176: Chaos Escalates and "Imperial Relics"

The explosion from the direction of the Five Elements Courtyard and that strange "alarm sound" were like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly shattering the tense standoff at the Qingxuan Sect.

The Discipline Hall Disciples surrounding the "Listening to the Rain Pavilion" were in an uproar, turning their heads to look around.

The peripheral members of the Mutual Aid Society who were surrounded inside seized the opportunity to shout:

"Look! Something happened at the Five Elements Courtyard!"

"Elder Heisha, your old nest has been raided!"

"Still blocking us small fries here? Hurry back and put out the fire!"

Elder Heisha's face was livid, and his beard trembled with rage.

He knew without going back that while the losses in the warehouse and medicine garden might not be huge, this slap in the face was incredibly loud!

What alarmed him even more was the content of the "alarm sound"—"Empire Glory"?

This instantly made him think of some extremely ancient and dangerous legends!

And those three "Scavengers," who had been like statues, saw their cold electronic eyes erupt with blinding red light when they heard the phrase "For the glory of the Empire"!

[Detected characteristic signal of suspected 'Ancient Rebellion Unit'! Priority elevated to maximum!]

[Target area changed: Five Elements Courtyard core area!]

[Executing purge protocol!]

The three silver figures did not hesitate at all, not even bothering to acknowledge Elder Heisha, and turned into three streaks of light, shooting towards the Five Elements Courtyard at an astonishing speed!

To them, eradicating "anomalies" that might be related to ancient resistance forces was far more important than dealing with a few ordinary "viruses"!

"Wait! Three envoys!" Elder Heisha was anxious; the greatest trump card he had brought had just run off like that!

But the "Scavengers" ignored him completely and vanished into the horizon in an instant.

Now, the situation was awkward.

Elder Heisha had brought a large force, aggressively coming to encircle the "Listening to the Rain Pavilion," only to have his own backyard catch fire, and his greatest backing had run away, leaving only him and his subordinates to face the increasing number of Disciples and Elders from other peaks who had come to watch the show.

An Elder from Danxia Peak stroked his beard and said slowly: "Elder Heisha, it seems your sect has more urgent matters to attend to. Do you need any help from us?"

A deacon from the Sword Pavilion also spoke sarcastically: "Elder Heisha is truly busy with a thousand tasks; having to clean up the sect while also guarding your own warehouse—how tiring, how tiring."

The surrounding whispers and mocking gazes made Elder Heisha almost explode on the spot.

He knew that he couldn't make any arrests today, and continuing the standoff would only make him look more disgraceful.

"Hmph! Let's go!" He squeezed these words out through gritted teeth, and with a heart full of anger and humiliation, he retreated from the "Listening to the Rain Pavilion" in defeat.

The members of the Mutual Aid Society inside the "Listening to the Rain Pavilion" had survived a disaster, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, feeling immense admiration for the "Senior Brother Wen" who had never appeared but possessed god-like methods.

At this moment, the "culprits" who had created this chaos, Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar, were hiding in a secluded corner outside the Five Elements Courtyard, watching the three silver streaks of light fall into the Five Elements Courtyard and listening to the more intense energy collisions and alarm sounds coming from within (clearly the "Scavengers" were "overreacting" in their search for potential "Ancient Rebellion Units"), and they smiled at each other.

"Hehe, Boss, your trick is too ruthless! Look at how anxious those three metal lumps are!" Zhao Iron Pillar grinned.

Wen Youyi also smiled, but his expression remained grave: "It has temporarily lifted the siege on the 'Listening to the Rain Pavilion,' but the trouble is even bigger now. The 'Scavengers'' attention has been attracted, and the keyword 'Empire' seems to have triggered some kind of core command in them."

He contacted Senior Brother Zhang and Ying via the "Star Network": [Old Zhang, what's up with the 'Empire' in that 'alarm sound'? Where did you find that word?]

Senior Brother Zhang's voice carried a hint of excitement and lingering fear: [It's fragmented information from the ancient starship database! The word 'Empire' is occasionally mentioned, seemingly referring to the civilization the starship belonged to. I had a flash of inspiration and added it in; I didn't expect it to work so well! It seems the 'Scavengers,' or rather the 'Creation Heavenly Court,' still maintain the highest level of vigilance against rebels from that era!]

Ying added: [Based on behavioral analysis, the unit Rank of these three 'Scavengers' is not high, and their logical judgment is relatively rigid. They treat the 'Empire' signal as the highest threat and will prioritize processing it, even performing a certain degree of 'excessive purging.' The Five Elements Courtyard will be busy for a while.]

Sure enough, there was chaos inside the Five Elements Courtyard.

The three "Scavengers" ignored all School rules, forcibly breaking into various areas to scan and search. Any Magical Artifact or Formation with even the slightest energy anomaly or complex structure was regarded as a potential threat and directly destroyed by force!

Many treasures cherished by the Five Elements Courtyard Disciples suffered innocent disaster, and they had nowhere to cry.

Elder Heisha returned to the Five Elements Courtyard, and seeing the mess on the ground and those three "Scavengers" doing as they pleased, he nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood!

This was truly a case of it being easy to invite a god but hard to send it away!

After this battle, Elder Heisha had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice, his prestige was swept away, the Five Elements Courtyard suffered significant losses, and he had invited three plagues.

As for Wen Youyi's side, although they had successfully resolved one crisis, they had also completely exposed the fact that they possessed "unconventional" methods and had aroused the "Scavengers'" high sensitivity to signs related to "ancient rebellions."

Inside the "ark" Shelter, Wen Youyi summarized the operation.

"We have temporarily gained the initiative, but we are also walking further and further on a tightrope," he told everyone, "After this blow, Heisha shouldn't dare to take large-scale action openly in the short term. But those three 'Scavengers' are a hidden danger; as long as they remain in the Qingxuan Sect, they are like three hanging swords."

"Also, the word 'Empire' must be used with caution in the future. It can scare off low-Rank 'Scavengers,' but it might also attract even more terrifying things."

Zhao Iron Pillar was unconcerned: "What are you afraid of! If soldiers come, we block; if water comes, I'll fill it in!"

Wen Youyi shook his head: "We cannot always respond passively. We need more powerful strength, or... deeper 'infiltration'."

His gaze once again turned to that vast ancient knowledge.

Perhaps it was time to try to understand the truly profound content regarding "dimensions" and "rules."

Relying solely on clever tricks and borrowing strength to fight was not a long-term solution.

Just as he was deep in thought, the star core in his arms transmitted a fluctuation again, not a warning this time, but a special message from the "Fallen Star Lake Node Two" node.

[Detected... energy vortex at the bottom of the lake is abnormally strengthening... suspected... deep resonance with the main star core... triggering unknown changes... suggest... investigation...]

Wen Youyi's heart stirred.

The energy vortex at the bottom of the Falling Star Lake, because it absorbed the star core fragment and the node, produced unknown changes?

Could it be... that it could bring him new surprises there?

(End of chapter)