36 The Corruption of the Mind

The Towers are mythical places that appear all over the world. From Towers that once conquer disappear. Towers that stay forever, becoming great help for cultivators that are about to break through. To Towers that called forward invasions, that is fought back by the combined forces of Clans and Sects.

But even these temporally alliances can't stop all the invasions that happen in the plains region. The invasions that succeed corrupt the land and life around it. Creating an area of 'High QI', as the monsters of the tower can easily make an outpost, live, and die in this corrupted area.

There are two types of corruption in this world, the Old World and the Outer World. Outer World corruptions come from the invasion towers. Dangerous things corrupt sentient beings if they align with the corruption foundation principle.

But does are not dangerous, as long as sects and clans work together they can beat back these corruptions and destroy the towers they originate from. But does are fruitless endeavors that only have led to death. As these corrupt areas are highly guarded by strong monsters. But because the area is High in QI, they contain treasures that help any cultivator strong enough to explore them. As such, as much as the sects and clans talk about cleaning the land of corruption. They never will, for their own selfish needs

The real danger is the Old-World corruption. These are corruptions from this world, from ages past, ages before the current age of the region. In the accepted founding myth of the plains region, after the celestial dragon dies. Monsters of great strength started to invade the world. Multiple races of this world got corrupted and join hands with these invaders.

Only three races did not join the enemy, the goblins, humans, and spirits. With their armies united, they beat back the invaders and created the age of cultivation. But these monsters left behind corruption that mixed with the very world, a reminder to future generations that the monsters might always come back.

In the Venomous Woodlands that surround the city of Hamju, a city within the borders of the Elemental Swords Sect Alliance. A sect form by smaller sects, to protect themselves from the stronger and larger sects. One of these Old-World corruptions has started to take hold of the local wildlife.

The Venomous Woodlands is named this way because of its wildlife. Insects, animals, and plants are venomous and deadly to sentient races. Deep inside these woodlands, is a large ruin. With tall and broken stone walls, these walls have long since lost their color.

The walls are made from a gray color stone, anyone who saw these walls will be marble at fact that it looks like the wall is made from a single stone piece. But to Mors, he would reply that this is just called cement.

These ruins are largely covered by plants and vines. The ground covers the staircase that leads deeper into the ground. In the underground of these ruins, are countless white corridors and rooms. The equipment in these rooms is weird looking and precious. But the elements have broken many of them and corroded many more.

In one of the many rooms of this ruin, is a large white room. With a large broken crystal tube in the middle. With weird green liquid all around it. A small larva-like creature is twitching and moving in this green liquid.

The larva moves slowly out of this room. Hungry and wanting to reproduce. It takes it 3 days to get out of the underground. Breathing in the fresh air of the wilds, it moves close to a blue color plant.

It opens its mouth, sharp roads of teeth revealing themselves as it bites into the plant and started to eat it. With every passing bite, its body grows larger. Never fully full. As it continues to eat, its large body attracted the attention of a passing blue color frog.

The frog, wanting an easy meal eats the big larva in front of it. As it shallows the larva, it moves away from the ruins. Want to digest its meal But with every jump it takes, it feels pain. Pain deep inside its stomach, as it vomits out the contents of its stomach.

But only blood and pieces of muscles came out. But the pain never stops, as soon enough it stops moving. Its body twitches as a large bump appears in the area of its stomach. Soon with enough force and size, the once-eaten larva comes out of the stomach of the frog.

It ate its way out of the predator. Once it had its head out, it continues to eat the frog. Wanting more food and more biomass. The small larva is now the size of a rat after eating the frog. But it still needs more.

But it knew its current body could not grow anymore. It needs a stronger body and minions to gather biomass. The large larva crawls its way toward a tree, biting the tree to make a large hole in its trunk. Once inside the tree, it forms a cocoon around its body, in the shape of an egg.

As veins appear beneath this cocoon, it started to absorb the biomass of the tree host. Using its biomass to create a large ugly and flesh-like tree. Its large expanding roots eat away the nutrients from the soil. The hole that the larva once made now looks like an open womb.

Inside it, countless small eggs were being produced. As these eggs grow, use the nutrients provided by the Living Womb. They hatch, spewing green disgusting liquid. From these eggs, more larva was created. But without a will for themselves. They are controlled by the first larva, the central mind.

These larva's only goal was to infect, corrupt, and gather biomass for the central mind. So, it can evolve and continue reproducing and surviving.

This disgusting Old-World corruption will soon be called "Mind". But if Mors saw this, he would say that it reminded him of a certain game, saying the name "Hive Mind" is a better name for this corruption.