Chapter 7: The Beginning of Integration
Summer rain always comes without warning. Luxianbei reluctantly paid for life experience consulting fees. After getting off the bus and before reaching the entrance of Banshan Primary School, he heard thunder rumbling from above in the sky.
As he hurriedly ran into the remaining teaching building of Banshan Primary School, torrential rain began to pour down.
Banshan Primary School had already been abandoned for many years, and the buildings had been eroded by wind and rain. The prolonged lack of repairs made it a dangerous building. Not long ago, it had also suffered significant damage during the urban legend incident triggered by Wang Ying. Finding a complete room to shelter from the rain was not easy.
By the time Luxianbei rushed into the remaining teaching building of Banshan Primary School and found a relatively intact classroom, it was already pouring outside.
In the campus, that old banyan tree with lush branches, the rubble piled from collapsed buildings, and the playground overgrown with weeds became unclear in the rain, while the autumn branches hanging down from the old banyan tree swayed in the strong wind, making whimpering sounds.
Luxianbei stood by the window without glass, lighting a few alchemical devices emitting faint glows on the windowsill.
The old banyan tree bathed in the downpour was the connecting hub between Huacheng and the God Realm Prototype. To detach the God Realm from its dependence on Huacheng and entrust it to Ling Tai Purification, the first step needed to be cutting off the connection.
It was a troublesome and ritualistic process that Luxianbei did not want to do in the rain.
Summer storms come quickly and go just as fast. After about ten minutes, the rain gradually weakened. As the rain subsided, Banshan Primary School in the rain became clearer, like a treasure revealed behind a veil of gauze.
Luxianbei looked out at Banshan Primary School in the rain, his brow furrowed, a trace of reluctance rippling in his eyes.
From a certain perspective, the God Realm Prototype was a gift left to him by Qin Nanzhu, the only thing aside from life itself. After successfully gaining control of the God Realm Prototype, he often came to Banshan Primary School during his idle time, simply sitting under the old banyan tree without entering the God Realm Prototype.
His actions were likely similar to those who face difficulties in life and go to their mother’s grave to vent their sorrows, harboring the same feelings.
Yes, Luxianbei regarded Banshan Primary School as Qin Nanzhu’s gravestone.
Although he would not, like those people, treat his mother’s gravestone as his last refuge and coo at the cold, lifeless stone.
He thought about it, but he had never experienced it, so he completely couldn’t.
When a person comes into this world, the chance to be a parent may come more than once, but the opportunity to be a child is only once in a lifetime. If missed, there is no chance to do it again.
“However, as long as one is alive, as long as one is shameless enough, there are many opportunities to be a grandson,” Luxianbei muttered, forcefully interrupting his melancholic state with such petty talk.
The rain stopped.
The sound of rain hitting leaves and rubble faded away, leaving only the sound of water droplets falling from above after the rain.
It was time to start attempting the integration of the God Realm Prototype.
“Sorry, Mom,” Luxianbei muttered to himself. Steeling his resolve, he put away the alchemical device in front of him, turned, and walked toward the old banyan tree outside the teaching building.
If he could, he actually didn’t want to integrate the God Realm Prototype with Ling Tai Purification.
It felt like selling his late mother’s old house immediately after her d*ath to buy himself a new house.
But if he didn’t do it, Luxianbei felt uneasy.
In truth, the battle power gained from integrating the God Realm Prototype was secondary; the key issue was that the God Realm Prototype had already been discovered by the Solar Eclipse Society, and they were bound to harbor covetous thoughts. Moreover, the God Realm Prototype was still under the control of the Siye Society due to the fixed spell formula anchored there by Zhang Hainan.
This made things complicated, as if the house left by his mother was not only being eyed by the relevant authorities and could be confiscated by the state at any time, but there were also unscrupulous developers lurking, ready to pounce.
It would be better to cash in on the old house sooner!
Arriving under the old banyan tree, relying on the subtle control he gained after mastering the God Realm Prototype, Luxianbei quickly found the critical connection point on the robust tree trunk.
Murmuring the incantation, “What the sun and moon illuminate and what the wind and rain touch all come under my command,” he activated [Royal Authority] to the utmost, extended his hand gently on the rough tree trunk, and infused it with spirit energy.
As the spirit energy flowed in, the God Realm Prototype sensed its master’s presence and began to change. The ground beneath him shook violently, fracturing, revealing bottomless cracks.
Amidst the violent tremors, enormous stones inscribed with intricate spell scripts broke free from the ground, soaring into the air, colliding with each other, producing deep resonating booms.
When the booming sounds faded, the inscriptions on the big stones glowed softly, sending dazzling beams of light deep into the cracks, like a bridge piercing through the darkness.
Then, familiar scenes appeared before Luxianbei’s eyes.
Rainwater and stones flew against the sky.
Stars beneath his feet, cities above.
The old banyan tree turned over, absorbing nutrients with its branches, allowing its roots to flourish.
Then, Luxianbei’s body began to move slowly.
Lightly, as if the pull of gravity had lost significance, like falling or floating upwards.
In a dream-like state, Luxianbei felt himself brush against countless massive entities, but when he looked around, he only saw—
A hazy gray expanse.
After entering this indescribably delicate state, Luxianbei’s body began to change.
Like steam rising, a mist of faint light emanated from his body’s surface, enveloping him. Under this mist, one could faintly see his body outline rapidly shrinking, limbs becoming slender, and waist forming an enticing curve.
“Hmm.”
Accompanied by a suppressed m*an, the mist suddenly dissipated, as if shedding a disguise, revealing Luxianbei transformed, with silvery long hair cascading down like a waterfall behind her.
Unlike before, upon completing her transformation, she did not enter the God Realm Prototype but, through her control over it, allowed herself to remain in a foggy, chaotic space.
Within, she felt as if her soul had floated away from her body, hovering high above, looking down.
She saw the lush branches of the old banyan tree within Banshan Primary School, and saw the roots buried deep underground.
From the dense network of thick roots above, more massive and complex light-formed root shadows continued extending downwards, propelled by powerful spirit energy fluctuations, creating thousands of ripples that spread outwards, radiating vibrant life.
At the end of the roots, a gigantic “bubble” floated in a chaotic expanse, and through the bubble’s colorful outer shell, one could faintly see the internal mountains, rivers, tall buildings, and streets.
Luxianbei thought there was an inexplicable feeling of activating the backend management mode.
Her gaze lingered on the massive “bubble” for a moment, and then Luxianbei focused her mind, looked at the root shadows extending to the “bubble,” and decisively severed the connection between the God Realm Prototype and Huacheng.
In the next moment, all that remained before her was a blinding light, as if a supernova had exploded right in front of her.
In a daze, something began to collapse; there was no explosion, nor any sound, just a quiet disintegration.
Luxianbei could feel the spirit energy throughout the entire space violently shaking, boiling like molten iron.
After the momentary brilliance and radiance that made it impossible to open her eyes, the blinding light dissipated.
Luxianbei opened her eyes to see the fragments left by the collapse of the light-formed root shadows floating in an expanse of chaos, as if the light had been crushed and scattered in a starless night sky.
Looking up, she could no longer see the old banyan tree that had stood for who knows how many years, possibly older than Banshan Primary School.
Looking down, the fractured light-formed root shadows connected to the gigantic bubble, like threads of a rainbow, swaying back and forth in the wind.
The God Realm Prototype had been linked to Huacheng for a long time, like parasitic plants rooted in a tree, constantly absorbing projections from Huacheng, growing wildly and perfecting itself. Today, that connection had finally been severed by the second-generation master of the God Realm Prototype with her own hands. From now on, it would exist independently of Huacheng, evolving in unpredictable directions according to its master’s will.
In silence, Luxianbei took several deep breaths, forcefully suppressing the chaotic thoughts that appeared in her mind.
While utilizing the bl**d and flesh of the Inheritance Beast to reshape her body, she had almost crushed herself into the “Ancient God’s body” due to the messy thoughts.
At this moment, merging the God Realm Prototype no longer had the projection from Huacheng, constantly correcting errors. If there were any deviations arising because of her as the master, it could spiral towards something absurd.
After a moment, once her thoughts cleared and her mind was free of distractions, she parted her thin lips and emotionlessly said, “Let’s begin.”
As she spoke, there was no fluctuation of emotion, neither sadness nor joy, as if everything were meant to happen naturally.
To successfully integrate the God Realm Prototype with Ling Tai Purification, she had made ample preparations and was filled with confidence.
As her voice fell, her thoughts flowed.
In the next moment, as if an invisible force had triggered it, the root shadows connecting to the God Realm Prototype that had just broken free from Huacheng’s shackles and were drifting aimlessly were pulled together, converging into one point.
Towards Luxianbei, they gathered!
Just as countless light-formed roots penetrated her body, the emotions of the millions of residents within the God Realm Prototype, along with an even greater number of beings, surged into her mind like an unstoppable torrent.
In the briefest moment, she witnessed sorrow and joy, separation and reunion, life and d*ath, saw the rise and fall of days, the changing seasons, heard the cries of newborns in delivery rooms, and smelled the sweet scent of wild grass.
Then, she felt her consciousness being torn apart by brute force, beginning to dissipate.
Before losing consciousness, two thoughts inexplicably flashed through her mind.
This pain was easily dozens of times that of extracting materials from the mortal realm.
With so many emotions rushing into her mind at once, it was no wonder the Great Serpent God went mad.
Thinking this, she tightened her grip on the already-prepared letters of mortal materials, activated spirit energy, crushed them, and surrounded her body with the powder, which floated like smoke.
Then, it slowly merged into her body.
