strictlysupreme #311 - Under the calm
#311 - Under the calm
Why do my eyelids keep twitching?
Wang Ji Xuan scratched the corner of his right eyebrow, gazing at the fire in front of him, carefully savoring his spiritual sense, but he didn't detect any direct warnings.
Could the Blade Beasts be secretly plotting a counterattack by mobilizing their troops?
Under the surveillance of the human satellite network, the Blade Beast swarm's every move is impossible to hide from humanity.
The last battle boosted morale, and now the human camp is in high spirits, eager for an even greater victory to respond to the Blade Beasts' previous offensives.
Wang Ji Xuan doesn't need to worry about that at all;
He just needs to find a way to enter the Golden Core stage as soon as possible.
"Commander," Peony reminded from the side, "Spiritual Cultivator Number Five will arrive soon. The Spirit Energy Users are all prepared. The Commander-in-Chief wants to confirm one more time, should all these Spirit Energy Users be marked with Number Five's insignia?"
Wang Ji Xuan slowly nodded: "Don't be too stingy with allies, otherwise how can we make them willingly risk their lives for us?"
Wang Ji Xuan looked to a corner.
His battle puppet stood there quietly, covered in sensors, undergoing maintenance and repair of its mechanical arms and legs.
This time, in the engagement with the Blade Beasts, he didn't actually play much of a role on the front lines.
He can't participate in the direct clashes between the Blade Beast tide and human firepower right now.
'How should I deal with the Blade Beast swarm attacks?'
'The battle puppet has a huge advantage now, which is that after opening the Gate of Hell twice, this humble Taoist's Dragon Python Different Soul's soul power has become excessively strong, a bit beyond this humble Taoist's control.'
'Use soul power to attack the Blade Beasts' souls?'
Wang Ji Xuan pondered while refining pills.
How quickly time flies, he muttered with a hint of helplessness.
He regrets not having read through all the books in his own Wang Xian Valley's Sutra Repository!
However, he never expected that when he faced the Heavenly Tribulation, besides death and ascension, there would be a third option: 'Young hero, please try again.'
'Using demonic techniques with the Different Soul Battle Puppet doesn't count as this humble Taoist using demonic techniques, right? Hmm, it should be.'
Crack!
A spark burst from the pill furnace, and Wang Ji Xuan quickly adjusted the True Flame's firepower, focusing on refining the pills.
This time, Wang Ji Xuan refined pills until late at night.
A large batch of Crane Origin Pills was sent to Fu Jian's side for him to use in establishing the War Alliance.
For mortals, especially those in power, no one can resist the restoration of bodily functions and the extension of lifespan.
Wang Ji Xuan has always been very generous to the people around him.
This time, he distributed some pills to Wu Man, Zheng Shi, and others, providing them with everything they needed to improve their aptitude, heal injuries, and nourish their vitality.
Afterward, Wang Ji Xuan announced his seclusion, allowing only Peony, Ling Tong, and Wu Man to seek him out directly.
Wang Ji Xuan had already taught Wu Man and Red Serpent the methods for creating the Mountain Protecting Great Array's killing array and trapping array, asking these two disciples to work harder.
After all, the problem Wang Ji Xuan currently faces is not enough cultivation time and too many powerful enemies.
The night was deep and quiet;
Ling Tong had not yet finished her tactical training, and Wang Ji Xuan was still quietly meditating;
A black butterfly landed on the balcony, symbolically knocking on the open sliding door.
"Enter," Wang Ji Xuan said softly.
Number Five · Wilhemina Tuck jumped in, maintaining that aloof and cold appearance, and calmly said to Wang Ji Xuan:
"Thanks, with this batch of soul slaves, my strength is starting to recover faster."
"Come, sit down."
Wang Ji Xuan casually gestured, and a folding chair opened on its own, landing in front of him.
"Since you came in your original appearance, there must be something you want to talk about."
Number Five nodded: "Yes, some serious matters."
Wearing a long dress, she floated to Wang Ji Xuan without her toes touching the ground, and sat gracefully in front of him.
Before inheriting the core circuit and becoming a Spiritual Cultivator, Number Five underwent lengthy etiquette and deportment training, even her appearance, looks, and body proportions were carefully cultivated.
The purpose was to ensure that she was in a perfect state at the moment of inheriting the core circuit, and that she could maintain this perfect state for a long time.
— Her predecessor Spiritual Cultivator was a bit of a perfectionist.
Wang Ji Xuan placed his legs on the edge of the bed, leaning back, deliberately striking a relaxed pose.
"What serious matters? Just say it directly, we're comrades-in-arms now."
"Yes, comrades-in-arms."
Number Five slightly pursed her lips, with a hint of doubt in her eyes, and finally, as if she had made some kind of decision, she slowly said:
"There are two things I concealed from you before, and now it's time to tell you.
"One thing is related to your Little Hua Ting.
"The origin of the Spiritual Cultivators is on this planet. About six hundred and fifty thousand years ago, the first batch of Spiritual Cultivators left this planet during a period of turmoil and spread to different planets, gradually developing and growing. The first batch of Spiritual Cultivators took away a large batch of core circuits. Since then, the number of core circuits has not changed.
"We can't manufacture core circuits, we can only inherit them.
"The manufacturer of the core circuits is the 'Spirit Source Civilization', which we call an ancient civilization."
"Spirit Source?"
"Yes," Number Five nodded gently, "This is confidential information left by my predecessor, because I am destined to control our lineage, so I know these secrets."
Wang Ji Xuan slowly nodded.
He finally got some information about the civilization that preceded the Spiritual Cultivators.
Number Five slightly pursed her lips: "According to the information I received, the Spirit Source Civilization doesn't seem to be a good civilization. They were incredibly powerful, and the core circuits were the 'weapons' they created. Such powerful civilizations usually oppress different civilizations. The final downfall of the Spirit Source Civilization was caused by excessive exploitation, leading to a full-scale uprising. Many civilizations united and captured the ancient civilization's homeworld."
The Taoist priest chuckled: "That's imaginable."
"The Blissful Sky Curtain is a technology they left behind."
Number Five looked down at the ground, and said softly:
"This planet is a bit different. I've been observing it for a long time.
"Generally speaking, places where there is spirit energy in the air, the earth contains some special minerals. These minerals emit spirit energy and can be collected by Blade Beasts.
"But this planet is different. There are no such minerals underground… or rather, there are no such large-scale minerals, but spirit energy continuously涌动 outward from inside the Earth's crust.
"The spirit energy涌动 from different regions is almost the same."
Number Five paused:
"That is to say, there should be something hidden underground.
"Combining the situation of the Blissful Sky Curtain inside the Pillar Blade Beast, I suspect that there is a special world outside the surface world of this planet.
"Belonging to the ancient civilization, a huge Blissful Sky Curtain."
Wang Ji Xuan: …
"I actually feel quite good about Little Hua Ting's previous incarnation."
"There is no unprovoked goodwill," Number Five said indifferently, "I have been observing her all along, why should she give us benefits?"
Wang Ji Xuan asked: "You mean, she has some kind of scheme?"
"Perhaps."
Number Five gently shook her head:
"Because we are now comrades-in-arms, and you really haven't made me suffer losses, I have recognized you as a friend in my heart.
"So I'm telling you all these guesses and secrets.
"Actually, there's one more thing… Although I was deceived by the Wings of Light back then, I also did some things that you might not like very much… When I was at the Snow Mountain Base…"
"No need to say that."
Wang Ji Xuan raised his hand to signal her to stop talking:
"The origin of the Spirit Energy Users controlled by Xing Dian is on your side. Ji Xiao and Ji Yale's exposure and pursuit were due to the information you gave them.
"I know all of this.
"At that time, we were on opposing sides, so I understand.
"Now we are friends, there is no need to create rifts because of these things. You have already done enough in this confrontation against the Sixth Pillar and forcing the Spirit Energy Capital to bow its head."
Number Five visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
She showed a quiet smile, quietly gazing at Wang Ji Xuan.
Number Five suddenly asked: "How does it feel to indulge desires?"
"It's alright…"
Wang Ji Xuan smiled puzzledly:
"Don't tell me that you, at seventeen thousand years old, haven't even been in love a few times."
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"Hmph, I have also had romantic experiences," Number Five slightly raised her chin, then curled her lips slightly, "But I'm not very interested in these things, I just want to become stronger and break through the limitations of the core circuit on us."
Wang Ji Xuan: …
Good heavens;
An immortal fairy who has been in the mortal world for ten thousand years!
He calmly changed the topic, which was prone to embarrassment, and briefly talked about his exchange with Gao Hua Ting's previous incarnation this time.
When Number Five heard that there was also her part—the Spiritual Cultivator trial, to transform into a true inheritor of the ancient civilization—Number Five didn't show any smile, but her expression became even more solemn.
"I always feel like there's a conspiracy in this."
"It's actually okay," Wang Ji Xuan spread his hands and shrugged, "What could they be plotting?"
"Your cultivation method?"
Number Five shook her head:
"I don't know about that, I don't have a good initial impression of the ancient civilization.
"The civilizations that destroyed this ancient civilization back then, a small part disappeared into the long river of time and naturally perished, and most were conquered by our Spiritual Cultivation civilization.
"The Spiritual Cultivation civilization is essentially the inheritor of the ancient civilization.
"In short, you should still be careful, they may really have ulterior motives, especially since they know your background."
Wang Ji Xuan pondered for a few moments.
Now, he was really made to feel a little unsure by Number Five.
Number Five turned her head to look at the corridor, stood up gracefully, and bowed elegantly to Wang Ji Xuan.
"Thank you for taking care of me during this operation. I hope we can continue to cooperate happily in the future."
Poof.
Her figure returned to the appearance of a blonde loli, the corners of her mouth turned up, she raised an eyebrow at Wang Ji Xuan, and her voice had a bit more childishness.
"Your girlfriend's here, I'll head out first! I'm returning to the Pillar Bladebeast overnight; their defensive fire line will take a few more days to be effective.
"It's quite strange, actually.
"Even if the Interstellar Gate doesn't open in the next few months, how can the Bladebeasts be so quiet? It's completely out of character for them. Be careful!"
Before she finished speaking, she had already transformed into black butterflies and fluttered away.
The Daoist looked at the folding chair, thought for a moment, and casually put it back where it was.
Yeah, avoiding misunderstandings is always a good idea.
Suddenly, Number Five's voice transmission reminded him: "You haven't checked out Old Sophie's spire yet. I just took a look around inside and 'collected' a few seriously injured high-level spirit slaves for you!"
The Daoist shook his head.
This guy probably came over just to say that!
Wang Jixuan also had some impression of those three high-level spirit slaves; he didn't have any particular thoughts about it, so he let Number Five take them away.
One war puppet is enough for now.
Click.
The alloy door opened.
Ling Tong, still wearing her combat uniform, returned to their love nest. The Daoist approached with a smile, starting to shower the Lieutenant Colonel with concern.
The usual attentiveness of a man.
......
If the Bladebeasts are calm for three to five days, that's normal;
If they're calm for seven or eight days, that calmness has a hint of something strange about it.
Wang Jixuan had been peacefully cultivating in Fortress 76 for over half a month, and there were still no reports of large-scale Bladebeast movements anywhere. The biggest challenge facing humanity was instead the large-scale cloning experiments being initiated in the Spirit Energy Capital...
"Something's not right."
Wang Jixuan gathered the many 'heroes' within Fortress 76 in the academy and held a brief meeting.
"The Bladebeasts really haven't made a single move?"
Mudan quickly reviewed the intelligence reports from various locations again and said seriously: "That's right, Commander. It's peaceful everywhere."
Old Zheng muttered, "Could these Bladebeasts have a bit of an M attribute? They like being beaten, and each time they look forward to being beaten even more fiercely?"
"Brother Zheng, please rein in your supernatural powers," Ji Xiao said, laughing and crying. "What if the Bladebeasts directly attack after hearing your mockery?"
Wang Jixuan asked, "What about deeper underground?"
"Bladebeast activity areas have deep-level detection, as well as various seismic wave detections,"
Mudan explained:
"The bottom of each fortress has detectors that can detect large-scale Bladebeast activity.
"From the current situation, the Bladebeasts have indeed reduced their offensive.
"This may be related to the orders we issued using the Pillar Bladebeast; they may simply be following orders."
"Impossible."
Number Five, who had returned from beside the Pillar Bladebeast, seriously refuted this view:
"If there was only this one Pillar Bladebeast on this planet, the orders might be effective.
"But the other Pillar Bladebeasts are only physically dormant.
"The Elysian Canopy within them is not affected by the dormant circuits and continues to operate. Each Elysian Canopy has a special Gariano, and they can directly issue orders to the Bladebeasts."
What exactly are the enemies up to?
Wang Jixuan said in a deep voice, "Perhaps the Bladebeasts are indeed waiting for the planet's barrier energy to dissipate so they can bring in reinforcements from outside."
Wu Man suggested, "How about I go scout around the Bladebeast side? I can now understand their communication."
"That's too dangerous," Zheng Shiduo quickly said. "No matter what they're communicating, they need to mobilize the Bladebeasts on a large scale to execute it."
"Forget it," Wang Jixuan slapped his thigh. "Stop overthinking it. Overthinking is useless. Everyone, continue to advance the various plans: weapon improvement, large-scale production, talisman popularization, scripture promotion!"
Everyone worked hard to boost their morale.
Dongfang Zhenghong, who hadn't spoken, asked, "If we were Bladebeasts, what would be the priority now? A full-scale retaliation? Or finding a way to take back the Pillar Bladebeast? Or, is it to find a way to eliminate the powerful enemy that can threaten the other Pillar Bladebeasts?"
"That last one," Number Five shrugged. "They would definitely do that."
Wang Jixuan laughed, "Does that mean they just want to kill me now?"
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Mudan suddenly raised her hand.
"Commander, the communication device you gave to that Gariano is being activated… The other party has sent a communication request!"
"See? Speak of the devil."