133: Shelter upgrade and poaching plan

The initial success of the "star chain" plan was like a shot of adrenaline for the entire Shelter.

In the following days, as Senior Brother Zhang and Ying continuously optimized the guiding Formation and Wen Youyi maintained a stable call of "Star Language," the trickles of Star Power flowing into the altar became more stable and continuous, though they remained weak.

Quantity began to trigger a qualitative change.

The light of the complete star core at the altar's center intensified slowly but surely at a speed barely perceptible to the naked eye. The ancient runes on its surface seemed revitalized, their light flowing more smoothly, and even some minor damage showed signs of extremely slow self-repair under the nourishment of Star Power.

The most direct change occurred in the Shelter itself.

The phantom of the starry sky overhead became clearer, and the starlight it shed nearly doubled in intensity! The safe zone, which was originally only the size of a hemispherical cave, expanded outward by about a foot! Although the expansion was tiny, it was of great significance—it proved the Shelter could grow!

Moreover, the concentration of Spiritual Qi (or rather, the Star Power closer to the Origin) within the Shelter increased. Cultivating here might not yet match the "ark" core area of Lijian Valley, but the sense of purity and security was far beyond what it used to be.

Zhao Iron Pillar even felt that the wounds on his back, left by the "Hounds" and infused with alien energy, were healing much faster under the starlight.

"Great! At this rate, as long as the energy keeps up, our territory will get bigger and bigger!" Zhao Iron Pillar waved his fist excitedly, as if already seeing the future scene of reclaiming spiritual fields and building houses under this starlight.

"It's not just about territory." Wen Youyi felt the increasingly stable independent rules within the Shelter, his eyes flashing with wisdom. "More importantly, the rules here are being strengthened and perfected. The penetration and detection of the 'spirit net' are almost completely isolated here. This is becoming a true 'Rule Island'!"

This meant that as long as they stayed here, they were safe! Unless the "web weaver" could directly break the barriers of this independent space, they could no longer easily find and eliminate them as before.

With a stable rear base, many things they hadn't dared to consider before could now be put on the agenda.

"We can't hide here forever." Wen Youyi looked at the "star chain" Formation operating steadily on the altar and the thin streams of Star Power flowing in from afar, a bolder plan forming in his mind.

"Miss Ying, Senior Brother Zhang, you tell me... since our 'star chain' can 'borrow' the power of scattered star core fragments, can it... in turn, 'borrow' something else?"

"Something else?" Senior Brother Zhang and Ying were both stunned.

"For example..." A familiar, slightly mischievous smile curled on Wen Youyi's lips, "The energy of the 'spirit net'?"

"What?!" Zhao Iron Pillar almost bit his tongue. "Boss, are you crazy? Stealing energy from the 'spirit net'? Isn't that like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth?"

Senior Brother Zhang was also startled. "This... this is too dangerous! The energy attributes of the 'spirit net' are completely different from ours, and there are bound to be strict protection and tracking mechanisms. One wrong move and our location will be exposed!"

Ying, however, looked thoughtful and did not immediately object.

Wen Youyi explained, "It's not direct theft. Think about it: the 'spirit net' covers the entire world and extracts the spiritual power of all living beings; its energy is unimaginably vast. Such a massive System must have 'nodes' and 'redundancies' in its energy flow. We don't need to touch its core; we just need to act like mosquitoes, quietly and extremely slowly 'diverting' a negligible sliver from the gaps or less important terminals of that energy flow."

He pointed to the "star chain" Formation. "We can design a new, more stealthy Formation that attaches to the 'vessel walls' of the 'spirit net' energy flow like a leech. It won't destroy it, but simply use the kinetic energy of the flow to 'skim' some scraps. Then, using Star Core Power as a 'filter' and 'converter,' we can purify those contaminated energies marked by the 'spirit net' into the most original, harmless energy before injecting them into our Shelter!"

This plan could be described as snatching food from a tiger's mouth or pulling chestnuts out of the fire! Its core idea was to use the "spirit net's" own vastness and inevitable "depletion" to secretly charge themselves!

"Can... can this really work?" Senior Brother Zhang felt his worldview being shaken.

"Theoretically... there seems to be a sliver of possibility," Ying mused, her eyes flashing with calculations. "Although the 'spirit net' System is vast and precise, its coverage is too wide to be perfect. There are indeed regulatory blind spots and energy dissipation. If we can find such nodes, and if our 'adsorption' and 'purification' process is stealthy enough and the efficiency is low enough to be ignored by the System's own margin of error... perhaps there really is a chance!"

Her eyes grew brighter as she spoke. "And if we succeed, we won't just be finding a near-infinite energy source for the Shelter; we'll be continuously bleeding the 'web weaver'! Even if it's only one drop at a time, it will add up over the years, and it can even disrupt their energy statistics and cause them trouble!"

At the thought of stealing electricity right under the nose of "God" and causing trouble for the opponent, Zhao Iron Pillar got excited too. "Let's do it! We have to do it! This is more satisfying than taking out a few of their outposts!"

Seeing that everyone understood the brilliance of the plan, Wen Youyi smiled and concluded, "Then it's settled! The code name for this plan is—'operation poaching'!"

"While they are frantically searching for us, trying to wipe us out like 'viruses,' we will quietly dig an energy channel of our own at the very Foundation of their System!"

"We will use the vessels that transport the enemy's nutrients to nourish our own land of hope!"

Within the Starlight Sanctuary, a more stealthy and persistent "poaching" operation against the "spirit net" was about to begin.

(End of Chapter)