140: A glimmer of light and an undercurrent of turmoil

The appearance of the first one to undergo Awakening was like casting a pebble into a calm lake. Although the ripples had not yet spread, it allowed everyone in the Shelter to truly feel the power of the "dandelion Plan."

In the days that followed, Wen Youyi successively sensed several faint inquiries in "Star Language" from unfamiliar frequencies. Some were filled with fear, others were skeptical, and some carried a sense of desperate determination.

These individuals undergoing Awakening were distributed across different regions and had diverse identities; some were Loose Cultivators struggling at the bottom, some were discouraged Disciples of small Sects, and there was even one who was a marginalized collateral descendant of a cultivation Family. They had all been awakened by the latent "spirit awakening stardust" when their minds suffered severe impacts (such as failing a Breakthrough, encountering betrayal, or witnessing injustice), causing their deeply hidden doubts to surface.

Wen Youyi played the role of a patient and cautious "guide." He did not rush to absorb them, but instead, through "Star Language," gradually taught them the most basic techniques (simplified versions) to shield their perception of the "spirit net," guiding them to feel the subtle changes in their own spiritual power and consolidating their newly sprouted "clarity."

He repeatedly emphasized the importance of concealment and caution, warning them not to easily use "Star Language" unless it was a matter of life and death, and even more so, not to reveal it to anyone.

These sporadic sparks quietly lit up in the vast and dark "Ranch." They were unaware of each other, yet all maintained a one-way, fragile connection with the distant Starlight Sanctuary.

Meanwhile, the situation in the outside world was quietly changing.

Within the Qingxuan Sect, rumors about the "hidden dangers of the spirit net" and the "truth about Ascension" had not completely subsided; instead, they had settled among some low-level Disciples, becoming a tacit "taboo topic." The forceful suppression by the Sect's upper echelons only added a layer of mystery to it.

What made some interested parties even more uneasy was that the "abnormal dissipation of spiritual power" incidents reported from various places had recently increased. Although each loss was minuscule and scattered across different regions, appearing to be natural loss or statistical error, when aggregated, they presented an abnormal trend.

Especially near that secondary energy tributary in the Nirvana Swamp, the peripheral personnel responsible for maintaining the "spirit net" nodes vaguely felt that the energy there seemed a "bit thinner" than before, yet inspections showed everything was normal. In the end, they could only attribute it to natural decay caused by the deteriorating environment of the swamp.

These subtle changes, like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, had not yet caused a storm, but they had already caused certain sensitive entities to raise their heads.

Qingxuan Sect, deep within the Discipline Hall.

Elder Xuan Shi looked at a briefing summarizing various recent "abnormal" events compiled by his secret agents, his brows slightly furrowed. As one of the few high-level figures in the Sect who knew part of the inside story, he was more vigilant than others.

"The rumors haven't ceased, and there are ripples in the spiritual power... Am I overthinking it? Or... are those 'bugs' active in the shadows again?" He muttered to himself, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously. "'Above' has been urging us tightly recently, demanding the swift purging of all 'unstable factors' in the Qinglan Mountain Range region..."

He pondered for a moment, took out a specially made message jade talisman, and injected a strand of Divine Sense.

"Strengthen monitoring of all energy nodes, especially remote secondary nodes. If there are any inexplicable subtle abnormalities, report them immediately."

...

Inside the Starlight Sanctuary, Wen Youyi naturally felt the invisible pressure from the outside world as well.

"Our 'operation poaching' and 'spreading stardust' actions, although covert, will inevitably attract attention if they continue." Wen Youyi gathered everyone, his expression grave. "We must speed up our progress and possess enough power to protect ourselves, or even... the power to fight back, before we are discovered!"

He looked at Senior Brother Zhang and Ying: "How is the optimization and portability of the 'Spirit Disturbance Array' coming along? We need a version that can be deployed quickly and has a stronger interference effect, preferably one that can be integrated into a 'personal node'."

Senior Brother Zhang reported immediately: "The design for the second-generation 'Spirit Disturbance Array' is complete. The coverage area has expanded to three zhang, the duration has been extended to five breaths, and energy consumption has been reduced by 30%. Integrating it into a 'personal node' will still take some time, mainly due to the issue of miniaturization."

Ying added: "We are also trying to combine the 'Purifiers' 'dispersing white light' with the 'Spirit Disturbance Array' to create a 'Composite Domain' that can simultaneously cause interference and damage to 'Scavengers' and 'hounds', but the energy conflict issue has not been completely resolved yet."

"Very good, keep pushing forward!" Wen Youyi then looked at Zhao Iron Pillar and the other two "Purifiers." "The defense of the Shelter cannot be relaxed either. In addition to continuing to reinforce the space barrier, we also need an early warning System capable of sensing powerful external scans or attacks in advance."

Zhao Iron Pillar patted his chest: "Don't worry, Boss! I've already scouted the surroundings with the two Fellow Daoists. We've placed hidden warning runes at several key points. As soon as there's any disturbance, we'll know the first moment!"

Wen Youyi nodded, his gaze turning back to the "star chain" stably operating on the altar and the pure energy constantly pouring in from the "operation poaching."

Time—they needed more time to grow.

But would the enemy give them this time?

Although the sparks had been ignited, the oppression before the storm was becoming increasingly heavy. Inside the Shelter, everyone knew that they were racing against time.

(End of Chapter)