Chapter 180: Doomsday Cataclysm, Immortal State

Boom!

The rock wall seemed shaken by some invisible colossal force; the rocks loosened and cracked.

Large chunks of stone fell from the rock wall, raising dust.

Yang Yang Tianxuan and the others looked on with curiosity.

The original rock wall vanished; a wide tunnel suddenly appeared before their eyes.

The tunnel was deep; a faint cool breeze blew from within, carrying a hint of chill.

Gazing into the tunnel's depths, a faint green light emanated.

"Put away the mining robots; let's go in and take a look." Yang Yang Tianxuan spoke in a low, heavy voice at this moment.

Hearing this, the members of the Doomsday Technology Guild promptly stored their mining robots in spatial satchels, then followed Yang Yang Tianxuan curiously into the tunnel.

A damp atmosphere filled the tunnel; the rock walls were covered with stalactites of various shapes. Yang Yang Tianxuan and the guild members took flashlights from their spatial satchels, constantly waving them in the space woven with darkness and green light, dispelling the dark areas not reached by the green glow.

"Everyone stay alert; watch the surroundings." Yang Yang Tianxuan reminded in a low voice, his words echoing through the tunnel.

As they went deeper, the green light ahead grew clearer; a massive green light source could be seen at the tunnel's end.

"Big Brother Yang, there's something here."

The sudden cry drew everyone's attention; Yang Yang Tianxuan turned his head at this moment to look in the direction the voice indicated.

There, in the corner where the ground met the wall on one side of the tunnel, a pile of strangely shaped skeletons lay exposed.

These skeletons were not humanoid; their limbs were long and slender, like twisted vines. Every phalanx resembled a sharp blade, with the fingertips curved toward the rock wall, as if they had tried to grasp something in life.

Every bone of the deceased creatures was soaked in unknown green energy, the entire body emitting a faint green glow.

The Analysis Ability activated; relevant information floated into the minds of Yang Yang Tianxuan and the others:

【Ghost-Departed Corpse (Dead)】:

Hunting Rank: Rank 0

Target Introduction: A member of the "Ghost-Departed Clan," a faction that descended from the Ghost-Departed World. After being infected by the Immortal Virus, it became a Ghost-Departed Corpse and died a second time due to insufficient intake of flesh and blood energy.

After reading the analysis information, Yang Yang Tianxuan and the others continued toward the light source.

Reaching the end, they discovered that the source of the green light was actually a massive crystal box, constructed from countless green crystal stones. The emitted light interwove, forming flowing beams of light.

The analysis information clearly indicated this was a crystal elevator capable of reaching deeper underground.

The crystal stones composing the crystal elevator were a type of Rank 3 Spirit Ore.

At this moment, two choices lay before Yang Yang Tianxuan.

First, dismantle the elevator and simply pack the crystals away.

Second, take the elevator to the underground space of the cave and investigate what lay below.

How to choose was clearly a matter of maximizing profit.

After a brief exchange in the guild chat channel, the group entered the green-glowing crystal elevator and began studying how to activate it.

The control area was inlaid with a square crystal plate, densely carved with runes. The grooves of the runes shimmered with the same green light as the elevator as a whole. Yang Yang Tianxuan stood close, examining carefully; he could see the runes formed a spiral-like structure, radiating outward from the crystal's center as the origin point.

Attempting to press one of the runes, the crystal elevator trembled slightly before suddenly descending.

A sensation of weightlessness struck; the elevator's downward speed increased rapidly.

Before long, the elevator's speed gradually slowed until it stopped.

Looking up and out, this too was a tunnel; the rock walls bore obvious signs of mining.

Deep and shallow chisel marks crisscrossed in all directions. In some places, the rock had been cut neatly, revealing flat surfaces. It was not hard to imagine that countless creatures must have been involved in this mining operation back then.

Peering into the tunnel, one could occasionally see broken stone picks, iron shovels, and other tools scattered in the corners, all heavily rusted and blending with the surrounding rocks.

Just then, a roar came from the tunnel's end.

Following it was the dull sound of dense footsteps.

"Prepare for battle."

As Yang Yang Tianxuan's words fell, the guild players promptly drew their spiritual energy firearms.

At the tunnel's end, countless monsters with shriveled muscles and ferocious faces appeared.

The Analysis Ability activated; relevant information appeared in the minds of the Doomsday Technology Guild members:

【Ghost-Departed Corpse】:

Hunting Rank: Rank 32 (Entered a weakened state due to prolonged inability to obtain blood and qi energy)

Target Introduction: A special life form created when members of the Ghost-Departed Clan were infected by the Immortal Virus. They act solely on bloodthirsty instincts and can grow by devouring blood.

Dense spiritual energy bullets shot forward like raindrops.

Then, an energy rod traced an arc through the air, landing precisely near the horde of Ghost-Departed Corpses.

Boom!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the tunnel shook; sheets of gravel fell from the rock wall overhead.

Yet the Ghost-Departed Corpses seemed endless, surging forward continuously; one wave was slain, and another arrived.

All the Doomsday Technology Guild could do was deploy suppressive fire in batches, preventing the Ghost-Departed Corpses from getting close.

Ink-Flame Bullets, Roar Bullets, Thunder-Run Bullets... the bullets combined with the Painful Painful Minghun's traits possessed immense lethality, but every second incurred a substantial Shou Shou Jili expenditure.

When guns and cannons fire, Shou Shou Jili is spent by the thousands.

This was the greatest drawback of the technological weapon path; every output required payment of Shou Shou Jili costs.

Although killing monsters yielded returns, it did not necessarily cover the costs.

As the fierce battle continued, Qi Sheng's consciousness descended.

He paid no attention to the battle between the players and the Ghost-Departed Corpses; instead, his guiding consciousness probed deeper into the cave.

After the perception scan, it was discovered that the entire underground space was divided into 18 layers, each crafted into a habitable environment.

He found numerous air-purifying devices in the underground space, along with spiritual field soil transported from the surface, used for planting various edible spiritual plants.

Preliminary judgment indicated this had once been an underground shelter for the Ghost Separation Clan to evade external wars.

A complete internal resource circulation system had already been established.

However, for some unknown reason, the entire Ghost Separation Clan became infected with the Immortal Virus displayed in the analyzed information.

Finally, at the end of the 18th layer of the underground space, he discovered a Sixth-Generation Meng Yuan Chu imprisoned by countless rune chains.

After analyzing the information, details regarding the Sixth-Generation Meng Yuan Chu appeared in Qi Sheng's mind.

【Wish (Sixth-Generation Meng Yuan Chu)】:

Hunting Level: 76

Target Introduction: A Meng Yuan Chu monster possessing the rule characteristics of Wish Power; it can obtain Wish Power by fulfilling the target's wishes (the stronger the target's desire to have their wish fulfilled, the more Wish Power gained after fulfillment; the higher the target's own life strength, the more Wish Power gained upon fulfilling the wish).

The appearance of the Sixth-Generation Meng Yuan Chu was undoubtedly an unexpected surprise.

This also sparked Qi Sheng's curiosity about the situation of the Ghost Separation Clan.

Before Ice Blade fell in battle, he demanded his clan members build the underground space and capture Meng Yuan Chu monsters to imprison them, paving the way for one of the Four Gods who would inherit the Beneath Di Zhao's solidified origin in the future.

But what was the Ghost Separation Clan's purpose in doing so?

Driven by curiosity, he conducted a detailed analysis of the situation within the underground space.

Relying solely on the normal analysis mode made it impossible to obtain specific information.

The Ghost Separation Clan left no murals, information stones, or other recorded data in the underground space.

To understand the events in detail, he chose to consume Shou Shou Jili to perform a deep analysis.

The Guiding's rule ability activated at this moment; time in the underground space reversed, and past scenes appeared as images in Qi Sheng's mind.

This was precisely one of the Guiding's most formidable aspects.

Every event occurring in the Monster World at every moment is recorded in the World Information Archive.

Ordinary beings, even gods, lack the ability to view this information.

But the Guiding is different.

Its role in the Monster World is that of an observer of the World Information Archive, possessing the ability to analyze all things.

It can enter the World Information Archive at any time to search for historical information of past events.

Accompanied by the consumption of Shou Shou Jili, past scenes from the underground space continuously flooded Qi Sheng's mind, and the Ghost Separation Clan's fate unfolded in his thoughts.

Looking back, several Ghost Separation Clan warriors were mining a type of ore emitting a dim green glow within a mine tunnel.

The Ghost Separation Clan warriors in the image were slender, generally exceeding two meters in height, with highly distinctive facial features: sunken eye sockets, eyes resembling burning ghost flames, and narrow, diamond-shaped pupils like those of felines, flickering with changes in light.

Their skin was grayish-white, devoid of blood color, exuding a sickly aura, as if corpses just crawled out of the Netherworld; their facial contours were distinct, with hard, cold lines, high cheekbones causing their cheeks to be slightly sunken, and dark purple lips, appearing extremely eerie by human aesthetic standards.

Gazing at the Ghost Separation Clan warriors laboriously mining the spiritual ore, Qi Sheng turned his attention to the spiritual ore emitting the dim green glow.

Activating his analysis ability, information about the spiritual ore appeared in his mind.

【Plague Crystal Ore】:

Quality: Level 5 Spiritual Ore

Spiritual Ore Introduction: A spiritual ore with special radioactivity capable of producing intense interactions with the nervous systems and gene chains of living beings; after invading a life form, it attacks the nervous system and life-stabilizing structures, while special information fragments carried by radiation energy waves gradually rewrite the life gene chain, causing the body's various functions to reorganize in a chaotic manner over time.

After reading the analysis introduction, Qi Sheng roughly understood the cause.

It seemed the Ghost Separation Clan mined this radioactive spiritual ore and, due to long-term exposure to a high-radiation environment, their life structures collapsed, mutating them into bloodthirsty life forms resembling zombies.

【Boss, no, the Ghost Separation Clan obviously knew the dangers of this spiritual ore.】

The Guiding's voice sounded, and the image scene jumped to the 17th layer underground.

Many Ghost Separation Clan figures could be seen busy nearby.

This appeared to be an alchemy room, with a stench of decay permeating the air.

The Ghost Separation Clan's alchemists placed the mined Plague Crystal Ore into an alchemy furnace cast from black rock.

The furnace walls were inscribed with spells, and Xiong Xiong flames erupted from the furnace bottom, licking the base of the crucible, causing the Plague Crystal Ore inside to gradually soften and fuse.

During this process, the alchemists continuously added various spiritual materials to the furnace, such as decayed leaves tainted with the breath of death, a blood-sucking demon insect, and even the ribs of some creature.

As time passed, the crystals in the furnace gradually merged with the other materials, forming a thick liquid emitting a strong stench of decay.

Subsequently, the Ghost Separation Clan's alchemists injected a dark green gas into the alchemy furnace.

The moment the dark green mist touched the liquid, it was like a hungry beast encountering prey, rapidly intertwining and merging with it, while black smoke continuously rose during the process.

Until it completely stilled, a liquid interwoven with jet black and ink green appeared at the bottom of the alchemy furnace, writhing constantly as if alive.

At this moment, a nearby metal box opened, and a Ghost Separation Clan alchemist grabbed a rabbit-like creature from inside.

He threw it into the alchemy furnace.

Instantly, the liquid seemed to receive some kind of summons, rapidly lunging at the creature's mouth and nose, covering and enveloping it.

The creature immediately let out a piercing scream, its body trembling violently.

The liquid spread rapidly through the respiratory tract to the entire body; its fur began to fall out at a speed visible to the naked eye, its skin gradually became cracked and blackened, and its body quickly swelled to twice its original size.

Immediately after, the creature's bones emitted a "Crack! Crack!" sound, twisting and deforming within the body; muscle tissue rapidly rotted, and its original blue eyes were gradually replaced by a layer of eerie dark green, becoming hollow and lifeless, leaving only a thirst for blood.

The infection was completed in an instant.

Driven by curiosity, Qi Sheng activated analysis on the liquid.

【Immortal Virus】:

Target Introduction: A virus source created by the Ghost Separation Clan; it can invade a host's body through pores in the skin, the respiratory tract, and other pathways, releasing special energy within the host that blocks normal communication between biological cells, causing cells to lose coordinated operation capabilities; the evil gene fragments carried by the virus forcibly embed themselves into the host's gene chain, rewriting the biological genetic code.

Once the genes are rewritten, the host's body undergoes terrifying mutations; the immune system collapses rapidly, and body tissues rot, yet the life structure is maintained under the effect of the Immortal Virus.

Seeing the analysis information, Qi Sheng fell into deep thought.

It seems the tragedy's root was a bitter fruit brewed by the Ghost Separation Clan themselves; they had intended to create a super virus capable of rapid infection and spread.

Yet before this special weapon could be deployed, the entire clan was wiped out by the Immortal Virus's infection.

So, why did they imprison Meng Yuan Chu for six generations?

Could they have intended to infect and control the sixth-generation Meng Yuan Chu with the Immortal Virus?

But such an idea is far too fanciful.

Full of doubts, the analysis continued playing the images within the scene.

At this moment, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the guidance to the sixteenth layer of space.

Here, he discovered a stable spatial teleportation array.

The energy crystals inlaid in the teleportation array had gone dark, unable to maintain the channel's opening.

After contacting Yan Ming, Qi Sheng and the guiding consciousness traveled along the path once constructed to the end of the spatial channel.

The scene before his eyes made Qi Sheng pause in surprise.

This was actually a Wang Xiao Shi Jie.

From the perspective of perception looking down upon the earth, an apocalyptic scene unfolded before his eyes.

The outline of a city appeared in his vision; as the view zoomed in, the entire city had become a desperate abyss ravaged by the Immortal Virus.

The city's outline resembled a dilapidated painting wantonly smeared.

Buildings stood like dying giants, leaning crookedly, riddled with countless holes from the disaster's erosion long ago.

Twisted black spiderwebs and withered vines crawled over the outer walls of every building; the streets were like silent trenches, filled with thick dust and debris, with lush wild vegetation growing everywhere.

Abandoned vehicles lay scattered chaotically throughout the city like dead beetles.

Dried bloodstains visible everywhere looked like ugly scars on the earth under the sunlight; countless Immortal Zombies writhed within the city, wandering aimlessly, occasionally emitting roars that echoed above the city.

The river within the city had turned into a stinking, pus-filled sore; the turbid water flowed slowly, floating with various trash and remains of life, emitting a nauseating odor under the scorching sun.

The river wound through the city, spreading death and decay to every corner.

The entire city was shrouded under a thick haze; sunlight struggled to penetrate, casting dim yellow light that could barely outline the city's dilapidated form.

Wild winds howled across the city, raising dust and debris into the sky, as if singing a dirge of the apocalypse.

As consciousness scanned every corner of the city, Qi Sheng realized what had once happened here.

The Immortal Virus swept through the Wang Xiao Shi Jie, turning this world into a lifeless forbidden zone; only faint signs of life activity could be sensed underground, obviously the few survivors remaining in the Wang Xiao Shi Jie.

And the source of all this could certainly be traced to the Ghost Separation Clan.

The Immortal Virus they developed turned the Wang Xiao Shi Jie into a living purgatory.

Perhaps to the Ghost Separation Clan, the Wang Xiao Shi Jie was merely an insignificant testing ground, where they wished to observe the spread and mutation patterns of the Immortal Virus after infecting life within it.

Just as humans observe the activities of ants.

It was clear that life in the lower worlds was like ants in the eyes of the Ghost Separation Clan; even if countless lives perished, in the end, they were merely a set of experimental data in the Ghost Separation Clan's hands.

The apocalyptic scene in the city made Qi Sheng think of the Ascended Clan and the Lord of Bliss.

Compared to the Ghost Separation Clan, these two factions were simply "great benefactors."

At the very least, the Ascended Clan and the Lord of Bliss would not carry out bloody massacres against the beings of the Wang Xiao Shi Jie; indeed, the Ascended Clan often deployed various spiritual resources beneficial to cultivation into the Wang Xiao Shi Jie.

His gaze swept toward another dilapidated city in the Wang Xiao Shi Jie; the same scene made Qi Sheng sigh with emotion.

The destruction of the lower worlds might be merely a trivial episode in the grand process of civilization for the powerful clans of the upper worlds.

In the historical narratives of the upper-world clans, the destruction of the Wang Xiao Shi Jie might be as insignificant as a grain of dust in the vast starry sky, unable to stir even a ripple in their cold hearts.

The guidance spoke at this moment:

【Boss, this is the cruel reality: just as humans, out of curiosity, pour molten aluminum into an anthill to observe ants and create unique ant nests, from the perspective of lower-world beings, they believe they are intelligent life and should not be treated like ants at will; but in the eyes of upper-world beings, possessing intelligence has never been a way to compare the level of life civilizations; only strength matters.】

【Just like the insect warriors with no intelligence; even many powerful clans tremble at their might and dare not provoke them lightly.】

【Even with the strongest civilization technology, if intelligence cannot be converted into power, in the eyes of the stronger, it is merely weakness and ants that can be plundered at will.】

Qi Sheng nodded.

As the guidance said, intelligence is the source of civilization's progress, but if intelligence cannot bring racial competitiveness, then intelligence is meaningless in the eyes of higher-level factions.

When analyzing the war mural information on the Dark Descendant's spatial dome, he had learned that during the Dark Descendant Army's process of plundering worlds, they had once plundered a Great World.

Logically, the beings of a Great World possessed greater strength, but the beings of that world had not invested their technology tree into martial power; instead, they consumed all their resources on constructing the spiritual world.

This world was plundered by the Dark Descendant Army in a very easy manner, and all the beings of the entire world were slaughtered to extinction.

Thus, under the survival law of the strong devouring the weak, strength is the sole standard for measuring the level of life.

Perceptual consciousness traversed mountains and rivers within the Wang Xiao Shi Jie; dilapidated scenes were everywhere along the way. During this, many beings of the Wang Xiao Shi Jie hiding in the Underground World or having built shelters were discovered, but the main life force of the entire world had become Immortal Zombies.

Yet Qi Sheng still had a doubt in his heart.

Did the Ghost Separation Clan cause chaos in the Wang Xiao Shi Jie merely to test the power of the Immortal Virus?

In fact, using the beings of the Wang Xiao Shi Jie for experiments was meaningless; the strength of the Monster World was incomparable to that of the Wang Xiao Shi Jie.

The strength of the Immortal Virus was extremely high in the analysis; it could easily destroy the Wang Xiao Shi Jie, but placed in the Monster World, it was still one step short, possibly unable to even leave the Colorful Mist Coast.

If they encountered the Black Tide, the Immortal Virus would not only fail to infect the evil spirits but would instead become nourishment for the Black Tide's growth.

What purpose would developing such a weapon serve?

Although the Lord of Bliss's technology development was rough in the early stages, it at least had a grand vision.

If successful, it would help the Lord of Bliss ascend to the world-level battlefield and become one of the dominant powers at the table.

Full of doubts, he and the guidance passed through the spatial tunnel back to the underground space.

The image scene continued to display, presenting the detailed process of the Ghost Separation Clan creating the Immortal Virus in Qi Sheng's mind.

As the information flooding into his mind continued to increase, after piecing together countless pieces of information, Qi Sheng suddenly realized he had guessed wrong.

He had previously guessed that the Ghost Separation Clan created the Immortal Virus to improve their racial competitiveness, but the truth was not so.

The image scene advanced to after the Ghost Separation Clan captured the sixth-generation Meng Yuan Chu, and many doubts were answered.

The Gui Li clan had actually been entertaining wild fantasies, wanting to obtain the power of the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu's "Wishing," and this was the reason the Gui Li clan had imprisoned the Meng Yuan Chu monster in the eighteenth layer of underground space.

Through behavioral analysis and judgment, the Gui Li clan learned that the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu's "Blessing" could obtain power by fulfilling the wishes of targets.

Facing the high-intensity racial competition environment of Monster World, without the power of rules one could only become the rations of powerful clans, but the Gui Li clan wanted to strip away the rule power of the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu, thereby gaining room for continued growth.

This plan was divided into two steps, initiated simultaneously.

The first step of the plan was to formulate a scheme for obtaining the power of wishing.

The second step of the plan was to attempt to strip away the rule power within the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu Wishing's body.

From the Gui Li clan's perspective, both of these plans would proceed in an orderly manner, ultimately granting the Gui Li clan unimaginable development potential.

But the first step of the plan succeeded, while the second step of the plan made no progress for a long time.

This first step of the plan, the Gui Li clan called the Savior Plan.

After obtaining the Wishing rule, how to quickly acquire wish-power — the Gui Li clan had envisioned two schemes.

The first scheme was to find a small world and solve poverty, disease, war, etc., for the living beings of that world.

As for why to seek out a small world, it was because the needs of the living beings of a small world were easy to satisfy.

But the living beings of Monster World were different — their needs, in the eyes of the Gui Li clan, simply could not be satisfied.

For example, help me wipe out that Black Tide next door that threatens my clan's survival.

Another example, help my clan win a certain war.

Even the most modest requests of Monster World's living beings would require an extremely terrifying amount of resources to fulfill, and many goals were simply beyond what the Gui Li clan's strength could accomplish.

But the living beings of a small world were different — their wishes could easily be satisfied through simple means.

The first scheme of the first step was to provide various benefits to the living beings of a small world, helping to solve their problems.

But a series of drawbacks emerged during the deduction of this scheme.

Satisfying needs was, in essence, an ever-ascending curve.

When one is well-fed and warm, lustful thoughts arise — after completing each goal, one would have to help the small world's living beings achieve even higher goals.

The conclusion reached through deduction was that ultimately demands would even appear that the Gui Li clan could not satisfy — for example, the living beings of a small world wanting immortality, wanting eternal life, and so on.

The supply of resources would also be consumed along an ascending curve during the process of fulfilling wishes.

This ran counter to the Gui Li clan's original intention, instead turning the Gui Li clan into the providers for the lower world's living beings.

More importantly, this plan could not produce wish-power over the long term — after reaching a certain critical point, the Gui Li clan would no longer be able to fulfill the wishes of the lower world's living beings.

Thus, after the deduction of the first scheme concluded, the second scheme was born.

This plan was to manufacture an apocalypse, then appear on the scene in the image of a savior.

Against the backdrop of a world's end, the lower world's living beings would have intense wishes for survival and protection.

Simple food, given to instill the hope of living on, could continuously produce wish-power.

From the perspective of profit acquisition, giving hope in a desperate situation was far easier for producing wish-power than supporting development in a life of comfort.

After the deduction of this scheme concluded, it became the core scheme for the Gui Li clan to acquire wish-power.

Becoming a savior or a world-destroying demon king — unrelated to morality, both driven by profit.

There were many ways to manufacture a world's end.

The initially set scheme was for one faction within the Gui Li clan to launch an invasion against a small world, while the other faction would appear in the image of a savior.

But this scheme had many drawbacks — it would require tying up a massive amount of clan strength to lay out plans in a small world.

During this period, the Gui Li clan discovered Rot Plague Crystal Ore while excavating a mine.

A brand-new idea was born in the minds of the Gui Li clan's upper echelons — they didn't need to personally participate in manufacturing the apocalypse; they could use a virus to create a calamity that swept through the small world.

After this, the Gui Li clan launched virus research based on the characteristics of the Rot Plague Crystal Ore.

Therefore, the birth of the Immortal Virus was not to destroy the small world, nor to develop technical weapons against Monster World's powerful clans — it was simply to create a raging disaster in the small world.

The ultimate purpose of all this pointed to the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu.

The Wishing Meng Yuan Chu monster was the core goal for the Gui Li clan to enhance their clan's competitiveness.

But the development of events clearly did not unfold in the direction the Gui Li clan had predetermined — the conception of wanting to strip the rules within the Meng Yuan Chu monster's body was unrealistic from the start.

Even the Black Tide, the Insect Race, and even the Eight Extremes Gods of Monster World all knew one thing.

Meng Yuan Chu was one of the cornerstones of Monster World, embedded within every inch of the spatial fabric, and also the warp and weft that constructed the rules of the entire world — like part of the invisible giant pillars supporting the world, completely integrated with the entire world framework.

Unless Beneath Di Zhao returned, no one could strip it from this inherent framework and claim it for themselves.

Even if Meng Yuan Chu died, it could reintegrate into the world framework, and with the world's operation, be reborn at some unknown location.

But the Gui Li clan clearly had not realized this problem.

They believed that relying on their own wisdom and strength they could obtain the Meng Yuan Chu rules, and when that time came the Gui Li clan would also become a racial power that controlled the rules.

Perhaps still unable to contend against peak powerful clans, but at least having the hope of continuing to climb upward.

After formulating the plan, the Gui Li clan chose to cut themselves off from the world, simultaneously launching the Savior Plan and the Rule Stripping Plan.

The result was that the plan to strip the rules remained stalled the entire time — no matter how they researched and developed, it was hard to advance even an inch.

During this period, the Immortal Virus also continuously grew and evolved, ultimately breaking free from the Gui Li clan's control and evolving into a powerful virus capable of infecting the Gui Li clan.

The situation completely spiraled out of control.

The Gui Li clan paid a heavy price for this — the Gui Li clan originally fought with overwhelmingly powerful physiques, and the infected Gui Li clan warriors, empowered by the Immortal Virus, possessed physical strength surpassing that of ordinary Gui Li clan members.

In the confrontation, clansmen continuously died and turned into Gui Li Corpses.

The final result was that the Gui Li perished under the corruption of the Immortal Virus, the entire clan transforming into Gui Li Corpses wandering the underground space.

Only the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu "Wishing" remained, all alone, imprisoned in the deepest part of the eighteenth underground layer.

At the very end of the video footage, there was still an interlude.

Sixteen initially infected Gui Li clan members successfully escaped to the first layer of space via the crystal-stone elevator, but what faced them was a rock wall marked with a forbidden barrier.

No matter how they tried, these sixteen members could not break through the rock wall to escape.

In the end, all 16 members turned into Ghost Separation Corpses.

The difference is that the Ghost Separation Corpses in the underground space could sustain their viral life through the radiative energy dissipating from the Corrosion Crystal Mines.

But in the Layer 1 space, there weren't even free-floating energy particles in the air.

In the end, the 16 Ghost Separation Corpses starved to death in the tunnel; this is why the parsed information would display that this was a second death.

Only after time passed and the barrier on the rock walls vanished were players able to enter.

In fact, the Immortal Virus that nearly destroyed the Small World was not deployed by the Ghost Separation Clan either.

Although the Ghost Separation Clan's two plans were launched simultaneously, they necessarily had to obtain the Wish Rules first before laying out the apocalypse within the Small World.

Directly deploying the Immortal Virus into the Small World did not meet the Ghost Separation Clan's needs.

However, the spatial channel was constantly in a stable open state; after the Immortal Virus liquid destroyed the Ghost Separation Clan, it continued to rage in the underground space, and eventually, some of the liquid Immortal Virus dripped into the Small World through the open spatial channel.

The apocalypse catastrophe envisioned by the Ghost Separation Clan ultimately erupted in the Small World.

Countless living beings were infected and died, turning into evil creatures wandering the world; the powerful physique granted by the Spiritual Virus allowed the Immortal Zombies to easily withstand all kinds of weapons in the Small World, making them completely beyond the ability of the Small World's armies to counter.

This catastrophe is still ongoing.

The survivors of the Small World attempted armed resistance, and even technological research, trying to develop a cure to break the Immortal Virus.

But all efforts were in vain.

Essentially, the Immortal Virus is a product from the Monster World, generated using various Spiritual Resources; with the resources of the Small World, it is simply impossible to research a cure.

After viewing all the historical scenes of the underground space, Qi Sheng's consciousness followed the guidance back to the Meng Yuan Chu Altar.

As for the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu, he was not in a hurry.

Based on his understanding of the players, since they discovered an unknown area, they would surely dig up the earth three feet deep to search for any hidden opportunities; even the bottles and jars left by the Ghost Separation Clan would be smashed to pieces to inspect them, so the Sixth Generation Meng Yuan Chu imprisoned in the deepest part of the underground would sooner or later be taken in by the players.

Underground Space, Layer Three.

Spiritual energy firearms let out angry roars, tongues of fire danced wildly in the darkness, and bullets like dense raindrops frantically swept across the Immortal Zombies.

Splashed black filthy blood left streaks on the cave walls.

Due to the narrowness of the cave tunnels, the impact force of the spiritual energy bullets appeared even stronger, and bullets carrying elemental power wove into an insurmountable net.

As members of the Apocalypse Technology Guild arrived successively from outside, the battle situation grew increasingly fierce.

Grenade launchers also quickly joined the fray; gravel on the cave ceiling constantly fell off, then was crushed into powder by the frenzied firepower.

The shockwaves generated by the explosions raged through the cave, raising a cloud of dust and gravel.

Under the explosive power, the limbs of the Immortal Zombies flew apart, and their incomplete bodies were thrown in all directions by the shockwaves.

The Immortal Zombies that were completely killed were converted into mist by the Power of All-Things Extraction and merged into the players' bodies.

After preliminarily calculating the gains and expenditures, Yang Yang Tianxuan let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the gains brought by this group of Immortal Zombies were slightly greater than the expenditures; otherwise, fighting like this would be far too expensive.

Originally, he intended to contact other guilds to assist in the battle, but after confirming that the gains could cover the expenditures, he decided that his own guild would consume the potential opportunities within the underground space.

His gaze swept forward; scorching shrapnel flew everywhere inside the cave, yet the Immortal Zombies feared no death; as the front row fell, the back row immediately stepped on their comrades' corpses and continued to surge forward.

Their twisted bodies, illuminated by the muzzle flashes of the bullets, appeared hideous and terrifying.

Gunpowder smoke filled the cave, mixed with a stench of decay, making the players nearly suffocate.

But thinking of the potential opportunities within the underground space, the players of the Apocalypse Technology Guild all chose to endure.

They advanced continuously, exploring further along the downward tunnel; whenever they encountered a fork in the road, a portion of their combat strength would split off to explore, and everything in the rooms of the Ghost Separation Clan members would be smashed and then inspected repeatedly.

Basically, there were gains every time.

Before the Ghost Separation Clan went into seclusion, they brought a large amount of resources into the underground space, including various types of Spiritual Ore, Spiritual Plants, and other resources.

The deeper they went, the more fierce the battle situation became.

The number of Ghost Separation Corpses appearing grew increasingly vast.

These Ghost Separation Corpses had been sealed within the underground space; over long ages without consuming flesh and blood, they survived solely on radiative energy, so their combat power was far inferior compared to when they were first infected, leaving them completely powerless against the firepower coverage of the Apocalypse Technology Guild.

At this moment, in a cave branch area, a voice rang out in the squad chat channel:

"Damn, I've been infected."

Nearby players looked up; the speaker was Wang Yu, a 46-year-old mechanical engineer from the Apocalypse Guild, who followed a melee route.

At this moment, a patch of bloodstain was attached to his left arm, and in the blink of an eye, it seeped into his skin.

"How does it feel?" a player beside him asked curiously.

"No feeling at all, but I'm losing health."

Speaking thus, Wang Yu sent a screenshot in the guild channel:

【Infection (Mild): Infected with the Immortal Virus, life status is suffering continuous destruction.】

Immediately after sending the screenshot, Wang Yu suddenly shouted "Holy crap," then let out a piercing scream, fell to the ground, and began to roll around.

Seeing Wang Yu injured, nearby members decisively dragged Wang Yu back to the rear.

At the same time, the speed at which Wang Yu's health bar slid down gradually accelerated.

Before long, the infection status changed from Mild to Moderate.

At this moment, Wang Yu only felt a wave of heat spreading from the arm where the bloodstain had touched; his limbs became heavy, as if an invisible force was dragging him.

"Need help?" a player aimed his gun barrel at Wang Yu.

Click.

A crisp sound rang out; the bullet generation path within the spiritual energy firearm switched to the spiritual energy armor-piercing bullet structure.

"Don't, I'm very curious about what happens when a player gets infected." Wang Yu's forehead veins bulged, and he said with a twisted expression.

"As expected of you, your curiosity is always so strong." Hearing these words, his friend nodded with a smile, then pressed the switch again, switching the bullet generation path back to the easily generated normal bullet mode, turned around, aimed at the Immortal Zombies, and began shooting.

At this moment, the heat sensation at Wang Yu's arm turned into intense burning pain, as if countless red-hot needles were piercing into his marrow.

This pain rapidly spread from his arm to his entire body; every inch of skin felt as if roasted by fierce fire, every nerve twitched wildly, his body trembled violently out of control, and the weapon in his hand clattered to the ground.

His consciousness gradually grew hazy; the comrades before his eyes and the figures of the Immortal Zombies in the distance began to overlap.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, a low growl issued from his throat, his gaze turned vacant, his originally clear eyes gradually became covered by a layer of dark green, and his skin turned gray and rough at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if countless worms were wriggling beneath it.

Reason also faded bit by bit in this process; a strong sense of hunger surged from the depths of his heart, driving him to look at the friend standing before him.

"Are you okay?" At this moment, the friend turned to look at Wang Yu.

"I'm fine... just feel that you look a bit tasty today... cough, cough."

"By the way, if you really turn into an Immortal Zombie, if I kill you, can I gain Shou Shou Jili and Evolution Points, then exploit a bug to farm you infinitely... preferably to drop your Xing Nang Wu Pin and your Shou Shou Jili balance."

"Get lost, do you want to drop your real-life wife for you too?" Wang Yu cursed angrily; at this moment, his eyes widened roundly, bloodshot veins interwoven within his pupils.

"That's unnecessary; a brother's wife is not to be harmed."

At this time, Wang Yu could no longer hear what his brother was saying.

The moderate infection transformed into a severe infection at this moment.

He instinctively wanted to shout loudly, but could only squeeze out a few muffled growls from his throat; he gripped the rock beside him tightly with his hands, fresh blood overflowing from between his fingers slid slowly down the rough stone wall.

As the virus's erosion grew deeper, his consciousness began to wander constantly between clarity and chaos.

The Immortal Virus inflicted dual devastation upon his flesh and spirit.

His body twisted accordingly; bones emitted a "crack, crack" sound beneath the flesh and skin, as if an evil force was arbitrarily reshaping his body; his skin cracked dryly, streaks of blood like a spiderweb densely covered it, emitting a nauseating stench of decay.

Just as his consciousness was about to sink completely into oblivion, a prompt sounded in his mind:

【Challenger Prompt: Mental state reached dangerous critical value, triggering protection, dispelling mental erosion.】

Accompanying the prompt, the Immortal Virus invading Wang Yu's spiritual sea was swept away clean by the purification system.

Wang Yu, still struggling in pain, instantly regained his self-awareness.

At the same time, a new prompt sound rang by his ear:

【Challenger Prompt: Player dead; continue the game, or return to the Di Zha Village space to enter resurrection cooldown (Painful Painful Minghun traits cannot be used in Immortal state, cannot enter the Newbie Village space)】

The sudden prompt made Wang Yu pause in surprise.

Summoning the attribute panel, he discovered that his health bar on the interface had hit bottom, but a black health bar had appeared.

Huh?!

Even more absurdly, the Spirit Strength attribute changed to 0, but the Physical Constitution attribute increased by nearly one-half.

The top right corner of the attribute panel displayed: Immortal State.

(End of this chapter)