Chapter 416 Primordial Corrosion Individual (7400, Seeking Monthly Tickets~)

Lingqi (spiritual energy) viruses and thought viruses are the modern cultivation system's definition of 'inner demons' and 'heavenly demons.'

"Inner demon viruses are special lingqi structures. In their dormant state, they are inhaled into the human body and couple with the body's high-energy lingli (spiritual power), awakening and rapidly self-replicating."

"Next, the increasingly numerous inner demons rapidly pollute the soul, which is closely related to lingli. Their number increases exponentially, leading to symptoms such as memory confusion, hallucinations, conflicting thoughts, and drastic changes in temperament."

"Inner demons are certainly a scourge to cultivation, but in ancient times, some immortals and gods could use inner demons for cultivation methods—for example, transforming their own souls into forms similar to inner demons, and then using the inner demons' ability to rapidly replicate by relying on others' lingli to erode others and strengthen themselves."

"This 'Dao Heart Demon Seeding Method' is naturally forbidden, but in essence, it is also a profound and orthodox Xuanmen (Mysterious School) method. Because, before anyone used it for evil, the oldest immortals and gods thought of using the endless lingqi in the world as the infection target of 'inner demons,' which is a kind of reverse 'harmony between man and nature' to rapidly increase their own lingli."

The idea was good, but unfortunately, the properties of lingqi in nature change too complicatedly and rapidly, and inner demon viruses only take effect in the high-lingqi environment within cultivators' bodies, remaining dormant in most lingqi environments.

Of course, there are indeed some special areas where the lingqi concentration is so high that even the natural environment can activate inner demon viruses, but those 'inner demon realms' are extremely dangerous. Almost every inch of space has countless different kinds of inner demon viruses. As long as you start cultivating, you are destined to fall into madness... Such places are at most used as secret realms for tempering the mind. Those who enter are either assimilated and die by the inner demons, or they achieve perfection of mind and greatly increase their power.

Su Zhou was very clear about the definition and essence of inner demons, because when he first joined the Security Bureau, he had encountered 'cannibals' in some rural churches who tried to use the Dao Heart Demon Seeding Method to absorb others' lingli to gain power.

After all, as superhumans unaffected by natural diseases, inner demons are one of the few diseases they can get.

And heavenly demons are even more mysterious and mystical.

Thought viruses are their essence, and Su Zhou was also very familiar with this term.

That was when he went to the Europa Alliance to support the Concordance Bureau against the invasion of the Descending Spirit Society.

At that time, after defeating the six leaders of the Descending Spirit Society, Su Zhou learned about related information for the first time from the mouth of the 'Spirit Caller,' the last surviving leader of the Descending Spirit Society, when he was observing Yan Sheng's analysis of him.

That is, the 'true essence of the Descending Spirit Society,' a special 'thought virus.'

A man-made 'heavenly demon.'

No, that's not quite right, because all heavenly demons are theoretically 'man'-made—these things don't exist in nature.

If the inner demon—lingqi virus—is a 'natural lingqi structure' that attacks the human body's lingqi, then the heavenly demon—thought virus—is a 'thought and memory' that uses lingqi as a carrier to attack the soul and spread a special 'thinking algorithm.'

Humans do not need a soul. They have enough thinking ability and wisdom relying only on their brains. For humans, the soul means that they can better control lingli.

This is an evolutionary advantage in the lingqi universe, but it also brings additional weaknesses.

If a cultivator cannot protect their soul and only focuses on their own lingli cultivation, they will easily be infected in the interaction with the lingqi of heaven and earth—being infected by inner demons is fine, at most it is just a major illness of the soul, weakness or even dissipation, which is the so-called 'exhaustion of skill' and complete loss of cultivation.

However, if one is infected by a heavenly demon, then this man-made thought virus can attack the soul and reverse-invade the brain, modifying the 'memory,' 'consciousness,' and even 'thinking algorithm' on both the soul and brain sides, just like an electronic virus that hacks into a computer to modify files, completely reversing a person's essence.

The result is not just the complete loss of skill, but the entire person is possessed by the heavenly demon, becoming a 'rebellious person.'

The ancient saying goes, 'Only cultivate life, not nature, longevity like heaven and earth, a fool.' This is precisely about this aspect—only cultivating lingli, not cultivating the resistance of the soul and true nature, and in the end, one is nothing more than a puppet of inner demons and heavenly demons, a plaything in the hands of others.

Of course, the reverse is also true, 'Only cultivate nature, not life, myriad eons of yin spirits can hardly enter sainthood'—no matter how well the soul is cultivated, in the final analysis, there is no real great power, and in the end, it is nothing more than a yin spirit.

[Nature, primordial true suchness, one spirit shining.]

[Life, innate supreme essence, one qi (vital energy) filled with vitality.]

Cultivating both nature and life is the right path. This explains the common view of the cultivators at that time.

"The earliest heavenly demons were created by ancient immortals and gods internally, attacking each other, intending to 'brainwash' the other party's strongmen to their own side. It originally originated from the immortal and god lineage of Zhugu (ancient India), so the Zhugu immortals and gods, especially the immortals and gods of the 'Pure Land lineage,' have many methods to resist the invasion of heavenly demons... Of course, this method of attack was quickly learned by the immortals and gods of other god systems, and various different versions evolved."

As the most orthodox heir of the Zheng Guo (Proper Country, i.e., China) superhuman system, Lin Chengde possessed very comprehensive information, unlike Su Zhou, who was a half-way novice, only proficient in cultivation, and not very familiar with various allusions.

He transmitted various information related to heavenly demons to Su Zhou, and then said with some emotion, "The Descending Spirit Society learned this method, so they can ensure their continuous existence... Even now, only this generation of the Descending Spirit Society has been wiped out. If you are not careful, after the 'heavenly demon descends,' a new Descending Spirit Society will be born."

"Heavenly demons..."

Knowing this information, Su Zhou had a deeper understanding of the essence of 'evil spirits.' He couldn't help but nod slightly, "I see, this can explain why evil spirits choose people to possess—it is difficult for 'heavenly demons' that are not specifically designed to work on existences that 'do not meet the requirements,' and the performance of heavenly demons of different degrees is indeed vastly different."

But in this way, the situation became even more confusing.

"Who exactly released the heavenly demon? And what is his purpose?"

Su Zhou touched the ice fox elder in his arms. With the abundant lingqi in the Expedition, the six-tailed ice fox's fur had begun to grow back, and it felt quite good to the touch—and in the young man's mind, various information, whether it was the Bingzhu (Lord of Weapons) seal, the erasure of the Bingzhu's information, and the strange forms of various evil spirits, all began to converge together.

He couldn't help but raise his head, looking at the dark outer sea in the distance, and the endless yin clouds, "Could it be..."

"His purpose is to use the heavenly demon to 'infect' the Bingzhu in the seal?!"

At the same time.

Gu Clan Shelter.

The ordinary physician Gu Liangqiu returned to his home after finishing a day of continuous overtime work.

The Gu Clan Shelter suffered an attack, and the number of deaths and injuries was enormous. As a physician, Gu Liangqiu had naturally been working until he was almost unconscious before being replaced by other companions.

"Daddy! You're back?!"

Opening the door, the tired Gu Liangqiu heard this joyful childish voice, and then he saw a beige little shadow rushing towards him, almost knocking him over.

"Hey, Xiaozhen (little darling) be good..."

Although tired, Gu Liangqiu still smiled and picked up the little girl who was pouncing on him, shaking her in the air, "Did Mom bring you back? Where is she now?"

"Mom said she went to the planting area to rescue food—Daddy, are we moving again?"

The little girl's tender voice was very clear. She had a head of beige hair, and a fluffy tail was flapping around—the tails of Qingqiu (Azure Hill) people in childhood cannot be retracted. They can only control the power of their bloodline after puberty.

"Yeah... Thanks to Supreme Su, our clan was not exterminated, but this place has been discovered by evil spirits, so we must move..."

After holding his daughter for a while, Gu Liangqiu, who was just an ordinary person, was a little tired. He put the little girl down, poured himself a glass of water, drank it in one breath, and sighed.

—This time, too many people really died... The Gu Clan Shelter, with a total population of just over four thousand, lost more than seventeen hundred people in one go, and more than two hundred people were missing. Almost every family was in mourning, and many families were completely wiped out.

Many acquaintances, familiar friends and comrades, and even work companions, died in this evil spirit attack...

His family of three was safe and sound, which was truly a blessing. In addition to doing his best to help the wounded, there was no other way to repay this luck.

"It's just that I really don't have the talent and can't learn spiritual arts and Taoism... As a physician, I can only use herbs and medicines to treat patients... I'm ashamed..."

Sitting at the dining table, the man couldn't help but shed tears after another sigh... More than once, Gu Liangqiu felt deeply guilty for his powerlessness. He hoped that he was the one who died, and that those more talented and capable companions would survive.

But every time this thought came out, the faces of his wife and daughter would appear in front of him, making him feel ashamed... Dying is easy, but living is really responsible. He just wanted to escape the increasingly difficult world.

Fortunately, Xiaozhen's lingli talent is quite good, far better than him, and it is not impossible to become a knight.

At this time, the little girl named Xiaozhen saw her father crying, and couldn't help but worry. She turned around and wanted to go to the kitchen to get something to eat, just like her mother usually did, using food to make her father temporarily less gloomy...

"Ah?!"

But suddenly, she seemed to see something, and then excitedly stretched out her hand, pointing to Gu Liangqiu's side, "Uncle Qianbo, when did you come?"

"Brother Qianbo?"

Hearing this, Gu Liangqiu was immediately confused for a while, and didn't quite understand.

But soon, after understanding this sentence, he was shocked.

Gu Qianbo... Wasn't that his childhood sweetheart and best friend?

He was a knight responsible for protecting the medical team, with a beautiful fiery red hair. He had a very good relationship with himself, and had always taken care of himself, and he had always been very grateful to him...

But—he was already dead.

Not long ago.

Gu Liangqiu still remembered that Gu Qianbo launched a desperate charge towards the evil spirit of the Human Immortal Realm in order to cover the medical team's entry into the final defense circle, buying them time... That fiery red hair fluttered, like blood, and he was indeed torn apart by the evil spirit in the end, and blood splashed in the air.

Too many people died... His other childhood sweetheart, Gu Lulin, also died. Her younger brother, Gu Zechuan, had previously asked him about her news with a pale face, and at that time, he didn't even know the news himself, and didn't even have time to confirm his friend's life or death...

"Xiaozhen, what's wrong? Why did you say Uncle Qianbo's name?"

His voice trembling, Gu Liangqiu stretched out his hand and hugged his daughter in his arms again—Gu Qianbo liked Xiaozhen very much, because the woman he liked had died in an evil spirit invasion a long time ago, so he had never found a second lover, and Gu Liangqiu's daughter was treated by Gu Qianbo as his own daughter, and he often bought her gifts and took her out to play when there were no evil spirit invasions.

And the little girl moved her fox ears confusedly. Xiaozhen's eyes passed over her father's shoulder and looked behind him, "But, Uncle Qianbo is behind Daddy?"

She said confusedly, "Can't Daddy see him?"

"Wh-what?"

Immediately, Gu Liangqiu felt a rush of blood straight to his head, "Is it a soul? Qianbo's soul hasn't dissipated yet?"

He turned his head as quickly as possible and looked behind him, but he couldn't see anything—Gu Liangqiu had never hated his powerlessness like he did now, hating his body without lingli talent. He tried to stand up and look around, to meet his old friend, but he forgot that he was still holding his daughter in his arms, and staggered, almost falling.

"Ah, Daddy, Uncle Qianbo wanted to hold you, but he passed through you—he said to calm down."

The little girl was put down by Gu Liangqiu. Xiaozhen looked behind her father and smiled happily, "Uncle said, don't worry, there will be a time to meet again in the future—he said you should rest well, he doesn't want the person he protected with his life to die in the end because of overwork, how stupid."

"Brother Qianbo..."

Hearing this, Gu Liangqiu, who was still looking around, trying to find his friend's shadow, suddenly felt a pang in his nose. He was clearly already a father, an old man, but at this moment, his heart was still filled with mixed feelings, and he couldn't control himself, "Really, you're still here... I, I..."

"Uncle Qianbo is gone."

And at this time, Gu Zizhen raised her head. She looked at the ceiling, as if she could see a shadow passing through the door and wall, "He said, this time he just came to visit you... Don't worry, Uncle said that if there is a chance in the future, he will take me out to play!"

"In the future... Is there a future after death?"

Sitting back in his seat, Gu Liangqiu picked up a glass of water, but didn't drink it, feeling a little lost in his heart, but more of an inexplicable peace of mind. He couldn't help but murmur, "Okay, I'll believe you one more time..."

At this moment, in the Gu Clan Shelter.

Similar scenes were happening simultaneously.

And at a high point in the Gu Clan Shelter, a gentle Qingqiu woman was standing beside Gu Zechuan, who was holding twenty crystalline servers.

"Don't you really blame me, Sister..."

The white-haired young man lowered his head in shame. He choked and said, "I'm late... I'm sorry, really... I'm sorry..."

But it could be seen that a somewhat hazy and illusory hand was raised, 'stroking' Gu Zechuan's face.

[No matter whether I am actually alive now, or some kind of after-death illusion... But Zechuan, at least before I died, I never thought of blaming you. I'm just a little regretful that I didn't see the happy times that the elders talked about, when the Central Divine Court was still around.]

The gentle fox woman said this, and then she took the initiative to reach out and touch the twenty crystals, entering the server.

Finally, she left these words: [So, Zechuan, you must help me take a look... Of course, you must also pay attention to your health and protect yourself...]

Even if they were strengthened by Tang Yuan's lingli, most of the souls of the dead Qingqiu people had to stay in the Underworld server for most of the time, stabilizing their soul logic—the reason for letting them go out was because if these souls sat idly by and watched their relatives fall into sorrow, it would only make them more unstable.

Soon, Gu Zechuan, who was somewhat lost and also thoughtful, saw countless sporadic spots of light rising from all corners of the Gu Clan Shelter.

Numerous souls who died because of the evil spirit invasion were now like fireflies, converging towards the twenty crystals in his hand.

Thousands of spots of light even formed a stream of light like the Milky Way in the starry sky, drifting into the crystal, illuminating Gu Zechuan's face.

The soul light shone, as if telling of 'hope.'

The young man silently watched all this until the light dimmed and the crystal returned to its original state.

He held this seemingly ordinary little box, but his posture was as if he was holding an entire world.

Tang Yuan stood behind Gu Zechuan, responsible for blessing lingli on each soul who had traveled before. He was now very tired, and just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard Gu Zechuan ask a question.

"Mr. Tang... are you a subordinate of Supreme Su?"

"That's right."

In response, Tang Yuan, who was interrupted from his nap, sighed. He nodded vigorously, and then said quite proudly: "I'm still his secretary!"

Then, the black-haired young man saw the Qingqiu fox man in front of him hand back the Soul Abyss server to himself—Tang Yuan saw Gu Zechuan bow deeply to him.

"I also want to follow that lord... Mr. Tang, please guide me!"

……

When Su Zhou returned from the Expedition, the Expedition's defensive shield had begun to recover under the support of the stable operation of the spare engine.

And after roughly discussing the current situation of Qingqiu Star and the true purpose of the mastermind behind the scenes with Lin Chengde and Liu Wuxin, he was stunned to find when he arrived at the Gu Clan Shelter that the entire shelter had begun to treat him as a genuine immortal god.

"No, why are you kneeling? Continue working, don't come here specifically to worship me—it's useless!"

Walking all the way, all the Qingqiu people along the way would salute and worship Su Zhou from the bottom of their hearts.

A lighter one was nothing more than a deep bow, or making some gesture of respect, while a heavier one was to kneel directly and perform the five-body-投地 (wǔ tǐ tóu dì, prostration with all five limbs touching the ground) grand ceremony. Su Zhou couldn't stop them.

"So it's the electronic underworld—alas, really, I didn't make this thing..."

Soon, Su Zhou, who understood the reason for these actions, felt a headache, and then gave up thinking: "Forget it, anyway, I did kill those evil spirits and saved everyone's life, as expected of me."

In short, Su Zhou, who returned to the Gu Clan Shelter, in addition to the amazing courtesy, was also invited to attend a banquet that was considered to stabilize people's hearts.

There was nothing good at the banquet, nothing more than various mushrooms, various tree fruits, and some feathers, poultry and rat meat, which were made very lightly, but very exquisitely.

Su Zhou didn't care about the source of these foods—no matter how strange they were, they were just protein, and he could eat them after cutting off their heads. He had always been accepting.

As for consuming the shelter's not much food... Su Zhou was very clear that if he didn't eat, it would instead greatly reduce the morale of the current Gu Clan Shelter, and make them suspicious, thinking that the immortal god was unwilling to protect them—even if there was a small chance that this would not happen, why bother to try?

If you do something, you should get the corresponding flattery and reward. It's really unreasonable not to take the reward.

Just as he was eating, Su Zhou felt it.

In that almost ethereal spirit world, there were quite a few wishes, just like countless bright stars, turning into a surging river of wishes, surging towards the wish soul in his personal space.

The wish soul was like a candle wick, emitting a faint light. Countless wishes poured in, making the transparent candle brighter and releasing more 'light and heat'.

At that moment, the young man felt it, as if a force poured into his body, penetrating into his limbs... How should I say it? It was very similar to the feeling when 'Unity of Myriad Thoughts' was activated and strengthened. An extremely warm sense of power surged around Su Zhou.

This was just the wish pouring into the wish soul, and he hadn't started eating yet, but it had such an effect—so Su Zhou continued to eat heartily at the banquet with peace of mind.

And many Gu Clan people looked at him eating so happily, and they couldn't help but feel happy, and the wish they provided even increased a lot.

"The situation in Qingqiu is really hard to imagine."

At the banquet, Su Zhou talked with Tang Yuan, his tone quite emotional, "Just in this southwest region, there are so many commander-level existences. I'm afraid the number of commander-level existences on Earth is not as good as Qingqiu Star, right?"

"I don't feel very strong either..."

Tang Yuan took a sip of fish soup and muttered in a low voice: "Just like those three demons that the minister秒杀 (miǎo shā, instantly killed) before, if it's one-on-one, I think I can beat them too!"

"Those are the weakest kind, good for people to challenge above their level, cannon fodder."

And Su Zhou shook his head, breaking Tang Yuan's unknown fantasy: "But even so, it is difficult for you to deal with—even the most simple and mass-produced commander level, it is still the commander level, a symbol of power."

"Let's not talk about anything else, a commander-level charging towards you at ten times the speed of sound, what else can you do besides spiritualize? You can dispel the attack by attacking the other party in spiritual form, and he can also attack, but you can't kill him, but he can秒杀 (miǎo shā, instantly kill) you."

Hearing this, Tang Yuan frowned, obviously also aware of this: "Yeah... what should I do then? The number of enemy commanders is likely to be more than the crew of our Expedition..."

"The situation is grim, what else can we do?"

At this time, Su Zhou, who had already finished扫 (sǎo, swept) one seat, shook his head and stood up: "Naturally, I will kill them all—don't worry too much, after all, they are cannon fodder, even that evil spirit I encountered today, I can still easily massacre."

The banquet ended quickly—after all, this was just a small banquet specifically used to boost morale and thank Su Zhou.

And after everything was over, Gu Xifeng, the elder of the Gu Clan, also came to Su Zhou's side.

He told Su Zhou the current amount of 'Tiangang Dish煞 (Heavenly Astral Earthly Fiend)' in the Gu Clan's hands—the amount was indeed not much.

"This is too little, right? Only 60,000 lingli points, the amount of six small weeks..."

After getting this news, Su Zhou not only widened his eyes, but also said in surprise: "Not even one standard unit (100,000 points)? That's right, after all, you use this thing at most for alchemy and cultivation, but we have to use it to repair the engines of spaceships..."

After saying half of it, Su Zhou could only shake his head—high-level materials such as Tiangang Dish煞 are indeed not something that ordinary shelters can hold too much of.

"God knows how many shelters you have to find to collect it..."

Thinking like this, the young man couldn't help but feel a little helpless. He raised his head and looked at the Gu Clan Shelter, which had already begun to have some lights: "The longer the time, the more power the enemy can call upon..."

"Supreme Su, although our Gu Clan doesn't have that much Tiangang Dish煞... But we do know where there is."

Facing Su Zhou, who was obviously worried about this matter, Elder Gu Xifeng hesitated for a while, but still said the information he knew: "The Town Spirit Tower—although it is very dangerous, there must be a large amount of Tiangang Dish煞 in the Town Spirit Tower city built by those evil spirits!"

"When building the Town Spirit Tower, those evil spirits will use 'Tiangang Dish煞' to開靈 (kāi líng, enchant) the tower... there will definitely be a lot left!"

"Oh? That may be good news."

Hearing this, Su Zhou's eyes lit up immediately. He didn't care about the danger at all, and didn't doubt what Gu Xifeng said—after all, it was the enemy that could launch宇宙太空轨道 (yǔ zhòu tài kōng guǐ dào, outer space orbital) attacks and strike the enemy from outer space, so it was obviously not surprising to have so many good materials: "Then the problem comes, where are the specific locations of those Town Spirit Towers? Which ones have weaker defenses?"

And just as Su Zhou and Elder Xifeng were discussing the nearest Town Spirit Tower city.

"I know the details of those Town Spirit Tower cities very well."

Gu Zechuan, who had been next to him all the time, suddenly said: "From the beginning of their construction of the Town Spirit Tower, I have been observing, and even sneaked in several times! Please let me lead the way for you, I am very familiar with that side!"

"Hmm?"

Hearing this, Su Zhou raised his head, squinted his eyes, looked at Gu Zechuan, who was completely different from before in terms of expression and momentum, and then nodded and smiled: "Then I'll have to trouble you."

……

Far away.

Qingqiu Star, deep in the Lianyi Sea.

Located in the very center of the planet's ocean, the place where storms are the most rampant.

Deep in the seabed, inside the dead seabed volcano cavity, the evil spirits' nest... No.

It should be said, inside the heavenly demon nest.

Deep in the volcanic cavity, in the crystal column matrix composed of countless layers of ice-blue crystals, bright and clear spiritual light flickered, and countless mighty rivers of information化光 (huà guāng, transformed into light) from them, swarming out, and then more information射入 (shè rù, shot in) from another port, and was decomposed by light into other types of information.

It is not only the heavenly demon nest that has the heavenly demon matrix. In fact, these types of heavenly demon matrices are scattered all over the world. The matrix in the heavenly demon nest is just the largest and most core one, called the Central one, responsible for sorting out the actions,调动 (diào dòng, deployment), attack targets, and respective fields of all kinds of evil spirits and heavenly demons in the world, but more specific orders are responsible by the local heavenly demon matrix.

And just at this time, the Heavenly Demon Central Matrix received the information transmitted from the Heavenly Demon Matrix located in the southwest.

[Detected the appearance of a '超界限危险个体 (chāo jiè xiàn wēi xiǎn gè tǐ, super-limit dangerous individual)'. 'Elite Template No. 19' has no power to resist.]

[Judgment—Central Divine Court, reserve immortal god,龙王级 (lóng wáng jí, Dragon King level) dragon blood holder.]

[Strength—Peak Human Immortal, can '羽化登仙 (yǔ huà dēng xiān, ascend to immortality)' and登临 (dēng lín, ascend to) the 'Earth Immortal position' at any time.]

[According to the consensus algorithm, this situation will be judged as 'First-Class Crisis No. 1', extremely dangerous.]

[Need to awaken the '原初腐蚀个体 (yuán chū fǔ shí gè tǐ, Primordial Corrosion Individual)']

Seeking monthly tickets~

1 Because of the worry about harmony, some deleted plots may be written in extra stories.