Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 179 The Soul of Machinery
Crash.

Amidst flowing holy oil and rising steam, Duncan, completely naked, slowly emerged.

Originally, the third human host was rather thin, but when he came out now, the outline of his chest and abdominal muscles was visible. He had long arms, strong thighs, and his rock-solid muscles could be seen when he exerted himself. Even his height had increased by about one centimeter.

"It looks like it's blending well."

Master Qiao looked Duncan up and down with satisfaction, as if admiring a work of art, and slowly said, "Your bones have been strengthened by the Machine Soul. If there are special requirements for your height..."

"You can go to the technical priest in the logistics department. They will help you adjust your bone development to reach the height you want."

“But I don’t mind if you set the height too high.”

"That would affect overall agility."

Duncan looked slightly surprised. Could height be adjusted?
However, the monks of the Cult of the Machine God are indeed all tall, over 1.89 meters, and even a woman like Tasia is as tall as a tall Western woman.

Master Qiao in front of me looks rather thin, but he is still 1.9 meters tall, almost 2 meters. A small number of mechanical priests who pursue strength can grow to more than 2 meters tall, but that height and size makes it less convenient for them to move around.

The mechanical acolyte sat down cross-legged again, flicked his wrist, and silver-gray chains wrapped around the energy pillar, his body once again surrounded by leaping arcs of electricity.

He then said to the attendant beside him, "Ian, take him to the technical logistics department."

At this moment, someone had brought Duncan new clothes: a gray priest's robe that could be worn over the body, with a mechanical skull emblem engraved on the chest, and blade and feather patterns on the cuffs, symbolizing the blade and feathers of a steel-cast angel, and gear and mechanical wing patterns on the back.

Duncan clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you, Master Joe."

The mechanical acolyte didn't even glance at him again, and went back into meditation.

As they were leaving, the young church servant whispered, "If you intend to advance to the path of a Mechanical Electric Monk, you might consider applying to the Archbishop to become Master Joe's apprentice."

“I have served the master for many years, and I have rarely seen him value a person so much.”

At this point, his expression even showed a hint of envy.

Master Joe belongs to the ascetic branch of the Steel Casting School. Because the introduction of electric currents into the body causes extreme pain, it must be overcome with immense willpower. In the later stages of this ascetic practice, one can transform into a physical 'Vajra' being. However, unlike other Steel Casting Schools, Master Joe's school places greater emphasis on meditation.

This is somewhat similar to the internal and external cultivation of martial arts.

After Duncan stepped out of the meditation room, everything suddenly became clear. F46 was not a major region; the Mechanicus members stationed there numbered only a few hundred.

He is currently in the training area.

Fifty meters directly in front of Duncan, a man with an extremely broad back and muscles like steel bars was exercising. He was doing bench presses, weighing about a ton. This man was nearly two meters tall, extremely large, with well-developed pectoral muscles and hamstrings. Just by looking at him, you could tell he was incredibly strong.

"Ian?"

"Are these the new recruits who passed the assessment today?"

The man, as burly as a steel giant, put down the heavy object, looked Duncan up and down, and frowned, saying, "Too skinny."

"Have the logistics department prepare more nutritious meals for him."

This man was about three times the size of Duncan. When he walked over, he looked like a mountain. An ordinary person would probably feel fear just looking at him.

— Steel Cast Iron Man (3-star silver-gray).

Although it bears the mark of a three-star unit, its strength far surpasses that of a three-star unit from the medieval era. The people of this world are greatly enhanced by supernatural forces, and with the addition of technological modifications, even its skin has a faint metallic silver-gray hue.

The church servant named Ian nodded and said, "Yes, Lord Ray."

After passing through the training area, the church attendant whispered, "Lord Lei was once Master Qiao's disciple."

"However, he later followed another mechanical mentor."

By this time, Duncan had already joined the logistics department.

As the God's-eye view zoomed out, he also marked other parts of the temple district, illuminating the dark map.

There aren't actually that many mechanical priests in the entire F46 district. The vast majority are ordinary church staff. The daily management includes attendants, deacons, and high-ranking deacons. Usually, there is only one bishop, a dozen or so formal mechanical priests, and a number of church apprentices in a district.

This area is an underground colony that is still being developed, so there are more church monks residing here.

The smell of engine oil is getting stronger.

After Duncan passed through a heavy gate, sparks flew as a woman shrouded in a black cloak looked up. Only half of her face was visible. Her cold, mechanical eyes scanned Duncan, and then the mechanical arm behind her retracted, its auxiliary fingers removing the welding tool and replacing it with a different type of steel-plating tool for engraving.

—Technical Priest (Insight Sect) (3-star silver-gray).

This female tech priest appears to have had her chest cavity, breasts, and uterus removed. Traces of internal mechanical operation can be seen under her black hood, indicating that she has become highly mechanized, with only her head and a small part of her body retaining their original flesh and blood structure.

"This is the new apprentice?"

The technical priest extended a second mechanical arm from her side. As she looked Duncan up and down, she continued to inscribe something, sparks flying. She frowned and said, "Why is he so thin?"

"Should we prepare a bone growth reagent for him?"

The Cult of Mechanics can activate the mechanical nanofluid that Duncan previously injected with through a specific growth reagent. Subsequently, the nanofluid will assist the body's new layer metabolism and growth and development. As long as the age is not too old, the desired height can be achieved through trial and error.

This is considered an internal perk of the Steel Casting Cult, allowing for customized height and weight, but only growth is possible, not shrinking; once someone becomes too large, there's no way to reduce their size.

The attendant of the Mechanical Church bowed respectfully and said, "Priest Kayla, I brought him here to collect the steel casting agent."

The technician nodded slightly, her expression indifferent, barely showing any change. An octopus-like mechanical arm emerged from her lower body, covered in steel runes, and she opened a sealed safe, saying calmly, "Go get it yourself."

“Take six branches.”

"An injection once a month can speed up the efficiency of exercise."

"Next to it is a bone growth reagent."

"Just take one."

"After the injection, it should help you grow five to ten centimeters taller quickly."

Ian took out six rust-red injection solutions, then handed Duncan a pale yellow vial.

Just as they were picking up their other belongings and preparing to leave, the technician turned and glanced at Duncan again, slowly asking, "What are Master Joe's plans for him?"

"Should we have him learn to inscribe steel prayers tomorrow?"

This job is similar to welding; it's not something that requires special training. Just get the job done first.

Ian shook his head and said, "The master said to wait for the bishop to return first."

Upon hearing this, the technician stopped asking questions and focused on his work. The place resembled a huge factory workshop. Around the opposite corner, Duncan saw the man who had passed the test yesterday. The man looked at Duncan with envy, then lowered his head to operate the mechanical arm on his back, concentrating on engraving the steel-cast prayer.

He has already had a mechanical nerve bundle implanted, but no mechanical nanofluid has been injected, which means he has been relegated to the logistics and technical department.

Those who lack talent start from logistics.

The church attendant led Duncan to several places, where, besides heavy mechanical scriptures that resembled bricks, there were all sorts of everyday items.

By the time he returned to his lodgings, it was completely dark outside.

inside the room.

Duncan opened the thick Mechanicus. The first half was the Mechanicus's canon, and the second half contained various introductory knowledge, including meditation to perceive the mechanical soul, activating the injected mechanical nanofluid through specific training, and the roles and responsibilities of various departments within the Mechanicus.

In other sects, after passing the trials and assessments, one would usually be given basic mechanical modifications, namely mechanical neural bundles and brain-computer interfaces, and then be able to download learning materials through the think tank's main brain.

However, for the Steel Casting Cult, sorry, you'll have to learn it yourself first. They are a traditional cult and don't offer knowledge download services. At most, they'll give you an extra mechanical neural bundle. You'll learn to inscribe steel casting prayers directly and work on the assembly line for a year or two before considering anything else.

The daily management of the Steel Casting Cult is relatively relaxed because they do not have a huge learning task and focus more on self-improvement.

Generally, they will implant brain-computer interfaces to learn technical knowledge only after their strength reaches a certain level. Some special schools, such as the Mechanical Electric Monk, cannot implant brain-computer interfaces and can only cultivate their brains into mechanical constructs.

"Perceive the mechanical soul within the body?"

"Source power?"

"It must refer to primal magic, right?"

"To resonate with the God of Machines through meditation? And then use the power of the Machine Soul to activate the nano-liquid within the body?"

"It feels a bit like the Taoist Zhou Tian (circular energy) and the Tantric wheel mudra."

Duncan looked at it carefully for a long time and had a strange feeling that the Steelcasting Cult's cultivation method was actually somewhat like the posture of meditation and energy cultivation.

Simply put, if you want to strengthen something, you meditate on the corresponding part of your body. By resonating with the mechanical soul, you can mobilize the mechanical nanofluid within your body. It will automatically gather in the specific part of your body and then consume primal magic power to further strengthen and modify your body.

Typically, the Steelcasting Cult's mechanical acolytes begin with their lungs. Once this part is modified, they gain an active, spell-like ability called 'Steel Lungs'.

However, if you are talented enough, you don't have to follow this order. You can start with any of the following: heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

The first step is to perceive the existence of the mechanical soul.

This process can be long or short. People with exceptional talent can sense the internal energy within their bodies and even detect external energy within a day. However, those with less talent may not make much progress for years or even decades and can only mobilize their internal source energy through external stimulation.

To put it simply...

If you want to strengthen your thighs, then meditate and introspect, and indirectly mobilize the mechanical nano-liquid injected into your body through your consciousness to perceive the mechanical soul. They will gather from other parts of your body, and then, just like a factory starting up, they will stimulate the muscles, bones, and blood vessels in your legs, making them rapidly stronger, achieving the effect that ordinary people would need to train for years or decades.

But if you can't do that, can't sense the machine soul, and don't have enough source power, then you should honestly train your legs.

During daily exercise, blood flow in your legs increases, and your own metabolic cells will also gather some of the mechanical nanofluid there, prioritizing the strengthening of the areas you have trained.

After Duncan figured it out, his first thought was of his dantian, and then he looked down.

This can also be strengthened.

The members of the Mechanicus Cult don't have much need for it; they mainly enhance it to reduce a fatal weakness.

After all, we can't just follow the example of the Insight Sect and cut it off completely.

Try meditation first.

Duncan sat cross-legged, emptying his mind. He entered a special mental state by reciting a mechanical prayer. As time passed, a unique buff mark appeared: "Mechanized Mind: Allow your mind to be like a machine, devoid of emotions and desires. It can also weaken the perception of pain. Once constant, it will remain in the state of 'no-self'."

—"Mechanical Soul Resonance: You have sensed the existence of mechanical souls, which possess a completely different soul structure from humans. You also have a mechanical soul gradually developing within you, which originates from the primordial power of higher construct life."

One by one, the icons were lit up.

Dimensional space.

Under the projection from God's perspective, the third human host actually turned into a human anatomical diagram, with different areas marked out.

—"Strengthen the Spine (Progress 0%): By mobilizing mechanical nanofluid, assimilate and modify your own spine, transforming it into a steel-cast form. You can also use source power and mental control to carve steel-cast runes onto your spine."
[Enhanced Process: Active Metallized Spine – Steel-Cast Bionic Spine – Sacred Mark Construct Spine – Mechanically Divine Skeleton.]

—"Strengthen Lungs (Progress 0%): By mobilizing mechanical nanofluid, modify the structure of your lungs to greatly enhance resistance to poison gas, strengthen respiratory functions, and increase explosive power. Additional spell ability: Steel Lungs."

—"Strengthen the Heart (Progress 0%): By mobilizing mechanical nanofluid, the heart is gradually transformed into an active metallic body. The heart is like a mechanical turbine, constantly providing a continuous source of power."

—"Strengthen the kidneys (progress 0%): By mobilizing mechanical nanofluid, the kidneys are activated, greatly increasing metabolic filtration capacity and actively controlling the secretion of adrenaline, etc."

One by one, the human body icons were lit up.

Duncan's limbs, bones, muscles, blood, skin, internal organs, and even his brain can be actively strengthened. However, strengthening the brain is the most difficult, often requiring many years of meditation and practice to achieve results.

Normally, without any external assistance, it would take several decades to strengthen the bones, muscles, and internal organs.

"It seems that one must sense the soul of the machine in order to actively control the direction of the enhancement."

"Otherwise, we can train and strengthen specific areas."

Duncan tried to follow the path of the microcosmic orbit he had seen in his previous life. From God's perspective, he easily accomplished what other mechanical priests had been unable to do for more than ten years: he permanently established a 'mechanical mind' in a meditative state.

As the primal magic flowed along the Ren and Du meridians, the mechanical nano-liquid injected into his body, like a swarm of bees chasing nectar, instantly converged from all parts of his body toward his dantian.

On the projected screen, Duncan's mana bar began to slowly decrease.

Unlike the cultivation of internal energy in martial arts novels, where one's internal energy increases after cultivation, Duncan's internal energy bar continuously decreases during cultivation.

Soon, his mana bar was depleted by about a third.

The nano-body particles that Duncan had gathered by sensing the mechanical soul through his mind immediately began to work after consuming enough primal magic. They even emitted a faint spiritual light, glowing like wondrous objects when they gathered together.

Different schools of practice within the Steel Casting Sect have different focuses.

Duncan was imitating his previous life's breathing techniques, so after consuming his magic, countless tiny nanoparticles gathered towards his lungs. Then, the lung organs on the human body icon were marked with an icon indicating that they were being strengthened and modified.

Throughout the process, Duncan's breathing became long and deep, instantly reaching the lung capacity he had cultivated over many years in his previous life.

On average, Duncan's breath lasts for one or two minutes.

However, not all nanobodies gathered around the lungs; they also converged towards the lower dantian along with the intention of breathing, with some strengthening the kidneys and others even entering the reproductive organs. Because Duncan didn't have a deep understanding of breathing techniques, the mechanical nanobodies didn't accumulate in large quantities around the spine, nor did they rise along the spine to the vicinity of the brain.

Basically, every human structure activated by nanobody will show a 'modification and enhancement' mark, but the scale of the enhancement and the degree of enhancement will vary.

This is actually the internal cultivation method of the Steel Casting Sect.

For example, the mechanical acolytes he met perceived the existence of mechanical souls through meditation and gradually cultivated themselves into living metal constructs.

However, the training of the Mechanical Electric Monk is even more rigorous, and his body has begun to absorb electrical energy.

As for the steel-cast strongman Duncan encountered, he followed the method of external training, strengthening his muscles, bones, and skin through external stimulation and exercise.

There is a very important threshold here, and that is 'perception'!
Unable to perceive the soul of the machine.

Then one cannot actively influence the mechanical nanobody within the body with their will. Ordinary mechanical cultivators start from the skin and muscles. Those who can directly influence and strengthen the internal organs are all gifted individuals with strong perception.

It only took a little over an hour.

Duncan's mana bar was completely depleted.

He also had to stop cultivating because he no longer had the magical power to drive the nanobody to strengthen himself. This was somewhat contrary to his understanding of cultivation, which was that strengthening oneself through cultivation actually consumed magical power.

In this process.

The mechanical nanobody in his body also seemed to have split slightly, but the overall number did not increase much. This was because some of the nanobody dissolved directly when the lungs were being strengthened. They were integrated into the cellular level of the human body, and were somewhat like carbon fiber or possibly an unknown structure of metal fiber.

"If the focus is on strengthening muscles, then the muscles will really start to stretch and become muscular!"

"And they were pulling steel wires!"

When Duncan stood up, his bones cracked and popped. The pectoral muscles of the third human host had appeared in just one night, with results no less than those of other ordinary people who had worked out for several months. This was because the mechanical nanobody assisted in automatically stimulating muscle growth and development, and at the same time, it dissolved into the muscle as it operated.

But this is still only the power of mortals.

Basically, units marked below three stars look similar to ordinary people. Only the three-star silver-gray units show some peculiar metallic features, the most common of which is a change in skin color.

If you kill a three-star mechanical monk and dissect his body, you will find that his bones and muscles contain certain active metal components.

Dragons replenish their metallic substances by consuming ores, primarily concentrated in their scales and claws.

Monks of the Cult of Mechanism cannot eat metal directly, but they are injected with various alchemical concoctions. Even without the cult's concoctions, they can digest trace amounts of metals ingested in their daily diet, making heavy metal poisoning virtually impossible.

It's okay, they drink some engine oil to soothe their throats, and I'm not kidding.

Duncan muttered, "If this is cultivated to the end, won't it become almost like the liquid metal robot from the Terminator?"

Compared to other mechanical cults, the Steel Casting Cult takes its time and produces high-quality work, ultimately maintaining a humanoid appearance. Those mechanical cults that focus on mechanical modification and construct implantation, however, essentially lose their humanoid form; some, in pursuit of efficiency, even install various mechanical arms, making them resemble Doctor Octopus.

But with a transformation school like the Insight Sect, you can quickly increase your strength as long as you have money.

They can even install a source energy circuit inside your body.

This is similar to installing a mana pool on you. Normally, your mana pool expands little by little through cultivation. But these are like installing batteries. As long as the resources and money are in place, all kinds of battery (source power circuit) models can be provided.

A level 1 mage can install a level 10 mage's magic circuit, greatly enhancing their source power and computing power, resulting in explosive output.

However, if you do this, it will be very difficult to cultivate and improve your source power on your own in the future.

Earn money and accumulate resources honestly.

As long as you have the resources, you can upgrade from AA batteries all the way to new energy batteries. If you become the chief figure of the sect, you will be given a miniature nuclear battery directly.

Only the poor rely on spiritual practice.

The rich kids are directly modified, first their brains are strengthened, then their source energy circuits are strengthened. After going through a whole process, they instantly transform from unmarked units into three-star combat units.

Of course, it's not necessarily true that they are that strong.

Duncan's general's personal guards in the medieval era, marked with two silver-gray stars, were physically inferior to those here. However, if given the same physical conditions and various modifications and cheats, their strength would probably experience an explosive leap.

Combat skills cannot be fully mastered simply by downloading knowledge.

This is the pinnacle of the world, and the power of technology has led to an explosive enhancement of their strength.

Overall strength is actually at the level of a professional at level 5 to 10.

the next day.

When Duncan walked out of the room, he had grown two centimeters taller, and his originally thin physique had become more muscular. He looked rather thin, but when he took off his clothes, he was all muscle, which was at least equivalent to the result of several years of hard work by a fitness enthusiast.

This is because the various growth hormones in the body have been activated by the mechanical nanofluid, which greatly enhances the efficiency of training. This change will be very obvious in the early stages, but it will become more difficult as time goes on.

When Tasia saw Duncan, her eyes widened in shock, and she stammered, "You...how have you changed so much!..."

"Have you already sensed the mechanical soul?!"

If this were within the Insight Sect, they would be eligible to compete for electoral status within the sect.

The Steelcasting Cult focuses on inward cultivation, while the Insight Cult extends outward. The stronger one's perception of the mechanical soul, the more mechanical constructs one can control, and even seize mechanical servants controlled by others.

The soul of a machine is a very complex concept.

For example, if you have a robotic arm installed in your body, the first thing you need to do is to tame the robotic arm implanted in your body, so that it submits to you and obeys your will.

If you don't control the machine spirit, your mechanical arm might not obey your commands during combat.

Duncan's dramatic transformation stemmed from two factors: one was his perception—he no longer merely perceived the mechanical soul, but rather resonated with it.

Secondly, he possesses primal magic, meaning he has his own source energy circuit.

Simultaneously.

After a night of training, Duncan's dragon bloodline seemed to have been activated in some kind of 'mutation'.

—"Dragon Skin (Activating): An unknown mutation has occurred in the dragon bloodline. The dragon gene, which should have been activated only by people of scaled races, has been activated. Your skin shows signs of metallic fusion, exhibiting metallic characteristics like dragon scales."

Normally, only scaly creatures like lizardmen, kobolds, and snakemen can activate this ability, but Duncan has now passively activated the mutated dragon bloodline.

The skin is still the same skin, with little change, but its toughness is now close to that of leather armor.

Simultaneously.

Duncan's bones also showed slight signs of active metallization, and sometimes he even wanted to gnaw on some ore, but he didn't have a dragon's stomach and couldn't digest everything.

It appears that the dragon bloodline he inscribed has indeed had a chain reaction with the Steelcasting Cult's training methods.

Physical fitness has improved explosively, but we don't know how much computing power it will be like yet.

It's possible that he won't be able to perceive the existence of computing power until he implants the first mechanical neural bundle. In Duncan's understanding, having computing power is roughly equivalent to being a computer himself, able to remotely control a swarm of drones, just like controlling the mechanical servants under his command.

From a large mechanical army to a small mechanical arm, everything requires computing power.

The monks of the Cult of Mechanics do not rely on computers to control machines; instead, they transform themselves into humanoid computers that issue command signals.

………………

(End of this chapter)