Chapter 202: The Truth of the World (Extra chapter, please vote)

"This battle energy system is very crude... but it should have some potential to be tapped."

Fang Xing pondered for a while, not stopping the blessing of the Great Sun Tathagata Mantra.

The gains after that "Deer-Headed Spirit" burned were definitely not just pushing him one battle energy realm!

As the proficiency of the Cross Breathing Technique continued to rise, it soon reached its peak, about to break through to the "Mastery" level.

The realm at this stage, in the description of the breathing technique itself, is "Dawn"!

Boom!

The proficiency rose like a broken bamboo, causing countless methods of using battle energy to emerge in Fang Xing's heart.

At the same time, he felt that his own battle energy was almost materialized, possessing powerful might that could crush ordinary spirits!

More changes, however, were in his spirit.

Light!

Fang Xing saw a wisp of light!

Along this wisp of radiance, his spirit rose infinitely, and in a trance, he saw a pure white female lying on the ground.

The other party was plump, unclothed, and the female characteristics were highly prominent, giving one a sense of motherhood and gestation at a glance.

The pity is... this was a corpse!

Not only a corpse, but a corpse that was incomplete, riddled with holes, and one could vaguely see countless little people entering and exiting, gnawing on its corpse!

Following that wisp of radiance, Fang Xing arrived at a part of the maternal corpse and saw several figures emitting holy radiance.

Among them, one person vaguely had a connection with his Cross Breathing Technique.

This person had brilliant golden curly hair, eyes as blue as the ocean, and a handsome appearance.

At this moment, the other party's mouth seemed to be filled with the mother's blood...

He raised his head, looked at Fang Xing, and revealed a warm yet cruel smile.

"Damn!"

◆￠o

Woll heard Fang Xing's curse coming from the tent and couldn't help but grip the long sword by his side: "Outsider... what happened?"

"Nothing... just need to wash my eyes."

Fang Xing rubbed his eyes.

Woll's pupils shrank, seeing that there was actually a wisp of crimson between his fingers.

"Saw something I shouldn't have..."

Fang Xing washed casually, pressing his temples, feeling that his head was still splitting with pain.

On the attribute bar, a brand-new piece of information appeared:

【Cross Breathing Technique: 93/200 (Mastery)】

"At the cost of one 'Deer-Headed Spirit,' my breathing technique directly entered Mastery, which is the realm of Dawn..."

"The third realm of the breathing technique actually seems to be resonating with the source of the breathing technique?"

"The person gnawing on the mother's body I saw, could it be Saint Longinus? The existence who created the Cross Breathing Technique? Strong enough... feels a bit like a high-level retainer, or even an evil deity's offspring... just a bit evil."

An existence who was canonized as a "Saint" by the Radiant Church turned out to be like this, which naturally made Fang Xing feel very bad.

Thinking again that there was a group of people around that Longinus...

"The Radiance has passed away?"

Fang Xing whispered: "The extraordinary paths of this world are not good things..."

Even the extraordinary path of battle energy, which seems to be based on the knight themselves, actually cannot be separated from evil deity pollution in the void when condensing the seed of battle energy!

"This entire world has been polluted... or, is it all a corpse?"

"All humans, spirits... whether strong or weak, are parasites?"

"Because of this, even the air carries extremely subtle evil deity pollution; over time, it's no problem for humans living here to become semi-retainers... they can't survive without becoming retainers."

"And knights condensing a seed of battle energy, the key is not their own blood energy, but absorbing external evil deity pollution to turn it into the initial seed of battle energy... until the seed continuously grows, it will gradually establish a connection with the 'source'? Are those few saints of the Church all at the 'origin spirit' level?"

Origin spirits don't need to be carried; through specific rituals and means, one can borrow their power!

"At the third stage of the Cross Breathing Technique—Dawn, one can achieve this, connecting to the source."

"What about the fourth stage—Pride of the Sun? Legend has it that only Saint Longinus practiced this breathing technique to the 'Pride of the Sun' realm; there must be a problem here... could it be practicing oneself into food, actively throwing oneself into the saint's mouth?"

"The true 'Pride of the Sun' should be opening up an evil deity source within one's own body, becoming a saint oneself? Or rather... a high-level retainer? An evil deity's offspring?"

Fang Xing pondered for a moment, and relying on his own rich accumulation of knowledge, he soon determined many things.

"Sure enough... the extraordinary paths of this world are all traps!"

"Fortunately, from the beginning, I used the pollution of the 'Great Sun Tathagata Mantra' to replace the original pollution, opening up the seed of battle energy... therefore, although the third stage still has a slight connection, it is not strong, and it will not be influenced by the 'source'..."

"Even if I practice to the fourth stage, I will only become food for the Great Sun Tathagata Mantra... no, practicing into food is too much of a pity; it's better to go outside and hunt a spirit... the Cross Breathing Technique still has potential; after all, it's a technique that can make one a saint... therefore, the true 'Pride of the Sun' realm should be using one's own will to drive the original evil deity pollution, opening up a brand-new 'source', practicing into an 'origin spirit'!"

It must be said that Fang Xing was still slightly moved by this.

Because this Cross Breathing Technique was very fast to learn; after all, it was a series under the "Great Sun Tathagata Mantra" and could be blessed by the effects of this mantra.

Not to mention, practicing evil deity battle energy in this world was simply like adding wings to a tiger.

Not to mention anything else, with that "Pale Mother" existence, as long as one gnawed on its flesh and corpse, one could obtain a continuous stream of "energy," and even "divine nature."

Becoming an evil deity's offspring in the future would be no problem at all.

In fact, the speed would be unimaginably fast.

Evil deity offspring are powerful existences that can compare to Martial Saints or even Martial Gods; battle energy becoming a saint can simply achieve this point.

"I have the Great Sun Tathagata Mantra, which is also a path toward an evil deity... could it be that I am naturally destined to be with extraterrestrial evil deities?"

Fang Xing touched the corner of his eye, somewhat helpless.

He had now condensed the Great Sun Relic, so even looking directly at an evil deity's offspring was no problem.

But it was different before; he not only saw the corpse of a suspected extraterrestrial evil deity, but also saw evil deity offspring and high-level retainers who were growing, so he naturally suffered a backlash.

Not being polluted was already a testament to his extremely resilient martial will.

"This world, regardless of spirits, great spirits, or even origin spirits... all have a unique source, which is that 'Pale Mother'..."

"Then... what can I obtain from this world? The divine nature and authority of an extraterrestrial evil deity?"

Fang Xing's eyes were deep...

The next day.

The carriage continued forward.

After more than half a day, a city appeared before everyone's eyes.

It was a towering, majestic giant city, located next to a massive black mountain range, with a great river flowing past the edge of the city, reflecting the sunlight in a piece of gold.

"Finally arrived... the city of the Duke of Tulip—the City of Gold!"

Woll saw this scene and finally let out a long breath.

The final destination of that young lady of the Solon family was here, and he had finally delivered the other party safely.

"The City of Gold... the mountain range nearby seems quite famous, called the 'Gorong Mountain Range'?"

Fang Xing, however, was more interested in the mountain range next to the city.

He could feel that this mountain range was like lurking magma, not knowing when it would erupt.

"Yes... this mountain range has many rumors about dragons; more than one hunter has claimed to have seen a dragon shadow... but you and I both know, there are no dragons in the world!"

Woll said something with subtext: "... there are only dragon spirits! A terrifying evil spirit at the 'Great Spirit' level sleeps beneath the mountain range; it once ravaged the area and was sealed by a saint of the Church... but at the time of the sealing, a prophecy was left behind that this dragon spirit would wake up sooner or later and burn the entire city with its rage."

"My God..." Sophia covered her lips: "I thought of it... there were many terrifying legends about evil dragons when I was a child; so the source was like this?"

"Great Spirit?"

Fang Xing, however, revealed an interested look, glanced at the mountain range again, and then followed the carriage into the City of Gold.

The city gate of the City of Gold was very high, presenting the style of a triumphal arch, and the streets were very wide, capable of accommodating five carriages side by side.

After moving forward for a distance, one could see a square.

"This is Saint Maria Square..."

The noble young lady of the Solon family became excited: "I've been here to play before... and even witnessed several trials hosted by the Radiant Church; they threw 'witches' onto the pyre and burned them to death... using their spirits to sacrifice to the Lord of Radiance... some 'witches' could even wail in the fire for more than ten hourglass hours..."

Fang Xing couldn't help but curl his lips.

Ten hourglass hours converted is nearly two hours; a normal person absolutely could not be lively in a fire for so long, unless... they were an extraordinary being carrying a spirit!

"Fire, execution... even watching... are all part of the Church's rituals; this is a type of sealing!"

Woll spoke: "We use the power of the Lord of Radiance to seal most evil spirits..."

"Hmm, there are quite few people in the square."

Fang Xing saw one white pigeon after another landing, foraging wantonly in the square, and couldn't help but say.

"Hmm? I remember now... at this time, the citizens should all be in the arena!"

Miss Sophia said: "The Duke of Tulip built the largest arena in the Duke's territory... it opens every once in a while, and the citizens flock to it... watching the performance of gladiators is the most popular trend in the upper circles; I haven't been here for a while, I don't know if the Gladiator King here is still Sinbad... he is the powerful one known as the 'King of Gladiators,' already possessing seven championship titles, sending the souls of I don't know how many gladiators to sacrifice to the Lord of Radiance..."

That's right! Opening an arena is not just the need of the lord, but also the need of the Radiant Church.

The lord often throws death-row prisoners, slaves, and prisoners of war into the arena as consumables for the gladiators.

As long as they can keep winning, theoretically, they will never face the death penalty.

But in reality, gladiators being able to survive for a year in the arena is considered tough.

Moreover, they will fight to the death, using their own deaths to please the audience and the divine!

Fang Xing looked at Woll and found that this upright knight had fallen into silence, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "It seems... in a world like this, even the Radiant Church cannot avoid a bloody and crazy background..."

"A world after an extraterrestrial evil deity 'whale falls' has unimaginable value for evil deity researchers in the main universe..."

Duke's Mansion.

The current Grand Duke of Tulip is in his forties, with long wine-red hair, a beard, and soft features.

He stood on a high tower, from where he could overlook most of the city.

For example... the most conspicuous circular arena.

At this moment, one could even hear the cheers coming from the arena.

"Listening to this sound, Sinbad has won the eighth championship of his career, right? How many gladiators did he execute today? Twenty? Thirty?"

The Grand Duke of Tulip said with interest.

Behind him, there were no attendants, only a figure wearing a green robe, with a vine collar around his neck, dressed like a scholar.

This was a "scholar"; scholars are often served by the second sons of noble families; they have no inheritance rights and can only pursue knightly or scholarly cultivation.

Generally speaking, they prioritize choosing to be knights, and only those without knightly talent will study, becoming a scholar with broad knowledge.

If they are famous enough, they will be recruited by higher-ranking nobles, thereby obtaining a stable income.

As for a fief? Don't even think about it... being able to transfer to become a butler is quite good.

By comparison, the development potential of a knight is still greater.

But this scholar was clearly different from others.

His features were very ordinary, belonging to the type that is hard to distinguish once they blend into a crowd, but his eyes were bright, and seemed to reveal a trace of emerald green.

"Sinbad just executed his twenty-seventh opponent... presumably such a large amount of blood sacrifice is enough to satisfy that Bishop." The scholar replied, as if everything in the arena was clearly visible.

"The Radiance has passed away, the Church remains... Sadu Sect, Scholar Association... my Duke's territory has only one requirement, and that is that it cannot be chaotic!"

The Grand Duke of Tulip spoke.

Just at this moment, an attendant trotted up the high tower.

Climbing so many stairs in one breath, his breathing was very even, without any roughness, clearly possibly possessing the strength of a formal knight.

"Your Grace the Duke... the young lady of the Solon family has arrived, preparing to participate in the Church's Saintess selection."

The attendant bowed and reported.

"Sophia of the Solon family?" The Grand Duke of Tulip smiled slightly: "That is a beauty... she is indeed sufficient to serve as a Saintess of the Church... if I were twenty years younger, I might have directly married her."

Just at this moment, the scholar's eyes next to him were suddenly completely shrouded in emerald green.

This scholar's face was somewhat pale, and he took a few steps back, his forehead sweating profusely.

The Grand Duke of Tulip saw this and immediately waved his hand to let the attendant retire: "My 'prophet'... what did you see?"

"Dragon... the shadow of dragon wings covering the sky, shrouding the entire City of Gold..."

"But at the same time, hope is hidden within the destruction... the person who can completely solve the dragon spirit has already arrived!"

The scholar's eyes were vacant, his body convulsing like a sheep-epilepsy patient, speaking his prophecy.