Chapter 739: Again Meeting an Old Friend

"What does this mean?" Shangguan Man was bewildered. She had never seen anything like this bustling market scene, let alone an online gaming market. She exclaimed, "What are Sharingan, Shikotsumyaku... Bloodline Limits? They sound like powerful supernatural organs and tissues."

"Perhaps it's some tradition of their civilization," Xu Zhi replied, feigning ignorance and appearing confused, as if embarrassed to be associated with them.

Shangguan Man suspected nothing. She looked towards the largest area in the distance, where signs on the stalls read, "Also selling authentic Taoist practices, traditional Qi Refiners, superior Lightning Spirit Roots, Fire Spirit Roots, Wind Spirit Roots..."

She saw roots, displayed like intricate root carvings on the ground, and couldn't fathom why tree roots were given such names. Some even chanted slogans:

"Spirit Roots are essential for ancient Qi Refiners! Qi Refiners without Spirit Roots are destined not to go far on their cultivation path! They will fall halfway sooner or later!"

"That's why, hundreds of thousands of years ago, in the ancient mythical sects, cultivators without Spirit Roots, or those with mixed or inferior Spirit Roots, were not accepted because they were fated not to achieve much!"

"The Earth Mother Green Vine survived and lives to this day precisely because it possesses the world's most powerful innate ancient wood Spirit Root, allowing it to escape from the terrifying Pillar God!"

"Spirit Roots are the Qi Refiners' strongest advantage!"

Shangguan Man suddenly had an epiphany. Did Qi Refiners truly need to cultivate Spirit Roots? She had heard the Asura Path discuss this before, but it hadn't been realized then. Now, it seemed they had truly accomplished it. Their revival of ancient cultivation civilization was remarkably complete. Shangguan Man grew even more curious, feeling as if a whole new world had opened up to her, revealing a new worldview. She was greatly interested, especially since she had read many books from Maotiao and held a positive impression of the Asura Path.

"And this shop," Shangguan Man said, standing in front of it, full of curiosity. "It has such suggestive red curtains, red lanterns hanging on both sides, and a sign saying 'No Female Players Allowed.' What does it mean by selling various 'superior wisdom roots' inside? Why isn't it displayed like other stalls, but kept so discreetly within the shop?"

"I'm not sure," Xu Zhi said, slowly changing the subject as he calmly observed the burgeoning market. "Although they are all Asura Path members, organs that aren't their own still cause significant rejection. Even if one manages to overcome it, they can't truly use them freely. However, people still sell them because powerful organ 'equipment,' even with less than 60% compatibility, offers a good boost in combat power."

"Where there are high prices, there's a market, and naturally, there will be poorer Asura Path members selling them."

Indeed, as a player-driven marketplace, a "brick-moving" system had emerged here, where ordinary players would labor to evolve organs themselves and then seek out wealthy patrons to buy them. Many wealthy players were obsessed with acquiring "equipment" to create super-powerful beings. It was much like online games where wealthy players would frantically buy rare skill books to synthesize ultimate pets, or gather materials to enhance top-tier weapons to +13. In some large online game servers, wealthy players would even have the entire server's "brick-movers" serving them just to create one ultimate item, causing the entire server's economy to become imbalanced.

The two walked through the valley, past exquisite wooden houses with stalls set up in front, observing the discussions among these "evil path" players.

"It truly is like an online game," Xu Zhi mused. "This entire Beast Path has developed into a mature online game, forming its own social system."

He stopped, realizing that most of these individuals were what he called "clickbaiters." Their "Shikotsumyaku" was merely a type of particularly hard bone, which seemed somewhat powerful. Their "Sharingan" was just an eyeball with a certain mental charming ability. It was stronger than average evolved organs, but not by much.

Moreover, by listening to the bustling market conversations, Xu Zhi learned that there were different types of "evil paths" here. One type was the "orthodox evil path," whose cultivation philosophy was radical, but they were merely an unrecognized cultivation faction, no different from regular players. The other type, however, consisted of true "evil players" who secretly murdered and plundered, stealing and selling organs rather than selling those they had evolved themselves.

Despite this, rare treasures could also be found in this market.

"Byakugan, don't try to fool me!" someone said at a stall.

"Fool you? I specifically evolved it, alright!" A player sat on a chair, pointing to his eyeball. "Look at the color, pure cataract! And with a bit of effort, the network of blue veins around the eye emerges – a special spirit energy array. It can see through spirit energy; it's a natural flesh-and-blood talent! When I was at the fourth stage, I painstakingly evolved this pattern on my eyeball, like tiger stripes... that's how it was made! It subtly aligns with the laws of heaven and earth, with the great Dao in the ethereal!"

"Let me tell you, there's a success rate for this, just like refining artifacts. Our group had over seventy people, and among us was a master who specifically designed the blueprint for this eye evolution path. The other seventy-plus people failed; only I succeeded. This is incredibly fortunate; the success rate is less than 3%! Brother, it's up to you whether you want to buy it!"

Immediately, countless players gathered around. Upon closer inspection, his eyeball was indeed as described—an extremely powerful and rare mutated organ among players, possessing unique abilities.

"Holy cow, a professional studio just popped up?"

"That's insane!"

"Brother, are you selling the blueprint for your eye evolution? Or could you introduce us to the master who designed this eye evolution path? Our guild is very interested in such talent!" Everyone knew that such a blueprint was equivalent to a rare artifact crafting blueprint, worth an astronomical sum.

"Don't ask anymore; I'm here to sell this equipment today," the player stated. "One eye starts at 1 million Sand Sculpture Coins, and two start at 2 million!"

Everyone was shocked. Converted, that was equivalent to one million RMB for a single eyeball. It was more expensive than an eyeball made of pure gold.

"Brother, I want to buy two. Can you give me a discount?" a wealthy player asked. "You should know that an incompatible external finished organ, not evolved by myself, has significant rejection issues. I face a huge risk, and even if successful, it might not function perfectly."

"No discounts. All seventy-plus of us need to eat," the player said casually, sitting on the ground surrounded by people.

"Alright then," the wealthy player readily agreed. "If you have more next time, contact me directly."

At that moment, another wealthy player suddenly stepped forward and declared, "I'll add another million!"

Everyone turned to look.

"Brother, isn't that a bit unfair?" the first wealthy player said, slightly annoyed.

Just then, another wealthy player, having received the news, rushed over, shouting from a distance, "I'll offer 4 million Sand Sculpture Coins! Highest bidder wins! Although I might not have that much on hand, we can do a private bank transfer for cash. I'm absolutely trustworthy and won't reveal my real-world identity."

The surrounding players were instantly stunned. "This is terrifying; it's like gods fighting. We should just watch quietly."

Discussions arose below:

"I heard that every server, with its thousand players, has wealthy patrons backing them. These patrons just blend in and do nothing but compete for a spot in the top ten of the server competition to enter the game."

"That's brutal!"

"This is so unfair! These rich players are too powerful; so many low-level players will actively 'move bricks' to pave the way for them, providing resources and forming guilds."

"It's already relatively fair," someone in the crowd argued. "People can forge their own path through knowledge and hard work. Money is an advantage, but personal effort and 'grinding' can definitely produce game-breaking, top-tier players! They might even surpass the wealthy ones!"

"Keep in mind, no current top player is a wealthy patron."

"So that's it—balding and grinding are the source of all power?"

Xu Zhi, silently hidden behind them, smiled, finding these people quite clever.

"This looks very promising," he thought. "The Land of Spore Evolution produces top-tier supernatural species. While they can't create the absolute best here, their Frankenstein-style creations might still result in various powerful bloodline creatures. It's a complementary system."

He and Shangguan Man turned and left the gathering place.

"Have Di Ting investigate and find the person behind that blueprint," Xu Zhi instructed.

"Your Majesty, do you intend to recruit this Asura Path member?" Shangguan Man was surprised and curious. She wondered who could be so powerful as to have evolved a supernatural bloodline organ, akin to an Evil Eye structure.

"I am somewhat interested," Xu Zhi replied.

Soon, Shangguan Man discreetly communicated with the Underworld, providing Xu Zhi with the exact location, and the two calmly set off.

Inside a small, dark green valley, in front of a thatched hut, a tree woman sat bending low on a chair, using something resembling nail clippers to trim her feet.

"She's tending to her Spirit Roots?" Shangguan Man exclaimed in surprise. She felt this tree woman was far from simple; her Spirit Roots were diverse and multicolored, like a peacock's tail, possibly the legendary "All-Spirit Root," possessing terrifying capabilities.

The moment Xu Zhi saw the tree person casually picking at her feet, he instantly recognized her, his face darkening slightly. "Pan Yuxian... So it was you. No wonder I thought, 'Who could be so capable, yet not write a thesis?'"

Pan Xiexian was indeed the Pandora's Box from back then, one who stood with Charlotte. She, along with Qiou Mingshan Cheshu and others, had secretly lived for hundreds of years in that Evil God era, experiencing a brilliant epoch before withdrawing after the collapse of the Wizard Era.

Unlike Qiou Mingshan Cheshu and the others, she hadn't directly used the results of her second species evolution but instead handed them over to her muscular younger sister, Pan Xuexian, which led to the System Terminator and the group of muscular, cute girls in the Martial God Palace.

"I should have known this fellow would seize the opportunity to get in," Xu Zhi muttered to himself. "In fact, I should have guessed instantly that she was the only one experienced enough to be involved in such mature evolution blueprints, and not confined to the sandbox."

Just as Xu Zhi was formulating what to say, another person suddenly emerged nearby. Xu Zhi was startled once more.

This person was a tall, handsome scholar dressed in white, graceful and elegant, holding a feather fan. He smiled as he looked at the two of them. "Emperor Venerable, it's been a long time since we parted ways in the Celestial Path."

Xu Zhi felt a sense of helplessness, knowing he had been caught red-handed again. He mused, "Lord Youshan, this person's talent is indeed terrifying. How is it that every time I descend for a journey, he manages to catch me, predicting my actions in advance? Is this another ambush?"