Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

Tomorrow's update time is during the day, I will update early. I wish everyone a great Dragon Boat Festival. Tomorrow will be a day of heavy updates, probably to complete the foundation building plot.

Chapter 215 It begins

"Then let's begin."

Although he said he wasn't nervous, Shangluo was still a little nervous. After all, this wasn't something a normal human would encounter in their lifetime; it was a form of evolution, like a silkworm spinning a cocoon and undergoing metamorphosis.

From an insect ethics perspective, this kind of "metamorphosis" is something most insects have to go through, but it's still too early for humans.

He leaned towards the bathtub so that if anything happened he could jump in immediately. The Spear of the Apollo was also leaning against the tub, ready for use if needed.

Zhu Xianxun stood at the bottom of the stairs. If anything unexpected happened, he would be the first to be impacted. However, as the link between heaven and earth, as a Qigong practitioner with considerable attainments in the Dao of Alchemy, and as a "reliable elder" a generation older than Shangluo, he was confident that he could protect the friend before him. He was also confident that he could protect himself.

Seeing Shangluo occasionally looking over here, Zhu Xianxun didn't say much, just responded with a smile. He was the kind of person who wouldn't make a fuss even if he went bungee jumping with his friends.

"Huh." Shangluo took a deep breath and pulled out a hunting knife from the holster at his waist. To avoid interference, Apollonia had released the knife's influence. Now it was as heavy as Li Yuanba's hammer, and he had to use both hands to barely hold it.

[Sorry, I'm still too weak. I can only provide you with information, not more direct help. From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself.]

"I understand. You helped me a lot."

[Well, although I helped you until the Foundation Establishment stage, I still want to ask, Mr. Landlord, can I renew my lease on your house after the Foundation Establishment stage? Your house is quite large.]

"Well, sure. You can stay as long as you want."

[Hey, you're so nice. Do you want me to do the math for you?]

"No need to calculate." Shang Luo shook his head. "No matter what the result is, I will build my foundation. There is no point in calculating any result. It's better not to calculate it and save some electricity. I want to ask, will anyone come later?"

"It might be Helios who'll come. But he's a ruthless contract machine. He treats everyone, whether daughter or stranger, as nothing. So, this will save some energy. I'm going to dive now. I'll come out again if anything else." "Goo-goo-goo~" Apollonia dived.

Shangluo raised his head. This was the first time he had seen the statue since that day.

Overall, it was identical to the statue of Hecate, the three-faced deity, he had seen earlier at Lake Nemi. The previous statue, placed in the wilderness, was somewhat worn, while this one was pristine. The marble statue shone with a warm, almost jade-like hue, and every line from the face to the body was lifelike, even down to the pupils.

"Hmm?" Shangluo vaguely noticed that this statue was a little different from the original one. Originally, the eyes of the three statues were open, but now they were all closed.

"Daozu." Shangluo asked from the inner room, "Is she still conscious?"

[She is very lucid. She sees everything clearly, and she hears everything.] Daozu gave a clear answer. Inside Yuxi Palace, Shangluo discovered that Daozu could provide significantly more information, and it seemed the signal inside was stronger.

"So." Shangluo looked at the hunting knife in his hand, "What will happen if I cut it?"

【You will obtain the Golden Elixir.】

"What about the others?"

[Except for the Golden Elixir, nothing useful will be left.]

Shangluo shook his head and walked to the front of the statue.

"Well, Phaethon, long time no see." He looked at the closed-eyed statue, knowing Phaethon could hear him. "Although people often tell me 'don't name food,' I still can't convince myself. You are a human being, you are not food - but today, even if I have to kill people and steal treasures, I will not hesitate."

The idol did not respond.

"You might be wondering why I'm saying all this. I'm not trying to convince myself. In fact, I don't need convincing. I've discovered that sometimes, I'm harder than I thought. When I saw the elves falling row after row at Lake Nemi, their blood spilling all over the ground, I felt no sympathy for them. I'm not trying to convince you to accept all this either. I simply want to state the facts: I bear the weight of everyone's wishes. Even if I hadn't convinced myself, even if you had, I would have had to act. What happens next is none of your business."

Despair, unprecedented despair. Shangluo laid the harsh truth before Phaethon—her destruction was indeed none of her business. Her crime was not worthy of death; she was a good person, acting impulsively. But she had touched something she shouldn't have, and she would pay a heavy, excessive price for it. It wasn't fair, but the world never was.

"Then." He looked to the side of the statue, where the white lion named Lolo was still lying.

"Lolo, please step aside for a moment."

Luo Luo looked up at him, then stood up and left. Just like before, when Phaethon was away, Luo Luo would choose to follow Shang Luo's advice, because Phaethon and Shang Luo had a prior agreement. Even if Phaethon was gone, Luo Luo would continue to help him.

"Well, I'm sorry." Shangluo remembered that he had said the same thing to the Forest King. With one blow of the sword, the Forest King was reduced to ashes. Phaethon would probably do the same.

He raised the knife—and suddenly, an invisible wave vibrated out from the statue.

"Bang!" The lightbulb behind suddenly shattered, dimming the bright Yuxi Palace.

"What's wrong?" Shangluo raised his head.

[She is crying.] Daozu responded.

Shangluo looked up, and tears welled up in Phaethon's eyes. But they were no longer tears, but a string of pearls.

The pearls fell to the ground with a crackling sound and shattered into pieces.

Even Phaethon, who was turned into stone, would shed tears of stone in the face of great despair.

Although these tears marked the first sign of Phaethon's consciousness since entering the statue, they wouldn't stop Shangluo. Clutching his hunting knife, he had never been so calm, nor so cold. He was now a ruthless hunter, not just for himself, but for the people who placed their hopes in him. He would never let go of his hunting knife.

"Roar!!!!"

A lion's roar came from behind, and Shangluo instinctively dodged to the side, escaping the white lion's attack.

"Ha," Shangluo sneered, "Did you finally recognize him? This is Phaethon."

Shangluo wasn't the only one who noticed the tears just now; Luoluo had noticed them too. Finally, he was no longer confused and recognized that this was Phaethon.

The white lion Luo Luo only roared in response and pounced again:

"Bang——" With a loud sound like a bell, the white lion flew backwards and hit the pillar of the hall.

Shangluo held the Spear of the Sun God, which had been leaning against him from the beginning, with the handle of the spear still in a striking posture.

Chapter 216 Perfect Foundation Building

"Are you okay?" Zhu Xianxun asked from below. The lion's movements were incredibly fast, and it pounced before he even noticed.

"It's okay, Your Majesty, please stand aside."

Shangluo looked at the white lion:

"I know you understand. Back off; this is meaningless. Phaethon violated the contract, and the Spear of Apollo is enforcing it. It's on my side. In other words, Helios's power is also on my side. While this is certainly a bit cruel, I hope you can remain rational."

There was another lion's roar, and the white lion pounced for the third time, but was knocked back by the Spear of the Sun God.

However, the white lion that landed on the ground still had no "rationality" at all and was ready to attack again.

"Asking a beast to remain rational is truly a luxury." Shang Luo shook his head. "But even humans can't remain rational forever, let alone beasts. So, Mr. Lion, this is my final warning. I know you want to protect Phaethon, but you can't save her. If you insist on stopping me again, the next time I'll use the tip of the Spear of Apollo instead of the spear handle to stop you."

The fourth time, the white lion was stopped by the Spear of the Sun God. Shangluo kept his promise and pointed the tip of his spear at the white lion.

Blood dripped down. The spear effortlessly pierced the lion. Helios' divine power chose to protect Shangluo, not the lion. Perhaps, perhaps, the white lion Luoluo was indeed dead.

"What a ruthless divine power!"

He grasped the spear handle and pulled out the tip—

However, halfway through the pull, the lion raised its paw and overlapped with Shangluo's hand.

"Hmm?" He was stunned for a moment, because the touch was not a lion's claw, but a human hand with five distinct fingers.

Looking down, he saw that the hand holding his was actually a human hand.

Gently brushing Shangluo's hand away, the already dead white lion took a step back and slowly raised its head.

Wisdom had rekindled his eyes, and his hands and feet had become like those of a human.

Holding the Spear of the Apollo, the White Lion stood there, with the sun's disk emerging behind him.

"You are..." Shangluo wanted to take a step back, but after his animal nature faded, those human eyes made him feel no threat.

[You're here.] Daozu's voice resounded throughout Yuxi Palace, but he didn't seem surprised.

"I'm here." The white lion holding the Spear of the Sun God spoke in human language.

【You are here after all. 】

"I'm here after all."

You shouldn't have come.

"But I'm already here."

【What are you doing here?】

"I'm here to fulfill my promise." Holding the Spear of the Sun God, he faced the direction of the temple and knelt on the ground like an old father.

"Ming Zun! Please, please save her. If there is any fault, please let me take the responsibility."

Daozu did not answer, and the white lion continued to kneel there.

"Who is this?" Shangluo was stunned.

[Laojun Todan, the sun sheds its crystal, displaying twelve victorious signs and sixty kinds of luminous evidence. The one before you is the Sunlight Messenger of the Twelve Victorious Signs—the one you know as Mithras Helios.]

"Isn't he in Alexandria?"

[The one before you is the true form of the Sunlight Messenger, revealing the form of a lion.]

Helios looked up at Shangluo. "The Helios you saw before was my incarnation, an outpouring of energy to sever my delusions. As the God of Contracts, I cannot maintain infinite balance with my limited consciousness. Therefore, I restrain myself with the form of a lion, baring my claws and fangs. All other wisdom lies with Alexander. You killed the form of a lion, disrupting the equilibrium, and so, I've returned. How is it? Is this your first time seeing me?"

"You seem..." Shangluo hesitated, unsure what to say. He had seen Helios in Alexandria, his sun chariot pulling open the sky, and he had also witnessed the spectacle of the lighthouse descending at Lake Nemi. But Helios, who performed those miracles, seemed far more powerful than the scarred lion-headed man before him.

"More fragile than you imagined, huh? Indeed, wisdom is a burden to strength. Only the selfless, unwise divine machine Helios could bear the grand vision of the Roman Empire. Now I am more complete, but also weaker. I'm sorry, Phaethon has caused you trouble. As the saying goes, 'father's fault for not raising a child well,' this is all my fault. I failed to take good care of her, and that's why she brought upon herself such great karma. It's my fault, all my fault. I will keep my promise."

[Then, let's begin. Fulfill your promise.] Daozu's voice remained unchanged, the same as at the beginning.

"Wise and merciful, Lord." Helios stood up. Covered in wounds, he limped towards Shangluo, holding onto the Spear of the Apollo.

"Shangluo, is that your name? I vaguely remember it. You have the hunting knife of the hunting god in your hand, right?"

"Yeah." Shangluo nodded.

"Then please hold it tightly. I can't kill myself, so I'll borrow your knife." Before Shangluo noticed, Helios grabbed his right hand that was holding the hunting knife and stabbed it into his heart - golden blood spurted out from the blade.

"Enough. Please. Please pull it out." The moment he was pierced, he had completely lost all his strength, and it was Shangluo who supported him instead.

His sudden charge startled Shangluo. Golden blood flowed down his arm, gathering into a stream on the ground when the hunting knife was pulled out.

"What are you"

"I know this isn't rational." Helios leaned against the Spear of Apollo. "I know I have other options. I also know I have more important things to do. The Lighthouse system has just been activated, and I can't leave now. But this is the only way to preserve my godhood and Phaethon. I'll give you my heart. The so-called foundation-building is to grasp a ray of divine secret from chaos, leading to the ultimate. I must let you build your foundation, so I'll repay you with my divine secret, my heart. This is a fair trade. Now, we're even."

After saying this, he thrust his hand into the wound on his chest. A perfect golden sphere emerged from his body and was held in his hand.

"Have you seen this?"

"Is this the true form of the divine machine?" Of course he had seen it before. Apollonia looked like this at the beginning.

"Yes. Apollonia is in your hand, right? I can feel her. Is she silent? Perhaps she's still angry. I'm sorry, but that wasn't my intention. But if I were given the choice again, I'd probably make the same decision. But everything is over. Now it's time to say goodbye. Shangluo, accept my heart! It can help you achieve the ultimate! This is the most perfect foundation!" He cast aside the Spear of the Sun God and rushed forward with unprecedented swiftness, sending his heart to Shangluo's chest.

With a "puff", the golden ball hit Shangluo's chest, but nothing happened. The golden ball didn't even penetrate his school uniform and was even bouncing out.

"Huh?" Shangluo had already prepared himself for the pain, and was ready to jump into the vat immediately. But...

Helios himself was already dumbfounded. He stared blankly at the golden ball, then at Shangluo. The blood from his chest continued to flow.

"Ah!!" He suddenly looked up, "Could it be...Ming Zun! Could it be!!! Besides Apollonia, he also has..."

Daozu's voice remained unchanged: "Of course, he already has one, so he doesn't need you to add another one. So do you have any other offers?"

"Ahhh!" Helios spat out a mouthful of golden blood and fell to his knees. "Why! You can't even pay back the debt! Why! Why!"

There is more to come, and it will be updated soon. It will be finished before 12 o'clock.

Chapter 217 Huafa

"why why!"

The unwilling voice echoed in Yuxi Palace. Shangluo remembered that Phaethon had also struggled in such despair.

[Gulp. They really are. Gulp.] Apollonia poked her head out, muttered, and dove back down.

Daozu waited for a while, waiting for Helios to make an offer. However, Helios had already vomited blood and collapsed to the ground, and it seemed that he could no longer make an offer.

"Hum." A chime sounded from the inner room, and Zhu Xianxun, who had been waiting nearby, popped up.

"What does the Emperor have to say?"

【Open the furnace and light the fire.】

"Understood." Zhu Xianxun rolled up his sleeves. He'd been waiting for quite some time, and since he didn't know these people, it was difficult to speak. Now, finally, they were in his area of expertise.

Walking to the furnace, he knocked three times on the opening, and the hearth opened wide, emitting a red glow. Zhu Xianxun took the tongs and leisurely took out a few crucibles and a few small figurines, placing them aside.