novelraw Chapter 130 : The Shadow-Eating Serpent Evolves, Mechanical Ascension
Chapter 130 : The Shadow-Eating Serpent Evolves, Mechanical Ascension
Chapter 130: The Shadow-Eating Serpent Evolves, Mechanical Ascension
Although everyone silently complained in their hearts, mocking others for being so cowardly that they didn’t dare to speak up, they themselves very honestly lowered their heads,
not daring to meet that blazing figure with their eyes.
So the “Sun” wasn’t in the sky, nor on the island—it was in Hangzhou!
‘How could it be…’
At this moment, Tan Jie buried his head extremely low. Sweat streamed down his forehead, already indistinguishable whether from heat or nervousness, his mind a chaotic mess.
The arrogance in his heart had been completely swept away, leaving only fear and unease.
No one ever said that Jiang Yan was this powerful!
Just now, though it was only a fleeting glance, he still saw You Haisheng hung up like a slab of cured meat, suspended by chains.
That man was a mid-stage Law Seed!
Overall strength-wise, he was even a notch above Tan Jie’s father.
Yet in Jiang Yan’s hands, he was like a helpless chick.
And what on earth was that sun-like “Bright King”!?
If that was Foundation Establishment Stage, he’d eat ten West Lake Vinegar Fish!
The Ou Tide Secret Society, a mighty force they had once needed to look up to, whose business tentacles extended throughout the entire Yangtze River Delta region—how many small forces had to bow to them?
But now, they were squashed like a mosquito, swatted dead by the Bureau of Historical Revision.
Even he, Tan Jie, had nearly become an orphan.
After all, he previously thought his father could easily suppress Jiang Yan. But now it seemed... he’d be the one lying flat.
If his old man found out, he’d beat him like a spinning top!
Especially when he remembered the “bold and heroic” words he’d said—if those reached Jiang Yan’s ears, he, no, the entire Dust Society, would be finished.
All he could do was silently pray in his heart: may Jiang Yan not notice him.
He’d never dare to run his mouth again!
Beside him, Zou Ming’s mouth was dry, unable to stop swallowing.
As a member of the Ancient Yue Theatre Troupe, they specialized in drawing belief power from their audiences through performance, investing it into the Actor Tree to nurture corresponding character masks. Upon wearing one, they could gain power.
The user had to have accurate self-awareness of their role, a sharp perception of belief power, and had to perform repeatedly with all their might to earn audience applause and please the mask.
But the longer one wore it, the easier it was to be assimilated. One’s own memories would be extracted, eventually becoming the mask’s vessel.
Among all this, belief power was extremely important.
To put it simply, most ordinary people were general believers, with mixed beliefs—they’d believe you if you were useful, abandon you if not. But the advantage was their sheer numbers.
Devout believers were extremely rare. In this modern age of widespread internet and higher education levels, their numbers declined dramatically year by year.
As for the kind who could offer up themselves—“fanatics”—Zou Ming hadn’t seen more than a few in all these years.
As for saints, even Immortals and Gods who didn’t require belief would cast their gaze upon them.
After all, if you see an interesting ant, you’d stop and take a look too.
Though Jiang Yan only carried a few hundred belief strands on him, dozens of them were terrifyingly pure.
Even the “fanatics” Zou Ming had seen before paled in comparison.
How could a human possess so many saints?
Thoughts like reincarnation, innate wisdom, Dragon King rebirth surfaced in Zou Ming’s mind—terrifying to ponder deeply.
As for Yu Lingchuan, a flattering smile appeared on his chubby face. He had intended to use one of the Red Dust Winds, the [Wind of Friendship], which could increase favorability and quickly close distance.
Snap!
But just as he approached, he was crushed by an invisible arm, and the recoil even rattled his mind into dizziness.
Even without raising his head, Yu Lingchuan felt that half-smiling gaze and instantly understood—
This person’s attainments in the spiritual path far exceeded his own.
Thankfully he used the Wind of Friendship—if it had been an offensive ability, he’d probably be a complete fool by now.
Jiang Yan glanced over everyone and smiled. “Everyone, I’ll take my leave first!”
With that, he departed for Black Prison, taking Zhao Yinman with him.
“Take care, Commander Jiang!”
Everyone bowed their heads and shouted in unison. Their mentalities shifted instantly. They no longer saw him as a young man, but as a true powerhouse.
Only after Jiang Yan left did the crowd lift their heads, revealing the bloodshot eyes and yellow spots within each other’s gaze.
The cost of staring into brilliance.
Then, without a word, they turned and left. Their steps quickened, accelerating until they were running.
Although the meeting was still some time away, the seating was fixed.
The closer they sat to the Commander, the better impression they could make!
Yu Lingchuan looked up at the sky. At this moment, dark clouds had gathered above Hangzhou, and a cool breeze was stirring. He couldn’t help but sigh:
“It’s about to change.”
This whole combo of actions had made sure that in Yuhang, almost no force dared to oppose this Commander anymore.
A bodyguard nearby couldn’t help but say, “Boss, should we leave this place?”
He truly feared his boss might get impulsive and try to clash head-on with such a monster.
These days, business opportunities were everywhere—no need to stubbornly stick to one location.
“Why leave? Yuhang has just been cleansed of several dark forces. With Commander Jiang here, this might become the most stable and safest area in Hangzhou’s extraordinary world.
Especially now that the Ou Tide Secret Society has collapsed. Within Hangzhou, Jinhua, and Ouyue cities, Ren Water, Gui Water, and Silver Dynasty-related items will become scarce. Prices will skyrocket, and we can seize the market.”
A smile bloomed on Yu Lingchuan’s chubby face, his eyes glinting with shrewd light.
Just like a whale fall in nature, the fall of every major force brought countless opportunities.
“A stick in one hand, a carrot in the other. He plays it masterfully.”
Yu Lingchuan sighed. He had thought Jiang Yan was an arrogant man demanding benefits, but it turned out he was a doer—using action to tell everyone: follow him, and there will be meat to eat.
Moreover, he had just heard that Jiang Yan was heading to take office at Black Prison.
With his strength, he definitely wasn’t going to be a regular jailer.
Not even likely to be the Warden—at the very least, he had to be Ancient Talisman level.
So it was probably a concurrent appointment as Deputy Warden, to build up experience.
If you got caught by Jiang Yan and thought you’d survive inside Black Prison, only to look up and see that the judge was also him—
Your life and death would lie in his whim.
That was what true despair looked like!
The bodyguard quickly said, “Got it. Should I go to the meeting room now and grab a seat?”
“Grab what seat? That kind of move is way too obvious.”
Yu Lingchuan frowned and scolded, “Sitting doesn’t leave half the impression as standing beside the room.”
“…Huh?” The bodyguard was stunned.
He thought he had been too sycophantic—but turns out, he’d been too reserved.
No wonder this guy was the boss!
Yu Lingchuan chuckled lightly. “Besides, I need to go prepare a gift first.”
On the other side, Jiang Yan wasn’t paying attention to the thoughts of these various factions.
The demonstration of force was over. Next came the task of setting rules, twisting all of Yuhang’s extraordinary forces into a single rope.
Although most History Walkers were of average strength, as locals, they had powerful networks and could form a solid intelligence system, exploring corners untouched by Ravens or Shadow-Winged Serpents.
Any abnormal signs could be detected immediately.
He would establish a standard through them—especially by leveraging Yu Lingchuan and the Red Dust Chamber of Commerce behind him—to build a free market for transcendents.
As long as it was safe enough and the prices were fair, it would attract a huge influx of transcendents.
The chances of encountering rare extraordinary materials would increase significantly, leading to the birth of more Descendants!
A positive cycle realized.
This kind of manipulation of karma was also a form of cultivation.
【Lamp-Igniting Method】 had already reached Mastery Level 99%, and would soon break through to Perfect Level.
“This big fish caught this time brought quite a harvest.”
Jiang Yan sorted through the spoils and was in a rather good mood.
First, there was a Catastrophe Lotus, a reward for enduring the Heavenly Official’s tribulation.
However, since he had notified the Bureau of Historical Revision in advance, the tribulation’s intensity was reduced, making the final product slightly inferior to the one Wu Sangui had received.
But it was still more than sufficient.
The second was that the Demon-God Embryo had refined both the deformed Silver Servant and the Heavenly Official’s Will within.
This split into two parts. The Xiangliu bloodline was devoured by the Shadow-Eating Serpent, successfully evolving and growing a third head—a serpent head formed from venom, greedy and savage.
It could combine Shadow and Poison powers to unleash deadly techniques.
Its diet had also shifted from shadows to all kinds of venomous creatures, and it could now infect living beings before consuming them.
Most crucially…
Jiang Yan now had one more head to explode!
The other part refined the skill Silver Dragon-Tiger Qi from that mysterious Heavenly Official of the Silver Dynasty.
After fusion, Jiang Yan’s proficiency in Dragon-Tiger Qi skyrocketed to Perfect Level, reaching 88% mastery.
It had clearly been the latest acquired skill, yet it had now surpassed the others—soon ready to challenge Grandmaster Level.
What kind of special effect would that unlock?
The third was Great Pirate Wang Zhi’s 【Grade Six Ancient Talisman Law Domain — Tide-Five Peaks Treasure Ship】.
He had walked the path of Gui Water and Yi Wood, but only used high-grade Elemental Qi, and it was polluted by Taiping Mutation.
Unless it was nurtured into a Descendant and then sold off.
But Jiang Yan wasn’t so desperate as to sell his offspring for survival—so he simply digested it internally.
After incubation by the Demon-God Embryo, it became a unique cultivation method: 【Earthcrafter’s Nether-Wading Treasure Ship Method】 and an Ancient Talisman-level Ship Spirit Seed.
It was a Earthcrafter inheritance that allowed one to forge their own body into a perfect treasure ship that crossed life and death, with every part of the ship a top-tier artifact. When assembled, the body itself became the ultimate magic weapon.
Fusing the Ship Spirit Seed guaranteed success, with orderly growth all the way to Ancient Talisman Level.
“Turning yourself into a magic item—are you sure that’s not just gift-wrapping yourself for someone else?”
Jiang Yan rubbed his chin, finding the method absurd from the start.
Working hard to turn yourself into a treasure weapon—wasn’t that the same as losing your consciousness and becoming someone else’s tool?
Besides, the side effects of cultivation were huge. For humans, it meant enduring the transformation of flesh into Gui Water and Yi Wood-based transcendent materials—a process of extreme agony that gradually corroded one’s reason and dulled all emotions.
It was essentially transforming a living being into a machine—Mechanical Ascension.
The upside? No risk of mutation.
The downside? You’d no longer be human.
The method was best suited for sentient plants—but they weren’t idiots. Why would they give up perfectly good bodies to turn themselves into a ship?
And they also had to resist erosion from the Underworld.
“But I was never human to begin with—nor a plant spirit. I’m a Coffin!”
Coffin Spirit declared proudly. This method was tailor-made for it.
Forging itself into a grand mechanical city, both palace and coffin ship that ferried through life and death.
Who said coffins had to be small?
Coffin Spirit’s ambition was to rival the sun in the sky—to hang above all beings.
To become the greatest tomb in all of history!
So it took the initiative to merge with the skill and the Ship Spirit Seed, shrinking its body and hiding in its master’s sleeve to study in secret.
Zhao Yinman watched Coffin Spirit’s struggle and suddenly felt she ought to work harder on advancing to Law Seed too.
Otherwise, the speed at which she earned points would never catch up to Coffin Spirit’s growth.
“I’ll advance once we get back.”
Having originally intended to lie low, she suddenly found a new goal to strive toward.
At that moment, Jiang Yan also followed the coordinates to the Edge of the Old Days reflected in Hangzhou’s mirror and saw the legendary Black Prison, exclaiming in admiration:
“So… magnificent!”