usenovelonline Chapter 179 Autonomous Machines, Martial Ancestor's Sincerity
Chapter 179 Autonomous Machines, Martial Ancestor's Sincerity
Chapter 179 Autonomous Machines, Martial Ancestor's Sincerity
Inside the giant tower, a stream of blood, like a snake, was writhing rapidly, dodging attacks.
Behind the Blood Serpent, a large number of autonomous machines relentlessly pursued, their plasma cannons almost overheating, their six spider-like legs moving at lightning speed.
Nourishing.
Another plasma ball grazed past Modi, extinguishing a portion of his blood.
Modi was startled and manipulated his blood-flowing body to dart to the side, narrowly avoiding the plasma ball explosion.
Large sections of the wall were obliterated, and the air was thick with high temperatures and a restless atmosphere.
It all began the moment he entered the giant tower.
After passing through the rift and entering the giant tower, he arrived at a futuristic space with a strong science fiction feel, which looked like an electronic technology laboratory.
Aside from the instruments whose names he couldn't recall, what attracted his attention most was a spiral staircase leading upwards.
Before he could figure out what this place was for, he heard the piercing alarm again.
"Warning: Area A00 has been invaded. Tower guards have been forcibly activated. Objective: Completely eliminate the intruders."
Subsequently, the autonomous machines that resembled spiders, had six legs, and were equipped with turrets on their backs, began to awaken one after another.
As soon as they were awakened, they put Mordi on their kill list and attacked him with plasma cannons and red lasers.
Given Modi's current severely injured state, he was unable to deal with these things effectively, and for a time, he was chased and forced to hide.
"This is really... never-ending."
Another plasma ball exploded, and Mordy, controlling his blood-flowing body, launched a counterattack.
The blood flowed outwards, sweeping towards some of the tower guards. At the same time, a large pool of blood that he had deliberately left behind also instantly came to life, forming a pincer movement with him.
The blood serpent pea coiled around the tower guards' razor-sharp spider legs, then slipped deep into the machine through the gaps between their armor plates.
After a series of crackling sounds, most of the tower guards were paralyzed, with sparks of electricity appearing on their bodies.
"Done, it's moisturized."
Scattered blood gushed from the paralyzed machine, recombine into a blood serpent, and climbed the spiral staircase before the next power-generating plasma ball was launched.
Modi crawled stealthily, leaving his pursuers far behind, and successfully climbed to the second floor of the tower.
The second floor continues the style of the first floor, but the furnishings are quite different.
The only constant is the large number of tower guards.
The snake's head stood upright, and Modi exchanged a glance with the tower guard, causing the scales to bristle.
Fight, retreat, or flee.
Considering his own situation, he dared not linger and immediately rushed to the next floor.
Retreat is the best course of action.
"The guards on the first floor seem unable to reach the second floor, and by the same token, the guards on the second floor should be unable to do so either."
"As long as we get to that place, as long as we get to that place..."
Ji Modi felt as if he were playing a tower-climbing game with a disabled body. Each floor had a different style of scenery and a large number of guards.
He often didn't even have a chance to catch his breath; as soon as he climbed to the next floor, he would face a barrage of attacks.
Fortunately, his grazing skills were still solid. He read the movements of the tower guards before they fired and narrowly avoided each barrage of bullets.
Even more fortunately, he discovered three nutrient tanks on one of the floors, which contained a large amount of biomass.
These biomasses are easy to absorb, plentiful, and filling, allowing him to repair his body and regain his strength.
Despite his physical recovery, he did not linger in battle. Apart from dealing with the guards blocking his way, he spent the rest of his time climbing the tower.
"This is the three hundredth...::...how many floors was it again? Never mind, let's keep climbing."
The blood snake writhed, glancing warily at the new floor, and then realized something was amiss.
This floor was unusually empty, with neither a spiral staircase leading upwards nor any experimental equipment from the floors below.
Yes, there is one, but it's just a huge sphere in the center of the floor, occupying almost a quarter of the floor space.
The sphere is covered with patterns, similar to those on the tower, and is red in color. In addition, there are patterns on the bottom of the sphere that extend towards the wall of the tower.
Perhaps the patterns on the tower's body are extensions of these patterns on the sphere.
The alarm is still sounding:
"Warning, core area compromised. Forced activation of the annihilation protocol. Activation in progress... Activation failed. Encountered unknown resistance. Restarting... Activation failed..."
Accompanied by bursts of electrical noise, the patterns on the surface of the sphere flickered, alerting Mordy.
"This must be what they call the 'Heavenly Book Sichuan-type' AI, right? What's it doing?"
He grew increasingly vigilant, quietly moving away from the sphere that seemed to be caught in internal strife, his blood surging with anticipation.
Under his watchful gaze, the sphere, whose surface patterns had been flashing, finally returned to normal, and the patterns turned back to blue.
That wasn't all; countless blue particles surged out from inside the sphere, forming a human-shaped projection.
The projection was dressed in dark-colored clothing, the material of which was difficult to determine with the naked eye.
He was tall and burly, with half-gray hair casually tied up. His face was sharply defined, with a fine stubble around his chin, and his face was etched with the marks of time.
Even just standing there motionless, the projection gave Modi a sense of oppression.
He had no doubt that the person corresponding to this projection must have surpassed the Grandmaster realm and reached a realm above the Grandmaster.
"After so many years, someone has finally reached the top of the tower again."
The weathered man, with a look of deep emotion, slowly spoke: "You, the newcomer... what kind of monster are you? How could you look like this?"
The man looked surprised, squatted down, and looked straight at the blood snake that Modi had transformed into.
"Could it be that the outside world has undergone tremendous changes since I left, and even wild beasts in the mountains and forests have become spirits?" he murmured, his gaze towards the blood snake filled with doubt.
Modi didn't know what to say. As his blood flowed and he transformed back into human form.
"That was the effect of the cultivation technique I practiced just now; you can think of it as my second form."
"Second form?" The man savored the term, then exclaimed in admiration, "It seems the martial arts world has developed quite well since I left. That's excellent; a new generation surpasses the old... By the way, newcomer, what's your name?"
"Minghe, may I ask your name, senior?"
"Akagiko, you should have heard of me." The man's lips curled into a slight smile, as if he were anticipating a certain scene.
However, Modi simply nodded knowingly, without surprise or disbelief.
"So this is the source of martial arts. Senior Chi Chengzi, I have long admired you."
"Why is your reaction so bland?" Akashiko frowned, gesturing, "Shouldn't you have... well, a bigger expression, a more surprised look?"
"I could roughly determine your identity from your clothing style. What's more..." Modi pointed to the top of his head.
Chi Chengzi looked up and his face darkened. Above him was a line of large characters:
[Second Authority Holder - Lv? - Celestial Realm - Source of Martial Arts - ? ? ?]
"No wonder, it was the Heavenly Book that betrayed me." Chi Chengzi said with a regretful expression, then added, "Those who come after me, you must be very curious as to why I am here, right?"
Modi nodded and said, "A friend of mine once found your notebook in a cave. It contained some truths about the Heavenly Book."
"The Heavenly Book will plunge you into a state of enlightenment where you are completely unaware. That's written in the notes, isn't it?"
Seeing that he admitted it, Akashiko smiled and said, "Doesn't it feel very different from what you've seen along the way?"
"That's right."
"That's right. Now, let me tell you the whole story."
Akari walked to the edge of the sphere, reached out and touched it, recalling:
"Back in my time, there was no martial arts in the world, and I was just an ordinary person until I encountered the heavenly book that fell from the sky."
A hint of reminiscence flashed across his face as he continued, "Although it's called a celestial book, it doesn't take the form of a book. Instead, it's a sphere with blue patterns on its surface, just like the one on my head."
"You probably know most of what happened after that. I created martial arts and spread it widely."
"Later, after I became the strongest person in the world, I devoted myself to studying the Heavenly Book and discovered its true function."
Modi guessed, "To store souls and divine will?"
"Not only that, it will also turn the collected souls into mindless enlightenment plugins. Even I couldn't interfere with it at the time. That's why your friend's notes were recorded that way."
Chi Chengzi smiled, his tone tinged with pride, "Later, I found a way to enter the Heavenly Book and fought my way to the top of the giant tower, which is where we are now."
"Finally, I fought a fierce battle with the elimination protocol activated by the AI and barely managed to defeat it. After that, I forcibly seized the AI's second authority with my own will and modified some of its settings."
"The Heavenly Book AI can no longer force the soul into a state of enlightenment. It can only exchange so-called 'online time' with them. This is the last thing I do for future generations. What I leave here is just a wisp of my divine thought."
Modi picked up the conversation, guessing, "After that, you ascended to the upper realm?"
Akashiko nodded, then shook her head.
"I did not ascend to the so-called upper realm; I merely broke through the world barrier and left this realm."
He glanced at the sphere and said, "You'd better not use the ascension portal it provides, since nobody knows where it leads."
Judging from the original function of the celestial book, its existence must have been malicious.
Therefore, it is quite intriguing to know what the upper realm the ascension passage points to.
"Why didn't you erase the ascension passage back then?" Modi asked, puzzled.
"First, I don't have that ability, after all, I only have second-level authority; second, I can't understand the Heavenly Book runes, I can only forcibly tamper with some of them by willpower, the rest are too stubborn, I can't do anything about them."
Akashiko shrugged, then pointed to the name above her head and said:
"All I can do is leave behind a divine thought and wait here for the second person to reach the top of the tower, and then transfer my second authority to him."