The World's Erosion

Bang, bang, bang!

Violent knocking rang out. Seeing the door shake, it was obvious that the person knocking outside was in a terrible mood.

Click~

"An Zhen, you bastard!"

Wang Dong stood there clutching her bedding, furious.

"A beautiful girl shouldn't use such foul language."

The calm-faced boy spoke slowly. Something murky seemed to gather in his black eyes as traces of emotion were stripped away.

"And you have the nerve to say that!"

Her fair cheeks were flushed, not because she had barged into another boy's dormitory at night, but because she was furious.

She had been about to lie down and rest when she caught an unusual fragrance. Turning her head, she saw a layer of blue water mist wrap around Huo Yutong.

Remembering what An Zhen had won from that sixth-year turtle, there was no doubt that Huo Yutong had taken the Xuan Water Pill. Wang Dong refused to believe that he did not know the effects of taking it.

Wang Dong was surprised that An Zhen was willing to use a pill worth tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins on Huo Yutong, whom he had only known for a day or two. But she was even angrier that he had knowingly let Huo Yutong take it at night.

Where was she supposed to sleep!

Go stay with this guy?

A flash of Spiritual Light suddenly exploded in Wang Dong's mind. Her dreamlike pink-blue eyes instantly filled with vigilance, and her body, wrapped tightly in pajamas, lowered slightly as though she might attack at any moment.

"Xuan Water Pill. You dare say you didn't do it on purpose?"

"Do what on purpose?"

An Zhen rose to his feet and took a clean, soft blanket from the wardrobe.

As if he had thought of something, the boy suddenly took a large step forward. His handsome face wore a smiling expression as he forced the bedding-hugging girl into a corner. Wang Dong raised her fair little fist as if to say that she was not someone to mess with.

"Could Wang Dong possibly think this was a scheme I came up with so I could share a room with you?"

"Isn't it?"

Wang Dong swore that if this guy dared to show even the slightest filthy intention like some scumbag, her fist would hit his face the next second.

"I really hadn't thought of that."

An Zhen lightly shook his head, then put an appropriate distance between them. His gentle voice sounded. "Stay here tonight. I'll make do somewhere else for the night."

"?"

Had she really misunderstood him?

Wang Dong was puzzled.

But the boy had already moved. Holding the blanket, he tossed two things in an arc through the air, and they landed on the bed. "These are the two dormitory keys."

"You mean it?"

"Stay or don't."

A slightly cold voice rang out.

"!"

"You're still snapping at me!"

Wang Dong had clearly heard the hostility in that voice. Just as she was about to say something, the boy's somewhat unsteady figure disappeared around the corner.

"Hmph! At least you know better!"

Bang!

The dormitory door slammed shut in a fit of pique.

"I wasn't snapping at you."

Having just stepped out of the dormitory building, An Zhen let out a helpless sigh. The struggle in his eyes became even more obvious.

This was the aftermath of overusing his martial soul for a moment.

People could influence their martial souls through their will, innate talent, and many other factors. But martial souls could also influence people. Take the Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul, for example, or certain martial souls that would be branded as Evil Soul Masters the instant they awakened. That was not prejudice, but the price paid for painful lessons in the past. Powerful martial souls were like sentient divine artifacts. Those who could control and wield them naturally became first-rate powerhouses, while those who could not became slaves to their strength.

World Modulation Mode. Or rather, the world.

Without question, it was an extremely powerful martial soul.

Innate Full Soul Power was not its limit. It was the limit of An Zhen's body. He did not possess divine blood like Spirit Hall's Qian family, nor did every generation receive divine blessings and trials.

Since his martial soul was the world, then what was he?

The Heavenly Dao.

An Zhen had found a very fitting term from myths and legends of his previous life.

The Heavenly Dao was emotionless and impartial. It was like a machine without thoughts or feelings, keeping the entire world running in order.

His martial soul could autonomously absorb the energy of heaven and earth, continuously strengthening his soul. It sounded as though he had activated some kind of cheat.

But how could there be such a good thing in this world, where one gained rewards without paying any price?

The price was the martial soul's Erosion, which gradually drew him closer to the Heavenly Dao.

Normally, the Erosion was not especially severe and did not even affect his daily life. But whenever the world grew significantly stronger—by devouring large amounts of pure energy from heaven and earth, such as in a blessed land—or whenever An Zhen's authority increased significantly—by obtaining a soul ring—or whenever he overused his power like this, the Erosion would suddenly worsen.

The world rejected him. His martial soul eroded him.

Good grief, getting stronger really was not easy these days.

Fortunately, the former problem had already been resolved. As long as Huo Yutong was around, it would be fine.

As for the latter, An Zhen had his own solution.

The Heavenly Dao. Humanity.

Since his martial soul wanted to turn him into an emotionless Heavenly Dao, he merely had to strengthen his own emotions to resist it, or create more anchors that reinforced his humanity.

In the end, he would grasp everything!

Fortunately, my body matured early in this life. Otherwise, doing certain things would really be inconvenient.

But who should I find this time?

Although he could not reset his condition with a single click through the Virtual World, solving it in the Virtual World would work just as well. It would not affect anyone and would keep An Zhen from doing the sort of things Ma Hongjun had done in his teens.

The somewhat unsteady boy wandered through the academy at night. Beneath a sky full of stars, the silver moon hung high in the heavens. Moonlight spilled across the earth, draping the lake's blue daytime surface in shimmering beauty.

"This is... Sea God Lake?"

There seemed to be only one lake this large in Shrek Academy: Sea God Lake.

"An outer academy student?"

A cool, brisk voice sounded beside An Zhen's ear.

The blanket-draped boy turned around and closed his eyes under the other person's puzzled gaze.

Virtual World, Second Soul Skill, Tuo Yin.

He opened his eyes.

"Mm."

"If you run into any trouble, you can come find a teacher." The tall figure in fiery red left behind those words. The next instant, the temperature of the originally chilly night soared. Crimson flames outlined a graceful bird, wrapping around the tall figure as she streaked across the lake like a meteor.

"Looks like she misunderstood."

With his pale face and extremely weak appearance, wandering outside with a blanket instead of sleeping in his dormitory in the middle of the night, it was understandable.

Shaking his head, An Zhen spread the large blanket over the grass and lay down directly on it, pulling one corner over his stomach.

Virtual World.

Second Soul Skill, Tuo Yin.

Beside Sea God Lake in the Virtual World, a red long boot stepped onto the soil.

She was an incomparably beautiful woman.

Her long crimson hair resembled burning flames. Beneath her bangs was an oval face, carrying the beauty of a woman in her twenties. The slightly cool lines of her face added a touch of aloofness to her breathtaking beauty. Her gorgeous red gown outlined perfect curves, while her soul-stirring fullness formed beautiful arcs.

"Grant reality. Relationship: passionate lovers," the virtual deity commanded.

"An Zhen?" A somewhat puzzled voice sounded.

The next instant, soft fullness pressed against the boy's cheeks.

"It was like an absurd yet beautiful dream."

An Zhen rarely granted projections real emotions, because projections were inherently fake. Yet that beauty made people want to sink into it.

But at a time like this, he only needed to enjoy it.

As his body gradually matured in every aspect, the primal desires of that soul, once over twenty years old and long dormant, quietly awakened.

Eyes brimming with a girl's tenderness looked at her lover in confusion, then she took the initiative to offer him her fragrant kiss. Fake, burning love was conveyed to the real boy.

A tall, beautiful figure appeared beside them. Aside from the maid outfit exposing large swathes of fair skin and the black stockings hugging her long, shapely legs, she was identical to the beauty holding An Zhen.