Qingting Thunder Sea

Zheng Zetian opened his eyes. His left eye was completely bloodshot, and he couldn't see anything with his right eye. He couldn't feel anything below his neck.

He quickly sensed his body's condition with his faint Dao Breath and found that his hands, feet, and half of his face had been blasted away. His body had been thrown an unknown distance by the shockwave, and his spine had broken into three pieces. However, his torso, seemingly instinctively, had pulled out a Heavenly Azure Cloud Smoke Garland to protect him, which had at least provided some resistance, preventing it from immediately disintegrating. Of course, even that magical artifact could not completely resist the damage; once its magic was broken, the garland was melted into his flesh and blood.

He didn't die... Did the Mount Tai Sutra trigger it...? No, with his current level and power, the Mount Tai Sutra wouldn't even have time to activate that 'instant kill'... Ah, right, the blood pact with the Tu Lou must have shared some of the damage.

Zheng Zetian lay on the ground, unable to move. At this moment, he didn't even have the strength to bite his tongue and commit suicide, let alone gather his qi. And to make matters worse, even the Moon was obscured by thunderclouds.

"Ze Tian --!!!"

Oh no!

With a flash of lightning, Song Dayou eyes bloodshot and reeking of alcohol, appeared and lunged at his disciple, who was barely recognizable as human.

"Ze Tian, how are you?!"

Song Dayou practically slid over on his knees, embracing his disciple's remains in his arms. Seeing that he still had a breath left, his old face, which was contorted between crimson and pale, relaxed instantly, and he almost burst into tears.

"No! It's good that you're not dead! Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! Master is here! Master is here!"

Zheng Zetian stared helplessly with one eye at the incompetent, prematurely aged man. For a moment, the man's image seemed to overlap with a similar figure from a distant memory. He bit his tongue to keep from falling asleep. Zheng Zetian wanted to roar at him, "Wake up, you idiot! Last time, eight demon princes couldn't kill you in an ambush, how come you only sent one this time..."

"Bang!"

Right before Zheng Zetian's eyes, his master's head split open, the back of his head and upper jaw bursting open like a watermelon, his eyeballs, brain matter, bits of flesh and blood, and large splatters of scalding blood plasma splattered all over his face.

Like being hit on the back of the head with a stick, Song Dayou, whose head had been blown off, involuntarily leaned forward and fell, but still subconsciously reached out to support himself, shielding his disciple's body with his own.

The remaining half of his chin was still smiling.

Don't be afraid, Master is here.

The next second, countless metallic arrows attacked from all directions, piercing his flesh and back like a swarm of bees, then exploding! A dazzling flash of light and a brilliant explosion, like continuous thunder!

The bursting ions and hot air almost instantly ripped open the robes covering the body, burning away flesh and leaving only a blood-red skeleton!

Dead? Okay, let's rewind... Hmm?

He's not dead! Song Dayou hasn't fallen!

The burning skeleton desperately protected the disciple beneath it! The final transformation began!

In the reflection of Zheng Zetian's only remaining pupil,

Within that seven-colored nectar, the burning and shattered human bones began to regenerate! Begin to reassemble! Amidst the overwhelming malevolent energy and the raging thunder, the beast bones sprouted at a visible speed! Without the slightest suppression or restraint! Growing wildly! Unrestrainedly! Madly!

It was born with a sheep's head, wolf's hooves, a deer's body, a dragon's tail, and a single horn with scales!

It's a Qilin!

The Qilin was reborn from the flames, summoning a sky full of thunder and lightning. Wind and rain came together, and golden light filled the cliffs! The thunderclouds of the entire Qingting Peak exploded and crashed at this moment! Azure lightning turned the pines and cypresses on the mountain into torches, celebrating the birth of the celestial beast!

Master! You've broken through!

Zheng Zetian couldn't help but feel a little happy, but when the Qilin lowered its head and the boy's figure was reflected in its icy blue beast eyes, there was no longer a trace of sadness, only calm and peace, like the surface of a frozen lake.

Zheng Zetian's joyful heart slowly sank to the bottom of the lake.

Already,

He's not human anymore.

There was not a trace of hesitation, doubt, or struggle.

Song Dayou abandoned the hearts of the people, embraced Void Abyss, and transformed into Devil Embryo.

Human kindness is indeed hard to come by, but there are some things that one should do even at the cost of one's life.

The Qilin raised its head and let out a long, mournful cry.

Nine Heavens Responding Origin

Leisheng Puhua

Purple Mansion Heavenly Thunder

Divine Firmament Thunder Prison

"Boom--!!!"

Then the Thunder Sea descended.

The heavens and earth were split open by the Thunder Sea, and the booming thunder struck the mountains and fields. The entire Qingting Peak was swept by lightning, but Zheng Zetian, who was protected by the Qilin, was completely unharmed.

Is this the skill of a Qilin? How could a Qilin possibly possess such ability? Even a true disciple of the Shenxiao Sect probably couldn't create such Thunder Sea.

Given the opportunity, if given a chance, Song Dayou could do better than anyone else.

Eight mere demonic minions could hardly contain him.

What a pity...

No, there's nothing to regret. That's what it means to be a master.

The thunder and lightning roared for at least fifteen minutes, ionizing the atmosphere and turning it a pale blue.

Did we win...?

"Whoosh!"

Yet another blow! Another iron bee! It pierced through the lightning net! With a single strike, it shattered the Qilin's neck, creating a huge bloody hole! It almost blew its head off on the spot! Moreover, at the site of the ruptured wound, there were clearly some kind of green medicinal fragments, scattered here and there, injected into the wound! They were actually suppressing the revival of the Tai Su Dao Body!

The Qilin's pupils contracted instantly, completely consumed by its bestial instincts. It roared furiously, its voice soaring to the sky! Its single horn emitted a dazzling white light, and with a leap, it abandoned the Daoist boy beneath it and plunged straight into the thunderclouds!

Then, from all directions, around Qingting Peak, hundreds of green-glowing iron bees, like a swarm of fireflies, followed closely behind! More than a dozen beams of light also soared into the sky, chasing after the Qilin's lightning!

Amidst the rolling thunderclouds of Qingting Peak, lightning and fire blazed forth! The battle raged fiercely!

Damn it, how is this possible! Just who are these people?! Even the Three Great Sects couldn't possibly escape unscathed from that kind of lightning magic!

Zheng Zetian couldn't see the sky Moon, so he could only tilt his head to look at the distant forest, where the light and shadow shifted amidst the lightning and fire.

Amidst the flashes of lightning and thunder, the blood of the Qilin seemed to pour down from the sky, splattering everywhere.

Amidst the lightning, blood rain, and roaring thunder...

Someone is walking by.

He walked towards Zheng Zetian, stepping on a trail of blood.

Zheng Zetian used the Turtle Breathing Technique to hold his breath and feign death. Of course, given his current state, resembling a mangled corpse, there was really no need for him to fake it.

Yes, it's still the kind of person who's completely transparent.

As the man walked, countless tiny, transparent spiders, each the size of a palm, crawled down his body, scurrying around and digging out and 'eating' the shattered metal arrowheads from the blood swamp, leaving no trace behind.

When the man squatted down in front of Zheng Zetian, he was fully revealed. Of course, he was still wearing a black latex suit, making him unrecognizable as human. In addition to the black latex suit, he also had a raincoat-like cloak over his head, a leather mask and a goggles on his face. He was completely covered up, with not a single inch of skin showing in the moonlight. He was also holding an iron rod in his hand, which was probably a larger version of a 'pistol'.

"... Yes, still alive, weak vital signs, already in shock. A new recruit brought back by the target from outside. No system signal detected. A native. All weapons destroyed, trajectory unrecoverable, but likely from the Heavenly Craft Peak workshop. Yes, yes, understood..."

As the man muttered to himself, he stretched out his hand. A flash of light appeared on the back of his hand, and a transparent spider crawled out from under his cloak, jumped onto Zheng Zetian's back, and used a steel needle to break through the bone, piercing the spine to extract spinal fluid.

Zheng Zetian remained quietly pretending to be dead.

The man's fingers danced in the air, as if he were making hand seals, but it didn't quite resemble the Daoist incantations of the Three Great Sects. Then, a spider crawled out, crawled into the wound on Zheng Zetian's face, and pierced into his skull, drilling through the skull with a hissing sound. It was unclear what it had implanted.

After a while, the man retrieved the spider and walked away. Along the way, the transparent spiders crawled back onto him as if returning to their nest. In less than ten steps, he was completely covered by the spiders, as if he had disappeared into thin air.

Are we just going to let him go like that? No, probably not. Just now, I don't know if I poisoned him or used a curse on him, or if I hid some kind of poisonous weapon in his mind, or if I was planning to ambush him.

The thunder in the sky gradually faded away; it was unclear whether the battle had ended or if the person had lost their hearing.

Zheng Zetian felt his eyelids drooping and his vision blurring; he was barely able to hold on any longer.

Is it finally time to die? If you're going to die, then hurry up and die...

Zheng Zetian closed his eyes.

Speaking of which, wasn't there a time like this before?

My master is dead, my uncle is dead, and my senior brother is dead too.

He was all alone, like a dead dog, surviving lying in the ditch.

Who saved him back then?

She was a beggar, I think, and a young girl at that.

I can't remember what that girl looked like, but she said...

"Hey, hey, are you dead yet?"

... not yet.

"Oh, that's good. I'm so sorry, I was helping out in the lab when you sent the signal, and I also had to contact the host to download your gene spectrum. I came all the way from the Moon and almost missed it."

Don't worry, now that I'm here, you can't die even if you want to. Go wild, everything's covered. We've got your back.

Oh... um, um???

Zheng Zetian suddenly opened his eyes and saw a blood-red figure standing in front of him.

Blood God Child Avatar?

No! How could it be a clone of the Blood God Child?!

Before Zheng Zetian could even let out a loud sigh to express his disappointment, the blood-red shadow pounced over, enveloping the boy's entire body. Like a crimson cypress tree, it rose from the ground, lifting Zheng Zetian's remains and simultaneously injecting a large amount of blood into his mangled body.

At the same time, gel-like blood clots and clay-like severed limbs were pinched out and directly attached to the broken ends, allowing his limbs to regenerate rapidly. Half of his face and eyeballs that had been blown off grew back. It was truly like creating a living person, bringing the dead back to life and restoring flesh and bones!

This guy... could he be...!

"Not bad! I am the Giant's Shadow! Organic Dao Body! The Ancestor of the Dao of Evolution! Awesome, right? Although I'm still only at the Divine Transformation... but overall, I'm still pretty awesome!"

So, that "drip-drip" cheat code just summons that guy's clone over...?

No! Oh no! This means I won't die! How can I revert to a previous save? What about Master? And what about all those other unseen demonic beings?!

"Don't worry, don't worry. My Xiao Jiu will take care of those useless bastards. It seems your master has been corrupted by evil spirits, but it's okay. I've seen this kind of situation many times. Cut off his head and plant it for a hundred or two hundred years, and there's at least a 30% chance of saving him. Who knows, he might even be able to break through!"

However, the Nangong Family really brought quite a lot of people this time, and they all brought subcutaneous resistors, grounding plating, ceramic armor, and various reactor-specific components...

Tsk tsk, I think the company produced a whole new batch of anti-Thunder Mage builds specifically to counter your master. Tsk tsk, they're certainly rich. It's true, just practicing one build isn't enough for dungeons; once your build is countered, you're doomed."

What, what kind of public servant... Electric Ancestor...

"It doesn't matter, you'll find out later. Just remember it's all the Nangong Family's fault for now. Oh dear! They even implanted a biological surveillance system in you. Looks like they quite admire you and want to clone your original genetic material!"

Hehe, don't worry, I've hacked it. I'll send them spoofed data, then I'll open a backdoor and give you access. That way, you can also connect to the nearby company's subnet and use their equipment.

Here, and this too. You specifically asked for this, right? I brought it over especially for you. Your genes are a bit strange. I heard from the original body that it's some kind of secret project, right? I almost missed it trying to coordinate with this thing."

Zheng Zetian struggled to open his eyes and saw a ghostly hand, like the branches of a bloodwood tree, reaching out from beside him. In its hand was a wriggling, white, sticky creature that looked like Flesh Scorpion that had just shed its skin.

What the heck is this...?

"Isn't this the system?"

System?

"The prototype parasitic system can connect to our Celestial Immortal's private server. I don't know if it will conflict with your project, but let's give it a try first."

I think this thing should be able to support you up to the Nascent Soul Realm without any problem, but the rejection reaction at the Divine Transformation stage hasn't been resolved yet. After all, it's still made from a goat cub born from a beast mother. By the time you reach the Divine Transformation, it will probably have grown into Beast's Child...

"Well, this is a minor issue. We'll think about it later. Things will work themselves out. Everything will be alright."

Then the bloody hand snapped its fingers, the tree branch split open, tearing Zheng Zetian apart from the back, and placed the Flesh Scorpion -like thing in its hand on Zheng Zetian's back. The scorpion's claws pierced his spine, and the scorpion's tail pierced his brain.

"By the way, besides being a kind of intelligent auxiliary system brain, this thing is also a bio-prosthetic plug-in that has been implanted into the body."

According to data provided by the Non-Thing experimental subject, it was inserted into the spine to amplify nerves, increase reaction speed and agility, and enhance sensitivity by three thousand times—cough cough cough, in short, it's amazing!

In short, I haven't done any human experiments yet, but you're Unit-01, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?

Give it a try. If your body doesn't have a strong rejection reaction and your mind can handle it, I have all sorts of enhanced prosthetic bodies available to unlock, some held on the face, some bitten on the hand, some nestled in the belly, some inserted into the lungs—in short, all kinds of different postures and special effects.

Alright, now it's time to turn it on.

"Bear with it, it might hurt a little, but a little pain is good for your physical and mental health."

Bloodhand snapped his fingers.

The next instant, sensation returned like a tidal wave.

"Aaaaaah--!!"

Zheng Zetian suddenly opened his eyes and screamed as he rushed out of the medicinal pool.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Zheng Zetian was covered in cold sweat and trembled as he lay in the pool. He trembled for a full three minutes before gradually recovering from the excruciating, agonizing pain. He found himself soaking in waist-deep herbal soup; the place felt like a giant alchemical furnace, like a bathtub.

Where am I...?

Then a voice spoke in his ear.

Lou Guan City

Memories flooded his mind, Zheng Zetian suddenly touched the back of his head and spine. He could really feel something like muscle under his skin, wriggling uncontrollably.

It wasn't a dream! That Flesh Scorpion was actually real!

"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to show off! Now you think I'm ugly?! Sorry the prototype doesn't have any skins!"

Hmph! I'm a celestial being's experimental parasitic support system! Essentially an external brain and intelligent computer, I can even connect to the internet to gather intelligence. Ask me anything you need to know!

Although there was something parasitic in his back, his body was indeed fine. His hands and feet had fully healed, and his Dao Breath and energy flowed smoothly. Zheng Zetian could also feel that the thing on his back was absorbing some nutrients through his blood vessels, but it hadn't reached the point of affecting his health.

"Of course there's no problem. Host, you've been asleep for ten days. You first soaked in the Immortal Spirit Jade Marrow of Ink Bamboo Mountain for three days to heal your meridians, and then you were sent to Lou Guan City Pharmacy to recuperate for seven days. The fact that you woke up as planned means that your body's recovery is going according to plan, and there's absolutely no problem. Don't worry!"

Let's go out and have some fun!

Zheng Zetian had no intention of wasting words with this Flesh Scorpion.

"Where is my master?!"

'Your master? Let me check... Oh, he's dead. Song Dayou Qingting Peak's soul lamp has been extinguished, and his body hasn't been found yet. It seems the Nangong Family stole it.'

If they're dead, can they still be saved...?

Zheng Zetian frowned, quickly calculating.

Could another attempt break the deadlock? Those invisible Nangong were already lying in ambush on Qingting Peak. Moreover, with so many people arriving, the difference in strength was too great; the cheaters wouldn't have had time to arrive. Furthermore, it was uncertain whether the timeline could be rewound to that point, or even if the Dao Fruit would still be effective...

'Hey host, didn't you hear me? He's dead. Ten days ago, the funeral's already been held, he's been reincarnated.'

"..."

Zheng Zetian remained silent for a moment, then leaped up, pushed open the lid of the medicine furnace, climbed out of the medicine pot, changed into the robes of a disciple of Ink Bamboo Mountain, and walked out of the medicine shop.

"Where is the Soul Lamp?"

'Auto-pathfinding enabled'

The light in Zheng Zetian's vision changed, and a line of shimmering footprints appeared on the ground. It seemed to be the pheromones left behind by other cultivators when they passed by. Zheng Zetian followed the footprints and found the one with Song Dayou's Daoist certificate inscribed on it in the cabinet where the soul lamps were stored in the back courtyard of Lou Guan Tower.

Zheng Zetian held the solitary lamp in his hand, remained silent for a while, and then put the lamp back.

He originally intended to perform a ritual to see if he could summon Song Dayou.

Ask them what their wishes are, what their regrets are, and what their grudges or shames are.

But as soon as he touched the Soul Lamp, he felt it.

Song Dayou is gone.

He left gracefully and cleanly, without any last wishes.

He was reborn without any regrets after just one drink?

That's really enviable.