Chapter 7

"Why don't you go down and grab it yourself?"

"I can't. I'm just a shadow here, without power."

The Mysterious Little Girl said lightly, shaking her head and wiggling her legs.

"How about it, cultivator? Is it a deal?"

Actually, it sounded pretty good.

Qi Xing rubbed his chin, carefully considering the whole situation in his mind. This transaction wasn't complicated; trying to draw up a contract might make it more troublesome. This evil god demon offered a clean and neat condition, as perfectly shaped as a piece of chocolate.

In other words, if Qi Xing didn't carefully check if the chocolate was poisoned, he would be a fool.

Firstly, he didn't care if the evil god demon took the Holy Relics from the Holy See. His job was to save people, not to help the Holy See retrieve lost treasures and put them back in a safe—treasures that weren't put to practical use were less valuable than pubic hair.

Secondly, according to [Association] regulations, ordinary civilians absorbed into the shallow layer of the [Inner Realm], though they might go mad, could still be rescued and treated; for civilians absorbed into the deep layer, if the time hadn't exceeded 24 hours, there was generally still a chance to save them. There were over two thousand people on this cruise ship, all hypnotized in the shallow layer. The number of civilians currently brought into the deep layer should only be a few tens to a few hundreds. Even if many men had their [redacted] cut off in the shallow layer, as long as they lived, there would still be a future.

The deep layer of the [Inner Realm] cannot be destroyed from the real world. Even if Qi Xing were to sink the cruise ship with his Thunder Fist now, it would only kill all two thousand-plus civilians trapped in the shallow layer. Since the hypnotist uncle was already hiding in the deep layer, he had to go down personally and kill him.

Finally—not being able to enter the deep layer of the [Inner Realm] and reunite with his teammates was very bad. If he encountered such a plot in an H-game, the nun would probably be turned into a cream puff. Qi Xing had to reunite with her as soon as possible. He couldn't even accept this kind of thing when playing games, let alone in reality?

Making a deal with a god-level ancient spirit beyond the mortal realm was generally also very bad—however, this was at least only bad for Qi Xing himself.

Moreover, Qi Xing was very strong.

Trading his potentially bad future for saving his teammates from a pervert now, Qi Xing asked himself and felt it was acceptable. Discovering a mistake after making a deal with a demon was better than watching his teammates get killed.

At worst, after everyone was rescued and the hypnotist uncle was killed, he would fight this great power to his heart's content!

How could a strong person not have such confidence?

"Alright," he said. "Deal."

"Deal."

The Mysterious Little Girl cutely narrowed her golden, dragon-slit eyes, her lips curving into an arc, like a small beast.

"My name is Samael. What about you?"

Samael.

Qi Xing had indeed heard this name before.

She was a fallen angel recorded in the Talmud, considered an alias for Satan, the leader of all dark angels, angels of sin, angels of death, and angels of destruction, with her own dark throne in the highest heaven, the supreme fallen angel.

"My name is Qi Xing."

Now he was truly making a deal with Satan.

But for some reason, Qi Xing felt no danger at all.

Having transmigrated to this perverse world for ten years, he had become extremely sensitive to malice, killing intent, and evil desires. As long as such emotions were nearby, Qi Xing could immediately detect them. Even if he didn't detect them, he would subconsciously enter combat readiness… yet the aura projected by this great demon, though frightening, had no actual malice.

"Qi Xing, Qi Xing."

Samael licked the name carefully as if it were candy, then smiled happily: "Good, Qi Xing. I'll tell you now why you can't enter the deep layer of this [Inner Realm]."

"Because you're not perverted enough and you're unlearned."

"—Huh?"

"The core of every [Inner Realm] originates from the creator's deepest subconscious and desires."

Samael ignored Qi Xing's strange sound and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.

"The image and operation of every [Inner Realm] originate from myths and legends in humanity's collective unconscious, from elements and archetypes in humanity's historical super-memory."

"Either be perverted enough to understand the creator's perverted inner world; or be learned enough to understand the mythological elements at work in the [Inner Realm]. As long as your synchronization with the creator is high enough, you can enter the deep layer of the [Inner Realm]. It's actually not that difficult."

If this was true, Qi Xing could indeed understand the reason—the common sense of this world, of course, was not equivalent to the common sense of the transmigrator Qi Xing. By the standards of this world, his three views were probably not perverted enough, making him seem out of place just entering the shallow layer, and entering the deep layer even more difficult.

"I don't want to become as perverted as the hypnotist uncle just to solve a puzzle."

"Then why didn't you get a doctorate in mythology or religious studies?"

Tsk.

Qi Xing couldn't argue with her. Perhaps it was because Elaine understood these things anyway, and Qi Xing had been busy desperately training and accumulating combat power for the past ten years. This world was too competitive; who had time to study general culture?

"So, I'm going to tutor you in mythology now."

Samael grinned slyly.

"To understand what's really happening here, you must know the story of Osiris."

Osiris.

Qi Xing had, of course, heard this name. He was the god of the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology, one of the most important deities in ancient Egypt. There were also some references in early 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'. But Qi Xing wasn't too clear on the specifics.

No sooner said than done. Samael extended a finger and lightly touched Qi Xing's forehead.

"Osiris, during his lifetime, was once the pharaoh who ruled the human world of Egypt. Just as Shennong Yandi invented agriculture in ancient Eastern myths, Osiris also invented agriculture in ancient Egypt, teaching the people to clear land and plant wheat. Thus, he was the god representing plants, harvest, and fertility."

With just that single poke, she actually directly injected a vast amount of knowledge into Qi Xing's mind! Instantly, a green mummy with a beard, holding a crook and flail, and wearing a crown, appeared in Qi Xing's mind.

Why was Osiris the Green God? Because his green skin symbolized the vitality of plants.

"Gods of harvest and fertility are generally associated with strong [redacted] desire. Osiris committed adultery with Nephthys, the wife of his brother Set, and fathered Anubis. Therefore, Set, who was cuckolded by his brother, harbored resentment, drowned his brother in a coffin, cut his body into fifteen pieces, and scattered them in the Nile River."

"Osiris's own wife, Isis, the goddess of magic and love, didn't mind her husband's adultery with her sister. She found his fragmented body, stitched it together, creating the world's first mummy. She then lay with the mummy, resurrecting her husband. Osiris was revived by Isis's magic. However, because his [redacted] was eaten by a crocodile, Isis used magic to create a substitute [redacted], which only allowed Osiris to revive for one night and conceive a son with her—the next Pharaoh, Horus."

Qi Xing began to see in his mind a tall, beautiful, elegant Egyptian woman with dark hair and dark skin, wearing an extremely ornate horned headdress, adorned with rings, bracelets, armlets, and earrings all over her body. These accessories were symbols of her profound magical power, for she was the Egyptian goddess of magic.

To her followers, she was the goddess who controlled life and death, possessed healing powers, and also governed the power to decide kingship, because her husband was the King of the Underworld and her son was the Pharaoh of the human world.

By the way, that substitute [redacted] was made of gold. Ancient Egyptians were quite particular about hygiene.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the annual flooding of the Nile was due to Osiris being drowned in the Nile. In the pre-Christian era, during the New Kingdom period of Egypt, people held annual sacrificial rituals reenacting Osiris's death and rebirth.

Qi Xing now understood the ritual on this cruise ship and the mythological elements within this [Inner Realm]. However, he still had one question unanswered.

"Why would Professor Fanstella hold such a resurrection ritual? Was his [redacted] also cut off?"

"Something like that."

Samael shrugged noncommittally.

"He was originally just an ordinary professor, without such strong magical power. But one day he picked up a fragment of my power, and then he used it to hypnotize people everywhere, indulge in harems, throw wild parties, make money, gain power, and get anything he wanted."

Many people who suddenly gain powerful hypnotic abilities would probably turn out this way.

"Then the cuckolded victim cut off his [redacted]?"

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

Qi Xing recalled the myth of Osiris and tried asking.

"That's not the case. Mythological archetypes don't always correspond rigidly. This guy doesn't even have the level to get his — cut off by someone else."

The Demon King grinned, a mocking smile, "Two months ago, he became impotent."

"What's happening on this ship is actually a ritual to resurrect his —."

009: I want to fight! Fighting is awesome!

Two months ago, Professor Van Stra became —potent.

According to the [Association] report, that was also when he suddenly lost emotional control, shot and killed one of his female graduate students at the school, and then disappeared. I don't know if this has anything to do with his —potence.

Qi Xing still couldn't fully understand the professor's perverted mindset, but he didn't intend to understand it further either. Regardless, Samael had already instilled the relevant mythological knowledge into him, so he could already enter the depths of the [Inner Realm] and beat the professor into a pulp.

"I'm going in," he said.

"Are you just going to follow like that?"

"Don't worry. I'll follow behind you very—carefully."

Samael took another bite of chocolate and asked with interest, "How do you plan to go in?"

"The fastest way."

Qi Xing raised his fist.

He… what was he planning to do?

Since her appearance, this was the first time Samael felt puzzled. This half-immortal couldn't be thinking of breaking the upper deck of the cruise ship with one punch and falling directly to the lower level, could he?

However, the spatial relationships of the [Inner Realm] were not so simple and crude. If breaking the shallow ground allowed one to fall into the depths, who would bother solving puzzles, empathizing, and cracking the [Inner Realm]? That was unlikely.

Keenly noticing Samael's confusion, Qi Xing finally smiled this time: "Be creative. Who says that breaking the ground and falling through can't be part of a mythological narrative?"

Now that he understood this [Inner Realm], nothing could stop him anymore.

After speaking, Qi Xing raised his hand, grabbed an empty coffin placed nearby with his left hand, and smashed his right fist onto the ground.

"Thunder Fist, ten percent power."

Boom!!

With one punch, the entire ground crumbled beneath Qi Xing. That was only the beginning.

What followed were flickering ghost shadows. The explosion and shock tore through the ground, and the surrounding air churned wildly, emitting ear-piercing screams. Qi Xing opened the coffin, sat inside, and closed the lid. In an instant, the world spun, the entire world began to twist and deform, and the cruise ship lobby located in the shallow layer had already disappeared.

Only Qi Xing and the coffin fell, and fell, and fell… plunging into that chaotic, intertwining, screaming vortex, entering a deeper mystery.

In the chaos, deep in the darkness, he sat in the coffin and could feel the rules of the world beginning to operate, constantly rotating like levers and gears, lifting the coffin higher and higher, away from the vortex.

Qi Xing kicked the lid open and stood up from the coffin.

He saw that the surroundings were vast and empty; this was already a demon palace deeper than the material world. The air was filled with an unparalleled stench, and terrifying flesh and blood covered the walls and floors. Furthermore, these walls and floors were still slightly squirming; the setting of this deep [Inner Realm] might actually be located inside a living organism.

Not far away, he saw Sister Elaine and Magical Girl Artemina fighting a giant —. The two were fighting in a very disheveled manner, fleeing desperately, just like monster hunters encountering a new dragon for the first time, being chased and rolling all over the ground by the hard, red and black [Great Dragon]. Moreover, Professor Van Stra, dressed as Osiris, was standing on the head of that giant —, gesticulating and shouting incessantly, giving commands.

Fortunately, every time that giant — was about to spit venom, Elaine could predict it in advance and command the Magical Girl to dodge immediately; fortunately, every time the great dragon spat lightning, Artemina could summon the Moonlight Shield in time to block and defend for both of them; fortunately, they both had their own different ultimate moves—so, up to now, although they were in a sorry state, they hadn't really suffered any major hardship.

This kind of luck was like the coins they flipped in battle all landing on heads. Perhaps God really did give them luck in the dark. But besides that, there was an even bigger reason: two beautiful girls working together in unity was naturally better than one man emptily rubbing his inner —. This was a matter-of-course principle.

Then again, why could this — spit lightning?

And how did Magical Girl Artemina end up running into this [Inner Realm]?

"Electromagnetic Power Burst: Evil-Slaying Blade."

Seeing that the two girls were already beaten into a panic, Qi Xing raised his hand, and his internal energy refined into electric light condensed in his palm; with a swing of his arm, the lightning transformed into a blade of light and slashed out—aiming straight for the head!

When saving people, one absolutely must not let oneself lose the initiative. Hitting the enemy's vital point hard, forcing them to retreat and save themselves, was the only way to save someone.

Before the lightning blade arrived, the professor standing on the —'s head already felt the full sharpness, as if it were about to chop the giant snake beneath him into two pieces, which immediately made his hair stand on end. The killing intent striking directly at his lifeline scared every hair on his body to stand up!

However, incredibly, just when the professor's hair stood on end, countless vines and branches suddenly shot out from the deep ground, instantly creating a large forest of giant trees to forcibly block Qi Xing's lightning blade. Unfortunately, the lightning light slashed everything that obstructed it into a thousand pieces. Using a large forest of created giant trees to block its sharpness—had no effect at all!

In the clash, the two or three-story-high black and red snake god, with a body thicker than a train, was actually knocked back by the tyrannical force. It looked just like a large bell being struck violently, trembling incessantly.

"Oh? Quite tough."

Although Qi Xing hadn't used his full strength, his surprise lightning blade attack had clearly hit, yet it stubbornly failed to chop off the — head, which surprised him a bit. The tactile feedback was less like cutting meat and more like cutting into an exotic metal harder than steel. It hadn't broken through; only the force of the thunderous shock was effective.

Interesting.

The professor, unable to keep up with the drastic change in the situation, sat on the — head and was knocked back, both shocked and terrified.

The Magical Girl and Elaine reacted, seizing the opportunity to quickly run behind Qi Xing. Although the battle hadn't ended, the danger hadn't been eliminated, and it had even just begun, they couldn't help but feel from the bottom of their hearts—Qi Xing is here! Saved! We're saved!

Compared to any basis, just seeing him come to the rescue was more believable to both of them than any other evidence.

"Mr. Qi, you were too slow in coming this time."

Despite what she thought in her heart, the nun still had to straighten her face and complain in a business-like manner.

"After all, I haven't cracked the [Inner Realm] alone before. In the past, I always relied on others to lead the way," Qi Xing shrugged. "It was our mistake to separate and investigate without knowing there was an [Inner Realm] this time. Next time, even if we have information, we should estimate the enemy to be stronger; at least two people should act together."

In reality, it was the devil who led the way this time, teaching him mythological knowledge, but there was no need to tell the nun that now.

"[Master Leipu]!"

Magical Girl Artemina was the opposite of Elaine here. She had been saved again by her savior in a critical moment, and since the day before yesterday, her mind had been full of one-sided pink bubbles. At this moment, she had to grab Qi Xing's hand and shake it, almost incoherent with excitement, "Th-thank you!"

"No need. I should be the one thanking you."

Qi Xing shook his head. "The night before last, Sister Elaine told me that the people I saved today would go on to help others tomorrow—I scoffed at that time, thinking there was no such beautiful thing in this world. Now I want to apologize to you both; I was wrong, and I underestimated you. Thank you for saving my assistant today."

No, that's not what I meant at that time, at least not in such a direct and rigid sense—uh, forget it—Elaine struggled in her heart for two seconds and decided to give up on retorting.

The professor's giant — finally stopped trembling at this moment. It was also then that he heard the Magical Girl address Qi Xing as [Master Leipu]. In recent years, the evil paths of the human world had almost all heard rumors of this name, causing the professor to be immediately terrified: "Ma—Master Leipu!? Why is Master Leipu here? And why did he come in riding a coffin?!"

As expected of the owner of the [Inner Realm], it seems he has already noticed the key point.