108: Kurosawa in hiding and "offline" upgrade

Stronghold No. 3 was located in a naturally formed cave complex on the edge of the Black Swamp. It was shrouded in a faint toxic miasma year-round, with complex terrain and rampant Yao Beasts. Aside from the occasional death-defying herb gatherer, ordinary Cultivators were completely unwilling to set foot there.

For Wen Youyi and the others, this was simply a perfect location for dormancy.

Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li had arrived ahead of time and had already performed preliminary modifications on several of the largest caves, setting up simple concealment and purification Formations. Although the conditions were crude and far less comfortable than Lijian Valley, they at least provided shelter from the elements and basic security.

With the arrival of Wen Youyi, Zhao Iron Pillar, and Senior Brother Zhang, the core members and some "Internal Testing Group" Disciples scattered in various places also secretly gathered here one after another through "Star Language" communication.

There weren't many people—fewer than twenty—but they were all absolute core members who had experienced the construction of Lijian Valley, the battle of Black Wind Mountain, and the horror of Dragon Fall Abyss. They were the true sparks of the Mutual Aid Society.

Seeing each other again, everyone felt the relief of having survived a disaster. Without too much pleasantry, everyone tacitly threw themselves into the construction of the new stronghold.

Conditions were hard, but morale did not flag. On the contrary, a more cohesive and resilient atmosphere permeated the team. Having lost the relatively comfortable "home" of Lijian Valley, everyone knew they were now truly walking on the edge of a blade and had to be more careful and work harder.

Wen Youyi called this state "Offline Mode."

“Everyone, we are currently in an 'offline' state,” Wen Youyi said in a heavy voice, looking at these familiar faces during the first general meeting. “It means we have temporarily disconnected from most connections with the 'main network' (the Sect and the mainstream cultivation world) and hidden ourselves. But this does not mean we stop developing!”

He proposed three major tasks for the dormancy period:

First, survival and concealment. Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li were in overall charge of ensuring the security of the stronghold, solving basic survival issues like food and water, and continuously improving concealment measures.

Second, the improvement of personal strength. Everyone was to use the source crystals and limited resources brought from Lijian Valley to fully enhance their own cultivation. Here, there was no spirit net taking a cut; although resources were scarce, the efficiency of Cultivation was actually higher.

Third, and most importantly—technical research and the reconstruction of the ark! This would be led by Wen Youyi and Senior Brother Zhang.

The ark 2.0 in Lijian Valley had been forced to be abandoned, but the core technology and data had been brought out. What they had to do now was to use the accumulated experience and the new source code deciphered from the chaotic jade pieces to rebuild a smaller, more hidden, but technologically more advanced ark 3.0 in this more secluded Black Swamp Stronghold!

“We can no longer establish a fixed, wide-ranging network like before; the target would be too large,” Wen Youyi explained. “The new ark will be a 'mobile' or 'distributed' network!”

He proposed a bold concept: no longer pursuing coverage of large areas, but instead miniaturizing and making the network nodes portable! Each core member would carry a miniature, dormant personal node. Normally, they would Cultivate individually without interfering with each other. When needed, they could coordinate through Star Language to quickly construct a small-range, high-intensity 'temporary Ark Domain' in a specific location for Breakthroughs, healing, or dangerous experiments!

It was like taking a large server and breaking it down into many laptops that could be networked at any time—more flexible and more hidden!

This concept made Senior Brother Zhang and the Disciples of the Research Hall incredibly excited, but it also faced huge technical difficulties—how to miniaturize the nodes? How to ensure the stability and energy supply of rapid networking?

And this would require relying on those source code fragments regarding energy compression, spatial folding, and instantaneous resonance that were continuously being deciphered from the chaotic jade pieces.

In the following days, the Black Swamp Stronghold fell into another form of busyness.

Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li led the people, acting like experienced wilderness survival experts, managing several caves in an orderly fashion, and even opening up small patches of "underground farmland" for planting miasma-resistant spiritual plants.

Zhao Iron Pillar led the War Hall Disciples, maintaining vigilance while using the complex environment and Yao Beasts of the Black Swamp for combat drills to hone their skills.

Meanwhile, Wen Youyi and Senior Brother Zhang led the backbone of the Research Hall, practically soaking themselves in the largest cave used as a laboratory. It was piled with research Materials, various Materials, and half-dissected swamp Yao Beast corpses (used to study their characteristics for adapting to miasma).

Failure was a common occurrence. Energy leaks in the miniature nodes, signal conflicts during networking, the contradiction between portability and stability... problems came one after another.

But no one was discouraged. Every failure meant one wrong option had been eliminated. Every tiny bit of progress made everyone cheer with joy.

In this environment of extreme focus and isolation, everyone's potential was stimulated. Wen Youyi's mastery of Star Language became more profound, and he even began trying to combine more complex "sentences." Senior Brother Zhang made a Breakthrough in the miniaturization of Formations. Even Zhao Iron Pillar, through repeated battles with swamp Yao Beasts, faintly touched the threshold of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

They were like roots deep in the soil, tenaciously absorbing nutrients and growing silently in the darkness where no one could see.

One day, Wen Youyi was attempting to apply a newly deciphered "energy compression source code" to a miniature node when suddenly, the star core fragment in his bosom once again transmitted the intent of that Co-frequency Person.

This time, the other party's signal seemed much more stable, even carrying a hint of... relief?

【...Congratulations... escape...】

【...web weaver's... attention... diverted...】

【...The 'Great Curtain'... will open... make haste... time...】

Wen Youyi's heart stirred.

Escape? Did it refer to their successful evacuation from Lijian Valley?

The web weaver's attention was diverted? Diverted by what? Could there be other "anomalies" drawing fire and attention?

‘The Great Curtain will open’? What Great Curtain?

He immediately responded through Star Language: 【In dormancy. Preparing. What is the 'Great Curtain'?】

A moment later, a reply came, with only two concise "words":

【...Harvest... Feast...】

Wen Youyi's pupils suddenly contracted.

(End of Chapter)