Chapter 328: Lied-to-and-Crippled Li Te, Bai Fu Transformed into the God of the Ethereal Realm
Li Te once suspected that something was wrong with his eyes.
How could the Apostle who was making trouble in the Rayas civilization be Bai Fu?
Wasn’t she supposed to be dead already?
Could it be that the Apostle before him was deceiving him? Or was Bai Fu, like those Undying Ones, blessed with an immortal body, impossible to kill?
Li Te’s mind was in complete chaos.
Since his rise in the Holy City of Apostles, he had never been as shocked as he was at this very moment.
Today he had simply gone through too much. Not only much, but also complicated—complicated to the point that even he, a Transcendent, felt bewildered.
He couldn’t help but ask himself—was the place he was in now truly the real world, and not some illusion so profound that he couldn’t see through it?
Bai Fu looked at Li Te with a faint, half-smile.
His reaction was entirely within her expectations.
But compared to his expression and movements, what she paid closer attention to was his favorability toward her.
The Apostle Psionic Vision was now feeding back very unstable data. Bai Fu observed it for more than ten seconds and found that the value fluctuated between 5 and 25, but the descriptive word for the favorability remained steady.
【Reverence】
It was not disgust, nor fear, but reverence. And since the number remained positive no matter how it fluctuated, could this mean Li Te truly came sincerely, and was not here as an undercover spy?
Bai Fu did not dare to jump to conclusions.
But whether Li Te was sincere or not, she realized that her opportunity had come!
If she couldn’t get something good out of him, wouldn’t all her long performance have been wasted?
“Very surprised, aren’t you?”
Bai Fu’s words snapped Li Te back from his shock for a moment. He raised his head and heard her continue.
“Never underestimate an Apostle. Even the Supreme Apostle working together with the Number Four Apostle couldn’t kill me completely. This time, although you all came in great numbers and well-prepared, thinking you could kill me is still far too naïve.”
That may be true, but what I’m shocked about goes way beyond this!
Li Te was on the verge of breaking down.
How could even someone like Bai Fu, this ‘straight-laced big-eyebrowed fellow’, be playing schemes and tricks? And not just tricks—she had deceived the Holy City of Apostles up and down so completely. Was this her own crooked idea, or was there some “schemer” at her side advising her?
Bai Fu seemed to see right through his thoughts, her voice soft and calm: “Li Te, you should have heard this saying—when a righteous person wants to defeat a cunning villain, they must be even more cunning. So, when dealing with enemies, I never hesitate to use strategy.”
Li Te nodded.
He had indeed heard something like that before.
Bai Fu’s explanation cleared some of his doubts, yet it also raised even more questions.
“Bai Fu, what exactly is your purpose? To be honest, it’s hard for me to believe you are really some sort of Saintess!”
Li Te stared fixedly at Bai Fu.
“Saintess?” Bai Fu tilted her head slightly. “I’ve never thought of myself as a Saintess, nor do I think I should be praised. In your eyes, saving others and sacrificing myself to save others may be the deeds of a Saintess. But in my eyes, I’m no different from anyone else—I’m simply doing what I like. The difference is, you may like food, or money, or great power. But what I like—is life!”
Life?
Li Te was confused. For a moment he didn’t understand what Bai Fu meant.
“I’ve experienced death many times, crossed the boundary between life and death, and I have seen with my own eyes how dazzling the light of life is. From that moment on…”
Bai Fu slightly raised her head. Her face, already beautiful beyond race, seemed to be veiled in a soft white radiance. A holy aura surged out from her entire being.
“…I became hopelessly in love with ‘life’. Life is a grand miracle nurtured within this world. How could anyone not love it? I respect every life that struggles to live. I cherish every kind soul. I help them. I want to see them flourish—not wither away, not be brainwashed into becoming identical ‘puppets’. Now, can you understand why I oppose your Holy City of Apostles?”
The more Li Te listened, the more shocked he became.
He felt Bai Fu probably wasn’t lying to him, because her expression was far too genuine.
Yes, she was right—she truly wasn’t some Saintess.
Good heavens, if a Saintess saved people out of pity, then Bai Fu had taken it one step further—she wanted to see them flourish. How could this still be called a Saintess? She had clearly evolved into a 【Holy Mother】!
Apostles… truly terrifying existences!
Li Te couldn’t help but think of the Number Four Apostle of the Holy City of Apostles.
That Apostle, like Bai Fu, was also an Apostle. What was his true purpose?
As unease crept over Li Te, Bai Fu spoke: “Alright, I’ve finished introducing myself. Now it’s your turn. What is your true purpose for coming to me?”
Under Bai Fu’s gaze, Li Te felt an immense oppressive force. Sweat seeped uncontrollably from his body.
Should he fabricate a reason that catered more to Bai Fu, or should he reveal his true intentions?
After hesitating for a long while, he chose the latter.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Bai Fu’s eyes could see right through him.
But before explaining, he first asked a question: “Where did you learn the internal situation of Cathedral Number Four?”
Of course, Bai Fu couldn’t say it was Sui Xi who had told her, so she fabricated: “A stranger told me. He gave me the location of Cathedral Number Four and its internal layout. I don’t know his real identity, he never showed his face.”
As expected!
Rage surged in Li Te’s chest.
No doubt—it had to be the Supreme Apostle who secretly leaked it to Bai Fu, with the intent of suppressing Cathedral Number Four.
Fine, fine, fine! Since you act without righteousness, don’t blame me for giving Bai Fu all of the Holy City’s secrets to help her strike you down!
Li Te declared, “I have no other motives. I came here because I want to cooperate with you to deal with the Supreme Apostle and the Number Four Apostle. The reason I must do this is because I can no longer stay in the Holy City of Apostles!”
He then began furiously accusing the Supreme Apostle of his crimes.
Saying that he was nothing but a ‘tyrant’ scheming to devour the interests of other Cathedrals. That he kept breaking rules to betray Cathedral Number Four’s interests just to suppress it. That he had deliberately sent Li Te on suicide missions, and right after that, had people launch another assault on Cathedral Number Four…
Listening to all this, Bai Fu nearly lost control of her lips.
Wasn’t it possible that most of these things had been done by me?
Forget it, forget it.
Better to let Li Te keep on misunderstanding.
Humans—sometimes it was best not to see too clearly.
Li Te’s leaving the Holy City of Apostles might not be a bad thing. This way, he wouldn’t have to fight against the Players, those monsters.
Right now, he could still barely keep up with Players, but in the future? That would be much harder.
Bai Fu nodded and said, “If that’s really the case, then betraying the Holy City of Apostles to come find me makes sense. Don’t worry, I won’t refuse to cooperate with you just because your purpose isn’t so ‘pure’. If I really had such a compulsive obsession with purity, I wouldn’t have cooperated with the Supernova Legion or Titan Industries, both of whom had attacked me.”
Li Te secretly let out a breath of relief.
At this point, he had completely accepted that the Apostle causing trouble in the Rayas civilization was indeed Bai Fu, and he felt this was actually a very good thing.
Between cooperating with a stranger of an Apostle and cooperating with Bai Fu, wasn’t the answer to who was more trustworthy obvious?
Clearly, working with someone like Bai Fu, this kind of “honest person”, had far greater prospects.
Precisely because of this, he had feared Bai Fu might reject him.
Now that Bai Fu felt cooperation was possible, he too had to show some sincerity to prove his worth.
In casual talk, Li Te opened the map and marked out the positions of the seven Cathedrals, the Hall of the True Spirits, the Tribunal, and even the residence of the Supreme Apostle. At the same time, he described in detail the abilities and characteristics of every Transcendent and Domination-level Being on the surface of the Holy City of Apostles.
Some of this information was unknown even to Sui Xi, so Bai Fu wasn’t sure if he was making things up, and she couldn’t use it to judge whether Li Te was truly sincere.
Then Li Te sent Bai Fu a large amount of other data.
These included details of the Holy City of Apostles’ military preparations, as well as plans for outward expansion, converting other civilizations into their own Faith Seeds.
Among all these, what drew Bai Fu’s attention most were some blueprints.
For example, the blueprint for the Dark Energy Engine. That had been a reward for destroying the New Starway main questline. She had thought she’d never get it, but with a twist of fate, she ended up obtaining it from Li Te.
Aside from the Dark Energy Engine blueprint, what most caught her eye was 【Supermassive Arcane Technique】.
This was a psionic/dark-energy skill that required multiple people to unleash.
Li Te only remembered two of these blueprints: one was the offensive-type 【Fall of the Star Sea】, its destructive power comparable to her Sacrificial Staff from the numbers alone; the other was the supportive-type 【Power of Faith】, which, once used, could strengthen all its users.
Both were extremely rare treasures. Not only could she use them herself, but if she modified them into lower-grade arcane techniques, she could mercilessly harvest Players with them.
After all, Players loved large-scale team battles the most.
Excellent. Excellent.
Bai Fu acknowledged Li Te’s sincerity, but she wanted even more.
At the moment, what she most coveted was the method the Holy City of Apostles used to raise racial potential. That was crucial to whether she could achieve her Second Divine Transformation.
To ask Li Te for it directly would, on one hand, make her seem overly greedy, and on the other, arouse suspicion about her identity.
‘Aren’t you an Apostle? Why would an Apostle need me to tell her how to raise racial potential? Isn’t that too strange?’
So, Bai Fu shifted her approach.
“Since this is a cooperation, I can’t just sit back and do nothing. How about this—you tell me how you’ve continually broken through the limits of life and raised your racial potential along the way. I’ll help you figure out how to go even further, until you trigger your Fourth Metamorphosis.”
At those words, Li Te’s eyes widened in shock.
He had long heard that Bai Fu had the ability to guide others in becoming stronger, but he never imagined that such a benefit would fall onto him the very first time they met.
Was it because his honesty had moved Bai Fu?
“I mean, if I really complete the Fourth Metamorphosis and my power soars, aren’t you afraid I might pose a threat to you then?”
Bai Fu replied, “When others treat me sincerely, I treat them sincerely in return. Besides… I have great confidence in myself. By the time you complete your Fourth Metamorphosis, my improvements will only have surpassed yours even more!”
At this, Li Te was fully convinced.
Look, look at Bai Fu’s confidence, look at Bai Fu’s magnanimity.
Then look at that Supreme Apostle, who would stop at nothing just to persecute him.
The difference between people truly was vast.
Alas.
If the Apostle who had descended upon the Holy City of Apostles had been Bai Fu, who knew how many times brighter its future would have been compared to now?
Moved, Li Te’s favorability toward Bai Fu skyrocketed, leaping from its previous peak of 25 all the way to 74 before finally stabilizing.
After that, he handed over all the methods for raising racial potential to Bai Fu. She pretended to carefully read through them for a long while, then wrote him a list, pointing out which attributes he should focus on raising.
“When you hit a bottleneck, come find me again. I’ll give you a more targeted method for advancing further.”
“Then I’ll trouble you with that.”
“We’re already partners—what’s this talk about trouble? How about this: since you don’t really have anywhere else to go now, head to this place marked on the map. I’ll take you to meet some people. You might have to act together with them in the future.”
Bai Fu planned to introduce Li Te to Shadow Fu and the members of the Anti-Holy City of Apostles Alliance, letting him manage the alliance on her behalf, and using the alliance as the façade of an unknown Apostle targeting the Holy City of Apostles.
“I’ll come right away.”
Li Te had no suspicions, accepted the map, and immediately set off.
On the other side, Bai Fu was already smiling from ear to ear.
Here it comes.
With the methods Li Te had given her, she could finally welcome a new racial evolution.
She hurriedly summoned Black King and White King to prepare materials for her. After an hour, everything was ready.
Bai Fu carried the materials to Yulia’s laboratory, where she used the most advanced equipment to refine and process them. The procedure lasted for quite some time, but with the system prompts of the game, no accidents occurred.
【You have successfully crafted [Dark Energy Foundation Implant Fluid]】
At the prompt, Bai Fu wasted no time. She injected the implant fluid directly into her body.
Accompanied by a searing, burning sensation, she clearly perceived fundamental changes happening within her body.
The once-repelling dark energy and psionic energy were now forming a subtle balance inside her. She no longer needed to deliberately separate their usage.
When the burning subsided, she received a new system prompt.
【You have completed a Special Ascension, stepping into a new realm of life. Please name your new race.】
“Huh? I can name my own race? Then let’s call it 【God of the Ethereal Realm】. If Players see my race listed as that, won’t their imaginations run wild?”
Bai Fu chuckled.
【Your race has changed to [God of the Ethereal Realm (Exclusive Race)]】
【Race change complete. You have gained Attribute Bonuses—
Strength +517, Agility +531, Constitution +709, Intelligence +443, Spirit +402, Inspiration +1398】
Bai Fu had no time to check the other changes brought about by her racial ascension. She quickly opened her Metamorphosis Quest. Now the quest was marked as completed. All her attributes had reached the requirements, and her racial potential rating had risen from 90.9 to 96.1.
“Perfect!”
Bai Fu clenched her fist with satisfaction.