CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 48: A DIVINE MACHINE THAT REVERSES TURBID QI? SHARING TALENT IN USE!

After mastering the local language and script, Lin Qianxuan gained more channels for understanding information.

When he proposed to Gongsun Ying to visit the study to read books, Gongsun Ying agreed.

In the game, the character quickly flipped through book after book in the study, while Lin Qianxuan used this to accelerate his understanding of the world.

This world is vast, but not overly exaggerated, with everything being ocean except for one piece of land.

Beyond the ocean frontier is endless muddy air.

On the land, there is only one country, which is the Great Qian Country.

This is a country that has existed for over 2,300 years.

It’s hard to imagine a country lasting so long without a change in dynasty.

But that’s the reality.

The Emperor Shenwu of Great Qian made significant achievements in the Martial Arts Dao, with exceptional strength and a long lifespan.

As long as he remains, the nation will not fall apart.

Even if there are some conflicts, they will be suppressed and eradicated by powerful forces.

Emperor Shenwu died over two hundred years ago.

Which means he lived for over two thousand years since the founding of the nation.

His successor, Emperor Feng, upon ascending the throne, aspired to emulate the glory of Emperor Shenwu, determined to become the second Emperor Shenwu.

However, he ultimately remained an ordinary person, unable to become the second Emperor Shenwu.

Thus, more than twenty years ago, specifically twenty-five years ago, having lived nearly three hundred years, as his lifespan dwindled, he made a desperate choice to seek longevity and power from the muddy air.

He succeeded, but also failed.

He succeeded in truly merging with the muddy air, mastering its power.

The failure lies in losing most of his original self, becoming obsessive and crazy.

He proclaimed himself Muddy Spirit Emperor, intending to transform the entire world with muddy air, turning everyone into muddy spirits like himself.

In this context, a force that is repeatedly mentioned emerges.

This is the "Muddy Will Cult."

They resemble an evil cult advocating for the apocalypse.

According to their doctrine, heaven and earth are inherently muddy, people are muddy, everything is muddy.

Therefore, heaven and earth will ultimately return to the chaos of muddiness.

Since everything will return to muddiness eventually, why not start sooner?

Thus, they express the desire to return to muddiness in advance.

This has a sense of the notion that since people will die eventually, why bother living?

Amazingly enough, they actually convinced Emperor Feng, creating the current situation.

Apart from the historical causes leading to the current situation, Lin Qianxuan also found the strongest person so far, Emperor Shenwu’s, detailed descriptions of his displayed abilities in the records.

Emperor Shenwu once led soldiers in battle and achieved the feat of slicing a river with one blade and crushing a mountain with one fist.

According to the descriptions, during his march with the army, faced with a blockage by a mighty river, he slashed the river open, allowing the soldiers to advance.

Similarly, he crushed a mountain blocking the path.

Lin Qianxuan wonders if he himself can crush a mountain, but he should be able to manipulate a river to create a path.

Further descriptions of Emperor Shenwu in the book are numerous.

After founding the Great Qian Country and proclaiming himself Emperor, he even performed feats like moving mountains and filling seas, reviving the dead and healing bones, and ventured beyond the realm, exploring the muddy air for years with not a scratch.

The book portrays him as almost omnipotent.

Lin Qianxuan feels that posterity must have overly mythologized him, as some things are definitely different from the records.

In the study, there are more than four hundred books, which Lin Qianxuan quickly had the game character read through entirely. At the top of the bookshelf is a fixed wooden box containing four transparent glass balls.

These glass balls are also Divine Machines, called Memory Balls.

They are used to store information as Divine Machines.

The information stored within isn’t limited to just text and pictures, and can include videos.

Of course, here they’re not called videos but memories.

Lin Qianxuan had the game character retrieve a Memory Ball.

The usage of these requires the input of Divine Energy.

In theory, after a month of cultivation, the game character should have accumulated considerable Divine Energy.

But when Lin Qianxuan had the game character inject Divine Energy, there was no response.

The Memory Ball itself can set an activation password, also preventing others from spying.

Generally, one’s own Divine Energy is needed to open it.

While Lin Qianxuan planned to have the game character put the Memory Ball back, a narration appeared.

[You feel a familiar aura on the Memory Ball; it resembles the aura on the Bronze Walking Stick that brought you to this world. You suspect it might belong to Gao Ming. You recall that within Divine Machines, a portion of the user’s Divine Energy often remains. Using the energy from the stick might be able to unlock the Memory Ball.]

"Does it make sense?"

Lin Qianxuan immediately input a command to have the game character fetch the stick and use the energy within to open the Memory Ball.

As seen in the screen, the game character gently tapped the Memory Ball with the stick, and the next moment, the Memory Ball lit up.

An image emerged from within.

It was an old man holding a Bronze Walking Stick.

The stick was identical to the one possessed by the game character.

Clearly, this is Gao Ming, the adoptive father of the Gongsun sisters.

[Gao Ming (eyes resolute): The behavior of Muddy Spirit Emperor is destroying this world, we must resist...]

"Just this part? Using this thing to write a diary is a bit extravagant, isn’t it?"

There was only one segment on screen, and after watching, Lin Qianxuan couldn’t help but complain.

According to what Lin Qianxuan saw from the records, although this item isn’t particularly precious in this world, it is a "Divine Machine," using it to write a diary is somewhat extravagant.

There are still three Memory Balls on top, Lin Qianxuan immediately input a command to let the game character view the second one.

The second Memory Ball’s picture was still Gao Ming.

[Gao Ming (looking ahead, somewhat joyful): I have adopted a group of orphans and plan to train them to join the Rebel Army. There’s a pair of sisters who are somewhat special, they seem tainted by corruption, but haven’t lost their sanity, instead finding fortune in misfortune. The older sister’s Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness seems connected to an Alternate Space full of Spiritual Energy, every hour of the morning she can obtain massive amounts of Divine Energy, her Refining God Cultivation’s daily efficiency can match others’ months, or even more, while the younger sister’s eyes have the ability to see through death; perhaps they will have a chance to end all of this.]

The image ends there.

It seems Gao Ming really uses the Memory Ball to write a diary.

There are still two Memory Balls above, Lin Qianxuan also had the game character open them to watch.

As expected, it was still Gao Ming.

[Gao Ming (seriously): Brother Wang from the Celestial Craft Institute sent me a letter, he said that corruption is itself a part of Heaven and Earth Energy, just more chaotic. If we could create a Divine Machine that reverses corruption, it might restore the world to its original state. But it seems they’ve recently been targeted by the Taint Sect, I plan to send someone to extract him from the Celestial Craft Institute.]

"A Divine Machine that reverses corruption? It seems it failed?" Lin Qianxuan speculated.

Then he had the game character open the last Memory Ball.

[Gao Ming (sorrowful): Brother Wang is dead, killed by Tie Zhen, the Sect Leader of the Taint Sect. I want to avenge him, but before he died, Brother Wang said that the Divine Machine was already completed, and he hid it in the Divine Strategy Tower. I plan to retrieve it from the Celestial Craft Institute first...]

Everything ends here.

Lin Qianxuan fell into thought.

The first two Memory Balls were fine, but the information in the latter two Balls was a lot!

A Divine Machine that reverses corruption?

Looks like it has already been created.

But it seems it wasn’t brought back by Gao Ming from the Celestial Craft Institute.

Has it already been destroyed, or did he simply fail to find it?

Lin Qianxuan noted down this information, feeling it might be crucial.

Perhaps that Divine Machine could be of great help.

He let the game character return the four balls to their original place, then had the game character leave the study.

He had seen everything here, now considering the next course of action.

First, it must be clear that "String of Destiny" is a romance game.

All his actions must focus on strategizing female protagonists.

Only then can he gain the power of Sound of Destiny, truly altering destiny.

This point was vividly displayed in Chen Long’Er.

In that situation, only by Lin Qianxuan gaining enough power to break all of Takamaki Qingji’s plots could he resolve the crisis.

And this power was coincidentally obtained by strategizing Chen Long’Er.

If he wants to clear this game, he likely can only rely on strategizing Gongsun Yue and Gongsun Ying.

Lin Qianxuan already has some strategic plans for Gongsun Ying, she has little resistance to a genius persona, and Lin Qianxuan happens to be a true genius, a little display could easily win her over.

The remaining one is Gongsun Yue.

Currently, he only knows that Gongsun Yue is very smart, has high achievements in Divine Machine Art, and is focused on completing her foster father’s grand cause.

Lin Qianxuan thought he could perhaps approach Gongsun Yue under the pretense of learning Divine Machine Art.

Then gain goodwill by helping achieve the Rebel Army’s ideals.

Speaking of which, the game character’s two shared talents are still unclear, but he can use them now to take a look.

Lin Qianxuan’s fingers tapped out a line of command on the keyboard, immediately having the game character use Gongsun Yue’s talent.

The next moment, the game character’s eyes suddenly became somewhat hollow and dark, seemingly bottomless, from which dense, minute tendrils extended, bearing many small serrated edges; fierce and terrifying.

(Carefully feel the current situation, detailing it in your mind.)

[You carefully sensed the current feeling, in your eyes, everything around them seemed to have some special marks, marks you could destroy or ruin. As long as you act according to these marks, you could easily destroy the target; at the same time, you seem to feel you don’t need to maintain such an appearance to use this talent.]

"[Eyes of Death] is the Eyes of Weakness? Without maintaining the same mode as Gongsun Yue, I can use [Eyes of Death], this is rather convenient for hiding."

Lin Qianxuan seemed to gain some insight.

According to the game character’s description, [Eyes of Death] is something that can see the target’s weaknesses.

As long as you target the weaknesses, you can kill it?

Lin Qianxuan planned to have the game character find a target to test this ability.

However, after advancing time slightly, a narrator appeared.

[After three breaths, the Divine Energy stored in your Purple Mansion is exhausted, Eyes of Death can no longer be maintained.]

"Consumes so much? Refining a month’s Divine Energy, and directly consumed it all?"

Lin Qianxuan was slightly bewildered.

The talent consumption is such that it’s so large?

Unable to use it, Lin Qianxuan was left with no choice but to shift focus to the other talent.

Gongsun Ying’s talent is passive, cannot be actively exerted, needs to wait until the hour of the dragon.

[Endless Divine Sea], Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness connects to an alternate space with infinite Divine Energy, opens at the hour for a breath each day?

Lin Qianxuan immediately chose to have the game character return to the house, then advance time to the hour of the dragon.

After the hour arrived, a narrator flashed across.

[At the hour, your shared talent from Gongsun Ying took effect, and in an instant, a large amount of pure Divine Energy was poured into your Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, almost equal to the sum you’d cultivate over seven or eight months.]