Chapter 144 - 119: Field Lifeform

Chapter 144: Chapter 119: Field Lifeform

According to the theory of evolution, single-celled organisms evolved into multicellular life.

This is because their individual Life Magnet Fields are too minuscule, making them easily assimilated and erased by the surrounding natural fields.

They had to band together to resist the malice of nature.

Under this pressure, life began with single-celled organisms, evolving step by step, eventually giving rise to truly intelligent life.

This seemed to be the evolutionary path for all life in the world, or at least, that’s what Chen Qi believed before he came into contact with the Earth Master’s inheritance.

But the Earth Master’s inheritance recorded another path for life.

What if single-celled organisms chose not to band together?

What if, forced by the cruelty of nature, they chose to change themselves and compromise with it?

Is it possible that, in order to survive, a single-celled organism would choose to sacrifice itself to nature?

At the cost of its physical existence, it could sublimate its own Life Magnet Field, transforming into a special kind of field-based lifeform.

These field-based lifeforms possess a peculiar ability.

When their living environment becomes harsh, they can convert themselves from a Life Magnet Field state to a Matter Field state.

In other words, they enter a dormant state, attaching themselves to some form of matter.

Likewise, when the environment is suitable, they will awaken again, unfolding from a Matter Field state back into a Life Magnet Field.

...

This was a fascinating description Chen Qi had seen in the Earth Master’s inheritance.

The first time he read it, he found it incredible.

But considering that the birth and evolution of life are miracles in themselves, Chen Qi couldn’t deny the existence of this life path.

However, because it so completely subverted his previous understanding, Chen Qi had always been skeptical, half-believing and half-doubting.

But today, in this pharmaceutical lab, upon that yellow Talisman, as Ma Qi chanted his prayer, Chen Qi witnessed the birth of a "miracle" with his own eyes.

His Spiritual Eye clearly captured a tiny field-based lifeform.

He saw its transformation from a Matter Field into a Life Magnet Field.

And the reason Chen Qi could see this scene was because of the [Spiritual Eye].

...

All this time, Chen Qi had thought the Spiritual Eye was just an ordinary Pupil Technique.

The Earth Masters created it for a more direct observation of the fields between heaven and earth.

He wasn’t wrong. The Spiritual Eye was indeed created to observe the fields between heaven and earth.

When the Spell rotated to the left, Chen Qi could see the Matter Field.

When the Spell rotated to the right, he could see the Life Magnet Field.

But what if the three Spells were to suddenly collapse together?

Before today, Chen Qi had never imagined such a thing could happen.

But the moment he encountered the field-based lifeform, the three runes inside his pupils suddenly collapsed into one, forming a more complex structure.

And then, incredibly, Chen Qi saw the field-based lifeform’s morphological transformation.

...

’This Spiritual Eye technique... Don’t tell me the Earth Masters specifically developed it to find these field-based lifeforms!’

This was Chen Qi’s only thought after witnessing the field-based lifeform. There was no other way to explain the sudden Anomaly that occurred in his eyes.

There aren’t that many coincidences in the world; there must have been a reason for it all along.

Previously, Chen Qi had been puzzled as to why the Earth Master’s inheritance dedicated a fifth of its length to describing field-based lifeforms.

He had basically read it as if it were a myth.

The field-based lifeforms recorded in the inheritance were simply too fantastical.

...

According to the records of the Earth Master’s inheritance, after field-based lifeforms were born, their unique abilities were so perfectly suited for survival that they lost the potential to develop into more complex life.

Like single-celled organisms, they wandered the world happily.

But since life ultimately depends on its environment, or rather, instinctively seeks an environment suitable for its survival, field-based lifeforms, though individual entities, would still choose to live in groups.

Field-based lifeforms that lived together for long periods would also choose to band together to avoid the occasional natural disasters (magnetic storms).

But their "banding together" was merely linking their Life Domains to one another.

After the storm, they would break apart again, returning to individual entities.

This didn’t seem to be a problem—until intelligent life appeared in the world.

In the ignorant, ancient eras, intelligent life would instinctively fear various celestial phenomena, leading to worship and sacrifice.

In human civilization, this period is known as the Age of the Ancient Witches.

Large-scale sacrifices by intelligent life didn’t seem to be an issue. For instance, their long-term sacrifice to a strange, dark cloud in the sky would have no effect on the cloud itself.

At most, its Matter Field would transform into a [Spiritual Transformation Pivot].

But what if a group of field-based lifeforms happened to be living inside that dark cloud?

The long-term, large-scale sacrifices of intelligent life would be enough to distort their Life Magnet Fields.

Since the sacrifices treated them as a single entity, a large magnetic lifeform was born from the intelligent beings’ worship.

The Earth Masters called this a [Spirit]. Because the birth of a [Spirit] originates from large-scale sacrifice, the place it resides would inevitably be transformed into a [Spiritual Transformation Pivot]. Through subsequent sacrifices, it would even continue to upgrade, transforming into a Spirit Gathering Land capable of accumulating Spiritual Energy.

Therefore, once a [Spirit] grows to a certain extent, it can inevitably control and use Spiritual Energy.

Thus, a dark cloud with Extraordinary abilities was born.

Seeing this, the intelligent beings on the ground would inevitably worship it even more, even letting their imaginations run wild.

They began to bestow more powers of Authority upon this dark cloud.

As long as enough time passed and the sacrifices continued uninterrupted, the [Spirit] would inevitably and passively advance along the path designed by intelligent life, until it truly grasped some form of Authority or Law (High-level Spiritual Energy) of heaven and earth.

In this process of worship, intelligent life would also personify the [Spirit], attempting to grant it the wisdom to communicate.

Since modern humans can create artificial intelligence, then ancient people, through large-scale sacrifice, could surely bestow [High-level Intelligence] upon a Spirit.

At this stage, they would have been elevated into various Divine Spirits, such as the Rain God, the Thunder God, and so on.

Their intelligent core, combined with the Authority they grasped, evolved into a special existence: the [Divine Talisman].

That’s right, this is the truth of the Divine Talisman.

It’s just that in the Earth Master’s inheritance, it is called a [Law Crystal].

The favorite pastime of ancient Earth Masters was to subjugate various Divine Spirits. Not only could they harvest Law Crystals, but they could also seize their residences and turn them into Heaven and Earth Spiritual Acupoints.

No wonder the [Spiritual Eye] technique undergoes an Anomaly when it encounters a field-based lifeform. It must be a targeted tool created specifically for this purpose.

Compared to painstakingly searching for and transforming a [Spiritual Transformation Pivot] oneself, plundering one was far more convenient, quick, and effortless.

...

’Could the Mountain Ghost’s true identity be a Mountain God?’

’And the Divine Talisman is the Law Crystal it left behind after its fall?’

Although Chen Qi had made this connection after receiving the Earth Master’s inheritance, he hadn’t dared to confirm it, as he found it too incredible and lacked any real evidence.

But now, these magnetic lifeforms were clearly cells shed from the Mountain Ghost.

They had awakened when Ma Qi was reciting those prayers. The connection was too obvious.

In that case, the Mountain Ghost must have been called a Mountain God by the indigenous people in ancient times.

The name "Mountain Ghost" must have come from the humans who came to this island later.

And in the Inner World, a Divine Spirit like the Mountain Ghost, seen as a god by ordinary people, was ultimately just a type of [Spirit], and was thus mostly referred to as a Mountain Spirit.

Thousands of years ago, when the meteorite fell, the [Mountain Spirit] was surely crushed to death.

But its death was different from the death of an ordinary lifeform.

The death of a [Spirit] is merely a disintegration.

Based on the current situation, after the Mountain Ghost disintegrated, some of those magnetic lifeforms must have survived and fallen into the hands of some human.

’This person is actually raising "Mountain Ghost cells"?’

According to the sacrificial legends about the Mountain Ghost, it loved to eat human brains.

Now some bastard is feeding these magnetic lifeforms with human brain cells. It all makes a twisted sort of sense.

This must be the truth behind the creation of Blood Salt.

If Chen Qi hadn’t come in person and successfully cultivated the "Spiritual Eye", even a LV4 player would likely have never discovered the clues here.

The magnetic lifeforms were simply too incredible, and their transformation occurred in a single instant.

If Chen Qi had even used his Spirituality to observe them, the creatures would have sensed the danger and never awakened.

It had to be said that Chen Qi’s success in cracking this case was 60% skill and 40% luck.

He couldn’t have done it without both.

...

"Alright, what happens next has nothing to do with you."

"But until I’ve completely resolved the problem, keep everything as it is."

Now that he had cracked the case, the next step was naturally to catch the real culprit.

This was something Chen Qi could only do himself. In fact, this matter would probably be quite troublesome.

After all, it involved the remaining cells of the Mountain Ghost. The mastermind behind this could not be underestimated.

Chen Qi’s words sent a shock through Leiteri and the others. A moment ago, nothing had happened, and there were no signs of anything, yet the boss had already locked onto the culprit.

’As expected of an Executor!’

Leiteri and the others were self-aware enough to understand why they couldn’t participate in the subsequent capture.

The rumors of the battle at the Fadir Mine were simply too horrifying.

Their Hummingbird Squad had specifically asked the guards there about it. They spoke of a gigantic avian monster tearing the earth apart. How could Leiteri, who had witnessed Chen Qi subdue the Red Falcon King, not guess the truth?

"Boss, please rest assured. Leave this place to me."

"We’ll be sure to lock down all information and keep things here as they are."

Leiteri’s declaration satisfied Chen Qi. ’As expected, after being tempered by experience, this guy has grown again.’

"Settle!"

Chen Qi picked up a piece of Blood Salt, crushed it, and sprinkled it into the Compass.

Miraculously, without Chen Qi pushing it at all, the two needles of the Compass began to spin rapidly.

This Anomaly startled the tiny, slumbering magnetic lifeforms. They were supposed to awaken only after entering a human brain.

The so-called dream manipulation and fulfillment of beautiful dreams that users experienced were merely the effects these creatures produced after entering the brain.

But the price was having the Life Magnet Fields of their brain cells assimilated and devoured one by one. This was the truth behind the death of the brain cells.

...

"WHIRRRRR!"

The two needles spun wildly as the Compass generated a peculiar field, trapping the tiny magnetic lifeforms within it.

The methods ancient Earth Masters used to find and track magnetic lifeforms, especially [Spirits], weren’t limited to just the [Spiritual Eye].

This Compass also had such a function, and it was even specifically designed for a situation like this.

Because magnetic lifeforms were gregarious and their magnetic fields were interconnected, they could sense each other.

Therefore, as long as one could capture a few stray ones, it was possible to lock onto the rest through certain means.

But awakened magnetic lifeforms were not easy to catch. The moment they sensed danger, they would immediately flee, their speed countless times faster than sound.

But if one wanted to capture them while they were dormant, an ordinary Transcendent would lack the means of identification.

For Chen Qi, who possessed the Earth Master’s inheritance, none of these difficulties existed.

Within the Compass, as some mechanism activated, the magnetic lifeforms were forced to attach themselves to the shorter of the two needles.

Then, this needle stopped spinning and locked firmly onto a certain direction.

"Heh, looks like you can’t run away now."

’It’s your bad luck to have run into me!’

Chen Qi hesitated no longer. He had Leiteri and the others stand by while he quietly left the Comir building.

So as not to alert the enemy, Chen Qi switched to an ordinary car provided by the CIA and gave chase in the direction the needle was locked on.