Chapter 1191: 100% Success Rate
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Huang Tufu's elevation took almost two and a half hours to complete.
Mr. Fu was finally relieved to see the Godhead in Huang Tufu's body being formed.
Although he was upset that Huang Tufu had called him short and old, he was merely giving him attitude so that Huang Tufu would watch his mouth in the future. Although he teased Huang Tufu about knowing how much hair he had on his body, Mr. Fu was giving it his all throughout the process of elevation as he did not want any mistakes to happen.
After all, it had something to do with Huang Tufu's future and destiny. As soon as it failed, Huang Tufu's cultivation base could be destroyed or worse, he could die from the explosion.
Huang Tufu was on cloud nine when his Godhead solidified successfully. He could clearly feel that his body and soul being transformed.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Mr. Fu had retreated ten meters away with his legs crossed to replenish his lost energy by refining Divine Stones. Huang Tufu thanked him immediately, "Thank you, Mr. Fu, for helping me to get to virtual god-level!"
Mr. Fu opened his eyes to peek at him. "Stay there quietly. Don't disturb me replenishing my Divine Power."
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll shut up." Huang Tufu covered his mouth and stayed where he was obediently. He quieted down his mind to observe the transformation in his body.
Although Mr. Fu and the other two did not get out of the God Territory, Lin Huang heard the news from Bloody as soon as the elevation ended. He found out that Huang Tufu's elevation was completed successfully. He had elevated from demigod-level to Virtual God rank-1!
In the Emperor's Palace, Lin Huang was finally relieved.
The 97.1% success rate that Bloody told him about before was just data in theory. They would only find out if the plan worked when it was carried out in reality. After all, the denotation of a broken Godhead was crazy enough when one heard about it. Now that Huang Tufu's elevation was successful, it finally proved that Bloody's simulation worked and that the solution that she came up with was viable.
Approximately over an hour later, Mr. Fu finally opened his eyes since the replenishment of his Divine Power was done.
Seeing that Huang Tufu's body transformation had yet to be done, he did not chase him out of his God Territory. Instead, he leaped and appeared in the courtyard.
"The buff guy has completed his elevation and his body is still in the midst of transformation. Who'll be the second one?" Mr. Fu glanced at the remaining four demigods since Huang Tianfu and Huang Wunan were absent.
"Me!" A muscular hunk who was even more muscular than Huang Tufu was the first to raise his hand.
"Pick me!" A girl with short hair who was rather tiny jumped up almost at the same time.
Mr. Fu looked at both of them carefully. "The lady goes first then. You'll be next, buff guy. The rest of you will discuss the sequence. Don't waste any time. I'd like to have a good rest during New Year's Eve."
Mr. Fu waved his sleeve again as soon as he was done speaking, and the short-haired girl disappeared from where she was directly. Mr. Fu too disappeared subsequently.
The girl saw Huang Tufu who was sitting with his legs crossed as soon as she was dragged into the God Territory. She clearly sensed that his aura was indeed on virtual god-level. While she was anxious before, she was now excited.
"It really works!"
Naturally, Mr. Fu noticed her change of emotions but he ignored that. He glimpsed at Huang Tufu who was still in mid-transformation and then spoke to the girl, "I'll send all of you out of my God Territory as soon as your Godhead is formed. You guys might interfere with the process and affect the others' elevation success rate if all of you stay in my God Territory. You guys can complete the body and soul transformation in the courtyard later."
The girl nodded. "Understood."
"Alright, calm down. Sit with your legs crossed and close your eyes. Begin activating your Godhead when you're ready. Leave the rest to me." Mr. Fu began to delve into the entire process since he had practiced it on Huang Tufu earlier.
The girl soon went into the zone and began activating her Godhead. Mr. Fu then began the first step.
Time flew by and two hours passed. The short-haired girl's forming of her Godhead was slightly faster than Huang Tufu. Naturally, she shrieked much louder than him throughout the process. Even Huang Tufu, whose body was undergoing the transformation, was woken by her screams.
Initially, he was confused about where the girl's screams were coming out of nowhere. He thought somebody was bullying a girl and was going to criticize the bully on instinct. However, when he opened his eyes, he realized that it was Mr. Fu elevating the short-haired girl. He covered his mouth immediately in fear that he might say something offensive again.
Bloody turned to Huang Tufu with a grin. Seeing him look at her, she gestured him to keep quiet.
Huang Tufu nodded and sat where he was without daring to move. He knew that it was a critical moment when the short-haired girl was consolidating her Godhead. He dared not do anything to distract Mr. Fu.
The short-haired girl's elevation was very successful as well. She triumphantly consolidated her Godhead within two hours.
Before she managed to extend her gratitude, Mr. Fu flicked his sleeve, sending her and Huang Tufu out of his God Territory.
Much to the excitement of the rest, they noticed that the duo's combat strength had changed as soon as they were sent out.
The short-haired girl's body was still changing while Huang Tufu had finished his transformation. The people then gathered around him to ask all sorts of questions.
After sending both of them out, Mr. Fu took an hour to rest and stepped out of his God Territory again.
"Buff guy, you'll be the third one." This time, Mr. Fu did not waste even a second. He waved his hand and took the muscular guy into his God Territory.
Since the muscular guy, another two demigods underwent successful elevation. Huang Tufu got Huang Tianfu and Huang Wunan to be there immediately.
The duo waited for Mr. Fu's Divine Power to recover in the courtyard. They then went into the God Territory one after another.
They took a slightly longer time, only completing the elevation almost three hours later.
After 28 hours, all seven perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses in Dynasty had elevated to Virtual God rank-1.
The success rate was 100%!
Huang Baiyu and Huang Haoyang were thrilled to witness the success of the seven. Although the success rate for them would be slightly lower, they were encouraged by the continuous success for Huang Tianfu and the rest.
Even Mr. Fu himself was confident since he was getting more and more familiar with the process after performing it seven times consecutively.
After Huang Tianfu was elevated, Mr. Fu rested for more than three hours. He only stepped out of his God Territory when he had rested enough to perform at his peak.
He glanced at Huang Baiyu and Huang Haoyang, finally setting his eyes on the latter. "You're on Virtual God rank-2, so your success rate is slightly higher than his. You'll be the first."
Huang Haoyang nodded. "As you wish."
Mr. Fu flicked his sleeve, then Huang Haoyang disappeared. Mr. Fu's body faded slowly almost at the same time…
Chapter 1192: Huang Haoyang's Unique Godhead
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In reality, the conversion of Godheads required similar steps to consolidating broken Godheads.
To put it simply, it was just detonating the Godhead and piecing it back together to consolidate a new Godhead.
The difference was that the difficulty of detonating a complete Godhead was even higher. The energy that was released from the broken Godhead was even higher and much more difficult to control.
However, the two differences alone had spiked the difficulty for Mr. Fu who was the controller.
"Calm your emotions down. Don't rush it. After all, there's no difference if the conversion is done earlier or later. Sit down with your legs crossed and close your eyes when your body has stabilized. Control the Godhead in your body and activate it as usual. Leave the rest to me," Mr. Fu said to Huang Haoyang, "Just follow what I say after that and don't hesitate."
"Got it." Huang Haoyang nodded and began to adjust his breathing. His anxiety began melting after a few deep breaths and his heartbeat that had been racing was now normal.
After confirming that his body was alright, Huang Haoyang sat down with his legs crossed. He then nodded at Mr. Fu. "I'm ready."
In reality, Mr. Fu had been scanning Huang Haoyang's body with his Divine Telekinesis. He sat across Huang Haoyang calmly after confirming that he was relaxed and everything in his body was fine.
At that moment, Huang Haoyang closed his eyes and began activating the Godhead in his body.
Mr. Fu extended his palm and pressed it against Huang Haoyang's chest. Golden Divine Power began penetrating Huang Haoyang's body, going toward his Godhead.
This time, the penetration alone took over four hours. The Godhead in Huang Haoyang's body was filled after that.
Mr. Fu released a long sigh after confirming that the Godhead was full. The first step he took with Huang Haoyang alone was longer than the entire elevation process for Huang Tianfu and the rest.
Since the first step was completed, Mr. Fu began applying high pressure and high temperature on Huang Haoyang's Godhead.
At that point, Bloody advised, "Use four times higher pressure and temperature first and adjust it later."
Mr. Fu said nothing. In reality, Bloody had told him about this step before, but she was emphasizing it again.
After applying four times more pressure and temperature compared to what he did with Huang Tianfu and the rest, Mr. Fu and Bloody observed the changes in Huang Haoyang's Godhead.
A moment later, Bloody spoke again, "Four times isn't enough. Make it five!"
Mr. Fu did as she said immediately.
Less than a minute had passed before Bloody frowned slightly. "Make it seven!"
"Are you sure? You only did a little more than four times in your simulation," Mr. Fu could not help but ask through voice transmission.
"I missed out the Godhead's attribution in the simulation because most attributes won't affect the process. However, the Godhead that he's refined seems to be a little more unique. If I'm not mistaken, this is a Godhead that was born with a fire attribute. It has a high resistance to high temperatures. We have to increase the temperature and pressure to detonate the Godhead. There's no other way," Bloody explained helplessly.
"But if that's the case, even if the explosion happens, the impact of the explosion will surpass our expectations by heaps. The impact on his body and soul will be a few times more." Mr. Fu was already considering giving up.
"Indeed, his survival rate will drop to 21.7% and the success rate will be less than 18%." Bloody frowned deeply. "Unless there's an outlet for the extra energy coming from the explosion."
"Why don't we stop it now? The failure rate will be high if this goes on," Mr. Fu advised.
"I've an idea. I'll get Master to absorb the extra energy." Bloody thought of an idea all of a sudden.
"Lin Huang? We're dealing with Divine Power here. Moreover, the Divine Power coming from such a high pressured explosion in Huang Haoyang's body might be like being attacked by a Virtual God rank-4 powerhouse." Mr. Fu could not understand why Bloody would suggest such a bad idea at such a time.
"Don't worry about it. Master can even refine a Virtual God rank-9 Godhead. However, indeed, we need to ask Huang Haoyang's opinion first and see if he wants to proceed." Bloody then explained the current situation to Huang Haoyang through voice transmission.
"Less than an 18% success rate?" Even Huang Haoyang was stunned to hear that. He then asked subsequently, "What if Master Emperor absorbs the extra energy? Will the success rate increase a little?"
"It depends on his absorption rate and the duration of which your body and soul can take the impact, but it's definitely higher than 18%." Bloody did not provide an exact value. "But you can give up temporarily. I'll spend some time building a model based on your body's data. Then, I'll perform the simulation again and see if I can find another way to get a higher success rate."
Huang Haoyang fell into silence for a moment and made up his mind. "Go on then. After all, this is caused by the unique Godhead attribute in my body. You might not be able to find a way to raise the success rate with the simulation."
"Indeed, I might not be able to find a way," Bloody admitted while nodding. She only found a way after more than a million simulations earlier. It was even more difficult for her to improve it from the foundation. "Then, I'll get Master here."
It was five in the morning at the moment. The sky was still dark since it was winter in Emperor City.
Lin Huang, who was in a deep sleep, was awakened by Bloody. He sat up immediately and appeared in Mr. Fu's courtyard in a flash after hearing Bloody's explanation.
Huang Tianfu and the rest had left Mr. Fu's courtyard much earlier while Huang Baiyu was the only one who stayed. He was stunned to see Lin Huang's appearance in his pajamas at such a time.
However, Mr. Fu dragged Lin Huang into his God Territory in the next second.
Huang Baiyu's pupils shrunk a little. "Did something happen to Haoyang?!"
Lin Huang rushed over in his pajamas and he was dragged into Mr. Fu's God Territory as soon as he arrived. Huang Baiyu knew something must have happened to Huang Haoyang even if he had to think with his toes. He began to worry.
As Lin Huang was dragged into the God Territory, Bloody narrated exactly what happened to him quickly.
"Got it. Leave the absorbing of the extra energy to me," Lin Huang agreed without hesitation.
Mr. Fu began adding pressure and temperature into the Godhead in Huang Haoyang's body. He raised the intensity from five to seven times.
However, Bloody urged again approximately a minute later, "Eight times!"
This time, Mr. Fu had no doubts and raised the pressure and temperature by eight times.
Approximately three minutes later, Bloody spoke again, "Raise the pressure to 8.5 times and the temperature to 12 times!"
"Are you sure about that?" Mr. Fu asked.
"I'm sure!"
Mr. Fu did as he was ordered right after he received the confirmation.
Around three minutes later, she instructed, "Maintan the same amount of pressure and raise the temperature to 18 times!"
"Ahh!" Huang Haoyang's veins were bulging from the pain while his gums were bleeding from all the clenching.
"You must remain awake no matter how painful it is. Otherwise, you'll waste all the efforts," Bloody said to Huang Haoyang through voice transmission.
Huang Haoyang's eyes were all bloodshot with red veins. He panted hard while nodding at Bloody. He had no more strength to speak.
Time crawled by. Finally, Bloody did not order to increase the temperature any further, much to Mr. Fu's relief.
The next three hours were complete torture for Huang Haoyang. The immense pain almost crushed his consciousness, but his strong will gave him the strength to hold on to it.
The bloody red Godhead in his body was reaching the brink of explosion.
"Master, press your palm to his back. You'll have to absorb the Divine Power as soon as the Godhead explodes later. You can only stop when I ask you to," Bloody said to Lin Huang.
Lin Huang nodded and walked to Huang Haoyang. He then sat behind him with his legs crossed and pressed both of his palms on his back.
Bloody then turned his head to Huang Haoyang. "It all depends on you now. Detonate the Godhead when it's almost exploding. Don't do it prematurely. When it explodes, summon a soul-type god relic to protect your soul immediately. You must bear the impact alive!"
Huang Haoyang panted while nodding hard.
A moment later, the bloody Godhead finally reached its brink of exploding. Barely holding on, Huang Haoyang detonated it, and it exploded.
Red sparks shot out, illuminating his inner world. The red Divine Power that ignited spread towards all directions.
Right at that moment, Lin Huang absorbed the spreading Divine Power.
With Lin Huang as the outlet, the sea of bloody Divine Power rushed into his body like a broken dam.
The ten Divine Fires in his body absorbed all of the scorching red Divine Power, sharing the same amount of power among themselves. Lin Huang noticed this and increased the strength of absorption immediately.
With him absorbing the Divine Power, the pressure in Huang Haoyang's body was lifted.
However, the explosion impacted his body and soul. His soul was injured from the first round of impact. He was dying from the consecutive impacts while his soul was shaking.
Even though he had a soul-type god relic protecting his soul, his body and soul were weaker than an ordinary Virtual God rank-2 powerhouses. He could not bear the impact that was on par with a Virtual God rank-4's attack.
Naturally, Lin Huang noticed the changes in Huang Haoyang's body. Seeing that his soul was being crushed, an idea popped into his head. He released Divine Fire to fill Huang Haoyang's body directly.
The ten Divine Fires were like ten fire dragons rushing into Huang Haoyang's body. They began absorbing the bloody Divine Power as much as they could.
One of them even rushed up in front of Huang Haoyang's soul and blocked the impact.
The Divine Fire dragons danced in Huang Haoyang's body for less than a minute, and almost half of the Divine Power in his body was taken away.
Three minutes later, there was less than a tenth of Divine Power in his body.
Bloody told Lin Huang to stop upon noticing that, "You have to stop. If your Divine Fire proceeds to absorb the Divine Power, he can't consolidate his Godhead."
Lin Huang recalled his Divine Fire immediately.
Meanwhile, a bloody, gravel-sized Godhead was formed in the middle of the explosion point in Huang Haoyang's body. The bloody Divine Power around it turned into a gigantic bloody whirlpool and penetrated the gravel…
Chapter 1193: Conversion Completed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Thinking that death was a sure thing, Huang Haoyang did not expect Lin Huang to summon ten fire dragons. Lin Huang pulled him away from the brink of death and allowed him to reconsolidate his Godhead.
He had no idea that the fire dragons were made of Divine Fire. He thought it was some technique that Lin Huang had executed.
He was also unaware of was that if not for Lin Huang, he would have exploded and died much earlier if another Virtual God had helped him instead.
Seeing that Huang Haoyang's aura had stabilized and that he began using the Divine Power from his transformation to recover his body and soul, Mr. Fu waved his hand and sent him out of the God Territory.
"Divine Fire… You sure have many secrets!" On the other hand, Mr. Fu saw that Lin Huang was using Divine Fire.
"I was lucky to obtain it unintentionally," Lin Huang admitted while smiling bashfully.
"No wonder Bloody told me that you can even refine a Virtual god rank-9 Godhead." Mr. Fu thought of something all of a sudden. "You told me that you were going to use Godhead as the foundation of imperial-level before. Did you really do that?"
Lin Huang had mentioned this when he had a phone call with Mr. Fu before elevating to imperial-level. However, since he only mentioned it casually, Mr. Fu did not take it seriously. Nonetheless, upon seeing there was Divine Fire in Lin Huang's body now, Mr. Fu figured Lin Huang might have really done it.
"Yes."
Seeing that Lin Huang admitted that with a nod, Mr. Fu proceeded to ask, "So, how did you elevate to imperial-level?"
"By refining more Godheads," Lin Huang answered.
"So, what happens when you elevate to virtual god-level?" Mr. Fu was a little puzzled.
"I'm not too sure at the moment, but theoretically, I shouldn't be able to elevate further when my Life Palace reaches the peak. I think I'll have to convert my Godhead," Lin Huang explained, "But I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do it exactly. I'll figure it out then."
"You're being too reckless! You should consider the consequences before doing it." Mr. Fu frowned, thinking that what Lin Huang had done was too risky.
"Don't worry about me. There are countless types of cultivation methods in the great world. I'll look around as much as I can. I'll definitely find a way to elevate to virtual god-level by then." Lin Huang was not in a rush at all, and he did not think that he had made a mistake.
"Take a rest, Mr. Fu. It's New Year's Eve tomorrow. I think it'll take a long time to convert Huang Baiyu's Godhead too." Bloody helped to divert the subject at that second.
"What time is it now?" Mr. Fu lifted his head to ask Lin Huang.
"It's already 8.30 a.m.," Lin Huang said after checking the time.
Mr. Fu said nothing more. He took out a Divine Stone again and replenished his Divine Power after shutting his eyes.
As he was not sure if Huang Baiyu needed any help with the conversion, Lin Huang could only wait in the God Territory. He began chatting with Bloody through voice transmission because he was bored. He asked about Huang Tianfu and the rest's elevation.
Meanwhile, Huang Baiyu was relieved to see Huang Haoyang appearing in Mr. Fu's courtyard, looking fine while his combat strength remained on Virtual God rank-2.
Huang Haoyang only opened his eyes slowly four to five hours later.
"What happened earlier? I saw the Emperor going into the God Territory," Huang Baiyu asked immediately.
"You can't even imagine it. The Godhead that I refined is born with a fire attribute. I almost died from that, dude! Can you believe that the gigantic fire dragons the Master Emperor summoned are a 10,000 feet long each? They can suck the bloody Divine Power in my body into their dragon stomachs like an inverted tornado. It's as easy as slurping noodles to them…"
Huang Haoyang suddenly had an urge to boast when he saw his old friend Huang Baiyu. Huang Baiyu was stunned to hear him describe the entire process exaggeratedly
This time, Mr. Fu took almost six hours to finally replenish his Divine Power. He spent another hour to settle down before standing up to pull the last person, Huang Baiyu, into his God Territory.
Huang Baiyu was a little anxious at first. However, he was relieved to see Lin Huang there. After all, Huang Haoyang had boasted that Lin Huang was a Godsent from heaven.
"Calm down. Sit with your legs crossed and quiet your mind with your eyes closed. Begin activating your Godhead after settling down." Mr. Fu was at ease since he had the experience of handling Huang Haoyang earlier.
Huang Baiyu did as he was ordered and Mr. Fu went into the zone immediately.
Huang Baiyu's Godhead took seven hours of channeling Mr. Fu's Divine Power to be completely filled. By then, they reached the second step.
"Use six times of high temperature and high pressure first." Bloody was guiding Mr. Fu by the side.
Mr. Fu controlled his Divine Power to increase the temperature and pressure right away.
Bloody spoke again a moment later, "Seven times."
Mr. Fu made a slight adjustment immediately.
"7.5 times!"
Mr. Fu did as he was ordered.
"7.8 times!"
Mr. Fu did as he was ordered again. With his prior experience, he knew that there was no need for him to doubt Bloody's estimation.
"Alright, maintain this." Bloody finally nodded as she observed the minor changes in the Godhead in Huang Baiyu's body with Divine Telekinesis. However, she frowned a little.
"Although his Godhead is Virtual God rank-3, in reality, it's close to Virtual God rank-4. The impact of the explosion will definitely be more intense than we expected. We might need to get Master to absorb the Divine Power again," Bloody said to Mr. Fu and Lin Huang through voice transmission.
The Divine Power at the high temperature and pressure had been penetrating the Godhead for seven hours until Huang Baiyu's Godhead finally reached the brink of explosion.
After hearing Bloody's instructions, Lin Huang sat behind Huang Baiyu with his legs crossed easily while pressing both palms on his back.
A moment later, the Godhead in Huang Baiyu's body exploded. Endless white sparks flew out as insane Divine Power that exceeded their expectations spread out.
Lin Huang summoned all ten of his Divine Fires to suppress that. Ten fire dragons entered Huang Baiyu's body rapidly, spreading out toward all directions and absorbing the immense Divine Power.
Soon, ten gigantic inverted tornadoes appeared in Huang Baiyu's body one after another.
Each gigantic dragon was absorbing the sea of Divine Power like a whale guzzling water.
The riled up Divine Power that even Mr. Fu could do nothing about was suppressed within one to two minutes.
Huang Baiyu's soul was protected behind a gigantic fire dragon since the beginning, so it suffered almost zero impact.
Bloody called off the absorption of the Divine Power after it went on for almost four minutes. "Alright, he can consolidate the Godhead as usual now."
Lin Huang then recalled the Divine Fire back into his body.
Reluctantly, a couple of Divine Fire dragons peered hungrily in the direction where Huang Baiyu's Godhead was forming before they left. They wanted more.
As the ten Divine Fire dragons retreated from Huang Baiyu's body, his inner world finally recovered its peace. A massive white whirlpool formed in the middle where the Godhead was. White gravel was quickly appearing in the core of the whirlpool at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.
Chapter 1194: Sticky Rice Cake
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was almost six in the morning when Mr. Fu sent Huang Baiyu out of his God Territory.
Lin Huang, Bloody and Mr. Fu walked out of the God Territory right after that.
Mr. Fu let out a long sigh upon seeing the sun that had just risen from the horizon far away. "It's the New Year. Ah, I can finally take a good rest."
"Rest well, Master. I'll visit you at lunch with Xin Er," Lin Huang suggested.
"Alright then, I'll take a nap. I've been really exhausted throughout these few days. It's been over 800 years since I last drained my Divine Power like this," Mr. Fu confessed with a slight smile.
Lin Huang glanced at Huang Baiyu. He carried him and walked towards Lin Xin's compound next door with Bloody.
As they departed, Mr. Fu lifted his head and looked at the sun far away. He smirked. "It's a new year!"
After watching them for a while, he then turned around and walked towards the loft behind him with his hands behind his back.
Initially, Lin Huang thought he would be able to rest during the last few days at the end of the year. Never had he thought he would be dragged into being a slave and miss guarding the year with Lin Xin.
She was still sleeping when they arrived at her compound. Lin Huang did not wake her. Instead, he put Huang Baiyu down in a small pavilion in the courtyard and sat on the stone stool.
Bloody walked to the stone stool across him and sat down.
"Judging from Huang Baiyu's conversion earlier, I think Virtual God rank-3 is the limit of the solution. If it were Virtual God rank-4, I'm afraid it'd be difficult even for Mr. Fu to detonate the Godhead," Lin Huang told Bloody.
"It'll still work, but the controller might have to be a true god-level powerhouse when handling Virtual Gods above Virtual God rank-4." Bloody thought about and explained, "But, indeed, there are many uncertainties for Godheads that are obtained from other sources. It's very hard to figure what oddity some Godheads might have before the process begins. Even the refiners themselves are unsure of the Godheads that they've refined. Just like Huang Haoyang who underwent the conversion before Huang Baiyu, even he had no idea that he refined a Godhead with fire attribute."
"I think if Mr. Fu really wants to make this into a business, it's best not to take virtual god-level powerhouses in. He can only do it for demigods," Bloody could not help but suggest, "After all, the success rate is already so low. If he encounters those with problematic Godheads like Huang Haoyang's, death is almost guaranteed."
"I was just thinking about that," Lin Huang responded, "I really hope there are more virtual god-level powerhouses in this gravel world, and the more powerful they are, the better. However, the success rate is an issue. Also, the conversion is quite a burden to master. On the other hand, elevating demigods have a high success rate and it's easier for him."
"We can tell the people that we've only found a way to elevate demigods to Virtual Gods, but we haven't found a way to convert a Virtual God's Godhead." Lin Huang came up with a plan.
Since Lin Xin was still sleeping after speaking to Bloody, Lin Huang thought of bringing Bloody out of Dynasty's headquarters. They went to the fat lady's dumpling stall for breakfast.
The fat lady and uncle were still the same, busy working in the stall.
The fat uncle saw Lin Huang's familiar face, so he greeted him with a wide grin immediately. The fat lady's temptation to pry burned strongly when she saw Bloody.
"Master Emperor, have you brought a girl to our dumpling stall today? This lady is so pretty! Master Emperor, I don't mean to be offensive, but you should bring such a beautiful lady to a higher-end restaurant."
"Aunty, your stall is pretty high-end. Look around you, which stall within 20 miles has a longer queue than yours every morning?" Lin Huang teased.
The uncle continued with a grin, "That's right. What's wrong with dumplings? Our dumplings are one-of-a-kind in Emperor City. How are we not a high-end restaurant?"
The lady narrowed her eyes until there were only two slits as she spoke, "A man is always lying with his lips! The sweeter the things he says, the more you can't believe him!"
Bloody simpered when she heard that comment. She began to understand that humans were animals who said things they did not mean.
"You can try their dumplings," Lin Huang recommended, "If you don't like them, their sticky rice cake is pretty delicious too."
Lin Huang said that because Bloody used to only eat desserts whenever she was snacking. Her favorite food was sweets, and her second favorite was sugary drinks in all flavors as well as dessert. She was never interested in savory food such as dumplings.
However, now that she had elevated to mythical-level, Lin Huang was not sure if her tastebuds had changed.
Soon, the fat uncle brought two servings of dumplings.
Bloody used her chopsticks to take a nibble out of one dumpling. She then put it down and shook her head.
"Seems like your tastebuds remain unchanged." Lin Huang smiled and called to the fat uncle, "Uncle, a serving of sticky rice cake, please!"
"Sure, coming right up!"
The fat lady brought a small serving of four sticky rice cakes.
Bloody sniffed it in confusion. Judging by the smell, it smelled sweet, but there was the aroma of sticky rice. She was unsure if it was appealing or not.
She took a small bite of one with her chopsticks. The confusion on her face morphed into joy all of a sudden. She then picked up another sticky rice cake and shoved it into her mouth quickly.
"It's yummy, isn't it?" Lin Huang knew that she would like that.
Bloody nodded enthusiastically immediately.
When Lin Huang was done with half a serving of dumplings, Bloody had finished all four pieces of sticky rice cake. Lin Huang ordered another portion for her after noticing that.
The uncle noticed this and could not help reminding, "Our sticky rice cake is pretty filling. The most I can eat is two servings and I wouldn't be able to have lunch later on. You guys can get a refund if you can't finish. Don't force it down."
"Don't worry about it, Uncle. I'll pack it for lunch if we really can't finish it," Lin Huang assured kindly.
After the uncle left, Bloody finished another serving of sticky rice cake quickly.
Before Lin Huang could finish the second serving of dumplings, Bloody had inhaled the third serving of sticky rice cake.
Lin Huang raised his eyebrow when he realized that Bloody was looking at him in hunger. "Do you want more?"
Bloody nodded immediately.
"Then, I'll order two more servings for take-away and get a serving of dumplings for Xin Er."
Bloody's take-away was ready when Lin Huang was finished eating.
The duo then stood up and returned to Dynasty's headquarters. It was past seven in the morning when they were done with breakfast, and Lin Xin had just woken up when they arrived at the courtyard.
"Wash up now and have some breakfast." Lin Huang brought the dumplings that he had packed to the first floor and put it on the dining table.
"Coming!" Lin Xin's voice chimed from the second floor.
Bloody unpacked the sticky rice cake right away and began munching away at the table.
When Lin Xin got down, Bloody had finished the two servings of sticky rice cakes that she brought back.
"Brother, where did you go yesterday? I was guarding the year last night and I waited until 1 a.m. but I didn't see you," Lin Xin asked as soon as she saw Lin Huang when she arrived downstairs after putting on her slippers.
"Master dragged me to be his slave in the middle of the night. We were only done when it was almost six in the morning," Lin Huang explained with a comforting smile. "Don't worry. It's the first day of the New Year today. I'll guard the year with you tonight to remedy for last night."
Lin Xin pouted when she heard his response, "What's the point? Guarding the year means guarding the last day of the year and watching the New Year start. It doesn't make sense to guard the year today."
"Alright, I'll do it tonight and bring you shopping tomorrow," Lin Huang extended his condition.
"No, it has to be for three days!" Lin Xin bargained.
"Alright, three days it is," Lin Huang agreed to that bitterly since he figured there should not be anything happening the next three days.
Chapter 1195: Three Days of Torture
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Winter break in the gravel world usually lasted for more than two months from the end of December to the beginning of March.
Even cultivator organizations such as the Union Government and the Hunter Association would have a ten-day holiday during the end of the year. Apart from a minority of members guarding the organizations, the operations of the entire company's were basically stopped.
Naturally, it was the same for Dynasty whereby they had a standard ten-day holiday. During the first few days of New Year, apart from Huang Tianfu and the ten staff who had nowhere to go, Lin Huang's family was the only one that remained in Dynasty's headquarters. The massive headquarters was very quiet.
Since Lin Huang missed guarding the year with Lin Xin, he agreed to the unfair terms to go shopping with her.
In reality, he wanted to seize the opportunity to accompany Lin Xin, figuring that he would leave the gravel world soon after the New Year. After all, many things were still a question mark in the great world. He might not have enough strength to protect himself, so it would be unrealistic to bring Lin Xin along.
Lin Xin started to bug Lin Huang to bring her shopping after she finished the dumplings that he had packed.
"Can't you just stay at home on the first day of the New Year?" Lin Huang looked helpless.
"But it's so boring here. There's nobody in the entire Dynasty, and there's no New Year atmosphere here." Lin Xin gave a legit reason. "Since Sister Bloody is here, I'll get Brother Xiao Mo while you summon Little Witch and Sister Kylie, then we'll go shopping together."
"Summon Little Witch and Sister Kylie? What are you trying to do? Tear Emperor City apart?" Lin Huang asked while staring at her.
"We're all girls. They can give us their opinions when Sister Bloody and I shop. I can't be trusting you and Brother Xiao Mo, the two straight guys' sense of beauty. Am I right?" Lin Xin said while pouting.
"I think my sense of beauty is fine." Lin Huang had never thought there was anything wrong with his sense of beauty.
"Alright then." Lin Xin did not dwell on that with Lin Huang. Instead, she took out ten lipsticks and asked him after opening the caps, "What's the difference between the color of these lipsticks?"
Lin Huang glanced at the cylindrical tubes and subsequently frowned. "They're all red. What's the difference?"
"Sister Bloody?" Lin Huang turned around to look at Bloody.
Bloody glimpsed and said expressionlessly, "From left to right, it's No. 405 Tomato Red, No. 200 Muddy Maroon, No. 501 Red Bean, No. 154 Plum, No. 407 Moody Red Bean, No. 409 Dark Plum, No. 12 Pinky, No. 333 Maple, No. 80 Ruby and No. 317 Tangerine."
"You're absolutely right!" Lin Xin turned her head and smirked at Lin Huang. "What kind of opinion will you be able to give if I'm getting lipstick later?"
Lin Huang was speechless for a moment. "Alright, you win."
Lin Huang exclaimed secretly after summing Kylie and the Witch, 'Fortunately, this girl has no idea I have another four Bug Tribe Queen Mothers who take form of girls."
Kylie, who had elevated to quadruple mutation, wore a gold and purple armor dress. The material of the armor dress did not look like metal. Instead, it was more like a combination of metal and fabric that fluttered in the wind. Furthermore, the style looked luxurious. The patterns and designs on it were complex yet elegant. One could tell that it was tens of times or even up to a hundred times more expensive than an armor dress of the same rank.
She finally did not wear a mask on her face. She had a beautiful face but it was intimidating, especially her eyes. There were no eyeballs, just golden flashes of lightning that were sparkling.
On the other hand, the Witch no longer looked like a 15 or 16-year-old little girl. She had transformed into a young lady with long, shapely legs. She wore a black short skirt, showing off her pair of legs. In addition to that, her breasts and butt were perfectly proportioned. In short, she was sexy.
Meanwhile, her face looked like it belonged to a seductive mistress. Men might not be able to help but steal a glance at her a few times. A look was all it would take to make a man fall in love.
Lin Xin was stunned since it was her first time seeing the duo's brand new look.
She only snapped back to her senses a while later. "It's better if you guys change. You're attracting too much attention. Sister Kylie, put on some sunglasses to cover your eyes."
Lin Huang contacted Xiao Mo as Lin Xin got the two girls to change.
Xiao Mo was stunned when he saw the Witch and Kylie when he got there. He could not help but ask Lin Huang who the two girls were. To his disbelief, he found out that they were imperial monsters.
It was past eight in the morning when the two girls were done changing.
Lin Huang and the gang headed towards the shopping district as soon as they left home.
The two handsome men and the four beautiful ladies attracted attention as soon as they strolled on the streets.
If everyone in Emperor City did not know who Lin Huang was, many might have thought that the city was having a parade whereby the six of them were a new band.
Lin Huang and Lin Xin had gotten used to being watched, but Xiao Mo felt uneasy.
Among the three summoning beasts, Bloody and Little Witch did not care about the attention. However, Kylie disliked the attention.
The six of them grabbed even more attention when they reached the shopping district.
It was crowded in the shopping district, and there were people everywhere. All the stores were opened and the staff on shift were busy. Undoubtedly, their efficiency was much lower than usual since they were understaffed. It caused a long queue which wasted more time for the shoppers than usual. The entire shopping district was even more packed than the average day.
"There are so many people today!" Lin Xin complained to Lin Huang, "And you said people usually stay at home on the first day of the New Year."
"Buy whatever you want now. We're having lunch with Master when we're done." Lin Huang changed the subject directly.
"How do I know what I want if I don't shop?" Lin Xin had a different logic.
Lin Huang wanted to argue her logic, but he gave up on the idea when he thought about it. He recalled something that he had heard before. 'Don't try to argue with a girl because they always think they're right.'
The two men and three human-form pets followed Lin Xin shopping from one store to another.
Lin Huang noticed that Lin Xin had no purpose when she was shopping. She had no idea what she wanted to buy.
If Lin Huang were to shop, he would first choose the item that he was looking for and exclude the rest. He would only shop for one type of targeted item.
For instance, if he was looking for a t-shirt, he would only go into t-shirt stores. If there was no t-shirt store at first glance, he would skip the entire area.
However, Lin Xin had a different shopping logic.
'Oh, they sell caps here. Let's take a look. This store has nice bags. Let's take a look too. This store has cool sunglasses. Let's go in. Wow, they have such cute dolls! Let's go. This wedding dress is so pretty. Let's take a look. This fitness store is so neat. Let's go in…'
She browsed over 20 stores in the morning alone and tested up to a hundred products. However, in the end, she bought nothing.
The other three female imperial monsters felt nothing. Perhaps because they were girls just like Lin Xin or perhaps monsters were curious about the human world, but they were happy shopping with her.
Even though Kylie did not show any emotions on her face, Lin Huang noticed that she would touch the products that she was interested in.
Xiao Mo had no expression on his face. Lin Xin would always drag him out for shopping when Lin Huang was not around, so he had gotten used to such torture.
However, to Lin Huang, shopping with Lin Xin was even more tiring than refining Virtual God rank-9 Godheads.
At least, he could see the refinement progress that increased daily whenever he refined Godheads. However, Lin Xin buying nothing from her window-shopping spree throughout the entire morning meant 0% progress to him.
After lunch with Mr. Fu, Lin Xin recovered her strength. She then brought Lin Huang and the rest to begin a new round of shopping.
Mr. Fu had asked Lin Huang what he was going to do in the afternoon at lunch. Upon hearing that he was going shopping with Lin Xin, he left with the excuse that an old man like him needed a nap after lunch.
Since it was the New Year, all the stores in the shopping district closed earlier than usual.
All of the stores closed when they shopped until almost 9 p.m. on the first day. Lin Xin returned to Dynasty's headquarters unwillingly.
At night, Lin Huang brought Huang Tianfu and the rest of the staff who stayed back out for a reunion dinner. It was considered the replacement reunion dinner that he missed yesterday.
On the second and third days, Lin Huang and Xiao Mo brought Lin Xin shopping in the morning and would go home late. They would head out at 8 a.m. and returned after 10 p.m. every day.
Throughout the three days, Lin Xin brought them to the five biggest shopping districts and seven big shopping complexes in Emperor City.
They had stopped in at least 300 stores and looked at up to 1,000 products. In the end, Lin Xin bought a pair of shoes, a shoulder tote, and some ten presents for Bloody and the other two.
She was thinking of getting Lin Huang and Xiao Mo something, but both of them declined her offer directly.
Lin Huang was finally relieved when he returned to the Emperor Place on the night of the third day of the New Year.
"The three days of torture have finally come to an end!"
Chapter 1196: The Meeting After the New Year
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang finally eased into rest mode officially after the third day of the New Year.
However, he did not stay idle. He was learning new sword skills every day.
He would master a new pseudo-mythical-level sword skill almost every day. As he mastered more and more sword skills, he could faintly sense that his level-6 Sword Dao was approaching its peak.
Time flew by, and very soon a week had passed.
The tenth day of the New Year was the last day of holiday for many, including the people in Dynasty.
It was the 11th day of the New Year on the 3rd of March. All the organizations basically went back to their normal working operations.
Lin Huang called for a meeting with Huang Tianfu and Huang Wunan early in the morning.
Since it was the first meeting of the year, Huang Tufu rushed back to the headquarters from Division 3.
The rest of the upper echelons were basically there.
At the meeting table, the six demigod Dukes gaped at Huang Tianfu and the rest in confusion. They clearly sensed that Huang Tianfu and the other six of them were now on virtual god-level. It was unexpected.
The six of them asked about it through voice transmission. The only response they got was, "Master Emperor will explain later."
The meeting officially began at 9 a.m.
It was still hosted by Huang Tianfu who welcomed Lin Huang after starting the meeting.
"The purpose of this meeting is to gather everyone since the New Year has started. After all, it's a new beginning with new plans. While I have many plans for myself this year, so does Dynasty.
"The first thing I would like to announce is that Mr. Fu is settling in Dynasty," Lin Huang explained further upon seeing many of them appearing surprised.
"I know that you guys have many doubts. The legendary Mr. Fu is my master. He used to be on Virtual God rank-8 and he's now on Virtual God rank-9. I invited him to come into Dynasty before the New Year, and he's temporarily staying for a year."
"Mr. Fu coming in won't affect Dynasty's daily operations. Dynasty will still be led by Huang Tianfu, Huang Wunan, and Huang Tufu. Mr. Fu is only responsible for Dynasty's safety matters."
Many of them were finally relieved to hear that. They were a little worried that Dynasty would have a change in authority structure when they first heard about Mr. Fu moving in. It seemed like Lin Huang had invited Mr. Fu there to provide Dynasty with a pillar of support.
"The second thing is what you guys have witnessed—Tianfu and the rest have elevated to virtual god-level.
"I've successfully found a way to elevate demigod-levels to virtual god-level. I've also gotten Mr. Fu to help Tianfu and the rest of the powerhouses on perfect-stage demigod-level to virtual god-level.
"Such an elevation process must follow the strict steps that I provide. Apart from that, only high-level Virtual Gods such as Mr. Fu can carry out the process. Furthermore, the basic condition is that the person to be elevated must be on perfect-stage demigod-level and the Life Power in his body will have to be fully converted to Divine Power. That's the reason why the six demigod Dukes present today weren't informed before the New Year.
"The third thing is that I have a portion of God's Blood that can help demigods to accelerate their conversion of Life Power to Divine Power. I'll get Tianfu's help to delegate it out the next few days.
"As the God's Blood might not be able to get all the demigods to perfect-stage demigod-level, it will be distributed according to the contribution points that all of you obtained last year. Those who have more contribution points will be given the God's Blood first while those who have less will be awarded later. Does anybody have anything to say about the sequence?"
All six of the demigods shook their heads.
In reality, it was very fair to carry out the dissemination by one's contribution points. Moreover, Lin Huang had taken over Dynasty last year, so it made sense to disseminate the God's Blood based on a year of contribution points.
"So, I'll hand over the God's Blood to Tianfu. He'll elevate you guys to perfect-stage demigod-level when he's done giving out the God's Blood and send me the list of those who are elevating to Virtual Gods. I'll then get Mr. Fu to handle that.
"The fourth thing is also related to demigods elevating to Virtual God. I've discussed this with Mr. Fu. We're planning to announce this news to the public. After all, we can't hide this forever as soon as there are that many Virtual Gods in Dynasty. It's better that we let people know now.
"We have plans to charge organizations other than Dynasty for the service. So, don't think that you guys won't have any competition and that you'll be able to relax as soon as you guys have elevated to Virtual God."
"The reason we came up with such a decision is mainly that disaster is hitting our gravel world soon. We need virtual god-level powerhouses to handle the crisis.
"Of course, the exact announcement will be made when this round of Dynasty demigods are done with the elevation. Therefore, I hope that all of you complete the elevation to virtual god-level as soon as you can when you get the God's Blood. Those who have insufficient God's Blood will have to obtain them before the news goes out. The price of the God's Blood might shoot up after that.
"Apart from those of you are present today, I'll get Tianfu to inform the rest of the demigods. However, I hope that you guys won't spread this news out before Dynasty does officially. If I find anyone spreading the news intentionally, I'll get Mr. Fu to sever the person's cultivation base and dispel the person from Dynasty. That will be the end of the person's relationship with Dynasty!"
Lin Huang glanced at everyone before speaking again, "The fifth thing is the circle that Dynasty has built with the Union Government.
"At the moment, the Union Government and Hunter Association are the leaders. The Mystic Butterfly is the fence-sitter while the heretics aren't powerful enough. I'm getting Misery to join for the balance of the circle and to impede the Union Government and Hunter Association. From now on, Misery will be our secret ally, but publicly, Dynasty isn't on the same side with them.
"As soon as Misery joins us, the development of the circle must slow down. We can't grow too fast. Dynasty's current priority is to deepen the collaboration with all major organizations so that the Union Government, the Hunter Association, and the Mystic Butterfly won't leave us. The circle will only be preliminarily stabilized when we've achieved that.
"Before the disaster condemns this gravel world, the Union Government will definitely want to lead this circle. There's no need for Dynasty to revolt their leadership. All we have to do is to win the same position as them. They can lead, but Dynasty must be included in the leadership. In other words, this is the main development direction for this circle for the next one to two years. We'll discuss the details further next time."
Lin Huang put a halt in the discussion of the circle and said no further for a few moments.
"The sixth thing is that I'll leave the gravel world for a while after I'm done with everything on my plate."
Everyone gawked at Lin Huang when he announced that.
"How long will you be gone?" Huang Tianfu asked immediately.
"A year at the moment. Of course, I hope that I can get back before the disaster befalls. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for me to return," Lin Huang said, "I'll give Tianfu a communication measure. If something really happens in the gravel world, contact me and I'll get back as soon as I can."
"But none of the people who left our world have ever returned," Huang Tufu muttered while frowning.
"The main reason is that they can't return to our world since they've elevated to true god-level," Lin Huang explained, "I'm only on imperial-level, so it's not difficult to return as long as I find the route. Even if I can't find the route myself, I can get Royal to help me. After all, I'm a rank-A Royalty."
The people were relieved when they heard Lin Huang. In reality, they were a little afraid that Dynasty would become ownerless again if Lin Huang died. Then, Royal would cut their resources off again.
"That's more or less what I've got to say today. I'll sort out the details in the next two days and send it to the three Grand Dukes. You guys can discuss it when they've studied the details and approved it."
Chapter 1197: Memory Card
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After setting Dynasty's direction, Lin Huang delegated the rest to Bloody.
She spent less than half a day coming up with a series of plans. All of them contained detailed steps.
Lin Huang scanned through the plans Bloody came up with roughly and sent them to the three Grand Dukes.
On the second morning, Lin Huang visited Misery again.
While setting Misery's one-year development plan, he also discussed elevating demigods to Virtual Gods as well as getting them to join Dynasty's circle.
As Zhi Ji was a Virtual God rank-9 powerhouse himself, Lin Huang did not want to bother Mr. Fu, so he got Bloody to teach Zhi Ji the way to elevate demigods to Virtual Gods right away. He told him over and over again that it could only be used on Misery's internal members and had to be kept a secret. If anybody asked, they had to say that it was Mr. Fu of Dynasty who helped them achieve it.
When it came to converting a Virtual God's Godhead, Lin Huang also told them that they must inform him beforehand if they wanted to do so because the failure rate would be high if Zhi Ji were to do it himself.
Naturally, Misery was more than happy to join the circle. After all, cultivation resources were what Misery lacked the most. Apart from ruins and sites, they would be given access to all cultivation resources through trade as well. Furthermore, basically all the top-grade cultivation resources were monopolized by the major organizations. Very few of them were open to trading with other organizations. However, it would be a different case with the circle between Dynasty and the Union Government. All of the barriers caused by the monopoly would be broken down.
Figuring that he was leaving soon, Lin Huang even gave a part of Royal's authorization to Zhi Ji and Jie Wu, allowing Misery members the access to enter the trial zones.
Lin Huang mumbled to himself while holding his chin sitting on the throne in the Emperor's Palace when he returned to Emperor City, "I've basically arranged everything I need to for Misery and Dynasty. I'm almost done with all I need to handle before leaving the gravel world. Now, the only thing that's left for me to do is to visit the ruins where Qi Muxiong hid the Goldfinger."
Bloody, who was sitting aside and coming up with the one-year detailed plan for Misery, lifted her head and said to Lin Huang, "If I were you, I'd read through all the books in the libraries and archives in the major organizations. Also, I'll visit all the ruins and sites above grade-5 that are open to take as many resources as I can. I won't miss anything."
"These two ideas sound great!" Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he heard.
However, he soon frowned. "But I'm afraid it'll require a long time to read all the books in the libraries and archives even with the Epiphany Card."
At the moment, Xiao Hei, who had been quiet for a long time, spoke all of a sudden, "There's a card called the Memory Card that can store a sea of information. When the saving is done, it'll be integrated into your brain memory automatically."
"There's such an amazing item?" Lin Huang bought one and looked at it after hearing about the existence of the Memory Card.
"Memory Card
"Type of Card: Function Card
"Rarity: Grade-2
"Function: The card will save the content that the host wants to save as soon as it's activated.
"Remark 1: A Memory Card can only be used once no matter how much it contains.
"Remark 2: The user will only need to specify the content and the card will handle the rest as soon as it has been activated.
"Remark 3: When the Memory Card is done storing the memory, it will become a part of the user's memory automatically. The part of memory doesn't occupy the user's brain memory.
"Remark 4: The duration of memory saving depends on the volume. The more memory there is, the longer it takes to save. On the contrary, it will take a shorter time if there's a smaller volume."
"This card is great, but I wonder what's the saving speed like." Lin Huang put the card away and devised a plan.
He applied to visit the Central Library and the Central Archive from the Union Government immediately.
When he discussed collaboration with the Union Government while representing Dynasty earlier, he had obtained the highest reading access for a month. However, he still had to apply before he visited each time.
Such a procedure was not only applicable to Lin Huang but to everyone, including the chief of the Union Government, Jiang Shan. Even he would have to submit the application beforehand to access the highest reading authorization.
It could only be accessed by one person at a time. Therefore, the Central Library came up with an application system with the Union Government. Everyone would have to book their slot beforehand and the library would assign them access for the time slot booked. With this system, there would not be any conflict. Although very few people were given the access, the system indeed helped to avoid awkwardness when one entered but failed to be granted access.
The Central Library responded after three minutes Lin Huang submitted his applications.
"Dear Mr. Lin Huang, you applied to access the Central Library's highest reading authorization from 9 a.m. on the 5th of March to 9 a.m. on the 6th of March. The total duration will be 24 hours. The application has been approved. Please be at the Central Library at the booked slot.
"Dear Mr. Lin Huang, you applied to access the Central Archive's highest reading authorization from 9 a.m. on the 6th of March to 9 a.m. on the 7th of March. The total duration will be 24 hours. The application has been approved. Please be at the Central Library at the booked slot."
Lin Huang was elated to see both of his applications being approved.
On the next day, which was the 5th of March, he rushed to the First City after breakfast early in the morning.
He had a cup of coffee outside the Central Library. Only when it was 9 a.m., he stood up and headed to the library for the slot he booked.
The library was almost occupied early in the morning.
Lin Huang glanced through the first floor to find that most of the seats were taken. He walked passed the hall and headed straight to the elevator.
After scanning his ID on his Emperor's Heart Ring, the elevator took him to the highest floor of the Central Library, the ninth floor.
Lin Huang was a little puzzled when he arrived on this floor. He looked around.
Apart from a sealed container and a chair, there was nothing else.
Transparent liquid filled the transparent sealed container. There was a tissue the size of a basketball that looked like a human brain soaked in the liquid. Neither did it have tentacles, nor other extra appendages. It looked like an enlarged human brain floating quietly.
Meanwhile, the chair was placed approximately a meter before the sealed container.
The chair was ordinary. It was made of wood, and the pattern on the surface looked shiny from the collision. Clearly, someone else favored this seat.
Lin Huang looked around and sat on the chair while concluding that there was nothing else on this floor.
Just when he sat on the chair, the 'brain' in the container experienced a tremor all of a sudden. Constant bubbling frothed in the container.
A deep voice came into Lin Huang's ears at the same time. "What kind of information are you looking for?"
Stunned, Lin Huang realized that it should be the 'brain' in the container that had spoken. However, he soon snapped back to his senses.
"I don't have specific information that I'm looking for. I want to look at everything you have."
The 'brain' in the sealed container did not expect Lin Huang to say that. It went silent for a moment while a couple of bubbles rose in the transparent liquid.
Subsequently, the deep voice came again. "Interesting… You only have 24 hours."
"I know." Lin Huang smiled while nodding.
Almost at the same time, the container and the brain before Lin Huang disappeared. The walls around the entire floor turned into projected images. The same happened to the ceiling and the floor beneath his feet. There were up to ten thousands of images of all sizes.
Lin Huang glanced through the images and smirked. He crushed a Memory Card quietly.
As soon as the Memory Card was activated, the thousands of images began moving as if they had lost control.
Chapter 1198: Hunter Association's Appointment
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Memory Card only took less than three hours to download everything in the Central Library.
In reality, Lin Huang had been cultivating Seamless with his eyes closed during the few hours. He only opened his eyes when the Memory Card had downloaded all of the information and become memories in his head.
It was not even 12 p.m. when he checked the time. It would not make sense for him to stay, so he stood up and left.
He ate something around the library and contacted the chief of the Union Government, Jiang Shan.
Jiang Shan was surprised to see that it was Lin Huang who called. He picked up anyway.
Lin Huang asked while smiling as soon as the video call was connected, "Master Chief, could you help me change the slot that I booked for the archive visit tomorrow to today instead?"
"Didn't you apply to visit the library today?" Jiang Shan asked with his brow raised. He knew that Lin Huang submitted the applications yesterday.
"I've found the stuff I was looking for at the library." Lin Huang came up with an excuse. "So, I thought I'd drop by the archive today instead of tomorrow."
"I'll speak to the people at the archive. I'll change the time slot for you if nobody is using it in the afternoon. However, you'll have to wait until tomorrow if somebody is using it in the afternoon." To Jiang Shan, such a favor was nothing as long as it did not interfere with the archive regulations. After all, amending the time slot at the last minute was permitted. "They'll inform you whether they can amend the time slot for you later."
"Thanks, Master Chief!" Just when Lin Huang was going to hang up, Jiang Shan stopped him.
"Emperor Lin, I happened to have something to discuss with you."
Lin Huang was stunned to hear that. The first thought that came into his mind was, 'Did someone expose that we've elevated demigods to Virtual Gods?"
However, his face remained calm. "Do tell, Master Chief."
"The Hunter Association spoke to me twice. They're looking into working with you guys. What they mainly want is access to the trial zones."
"Sure, we can discuss the time later," Lin Huang agreed to that right away.
In reality, he wanted to see if there was anything useful in the Hunter Association's library and archives.
After hanging up the call with Jiang Shan, the archive sent him a message in less than two minutes. The amendment of the time slot had been approved.
The time was amended from 1 p.m. on the 5th to 1 p.m. on the 6th.
To Lin Huang, the hours given were not important. As long as the information was downloaded by the Memory Card, he would no longer need to return to the library and archive in the future.
Lin Huang made it to the archive at 1 p.m.
In reality, it was a huge building that was similar to the library. He arrived on the ninth floor after scanning his Emperor's Heart Ring.
The setting was similar to the library. There was also a tissue that looked like a human brain floating in a transparent sealed container.
The difference was the color of the brain. The one in the library was light red while this one was sky blue.
Given his experience in the morning, Lin Huang got the blue brain to get him all the information that was available in the archive directly.
After crushing another Memory Card, it began to download the information automatically.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang closed his eyes and began cultivating Seamless in a relaxed manner. The second the Memory Card stopped downloading the information around two hours later, it became a part of Lin Huang's memory. He stood up and left right after he opened his eyes.
As he arrived at the entrance of the archive, Lin Huang summoned a dimensional portal and returned to Emperor City.
The first thing he did as soon as he arrived at the Emperor's Palace was to share everything in the two Memory Cards with Bloody.
With Bloody's computing skills, she spent over two hours digesting everything in the two Memory Cards.
"The information load is pretty huge," Bloody could not help but exclaim after she was done digesting all of the information.
"Is there anything useful?" Lin Huang asked immediately.
"Yes, quite a number of them. However, the real secrets should be sealed by the Union Government. For instance, there should be complete production drawings for weapons containing rule power. However, there's no such thing in the memory that you shared with me. Also, the item lists that were excavated from the ancient ruins are missing. There should be many secrets in them."
"It's normal for them to be sealing such information. After all, I'm just an outsider. It's impossible for the Union Government to reveal everything to me," Lin Huang, on the other hand, was understanding. "If I were Jiang Shan, I would seal that information and hide them from everyone else."
Bloody nodded and proceeded to speak, "There are quite a number of useful information too, especially in cultivation alone."
"There are 14 god-level sword skills that you can use and 37 pseudo-mythical-level sword skills. Including sword skills, there are a total of 63 god-level and 218 pseudo-mythical-level martial skills. There are also three divine skills and up to a hundred secret skills…"
As Lin Huang was talking to Bloody about the information that he obtained, a message came all of a sudden.
Lin Huang saw that it was Jiang Shan who had sent the message. He said that the Hunter Association had decided the time when they would visit Dynasty the next day.
In less than five minutes after Jiang Shan sent the message, Huang Tianfu informed Lin Huang that he had received the Hunter Association's appointment.
The Hunter Association even published the appointment on the Internet.
In reality, Lin Huang could understand why they did that. They were afraid that people might take photos of the Hunter Association's upper echelons visiting Dynasty, so they announced it instead.
The content of the appointment was simple. They were going to discuss a collaboration with Dynasty.
However, everyone on the Internet was discussing it despite the appointment having very vague content.
After being quiet for a few months, Dynasty was trending on No. 2 on the Internet again.
The Hunter Association was trending as No. 1 this time.
Everyone in the cultivation world was talking about this, and the Hunter Forum was the most crowded one.
Most people in the cultivation world had registered themselves as a hunter before even though they had never officially joined the Hunter Association. They could post on the Hunter Forum as long as they had their hunter's license.
The main topic on the Hunter Forum was what exactly Dynasty did the Hunter Association want to work with them on. What kind of collaboration were they looking into?
Meanwhile, in the black market forum, they were discussing what Dynasty had to be attracting the Union Government and the Hunter Association to work with them.
As the Internet was heated with discussion, the Hunter Association's upper echelons appeared in Emperor City in a high profile early in the morning on the 6th of March.
They walked into Dynasty's headquarters while many media representatives snapped pictures.
Lin Huang led the three Grand Dukes who had hidden their combat strength to welcome the people from the Hunter Association.
The discussion between both parties was considered smooth. They came up with the preliminary direction of the collaboration and project in the morning alone.
They then spent two days going through the details and signed the agreement eventually.
Bloody was observing and providing suggestions in the Emperor's Palace throughout the entire process.
Chapter 1199: This Inheritance of Yours is Fake
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Once again, the Hunter Association's collaboration with Dynasty stirred intense talk among many cultivators on the Heart Network.
Many organizations finally noticed Dynasty's odd behavior.
Dynasty collaborated with the Union Government, the heretics, the Mystic Butterfly, and now the Hunter Association. They almost covered half of the top organizations in the entire world.
The thought of such a line-up alone was terrifying.
The Union Government, the Hunter Association, and the Mystic Butterfly were the giants among the top organizations.
Although Dynasty was considered weak as a whole, it was also a giant among them. Moreover, Lin Huang had been developing it rapidly since the one year that he was appointed. Dynasty was considered a legit giant now.
The weakest one would be the heretics. Even though they were an organization with no discipline, they were still a top organization with two Virtual Gods and close to 20 demigods. No matter what, they would be the top five in the line-up with their overall abilities.
Such a majestic line-up could almost wipe out all the organizations in the entire gravel world if they were given access to each other's weapons.
Noticing Dynasty's odd behavior, many organizations had internal meetings to discuss whether they should join the parade.
Some even submitted their applications to the Union Government and Dynasty directly.
As the outside world was in a stir, Lin Huang visited the Hunter Association, the Mystic Butterfly, the heretics, and Misery with his personal identity.
He entered the four organizations' libraries and archives. He spent less than three days downloading all of the information with four Memory Cards.
On the third afternoon, Lin Huang's Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated all of a sudden when he returned to Emperor City and was downloading Dynasty's information.
He took a glance to see that it was Huang Tianfu calling. Usually, Huang Tianfu would not look for him if it was not something urgent.
Lin Huang picked up the video call request right away.
"What's up?"
"Shadow Killer has just contacted me. They want in." Huang Tianfu went straight to the point. "What's your opinion on that?"
Lin Huang thought about it for a moment and nodded. "It's actually fine. If Misery joins us, we'll have four out of five giants. Shadow Killer would've definitely wanted in as soon as they found out. I didn't expect them to be so quick to act."
"However, as soon as Shadow Killer joins us, there'll be two uncertainties — the Mystic Butterfly which was already an uncertainty, and now Shadow Killer." Huang Tianfu raised his concern.
"That's nothing to be worried about. It's impossible for Shadow Killer and the Mystic Butterfly to watch the Union Government take charge. They won't be supporting the Union Government. Instead, they're most likely to gang up. Also, they might collaborate with us. After all, we're a neutral organization. No matter whether it's the former or the latter, there are more advantages than disadvantages for us."
"Make an appointment then. Let's see what exactly Shadow Killer wants. Also, settle Misery's agreement as soon as you can to avoid any changes when Shadow Killer comes in," Lin Huang reminded.
"Misery has submitted their review. It's currently stuck on the Union Government and the Hunter Association's side. They didn't decline us directly, but neither did they agree to it," Huang Tianfu updated about the situation.
"We shouldn't interfere in this. Let Misery talk to them themselves." Lin Huang said that because Dynasty could not be too close to Misery on the surface.
"Oh yeah, how's the sorting out of the God's Blood going?" Lin Huang asked again.
"I've sorted it out according to the ranking of contribution points. However, it's almost enough whereby the last person lacks a few drops to complete the elevation. I've gotten him to look for it himself. Those who have received the God's Blood these two days have been elevating to perfect-stage demigod-level."
"That's great."
Lin Huang proceeded to cultivate Seamless after hanging up. The Memory Card downloading function was completely automatic. As long as Lin Huang did not pause the download, it would not be affected no matter what Lin Huang was doing. Naturally, it was not interrupted by the video call either.
When it was past five in the afternoon, he had finally downloaded everything available in Dynasty's library and archive.
He had dinner at Dynasty's canteen. After that, he returned to the Emperor's Palace and shared all of the downloaded memories with Bloody.
Lin Huang closed his eyes when Bloody was sorting out the information. He began reading Qi Muxiong's inherited memory.
When he elevated to imperial-level earlier, Qi Muxiong's inherited memory had been unsealed. However, he was too busy back then, so he only took a glance at it and put it aside.
Nevertheless, it was the unsealing of Qi Muxiong's memory that reminded Lin Huang that the Goldfinger Qi Muxiong possessed as a traveler just like him was sealed in a ruins.
"The location of the ruins…" Lin Huang browsed through the inherited memory rapidly to look for where the Goldfinger was sealed. Soon, he finally found where the ruins were. He was a little dumbstruck when he saw it. "It's in the virtual zone?!"
"So, Qi Muxiong went to the virtual zone and made it back alive?" With that doubt in mind, Lin Huang began sifting through Qi Muxiong's memories.
The virtual zone was the fourth layer of the Abyss Brink. It was also the most dangerous forbidden area in the entire world. Legend had it that none of the people who entered the virtual zone made it back to the gravel world alive.
However, many ancient documents that were left behind recorded that the virtual zone was a gateway leading to another world.
In reality, Lin Huang was planning to leave the gravel world via the virtual zone.
One of the reasons why he believed that the virtual zone was a gateway was due to such records in many ancient books. Another reason was that there was a similar record in Wu Mo's inherited memories.
Another reason was that he obtained a description of such a gateway in those members' memories from the great world when he was in the Royal Trials.
All of the mini-worlds and gravel worlds with incomplete rules were the broken pieces in the central continent of the great world at a certain time or space. They were connected to the great world's central continent when they were created. Such connections made at least an invisible spatial gateway between the central continent and those gravel worlds as well as the mini-worlds. As long as the gravel worlds and mini worlds did not die, the spatial gateway connecting the central continents would be open forever.
Lin Huang also obtained the gateway's characteristics from those memories. To put it simply, there was no turning back. The reason was that such a dimensional gateway only worked one-way. In reality, it was a natural protection setting to prevent the powerhouses from the great world from stealing and enslaving the mini worlds and gravel worlds.
However, Lin Huang found nothing about the virtual zone after spending a couple of hours looking through Qi Muxiong's memories.
Filled with skepticism, Lin Huang shared that part of the memory with Bloody. He wanted her help to see what exactly the problem was.
Bloody spent half an hour scanning through the inheritance. She gave an answer that Lin Huang never expected. "This inherited memory is incomplete. To be exact, apart from this inheritance being real, much of the content in the memory was made by a powerful spiritual technique. A complete story was made up of facts and lies."
Chapter 1200: Killing All of The Virtual God-level Monsters in Your Ruins!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"It's made up?!" Lin Huang was shocked. Excluding the part of the memories which was only unsealed when he elevated to imperial-level, he had looked through the memories at least ten times when he was cultivating Seamless earlier. He had never noticed anything wrong.
"Don't you think apart from cultivation and battles, this memory of his seems to be acted out from a script? The people that he met during his daily life are like non-player characters in games. Even what they say is almost the same every time they meet, don't you think?"
"Daily life?" Lin Huang looked at it immediately.
He usually skipped those parts whenever he looked through the memories. Apart from scanning through it roughly the first time, he basically skipped it every time after that. As expected, he soon noticed that something was off after Bloody reminded him about it.
"Indeed, these people sounded weird and they behaved strangely too. I didn't notice anything from that single conversation, but everyone seems to be customized from the same set of a model after watching more of them.
"Moreover, in his daily life, many of those people who have zero interaction with him and those buildings, as well as the trees around him, were blurred out. Usually, we retrieve the most original memories when we read someone's memory. As long as we don't zoom in, everything he saw should be clear and detailed. Even if he forgot something, his original memory should be clear as a movie film.
"Also, he made many details up intentionally. He even used some real footage and combined them with the made-up stories. He thought people couldn't tell since it's a combination of real and fake stuff. However, the real portion of the memory had tens of times of information in almost every frame compared to the made-up memories. It causes the made-up memories to be extra crude compared to those details that are usually ignored with the naked eye." Bloody pointed out each issue one after another.
"I've cast parasites on up to a hundred millions of brains and read countless minds. Those amended memories and messed up memories due to some pathological causes in the brain… I can tell them apart easily. Although Qi Muxiong's inherited memory was made by a powerful technique, the effect is too crude. It gives me a feeling that it was made up simply without even trying to hide it."
"So, what's the reason for him to do that? If the inheritance is real, why make up the memory?" Lin Huang could not understand it.
"Nobody knows." Bloody shook her head. "Maybe there were too many embarrassing incidents in his original memory and he's afraid of being humiliated by his descendants. Maybe that's why he made up a fake memory to hide it. Or perhaps there are secrets in his memory that he doesn't want people to know."
She came up with two possible speculations. Lin Huang shook his head to shake off the thought since he could not figure out the answer.
"Forget it. Let's not think about it. Since Qi Muxiong's ruins is in the virtual zone, we'll explore when we go by then. We might retrieve the answer when we get there. Even if we don't, the effort won't be wasted if we get his Goldfinger."
Since Qi Muxiong's ruin was in the virtual zone, Lin Huang would not have to make two trips. The only thing left to do would be to look for loot in other ruins and sites.
In the entire gravel world, there were a total of 13 grade-6 ruins and sites with virtual god-level treasures and there were only four ruins and sites with true god-level treasures.
Lin Huang checked through Zhuge Feifan's memory. These 17 ruins and sites were not opened recently. However, there were three grade-6 ruins that were opened all the time. They belonged to the Union Government, the Hunter Association, and Shadow Killer relatively.
"I can only explore Shadow Killer's ruins when they join the circle. I'll explore the two grade-6 ruins under the Union Government and the Hunter Association's jurisdiction these few days."
Lin Huang submitted his application to the Union Government and the Hunter Association as he thought about this point. He just realized that it was almost midnight when he was done submitting the application.
The next morning, Lin Huang woke up early. He washed up and began to practice his sword skills.
He had boosted his telekinetic threads to more than 60,000 threads from cultivating Seamless the past few days. Now, he had arrived at the peak of his current combat strength.
Since he would not have more telekinetic threads from cultivating Seamless any further, he switched to practicing his sword skills. He happened to have downloaded information from so many organizations these past few days and obtained many sword skills.
Jiang Shan from the Union Government responded when it was almost 9.30 a.m. His application was approved. Some ten minutes later, the Hunter Association also approved his application.
Seeing that it was still early, Lin Huang summoned his dimensional portal without hesitation and headed straight to the First City.
The person who was responsible for welcoming him was still the person he was familiar with, Guan Zhong.
"Master Emperor, it's been a while." Guan Zhong smiled lightly.
"Chief? Why are you here?" To be honest, Lin Huang was a little surprised. Although he held a high position whereby it made sense for the Union Government to send Guan Zhong to welcome him, the thing was that it was not an official visit. It would be alright for them to get anyone to send him to the entrance of the ruins. There was no need for them to send the chief of the Agency EA to serve him.
"I was given the responsibility when I was speaking to the chief this morning." Guan Zhong spread his arms wide.
"You sound like you're reluctant," Lin Huang teased with a grin.
"Definitely not. I agreed to do it with all the willingness in my heart," Guan Zhong said while smiling, "I was excited when I heard that I'm serving you, Master Emperor."
'What an exaggeration…' Lin Huang was speechless.
"In reality, I've got nothing much to do in the past two days, so I thought I'd volunteer myself to give a good impression," Guan Zhong explained further.
"Alright then, let's not beat around the bush. Let's get to business." Lin Huang did not bother to dwell on that topic with Guan Zhong.
Guan Zhong nodded and summoned a dimensional portal directly. He opened the door and gestured for Lin Huang to go in first. Then, he went in after him.
A moment later, Lin Huang realized he was clearly no longer in the First City when he stepped out of the dimensional portal.
There were mountains after mountains all around him as he gaped around him. Moreover, there was snow beneath his feet. It was obviously not spring in the First City.
"Where is this?" Lin Huang could not help but ask as he looked around.
"A forbidden area that's unpopular," Guan Zhong answered. However, he added, figuring that his response was a little too perfunctory, "As this place is a little secluded, not many people know about it. Therefore, there's no official name for this place. If you must give it a name, the people living in the foothold close to this mountain call it the Crouching Dragon."
"Crouching Dragon…" The name reminded Lin Huang of Sir Tang in a TV drama.
"Is there anything that you're looking for, going into a grade-6 ruin alone, Master Emperor?" Guan Zhong asked while pretending to be casual.
"I'm not looking for anything. I just thought I would take a stroll in ruins that I've never been to before leaving the gravel world," Lin Huang said while smiling. In reality, he did not finish what he was saying. 'And I thought of killing all of the virtual god-level monsters in your ruins!'