Chapter 445: Taiyi (Requesting monthly votes at month's end)
Chapter 445: Taiyi (Requesting monthly votes at month's end)
As a direct descendant of a Core Formation cultivator, Jing Yi lived in the cave-dwelling district where cultivators gathered, rarely experiencing life in the steel-and-concrete cyberpunk city. Thus, his understanding of society's dark underbelly was quite limited.
For instance. . . he was unaware that beneath the virtual network, a "dark web" existed.
Fang Xi tossed aside Zhang Huohua's glasses terminal, picked up the anonymous port helmet he'd bought on the black market, and put it on.
Then, his Divine Consciousness seemed to touch something, transforming into a fish, swimming freely through countless virtual networks, before gently leaping into an abyss.
"Welcome to Elysium Space!"
A mechanical voice echoed in Fang Xi's ear.
At this moment, he had transformed into a cloaked figure wearing a cyan mask.
Not far off, neon lights shimmered in myriad colors, and a street dance bar pulsed with percussive heavy metal music.
Among them were a few kemonomimi girls, sporting fox tails or cat ears. . . each one captivating and alluring.
Not far off, a hot-bodied leopard woman was sensuously pole dancing. . .
If Fang Xi didn't have urgent business, he would definitely have gone over for a friendly chat.
‘Large-scale Cloud Virtual Consciousness Upload System—Elysium Space. . . Here, you don't even know if the fox girl across from you is a human or a dog. . . In fact, if you encounter a dog, you should consider yourself lucky, because the other party might also be an AI. . . ’
‘Hmm, without having cultivated Divine Consciousness, it’s easy to get confused here, unable to distinguish the boundary between reality and virtuality. . . Outside, this even seems to be a specific illness, called "Elysium Comprehensive Mental Syndrome". . . ’
‘Seeking sensory stimulation is merely Elysium Space’s most basic function. . . Here, countless black market transactions and crimes occur every moment. . . Does Fang Xian Dao Palace not manage it? Or can it no longer manage it all? ’
Fang Xi casually took a rainbow-like glass of liquor from a passing waiter's tray and poured it directly onto his mask.
Sizzle!
His mask split apart, left and right, each side growing sharp teeth, from which an impossibly long tongue stretched out, coiling in both the liquor and the glass.
Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy. . . A medley of flavors swiftly cycled through his mouth, then coalesced into a single word!
"Exhilarating!"
Fang Xi opened his mouth again, and a ball of flame spurted forth.
"Masked Split-Face Monster. . . What kind of template did Zhang Huohua choose. . . What, there's even a demon race template? Oh, never mind then. . ."
Fang Xi continued forward, occasionally freeloading some fine wine and delicious food, before suddenly turning into an alley filled with filthy sewage pipes.
After reaching the end, a hidden moon symbol appeared on the left.
He gently knocked a few times, and a vibrating sound spread out with a strange rhythm.
A wall swiftly opened, revealing a burly man in black leather armor with lips covered in nails: "May the dark night shield you. . ."
"May the Dark Moon descend. . . " Fang Xi replied in a hoarse voice.
"Come in!"
The burly man stepped aside, and Fang Xi walked in, seeing the surroundings instantly dematerialize as countless green data streams surged forth, forming another passage.
When he reached the end, he arrived at a church.
A black moon hung in the center, serving as some kind of emblem.
On the prayer benches along both sides, a few black-robed figures were sparsely seated, some softly conversing about something. . .
Looking at these people, Fang Xi suddenly felt like he had come home.
‘All Demonic Cultivators. . . The aura is too authentic! ’
‘Hmm, to avoid being completely wiped out, only Zhang Huohua's handler knows his identity. . . Theoretically, as long as I eliminate this handler, and then eliminate the manager of all cultists—the "Dark Moon Cult Master"—there should be no possibility of a leak. . . ’
Fang Xi pondered silently. Before long, a red-robed cultivator appeared.
He had a high nose bridge and azure eyes, and in his hand, he clutched a Dark Moon pendant: "My child, you have arrived. . ."
"Priest, I have arrived."
Fang Xi replied with a cold expression, following this handler, who was loaded with a missionary template, into a confessional booth.
The confessional booth appeared quite small from the outside, but upon entering, he found the interior space was like a palace, furnished with incredible luxury.
"Here, all our conversations are double encrypted. . . ensuring they cannot be eavesdropped upon by Fang Xian Dao Palace's virtual network sentinels. . ."
The priest casually reclined on the sofa, his posture relaxed and comfortable: "But before that. . . Blood sacrifice to the Blood Demon, bone offering to the Bone Demon."
The priest's expression turned solemn as he formed a strange hand seal with both hands.
"Immortal spirits suffer weakness, Heavenly Demons ascend!"
Fang Xi also formed the hand seal, his expression quite displeased.
Because after uttering the motto, it was as if a secret key had been activated, allowing the priest to exploit a network vulnerability and activate the cameras in the room, revealing Fang Xi's current location and surroundings. . .
"Speak, why did you do this? You should know that I'm taking a risk of exposure by doing so. Don't you know how powerful Fangxian University's firewalls are? "
Fang Xi said with a grim expression.
"Sigh. . . because recently, a few cultivators impersonated our people and stole the core data of the Dark Moon Demonic Art. The Cult Master is furious. . . A thorough investigation is inevitable. . ."
"But I don't cultivate demonic arts. " Fang Xi continued to complain, mimicking Zhang Huohua's personality with remarkable vividness.
Cultivators who underwent demonic qi modification and switched to demonic cultivation basically couldn't pass the Kyushu World's security gates. Thus, most of them loitered in the wilderness, effectively serving as cannon fodder for the descent of the Moon Demon.
Zhang Huohua was barely a high-level undercover agent; he didn't cultivate demonic arts but was controlled by secret restrictions implanted within him.
As for the truly formidable figures within the Dark Moon Cult, it was said they possessed secret methods to hide their demonic qi without a trace, maintaining overt identities even within the Kyushu World—perhaps even being prominent figures.
"Have you found out who it was?"
Fang Xi pressed again.
"Yes, we found out! It's those lunatics from the Sky Azure Institute. They claim they want to research 'demonic art transformation,' to retain divine abilities while changing the demonic art into a method that absorbs spiritual energy for cultivation. . . This, this is just trying to freeload!"
The priest cursed indignantly, though it might have been out of envy.
Proper cultivation methods of the Demon Race naturally involved absorbing demonic qi.
But Fang Xi thought of the human demonic cultivators in the Southern Barrens Cultivation World; just like him, they absorbed spiritual energy. Clearly, they practiced modified cultivation methods.
Regardless of whether they were messed up and unrecognizable. . . at least they were cultivable, and they retained many demonic secret arts and divine abilities!
‘This line of thought isn’t wrong. . . Cultivators really are a bunch of freeloaders, wanting the benefits of powerful demonic arts and rapid progress, yet not wanting to be constrained by the Demon Race. . . ’
‘Only children make choices; adults want it all. . . The priest is like this, could he be envious and jealous? Because he can’t get it. . . ’
Fang Xi thought with some amusement.
"By the way, you asked for those Trojan viruses last time, saying you wanted to train new recruits. How's it going? Have you found a target yet?"
The priest didn't bring up the Sky Azure Institute matter again, changing his tone as he asked.
"I've found a few suitable targets, and I'm currently in need of support. . ."
Fang Xi's expression turned solemn.
In truth, his purpose in coming this time wasn't to silence anyone; just like the Sky Azure Institute's objective, he was here to freeload resources from the Dark Moon Cult. . .
"Oh, what kind of support? " the priest inquired, a faint, unpleasant premonition already forming in his heart.
"Spiritual Root Optimization Liquid, at least two standard portions!"
Fang Xi stated: "With that, I'm confident I can draw another excellent student from Fangxian University into our ranks. . ."
"Spiritual Root Optimization Liquid? ! That's a controlled substance, not easy to get. . . Moreover, many manufacturers no longer bother producing it because it's too costly and provides too little improvement. Fang Xian Dao Palace has already classified it as a 'high energy consumption, low output' industry, offering no subsidies and instead levying heavy taxes. . . Nowadays, only a few private laboratories occasionally dabble in it. . ."
The priest looked at Fang Xi with some suspicion.
Fang Xi, however, met his gaze fearlessly: "You know. . . I'm already a superior-grade spiritual root. 'Spiritual Root Optimization Liquid' can at best only elevate ordinary mortals without aptitude to low-grade spiritual roots, or purify low-grade and mid-grade spiritual roots. It's useless to me now. . . If the prodigies of Fangxian University didn't need this kind of spiritual liquid, and it wasn't even on the credit exchange list, why would I come to you?"
"What you say makes sense. This type of optimization liquid always circulates on the black market. I will monitor it on your behalf and acquire it upon discovery. . ."
The priest thought for a moment, then finally agreed.
...
"Good. . . now I just need to wait for the Dark Moon Cult to deliver the goods to my doorstep."
In the Flying Immortal Pavilion cave-dwelling.
Its 500 square meters were already enough for Fang Xi to enjoy life.
Ever since contacting the cult and receiving their support, he had begun attending classes punctually every day, followed by immersing himself in the online library, entering the lifestyle of a diligent university student.
For Fang Xi, catching up to Zhang Huohua's learning progress and even surpassing it was no difficult task.
However, to fully comprehend the cultivation civilization of the Kyushu World, extract its essence, and make it his own, that was a considerably difficult undertaking.
‘Sigh. . . Modern science’s disciplines are now so subdivided that one person’s energy is simply insufficient to master them all. ’
‘Now, this cultivation technology, even for a Nascent Soul cultivator, would be extremely difficult to fully master. . . ’
Fang Xi held an ancient book in his hand, strolling under the tree-lined paths of the campus.
This kind of leisure and comfort was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
And the book in his hand was none other than "On the Evolution and Changes of AI Strong Intelligence"!
Originally, Fang Xi had intended to research Primordial Spirit Magical Artifacts and the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi Atlas, perhaps even pursuing a master's or doctorate in the process.
But after dabbling in it for a while, he reluctantly discovered that his own energy was limited, and it was almost impossible to fully learn and delve deeply into these subjects.
But cultivators are adept at utilizing external resources!
‘If my brain isn’t enough, I can borrow a brain to use. . . ’
‘They say there are some modified humans now who can continuously load chips and processors into their heads. . . I don't need to do that. If I just create an artificial intelligence that belongs to me, and then let it learn, couldn't I just reap the benefits? ’
Fang Xi silently gave himself a thumbs up for his quick thinking, and at the same time, decided on its name—‘Taiyi’!
‘In the future, the artifact equipped with artificial intelligence will be called—the Taiyi Scripture! ’
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