Eldritch Horror Theatre

This two-generation-old system clearly looked like it had been obsolete for a long time.

Without much effort, Fu Qian locked onto the third most active Umbilical Cord.

In comparison, it felt distinctly shriveled. The veins connected behind it were in a similar state, and the special liquid seeping from inside was practically nonexistent.

It obviously hadn't been very active to begin with, which explained why it hadn't taken over when the second Umbilical Cord was pulled out, saving him the trouble of dealing with it.

Of course, even if it had taken over, it wouldn't have changed anything.

Now that he had a second successful case, Fu Qian didn't mind cutting all the way to the end.

The question now was: if the first Umbilical Cord was the one originally attached to his body, how had the second one taken its place?

...

Given that its taste perfectly matched the bliss he had sought out, he could confirm the first one was the original.

And once it was torn out, cutting off the subsequent supply of bliss, he would sooner or later wake up in this world, completing the crossing of yet another Heaven.

Except, during that process, the second Umbilical Cord had connected seamlessly. Under the influence of another kind of pleasure, he hadn't woken up immediately and had instead fallen into a different illusion.

Where was that world where he had fallen to the ground, the one where the White-Headed Sanctuary didn't exist?

Looking at these numerous Umbilical Cords and everything he had experienced along the way, it actually wasn't hard to figure out.

An old saying went that profound martial arts required corresponding Buddhist dharma to neutralize them; otherwise, they could easily backfire and cause one to suffer qi deviation.

Drawing an analogy here, each type of chemical bliss required a corresponding scenario to digest it, or the medicine's effects couldn't be fully realized.

The two different worlds were precisely the digestion tools for those two different doses of pleasure.

Another reason he came to this conclusion was that right at this moment, as Fu Qian recalled the past, a marvelous change was taking place in his mind.

Memories of the True Bliss Realm and the world where he had fallen, along with more than one specious, fleeting glimpse of other places, all came flooding out at once.

Now this was what you called a dimensional strike.

Examining and comparing this scattered information, Fu Qian gained a new cognitive perspective on his previous experiences in the Realm of Bliss.

It was all just a part of his "self."

It was as if his brain had been sliced into pieces and soaked in potions of different concentrations. The True Bliss Realm corresponded to the highest concentration, the falling world came second, and the rest continuously decreased from there.

These different worlds did not connect with one another. Only when he woke up in the Third Heaven did they merge back into one, defining his complete self.

And the experiences corresponding to each slice all faded into the past.

So, was this the chemical explanation of samsara?

Counting the number of Umbilical Cords, he had cultivated his way through eighteen cycles of samsara.

Furthermore, although the earlier experiences were blurry and only left behind fragments, he could still tell that the taste of the pleasure had been getting heavier and heavier.

Matching this with the appearance of the Umbilical Cords, he could easily picture the process of them growing out one by one, constantly replacing the old with the new.

Theoretically speaking, this "sub-new" Umbilical Cord should have been eliminated a long time ago.

Rather than believing it still retained enough vitality to instinctively take over after he pulled out the active Umbilical Cord, Fu Qian was more inclined to believe an external driving force was behind it—one from his unseen opponent.

It was a move somewhat akin to shutting the Coffin Lid.

If he wasn't so well-versed in game theory, he probably would have treated that world as the Third Heaven and started carefully exploring it by now.

The path to seeking the Dao was full of diverging forks; that truly wasn't just empty talk.

For now, he might as well see if he could find that old friend he had long admired from afar, or at least the traces it had left behind in this place.

Confirming that his control over his limbs had almost completely recovered, Fu Qian ignored the lingering sharp pain in his abdomen, tossed aside the Umbilical Cord, sat up, and carefully felt around his surroundings.

...

I knew it. There had to be a switch.

Very soon, hidden among the Umbilical Cords, Fu Qian felt a strangely shaped structure.

It felt like an old-fashioned interior car door handle, yet also like a giant zipper pull.

It wasn't exactly conspicuous, but it couldn't evade Fu Qian's purposeful search.

The reason was simple: although this interface on his stomach was made of organic material, its design absolutely brimmed with a flesh-punk aesthetic.

It was completely normal to look for something matching that exact style, right?

Ziiiip—

Amidst the strange noise, Fu Qian pulled the zipper lock.

It really acted like an invisible zipper. Following his exertion of force, an opening slowly tore into the container's wall.

Given that it was located below the water line, the warm liquid immediately gushed out.

...

What is this?

Not holding back, he carefully controlled his strength and widened the gap all the way until he finally caught a glimpse of the scene outside.

And with a single glance... A liquor bottling machine?

He saw that his Nutrient Capsule-like container rested at a tilt on a relatively small platform.

Directly above the platform was a lump-like structure made of the same organic material.

Its style was similar to the interface on his belly button—a biomechanical feel—though its structure was far more complex.

In the center was a circle of thin, downward-spiraling tubes that were still slowly retracting. It looked as if they had just finished filling his container. Liquid still dripped from their tips, and its color matched the second type he had just tasted.

So there really was some petty trickery involved, huh?

The sub-new Umbilical Cord hadn't been that vibrant anymore; it was just pulled here and refilled with the corresponding raw materials?

His observation and conclusion happened almost simultaneously. Without pausing, Fu Qian squeezed directly out of the torn opening and landed on the platform outside.

It wasn't just the filling nozzle that was made of organic material; all the structures here were.

The seemingly smooth platform felt slightly soft and warm to step on, with an added slip-resistant, callous-like texture.

It seemed he had truly arrived at a flesh factory—and there was more than just one set of filling equipment.

Scanning his surroundings, Fu Qian quickly discovered that the platform he stood on was actually the top of a Tower rising high from the ground.

And as far as the eye could see, there were many more of these similar flesh towers.

The shape of each Tower differed slightly, but at a glance, they all served similar functions.

At the top of two of them, he could even see Nutrient Capsules similar to the one he had just crawled out of.

One a bit further away was tightly connected to the filling nozzle above it, clearly in the middle of receiving an infusion.

Interesting. It really does look a bit like a production line; I just don't see a conveyor belt—

His lamentation came to an abrupt halt. A slender mechanical arm suddenly descended from the sky, grabbed another Nutrient Capsule with an elegant sweep, and swung away into the distance.

Understood. So it's not a conveyor belt, but a mechanical arm?

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