Who let him join the Sword Sect!

Chapter 384 No one can refuse a starship engine and a square pig.

"Is this you?" Zhang Ze stood on the transparent curtain wall, looking dazed.

“That’s right, it’s me.” Xiangxiang’s projection put her hands on her hips and said, “I’m very capable now, and I’m no longer a burden.”

"Although I have no combat power, my current shield can withstand a full-force attack from a Void Refinement cultivator. It's incredibly powerful! Don't you...don't you like it?"

Xiangxiang stopped halfway through her self-praise because she noticed that Zhang Ze was still staring blankly into space.

Zhang Ze paused for a moment, then shook his head and nodded, "No, I... I mean I like it so much."

Xiangxiang, "Sigh...do you like it? But I don't have a body anymore, I..."

Zhang Ze: "You are you. No matter what you become, I will never dislike you. Being alive is the most important thing."

Zhang Ze actually accepted the fact that Xiangxiang was reincarnated as a starship engine quite quickly.

Just like he said, being alive is better than anything else.

But
This is just so cool.

The massive outline of this interstellar warp engine resembles a vertically standing black obelisk, its base surface covered with layers of honeycomb-shaped armor plates.

Each hexagonal metal plate had a faint blue glow floating along its edge, with liquid energy flowing between the gaps.

The engine base has a diameter of over thirty meters, gradually tapering upwards into a streamlined, sharp cone. Three spiraling energy conduits extend from the top, but the ends of the conduits have been completely rendered ineffective due to the explosion.

In fact, only the lower half of the starship's engine was still functioning normally; most of the upper components were completely destroyed and dimmed.

As for why Zhang Ze recognized this thing, it wasn't because he had once been a member of that space fleet.

It's simply because he can read.

On the right side of the engine's base, there is a metal nameplate.

[Losu III Jump Engine]

It is not a script used by humans.

These strange spherical characters come from an ancient race that existed only in the primordial era of countless races.

This race was rather unlucky; they were wiped out by the demon race before they even had a chance to leave their names.

However, many of the bone armor and stone slabs they used to record the sacrificial process have been passed down.

Later generations gave this ancient race, which was submerged by the torrent of history, a new name.

Starfire Clan.

It means that their clan was like a spark, just emerging and then disappearing in a flash.

As early as the Eastern Qi Dynasty, the language of the Starfire Clan was deciphered by cultivators.

At first, I thought it was the legacy of some ancient master, a legendary celestial book. However, after studying it, I found that it was all nonsense.

Although this race's culture is extremely primitive, consisting of daily killing of prisoners or self-sacrifice, their language and script are quite complex and sophisticated.

It's even a bit more complex than the languages ​​of humans and demons.

Therefore, for a period of time in Dongqi, learning Xinghuo language even became a fashion trend.

It's really cool to write a letter to curse someone using a language that ordinary people can't understand, but is very complex and elegant. It gives off a subtle sense of superiority from the intellectual suppression of cultured people.

Although the Eastern Qi Dynasty is gone, the popularity of small walnuts has reignited the trend of learning Xinghuo script.

Because in Little Walnut's chat group, it's pretty cool to type flirty stuff and say witty things.

As a person with nothing to do, Zhang Ze naturally knew how to write and read Spark articles.

Looking at the highly professional text on the plaque, Zhang Ze recalled the original oracle bone copy he had seen in the Sword Sect's library.

[Wow, ten heads were chopped off today, twenty more tomorrow! All gone!]

[Skull offering, skull seat! Skull offering, skull seat!]

That's roughly the case.

It's hard to imagine that a group of incompetent, playful lunatics who only know how to chop off people's heads could be connected to such high-tech stuff.

so.
Zhang Ze thought of the human race's writing system.

Logically speaking, the idea that time travelers bring systems and that the entire universe speaks Chinese should be some kind of unspoken, underlying logic.

But now it seems that this is not the case, at least not in the Four Continents.

Since Zhang Ze's system is a mute egg yolk, the transmission of the text must have an origin.

If the Starfire Clan arrived by spaceship.
What about the human race?

Were the other races of the primordial era also like this?

Zhang Ze closed his eyes and imagined the primordial era, when all races descended upon the four continents, civilizations faded, and the only way to survive was through bloodshed.

At the end of the primordial era, only the human, demon, and barbarian races succeeded in defeating the enemy, thus continuing their civilization in another way, which has been passed down to this day.

Other races either disappeared or degenerated into even more inferior beasts.

For example, the giant pompom monkey.

Zhang Ze firmly believes that the fact that the giant pompom monkeys can learn martial arts and even beat him means that they are definitely not ordinary monkeys.

If this conjecture is correct, then could there be more of this engine, or even other fragments?

But before Zhang Ze could ask a question, Xiangxiang's projection appeared next to him.

“There isn’t a second one. Over the years, Siwen and I have only found this one engine,” Xiangxiang replied.

"It's also thanks to my research on the Starfire script, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to... control this thing." Xiangxiang carefully chose her words.

"So, how did you become like this?"

In the evolution of the Four Continents, science is not the norm, but magic is. Zhang Ze doesn't recall any magic that could turn a person into a Taiwanese starship engine.

Or take over one of the engines.

Zhang Ze leaned against the transparent curtain wall, looking at Xiangxiang beside him.

Xiangxiang frowned, and because it was a projection, all sorts of strange symbols floated above her head, making her look like she was deep in thought.

“Many things are mixed up, and it’s a bit complicated to explain them one by one. Come with me.”

Xiangxiang pointed, and blue ripples enveloped Zhang Ze.

The roof of the white hall unfolded, and this time, instead of Spark Technology, it was a series of traditional magic arrays from the old Four Continents.

Dozens of replicas of the Emperor's Banner were planted in the magic circle.

As the magic array activated, the sense of alienation he felt upon entering the Jade Book Illusion returned to Zhang Ze's heart.

Looking at those magic arrays and the Emperor's Banner, although it was somewhat impolite, Zhang Ze realized that the Jade Book Pavilion and the Jade Book Illusion were nothing more than a clumsy imitation of Lady Xiangxiang.

Of all the fantastical realms under heaven, the best is Xiangxiang in the White Emperor's Northern Territory.

"You guessed right. Before the incident in the old White Emperor City, the demon race and the Xiao family still maintained certain contact."

"When Xiao Qingyun's grandson, that little rascal, became emperor, Sister Wang gave a portion of the deciphered Human Emperor Flag magic to the Xiao family in exchange."

"The sword spirit technology of Dong Qi is also like this; it is a kind of imitation of the Star God by the Xiao family."

"Now please enter my dream. Hmm, my dream is a bit long. If you don't want to read it, just tell me and I can fast forward," Xiangxiang said.

The obelisk-like starship engines glowed faintly.

As the magic circle rotated, Zhang Ze entered Xiangxiang's 'dream'.

"If I had to say, I became like this because of a square pig."

Just as Zhang Ze was about to cross the boundary between nothingness and reality, Xiangxiang suddenly made a comment.

'Huh? A square pig? What's that?'

Zhang Ze didn't understand.

……

Zhang Ze opened his eyes and found himself in a snowfield. Before him stood a magnificent city, whose outline resembled the ruins of Baidi City.

The old White Emperor City that was swallowed up by Ah Li.

and so……

Zhang Ze suddenly had a bad feeling.
He suddenly had a guess about the identity of that square-shaped pig.

Damn it, could it be Ah Li?
But isn't Ah Li's true form described as long and narrow?
Xiangxiang appeared beside Zhang Ze. "Phew, she's in."

Looking at the old White Emperor City, Xiangxiang said, "You did not abandon me. After I died, you preserved my soul in a life lamp, but you have never been able to find a way to reincarnate or revive me."

"At that time, my soul was still asleep in the life lamp, so I didn't actually know what had happened..."

"The square pig thing was something Siwen and Bai Yuqing told me later."

After Xiangxiang gave a brief explanation, the scenery in front of Zhang Ze began to 'fast forward'. "At that time, the three first-generation demon lords were all present. They were carrying out your plan to purify the evil thoughts of the demon race."

"When the incident occurred in Baidi City, Siwen happened to be out, and only Qiangliang and the first generation Yuqing were in the city."

"The engine I'm currently in was discovered by Siwen during her last trip."

The scene changes, and Zhang Ze is taken by Xiang Xiang to the underground headquarters of Na Du Tong in the old site of Baidi City.

This time, there were no giant takins here, only two deep pits.

One of them was surrounded by concentric stone arrays, while the other had a strangely shaped obelisk inserted in its center.

"At the time, the engine was encased in a strange crystal, which Qiangliang and the Star Gods were studying and analyzing."

A figure gradually appeared around Zhang Ze. A demon cultivator with an ordinary face and a tall, thin build was talking to a group of double-yolk eggs.

This person must be the tiger demon Qiang Liang.

Because Xiangxiang didn't have this memory, Qiang Liangguang opened his mouth but no sound came out.

"What happened next? Qiangliang turned into a square pig and then put you into this engine?" Zhang Ze asked.

“No, Qiangliang suddenly lost control,” Xiangxiang replied.

Zhang Ze, "Out of control?"

Xiangxiang, "Yes, although Siwen has always insisted that it was the human cultivators who entered Baidi City who caused Qiangliang to lose control."

"But according to Yuqing, the real reason that Qiangliang lost control was actually a fluctuation, a fluctuation coming from the direction of Zhongzhou."

As soon as Xiangxiang finished speaking, Qiangliang, who was in front of Zhang Ze, suddenly knelt down. At the same time, the figure of the first generation Yuqing appeared beside Qiangliang and reached out to help him up.

But it failed.

Qiang Liang revealed his true demonic form, his malevolent aura spreading, and a giant black and white tiger manifested. It broke through the earth, treading on black clouds, and roared proudly above White Emperor City.

Xiangxiang, "They fought. Yuqing was seriously injured while protecting the residents being evacuated from the city. Although Qiangliang lost control, he still retained a sliver of clarity. He separated his two energies and separated his good intentions."

As Xiangxiang explained, Zhang Ze saw a white tiger confronting a black tiger.

But because Xiangxiang doesn't know how to fight at all, the scene was recreated as if two kittens were hissing at each other...

"Perhaps due to the chaos, or perhaps due to the fluctuation that caused Qiangliang to lose control, a stone pill stored in the underground vault was accidentally activated."

Xiangxiang continued fast forward.

A golden light shot up, tearing through the earth, and a golden, square pig emerged from the ground, knocking the black tiger, who was tearing apart the house and beating the white tiger, off balance.

Zhang Ze stared blankly at the pig that looked like a safe for a long time.

It must be said that Yuqing's description was very accurate; it really was a square-shaped pig.

The broken, unidentified metal was bound into a cube by golden light. The interior of the cube was chaotic and unclear, yet the golden light was dazzling. On the front of the cube, a huge beast head emerged from within.

Zhang Ze was certain that it was Ah Li's head, but for some reason, it was much shorter.

Because the front and back volumes are compressed, it really looks like a pig's head.

Zhang Ze asked, "Are you sure this thing really looks like this?"

“Yes, Yuqing told me about it several times afterward, even before she passed away.”

"A golden pig! And a square one at that! To see something like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Xiangxiang imitated Yuqing's tone.

Zhang Ze, "..."

Forget it, don't ask anymore, and don't tell Ah Li about this. Let's keep watching.

With the golden square pig joining the battlefield, the tide of battle was successfully turned.

However, it's not in a positive direction.

The golden square pig began to devour everything indiscriminately.

Seeing that things were not going well, Yuqing and Qiangliang, driven by their good intentions, ran away. Only the irrational Black Tiger chose to clash with the golden square pig.

But before Black Tiger could make a move, the entire White Emperor City was swallowed whole by the golden square pig.

"No one knows what happened after that. I guess I choked and coughed the engine out. After I regained consciousness, I became one with the engine."

Xiangxiang continued fast forward.

Zhang Ze saw the golden square pig suddenly look like it had something stuck in its throat. Then, it opened its mouth wide, and a burst of blue light came out. The next moment, the obelisk engine shot out of the golden square pig's mouth.

After coughing out of the engine, the golden square pig made a fuss for a while until Sister Wang arrived after hearing the news.

But before Sister Wang could make a move, the golden square pig suddenly went limp and fell to the ground as if it had run out of power.

The golden light dissipated, leaving only a stone pill on the ground.

Sister Wang stepped forward and picked up the dangerous stone pill.

She took out a small dragonwood coffin from her sleeve, carefully placed the stone pill inside, sealed it multiple times, and wrote two words at the bottom of the coffin.

【Don't open】

Looking at the two characters "别开" (bié kāi, meaning "separately opened") and the familiar small coffin made of dragonwood, Zhang Ze suddenly felt a stomachache.

He is now 100% certain that the golden square pig is Ah Li.

"What happened to that little coffin later?" Zhang Ze asked expressionlessly.

"We lost them," Xiangxiang replied. "Because of various accidents, even Siwen and I lost a lot of things."

"Sigh..." Zhang Ze sighed and didn't say anything more.

Meanwhile, Xiangxiang was rewinding the tape repeatedly, showing Zhang Ze all the details of the golden square pig.

"By the way, you said only one of me and Changcheng can live, what's that all about? And what's wrong with my health?" Zhang Ze decided to skip over Ah Li's topic and instead focus on himself.

Upon hearing this question, Xiangxiang's eyes suddenly looked a little lonely, and she lowered her head slightly, like a child who had done something wrong.

"This is still my fault. I acted on my own. Please talk to me... Ah!"

However, before Xiangxiang could finish speaking, her projection began to flicker, and after a gasp, Xiangxiang disappeared.

Zhang Ze, "Xiangxiang!"

……

Tianzong.

Lu Yuzhou, the sect leader of the Heavenly Sect, sat on the edge of the cliff, keeping an eye on the movements of the ley lines in the wasteland of Central Continent while playing with the star chart in his hand.

Just as she was getting bored and was about to create an avatar to tease her disciples, the earth's veins began to change.

Lu Yuzhou clearly felt something surging up from the center of the Central Continent Wasteland.

A fluctuation I'd never seen before.

The fluctuations originated at the center of Central Continent and spread along the earth's veins.

The strange activity in Zhongzhou came and went quickly; before she could even make a move, the eerie fluctuations vanished without a trace.

It was as if they had never existed.

"What was that just now..."

……

Baidi City.

With Zhang Ze back, Sister Wang, who could finally quit her job, sat in a chair, holding Tongtong and the old man in her arms, comfortably enjoying the night view outside the window and talking to Yuqing, who was still floating in the sky.

"Stupid dog, put me down."

"No, you look quite beautiful as an aurora."

"You bastard!"

"Hahaha, yeah, I'm a bastard, I..."

Sister Wang suddenly stopped talking, her figure disappeared, and then she appeared underground in Baidi City.

She saw that half of the blue glow on the obelisk's engine had turned red.

"Xiangxiang! Zhang Ze! Hello..."

No one responded.

The next second, the Northern Array, which should have been completely disconnected, was activated again.

This time, the polar night is no longer limited to the far north ice sheet, but has begun to spread throughout the entire northern region.

(End of this chapter)