Chapter 64: Back To Life, Choosing The Reinforcement Path!
Trapped in the storage room, Yuan Zhu continuously knocked on the door for a while and shouted a few times.
Seeing no one coming to rescue him after a long time, he decisively gave up. He chose to mobilize the power of the uniform, shadows wriggled under his feet, a mass of asphalt-like black shadow emerged from the darkness on the ground, slithered up along the door seam, eventually drilled into the keyhole, shaped, hardened, and turned, successfully unlocking the door from the outside.
Little Spicy Stick seized the opportunity, not forgetting to flatter and encourage: “Well done! Congratulations, boss, you’ve mastered another life-enriching little trick!”
“I know what you want to say. But am I, Yuan Zhu, the kind of petty person? Would I tell you about my worth of 100kg gold?”
With a disdainful cold snort, Yuan Zhu pushed the door and walked out. He found that Fire Fang Company had already closed for the day, and the corridor was empty.
He looked out the window, pitch black, night had deepened. Unfortunately, his predecessor was too frugal and didn’t even buy a second-hand mechanical watch. He could only call out to Little Spicy Stick: “Snake Snake, what time is it now? Tell me the time.”
Little Spicy Stick: “I don’t know! I entered Happy Home with you, boss, and lost perception of reality just like you. I can only precisely calculate that from the time you were recruited by Mao Mao King, to entering Bubble World, and then briefly staying in Happy Home upon return, a total of 19 hours and 41 minutes were consumed. This is your personal timeline flow rate. I also noticed the clock in Happy Home; when we entered Bubble World and returned, that clock only advanced 22 minutes.”
“Is Du Ling’s timeline this chaotic? Everything is inconsistent, each going its own way.”
Yuan Zhu irritably scratched his head, unsure if it was still today.
They say spacetime and causality are twisted and chaotic in the Bubble Layer, and now he somewhat understood what the captain meant. The Tomato Race that descended upon the Buddhist Kingdom might have happened years ago, or perhaps in the future?
He arrived at the first floor main door, checked the calendar at the front desk and the clock on the wall; the date was still today, but it was already past 8 PM. His Bubble World trip had also consumed 5 hours in reality, with a greater time difference than expected.
Using shadows again to unlock the door, Yuan Zhu went out and locked the door behind him. He smoothly left with “13 Demon-Exorcism Rituals”.
Walking alone on streets with sparse streetlights, he felt the moist cool breeze blowing towards him. His mood gradually calmed.
Suddenly detached from Bubble World and returning to Running City, he felt extremely unadapted, his spirit in a distorted detached state. The previous second, he was frantically copying the exchange list details in Happy Home.
Further back, he transformed into Tiger Demon, slaughtering everywhere, shuttling between the human world and shadow realms, hunting countless Corpse Ghosts, and frantically spreading shadow pollution in Yellow Springs Pond, laying foreshadowing for the second part of Eggplant.
But now, he had reverted to an ordinary person, walking on this quiet street, observing everything around him from a third-person perspective.
Suddenly, he realized his initial impression of Running City wasn’t good.
This city was rundown and backward, far worse than his 21st-century Celestial Dynasty hometown. It felt like dreaming back to the early 19th century, with the Western Industrial Revolution in full outbreak, overlaid with a layer of Eastern civilization skin, creating a bizarre illusion.
From the moment of descent, he first experienced Evil God Sacrifice, then was taken to the Investigation Bureau for questioning. After sleeping, he immediately accepted Holy Light pollution, and ate the boss’s empty promises. Filled with confusion about the future, he only felt life was bleak.
Fortunately, Mao Mao King intervened in time, pulling him into Happy Home and throwing him into the even more insane and bizarre Bubble World. Right from the start, he faced high-intensity Filthy Bone Demonic Creatures frenzy, followed by Corpse Ghost disaster, Mad Tomato spread, Eggplant proving the Dao… scenes like apocalyptic calamities, where human lives were cheaper than dogs, with all sorts of gruesome deaths, mutations, Corpse Ghost resurrections, and being beaten to explode and recycled into seeds.
After the baptism of Bubble World, fighting poison with poison, recalibrating his three views, Mao Mao King cured his mental exhaustion in minutes.
Now, his mind was still full of images like ‘Egghead Monk heads floating and self-exploding, Multi-Eared Flower Discs slapping faces and spitting stamens…’. Firearms blasting Eggheads, shadows tearing enemies, blood-red Tomato Juice, green Filthy Blood splattering everywhere, scenes that lingered, giving him the urge to clench his fist and punch with full force.
At this moment, the visual scene switched back to quiet Running City; even walking on dark roads, he no longer felt the tension and fear from last night’s night walk.
The moist night breeze blew, and Yuan Zhu only felt the night was truly beautiful, serene and peaceful without death and slaughter, without pollution and mutation, without Yellow Springs and Filthy Blood. Even the industrial exhaust in the air was so sweet, far better than vegetable-flavored Tomato Juice Plasma!
“In my view, this Running City is also well-governed and harmonious with all things thriving. It’s truly so safe, so wonderful.”
Now, despite Running City’s various flaws, compared to Na Ye Buddhist Kingdom, it was full of life, serene and peaceful without Corpse Ghosts, Filthy Bones, or Mad Tomatoes rampant. Even the mice on both sides of the road, with eerie glows in their eyes, seemed so endearing.
Unfortunately, his mouse was permanently buried in Vajra Temple. He wondered if it could revive in the second part?
In this instant, he inwardly accepted Running City, and a flood of childhood memory fragments about Running City surged in his mind, quickly digested and fused by him.
He felt much more affection for Running City. Like a migrant worker returning from working away, feeling safe and relaxed back in his hometown.
“I’m becoming more like a native.” Looking at the unfamiliar streets, Yuan Zhu found them increasingly pleasing, increasingly reasonable; even the exhaust in the air felt so familiar.
Hmm, the taste of childhood!
Little Spicy Stick: “Integrate early, adapt early; anyway, you can’t go back, so strive to live well from now on. You were too ordinary on Earth; now with my assistance, great endeavors are possible, so work hard!”
“So fragrant! The smell of barbecue. This craftsmanship is really good.”
From a great distance, Yuan Zhu caught the scents of chili and cumin in the air, plus unfamiliar spices, exceptionally tantalizing, stimulating his appetite; he instantly felt hungry and quickened his steps toward the direction the aroma came from.
Soon, under a streetlight, he saw a mobile roadside stall with several people gathered around in twos and threes, queuing for the boss to serve.
Yuan Zhu also joined, pulling out the wallet picked up from the sacrifice ritual from his pocket, preparing to splurge. But peering over, his pupils shocked again!
He thought he had integrated into the identity, becoming a genuine old Running local. Unexpectedly, he still underestimated you, Running City!
Grilled mouse, grilled insects, grilled unidentified wriggling meat chunks, grilled super giant earthworms, grilled exploding plasma heavy-pupiled… the style completely opposite to the smelled aroma!
However, his appetite weirdly didn’t fade; instead, under zero-distance stimulation from the barbecue scent, his gut wriggled faster, appetite starting to riot.
Brain: No, you don’t want to eat.
Eyes: Ah, I’ve been polluted!
Body, gut, mouth: No, I want to eat!
Brain: Damn, yeah, I want to eat too!
Eyes: Someone save me! Fuck, I want to eat that!
At this time, a couple cuddling in front of Yuan Zhu in line specifically ordered a luxury skewer called ‘Couple Tentacles’.
Two strings of resilient tentacles, while enduring the charcoal fire roasting below, had salt, chili, cumin, unknown spices sprinkled on wounds, stubbornly curling and entwining each other, just like the meat strands and jacket silently gripping after Titanic, tightly holding pairs of tentacles—death cannot part us!
“Boss, couple skewers medium 6-doneness, don’t grill them dead. We like that slight asphyxiation from suckers tightly gripping the throat, extra spicy; the burning sting is unforgettable love.”
The boss nodded approvingly: “Got it! Pervert spicy, 6-doneness.”
Under chili stimulation, those pairs of tentacles violently curled, irregularly convulsed, even frequently changing colors—starry sky blue, fluorescent green flashing by—what species is this? So dreamlike.
“So beautiful! Slurp!” The woman in the couple, eyes mesmerized, uncontrollably slurping saliva. This is visualized dreamlike love, huh?
Yuan Zhu shook his head vigorously, breaking free from the fragrance’s Illusion, puzzled in his heart why the Immortal Scripture hadn’t raised an alarm, and how even he had fallen into it.
Little Spicy Stick: “Boss, I think the Old Immortal Scripture Master is yelling chaotically every day, really too sensitive, too disturbing to the public. So I raised the pollution alert threshold and enabled Do Not Disturb mode. Those noises have been intelligently filtered out by me. Unless it threatens the Soul Firewall or draws my special attention, ordinary pollution from the Immortal Scripture won’t bother you again. If you’re interested, I’ll make the Pollution Attack Data into a table and send it to you.”
“No need, what’s the pollution intensity of this barbecue stall?”
“Ordinary intensity, Boss Deviation normal, ingredients Deviation normal, seasonings Deviation also normal. It’s just that the recipe + ingredients + Boss’s cooking Experience combined cleverly trigger a chain reaction, bursting out pollution effects beyond normal levels—this is probably the legendary Culinary Skills! Turning the mundane into magic. The ‘Glowing Cuisine, Striptease Cuisine’ recorded in your mind work on similar principles.” Yu Jingzi analyzed it thoroughly.
“Your Database has a big problem.”
Yuan Zhu was too lazy to correct it, because that couple had already taken their death-grip ‘Couple Skewers’ and left. The two couldn’t pull apart the skewers in their hands, so they simply ate them together with pairs of tentacles. The more they ate, the closer their mouths got, their faces flushed red from the spice, with a faint choking sensation… the air was filled with the sour stench of romance.
“Little brother, what do you want?”
“This one, Frog, right? Give me five, heavy flavor.” Yuan Zhu had already picked them out, pointing at the skinned Frog and said.
This roadside stall’s sign had the four biggest characters as Famous Grilled Frog, so he chose the most acceptable ‘Famous Grilled Frog’—much safer than grilled Bug or grilled Mouse.
“Five, can you finish them?” On the Boss’s stall, the skewered Frogs were fully adult palm-sized, substantial portions. Five grilled Frogs, one person couldn’t finish them.
“No problem, I can finish. How much?”
“Fifty cents.”
Yuan Zhu: “Tsk, so expensive!”
“Mine is old craftsmanship, old brand, eat it once and you’ll never forget, guaranteed you’ll want to come back next time.”
While Yuan Zhu waited, he chatted: “Boss, Frogs should be very cheap, right?”
“That’s right, Running’s biggest Local Specialty is probably Frogs. All over the mountains and plains, from Forest to rivers, swamps and wetlands… you can’t kill them all, absolutely can’t. In the rainy season, Frogs are given away for free. I’ve eaten them from childhood to now, sick of them long ago. But why is my Business so good? I sell this craftsmanship, turning the mundane into magic. The Frogs that make kids next door puke, in my hands, can make you cry from craving even after a full meal.”
While Yuan Zhu sorted Memory Fragments, he bullshitted: “This Frog seems to be the Second Fate too. Grilling and eating it directly like this, any special tricks?”
“I’ve grilled the First Fate for you all to eat, let alone the Second Fate?” The Boss pointed at the skewered Mouse on the tray, then showed a ‘you get it’ lewd smile, “There is a trick: eating the First Fate makes you smarter, eating the Second Fate boosts virility. Third Fate prevents insomnia, Fourth Fate improves eyesight…”
While the Boss named the dishes, he casually pointed to other trays, which were skewered Mushroom, skewered Spider…
Damn, is this stringing up symbols of the Twelve Mandates and putting them out for sale? Running folks are really something! Just wonder how the sixth Mandate is cooked—eat dirt directly?
Ten-plus minutes later, Yuan Zhu carried the paper-wrapped, hefty Famous Heavy Flavor Grilled Frog, crunching on the soft, tender, crispy Frog legs while heading toward home.
“Wow, so delicious! Boss, eat slower, chew slower, don’t wolf it down, let me savor it more. So fragrant!”
Having received authorization, Little Spicy Stick, sharing sensory taste with Yuan Zhu, fell into void Enjoyment—one Frog, two joys. This is virtual mukbang!
While sharing the host’s senses, Little Spicy Stick curiously asked: “Boss, have you decided on the Supernatural Reinforcement for your Human identity?”
In Happy Home, Yuan Zhu searched for a lot of information, besides the officially recognized major Systems like Immortal Path (Kunlun, Yellow Heaven), Buddhism, Holy Church, Law, it also included Sword Immortal, Knowledge School, Anti-Law, King of Burning Fire, Rogue Immortal, Sea of Consciousness, Steam Totem, Iron Knight… and other Supernatural Systems from various parts of the World.
After this summarization, he discovered that Du Ling’s Supernatural System, because of different bound ‘Power Origin (Pollution Source)’, once choosing an entry path, would be restricted to that System.
Therefore, somewhat similar to the Sequence Path of the ‘Mysterious World’, but with greater differences.
Du Ling’s ‘Pollution Path’ has no Sequence concept, just gets locked after entry, not unable to switch paths or dual cultivate. It’s just that Practitioners themselves are unwilling.
Entry is simple, no Magic Potion needed, just actively accept Pollution and it’s OK. Promotion is also very easy, no acting required, just keep piling up Pollution to Breakthrough and ascend in broad daylight.
Sometimes, ability users fear not quick getting stronger, but getting stronger too quickly… Switching paths is hard, the difficulty is unable to clean off already stained old Pollution, not ingesting new Pollution.
Simple overwriting is impossible, it would only mix, rampage, lose control.
Therefore dual cultivation isn’t hard at all, just ingest two Pollutions simultaneously, integrate into one’s core, they can offset each other, skyrocket in strength. Accompanied by high flammability and explosiveness, Spirit split, Attribute Conflict, dual paradox distortion, instant death… so refreshing, dying so thoroughly.
After researching multiple Power Systems, Yuan Zhu discovered a characteristic. In the Exchange List, Pollution types are countless, among them the most potential, overtly safest ones, have very limited Strength Improvement after entry—weaklings. Promotion requirements are relatively more complex, harsher conditions.
They seem to improve slowly, weak in Strength, but their corresponding forces are the world’s largest, strongest, with most Deities, widest influence.
Conversely, some no-name, obscure Pollution Sources. Low threshold, easy entry, fast Strength formation, strong performance. Look however you want, super strong.
Finally, there’s a category of Forbidden Pollution Source, real-name super dangerous big villains, equally low threshold, but potential and upper limit as high as famous righteous sects. The Price is madness fast, death miserable.
After this comprehensive comparison, Yuan Zhu instead favored the officially certified ‘famous righteous sects’ more. Though equally bizarre, but safe! Stable! High controllability!
“So Boss, which path have you decided on?”
Yuan Zhu: “Tomorrow first go to Rain Courtyard for a spin, see how the Boss’s recommended paid consultation level is? But in my heart, I already have a preference. As you said, Tiger Demon’s Shadow might really be our Foundation, then for the Human body’s Reinforcement, mainly pursue upright and aboveboard, a cover to show others, also my second Foundation. Therefore, it must be legal and compliant, to make my identity more stable. Meanwhile, famous righteous sect Systems have high safety, great potential upper limit. Even if entry is harsh, performance trash, I’m not after that bit of Power, I have plenty of Power (Shadow)!”
Little Spicy Stick: “Then native Immortal cultivation? Or Buddhism? Or working for Pale Great Law?”
“None! I fancy Holy Light.” Yuan Zhu narrowed his Eyes, swallowing the Frog meat in his mouth.
After comprehensive comparison of major Systems, he actually somewhat favored Knowledge School. After all, past life’s education ‘Knowledge is Power’, ‘Science is the primary productive force’, he still quite believed in the Learning Path.
Unfortunately, this world’s education too low, Knowledge Reserve limited, lacking Supernatural Knowledge unable to entry. And this System is very tedious, needs long-term experiments, personally summarizing Supernatural Knowledge, to accumulate Strength bit by bit: slow!
Not only slow, but extremely tests talent and aptitude. Dull people, pure hard work, even ten times effort, can’t match genius’s flash of insight. Inside Knowledge System, Intelligence discrimination is severe, daunting just to look at.
Meanwhile, if just simply dual cultivating Knowledge School, no need to delve deep, just buy a ‘Skull Server’, then self-study Supernatural Knowledge, tinker with small research hobbies, can simply drive some basic ‘Knowledge Models’, counts as rubbing at the door of this System.
Other Supernatural Systems also have similar operations. Like Mao Mao King’s Uniform, it’s an Item that freely uses ‘Thread’ Power, can also feed Polluting Energy to grow, no need to pay Pollution Price.
In comparison, Holy Light System stands out.
Little Spicy Stick: “Ah? Holy Light? No way, Boss, tired of living? Like Lu Rang, self-mutilation?”
Holy Light, though not like Sword Immortal actively pursuing self-harm, self-abuse, and pain, after branding ‘Holy Mark’ on the body, will endlessly burn one’s own Life and lifespan, still very painful, accompanying lifetime.
Even if not activating Holy Light daily, merely in lowest energy consumption sleep mode. But over time, it’s still a considerable lifespan consumption.
[Holy Light System] old ones die fast, even faster! It’s already common sense. Raise a hand to burn life, after a fierce battle, recuperate for a month, weak for half a year.
“Right, it’s Holy Light, but without self-harm. Have you forgotten the health regeneration function of the [Boss Template]?”
“Huh?” The Game Sprite was stunned. The boss’s Human Body and [Boss Template] are strictly separated. Their only connection is probably that under [Tiger Demon Form], it can conveniently cover and repair the Human Body’s injuries, and it’s optional, can be actively turned off.
Little Spicy Stick instantly understood: “You mean, in Human Form, burn life to release Holy Light, then find a place to hide, activate [Boss Template] to regenerate health and replenish consumption?”
“Right!”
“However, [Holy Light] can’t simply only burn Vitality. In the low-level stage, perhaps health regeneration can fill it up. But when [Holy Light System] gets stronger and enters a higher stage, what burns won’t just be life, it will also involve lifespan, and other more precious things.” The Game Sprite warned.
“I understand, but isn’t my Foundation [Shadow]? [Holy Light] is just a cover, a tool for me to familiarize myself with Du Ling’s local Pollution System. As long as I keep the minimum Energy consumption, I can completely use [Health Bar] to substitute for consumption. In the long run, [Holy Light]’s consumption on me is zero!”
“As for stronger forms of Holy Light, we’ll talk about it later. Choosing Holy Light has one more very key point. Its exclusivity is extremely strong, extremely Pure. Although it’s also a kind of Pollution, it looks great, very holy, with healing effects. These can enhance my ‘Holy Mother’ persona. Investigator Zhou Chu’s identity, which can pull Affection Level, is innately trustworthy. And me, choosing Holy Light, is Holy Mother, is healer, is doctor, burning myself to illuminate others, which can also gain initial Goodwill.”
“Furthermore, [Holy Church]’s forces are spread across the globe. If I hold [Holy Light] in one hand and Gold in the other, then all ‘Holy Light’ in the world is one family, easy to leverage relationships, pull the big banner as a tiger skin, borrow [Holy Church]’s name to act. Finally, Holy Light’s domineering exclusivity can Purify (reject) other Pollution, very suitable for research. Not only researching [Holy Light] itself, but also as Tools to constrain, Purify, Stimulate other Pollution Sources, to analyze other Pollution’s properties.”
Through consulting the Exchange List, Yuan Zhu discovered that those thin Polluting Energy could actually be killed by [Ultra-Concentrated Holy Light]. This is Holy Light’s unique and domineering exclusivity.
So after mastering Holy Light, Targeted testing, Stimulation, even Annihilation of impurities in Pollution Sources can be performed, extracting Pure Pollution to hand to [Boss Template] for research.
Similarly, because of the super strong exclusivity, [Holy Light] also has Seal properties. Surround Kitten with cucumbers, and Kitten is Sealed. Similarly, coat Holy Light all around the top, bottom, left, and right of a Pollution Source, it has nowhere to escape, can only shrink into a ball, that’s ‘Seal’!
Compared to Buddhism’s ‘assimilation’ property that dares to touch any garbage, dares to redeem, dares to bond and Absorb everything, [Holy Light]’s simple and crude exclusivity is more favored by Yuan Zhu.
As for [Kunlun] and [Yellow Heaven]? [Kunlun]’s Foundation is on Geng Continent, New Continent lacks Market.
As for the local [Yellow Heaven]?
Yellow Heaven is dead! Who still cultivates it?
[Pale Great Law] not to mention, purely a working sucker. No matter how you look, [Holy Light] is relatively more reliable, isn’t it just Holy Mark!
“Fellow Daoist Yu Jingzi, I heard you can shield my pain sensation to a certain extent?”
Yu Jingzi asked: “You mean you want me to help shield the pain brought by the ‘Holy Mark’?”
“Yes!”
Yu Jingzi nodded in the Spirit channel: “Should be possible, neural shielding is no difficulty. But if it’s soul-level Burning pain, I can’t do it, but you calling the permission of [Soul Firewall] can also shield it.”
“Perfect!” Yuan Zhu wolfed down the last roasted frog, patted his bloated belly, nodded in satisfaction, “I don’t know what Supernatural System is hidden in Running Local’s Academy, whether its potential can surpass [Holy Light]?”
Little Spicy Stick: “I guess it must be [Steam Totem]. Running is full of old-style Steam Factories. Rain Courtyard was originally opened for mining, excavating coal mines, Gem mines, metal ore deposits.”
“[Steam Totem] ah! I remember one of my dreams in life was to take over the Lamp Factory and become a big Boss. Now with a Golden Bodhisattva in hand, perhaps I can try to take over this Factory? If it really has a ‘Totem Steam Engine’.”
