If I remember correctly, the circuit pattern she created by feeling should have been obtained from that mysterious fragment. Thinking about it this way, the origin of that fragment seems even more precious.

When the [Cup] first placed it in the Federation, Xu Zhi originally thought that he just wanted to use it to open the passage between midnight and the present world. Now that he thinks about it, maybe he also wanted to hide the fragments?

I just don't know where the god of the cup got this fragment.

Although Xu Zhi had some guesses about the origin of the fragment, she was not 100% sure. If it was really as she guessed, the god of the [Cup] would definitely find her and try to get the fragment back.

But now the fragment has completely merged with her and become her flesh and blood. According to the style of [Cup], if he catches her, he will most likely find a way to melt her body, or devour her to inherit the fragment.

No matter which one it is, until now, no one knows the strangeness of the circuit in her body, and she has no intention of revealing it to anyone.

"Does anyone else want to say anything?"

She asked again, and the researchers who were hung in the air by the little aliens said that they had something to say, but when Xu Zhi emphasized that if the words were repetitive or useless, she would kill the person immediately, most of them backed down, but they still begged for mercy, asking Xu Zhi to let them go.

Xu Zhi turned a deaf ear to this and confirmed with his supervisor that all the data and backups had been destroyed. He then asked about his original plan to activate the institute's final defense measures and told Xu Zhi about a safety exit that was originally installed during construction.

After confirming everything, Xu Zhi waved his hand, and the little aliens directly ate all the researchers who had not come down yet.

Just as the researchers who had already landed "safely" showed a hint of relief and fear on their faces, the three followers who had been quietly staying beside Xu Zhi suddenly rioted and killed these researchers one after another in an instant.

Xu Zhi looked at the supervisor with a look of surprise and said, "I swear, I didn't do it, nor did I ask them to do it."

It was just that the clan knew her worries and made such a decision spontaneously. It had nothing to do with her, and she really didn't do anything.

As for the supervisor's oath circuit, she certainly tampered with it. How could she really make that kind of oath and let the tiger go back to the mountain?

The institute's self-destruction program was activated again. Xu Zhi called the dog and rode it to quickly leave the underground institute that was about to be destroyed. When leaving, he used the [Moth] to kill all the guards to prevent any fish from slipping through the net.

Less than thirty seconds after returning to the ground, rumbling earthquakes and explosions were heard from underground, followed by startled supernatural creatures and flying birds. Xu Zhi, riding on the dog, could feel the ground in this area shaking. The ground collapsed and submerged this unknown underground laboratory, and also covered up many secrets that had never been known to the outside world.

Only after confirming that the place was completely flooded, and even after opening the [Eye of Prying] and finding no trace of living people, did Xu Zhi turn around and leave.

She thought that up to now, perhaps most of the things related to this underground laboratory were proceeding according to the "prophecy", and the purpose of the person who brought her in here was probably to destroy the institute. The only difference was that she did not kill Jiang Qing directly, but chose to let her face the midnight attack when she only had half her breath left.

Everything discovered in the laboratory made Xu Zhi have some subtle emotions about this "prophecy". She was somewhat glad that she was the one who discovered and destroyed these things, but at the same time she was worried whether the person who made the prophecy also knew something and whether he would do something bad to her.

After going out, she had to find a way to find out who the prophet was.

After leaving the research institute, Xu Zhi planned to go to the middle layer of the Lost Land. There, the danger would increase, but it was still not dangerous for her. The only thing she needed to pay attention to was the night. In the middle layer, the concentration of extraordinary energy in the air would be higher, and some rare extraordinary materials and higher-level extraordinary creatures would appear more frequently. She planned to first promote all of her followers except the small alien species to named ones, and then decide whether to go deeper into the Lost Land or leave temporarily.

During the time when Xu Zhi was upgrading his clan's rank, the cult where the spirit body was located at the bottom of Lotus City finally prepared all the materials and believers needed for the ceremony.

The owner of the factory does not live here, and the management team in the factory are almost all "insiders", so it is not difficult for believers to perform a sacrifice under the cover of night.

The security guards in the surveillance area had long been replaced by believers, and a factory building originally used as a warehouse had been emptied out early on. A bright red ritual circuit was painted on the ground with paint made of blood mixed with extraordinary materials. One hundred well-preserved blood meals were placed in the circuit, and fifty believers were now blindfolded and their ears plugged, sitting cross-legged at various nodes of the circuit as living sacrifices.

Xu Zhi controlled her spiritual body, still wearing the wide black cloak and the hood that covered most of her face, and walked calmly to the center of the circuit. Some people looked at her with jealousy, but did not dare to say anything.

In the past few days, some people have tried to do something to Xu Zhi, such as trying to kill her with the least impact, but all were in vain.

Now that things have come to an end, no one can say anything more.

"Let's get started when you're ready."

As the apparent leader of the cult, that is, the current priest of the cult, holding a book of "doctrine", he led other believers and stood in the distance, looking at Xu Zhi and speaking.

Xu Zhi had read that doctrine and commented that it was a patchwork made up of copies from here and there, just something used to put on a show in front of outsiders. But this priest was quite good at pretending and kept the doctrine in his hand all day long.

Seeing that everything was ready, Xu Zhi did not hesitate and controlled his spirit body to cut his wrist with a knife. Blood immediately flowed out and dripped onto the bright red circuit.

Logically speaking, the more blood a person loses during the ritual, the more blood the circuit will absorb, slowly igniting the ritual. However, as soon as Xu Zhi's blood dripped, the circuit began to emit a bright glow.

Several senior believers who were watching this scene from a distance were suddenly surprised, and some even murmured, "She is someone chosen by the Lord. She will definitely receive the Lord's gift!"

Hearing this, the expressions of several senior believers became even uglier.

"Why her?"

"Is there anything special about her?"

"Can you plan especially well?"

“.”

"This is too fast. Did the Lord hear her voice and answer her just after she called out to Him?"

The voices of jealousy continued to be heard, but as the red light of the ritual circuit grew brighter, these voices gradually disappeared.

Xu Zhi, who was at the center of the ceremony, could feel his thoughts gradually becoming blurred, as if he had sunk into the bottom of a sea filled with blood. The sounds in his ears became blurry, his eyelids became heavy, and his heartbeat seemed to slow down.

Then, there was a call and a sense of closeness coming from deep within the body, as if from the blood. With a certain majesty and a superiority that made people want to worship, the existence whose face could not be seen clearly and whose voice could not be heard clearly said something to Xu Zhi. Xu Zhi could not hear the specific words clearly, but he could feel that it meant satisfaction.

She couldn't help but feel excited and happy, like a child being praised by her mother.

Such a strange emotion made the original body frown in the lost place, but did not intervene, but continued to observe.

The thoughts of the spiritual body seemed to be completely out of her control. Of course, this was also because Xu Zhi deliberately indulged herself. She didn't want to reveal any flaws. In her decline, she seemed to have received the gift from a higher position. Then, a large amount of [Cup] attribute energy suddenly poured into her body, as if these energies were directly infused into her blood.

Her [Cup] attribute circuit seemed to have received some kind of nourishment and began to grow. This circuit looked completely different from Xu Zhi's other two, probably because it was naturally produced.

Soon, her aura broke through again and again, and then she heard the high-level being say another sentence.

Xu Zhi understood this sentence, but was also shocked by its content.

[The fog is coming, and the time for the destruction of Lotus City has come. If you pass the test, you will be able to rule Lotus City.]

Are you serious?

The fog is coming, or should I say the bottom fog? When the fog comes, will Liancheng be destroyed?

test?

What test?

Just as Xu Zhi was thinking, the consciousness of his split spiritual body suddenly sank, as if falling from the sea into the sky. A strong sense of weightlessness came, and then it suddenly stopped. Before he realized it, he was already standing firmly on the ground.

When she "opened" her eyes, she was surprised to find herself standing in a place that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

This place seemed to be hell. The earth was black, and the sky was scarlet. The scorched land was churning with blood-like water from time to time. The only thing that existed in the entire desolate world was the huge blood-red ladder in front of them.

She had seen this ladder before, in the Federation.

However, the ladder at that time was not as magnificent as the one in front of him, nor did it make Xu Zhi feel such a strong sense of oppression, as if just looking directly at it required great courage.

This is the ladder to becoming an archbishop.

What the hell, this is the second time she has obtained the qualification of Archbishop with the [Cup] attribute.

Could it be that she has a connection with the [Cup]?

However, the first qualification was fake, and this time, it seems that obtaining this qualification will not be easy.

But if nothing unexpected happens and the former archbishop has not fallen, then there are now seven archbishop positions. The little alien already occupies one of the seven, and she takes away another one. Wow, two of the seven archbishops are traitors.

Now I have to be serious!

Looking at the blood-red ladder in front of her, which made her feel oppressive just by standing there, Xu Zhi thought that this oppressive feeling should be directed at her spirit and extraordinary energy. As for her body, it was not in this space, and even if her spirit was now divided into two parts, taking out one part alone would still be stronger than the extraordinary people of the same level.

But there will not be absolute suppression as a whole, which means that she may have some difficulties when facing this ladder.

After making preparations, Xu Zhi walked towards the blood-red ladder in front of him that seemed very close.

Fortunately, this thing was not as long as she expected, seemingly close but actually not easy to reach. The ladder did not seem to make things difficult for her in this regard, and she quickly reached the front of the steps.

When I got closer, I found that the steps of this blood-colored ladder seemed to be made of the finest red gems, but they did not seem to be dead objects. It seemed as if blood was flowing in the smooth and gorgeous crimson steps.

Xu Zhi felt that this should be more than just a visual effect.

Sure enough, when she just stepped onto the stairs, Xu Zhi realized that the touch of the stairs was not jade as it looked, but a swamp made of thick blood and minced meat. She felt a little soft when she stepped on it, but after staying for a while, she found that it was not just soft to the touch, her feet were actually sinking.

Xu Zhi walked up several steps in a row, but he couldn't speed up. Instead, he deliberately stopped for a while to feel it, and then found that it was the same for every step.

If nothing changes afterwards, it means that she cannot stop at any step to rest before the end of the climb. She must either finish the climb in one go or fail and be swallowed by the steps.

Her intuition told her that this would not be a good outcome.

Xu Zhi looked up at the ladder that seemed to have no end, let out a light breath, and then began to climb faster.

In the process of going up, there were no numerous obstacles like in the Federation. It seemed that the only obstacle was the swamp of flesh and blood underfoot. However, the deserted world, the dark sky and earth, the blood vessels constantly being pulled underfoot, and the ladder that still had no end in sight even after climbing for a long time all wore down people's will.

Xu Zhi counted the time in her mind while climbing, and then she realized that in this space, the flow of time had slowed down.

It seemed like she had been crawling in this space for a whole day and night, but in reality only less than an hour had passed.

If Xu Zhi didn't have "two selves" at this moment, she wouldn't be able to be so calm.

Because she knew that her climbing process was not that long in reality, she was able to be patient. If it were someone else, seeing that she had climbed for a whole day and a night, and the distance to the sky still seemed endless, she would probably have become a little impatient.

It seems that there are not too many difficulties, but in fact the distant goal and the sense of urgency that cannot be stopped for a moment are enough to drive people crazy.

“Very insidious”

The main body complained silently, while the consciousness of the spiritual body continued to climb. As her "physical strength" faded, the horror of the stairs made of flesh and blood slowly became apparent. She had to use her extraordinary energy as an aid to lift her already very tired legs.

Xu Zhi noticed that the spirit body here was much weaker than the one outside, and it seemed to have been weakened.

Then, she slowly realized that one day and one night was just the beginning.

The long stairs seemed to have no end in sight. Her tired body and mind were calling for rest, but the crisis under her feet made her unable to stop for a moment. Xu Zhi began to feel that her mental power and extraordinary energy were running out, and her main body could not directly transfer mental power and extraordinary energy to her spiritual body. Even if she could, Xu Zhi would not do so.

He took another difficult step up the stairs. Even though sweat was rolling down his forehead to the ground, Xu Zhi thought that this test was nothing special.

She has never lacked willpower and resilience.

[Cup] She has secured the position of Archbishop.