Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
A blue-white column of lightning, condensed from the storm above, plummeted from the sky, enveloping the Curse Insect with precision.
Even the resilient Curse Insect couldn't withstand the bombardment of a 38,000 faith-powered miracle. In an instant, it was struck by lightning and burned to black ash. Shadows emerged from the remains and seeped into the ground.
It was only natural for the enemy to be killed.
Fear usually stems from insufficient firepower.
Lu Yao was well aware that the battle extended beyond the abyss.
To achieve this breakthrough in a matter of minutes, he had spent considerable time silently growing and experimenting, devoting a great deal of energy in the pixel world to develop and balance civilization, thereby enhancing the long-term gains of the faith fire.
This led to the peak condition of Sarina and Neville, and Isabella and the yeti, who had no chance to join the fray.
The battle was one-sided, thanks to the thorough preparations and fully loaded equipment and ammunition.
This was the charm of the development strategy.
Lu Yao noticed an orange card fluttering to the ground where the Curse Insect had exploded.
The card reminded him of the Golden Fields; treasures from the Silvanus Tree also manifested in this form.
He clicked on the item.
Instantly, the orange card enlarged to the center of the screen.
The image depicted two overlapping silhouettes.
[Miracle·Duplication] (1000 Faith): Creates an identical copy of an individual for 90 seconds. If the target is a living being, an additional faith cost of the target's level × 10 is required. The duplicate possesses 80% of the original's attributes. Cannot duplicate target abilities and is ineffective against gods, Curse Insects, and special entities.
Lu Yao was first stunned, then overjoyed.
A Curse Insect could actually drop a miracle!
No matter the cost in faith, it was worth it!
Facing the orange miracle card on the computer screen, Lu Yao struggled to calm himself.
Steady, steady.
It was just a miracle from a Curse Insect… there would be more in the future.
He first asked Sarina if there were any side effects to the miracle card.
"My lord, the divine bodies evolved curse eggs, their prayers are the various abilities of the gods. These abilities, after transformation, became active and self-aware, thus hatching into Curse Insects."
"Curse Insects do not die; they merely shatter their ego and revert to their original form…"
There was a certain chance that loot would drop after a Curse Insect's death.
The loot could be [Spell Abilities] or [Miracle Abilities], with a degree of randomness.
The gods of the ninth layer and the Curse Insects of the tenth layer often hunted each other because they were each other's important prey and strategic resources.
After confirming there were no safety issues, Lu Yao double-clicked the orange card.
A prompt immediately popped up in the simulator.
【Do you wish to integrate [Miracle·Duplication] into your Faith Fire?】
[Yes]
Moments later, the card turned into an orange light and disappeared into the faith column in the upper right corner.
Lu Yao immediately accessed [Miracle].
Indeed, after [Earthquake], there was a new option: [Duplication].
Got it!
He tried using Duplication on a mound on the ground.
The faith counter in the upper right corner showed -1000.
Then, with a swipe of the mouse, Lu Yao found that the maximum expansion was only half the screen size. He finally selected a fresh green-lit mound and placed it beside the original, two identical mounds side by side, except the duplicate had a countdown progress bar.
After 90 seconds, the duplicated mound vanished without a trace.
For the second experiment, Lu Yao chose a Blood Knight.
Duplication enveloped the Blood Knight, and immediately faith was deducted by -1830.
A second Blood Knight, bearing the name [Duplicate], appeared.
Lu Yao tried to control it with the mouse and found that the duplicate itself was a monster unit that could attack automatically or be manually controlled. The only flaw was that the duplicate couldn't use abilities and could only perform basic attacks.
Even so, Lu Yao was very satisfied.
In future battles, using [Duplication] would allow each Apostle to have their own clone, and as long as there was enough Faith Fire, they could fight the enemy.
Having mastered a new miracle, Lu Yao then turned his attention to the first layer of the abyss.
Aside from acquiring [Duplication], Isabella had also created new forest elemental creatures with the [Sword of the Forest].
[White Tit LV14] [Created by Isabella]
Health: 174/174
Mana: 26/26
Damage: 15
Defense: 2
Speed: 10
[Flesh Refinement]
Special resistance to toxin damage.
[Insight]
Can discern the prey's weakness and deliver a fatal attack.
[Forest Elemental LV1]
Forest elemental creature, beneficial for rapid forest growth, with all attributes enhanced in the forest. The effect depends on the ability level and health.
This time, Isabella directly created 22 White Tits. These snow-white birds circled around Isabella, forming a ring in the air.
There were plenty of White Tits, though their levels were not high, ranging from LV10 to LV20.
It was an increase in the diversity of forest elemental creatures.
Lu Yao looked towards the black vortex.
This was the passage to the second layer of the abyss.
Now that the seal was lifted, monsters from below could come up at any time.
Sarina and the Blood Knight stood on either side of the vortex, weapons in hand, ready for battle.
Suddenly, the vortex shook as if something was trying to break through.
After struggling for a while, the creature finally burst out of the dark mire.
It was a small brown figure.
Upon appearing, the figure raised its arms high, trembling and exclaiming.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
"I am a child of the gods!"
"I've fled here from the layer below, please don't kill me."
Lu Yao watched with a puzzled expression.
This was a pixelated figure, seemingly ordinary, and surprisingly, there was no language barrier in its speech. Could it be a Transcendent human?
How could there be humans in the abyss?
Lu Yao clicked on the figure.
[Clay Tribe LV9] Bianye
Health: 41/90
Mana: 3/15
Damage: 2
Defense: 1
Speed: 6
[Clay Tribe]
A special branch of earth elemental creatures, constructed of clay.
[Earth Elemental]
Earth elemental creature, capable of continuous health regeneration in the earth.
[Parasitic Imprint]
Marked by a parasitic insect.
Before the clay figure could say much more, a black monster chased out from the vortex.
It looked like a black cockroach, labeled as [Curse Imprint Monster LV18], but as soon as it appeared, Sarina cleaved it in two with a single sword strike, killing it instantly.
Bianye's exclamation mark turned into a question mark: "There are many more insects behind, run, run!"
As if answering his call, more [Curse Imprint Monsters] crawled out of the vortex, charging aggressively.
Sarina transformed into a blade of moonlight.
Monster corpses were cleaved in two.
In no time, the ground was littered with the bodies of Curse Imprint Monsters.
Bianye's question mark rose higher.
"What kind of people are you…"
After receiving Lu Yao's order, Isabella spoke: "We are the Apostles of the great God Yao, here to exterminate the monsters of the abyss and restore peace to this place."
Faced with the powerful Apostles descending from the heavens, the old citizen Bianye excitedly recounted his ordeal.
"I am from the second layer, a child of the gods, worshipping the great deity Xinghai, who is also the ruler of the second layer world."
"But for some reason, Curse Insects suddenly appeared on the second layer, causing great chaos…"
According to Bianye, the second layer was once ruled by the god [Xinghai]. After being attacked by Curse Insects, the god's body was torn apart, parts of it taken by the Curse Insects, and Xinghai's whereabouts became unknown.
Strangely, the Curse Insects did not linger on the second layer but quickly left.
It was as if they had come solely to hunt the god.
The Curse Insects left behind a massive cocoon on this layer, which continuously hatched Curse Imprints. It also marked every member of the Clay Tribe with a curse.
As time passed, the Curse Imprints on the Clay Tribe would multiply until they covered the entire body, at which point they would be hunted and consumed by Curse Imprint Monsters.
The Clay Tribe, having lost the protection of their god and their faith collapsing, struggled desperately to survive.
Bianye had fled all the way to the upper layer's seal, and in desperation, he managed to break through. The seal, which had been unbreakable for years, had loosened, allowing him to reach the first layer.
Lu Yao pondered.
Should he continue to explore further down?
Bianye added, "The divine artifact of Lord Xinghai is still on the second layer, cursed by the deity, so the Curse Insects cannot move it. Please help us break the curse, and I am willing to help you retrieve the artifact! The deity would surely wish for someone to avenge Him!"
Lu Yao immediately decided to liberate the enslaved and farmed Clay Tribe of the second layer.
Strike while the iron is hot, whether it's one Curse Insect or two!