Volume One: The Spiral Engravings Chapter Nine: The Esoteric Art of Divine Script

Roar!

The red-clad female ghost lunged forward, attempting to intercept Chen Fan and buy time for Zhou Qiyuan. Chen Fan’s eyes flared with murderous intent; he brandished a talisman, preparing to annihilate her.

Just then, a golden-red point of light suddenly shot out, expanding rapidly into a golden-red barrier that encased the ghost. A heartbeat later, the barrier vanished from the spot, and the female ghost disappeared along with it.

Chen Fan’s speed was overwhelming. Realizing he had no chance of escape, Zhou Qiyuan’s expression turned manic as he lunged toward a nearby railing. Resting against the railing was a section of rusted rebar! It was a meter long and thicker than a grown woman’s arm. He gripped the heavy metal, the thick rust cascading from between his fingers like brownish rain.

He spun around to face the approaching Chen Fan, chest heaving as he gasped for air like a beast trapped in a cage. His eyes were utterly deranged, but Chen Fan’s were even more so.

"Hahaha!" Under the immense pressure, Zhou Qiyuan had snapped. He charged at Chen Fan, the rebar held like a lance, its ends sharpened to knife-like points.

Chen Fan sheathed his combat knife, let out a cold snort, and slammed his heavy foot onto the concrete. Boom! The cement shattered under the impact, and his body shot forward like a bullet. He covered the distance in an instant.

"Die!" His gaze was pure madness as he threw a punch aimed directly at Zhou Qiyuan’s chest.

Matching his insanity, Zhou Qiyuan thrust the sharp rebar toward Chen Fan’s chest with all his might. Chen Fan didn't pull back a single inch.

Crack! When the steel was just two inches from him, Chen Fan’s fist tore through Zhou Qiyuan’s skin and plunged into his body. Flesh was shredded, and the frantically beating heart was instantly crushed into a mass of foul-smelling pulp. Viscous blood coated Chen Fan’s fist, seeping between his fingers and into his palm. His knuckles were wrapped in gore and fragments of meat. Zhou Qiyuan’s high-quality clothing was dragged into the gaping hole, plugging the wound.

Squelch! Zhou Qiyuan’s body was punched clean through. A fountain of foul, dark blood sprayed from the exit wound. Chen Fan was drenched in red, and the gray floor was rapidly stained a vibrant, deep crimson.

As life faded from him, blood gushing from his throat like an open sluice, Zhou Qiyuan stared fixedly at Chen Fan and rasped, "My brother, Song Yun... he is not just a Visitor, but a Level 1 Mutant. He will avenge me... you are doomed! He might already be on his way!"

Chen Fan pulled his sticky, gore-covered hand out and clamped it onto Zhou Qiyuan’s skull. "What is a 'Visitor'?"

Zhou Qiyuan laughed. "That is not your concern! I will see you in hell! Haha!"

"A person who comes from Earth is a Visitor," the Divine Script System explained.

Chen Fan nodded, looked into Zhou Qiyuan’s eyes, and said, "You can die now."

He tightened his grip, his five fingers piercing the skull like steel blades.

"Arghhhhh!" Zhou Qiyuan shrieked, his eyes bulging. He opened his mouth to bite at Chen Fan’s neck, trying to crush his windpipe.

"Still struggling?" Chen Fan sneered. He treated the head like a basketball and slammed it down onto the concrete with all his strength.

Crack! Zhou Qiyuan’s skull exploded like a red-and-white bomb. Fragments of bone and flesh splattered outward, slicing Chen Fan’s clothes and embedding themselves in his skin. Blood and brain matter erupted into the air, enveloping Chen Fan in a thick, crimson-white mist.

***

Blood, like a stream, soaked Chen Fan’s clothes and trickled down his body. After a moment of silence, he stood up and walked toward the bungalow nearby.

In the lobby on the first floor stood a machine resembling a train engine, two meters long and a meter wide, with a yellow manual pasted on its side. It was labeled "Replicator." Clearly, this was how Zhou Qiyuan had created his "family." After setting it ablaze, Chen Fan headed upstairs.

In a corner of the second floor, he found a black safe. Inside, he discovered sniper rifle components and three ammunition boxes filled with about three hundred rounds.

Chen Fan searched the rest of the house. "No gray stone fragments, no Demon Stones..." He felt disappointed; Zhou Qiyuan was truly useless. He did find a stack of cash, but it was moldy and disintegrated at the slightest touch. He surmised that the entire Eastern District had likely fallen, with few survivors left, making money useless.

"If only I had a chainsaw! A map would have been nice too!" After double-checking every corner, he gave up.

He returned to the yard and started the motorcycle. The engine roared like thunder—a sound that, if he were to ride it, would be tantamount to telling Song Yun, "I'm here, come and get me." With a look of regret, he abandoned the bike and set off on foot at top speed. He even decided to skip the Demon Stones and gray fragments inside the hospital, fearing Song Yun would be waiting there. He knew that even with a sniper rifle, he wouldn't stand a chance if cornered.

When night fell, he reached the foot of a mountain, found a narrow cave, and blocked the entrance with boulders. Leaning against the rough stone wall, he felt a gnawing anxiety. The pressure exerted by a Level 1 Mutant was so immense it was suffocating.

"I'll stay in this cave for the next half a month. Better not go out." He began to calm down, sorting through his emotions. "Don't be sad. Mom, Dad, and my brother are still waiting for me back on Earth. I have to pull myself together. They might have looked like real people, but they were fake. It was just a terrible experience—no need to dwell on it."

Even with these self-assurances, why did he still feel so hollow?

"How do you plan to thank me for today?" A woman's voice suddenly echoed in his ear. A woman in a milky-white dress appeared before him. Though she was merely a projection, she looked indistinguishable from a real person; her lips were smooth and moist, appearing soft to the touch.

"Thank you," Chen Fan said, turning his head to wipe away the tears before looking at her.

"Can you be a bit more sincere? That was so perfunctory."

"Beauty, thank you! Is that better?" Chen Fan sighed helplessly.

Hearing him call her "beauty," she suddenly looked shy. "Am I really a beauty?" She balled her hands into fists, looking expectant.

Chen Fan let out a long breath and forced a smile. "Yes, you are definitely a beauty. That goes without saying!"

"I knew it!" She beamed, her face glowing. She leaned in close. "Actually, I have many functions. Do you want to experience them?"

Chen Fan lowered his head, feeling he needed to do something to distract himself from the lingering pain. After gathering his thoughts, he looked up and said, "Let's try. What kind of functions?" He glanced curiously at her vital areas.

"Do you want to die?" She widened her eyes, raised a fist, and swung at him, but her arm turned into golden-red light and passed right through his head. After a few failed attempts to strike him, she sighed and sat down beside him. "You must obtain the nine Primordial Stone Carvings. Only then can I have a body of my own."

Chen Fan had too many questions about the Divine Script System and this bizarre world, so he decided to ask.

She anticipated his questions, waving a fair arm. "Listen to me first. There are nine levels of mutation, and the mental pollution index goes up to 100 percent. Every time you level up, your anti-pollution index increases by 11.1 percent. Once you become a Level 1 Mutant, you won't be so embarrassed as you were today, failing to resist even a 6 percent pollution level! What a weakling!"

"I see," Chen Fan nodded.

"Let's make a formal introduction. My name is Catherine, the AI of the Divine Script System!" She stood up and looked at him.

Chen Fan remained seated, staring intently at her alluring figure. After a long silence, he said weakly, "By the way, can you change your dress? This one is too long, covers everything up. What is there to see? As a beautiful woman, you should show off your figure generously, don't you think?"

"Pervert!" She hissed, her cheeks flushing—whether from his compliment or something else, she turned her head away.

Golden-red light enveloped her. When it faded, she was wearing a revealing pink miniskirt that showcased her smooth, slender legs, displaying her top-tier figure without reservation.

Chen Fan stared at her legs, his gaze slowly drifting upward. After scanning her, he felt his mood finally improving.

"Just call me Chen Fan. Don't worry, I will obtain the nine Primordial Stone Carvings—for your sake and mine," he promised as he stood up.

Catherine nodded. "Do you know why the Divine Script System is called the Divine Script System?"

"Why?" Chen Fan frowned, genuinely curious.

"Idiot, because it allows you to master 'Divine Scripts'! Every Divine Script technique is incredibly powerful, and I am the teacher who imparts them! How about that? Impressed?" She put her hands on her slender waist, looking like she was waiting for praise.

Chen Fan didn't hold back his compliments. Once her lips curled into a smile she couldn't suppress, he bowed. "Please, teach me a Divine Script!"

"Divine Scripts are hard to master. Are you sure you want to learn?" She covered her small mouth, looking radiant.

"No matter how hard it is, I'm willing to try!" Chen Fan clenched his fist.

"How about this? If you do a striptease for me, I'll teach you one. How about it?" She giggled, laughing so hard she lost her composure and made some highly inappropriate gestures.

Chen Fan was amused by her cuteness, thinking to himself, *If the fake version is this impressive, what would the real one be like?* He looked at her red lips and replied, "Are you sure you want to see a striptease? Can we pick something else? I don't know how to do that. How about you teach me hand-in-hand? Whatever you take off, I take off. How about that?"

"Are you sick?" She stopped laughing, though a flush remained on her cheeks beneath her bangs, giving her a breathtaking beauty. She huffed and waved her right hand gently. A brilliant golden-red light flowed like water, and a moment later, a golden-red character appeared between his fingers.

She released her grip, and the character floated in front of him. It was the character for "Quake."

The Quake Mantra! It glowed, solid as metal.

"Divine Script techniques are divided into Single-Script and Dual-Script types. I'll teach you one. Whether you can learn it depends on your own fate."

"What do I do next?" Chen Fan asked, bewildered.

"Just reach out your hand! Think of it as an application, yourself as a phone, and just integrate the two. Keep trying," she instructed patiently, like a real teacher.

Chen Fan reached out, and the script turned into golden-red liquid, merging into his body. "I can feel it!" He looked at her; in his perception, the liquid had transformed into countless golden-red motes of dust, wrapping around every single one of his cells.

Fifteen minutes later, he felt every cell in his body had changed, each pulsing with a faint golden-red light. He threw a punch, but... nothing happened.

After dozens of failed attempts, he looked at her, confused. "What's going on?"

"When the time is right, you'll be able to use it. But you must practice diligently; do not slack off," she said sternly. She sat on the ground and started to doze off, seemingly unwilling to return to his body to face the unknown monsters outside.

"How long will it take?" he asked, unwilling to give up.

"Years, maybe decades!" Catherine pursed her lips, offering comfort. "Don't be too anxious. With the help of certain artifacts, the process will be significantly shortened! I will help you!"

"Alright," Chen Fan nodded, feeling slightly discouraged.

When one is highly focused, time flies. In this state of flow, half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Fan pushed aside the rocks blocking the cave and stepped out.

He needed a large number of Demon Stones to upgrade himself! Urgently!

Demon Stones weren't easy to find. He first checked Huaguang Hospital to ensure Song Yun wasn't lurking nearby, then entered, following the guidance of the golden-red light points. To his frustration, every container he opened contained only fragments. Combined, they weren't even enough for one full stone, let alone any gray fragments.

He realized this was just another one of Zhou Qiyuan’s traps to lure victims. Cursing under his breath, he followed the system's guidance and set off into the distance.