703: Yang Dian: I have a kind heart

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three days passed.

As Yang Dian continuously activated the Magical Artifacts buried by the Machina in the famous mountains and great rivers, the Formation gradually took shape, beginning to absorb the wandering Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth, gathering it around the Formation nodes.

This led to the already low Spiritual Qi concentration in Fengdu Grotto-heaven becoming even scarcer.

Originally, there was still one Spiritual Qi particle per cubic meter in Fengdu Grotto-heaven.

Although Cultivating in such a low Spiritual Qi environment was difficult, where there's a will, there's a way. With effort, one's strength could still improve.

But as the Formation was gradually activated, the Formation core and Formation nodes began to collect a large amount of energy.

The Spiritual Qi in Fengdu Grotto-heaven instantly dropped to the point where hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of cubic meters couldn't find a single Spiritual Qi particle.

In short, the former Strange Star, now Fengdu Grotto-heaven, could be called a Spiritual Qi desert.

The former Strange Star Base City No. 1, now Fengdu New City.

Xun Sheng, who had dog ears and found the surname Xun for himself from the Hundred Family Surnames, found the fox-eared girl.

Several years passed, and the fox-eared girl, who once led the Beast-Ear Tribe to struggle for survival in the wilderness with a face full of bitterness, had also become more plump.

The graceful glances in her eyes lived up to the Chinese netizens' comment, 'Fox-eared girls are all top-tier; marry one, and your life is complete.'

"Wei, did you feel it?"

Shen Wei, the fox girl's new name.

Since Strange Star became an affiliated Grotto-heaven of Earth, the fox girl took the 340th surname from the Hundred Family Surnames and gave herself a new name, Wei.

This both bid farewell to her past suffering and reminded her that while the present seemed peaceful, it wasn't complete freedom. Under Chinese rule, she still needed to be cautious.

When Xun Sheng came knocking, Shen Wei was resting her chin on one hand, while the other was swiping something on a virtual light screen.

Hearing Xun Sheng's voice, she looked at him over the fence and then nodded:

"I felt it."

"The Spiritual Qi is rapidly decreasing."

She swiped the screen, pointing to the Machina flying around on it, and then to another virtual screen beside it:

"It should be because of those mechs."

"Those mechs are burying things in the ground."

"Centered on Fengdu New City, the Spiritual Qi of the entire world is declining."

She beckoned Xun Sheng into the courtyard, and once he was closer, she projected a map.

"This is data collected by the Spiritual Qi monitors left by the Upper Sect."

"It started three days ago when a large number of mechs suddenly appeared around Fengdu New City, and soon after, the Spiritual Qi concentration around Fengdu New City suddenly dropped."

"Then it was the other surrounding cities."

"In short, wherever those mechs went, the local Spiritual Qi concentration would drop soon after."

As she spoke, she walked to a nearby swing, gently swaying back and forth, her eyes lost in thought:

"At this rate, in another day, the Spiritual Qi in the remaining areas will become like ours, almost devoid of spirit, won't it?"

Xun Sheng unconsciously clenched his fists:

"Are we not doing anything?"

"Without Spiritual Qi nourishment, Spirit Beasts and Spirit Plants cannot grow and may even degenerate."

"Without enough Spirit Beast meat, children cannot Cultivate and will only be ordinary people their entire lives, only knowing of the extraordinary through the mouths of elders and on screens, until the extraordinary becomes a legend."

"If the spirit is completely gone, our Beast-Ear Tribe will forever lose the hope of rising."

Hearing Xun Sheng's words, the fox girl Shen Wei's eyes were momentarily lost in thought, then she revealed a smile that was either helpless or resigned:

"But Sheng, do we have a choice?"

"Not to mention that the Upper Sect's strength far exceeds our imagination; we can't resist them at all."

"If not for the Upper Sect, we would still be living under the rule of ghosts and gods, enveloped by the threat of the strange."

"Where would we get this life of peace and prosperity, freedom, and no worries about danger now?"

"And the Upper Sect doing all this, surely it's not without purpose."

"They saved us from suffering and blocked all threats from outside the heavens; how could they ask for nothing?"

"They save us, protect us, and then collect some insignificant 'interest'; isn't that normal?"

"If they did nothing, I would be terrified."

"Terrified that they might be like the ghosts and gods, raising us until there are enough of us before swinging their scythes."

Hearing Shen Wei's words, Xun Sheng unconsciously opened his mouth.

But the words caught in his throat, eventually turning into a long sigh:

"Yes~ we should be content."

"If not for the Upper Sect, we might already be dead, and our entire race would be enslaved by ghosts and gods, becoming their blood food."

"Now that we can live such a carefree life, we should be content."

Though he spoke of contentment, a hint of unwillingness still lingered in Xun Sheng's eyes.

Having experienced extraordinary power, who could bear to see such power, once within reach, disappear from their grasp?

The compromise on his lips was merely helplessness in the face of reality... Yang Dian, of course, was unaware of the conversation between Xun Sheng and Shen Wei.

If he knew, he wouldn't say anything.

Xun Sheng's unwillingness was just normal human thinking.

If everyone was as resigned as Shen Wei, Yang Dian would be disappointed in the Beast-Ear Tribe.

After all, an affiliated race without the will to strengthen itself has no need for cultivation.

As for Spiritual Qi?

It still needs to be collected.

It still needs to be drawn to Earth.

Of course, Yang Dian wouldn't go to extremes; he would still leave some Spiritual Qi in Fengdu Grotto-heaven for the Beast-Ear Tribe to Cultivate.

Coincidentally, Zero was discussing with him at this moment about how much Spiritual Qi to leave behind.

"Commander, how much Spiritual Qi do you think should be left for the Beast-Ear Tribe?"

Yang Dian pondered for a moment before asking,

"What is the current population of the Beast-Ear Tribe?"

Zero filtered the data and replied:

"137.53 million."

After getting the answer, Yang Dian stroked his chin:

"137.53 million, huh."

"Fengdu Grotto-heaven is roughly the same size as Earth before it expanded, with a surface area of 500 million square kilometers. After becoming a Grotto-heaven, the sky is ten thousand meters high. Assuming one Spiritual Qi particle per cubic meter, the total amount of Spiritual Qi contained in the air of the entire Fengdu Grotto-heaven is about 50 quintillion Spiritual Qi particles."

"Divided equally, each Beast-Ear Tribe member would get approximately 36.3 billion Spiritual Qi particles."

"The Beast-Ear Tribe certainly doesn't need that much Spiritual Qi."

"Given the individual strength of the Beast-Ear Tribe, 10 Spiritual Qi particles per cubic meter is enough for them to Cultivate."

"I'm kind-hearted, so I'll add a bit more: I'll leave them 20 Spiritual Qi particles per cubic meter, with 1000 cubic meters of Cultivation space per person."

"I'll also give them an equal amount of Spiritual Qi for cultivating Spirit Beasts and Spirit Plants."

"That means leaving them 5.5012 trillion Spiritual Qi particles, which is 0.000110024% of the planet's total Spiritual Qi."

"That's more than one-millionth of the total!"