"You all...." The Moon God raised his vigilance in his heart, about to question.
Suddenly, two more figures rapidly appeared on either side of him.
A total of three people.
Two men and one woman.
The first to appear and speak was a green-haired man wearing a fitted green trench coat.
He stood around two meters tall, with rugged facial features. His eyes and hair were green, exuding a relatively gentle aura that seemed approachable.
The other two, one was a strong man with gray-white hair and eyebrows.
This man had a square face and carried a gentle smile, but his features were naturally fierce and severe. Even when smiling, he gave a subtle chilling impression.
The last one, the only woman, wore a loose gray robe with many pockets.
Her features were beautiful, with curved lips and eyebrows, and a cute red heart painted on one cheek.
"A living loner!! It’s the first time I’ve seen one!" the woman exclaimed in surprise.
"Not a loner, he doesn’t have any protective equipment. He must have just come out and knows nothing yet. If there’s a living person here, there might be a meat store around," the white-browed man raised his hand, flexing his fingers as he stepped towards the Moon God.
"Seems like you take me for a pushover?" The momentary joy of seeing a living person in the Moon God’s heart was instantly extinguished.
"Pushover? I don’t know what he’s talking about?" the woman questioned.
"Boss, let me handle it." She glanced at the white-browed man preparing to strike, "You guys had your turn the last few times, it should be my turn now."
"Alright... be careful, Jade Pavilion," the white-browed man nodded.
"Don’t worry, I’ll be careful...."
That delicate-looking woman approached the Moon God, her figure and voice rapidly transforming as she drew nearer.
Whoosh!
A burst of flame ignited seemingly out of nowhere, enveloping the woman from head to toe.
A second later, the flames dispersed.
From within emerged an unusual humanoid figure, three meters tall, covered in purple scales.
The humanoid had wings sprouting from its back, layered black feathers resembling steel spikes.
Besides the chaotic purple vein-like patterns across its body, the humanoid’s chest bore an oval heart continually pulsing with a red glow.
"Although killing doesn’t yield Evil Spirit Lines, it counts as a post-dinner workout to relax~~" The humanoid opened its mouth, surprisingly revealing the woman’s voice.
The Moon God furrowed his brow, slightly adjusting his posture to facilitate action.
Without divine power and momentum as aid, many martial arts techniques returned to their essence, becoming simple and authentic.
"Kill!"
Suddenly, the air erupted with a massive sound.
The woman’s wings spread wide, the red glowing heart on her chest igniting flames, in just an instant appearing all around the Moon God.
Over ten figures simultaneously reached out to grab him.
Such a swift offensive wouldn’t pose a problem for the Moon God.
He tapped his arms repeatedly, precisely pushing each figure back.
Bang bang bang bang!
In the continuous clash of sounds, the Moon God’s heart sank with each encounter.
The opponent’s strength was far heavier than he imagined.
Beneath his feet, the ground occasionally radiated ripple-like shockwaves with each engagement.
These shockwaves didn’t damage the ground, but spread several hundred meters around.
"Is he dispersing force across this entire ground?" The white-browed man raised his eyebrows, recognizing this martial art technique.
"Very ancient martial arts method. Yet very skillful."
"Indeed, managing not to destroy the ground beneath himself while maintaining stance and simultaneously dispersing force at such speed, truly impressive," the green-haired man nodded in agreement.
"Definitely not an ordinary person; one of those monsters like us who crawled out from the Interaction Zone," the white-browed man laughed.
"Probably hasn’t adapted to the external world yet? His attire gives it away. In the Interaction Zone, who isn’t a supreme deity traversing sky and earth?" the green-haired man added.
Their minds eased, keeping distance to watch quietly.
The transformed woman’s speed and strength were terrifyingly formidable, fists, feet, and clawed wings turning into sharp weapons, attacking relentlessly.
Every second thousands of phantasmal images engulfed the Moon God entirely.
The Moon God felt the weight of the situation, the opponent’s speed and power were overwhelming. If divine power were available, he wouldn’t fear, but without it, relying solely on this physical body’s attributes, he was far outmatched.
Only his superior enemy anticipation allowed him to endure thus far.
Clap, clap, clap.
"That’s enough."
The white-browed man finally approached, gently clapping his hands.
The two figures abruptly separated.
The woman withdrew several meters, wings fluttering as she hovered mid-air.
"He doesn’t have a Furnace? Fighting me like this is quite amazing!" She seemed surprised.
"No Furnace?" the white-browed man smiled, "Seems it’s both our luck and yours."
His last sentence was directed at the Moon God.
The Moon God calmed his breath slightly, eyeing him intently.
"What do you mean?"
"Heart-Burning Furnace system, your Interaction Zone likely didn’t provide you with this item," he explained. "Becoming a Spiritual Line parasite is just the first step. Afterward, successfully leaving the Interaction Zone and surviving in the external world requires integration with numerous external Evil Spirit Lines."
"Evil Spirit Lines?" The Moon God seemed to recall something. During his time in Taoyuan, when searching for information, he came across some clues.
"Your own Spiritual Line, merging with Evil Spirit Lines, and understanding some martial arts charts allows you to weave and forge your own Heart-Burning Furnace."
"Only with the Heart-Burning Furnace, you won’t be corroded by the Malicious Breath outside. Otherwise..."
The man with white eyebrows suddenly paused.
"Otherwise... you’ll soon turn into that kind of Evil Spirit Vehicle."
"...." The Moon God fell silent. He clearly didn’t believe what the other was saying.
Meeting these people unexpectedly, being told so many things for no reason, what exactly was their purpose?
"Our purpose is very simple," the green-clad, green-haired man beside him chimed in with a smile. "Find suitable and strong seeds, pull them into the team, so we can always keep our little group’s strength at the top."
"What is the Malicious Breath?" The Moon God asked in a deep voice.
"It’s the corrosive pollution of the mind and spirit. Without the Heart-Burning Furnace, one would soon fall into madness," the green-haired man extended his hand towards him.
"How about it? Want to join us? In this world, there are bands like ours everywhere. Loners generally either die or join."
The Moon God looked at the hand extended before him, still frowning.
"What benefits would I get from joining you?"
"We’re planning to search for surviving Interactive Zones nearby. Usually, inside these zones, we can find a lot of good stuff.
Spiritual Lines, flesh and blood, slaves, these are all great wares. Destroying one could feed us for a long time~~~"
*
*
*
Taoyuan, Fourth Layer.
"Malicious Breath?"
Zhang Rongfang floated slowly in mid-air, watching the mysterious old man sitting across from him on the rock wall.
From the old man’s words, he understood why he previously sensed something was amiss.
He also understood what that purple flesh and blood were all about.
The old man was holding dried fruit brought by Zhang Rongfang, sipping some wine, with an intoxicated look.
"The Malicious Breath is a pollution present in all monsters outside. Evil Spirit Vehicles are just accumulations of polluted Spiritual Lines.
People don’t notice it at first, but over time, the Malicious Breath will unconsciously shift your mind and spirit. It gradually distorts your good thoughts, wishes, and goals into something twisted, evil, and destructive."
"At that point, if an outsider reminds you, there’s still a chance to wake up and notice. But if there’s no reminder, you’ll fall completely into madness, lose yourself, and become an Evil Spirit."
The old man explained very clearly.
"So, how can one resist the Malicious Breath from outside?" Zhang Rongfang asked seriously.
"One question at a time, don’t be greedy," the old man held up a finger.
"Alright." Zhang Rongfang practiced quietly for a while and would come back to chat with the old man when free.
This guy clearly knows a lot. If I don’t take the opportunity to figure it out, I might take a lot of detours when I go out later.
It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not; I’ll record it and compare and research it later when I’m out.
"You’re much more sensible than that Moon God, that guy only knows how to yell kill and fight, so arrogant. So, I can give you a hint," the old man said with blurry eyes from drunkenness.
"What hint?" Zhang Rongfang was eager and asked quickly.
"Martial arts combined with Spiritual Lines, developed to the extreme by outer-world technology, gave birth to something called a Furnace.
Only with the Furnace can you dissolve the Malicious Breath unknowingly attached to yourself.
Otherwise, with just your divine ability, going out would be certain death." The old man drank the last of his wine, turned around, leaped, and disappeared into the air.
"Furnace..." Zhang Rongfang mused.
This was the clue he hadn’t been able to find after searching every platform in the fourth layer recently.
"Right, does my set count as divine ability?"
He touched his chin, somewhat unsure.
Not really, right?
Those gods and buddhas I killed all said I was just a manifestation.
How do I, Zhang Rongfang, look like a god or buddha?
From beginning to end, I’ve been following the Human Immortal path of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Qi Facing the Origin.
’Oh right, I haven’t finished practicing my Five Qi Facing the Origin yet.... The timing is just right, after fully preparing this time, let’s see if the Moon God returns. If he doesn’t and the sky keeps shrinking, then....’
He made up his mind.
’This old guy is as mysterious as that Bottom Creep. Oh, perhaps I can even get some information from the Bottom Creep.’"
With that in mind, Zhang Rongfang quickly spread his wings and flew downward.
Ten minutes later.
Above the Sea of Oblivion, at the membrane boundary.
"Hey, you’re here again?" Still hanging on the rock wall, the Bottom Creep looked at the approaching Zhang Rongfang in an extremely strange posture.
"Wow, you look pretty impressive now. You seem like a remarkable figure. Not like me, who just hangs here miserably all the time, not even worth a name being remembered."
"If you help me more, I promise to help you retrieve your name, how’s that?" Zhang Rongfang offered a deal.
"Sure."
The Bottom Creep caught the tossed braised meat and fine wine, took a big bite from a braised beef leg.
"Delicious!"
"A question, I met a strange old man on the fourth layer..... Do you know him?" Zhang Rongfang described the old man’s appearance, speaking style, etc.
"Ah, that... he was the former Lord Manager. He abandoned his body many years ago because the body would be corroded and polluted by Malicious Breath."
"It’s said that the lockdown of the top three layers was also due to Malicious Breath pollution. Sigh, back then, so many guys fell from above....."
The Bottom Creep had a regretful tone, shaking his head.
"Like raindrops, all those high and mighty figures, even quite a few from the Spirit Eye Race, these outer-world beings couldn’t withstand the Malicious Breath, couldn’t withstand the sky light, pitiful indeed."