Xu Le didn't linger. He returned to the outside world, took out another piece of paper with a design drawn on it from his bag, and once again called for the Gate of All Realms. This time, however, a portal of light opened in the room, and Xu Le's true form stepped into the starry world. Floating in the starry sky, Xu Le gritted his teeth and pressed the wet sticker onto his right calf. He gently rubbed it a couple of times, then tore off the paper. The design appeared on his right ankle, as if it had been done by a professional tattoo artist. Far from being ugly, it had a slightly dark aesthetic.
"Erase the consciousness in this tattoo."
Xu Le shouted into the void, and a beam of light as thick as an arm shot down from the sky, hitting the demon pattern directly.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
He clearly heard the sound of something being burned, but he didn't feel any burning sensation in his right leg. Instead, he felt a cool sensation, like soaking in cool river water on a hot summer day, which was very comfortable.
"Ahhh!"
With an angry roar, a wisp of blue smoke drifted from the demonic pattern, blurring into a face—the very demon identical to the pattern. But before he could react, it vanished within the pillar of light. Xu Le looked at this evil will minion, a huge weight lifted from his heart. He couldn't help but regret worrying too much. This demon, no matter how strong, was only in a yellow-level world, and it was sealed away. His Gate of Myriad Realms was at least purple-level; even injured, dealing with a low-level demon would be a piece of cake.
Xu Le looked at the tattoo on his calf. The original blue pattern had turned black, but Xu Le could feel the shadow magic within it. He felt that something was connected to the pattern, but it was blocked, probably because of the Gate of Myriad Realms.
Xu Le bid farewell to the immense consciousness within the Gate of Myriad Realms, which he called the artifact spirit, and returned to his room after opening the portal.
"Come forth, Shadow Legion, heed my call, and await my command once more." Some rather melodramatic lines came from Xu Le's mouth; mainly because he didn't know what else to say, he just went with the cheesy stuff. Xu Le felt the shadow magic within the mark begin to surge. After a while, clusters of black shadows emerged from the ground, transforming into shadow warriors who knelt before Xu Le, awaiting orders.
"Success! We can use them to do some things now." The shadow warriors basically filled the floor. Except for a meter radius around Xu Le, the ceiling and walls were covered with shadow warriors. This was only a small part. There were about a thousand shadow warriors in total. These were the ones with higher status or stronger strength. The others were waiting somewhere else.
"Go back. You all need to report on the Holy Lord's situation immediately. Report any major events to me promptly." Xu Le waved away the group of shadow warriors. He didn't feel comfortable using them, as he was still officially a shop assistant at the antique shop. If he were to swagger around with a group of shadow warriors, what would District 13 think? What would Jackie Chan think? His father wouldn't say much, but he certainly wouldn't like these guys who had vandalized his shop appearing before him. Besides, there wasn't any use for them recently, otherwise, he could send them to infiltrate the Holy Lord's inner circle and monitor his every move. At least in this world, these shadow warriors weren't of much use. However, Xu Le wasn't using them for this world's purposes; he wanted them to serve as his eyes and ears, his lackeys, in other worlds.
He often saw in novels that the protagonist, despite possessing immense power and the ability to gather a large following, insisted on doing everything himself, even dealing with minor figures personally, which annoyed Xu Le. He preferred the model of an ancient emperor, where a single command would mobilize countless people to carry out his orders. However, human nature is fickle, and using ordinary humans as subordinates inevitably leads to betrayal or spies. This is where the value of the Shadow Legion becomes apparent: loyalty, devoid of superfluous emotions, strict adherence to orders, considerable intelligence, and a semi-immortal body—in worlds without supernatural powers, they are practically a bug in the system.
As the shadows receded, the room became empty again, but Xu Le noticed that one shadowy warrior was still standing in front of him.
Just as Xu Le was wondering if his pattern had lost its will and become ineffective, the shadowy warrior whispered in his ear about how the Holy Lord was tracking him by scent.
"As expected, experience counts. Even the Holy Lord, who has lived for so many years, is not easy to deal with. But now is the time. When the time is right, I will take the talisman and send Him on his way. So what if he discovers it then?" Xu Le couldn't help but marvel at the Holy Lord's abilities. He was still too young. Although he wore a mask and changed clothes to conceal his appearance, he hadn't really considered the aspect of scent. Fortunately, he had taken control of the Shadow Legion in advance, and now Xu Le's authority within the Shadow Legion was second only to the legion commander, surpassing even the Holy Lord's. No wonder this Shadow Warrior betrayed the Holy Lord directly.
Xu Le thought about it and realized that he couldn't just scare the Holy Lord away. It was not impossible that the Holy Lord might be frightened into hiding in some deep mountain forest for hundreds of years. The Holy Lord had a near-eternal life. If he failed this time, he could just try again next time. After all, his concept of time was different from that of humans.
Although Xu Le now has the life force of the dog and horse talismans nourishing his body, it has only extended his lifespan to a certain extent. He can sense that his body has a certain limitation; his lifespan has only been extended to about three hundred years. Only by breaking that limit can his lifespan continue to increase. This also made Xu Le understand why, although the dog talisman is said to grant immortality, no one has been able to hold onto it and live for thousands of years.
However, it wouldn't be good to let the Holy Lord investigate at will. If the investigation led to him, it would cause him a lot of trouble. Xu Le wanted to continue learning magic here for a while longer before exploring other worlds. He wasn't worried that the Holy Lord wouldn't come looking for the talisman. After all, once the New Year was over, the Holy Lord would have to wait another nine hundred years. Even with eternal life, enduring nine hundred years of loneliness would be extremely painful.
Should he just steal the talismans? Xu Le was actually a bit of a headache, because once he stole all the talismans, the evil side represented by the Holy Lord would be insufficient, and the consequence of this would be the start of the next plot, where other demons would want to break free of their seals. However, Xu Le's chosen strength was not enough to defeat the demons one-on-one and obtain the greatest benefit from each demon.
That's right, it's all about the benefits. These demons born from the world are equivalent to innate gods and demons, only their strength is far inferior to those primordial gods and demons. Every part of them is a rare and precious treasure.
For example, before Shendu's body was divided, his body was that of a dragon. His flesh and blood were highly poisonous when used directly, but through the processing of a magician, they could be transformed into a potion that strengthened his body. In Western legends, dragon slayers who slay dragons and then bathe in dragon blood to strengthen their bodies are also powerful. In ancient times, there was a guy who killed one of Shendu's dragons and used its flesh and blood to make a potion that strengthened his body. For a time, he was a legendary figure. Unfortunately, he was eventually hunted down and killed by Shendu, and his head was displayed on the castle.
Regardless, the talisman still needed to be obtained, but not now. After careful consideration, he instructed the shadow warrior waiting beside him, "Go back and search according to the Holy Lord's orders, but mislead the search direction to waste His time. I will go directly to him later." The shadow warrior obeyed the order and disappeared into the shadows.
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Chapter Seventeen: The Arrival of the Dragon Team
Time slipped by, and three days passed in the blink of an eye. In the antique shop, Xu Le carefully polished each antique, regardless of its value. This was an attitude, not a job.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a tall, beautiful woman walked in. She was wearing a black bodysuit that perfectly accentuated her graceful figure. She had a classic Western face with slightly arched eyebrows and a waist so slender it seemed one could encircle it with a single hand. Unlike most Western women, she didn't have large pores; her skin was as smooth as an Eastern woman's, as delicate as egg white. Every movement she made was full of charm.
This is a beautiful snake!
This was Xu Le's first impression of the woman, but her familiar attire immediately told him who she was—Little Snake, a former female thief who met Jackie Chan through the Snake Talisman, later reformed her ways, and even helped Jackie Chan steal the Pangu Box. Chronologically, this should be the time when Jade secretly summoned all the Dragon Team members without Jackie Chan's permission. Since Little Snake was already here, then Bull Warrior should be arriving soon.
As soon as Xiao She entered, she saw Xu Le. At first, she thought he was just an ordinary shop assistant, nothing particularly outstanding. But upon closer inspection, she sensed an extraordinary confidence about him. Due to her previous profession, she had seen all sorts of people, from the wealthy to the successful, but she had never seen a shop assistant with such an air of complete confidence. If Xu Le were a wealthy person or someone with immense power, she wouldn't be surprised, but this mere shop assistant astonished her, and she couldn't help but take a second look.
Xu Le noticed something odd about the little snake's gaze, as if it had become suspicious of his identity. However, he didn't mind. He now had enough resources to realize his plan. The reason he wasn't implementing it now was simply because he didn't want to prematurely advance the plot. He was quite interested in these demons and planned to search other worlds for ways to enslave or fully utilize their corpses.
Xu Le looked at the increasingly surprised little snake and said calmly, "Welcome to Old Man's Antique Shop. What do you need?" Although the little snake was very beautiful, it was only enough for him to praise her a few times. He wasn't one of those guys who couldn't resist beautiful women. He liked fine clothes and food, and he liked beautiful women, but this kind of beautiful snake was out of the question. Even if he wanted to find one, his boss, Lu Siyun, was no less beautiful than her, and might even be slightly better.
"I'm not here to buy anything, I'm here to see Jackie Chan. Xiaoyu asked me to come." Little Snake also noticed that Xu Le was somewhat dissatisfied with her gaze, and couldn't help but get a little angry. A beautiful woman is looking at you like this and you're still dissatisfied? Could it be that you like men? Thinking of this, Little Snake's gaze towards Xu Le became even stranger.
Xu Le was unaware that he was already considered sexually abnormal in Xiao She's eyes. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Jackie Chan and the others are still in District 13. They haven't returned for a day. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait in the store for a while. I'll call Jackie Chan." Xu Le handed a stool to Xiao She and then took out his phone to notify Jackie Chan.
Squeak!
The door opened again, and the hooded bull warrior and his little henchman came in. The reason was the same as Little Snake's: Xiaoyu had called them for help. Xu Le moved a few stools for them to rest, then took out his phone to contact Jackie Chan again. Before he could dial the number, he was interrupted by his father's scream.
"Xu Le, robbers have broken in! Quickly drive them out!"
Xu Le turned around and saw his father pointing at Bull Warrior, jumping up and down in anger, almost ready to kick him out. Parker, who was standing nearby, heard someone insulting his idol and immediately rushed to his father to defend Bull Warrior: "Bull Warrior is not a robber, he is a great wrestler."
The old man looked at Parker with disbelief, dismissing the child's words with disdain. What else could someone wearing a hood in broad daylight be but a robber?
“Dad, he’s not a robber, he’s…” Xu Le whispered in his father’s ear, explaining simply, which convinced his father that these guys weren’t robbers causing trouble at his antique shop, but rather Jackie Chan’s friends. With a snort, the father picked up the newspaper on the table and sat down to read. Although these guys were Jackie Chan’s friends, their attire displeased the father, and he didn’t want to deal with them.
Xu Le glanced at his proud-looking father, smiled apologetically at the others, and picked up his phone to dial again.
With a creak, the door opened, and Xu Le saw a somewhat tired Jackie Chan and an excited Xiao Yu walk in. He had now realized that Jackie Chan was definitely toxic; after so many attempts, he couldn't make a single call. After this experience, Xu Le vowed never to call Jackie Chan again unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Why are you all here?" Jackie Chan was somewhat surprised. Why did all these guys come? And how did they know where he was?
The air fell silent after the question was asked, and Xiaoyu's expression changed. She tiptoed away, trying to escape. The little snake playfully pointed at Xiaoyu, who was trying to run away. Jackie Chan saw the little snake's gesture and immediately understood. He turned around, grabbed Xiaoyu by the collar, and asked angrily, "Why did you call everyone here without my permission?"
Xiaoyu was initially excited, but hearing Jackie Chan's lack of understanding of her good intentions, she felt a little wronged and pouted, saying, "I just wanted to help you because I saw you were working so hard."
Seeing the somewhat awkward atmosphere between the two, Xu Le quickly stepped in to mediate. "Jackie Chan, Xiaoyu just wanted to help you, so don't blame her. Besides, everyone's already here at the store; you can't just let them down."
"That's right!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xiaoyu broke free from Jackie Chan and ran behind Xu Le, making a face at Jackie Chan.
Jackie Chan looked at Jade with some helplessness. It wasn't good that Jade was too opinionated; she always made decisions for him, catching him off guard. But Jade's intention was to help him, which made it impossible for him to really get angry at her.
However, Xu Le's words made sense. Since everyone had already arrived, one more person meant one more advantage. Jackie Chan greeted the group and sat down to explain the situation in detail.
Xu Le was also listening nearby. It turned out that the death in District 13 had a significant impact, and the higher-ups were extremely dissatisfied with Sheriff Black's actions. They demanded that he take the initiative to arrest Valmont and his gang, or at the very least, kill them, to reclaim the dignity they had trampled upon. With the state apparatus in operation, finding someone was incredibly easy. Sure enough, Black had already located Valmont's hideout—a high-rise in a building—and they were going to act that night. However, to ensure a successful arrest and prevent another embarrassing failure, they had enlisted Jackie Chan's help.