It is also true that the Four Directions Sect sometimes slaughters everyone in the city that they control. But that’s only when they are about to lose control of the city and don’t want the Martial Body Sect to steal all of the people in the city.
They kill everyone in the city just to make sure that they reincarnate in the Central Domain, not because they want to eat these helpless mortals. And if they had a choice, they wouldn’t kill the mortals. They only did it because they had to.
So if this city were to fall under the control of the Four Directions Sect, Loki wouldn’t have to kill the people after recruiting them. But he is willing to go through so much trouble to secure semi-permanent control of the city. His goal is to dine and dash.
He wasn’t the only one doing this. 7 other people in his group were also roaming the city, generously helping people join the Four Directions Sect and killing them afterwards.
After he got 22 more merit points, he stopped recruiting people for the sect. Then he quickly went to the merit shop to spend the merit points to acquire a Level 3 Dao Status.
As soon as he spent the money, he found himself high up in the sky again. He met the star that was the Supreme Metac of the Forging Pathway, and he was as tiny as ever compared to it.
The star was also as magnificent as the first time that he saw it. He wanted to stay there looking at it forever and ever. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t withstand the starlight that was bestowed upon him and had to fall back to the earth.
The starlight that was bestowed this time was a tiny bit bigger than the previous one. He could tell that much because they appeared to be different in size.
As for weight, he couldn’t tell any difference. Both of them felt as heavy as the world. They were both too heavy for him to withstand, so he had to fall back to the ground even though he wanted to remain high up forever and ever.
After he recovered from the divine experience, he began enjoying the feeling of his empowered body. This feeling was too good that he smacked his lips and said, "It is like a small ascension. I don’t know how best to explain it. It is as if my state of existence has been elevated. Not only am I stronger now, but I see things more clearly."
Now that he has achieved level 3 Dao Status, not only has he become more powerful, but even his mind has become faster, and his perception of the world has become sharper.
He didn’t think it was an illusion because his eyesight had suddenly become better. So it truly felt as if he had gained the advantage of leverage and could now see farther because he was standing at a higher point.
This was a completely new feeling, one that he had never experienced during the advancement of his cultivation. For example, despite being rank 3, he is just as easy to kill as a mortal who has never cultivated in their life.
If he hadn’t used a Metac to improve the strength of his body, he would be just as physically weak as he was before he began cultivating. And if he hadn’t used a Metac to increase the power of his mind, his mind would remain as slow as it was as a mortal.
The only difference between himself and a mortal would be his Life Ability and the energy in his energy well. Aside from that, both he and the mortal are exactly the same. The same disease that affects mortals, like heart attacks and back aches, can afflict cultivators too.
However, the Dao Status seemed to have changed him at a fundamental level. The amplification that it grants him is all-encompassing. So, not only is he now three times stronger, but he has also become 3 times more durable and more difficult to kill.
As he thought of this, he chuckled and said, "How ironic that the only thing that the Dao Status didn’t change is the quantity of internal energy within me. I guess that’s what cultivation is for."
Then he shook his head and said, "Now to important matters. What do I do next? Do I hold the city or do I leave it?"
"I want to hold it so that I can earn more merit points to buy life insurance. The life insurance will come in handy now that my Life Ability may have been exposed as a mutation."
"But holding the city is not an easy matter either. I may be stronger now, but I lack the manpower to hold the city against the waves of enemies that will try to retake it."
He sighed and said, "I guess I will have to leave it. Fortunately, I got something out of all of these."
With this decision made, he looked around for the others and shouted to them, saying, "I’ll go and start the airship. I won’t leave until I see the reinforcement of the Martial Body Sect. You can choose to continue recruiting or follow me now."
He was telling them his plans so that they would be reassured and wouldn’t think he was escaping now. That way, they will be able to stay behind and help him draw the firepower of the Martial Body Sects when their reinforcements arrive.
It is true that he won’t leave yet. Unfortunately, no one was buying that.
No one believed a word that he said. So they all chose to leave the city when they heard that he was leaving now.
Everyone escaped from the city at their top speed as if they were rats and a cat had arrived. This sight made him shake his head and say, "It is a wonder how the Four Directions Sect can achieve any amount of success in this campaign when no one is willing to die for the interests of the sect."
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A/N: Please, don’t forget to vote with your power stones and golden tickets. Thank you.