The Basic Accomplishments of a Yellow Oriole

Woo—

The transport plane's engines had been mostly muffled by soundproofing materials, leaving only a low whine.

Wang Jixuan gathered everyone before him.

Inside the transport plane, the Buddha Hall Squad, the Peak Maid Group, and more than a dozen Half-Human Mechs led by Black Shell were all crowded around the holographic map.

After suffering a setback last time, Daoist Wang had adjusted his strategy. He had deployed the Human World's most advanced aerial transport vehicle so that their main combat strength could gather in one place.

The moment he made his move, the entire D5 Comprehensive War Zone's war machine went into full operation.

There were also two special heavy hitters in the cabin.

The Fifth Spiritual Practitioner had personally followed them while carrying her stone slab;

Shen Qionglin was also out on field duty for the first time, wearing the Psionic Combat Suit she had made herself.

"Let me briefly explain the situation first."

Wang Jixuan casually summoned a longsword and pointed it at Snow Mountain Base on the map.

"This place should be familiar to everyone. Last time we went there, we were stalled for a long time.

"Today's objective and mission are different. The D2 Comprehensive War Zone military will directly assist us.

"Therefore, we have three objectives.

"First, we are going to help the D2 Comprehensive War Zone with its defensive mission, then take the opportunity to help Xiang Lin Tian take control of D2's military and political affairs. That comes later.

"Second, the Fourth Spiritual Practitioner, Old Sophie, may be hiding inside Snow Mountain Base. That bastard... has fallen to demonic corruption. My doing. He is very likely using demonic energy to awaken the dried corpses inside his spire.

"We need to find the spire Old Sophie moved. Ideally, we seize Old Sophie's Core Circuit... though I don't know what form that Core Circuit takes.

"Third, eliminate as much Living Strength as possible from both the Blade Beasts and Psionic Capital factions.

"Peony will introduce the chaotic situation over there."

"Yes!"

Peony, already changed into her full-coverage "Infiltrator" armor, seriously took over the briefing.

"The situation around Snow Mountain Base is extremely complicated.

"Two King-Class Blade Beast assault forces will arrive near Snow Mountain Base in one hour and fifty minutes. Their objectives cannot yet be fully determined, but they are presumed to be looking for Old Sophie.

"According to the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner's testimony, if Old Sophie's Core Circuit is destroyed, the slumbering Pillar-Class Blade Beast will awaken early. This contains a genuine danger, and we cannot directly share this intelligence with Psionic Capital.

"Allow me to introduce the number of confirmed enemy S-Class Psionicists and their current locations..."

Peony easily took control of the flow of discussion.

Wang Jixuan hurried to a corner and sat beside Shen Qionglin, facing the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner.

"Do you need me to put away your stone slab?"

"No," the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner said leisurely. "I have a portable subspace. I can open it at will with my current strength, so I put the slab inside."

Shen Qionglin snorted with laughter. "Tsk, subspace nesting dolls."

Daoist Wang nodded and said seriously, "I'll make a breakthrough first. Call me immediately if anything comes up. This time, we'll land at the fortress closest to Snow Mountain Base. The D5 Half-Human Mech Troops will be stationed there as soon as possible."

"Don't worry," Number Five said languidly. "As long as I get a little closer, I'll be able to sense whether Old Sophie is there. If Old Sophie isn't there, we can turn around and head home."

"Mm." Daoist Wang sighed. "The important thing is that we cannot let the Pillar-Class Blade Beast awaken now."

"Don't worry. I'll step in."

Number Five waved her hand dismissively.

Her palm-sized little face fully embodied what it meant to be utterly unconcerned.

Wang Jixuan took out two pills and swallowed them with his head lowered.

Only a short time had passed since he last took pills, so the effects of the aptitude-enhancing medicine would be limited. However, after being tempered by the great formation, the aptitude of this Dao body had already reached the upper-middle tier.

There was not much room left for improvement. His foundation was what it was.

With another hour and a half before arrival, he could directly break through to the Core Formation Realm. This would strengthen his battle puppets and give his true body greater combat power as well.

Soon, a faint azure glow flickered around Wang Jixuan.

Number Five stared at Wang Jixuan with shining eyes, trying to sense the mysterious changes within him and steal a few tricks for herself.

Shen Qionglin had already passed that stage.

She had tried it. Without Wang Jixuan teaching her the key techniques, she simply could not learn it and might even hurt herself.

By the time Deep Sea received the Combat Mission, he was already aboard a high-speed fighter heading toward the D2 Comprehensive War Zone.

High-speed fighters sacrificed stealth for speed and payload capacity. They were also the primary aerial firepower units for bombing Blade Beasts, and there were dozens of different models.

Deep Sea looked at the orders before him, somewhat unable to make sense of them for a moment.

He already knew that more than a dozen high-speed aircraft had departed simultaneously from different regions and were heading toward a certain fortress in D2.

But...

Weren't their relations with D2 rather tense?

The orders from above stated that after arriving at that D2 fortress, they were to take over command of its defenses and ensure that there would be no risks when their side's important personnel arrived there later.

Deep Sea immediately felt conflicted.

Would D2 cooperate?

If they refused, were they supposed to forcibly blast them apart?

Because he had left in a hurry, his maintenance team and most of his equipment were on the planes behind him. He himself only wore specialized gear for Psionicists.

This is probably going to be a hard fight.

Thinking that, Deep Sea skillfully established a communications channel. Using the Half-Human Mech Group without Ling Tong as its backbone, he brought the rest of the Half-Human Mechs participating in the operation into the channel.

"I'll command the upcoming battle."

Deep Sea spoke quickly.

"You should have all received the mission objective. This is likely to be a hard fight, and there may be anti-air weapons firing at us later. Keep your attention sharp at all times, and stay close to the ejection systems."

"Received."

"Understood."

"Brother Deep Sea, your vacation's over? How's your sister-in-law lately?"

"Don't rub salt in Brother Deep Sea's wounds. Even if his sister-in-law is eighteen meters tall, she's still slender and lovely."

"Spiritual romance—how great it is!"

Deep Sea looked helpless as he laughed and scolded them over the channel. "Watch yourselves. Keep talking nonsense, and I won't introduce Black Storm to you when I get the chance."

"Don't, bro! Brother Deep Sea, you're my real brother!"

"I'll raise you one—Brother Deep Sea is my real uncle!"

Someone clicked his tongue and laughed. "I'm actually pretty jealous of Little Ling Tong. Because she's dating Black Storm, her overall specs are better than Old Jiji, who's eighty percent modified! I wonder if Black Storm's brother would be interested in cheating."

"Brother? You're already thirty-two!"

"Hahaha!"

Bzzzt.

Ling Tong's voice suddenly sounded. "I can make an introduction."

"Holy shit, why are you here?"

"Huh? Ling Tong, you're joining the battle too?"

"I just finished my publicity cycle," Ling Tong said brightly, unconcerned by their teasing. "There was a combat mission here, so I applied to participate."

A younger female voice laughed. "Exactly. It definitely isn't because Black Storm might come this time."

"Hey, do you think the important person we're supposed to protect might be Black Storm?"

"Don't make wild guesses!"

Deep Sea quickly reminded them.

"Check your equipment. Stop chatting. Our first wave is about to cross D2's border."

"Understood."

"Get yourselves into fighting shape!"

"Smash those Psionicists' brains in!"

Deep Sea looked at the radar display before him and continued worrying about the road ahead.

Very soon, Brother Deep Sea discovered that his concerns had been unnecessary.

The D2 Comprehensive War Zone's fighters proactively contacted them and escorted them along both flanks. Deep Sea soon received identity authentication as a [D2 Comprehensive War Zone Specially Invited Military Commander].

This old Psionicist zone, D2, displayed no hostility whatsoever.

When they reached "Yellow Sun Plateau Fortress 022," near Snow Mountain Base, the local commander swiftly came forward and transferred command of the fortress by binding his own operations to Deep Sea's.

Sixteen Half-Human Mechs quickly assembled there.

When Ling Tong arrived, their Half-Human Mech Group finally returned in full force.

As transport planes landed one after another, Deep Sea's equipment, Supply Team, and hundreds of High-Tier Mechs rapidly took their positions. The entire fortress garrison was also operating under clear command.

Once everything on their side was ready, a large transport plane landed at the surface airfield.

Deep Sea led his team forward to greet it and soon saw one familiar face after another.

The Buddha Hall Squad;

The Peak Maid Group;

The third-generation mech team led by Black Shell Instructor.

Deep Sea did a quick calculation and felt that this fighting force was already enough to raid several of the 13th Institute's largest branch facilities...

"Where's Teacher Wang?" Deep Sea peered into the transport plane.

Peony smiled from the cabin door. "You'll have to wait a little longer. The commander is still improving himself."

Black Shell muttered, "There's also an honored guest inside. Don't let your jaws hit the floor when you see her."

"An honored guest? Who is it?"

"The ancestor of Psionicists," Zheng Shiduo said with a snicker.

A ball of Azure Light suddenly flashed inside the cabin.

Wang Jixuan opened his eyes. An aura bloomed from between his brows and shot straight toward the sky. The surrounding spiritual energy was first pushed aside by that aura, then rapidly gathered back toward him, drawing vast amounts of spiritual energy from even farther away as it surged toward Wang Jixuan.

Before Number Five's eyes, the amount of "psionic energy" within Wang Jixuan officially entered the A-Class ranks!

Meanwhile, the power of Wang Jixuan's primordial soul, already somewhat beyond his cultivation level, rose noticeably again and continued to outpace his Dao body's cultivation.

The fluctuations of aura inside the cabin quickly returned to calm.

Wang Jixuan stood up comfortably. As his spiritual awareness spread outward, it could already extend seven or eight kilometers.

It was nothing remarkable, really.

Everything had fallen into place. He had made an ordinary breakthrough, without any danger, and every improvement was within expectations.

"Let's go, you two. We'll use this place as a base and decide whether to act depending on the situation."

Number Five pointed at Ling Tong waiting outside the porthole. "Is that woman your spouse?"

"My future spouse."

"Oho!" Number Five's eyes rolled as she clearly began plotting something.

Shen Qionglin was also considering whether she should go say hello to Ling Tong and make herself familiar. After all, she was a girl. If she wanted to wring research projects, technology, and resources out of Wang Zheng in the future, maintaining a good relationship with Ling Tong would make social maneuvering easier.

As for the battle to come...

Shen Qionglin did not actually care that much.

In the Core Formation Realm, the primordial soul had begun transforming in preparation for condensing a Golden Core.

The Core Formation Realm was divided into four stages: early, middle, late, and perfected. Wang Jixuan was naturally in the first stage now. The fourth stage was the most crucial, as whether one could condense a Golden Core was an important threshold in a cultivator's path.

The path they followed was the Golden Core Great Dao.

Wang Jixuan greeted Deep Sea and the others, exchanged gazes with Ling Tong for several seconds, then, without time for any sweet nothings, headed straight into the temporary Command Center.

"How's the situation?"

"Meng Jin and the others haven't acted yet."

Peony quickly took over the equipment there and displayed the latest developments near Snow Mountain Base.

The two King-Class Blade Beasts would reach the underground area near Snow Mountain Base in twenty minutes, accompanied by an estimated sixty thousand High-Tier Blade Beasts.

The good news was that the D2 Comprehensive War Zone was fully cooperating with their operation and had already mobilized sufficient surface firepower. As long as the two King-Class Blade Beasts reached the shallow surface, they could launch an offensive.

The bad news was...

Both Snow Mountain Base and the Secret Base had been built inside the mountain.

The King-Class Blade Beasts did not need to emerge aboveground to directly attack those two areas.

Meanwhile, D2 had not yet prepared enough high-performance Drilling Missiles. The Space Fortress was also urgently mobilizing resources, but it would take some time before supplies arrived.

In terms of armaments, D2 truly could not compare with D5's abundance.

"Psionic Capital has dispatched three more batches of Psionicists. They aren't even pretending anymore and are flying straight here. However, they're coming from the Arctic Circle, their transport planes aren't very capable, and their assembly speed is relatively slow. The Psionicists elsewhere aren't particularly strong either."

Peony curled her lips downward, somewhat disdainful.

"That is the overall situation now.

"D2 has mobilized enough surface firepower units, while every war zone and the Space Fortress are supporting this area.

"Meng Jin and the other High-Tier Psionicists are still near Rainbow Town. They haven't moved yet.

"Psionic Capital's main force is expected to arrive in two hours.

"In less than twenty minutes, Snow Mountain Base will come under Blade Beast attack."

Wang Jixuan nodded, then asked, "Has the amount of demonic energy increased?"

"It has decreased by approximately thirty percent."

This was bad.

Wang Jixuan raised a hand to his forehead. Once demonic energy gathered to this extent, it dissipated naturally rather slowly. Living beings entering the area covered by demonic energy would be corroded by it, and after death, their resentful souls would become part of the demonic energy.

It had decreased by thirty percent in two or three hours.

Something was definitely absorbing the demonic energy!

The fortress commander beside Deep Sea, a capable middle-aged female general, reported quickly, "The shadow at Snow Mountain Base has not moved for the moment!"

Wang Jixuan turned and shouted, "Number Five! Give me some critical intelligence!"

The Fifth Spiritual Practitioner answered impatiently, "I'm already sensing it. Also, I have a name. Call me by my name in formal settings."

"Alright, Wei... Shenme."

Wang Jixuan smiled.

"That's a good name. From now on, you'll be called Wei Shenme."

"Hmph, you really are a rude fellow."

Number Five muttered, though she did not mind such a trivial matter.

She slowly closed her eyes, and rings of multicolored light resembling interlocking gears appeared behind her.

These were all Psionic Energy Circuits she had mastered.

They were still one or two hundred kilometers away from Snow Mountain Base, so Wang Jixuan's spiritual awareness was naturally useless.

Seeing that everyone was somewhat nervous, he smiled and said,

"Don't worry. We came here this time to be the oriole, not the mantis. Meng Jin ambushed us last time, so this time, we must wait for him to make his move, then settle the score for that ambush."

The moment he finished speaking, Number Five suddenly cursed.

It was in some alien language.

"Old Sophie has turned black! He's beneath Snow Mountain Base. He used the coordinates I left behind back then to teleport here!"

Number Five opened her eyes, seven-colored rings circling within her pupils.

"He successfully Awakened a batch of spirit slaves using the demonic energy you created, and these spirit slaves are highly aggressive... They're waiting for those two King-Class Blade Beasts!

"I also sensed fluctuations similar to a Stargate! Wow, they're about to start fighting!"

Wang Jixuan blinked.

A Pseudo Stargate?

In other words... Blade Beasts could keep coming without end, while Old Sophie's spirit slaves had been Awakened by demonic energy. Blade Beasts and Spiritual Practitioners were mortal enemies who could never reconcile...

This situation...

Wonderful.