As the elevator platform reached the bottom, the two arrived at the deepest part of the Shackling Prison.
A wave of silent, deathly stillness washed over them, mixed with the dampness and cold that hadn't dissipated for thousands of years.
Through the surveillance, Qi Zhimu finally saw the figure from the Forbidden History of the Xianzhou.
No, he could no longer be called human.
In the dim light, an existence resembling a massive lump of flesh huddled in the center of the cell.
The body was mutated, with several pairs of withered fleshy wings drooping from the back, leaving only membranes hanging on the skeletal frame.
Forest-white bone spurs pierced through the skin at the joints, growing outward in a chaotic mess.
Long hair like withered grass almost covered the entire body, looking like an algal fossil submerged in darkness for thousands of years, emitting a suffocating sense of oppression.
Qi Zhimu withdrew his gaze and turned his head to look at Teng Xiao.
Teng Xiao's expression was grave; he nodded slightly and turned to input dozens of sets of complex secret keys on the console.
With several dull mechanical clicks, all audio surveillance devices targeting this area ceased operation.
The heavy cell door slowly opened.
Qi Zhimu stepped inside, and the door closed immediately, completely isolating the inside from the outside.
Inside the cell, there was only he and that monster-like prisoner.
Qi Zhimu skipped the pointless pleasantries, his voice echoing in the empty cell.
"I have a patient who has been in a coma for several years, and her vital signs are weakening at a strangely constant rate."
There was no movement in the cell, as if that lump of flesh were merely a dead object.
Qi Zhimu remained unmoved and continued his statement.
"The elixir organ within her body is constantly plundering physical energy to maintain its own vitality, like a Suiyang parasitizing a host and constantly drawing out the seven emotions and six desires."
"You, who once held the title of the Ghost Doctor of the Xianzhou, do you know the root cause of this condition?"
One minute, two minutes... Qi Zhimu was very patient, waiting expressionlessly, as if certain the other party would answer him.
Outside the cell, Teng Xiao and a group of Judges stared intently at the surveillance, not daring to miss a single detail.
For thousands of years, no one in the Alliance had ever spoken with an Originator of Longevity.
Although they couldn't hear what Qi Zhimu said to him, and although the former had the insurance provided by the Marshal, they had to ensure that no accidents occurred.
After a long while, a tooth-aching grinding sound suddenly rang out in the dim cell—the sound of bone scraping against the floor.
The Originator of Longevity moved.
Beneath that mess of hair, a pair of cloudy yet strangely piercing eyes slowly opened.
Looking closely, his right eye actually had three pupils, and his left eye had two.
The Originator of Longevity did not speak immediately, but instead scrutinized Qi Zhimu wantonly from head to toe, as if examining a rare treasure.
His gaze was like a hook, as if trying to peel away Qi Zhimu's skin and see through his soul.
"Tsk, tsk tsk..."
A dry, hoarse voice sounded.
"The people of the Xianzhou all call me a madman, but I didn't expect the juniors of today to be no less mad than I am."
The Originator of Longevity let out a burst of eerie laughter, the bone spurs on his back trembling a few times.
"Forcibly seizing a forbidden object into a mortal frame... To think you can still stand here without being dragged off by those old traditionalists to fill an alchemy furnace. Interesting."
Qi Zhimu remained expressionless, turning a deaf ear to this.
The Originator of Longevity seemed to find it dull, ceasing his laughter and saying indifferently.
"That is a heaven-deficient condition known as Dan-deficiency. If it has entered an irreversible process of depletion, it will naturally consume the host's physical energy to maintain its vitality in order to survive."
"Could you explain in detail?"
"Hehehe... I see you have mastered the ancient acupuncture techniques of the Xianzhou; your attainments must be quite deep. Even if you don't know the specifics, you should have some conjectures."
"I would like to hear the details."
The three pupils squeezing in the Originator of Longevity's eye socket shifted slightly, and the corners of his mouth curled into a withered arc as he enlightened Qi Zhimu.
"I have only seen one case of such a patient. Dan-deficiency is a heaven-deficient condition that a very small number of Xianzhou Long-lived Species are born with."
"A flawless elixir organ will continuously provide the energy of immortality, but a heaven-deficient elixir organ is different—"
"If a flawless elixir organ is compared to a precious jade flask, where as long as a single drop of nectar remains, it can be nurtured and regenerated, never running dry..."
"Then a heaven-deficient elixir organ is a jade flask that, from birth, has only a fixed amount of nectar."
"Once the nectar is drunk dry, it naturally needs something else to nurture it."
Hearing this, Qi Zhimu's gaze slowly froze, and his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.
So... the culprit responsible for Jingliu's deep slumber was actually himself.
No wonder Yu Huai, as her father, always said Jingliu had a poor constitution—it was an alarm issued when the body was being overextended.
What is squandered now must eventually be repaid in the future.
Seeing Qi Zhimu's reaction, a look of realization flashed in the eyes of the Originator of Longevity.
"Generally speaking, even if a elixir organ is heaven-deficient, it is enough to provide a thousand years of energy for a Xianzhou Long-lived Species."
"Only a long-term state of extreme overextension will trigger the symptoms of Dan-deficiency; otherwise, it has no impact on daily life."
"Because of the mara affliction, few people can cross the thousand-year threshold, and a rare disease like Dan-deficiency can be said to occur in only one out of ten billion people—that's no exaggeration."
"Should I say your luck is good, or ridiculously bad? Tsk..."
"How can it be radically cured?" Qi Zhimu ignored the Originator of Longevity's mockery.
"Why ask me for the answer?"
The Originator of Longevity smiled lazily, his cloudy gaze staring at Qi Zhimu through his messy hair, the corners of his mouth hooking into a meaningful arc.
"You are one who has dabbled in the forbidden; you will surely be able to think of a radical cure, won't you?"
"I look forward to your choice... and even more so to whether you will become my cellmate in the near future."
Qi Zhimu remained silent, his fingers closing slightly as a jar of wine appeared in his hand.
"The title of Ghost Doctor is well-deserved. I hope you enjoy this jar of 'Worry-forgetting' plum blossom brew."
Qi Zhimu tossed the wine jar toward the Originator of Longevity and then looked at the surveillance, signaling for the cell door to be opened.
"Hahaha, good wine! A fine 'Worry-forgetting', a fine junior. I look forward more and more to your final end."
The Originator of Longevity laughed loudly.
Qi Zhimu's steps as he was about to leave the cell paused, and he turned his head slightly.
"Before then, if there is any leeway, I will have someone inform you."
"I can sleep for eons... I lack many things, but time is the one thing I do not lack."
The cell door closed completely, as if it had never been opened.
The subsequent conversation between the two was also heard by everyone outside.
Qi Zhimu actually brought a jar of wine for the Originator of Longevity?
The crowd didn't understand the Marshal's deep meaning—could it be that the two were old acquaintances?
As for the Originator of Longevity's words about looking forward to Qi Zhimu's final end, most people just took it as the ramblings of a madman and didn't take it to heart.
The final end for a Xianzhou person was nothing more than those few possibilities.
Qi Zhimu did not choose to linger and quickly left the Shackling Prison with Teng Xiao.
"When are you leaving the Luofu?" Above the Scalegorge Waterscape, Teng Xiao asked from the side.
"Now."
"Is it that urgent? I am the Luofu General now, after all. When old friends meet, won't you even give me a chance to show a bit of hospitality?"
"Fine, but Teng Xiao, I want to ask a favor of you."
"Go ahead."
"You heard it just now. In the future, on the day I die, inform the Originator of Longevity of how I died."
"The reason?" Teng Xiao raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Just a special agreement." Qi Zhimu answered calmly... An agreement between those of the same kind... I've read some comments where readers say I've made the Xianzhou people seem too weak. Actually, what I want to say is that you've made the Xianzhou people seem too strong.
Without The Self-Actualization Aspect, most are just ordinary Long-lived Species without special skills, who can survive as long as their heads are sewn back on in time.
In the reading material "Ten Lords Tribunal Criminal Record," it's recorded that an outworlder killed over three thousand Xianzhou citizens and drank their blood to gain longevity.
Jingliu's background story: Her sword only weighs 7-14 catties, and it's unclear if one catty is the sixteen-tael unit. If it is, many swords of heroes in ancient period dramas are of similar weight.
So, not just any Xianzhou person can casually pick up a weapon weighing hundreds of catties and beat people up; if you want to become strong, you must train.
For the number of Cloud Knights, I referenced the ratio of real-world soldiers to 1.4 billion people, setting the Xianzhou Cloud Knight establishment at around 400 million.
Although Haji Huan hasn't reached the level of talking to every NPC on the entire Xianzhou map, I have at least read all the reading materials several times.
If you feel some settings are wrong, to put it bluntly, it's just that you feel they're wrong... while some settings in the game are actually more "small-minded." For example, in the Third Abundance Plague War that took place on the Fanghu, the Xianzhou Luofu lost a total of over 63,000 warship and over 120,000 pilots.
120,000—for a Xianzhou with hundreds of billions of people, don't you think this number is hard to justify even when compared to wars on Earth?
I'm not saying readers can't question the author; after all, not everyone has read a lot of text, and even the author can miss a lot.
Let's just keep things amicable. For those with a harsh tone, Haji Huan isn't a pushover who just takes abuse.
Fortunately, most of the Yanzus and Yifeis following the book are beautiful, generous, and elegant, or handsome, low-profile, and cultured.
Finally, some readers asked why the book's rating is low. According to the backend explanation, it's strongly related to the novel's word count and reader activity.
Few paragraph comments, few book reviews, only 8,000 out of 80,000 on the bookshelf are actively following, many are "stockpiling" chapters—naturally, the rating won't go up.
Stockpiling chapters is understandable. I know I write the plot slowly, and I don't care much about the rating. Once the word count increases, it can reach 8.0, and that's good enough.
Also, there are readers in the reviews saying the first life simulation took too long. I'm really tired and don't want to explain anymore. I don't know where you got the idea that this book is a system simulation novel.