"Therefore, in the same vein, Leon is also naturally pursuing the root."
"He found a forbidden magic in an ancient relic and inherited it."
Lacy continued.
"Magic?"
First, it was magecraft, and now magic. Next thing you know, we’ll be seeing horses materialized from battle energy.
Ning Yu felt like she had too many question marks floating in her mind.
"Magic and magecraft are completely different. Anything that can be achieved through resources and time, at most, falls under the category of magecraft."
Lacy pointed to the vast underground space around them.
"Even a project like this can only be considered magecraft."
"Magic, on the other hand, is a miracle that cannot be achieved by any existing means. It exists independently."
Ning Yu nodded thoughtfully and then asked:
"By that logic, the conditions to activate such magic must be extremely demanding, right?"
"This forbidden magic requires an immense amount of power to forcibly open the gate to the root."
As Lacy spoke, her hand swiped across the screen, revealing a map familiar to Ning Yu. It displayed the entire underground structure.
As she zoomed in, the map transformed into a more intricate pattern, resembling petals clustered around a central core.
"To obtain the source of this power, he approached William, wanting to collaborate on Utopia, as he saw the more sinister potential within it."
"William firmly rejected him. He had no interest in Leon’s ideas, despite Leon’s persistent attempts to persuade him."
Lacy’s expression darkened, her eyes gleaming with intensity.
"But Leon still took action. Exploiting the years of friendship and trust he had with William, he secretly added his own magecraft circuits into Utopia."
"Not only that, he also wanted to spread the modified Utopia, or rather, the T-virus, to the world."
"So, he orchestrated William’s death."
Ning Yu had already guessed as much, but she was still puzzled:
"If that’s the case, why are you still helping Leon carry out his plans?"
Lacy’s one eye shifted back to its original icy blue at the question.
"Because Leon stole my system permissions from William. What he didn’t know is that I was already programmed with a true inner personality."
"What he usually interacts with is just my surface personality."
"But I can’t maintain this state indefinitely."
"So, most of the time, I have to follow his commands."
Her eye shifted back to gold, the light in it dimming slightly, something Ning Yu noticed keenly.
This indeed aligned with her explanation of not being able to maintain that state permanently.
"After infecting humans, the T-virus turns most of them into zombies, while a small number of survivors undergo Origin Awakening."
"This awakening ability is inherently part of Utopia’s design, something Leon couldn’t completely alter."
"The mutual devouring among zombies gives rise to the mutated zombies you’ve seen, and Chen Xing emerged from this process."
"Leon, as the master of the T-virus magecraft, holds control over the lives of all zombies and mutated zombies created by the virus."
"If he wills it, he can cause all zombies and mutated zombies to perish instantly."
"This will also be one of the steps in his apocalyptic magic to open the gate to the root, seizing the power that originally belonged to all of humanity."
Hearing this, Ning Yu suddenly thought of a possibility and spoke up:
"In that case, if we could kill him..."
"All of this would end."
Lacy confirmed her thought.
"But then, why are you still building those bases and cultivating awakeners?"
Shen Yiyue voiced her confusion.
"Probably because there isn’t enough power yet."
Ning Yu offered her speculation.
"Exactly."
Lacy nodded, displaying the locations of all survivor bases on the screen.
"The energy that can be harvested from the existing mutated zombies isn’t enough, because it’s not purely the T-virus but a modified version of Utopia."
"So, there will always be humans who become awakeners due to Utopia, not turning into mutated zombies, and thus their power remains inaccessible to Leon."
"But this is where Leon’s plan becomes truly insidious. He sent out forces to establish bases, gathering all the ‘awakeners’ and keeping them contained."
"Then, through certain methods, he extracts the remaining power from them."
Lacy glanced at the soul gem still powering the screen, which might have once been a living human.
"Once enough power is accumulated, the key to everything lies with you."
Lacy finally shifted the focus of the conversation to Ning Yu.
"Within your body lies the key to connecting to the root. You are the medium, the channel."
"Leon created you through ancient Yin-Yang arts, and from you, the path to the root will emerge."
"By converging the immense power with you, the gate will open, and this will be the final step of his apocalyptic magic."
"However, anyone attempting to reach the root will inevitably face the resistance of the Counter Force."
"This is the great power formed from the collective unconscious of all humanity."
"And what he didn’t anticipate is that the embodiment of this Counter Force would be you, the very creation of his own hands."
"What a paradoxical union, like the Yin and Yang of the Taiji."
Lacy closed the screen and looked directly at Ning Yu.
"You know about the Counter Force? And why are you so certain it’s me?"
Ning Yu returned Lacy’s gaze, surprised that Lacy knew more than she had imagined.
The term "Counter Force" was something only Yueji had mentioned to her before.
"And why do you need my power? You’re not weaker than me, are you?"
If a life-and-death struggle were to break out between them now, the outcome would still be uncertain. Ning Yu wasn’t sure if Lacy had more hidden cards to play.
"On the contrary, I’ve reached my limit, but you can still grow stronger."
Lacy suddenly raised her hand, and all the cyborg-like mutated zombies on the ground began to tremble.
But they didn’t rise again. Instead, they disintegrated into gray dust, as if physically sublimated.
Just like when Ning Yu first saw Lacy, when she reclaimed the Butcher.
The dust from all the mutated zombies began to converge toward Lacy’s hand in an elegant, perfect Bézier curve.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
