Chapter 440 - 39: Harvest and Out of Control

"Jackpot!"

Zhu Ju couldn’t hide the excitement on his face as he looked at the object in his hand.

Through the combined efforts of Wang Chan, Xie Zhongru, the Funeng City defense forces, the Celestial Orbital Cannon, and himself, the Holy King Beast, the Nine Profound Spirit Deer, was finally slain within the Twelve Celestial Star Array.

The process had been arduous.

But the rewards were equally abundant.

As a peak existence among Exotic Beasts, the Holy King Beast’s Physical Body was comparable to that of a Nascent Soul True Man, and it possessed its own unique qualities.

Its mangled corpse not only contained a massive amount of energy, but would also help Zhu Ju deduce and perfect his own Physical Body Martial Arts.

What’s more...

There was the Source Crystal!

A fist-sized white Source Crystal was something he had never even heard of.

The energy it contained was terrifying. If his Outer Body Incarnation were to perform Refinement on it, it would likely cause the second Immortal Vein within ’Wukong’ to manifest, pushing its Power of the Physical Body to a level approaching the Late-Stage Golden Core.

"A pity."

Stroking the Source Crystal, Zhu Ju wore a regretful expression.

"It’s not an Inner Core."

If this had been a Demon Beast Inner Core, given the Holy King Beast’s power, it would have been enough to spare him several hundred years of arduous cultivation.

Perhaps,

he might even have leaped straight to the level of a Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivator.

Source Crystals were similar to Inner Cores, but to be safe, Zhu Ju dared not try absorbing it himself.

WHOOSH!

A blurry shadow flitted through the door, Transforming Void into Solid inside the room to become a tattered Paperman.

A Storage Ring hung from the Paperman’s hand.

Zhu Ju reached out, took the Storage Ring, and swept his Divine Thought inside. A satisfied smile immediately spread across his face.

"Not bad!"

’As they say, a man can’t get rich without a windfall, and a horse can’t get fat without night fodder. How could saving up ever be as fast as plundering?’

The Papermen he had dispatched were returning intermittently.

Some had failed their mission, unable to find the treasuries where the Source Crystals were kept. Others had stolen Source Crystals only to be intercepted and have their loot taken back. Still, a considerable number had returned successfully.

Especially the one sent to the Celestial Wealth Commerce Association.

Given Zhu Ju’s knowledge of the Commerce Association, that Paperman had plundered it nearly clean of anything valuable, returning with a full haul.

Storage Rings filled with Source Crystals, Treasures, and research materials were laid out on the table, an irresistibly joyous sight.

In addition to the common white Source Crystals, this time he had also acquired quite a few black and even Blue Source Crystals.

One of them was a Blue Source Crystal the size of a duck egg. He didn’t know its origin, but for some reason, it had never been used.

"Good!"

"Very good!"

Zhu Ju clapped his hands together lightly.

"I won’t have to worry about Source Crystals for the next ten years!"

If he could consume and perform Refinement on all these Source Crystals, he could only imagine how much his strength would increase.

"Mr. Zhu."

Qiann Lan’s voice came through, weak and tinged with exhaustion.

"Someone from the Xie Family sent an invitation. That Martial Saint would like to request a meeting with you."

"You sound very weak," Zhu Ju said.

"Are you injured?"

"Don’t worry, sir. They’re just minor injuries. I’ll be fine after a period of rest." Zhu Ju’s concern made Qiann Lan emotional, her voice trembling slightly.

"I’m fine."

"Mm," Zhu Ju nodded.

"Don’t bother with the Xie Family. As for Xie Zhongru... there’s no need to meet him. We don’t walk the same path."

"Focus on your recovery. The Underworld is likely to be chaotic for a while, and I’ll need you to manage things."

"Yes, sir," Qiann Lan replied.

KNOCK, KNOCK...

Just as he ended the call, there was a knock at the door.

Sensing the aura of the person outside, Zhu Ju raised an eyebrow and opened the door with a flick of his sleeve.

"You haven’t left yet?"

The disheveled Cheng Rong gave a dry laugh.

"I was about to, but a chunk of falling concrete knocked me back."

She rubbed her swollen scalp and sighed.

"Luckily, the signal is good here, and it’s very safe. It doesn’t get in the way of communicating with the outside world."

"Also..."

"Wuh Qing was injured, but thankfully it’s not life-threatening."

"She’s in my daughter’s class, that’s how I found out."

Wuh Qing!

Wuh Tian’s daughter.

Zhu Ju had once posed as Wuh Tian, so he had a slight connection to his children. He nodded slightly upon hearing the news.

"To only be injured in a situation like this is already lucky. What’s the current state of Funeng City?"

"Sigh."

Cheng Rong sighed.

"The number of people affected can’t be tallied yet, but the death toll is probably in the hundreds of thousands, and even more are injured."

"After all..."

"Nearly half the city was destroyed!"

The Nine Profound Spirit Deer hadn’t rampaged through Funeng City for long before it was sent flying by the Qianjun Mecha.

However...

its power was too immense.

Towering, sturdy skyscrapers were like clay in its presence. As lightning rained from the sky, droves of citizens died with every passing second.

Now, Funeng City is in ruins, its defensive cannons are almost completely destroyed, and there are even people looting and creating more chaos in the aftermath.

The chaos will continue for some time.

"Miss Cheng."

Zhu Ju began,

"Wang Qiang is dead, and my other manager in charge of the nightlife venues also died in the chaos. I was wondering if you might be interested in helping out?"

"Me?"

Cheng Rong was stunned.

’I’m a deputy director for the Security Department. How could I possibly work for an underworld boss?’

"No need to answer right away. And you don’t have to treat it as a full-time position; you can think of it as a part-time gig."

Zhu Ju smiled and reached out, gripping her shoulder.

"First, let me get you back to the surface."

Earth Escape!

He activated the Spell. An Invisible Power enveloped them both, and with a flicker of his body, Zhu Ju carried her up and out from underground.

*

*

*

Main World.

Zhu Ju sat cross-legged on a prayer mat. A Spiritual Light flickered between his brows as a brand-new Blood Flesh Chip slowly took shape.

It was shaped like a vertical eye.

"It’s done!"

He opened his eyes, let out a long, turbid breath, and a hint of joy touched his face.

’All those web novels I read in my past life weren’t for nothing,’ he thought. ’With the help of technology from the Otherworld and an Immortal Sect Secret Technique, I’ve finally forged this... Magical Treasure.’

’I’ll call it the Eye of Insight!’

For days, he had been working on refining this item, aided by the extraordinary Comprehension granted by the Six Passes Alchemy Dao.

Comprehension could be enhanced, but his ability to analyze and synthesize data had its limits. It would be far better if he could rely on an external tool.

If he had a Magical Treasure with the ability to analyze and synthesize, the Six Passes Alchemy Dao would be of even greater help to him.

And for that, an intelligent system was best.

Ever since Zhu Ju had obtained the ’Fuxi’ subsystem from the Celestial Wealth Commerce Association, he had been pondering this matter.

Later, he had used Boss Jiao’s old channels to purchase several intelligent systems and data models. Combining them with Immortal Secret Techniques and the Essentials of Artifact Refining, he had finally created an intelligent system uniquely his own.

Or perhaps, a Magical Treasure.

But he wasn’t finished yet.

When the Nine Profound Spirit Deer had rampaged through Funeng City, Zhu Ju had taken advantage of the chaos to steal the Ming King Eye from the Celestial Wealth Commerce Association.

This eye, taken from a Holy King Beast, possessed the ability to perceive all things. Boss Jiao had originally wanted to use it to break through to the Martial Saint realm, which was why he had sought out Zhu Ju. Unfortunately for him, he’d tried to pull a fast one and ended up losing everything.

Now, having obtained the Ming King Eye, he had managed to perform Refinement on it and merge it with the bloodline of the Three-Eyed Divine Race, which resulted in the Magical Treasure he had today.

The Eye of Insight!

The Spiritual Light flickered and descended upon him. Simultaneously, a screen of light appeared in Zhu Ju’s vision.

Name: Zhu Ju

Age: 133 (800)

Cultivation: Early-Stage Golden Core (47/100)

Cultivation Techniques: Primordial Heart Technique, Physical Body Martial Arts...

Cultivation Technique Deduction Progress: Physical Body Martial Arts (27/100), Myriad Phenomena Celestial Attraction - Stage Two (83/100), Refining Sword into Silk (49/100)...

’It’s still incomplete,’ he thought. ’I’ll need to keep feeding it data to perfect it over time.’

Zhu Ju nodded slightly as he looked at his "data panel."

Everything was clear at a glance.

WHOOSH!

A stream of light shot out from the Spirit House at his waist, landing in the middle of the room and revealing the figure of his Outer Body Incarnation, Wukong.

The Eye of Insight was just something Zhu Ju had created on a whim; for now, it didn’t seem to be of much use.

The Outer Body Incarnation, on the other hand, was his top priority.

"Thanks to you, I’ve been able to travel between two worlds all these years without neglecting my Cultivation."

Zhu Ju turned his hand over, and a fist-sized Source Crystal appeared in his palm.

"I wonder how powerful you’ll become after the Refinement of this thing?"

With a light toss, the Source Crystal transformed into a streak of light and flew into the Outer Body Incarnation.

It merged into its body at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Immediately after,

the second Immortal Vein inside Wukong’s body began to rapidly strengthen and complete itself, gradually becoming a match for the first.

「One month later.」

BAM!

Zhu Ju crossed his arms, compressing the full power of his Myriad Phenomena Celestial Attraction in front of him to block a punch from Wukong.

"Ngh!"

’Such incredible power!’

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Ju shook his numb arms.

"I’ve linked with six Souls, and my Power of the Physical Body is on par with the Mid-Stage Golden Core. Even when I go all out with Myriad Phenomena Celestial Attraction, I’m no match for you. Your strength must be comparable to the Late-Stage Golden Core now."

"And if you were to activate the Power of the Immortal Vein..."

"As long as the Power of the Immortal Vein isn’t depleted, I doubt many Golden Core Cultivators could withstand you in close combat."

A quantum leap in power!

The Outer Body Incarnation’s power was now almost on par with Xie Zhongru piloting the Qianjun Mecha.

The Source Crystal from the Holy King Beast had elevated the Outer Body Incarnation’s strength to a whole new level.

However...

Looking at Wukong, Zhu Ju’s smile faded, replaced by a flicker of apprehension in his eyes.

’Losing control!’

’There really is a problem with the Source Crystals. The Outer Body Incarnation has actually developed a trace of sentience that isn’t mine.’

Although he had promptly suppressed that flicker of sentience, the feeling of losing control lingered.

Zhu Ju suspected that if the Outer Body Incarnation continued to grow stronger, he would very likely suffer a backlash from Wukong.