Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

The Divine Fire Heart Sutra is all-encompassing, from the most basic Qi-guiding techniques to various powerful fire-based spells, alchemy and fire-controlling techniques, and even secret methods for tempering the soul.

Its core lies in condensing "divine fire." The higher one's cultivation level, the stronger the quality of the divine fire and the greater its power.

The "Molten Flame Demon Body" focuses more on physical forging. The cultivation process is self-torture, requiring the use of various strange flames, even earth fire and heaven fire, to temper the body. It is extremely painful, but once mastered, the physical body becomes incomparably strong.

It possesses immense strength, is impervious to water and fire, and greatly enhances resistance to mental attacks and evil spirits.

"The Divine Fire Heart Sutra is fundamental and must be the main focus. The Molten Flame Demon Body can serve as an auxiliary technique to enhance survival capabilities. Cultivating both simultaneously will complement each other." Lin Yu quickly formulated a plan.

In addition, the Thunder Technique and the Heavenly Eye Technique should not be forgotten. These were given to him by the True Lord and are quite powerful. The Thunder Technique has even become one of Lin Yu's most frequently used methods.

Fortunately, he can now create two shadow clones, otherwise he really wouldn't have had that much time to cultivate so many things.

Lin Yu thought for a moment and realized that he might need to study the Shadow Clone Technique more and create more Shadow Clones for cultivation.

In the days that followed, Lin Yu completely immersed himself in cultivation.

He no longer ventured out on adventures, but instead stayed comfortably in his apartment, focusing all his energy on cultivation with the help of the 500% comprehension boost from the Daoist study, the protection of the Pure Spiritual Spring, and his shadow clone.

The process went even more smoothly than he had expected.

Perhaps because of his solid foundation, extremely high spiritual attributes, and early experience in contacting and successfully purifying "strange spiritual energy," coupled with the auspicious aura of the True Lord statue, he encountered almost no bottlenecks.

Within his dantian, a wisp of pure, pale golden "heart fire" was successfully ignited and continued to grow stronger as the cultivation technique was practiced.

This wisp of inner fire, pure and yang, tempered the magical power absorbed into his body, making it increasingly refined, while also subtly refining his meridians and physical body.

At the same time, he did not give up his "spring water business".

Just as Phantom had predicted, with the upheaval in the Great Qian Dynasty, more and more players trapped in this world were eager to complete the main quest, and the price of [Pure Spring Water] was driven up to an astronomical level on the black market, yet it was still available but unsellable.

Lin Yu consistently provides 500 ml every day, and it always sells out instantly.

Occasionally, he would also check out information from the outside world through chat channels.

The energy fluctuations from the direction of the imperial city are becoming increasingly terrifying.

The frequency of Black Buddhism activities has also decreased significantly, and almost all Black Buddhist temples in various parts of Daqian have now closed down.

It's estimated that they've all been recalled.

But all of this is temporarily irrelevant to Lin Yu.

……

Time flies, and Lin Yu, oblivious to the passage of time, has quietly spent three months in seclusion in the hidden mountainside beside the abyss of death.

For the past three months, Lin Yu has experienced a period of peace and tranquility, with no one bothering him.

This is mainly due to the fact that his current location is indeed remote, while the situation outside has already changed dramatically.

Of course, none of this mattered to Lin Yu, as he spent most of his time cultivating without any distractions.

This also led to a significant improvement in his skills during this period.

Inside the study of the apartment's Daoist sect, the 500% cultivation acceleration was quite powerful.

Lin Yu sat cross-legged on a futon, his body enveloped in a solid and warm golden-red halo, as if flowing molten gold covered his body.

This is a manifestation of the body's pure Yang heart fire becoming extremely abundant after cultivating the "Divine Fire Heart Sutra" to a certain level.

Within his dantian, the wisp of heart fire that was initially as weak as a bean has now grown stronger, radiating pure and boundless pure yang power.

His training in the "Molten Flame Demon Body" never faltered.

Although limited by the conditions of this place, he could not summon truly powerful heavenly and earthly flames to temper his body, but he took a different approach and used the purest and most yang heart fire condensed from the "Divine Fire Heart Sutra" to repeatedly temper his meridians, flesh, bones and even soul.

The process is extremely painful, each time like throwing oneself into a furnace of heaven and earth, enduring the torment of being burned and forged and reshaped by the flames, which can be described as quite remarkable.

His physical strength increased at an astonishing rate. Beneath his skin, a faint crimson-gold luster flowed, and his bones were as smooth as jade yet as hard as refined steel. With every move, without using the slightest bit of magic, he contained explosive power enough to split stone tablets and tear tigers and leopards apart.

With just this physical body, his combat power is already comparable to that of an ordinary gold-level body cultivator.

After three months of arduous training, with the help of the Daoist study, shadow clones, and a large number of resources he bought from other players, his strength has advanced rapidly. Relying on the cultivation of two diamond-level techniques, his four attributes have all improved significantly, and he can now be said to have firmly stepped into the peak of the gold level.

It should be noted that his actual strength had not reached the Gold level before. He was only able to crush so many Gold-level opponents by relying on the strength of his equipment and the power-borrowing skills of the statue.

Now, even without his equipment, he can easily defeat gold-level enemies using only his own abilities. With the help of his own strength, he won't be as helpless as before when facing platinum-level enemies.

Putting everything else aside, at least if he encounters that black Buddhist saintess again, he won't be beaten like a dead dog.

……

On this day, Lin Yu was guiding the immense inner fire power within his body, following the path of the "Divine Fire Heart Sutra" to complete another major cycle.

suddenly!

An indescribable sense of palpitation and oppression, originating from the deepest part of the soul, surged in from the far distance.

The feeling was so intense that it instantly pierced through the thick mountain rocks and appeared in his perception across vast distances.

Immediately afterwards—

"Awooo!!!"

A roar that defied description shook the heavens and the earth.

It is neither human nor beast, but a mixture of endless madness, resentment, pain, violence, and a suffocating despair.

The roar seemed to come from the deepest part of hell, and it also seemed to originate from the most primal fear in everyone's heart. Wherever its sound waves passed, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth boiled, twisted, and wailed.

Lin Yu suddenly opened his eyes, his golden-red divine light shooting out more than a foot in length, and the aura flowing around his body fluctuated violently.

He instantly appeared outside the apartment, his gaze fixed on the direction from which the tremor came—the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Despite being separated by vast distances, the apocalyptic scene was still vividly reflected in his mind through the dramatic changes in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the terrifying roar that struck his soul.

The sky over the capital was completely shrouded in a murky, viscous, dark red evil cloud, which churned like a boiling sea of ​​blood.

Within that blood-red cloud, a massive, suffocating shadow was writhing, churning, and stretching.

That was a... dragon?

No! It was definitely not the sacred, majestic, and wind-controlling dragon described in ancient texts.

It was a deformed monster forcibly fused together from pure resentment, evil power, the shattered fate of the nation, and the souls of billions of living beings.

Its outline vaguely resembles a dragon, winding for hundreds of meters, blocking out the sky and the sun.

But if Lin Yu examines it carefully with his Heavenly Eye, he will see terrifying details that will make his scalp tingle and his sanity plummet.

Its eyes are made up of countless densely packed human eyeballs, filled with extreme pain and madness, each one turning in a disorderly and desperate manner.

Each of its "scales" is a distorted, silent, wailing human face, including men, women, the elderly, and children, with expressions frozen in the extreme fear and resentment of their last moments.

Its four limbs and dragon claws were formed by countless pale, swollen, black-fingered human hands and legs that were intertwined, squeezed, and fused together. At this moment, they were unconsciously scratching at the void, making a grinding sound that made one's teeth ache.

At the same time, on the forehead of the dragon's head, there is a majestic-looking human face with a look of wild joy!

Although Lin Yu didn't recognize him, he could guess that this guy, whose facial expression was so different from everyone else's, was probably the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty.

He has now transformed into a diamond-level monster dragon, a fusion of the broken national destiny, the evil power of the Buddha Mother, and the souls of hundreds of millions of people.

"In the end... he still succeeded..." Lin Yu gasped. Even though he was mentally prepared, seeing the birth of this thing still made him feel a strong sense of nausea.

The overwhelming pressure was like a tangible dark tide. Even from such a great distance, it made him feel breathless. The fire within his heart began to circulate wildly and throb violently, resisting the all-pervasive impact of the filthy and evil intent.

"It seems that the capital is finished." Lin Yu didn't even need to imagine it to be certain.

The moment such a monster appeared in the world, the imperial capital was probably completely transformed into a desolate ghost town, or even became part of that monstrous dragon's body.

The scene in his consciousness quickly ended, and Lin Yu returned to his apartment, beginning to think about what to do next.

The emperor has succeeded, and that crazy old woman from the Black Buddhism has probably failed. I just don't know if she's dead or alive. Lin Yu has always wanted to get revenge on that bastard.

……

In reality, the appearance of the strange dragon is not the end of the disaster, but the beginning of darkness.

That guy wasn't content with just staying in the ruins of the capital.

According to the information Lin Yu obtained in the chat channel, the strange dragon that was the emperor's incarnation had completely lost its human consciousness, leaving only the desire for destruction and slaughter. At this moment, it was carrying a destructive and bizarre energy storm, like a moving natural disaster, randomly rushing towards various prefectures of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Wherever it passed, cities collapsed into dust like sandcastles, mountains crumbled, rivers were stained black and emitted a putrid stench, and all living things, whether human, beast, or even plants, had their life essence and soul plundered, either turning into ashes or being sucked into that terrifying body, becoming part of a new wailing face and twisted limbs.

If the previous claim of billions of living souls was an exaggeration, then as the ghostly dragon travels to different regions, this claim is no longer an exaggeration.

Despair spread like a plague across the remaining lands of the Great Qian Dynasty.

However, the instinct to survive is the most primal instinct of all living things.

The first to make a move was none other than Lin Yu's old partner, the Black Buddhism Saintess.

As Lin Yu was not disappointed, the madwoman was not dead.

Although she returned to the capital as quickly as possible, she was still a step too late and failed to stop the emperor from transforming into a dragon.

At the same time, because the Emperor absorbed the true form of the Buddha Mother statue, she suffered severe injuries and her strength plummeted, but she still managed to save her life and some of her power through a strange secret method.

After recovering, this madwoman used the Black Buddhism's channels to contact most of the powerful figures currently existing in the Great Qian Dynasty, including local powerhouses and some players who had become famous in the game "Seeking Immortality" some time ago.

Although for various reasons these local "cultivators" do not trust the players, the current situation is no longer a matter of trust. In any case, these players are now a force that can be united.

The Black Buddhist saintess invited a large number of powerful individuals to form an alliance to fight against the Ghost Dragon Emperor.

The members of this alliance can be described as a mixed bag, including remnants of the Black Buddhism who were not devoured by the emperor but also practiced evil magic and still held reverence for or sought to exploit the Holy Maiden and the Buddha Mother.

Some of the remaining official forces of the Great Qian Dynasty, and the remnants of the imperial court that survived the upheaval.

Some sects, far from the capital, were not immediately targeted by the mysterious dragon, but their cultivators deeply understood the principle of mutual dependence.

And... the number of players far exceeded Lin Yu's initial expectations.

Although most of these players were forced to stay because they failed to complete the main storyline.

However, there were also some who stayed on their own initiative.

Aside from a few opportunists, most of these people are quite capable.

Among them are platinum-level products.

As far as Lin Yu knows, there are eight Platinum-level players still in the game.

In fact, Lin Yu also received a message from Xuan Cheng, the president of the Heroes' Guild.

The content was quite simple: they asked Lin Yu whether he would participate in this operation.

According to him, the Black Buddhist saintess told them that the Emperor Dragon's state was actually extremely unstable, and the power within it was in fierce conflict.

The Black Buddhist Saintess fought a great battle with the Emperor. Although she lost, she severely injured him with her remaining tricks, preventing him from unleashing his full power.

Currently, this alliance is not weak. It includes eight platinum-level players from various known communities and four platinum-level NPCs from this world. They have reached a preliminary consensus and plan to join forces to slay the dragon.

Although the risks are significant, the rewards will be beyond imagination once successful.

If Lin Yu is interested in participating in this matter, he can meet up at "Soul-Severing Gorge".

Lin Yu thought about it for a long time, but still refused.

The allure of killing a diamond-level boss is certainly enough to drive any player crazy, but the risks are equally significant.

There is a qualitative difference between platinum and diamond grades, and he is well aware of this.

With his current peak Gold level strength, which is barely enough to contend with Platinum level, rashly getting involved in a battlefield of that level would mean certain death if he were not careful.

Compared to Diamond-level, Gold-level is probably just slightly stronger cannon fodder.

Therefore, he chose to remain in seclusion.

On the one hand, we should concentrate all resources to reach the platinum level as soon as possible.

On the other hand, they dispatched Golden Feathers to conduct reconnaissance at higher altitudes and in more concealed locations, while also sending Shadow Clones to operate at long distances to observe the battle between the Alliance and the Ghost Dragon.

Although he doesn't plan to get involved, that doesn't mean he won't observe the situation. What if he can take advantage of the chaos? Anyway, with the Master Ball, he's not afraid of anything going wrong.

……

Inside the Broken Soul Gorge, the battle between the Alliance and the Wraith Dragon is underway.

An old man, dressed in a tattered Taoist robe and with a face as dry and wrinkled as old tree bark, was muttering incantations.

He waved his whisk, the tail of which was not horsehair but woven from an infant's umbilical cord. Each wave brought up a biting wind, and the faint sound of an infant crying could be heard in the wind.

The eerie wind transformed into invisible blades, slicing through the body of the monstrous dragon.

On the other side, an old man with a hunched back, shrouded in a thick aura of death, tore open his rotting chest and abdomen, grabbed out a handful of writhing, foul-smelling fragments of his internal organs, and scattered them into the air along with phosphorescent flames.

These bits of flesh grew rapidly upon exposure to the wind, transforming into hundreds of howling "corpse foes." Ignoring the dragon's attacks, they frantically pounced on it, tearing it apart with pure resentment.

Meanwhile, new internal organs were slowly regenerating in the abdomen of the old man's hunched figure.

Clearly, these are all "local" platinum-level powerhouses from this world.

In contrast to them, the style of the eight platinum-level players on the other side seemed much more "normal," but equally sharp.

A female player with a voluptuous figure, wearing tight leather armor and wielding two curved swords, moved like a ghost along the edge of the battlefield.

Her speed was so fast that she left afterimages. Every time she appeared, her scimitar struck the dragon, leaving a huge wound.

A burly man, over two meters tall, with bulging muscles and resembling an iron tower, was at the forefront, carrying a giant shield the size of a door.

He roared and charged forward, forcefully smashing aside the dragon's sweeping tail. At the same time, the shield shone brightly, and the golden light left large burns on the dragon's body.

The other players also displayed their unique skills, using their own methods to attack the enormous creature that was hundreds of meters long.

However, the terror of the monstrous dragon far exceeded imagination.

Its massive body is its strongest weapon; every roll and ramming carries the power to crush mountains.

What's even more terrifying is the mental pollution it constantly emits. Even players need to continuously consume precious purification spring water or use powerful purification skills to maintain their sanity.

Platinum-level players are alright; they are strong, have enough willpower, and can withstand the pressure.

But those overconfident Gold-level players are in for a rough time.

A gold-level player who came to join the fun was slightly careless and was simultaneously targeted by several eyeballs. He immediately screamed in pain, clutching his head. Strange wriggling appeared under his skin, and he began to indiscriminately attack his companions.

The battlefield was extremely brutal.

The local cultivators continued to launch attacks using self-destructive methods, causing the players to consume potions and scrolls at an alarming rate, with many becoming seriously injured or dying.

The canyon was littered with corpses.

Just as the alliance was on the verge of complete collapse, the Black Buddhist Saintess, who had been hiding in the rear and whose aura was waning, made her move.

Ignoring the fighting around her, she expressionlessly plunged a curved bone dagger into her left eye.

After gouging out the still slightly pulsating eyeball, she crushed it, mixing it with her jet-black blood, and drew a complex and sinister symbol on her smooth forehead.

The moment the symbol took shape, her entire aura changed abruptly; her vitality vanished rapidly, replaced by an empty, cold, and eerie quality.

At the same moment, the wraith dragon, which was rampaging wildly, suddenly stopped moving.

Inside its enormous dragon head, at its very core, a single, extremely dark light began to flicker uncontrollably and intensely, resonating strongly with the symbol on the saintess's forehead.

That was the power of the Buddha Mother.

"roar--!!!"

The dragon let out its most chaotic and painful roar since the start of the war, filled with terror and disbelief.

Its body instantly lost coordination, its head thrashing wildly and crashing against the mountain wall, while its tail convulsively curled up.

Within it, the fragile balance of the Emperor's will, the Buddha Mother's lingering resentment, and the howls of countless vengeful spirits was completely shattered, and the most intense internal strife and mutual devouring began.

Thick, black, foul blood flowed from the saintess's seven orifices, and her body withered rapidly as if all moisture had been drained from her, but an extremely twisted, fanatical smile appeared on her ashen face.

"Hit...its head...now!" she hoarsely shouted with her last bit of strength before collapsing to the ground.

This sudden turn of events startled everyone, but their survival instincts and combat experience allowed them to react immediately.

"Focus fire! Attack its head!"

Needless to say.

The remaining powerful members of the alliance, whether they were evil cultivators or players, seized this fleeting opportunity.

All remaining power, without reservation, transformed into the most violent torrent of attack, precisely striking the strange dragon head that had lost its protection due to internal conflict and was violently expanding and contracting.

boom--!!!

This explosion was silent, yet it seemed to drain all sound from the canyon.

Half of the dragon's head, like a rotten abscess, suddenly burst open!

There was no flying blood and flesh, only a massive, thick, ink-black mass of vengeful spirits, mixed with shattered eyeballs and mad thoughts, gushing out like a black flood bursting its banks, instantly submerging most of the canyon.

With its head shattered, the dragon's aura plummeted like an avalanche, and its massive body crashed down, falling into a brief silence.

Is he... dead?

Obviously, that's impossible.

Just a few seconds after everyone was stunned, the headless dragon's exploded head suddenly began to repair itself rapidly.

A huge head began to take shape.

But this time it wasn't a dragon head, but a giant human head.

That is……

"You dog emperor!!!"

Among the crowd, a local powerhouse looked at that face and cursed through gritted teeth.

Yes, this is the face of the Great Qian Emperor.

"Hahaha! I've succeeded! I've succeeded!"

The face on the giant head of the human-headed dragon began to laugh wildly, and an immense sense of oppression swept over us once again.

The remaining people looked extremely grim, because they discovered that the pressure exerted by this revived human-headed dragon was far stronger than that of the previous strange dragon!

This is true diamond-level pressure!

"withdraw!"

Soon, some people couldn't withstand the pressure and turned around and left.

Soon more people began to flee.

The same goes for the players; in fact, they were the fastest runners. Almost as soon as the dragon appeared, they ran away without saying a word.

The unconscious Black Buddhist saintess was carried away by her subordinates and fled in a frenzy.

Strangely, the human-headed dragon didn't show the slightest intention of giving chase.

He just kept shouting "I have succeeded!" as if he were possessed.

……