Chapter 773: Zombies and the Ancient Truth of Buddha

Urban Novel

Li Li had never before imagined that Earthlings could possess extraordinary bloodlines. Even if they did, he thought it would be something like "Physical Buddhism" or "Chemical Dao." Yet, what unfolded before his eyes utterly defied his expectations.

He watched the elderly, white-haired soldier, whose throat he had bitten, struggle on the ground as Li Li's blood coursed through him. The familiar sight of such a transformation sent shivers down his spine, instinctively bringing to mind a mythological creature: the zombie! Or rather, zombies in the East and vampires in the West, as the two were remarkably similar. Both were described as having incredibly long lifespans, biting necks, drinking blood, transforming others into their kind, granting near-immortality, and in ancient myths, fearing the sun and bright light, as well as preferring to sleep in coffins. Furthermore, both Western Caine and Eastern Jiang Chen legends mentioned a concept of "first embrace." There were generations of bloodlines: first, second, third, and so on.

So, why did ancient myths and legends across continents universally feature mysterious beings identical to vampires and zombies? "This means they genuinely exist!" he murmured, pursing his lips. "And why can they live forever? In our myths, zombies are said to be immortal, beyond the three realms and outside the five elements. Every life has a limit because cell lifespan is finite, with one exception: cancer cells, which divide endlessly. So, could it be that this old soldier, who should have died of old age in the ice, became young because of the 'first embrace'—essentially, my cancer cells transferred to him?"

This revelation utterly stunned him! This was the scientific truth behind ancient myths; they were astounding. Physical Buddhism, Chemical Dao, and... Zombie Cancer.

Perhaps, because many humans were mere ordinary beings, not even reaching the first stage of cultivation, they lacked the immense supernatural power to control such terrifying, heaven-defying bloodlines. When their bloodlines were inadvertently stimulated and awakened, these powerful supernatural bloodlines became horrific killers, consuming normal cells and leading to death. This mirrored a scientific concept: humanity could not control the immense power of cancer cells, but once they could master this disease, they would be close to immortality.

"So, I should carefully consider ancient Chinese texts about zombies," he thought, "there must be a profound meaning behind them, for example, their fear of the sun." He paused, many thoughts flooding his mind. "Could the sun not represent the literal sun, but rather radiation? Or even the Buddha? After all, it was previously mentioned that the Buddha is depicted with a sun disk behind him—the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha. This would mean the Buddha represents radiation, a super-being who cultivates solar radiation. Could it be that Buddhism inherently practices a ripple cultivation method based on the sun, wielding sun ripple-imbued blades, thereby being able to counter immortal beings who fear the sun?"

His speculation continued, escalating his alarm. He felt as if he were delving into a dark historical mystery, slowly parting the mists to uncover the truth. "But why would cancer cells fear solar radiation, or the Buddha? Wait... fearing strong rays means—cancer cells fear radiation therapy!" The more he considered it, the more terrified he became. Having been treated in hospitals for years, how could he not know? Radiation therapy was indeed a common method to kill cancer cells!

"Is this the fundamental principle of how the Buddha counters zombies?" He was utterly shaken. The methods used by modern oncology hospitals to treat cancer already perfectly aligned with ancient myths, though the medical community hadn't realized it. "Everything is interconnected. Indeed, knowledge is power, capable of explaining all things supernatural."

"Then, why do ancient zombies prefer to sleep? Could it be a side effect of immortality? After all, I've suspected before that Earthlings possess a portion of the Creator God's immortal blood... Could humanity on this planet be the descendants of an ancient super-deity who acquired immortal blood? Seven billion people, all sharing one ancestor? Could it be that ancestor from Buddhism or Daoism? Or a hyper-ancient deity? No, Earth might have existed before their arrival, meaning the ancestors were even more ancient and powerful beings, perhaps even... a Tenth-stage existence?"

"As for what's before me now, biting someone's neck, transforming them, and granting them long life—this has been realized. I need to delve deeper into all these legends."

"At this moment, we Earthlings have not yet embarked on the path of supernatural cultivation. But if we could, and everyone became like me, wouldn't our entire planet be filled with immortal zombies?!" He was nearly scared out of his wits. As an Earthling who had crossed into this ancient, supernatural world's tomb, he had uncovered too many terrifying truths: Earth's frightening mythological history and the true bloodline of its inhabitants. This was a dreadful historical and mythological secret. If it were revealed, the entire Earth would be shaken; it was an unimaginable future scenario.

As he mused, standing and observing, more than ten minutes passed. Suddenly, another piercing shriek echoed. The old soldier on the ground seemed to have completed his transformation; his hair turned black, and his entire aged skin became youthful. Yet, he appeared to be in immense agony, veins bulging, letting out ferocious roars, and lunging at Li Li like a wild beast.

"What's going on?" Li Li swung his axe, striking the soldier's shoulder. Li Li immediately turned and ran, muttering, "He's as berserk as a true zombie." The old soldier's eyes glowed with an intensifying crimson, bloodshot, as he charged madly. "Those eyes... that's the vivid red of oxygen deprivation." Li Li's pupils widened as he instantly realized, "Although he's alive, I've bitten his throat and drained him dry. His internal qi circulation is shattered, and he's severely hypoxic. His eyes are red, as if he's being choked, driven mad by discomfort... He can't find oxygen, he's going to die soon!"

Overjoyed, Li Li took off running. "I need to drag this out!" he growled, his will to survive incredibly strong. He was nearly at the first stage of cultivation, while his opponent's strength was failing, energy drained by the throat wound, and lacking oxygen. The battle-hardened veteran couldn't even outrun him for a moment.

The zombie's eyes became completely crimson. Suddenly, he turned, smashing through a frozen Terracotta Warrior with loud thuds, then lunged at its neck and bit down hard. *Pffft!* He began to suck the warrior's qi, replenishing his oxygen. "Damn it all!" Li Li was so startled his soul nearly left his body, swearing aloud. "He's drinking other people's blood to replenish oxygen and energy, then he'll come back for me!"

People in modern society rarely experienced anything so thrilling and terrifying; a normal person would have been paralyzed with fear, but he was different. "Fight him!" Gritting his teeth, he knew that running further would be fatal. This was a life-or-death situation. He furiously wielded his axe, charging forward without hesitation. The old soldier instantly dodged. *Thump, thump, thump!* Their figures constantly flashed.

"Don't panic, I can't panic! I have enough oxygen, he definitely can't outlast me." Li Li's movements became ruthless. After several exchanges, the opponent's strenuous activity dramatically increased his oxygen consumption. In a decisive moment, Li Li brought his axe down squarely on the soldier's skull. Blood splattered.

He gasped for air, collapsing to the ground, utterly spent. That had been truly terrifying. After a long recovery, he mused, "How exactly did he revive? My gums were bleeding, and my blood entered him. While gene integration could explain it, without a gene potion, the natural success rate for integration must be extremely low, probably less than one in a thousand. Am I really that unlucky?" He grimaced.

Forget about such forced integration; even with a gene potion, there was a significant failure rate. For instance, the Evil Eye Potion during the peak of the Wizard World era had a 50-70% success rate, and that was for the lowest-grade genes. The higher the gene's grade, the lower the success rate. In the Ancient Wilderness world, gene potions were expensive and had low success rates because internal space genes were too high-grade. Space itself could involve mysterious, supreme laws, enabling the cultivation of both spiritual and physical cores. For ordinary people in the Ancient Wilderness, the success rate for integration was only 20-30%, with an astronomically high death rate. Otherwise, so many people in Mount Shu wouldn't have bothered cultivating the mortal system. It wasn't just a matter of money; even cultivation families struggled to afford them due to the frighteningly low success rates and terrifyingly high mortality. This was also why social classes emerged between ordinary people and those with noble bloodlines.

However, it was different for those who became strong. With a higher life-level, they could safely integrate more genes. For example, which powerful cultivators didn't cultivate multiple genes simultaneously? Furthermore, breaking through later stages required even higher gene levels: an Eighth-stage deity needed to be at least a three-gene creature, and a Ninth-stage world needed to be at least a four-gene creature. Ordinary people on Mount Shu would first cultivate the mortal system, then raise their life-level, earn money to cultivate martial arts, become high-level powerhouses, and only then integrate gene potions to acquire extraordinary bloodlines.

"So, this guy just integrated instantly and almost killed me... That's not scientific! I feel like the immortal zombie gene shouldn't be worse than a spatial gene. Without a gene potion, it should at least be a one in ten thousand success rate, right? How did it just happen?" Li Li took a deep breath, his brow furrowing. "But perhaps not, because that guy just now seemed to have no intelligence, driven only by primal survival instinct, completely unable to communicate... Otherwise, a normal person's first reaction wouldn't be to kill, but to clarify the situation..." A defective product, then? He took another deep breath. A failed gene integration, yet partially successful—a defective beast with cancer cells transferred throughout its body... A ghoul? A low-level zombie?

His expression suddenly turned grim as he looked at the entire collection of Terracotta Warriors. "I also have an extraordinary bloodline. This tomb is simply the perfect place for me, as if each frozen chamber holds a test subject. I will absorb their blood while cultivating, experimenting on them, trying to transform them into genuinely intelligent, high-level, 'first embrace' zombies... After all, frozen as you are, you won't last much longer anyway."

After his first truly ruthless struggle and kill, he began to fundamentally change, adapting to this world. He knew he likely couldn't go back. Having crossed into this supernatural world, he had to adapt to this land and begin a new life. Compared to most people, he adapted remarkably quickly.

Half a month later, Li Li continued his experiments. He would bite the neck of each figure, inhale to cultivate, then deliberately leave blood for integration, binding them to observe. He discovered that only about 30% of them would transform into unconscious beasts. After over a thousand failed attempts, he finally obtained a zombie with partial intelligence from a frozen, third-stage statue that appeared to be a general. However, due to the terrifying impact of the bloodline, its soul was incomplete, it had lost most of its memory, and barely possessed the intelligence of a child.

He finally drew a conclusion. "It depends on luck and probability, the individual's willpower, potential, youth, and also their cultivation stage..."

"Moreover, my cancer cells have completely spread over the past half-year. I must quickly raise my cultivation level; this is a race against death. Otherwise, the transformation caused by these large doses of immortal virus from the cancer cells will completely collapse my body, which is only at the first stage... I feel I need to reach the seventh stage to fully withstand this bloodline. However, if all my cells truly transform into immortal ones, I might become immortal, but also begin to sleep indefinitely..."

He took a deep breath, looking into the distance; his food supply was completely gone. But he had made a decision. He looked towards the royal coffin in the central hall, said to contain the legendary Emperor of a Thousand Ages. Taking a deep breath, he strode forward, pushed aside the stones covering it, and lifted the lid. Inside lay a man, smooth as jade, in his middle years, sealed in ice. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he burst from the coffin, grabbing at Li Li.