The goblin and hobgoblin behind Li Xi were merely the weakest. Slightly stronger were a small tribe of five ogres. They stood as tall as the bear goblins, but their bones were sturdier, their fur denser. Especially their innate talent to evolve into two-headed ogres, which granted them immense power boosts and the ability to cast spells. This allowed the ogre race to hold a position at the very bottom of the continental power rankings.
Originally, some scavengers like hyenas and ravens had followed, hoping to pick at leftovers after the battle. But they were quickly caught by the goblins and ogres, who, ignoring their cries, devoured them alive, without even spitting out a single hair.
Seeing the hobgoblin goblins snatching and swallowing hyenas raw nearly made Li Xi vomit. Each goblin was plastered with blood and shredded meat all over its face and body, slurping down intestines like noodles, completely unfazed by the filth within.
As they squabbled and fought over the scraps, they looked like decaying corpses crawled out of a tomb. The ogres and bear goblins even tore apart and devoured several hobgoblin goblins because the food was insufficient for everyone. Having just emerged from the undead plane, witnessing such disgusting sights ignited a killing intent within Li Xi that he could not control.
These were unenlightened fools. Some human bandits had also passed by earlier, but upon seeing Li Xi's attire, they had all smiled and retreated. One might have mistaken them for acquaintances greeting each other after a casual evening stroll.
Those human bandits had recognized the ruby B-rank mercenary badge hanging on Li Xi's chest, immediately understanding he was a master they couldn't contend with. Hence, they had wisely withdrawn. Discernment was always important, and in this regard, these goblins and ogres were utterly unprofessional, not bothering to ascertain whether their opponent was soft tofu or tempered steel, blindly charging forward.
Li Xi had initially considered capturing a few prisoners to guide him. However, upon witnessing this horde of goblins and ogres fighting to the death over a hobgoblin's thigh bone, he kindly gave them all a free "bath" with a burst of water, possibly the only bath they would ever get in their lives.
The parched earth was nourished by the water, and the half-dead weeds greedily absorbed the sweet lake water as if blessed, storing strength for their resurrection next year. The filth on the goblins and ogres was violently washed away. Blood and mangled corpses vanished with the surging river. However, their bodies seemed too weak, or perhaps they were too accustomed to being land-dwellers and couldn't swim. Soon, they all drowned in the lake.
Looking at the cleaner, albeit drowned, bodies of the goblins and ogres, Li Xi smiled and bid farewell, "You're welcome. If you wish to thank me, please do so in your next reincarnation."
"Congratulations, Master, you have obtained Izanagi."
This was the reward for completing the Filin escort mission. Li Xi hadn't had time to use the lottery earlier. Here, in the desolate wilderness, amidst the bleak beauty, he spun the wheel. The effect was good; he obtained this high-level ninjutsu. Li Xi had now completed two B-rank mercenary missions. With eight more, he would be promoted to A-rank mercenary. And with A-rank in sight, would S-rank be far behind?
Izanagi, a secret technique exclusive to the Uchiha clan. Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito, and Danzo had all used this marvelous ninjutsu.
It was a legendary ninjutsu. After the user selected a time fragment and cast this ninjutsu, the Sharingan would record the user's physical state. Then, within the effective duration of Izanagi, no matter what injuries the user sustained, even death, they could be physically restored to the state previously recorded by the Sharingan. In simple terms, it was a resurrection ninjutsu.
Such a heaven-defying ninjutsu naturally came with a price. The cost was the permanent blindness of one Sharingan.
This ninjutsu did not require the Sharingan to evolve to the Mangekyo stage; three tomoe were sufficient. When Danzo first attained the Hokage position he had always coveted, with the row of Sharingan on one of his arms, he effectively put Sasuke in a passive position using Izanagi.
Li Xi's Sharingan had only evolved to two tomoe, one step away from three tomoe. Once he reached three tomoe, he could rely on this technique to revive himself when facing death.
Danzo's Izanagi had a duration of one minute per cast. Li Xi estimated his own duration would be at least four minutes.
The evolution of the Sharingan required emotional impact. Li Xi's first evolution to one tomoe occurred in the face of death. The second tomoe was due to the deaths of his master and Andy. What emotional shock would trigger the third evolution?
To be honest, Li Xi was starting to dislike the Sharingan. This so-called ominous eye always accompanied by something bad when it evolved.
Li Xi would rather not have his Sharingan evolve than have something bad happen around him. Having witnessed so much life and death, Li Xi, at such a young age, was becoming sentimental. The only thing that could cause him intense emotional fluctuations was the death of loved ones. Now, the only ones he could consider his family were Ais and Avril. If anything happened to those two women, Li Xi truly didn't know what he would do.
After killing and roasting a hibernating brown bear for food, Li Xi occupied its cave and used Earth Style: Mud Wall to fortify his defenses. Then, he took out a magic array inscribed on a steel plate from his spatial ring.
The steel plate was crafted by dwarves, using high-quality fine steel mixed with a bit of expensive magic steel, capable of withstanding the flow of magical energy. This unassuming steel plate alone was worth over two thousand gold coins, its weight almost equivalent to its monetary value.
Li Xi couldn't decipher the complex magic array on it, but Avril had already instructed him where to place the magic crystals for power. Thus, after placing thirty magic crystals of level three or higher, Li Xi placed the collected magma demon flesh and blood in their designated positions.
This magic array was the method created by Archmage Demanga for Li Xi to refine magma demon bloodline. Li Xi had previously obtained dragon bloodline and the absorption and evolution method for magma demon bloodline by offering a red dragon, whose lower half had clouded its judgment and led it into a trap, and a future favor. He was now using the second method.
Activating the magic array, a pale blue light shimmered and floated from it. The seemingly thin mist of magic light, upon contact with the magma demon flesh, caused it to melt rapidly like fresh snow in spring sunlight. The melted flesh then quickly condensed within the magic array into deep red essence pills, each the size of a lychee.
Li Xi took out three hundred pounds of flesh, and after a while, only ten drops of bloodline essence were refined. This quantity was insufficient. Li Xi activated the array again, this time taking half an arm of the magma demon. Another forty drops of bloodline essence were refined, and only then did he stop the magic array. The thirty magic crystals were now fully depleted.
In less than the time it takes for an hourglass to empty, thousands of gold coins worth of magic crystals were consumed. Truly, something for the wealthy. Of course, these magic crystals were insignificant compared to the magma demon flesh and blood that had been refined.
Fifty iron-ball-like, deep red, divinely radiant magma demon bloodline essence pills lay neatly before him. This was the third bloodline Li Xi had been desperately searching for!
Without hesitation, he swallowed these fifty magma demon bloodline essence pills. As soon as they reached his stomach, it felt like swallowing heavy metal. His entire internal organs seemed unable to withstand the power of the magma demon bloodline and were sinking towards the ground, giving Li Xi the sensation that his insides were about to be ripped out.
Li Xi dared not delay and took out a thumb-sized crystal vial, which seemed to contain the essence of a world in three drops of divine liquid.
This was painstakingly refined by Avril from the hand of Grolu, the Goblin God.
According to Demanga's analysis, the magma demon bloodline was too violent and prone to corrupting the mind. While powerful, it carried too much negative energy, causing those who absorbed it to either go mad or fall into depravity.
Divine power was required to neutralize this issue. Each drop of divine power could neutralize ten drops of magma demon bloodline. Li Xi believed his unreasonable Kageyama no Jutsu could break this limitation, allowing him to absorb fifty drops of magma demon bloodline with three drops of divine liquid.
Therefore, after consuming all three drops of divine liquid, if Li Xi wanted to absorb magma demon bloodline and evolve further, even to the level of a Balor demon, he would have to slay gods. He certainly wouldn't dare to attack powerful deities, but weaker ones were fair game. In this world, weakness was a sin.
Three drops of sweetly fragrant, resplendent divine liquid entered his mouth and vanished instantly before Li Xi could even swallow. A power akin to the mother of all beings emanated from Li Xi's body, a gentle yet ruthlessly dominant aura spreading outwards.
With the support of the divine power, his organs, which had been dragged down by the magma demon bloodline and were unable to resist, were immediately reinforced by reinforcements and began to fight back.
The pain instantly lessened. It was like a battlefield where the magma demon bloodline essence hadn't even formed its ranks before the divine power launched a suicidal surprise attack.
The divine power disregarded its own casualties. Even if the three drops of divine power were no match for the magma demon bloodline essence, the divine power, with its fearless spirit and unwavering determination, sacrificed itself to subdue the magma demon bloodline essence.
As soon as the two clashed, invisible black energy was stripped from the magma demon bloodline and expelled from Li Xi's body. The black energy gradually disappeared. The magma demon bloodline, like a young man with an outrageous hairstyle stripped of its neon colors, wilted like a frost-bitten eggplant after autumn. It no longer swaggered within Li Xi's stomach but appeared listless and half-dead. This was the negative energy within the magma demon bloodline being purged by the divine power.
This was precisely when the magma demon bloodline was at its weakest. Seeing the opportune moment, Li Xi did not dare to delay.
He formed a hand seal.
"Kageyama no Jutsu!"
His body became like an ancient mythical glutton from Earth mythology, revived and hungry, his body capable of containing everything, ravenously absorbing the power of the magma demon bloodline.
Although the magma demon bloodline fiercely resisted when it sensed its impending absorption,
having been cleansed of some of its ferocity and impurities by the divine power, Kageyama no Jutsu could fully withstand the impact of the magma demon bloodline. It was as if the divine power, big brother, had disciplined it, and then Kageyama, second brother, continued the assault, leaving the subordinate magma demon to passively surrender.
The subsequent absorption proceeded smoothly. In a short while, all fifty drops of magma demon bloodline were absorbed. Li Xi clearly sensed that new power had been injected into his bloodline, and it was integrated into the new family of Li Xi's body without any rejection. This was the powerful and mysterious nature of Kageyama no Jutsu: no rejection, complete absorption.
Li Xi slowly opened his eyes. With a slight exertion of power within his body, without using his other Sharingan or dragon bloodline, he solely mobilized the newly acquired magma demon power.
Dragon scales, not accompanied by any special phenomenon, emerged from his skin. His back did not unfurl wings, his eyes did not exhibit draconic pupils, nor did the characteristic lava flow from a magma demon appear. There was no bloodthirsty and cruel aura either.
Instead, his skin had deepened and thickened, as if a new layer of hide had grown. His body shot up significantly, his muscles swelling as if inflated, making Li Xi appear slightly plumper and a head taller, his height alone enough to rival ogres and bear goblins.
His fingers and toes suddenly elongated, his sharp nails glinting like blades. His thirty-gold-coin Flaming Tiger Hide boots were directly pierced into tatters.
His teeth had all transformed into sharp fangs, like a predator ready to devour its prey at any moment.
With every breath, it seemed as if sparks appeared, as if Li Xi's belly contained not internal organs but an erupting volcano.
On his forehead, a pair of short, sharp little horns, less than an inch long, emerged from his skin, like a new life waking up to fresh air after hibernation.
These were all superficial changes. While the dragon transformation was not as dramatic, Li Xi also understood the internal changes.
Firstly, although the absorbed magma demon bloodline essence was not much, Li Xi surprisingly obtained some memory fragments. These depicted scenes of a magma demon fighting various enemies. The scenes were few, and the content was scarce, much like how the system forcibly implanted ninjutsu into Li Xi's mind. At most, Li Xi learned some Abyssal demon language and a common trick similar to lighting a cigarette with a single hand. There was nothing else. Li Xi only glanced at some simple magma demon combat techniques, which differed greatly from his own combat system and could not be integrated.
Despite the scant memories, Li Xi was ecstatic. This was entirely different from when he absorbed the dragon bloodline. After absorbing the dragon bloodline, his abilities had only been passively enhanced, with no memory inheritance. This had greatly disappointed Li Xi, who yearned for powerful draconic magic.