New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 116 Internal and external collusion
The two men left the shadow space one after the other. Yuan Zhu, in human form, closed the [Shadow Dream Hole] by touching it with his palm, but did not retract it. Instead, he let the black disc float in the air for Zuo Fan to inspect.

When Zuo Fan, who was standing next to him, saw this huge black dream hole, the blood vessels in his body (shadow eggplant) began to tremble, and his external bun brain (brain eggplant) felt a sense of familiarity.

As expected, he had established a secret connection with this strange dream hole just by relying on the three pieces of equipment in his body. For a moment, he felt both excited and terrified.

Putting aside the excitement of the three-piece set, he had long harbored a deep desire for the Dream Hole. Now that he suddenly had a glimpse of it, even though it was a mutant product with unknown side effects, he couldn't help but stare at it with a perverted gaze.

Finally, he suppressed the fear in his heart and moved forward. He touched and caressed it with his hands, and released Qi to carefully sense it inch by inch, almost wanting to lick it with his tongue.

Yuan Zhu also cooperated, reaching out to touch the [Shadow Dream Hole], releasing a breath of nightmare-like aura from within. Zuo Fan suddenly trembled with excitement. The long-desired "Heavenly Realm" was right before his eyes. He had to calm this alien at all costs!

Complete your own breakthrough first, even if it means betraying [Chan City].

...

After successfully inspecting the goods, Yuan Zhu controlled the shadow uniform and stuffed the [Shadow Dream Hole] into his own shadow.

He had never heard of this kind of "movable dream hole" method, and it further strengthened his intention to temporarily join Yuan Zhu. The dream holes in the insect city were all suspended in the sky after opening. "Heavenly Rank Monks" could manipulate and influence the dream holes, but they could not be moved or closed.

But the 'Dream Hole' of the alien in front of him is very different!
The design was pitch black, the atmosphere of shadows was incredibly dense, and it came with its own small attached space that could be moved, closed, and even actively filtered and intercepted. Every ability was unheard of, and I couldn't help but suspect that this was the more mysterious, more advanced, and more perfect Dream Hole!
Thus, his intention to join Yuan Zhu became more resolute. He decided to absorb and refine the [Three-Piece Set of Henchmen] within his body, rather than looking for an opportunity to reject and eliminate it.

On the other side, Yuan Zhu, after witnessing Zuo Fan's strength, also changed his mind. He no longer intended to rely on the [Three-Piece Set] to completely control the opponent. This idea was too naive.

How could the 'ghostly weapon' refined by just three sewer goblins possibly control the life and death of a peak Earth-rank cultivator?

Measuring by the Holy Light System, the opponent's strength was at the "Two Seals" level or even higher. Each piece of his three-piece Henchman set was at the "No Seals" level. The combined "suit effect" of the three could only barely control the shopkeeper, an "Early Earth Rank." To a stronger opponent, it was more like a gift of benefits and polluting materials.

In the final analysis, the goblins are too low-class and can't even be trained into minions. They can only rely on more incomplete "wetware" to put together the suit effect.

But the good news is that the new bubble world offers endless opportunities! Plenty of high-quality raw materials worthy of training into a ghost await him. He also reached an agreement with Zuo Fan, who promised that upon returning to [Chan City], he would extract a group of serious criminals from the dungeon and use them as rental fees for the [Shadow Dream Hole] to aid Yuan Zhu's research.

Some of these serious criminals had reached critical levels of contamination, making them certain to die. Consequently, Chan City imprisoned them early, using them for insect farming, grass cultivation, or trade. Some were prisoners of war from other insect cities, or magecraft warriors roaming the underworld.

In short, in the underground world, human cultivators are treasures, and the stronger they are, the higher their value. Even a quasi-high-level person like Zuo Fan can't offer much.

However, the other party assured Yuan Zhu that as long as the cooperation continued, even if he could not get the advanced experimental products from Chancheng, he would personally lead the team to patrol the security and plunder the practitioners of other forces to support Yuan Zhu.

Yuan Zhu wasn't some lunatic or mad scientist who disregarded human life. He was a holy monk who practiced the "Way of Holy Light" within himself, following the "Spiritual Cultivation Path" (Holy Light System). Therefore, he solemnly warned the other party that, to maintain the purity of the "Holy Light" (not blackening the color), he would only punish those who deserved it (for experiments) and would never oppress civilians.

Zuo Fan repeatedly assured: "Please rest assured about this. In the underground world, there are not many other things, but there are countless people who deserve to die! Just wait for my good news."

...

The two of them followed a tunnel back to the lower level. From a distance, they spotted a figure carrying a large bag of food and medicinal pills in front of the dimly glowing fungal mat.

As she approached, Lu Yan, with an anxious look on her face, suddenly saw Zuo Fan following behind Yuan Zhu. She froze in shock before exclaiming, "Commander Zuo? Why are you here too?"

"You guessed right, Lord Yuan is my lord."

"Wow..." Shopkeeper Lu, who had been worried about his future, suddenly straightened his back, no longer feeling the heaviness of his backpack. He said in an excited tone, "I'm Lu Yan, the owner of 'Simple House' in District 2. I'm Lord Yuan's lackey! Greetings, Commander Zuo."

Zuo Fan nodded reservedly: "Yes, I know your shop. Let's work together for Master Yuan in the future. Don't be passive and lazy."

"As it should be!"

Yuan Zhu was equally pleased to see the two of them seamlessly connect. Excellent talent automatically identifies, matches, and forms teams, spontaneously creating tasks, bursting with enthusiasm for work, clearly defining their goals, and possessing exceptional self-management skills.

These two were undoubtedly the most talented of the talented, the chosen workers! But then again, who wouldn't be a talent to carve out a place in this barren underground insect city?
This mission is so easy! A small business development, easy to handle.

In terms of business network, he has the shop owner Lu; in terms of local connections, he has Commander Zuo; in terms of power background, he has [Maomao Wang].

...

The journey went smoothly afterwards. A small number of wild demon insects were killed by Lu Yan with "True Qi" without Yuan Zhu having to take any action. The various high-level martial arts skills made him a little envious.

In comparison, his own [Holy Light] was a bit underwhelming. It had nothing to do with strength, it was purely a matter of style and effects. His [Holy Light] was simple and crude, but his [True Qi Transformed into Silk] could be shaped and condensed into various martial arts special effects, with a wide variety of possibilities.

In this way, Yuan Zhu brought two employees all the way to the cave of the two siblings.

Commander Zuo, a seasoned veteran who had survived even harsher restricted areas, remained unmoved. Shopkeeper Lu, on the other hand, began to criticize Yuan Zhu after witnessing his tunneling. "My Lord, you live in such a shabby place? It's truly unbecoming, and unworthy of someone of your stature. If you'd rather not, I'd like to contact the Technician Alliance to purchase the latest 'Tubeworm Array' for you, creating a haven for cultivation."

Yuan Zhu didn't refuse, but nodded: "Okay. Buy it as soon as possible. I'm very interested in high-purity spiritual energy, and I need spiritual energy to raise insects."

"Uh..." The shop owner, who simply wanted to flatter the boss, nodded decisively: "Okay, as soon as I finish your training, I will immediately return to [Chancheng] to contact the seller."

Commander Zuo interrupted, "That's not necessary. I already have a small 'Tubeworm Spiritual Energy Array' in my mansion. I'll dismantle it tonight and send it to Master Yuan overnight."

Hearing the three people talking outside the door, the skinny little sister was the first to emerge from the cave. She showed a wary look at first, then took a deep breath after seeing Yuan Zhu clearly. Still nervous, she asked, "Sir, what are you doing..." Are you letting a wolf into the house? You can't even afford to feed one person in my family, and now you're bringing two more?

Yuan Zhu: "They are my two new subordinates, both residents of Chan City. One is a shopkeeper in the central city, and the other is the commander of Chan City."

The little girl, who couldn't even get into the heart of the 'downtown' area, was now confused and in disbelief.

She couldn't imagine that this alien (Yuan Zhu) had taken in two important figures whom she had no contact with just by strolling around.

The shopkeeper was a bit easier to talk to. When they were selling insect molts, they'd even visited the shops in the downtown area and tried to bargain with the clerks. As for the Chan City Commander, he was already a legendary figure. His status was like that of a top-tier martial arts expert, not someone low-class people like them could mess with.

"I... I..." After a brief pause, the little girl's intelligence shot up. "Dear guests, please come in! Immortal, my brother's [Breathing Technique] is showing initial results! Also, I've activated the insect eggs you gave me, and they'll hatch soon."

This little sister has a strong CPU. In a split second, she went from being dazed to thinking of showing her talents and began to highlight the value of her siblings.

One claimed her "Holy Cough Breathing Technique" was showing initial success (one-sided), while the other claimed she had hatched a "Hairy King Egg" (an exaggeration). Regardless of whether these claims were true or false, her confident tone gave Yuan Zhu the illusion that they were both talented and valuable.

Regardless of whether or not she is truly capable, her reaction speed shows that she is a talent. The shopkeeper looked at the malnourished, mixed-haired little girl in front of him and asked in confusion, "Master, this is..." Where did this ant come from?

The little sister quickly answered, "The Immortal Master is my brother and I's savior and mentor. He not only cured us of the immortal beard and iron poison in our bodies, but also taught us a new breathing technique! I'm willing to die for you!"

At this time, his younger brother Jun, who had crawled out with him, stood aside obediently, staring blankly at his sister. Then, under his sister's gaze, he nodded: "Yes!"

Damn, except for my little brother, everyone in this [Chancheng] is talented and eloquent. They are not inferior to my little spicy snack.

"Everyone, please get to know each other. These two little guys are also employees I recruited."

Although she didn't quite understand the specific meaning of "employee", the little girl already knew that Yuan Zhu treated her as one of her own, and quickly responded politely: "Hello, teacher!"

She pulled her brother together to establish a relationship at the speed of light, not missing any opportunity to curry favor with him.

Yuan Zhu waved his hand and led everyone through a hole into the siblings' home. "Come in, let's discuss our next steps. Zuo Fan, go back to Chancheng and report your safety. But how will you handle interrogation? After all, being held captive by me for a while, won't that arouse suspicion?"

Commander Zuo nodded. "We can blame it on the Nightmare Monsters. Monsters often invade the Dream Hole, plundering food and resources from the Insect City. However, this world is too barren, filled with poisonous miasma. It's a decaying and decaying world, and even monsters don't want to stay there for long."

"At the same time, [Chan City] also has over ten Heavenly Realm experts stationed there. Combined with the magic array, they can also handle ordinary invasions. I only need to pretend that I was careless for a moment and was trapped by a monster with special abilities. Now that I have successfully escaped, I will return to Chan City to report the news. If possible, I also need a 'trophy' to verify my statement."

"This..." Yuan Zhu thought for a moment, stretched out five fingers, and said, "I can give you a piece of 'evidence', but you need to exchange it for 'Earth-level death row prisoners'. I want five, alive!"

Although the two parties were nominally superiors and subordinates, they were in reality partners. Therefore, Yuan Zhu didn't issue arbitrary orders, opting instead for a transactional approach. It was unknown whether the Tiger Demon could refine an Earth-rank cultivator. This level of strength had already surpassed the First Seal (Holy Light).

"it is good!"

Seeing that the other party agreed, Yuan Zhu quietly activated the [Boss Template], and at the same time forcibly suppressed the changes in his physical body, trying to suppress the "distorted spiritual root" in a semi-activated state, and sealed all this power into the "shadow" under his feet.

Now he has been using the [Tiger Demon Stance] repeatedly, and his proficiency has increased. He is no longer bound by the Boss template provided by the [Immortal Scripture]. Instead, he has worked out many tips for using the 'Deformed Spiritual Roots', and gradually tried to break away from the template and use the Tiger Demon as his bloodline.

The 'shadow' beneath his feet began to twist and boil violently, but it did not swallow up the original body. Instead, it slowly transformed into the silhouette of a tiger demon, emitting a terrifying and evil aura.

It was as if a great demon was reviving within his shadow.

Yuan Zhu herself was also under immense pressure. This was like forcibly interrupting her Tiger Demon transformation, stuck in the magical girl's invincibility frame. However, she wasn't invincible at all; instead, she was incredibly weak. She struggled to prevent her body from transforming into a Tiger Demon, while her Holy Light was completely suppressed, a lose-lose situation.

Fortunately, the scene was full of partners and little kids. Everyone was shocked by the tiger demon's aura, allowing him to pretend to be cool (he was in a half-vegetative state and was just pretending).

At this time, an [Eggplant-Headed Ghost] that could spray bone arrows by coughing, crawled out of the shadows at the call of its master, and made a strange cry of "Cough, cough, cough!" to Yuan Zhu, who was familiar yet unfamiliar.

Having experienced several beatings before, it gradually realized that this strange-looking human seemed to be a "human shell" for its king (the tiger demon). So why not give him some face?
Seeing the eggplant-headed ghost with a big black tomato head with bloodshot eyes above its neck, a back and ribs sticking out, and puppet arms growing (inserted), and a mouth making a stupid sound like "Eggplant, Eggplant, Eggplant——"... both the little sister and the owner Lu were shocked.

They didn't know if it was strong or not, but its curious appearance was simply not something that could be bred by the underground world. It was so bizarre that even the [Nisheng Xianzong] couldn't raise such a monster.

Monster! Absolutely a monster!

Yuan: "Can you hand this thing over?"

Zuo Fan carefully felt the Eggplant Ghost's body, and the 'shadow aura' of the same origin was satisfactory. "Absolutely! It carries the aura that you, my lord, exuded at that time, and the energy is consistent with that of the crime scene. I can just pretend that I was temporarily trapped due to inattention. Then the monster will leave on its own initiative. I will kill the monsters left behind, break the seal, and return to Chan City."

Yuan Zhu looked at the 'Eggplant Ghost' that he had raised with great difficulty, and reluctantly let Zuo Fan tear off its eggplant head, leaving behind its extremely weak body that still had a little bit of life. He said, "Just take this head back."

As for the remaining body? Of course we have to collect it!

The ghosts aren't living creatures, but rather immortal ghosts. As long as the "digital soul pollution" isn't completely depleted and can be replenished, they can be resurrected. They just have to be raised from scratch.

So Yuan Zhu sank the 'headless ghost corpse' back into the shadows, and quickly lifted the [Half-Step Transformation] that he could no longer maintain, returning to his holy light human form.

At present, the compatibility between the human body and the [Boss Template] is still not strong enough. He thought that he could imitate the animal-type fruit and first develop the "beast form" and then further compress it into the "human skin" form.

Can't demons all transform? Why can't the Tiger Demon do it?

After wrapping the gradually losing vitality of the 'eggplant head' with countless Qi threads, Zuo Fan sat back aside and waited for Yuan Zhu's instructions.

Yuan: "After you return to [Chan City] to report, we will select a precious piece of land, place the Dream Hole, and build a territory. I have some methods I want to try. If successful, perhaps I can achieve the effect of the [magic circle] you mentioned. Even if not, it can greatly enhance the power of the [Dream Hole], helping you to quickly cultivate and transform, and reach the Heavenly Realm."

Upon hearing that Yuan Zhu wanted to place the 'Dream Hole', Commander Zuo became eager. "I know of a small underground cavity. It was once the settlement of a tribe, but it was ambushed by demonic monks who led several 'demonized giant insects' to attack the camp, ultimately destroying it."

"After that, that cavity was occupied by demonic monks, and I led a team to eliminate them several years ago. Today, many buildings still remain there, but without the protection of top-level experts and no defensive formations, the few civilians cannot withstand the invasion of the underground disaster. My lord, you can establish a foothold here, rebuild the tribal camp to gather the population, and then develop it step by step towards the insect city."

Yuan Zhu also thought it was a good idea: "Okay, hurry up. I want to go and do some field research. By the way, here are the [insect eggs] I brought with me. I'll give you 100 each. You can hatch them yourself or find professionals to do it. I need you to hatch the eggs and raise the insects little by little. This is very important. As for other matters, we can discuss them after the [camp] is established."

As he spoke, Yuan Zhu opened the metal bottle given by the captain, broke the metal card, and handed a small amount of insect eggs to the two of them.

Now that Zuo Fan had received the task, the shop owner was a little nervous: "Sir, look at me..."

"Stay here, I'll teach you a brand new [Shadow Qi Breathing Method]. Don't worry, I won't cheat you. I'll gradually relinquish control of the three elements within your body, handing them over to you bit by bit, for you to master. If you perfectly integrate them into your Qi refining system, your future foundation will only be stronger!"

Now, two siblings have joined the game, practicing the [Holy Cough Breathing Technique], but the [Immortal Scripture] lacks the means to monitor soul data. Conversely, the Henchman Plug-in matches the Henchman's magical powers. If the more experienced shop owner were to practice the [Shadow Breathing Technique]...

[Xian Jing] can perfectly collect information, create a 'Qi Refining Model', replicate and copy it, and understand the secret of the 'Tao Seed'.

With this training data, it can be converted internally and used in reverse on [Holy Light] to crack [Holy Cough Breathing Method]. This is the same as the data of the Tiger Demon Village [Shelter].

……

Soon, everyone took action. The shop owner stayed behind to serve as a guinea pig for the experiment on integrating Qi Refining Technique with Shadow Pollution. Commander Zuo returned to [Chan City] to make arrangements.

The two siblings accepted the shop owner's advice and were studied by Yuan Zhu. If the [Holy Cough Breathing Method] was feasible, his territory would have a unique feature that would make it easier to attract the lower class and increase their chances of survival.

(End of this chapter)