Chapter 95: [virus Universe] And The Truth Of The World
In a private room of a restaurant, Yuan Zhu ordered a table of feast and gorged himself with the Pipe Wrench Sword Immortal. In the end, the young Sword Immortal’s strength was limited; he hadn’t even reached half-full when the other had already had his fill? Weakling!
Looking at Yuan Zhu who was still eating with relish, Lu Rang felt envious in his heart. He also understood the basic common sense that ‘Food Intake = Strength’.
Unfortunately, he really couldn’t eat any more, so he found a topic to ease the awkwardness: “Big Brother Yuan, what are you doing now? Are you short on manpower? How about I follow you around?”
Yuan Zhu countered: “What about you?”
“I’m currently unemployed at home, refining flying sword every day, but the process is too grueling. I can only persist for half an hour before the pain becomes unbearable, and I still have to recover from injuries.” He looked at his fingers wrapped full of bandage, his face full of lingering fear, despair, and fright. “Occasionally, I go to the nearby Security Bureau to report and receive some skill training. I followed them on one mission, only doing odd jobs the whole time, unable to participate, and even got despised for being in the way. My old friends have also started distancing themselves from me; lately, life has been really boring.”
After figuring out the other’s situation, Yuan Zhu shook his head: “You don’t need to follow me. I have a bunch of part-time gigs myself, barely scraping by. You’d better cultivate properly, work hard to build up your strength, so you don’t die on the next mission. By the way, find time to learn Martial Arts and Sword Technique. Your exertion posture is too amateur; I can’t help but want to kick you just watching it.”
Lu Rang nodded deeply in agreement: “I have that idea too, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. It took me a week to preliminarily establish a spiritual connection with my own flying sword. The sacrificing sword process is really too painful. Once I’ve grinded it in with the flying sword, I’ll sign up at the swordsmanship hall to study.”
Looking at the other’s finger bandage still oozing blood, Yuan Zhu suddenly remembered his job content, so under the corpse cloth on his wrist, a patch of milky white holy light lit up: “Come, stretch out both hands. I’ll heal you.”
“Huh?”
Lu Rang raised both hands, his expression still a bit dazed, still unable to equate Yuan Zhu with healing.
At this time, Yuan Zhu had already raised his hand in a virtual grip; a rectangular Shielding Force Field suddenly appeared and tightly enclosed Lu Rang’s hands within it. Then Holy Light erupted inside the force field, filling the view with soft but non-dazzling white glow, making the other feel an indescribable warmth.
A numb itchy sensation came from the fingertip wounds from inside out; the cuts on all ten fingers quickly healed. When Yuan Zhu withdrew the Holy Light, his fingertips and even the insides of the finger bones wrapped in flesh still retained an lingering numb itch.
“Holy shit! What just happened? So miraculous.”
Unwrapping the bandage and looking at his completely restored ten fingers, Lu Rang was shocked speechless.
If before, he couldn’t even split Yuan Zhu’s casually raised shield despite giving his all, leaving him unsatisfied; then now, his healed hands made him somewhat despairing and discouraged.
Clearly both newcomers, how had the gap widened so much in just a few days apart?
Yuan Zhu continued to calmly eat and drink, casually saying during a break: “My strength has grown a bit fast lately, so I’ve summed up some healing methods. Looks miraculous, but it actually overdraws the life potential of your hands, using Holy Light to stimulate cells for accelerated division. Essentially, it’s still relying on your own recovery ability.”
Even if said that way, in Lu Rang’s eyes, the oppressive feeling Yuan Zhu gave him was no less than Zhou Chu and the others. What exactly had he, this Sword Immortal, cultivated? Cultivated nothing?
“Brother Yuan, what if I had chosen Holy Light back then…”
Yuan Zhu spat out a cleanly gnawed chicken bone, interrupting the other’s spellcasting: “Stop dreaming. If you tried to cultivate Holy Light now, you couldn’t even get started. Just honestly refine your flying sword!”
He wasn’t lying; [Holy Light] was solidly built on burning life—one portion of lifespan burned for one portion of gain. Even taking shortcuts by burning external objects required constantly igniting oneself at the minimal flame to burn together.
For an ordinary person like Lu Rang who couldn’t even quickly heal finger wounds, where would he get abundant life to support Holy Light? His current Holy Seal level would take an ordinary person at least three years of burning to reach.
[Flying Sword] was still more accessible; everyone had suffering and sins to endure, but not everyone could afford the luxury of burning life. Feel the pain, condense the sharpness.
At this point, Yuan Zhu revealed his true intentions, casually saying: “By the way, you said you just started, felt out of place and burdensome on Security Bureau missions, crave to get stronger but can’t find a way, right?”
“Yes! Big Brother Yuan, do you have any teachings for me?”
Yuan Zhu set down his bowl and chopsticks, looking like he was putting himself in the other’s shoes: “I have a path here; the profit is a bit low, but the risk isn’t high. With your Immortal Sword at hand and uniform for protection, you’re safe and secure. The environment is bad, but it can temper your will, greatly improve your combat experience and adaptability. Most importantly, it benefits society, silently guarding the peace and safety of Running citizens.”
After Yuan Zhu’s description, the job immediately sounded noble, making a young guy like Lu Rang’s blood boil. If Zhou Chu had given him the letter, he would proactively go report to the Security Bureau and actively throw himself into various missions, showing Lu Rang had some ideals and awareness, and ate up this kind of pie in the sky.
“Brother Yuan, what is it? Tell me quick; I don’t fear pain or hardship.”
“Enter the sewer system, clean out goblins. I’ll provide you a full set of gas mask—which is also goggles—and goblin-luring potion. You’ll wear the uniform, hold the pipe wrench, and can fully battle evil goblins underground, tempering your swordsmanship and combat experience. Finally, heavily injure them and bring them to justice! And for me, acquisition price 50 yuan each; this is the deposit. I don’t care if they’re maimed or seriously injured, as long as you leave them one breath.”
With that, Yuan Zhu slapped the previously prepared 20,000 yuan on the table again, not giving Lu Rang a chance to refuse.
The hot-blooded Sword Immortal was also stunned; he really hadn’t thought of this path for tempering swordsmanship. But thinking carefully, it was indeed very reliable.
He had uniform protection and [Blessing of the Sword]; charging into the sewer, as long as he didn’t act stupid, was enough to retreat unscathed. And goblins, in the education he’d received since childhood, always played the villain role.
Even local adults scared kids with ‘If you don’t behave, watch out or goblins will sneak you away at night!’ In fact, goblin child-stealing secret sacrifice murders had occurred worldwide, just not that frequently.
Having him dive deep into the sewer to battle goblins could indeed temper his sword skills and increase combat experience, and Yuan Zhu was even willing to pay fees for the goblins. He strongly suspected this was Big Brother Yuan finding an excuse to shove money to him.
Big Brother Yuan was such a good guy—not only wanting to give me money, but also helping me plan, finding a practical way to temper Martial Arts skills, and benefiting society to boot. It was killing several birds with one stone. At this moment, Lu Rang brainwashed himself into self moved, deeply trapped in self-PUA unable to extricate.
Completely ignoring that the 20,000 yuan deposit had already ordered 400 goblins. At the Tiger Demon’s rate of 12 per trip, it would also mean arduously crawling the sewer for a month.
Moreover, goblins weren’t fools and couldn’t infinitely respawn. After mass deaths in an area, they would naturally shift activity zones, becoming more cautious and careful.
After the meal, Lu Rang left full of vigor carrying the 20,000 yuan goblin funding, Yuan Zhu’s discarded night vision goggles, gas mask, and pipe
Watching his receding back, Yuan Zhu had a premonition. A ghost story similar to “Goblin Slayer” titled [Sewer Essence Slayer Maniac] was about to be born in Running.
The Path of Killing Essences of a Legendary Sword Immortal of His Generation.
……
After bidding farewell to Lu Rang, Yuan Zhu tirelessly dragged the badger and two lame deer into the haunted house, split into two groups, and continued polluting with [Shadow] and [Disease].
Because these animals have limited spirituality, their size is not large enough, and their intelligence is even lower… they completely lack the potential to become Ghost Companions, so he simply processed them into high-energy ingredients (high-pollution meat chunks), and by the way, to see what they would transform into under the two kinds of Supernatural Pollution?
After finishing all this, the sky gradually darkened, and Yuan Zhu walked home.
Along the way, he saw many City hunters carrying hunting rifles, compound bows, with revolvers or hunting knives at their waists, riding motorcycles in teams to patrol the City, drunk driving while drinking, swaggering through the streets.
This type of people usually have gang backgrounds. After being selected, they divide hunting territories among themselves. At night, they hunt beasts from the Misty Mountains entering the city, as well as prey teleported through space connections. They have a slight positive effect.
Yuan Zhu sensed faint pollution reactions from some individuals, all of whom possessed a unique skill.
Continuing forward, one could occasionally see small statues of gods, small shrines, and crude small temples built by the roadside. Their frequency was no less than the trash cans and bus stops by the streets in Celestial Dynasty cities.
Because deity faith is very common and integrated into every aspect of life. Therefore, statues of gods carved from stone, special totems, and bronze statues also frequently appear in every corner of the city.
Some streets even simply combine ‘statues of god reliefs, totems’ with utility poles and streetlights into one, giving quite the illusion of advertising space for rent, but the exquisiteness and artistic value are extremely high. They are meticulously carved bit by bit on the poles by professional craftsmen, and even consecrated and blessed by invitation. Placed on Earth, they could serve as popular check-in photo spots.
Some higher-status deities have a pillar erected on each side of a solitary statue, with a curved eaves roof on top to shield from rain, creating a simple shrine or temple for believers to worship. These temples, ranging from the size of telephone booths, public toilets, to land god temples, vary wildly in style—some possess an artistic feel, others an industrial feel.
Yuan Zhu, simply passing by, always couldn’t help but take a few extra glances at these bizarre shrines and temples dedicated to deities. Their significance is equivalent to unique faith advertising spots for different deities, while also overlaying city art architecture, with multiple functions like exorcism, demon suppression, praying for blessings, and making wishes…, very popular with local folks.
If not for the unspoken rules among statues such as interference, suppression, and kings not meeting kings…, ordinary residents would desperately want two hundred statues erected within one hundred meters of their doorstep. Various deities’ blessings stacked together, operating 24 hours nonstop.
Seeing the bizarre statues, Yuan Zhu couldn’t help but sigh at the unique faith culture of the West Coast, which was all-embracing like the sea. He inexplicably thought of the suburbs of his Earth hometown, those high-class-looking gravestone tablets.
At this moment, the game sprite suddenly piped up: “Maybe one day, there’ll be statues and temples of us two by the roadside too?”
Yuan Zhu immediately dismissed the gravestone idea: “I don’t know what use erecting these statues really has. I always feel there’s something hidden behind it.”
…
Walking on the night road, when still seven or eight kilometers from home, Yuan Zhu suddenly heard a call from afar. This feeling… it’s Happy Home!
He stopped in place, carefully discerning the signal received on the spirit level—this wasn’t a muster notice before a mission started, but someone calling him from inside Happy Home.
He touched the 7 coins still left in his pocket, looked around to confirm no one was there, then turned into a hidden dead corner, used one coin, and entered Happy Home.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw No. 3, hiding behind the captain, poking out half of her exquisite mechanical cheek to make a ghost face at him. The captain was still wearing a fitted clean uniform, striking a refined and elegant pose, specifically staying in Happy Home to wait for him.
Yuan Zhu spoke first to greet: “Hello, Captain!”
The other party stared at him, then nodded in response: “Good evening. You’ve gotten much stronger, beyond my expectations. No wonder you’re eager to see me—is your mind filled with many questions?”
“Yeah, lots of questions. But for the moment, I don’t know where to start asking?” Yuan Zhu hadn’t expected the captain to suddenly receive him, leaving his mind full of questions but in a messy jumble he couldn’t summarize.
The captain signaled No. 3 to fetch two chairs, then soothed: “No rush, we have plenty of time today, let’s talk slowly. First, to answer one of your questions: that ‘polluting plant’ you gave to No. 3, I tested it. The pollution component behind it comes from one of the eight outer universes, the Virus Universe.”
“Virus Universe?”
The captain explained: “Virus Universe, or Disease Universe. It’s also one of the last batch to appear, and deeply connected to Du Ling.”
Yuan Zhu hadn’t expected the Disease Garden to have this origin. Him cultivating Shadow Eggplant in the haunted house—did that count as Plant Universe vs Virus Universe? Alien ghost companions battling alien crops.
He hurriedly asked: “Is this Virus Universe dangerous? How does its pollution level compare to the Tomato People of the Bubble World? Or rather, is there any hidden danger in that small garden space I found?”
Faced with Yuan Zhu’s question, the captain frowned in thought, then asked: “Do you have any cognition of the external universes and Du Ling’s supernatural era divisions?”
Yuan Zhu recalled his predecessor’s memory fragments and said: “I remember the textbook saying we can take the Magic Plane Fall over four hundred years ago as the dividing line: before that is ancient times, after is modern times. Modern times can be divided into three stages: First Magic Resurgence (modern), Second Supernatural Industrial Revolution (early contemporary), and the ‘contemporary’ we’re in now.”
The captain nodded: “Close enough. Before Magic Resurgence, Du Ling’s ancient era had no supernatural powers at all—at least in the two thousand years of history prior, though many traversers appeared influencing the historical process, there were no supernatural powers; no one could achieve longevity or fly through the earth. Until the Magic Plane’s fall broke the balance of Du Ling Star, while magic elements leaked out, it also released what seemed to be an ‘ancient pollution root’ sealed inside the planet.”
In the captain’s introduction, Du Ling’s modern history was completely different from the textbooks.
It wasn’t just the Magic Plane Fall causing magic elements to leak, resulting in the simple First Magic Power (Spiritual Energy) Resurgence.
In this process, the plane fragment’s fall also broke the ancient seal deep in the planet, releasing massive amounts of ancient pollution sources that had been suppressed and sealed…
Thus, various ancient ‘pollution roots’ possessed and relied on various Magic Universe supernatural rule phenomena, manifesting on Du Ling Star, and appearing in forms of myths and legends more in line with what Du Ling native beings (humans) recognized.
The so-called Kunlun Mother (Peach of Immortality), Yellow Heaven (Taoism), Buddha, Holy Church…, etc., first had religious texts and classics from ancient times.
During this period, ‘Kunlun, Yellow Heaven, Buddha, Holy Church’ were just fictional religious terms, a kind of concept. And myth stories compiled by religions.
Then in the Magic Resurgence era, Du Ling Star established a stable connection with the first outer universe, no longer just occasional ordinary traversers. Power (magic power) from the Crystal Wall Universe began leaking inside Du Ling Star.
If Du Ling were just a simple planet, Magic Resurgence might have evolved into Crystal Wall Universe’s invasion + colonization of an unfamiliar position universe.
Massive magic power diffused and released, integrating into the atmosphere and ecosystem, transforming the planet’s natural environment. Then using plane fragments as springboards, infiltrating Crystal Wall Universe’s ‘magic rules’, then building the Magic Net, with magic species proliferating.
Ultimately, gradually transforming this zero-magic planet bit by bit into a low-magic planet, mid-magic planet. Laying a solid foundation for universe-level invasion and expansion.
…
But facts proved Crystal Wall Universe picked the wrong ‘soft persimmon’.
On the surface seeming like ‘Magic Resurgence’, it actually blew open an even more ancient ‘pollution seal (septic tank)’ from history, countless terrifying and incomprehensible ‘pollution sources’ emerged alongside the Magic Resurgence, and quickly parasitized and possessed various ‘magic rules’.
Polluting energy first occupied different magic rules, fusing with them into one body, supplementing energy and food. Just like Great Desolation Immortal Scripture devouring Shadow Pollution, developing ‘Shadow Spiritual Energy’ for its own operation.
Native pollution sources saw Crystal Wall Universe (Magic Universe) as a big sucker, permanently solidifying the outer universe channel, continuously extracting energy from the other side (Crystal Wall system) to supplement and grow themselves.
But ‘Crystal Wall Universe’s’ rules and magic power were just foreign objects. Blindly integrating was no different from surrendering to otherworlds, becoming claws for Crystal Wall invasion and colonization.
Du Ling’s pollution sources inherently contained unique ‘rule information’, so of course they rooted in Du Ling Star, using their own ideas, pollution attributes, and manifestation forms to wantonly transform and twist their planet, crafting a home (Demon’s Den) suited to themselves.
Thus these pollution sources, while squeezing resources from ‘Crystal Wall Universe’, also sifted through religious classics and myth story images similar to their own ‘pollution attributes’, using them as ‘image anchors’ to descend to Du Ling’s present world for the first time.
And this was the true First Magic Resurgence.
Magic Universe and ‘magic power’ were just a fuse; Kunlun, Yellow Heaven, Buddha, Holy Church—these Du Ling native explicit myth systems—were in this period truly born, manifested, and descended.
Before this, they were just religious culture, folk stories, false civilization inheritance.
After this, they were truly existing myth systems. Pollution Sources cloaked in the skins of Buddha, Tao, Holy Light, truly born into concrete form. And their respective ‘pollution (myth) systems’ also deeply fused with ‘myth stories’ in Du Ling history, self-transforming, turning the false into real.
In textbooks, the end of First Magic Resurgence is naturally the comprehensive decline of ‘magic elements’, and the rise of Industrial Universe’s brand new ‘supernatural steam civilization’.
And behind it, in reality, Du Ling’s many ‘pollution sources’ competed with each other for Magic Universe’s rules, resources, magic power, mutually plundering ownership of different ‘myth images, civilization concepts’ from native (Du Ling) countries’ cultures, erupting in rounds of brutal wars.
Sets of pollution systems successively born, internally viciously involuting, killing each other, big fish eating small fish. Externally, crazily clashing with Crystal Wall Universe invaders, slaying deity after deity of alien gods, cruelly dismembering Abyss Will (branch), eating up all the invasion resources Crystal Wall Universe invested…
Ultimately, one super pollution root after another formally took iconic form in the world as Holy Light, Kunlun Immortal Method, Yellow Heaven Immortal Path, Buddhist Dharma…, nurturing the first batch of primordial gods and demons, debuting as idols.
So ‘Magic Resurgence’ naturally ended in fiasco, but Crystal Wall Universe remains connected to Du Ling.
At this point, the first external universe was forced to become Du Ling Star’s blood bag, continuously drawing blood from the Crystal Wall system to sustain native pollution sources.
Meanwhile, the first batch of Magic races gradually adapted to Du Ling’s living environment, integrated into this planet undergoing drastic changes, and gradually became natives, or evolved into primitive Gods and Demons.
If the ‘Magic Power Revival Era’ was just an accident triggered by the Crystal Wall Universe.
Then after the ‘Ancient Pollution Sources’ collectively broke out of prison in a massive riot, everything completely lost control. The second victim, the Industrial/Steam Universe, appeared, signaling the curtain of a new era being raised.
……
The Supernatural Pollution Systems that appeared in the native culture as ‘Deity images’, after digesting the resources of the Crystal Wall Universe, giving birth to their respective Deities, and creating their own Cultivation Systems (Pollution Systems), began to leverage the special characteristics of Du Ling Star to capture a second Outer Universe.
Then Du Ling Star took the initiative to strike, emulating the entire process of the Magic Races Great Invasion (Traversal), outputting universe-level Pollution natural disasters outward, and achieving deep strategic binding with the Industrial Universe.
On one hand extracting resources from the brand new Universe, on the other hand pulling out various laws and Otherworld Systems, allowing more escaped Pollution Sources to seize bodies, magically modify, take form…… and emerge.
At the same time, the native Pollution Systems further dismantled and shattered the rules of the Magic Universe, not giving the Crystal Wall System any chance to grovel and secretly grow big.
For instance, the Crystal Wall Universe’s ‘Faith Deity System’ is excellent, and many native Humans want to become gods through this system, but unintentionally, it also increased the Crystal Wall Universe’s discourse power in Du Ling.
Therefore, during Du Ling’s ‘Second Supernatural Industrial Revolution’, the ‘Crystal Wall Divine Grate System’ was thoroughly destroyed from the Origin.
Among them, the parts of Deities and Divine Grates were grafted and transplanted onto the Industrial Universe’s ‘Steam Totem’, creating the brand new Pollution System of the Industrial God.
By doing this, the Supernatural Civilizations of the Magic and Industrial Universes would forever have no chance to numbly infiltrate Du Ling Star and transform it into a colony of the ‘Magic’ or ‘Industrial’ Universe.
Instead, allowing Du Ling’s Pollution Sources to variously absorb and combine, giving birth to Du Ling native ‘Pollution Systems’.
Therefore, in the second era, more ‘Super Pollution Sources’ were successively born. Du Ling repeated the old trick, capturing and anchoring the third and fourth Outer Universes.
The Planet plundered and absorbed too many resources and laws from Outer Universes.
Pollution Roots maliciously competed with each other, vying for the Planet’s ownership, discourse power, and definition rights, fighting to become the Du Ling Heavenly Dao, erupting in successive fierce battles internally.
Du Ling, due to being overly high-energy, collapsed inward while expanding outward at the same time. The Spirit Layer, Bubble Layer, and Star Realm Layer were thus conceived and born to release pressure, and better plunder and devour from ‘Outer Universes’.
As for why the Outer Universes did not fight back?
In the Captain’s explanation, each of Du Ling’s Pollution Sources is extreme evil, an ‘Abyss Will’ with no chance to develop and grow big. Such disgusting things, after eating resources from Outer Universes and mastering their laws, appear as fatal ‘cancer cells and deadly viruses’ in the eyes of the ‘Outer Universes’, who can’t avoid them fast enough.
The ‘connection’ between Du Ling and Outer Universes is like breeding numerous young Bottomless Abysses’ Demon’s Dens; letting them come over is a fatal threat to one’s own Universe—being able to isolate them is good enough, let alone counterattacking?!
In the current third era, Du Ling has already hooked eight Outer Universes at the same time; the ‘Universe Rules’ and resources absorbed from outside are already excessive, and the ‘large and small Pollution Roots’ bred internally are even more rampant.
If the first generation was Pollution Revival (Origin). The second generation was Pollution Sources’ crazy Growth (Growth).
Then the current era is the internal gu-breeding slaughter (Outbreak) among various Pollution Systems. It has transitioned from the vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty toward the Spring and Autumn Warring States period.
The Virus/Disease Universe is the Outer Universe captured by Du Ling in the third generation.
Its appearance was already very late, unlike the Magic Universe and Industrial Universe, whose Universe Laws and Supernatural Resources were completely divided up, giving birth to numerous early Pollution Roots.
In the current era, Super Pollution Sources (Kunlun, Holy Church, Anti-Law……) have long taken shape, grown strong, and each become existences like ‘mini Heavenly Daos’, breeding their own Mythical Civilization Systems in the ‘Inner/Outer Layers’ beyond the Present World.
The laws and resources brought by the Disease Universe are contested by numerous newly born ‘medium and small Pollution Systems’, attempting to absorb and fuse them, evolving new ‘Pollution Systems’ as the Foundation for their footing and Development on Du Ling.
Therefore, regarding Yuan Zhu’s question, the Captain said it’s hard to say.
The Disease Universe is different from other Outer Universes; it itself is a gigantic Pollution Source, or an alien Pollution Source. Its danger index is very high, with ‘Virus and Disease’ as the core of its Supernatural System. Meanwhile, Du Ling natives also have numerous Pollution Systems attempting to contact and absorb ‘Disease Pollution’, mutating into even more disgusting and terrifying Systems, in order to carve out a piece of sky in the increasingly difficult (insanely involuted) Du Ling.
Therefore, a portion of the Disease Universe’s natives actively integrated into Du Ling’s big quagmire, beginning to localize. A portion of native Pollution Sources also embraced and seized Disease Pollution, creating localized ‘Disease Systems’. Additionally, large Pollution Systems are also contacting the Disease Universe, attempting to evolve branches and begin utilizing the Disease Universe’s resources.
So the ‘Disease Plants’ and even ‘Garden’ that Yuan Zhu discovered seem small and cute, but what forces are hidden behind them? The Captain also couldn’t say.
Perhaps it’s small forces or small fries making small moves, but it could also be large forces’ batch Layout. Yuan Zhu accidentally discovered one and began secretly harvesting it.
After hearing the Captain’s explanation, Yuan Zhu had a speechless expression. The more he knew = the less he knew; not only did it not resolve his confusion, his mind became even more chaotic.
