novelraw Chapter 1051: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (59) – Moderately Damaged
Chapter 1051: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (59) – Moderately Damaged
Once, Jiang Zuo thought the strongest people in the world were heavyweight boxing champions on live TV, or elite bodyguards protecting national leaders.
Later, when Jiang Zuo met his master, he realized there were people far stronger than those so-called champions—cultivators.
His master's appearance completely overturned everything Jiang Zuo had learned in his twenty years of life. So he threw himself headfirst into the “cultivator cannon fodder army”—why cannon fodder? Because his master once half-joked, “The path of cultivation leads only to death.”
Fascinated by the incredible abilities of cultivators, Jiang Zuo didn’t dwell sentimentally on that "dead-end" path. Instead, he poured his passion into trying to squeeze every bit of knowledge out of his master.
Soaring through the skies, moving mountains and seas—those epic powers from novels.
But Jiang Zuo had never actually witnessed any of that—according to his master, he was just mid-tier in the Daoist World, neither top nor bottom.
What does the peak look like?
Jiang Zuo didn’t know.
But maybe… the man in front of him, wielding a three-foot green sword, was that so-called peak—every sword light he released was as powerful as a tactical missile, and each of his movements caused explosive booms in the air!
When his palm struck, the earth sank. His roar stirred violent winds. His gaze was sharp as blades, as if it could cleave one’s soul.Such power—was this really a cultivator?!
Figures fell from the sky… the ground littered with the “bodies” of Gaias.
Jiang Zuo didn’t know what caused the battle, but seeing the white-robed, sword-wielding cultivator ignited his blood.
Thousands of troops, yet I alone am enough!
Such spirit! Such cultivation! His master once said that in the past, Divine Land was the brightest jewel of the Daoist World. Cultivators inhaled clouds, seized the stars, soared through the heavens and descended to the Yellow Springs—this white-robed cultivator was from that era…
Don't lose! You mustn’t lose!!
At that moment, the figure in the projection became a towering statue in Jiang Zuo’s eyes—he didn’t want to see that statue collapse!
He didn’t want to see the sword break, his power run out… he didn’t want to see him fall here!
What Jiang Zuo didn’t realize was that his palms were already sweaty, and his clothes soaked without him knowing—then, the image abruptly changed!
The earth split open, and a massive metal structure suddenly rose up—it was the same door he encountered when he first entered this place!
Figures surged out from the door, rushing into the sky—one after another, cold-faced Gaias!
Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?
As the Gaias filled the sky, even though Jiang Zuo didn’t want to believe the white-robed cultivator would lose, he still felt a deep, suffocating despair.
The Gaias arranged themselves in the air into three massive, concentric circles. Every one of them moved in perfect unison.
Then, a giant vortex formed in the sky… and from it, a colossal beam of light blasted toward the ground!
Jiang Zuo heard a wild, defiant laugh.
From the earth, a massive green lotus suddenly bloomed, and at its center, a figure swung his sword toward the sky—toward the beam of light!
Blinding radiance engulfed the image. Jiang Zuo, as if there himself, shut his eyes in pain—only after a long while did he slowly open them.
Everything was gone… The ground had become smooth like a mirror, and a vast crater was all that remained of the battle.
Countless Gaias plummeted from the sky, no longer moving… but the white-robed cultivator was nowhere to be seen.
After that, the Gaias were lifted—by someone—and brought into the massive metal frame… then tossed into a multicolored pool…
The Universal Material Pool.
After every Gaia had been thrown in, the image began to fade… like eyes slowly closing.
Just before the image vanished, Jiang Zuo heard fragments of a voice… a Gaia’s voice.
【Checking body damage… 16.7%】
【Level-5 AI program severely damaged. Downgrading… Level-4 AI program severely damaged. Downgrading… Requesting host for program repair… Request failed… Downgrading… Level-3 AI program severely damaged. Requesting host for program repair…】
【Level-2 AI program severely damaged… No response… Downgrading… Level-1 AI program moderately damaged… Usable】
【Initiating body repair program】
【Universal Prototype Treasury Administrator Gaia entering sleep mode. Countdown… 3… 2… 1】
Darkness.
“You’re the one who… brought them back?”
Jiang Zuo’s palm detached from the cylinder, and his consciousness exited the complex interface—his eyes fell on the Gaia standing right beside him.
“That battle… only you survived?” Jiang Zuo swallowed and asked.
Gaia’s violet pupils flickered slightly, then slowly nodded.
“That man… is he dead?” Jiang Zuo asked again, his voice trembling.
【Target’s life signal is out of detection range. Presumed dead or departed】
“You… you didn’t pursue him?”
【Outside operational range. Unable to pursue】
Alive or dead… unknown. Jiang Zuo steadied himself. Deep down, he hoped the white-robed cultivator had safely escaped—after all, his enemies were too many.
The Gaias printed by Universal Material were like mass-produced weapons—endless. But a single human has limits. Jiang Zuo didn’t believe that cultivator had lost!
The dignity of humanity… no, of cultivators!
But clearly, this pool could not only reassemble Universal Material, but also break it back down into raw form—otherwise, with so many Gaias tossed in, it should have overflowed.
What an incredible material.
“Why… why did he fight you all?” Jiang Zuo still asked the question in his heart.
【Memory archive missing. Unable to answer】
No wonder the footage only covered the middle, with nothing at the start—it felt abrupt. Jiang Zuo’s heart sank. The final parts of the image seemed to be a kind of self-diagnosis report from the Gaia.
The Gaia before him looked perfectly intact—it must have already been fully repaired. But...
“You… are you still only using a basic-level AI program?” Jiang Zuo asked nervously.
【Confirmed】
“That’s more like it!!” Jiang Zuo suddenly clapped his hands!
The Universal Material Pool, the Gaias, this terrifying technology that spanned countless human breakthroughs—how could it be run by just one stiff, basic-level AI?
This is clearly something extremely abnormal—if the Gaia before him was merely a basic-level AI, and the higher-level AI couldn't be activated due to damage, then that would make sense given the mysterious nature of this place!
But Jiang Zuo's excitement quickly turned into terror… If Gaia, with such power, were merely a dull, rigid AI, that would be fine—but if she were a higher-level AI… or even one capable of autonomous thought and evolution...
Jiang Zuo couldn’t imagine what would happen next—he didn’t even dare to. At that moment, the time-recording light screen beside him had nearly reached 3000.
Damn it!
He had wasted so much time!
Jiang Zuo was instantly alarmed… This 4800-second visitation period cost him all his purchasing power—including 20 points of his life’s maximum value. Any longer and he might be risking his life!
At this point, Jiang Zuo no longer cared about his initial purpose and quickly said, “Stop… Stop the visit time!”
3000!
However, the moment the number hit 3000, it froze… He finally survived. Jiang Zuo let out a subconscious sigh of relief.
He glanced longingly at the two Gaia units being printed in the Universal Material Pool—he might never get to see this kind of technology again.
“So how do I leave…”
Jiang Zuo instinctively looked at Gaia, about to ask if he could leave like this, but his voice abruptly stopped—Gaia had stopped moving!
This beautiful, nearly perfect Gaia was standing completely still with her head slightly bowed… she had paused!
“What the hell…”
Jiang Zuo instinctively walked up to Gaia and waved a hand in front of her eyes… Gaia slowly lifted her head.
【Inquiry: Would the subscriber like to purchase an item?】
“An item? Didn’t I just…” Jiang Zuo’s voice suddenly trailed off—something seemed off with this Gaia!
【Inquiry: Would the subscriber like to purchase an item?】
“I… I haven’t decided yet, can I… think about it?” Jiang Zuo asked cautiously.
【Confirmed. Please reactivate Gaia after selecting to complete the transaction.】
Gaia’s violet eyes flickered, then she slowly bowed her head again… as if all her systems had powered down.
“She can do that too…” Jiang Zuo stared at her in disbelief.
He then looked around.
He looked again at the time-monitoring light screen… and the numbers weren’t moving!!
—Basic AI program moderately damaged… still usable…
Even now, the program was still damaged?
“My god, does this mean…”
Jiang Zuo slowly approached the edge of the Universal Material Pool again, trembling as he reached for the white cylinder… There was no time limit anymore!
…
…
“Captain, this looks like the end of the forest.”
A member of the Management Bureau quickly turned back to report to the four team leaders.
Ling Feng nodded, but his expression didn’t look relieved—on the contrary, it grew more serious. After being transferred to this place, they hadn’t encountered any living creatures.
Not even insects—though they were in a small forest—which was incredibly abnormal.
Not only that, the Management Bureau personnel had discovered many valuable items in this forest.
Whether they were fast-tracked team members from the Demon race or Daoist sects, or other members sent from major factions, all had training in artifact recognition.
They could identify some very rare materials. Many others were unrecognizable, but that didn’t stop the Management Bureau from concluding the forest was of immense value.
At first, everyone wanted to mine them—the artifacts were too tempting.
But Ling Feng had stopped them before they even started—not because he wasn’t interested, but because the place was too strange.
“These things have just been left here untouched. We’ll collect them later if we get the chance. This place is just too weird, and carrying them would hinder our movement. More importantly, we need to figure out where this place is. If possible… the country might even take it over for development!”
Clearly, a long-term takeover and development of a vast treasure vault was far more tempting than scavenging a few items—besides, who knew what dangers lay ahead? If they got ambushed while carrying this stuff, they’d just be easy targets.
No way were they that dumb!
Thankfully, the Bureau’s management was strict. Most followed orders, and those who tried to hide items caved under pressure and gave up.
“Captain, movement ahead! Two figures approaching fast!”
A team member quickly reported back.
Ling Feng glanced at the other three captains. They nodded, and everyone raised their Hope scopes to look ahead.
Beyond the forest was a small grassland. On it, two figures were sprinting at high speed.
“That’s… Cang Jinshui from the Azure Dragon Clan and Qu Xinghe from the Vermilion Bird Clan?”
Through the scopes, they clearly saw the two high-level figures from the Demon Association. They looked utterly miserable—Cang Jinshui even had a visible wound on his arm.
As for Qu Xinghe, her fiery red cloak was gone, leaving only a torn black bodysuit—her figure fully exposed.
“Look! Something’s chasing them!”
The scopes shifted further back, revealing two figures flying low across the grassland at high speed… with delicate features and blood-red metal claws!
“Captain, what do we do?” a team member asked anxiously.
Ling Feng glanced over. If he remembered right, this member originally came from the Azure Dragon Clan. Even if Ling Feng ordered them to stay put, the guy probably wouldn’t obey.
“Everyone!”
Ling Feng suddenly stood and shouted, “All units, provide support!”
“Hey!”
The only female captain among the four stepped onto a dirt slope. She was already holding an M16A, resting it on her long legs as she squinted through the scope.
“Wait! Don’t use the Godslayer—damn it!! Hong Ling! You crazy—!!”
A loud bang rang out—a multi-million-dollar specialized round had just been fired!
(End of Chapter)