In the late autumn of Year 4789 of the Xia Calendar, a forest fire broke out in the Guyun Mountain Range. Over thirty hikers went missing. Local authorities urgently dispatched personnel to combat the blaze and search for the lost individuals.
Three days later, the forest fire was extinguished. Four days later, rescue workers discovered the missing hikers in a cave.
Along with them, a middle-aged woman's corpse.
Initially, the rescue team was curious how the hikers managed to survive the pervasive smoke in the cave without succumbing to suffocation or other issues.
However, upon discovering the body, they no longer had the energy to inquire about such matters. They immediately reported the finding for investigation and questioning.
Even though everyone claimed the corpse had nothing to do with them and that they had found it upon entering the cave, all the hikers were interrogated separately to prevent collusion and fabrication of a story.
The process lasted for several hours.
It continued until the autopsy report was released.
To be precise, it couldn't really be called an autopsy report. After several hours, the forensic doctor was unable to cut through the corpse's skin. The latest instruments detected that the energy levels within the body, the total amount of energy, were comparable to a newly manufactured artificial sun.
However, these two points alone were sufficient to prove that the corpse had no connection to the hikers. The hikers likely lacked the ability to kill a being whose corpse was so formidable.
Due to the bizarre nature of the examination results, the matter was quickly escalated. The final decision was to issue a warning to all hikers, require them to sign non-disclosure agreements, and then release them.
The body was sent to the Taotie Jue Research Institute.
This was not because they discovered the corpse was the creator of Taotie Jue. Rather, it was because, to date, the Taotie Jue Research Institute conducted the most research on metaphysics within the Xia Kingdom. Such a clearly unscientific corpse, where else could it be sent for research?
Simultaneously, a nationwide comparison of facial recognition, identity, and fingerprint information began. Initially, the relevant staff conducted this comparison merely as a procedural habit, not expecting to find a match.
However, to their great surprise, they did find one, which led them to Ding Yun.
The comparison confirmed the identity of the corpse.
It was Ding Yun.
Following this, an in-depth investigation was launched into this identity, examining her digital footprint, social connections, and other aspects.
Although Ding Yun had previously used technical means to erase much of her online presence, those methods only made it more difficult for others to notice her or pinpoint her through digital traces.
But now, they weren't trying to locate her through her digital footprint; instead, having identified her, they sought to find traces of her actions and deeds.
Many things naturally couldn't be completely concealed.
And gradually, they were exposed.
However, considering the highly bizarre nature of the situation, it was deemed inappropriate to inform Gu Mingxia and Gu Haomiao directly.
Therefore, the relevant departments ultimately decided to temporarily withhold the news of their mother's death from Gu Mingxia and Gu Haomiao. They would continue to research Ding Yun's body while reporting the collected intelligence.
It was only at this point that the relevant departments finally learned who had created Taotie Jue.
Subsequently, based on the existing research data, the responsible individuals named Ding Yun's body the "Immortal Divine Body," codenamed "Taotie," and classified it under top-secret archives.
Concurrently, the core members of the Taotie Research Institute were withdrawn, and a clandestine research group for the Immortal Divine Body was established.
This group was solely dedicated to studying Ding Yun's Immortal Divine Body.
...
Three years later, Gu Mingxia and Gu Haomiao held a funeral for Gu Jianguo, who had died after choking on vomit due to excessive drinking, a condition his elderly mother, Ding Yun, had been unable to detect in time.
Ten years later, after failing to contact Ding Yun and finding no information even after posting missing person notices, the siblings, in great pain, officially declared Ding Yun deceased, issued a death certificate, and erected a cenotaph.
Twenty years later, the Immortal Divine Body Research Group, through their studies, successfully reverse-engineered a fragmented version of Taotie Jue, though it was significantly more complete than what Ding Yun had uploaded. As cancer was no longer an issue in the world, all those who attempted to cultivate it were healthy individuals.
Therefore, they did not experience any mutations.
They merely cultivated a version of Taotie Jue that was not weakened by Ding Yun, and they were able to achieve one transformation.
However, the institute's leadership also discovered the immense consumption of food required by Taotie Jue. Therefore, the reverse-engineered version, capable of achieving one transformation, was not widely promoted.
Its cultivation was permitted only among a select few individuals.
Thirty years later, the Immortal Divine Body Research Group, through their research, successfully reverse-engineered Taotie Jue for a second transformation. They also traced the origin of the faint golden cells within Ding Yun's body, which were perfect in every aspect.
Initially, they were likely cancerous cells.
The fact that these cells did not require oxygen was also likely related to this.
Thirty-two years later, through extensive human experimentation, particularly with subjects induced with stomach cancer, attempts to cultivate the reverse-engineered Taotie Jue were made.
This completely validated the researchers' hypothesis.
The immortal cells within the Immortal Divine Body were the result of cancer cells combining with Taotie Jue and continuously evolving. Furthermore, this evolutionary path was likely a dead end, which explained why Ding Yun, despite possessing an Immortal Divine Body and nearly immortal cells, died prematurely. It also explained why she specifically created a weakened version of Taotie Jue.
Her original intention was to cure cancer, and she even used herself as an experimental subject. Although her self-experiment failed, she did not abandon her original goal and diligently developed a cultivation method that, while less powerful, could indeed cure cancer.
Many researchers were moved by their own deductions.
Fifty-eight years later, Taotie Jue, capable of a third transformation, was finally reverse-engineered by the researchers.
Sixty-five years later, experimental subjects who contracted stomach cancer and attempted to cultivate Taotie Jue, with the assistance of national resources, finally successfully navigated the difficult transitional phase of being simultaneously anaerobic and oxygen-dependent.
They successfully completed the third transformation of Taotie Jue.
And attained an Immortal Divine Body.
This Immortal Divine Body was significantly weaker than Ding Yun's. This was, in fact, unavoidable. After all, they were reverse-engineering. It was difficult to achieve a one-hundred-percent restoration. Moreover, cultivation methods are fraught with peril, with even minor deviations leading to vastly different outcomes. The fact that they cultivated it without going mad and successfully completed the third transformation was already remarkable. They couldn't possibly expect the exact same results as the original.
Furthermore, consider the countless rare herbs and elixirs Ding Yun consumed during her cultivation. The subjects in their experiment only consumed ordinary food. In addition, Ding Yun had spiritual energy as an auxiliary during her cultivation, a resource they lacked.
Therefore, it was perfectly normal for them to not measure up to Ding Yun.
However, the researchers were unaware of this. They only believed their research was not yet comprehensive. The Immortal Divine Body research plan, which was originally intended to be halted, had to be continued.
And nearly a hundred years passed.
Significant breakthroughs were finally made in the research.
During the era of space exploration, Xia successfully mined a high-energy substance in space that could promote Taotie Jue cultivation and improve the quality of the Immortal Divine Body. One experimental subject consumed several tons of this high-energy substance, finally elevating their Immortal Divine Body to a level comparable to Ding Yun's. Only then were the specific secrets unraveled.
However, where Ding Yun obtained the high-energy substance over a hundred years ago remained unknown. And the reason for her premature death also remained a mystery.
Ultimately, they were buried by the river of time.
Becoming unsolved mysteries.
Especially after the institute understood all the secrets of the Immortal Divine Body, and could even create new Immortal Divine Bodies, thereby completely concluding the research plan for the Immortal Divine Body and publicly announcing the related plans.
Theories of alien origin, divine intervention, and possession, among others, continued to circulate.
However, no one could perfectly explain them, nor could anyone persuade the proponents of other theories. Therefore, apart from the emergence of more hypotheses, the unsolved mysteries remained unsolved.
At most, Ding Yun's corpse was no longer being researched.
Instead, it was placed in the Hall of Human Sages.
Along with portraits, ashes, or well-preserved corpses of numerous sages, displayed in their respective era halls.
For people to admire and commemorate.