Li Xi narrowed his eyes to get a clearer view of the situation below. When he opened them again, they were the vertical pupils of a superior being.
Looking at the sacrificing crowd again, only eight high-level priests remained, casting divine arts to attack the charging low-level fiends. With every divine art, at least a dozen low-level fiends fell in white light, turning to ashes. Often, before the low-level fiends could reach the mercenary defense line, they were eliminated. Li Xi searched carefully and soon spotted one of them, a blonde beauty with a pale complexion and depleted mana, who was the target of Li Xi's journey: Alice.
With eight priests attacking simultaneously, the low-level fiends' bodies fell like harvested wheat, in swathes. But the next second, countless low-level fiends, under the supervision of the horned demons, continued their reckless assault to deplete the priests' remaining magic and the warriors' strength. The warriors and priests, covered in injuries and on the verge of collapse, had faces paler than the dead. It was obvious they could not hold on much longer.
Li Xi then turned his attention to the demons. In the depths of the canyon, they had established a portal from which low-level fiends were continuously pouring out like a flood. Sensing the gentle aura of the main world stimulated every demon's nerves, making them unable to resist the urge to ravage this world, which was as beautiful as a woman.
Two rows of horned demons, each holding a four-meter-long saber, commanded the low-level fiends to attack. The low-level fiends advanced with bared teeth, intending to drown Alice and the others with cannon fodder tactics.
Because parts of the terrain were blocked by the mountain, Li Xi couldn't get a precise count of the fifth-level horned demons. However, he saw fifteen of them, a number that made even the confident Li Xi break out in a cold sweat.
"What's going on? How did so many horned demons get teleported here?"
Fearing he would alert them, Li Xi firmly hid his body within the cave entrance, ensuring neither side in the canyon could see him.
"I should go back and send a message first, let those people over there come."
He was not confident in dealing with so many horned demons, and this was not the time for individual heroism. Li Xi decided to retreat and gather reinforcements.
However, when Li Xi reached the teleportation gate, he found he couldn't teleport at all, as if an invisible energy wall was blocking him.
Li Xi frowned and studied it for a long time, regretfully discovering that the portal was a one-way teleportation gate. No wonder no one could send a message back. With this one-way portal here, it would be strange if anyone could send a message back!
It was obvious that Alice and the others had been deceived by false information.
Since he couldn't call for backup, Li Xi began to consider his trump cards, only to find that his strength was somewhat insufficient against such a large number of enemies.
Just as he was at a loss, he suddenly remembered that he still had two opportunities to draw lots that he hadn't used.
Without daring to waste time, he commanded, "Xiao Fan, bring up the roulette."
"Understood, Master."
A phantom roulette appeared. Li Xi, without time to examine it closely, took a general glance and, not seeing anything particularly powerful, issued his command, "Spin."
As the pointer began to turn, Li Xi, racing against time, issued another command, "Stop."
Li Xi didn't even look to see where the pointer on the roulette stopped. He returned to the cave entrance to observe the situation below.
The human battle line was in a precarious state. The low-level fiends were getting closer and closer. They could previously be kept four meters away, but in just these two minutes, they had reached three meters. If this continued, it wouldn't take ten minutes to drown Alice and the others.
"Congratulations, Master, for obtaining the Three-Colored Pills."
"Three-Colored Pills? What are they?"
A transparent small box appeared in Li Xi's hand, separately containing three small pills of different colors. After thinking for a while, Li Xi remembered that these were probably the secret medicines passed down in the Akimichi clan.
The three pills were: the first, a green spinach pill, which could temporarily boost potential by thirty percent and increase strength threefold. The drawback was that the brief burst of power would be followed by a period of intense pain, the kind that made one question life itself.
The second, a yellow curry pill, could replenish the body's energy deficiencies, further unlock potential, and counteract the side effects of the first pill. The disadvantage was that after the effect wore off, the entire body would become weak and limp, susceptible to being killed by ants.
The third, a red chili pill, was said in the original work to instantly increase power a hundredfold. The drawback, like opening the Eight Inner Gates, was that it surpassed the body's limits and was invariably fatal.
Of course, the effect of the third red chili pill was still debatable. Li Xi estimated that an increase of several tens of times the strength was possible, but a hundredfold might not actually be achievable. Moreover, after taking it, death was not necessarily guaranteed; Chōji Akimichi was saved by Tsunade when he was still a child.
Therefore, as long as the physical constitution was strong enough, one should be able to withstand the aftereffects of the Three-Colored Pills.
Li Xi pondered that he had been strengthened by the basic body technique, by Tsunade's divine power, and by dragon's blood. He should be stronger than Chōji when he was a child, and thus able to withstand the aftereffects. Of course, not taking the third pill would be best.
Li Xi looked at the pills in his hand and felt a little more confident about his next course of action.
Looking at the roulette, Li Xi quickly uttered two words, "Spin... Stop."
The pointer stopped as soon as it started.
"Congratulations, Master, for obtaining the Chakra Refinement Technique."
Regarding this Chakra Refinement Technique, Li Xi could only say one thing: it was a good item, but it came at the wrong time.
A surge of memories flooded his brain. The Chakra Refinement Technique operated like an internal cultivation method, continuously and passively absorbing energy and converting it into chakra. The amount was small, but it didn't require Li Xi to actively control it. He could regain and increase his chakra capacity while eating or sleeping. This was a passive, permanent enhancement, like water dripping on a stone, sand accumulating into a tower, or streams converging into a river. The longer the time, the greater the value of this technique.
Although he hadn't obtained a decisive ninjutsu this time, with the Three-Colored Pills, Li Xi decided to take action.
He formed hand seals, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"Bang."
An identical Li Xi appeared. The original Li Xi took a greatsword from his spatial ring and handed it to the shadow clone, instructing, "Go and support Alice and the others. If anything unexpected happens, run. Absolutely do not die in front of them. Leave the rest to me."
The shadow clone smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. "I understand. Shadow clones have no human rights; even death must occur where no one can see."
Li Xi then gave half of the soldier pills and all the holy water to the shadow clone.
The original Li Xi formed hand seals again, "Transformation Jutsu."
A puff of white smoke drifted past, and a person with ordinary features, black hair, and yellow skin appeared, holding a two-meter-long greatsword – the Executioner's Blade, which he had obtained from a previous draw.
To ensure there were no mistakes, Li Xi's original body also activated his dragon's blood. Dragon wings unfurled behind him, and his body was covered in scales as small as grains of rice. His vertical pupils coldly surveyed the demons in the canyon.
He could no longer use his real name. Li Xi was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth and said, "My name is Mourinho."
"Go."
"Yes."
The shadow clone, with a soldier pill in its mouth, rushed down the mountain.
With a few rapid movements, he arrived at the human defense line and shouted at Alice, "Alice, I've come to save you."
Li Xi's current Shunshin no Jutsu speed was extremely fast. Alice and the others were fully engaged in fighting the low-level fiends and couldn't spare attention to look elsewhere. No one noticed Li Xi's arrival until he shouted.
Although Alice knew Li Xi's strength was not as simple as it appeared, no matter how much he hid, facing the current situation, he would only be another person to die. She anxiously said, "What are you doing here? Go quickly and notify the defenders of Cado City."
Li Xi leaped directly in front of the defense line, brought his hands together, and as he was about to activate a ninjutsu, he explained to Alice, "The portal is one-way. There's no other way but to defeat the demons here."
"You all rest, I'll handle this."
"Suiton. Suidanha."
A twenty-meter-long, high-pressure water jet erupted from Li Xi's mouth. In this canyon, which was less than thirty meters wide, it covered the entire area.
The densely packed low-level fiends, who had been gnawing their way forward, encountered the Suidanha and were cut like butter by a hot knife. Countless severed limbs and broken bodies flew about. However, such a scene did not frighten the low-level fiends. No matter how many you killed, they still advanced fearlessly, using their bodies to resist Li Xi's Suidanha. Even if it was futile, they still rushed forward, like a mantis raising its arms to block a butcher's cleaver, with no other path but to be smashed to pieces.
Li Xi, with his own strength, held back all the low-level fiends, repelling those who were about to charge the warrior's defense line back to seven meters. This gave the humans behind them a moment of respite.
The exhausted individuals quickly took out the remaining holy water and magic potions from their spatial rings to replenish their energy and mana.
Seeing that Li Xi could hold on for a while, a priestess of the God of Wealth beside Alice tried to lighten the mood with a joke, "I never knew you, a woman who only knows how to fight and kill, had someone who liked you. It's really commendable that this little mercenary came to save you, defying death."
Alice looked at Li Xi, who was displaying great power in front of them. She had never realized Li Xi was so strong before. Even this unknown spell was so powerful. A rare blush appeared on her face, "Don't say useless things. The priority is to find a way to get back alive."
The priestess of the God of Wealth looked at the horned demons in the distance, who were eyeing them greedily. No matter how many low-level fiends Li Xi could kill, the horned demons didn't care about him at all, their attention always fixed on them. She gave a wry smile, "Unless a miracle happens, none of us will make it back."
She then looked at Li Xi, who was slaughtering the low-level fiends, and said pessimistically, "Your little boyfriend is trying his best, but he's only buying us a little more time. However, once our magic is depleted, the outcome will be the same."