I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

[Jiangnan University, Room 404, Male Dormitory]

One o'clock in the morning.

The dormitory was filled with a smell that was a mixture of instant noodles, foot odor, and stale tobacco. The keyboard was clattering loudly as Chu Tian's roommate played a game, muttering and cursing, "Top laner, do you even know how to play?"

Chu Tian pushed open the door like a wandering ghost, clutching the tattered thread-bound book tightly in his hand.

"Hey, Lao Chu's back?" my roommate called out without turning around. "I heard you got rejected by so-and-so today? No problem, buddy, I still have half a case of beer left, in a bit..."

Before his roommate could finish speaking, there was a loud "bang." Chu Tian climbed onto his bed and pulled the blackout curtains shut.

In that narrow little space, darkness reigned.

Chu Tian was breathing heavily, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Although reason told him that the person might be a fraud, the electric shock-like feeling was too real.

He shakily turned on the flashlight and opened the book "Taoist Health Preservation Qigong".

The pages were yellowed, and the text on them was clearly written in traditional Chinese characters, making it difficult to understand. But in Chu Tian's eyes, the characters began to distort and move.

"The Great Dao is formless, yet it gives birth to Heaven and Earth..."

These words seemed to come alive, transforming into black worms that burrowed directly into his cerebral cortex along his optic nerve.

"Well……"

Chu Tian suddenly covered his head, letting out a painful whimper.

This is not enlightenment.

This is an intrusion.

What Gu Qing exchanged for 100 points of faith power was not a divine skill manual, but a "spiritual energy seed." This book was merely a medium for psychological suggestion; once the reader's mental defenses weakened, the seed would take root and sprout within their body.

heat.

It's so hot.

An indescribable heat exploded from his lower abdomen (dantian), instantly engulfing his entire body.

If measured with modern medical instruments, Chu Tian's body temperature would have spiked to 40.5 degrees Celsius within just ten seconds and continued to rise. At this temperature, a normal person would already be losing consciousness, or even face brain death.

But Chu Tian did not faint.

On the contrary, his consciousness was clearer than ever before, and he was acutely aware of the excruciating pain of every muscle being torn apart and every cell being forcibly stretched open.

This is not qigong; it is a violent rewriting at the genetic level.

"Water...water..."

Chu Tian rolled around in pain on the bed, his clothes instantly soaked with sweat. Then the sweat evaporated due to the high temperature, turning into a thin white mist that drifted out from the gap in the bed curtains.

My roommate, who was playing a game, sniffed: "Why is it so hot? Who turned off the air conditioner? Ugh, why does it smell like something's burning?"

Inside the bed curtains, Chu Tian's eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils faintly emitted a dim light in the darkness.

hunger.

The intense hunger instantly overwhelmed the pain.

Because cells are undergoing violent division and reorganization, the body's stored energy is depleted within minutes. That's a frantic distress signal from a biological instinct—energy! I need energy!

Chu Tian tore open a bag of compressed biscuits placed on his bedside table like a mad beast, swallowing it whole, plastic and all, without even spitting out the packaging.

not enough.

More.

He grabbed a handful of ham sausages, expired bread, and even a can of glucose powder used in the previous sports meet and stuffed it directly into his mouth. The white powder choked him, but he didn't care about coughing.

The essence of evolution is plunder.

……

[An unmarked underground base in Beijing]

This is the National Security Special Affairs Monitoring Center (not yet officially renamed Bureau 749 at this time). A huge screen displays an energy monitoring map of the entire China.

Since the "Kunlun Anomaly" and "East China Sea Dragon Shadow", this department's level has been raised three levels and it is on high alert 24 hours a day.

Suddenly, a piercing alarm broke the silence of the hall.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

"Report!" A technician jumped to his feet, his voice trembling with tension. "Abnormal energy fluctuations detected! The waveform characteristics show an 85% similarity to the 'Kunlun sample'!"

The middle-aged man sitting behind the command console—Zhao Feng, the leader of the action team—slammed his teacup down heavily.

"Location?"

"It's not the border, nor is it a no-man's-land." The technician's fingers flew across the keyboard, zooming in on the map until it finally settled on a densely populated bright spot.

"In...Jiangnan City."

"Specific coordinates: Jiangnan University, North Campus dormitory building."

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

Previous anomalies occurred in remote, sparsely populated areas, allowing them to maintain secrecy. But this time, it happened in a university with tens of thousands of students?

Zhao Feng's face turned ashen: "Energy level?"

"Currently it's at Level E, a slight fluctuation. But..." The technician swallowed hard. "The thermal imaging satellite shows that the thermal radiation in the target area is rising abnormally. The energy value at that coordinate point... has exceeded 60, but this is only surface radiation; there's no fire around it."

"What does this mean?"

"It means..." the technician said incredulously, looking at the data, "that there is a person, or a living being, releasing heat like a nuclear reactor."

Zhao Feng took a deep breath and grabbed the red phone on the table.

"Order: Special Operations Team 3 stationed in Jiangnan City, depart immediately."

"Target: Jiangnan University".

"The surrounding area has been sealed off because... a chemical laboratory toxic gas leak drill."

"Bring tranquilizer guns and isolation boxes. Whatever those things are, I want them alive."

……

[Jiangnan City, Gu Qing's rented apartment]

Gu Qing lay on the worn-out sofa, holding a tablet computer. The screen didn't display a movie, but rather a "data-driven view" accessed through a system connection.

[Current status of Experiment 001 (Chu Tian):]

Assimilation progress: 35%

[Vital signs: Extremely dangerous (heart rate 220/min, body temperature 42.8℃)]

[Faith Feedback: +5, +5, +10... (derived from Chu Tian's own fear and unwavering belief)]

Gu Qing stared at the soaring heart rate data and expressionlessly popped a painkiller into her mouth.

"42 degrees...is this still pushing the limits of human physiology?"

He knew it was cruel.

If Chu Tian doesn't make it through, he will die from organ failure or become a mindless cripple.

However, in the system's simulations, future void creatures could even directly mutate humans through mental pollution. The current suffering is essentially a form of vaccination.

Hang in there!

Gu Qing looked out the window towards Jiangnan University, where the red and blue lights of police cars could be faintly seen flashing.

"The official response was faster than I expected." Gu Qing tapped his fingers lightly on the screen. "They locked it down in half an hour? It seems the country does indeed have some monitoring capabilities."

This is a race.

Will Chu Tian complete the "Foundation Building (Mutation)" first, or will the authorities put him in a cage first?

Suddenly, the system notification sounded again.

[WARNING: Official personnel detected approaching the target area.]

[Temporary Quest Triggered: Climax of Act I.]

[Mission Description: If the test subject is taken away silently, the myth will not be able to spread. You need to add some "audience" and "conflict" to this play.]

Gu Qing's eyes turned cold.

Indeed, if Chu Tian were captured now, he would become a lab rat, and the outside world would never know of the existence of cultivators.

We have to make a big fuss about this.

We must let more people see this.

"System," Gu Qing stood up, his eyes flashing with a crazed light despite his physical weakness, "Open the exchange list."

"Now that the main character has appeared, how can we forget the supporting characters?"

"Exchange: [Primary Mythical Creature Embryo - Earthworm (Mutant Version)]".

"Placement location: Jiangnan University sewer, 500 meters away from Chutian dormitory."

"Command set: Hunger, prey, move towards high-energy reaction source (Chu Tian)."

[Finance Points Consumed: 120 (You have overdrawn)]

Gu Qing looked at the faith power bar, which had instantly dropped to zero or even turned red, and a pale smile appeared on his lips.

"bring it on."

"Let this fever burn even more fiercely."

At this very moment, deep within the sewers of Jiangnan University, a mass of black sludge began to writhe, and four red-glowing eyes suddenly opened in the darkness. It had smelled the delicious, burning soul on the ground.