Chapter 1 If Only My Sun Force Were Still There

“If my Sun Force were still like it was in the ‘Five Elements Chaos’ dungeon, I would have charged straight to the bottom of the hold and faced the b0ss head-on.” Zhang Yuanqing sighed with regret.

His Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record had already reached Lesser Completion. In the Five Elements Chaos dungeon, the pure and powerful Sun Force had even briefly suppressed the will of a Ruler-level, so powerful that it could scorch a Ruler. Although the Ruler-level enemy at the time was a Wraith, it was precisely countered by the Sun Force.

However, the Sun Force was different from the Power of Taiyin Star. The latter two could be continuously replenished through the use of character cards because the character cards were connected to the Lingjing, which contained an inexhaustible supply of spiritual energy.

As for the Sun Force, Zhang Yuanqing, who had not yet reached the Ruler level, could not replenish it through character cards. Once the spiritual energy in the real world was exhausted, he would have no way to recover it through breathing exercises.

Therefore, although his body could not store the Sun Force, each use would diminish it.

“I wonder if there is any Sun Force in the Lingjing of the First District. It's unlikely.”

Even though he thought so, he still decided to try. So, he sat cross-legged on the bed, activated the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record, and began to breathe in spiritual energy. After a few minutes, the breath Zhang Yuanqing exhaled gradually became scorching, distorting the surrounding air, and a faint golden light illuminated his face.

Beneath his navy uniform, his lungs were dyed with a golden sheen, making his flesh and skin appear almost transparent.

After three hours, it was noon, and the sun rose higher and higher. Inside the cabin, Zhang Yuanqing's skin was as red as a cooked shrimp, seeping out of his blood vessels. The sun's power was too concentrated in his pores, and he had to stop. If he continued, the Sun Force would burn his internal organs and meridians, drying up his blood and causing him serious injuries.

Zhang Yuanqing staggered out of bed, rushed to the table, picked up the hot water kettle, and gulped down the scalding water without hesitation.

Still not enough, he grabbed the kettle and hurried out of the dormitory, staggering through the corridor and into the hot water room at the stairwell.

He twisted the tap and, ignoring the scalding water, swallowed the source of life with gurgling sounds.

He drank until his abdomen swelled and the hot water rose back up his throat before he finally leaned over, satisfied, and headed back to the dormitory.

“I finally understand how Kuafu felt after chasing the sun. That was close, I almost burned myself to death.” Zhang Yuanqing returned to the dormitory, lay down on the bed, and sensed the Sun Force within his body.

He was delighted to find that the Sun Force had recovered to 40% of its peak. If he cultivated for another two hours in the afternoon, it should reach 60%. He needed to patrol in the evening, and his absence would surely attract the captain's attention.

Then he would wait until tomorrow, when the sky was clear, to cultivate again, and strive to restore the Sun Force as soon as possible.

However, why could he cultivate the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record in the First District? Zhang Yuanqing felt puzzled.

It was well known that the First and Second Districts were incompatible, belonging to different servers with different administrators.

The spiritual energy of different professions was definitely incompatible as well. Logically speaking, Lingjing Xingzhe from the Second District should not be able to breathe in spiritual energy in the Lingjing of the First District.

“Could this be the special characteristic of a Night Watcher? Night Watchers are supreme administrators who can cultivate across servers? Or perhaps both the First and Second Districts are within the Night Watcher's administrative authority...” Zhang Yuanqing opened the door to let the heat out of the room.

At this point, the crew members were all enjoying lunch in the cabin, and there was no one in the bottom of the hold, so no one noticed the abnormality. After the heat dissipated, he closed the dormitory door.

He took a nap, which helped him recover faster. At 3:30 PM, with the sun setting in the west, Zhang Yuanqing began to breathe in the Sun Force. The temperature in the room rose sharply.

Plastic and cotton products showed signs of partial melting. By 6:00 PM, when the sun had sunk below the horizon, he ended his breathing, and two dazzling golden rays shot out from his eyes.

Zhang Yuanqing could not wait to get to the table, grab the hot water kettle, and drink the lukewarm water. Then, he went to the hot water room and drank two more kettles, once again returning to the room with a bulging belly.

He waited patiently. After a while, footsteps came from the corridor, and a soldier with a gun and a tense expression arrived at the door, straightened his back, and said loudly, "Lieutenant Haas, it's time to change shifts!"

Zhang Yuanqing gave an "En" sound, left the desk expressionlessly, and walked out of the dormitory. Under the soldier's guidance, he went to the armory, took an automatic rifle, and came to the deck.

The cruise ship's patrol team consisted of twenty people, in groups of two. Their main task was to guard against the monsters in the ocean. Although the Demon Seed had been salvaged and could no longer pollute the marine life, it had polluted countless creatures during its time in the ocean. Some of these mutated creatures had been eliminated, while others were scattered everywhere.

During the return journey, small groups of mutated monsters would attack the cruise ship day and night. The red-robed bishops of the Holy See claimed that this was the Demon Seed calling out to the demonic creatures.

These demonic creatures were all made of flesh and blood. Although they were incredibly strong, the guns, grenades, and other weapons created by humans could still effectively kill them.

On the deck, Zhang Yuanqing, as a lieutenant, occasionally glanced over the twenty marines in formation, as well as a woman in a white nun's habit.

She was about thirty years old, with a hot and full figure. The loose nun's habit could not hide her bulging chest, and the cotton robe covered her protruding hips. She had a mature and beautiful face, with three-dimensional facial features, brown hair, brown eyes, and light freckles that made her even more charming.

This was the Siren from the Holy See's Lingjing Xingzhe team - Paggy Stephen. The diary described her as having a "devil's figure." Indeed, she was a beauty who could make a man's hormones secrete rapidly. The marines in formation were all secretly looking at her.

Noticing Lieutenant Haas's scrutiny, Paggy raised her eyebrows, her eyes filled with hostility, and said coldly, "Your eyes are all very sharp, keep it up. If you let mutated monsters climb onto the deck, I will blow your heads off!"

The marines were startled and immediately straightened their backs, staring straight ahead!

"Patrol," Paggy ordered in a cold tone, as if she were the highest-ranking officer.

The marines dispersed, and the teams of two went their separate ways to patrol.

Paggy walked along the edge of the deck, her sharp eyes fixed on the sea.

Zhang Yuanqing carried his rifle, walking along the edge of the deck in a seemingly serious manner, and thought to himself: "There is only Paggy, a Lingjing Xingzhe, on the deck. With my abilities, it wouldn't be difficult to kill her quickly... The crew members in the dormitory at the bottom of the hold can be left to the Ghost Bride. But that would definitely cause the crisis to erupt prematurely. If I wait until tomorrow, when I have restored the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record to its peak, I will have a greater chance of success."

After discovering that he could also cultivate the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record in the Lingjing dungeon of the First District, Zhang Yuanqing hesitated whether to act tonight or wait until the Sun Force reached its peak.

Time flew by quickly, and the sound of the waves crashing against the cruise ship was the only music in the night.

A full moon hung in the black night sky, casting a bright light.

Zhang Yuanqing was in better condition than ever before, feeling clear-headed and full of strength in his limbs. This kind of night was perfect for a killing spree! He thought sincerely.

Suddenly, a dark cloud covered the full moon, and the world was plunged into darkness. The lights of the cruise ship were like the only light in the world.

Floating on the vast ocean, Zhang Yuanqing's ears twitched, and he heard a mysterious whisper.

The whisper came from the night sky, from the deep sea, and from the cruise ship beneath his feet. He could not determine the source of the sound. The voice was grand and ethereal, like an unconscious murmur, or perhaps a mysterious language.

It's here, the call of the Demon Seed written in the diary, Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank. Immediately afterward, he felt some kind of mutation occurring in the cells of his body.

Under his skin, fleshy buds and tendons bulged and squirmed wildly, like crawling insects. His whole body itched, and he felt like he was about to grow tentacles and a second arm.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately activated the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record, and the Sun Force filled his flesh and blood, suppressing and purifying the mutation of the cells.

As expected, it had an immediate effect. The fleshy buds that triggered trypophobia disappeared in large part, and the wriggling tendons calmed down.

"It seems the dungeon isn't giving me time!" He grimaced.

It was only the second night, and the pollution of the Demon Seed had already arrived. So the calm of the first day was the safe time that the dungeon gave to the Lingjing Xingzhe to adapt to the environment and find clues.

There were still two days left, and the pollution of the Demon Seed would become stronger each day. It was already difficult to resist now. If he endured for two more days, wouldn't he mutate on the spot?

While he was thinking, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw two soldiers in uniform patrolling. Their expressions were wooden, their eyes were dark, and they were staring straight at Zhang Yuanqing.

"Is there something wrong?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

The soldier on the left said woodenly, "Lieutenant Haas, the captain requests your presence."

"Where to?" Zhang Yuanqing stared at them expressionlessly. Something was not right with their condition.

The soldier on the right said woodenly, "To the bottom of the hold!"

The bottom of the hold? Zhang Yuanqing frowned, becoming wary.

The Demon Seed was at the bottom of the hold, and the whispers had just come from there. Wasn't approaching the source of pollution a death wish?

At this moment, he realized that the patrol soldiers had appeared nearby at some point, staring at him from a distance of ten meters, their expressions wooden, like walking corpses.

These guys have collectively mutated!

As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, he saw the flesh on the chest of the soldier on the left suddenly split open, revealing a large mouth full of fangs, with a scarlet tongue protruding, muttering in a low voice, "Go to the bottom of the hold, go to the bottom of the hold!"

An eye covered with blood vessels appeared on the forehead of the soldier on the right, staring grimly.

"Go to the bottom of the hold, go to the bottom of the hold!"

"Da da da!" The sound of hooves came from behind, approaching rapidly. Someone was launching a sneak attack from behind.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing kicked backward, accurately hitting the enemy launching the sneak attack.

"Hiss..."

The attacker behind him flew out and fell heavily on the deck.

Zhang Yuanqing raised his gun and fired two shots at the heads of the two marines, blowing their heads off.

The two mutated creatures fell heavily, the mouths on their chests still mechanically muttering, "Go to the bottom of the hold, go to the bottom of the hold!"

The single eye on the forehead of the other blinked rapidly, flowing with black blood.

The eighteen soldiers not far away, seeing this, all let out roars, and their bodies underwent varying degrees of mutation. Some had slippery tentacles crawling out from under their clothes.

Some had scales and gills growing on their skin, some had four thick black arms growing out, and some had their heads mutated into ugly merman heads.

They either opened fire or lunged at Zhang Yuanqing, baring their fangs and claws.

Zhang Yuanqing looked up to the sky and let out a long howl. The high-pitched and piercing howl was like a wedge, fiercely embedded in the brains of the mutated soldiers.

Thump, thump, thump, the mutated monsters fell one after another, twitching as they died.

Under the mental attack of a Level 6 peak, the souls of Extraordinary-stage Lingjing Xingzhe would be annihilated on the spot, and Level 4 Saints would also suffer severe injuries, losing their combat ability.

Puff, puff, puff, the bullets that flew over hit Zhang Yuanqing's body, like hitting tough cowhide, making dull sounds.

Then, they fell to the deck with clanging sounds.

At this time, a strong wind whistled, and the attacker who had been kicked away by him was approaching again.

Zhang Yuanqing turned around to face the attacker and saw clearly the appearance of the attacker. It was the Siren, Paggy. At this time, her pupils were amber-colored, her lips were black, her cheeks were covered with dark black scales that reflected a metallic luster from the sides. Eight slippery tentacles were flailing behind her, and black keratin claws were growing on her fingertips.

Her face was beautiful and妖异(yaoyi, demonic and beautiful), and she was riding a horse made of seawater, launching a charge at him.

Although mutated, she could still use her profession's skills.

"What a pity," Zhang Yuanqing muttered. He grabbed the Purple Thunder Hammer from his inventory and, at the moment the Siren Paggy pounced on him, rolled to the side and used the Night Watcher's Stealth.