The Ultimate Source

"Sister Zhou!"

"You also want to pursue catalytic research?"

"It seems the results of Tianhao's test are in!"

Zhang Xuezhou was extremely slow to reply to messages from many people; the only person who kept up with his message reminders was Zhang Manqian.

When Zhou Yueyan contacted Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou, he didn't have much time left. He was already calculating whether 'Fast and Slow' could recover before the time travel period ended. Zhang Xuezhou also needed to verify whether he could complete the time travel without regard to location like Donghua, without the Soul Locking Pillar or the altar.

They could either regain control to enter the small world to deliver supplies, or conduct a shuttle test.

Zhang Xuezhou waited for the time to come, and also for the choice to be made.

He received a message from Zhou Yueyan and knew very well that Zhou Tianhao's physical test results were as he had imagined.

The strength of genes is a relative state. The Zhou Household, who seem to have strong genes, have no problems in terms of data, but they are pitifully weak compared to Xuanming.

A certain amount of catalyst can save Zhou Yueyan and others a lot of genetic resources. This saving is extremely important when breaking through to the Seventh Sequence. Otherwise, the Zhou Household can only keep hunting and use multiple portions of ferocious beast extracts to derive resistance layers, like Zhou Xin.

Zhang Xuezhou warmly welcomed Zhou Yueyan's team to join the catalytic research.

Luo Burang is a genius-type researcher with a quick and agile mind, while Zhou Yueyan excels in her steady and methodical approach and is extremely patient in her research.

The former may lead to new research and directions, while the latter can transform leapfrog research into feasibility studies.

Like Chimney Haig, he has a free-thinking mind and a very good personal style, but he is currently unable to repeat his past research on catalysts, which can be considered an alternative version of Luo Burang.

Zhou Yueyan's addition can reduce this trouble to some extent, thus replacing Zuo Teng and Zuo Denggao and freeing them from scientific research work.

Just as Zhang Xuezhou was about to send a message to Zuo Teng, his eyelids suddenly lifted.

As his gaze fell upon the spot, Zhang Xuezhou noticed a slightly limping right foot.

Following the footsteps upwards, Badun's face came into view.

Are you still in North Rehe?

Zhang Xuezhou chuckled dryly and glanced at Badun again.

He felt that Badun had returned a little early, and the increasingly stringent security in the area posed no problem for Badun at all; before he could even be notified, Badun had already entered the research institute.

"Has Ren Yisheng entered the Ninth Sequence? Has he mastered 'fast and slow'? Have you found that domain staff from before?"

Badun ignored Zhang Xuezhou's somewhat unnatural smile and quickly followed up with several questions.

When Zhang Xuezhou shook his head repeatedly, his face darkened considerably.

What's wrong? Are you having some kind of problem?

Zhang Xuezhou asked a question, and Badun let out a long sigh.

"When the cold wave came, the spiders didn't freeze to death. Instead, they burrowed into crevices and the soil to hibernate. The frozen spiders didn't lose their vitality; after thawing in the lab, 50% survived and were even able to continue reproducing!"

To the average person, Badun's first task after recovering his health would undoubtedly be to vie for the power of Speaker of the Grand Council.

Upon receiving the notification, Song Fengying even abandoned filming the biological disaster and specially arranged for multiple cameras to wait.

But Badun did not appear in Blanpeda; instead, he headed far to the north.

"I've used every means at my disposal to find the source," Badun said. "Look at these photos and videos!"

After taking out a palm-sized storage medium, Zhang Xuezhou used a visual instrument to perform a simple disk reading. One by one, the photos taken and selected by Montes Badun came into view, along with several videos in dim lighting.

The photo shows rows of egg-shaped objects about half a person's height, with countless black spiders moving around.

These black spiders were not the size of a fingernail, but the size of a millstone.

If their chelicerae were stretched out, these spiders would be about three meters long.

Large creatures are ferocious, while some small creatures in nature become savage when their bodies are enlarged.

"The source shouldn't be just these black spiders causing trouble," Zhang Xuezhou said. "What is the ultimate source you've investigated?"

"A god, a true god!"

Zhang Xuezhou looked through the first photo, then the last, then opened the video, scrolled through several frames, and closed it before directly questioning Badun. Montespatton had clearly already realized the problem.

That wasn't something Badun could openly film, nor did it appear in these records.

"I don't believe it," Zhang Xuezhou shook his head. "The risk of falling into another dimension is too high. They couldn't possibly have come here from such a place!"

"Your understanding is profound," Badun nodded. "The source is a true god, but she has not descended in her true form; she merely provides a continuous supply of dark power, thereby constantly generating disasters!"

"Power doesn't come out of thin air, so why would she keep supplying it?" Zhang Xuezhou said. "Don't tell me it's because her son and daughter arrived on a fire meteor!"

There are tigers in Qinmeng that breed second-generation tigers, and Zhang Xuezhou is really afraid that another second-generation spider will appear.

Putting aside the strength of the second generation, the key issue is that they either possess deadly treasures or may have the ability to communicate with beings from beyond the heavens, making them unapproachable to outsiders.

Even if you find an opportunity to pursue and kill, it could still trigger a comeback by your opponent.

"It shouldn't be his son or daughter," Badun said. "The thing drawing the power at the end of that cave is the corpse of a giant human-faced spider. It died after the ritual to draw the power!"

"Dead people still infuse power? Who forgot to turn off the tap? Do real gods have that much free time?"

Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed in surprise, and for a moment he wondered if the second-generation spider had died, and the entity behind it could only vent its power, thus guiding this non-naturally reproduced spider to continuously divide and grow.

"A very powerful life form has emerged from that cave, and it's likely to become even more powerful over time," Badun emphasized. "If we can't eradicate the various spiders inside and outside the cave on a large scale, it's virtually impossible for us to eliminate these individuals, let alone cut off their source!"

"Very powerful life forms, various kinds of spiders?"

Zhang Xuezhou felt as if he had heard an alternative version of the virtual furnace.

The same situation occurred with the Void Furnace back then. It relied on the Wild Serpent to control countless snake swarms in the snake cave, leaving no place for anyone to put their feet.

There's no way to even squeeze in; there's no need to target the Wild Serpent, let alone find the remnants of the Void Furnace.

Zhang Xuezhou never expected that similar incidents would repeat themselves.

He could only suggest that Badun acquire more firearms and use methods such as bombing and burning to attack, or even throw poison gas canisters to kill spiders over a large area, thereby making it possible to eliminate the source.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult!"

Badun shook his head repeatedly.

While rocket launchers and other thermal weapons are highly powerful, they cannot penetrate deep rock layers to reach underground spaces; toxic gases require adequate Tongfeng and other conditions to penetrate.

The objects they needed to eliminate were not wooden stakes, but powerful beings with equally advanced intelligence.

Badun estimated that those powerful beings likely possessed strength comparable to the Seventh Sequence.

If the source cannot be eliminated, and instead the beings at the source continue to grow stronger, Badun believes that the Aomeijia Alliance will likely become the second Qinmeng Ruins in the future.

Given the possibility of national annihilation, the Speaker of the Aomeijia Alliance held no appeal for him whatsoever.

Putting aside the various troubles of transporting firearms to Qinmeng, and the unreliability of methods such as airdrops, Badun did not want to engage in a war of attrition.

In his plan, the best way to handle the situation would be to gather Ren Yisheng and others into an elite team and then eliminate them silently and precisely using mental combat techniques.

It's somewhat regrettable that Ren Yisheng was trapped in that small world and couldn't get out.

Badun, having grasped the situation, looked utterly dejected.

After a while, Badun turned his gaze to Zhang Xuezhou.

If I'm not mistaken, Zhang Xuezhou's mental combat skills are also quite good. He could combine with Montes Arthur in a fight, which might be equivalent to half of Ren Yisheng.

It was uncertain how long it would take for Ren Yisheng to leave his small world, and Badun felt he couldn't wait any longer, so he decided to take the risk and try.

Having missed this cold wave, he fears the Aomeijia Alliance might not survive until this time next year.