21: Ancient Ruins and the Concept of a "Local Area Network"

The celebration at D-7 Courtyard lasted for most of the night.

Fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones! Ten genuine Peiyuan Pills! And a chance at a Cultivation Technique from the Scripture Pavilion! For them, who had always struggled just to get by, this was nothing short of becoming rich overnight. Zhao Iron Pillar fell asleep hugging the bag of Spirit Stones, a silly grin still on his face. Wang Wu and the others were too excited to sleep, repeatedly planning how to use these resources.

Only Wen Youyi quickly calmed down after the initial excitement.

He sat by the bed, using the faint moonlight from outside the window, and looked at the Cloud-patterned Token that Yun Zhi had given him, his brow slightly furrowed.

The victory in the Outer Sect Competition only transformed them from “bugs that could be crushed at any moment” into “slightly stronger bugs that had attracted a little attention.” The warnings from the Elder and Yun Zhi still echoed in his ears, and the hostility from people like Chen Jian and Zhou Rui had not vanished.

More importantly, the invisible “spirit net” still hung over the world like shackles, silently draining their strength. The hidden danger of the calming heart pill was also a thorn in his side.

“I cannot slack off...” Wen Youyi softly exhaled. These resources were far from enough to break through the predicament.

They were scheduled to enter the “Meteor Ancient Ruins” in three days, a place rumored to contain both opportunity and danger. He had to utilize these three days to maximize his strength!

Early the next morning, Wen Youyi kicked Zhao Iron Pillar, who was still dreaming, awake and called everyone together for a meeting.

“Brothers, one night of celebration is enough,” Wen Youyi said solemnly. “The Ancient Ruins isn't a scenic tour; we must prepare properly.”

He quickly made arrangements:

First, the Spirit Stones must not be wasted. Aside from keeping a small amount for emergencies, the rest must be used to purchase supplies that could immediately boost combat power and survival ability—better quality talisman paper, Cinnabar, Healing Medicinal Pills, and practical Low Grade Magical Artifacts, such as sharper daggers and tougher ropes.

Second, the Peiyuan Pills must be taken immediately. These Medicinal Pills strengthen the foundation and nourish the origin, perfectly compensating for the deficiencies in their bodies and solidifying their base. Everyone should take them according to their individual situation, at fixed times and doses, coordinating with the “Breathing Cache Method” to maximize the absorption of the medicinal power.

Third, and most importantly, the Scripture Pavilion opportunity must be utilized well. They needed to find Cultivation Techniques that could enhance teamwork or compensate for their current weaknesses.

With the tasks assigned, Zhao Iron Pillar and Wang Wu were responsible for purchasing goods at the Marketplace, Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang stayed behind to begin taking Peiyuan Pills and Cultivating, while Wen Youyi headed alone to the Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion.

The Scripture Pavilion was an ancient seven-story stone pagoda, guarded by Steward Disciples at the entrance. After verifying his identity and reward certificate, Wen Youyi was allowed to enter the first floor.

The interior space was much larger than it appeared from the outside, with rows of Jade Slips neatly categorized and displayed on shelves, emitting various faint glows. Cultivation Techniques, Spells, miscellaneous studies, records of observations... the selection was dazzling.

Wen Youyi did not search blindly like a headless fly; his objective was clear—to find texts related to “combined strikes,” “Formations,” “Spiritual Power Resonance,” or “concealment” and “Escape Techniques.”

He moved among the shelves, his Divine Sense sweeping over the summaries of the Jade Slips one by one.

Basic Five Elements Spell Compendium... pass.

Detailed Explanation of the Azure Profound Qi Refining Art... pass.

Strange Tales of the Cultivation World... this is interesting, but useless for now.

After searching for about half an hour, he finally made a discovery.

A Jade Slip titled Elementary Introduction to the Minor Five Elements Formation described a method that required multiple people to cooperate, drawing on the Five Elements Spiritual Qi to form a simple Formation. Although rudimentary, it was perfectly suited to their current situation.

The other, Turtle Breath Qi Concealment Art, taught practitioners how to conceal their aura and lower their presence, which was highly effective for stealth and sneak attacks.

Just as he was holding these two Jade Slips and preparing to leave, his peripheral vision caught sight of a dust-covered shelf in the corner, where various incomplete or worthless “junk” Jade Slips were placed.

One dark, lusterless Jade Slip, titled Crude Talk on Spirit Thread Traction, caught his attention.

He picked it up and found the summary pitifully simple. It only stated that this was an ancient method attempting to temporarily guide and connect the Spiritual Power of different Cultivators like threads, hoping to achieve resonance or auxiliary effects. However, it was extremely difficult to Cultivate, had weak results, and had long been abandoned.

“Spiritual Power traction? Connection?” Wen Youyi's heart module suddenly leaped!

An unprecedented idea exploded in his mind!

Since the “spirit net” was like a “public network” covering the entire world and draining power, could they... build a small, private “local area network” themselves?!

Using the method of Spirit Thread Traction, could they briefly connect the Spiritual Power of five people to form a small, internally circulating network? In this small network, could they transmit Spiritual Power more efficiently, share perception, and even... to a certain extent, shield themselves from or deceive the massive draining power of the “spirit net”?!

This idea was too shocking and too daring! But Wen Youyi's fingers trembled with excitement.

If feasible, this would be a true “Technological Explosion”! It would be the first small Breakthrough at the level of the rules themselves!

He unhesitatingly took the forgotten Crude Talk on Spirit Thread Traction Jade Slip into his hand as well.

Under the slightly strange gaze of the Steward Disciple (who saw him choose two practical Cultivation Techniques plus one universally recognized piece of junk), Wen Youyi copied the contents of the three Jade Slips and rushed back to the Ding Zi Courtyard.

He handed the Elementary Introduction to the Minor Five Elements Formation and the Turtle Breath Qi Concealment Art to Wang Wu and the others for study and practice, while he himself eagerly immersed himself in the Crude Talk on Spirit Thread Traction.

The method within the Jade Slip was indeed incomplete and obscure, with many parts vaguely worded. Cultivating it was even more dangerous; a slight mistake could lead to a Spiritual Power conflict and damage the Meridians.

But Wen Youyi regarded it as a treasure. His powerful logical thinking ability and his understanding of “networks” and “protocols” from his previous life allowed him to capture a viable direction from the fragmented information.

“I don't need to fully understand its ancient principles... I can treat it as a ‘Physical Layer’ connection protocol... We need to define our own ‘Data Format’ and ‘Exchange Rules’...”

He muttered to himself, his eyes blazing with a wild, excited light.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

When the assembly bell rang for departure to the Meteor Ancient Ruins, Wen Youyi looked up from his exhaustive research, his eyes bloodshot and his face pale, but a barely suppressed smile played on his lips.

The prototype of the “local area network” was already constructed in his mind!

The trip to the Ancient Ruins would be the first testing ground for this crazy idea!

(End of Chapter)