A single Duke of Nasser had already turned Cado City into what it was today. What about the more powerful princes? It was truly the entire vampire race mobilized for Dracula's apotheosis, yet in the end, only four Godhead Crystals reached Dracula's hands. Li Xi asked in confusion, "What happened?"
Avril explained the news she had obtained from the temple to Li Xi. "Among the twelve cities, two were discovered in advance before the blood sacrifice was even initiated. They were jointly eradicated by the major temples and the city lord's mansion. Three dukes died, let alone the lower-level vampires."
"As for the remaining ten cities, you know the situation in Cado City. At the critical moment, Lord Mourinho snatched the Godhead Crystals and lured the vampires away. His Lord once again saved Cado City." Speaking of this, Alice was proud. Her man could forge such a deep friendship with such a prominent figure, which was something a million gold coins could not buy.
Li Xi smiled and remained silent. Hearing his wife praise him unknowingly to his face greatly satisfied Li Xi's vanity.
Avril continued to deliver the intelligence. "Among the other nine cities, in three of them, the temple bishops summoned divine avatars and shattered Dracula's plans in one fell swoop. These two cities, along with the two that discovered the vampire plan in advance, suffered the least losses."
"One of the remaining cities saw Grand Magister Elma, who arrived in anger, successfully cast the forbidden spell 'Purgatory's Inferno,' leveling the otherwise peaceful city after the blood sacrifice. The fire burned for three days without extinguishing, and all vampires, including a duke, perished without survivors. The Godhead Crystals fell into Grand Magister Elma's hands."
Even when speaking of Grand Magister Elma, even though she knew Elma was an ally standing with humanity and an absolute justice advocate, the ability to raze a city at will still made Alice tremble when she mentioned it. She was simply too powerful.
"The last city that went awry was due to the presence of abyssal demons. It was laughable that two thieves simultaneously reached into the same pocket. The two sides bickered like dogs and bitches, and in the end, the Godhead Crystals were seized by the abyssal Balrog."
Li Xi listened, sighing with emotion. Behind every Godhead Crystal lay the lives of an entire city's populace. The four cities Alice hadn't mentioned were the ones from which Dracula obtained the four Godhead Crystals. Dracula had sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives to achieve godhood. For his own desire, he had drained hundreds of thousands of people dry, turning them into mummified husks. What right did such an evil god have to exist in the world?
"Then how did he get injured?" Li Xi's gaze was cold, like a wolf hunting for prey at midnight. Dracula had already been inscribed on Li Xi's personal death note.
"Dracula ordered his princes and grand dukes to go to each blood sacrifice location. He secretly hid himself near the place closest to all the Godhead Crystals, ensuring he could obtain them at the fastest speed when the Godhead Crystals were successfully refined. Unfortunately, he didn't know that his actions were already being monitored by the Lady of Darkness. Just as he was most relaxed after obtaining the Godhead Crystals, the Lady of Darkness suddenly appeared and struck him to the brink of death. If he hadn't broken through space and fled to the abyss, this ancient relic who had lived since ancient times might have died at the hands of the Lady of Darkness." Alice's eyes sparkled when she spoke of Dracula's severe injury, as if she herself had accomplished such a feat.
Unfortunately, Li Xi did not feel the shared joy but only a chilling sensation. The Lady of Darkness's ability to precisely track Dracula's movements indicated that she knew Dracula was planning to blood sacrifice cities. Yet, to avoid alarming him, she let hundreds of thousands pay with their lives.
Was this to eliminate an evil god? No, this was to reduce a competitor for the dark divine position.
Gods, what a group of cold-blooded beings, whether they were evil gods or benevolent ones.
It was a pity that the common people at the bottom would never know the truth of such matters. What they would know would only be the Lady of Darkness's benevolence, amplified by priestly rituals.
Li Xi could imagine that after this upheaval, the Lady of Darkness's followers would experience explosive growth. She would be sung about by major temples, guilds, and bards as a positive example. She spared no divine power to protect humanity. This would delay her return to the divine realm. With such selflessness and compassion for the world, what reason would there be not to believe in her!
Hypocrisy, cold-bloodedness, heartlessness – these were the labels Li Xi now affixed to the gods of this world.
"How is the Adventurers' Guild now?" It was still the same saying: Li Xi's current strength was limited. He could only manage to protect himself and couldn't possibly help everyone. Protecting Alice and Avril was enough.
As for the Adventurers' Guild, it was the prerequisite for his strength. If the Cado City Adventurers' Guild disappeared, Li Xi would have to develop in other cities. Who could blame him when he could only improve his strength by completing quests?
"Although Cado City has experienced these two great disasters, and everyone who could leave has left, the Adventurers' Guild is not only not declining but has become even more lively."
"Oh? Why is that?" This was truly beyond Li Xi's expectation. How could it develop in reverse under such circumstances?
"During times of great chaos, more manpower is needed. Wealthy merchants, nobles, and workshop owners lack sufficient reliable personnel to maintain their basic lives and work, so they can only post quests at the Adventurers' Guild. The surge in quests means that the Adventurers' Guild is one of the few places in Cado City with considerable activity." Alice explained.
Li Xi thought about it and found it reasonable. Those who couldn't leave had to survive, so they had to rebuild their collapsed houses. Nobles also needed to restore castles passed down for hundreds of years. Countless thieves and opportunists trying to profit from the disaster all required people to apprehend them. Those who left also needed reliable adventurers to protect their belongings. Countless job opportunities were waiting to be filled. Instead of saying the Adventurers' Guild was a gathering place for daredevils, it was more like a wholesale market for labor talent. Therefore, it was normal for adventurers to usher in their spring due to the vampire riots.
"However, the number of adventurers has decreased by one-third. In the great battle in the military camp that night, a quarter of those who fell under the vampires' short swords were adventurers. This is an unbearable blow to the Adventurers' Guild. The current situation is that there is enough gold, enough quests, and enough simplicity, but not enough adventurers."
Seeing Alice in distress, Li Xi suddenly thought of something and immediately addressed the system, which had been silent for a long time: "Xiao Fan, I'm asking you, do quests completed by Shadow Clones count towards me?"
【They do, Master.】
"How are the reward chances calculated for quests completed by Shadow Clones?"
【They are calculated based on the Shadow Clone's mercenary rank, meaning the Shadow Clone also has to start from F-rank mercenaries. However, the number of completed quests does not count towards the main body.】
"So, if a Shadow Clone completes a quest, I can draw rewards normally, but it won't count towards advancing my mercenary rank."
【Yes, Master.】
"Good." Li Xi couldn't help but shout excitedly in his heart. Quests completed by Shadow Clones counted towards him. Although the quests completed by Shadow Clones couldn't be used to advance his mercenary rank or earn him advancement rewards, the sheer volume of F, E, and D rank missions would lead to a meteoric rise.
As his mercenary rank increased, the quests he faced became increasingly difficult. Of course, for Li Xi, the difficulty of the quests was acceptable, but the time consumed was too long. An ordinary C-rank quest could take half a month. Li Xi didn't have that much time to spend on them.
From the fact that Li Xi's quest completion count had recently risen to the point where he was about to be promoted to C-rank mercenary, but he hadn't drawn rewards for a long time, it could be seen that Li Xi was starting to show signs of fatigue. Higher-level quests required more specialized personnel. The ninjutsu Li Xi knew did not have a large market in this other world; it was a niche within a niche, as he was the only one in this profession.
If he wanted normal reward quests, he would have to complete them step by step. If he wanted the special advancement reward event for mercenaries, he would have to abandon normal quests and choose those that could be submitted multiple times.
Li Xi's spatial ring still held the corpse of Kalia, the assassin alliance member. If he submitted her corpse, Li Xi would be promoted to C-rank mercenary, earning him one Super Draw instead of two normal draw opportunities, and he would also unlock B-rank quests.
Thinking of the long-awaited draw event, Li Xi could no longer restrain himself. He hugged the smooth Alice and was about to get up. Li Xi's rough movements immediately startled Alice. She thought Li Xi had become lustful. She pleaded, "I can't. Let me rest for a day."
Li Xi was stunned. Looking at Alice's flushed face and his current actions, he immediately realized Alice had misunderstood. He said righteously, "How can you think that? I'm not that kind of casual person. I want you to take me to the Adventurers' Guild to turn in a quest."
"Turn in what quest?" Alice looked out the window. It was the middle of the night, and dawn hadn't broken yet.
As Li Xi put on his clothes, he explained, "Didn't I say before that I went to pursue those from the assassin alliance? How could I return empty-handed after I took action? I caught one."
"Really? Then let's go quickly. This news is like sending charcoal in the cold for Cado City right now. You truly are my hero." Excited Alice kissed Li Xi several times, showing how important this quest was to Cado City.
Normally, the Adventurers' Guild would not easily open at night. Of course, for Alice, who was an insider, such rules were like the eyes of a blind man – mere decorations.
Alice completed Li Xi's quest, and his D-rank Silver Mercenary badge was replaced by a Golden C-rank Mercenary badge. This indicated that Li Xi had begun to enter the ranks of the continent's middle and upper class.
【Congratulations, Master, you have obtained one mercenary advancement draw opportunity.】
Since Alice had to deal with the aftermath of Kalia's actions and remained at the Adventurers' Guild office, Li Xi returned home by himself.
As he walked to the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild, he formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Bang!"
A Shadow Clone appeared. Li Xi gave his main body a look. The Shadow Clone immediately looked at his main body with the gaze of a shameless pervert, but there was nothing it could do, so it could only nod silently.
Li Xi didn't draw rewards first, nor did he go home. Instead, he went to his neighbor's house. As soon as he entered, he saw Sun Sandai hanging from the eaves like a bat, swaying listlessly.
"Go further away. If you hear anything, be careful you won't enjoy tomorrow's sun."
Except for his subservient demeanor towards Avril, Sun Sandai treated everyone else with arrogance, even if it was his master's man, even if it was someone who could defeat him in one move, even if it was a Dragonkin he couldn't afford to offend.
Sun Sandai pouted and muttered as he flew to the neighbor's house. If one listened carefully, they would surely hear words like 'dog couple,' 'adultery is punishable by drowning,' and 'why isn't anyone catching them.'