Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 101 Absorption
The narrow, cramped cave was filled with smoke and dust. The massive impact of the source energy had shattered the altar, but fortunately, the cave was sturdy enough that it was not truly damaged.

The Destiny Sword was stuck diagonally into the rock wall on one side of the cave entrance, with most of the blade embedded in the rough rock.

Gao Wu exerted his strength to draw his sword. The continuous sword fighting had left countless tiny nicks on the blade of the Destiny Sword.

A mid-level samurai would be quite skilled with a sword, so it's perfectly natural for this to happen when both sides are slashing at high speed with their swords.

The Heavenly Destiny Sword, having fused with that demonic artifact, gained the ability to self-repair. It should be fully restored in a few days.

What truly concerned Gao Wu was the foul aura emanating from the Heavenly Fate Sword. Had it absorbed the aura from the Netherworld Golden Pearl? No, it had absorbed not only the aura of the alien spirit but also the Netherworld Golden Pearl itself…

Through the Yin spirit, one can see that the Heavenly Destiny Sword is stained with a little bit of white light, and the Heavenly Destiny Sword is instinctively absorbing this white light.

The Yin Spirit and the sword became one, and Gao Wu could see all the subtle changes in the sword through the Yin Spirit. He quickly figured out the specific situation.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra was upgraded to the Great Perfection level, and the Heavenly Fate Sword and the object entrusted by the Angel of Death were refined together.

This object, though integrated into the Heavenly Fate Sword, retained its instinct to devour external objects. This instinct was actually quite useless; a powerful external object like the Netherworld Golden Pearl was beyond its ability to absorb.

Even if it manages to swallow it, it will be assimilated by the Netherworld Golden Pearl.

The situation is not good now, because the object has devoured the fragments of the Netherworld Golden Pearl, and the Heavenly Destiny Sword has been corrupted by the Netherworld Golden Pearl.

If this continues, the Heavenly Sword will be transformed into an evil object, and may even establish contact with another demon god from another world.

Gao Wu silently recited the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra, reached out and swiped his hand across the blade, and a crimson flame, like blood, shone brightly, while wisps of white smoke rose from the sword.

In the blink of an eye, the foul air was refined by the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra.

Gao Wu originally thought the matter was resolved and that he should now report the situation to the organizing committee. He had saved everyone, so he deserved a huge reward.

This is completely different from the situation where he killed Zhang Hao on the mountaintop. The organizing committee has so many martial arts masters; they can still distinguish right from wrong.

As for whether the organizing committee had any followers of the demon god, Gao Wu thought they probably didn't. First, he had observed it with his Yin spirit and found nothing amiss. He had great confidence in the mysteries of the Yin spirit.

Secondly, if he hadn't stopped it, countless students would have died. Such a tremendous responsibility was too much for the martial arts masters on the organizing committee to bear.

Moreover, if something really goes wrong, everyone will be subject to rigorous scrutiny. Under such circumstances, the followers of the demon god absolutely cannot withstand comprehensive scrutiny and will inevitably expose their true colors.

The followers of the demon god worship the demon god only for their own benefit; how could they possibly dig such a deep pit for themselves?

Especially at the level of a martial arts master, one has everything one could want, and without special reasons, it is absolutely impossible for one to turn to a demon god.

The logic here is actually very simple.

Another point is that his team members all knew he had run away. This couldn't be kept secret. Trying to be sneaky would only cause more trouble.

Gao Wu noticed that the Destiny Sword had changed; it was heavier, at least several tens of grams heavier.

The change of a few tens of grams in a nineteen-kilogram sword is very small, but Gao Wu is too familiar with the Destiny Sword. He can detect even a change of one milligram, let alone a few tens of grams.

The nicks on the Heavenly Destiny Sword had all disappeared, and the blade was completely restored to its original state. Moreover, Gao Wu could clearly sense through his Yin Spirit that the Heavenly Destiny Sword had become even sharper.

To be precise, the material of the Destiny Sword has changed slightly. Gao Wu's heart skipped a beat; this Netherworld Golden Pearl must be a valuable item!
The Heavenly Fate Sword could sense the fragments of the Netherworld Golden Pearl. Gao Wu carried the sword and circled the narrow cave, collecting the finest fragments that had pierced the mountain wall.

Standing inside the cave, Gao Wu continuously activated the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra ten times. The Divine Light of Departing Fire was specifically designed to counter these chaotic demonic auras, strange spirits, and so on.

Furthermore, with the Heavenly Destiny Sword under the supervision of the Yin God, refining the foul aura contained in foreign objects is not difficult.

Having absorbed some fragments of the Netherworld Golden Pearl, the Destiny Sword gained half a pound in weight. However, its external dimensions remained unchanged.

The Netherworld Golden Pearl should be some kind of special metal, which has had its original material properties altered through rituals and the blessing of other spirits.

Gao Wu tried it briefly and felt that the Destiny Sword had not changed much, except that its hardness and toughness seemed to have improved a little.

The fact that the Heavenly Destiny Sword could absorb other metal materials to increase its rank was indeed a pleasant surprise for Gao Wu.

He didn't know if any high-strength metal would work, or if it had to be a foreign object that had been refined by a demon god.

Normally, ordinary metals definitely wouldn't work. While the Divine Light of Blazing Fire might have the ability to melt external objects, it couldn't easily integrate those objects into the Heavenly Fate Sword.

Only heterogeneous metals whose material properties have been altered can be absorbed and fused by the Destiny Sword...

Unfortunately, I didn't have anything suitable to experiment with.

The remaining fragments of the Netherworld Golden Pearl are valuable, but they cannot be absorbed. Evidence must be preserved.

Gao Wu pondered the changes in the Heavenly Fate Sword while simultaneously sending an emergency call on the public communication channel: 111111...

It was mentioned beforehand that special emergency events should be coded with 111.

The energy fluctuations in this secret realm were intense at night, severely interfering with the wireless signal. After struggling for more than ten minutes, Gao Wu finally succeeded in sending the code to the public channel.

"Received, received..." came the response from the public channel, but the sound was intermittent.

Less than ten minutes later, Gao Wu heard a sharp whistling sound from the sky. He looked up and saw two dark figures flying across the night sky.

Gao Wu was wondering whether he should call out when the two dark figures noticed the large number of wild animal carcasses below. After circling twice above, the figures suddenly fell down.

"Boom boom..." The two landed and exploded, creating a huge commotion of mud and rocks.

At this moment, Gao Wu also saw clearly that both of them were wearing full-body black armor. The armor was matte black with a smooth shape, and the connection between the torso, limbs, and neck was completely sealed, exuding a sense of power and modern technological beauty.

Neither of them was wearing a mask or helmet, and Gao Wu could see clearly that one was Shen An, a martial arts master, and the other was He Yuanfang, a professor at Beizhou University.

Shen An was clearly a powerful member of the Shen family and was likely related to Song Mingyue, though Song Mingyue hadn't mentioned it. Gao Wu noticed that both of them had a gas canister-like device strapped to the back of their armor, presumably for flight.

It is said that only King Wu can fly by harnessing source power without relying on any external objects.

The source energy within the virtual realm is abundant; experts like Shen An and He Yuanfang should be able to fly using some simple equipment.

Song Mingyue once said that some of the troops in the virtual realm would be equipped with bio-engineered armor.

He was wondering what bio-armor would look like, but after seeing these two's armor, he understood; it was pretty cool.

I just don't know if there are any requirements for the armed bio-armor. Besides its protective function, does the bio-armor have any combat capabilities?
Shen An looked around, his gaze sweeping over the two corpses on the ground to confirm that they were not members of the organizing committee, and he couldn't help but frown.

Regardless of their identities, the fact that they trespassed into the secret realm is problematic.

Looking around, there were wild animal carcasses everywhere, including several level-one exotic beasts, snow wolves, which had been specially released for the assessment.

Judging from the circumstances at the scene, the two must have been followers of the demon god. But who killed them? Gao Wu?
Shen An looked at Gao Wu. The young man had a calm expression, and his eyes shone brightly in the darkness, full of energy and spirit.

The boy's combat suit was covered with a few scattered branches and leaves, but he didn't look disheveled. Paired with two somewhat exaggerated golden thunder eagles and shuriken at his waist, he exuded a battle-hardened and valiant air.

Shen An had to admit that he did indeed admire this young man, to the point that he found him pleasing to the eye no matter what.

This might be partly due to Song Mingyue, but more importantly, it's the boy's bravery and heroism that leave a deep impression.

He Yuanfang was also looking around, a hint of surprise on his face.

Gao Wu took the initiative to greet them: "Chairman Shen, Professor He."

"Tell me what happened here, don't rush..." Shen An's demeanor was very amiable, even somewhat friendly, which surprised He Yuanfang. Shen An looked very approachable and smiling, but in reality, he was a very tough person and not easy to deal with.

Why is Shen treating Gao Wu so warmly? Is Gao Wu a relative of the Shen family?

"Here's the thing, I was on night duty and noticed something was off about the atmosphere here, so I came over..."

Gao Wu briefly explained the situation, naturally omitting the mention of the Yin God's sword control. As for what Shen An and He Yuanfang thought, that was none of his concern.

He had already demonstrated this once during the assessment in the Cloud Ridge Secret Realm, and he wasn't afraid of others knowing that he could defeat a warrior.

He Yuanfang and Shen An were indeed very curious about this. The two dead men on the ground were clearly warriors. Judging from the unusually smooth sword wounds on their bodies, one could imagine how fast and sharp the swords that killed them must have been.

The boy clearly hadn't gathered any source energy in his acupoints, so how could he wield such a sharp and swift sword?
Shen An had heard Shen Ning mention that high-level martial artists possess special talents that allow them to kill warriors of higher levels. However, killing two warriors at once is still quite extraordinary!

Although the two were curious, they didn't press for details. In the current situation, it was clearly the work of the demon god's followers, and probing the power of high-level martial arts talent was meaningless.

Although the altar inside the cave was shattered, Shen An still found a palm-sized iron plaque. The front of the plaque was engraved with a tall demon god with two horns on his head and covered with scales, while the back was engraved with complex characters.

Shen An didn't recognize the characters from another world, but he recognized the statue on the front: the Qilin King, one of the twelve supreme demon gods.

It is said that the Qilin King can control all beasts. As its name spread in the real world, it somehow acquired the title of Qilin King.

The Qilin is a mythical creature in traditional Chinese mythology and could not possibly be associated with otherworldly demons. It's just that when it comes to titles, the majority decides.

Many followers of the demon god call him the Qilin King. Changing his name would be meaningless and would only cause misunderstandings.

Shen An and He Yuanfang carefully examined the cave and found various tiny fragments on the rock walls, which perfectly matched Gao Wu's description of shattering the Netherworld Golden Pearl.

They all knew that the Netherworld Golden Pearl was a special metal from another world. It was infused with otherworldly spirits through blood sacrifices and other methods, and with the power bestowed by the Demon God, the Netherworld Golden Pearl became a stable spatial coordinate, capable of transforming otherworldly spirits into material forms.

The Netherworld Golden Pearls are of different grades, and just by looking at all the dead beasts outside, you can tell that this Netherworld Golden Pearl is not of a low grade.

As for the Phantom Slayer that Gao Wu mentioned, they were also aware of it. This kind of alien spirit could manifest in form through the Netherworld Golden Pearl, transforming into a giant metal spider.

The Qilin King is most skilled at creating mechanical lifeforms. The Phantom Slayer is the most commonly used mechanical lifeform.

Due to its otherworldly nature, the Phantom Slayer can fly in the virtual realm at incredible speed. If the Phantom Slayer were to actually materialize, countless participating students would die…

He Yuanfang and Shen An both realized the seriousness of the matter. After discussing it, He Yuanfang went back to report the news, while Shen An stayed to watch over the scene and guard Gao Wu to prevent any further accidents.

Wearing black bio-engineered armor, He Yuanfang pushed off with his feet, and the ground exploded with a bang. At the same time, he was already more than ten meters high. Then, a pair of small triangular wings unfolded on his back, the jet engine started, and He Yuanfang shot into the distance.

Gao Wu stared wide-eyed as He Yuanfang flew into the distance, his eyes filled with envy.

The power of the bio-armor was unclear, but its flight capability was remarkable. Although he could fly using his Yin spirit, the sensation was extremely ethereal; he felt neither air resistance nor gravity. This was vastly different from flying with his physical body.

Shen An looked at Gao Wu with great interest and smiled, "To fly with bio-armor, one must at least be a martial artist and be able to release mental energy to adjust the state of the source force field."

"Hehe..." Gao Wu chuckled憨厚ly, "I'm just curious."

"Many people dream of flying when they see birds in flight as children..."

Shen An was very amiable towards Gao Wu. It surprised Gao Wu that a martial arts master would have the mood to chat with him. This was the first time he had met Shen An, so why was he so friendly with him?

Shen An then changed the subject: "You disrupted the sacrificial ritual and prevented the Phantom Slayer from descending, which is a great achievement. I will definitely ask the headquarters to commend you."

Gao Wu's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing about the reward: "President Shen, what kind of reward can we get?"

Seeing Gao Wu's undisguised desire for the reward, Shen An smiled instead; this was more like a true young man. He said, "Our Hunter Association's awards are divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D. Each level is further divided into three grades. That is, four levels and twelve grades."

"Your slaying of the demon god's followers is one merit, and disrupting the sacrificial ritual to avert disaster is another. In my opinion, a B2 rating is well-deserved..."

(End of this chapter)