Chapter 548: Plagiarizing My Mortal Transformation, You'll Have to Pay Patent Fees to the Realm Lord After Becoming a God

Chapter 548: Plagiarizing My Secularization, After Becoming a God, I Must Collect Patent Fees from the Realm Lord!

“Psycho!” The Blood Tiger Gang’s minor leader snorted coldly.

A dozen gang members, weapons in hand, surged forward like a mob of thugs.

“You’re the psycho!” Qi Yuan, gripping a hoe handle, stood in the middle of the road like a fearsome bandit.

In the neighboring courtyard, Wu Xiang looked anxious: “What do we do?”

Something was off.

Right now, the Blood Tiger Gang was blocked—the perfect chance to escape.

But that didn’t suit his indecisive nature.

Once he started hesitating, he could drag it out for ages.

During his hesitation, Qi Yuan charged into the crowd with his hoe handle.

“Anyone who stops my secularization is my enemy!”

For this secularization, after arriving in the Kuijin Realm, Qi Yuan had deliberately told Chen Kangbao and Shen Lingxuan to keep their distance and not contact him for now.

After all, this secularization was about entering the Ancestral God realm.

In other words, the Yang God.

Qi Yuan had no idea how many Yin Gods he’d have to kill to reach the Yang God.

By the law of conservation of energy, it might be an astronomical number.

Now, succeeding in secularization meant promotion—a shortcut to heaven, well worth it.

“You dare block my secularization!”

“A mere wooden stick dares to clash with our blades and swords?” The Blood Tiger Gang’s minor leader, though inwardly wary of Qi Yuan, still spoke with disdain.

In gang fights, losing face was the worst.

“All things are equal—why can’t a wooden stick clash with blades and swords?”

“Smash them!”

In that moment, Qi Yuan embodied the principle of brute force over finesse.

No technique—just a fierce, sudden smash.

Perhaps the force of that strike was too great; before the stick landed, its wind arrived.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Instantly, seven inner hall disciples were flung over ten meters away. When their bodies hit the ground, they had no breath left.

Their internal organs were shattered.

Score: 7 to 0.

“With strength like that, you dare block my secularization? Do you get paid that much? Three thousand a month and you come to fight me to the death?”

Qi Yuan, like a bandit, charged back into the crowd, giving the remaining Blood Tiger Gang members no time to react.

His wooden stick swept sideways—no one could withstand even a single blow.

He was like a mad god.

In a few breaths, all the Blood Tiger Gang members on the field were beaten to death.

Qi Yuan stared at the corpses, furious: “The Blood Tiger Gang is heinous, and my role-playing score is still 0%.”

Qi Yuan figured that if the Blood Tiger Gang hadn’t struck first, maybe his score would have gone up a bit.

“Senior… impressive!” At that moment, the hesitant Wu Xiang finally appeared, looking at Qi Yuan with awe. He asked, “Senior must be a Xuan-level Weapon Master, right?”

With that kind of display, at least Xuan-level.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m a mortal.” Qi Yuan glanced at Wu Xiang.

Wu Xiang was stunned.

What mortal sends seven Blood Tiger Gang members flying with one stick?

What mortal has an air blade on his stick?

Seeing Wu Xiang’s disbelief, Qi Yuan added, “I’m just a bit stronger than usual.”

To secularize, he had to make people realize he was doing it.

“If you don’t believe me, let’s arm wrestle. Or you can use your legs.” Qi Yuan said casually.

That threw Wu Xiang off.

What was he even here for?

Arm wrestling?

“Senior, you killed Blood Tiger Gang members. They’ll probably come for you soon. Staying in Yunxue City is too dangerous—why not come with me to the wilds?” Wu Xiang invited.

The Blood Tiger Gang itself was mediocre, but the Blood Tiger behind them, and the Thorn Blood, were the real tough nuts.

Qi Yuan rolled his eyes at Wu Xiang: “I don’t want to join your rebels. I just want to live peacefully in the city.”

Seeing hidden information with his eyes—that was his superpower, his talent. Using it shouldn’t count as using a supernatural talent, right?

Wu Xiang paused, surprised that Qi Yuan knew his background.

“Enough chitchat. I’ve got important business—I need to wipe out the Blood Tiger Gang. Bye.”

With that, Qi Yuan walked away.

The Blood Tiger Gang had gone too far, done too much evil. Qi Yuan couldn’t take it anymore.

“Senior?” Wu Xiang called out, anxious inside.

He hadn’t expected Qi Yuan to be so ruthless.

Going after the Blood Tiger Gang with a broken hoe?

On the other side, Qi Yuan pulled out a special communication device.

This device was given to him by Xianling Yingjun before he left.

As long as Xianling Yingjun was in the same domain, they could stay in touch.

Now, facing a problem, Qi Yuan naturally turned to this explanatory NPC.

“Sigh, I’ve run into a problem.”

“What problem?”

The explanatory NPC was professional—always online.

“I’m preparing for secularization, to break through to the Ancestral God realm.”

“Wait… Ancestral God?” Xianling Yingjun couldn’t hold it together.

Wasn’t he just a Venerable before? How many days had it been, and now he’s an Ancestral God?

If this were an Ancestral God, would it not mean he stood as a peer to his own ancient progenitor, a being of towering majesty?

In the Cosmos of Zhou, an Ancestral God was equivalent to a Yang Spirit, possessing enough might to govern an entire domain.

And the scale of a single domain encompassed three thousand worlds.

At this moment, he began to doubt himself, to doubt the very nature of existence.

Had he not known Qi Yuan, he might have suspected the man was weaving a grand deception.

Yet, could progress truly arrive with such bewildering swiftness?

Could it be that he himself had somehow become illiterate?

Were the Ancestral Gods mere myths of old?

Haunted by the thought, he hurriedly searched through the ancient records, only for the texts to confirm that an Ancestral God was indeed a Yang Spirit.

He fell into a profound, absolute silence.

Qi Yuan... just what kind of monstrous entity was he?

"Alas, I have restrained myself from killing for a whole night, yet my progress in embodying mortality remains at zero," Qi Yuan lamented, voicing his deepest anxiety.

He had labored through the night—well, perhaps that was a slight exaggeration, as it hadn't truly been a full night.

After refraining from slaughter for so long, and not even seeking out a duel with a mosquito, the progress bar for his roleplay should, by all rights, have crept forward at least a fraction.

Instead, it remained stubbornly at zero.

"Speaking of embodying mortality, a certain hidden secret comes to mind," Xianling Yingjun remarked.

"What secret?"

"My ancient ancestor once instructed that when wandering the outer realms, one must cultivate kindness and cherish harmony above all else—maxims I have always faithfully observed.

Do you know the reason why?"

"Is that not simply proper conduct?"

"...In our Cosmos of Zhou, powerful clans are frequently eradicated without warning or trace, and the cause of their ruin is almost always the accidental slaying of a mere mortal."

"Embodying mortality?" Qi Yuan's heart stirred.

"Indeed," Xianling Yingjun said with a sigh of profound emotion. "Realm Lords are divided into the realms of Rules, Myriad Things, and Heaven-Cleaving.

To attain the Heaven-Cleaving realm, one must understand the myriad things and merge with the fundamental rules.

Yet, how excruciatingly difficult is it to comprehend all things and assimilate the rules?

According to my ancestor, Realm Lords of the Myriad Things realm rarely show their faces, because... they divide themselves into tens of thousands of incarnations, plunging into the mortal dust... enduring the churning wheels of reincarnation to perceive all creation and meld with the rules." Xianling Yingjun spoke nothing but the truth.

Once a cultivator reached the Myriad Things realm, taking even a single step forward became an monumental struggle.

Many Realm Lords of this echelon would use a mere sliver of their true soul as a guide, transforming into mortals to experience life after life across countless cycles of rebirth.

Innumerable mortals, enduring endless reincarnations, allowed them to truly comprehend every blade of grass, every tree, the nature of birth, old age, sickness, death, joy, anger, sorrow, and delight within the cosmos.

This was an agonizingly vast stretch of time; perhaps even the span of an entire epoch would not suffice to fully grasp all things and merge with the rules.

An epoch was the full duration from a universe's creation to its ultimate destruction.

Generally speaking, barring external forces or anomalous factors, a single epoch lasted four hundred and ninety billion years.

Throughout such an immense epoch, a Realm Lord of Myriad Things would scatter their form into thousands, their fragmented souls constantly reincarnating and transmigrating, seeking to comprehend creation and assimilate the rules.

During this protracted period, some Realm Lords would find their soul-slivers dimming amidst the mortal dust, sinking forever into oblivion, returning ultimately to the dirt.

Thus, a rumor persisted in the Cosmos of Zhou: rarely did a Realm Lord of Myriad Things perish in battle; almost all met their end through failing the trials of embodying mortality.

And within the Cosmos of Zhou, the one who had transitioned from the Myriad Things realm to the Heaven-Cleaving realm with the greatest celerity was the supreme powerhouse of their universe, the creator of the Void Paradise, the Void Realm Lord.

From the Myriad Things realm to the Heaven-Cleaving realm, he had taken a mere half of an epoch.

At the mention of this, Xianling Yingjun felt his own insignificance weigh even more heavily upon him.

He was but an Yin Spirit Exalted, still a vast distance away from the Yang Spirit realm, to say nothing of the Realm Lords who existed at the Myriad Things level.

As for the majestic entities who resided above the Myriad Things realm, they were utterly beyond the reach of imagination.

Qi Yuan paused in astonishment.

How did this mortal-embodying process of the Myriad Things Realm Lords bear such an uncanny resemblance to his own system of roleplaying?

Qi Yuan's path as an Yin Spirit had long been plotted out: he was to become a True God capable of creating heaven and earth.

To open up a world and create all things, the prerequisite was to know all things and master the rules.

And the characters Qi Yuan roleplayed were, in truth, all manifested from his own essence and blood.

The roles he assumed included not just persons, but even kitchen knives, stones, and divine artifacts.

The Realm Lords of Myriad Things were plagiarizing him!

Of this, Qi Yuan was absolutely certain!

For according to Xianling Yingjun, those Realm Lords split into thousands of incarnations, mostly choosing to become humans, animals, plants, or various living beings capable of sensing heaven and earth.

Qi Yuan was different; he even roleplayed as stones and kitchen knives, objects entirely devoid of vital signs.

Therefore, the Realm Lords of Myriad Things were undeniably plagiarizing his method!

However, their execution was flawed; they had only managed to copy half of it.

"How detestable! I am far too weak right now. Once I become an Yin Spirit, I will definitely hunt them down to collect patent fees!"

Qi Yuan muttered inwardly.

Suddenly, he realized that he was akin to a destitute tycoon.

Across the myriad heavens and countless universes, so many Realm Lords owed him royalties!

Yet he also understood that overwhelming gratitude could easily turn to enmity; if he were to voice this truth aloud, it would likely invite a relentless hunt by the Realm Lords.

With this thought, he could only grind the grievance to dust and swallow it down.

"Of course, the mortal-embodying process of those supreme entities is naturally different from yours, but you might still draw some inspiration from it.

Though you cannot plunge your soul into reincarnation as a Realm Lord does, you could seal away your own memories and begin your life anew," Xianling Yingjun suggested earnestly.

"Thanks," Qi Yuan replied with genuine gratitude.

In his heart, however, he utterly dismissed the idea of sealing his memories.

Since the Realm Lords' method was a mere copy of his own, it was bound to be riddled with flaws.

His own method of embodying mortality was the sole authentic version.

Xianling Yingjun telling him all this was rather like the phenomena back on Earth, where domestic news was exported to foreign networks, only to be imported back and touted as breaking international news.

"So, my line of thinking is correct after all."

"The only reason my mortal-embodying process remains unsuccessful is because there are simply too many people obstructing me. If I just slaughter them all, won't I be able to embody mortality in absolute peace?"

Qi Yuan found his logic entirely sound and well-founded.

His approach was flawless.

It was simply that this world harbored far too many villains.

"Keep killing the Blood Tiger Gang?"

"Forget it, the Blood Tiger Gang is too weak. Let's wipe out the Thorn Blood instead!"

Having struck the young, Qi Yuan took a different path—not going after the old, but directly killing your supreme elder.

Meanwhile, inside the Blood Tiger Gang.

The Blood Tiger Gang received the news, their eyes brimming with thick killing intent.

"Risen from the dead... fine, a mere cultivator. If you'd stayed low, I wouldn't bother with you, but killing my inner hall disciples—how bold!"

The Blood Tiger Gang leader was burly, his arms as thick as an ordinary man's thighs.

He was born with divine strength, and with his cultivation, he could match the lowest-ranked Earth-level Armament Envoy.

Just then, suddenly, a gang member walked in and handed a letter to the Blood Tiger Gang leader.

He picked up the letter, squinted as he read, and a mocking expression appeared in his eyes.

"Has Old Man Wang lost his mind?"

He tossed the letter carelessly to the ground, crossing his legs.

The strategist hadn't read the letter, but he roughly knew its contents.

This Old Man Wang was a wealthy householder in the city.

Back when the Blood Tiger Gang leader was weak, Old Man Wang had saved his life.

Later, Old Man Wang became a middleman, often bringing money to the Blood Tiger Gang leader to ransom members of the rebel army.

Though the rebels were rebelling, business still had to be done.

The Blood Tiger Gang leader had done such deals a few times.

Now, in the letter, Old Man Wang mentioned that if they could spare that Qi Yuan's life, someone was willing to pay ten thousand taels of silver to ransom him.

"Hmph, my dozen brothers are worth only ten thousand taels? Gotta add more!"

The Blood Tiger Gang leader said dismissively, holding up three fingers to his underling: "Thirty thousand taels."

The underling understood and immediately got the point.

Just then, the Blood Tiger Gang strategist said, "Chief, this time... that cultivator is no ordinary man. If we do this deal, it might displease the higher-ups."

"Hmph, I know that well enough. Worst case, we take the money and don't release the man."

In business, one must keep one's word.

But after this deal, the Blood Tiger Gang leader would have enough silver to meet Lord Blood Tiger, who would transform him into a half-human, half-demon noble.

Once a noble, who would still be a lackey like the Blood Tiger Gang leader—or rather, a high-level thug?

"The chief is mighty!" said the strategist.

"Let's go, come with me to see where that damned cultivator is now!"

The Blood Tiger Gang leader strode out of the main hall.

Outside the hall, on the square, over a hundred gang members in uniform gathered, wielding large cleavers, their killing intent palpable.

Seeing these gang members, the Blood Tiger Gang leader's face showed a smug expression.

Just then, another gang member approached from afar.

"Chief, that guy has headed into the inner city!"

Cloud Blood City was ruled by Thorn Blood. For better management, there were many devices called Sky-Gazing Eyes.

These devices were like flying monitors.

The Blood Tiger Gang had a few in their possession.

After Qi Yuan killed the Blood Tiger Gang's inner hall members, a young Sky-Gazing Eye flew off to track Qi Yuan's whereabouts and keep watch.

"What's he doing in the inner city?" The Blood Tiger Gang leader was somewhat surprised.

Except for nobles, Thorn Blood members, and servants, ordinary people had no right to enter the inner city.

"Bring me the feed from the Sky-Gazing Eye! I want to see!" said the Blood Tiger Gang leader.

The strategist said fawningly, "Maybe, seeing no way out of the city, he's gone to the inner city to see if some big shot will take him in as a slave!"

The Blood Tiger Gang leader's expression shifted repeatedly. If he really became someone else's slave, things would get tricky—he might have to ask Lord Blood Tiger to intervene.

(End of chapter)