Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

Hector convened a meeting of the core members of his delegation for a detailed pre-departure briefing.

"Time is our most precious weapon."

Hector's gaze swept over everyone present. "Before we arrive in Bar, we must have the deepest and most comprehensive understanding of the challenges we are about to face."

As soon as he finished speaking, Isabel stepped forward.

She gently placed a data board in the center of the conference table.

"This is a top-secret file provided by the Assassin's Court regarding the 'genetic defect' of the Holy Blood Angels Legion. Access level: 'Primarch'." Her voice remained as cold and devoid of emotion as ever.

The data board has been activated.

A red holographic projection appeared before everyone.

These were not dry words, but processed yet still shocking battlefield images.

The first video clip is from a siege battle against a green-skinned orc empire that took place in the middle of the Great Crusade.

In the scene, the Blood Angels, clad in red power armor, descend from the sky like a group of elegant yet deadly war angels, efficiently reaping the lives of orcs with chainsaw swords and explosive guns.

But just as the battle reached its climax, a sudden change occurred!

A holy blood angel, after slaying a giant orc war chief, suddenly froze in place.

Then, he let out a roar that was inhuman, filled with endless pain and rage!

His eyes turned blood red.

His breathing became extremely heavy.

His body began to tremble violently and uncontrollably.

"Blood! For the Emperor! For Saint Gilles!"

He roared, turned around abruptly, and swung his chainsaw sword fiercely at the nearest Imperial Army soldier who was locked in fierce combat with an orc!

Before the soldier could even react, he was cleaved in two from head to toe!

The Astartes did not stop.

He's completely crazy.

He began indiscriminately attacking everything in his field of vision, whether enemy or... ally.

His movements were no longer elegant and precise; they were now just the most primal and ferocious killing instincts!

In the end, another Holy Blood Angel used a rune-covered bomb to precisely blow his head off.

That's all for the video.

The briefing room was deathly silent.

Barrow and his five Dao Guards all instinctively gripped their Yin-Yang Swords, their eyes filled with disbelief and horror.

They could not imagine that such a terrifying change could occur to the most loyal and noble Astartes under the Emperor's command!

"This is 'thirst'."

Isabel's icy voice broke the silence.

"A sudden, irreversible bloodlust. According to records, since the establishment of the Ninth Legion, the incidence of 'Blood Thirst' has remained at an extremely dangerous level. Within the Legion, this is a closely guarded secret, and all combat monks who suffer from the attack are secretly executed by the accompanying Holy Temple librarians under the pretext of 'death in battle.'"

She switched to the next page of the file.

“And ‘Red Fury’ is another kind of curse, a deeper one.”

"It is not an individual's madness, but a kind of... collective, retrospective soul trauma. Deep within the genetic seed of all the Holy Blood Angels is the 'memory' of their original genetic entity, Saint Gilles, dying in battle at some point in the future."

"This has nothing to do with prophetic psychic powers; it seems to originate from... the genetic seed itself."

“Under certain extreme circumstances, this trauma can be activated. At that time, the entire chapter, or even the entire legion of Astartes, will fall into a collective hallucination. They will believe that they are Saint Gilles and are engaged in that fateful duel. In this state, their combat power will soar to an extremely terrifying level, but at the same time, they will completely lose their minds until they die from exhaustion.”

"The archives record that a full-strength Holy Blood Angels company, after the outbreak of 'Red Fury,' slaughtered all the rebels on a planet, as well as... all the civilians, within just three hours. In the end, not a single one survived."

Isabel's narration was so calm, it was as if she were reading a meaningless technical report.

But the bloodshed and horror it contained made everyone present feel sullen.

Hector sighed silently to himself.

He had never understood why a phenomenon that had erupted so violently after the angels were killed by Horus had now become the secret that was burning the entire Ninth Legion to ashes.

The information from the Assassin's Court provided an explanation.

As he, this variable, gained more and more influence, the historical trajectory he originally knew so well began to show subtle deviations...

There are more and more of them.

Chapter 213 Analyzing the Seed (Bonus Chapter 2)

"The essence of a curse is the pollution of information."

After listening to Isabel's briefing, Hector did not immediately offer his opinion, but instead turned his attention to the technical director, Tectus-19.

"Tectus, I need you to establish a basic theoretical framework for the enemy we are about to face."

Hector began to explain to this mechanical sage a "life science" that was completely different from the logic of the Omniscient God.

"Life consists of two parts: 'form' and 'spirit'."

"'Form' is what you understand as the body, organs, and genes. 'Spirit' is something more essential, the soul, the will, and the energy that drives all of this."

"The Daoist Canon also states: 'Qi and blood are the spirit of man.' Qi is a kind of life energy. Blood is the substance that carries this energy. Together, they circulate continuously along an invisible network called meridians that runs throughout the body, maintaining the function of life."

Hector's narration is both profound and easy to understand.

He "translated" the most fundamental theories of the cultivation system in a way that Tyctus could understand.

“‘Meridians’ can be understood as a system of energy transmission that is more fundamental than the nervous system and is distributed throughout the whole body.”

"Qi and blood are the carriers of bioenergy and matter that operate within this network."

“And the ‘soul’ is the core operating system that controls this network.”

Tectus listened quietly. His red optical lens flickered at an extremely high frequency; clearly, his terrifying computing core was frantically processing this entirely new and unheard-of theory.

“According to your theory,” Tectus finally spoke after a long pause, his synthesized voice tinged with confusion, “then how do you explain ‘Bloodthirst’ and ‘Red Fury’?”

“Good question.” Hector nodded approvingly.

"'Blood Thirst' means there's something wrong with the 'blood.' The blood of the Holy Blood Angels contains an excessively violent 'energy.' When the intensity of this 'energy' exceeds the threshold that their 'souls' can control, the 'blood' will turn around and control the 'god.' The manifestation of this is the loss of reason, leaving only the most primal instinct to kill."

“As for ‘Red Fury’, it’s because there’s a problem with its ‘soul’.”

“Their souls are branded with a false and painful memory. This memory is like a malignant virus in their souls. Once activated, it will instantly overwrite their own ‘god’ and make them live in a destiny that does not belong to them.”

After explaining his theory, Hector looked at Barrow and his Dao Guards.

"You will also face the same problem."

"The Holy Blood Angel is constantly surrounded by an intense aura of killing and a painful obsession. If you are in this environment for a long time, your mind will also be corrupted."

“Therefore,” Hector’s tone became serious, “from today onwards, your task is to practice the ‘Mind Purification Mantra’ one hundred times in addition to your daily training!”

"The 'Heart-Clearing Mantra' is not some profound magic. It is simply a method to gather one's mind, return one's will to oneself, and not be swayed by external things. What you need to do is to maintain your 'clear mind' at all times. Remember, your swords may be stained with blood, but your hearts must always remain pure."

"Disciple understands!"

Barrow and his guards responded in unison, their expressions more solemn than ever before.

......

During the remainder of the voyage, the briefing room was transformed into a temporary "Taoist Dharma Discussion Room."

Hector imparted his theories on "blood and qi," "meridians," and "soul" to Tyctus without reservation.

The Tectus-19, on the other hand, demonstrated his terrifying learning and deductive abilities as a former genius of the Mechanicus.

He quickly transformed the esoteric concepts Hector spoke of into data models that could be calculated and analyzed.

"If 'meridians' are an independent energy network, then what is its physical carrier? Or does it not exist at all in the three-dimensional physical plane, but is a kind of... higher-dimensional projection?"

"What is the essence of 'qi,' this life energy? Is it a special kind of subatomic particle flow? Or is it a pure informational energy?"

"Where is the 'soul,' this so-called 'core operating system,' stored? Is it in the brain? In the spinal cord? Or... distributed throughout every cell?"

Tectus kept raising questions, each one pointing directly to the contradiction between the theory and real-world technology.

Hector, on the other hand, patiently answered all his questions.

He even personally guided a wisp of his own Golden Core True Essence into Tectus's body, allowing him to personally "feel" what this higher level of "Qi" was composed of.

Finally, on the last day of the voyage.

Techtus, who had been working at high speed, suddenly stopped asking all questions.

He fell into a state of absolute silence that lasted for ten minutes.

Just when even Hector thought his computing core might have crashed due to information overload, Tyctus slowly raised his mechanical head.

His red optical lens shone with a light that was a mixture of shock, fervor, and... enlightenment.

"I... have a preliminary hypothesis."

For the first time, his synthesized voice carried a hint of barely suppressed excitement.

"Master Dao, your theory has opened a completely new door for me."

“In the past, I always thought that the ‘gene seed’ of the genotype was a purely biological genetic template. Its function was to stably copy the genotype’s superhuman genes to his offspring.”

"But now, I have a new perspective."

"'Gene seed,' it may be... more than just biological!"

"It's more of a... 'informatics' thing! It's something that can be 'contaminated' and 'rewritten'..."

Tectus seemed to be searching for the most precise word to describe his groundbreaking discovery.

Finally, he found it.

“…One kind, the ‘Soul Agreement’!”

"The 'Soul Protocol' of Saint Gilles was written with that erroneous and fatal 'future data' about 'dying in battle' when it was created! And 'blood thirst' is the 'system crash' that occurred when this protocol was running due to excessive energy load!"

"Simply modifying the genes won't fix it!"

“We must find that ‘virus’ at the level of agreements and information, and then…”

"...Delete it completely!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire room was filled with astonishment.

Even Isabel, who had been as silent as an iceberg, subconsciously cast an inquiring glance at Tectus.

Hector's face revealed a genuine smile.

He knew that Tectus had found the key to break the curse of the Blood Angels...

A faint alarm sounded from the direction of the bridge.

The Seeker, which had been sailing steadily, experienced a barely perceptible slowdown.

Lucian's voice came through the communicator.

"We are about to arrive at the coordinates of the real universe."

"Prepare to jump out of the warp."

In the briefing room, everyone stood up instantly.

Hector slowly walked to the porthole.

He closed his eyes slightly, and the power of his golden core circulated gently.

"Understanding the Tao and All Things," now fully activated!

His divine sense instantly pierced the boundary between reality and the void, reaching out towards the target star system ahead.

A magnificent yet perilous picture of "destiny" unfolded in his mind!

He "saw" it.

In the desolate starry sky ahead, a galaxy is being completely enveloped by a massive, soaring, blood-red aura of fortune!

That aura was immense, powerful, and filled with sacred and inviolable majesty!