The Blood Feud and the Initial Formation of Physical Form

The fog behind Hanjiabao was so thick it couldn't be dispersed.

When Li Xian arrived, he saw that the entrance to the cave was shrouded in a dark green light curtain. The light curtain was covered with strange runes, which wriggled like living things and emitted a nauseating, sweet-smelling odor. On the ground at the cave entrance, more than a dozen Han Family Fort disciples lay haphazardly, their faces bluish-purple, already dead.

Elder Feng stood guard outside the cave, a deep wound on his left arm that exposed bone, from which black blood was gushing.

"Young Master Li!" Elder Feng staggered forward upon seeing Li Xian arrive. "The Fortress Master, Elder Xiao, Elder Peng, and twenty-three elite disciples... are all trapped inside! That light barrier is untouchable; touching it will result in a backlash from the Gu poison!"

Li Xian looked at the light screen.

The administrator spoke in his mind: "The Myriad Poison Killing Formation is based on a hundred kinds of poisonous gu, and is formed by merging the yin energy of the earth's veins. The formation is divided into three layers: the outer layer is 'Bone-Corroding Miasma,' which causes flesh to rot upon contact; the middle layer is 'Soul-Capturing Mist,' which causes loss of consciousness upon inhalation; and the inner layer is 'Heart-Devouring Gu Formation,' which implants Heart-Devouring Gu in the body of those who enter the formation, causing death within three quarters of an hour."

"Can it be broken?"

"Yes, but it will take time," the manager said. "I need your full cooperation to hand over control of your body to me for at least half an hour."

Li Xian paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."

A dark red light shone in his eyes.

After taking control of the body, the administrator first went to the side of a dead disciple and knelt down to examine the wound. The flesh at the wound was rolled back, the edges were an eerie bluish-black, and tiny white insect eggs were wriggling in the flesh and blood.

"It's the egg of the 'Bone-Eating Gu'," the administrator said coldly. "That old ghost withered bones actually laid the Gu egg outside the formation. What a ruthless method."

He stood up, took out the magnetic beam knife from his pocket, but instead of breaking the formation directly, he walked to the rock wall on the left side of the cave.

The rock face was covered with vines, seemingly ordinary. But the manager gently parted the vines with the tip of his knife, revealing a hidden groove behind them—inlaid in the groove was a dark green crystal, its surface covered with black patterns that flickered rhythmically.

"One of the key elements of the formation." The administrator raised his hand, and the magnetic beam blade pierced into the crystal.

"Snap!"

The crystal shattered! The runes on the light screen immediately dimmed by 30%!

But at the same time, a furious roar came from deep within the cave: "Who?! Who dares to break my array's core?!"

The manager did not answer, but quickly walked to the right rock wall and did the same thing again, finding the second key point of the formation and breaking it with a single strike!

The light curtain trembled violently, its color changing from dark green to pale red.

"There's one last key point in the formation, deep inside the cave." The administrator looked towards the cave entrance. "Now, we can go in."

He stepped into the light curtain.

The light barrier melted upon contact with the body, causing no damage whatsoever—the array's core was broken in two places, greatly reducing its power.

The scene inside the cave was even more terrifying than the scene outside.

On the rock walls on both sides of the passage, there are dozens of insect cocoons the size of human heads. The cocoons are translucent, and you can see various poisonous insects curled up inside: centipedes, scorpions, poisonous spiders, snakes... Each one is unusually large and slowly wriggles inside the cocoon.

Deeper inside, the ground was covered with a viscous black liquid, in which white bones floated. The air was filled with a pungent, nauseating stench that made one dizzy.

The manager remained unfazed and continued to investigate.

After turning a corner, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

This is a naturally formed cave with countless stalactites hanging from its ceiling. In the center of the cave, a huge crimson magic circle is in operation—the circle is drawn with blood, and seven black banners are stuck around its edge, each banner bearing a beating heart!

Inside the magic array, Han Jinan, Elder Xiao, Elder Peng, and others sat cross-legged, their eyes closed, their faces contorted in pain. Above each of their heads floated a wisp of black energy, connected to the array, which was slowly draining their life energy.

At the very center of the magic array, the withered skeletal immortal sat cross-legged in the blood pool, his body crawling with Gu worms. He formed hand seals and chanted incantations; with each verse, Han Jinan and the others paled further.

"Finally, it's here." The withered skeletal master opened his eyes, his gaze blazing with green light. "Boy, you've ruined my plans time and again. Today, I'll use your life as a sacrifice to my Myriad Gu Formation!"

With a push of his hands, the blood pool boiled! Countless Gu worms surged out of the pool, transforming into a black torrent that rushed towards the administrator!

The managers, however, neither dodged nor avoided the issue.

He raised his hand, palm facing upwards. The dark red crystal spun wildly deep within his consciousness, unleashing a terrifying suction force!

"Energy extraction, range of hundreds of feet!"

The black torrent abruptly stopped three feet away from him! The energy within the Gu worm was forcibly extracted, and its body withered and weathered at a visible speed, eventually turning into ashes!

"What?!" the withered bone master exclaimed in horror.

The administrator stepped into the magic circle.

With each step he took, the crimson runes beneath his feet dimmed a little. When he reached Han Jinan, he raised his hand and pressed down, severing the black energy connecting Han Jinan's head.

Han Jinan's body trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes: "Young Master Li...?"

"Don't speak, focus your energy to protect your heart meridian," the administrator said indifferently.

He followed the same method and rescued Elder Xiao, Elder Peng, and the other disciples.

After everyone had regained consciousness, the manager turned around and looked at the skeleton.

"Now, it's your turn."

The withered bone monk's face was gloomy, but he suddenly laughed.

His laughter was eerie, his laughter was desolate.

"You think you've won?" He slowly stood up, the Gu worms around him falling away in a flurry. "Do you know why I refined this Myriad Gu Formation? Why I controlled Han Family Fortress?"

The manager frowned: "I don't need to know."

"No, you need to know," the withered skeletal master's voice was hoarse, "because all of this is for... my daughter."

Before the words were finished, hurried footsteps came from the entrance of the cave.

A white figure rushed in—it was Bingwei!

No, it wasn't Bingwei. The newcomer bore a striking resemblance to Bingwei, but was slightly older, possessed a colder demeanor, and harbored deep sorrow in her eyes. She wore a white robe from the Linghan Palace, but the hem was stained with blood, and her hair was disheveled.

"Father!" She rushed to the edge of the magic circle, but was bounced away by the remaining power of the magic circle.

The withered bone master looked at her, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Lan'er... you still came."

"Father, stop!" Binglan—the illegitimate daughter of the Bone Master, the eldest disciple of the Bing generation in Linghan Palace—was in tears. "You've already harmed too many people. Don't continue down this path!"

"Wrong?" The withered skeletal master laughed bitterly. "My only mistake in my life was failing to protect your mother back then!"

He pointed at the administrator: "The thing inside this kid can manipulate energy and condense it into a physical form! If I can obtain it, I can refine the 'Indestructible Gu Body.' At that time, not only Peach Blossom Village, but the entire world will be unstoppable!"

Binglan shook her head: "But Father, how is what you're doing any different from those who killed Mother?"

The withered skeleton shuddered.

The manager watched this scene quietly, then suddenly spoke up: "Are you finished?"

The withered skeletal figure whirled around, a mad glint in his eyes: "Boy, you think you've got me cornered? Let me tell you, I've buried three hundred catties of 'Bone-Corroding Gu Powder' at the bottom of this cave! If I detonate it, the entire back mountain will turn into a death trap! Then, Han Family Fortress, Tonghai Prefecture City… everyone will be buried with me!"

A black jade talisman appeared in his hand: "Let me go, or we'll both perish!"

Binglan's face turned deathly pale: "Father, no!"

Han Jinan and the others also looked solemn.

The manager, however, laughed.

"Try detonating it," he said calmly.

The withered bone monk was taken aback.

"Since I dared to come in, I naturally made preparations." The manager raised his hand, a dark red light appearing at his fingertips. "You thought I was just taking a stroll as I broke through the formations? You're wrong. With every step I took, I laid down an 'energy isolation net' underground. Your three hundred catties of Gu powder... are now ineffective."

The expression on the face of the withered bone monk changed drastically, and he suddenly crushed the jade talisman!

Silently.

Nothing happened.

"No...it's impossible..." He staggered backward.

The manager stopped giving him a chance.

In a flash, he was already in front of the Bone Master! His right hand gripped the top of his head, and dark red energy surged into him wildly!

"Energy extraction, target—the entire cultivation level of a Divine Origin Realm cultivator!"

"Aaaaaahh ...

The withered bone master let out a shrill scream! His energy leaked out like a burst dam, forcibly extracted by the administrator! His skin quickly dried up, his hair turned white and fell out, his eye sockets sunken, and in the blink of an eye, he went from looking fifty years old to a hundred-year-old!

But at that moment, something unexpected happened!

A ruthless glint flashed in the eyes of the Bone Master. Suddenly, he bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence! The blood essence transformed into a blood talisman in the air, and with a flash, it actually burrowed back into the manager's body!

"The God-Devouring Gu... Even if I die... I will drag you down with me..." The withered bone master was on his deathbed, yet he smiled menacingly.

The manager was startled!

He felt a sinister energy invading his arm and rushing straight to his brain! It was the "God-Devouring Gu" that the Bone Master had refined with his life's cultivation, specifically designed to harm the soul!

"The manager!" Li Xian exclaimed in his mind.

"It's alright..." the manager gritted his teeth, "but this energy is too insidious... I need... I need purer life energy to neutralize it..."

He turned his head sharply and looked at Binglan.

Binglan was startled by the dark red light in his eyes: "You... what are you going to do?"

"I'm sorry," the manager whispered.

He flashed again, grabbing Binglan's wrist, and dark red energy surged into her body! But it wasn't to harm her, but rather... to guide her.

"You possess the ice-based cultivation techniques of the Linghan Palace, and you've also inherited the Gu-craft talent of the withered bone ghost," the administrator said quickly. "Ice and fire complement each other, yin and yang are in harmony—I need your cooperation to circulate the techniques and cultivate with me."

"Dual cultivation?!" Binglan's face flushed red. "Are you crazy?!"

"This is the only way to save your father," the administrator said in a deep voice. "The Devouring God Gu is eroding my soul. If it is not neutralized in time, I will die, and your father will also die from the backlash of the energy. Only through dual cultivation, using the power of yin and yang to refine this energy, can we all be saved."

Binglan looked at the dying skeleton, then at the manager's dark red eyes.

Deep within those eyes, there was pain, struggle, and a trace of... a sense of vicissitude she couldn't decipher.

"I..." she bit her lip, "I promise."

"Lan'er...no..." The withered bone master wanted to stop her, but he was too weak to move.

The manager said no more, picked up Binglan, and transformed into a dark red streak of light, rushing into a side passage deep within the cave.

"Young Master Li!" Han Jinan wanted to chase after him, but Elder Xiao stopped him.

Elder Xiao's expression was complicated: "Let him go... that's... the only way."

When Li woke up, he found himself lying in a dense forest.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns. In the distance, the babbling of a stream and the clear chirping of birds could be heard.

He sat up, feeling unusually weak, but his mind was clear. In his mind, the Administrator was silent; a thin layer of frost covered the surface of the dark red crystal, slowly melting.

"The manager?" Li called out.

no respond.

But a memory appeared in his mind—not his, but the manager's.

In my memory, the manager carried Binglan into a stone chamber deep within a side passage. Inside the stone chamber was a naturally formed hot spring, filled with steaming vapor.

"I will activate the 'Ice Soul Profound Technique' and coordinate it with the 'Energy Absorption Demon Technique'." The administrator—or rather, Li Xian's body—placed Bing Lan into the hot spring.

Binglan blushed, but did as she was told to use her internal energy.

A chill emanated from her body, causing the surface of the hot spring to freeze rapidly. However, dark red energy surged from the manager's body, melting the ice and turning it into warm, moist steam.

Steam rose and enveloped the two of them.

What happened next... Li Xian dared not think about it anymore.

Those images, those sensations, those moans… though not of his own volition, were vividly etched into his memory. He could feel Binglan's trembling body, hear her suppressed sobs, and taste the coolness of her lips followed by warmth…

"Enough!" Li Xian suddenly stood up and slammed his fist into the tree trunk!

The tree trunk split open, and wood chips flew everywhere.

"Why...why did you have to do this..." He clutched his head in anguish. "Manager...you promised...you wouldn't force me..."

"I didn't force her," the manager's voice suddenly rang out, weak but clear. "It was her own choice. And... it was the only way to save everyone."

"Then why didn't you tell me beforehand?!"

"If I told you, would you agree?" the manager countered. "Would you just stand by and watch yourself be corrupted by the God-Devouring Gu and die? Watch the Bone Master explode from the backlash? Watch the entire back mountain be contaminated by the Gu poison?"

Li fell silent.

"Mr. Li, we are a symbiotic entity." The manager's tone softened. "There are some things I have to do, even if you don't want to. But please believe me, I have never intended to hurt you, nor have I ever intended to hurt those you care about."

"Where's Binglan? What happened to her?"

"She..." the administrator paused, "The cold poison that had accumulated in her body for many years has been resolved, the bottleneck in her cultivation technique has been broken, and her cultivation level has greatly improved. As for what happened that night... I will give her an explanation."

"How are you going to explain this?"

"Once I materialize, I will marry her," the administrator said earnestly.

Li was stunned.

"What...what did you say?"

"I said I would marry her," the administrator repeated. "Although it was for healing purposes at the time, I did possess her body. Though I am not human, I understand the meaning of responsibility. Once I have a physical form and a real body, I will marry her."

Mr. Li didn't know what to say.

After a long silence, he finally asked, "So... how are you now?"

"Excellent." The administrator's tone carried a hint of excitement. "Binglan's Ice Soul Profound Technique and the Gu Technique energy of the Old Ghost of Withered Bones have perfectly fused within my body. Yin and Yang are in harmony, ice and fire complement each other—I am now confident that I can initially solidify my physical form within three months!"

"What will the physical form look like?"

"We don't know yet," the manager said, "but we should see a basic outline soon."

As they were talking, Li suddenly felt a warmth in his chest.

He looked down and saw a dark red, spiderweb-like pattern emerging beneath the skin of his chest. The pattern was as fine as a net, spreading outwards, each line faintly glowing, as if pulsating with life.

"This is... a prototype?" Li Xian exclaimed in horror.

"Yes," the administrator said. "I am using your body as a foundation and the absorbed energy as material to weave 'energy meridians.' Once the meridians are complete, they will be able to detach from your body and condense into an independent entity."

The spiderweb-like patterns continued to spread, gradually covering half of Li Xian's chest. Wherever the patterns passed, his skin felt a slight tingling sensation, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

"How long will this process take?" Li asked first.

"Three days and three nights," the administrator said. "During these three days, I cannot use my power, and you must find a safe place to rest. Otherwise, if the meridian weaving fails, I will dissipate, and you will also suffer severe damage."

Li nodded and looked around.

This dense forest, rarely visited by humans, was a good place to hide. He found a secluded cave, moved stones to block the entrance, and had the Superman drone keep watch around the area.

After settling in, he sat cross-legged and looked at the spiderweb-like patterns spreading across his chest.

The patterns covered his entire chest and were spreading towards his limbs. They emitted a faint, dark red glow, flickering like breathing in the dim cave.

"Manager," Li Xian suddenly asked, "once you have a physical entity... will you still need me?"

The manager remained silent for a moment.

"It is necessary," he said honestly, "but no longer symbiosis, but cooperation. You are the chosen successor of Boltzmann's brain, with the ability to create. And I... have the ability to manipulate cosmic energy. If we join forces, perhaps we can truly fulfill that great dream—to create real life."

"and then?"

"And then..." the administrator chuckled, "then we can travel among the stars, explore the mysteries of the universe, and witness the rise and fall of billions of civilizations. Or... find a quiet place, create a small world, and live a carefree life."

Li Xian also smiled: "Sounds good."

"So, live well," the administrator said softly. "Once I materialize, we'll go together to fulfill Boltzmann's last wish. Together... we'll create miracles."

The spiderweb pattern spread across Li Xian's entire body.

He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he saw a vast sea of ​​stars. In the center of the sea of ​​stars, a dark red figure slowly condensed—it was the physical prototype of the Administrator, curled up like an infant, majestic like a god.

Around the figure, spiderweb-like energy meridians extended into the depths of the universe, absorbing endless radiation energy.

But those meridians are too delicate and too fragile.

It could break at any time.