414: Fingers shortened by 8cm

Suitability: Those facing a desperate situation, in urgent need of overwhelming combat power in a short time, and willing to pay any price.

Success Rate Increase: 100% (The secret technique's effect is guaranteed to trigger).

Side Effects: After the effect ends, the user's cultivation realm will permanently drop by one major realm and they will enter an absolute period of weakness lasting ten years. During this time, they will be no different from a mortal and will have no power to protect themselves.

Price: 199.0 billion incense points

Shang Wan Ning looked at the long list of terrifying prices and side effect descriptions, feeling a twitch in her heart.

Her little vault!!!

The private savings she had worked so hard to save for so long, intended for upgrading the grand defensive array and buying herself a new flying boat.

Her fingertips hovered over several options.

The Burning Heart Ultimate Pill had the best effect, but with eighty-one days of bone-eroding heart-burning, Tudor might not be able to withstand it.

The Bloodline Potion was too high risk, the Chaos Dao Seed was too slow... and the Heavenly Demon Blood Burning was purely suicidal, which was unacceptable.

After choosing back and forth, it seemed only [Rule Empowerment (Specified Attribute: Nether)] relatively met the requirements.

Tudor himself followed the path of Nether Judgment, so the compatibility was high, and the side effects were within a controllable range.

But the price was 680 billion incense points.

Shang Wan Ning only felt her heart bleeding.

She clenched her back teeth and almost squeezed out the command through the gaps: "Xiao Si, exchange for [Rule Empowerment (Specified Attribute: Nether)], target: Judge Tudor."

[Ding, command confirmed.]

"Consuming 680 billion incense points. Item has been issued. The source of the Law of the Nether has begun to be drawn. The target has entered the empowerment state, expected to last seventy-two hours."

"During the empowerment, the target is in an absolutely fragile state. Please ensure the environment is safe."

The system's mechanical voice was cold and heartless, and Shang Wan Ning felt her heart turn half-cold along with it.

It was over. Her flying boat and her deluxe version defensive array patterns were all gone.

The Empress slumped on the phoenix couch, losing all will to live.

(ಥ﹏ಥ)

Ling Qi noticed Her Majesty's sudden low mood and understood the reason after a brief thought; the corners of her lips curled slightly but quickly returned to a straight line.

"A Ning, investments always yield returns. Once Tudor's strength increases and the church is stabilized, the resources that can be drawn from the Ativi Continent in the future will far exceed this amount."

Shang Wan Ning groaned weakly, "I know, but it still hurts." She rolled over and buried her face in the pikachu soft pillow, "Let me be alone for a while to mourn my departed incense offerings."

Ling Qi said no more and quietly stepped aside to deal with the backlog of official jade slips.

The inner chamber grew quiet, leaving only Shang Wan Ning looking at her severely shrunken private vault statement, silently calculating how many "elf merchandise" and "sponsorships" she would have to scam... no, earn, to fill this hole.

The more Wanling calculated, the more annoyed she became. Her divine sense poked the System Space: "Xiao Si, are there any coupons in the mall? For example, a discount for spending a certain amount?"

Xiao Si's electronic voice carried a hint of guilt: "great host, there really aren't any."

"But the mall can offer a friendly sponsorship of a free-of-charge card with a face value of twenty thousand incense points."

A vein throbbed on Shang Wan Ning's forehead.

Twenty thousand? Are you treating me like a beggar?

What can twenty thousand buy?

Just a basic Ghost Messenger Summoning Card. The Underworld was no longer in its early days when it was so desperate it would split one ghost into eight pieces.

Now, in the Mercury Plane, every city has an Underworld branch stationed there, and even the Africa branch is thriving.

Xiao Si silently hid the prepared "9.8% off mall discount coupon" even deeper.

Actually, the mall had an event recently. With "Double Eleven" approaching on Mercury, the system also needed to boost sales performance. But she had recently become infatuated with a sister system she just met in a neighboring galaxy, and her expenses were a bit high.

Only if the Host purchased at the original price could the performance commission the system received be higher.

"Amen, forgive me, Host." Xiao Si made a cross in the data stream.

Seeing Shang Wan Ning still looking completely drained and having lost her will to live, Xiao Si decided to give her Host a shot of adrenaline.

[Ding, continuous emo mood detected from the Host. The third stage of the main quest has been forcibly activated.]

[Quest Name: Ativi Continent · Path of Faith]

[Core Goal: Complete actual control over 60% of the Ativi Continent, have the Abyss Church's faith coverage exceed 50%, and successfully establish a stable reincarnation sub-channel in this plane.]

[Time Limit: One hundred years]

[Quest Reward: Character Card: Yama King (Eighth-stage Peak Complete Form), Remaining Law of Reincarnation Fragments x3.]

[Failure Penalty: Each of the ten fingers will shorten by 8cm (Forcibly effective for divine bodies below the tenth stage, non-exemptible, irreversible).]

Fingers shortened by eight centimeters???

Shang Wan Ning stared at her own hands with their distinct joints, and the tragic image of ten little carrot stubs already appeared before her eyes.

She suddenly bounced up from the phoenix couch, and the pretentiousness of feeling distressed about the incense points just now vanished instantly.

Slacking off? Absolutely impossible.

"Xiao Si," the Empress ground her back teeth, her divine sense manifesting as a palm in the System Space, viciously squeezing the ball of light representing the system. "Are you itching for a beating?"

The ball of light twisted in her palm, making a sizzling electric sound and exuding a weird excitement: "great host, I'm doing this to motivate you~"

"little black room, high heels, spicy strips... hehe, I'm okay with all of them."

Shang Wan Ning's stomach churned.

She immediately withdrew her divine sense, fearing she would be infected by some strange attribute from this perverted system.

Getting angry with this thing was purely looking for trouble. Shang Wan Ning took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

One hundred years!

The time was still relatively ample.

But Tudor's breakthrough must be foolproof.

Although she believed in Tudor's ability and the judges brush could cover most of the commotion, for the sake of safety, she still had to go and keep an eye on him personally.

It was also a good chance to relax and experience the mortal world.

Shang Wan Ning stood up and put on the robe of ten thousand sorrows again, which could isolate her aura, pulling down the hood to cover most of her face.

She raised her hand and gestured in the air, accurately locating the spatial coordinates of Tudor's seclusion spot.

Ativi Continent, deep inside a hidden mountain belly.

Inside the carved-out cave dwelling, Tudor sat cross-legged in the center of the spirit-gathering array. The judges brush floated in front of him, thick ink-like yin energy flowing from its tip, connecting with the array patterns below to form a perfect shielding barrier.

His expression was calm, but his tightly pursed lips revealed that he was currently under considerable pressure.

The [Rule Empowerment] produced by the system was incredibly overbearing.

The majestic source of the Law of the Nether was like a flood breaking through a dam, forcibly surging into his energy center, washing through his soul, and reshaping his divine body... the whole process allowed for no mistakes.

Outside the cave dwelling, a ripple appeared in space.

Shang Wan Ning's figure quietly emerged, her black robe almost merging with the shadows.

Her divine sense swept through, confirming there were no abnormalities around, then she found an inconspicuous corner, hid all her aura, and waited quietly.

Time passed bit by bit.