Xu Wuyi returned to the cultivation room, closed the door, and sat down on the training mat. At hand remained the last few tubes of Beast King essence and two crates of Source Essence Crystals. Once he used them all up, he would have to wait for the next batch of supplies—the outposts' output still needed to grow for some time before it could approach peak levels. Zero One was already accelerating the cleanup of those outposts occupied by Star Beasts, but even at maximum speed, it would take time.
He was not in a hurry. He had all the time in the world.
François had spent an entire year sawing at him with a dull blade, but he had been sharpening his own sword all along. The Inner Landscape Tree's golden roots now covered eighty percent of his body. Its fruit had grown firmer, clearer, more lustrous. Every pulse was stronger and more rhythmic than it had been three months ago.
Another half year passed.
The rate of infiltration along the northern border stabilized at roughly twice every three days, no longer rising. Zero One's report showed that the activity intensity of the Star Beasts' secondary population had reached a bottleneck. To increase it further would require deploying higher-ranking individuals—in other words, that third-rank lord was hesitating over whether to commit Beast King-level forces.
Xu Wuyi sat beneath the oak tree, reading the briefing data on his terminal. Those curves and numbers automatically transformed into images within his consciousness. He could clearly see the energy flow beyond the border gradually becoming chaotic—the compounded effect of energy disturbances caused by large gatherings of Star Beasts.
The Star Beasts were forming ranks beyond the border. Not an attacking formation, but a garrison formation, as though they had pitched a huge tent