Chapter 69: Zheng Zha Activates the Modifier (First Update)

Chapter 69: Zheng Zha with the Cheat Engine Activated

Reincarnator: Luo Feng (Controller of the Lord God)
Serial Number: 00-0
Skills: Primordial Qi Cultivation: Level 144; Ninefold Golden Body: Third Heaven; Pure Primordial Spirit;
Achievements: Advanced Divine Aspect Human Immortal, Elder of the High Pure Sect;
Lifespan: Calamity-Free
Items: Ammon’s Gift;
Authority: Descent of Time and Space (World Coordinates)

Having set foot upon the Innate Path, Luo Feng nearly mastered the Lord God Fragment entirely. Among his skills, a new one had appeared—Pure Primordial Spirit, signifying the twelfth grade of Divine Bloom, the perfection of the soul.

Yet what truly caught Luo Feng’s attention was his lifespan. Fixing his gaze upon the words “Calamity-Free,” Luo Feng pondered deeply.

From the acquired to the innate, he had transformed into an Innate Being; a trace of primordial ancestral qi would now forever abide in the void. As long as the ancestral qi endured, so would his lifespan. No longer would he fear the crisis of aging; he could now claim an existence as enduring as the heavens themselves, ageless and undying.

Wind, fire, lightning, thunder—none could threaten him anymore. Internal disasters, too, could no longer affect him. This was what it meant to be calamity-free.

But being free from calamity did not mean he was free from tribulation. External catastrophes still existed; should an atomic bomb be launched directly at him, his life would undoubtedly be in grave danger! He might not die, but he would certainly be gravely wounded.

Calamity-free was still not enough—only when both calamity and tribulation were absent could he be truly secure.

His countless divine thoughts whirled, analyzing the knowledge within his mind as the fire of wisdom collided in frenzy. After much contemplation, Luo Feng murmured speculatively, “Three gathered at the crown, five energies returning to the source. Is this the next step?”

Only by gathering the three at the crown and condensing the five energies within the chest could one leap beyond the Three Realms, outside the Five Elements.

All things under heaven are composed of the Five Elements; only by comprehending their grand principles and mastering their mysteries could he avoid being harmed by the myriad things of heaven and earth.

To grant himself fivefold immunity—this was the purpose of the five energies!

Luo Feng named this realm the “Golden Core.”

Three gathered at the crown—the Innate Realm; five energies returning to the source—the Golden Core.

…

Having leveled up, it was time to save someone.

First, the routine attempt: awakening from outside the body.

Zheng Zha was still in deep slumber; if not for his ever-strengthening physique, Luo Feng would have thought him dead.

The newly minted Innate cultivator Luo Feng glanced at Zheng Zha—ordinary at first glance, but in truth, his body was uncommonly resilient.

He brought his palm down.

Zheng Zha was completely unscathed; instead, Luo Feng was forced back a step or two by the recoil.

This experiment only confirmed that force is always mutual.

…

Brute force failed to break the impasse.

Luo Feng began deploying every method from every school and sect—spirit-calling, soul-summoning, prayers, burning offerings, singing songs…

Every technique known in the world of the superhuman, he employed them all. The variety and brilliance of his methods were such that even the sorcerer kings of the southern wilds or necromancers who specialized in spirits would be left in shame.

Yet Zheng Zha remained motionless.

Even with Luo Feng’s advancement to the Innate Realm, his power increased a hundredfold, it was all to no avail.

…

Luo Feng’s expression darkened; it was time to use his final trump card.

With a grand gesture, he activated all the defensive formations in the valley: three outer layers, two inner layers of mist, the spatial transfer by the stream, the pit of explosives at the valley’s edge…

Once he was sure no one would barge in and create some melodramatic scene, Luo Feng sighed, stretched out a finger, and quietly intoned the Heart-Cleansing Divine Incantation:

“Exalted star of the Supreme, ever ready to respond,
Expelling evil, binding spirits, protecting life and limb,
Granting wisdom and clarity, calming heart and mind,
Three souls endure forever, the essence never lost…”

As he recited the scripture, primordial energy undulated. A droplet of water floated in the void.

With solemn expression, Luo Feng flicked his finger lightly, and the single droplet multiplied into thousands—soon, hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands, all appearing in the air.

He glanced up at the sky and muttered, “Old Zheng, if you don’t wake up this time, not even Heaven itself can help you.”

Sitting cross-legged opposite Zheng Zha, exuding an aura of sacred dignity, Luo Feng sent his Pure Primordial Spirit forth in an instant.

With a single breath, ten thousand drops of Heart-Cleansing Divine Elixir surged into Zheng Zha’s brow, cracking open a tiny fissure.

In a flash of lightning, Luo Feng’s spirit, moving with blinding speed, entered Zheng Zha’s spiritual platform!

Inside another’s spirit, all was a vast white void.

No one knew how much time passed.

Suddenly, a furious roar shattered the silence in Zheng Zha’s mind: “Wake the hell up, let’s get hyped!”

The power of the primordial spirit surged; the white mist scattered.

Luo Feng saw Zheng Zha on a sunlit beach, chatting and laughing with a petite, lively girl.

This was Zheng Zha’s spiritual world—everything an expression of his fantasies.

Luo Feng’s face darkened. Here he was outside, searching for a way to heal him, while this guy was here flirting and idling the days away, asking for trouble!

Luo Feng wasted no words—action was the only answer.

This was clearly Zheng Zha’s inner world. If he didn’t beat some sense into this guy, nothing would get through.

The moment Zheng Zha saw Luo Feng, he was stunned. He took two steps forward, preparing to offer some comforting platitudes—partly to console Luo Feng, partly to deceive himself. But before he could speak, a thunderous bellow rang in his ear.

“Let’s do this!”

“Just go for it!”

Luo Feng shouted as his golden, divine form emerged before Zheng Zha’s horrified gaze.

His Divine Aspect soared ten thousand feet tall, golden body towering like a miniature Pangu, the primordial titan.

With a single stride, mountains and rivers were shattered, the fabric of space itself rent asunder.

The endless summer of the Hawaiian beach was obliterated; all around, black holes yawned where space had been torn apart.

From paradise, Zheng Zha was cast into hell.

With a fiendish grin, Luo Feng snatched up Zheng Zha as easily as the Buddha seizing the Monkey King.

“I will beat you awake!”

A palm descended.

Luo Feng thundered, “Zheng Zha, wake up! No matter what hardships we face, we must never be afraid!”

“The best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on!”

“Ora ora ora… muda muda muda…”

…

In the end, Zheng Zha did wake up.

Not from Luo Feng’s shouting, but because he frightened himself awake.

The instant he awoke was as if from a nightmare; by reflex, he lashed out with a mighty punch.

In that moment, a distant mountain peak was reduced to ruins.

Luo Feng sidestepped the blow with casual ease.

But as he looked at the distant, crumbling peak, then at Zheng Zha—who seemed to have a cheat engine activated—he could not help but sigh deeply.

He had thought he was the only one cheating, only to find Zheng Zha had gone and installed the cheat engine itself.

Zheng Zha shook his head, unwilling to accept reality. “Is this the real world?” he asked.

Expressionless, Luo Feng replied, “Of course it’s a dream. Take a look at that mountain over there—tch, you blasted it even cleaner than I would have.”

“With skills like yours, why bother cultivating talismanic arts? I should just call myself Luo Feng, the True Immortal of Heavenscript, and you can be Master Pangu, the Real Zheng Zha!”

It all seemed illusory, reality indistinguishable from dreams. Zheng Zha was silent for a long time before muttering, “Is it all just a dream?”

Luo Feng struck him across the head, his voice cold: “If you’ve woken up, stop pretending to be asleep.”

“I don’t know what you went through in your dream, nor why your body has grown so strong.”

“But I do know this: dreams are always dreams—no matter how real, they cannot be realized.”

“Reality is always reality. However cruel, however difficult, there is always a chance for achievement.”

That slap brought Zheng Zha back to his senses.

He thought for a long while, gazing at the sky, then at the collapsed mountain in the distance. Finally, he nodded. “You have a point.”

He stood, washed his face, and freshened up.

He was still the same person, but his demeanor had changed significantly.

If Luo Feng, as a homebody, was generally tolerant with a low threshold for anger—easygoing until someone crossed his bottom line, then utterly ruthless and clear-eyed—then Zheng Zha was like an adult shaped by harsh experience. He appeared mature, but still harbored a degree of fantasy about the impossible.

This long dream had both awakened and shattered his fantasies.

He had returned to reality.

(End of this chapter)