Chapter 145: Ascension Illusion?
After a discussion with the Little Spicy Stick King, Yuan Zhu believed that their explorations of the Bubble World had split into two different directions.
His exploration of Insect City and the Underground World was narrower in scope but deeper in excavation, with the highest achievement being the Dream Hole affirmed by the Captain, which had an even higher evaluation than the Shadow Domain.
Meng Xiyue was more focused on the surface, but through her cunning “entering the game with her body, selling myself,” she successfully used the Skull she carried to absorb a large amount of local knowledge, attempting to integrate with the basic social civilization. She also extracted a large number of Cultivation Techniques from the heads of many cultivators.
In terms of deep understanding of the power in the Qi Refining System, Yuan Zhu was stronger; but in breadth, Meng Xiyue completely dominated.
Considering that he had the professional spy exploration cheat Great Desolation Immortal Scripture, while Meng Xiyue was just an ordinary university student with a Skull Server, he gave the Young Lady a high score: a talent!
“There’s actually something as interesting as a Dream Hole deep in Insect City? I didn’t read about it from those heads. If I visit your territory next time, can you let me observe it up close?”
Yuan Zhu nodded: “No problem. But brothers should keep accounts clear; you have to pay.”
“Hey, what kind of relationship do we have? If you let me play with your Dream Hole, I’ll naturally return the favor and give you some advice. As a senior Underground Insect City sociologist, I have some mature and excellent suggestions for the development of your territory, which can help you grow stronger more efficiently, consolidate your position and expand your influence in the Underground World.”
Yuan Zhu interrupted her shameless self-praise: “Paid consultation?”
“As long as you let me play for free, I’ll do it for free too.”
Yuan Zhu frowned and clenched his fist: “Go on.”
“After reading a large amount of knowledge from the Heads and personally contacting and even tasting the pills of Insect City, I have a major discovery. Supplies are scarce in the Underground World, and environmental pollution is extremely high. Even if the natives practice Breathing Method to resist, their quality of life is still very poor, with various strange diseases frequently breaking out; as long as they can endure, they’re not treated as a big deal.”
“To suppress those strange diseases (Negative Status) that seriously affect daily life, the alchemists of the Technician Alliance have developed various cheap Civilian Pills. Even the cheapest civilian pills contain multiple Herbs and Insect Medicines. These raw materials are not precious in the Underground World; ordinary people can try cultivating them at home. But in Du Ling, they belong to Extraordinary Materials, and medicinal ones at that—benign materials with powerful effects on ordinary humans!”
Yuan Zhu had also noticed the shocking discovery Meng Xiyue mentioned. That’s why he encouraged the Little Girl in his camp to lead more orphans in learning Corpse Seed—not without the idea of cultivating a batch of technical workers and summarizing Planting Technology to replicate in Running in the future.
So he agreed: “You want to be a reseller?”
“No no no! I’m using professional knowledge + equipment to personally test. And from the pharmacies on the streets and alleys of Du Ling, I selected 13 common medicines. These cheap goods mass-produced for ordinary humans can also curb the natives’ Pollution Erosion. And the cost price difference—one low-level pill can be exchanged for five to six boxes! If exchanged back to materials, even more.”
“Actually, not just pills; I think Firearms also have high value in the Underground World, as well as Lighting Equipment, ordinary pesticides, fertilizers, insecticides… succulents, cacti—they can all be sold. Also cheap Clothes, Food… even kitchen waste from the Real World, if smuggled in large quantities to the Underground World, would be very clean and healthy food!”
“I didn’t originally think of all this, but after the Captain said you have a colony and can solidify the teleportation channel, I realized this is truly unlimited business opportunity! The Underground World lacks everything; everything in Du Ling is zero-pollution fairy goods of utmost cleanliness to Insect City, including poop! As long as it can be transported over, it’s all hot commodity. By the way, have you heard the famous saying of the Dung Beetle?”
Yuan Zhu quickly waved his hands: “Stop stop stop, I have psychological shadows about that!”
“Hahahaha!” Meng Xiyue happily slapped her thigh, feeling the excitement of meeting an old acquaintance in a strange land. “You’ve heard that famous saying too, right? [You eat my ▆, I eat your flesh!]”
Supplies in the Underground World are so scarce that even pure water doesn’t exist; the closest thing to a Beverage is tree sap. Therefore, the poop in civilians’ daily lives is a first-level filtered product cleaned by Qi Threads during digestion—that’s an amazing clean thing.
So people usually raise a batch of Dung Beetles at home; they can’t let this precious first-level filtered product get re-polluted by Miasma Pollution after re-exposure. So while it’s fresh, they quickly use it to cultivate similarly relatively clean bugs for food cycling.
Thus, a long time ago, this proverb circulated in the Underground World.
He had been mentally polluted by it accidentally while following the Little Girl to learn the local language. Who knows where Meng Xiyue heard it from? Did she directly read a proverb collection from the Human Heads?
Seeing Yuan Zhu unwilling to dwell on it, Meng Xiyue changed the topic: “How about it? My little trick for getting rich isn’t bad, right?”
“The passages to the Bubble World and Happy Home are fixed, but have you considered how to transport goods from Du Ling? Exchanging directly from the Exchange List costs too much.”
Meng Xiyue: “I heard the Nightmare School has the ability to connect the Nightmare Layer. After I return this time, I’ll inquire about it.”
Yuan Zhu nodded too: “That’s my plan; I’ll go to the Rain Courtyard to consult.”
“So about the Skull Server cooperation issue you mentioned, and the Knowledge School project consultation, how do you plan to handle them? These things can’t be explained in just one or two hours. If you have time, it’s best to come to Taixi; I’ll personally receive you, give you a few lessons to popularize professional knowledge, and take you to our academy’s laboratory to broaden your horizons.”
Meng Xiyue, skilled at maneuvering between multiple parties and selling herself for a good price, naturally didn’t want to miss Yuan Zhu this fly investor.
Despite having continuously sold herself to Cao Ling City, Mao Mao King, Taixi International University—these powerful, well-backed, technically strong big buyers; but a fly is still meat. Selling herself to a teammate once more is still a little indulgence.
Besides, this younger brother isn’t simple either; he seems to have a wild big water pipe supporting him from behind.
Seeing the other’s eager appearance, Yuan Zhu had the illusion of seeing himself desperately trying to drag multiple parties into the water to jointly invest in the Territory. It’s just that he pulls investments and seeks partners; while the other has mastered the finger technique, selling goods to three families, a slave to three surnames.
Yuan: “Set a time?”
“Anytime! From Running to Taixi, it’s just over 6 hours by car. You haven’t toured a big city yet, right? I can be your tour guide.”
The straight-line distance between the two cities isn’t far, but the Misty Mountains block the way with layers of peaks; the mountain roads are rugged and steep, plus the fog limits visibility, so driving usually takes half a day. There’s also airship service, which takes 4.5 hours but is very expensive.
Yuan Zhu thought about it; now that he had money, it was time to go see the most prosperous metropolis on the West Coast. So he said: “Then… one week later?”
Meng Xiyue replied: “I’ll give you a number; you can contact me before you set off.”
Zhou Chu suddenly popped up: “After you come to Taixi, remember to notify me too. I’ll take you to the Security Bureau for a free checkup.”
“What checkup does the Holy Light System need? It’s him doing exorcism checkups for others and charging money.”
The Investigator Lady paused after being retorted, then looked at Yuan Zhu again, using very awkward rhetoric to tempt: “If you come find me, I can teach you some professional knowledge about the Knight System.”
To intervene in Yuan Zhu and Meng Xiyue’s evil “illegal modification of Skull Server and illegal proliferation” activity, she decided to impart some relatively safe Knight System knowledge to Yuan Zhu.
Meng Xiyue quickly countered: “Oh? You’re not promoting Law this time?”
The pretty iron-headed simpleton replied sincerely: “The Knight System itself is fairly safe, but in the Underground World, it’s severely polluted and distorted—more dangerous taboo than Kunlun Root Tendrils or insect demonization. I think it’s necessary to teach you some Anti-Knight System knowledge. If you can embrace the Law System, your future path will undoubtedly be safer and smoother.”
“No need!”
After the exchange ended, the three agreed to meet next week. Meng Xiyue couldn’t wait to return to Du Ling, preparing to turn herself in at the academy: undergo checks, clean up hidden dangers, be studied by the Mentors, and submit her experience report, speaking freely and sharing her thoughts.
She had no trust in her own professional knowledge and occupational skills; only the academy’s professional Disinfection Laboratory and the experienced Mentors could give her a bit of warmth and safety.
She loved too much this feeling of having free big shots behind her, treating her like a precious White Mouse and caring for her meticulously!
Back at school, attending classes by professional big shots required applications and appointments, plus extra money. Now, every time she entered a Bubble World, not only did professional big shots come to care for her meticulously, but they also gave her one-on-one professional guidance, answering her questions.
In the Bubble World, any whimsical willful choice or my-thought experiment of hers only earned tolerance, plus even more professional pointers and suggestions.
Where she didn’t understand, she asked; not only getting comprehensive answers, but also a professional team formulating detailed exploration plans for her, telling her what to do and the reasoning behind it—how could her studies not progress rapidly?
Compared to the happy Meng Xiyue, the Investigator Lady was also full of fighting spirit. Ever since forming the Child Labor Knight Order, she had been sparked with a sense of responsibility.
Preparing to consult some Seniors at the Security Bureau for a safe and rapid success Law.Knight Rule to help Insect City’s children better adapt to and master the new power.
In her view, the Knight System purified by the Pale Great Law was indeed the perfect path of redemption for Insect City.
The biggest feature of the Knight System is cluster combat; individual strength isn’t strong—very mediocre. But if more comrades-in-arms adhering to a unified ideology join, the team’s power will grow stronger and stronger.
And this Bubble World naturally had a strong Knight System foundation; it’s just that this power was severely polluted and demonized. But no problem—with Law power to constrain and purify, then building a Knight Order on the core of justice, kindness, redemption—this power will be like a spark catching fire, igniting the Underground World and bringing great change!
After seeing off his two teammates back to Du Ling one after another, Yuan Zhu, laden with a huge sum, didn’t linger either. He waved goodbye to No. 3 and returned to Running as well.
He had a lot of Coins in hand and wasn’t in a hurry to exchange. Because he had too many things on hand.
First, after eight days in the pitch-black Underground World and two days trekking on the barren Surface without food or drink, it was really too hard and tiring (Tiger Demon in crazy secluded cultivation sleep). Time to go home and relax first.
Then, Shadow and Holy Light both upgraded. He had to first adapt and familiarize himself with the power changes, consolidate his realm, and condense Soul Crystals.
Next was considering the Three-Phase Ritual and Anti-Law… still need to handle the Disease Garden, go to Rain Courtyard to consult on Nightmare School issues…
After everything was done, then go to Taixi to broaden horizons. Finally, have time to consider what to exchange for?
Seems like nothing needs exchanging; after this mission, he felt a sense of self-sufficiency fulfillment. He was too excellent, growing too fast, with too much potential; his abilities were far from fully excavated or explored—this points really had no use.
Choosing to return, Yuan Zhu couldn’t help boasting: “I’m really too awesome!”
Little Spicy Stick: “Ah yes! I’ve never seen such an excellent master as you!”
…
When he opened his eyes again and regained consciousness, he was back in the attic of that Haunted House.
The empty, dilapidated room was silent, with only the ticking of the clock in his mind. He was sitting on a worn long chair, with the Floor Mirror leading to the little Disease Garden placed in front of him.
No time to check how much the clock had advanced since he left? All his attention was now on the changes and anomalies in his body.
The anomaly didn’t come from the Seal Casting-complete Holy Light; instead, it was the dormant, unmanifested Shadow System.
In Human Stance, Yuan Zhu was disconnected from the Tiger Demon; as long as he didn’t want, the Mutated Spiritual Root couldn’t project even a bit of Shadow Power onto him.
But even so, he still felt a pulling force from the inside of the world—accurately, from the Shadow.
Bang bang!
He lifted his foot and stomped hard on the Floor; the leg lift was very easy, the shoe sole had no sticky feeling, landing was powerful too, shaking the Template with banging sounds and kicking up dust.
On the physical level of the Real World, his body moved extremely normally. But that heavy pulling force, like the illusion of sinking into a quagmire (Shadow), was equally real.
This real sense of contradiction last appeared when capturing the Goblin in the Sewer.
That was him using Tiger Demon power in Running’s Present World, vaguely feeling the attraction and pull from the Shadow Layer. Now, in the Haunted House already preliminarily isolated from the Real World—equivalent to half-detached from reality, in an interlayer—and still in Human Stance, he felt the same sinking illusion again.
“Congratulations, your Boss Template must have greatly advanced, causing even Human Stance to have Ascension Impulse—not unworthy of my charming boss who lit the ultimate talent!”
Yuan Zhu, whose mood had been tinged with a bit of worry, inexplicably puffed out his chest, full of pride and confidence.
He cast aside that bit of concern, stepped through the mirror into the garden, and the sinking feeling immediately vanished. Instead, countless grotesque twisted trees, vines, flowers, and grasses full of tumors, eyeballs, mouths… coughed at him, sprayed blood mist, and clawed wildly.
His good mood instantly disappeared; he stepped out of the mirror again for a sensory comparison.
And muttered to himself: “Am I about to ascend?”
