Chapter 94: The Crucible Body-Refining Soup and Seizing the Opportunity to Advance

"Don't you dare tell me that such a coincidental, melodramatic thing could happen in this world."

"Because I had Hong Dou snatch that secret box, causing the Three Sages' modification to fail, this blood-rust disaster was born?"

While Li Yu mimicked Hong Dou’s self-defense mechanism, controlling his internal fire to bake his entire body so the blood-rust virus could not invade, he felt it was all absurd.

At the same time, he did not hesitate to instruct Hong Dou:

"Go, pack up our belongings and luggage."

"First, get out of the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop."

As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall; Li Yu had no time to ponder whether this sudden catastrophe was related to him, so he decided to run first.

One could tell just from the movement of that massive explosion and the range covered by the shockwave!

The entire Heavenly Mechanism Workshop was not a place that could be spared.

From humans to various mechanical creations, all would be poisoned and suffer.

Sure enough!

Just as he finished speaking, above the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop, things began to fall like dumplings.

Steam airships and mechanical tower ships one after another suffered severe malfunctions, stalling directly in the air and beginning to become covered in rust; even the new tower ships that had been in use for less than a few days were the same, and after a clattering sound, they fell straight to the ground, smashing into balls of fire.

And when Li Yu rushed out of the residence with Hong Dou, a scene like the apocalypse forced its way into his eyes.

The workshop residents had all rushed out of their homes, wailing and begging for help.

Regardless of age or gender, the symptoms on their bodies were exactly the same as those previously on Li Yu; large patches of blood-rust were eroding and spreading, and everyone was coughing incessantly, but what they spat out was not thick phlegm or saliva, but a blood mist carrying iron rust, causing that thick, fishy-sweet smell to permeate the entire street and even the whole Heavenly Mechanism Workshop.

Furthermore, because hallucinations were constantly breeding in their minds, the residents wept at times and wailed at others, terrifying and eerie.

And those monster buses on the street that should have been running in an orderly fashion also stalled and lost control, crashing about, and in a very short time became covered in rust, as if they were old objects that had been used for a long time.

There were also various mechanical buildings like clock towers and pagoda towers that met the same fate; the mechanical clocks no longer moved, and the exterior pipes were covered in rust....

This drastic change made Li Yu feel dazed, reminding him of the scenes of the Great Depression in industrial cities he had seen on the internet in his past life, and coupled with the residents everywhere begging for help and spitting blood mist, the sense of déjà vu became even stronger.

"The combination of flesh and rust... will it turn into this?"

"It's the Sacred Nest!"

"A group of lunatics inside mastered the Heavenly Craft Sect's forbidden mechanical arts, attempting to fuse their own forbidden flesh arts with machinery, which is why they created this eerie and terrifying virus."

Because Li Yu knew many secrets, his mind did not have a single doubt; he was very certain.

And in the next moment, he turned to cursing.

Just as Li Yu was about to leave the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop with Hong Dou, still two streets away from entering the City Lord's Mansion area.

Abruptly, a giant protective shield descended, shrouding the entire Heavenly Mechanism Workshop.

Brand new steam airships and tower ships loaded with terrifying turrets flew in from all directions, surrounding the outside of the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop, and an alarm notification with a strong murderous intent resounded through the night sky.

"Beep, beep, beep!"

"Warning! Warning!"

"Due to an unknown disaster occurring within the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop, leading to the spread of an unknown virus, the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop is temporarily being placed under lockdown."

"No one is allowed to enter, and no Heavenly Mechanism Workshop resident is allowed to leave."

"Please rest assured, all residents; this accident has been taken over by the [Sacred Nest], and an antidote will be developed and distributed as soon as possible."

"After the first diffusion, the virus concentration is rapidly decreasing; the Sacred Nest guarantees there will not be a second explosion."

"Additionally, according to observations of existing cases, the unknown virus will not cause death in a short period, but please do not drink water, do not engage in strenuous activity, and please return to your respective homes to wait for the antidote to be developed...."

Clearly, the commoners and cultivators who wanted to escape the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop overnight were far more than just Li Yu.

But at this moment, they were all blocked by the shield, and coupled with those notifications and orders, it was clear they came from the overlord of the Southern District, the [Sacred Nest].

If one chose to force their way out, even if they didn't die under the artillery fire, they would not escape the pursuit of the Sacred Nest's experts.

Facing an overlord of a district!

Even those at Sequence 5 would choose to back down.

Of course, it was inevitable that they would curse loudly:

"What kind of bullshit is this, telling us to go home and wait to die?"

"And 'unknown disaster,' didn't that exploding factory belong to the Three Sages Gang? Those three freaks, Hu Vanguard Commander, Yang Daoli, and Lu Yimiao, are now thoroughly people of the Sacred Nest; it's a thing they caused, so what the hell is 'unknown' about it."

"It would be best if those three freaks were blown to death; I don't know what kind of conscience-less things they were working on to create such a weird virus. I can spit out half a catty of rust every time I cough now."

"Although the whole Ten Thousand Blessings City is causing trouble today, no one said such a big thing would happen. Besides, didn't those three freaks fail to get the Demon Star Token? Why are they joining in the fun? Could it be that the three freaks are collectively advancing to Sequence 5?"

"There might not be a disaster; it's all the Demon Star Token holder causing trouble."

"Sigh, let's all go back and wait to die. I never thought I'd encounter such a thing one day. Can a body of flesh and blood rust too?"

"I wonder how many people will die in the Heavenly Mechanism Workshop tonight."

"Go look near that factory and you'll know; the ground and streets are full of rusted corpses. They were all living people before, but now if you throw their bodies into a steel furnace, you can directly smelt them into steel ingots... cough, cough, cough... now I can collect enough for an iron nail every few times I cough."

Li Yu, who was also driven back home, was originally still thinking about a plan to escape.

But listening to these curses and looking at the residents along the way who were coughing incessantly on the street or in their own homes, yet were indeed not yet dead.

A rather crazy thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

"The timing for advancement has come?"

"I need to become famous through methods like alchemy or metallurgy, and I must leave a mark in the bodies of at least a thousand people... if I use those methods I've collected, the hidden dangers and risks will be endless."

"But right before my eyes, it is clearly a near-perfect scenario."

"As a member of the City Lord's Mansion exploration team, because I caught the disease, I research the antidote myself, and even if it's just a spirit pill to alleviate symptoms, sharing it afterwards... oh no, selling it, is simply the most reasonable thing."

The more Li Yu pondered, the brighter the light in his eyes became.

But he did not return immediately; instead, he quietly withdrew his alchemy fire and let the blood-rust virus in the air invade his body again.

He wanted to use the poisoned Heavenly Mechanism Workshop residents to complete the ritual!

The prerequisite was naturally that he could produce an antidote or a medicine to alleviate the poison and save lives.

His alchemy fire and Hong Dou’s cremation furnace fire were clearly not enough.

Very quickly, Li Yu’s expression shifted, revealing a hint of a smile.

The content of the blood-rust virus in the air had indeed dropped significantly; although it could still poison people and cause rust to precipitate on the surface of their skin, it could no longer reach a lethal dose directly.

Li Yu silently estimated that even a commoner could hold on for a few days after being poisoned.

Of course!

If there was no antidote after a few days, they would all turn into eerie, rust-covered iron corpses.

Once his mind was made up, Li Yu was suddenly in no hurry to leave.

Instead, he dragged Hong Dou back to the residence. During the process, Li Yu operated that ingestion technique, chewing over the blood-rust poison in his body repeatedly to analyze its toxic components. After arriving home, Li Yu seemed to remember something else and instructed his maid:

"Hong Dou!"

"Release your defenses and let the virus infect your body again."

"Before the symptoms become severe, analyze it to see if there is a way to stop the rust poison from spreading."

"Yes, Master!"

After speaking, Li Yu reached into his bosom and took out the storage sachet gifted by the little nun Miaochang.

With a thought, an eerie book made entirely of human skin fell into his hands.

The Zhishan Notes!

Li Yu had anticipated before that he might use this evil book, which recorded many forbidden flesh-modification arts, in the future.

He didn't expect this day to come so soon.

"This blood-rust virus is most likely something the lunatics at the Sacred Nest created through experiments, and it is related to flesh and machinery."

"Although the notes are a book from the Warring States period and are unknown versions behind the current era, one of its authors, the [Fifth Saint], is likely an expert within the Sacred Nest. Coupled with the support of a large number of flesh experiments, there might be clues to an antidote to be found."

=9+Shu_Ba

While thinking, Li Yu began to quickly read through the notes, which emitted a nauseating and uncomfortable odor.

One perverted experiment after another entered his eyes.

Although Li Yu’s mind was already beyond that of an ordinary person, and regardless of what he was polluted by, his last shred of reason would be locked tight.

But the experimental records within the *Zhishan Notes* were too realistic.

The more he read, the more he felt immersed in the scene.

Reading a few more pages, he would even feel that he was the "one holding the knife," the saint who could create new races and control all flesh.

"Phew! If this ghostly thing fell into the hands of others, whether they were commoners or cultivators, I fear they would be unable to resist the temptation and would throw themselves directly into the embrace of the Sacred Nest."

"The feeling of using all things and everyone else as experimental subjects is too refreshing, too joyful; it is simply incomparable to those bedchamber affairs."

"No wonder the people of the Sacred Nest are all arrogant lunatics; it turns out they all view themselves as 'Creators of the Human World'?"

Li Yu complained while enduring the nausea to find clues and ideas for an antidote.

Not long after, he made a discovery.

"Hmm?"

"The rejection reaction between the flesh of different races... will lead to the collapse of the sutured flesh organs... one must use the refining technique to refine each one first. The Master said this technique is a secret transmission of the Sacred Nest, but in reality, it is extremely troublesome and low in efficiency. I have already developed a [Blood-Washing Agent] that can permeate and refine rejected flesh on a large scale, facilitating suturing."

"Blood-Washing Agent!"

Just as Li Yu extracted the keyword and was about to study its formula.

Hong Dou, who was on the side, suddenly spoke up:

"Replying to Master, the analysis is complete."

"The rust contained within the virus is exactly the same as real rust; one can use oily substances like machine oil or lard to stop its spread."

"Machine oil? Lard?"

When this irrelevant, and even somewhat absurd, answer entered Li Yu’s ears.

It seemed to trigger his inspiration in an instant; his original intention had been to refine some kind of detoxifying elixir, but what was triggered to operate on its own now was the art of medicinal cuisine.

Very quickly, a highly unique medicinal dish took shape in his mind.

A brilliant smile also appeared on Li Yu’s face.

……

The next day, at dawn.

The once bustling Tianji Workshop was now incomparably miserable, and at the same time, it had become the focus of everyone's attention; the entire South District, and even citizens from other districts, had all rushed over.

For no other reason!

It was simply that the mushroom cloud from last night’s massive explosion was too shocking; even the barbarians far away in the North District had heard it clearly.

Of course, what was even more eye-catching was the so-called blood-rust virus that spread after this explosion; it was truly sensational and incredibly bizarre.

“Everyone, go take a look! Tianji Workshop has been sealed off. I heard a plague has broken out that can make human flesh and blood grow rust.”

“What? There’s such a thing?”

“It’s absolutely true. Around the site of that big explosion last night, the ground was covered in rusty iron corpses.”

“Tianji Workshop has been placed under a restriction by the Sacred Nest, completely blocking entry and exit. But the barrier is transparent; if you go now and find a good spot, you can see the strange state of the Tianji Workshop residents.”

“Quick, quick, let’s all go take a look.”

“If that’s the case, if we threw all the infected Tianji Workshop residents into a steel furnace, wouldn’t we be able to refine an unprecedentedly large lump of steel ingots?”

This is Wanfu City; it is perfectly normal for people to tell dark jokes.

And at this moment, outside the barrier, almost every spot was packed with people.

There were both commoners and cultivators, all here to see the rare sight, and they were soon satisfied.

Everyone saw that inside the current Tianji Workshop, there were infected residents everywhere.

Most people followed the Sacred Nest’s warning, lying at home without eating or drinking, trying their best to slow the speed of the virus’s erosion.

But there were also many who were tormented by hallucinations and wandered around wailing, because every inch of their skin was incredibly itchy; they kept reaching out to rub it, and with every stroke, they could rub off a handful of rust, which fell with a rustling sound.

These scenes made people click their tongues in wonder.

The number of onlookers was also growing larger and larger.

“What a bizarre plague; flesh and blood growing rust—never heard of such a thing.”

“There are tens of thousands of residents in Tianji Workshop, right? I’m afraid they’re all beyond saving. Something like rust—swallowing a handful would be enough to kill you, let alone this kind that originates from within and completely erodes the body.”

“By brewing such a disaster, are the Three Saint Gang’s three freaks trying to collectively ascend to Sequence Five?”

“This already counts as a horrific torture. If we put [Benevolent Doctor Hu Buku] inside to fight poison with poison, I wonder what would happen?”

“Hu Buku has already been here. He is indeed very kind-hearted; he said he wanted to go in and turn all the residents into zombies to end their suffering... If he hadn’t run fast, he would have already been caught and slaughtered by a Sacred Nest powerhouse.”

“Eh?”

“Look quickly at that street! The symptoms on the residents there are fading. They are gathering toward a butcher shop residence facing the street. It looks like they are buying some kind of decoction? It couldn’t possibly be a detoxifying potion, could it?”

“Keep dreaming. This is clearly a disgusting plague created by the Three Saint Gang’s flesh-and-blood experiments. What kind of decoction could cure it, and one made overnight at that?”

“Ah, it’s effective! That group of people, it seems to really be working after they drank it.”

“There’s a bronze chicken standing next to that person, seemingly broadcasting something. Does anyone have a supernatural ability to copy it so we can listen?”

(End of chapter)