Absolute Destiny Game.

Chapter 629 Black Matter, Cricket Fighting
Xiao Jie's spiritual avatar hovered in mid-air, not daring to approach the scattered black substances.

Although the main body of the demon star has been annihilated, theoretically these remnants should have lost their unified control core, but Xiao Jie was well aware of the potential risks involved.

The astonishing fighting power these black substances displayed in the previous battles was truly frightening. Until their nature is fully understood, caution is always the best course of action.

He kept a safe distance and quietly observed the black slime scattered everywhere.

At first glance, these black substances appear to be completely dormant and inactive. They display no health bars or level indicators, as if they have completely blended into the environment, becoming harmless environmental elements.

However, when Xiao Jie observed closely, he discovered something amiss. These black substances were not completely still; they were wriggling, crawling, and spreading on the surfaces of the objects they were attached to at an extremely slow, almost imperceptible speed.

It was a strange movement that lay between life and non-life, resembling both the foraging behavior of some primitive creature and the slow diffusion of some physical property, making it difficult to define its essence.

Xiao Jie quickly focused his attention on a small ball of black liquid located at the edge of the ruins. The ball of black liquid was about the size of a football and did not seem to pose much of a threat.

He manipulated his spiritual avatar, slowly approaching it. Fifty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters... the mass of black liquid remained unresponsive, like a lifeless object.

However, the moment he entered the ten-meter range, something unexpected happened!

The seemingly dormant black liquid suddenly came to life! Its surface bulged instantly, and several octopus-like structures made of black liquid writhed and condensed beneath it. With a sudden burst of force, the entire black liquid was propelled upwards like a compressed spring, as fast as lightning, heading straight for Xiao Jie's spiritual avatar's face!

(Holy crap! Is this some kind of alien facehugger?) Xiao Jie was shocked.

This thing attacks extremely quickly; an ordinary player would probably be hit instantly. But Xiao Jie was prepared, especially since he is now an immortal, whose spiritual awareness and reaction speed far exceed what ordinary people can imagine.

In reality, Xiao Jie was currently only in a spiritual state, and theoretically should be immune to physical attacks. However, he did not intend to take the risk—this thing derived from the demonic star could even absorb and convert energy attacks, and who knew if it had evolved special attack methods targeting spirits and divine consciousness.

With a thought, the spiritual avatar blurred instantly and flew horizontally for dozens of meters as if teleported.

The ball of black liquid missed its target, twisting strangely in the air as if it wanted to pursue again. But Xiao Jie had already retreated thirty to fifty meters away. The ball of black liquid, like a venomous snake that had lost its target, writhed and probed in place for a moment, but finally seemed to give up because of the distance, slowly limp down, and turned back into an inconspicuous black stain on the ground.

"Interesting, it's actually quite sensitive." Xiao Jie mused. It seems that although the Demon Star is dead, the remaining black substance is still very dangerous; this thing at least retains an autonomous defense or attack mechanism.

So, what exactly is its attack power? And what are the criteria for determining its attack capabilities?
Xiao Jie made a hand seal and pointed to the ground.

Immortal magic—turning stones into soldiers!
A pile of rubble instantly coalesced, transforming in the blink of an eye into a rock golem over two meters tall, crudely shaped but with distinct outlines. This stone figure strode heavily toward another, slightly smaller mass of black slime.

However, to Xiao Jie's surprise, when the rock golem walked near the clump of slime, and even gently touched the edge of the slime with its stone foot, the black substance did not react at all, remaining quietly paralyzed there, as if it really was just a harmless puddle of oil.

"Huh? No attack?" Xiao Jie was greatly surprised. "Could it be targeting me only? Because I participated in the killing of the demon star, these black slimes have 'muscle memory' and remembered my scent? Or... does this thing only attack 'living things' and have no interest in inanimate objects like rocks?"

To verify his conjecture, Xiao Jie once again performed a hand seal.

Immortal Technique - The Dance of Spirit Snakes!
In an instant, he summoned a dozen or so venomous snakes, each as thick as an arm and brightly colored, out of thin air.

These venomous snakes, transformed from divine power, hissed and nimbly slithered and crawled through the gaps in the ruins.

As one of the venomous snakes slithered closer to a clump of black slime, another strange event occurred!
The sludge used the same trick again, suddenly leaping up like a black fishing net, instantly enveloping the energy serpent! The serpent struggled and twisted frantically inside the sludge, but it was like being trapped in a sticky swamp, unable to break free at all.

Within two or three seconds, the struggle weakened and eventually disappeared completely. The clump of slime seemed to have had a "feast," its volume seemingly expanding slightly before it slumped back to the ground and returned to calm.

In the following minutes, the remaining dozen or so venomous snakes, without exception, were all pounced upon and devoured as they approached the different clumps of black liquid. The black slime was incredibly aggressive; the low-level demons summoned by Xiao Jie were utterly powerless against it.

Xiao Jie then conjured even more powerful creatures, such as wolves, tigers, and giant bears, for further testing. The result remained the same—as soon as these "living things" entered a certain area, they would immediately be met with a fierce attack and devouring by the black slime.

Moreover, these level 10 and 20 beasts were almost powerless against the black substance and were completely slaughtered.

During the testing process, Xiao Jie made another new discovery: when two clumps of slime of different sizes get close to each other while chasing their "prey", they will actually attack and devour each other!
The two clumps of slime lunged at each other, quickly intertwining and merging together. After a period of tumbling and twisting, they became one, forming an even larger mass. It was impossible to tell which had devoured which; in the end, only a larger mass of black matter remained.

"If I use summoned creatures as bait to lure all these scattered slimes to one place, will they devour each other and eventually aggregate into a... coreless, pure 'Demon Star Polymer'?" This thought popped into Xiao Jie's mind, and he immediately felt a sense of unease. "Without a Demon Star Core to provide consciousness and control, this polymer would probably become an instinctive monster that only knows how to devour everything, which would be a huge problem."

Fortunately, without any external stimulation, these black slimes behaved extremely "lazy," remaining almost motionless and only spreading naturally at an extremely slow pace. They were like some kind of dormant fungal carpet or primitive lichen, relying on instinct to draw meager energy from the space to maintain a minimum level of activity.

For a moment, Xiao Jie couldn't think of a way to effectively utilize or deal with these dangerous black substances.

"Oh right, didn't that demon star also drop a copy of 'The Myriad Demon Soul Forging Manual'?" Xiao Jie suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "If we can learn the profound demon techniques recorded in it, we might be able to find a way to control or understand these black substances. After all, the two come from the same source, and they might be related in terms of their power systems."

If one could truly control these strange black substances, their ability to devour, transform, and defend would make them an absolutely formidable weapon, capable of both offense and defense.

Thinking of this, Xiao Jie's mind stirred, and his spiritual avatar instantly dissipated.

He slowly opened his eyes, emerging from his deep meditative state, while he was in a meditative state.

He eagerly took out the ancient and mysterious scroll, the "Hundred Demon Soul Forging Scroll." The wooden scroll felt slightly heavy and cool to the touch, and the fine, flowing demonic script on it seemed to contain endless mysteries.

The text above appears distorted and bizarre at first glance, completely unlike any known language, like a book written in the heavens.

However, this did not stump Xiao Jie. Holding the wooden slip in his hands, Xiao Jie carefully examined the strange characters on it while immersing his spiritual sense into it to sense the lingering demonic spirit hidden within the wooden slip.

In an instant, countless roars, howls, cries, and whispers of demons rang in his ears, and countless images of light and shadow flashed before Xiao Jie's eyes.

A mottled python opened its blood-red maw and swallowed a deer, which was much larger than itself, in one gulp, without its abdomen swelling at all.

[System notification: You have mastered the demonic art—the Serpent Swallowing Technique.]

An eagle soars above the sea of ​​clouds, its sharp gaze piercing through the mist and precisely locking onto a snow hare running swiftly on the ground.

[System notification: You have mastered the demonic art—Eagle Eye Technique.]

A leopard crouched in the shadows of the forest, its aura blending perfectly with its surroundings, slowly approaching a goat that was grazing. Even at close range, the goat could hardly detect its presence. [System Notification: Comprehended Demonic Art—Stealth and Concealment.]

A fox was cornered by a hunter wielding a hunting fork, and it looked like it was about to die on the spot. Suddenly, a purple light appeared in its eyes. When the hunter saw this, he stood there dumbfounded, as if he were bewitched or possessed.

[System notification: You have mastered the sorcery technique—Charm.]

Countless images and insights flooded into Xiao Jie's mind like a tide, while the crisp sound of system notifications rang in his ears one after another.

Finally, after about half an hour, Xiao Jie slowly put down the wooden scroll in his hand and let out a long sigh of relief. In just that short half hour, he had comprehended hundreds of different demonic arts!
Unfortunately, while most of his sorcery was magical, it was only slightly better than nothing for him now that he had ascended to immortality, merely enriching his skill set.

However, there are indeed many powerful and practical mid-to-high-level sorcery spells among them, which still have considerable practical value.

Unfortunately, these sorceries don't seem to offer any direct help in controlling, understanding, and manipulating the black slime.

It can only be described as an all-encompassing 'encyclopedia of sorcery', to which Xiao Jie sighed with slight disappointment.

He put away the wooden slip that had lost its luster and took out the jade slip that Su Zhiqing had given him, which contained the [Thousand-Mile Instant Travel Technique]. "I might as well learn this life-saving and travel-fast divine skill; it can't hurt."

This jade slip makes learning much easier.

Xiao Jie probed the jade slip with his spiritual sense, and found a fragment of Su Zhiqing's memory of creating this spell. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Jie comprehended the source of the skill, and a look of realization gradually appeared on his face.

"So that's how it is! The core principle of this Thousand-Mile Instant Travel technique isn't about forcibly breaking through space with one's own magical power; it relies on recognizing and utilizing the naturally existing 'networks' between heaven and earth!"

The jade slip explains that in the vast universe and among the myriad realms, there exist countless naturally formed, minute fissures and channels connecting different spaces. Some hang high in the heavens, ethereal and elusive, and are called "qi veins"; some are hidden in rivers, lakes, seas, and places abundant with water, and are called "water veins"; and some rely on the contours of mountains and rivers and the gathering places of earth energy, and are called "earth veins".

This technique of instantaneous travel over long distances involves first using a secret method to perceive and lock onto these invisible "heaven and earth veins," then employing corresponding Five Elements escape techniques to merge oneself into the veins, thereby achieving instantaneous teleportation over extremely long distances. As long as coordinates or beacons are set in advance at the vein nodes of the target location, one can arrive in an instant using this method, which is extremely mysterious.

With this spell, we now have another way to travel quickly or escape.

Xiao Jie collected the jade slips that had lost their spiritual light. He thought that since he couldn't find a way to control the black liquid in the books he had, he would go to the Scripture Pavilion in Guyun Prefecture. It housed many ancient books and secret records collected by immortals; perhaps he could find relevant information there. Moreover, he could also take the opportunity to ask Lin Xuance and the others about the 'Tongtian Gua'.

With that thought in mind, Xiao Jie didn't delay any longer. He got up, straightened his robes, and stepped out of the quiet room that Xiaoyue Palace had arranged for him.

Arriving at the open space outside the palace, he had a thought, and auspicious clouds spontaneously formed beneath his feet, lifting him slowly into the air. After determining his direction, he rode the clouds, transforming into a streak of light, and flew swiftly towards Lonely Cloud Prefecture.

A few hours later, Xiao Jie returned safely to the familiar territory of Guyun Prefecture. Without lingering, he went straight into the Mountain and Sea Painting Realm.

He passed through the entrance, which resembled an ink painting, flew to the summit of the immortal mountain, and entered the magnificent and ethereal celestial palace. However, as soon as he stepped through the palace gates, he was stunned by a sudden burst of noise and cheers.

Huh, not drinking or singing today?

In the center of the main hall, where the immortals used to drink and revel, there was now an enormous brown pottery jar! The jar was over ten meters tall and more than fifty meters in diameter, resembling a small stadium.

What astonished Xiao Jie even more was that a row of immortals, usually exuding an otherworldly and transcendent aura, were now standing on the wide rim of the pottery jar! They were all craning their necks, pointing and gesturing into the jar, occasionally bursting into cheers or sighs of regret.

A series of sharp hisses and clanging sounds of shells colliding were constantly coming from the bottom of the jar.

A surge of inexplicable curiosity welled up in Xiao Jie's heart, so he also flew up on a cloud and landed on the edge of the pottery jar, peering inside.

Inside the jar, two enormous insects were locked in fierce combat! One was a giant mantis, its body entirely emerald green, shaped like a large knife, and over five meters tall; the other was a giant longhorn beetle, its body covered in a thick black carapace, with exaggerated long horns on its head, and about three meters tall.

To Xiao Jie's surprise, although these two insects were huge and imposing, upon closer inspection, they did not have any strong demonic aura or spiritual energy fluctuations. They seemed to be essentially still in the category of "beasts," only they had been enlarged by some unknown method.

He glanced instinctively at the monster's name above their heads.

Giant Mantis (Qixia Zhenren's pet): Level 38, HP 1800/1800.

Giant Longhorn Beetle (Master Wuyun's pet): Level 42, HP 2200/2200.

Although the longhorn beetle had a slight advantage in level and health, the mantis was clearly more skilled at hunting and fighting. Its two guillotine-like forelimbs swung with great force, constantly leaving deep cuts on the longhorn beetle's hard carapace. The giant longhorn beetle could only barely defend itself with its hard carapace, and for a time, the two were evenly matched and it was difficult to determine a winner.

The immortals around them watched with great interest, occasionally offering their comments:

"Great! That was a beautiful side slash!"

"Oh dear, what a pity, the beetle's shell is too thick!"

"Hurry up and charge at it! Kill that bastard!"

Xiao Jie was speechless. These immortals... they really had too much free time on their hands! They were actually playing "cricket fighting," only they'd replaced the crickets with giant insects and the arena with a super-sized ceramic pot...

"Eh? Isn't this Fellow Daoist Suifeng? What a rare guest!" A sharp-eyed immortal noticed Xiao Jie and greeted him warmly.

Another immortal beside him pointed proudly at the battle in the jar and boasted to him, "Look, this is a new kind of fun that Fellow Daoist Feiyu came up with. How about it, isn't it interesting? Transforming mortal insects with the 'Giant Transformation Technique' and placing them in this jar to watch them fight is quite a unique experience. I'm sure you've never seen such a game before, Fellow Daoist."

Xiao Jie was speechless again. This was just cricket fighting in a different guise... except the insects were enlarged using magic. The entertainment of immortals was truly... simple, unpretentious, and tedious.

He wasn't interested in that; his eyes scanned the crowd, and he quickly found his target.

He flew to the side of a middle-aged Taoist priest dressed in a Taoist robe of the Yin and Yang, with a refined demeanor, and cupped his hands, saying, "Fellow Taoist Xuanxuzi, I have heard that you are quite knowledgeable in divination, numerology, astrology and destiny. I have a question for you. Have you ever heard of the 'Tongtian Gua'?"

The moment the words "Tongtian Gua" were uttered, the previously boisterous cheers, discussions, and comments came to an abrupt halt!

The immortals completely ignored the two giant insects that were still fighting and all looked at Xiao Jie.

(End of this chapter)