Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost-Chapter 526: Your appetite is too big, go down the mountain and make a living yourself_1
After resolving Pei Jiang’s issue, Wang Linchi began to arrange for the release of Meatball. The creature was growing bigger and bigger, and he could barely afford to feed it anymore.
Fortunately, when he was capturing Demon Gods as feed for Meatball, he never snatched those from his vicinity. Additionally, he shifted the blame to Li Qinglian. As a result, Li Qinglian’s reputation as the God-slaying True Monarch became even more renowned.
Therefore, the Court and the Human Association intensified their pursuit and encirclement of Li Qinglian.
Especially now, the Million People Sacrifice was about to take place. The Court wanted the Demon Gods to become stronger, fearing that Li Qinglian might come to stop it.
Indeed, Li Qinglian was on his way to the Capital to disrupt this forthcoming massacre to avert this impending disaster.
Yet, Li Qinglian was not going alone; he was accompanied by his three beloved ladies.
Wang Linchi was somewhat exasperated by this. Why bring three burdens? Are you intentionally making things harder for yourself?
These three women were just ordinary humans. Even though they had mastered some of the Charms Li Qinglian taught them, how many could they possibly carry? Compared to the Temple Masters of the Demon God Temples gathered in the Capital, the disparity was immense.
The nobles worshipped powerful Demon Gods, and many other Demon Gods also joined in. Hence, the Capital had long ago become a playground for these Demon Gods. Even without the Million People Sacrifice, there were constant sacrifices of various scales happening daily, and these sacrifices certainly didn’t involve mere livestock. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
However, this had nothing to do with Wang Linchi. Demon Gods were incapable of directly intervening in reality. If the Court were determined, they could still win. But the Court, fearing heavy losses, preferred sacrificing the commoners for their own prosperity and security. This they considered a privilege for those commoners.
"GAH!" Meatball made a weird noise, indicating its hunger.
At this point, Meatball no longer resembled a human; instead, it had become even more bizarre. Having three heads and six arms was just the basics; various strange limbs hung from its body, making it look like a person with multiple bizarre, stitched-on organs.
Its reasoning was simple: Since Wang Linchi is so powerful, if I grow more parts similar to his, I’ll become even more powerful than him. Therefore, under this line of reasoning, it quickly transformed into its current state.
"Meatball, you’re eating too much. How about I let you out to find your own food?" Wang Linchi suggested earnestly.
Meatball fell silent. It wasn’t distressed but trying to comprehend Wang Linchi’s words.
Comprehending such a long sentence was a bit of a challenge for it. After all, it had always been confined, so its intellectual growth and understanding were limited—a result of Wang Linchi’s deliberate weakening and control.
Otherwise, if it got too smart, what would I do if it schemed against me? So, the best method was naturally to keep Meatball a bit stupid; it would be easier for me to control.
"SQUEAK!" After understanding, Meatball directly stated it wouldn’t leave.
It wasn’t stupid. Why would it leave? Here, it had food, drink, and safety. It had only thought of running away before because it was ignorant. Now, it didn’t want to run at all. Once I’ve devoured enough food to become stronger, I’ll turn around and devour Wang Linchi. Wouldn’t that be much better than hunting for food outside? Hunting for food myself, I might not even catch anything. I wouldn’t be able to eat whenever I want like now; I’d most likely have a full meal then a hungry one. It could still distinguish between eating its fill every meal and only occasionally being full.
Wang Linchi found Meatball’s refusal rather interesting. Although its malice towards me hasn’t diminished at all, a hint of dependency has emerged. If I continue to raise it, I might actually be able to domesticate it. The precondition is that Meatball’s intelligence and experience don’t increase and remain at their current level. However, that’s simply not possible. It has merely had little contact with the outside world; once exposed, its experience will skyrocket. As for its intelligence, it wasn’t low to begin with; it was just that I had stunted its development. It’s like an infant; if it doesn’t receive any external information, even if its body can grow, its mind won’t. Acquired education is very important.
"You don’t want to leave, and I can’t afford to keep you." Wang Linchi spread his hands with a helpless shrug, indicating, "You have no choice but to hit the road."
Upon understanding, Meatball responded that it could reduce its food intake; from then on, it would only need half of its current amount.
At this point, Wang Linchi understood. This thing looked stupid, but it was actually very clever. It had keenly sensed that once it left this ’greenhouse,’ it would face the harsh beatings of reality. Unfortunately for Meatball, I’ve almost finished studying it. It’s no longer the treasure it once was, needing careful protection, but has become a valuable resource. If I want to realize this value, Meatball has to grow. However, I want Meatball to grow but don’t want to pay the cost of its feed. So, I can only choose to release it to fend for itself, shifting the cost onto Great Heng. As for the serious consequences this would entail—Great Heng did it, the Demon Gods did it, so why couldn’t I, Wang Linchi, do it? I still have some original shares of Great Heng, even if I’ve been swindled out of them. I just want to be a rogue; if they have what it takes, let them come and sanction me. If they could really sanction me, I’m fine with backing down.
After some back-and-forth cajoling with Meatball, he finally managed to dupe it into agreeing to be sent to the north.
Li Qinglian was unlikely to venture north. The areas where Demon Gods were most prevalent were largely in the Central Plains region. While other regions had Demon Gods, most were insignificant.
In comparison to other regions, the Central Plains was the territory coveted by all.
The four regions—east, west, south, and north—were occupied by rebel kings and their Rebel Armies. They were likely fighting amongst themselves to the point of utter chaos, making it difficult for Demon Gods to survive. Only a small fraction of resilient Demon Gods managed to either eke out an existence or become powerful enough to support certain Warlords, allowing themselves to take root once more.
In the north, however, there were more Demon Gods. After all, it was once their place of origin. Of course, this was also due to its vast land and sparse population, and because many Demon Gods gradually gained control over Warlords, their numbers began to recover.
So Wang Linchi arranged for Meatball to be sent north to deal with these Demon Gods.
The Way of Magical Talisman that he gave to Pei Jiang had a host of drawbacks: difficult to produce, expensive materials, low compatibility, a high barrier to learning, and so on. Its sole advantage was its great power; otherwise, it would have been utterly crushed by Li Qinglian’s version of The Way of Magical Talisman.
However, speaking of which, Li Qinglian seemed to have no intention of disseminating his Way of Magical Talisman. He had only passed it on to his three beloved ladies and the Human Association, and took no further action after that.
The Human Association, naturally, wouldn’t spread such a weapon of mass destruction. Such a good thing must be kept in their own hands. What if it was spread and the Demon Gods exploited it?
However, the Human Association was also struggling at present. Their headquarters had been destroyed, and their president was killed in a subsequent encirclement. Most of their branches were uprooted.
The Court and the Demon Gods were usually reluctant to pay the price to exterminate the Human Association. But when they got serious, the Human Association was no match for them.
The remnants of the Human Association also splintered, its members fleeing the Central Plains.
These members of the Human Association who left the Central Plains only possessed the most basic Charms, many of which were incomplete. Essentially, they were no longer a significant force.
That was why the Court and the Demon Gods did not pursue them relentlessly. In their eyes, the Human Association was nothing more than gutter rats; Li Qinglian, on the other hand, was the true menace.
No matter how strong the Human Association became, they could not kill Demon Gods. Li Qinglian, however, could—and he even grew stronger with each kill.
It wasn’t as if everyone was blind. Each time he killed a Demon God, he himself grew stronger. This was a fact visible to the naked eye, making it difficult not to realize.
"QUACK?" Meatball reluctantly departed, asking if it could take some food for the journey.
"Take it, take it all. It’s no use to me here," Wang Linchi generously agreed.
Meatball actually still wanted to devour Wang Linchi in one bite. However, it discovered that the gap between itself and Wang Linchi didn’t seem to have shrunk; on the contrary, it had grown even larger. This realization made it behave and refrain from launching a sneak attack. Don’t be fooled by Wang Linchi’s current kind and amiable appearance towards me; I understand it’s all an act. I’ve seen his true attitude firsthand—those acts of disembowelment, skinning, and tendon-pulling... just thinking about them terrifies me! Otherwise, why would I not dare to make a move after assessing the disparity between us? Given my personality, win or lose, I’d have to go up and take a couple of bites. After all, I can’t die. Unfortunately, in Wang Linchi’s hands, not being able to die is the biggest problem.
