Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost

Chapter 697 697: Courier Delivering Goods at the Door_1

THUD.A figure crashed into Wang Linchi's courtyard.

The person scrambled up, disheveled, but before they could act, Wang Linchi knocked them unconscious with a large banner staff.

This banner staff was a Special Magical Artifact, originally composed of the Ghost Banner, Corpse Raising Bag, and Corpse Controlling Bell. Wang Linchi later refined it with merit, transforming it into the Merit Banner. The original Ghost Corpse within it also turned into a golden... Ghost Corpse due to this process. Wang Linchi then further modified this entity into a protector.

Wang Linchi assigned this protector to the Saint Master as a subordinate. Consequently, the Saint Master was promoted from bodyguard to head bodyguard. After following Wang Linchi for many years, he had finally received a promotion. Wang Linchi next intended for the Saint Master to prosper financially, though that would depend on the right opportunity.

Therefore, the Merit Banner was used by Wang Linchi as a bludgeon. Against a mere Golden Core Stage cultivator, using the Tai Mountain Seal would be overkill.

Here, the Golden Core Stage was roughly equivalent to the third level of Qi Cultivation in the Qiandao Realm. Since he was already at the Foundation Establishment Stage, it was perfectly reasonable for him to defeat opponents of a higher cultivation level.

"Open the door! Quickly, open the door!!!"

Wang Linchi heard banging on his door. What times these are, he thought, to see a Golden Core Stage Cultivator driven to such a state. In the Qiandao Realm, a Golden Core Stage Cultivator would have smashed the door down by now, yet here, they only dared to knock, not break it.

Wang Linchi ignored it. Clearly, the person outside was wary because this was the inner city. Although Return Profound Market City planned to flee, this was not yet public knowledge. Furthermore, until the disciples of the Photo God Sect arrived to vent their frustrations, order had to be maintained in the market city to ensure a comfortable slaughter for them.

"No one there? Did we get the wrong person?" movement was heard outside again.

"That can't be right. I saw him fall in there. He couldn't have been killed, could he?"

The two outside continued their discussion.

Listening to them left Wang Linchi somewhat baffled. He was sure he hadn't cast any intelligence-reducing spells; perhaps it was an inherent trait of theirs?

"Never mind, you do your thing. I'll look for the delivery," Wang Linchi muttered, then began to search the delivery person.

He quickly found a wooden box. Opening it revealed a pitch-black, round bead. Upon checking its functions, his eyes nearly popped out.

This is a good item, he thought.

It was an Innate Magical Artifact. Once its recognition was obtained, it could grant abilities such as 'diligence compensates for ineptitude,' increased Proficiency, and ignoring cultivation bottlenecks. Simply by practicing daily, the user could make incremental progress.

It was a high-quality auxiliary Magical Artifact.

It was quite useful, except it was of no use to Wang Linchi.

"Ngh... What are you doing?!" The man Wang Linchi had knocked out groggily awoke. Seeing the Innate Magical Artifact in Wang Linchi's hand, he instantly became furious. "What are you doing!!!"

His shout naturally alerted the others outside, who broke down the door and rushed in the next moment.

They arrived just in time to see Wang Linchi swing the Merit Banner, shattering the head of the Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

The Sin-force on the man's body immediately dispersed, and Wang Linchi felt his own fortune strengthen ever so slightly—a reward from Fate for completing his task.

The drawback was also apparent: a strange coupling effect seemed to follow him wherever he went, causing him to invariably encounter Karmic Force Practitioners, which always led to conflict.

However, Wang Linchi wasn't particularly bothered by such things. He was more concerned with how to peacefully resolve the current situation.

The several Golden Core Stage individuals before him were from the five major families of Return Profound Market City. Evidently, the goods this courier possessed were from there.

"Hand over the item, and I can guarantee your safe departure," the leader said.

Wang Linchi brazenly stuffed the item into his robes, then picked up the headless corpse and threw it at them.

They were unprepared. As the corpse hit the ground, it suddenly exploded, unleashing a massive blast of deadly Toxin and gore.

The group was instantly blown to smithereens.

No one even defends against the Corpse Explosion Technique? Wang Linchi hadn't expected the ambush to succeed so easily. He hadn't even used much power, just that of a normal Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator... or so it would seem; his Foundation Establishment Stage was anything but normal.

But that was a peaceful resolution nonetheless, he mused.

The Toxin began to spread with the flesh and blood, carried by the air, gradually diffusing throughout the entire Return Profound Market City. Since no one objected, it was considered a peaceful resolution.

As a knight-errant of the Righteous Path, Wang Linchi, while not having a profound understanding of how to peacefully resolve issues with enemies, certainly possessed the authority to define it. If he said it was peaceful, then it was, unless the opponent was stronger than him; otherwise, Wang Linchi wouldn't recant.

Alas, Return Profound Market City is finished over such a trifling matter. Can I still wait for the Inner Sect Disciples of the Photo God Sect to arrive? At this point, Wang Linchi felt he had been a bit capricious. How could he have acted so rashly?

The deadly Toxin from the Corpse Explosion Technique, combined with the sanguineous contamination, quickly enveloped the entire Return Profound Market City. The good news was that its victims, not suffering any direct impact, died peacefully and without pain.

The bad news was that they all transformed into entities resembling Ghost Corpses, each possessing a certain degree of contagiousness.

After all, the Corpse Explosion Technique was activated using the Merit Banner. The Merit Banner's predecessor was a Demon Path Magical Artifact, belonging to the category of unsavory items. Although it had supposedly turned over a new leaf with Wang Linchi, he had used certain methods to transform it into something even more sinister.

For instance, the Ghost Corpse Virus.

This virus was a subordinate to the Crusty Shark Virus, classified within the realm of Spells. He had initially planned to use his Meritorious Guardian to deploy it, but finding the efficiency too low, he switched to using the Merit Banner.

Complementing the Corpse Explosion Technique were abilities like Toxin Explosion and Virulent Nova, which he had 'borrowed' from a certain necromancer. When releasing viruses, these techniques facilitated spread, infection, and self-replication.

It was one of the few lower-tier Spells he currently possessed.

I remember the Ghost Corpse Virus can mutate, right? Wang Linchi suddenly recalled this.

The Crusty Shark Virus was more akin to a large-scale destructive weapon targeting genes. The Ghost Corpse Virus, however, was different; it leaned more towards a Sin-force-type virus and used different raw materials.

He currently couldn't afford the luxury of using Sin-force as a material; the Green Nether Fairyland wasn't qualified for that. If it were the Chaotic God World, then he might consider it.

The Sin-force virus was meant for planetary destruction, unlike the Ghost Corpse and Crusty Shark Viruses, which were used for amusement and weakening.

Furthermore, using a Sin-force virus to generate Sin-force in the Green Nether Fairyland wouldn't even cover the costs, let alone yield a profit.

The upper limit of the Ghost Corpse Virus is the Immortal Monarch Realm; that's good news, Wang Linchi thought. He hadn't delved deeply into developing the Ghost Corpse Virus; it was merely a byproduct that emerged during his research on the Crusty Shark Virus. After all, why would Wang Linchi specifically research a Ghost Corpse Virus otherwise?

There were similar creations, but none were as effective as the Ghost Corpse Virus, which was why he had chosen it.

ROAR!!!

An inhuman roar echoed, causing Wang Linchi's spirits to lift. So fast? It hasn't even been five minutes, has it?

There's already a mutated corpse... no, not a mutated corpse, it's a regular Ghost Corpse. But come to think of it, why can Magical Beasts be infected too?

I remember it was supposed to target the special constitution of Cultivators... unless...

Holy shit! Do Magical Beasts also possess the Immortal physique's genetic flaw related to the Crusty Shark Virus? So Cultivators and Magical Beasts have a high degree of genetic similarity!

Wang Linchi was flabbergasted. Otherwise, there was no explaining why Magical Beasts could also be infected by the Ghost Corpse Virus.

If the genetic disparity between Magical Beasts and Cultivators were significant, the Ghost Corpse Virus wouldn't cause such a transformation in the beasts. At most, they would die, not mutate.

However, the fact that Magical Beasts also became Ghost Corpses indicated that the biological divide between Cultivators and Magical Beasts wasn't as vast as one might assume.

Tsk, the Green Nether Fairyland sure is something else, Wang Linchi mused. He didn't believe this was a product of natural evolution. After all, the two races were not only vastly different in appearance but also diverse in countless other ways. For them to now exhibit such high genetic similarity—even convergent evolution wouldn't be so coincidental.

Wang Linchi was more inclined to believe that both races shared a common origin.

Tsk, this time there's really going to be a show to watch, Wang Linchi thought. He tucked the Merit Banner into his belt, and his figure gradually vanished.

He had only intended to wreak havoc in Return Profound Market City. Now, the entire Yun Xuan Mountain Range might face problems. A war between Cultivators and zombie-like monsters was likely to unfold.

I hope the disciples from the Photo God Sect arrive soon. If they're late and run into a horde of mutated Ghost Corpses, dealing with them won't be so easy, he thought.

Although the mutation of Ghost Corpses has an upper limit, each mutation significantly strengthens them. Furthermore, Ghost Corpses can surpass this limit on mutation instances by devouring each other.