Chapter 143: Intelligence from the Phantom Spirit King (Batch 4)

The pitch-black night was like a curtain, slowly covering the entire sky.

As darkness descended, the entire planet seemed as though it had been triggered by a switch, instantly shifting its form.

Across the wilderness, which had appeared quite quiet and desolate during the day, countless herds of beasts emerged from unknown places and began to assemble and gather.

Meanwhile, from the dense forests, swamps, and mountain ranges, massive numbers of ferocious beasts surged forth, driven by some unknown force, and marched toward human cities.

Inside a valley, Jiang Chen, hiding within his World Ring, sensed the movement outside through the detector and could not help showing a curious expression.

"Interesting... No special fluctuations are detected, but these ferocious beasts have undergone massive changes in both their strength and habits."

"This anomaly... The source must exist, it is simply that I haven't detected it. Perhaps this relates to the true secrets of this planet?"

A multitude of guesses and deductions arose in Jiang Chen's mind, but lacking critical information, he was ultimately unable to make an accurate judgment.

After confirming that as long as he hid inside the World Ring and did not let his Force or Spiritual Force leak out, he would not be targeted by the ferocious beasts, Jiang Chen commanded Jarvis to monitor the surrounding beast herds through the detector, while he himself connected to the Virtual Universe to gather intelligence regarding Visca Planet.

As a mission world, Visca Planet had been open to the geniuses of the Five Great Secret Regions for endless years. Although the higher-ups of the five giants kept the true secrets behind the mission worlds strictly confidential, some rumors, true or false, always managed to circulate.

Combined with his discoveries within the planet, these rumors would allow Jiang Chen to form a clearer judgment of the situation on Visca Planet.

His "Esuo" clone, on the way to the "Prison Battlefield," was also on the road and had likewise entered the Virtual Universe to gather intelligence.

For Jiang Chen's true body, gathering intelligence meant relying on familiar geniuses.

However, the "Esuo" clone had a better path.

Sending an application and receiving permission, Jiang Chen initiated the teleportation and entered a manor within the "Thunder Island" plane.

"Teacher." Jiang Chen approached the Illusory Spirit King and bowed respectfully.

The Illusory Spirit King looked at his young disciple with a smile and asked, "Do you have doubts in your cultivation once again?"

"No, disciple's recent cultivation has been quite smooth." Jiang Chen shook his head and said, "Disciple has applied for a 'Cultivation Mission' and wishes to ask the teacher about a few matters."

"Cultivation Mission?" The Illusory Spirit King's authority within the Virtual Universe and the Universe Mercenary Alliance was far higher than Jiang Chen's. With a single query, he knew that "Esuo" had chosen the mission called the "Prison Battlefield."

The Illusory Spirit King furrowed his brows slightly, yet said nothing.

Taking on a dangerous-level mission for one's very first assignment was extremely perilous for most geniuses and would drastically increase the probability of perishing.

However, the Illusory Spirit King believed that this disciple's talent and strength were sufficient to conquer a mission world of this tier.

"Teacher, the disciple has heard that behind many mission worlds lie deep, hidden secrets, and some even hold opportunities that Sector Lords and even Universe Venerables yearn to obtain?" Jiang Chen got straight to the point and asked directly, "I wonder how much the teacher knows about these mission worlds?"

"You rascal, coming to me to pry into the Alliance's secrets!" Upon hearing this, the Illusory Spirit King knew what Jiang Chen was up to and asked, amused yet exasperated, "Do you know that the division of danger levels for mission worlds by the five giants is based on normal completion? Yes, there are great opportunities hidden behind some mission worlds, but if you seek to explore these opportunities, the difficulty of even the simplest mission world will skyrocket to a level far more terrifying than a desperate-level mission. Without life-saving capabilities far surpassing your own level, survival is completely impossible!"

"Teacher, disciple has a clone." Jiang Chen reminded him, "Even if I perish, I can be gestured anew with no loss. With such an advantage, not exploring the opportunities behind the mission worlds would truly be unwise!"

After Jiang Chen had "confessed" to the Illusory Spirit King previously, the Illusory Spirit King had erased his own memory, no longer remembering Jiang Chen's ability to alter his soul fluctuations.

However, the fact that Jiang Chen possessed clones was something the Illusory Spirit King still remembered.

Hearing Jiang Chen say this, the Illusory Spirit King furrowed his brows slightly, but nodded a moment later, saying, "You have clones and excel in illusions; you indeed have a chance to attempt obtaining some major opportunities. However, this remains an extremely dangerous endeavor. Are you certain you wish to do this?"

In nurturing disciples, the Illusory Spirit King disliked interfering with their choices.

Even on a path where death was certain with zero chance of survival, the Illusory Spirit King would merely remind the disciple of the risks.

If the disciple remained steadfast in their conviction, the Illusory Spirit King would support them.

This was precisely why the mortality rate among the Illusory Spirit King's disciples had always remained high.

In the universe, how could one become a powerhouse without taking risks?

"Yes, teacher." Jiang Chen said solemnly, "Disciple has thought it through and is willing to give it a try."

"Although my strength is high and my authority is high, I actually know very little about the hidden secrets behind mission worlds. It is only when I have personally visited a mission world or encountered related treasures that I gain some knowledge."

The Illusory Spirit King began, "Among them, the one with definitive intelligence is ranked first among 'desperate-level' mission worlds: the 'Purgatory Abyss.' The opportunity I obtained in this 'Purgatory Abyss' is what allowed me to become an Immortal King."

"On the surface, the main dangers of the 'Purgatory Abyss' stem from the environment and a special, naturally born existence between living beings and puppets."

"The secret within the 'Purgatory Abyss' lies in a special inheritance ground at the very bottom of the abyss. Entering it, should there be a vacant position, one may receive the inheritance of the 'Purgatory God General.' This is an inheritance that simultaneously strengthens the body and soul, enabling the inheritor's strength to undergo a rapid metamorphosis."

"However, to reach that inheritance ground, one must either possess the ability to deceive powerhouses at the level of Immortal Spirits or possess the strength of an Immortal oneself. Otherwise, death is certain. If you wish to explore the secrets of this Purgatory Abyss, you must first prove you have this capability before I tell you the route map."

"As for other clues that are incomplete or not guaranteed to be correct, there are also dozens, namely the 'Lost Nebula,' 'Blood Demon Continent,' 'Demon Mountain,' 'Visca Planet,' 'Blood Luo World'..."

The Illusory Spirit King spoke eloquently, revealing most of the secrets regarding mission worlds that he knew to Jiang Chen.

However, for those he deemed excessively dangerous, Jiang Chen needed to first prove he had a certain probability of success rather than simply walking to his death before the Illusory Spirit King would reveal the details.

For instance, the "Purgatory God General Inheritance" within the Purgatory Abyss.

Among them, what surprised and delighted Jiang Chen the most was that the information provided by the Illusory Spirit King included hidden special opportunities behind two mission worlds: "Visca Planet" and "Dawn Continent."

Though they were only clues without precise intelligence guidance.

Merely having the clues was already enough to point Jiang Chen in a clear direction.

Among them, the opportunity on "Visca Planet" actually had little to do with the "Ancestral God Tomb" that Luo Feng had guessed at in the original story.

That place truly buried many fallen Immortal Spirits along with their burial goods.

While the value was indeed astonishing to little guys at the Universe Level, it was somewhat absurd to think the five giants would seal off the secrets of Visca Planet just for that.

The true secret of Visca Planet lay in "genes."

This planet possessed a remarkably special effect: in the process where the primal energy of the universe was absorbed by the planet and re-released into the atmosphere, it underwent a slight modification, causing the genetic tiers of all life forms cultivating on Visca Planet to continuously improve.

Of course, if it were merely this, Visca Planet would at best be a holy land for cultivation, with little use for the vast majority of geniuses.

Because the vast majority of geniuses could not remain on a single planet for a long time to slowly absorb primal energy for cultivation—the efficiency was far too low.

Without relying on any external objects, relying solely on absorbing the primal universe energy between heaven and earth to raise one's level, the time spent just absorbing primal energy from Sector Lord tier 1 to Sector Lord peak would be calculated in hundreds of thousands or millions of years.

Even if one could improve their genetic tier, it might not necessarily be a worthwhile trade.

The greatest treasure of Visca Planet lay in the fact that under this uniquely blessed environment, generations of life forms slaughtered each other, and the flesh and corpses of the fallen "watered" the entire planet, giving birth to a supremely precious fruit at a special location on the planet, known as the "Blood God Fruit."

Once one ingested the "Blood God Fruit," their genetic tier would increase a hundredfold.

The only restriction was that the "Blood God Fruit" could only be consumed once in a lifetime; eating more yielded no effect.

Of course, the "Blood God Fruit" was extremely rare, scarce, and completely monopolized by the "Ancestral God Cult" on Visca Planet.

Even the location where the "Blood God Fruit" grew was under the control of the "Ancestral God Cult."

If geniuses from the outside world wanted to obtain a "Blood God Fruit," they needed to kill a life form that had consumed a "Blood God Fruit" and use special methods to extract the "Blood God Fruit" back out from their body.

The reason why the indigenous humans and ferocious beasts on Visca Planet hunted each other over a long period was precisely to cause massive slaughter, using boundless flesh and blood to irrigate the entire planet in order to increase the yield of "Blood God Fruits."

The special method that periodically altered the strength and habits of the ferocious beasts originated from the "Ancestral God Cult" of Visca Planet.

During the day, humans killed ferocious beasts.

At night, ferocious beasts savagely attacked human cities, occasionally breaching cities and annihilating them entirely.

Through such recurring cycles, the number of lives perishing every day on Visca Planet was staggering.

Under the current environment, approximately every million years of slaughter could yield a single "Blood God Fruit."

And the vast majority of those who had consumed the "Blood God Fruit" were Immortal Spirits of the "Ancestral God Cult."

A small fraction consisted of "Divine Sons" with high rankings.

—Even "Divine Sons" with low rankings were unqualified to enjoy the "Blood God Fruit."

The Divine Sons of the "Ancestral God Cult" were meticulously selected from among the indigenous people of the entire planet, possessing the greatest talent and strength.

Once they consumed the "Blood God Fruit," increasing their comprehension of the laws a hundredfold, and spent a sufficiently long time, breaking through to become Immortals was no difficult task.

Should they fail to break through, they would be executed within the Ancestral God Cult, and the "Blood God Fruit" would be extracted anew from their corpses.

Passed down through generations, heaven knows how many Immortals had accumulated on Visca Planet.

Although due to inheritance restrictions and the blockade by the Virtual Universe Company, no excessively powerful entities had been born among the indigenous people of Visca Planet.

Even if an Immortal King were born, they would be hunted down by the powerhouses of the Virtual Universe Company at the first opportunity.

However, the Virtual Universe Company couldn't be bothered to care about ordinary Immortals, even treating these ordinary Immortals as containers for storing the "Blood God Fruits."

When a "Blood God Fruit" was needed, they would simply catch one and kill it.

Accumulated to this day, the number of Immortal Spirits on Visca Planet was absolutely astonishing.

Having obtained intelligence regarding the hidden secrets behind Visca Planet from the Illusory Spirit King, Jiang Chen could not help feeling a headache coming on.

The "Blood God Fruit"—consuming a single one could elevate one's genetic tier a hundredfold.

Such a fine treasure was extremely precious in the universe; whether consumed oneself or sold, it could yield astonishing profits.

As for the fact that obtaining this thing required killing people?

This detail was directly brushed aside by Jiang Chen.

Fighting over treasures in the universe and killing a few people was the most normal thing in the world.

Moreover, in order to yield more "Blood God Fruits," the ruling "Ancestral God Cult" on Visca Planet did not hesitate to drive the humans and ferocious beasts of the entire planet into mutual slaughter, even secretly intervening to keep the two factions in a roughly balanced state.

This sort of thing had been done for who knows how many tens of trillions of years.

Such an entity was hardly righteous, and Jiang Chen would not have the slightest psychological burden slaughtering them.

The only question was: could he defeat them or not?

Relying on the mechanical legion and the Void Dragon Mecha, Jiang Chen had great confidence in dealing with one or even a few Immortal Spirits.

However, dealing with an unknown number of Immortal Spirits posed a huge risk.

If a few more Marquis Immortals were mixed in, or even an Immortal King hiding their strength, it would be very difficult for Jiang Chen even to save his own life.

"Therefore, the normal channel is not to use brute force, but to find a way to become a 'Divine Son' of the Ancestral God Cult, and moreover, one with a high ranking. If luck is good and a 'Blood God Fruit' happens to be available, there is a chance to obtain it..."

Through the data provided by the Illusory Spirit King, Jiang Chen quickly deduced a viable approach.

However, this path was not easy to walk either, and heavily relied on luck.