Chapter 918
Chapter 918 - 904: The Twelve-Pillar
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8 min read
How does one acquire cultivation methods from another world?
Do you bludgeon someone and then interrogate them? Spend a lot of money buying them? Or spend time building connections, establishing social relationships, and then seek an apprenticeship....
"I see, that’s really remarkable, could you elaborate a little more...."
Lu Ping’an, simply with the identity of a cultured person (full of holes), under the pretext of gathering material, casually chatted with the Knights and got what he wanted.
"Mr. An Nan, are you from out of town? You haven’t been here long, have you? Planning to settle down nearby..."
If it were just that, Lu Ping’an might have been worried about being suspected and then having his household investigated.
".....I see, your feathers and eyes are as clear as black crystal, indeed not like a local bumpkin. In fact, Kukala City is even more prosperous; I don’t know if you’re interested in developing there? I could be your guide..."
And this "female Knight," overly enthusiastic to the point of continuously swallowing, made Lu Ping’an a bit too uncomfortable to look at her directly.
If it weren’t for the fact that she was quite attractive, he would have really suspected he had encountered a nymphomaniac.... But on second thought, who says attractive people can’t be perverts? So, he sensibly maintained his distance from her.
Lu Ping’an confirmed that the Feather Tribe appearance he had conjured with props must be fairly good.
"It’s mainly the life force... your surging life force, it’s like surpassing the species; it’s considered an exceptional mutation within their ethnic group, the innate biological urge for a superior mate."
"I’ll take what you said seriously."
What Lu Ping’an admired most about Big Cat was that she could always come up with a logically sound reason.... If it weren’t for the fact that the individual opposite him was staring blatantly, occasionally sneaking glances at his lower half when he wasn’t paying attention, he would have believed it!
After declining the dangerous invite from "little brother An Nan (progressing rapidly)" to "come to my place tonight for a lengthy discussion" (mainly because Lu Ping’an was worried he couldn’t resist smashing her head), Lu Ping’an also obtained the information he wanted.
"...It was much simpler than I expected."
Half an hour later, outside of town, a flying dragon species lay on the ground, its red blood pooling all around.
Lu Ping’an, holding a small black cup, casually shook it then raised his hand and drank it all down.
The blood of the Magical Beasts flowed within him, dissolving his restless soul in an instant, yet an even more bizarre and unsettling situation was unfolding.
"...Interesting."
Lu Ping’an could feel that once the "bloodline" left its original body and began to disintegrate within his, then it transformed into a hot stream..... to be precise, supernatural energy in the form of energy was flowing away rapidly and steadily.
𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
"Gourmet? No, it’s not that simple of a thing....."
This was something unthinkable on Earth.
Demons inherently carry contamination and supernatural factors, and there might even be unpredictable Otherworldly factors from the origin; directly ingesting them is almost like seeking death.
But the ability of the "Chef" is to "regulate" or "order" them using their own supernatural traits, amplifying the beneficial parts that can be absorbed and eliminating or rendering harmless the overly aggressive parts.
Even so, the true "nutritional value" of a material, the amount that can be absorbed, won’t exceed 3%, and the amount that can be drawn upon in the long term won’t even exceed 0.01%.
This is an irreplaceable reality, and in Lu Ping’an’s view, it is a "truth" applicable to all worlds.
"....After all, contamination is characterized by ’erosion’ and ’dispersion’; left unattended, it will erode the land and atmosphere, let alone the fragile human body."
Directly drinking or ingesting raw meat from a Magical Beast is most of the time a death-seeking behavior, but now, that Dragon’s blood is not rebelling but rather flowing stably within Lu Ping’an’s body and there’s even a faint sign of absorption.
"It’s somewhat like Piercing, but much more stable..."
Only Fourth-tier professionals above Decree-level would attempt to Cultivate the Four Techniques, also because of the strong erosive nature of the contamination.
These are techniques that play with contamination and supernatural factors; at the same time, they are techniques for coexisting with them, under the premise that you are part of the contamination yourself.
If your resistance isn’t strong enough, any contact could mean the end.... And from the information Lu Ping’an had just gathered, it showed that the local Knights have been swallowing minimally processed beast blood and flesh since childhood, and through special exercises and rituals, they digest it completely, incorporating it into their bloodline.
"...It’s illogical, way too illogical."
If judging by appearances, one could explain it by saying "the contamination here is very inert," but this is "contamination," the incurable cancer of the Multi-universe; how could it be contained by a mere world?
"Even if this world had pink skies, seas of burning Flame, and donuts in the atmosphere, I could understand because this could be the self-defined rules of this world, the World’s Reason of this world, but this is the Multi-universe’s chronic poison, how could it be restricted by a mere natural world..."
If the world isn’t what’s modifying and constraining it, then what could it be?
Lu Ping’an subconsciously shivered, looking up at the sky.
His inspiration was triggered; he faintly understood something.
At this point, if he had enough reason, he should have withdrawn his "overly curious gaze," noted down this inspiration, and resumed whatever he was doing.
At some critical juncture in the future, or when on a divergent path of evolution, this inspiration could be reignited, leading him to new paths, new professions, new specialties, or a new "reality."
But in this moment, Lu Ping’an lacked the patience and had no intention of restraining himself...
"....If I fall, find a place for me to rest. If I die....."
Curiosity, or inspiration, or rather, longing compelled him to look up again, towards the seemingly boundless sky.
The azure sky? Pierced in an instant.
The membrane of the world, woven from silver and black? Ignored.
The clusters of world bubbles, entangled like hinges of numerous worlds? Ha, though grand and eye-opening for Lu Ping’an, they were still not the focus...
He kept looking up, kept gazing higher.
His original black irises had shattered, wrinkles appeared around the silvery white pupils underneath, and even his eye sockets began to bleed, yet he didn’t stop.
Upward, higher, still higher.
The worlds, the universe bubbles, the bizarre ethnic groups, none were the focus of Lu Ping’an’s attention...
Finally, he reached the endpoint, or rather, the endpoint noticed him....
He was seen.
It was a beautiful creature.
She, or he, or rather, it....in any case, it couldn’t possibly be a deity.
For deities seemed too trivial before her, surrounded as she was by countless "Divine Boats"—those beings deemed supreme in mortal eyes, yet all rendered utmost reverence and perfect obedience to her.
Their relationship was like mountains and grains of sand, or the sun and its light.
Her body, composed of fluid blaze, that pure white scorching flow, was one of the "heat sources" in the universe.
She, probably a flying life form, her indeterminate biological appearance settled on "bird" in the moment Lu Ping’an gazed upon her.
"Is this the Twelve-Pillar..."
Under Her wings, countless multiverses and single universes thrived; under Her will, innumerable deities bowed their heads in submission; under Her merciless yet tender gaze, myriad species of mortals in myriad universes existed.
The root of contamination was omnipresent, yet where Her wings reached, that surging and mad "primeval contamination" became "ordered and sluggish," just like....
"....just like everything around me, just like the dragon’s blood in my body."
Lu Ping’an snapped back to reality, the majestic sight having vanished without a trace, and himself, who he thought would pay a heavy price, was left completely unharmed.
Furthermore, he heard the system’s tinkling sounds, as if indicating he had obtained something...
"She, didn’t notice?"
No, Lu Ping’an realized, she did know him, she saw him.
She saw through his truth, saw through his desires, even knew his longing for the "sacrilege" of reality...
So what if she did? Having been there since ancient times, would she do something about a grain of sand just because it noticed the presence of the land?
She protected him, allowed him to see himself, fulfilled his wishes, even indifferent to whether it was her own lineage, because it was meaningless to her....
She was heartless, unable to feel for the lives, species, deities beneath her wings.
She was loving, because she had always safeguarded the myriad beneath her wings.....
"Is this the Twelve-Pillar..."
The same words, yet for Lu Ping’an at this moment, they carried an entirely different emotion.
— End of Chapter 918 —