Dong Erzhuang, a temporary worker from the company, was someone Daniel Davis had almost forgotten about. It was clear that the company, if they weren't foolish, wouldn't miss out on monitoring the private penguin chat group.
Daniel didn't want to give up on this chat group created by Zang Long, so he planned to rejoin under a different identity. After all, most of the members were young exorcists from the Exorcist Community, and discussing supernatural matters with them could be quite useful. Not to mention, if Daniel introduced technology far ahead of its time, he could collaborate with some of them to avoid unnecessary trouble.
For instance, a game like Oasis, a virtual reality game. Creating a VR version tailored for exorcists could be incredibly intriguing. It might even help reduce conflicts within the Exorcist Community while giving exorcists opportunities to practice their skills.
In today's peaceful society, the number of conflicts among exorcists had greatly diminished compared to times of chaos. For regular people, this was a good thing, but for exorcists, it was both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, they didn't have to worry about getting caught up in random battles. On the downside, many exorcists lacked real combat experience.
In the original story, when Zhang Chulan and his group visited the Tang Clan, many of its younger members exhibited similar problems due to the lack of real combat experience. But in a virtual game, they could fight freely without such restrictions. Of course, for this to happen, all the sects would need to share their secret techniques so that they could be simulated in the game.
Basic techniques would be easy enough to implement, but rare, secret techniques like the Eight Miraculous Techniques would likely never be shared.
"I wonder if Tang Clan's Dan Devourer could be simulated in a virtual game. Would that improve the success rate of mastering it?" Daniel thought. The Sichuan Tang Clan possessed a unique skill, Dan Devourer, which only a select few within the clan could master.
This technique was on par with the Eight Miraculous Techniques. Even someone as powerful as Zhang Huaiyi, who wielded the Qi Source Stream, fell to the Dan Devourer. In the Exorcist Community, only the Old Heavenly Master could ignore the deadly effects of Dan Devourer. Even the Two Heroes would be doomed if they faced it. Zhang Huaiyi's strength was no less than theirs.
In the original story, a Tang Clan elder sacrificed his life using Dan Devourer during the war to take down several formidable enemies from Japan.
Of course, this game idea was still just a plan and might never come to fruition.
"So Ma Xianhong saved Chen Duo after all."
After settling Zhuge Qing, Daniel headed to Ma Xianhong's house to inform him of Zhuge Qing's arrival. To his surprise, several top-tier exorcists were present, including Bi Yuan, master of Ghost Gate Needle, and a young girl, Chen Duo.
Daniel quickly learned that, just like in the original story, Ma Xianhong had gone out on business and coincidentally encountered Chen Duo, who had collapsed due to an accident while on a mission. He had rescued her and brought her back to Biyou Village.
Bi Yuan was here to assess Chen Duo's condition, hoping to cure her. Unfortunately, not even the Ghost Gate Needle could resolve her unique situation.
"This is Chen Duo, a temporary worker for the company," Ma Xianhong explained after nodding to Daniel, detailing Chen Duo's identity and condition. Ma Xianhong's trusting nature was on full display; he had no reservations about sharing this information with everyone present.
"You're a good person, but sometimes good intentions lead to bad outcomes," Daniel thought. He understood Chen Duo's situation all too well. Her eventual death in the original story was tragically unjust. Ma Xianhong's good-hearted actions unintentionally led to the worst possible outcome. Without his interference, Chen Duo's future might have been completely different—after all, she had started to regain her humanity.
Of course, Ma Xianhong wasn't the only one responsible for her death. The other culprit was Zhang Chulan, whose selfishness ultimately led to Chen Duo's demise.
"The company really went too far," someone among the exorcists muttered in disapproval after hearing Ma Xianhong's account. The company had implanted a remotely controlled bomb in Chen Duo's collar, a harsh measure even for a subordinate. The company's image plummeted further in the eyes of these elite exorcists.
Although Daniel agreed it was excessive, he understood the reasoning behind it. Chen Duo was different from other temporary workers. If another worker lost control, the damage would be limited to casualties, but if Chen Duo lost control, it would be a disaster.
Chen Duo wasn't just a gu master—she was a gu, and not just any gu but the queen of all gu. Just as the company strictly limited the Tang Clan's use of drugs, poisons, and mechanisms, they took extreme precautions with Chen Duo because of the catastrophic potential of gu.
Daniel had wondered why the Tang Clan had so few remarkable hidden weapons or potent poisons, and the answer was simple: it wasn't that they couldn't create them, but that the company prohibited it. While qi poisons required a person to have cultivation talent, traditional poisons didn't. The widespread use of poisons would be an enormous problem if it got out of hand.
Just as the Tang Clan, Zhuge family, and other groups renowned for their mechanisms and artifact crafting were prohibited from making automated traps, they were limited to traps that required manual activation.
In today's world, there were many wealthy and adventurous people who loved exploring remote areas like deep forests or the Amazon jungle. If any of these hidden sects set up automated traps, it could lead to unintended deaths. Manually controlled traps were much safer. Of course, in the Amazon jungle, outside the company's jurisdiction, running into danger from tribes like cannibals was just bad luck.
"Rest here for now, and if you need anything, just call one of them," Ma Xianhong said after temporarily arranging for Chen Duo. He then asked Daniel to take Zhuge Qing to see the Body Refining Furnace. He also brought along Zhao Nian, a sorcerer who had recently joined the village.
Ma Xianhong had invited Zhuge Qing to Biyou Village not only for the Body Refining Furnace but also to save Zhao Nian and gauge whether Zhuge Qing harbored any desire for the Wind Queen's Qimen. It was a clever, multifaceted plan.
If Ma Xianhong could let go of his tendency to help others without their consent, he could be considered quite astute. After all, one had to be smart to master Divine Machine's Hundred Refinements.
Helping others was a commendable virtue, but when you force assistance on someone who doesn't want or need it, it becomes overbearing. This was one of Ma Xianhong's biggest flaws.
"Master Ma, why did you ask me here?" Zhuge Qing asked when he finally met Ma Xianhong by the Body Refining Furnace.
"I need your help with something," Ma Xianhong replied, gesturing towards Zhao Nian, who was sitting in a wheelchair nearby.
"He's trapped in his own inner world," Zhuge Qing remarked after a brief examination of Zhao Nian's condition. As an expert sorcerer, he quickly understood what was going on.
"I'm sorry, Master Ma, but I can't help him. Once a sorcerer is trapped in their inner world, only they can find their way out," Zhuge Qing said, shaking his head apologetically.
A sorcerer's inner world was a personal space that was difficult to influence from the outside. If there were a method to help sorcerers escape, there wouldn't be so many of them who became trapped each year. Even the Zhuge family had members who had fallen into this predicament.
Zhuge Qing's words caused Zhao Nian's mother to lose hope, her face growing even more despondent.
"I understand the restrictions of sorcery, but don't worry—I have a solution." Ma Xianhong reassured everyone, signaling his Rufa puppets to place Zhao Nian into the Body Refining Furnace. He then explained the furnace's function to Zhuge Qing.
"What? You can connect to his spirit and enter his inner world?" Zhuge Qing's eyes widened in disbelief as he listened to Ma Xianhong. His expression was reminiscent of when he first encountered the Wind Queen's Qimen and Divine Machine's Hundred Refinements, but this time, he quickly regained his composure.
For a sorcerer, it was possible to enter another's inner world with their consent, as seen in the original story when Zhuge Qing, Wang Ye, and Zhang Chulan entered an inner world together to deduce who was behind the tracking of Wang Ye's family.
However, this was only possible when the person was conscious and willing. Entering the inner world of someone who was unconscious or comatose required an extraordinary amount of power and came with immense risk—something beyond Zhuge Qing's current capabilities.
Yet the Body Refining Furnace bypassed the most difficult step. If this technology were revealed to the world, it would be groundbreaking for sorcerers.
Once again, the terrifying power of Divine Machine's Hundred Refinements was on full display.
"Alright," Zhuge Qing agreed after a long moment of silence. He couldn't resist the potential of the Body Refining Furnace. Soon after, Daniel, Bi
Yuan, and Zhuge Qing connected to the furnace and entered Zhao Nian's inner world together.
"What a sight!" The three found themselves witnessing an epic battle in the sky far ahead of them, a grandiose fight born from Zhao Nian's imagination.
"None shall stand in my way! Not even the heavens themselves can stop me!" proclaimed Zhao Nian, wielding a mighty sword as he slashed through the sky, creating a massive tear in the world, annihilating all enemies in his path. Two women stood at his side, gazing at him in awe.
"If he's this delusional, why bother practicing sorcery? He should just take up the Divine Mask technique," Zhuge Qing muttered, covering his eyes as if embarrassed.
"Did Zhuge Qing have a phase like this too?" Daniel wondered, amused by Zhuge Qing's reaction. If only he could record this moment and share it with the group—too bad they couldn't bring anything into the inner world.
"Are you from the Spirit Race?" Zhao Nian's over-the-top character, Cloudy Dream Nian, noticed the trio. He raised his "creation artifact" and swung it at them. The ground beneath their feet cracked open, and the next moment, their spiritual forms were ejected from the inner world.
"A true Dragon Ao Tian!" Daniel thought, recalling the infamous name associated with overpowered fictional characters.
"A real world versus a fake one," Daniel reflected. Though Zhao Nian's inner world was absurd, Daniel didn't look down on him. In Zhao Nian's shoes, he might have been just as immersed in such fantasies, especially with how harsh reality could be, particularly for ordinary people.
It wasn't just Zhao Nian, after all. Even a seasoned Wudang elder like Grandmaster Lu had gotten lost in the inner world of the Wind Queen's Qimen.
"The inner worlds of sorcerers are said to form a collective world. In some ways, that world must be made up of countless inner worlds," Daniel mused.
"I know how to wake him now. Let me rest a bit first," Zhuge Qing said after a long silence, having come to a conclusion. Once rested, he and Bi Yuan re-entered Zhao Nian's inner world. This time, Daniel stayed behind.
Not long after, they returned, and Zhao Nian finally woke up.
With tears streaming down his face, Zhao Nian knelt before his frail mother, who nearly fainted from the shock of it all. Luckily, Bi Yuan was nearby and administered a quick needle to stabilize her condition.
"The Gu Queen Child."
Late at night, Daniel quietly sneaked into Ma Xianhong's secluded home, where Chen Duo was staying. Due to her Gu Queen Child status, Chen Duo couldn't live in the village itself. This place, originally built for Ma Xianhong's research, now served as Chen Duo's residence.
Because of her unique body, Chen Duo had to wear her protective suit even while sleeping.
"Room. Slaughterhouse." After subduing Chen Duo, Daniel created a mirrored space using the Ope Ope no Mi fruit's powers, then proceeded to dissect her body piece by piece.
"This body… No wonder the company wiped out the Yaoxian Society. It's terrifying." Daniel's analysis of Chen Duo's body revealed just how monstrous it was. The only reason Chen Duo had survived with such a body was due to her extraordinary resilience. A regular person, given such a body, would likely commit suicide immediately.
"Even Archangel's Sigh won't work on this." Chen Duo and the Gu were one and the same, inseparable. In this case, even the powerful healing artifact wouldn't be effective.
"It seems there's no way to cure her without completely stripping her of her qi. Her situation is similar to the Tang Clan's qi poison, but in her case, it's qi gu. Her qi forms various gu within her body, each deadly in its own way. In some cases, her power rivals the Tang Clan's Dan Devourer."
Zhang Chulan had once been poisoned by Chen Duo's gu, and if it hadn't been for his Qi Source Stream, he would have died.
"Consider yourself lucky you met me. Anyone else would've been powerless to help." Chen Duo's condition was extremely complicated, and not even the Double Full Hand technique could fully cure her. Though it could alter her body, it couldn't change its fundamental structure.
Only with the power of the Ope Ope no Mi fruit could Daniel completely remove the gu from her body. Without it, even he would have been helpless.
"It looks like the company will need a new temporary worker in South China." Without her Gu Queen Child powers, Chen Duo could no longer serve as a temporary worker.
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