They Came and Still Wanted to Leave?

Wang Jixuan watched the drone surveillance feed Peony had displayed, staring at the figure walking step by step toward the camp as countless thoughts churned through his mind.

A Blade Beast had actually come to negotiate.

The identity of Black Storm truly could not be used anymore.

The time he had blocked the breach at the bottom of Fortress No. 76, charged into the Young King Insect's nest, and taken down the immature General-Class Blade Beast had probably been exposed as well.

But...

"Peony, go wait outside the camp. Make it wait awhile—I still have some things to handle here."

"Uh, sir," Peony said, somewhat stunned. "This is on record! It's the first time a Blade Beast has ever actively sought communication with humans!"

"Negotiations need to follow an order too."

Wang Jixuan humphed.

"Go. Don't let it approach the military camp. Your combat strength should be enough to eliminate it directly. It's only a Mimic Blade Beast."

"Yes!"

Peony answered with great solemnity.

"At a moment of such civilizational and historical significance, Peony will definitely treat it with caution!"

She gave a proper military salute, then turned and rushed out of the medical tent.

"Old Zheng! Watch the door. Don't let anyone come close!"

"No problem!"

Wang Jixuan glanced at the Projection Screen a few times, shook his head, then lowered his gaze to the sleeping A-Class Psionicist. He pressed his palms together and began reciting Buddhist sutras, a ring of Buddhist light appearing behind his head.

The sutras were not recited for a kind deed;

They were only meant to deliver the heartless.

The second victim of Mahayana Buddhism was born today!

"A Mimic Blade Beast? It came to the edge of Fortress No. 82 on its own and said it wanted to talk to Black Storm?"

When Zhou Zhengde received the news, he thought he had misheard.

He grabbed his communicator and rushed to the door of this "cell," shouting outside, "I want to see my maternal grandfather!"

The guard outside paused for a moment, then immediately said, "Certainly, Captain Zhou. We'll prepare a vehicle for you right away!"

More than ten minutes later, Zhou Zhengde rushed into the heavily guarded War Zone D5 Command Center building, which was filled with autonomous security robots, and was led underground by a senior staff officer.

He was brought to a hidden small Conference Room. Seven or eight old generals stood or sat inside, all silent as they stared at the Big Screen hanging on the wall.

The scene on the screen was somewhat bizarre.

The Sari Desert in the night was quiet and tranquil. Its dunes resembled enormous sleeping monsters, ready to devour the last green life at the edge of the desert.

Three large multirotor attack drones hovered in the night sky, focusing their lights on a cramped ten-square-meter area.

There were two figures there.

Little maid Peony, dressed in a black Maid Outfit with a Cat Ear Headband, white stockings, and black high heels with red soles, was kneeling on a checkered picnic blanket. In front of her sat a square tray containing, as before, two cups of tea mixed from industrial tea concentrate.

Before Peony sat a ragged, emaciated old man.

The old man's eyes were covered by a layer of white crystalline film. No longer concealing himself, he radiated a terrifying aura, while the structure inside his body was displayed beside the screen.

There was a high-level Mimic Blade Beast inside the old man's body.

Before the screen, Zhou Zhengde heard a gentle call.

"Zheng De, you're here?"

An old man smiled and greeted him.

"Come over here. The main show hasn't started yet."

"Ah," Zhou Zhengde replied, carefully stepping forward.

Fu Jian, seated in the main seat, turned to glance at him and merely nodded. Then he picked up his intercom and asked, "Has Black Storm not arrived yet?"

Ling Tong's voice came from the middle of the screen. "The modification surgery on the A-Class Psionicist isn't finished yet."

"Fine," Fu Jian said simply. "Then follow his pace. No need to rush him."

"Yes!" Ling Tong answered brightly.

Zhou Zhengde was somewhat confused. "What A-Class Psionicist?"

A kind-looking old staff officer smiled. "Two Psionicists just came to Fortress No. 82 to surrender. Their brain self-destruction chips were easily removed by Black Storm, and we're preparing to use them as propaganda material."

"Surrendered? A-Class? That's a huge gain!"

Zhou Zhengde pointed at the screen and muttered quietly.

"Then what's with that monster?"

Several old men gave him a brief explanation.

"It's a high-level Mimic Blade Beast, likely a Preacher. It occupied the body of a resident from a Scavenger Camp and walked over a hundred kilometers to reach this place. Its body is already close to collapse."

"Because it was a solitary target and too small, our radar failed to detect it in advance."

"However, when it came within three kilometers of the fortress, it voluntarily sent out biological waves to the Fortress Surface camp. Many soldiers heard it say... Black Storm, let's talk."

"Wow!"

Zhou Zhengde's face was full of admiration.

"His charm has actually spread to the Blade Beast Swarm!"

A group of grown men turned to look at him, and five old-style Half-Human Mechs showed even greater confusion in their eyes.

The real Black Shell muttered to Fu Jian, "Commander, you're sure your grandson's preferences are fine, right?"

"If he dares! I'll break his legs!"

Fu Jian let out a cold snort. Zhou Zhengde's legs nearly went weak, and he obediently stood to the side watching the screen, not daring to chat again.

A split screen appeared in the corner. Wang Jixuan and Ling Tong climbed into an Off-road Vehicle and sped toward the desert.

Wang Jixuan was still dressed in Black Storm's classic outfit: black Combat Suit, black tactical helmet, reclining in the passenger seat with his eyes closed.

Fu Jian picked up the intercom. "Ling Tong, ask him what he plans to do."

Ling Tong's voice immediately came through the Big Screen.

"The Commander-in-Chief asks what you plan to do."

"I don't know," Wang Jixuan replied simply. "Have Blade Beasts never communicated with humans before?"

"Not openly."

"They clearly have the ability," Wang Jixuan tsked. "Maybe they're simply too arrogant. They think humans are beneath notice."

Ling Tong asked, "Then why has it come now?"

"Maybe their plans were disrupted," Daoist Wang exhaled. "We'll know what's going on after talking to it... Are there any rules about not killing envoys during war?"

"No."

"Then that's good," Wang Jixuan said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Ling Tong stepped on the brakes, and the Off-road Vehicle began slowing down. The noise from the Multirotor Drones throbbed against their eardrums as Wang Jixuan and the "old man" with white films over his eyes looked at each other from afar.

"You... came..."

A spiritual transmission?

Wang Jixuan looked at Ling Tong. "Did you hear what it said?"

"I did."

"Then it must be transmitting information mentally. Help testify for me later—don't let Old Fu and the others think I'm secretly colluding with Blade Beasts."

Ling Tong nodded calmly.

He seemed not nervous at all.

Daoist Wang sat carelessly in the spot Peony had vacated. Peony's built-in skin-heating function had already made the cushion quite warm.

He looked at the old man and took the initiative to ask.

"Blade Beast?"

The old man directly opened his mouth and spoke slowly in an odd, low, strange voice.

"Spiritual Practitioner?"

Daoist Wang froze.

Spiritual Practitioner? Was that what they called cultivators?

He stared at the old man, his mind racing as he asked in confusion, "What are you talking about? Spiritual Practitioner?"

"Spiritual Practitioner. Mortal enemy. Battle."

The "Blade Beast" spoke simply.

"You have awakened."

Wang Jixuan sneered. "Can you put together a complete sentence? Is this all the communication ability the Blade Beast envoy sent to negotiate possesses?"

The "old man" drew a soft breath and tried harder this time.

"We will eliminate you... by forcing humanity... they... are vulnerable..."

"You hide here... useless..."

"If you... return with me now... and pledge loyalty to our king... we... can temporarily spare... these humans..."

Wang Jixuan picked up his tea and took a sip.

He roughly understood.

The Blade Beasts had a mortal enemy called Spiritual Practitioners. They had used the word "awakened," which suggested that Spiritual Practitioners might have been sleeping before now.

What this Blade Beast envoy said afterward was nothing but a naked threat.

Ling Tong suddenly spoke from the side. "The Commander-in-Chief means that humanity will exhaust everything to protect this hope."

"Mm, I understand."

Wang Jixuan nodded, raised his head to look at the "old man," and said calmly.

"You heard the human commander's meaning. I need not say anything else."

"You are still... weak..."

"I am not the Spiritual Practitioner you speak of."

Daoist Wang smiled freely.

"I am Black Storm, a Psionicist created by the military, a young man living in the Fortress Era.

"What Spiritual Practitioners are has nothing to do with me, but I am now your enemy, and I will also uphold the creed of helping the weak and punishing the strong.

"If you want to fight, then fight. If you want war, then wage war. Why put on this hypocritical act and make yourselves a laughingstock?"

The "old man" nodded. "Because... you are a Spiritual Practitioner... you have the qualifications to speak with us... In ten days... we will launch war..."

"Rather," Ling Tong said calmly, "we will launch an encirclement and suppression of the Blade Beast Swarm in ten days."

The "old man" did not respond.

Wang Jixuan suddenly asked, "By the way, you've already transmitted the message back, haven't you?"

The "old man" said, "Do you want... to go back on your word?"

"Go back on your uncle!"

Wang Jixuan suddenly lunged forward. Amid the "old man's" obvious shock, he drove a Black Tiger Heart-Piercing Fist into the old man's chest.

The old man's body flew backward, black blood spraying from his mouth!

Wang Jixuan charged forward with swift strides, leaping like a cheetah. Divine light burst from his eyes as his fist became a palm, his palm pushed and guided, and an Azure Wave Mark rippled downward. The old man's back exploded, and a black sphere desperately stretched out enormous colorful wings.

A Preacher!

Though adamantine, indestructible and unbreakable, the Myriad Laws Calamity Wheel emerged to subdue demons!

Golden light covered Wang Jixuan's body. Like a Dragon-Taming Arhat descending into the Mortal World, he gathered the aura within him into his palm, where a Demon-Breaking Dagger had appeared at some point!

The Blade Beast was just about to unleash a Mental Shock!

Wang Jixuan swung his arm forward, his body crossing past it!

The spotlights tracked them over. The automatic cannons were just about to fire when the Preacher, whose wings had only just unfolded, split apart down the middle and crashed helplessly to the ground.

Daoist Wang returned, skillfully dug out a fist-sized crystal core from the Blade Beast's body, and smiled in satisfaction.

This trip had not been wasted.

Ling Tong, who had not moved from beginning to end, could not help but frown in thought.

The Blade Beasts had declared war on them.

Inside a small room at the War Zone D5 General Headquarters.

Fu Jian leaned back in his chair and considered it carefully before saying in a low voice, "The entire war zone will enter first-level combat readiness. Prepare to activate the Protocol Soldiers. All autonomous corps will enter activation-ready status and complete inspections and maintenance at the fastest speed possible."

"Yes!"

Zhou Zhengde pondered for a moment.

Spiritual Practitioners, the Blade Beasts' mortal enemies... Good guy, he had actually guessed right!

So Spiritual Practitioner was what Blade Beasts called cultivators?

Late at night, after completing a round of cultivation, Wang Jixuan seriously considered this question.

He had returned to the Supply Vehicle. Ling Tong's Transport Plane was nearby, and a large number of Special Operations Teams were stationed around them.

Although Old Fu's side had told him to focus on research and development without worry, Daoist Wang would have been lying if he said he was not worried at all.

After all, this Blade Beast offensive had been launched specifically because of him, this "Spiritual Practitioner," and that left him slightly uneasy.

Ten days.

This was the deadline the Blade Beasts had given them, and it was not necessarily trustworthy.

Not long after Wang Jixuan returned from the negotiation, he received news from the front line—the Blade Beast Swarm on the outskirts of War Zone D5 had begun gathering. Several King-Class Blade Beasts had simultaneously left their nests and were reorganizing the Blade Beast army underground.

Humanity had already begun bombing those Blade Beast Swarms, but the Blade Beasts also had defensive fortifications. Such bombardment was merely scratching an itch through a boot.

That is to say, there really is an Alien Civilization symbiotic with Blade Beasts, called Spiritual Practitioners?

Spiritual Practitioners definitely aren't Psionicists. Psionicists are infused into existence, and the Blade Beasts do not even regard them as worthy of notice. Spiritual Practitioners sound like people who can cultivate—perhaps they even have a complete cultivation system.

Good guy, Little Zhou actually got it right? An Alien Civilization with symbiotic Blade Beasts really exists?

Daoist Wang was somewhat disordered.

He considered what response he should make next.

Time really was too tight.

Mass production of the Demon-Breaking Dagger had yet to be completed, and it would be difficult to achieve any constructive results in these ten days.

They could set up a few Drone Grand Formations. After repairing the formation bases from last time and replacing the crystal cores, most of them could still be used. Perhaps they could later be used against some powerful Blade Beast.

What else was there?

The Human Military was more professional when it came to combat methods and tactics.

Cultivation, then.

Even if it meant forcing his growth, he had to Step Into the Returning to Truth Realm as soon as possible. There was no choice but to give up on laying a stronger foundation in the Spirit Gathering Realm.

Compared with the Spirit Gathering Realm, the Returning to Truth Realm was an all-around improvement of soul, spirit, and body. In particular, upon reaching the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm, the power of one's spiritual sense would greatly increase, and the soul would transform into a primordial soul.

As for Xing Tian's students...

He had no time to deal with them for now.

After giving it some thought, Wang Jixuan sent Ling Tong a message.

He wanted to return to Fortress No. 76 to break through. It was relatively safe there, and while breaking through, he could make as many Crystal Core Greatswords as possible to equip humanity's elite combat force.

Should I switch to demonic cultivation? Demonic arts ultimately improve one's strength faster. I can find a way to switch back later.

Daoist Wang continued to ponder.

He did want to use Blade Beast Crystal Cores to advance, but he was still hesitant deep down.

"Sure enough, demonic cultivation only has zero times and countless times."

Wang Jixuan closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully searching his memories.

The Demon Star Annihilation Art was far too domineering. It was fine for emergencies, but specializing in it would inevitably affect one's temperament, eventually turning one into a Murderous Fiend.

That was even more terrifying than a Blade Beast.

He wanted to find a technique in his memories that would allow him to use the Remnant Souls of Blade Beasts to strengthen his own primordial soul, and their flesh and blood to strengthen his Dao body—fully utilizing the Blade Beasts' resources without paying the price of demonic cultivation.

Within ten days, he would enter the Returning to Truth Realm!

Just as the Daoist was steeling himself, his spiritual sense suddenly captured Zheng Shiduo pushing Wu Man out of the Transport Plane and heading this way.

The young man had a trace of hesitation in his eyes, as though he had something troubling him that he wanted to confide in someone.