At this moment, the assassin, relying on his formidable skills, was fighting solo against a group of barbarians, exchanging blows and matching them evenly with his hands moving like the wind.
The Tie Dan inside the chest was naturally aware of the situation.
His courage was extraordinary; earlier, he had lain still, and thanks to the dark night, when the barbarian pried open the chest, he saw only a pile of remains and could not discern how many corpses were inside, allowing Tie Dan to escape detection.
But the crisis was not over! Instead, it had become even more perilous!
Because he had prepared for a desperate fight, he forcefully concentrated his sword energy, but now he was truly possessed by a demon!
Yes! He truly was possessed by a demon!
Now Tie Dan's entire body was paralyzed and unable to move. Inside his meridians and Qi Sea, however, it was like a raging storm, with Qi Blood surging uncontrollably! Just because the sword energy cultivated from the "Beichen Divine Gang Qi Refining Sword Technique" seemed to feel challenged by the Blood Jade's refined True Qi, it began rampaging like a beast whose territory was being threatened!
The Nine Yin Divine Gang Sword Qi moving forward and the Blood Jade Skill reversing, one following the regular path, and the other, the unusual path, both attacking from opposite directions! One direct, one inverse, flowing into his inner scene to battle! Two strands of True Power tore at Tie Dan's meridians throughout his body! His face turned blue then red! His innards felt icy cold one moment, scalding hot the next, as if he was about to explode!
Even worse, Tie Dan had a third group of Qi within him!
Indeed, it was the Fish Qi that the catfish thief had injected into him!
While the Fish Qi was peaceful and did not fight, settling within his Inner Qi Sea, it spontaneously repaired the meridians and organs torn apart by the two conflicting Dao Breaths, preventing Tie Dan from immediate death by bloodburst!
Yet sword energy and Blood Qi, like blue and red, like a flood dragon and dragon, spiraled and fought within the inner scene! Never yielding! They churned Tie Dan's Dan abdomen Qi Storage into chaos, swirling like Yin and Yang twin fish! The sword and Blood Qi also agitated the Fish Qi, making it whirl and spin uncontrollably! The three True Qi forces clashed in the inner scene! Like a storm, running rampant through his acupuncture points! Expanding ever larger! Agitatedly stimulating his whole body's meridians and acupuncture points!
No matter how much Tie Dan's stubborn nature allowed him to endure excruciating pain, the fierce pain of tearing his inner meridians made cold sweat stream from his forehead! Several times he fainted from the raw agony, only to be jolted painfully awake by the chaotic True Qi and Inner Strength coursing through him, like he had been stabbed or axed!
Seeking neither life nor death!
And it wasn't over yet!
Demonic creatures arrived!
As the chest was opened, the blood's aura had long attracted the attention of nearby foraging demons! Now, as Cheng Dangtou's men, held up by the assassin, were constrained, the demons seized their moment to swoop in!
"Aw—!"
A wolf as large as a bull, with fangs emitting a foul wind and claws padded with yellow smoke, lashed forward from the northern mountains!
"Caw—!"
A white-furred, green-eyed, three-eyed fox surged out from a tomb to the south, engulfed in ghostly green flames!
"Caw—!"
A huge crow with a wingspan of nearly six meters, hooked claws and ironlike black wings, soared down from the western forest, circling above everyone's heads!
"Demons! Monsters!" "Save the leader!" "Damn this!"
The barbarians never expected to suddenly face an attack from three demon beasts! They immediately wavered, intent on retreat! Yet the assassin showed no mercy, with a claw technique that only grew fiercer! Swift as wind, ever stronger in battle! Clearly determined to eradicate these eunuch barbarians on the spot!
However, the three demons paid no heed to the cheerful brawl among the humans in the corpse pit.
The wolf, fox, and crow maintained a trifold stance, focused on the chest, brimming with Blood Qi, unwilling to make the first move.
Evidently, the three demons had eaten humans too much, gaining Spiritual Wisdom, understanding that the chest held the greatest opportunity tonight. How could they squabble over mere pieces of flesh and sacrifice such an opportunity to humans!
The standoff was eventually broken by the assassin.
"Wind Thunder Divine Fire Talisman!"
The assassin, while pursuing the barbarians, still managed to murmur incantations, suddenly hurling a Fire Talisman! Launching a Thunder Fire Flying Arrow! Caught by surprise! Striking the crow's wing directly with precision! The flat-feathered creature was caught off guard! "Caw!?" A scream! Hit on the left wing, it plummeted from the sky!
With that, the three-pronged stalemate immediately collapsed!
The Wolf Demon was most vicious! Seized the chance of the bird being injured! Ripping its life away! A mouthful of yellow smoke emerged, transforming into a wolf head, biting through the crow's spine!
The fox, equally cunning, with a green glance, "Caw—!" a sharp screech, swiping its bushy tail, shot out seven Green Phosphorus Fire Pearls! Directly igniting the grievously injured crow!
"Caw—!"
In an instant, one of three demons vanished! The crow turned into a roast chicken!
Seizing the chance to eliminate the flying feathered thing, the wolf and fox immediately turned on each other without hesitation!
"Aw—!" "Caw—!"
Demon Wind against ghostly fire!
The two demons simultaneously lunged toward the chest, baring fangs, engaging in fierce combat for a taste of immortal fate, entangled in a vicious fight!
Yellow smoke and green ghostly flames clashed violently! Two demonic forces collided recklessly! Blasting the corpse pit and sending gravel and bone shards flying!
The barbarians had to duck for cover, avoiding the violent clash of the two Great Demons' sorcery!
"Ha—!" "Ah—!"
The assassin seized this opportunity as well! Went all out! Slaying the surrounding barbarians one by one! Tearing them apart with his claws!
Meanwhile, the chest was caught in the burst of demonic force! Blasting into the air! Tumbling amidst Demon Wind and Fire Sea!
Trapped in the chest, with three raging Qi already running berserk in his lungs, Tie Dan was further scorched by two new demonic forces!
Various demonic forces and Dao Breaths invaded! Rampantly coursing through him! Raging through his skin! Cooking him inside and out! Completely unable to resist!
And the demonic beasts' fierce battle quickly found its outcome!
"Aw!"
The wolf, with superior strength, despite the fox's fire burning half its fur to scorched baldness, relied on monstrous strength! Slamming the fox into the air! Opening a bloodthirsty maw! Its wolf head transformed as large as a cavern, swallowing the chest whole!
"Crack!"
The chest couldn't withstand it, instantly shattering under the wolf's jaw! Fangs pierced like stone peaks, gnawing through severed limbs and impaling the immobile Tie Dan! Colossal bite force, instantly shattering his vitals, rupturing flesh and bone, blood oozing from his seven orifices!
Could it be…this is the end…
"Monkey…"
Then the catfish thief popped out its eyes, peeking at Tie Dan.
Even at this time, you're showing up?
"Plop."
The catfish suddenly opened its mouth, spitting out a string of purple bubbles,
"You are not a Von Neumann machine, do not perceive consciousness and flesh as separate and completely independent software and hardware; consider yourself as a unified, living biological hardware, or rather, a wetware system to control…"
Tie Dan, "??"
Is the fish talking? And in such an old man's voice?? And what is it even saying???
"Your body is a unified organic system of software, hardware, biological nerves, and organs, even if you take a part of your organs, like a pancreatic system, supplying blood and nutrients through artificial vessels, this tissue can still secrete insulin and transmit signals…"
No, that's wrong.
Tie Dan realized it wasn't really that the fish was speaking, but more like it was opening its mouth, continuously spitting bubbles.
And the 'male voice' in his mind actually came from the bursting bubbles…
"The advantage of wetware lies in adapting swiftly to external stimuli, reshaping its own structure and form, achieving self-adaptation and evolution.
...
No! At a time like this! What on earth are you saying!
"...build computational circuits from your natural organic components..."
Ah?
"...manipulate DNA as a data storage and info processing medium..."
Ah??
"...design and fabricate computational wetware from the genome upwards..."
Ah???
"...Thus forming a complete biological organ and software-hardware system, using fundamental functional neuron links to construct your container into a wetware biological computer system..."
Ah????
"...Human life itself is a highly precise and functional biological wetware system, with the flesh and blood as the hardware base, utilizing the ACGT stored in DNA, and Ribonucleic acid for signal input; simple logical operations are achieved through ribosome entwinement, ultimately realizing a complete cellular computation loop by outputting synthesized protein, so all you need to do is insert a transcriptor, usually relying on bio-electrical signals, to write logic gates, thereby controlling DNA and RNA's underlying compile instructions to realize the basic computing functions of biological wetware…"
...Is this a revolving lantern moment? Is this the strange and chaotic hallucination one has before dying...
"...The advantage of biological wetware is the ability to remold and preserve existing memories, constructing innovative structures and adapting as needed, not through artificial programs or whatnots of inductive learning based on large data sets, but driven by environment and instinct, sparking leaps and breakthroughs akin to biological evolution…"
But somehow, despite Tie Dan not comprehending a word from the fish's endless babbling, bizarrely, inexplainably eloquent tirades.
He felt a profound, sincere clarity, an 'of course it makes sense,' 'I understand now,' 'oh, that's the way it is,' bizarre satisfaction deep within his soul.
With the incantation-like droning of a heavenly book, the crushing, tearing, compressing pain over his whole body faded away.
Replaced with a pleasure that felt as if it arose from the depths of his soul, a delightful thrill as if electrifying current coursed from spine, meridians, shell, scalp, reverberating! Trembling! Laughing! Exhilarating pleasure sweeping through him!
The catfish spat the last bubble,
Plop
"Spiritual Foundation built, Star Map completed.
Now,
let us embrace endless evolution."
"Aw—Caaw, cack cack! Kah kah ah ah!"
The wolf rolled on the ground, emitting terrifying screams, the wails echoing across the fields, terrifying all the young in Liangzhou to tears at night!
Luckily, this beast couldn't keep it up for long.
A flash of cold light, sword energy emerged, slashing open the giant wolf, severing throat and spine! Split into two halves!
A Blood Shadow crawled out of the wolf's belly, drenched in blood, divine and evil indistinguishable! Only the eyes shone with blue light, shimmering brightly like glazed stars!
It was an almost completely melted and crushed humanoid, flesh exposed, bloody tissue dripping like red silk, as if clad in a flowing robe of blood.
On the right hand's fingertips, azure and white sword energy swirled, like a soaring flame spear, a burning torch!
The left hand with a Blood Claw, held the Wolf Demon's inner core as large as a human head! Twitching, fresh blood pouring like a spring!
"Hiss—Whoo—"
As a deep breath exhaled, the demon wolf's aura was swept up like smoke, inhaled deeply into the blood man's lungs!
The giant demon's inner core was crushed with a squeeze! Instantly reduced to bloody paste, splattering overhead, into mouth, nose, all swallowed into the belly!
An ocean of blood! Soaring Qi! Molded mud and cast iron alike! Excavate the figure of a youth!
"Ah…refreshing…"
For the first time in life,
Tie Dan felt truly satisfied.