Survival Guide in the Age of Cataclysm

Chapter 92 The Black King's True Skill of Supreme Forging of Meridians

Night, in a quiet white room.

Several rectangular nutrient tanks were placed next to the wall.

Click.

One of the nutrient chambers suddenly opened, and a billow of hot air shot out.

A burly man wearing only black shorts tumbled out of the nutrient tank and fell to the ground with a thud.

His eyes were vacant, and after a long while, his dark pupils regained some luster.

Xu Yang lay on the ground, feeling weak and powerless. He took several deep breaths before slowly getting up.

The information on his personal panel flashed before his eyes.

……

[Skills: ..., Unknown Trait (0%)]

……

Xu Yang frowned slightly.

Why is there a percentage after "unknown characteristic"?

He remembered clearly that in the genetic memory of the flesh angels, there was only a "generating" indicator after the unknown characteristic.

It seems that the division has become more detailed now.

and……

Xu Yang glanced at the ground, where there was a pool of slightly reflective, transparent nutrient solution that had just flowed from his body.

On the water's surface, a familiar face could be vaguely seen, with a pair of gold-rimmed black eyes that stood out prominently.

Yes, that's his own face.

Xu Yang even sensed that several of his abilities were universally applicable. If the guide hadn't provided no information when he looked at the nutrient pod, he would have almost thought he had transmigrated again.

But logically speaking, shouldn't I possess another person?

Just as he was still thinking, a crisp footstep came from outside the room.

Xu Yang looked up.

A beautiful woman wearing a pink and white shirt and black slim-fit trousers walked in.

She was tall and slender, with a neat purple ponytail and a somewhat androgynous beauty. She wore only light makeup.

She glanced at Xu Yang, then looked at the nutrient tank beside her, and said, "Hei Yu, right?"

Xu Yang blinked.

Then it dawned on me that the other person might be the one who helped me acquire my special characteristics from my genetic memory.

He was about to ask the woman what was going on when she tossed him a loose robe and said:

"Change your clothes and come with me to the teacher."

Xu Yang subconsciously took them, only to find that they were a set of white training clothes and a set of... life support clothing.

After becoming a mid-level member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was given a set of supplies as part of his allowance, but at the time he felt they were useless. He never expected to encounter them here again.

Without hesitation, Xu Yang immediately changed into life support clothing and training clothes.

Although I don't know who the so-called "teacher" is, it must be related to his acquisition of special characteristics.

Across from them, the woman saw that Xu Yang had changed his clothes, so she led him around and walked out.

The two walked out of the white room and were greeted by a clean metal corridor with identical white rooms on both sides, ending at an opaque glass door.

Outside the glass door.

Various buildings rose from the ground, some even floating directly in mid-air, and countless aircraft sped between them.

On the street, the woman led Xu Yang into a blue airship that had been parked in advance by the roadside.

The two sat facing each other.

Xu Yang was filled with doubt, so he asked directly, "Excuse me, is this genetic memory now? Are you the one assisting me in acquiring this trait?"

"Yes, that's me. My name is Wei Qi. You can start acquiring special abilities once you get to the teacher."

The woman nodded, assuming that Xu Yang was simply eager to acquire special characteristics.

Xu Yang understood.

This woman is indeed the one who helps acquire special abilities, but how does one acquire these special abilities?

Only then did he realize a problem: he was now completely his own body, able to sense his own biochemical plug-ins and mutated characteristics.

But this did nothing to help with the mutation.

Xu Yang immediately continued, "Hello, Sister Qi, this is Xu Yang. What's going on? Why am I still myself?"

"What do you mean you're still you?"

"It is within this genetic memory that I am not possessing the body of a trait carrier, but rather my own body."

Xu Yang frowned.

It's not that he likes possessing other people, but if he can't possess the body of a trait holder, how can he feel the trait now? He can't even feel it, let alone acquire it.

Even now, he has not yet experienced the same subtle sensations of the special properties he felt after using the implanted lure of the Flesh Angel.

Xu Yang even had a slight doubt: 'Could it be that the lure has lost its effectiveness?'

He looked at the woman with a puzzled expression.

Wei Qi just smiled and shook her head, saying, "Because there's no need. You'll understand when you get to the teacher."

……

The airship passed through several main streets, slowly heading towards a secluded spot, and finally stopped in front of a building.

Looking out the window, Xu Yang saw four large characters written on the huge plaque above the main entrance: Black King Hall.

It looks like a martial arts school.

The two disembarked from the airship and entered the martial arts hall.

Inside was a gray ground, and a gaunt middle-aged man stood in the center of the martial arts hall. He was the only person in the entire open space of several hundred square meters.

The moment Xu Yang looked at the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man returned the gaze and smiled slightly.

The next moment, a message was sent into Xu Yang's mind.

"...building subcutaneous fascia...aiding digestion with medication...a special training method...and completing the splicing with the body's gene sequence..."

Xu Yang carefully considered this information. He couldn't understand much of it in a short time, but he could grasp the general meaning.

This information teaches people step by step how to manually build a special network of organs within muscles, starting from scratch.

It requires the use of foreign flesh and blood and the assistance of drugs, and finally, in a special environment, it is completed with the help of instruments or even other people.

The general process involves slowly implanting processed foreign flesh into one's own body, then using the special rhythmic traction between muscles to slightly move the flesh to the appropriate location, and then performing a martial art...

It's like... a strange martial arts manual.

Suddenly, a voice slowly rang in my ears.

"Kid, what do you think of my 'Supreme Forging Meridian Black King True Technique'?"

Xu Yang immediately turned his head.

The middle-aged man who was originally in the center of the martial arts gym had somehow appeared beside him.

"This is the characteristic you want to acquire. The Federation also calls it 'Black Defense,' but it is essentially this true skill."

Xu Yang's mind went blank.

Black Guardian! His mutated traits were developed through this strange skill?!

Beside them, Wei Qi's voice slowly came: "Now you understand, right? You don't need to sense other people's physical characteristics. You just need to use your body to cultivate your special abilities with real skills in your genetic memory. The progress in the memory will affect the fusion of your real body and the attraction's genes, and the final effect will be synchronized in reality."

Xu Yang looked at the two of them and let out a slight sigh: "Wait, doesn't that mean that this mutated trait can be trained directly in reality, and genetic memory is not a necessary path for mutated traits?"

"Of course, before the advent of gene memory technology, humanity had already come a long way on the path of life evolution."

The middle-aged man smiled and continued, "Back then, true skill was the mainstream. Even now, with genetic memory becoming the mainstream, it can't develop a new characteristic from scratch; it can only inherit the old characteristics more quickly."

Xu Yang frowned and said, "Faster? But this trait should also require gradual training in genetic memory, just like in reality, right?"

The middle-aged man's expression was strange: "In a sense, you could say that. If you want to, you can cultivate in reality."

Beside him, Wei Qi shook his head and slowly said, "Don't listen to the teacher's nonsense. It's a matter of cost. How much resources and time do you think you would need to spend in reality to acquire the feature?"

With genetic memory, these costs are reduced to a few doses of medicine and a few nights.

Even the dangers of the process have been eliminated. In reality, practicing true martial arts carries the risk of death, which is why true martial arts have been phased out.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yang understood.

The risks outweigh everything else, and not only are they dangerous, but they also take a lot of time, even more so than implanted lures.

It seems that those with genuine skills deserve to be eliminated.

While its unique customization features are somewhat appealing, there are far too many mutations in reality, not to mention the various biochemical plugins available, making the combinations almost countless and essentially a different kind of customization altogether.

The kind of custom skill that requires life and time to create is clearly a clumsy method.

but……

The middle-aged man was able to produce the "Supreme Forging Pulse Black King True Skill," and judging from his manner of speaking, he might even be the creator of the skill; while the woman named Wei Qi was able to help him acquire special characteristics, meaning she knew how to cultivate this skill.

The two also addressed each other as master and disciple.

Perhaps they have all practiced this technique in real life.

But why?

Xu Yang then asked, "Sister Qi, did you cultivate Black Guardian through genetic memory?"

Wei Qi shook her head: "No, I practice real skills. My teacher and I are both pure-blooded."

"Purebloods?"

"They are a group of people who are still practicing genuine skills."

"But why? Isn't true skill very dangerous? And it's not impossible to find a suitable lure with matching characteristics."

Xu Yang was puzzled and found it hard to understand how Wei Qi, who had just been advising him, was himself a practitioner of dangerous paths.

Do you like thrills?

Before Wei Qi could speak, another voice rang out.

"Because it will make us stronger and more adaptable, and we'll also feel a sense of accomplishment. Of course, compared to the price we pay, the gains seem insignificant. But we people just enjoy this feeling of putting in a lot of effort for little reward."

The middle-aged man said with a smile.

"If you ever become interested in the Pureblood faction, you can come and see Anxu. There are many people like us here."

Xu Yang looked around and asked, "Is Anxu the name of this city?"

"No, it's the name of this planet. You can come—"

Suddenly, the middle-aged man patted his head. "Hey, I haven't asked you yet. When did you arrive in the Federal Calendar?"

Xu Yang thought for a moment: "I forgot the exact time, but I think it was more than 27,000 years ago."

"That's over a thousand years from now. If I'm lucky, I should still be alive."

Xu Yang blinked, a strange feeling creeping into his heart.

It wasn't just the other person's exaggerated lifespan, but also the absurdity of witnessing characters in one's genetic memory discussing the future.

The two of them clearly knew that this was just a memory, and should also understand that they were just a fragment of an illusion, but it seemed that this did not affect them at all.

Beside him, the middle-aged man sighed, "After all this time, Xiaoqi should still be alive. Who knows, she might even want to join the Star Army. It's true what they say, daughters grow up and leave home."

Xu Yang glanced at his side and noticed several dark lines appearing on Wei Qi's forehead.

Then, she suddenly turned to look at him: "You've got the cultivation technique, let's start cultivating now. Come with me to choose the materials."

After saying that, Wei Qi led Xu Yang toward a corridor on the inner side of the martial arts hall.

Walking further in, the two arrived at a staircase leading to the basement.

Xu Yang seemed to be deep in thought.

According to the Black King's True Skill, the material to be selected is actually the flesh and blood of a strange monster called the Black Armored Demon, and the best way to obtain the flesh and blood of this monster is to kill it alive.

Could it be that there are some living monsters being raised down here?

While they were thinking, Wei Qi had already gone downstairs, with Xu Yang following closely behind.

Upon reaching the bottom, the situation was unexpected.

There were no traces of any monsters. In the center was a circular platform with an oval-shaped, white, flat halo on top, which turned into a door vertically.

It's somewhat like...

"Is this a portal?" Xu Yang couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, it's a portal. We need it to select materials. Anxu doesn't allow raising alien monsters at home."

As Wei Qi spoke, she walked to the teleportation portal.

With a casual wave of her hand, a beam of light shot out from beneath the portal's base, creating a holographic projection in front of her.

It appears to be the console.

At this moment, the projection surface was completely dark.

Wei Qi clicked on it a few times, and an input box appeared. Then she entered a string of numbers.

Have you ever traveled through astral planes before?

"no."

Xu Yang shook his head. He had never even heard of this name before and could only guess that the Star Boundary might be related to the Star Boundary Army.

He asked, "What is the Astral Plane?"

Wei Qi's expression turned serious as she explained, "The Astral Boundary is another space outside the universe. We're about to enter. If you see any figures walking by later, remember, ignore them and don't follow them. We'll only be staying in the Astral Boundary for a short while, so don't do anything during that time."

Xu Yang's expression turned serious.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a solemn expression on Wei Qi's face.

Obviously, this astral plane might be extremely dangerous, but on the other hand, Xu Yang was also a little curious. The unknown always arouses curiosity, and he felt a sense of eagerness to try it out.

After all, to be honest, this is just a genetic memory.

Even if something goes wrong, the worst that can happen is that you just sleep until dawn.

However, wanting to avoid letting his teammates down, Xu Yang restrained his reckless desire to do something reckless.

Soon, Wei Qi, who was standing to the side, seemed to have finished adjusting the teleportation portal, and she waved to Xu Yang.

The next moment, the two of them stepped through the portal at the same time.

……

Darkness, infinite darkness, all crammed together, crowded, viscous.

Xu Yang opened his eyes again.

He found himself floating in darkness, unable to distinguish up from down from left from right, and unable to even breathe.

He was at a loss.

Suddenly, the life support garment inside her body tightened slightly.

The next moment, he resumed breathing, and his body suddenly plummeted downwards...

Without making a sound, Xu Yang felt himself land on the ground and step onto the earth.

Standing beside him was Wei Qi.

She simply closed her eyes and remained motionless.