173: Recompilation and "Poisonous" Base

The storm was brewing, and the air was heavy with tension.

Within the Qingxuan Sect, the atmosphere grew increasingly strained.

Elder Hei Sha's faction, under the guise of "stabilizing the spirit net," was almost blatantly laying down "qingyuan array base" in every key area.

The Discipline Hall's inspections became increasingly strict, and many Disciples who acted independently or practiced obscure Cultivation Techniques were called in for "talks," leaving everyone in a state of panic.

However, beneath this oppressive facade, an undercurrent was quietly surging.

Wang Wu's work was beginning to show results.

Rumors about the potential "side effects" of the "qingyuan array base"—such as affecting the Cultivation of specific Cultivation Techniques, or even potentially causing spiritual energy disturbances—began to spread quietly among the Disciples of factions like Danxia Peak and the Sword Pavilion.

At first, many did not believe it, but as Elder Hei Sha's subordinates acted with increasing arrogance, and occasionally Disciples really did feel their spiritual energy circulation hindered after approaching some of the newly placed Formation Bases, the Seed of doubt was sown.

During a Sect meeting, an Elder from Danxia Peak directly raised concerns, questioning whether it was too hasty to lay down large-scale Formations of unknown origin, and whether a longer period of performance and safety assessment should be conducted first.

Although Elder Xuan Shi forcibly suppressed the matter with the excuse of "orders from the upper Sect, this is a matter of great importance," feelings of dissatisfaction had already taken root.

Meanwhile, Zhao Iron Pillar's "construction accident" plan was proceeding "fruitfully."

One day a Formation Base burial site would suddenly collapse due to "loose soil," and the next day a Disciple responsible for transporting a Formation Base would "slip" and break a corner...

Although these were all harmless little accidents that could not stop the overall trend, they successfully delayed the progress of the Formation installation.

This kept the Disciples under Elder Hei Sha exhausted, their tempers flared, and they even had several small conflicts with Disciples from other peaks because of it.

These were just appetizers.

The real trump card lay with Senior Brother Zhang.

Inside the Shelter, Senior Brother Zhang worked tirelessly, frantically analyzing the Formation Base runes that had been traced, as well as the slightly damaged physical Formation Bases obtained "accidentally" through various means.

"Wonderful! What an ingenious and vicious design!" Senior Brother Zhang said, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, but his tone was exceptionally excited.

"These runes form an extremely covert energy-marking circuit that can sense and record 'fingerprints' of specific types of energy.

Once a target is marked, the one who set up the Formation can use the main control Formation Plate to locate them, or even... remotely trigger energy resonance within them, causing interference or backlash!"

"Can you find a way to crack it or use it in reverse?" Wen Youyi asked urgently through the "Star Network."

"Theoretically... yes!" Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses, the light of calculations reflecting on his lenses.

"Its core lies in a unique energy-recognition 'key.' If we can simulate the energy characteristics of Elder Hei Sha's faction, or even the higher-level 'Scavengers,' as a 'whitelist,' we can make the Formation Base ignore us."

"Or even..." his tone carried a hint of fanaticism, "if we can tamper with a portion of the rune structure and inject our own 'identification code,' then the one being marked might not be us, but... their own people!

Or, we could make the marking signal transmit incorrect location information!"

"Awesome!" Even Wen Youyi couldn't help but use a term from his past life.

"Old Zhang, can you do it?"

"It will take time, and a lot of calculations and experiments!" Senior Brother Zhang said, "Besides, tampering with the physical Formation Base is too risky and easily detected.

It would be best to perform a remote 'wireless' injection before it is activated!"

Wireless injection? Wen Youyi immediately understood what Senior Brother Zhang meant.

This required extremely precise energy manipulation and a deep understanding of the internal energy circuits of the Formation Base.

"Leave it to me!" Wen Youyi decided decisively.

"You are responsible for deducing the 'virus code' for injection and the best energy intervention point, and I will perform the 'surgery'!"

For the next few days, Wen Youyi immersed almost all his mental energy into researching the "qingyuan array base."

Combining the analytical data sent by Senior Brother Zhang with the principles of energy runes from ancient knowledge, he acted like a top-tier hacker, attempting to find a backdoor in this "antivirus software."

This process was even more difficult than cracking a Cultivation Technique.

The rune structure of the Formation Base was interlinked, with built-in error correction and defense mechanisms; one careless move could trigger an alarm.

After failing countless times and consuming a massive amount of mental energy, a turning point finally appeared!

Wen Youyi discovered that during the Early Stage of the Formation Base's activation, the moment the energy circuit performed its self-check and established a connection with the main control Formation Plate, there would be an extremely brief energy "window period"!

This window period was so short it could almost be ignored, but for him, it was enough!

Senior Brother Zhang also successfully deduced an extremely concise "virus code" that could modify the Formation Base's target marking, and found a hidden rune node as an injection point.

There was only one chance!

On this day, Elder Hei Sha personally oversaw the battle, intending to bury a core-level "qingyuan array base" beneath one of the Sect's most important Spiritual Vein nodes—the Martial Arts Arena.

Numerous Disciples and Elders watched, the atmosphere solemn.

Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar were also mixed in the crowd.

Wen Youyi stared intently at the jade Formation Base, which was emitting a faint glow and being carefully carried over by several Disciples.

When the Formation Base was placed into position, the moment Elder Hei Sha stepped forward personally, preparing to input the final activation spell to trigger it—

Now!

The "Thousand Mechanisms Hand" hidden in Wen Youyi's sleeve vibrated slightly at a frequency invisible to the naked eye.

A wisp of Star Core Power, finer than a hair and containing the specific "virus code," acted like an invisible scalpel, piercing through the Void Realm with precision and speed.

In that one-in-a-billion "window period," it silently injected itself into the pre-set hidden node of the Formation Base!

The moment the injection was completed, Wen Youyi immediately cut off the energy output.

His face went slightly pale, as if he were just feeling a bit uncomfortable from standing for too long.

And almost simultaneously, Elder Hei Sha's spell fell!

"Hum—!"

The core Formation Base of the Martial Arts Arena was successfully activated.

A soft white light spread out, echoing with the other already-deployed Formation Bases, forming an important link in the Sect's "Qingyuan network."

A satisfied smile appeared on Elder Hei Sha's face.

Feeling the fluctuations of the Formation Base operating normally, he did not notice anything unusual.

Everyone below the platform also felt a gentle force sweep across their bodies, with no discomfort.

Only Wen Youyi knew that this seemingly normal core Formation Base had already been tampered with at its core!

The "abnormal energy characteristics" it now marked had been quietly added to certain "whitelists" (such as the energy characteristics of Wen Youyi and his companions), and it had even... added "special attention" to the fluctuations of the core Cultivation Techniques of Elder Hei Sha's faction!

Once the main control Formation Plate performed a large-scale scan, the results might be very "interesting."

"Done." Wen Youyi messaged Senior Brother Zhang and Zhao Iron Pillar in the distance through the "Mind Net," a barely perceptible arc curving at the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Iron Pillar tried hard to hold back his laughter, his face almost cramping up.

Senior Brother Zhang pushed up his glasses and let out a long breath: "Phase one, the 'poisoning' plan, is a success."

They had successfully implanted a "poisoned" Formation Base into the interior of the "firewall" the opponent had carefully constructed!

It was like planting a logic bomb inside the enemy's security System.

Wen Youyi looked at the smug Elder Hei Sha and thought to himself:

"Like scanning? Like marking?"

"Soon, you will find that your System is full of red alerts for 'your own people'..."

(End of chapter)