Chapter 446: Chapter 444 Tai Yi (Seeking Monthly Pass at the End of the Month)_1
Jing Yi, as a Golden Core direct disciple and someone who lived in a district populated by cultivators, rarely lived in the steel-concrete cyber city. Hence, his understanding of society’s dark side was insufficient.
For example... he was unaware of the existence of a ’dark web’ beneath the virtual net.
Fang Xi discarded Zhang Huohua’s glasses terminal and picked up the unregistered port helmet he had purchased on the black market, placing it on his head.
Then, his Divine Consciousness, as if touching something, turned into a fish, swimming through numerous virtual networks and then, with a light leap, entered an abyss.
"Welcome to Bliss Space!"
A mechanical voice sounded in Fang Xi’s ear.
At this moment, he had transformed into a figure wearing a cloak and a green mask.
Not far away, neon lights shone brightly in all colors, and the beat of heavy metal music from a street bar struck the air.
Men and women with half or entirely bare bodies walked by without any reservations, flirting and cursing at each other.
Among them were several pseudo-human creatures with fox tails or cat ears... each acting provocatively and seductively.
Not far away, a sultry leopard woman was dancing sensually around a steel pole...
If Fang Xi weren’t preoccupied, he would certainly go and have a nice chat with them.
’Grand Cloud Virtual Consciousness Upload System—Bliss Space... Here, you don’t even know whether the fox woman opposite you is a person or a dog... Actually, if you encounter a dog, you should consider yourself lucky, because it could also be AI...’
’Hmm, without cultivating Divine Consciousness, it’s very easy to get confused here, unable to distinguish the boundary between reality and virtuality... This seems to be a specific illness outside, known as ’Bliss Comprehensive Mental Syndrome’...’
’Seeking sensory stimuli is just the most basic feature of Bliss Space... Here, countless black market deals and crimes occur every moment... Doesn’t the Fang Immortal Taoist Palace care about this? Or can’t they manage it any longer?’
Fang Xi casually picked up a drink that shone like a rainbow from a passing waiter’s tray and poured it directly onto his mask.
Sizzle!
His mask split open on the left and right, growing sharp teeth, and a remarkably long tongue stretched out, sweeping the drink and the cup into it.
Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy... the various flavors swirled rapidly in his mouth, and then condensed into one word!
"Refreshing!"
Fang Xi opened his mouth again, and a burst of flames spewed out.
"Mask Split Face Monster... What kind of template did Zhang Huohua choose... what, there’s even a Demon Clan template, oh, then it’s fine..."
Fang Xi moved forward, occasionally freeloaded some delicacies and drinks, then suddenly turned into a filthy alley full of dirty sewage pipes.
When he reached the end, a hidden moon symbol appeared on the left side.
He tapped on it lightly a few times, and the vibrations spread with a strange rhythm.
A wall opened rapidly, revealing a man with lips full of studs clad in black leather armor: "May the night protect you..."
"May the Dark Moon descend..." Fang Xi answered with a rasp in his voice.
"Come in!"
The man stepped aside, and Fang Xi entered. Immediately, the surroundings became virtual, and numerous green data streams surged out, forming another passage.
When he reached the end, he arrived at a church.
A black moon hung in the center as a sort of emblem.
On the prayer benches on both sides, robed figures sat sparsely, some whispering something to each other...
Looking at these people, Fang Xi suddenly felt as if he had come home.
’They are all Demon Cultivators... This is the real deal!’
’Hmm, to avoid being wiped out in one sweep, only Zhang Huohua’s immediate superior knows his identity... Theoretically, as long as I take out this superior and all the managers of the followers—the ’Dark Moon Sect Master’, there should be no possibility of leaking secrets...’
Fang Xi thought to himself and before long saw a red-robed cultivator approaching.
He had a high nose and azure blue eyes and clutched a Dark Moon pendant in his hand: "My child, you have arrived..."
"Preacher, I have come."
Fang Xi replied with a cold face and followed the line Father modeled after an online missionary into a confessional.
The confessional appeared extremely narrow from the outside, but upon entering, one would discover that the space inside was like a palace, opulently decorated.
"Here, our conversations are double encrypted... ensuring that we won’t be overheard by the virtual net guardians of the Fang Immortal Taoist Palace..."
The preacher lay casually on the sofa, looking relaxed and comfortable: "But before that... Blood Sacrifice to the Blood Demon, Bone Offering to the Bone Demon."
The preacher’s expression became serious as he formed a strange hand seal.
"The Spirit of the Immortals is weak, the Sky Demon Ascends!"
Fang Xi also formed a hand seal, looking very unhappy.
Because upon uttering the slogan, it acted like a key, allowing the preacher to exploit his network vulnerability, activate the room’s camera, and see his current location and surroundings...
"Speak, why do you do this, you should know, by doing this I am taking the risk of being exposed, don’t you know how powerful the firewalls of Fang Immortal University are?"
Fang Xi said with a bad look on his face.
"Sigh... because recently a few cultivators, disguising as one of our own, deceived us out of the core data of ’Dark Moon Demon Skills,’ The Sect Master is furious... A strict investigation is inevitable..."
The clergy explained.
"I don’t cultivate Demon Skills anyway," Fang Xi continued to complain, perfectly mimicking Zhang Huohua’s character.
Those cultivators who accept transformation by Demon Qi to convert to the Demon Path, generally cannot pass through the security gates of the Nine States Realm, and so they mostly mingle in the wilderness, merely serving as cannon fodder for the arrival of the Moon Demon.
Zhang Huohua barely counted as a high-level undercover agent, not cultivating Demon Skills, but was controlled by a secret prohibition planted within him.
Among the Dark Moon Sect, the truly formidable characters purportedly possess secret methods to completely conceal their Demon Qi, maintaining public identities within the Nine States Realm, and possibly even being some important figures.
"Have you found out who it is?"
Fang Xi pursued with another question.
"We found out, it’s the lunatics from Sky Green Academy, claiming they want to research the conversion of Demon Skills, retaining Divine Skills while modifying Demon Skills to absorb spiritual energy for cultivation... That’s, that’s just wanting a free ride!"
The clergy cursed out of anger, but perhaps also out of envy.
The Demon Clan’s legitimate cultivation methods naturally involve absorbing Demon Qi for cultivation.
But Fang Xi thought of the human race Demon Cultivators in the cultivation world of the South Wilderness, like himself, who also absorb spiritual energy, clearly practicing modified cultivation techniques.
No matter whether they were modified beyond recognition or not... at least they were still valid for cultivation and retained quite a few Secret Demon Path Divine Skills!
’This approach is not wrong... As expected, cultivators are a bunch of freeloaders, wanting the benefits of the powerful and rapidly advancing Demon Skills, without the constraints of the Demon Clan...’
’Children make choices, adults want it all... The clergies are just like that, could it be out of envy because they can’t have it...’
Fang Xi thought amusingly to himself.
"By the way, you mentioned last time that you needed those Trojan Horses to train newcomers. How is that going? Have you found your targets?"
The clergy didn’t dwell on the matter of Sky Green Academy, changing the subject with their question.
"I’ve found a few suitable targets and need support..."
Fang Xi’s expression turned serious.
In fact, his visit this time wasn’t to silence anyone, but like Sky Green Academy’s purpose, it was also to freeload resources from the Dark Moon Sect...
"Oh, what kind of support?" The clergy asked, already having a bad feeling.
"Spirit Root Optimizing Liquid, at least two standard portions!"
Fang Xi stated, "With it, I’m confident I can draw an outstanding student from Fang Immortal University into our camp..."
"Spirit Root Optimizing Liquid?! That’s a controlled resource, not easy to get... and now many manufacturers have ceased producing it, as it’s too costly and offers minimal improvement. It’s been listed by Fang Immortal Taoist Palace under ’high energy consumption, low output’ industries, without subsidies, and even subject to heavy taxation... Nowadays, only some private laboratories still occasionally work on it..."
The clergy looked at Fang Xi doubtfully.
But Fang Xi met his gaze defiantly, "You know... my Spiritual Root has long been of superior quality. ’Spirit Root Optimizing Liquid’ can only upgrade a person without any aptitude into a lower-grade Spiritual Root, or refine a lower-grade to a middle-grade Spiritual Root. It’s of no use to me anymore... If it wasn’t for the fact that the exceptional talents of Fang Immortal University have no need for such Spiritual Liquid and it isn’t available through credit exchange, why would I come to you?"
"That makes sense. Such optimizing liquid is always circulating on the black market. I’ll keep an eye out for you and secure it when I can..."
After some thought, the clergy ultimately agreed.
...
"Good... now to wait for the Dark Moon Sect to deliver right to our doorstep."
Inside the Flying Fairy Pavilion Dongfu.
The area of five hundred square meters was already enough for Fang Xi to enjoy life.
Ever since he contacted the sect and received support, he started living a diligent college student’s life - attending classes on time and soaking up knowledge in the online library.
For Fang Xi, catching up to Zhang Huohua’s academic progress and surpassing him was not difficult at all.
But to fully understand and extract the essence of the cultivation civilization of the Nine States Realm to make it his own was a considerably difficult task.
’Sigh... Modern science is so specialized that one person’s effort is simply not enough to learn everything.’
’Now, even for a Nascent Soul cultivator, it’s extremely difficult to fully master this cultivation technology...’
Fang Xi held an ancient tome and strolled under the shady trees on campus.
He hadn’t felt this relaxed and content in a long time.
In his hands was a book titled "On the Evolution and Changes of AI Strong Intelligence"!
Initially, Fang Xi wanted to study Origin Soul tools and the chart of Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, thinking of earning a graduate or doctorate degree on the side.
But after dabbling slightly, he soon helplessly realized that his energy was limited, making it nearly impossible to learn everything thoroughly.
But cultivators are adept at leveraging external aids!
’If my brain isn’t enough, I could borrow one to use...’
’I’ve heard that some modified humans can continuously load additional chips and processors into their brains... I don’t need to do that; I just need to create an artificial intelligence of my own, then let it study, and isn’t that like reaping the benefits without working for it?’
Fang Xi silently applauded his cleverness and even came up with a name for the AI – ’Tai Yi’!
’In the future, the artifact equipped with artificial intelligence will be called – Taiyi Sutra!’