The Foundational Buddha Realm

Upon hearing this, not only did Zheng Qingyuan's expression turn ugly, but another person's expression also turned ugly.

This person is Feng Haixiao.

If Zheng Qingbo were still alive, he would certainly recognize the person who said this as Master Bao of the Wanshun Sea Hall, one of the veteran members of the Autonomous Association.

This Master Bao is no ordinary person. In addition to being a long-time member of the Java Autonomous Association, he also serves as a "committee member" in several other Nanyang island nations. However, in other places, he is not called a "committee member," but rather a nobleman, a prince, or even a Datuk in a Nanyang country.

A real water pipe, the Sea King.

This person was Zheng Qingbo's staunch ally when he was stirring up trouble in the Autonomous Association.

However, Zheng Qingbo has not made any public appearances for quite some time now, so this "Master Bao" has become an ally of Zheng Qingyuan.

Feng Haixiao was sitting here, also had his own difficulties. His smuggling fleet near Sumatra had to cooperate with the local government to ensure safe passage. And this Datuk was none other than the Datuk Gong of Sumatra.

He invited me, and I dared not refuse, otherwise he would seize the boat in a heartbeat.

But he didn't expect that Zheng Qingyuan would also come, in addition to him.

If this gets out, wouldn't he be on the same boat as these two traitors?

Master Bao's stout body resembled that of a boar. He slumped in the main seat and began to devour a lavish spread of food.

His eating manners were extremely crude. He didn't use chopsticks; he simply reached out and grabbed a leg of a roast suckling pig, tearing off the skin and meat together and stuffing it into his mouth. He chewed with his mouth full of oil, the juices dripping down his chin onto his chest, but he didn't care. He just smacked his lips and made satisfied chewing sounds.

While eating, he kept muttering, "Since Boss Zheng doesn't care about Haishi at all, then I, A-Bao, will just have to eat a little more."

As he ate, Master Bao's demonic form became more and more pronounced. A layer of fine, stiff black hair, like wild boar bristles, began to appear on his skin, spreading from his neck to his cheeks. His nose began to turn upwards, his nostrils widened, revealing two dark, pig-nose-like holes. His ears also began to become pointed and longer, covered with black downy hair, which trembled slightly under the light.

Facing Zheng Qingyuan's horrified eyes, Master Bao's dim eyes swept over, and he grinned, revealing the thin flesh between his teeth.

"Don't worry, I won't eat my nephew's portion."

Ruins of Demon-Subduing City

It's practically a ruin now, after repeated battles and the destruction caused by a bunch of fishermen. Even the last bit of debris has been dug up by Hu Mang, that middleman.

However, the area around the "thunder eye" of this ruin is now completely covered with densely packed Demonic Nature Grass. These Demonic Nature Grass have not only sprouted new shoots, but some have even grown to half a person's height.

"This grass grows really fast."

Even those that Hu Mang himself grew couldn't help but marvel at.

As the core ingredient of the Bone-Molding Pill, the Demonic Nature Grass has a very troublesome characteristic: in order to grow, it must be in a high Spiritual Qi environment, the higher the better, with no upper limit.

This is why, even knowing that Heavenly Gate was cracking down hard, Fourth Aunt Bai still insisted on causing trouble within Heavenly Gate.

There simply isn't a suitable growing environment for this level overseas. Even if there were, it would probably be monopolized by a bunch of big overseas companies, making it impossible to use for growing medicinal herbs.

However, the advantage is that once there is a Spiritual Qi environment of this level, this thing can grow rapidly on its own without cultivation.

"It seems I'm not far from unsealing my fourth demonic vein," Hu Mang muttered to himself.

However, Sun Youcai's earlier reminder made him slightly more alert. Unsealing three demonic veins was fine, but that didn't mean unsealing four demonic veins would be no problem.

After all, if the unsealing fails, the Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians themselves will be damaged.

Since the other party was so interested, he decided to find an opportunity later to exchange "Unraveled Rope Devil Meridian" for information on another demon vein. After all, the more you prepare for this kind of thing, the better.

Hu Mang glanced at the Demon-Subduing City one last time, pondered for a moment, and did not leave immediately.

After all, he had a feeling that once he left the Demon-Subduing City, he would likely spend most of his time in the Azure Mysterious Realm for some time.

Therefore, he needs to resolve all the troublesome matters as much as possible, since the flow of time is the same in both worlds.

The "fragment" absorbed enough lightning, and with a flash of light, the Hu Mang's figure disappeared.

Two days later, in the Mystic Shield Sect's main building, Sister Yu finally received the phone call she had been waiting for.

"Master Hu, you finally contacted us! Otherwise, we thought you had vanished into thin air."

"Stop talking nonsense and come down to pick me up. I didn't bring your employee ID; security won't let me in."

Sister Yu was taken aback and said:

"You're downstairs. Weren't you traveling abroad?"

"You know I'm traveling abroad, not fleeing overseas. If I want to come back, I can just book a ticket at the airport and come back," Hu Mang complained on the phone.

"Stop talking nonsense and come downstairs to pick me up."

After nearly three months apart, Hu Mang met the familiar mature woman Sister Yu and the cross-dressing Huang Liang again. The three exchanged a few simple pleasantries and then headed straight for their target, the lower-level organizational department where Huang Liang worked.

"Huh, where's Wang Zeyu?" Hu Mang didn't see his junior brother this time.

"Unfortunately, he's on a business trip to headquarters."

"Oh."

Hu Mang soon arrived at the "Addicted to Demonic Software"—or rather, "Lust Abstinence Software" detection center.

The virtual arrays were being urgently debugged by the programmers.

Wearing white stockings, Huang Liang ran out and quickly found three "helmets".

"This is?"

"The Divine Sense- access helmet is generally used to detect software; you can think of it as one of the first Divine Sense internet devices. It's used like this—"

Huang Liang took out the positive and negative electrode pads from his helmet and attached them to Hu Mang's temples. At the same time, he took out a complete set of protective clothing, had Hu Mang take it off until he was only wearing his underwear, and then helped Hu Mang put it on. It felt like putting on an extremely thick cotton-padded coat.

"This protective suit can accurately detect all the numerical values on your body, including spiritual energy fluctuations, heart rate, changes in your Dantian, and the degree of pore contraction. Once it detects that your body has a red warning sign, it will immediately disconnect you from the internet and then provide treatment. Our sect building has a fixed medical emergency room, and the facilities inside are no different from those of a top-tier hospital."

Although Hu Mang participated in the development of the top-tier spiritual practice software feature "Bodhi State of Mind," Hu Mang was essentially a novice in the field of spiritual practice software development.

Soon after, he signed a company insurance contract with a Daoist decree, which stipulated that the Mystic Shield Sect cover all expenses should any problems arise.

The Daoqi contract is an ancient oath made by one's own conscience; once made, it will not be easily broken unless absolutely necessary.

This series of actions, putting aside everything else, definitely boosted his sense of security to the max, making Hu Mang, who had just returned from the bloody training environment of Nanyang, feel like he was in heaven and earth.

"Alright, let's begin."

Are you going too?

Hu Mang looked at Huang Liang and Sister Yu, who were doing the same thing, and asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I play support, and she'll be in charge of security."

"OK."

The moment he connected to the network, the Hu Mang felt a slight dizziness, as if it had been gently pushed. Its body lost its weight, and its consciousness detached from its body, falling in a certain direction.

The feeling of falling wasn't uncomfortable; instead, it was as comfortable as being immersed in warm water. The surrounding darkness gradually faded, replaced by a soft golden light.

A faint scent, like sandalwood mixed with lotus, filled the air. It was refreshing and not overpowering, and when inhaled, it carried a slight coolness that brought a sense of peace to the mind. In the distance, the faint sound of low chanting could be heard.

The Hu Mang surveyed its surroundings, its gaze falling upon a golden light imbued with Buddhist qualities.

Then he glanced down again and found that his protective suit and helmet had disappeared.

"Doesn't it feel different from a regular Divine Sense network?"

Huang Liang, wearing a miniskirt and white stockings, also appeared and explained with a smile:

"I've heard a theory, but I can't be sure it's true, that what the higher-ups initially wanted to do wasn't to let their Divine Sense connect to the internet, but rather to let their souls connect. However, after several internal tests, they found that most cultivators' souls were not strong enough, and if they were put into the virtual world, they might be annihilated. So they settled for the second best and chose to let their Divine Sense connect to the internet."

So, wearing this helmet, doesn't it give you a sense of "realism"?

Hu Mang looked at his palm; the skin texture was clear, the fingerprints distinct, and even the tiny crescent-shaped white spots on his fingernails were lifelike. He then moved his fingers; the bending of the joints, the stretching of the tendons, and the tactile sensation of the skin were all indistinguishable from those in the real world.

"This feels even more real than True Person!"

It felt even more real than being in the Underworld Bureau.

"This is because the next generation of connected devices amplifies your five senses and six senses, which is why you have this sense of being alive."

Sister Yu came down too.

Why are you taking so long?

"To be absolutely sure, I took a walk around the data center area."

"Let's go, boss, now it's your turn to shine."

Huang Liang stretched out a hand, and Hu Mang took two steps in the direction he pointed. A bright golden light shone, and then the three of them seemed to have arrived in a Buddhist kingdom.

Various believers, monks, and other members of the Sangha bathed in the Buddha's light while chanting scriptures.

Scattered in the void were the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism: the vase, lotus, Dharma wheel, parasol, white canopy, twin fish, endless knot, and conch shell, all radiating layers of Buddhist light.

On each golden lotus platform, there are Arhats and Bodhisattvas whose faces are obscured.

All of these were enveloped in a dense, almost tangible, golden light.

Hu Mang looked at Huang Liang in surprise, and Huang Liang said proudly, "To make it easier for you to perform, we did some homework beforehand and modified the underlying architecture."

"Compared to you guys, the Electronic Wooden Fish group is a complete amateur crew," Hu Mang remarked sincerely.

"But doesn't Heavenly Gate have no Buddhist lineage?"

"That's right, so there's Buddha without scriptures, Dharma without monks, and thought without Zen," Huang Liang shrugged.