Chapter 349: Temple (6)

The illusory space flickered; Luo Qi felt as if he were inside a television show stored on a scratched disc, the image stuttering as it played on his monitor.

Molten metal coiled toward his wrists; Luo Qi dodged, then charged with immense ferocity toward the wall in his eyes.

This action of his caught the Metal Mage off guard; most people, even knowing that what they see is illusory, still fall into the trap of self-imposed limitations, their instinctive reactions preventing them from crashing into boundary lines. But Luo Qi was a person born to move against the current; he had always crossed the boundary lines that others dared not challenge with ease.

Luo Qi did indeed cross the wall, but he stumbled underfoot; he swayed, maintained his balance, and leaped over the obstacle. Judging by the soft sensation under his feet, he had definitely stepped on Zhou Quan. But that didn't matter anymore; he quickly scanned his surroundings. He didn't feel like he was still in an illusion, but this was no longer the mountain hall they had first stepped into.

The light here was dim. At a glance, he saw many metal pillars; a not-too-large room was loosely partitioned into several spaces by metal screens. The metal screens were carved with hollow, graceful, and fluid lines; with just one look, Luo Qi recognized many shapes of the Red Mountain Jade Dragon Pig. Even so, the functionality here exceeded the artistry; this was a practical space, and in earlier times, it must have been an important location.

Luo Qi did not know how he had arrived in this room, but it was not difficult to guess. Just as Du Zhengyi could summon this kind of metal and use his own energy to condense these materials into suitable weapons, a more powerful consciousness possessing a larger Energy Field—such as the Merkaba Field, the legendary source of power in the Mage World—could condense these metals into things far larger than handheld weapons.

For example... a hall, a building with a complex structure, or even a building that could move at any time.

Since Du Zhengyi could freely turn chains into blades and blades into arrows, what was impossible about a Progenitor Mage-level existence freely transforming the structure of a metal building?

Luo Qi took a few steps back, watching with his own eyes as a form slowly emerged from the void, as if watching a Tibetan wild ass being born from its mother.

A human form condensed from metal finally appeared. It started as the image of a Christmas gingerbread man; Luo Qi truly wished it would just stay in that gingerbread man image—he would rather communicate with a gingerbread man.

But the metal human body gradually became clearer and clearer, as if a great artist were casting a fit human body. Luo Qi could see the metal person's chest, slender waist, and long, shapely legs. Gradually, more details of its head were revealed, and he saw the beautiful facial contours of a female.

This process kept evolving until Luo Qi could even see her eyelashes; he saw the statue of a beauty.

"What exactly are you?" Luo Qi asked her. He tried his best to keep his distance; the thought that the metal walls here were composed of the exact same material as her made him panic.

The metal person tilted her head to study him like a mischievous woman, carrying a hint of strange innocence. Luo Qi suddenly guessed that she possessed a complex internal structure, which was the only way she could support movements that were almost not stiff under her hard metal skin. This complexity made him truly begin to feel some fear.

"I am the Creator of you so-called Mages," Yi Wa said, opening her metal lips. Luo Qi saw that she didn't even find it troublesome to simulate lifelike expressions on her face.

"Us? Does that not include ordinary humans?" Luo Qi asked subconsciously.

"That is a complex story, not something a simple-minded existence like you can understand," the metal beauty said. She walked toward Luo Qi step by step, her gait relaxed, her posture graceful.

Relatively speaking, Luo Qi never cared if others took a verbal advantage of him. "Maybe I can understand a little. What exactly is your original form? I only care about this point. Are you human? Are you a human or an insect that lives in a colony?"

"You have seen the Insect Race." The woman walked up to Luo Qi. She scrutinized him. "Actually, you are not that simple-minded. The fact that you could awaken me means you are almost considered one of my own kind."

"It wasn't me who awakened you." Luo Qi felt he should clarify.

"Of course it was you. You think it was because your companion touched a switch?" The woman smiled with contempt, carrying extreme impatience. "It was you. You walked in, and your intense consciousness woke me up."

Luo Qi stiffened for a moment and said subconsciously, "Then I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter," the woman said, following Luo Qi's tone and imitating his manner of speaking. Luo Qi suddenly realized she was learning; she was learning from his consciousness about the social life he had experienced, his era, and even studying his personality, his traits, and everything he knew.

The woman smiled lazily, as if telling Luo Qi that his guess was correct. "Actually, you realized long ago that the physical form doesn't matter. Just as you thought, I am me. Whether I am in a human body or a metal body, I only need a container to house my consciousness. Just like my colleague; he can craft an insect's body and then put his own consciousness into it. When he gets tired of it, he creates another body. Any body will do, as long as it has a big and complex enough brain. Putting it in a lion's head certainly wouldn't work—your thinking is truly erratic. What are you thinking? That's right, just like those routines you are familiar with, for example, downloading a new system program into a mobile phone."

Luo Qi was speechless; he felt as if he had been electrocuted. His subconscious had thought this, but it had long since been suppressed by him. He had not thought in this bizarre direction that led to the same destination as humanity, and even if he had thought of it, he hadn't truly believed it.

"Oh," the woman laughed, "you bad child, are you wondering where my brain actually is?"

Luo Qi kept his mouth tightly shut.

"Of course it's not in this metal body." The woman reached out and touched Luo Qi's cheek. "You guessed right, which is why I cannot leave here. When I walk out of this great mountain, my metal body will collapse with a crash. What can a person be without a brain? Ah, you're starting to think again, how clever. What is the thing that can hold my entire consciousness and also leave as an independent individual? Of course, it is a Mage's clever brain. I have waited here for so long, and finally, I have waited for a suitable candidate. Do you finally know why I was awakened the moment you arrived? I was almost in despair from waiting; I thought that after so long, Mages had begun to degenerate and there would no longer be a body suitable for me to occupy."

Luo Qi's heart was gripped tightly by immense fear. The woman touched his face and said critically, "The only flaw is that you are a man; I am not very used to being a man. When I was first born a long, long time ago, I was a female."

"No, let's talk about this." Luo Qi was spurred by fear and finally managed to say a sentence; just a moment ago, he had felt like someone was holding him underwater.