343: Chapter 343 Xuan Chen, Wang Xuan

At the corner of an abandoned commercial street, three blocks from the Twilight Hotel, Xuan Chen stood in the center of a chaotic street.

The air was filled with a mixture of putrid and bloody smells, with several mutilated zombies lying by shattered shop windows.

Xuan Chen quickly formed a hand seal, dark red flickers of light circulating at his fingertips, as he softly chanted an ancient and obscure incantation.

Immediately after, from the incomplete zombie corpses, strands of visible bloody mist were forcibly extracted, gathering and swirling in mid-air, gradually condensing into a cherry-sized red elixir pill.

The surface of the elixir pill was smooth like agate, but inside, blood seemed to flow, emanating a rich bloody Qi and a faint, sweet, fishy smell.

Meanwhile, the zombie corpses from which the bloody Qi had been extracted visibly shriveled and withered, eventually turning into skeletons covered in grayish-white skin.

Xuan Chen held the Blood Elixir in his palm, feeling the surging life energy within it.

He circulated his Cultivation Technique, and the Blood Elixir immediately transformed into a warm current, flowing along his arm's Meridians into his Dantian.

The stagnant magic power within his body subtly fluctuated, like a dry riverbed being infused with a clear spring; though the increase was not much, it was clearly perceptible.

A smile played on his lips, and his eyes flashed with a mix of excitement and contemplation.

"Hahaha, it works, it really works! My Dao is complete!"

But soon, his expression returned to calmness, even tinged with a hint of regret.

"It's just a pity that these zombies don't have what you call a Soul, so their value is halved."

"However, the bloody Qi within these zombies is abundant, and its quality is much higher than that of livestock. I really don't know if these zombies are considered dead or alive; the zombie virus is actually quite a sci-fi thing."

"Speaking of which, I originally thought I was the Protagonist or a supporting character in an urban cultivator novel. Who would have thought it would directly transition to an Infinite Paradise scenario?"

Xuan Chen shook his head self-deprecatingly and walked towards an abandoned convenience store at the street corner.

He needed to find a relatively safe place to organize his thoughts and plan his next actions.

Xuan Chen, or rather Wang Xuan, was not actually from an Immortal Realm, but from a planet called Blue Star.

From birth, Wang Xuan was different from others, naturally intelligent; he could recognize a thousand characters at three, read poetry at five, and by ten, had developed a strong interest in Daoist classics.

Those around him simply thought he was a smart child, but Wang Xuan himself knew that this precocity was more like an innate spiritual sense, giving him a vague perception of the subtle energy flows between heaven and earth.

At eighteen, while sorting through his grandfather's belongings in the attic of his old home, he unexpectedly discovered a hidden compartment.

Inside the compartment were three thread-bound ancient books: Basic Breathing Method and Elementary Talisman Explanation.

The text in the books was semi-classical, semi-vernacular, accompanied by breathing diagrams and Meridian pathways. At first, Wang Xuan thought they were just fictional stories.

However, the moment Wang Xuan attempted to Cultivate, his worldview was completely overturned.

Wang Xuan never expected the Cultivation Technique to be real. He regarded it as a priceless treasure and began to Cultivate in secret.

However, reality soon poured cold water on him: Blue Star's Spiritual Qi was nearly depleted.

He cultivated for a year but only barely managed to enter the first level of Qi Refinement Stage.

Nevertheless, Wang Xuan later learned through a hidden forum on the dark web that the first level of Qi Refinement Stage was already considered a top-tier expert.

The forum was full of seekers of the Dao who had cultivated their entire lives, only managing to produce a few wisps of magic power and never officially entering the Qi Refinement Stage.

Most abundant on Blue Star were ancient Martial Artists who practiced ancient martial arts; however, even the most powerful ancient Martial Artists could not contend with an cultivator at the first level of Qi Refinement Stage.

At twenty-three, Wang Xuan graduated from university, and his cultivation had reached the third level of Qi Refinement Stage.

At that time, Wang Xuan was already the most powerful cultivator on Blue Star.

Originally, Wang Xuan's plan was to secretly reach Foundation Establishment first, gaining the strength to contend with modern weapons.

Afterward, he would sneak to the neighboring island nation and have the islanders fund his Immortal Ascension endeavor.

However, the appearance of Infinite Paradise caught him off guard. That day, he was disguising his identity, preparing to find a wealthy individual to fund his cultivation plan.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly received an invitation from Infinite Paradise, and before Wang Xuan could figure out the situation,

The next second, he felt as if his head had been struck heavily by a hammer, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he found himself in a banquet hall with two other people lying beside him.

Upon learning that this was a zombie world, Wang Xuan had a bold idea, though he didn't know if it would work.

As the most powerful known cultivator on Blue Star, Wang Xuan had secretly acquired many Cultivation Techniques.

Among them were not a few Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques.

Wang Xuan wanted to see if these zombies could serve as nourishment for Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques, helping him increase his cultivation.

To his surprise, it worked when he tried it.

"With abundant bloody Qi, coupled with the innate talent awakened with the help of the Paradise, one year will be enough for me to push my cultivation to Qi Refining Great Perfection."

Upon entering Infinite Paradise, every newcomer had the opportunity to awaken their innate talent.

His talent was called Spirit Devourer, and its effect was to improve the absorption efficiency and purity of various energies.

This talent was a perfect match for Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques, allowing him not to worry about Impurities in the bloody Qi.

"My other two companions are also not simple; with the combined strength of the three of us, it might actually be possible to complete the Root Mission."

"I don't know what level a Seventh-Tier Cultivation Method specifically is. According to the usual tropes of Paradise-style novels, I'm likely first-tier now. Seventh-tier must surely be beyond Soul Transformation, right?"