Professional Quality, Saintly Nature as Before!

When Wu Ming stated his choice, Yi Yi and the others felt not disappointment or regret, but deep confusion.

Yi Yi's brows were tightly knit, his hands tapping rhythmically as he said in a low voice, "You..."

Han Gang was equally incredulous, his eyes wide and his breathing growing heavy.

"You!"

Wu Ming chuckled. "What, with my thick brows and big eyes, do I look like the type to act like a coward?"

Han Gang retorted immediately, "Just say what you have to say! I've long since seen that you have ten times more schemes in your head than that Liu San!"

Wu Ming couldn't help but lose his smile. To think that he, a dignified first-clear expert, would one day be labeled a man of heavy schemes...

"Fine, here is the situation: today, while absorbing the Li Yao echoes by the lake, I suddenly had an incredible inspiration. At the time, it felt absurd, but the more I thought about it later, the more I felt..."

"Stop stalling!" Han Gang couldn't help but urge him again.

Wu Ming then revealed the answer: "I think I have a way to clear the Moli Immortal Mansion."

Han Gang was silent for a moment. "...Maybe you should go back to stalling."

Yi Yi couldn't help but lean forward. "If it were anyone else, I would take it as a joke. But for someone who could seize the Zhuoquan Immortal Fate by force, I will listen seriously to anything he has to say."

Wu Ming circled the topic back to the beginning. "When I was by the lake, I absorbed more than seven people's worth of Li Yao echoes. And, as luck would have it, one of them belonged to 'Qiu Heng.' That's the girl in purple I happened to run into twice on the first day."

Yi Yi was slightly surprised. "Three encounters in two days; you two certainly have fate on your side."

Wu Ming smiled. "After all, I got into the Gujian Sect on a single-pull... So, I actually find it strange. You all have been working in the Moli Immortal Mansion for years; have you really not discovered anything from the echoes?"

Yi Yi shook his head. "We cannot absorb the echoes, and we cannot speak of the principles behind them."

Wu Ming frowned. "Fine, I won't ask further. Let me ask another question: how many Li Yao are there in this Immortal Mansion?"

Yi Yi replied, "I can answer that. People have actually studied it. Generally speaking, over the past three hundred years, the number of Qi Refining cultivators lost in the Immortal Mansion is between fifteen hundred and two thousand. It's actually not as many as people imagine. But as you have seen, a single person can give birth to an endless number of Li Yao..."

Wu Ming interrupted, "So, have you ever considered why?"

"..." Yi Yi was stunned by the question. "Perhaps you should just give us your answer."

Wu Ming said, "I believe it is to give people the chance to gradually understand the Li Yao... and to turn her from a stranger into someone who is no longer a stranger."

When the last sentence was spoken, all five people around him were shocked!

Even the two masked figures in black, who had never spoken a word, couldn't help but let their breathing grow heavy.

Wu Ming continued, "I was actually considering this the first time I saw the proverb. 'Do not speak to strangers.' Conversely, doesn't that mean as long as they aren't strangers, you can speak to them freely? The Li Yao echoes contain a vast amount of memories from the deceased; they are the best opportunity for us to get to know them."

"I killed Qiu Heng twice, and now I know her name and her background... But we have only ever treated these echoes as noise, eager to refine them away with the Guili Art as quickly as possible. Could it be that we have missed the original intent of the Immortal who designed this place?"

"!?"

This time, Yi Yi felt his pupils dilate in shock.

If anyone else had said what Wu Ming just said, he would have dismissed it as the delirious ramblings of a madman, as the theory had far too many inexplicable flaws.

First of all, what kind of sane person would think of using murder and stealing echoes as a way to "deepen mutual understanding"!?

Secondly, Li Yao were not all transformed from later arrivals; when the Immortal Mansion appeared three hundred years ago, Li Yao were already wandering in the thick fog. Furthermore, after entering the second floor, the villagers in that utopia were even more terrifying than ordinary Li Yao, not to mention the unspeakable horrors beyond the third floor.

However, if one were to set aside these inexplicable issues for a moment and insist on using this theory to explain the core mystery of the Moli Immortal Mansion, then actually...

It wasn't entirely impossible!

It was just that explaining a single core mystery held no practical significance. Perhaps in the past, others had tried to embrace the Li Yao, tried to turn enemies into friends and break down the barriers between them, but historical outcomes showed that only those who insisted on independence and self-preservation, remaining isolated from one another, had survived to the end.

At this moment, Wu Ming continued: "I am well aware that my theory runs completely contrary to current conventional wisdom. However, this current conventional wisdom has proven one thing over the past few hundred years: relying on it is not enough to conquer the Moli Immortal Mansion."

Gulp.

A clear swallowing sound echoed in the Spirit Pool Chamber.

Wu Ming chuckled again: "So I have been considering another matter: the Nine Provinces have never lacked talented and extraordinary people. Over the past two thousand years, how many Immortal Mansions far more difficult and treacherous than the Moli Immortal Mansion have been conquered one by one? Why is it that even though the Moli Immortal Mansion has been developed to this extent by later generations, with even the Labyrinth Town built to be so prosperous and wealthy, no one has been able to clear it?"

"Could it be precisely because the gains from the outer perimeter of the Immortal Mansion have become too great, making people lose the drive to push forward? After all, while the reputation of innate supreme treasures is great, they are merely legends, whereas the gains from Li Chen and echoes are tangible and real."

Hearing this, He Lu could not help but retort: "To a top-tier immortal sect, what are mere Li Chen and echoes worth..."

Wu Ming responded: "No matter how top-tier the immortal sect is, they still rely on the most inconspicuous Qi Refining cultivators to retrieve innate supreme treasures. So, for a Qi Refining cultivator, what is the most logical choice when exploring an Immortal Mansion that no one has managed to conquer in hundreds of years? Naturally, it is to fully draw upon the experience of predecessors. Otherwise, are you confident that you are more brilliant than the accumulation of hundreds of years of history?"

At this point, Wu Ming could not help but smile again, and in his smile, there was a brilliance as dazzling as the sun.

"Fortunately, professionals never lack confidence. I do indeed believe that I can do better than those who have come before me over the past few hundred years."

Hearing this, Yi Yi and the others were stunned into silence.

It had to be said that some people seemed born with the ability to persuade others; even the most absurd logic, when spoken by them, could carry a hint of credibility. And what Wu Ming said was by no means absurd!

This kid had only been in the Immortal Mansion for two days—how could he have thought of so much?!

In the end, it was Han Gang who spoke first: "So, you want to hunt as many Li Yao as possible, then find a way to digest their memories... and eventually turn them from enemies into friends? But how many echoes would that require, and how long would it take?"

Wu Ming replied: "This is how I interpret it: the reason the Moli Immortal Mansion does not limit the number of people or the frequency of entry is, in essence, to encourage later generations to work as one, for multiple groups of cultivators to explore the mansion separately, and then consolidate the intelligence to gradually eliminate the 'strangeness' within the mansion."

Hearing this, Han Gang's pupils also dilated in shock.

Yes, if one followed this line of thought... the fact that the Immortal Mansion did not restrict outsiders implied that the mysteries within required a collective effort to solve. Yet, for the past few hundred years, the hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators who had been trapped in the mansion had mostly fought their own separate battles.

It was only because the more people in a group, the more likely they were to be eroded by "Moli"... yet this momentary caution had caused the progress to stagnate for hundreds of years.

Just as the hearts of those present began to pound like drums, Wu Ming spoke again.

"...In other words, exploring the Moli Immortal Mansion is not something that can be achieved by a small group of elites. However, I am not just a 'small group of elite'; I am a first-clear expert. And by my side, I have a whole host of equally professional Immortal Guiding Envoys!"

Looking at the confident smile on the youth's face, even the most harsh and critical person could no longer suppress the stirring in their heart.

It was clear that the other party was nothing more than a little Desolate People who had only been cultivating for a few months and had yet to amount to anything, but it felt as if... as long as one followed him, they could truly tread across the heavens and reach the deepest parts of the Moli Immortal Mansion!

After a moment of silence, Wu Ming smiled and steered the topic back to the practical side of things.

"Now, returning to the previous question regarding the required quantity of echoes, I don't think it's important. We will farm as many as we need; as long as you all can hold out, the more the merrier for me."

"Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment might make no difference to a first-rate immortal sect, but they do to me, and they are of even greater significance to a first-clear of the Immortal Mansion. Every bit of strength I gain lowers the difficulty of subsequent clears by that much."

"As for the time limit of the Tribulation of Lost Li, I believe the key lies in analyzing its underlying principles. Is this a semi-permanent shrinking zone mechanism, a poison-and-antidote mechanism, or some other esoteric mechanism?"

"In short, although I chose the first option, it doesn't mean I intend to stop at the periphery and rely solely on infinitely farming Li Yao to clear the stage. I will still choose to delve deep into the areas that require it... and when that time comes, I will need the three of you to give your full support."

Following this, the Spirit Pool chamber remained silent for a long time.

It was truly a very, very long time—so long that Wu Ming had already begun to consider whether he should start his evening self-study right there on the spot—before Yi Yi finally spoke up.

"Wu Ming, since you are willing to be so open with us today and frankly share your speculations regarding the deepest secrets of the Immortal Mansion, we will naturally reciprocate this character and trust. From now on, whatever you wish to do, we will support you to the best of our abilities."

Wu Ming said, "Thank you..."

"Don't be in such a hurry to thank us; there is one condition."

At this point, Yi Yi's expression became incomparably serious.

"Wu Ming, please do everything in your power to trample this Moli Immortal Mansion into the ground!"

Wu Ming replied earnestly, "Please rest assured, I will never disgrace the name of a first-clear expert!"