Chapter 19

Apart from Xu Jianhong being somewhat disappointed, Yu Mingfu, Ma Zhikuo, and the others all showed a look of shock upon hearing this, followed by a look of understanding, as if they had expected it. If these people knew the real situation, they might even have the urge to commit suicide. Of course, given the incomprehensible background of Huaxia Jiu, it was indeed hard for anyone to guess.

"Hehehe! Brother Hua, don't be nervous. Since you can't go back, and if I'm not mistaken, there are no true essence fluctuations in your body, why not start anew and join our Tianyi Sect? How about it? Although our Tianyi Sect is not the top cultivation sect on the Dao Soul Continent, we are still the leader of the righteous path in the Great Wu Empire and have never feared any other sect. Moreover, our Tianyi Sect is always harmonious and united, with an excellent cultivation atmosphere. So if you join our Tianyi Sect, it will definitely help you recover your cultivation sooner, and perhaps even achieve immortality." Yu Mingfu glanced provocatively at Ma Zhikuo, who had tried to speak several times but was preempted by him, and revealed a sincere and kind expression.

"Hmph! Yu Mingfu, your Tianyi Sect is indeed a bunch of scoundrels, all of you are extremely hypocritical. Talking about achieving immortality, how can you even say that? Who doesn't know that the entire Great Wu Empire hasn't produced a Daoist Realm expert in five hundred years? Brother Hua! My Ice Blood Sect is no less powerful than your Tianyi Sect. Although the competition within the sect is intense, as long as you have high talent and strength, you will not be overlooked and will receive the treatment you deserve. Unlike some sects that actually refine a genius from the southwestern region, who appears only once every five hundred years, into a cauldron. What a joke. So, Brother Hua, you should join our Ice Blood Sect." Although Ma Zhikuo was usually quiet, it didn't mean he was not good at speaking.

Upon hearing this, Yu Mingfu stared at Ma Zhikuo, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes. However, he clearly had some reservations and did not argue with Ma Zhikuo again. Instead, he gave Ma Zhikuo a cold smile and then looked at Huaxia Jiu, waiting for his response.

Huaxia Jiu was now filled with doubt. He hadn't expected to be so sought after by these powerful cultivators. He vaguely felt that it was still related to the so-called hidden sect, and he suspected that his response had been misunderstood again.

However, since no one asked, Huaxia Jiu naturally wouldn't explain himself. But joining these cultivation sects might solve his energy problem and increase his strength, which would help him survive in this world. These were undeniable facts.

Huaxia Jiu considered this a major decision, so he didn't make a hasty choice. Instead, he began to think and calculate in his mind.

After a while, a set of information appeared in Huaxia Jiu's mind. He realized that he didn't have enough information about the two sects to make an effective decision.

Huaxia Jiu is a very rational robot, so he replied, "Um! I'm very sorry, but I don't know enough about your two sects yet, so I hope you can give me some time to think about it and give you a response later."

The others were not surprised by Huaxia Jiu's response, so Ma Zhikuo and Yu Mingfu both generously and readily agreed to Huaxia Jiu's request. After all, they would both be in Heba City for a while, and a few more days wouldn't make a difference. Moreover, this time would allow them to learn more about Huaxia Jiu.

...

In the lawn and flower beds, Huaxia Jiu lay on a recliner, with three solar panels on his waist and wrists facing the sun, absorbing as much light energy as possible and converting it into electrical energy. This scene looked incredibly comfortable to the onlookers.

Since the attack by the demon race two days ago, Xu Jianhong had suggested that Huaxia Jiu rest at home. Due to his outstanding contributions in repelling the demon army, he was rewarded with five hundred taels of gold.

Considering that he couldn't always wear armor, Huaxia Jiu spent the past two days crafting two wrist-shaped solar conversion panels and modifying the previous heart-protecting mirror into a jade pendant, which he hung from his waist.

During these two days, Huaxia Jiu read the memories left by the Tiger Demon King in detail and found a lot of useful information. Based on this information and through rigorous reasoning, he made a decision.

He planned to infiltrate the Cangman Mountains to find the deep ravine mentioned in the Tiger Demon King's memories. After in-depth reasoning and calculations, he believed that the uncorrupted corpse in the ravine might be the key to changing his physical form, and a chance to completely solve the problem of not being able to eat, drink, or excrete, and to avoid exposing his non-human identity.

The ability to reason and calculate this result, based on Huaxia Jiu's meticulous nature, did not come from wild imagination but from the changes occurring within his body.

Since the formation of the human-shaped shadow in his mind two days ago, he had noticed that his appearance was slowly changing to resemble the shadow. The mechanical parts and joints of his body, enveloped in a colorful glow, were becoming tighter and more flexible, and his body's agility had significantly increased.

Although Huaxia Jiu did not yet know the reason and principle behind these changes, it did not prevent him from making certain calculations based on the results and the process.

Moreover, Huaxia Jiu was very clear that if his true identity were exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable, and he would likely die a terrible death. Even if he survived by chance, his life would be worse than death.

Furthermore, regardless of which cultivation sect he joined, he had to solve these problems; otherwise, it would be like a sheep entering a tiger's den, with no return.

Therefore, Huaxia Jiu planned to secretly head to the Cangman Mountains once his energy was restored to more than half. Based on the current rate of solar energy conversion, he estimated it would take at least five more days. Of course, this was on the condition that it was sunny every day, and he would have to bask in the sun whenever it appeared.

...

Unconsciously, five days had passed as Huaxia Jiu basked in the sun.

The night was deep, and both moons were hidden behind thick clouds.

In Huaxia Jiu's residence, the garden's rock formations, the stone bridges over the clear water, and the stone towers by the lawn were all swallowed by the darkness.

On the right stone tower, a ripple appeared in the dark void, and a figure materialized, wearing a black robe and long hair, with a cold expression. It was Ma Zhikuo, the third-generation master of the Ice Blood Sect.

Ma Zhikuo's gaze was like a knife, looking towards a bedroom in the middle of the residence. It seemed as if he could see through the walls and observe Huaxia Jiu's every move.

After a while, Ma Zhikuo sensed something and looked up at another stone tower on the other side of the residence. A cold and fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he muttered to himself, "Yu Mingfu, that hypocrite, has indeed come. Hmph! What a white-robed gentleman, still wearing black at this time. People from the Tianyi Sect are always so hypocritical."

At the same time, Yu Mingfu on another stone tower looked up at the tower where Ma Zhikuo was, a clear look of killing intent flashing in his eyes, and then he also looked towards the bedroom where Huaxia Jiu was.

The five days had not been enough to restore Huaxia Jiu's energy to half, as the weather had not been consistently sunny.

However, during these five days, Huaxia Jiu had gathered a large amount of data and information by observing and testing the changes in the human-shaped shadow in his mind and the various parts of his body. He used this to deduce some states of the human-shaped shadow and the direction of the slow transformation of his body parts.

Through repeated testing, Huaxia Jiu discovered that the human-shaped shadow in his mind was composed of a very unique electromagnetic wave. This electromagnetic wave had an extremely short wavelength, shorter than any ultra-short wave discovered on Earth, and it had a highly variable frequency, changing thousands of times per second.

Through repeated testing, Huaxia Jiu had mastered the data of these thousands of frequencies and the patterns and sequences of changes per second.

Combining the information he had gathered in this world, he found that the human-shaped shadow was likely a soul entity and possibly his own soul form, but it was clearly different, being much more condensed and powerful than an ordinary soul entity.

He found all his memories within the human-shaped shadow and was almost certain that his appearance would eventually match the shadow exactly.

Ordinary soul entities are integrated into the physical body, and only in rare cases do they undergo changes that strengthen the soul or increase the energy it contains, allowing it to manifest as an electromagnetic wave, forming a shadow.

This change occurs when an external energy wave resonates with the unique electromagnetic wave of the soul, transmitting energy to the soul and strengthening it. For example, someone might be struck by lightning, which, while damaging the body, could make them smarter and grant them some supernatural abilities, such as telekinesis.

Combining the various magical phenomena in this world and the extraordinary abilities of the Tiger Demon King and cultivators, Huaxia Jiu had a bold hypothesis.

He speculated that whether it was the demon race or human cultivators, the cultivation process in pursuit of immortality largely involved strengthening the physical body and storing energy within it, as well as continuously reinforcing the soul. The strength of the soul and the physical body, in turn, influenced the absorption of energy stored in the body. This was further confirmed after reading the Tiger Demon King's memories.

As for why strengthening the soul could also enhance the physical body and life functions, thus extending one's lifespan, Huaxia Jiu made a deduction based on the Tiger Demon King's memories.

When the soul reaches a certain level of strength, it begins to connect with certain energy aggregates in the universe, triggering attacks from these energy aggregates, which is known as the heavenly tribulation in cultivation.

For example, the most common form of heavenly tribulation is lightning, which is the most unstable energy aggregate in the universe and the easiest to trigger. When human cultivators and demons reach certain powerful realms, they can also attract other energy aggregates, such as the legendary hellish ice and the three-flavored true fire.

Huaxia Jiu knew about the heavenly tribulation from the Tiger Demon King's memories and from the books he had recently read.

After clarifying his thoughts and making a reasonable deduction, Huaxia Jiu began to conduct some experiments.

He controlled the frequency of the electrical energy in his body to match the electromagnetic wave frequency of the human-shaped shadow, and the changes per second were also synchronized, causing his soul and the electrical energy in his body to resonate.

There was resonance, but no changes occurred. Huaxia Jiu couldn't determine the reason, and since his energy reserves had not yet recovered to half, he stopped the experiment. He kept this enticing idea in mind for future research.

Although Huaxia Jiu's mind was working at high speed, his body lay still on the bed.

On the stone towers on both sides of the house, Yu Mingfu and Ma Zhikuo, seeing that Huaxia Jiu showed no unusual movements as he had for the past four days, left with some disappointment.