Lu Yao checked Saltjou’s latest [History] and found the reason.
……
Completed his sixth pilgrimage at the age of 69.
At the age of 76, he comprehended [Heavy Strike] after witnessing ascetics being hunted by man-eating crabs and fiery turkeys.
Completed his seventh pilgrimage at the age of 77.
Started the Transcendental Creature Challenge at the age of 78.
At the age of 79, on the verge of death, evolved [Martyr] into [Stigma].
……
Salt Jouin’s perception and goals are updated by the fact that the ascetics are treated as prey by the transcendental beings.
Unable to protect themselves, they cannot make pilgrimages and spread the welfare of the gods.
So even as he approached eighty years of age, Shiohisa made a decisive transition and began to explore the possibilities of combat monks.
Hunting Rain treated the old man’s wounds and bandaged them up, leaving his entire body wrapped in linen as if he were a dry, thin mummy.
An ordinary villain could not survive such an injury. Salt Long, however, was a rare transcendent human, and after being transformed into a hero, his life value went straight back to full, and his level came to LV16.
The only drawback was that the scars all over his body that were burned by the flames seemed to be unrecoverable.
Lu Yao clicked the salt for a long time.
In the stand-up, the old man, covered in bandages, was wrestling with a huge fighting shovel armour, his arms firmly tugging on the monster’s two jaw horns.
Underneath is written a sentence.
–Human potential is no less than theirs.
Among the abilities of Shiodome, excluding [Evasion] and [Critical Strike], [Martyr] was replaced with [Stigma].
……
[Stigmata]: A martyr rises from pain and death to comprehend how to further spread the welfare of the gods, and has a chance to ignite the fire of faith in transcendent beings.
……
It is possible for [Martyr] to evolve into [Stigma] when in extreme pain and on the verge of death.
Just igniting the fire of faith in transcendent beings, this was something Lu Yao was still unsure of the effects of.
He locked his viewpoint on the top of Yanjiu’s head.
Having gained a new life, the old man became more steady as he advanced along the seashore of the eastern continent. The beach here was infested with man-eating crabs, and the land was populated by Fighting Shovel Armour and Flaming Chicken, but instead, it was a public area where the three parties were more restrained…
Hunting Rain followed behind him.
“Can you teach me? I want to fight against transcendent life energy too, if only I had your great power.”
“You have enemies?” Shiohisa asked.
“Hmm. There’s a bad guy, over at Elf Lake, who goes around stealing other people’s treasure chests and is very hateful. I want to teach him a good lesson!”
“……”
A question mark popped up over Saltador’s head, “Son, that’s not how superhuman strength works.”
“It isn’t. He goes around stealing from everyone, but no one can do anything about it. Even though everyone says that it’s impossible to catch a monster thief. But if one doesn’t even want to try, then nothing will ever change.”
Hunting Rain persisted, “Bad guys who steal should be caught and locked up.”
The old man was silent for a moment.
“Well said, there are things that someone has to do.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t teach you. Because I’m still groping in the dark myself.”
Facing the young man, the ascetic confessed, “If you want to find a path, then go to Yao City’s [Divine Academy], and first further your studies in there to become a scholar.”
“If you can comprehend [Theology], then there is no need for anyone to teach you next, and through pilgrimage you will be able to gradually understand everything.”
Hunting Rain replied, “I took the apprenticeship exam for three years and failed.”
A large smiley face popped up above her head, “The scholars said I wasn’t cut out to be a scholar, couldn’t sit still, got sleepy when I read, and suggested I stay in the family profession as a hunter.”
“……”
A soybean sweat emoji popped up on Saltcue’s head.
“Do you like honey? My father was a rare beekeeper when he was alive, he would go around harvesting honey, and I’ve always made honey wine, but the flavour was always a little short of that.”
“I’ve brought honey wine, honey cakes, and beeswax, would you like to try some?”
The old man was completely silent and sulked.
The Hunting Rain beside her was not bored, and she was able to talk to herself even when she was alone.
“I’ve heard that ascetics don’t drink and eat less, it’s said that you only eat one garlic a day, is that true?”
“Ah! Your garlic is missing! It must have been burnt off during the previous battle. Before the next battle, please remember to take off the garlic strings ah, it’s too bad that the food was ruined like that, wasting food is a sin ……”
“……”
“But it’s okay, I have plenty of garlic in my backpack!”
Hunting Rain strung out a new garlic skewer for the old man, and Saltjou didn’t refuse, wearing it around his neck.
“And ah, I’ve run out of fresh cotton and linen in my pack, it may be a long wait, and if it’s drenched in wine, it won’t be easy for the wounds to rot oh.”
“Right. Is it true that wounds won’t rot if you have superhuman powers like you?”
“……”
“Why do ascetics shave their hair and have no clothes on the upper part of their body?”
“Is it for convenience, or to hone themselves? It’s strange to say that if you don’t wear a top people will think you’re an ascetic, and if you don’t wear trousers and skirts underneath, you’ll probably be thought of as a pervert.”
“Perverts and ascetics, that’s the difference between a top and trousers ah ……”
“……”
The emoticons above Saltcue’s head kept changing, one moment exasperated, one moment sweating, one moment question mark, one moment sighing.
Lu Yao’s scalp went numb from just watching from the simulator on the sidelines.
Hunting Rain was in high spirits as he walked and crumbled along the way.
Soon enough, though, Saltcue unravelled.
A new battle begins.
The old man and the other fighting spade armour lock eyes and start jousting.
Unlike the first time, this time they were on point. Both sides wrestled for a while, seeming to recognise each other, before tacitly backing away from each other.
Then Shiohisa continued on, challenging one of the fighting spade armour.
The lowest rank among them was LV12, and the highest even reached LV17.
After experiencing the battle of life and death, Saltjou was more of a sharpening of himself, a bit of a martial arts meeting.
Entering the battle, Hunting Rain didn’t dare to speak and nervously hid on the sidelines to watch. Only after it was over did she run out, checking and treating the old man’s wounds.
After dueling with the eighth Fighting Spade Armour, a new situation arose.
That LV12 Fighting Spade Armour was actually following behind Shiohisa.
The old man patted the beetle’s armour, “Since you have lit the flame of faith and also believe in Lord Yao God, then join me in my austerities and challenges to the limit.”
Although the Fighting Spade Beetle couldn’t speak, it had been following Salt Long.
With Saltjou’s permission, it even let the fatigued Hunting Rain sit on its back and carried her all the way.
Lu Yao thoroughly read it.
Salt Long, who possessed the [Stigmata], was spreading the faith by way of sparring with transcendent beings, and at the same time, he was constantly challenging his own human limits.
This founder of the ascetic order is carving out a path to transcendence for pixelated villains.
……
Lu Yao pulled the view up.
Without a coincidence, more villains raced to the Eastern Continent from all over.
Unlike hardcore cultivation like Salt Long, most took a more roundabout approach.
They brought in fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, soybeans, berries, and grapes, which they fed to the fighting spade armour.
In return, the Stag beetles allowed the humans to move around in their territory. And, thanks to the shelter of the Staghorn, the little people were able to stop being afraid of the Flamingos.
The Pixel Minis are certainly aiming for more than just good relations.
They’re aiming for, well, juvenile fighting spade armour.
Many want to follow their previous experience of raising Echidna rabbits, muskoxen ladybirds and split earthworms, and further introduce this powerful species to be raised from a young age for human use.
However the whole progress is not going well.
The Fighting Shovel Armour’s parenting of their young was as spontaneous as any other transcendental creature. As soon as the pups hatch from their chrysalises, they don’t care, and survival is up to each of them.
That’s when humans can lure them with food and take the larvae away.
However, due to its aggressive and violent character, the Staghorn Beetle is not a docile species, and its food intake is not small. After being brought back to Yancheng and Yaocheng, these larvae are also difficult to be truly domesticated, and can accidentally injure people and livestock.
So soon, both Yao City and Yancheng City banned the private breeding of fighting shovel beetles.
Lu Yao felt that it was normal.
Pixel little people are still in the primary stage of contacting the transcendent, far from mature taming, the meal has to be eaten one bite at a time.
Even the gods themselves are still slowly running pilots and gradually dropping in new species.
Both to increase the species diversity of this shard world and as a preemptive attempt to start a civilisation of forest elemental creatures.
Just then, Fellows suddenly reported an intelligence.
“Divine Lord, an unknown idol has appeared in the Valley of Creation.”
Lu Yao reversed his viewpoint.
A new player who hadn’t appeared in a while actually happened to descend on the test field.
He was quite lucky.
