61

Is this thing the Core Circuit?

Wang Jixuan looked at the mass of dark red flame wrapped in spiritual energy in his palm, his brow furrowing slightly.

This thing... is very strange.

It shouldn't be alive, it has no consciousness, it seems like a small piece of a rule;

If Wang Jixuan had to describe it, it would be somewhat like a Dao Seed left behind by a senior cultivator after death, capable of helping a sect quickly cultivate a master.

Yes, that's about right.

Daoist Wang held it in his hand, examining it closely. He had already walked to the front of the crowd, and the Psionicists here couldn't help but stare intently at the flame.

The group of great Buddha manifestations continued, filling the top floor of the Spire Tower with golden light.

"This is it?" Wang Jixuan looked at Number Five.

The Fifth Spiritual Practitioner stared at the mass of dark red flame for a few moments and muttered softly, "Strange, why doesn't it reject you?"

Wang Jixuan asked, "Reject? What do you mean?"

"It's too troublesome to explain. Just try giving it to anyone."

"Okay," Wang Jixuan directly handed it to Wu Man, who was in front of him. Wu Man took it with both hands, and the dark red flame suddenly flickered gently, disappearing without a sound, only to reappear in Wang Jixuan's palm.

The crowd gasped in amazement.

Although they didn't know what they were amazed by.

The Daoist was troubled;

He couldn't hold onto this thing forever, could he?

Besides, this was a Spiritual Cultivator's Core Circuit. There were only six in total on this planet, a very rare resource for the Spiritual Cultivation Civilization and something the Blade Beast Civilization was determined to destroy. As a cultivator, besides trying to comprehend it to see if it could inspire his own practice, he had no other use for it...

If this thing decided to stick with him, it would be a real problem.

As Wang Jixuan was contemplating, Peony reminded him, "Sir, we have to leave immediately! Just now, the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner's Spirit Slave suddenly died, and the souls of the Spirit Slaves were drawn here! The Blade Beast Swarm is already charging, and they'll arrive in five minutes!"

"Go!"

Wang Jixuan waved his hand, holding the mass of flame in his left hand, and said solemnly, "Let's retreat from here first. They can handle the Blade Beast Tide!"

Zheng Shiduo quickly asked, "Can't we retrieve this Spire Tower?"

"Just leave it here. I'll shut it down."

The Fifth Spiritual Practitioner said calmly:

"The Spire Tower and the Core Circuit are a matching set. Only when this flame finds a new host again, and a new Spiritual Cultivator is born, can this Spire Tower be opened again... Old Sophie extracted all the souls of her Spirit Slaves.

"Otherwise, I could have plundered a new batch of subordinates."

Wang Jixuan nodded.

He understood the unspoken meaning in the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner's words;

Essentially, she didn't gain any benefits, and this Core Circuit seemed to have already chosen a master.

The Daoist was quite generous towards her:

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll give you a hundred Soul Nurturing Pills when we get back."

Number Five blinked, her somewhat pale and pretty face tilted up slightly, transforming into a beam of ink-black light that drilled into the hoop on the War Puppet's wrist.

The others dared not delay, quickly retreating from the Spire Tower.

Before leaving, Wang Jixuan had intended to leave behind the Strategic High-Yield Nuclear Warhead he carried, but after much thought, he decided against it.

There were many treasures within the Spire Tower, but all of them required the Core Circuit to recognize a master before the various areas of the Spire Tower could be opened.

There might still be some old Spirit Slaves remaining here.

Especially the three seemingly young Spirit Slaves on the second floor of the Spire Tower. Their souls seemed to have been drawn out before, or perhaps not completely.

This phenomenon was somewhat strange.

'I'll let Shen Qionglin research it later.'

Wang Jixuan yawned, suppressing the fatigue and weakness transmitted by the Strange Soul, and led the group away from the Snow Mountain Base.

They had barely reached the surface when dense Crystal Core fluctuations appeared underground.

That Blade Beast Tide had indeed come;

However, they were destined to miss their target.

Old Sophie's Spire Tower was enormous when fully deployed, tightly embedded in the dense rock layers. Furthermore, human military firepower was continuously being deployed downwards.

As long as no King-Class Blade Beasts appeared, there was no need to worry about the Spire Tower being carried away by the Blade Beasts for the time being.

On the plane, Wang Jixuan appeared to be meditating, but in reality, he was gradually falling asleep due to the fatigue transmitted by the Strange Soul.

The mass of dark red flame floated on its own, circling around him, as if waiting for him to drip blood and claim it as his own.

Ling Tong sat inside the fighter jet, looking at the message box that popped up before her.

[Battle is won, all units are returning in an orderly fashion.]

For some reason, Ling Tong felt a little disappointed.

This was her first battle since returning to the front lines. She had prepared thoroughly, and the enemy was mysterious, yet she hadn't been able to do much. She had merely acted as a bombardier in the air.

To be precise, even the Half-Human Mechs hadn't been able to exert much agency. The black clouds and the dark mist filling the mountains beforehand posed a fatal threat to them.

'Half-Human Mechs still have an irreplaceable role in fighting Blade Beast swarms.'

Ling Tong thought this, quickly adjusting herself out of that sensitive state. She heard the complaints of her teammates through her headset.

"The black clouds below have dispersed."

"Whoa, it's over already?"

"Teacher Wang is on his way back. Our mission is to escort Teacher Wang, so don't let D2 cause us any trouble."

"Sigh," Deep Sea sighed, "Our Half-Human Mech Group is supposed to be on par with the Buddha Hall Squad and the Peak Maid Group, but who would have thought we'd only be able to slack off on the periphery in such a major operation."

Ling Tong said calmly, "Isn't it good that we achieved victory without expending resources?"

"Of course, it's good," Deep Sea clicked his tongue. "If all the Blade Beasts died overnight and all Psionicists became saints, I'd retire immediately and wander the world with my wife."

"Alright, everyone, don't complain. Pay attention to intelligence security. Dealing with Spiritual Practitioners isn't our specialty."

Ling Tong encouraged her teammates:

"Psionics and machinery each have their own focus.

"We were indeed lacking in psionics before, but Teacher Wang's appearance compensated for that. Now, we've even surpassed the Psionic Capital in psionic technology.

"If there are weapon systems that combine psionic and mechanical technology in the future, I'll recommend you all try them out if I get the chance."

This group of dejected Half-Human Mechs immediately perked up.

"Is it the Psionic Mecha project? I heard about it. It seems Professor Shen, who defected from the Psionic Capital, is developing it!"

"Speaking of which, that Professor Shen is so beautiful. Even as a woman, I want to ask her out for a date."

"Girl, is it possible you just like women?"

"Get lost!"

"Hey, how come I heard Professor Shen defected because of Teacher Wang's personal charm? And Professor Shen is a brilliant genius who developed brains. I wonder how she developed them... No, why are you pulling me? Did I say something wrong? What did I say wrong? Don't wink at me, I just said, Professor Shen defected because of Teacher Wang's personal charm... Uh, Tong Tong, just pretend I didn't say anything, haha, hahahaha."

Ling Tong smiled indifferently.

She had always kept her distance from such topics.

It was just a waste of her own energy.

However, Ling Tong glanced out the window, looking at her helmet reflected in the curved glass. For an officer in love, the thoughts in her heart would always be heavier.

Ding ding ding!

A string of commands popped up on the control panel in front of Ling Tong.

She suppressed her stray thoughts in three seconds, adjusted back to combat readiness, and quickly gave the order:

"The mission has arrived.

"All Half-Human Mechs who can receive my communication, immediately change your blade loadouts. Our team will immediately find our supply team and don our specialized mechas.

"The Commander-in-Chief has issued a support mission.

"On the D2 border, a wave of beasts originating from the main Blade Beast swarm has fully activated. Among them is a Super King-Class Blade Beast, whose strength is far greater than ordinary King-Class Blade Beasts. We need to help D2 hold out until reinforcements arrive."

Deep Sea asked, "Haven't these Blade Beasts retreated yet? Wasn't the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner in the snow mountain dealt with by Teacher Wang?"

"There's no sign of the Blade Beasts retreating, and they are even mobilizing other King-Class Blade Beast swarms. The pressure on our side in D5 has actually decreased significantly," Ling Tong said simply. "Don't speculate wildly, execute the order."

"Yes!"

The communication channel immediately fell silent. Fighter jets sped towards a nearby fortress base.

Before leaving, Ling Tong glanced back at the snow mountain.

Due to the previous comings and goings, the outline of the snow mountain had changed slightly. Now, the snow mountain was bathed in golden sunlight, with a faint phantom image of a Seated Buddha, which was gradually fading.

That scale of black cloud had been evaporated in just a few dozen minutes.

'How did he do it?'

A hint of a smile appeared in Ling Tong's eyes.

To save time, she began a self-inspection of her robotic arms on the plane, ensuring she could engage in frontal combat at any moment.

The engine roar of the fighter jet continued;

Ling Tong suddenly had a brief moment of disorientation. The curved cockpit window before her eyes transformed into the cockpit window of her specialized armor. Outside the window, a giant Blade Beast, covered in wounds, roared incessantly, releasing indiscriminate mental shockwaves.

Ling Tong's smile quickly vanished. The Bagua symbols on her shoulders and chest vibrated in unison. Her raised eyebrows and face, previously immersed in sweetness, regained their resolute and strong demeanor.

"Formation! Third Transformation!"

Seven fifteen-meter mechas lunged forward simultaneously. The eight-meter Crystal Core Greatswords in their hands flashed with light, and the arcs of blue light they emitted instantly engulfed the giant beast before them!

Slash!

D2 Comprehensive War Zone, in the fortress closest to D5.

Wang Jixuan's transport plane was parked on the tarmac. Nearby, teams of autonomous mechanical guards patrolled, and two teams of members could be seen moving freely not far away.

Wang Jixuan slept soundly, leaning back against the soft seat. The ball of dark red flame circled his arm.

When the flame touched the seat, distorted light appeared, but the two never made contact.

Wang Jixuan's brow twitched slightly.

Senior Brother, what are we cultivating for? To become the strongest cultivators in the cultivation world, so no rules can bind us? Or to reach the age of three thousand years?

Sigh, alchemy, alchemy. What's the use of alchemy? Can swallowing an immortal pill allow one to ascend directly to the Upper Realm?

Ji Xuan, you need to choose at least one more skill to learn besides alchemy, formations, and talismans. Just focusing on artifact refining is far from enough. You can't possibly expect to find fellow disciples to refine pills as rewards for your disciples when you take them in later, can you? What about the master's reputation?

Junior Brother Wang, do you have plans tonight? I've prepared some wine in the warm chamber. They say the moon is particularly beautiful tonight. Why don't we enjoy it together?

"Officer... Officer?"

"Hm?"

"Have something to eat. You've been asleep for ten hours, and your physical data shows no abnormalities."

Wang Jixuan groggily opened his eyes. The scenes from his dream vanished like smoke, replaced by Peony's pretty face, etched with a hint of concern.

Peony held a steaming bowl of noodles.

She's still thinking of preparing food for this Daoist. This implies the situation outside hasn't worsened.

Daoist Wang immediately sat up straight, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to clear his mind.

"How long have I slept? Oh, right, ten hours."

Wang Jixuan skillfully opened the small table, picked up his chopsticks, and looked at the glistening, white noodles. His appetite instantly surged.

He took a huge slurp of noodles.

Mmm... the satisfaction of real starch...

"How is it? Are there any problems outside?"

Peony said softly, "Two good news items and six bad news items."

Wang Jixuan lowered his head and coughed, then glared at Peony. "Six? Isn't that ratio a bit off?"

"It is! Take a look for yourself. I've already sorted the messages by importance."

Peony sat gracefully in front of Wang Jixuan and opened a projection panel, allowing him to watch while he ate.

Wang Jixuan subconsciously glanced at the dark red flame circling his arm, then at the long case in the corner. The War Puppet inside was unharmed, though the Strange Soul was only a faint wisp and needed to be cultivated again.

Number Five's stone tablet was still within the hoop on the War Puppet's wrist. Number Five also seemed to be asleep, showing no signs of activity.

The issue with this flame might be quite tricky and needed to be resolved as soon as possible.

Wang Jixuan's gaze fixed on the projection panel. His expression stiffened for a moment, and his chopsticks, hovering over the noodles, paused for two seconds. Then, he lowered his head and shoveled the noodles into his mouth, slurping them down forcefully.

These damned Blade Beasts, can't they just settle down!

The first message on the panel read:

[The awakening level of the Sixth Pillar Blade Beasts has reached 60%, and the Ninth Pillar Blade Beasts have reached 47%].

The numbers above were updating in real-time. Before Wang Jixuan could even look at the second message, the '60' flickered and turned into a dark red '61'.