Chapter 204 - 10: Alien Life Form

"I’m leaving Shangjing in a couple of days. It looks like the world is about to descend into chaos, and this Body Technique Sacred Land will surely be caught in the maelstrom. You need to be careful."

Tuoba Ye’s words broke Luo Kai from his thoughts. His expression flickered as he asked, "What’s wrong?"

Tuoba Ye’s expression was grave. "Emperor Dongyuan intends to strip the great Lordship Kingdoms of their autonomy," he said. "The Tongyuan Association is also stirring up major trouble in every administrative province. On the front lines, the Fierce Beasts are making frequent, unusual movements. These are all signs that a great chaos is about to begin. I’m afraid the cycle of Reincarnation that humanity must endure every hundred years is upon us again."

After Tuoba Ye left, Luo Kai tried to calm his thoughts, but to no avail. His mysterious Sixth Sense was warning him that a great disaster would indeed befall humanity in the future. ’When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. As long as you’re human, there’s no escape, no matter how powerful you are.’

...

Luo Kai’s peaceful life continued. He wasn’t assigned to a class, so no one came to assess him. The people in the valley, however, had been replaced by a new batch; Xiaopang and the others had all left.

Furthermore, he had stopped eating. Aside from the occasional stroll through the fields where others might see him, almost no one was aware of his existence.

Tuoba Yong came to see him punctually every Sunday. Luo Kai didn’t teach him any Body Techniques. Instead, he told him stories—fairy tales and martial arts epics. While Body Techniques could strengthen the body, they couldn’t enlighten the mind. Words, however, could.

Tuoba Yong had been a little resistant at first, but after the very first day, he became reluctant to leave. Through Luo Kai’s words, he learned of another world—a world of deception and intrigue, of deep-seated grudges and tangled loves, of tender romance, and of fantastical fairy tales.

There were too few books in this world capable of enlightening the mind. Luo Kai’s goal was to have Tuoba Yong learn the principles of navigating the world and dealing with people through these stories.

"Master, you said I’m Guo Jing, but where is my Rong’Er?" Tuoba Yong crouched at Luo Kai’s feet, his large, bell-like eyes gazing at him with immense longing.

Luo Kai smiled. "You’ll meet your Rong’Er one day."

"Oh. My dad told me to pursue girls, but I don’t know how. Can you teach me?"

"Hmm, how should I put this... Girls are sensitive, so you need to be shameless. Just follow her around all the time, for no reason at all. Eventually, she won’t be able to stand it anymore and will just accept you."

...

Tonight, the air was as cool as water. In a secluded hollow in the southwest corner of the campus, a man and a woman were nestled together, whispering. The woman’s coquettish laugh rang out from time to time, followed by the rustling of clothes...

A pitch-black figure had appeared behind the couple at some unknown time. Two nimble, snake-like tentacles slowly extended from the dark figure’s body and silently, viciously plunged into the man and woman. A gurgling sound escaped their throats, unable to form a single word. Their bodies shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in moments, they were reduced to two desiccated corpses.

The dark figure used its tentacles to roll up their bodies. Just as it was about to bury them, a thunderous shout rang out: "Who goes there!" It was immediately followed by a blinding flash of sword light slashing toward the figure. A tentacle shot out from its body like lightning to meet the blade. With a deafening CLANG, the sword light was repelled.

A large, disheveled man appeared in a flash. He glanced at the two shriveled corpses on the ground and asked in a low voice, "What kind of monster are you?"

The dark figure let out a sharp, mocking laugh. Its form rapidly contracted as it tried to escape into the darkness.

The large man roared, his body erupting in a brilliant white light. The silver Longsword in his hand flowed forward in an attack as seamless as cascading mercury. But the dark figure’s tentacles multiplied, now seven or eight of them, and they always managed to strike the very tip of his blade with perfect precision.

The silver light on the man’s body grew brighter, and his movements became even swifter as he unleashed an attack with the fury of a hurricane.

The dark figure no longer focused solely on defense. Its tentacles began to stab forward like lightning. Compared to the singular attack pattern of a sword, its seven or eight tentacles spun and coiled, leaving almost no opening uncovered. The large man hastily retreated, not daring to meet the assault head-on.

The sounds of the fierce struggle soon alerted the campus guards. One after another, Mechanical Guards flew rapidly to the scene. The dark figure let out another sharp, cold laugh, then suddenly burrowed into the ground and vanished.

The large man sheathed his Longsword and cautiously walked forward. In the ground was a black hole about the size of a human head.

Early the next morning, teams of Mechanical Guards, led by several Body Masters, began to search the entire school. Everyone was summoned to the main field to await a headcount.

Luo Kai was living alone in his cabin in the valley and hadn’t been called. He was only disturbed when a large contingent of Mechanical Guards swarmed and surrounded his cabin. Confused, he walked out and asked, "Is something wrong?"

The one leading the Mechanical Guards was a middle-aged Body Master in his forties. He looked Luo Kai up and down for a moment before asking in a cold voice, "What’s your name? What class are you in? Why are you living here alone?"

Luo Kai disliked the man’s condescending attitude, which was like he was interrogating a criminal. Still, he answered patiently, "My name is Luo Kai. I haven’t been assigned a class yet. I like the peace and quiet here, so I moved in."

The middle-aged Body Master glanced around. "Come with me," he said. "I need to conduct a thorough check of your identity."

Luo Kai said nothing and followed them out of the valley to a large field. The field was already packed with students, who were being tested one by one via blood samples.

Luo Kai lined up at the end of the queue and asked a tall student in front of him, "Hey, what’s going on?"

The tall student glanced back at him and said in a low voice, "It seems some form of Heresy disguised itself as a student. The school is screening everyone one by one."

Luo Kai’s expression changed, and he couldn’t help but look down at his own hand. The definition of Heresy was very broad. It didn’t just refer to extraterrestrial life but also included Evil Cult Cultivators with twisted Mind Spirits, as well as humans whose bodies and minds had been taken over by other life forms.

After the Great Cataclysm, in addition to the familiar flora and fauna, some mysterious and unpredictable creatures had also begun to appear. For example, the parasitic Crystal Finger on his hand, or the Holy Blood Worm inside his body—strictly speaking, they both fell under the category of alien life forms.

Ever since the Crystal Finger had attached itself to his hand, it had felt like a part of his body. It had never caused any problems, though it hadn’t provided any benefits either. Over time, he had stopped paying it any mind. The Holy Blood Worm in his body, however, was a different story. As an heirloom of the Blood Race, that thing had already modified his blood.

Moreover, ever since he had absorbed the sap of the Yao Yue Liu, his blood had become rich with a large amount of Dark Energy—also known as Blood Energy. If that were detected, he would likely be branded as Heresy and arrested on the spot.

He couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety. He wanted to leave, but the field was surrounded by five or six Body Masters, and that middle-aged one, in particular, was staring at him like a tiger watching its prey.

Since arriving in this world, Luo Kai had weathered many great storms and hovered on the brink of death several times. In recent days, his Mental Realm had even reached a very high level. Yet at this moment, he couldn’t help but feel his composure shatter. ’Shit,’ he thought. ’Don’t tell me I’m actually going to wreak havoc at this school, just like Tuoba Ye said!’