Longzang

Chapter 792 Don’t play by the rules
Wei Yuan stood in the spacious elevator, looking at the gray steel railings around him.

The elevator moved slowly downwards, its speed fluctuating, and the only source of light was an emergency light placed in the corner.

"So, what exactly are we doing here? Or what are we looking for?" Wei Yuan asked.

"Then what are you doing here?" Ji Liuli asked in return.

"Me? I was dragged here by you. How would I know what I'm here for?" Wei Yuan looked aggrieved and innocent.

But under Ji Liuli's clear, water-like gaze, he felt the air around him begin to freeze, and could only shrug and say, "Alright, I'm here to find something."

"What are you looking for?" Ji Liuli pressed.

"I don't know the specifics either. We'll find out when we see it." This time, Wei Yuan was telling the whole truth, but he didn't tell the whole story.

The existence of these fragments of the world is entirely due to the powerful resentment of beings unable to find release. Wei Yuan's purpose in entering the world of resentment is to find the vengeful spirit or its remaining powerful obsession, and then shatter that obsession to end the illusion of resentment, thereby obtaining the last bit of primordial energy that sustains the existence of these fragments of the world.

This primordial energy is incomparable to the primordial energy of the true great world, but it is still far stronger than the star pivot stones generated in the mental world, after all, this is the primordial energy that the Xuanhuang Universe itself generates. Even in its decay and deterioration, and even with its reduced level, it is still incomparable to other things.

Previously, when Wei Yuan defeated the vengeful spirit in the supermarket, he discovered that the mortal realm had gained sentience and could absorb and release the primordial energy of heaven and earth. This time, the vengeful spirit of the Umbrella Corporation is several times stronger than that of the supermarket, so its benefit to the mortal realm is unimaginable.

The greater the reward, the higher the risk.

The vengeful spirit here seemed to know Wei Yuan's purpose in coming, and immediately launched a killing move, intending to kill Wei Yuan and the body it possessed together. However, the hidden force within the body actually withstood Ji Liuli's poison cleansing and activated when Wei Yuan was attacked, refusing to make any move and almost causing Wei Yuan to suffer a fatal blow.

Wei Yuan hadn't expected that this vengeful spirit would play by its own rules, arranging the fatal blow at the very beginning and showing no understanding of gradual progression.

The vengeful spirit didn't expect that the Great Joyful Buddha would act so unpredictably, directly enlightening Wei Yuan. From the vengeful spirit's perspective, this Buddha, standing at the pinnacle of the world, would still do such a thing; it was truly a lack of martial ethics.

But Wei Yuan wasn't a moralist, nor was he a cultivator who engaged in one-on-one duels. He spent most of his time as the Grand Tang Military Governor, ruling over a region, and the Lord of the Azure Netherworld, who commanded twenty million people. Therefore, the concepts of "face" and "fairness" were used differently by Wei Yuan than by others.

When he's certain he can win, Wei Yuan is very concerned about saving face. Similarly, he'll only treat his opponent fairly when he has an absolute advantage.

Having awakened ahead of time and obtained the "Eternal Emptiness and Form" scripture, which points directly to the Great Dao, Wei Yuan already had the benefits in hand, and it was too late to refuse. Therefore, what he was concerned about now was how to pay less or no price; paying the full amount was impossible.

After awakening, although he still had to rely on the original abilities of this body, Wei Yuan could do many more things. While the warriors were manually releasing the elevator, Wei Yuan took the opportunity to thoroughly examine his body.

The elevator finally descended to the designated location, and Ji Liuli spoke into the intercom on his collar: "We're in position."

The soldiers on the upper floors shouted and pulled hard on the ropes, stopping the elevator from descending. Several experts were trying to connect electricity to the elevator area, but no matter how hard they tried, the current seemed to be swallowed up by something bottomless pit.

Inside the elevator, Ji Liuli opened the door and said, "Down here is what you superhumans need most: gene stabilizers."

As relevant information surfaced in Wei Yuan's memory, he immediately understood why the alliance would take such a desperate gamble, risking the loss of everyone, to launch a surprise attack on this place.

The gene segments representing different superpowers are extremely complex, built on the fragile and relatively simple human genome, much like building a skyscraper on a beach, where the foundation will soon have problems.

Gene stabilizers, which strengthen the genetic structure of superhumans, are specifically designed to address this problem. Without them, a superhuman's genes will be slowly eroded and altered by their abilities, leading not only to a gradual loss of control over their powers but also their physical body, ultimately resulting in a deformed monster.

Globally, only the Umbrella Corporation's gene stabilizers are truly effective, given that many superhumans were created by the company. The Superpower Alliance is facing a severe shortage of gene stabilizers, and can only watch helplessly as some marginalized individuals die.

So they set up a series of schemes to lure Ji away, and then go all in to seize enough gene stabilizers, and preferably also obtain the molecular map of the drug, so that they could solve the problem once and for all.

Ji Liuli continued, "We have your people among us, and you have my people among you. There are not only gene stabilizers down there, but also out-of-control monsters that must be eliminated. My men alone cannot complete this mission, so when I saw you setting things up, I lured you here and moved those out-of-control things down here."

Your men will take a different route, where they'll face monsters transformed from ability users. If they do a good job, I wouldn't mind letting them take some gene stabilizers as a reward. And you, you'll receive an extra bonus.

"Do you give others this kind of reward often?" Wei Yuan suddenly asked.

Ji Liuli was taken aback, then burst into laughter and said, "Are you jealous?"

Wei Yuan did not answer, but waited quietly for her reply.

Ji Liuli raised an eyebrow. Answering this question made her feel somewhat weak, so she was particularly resistant. But for some reason, she still said, "I only reward people who can match my abilities. How many such people do you think there are?"

Wei Yuan stopped investigating and followed Ji Liuli into the eerie underground world.

The surroundings were dimly lit, with only a few lights on. Office supplies and documents were scattered everywhere, and there were large patches of sticky biomass on the floor, walls, and ceiling, the composition of which was unknown.

As Wei Yuan entered a large hall, his pupils suddenly narrowed. A monster resembling an octopus was floating before him, slowly swimming through the hall—a phenomenon completely defying the laws of physics. Beside the octopus, a row of fine runes emitted a faint glow.

Wei Yuan recognized that row of runes!
Many runes are symbols specifically for array formations, possessing no specific meaning in themselves. They rely on different combinations of runes to resonate with the surrounding environment, spiritual energy, and even the fundamental principles of heaven and earth, thereby enabling the array to function. This particular row of runes grants the octopus the ability to levitate and a degree of space-time travel.

Wei Yuan scanned his surroundings with his divine sense and discovered that the underground world was even more severely damaged. Many seemingly dark places were actually missing spaces, behind which lay a void filled with turbulent spacetime currents. Once drawn in, one would be doomed. However, in such an environment, traversing the void became extremely easy.

At this moment, the octopus noticed the two people, and hundreds of eyes lit up on its body. Then, two tentacles suddenly pierced out and probed into the void.

Two tentacles suddenly appeared in front of Wei Yuan and Ji Liuli, their tips extremely sharp, and they stabbed fiercely!

The tentacles were incredibly fast. Just as Wei Yuan was about to dodge, his legs suddenly went numb! That brief moment of stagnation was fatal, and the tentacles struck Wei Yuan directly in the chest.

A large area of ​​golden light immediately appeared on Wei Yuan's body, which resisted most of the force, but the remaining force still caused the tentacles to penetrate deeply into his heart and pierce through it.

A hidden scream came from inside Wei Yuan's body, as if several bubbles had been punctured and dissipated. Wei Yuan instantly felt much lighter, as if he had unloaded a lot of burdens.

Wei Yuan's expression was grim. He hadn't expected this body to have a hidden trump card, activated only at the critical moment of life and death. If it weren't for the immense power of the Void and Color Imperishable Technique, he would have lost most of his fighting strength just now. He would have had to find a way to awaken Ji Liuli or escape the illusion, and then try to make a comeback later.

At this moment, Ji Liuli was also stabbed, and the tentacle pushed her, piercing through several walls in succession. Ji Liuli tightly grabbed the tentacle with one hand, and with the other hand, she drew a multi-purpose knife and severed the tentacle in one stroke!
The tip of the tentacle pierced Ji Liuli's military uniform, tearing only a small hole, without even piercing the shirt underneath.

The tentacles retracted, their tips completely gone. The tip of the tentacle that had pierced Wei Yuan was also severed by golden light. The severed tentacle embedded in the wound was being decomposed, purified, and transformed into part of Wei Yuan's body.

Ji Liuli's expression was unusually solemn as he said, "These aren't those out-of-control things; they're not that powerful."

(End of this chapter)