96: compulsory liquidation

The Mysterious Robed Guest's figure completely vanished.

The secret chamber returned to silence.

Lu Yuan stood still, his face devoid of emotion.

He merely raised his hand and brought up the Great Dao Options Exchange interface.

On the light screen, the intelligence provided by the Mysterious Robed Guest was broken down into countless data streams, scrolling frantically.

Target Asset: nine-segment demon suppression key.

Acquisition prerequisite: Collect three 'subsidiary shares' (sub-keys).

Current shareholders: Three. Codename: Gu Master, Sword Cultivator, Painted Skin.

Project evaluation: Risk Rank — extremely high. All three holders are 'Candidates' and are suspected of possessing 'Systems' with different business models.

Lu Yuan's finger glided across the light screen, opening the detailed information for the one codenamed [Gu Master].

Countless pieces of information about this person, including his possible hiding places, usual methods, and personality weaknesses, were repeatedly simulated under the Sandbox Simulation function, deducing tens of thousands of different contact possibilities.

Finally, the System highlighted the path with the highest success rate in red.

Optimal acquisition plan: Utilize the homologous restraint of the 'ten thousand gu furnace' to forcibly 'liquidate assets' of the target.

Lu Yuan closed the light screen.

He turned and looked at the war puppet behind him, a demonic figure forged entirely from profound iron.

“Begin the first active acquisition.”

His voice echoed in the empty secret chamber, devoid of ripples.

The red light in the war puppet's eyes flickered, and the armor plates on its chest silently slid open, revealing the metal core beneath—a core that had just begun its initial Fusion with the karma furnace, its surface covered in eerie Gu patterns...

Burial God Abyss, Ten Thousand Gu Blood Cave.

This place was a famous forbidden zone in the Eastern Continent, where a sickeningly sweet stench of decay permeated the air year-round.

The ground was dark red, a sticky clay soaked in the blood and flesh of billions of living beings for a thousand years; stepping on it, one's feet would feel a sensation like living things squirming.

A blurry shadow, clinging to the jagged rock wall, silently and stealthily slid into the deepest part of the blood cave.

The war puppet activated its optical camouflage and Spiritual Qi shield, blending in with the surrounding distorted shadows.

Lu Yuan's consciousness, through the Puppet's crystal eyes, surveyed this world filled with malice and life.

The rock walls of the cave were covered with translucent, pulsating heart-shaped sacs of flesh.

Countless bizarre Gu worms squirmed, bit, and underwent Fusion within them, enacting the most primitive and bloody Law of evolution.

A continuous, rustling sound, fine enough to drill into bone crevices, came from all directions.

When the war puppet stepped into an open space in the center of the cave, all sounds abruptly ceased.

The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains swayed.

The entire cave's ground, rock walls, and ceiling “came alive.”

Billions of black beetles, each the size of a fingernail, burst forth from every corner, converging into a destructive tide of insects that devoured light, surging towards the war puppet.

Sizzle — sizzle —

The war puppet's profound iron armor, upon contact with the insect tide, emitted thick black smoke.

The armor, strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator, was now being gnawed away and dissolved at a visible rate, revealing the complex psionic circuits beneath.

“Heh heh heh...”

A chilling laugh came from deep within the insect tide, echoing through the cave.

The insect tide parted, and a pale-faced young man in a blood-red robe slowly emerged.

Beneath his skin, countless tiny things seemed to be moving, making his face ripple in an eerie, wave-like manner.

He was the Gu Master.

“A mere iron lump dares to intrude into my blood cave?”

The Gu Master observed the war puppet, submerged in the insect tide and unable to move, with great interest.

“Perfect, my newly refined 'metal-devouring Gu' still lacks some high-quality metal to feed on. You've come at just the right time.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to think of an even more interesting game.

“Let me show you what true power is, in your deepest despair.”

A cruel light flashed in the Gu Master's eyes.

He activated his strongest technique, his Natal Gu, which was linked to his Divine Soul.

“Heart Demon Gu, go, devour his Soul.”

An invisible, intangible ripple penetrated the war puppet's layers of defense, directly striking Lu Yuan's Divine Soul!

Boom!

In Lu Yuan's consciousness, towering waves surged.

The despair of being hunted by Li Mo.

The pain of his Dao foundation being destroyed.

The powerlessness facing Zhao Qian's Karma lock.

All the negative emotions he had suppressed deep in his heart were infinitely magnified at this moment, transforming into countless monstrous devils, intent on tearing apart his steel-like rationality.

His consciousness was sinking, and the world in his eyes began to twist, as if he was being dragged into an endless abyss.

Just then.

Above his Golden Core, those strange Dao patterns, resembling stock K-line charts, suddenly erupted with golden light!

Cold, emotionless golden data streams washed over his entire consciousness.

Warning: Law-level mental attack detected.

Activating risk hedging protocol!

Target: Host's negative emotion asset package. Execution plan: Forced liquidation!

The roaring devils, under the washing of the golden data streams, let out silent screams.

They were not annihilated, but rather decomposed, quantified, redefined as strings of cold data, and then returned to nothingness.

Lu Yuan's vision returned to absolute clarity.

The intense pain from the depths of his Divine Soul still existed, but his mind had already returned to that of a ruthless trader.

“Got you.”

He spoke through the war puppet, his voice a cold, emotionless electronic synthesis.

The playful smile on the Gu Master's face abruptly froze.

He saw the war puppet, which should have been completely corroded, suddenly open the armor plates on its chest.

A furnace, inscribed with billions of intricate Gu patterns, seemingly condensed from pure Karma power, was revealed.

The core of the furnace was spinning frantically.

An indescribable, terrifying suction force targeting “life” and “Karma” suddenly erupted!

Hum —

The entire Ten Thousand Gu Blood Cave, all the Gu worms, lost control in an instant!

They let out shrill screams, their bodies uncontrollably pulled by the suction force, transforming into black torrents that frantically poured into the karma furnace in the war puppet's chest!

“No! This is impossible! My Gu!”

The color drained from the Gu Master's face, replaced by a look of terror.

He desperately activated secret techniques, attempting to recall his Gu worm army, but it was a higher-level command stemming from the very essence of life, from the Law of Karma; his authority was completely crushed!

What terrified him even more was that he felt his “Heart Demon Gu,” which was intimately linked to his Divine Soul, also trembling violently before this suction force, letting out desperate wails.

It was being forcibly stripped from his Divine Soul!

“Ah —!”

The Gu Master let out a non-human shriek, black blood flowing from all seven orifices simultaneously.

The backlash from the forced stripping of his Natal Gu severely wounded him, and his aura plummeted like an avalanche.

The war puppet took a step.

The corroded pits on its body were rapidly repairing, while the billions of Gu worms devoured by the furnace transformed into the purest Life Origin, making the red light in its eyes blaze like a scorching sun.

It raised its fist.

A simple, unadorned straight punch.

The punch whistled, compressing the air in front of it into a visible white shockwave.

The Gu Master's expression of utter terror was permanently fixed on his face.

The next instant, his entire body, along with his Divine Soul, was utterly blasted into a sky full of blood mist by that single punch.

Detected host killed Candidate: Gu Master.

Beginning to devour opponent's System authority...

Devour complete.

Plugin 'ten thousand gu furnace' has been completed, unlocking new function: Life Force Sacrifice.

A cold System prompt sounded in Lu Yuan's mind.

Controlling the war puppet, he calmly walked to the spot where the Gu Master had exploded into blood mist, bent down, and picked up a Storage Pouch.

His Divine Sense probed inside.

A staff, entirely black, with an amber insect corpse embedded at the tip, lay quietly within.

The first sub-key, the Ten Thousand Worm Staff.

And next to the staff, there was also a corner-missing map made of unknown beast hide.

On the map, a location was marked in blood-red script.

Sword Tomb.