Chapter 60: Du Ling Universal Realm Standards
After the Captain left, the atmosphere in Happy Home instantly relaxed.
The tall and burly Black Uncle did not communicate with anyone. He gathered his fully alienated Uniform, picked up a Cloth Bag still oozing blood, and walked alone to the Stone Pillar. His maverick actions instantly attracted the gazes of the other five pairs of eyes.
He saw the Black Man touch the Stone Pillar with one finger. After thinking for a few seconds, he directly untied the Cloth Bag, turned it upside down, and shook out a pile of Skeleton Demon Cocoons stained with green viscous Filthy Blood. The quantity was at least 30+, rolling all over the ground. Among them were also mixed a few Mummy Palms.
“Hiss…!”
Lu Rang gasped upon seeing this, feeling reverence in his heart. He remembered clearly that the Black Butcher had parted ways when leaving the Inn and had not gone to participate in the Buddhist Ceremony at all.
Therefore, the other party had gone alone, without any Teammate assistance (thighs to hug), and in just half a night, had single-handedly slaughtered at least 30+ Mad Tomatoes and a few Corpse Ghosts?
Meng Xiyue, who confirmed that the other party was just an ordinary person with no trace of Supernatural Powers on him, also praised, “Ruthless guy!”
Relying solely on a Uniform + a Bone Cutting Knife, using the cover of night + racial Stealth talent, he killed his way to the sky. As expected of a Butcher.
Zhou Chu narrowed her eyes even more, began recording his characteristics, and labeled him ‘Murderer’ in her heart.
The other party was originally just an ordinary Butcher from Running, perhaps still able to suppress the demonic nature in his heart. But after being summoned into the Bubble World by Mao Mao King, tasting the flavor of killing, and even using Filthy Blood to nurture a Uniform, he was probably destined to walk the path of slaughter, eventually having his rationality eroded by Pollution, degenerating into a criminal! Murder maniac!
It was unknown what operation Huo Tuoluo performed, but all the Skeleton Demon Cocoons and Mummy Palms on the ground were collected. Afterward, the other party exchanged nothing, picked up the Bone Cutting Knife, and returned to his exclusive Bedroom, seemingly returning to Du Ling?
Lu Rang watched enviously and said, “Let’s go take a look too! The Captain gave me 400 Points. Chu Jie and Meng Xi, you two know a lot, help me advise—what Cultivation Path should I choose that’s both combative and safe.”
Hearing this, Meng Xiyue nodded enthusiastically: “Sure, I read a lot, I absolutely won’t rip you off. Yuan Zhu, are you coming? In return for the Gold you gave me, I’ll customize a Reinforcement Path tailored for you.”
Yuan Zhu shook his head in refusal: “No need. My Uniform is sufficient for now. No regrets after placing the stone, I need to fully understand the various Systems and choose after careful consideration.”
Zhou Chu greatly appreciated Yuan Zhu’s mindset: “This way of thinking is very correct. Keep it up, don’t be bewitched by her. Head Robber Group is cunning and treacherous, seemingly loyal but greatly treacherous, not worthy of trust. You must carefully select legal Systems with both high controllability and safety—this is being responsible for your own Life.”
The Investigator habitually instilled her unique anti-fraud philosophy to her Teammates again. In short: Blindly reject all temptations, give up thinking, and you won’t be fooled.
“Hey, don’t slander people out of thin air.” Meng Xiyue was displeased. What cunning and treacherous, greatly treacherous but seemingly loyal?
Zhou Chu looked at her bulging Backpack, then at her smooth-skinned neck, and teased: “So, you’re planning to cut off your own head?”
“Hmph, Knowledge School matters—you rigid and dogmatic Law System folks understand jack. Lu Rang, come, sister will pick a heaven-defying ability for you. Guaranteed to kill through the Bubble World, from then on, one encounter with Meng Xi turns into a dragon.”
Meng Xiyue was full of Fighting Spirit, eager to reinforce the little White Mouse with the fastest speed and highest cost-performance configuration, to prove it to everyone.
Lu Rang followed behind her with a face full of apprehension, not daring to refuse, nor wanting to refuse.
After all, in the Squad, besides this Taixi University student, the other Taixi Investigator was the most knowledgeable and could give him advice. The rest couldn’t help him.
As a low-tier midnight street racer reserve, he was naturally fearful of the Security Bureau. In comparison, he was more willing to listen to the University student.
Because a University degree on Du Ling Star had more value than a PhD on Earth.
The University student rank had no further path upward. There were no graduate students or PhDs; they were uniformly called Scholars. And Scholars employed at the Academy were called Professors.
The crowd walked toward the Stone Pillar, while Yuan Zhu slowed his steps, opened the small black bag given by the Captain, and poured out ten Black Coins from it—metallic material, feeling somewhat familiar.
One side of the Black Coin was engraved with intricate and gorgeous flowers, the other side engraved with the Number 72, incomprehensible in meaning. The instant the Black Coin fell into his palm, Yuan Zhu understood their use.
The essence of these Black Coins was a key. After returning to the Du Ling Present World, no matter where he was, as long as the nearby Space was not anchored and locked, consuming one Coin would allow him to return to Happy Home.
This was the Space smuggling the Captain mentioned. Ten Coins for 10 returns, enough to contact buyers in the Present World, clarify demands, and complete Purchasing Agent tasks from the Space of Gods.
Besides the Basic Functions as a key, the Coins could also unlock the ‘Space of Gods high-end encrypted hidden Transaction Mode’ outside of Happy Home.
Inside the Space of Gods, there was not only Mao Mao King’s group, but other Teams as well—each with different natures and purposes, yet able to transact on the same platform.
Thus, some took the lead in creating exclusive high-end circles, using Coins as entry fees to screen out poor newbie ghosts like Lu Rang. And conveniently earn a wave of ticket money.
Additionally, Coins could be used to post Bounty Missions. Just like those Du Ling wanted criminals the Captain mentioned, who dared not return to the Present World or even enter the Spirit Layer, so they posted reward tasks, letting newbies like Lu Rang act as errand boys to smuggle contraband.
One slip-up, and they’d be beaten to death in the Real World. This was the so-called: Men die for wealth, birds for food.
Besides these 10 Black Coins, the other 400 Points had no physical form and were stored in his account; touching the Stone Pillar would display them. So Yuan Zhu quickly stepped forward, found an unoccupied side, and pressed his hand on it.
The next moment, an illusory conceptual screen floated in his thoughts, completely different from the Soul Program of the Immortal Scripture. More like a special mental-side Power manifestation, transcending text and language, allowing anyone to understand the information within.
The information projected by the Stone Pillar was simple: the Space of Gods Exchange List and the communication platform.
The former was divided into the large Space of Gods and the small Happy Home. Exchanging at the Space list required full price; shopping at Happy Home gave an 20% Discount.
The communication platform area had most regions Hidden, requiring Coins to unlock. The remaining limited information was either posting Bounty Missions, seeking Supernatural Materials, bartering, or intelligence Transactions.
Yuan Zhu ignored the communication platform and focused on the official Exchange List. The list showed him two areas: Mortal and Seed.
Further up was blurred, not displayed due to insufficient Strength. Just simply browsing the list content, he figured out the meanings of Mortal and Seed.
Mortal referred to ordinary people, the mundane. From newborns pure and untainted, to frail elderly with Deviation off the charts, all belonged to Mortal.
Those who actively accepted a certain system’s Pollution, stepped into the Supernatural Domain, and mastered Supernatural Powers as Cultivators, were still classified under Mortal.
Through the information stored in the Stone Pillar, Yuan Zhu learned that the Power Systems or Pollution Sources of the Du Ling World were myriad. Each had its own ranking standards, forming independent lineages incompatible with each other, with unique Promotion rules and realm judgments.
Power Systems were hard to compare and measure against each other, long lacking unified strong-weak standards.
Ultimately, people summarized and induced special natural reactions triggered by strong experts of different Systems in the Du Ling World, formulating a set of Strength measurement standards.
Seed was the first marker, the first rank.
For any System, after formally entering, deeply fusing one’s Spirit and Life with Polluting Energy, controlling and taming the ‘Pollution Ability’, and condensing the ‘Foundation’ of this System, it was called Seed. Similar to Foundation Establishment in cultivation novels.
As the party to Cultivation, one could clearly Perceive that some core essence of oneself fused as one with the Pollution Source, turning into a Seed, rooting in Flesh and Soul, beginning to sprout and grow, creating one’s own Skill tree.
For the outside world, or Du Ling Star, at this stage, if this ability user was killed, the ‘Seed’ in their body would not dissipate, but spontaneously converge and condense, plundering all vitality and Soul, turning into a recyclable ‘true Seed’.
Whether used as Promotion Pill for the same System, made into equipment, or traded as equivalent currency, it was all very good.
This peculiar phenomenon of ‘spontaneously condensing ability Seeds after Death’ was the origin of the Seed rank.
It had nothing to do with whether you had condensed a Power Seed in your body or successfully achieved Foundation Establishment. Outsiders didn’t care about your prospects or potential, only about harvesting a Seed after killing you for trade.
The next rank after Seed was called Gate.
When a Cultivator’s Strength broke through to another stage, it would trigger the ‘Ascension mechanism’, being rejected by Du Ling into the Spirit Layer.
The weak often Ascended all at once, escaping into the Spirit Realm, hard to return. Even if luckily lingering in the Human World, they still had to constantly endure Ascension Rejection, and one slip would lead to passive Shatter the Void.
Gate was the second Supernatural Phenomenon triggered by true powerhouses. Without deliberate effort, within their own Supernatural System, they would spontaneously condense a Gate connecting to the Du Ling Present World, freely entering and exiting the Present World and different Time-Space.
The weak growing strong would be rejected and Ascended. True powerhouses would passively condense a Gate for limited-time return. In a cultivation Universe, it was frequent and free crossing of the two realms.
“Weird-ass Strength measurement standards!”
Equating Seed with Foundation Establishment felt reasonable to Yuan Zhu. But this Gate didn’t connect to Golden Core no matter how he looked at it.
“So, my current Human Body is clearly Mortal rank. But what about the Tiger Demon?” Yuan Zhu currently had no obvious feeling of condensing a Seed, let alone passively condensing a Gate, so what tier was the Tiger Demon?
“This universal standard isn’t universal at all.”
Little Spicy Stick encouraged: “It’s all because you’re the one and only, Boss! Unique! Not bound by mundane standards at all—no one can define you!”
