160: Chain Reaction and the Spark of "Rebellion"

The "Cloud Flow 1" node was like the first stone thrown into a pond, and the ripples began to spread quietly.

Through this stable information relay station, the coverage of the "Star Network" was effectively extended.

Senior Brother Zhang could receive "Star Language" information from the areas around the Qinglan Mountain Range more clearly and safely, and the operational efficiency of Wang Wu's intelligence network also increased significantly.

More importantly, with the help of the node and the optimized "spirit awakening stardust," the process of awakening the "Star Spark" became more precise and covert.

It was no longer a wide net like before, but selectively targeting those Cultivators who were determined, in key positions, or already suspicious of the "spirit net."

Like a single spark, these awakened "Star Sparks" began to emit a faint but firm light from their respective positions.

Qingxuan Sect, Chore Zone.

An Outer Sect Disciple responsible for cleaning the Transmission Hall would always inadvertently brush his fingers over an inconspicuous depression while wiping the core jade pillar that symbolized the connection to the "spirit net."

There, he had quietly embedded a rice-sized, disguised "star moss" spore.

The gentle fluctuations slowly released by the spore interfered extremely weakly with the energy field around the jade pillar, causing the probability of Heart Demon growth for Disciples cultivating here to decrease by a negligible amount.

No one noticed; only a few Disciples who often meditated there vaguely felt that their state of mind had seemed a bit calmer recently.

A Loose Cultivator market in a remote town.

A stall owner selling low-grade Talismans would always use a special ink mixed with extremely fine "star iron" powder on the Talismans for regular customers.

Talismans drawn with this ink had no change in effect, but when activated, they would produce a trace of hard-to-detect resistance against the "spirit net's" power extraction.

When Cultivators who bought his Talismans activated them at a critical moment of life or death, they might retain a trace more of their original Origin Qi than others, gaining a glimmer of survival.

The stall owner never made a fuss, just doing it silently, like an old craftsman sticking to some unknown principle.

Even within the Five Elements Courtyard, a frustrated deacon, after an "accidental" contact with "spirit awakening stardust," did not report it, but instead began to study it in secret.

Using his position, he quietly adjusted the operating parameters of several Spirit Gathering Formations in his charge, causing a slight, imperceptible "lag" in the flow of spiritual power, indirectly reducing the efficiency of Disciples in that area cultivating through the "spirit net," and disguisedly encouraging them to rely more on their own accumulation.

This tiny change was blamed on the aging of the Formation, and no one investigated further.

Individually, these actions were insignificant, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

But they were distributed in different corners, carried out spontaneously by different people, and when gathered together, it was as if a handful of fine sand had been quietly scattered inside the huge, precisely operating machine that was the "spirit net."

The machine was still roaring, but the engagement of some gears seemed less smooth.

These changes naturally could not escape the perception of the "Creation Heavenly Court" monitoring System.

Qingxuan Sect, deep within the Discipline Hall.

Elder Xuan Shi frowned as he looked at the "anomaly reports" gathered from all over the world displayed on the jade wall in front of him.

The reports showed that the energy extraction efficiency of the "spirit net" had extremely weak, inexplicable fluctuations in some areas; the number of reports of Heart Demon growth had also decreased slightly; and even the Luck growth curves of several "Destiny Seeds" marked as "key observations" had shown an unexpected plateau.

"Another one of these trivial little troubles..." Elder Xuan Shi snorted, his tone impatient.

In his view, this was likely some hostile force or an ignorant rogue Cultivator causing trouble in secret, trying to interfere with the order of the "Ranch," and it wouldn't amount to anything.

He was more concerned about the clues regarding the disappearance of the "Star Spark source" in the cracks of the rules.

"Increase monitoring efforts, focus on investigating the areas around the Qinglan Mountain Range, especially those gathering places of Loose Cultivators and resource points. Report any suspicious persons or energy fluctuations immediately!"

He issued the order, not directly linking these "small matters" to the "virus" that had been stuck in his throat before.

However, not everyone was as "optimistic" as Elder Xuan Shi.

Inside the "ark" Shelter, Wen Youyi, Senior Brother Zhang, and the others were "watching" the chain reactions indirectly triggered by the "Star Sparks" from various places through the main node of the "Star Network" with great interest.

"Look here, the spiritual power concentration monitoring data of the market on the outskirts of the Qingxuan Sect has dropped by 0.3 percentage points compared to the same period last month. Although it is still within the normal fluctuation range, the trend is interesting..."

"And this, the number of 'Cultivator becoming possessed' incidents reported near Black Wind Mountain has decreased by five. The local Discipline Hall deacon reported that it was due to their effective patrols, heh..."

"The guy we 'flashed' and sent back, the report he submitted was marked as 'low priority' and archived. It seems our 'fake data' didn't attract too much attention."

Wang Wu read out the gathered intelligence one by one, his tone filled with a hint of excitement.

"Very good!" Wen Youyi nodded with satisfaction.

"That's the effect we want. Not painful or itchy, but annoying. Make them feel like there's sand in the machine; they can't find the cause for a while, and it's troublesome to fix."

"This is called the prototype of a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack!"

He used a term from his previous life, although it wasn't entirely accurate, the meaning was there.

Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses: "From the energy model analysis, these scattered, tiny interferences will indeed create continuous 'noise' in the underlying data flow of the 'spirit net' System. Although it cannot cause substantive damage, in the long run, it will increase its operational energy consumption and monitoring costs."

"Exactly!" Wen Youyi clapped his hands.

"Our strength is weak right now, we can't fight head-on, so we'll fight a guerrilla war, engage in harassment! Don't let them 'harvest' in peace!"

He walked to the star map and pointed to several potential node locations marked on it.

"The next target, here—Falling Star Lake!"

Everyone's eyes focused.

Falling Star Lake was the place Lin Feng had previously provided where clues about the star core might exist, and it was also an area controlled by the Disciples under Elder Black Sha.

"Not only are there potential star core fragments we need there, but the geographical location is also key, located at the junction of several major Sect forces. If we can successfully set up a node there, our 'Star Network' coverage will be able to expand several times!"

Wen Youyi's eyes were burning.

"Moreover, Elder Black Sha's lineage has long had old grudges with us, so it's time to settle old and new scores together!"

"Boss, tell us how to do it!"

Zhao Iron Pillar rubbed his hands, his new heavy sword hungry and impatient.

"This time is different from the past."

Wen Youyi's expression became serious.

"Falling Star Lake is someone else's territory, heavily guarded, we can't just barge in. We need a careful plan, perhaps... we can make use of the upcoming 'Outer Sect Competition'?"

His mind raced, and a complex plan mixing "stealing the beams and replacing them with rotten pillars," "crossing the sea under camouflage," and "stealing a sheep on the way" gradually took shape.

The storm, after silent accumulation, was about to stir up waves again.

And this time, Wen Youyi wanted to actively lead the vortex into the core area controlled by the enemy!

(End of Chapter)