Chapter 1463: Chapter 255: Happy Brand Cola

The predecessor of Rongying was an ordinary fisherman in Yuguang Land, one of the nations governed by the Nemasis Bloodline of the Fiery Flame Land.

Due to the bioweapon offensive of The Empire, the coastal fishing grounds of Yuguang Land were almost completely destroyed, with the fish population wiped out.

A crimson tide of poisonous algae swept across hundreds of kilometers of coastline, leaving his hometown bankrupt, with countless fishermen staring at the blood-red sea, helplessly on the verge of tears.

Though the Tera Ocean’s self-purification ability was alarmingly fast, the red poisonous algae was after all a bioweapon specially manufactured by The Empire against the Fiery Flame Land. The red tide lasted for nearly a month, severely disrupting the production activities in the coastal regions of Fiery Flame Land.

A month is enough for many things to happen.

For instance, a family driven to desperation during a disaster, a fisherman who has to feed his family is forced to sell himself to the Nemassas Primordial Stone Institute, becoming a test subject in exchange for some food and money so his family could survive.

In the laboratory, he underwent various trials and tortures described as cruel and was finally determined to have certain spirit energy talents.

Because of this talent, his battered body was not disassembled for other experiments as raw material but instead was sent to the ‘Spirit Energy Awakening Experiment Group’ for further experiments.

There, he received extraordinary ‘hospitality’.

Within the Tara Confederation, there were various spirit energy awakening experiments. The Empire’s ‘deductive method’ involved catalyzing the ‘experimenter’s’ emotions step by step through serendipitous encounters, producing spirit energy during states of extreme despair or when great sorrow turned to joy or vice versa.

Yanjiang’s ‘ascetic practice method’ involved selecting individuals gifted with spirit energy talents, having them undergo ascetic practices impossible for ordinary people to complete, such as the ‘Non-Stop Recitation of the Ancient Laws for Seven Days’, or ‘meditation under cold waterfalls for a full day and night’. Such processes with over 80% mortality might naturally give birth to spirit energy.

The Fiery Flame Land was very straightforward.

Their method was the ‘potion method’.

The fisherman was injected with more than three hundred milliliters of testosterone, large amounts of serotonin and adrenaline, and numerous hallucinogenic stimulants including cocaine—with it, he instantly fell into an intense state of excitement, extreme fury, and a tremendously aggressive hallucinatory state.

Then, in near-death despair, anger, and hatred.

He awakened spirit energy.

And, he shaped a soul.

Then…

The spirit energy he awakened was just the most ordinary ‘Psychic Blade’.

Hampered by imagination, adults with little culture who awakened spirit energy were mostly like this, not as bizarre as children’s, nor as finely terrifying as those of knowledgeable elderly or scholars, and unlike the exaggerated puberty-induced emotions of teenagers that could sublimate to encompass the entire world.

He merely wanted to slash open the unwillingness in his heart and the enemies of his imagination.

How awkward.

Even more awkward was that he was seen as defective, thrown into another spirit energy experiment to fuse with a ‘demon’.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he succeeded.

He became the current ‘Rongying’.

The current Rongying still holds human emotions and memories, loves his family, but his other half is a cold demon named ‘Gluttony’.

The Blade and Gluttony produced unexpected effects; he could pierce through the spiritual barriers of others and consume them from within, turning others into his nourishment.

Not only that, he could even fully access others’ memories, perfectly mimicking those he devoured.

This makes him the ultimate choice for a spy.

Rongying was originally meant to be deployed in the Imperial Capital or Mist Port, significant borderlands of The Empire, to infiltrate. But because the ‘big operation’ on the Southwest Plain was about to begin and to test data on demon fusion, he was deployed to the Empire’s southwest.

Coincidentally, during this time, many undercover agents hidden within the Xia Hui Territory were captured, and even the deep layer moles that had infiltrated the city hall without a single action being taken were caught.

The intelligence network surrounding the Bison Mountain Range transmitted just one piece of information.

“Beware of Ian Silverpeak, there’s a great change happening within his territory!”

This was an ominous signal.

At the crucial moment when Fiery Flame Land was preparing for the autumn offensive, they had to find out what the Prophet Lord was up to.

The Rongying they dispatched was a demon fusion body unlikely to cause significant damage, making it difficult even for a ‘Crisis Seer’ to truly predict his existence.

January of the year 775 was a rather brisk day.

Winters in the South Ridge were supposed to be cold and rainy, but before the New Year, the city hall used a weather cannon to bring down the rain early so everyone could enjoy a seven-day clear and pleasant holiday.

Rongying carried his bag, walking down the streets of Xiahui City.

Surrounding the sunlit plaza was the boisterous sound of hawking and haggling.

Voices of people could be heard from beyond the shadowed alley exits.

“Hot out of the oven cakes, roasted potatoes…”

“New method woven cloth from Nauman City, cheap and durable…”

“Floral fragrant juice! A local specialty!”

The city nestled in the mountains had none of the past chill. Contrary to that, vendors swarmed the streets, bustling with pedestrians, and alleys were filled with various stalls selling goods—flower sellers, leather armor, farming tools, insect repellents… all sorts, nothing was absent.