I discovered a world bug.

Chapter 107 Initiation and Transmission of Power

"Captain Lin! Captain Lin!"

Lin Shu suddenly opened her eyes.

The Corpse Immortal opposite him still had his hand raised, but the moment he opened his eyes, the other's hand slowly lowered.

Then he sat cross-legged, resuming the posture he had been in while still in the cave.

In the illusion, I felt as if decades had passed, but in reality, less than a second had actually gone by!

Lin Shu was breathing heavily. He realized that what he had just seen was the life of this "Corpse-Dissolving Immortal," or he should be called "Daoist Zhang Jingxu."

I don't know what method the other person used, but they directly projected his memories into my mind.

With just this one skill, this Corpse-Dissolving Immortal is already a terrifyingly powerful being.

But it seems...

At this time, his condition was unstable.

The brief recovery was only due to some disturbance—perhaps because their team entered the cave and completely disrupted the balance of the remaining formation inside.

Or perhaps, it was simply because of the "connection" she shared with him that she felt a certain resonance.

However, he had already entered a state of hibernation again at this point.

It's unknown how long this dormancy will last...

"Are you alright?"

Jin Yue stepped forward, grabbed Lin Shu's arm, and pulled him back two steps.

"fine."

Lin Shu shook her head.

"This corpse-dissolving immortal... harbors no ill intentions."

"No, that's not right."

"He originally had no emotions; he had no distinction between good and evil. His body was merely a container, an anchor point."

"He himself has become a kind of rule."

"This rule is very likely what Basongbumo saw as the so-called... connection."

"What do you mean?"

Lu Ran frowned and interjected, "What do you mean by 'he is the rule itself'?"

"It's hard to explain."

Lin Shu didn't know how to start the conversation for a moment—this judgment actually came from what he had sensed in the illusion.

A mysterious and enigmatic "will".

He could vaguely guess that the so-called "corpse dissolution" method was not a way to become an immortal at all.

More precisely, this is a ritual that maintains specific rules within a certain area for a long period of time, and the form of the rules is strongly related to the knowledge, information, and rituals possessed by the person performing the ritual.

Indeed, all the "abnormal events" that occurred in Huawu Village were actually related to this Corpse-Dissolving Immortal.

The real reason why Basongbumo never suffered any negative effects after using the substitution method for a long time was because of this corpse-dissolving immortal.

His "rules" devoured, or rather, contained, those negative effects, and they continued to accumulate.

The continuous accumulation weakened the rules of the Corpse Immortal's "manifestation" or "externalization," causing the boundaries of the rules to shrink. The Corpse Immortal shifted from dormancy to "awakening," and thus Basongbumo finally faced a backlash.

The manifestation of this backlash is that the negative effects begin to spill over and may even follow some kind of "connection" back to where they came from.

Basongbumo also sensed this spillover, so she could only repeatedly perform substitute rituals such as "throwing the pendulum" in an attempt to bring back those so-called "plague demons".

Even though she could pull the "Plague Demon" back every time, the time the Plague Demon could be restrained was getting shorter and shorter, given that the rules governing the manifestation of the Corpse Immortal were getting weaker and weaker.

Ultimately, the entire balance was on the verge of collapse.

Just then, he arrived with his men.

With the help of the snake's power, he directly neutralized the influence of the "plague demon," completely erasing the long-accumulated negative effects from the root.

As if relieved of its ultimate burden, the Corpse Immortal, who had long since become the very rule, entered hibernation again after a brief awakening.

But before he went into hibernation, he showed himself his entire life...

After a brief silence, Lin Shu organized her thoughts and briefly explained the situation to Lu Ran and the others.

Lu Ran looked at Lin Shu in astonishment and asked, "So you mean, you experienced his entire life in your so-called 'hallucination'?"

"It should be observed from the sidelines."

Lin Shu replied, "I know I'm not him, and he knows I'm not him either."

"He was just... demonstrating, that's all."

"But why?"

Lu Ran looked at the Corpse Immortal in the distance, who was still sitting quietly cross-legged on the ground, appearing harmless.

But the "sun-devouring" phenomenon that just occurred, which brought immense crisis and fear to everyone, is still vivid in our minds.

"have no idea."

Lin Shu shook her head again.

"This is what we're going to study—the good news is, he's still alive."

"The better news is that although he never found a way to 'avoid disaster and ensure survival' throughout his entire life, he actually got close to it after completing his autopsy."

"The so-called methods of avoiding misfortune can actually be traced back to some of the principles in peace charms."

"Essentially, it should be a force that 'controls rules'."

"After the dissection, he did achieve control over the rules, but such control required him to use himself as a bargaining chip."

In short, this set of rituals for "corpse dissection" is very likely closely related to "methods for avoiding disaster".

"Once Basongbumo's condition stabilizes, we can uncover more details."

"By then, not only his experiences before his 'dissection' but also the changes in the rules of this region afterward will likely be fully revealed before our eyes."

"This is very useful for the analysis of the ritual—of course, that's your job now."

"You'll probably be staying here for a long time to come."

"clear."

Lu Ran nodded at first, then suddenly realized something.

"just me?"

"You're leaving? Where are you going?"

"Let's go to Qingcheng Mountain."

Lin Shu replied, "Although he has read a lot of classic texts, the true lineage of the Corpse Dissection Technique actually comes from his master, Daoist Zhiyun."

"I want to go and see if there are more detailed and accurate records there."

"After all, in his memory, the descriptions of the rituals for corpse dissection were actually quite..."

Chaotic and complicated.

"We definitely can't use such a ritual. The cost of trial and error is too high, and it's difficult to extract any effective content."

"If we keep tracing back further, we might actually find something useful."

"clear."

Lu Ran took a deep breath and said solemnly, "No matter what, be careful."

"certainly."

Lin Shu nodded, then changed the subject, saying, "Besides that, there are some other things I need you to do."

"In the hallucination just now, he showed me something else—something similar to initiation or transmission of power."

"It is a ritual, a genuine ritual that could be used even in his time."

"Both of these rituals are very useful and can even directly make up for the lack of tactical reserves we have."

"One of the rituals, which we have already seen, involves creating a dark aura around the body; it is called 'Sun Devouring.'"

"The other set is directly related to the bizarre deaths in Huawu Village back then."

"Its name is... Curse of Death."

"Curse to death..."

'

Chen Zhu, standing to the side, gasped and interjected, "He's a Taoist priest, right? He's a respectable Taoist priest, right?"

"How could he use such...evil rituals? And cause innocent deaths?"

"The ritual itself has no distinction between good and evil; it is merely a set of rules. After the corpse is dissolved, he can no longer directly choose between good and evil. The deaths in Huawu Village were simply an accident within the rules."

Lin Shu replied, "Besides, don't forget, he was a soldier who fought in wars."

"In that environment, what he used this ritual for... is not hard to guess."

"Understood.

Chen Zhu nodded slowly, his eyes showing a hint of emotion.

Lin Shu found a place to sit down, took out paper and pen from his backpack, and began to record what he saw one by one.

Meanwhile, in Linchuan, inside the base.

Xiao Lengfeng sat at the table, where three huge screens displayed images of three different ancient books.

At this moment, she was comparing the text on the picture with the text, trying to decipher the stone inscription sent by Lin Shu, line by line.

Although at first, I thought it might be some kind of Taoist talisman.

But as the comparison work progressed step by step, much of the content in the text began to emerge.

Very strange.

That doesn't seem to be a talisman, and its connection to "Taoism" is very weak.

Of course, it does contain some vocabulary and characters unique to Taoist practices.

But overall, this is more like a...

autobiography?

Xiao Lingfeng deduced the meaning word by word, and her talent in this area was particularly evident.

Even if a sentence contains only two or three characters with clear meanings and corresponding characters that can be found in other ancient books, she can deduce the true meaning of the character based on the context and its shape.

Of course, the reason it went so smoothly was because the symbols on the stone wall were not a completely unfamiliar language.

Essentially, it has a strict lineage.

However, a considerable portion of it was lost over the long course of history, which prevented this writing system from forming a complete system.

Just like the Zhuang, Yao, and Nüshu languages ​​she had encountered before.

With careful summarization and comparison, the general meaning of the text can usually be restored.

After spending several hours, she had roughly translated the inscription on the stone wall.

Xiao Lengfeng scrolled the mouse and deleted the markers, revealing lines of complete text before his eyes.

"I was born in the last days of the world, and I have witnessed the destruction of our land, foreign aggression and internal strife, and the suffering of countless lives."

"He entered the Daoist path in his youth, joined the army in his prime, and spent over twenty years fighting and shedding blood. What he learned was the art of preserving life and avoiding harm."

"Not for my own sake, but for the sake of all living beings."

"Now that a golden age has begun, the world should return to its rightful place. The old ways have come to an end, and new laws will be born."

"I have fled, not to avoid death, but to avoid disaster."

"I am not a benevolent person, but I have only heard that: the path of corpse liberation is such that the superior one ascends to heaven in broad daylight, the middle one dissolves and transforms at midnight, and the inferior one departs at dusk."

"My departure is not based on rank, but on following reason."

"I do not know when I will return. If I cannot return, those who come after me will find traces of me in the bamboo groves in the mountains and along the road."

"Furthermore: If this corpse dissolution fails and the body and soul dissipate, the fault lies with me, not with the illegality of the act."

"Those who read this book will know that when I was young, I saw a true immortal in Qingcheng Mountain."

"Those who wish to seek the Dao should perhaps head towards Mount Qingcheng."

""

The deciphered text ends abruptly here.

Xiao Lengfeng sat in front of the computer, stunned, staring blankly at the last line of text.

Mount Qingcheng, where can one encounter true immortals?

In this world...

Do immortals really exist?

enjoy