Volume 1, Chapter 71 – Twin Moon City

A terrifying suction erupted from the spiritual platform at Shi Lan’s brow, and in an instant it swallowed up half the energy Samsara had just released.

Samsara didn’t dare be even the slightest bit careless. He hurriedly pulled the remaining energy back, his heart sinking. With Shi Lan’s body in its current state, without the support of his energy, a fall from several hundred zhang up would mean certain death.

He sighed, pulled up the system panel, and began to search the programs. Once the host’s soul perished, the system would simultaneously解除 its binding and move on to choose its next host. He had to prepare early.

【Anomaly eliminated. Autonomous counterattack program shutting down.】

Samsara gave a mocking little laugh, tinged with ridicule. “A system with no intelligence and no flexibility—what good is it, no matter how high its level?”

【Anomaly detected. Energy absorption composition abnormal. Beginning analysis……】

【Analysis complete. Great Thousand World coordinates: 23 locations found. Middle Thousand World coordinates: 68 locations found. Small Thousand World coordinates: 102 locations found.】

【Given the host’s currently shallow cultivation, the coordinates will be sealed.】

Samsara’s hands stilled, a chill rising in his heart. It had parsed out that many world coordinates from just that little bit of energy? Just what kind of background did this idiot system have?!

Before he could recover, the system’s voice sounded again.

【1000/1000】

【Main quest complete. Quest rewards being distributed.】

【Congratulations to the host on obtaining one portion of innate spirit blood.】

【Innate spirit blood is a special item. It cannot be stored in the system’s temporary storage. Fuse immediately?】

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【Host is unconscious. Temporary proxy authority engaged.】

【Innate spirit blood fusion beginning.】

“Bang——”

Shi Lan smashed straight through the roof and crashed into an ordinary home. Her entire body was riddled with cracks from the impact, especially around her abdomen, where several fragments of armor were deeply embedded, piercing into her organs.

Blood gushed out in streams. Shi Lan looked like a ragdoll soaking in a pool of blood.

A clump of violet blood appeared out of nowhere and forced its way into Shi Lan’s heart, holding together a heartbeat that was on the verge of stopping.

“Thump… thump……”

Her heartbeat grew longer, stronger. With each pulse of her heart, the violet blood was sent little by little through the vessels of her whole body.

The violet blood flowed slowly through her veins, seeping into every bone and beginning to reshape her marrow.

At her wounds, the already-slowing blood began to pour outward again.

For Shi Lan, the fusion of innate spirit blood was an even more thorough rebirth than a Dust-Cleansing Pill. It was true remolding of marrow and exchange of blood, an elevation on the level of life itself.

……

The Demon-Suppressing Army’s sacrifice hadn’t allowed Twin Moon City to outlast the beast tide. It had only let it cling to life for a few more days.

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The city still fell in the end.

Even without a commander, there were still countless demonic beasts outside the walls, and the Earth Fiend Realm beasts had not all been slain.

Twin Moon City fell from the human world into a living hell, almost completely destroyed.

With the beasts’ keen sense of smell, even people hiding in cellars several zhang underground were still sniffed out.

The demonic beasts at and above the Innate Realm disappeared without a trace once the city fell and left this place, leaving only hordes of low-level beasts to rampage through the city and feast on the hundreds of thousands of civilians whose blood and qi had been depleted.

In the middle of the ruins, an ordinary house stood quietly. Whenever packs of low-level demonic beasts passed by, they would all give it a wide berth, as if some terrible thing was hidden within.

……

Shi Lan lay quietly on the ground. The cracks on her body had mostly healed already, with only her abdomen remaining unhealed because of the fragments of armor embedded within.

The blood flowing through Shi Lan’s body was no longer its usual bright red, but carried a faint violet hue.

Compared to before, Shi Lan’s physical toughness had increased several times over. Her entire body had been reinforced to a state of perfection, reaching the absolute peak that the Body Tempering Realm could attain.

Even at this point, the strengthening of her body hadn’t stopped. With every circulation of her blood, the spiritual qi in the surroundings was dragged into her body like a trickling stream, constantly nourishing all her muscles and bones.

Day after day, as time passed, Shi Lan’s bones and tendons could no longer hold any more spiritual qi. The spiritual qi began to wander through her meridians instead and eventually surged toward her dantian.

Her dry dantian was moistened by the spiritual qi and began to expand. Spiritual qi poured in without end, gathering into a bank of spiritual mist.

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Bit by bit, her dantian continued to expand……

Suddenly, it was as if that expansion had reached a critical point. The dense spiritual mist began to rapidly compress and condense, finally solidifying into wisps of pale-white Innate true qi that flowed through Shi Lan’s body.

【Main quest complete. Quest rewards being distributed.】

【Congratulations to the host on obtaining two basic lottery chances, and the “Yuqing Creation Art.”】

【Host has stepped into the Innate Realm. Reputation system unlocked.】

With the system notifications, Shi Lan slowly woke from her boundless dream. She opened her eyes, a flash of violet light flickering through her pupils.

Although she was awake, her mind was still blank. She braced a hand on the ground and pushed herself up, sitting there with a wooden expression.

“Hiss——”

As her abdomen curled, a clear sensation of foreign objects and the scraping pain of her organs being grazed pulled Shi Lan’s awareness back.

Her armor had been shattered; there was no way her clothes could be intact. Calling them tattered would be generous—she was practically half-naked.

Looking at the fragments of armor sunk into a stretch of pale skin, Shi Lan frowned slightly and pinched one shard between her fingers.

She gave it a testing tug. The shard had been clamped tightly in place by newly grown flesh, and it pressed against her organs inside. The slightest touch sent a wave of agony washing over her.

Shi Lan drew in a deep breath, pushed herself upright, and knelt on the floor. Clenching her teeth, she tightened her fingers and yanked one fragment straight out of her body.

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She let out a muffled groan, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out on her brow.

Staring at the blood seeping from the wound, Shi Lan froze for a moment.

“Your previous quest is already complete. That was the reward from one of them…” Samsara briefly explained what had happened, glossing over a few details.

In just a short while, the fresh wound had already stopped bleeding.

Once she learned she’d been unconscious for nearly half a month, Shi Lan didn’t dare delay any longer. Better a short pain than a long one—her fingers moved rapidly as she pulled the remaining shards of armor from her body.

Looking down at her ragged clothing, Shi Lan rummaged around the house, found a long robe, tore half of it into strips to bandage her wounds, then pulled it on and walked out of the home.

“This……”

Taking in the ruins spreading out before her, Shi Lan clutched the doorframe, silent for a long time, unable to speak.

It was already dusk. The evening glow at the horizon was as red as blood. A dozen or so vultures circled in the sky, and not far away a few hyenas gnawed at some dry bones.

Shi Lan shook her head, a nameless fear rising in her chest, her arms and legs feeling weak.

All of a sudden, as if remembering something, she took off at a run toward the west gate not far away.