Chapter 1741
Chapter 1741 - 1737 Life in Circulation
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8 min read
All along, Lu Ping’an’s courtyard adhered to the style of a "modern garden."
A garden, fountains, lakes, statues, towering bank halls, massive ancient trees, and chapels, with greenery everywhere, more suited for leisure and habitation than a vacation resort.
But now, a very peculiar area has emerged behind one of the main hubs of the garden.
It’s a green hatching pool, with countless streams of flesh of various colors circulating upon it, constantly swelling and bursting with pustules. Just being near it, the smell alone is... quite "invigorating."
Lu Ping’an felt a bit numb. He didn’t think this was a normal aesthetic; this thing always reminded him of...
"The hatching pool from StarCraft? You play games too?"
Uh, some of the younger outsiders saw through it immediately.
In a sense, the rule buildings were also projections of Lu Ping’an’s "concept" into reality. If he envisioned blossoming gardens, they would naturally emerge. If he thought of chapels and classical stone monuments, they too would come into being.
"...Uh, maybe I should game a little less."
Previously, the rule buildings were more often direct projections of Lu Ping’an’s "concepts" into the real world.
But in reality, where would there be a pool for hatching organisms? As a result, a recent concept flipped out of his mind, giving rise to this biological hatching pool steeped in Bug Clan aesthetics.
"Whatever, as long as it’s useful."
Lu Ping’an sighed. Once something like this takes shape, it’s challenging to alter it—just like it’s hard to revise the impression of something already cemented in one’s mind... Perhaps when Lu Ping’an next advances, or incorporates some suitable rules, it could change again.
And this form might not entirely be Lu Ping’an’s fault.
"...Feels like indigestion."
Recently, Lu Ping’an had acquired many rule items related to "nurturing life," and most of them were absorbed directly into the courtyard. Many of them became life points and also served as "nutrients" for the hatching pool.
Although a considerable number of points were replenished, compared to Lu Ping’an’s current consumption, it was still far too little.
More than a dozen big shots were cramming things into the library, demanding he study this and that... Many of them were "knowledge" or "secrets," things that were doomed to never directly enhance combat power, yet each of them was ridiculously expensive.
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
But in truth, Lu Ping’an knew these were joyful troubles. Many of these things are absolute non-tradables during normal times; a "newcomer" like Lu Ping’an wouldn’t even qualify to participate in the trade.
This "knowledge" was the true foundation of power. For those in the life system, abnormal abilities were essentially just the crystallization and application of "knowledge."
These were the big shots’ trade secrets, things they wouldn’t even share with their disciples in the past.
But now, as long as it could slightly increase the success rate of the plan, the big shots would bring it all out.
Of course, since they were treasures of the big shots, each was more expensive than the last... while shoring up his own weaknesses, Lu Ping’an also despaired over his dwindling reserves of life points.
He somewhat regretted provoking the God Above Gods that time. The tens of thousands of points lost in that "death" could have revived him a dozen times over and would’ve prevented his current shortfall.
And Lu Ping’an had nearly sold off all his rule-level items... Worth noting is that items produced by Lu Ping’an’s own courtyard wouldn’t accept them. More precisely, the courtyard wouldn’t take rule items that already had "rules."
That was the first time Lu Ping’an realized that even those top-level taboo items followed a "high price on first use, discounts on the second use, and rejection on the third" mechanism in the courtyard.
After all, under normal circumstances, these were treasured items that no one would just casually trade away.
On the flip side, these treasures also added to the foundation of the courtyard and Lu Ping’an, bringing his Land of Rules closer to becoming a genuine Divine Kingdom. Meanwhile, it also set him on the path to the "eleventh-tier."
The more fortified Lu Ping’an’s Divine Kingdom became, the further he drifted from conventional ascension routes... but seeing the eventual downfall of those "Chess God Deities," Lu Ping’an didn’t consider this a bad thing.
"...Wow, so much income!"
But suddenly, the courtyard flooded his vision with notifications, leaving Lu Ping’an stunned.
One point, ten points, a hundred points... an endless wave of small transactions appeared, creating a surge on the screen.
During this process, Lu Ping’an smelled an unusual trend—the trading frequency was too high, and there were a large number of repetitive, similarly valued transactions, as if...
"As if someone is farming fake transactions..."
At that moment, Lu Ping’an understood.
Whether in the local Trading Land or his own courtyard, a massive number of "null traders" had emerged.
However, all of their transaction taxes were maxed out.
The transaction boards, serving as guarantees, were crowded with traders endlessly buying and selling back and forth, purely to pay more taxes... leaving Lu Ping’an a little dumbfounded.
After all, what they were consuming wasn’t just currency but the infinitely more precious "life."
For those who hadn’t stocked up beforehand, it meant a direct deduction from their "lifespan."
"...Why would anyone..." Lu Ping’an was puzzled.
"If you can’t get through this stage, there won’t be a next one."
"Even just a one percent increase... just one year of life, it’s worth it."
"Keep going. Don’t let down those expectations."
Amid the quick collapses of several other programs, the newcomer project of Lu Ping’an grew increasingly viable.
There were no mandates, no orders, yet so many chose to sacrifice willingly.
They did it for Lu Ping’an, for themselves, to defeat the terrifying demons, and to reclaim their beautiful lives.
The courtyard was bustling with movement. Points flowed in and out. Watching the ebb and flow of people, Lu Ping’an fell silent.
Grains of sand build a tower; the tower collapses into sand. Life circulates... His philosophy of life—treating "society" as a living entity—was validated once again.
At this moment, whether it was the "world" or Lu Ping’an’s "self-cognition," he became more certain about the principle of life circulation.
"Perhaps life itself is inherently meaningless... but the brilliance it creates is not. To abandon life is not due to weakness but driven by the desire for more. Even the weak can change their fate through trade..."
He simultaneously validated "Life will give up its life when necessary," "For intelligent life, many things—such as the lives of others—are more important than one’s own," and similar "hidden rules."
He gained a deeper "understanding" of the principle of life.
Perhaps, those Ten Thousand Spirits that supposedly existed in the void shared the same alignment with his father-in-law.
Unknowingly, he had taken another step forward. Perhaps he was merely the birth of a newborn away from reaching the true ninth-order Quasi-Divine tier.
Thus, a massive amount of life points was poured into the pool.
Lu Ping’an’s "plan" was elevated again, as the essence of life points became clearer—a value within life concepts poised to transcend. Its ineffable potential to break through tiers made it all the more precious.
"Can’t buy it? Can’t make it? Spend more!"
With a simple accumulation of life points, numerical increases could lead to qualitative change. At this moment, this "transcendent concept" became exceptionally invaluable.
Vast quantities of Dragon-Snake blood and meat were thrown in, countless precious materials hurled down—a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand... twenty thousand life points were funneled into the pool, which continued its serene "breathing," as though the infant within was not yet ready.
So, he poured in more.
Twenty-one thousand, more treasures, more Dragon-Snake blood and meat, thirty thousand points, rule-tier weapons and equipment, the essence of Fishman and other extraordinary lords... no matter how much poured in, it absorbed everything.
Finally, just as Lu Ping’an began doubting if he’d taken the wrong path—if this was a dead end—the hatching pool cracked open, and the newborn began to emerge.
— End of Chapter 1741 —