Leeks, Octopuses, Refining Demons

"Something we yearn for is right beside us?" Under the tea shed, he still did not understand.

Zhu Zhengwei merely smiled.

A leek is growing above your heads. It would be a shame not to harvest it.

But,

It was normal that they did not know.

How could mortals possibly sense qi?

They merely thought it was ordinary wild grass!

Those who could sense qi were all cultivators who had already entered the path.

But such people were basically all in the Three Great Dynasties—emperors and their blood relatives—and would not casually venture outside!

Yet there was an aged tyrant in the City of a Hundred Stones before him. Unfortunately—

Zhu Zhengwei smiled, stood up, and prepared to leave.

Several travelers beside him revealed fierce expressions. They had a rough, outlaw-like air about them. They silently pressed their hands against their sabers and slowly stood up.

But the middle-aged traveler waved his hand and calmly said, "We do not kill indiscriminately. He had no intention of reporting us. I saw no change in his expression."

"But—"

"If we lack even this much courage, if we cannot trust anyone else, won't we become the next Slave Hero whom no one trusts?"

Several guards nearby withdrew.

The middle-aged traveler suddenly spoke to Zhu Zhengwei's back. "Who exactly are you? A skilled martial artist? Were you confident in your abilities enough to come here alone? Won't you really join me? This grand undertaking, this land and its mountains, will eventually be changed."

Zhu Zhengwei shook his head and merely said, "If fate allows, we will meet again."

"You still haven't told me your name, and I haven't told you mine!" He suddenly laughed. "Otherwise, with the world so vast, how will we meet again?"

Zhu Zhengwei only said, "Hero, I hope that when I learn your name, it will not be from your own mouth, but from the people of the world."

"I will."

Zhu Zhengwei walked around the city.

He saw traces of the splendor the Desert Giant City must once have possessed, despite its extremely harsh environment.

Unfortunately, it was now filled with a decayed and dilapidated air. No one repaired anything. Instead, the area around the Arena was bustling with activity, and everywhere exuded the feeling of an impending collapse.

"That god is already about to die of old age."

"Even gods can die."

Rumors had already erupted throughout the city, and many people were itching to act.

Everyone was waiting for him to grow old and die, yet they could not wait until he was completely dead.

Once he truly died of old age, the qi in his body would disperse. They had to kill him and consume his qi while he was still alive, seizing everything within him!

"A new era is about to begin. I arrived at exactly the right time. Let's see how things develop."

When Zhu Zhengwei left, he put on a cloak and departed the desert city against the blowing sand.

Three days later, a middle-aged traveler brought a batch of goods into the city and presented them to the palace of Stone Light Emperor Changshou. He launched an assassination, thereby igniting the transformation of a new nation.

"Rebels!"

"I am Heaven's Bestowed Power! Kingship is divinely granted! God will not forgive you!"

An old man with a hunched back radiated white light.

Invisible waves of qi rolled around him. He resembled an ancient divine statue from the distant era of classical Greece.

Every curve and edge of his body seemed to have been meticulously polished by the finest sculptor. Standing atop the huge yellow boulders, he radiated a romance and wisdom belonging to this age.

Only at this moment did people rediscover that he had once been a fierce hero, who had raised a blade against a god with a mortal body.

"Kill!"

Countless warriors carrying long guns and spears leaped into the air.

They charged toward the old man on the city wall, who held a scepter and wore a crown.

The old man was covered in blood as he was surrounded and attacked. Suddenly, as though sensing something, he ran across the boulder, his eyes filled with desire, and looked toward a tea shed outside the city gate.

Inside the tea shed, the middle-aged traveler watched the battlefield as its leader.

On the roof of the tea shed, a wild grass swayed in the sunlight, blazing brilliantly and standing aloof from the world.

"That is the aura of qi. How can this be?"

An astonished, regretful, and rueful expression suddenly appeared on Stone Light Emperor Changshou's face, changing through every shade of emotion.

He was growing old. His entire life, he had traveled everywhere and stopped at nothing in pursuit of immortality, yet he had never managed to break through to the next realm. If only he had this herb containing qi—

Pfft!

"Volley!!"

Countless experts drew their bows.

Unfortunately, Zhu Zhengwei received the news a day later.

In the end, they had failed to surround and capture Stone Light Emperor Changshou, the second generation of the Slave Dynasty. He had escaped severely wounded and was nowhere to be found.

That wild grass still swayed on the tea shed beneath the gates of the desert city, untouched by anyone.

It was a rare treasure that could lead one to immortality, desired by countless people, yet it stood near the bustling city gate, unrecognized by anyone.

"Wow, there's even a movie-like grand performance. It's filled with the weight of history, just like a blockbuster."

This plant was completely carefree and thought the scene had been done quite well. At the final moment, the old man who looked like an emperor had even exchanged glances with him. The visual impact was incredible!

Everyone was baffled by the emperor's extraordinary excitement at the end, yet no one knew what he had discovered.

But the entire era was swept by enormous waves.

A howling gale rolled across the land.

"Divine authority has fallen!"

"Find him! Find Stone Light Emperor Changshou of the Slave Kingdom! The second-generation king's lifespan has reached its end. Whoever finds and kills him will become the new king!"

"Kingship is mine!"

"I will possess the Power of God!"

Countless slaves, nobles, wandering warriors, craftsmen, and farmers searched everywhere for any possible trace.

As Zhu Zhengwei traveled, he deliberately took a few detours and saw some cacti, wild grass, leeks, and dandelions.

Zhu Zhengwei even went over to touch them, sensing the brand-new forms of these fourth-generation Servers. In this world, they were plants, yet abundant qi flowed through their bodies. They were the operating Servers of the world.

He also heard their soft murmurs:

"Wow, there's actually someone here! Is this a hidden scene? It's so beautiful."

"This is so interesting. The scenery is beautiful, and there are hidden interactions with people."

"Handsome guy, handsome guy, hurry and touch me. I'm so ticklish."

Since the other one was being so flirtatious, Zhu Zhengwei plucked him.

What was qi?

The essence of qi was soul energy dispersed throughout the world!

These Servers, as living creatures, constantly released soul energy—in other words, they were mining!

Only with these Mining Machines could living water gush forth endlessly like a Spring Eye, nourishing the withered mountains and rivers until an entire fertile world was formed.

Unfortunately, there were still too few Mining Machines in this world.

The qi they mined had a very low concentration in the air, so people could not sense it.

Only by consuming those who had intercepted and eaten from these springs, causing large amounts of qi to enter their bodies, could one truly enter the path and begin sensing the thin qi between heaven and earth, embarking on the road of cultivation!

Zhu Zhengwei glanced at them a few times and continued forward.

"If you put it that way, aren't these plants equivalent to 'Innate Spiritual Roots'? Obtaining one lets you enter the Dao?"

The spiritual qi of heaven and earth drying up in the Age of Declining Dharma was equivalent to a scarcity of Servers and insufficient spiritual-qi production.

"Then weren't the previous Servers people with 'spiritual roots'? For other mortals to cultivate, they had to seize those spiritual roots before they could embark on the path?"

Zhu Zhengwei entertained random thoughts. "Of course, after I turned them from people into wild grass in this world, they also lost their Root Dream. Without a birthplace or dwelling, they truly became randomly generated wild grass."

He passed through Bronze Country. This land was retracing the path of technological civilization.

Bronze and black iron smelting were well developed, and steam civilization was highly advanced. Yet it was also very unique, because it had combined with qi and forged its own path.

After walking around, he found that although this world had developed for countless years, it was ultimately still a feudal-era civilization. Only a few unusual extraordinary seeds had begun to sprout, slowly blossoming with the passage of time.

It made sense, too.

During Earth's five thousand years of human civilization, the first four thousand eight hundred years had essentially been a period of accumulation and consolidation. They had all been agricultural eras, and most of that time had been meaningless.

Only in the last two hundred years had the accumulation been completed, causing a civilization explosion and establishing basic physics and chemistry. Humanity had rapidly transformed from ancient agriculture into modern civilization in merely two hundred years.

"Do you expect me to wait five thousand years for slow accumulation?" Zhu Zhengwei had no desire to wait.

Zhu Zhengwei eventually settled in the Seaside Ghost Country.

There was no particular reason, except that the country was by the sea, the scenery was good, and it suited him for some experiments. He wanted to plant a few seeds among these feudal dynasties.

He would conduct some experiments himself.

"Since humans cannot succeed in a short time, and Zhang Zhi has worked hard until now without managing it, let's change direction. What about other animals?"

As for animals rising and humanity falling down the food chain?

Heh heh heh.

One's position determined one's perspective. In Zhu Zhengwei's eyes, all living beings were already equal.

The human species was ultimately too powerful because of its brain. It could only circulate and store qi in the brain, and it was difficult for qi to pass below the neck, leaving the body weak and poorly nourished. Animals, however, had little in the way of brains and only possessed instinct. Perhaps qi could pass through their entire bodies.

Thus, Zhu Zhengwei settled in a secluded harbor of the Seaside Ghost Country. There were quite a few fishing villages nearby. He planned to begin the second segment of his life outside Zhujing Village during his childhood—or perhaps the second "Yellow Millet Dream"—and conduct research in seclusion.

Ultimately, it was also for the development of the world.

Three months later.

Several steam ships from Bronze Kingdom sailed across the sea and entered the harbor to conduct trade between the two countries with the Ghost Country. Meanwhile, the Slave Dynasty was fighting so fiercely that heaven and earth seemed to collapse. That region was already in a troubled time.

The sea wind was strong, and the damp scent of the ocean was heavy.

Zhu Zhengwei waited at the harbor. From time to time, he saw traveling scholars from Bronze Country disembark with large chests, carrying Beast-Skin Books and recording their journeys.

Books were extremely precious in this world. Ordinary families absolutely could not afford them. Knowledge was a precious thing in the feudal era, and most books were made of beast skin. He had heard that only the upper echelons of Bronze Country possessed the old civilization's Papermaking Technology.

"Carrying a book everywhere they go. I guess they learned that from Zhang Zhi." Zhu Zhengwei began to grumble.

However, he also knew that, as a Scholar Kingdom, Bronze Country required every student to undertake a long-distance journey before graduating. Their academies insisted that students must not become bookworms.

Feudal society, studying hard in poverty, obtaining honors, becoming a great scholar, and earning fame throughout the land.

Whether in ancient Western or Eastern civilizations, things were basically like this. There was plenty of corruption behind the scenes, and nepotism among aristocrats and nobles was everywhere.

It was very unfair, yet relatively fair.

But upon closer thought, modern Earth's civilized society was the same.

"They're here!" After waiting a while, a dark-skinned girl soon handed Zhu Zhengwei a wooden bucket.

Several octopuses inside were jumping energetically.

Zhu Zhengwei glanced at them and nodded, then handed over three flattened beer caps whose text and embossed patterns were no longer recognizable. "Three copper coins."

"Mm." Although it was only three coins, the girl still counted them carefully. She wanted to save money to send her younger brother to school.

Zhu Zhengwei turned and left.

The laboratory was extremely crude.

The technology of this era could only produce rough glass, and even that belonged exclusively to the nobles.

The room was filled with ceramic clay jars, giving it the appearance of an ancient apothecary.

"The essence of qi is soul energy. Then what happens when soul energy circulates throughout the entire body?"

Zhu Zhengwei held a plant in front of him and placed it into a jar. "To be honest, this is also something Zhang Zhi told me in his diary, the result of his painstaking research over the years! I know nothing about it, but that doesn't stop me from following his line of thought and applying it to animals."

"Huh? What is he trying to do? Is he telling me to lie down?"

Zhu Zhengwei picked up the Medicine Pestle and aimed it at the muttering plant.

"So big and thick."

The Medicine Pestle came crashing down.

"Nooo!"

The plant was struck several times before finally reacting. "Am I about to die?"

Bang bang bang!

He was quickly ground to pieces.

The entire plant was utterly dazed.

The hell? You told me this was a sleep and relaxation game?

Are you sure this isn't a horror game?

But when he heard the sound of pounding medicine—rat-a-tat-tat-tat—he only felt that it was tranquil and soothing. Drowsiness overcame him, and his consciousness slowly began to fade.

His consciousness grew completely hazy. He was probably about to fall asleep, right?

"Holy crap! This works too? As expected of the Development Team. I understand now!"

"There's actually such a way to sleep. Death is also a kind of sleep method suggested by Psychological Suggestion! The Development Team put so much thought into this!"

"Sure enough, what they said is true. Every person gets an entirely different new scene. My life as a plant really happened to match this perfectly!"

"I love it, I love it!"

Zhu Zhengwei carefully pounded him into green sludge, then fed it to the octopus kept in the water tank. He stared intently at the writhing marine creature.

"An octopus has nine brains distributed throughout its body. I want to see whether qi can circulate perfectly between the brains and every part of the body."