It Wasn't Cute

Foreword:

The distant, layered shadows part at dawn, and beneath the elixir-bearing flowers, one inquires of the immortal realm.

--Zheng Qingzhi

[Part 1: Removing the wax coating and chiseling out the seven orifices]

After killing Zhuzhu, Jiang Xueming had to deal with the celestial embryo.

He circled the spider demon's corpse a few times and saw golden light emanating from the flesh and blood lotus platform. Although the Blood-giving Monster was dead, its body did not decay as quickly as its demonic brethren. Blood gushed from the wounds on its head and neck, as if it wanted to grow another head.

The insect nest structure inside its belly was very stable, as if the celestial fetus possessed self-awareness; even if its foster mother, Zhuzhu, died, it would still try to survive.

As soon as Jiang Xueming approached, the lotus-shaped corpse grabbed the greatsword beside it and suddenly slashed down!

"Damn it, there's a second stage?" Xue Ming cursed, but luckily he was on guard and remained as steady as a defensive tower. He took a few steps forward and immediately darted out of the corpse's attack range.

He drew his sword again, paced around to choose a spot, and stood beside the severed head wound on the spider monster's corpse.

Taking a step forward, the corpse used its remaining three arms to claw and scratch wildly at Xue Ming, while fiercely attacking with its sword.

Xue Ming calmly chopped off these limbs, and then shredded the severed arm on the other side of Zhuzhu's corpse, along with the flesh from her shoulder. Originally dark red, her entire body had now turned bright red.

Only a headless, legless, and bare spider's belly was still rolling, like a magic gourd, trying to escape out of the cave.

Xue Ming chased after him for a few steps but felt his steps falter. His body had been immersed in demonic blood for far too long. He quickly found the Universal Elixir in the doctor's bag and drank a large gulp.

He lifted his inner garment and saw fine down growing on his chest. After being cleansed by the Universal Elixir, the skin texture that had been transformed by the holy blood gradually returned to normal.

If it had been any later, Ming De would have been able to pop the champagne—he'd pulled a Spider-Man version of the Gunsmith from the summer event gacha.

He chased after it again, but the magic gourd obediently rolled back.

It turned out that the sun outside was too scorching, and it couldn't stand the intense heat. As soon as it rolled out of its cave, it emitted a burnt smell and quickly fled back to the alchemy furnace room. It seemed to have gained intelligence and knew how to avoid harm and seek advantage.

Xue Ming stepped on the Guanyin tattoo on the magic gourd.

He retrieved Berloberg, intending to use a hot blade to cut open his abdomen and extract the elixir.

--The knife cuts open the Bodhisattva statue, finds the navel, and based on Xue Ming's experience, the nest of the Vita Imprint is very large. After it enters the human body, it will not only invade the reproductive system, but also replace the entire digestive tract, intestines, spleen, stomach, liver and kidneys.

Blood donors are not allowed to eat grass; all the space in their energy circulation system must be reserved for meat products. If they only eat fruits and vegetables, these monsters will quickly wither and die. Without the intake of high-energy fats and proteins, the carnivorous bacteria and viruses in their stomachs cannot continue to provide energy for their powerful bodies, nor can they repair their damaged Homo sapiens genes.

The cesarean section was progressing, much to Xue Ming's surprise.

--There's a face inside that belly!

Beneath the painted surface of the Guanyin statue, hidden within its high, protruding belly, lies a humanoid creature.

Specifically, it should be the limb closest to the lower body of Pearl Fairy, which is the owner of the limb.

Xue Ming examined it carefully, then used the scalding blade to peel back the skin and cut out a complete head shape.

He finally understood what Zhuzhu really was.

--It wasn't originally one person, but rather the four daughters of a family.

This enormous spider monster appears to the naked eye as having three stacked heads, resembling an insect shedding its skin or a snake shedding its skin.

When Zhuzhu woke up after falling asleep, all three faces had regained their vitality and returned to the same appearance.

The face emerging from her belly at this moment should also be that of Goddess Zhuzhu.

--These are four twin sisters who intertwined and merged, their flesh and bones melting together under the influence of the elixir, transforming into a terrifying Magic Creature.

It has eight arms and four heads but no legs or feet. Before it was born (when it was still in human form), its legs were chopped off and used for evil sacrifices, thus becoming the manifestation of the Goddess Zhuzhu.

If you cut further down, you can see a large, crimson egg that emits a golden glow.

The meat gourd was dissected by Berloberg; the scalding blade couldn't draw a drop of blood, but instead revealed many fat, bloated insect corpses. As soon as they appeared, Xue Ming cut them in half.

Carefully cutting further down, Xue Ming tore off a piece of silk from the bronze bed, wrapped the head-sized egg in it, and placed it on the bed.

He barely dared to breathe, and his eyes began to redden again.

Without the physical barrier of the Goddess Zhuzhu, he would have to directly confront the spiritual pressure of the celestial embryo.

--This spiritual pressure feels like a foul-smelling ink. When you try to savor it carefully, it seems you can taste every flavor and smell every odor, but when mixed together, all that's left is blackness.

His eyes began to dry out, and because the Universal Elixir was still taking effect in his stomach, he kept tearing up. This was not due to emotional outburst, but rather because the strange and unpredictable spiritual energy was forcing his body to become weak.

This made Xue Ming suspicious--

--What exactly is inside this celestial embryo?

You should know that it had been a very long time since he had been put in such a miserable state by the Inspiration Pressure.

The last time such a spiritual pressure stress occurred was when the BOSS personally led the expedition. The Hunter King swallowed the Red Mountain Stone, and in that spiritual pressure environment, Xue Ming could experience the feeling of his physical body betraying him.

He dared not make any further rash moves and slowly retreated.

At this moment, the flesh and blood immortal embryo cracked open!

The golden membrane suddenly split into six pieces, revealing a clean, white "sphere" inside.

Jiang Xueming stared intently, and blood began to flow from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, while her spiritual pressure grew increasingly intense.

This "fleshball" looked pure and flawless, not at all like the evil creature that sprang from the belly of some Blood-giving Monster. A faint golden aura of immortal energy emanated from its body, and when lit by the lamplight in the cave, a trace of peach-colored blood energy could be seen—it looked like a plump and chubby peach!

After removing the waxy shell, is this what the celestial embryo looks like?

Xue Ming felt like needles were pricking her brain, her fingernails lost their color, her bioelectrical system began to malfunction, and her heart rate suddenly spiked to 170.

He became even more certain that this spiritual pressure was indeed on the same level as the BOSS's!

"Splash!"

A pair of wings emerged from the sides of the fleshy ball, their grayish-brown feathers whipping up a strong wind that swept away all the golden, ethereal aura surrounding it. Then...

It had lost its strength; it seemed that after leaving its foster mother's womb, it could no longer be fierce.

The wings became weak and powerless, and the surface of the "peach" lost its rosy luster, revealing bluish-gray blood vessels. It tilted its body, and although it had no limb features, its wings drooped down, paralyzed in the waxy shell and fleshy petals.

This eerie and domineering spiritual pressure gradually dissipated.

Xue Ming had a chance to catch his breath and cautiously stepped forward with his knife.

He had originally wondered if the thing inside Pearl Fairy's belly might be the Chaos Egg. If he could find such a communication tool to eavesdrop on the communications of the Immortals Alliance, that would be an excellent thing.

What he didn't expect was that the spider monster had grown such a large tumor.

He prepared to stab the immortal embryo to death, thus ruining Judas's alchemy plan. If the Imperial God Cauldron lacked medicinal ingredients, the Dagda's Cauldron would not be able to collect enough primordial essence, and Judas would be unable to make his wish.

As Berloberg thrust into the weak, powerless mass of flesh, another unexpected turn of events occurred.

Xue Ming's pupils contracted slightly, and his expression became serious.

When the scalding hot blade pierced into this fleshy mass, it actually sank deep! It was like piercing a balloon with extremely high hardness and resilience, yet it didn't break through!

Mingde's remains have become ineffective? The invincible divine weapon can't pierce this immortal embryo?

Xue Ming quickly pulled out the knife, but in that instant he lost his judgment and immediately raised the knife to stab again!

A bizarre scene unfolded--

--When he drew his sword, a gaping, bloody mouth appeared!

A barbed tongue clung to the skin of his forearm, while four fangs bit down hard on his arm!

The knife plunged into the celestial embryo for the second time, Xue Ming felt blood flowing continuously from her arm!

"SD! Why? Can't you defend against it?"

Xue Ming shouted out the power of the soul.

The giant steel cat materialized, emerging from the side of its original form, its face also filled with terror.

"I don't know! Look! Look at my arm!"

Fragrant Dream had taken ample precautions, but even its iron armor was gnawed open by this mysterious mouth.

--This mouth, insatiable, sucked up Xue Ming and SD's essence together.

In an instant, Jiang Xueming felt dizzy and disoriented, and he drew his knife again and stabbed down fiercely!

The slash revealed a grayish-white eye!

The next cut revealed a pointed ear!

Xue Ming had lost most of his strength, and his brain was short of blood! He struggled with the fleshy, spherical body of the immortal fetus, stabbing himself seven times in an attempt to escape!

This lump of flesh gradually turned into sticky clay, stretched into long strips, and took shape like dough being kneaded. It grew sharp claws and four legs, and soon it had whiskers and a tail, and grew a head, neck and waist.

It clung to Xue Ming's arm, its pair of white-gray eyes gleaming, and it released its mouth.

Xue Ming was still in shock. His symptoms of bleeding from his seven orifices had improved, and he could no longer feel the persecution of spiritual pressure. Looking at the appearance of the immortal embryo, it had turned into a strange-looking creature.

Hairless cat?

"Your [shape] is very beautiful."

The hairless cat landed back on the bronze bed, and as it sat upright, layers of wrinkles appeared on its body. Its expression was gentle and seemingly without hostility.

"There's a familiar smell in the blood. Is it from Taowu's lackey?"

A deep male voice emanated from the hairless cat's throat—it possessed a strangely reassuring charm, much like the Sphinx from Egypt mythology.

"You have many questions! I love this state! Questions drive our pursuit, and pursuit leads to answers."

After hearing this riddle, Jiang Xueming seemed to be able to determine the true identity of the thing in front of him from its physical appearance, birth method, spiritual pressure characteristics, and incarnation form.

"Are you Chaos?"

"Don't call me that," the hairless cat said sternly, waving its paw. "When Chaos is uttered, it is no longer Chaos. Just like Li Er's teachings—'The name can be, but the name is not the constant name.'"

"A principle that can be clearly explained is no longer a principle; a name that can be spoken is no longer a real name."

"If you'd like, could you please call me Di Jiang the Old Demon—or Di Jiang the Immortal, if you're so young and inexperienced? Just show some respect, okay?"

It seems that after so many years of making POS machines, Chaos has also picked up a lot of modern language habits. Their punctuation and retranslation of the Tao Te Ching are highly individualistic.

Just now, Jiang Xueming used the Berloberg to stab this immortal embryo seven times, and it grew seven orifices from a mass of chaotic flesh and blood—chaos died, and Di Jiang came to life.

Xue Ming thought to himself that perhaps other immortal elixir caves were also cultivating such fleshy balls, using the flesh and blood of ferocious beasts as a medicinal ingredient for spiritual embryos. It just so happened that this one fell into his hands, and after it awakened, it became a kitten.

Other celestial embryos must be free of roots and impurities; when sent into the Dagda's Cauldron, they are pure primordial essence.

Chaos and Taowu are ferocious beasts of the same rank. Since the BOSS can sacrifice its physical body to create the great power of the collective karma of hundreds of millions of people, Chaos can also do it, only the process is the opposite.

The BOSS treats himself as a tool, turning his essence into Universal Elixir and sending it out.

In Judas's hands, these Chaos Egg absorb primordial matter, gradually gathering the essence, blood, and soul of all living beings together to nurture the seeds of these powers—chaos can at most serve as a strong spiritual energy carrier, like a reliable transporter. Countless primordial substances, after being concentrated and refined by its divine blood and flesh, are stuffed into the Dagda's Cauldron.

Having figured all this out, Di Jiang, who had shed the name of Chaos, seemed to be able to see Jiang Xueming's thoughts—in its eyes, whenever Homo sapiens had confusion or a puzzle in their heart, it could see it immediately.

"Have you figured it out? What is the meaning of life?"

Can you understand it? Can you understand Judas's heart?

"Do you know where you're going? And where did you come from?"

"You fucking idiot!"

Completely ignoring the riddle cat, Xue Ming caught Di Jiang and rushed out of the cave.

--The four beasts, Taowu, Qiongqi, Hundun, Taotie, are all a bit sick.

The boss once mentioned this to Xue Ming: If one day you find that the POS machine starts talking, don't panic. It's just a technical issue, and don't try to answer it; the problems will only increase.

When encountering a riddle machine that goes around in circles, if someone takes it seriously and tries to think about it carefully, they will waste their mental energy and suffer mental and physical damage. This is the power of the Chaos Beast.

"Taowu's lackey, your physical body is truly remarkable."

Although Xue Ming had covered the beast's mouth, it possessed a telepathic spell and could whisper directly into his ear—perhaps the whispers of the ancient gods in the Cthulhu Mythos felt similar. Even though Xue Ming hadn't carefully cleaned the blood clots from his ears and was currently in a semi-deaf state, he could still hear Di Jiang's voice.

"But is this power a natural talent, or a skill you acquired through hard work?"

"How about this: isn't hard work a kind of talent too?"

"I hate people like you because you don't like to talk."

"Has anyone ever told you that language is the bridge to the heart, that language is the machine for extending emotions, and that you should speak before doing anything? Don't you agree?"

"Have you eaten anything? Have you had lunch? I survived by drinking your blood. Perhaps you can be my father for a while, just for a short time, or my mother if you'd like? I see some doubts in you, they're getting stronger, oh!"

"There are more problems now! That's a good thing."

Aren't you curious? Not even a little bit?

Why am I here? I don't really know.

"I feel like I've cracked open, it feels like just a short while ago."

"Is this related to my previous experiences? Is it related to my experience of sacrificing myself for the golden path?"

The so-called "Golden Road" was actually an earlier package of financial instruments drafted by the European Community and the Soviet Union for exploring the underground world.

Ming De used this to deceive Chaos, because the underworld lacked a usable monetary instrument, and even communication networks were problematic.

--Later, the Chaos Egg was used as a trading terminal.

Every penny in the world represents a desire.

The money spent may seem to be used to purchase goods, but ultimately, it leaves a continuous stream of desires and aspirations in everyone's heart.

Chaos gladly accepted this golden path, becoming a tool for trade while also experiencing different desires and demands, cultivating its own path.

It almost became the totem of the Yellowstone People, but the BOSS was petty and couldn't stand seeing other ferocious beasts do well, so he changed the two flags of the Yellowstone People Senate into a spoon and a flower.

[Part ②: Hairless wild animals are most like humans]

Returning to Xue Ming's side, at first he didn't want to answer when he listened to the old demon Di Jiang's rambling.

It wasn't until Di Jiang recounted its origins and expressed its own confusion that things came to a head.

Xue Ming stood in the sunlight and saw that no one was around; the little monsters had all gone to avoid the sun.

"You don't even know what happened to you?"

Even with Xue Ming covering his mouth, Di Jiang could still make a sound, "Don't just tell me the answer so easily. Let me keep thinking. I like the feeling of thinking."

Xue Ming couldn't understand this lunatic, so he just gave the answer directly.

"You've been exploited by an anti-human extremist organization, turned into a crucial psionic catalyst. They want to use you to collect flesh and blood, essence, and activate the Dagda's Cauldron —make one more wish."

Di Jiang's problems suddenly multiplied!

"What?! Such a thing? Wait a minute!"

"Are they using me, or am I using them?"

"If I gain immense psychic power from it, will it be me or these ambitious individuals who ultimately make the wish?"

"Them? Who are they? Can they grant wishes just by saying a few words?"

"My goodness! Is this the magic of language? I'm growing to love my mouth more and more!"

What will I wish for? And what will they wish for?

Xue Ming rolled her eyes--

For a fleeting moment, he even thought that Qiongqi, the pyramid scheme guy next to Brother Ye Bei, was quite sophisticated.

It is at least much more sophisticated than Di Jiang; it gets straight to the point and never uses riddles.

He braided a rope from the Fragrant Dream fur, casually tied the hairless cat up, and stuffed it into the doctor's bag.

Then I heard the decadent music of Di Jiang in my ears--

"--Oh! What is this?"

"What is this?"

"The liquid in this bottle also smells like Taowu! ~ Does it produce milk?"

"Is this stuff good? Can I have a sip? Hey! Answer me!"

"An elf?! There was an elf inside the knife that stabbed me through my seven orifices. Is that my mother?"

Xue Ming had only taken two steps out, preparing to settle accounts with Bai Mu's disciples and kill these demon soldiers and generals.

The temperature of the doctor's bag rose instantly.

--Xue Ming took out Berloberg and looked at it.

A line of text was projected onto the sharp knife.

"Either you get it out of your bag, or I'm going back to the Elf Holy Land. I'm done living like this."

Jiang Xueming was both amused and exasperated. He pulled out the bound and gagged Di Jiang Laoxian. The hairless cat felt very smooth to the touch, with a very strange texture—the skin of an ordinary hairless cat has a rough feel.

Di Jiang's face remained expressionless; its demeanor was remarkably calm, like that of a poet or a philosopher.

"You're willing to talk to me now? You've taken me out of that little dark cell again? Are you going to untie me?"

This guy seems to have contracted some kind of illness--

--A disease that makes you die if you don't speak in questions.

Oh! You look angry?

Di Jiang's expression finally changed.

"Oh! Oh oh! Oh!"

"Oh your mother's head! Oh!--"

Xue Ming raised his hand and threw the cat to the ground, then immediately called on Hunwei to beat it up!

This lump of tough, chewy meat is impervious to oil and salt; it can't be cut or chopped, and there's no way to block out the noise.

You know, Xue Ming has always been a quiet boy. He has the Fading Stone. If A Xing were here, he might be able to communicate with this ferocious beast.

"They just started asking questions right away! Asking questions, asking questions, asking questions, asking questions!"

"My wife didn't have this many problems even when she had a bout of prenatal depression!"

"My four kids grew up watching '100,000 Whys,' and 'Blue Cat's 3,000 Questions' only airs one episode a day! I only need to answer one question four times!"

"What kind of deity released you from Gotham City? And now you want me to wear a clown mask and act alongside you?"

"Believe it or not, I'll sew that spider demon's belly back up and stuff you back in!"

"She listened to your nagging the whole time she was pregnant, didn't she!? No wonder this spider demon needed the essence of four sisters to raise your offspring!"

Fragrant Dream stomped her foot so hard it cracked the rock. "Stop talking nonsense! Smash it!"

A full minute passed, and under the relentless beating of Fragrant Dream and the Gunsmith—

--The spiritual pressure emanated from the open space of the rocky platform, with sand and stones flying everywhere.

The dusty and dirty Di Jiang fell into Xue Ming's hands and was scooped out from the sand and rocks.

It looked much more docile, its tongue lolling out, its eyes darting in opposite directions, unable to focus, as it was left dizzy from the violent punches and kicks.

Xue Ming was even more certain of one fact!

Sometimes you see an enemy with no health bar, and it seems like attacks can't even break their defense.

Actually, as long as you give it a try, put in a little effort, and persevere, you will see results. After all, as the great Hawkwood said, "Three cuts are not equal to one."

"I won't ask anymore." Di Jiang raised his weak, powerless right claw, extending a toe. "But there's still something. There's still one thing I'm a little doubtful about. Can you really hurt me? Is it your fist hitting me? Or is my face frantically attacking your fist?"

Xue Ming's eyes widened, and his originally round pupils turned into lines.

Di Jiang immediately fell silent, almost unable to control its instincts, and covered its mouth with its two small paws. It nodded to Jiang Xueming, then shrugged innocently—it did feel the pain and had begun to fear this violence.

"If you don't know what's good for you, I'll give you anesthesia," Jiang Xueming said angrily.

Di Jiang quickly seized the opportunity to ask, "You don't have any anesthetics in your doctor's bag, but your blood does have a captivating, intoxicating quality. Do you possess this kind of psychic talent? Oh! Wow!"

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Xueming took out Berloberg—

--Inscribed on the knife.

[Anesthetic]