Chapter 42 Settlement, Abnormality

Page (1/3)

Samsara task settlement in progress...
Task Evaluation: Heavenly Lower (Evaluations are categorized into Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow, each with Upper and Lower tiers, totaling eight grades.)
Samsara Points Reward: 700 points
Main Quest Rewards:
Blood Oath (Secret Technique class: Swearing a blood oath to withstand powerful enemies. Upon activation, it mobilizes the body's entire vital energy and blood, unleashing power far exceeding one's limits, with the intensity scaling based on total vital energy reserves.)
Wuchang Soldier Soul (Summoning class: Taoist secret technique. Allows signing a contract with spiritual entities, consuming spiritual energy to summon them, with a maximum limit of 5. The strength of the spiritual entity cannot exceed the caster's own major realm.)
Side Quest Reward: National Martial Arts Mastery 50%
Unlocked Purchase Privilege: 90%
Heavenly Grade Evaluation Bonus Reward: Storage space of 2 cubic meters (living creatures cannot be placed inside)

Yang Sheng stood in the center of the boxing ring. The surrounding time seemed to have completely stagnated; Yang Sheng could even see bullets suspended in mid-air trailing muzzle fire.
Before his eyes, only lines of black text flashed past as the Samsara task was being calculated.
There were many items listed under the purchase privilege column. Yang Sheng checked them one by one, discovering over a hundred categories, though unfortunately, most of them were utterly useless.
For example, in the category of traditional martial arts, there were Tongbei Piguashen Mastery, Wing Chun Mastery, and so on.
Since Yang Sheng already possessed a 92% mastery of national martial arts, mastering one meant mastering all, rendering these purchases largely pointless.
Among them was also Yagyu Shin'in-ryu from Yagyu Shin'ichi, but given he was merely a defeated opponent, Yang Sheng had no intention of redeeming it, not to mention its exorbitant price of 100 Samsara points.
While those could still be considered useful items, others were simply nonsensical.
Examples included leftover claypot rice, black silk stockings from Portland Street's top-tier escort, endless endurance pills, and all sorts of other messy junk.
Logically speaking, the purchase privileges should only contain items he had actually encountered, but when on earth had he ever encountered Portland Street escorts or aphrodisiacs?
Sweeping aside this clutter, Yang Sheng did indeed find some genuinely useful items.
(Vital Energy and Blood: Enhances innate vital energy and blood, up to the limit accommodated by the peak of the Nine Revolutions.
Price: 100 Samsara points. Purchase limit: five times in this world.)

A portion of the human body's vital energy and blood is generated innately, while another portion is acquired through the postnatal tempering of the physical body.
For the vast majority of ordinary people, innate vital energy and blood are far more crucial. Someone of Yao Ming's physical stature would have been a fierce warrior traversing battlefields in ancient times.
Yang Sheng's vital energy and blood were not weak, but the majority had been forged through postnatal training. In terms of raw physical blood-power, he was actually inferior to the inherently gifted Zuo Kun and Master Lei.
Winning against them was due, firstly, to his powerful national martial arts mastery, and secondly, to the fact that he practiced lethal combat techniques. Even if his raw strength or technique fell short, it did not mean he lacked the means to kill his opponent.
However, supreme force breaks all techniques. When physical strength reaches a certain realm, any scheme or method becomes futile.
Therefore, without hesitation, Yang Sheng redeemed the enhancement of vital energy and blood five times over.
Almost instantly, Yang Sheng felt a powerful surge of energy coursing through his entire body; even the meridians and muscles within him were twisting and growing.
Originally, Yang Sheng's height was just over 1.80 meters, but at this moment, he abruptly grew taller by two or three centimeters, reaching approximately 1.85 meters.
A moment later, Yang Sheng clenched his fists, sensing his augmented strength.
Without scientific calculation, he had no way of knowing exactly how many kilograms of force he had gained.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

To give an example, if Yang Sheng were to encounter an opponent of Ruan Feng's caliber again, he would likely kill the adversary with a single punch.
Aside from the vital energy and blood, nothing else remained that was worth spending Samsara points on, so he wasted no more.
Opening his palm, the gold-like fragment still rested in his hand.
"City God Golden Body Fragment: The former master of the Imperial Guard Saber was once granted the title of City God by the Ming Emperor, receiving incense offerings and shaping a golden body.
After the Manchu conquest of the Central Plains, his temple was destroyed and his golden body statue smashed, shattering his divine office, leaving only a tiny fragment fused into the Imperial Guard Saber.
Fusion grants a 5% City God divine office inheritance. Divine office inheritance must reach 10% to unlock active skills; fusing now will only passively enhance the golden body's defensive protection. Do you wish to fuse?"

Yang Sheng did not fuse immediately, instead asking, "What is divine office inheritance?"
"Across the nine heavens and ten earths, countless reincarnation worlds hold inheritance fragments left behind by various immortals, demons, gods, and Buddhas. Choosing a divine office inheritance allows one to acquire different powers based on the degree of inheritance."
The explanation provided by the Samsara realm was far too concise, so Yang Sheng planned to thoroughly question Fatty Wang about the specifics once he got out.
Since this item could enhance his strength, fusing it could hardly be a bad thing.
"Fuse immediately."
The golden fragment transformed into a stream of light and merged into Yang Sheng's body, while a golden phantom appeared within his mind.
That golden phantom was dressed in the attire of a military general, holding the Imperial Guard Saber, looking majestic and solemn.
Most City Gods were loyal and righteous martyrs renowned throughout history, comprising both civil officials and military generals.
For instance, Lord Guan Yu was among the earliest to be appointed a City God, while civil officials such as Yu Qian and Wen Tianxiang had also served as City Gods.
Whether due to the excessively low inheritance degree or not, Yang Sheng felt no particular sensation after fusing with the City God's golden body.
Only during meditation did he perceive a layer of golden light enveloping him.
Yang Sheng looked around; the scene of time standing still remained unchanged.
He asked in confusion, "Didn't it say I would return immediately? Why am I still here? How long do I need to wait before I can return?"
Having just begun the settlement after returning, Yang Sheng had assumed this was normal and that once the settlement concluded, departure would follow.
Yet this current state made the game look as though it had frozen in place.
"Warning! Severe alteration of the worldline!
This world has begun to distort and mutate, world upgrading initiated!"

Before Yang Sheng could react, a dense darkness swallowed him whole, identical to the transition into the City of Dragons Hegemony world.
When Yang Sheng opened his eyes once more, what appeared before him was a hazy, foggy world.
The gloomy sky lacked any trace of the sun; black asphalt roads wound between densely packed, decades-old, greyish-white dilapidated high-rises that blocked out the sunlight, creating an immensely oppressive atmosphere.
Faintly, an ethereal and eerie children's ditty drifted into Yang Sheng's ears.
"The bright moon casts its light, chilling wind blows through the willow lane, it is a female ghost searching for a lover
Who would be willing to love a mournful ghost bride
Accompanying the female ghost, stealing a bow to the moonlight in the deep of night
The bright moon casts its light, a vengeful ghost drifts in the wind, the night grows deeper and the fog grows colder
Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Wandering spirits tread the desolate road
Searching for a substitute, chilling winds blow in the cold moonlight..."

As the sound faded and drifted away, lines of bloody text emerged before Yang Sheng's eyes.
Time: Early 21st century???
Location: Hong Kong???
Background: Zombies, ghosts, Taoist sorcery, talismanic arts.
Everything shall eventually dissipate, yet slowly re-emerge.
Is this the sorrow of the Dharma-ending age, or a slight summons manifested by the phantom realm of Hong Kong ghosts?
All evil karma ever created by me of old, arises from beginningless greed, hatred, and delusion.
World Level: Mysterious Grade???
Main Quest: Survive for seven days, must patrol Chungking Mansions once every night. Task reward: one Samsara treasure chest.
Beneath the bloody text lay the customary black personal information.
Personal Information:
Name: Yang Sheng
Strength Evaluation: Late Nine Revolutions
Title: Samsara Traveler
Identity: Chungking Mansions intern security guard.
Divine Office Inheritance: City God (Inheritance degree: 5%)
Specialty: National Martial Arts Mastery 92%
Weapon: Imperial Guard Saber
Skills: Blood Oath, Wuchang Soldier Soul

Yang Sheng scratched his head. What kind of situation was this?
Fatty Wang had clearly said that entering a world and completing the task would allow one to leave, so why was this yet another world? Didn't they even give people a moment to rest?
Did they take him for someone who had never read unlimited-genre web novels? The tropes didn't work like this.
Moreover, this world was very strange; mist surrounded Yang Sheng from behind and on both sides, as if compelling him to only move forward and enter that towering building.
Since he currently knew nothing about this realm, Yang Sheng chose the most reliable course of action: follow the arrangement dictated by the main quest.
Go to Chungking Mansions to work as a security guard, patrol every night, and endure for seven days first.
With this thought, Yang Sheng walked straight toward those dilapidated high-rises.
Page (3/3)