Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 461 - 431 Invisible God 1

Chapter 461: 431 Invisible God 1

The creature that suddenly appeared in front of Xiaoqiao, resembling a monster from hell, undoubtedly transformed through the power of the seed of the heart.

I hadn’t noticed his approach in advance, but that wasn’t because of his stealth skills, but because he hadn’t emitted any clear malice. I could easily discern the mana he possessed, stronger than a grotesque like Agent Kong, yet weaker than the monster creator. Having met so few achieved level demon hunters, and with Residence Level and achieved level seeming similar to me, I couldn’t tell if he was Residence Level or achieved level.

If I hadn’t intentionally differentiated, I wouldn’t have recognized any difference between him and the ordinary passersby. Using me as a reference, they all seemed insignificant. This was one reason why this grotesque could blend into the crowd and approach so closely.

Since this grotesque showed no intention of harming Xiaoqiao after his transformation, I didn’t act immediately. People passing by seemed to ignore this grotesque as if he were air, casually walking past. This matched the abilities of the "Shadow Monster" Xiaoqiao mentioned last time.

And just as ordinary people "couldn’t see" this grotesque, if I wished, this grotesque couldn’t "see" me either.

"Don’t worry, he’s not going to eat you," I told Xiaoqiao.

It was only then that Xiaoqiao seemed to realize I was nearby, and also noticed the grotesque had stopped moving after his transformation. Her emotional upheavals gradually calmed down.

The grotesque focused intently on Xiaoqiao’s reaction. After a moment, his body changed again, reverting to the male form, and his shadow on the ground wrapped up to form black clothing around his body.

"You are..."

Xiaoqiao seemed to recognize this male’s appearance. As expected, this male should be the mysterious man Xiaoqiao mentioned last time.

In the intelligence I had, those members luring new recruits for Taoyuan Village had a pretentious title like "Taoist" within the village.

"I forgot to confirm the meeting time with you, so I came to pick you up first," the "Taoist" said in a flat tone.

"I see..." Xiaoqiao said nervously, "What about the others..."

The "Taoist" said, "I sent shadows to pick up the others. You’re nearby, so I came personally."

His true reason was likely not this.

In Xiaoqiao’s own words, she suspected the fact that she hadn’t been brainwashed might have been noticed by the "Taoist". This suspicion was reasonable, as with the super senses grotesques had, they could easily judge abnormalities in emotions through reactions.

But the "Taoist" might not be fully convinced Xiaoqiao was acting, since those who briefly experienced Illusion Technique Dreams through the white book reacted in various ways. The abnormal reactions of liars, like a quickened heartbeat or breaking into a cold sweat, might overlap with those forced to exit Illusion Technique Dreams.

The sixth sense grotesques had impressed me as more inclined to hunt and detect danger, or rather, most demon hunters’ intuition leaned towards assessing life and death risks, while few like Zhu Shi and Little Bowl could consistently detect lies and acting.

Now, the "Taoist" should only be suspicious, as I seemed to glimpse the scrutiny for Xiaoqiao hidden in his calm eyes. Suddenly tapping Xiaoqiao’s shoulder from behind and rapidly transforming into a grotesque was probably to probe her reflexive emotions in surprise. A proper demon hunter might refrain from retaliating but couldn’t help genuine emotional response. Xiaoqiao’s response was completely ordinary.

He seemed to relax slightly, then said, "Follow me."

He turned around and started leading the way. Xiaoqiao hesitated, seemingly checking my attitude in the corner of her eye. I said, "Follow him."

Xiaoqiao reluctantly followed behind the "Taoist," and I trailed closely behind her.

Yesterday I had planned to follow Xiaoqiao invisibly, but the "Taoist" appeared before I could go invisible, so now I just went along with it. Despite speaking several times, the "Taoist" seemed not to notice my existence at all. Xiaoqiao seemed to notice something amiss but didn’t know whether to speak to me and dared not even look my way.

The black clothing on the "Taoist" was freely formed by shadow mana, emitting a smoke-like, unstable gas. The people around still ignored this unusual spectacle. Xiaoqiao might not be sure if this was some dangerous substance, and due to her wariness of the "Taoist," she kept nearly ten meters’ distance from him.

"What are we going to do next?" Xiaoqiao asked tentatively.

"Did you forget? Next, you have to undergo the ’trial’," the "Taoist" said nonchalantly, "Once you pass the ’trial,’ you can gain power like mine... no, initially weaker than mine, but if you have enough talent, one day you could stand on equal footing with me."

Xiaoqiao asked, "Since it’s a ’trial,’ isn’t there a possibility of failure?"

I suspected the "trial" the "Taoist" referred to was planting the seed of the heart inside Xiaoqiao.

While the seed of the heart might elevate an ordinary person to a grotesque, not just anyone could enjoy such a gift.

The monster creator only made three grotesques in Saltwater City over time, and typically only one or two in other cities. Of course, the monster creator’s pickiness about the subjects being transformed might be part of this. According to data I gathered at the Human Bureau’s secret base, transformed grotesques matched well enough with the seed of the heart that each developed unique superpowers. Normally, not every grotesque would have such absurd powers.

So, what would be the consequence of poor compatibility with the seed of the heart? Simply put, in such a scenario, the seed of the heart would treat the host as nourishment, like a carnivorous plant devouring an insect, draining and absorbing everything from the subject. Blood, soul, talent, fate... everything would be plundered and consumed by the seed of the heart. Just as Shan Liangyi did to generations of Liangyi Inheritors.

The "Taoist" glanced at Xiaoqiao meaningfully and said in a low voice, "It would be best to focus on facing the ’trial’ itself. Excessive fear will affect your performance during the ’trial.’"

"If I can surpass the ’trial,’ I’ll gain power... is that true?" Xiaoqiao seemed to recall gaining supernatural power from strange events.

"Of course. I wouldn’t bear the cost of lying to you; you’re not worth it," the "Taoist" said.

"The cost?" Xiaoqiao asked.

"Words carry power. For monks like us, speaking words and fulfilling them is a sacred ritual, strengthening the potency of our words and actions. Conversely, if a monk fails to follow through, negative effects arise. Many powers involving ’words,’ like spells relying on incantations, would weaken. So, unless truly necessary, we monks generally don’t lie."

Perhaps seeing potential in Xiaoqiao, the "Taoist" explained without reservation. From his tone and knowledge, he didn’t seem like a typical grotesque but someone educated in mysticism who called himself a monk, hinting at an Extraordinaryism vibe.

Extraordinaryism might be popular beyond Luo Mountain.

"So, the reason you can make people around ’not see’ you... is that also monk’s power?" Xiaoqiao asked.

"More or less. I was a Residence Realm monk in the past, and after passing the ’trial,’ I received new powers, swiftly rising to the most elite achieved realm among monks."

The "Taoist" placed his hands behind his back and said indifferently, "Monks like us with achieved realms have souls completely distinguished from commoners on the roadside, like beings in separate dimensions.

"The weak instinctively submit to the strong, and weak souls unconsciously submit to strong souls. As long as I think about making them ignore me, even if their eyes catch my presence, their minds will unconsciously ignore me because their hearts have already submitted to me.

"No need to painstakingly arrange anything or specially use any spell; true power, just by existing, can twist the material world."

Toward the end, his tone couldn’t hide a condescending and contemptuous view of the surrounding pedestrians,

This person turned out to be achieved level. Though cheating with the seed of the heart’s power, achieved level in demon hunters still counted as rare elite. The grotesque transformation technology developed by Ying Lingyun clearly had a huge impact on the demon hunter level system.

And Xiaoqiao hesitated, cautiously casting a glance at me, then asked the "Taoist": "Uh... so, what if—I mean, is it possible—someone could make even you unconsciously overlook them, just like ordinary people unconsciously overlook you..."

She seemed to feel it was inappropriate to ask, hesitating, but the "Taoist" seemed to unconsciously ignore the oddity in her words and chuckled twice, saying, "How could there be such a person here? If there were truly someone who could view achieved realm monks as mortals, then they would at least be among the extremely rare demigod Great Success Cultivators, normally only genuine Gods could achieve that."

"Gods—?"

Xiaoqiao couldn’t hold back and looked at me, incredulous, uttering this term.

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