Chapter 144
Pah, pah, pah!
Wasn’t that just flag-setting?
“We’ve known each other this long, don’t you trust in my strength?” Lu Chuan asked unhappily.
“Your weakness is obvious,” Cang Jiu said calmly. “You can’t move an inch when you see gold and jewels.”
Uh…
That really wasn’t something he could argue against.
“I don’t think that’s my fault,” Lu Chuan sighed. “I don’t really have any other hobbies.”
“The Main God System will target your weaknesses,” Cang Jiu continued after thinking for a moment. “And as your divinization process accelerates, your innate authority will constantly draw wealth toward you.”
Ahem. That actually sounded… kind of nice.
Lu Chuan’s thoughts began to stir.
“Condensing a God of Wealth Seed will only benefit you, never harm you. If you want to find [Polaris], you’d better do it after you’ve formed your Seed,” Cang Jiu said. “As for the rest, your Guidance System will tell you.”
With that, Cang Jiu cut the connection.
Lu Chuan had no choice but to ask #888, “System, Cang Jiu said I should condense a Power Seed—what do you think?”
[Host, he finally gave you a decent piece of advice.] #888 sounded excited. [Yes, Host! If you can condense a Power Seed now, I’d feel much more at ease.]
Given Lu Chuan’s reckless playstyle, it wasn’t impossible that one day he’d capsize in a ditch. But if he had a Seed, it would mean an extra life. Then #888 wouldn’t have to spend every day worrying.
“Easier said than done—how exactly do I condense one?” Lu Chuan asked, troubled. “Just hearing it makes it sound hard.”
[Host, for others it really might be very difficult, but for you it should actually be easier.] #888 had never felt a mission this simple before. [A Power Seed is essentially when a god, after understanding their own origin, uses their strength to peel off a portion of that origin and cultivate it anew. It’s the same as when humans propagate plants by cutting off a branch and regrowing it.]
“Oh? Keep talking.” Lu Chuan still only half understood.
[The essence of the God of Wealth’s power is money. Put simply: as long as you love money enough, understand money, and know how it should be used, you’ll be able to condense a Seed.] #888 rattled off quickly. [The only problem is that you need to find a vessel to bear your Seed. You must decide what form your Seed should take, what shape it should present, and then inject a portion of your life force into it.]
Lu Chuan didn’t really get it, but it didn’t sound too hard for him.
“Sounds easy enough—so why didn’t you tell me before?” Lu Chuan asked curiously.
[Because you didn’t have that ability before, Host. Power Seeds are something only gods can form.] #888 answered honestly. [It wasn’t until the last dungeon that I realized you were already starting to transform step by step into a god.]
It was in that last dungeon that #888 had realized Lu Chuan’s soul was already capable of self-repair.
Wait.
#888 suddenly noticed something wrong.
It was only in the last dungeon that it discovered the Host’s soul could self-repair. But Cang Jiu had never even met the Host—so how did he know the Host had already reached the stage of condensing a Power Seed?
Damn.
That [God of Desire] must have been watching its Host all the time, which was why he noticed so quickly.
Malicious to the core—defenses couldn’t be lowered for a second!
—
Extreme Evil Loan Company
Chen Ji originally thought Lu Chuan’s request to find [Polaris] would be troublesome, but unexpectedly, news came in quickly.
And it was even one of his other big clients who voluntarily gave him the information.
It could only be said—Wen Renxu’s name carried far too much weight in certain circles. Some people actually knew where he was now. It was just that before, when the Star Guild people asked around, no one cared to answer. But now that the request had been issued under the name of Extreme Evil Loan Company, people immediately came forward.
Of course, Chen Ji transferred a few Rationality Cards over as payment.
“[Polaris] Wen Renxu… so he was such an interesting person?” Chen Ji reviewed Wen Renxu’s records and learned the kind of dungeon series he was currently in.
After reading through the data, Chen Ji chose to sit on the information for now instead of telling Lu Chuan.
With Lu Chuan’s personality, if he knew Wen Renxu’s whereabouts, he’d definitely rush over immediately. But honestly, in Lu Chuan’s current state, going into such a dungeon series was basically a death sentence.
Chen Ji considered himself a businessman.
Lu Chuan currently had no way to repay the 500 Rationality Cards he owed—he’d only paid a small deposit. If he rushed in and died, how would the rest be repaid? As long as Lu Chuan lacked repayment ability, Chen Ji wasn’t about to release the intel.
“Manager Chen, should we retract the bounty request?” another employee asked.
This veteran colleague was impressive—after just one dungeon run, he’d brought back an entire city for the company. The board had been so overjoyed that Chen Ji got promoted, now a junior manager.
Promotions in the company were hard: not only did you need outstanding performance, you had to wait for the right opportunity. Unless you achieved something utterly extraordinary, middle management was out of reach.
“No need, leave it up.” Chen Ji rested his chin in his hand. “I have a hunch that Lu Chuan isn’t the only one who wants news of [Polaris]. As long as someone can pay the price, I’m willing to sell the intel to others.”
After all, Lu Chuan had only commissioned him to look for a person—he hadn’t bought exclusive rights to [Polaris]’s information.
Business was business—no shame in that.
Who knew? Maybe this deal could even bump his rank up again.
Lu Chuan, of course, was unaware of Chen Ji’s scheming. He was still discussing with #888 how to condense his Power Seed.
“So, System, what method should I use to condense it?” Lu Chuan pressed on.
[I don’t really know, Host. You know my previous hosts all died pretty quickly—none ever made it this far. And you’re leveling so fast I can’t keep up.] #888 was close to tears. It wasn’t that it didn’t want to help—but Lu Chuan was the first Host it had ever guided to the stage of divinization.
Despite how powerful these systems sounded, their work often yielded no results for thousands, even tens of thousands of years.
No matter how long they accompanied a Host, if the Host failed to become a god, everything would reset at death. Then the system would have to start all over again.
To this day, #888 had never successfully nurtured a god.
“…I’d better ask Cang Jiu—he probably has more experience with this than you,” Lu Chuan said helplessly. It seemed #888 really had just gotten lucky when it picked him.
#888 wanted nothing more than to shut down.
Cang Jiu, without wasting words, directly tossed Lu Chuan a dungeon key.
“This dungeon is tied to the [Mother of Fertility], an upper god of the [Mother of Fertility]. You aren’t a true god yet, only in the process of becoming one. Your power isn’t enough to form your own Seed completely. You can try seizing the [Mother of Fertility]’s Seed. The [Mother of Fertility] awaits her revival, and she’s also waiting to obtain the [Mother of Fertility]’s Seed to restore herself. The [Mother of Fertility]’s Seed is the purest among all gods’ Seeds—it can bear any divine power.” Cang Jiu said, “Since your own strength is lacking, you’ll have to steal another god’s.”
Wow.
That hit Lu Chuan right in the heart.
“Don’t call it stealing—that sounds awful. Let’s just say, leaving the Seed with the [Mother of Fertility] would be a waste. Better to let me unleash its greatest value.” Lu Chuan loved nothing more than taking things from others—especially from the [Mother of Fertility].
After disconnecting from Cang Jiu, Lu Chuan immediately called Cynthia and Lilus.
“I’ve got a dungeon key—to take something from the [Mother of Fertility]. You two in?”
The key from Cang Jiu only allowed four people inside.
The higher the dungeon level, the fewer players could enter.
And since Cynthia and Lilus had always been at odds with the [Mother of Fertility], leaving them out wasn’t an option.
Between Shen Li and Messiah, Lu Chuan hesitated for quite a while.
Shen Li was a pure support choice, but Messiah’s natural “divine attraction” physique was just too useful.
After much struggle, Lu Chuan decided to draw lots.
“Brother Shen, it’s decided—you’re the one. For your sake, I even gave up on picking Messiah, who was such a good option,” Lu Chuan said, looking at Shen Li. “Although our other teammates are great too, in my heart, you’re still the one I trust most.”
Shen Li knew Lu Chuan was buttering him up on purpose, but he was still overjoyed.
“Ahem, since you’ve asked me for help, I can’t refuse. Let’s go. It’s been so long since we ran a dungeon together—I’ll make sure to help you properly this time.” Shen Li was thrilled.
Starry Shasha thought for a moment, then secretly slipped Shen Li a portion of her private savings.
She hoped Brother Shen would have a slightly better time in the dungeon, and not get completely swindled out of all his money by Lu Chuan again.
As for those times she’d taken Shen Li’s hidden savings to ask Lu Chuan for help… Starry Shasha instinctively chose to ignore that.
She was just a minor, after all. Making a few harmless little mistakes sometimes was only natural.
—
[Welcome to the series dungeon “Laboratory of Mother of Fertility.” Players limited: 4.]
[Dungeon Info]: “Laboratory of Mother of Fertility” (Series Dungeon). This place was once the domain of the [God of Life], but later became the stronghold of the [Mother of Fertility]. Here, everyone is a believer of the [Mother of Fertility]. They love Her, and delight in creating new lifeforms to please Her. If you can birth a unique lifeform, you will earn the Mother’s favor.
[Dungeon Objective]: Prevent the [Mother of Fertility] from reviving—or delay Her revival for at least 100 years to clear the dungeon. As this is a series dungeon, if players cannot complete the task this time, they may choose to put the dungeon “on hold.” Once paused, players gain one free chance to exit. Next time, they will re-enter at a random time node within this series. Warning: once paused, this cannot be undone or changed.
[Dungeon Hint]: In this dungeon, there are many believers of other gods, as well as high-level NPCs, captured by the [Mother of Fertility] and Her followers. Some have converted, others still await a chance to resist. Players must judge carefully and choose suitable allies.
[Dungeon Duration]: Unlimited. Time ratio is 2:1 (dungeon:reality).
—
Lu Chuan opened his eyes.
As expected, Cynthia and the others weren’t here.
He was standing before a plaza.
The plaza was crammed full of people, and above them hung a giant electronic screen, scrolling through information about different people.
“I wonder who we’ll get matched with?”
“Hopefully a being with a special bloodline.”
“I just hope mine looks human enough.”
…
The faces all around were filled with anxiety—fear and anticipation mixed together as they stared at the scrolling information.
Lu Chuan listened quietly.
Really now, this main god system was disgusting. Airdropped him here without even a briefing?
“Congratulations, Number 17732. His vitality is strong, and he carries traces of a special bloodline. He has successfully matched with the Elf Race. Let us thank the [Mother of Fertility] for Her blessing. Number 17732 and the Elf will birth even more vital offspring. May the Mother bless you.”
On the screen, two photos froze.
One was the so-called 17732: a tall, muscular, dark-skinned man, built like he could take on ten Lu Chuans at once.
The other… was indescribable.
A fish head on a human body—yet with a pair of pointed elf ears.
What the hell was that?
Just one glance made Lu Chuan want to wash his eyes.
No wonder Cynthia and Lilus wanted to oppose the [Mother of Fertility]. With creations like that, this god clearly had no aesthetics, and was utterly unpopular.
But everyone around looked envious.
“Lucky! At least elves are a good size match. Their children won’t tear the mother apart from being too large.”
“Yeah, what good fortune.”
“Yesterday’s blessed one was matched with a deep-sea shark tribe. He’ll have to live in the ocean forever. Who knows when he can walk on land again?”
“Hope we match with elves too.”
Lu Chuan was dumbfounded.
Huh?
What the hell was this?
