Chapter 2018: Unexpected Gains

This entire place was completely quiet, as if the people within didn’t dare to believe that the terrifying bug had died just like that. Only when the gloomy green sky split open and sunlight scattered across the world again, bathing them in its warmth, did they all erupt into roaring cheers.

“Sect Master Yun’s cultivation is incredible! Unmatched under the heavens!”

“Long live Sect Master Yun; she will unify the world!”

“Sect Master Yun is a master of arts and war! Her virtue is a blessing for all people!”

...

They were all speaking praise of the utmost sincerity, even though they had been hostile against each other not too long ago. Against the terrifying demonic bugs from a different world, humans would reflexively unite under one camp. What meaning did their usual hatred and enmity still have?

When he heard the endless praise, Zu An couldn't help but chuckle.

These Devil Sect people are quite the talents indeed. They speak so well; I love it here.

After taking the risk of letting the Demonic Motherbug enter its berserk mode, not only had he learned about some of its special skills, he had also obtained some more concrete data.

Strictly speaking, the Demonic Motherbug wasn’t as strong in a fight as the War Priest, but as it carried out its reproductive process, its power seemed to grow rapidly as well. For example, its final attack was something not even the Tranquility Bell could stop. Just then, its strength had increased five-fold. If it had continued to reproduce a few more generations, Zu An wouldn't necessarily have been able to stop it. Even so, he wondered if its reproduction had an upper limit, or if there was some cooldown restriction between each cycle.

He felt waves of warmth rush into his meridians. He could feel that he had become even stronger. He knew that was the result of the Heaven Devouring Sutra and the Kun Peng’s absorption powers. He had just slain the Demonic Motherbug and many generations of its progeny, including such strong individuals as Lu Sanyuan and Chi Fuzi. He had killed them all at once, so he'd absorbed practically all of their cultivation.

He checked the system’s experience bar and saw that he had just about reached the end of the 75th level. He couldn't help but feel a bit confused. According to the previous growth speed, he should already have been at the 76th level. Why was he only at the peak of the 75th level?

He suddenly realized something. Even if he killed more enemies and absorbed their cultivation, he likely wouldn't be able to reach level 76. That was probably a limitation of this world. After all, according to the information he had received from the secret dungeons, the strength of a world’s origins largely affected what level a cultivator could reach. It seemed that compared to the daoists’ secret dungeon and the Fiend races’ Xia Dynasty secret dungeon, this world’s origin was a bit weaker.

No wonder Zhao Han wasn’t able to break through the earth immortal rank even after so many years.

It seems I can only make my breakthrough in a more powerful world.

He suddenly remembered something. He moved over to the place where the Demonic Motherbug had been killed and picked up a sphere the size of a ping-pong ball; its surface was uneven and bumpy like a tumor. He had seen the item drop from the Demonic Motherbug’s body. Previously, he had been worried that the Demonic Motherbug’s infectious properties were too strong and that leaving it behind could make more ordinary humans undergo demonification. That was why he hadn’t dared keep it alive just to question it, and had instantly ended its life with a single attack. And yet, beven though the Demonic Motherbug’s body was already blown to ashes by that destructive power, this thing was still safe and sound. It was definitely a special item.

Mi Li cried excitedly, “That’s a Motherbug Core!”

“Is it that precious?” Zu An asked, stunned when he heard the excitement in her voice.

“Of course it’s precious! A thousand Demonic Motherbugs wouldn't necessarily condense a single core. You can think of it as something like the essence of a deity, or a bloodline aptitude. Seeing as that Demonic Motherbug was able to produce this item, if it had been allowed to grow, it would have been able to evolve into a Motherbug Empress and become the ruler of the bug race. Only, who would have thought that it would die to you?”

“This thing is only useful for the bug race?” Zu An asked, feeling a bit of a headache. There was no way he would become a bug, let alone become some bug emperor. Furthermore, those demonic bugs didn’t seem like the type one could raise as a pet. So, in his hands, wasn't such a precious item trash.

“It’s not useless.” Mi Li thought for a moment before saying, “I’ve heard that, just as the demonic bugs use their posterity to increase their own strength, they can become stronger through killing enemies. But if you use it for that effect, the Motherbug Core will shatter and disappear like a consumable. It won’t be as useful as it is for the demonic bugs.”

“That’s not useless at all!” Zu An clicked his tongue. “You can increase your strength just by killing your enemies? Then I can just keep charging up until I become thousands to tens of thousands of times stronger. Wouldn’t I be undefeatable then? Even if I encounter someone far stronger, I can just kill them instantly, right?”

“Keep dreaming.” Mi Li rolled her eyes and said, “Your strength won’t increase just because you kill any random enemy. You must kill enemies stronger than yourself to successfully stack your strength.”

Zu An was speechless. He replied, “Isn’t that a bit too strict of a condition? It’s already quite amazing to be able to keep your life if you face someone stronger than yourself, let alone killing them.”

“Of course it’s difficult for an ordinary person, but for the truly strong, they don’t fear a large disparity in strength. They're always able to find a way to overcome the challenge,” Mi Li explained. “For example, the War Priest you killed, and even that Demonic Motherbug? Both of them were actually stronger than you. However, because of the world’s natural protection, they couldn't fight against you in their complete forms. That's why you were able to kill these powerful beings.” She added with a chuckle, “Besides, which one of your opponents in the past few years wasn’t stronger than you?”

Zu An was stunned.

I think you’re right... I’ve constantly been fighting against all kinds of strong beings. It’s just like those characters on the internet. What kind of protagonist would you be if you couldn't beat opponents stronger than you?

Even so, the only problem was that he was now too strong. Finding enemies stronger than himself in this world wouldn't be as easy as before. He stored the Motherbug Core away, and couldn't help but say with a sigh, “The reproduction of these bug species doesn’t seem to be in line with the law of conservation of energy at all...”

Normally, reproduction needed energy from the mother, which was why the more one reproduced, the weaker the mother’s body would become. However, these demonic bugs actually did the exact opposite! The more they reproduced, the stronger they became.

“Conservaton of energy?” Mi Li repeated, then thought to herself for a bit. “The name sounds like a theory from a world of science. However, the universe is vast. There are too many things that can't be explained by a scientific civilization.”

Zu An nodded. There were indeed many things in the world of cultivation he was in right now that couldn't be explained through science. Of course, it could just be because of principles that science hadn't fully understood yet. If those were to be understood, perhaps the language of science would then be able to explain such phenomena.

...

Meanwhile, the World School and Freedom Path Masters both came to greet him respectfully. Mi Li yawned and said, “How boring. I’m going back to sleep.” That was the last thing she said.

Zu An was full of regrets. He and Mi Li had only spent a small amount of time together. She seemed almost as if she was trying to avoid detection by certain beings, as well as storing power. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell him any details at the moment.

“Master~” Qiu Honglei said, although she quietly tugged on his sleeves to remind him that the members of the sect were still bowing.

Zu An snapped out of his daze. Seeing so many people trembling while kneeling on the ground, he knew that they were scared that he would now settle the matter of betrayal. Because of the previous battle, the prestige of ‘Yun Jianyue’ was at an all time high. Not a single person here had any thoughts of resistance.

“Honglei, I’ll leave this matter to you,” Zu An said. He wasn’t familiar with the internal affairs of the Devil Sect and didn’t know many of them. It would be easy for him to be exposed. He had finally won back prestige for big sis Yu, so wasting it now would be a huge waste. Furthermore, he still had more important affairs to take care of - specifically, rescuing the real Yun Jianyue.

“Yes, master!” Qiu Honglei replied. She wanted to go with him, but she knew that someone had to stay behind to clean up the aftermath.

Soon after, orders for rewards and penalties were issued. The ones who had remained loyal to her and her master had to be greatly promoted. The betrayers were punished, but the punishments were all within acceptable levels, so they all accepted the decision wholeheartedly. On top of that, after such a huge disaster, higher-level figures such as Lu Sanyuan and Chi Fuzi had died. Even Fang Long, who initially escaped the disaster, had ended up being killed by the demonic bugs just like his father. There were too many positions left open, leaving many people enthusiastically competing for them.

All of them were full of admiration toward Qiu Honglei’s fair judgment, thinking that the saintess really was like a goddess!

She will definitely be the next sect master. How could someone like that be someone a toad like Fang Long could contaminate?

...

After Zu An left the Yin Yang Path's territory, he quickly returned to his original appearance. He removed the two large pears and tossed them away; he instantly felt much more refreshed.

His divine sense covered the entire Lake of Hatred and he quickly located Zhang Zitong. After thinking about it, he took out his Embroidered Envoy mask, then quickly arrived near her. She was staying in a remote and secluded residence that looked worn-out and old. It seemed to have already been abandoned for a long time.

When she saw his arrival, Zhang Zitong jumped down from a nearby tree, her expressionfull of pleasant surprise. However, when she saw his getup, she was a bit confused. She exclaimed, “Sir, you’re finally here! Hm? Do you not need to pretend to be that person anymore?”

Zu An said, “There's no need anymore.”

Zhang Zitong was about to say something, but stopped.

He's moving around as he pleases in his Embroidered Envoy getup in the Devil Sect General Headquarters! Sir really is too overconfident... If the Devil Sect finds out, the two of us might not be able to run away anymore.

“Something seemed to have happened in the Yin Yang Path's territory earlier. There seemed to be a huge battle, and I was worried that sir had been trapped over there. However, I didn’t dare to go against sir’s orders to leave this place," Zhang Zitong said.

“You’ve done very well,” Zu An said with a nod, then asked, “Are they hiding here?”

Zhang Zitong replied, “I followed your respected self’s orders and saw that Lu Sanyuan indeed sent his disciple Ding Xia to investigate this place. I followed him here, then saw him pace back and forth repeatedly in front of this spirit screen for a long time, before finally sighing in relief and leaving.”

Zu An walked up to the screen she was talking about. It was the same kind of spirit screen one would often find in fully-enclosed courtyards; the only difference was that the wall was especially smooth and sleek, as if it were carved from jade. He could even see his own reflection. If it were polished, it could even be used as a mirror.

He looked around, and a smile gradually appeared on the corners of his lips. He remarked, “So that was what happened!”