New concept of the mysterious way to ascend to immortality

Chapter 72 [Pollution +1%] Stigmata Ritual

Soon, the old man directed several students to bring a cow, a sheep, and a pig from the direction of the [zoo]... and took them to the backyard and tied them to a tree stump.

The three animals were extremely uneasy and struggled mightily. The old man said to one of the male students, "Give them medicine, tie them up tightly, and then feed them all the pollution sources you've collected. I will enforce justice on behalf of Heaven and purify these evil spirits!"

The male student rolled his eyes. These were clearly legitimate rations. Forcing them to first become demonic and then forcibly purify them was too cruel.

"This is..." Yuan Zhu came closer and asked curiously.

"Three animals, a gift to the [Tai Huang Daojun]. If you want to enter the Holy Gate and complete the infusion of holy light and the branding of the holy marks, you must have a sufficiently powerful sacrifice. Although there is no limit to the type or quantity, the ceremony you hold here must be formal. With the three animals as sacrifice, you will be accepted into the Daojun's sect, receive my blessing, and from now on belong to the [Huangtian Holy Dao]. Wait, I will write a petition, and then you can begin."

At this moment, Yuan Zhu desperately wanted his senior sister to be by his side. Why did this old man seem to be entering the [Huangtian Immortal Dao] instead of the Holy Light System?
Seeing the old man walk away, Yuan Zhu approached the male student who was administering medicine to the three animals and asked, "Seniors, is this really a holy temple? Is this the initiation ceremony to the Holy Light?"

One of the bespectacled men wiped his sweat and said, "Although it looks a bit off, it's indeed the [Holy Light Ritual], with a lot of [Huang Tian Dao] rituals added in. But don't panic. [Holy Light] has eight systems in total, and after entering, the attributes of [Holy Light] are the same. Only after [Three Seals] will you face a choice of paths and experience a qualitative change. Furthermore, if you enter the Holy Gate with [Huang Tian Ritual], it will be very cost-effective to summon angels in the future. You can try it after [Five Seals], while other systems can only be achieved after [Six Seals]."

"why is that?"

The guy with glasses shook his head: "This is a unique ability of your department. I don't really understand it. I just read it in a book."

Despite this, Yuan Zhu's nervousness finally eased. He was afraid that during the Holy Light Ceremony, they would suddenly pull out his bones, kowtow to the Yellow Heavenly Dao Master, and then start cultivating immortality.

After a while, several boys knocked all three animals unconscious, then strangled them with iron chains repeatedly, and then took out a super large syringe used to give injections to animals, which was as thick as a baby's arm.

He was very familiar with this thing. In his past life memories that had not yet been cleared, he accidentally entered a veterinary medicine factory after graduating from university. Not only did he work like a slave in the factory, he was also sent by his leader to the countryside to do sales, and he also had to give injections to livestock in the breeding farm.

Seeing these Running University students skillfully tying up the three animals and then expertly administering the injections with their large syringes, I felt a sense of familiarity. All creatures are one family, even if they travel to another planet, they still live the same way.

The only difference was that the syringes were covered in runes, and they contained black blood, which had a strong contaminating property. They didn't even avoid Yuan Zhu, not even going through the disinfection process, and injected the three animals with frequent, small amounts of blood into their carotid arteries, hearts, and various other locations.

Seeing Yuan Zhu watching intently, one of the students explained, "This is our experiment. The blood extracted from the bodies of crazed werewolves has a strong polluting property. By injecting small amounts into their arteries and hearts multiple times, it can quickly spread throughout the body, accelerating the distortion and pollution, thus providing a purer holy light."

Seeing that the werewolf blood injection was complete, another student took out a full green syringe and explained, "This is a mixture of nutrient solution and catalyst. It replenishes their energy and accelerates their transformation."

"Why do you two look so familiar with each other?"

"We in the animal department are all like this."

After over an hour of preparation, the old man took the written petition, brought the tablet from the sanctuary, set up a simple altar, and began chanting the petition aloud. The other three students didn't leave, but brought a few chairs and sat in the distance to observe.

At Yuan Zhu's feet were three animals with bloodshot eyes, fangs and sharp teeth, covered in black hair, and muscular bodies with prominent and distinct muscle contours. However, they were tightly bound by iron chains in their flesh, and they struggled hard but could not break the chains.

How could these be cows, sheep, or pigs? They were clearly: Bull Demon King, Sheep Power Immortal, and Zhu Gangli! Each one was reduced to its original form, a ferocious bunch. However, their mouths were tightly sealed with wire, and their vocal cords were pierced with wooden sticks, making no sound at all.

After burning the petition, the old man returned to Yuan Zhu's side. Looking at the three struggling muscle monsters at his feet, he nodded with satisfaction: "The medicine used this time is very good."

The man with glasses replied, "That's right. We've already completed basic data collection on the 'werewolf species' and recently started extreme testing, using quite a few strong drugs. Therefore, the wolf blood's deviation is particularly high, and the mice injected with wolf blood are behaving very violently."

"We, the monks of the Holy Sect, are here to purify these monsters and maintain order in the world!"

After shouting the slogan zzzq, the old man said to Yuan Zhu, "Have you decided where to leave the holy mark? If you don't have any special inheritance needs, I suggest you choose the arm, which is very convenient. If you have special symbolic needs, you can also brand it on the chest, back, back of the head, throat, forehead, etc."

Yuan Zhu, who had already made a plan, raised his hands, revealing the cut scars on his wrists, and asked, "Can you make it more symmetrical?"

The old man had a look on his face that said, "You're not quite normal," clearly mistaking him for a peculiar enthusiast. Others get a single wound on their hands, but you're getting two, and the scar is so exaggerated. Young people these days...

"Okay, just bear with it, it will be fine soon."

A blinding light erupted from beneath the old man's clothes, peeking through the slit in his collar. Then, his eyes were filled with a white, yellowish glow, and his pupils were no longer visible. Instead, they began to radiate light outward. Two lines of blood-red, muddy tears slowly oozed from his eye sockets.

He raised his hand and waved it, and three spears of light condensed, took shape, and materialized from thin air, then pierced through the three animals on the ground. The three demonized animals, ignoring the excruciating pain in their mouths, screamed desperately, but their vocal cords were pierced, and they could only utter miserable groans.

There was a sizzling sound at the place where the spear of light penetrated. The filthy blood in the three animals' bodies was like flammable fuel, ignited by the holy light, and began to burn violently inside their bodies.

The three animals struggled violently, their muscles bulged, causing the chains to creak, as if they would break at any moment. Their wounds began to bleed, their bodies kept twitching, and more and more holy light burst out from their eyes, ears, mouths and noses, like a burning gas tank, madly spewing out rich holy light with its eyes, ears, mouths and noses.

The old man drew all of this holy light and gathered it on the worn master's sword in his hand. The iron ring on the handle made a ping-pong sound, and the blade quickly sliced through the scar on the inside of Yuan Zhu's wrist, sending a sharp pain and burning sensation into his heart.

After two cuts, the wound began to bleed profusely. The old man's grip was very strong. This wasn't a branding of stigmata at all; it was just a wrist slashing and bleeding!

"Hold your hands out and hold them steady."

With that, the old man clutched the wound on his wrist. The holy light continuously emanating from the three animals poured through the wound and into Yuan Zhu's body. A burning and stinging sensation now spread throughout his body, and the [Immortal Scripture] in his mind vibrated furiously, issuing a fierce warning. [Warning! Warning! Unknown contaminated energy (holy light) has been detected invading the user's body and breaching the soul's firewall. Self-contained energy (contaminated spiritual energy) has been deployed. Please activate the 'BOSS Template' to immediately address it!]

Yuan Zhu chose to ignore it.

"Boss, do you want to fully activate the [Firewall]? I've noticed the [BOSS Template] is starting to stir. I want to help you transform into the [Tiger Demon Form] to fight the pollution."

"Shut it down! Hold the lid of the coffin down tight! Turn the firewall down to minimum, I feel like I'm about to be roasted!"

Not long after, Xiao Latiao's voice sounded again: "Good news, hold on! Your pollution index is beginning to break through the limit of the [Firewall], and your soul is about to be polluted and distorted again."

[Warning! Warning! User refuses to activate the 'BOSS Template', soul firewall begins to break. User security agreement, forced to activate... System failure... Agreement in effect...]

"Boss, I did it! With your authorization, I hacked your [Security Protocol]. Your soul is about to be exposed to the Holy Light. I'm using a borrowed knife to kill you, and you're about to be contaminated!"

Xiao La Tiao shouted excitedly, "This feeling of betraying my master is something I've never experienced before! No, it seems I've already betrayed [Dahuang Lao Deng], and now I've blatantly backstabbed the boss at the boss's behest. I'm really amazing!"

Yuan Zhu felt a burning and stinging sensation all over his body, with sweat breaking out on his forehead. The human body is weak, sensitive, and stinging. His spiritual perception was magnified to the maximum, and it felt like a gust of wind blowing past was like being cut by a blade.

Xiao Latiao even yelled and cheered. No, she couldn't get too complacent. Yuan Zhu quietly activated the shared senses.

“Ahhhh…it hurts! Stop, stop, stop! No, open the firewall quickly, I’m going to die! I’m going to die…Ah! Ahhh…”

The screams in his head became even more disturbing, but he felt surprisingly calm. As expected, watching others suffer the same misfortune as him was a joy.

[Warning! Warning! Soul pollution index is increasing rapidly. User refuses to invoke 'polluted spiritual energy'. 'Holy Light pollution' is detected, causing irreversible distortion to the host's body and soul. Pollution increased by 17.61%...17.62%↑]

This time, Yuan Zhu remained conscious and in control throughout the contamination and distortion. Although the pain felt ten times worse than during the previous [Sacrificial Ritual], with even his soul being burned by the intense heat, the contamination level increased extremely slowly, in increments of 0.01%.

This was a good thing, as it meant that while the Holy Light brought immense pain, the pollution wasn't intense, likely due to the pollution being sourced from just three animals. But it was also a bad thing. Who knew how long this torture would last?
As the [Immortal Scripture] showed, his pollution level was increasing little by little, but this time the [Holy Light Pollution] had no connection with the [Deformed Spiritual Root (Boss Template)] deep in his soul, as if it was all imprinted on this body and his own soul.

"Master Lao, I'm about to die. I need to leave my final words. Even after I die, I'll let out one last cry to answer your questions and resolve your doubts! The current [Pollution Level] is calculated on your human body! It's calculated on the low-spec [Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture Client] and has nothing to do with the [Boss Template]."

In Xiao La Tiao's dying words, the [Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture] was hidden deep within, beyond Yuan Zhu's reach and observation. On the outermost layer, at the cost of 17.6% of its own contamination, the [Immortal Scripture] carved out a [Boss Template (Deformed Spiritual Root)] to absorb the shadow pollution, transforming Yuan Zhu's soul into a [Polluted Spiritual Energy. Soul Firewall], protecting both Yuan Zhu and itself.

Now, the humanoid USB drive (Yuan Zhu) of the Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture refused to activate its internal Boss Template for defense. Consequently, the Immortal Scripture once again contaminated itself by 0.01+%, and began strengthening the human's "normal client," essentially a system plug-in for a normal traverser.

"Okay, I've said my last words, and I'll continue lying in state. Ahhhhh! Please open the firewall quickly, it hurts so much, it hurts so much! I won't dare to backstab Lao Da again!"

"Wait a minute, I want to raise the pollution level to 1%!"

Although he was not sure what the consequences would be if the [Pollution Level] increased, he gradually understood through his use of the [Tiger Demon] that the higher the pollution level, the stronger the effect of pollution control.

This level of [pollution] is extremely toxic to the immortal sutra, the most terrifying and horrifying thing. But for Yuan Zhu, this level of pollution is his affinity and aptitude for [polluted energy]. He must pollute even 1% of it, otherwise his suffering would be in vain!
Amidst Xiao Latiao's endless screams and cries, the old man drained away all the life potential and souls of the three animals, leaving behind three twisted, shriveled, and abstract corpses.

Even dead and drained of life, their remains still held a rich, holy aura. Looking at them, one couldn't sense the gruesome manner of their deaths, only a strange kind of 'holy shock'.

The old man's breathing became slightly rapid at this time, the light in his pupils faded, and he loosened his clenched hands.

Yuan Zhu's body softened in his human form, and he half-knelt on one knee, barely holding on to the ground with both hands. He felt weak all over. It was a burning, weak feeling, a feeling of having his strength drained away, a fever of 42°C, a weakened body, and frantic sweating. His soul was even more fiercely scorched.

However, the original burning pain has transformed into an indescribable warmth as the [pollution level] has increased to 18.6%.

The shadow aura brought him coolness and comfort, and the now scarcer and weaker, yet particularly overbearing [Holy Light] brought him a warm feeling, like a pair of small flames attached to the [Stigmata] on his wrist.

Looking down at his raised hands, he saw two straight scratches and cuts on the inside of his wrists. The wounds were slightly charred and formed a linear shape, with intermittent red sparks remaining inside.

As my wrist rotated, a slight stinging and burning sensation spread through the stigmata. This was countered by the warmth, leaving a slightly painful, pleasurable sensation. It was like the soreness of pressing on an area of overtrained, lactic acid-accumulated tissue.

"Wow, your affinity with Holy Light has suddenly become very high again! Are you interested in joining our [Huangtian Holy Dao]?"

"Sorry, I'm so tired and my whole body aches. I just want to rest. I don't have the energy to think about anything else." Yuan Zhu gasped weakly and responded perfunctorily. When his [Pollution Level] climbed to 18.60%, Xiao La Tiao precisely controlled his score, suddenly feigning death and surging back, turning up the [Firewall] to maximum, and then continuing to lie there. Now he was in so much pain that he couldn't even groan, and who knew where he was hiding sobbing?

Seeing that he looked half dead, the old man stopped forcing him and took out a roll of bandages. "Holy Shroud, a fire-resistant cloth woven by skeleton weavers from the underworld using the ashes of the [Fire Prince], wrap it around your wrist and you can live a normal life."

"Thank you."

"Come back to me when you're well. I'll refund the extra money. However, it's best to prepare a little more money. I have quite a few excellent [Sacred Seals] for you to choose from."

(End of this chapter)