Startled Fourth Spiritual Practitioner

The stone slab wall assembly this time was, as usual, completed by Peony and the mechanical guards. Wang Jixuan, Fu Jian, and Zheng Shiduo set up tables and chairs in a corner, prepared some grilled meat and beer, and waited leisurely.

Zheng Shiduo was aware of the situation and was called over to help.

When Zheng Shiduo ate the dried squid grilled by Commander Fu Jian himself, the Psionicist, who came from the front lines, was so moved that his eyes turned red.

Zheng Shiduo was quite sentimental at heart.

It was just...

Wang Jixuan asked, "Did you really take that medicine?"

"I did," Old Zheng mumbled guiltily, "After taking it, I felt warm all over, and then... nothing else happened."

Wang Jixuan asked, "Did you have any other reactions?"

"Reactions, well," Zheng Shiduo said shyly, muttering in a low voice, "That night I used the Thorn Entanglement Technique all night, and I turned the voltage up so high that I was finally electrocuted unconscious."

Fu Jian asked, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Zheng Shiduo quickly replied, "Just a bit of technical exchange."

Wang Jixuan said angrily, "Who was exchanging this technique with you?! I was asking about that pill!"

"What is that medicine for?"

"It's nothing," Daoist Wang continued to focus on grilling skewers, "Anyway, I'm going to be doing Alchemy these few days, I'll save you some scraps."

The three turned to look at the wall that had been assembled in front of them.

The wall showed no fluctuations, appearing like an ordinary piece of art.

Fu Jian asked, "How do we activate it?"

"He should be scared of me from last time," Wang Jixuan smiled faintly, "Should I step out?"

Fu Jian said, "You can't leave. We don't want you to think we've reached any unspeakable agreement with the Spiritual Practitioners."

Zheng Shiduo solicitously opened two new bottles of beer on the side and quietly offered his opinion, "Professor Shen Qionglin, isn't she a leading expert on Spiritual Practitioner Civilization? Why don't we call her over to try?"

Wang Jixuan looked at Fu Jian.

Fu Jian had previously explicitly refused to let Shen Qionglin come into contact with this thing.

Fu Jian thought carefully, fiddled with the meat skewers, and said slowly, "After this period of observation, do you trust her now?"

"I can basically trust her," Wang Jixuan said, "And she's been very helpful recently."

"Alright then," Fu Jian tapped the air a few times with his fingers, "She'll be here in three minutes."

"Cheers."

Wang Jixuan clinked his wine bottle with Zheng Shiduo's, and naturally began discussing the upcoming troop deployment with Fu Jian.

The sudden 'resurrection' of high-end combat power gave the D5 Comprehensive War Zone the strength to expand its territory outwards.

Fu Jian had always been very cautious about counter-offensives. He had to consider the consequences of the Blade Beasts' counter-attack and whether these territories could actually be held.

However, this time, Fu Jian's combat plan was quite bold. They aimed to open up the land transportation route between D5 and D7 and seize several key mineral resource points.

Wang Jixuan asked, "How much has the Ninth Pillar awakened?"

Zheng Shiduo swallowed a bite of synthetic meat. The intelligence he was hearing here was a bit too explosive.

"28%, and still trending towards awakening."

Fu Jian sighed softly:

"We don't have the power to directly confront Pillar-Class Blade Beasts.

"I was in charge of the development of the Special Grade Terror Mech back then, but there were significant technical bottlenecks.

"The Psionic Mecha route that Shen Qionglin is researching might actually be the key to breaking through these bottlenecks. I had them use the prototype she developed to conduct theoretical feasibility verification."

Daoist Wang, acting as a perfect foil, asked, "How did it turn out?"

"The technological development prospects are vast, but it's still not mature enough at this stage."

Fu Jian looked at Peony and the Maid Group guarding near the stone slab and muttered softly:

"Once a development route is determined, we will have to invest a large amount of resources.

"Resources are already scarce.

"At this stage, Mechanical Technology's ceiling has not been reached. Continuing down this path is the most cost-effective approach.

"I'll think about it again."

Wang Jixuan smiled without saying anything.

Not even two and a half minutes had passed since their conversation when Shen Qionglin appeared outside the warehouse door, undergoing a full-body search by the mechanical female soldiers.

When Shen Qionglin entered the warehouse and saw the setup in the corner, as well as the stone wall, her expression clearly changed. She stared at the stone wall for a long time, her eyes filled with excitement.

A Spiritual Practitioner!

A complete Spiritual Practitioner inheritance wall!

Previously, Shen Qionglin only had access to secondhand information, which were various pieces of data copied down by the Six Elders.

This was the first time she had directly interacted with a Spiritual Practitioner.

However, Shen Qionglin was very good at controlling her emotions. She didn't rush over but walked to a barbecue stall in the corner and nodded slightly at the people there.

"What do you need me to do?" she asked.

Fu Jian gestured for Wang Jixuan to speak.

Daoist Wang briefly recounted their previous encounter with the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner.

When Shen Qionglin heard Wang Jixuan casually say:

"I used a few tricks last time, which might have scared that Spiritual Practitioner."

"You scared a Spiritual Practitioner?"

Shen Qionglin gave a wry smile:

"I feel like one of us is joking.

"The Spiritual Practitioner Civilization is a high-tier civilization. While you are amazing, and I can't fully understand your methods of utilizing psionic energy yet, I find it hard to believe you could make a powerful Spiritual Practitioner, who claims to be a deity, fear you."

"That definitely wasn't me joking."

Wang Jixuan put down his beer bottle and said seriously:

"Firstly, Spiritual Practitioners are not deities.

"Secondly, when the six Spiritual Practitioners arrived on this planet, they were all severely injured.

"The Beast Speaker and I had a brief exchange—the kind where he attacked me and made threats—he revealed that the Blade Beasts came to this planet because they were pursuing these six Spiritual Practitioners.

"These six Spiritual Practitioners broke through the encirclement while severely wounded."

Shen Qionglin pondered for a moment: "Alright, after all, the information I have comes from the Six Elders, and their foundation is these Spiritual Practitioners, so they might be biased."

"Let's see how to awaken Number Four."

Wang Jixuan said seriously:

"I don't have much time. I need to make preparations to deal with the Beast Speaker's aggression... of course, we'll be the ones launching a surprise attack.

"Let's get this done quickly."

Shen Qionglin nodded, naturally picked up two skewers of meat, and turned to examine the stone slab wall.

Fu Jian, with a stern face, winked at Wang Jixuan.

Wang Jixuan raised an eyebrow, signaling Fu Jian not to be so stingy; what was wrong with letting the girl eat a couple of bites of meat.

Soon, Shen Qionglin dropped the metal skewers.

Since Wang Jixuan wanted to save time, she decided to use a method that was not entirely rigorous but relatively simple.

She walked forward, stopping about ten meters from the stone slab, and activated the mysterious symbols carved into her body.

Azure light enveloped Shen Qionglin.

Her shoulder-length hair floated backward, and her white coat was blown tightly against her body by the strong wind, outlining her petite and graceful figure.

Three seconds later.

The stone slab suddenly vibrated slightly, and a series of symbols appeared on it.

Wang Jixuan detected a familiar aura.

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner had awakened again!

Wang Jixuan's first reaction was to channel the residual demonic qi in his body, left over from activating the Dragon Python Strange Soul last time, into the Dragon Python Strange Soul.

He was ready to use the Dragon Python Strange Soul to raid the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner's spire tower.

Then he realized, and used a concealment technique to temporarily hide his aura, bringing the rotation of his Qi Sea to a near standstill.

--This was to evade the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner's detection.

Fu Jian and Zheng Shiduo on the side watched this scene nervously.

Shen Qionglin closed her eyes, the azure light on her body began to flicker, and symbols appeared one after another like dancing musical notes.

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner's fluctuations grew stronger.

Whoosh, whoosh...

The sound of waves crashing reappeared.

A ball of milky white light cautiously and tentatively extended outward.

The white beach, the waves washing back and forth, the twin moons in the sky, and the spire tower reappeared.

This time, the spiritual energy in the air did not converge towards the stone slab.

A wise Spiritual Practitioner who had learned from experience.

At this moment, the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner was expending the spiritual energy reserves of the spire tower, attempting to make contact with Shen Qionglin.

Shen Qionglin looked at the light and shadow before her, a hint of shock in her eyes, mostly contemplation. She heard a faint, almost imperceptible call…

"Save me…"

Shen Qionglin tilted her head slightly, not moving toward the spire. Instead, a hint of wariness entered her eyes.

In her memory, Spiritual Practitioners, who were as powerful as deities, the ones who created the Blade Beast civilization, would need humans to save them?

Shen Qionglin subconsciously took two steps back and asked calmly:

"Who are you?"

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner's sigh echoed in Shen Qionglin's mind: "I come from a high-tier civilization. I am humanity's hope for defeating the Blade Beasts. I came to this planet, ravaged by Blade Beasts, to save all life here. Our name is Spiritual Practitioner."

Shen Qionglin nodded slightly: "I've heard news of you from the Six Elders in the Psionic Capital."

"The symbol on you is very peculiar."

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner murmured:

"This is not the awakening ritual of any of us six. It seems incomplete, but it worked."

"Oh," Shen Qionglin said simply, "I replicated it, according to the information provided by the Six Elders."

"So those six guys were indeed studying us."

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner sighed:

"But it's only natural. I can understand their actions. And you, a Psionicist who managed to replicate the awakening circuit.

"You are truly a genius among humans."

"Thank you, others have also praised me."

Shen Qionglin gazed at the spire:

"Your soul is in the spire. There are also some Psionicists hidden there, like dried corpses.

"And the Infusion Wall, that should be your unique Infusion Wall. The Psionicists infused using them and their duplicates will all be branded with your mark, becoming your Spirit Slaves, correct?

"All this I sense… do you want to rule this planet?"

"No," the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner sighed. "You know more than I imagined. This is good, it will save me a lot of time. I am already very weak."

He changed the subject:

"I am looking for an Inheritor, someone who can inherit this power of mine.

"Every Spiritual Practitioner has their own core psionic energy circuit for inheritance. Or rather, this circuit is the carrier of the Spiritual Cultivation Civilization. We are merely its Guardians.

"We created the Blade Beasts by imitating our own core psionic energy circuits.

"The awakening of a Psionicist is essentially granting them some primary and low-level psionic energy circuits. Higher-level circuits often bring uncontrollable power.

"On the journey to this planet, we were attacked by Blade Beasts. We fought our way out, but it was difficult for us to sustain ourselves.

"The three of them who communicated directly with the Six Elders are in slightly better condition and were the first to awaken.

"My injuries are severe. I probably won't survive much longer… Do you want my power? I can give you a replica of my core circuit. Once your body is modified to be close to a deity, I will pass on the core circuit to you."

"Then," Shen Qionglin asked, "what is the price?"

"The price?"

"What do I have to pay? Just tell me directly."

"First, take me away from here."

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner said in a low voice:

"It's still this location. I can sense the environment nearby. It was here last time that a devil, a demon, a strange cultivator a hundred times more terrifying than a Blade Beast, almost destroyed me!

"If you can kill him directly, that would be best, but he is too cunning.

"So, take me back, either to the Six Elders or to that snow mountain. In short, let me return to my friends.

"This is not a transaction, it is a request. If you don't believe me, I can first help you correct the erroneous part of the pathway you replicated."

Shen Qionglin's lips curved slightly, seeming quite tempted.

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner added: "You have to believe me… Don't you want to save your civilization? I have been cornered by that devil. You are my only chance… Since you could come here, will taking my stone tablet be difficult?"

"It will be difficult," Shen Qionglin nodded lightly. "Judging from your performance, you can only sense the area covered by white light."

"Huh?" The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner couldn't quite follow Shen Qionglin's train of thought.

"If I understand correctly, the devil you mentioned called me here… I am his person."

Shen Qionglin added simply:

"I am loyal to him now."

The Fourth Spiritual Practitioner pondered continuously.

Wang Jixuan put down his beer bottle and strolled over with his hands behind his back.

The white light was about to retract.

But Shen Qionglin said: "He won't attack you again. I can guarantee it. We are here to discuss cooperation."

"Cooperation?"

Fourth Spiritual Practitioner said angrily, "I need to cooperate with you guys?"

"How will you know if we can cooperate without trying? Wang Jixuan's voice came through.

He didn't rashly step into the area covered by the white light. Instead, he snapped his fingers, and Peony, who had been waiting nearby, immediately began playing the video clip of the Beast Speaker's communication.

This projection and sound were both within the white light's coverage.

Fourth Spiritual Practitioner successfully captured the various information within it and made some deductions based on this information.

Wang Jixuan tentatively stepped into the edge of the white light.

Fourth Spiritual Practitioner reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. The white light immediately retracted into the stone slab wall, and Shen Qionglin even heard a roar:

"Don't come over here!"

Shen Qionglin could barely control her curiosity.

What exactly did this guy do to the Spiritual Practitioner last time?

Wang Jixuan said loudly:

"Come out and talk, friend.

"I've recently thought of a Blood Stains Array. It uses the blood of a King-Class Blade Beast to create a blood pool, and you can immerse your stone slab in it.

"You're hiding in a subspace. If the portal is destroyed, you might end up perishing alone inside."

The stone slab remained quiet but intact.

Wang Jixuan turned his head and said, "Commander-in-Chief! This stone slab might be broken. How about we give it to the Beast Speaker as a bargaining chip for negotiations?"

Hum.

The white light reappeared.