Infinite Sun in the East China Sea

Chapter 363 First Encounter with the Truth
"Alright, now that we've unlocked the third-tier gene lock, let's rest for a while. Fighting in dire situations is the best way to unlock gene locks, and resting after battles can accumulate the potential to unlock the next stage of gene locks."

After examining the girl's figure, Xiangzi took out a classic long dress from his storage items.

"One of the benefits of being a reincarnator is the ability to appreciate the scenery of different worlds. This world is set in ancient China, so there should be many landscapes that suit your taste."

Zhao Yingkong, her face slightly flushed, tore off the tattered cloth from her body.

Her short hair didn't quite match her outfit, but her beautiful face and figure made people instantly ignore the incongruity.

Over the next three days, Xiangzi took the girl to visit several mountains and admire some landscapes that had not yet been affected by industry.

Zhao Yingkong didn't find anything special about the scenery.

After gaining the power to destroy mountains, many seemingly majestic, magnificent, and beautiful peaks were nothing more than ordinary mounds of earth and rocks in her eyes.

However, she did not express that disappointing opinion.

He only accompanied the veterans on their sightseeing trips, his mind preoccupied with his own worries.

The night before the start of the new round of training, Zhao Yingkong lay in bed unable to fall asleep for a long time:
"Ordinary people wouldn't experience such a significant improvement upon unlocking the third-tier gene lock... Am I... not unlocking the third-tier gene lock for the first time?"

In a dream.

The girl gazed at the figure that looked exactly like her, and fleeting images flashed through her mind.

Battle scenes and scenes of unlocking genetic locks appear one after another.

Those images showed that she hadn't just unlocked the first stage of her gene lock... but rather, she was at the fourth stage!
"My memories have been altered!"

Zhao Yingkong couldn't help but clutch her forehead: "No... my memories... are completely fabricated!"

"Am I... really Zhao Yingkong?"

She is trying to unlock a higher stage of genetic potential.

The third-order gene lock can already control brain cells, which is probably why she came into contact with another version of herself, her true self; the fourth-order lock can explore the memories in the mind in a more refined way.

But she failed.

Just then, a soft voice suddenly reached her ears: "I'm sorry, my other self..."

"Why do I……"

Zhao Yingkong had many questions in her mind, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she noticed that another version of herself, who looked exactly like her but had a slightly different temperament, suddenly disappeared.

She suddenly woke up from her dream, her eyes somewhat dazed.

Day two.

Zhao Yingkong approached Xu Feng again, asking with a serious expression, "Do you think my suitability for strengthening the Holy Demon Embryo is related to another version of myself?"

"Have you already come into contact with your inner self so quickly?"

Xu Feng smiled and said, "That's true."

"To be frank, the empty plan that the Zhao family came up with in the real world is not very technologically advanced, and I can replicate it at any time. But you are an unexpected product... which makes it much more difficult to achieve."

Many experiments have achieved levels that are theoretically impossible due to luck.

In the real world corresponding to the God Realm, this situation is very common.

For example, the Zhao family's empty plan.

For example, the genetically modified human program at the Qianlong Base.

The theoretical technology is very basic, but the results are amazing one after another. It is impossible to replicate them simply from a technical point of view.

"An unexpected outcome?" Zhao Yingkong took a deep breath.

"Hehe..." Xu Feng said with a smile, "There are always people who are struggling with the meaning of life, as if losing loved ones or hated ones makes life meaningless. But living itself is the greatest meaning. Keep living, and you will always encounter something worth cherishing in the future."

He could see the girl's problem at a glance.

They believe their lives are entirely false and meaningless, and their motivation to become stronger is somewhat laughable.

"You're not ready for the next stage of training right now. Take care of your mindset first. Come back to me when you've adjusted your mindset."

"No need." Zhao Yingkong shook her head: "I can start the next stage of training now."

With a resolute gaze, she said, "Unlocking the third-stage gene lock and gaining control over brain cells was the opportunity for me to come into contact with another version of myself, but that is still not enough. This level of power is still insufficient to reach the deep power that gave birth to 'me'. In the future, when I unlock the fourth stage of the gene lock, I should be qualified to have a conversation with another version of myself."

Zhao Yingkong's next phase of training takes place in the underworld.

She will face the same monster that Shoko and others faced in "Anaconda".

When the girl entered the training field, Xiangzi asked curiously, "Has this little girl developed a sense of belonging to the Donghai team?"

In her previous battle with Zhao Yingkong, she had tried to achieve this goal through some tricks.

On a mental level, induce the other party to choose to give up and escape the main god space through death... If the girl really loses in the mental attack, that would be the best, she would just have one less rival in love.

If the opposing team can withstand that kind of psychological attack, it's actually a good thing for this team.

Only a firm will to stay in the Main God Space can withstand this attack. Awakening from the mental attack means that the girl really wants to stay in the Main God Space and will not easily leave the East Sea Team.

Xiangzi has always believed that the bond between teams doesn't come out of thin air, and that kind of hardship is one of the reasons that creates that bond.

Of course, the bonds created by this little trick still need to be strengthened through other means.

The three-day 'team building' that followed was for this purpose.

But Xiangzi realized at this moment that those actions seemed to be no match for the captain's few words.

"A sense of belonging? We're still lacking something." Xu Feng shook his head with a smile. "Besides... even if we do feel a sense of belonging, it's never really about belonging to the so-called East China Sea team..."

Xu Feng pulled Xiangzi into his arms and asked, "Miss Xiangzi, do you feel a sense of belonging to the Donghai team?"

The girl's breathing became erratic, her eyes welled up with tears, and she murmured, "Xiangzi belongs only to Lord Xu Feng..."

A few days later.

Xu Feng woke the sleeping girl and led her into the underworld: "Mei is about to wake up." "Hmm... the little shrine maiden should benefit greatly from reincarnation, right?" Xiangzi muttered weakly.

“Hmm.” Xu Feng said, “There are many secrets hidden in the underlying logic of the ‘divine descent’ ability. Mei’s gains this time are really great, even no less than yours.”

Xiangzi's improvement in this world can be described as a qualitative change. By constructing a "virtual world" through "mental floating ecology", she can be considered a top powerhouse in the entire God Space. This power is not based on the ability to smash pits, but on that kind of strange mental power attack.

If you lack the strength, you will become her puppet.

Based on the level of the final battle in the original Infinite Terror novel, no more than six reincarnators could withstand her attack.

As for Mei.

It seems that because of the long-term use of the 'divine descent' ability, the power she could contain naturally increased a lot. This capacity naturally transformed into basic abilities during the 'reincarnation' process, thanks to the energy provided by the entire underworld.

She and her sister were reincarnated at the same time, but their outcomes after reincarnation were completely different.

Ninety percent of the energy of the floating ecosystem in the underworld is used to support the development of the younger sister.

"Mei, it seems you've found your own path during the process of reincarnation," Xu Feng said with a smile.

The little shrine maiden nodded, drew her Murasame sword, and said, “Captain, I plan to incorporate this sword into my avatar when I create it, but this step is very difficult, and I cannot complete this goal by myself in a short time.”

She plans to create the same external avatar as the newcomer, Yinshan.

Of course, even among the same species, their strength can be drastically different.

The other members of the East Sea team had avatars that were merely containers for storing Yin energy, providing their main bodies with mountain-like protective capabilities. Their strength could not compare to the ten-thousand-foot-high Yin core of the Black Mountain Demon.

The external avatar that Mei is about to obtain is like a small world!

"Does the space provided by the village rain provide capacity for the Yinshan Mountains?"

Xu Feng's mind raced.

He constructed miniature versions of the underworld in his consciousness, then observed the flaws in those miniature underworlds on the temporal level, and then redesigned them.

After a moment, Xu Feng said with a smile, "This plan will take a long time and will consume some resources. Fortunately, these resources are not rare in the many parallel worlds of 'A Chinese Ghost Story'. However, the exchange period is about to end, and the formal transformation will be in the next round."

After sending Xiangzi and Mei to the mortal realm, his gaze turned to another direction: "They have good talent and have already successfully established their foundation. It seems they are not far from reaching the Golden Core stage."

Before he finished speaking, a slightly ethereal figure instantly teleported to this location.

Luo Yinglong said with a bitter expression, "Foundation Building... Alas, what kind of foundation is this, built with such a physique!"

He had already been reborn in the underworld during the previous round of exchanges, and like the Black Mountain Demon in the movie, he had seized power over this world.

However, this guy did not use his abilities to boss people around in the underworld. Even when a group of female ghosts who looked no less beautiful than Nie Xiaoqian wandered around the underworld, he remained unmoved.

Instead, he buried himself in the cultivation techniques he had exchanged with the main god. The environment of the underworld was not good, but compared to most worlds with scarce magic, it could be considered a blessed land for cultivation. Luo Yinglong, whose natural talent was not bad, made rapid progress in this world. In less than a year, he had already successfully established his foundation.

Xu Feng chuckled: "Don't act innocent after getting a good deal. If the other members of the Celestial Team knew how you were treated, they would definitely try every means to get me to switch to someone else."

"Ahem, Senior Xu, do you have any cultivation techniques suitable for my current state?" Luo Yinglong asked shamelessly. "I wonder if you have any cultivation techniques suitable for my current state? I exchanged a Five Elements internal cultivation technique from the Main God, but it's not very effective in my current state."

He chuckled and said, "The current environment is perfect for the 'Taiyin Refining Form Method'!"

Xu Feng calmly replied, "I've used all my side quest resources to enhance my dual S-rank bloodline, so I don't have the money to buy you this kind of cultivation technique right now..."

Luo Yinglong's eyes widened. Double S-level bloodline...

He clearly remembered that this guy's main system was cultivation, and he had at least strengthened an S-level technique. He also had various processing and manufacturing abilities, which were valuable skills. However, he did not expect that this guy was also so rich in bloodline!

The East China Sea team is too rich!

He originally thought Hector was rich enough, but he never expected that there was a reincarnator in the God Space who was even richer than him. No wonder the East Sea team was so powerful.

"The Celestial Team's defeat was not unjust..."

"Of course, although I cannot provide you with advanced cultivation techniques suitable for you, I can help you modify your physique to suit this environment. I once obtained a bloodline called Feathered Corpse Demon in the cycle of reincarnation. The source of that bloodline was an immortal who failed to refine his form in the Taiyin realm."

Xu Feng continued.

Even if he had enough side quests and reward points, he couldn't possibly help Luo Yinglong buy cultivation techniques. Even Tifa couldn't get him to make such an investment, let alone an outsider.

However, there is no problem with bloodline modification that is cost-effective.

"The Feathered Corpse Demon itself doesn't have much potential."

This bloodline originated from the first world Xu Feng experienced. After Tifa obtained this bloodline, the improvement she received was very limited, barely comparable to the C-level bloodline of the main god.

Even though Luo Yinglong has just established his foundation, the improvement he gains from learning any skill now far exceeds the boost that his bloodline can provide.

"However, because of some of my ideas, this bloodline underwent a qualitative change in my Tifa, and that qualitative change was very fortunate to be connected with the power of the Greek pantheon."

Xu Feng said with a smile, "It just so happens that the bloodline that your Celestial Team's expert has enhanced is the power system from Greek mythology, an S-level bloodline. Its essence is extremely strong. The reason why the East Sea Team was able to easily defeat the Celestial Team this time is that he did not fully unleash the potential of that bloodline. The so-called Titans, in theory, can deeply utilize the power of nature."

"If that guy named Hector unlocks the fourth-order gene lock, I'm afraid I'll have to take action myself."

"These coincidences allow me to combine the two."

"Theoretically speaking, that bloodline could probably be called... the bloodline of the God of the Underworld!"

"With the bloodline of the God of the Underworld, plus the authority of the underworld in the world of A Chinese Ghost Story, your combat power in this space should be quite formidable at that time."

Luo Yinglong opened his mouth: "Big brother, are you sure this messy combination won't cause any problems?"

His most desired ability is cultivation, but since he can become extremely strong, it doesn't matter if he becomes stronger through bloodline.

But the prerequisite is... that it has to be reliable!
Xu Feng tilted his head: "Of course I can't be sure. Otherwise, why would I use it on you? If it were really a sure thing, wouldn't it be better to use it on my teammate?"

"Uh……"

Luo Yinglong was speechless.

"Haha, just kidding. Actually, it's not that dangerous... At worst, I can just reincarnate again."

(End of this chapter)