Chapter 69 - 69 69 A World in Chaos

69: Chapter 69 A World in Chaos 69: Chapter 69 A World in Chaos Although there were questions such as “What if the dead person’s clothes have identification?”, the wilderness had more than one town, and he could always run off to another town to blend in. At this moment, as the gunfire grew more distant, An Jing got up and approached the area where the two sides had previously exchanged fire. Language was not a concern, only danger needed to be considered now. But even with the danger, An Jing knew he had to move, not just for clothing. He also wanted to try his luck to see if he could find a ‘living mouth’. The battle had been quite fierce. When An Jing arrived at one of the firefight locations, he could confirm that this world was somewhat familiar yet different from both the Embracing the Void realm and his previous life. Although the gang members from these wilderness towns had different clothing styles, there were many design similarities, such as bulletproof rain cloaks made of fiberglass, gas masks that everyone had, and informational window screens fashioned into the hanging veils of douli… The rain cloak and douli wrapped around people, shielding them from acid rain, while the steel gas masks covered most of their faces, protecting against poison and miasma. From a distance, they all looked similar to fishermen on a fishing boat. But only upon closer inspection could one realize how technologically advanced these garments were. “These rain cloaks and the douli, as well as the flying sword boxes, are Magic Artifacts.” The voice of the Sword Spirit carried a hint of surprise, “Full-body Magic Artifacts – the artifact cultivation skills of this world are somewhat excessively developed.” “All are Magic Artifacts?” An Jing, who had been hastily removing the rain cloak and douli off the corpses, as well as the weapons used for the firefight, slowed his hands upon hearing the Sword Spirit’s words. “I remember that whether it’s Martial Arts or Qi Refinement, one has to be a Cultivator to use Magic Artifacts…” “Yes. Although some Magic Artifacts can be used by ordinary people, these are not.” The Sword Spirit confirmed An Jing’s guess, “All of these corpses are Cultivators – although their powers are low, most of them are at the Inner Breath realm, and indeed there isn’t a single ordinary person among them.” “Even more, it’s not just that. According to my senses, that city is filled with ‘Cultivators’, except for some children.” “Universal Cultivation…” An Jing murmured to himself and then continued to swiftly scavenge the bodies, saying, “So, does that mean every person in this world has a Spirit Root?” “No.” The Sword Spirit denied, “The issue of Spirit Roots is quite complicated. Although there are indeed secret techniques that can adjust them, it’s impossible to achieve ‘universal Spirit Roots’.” “However, ‘universal Cultivation’ is different from everyone becoming an Immortal. This world seems to have popularized cultivation methods and other means, allowing everyone to cultivate the most basic ‘Essence Qi Inner Breath’, mastering their own Innate Qi.” “Simply put, everyone can be an Inner Breath Martial Artist, but still only a small part can become Inner Strength Martial Artists.” As the Sword Spirit spoke, a sense of emotion and nostalgia laced its tone, “Even so, it’s an incredible achievement. Even in the old days of Embracing the Void, only the Upper Gate could afford to make all their protected citizens become Cultivators.” “Look, every gang member has a Magic Artifact. If it wasn’t for universal cultivation, this would be extremely difficult to achieve.” Enthralled by what he heard, An Jing even slowed down the pace of his looting as he asked subconsciously, “What about Fated Weapons? Which category do they fall into?” “Fated Weapons have existed since ancient times, but they have become more common after the great calamity of Embracing the Void,” the Sword Spirit said, “I vaguely remember a great Cultivator who studied this saying that Fated Weapons could take shape because there are individuals with corresponding Fate Patterns who entrust their Soul and Spirit onto the Artifact, thus the more Life Holders there are, the more Fated Weapons there are – conversely, the more powerful the Fated Weapon, the more likely it is to foster similar Fate Patterns around it, mutually complementing each other.” “There are no set ranks for them. Even the weakest Fated Weapon has its unique effects that are hard to replace, and in the hands of someone with the corresponding Fate Pattern, it can exhibit power far beyond imagination.” “Some Fated Weapons that are extremely rare and powerful are even worth waiting for an Artifact Master with the corresponding Fate Pattern… that’s all I know, I don’t have much knowledge about this topic.” An Jing silently noted this information. The Subdue Evil Sword Spirit had a mysterious origin and a noble status, having been the weapon of an Immortal from an ancient era. But where exactly it came from and the extent of its power remained unknown, even to the Sword Spirit itself. “Alright.” Soon, An Jing, having selected the equipment, stripped the smallest corpse of its rain cloak and douli and draped it over himself. This gang member wasn’t much older than him, at most fourteen or fifteen years old, a handsome young man with delicate features who nonetheless was involved in a firefight with a gun and died here. An Jing couldn’t help but think of Embracing the Void… In two worlds, only in the aspect of life being as cheap as grass are they so consistent. And speaking of guns, there was quite a bit to discuss. Like the firearms found on the bodies of the exploration teams in the initial caves, the guns used by these gang members also came in two types, one being gunpowder weapons, and the other type, ‘Spiritual Light Guns’. However, those Spiritual Light Guns in the cave were larger and heavier, and required a large input of Inner Breath to use. Since the situation was always tense, An Jing didn’t have spare strength to infuse Inner Breath and test their power. The guns in the hands of the gang members, however, were smaller and more portable. The amount of Inner Breath they required was far less than those old Spiritual Light Guns, and even Inner Breath like Silk could probably fire one or two shots and activate the Spiritual Light. Of course, the power seemed not that great—the bulletproof rain cloaks on the bodies were mostly penetrated by gunpowder weapons and some kind of peculiar piercing weapon. The small Spiritual Light Guns could only burn a black spot on the cloaks’ refractive coating, whereas if lucky, a gunpowder weapon could penetrate the bulletproof rain cloak and kill the martial artist. At that moment, An Jing also heard noisy human voices coming from the direction of the town—clearly, if An Jing could think of scavenging the bodies, others surely had the same idea, and it was very possible that both sides of the firefight had sent people to retrieve equipment. seaʀᴄh thё novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Having collected a fair amount of equipment, An Jing left quickly with two Spiritual Light Guns and three pistols, along with some smaller miscellaneous items. These were the most valuable things he could gather in a short time. The miscellaneous items were some suspicious-looking drugs on the dead bodies, some of which seemed to be for treatment, but others were obviously not right. Without the need for Sword Spirit to warn him, An Jing knew just from the packaging that they must be some banned hallucinogens, already partly consumed, probably used to boost morale before combat. Donning a bullet-riddled rain cloak with spots of blood, along with a douli and a gas mask to obscure his face, An Jing disappeared into the wilderness’s darkness with his gathered weapons. The night was not peaceful but rather noisy. An Jing didn’t know if it was always like this in this other world, or if it was just a recent special period, but the entire wilderness was unbearably loud, with almost every gang and power in the wasteland fighting each other. An Jing visited four wilderness towns, and each had more than two forces engaged in strife, with bullets flying everywhere. “What the hell kind of place is this parallel world?” Several times he narrowly avoided being hit by stray bullets, and once, a bullet had actually hit the bulletproof rain cloak but was deflected due to the distance, causing An Jing to break out in a cold sweat, “Is there no peaceful place left?” Wandering around, An Jing felt that there was no safe place in the wilderness—he even saw a few ferocious beasts, likely wolves, retreating from the town area as embarrassingly as he was. When they encountered each other on the narrow path, both turned and went their own way. Clearly, in the face of humans madly infighting, even ferocious beasts felt it was all a bit too extreme. Apart from the towns, there were also many small settlements in the wilderness, some were villages, some were made up of all sorts of trash, steel plates, and containers, apparently a gathering place for wanderers. This group of vagrants was fully armed. Their food and clothing might be shabby, but their weapons were definitely in order. They, too, were on guard against the brawling gangs, stationed in their own dens, watchfully standing guard, making it impossible for An Jing to approach. And that’s not all, there must be something unusual happening in the ‘big city’ in the distance as well. The towering city, like mountain silhouettes on the horizon, was unusually bright with lights today, resembling the moon fallen to the earth, radiating a hazy glow. The flying shuttles flitted around the outskirts of the city ceaselessly like fireflies, and even from such a distance, An Jing could faintly sense the chaos inside. “Could it be… related to that Immortal Path warship?” Carrying the spoils of the scavenging, An Jing slowed down his movements, looking towards the direction of the big city, lost in thought. The wilderness he had seen before didn’t seem so chaotic, but An Jing had spent too little time in this world to be sure whether this was normal or an anomaly. Without a source of information, he could only guess, which was an unpleasant feeling. However, fortunately, An Jing soon solved this problem. Because he caught a gang member’s tongue, he found an injured survivor who was lucky enough not to have died.