Why Not Sit Back and Watch Him Ascend in Broad Daylight?

The testing process was tedious, with different test papers appearing one after another. But the contents of the tests were interesting—and highly valuable.

Not only had he experienced more than a dozen different kinds of "mild contamination," he had also recorded the specific attributes of these high-purity contaminations.

Though he had no way to directly ask what Pollution Source each test paper represented, Yuan Zhu still entered this contamination data into the Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture. If he encountered similar contamination in the future, he would receive an immediate warning and response.

The Pollution Energy selected by the Security Bureau specifically for testing suspects was bound to be highly representative. It was either particularly dangerous or widespread. Those pathetic small fry clearly weren't qualified to be used for testing.

"All right, your testing is over. Next comes the final step."

The old man removed the final strange image—a sheet covered in crimson veins, one glance at which made the brain smell a thick stench of blood, accompanied by the sound of intestines writhing and growling.

He tapped the tabletop with his knuckles again, rousing Yuan Zhu from his daze.

"Huh? It's over? That was fast." Like someone awakened from a dream, Yuan Zhu was still somewhat dazed, and he couldn't stop himself from swallowing.

The sensation of gradually sinking into the tests bit by bit had been utterly surreal. It was as if he had fallen under an illusion, quickly forgetting himself and immersing himself in a virtual experience where all five senses were completely distorted.

The Immortal Scripture had been sounding alarms nonstop in his mind. But to better muddle through, he had deliberately had the Little Elf block those warnings and thrown himself into the experience wholeheartedly.

In the end, he reached one conclusion: every trace contaminant that made the Soul Firewall instinctively sense deadly danger had sent him a friendly summons.

While immersed in them, the images and sensations had clearly been extremely negative, yet his brain and thoughts had been too sluggish to recognize it. Instead, they had fed him falsely comforting signals.

He remembered that, with several of the test papers, his eyeballs had clearly been pierced and his tongue sliced open. Yet even as he felt the stabbing pain, an equal measure of pleasure had emerged alongside it. That painful pleasure, the irresistible urge to keep probing the edge of agony—looking back now, it truly had been evil. His mental state at the time had been extremely dangerous.

Similar reactions had occurred many times, and he had reported every one of them truthfully. Thinking back on it now, Yuan Zhu felt somewhat guilty.

He knew perfectly well that his body had not been contaminated in the slightest. But during the tests, he felt as if he had surrendered without resistance to one thing after another. His performance had been truly terrible.

Unable to help himself, he probed, "Sir, is my situation normal? Have I been contaminated?"

Wouldn't other people rather die than yield when faced with contamination test papers? Was I the only one who switched from A to B after surrendering, with absurdly high compatibility?

The old man ignored Yuan Zhu. Based on his answers and performance just now, he continuously checked or crossed off boxes on a form. He moved quickly, and before long, he had completed the entire sheet and signed his name in the corner.

"That is private information. I cannot disclose it."

Yuan Zhu didn't give up. "I'm just curious. During the tests, some papers made me feel repulsed and resistant, while others drew me in uncontrollably. It was hard to resist the instinct to throw myself into their embrace. Is that good or bad?"

The old man gave him a half-smiling glance. "Among these test papers are samples from some notorious evil gods, mixed with the power of some Orthodox Gods, all arranged randomly. Is it not perfectly normal for you to resist some and be drawn to others?"

But he did not explain which attractions were good and which aversions were bad. Yuan Zhu only remembered that he seemed to have been rejected by a Buddha whose head was covered in eyeballs.

So here was the question: was that Buddha, dripping with cosmic-horror flavor, good or evil? Riddle-speakers really deserved to die! Get out of Running City!

"Come. For the final step of the test, smear this ink paste onto your palm, then leave a handprint on this sheet of white paper. Finally, prick your fingertip with a needle and drip one drop of blood onto the lower-right corner of the paper. That's all."

As he spoke, the old man gathered the test papers back into a sealed metal box and returned it to the drawer. Then he opened another drawer and took out something like an overturned paint box. Inside, paints of every color had been chaotically stirred together, weaving into one distorted ring after another.

Not only that, but when Yuan Zhu's palm approached the chaotic paint, the Immortal Scripture sounded the alarm again.

Yuan Zhu was already numb to it. This damn thing issued warnings around the clock without a moment's rest. Had he ever encountered anything that wasn't dangerous or contaminated? So the ink provided by the Security Bureau wasn't safe at all? Suppressing his discomfort, the instant he placed his palm onto the paint, he felt as though the box had suddenly come alive. Countless thread-like tentacles stretched out, brushing and burrowing across the skin of his palm, trying to enter his flesh through his pores.

Yuan Zhu shuddered violently and raised his hand with a disgusted expression. As if he had touched something filthy, goosebumps rose all over his body.

Then he hurriedly pressed his palm onto the white paper, immediately snatched several tissues, and vigorously wiped his palm over and over, scrubbing away the ink that was squirming uneasily and madly drilling inward.

"Give blood, then you can leave," the old man reminded him, lest he forget to bleed.

Yuan Zhu asked back, "That's it? I passed the test and can go home?"

The old man opened another drawer, took out a card, and tossed it onto the table before him. "You're temporarily free. For the next two months, come back for a retest once every week. After eight weeks, you'll be completely free. Keep this medical card. When you have time, go to the Holy Light Exorcism Department at City Second Hospital. You can receive two free Holy Light treatments."

Yuan Zhu was somewhat sensitive about receiving treatment, and asked, "I already passed the test and was confirmed to be fine. What treatment do I need?"

The old man patiently explained, "These tests do not guarantee that there is absolutely no problem. I am only responsible for checking whether you have been infected by several taboo powers universally recognized as harmful. Beyond those, there are more contaminations that the Security Bureau has neither the time nor manpower to monitor. I'm telling you to go to the hospital and receive free Holy Light. It costs nothing. If you're sick, it exorcises demons; if you're healthy, it preserves your health. It can soothe your mind, deeply relax you, and conduct a thorough cleansing of contamination. Why resist it? Could it be that you fear the radiance of Holy Light?"

"There's such a good deal?" Of course Yuan Zhu feared nothing. He reached out and slipped the card into his pocket, deciding that he would go check it out when he had time. This was a way to come into zero-distance contact with an orthodox Extraordinary System.

As he searched through his memories, he quickly recalled that Holy Light was the unique extraordinary power of the Holy Temple organization.

It was a top-tier extraordinary religious force that stood shoulder to shoulder with "Daoism and the Buddhist Sect," with a broad presence across the globe. Many major cities had Holy Temple Churches.

Not only was the Holy Temple one of Du Ling's most mainstream orthodox religions, it also had countless hidden ties to the Great Moth, ranked seventh among the Twelve Duty Cycle Commanders.

In Yuan Zhu's understanding, the Holy Temple was similar to the "Church of the God of Light" from fantasy novels, or an isomer of Earth's Abrahamic Christianity. The scriptures and doctrines of the Holy Temple worshipped numerous "abstract Angels," and the Great Moth among the Duty Cycle Commanders was one of the most famous.

However, Du Ling's Holy Temple had no elements such as crosses or crucifixion.

Holy Light, meanwhile, was said to possess extremely strong repulsive power and the ability to dispel filth. It was commonly used to exorcise evil and banish demons.

After sorting this out, Yuan Zhu shamelessly asked again, "Sir, do you have any similar medical cards? For example, from the Buddhist Sect or Daoism? Checking the body and eliminating hidden dangers—how can the Holy Temple alone be enough?"

The old man was amused. "You really have no shame. Forget the Buddhist Sect. A few years ago, Taixi's upper ranks had a tiny little disagreement with the Buddhist Sect, and that sparked a wave of anti-Buddhist sentiment along the northern West Coast. The capable senior monks who had been staying at temples all left the local monasteries for the south. The skilled monks who remained are all in private temples and do not provide services to the public."

"As for Daoism, there is a Daoist Temple nearby that worships Yellow Sky. It's deep in the mountains on the outskirts, the road is hard to travel, and it only receives those with affinity. Its fees aren't low either. If you're interested, you can pay it a visit yourself. I'll give you the address. But aren't you young people nowadays all resistant to and contemptuous of antique beliefs like Yellow Sky? All day long, you shout, 'Yellow Sky is already dead.' Look how good the Holy Temple is—popular, fashionable, and it even has subsidized cooperation with the city government."

Only half-understanding, Yuan Zhu nodded as though he understood. "Is that so? Then forget it."

He was unfamiliar with the Buddhist Sect of this world, but he truly understood Yellow Sky. The Xi Kingdom had once worshipped Yellow Sky Dao as its state religion. More precisely, across the thousands of years of history in the lands of the eastern Xi Kingdom on Geng Continent, the mainstream school of Daoist thought had been dominated by Yellow Sky alone.

What was even more outrageous was that the Daoist patriarch revered by the Yellow Sky Dao cultural system was precisely Earth's Great Peace Dao—the Great Worthy and Good Teacher, the General of Heaven, Zhang Jiao.

This identity as "Daoist patriarch" was not the Three Pure Ones of Earth's Daoist mythology, but Li Er, the human founder of Daoist thought. Zhang Jiao was equivalent to the Li Er who had founded Daoist thought on Du Ling Planet. That alone was outrageous enough.

Yuan Zhu: So I'm not alone after all. There are other Earthlings here.

When the original owner had been in school, he had held little interest in these historical and cultural classes. Now that Yuan Zhu searched through his memories, the relevant information was incomplete, but it was enough for him to infer and analyze.

He knew that in the even more distant ancient era of Xi Kingdom, Great Peace Dao had not appeared directly on that land. Moreover, many historians throughout the ages had been more inclined to believe that "Zhang Jiao" was a fictional mythological figure.

Yet throughout the ages, quite a few prominent local historical figures suspected of being Transmigrators had refuted the traditional view. They stated outright that the "Great Worthy Teacher" had truly existed—an extraordinary man from another immortal realm who had transmitted teachings through dreams, enlightening the founder of Heavenly Duke Manor and establishing the earliest Yellow Sky Dao.

This Heavenly Duke Manor was practically a bargain-bin substitute for Earth's Celestial Master Manor. The first-generation Heavenly Duke General was suspected to have been a Yellow Turban rebel of Great Peace Dao who had transmigrated to ancient Du Ling. He had directly claimed that the Dao Ancestor had imparted teachings to him in a dream, replicated Great Peace Dao doctrines and classics such as the Dao De Jing, then claimed the teachings came from the Dao Ancestor and created the local faith in Yellow Sky.

Thus, from ancient times to the present, the people of Xi Kingdom had simply believed that "Yellow Sky is above." Yellow Sky Daoism, meanwhile, was merely at the religious level of an ordinary feudal dynasty. It possessed no supernatural power, nor any true gods.

Everything had to begin with the "Magic Plane Invasion" four hundred years ago. Du Ling Star's supernatural resurgence had begun at that very point in time, and Yellow Sky had also come back to life then.

But before long, Yellow Sky, whose faith had endured for thousands of years, was smashed to the ground by the suddenly rising Red Sky.

Thus the prophecy "Yellow Sky is dead, Red Sky shall rise. The year is Jiazi; great fortune under heaven" spread far and wide across Geng Continent.

The old forces led by the remnants of Xi Kingdom collapsed like mountains after their defeat, toppling at light speed. The Red Dragon Empire, which worshipped Red Sky and steam technology, swept through the six directions and engulfed the eight wastes.

In the end, the surviving scum of Xi Kingdom who emigrated to the New Continent brought with them the obsolete faith in Yellow Sky from the old era, struggling on until today. The New Continent West Coast was now also one of the few places in the world that openly held Sacrifice Rituals for Yellow Sky and revered it as orthodox.

However, the young people of the New Federation no longer bought into Yellow Sky's nonsense. Only the older generation still worshipped it devoutly. Yet after being steeped in it generation after generation, everyone was quite familiar with these antique beliefs.

So the younger generation all mocked Yellow Sky for being dead, and likewise did not particularly believe in the Great Red Sky, which was inherently evil to them due to its hostile stance. Nowadays, when Daoist masters cultivated immortality, they cultivated Kunlun Immortal Arts and secret scriptures of overseas Loose Immortals...

As more and more bizarre knowledge surfaced, Yuan Zhu immediately grew excited and communicated with the Little Elf in his mind. "Quick, record this! This world has gods and immortals! And they aren't counterfeit frauds passing themselves off as magical races—Sword Immortals really exist! They've even been recruited by the Federation and are an important combat unit in the military!"

The Little Elf, which had also read the relevant fragments of memory, was equally stunned. "Recorded, recorded! Did the Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture stumble into dumb luck? Did it accidentally arrive in another unknown universe that genuinely possesses an immortal cultivation system? Unbelievable—it's practically a coincidence too perfect to be deliberate!"

Yuan Zhu disagreed. "Not necessarily. There's something wrong with Du Ling Star. It can link together eight Outer Universes. It was able to cross time and space to catch the Great Wilderness Immortal Scripture when it fell here, and it even pulled in other Earth Transmigrator compatriots back in ancient times, producing things like the Dao Ancestor and Zhang Jiao's Yellow Sky faith. So it's hardly surprising that it could pull genuine immortal cultivators over from the time-space of an unknown universe."

The Little Elf said, "I'm still shocked! You have to understand, more than four hundred years ago, this planet was just an ordinary one—a feudal dynasty from ancient times without the slightest trace of supernatural power. How did its whole style suddenly go completely off the rails? Linking multiple Outer Universes in succession, giving birth to and nurturing so many evil gods? This planet has probably been possessed and taken over, hasn't it?!"

How could Yuan Zhu, who had dropped out of high school, answer such profound questions? "I don't understand, but I'm deeply shocked!"

The Little Elf said, "Me too!"

After stuffing the Holy Light Exorcism Department consultation card from Municipal Second Hospital into his pocket, Yuan Zhu left the interrogation room in a daze, regaining his freedom.

His mind was a mess right now. There was too much information. The immortal scripture could process it, but he himself could not withstand the overload spilling over from the data. He needed some peace and quiet.

Inside the interrogation room behind Yuan Zhu, the young man who had finished handing over his equipment pushed open the door and entered. Seeing the empty seat, he said with great dissatisfaction, "Captain Wang, are we really just letting him leave? He was the sole survivor of an evil Sacrifice Ritual that claimed more than forty lives. There's no way he could be innocent—there must be a huge problem hidden in him. Anyone with eyes can see that!"

The old man, having put away the handprints, spoke. "But the test results show that he's terrifyingly clean—cleaner and purer than even the offspring of great nobles."

The young man immediately said, "So what? Are you saying you believe it was all natural?"

Old Wang nodded as he filed his nails. "And what if it wasn't natural? He's clean enough, and his mental state is stable. That's enough. We deal with so many problems every day—where would we find the energy to focus on a normal person who is 'clean enough and stable enough'? Are you not going to live a normal life? Not spend time with your wife and children, not find a girlfriend, not go to bars, not go fishing, not go Listening to Music in a Brothel—do you insist on keeping your eyes on him?"

The young man said, "I..."

Old Wang sighed. "You really are too young, far too unsteady. Look at it from another angle: a sacrifice involving more than forty lives. If he really has a problem, have you considered how much power an evil god would have poured into his body? This young man named Yuan Zhu had never had any opportunity to come into contact with supernatural power before. He's a complete amateur who knows nothing of cultivation taboos, doesn't know how to control power, and has no safety awareness whatsoever."

"A person with no understanding of cultivation, no backing from an orthodox school, who gets caught up in an illegal Sacrifice Ritual and has a body full of polluted power poured into him. The stronger that power is, the more dangerous his condition becomes... What does the law enforcement manual say when facing dangerous supernatural individuals with powerful strength?"

The young man said, "Then make them stronger, and then..."

Old Wang took over, "And then Du Ling will reject him, banishing him beyond reality—that is, Divine Concealment. So there's nothing we need to do. We only need to make sure he undergoes retesting on schedule. If he behaves normally, we're all happy. If he loses control, we arrest him directly. If he is hiding some other conspiracy, wouldn't you release information about him? There are surely many people interested in a survivor of an evil ritual like this. If someone forces him to expose himself and use that filthy power, then we can just wait for him to lose control, and then ascend..."

The young man said, "That's irresponsible toward the general public!"

"Tch, I'm getting off work. Since your sense of justice is so strong, how about I help you apply for this year's Law System trial assessment?"

The young man nodded. "Alright!"

Old Wang froze. "Wait, you're serious?"

"I'm serious!"

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