New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 118 [Holy Light Mao's Worm] and [Shadow Yuan's Worm]

"Oh! Why did he die again? This is so strange!"

The little girl's exclamation came from inside the room. Yuan Zhu followed the sound to the outside of the 'insect breeding room' where she was temporarily staying. He pushed the door open and walked in. He asked curiously, "Ah-Bang, what died again?"

The child held up a small piece of metal in frustration. "The [Trichoderma - Holy Light Control Group] you gave me. This is already the third batch to die."

...

Time flies and it is the third day of Advent.

Yuan Zhu tried many methods but still couldn't contact his missing teammates. He silently assumed that they were all dead, leaving him alone in the desperate situation of making a fortune in the underground world.

Out of a sense of responsibility, as the last hope of the whole village, he had to work harder to take root in the underground world and expand the territory for [Maomao King].

So on the second day after Commander Zuo returned, he led the entrepreneurial team to leave the outskirts of [Cicada City] and go deep into the underground no-man's land. They fought their way through the thorns and killed several waves of "demon insect tides" and finally came to an underground cavity rich in "giant root networks of fairy trees (rich mines)". They built a new residence on the site of the former camp.

Although the conditions are still simple, it is a complete complex of buildings, large enough for 20 people to live in for a long time, which is much better than the slum caves of the two siblings.

Commander Zuo not only took down the [Spiritual Qi Array] in his home and laid it in the current [Insect Breeding Room]; he also brought several [Giant Tube Worms] to gnaw on the roots of the fairyland tree, continuously spewing spiritual energy to increase the concentration of spiritual energy in the room.

If there were not a lack of technicians with the talent to set up formations, they could even connect these [large tube worms] with the large [fairyland tree roots] scattered throughout the underground and on the top of the cavity to form a "large pure spiritual energy barrier" that enveloped the entire underground cavity.

Fortunately, the situation is not too bad now. Commander Zuo secretly dispatched a "private guard" under his control, which traveled back and forth between the camp and Chancheng every day, secretly transporting batches of supplies.

From the most basic food to the glowing [Fireflies], fluorescent fungal mats and strains that can be cultivated and eaten, and two experienced insect breeders with many years of experience in insect breeding, they quickly built a simple camp that could last at least 10 days away from Cicada City.

In the end, they even sent two of the extremely valuable [Reverse Growth Tree Saplings (Luxury Goods)] from the underground world, which served as potted oxygen generators to create fresh air. They were hung upside down on the roof of Yuan Zhu's bedroom, growing downwards, to please this future boss.

Yuan Zhu, sensing Zuo Fan's goodwill, generously activated the [Shadow Dream Hole] in the camp, arranging for the other party to enter the 'Shadow Space (Secret Room)' to practice (tread on mines).

...

After several attempts by [Tiger Demon], he successfully figured out the basic usage of [Shadow Dream Hole].

Simply throw substances containing energy (pollution) into the [Nightmare Layer] (dumping garbage) behind the 'Dream Hole'; then the Nightmare World will return a small amount of 'Unknown Energy (Pollution)' that matches the properties of the 'Dream Hole', rewarding the act of dumping garbage.

Does that sound a bit abstract? Let’s put it another way:

The "black smoke" from the burning underground insect city was undoubtedly extremely polluting and deadly, but its essence was still a form of energy. It was just that the indigenous people were unable to utilize this lethal level of pollution.

Thus, the Celestial Realm cultivators expelled 10 units of deadly pollution into the Dream Hole, entering the Nightmare Layer. The Nightmare Layer, in turn, responded with 1-2 units of unknown, unfamiliar, yet usable energy (pollution) that could even transform and evolve itself.

For the Nightmare Layer, this deal netted a profit of 10 units at 2-8, a whopping haul! For the Insect City rulers, eliminating 10 units of lethal pollution and gaining 2 units of "Heavenly Power" for free, boosting their strength and transforming their True Qi—a whopping haul!
This wave is a win-win.

Thus, the Dream Hole business continued for a long time, with more and more Dream Holes being opened up in the underground world. Through continuous "pollution removal," the underground air environment was purified, permanently eliminating a large amount of pollution (miasma, iron poisoning), and continuously improving the concentration of spiritual energy in the air, entering a positive cycle.

Yuan Zhu's [Shadow Dream Hole] also has this function. Zuo Fan has personally witnessed the underground insect city's use of "wild magic insects" and understands this very well.

So after learning that Yuan Zhu was willing to open the [Dream Hole] for him to practice, he hurriedly transported baskets of sealed "demon insect corpses" and poured them into the Shadow Dream Hole. Yuan Zhu slowly released them into the [Nightmare Layer], extracting mysterious unknown energy for Commander Zuo to practice "harmony between man and nature".

...

At this time, Zuo Fan stayed in his 'Shadow Dream Hole Space', testing the waters with his own body, trying to absorb the mysterious 'power from beyond the heavens' that arose from the space and combine it with his own true Qi...

In Yuan Zhu's eyes, the other party was like a diving enthusiast, entering his 'Yuan's Shark Cage (Shadow Space)' and being sunk into the deep sea (nightmare). The cage constantly leaked bait, attracting special substances (extraterrestrial forces) for Zuo Fan to absorb and refine.

But while shark cages discharge pollution, they inevitably attract deep-sea creatures (nightmare monsters). The two sides are only separated by a cage (barrier). What if an accident happens?
In short, Commander Zuo is greedy and bold, and doesn't mind the slightest danger.

Because compared to Yuan Zhu's [Shadow Dream Hole], the [Dream Hole] of the Insect City is more primitive and simple. It cannot be closed after it is opened, and it leads directly to the nightmare layer. Monsters often invade the Insect City in reverse.

And then there's the Shadow Dream Hole—a true masterpiece from a cosmic alien! It can be opened and closed, has its own space, and its walls can adjust the direction and power of penetration. It's simply too perfect. If you can't even appreciate something as impressive as the Supreme Retreat Chamber, you're simply asking for death!
Even the person involved didn't mind, so Yuan Zhu certainly didn't mind. After all, a perfect guinea pig had taken the initiative to drill into the 'Dream Hole' to help him improve the data and test the Dream Hole's functions. What else could he say? He could only offer his best wishes.

Just after he threw two more baskets of 'demon insect corpses' into the dream hole, he heard sighs coming from the 'insect breeding room' next door.

Yuan Zhu, who was full of fantasies about the [Mao's Holy Light Bug], quickly pushed the door open and saw the little girl pouting and looking sad.

Upon seeing Yuan Zhu, the little girl immediately sat up straight, jumped down from the high stool, and walked over to greet him with high-speed strides: "Boss, you're here. Please take a seat. I'll go make you some aphid syrup!"

"No, it's junk food." Yuan Zhu righteously rejected the local bizarre diet and asked, "Has Mao's Holy Light Worm failed again?"

"Yeah, I don't understand why either. Even the faintest 'holy light' of true qi can kill insect eggs. Now that I've received the [Holy Cough], I won't even be able to keep even the most basic 'Mao's worm alive. Boss, I'm so useless. I'm ashamed of your cultivation."

The thought of her receiving the Holy Cough, which had mutated her True Qi and rendered her unable to even complete the basic "Mao-shi worm hatching," filled Little Sister's eyes with tears and her heart with gloom. An indescribable feeling of despair enveloped her, leaving her feeling as if her limbs were weak and she wanted to collapse to the ground.

As she spoke, tears began to fall from her large, bulging eyes, and her tone was tearful, as she was afraid that Yuan Zhu would look down on her and choose to abandon her.

Seeing the little sister sobbing miserably with a look of grievance, Yuan Zhu rolled his eyes and said, "What are you crying for? If you can't raise the [Trichoderma], you can still do other things. I don't need you to make a living. I chose you as my subordinate because you are smart and clever. Now that you have practiced the [Holy Cough Breathing Method], you can summarize the subtle changes in experience for me. These are all valuable data to me. You siblings are very valuable."

The little girl suddenly looked up and looked at Yuan Zhu eagerly: "Really?"

"Of course. Tell me about your observations over the past two days."

"Hmmmm!" The little sister cheered up again and took out a small notebook with a few crude pencil lines drawn on it, followed by circles, triangles and other symbols, as well as dots representing insect eggs and wavy lines representing insects.

Although she couldn't read yet, after a few simple pointers from Yuan Zhu, she grasped the essence of a simple controlled experiment. She even created a bunch of basic pictographic symbols and began to record her experiments. With that much intelligence, it's a waste not to study.

He discovered that one of the siblings had a mutation in intelligence, while the other had a mutation in body. The sister was a malnourished athlete, but she was smart; the brother was not stupid, but was very talented in martial arts and Qi cultivation.

In just two days, the transformation and readaptation of the [Holy Cough - Breathing Technique] was complete. The [Holy Cough - Breathing Technique] contamination, injected into his lungs by Yuan Zhu, was successfully absorbed and integrated into the [Source Qi Breathing Technique], eliminating the hidden dangers of the [Holy Cough]. Of course, this was also due to Yuan Zhu's compassionate willingness to give up the [Holy Cough]. Didi Jun's actions were like a disease garden devouring and digesting the power of Holy Light, giving rise to a "Disease Goblin" resistant to Holy Light.

Yuan Zhu didn't detonate the Holy Cough, instead allowing his brother to ingest a small amount of it through the Dao Seed System (Insect Contamination). The Holy Light contamination was dissipated, and his True Qi was distorted, carrying a trace of the Holy Cough's properties, which began to fight and repel other contaminants in his body.

Now the little sister also took a [Mark of the Holy Cough] and began to practice the "Holy Cough Breathing Method" created by her brother, causing the limited true Qi to be stained with holy light, and those "Mao's Worms" that were bred and hatched died in batches.

...

The little sister opened the graffiti experiment notes and began to report to Yuan Zhu:

"In my first experiment, I used primordial Qi to hatch 30 [Trichoderma eggs], feeding them with the purple leaves of the Reversed Tree, and they successfully survived. Then, according to your request, I divided them into three groups: one group received your Holy Light radiation, the other group received your Shadow infection, and the last group was nurtured solely with True Qi. As a result, the first generation of 'Holy Light Trichoderma' died, and the 'Shadow Trichoderma' died after two hours due to the high concentration of pollution, while the True Qi Trichoderma survived successfully."

"In my second experiment, I used primordial Qi to hatch 20 more eggs, dividing them into two categories: 'Holy Light' and 'Shadow'. Each category was then divided into groups of two, for a total of five groups. I used the 10% intensity, 20% intensity, and so on, as you mentioned... The final result was that all the Holy Light Trichoderma died, regardless of the intensity of the radiation. Conversely, the 'Shadow Trichoderma' survived exposure to pollution concentrations below 30%, mutating into 'Dark Trichoderma'."

"For the third experiment, I had already switched to the [Holy Cough Breathing Technique] and decided to try it with the 'Holy Cough True Qi', which has the highest survival rate, and Boss Lu's 'Shadow True Qi'. The larvae stimulated by a trace amount of 'Holy Light True Qi' only lived a few hours longer before dying off one after another. On the other hand, Boss Lu's 'Shadow True Qi' was very effective, and all of them survived. There was a slight difference between this and the ordinary 'True Qi Trichoderma'."

The child sister closed her notes and concluded, "So I believe that the [Mao's worm] is restrained by [Holy Light] and any true Qi that carries the 'Holy Light attribute.' Like a deadly poison, it's fatal to anyone who comes into contact with it. As for the other [Shadow Power], although it also has the ability to pollute and corrode life, as long as the concentration is reduced, the worm eggs will be contaminated and mutated, but they can survive. If it's shadow true Qi, everyone will survive."

Yuan Zhu lacks the 'true qi (insect contamination + insect affinity)' with a strong breath of life, so he is unable to hatch [Mao's worm], and he does not know the tricks of raising insects, so he can only contract this job to the little sister.

Fortunately, the other party was smart and sensible, and quickly understood his idea and began to experiment. Although the results were not satisfactory, her behavior made Yuan Zhu very satisfied.

At least the two branches, [Protozoa] and [Shadow Zoa], were both feasible. Only the [Holy Light Zoa] project was aborted.

He wondered in his heart, "Why is this? I have no grudge against the [Furry King], and the captain even supports my cultivation of [Holy Light]. How come when it comes to her caterpillars, they suddenly become incompatible with me? Why is this [Maoshima] intolerant to Holy Light?"

Xiao La Tiao: "As expected, they are subordinates of the naturally evil Mao Mao Wang! If the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked. I think this [Mao Mao Wang] has reached the end of his luck and has been punished by the [Holy Light]. His time will not last long. [Happy Home] should be occupied by virtuous people!"

"Stop flattering me and get down to business!"

Xiao La Tiao: "I don't understand either. I'm just a game wizard, and [Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture] is just a spy-type invasion plug-in. It's good at collecting, stealing, and copying. Although it can assist in research and development, I'm not good at it myself."

"Boss?" At this time, the little sister suddenly called out to Yuan Zhu in a low voice, with a conflicted expression as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.

"What's wrong? What do you think about this? Feel free to tell me."

After a moment's hesitation, the child sister decided to flatter him first: "Since following you, boss, we've not only been able to eat our fill, but we've also cleared the three insects that control our bodies, cleansed out the pollution from the immortal zombie beards, iron poison, and more, and now have a high concentration of spiritual energy for cultivation. Without the pressure of life, I've extracted a large amount of true qi in my body, which I can't use up except for raising cicadas and doing experiments."

Yuan Zhu: "So, what are you thinking? No need to mention the words of gratitude. I am optimistic about your potential as siblings, and I am investing in your future. Now you just need to work hard to eat, practice hard to become stronger, and repay me in the future."

"Yes, yes, yes, I can never repay you enough for your kindness, boss. I will definitely work hard and repay you a hundredfold! But that's not what I want to say. I have always kept my gratitude in my heart and proved it with my actions!"

Hearing this, Yuan Zhu rolled his eyes. Okay, another talkative little spicy guy!
Meanwhile, Sister Xiaoxiao continued, "After completing my third control experiment today, I was puzzled as to why 'Holy Cough True Qi' couldn't keep the 'Mao's Worm alive. Both Shadow True Qi and Primordial True Qi clearly did. Furthermore, before conducting the experiment today, I fed my cicadas with 'Holy Cough True Qi,' and they're in great shape. They've even cleared some of the 'Immortal Zombie Whiskers and Iron Toxins' that have accumulated in their bodies."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhu also began to speculate. Could it be that the Holy Light and the Mao's Worm were incompatible?
Both siblings were struck by the [Holy Cough], and aside from the burning pain in their upper respiratory tract, the remaining side effects were benign. They even developed their own [Holy Cough Breathing Technique] to reverse the Holy Light contamination, demonstrating that the Insect-type Dao Seed is compatible with the Holy Light.

Looking at the even weaker 'Spirit Cicada', it also received the cleansing of the Holy Cough's True Qi. Not only did it not die, but it was purified of pollution, its appetite increased greatly, and its body became healthier. This is also a positive reaction.

Therefore, all the problems still lie with the Trichoderma. While these Trichoderma eggs are also miraculous, they are incompatible with the "spiritual insects" of the bubble world and do not belong to the same system. Although they are both insects, they are two different contaminated systems.

It's like the humans created by Nuwa, the humans called the Nephalem, and the humans of Azeroth. Three kinds of humans: mud, a string of gods and demons, and a curse of flesh and blood. [Maothias] and native insects share a similar relationship.

The child continued, "I'm puzzled by the reaction between the Holy Light and the Mao's Worm. Since I have a lot of excess Qi in my body, and Commander Zuo sent a lot of Spirit Worms to the Insect Breeding Room yesterday, I couldn't resist my curiosity and started experimenting a bit."

Seeing her slightly uneasy expression, Yuan Zhu comforted her, "Don't be afraid. I don't know how to raise insects. This [Insect Breeding Room] is prepared for you. Even if you break some ordinary spiritual insects, you can always ask Lao Zuo to send a batch over. Tell me, what have you done with the 'Holy Cough True Qi'?"

"Just like I fed the 'spiritual cicadas,' I used the 'Holy Cough True Qi' to stimulate and nourish different dormant larvae. I discovered something strange. The 'moth and butterfly' spiritual insect larvae, after coming into contact with the Holy Cough True Qi, reacted very similarly to the [Mao's worms] and died not long after."

The little sister who had killed a large number of spirit insect larvae said weakly, trying to get away with it.

Yuan Zhu was stunned, the word "Big Moth" flashing through his mind! This thing is not only the "Twelve Destinies", but also the Holy Light Head of one of the "Eight Holy Kings" of the Holy Hall.

So the death of "Mao's worm" has nothing to do with mutual promotion and mutual restraint, but is related to the [Giant Moth]?
The little sister continued to report, "Besides moth and butterfly larvae, which are easily killed by the Holy Cough Qi, I also discovered that crustacean larvae are very adaptable to Holy Light. Cicada larvae are one of them, but they are not the most compatible. I found that [dung beetles] have the highest affinity for Holy Light!"

Yuan Zhu, who was trying to figure out whether there was a secret connection between the [Big Moth] and the [Tao Seed-Insect Pollution], was suddenly severely hit by the [Dung Beetle].

Why do [Dung Beetles] have such a high affinity with [Holy Light]? And why are moths and butterflies represented by [Big Moth], one of the spokespersons for Holy Light, killed by Holy Light?
Latiao suddenly reminded him, "The 'Basic Handbook of Holy Light' that the old temple keeper gave you records the [Initial Stigmata] of any Templar monk, which contains trace information about the 'Eight Holy Kings'. The reason the 'Eight Holy Kings' are the most prestigious is because they have written their own 'Holy Light Information' into the Primordial Holy Light."

"After burning their lives, all newcomers to the Holy Light Element release a trace of the Eight Holy Kings' attributes in their initial Holy Light. However, as the Seal intensifies, absorbing various polluted ashes, this initial information will gradually be diluted or strengthened. Unless one chooses to embark on the Holy Light Path of a certain one, this initial information will be completely washed away after the 'Three Seals'."

Yuan Zhu didn't have the patience to read the manual, but fortunately Latiao recorded everything.

"So, the faint 'power of the giant moth' remaining in my holy light stimulated the 'Mao's worms' and the native 'moth/butterfly larvae', causing them all to die suddenly?"

Latiao nodded. "Yes! The [Big Moth] must have a secret and mutually exclusive connection with this underground world, no! With the moth/butterfly insects of the entire Duling world?"

Looking at the little sister waiting for trial, Yuan Zhu encouraged her, "Well done! Your discovery is very useful to me. Keep up the good work. If you're interested, you can try to cultivate a batch of 'Holy Light Shit... Shell Worms' to replace the [Holy Light Hair Worms]."

"Yes, I will!"

"Also, study hard. I've arranged for Lao Zuo to buy you the 'Technician Insect Slips' for alchemy."

"Thank you, Boss. I won't let you down!"

(End of this chapter)