Chapter 532: The One Who Gazes into the Abyss

Chapter 532: Chapter 532: The One Who Gazes into the Abyss

Chen Xuan found it easy to conclude that proliferation is the instinct of flesh and blood; as long as the supply of spiritual qi is sufficient, they will keep dividing and replicating endlessly.

This fact was also proven when the villagers of Baihe Village began to continuously channel spiritual qi for him, the speed of the underground growth accelerated—he did not need to rely on devouring to obtain flesh and blood, because he was flesh and blood itself.

But this was not entirely good news.

Expansion requires energy, and maintaining a massive body also requires energy. A large amount of spiritual qi was invested in flesh and blood proliferation, and he couldn’t stop this process with willpower, just like you can’t artificially stop a heartbeat.

This hindered Chen Xuan’s dispensable spiritual qi from increasing.

It wasn’t that it didn’t increase, but compared to the spiritual qi acquired daily, he could squander less than one-fifth.

This also limited the speed at which he "blessed" followers.

Half a year passed, and Chen Xuan’s sphere of influence still lingered in Baihe Village, which was somewhat slower than his plan.

The ability store would appear again in five years, and he had to be ready by then.

Chen Xuan emerged from within the flesh and blood, stepping on the soft ground. Bones and flesh wrapped with tendons reached out around him, holding organ-like structures that emitted fluorescence to illuminate the path at his feet.

This feeling was truly marvelous.

He was inspecting the palace of flesh and blood within his own body.

When it swells to a certain extent, wouldn’t the inside be equivalent to another distinct world?

"It would be a pity not to use this place," Chen Xuan murmured to himself while admiring this grotto heaven of flesh and blood, "Maybe I should move all the most loyal followers inside my belly?"

Living here would mean absolute safety; unless he dies, no one can harm his followers.

The only obstacle is the sanity value of the followers; facing a completely sealed, sunless visceral grotto heaven, most people might not last a week.

Additionally, Chen Xuan kept pondering a question.

That is, when ascension arrives, how should he choose the type of fusion to face it?

Currently, it appears the Stargods demand the soul, with the flesh completely abandoned, and those souls have no autonomous consciousness, entirely turned into puppets of the Stargods.

Nanotechnology seems to require everything, and whether the humans consumed by them are still alive is perhaps a question without a definite answer.

Chen Xuan remembered the words Will Naki once spoke—They’ll all serve as fuel for the Celestial Patrol’s ascension.

This might sound cold and merciless, but it very likely points directly to the key of ascension, which is the need to gather immense thought power to have a chance of reaching the other side of ascension.

Thus, not only did the Celestial Patrol absorb the power of the inner demon, but also packed away all the survivors on Earth.

Of course, whether it’s Stargods, nanotechnology, or inner demons, they are adversaries to human ascension, a challenge that must be faced. But thinking in reverse, isn’t humanity defeated by them precisely because the thought power is too scattered?

Blood and flesh fusion happens to avoid this major flaw, allowing vast human individuals to be connected by a commonality.

However, can relentless fusion alone represent humanity’s realization of ascension?

Every time Chen Xuan deeply thinks about this issue, a sense of uncertainty rises in his heart.

What, after all, is the difference between the Lord of Flesh and Blood and the Stargods, nanotechnology, and other phenomena?

Is it merely because the consciousness controlling the flesh was born from a human?

When he possesses an unimaginably massive body and tens of millions of abilities and souls, will humanity really view him as a person?

Is there a possibility he might gradually stand against humanity, becoming a presence similar to the adversaries of ascension?

Chen Xuan doesn’t yet know the answer.

But he vaguely realized that the choice of fusion’s coexistence method would be the key to the issue.

Not only must he perceive himself as standing on humanity’s side, but others must also think so. A widespread collective consciousness will determine his belonging; this is the characteristic of thought power.

"Lord Xuan... Lord Xuan..."

While contemplating the future path, Chen Xuan suddenly heard Li Mo’s call echo in his mind.

Since everyone started worshipping him like a deity, the voices entering his consciousness had rarely stopped. His solution was simple, setting a few whitelists and blocking all other sounds. He was a taboo, not a benevolent entity responding to countless prayers, and had no time to attend to those myriad requests.

Li Mo was one on the whitelist—as an "elder of the company," he now shouldered two major responsibilities: trading cultivation materials and receiving outside cultivators, becoming the bridge between the taboo and followers.

At least that’s how villagers seemed to view it.

He directed his gaze to Li Mo’s location: the Ma Family "Holy Hall," appearing behind the other in the next instant.

"Go ahead," Chen Xuan said sternly.

Li Mo’s body couldn’t help but tremble slightly; despite knowing the vast powers of the taboo, he was still startled by the sudden appearance.

He turned around, bowing in greeting to Chen Xuan, "Yes, today three more loose cultivators came seeking grace, plus those who have stayed previously, making six in total. However..." He paused, "These three claimed to have come from the east."

"East?" Chen Xuan raised his eyebrows, "Has the news spread that far?"

"I was quite surprised when I heard it," Li Mo replied, "They might be connected with some cultivators from Kun Mountain."

Chen Xuan hadn’t instructed Li Mo to widely advertise the grace of the Lord of Flesh and Blood, but it didn’t mean the news wouldn’t leak. Whether it was a dozen cultivators traveling together or the sudden abundance of pills and talismans, it would attract attentive individuals. Over half a year, more than forty loose cultivators had found their way to Baihe Village, and upon slight observation, it wasn’t hard to notice that in this seemingly unremarkable village, the number of people awakening qi sensing was startling, where you could casually call a farmer or village woman your fellow daoist.

These people, in shock, unanimously approached Li Mo for inquiries, and Li Mo obliged by introducing the presence of the taboo.

Of course, all this was conducted with Chen Xuan’s tacit approval.

After all, hundreds or thousands of loose cultivators were difficult for him to consume in one mouthful; a few posed little problem, not to mention that the benefits of merging cultivators were higher than ordinary people, adding newcomers was significantly more advantageous than detrimental.

But considering the purity of the team, Chen Xuan would conduct interviews himself before fusion, and only those with fitting character would be released, as for those who had stained their hands with innocent blood, hypocrites, and scoundrels, fusion equaled sealing; they’d never commit evil again in this lifetime.

Over time, Li Mo also got accustomed to this process.

Now, every time he encountered new loose cultivators seeking grace, he would ask them to wait, recommend them to Lord Taboo once five or six were gathered.

Previously, loose cultivators all came from the north, closely aligned with the trade route of Baihe Village; today was the first time encountering a cultivator squad from the east.

"Alright, follow me," Chen Xuan said and walked towards the backyard. He had noticed the six spiritual qi points added in the backyard, among which three were particularly bright.

As he entered the yard, the six cultivators looked over simultaneously.

The expressions in their eyes flickered with curiosity, excitement, suspicion, and... concealed killing intent.

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but curl up his lips; it seemed this interview was destined to be quite different.