A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

The Pope's expression became somewhat tense, making his smile look rather strange. He hadn't expected that Li Wei would disdain such temptation, which disrupted his plans.

The Pope said, "We truly wish to follow you. If you change your mind, our hero, we are always willing to be by your side and at your beck and call."

The Pope knew that no matter what he said, Li Wei wouldn't listen, and staying there would only annoy people. So, after apologizing to Li Wei, he decisively left the room.

Lisia chimed in, "I have a feeling the Pope has other motives, my lord. Have you noticed something amiss as well?"

Li Wei said, "They just want to use me to fight against the royal family. I know what they're thinking. Even if they can't pull me from the royal family's camp to their side, they have to make sure I don't take sides in the conflict between the royal family and the church. To be honest, I really don't have a good impression of religion. Apart from a few odd religions, most religions are too aggressive and can easily manipulate the will of ordinary people."

Lisia said, "Hmm...like that little boy who threw stones at you before? Although he's young, he has the potential to be a fanatic."

Li Wei said, "It is precisely because there are so many such things that I am so wary of religion. After all, people's hearts are fickle. Perhaps the founders' intentions were good, but they couldn't withstand the disappointment of their descendants, who misinterpreted the meaning of their ancestors, or even turned back the clock of history."

Li Wei glanced at the countdown timer on the Dragon Carving Hourglass and said, "Get ready. You can handle the ordinary monsters. As for me, I'll go and probe the strength of the Tide."

In the two months that Li Wei sent the space beacon to the Tide, he has obtained a considerable amount of intelligence. Therefore, if Li Wei can make further progress this time and be able to directly locate the opponent's main body, that would be the best thing.

As the countdown reached its final moments, the Dragon Hourglass suddenly flipped over, and the light of teleportation enveloped Li Wei and the others. The instant the teleportation was activated, Li Wei used the opened channel to send his spatial beacon out through the spatial rift.

In an instant, the space beacon had already traveled an unknown distance, gradually moving in a tortuous manner toward the direction of the mastermind behind the wave.

Li Wei and the others were also teleported to the battlefield. In front of them was a city with well-maintained walls. The city was quite large. Although it could not compare with the capital, the population should not be less than 30,000 to 40,000.

Li Wei said, "Raphtalia, Lycia, Filo, I'm leaving this to you. I'm going to meet with the mastermind behind the Wave."

Because of Li Wei's intervention, the plot has changed drastically. Now, Li Wei has not encountered any heroes from other worlds. He plans to go through the spatial passage and directly confront the mastermind behind the wave.

Chapter 44. The Disappointing Mastermind

Li Wei had considerable confidence in the abilities of Licia and the others, after all, he had some backup plans for them, so that if any crisis occurred, those plans could ensure their safe escape.

Meanwhile, Li Wei concealed his presence and headed towards the descending monster horde. After avoiding a large number of falling monsters, he went against the flow and entered the spatial passage.

At this moment, Li Wei was like a nimble salmon, easily avoiding all kinds of monsters. After entering the spatial passage, he released more spatial beacons. The speed at which the spatial beacons moved had exceeded the speed of light, reaching a rather astonishing level.

Through the feedback from the spatial beacon, Li Wei discovered that this spatial channel connected to a nebula-like spatial structure, which should be somewhere in the universe. However, the stability of this space was lower than Li Wei had imagined, giving him the feeling that he had encountered something fragile.

Through the vision of the space beacon, Li Wei saw how those bizarre monsters were born. This huge nebula was a monster factory, where a large amount of negative energy was condensed into physical form and then packaged into individual "airdrop capsules".

At this moment, Li Wei sensed the presence of the mastermind behind the scenes. The other party was using its own power to move each "airdrop capsule" to the entrance of the space passage connecting other planets, and then put the airdrop capsules down.

This is the true face of the so-called "wave"—it's not a natural phenomenon at all, but a maliciously man-made disaster.

Continuing deeper into this space, the spatial beacon finally reached its deepest point, where a massive temple-like structure stood. Deep within the temple, the spatial beacon sensed a vast energy source. This energy connected all the energy-consuming "facilities" within the space, much like the heart is to the human body.

At this moment, the spatial beacons are in a state between yin and yang. Unless one's cultivation level is much higher than Li Wei's, they cannot be sensed. Therefore, Li Wei manipulated a large number of spatial beacons and infiltrated the interior of the temple-like building.

However, after Li Wei saw the interior of the temple-like building, he was quite disappointed.

Because the mastermind behind the wave was even weaker than he had imagined. The powerful energy he had sensed last time was actually the core of this temple, a lifeless, man-made energy.

The humanoid creatures, who looked like elves, were busy inside the temple. Li Wei did not expose himself, but instead had the spatial beacon continue to observe these elf-like beings.

Using a spatial beacon as a medium, Li Wei employed his ability to invade another's mind, controlling their "spirit" and reading all their memories and knowledge. Then Li Wei understood what had happened.

The so-called "wave" is actually a ritual performed by this race that has completed something akin to "psychic ascension." This race had already come into contact with extraordinary power during their homeworld era. After venturing into space, they amplified this power, but it was not absolutely invincible. They encountered an attack from a mechanical civilization in the universe and suffered severe damage. Their civilization, which spanned dozens of star systems, was almost completely destroyed.

After being terrified, this elven-like race left their home planet with their families and, after experiencing numerous hardships, luckily arrived here.

Based on the memories of this elven-like creature, Li Wei learned that these elf-like beings had stumbled into the graveyard of a self-destructed advanced civilization. So, they settled there and, using the knowledge of that extinct advanced civilization, attempted to perform a more powerful "spiritual ascension ritual."

Once this ritual is completed, their entire race will gain tremendous power, becoming even stronger than before.

However, obtaining such power comes at a price: the destruction of hundreds of inhabited planets.

Li Wei could understand the other party's thoughts. A glorious civilization was directly destroyed, and people were forced to leave their homes and wander the universe with their families. They finally found the graveyard of an advanced civilization and the key to obtain greater power. No one would be willing to continue to be a nobody.

So this elven-like civilization set its sights on those primitive civilizations that hadn't yet left their home planet, and that's how the so-called "wave" came about.

Based on the memories obtained from the elf's mind, Li Wei knew that this ritual would continue for a long time. If calculated in Earth time, it would take about 10 years to complete the final ritual, allowing the massive artificial energy of the temple to be perfectly charged, and then this energy would be fed back to every member of this race.

For an elf-like race that has already completed its second spiritual ascension and gained a long lifespan, a thousand years is equivalent to only two years for humans; they can afford to wait.

However, over a thousand years was enough time for them to ruin the planets chosen as sacrifices in the rituals.

If they were to undergo another ritual ascension and gain even greater power, they could indeed pose a threat to Li Wei. However, as it stands, Li Wei could easily crush this race.

This civilization, which has already been wiped out several times, has an incomplete technology tree. It is currently surviving entirely by relying on the tombs of advanced civilizations. Unless the ritual is completed, they will not be able to move forward.

This civilization also has several fleets roaming around the universe, searching for suitable planets to be sacrificed. This is their main base. Limited by their own technology and insufficient strength to protect themselves in this universe, the fleets that are on missions outside will return to this space for maintenance every once in a while.

The recent return of the entire fleet to port for repairs took place more than a month later, during the transition period before the next wave hit the planet where Mirelia and the others were located.

"So weak it's completely uninteresting... I thought I could harvest some materials for weapon forging and alchemy, but it turned out like this. It's really disappointing..."

I thought they were some formidable force, but it turns out they're just survivors of a weak civilization that can't even be considered outwardly tough. The brave are angry and turn their swords against the stronger; the weak are angry and turn their swords against the weaker. Even if this civilization were to be wiped out, Li Wei wouldn't have any sympathy for their actions.

Chapter 4. Unexpected Events

For some reason, Li Wei felt a little disappointed. The long-awaited final boss was nothing more than a stray dog ​​being chased around. If he really wanted to fight, the mechanical civilization that destroyed these elf-like beings would be more in line with Li Wei's definition of a final boss.

However, Li Wei still wanted to complain about the current situation. The planet where Mirelia and the others lived was still in the late feudal period to the early industrial stage, where magic and technology coexisted, making the landscape already bizarre enough. Unexpectedly, Li Wei encountered an even stranger existence here. These elf-like beings each possessed considerable extraordinary power, but their entire civilization followed a technological development path, a typical example of walking on two legs, balanced and not biased.

If it weren't for that ferocious mechanical civilization, this civilization, whose territory spans dozens of star systems, would have been quite powerful. Unfortunately, this civilization is now reduced to a group of survivors barely clinging to life, and it has even experienced a technological and cultural gap, with some important technologies even lost.

It is precisely because of this that the survivors of this civilization are able to drive the tide.

From the perspective of the development of civilization, Li Wei could understand what they were doing. After all, the development of civilization is often built on the countless bones of others. What is their hero is my enemy; it's all just a matter of perspective.

After pinpointing the location using spatial beacons, Li Wei bypassed the numerous spatial manipulations set up by these elf-like beings and silently infiltrated their base.

Using magic to conceal his presence, Li Wei toured the massive temple complex like a tourist. The temple's interior was equipped with sophisticated counter-espionage measures, but Li Wei's perception revealed that all of these measures were clearly marked, allowing him to easily bypass them and venture deeper into the temple.

There seemed to be no concept of time here. Li Wei used the technique of shrinking the earth to an inch and quickly arrived at the core area of ​​the temple, which was the place where the huge artificial energy was located.

It was a vast hall, and the elf-like beings, whose size was similar to humans, looked like ants in this expansive space. The space was so large that even the Ultraman race, whose average height was around ten meters, would feel like ordinary people sitting in a grand theater. This enormous space could easily accommodate a sizable interstellar fleet.

The hall was very spacious, except for a huge white sphere of light floating in the very center. Li Wei extended his senses and gradually invaded the giant sphere of light. Then, inside the sphere of light, he saw a scene that surprised and astonished him.

Inside the sphere of light was a bronze bell with an ancient design, covered with numerous inscriptions, which turned out to be the tortoise shell script used by the ancient Yanhuang civilization.

Li Wei was immediately shocked; the art style was a bit too much of a mix.

If it were something else, Li Wei wouldn't be so surprised. The key is this ancient bell, which looks like something out of a cultivation novel. Moreover, the huge and dark energy, although its nature is somewhat distorted, Li Wei can say with certainty that it is a variant of qi.

Li Wei's perception continued to penetrate deeper into the ancient bell, beginning to read its memories. Previously, he had read the memories of that elf-like individual, and found that the guy was a high-ranking official. Because of the severe population shortage, the management of this race was relatively flat. Even a low-ranking official knew a lot of information. Thanks to him, Li Wei obtained a lot of information about this civilization that had been destroyed once.

These elven beings were unaware that the white orb contained a giant bell. They only knew that the orb required a large amount of energy and periodically transmitted energy outwards. Thus, utilizing the bell's properties, they devised a plan to use the bell to drive a ritual, allowing the entire race to gain even greater power—the "War of the Waves," a battle royale game between planets.

Knowing what it is but not why it is, perfectly describes the current state of these spirit-like beings. Although they don't know the true nature of the bell, that doesn't stop them from using it to achieve their own goals.

Ultimately, it comes down to a mismatch between their expertise and their abilities. If these spirit-like beings possessed extraordinary powers derived from cultivation techniques, they might have been able to see through the disguise of the bell and even unleash its true power.

··· ·Requesting flowers···· ·

That's right, Li Wei designated this bell as a magical artifact, and the bell received a purple rating from the system.

Purple-rated items are extremely rare. To guarantee obtaining a purple item through the system's lottery, you need to spend tens of thousands of points, which shows how rare they are.

Although the system's presence is severely lacking, its capabilities are absolutely unquestionable. Li Wei simply sent out an appraisal, and the system provided detailed information about the bell.

At the same time, the history of this bell also appeared in Li Wei's mind. According to Earth's standard time, this bell should have been created 130 million years ago. It was a magical artifact of a powerful god or demon. This god or demon perished in a battle with his enemies, and he entrusted his remaining soul to this bell, using a teleportation technique to escape the control of his enemies.

.

The remnant soul of this ancient god-demon still resides within this great bell, and the bell periodically transmits energy outwards—all due to the remnant soul of that ancient god-demon. He desires to use the existence of elves within this race to resurrect himself, thus inducing individuals of this race to devise the so-called "Tide Plan," absorbing the resentment of various worlds and using mutated yin energy to solidify himself. When the yin energy he absorbs reaches a certain level, he can achieve yin-yang harmony and resurrect himself based on this great bell.

Any cultivator with a bit of skill will leave themselves a way out. Even a risk-averse person like Li Wei is no exception. As long as there is a puppet clone outside, even if the main body is destroyed, he can use the puppet clone to revive.

Such life-saving measures are something any cultivator with some skill would prepare for, since no one can guarantee they won't encounter misfortune. So it's always good to be prepared.

"This great bell is mine." Li Wei had made his decision. Since those spirit-like beings couldn't see the true nature of this treasure, it meant they were not destined to possess it. As the one destined for it, it was perfectly reasonable for Li Wei to take it away.

Chapter 4. A Lack of Martial Morality

Li Wei recalled the cultivation novels he had read before. He wondered when it started, but the originally peaceful traditional cultivation novels gradually evolved into new-style cultivation novels, or rather, underworld cultivation novels.

In the original cultivation novels, the most common way to cultivate immortality was through fortuitous encounters. The protagonists were mostly righteous and peaceful, and the two factions of good and evil were clearly divided.

But I don't know when it started, the atmosphere of cultivation novels changed. The original cultivation became a fight between gangsters who were disguised as cultivators. It was either you kill me or I kill you. Moreover, the demonic sects were always whitewashed, and the righteous sects were always scheming and despicable.

These cultivation novels are quite interesting at first, but they can get boring after a while.

However, Li Wei didn't dislike the protagonists of this style of cultivation novels. After all, he himself wasn't a good person, and the actions of those protagonists made him feel quite close to them. Putting himself in their shoes, he would also do all sorts of evil things if he were in their position.

After all, neither justice nor evil is eternal. With a change of perspective, justice can turn into evil, and vice versa; these are perfectly normal occurrences. However, only self-interest is eternal. Both justice and evil pursue self-interest, only the nature of self-interest differs from person to person.

For example, right now, Li Wei's actions are incredibly righteous to the planet where Mirelia and the others live, but to those elf-like beings who want to revive their civilization, Li Wei is a demon that is blocking their revival.

Li Wei approached the white orb of light. The spirit-like beings were unable to break through the outer layer of protection on the orb, but for Li Wei, a Qi cultivator, breaking through this rudimentary protection was a very simple matter.

The defense set up by this ancient god and demon was quite simple. It relied entirely on its powerful strength in life to forcibly weave a protective net around the bell. If Li Wei were to do this, he would be confident that he would do it far better than the other party, and the final protective camouflage would be several times more effective.

Technology is constantly being updated and replaced, even in the cultivation of immortality and the practice of Qi. It is not true that the older something is, the more powerful it is. Some ancient things often mean that the structure is simple and backward. If such an old thing were placed in this day and age, it is estimated that any Qi cultivator with a little skill could break through this layer of defense.

Li Wei ventured deep into the sphere of light, facing the enormous bronze bell, which was about four hundred meters tall. The outer layer was covered with various tortoise shell script, while the inner layer was covered with fine seal script.

Li Wei entered the inner layer of the bronze bell and discovered that the seal script there also held secrets. Each character in the inner layer was as large as a square table. These seal script characters were composed of numerous smaller characters, each only the size of an adult's palm. This nested structure gave the magical artifact a "multiple enchantments" effect.

Li Wei guessed that this magic weapon was very likely not crafted by that ancient god or demon himself. The ingenious array structure and the extremely rudimentary defensive measures left behind after the opponent's death were completely opposite.

The technological gap between the two was so vast that it was roughly equivalent to the difference between calculus and quadratic equations. It was precisely because of this that Li Wei suspected that this ancient god-demon was not the creator of this magical artifact, but merely a user.

Li Wei's divine sense seeped into the magic weapon slowly but steadily, like a stream seeping into a crack. The owner of this magic weapon had been dead for far too long. Although those spirit-like beings drew power from the outside to recharge the magic weapon, the remnant soul inside was still quite weak.

Inside the magical artifact's inner sea of ​​consciousness was a space like a fiery hell, and within this space, an ancient god-demon, enormous in size and towering over the heavens, sat cross-legged amidst the sea of ​​fire, his entire body engulfed in raging flames.

He was so enormous that Livy appeared like a mayfly compared to a great tree.