047: The Evil God’s Wooden Idol Has Been Tugged Apart (Please Keep Reading!)

"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: Combat ended. Defeated a Level 29 Scout. Your level has increased by 1.
……
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: The trade list has been refreshed. Please check it in time.
……
Grinding mobs and leveling up, grinding mobs and leveling up—previously, Lee Tea always felt that this playstyle had a terribly low cost-performance ratio.
That's right, how could grinding ordinary mobs ever compare to the sheer thrill of slaying bosses?
Today, Lee Tea leaped over a dozen levels to take down a sergeant scout from the Military Intelligence Division of the Redwood Empire's Inquisition.
As the bearded Harden drew his final, rattling breath, Lee Tea's level decisively hit Level 11.
Current Status:
[Lee Tea: Level 11 (18), Class: None (Flame Knight)]
……
Having witnessed the might of the Flame Knight, Lee Tea had thought more than once about removing those parentheses.
Still, watching his level skyrocket as if using cheats, Knight Lee was in a pretty good mood.
He searched Harden's corpse for a moment.
Lee Tea's assets increased by 2 gold coins and 25 silver coins.
A modest profit, nothing special.
Harden's corpse was actually worth quite a bit of money.
Pity it couldn't be sold.
As the saying goes, see the person in life, see the corpse in death.
If he made this cultist's corpse vanish completely, Lee Tea would find it rather hard to explain.
Wait a minute!
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: Sold [Harden's Contamination]. Your experience points +5%, assets +5 silver coins.
……
Up to now, Lee Tea had sold a total of six portions of contamination.
The first came from Susan, Kevin's family, and the spoils obtained from the transaction were the most generous.
The second came from Lee Tea himself, granting 50% experience, 50 silver coins, and a sliver of mental power.
Still very powerful, though already cut in half compared to the very beginning.
The third was Mary's, at 30%.
The fourth and fifth were Old Shuck and Falken the Dwarf, at 20% and 10%.
Harden was the last one, halved once more, leaving only 5% experience and five cold silver coins.
"It seems that trading items of the same type results in a decay in value.
Or perhaps [Contamination] is just special, and repeated sales turn out this way."
Lee Tea rubbed his chin, looking back at Harden's corpse, the Black Fog Church's Saint's Relic that could only float around like an idiot, and Mary, Falken the Dwarf, and Old Shuck, who were still in a state of time deprivation.
Actually, he could already take people out of here.
But if things ended like this today, Lee Tea still felt a little shortchanged.
To be honest, the contamination from Susan that day had given him excessively high psychological expectations.
So much so that Lee Tea felt that after going through all sorts of hardships to finally find this [Saint's Relic] and pulling off a few maneuvers, he should have at least reached Level 14 or 15.
You must know, this was the first time Lee Tea had gone out to fight mobs, and his first time running a dungeon; it was of extraordinary significance.
Heaven knows when the next time he went out would be.
Thinking of this, Lee Tea decided to roll the dice one more time.
Just to be clear, going toe-to-toe with Harden just now didn't count as gambling.
After all, he could strip away Harden's physical strength or time at any moment.
Ever since the bearded Harden signed his big name on the treatment protocol, Lee Tea had known there was a wolf hiding in the party.
So... the task of touching the Saint's Relic with bare hands could just be left to Harden the werewolf.
Dragging Harden's corpse, Lee Tea arrived in front of the treasure chest.
Seemingly aware that contamination had no effect on Lee Tea, the hideously shaped wooden carving on the other side no longer released its corrupting power toward him.
Lee Tea said, "Big brother, it's not a question of whether you want to contaminate me anymore; it's that your contamination is just too weak.
How about this, let's strike a deal. Help me reach Level 13, and then obediently come with me, and I won't use you for experiments anymore."
"..."
The floating wooden carving remained completely motionless.
Lee Tea: "Okay, negotiations failed."
With that, he hauled the soundly sleeping Falken the Dwarf over just in case.
The ability of the Saint's Relic was that looking directly at it caused contamination, while touching it would suck away one's soul.
The first half was temporarily rendered useless due to the other party's inaction.
However, Lee Tea felt the second half still had potential.
After arranging the position of the corpse, the experiment officially began.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lee Tea used his knight's lance to hook one of Harden's arms and pressed it against the Saint's Relic.
Instantly, the black fog swirling all around sprang into action, first covering Harden's hand and then creeping upward, intending to devour the entire arm.
Lee Tea: That's enough!
He immediately used his knight's lance to hook the hand back.
Then he watched with his own eyes as it turned into ash.
On the other side,
the black fog, having eaten an arm, was not satisfied and began advancing toward the rest of Harden's body.
"Right now!"
Lee Tea decisively made his move, grabbing onto the thing: "As long as your attack method isn't a one-hit kill, I win!"
"You're mine now!"
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: The trade list has been refreshed, please check it in time!
……
Item! Acquired!
From start to finish, Lee Tea never held ownership of the [Saint's Relic].
This was completely normal.
Lee Tea had never taken any action against this bizarre wooden carving, so it remained an ownerless item.
Right now, however, Lee Tea had already seized a small fragment of the contamination source. Following the principle of "finders keepers," this grab was equivalent to Lee Tea declaring sovereignty.
Action,
[Lee Tea's Contamination]!
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: Trade successful. Your experience points +3%, silver coins +3.
……
The black fog, which was about to consume Lee Tea as well, vanished, and the reward decayed once again.
"Don't be afraid, I still have plenty of trade opportunities."
The test was complete.
Lee Tea kicked Harden aside, used Falken the Dwarf as a stool, and began his exclusive claw-machine game.
Reach out and grab the black fog, trade immediately.
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: Experience +3%, silver coins +2.
……
Grab and trade instantly.
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: Experience +3%, your mental attribute has increased slightly.
……
Trade on the fly.
"Ding-dong"~
Prompt: Experience +3%, silver coins +1.
……
Lee Tea's level was 11.
As the game heated up, his level increased by another 1.
The swirling black fog was sold clean by him.
Yet Lee Tea believed in this evil sacrifice from the Black Fog Church.
There was still potential to be mined here; Lee Tea respected every hardworking opponent.
Experience +3%,
Experience +3%,
Experience +2.5%,
Experience +2.5%...
……
Facts proved that the rule of homogeneous decay was real.
However, special trade items like [Contamination] held a high prestige.
Once the experience points gained per trade reached 3%, the rate of decay slowed down significantly.
Level 12 experience 10%,
20%,
30%!
Lee Tea's arm went slightly numb.
Switch hands and continue.
40%,
60%,
80%!......
The black fog erupting from the Saint's Relic grew increasingly thin.
After a long while,
when Lee Tea's level increased by another 1, reaching Level 13, the Saint's Relic on the opposite side finally couldn't hold on any longer, a distinct crack appearing across the forehead of its bizarre face.
This was... about to blow up.
The [Saint's Relic] refused to suffer such humiliation and planned to self-detonate?
"There's really no need for that!"
Lee Tea withdrew his hand and said, "Big brother, our game is over, no need to be scared."
The Saint's Relic trembled slightly.
Probably it was also seeing someone for the first time who could treat contamination like a buffet.
Feeling the surging power within his body, Lee Tea thought to himself: Level 13 is level 13, wrap it up and call it a day.
……
Tens of minutes later,
Mary and the others woke up hazily against the wall.
They were completely dazed, having no idea what had happened.
Especially upon seeing Harden's mutilated body, all three wore expressions of absolute incomprehension.