241: The artifact that allows one to ascend to heaven

"Fine! Let's see you take three of my Moves first."

Xu Le smiled. With a thought, Ghost received his message and charged forward, shield in hand.

The Eye Demon looked like a bloodshot eyeball from staying up late, but his speed was exceptionally swift. Without even appearing to exert himself, he easily dodged Ghost's attack.

Xu Le immediately followed up. The Sword of Holy Light in his hand felt as natural as if it were part of him, stabbing directly toward the Eye Demon's inevitable path of evasion.

The Eye Demon wasn't worried at all. His body seemed completely unaffected by gravity as he floated to the other side, even more agile than the bodyless God of Black Mist or the Black Shadow.

Xu Le's sword light followed, continuously swinging his longsword. Countless dense sword shadows formed circles, attempting to trap the Eye Demon, but the opponent was like a loach, always managing to slip through the gaps in the sword shadows at the first opportunity.

Ghost joined the interception. He was faster, but his melee experience was severely lacking. Not only did he fail to stop the Eye Demon, but after a few Moves, he actually caused Xu Le's sword shadows to slow down.

The Eye Demon jumped out of the sword shadows and floated in the air. "Three Moves have passed. Let's cooperate!"

"Why don't you cooperate with them?" Xu Le pointed at the corpses on the ground. He couldn't help but feel the other party was heavily injured; if he killed him, he'd surely be a massive experience pack, and he could settle an old grudge at the same time.

The Eye Demon felt a chill in his heart and retreated a few steps. "They appeared to be my subordinate gods, but none could be trusted. Most were forces planted in my hands by other Devil Gods."

"Most." It seemed there were still some who could be trusted. However, with the mindset of "better to kill by mistake than let one go," he had wiped them all out.

A bit ruthless.

Xu Le said, "Why can you trust me?"

The Eye Demon was very certain. "You must be an outsider Devil God. The 'bones' of the local Devil Gods have been broken; no one dares to resist the Devil Emperor, let alone steal his believers."

Seeing Xu Le's confused expression, the Eye Demon briefly explained the power structure of the Xiyi Continent.

The main god is the Devil Emperor, with 3 Great Devil Marshals and 9 Devil Generals under him. All are powerful figures who command their own regions. If not for their internal scheming and grudges, the Beidian Continent would have long been in their grasp.

Let alone resisting, just thinking about it felt like seeking one's own destruction.

Xu Le inquired further and learned that the so-called Devil Generals and Devil Marshals were all Rank 100 Peak deities. Deities of the same Rank could hardly last three to five Moves against them; the battle would almost always end in a single encounter.

"That terrifying? How many Moves can you block?"

"Me?" The Eye Demon gave a bitter smile. "If they were to strike at me, at most a single glance, and I'd be gone."

Xu Le couldn't help but feel a sense of respect. Even if he went all out, it would be quite difficult to defeat the Eye Demon.

To slowly level up to Rank 100 himself, who knew how long it would take.

Even if he plundered believers everywhere, the faith needed for leveling up was increasing, and the effect was mediocre. If he accidentally ran into those powerful Devil Gods, he might as well consider if he could have a second Rebirth.

"How do you want to cooperate?"

"Do you know about the Blood Marshal's great-great-grandson?"

Xu Le: "..."

The Eye Demon laughed. "I forgot you're an outsider. In half a month, it will be the annual faith Harvest Festival. At that time, the Blood Marshal will send his great-great-grandson to inspect and collect this year's faith."

"When the time comes, you and I will join forces to take him down together. You'll get twenty percent of the benefits."

Seeing Xu Le frown, he continued, "Don't think it's too little. I'll also invite three other Devil Gods. With the five of us working together, we'll naturally split the benefits equally."

Xu Le realized that the other three should be the God of Assassins, the Serpent Mother, and the Sea God. If not for him, they were clearly planning to act as a group of four.

However... Xu Le shook his head. "Even with the faith of the entire Xiyi Continent, how much can be collected in a year? If the five of us split it, how much benefit can each get? Besides, directly offending the Blood Marshal is too risky!"

The Eye Demon sneered. "If I could really snatch a year's worth of faith from the Xiyi Continent, I'd be willing to offend even the Devil Emperor. But he's only responsible for the faith of one region; it's barely enough to fill the gaps between teeth. The real prize is the treasure he carries."

Speaking of the treasure, the Eye Demon's eyes were full of longing, which gave Xu Le a chill.

"Rumor has it that treasure can change one's fate. Many deities under the Blood Marshal relied on it for instant ascension, promoting to Rank 100."

Originally, Xu Le was somewhat indifferent, but he became serious after hearing that. A treasure that could rapidly elevate one to Rank 100—even if it meant robbing the Devil Emperor, he would want to try.

If it could succeed... "Hiss... calm down, calm down. Tang Monk's meat that you can't eat isn't as good as Bajie's meat."

"If there really were such a treasure, one wouldn't even give it to their own son, let alone a great-great-grandson several generations removed?"

"Fake, it must be fake!"

Just as Xu Le was convincing himself, the Eye Demon said, "The usage conditions for that Divine Artifact are very harsh, and the talent requirements are perversely high. If one fails, there's even a risk of death. The Blood Marshal's 109th son explicitly died from the backlash of the Divine Artifact. Rumor has it even more died in it, and many were heavily injured."

The Eye Demon spoke in great detail, so detailed that Xu Le felt the other party had personally witnessed the entire process of someone dying from the backlash. The other legends were also quite vivid, at least not seeming like complete fabrications.

Just as Xu Le was listening until his head spun, the Eye Demon dropped another bombshell.

There was actually a predecessor who successfully snatched and used the treasure.

Nebula Devil General, one of the Nine Generals, was once a servant in the Blood Marshal's household. After snatching the treasure, he quickly reached the top and even killed one son and three grandsons of the Blood Marshal during the pursuit. Finally, the Lord Devil Emperor personally intervened to mediate. No one knows what terms were agreed upon, but the treasure was returned to the Blood Marshal, and the Blood Marshal gave up hunting him down.

However, the two are still blood enemies today, with constant friction between their subordinates every year.

"I'll do it!" Xu Le gritted his teeth... Three days later.

The Serpent Mother, the Sea God, and the God of Assassins arrived. Seeing Xu Le, they couldn't help but feel a bit displeased.

After the Eye Demon introduced them, the God of Assassins said somewhat disdainfully, "We're not doing a frontal assault, what's the use of more people? A Spell user? It's hard to say if he can even block one of my strikes, or if he'll just be a drag."

The corners of the Serpent Mother's and Sea God's mouths curled up, both in a spectating mood.

Even the Eye Demon didn't stop it. After all, with five people cooperating, the first hurdle was gaining everyone's approval.

Xu Le had a calm face, even suspecting this was the Eye Demon's idea, but the process was too crude and annoying.

He hooked his finger at the God of Assassins. "You can come and try."

The God of Assassins didn't care for a single strike; with one step, he had already appeared behind Xu Le. Forget about casting [Holy Light Judgment], which required a casting time, there wasn't even a chance for [Holy Light Shield] or [Sword of Holy Light], which were almost instantaneous.

However, for Xu Le, not having the light sword only meant a lack of damage; it didn't have much of an impact.

He kicked backward, delivering a groin kick from an unbelievable angle, making the Sea God feel a chill.

However, the God of Assassins' speed far exceeded Xu Le's. While easily dodging, his dagger was already aimed directly at Xu Le's ankle.

Xu Le leaned forward, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, and kicked out several times in succession.

In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged over ten Moves.

Although Xu Le was far inferior to the God of Assassins in terms of speed, every strike he made targeted the God of Assassins' weaknesses, and his ways of neutralizing Moves were incredibly imaginative.

After the two had fought for three minutes, the Eye Demon immediately stopped them. "That's enough! Everyone acknowledges Brother Spu's skills. He also has the rare Holy Light attribute, which will definitely be of great use."

"Heh, I think he's just average! Weak and powerless like a woman!" The God of Assassins pulled a face. He had only been testing the waters and hadn't used any secret techniques. If he used his ultimate Moves, he was confident he could kill in one hit.

Xu Le's eyes turned cold. Because of his Rank, Spu's various attributes were indeed insufficient, and he had mostly used clever Moves just now, but he still wanted to kill the God of Assassins.

At this time, if he were kicked out of the team, he knew without thinking that he would be surrounded and killed by the four of them.