Chapter 234

The mystery is thus dispelled!

Chapter 234

"What?!"

At the altar, Aoderiqi's mutated body was exposed to sunlight; smoke began to rise from its carapace, its tentacles withered and curled, and it emitted painful hissing sounds.

In contrast to him, the abnormalities in the other three began to return.

The dark patterns on Seweiya's body faded as if burned, revealing her original icy blue; Kashi's eyes, hidden beneath the giant python's scales, closed and fell off one by one, with new scales growing rapidly; Weierna's knotted tentacles also dispersed in the light.

The muttering in their minds cleared, and they finally regained their attention.

"You shall return immediately."

Wen Jing's voice rang out in the Mental Link, carrying an unquestionable authority.

At the same time, the star trembled slightly, becoming the fulcrum of a gravitational lever, lifting the three people with a gentle gravitational force and pushing them towards the sea.

Correspondingly, the 'heavy' end plunged into the abyss, pinning Aoderiqi firmly to the altar, rendering him immobile.

Unable to resist, the three were thrown directly into the deep waters outside the underwater canyon.

It took a moment for me to regain my composure before I realized what had happened.

The three of them looked down at the star rising from the seabed, and even through the nearly 1,000-meter-wide seawater, they could feel its terrifying oppressive aura.

"Weiluo, she..."

When Seweiya came to her senses, her emotions were turbulent. At this moment, she felt extremely complicated. There was disbelief at Wen Jing's Stellar Wilderness Body, resentment at her own lack of strength, and the fear of the recent anomaly. She was also worried about Wen Jing staying behind to cover their retreat...

"Let's go back first. If we stay, we can't guarantee that our bodies won't continue to mutate, and we'll only be a burden to her."

Kashi's body was coiled up, with traces of recently shed scales still remaining on it, and his vertical pupils were also staring at the orange-red light below.

"... I know." Seweiya paused for a moment.

"Thanks to Lady Weiluo..." Weierna's consciousness was still somewhat hazy. "Her Wilderness Body is not an ordinary celestial body, but... a star?"

The other two did not answer, equally shocked that such Wilderness Body existed.

If it weren't for Weiluo, they would have died a painful death here, unable to even put up a basic resistance.

Moreover, unlike them, the other party did not undergo the same mutation and still possessed the power to resist, making it entirely possible for them to leave on their own.

But instead of doing so, the other side revealed its true strength, using that power to dispel the pollution, sending them out while it covered their retreat...

"Let's go, don't waste the opportunity she created!"

"Weiluo Willow, you must return alive..."

All three silently remembered this kindness, and as they watched the light emanating from the deep sea abyss, their figures gradually faded and disappeared.

On the other side, Wen Jing, who had seen off the three children, did not experience the 'dangerous rearguard action' they had imagined. Instead, he voluntarily withdrew his stellar aura after they left.

Having just used her [Entropy Change] ability to shine brightly, she naturally intended to save people while simultaneously upgrading her image within the Alaya Race from 'planet' to 'star,' thereby increasing her visibility in the Xu Yuan and unlocking more advanced mind control technology.

Wen Jing originally planned to emit light, then use his Information Touch to suppress the transformed state of the three people, and then send them out.

Unexpectedly, once the sunlight shone through, without her having to resort to other methods, the 'mystery' truly dissipated temporarily.

"It seems that the spiritual pollution in this 'Kryptonian world' is indeed inextricably linked to the 'environment'..."

Information Perception, she immediately realized that it wasn't the star's high temperature that was actually suppressing the power here. What had just rendered the anomaly ineffective was a change in the 'presence' or 'atmosphere' at a more conceptual level.

In this suffocating and dark Deep Sea environment, a 'sun' suddenly appeared, its presence becoming extremely strong at that moment. The previous chaotic atmosphere also changed, losing its unknown mystery.

It's like a funny scene suddenly appearing in a horror movie; the horror factor is greatly reduced.

This world is a remnant of civilization, and its rule is that one can directly affect the body through spiritual influences such as a sense of presence and atmosphere.

"Essentially... it's also a form of spiritual pollution."

If Wen Jing hadn't experienced the 'home' world and hadn't evolved Gestalt Consciousness, he would probably have been confused and bewildered, and might even have fallen victim to it.

However, he is now in a state of ease and intends to thoroughly investigate the essence of this Kryptonian world.

Aoderiqi's Wilderness Body truly improved during the mutation, and he was even able to go back and set up traps to lure more people in, while the other three couldn't even return after encountering the mutation.

and...

"Speaking of which, it's been quite a while since I've absorbed the world core of a civilization's ruins..."

Wen Jing is currently ' Clone ' to be in two places at once.

One Clone is devouring Ancient Wilderness natural elements to enhance its physical attributes and increase its strength, thereby amplifying the release of rule-level characteristics. Two other Clone are learning from each other using black holes. The last Clone is disguised as Weiluo and is operating within the Empire, leaving little time to specifically target civilization ruins.

After all, among the ways she gains Skill Points, devouring civilization cores, which used to be the main method, has become secondary. Whether she learns scientific and technological knowledge or creates her own skills, she can gain more Fire of Civilization.

In comparison, relics from before the information age are neither worth keeping nor worth discarding, while relics from the information age are difficult to find and take an unpredictable amount of time to locate.

Now that Wen Jing has encountered one in Weiluo's identity, it's like a gift delivered right to his lips, so naturally he'll try to devour her.

As for the ' Ancient Wilderness Collapse', there's no need to worry. The Locator Stone can only record the initial discoverer. The 'owner' of this world is dead, and the other three, including Seweiya, were already unable to enter.

The starlight was 'extinguished' under Wen Jing's control, but what reappeared the next moment was not a black sphere.

"Click click..."

The exoskeleton's movements caused ripples in the seawater, and the contracted star gradually unfolded, transforming into a shadowy, pitch-black alien worm.

"It's still my natural habit." Wen Jing stretched his limbs.

At the same time, with the disappearance of their presence, the oppressive atmosphere of the Deep Sea returned, and the Indescribable murmurs from before began to echo once more.

On the altar, Aoderiqi, who had been firmly suppressed, finally broke free from the gravitational pull and staggered to his feet.

The crab's mutated body was badly injured by the starlight, with large areas of its shell charred and its tentacles withered and curled up. But as the light disappeared, those wounds began to heal rapidly.

A pale green slime seeped from the cracks in the carapace, covering the scorch marks and growing new, more twisted tissue.

"What sets him apart from others seems to be his choice to actively accept this alienation on a spiritual level..."

In Wen Jing's Information Perception, it can be seen that Aoderiqi's thinking gradually shifted from the complexity of intelligent beings to a single and intense thought, with the strongest thoughts in his mind being 'praise the Lord' and 'approach the Lord'.

Based on the information she had gathered earlier, she was already able to deduce the cause and effect of this incident.

The other party must have encountered the influence and transformation of the ruins here during their previous exploration with others. However, the others reacted in the same way as Seweiya and the other two: they resisted, or their Wilderness Body were not compatible enough, and they ultimately became sacrifices.

Aoderiqi, through a series of unforeseen circumstances, accepted this transformation, believing that he had benefited from sacrificing his teammates, which led to this second exploration.

However, his physical condition simply couldn't withstand the third exploration...

At that moment, Aoderiqi let out an angry howl, his eight legs flailing wildly as he lunged at Wen Jing.

"Gurgle... gurgle!" (Invaders, kill!)

He showed no surprise at Wen Jing's Wilderness Body transformation.

The things that Aoderiqi cared about during his human years are now gradually fading away, being replaced by the ideas of another species.

He no longer cares about fame and fortune in the material universe; he only wants to eliminate Wen Jing, this heretic.

"Whoosh!"

Wen Jing didn't even really 'make a move'; with a flick of the gravity bowstring, Aoderiqi's charge was deflected, and he crashed back into the altar.

He got up again and pounced again.

Then it was smashed back again.

Once, twice, three times...

Over time, Aoderiqi's consciousness had become completely distorted, replacing the 'desire for breakthrough' that had previously driven him to lure people here with only a pure, fanatical desire for sacrifice.

Under this mental resonance, his Wilderness Body would undergo new mutations after each defeat: his carapace would soften, and scales and fins would grow from it; his two giant claws would transform into thick, intertwined tentacles.

But no matter how much he mutated, in front of Wen Jing, he was still that big crab that was being repeatedly poked and prodded.

"In terms of physical strength and recovery ability alone, he has already surpassed his original level, reaching the top level of A-rank. However, S-rank is a special transformation, and even if he fully transforms now, he still cannot reach that level..."

Wen Jing could sense that the core of this world was in this area. When Aoderiqi was being transformed, it appeared and disappeared like an underwater reef, but it had not yet fully surfaced.

"Is this the extent that the ruins themselves can only achieve, or is Aoderiqi simply not strong enough?"

Thinking this, she lowered her head and raised her forelimbs.

From the sharp blades capable of cutting through space, tiny tentacles, like sprouting plants, emerged.

She never actively used Gestalt Consciousness to 'overwrite' this personality, yet her body still underwent alienation and transformation.

Moreover, after transforming into its insect form, the intensity of the modification was significantly higher than that of its previous planetary form, indicating that 'living things' are more affected by the rules than 'inorganic matter'.

"Then let's give it a try."

The next moment, Wen Jing took the initiative to accept this spiritual influence.

Incoherent ramblings flooded my mind.