orb dissolved without trace, replaced by a single drop of liquid.

The liquid took the shape of a teardrop pendant, uniformly dark gray in color, emanating a gloomy aura devoid of any divinity.

It was the death divinity!

“Another drop,” Cang Xu sighed.

Jian Gui rejoiced: “This is already the second portion.”

At the same moment, aboard the Deep Sea Monster Fish, a similar drop of death divinity appeared within the artifact [Mermaid Fairy Tale], held in the fishman youngster's hands.

Likewise, this was the second portion of death divinity the fishman youngster had stolen.

Teacher Si Ling could condense two drops at once, but the fishman youngster had secretly stolen one. After all, the other half of this magic formation was inscribed and constructed with Charming Blue divine script.

Combined with various divine spells, it was only natural that Teacher Si Ling had been deceived.

Teacher Si Ling carefully retrieved the Truth Slate, temporarily sealing the death divinity within it.

After completing these tasks, he paused, breathing heavily, to recuperate.

Meditation.

Consuming potions.

Casting spells to buff himself.

Only after completing these steps did Teacher Si Ling straighten up and resume controlling the massive formation.

Condensing divinity was extremely taxing, placing a heavy burden upon him.

Stealing divinity was far simpler.

It was like one person laboriously drawing water from a well, while another effortlessly scooped water from the bucket using a ladle.

The formation hummed once more, then erupted in brilliant radiance.

The light contracted, coalescing into a massive orb.

The orb slowly compressed again and again.

This step took the longest.

The fishman youngster had experience with this now.

After all, he'd witnessed it twice before.

When the orb shrank to the size of an infant's fist, its brilliance reached its peak. Then, the death divinity crystallized.

“Just how much death divinity can be condensed in the White Hair Trench?”

The fishman youngster felt a surge of impatience.

The time required to steal the death divinity exceeded his expectations.

He had initially thought this would be a one-time thing, but it turned out to be a process that needed repeating multiple times.

“At this very moment, Xiao Guai must be waiting impatiently on the ship, right?”

"Sigh..."

“I hope he's not too anxious. Just be patient.”