Chapter 534: The Hidden Poison

Weapons similar to the imitation sun bombs and annihilation cannons of the Mingzhong World fired like rain, with a range of only ten meters, but their power surpassed those of the Mingzhong World.

Bai Hongtu faced them as if confronting a formidable enemy; these weapons were extremely powerful, enough to give a Unity Stage cultivator an itchy scratch.

The junior cultivators didn’t know the power of these weapons, nor did they need to, because Human Sovereign Jiang was present.

Bai Hongtu laughed arrogantly, blocking all attacks: “Hahaha, no need to be afraid. With Jiang Li and me here, even if a Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal attacks, you won’t suffer the slightest injury.”

Jiang Li glanced sideways at Bai Hongtu: “By that time, you’ll probably be standing together with the junior cultivators.”

Seeing the attacks ineffective, the Machinery King launched a new round of assault.

Radiation, lasers, ultrasonic waves, electromagnetic waves… attacks in various energy forms emerged endlessly.

“The power is even weaker than the imitation sun bombs and annihilation cannons,” Jiang Li shook his head.

If Unity Stage cultivators didn’t possess the characteristic of triple unity and relied solely on physical defense, they would struggle to withstand the high temperature of imitation sun bombs and the positive-negative annihilation reaction of annihilation cannons.

If imitation sun bombs and annihilation cannons hit a sixth-stage zombie, even the sixth-stage zombie would suffer.

But attacks like radiation and lasers had little effect on the physical bodies of Unity Stage cultivators.

Jiang Li ignored these attacks and strolled leisurely toward the Machinery King, his posture as relaxed as taking a walk after a meal.

The Machinery King quickly retreated, pulling a button from his chest. The entire metropolis came alive like a living creature—streets lifted like octopus arms, foundations shifted, and skyscrapers transformed freely like modeling clay, becoming components of a giant machine. The army actively merged into it, turning into electronic parts.

Seeing the road beneath his feet also changing, Bai Hongtu brought the junior cultivators out of the city to the suburbs.

Looking from afar, dust filled the metropolis with red lights flashing, as if some ancient slumbering life was awakening.

“This city is the strongest weapon of our Forge Machinery World! No one can survive its attack!” the Machinery King laughed wildly, merging into the metropolis himself as its central control, commanding the entire city.

The metropolis resembled a mechanical octopus.

Even through the thick dust, the junior cultivators could clearly hear what the Machinery King was saying.

“With just a casual swing of these eight mechanical arms, I can slice mountains in half!”

“When the lasers on the arms concentrate on one point, the temperature is so high that even the sun would pale in comparison!”

“I also have a gravity field—any attack approaching me will lose its power under tenfold gravity and fall to the ground!”

“If I wish, I can dig through the continent in half a day!”

“With a casual bomb launch, the shockwave can make the entire continent tremble slightly!”

“How dare you fight against me!”

The dust settled, revealing the giant octopus lying on the ground like a dead dog.

The junior cultivators looked at each other, feeling like they had missed some crucial process.

Jiang Li pulled the Machinery King out.

The Machinery King sat upright with a serious demeanor.

“Let’s talk. What’s going on with your world? Why are all the clones the same person?”

In the underground base, Jiang Li noticed that the clone prototypes all originated from the same person—a man.

This meant that all robot souls in the Forge Machinery World were male.

The Machinery King sighed: “This is why I envy your Nine Provinces World. Individual power is strong, lifespans are long, and I’ve heard you even have Mahayana Stage cultivators who can live for a hundred thousand years.”

Jiang Li pointed at himself: “What a coincidence, I’m at the Mahayana Stage.”

The rumor that Mahayana Stage cultivators could live for a hundred thousand years was spread by Immortal Elder Changcun, who claimed that Mahayana Stage cultivators, like Earthly Immortals, could live for a hundred thousand years.

Facing the real deal, the Machinery King couldn’t even feel envy, only bitter laughter: “A hundred thousand… our entire history isn’t even that long.”

“Initially, we only replaced some organs with machinery, without plans to enter an all-mechanical era. Some advocated becoming robots, but more opposed it—who would want to live without the five senses? But something forced us to do this.”

“What happened?” Bai Hongtu approached.

The Machinery King looked grave: “Historical records show that twelve thousand years ago, we lost our reproductive ability.”

“It happened suddenly and mysteriously. Even now we haven’t found the cause. Women lost their fertility, and the stored seed banks vanished overnight, as if manipulated by some unseen hand.”

“The process of women losing fertility took about a month. During this time, ancient people exhausted all methods but found no solution.”

“Then those who advocated the all-mechanical era stepped forward, calling it a heaven-sent opportunity destined for all humanity to become robots.”

“The ancients had no choice, spending an entire generation completing the transition from human to robot, while preserving human bodies, or rather corpses, as cloning samples.”

“But another problem emerged.”

“Some disease spread through all human bodies, causing them to collapse and become unusable for cloning. We couldn’t explain this phenomenon either, and could only name it Clone Disease.”

“Finally, as you saw underground, the Forge Machinery Civilization was left with only that one cloning sample.”

“This history is too bizarre and eerie, so successive leaders chose to conceal the truth, letting people believe they were born as robots.”

“Babies form memories at age two, so we extract souls at one year old and place them in robot bodies.”

“Perhaps because the souls are human even in robot bodies, people always prefer living creatures—zoos are the most visited places, and skin replacement shops became popular as people subconsciously believe they’re human.”

Jiang Li frowned; this world had reached a dangerous point. If the last cloning sample became unusable, all robots in this world would face destruction.

At that moment, the Great Scholar’s Manuscript and Spirit Herb Sect Master Huang Chengdan arrived.

The metropolis transforming into a mechanical octopus created quite a disturbance, attracting both the man and the artifact.

“Human Sovereign, Sect Master Bai.” Huang Chengdan bowed, guessing that sect disciples must have encountered danger and summoned Human Sovereign Jiang and Sect Master Bai.

“Perfect timing—I have new discoveries in this world to report to the Human Sovereign.”

“What discoveries?”

“I found a hidden virus in the Forge Machinery World that causes female infertility, chronic death in non-cultivating mortals, and body deterioration preventing preservation.”

Jiang Li recounted the Machinery King’s story to Huang Chengdan.

“I don’t fully understand cloning, but judging by the poison’s function, it could indeed prevent body replication.”

“This closely resembles a theoretical poison proposed by our Spirit Herb Sect’s founding ancestor, Five Poisons Immortal. It hides in the air, extremely concealed—without relevant knowledge, even spiritual sense scanning might not detect abnormalities.”

“Ancestor Five Poisons said if he reached Celestial Immortal stage, he could refine this poison.”

The Spirit Herb Sect was originally called Black Medicine Sect, famous for poison mastery. As sect master, Huang Chengdan was well-versed in poison principles.

“Is there an antidote for this poison?”

“Yes. Just by guiding qi into the body and entering the Qi Refining Stage, the poison naturally dissipates.”