"Perhaps because this belongs to the 'mainstream culture' of civilization?" one thought.
"That's right. The Weavers Civilization revolves around art; it can be said to be the cornerstone of their civilization's existence. Similarly, in human civilization, the Awakened hold the same position, which is why they can obtain the most Skill Points through various combat techniques and secret arts," another consciousness said.
"So it seems the control panel is actually quite subjective..."
Wen Jing pondered this point and a vague idea came to him.
"However, we should focus on accumulating enough Skill Points first."
After discovering that skills from the Weavers Civilization could also be acquired by Skill Points, Wen Jing added the training of this skill to his daily cultivation routine, prioritizing it only after the Star Core Meditation Method.
Firstly, other combat techniques and secret skills are not as powerful as her own characteristics. Secondly, what she learns in class is only the foundation of a certain combat skill. If she wants to improve, she needs to comprehend it on her own and spend more time deducing it.
The Weavers' Art, however, was different. Through the Nebula Relics, she had learned of the entire civilization's achievements in this technology.
Learning from this foundation provides a high-level perspective and is incredibly efficient.
She did a rough calculation and found that it was even more efficient than exploring ancient ruins.
Civilization ruins have their own operating rules and need to be adapted to local conditions. There is no fixed time for a civilization ruin to be completely swallowed up. Currently, Wen Jing has mostly chosen ruins from the Iron Age and earlier, which will take at least a few days.
In the era that follows, risks are uncertain, and the time required to complete strategies is even more unpredictable. If the Strongest Clone dies, it will greatly slow down the growth rate.
In response, Wen Jing naturally chose to proceed cautiously and steadily.
"Now that we've discovered that learning skills from other civilizations can earn Skill Points, let's make finding other civilizations in the material universe an exploration goal," the reconnaissance consciousness decided.
Previously, she had a laissez-faire attitude towards the existence of other civilizations in the universe, but now her thinking has changed, and she is consciously and actively searching for them.
In this way, her goal of descending into the material universe through the Ancient Wilderness becomes even clearer.
Based on his astronomical knowledge and observations of the Weavers Civilization and human civilization, Wen Jing tentatively deduced that planets with mild environments, complex ecosystems, or abundant energy have a higher probability of developing civilizations.
"From now on, when we travel through time, we'll specifically choose gravitational planets that meet these conditions."
"Wait, but how do I confirm that a civilization is real when I discover it? Or what if I enter a no-man's land within the territory of a civilization and can't find any trace of it in a short time, causing me to miss it?"
At the same time this concern arose, Wen Jing's mind raced and he thought of a Wilderness Weapon.
" Door Handle!"
This Wilderness Weapon, with its modern appearance, was originally a product of the post-industrial era. Although she obtained the coordinates of the civilization ruins corresponding to this Wilderness Weapon, she never went to explore them.
Its capabilities and drawbacks were explained to her when Dean Bai handed it over.
This Wilderness Weapon can only travel within the interior of one civilization at most, and it consumes energy based on the distance traveled. In the Ancient Wilderness, it might be useful for some civilization ruins, but it is useless in other natural environments.
Now that Wen Jing has fled into the universe, this Wilderness Weapon has been useless for a long time.
But conversely, whether it can successfully "open the door" could be used to infer whether a civilization exists in that area.
By changing the approach, this space transfer Wilderness Weapon becomes a 'civilization detector'.
With these new insights, Wen Jing adjusted his action plan.
And so, more than ten days passed.
This time, the reconnaissance intelligence traveled to a frozen medium-sized satellite.
It orbits a giant gas planet with a structure similar to the first earthquake-ridden, ice-and-fire planet she arrived at during her exile in space, but the specific environment is different; this planet is much 'quiet'.
The surface is a hard ice shell, covered with crisscrossing, bottomless rift valleys.
There is a thin atmosphere, mainly composed of nitrogen and methane.
At the same time, because the gas giant's magnetic field traps the stream of charged particles released by the star, the planet's poles create a perpetual aurora.
From the depths of the distant rift valley, a hazy, soft fluorescence of interwoven green and blue hues could be seen.
The entire planet looks like an emerald embedded in the dark universe, with veins of light flowing inside.
There seem to be plants down there?
During his numerous journeys, Wen Jing has witnessed countless beautiful planetary wonders, and many of these planets are home to life.
Plankton, organic matter, and even plants exist, but their life structures are very simple, lacking complex ecological chains, let alone intelligent civilizations.
After taking a general look at the planet's environment, she took out her Door Handle Wilderness Weapon as usual and drew a portal on the glacier.
Without civilization, Door Handle is just like a regular broken Door Handle; you can't even turn it, let alone open the door.
The next moment, Wen Jing placed the Door Handle on the ice and twisted it with force—
"Click!"
As the energy was absorbed by the Wilderness Weapon, Wen Jing, who had been expressionless, instantly changed his demeanor and became invigorated.
"This planet... actually has a civilization!"
Moreover, the existence of territory undoubtedly indicates that this civilization is still 'alive,' unlike the Weavers Civilization, which is already dead.
Realizing this, Wen Jing quickly Calmness down after her initial excitement.
She paused for a moment, then jumped onto the snow and opened the door.
Through spatial teleportation, her figure instantly reappeared at the south pole of this satellite, with the dreamlike aurora borealis overhead.
"It's confirmed. The technology of this civilization is still limited to this planet; even the nearest gas giant isn't considered part of their territory."
When Wen Jing tried to travel through the portal, his destination was the gas giant on the other side, but he found that he could not, proving that the furthest territory of this civilization was only on this medium-sized moon.
This discovery put her at ease. It was her first encounter with an extraterrestrial civilization, so she naturally had to remain cautious and maintain a position of advantage.
Just because she is certain she has no ill intentions doesn't mean the other person thinks so.
Now that it's been confirmed that this is a civilization whose technological level hasn't extended beyond its home planet, there are far fewer things to worry about.
"Then this civilization could only exist down here."
Wen Jing turned his gaze to the nearest rift valley that was emitting a faint glow, and approached it cautiously, as if exploring the Ancient Wilderness during a period of weakness.
Chapter 178
Wen Jing cautiously approached the edge of the glacial rift valley.
Below, what came into view was a seemingly boundless expanse of luminous material spread out on a black sea of methane.
The blue-green light reflected on the glacier is emitted by these substances, and it looks like it should cover the entire underground ocean.
Could this civilization be an underwater civilization?
While speculating in his mind, Wen Jing continued to investigate.
Although the Reconnaissance Clone is the weakest of the Clone, it still has nearly 500 points in basic attributes other than mental strength.
In the Ancient Wilderness times, she might have to be wary of this strength, but in the material universe, even if all the energy of this entire methane ocean were converted into attacks, it wouldn't kill her.
Moreover, she shares common characteristics and has a wide range of methods, which are sufficient to deal with unexpected situations.
However, visually speaking, the contrast is quite striking.
The glacier is over a kilometer thick, with almost vertical walls. Its color gradually changes from white to grayish-black, connecting to the unfathomable methane ocean. It reflects the blue-green light of luminescent substances on the ocean surface, creating a strange and mysterious atmosphere.
Against this backdrop, Wen Jing's solitary, tiny figure descends into the sea, creating a scene that could drive anyone with the Deep Sea to the brink of madness.
As time went by, she got closer and closer to the methane ocean.
The sound of liquid methane hitting the ice became increasingly clear.
The light source above has disappeared; all light now comes from the fluorescent material below.
Just as Wen Jing was less than fifty meters from the ocean, a sudden change occurred!
Below, the luminous material that had been flowing naturally with the waves on the ocean surface was undergoing a rapid change in intensity and state of light, as if some dramatic chemical reaction had occurred.
But this change is so obviously unnatural.
Because nature is disordered, but the changes in the luminous substance before our eyes are orderly and regular, with clear boundaries and logical relationships, clearly a precise behavior guided by intelligence.
Abstract Geometry patterns, whose connections were unclear, quickly filled Wen Jing's field of vision and continued to spread into the distance.
Not only is the surface of the methane-rich ocean below reflected, but it is also mirrored onto the surrounding ice, which can undoubtedly be called an imaging technique.
Wen Jing's figure suddenly stopped in mid-air, his pupils contracted, and his internal energy erupted, instantly enveloping his entire body with Prism Shield.
"Is there an ambush?"
However, there were no abnormal high-energy reactions in the surrounding area; the only fluctuations were caused by these luminescent substances on the ocean surface.
The magnitude of this energy response, when compared to that of a human being, is roughly equivalent to a single breath.
"Could this be some kind of optical psychological attack?"
"No, the Devouring Clone is currently devouring within the Ancient Wilderness. My mind remains focused on [ Compulsive Eating ] and retains the [ Calmness ] property, so I haven't been misled or affected."
While quickly Analysis the patterns in his mind, Wen Jing continued to observe them.
Then she noticed that the somewhat similar yet different patterns had changed again.
"Um?"
All the patterns were now surrounded by a standard circular halo.
Wen Jing's mind raced. "The meaning of these patterns... could they refer to me?"