Chapter 170 - 146: Monk

Chapter 170: Chapter 146: Monk

For instance, Silk Tree Technology, the company that sells sex toys, works very closely with Nine Nether Deep Technology. The administrators of the Void Illusion Realm have granted them extensive permissions, allowing them to widely promote Divine Sense dual cultivation in the virtual world.

Then there’s Bodhi Temple, also known as the Bodhi Xuanxue Research Institute. That group that dabbles in religion and faith to harvest the power of belief also has ties to Nine Nether Deep Technology.

Companies like Profound Secret Spiritual Artifact Technology are close with the arms dealer Celestial Sword Group, and they share supply chains.

There’s also Celestial Secret City Technology, the company behind the Divine Calculation Chip.

And Shennong Biotechnology, the force behind Blue Immortal Pharmaceutical.

...

In short, the Celestial Dao Alliance has forged the Thirty-Three Heavens above into a nearly ironclad monolith.

This has had a profound impact on the eighteen levels of the Abyss of Eternity below as well.

But extreme oppression inevitably breeds resistance.

They’ve monopolized far too many resources.

For ordinary people in the Abyss of Eternity, it’s a struggle to even reach the Foundation Establishment stage in their entire lifetime.

Those people had no choice but to fight back.

And so, an organization called the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order was born.

Their core tenet is to destroy all Spiritual Technology, return to the old ways of cultivation, and give Spiritual Qi back to the people.

They even had a few bizarre Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who got incredibly lucky, and one ancient relic of a Divinity Transformation Stage cultivator, so the Celestial Dao Alliance was actually a bit wary of them.

When the organization was first founded, it did indeed intend to work for the welfare of all.

But they later discovered that opposing the Thirty-Three Heavens was far less simple and profitable than exploiting their own people.

And so, they slowly lost their way.

....

Zhang Ji put on the Consciousness Communicator he had purchased. Injecting his Spirit particles into the device, he instantly connected to the Spirit Net and began to surf its vast sea of information.

Through a few simple searches, he pieced together a rough timeline.

Master Yu Yi, the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order’s unfortunate Divinity Transformation cultivator, had died after failing his secluded cultivation.

The old relic, who had been sealed away since the Ancient Era over three hundred thousand years ago, had finally succumbed to the decay of old age.

He was a little too late.

But he had also arrived at the perfect time.

Not long ago, a massive number of Spiritual Flying Swords from the Nine Heavens Sword Catacombs had run rampant, launching indiscriminate attacks throughout the Thirty-Three Heavens and killing many high-ranking cultivators.

This meant Ling Xuzi of the Celestial Sword Group had already betrayed the Celestial Dao Alliance over ideological differences. He was now the new Blood Chief of the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order: the ’Seven Tribulation Sword Master’.

Next, they should be starting to plot the great disaster: the destruction of the Xuanji Array of Ten Thousand Transformations, which would cause the floating cities to fall.

According to the game’s plotline, the disaster was set to begin during the ’Space-Time Anomaly’ expansion. When the Celestial Dao Alliance’s forces headed for Origin Star, the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order would launch a surprise attack on the Thirty-Three Heavens. Players would experience this event firsthand, witnessing the immense Thirty-Three Heavens collapse and fall apart.

Honestly, even now, Zhang Ji recalled that scene as being quite Epic.

And now, he planned to personally take part in the destruction and move the event forward.

Zhang Ji rode a suspended lift, heading all the way down.

The Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order’s stronghold was on the eighteenth level, the Burial Ruins Abyss.

The place was also known as the Junkyard.

Massive quantities of civilization’s refuse were dumped here, incinerated to ash by the Nine Nether Earth Flame.

The members of the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order hiding here were extremely difficult to find.

After descending for nearly two hours, Zhang Ji finally arrived at the Burial Ruins Abyss.

There were cities at the very bottom, too, and people managed to survive here.

Besides being a junkyard, it was also a decent place for Artifact Refining and Alchemy.

The Nine Nether Earth Flame was available in spades; one could simply set up an Array to draw it up for use.

The Upper City People of the Thirty-Three Heavens looked down on it, believing that items forged with it were full of impurities, pills contained heavy toxins, and Spiritual Artifacts had poor energy conductivity. But the poor folks down below didn’t care.

As long as they had pills they could take and Spiritual Artifacts they could use, that was enough. Who cared if it came from a Wuchen production workshop or was hand-rolled in some back-alley stall?

Zhang Ji had already put on the Myriad Forms Mask, creating a random new face for himself. He had no Spiritual Power of his own and was relying on the mask’s internal supply, so the Magical Artifact would likely run out of energy in seven or eight days at most.

Bustling workshops and factories constantly spewing smoke and exhaust fumes were Zhang Ji’s first impression of the place. The air was thick with dust, coating everything in a layer of gray. To be active here without a containment suit and last for half a month, you’d have to be in peak physical condition.

Zhang Ji was quite familiar with the area, having visited it many times while playing the game.

His Spirit particles shielded him from the dust as he prepared to head toward a contact point for the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order.

Zhang Ji flew.

It wasn’t like the levels above. Barely any Upper City cultivators were active here, so Zhang Ji didn’t have to worry about exposing himself prematurely and drawing attention.

He moved quickly and reached the location in no time.

A place called the Golden Gear Workshop.

But when he arrived, Zhang Ji sensed that something was wrong.

His Spirit sent out a warning.

Zhang Ji retracted his Spirit particles and immediately entered a state of Spiritualization, hiding inside a rusted ventilation duct near the workshop. His keen perception picked up a distinct smell—the acrid, rotting stench of a leaking Spiritual Energy Filtering Tank.

Down below, a crime was in progress.

Three rogue cultivators with cybernetic modifications were dismembering some poor soul. The Spiritual Plasma Cutters in their hands seared blackened Spirit Patterns into the flesh and bone. Their victim had also undergone Spiritual Energy modifications, and it looked like they planned to carve off the poor bastard’s augments to sell.

While the actions of these three certainly spoke volumes about the upstanding citizenry of the Abyss of Eternity, the warning hadn’t come from them. They were at the Qi Cultivation Realm at best; Zhang Ji could kill them with a single breath.

TOK TOK TOK...!

A rhythmic tapping of a wooden fish echoed through the air. Zhang Ji looked into the distance and saw a figure appear at the mouth of the alley.

It was a monk. His body was covered in metallic traces, his modifications extensive. A halo-like ring of Spiritual Energy floated behind his gilded skull, and his kasaya, embroidered with integrated Spirit Patterns, shimmered with light, dazzling even in the gray mist.

’Huiji? What’s a monk from the Bodhi Xuanxue Research Institute doing down here? Is he looking for their traitor who joined the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Order?’

Zhang Ji felt things were starting to spiral out of his control.

"Amitabha. To take a life is wrong, benefactors, but to dismember the body as well... your sins are truly grievous. Allow this humble monk to ferry you to enlightenment!"

Huiji chanted the Buddha’s name. As the three rogue cultivators stared in terror, a golden shockwave erupted from the wooden fish, shattering them into dust. Not even the corpse of the unlucky soul on the ground was left.

Having done this, Huiji suddenly looked up. A golden light flashed in the depths of his eyes as he gazed directly in Zhang Ji’s direction. "A fine breath-holding technique, sir. A pity that in this day and age, such methods are obsolete. While a Divine Sense scan cannot distinguish truth from illusion, in this humble monk’s Wisdom Eye... your figure is as clear as day!"