"Well, as for the next horror movie... I honestly don't know," Zheng Zha said helplessly to the others. "The position of Captain for the Central Continent Team has been revoked by the 'Main God,' probably because I died once. Haha... Saying I died once so casually sounds quite bizarre, but that's the basic situation. Until the next Guide appears and recognizes a new captain, none of us will know what the next horror movie will entail, nor can we know in advance about potential team battles..." The group was currently in Zheng Zha's room. Because Zheng Zha had died in the last horror movie, the captain qualification previously acknowledged by Zhang Jie was canceled. Consequently, the group couldn't know what they would face in the next film, meaning the team might encounter immense danger in that new world, as they couldn't prepare beforehand like they used to.

"But if that's the case..." Zhang Heng suddenly asked curiously from the side, "If you get recognized by a Guide again... won't your Genetic Lock immediately unlock to the Fifth Tier? If that truly happens, our Central Continent Team's future will be amazing—exchanging for two of everything, using one and discarding the other..." Zheng Zha immediately let out a bitter laugh. "That's basically impossible. The 'Main God' isn't an omnipotent cellphone. In fact, this is evident from my experiences in Zhao... cough, from what I experienced in my dreams. The first three tiers of the Genetic Lock can be achieved through technological means, as they are merely genetic modifications. Even up to the early Fourth Tier, this can be accomplished technologically. But starting from the early Fourth Tier, this becomes an individual's domain. Successfully passing the inner demon trial allows entry into the mid-Fourth Tier; failure means destruction. And that's just the first step into one's personal domain. Moving from intermediate to advanced, or breaking into the Fifth Tier, who knows what insurmountable challenges must be overcome? The limit of the 'Main God' likely only extends to the Third Tier, so even if I become captain again, I won't be able to advance further."

The others were stunned. Wang Xia reacted the quickest, hastily saying, "You mean... handing over the captaincy to someone else? Letting that person advance a tier freely, is that what you mean?" Zheng Zha nodded, but then added with a touch of helplessness, "Although that's what I think, we don't know the actual circumstances. We don't know who the Guide is, when they will appear, or whom they will select. And we don't even know which horror movie the Guide will appear in. There are simply too many variables and complexities. So, who receives the Guide's acknowledgment can only be left to fate. Let's set that aside for now. Imhotep, how have you been? Are you accustomed to being in the 'Main God' space?"

Imhotep looked somewhat dazed. Upon entering the 'Main God' space, he and Anck-su-namun had been profoundly shocked. This world was completely different from theirs, and also entirely unlike the reality Zheng Zha and the others inhabited. Fortunately, each person's room adapted based on their imagination. When Imhotep and Anck-su-namun chose a room together, it transformed into an ancient Egyptian palace... Imhotep picked up a wine goblet from the table and took a sip of the pale yellow liquid. It was a type of alcohol they had exchanged based on his recommendation, priced even higher than famous spirits like Moutai. He claimed it was a secret Egyptian vintage rarely enjoyed even by the Pharaohs of old. Its taste was indeed beyond what anyone had imagined, and it had since become one of their standard beverages.

After finishing the cup, Imhotep finally spoke, "It was a bit disorienting when we first arrived, but I find this world not so daunting. Once you use things, you learn their functions, and it's certainly much more convenient than our era. Honestly, I'm quite curious to see your world; it should be much more interesting than this one?" This bald handsome man possessed a distinct Egyptian noble aura. When he was an enemy, the others hadn't noticed much, but now as an ally, they realized his every movement carried an air of elegance. Since he was handsome to begin with, it was easy to see how he could have captivated the Egyptian Queen thousands of years ago; after all, he was the High Priest, second only to the King in prestige throughout all of Egypt.

"Our world..." Zheng Zha and the others exchanged bitter smiles. Constantly facing death and flirting with life in the 'Main God' space, having entered countless worlds, they had almost forgotten their previous one. Remembering life in the reality now felt like a past life. Only Liu Yu said with a smile, "The real world? It's quite monotonous there, actually. Compared to our world, it’s like a heavy dictionary—vast in content, yet utterly dull... Heh, our world is better. A completely unknown future, so many things we can exchange for, allowing us to become incredibly strong. Perhaps we can even become like superheroes later on. When we finally return to reality, many dreams can be realized, including making up for some regrets there..." A fleeting shadow of melancholy crossed the little boy's face, but he quickly recovered, burying that emotion deep within his heart.

"Heh, in the end, we must return to the real world. The things redeemable from the 'Main God' are indeed vast. It was easier when I was captain; I could easily search for desired items using captain privileges. Now, I have to check them one by one." He turned to Imhotep and asked, "How is it going? Have you found the Elixir of Immortality you were looking for?" Imhotep chuckled too, glancing briefly at Anck-su-namun helping out in the kitchen. "According to the 'Main God's' explanation, there are several enhancement attributes that offer immortality, as well as secret medicines that can achieve this effect. They are quite expensive, requiring many of the Reward Points and side-plot achievements you mentioned. But since I won't die anyway, staying here and completing several horror movie worlds with you guys should allow me to accumulate those points and achievements. My only concern is... if Anck-su-namun has to enter as well, I worry about her encountering danger in the horror movie worlds."

Zheng Zha nodded. "Danger is certain. To be honest, team members, including myself, haven't all gone through countless perilous scenarios? Therefore, you must truly consider yourselves members of the Central Continent Team. Enhance yourselves while accumulating Reward Points and side-plot achievements. It might take a bit longer, but your safety can be ensured, and you have one chance for resurrection—don't waste it... Speaking of increasing strength, where is that Chu Xuan? He isn't still tinkering with those cultivation artifacts, is he?"

The others all displayed a chilling expression. Ever since Chu Xuan returned to the 'Main God' space and fully healed, this man who had been on the brink of death immediately showed an expression unbecoming of him—one of fierce fanaticism. He took the cultivation artifacts and several flash stones Zheng Zha had given him and retreated to his room. Before entering, he even warned everyone not to disturb him unnecessarily, stating, "...I am going to study this alternative real science, distinct from nature. Of course, the process might be dangerous. If... you wish to die, feel free to enter my room and find me anytime..." No matter how you interpreted it, this sounded like both a threat and a death warrant. What was even rarer was that Chu Xuan uttered these words with a fanatical expression plastered on his deadpan face, enough to make the rest of the team sense danger... It wasn't a threat anymore; it was an instinctively felt menace.

Seeing their expressions, Zheng Zha subconsciously recalled those words and his face also contorted into a chilling look. Still, he said, "I'll go call him. We need to know the progress of researching those cultivation techniques and artifacts anyway; that's crucial for us to easily survive the horror movie worlds in the future... He shouldn't die, right?" Even saying that, Zheng Zha gave the others a few instructions and headed outside.

When he reached Chu Xuan's doorway, the large door suddenly burst open, and Chu Xuan rushed out with wildly disheveled hair. His clothes were wrinkled and ripped in places, looking as if they had been torn by immense force. Combined with some charred scorch marks, the greater likelihood was that he had experienced several minor explosions. Chu Xuan's eyes were deeply shadowed, indicating he hadn't slept for days, likely immersed in studying those cultivation artifacts and flash stones.

Without waiting for Zheng Zha to speak, Chu Xuan urgently said, "Run! The polymerization reactor in the basement is about to explode! Shut the door, erase all settings for the basement, and then reset! Hurry!" (Polymerization reactor... isn't that a hydrogen bomb?) Zheng Zha jumped, and simultaneously, strange roaring sounds echoed from inside the room. He violently pulled Chu Xuan out and slammed the door shut with a crack. Chu Xuan's movements were quick too; he grabbed the doorknob. Time seemed to freeze then, the two of them holding their positions for several seconds. Only when Chu Xuan casually pushed the door open and walked back in did Zheng Zha finally let out a huge breath. However, he quickly realized this wasn't right; he hadn't come here just to close doors for Chu Xuan.

"Hey! Chu Xuan, what about those cultivation artifacts and flash stones? Any results from your research?" Zheng Zha asked, carefully peering inside from the doorway, but he hesitated to step into the room. Chu Xuan turned back upon hearing this, gave Zheng Zha a cold sneer, and then turned away saying, "If you want to know, come in... Relax, the polymerization reactor is perfectly stable..." (Perfectly stable? Unbelievable! Was what I just experienced a hallucination?) Despite his thoughts, Zheng Zha slowly walked into the room. He followed Chu Xuan directly toward the basement.

The moment he entered the basement, he was utterly stunned by the scene before him. It was a massive room, perhaps several thousand square meters in area, filled with equipment of all sorts whose names he couldn't even pronounce. This machinery surpassed the technological standards of the modern world; at least, modern scientific instruments couldn't project solidified energy beams like these devices did, nor could they hover in mid-air from nothing—yet these machines did.

"Cultivation... truly is cultivation," Chu Xuan murmured with an intense, fervent look. "It's technology cultivated into reality. It’s completely different from natural science, or perhaps another science that transcends natural science..."

"That is the basic situation..." Chu Xuan approached a large light screen. He placed his hand on it, and the image, which was merely composed of light and shadow, shifted as he pressed it. "These flash stones—the white ones are solidified spiral gene-like code composed of True Essence Power. The black flash stones are composed of Demonic Power... also a spiral gene-like code solidification. Let me use an analogy: human genes present as a spiral substance-information map. Although made of matter, human genes are actually just carriers of information, containing everything about a human being, stored entirely within that minute space. The internal structure of this flash stone is also such a spiral gene-like code solidification, but the main component is materialized True Essence Power and Demonic Power, while the information encoded is the cultivation technique. From the segments I've translated so far, if one were to record the information contained in a single flash stone using text, an ordinary person would need about fifty years just to read through it. Therefore, these stones cannot be translated into text; the meaning must be read directly using the spirit. We, who don't know cultivation techniques, must first decipher the code to read the information contained within the flash stone..."

As Chu Xuan spoke, his fingers continuously manipulated the light screen. Above the screen, countless light rays materialized a magnified flash stone ten meters in the air. As Chu Xuan continued speaking, the interior of this stone was further enlarged, revealing a spiral pattern resembling human DNA on the three-dimensional screen. Every stream of energy was perfectly integrated into this display, constantly combining and breaking down, finally giving rise to countless streams of text. Even for just a tiny fraction of the spiral entity, the resulting text was immeasurable, and this was only one ten-billionth of the center of a single flash stone.

"Regarding the cultivation artifacts: the inscriptions on that small bronze bell have been translated. Just as you said, its name is the Donghuang Bell." Chu Xuan continued. "Dong, Donghuang Bell? Damn it, we hit the jackpot this time!" Upon seeing Chu Xuan's cold glance, he immediately quieted down and continued listening.

Chu Xuan sighed. "The inscriptions on the mirror have also been translated. Its name is the Jade Tablet of Creation. Although I don't know why a mirror is called a Jade Tablet, if the inscriptions weren't mistranslated, that is indeed its name..." "Cre-, Creation-, Creation Jade Tablet?" He could only stare fixedly at Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan ignored him and proceeded, "I haven't had time to study the mirror yet, so let's talk about the Donghuang Bell. Look closely at its surface. Although it appears perfectly smooth, there are countless runes inscribed on its surface, smaller than a nanometer—approximately one-thousandth of an ordinary nanometer. The seemingly small bell has innumerable runes, and there are over a million possible combinations of these runes. Look here..." Chu Xuan tapped the screen, and a small bronze bell appeared in mid-air. As the bell's surface was continuously magnified, the extremely tiny inscribed runes finally became visible. A stream of brilliant white energy flowed over the runes, which seemed to come alive, one after another swallowing this white energy stream and then transforming it into a stream of golden energy that flowed toward other runes. In just a couple of seconds, Zheng Zha saw at least a hundred million runes convert into golden energy streams, with countless other transformations too intricate to describe or even comprehend. Only when the white energy stream disappeared did this golden energy sink entirely into the Donghuang Bell, vanishing completely.

"Preliminary data analysis indicates that upon injection of the energy flow, spatial distortion appeared on the Donghuang Bell's surface, and time flowed irregularly. Therefore, there is a seventy percent probability that the power of this Donghuang Bell involves space and time. This is a level beyond even my comprehension, so it's impossible to fully study it in the short term. Of course, if you only wanted to use it, increasing your total True Essence Power tenfold might allow for one activation..."

"Cultivation... cultivated into reality. That is how I translate it. This is extremely advanced high technology! All that talk of the mysterious and profound is nonsense! Cultivation is high technology, just developed to a degree we can hardly imagine... That is cultivation!"